West Virginia University revs up computer resources to help move region forward

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University, in partnership with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, announced Tuesday the creation of one of the state's most powerful computer clusters to help power research and innovation statewide. The announcement came as the University kicked off its inaugural Research Week celebration.

The Thorny Flat High Performance Computer Cluster, named after the state's second highest peak, joins the Spruce Knob cluster as resources. With 1,000 times more computing power than a desktop computer, the Thorny Flat cluster could benefit a variety research: forest hydrology; genetic studies; forensic chemistry of firearms; modeling of solar-to-chemical energy harvesting; and design and discovery of new materials.

Thorny Flat is the latest step in an ongoing regional partnership with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, which has contributed greatly to the Morgantown-Pittsburgh corridor's status as a hub for technological and scientific progress. The system will be housed in PSC's machine room, and the center will provide routine maintenance and support for scientists using it

The cluster was created by WVU's Research Computing team in Information Technology Services with a nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure. Thorny Flat's creation also underscores WVU's commitment to ground-breaking research, which is being highlighted this week in the institution's inaugural Research Week.

In his latest State of the University address, WVU President Gordon Gee challenged the community to innovate so West Virginia can remain vibrant and competitive. "In a state that no longer manufactures products the way it used to, West Virginia University's faculty, staff and students have no choice but to manufacture transformation," he said. "We must pioneer progress."

Blake Mertz, assistant professor of chemistry in WVU's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, was the principal investigator behind the NSF grant. Mertz's lab uses molecular dynamics simulations to model systems of interest in both biomedical and alternative energy research.

In particular, Mertz is studying a peptide (a small protein) that could be used for targeted drug deliveries in cancer patients. Thorny Flat acts as a sort of computational microscope for observing key interactions between the peptide and the cell membrane surface. Mertz said these simulations can speed discoveries about the peptide, saving not only time and money in the lab, but also lives in the clinic.

Also from Eberly, WVU physicist Zachariah Etienne will use Thorny Flat for simulations that model the physical processes involved when neutron stars collide.

"Neutron stars are not simply large balls of neutrons, and we cannot create neutron star matter in laboratories," Etienne said. The only way to understand how such matter behaves is to compare observations with computer simulations.

This kind of research "has the potential to revolutionize our current scientific understanding," Etienne said. "Historically, such revolutions have led to incredible new technologies that help us diagnose and cure disease, and generally make our modern lives far safer and more comfortable than our predecessors."

Thorny Flat, which will become available Tuesday (April 9), can accommodate a wide range of users, offering free access to researchers with on-demand computational projects and first-time HPC users. Researchers with more intensive, long-term computational needs also can purchase separate, dedicated time and resources.

Thorny Flat is theoretically capable of processing data at 428 TeraFLOPS, or about 1,000 times faster than a typical desktop computer. FLOPS, or "floating point operations per second", is a measure of computer performance.

There are 108 total nodes available, containing 4,208 cores. For comparison, a high-end personal computer processor may have as many as 28 cores.

Seven nodes have access to 21 specialized Graphics Processing Units that can benefit research into fields such as artificial intelligence.

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For more information about Thorny Flat, including specifications and queue information, visit the ITS Research Computing site. For help determining its suitability for a particular project, contact helpdesk@hpc.wvu.edu.

This story has been published on: 2019-04-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.RIT to host science education researchers from around the globe for PEER workshop July 5-13

Rochester Institute of Technology is inviting scholars from across the globe for a workshop this summer to foster innovative research in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education with a focus on developing junior and emerging researchers. The workshop is part of the Professional-development for Emerging Education Researchers (PEER) program, a globally expanding network of peer researchers focused on expanding theoretical and methodological expertise in science pedagogy.

The workshop features small group discussions where participants share research interests and develop full-fledged research questions. From there they continue to develop ideas, adding methodology and data sources as they go. Participants will spend much of the time developing research plans as living documents that grow through constant writing.

"We, as facilitators, encourage core principles promoting research as playtime that should be fun and communal," explains Scott Franklin, an RIT physics professor, PEER co-founder and director of the Center for Advancing STEM Teaching, Learning and Evaluation (CASTLE), the center that administers the PEER program at RIT. "We've experienced research questions and ideas growing best through group discussions."

The 2019 RIT summer PEER-Rochester workshop will be held July 5-13. Registration is now open and interested individuals can register online. Participants will look at the following questions:

How do students collaborate within and among lab groups, and how does the nature of that collaboration change over the course of the summer experience? Network analysis is used to track collaboration within and among lab groups of 3-4 students.

How do gender and ethnicity affect conversational equity in lab groups? Work is done in developing both quantitative and qualitative measures of equity, and comparing the measures among multiple groups.

How does participation in the program affect student views of the nature of science and the role of experimentation? When students conduct experiments, researchers learn about ideas around what makes an experiment "good," and how table-top experiments are related to scientific practices.

PEER was developed in 2013 by collaborative efforts of Franklin; Eleanor Sayre, an associate Professor at Kansas State University; and Mary Bridget Kustusch, an assistant professor at DePaul University. Today the three continue to work together administering the workshops internationally. Now in its seventh year, PEER has expanded to include world locations in Rochester; Cologne, Germany; Kibungo, Rwanda; Monterrey, Mexico; and most recently in Vancouver, British Columbia, where a PEER event will be held April 28-May 3. Talks are underway for 2020 workshops in Cardiff, UK, Cape Town, South Africa and Brazil.

For more information on PEER, go to https:/ / www. rit. edu/ castle/ programs/ peer/ about .

For more information, contact Luke Auburn at 585-475-4335 or luke.auburn@rit.edu.

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This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.(CNN)  Algeria's ailing 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned, according to a short statement published on Tuesday by the state-run Algeria Press Agency.

"President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika has officially notified president of the Constitutional Council of his decision to end his term as President of the Republic," said APS.

It's an about-face for the elderly president, who earlier this year announced his intentions to run for a fifth term in the Algerian presidential elections. The prospect sparked mass protests in Algeria, ultimately forcing Bouteflika to back down and withdraw his candidacy. The government has since postponed the elections.

Bouteflika was first elected in 1999 with the backing of the military, in a race boycotted by all other candidates and widely panned as fraudulent. However, he won praise as a new president for steering his country back to stability after "the black decade" of the 1990s, when a bloody civil war left more than 150,000 dead.

He was elected again in 2004, 2009 and 2014 by wide margins, although often with criticism about the elections' fairness.

After decades in power, the octogenarian's health issues have recently raised concerns over who is actually making decisions in the President's office. Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

Tuesday's announcement comes after an earlier communique from the President's office that said Bouteflika would step down before his term ended on April 28. It promised he would "take important measures to ensure the continuity of the functioning of the State institutions during the period of transition."

Bouteflika's resignation announcement also comes one week after the country's army chief called for Bouteflika to resign.

In a speech broadcast last Tuesday by private television station Ennahar, Gen. Gaid Salah cited articles in the Algerian constitution stating that if the president's health prevents him from carrying out his function, the presidential office must be declared vacant.

His call echoed the voices of protesters who have filled Algeria's streets for weeks.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Algeria's president resigns at 82."What the country cannot afford, he adds, is to introduce the tax cuts promised by the National Coalition.

FINLAND can afford to introduce moderate increases in corporate tax rates following the cuts introduced in recent years, insists Timo Harakka, the budget and finance spokesperson of the Social Democratic Party.

His statement is a response to criticism levelled recently at the opposition party by Petteri Orpo (NCP), the Minister of Finance. Orpo on Monday pointed out that many parties have argued that their campaign promises can be funded with revenues arising from employment growth. The employment rate, however, will rise by no more than 0.5 percentage points to 73 per cent unless further measures are adopted, he said.

So practically everything that has been promised will translate to more debt, he stated in an interview with Uusi Suomi.

If you add to the mix the tax hike programme of the Social Democrats, which features a tax increase for unlisted companies, the removal or cut of deductions for the self-employed, and many other tax hikes that have an effect on investment and employment, thats when employment development surely wont be good, slammed Orpo.

Harakka, in response, reminded that the opposition party has also laid out measures to boost employment and, especially, the ability of small businesses to hire new employees. He also estimated that the tax increases are possible because the tax and cost burden of companies has been lowered in recent years.

Were still in a situation where weve got a very attractive corporate tax rate. Investments and employment in Finland are definitely not dependent on the level of taxation, he argued.

The Social Democratic Party, he added, is proposing that taxes be increased in accordance with the proposal made by a task force at the Ministry of Finance  to create additional revenues of roughly 200 million euros.

The opposition party is also of the opinion that the five per cent tax deduction on entrepreneurial revenue is targeted wrongly at high instead of low-income entrepreneurs.

Wed replace this by raising the minimum limit for value-added tax to 30,000 euros [in net sales] and introducing an additional deduction for hiring your first external employee, explained Harakka.

The two measures, he said, would cost roughly as much as the current tax deduction for entrepreneurs. In this sense, were not talking about lowering entrepreneurial subsidies but targeting them more efficiently to the benefit of small and microbusinesses.

The Social Democratic Party has estimated that its tax programme would create 1.5 billion euros in additional tax revenue a year.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi SuomiSipila on Monday accused Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the populist right-wing opposition party, of flirting with sex crimes committed by immigrants and exploiting them for personal political benefit.

What has surprised me is that people are flirting with and seeking power with these kinds of horrible things  deaths, rapes. This is whats disgusting about politics, he stated during an election debate organised in Oulu by Kaleva and YLE.

He continued his strong-worded offensive in his blog the following day, warning that the social divisions fuelled by politicians who whip up concerns about immigration could have devastating consequences for Finland.

We have politicians who fuel fears and grudges against foreigners with very questionable means. All foreigners are branded as child rapists and social security leeches. The implication is that the problems of elderly care, social exclusion and unemployment among the native-born population could be solved by throwing away the asylum seekers who entered the country in 2015, wrote Sipila.

This is the kind of talk we hear regularly from the leadership of the Finns Party, and the people around it.

Sipila also acknowledged that some young men have committed horrendous crimes after entering the country as asylum seekers.

Yes, immigrants are over-represented in the group of convicted rapists. But in a civilised society that respects Christian values, all foreigners will not be branded because of this and vulnerable people will not be left to die in the cold. We will help people who are genuinely in a vulnerable position and in need of safety, he pledged.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi SuomiSYRACUSE, NY - In late January 2018, Sams Club closed its store in Syracuse, leaving the sprawling building along Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse vacant.

Now The Hampshire Companies, based in Morristown, NJ, is proposing a new use for the 139,390-square-foot building, located at 2649 Erie Blvd. E.

The proposal calls for converting the building into a CubeSmart self-storage facility.

The exterior of the building would be painted and windows installed in the rear of the building, according to the proposal. The building is set on 14.3 acres.

Sams Club, which is owned by Walmart, has been for sale, and it doesnt appear the propertys pending sale has closed yet.

The property is assessed at $4.6 million in 2019, with a full estimated market value of $5.8 million, according to Onondaga County property tax records.

CubeSmart, based in Malvern, Pa., owns or manages 1,118 self-storage properties across the United States. There are no other CubeSmart locations in Syracuse at this time.

The closing of the Syracuse Sams Club location was among 60 other Sams Clubs locations that also closed in New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Louisiana and other states. Thousands of employees were let go.Syracuse, N.Y. -- A New Jersey company has run into stiff opposition to its proposed $62 million development with nearly 300 apartments near Syracuse University.

The Syracuse Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4-0 on Thursday to deny variances needed by Northside Genesee Associates to build 283 apartments on a 1.7-acre site in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of East Genesee Street. The developer said its not giving up, however, and plans to modify its proposal.

The zoning boards thumbs-down came after both the zoning board and the Syracuse Planning Commission wrote letters to the developer saying they think the project would be too big for the neighborhood.

The proposal involves substantial demolition of primarily small-scale buildings and their replacement with a single building having a much larger mass and scale, the zoning board wrote.

The proposals 283 dwelling units and parking garage, with virtually complete lot coverage, would create a concentration of high density inconsistent with the low- to medium-density of the existing neighborhood," the Planning Commission said. Additionally, the proposed buildings mass, scale, materials and detailing would stand in stark contrast to the salient characteristics of the subject neighborhood.

Housing Visions, a nonprofit builder of affordable housing, has also expressed concerns about the project, saying it appears to be at a density that is very intense" for the size of the lot.

Housing Visions also said it was worried the project would lead to a rise in rents in the neighborhood.

As a fellow developer, we are not against development, but we do believe significant improvements can be made to the proposal that will benefit the neighborhood rather than detract from the success that Housing Visions has worked to create in the neighborhood over the past 29 years, President and CEO Benjamin Lockwood wrote.

A speaker at a public hearing held by the zoning board on Thursday opposed the development, too.

I dont think it would fit in any residential neighborhood in the city of Syracuse, said Ken Garno, a facilitator for Tomorrows Neighborhoods Today, a city-wide neighborhood group. To me, it belongs downtown, based on its appearance.

Northside Genesee Associates is a limited liability company created by Michaels Development, of Marlton, New Jersey, the same company that built the 505 on Walnut, a 126-unit student housing development that opened in 2018 directly across the street from the proposed new apartments.

Eleven multifamily homes and an apartment building would be demolished to make way for the new building.

Eleven multifamily homes and an apartment building would be demolished to make way for a proposed $62 million, 283-unit apartment building in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of East Genesee Street in Syracuse. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)Rick Moriarty

According to the developers proposal, the project would be a mix of two-level townhomes and one- to five-bedroom apartments (with the majority containing two bedrooms or less). All would be contained in a single building.

In addition, the building would have an internal courtyard and multilevel parking with 283 spaces (one for each apartment), with access on Ashworth Place. The top of the garage would contain a spa.

Parts of the building would be four stories tall and parts six stories tall.

In a written response to the criticism, the developer said the East Genesee Street corridor between South Crouse Avenue and South Beech Street contained a number of apartment block buildings ranging in height from two to six stories, including the six-story 505 on Walnut.

While the proposed project has a continuous footprint, the architecture is segmented into separate and specific areas to provide architectural interest with varying mass and elevations to emulate the appearance of multiple buildings similar to the older mansions and other apartment buildings within the corridor, the developer said.

Attorney Kevin McAuliffe, who is representing the developer, said he believes the city boards are primarily concerned that the new apartments will be filled with students and think the area has enough student housing.

In its proposal, the developer said it would seek to rent the apartments to young professionals, medical professionals, medical school graduates and university staff, rather than students. However, renderings submitted to the city show a building that bears a strong resemblance to the student housing across the street.

McAuliffe said the developer plans to modify the design in hopes of getting the zoning board to reconsider its denial of variances for set-back and development density requirements.

Weve got to resubmit, he said. Were coming up with new drawings to make it clear its not student housing.

The planning and zoning boards letters were sent to the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency, which is considering an application from the developer for a mortgage tax exemption worth $330,393, an exemption valued at $2 million from sales taxes on construction materials and a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-tax agreement that would provide discounts on property taxes. (The agency has not yet calculated the value of the property tax exemptions.)

The industrial development agency voted March 19 to declare that the project would have no significant environmental impact, clearing the way for the planning and zoning boards to vote on the project. The development agency has not yet voted on the developers application for tax breaks.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148A Cayuga County Sheriffs Office deputy has been arrested and accused of defrauding the Village of Moravia while also working as a police officer for the village, according to the Cayuga County Sheriffs Office.

Robert L. Brown, 42, was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, first-degree falsifying business records and official misconduct, deputies said. Hes accused of lying about hours worked as a police officer to the Village of Moravia while also working as a patrol deputy for the sheriffs office, deputies said.

An investigation into Brown started in January after numerous sources" reported that Brown was defrauding the Village of Moravia, deputies said.Syracuse, NY -- A jury will decide the fate of a Syracuse man accused of masterminding the robbery-turned-murder of a big-time drug dealer who served as godfather for the accused mans son.

Brian Montanez, 27, is accused of targeting the victim, Jose Castro, after a dispute over a drug car that had a secret stash box under the passenger seat.

Castro had hundreds of thousands of dollars in drugs and huge sums of cash, prosecutor Melinda McGunnigle said today. And Montanez wanted it.

To get it, Montanez is accused of enlisting a friend he met in federal prison, who flew in from Oklahoma. That friend, Arturo Resto, recruited his own childhood friend, Rene DeJesus, of New York City.

Montanez couldnt face his old friend directly, so he brought Resto and DeJesus to Syracuse to do his dirty work, McGunnigle argued during closing arguments today.

DeJesus and Resto were able to get into Castros apartment the morning of Sept. 25, 2017. Castro, the targeted victim, was not home.

At some point, they called Castro. He arrived home around 5 p.m. Thats when the assailants struck. At some point, DeJesus jumped from a closet and sprayed dozens of bullets into the small kitchen area.

Castro was struck 15 times and killed. Resto, the fellow assailant, suffered a gunshot wound to his head and was also killed.

But Montanezs lawyer, Don Kelly, tried to cast doubt on the prosecutions theory with a simple question: why did the assailants wait all day for Castro to come home before demanding the drugs and cash? Why didnt they ransack Castros apartment in the hours before he arrived home?

Why dont you just find the heroin and the money and go? Why is it necessary to call Castro back to the residence to hold him up? What kind of stupid robbery is that? Kelly asked the jury during opening statements.

But McGunnigle responded today with a simple answer: they didnt know where the loot was.

She noted that Montanez, the man on trial, had admitted to police he knew that Castro had large sums of money and drugs. But none was found in the apartment.

This had to be a strong-arm robbery, she told the jury. They needed Jose (Castro) to take them to the drugs and the money.

And McGunnigle pulled out a surprise witness during trial: the killer himself. DeJesus, who is spending a possible lifetime behind bars, agreed to testify against Montanez. Its unclear when he agreed, but his testimony wasnt promised to the jury at the beginning of trial and he received no sentence reduction for his testimony.

McGunnigle said that DeJesuss testimony alone was enough to convict Montanez. He testified that Montanez knew of the plan. Theres proof Montanez gave DeJesus the murder weapon -- a handgun altered to become fully automatic. And he drove DeJesus from the scene afterward.

And if Montanez knew of the plan, she argued, he was guilty of murder under law.

Kelly made the opposite argument. He suggested that, while Montanez may have known that DeJesus and Resto were planning to take drugs and cash, that the thefts had been committed in the hours before Castro came home.

It was not Montanezs decision to wait around all day and then murder Castro when he returned home, Kelly argued.

Montanez faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder. His jury will begin deliberating today after final instructions from the judge.Western New York native and Syracuse University alumnus Jeff Glor may soon be on the way out at CBS Evening News, according to new reports.

Vanity Fair reports Susan Zirinsky has been shaking things up since she became the first female president of CBS News three months ago. Zirinsky is focused on improving the ratings at CBS This Morning since Charlie Rose was fired amid allegations of sexual assault, adding John Dickerson and Bianna Golodryga to co-hosts Gayle King and Norah ODonnell.

The Huffington Post reported earlier this week that Golodryga has left the network and has not appeared on CBS This Morning since last week. According to Variety, CBS still has yet to confirm Golodrygas status.

King, meanwhile, is reportedly in negotiations to renew her contract that expires in November.

At the same time, Variety and Vanity Fair both report CBS is considering moving Dickerson to 60 Minutes on Sundays, and there have been serious discussions about moving ODonnell to Evening News.

That means ODonnell would replace Glor on the CBS evening newscast, less than two years after he took over Evening News." Glor replaced previous anchor Scott Pelley in the seat once held by Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Katie Couric.

CBS has long been a distant third in the ratings behind ABCs World News Tonight with Syracuse native David Muir and NBCs Nightly News with Lester Holt. Nielsen ratings released this week show Muir was No. 1 for the first quarter of 2019 with 9.32 million total viewers (and 1.962 million in the 25-54 target demo), Holt had 8.68 million total viewers (with a slight lead of 1.972 million in the 25-54 demo), and Glor had 6.58 million total viewers (and 1.355 million in the target audience).

Glor was relatively unknown and untested before he became the face of the networks nightly news coverage, and people in his camp feel he hasnt been given enough time or support to turn the Evening News around, Vanity Fair reported.

Glor is up slightly from the 6.21 million viewers he was averaging in the 2017-2018 season, but he has not narrowed the gap between his competitors. In fact, Muir has widened it as the World News Tonight" audience has grown by 1 million viewers from the 2016-17 season.

Network sources tell The Daily Mail that ODonnell, 45, has been lobbying for Glors job since she was passed over for it in 2017. Staffers say shes even pushing to move the Evening News desk from New York to Washington, D.C., where she and her husband Geoff Tracy have a house and restaurant.

CBS has not confirmed any of the rumors, but Vanity Fair notes that its fall 2019 lineup will likely be announced soon as the network prepares to pitch to advertisers at TV upfronts next month.

Glor, 43, grew up in Tonawanda, N.Y., where his first job was delivering newspapers for The Buffalo News. The diehard Buffalo Bills fan graduated from Syracuse University in 1997 with degrees in journalism and economics, going on to work as a reporter for WSTM-3 (CNY Central) in Syracuse.

I take pride in Buffalo and I take pride in Syracuse, Glor told syracuse.com in 2017. I take pride in everything that helped make me who I am today.

Glor joined CBS in 2007 and took over as anchor of CBS Evening News" in December 2017.CLAY, N.Y. - Mall food courts are often dominated by grab-and-go fast food, but inside the Great Northern Mall, theres a new restaurant offering just the opposite.

Han Blackmer, an optician who owns Blackmer Family Eyewear in the same mall, was trying to convince Jon Williams to open a restaurant. He had feasted on Williams barbecue at parties and family gatherings and wanted the public to have a taste.

It took five years before Williams agreed, but his efforts paid off and the two opened Route 31 Smokehouse BBQ inside the mall food court in early February.

Williams grew up in restaurants. He was an executive chef at an Embassy Suites and ran his first kitchen at age 18. Later, as a corporate trainer for Applebees, he was flown across the country to train the kitchen staff at new restaurants.

Before launching Route 31 Smokehouse BBQ, Williams worked as a truck driver and his cross-country travels are well represented in the menu. The four homemade barbecue sauces: Original, chipotle, whiskey peach and apple habanero, are in-tune with sweeter, Kansas City style sauces. Theyre served on the side, because dry barbecue is what Williams learned when he was in Texas.

The beef brisket, with a rich, pink smoke ring at least a quarter-inch thick, is another taste of the Lone Star State. The Memphis-style pulled pork sandwich, topped with tangy, vinegar-based coleslaw, would feel right at home in the Carolinas as well.

Id put my food next to anyone and take my chances," Williams said.

Williams developed the menu (available on the restaurants Facebook page) and cooks the food, which can take up to 16 hours for the pulled pork and 14 hours for the beef brisket. That means early morningsWilliams starts smoking meats most days at 5 a.m. All the side dishes, salads and starters are made in-house as well.

Its time-consuming, but its a labor of love, Williams said.

Williams uses only charcoal and hickory wood for the smoker, which is located outside behind the restaurant off a rear parking lot. Fabricated from a metal drum, the smoker is completely manually-operated. The fire is easier to manage in the summer, but when its cold and snowy outside, like it was when they first opened, the fire needs to be tended to every hour or so through the night, Williams said.

He parked his car by the smoker and slept there four times that first week.

The restaurant has only been open for around two months, but Williams and Blackmer already have their eyes set on growth. Theyll be selling their chicken wingssmoked for two hours and then deep-fried to crisp them before being tossed with sauceas their $1 sample at the upcoming Taste of Syracuse. Theyll also be at Harborfest in Oswego and other festivals this summer.

Their intent for the Great Northern outpost is for it to be a stepping stone to a full-service restaurant, as well as a base for their catering operation. Theyre eyeing a restaurant on Route 11 in Brewerton, where theyd serve all the smoked meats offered at the current location, as well as an expanded menu of steaks, burgers, fish and other entrees, cooked over a wood-fired grill.

The food court location would remain open after the sit-down restaurant opens.

Route 31 Smokehouse BBQ opens at 7 a.m. daily and closes when the mall closes. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast offerings include a smokehouse omelet with pulled pork, onions, peppers and cheese, brisket or pulled pork breakfast sandwiches and one of Williams favorites: Sausage gravy and biscuits.

"This is the tip of the iceberg, Williams said. This is only grazing the surface of what I can do.

Jacob Pucci finds the best in food, dining and culture across Upstate New York. Contact him at (315) 282-8611, or by email at jpucci@syracuse.com.SKANEATELES, NY - Well-known scrap dealer and restaurateur Adam Weitsman wants to add an in-ground pool with a spacious pool house with cabana and patio next to his mansion on West Lake Road in Skaneateles.

To do that, he paid $2.5 million in February 2018 for a 118-year home next door and wants to tear it down.

Not everyone is happy with his plan to demolish the house at 61 W. Lake St. Some residents say the old home should be saved, and believe tearing it down would mean losing a home of architectural significance.

Weitsman has come up with an offer: He will give the home to anyone who wants it -- plus $25,000 to help the new owner move it off his property.

Weitsman needs permission from the village to build the proposed 2,376-square-foot pool house, along with the 1,575-square-foot pool and patio, Skaneateles village officials said. He needs a special use permit and area variances, they said.

Village officials say Weitsman needs a demolition permit to tear down the 2,564-square-foot, two-story home.

The home is just south of his 12,309-square-foot mansion at 45 W. Lake St.

Weitsman built his house in 2010 after combining two adjoining lots and tearing down the homes that were on them.

Roadside front view of the Weitsman mansion on West Lake St. in Skaneateles. Mike Greenlar / The Post Standard. Mike GreenlarMike Greenlar

Since Weitsman first announced his plans to tear down the older home and build the pool house, the village has been receiving letters from residents both for and against the project, officials said.

The home he wants to tear down is "old, rotted and in rough condition,'' Weitsman told Syracuse.com|The Post-Standard.

The home is known by many as the Parcells home, after the late Grace B. Parcells, who lived in the house for many years until her death at age 91 in 2014.

Weitsman said Parcells children offered to sell him their mothers home without putting it on the market. Combined, he now has nearly three acres of waterfront property.

The Parcells home is assessed at $909,500. Weitsman said the $2.5 million price he paid reflects the propertys location.

I like to be a good neighbor,'' Weitsman said. Im making sure my project fits into the character of the area. And Im not in a rush to do it. Id like this pool and pool house for my kids.

The opposition took out an anonymous ad in the local Skaneateles newspaper saying that the homes removal and its demolition would be an irreplaceable loss of a significant building and landscape."

It also said the building is in pristine architectural condition.

Others are saying on social media that Weitsman, who is close to opening a new Mexican restaurant -- The Elephant and the Dove -- in Skaneateles, should be able to do tear down the house since it is on his property.

The house "is not historic and is not in a historic district to boot,'' said one poster.

Another said its a dangerous and slippery slope to say someone shouldnt have the right to tear down a structure they own on their property.

The local weekly also published letters on both sides of the issue.

Holland Gregg of Citizens to Preserve the Character of Skaneateles wrote that he believes the demolition hurts Skaneateles character, while Evan Dreyfus and Gary Dower submitted letters saying property owners should have the right to do what they want with structures on their land as long as they adhere to zoning regulations and village laws.

A public hearing on the issue is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Skaneateles fire hall.

Weitsman also owns Owego-based Upstate Shredding and the Krebs restaurant in Skaneateles.ALBANY, NY  New York employers who hire recovering drug addicts can get tax credits under legislation included in the recently approved state budget.

The law will provide businesses with credits of up to $2,000 for each qualified employee starting in 2020. In order to get the tax credit, employees must have worked at least 500 hours and be participating in a rehabilitation program approved by the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. The state can allocate up to $2 million annually for the tax credits.

Assemblyman Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay, sponsored the legislation. It was co-sponsored by Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury.

Anyone who has made the brave decision to begin their journey to recovery should be encouraged and supported every step of the way, Jones said in a prepared statement.

The tax credit is an incentive to help counter reluctance by employers to hire people recovering from addiction, Jones said in a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

By gaining steady employment during the recovery process, individuals are more likely to complete their recovery and maintain a sober, healthy lifestyle, Jones said.Syracuse University is holding a vigil this afternoon for communications school Dean Lorraine Branham, who died Tuesday.

Branham, who led the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications for 11 years, will be honored at a vigil at Hendricks Chapel on the SU campus at 3 p.m., officials announced.

Amy Falkner, a senior associate dean who is currently acting as dean, in an email invited students to tie orange ribbons around the trees surrounding the Newhouse school following the vigil.

Falkner said in an email that plans for a formal memorial service would be announced in the future.

Branham died Tuesday morning after a battle with cancer. She was 66.

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992Syracuse.com has updated its search of the latest residential and commercial real estate sales in Cayuga, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties.

Search updated real estate sales in Cayuga, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties

This weeks update includes:

The sale of a restaurant in Sandy Creek, in Oswego County, from Carnsies Marina-Resort LLC to Stephen Dash. The sale price of the building at 45 Wigwam Drive was $350,000.

The sale of storage, warehouse and distribution facilities at 7268-7280 Caswell Street, Cicero from Onondaga County to Helping Hounds Dog Rescue, Inc. The sale price was $280,000. The building is a former Air Force Facility.

The transfer of agricultural land in the town of Sullivan, in Madison County, to the Great Swamp Conservancy. It was owned by Ann Hale.

Syracuse.com updates a search of real estate sales every week. Readers can search properties by place, price, school district or the names of the buyers and sellers for the last 3 years.

The records come from the New York State Office of Real Property Tax Services.

If you have a news tip about a sale, contact reporter Michelle Breidenbach at mbreidenbach@syracuse.com.Two New York police officers were injured Tuesday at a funeral for a prominent rabbi.

The New York Post reports the funeral procession for Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Portugal drew thousands of mourners, requiring NYPD to provide crowd control in Brooklyn. Some estimates said as many as 100,000 Jewish people came to pay respects to the holy Skulener Rebbe, a Holocaust survivor who died Monday at age 95.

Skulen funeral in Brooklyn. Heading to Monsey (in Rockland). pic.twitter.com/BxptF1Xm8s  Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) April 2, 2019

At one point, a cop suffered a leg injury when he was reportedly hit by the hearse carrying the rabbis body. Sources told the New York Daily News that he was walking alongside the hearse when he slipped and fell; the hearse ran over his leg and he was taken to a local hospital for a broken ankle.

The Post reports a female police office, meanwhile, was hurt when a drone flying over the crowd fell and hit her in the head. She suffered minor injuries, later described as an abrasion to the face.

NYPD Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison told reporters during a press conference that it appeared the drone ran out of gas and fell before the pilot could land it safely.

The Post reports the drones pilot, 36-year-old Yehiel Rosenfeld, of Monsey, N.Y., was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment.

He only had the drone for a week, one police source told the Daily News.

Tens of thousands line up dozens of streets in Borough Park, Brooklyn to mourn at the large Funeral of the holy Skulener Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel Avrum Portugal OBM (95) pic.twitter.com/Ffk6CsVbrd  Satmar Headquarters (@HQSatmar) April 2, 2019

Breaking news 2 officers down 14th ave 58 st. One hit by car and one hit br drone. 1 arrest. Developing story. On the 10 13. Avtive scene. pic.twitter.com/7bYVy6pbNh  nycphotog (@nycphotog) April 2, 2019The Seneca Falls Town Board voted Tuesday against a resolution to stop funding the National Womens Hall of Fame.

Last week, town supervisor Gregory Lazzarro had proposed to stop the funding after learning that Jane Fonda was being inducted this year. Veterans and non-veterans reached out to Lazzarro and objected to her inclusion. Fonda stirred controversy during the Vietnam War when she was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in Hanoi and earned the nickname Hanoi Jane."

Four board members voted against the resolution while Lazarro voted in favor. One board member abstained.

According to reports, the town of Seneca Falls has given $278,750 to the National Womens Hall of Fame since 2010 and has secured a $420,000 grant.

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.

The National Womens Hall of Fame was created in 1969 in Seneca Falls, N.Y., where the 1848 womens rights convention was held. The institution honors advocates for womens rights every year.Who will be held accountable for the deaths of nine people during a biker-club shootout in the middle of a Twin Peaks restaurant parking lot in broad daylight in 2015?

No one, the district attorney's office in McLennan County, Texas, announced Tuesday.

Barry Johnson said his office would drop all remaining charges against the bikers, bringing the years-long saga to a remarkably anticlimactic end without obtaining a single conviction against any of the notorious brawl's participants.

The announcement comes nearly four years after roughly 200 members of rival motorcycle clubs descended on the Waco strip-mall parking lot, allegedly to settle a territorial dispute. It soon devolved into a bloody melee. Terrified diners enjoying a midday lunch took cover in the restaurant as dozens of Bandidos and Cossacks bikers exchanged gunfire and brandished knives. Overwhelmed police added to the gunfire but failed to stop the violence. Nine people died in just minutes, making it the deadliest biker shootout in U.S. history. At least 20 were critically injured. Dozens of guns and knives were abandoned as swarms of tattooed men scattered.

Nearly everyone at the scene - 177 people - was arrested.

What followed was a prosecutorial fiasco as, one by one, the criminal cases collapsed under a former district attorney's leadership. During the four years of prosecution against dozens of alleged gang members, only a single case went to trial, resulting in a mistrial. The vast majority of the original 177 cases were dismissed.

For Johnson, who took office Jan. 1, the mess he inherited was too hopeless to clean up. He suspected further prosecution of the remaining 24 individuals would fail, just like the rest. It was time to let it go, he said.

"I do not believe that it is a proper exercise of my judgment ... to proceed with the further prosecution of what I believe to have been an ill-conceived path that this District Attorney's Office was set upon almost four years ago," Johnson wrote in his statement, "and I do not believe that path should continue to be pursued."

The Bandidos and the Cossacks both trace their roots in Texas to the 1960s and, for years, the Lone Star State biker gangs remained rivals. The trigger of the May 17, 2015 brawl, however, has largely remained mysterious even as prosecutors interviewed dozens of bikers. Authorities said the shootout was the result of a turf war, arguing that the Bandidos were angry when the much smaller Cossacks club began wearing Texas patches on their jackets. Bikers present at the shooting disputed this, with some saying it began when one biker ran over another's foot.

Problems plagued the case from the very beginning. Within hours of the shootout, then-District Attorney Abel Reyna issued 177 blanket arrest warrants for those found at the scene. No matter their suspected degree of involvement, all faced identical felony charges: engaging in organized criminal activity, resulting in murder and aggravated assault.

Some, however, were not even connected to the brawl and just happened to be wearing biker-like clothing while dining at Twin Peaks, where the Bandidos were hosting a social event. Multiple erroneous arrests resulted in multimillion-dollar lawsuits that are still pending, the Austin American-Statesman reported. At least 130 of the bikers have filed civil rights lawsuits against the police and DA's office, angry they had been labeled "gang members" and insisting they were innocent of any gang conspiracy.

Defense attorneys for the men weren't the only ones who bashed Reyna for the blanket accusations. As former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes told the Houston Chronicle in 2018: "You got to prove who the bad egg is. You can't just say, 'I'm going to put all the chickens in jail.' "

Ultimately, 155 motorcycle club members were indicted by a grand jury on the identical charges. Johnson wrote in his letter that he was perplexed why Reyna didn't more closely examine each biker's actions so he could bring more specific charges against each one. Had he done so, Johnson wrote, Reyna could have had a better opportunity to present evidence that would "support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

"In my opinion," Johnson wrote, "had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences against many of those who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl. Over the next three years the prior District Attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day."

Reyna said in a statement to the Waco Tribune-Herald that he disagreed with Johnson's decision and with some of the "accusations" Johnson made in his statement but said he would "respect the fact that voters of McLennan County chose Mr. Johnson to make these types of decisions."

The only person to go to trial was Christopher "Jake" Carrizal, president of the Dallas Bandidos chapter. McClennan County spent $1.3 million preparing for Carrizal's trial and investigating all the Twin Peaks cases, WAFB9 reported.

Carrizal was accused by prosecutors of organizing the brawl, based in part on text messages about the Twin Peaks in which he instructed Bandidos members to bring their "tools," which prosecutors say meant guns, and to "leave your women at home."

Carrizal, however, maintained on the witness stand that the Cossacks group ambushed them at Twin Peaks, showing up with bulletproof vests and looking for a fight.

Speaking to the jury, the thick-bearded biker wiped tears through his black-framed glasses as he recounted being surrounded by Cossacks, "just lying there, waiting to be stabbed or shot," as the Waco Tribune-Herald reported. Carrizal admitted firing his gun but claimed it was in self-defense.

"I know you're blaming us for this event, but I don't blame us," he said, according to the news station KWTX. "I don't blame the cops for it."

He blamed only the Cossacks, he said.

Of the dead, six were Cossacks, one was a Bandido, one belonged to another motorcycle club and another man was not affiliated with any club, according to KVUE. Ballistics evidence later showed that four of the men who died had bullet wounds from the same caliber rifles fired by police, the Associated Press reported. A grand jury declined to indict three of the Waco officers who were involved.

In November 2017, the jury in Carrizal's case voted 10-2 for acquittal, causing the mistrial.

Johnson told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday that he didn't want a repeat of that "nightmare."

"To open that Pandora's box back up and start down that road again - when we don't feel that, after looking at the facts and the evidence, that we would be able to meet our burden of beyond a reasonable doubt - would be irresponsible, in my opinion," Johnson said. "Therefore, I am making the decision now to end this nightmare that we have been dealing with in this county since May 17, 2015."

Before being voted out of office, largely over the handling of this case, Reyna dismissed all but 24 of the cases. He downgraded the charges from engaging in organized criminal activity to rioting, a class B misdemeanor.

Johnson could have upgraded those riot charges to felonies based on the violent acts in the parking lot but said he believed the risky legal maneuver might not withstand an appeal. He said he feared wasting more taxpayer money and judicial and law enforcement resources.

Defense attorneys for the bikers were thrilled, telling the Tribune-Herald they had known since the start that their clients would prevail.

They destroyed this case a long time ago, Houston attorney Paul Looney told the newspaper. They were kind of like a chicken that had its neck wrung. They ran around the yard for a bit, but eventually they fall over dead. That is what happened here.Militants in southern Afghanistan had already salted the earth with bombs when Sgt. Dominic Esquibel led his Marines through Sangin. On his final patrol, the ground ruptured under his feet in an explosion of light and blood.

The blast tore at his right arm and shattered parts of his right leg and foot.

"I thank God it was me," he told author Bing West from a hospital bed in 2011, "rather than one of my men."

Doctors were barely able to salvage Esquibel's foot. He wears an exoskeleton, carbon-fiber brace to help him walk and run.

And that vulnerable spot is where Esquibel said a U.S. park ranger gave swift kicks during an arrest over a handicapped parking space at Sequoia National Park in 2012, prompting a lawsuit accusuing the ranger of assault and false arrest.

The federal government settled for $250,000 in March to avoid a trial scheduled for last week. A charge of failing to follow a lawful order was dropped in 2014.

"I'm grateful," Esquibel said of the settlement - and the whole ordeal being over. Esquibel says the alleged assault left him in "excruciating" pain; the blows were so severe that his health problems cascaded to high blood pressure and sleepless nights. His foot is now a total loss, he said, which he attributes to the altercation.

"I'm getting it amputated now because he didn't stop," Esquibel said.

According to Esquibel's account, he and his family took the trip to Sequoia National Park outside Fresno, California, in December 2012. When they arrived, he flashed a handicapped park-admission pass to the entrance employee, who warned that they could not venture all the way through the park without snow chains or enter the park for a quick family photo until traffic cleared up.

So Esquibel pulled into a handicapped parking spot, tossed up his disabled placard and left to find a restroom.

"You can't park there, it's a handicapped spot," the employee yelled out to him, Esquibel said. He said he was disabled. "I can see that you're not," she snapped back, and threatened to call the police. "Please do," he replied.

She spoke into a radio, and two Rangers coalesced on Esquibel, one of them identified as Ranger Parrack. They demanded that he produce a handicapped driver license. He said that the special license wasn't required because his car wasn't adaptive and that his placard should be enough.

Parrack threatened to throw Esquibel to the ground and ordered him under arrest. He contorted Esquibel's stiff and scarred arm, triggering massive pain, he said, as his wife watched.

Then Parrack delivered kicks between Esquibel's feet to separate his legs. He grimaced in agony, he said, shouting about his war injury as his wife cried out. He couldn't spread his legs any further, and trying to balance himself only prompted the rangers to kick him more, he said.

"I told my wife to remove herself and get in the car," he said, "so at least there would a witness to hold him accountable."

Parrack stopped to question what he meant. Esquibel reeled in pain. "I'm combat wounded, and you're kicking my salvaged limb," Esquibel said he told Parrack, whose partner stood nearby.

Parrack pulled up Esquibel's jeans leg to reveal the brace. As he did so, his partner muttered an expletive, according to Esquibel.

Parrack stuffed him into a vehicle and issued a citation for "failure to follow a lawful order," documents show. Esquibel was released later. The charge would be dropped.

In 2004, Esquibel rained hand grenades on insurgents in Fallujah and braced enemy fire to evacuate two wounded Marines, carrying out the body of a third. He was awarded the Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, but he declined to accept it.

"He didn't feel right about the award," his attorney Butch Wagner said. "He said it was something fellow Marines would have done for him." Esquibel declined to discuss his time in uniform.

It is unclear whether Parrack or any other park staffers were disciplined over the altercation. The Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks did not return a request for comment. The Department of the Interior, named as a party in the lawsuit, declined to comment and referred questions to the Department of Justice. A spokeswoman there confirmed the settlement but declined further comment.

Esquibel suggests that rangers could be better trained to recognize and accommodate handicapped visitors. "It is my hope that this will prompt other law enforcement to think twice before repeating the same missteps and causing further misfortune for others with disabilities," he said.

That is a start, he said, and so is the money from a settlement. But his recovery is far from over; the amputation will come within the next couple months.

Time to chop it off, he said.Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.Why it matters: Intel's long awaited Optane DC Persistent Memory DIMMs have arrived and they could greatly transform the way servers and data centers handle data sets. The new DIMMs will see Intel attempting to bridge the price and performance gap between DRAM and NAND and the new class of memory opens up several unique use cases.

During Intel's Data-Centric Innovation Day, the company announced the highly anticipated Optane DC Persistent Memory DIMMs. While the new Cascade Lake Xeons may be the star of the show, Intel's Optane is a key product in propelling the company forward to its data-centric future for which they've come up with a new slogan "Moving, Storing and Processing Data."

The new Optane DIMMs fit under the "store" designation as Intel is looking to leverage them to store more data affordably, while also potentially disrupting the memory market. Intel's Optane DIMMs will use 3D XPoint memory, a type of non-volatile memory that is something of an amalgamation of NAND and DRAM.

A key aspect is that 3D XPoint retains data after power loss, which means it can be addressed as both memory and storage and poises it for many new use cases.

The new Optane DIMMs will populate a standard DDR4 slot, but offer much denser storage options: capacities of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB will be offered. That's a significant increase from the current 128GB DDR4 module. Intel is positioning the DIMMs to bridge the price and performance gap between DRAM and NAND, although pricing details aren't currently known. However, the DIMMs are expected to be priced much lower than current DDR4 DRAM.

The DIMMs will also come with an SSD-like controller as well as a proprietary memory controller designed by Intel. Optane Memory DIMMs can be used with traditional DRAM, although they will be manged much differently due to latency, bandwidth and protocol concerns. Hence the need for Cascade Lake's reworked memory controller.

Intel's new class of memory should allow servers to deploy much larger amounts of memory -- into the terabytes -- much closer to the CPU, in addition to traditional RAM. Intel's Optane DIMMs should in theory greatly reduce the amount of trips to storage systems. Because it's non-volatile, this should also make data loss from memory (should a server need to be rebooted or go down) almost a non-issue.In context: Apple's paid news service reportedly attracted more than 200,000 subscribers in its first two days. It's a healthy start to yet another service-based product for the California-based technology giant as it continues to diversify its income stream.

Apples premium news subscription service is off to a hot start. Two sources familiar with the companys numbers told The New York Times that more than 200,000 people subscribed to Apple News+ in the first 48 hours of availability.

Thats more subscribers than digital magazine app Texture managed to amass at its peak. Apple, if you recall, acquired the digital magazine service for an undisclosed sum last year. It serves as the basis for the new Apple News+.

Texture recently announced that its final day of service will be May 28, 2019. A post on the companys website encouraged users to turn to Apple News+ to continue reading their favorite magazines.

Apple announced its revamped subscription news service at a March 25 media event. For $9.99 per month, subscribers get access to more than 300 periodicals, the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. Notably, The New York Times and The Washington Post did not join despite intense lobbying from Apple.

Mark Thompson, chief executive at The New York Times, said his disinterest in the app stemmed from the fact that it jumbled different news sources into these superficially attractive mixtures that make it difficult for readers to know which publication a story is coming from. A spokesperson for The Washington Post simply said they are interested in growing their own subscriber base.

Lead image courtesy Jim Wilson via The New York Times.What just happened? Nintendos library of classic NES games playable online via the Switch is expanding next week with the addition of three new titles, adding even more value to the company's online service.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels first appeared in Japan on June 3, 1986, as Super Mario Bros. 2. This sequel to Super Mario Bros. was much more difficult than the original  so much so, in fact, that Nintendo of America decided to take a different route with its Super Mario Bros. 2 release for North American gamers.

The Super Mario Bros. 2 youre probably used to is actually a remake of a Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic (that explains why it looks so different from other games in the series).

North American gamers wouldnt get a chance to play the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 until it appeared as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in the 1993 compilation Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES.

Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream is another game youre likely familiar with, albeit in a different iteration. The original North American release was Mike Tysons Punch-Out!! but once Nintendos license to use Tyson expired, he was replaced with Mr. Dream as the final boss.

Star Soldier, developed by Hudson Soft, launched in 1986 as a spiritual successor to Tecmos Star Force. In this shoot em up, players pilot a starship called Caesar that travels through space, fighting supercomputers called Starbrains.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream and Star Soldier will join Nintendos growing collection of NES favorites on April 10.Earthlings might get to see what a black hole's event horizon looks like if speculations about the European Southern Observatory's announcement is to be believed.

The international space agency is set to deliver some big news on April 10 related to the ongoing Event Horizon Telescope project. While no details have been released yet, the ESO hinted that it has something to do with the first-ever results of the initiative.

Many observers on the internet believe ESO scientists may have finally captured an image of actual event horizon. The phenomenon has never been observed before because black holes are practically invisible in space.

The EHT announcement might end up becoming a significant milestone for the scientific community.

Unlocking the secrets of black holes holds the key to understanding gravity in general. Not only does it help fine tune Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, it also allows researchers better calibrate global positioning satellites.

A Blackhole's Event Horizon

Members of the EHT team have been scouring the Milky Way galaxy to determine where the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A is located. However, the nature of black holes has made it difficult to spot the phenomenon using any of the optical, radio, X-ray, or gamma-ray telescopes available. This is why they focused their efforts in finding an event horizon instead.

An event horizon is the point of a black hole where no light can escape. Spotting one is possible in theory, but it will not be an easy task because of how hard it is to predict the spacetime around black holes.

Additionally, the thick layer of gas and dust surrounding Sagittarius A has made it difficult to see the phenomenon in space.

To solve this problem, researchers from different parts of the world worked together to find the event horizon. They used all available telescopes to collect large volumes of data that they would need. They then spent a long time sorting through all of the information they have gathered and analyzed them.

By the looks of things, the ESO scientists may have found what they have been searching for.

ESO Announcement

The ESO announced that the EHT team, along with the European Commission and the European Research Council, will present the results of their project. The groups confidently describe their findings as "groundbreaking."

A planned news conference next week will be streamed online on the space agency's website, as well as by the ERC and various related social media pages. Viewers will be able to send in their questions to the researchers on social media via the hashtag #AskEHTeu.

The ESO will send out an official press release regarding the presentation, which will be available in different languages. The space agency will also provide extensive audiovisual material along with the press release.

In all, six press conferences will be held simultaneously in different parts of the world. These will be in Brussels, Belgium; Santiago, Chile; Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; and Washington, D.C., United States.

"Due to the importance of this result, we encourage satellite events in the different ESO Member States and beyond," the space agency said.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.A 10-year-old girl contracted a horrific condition after playing in the mud. The child visited a primary care clinic because of itchy papules on the soles of her feet and toes that came along with painful lesions.

Contracted Parasitic Infection After Playing In Muddy Pigsty

In a New England Journal of Medicine image challenge published on March 28, doctors presented the case of the young girl who caught parasitic infection on the soles of her feet.

The girl apparently contracted the infection when her family traveled to rural Brazil, where she was said to have played in a muddy pigsty without wearing shoes.

Doctors removed sand fleas from several of her lesions.

"An otherwise healthy 10-year-old girl presented to the primary care clinic with a 10-day history of multiple itchy papules on the soles of her feet and on her toes. The lesions had black dots in the center and were painful," doctors described her condition.

Tungiasis

Symptoms indicate the child contracted Tungiasis, an inflammatory skin disease caused by the female sand flea Tunga penetrans.

The condition occurs when the parasites burrow into the skin, particularly in the sole, toes, lateral rim of the foot and heel. The infected individual starts to experience itching and irritation once the female fleas develop fully and increase their body volume.

The small openings in the skin provide an avenue for the parasites to have contact with air, so they continue to breathe, defecate, and even lay eggs. These parasitic creatures can lay more than a hundred eggs over a two-week period.

It takes two weeks for the infected site to swell up to a diameter of 10 millimeters. The parasitic animals usually die after four and six weeks,. The eggs are then expelled and fall onto the ground.

The condition can make it difficult for the patient to walk. If left untreated, the infection may worsen and lead to bacteremia, which happens when bacteria get into the circulating blood. Untreated tungiasis may also lead to tetanus and gangrene.

Prevalent In Poor Communities

The fleas are often found in place with sandy climate, which include beaches, stables, and farms. The World Health Organization said that tungiasis occurred in nearly all countries in Central America.

"Tungiasis thrives where living conditions are precarious, such as villages located in remote beaches, communities in the rural hinterland and shanty towns of big cities. In these settings the poorest of the poor carry the highest burden of disease," WHO said.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Scientists are looking into fish slime to develop a new kind of antibiotics to combat the growing threat of superbugs to public health.

Decades of misuse of antibiotics have led to the rise of superbugs  strains of bacteria that have changed how they react to medicine. A growing number of infections, including pneumonia and tuberculosis, are becoming more challenging to treat because antibiotics are not as effective anymore.

Experts warned that the superbug problem could lead to situations where common infections would become life-threatening again. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million people in the United States get antibiotic-resistant infections and an estimated 23,000 die from it.

Fish Slime Antibiotics

Now, a team of researchers proposed that new antibiotics that could squash superbugs could be found from fish slime. The mucus that coats the outer surface of the fish has the capacity to protect the marine animal from bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

"Fish mucus is really interesting because the environment the fish live in is complex," said Molly Austin, a student who is part of the research. "They are in contact with their environment all the time with many pathogenic viruses."

In the research, the team took a closer look at the collection of microbes in the mucus and the substance it produces. They took swabs from 17 species of fishes caught off the coast of Southern California.

The researchers said that they found 47 different strains of bacteria, some of which produce chemical mixtures that might be able to fight methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A few strains, meanwhile, show promise against E.coli and even colon cancer cells.

They will present their findings at the American Chemical Society's Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, Florida.

The Race To Find New Antibiotics Against Superbugs

More studies are needed before the first antibiotics derived from fish slime are released to the market. The researchers said that their next goal is to identify the particular substance responsible for the mucus' antibacterial properties. Also, they have yet to analyze in detail each of the strains of bacteria they found from the fish slime swabs they collected.

"For us, any microbe in the marine environment that could provide a new compound is worth exploring," added Sandra Loesgen, the principal investigator of the study.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.NASA's chief emphasized the importance of the Space Launch System megarocket if the United States plans to meet its space exploration goal.

During a U.S. Congress hearing on NASA's 2020 budget, agency administrator Jim Bridenstine highlighted the need to finish the SLS rocket soon to achieve the objective of sending people to the moon by 2024.

The budget request has reportedly delayed the installation of necessary upgrades to the rocket and forced some of its scheduled payloads to be transferred to other spacecraft.

Bridenstine had also discussed the potential of having the Orion crew capsule be launched into space using a private rocket at a recent Senate hearing. The congressmen's questions during the House hearing were focused more on clarifying Bridenstine's earlier statements.

NASA's SLS Megarocket

Bridenstine elaborated on some of the points mentioned by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence regarding the goal of sending American astronauts back to the moon over the next five years.

To be able to have boots on the moon by 2024, as Pence stated, the NASA chief said they would need to have the SLS rocket. They would need to speed up the production of the megarocket and have as many of those spacecraft as soon as possible.

Bridenstine added that the space agency would also need to have the Exploration Upper Stage [EUS] available too. The EUS will serve as the second stage for the SLS's Block 1B, and it will activate after the Block 1's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. It will allow the megarocket to deliver larger payloads during missions.

The current NASA budget does not provide for the development of the EUS.

While the space agency is committed to meeting the vice president's goal of an initial SLS rocket launch by June 2020, Bridenstine expressed his apprehension that the exact launch date would be feasible. However, he stressed that the megarocket is still key to getting the Orion capsule sent into space as possible.

Bridenstine mentioned his earlier statement to senators that NASA would review all available options, including commercial ones, in order to meet the deadline.

"We did look at those commercial options, as you identified," Bridenstine said.

"We came to a determination that while some of those options are feasible, none of those options ... are going to keep us within budget and on schedule."

Keeping NASA Builders On Schedule

The NASA chief explained that they are conducting a 45-day study to determine how they could speed up the SLS's production without having to increase costs. He said they will be able to wrap up the study within the next few weeks.

The space agency purchased hardware that would allow the SLS to be integrated horizontally and not vertically, according to Bridenstine. With this component, builders can now work on other parts of the rocket even when the engine section is not available yet. They have had a difficult time developing the engine, which is proving to be more challenging than initially thought.

Bridenstine also talked about how they could try to shorten the SLS's engine-testing stage. NASA is looking to test the megarocket's RS-25 engines individually since they have been used in space shuttle launches before. This would allow workers to review the rockets' performance without having to combine them in one big test launch, which would add to the SLS's preparation time.

When lawmakers asked Bridenstine about the cuts to NASA's budget this year, he was confident that the space agency will be able to achieve its goals without having to go over budget.

However, the House hearing did reveal that adjustments to the budget need to be considered in order for NASA to meet its objectives moving forward.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.The dolphins in Western Australia are now part of the growing list of marine animals under threat of extinction due to climate change, suggests a new study.

Climate change is never more real than at the bottom of the ocean. As the temperatures in the waters increase, they can result in the collapse of the marine food chain.

The sudden extreme increases in the temperature may also prevent several creatures to eventually adapt, decreasing their chances for survival.

For the bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, it means a trend of declining survival and birth rate that can extend for years.

Marine Heatwave Marked The Beginning

In 2011, a marine heatwave happened in Shark Bay, a UNESCO Heritage Site. During this period, the temperature in the ocean went up by 4 degrees than the annual average.

It eventually destroyed meadows of seagrass that served as habitats and food sources for different marine animals.

The University of Zurich researchers then wanted to find out how it could affect the creatures at the top of the food chain.

To know the answer, they used the data collected in the area for the past 10 years starting in 2007.

They then learned that there's a correlation between the event and the survival rate of the bottlenose dolphins. It fell by 12 percent after the heatwave. The female dolphins were also giving birth to fewer calves.

They also found out that these two trends persisted until 2017, or more than five years since the heatwave.

Making Sense Of The Information

The researchers believed many factors may be causing these two phenomena.

For one, the heatwave might have changed the speed of sexual maturity of these dolphins. Mothers might be neglecting their calves in a desperate move to survive.

More calves might be dying due to the warming ocean temperature. It's also possible it could be a combination of all these.

Either way, the results surprised the researchers.

"Lower survival has persisted post-heatwave, suggesting that habitat loss following extreme weather events may have prolonged, negative impacts on even behaviourally flexible, higher-trophic level predators," said the study now published in Current Biology.

The Glimmer Of Hope

Remarkably, the same study pointed out that certain bottlenose dolphins had a better survival rate than the others. Those who used foraging or hunting tools such as sponges experienced a decline of only 5.9 percent.

It's possible their behavior buffered them somewhat by giving them access to areas that had been less affected by the marine heatwave.

Previous studies also showed that some marine animals could adapt to the water changes brought about by global warming.

Still, the researchers warn extreme changes in the weather can threaten marine mammal populations.

"If we want to conserve these populations, we have to think how the frequency of such events can be kept at a minimum," recommended Michael Krutzen, study author, in an email to CNN.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.India is currently in hot waters for creating so much space junk after its anti-satellite missile test. National Aeronautics and Space Administration is disappointed, saying it now threatens the International Space Station in various aspects.

On March 27, India performed Mission Shakti, which aims to prove that India has what it takes to protect the space and its objects. The Indian government deems the mission successful, but NASA thinks it comes with a price.

Details Of Space Junk

The mission generated about 400 pieces of junk at the minimum. Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, said that 60 pieces were large enough to track. What's worse, 24 of those debris went above the apogee of ISS, which is the station's orbit farthest from the Earth. Bridenstine explained that an event that can cause junk to reach beyond the apogee of the ISS is a terrible thing.

India Did It On Purpose

India said everything went according to plan, including the production of debris.

"Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks," the Government of India's Ministry of External Affairs wrote in a statement. The press release further explained that the test was conducted in the lower atmosphere to guarantee that there is no space debris.

Bridenstine was not convinced. He said the mission spikes up the risk of small debris striking the station by 44 percent over a period of 10 days immediately after the test. For him, the outcome was unacceptable, and NASA should be certain as to how it impacts the ISS operations.

Impact On Astronauts

For NASA, the Indian mission is not in sync with the future of human spaceflight. It is not agreeable to permit people to generate debris in the orbit that may put their people at risk.

NASA is on a mission to facilitate more projects in space to improve human conditions. These activities include pharmaceutical experiments, 3D printing of human organs, and testing manufacturing abilities in space that people are not capable of doing in gravity very well. All these are being put in jeopardy with events such as what happened in the Shakti mission. If one country pulls it off, others will feel the urge to follow suit.

India's Feat

Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, declared on March 27 that his country was able to make history by launching its very own low-orbit satellite with a missile straight from the ground to space. So far, only three nations in the world have been able to do that. Now, India is up there with the United States, Russia, and China for achieving such feat.

At the moment, NASA is monitoring about 23,000 pieces of junk, measuring about 10 centimeters or bigger. A third of these debris were documented in 2007, when China performed its own anti-satellite test, and in 2009, when U.S. and Russian communication satellites bumped into each other.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Surgery to reshape the nose requires cutting and suturing, and the incisions often take a while to heal. A faster and better nose job, however, may soon replace the traditional rhinoplasty.

Electromechanical Reshaping

Researchers have already tested the non-surgical method called electromechanical reshaping (EMR) in animals.

The technique is so speedy, it should only take just five minutes to reconstruct the nose. This promising new nose job technique involves using only tiny needles and an electric current.

Unlike the traditional nose reconstruction surgery, EMR neither entails stitches and poses risk of scarring. It can also avoid common side effects patients experience such as breathing difficulty and changes to the sense of smell.

Reshaping The Cartilage

The nasal cartilages provide form and support to the nose. Although cartilage is rubbery to the touch, it is composed of tiny strands of protein known as collagen linked together by other small proteins. Thus, the cartilage is flexible but holds its shape. When heated up, the cartilage becomes flexible enough to reshape.

Brian Wong, from the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues experimented with passing current through cartilage to heat it up. They found that this reshaped the tissue albeit not by warming it, so they sought help from Michael Hill, from Occidental College.

Hill and his team found that passing current through the cartilage electrolyzes the water in the tissue, which converts the water into oxygen and hydrogen ions, or protons. As the positive charge of the protons cancels out the negative charge on the proteins, the charge density is reduced making the cartilage more malleable.

"Once the tissue is floppy, you can mold it to whatever shape you want," Hill said.

The researchers think that once the tissue is reshaped and allowed to harden for a few minutes with the electrical current turned off, the changes will be permanent. They tried the technique on rabbits and successfully altered the animals' ears from upright to bent.

Long Way To Go

The technique may seem promising but it may take a while before the method can replace surgically performed rhinoplasty. Researchers still have to make sure EMR does not result in damaging side effects before it can be tried on humans.

"It's always good to look for new ways to reduce the invasiveness of surgery but it could be tricky to move this work into human trials," said Iain Whitaker, a member of the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons.

"You'd need ethical and regulatory approval, and to know that it was safe."

Researchers are scheduled to present the new technique at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Modern humans have been breeding with Denisovans more recently than previously believed as scientists find evidence of interbreeding from just 15,000 years ago.

An international team of researchers conducted a comprehensive genetic analysis on hominins living in Asia, finding that the relationship between Homo sapiens and Denisovans persisted until fairly recently. They also reveal that there are two separate Denisovan group that lived in Papua New Guinea and mated with humans.

Denisovans: A Mysterious Species

Little is known about the elusive Denisovans. So far, the only signs of their existence are a few teeth and bone fragments found in Siberia as well as traces of their DNA in modern people all over Asia.

Just as humans interbred with Neanderthals, humans also interbred with Denisovans as they moved along their path of migration out of Africa.

The new research reveals that humans possibly mated with Denisovans as recently as 15,000 years ago in Papua New Guinea.

"This study is giving us insight into the real pattern of human diversity," John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin-Madison tells New Scientist. "It opens a window to the fact that there was once a population that was as rich and diverse as modern humans that's now gone."

New Findings On Denisovan Populations

According to a press release, researchers sequenced DNA from 161 people from four groups in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. They found traces of Denisovan DNA in the tissue samples of the individuals from Papua New Guinea.

Interestingly, the evidence of Denisovan DNA from Papua New Guinea are from populations different from the Denisovans living in the Siberian cave where the only physical samples of the species were found.

Findings indicate that two populations of Denisovans appeared to have interbred with the humans in Papua New Guinea. Both populations, called D1 and D2 by the researchers, were found to be distinctly different from the Denisovans from Siberia, called D0.

Researchers say that that the D1 and D2 groups diverged at least 283,000 years ago and the D2 population is particularly distant from the D0 population, splitting off approximately 363,000 years ago. This means that these two groups are as related to each other as they are to the Neanderthals.

Murray Cox, a population biologist from Massey University who led the study, suggests that the D2 may even get its own name or classification.

The study also found evidence indicating the D1 DNA entered the Homo sapiens genome roughly 15,000 to 30,000 years ago.

This means that a group of Denisovans survived longer than the other populations and mated with modern humans.

The team presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, saying that their findings show that Denisovans are far from being a single group.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.GREER, South Carolina  The 7 million-square-foot BMW plant between Greenville and Spartanburg along Interstate 85 was the last stop on the Leadership Exchange trip for the Acadiana delegation. It also marked what can be possible in the world of economic development.

Years ago, when the textile industry was leaving the area, leaders had to do something.

What worked for them was already having a European connection through the textile industry. And lots of other factors  namely local and state leaders who saw the opportunity  came together to bring in what today is an employer of 11,000 people that rolls 1,400 cars out of its factory each day.

When BMW announced in 1992, it was a big shot in the arm for this area, said Steve Wilson, media communications specialist for BMW. There were a lot of people who had lost their jobs but were used to working in manufacturing.

Its that diversification that leaders in Acadiana can take away from the success in upstate South Carolina. Greenville, much like Lafayette, used its unique brand to build an economy and create jobs.

Lafayette, which has struggled when the oil industry goes south, could take note.

To diversity the economy base and the industry base, weve got to have some changes, One Acadiana president and CEO Troy Wayman told the group. Lets look at whats needed. You cant look at diversification just when times are bad. The best time for Acadiana would have been 30 years ago, but the second-best time is now.

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The result for the Greenville/Spartanburg area was a $43.3 billion impact in 2017, with 90 percent of it coming from the actual plant, Wilson said. A University of South Carolina study also revealed that 120,855 jobs would not exist if the plant had located somewhere else.

The plant itself is a 1.2 million-square-foot building full of automation that starts with a small frame and ends with cars rolling outside ready for its buyer. Each car is designed for someone who has already paid for the vehicle, many of which are right-side driver models that will be shipped out of the Port of Charleston.

The plant, one company official said, also has a 3 percent employee turnover rate, which is well above average for the automotive industry. The company will add about 1,000 more workers in 2021 when it completes a $600 million expansion for future generations of its X models, including electric models.

Acadiana officials toured the inside of the plant. It marked the end of the Leadership Exchange trip, one that One Acadiana schedules each year to exchange ideas and learn how other cities similar in size have been successful.

There are different things that come out of these trips, Wayman said. We need to make sure we capitalize on the inspiration and spirit. Everybody is real excited, and theres a lot of great conversation. Lets keep the conversation going.GREENVILLE, South Carolina  On the third day of their fact-finding trip to Greenville, South Carolina, a delegation from Acadiana focused on jobs.

Economic development officials here are quick to tout the areas low unemployment rate; it recently dipped below 3 percent.

BMW employs about 9,000 at its plant in nearby Greer, and other big employers Michelin, Fluor Daniel and GE are part of the reason why unemployment is that low.

Economic development officials told business and government leaders from Acadiana that while unemployment is low, the area still has its problems.

Im glad youre here to learn our secret sauce, but weve got some challenges, said Carlos Phillips, director of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce. We have an economic mobility challenge here. Kids born into poverty, (their) chances of moving to the top are the lowest here than almost any other county in the country.

What the Greenville and upstate area of South Carolina has done well with regard to jobs and economic development has come via public-private partnerships.

The upstate area has roughly 1.5 million people with 468 international companies representing 35 countries. The unemployment rate dipped to 2.8 in the region in November, according to federal data.

In Lafayette Parish that rate was at 4.5 in November.

Look at the strengths and how it can help the entire region, as well, said John Lummus with Upstate SC Alliance. As our unemployments are getting down to the high 2s and the low 3s across the region, we looked at how we could make an impact in the workforce situation. Sixty to 65 percent of the jobs here need a technical degree.

Much of their success has come from training programs at regional universities, but also at technical schools such as Greenville Tech. And workforce officials have targeted minority programs to help expand the workforce.

The county has 506,000 residents and is growing at a 1.7 percent rate per year, which equals to about 8,500 new people each year.

(Were) focusing on the three Hs  jobs that are highly skilled, earn a high wage and they are in high demand, Phillips said. We have a real opportunity in the middle skills category. The average age of a brick mason is 60 years old. You can say the same for welders and concrete finishers.

But a lot of the workforce success can be traced back to the energy in downtown Greenville. For many Europeans connected to BMW and other companies, Lummus noted, the vibrant core of the city reminds them of home.

That European connection stretches back to when the region was a hotbed in the textile industry.

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How do we compete? he said. We compete by creating a sense of place. It all starts with that commitment to make yourself different.

+5 From Acadiana to Greenville: Give them a destination and a place to live and they will come GREENVILLE, South Carolina  The delegation of about 65 from Acadiana spent a second day in downtown Greenville and found plenty to like, and 

A shot in the arm

The 7 million-square-foot BMW plant between Greenville and Spartanburg along Interstate 85 was the last stop on the Leadership Exchange trip for the Acadiana delegation. It also marked what can be possible in the world of economic development.

Years ago, when the textile industry was leaving the area, leaders had to do something.

They had connections in Europe through the textile industry. They also had local and state leaders who saw and opportunity and worked together to bring in what today is now an employer of 11,000 people that rolls 1,400 cars out of its factory each day.

When BMW announced in 1992, it was a big shot in the arm for this area, said Steve Wilson, media communications specialist for BMW. There were a lot of people who had lost their jobs but were used to working in manufacturing.

Lafayette, which has struggled when the oil industry goes south, could take note.

To diversify the economy base and the industry base, weve got to have some changes, One Acadiana president and CEO Troy Wayman told the group. Lets look at whats needed. You cant look at diversification just when times are bad. The best time for Acadiana would have been 30 years ago, but the second-best time is now.

The result for the Greenville/Spartanburg area was a $43.3 billion impact in 2017, with 90 percent of it coming from the actual plant, Wilson said. A University of South Carolina study also revealed that 120,855 jobs would not exist if the plant had located somewhere else.

The plant itself is a 1.2 million-square-foot building full of automation that starts with a small frame and ends with cars rolling outside ready for buyers. Each car is designed for someone who has already paid for the vehicle, many of which are right-side driver models that will be shipped out of the Port of Charleston.

The plant, one company official said, also has a 3 percent employee turnover rate, which is much lower than average for the automotive industry. The company will add about 1,000 more workers in 2021 when it completes a $600 million expansion for future generations of its X models, including electric models.

Acadiana officials toured the inside of the plant. It marked the end of the Leadership Exchange trip, one that One Acadiana schedules each year to exchange ideas and learn how other cities similar in size have been successful.

There are different things that come out of these trips, Wayman said. We need to make sure we capitalize on the inspiration and spirit. Everybody is real excited, and theres a lot of great conversation. Lets keep the conversation going.Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

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Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.Louisiana's new deal with CenturyLink offers the company $17.5 million in tax dollars and strips away penalties if it doesn't meet payroll targets in a continuing, decade-old effort to keep one of Louisianas two Fortune 500 headquarters in-state through 2025.

The agreement, struck by Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration well in advance of a 2020 expiration of an agreement the company was operating under, represents the third time in the past decade the state has offered tax incentives to the company in exchange for keeping its headquarters in Monroe. Announcing the deal Tuesday, Edwards lauded the companys uniquely Louisiana story and said the new agreement will continue driving the states tech economy.

The Edwards administrations deal with the telecommunications giant features a shift in how the state treats the company. Previously, CenturyLink was subject to penalties if it failed to meet payroll targets. That has changed.

Matthew Block, the Edwards administrations general counsel, said the deal offers a sliding scale of tax benefits based on the companys payroll, with no penalties for underperformance.

The new deal comes after CenturyLink missed its most recent payroll targets with the state, though it technically still met its obligations with the state because CenturyLink was credited for exceeding payroll targets in previous years.

Instead of penalties for failure to meet certain payroll benchmarks, in the current agreement we wanted to reverse the structure of it so instead of penalties  it was purely incentive-based, Block said.

The tax incentives are capped at $2.5 million a year and earned if payroll targets are met. The company could get a total $17.5 million if it hits all the targets through 2025. If it falls below $57.5 million in in-state payroll, the agreement is terminated. The company currently has roughly $200 million in in-state payroll, Block said.

CenturyLinks previous state deal was struck in 2011 by former Gov. Bobby Jindal, and was set to expire in 2020. That agreement also offered up millions in tax incentives to the company in exchange for keeping its headquarters in Monroe and growing its payroll.

Last year, CenturyLink filed payroll figures for 2017 that were $8.3 million below the target laid out by that deal. The contract allowed CenturyLink to use previous credits from overperformance toward its payroll, meaning the company was still in compliance and was not subject to penalties, something the company pointed out this week.

Louisiana's economic development department said Thursday that CenturyLink to date has met its overall payroll performance targets outlined in prior corporate retention agreements in 2009 and 2011. Following the most recent project year for which it had complete data in 2017, CenturyLink has exceeded overall payroll requirements by $3.95 million, the department said, and has produced more than $298 million in new annual payroll associated with new jobs created under its agreement.

So far, CenturyLink has earned $23.98 million in incentives from the state, LED said.

It is not clear if CenturyLink would have met its payroll promises for 2018 if the Edwards administration had not made a new deal, superseding the old one. CenturyLink said it did not have those figures readily available.

With the Jindal-era deal set to expire next year, the Edwards administration wanted to ink a new one to insure the firms headquarters would stay put, Block said.

He also acknowledged the companys headcount has decreased some in recent years, but said it was very important to the state and for the governor to have CenturyLink maintain their headquarters in Monroe. He also said CenturyLink never threatened to leave, and dealt with the state in good faith to get the new agreement done.

In 2011, when Jindal announced the 800-job expansion of the headquarters, the state offered up a rosy projection of the companys job growth: The deal would boost the firms local employment to 2,970 employees by 2016.

Frank Tutalo, a CenturyLink spokesman, said Tuesday the firm has over 2,000 employees across several locations in Louisiana, and he stressed the 2,970 figure was never part of a contract with the state.

He also noted CenturyLink was in compliance with the previous agreement.

We have a lot of high-paying jobs at headquarters, Tutalo said. Its certainly not CenturyLinks intent to stock the payroll with people making $10 an hour.

The new agreement also funds education grants at Louisiana Tech University, University of Louisiana at Monroe and Grambling State University, as well as boosts technology curriculum funding at Louisiana Tech to sustain a pipeline of potential workers.

CenturyLink wouldnt comment on whether it was considering moving its headquarters elsewhere.

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But some have speculated in recent years that the firm would move to somewhere like Colorado, where CenturyLink has made multiple acquisitions.

After acquiring Denver-based rival Qwest in 2011, worries that CenturyLink would move its headquarters to Colorado ramped up before the Jindal administration made its deal with the firm.

Again in 2017, CenturyLink acquired another Colorado firm  Level 3 Communications  in a $34 billion deal that again raised the possibility of a headquarters move, particularly when Level 3 CEO Jeff Storey became CenturyLinks current CEO.

CenturyLink posted revenue of $23.4 billion in 2018, and had a net loss of $1.7 billion for the year. The publicly-traded firm had a market capitalization of $13 billion Wednesday.

The state has long had a close relationship with CenturyLink, which is based in north Louisiana despite having more global employees  45,000  than there are residents in all of Monroe. Last year, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser even offered to have CenturyLink sponsor Poverty Point, a deal that would have renamed the historic site Poverty Point, "the World Heritage Site in Louisiana Sponsored by CenturyLink."

Louisiana's lieutenant governor touts this idea as fix for struggling state parks HAMMOND  The state's top tourism official said Thursday that private investment is the way to fix the Louisiana's struggling parks system.

The Jindal administration made its first deal with the company in 2009 after Monroe-based CenturyTel acquired Kansas-based Embarq. The merger created CenturyLink, Louisianas third Fortune 500 company at the time, along with Entergy and the Shaw Group. At the time, Jindals administration worked to make sure the companys headquarters would stay put.

Since then, the Shaw Group was sold to an out-of-state company, and CenturyLink has steadily grown to become Louisianas largest public company, rising to number 166 on the Fortune 500 list.

So many companies are here because they have to be here, said Peter Ricchiuti, professor at the Tulane University business school. They either need oil and gas in the Gulf or maybe some access to the river. CenturyLink is one of those companies that physically doesn't need to be here.

The combination of some of CenturyLinks original investors still being involved in the firm, along with tax breaks offered by the state, appear to be good enough reasons for the corporate giant to stay in Monroe, Ricchiuti said.

Some members of CenturyLinks board have roots in Louisiana, including Glen Post III, who led the firm as CEO since 1991 before stepping down last year.

The firm is a major employer in the region. Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo called the deal huge for northeast Louisiana.

CenturyLink's presence also plays an important role in IBMs Monroe location, which employs more than 100 as part of another Jindal-era economic development deal. The IBM center is almost entirely dedicated to servicing CenturyLink, an IBM executive said recently.

Louisiana has a long history of offering tax dollars to companies in exchange for relocating or retaining corporate headquarters. For instance, Pool Corp. reached a deal with the Kathleen Blanco administration in 2004 after threatening to leave for Florida over an income tax dispute.

Similarly, Globalstar in 2010 relocated its headquarters from California to Covington in exchange for $8.1 million.

But not all corporate headquarter deals have worked out for Louisiana.

After Smoothie King mulled a move to Texas in 2012, the Jindal administration offered up at least $2.4 million in tax incentives. Six years later, the company left anyway.

A few years earlier, the state had enticed Albermarle to move its corporate headquarters to Baton Rouge from Richmond, Virginia, for $7 million in tax breaks. In 2015, Louisiana was on the losing end of the corporate incentive game, as Albemarle left for Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mayo, the mayor of Monroe, said its not inevitable that CenturyLink will leave northeast Louisiana. And he said its not only the tax incentives that keep it there.

We like to think the quality of life here in Monroe is such that it provides the amenities and the low cost of labor compared to some of the larger areas in the country and globally, Mayo said. And globally  because CenturyLink is a global tech company.History has a way of repeating itself, and we saw it again recently when another honorable man in uniform stepped forward and spoke up in an iPurchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commissionWhen 566 Baton Rouge residents were called up for jury duty last week in a capital murder trial, defense attorneys were quick to spot a racial imbalance.

Jury pools in East Baton Rouge Parish typically skew white, according to six years of trial data compiled by The Advocate. And the group that was drawn for the trial of Grover Cannon, a black man accused of killing a white Shreveport police officer, was no different.

In a parish where 46 percent of the population is black, the pool of prospective jurors for Cannons trial was just 34 percent black. Thats enough of a racial disparity on its own to render the jury pool for Cannons trial unconstitutional, his attorneys argue.

But as his defense team scanned the faces in the courtroom and the list of potential jurors, a more surprising deviation stood out.

The same group of potential jurors was devoid of youth  no matter the color.

Juror eligibility starts at age 18, but not a single person in the group of 566 men and women was under 26, said Kerry Cuccia, director of the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana.

It was no fluke, defense advocates say.

A review of jury data from 2017 and the first half of 2018 showed that none of the 65,000 people who were sent jury summonses in East Baton Rouge Parish during that time was born after June 1993, said Jim Craig, director of the MacArthur Justice Center. The advocacy group received the data from the court through a subpoena in a different case.

Craig provided The Advocate with that data, along with jury lists from the 19th Judicial District for 2016 and 2014. Those lists also show that the youngest person on the roster of eligible jurors was born in June 1993.

The Constitution and Louisiana law require that all eligible citizens have an opportunity to be selected for jury service, Craig said. Any system that automatically excludes citizens in a particular group, or that causes under-representation of a group of citizens, violates both those citizens rights and the rights of the parties to the case.

Ann McCrory, the court's judicial administrator, said Tuesday that she was just learning of the allegation that young people had been left off juries for years. She said she could not say whether it was true, and she did not know how such an error could have occurred.

The only way I knew about this was that you contacted me, McCrory said. Im kind of baffled by that.

Cannon is accused of murder in the killing of Thomas LaValley in 2015 as the 29-year-old Shreveport Police Department officer responded to a domestic call. Because of its high profile, the case was moved to Baton Rouge, but only for jury selection, which was ongoing Tuesday. The chosen jurors will head to Shreveport for the trial.

Cannon's attorneys speculate that the absence of young people in the jury pool is the result of a computer programming error. A master list  taken from driving and voter records  is culled to get rid of duplicate names. Cannons attorneys say the system filtered out citizens by birthdate, eliminating those under the age of 18. However, this filter appears to never have been update(ed).

But McCrory said the person who cleans up the lists from the Office of Motor Vehicles and the Secretary of State's Office told her he doesnt look at the age. He doesnt care about the age, and there is no birthdate he puts in to filter out people under the age of 18.

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+2 Tilting the scales: What to know about Louisiana's controversial non-unanimous jury law For the last 120 years, Louisiana has had an unusual and long-standing allowance for split jury verdicts in felony cases.

If the defense lawyers are right, roughly 14,000 eligible young residents are left off East Baton Rouge Parish jury rolls.

The discovery has the potential to spark legal challenges by defendants who were convicted by juries plucked from an incomplete roster of potential jurors. Juries convicted 201 felony defendants in the 19th Judicial District over the six-year period ending in 2016.

But Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who has written about race and jury selection, said its doubtful that an inadvertent mistake that left young people off juror rolls would result in a conviction being overturned.

Still, I could see somebody who is coming up to trial now, in which the jury pool has excluded this whole group of potential jurors, where they could challenge and say, Now that you know this is a problem, you have to fix it,'  Joy said.

The shortage of black representation that Cannon's attorneys found in juror data from 2017 and 2018 is less surprising, though perhaps no less problematic. It mirrors the findings of an extensive Advocate review of trial records from 2011 to 2016.

Over those six years, the average jury pool in the 19th Judicial District was 32 percent black, compared to a parish population that is now 46 percent black. The more recent data from 2017 and 2018 also show jury venires in the parish were 32 percent black. The group summoned for Cannons trial is 34 percent black, his attorneys said.

Most of the drop-off in black representation comes on the front end, in a failure to locate prospective jurors due to incorrect addresses, Cannons attorneys claim. They argue that todays jury pools in East Baton Rouge Parish more closely resemble the racial mix in the parish from two decades ago, and that the court is violating the constitution by failing to draw from a representative cross-section of the community.

Louisiana courts have overturned convictions before when jury commissioners have removed specific segments of the population from the rolls of potential jurors.

In 1984, the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a man who was tried before a jury in Evangeline Parish, where commissioners removed anyone over the age of 70 from the list of eligible jurors.

State law exempts people over 70 from jury service, but they can waive the exemption and choose to serve as jurors anyway. The court ruled that Evangeline Parish violated the law by stripping them of that option.

So far, the discovery in Cannons case has yet to stall his trial. Caddo Parish District Judge Ramona Emanuel last week denied motions by Cannons attorneys to throw out the jury pool due to its racial makeup and its dearth of young people.

Emanuel found that Cannons attorneys took too long to raise the issue of jurors being excluded based on their age. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal on Tuesday denied writs filed by Cannon's attorneys, who appealed Tuesday afternoon to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Its unconscionable, Craig said. How can you possibly exclude those people, and be told youre excluding them, and say its too late?

Cannon faces the death penalty if convicted.Starting Monday, shoppers in East Baton Rouge Parish will be paying an additional half-cent sales tax on some purchases to bankroll Mayor-PresCall it a good news, bad news, poll for Gov. John Bel Edwards. But mostly a good news poll.

The 2019 Louisiana Survey, conducted by LSU's Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, is out, and lets start with the less-than-stellar news: Slightly less than half the Louisianans interviewed said they think the state is heading in the right direction.

Still, fewer people think the state is moving the wrong way, a figure the poll pegged at 43 percent.

And the fact that the two sides are about evenly balanced actually represents a sizable improvement over a year ago, when 50 percent said things were heading the wrong direction and 39 percent said the state was on the correct track. That poll was taken early in 2018, before Edwards and lawmakers finally agreed on a plan to raise enough revenue to avert the fiscal cliff.

Even better for Edwards, a Democrat facing reelection this fall against two Republican challengers, is that Republican voters in the poll dont appear terribly disgruntled.

Unsurprisingly, Democrats are especially positive in their view: 55 percent say the state is heading in the right direction and 37 percent say it is heading in the wrong direction, the report said. Perhaps less expected, Republicans do not take an especially negative view of the states direction under the administration of Democratic governor John Bel Edwards. They split evenly between those who say the state is heading in the right direction (46 percent) and those who say the state is heading in the wrong direction (45 percent).U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy said Tuesday that thousands of 2016 flood victims in Louisiana will have to wait at least several weeks before receiving checks for recovery money, a timeline he called not soon enough.

Cassidy met with Office of Management and Budget acting director Russell Vought and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Tuesday to discuss why some homeowners have yet to receive their full share of the $1.3 billion grant allotted by Congress for homeowner rebuilding assistance.

The issue at hand  dubbed duplication of benefits  stems from a federal rule that led thousands to be denied some or all of the grant money last year if they qualified for a Small Business Administration loan, regardless of whether or not they accepted the loan.

The meeting ended in the two agencies not making a decision but agreeing to reconvene in two weeks with an answer.

Cassidy said in a conference call with reporters after the meeting he thought Carson was in favor of getting the rest of the grant money to residents but found the budget agency still had reservations about the entire policy.

U.S. Sen. John Neely Kennedy also attended the meeting and expressed frustration with the extended timeline in a statement.

We have waited long enough for a solution, and my patience is running thin, he said. If they come back to us in two weeks with an answer we dont like, I plan to appeal to their boss, the President of the United States.

Cassidy echoed that if the agencies still disagree by April 16, the final solution may go to President Donald Trump. Cassidy said he would seek the presidents support for what he called the plain intent of Congress.

Cassidy also discussed health care in the conference call, saying he is working with Democrats on around eight health care bills, none of which are likely to be put to a vote until after the 2020 presidential and congressional elections.

The Rundown: With one week until session starts, taxes, health care, budget priorities top issues for Louisiana Legislature Today in The Rundown: Budget battles heat up; Obamacare fight rages; Gas tax supporters optimistic; and everything else you need to know in Lo

No one thinks that [House Majority Leader] Nancy Pelosi is going to pass anything except Medicare for all, Cassidy said. As long as she controls the House, shes not going to bring up a bill.

Pelosi stated in a February Rolling Stone interview that she did not think Medicare for All was as good of a benefit as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Cassidys comments follow Trumps announcement Monday night that a vote on an alternative to the ACA would have to wait until Republicans control both the House of Representatives and Senate  as they did during the first two years of Trump's presidency.Tips are sacred in the service industry. This Sunday a collection of people who live on them will pay those tips forward to help elevate an issue they know is vital.

Tip Out Day is Sunday (April 7), when a wide range of tipped workers pledge to contribute a portion of the days tips to nonprofits working in sexual violence awareness, response and prevention.

Now in its third year, Tip Out Day is a grassroots campaign that started at a New Orleans bar and has since spread to other cities.

Last year, close to 100 people participated, including bartenders, waiters and dancers. They together collected $17,000. The goal this year is to more than double that amount. An updated list of 2019 participants is available at tipoutday.com.

The effort is organized by Shift Change, a New Orleans-based nonprofit working in sexual violence issues in the hospitality field.

We know this is a problem, everyone in the industry is acutely familiar with this issue and wishes they werent, said Mark Schettler, who co-founded the first Tip Out day from Bar Tonique, the French Quarter bar he manages.

Much about Tip Out Day is left up to the individuals who participate. That includes what portion of their tips that pledge, and the beneficiaries, which are vetted to ensure they align with the campaigns goal. In New Orleans, STAR (Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response) has been a beneficiary, for instance, while workers in other cities have chosen their own local groups.

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Its about people taking the cause on for themselves, said Schettler.

With its decentralized structure, the campaign is about people contributing in their own workplace and raising money by doing what they do best, Schettler said. Theyre also sending a message.

If what you do is establish that you and your business care about this issue, establish the character of you and your business, let people working on this issue know that they have an ally they might not have known before, and all you had to do is go to work and do what you were going to do, thats a lot, he said.

As part of Tip Out Day, Bar Tonqiue hosts the Nips, Sips and Tips burlesque and drag show on Sunday, beginning at 7:30 p.m., with dancers pledging their tips to local groups.

Tipped workers who want to participate in Tip Out Day can sign up at tipoutday.com.

The same site has a list and map to find Tip Out Day participants.Bill Taylor, the executive director of the Trombone Shorty Foundation, traveled to Cuba in January for the Havana Jazz Festival. He arrived in Havana late, and he was tired.

But the woman serving as the guide for his group insisted on taking him to a nearby music venue to see an Afro-Cuban funk band called Cimafunk, by consensus the hottest band in Cuba.

There was a line down the block, Taylor recalled. A couple thousand people were packed into the courtyard of this old building. Everybody knew the words to every song. I was blown away by the whole thing.

The next day, Taylor was summoned to a meeting with Erik Cimafunk Rodriguez, the bands namesake and leader. Cimafunk was booked at the upcoming South By Southwest music conference in Austin in March for what would be the bands first American show. Rodriguez and his manager planned to pencil in other dates, including one in New Orleans. Could Taylor help?

He could. Taylor sang Cimafunks praises to Adam Shipley, the New Orleans-based promoter and manager who served as the talent buyer at Tipitinas for several years. Shipley soon became a Cimafunk convert and began working on a way to bring the band to town.

As a result, Cimafunk will make its New Orleans debut on Saturday at Tipitinas. The Soul Rebels, whom Shipley manages, will sit in for part of the set. Keyboardist Jon Cleary and his band, augmented by second drummer Herlin Riley, will open the show at 10 p.m. Tickets are $20.

The path Rodriguez followed from Cuba to Tipitinas was not a direct one. He grew up in the town of Pinar del Rio. His musical tastes were shaped in part by a Lionel Richie cassette that played continually in his uncles car. Over the years he absorbed everything from Prince and Marvin Gaye to modern updates of reggae and traditional Cuban music.

After two years of medical school, he moved to Havana to try his hand at music. He sang backup for the vocalist Raul Paz, and sang and wrote songs with Cuban fusion collective Interactivo.

He recorded Cimafunks 2017 debut album, Terapia, in a modest home studio, with contributions from members of Interactivo and others. His stage name is in part an homage to the Cimarrones, runaway slaves who formed their own communities in remote pockets of Cuba.

His fusion of old and new struck a chord across Cuba. The video for the song Me Voy took off, helping Cimafunk build a following across the island.

Elements of traditional Cuban music are apparent, especially in Cimafunk's prominent rhythms. But the band recasts those traditional sounds in a thoroughly contemporary setting heavily influenced by American funk. Rodriguez, with his natural charisma and talent, evokes a Cuban Bruno Mars. He has potential to break big well beyond his homeland.

The video for the song Paciente, filmed in Havana in December in front of a large audience all too eager to dance, makes clear how Cimafunks music comes alive onstage. Popping bass, crisp snatches of guitar and rapid-fire conga breaks are topped off by Rodriguez, with his signature flattop and shades.

During his time in Cuba, Taylor quickly came to understand just how popular Cimafunk is. Terapia, and especially Me Voy, with its slap-bass and Afro-pop flourishes, were ubiquitous in Havana, Taylor said. Cimafunk has captured the Cuban imagination.

The band is trying to do the same thing in America.

Cimafunk's manager, Collin Laverty, an American businessman who has brought many Louisiana officials and others to Cuba via his Cuba Educational Travel, spearheaded the effort to showcase Cimafunk at South by Southwest and build an American tour around that appearance.

Ariana Hall, head of the local cultural exchange organization Cuba Nola, helped make the New Orleans stop happen.

Rodriguez and the rest of Cimafunk plan to be in town for several days. Theyre slated to spend time with the Soul Rebels in a recording studio, work with students in the Trombone Shorty Academy, and also conduct a workshop with students from Taylors music class at Tulane University.

Were giving Cimafunk the full New Orleans treatment, Taylor said. This is something truly special.The Rolling Stones dubbed their recently postponed tour No Filter. "No filter more accurately describes Bill Maher.

Whether hosting his no-holds-barred Friday night HBO talk show, Real Time with Bill Maher  now in its 17th season  or doing stand-up comedy dates around the country, Maher is unapologetically blunt. He loathes Donald Trump but also has no use for holier-than-thou, politically correct liberals.

His filter-free approach sometimes gets him in trouble. Questioning the cultural contributions of newly deceased Marvel Comics auteur Stan Lee and the intelligence of adults who read comic books earned him a heap of scorn last fall.

But hes not afraid to put his money where his mouth is. During the 2012 presidential campaign, he donated $1 million to a pro-Barack Obama super PAC.

Maher will be at the Saenger Theatre on Saturday (April 6); tickets are still available.

We spoke days after Attorney General William Barrs summation of special counsel Robert Muellers report essentially cleared Trump of colluding with the Russians.

Suffice to say, Maher was disappointed.

On your show last week, before the conclusions of the Mueller report were known, you described it as having the potential to be Christmas for liberals. Apparently, Santa delivered a sack of coal.

Maher: Yeah, I still dont understand it. Im reading a lot of articles that say we should just get over it, and I guess thats true. But I dont understand why, if your campaign manager meets with a Russian operative and gives him polling data, thats not collusion. I guess well have to wait until the full report comes out.

Did you think the report would have the power to bring down a president?

Maher: I thought we had that power even without it. As I said on the show, I dont need the Mueller report  I have a TV. I saw this president talk about how he fired the head of the FBI to end this Russian investigation. I dont know what you have to do in this country to prove obstruction of justice.

The possibility of obstruction is still out there, but the attorney general doesnt seem inclined to move in that direction.

Maher: Thats what happens in Third World countries. The dictator appoints a stooge  in this case, it was a more credible stooge, but a stooge nonetheless  who declares his innocence. Barr wrote a memo, unsolicited, back in June that said he didnt believe in obstruction of justice for this president. He even put obstruction in quotes, like, eyeroll, obstruction, right. He didnt decide Trump was innocent (in late March). He decided it nine months ago.

Does it get to a point for you personally where you have trouble finding comedy in things like this?

Maher: No. It gets to a point where I have trouble finding sleep but not comedy. The comedy is abundant. Theres never been a better time for comedy, but were whistling past the graveyard.

Its comedy that's infused with a nervous edge because I dont think weve ever been in this place in America before, where we really have to worry about whether its going to be a lawful democracy.

The president is already talking about revenge against the people who were doing their job. The administration sent out a memo to cable news and other news outlets basically saying, You shouldnt book these people as guests anymore.

We know he talks about, Lock her up. We know he talks about how he has the tough people on his side, the military, the police. He even talks about biker gangs. All of this is Third World, banana republic, dictator stuff. Weve never been here before. So its funny until its tragic.

When I interviewed you in 2013, you said you were scared to death at the prospect of a Mitt Romney presidency. Im guessing you would trade Romney for the current president?

Maher: Absolutely. That million dollars that I gave to Obama in 2012 to make sure Romney didnt become president, I would gladly give to Mitt Romney tomorrow if he would take over the country.

Even Mike Pence.  I could do Mike Pence standing on my head. Mike Pence is just George Bush with white hair. Hes a super-Christian Republican hack. He does not want to be a dictator. He would basically follow policies that I dont agree with but that we could all endure, and then hopefully elect someone who is more akin to my thinking.

I dont worry about anybody but Trump. Hes the crazy one. And more worrisome than him is the fact that so much of the country goes along with him and thinks this is just fine.

He hasnt really done anything that has eroded his base of support. And given all the divisions in the Democratic party, Trumps reelection chances dont look too bad.

Maher: I didnt think it was looking bad for him in 2016, but nobody wanted to believe me. I think its looking pretty good for him.

Based on the summary of the Mueller report and him crowing all weekend, even after all that, his (approval) numbers didnt change. You would think his approval numbers would have gone up because they found him innocent. But if you dont like him, you already dont like him fully. If youre in the cult, it didnt change your opinion anyway. So it didnt move the needle one bit.

Thats the scary thing about our democracy right now: Facts dont move the needle. People already decided. The election is going to depend on how much (Russian President Vladimir) Putin (messes) with us, probably.

Are you aware of any Democratic politician that is not running for president?

Maher: (laughs) No. Im surprised that a few of them that I thought would get in, like (former attorney general) Eric Holder and Sherrod Brown (the senior Senator from Ohio), have stayed out. I thought maybe (California governor) Gavin Newsom would jump in.

We have a whole lineup of the candidates coming up (on Real Time). We have Pete Buttigieg. Hes the 37-year-old, openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Hes amazingly impressive when you see him. Hes brilliant. I dont know what Trump is, but this is the opposite of that.

Brilliance is not necessarily a requirement for the highest office in the land.

Maher: Its mostly seen as a detriment.

America also has a way of choosing the opposite of what we just had. We like to swing back and forth. And America just likes something new. At this point in our history, we just pick the least likely. Obama was the least likely guy. Trump, the least likely. Next time, it might be Pete Buttigieg.

I thought Mitch Landrieu might run. Hes a good politician. We had him on (Real Time). I was impressed.

Are you done picking fights with the comics industry?

Maher: (laughs) Uh, yes. Im done, although they know how I feel.

Im not a big fan of comic book movies. To me, theres too many of them, and theyre all the same. My favorite is Catwoman. That shows you how much I care about comic book movies. At least in that one I got to look at Halle Barry.

So I guess Im not (done).

Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock stopped playing gigs on college campuses because college students are overly sensitive. What is your take?

Maher: Those two are jumping on my bandwagon  I stopped doing that long ago. Chris Rock is a guy who says some controversial things. But when Jerry Seinfeld says youre too politically correct, trust me, the problem is yours, not his. His act is so clean, it whitens teeth.

I did a show called Politically Incorrect for almost 10 years. It started in 1993. I purposely named the show that because I was saying even back then, a quarter-century ago, that this is a problem in this country thats going to be more of a problem.

And man, did it ever become more of a problem. The internet only made it worse. One of the main reasons Donald Trump got elected was because people were choking on political correctness for so long and they wanted somebody who was not politically correct.

Now, hes an a** and hes wrong about everything, but it was a breath of fresh air to have somebody who didnt talk like a politician, who didnt clean up every thought in his head, and who just honestly said what he felt without having to check with the PC police. That is a very powerful message in this country.

I go after the left constantly on the show, the fringe left, the people who are always making everybody apologize for everything. I like Beto ORourke a lot, but he started his campaign with nothing but apologies for bull****, for nothing, for something he wrote when he was 15 years old! What are they going to find next, that he wrote something in his poop when he was three?

This has got to end. Its not funny anymore. And no one wants to live in this atmosphere. Its stultifying. No one wants to always be looking over their shoulder: Did I use the right term? Did I say it the right way?

You just have to trust some people, that we're well-meaning, that we evolve. We dont get there overnight. We all were less than who we are now. In the 80s, we didnt have the word woke; in the 80s, the word woke meant you had cocaine. So can we just give crimes of woked-ness a rest?

Ill-informed photos in your yearbook from 30 years ago may not be the biggest problem facing the country.

Maher: Thats what the people in Virginia decided (about Gov. Ralph Northam, whose medical school yearbook page included a racist photo). I thought it was very telling that the African American people of Virginia, more than the white people, were willing to say, You know what? Its not cool, but its not a deal-breaker. He doesnt have to resign over it.

This is what I call white people being more offended than the victim. You cant be more offended than the victim.

So I dont play campuses either.

And whoever comes to your show should leave their sensitivities at the door.

Maher: Thats right.Officials with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration confirmed Tuesday that they lowered the speeds that trigger traffic camera tickets two months ago without notifying motorists.

The city's network of speed-measuring cameras now snag drivers in school zones if they go 4 miles over the 20-mph limit. Previously, the cameras were set to snap a picture and issue a violation notice only when a driver hit 26 mph.

In other areas of the city, motorists can now expect to get photographed if they are going 8 mph over the advertised speed limits. Until a month ago, drivers were given a 10-mph leeway.

A heads-up about the new thresholds was supposed to be included in a January announcement about sweeping changes to the camera program, but it was removed, said Beau Tidwell, a spokesman for Cantrell.

Im not aware at this time of any plans to change that threshold again, he added.

The quiet policy change has stained a revised camera program Cantrell had said would ease drivers financial burdens.

She pledged to pull down all the cameras as she campaigned for mayor in 2017 but switched course after some residents said they saw the value of the devices in school zones.

The city eventually removed 20 of the 31 cameras outside of school zones, leaving up those that pulled in the most revenue for the city. And it adjusted the school cameras to operate only during school-zone hours, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Before that change, school-zone cameras worked continually to ticket drivers exceeding regular posted speed limits.

Though the law does not require the city to give motorists any sort of speeding cushion, the city can create one as a matter of policy. Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration set that bar in 2012 at 6 miles over the limit in school zones and 10 miles over the posted limit everywhere else.

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But Cantrell lowered that threshold on Feb. 4. That was around the same time that officials discovered that removing some of the cameras had caused fewer tickets to be issued in January than they expected. The city had projected a 13 percent drop in issued tickets but cameras in fact caught 18 percent less drivers speeding.

The officials said then it was too soon to tell whether the unexpected drop would widen an estimated $4 million gap in city revenue the cameras' removal had been expected to cause. They said that gap already had been filled by other sources.

It was not clear whether officials had planned to move forward with the lower thresholds after removing the warning about them from the January news release or if they were spurred to action later because fewer tickets were issued than expected.

In March  a month after an unknown number of unsuspecting drivers began receiving tickets under the lower threshold  the camera program was suddenly flush with cash, officials told the City Councils Budget Committee.

When Councilman Joe Giarrusso asked how the cameras could be bringing in $2 million more than last year if there were fewer of them, Chief Financial Officer Norman White said the higher revenue figure could reflect older tickets and that the figure would likely go down once staffers properly counted the tickets.

At least some council members said they had not been briefed of the change. If there is a threshold, then I dont think we should change that without notifying the public, Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen said.

A spokeswoman for Giarrusso said his office has been getting calls on the matter from surprised drivers. So has Councilman Jay H. Banks, who said he was told recently that the thresholds were lowered after requesting clarity.

Only on Tuesday did Cantrell's team state what the new thresholds actually are, a day after it acknowledged that the thresholds had been lowered. It made the admission after dozens of residents decried the changes on social media and in emails to media outlets.

At least one of those drivers, Margaret Albert, 64, was snapped while going 25 mph in a school zone near St. George's Episcopal School on Napoleon Avenue.

The $75 ticket she got in the mail later was her only notification about the change.

Nobody more than me wants the safety of children, said Albert, a grandparent and retired teacher. But because this was done so underhandedly, I think there ought to be more of a grace period.The New Orleans Advocate hosts a public forum on tourism on Wednesday, bringing together leading experts for an unprecedented public panel discussion.

The forum begins at 8:30 a.m. and will feature leaders like Stephen Perry of New Orleans & Co. and Michael Sawaya of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, along with john Pourciau, Chief of Staff to mayor LaToya Cantrell.

Follow below to watch the forum live. The module will refresh itself once the forum begins!

Can't see module below? Click here.For the last 120 years, Louisiana has had an unusual and long-standing allowance for split jury verdicts in felony cases.

It's one of only two states  Oregon is the other  with such a system, which allows people charged with felonies to be convicted when only 10 of 12 jurors agree on guilt. It wasn't always this way: From most of the 19th century, Louisiana required unanimous verdicts, but began allowing supermajorities in 1898.

It was the first law of its kind in the nation.

But now the aberrant practice is destined for the dustbin of history. On Nov. 6, Louisianians overwhelmingly voted to amend the state constitution to require that future juries return unanimous verdicts. The law will go into effect for cases involved crimes committed on or after Jan. 1, 2019.

The measure was approved by a majority of voters in 61 of Louisiana's 64 parishes, and got 64 percent approval overall. The landslide came after a bipartisan push to put it on the ballot and to educate voters about the old law. The voter-education effort drew heavily on an exhaustive, first-of-its-kind analysis of the law's history and impact that was published by The Advocate in April.

Here are some links to that coverage and some key milestones along the way:

How one law deprives, discriminates, incarcerates like no other

The law that allows a Louisiana jury to send someone to prison for life without the consensus of all 12 jurors did not happen by accident. It was enshrined in the notoriously racist 1898 constitution, which sought to disenfranchise newly empowered black people in the years after Reconstruction.

Since 1974, 10 votes have been required for conviction instead of the nine called for in the 1898 constitution. Todays defenders of split verdicts say Louisianas law now stands not for racism but efficiency, by limiting hung juries and potential retrials.

But the law still has clear racial implications, according to an exhaustive analysis by The Advocate.

Although the majority-verdict law disadvantages all defendants, the newspaper's review found that its effects on black people accused of crimes are especially profound. It acts as a capstone to a trial system that becomes more tilted against black defendants at each stage: when jurors are summoned, when theyre picked for juries, and in deliberation rooms, where voices of dissent can be ignored.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

DATA: Download data used in The Advocate's exhaustive research in 'Tilting the scales' series

Understanding Louisiana's non-unanimous jury law findings: Interactive, animated slideshow

(Click image below)

In Louisiana's split-verdict rule, white supremacist roots maintain links to racist past

The fix was in against black Louisianians when 134 delegates gathered at Tulane Hall in New Orleans in February 1898 to draft a new state constitution.

Their marching orders: whitewash the voter rolls as thoroughly as possible  without running afoul of federal law.

E.B. Kruttschnitt, a lawyer and New Orleans school board president who led the 1898 convention, bluntly described the gatherings purpose.

The goal was to eliminate "the mass of corrupt and illiterate voters who have during the last quarter of a century degraded our politics," he said.

Many of the laws of the 1898 convention have been erased over time, chiefly by court rulings and federal legislation during the civil rights era.

Can't see timeline below? Click here.

But one product of that ugly meeting remains largely intact: a constitutional provision that abandoned Louisianas long-standing practice of requiring unanimous jury verdicts to send people to jail. After the convention, only nine of 12 votes would be needed, a practice unique in America.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Walt Handelsman animation: In Louisiana, the film is better known as '10 Angry Men'

If you like the 1957 film classic "12 Angry Men," then you'll love Louisiana's version ...

(Can't see video below? Click here)

Is it a truly a 'jury of one's peers' when black people are underrepresented?

The right of a defendant to be judged by a jury of ones peers is a bedrock concept in American justice, but when lawyers started to pick a jury for his 2012 trial, Terren Johnson, accused of breaking into a womans home and trying to rape her, might have wondered where all of his peers went.

Only four black people, all women, were among the 28 prospective jurors who filed into the courtroom that morning in East Baton Rouge Parish, where nearly half the population is black.

His case was far from an anomaly.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

With a trial or not, unusual split-verdict law helps fill Louisiana prisons

Louisiana and Oregon are the only two U.S states that allow for split-jury verdicts in felony cases. And Louisiana is alone in the way it combines that lower bar for conviction with harsh sentencing practices and a punitive multiple-offender law.

Its a potent cocktail that puts awesome power in the hands of prosecutors, who need only 10 votes on a jury to convict.

The combined effect is simple: more people serving more time in prison. On a per capita basis, Louisiana is the nations leading jailer. And it has nearly twice as many people serving life without parole as its nearest rival, Mississippi.

jurists and defense attorneys say the split-verdict rule plays a significant role in keeping Louisiana at the top of the nation's incarceration pyramid. Precisely how big a role is open for debate.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

State Senate passes bill to let voters decide fate of split-verdict rule

The state Senate recently advanced a bill that represents the most serious challenge in nearly a half-century to a state law that allows for convictions in serious felony cases without unanimous juries.

The bill, which needed a two-thirds majority, passed with a 27-10 vote, following spirited appeals by its author, Sen. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans, and other lawmakers.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

For prosecutors, Louisiana's split-verdict law produces results

Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, served as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans in the late 1980s. He recalled filing more severe felony charges than the evidence might have warranted against some criminal suspects  simply to ensure that jury unanimity would not be required.

Prosecutors in Louisiana have broad discretion over such choices. For instance, they can charge a suspect found with a modest quantity of illicit drugs on a possession count  or alternatively, with possession with intent to distribute the drug.

The former would be tried by a six-pack jury, where unanimity is required. The latter, because the sentence is necessarily at hard labor, demands a jury of 12  only 10 of whom must agree, even if they ultimately find a defendant guilty only of simple possession.

The Advocates review of thousands of jury trials over a six-year period  including those involving both types of juries  suggests that the tactic Claitor revealed may in fact improve prosecutors chances.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

State House committee unanimously votes to send measure on jury unanimity to full House

A bill that would let Louisianians vote on whether to continue allowing split jury verdicts in felony cases -- or to require unanimous votes -- was approved unanimously by a key House committee and heads to a vote of the full House.

But it didn't happen without any feathers being ruffled. The meeting of the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice featured some testy exchanges between two Louisiana district attorneys -- John DeRosier of Calcasieu Parish and Don Burkett of Sabine Parish -- and several African-American legislators, in particular state Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge.

Ive heard a lot about this being a vestige of slavery, DeRosier said of the law allowing for split verdicts, which he urged the committee to keep in place. Im not proud of that, and I have no reason to doubt it. But it is what it is.

James called those comments unacceptable, and he was joined by several colleagues. The measure calling for a referendum passed the committee unanimously.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Gov. John Bel Edwards is a quiet supporter of requiring Louisiana juries to return unanimous verdicts

The bill to put on the Nov. 6 ballot a measure allowing Louisianians to vote on whether juries in felony cases should have to come back with unanimous verdicts doesn't require the governor's signature or input. Instead, it needs the support of two thirds of each chamber in the Legislature.

Nonetheless, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced recently that he supports the move, citing the law's racist origins and adding: "We are an outlier when we shouldnt be."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

As Louisiana mulls change to split-verdict law, Oregonians fret they'll be all alone

For 84 years, Oregon has shared a constitutional quirk with Louisiana that allows criminal trials to be decided by nonunanimous juries.

In every other state  and the federal court system  juries must reach unanimous verdicts in felony cases.

It's an unlikely kinship for two states that diverge on everything from politics to topography  and an increasingly unwanted distinction in this drizzly corner of the Pacific Northwest.

"It puts us in the same category as Louisiana, and people don't like that," said John Hummel, district attorney of Deschutes County, one of Oregons largest.

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READ THE FULL STORY HERE

New York Times editorial page weighs in on Louisiana's unusual law allowing split verdicts

As the Louisiana House prepared to take up a bill allowing a statewide referendum on jury unanimity, the New York Times' editorial page weighed in.

"How many jurors does it take to deliver a guilty verdict?" the newspaper asked.

"In 48 states, the answer is simple: All of them. Juries in felony cases must agree unanimously in order to convict. The rule is the same in federal trials, and for good reason."

The Times cited The Advocate's research on the question -- in particular the newspaper's finding that the law has racially disparate impacts -- and urged the House to pass the bill.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Louisiana's unique split-verdict law could be on its way out

The state House approved a bill that will allow Louisianians to vote on whether to keep a law, born in the Jim Crow era, that allows for split jury verdicts in felony cases. The measure needed 70 votes in the House, and cleared that bar easily, passing by an 82-15 margin. It had already passed the Senate by the required two-thirds margin.

A constitutional amendment to require unanimous verdicts will be on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The bill to undo the practice enshrined in the 1898 constitutional convention got a boost from conservative lawmakers, including Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Albany, who led support for the bill on the House floor. "It's time Louisiana got it, and it's time we got on board," Mack said.

Should the proposal be approved by voters, it would require unanimity starting Jan. 1, 2019. The law would not apply retroactively. It does not require a two-thirds majority.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Amid push for jury unanimity, bill to keep jury votes secret becomes law

Even as the Legislature surprised many observers by passing a bill that will allow Louisianians to vote on a constitutional amendment requiring jury unanimity, the body also passed a law that seeks to cloak jury votes in more secrecy.

The bill -- signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards -- says that if jurors are polled on their verdicts, it must be done in writing, not orally -- as is often the custom now. It also says that a judge may place those polling slips under seal, with reasons, and that even if they are unsealed later, the jurors' names on those slips must be redacted -- making it harder for the public to see how individual jurors voted.

If voters on Nov. 6 pass the amendment requiring unanimous verdicts, the law will soon become moot, because there is no mystery about how each juror voted in a unanimous verdict.

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Why are Louisiana jury votes often absent from court record?

So what was the jury vote? Was it unanimous? Were there holdouts?

While polling of juries simply wasn't done in hundreds of cases examined by The Advocate, there was an even larger group in which polling was done but kept out of the record. The practice varies by jurisdiction, but in some, like Jefferson Parish, the polling slips are kept under seal in most cases.

The Advocate was able to gather the data on nearly all of the jury votes there only with the help of the Clerk of Court's Office.

Orleans Parish, which has the busiest trial docket in the state, works under an antiquated record-keeping system, little of which is available on the court's cursory online "docket master." Verdict counts rarely show up there.

Some Orleans judges said they have long torn up the juror polling slips as soon as they are read. Others file them into the record under seal.

Several judges agreed to unseal polling slips in a few dozen cases  a fraction of the total  at The Advocate's request.

Even then, some signatures on the slips are indecipherable. Others are confounding.

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Changing law unlikely to cause slew of hung juries, data suggest

Require unanimity, the argument goes, and the state will be awash in hung juries, and thus costly retrials and delayed justice for crime victims.

Pete Adams, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, conjured up that same specter when he testified March 20 before a Senate committee considering a bill to allow voters to change Louisianas system.

Adams said studies show that Louisiana and Oregon have far fewer mistrials than the other 48 states. He said some studies predict nearly 50 percent more mistrials would occur if Louisiana were to change its system.

Adams may be right. But data gathered by The Advocate show the number of mistrials is so small that even doubling them wouldnt make many waves in Louisianas criminal justice system.

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Louisiana split juries have convicted several people wrongly, but not enough data to discern a trend

There have been at least a dozen instances in recent times in which inmates who were found guilty by nonunanimous Louisiana juries later won their freedom, their convictions deemed bogus, according to a roster provided by the Innocence Project New Orleans.

Ten of those 12 men later received payments of up to $250,000 from the states Innocence Compensation Fund, state data show. Nine of those 10 men are black. To qualify for that money, a judge must declare  or the state must concede  that they were factually innocent of those crimes, a higher bar than just "wrongfully convicted."

Those figures, while troubling, are far too small to draw any statistical conclusions about whether divided juries are more likely to send innocent people to prison.

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Split verdict in Cardell Hayes' trial shines light on how Louisiana's unusual law affects jury deliberations

One by one, jurors at the Orleans Parish courthouse were lining up to find Cardell Hayes guilty in the killing of Will Smith, a hero from the New Orleans Saints' epic Super Bowl win in 2010.

Juror No. 12 couldnt stop the train.

Only 10 of 12 votes were needed for a conviction, and once it became clear that he and the jury foreperson were set on acquittal, the rest of the group tried to find a consensus without them.

Those 10 jurors would go on convict Hayes of manslaughter in Smiths killing and attempted manslaughter for a shot that struck Smiths wife, Racquel, in both legs.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Citing The Advocate's reporting, Sabine Parish judge rules split-jury law unconstitutional weeks before election

Less than a month before Louisiana voters head to the polls to vote for the first time on whether jury unanimity should be required, a Sabine Parish judge ruled that Louisiana's law -- rooted in the Jim Crow era and updated in 1974 -- was unconstitutional.

The ruling from 11th District Court Judge Stephen Beasley drew heavily on The Advocate's research, as well as that of several scholars. Beasley found that the law's original intent was racist, and that its current iteration continues to have a racially disparate impact. The latter finding relied largely on the data compiled by the newspaper, which showed that black defendants are 30 percent more likely to be convicted by split juries than are white defendants; that black people are underrepresented on Louisiana juries; and that black jurors are much more apt to disagree with the jury's verdict than are white jurors.

The impact of Beasley's ruling is unclear, as Louisiana's law has previously been upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. For now, his ruling has the force of law only in Sabine Parish, but District Attorney Don Burkett has said he intends to appeal it.

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Big-city DAs come out in support of jury unanimity as Nov. 6 election looms

Louisiana's 42 elected district attorneys were once seen as the biggest barrier to junking the split-jury system and requiring unanimity. The DAs are a potent political force, and as the Legislature in March prepared to consider a bill putting the amendment on the ballot, the director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association "begged" a Senate committee to vote it down.

But the plea fell on deaf ears, and the LDAA soon dropped its opposition, preferring to remain neutral as an organization. Still, some elected DAs -- notably John DeRosier of Calcasieu Parish and Don Burkett of Sabine Parish -- were outspoken in their opposition, urging a House committee to block the amendment. Burkett told the committee that Louisiana's DAs were nearly but not completely unanimous in opposing the measure.

But the House eventually voted it through, and by October, at least 10 of the state's district attorneys -- including Hillar Moore of East Baton Rouge Parish -- told The Advocate they were supporting it. Eight others, including DeRosier and Burkett, said they were against it, and four -- including Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro -- said they were remaining neutral.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Landslide: Louisiana voters dump 120-year-old practice of allowing convictions by split juries

In the end, it wasn't even close. Louisianians voted by a 64-36 margin to jettison the law allowing verdicts when as long as 10 of 12 jurors agree.

The measure was approved by a majority of voters in 61 of 64 parishes. Under the wording of the amendment, juries in trials of cases involving crimes committed on or after Jan. 1, 2019, will have to come to unanimous verdicts or declare themselves deadlocked.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

From the ACLU to the NRA: Campaign for unanimous juries targeted voters across the political spectrum

The push to change Louisiana's Jim Crow-era law started out as a liberal cause, but conservatives joined the fight enthusiastically in 2018. The campaign to educate voters on the constitutional amendment on the Nov. 6 ballot got donations from a diverse bunch, including liberal billionaire George Soros and the libertarian activists Koch brothers

In the end, the amendment was more popular with liberals -- it passed with the biggest margins in parishes that were won by Hillary Clinton in her 2016 campaign for president, and it fared the worst in parishes where Clinton barely registered in 2016. But the real story was that voters of all stripes generally backed it, and Amendment 2 got more than 60 percent of the votes even in heavily conservative suburban parishes like St. Tammany and Ascension.

READ THE FULL STORY HEREOne of two white New Orleans police officers who were fired following accusations that they beat a Hispanic military veteran outside a Mid-City bar last year received probation Wednesday while also being ordered to pay restitution.

John Galman's sentencing came almost two months after he pleaded guilty to simple battery in front of Municipal and Traffic Court Judge Robert Jones III.

Jones ordered Galman to serve 12 months of probation and pay the victim $5,000 in restitution over 10 months. He also fined Galman $500 and told him he would serve a 30-day jail sentence if he is unable to successfully complete his probation.

Galman, a rookie cop at the time of the July 24 confrontation with Jorge Alberto "George" Gomez, faced as much as six months behind bars and a fine of $1,000.

Gomez, a U.S. native who was raised in Honduras, said that Galman and a second rookie officer, Spencer Sutton, asked him if he was an American before they struck him a series of blows outside the Mid-City Yacht Club, a bar on South St. Patrick Street.

Can't see video below? Click here.

Gomez, a veteran of the Army National Guard, said the officers also challenged him on why he was wearing military-style camouflage clothes.

Supporters of Galman and Sutton claimed that Gomez, a regular at the bar, was the aggressor. But investigators concluded the opposite after talking to bar patrons and reviewing surveillance footage.

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Early in the case, authorities said they were investigating the possibility that Gomez was targeted for violence because he was Hispanic, which would constitute a hate crime and allow prosecutors to pursue enhanced penalties. But authorities didn't charge Galman or Sutton with such a crime.

At Wednesday's hearing, Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Giavotella read a statement from Gomez in which he described partially losing his hearing as a result of the attack, which left his face swollen and bruised.

His statement said he is now afraid of police and is considering moving out of New Orleans, where it is "very difficult" for him to live. He said working and continuing with his studies has been a struggle.

"Psychologically, the attack was very traumatizing for me," Gomez said. "It has made me want to go outside and be around people less. I'm afraid of being recognized and asked about the attack, and the media attention has made me very uncomfortable."

In briefly addressing the defendant, Jones called Galman's behavior "reprehensible" and likened him to "all other bullies."

Galman and Sutton were quickly fired after their arrests. The case prompted questions about police hiring practices and led to a formal apology from the City Council, whose president, Jason Williams, called Gomez's beating "despicable" and "repulsive."

Jones on Wednesday ordered Galman to stay away from both Gomez and the Mid-City Yacht Club. Jones said the bar provided a surveillance tape that was crucial in helping him calculate the sentence he gave to Galman, who had previously served five years in the Marine Corps.

Jones said he would also work on arranging a meeting of Galman, Gomez and a Hispanic community advocate in an effort to make Galman understand the effects of his actions.

Galman's attorney, Townsend Myers, denied that Gomez's race factored into his client's actions.

"The judge very carefully considered everything from all sides and arrived at a sentence that is fair to all sides," he said.

The case against Sutton remains pending. His next hearing is set for April 10.Almost four years ago, Widner Flow Degruy seemed poised to trade the New Orleans East rap scene for a national audience, with an assist from Lil Wayne.

He had several mixtapes under his belt and, according to his lawyer, he was about to hop on a tour bus with his superstar mentor.

But then two brothers whom Degruy once called friends were found shot to death inside a car a short walk from his house, and police tagged Degruy as a double murderer.

As his trial began Tuesday before Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier, prosecutors said Degruys own statements to police would help convince a jury to convict him of two counts of second-degree murder.

They also revealed that Degruys own mother decided to testify against him after she spent months in jail on a charge of being an accessory to murder.

He doesnt share the stage with Lil Wayne anymore. Hes now sharing the stage with the state of Louisiana, Assistant District Attorney Alex Calenda told the jury. That adoring audience is now a jury of his peers, who will decide whether he will spend his life in the Angola state penitentiary  a long way from the lights and fame of the rap game.

Yet Degruys defense attorney said he was the victim of an opportunistic co-defendant and killer, Jonathan Evans, who the attorney said agreed to testify from a script in exchange for a 20-year plea deal.

Did Widner Degruy, a successful musician who was leaving to go on tour the morning of this event, decide to murder one of his own friends? It's going to be highly unlikely, lawyer Gary Wainwright said.

As lawyers delivered opening statements, Degruy listened intently and scribbled on a legal pad. Prosecutors also gave for the first time what they suspect was the motive for the killing of brothers Kendrick and Kendred Bishop, who were 22 and 18.

Degruy believed the brothers stole $8,000 in cash and a handgun from his car during a night out gambling at Harrahs Casino a week before, Calenda said.

According to the state, Degruy waited until early on Memorial Day 2015 to exact his revenge. Degruy, the brothers and Evans, who was just 18 at the time, had returned to New Orleans East from a Lil Wayne concert in Mobile, Alabama, Calenda said.

Prosecutors said grainy surveillance video caught the moment Degruy and Evans opened fire on the Bishop brothers as they sat in a rented Kia on Bright Drive.

Homicide Detective Robert Barrere narrated crime scene photographs showing the carnage that ensued. Both brothers suffered numerous, devastating gunshot wounds.

Degruy stared straight ahead as Barrere ticked off their injuries. One of the Bishops relatives wept.

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The brothers father, Kendrick Bishop Sr., described his sons as soft-spoken and humble. His elder son dreamed of breaking into the rap game, while the younger one loved to tinker with motorcycles, he said.

I always say the hardest thing I ever had to do, I did already, by burying two sons, Bishop said. When your heart gets broken like this, there's no way to fix it.

In a lengthy opening statement, Wainwright insisted that his clients only mistake was fibbing later to police about what happened before dawn on May 25.

Prosecutors said video from a responding officers body-worn camera, and another video from Degruys visit to the homicide interview room, caught him in a series of conflicting statements.

Degruy walked up to an officer protecting the crime scene and gave a false name. But he did admit that his cellphone was lying just feet away from the Bishop brothers.

To the detectives at headquarters, Degruy claimed that the brothers had left his house before the shooting to visit a convenience store. But the stores video showed Degruy entering the store with Evans and appearing to confer with him.

Wainwright said his client offered up the shifting stories in misguided fealty to New Orleans street culture.

There's this code, and it's kind of like a cancer on our society. Some people would call it the code of silence, and other people will talk about not wanting to be a rat, Wainwright said.

Degruy pleaded guilty in February to obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. But that was as far as his guilt went, Wainwright said.

He said Calenda had offered up a theatrical opening statement but the states case would fall apart by the time the curtain falls. Once the witnesses start taking the witness stand, the script falls to pieces, he said.

Wainwright alleged that Evans was the mastermind of the killing, which he suggested was committed with help from Evans now-deceased cousin, rather than Degruy.

Evans was angry at the brothers from a prior beef, Wainwright said. The story about the night at Harrah's was an obvious fantasy because Evans and the younger Bishop brother were too young to enter a casino, Wainwright said.

He also said there would be numerous contradictions in the testimony from the states witnesses.

Evans told police he stashed an AK-47 from the killing at a cousins house. But Degruys mother, who decided to cooperate after months in jail, said she gave the long gun to Degruys uncle.

The only thing that will be consistent throughout any of this trial will be the mention of Widner's name. That's it. Because he is  and make no mistake  he is the target, Wainwright said.A faulty sensor on a Lion Air 737 MAX that's been linked to the jetliner's deadly crash last October and a harrowing ride the previous day was repaired in a US aircraft maintenance facility before the tragedy, according to investigative documents.

Accident investigators in Indonesia, home of Lion Air, and the US, where plane manufacturer Boeing is based, have been examining the work that a Florida repair shop previously performed on the so-called angle-of-attack sensor, according to briefing documents prepared for Indonesia's parliament.

Investigators have focused on the sensor's role in the two disasters. Credit:Bloomberg

Erroneous signals from that sensor triggered the repeated nose-down movements on the October 29 flight that pilots struggled with until the jet plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people aboard, according to a preliminary accident report by Indonesian investigators.

The Lion Air crash and a similar one about five months later involving an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX together prompted the grounding of Boeing's best-selling jet on March 13 and touched off a global rebellion against US aviation regulators. Investigators have focused on the sensor's role in the two disasters.Ikea wants to roll out furniture rental to all its main markets in a bid to appeal to its increasingly environmentally conscious and transient customers.

The world's biggest furniture group, known for its low-cost disposable items, first said it was looking into leasing its desks, beds and sofas in February.

It fleshed out its plans on Wednesday at an event held at its first 'sustainable' store in Kaarst, Germany, opened in 2017.

Ikea is branching out into furniture rentals. Credit:AP

The rental pilot was driven by a recognition that many consumers change homes more frequently but can't afford new furniture every time they move, Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka Group, which owns most Ikea stores, told Reuters.The head of one of Australia's largest energy companies has strongly backed the use of international carbon permits in a direct rebuke to the position of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who mocked the idea in Parliament on Wednesday.

Woodside Energy chief executive Peter Coleman used the world's largest LNG industry event to warn gas producers risked losing relevance if they were not seen as "significant contributors" to the reduction of carbon emissions.

Woodside chief Peter Coleman. Credit:Jessica Hromas

"We need to improve our own operations ... we can also advocate for global action, underpinned by national commitments," he told the LNG 2019 conference in Shanghai, China.

"That global action should include recognition of international offsets to drive the most efficient abatement. We must ensure that policy responses to this global challenge are effective at a global level."The matted fur. The drying blood. The exposed bones.

On a solo driving trip from Perth to Darwin, Meg White was struck by the devastating number of kangaroos, wallabies and birds that had ended up as roadkill.

"Visual midwife": cinematographer and photographer Meg White at her exhibition Fractures. Credit:Nick Moir

"It was quite horrific," she says. "I've never seen as much animal slaughter as I saw on the highway going up the west coast."

The rising cinematographer was moved to get out her camera and photograph the carcasses.Real diversity Debi Enker salivates over the musical chairs at ABC (GG, 28/3). All that talent waiting in the wings! But the talent she identifies are birds of a feather: all heart-on-their-sleeve lefties. This is a great opportunity to prove the ABC is not a conservative free-zone and that it embraces diversity. Some suggestions: Chris Kenny hosting Q&A; Ross Cameron on Insiders (what a delicious irony that would be); and John Burns succeeding Jon Faine. John Harvey, Melbourne Drum distraction May I be so bold and advise Ellen Fanning that she does not need to resort to cliche  speaking in a tone that is soaked in incredulity, over-the-top body language, face-touching and mugging  while presenting The Drum on ABC? It distracts from her great work, which speaks for itself.

Peter McGill, Lancefield Terrible Teena On Q&A last week, Liberal Party vice-president Teena McQueen gave a masterclass on what is wrong with the Liberal Party. Samantha Keir, Brighton East Bravo, SBS

SBS's Australia in Colour series was not a presentation about the tinting or re-sizing of archival footage, Dennis Nicholson and Paul Fuller (Letters, 21/3). The footage was selected to give a fascinating insight into the past; for me, the colours enhanced the experience. As a child of the 1950s, I've loved looking back and learning the bits of Australian history I'd missed. Thank you, SBS! Linda Trinick, Brighton East Too much Hitler I support the comments of Julie Shaw (Letters, 28/3); there are far too many (often repeated) shows about Hitler and the Third Reich on SBS. In one episode of Rockwiz, Brian Nankervis introduced Julia Zemiro as the "third most recognisable face on SBS after Hitler and Goebbels". Not far from the truth. David Fry, Moonee Ponds

I disagree with Julie Shaw's view that SBS documentaries about the Third Reich are inappropriate. As an educated 66-year-old from Denmark  whose parents were deeply affected by the Nazi occupation of the country  I have tried to learn as much as possible about World War II, particularly the reasons for the mass involvement of Germans in the Nazi movement. I am staggered by the little-known information contained in these well-researched and relevant documentaries. Inge Meldgaard, Belgrave Heights Too early for this Baden Eunson should be worried about Nine's Married at First Sight screening even earlier than 7pm (Letters, 28/3). I work at a public hospital and I've seen the show televised during the day, so they obviously repeat it outside of prime time. There is also an M-rated ABC show called Informer that's repeated during daylight hours. It is hardly suitable for young children who might be near a television at that time.

Debby Myers, Barwon Heads Questioning the 'experts' Of the 12 marriages arranged by the relationship "experts" on Married at First Sight, only one has been truly successful. If the producers were serious about the couples surviving, they would choose people who live in the same state and have some degree of compatibility. But why should they? The show has been a ratings juggernaut and I have been caught, hook, line and sinker! Steve Hill, Doncaster East Double the fun

Hooray for the Green Guide having two of my favourite comedians on the same page. Ben Pobjie interviewing Judith Lucy (28/3) has made my day. It doesn't get much better than this. Rosemary Taylor, Castlemaine A real mystery How many weeks did Seven spend advertising Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries? How much effort did they put into this fantastic piece of Australiana? All for a crummy four episodes! Shame on you, Seven. Make more episodes or sack your program managers. Ange Kenos, Niddrie

Take note, Australia Thank you to ABC for showing TVNZ1's live broadcast of the memorial service for the victims of the Christchurch massacre. During a recent trip to New Zealand, we followed the news coverage on the country's national broadcaster. Australian TV hosts and reporters would do well to reflect on how their New Zealand counterparts conducted themselves. Kia kaha, Christchurch. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW Musical madness I tried listening to Ancient Places on ABC Radio National, but I could hear fewer than half the spoken words. Presenter Jonathan Green did his best, and music has a rightful place between segments  but who decided we want loud music over speech? Do the producers listen to the programs they put out on air?A natural history museum should be created in Canberra, a federal parliamentary inquiry says.

The inquiry also called for the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies to be moved from the Acton Peninsula to the parliamentary triangle.

A natural history museum could be set up inside the parliamentary triangle. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Chairman Liberal MP Ben Morton said it said it was a shame the only Aboriginal representation inside the parliamentary triangle was one of protest at the tent embassy. The tent embassy has been a long-running source of contention, with periodic attempts to move the temporary campsite from its prominent location in front of Old Parliament House.

But Mr Morton is not pushing for the removal of the tent embassy. He told the Canberra Times a relocated institute would complement the protest site.Josh Frydenberg could have powered a small Victorian town for a week with the megawatt smile plastering his face from the moment he handed down budget 2019  perhaps the Morrison governments last major policy document before the federal poll.

If the raucous  and protocol-breaking  clapping emanating from the Treasurers band of high-profile supporters watching from the visitors' gallery as he handed down his first budget didnt give it away, Camp Frydenberg was the place to be on Tuesday night.

Credit:Matt Golding

Guests at the dinner for about 100 of the Treasurers closest supporters, held in Parliaments Senate Alcove, included Victorias biggest Liberal supporters, among them retail magnate Solomon Lew, Cormack Foundation director and brother-in-law to Rupert Murdoch, John Calvert-Jones, former Liberal president Michael Kroger, and daughter of Sir Robert Menzies and one of Frydenbergs closest allies Heather Henderson.

Elsewhere in the room were Canberras newest Rat Pack, consisting of Sevens Ryan Stokes, hotelier Justin Hemmes and Aussie Home Loans chief executive James Symond, all of whom describe the tennis-playing pollie as a good friend.A NSW District Court judge has been referred to State Parliament for potential removal from office over "unacceptable" delays in delivering judgments, including two cases where the parties waited almost three years for a decision.

In a damning report, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, a conduct division of the NSW Judicial Commission said it had "no confidence" Judge Peter Maiden, SC, would be able to deliver judgments "in a timely fashion" and this was "a fundamental aspect of the duties of a judge".

District Court judge Peter Maiden, SC.

The Judicial Commission referred to 15 cases where Judge Maiden took between a year and almost three years  33 months and 34 months  to deliver written or oral judgments. In one case, he took "nearly two years" to write "a judgment of three and a half pages", it said.

The conduct division said Judge Maiden's "misbehaviour ... could reasonably be considered to be such as to adversely impact on the future reputation and standing of the District Court, if he were to continue as a judge of the court".A body believed to be that of a Nepalese student who was swept off rocks at a popular Royal National Park spot more than a month ago has been found.

On February 25, a group of international students went to the Figure Eight Pools. Two men from the group aged in their early 20s went for a swim, when they were swept off the rocks just before 2pm.

The Figure Eight Pools is a popular destination in the Royal National Park. Credit:Wolter Peeters

One of the men was able to climb to safety, but the other man, 22, failed to resurface.

A search was launched involving Wollongong police, officers from the marine area command, ambulance crews and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.One of the nations peak scientific bodies says the federal budget is a mixed bag for science funding, leaving the country in danger of falling behind in the innovation race.

Among the federal governments budget measures were an increase of $6 million for the CSIRO in line with indexation, along with no cuts to a number of science funding bodies.

Medical research was the big winner in the budget, with the government committing to fully establishing a $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund by 2020-21.

Medical research was the big winner in the federal budget, but concerns have been raised about a lack of similar funding increases for other sectors. Credit:Craig Abraham

However, Professor Emma Johnston, president of Science & Technology Australia, said other than medical research, the government is taking its foot off the accelerator when it comes to research funding.Picture this: a group of 13 and 14-year-old girls dressed in 70 and 80s gear are bopping on a Brisbane verandah last Saturday night when they get a surprise visit.

Its two officers in police uniform. No, its not the Village People. Its the Queensland Police Service on noise patrol, just before 8pm in inner Brisbane on a Saturday.

There were lollies but no liquor. Credit:Simon Schluter

They demand the homeowner produce 100 points of identification and decline his request to discuss the complaint away from the girls who cant help but stare at the interruption to their wonderful and innocent teenage night out.

Theres no boys. No alcohol. No drugs. No swearing. No fighting. No hooning. Not a single smashed glass.Research has revealed the blind spot many people have when applying sunscreen  on and around the eyelids.

A previous study conducted by the University of Liverpool found that many people werent applying sunscreen to their eye area even when they covered the rest of their face.

And the results were even worse in this current study when people were given SPF moisturiser instead of sunscreen.

UV photo after moisturiser with SPF application, left to right: conventional camera, UV-sensitive camera, sunscreen, SPF moisturiser. Credit:Austin McCormick

About 14 per cent of participants completely missed their eye area with the sunscreen, while nearly 21 per cent missed with moisturiser.A man accused of holding a woman captive and raping her over four days continued to run a car-wrecking business from his home and had friends visit while the victim was held captive inside, his neighbours say.

Robert Wilson, 32, allegedly spent days bashing and raping the woman he met on the dating app "Badoo" and asked her if she wanted to die while holding a crossbow to her head last week.

She was so severely injured she was unable to see out of either eye by the third day of her ordeal.

Robert Wilson, 32, has been charged after allegedly imprisoning and raping a woman in his home in Darley near Bacchus Marsh. Credit:Robert Wilson via Facebook

But neighbours say Mr Wilson continued to go about his daily activities and was friendly with locals during the time police say he imprisoned the 39-year-old Vietnamese woman in his home in Darley, a suburb of Bacchus Marsh.It's a scourge that kills many more people in Victoria than car accidents.

But doctors fear a new red flag system designed to prevent "doctor shopping" for prescription medication could put further strain on Victoria's already stretched health system.

More than 4500 patients at risk of overdose have already been uncovered by health professionals across 400 sites in a six-month trial of the SafeScript scheme in western Victoria.

Oxycodone is among the prescription drugs that is monitored by the SafeScript software. Credit:Patrick Sison.

The real-time software, which was rolled across the rest of the state on Monday, alerts doctors and pharmacists about patients who may have a history of painkiller addiction.A toddler and a cyclist have been rushed to hospital after being hit by a car in North Melbourne.

The car hit the cyclist and the child, who was also on the bike, at the intersection of Haines and Errol streets about 8.40am on Wednesday.

The cyclist  a man in his 30s  was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition, while the toddler was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital with minor injuries.

The woman driving the car stopped to help the injured child and man, police said.

The exact circumstances of the incident are yet to be established. Police are investigating.A 30-year-old Perth man has been charged with breaching a violence restraint order after he was stabbed in Bentley on Wednesday morning.

Cannington Detectives allege the 30-year-old went to a house on Wyong Road about 3am and tried to get in, but was confronted by the victim and asked to leave.

It is at that point, detectives say, there was an altercation and the man received a laceration which saw him taken by ambulance to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment.

The 30-year-old from St James has been charged with breach of family violence restraint order or violence restraint order and is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday.

A WA Police spokeswoman said inquiries were continuing into the incident.[April 03, 2019] VTech Adopts Snom Brand for its Business Products BEAVERTON, Ore., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, VTech Communications, Inc., a global leader and manufacturer of business phones and consumer products, announced the adoption of the Snom brand for the company's SIP-based business products. VTech is in the process of re-branding some of the VTech business products to the Snom brand resulting in a strong and extensive brand offering from SIP desktop phones, cordless offerings and conference phones. The company will maintain the VTech brand for its residential consumer products. Acquired by VTech in 2016, Snom is a pioneer and a leading brand of professional and enterprise VoIP telephones. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Snom's engineering is globally renowned for robust, high-quality and feature-rich business telephones that are designed exclusively for the trained and certified professional IT and PBX installer. "Snom was one of the first designers of SIP based devices, with over twenty years of presence in the market, making it a well-recognized brand within this product category," said Chad Collins, vice president of sales, Americas, VTech Communications, Inc. "Snom's international footprint makes it the logical branding choice for expansion into North America and we are excited to realize our acquisition of Snom to its fullest potentia. We continue to be committed to the North American business market with a localized sales force, product management and support teams." The Snom assortment of SIP-based business desk and conference phones will be exhibited at Channel Partners Conference & Expo, booth #1755, April 9-12, 2019 in Las Vegas. For more information on the rebrand and Snom business products, please visit http://www.snomamericas.com/ About VTech

VTech provides a diverse collection of telecommunication products that elevate the business consumer experience through state-of-the-art technology and design. The group's business phones scale from small operations to enterprise-level corporations. They are sold through a wide network of trusted partners and are backed by industry-leading warranties and U.S.-based training and support. The company has recently added an award-winning collection of SIP phone systems, featuring compatibility with hosted and open-source PBX platforms. Founded in 1976, VTech is the world's largest manufacturer of cordless phones and the global leader in electronic learning products from infancy through toddler and preschool. It also provides highly sought-after contract manufacturing services. VTech's mission is to design, manufacture and supply innovative and high-quality products, while creating sustainable value for its stakeholders and the community. For more information, please visit vtech.com. Media Contact:

Audra Proctor- Edelman

503-471-6864

audra.proctor@edelman.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vtech-adopts-snom-brand-for-its-business-products-300823474.html SOURCE VTech Communications, Inc.

[ Back To Conferencing Zone's Homepage ]Loading Whether its lower taxes, better super or universal preschool, Labor is the party for working mums and working families. At the same time, however, Labor will accept a big part of the second stage of the government plan, worth $550 a year for workers earning more than $41,000 a year and due to start in July 2022. Labor is preparing to back the increase from $41,000 to $45,000 in the threshold for the 19 per cent tax rate, saving workers money by applying the 32.5 per cent marginal tax rate only on earnings above the upper threshold. But Mr Shorten will reject the third stage of the government reform plan in the name of fairness, saying the budget cannot afford a cut in the 32.5 per cent marginal tax rate to 30 per cent from June 2024.

The decisions set the scene for a crucial election argument over tax reform, with the government promising $158 billion in tax cuts over 10 years while Labor rejects the third stage, worth $95 billion over the period, and questions some of the second stage. This mirrors the decisions taken one year ago when the government outlined tax relief worth $144 billion over seven years and Labor voted against tax cuts worth $70 billion when the full package was legislated. The tax benefit that is due to arrive soonest under the government plan, an expanded tax offset worth up to $1080 for 10 million workers when they file their tax returns after July 1, is now backed by Labor as well as the Coalition but will not be legislated until after the election. The key difference between the two parties on this part of the package is that Labor offers an offset worth $350 for workers earning up to $37,000 while the government offers only $255.

Loading In a fast-moving policy fight ahead of the election, the government was forced into an embarrassing backdown on a one-off energy assistance payment to those on income support. Mr Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg decided on Tuesday night, hours after the budget was unveiled, to extend the payment of $75 for singles and $125 for couples to include Newstart recipients. Mr Frydenberg said the change, adding about $81 million to the policys original cost of $284.4 million, was needed to prevent the payment to four million recipients being delayed or blocked in the Parliament. Mr Morrison also hit back at claims the forecast budget surplus was built on a $1.6 billion shortfall in spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, arguing the underspend was due to the fact that fewer people than expected applied for assistance.

While Labor argues that a worker on $200,000 a year would get a tax cut that is 45 times higher than a worker on $40,000 a year, the government argues the benefit is greater because those on higher incomes pay more tax. The progressive nature of our system sees the top five per cent of taxpayers currently paying about a third of all tax, Mr Frydenberg told the National Press Club on Wednesday. When our plan is fully rolled out, by 2024-25, that proportion that 5 per cent pays actually increases, so the system arguably even gets more progressive under our plan. The government estimates the top 20 per cent of taxpayers by income paid 60.6 per cent of all income tax revenue last year and this would fall to 59.5 per cent in 2025 if all its changes were legislated. An independent analysis of the budget plan by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling showed the biggest benefits in the government plan go to middle and high-income couples with children.The parents and community representatives want the plan adjusted to protect the tree and the threatened species in Toowong Creek, which runs along one side of QASMT. Threatened species include the endangered tusk frog and the threatened powerful owl. The 300-year-old Aboriginal scarred tree on the Toowong campus site. Credit:Tony Moore Education Minister Grace Grace said talks were underway to try to protect the tree. "The Education Department continues to consult with the cultural heritage body responsible for the QASMT site in relation to the future plans to protect the tree."

Save Toowong Creek zoologist and wildlife carer Iris Hing said saving the tree and expanding the college were not "mutually exclusive objectives. You can expand the school and still protect the ecological environment and protect the Aboriginal heritage for futures to come. The Toowong Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology now has students from years 10, 11 and 12. The bridge across Toowong Creek showing the 300-year-old tree in the far background. Credit:Tony Moore The Queensland government has given itself approval to build several new buildings  despite problems with parking and student access on steep Bywong Street  which would allow it to accept students from years 7 to 12 by 2021.

On Friday, well-known Indigenous man Sam Watson was not recognised as having sufficient local rights to give evidence in Queenslands Land Court on Friday over the scarred tree. On Monday, the community group wrote to Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, who is also Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, to stay any work for 30 days. The site is home to a magnificent 300-year old Scar Tree, and is the breeding ground for endangered wildlife and wildlife that is under pressure, the letter says. Not only is destruction of this space disrespectful to our Aboriginal ancestors, once the heritage space has gone and the wildlife have gone, they are gone forever. We ask that you consider the attached images, and ponder the significance of this space. Especially given there is ample space on the 10ha site to develop elsewhere.

The group believes Ms Trad has power under section 32 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act to stop work for 30 days. This is essential if the community in which you preside is to have time to further investigate the cultural heritage of the land in question, Save Toowong Creek spokeswoman Julie Lloyd said. Brisbane City Council is not involved in the approval of the college expansion because the college is on state government-owned land. Wildlife carer Irish Hing beside Toowong Creek, where threatened species and a 300-year-old tree could be impacted by plans to expand the campus. Credit:Tony Moore However on October 25, 2018, Brisbane City Council chief executive officer Colin Jensen wrote to the Department of State Developments planning assessment team raising five concerns about parking along Toowongs steep Bywong Street and the mitigation of ecological impacts.A magistrate has blasted former West Australian One Nation senator Rod Culleton for being "rude" and having "no manners" as he was sentenced over a bankruptcy offence on Wednesday.

The outspoken politician, 54, was disqualified from Parliament in 2017 following a determination by the Federal Court he was bankrupt at the time he ran for office, making him ineligible.

He was also disqualified under Section 44 of the constitution, in relation to a New South Wales larceny charge he was convicted of in May 2016.

Rod Culleton Credit:Sydney Morning Herald

After the determination Culleton refused to file bankruptcy documents, which he was required to do within 14 days under the Bankruptcy Act.Atlassian's billionaire co-founders, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, have joined the chorus of disapproval over laws rushed through Parliament in the wake of the Christchurch massacre that could result in jail terms for tech executives and multibillion-dollar fines for their employers.

The Morrison government's legislation to curb the dissemination of violent content online passed the Parliament on Thursday morning with Labor's support. Both sides have promised to have parliamentary committees examine the laws should they win the election in May.

Atlassian's Scott Farquhar has taken to Twitter to express his concerns over Australia's new social media laws. Credit:Photo: Louise Kennerley

Ahead of the vote, Mr Farquhar condemned the government's "flawed" legislation on Twitter, claiming it would cost jobs and hurt the tech sector, while Mr Cannon-Brookes later criticised Labor for not opposing it.

"The simple fact on this one is, Labor is not willing to get jammed on crime," he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. "How do you complain something is a terrible law and go vote yes? It shouldn't get rushed through. It's election driven. It's very, very unfortunate.""It's become clear that Ms Wilson-Raybould and Dr Philpott can no longer remain part of our Liberal team," Trudeau told an emergency meeting of the Liberal members of Parliament on Tuesday evening. "Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided. We cannot afford to make that mistake." He added, "In learning to do things and doing them differently, we've encountered difficult moments." Wilson-Raybould said on Facebook on Tuesday night that she will speak with her supporters about what to do next. "I did what I was required to do and what needed to be done based on principles & values that must always transcend party," she wrote. In a separate Facebook message posted on Monday night, Philpott expressed dismay about not being able to make her case to the national caucus before she was exiled from it.

"The need has never been greater for a measured re-evaluation of how the government should respond to this issue," she wrote. "What I have heard from Canadians is that they want to know the truth." Jenny Kwan, a member of the New Democratic Party from British Columbia, said Trudeau's action undermined his claim of being a feminist. "This is about really speaking truth to power, and the government shut it down," she said. But Carolyn Bennett, the minister of indigenous relations, tried to repair any damage, telling reporters after Trudeau spoke that the prime minister's commitment to feminism was not a sham. "It's not about gender," she said, saying that her former colleagues had to go simply because they could not be trusted.

Until Tuesday, Trudeau had studiously avoided criticising either of his former ministers. "I've approached this situation with patience and understanding," he said. But he called last week's revelation that Wilson-Raybould secretly recorded a conversation with the country's top public servant "unconscionable" The two were discussing the case against SNC-Lavalin, which has been charged with bribing Libyan officials during the dictatorship of Moammar Gaddafi. Trudeau's government was asking Wilson-Raybould to consider using a new measure, similar to ones in the United States and some European countries, that would allow the company to avoid conviction in exchange for a substantial financial penalty. A criminal conviction would have barred the company from government work, which could potentially have imperilled thousands of Canadian jobs. Trudeau and his aides have repeatedly denied any impropriety.

Philpott also angered her Liberal colleagues by saying in a magazine interview that Wilson-Raybould was being blocked by the government from revealing important information about the case. While neither woman found many allies within their party, they have been celebrated by opposition members of Parliament for their actions. In a statement, Andrew Scheer, the leader of the opposition Conservatives, said their expulsion showed that "if you tell the truth, there is no room for you in the Liberal Party". The Conservatives are filibustering debate on Trudeau's budget legislation in a bid to force a public inquiry into the matter. Hours before she was removed from the Liberal caucus, Wilson-Raybould urged her colleagues, in an unapologetic letter, to allow her to remain in the party.

"Now I know many of you are angry, hurt and frustrated," she wrote. "And frankly so am I. I am angry, hurt and frustrated because I feel I was upholding the values that we all committed to." In her statement on Monday evening, Philpott dismissed the criticisms of several of her former colleagues. "I was accused publicly by people in caucus of not being loyal, of trying to bring down the prime minister, of being politically motivated, and of being motivated by my friendship with Jody Wilson-Raybould," Philpott wrote. "These attacks were based on inaccuracies and falsehoods. I did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister. Nor did Jody Wilson-Raybould." The two former Cabinet ministers will not be allowed to seek re-election under the Liberal Party banner in October's election and are likely to face Liberal opponents in their electoral districts if they choose to run for re-election. Trudeau's efforts to turn political attention away from the case have so far faltered.Mazda Reports March 2019 US Sales Results







IRVINE, Calif. (April 2, 2019)  Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total March sales of 26,934 vehicles, a decrease of 19.1 percent compared to March 2018. Year-to-date sales through March saw a decrease of 15.7 percent, with 70,833 vehicles sold. With 27 selling days in March, compared to 28 the year prior, the company posted a decrease of 16.1 percent on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis.

CPO sales totaled 5,555 vehicles in March, an increase of 22 percent compared to March 2018.Year-to-date CPO sales through March increased 18 percent, with 13,857 vehicles sold.

Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported March sales of 6,031 vehicles, an increase of 46 percent compared to March last year. Year-to-date sales through March increased 22 percent, with more than 16,189 vehicles sold.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom.New USDA Study Confirms That Ethanol Is Much Cleaner Than Gasoline - SO THERE!







Big Oil Gets Another Well-Deserved Beat Down

By Marc J. Rauch

Exec. Vice President/Co-Publisher

THE AUTO CHANNEL







The recent spate of oil industry sponsored news stories and editorials are again trying to claim that ethanol contributes more harmful emissions to the atmosphere than gasoline. On the face of it alone, the claim should be dismissed as casually as one might dismiss any assertion that the moon is made of green cheese. It's just as preposterous. But maybe the sheer silliness of the claim is so simple that its simplicity makes it easy for nitwits and Big Oil shills to glom onto - that's the only way I can explain why they think they can get away with it.

In just the past three weeks, I responded to three published articles (written by people who really should know better) and one public EPA Hearing in which numerous oil industry lackeys reiterated this myth and other anti-ethanol lies.



In any event, on Tuesday morning, April 2, 2019; the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new study that confirms greenhouse gas emissions from corn-based ethanol are about 39 percent lower than gasoline. The study also states that when ethanol is refined at natural gas-powered refineries, the greenhouse gas emissions are even lower, around 43 percent below gasoline. The complete study can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.

This study follows other government related studies made public over the years that also conclude that ethanol produces far fewer harmful emissions, including the following reports:

What I especially like about this new study is that they specifically address the 2008 study presented by Tim Searchinger and his associates, which added in extraneous items and conditions to conclude negative emissions results for ethanol. In my opinion, this is similar to how David Pimentel and Tad Patzek created their discredited studies against ethanol.

Mr. Searchinger went back to attack ethanol in 2011, with an article in the Washington Post, when he tried to resurrect the food vs. fuel hysteria that API instigated three or four years earlier because of an erroneous report from The World Bank. I published a rebuttal to this on TheAutoChannel.com titled:

"An Open Letter to Tim Searchinger and all the other Gasoline Whores.".

Then, in 2015, Tim Searchinger teamed with Ralph Heimlich to write a new anti-ethanol paper for World Resources Institute. This paper was rebuked by the Renewable Fuels Association with their report "Debunking Searchingers Doomsday TheoriesAgain.".

At the beginning of this article I wrote that the claim stating that ethanol fuel related emissions are as bad or worse than gasoline related emission should be dismissed without further thought. Certainly the studies and papers I offer above should make this obvious to anyone who does not have an oil industry ulterior motive. But, to me, the best and easiest way to refute damaging emissions claims made against ethanol is a video like the one below. Unless and until an internal combustion engine can be designed that burns gasoline as efficiently as ethanol, and a catalytic converter is able to eliminate all traces of greenhouse gases and particulates, ethanol will always be a cleaner fuel than gasoline.

SO THERE!Welcome to You Know What I Heard, the Cuts weekly celebrity gossip column about the peregrinations of the rich and famous. Photo: Getty Images

Its pap-stroll-in-New-York official: Emma Roberts, 28, is dating Garrett Hedlund, 34. The two were photographed holding hands and smiling so big in the city on Sunday. Look:

Photo: TheImageDirect.com

This photo opp comes just one week after Us Weekly reported that Roberts had broken up with her long-term, on-and-off boyfriend/fiance Evan Peters, 32. According to E! News, the Roberts-Peters breakup was a long time coming, which makes sense, given the couples history. Us Weekly insists, however, that it wasnt a bad breakup. I think there is probably more to the story here, and I hope it comes out.

But back to Roberts and Hedlund: They are reportedly very happy together and have been dating for a few weeks. People notes that they stayed together in a hotel in New York. A cross-country trip not a month into a relationship sounds serious to me, but a source told E! News that the relationship is casual at this point. Emma is not one to rush into things and is seeing how things pan out, the source said.

Okay, lets see how things pan out.

Have you been wondering about the love life of the other Emma  Emma Stone? Well, good news: She was spotted grocery shopping in L.A. with her boyfriend Dave McCary this past weekend. Stone and McCary met when he was a writer and segment director on SNL, but as Lainey Gossip points out, hes probably not working for the show anymore. (SNL was on this weekend and McCary was very far from New York.) Whats he doing now? I dont know, but he is sporting a sort of figuring it out beard.

Photo: RFLA/BACKGRID

Also still together: Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott. Jenner reportedly accused Scott of cheating after finding suspicious DMs on his Instagram account earlier this month, but now they went on vacation together and everything is much better. According to People, the couple took their one-year-old daughter Stormi Webster to Punta Mita, Mexico, last week. [They] had a nanny so they could have date nights, a source told the tabloid, which is great, but uh, dont they always have a nanny?

Anyway, a source told E! News that Kylie and Travis have mended their relationship and are in a really good place now. They truly needed this vacation and alone time with one another. This cheating story sounds so over, I doubt it will even garner a mention on the new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Elsewhere in Mexico, Channing Tatum went on vacation with  Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo? I did not realize Tatum and Levine were so friendly, but I guess I can see them getting along. One thing to note: Tatum did not bring his new-ish girlfriend Jessie J on the trip, but he did bring his 5-year-old daughter, Everly Tatum, whom he shares with his estranged wife Jenna Dewan. Maybe Jessie hasnt met the kid yet?

Photo: MADI/HEM/BACKGRID

One small blessing from this week:

The first trailer for the reboot of The Hills was released yesterday.

And Lauren Conrad, who is pointedly not involved in the reboot, announced her second pregnancy yesterday. Coincidence?

Heres an interesting blind item from this week, care of Enty at Crazy Days and Nights:

Another day, another horrible fan encounter for this foreign born A list talk show host who told a fan to get a life when he asked for an autograph.

I would love for a celebrity to tell me to get a life.

Finally, Ill leave you with the fantastic news that Meghan Markle is back on Instagram. In a boring, official way, but still. Thank God!

Thanks so much for gossiping this week, and dont forget to send me a message on Twitter, or contact me on Signal, if youd like to chat.Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label.3 Siblings Killed in Crash in Texas on Way to Dance Competition, Reports Say

Two sisters and one brother were killed in a crash on their way to a dance competition in Texas over the weekend, it was reported.

The car driven by their mother was hit by another driver who may have been using her cellphone, reported the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

Siblings Tiffany Williams, 17; Michael G. Williams; and Danielle Williams, 12, were slain in the crash in Bastrop, Texas, on March 29. Peyton Mackenzie Irwin, a family friend, also died in the crash.

Their mother, Pamela Mary Williams, 53, was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, according to the paper.

The mother stopped to make a left turn off Texas Highway 21 about 30 miles southeast of Austin. Thats when a 2004 Ford F-150 crashed into the rear of their Toyota Corolla, the New York Post reported.

All were traveling with the mother of the siblings to San Antonio to watch an older sibling perform with the Huntsville High School Grenadier Guard Drill Team at Nationals Competition, school district officials said in a statement on Facebook.

Dan Whitaker, the owner of a nearby gun store, told the Statesman that video surveillance from his store shows the pickup truck had time to avoid the crash before it hit the Corolla from behind. He said the Corollas blinker was on while waiting to turn.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said the truck was going 58 mph and didnt apply its brakes until about 0.6 seconds before the crash, suggesting the driver was distracted by a cellphone, the Statesman reported.

The trucks driver and passenger werent injured in the crash. They were identified as Juan Jose Hernandez, 18 and his passenger, Jacqueline Gaspar, 18, of Houston, according to the Post.

Williamss son Jeremy Bowens told KHOU that he told his mother that her three kids were killed.

Its just really hard to find the words to console her, Bowens told the news outlet. Its still so early and were trying to deal with the shock of it.

The death of any young person, much less four, is a loss that, in one way or another, affects us all, the school district said in the statement. The district has arranged for the assistance of additional school personnel, such as counselors, psychologists and administrators to help our students and school community deal with these losses. This support will be available beginning Monday morning and will continue as needed.

School officials called on parents to offer support to your child during this time following the deaths.

If you have any concerns regarding your childs reaction to this loss, please contact your childs teacher, school counselor or any member of the administrative staff, the district noted, adding, We ask that you please join us as we extend our deepest and heartfelt sympathy to the families as they mourn.

A GoFundMe page was also set up by a friend to help deal with funeral costs.

Traffic Deaths Down Across US in 2018

U.S. traffic deaths fell 3.1 percent in the first six months of 2018, according to preliminary figures released in October 2018, Reuters reported.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 2017 traffic deaths fell by 1.8 percent to 37,133 after traffic deaths rose sharply in the previous two years, according to final figures.

The U.S. traffic fatality rate fell to 1.08 deaths per 100 million miles traveled for the first half of 2018.

The fatality rate in 2017 was 1.16 million deaths per 100 million miles traveledthe second highest rate since 2008.

This is good news and bad news, said Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council, CNBC reported. The total number of fatalities is not getting worse, but the situation is not getting better.$7.1 Billion Federal Budget Surplus Announcement Brings Mixed Reactions

The Australian government announced the first federal budget surplus in more than a decade on April 2.

The centre-right Coalition government revealed on budget night the national expenditure has returned to profitability for the first time since the year 2007.

The budget is back in the black with the Morrison government delivering the first budget surplus in more than a decade, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a public statement. This year will see a surplus of $7.1 billion (US$5 billion)a $55.5 billion (US$39.2 billion) turnaround from the deficit we inherited six years ago.

If the current economic performance continues, the government predicts further surpluses of $11 billion in the 2020-21 financial year (FY21), $17.8 billion in FY22, and $9.2 billion in FY23.

Thats a total of $45 billion of surpluses over the next four years, the treasurer said. Surpluses will continue to build toward 1 percent of GDP within a decade.

Well what are you doing about that? Kochie grills Treasurer @JoshFrydenberg over the Federal Budget and the impact it will have on Aussies. #Budget2019 pic.twitter.com/zUtdZnsZWH  Sunrise (@sunriseon7) April 2, 2019

The surplus may be used by the government to go towards addressing the countrys net debt estimated at $361 billion or 18 percent of GDP in FY20, according to government figures.

Net debt is expected to decline to$326.1 billion or 14.4 percent of GDP by FY23, according to the government.

Commodities, Taxes Drive Surplus

The latest surplus was mainly driven by soaring commodity prices and higher corporate taxes, two years after the then Turnbull government withdrew a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate by 5 percent to 25 percent.

Business transactions have largely offset declines in other areas of economic activity. Tax receipts are expected to fall $15 billion over four years due to weakening household consumption, property investment, and average wages.

In the near term, however, this impact will be more than offset by an increase in company tax collections in 2018-19 and 2019-20, reflecting the recent observed strength in commodity prices, the budget papers said.

Growth Through High Taxes

Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor (Economic) Luci Ellis highlighted the federal governments fiscal growth strategy of high taxation at the Housing Industry Association in Sydney on March 26.

In the past year, taxes paid by households increased by around 8 per cent, more than double the rate of growth in gross household income of 3.5 per cent, she said.

Mannkal Economic Education Foundation Research Analyst Cian Hussey wrote in The Spectator that Prime Minister Scott Morrison is leading the biggest-spending and highest-taxing government Australia has ever seen.

A decade of fiscal mismanagement, from both major parties, has resulted in an enormous public debt that the Coalition is not serious about paying down. Tax receipts have boomed in recent years, but higher levels of spending rather than being used to reduce the debt are matching them just as quickly.

Hussey also questioned why politicians have been consistently allowed pay rises even though net government debt has continued to increase over the last decade.

Astonishingly in 2012 they were given two rises, one for 31.3 per cent and another for 3 percent just four months later, Hussey said. That politicians can receive pay rises while delivering such poor budgetary outcomes is absurd. To do their bit in assisting the budget, their pay should be frozen after delivering multiple budget deficits.

Disability Funds Added

The budget might have also been boosted by an underspent National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), according to Every Australian Counts, the National Disability and Carers Alliances (NDCAs) grassroots campaign for the NDIS.

The campaign estimates between $1.6 billion and $3 billion of money that was originally allocated to the scheme went straight back to the government and boosted the latest budgets bottom-line.

The revelation has outraged disability advocates who say the NDIS, administered by the federally funded National Disability Insurance Agency, has been underspent since the schemes inception in the year 2016.

NDIS funds must be spent on the NDISnot bolstering the budget bottom line, NDCA chair Leah van Poppel said in a public statement. Funds tagged for the NDIS should be spent on the NDIS. The underspend should be used to support people with disability and their families and fix up problems with the schemenot returned to government coffers.

The NDIS budget is often underspent due to long wait times to receive financial support from the scheme. Some disabled people are waiting two years for a wheelchair, according to NDCA.

Most people in the NDIS are not spending all the funding allocated to them because they cannot work their way through the bureaucratic maze that is the NDIS to get the help they need. They are desperate for help and supportthey just cant get it, van Poppel said. The NDIS must run like a real insurance scheme where money not spent is put away for a rainy day or invested back into the scheme to get it working the way it should.

Tax Cut Starts at $1 a Week

Frydenberg also announced tax cuts for about 10 million Australians, but only if the Liberal Coalition is re-elected at the general election in May.

People earning up to A$18,200 a year will pay no income tax, while those earning between that amount and up to A$37,000 will receive a A$55 tax cut in FY20 or about A$1 (71 US cents) a week.

Those earning between A$37,000 and A$48,000 will receive a A$190 tax cut, or about A$3.70 a week.

People making between A$48,000 and A$90,000 will have a A$550 tax cut or A$10.60 a week.

Taxpayers will be able to access the offset after they lodge their end of year tax returns from 1 July 2019, which is in just 13 weeks time, Frydenberg said.

This years federal budget is a bit like the curates egg, good in parts. The Conservative Partys South Australian Senate candidate @RikkiLambert looks at what the 2019 Budget means for South Australia. #auspol #ausvotes #ausvotes2019 #BringBackCommonSense #Budget2019 pic.twitter.com/kb5KJtc2NC  Aust Conservatives (@AuConservatives) April 2, 2019Alabama Father Kills Infant, Himself in Senseless Murder-Suicide

An Alabama man fatally shot his baby daughter before turning the gun on himself, according to officials.

Trenton Gordon, 23, also wounded the grandfather of his slain 6-month-old daughter during a dispute.

Police responded to a domestic call at around 1 p.m. in Ohatchee, and the initial fight was between Gordon, a registered sex offender, and the girls mother, AL.com reported.

The mother had filed a protective order against Gordon, said Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade.

Gordon had brought the child, identified by Wade as Kahlia Gordon in a report from WBRC, to a house before the argument ensued.

Then, he pulled out a gun and shot the maternal grandfather in the arm before going outside, killing the girl, before killing himself, Wade said.

Wade said deputies tried to perform CPR on the girl until paramedics arrived, but they were unsuccessful.

The father left a message on Facebook shortly before the shootings took place. Posted by WBRC FOX6 News on Monday, April 1, 2019

I just hate that this happened, Wade was quoted by AL.com as saying. Its very sad and its just senseless.

About 40 minutes before the incident, Gordon posted a message on Facebook, which read, Today will be the last day I live, I love everyone that was in my life, reported WBRC.

Citing his sex offender status, Wade said its not clear how Gordon got possession of the child.

Father shoots 6-month-old baby girl in the head, shoots her grandfather & turns gun on himself after heated argument with babys mother: Police Posted by Nancy Grace on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

He mightve got the child from another disturbance, in a jurisdiction thats not handled by the sheriffs office, were not sure how that happened yet. But he arrived with the child in possession. I believe he was trying to get the mother of the child to get in the vehicle with him, Wade said.

The grandfather of the girl was hospitalized, and his condition was not clear, WBRC reported.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST DAY I LIVE I LOVE EVERYONE THAT WAS IN MY LIFE Posted by Trenton Gordon on Sunday, March 31, 2019

Neighbor Eleanor Edwards told ABC3340 that Gordon and the mother of the child had temporarily lived with her in the past. She saw Gordon a day before the shootings, and nothing appeared amiss.

He said he was gonna come out and pick up some mail. I had sent him a message told him I had. He sounded normal, she told the station.

A friend of Gordon, Marla Warren, said its not clear why he did it, adding that he has another child.

He cherished those kids, like he would have died for those children, literally, Warren told the ABC affiliate. This whole situation just makes no sense to me whatsoever because its so outside of his character.

More: Less than two months ago, Kahlias mother, Christina Gamez, filed a protection from abuse order following a domestic violence incident on Valentines Day. Trenton Gordon violated the terms of that protection from abuse order on March 29, just 2 days before this incident. pic.twitter.com/6pSUE4zDao  Tim Reid (@reidreporterguy) April 2, 2019

However, Edwards said Gordon had mentioned that he and the mother of the girl had recently broken up.

Officials are still investigating the matter.

Ohatchee is located in the Birmingham metropolitan area.

No further details were provided in the case.Qantas Passenger Aleisha Tracy (R) on June 21, 2015 (Facebook) and her boarding pass on March 24, 2019. (Instagram)

Aleisha Tracy Dies on Routine Qantas Flight from LA

Authorities are investigating how a Victorian woman passed away on March 1 during what would usually be a typical flight from Los Angeles, California.

National Broadband Network operations centre executive Aleisha Tracy, 33, died just hours into the 16 hour long haul flight to Melbourne, Australia.

She was on the way home after a holiday in the United States when a medical emergency was declared aboard.

A Qantas spokesperson confirmed two doctors on the plane helped Qantas flight crew members try to save Tracys life.

They stayed with her until the plane landed at Melbourne Airport at about 9 a.m. local time. Paramedics and police boarded the plane and confirmed Tracy was dead.

The 34 year old died despite the best efforts of two medics on board the flight. Posted by 7 News Australia on Sunday, March 31, 2019

The spokesperson told the Daily Mail the incident was tragic and would not reveal any further details.

A woman who told she was also a passenger on the flight said on social media the flight crew and doctors did everything they could to save Tracys life.

We were on this flight and the Qantas staff could not be faulted, they were amazing, she said. A very sad situation and my thoughts are with the family.

Victoria Police had already reported Tracys death on Qantas flight QF94 to the coroner to investigate, and a post mortem examination was scheduled for April 2.

When contacted by authorities, Tracys family and friends appeared to have no clue about exactly what could have caused her death since she had no known medical conditions and appeared to be in good health when she boarded the plane that departed LAX, on March 31 at 10.40 p.m. local time.

No bubbles here, this bad ass needs a rest, Tracy said in an Instagram post during her trip with a photo of her boarding pass dated March 23. #qantas #a380 #vivalasvegas #viaLA #comeatmesleep #luxetouristing #seeyanextweek

Friend and former colleague Natalie Grimaud said she would not forget Tracy.

RIP beautiful girl, she said in an Instagram comment. We had some awesome laughs together in the good old Optus days. You will be dearly missed.

Rest in peace, you will be missed by many, Erick Hoeffner said.

So sad what happened to you, Craig Crawford said.

She sure was an alcoholic, Sefina Leaena said.

View this post on Instagram Margs #centerbar #happyhouralways #themirage #lasvegas #cancrawltomyroom #beautyofanight A post shared by Aleisha Tracy (@aleishatracy) on Mar 27, 2019 at 10:36pm PDT

On social media Tracy appeared to be excited about moving into a new apartment that was under contract and still awaiting settlement.

In 2018, Tracy confirmed in the past she had travelled between L.A. and Melbourne many times before.

The 787 is maybe suitable for a trip to Bali but that is it, she said on social media. Melbourne to LAthe only advantage of this flight is the fact it doesnt arrive at 6 a.m. in the morning like the A380 does but that is it.

Several concerned citizens gave their educated guesses at what may have caused Tracys death.

Deep vein thrombosis, most likely, Leah Withington said. I would drink alcohol on a huge flight to thin out my blood and take aspirin but Im a weirdo who worries about everything.

Humble blood clot in your leg, which can end up in your lung, Ross Gage said.

Probably a clot/aneurysm or heart attack Id dare say how very sad R.I.P too young, Caz Emile said.

Tracys family members would not comment on what really could have caused her death.Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gestures while talking with Army Chief of Staff General Ahmed Gaed Salah during a graduation ceremony of the 40th class of the trainee army officers at a Military Academy in Cherchell 90 km west of Algiers, Algeria, on June 27, 2012. (Ramzi Boudina/Reuters)

Algerian President Steps Down Amid Protests, Army Pressure

ALGIERS, AlgeriaAlgerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down on April 2 after 20 years in office, and six weeks of massive nationwide protests aimed at pushing him and his much-criticized inner circle from power to create a real democracy in the gas-rich nation.

The announcement followed soon after a sternly-worded call from the powerful army chief for Bouteflika, 82 and ailing, to immediately bow out.

Crowds celebrated peacefully in the capital Algiers soon after his announcement. Honking car horns, singing songs and waving Algerian flags, hundreds gathered Tuesday night at the central post officea plaza that has become a symbol of the protest movement. Police watched from the sidelines.

The Constitutional Council was expected to convene Wednesday to formalize his departure. Under the constitution, the president of the upper house, the Council of Nations, steps in as interim leader for a maximum of 90 days so that elections can be organized.

The current upper house president is Abdelkader Bensalah, a Bouteflika allyand its unclear whether protesters will abandon their fight for an overhaul of the entire power structure.

An official in the presidents office told The Associated Press that Bouteflika had resigned, and the official APS news agency said in a full-page headline that Bouteflika had notified the Constitutional Council of his decision.

The move came a day after Bouteflikas office said he would leave by April 28, the official end of his fourth mandatebut only after important changes were made to ensure institutional continuity. That gave rise to fears that his entourage would do all to preserve the interests of those who profited from his time in office.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika submitted his resignation Tuesday night, ending his two-decade rule following weeks of massive demonstrations against his continued political aspirations, the state news agency reported. https://t.co/oCk0ZvyMj2  @washingtonpost  Breaking News (@BreakingNews) April 2, 2019

There was no word about what would happen to the presidential entourage, including younger brother Said Bouteflika, a top counselor blamed by protesters for widespread corruption in the North African country with a high unemployment rate and a drastic gap between the rich and poor.

Earlier Tuesday, military chief of staff Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah convened a meeting of the top military hierarchy. That made clear that the army chiefs call for Bouteflika to desist had the backing of the militaryamong the most important on the African continent.

In a communique, the Defense Ministry referred to Bouteflikas entourage as a gang and said it had made fraud, embezzlement, and duplicity its vocation.

Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke.

His resignation caps six weeks of peaceful marches by protesters who wanted not just Bouteflika but the entire system to make an exit.

As the protests escalated, Bouteflika announced two new governments and army chief Gaid Salah urged Bouteflika to submit to Article 102 of the Constitution, which would declare him unfit for office. Gaid Salah also called for the application of two more articles championed by protesters, notably Article 7, which stipulates that the people are the source of power.

Tensions had been mounting in recent days between the army chief and the presidents entouragealong with suspicions of a potential military coup.

The Defense Ministry statement Tuesday appeared to be a final warning and the catalyst for Bouteflikas resignation.

Bouteflika was an independence fighter during Algerias war against colonizer France in the 1950s and 1960s and then went on to defend Third World interests at the height of the Cold War as Algerias foreign minister.

Bouteflika came to the presidency after Algerias darkest period, the 1990s Islamic insurgency that left around 200,000 people dead. After taking power in 1999, Bouteflika managed to bring back stability to a country devastated by killings and distrust.

The insurgency then linked up with al-Qaida and metastasized into a Sahara-wide extremist movement.

As president, however, age and illness took its toll, and corruption scandals dogged Bouteflika and associates.

Bouteflika also failed to create an economy that could offer enough jobs for Algerias growing youth population despite the nations vast oil and gas wealth.

In a country where secrecy surrounds the leadership, it has never been clear whether Bouteflika was fully in charge or whether the powerful army was pulling the strings.

By Aomar Ouali and Elaine GanleyA silver alert for missing toddler Kayden Matthew Fresh (L) who was believed to be with suspect Jaxx Damian Falconberry (R) was canceled on March 1, 2019. (Jefferson County Sheriffs Department)

Authorities Confirm Missing Toddler Kayden Matthew Fresh Is Safe

A toddler who went missing on April 1 has been located and is safe with law enforcement officials.

Jefferson County Sheriffs Department canceled a statewide silver alert the same day for Kayden Matthew Fresh, who was last seen wearing a blue, yellow, and white Paw Patrol T-shirt and blue or gray shorts.

BREAKING UPDATE: The silver alert has been canceled. No other information was provided. We are working to get more information. https://t.co/ygGFidzhmS  WSBT (@WSBT) April 2, 2019

UPDATE: The Jefferson County Sheriffs Department has canceled the Indiana Silver Alert for the missing 19-month-old boy.https://t.co/r2AWxEKYVl  RTV6 Indianapolis (@rtv6) April 2, 2019

The sheriffs department described Fresh as a 19-month-old white male, 2 feet 8 inches tall, 29 pounds, blond hair with blue eyes.

Officials had believed he was in the company of Jaxx Damian Falconberry, 28, who had previously been seen driving a black 2004 Chevy Impala 4-door with the Indiana number plat ALV239.

Falconberry was described as a white male, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 185 pounds, brown hair with hazel eyes.

Fresh went missing on April 1 at 8 p.m. in Madison, Indiana, which is 92 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

The sheriffs department believed he was in extreme danger and may require medical assistance, so a silver alert was issued across the state. However, after Fresh was located the silver alert was quickly canceled.

WDRB journalist Sterling Riggs posted an update on his Facebook page confirming the search was already over.

Police have canceled the silver alert for a missing 19-month-old boy from Madison, Indiana, he said in a Facebook post dated March 1. Kayden Matthew Fresh was found safe.

Silver Alert cancelled for missing Indiana toddler https://t.co/VbTjLyJA9G pic.twitter.com/3KR6h7IIST  WHAS11 News (@WHAS11) April 2, 2019

Several concerned citizens commented on the post to express their relief after hearing the good news.

Thank God, Glenda Alexander Roberts said.

Thank you sweet Jesus, Kearon Powell said.

Praising God and continuing in prayers, Pam Sickles said.

On the National Center For Missing and Endangered Facebook page one user was glad to find the news on social media as there was nothing reported elsewhere.

Thank you for posting this! I live here in Madison, Indiana, and just saw this and wondered why no automatic alert came through my phone, Amber Vince said. So glad the child was found.

UPDATE: Silver Alert for missing Jefferson County toddler has been cancelled (Via WISH-TV) https://t.co/EnK3i2Rv6X  City of Muncie (@CityofMuncie) April 2, 2019

UPDATE: Silver Alert for missing Jefferson County toddler has been cancelled (Via WISH-TV) https://t.co/mXnjw8vtyN  Mayor Dennis Tyler (@TylerDennis1348) April 2, 2019

This mornings Silver Alert regarding a 19 month-old boy has been CANCELLED: https://t.co/sfipm9owga  News/Talk 95.3 MNC (@953MNC) April 2, 2019Deputy Chief Border Patrol agent for Rio Grande Valley Raul Ortiz (R) and Richard Guerra on the Guerra's La Anacua Ranch near Rio Grande City, Texas, on March 22, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Cartels Get 90 Percent of Drugs Past Border Patrol in Rio Grande City

ROMA, TexasIts not uncommon to hear gun battles and grenades exploding across the Rio Grande in the Mexican city of Miguel Aleman.

The city is where two cartelsGulf Cartel and Los Zetasconverge, frequently battling for territory.

Looking across the river from the bluffs at Roma, its easy to spot cartel lookouts, where scouts constantly watch Border Patrol and law enforcement for any gap.

And there are plenty of gaps. No border barriers exist in this area, and there is plenty of unpopulated ranchland to hide in to evade capture.

The Rio Grande City Border Patrol station takes care of this 68-mile strip of international border in southeast Texas. It sits within the Rio Grande Valley Sector and is the busiest of the nations 135 stations for drug seizures and the second busiest for illegal alien apprehensions.

Despite the station seizing 42,000 pounds of narcotics so far this fiscal year, were not even probably catching about 10 percent of it, said Raul Ortiz, deputy chief Border Patrol agent for the Rio Grande Valley sector.

That would mean 378,000 pounds of drugs have made it across into the Rio Grande City area between the ports of entry.

The cartels are starting to push alien traffic out here [where] theres nothing [but] a little, bitty village, Ortiz said. And why are they doing that? Not because its a close proximity to a community. No, because the cartels are using that as a diversion so they can tie up our hands so our agents cant get to the narcotics or to smuggled alien traffic.

So far this fiscal year, Ortiz said 25,000 illegal aliens have evaded Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. Those are the ones that are winding up in your jails, those are the ones that are winding up in these communities north of us, he said.

Ortiz said Border Patrols strategy is to try to apprehend aliens and interdict drugs as close to the river as possible, before the local ranchers and communities are affected.

But its difficult in this area, where there is no infrastructure or patrol roads running along the border line. If Border Patrol agents are chasing drug smugglers on a ranchers land near the border, and those smugglers cross to the next ranch, agents may have to drive 10 miles back out of the first ranch and 10 miles into the second in pursuit.

Ortiz said Border Patrol has submitted proposals for building border fencing and accompanying patrol roads in the area, but there is pushback from some Congress members. He said if they cant get the fencing they need, lets make sure we have enough technology and enough manpower.

Getting a Real Picture

Only five years ago, Border Patrol had no idea how much cross-border traffic was coming through. That changed when seven aerostat balloons started recording real-time incursions in south Texas.

One of the bigger aerostats, nicknamed Big Bertha, is situated six miles from the border on La Anacua Ranch and started surveilling on July 31, 2014. It has two cameras that can see up to 20 miles in any direction on a clear day. Camera operators have tracked a car from nearby Sullivan City to a Chase bank in McAllen around 20 miles away, said field service representative Robert Robinson.

But winds of 20 to 25 knots will force the balloon down, and the cartels are ready to pounce as soon as they see it retracting. March 22 was one such day, and local Border Patrol agents said illegal activity picked up immediately after the balloon was brought back down to its trailer.

On average, the balloon picks up 500 to 600 illegal alien incursions per week.

The aerostats live camera feeds transmit to the Rio Grande City and Zapata Border Patrol stations and the information helps Border Patrol allocate resources and respond to priority situations. The cameras, which are designed for low-flying aircraft, have night and day vision.

As things are developing over there [Mexico]gun battles between rival cartels, the government of Mexico, and the cartelwe already have that awareness, were able to see it as its occurring over there, said Albert Olivares, Border Patrol agent and special operations supervisor.

Ortiz said Border Patrol has a direct line of communication with the Mexican military across the border and they work together frequently.

If we, our aerostat, sees something on the Mexican side, were not afraid to call the Mexican military to vector them into a [drug] seizure, Ortiz said. I dont care who makes the seizure as long as somebody makes it and its not the bad guys.

In fiscal 2017, almost 72,000 Americans died of a drug overdose, with most drugs coming across the border from Mexico.

On March 28, Rio Grande City agents saw several illegal aliens carrying bundles of marijuana across the border. As the agents responded, the smugglers abandoned the bundles and fled to Mexico. Agents found five bundles of marijuana weighing nearly 280 pounds and worth an estimated $223,000.

On the same day, another 175 pounds worth $140,000 were found by agents in an abandoned residence nearby.

Border Patrol drug seizures between ports of entry in fiscal 2018 totaled almost 500,000 pounds along the whole southwest border461,030 pounds of marijuana, 11,314 pounds of methamphetamine, 6,550 pounds of cocaine, 568 pounds of heroin, and 388 pounds of fentanyl (enough fentanyl to kill all Americans four times over, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen).

The amount of fentanyl was more than triple that seized in fiscal 2016 and methamphetamine seizures netted almost twice as much as in fiscal 2015. The amount of marijuana has halved, most likely due to the legalization of the drug in some U.S. states.

Closed Border

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has threatened to close the southwest border if Mexico and Congress both dont take steps to control the situation. In March, it is estimated around 100,000 illegal immigrants, mostly from Central America, crossed into the United States.

The administration has been ringing the alarm bells about the humanitarian and border security crisis for some time, but Trump said on April 2 that his threats to close the border are the only way were getting a response.

If Congress doesnt make amendments to allow for the detention of illegal immigrants until their asylum court case is adjudicated, the massive flow from Central America will continue unabated. Currently, children and family units can only be held for a maximum of 20 days, but asylum cases take six to eight weeks.

The only way to truly fix this border emergency is with emergency legislation, Nielsen wrote on Twitter on April 1. Misguided court decisions and outdated laws have created loopholes that are the main cause of todays crisis.

Nielsen has appointed former Border Patrol Chief of the Rio Grande Sector Manuel Padilla to lead a crisis response effort.

In a previous version of this article the name of Richard Guerra was incorrectly written in a photo caption. The Epoch Times regrets the error.CDC Reports 387 Measles Cases Across US for 2019

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an update on the number of measles cases in recent months in the United States.

The agency reported 387 cases across the country from Jan. 1 to late March.

States that have reported cases of the virus are Washington, Texas, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Missouri, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Connecticut, according to the agency in a bulletin on March 28.

In comparison, there were 372 cases of measles for all of 2018, the agency noted. And in 2017, there were 120 cases, while in 2016, there were 86 cases.

In recent years, the most outbreaks in a single year occurred in 2014 when 667 cases of measles were confirmed, the agency said.

These outbreaks are linked to travelers who brought measles back from other countries such as Israel, Ukraine, and the Philippines, where large measles outbreaks are occurring, the health agency said, adding, Measles is still common in many parts of the world including some countries in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Africa.

The CDC noted that the virus can also spread in areas of the United States where groups of people are not vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the CDC defines an outbreak as three or more cases in an area.

Outbreaks have been noted in Rockland County, New York; New York City; Washington state; Santa Cruz County, California; New Jersey; and Butte County, California.

BREAKING: Rockland County is declaring of state of emergency Tuesday over the ongoing measles outbreak and barring unvaccinated minors from public places. Posted by ABC7NY on Tuesday, March 26, 2019

State of Emergency

New Yorks Rockland County last week declared a state of emergency after more than 100 people were diagnosed with measles.

Starting at 12 a.m. on March 27, anyone under the age of 18 who hasnt been vaccinated will be barred from public places in Rockland County until getting the MMR vaccineor until the state of emergency expires within 30 days, according to WABC.

We continue to encourage everyone to be up-to-date with the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine to help protect them in case of any future exposure to measles in Rockland, Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert said at the time, WABC reported.

A number of measles cases in New York state have been found among children of Orthodox Jewish families, ABC News also reported.

Mandatory?

The last major outbreak in the U.S. was in 2017 when 75 cases were reported in Minnesota in a Somali-American community with poor vaccination coverage, the agency stated.

Every state, Washington, and Puerto Rico have their own vaccine requirements to attend public school.

As of July 18, 2018, all 50 states and [Washington] DC require vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; polio; measles and rubella (49 states and DC also require mumps vaccination); and the varicella (chickenpox) vaccination, according to ProCon.org.

And another 43 states and [Washington] DC require hepatitis B vaccination (Alabama, Illinois, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Texas do not) to enter kindergarten. Some states require Hib, PCV, flu, and Hep A vaccines to enter kindergarten. Connecticut is the only state to require nine vaccinations. Many states require more vaccines as the children age, for example West Virginia requires the meningitis vaccine at the CDC-recommended age (11-12 years old), according to the website.

Meanwhile, state legislators have proposed bills that would modify vaccine provisions and exemption rules, including SB-584 , introduced in Washington State, and SB-276 , introduced in California. Both would further limit students choice of refusing vaccines.A technician shows with a pen a satellite image of Japan at the Regional Service of Image Treatment and Remote Sensing (SERTIT) in Illkirch Graffenstaden, eastern France, on March 15, 2011. (Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images)

China Is Advancing Artificial Intelligence Technology to Fool US Satellites

China is advancing a type of artificial intelligence that can fool U.S. satellites into seeing things that arent there.

The emerging technique is known as generative adversarial networks (GANs), which involves a computer network creating fake images to trick analytical computers into believing that the images are real.

This has military repercussions since the U.S. military relies on automated image analysis to screen large volumes of satellite images. The analysis systems could be fooled by intentionally doctored images generated by Chinese computer networks, according to a U.S. intelligence official.

The Chinese have already designed; theyre already doing it right now, using GANswhich are generative adversarial networksto manipulate scenes and pixels to create things for nefarious reasons, said Todd Myers, automation lead and chief information officer at the Pentagons National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, at the Genius Machines summit on artificial intelligence, held on March 28.

As an example, Myers stated that an image analysis might wrongly conclude from a doctored image that there is a bridge across a river, when there isnt one in real life.

So, from a tactical perspective or mission planning, you train your forces to go a certain route, toward a bridge, but its not there. Then theres a big surprise waiting for you, Myers said, according to defense news website Defense One.

He added that China is currently the leader in GANs, and the process to defeat GANs is time-consuming and costly.

Beijing has laid out a detailed plan to become the world leader in artificial intelligence (AI).

In 2015, China announced its industrial plan of Made in China 2025, with the goal of transforming China into a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse by 2025, including in sectors such as artificial intelligence and big data.

Two years later, in July 2017, Chinas State Council published the Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan in July 2017.

The plan envisions a three-step process for China: to keep pace with AI technology and applications by 2020, become a world leader in AI tech by 2025, and the center of AI innovation by 2030.

The plan also explains that China must be able to develop indigenous AI industries, including smart robots, smart delivery tools, and smart software and hardwareincluding graphics processing, pattern recognition, and machine translationsall of which are key areas to advancing GANs.

China is by far the United States most ambitious competitor in the international AI market, stated a U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published in January this year.

Yet, some American AI technology is being funneled to China. According to the CRS report, China invested an estimated total of $1.3 billion in American AI companies between 2010 and 2017, potentially granting [Beijing] lawful access to U.S. technology and intellectual property.

The report also pointed out that, in 2017, Beijing created a Military-Civil Fusion Development Commission to speed up the transfer of AI technology from commercial companies and research institutes to the Chinese military.

Myers also warned of another danger: open-source images that are easily accessed by the public can be corrupted. For example, mapping on the Google Maps app is susceptible to infiltration by GANs.

Defense Ones report warned that the compromise of open-source data and images could erode the public credibility of the national security community and the functioning of democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, Andrew Hallman, head of the Central Intelligence Agencys Digital Directorate, said at the same summit: We are in an existential battle for truth in the digital domain, according to the Defense One report.Couple Raises Bees in High-Rise Condo, Infuriates Neighbors

If you ever thought a neighbor's barking dog was bad

A husband and wife raised a hive of bees out of their high-rise condominium for over a year, angering their neighbors. The neighbors reported them to the property manager, and eventually police, on March 29 according to the Ningbo Evening News.

The husband began raising bees in Zhejiang Province, China, with the intention of using bee stings as a form of medicine. The couple, who remained unnamed in the report, later began to regard the bees as pets.

Apitherapy, which involves using bee products and bee stings as a form of medicine, is unsupported by evidence-based medicine.

After the police intervened, the couple agreed to raise the bees somewhere other than their condo.

Bee-ware

Local police received a complaint from residents in an unnamed housing area about bees swarming their balconies. Families who hung their clothes out to dry said their clothing was covered in dots of bee excrement.

When the police arrived, they recorded cellphone footage looking out the window, seeing a swarm of bees gathered outside near a flower pot.

Its not that its just like this today, one man said in a video recorded by the police. Its always like this, yesterday was like this, the day before was like this.

The property manager then confirmed that a couple had been raising bees from their condominium for over a year. Though the management attempted to persuade the beekeepers to move the hive away, the husband and wife did not agree.

The beekeepers reportedly retorted to the management that they should worry about those who own cats and dogs first, according to the Ningbo Evening News.

When the police entered the couples house, they found a wooden box used as a bee hive on the balcony. They said they saw bees both crawling inside and outside of the box, with some flying around.

Whats It Gonna Bee?

All we have is this one box, the woman said in the video recorded by the police. Its his [husband] hobby, he does it for fun.

The owners said that they had over ten thousand bees.

So you raise them as pets? the police officer asked. The woman laughed and agreed with him. She said that the bees were raised by her husband for apitherapyusing bee stings for supposed medical cures.

It doesnt matter if someone gets stung, the woman said. The more stings, the better. Let me tell you, people who raise bees never get cancer. Bee stings also help cure arthritis, the woman said.

Over time, the couple grew fond of the bees and regarded them as pets.

You feel sentimental for the bees now? the officer asked in the police footage. Of course we do! the woman responded. Its been many years, her husband said.

The woman and the officer argue about the similarities and differences between raising bees and a dog.

The police said there was a fine for owning animals that affect other peoples well-being. The fine was between $30 and $75.

The woman finally said that they would remove the bees and that her husband found a new place for them.Some of the Hart family at the annual celebration of "The Goonies" movie in Astoria, Ore., in June 2014. (Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian via AP, File)

Details Shared in Family Killed in California Cliff Plunge

WILLITS, Calif.Officials shared grisly details of the deaths of a family whose SUV plunged off a cliff off Northern Californias coast during a coroners inquest Wednesday, April 3, to help them classify the deaths.

Law enforcement officials and a forensic pathologist testified on the first of two days of testimony before a jury that will decide whether the March 2018 deaths of Jen and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children were accidental, a murder-suicide, or undetermined.

The crash happened just days after authorities in Washington state, where the family moved in 2017 from Oregon, opened an investigation following allegations the children were being neglected.

A neighbor of the Harts in Woodland, Washington, had filed a complaint with the state, saying the children were apparently being deprived of food as punishment. No one answered when social workers checking on the report went to the familys home near Portland, Oregon, on March 23.

Three days later, their SUV was found partially submerged on the ocean, below a rugged cliff.

The bodies of the women were inside the SUV when it was discovered, but one of them fell out as the vehicle was being towed up the cliff off the coast of Mendocino County, Sheriff Deputy Robert Julian said.

Details shared in family killed in California cliff plunge https://t.co/XZ5Zox2WE8 https://t.co/XZ5Zox2WE8  thesdreporter (@thesdreporter) April 3, 2019

Julian testified he was able to identify Sarah Hart through a Minnesota drivers license found near the car.

I wasnt able to identify Jennifer Hart due to her fall, Julian said.

The bodies of siblings Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail Har were found the same day near the car. Weeks later, the body of Ciera Hart was pulled from the Pacific Ocean and human remains found in a shoe were matched to Hannah Hart through DNA testing. The remains of 15-year-old Devonte Hart have not been found.

Jennifer Hart was drunk when she drove her large family off a Northern California cliff, authorities said.

Greg Pizarro, a forensic pathologist, testified Wednesday an autopsy found she had an alcohol level of 0.102. California drivers are considered drunk with a level of 0.08 or higher.

Pizarro said her cause of death was a broken neck.

Her wife, Sarah, and several children had large amounts of a drug in their systems that can cause drowsiness, authorities have said.

The familys SUV plunged off a seaside cliff more than 160 miles north of San Francisco.

Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children. Oregon child welfare officials also investigated the couple in 2013, but closed the case without taking any action.Doorbell Cam Catches Missouri Sheriffs Deputy, Veteran Folding Homeowners Fallen Flag

The content is not available due to expiration.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses people demonstrating against the failed military coup attempt in Turkey, via video conferencing at the Turkish Presidency in Ankara, Turkey, on July 24, 2016. (Yasin Bulbul/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan on Track to Lose Turkeys Biggest Cities in Shock Poll Upset

ANKARA/ISTANBULTayyip Erdogans ruling AK Party was on track on April 1 to lose control of Turkeys two biggest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, in a stunning local election setback that could complicate the presidents plans to combat recession.

While official vote tallies and Turkish broadcasters put the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) candidates ahead in both cities, the Islamist-rooted AKP promised appeals that could delay the final results for days.

Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since sweeping to power 16 years ago and has ruled with an ever tighter grip, campaigned relentlessly for two months ahead of the March 29 vote, which he described as a matter of survival for Turkey.

But his daily rallies and overwhelmingly supportive media coverage failed to win over many urban voters, as last years punishing currency crisis weighed heavily on Turks.

The people have voted in favor of democracy, they have chosen democracy, said opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, whose secularist CHP also held its Aegean coastal stronghold of Izmir, Turkeys third largest city.

The AKP and its Islamist predecessor have controlled Istanbul and the capital Ankara for 25 years. The results, which were still being tallied on Monday evening, would likely bring personnel changes at the highest ranks of government, according to sources inside and close to the AKP.

In Istanbul, the countrys largest city and economic hub, the CHP mayoral candidate was more than 22,000 votes ahead of his AKP opponent as the last votes were being counted, according to the countrys electoral board.

Yet the AKP also claimed victory, saying it had plenty of evidence of voting irregularities.

In Ankara, Turkish broadcasters said the CHP candidate had won a clear victory. But the AKP said it would appeal and expected to shift the outcome in its favor.

Erdogans ruling alliance, including the nationalist MHP, captured 51.7 percent of the nationwide vote, according to state-owned Anadolu news agency. Turnout was a very high 84.5 percent.

But the loss of Istanbulif confirmedwould be especially significant as Erdogan served as the citys mayor in the 1990s.

An AKP official and a source close to the party each predicted a cabinet shuffle or other changes among those around Erdogan.

There will certainly be changes in some places, such as Erdogans close circle in the party and the cabinet, said the official, who requested anonymity. Markets expect that there will be a change in the cabinet. This makes a change necessary.

Markets on Edge

Erdogan, Turkeys most prominent leader since the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, has built support based on strong economic growth and backing from a core constituency of pious, conservative Muslim Turks.

He has been the countrys most popularalthough divisivemodern politician, tightening his grip in elections last year that ushered in a powerful executive presidency that alarmed Western allies who fear growing authoritarianism in Turkey.

Erdogan pledged late on March 31 he would now focus on Turkeys troubled economy ahead of national elections in 2023.

We have a long period ahead where we will carry out economic reforms without compromising from the rules of the free market economy, he said.

But investors are skeptical that AKPs long-promised reforms can transform a slumping economy hooked on foreign debt, and also worry about fraying diplomatic ties with the United States that could bring more sanctions. Last week authorities used a series of stop-gap measures to cushion the selloff of Turkish assets.

The head of the High Election Board told reporters there was a three-day period for the election results to be challenged.

The CHPs mayoral candidate in Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, was leading his AKP rival, former prime minister Binali Yildirim, by 22,479 votes, according to state agency Anadolu.

CHP candidate Mansur Yavas won the mayoral race in Ankara, preliminary results showed.

In mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey, residents celebrated as the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) won back municipalities that authorities had taken control of two years ago, accusing the HDP of terrorist links. The HDP denies links to the outlawed militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

They robbed us of our will and we overturned this, said Abdullah Elmas, a resident of Diyarbakir, the regions biggest city.

A European group observing Turkeys local elections criticized curbs on the free expression of citizens and journalists, saying on April 1 it was unsure whether the Turkey electoral environment was free and fair.

By Orhan Coskun & Can SezerEx-Governor Candidate Found Guilty in Murder-for-Hire Plot

OKLAHOMA CITYA federal jury on April 2 convicted a former Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate and zookeeper in an attempted murder-for-hire plot.

Jurors returned the guilty verdict following six days of testimony in the trial of Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, 56, who was accused of trying to arrange the killing of Florida animal sanctuary founder Carole Baskin, who criticized his treatment of animals. Baskin wasnt harmed.

Joe Schreibvogel-Maldonado-Passage Convicted On All Counts! I am grateful that justice was served and Joe Schreibvogel-Maldonado-Passage hopefully will serve time in prison and no longer present a threat either to me or to his former big cats. While media attention regarding this trial has primarily focused on the murder for hire charges, there is a much larger significance to the wildlife charges. For years, a network of big cat owners like Passage who have engaged in cruel cub petting schemes and the exhibition of big cats have also been engaging in the illegal sale of tigers and other animals back and forth among themselves simply by checking the box on the USDA transfer form that says donated instead of sale and quietly paying cash for the animals. During the trial, several big cat owners were specifically mentioned as people Passage had sold tigers to. We believe this illegal practice is common among cub breeders and exhibitors; Bhagavan Antle, Tim Stark, Bill Meadows, Mario Tabraue, Kathy Stearns, Robert Engesser, Jeff Lowe and Omar Villareal are some of the most notorious. I hope that the detailed evidence of these illegal transfers developed for this trial will lead to more prosecutions to protect captive big cats in this country from this illegal trade.~ Carole Baskin, Founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue Posted by Big Cat TV on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Maldonado-Passage, known as Joe Exotic, was also found guilty in the deaths of five tigers, and selling and offering to sell tiger cubs in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

U.S. District Judge Scott Palk did not set a sentencing date for Maldonado-Passage, who could face more than 20 years in prison.

Maldonado-Passage testified in his own defense on April 1 that although disagreements with Baskin spilled over into his social media posts, he never truly wanted her dead.

The Oklahoman reports that jurors saw in social media videos Maldonado-Passage shooting a blow-up Carole Baskin doll in the head.

You want to know why Carole Baskin better never, ever, ever see me face-to-face ever, ever, ever again, he said in the video, just before firing a revolver.

Maldonado-Passage also pretended to dig a grave for Baskin and threatening to mail her rattlesnakes.

Hes been threatening me for many, many years, Baskin told The Oklahoman.

Carole Baskin; Founder & CEO, Big Cat Rescue  NativeAdVice  The Native Society  Share Your Native Voice & Inspirational Story http://thenativesociety.com/tnspeak/carole-baskin-founder-ceo-big-cat-rescue.html Posted by Big Cat Rescue on Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Brittany Peet, an attorney for the animal rights organization PETA, was the first defense witness for Maldonado-Passage.

Peet said Maldonado-Passage told her he wanted out of the industry and to become a bartender in Central America as the defense sought to show he was never serious about arranging the death of Baskin in the videos.

Prosecutors alleged Maldonado-Passage tried to hire two separate people to kill the woman. One of the unidentified people he sought to hire connected him with an undercover FBI agent, who met with Maldonado-Passage in December 2017.

Only on 5 the prisoner transport van carrying Joe Exotic, now convicted of 19 federal crimes, leaves the courthouse pic.twitter.com/OEsiAUc6rl  Dillon Richards (@KOCODillon) April 2, 2019

Prosecutors said Maldonado-Passage offered $10,000 to the undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin during a December 2017 meeting that was recorded and played for the jury.

In the recording he told the agent, Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off.

Known for his blond mullet and expletive-laden rants on YouTube, Maldonado-Passage finished third in a three-way Libertarian primary in 2018.

In October 2017, Garvin County authorities investigated after Maldonado-Passages then-husband, 23-year-old Travis Maldonado, shot himself in the head in the zoo gift shop.

Garvin County Sheriff Larry Rhodes said at the time that witnesses reported Travis Maldonado put a loaded firearm to his head and pulled the trigger to prove the weapon would not fire with the magazine removed.

Maldonado married another man, Dillon Jacob Passage, in December, court records show.

Maldonado-Passage also appeared on John Olivers Last Week Tonight when he was a 2016 write-in candidate for president.Demonstrators march during a protest to demand authorities to scrap a proposed extradition bill with China in Hong Kong, China on March 31, 2019. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Hong Kong Launches New Extradition Law Despite Opposition

HONG KONGHong Kongs leaders launched laws on April 3 to change extradition rules to allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial, standing fast against growing opposition to a move many fear could further erode the citys legal protections.

Thousands took to Hong Kong streets to protest against the laws over the weekend, joining an unusually broad chorus of concern from international business elites to rights groups and even some pro-establishment figures.

However, Hong Kongs Chief Executive Carrie Lam said her government would make no further amendments before introducing the laws to the citys parliament.

Small groups of protesters supporting the governments bill briefly faced off against opponents outside the Legislative Council but later dispersed without incident. Opponents of the changes fear further erosion of freedoms and legal protections in the free-wheeling financial hubrights that were guaranteed under the citys handover from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

According to the laws presented to the council on Wednesday, the chief executive would have the right to order the extradition of wanted offenders to China, Macau and Taiwan as well as other countries not covered by Hong Kongs existing extradition treaties.

As a safeguard, such orders could be challenged and appealed against through the citys courts.

Government officials have said no one at risk of the death penalty or torture or facing a political charge could be sent from Hong Kong. They earlier exempted nine commercial crimes from the new provisions after pressure from business groups.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng said outside the council Hong Kongs courts would play an essential role.

It is absolutely not the case that a single person or organization can complete the whole process, Cheng said.

The laws will be debated by a council committee and are expected to be passed later this year.

The government has justified the swift introduction of the changes by saying they are needed so that a young Hong Kong man suspected of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan can be extradited.

No Trust

Former Democratic Party leader Emily Lau said that, even with the promised safeguards, ordinary Hong Kongers would still find extradition to mainland China unacceptable.

Many Hong Kong people have no trust or confidence in the Chinese judicial system, she told the government-funded radio station RTHK. Fair trials were not possible on the mainland, she said.

Hong Kongs Bar Association said on Tuesday the governments watering down of the changes did nothing to ease fundamental unease over differences with the Chinese system.

Under the Basic Law, which enshrines Hong Kongs separate system until 2047, Hong Kong is allowed to continue a British-style legal system that remains part of the common law.

Fugitive property tycoon Joseph Lau launched legal action in a Hong Kong court on Monday challenging the retroactive nature of the bill. Lau is seeking to avoid extradition to neighboring Macau, where he was sentenced in 2014 to more than five years on corruption and money laundering charges.

Chen Zhimin, a former deputy minister of public security, told reporters in Beijing last month mainland authorities already had a list of more than 300 fugitives who are in Hong Kong.

By Greg Torode & Jessie PangHouse Democrat Rejects Rising Socialism Talk

As Democratic 2020 contenders are increasingly embracing some of the most socialist ideas in modern U.S. history, one House Democrat is breaking from the party line and rejecting the policies her colleagues have been pushing in recent years.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) described herself as a proud capitalist at a BakerHostetler conference on April 2 in Washington. Her remarks to the 150 attending the event comes after President Donald Trump launched his own campaign against socialism. Her spokesman said she was unavailable for an interview.

I am offended by this whole conversation about socialism, she said. The idea that in the greatest democracy, the greatest capitalist system in the world, were having casual conversation about socialism, offends me.

Throughout her speech, Murphy didnt mention by name some of her other colleagues such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of whom is a self-admitted socialist and the other a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Socialist policies received virtually no support among Democrats as recently as 2013, when not a single Democrat in the Senate co-sponsored the Medicare for All bill introduced by Sanders. Just five years later, in 2018, one-third of Senate Democrats and two-thirds of House Democrats have signed on to the proposal.

Murphy, a two-term congresswoman, said the system we have is what made the United States great and she wont welcome anything that would undo it.

It is the system that built us the greatest nation and the greatest economy in the world. Sure, we have to fix the inequities that exist in our system, she said. But it is not the moment to undo the whole system, and embrace something that Americans have spent blood and treasure fighting to save other countries from.

Murphy is the first Vietnamese American woman in Congress and immigrated with her family as a refugee to the United States. At one point in her remarks, she recalled mailing a years worth of items such as medicines, bandages, and fabric to her relatives in Vietnam because those things were inaccessible to them.

Of the Democratic candidates who have officially declared their intention to run and are polling at 1 percent or more, seven out of eight contenders support Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is the exception among the field, although even she views both policies as key long-term goals.

The Green New Deal calls for a 10-year mobilization that would, by one estimate, cost U.S. taxpayers up to $93 trillion. In addition to vague promises of universal access to food and nature, the resolution calls for the removal of all gas-engine cars and upgrading or replacing every building in the United States.

Socialist policies that deter growth in the business world are the greatest threat to the U.S. economy, according to Kevin Hassett, the chairman of Trumps Council of Economic Advisers. Only 18 percent of Americans view socialism in a positive light.

The increasing talk of socialism has caught the attention of Trump and Republicans who have recently ramped up their criticism. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in early March, Trump said nothing is more radical than the Green New Deal.

When the wind stops blowing, thats the end of your electric. It would force the destruction or renovation of virtually every structure in the United States, he said. Perhaps nothing is more extreme than the Democrat plan to take over American energy.

In February, Trump made the case against socialism in a landmark speech on Venezuela: The twilight hour of socialism has arrived in our hemisphere, he said. And at this years State of the Union speech, he said, America will never become a socialist country.

Kayleigh McEnany, press secretary for the Trump 2020 campaign, previously told The Epoch Times that Trumps re-election campaign will focus on exposing the dramatic shift toward socialism inside the Democrat party.

Its wrecked economies, its destroyed personal freedoms, and now its amazing to me that on a Democratic debate stage you are going to hear the word socialism, she said.

Epoch Times staff member Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.House Judiciary Democrats Approve Subpoenas for Mueller Report

The House Judiciary Committee has voted along party lines on April 3 to authorize the chairman to issue subpoenas for Special Counsel Robert Muellers full report after the Justice Department missed a deadline set out by the Democrats to release the document without redactions.

Twenty-four Democrats voted to give Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) the option to issue subpoenas for the final report, its exhibits, and any underlying evidence or materials prepared for Muellers investigation, while 17 Republicans voted against it.

.@RepJerryNadler: This Committee requires the full report and the underlying materials because it is our job, not the Attorney Generals, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office.  House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) April 3, 2019

This committee requires the full report and the underlying materials because it is our job, not the Attorney Generals, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office, Nadler told the committee.

Nadler has not indicated whether he would issue the subpoenas, but in an interview with MSNBC, he said he plans to work with Attorney General William Barr to minimize redactions to the report.

The House Democrats imposed an April 2 deadline for Barr to provide the full report to Congress, in a letter signed by six House committee chairs on March 25. Nadler reiterated the Democrats deadline for the report in another letter to the attorney general on March 29.

The Justice Department has never said it would comply with the deadline. In a letter on March 29, Barr said the department was still making the appropriate redactions with the assistance of the special counsel.

I share your desire to ensure that Congress and the public had the opportunity to read the Special Counsels report, he wrote.

He also added that the departments current progress with the redactions would put them in a position to release the report by mid-April, if not sooner. Barr says later in the letter that the report is almost 400-pages long, without counting tables and the appendices.

Despite Barrs explanation, the House Democrats continued to pressure the Justice Department in another letter on April 1 (pdf), threatening Barr that they plan to begin the process of authorizing subpoenas for the full report and other materials.

While we hope to avoid resort to compulsory process, if the Department is unwilling to produce the report to Congress in unredacted form, then we will have little choice but to take such action, the letter read.

Meanwhile, Barr has already submitted a memo on the report that said Mueller had found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. It also concluded that the special counsel didnt provide enough evidence to substantiate that the president obstructed justice.

The Mueller report probably isnt the total exoneration the president claims it to be, Nadler told the committee.

And, in any event, this committee has a job to do. The Constitution charges Congress with holding the president accountable for alleged official misconduct. That job requires us to evaluate the evidence for ourselves. Not the attorney generals summary, not a substantially redacted synopsis, but the full report and the underlying evidence, he added.

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the committees ranking member, criticized the Democrats, saying that their actions were confusing because the attorney general is doing exactly what he said he would be doing, that is making much of the report available as possible subject to law and department policy.

This is hope against hope that were going to find something, Collins said.

Without facts on their side, Democrats have put all their hope in optics. There is no legislative purpose to these subpoenas. pic.twitter.com/TOHu8ZBpu7  House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) April 3, 2019

In a tweet, House Republicans said, without facts on their side, Democrats have put all their hope in optics. There is no legislative purpose to these subpoenas.

President Trump and White House officials have criticized the Democrats demands for Muellers report. The president told reporters at the White House that the Democrats would not be satisfied with whatever amount of documents they are provided.

We could give them 800 pages and it wouldnt be enough. Theyll always come back and say, Its not enough. Its not enough,' Trump said on April 2.

He also made similar comments on Twitter.

There is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff. It is now time to focus exclusively on properly running our great Country! Trump tweeted on April 2.

There is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff. It is now time to focus exclusively on properly running our great Country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News on April 2 that their actions shows again what sore losers the Democrats really are.

They got beat in 2016 because we had a better candidate with a better message and a better vision for America. Now were seeing that theyve gotten beat again when it comes to the Mueller report. They were convinced, not only were they convinced but they went out and lied about what they expected the Mueller report to tell America, and they got it wrong, they got it wrong in 2016, she said.IKEA to Test Furniture Rental in 30 Countries

KAARST, GermanyIKEA wants to roll out furniture rental to all its main markets in a bid to appeal to its increasingly environmentally conscious and transient customers.

The worlds biggest furniture group, known for its low-cost disposable items, first said it was looking into leasing its desks, beds, and sofas in February. It fleshed out its plans on Wednesday at an event held at its first sustainable store in Kaarst, western Germany, opened in 2017.

The rental pilot was driven by a recognition that many consumers change homes more frequently but cant afford new furniture every time they move, Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores, told Reuters.

It is also motivated by environmentalism, with IKEA surveys showing that 90 percent of its customers are ready to change their behavior, even if most dont know how to do that.

You should be able to have a lovely home, and a good conscience, and you should be able to afford it, Brodin said, noting that his three teenage children come home from school expressing fears about a looming environmental catastrophe.

Since taking over as CEO in 2017, Brodin has led efforts to overhaul the IKEA business model to respond to climate change, the rise in e-commerce and customers who no longer have the time or the cars to drive to its out-of-town stores.

Rental meets IKEAs three main strategic objectives: being more affordable, more convenient and looking after planet, said IKEA finance chief Juvencio Maeztu, noting that young people increasingly expect to rent anything from music to cars.

IKEA to test furniture rental in 30 countries https://t.co/emuZHzVOaD pic.twitter.com/oajHwMS1ov  MagaOne.com (@MagaOneNews) April 3, 2019

Rent the Runway, which has previously only rented out designer apparel and accessories, said last month it will partner with Williams-Sonoma Incs West Elm brand to allow subscribers to rent home decor.

IKEA, which had global sales of $44 billion (39 billion euros) last year, will test a range of subscription-based leasing offers in all 30 of its markets by 2020 so products are reused as often as possible before being recycled.

Repair, Recycle

It had already committed to make all its products from renewable and recycled materials by 2030 and also to design all its products to be reused, repaired and recycled. In 2018 it handled 1 million orders for spare parts to repair products.

The rental tests will give IKEA insights into the durability of its products that it will feed back to designers, who are already working to make furniture that is easier to dismantle and move, said Pia Heidenmark, IKEA sustainability chief.

In the Netherlands, IKEA is offering students the rental of a bed, desk, table, and chairs for a monthly fee of up to $33.68 (30 euros), while in Sweden and Switzerland it is looking into providing office furniture to companies.

Brodin also highlighted another strategic shift, saying he wants to provide convenient, round-the-clock access to IKEA stores in the companys top 30 cities in the next five years.

IKEA has just opened a new store in Greenwich in south-east London and is about to add locations in central Paris and Moscow. It is finalizing plans for many more, Maeztu said.

In New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai, we will see more of these mid-sized stores in the future, Maeztu said. In the next 20 years, more people will live in cities and own fewer cars and share more.

Inside Ikeas plan to reinvent itself as a circular company https://t.co/bRNZPGJYtT  Fast Company (@FastCompany) April 3, 2019

IKEA also plans to expand TaskRabbit, a U.S. online marketplace for odd jobs like furniture assembly it bought in 2017, to many more markets, and is looking for other similar acquisition or partnership opportunities, Maeztu said.

By Emma ThomassonDirector of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow speaks to reporters at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington, on April 3, 2019. (Matt Orlando/The Christian Science Monitor)

Kudlow: China Admits US Has a Point in Trade Negotiations

WASHINGTONThe Chinese regime for the first time admitted that the United States had a point with respect to intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and cyber hacking, said Larry Kudlow, the top White House economic adviser.

The Chinese have acknowledged these problems for the first time. They were in denial, he told reporters April 3 at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

I think that has led to good negotiations, he added. This is the largest scale, deepest discussion of trade between the two countries in history.

Kudlow also said both sides made headway during negotiations in Beijing last week. High-level trade talks between the United States and China will continue this week in Washington. Chinas Vice Premier Liu He and his team would stay for three days or maybe more, Kudlow said, adding that he hoped both sides would get closer to a deal.

He said he saw the chemistry between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping during their meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires last November.

Xi was acknowledging the problems at the meeting and was open to listening, Kudlow said, calling it great progress.

He also touted Trumps negotiating style, saying he was right.

Last year, the Trump administration chose to take a tougher stance on Chinas decades-long protectionist and trade-distorting policies, and instituted a tariff campaign. Some trade experts criticized the presidents style, particularly his use of tariffs and threats as a bargaining tool.

The president, I think, has taught us all a lesson about being a tough negotiator, Kudlow said.

He is the first president ever to be hard-headed with China and be unafraid to use tariffs to make his point, he noted. It certainly has brought them to the table.

Recent progress on the U.S.-China trade deal has boosted both U.S and Asian equity markets. Asian stocks rallied to seven-month highs this week. And the Shanghai index, which fell nearly 25 percent in 2018 has gone up 27 percent since the beginning of 2019, after Trump voiced optimism about the trade talks.

Chinese telecom company Huawei wasnt part of the trade talks, according to Kudlow. The U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against the company over the theft of trade secrets and fraud.

The Huawei stuff has generally not come up in the trade talks, Kudlow said. We looked at it as a legal matter so far.

Huaweis Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1, 2018, by Canadian authorities at the request of the United States.

Separately, Kudlow spoke about a possible shutdown of the southern U.S. border.

He said the administration is exploring various options to keep the freight lanes open to avoid economic loss, should the border be closed.

When asked whether he agreed with Trumps suggestion that security was more important than trade, Kudlow said both are essential and intertwined.

I know it came out that way. But he knows they are intertwined, he said.

He also defended Trump in his decision to close the border, saying that it sent a message to Mexico and the U.S. Congress.

It is an exclamation point, it shows his seriousness.

After the Fall of Maduro

Kudlow also discussed the administrations plan to revive the Venezuelan economy after the fall of socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro.

He said the administration is working on developing an extremely effective rescue package after the replacement of Maduro.

People inside the government are exploring clever ways to transfer dollars into Venezuela, using banks, iPhones, applications, he said.

It will be a rescue plan, restructuring plan, it will be a plan to put cash into the country, into the hands of people who are starving, he said.

We will be moving as fast as we can.White House senior adviser Jared Kushner in the Cabinet Room of the White House on June 30, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Olivier Douliery/Getty Images)

Kushner, Jordan Push Back Against Alleged White House Security Clearance Abuses

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner addressed new concerns about his top-secret security clearance in an evening interview on April 1.

Kushner, who is President Donald Trumps son-in-law, is said to be among more than two dozen White House officials whose security clearances were allegedly denied by career staff in the White House Personnel Security Office, only to have them approved by staff supervisors.

Over the last two years that Ive been here, Ive been accused of all different types of things and all those things have turned out to be false, Kushner told Fox News.

When I came to Washington, I had a very successful business career. I had extensive holdings, and I disclosed all my holdings to the Office of Government Ethics. They told me what to divest, what to keep, and what rules to follow, he said.

At the heart of the controversy is Tricia Newbold, a career employee in the Personnel Security Office, who contacted congressional leaders to express what she called grave concerns.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) acted on Newbolds concerns and conducted a nine-hour, closed-door interview without a single Republican committee member presentcontrary to established practice. The interview took place at 8:30 a.m. on March 25, outside of regular committee hours.

On April 1, Cummings released a press statement referring to Newbold as a whistleblower who has come forward at great personal risk to warn Congressand the nationabout the grave security risks she has been witnessing first-hand over the past two years.

Cummings also announced his intention to subpoena Newbolds former supervisor, Carl Kline, who now works at the Department of Defense. Cummings followed through during an April 2 committee meeting, but not before ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), confronted him on the record.

Thats how were going to do investigations in the Oversight Committee? Talk to one person and then issue a big press statement so you can get some headlines? Jordan asked.

Now, today, were going to subpoena a guy who just sent us a letter saying hes willing to come here voluntarily? Ive been on this committee for 10 years, Ive never seen anything like this, he continued.

Security clearances are based on extremely sensitive personal information, and probing them is meant to damage the president, Jordan claimed in a response memo to Cummings statement.

Cummings April 1 announcement was made shortly after Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee announced a hearing of their own on April 3 to formally authorize subpoenas for special counsel Robert Muellers full report, even though Mueller found no evidence of wrongdoing by Trump or his campaign.

Democratic Judiciary Committee members also plan to request a new round of documents from five former Trump associates.

The cascade of new subpoenas is in line with promises to investigate the Trump administration dating back to the November 2018 midterm elections.

During the April 2 Oversight Committee hearing, Jordan further decried Cummings tactics.

Frankly, it gets worse. Because weve got another resolution with three more subpoenas, Jordan said, outlining the committees planned investigations of the Commerce Department, Department of Justice, and an unnamed witness who Jordan said has already testified.

Other Democrats on the committee, however, expressed strong support for looking further into White House security clearances.

Every day that we go on without getting to the bottom of this matter is a day that we are putting hundreds if not potentially thousands of Americans at risk. I mean, really, what is next, putting nuclear codes in Instagram DMs? This is ridiculous, said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

In his nine-page response memo, Jordan said Cummings had cherry-picked excerpts of Newbolds nine-hour interview, and that the 25 examples of overruled recommendations she cited include nonpolitical officials such as a Government Services Administration custodian.

Jordan knocked down other claims used to justify the security clearance investigation, which he called a reckless decision.

Chairman Cummings investigation is not about restoring integrity to the security clearance process, it is an excuse to go fishing through the personal files of dedicated public servants, he wrote.

For his part, Kushner told Fox that he is grateful to have played a role in implementing the presidents foreign policy objectives during the past two years, as well as certain domestic priorities like criminal justice reform.

Because of the presidents leadership, I think the world is safer today, he said.

Kushner also spoke to other controversies that he described as conspiracy theories.

Weve had a lot of crazy accusations, like we colluded with Russia. Ive complied with all the different investigations, whether they were the Senate, House, or special counsel. Ive sat for nearly 20 hours of interviews with them, he said.

You could look at it and say that because the medias been so distracted with Russia, Russia, Russia, and all of these crazy conspiracy theories, weve been able to operate underneath that level and just be really effective, added Kushner.Rachel Maddow discusses the headlines of the day in Emens Auditorium at Ball State University, David Letterman's alma mater, Muncie, Ind., on Dec. 2, 2011. (Ron Hoskins/Getty Images)

Maddow Craters to Lowest Weekly Ratings of the Year After Mueller Conclusion

MSNBC primetime host Rachel Maddow brought in her worst weekly ratings of the year last week, following the conclusion of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation.

News broke of Robert Mueller submitting his conclusion to Attorney General William Barr shortly before the close of business on Friday, March 22. Last weeks television ratings were the first full week of coverage since the conclusion of the investigation into whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials.

Throughout the week, Maddow averaged 2,458,000 viewers with 392,000 people in the key age demographic 25-54, both of which mark yearly lows for the liberal television host, according to Nielsen Media Research. The week before she averaged 2,716,000 viewers with 479,000 in the demo.

Further, Maddow lost half a million viewers from the Monday before the report was concluded to the Monday after (last Monday). Her ratings proceeded to drop another 200,000 viewers the next day.

(RELATED: Rachel Maddow Spends Opening Segment About Mueller Report On Verge Of Tears)

Maddows MSNBC show has long used the Russian collusion narrative to criticize the Trump administration. Last July, the MSNBC host accused Trump of serving the interests of another country following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(RELATED: Fake News: Rachel Maddow Falsely Claims White House Edited Putin Tape)

She also released a list of 15 questions that were bothering her about the summary Barr provided to Congress.

By comparison, Fox News primetime hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham had record weeks for 2019. Carlson averaged 3.5 million viewers and 625,000 in the demo (both record-breaking), while Ingraham got nearly 3 million viewers and the second highest-rated demo for the year (504,000). Sean Hannity had higher ratings than his Fox News colleagues but he did not best previous records for the week.

By Mike Brest | Reporter

Follow Mike on TwitterBeau Alan Rogel was arrested for allegedly speeding on a highway in Mississippi on March 31, 2019. His wife was also arrested for trying to help him avoid arrest, police said. (Rankin County Sheriff's Office)

Man Arrested After He Filmed Himself Speeding at Over 180 MPH: Police

A self-proclaimed YouTube star has been arrested after he posted a live video of himself allegedly speeding over 180 mph on a highway in Mississippi, police said.

Beau Alan Rogel, 38, was arrested on April 1 after he filmed himself speeding across Spillway Road from Rankin County to Madison County the night before, Rankin County Sheriffs Office said in a statement.

In the video, the 38-year-old could be seen accelerating past cars in a 2017 Ford Mustang while calling out different speeds. The video, which was posted to Rogels YouTube channel, is titled YouTube Troll calls COPS while on Live Feed in Shelby GT350 at 180+ mph!

His YouTube page has about 10,000 subscribers. According to the channels about page, its goal is to use 100% of revenue earned on YouTube for cool, irresponsible, childishly cool [expletive].

At one point in the video, when Rogel is slowing down he is pulled over by deputies who received a call about the YouTuber for driving recklessly on Old Hwy 471.

You were going 100 mph, dude, one deputy said in the video.

It wasnt me, Rogel replied.

He continued to deny any wrongdoing throughout the video and is eventually let go after checking his license.

Deputies later reviewed Rogels YouTube page and other social media accounts, finding enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for his residence and vehicle.

[Rogel] has posted videos of himself violating numerous traffic laws and showing absolutely no respect for the general motoring public, the police said in their statement titled Beware what you post on social media.

Beware What You Post on Social MediaMonday April 1, 2019 Deputies arrested Beau Alan ROGEL after he posted a YouTube Posted by Rankin County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

YouTube is not the first means of social media used by Rogel to incriminate himself. Sheriffs Investigators were provided FaceBook screenshots of Rogel possessing numerous weapons. In some of the threads, he is trying to sell or trade weapons and in others, he is simply displaying the weapons, they added.

When the deputies arrived at his home, Rogels wife, Christina Ann Rogel, attempted to stop authorities from searching the home and lied about her husbands whereaboutswho at the time wasnt at homein an attempt to help him avoid arrest. During the search, police found two weapons.

When Rogel returned home, he was taken into custody without incident, police said. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and reckless driving.

Rogels wife, Christina, 35, was also arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Police said the 38-year-old has an extensive criminal history. In 2010, Rogel was sentenced to six years in prison for a 2009 Rankin County embezzlement charge. He has also been arrested in Colorado, Texas, Florida, and Mississippi for larceny related charges.

Rogels status as a convicted felon prohibits him from possessing firearms [and] criminal status has not stopped him from possessing weapons, and advertising his possession of weapons and his disregard for the law on social media, police said.

Rogel appeared in Rankin County Court on April 2 and was given a $20,000 bond. Meanwhile, Christina received a $2,000 bond.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leaves the chamber after Senate Democrats blocked President Donald Trump's request for $5.7 billion to construct his long-sought wall along the U.S-Mexico border, as a partial government shutdown continues, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

McConnell Pushing Senate to Adopt Two-Hour Debate Limit

WASHINGTONSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took a huge first step Wednesday afternoon to enacting a new rule limiting debate on most presidential nominations to two hours.

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, had to raise a point of order after the Senate approved a cloture motion to limit debate to 30 hours on President Donald Trumps nominations of Jeffrey Kessler as an assistant secretary of commerce.

When McConnell raised the point of order to instead set a two-hour limit, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), sitting as the Senate Presiding Officer, ruled against the majority leader.

McConnell appealed the ruling and senators voted to overrule the presiding officer on a 51-48 count.

Later today, senators are scheduled to take up Trumps nomination of Roy Altman as a federal district court judge in Florida. The same process will be repeated and if McConnell again wins his appeal, the two-hour limit will be established, according to his office.

Prior to McConnells point of order, Senate rules provided 30 hours of debate on a nomination if at least 60 members of the upper chamber voted in favor of cloture, the term for establishing a deadline for debate.

The two-hour limit was part of Senate Resolution 50 proposed by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) that was defeated April 2 when it failed to gain 60 votes on the cloture motion to limit debate.

That failure will become moot if McConnells wins on the Altman point of order appeal, thus limiting post-cloture debate to two hours on all sub-cabinet and lower federal court nominations.

Earlier in a day of rancorous debate, McConnell cited the Kessler nomination as a textbook case study of how Democrats had erected unprecedented delays on Trumps nominees during the presidents first two years in office.

Jeffrey Kessler of Virginia was first nominated to serve as assistant secretary of commerce in November of 2017, McConnell said.

It took seven months before Democrats on the finance committee allowed his nomination to be considered, but when it was, Mr. Kessler was reported out by a unanimous vote. Nobody opposed him on the finance committee.

And the familiar story continues. Another six months of inaction. The nomination was sent back to the White House at the end of the last Congress. So, the process started all over again.

This time, he got a voice vote in the finance committee. Everybody just said aye. And yet, here on the floor, inexplicably, it has still required a cloture motion to break through the obstruction and get this unobjectionable nomineethat no one voted againsta vote.

This is not a bad day for the Senate. This is the day we end this outrageous obstruction, McConnell said.

Democrats are opposed to the shorter limit, with, for example, Sen. Amy Kloubachar declaring that two hours for a lifetime appointment is unacceptable  its ridiculous, its a mockery of how this institution ought to work.

But in 2013 when President Barack Obama was in the Oval Office and Democrats under Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) controlled the upper chamber, a similar two-hour rule was agreed to with Republican support, led by McConnell.

In other words, a significant number of Republicans joined up with all the Democrats in 2013 to do something almost exactly like what we will be proposing later today, to help President Obama, McConnell said prior to the Kessler proceedings.

He had just gotten re-elected, do you think we were happy about that? We werent, but we thought the executive calendar should be expedited for these kinds of nominations that were discussing today.A logo of Chipotle Mexican Grill is seen on one of their bags in Manhattan, New York, on Nov. 23, 2015. (Andrew Kelly/Retuers)

MMA Announcer Jimmy Smith Finds 14 Staples in Chipotle Burrito

Jimmy Smith, an MMA announcer, said he discovered more than a dozen stables inside his Chipotle burrito

Smith, who formerly announced for Bellator and UFC, said he found the staples inside a burrito at a Delray Beach, Florida, location.

I took one bite and it was something hard in there and I pulled it out of my tooth and it was 14 staples, Smith told TMZ, adding it was a brick of staples.

You know what goes horribly with a steak burrito at Chipotle Mexican Grill  STAPLES!!! Posted by TMZ on Wednesday, March 27, 2019

It split up in my mouth and I pulled it out and looked at it and went these are actual staples in the burrito, he continued.

9 FULL-SIZED STAPLES!!!!! Are you kidding me!?! Had to yank one out of my teeth, he tweeted.

Smith said he called the Chipotle and freaked out on the manager, rejecting his offer to remake his burrito.

I went, No! I dont want you to touch any of my food, he added.

Look what I just pulled out of my @ChipotleTweets burrito!! 9 FULL-SIZED STAPLES!!!!! Are you kidding me!?! Had to yank one out of my teeth!! Didnt even search the rest of the burrito but Im sure not eating it pic.twitter.com/7qJDdpREg1  Jimmy Smith (@jimmysmithmma) March 27, 2019

Despite the potentially dangerous situation, Smith said hes not suing.

It wasnt that bad. If I had swallowed those things, yes, then we got a problem. But this cant happen to somebody else, he continued.

Ive been through way worse than biting into a staple in my life, Smith told TMZ.

A spokesperson for Chipotle told Fox News that representatives have reached out to him.

At Chipotle we take all claims seriously and nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our customers and employees. We have been in touch with the customer directly and we are reviewing our procedures to ensure this does not happen again, the statement read.

Razor Found

A Wisconsin boy also got an unwelcome surprise in his fast food meal.

The boy, who had a McDonalds Happy Meal, discovered a razor blade inside the bag.

Scot Dymond took his 4-year-old son, Emmett, through the fast-food chains drive-thru window before they made the discovery, Channel3000 reported.

When they got home, Emmett discovered a hand-held scraping tool with a sharp razor blade attached.

Boy finds razor blade in Happy Meal at Wisconsin McDonalds >> https://t.co/S1xN0Ofzw4 pic.twitter.com/rSIET0qBGm  KOLD News 13 (@KOLDNews) March 5, 2019

The boy pulled it out of the Happy Meal bag and began to play with it.

He was super excited he had a new toy, Dymond told Channel 3000. He started waving it around and I realized it was actually a razor knife.

The worried father then called the McDonalds manager to report the dangerous item.

The manager said they were sorry, and they could comp us a free meal, he said to WMTV.

Police officers asked parents to be vigilant about double-checking any Happy Meal bags given to children.

Always be aware of what youre giving your children, Lt. Dennis Weiner said to WMTV. Give it an extra eye.

(Its) kinda scary, kinda scary. I understand the blade was also extended when it was found in the box as well, he also told Channel3000. Im sure they were surprised to not have a toy.Mother Recounts How She Fought Mountain Lion That Mauled Her 7-Year-Old Son

A Canadian mother leaped into action when a mountain lion latched onto her 7-year-old son in their backyard. She said divine intervention was what finally ended the attack.

Zack Bromley was playing out the back of their rural Vancouver Island home on March 29 when a juvenile cougar broke through their wire fence, pounced on the boy and began mauling his arm.

His mother, Chelsea Lockhart, was upstairs at the time. She heard a racket coming from the yardthe mesh fence rattling and the sound of her sons voice. Rushing outside, she found her son fighting for his life.

I ran down the stairs and ran to his voice and turned the corner, and I see this animal on my child, Lockhart told CTV.

Lockhart said the male lion was trying to drag her son away. She said her motherly instincts kicked in: she launched herself onto it, and tried to open its jaws with her bare hands to free her child.

"He was on the ground and the cougar was over him and it was attached to his arm. I had a mom instinct, right? I just leaped on it and tried to pry its mouth open." Posted by CTV Vancouver on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

He was on the ground and the cougar was over him and it was attached to his arm, she said. I had a mom instinct, right? I just leaped on it and tried to pry its mouth open.

She said she realized in that moment she could be fighting for her sons life; the animals strength was too much for her. She said it was then that she decided to ask for help from a higher power.

I knew that in my own power and my own strength, I wasnt going to be able to pry its mouth open. So I start praying, Lockhart told the news station.

Im just crying out to the Lord, just this really deep from the depths of inside of me, she said. Three sentences into me praying, it released and it ran away.

Zack suffered injuries to his head, neck, and arm but is expected to make a full recovery. The loose hoodie he was wearing at the time helped prevent further injuries. He now has stitches on his arm and behind his ear on his head, reported Global News. He is currently recuperating at his grandparents home.

The boys father, Kevin Bromley, said as soon as he saw his son after the attack, he started bawling. [T]here was blood everywhere, he told Global News. If the panther had been any bigger, he said, his son might not have made it. [I]t would have been over.

The family says the boy's mother had to pry the cougar's jaws off her son's arm in order to save him https://trib.al/qYXpDRU Posted by Global BC on Saturday, March 30, 2019

In another interview with CBC, Bromley said his son was grappling with the idea of his own mortality as he heals. Hes old enough to grasp that. And thats a big pill to swallow, just to digest that mentally.

I think today its starting to sink in for him what happened. Were just trying to focus on him and make sure this doesnt impact him mentally or traumatically, Bromley told Global News. We took him out for a big dinner last night, and that made him happy.

Bromley said his younger daughter had spotted a second cougar nearby.

Officials from British Columbia Conservation Officer Service since euthanized two mountain lionsone of which was responsible for the attack, reported Global News.

The family has now set up a live trap and camera in their backyard and also plans to get a dog, CTV reported.

As for Lockhart, she suffered injuries to her arm. She told the news station that she knows divine intervention helped save her sons life.

Absolutely. Theres no mistaking it. Im trying in my own strength and when I pray, it released. It was just me on the animal. It wasnt my strength that did it, Lockhart said.Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Diana Center at Barnard College in New York on March 3, 2019. (Lars Niki/Getty Images for The Athena Film Festival)

Ocasio-Cortez Violated Campaign Finance Laws With PAC Scheme, FEC Complaint Alleges

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) accepted excessive campaign contributions and violated reporting rules by accepting undervalued services from a company run by her campaign manager, a complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleged.

The campaign manager, Saikat Chakrabarti, set up the company, Brand New Congress LLC, which was paid $170,000 by Ocasio-Cortez and 12 other far-left progressive Democratic candidates, according to the April 1 complaint filed by the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation, a conservative nonprofit.

Yet the company provided services to the candidates worth likely in excess of $1 million, the complaint stated. Brand New Congress provided cheap campaign services to Ocasio-Cortez and other candidates in part by failing to amortize its overhead and infrastructure costs among the amounts it charged them.

Operating at a loss, the company was only able to sustain itself through constant infusions of cash, the complaint stated. The money mainly came from two political action committeesBrand New Congress PAC and Justice Democrats PACwhich together gave the company close to $900,000.

Brand New Congress PAC was run by Chakrabarti, the complaint claims, while Justice Democrats PAC was controlled by Chakrabarti and Ocasio-Cortez at least since late December 2017 and during the height of Ocasio-Cortezs 2018 primary campaign, according to the complaint, referring to filings with the government, media reports, as well as information on the Justice Democrats website.

Through this scheme, Chakrabartis company provided illegal excessive in-kind contributions to Ocasio-Cortez and the other candidates, the complaint alleged. In addition, Brand New Congress PAC and Justice Democrats PAC likewise violated contribution limits and reporting requirements by funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Brand New Congress LLC to subsidize the services it was providing candidates. Finally, Ocasio-Cortez also violated both contribution limits and reporting requirements by accepting these illegal in-kind contributions.

Chakrabarti became Ocasio-Cortezs chief of staff after she assumed office.

Another Complaint

The two PACs already face a March 3 FEC complaint that alleged their relationship with Brand New Congress LLC violated campaign-transparency rules.

The relationship between the Respondents appears to be incestuous, with likelihood that they were aware, or should have been aware, of the sweeping and apparently illegal nature of the enterprise, the complaint stated.

PACs are required to report names and addresses of people who paid more than $200 to meet a candidate or committee operating expense as well as the purpose of the payments.

But the payments to the LLC were reported as strategic consulting, based on FEC filings reviewed by the National Legal and Policy Center, a right-leaning ethics and accountability nonprofit that filed the complaint.

Origins of Ocasio-Cortez

Ocasio-Cortez was one of several candidates picked by Justice Democrats in early 2017 from about 2,000 who responded to the PACs casting call. She was trained at weekend boot camps in the fundamentals of electoral campaigning and progressive policy, the group stated in a Nov. 6 release.

A self-identified democratic socialist, Ocasio-Cortez ran with the support of the Democratic Socialist of America, the largest Marxist organization in the United States. Chakrabarti is the former director of organizing technology for the 2016 presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-avowed socialist.

Chakrabarti teamed with another Sanders campaigner, Zack Exley, as well as Cenk Uygur and Kyle Kulinski from The Young Turks, to found Justice Democrats in early 2017.

Exley is a former fellow at the Open Society, run by progressive billionaire George Soros. He also consulted for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama and most recently founded an organization that produced an outline of The Green New Deal (pdf)a plan to overhaul the American economy to fight climate change. The plan includes having the federal government guarantee a job for every American, eliminating methane emissions from cow flatulence, and abolishing the use of fossil fuels within 10 years. The plan is estimated to cost $52 trillion to $94 trillion over 10 years, based on estimates from the American Action Forum, a center-right fiscal think tank.

Update: The article was updated with more detailed description of sources used by the FEC complaint as well as a more accurate description of how the complaint refers to the relationship between Saikat Chakrabarti and Brand New Congress PAC.Police: Two Men Arrested for Shooting Each Other as They Took Turns With Bulletproof Vest

Two men shot each other as they took turns to wear a bulletproof vest during a night of drinking, according to Arkansas deputies.

Charles Eugene Ferris, 50, and Christopher Hicks, 36, were both arrested on March 31 in connection with aggravated assault, a Class D felony, reported KFSM.

Deputies were alerted by staff at the hospital where Ferris had gone with an injury to his chest, caused by a .22 rifle bullet hitting his bulletproof vest, which had a total of six bullet holes, according to an arrest affidavit cited by local media.

Ferris told the deputies a heroic story about taking fire after being paid $200 to protect a mysterious asset and driving off other gunmen as he took the six bullets, according to a probable cause affidavit cited by KFSM.

The asset had dropped him off at his vehicle before he dumped his weapons and drove himself to Mercy Hospital.

But when his wife arrived at the hospital, deputies heard another story: Ferris and Hicks had shot each other after drinking on the back porch and taking turns to don the bulletproof vest.

According to Arkansas online, she heard a gunshot and went outside to find her husband had a mark on his chest. When he later began to complain of his injury, she told him to go to the hospital.

Ferris admitted to deputies he made up the story because he didnt want to get his friend into trouble.

According to the affadavit, as cited by Arkansas Online, Ferris said he and Hicks had been on the deck drinking. He was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, and he told Hicks to shoot him.

Hicks obliged, hitting him in the chest with a .22- caliber semi-automatic rifle.

Ferris took off the vest, and Hicks put it on. At this point, Ferris said the pain of being shot had made him angry, so he unloaded the clip with the remaining five rounds into Hickss back.

Hicks and Ferris are free on $5,000 bonds, according to Fox News. A judge issued a no-contact order between the men.

Both men have hearings set for May 3 in Benton County Circuit Court.

The type of bulletproof vest was not mentioned in reports.

Modern bulletproof vests are usually made of Kevlara substance originally developed in the 1970s intended to replace steel belting in tires.

Before Kevlar, soldiers had only flak jackets made ballistic nylon, designed during World War II to protect from ammunition fragments. They offered some reassurance, but were ineffective against most rifle and pistol fire.

These days dramatic demonstrations of bulletproof vests can be found on YouTube as inventors allow themselves to be shot wearing their protective gear.

Back in the 1970s, pioneer of the Kevlar bulletproof vest Richard Davis would strap on his vest, and shoot himself with a gun provided by the agency he was pitching to, during dramatic demonstrations.President Indicates That If Mexico Steps Up, He Could Change Position on Border Closure

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump eased up on April 2 on his threats to shut the southern border this week as officials across his administration explored half-measures that might satisfy the presidents urge for action, like stopping only foot traffic at certain crossings.

Facing a surge of Central American migrants trying to enter the United States, Trump last week threatened to seal the border this week if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the United States, a move that would have enormous economic consequences on both sides of the border.

While Trump on Tuesday did not back off the idea completely, he said he was pleased with steps Mexico had taken in recent days and renewed his calls for Congress to make changes he contends would solve the problem.

Lets see if they keep it done, he said of Mexico. Now, if they dont, or if we dont make a deal with Congress, the borders going to be closed, 100 percent. He also said that he might only close large sections of the border and not all of it. He added that his posturing was the only way were getting a response.

After many years (decades), Mexico is apprehending large numbers of people at their Southern Border, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. They have ALL been taking U.S. money for years, and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for us, just like the Democrats in Congress!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019

Later Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen held an emergency call with Cabinet members and White House aides, saying, We are going to treat it as if we have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane, according to a person on the call. The person was not authorized to discuss the call publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Nielsen was creating an emergency operations center and named U.S. Border Patrol official Manny Padilla as an operational crisis coordinator to manage the response from within the different immigration agencies at the Department of Homeland Security. Padilla is a 30-year Border Patrol veteran and was recently the head of the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas.

His job will be different from that of the immigration or border czar that Trump is considering, the official said.

Closing the border completely would disrupt manufacturing supply lines and the flow of goods ranging from avocados to cars, making for a potentially catastrophic economic impact, in the words of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.

Administration officials grappled with how they might minimize the impact of a shutdown or implement less sweeping actions.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, for example, told CNBC hes been looking at potentially keeping truck lanes open.

We are looking at different options, particularly if you can keep those freight lanes, the truck lanes, open, he said. As for the hundreds of thousands of tourists and workers who cross the border legally, Kudlow said, that may be difficult.

Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had told reporters that, while, Eventually, it may be that its the best decision that we close the border, the president was not working on a specific timeline and all options remained on the table. The Council of Economic Advisers, she said, was conducting a number of studies on the impact, and working with the president to give him those options.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in an appearance on MSNBC that closing only certain entry ports, or parts of all of them, could be among the steps short of closing the entire border.

Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, a 12-year high.

With southern border facilities near a breaking point, U.S. officials are busing many migrants hundreds of miles inland and dropping them off at bus stations and churches.

Responding to Trumps threats, Nielsen rushed home late Monday night from Europe, where she was attending G7 security meetings and intended to fly to the border mid-week to assess the impact of changes already made, including reassigning some 2,000 border officers assigned to check vehicles to deal with migrant crowds and new efforts to return more asylum seekers to Mexico as they wait out their case.

Officials were hoping to have as many as 300 asylum seekers returned to Mexico per day by the end of the week near Calexico and El Paso in Texas and San Ysidro in California. Right now, only 60 a day are returned.

Nielsen has also requested volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department and sent a letter to Congress seeking more money and detention space and broader authority to deport families faster. The request was met with disdain by Democrats.

Even absent the extraordinary step of sealing a national border, delays at border stations have been mounting due to the personnel reassignments, Homeland Security officials said. When the Otay Mesa, California, entry port closed for the night Monday, 150 trucks were still waiting to get into the United States.

Shutting certain border stations or parts of them would not be unprecedented. Over the Thanksgiving holiday last year, Trump said hed already closed the border after officials briefly closed the northbound lanes at San Ysidro, California, for several hours in the early morning to bolster security because of concerns about a potential influx of migrant caravan members.

Mexican officials announced Monday theyd pulled 338 Central American migrants181 adults and 157 childrenoff five passenger buses in a southern state that borders Guatemala, and said they had detained 15 possible smugglers on immigration law violations.

By Jill Colvin and Colleen LongA section of the Qing Court Version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a handscroll dated 1736, by five artists from the Painting Academy and active at the Qing court: Chen Mei, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong, and Cheng Zhidao. Ink and color on silk, at the National Palace Museum (Public Domain)

Qingming Festival: Tomb-Sweeping Day in Honor of Ancestors

Be pure and bright, the loyal official advised the king

Many Chinese will be visiting the tombs of their ancestors on April 5 to pay their respects, as the Qingming Festival, also called Pure Bright Day or Tomb-Sweeping Day, falls on that day this year.

Qingming is an important traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the 15th day after the spring equinox. Its not only a day for honoring ones ancestors but also a time to celebrate spring.

The origin of the Qingming Festival can be traced back to a legend recorded in Zuo Zhuan, one of the earliest Chinese works of narrative history, which covers most of the Spring and Autumn Period (770476 B.C.).

A Solemn, Stirring Story

As the legend goes, Chong Er (697628 B.C.), once the crown prince of the state of Jin, was driven out of the state by Liji, who was then his fathers favorite concubine. During his 19-year exile, Chong Er lived in extreme poverty, with only a few faithful men to serve him. One of them was Jie Zitui.

One day, close to death from starvation, Chong Er lost consciousness. To save his life, Jie cut a piece of flesh from his own thigh and prepared a bowl of soup for his master.

Chong Er was deeply moved and promised to repay Jie in the future. Jie insisted he wanted no reward; his only wish was for Chong Er to become a king who had a pure and bright heart while governing the state of Jin, keeping it peaceful and orderly.

After Chong Er ascended the throne, he summoned the people who had stayed loyal to him and generously rewarded them. As the new king, he even rewarded the people who had betrayed him but now supported him. However, he forgot Jie.

When Chong Er finally remembered Jie and his sacrifice, he was filled with regret. He sent a messenger to find Jie and invite him to the palace. But Jie had already moved with his mother deep into the forests of Mount Jin (in the northeast of China). The king personally went to the mountain to look for Jie but failed to find him.

When a minister suggested that they set fires on three sides of the mountain to force Jie to come out, Chong Er agreed. The fires raged for three days, but there was still no trace of Jie and his mother.

Jie was later found dead, leaning against a large willow tree. In a hole on the side of the half-burned tree, there was a note written with blood on a piece of cloth. It read:

Cutting off my own flesh to respectfully present to my monarch, offering loyalty with all of my heart,

Only wishing Your Majesty will always be pure and bright.

Dead under a willow tree and seen no more,

Better than accompanying my monarch as a remonstrating minister.

Your Majesty, if you have me in your heart,

Frequently reflect on your shortcomings when you think of me.

Your minister in the underworld died with a clear conscience,

Be diligent in governing the country so that purity and brightness will be renewed.

Tears rolled down Chong Ers cheeks. He was so sad that he cried aloud. He tucked Jies note in a sleeve pocket and vowed to be a pure and bright king for his people.

The next year, Chong Er, the king of the state of Jin, visited Jies tomb. To their surprise, they discovered that the burned willow tree was alive and full of new branches with green leaves. It was as if Jie was greeting them and encouraging the king to remain pure and bright. (Zhiching Chen/The Epoch Times)

King With a Righteous Heart

Jie was buried under the willow tree, and in his memory, Chong Er ordered that no fire or smoke be allowed on that day. That day was called Hanshi Day (Cold Food Day) because without fire, the people had to eat cold meals.

On the first anniversary of Jies death, the king, with officials in attendance, visited Jies tomb. To their surprise, they discovered that the large willow tree was alive and full of new branches with green leaves. It was as if Jie was greeting them and encouraging the king to remain pure and bright.

Seeing this, Chong Er felt happy and comforted. He remembered the word qingming from Jies note and named the day Qingming Day (Pure Bright Day).

It was later recorded that Chong Er was indeed a pure and righteous king, and the people of Jin lived in peace and harmony under his reign.

From that time on, Qingming Day became an important occasion for Chinese people to remember the sacrifices of their ancestors. Later, it became a festival, while Hanshi Day, which was originally on the eve of Qingming Day, was incorporated into the Qingming Festival.

Qingming Customs

Today, sweeping tombs and graves has remained the most important tradition of the Qingming Festival. People clear away debris and weeds and place offerings to honor their departed relatives. The offerings are usually rice wine, fruit, steamed buns, or the deceaseds favorite foods.

Traditionally, as part of the ceremony, people burn incense and paper articles resembling special items like money or other treasures in hopes that the deceased would not lack any comforts in the afterlife. Today, flowers are often used instead. Prayers are respectfully expressed as well.

In some regions, people place willow branches on their gates and front doors. Its believed that, if one is kind and upright, the branches drive away evil spirits and invite heavenly blessings of longevity.

Celebrating spring has become an important part of the festival. Many people enjoy hikes and family outings on this occasion. Families often combine their outings with a visit to the tombs or graves of their ancestors.

Kite flying is also popular, all day and into the night. At night, people tie small, colorful lanterns to the kites so that they look like twinkling stars in the sky. Cutting the string and setting the kite free is believed to bring healing and good luck.

Three generations of a Chinese family pay respects to their ancestors during the Qingming Festival, also known as the Tomb-Sweeping Festival. (Zhiching Chen/The Epoch Times)Royal Commission Into Chinese Communist Party Influence Needed, Australian Conservatives Say

One of the things we dont want in this region is for Australia to become a patronage stage of China

The content is not available due to expiration.SC Senator: Elementary School Fight Was Just Small Scuffle

COLUMBIA, S.C.A fifth grader who died after a fight last week at a South Carolina elementary school exchanged shoves and slaps with the other student but didnt initially appear to suffer any serious injuries, the state senator who represents the area said on April 2.

Sen. Margie Bright Matthews said she is trying to stop the rush to blame the substitute teacher in the classroom, administrators or the other girl involved in the March 25 fight at Forest Hills Elementary School in Walterboro.

Bright Matthews said the two girls had been arguing much of the day when they started pushing and slinging their arms at each other. She said the confrontation lasted less than a minute.

Ive heard a lot of people saying, oh they were kicking her. They ganged her. None of that. That is so far from the truth, Bright Matthews said from the Senate floor.

An assistant principal was nearby and escorted the girls to the principals office as they kept arguing, Bright Matthews said.

They seemed to be OK when they left the classroom, Bright Matthews said after Tuesdays Senate session. The Walterboro Democrat said she has talked with the families of both girls, the substitute teacher, and school and law enforcement officials.

Attorneys for Raniya Wrights family are taking state Sen. Margie Bright Matthews to task, after the senator today speculated that Raniya wasnt in a fight, but a small scuffle prior to her death. #RaniyaWright #chsnewshttps://t.co/FlUHwB4inA  ABC News 4 (@ABCNews4) April 2, 2019

While in the principals office, 10-year-old Raniya Wright complained of a headache, threw up and then lost consciousness as she was taken to the nurses office, Bright Matthews said. She died two days later at the hospital.

There was video of the girls in the school hallway walking to the office, but not inside the classroom where the scuffle took place, Bright Matthews said.

I think its a case of 10-year-olds acting like 10-year-olds, she said.

Bright Matthews said deputies immediately came to the school after the fight and questioned all the students and the teacher individually before they could go home.

The other girl has been suspended and a criminal investigation into the fight continues. Solicitor Duffie Stone said it could take weeks to get tests back from the girls autopsy and unravel exactly what happened and whether any charges should be filed.

Parents are desperate for answers in the tragic death of a 5th grade girl who got into a fight at school. @KayleeHartung reports from Walterboro, SC where she spoke to #Raniya Wrights Mother and Grandfather. pic.twitter.com/YwAEUlxLNz  HLN (@HLNTV) March 29, 2019

Colleton County Sheriffs spokeswoman Shalane Lowes said Tuesday that deputies had no comment on Bright Matthews version of events and would show their findings to the families involved before making them public.

Few details of the fight and its aftermath have been released. In its first statement on the fight, school officials said a student suffered injuries after a fight occurred in her classroom.

None of the official information released indicated there was a medical emergency, but officials have also backed away from definitely blaming the fight for what led to Raniyas death.

Im here today looking for justice for my daughter.Jermaine Van Dykes daughter, Raniya Wright, died last week after Posted by Brodie Hart on Monday, April 1, 2019

School officials realize people want to know exactly what happened, but the district needs to let the criminal investigation finish before releasing any more information, Colleton County School District spokesman Sean Gruber said.

Now is the time for our community to mourn the loss of a child. The facts of this tragedy will become clearer in the weeks ahead, Gruber said in a statement.

Bright Matthews said she hopes the girls death leads to legislation calling for smaller class sizes instead of anti-bullying measures. The senator would like to see 16 or fewer students in elementary school classrooms. About 25 students were in class at the time of the fight.

Dont let young, 10-year-old Raniya Wrights death or the public persecution of the other folks to go in vain, she said.

By Jeffery CollinsSen. Cotton Calls for IRS Probe of Southern Poverty Law Center

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on April 2 to investigate whether the Southern Poverty Law Center should retain its tax-exempt status as a nonprofit.

In a letter (pdf) to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, the Arkansas senator accuses the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) of engaging in political defamation, which does not qualify for a tax exemption.

Recent news reports have confirmed the long-established fact that the SPLC regularly engages in defamation of its political opponents. In fact, the SPLCs defining characteristic is to fundraise off of defamation, Cotton wrote.

Cotton also points out that the SPLC holds nearly $500 million in assetsincluding $121 million in offshore accountswhile paying its executives exorbitant salaries. The SPLC did not respond to a request to explain why it holds funds in offshore accounts.

The senator sent the letter as the SPLC deals with a crisis, following reports that it suffers from a pervasive culture of racial discrimination and sexual harassment and assault.

Based on these reports and in the interest of protecting taxpayer dollars from a racist and sexist slush fund devoted to defamation, I believe the SPLCs conduct warrants a serious and thorough investigation, Cotton wrote.

Cotton argues that under the guise of its hate mapwhich identifies hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Nation of Islamthe SPLC defames its political opponents, including legitimate and reputable organizations like the Family Research Council, the Center for Immigration Studies, and the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Last June, the SPLC paid $3.4 million to British political activist Maajid Nawaz after he filed a lawsuit accusing the organization of defamation for labeling him as an anti-Muslim extremist. Nawaz is a Muslim and the founder of a counter-extremism think tank that challenges the narratives of Islamic extremists.

Cotton wrote that, in addition to injuries to character, the SPLCs hate map has resulted in real-world violence, including the attempted mass shooting at the headquarters of the Family Research Council headquarters in 2012. The shooter told investigators he selected the Family Research Council because he saw the organization on SPLCs hate map.

SPLC received the lowest rating, anF, from Charity Watch, a charity watchdog which exposes nonprofit abuse. SPLC received the failing grade because it has maintained high assets for more than three years.

Federal law prohibits tax-exempt organizations from inuring to the benefit of any private individual. Yet the SPLC has accrued more than $500 million in assets as of October 31, 2018, Cotton wrote.

Morris Dees, the SPLCs longtime leader, received a salary of more than $400,000 from the organization in 2017. Cotton noted that the payment came despite reports that Dees, in addition to allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct, had ratcheted down his involvement with the organization.

The SPLC last month announced it had dismissed Dees over unspecified conduct. Longtime President Richard Cohen also announced he was stepping down. Dees has publicly denied any inappropriate behavior. No reason was given for Cohens exit.

Perhaps the SPLC was founded for noble purposes and decades ago performed some good work, but what is left of the SPLC is no longer operating in a manner consistent with IRS guidelines and applicable law, Cotton wrote, urging Rettig to take immediate action.

The SPLC didnt respond to a request to comment on Cottons allegations.Shen Yun Performing Arts performed at The Fred Kavli Theater in Thousand Oaks, California, on April 2, 2019. (NTD Television)

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.Hollywood screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos was captivated by both the visual spectacle and universal appeal of the stories depicted on stage by the dancers of Shen Yun Performing Arts.

I think its gorgeous, Spiliotopoulos said.

Unbelievable costumes and very smart visual effects. I think the artistry and the harmony of the dancers and performers is just wonderful. Its a beautiful show.

The screenwriter watched the performance at The Fred Kavli Theater in Thousand Oaks, California, on April 2.

New York-based Shen Yun is currently touring the world bringing 5,000-years of traditional Chinese culture to audiences across more than 130 cities in four continents. Its program includes classical Chinese dance vignettes, musical soloists, and stories from Chinas vast civilization told through dance.

Spiliotopoulos is a screenwriter best known for writing the films Hercules (2014), Beauty and the Beast (2017), and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009). He also co-wrote the screenplay of 2016 film The Huntsman: Winters War.

The screenwriter found the spiritual message flowing through the stories depicted by Shen Yun inspirational.

I think shows like this are always inspirational regardless of faith because it speaks to whats in all of us, and the desire of all of us to hopefully have a divine in our lives, Spiliotopoulos said.

Belief in the divine underpinned traditional Chinese culture, with teachings from Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism passed down for millennia and shaping how Chinese people lived their lives and saw the world around them.

The stories transmitted through Chinese history also speak to the values and ideas stemming from such beliefs. Such themes include good triumphing over evil; living in harmony with each other, the Earth, and Heaven; and divine retribution.

Shen Yun tells these stories through classical Chinese dance, with the help of a 3-D animated backdrop that transports audiences to far away places and times.

Theyre universal stories, so I think regardless of culture theyre very appealing, Spiliotopoulos said.

The universal appeal, the screenwriter said, came from the positive values conveyed by the stories.

Its very positive thoughts, its all about compassion and looking out for each other and also seeing if theres life beyond this one, so maybe those elements are inspirational, he said.

Its just the beauty of it, primarily. Universal stories are for audiences worldwide, and I think any audience of any culture would really enjoy it.

Overall, the screenwriter was able to sum the performance up in just one word.

Beauty is absolutely the word I would use for all of it.

With reporting by Thanh Le.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.Tennessee Bill to Protect Adoption Agencies Freedom to Turn Away Gay Families

Tennessee lawmakers are working to become the latest state to protect faith-based adoption agencies freedom to refuse giving children to gay parents and other families because of their religious beliefs.

The GOP-dominant House on April 1 overwhelmingly voted 67-22 in support of the proposal after a brief but tense debate. The bill must now pass the similarly GOP-controlled Senate before it can reach Republican Gov. Bill Lees desk for final approval.

Lee hasnt said publicly whether he supports the legislation but his religious faith has often been a cornerstone of his political career. Kansas and Oklahoma enacted similar laws last year.

Supporters argue that while faith-based adoption agencies in Tennessee have been operating without issue, the move is needed to protect against potential lawsuits hostile to the groups religious beliefs.

How precious is the look of excitement when Big Sister gets to meet her new Little Sister from China for the very first Posted by Catholic Charities of TN on Thursday, March 5, 2015

Furthermore, if the proposal becomes law, current adoption practices in the state arent expected to change. Some faith-based agencies already do not allow gay couples to adopt. But this measure would provide legal protections to agencies that do. For example, denied applicants couldnt sue an agency for damages if the religious belief or moral conviction was cited a reason.

Were doing the same as nine other states have done, said Republican Rep. Tim Rudd of Murfreesboro, the bills sponsor. Throughout the country, these faith-based organizations have been sued to the point theyre being driven out of business due to costs.

However, opponents counter the measure will give adoption agencies free rein to discriminate against LGBT families, single parents, and non-Christians in placing children based on religious or moral convictions or policies.

In 2011, Illinois declined to renew its state contract with Catholic Charities adoption services due to its policy of refusing child placement to same-sex couples. Catholic Charities has also stopped handling adoptions in Washington D.C., Massachusetts and San Francisco over concerns they would be required to act against their religious beliefs.The President and First Lady Spend Long Private Dinners Together: Report

President Donald Trump spends long private dinners with First Lady Melania Trump whenever they retreat to their private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a new book detailing life inside the mansion that Trump often refers to as his Winter White House.

The book, by best-selling author and journalist Laurence Leamer, details how much time the couple spends together, noting that their club is a place where they feel truly relaxed. Leamers book is titled Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trumps Presidential Palace. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What married couple spends three hours together alone at dinner? Leamer, who has observed Trump before told CNN. Theyre there so long, other people are leaving and theyre just  there. They dine for hours. He likes a small table, a four-person table, so people can come over to say hello but theres not enough room to invite people to join.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what the couples schedule inside Mar-a-Lago involves. A White House official, meanwhile, confirmed Leamers account of the First Couples habits to CNN.

Those two will go and sit at dinner, and they are in the most in-depth conversations and will talk and sit there for hours, literally, the official said.

The pair often eat together on Friday and Saturday when the president is at the club during the weekends, according to the official. The couple are frequent patrons at the clubs formal outdoor restaurant and huddle over the candle-lit patio during dinnertime, only interrupted by friends who come over to shake the presidents hand.

She is on his arm, spectacularly dressed, even if just for the members to see, Leamer said. Mar-a-Lago is the one place where he feels truly relaxed, he feels comfortable thereand I think thats true of her as well.

The lengthy dinners enjoyed by the presidential couple contrast with media reporting that has painted a picture of a more detached couple.

Members at Mar-a-Lago pay a $200,000 initiation fee and $14,000 in annual dues. The property spans 20-acres and has a main mansion with more than 100 rooms, as well as private quarters for the Trump family.

Leamer, who also wrote biographies on Ronald Reagans family, says Melania Trump appreciates her private time at the club and uses it as a getaway from the hustle and bustle in Washington.

She has a long history with Palm Beach, yes, but she stays to herself for most part, he said. All these ladies in Palm Beach, they go to Worth Avenue to shop, they dress up and they pay these exorbitant prices for clothes and things, and thats part of the scene. Thats what they do here, thats the life. But not Melania Trump.

Leamer noted that despite Trumps life in the public eye, he and his wife enjoy their quiet time.

Its extraordinary for what a public personality Trump is that part of him is very private, and so is she. I am talking in the sense he and she dont necessarily like interlopers, he said.Toddlers Die A Week After Being Pulled Unconscious From Pool in Queensland

Two toddlers have died a week after being pulled unconscious from the bottom of their backyard pool.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Michael Porter and 16-month-old Josh Porter were rushed to hospital on March 25, after nearly drowning in the swimming pool of their home in Queensland, Australia.

The family announced on April 3 that both boys had passed away in hospital, according to local media reports.

Emergency services were called to their home in Morayfield, about an hours drive from Brisbane, following reports that two toddlers had been found at the bottom of the pool.

The two-year-old and 16-month-old were found at the bottom of a backyard pool last month. #9News | http://9News.com.au Posted by 9 News on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

The brothers, who were described as beautiful little boys by a neighbor to the Courier Mail, were rushed to two separate hospitals in the area.

They were transferred to Queensland Childrens Hospital pediatric intensive care unit, but passed away over the weekend.

Local media reports have provided no details of how the accident may have happened.

BREAKING: Two young children are fighting for life after being pulled unconscious from a backyard pool at Morayfield. The 16-month-old toddler and two-year-old child were found in the water at a Michael Avenue home around 4:30pm. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/hWGTsUIEQJ  7NEWS Brisbane (@7NewsBrisbane) March 25, 2019

Pictures of the pool show it is surrounded by a high metal fence.

According to local reports, authorities are trying to determine how the toddlers ended up in the pool.

Before the boys deaths had been announced, a crowdfunding appeal had already raised over $10,000 for their medical expenses and to help the family.

Carmen and Jo are beautiful parents and need all of our love and support at this horrible time, said the appeal on GoFundMe. Michael and Josh are in all of our thoughts and prayers.

Jo and Carmen Porter said they were grateful for the support they had received.

It is with great sadness that we advise that our boys are no longer with us, they said in a statement, reported The Australian.

Our family is incredibly grateful for the support and care provided by staff of the Queensland Childrens Hospital.

The family asked in their statement that their privacy be respected.

Drowning Incidents A Leading Cause of Death

An average of 30 children under the age of 5 die from drowning each year in Australia, according to a Royal Life Saving Society report.

Most of the drowning incidents occurred in home swimming pools (91.6 percent), with a further 6.0 percent occurring in portable pools, said the report.

Supervision was completely absent in 59.0 percent of cases.

According to the Australian government, drowning was the third most common cause of death in children aged 1-14, after genetic conditions and transport accidents.

In the United States, like many countries, drowning is the leading cause of death for young children, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)mostly due to falling into a pool or being left in a bathtub.

The CPSC states, Of the 3,786 drownings in 2016, more than 12 percent were children age 4 and younger, according to Injury Facts. Bathtubs, toilets, and even buckets also can pose a danger for very young children.

Most parents think water safety is first and foremost on their minds whenever they are enjoying summer activities with their young kids. But when the unthinkable happens, caregivers often say, I only looked away for a second.

Earlier this month a 3-year-old girl in Texas died several days after she was found face-down in the bathtub when her mother left her unattended.

Police said Eve Blankenfields mother had left her unattended for just a few minutes while she went to fold laundry, reported KTVT.

Exactly what age is appropriate to leave a child alone in a bathtub is a matter for debate among experts, but many say they should be at least school age.

Dana Walraven, manager of Community Health Outreach at Cook Childrens Medical Center in Fort Worth, said parents should never leave a child unsupervised in the bathtub.

If a doorbell rings, parents should get the child out of the bathtub to answer it, she said.

A child can drown in the time it takes to answer the phone, Walraven said in a 2018 news release, reported the Star-Telegram. We ask parents for constant supervision of their child while in the water.Trudeau Ousts Two Former Cabinet Ministers Critical of His Handling of SNC-Lavalin Affair

TORONTOCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has kicked out two former ministers, who had resigned from his Cabinet over his handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair, from his Liberal Party caucus.

During an emergency caucus meeting on April 2, Trudeau said former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board President Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit in the legislature as Liberal members of Parliament. They also will not be allowed to run as Liberal candidates in the upcoming October federal election.

The prime minister said his decision was based on the two legislators lack of confidence in the government as well as actions theyve taken since leaving the cabinet earlier this year.

Both Wilson-Raybould and Philpott have been outspoken about the governments handling of the prosecution of Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. The Montreal-based company is charged with fraud and corruption in connection with payments worth CA$48 million ($36 million) to Libyan government officials between 2001 and 2011.

Wilson-Raybould alleges she was pressured by the prime minister and his senior staff to intervene in the criminal prosecution of the company to reduce the severity of the consequences faced by the company, citing worries over job losses and potential impact on votes for the Liberal party where the company is based.

Wilson-Raybould was shuffled from her role earlier this year. She alleges the decision was made because of her decision not to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case. Philpott resigned from cabinet shortly afterward, her resignation letter citing a lack of confidence with the current government over the way it handled the affair.

The allegations sparked two investigations, one by the parliamentary justice committee and another by the federal ethics commissioner. It also cost Trudeau his principal secretary, Gerald Butts, who resigned but has denied any wrongdoing, and the nations top bureaucrat, Michael Wernick, who will step down as clerk of the Privy Council office on April 19.

Civil War

If criminally convicted, SNC-Lavalin could be barred from bidding on Canadian government contracts for a decade.

Wilson-Raybould said the government pressured her to instruct the public prosecutor to instead pursue a deferred prosecution agreementa provision that would spare SNC-Lavalin a criminal trialbut she chose not to do so.

On March 29, Wilson-Raybould released a recording of a phone conversation she had with Wernick on Dec. 19 as part of evidence in her claim that she was improperly pressured over the affair. In the call, Wernick repeatedly asked Wilson-Raybould why she was not using all the tools at her disposal on the SNC-Lavalin case. Her decision to record and then release the call was among the factors leading Liberals to have her removed from caucus.

Civil wars within parties are incredibly damaging because they signal to Canadians that we care more about ourselves than about them, said Trudeau. Thats why I made the difficult decision to remove Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Philpott from the Liberal caucus.

Wilson-Raybould testified to the parliamentary justice committee in late February that, while she was still justice minister, she had been pressured by the prime ministers office to intervene in SNC-Lavalins case. She says she was told the decision was up to her, but that she had faced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to convince her to choose the alternate agreement.

She said those people included members of the prime ministers office, the Privy Council Office, and the finance ministers office, as well as the prime minister himself.

Trudeau has maintained that neither he nor his staff did anything inappropriate in their dealings with Wilson-Raybould.

The Liberal-controlled justice committee ended their investigation into the SNC-Lavalin affair on March 19, saying the investigation had served its purpose. The opposition has maintained that there is more to the story.

Andrew Scheer, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, denounced the Liberals for the removal of the two legislators, saying, They have chosen to condemn colleagues who spoke truth to power and to prop up a prime minister who is drowning in scandal.Fire and medical officials attend to one of two teenage boys who were electrocuted while trying to rescue a dog from an irrigation canal at an orchard in Dixon, California, on April 1, 2019. (California Highway Patrol/Via AP)

Two California Teens Die of Electrocution During Canal Dog Rescue

Two teenage boys who jumped into a Northern California irrigation canal to rescue a dog were killed when they grabbed onto an electrified bridge, according to reports.

Officials with the Solano County Sheriffs Department were cited by The Sacramento Bee as saying on April 2 that Jacob Hourmouzus and Jacob Schneider died of electrocution.

The two 17-year-olds were transported to an area hospital and later died of their injuries.

What Happened?

Citing an SCSD news release, the publication reported that Hourmouzus and Schneider, along with two other teenagers and the dog, were crossing a bridge over the canal on Monday afternoon when the animal either jumped or fell into the water.

The two boys leaped into the fast-flowing water to save the dog.

When they tried to pull themselves out of the canal, however, they gripped a part of the bridge that had an electric current running through it. Hourmouzus and Schneider were unable to let go of the bridge rail because the current had frozen their grip to it.

When he touched that rail, what I understood is thats where he stayedright there, he could not get off of it, Gus Carrillo, Hourmouzuss stepfather, told Fox40.

Only when another teenager jumped into the water to dislodge the boys from the bridge were they able to break free.

A teenage girl, meanwhile, called 911. By the time authorities arrived, the third teenager managed to pull his friends and dog to shore.

The dog suffered unspecified injuries, but survived, according to Fox40.

Electrified Bridge?

The Bee reported that sheriffs officials are investigating why electricity was running through the bridge, located in Dixon, about 23 miles southwest of Sacramento.

Technicians from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. were called to the scene and cut off electricity to the bridge, according to the report.

A representative of the company was cited by the Bee as saying that none of its equipment was involved in the incident.

Candy Carrillo, Hourmouzuss mother, told the publication that more could have been done to prevent the tragedy.

They could have put up signs. They could have fixed the downed power lines or the short circuit they had. They could have prevented these kids from going down these roads, she told the paper.

Hourmouzus and Schneider both attended Dixon High School.

School principal Stephanie Marquez was cited by Fox40 as saying counseling would be available for classmates.

A vigil was held in Dixon on Tuesday night, attended by over 300 mourners.

Electrical Safety

Contact with electricity can result in burns, shocks, and death.

According to an electrical safety advisory published by Alliant Energy, If the electricity is strong enough, muscles tighten so much that a person cant let go.

Anyone who touches someone who is being shocked can become part of the circuit. Thats why you should never grab anyone whos been shocked.

The United States Department of Labor calls the threat of electrocution one of the construction sectors Fatal Four hazards to life.

The other three fatal hazards are: Falls, Struck by Object, and Caught-in/between.

Data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that for 2017, the top factors causing death in construction were Falls (39.2 percent), followed by being Struck by Object (8.2 percent ), and then Electrocution (7.3 percent).

These Fatal Four were responsible for more than half (59.9 percent) of the construction worker deaths in 2017, BLS reports.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has published an advisory to minimize the risk of death or injury by electrocution.

It advises:

Assume that all overhead wires are energized at lethal voltages. Never assume that a wire is safe to touch even if it is down or appears to be insulated.

Never touch a fallen overhead power line. Call the electric utility company to report fallen electrical lines.

Stay at least 10 feet (3 meters) away from overhead wires during cleanup and other activities. If working at heights or handling long objects, survey the area before starting work for the presence of overhead wires.

If an overhead wire falls across your vehicle while you are driving, stay inside the vehicle and continue to drive away from the line. If the engine stalls, do not leave your vehicle. Warn people not to touch the vehicle or the wire. Call or ask someone to call the local electric utility company and emergency services.

Never operate electrical equipment while you are standing in water.

Never repair electrical cords or equipment unless qualified and authorized.

Have a qualified electrician inspect electrical equipment that has gotten wet before energizing it.

If working in damp locations, inspect electric cords and equipment to ensure that they are in good condition and free of defects, and use a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI).

Always use caution when working near electricity.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference outside Downing Street, in London, on April 2, 2019. (Jack Taylor/Pool/AP)

UK to Seek Further Brexit Delay, Try to Break Logjam

LONDONWith Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Prime Minister Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge April 2, saying she would seek a further delay to Brexit as U.K. politicians sought a compromise solution to the crisis.

May made the announcement after the EUs chief negotiator warned that a disruptive and costly Brexit was likely unless Britain broke the impasse that has paralyzed the government and Parliament.

After failing repeatedly to win Parliaments backing for her Brexit blueprint, May said the country needed national unity to deliver the national interest.

Following the defeat of the governments plan and a range of lawmaker-written alternatives, May said Britain would need a further delay to its EU departure, currently scheduled for April 12. She offered to hold talks with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find a compromise solution.

This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer, May said in a televised statement from 10 Downing St. after an all-day Cabinet meeting.

European Council President Donald Tusk gave a cautious welcome to Mays change of course.

Even if, after today, we dont know what the end result will be, let us be patient, he tweeteda suggestion the EU would wait for Britain to present a clear plan.

Earlier, EU negotiator Michel Barnier offered a downbeat assessment of the situation.

As things stand now, the no-deal option looks likely. I have to tell you the truth, Barnier said in Brussels.

Barnier said we can still hope to avoid it if London produced a breakthrough before an April 10 EU summit.

The leaders of the EUs 27 remaining countries have given the U.K. until April 12 to leave the bloc or to come up with a new plan, after British lawmakers thrice rejected an agreement struck between the bloc and May late last year.

The House of Commons has also failed to find a majority for any alternative plan in two days of voting on multiple options.

Mays statement came after a seven-hour meeting of her fractious Cabinet, which is split between supporters of a soft Brexit that keeps close economic ties with the EU, and Brexiteers who believe a no-deal exit is better than compromising.

Mays words seemed to indicate that she was veering away from the possibility of a no-deal Brexitbut also that she has not given up on her own unloved withdrawal agreement.

Her plan is to seek approval for the legally binding agreementwhich sets out in detail the terms of Britains departure from the EUafter securing cross-party political support for a vision of future ties between the U.K. and the bloc.

If she and Corbyn fail to reach an agreement, May said Parliament would get to vote on a range of optionsand the government would be bound by the result. It is the first time she has committed to following the instruction of lawmakers.

Britains Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn poses for the media with the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future UK-EU relationship, in his office in the Houses of Parliament in London, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool/AP)

May didnt indicate how long an extension she would seek from the EU, though she said she hoped Britain could pass the agreement by May 22, in time to avoid participating in elections for the European Parliament.

Corbyn said he would be very happy to sit down with May, even though so far she hasnt shown much sign of compromise.

Corbyn said Labour would present May with its conditions for Brexit, which include a close economic relationship with the bloc through a customs union, maintaining high environmental standards and protecting workers rights.

Mays move infuriated pro-Brexit politicians, who say Britain must cut ties to the EU in order to forge an independent economic policy.

I think people will feel very short-changed, said former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a prominent pro-Brexit voice in Parliament.

But Mays words brought relief for those who fear the effects of a no-deal Brexit, which would complicate trade and travel, with new checks on borders and new regulations on dealings between the EU and Britain.

Businesses have warned that the economic impact in Britain could be devastating.

Ford of Europe Chairman Steven Armstrong said: a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the automotive industry in the U.K.

Edwin Morgan, interim director general of business group the Institute of Directors, said Mays statement was a welcome step towards compromise, though there remained obstacles ahead.

We urge the leader of the opposition to work with the prime minister to find a solution, he said. Both sides must play ball.

Britains political paralysisand Mays failure to get Parliaments approval for the withdrawal agreement she negotiatedhave exasperated EU leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that if Britains politicians could not agree on a way forward, they will de facto have chosen for themselves to leave without a deal.

We cannot avoid failure for them, Macron said before a meeting in Paris with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

But Varadkar stressed theres still time for May to come to the April 10 summit with credible proposals.

Meanwhile, British lawmakers intent on avoiding a no-deal Brexit have drawn up plans to prevent Britain crashing out of the bloc, by accident or design.

We are now in a really dangerous situation with a serious and growing risk of no deal, Labour Party legislator Yvette Cooper said.

Cooper introduced legislation, which Parliament is set to consider, this week, that would compel May to seek to extend the Brexit process beyond April 12 in order to prevent a no-deal departure.

By Jill Lawless, Raf Casert, & Danica KirkaTaiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during the Indo-Pacific forum on religious freedom in Taipei on March 11, 2019. (Chris Stowers/AFP/Getty Images)

US and Taiwan Make Joint Efforts to Defend Common Values

News Analysis

SAN FRANCISCOA new platform called the Indo-Pacific Democratic Governance Consultation (IPDGC) was officially launched on March 19.

The platform aims to strengthen bilateral relations between the United States and Taiwan and helps defend freedom and democracy for the nations in the region. The IPDGC is a joint initiative of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

The platform was launched while the Western world has been expressing growing concern about Chinas escalated efforts to penetrate and interfere with free and democratic societies.

Stanford University recently published a report summarizing Chinas penetration into American media, universities, think tanks, politics, and other parts of American civil society.

The 200-page report, titled Chinese Influence and American Interests, states in its afterword: Once largely a form of economic competition, Chinas recent turn to military and political rivalry with the United States has changed the whole equation of the bilateral relationship.

Compared with the United States, Taiwan has expressed a more compelling need to protect its freedom and its young democracy.

Taiwan is the first line of defense in an ideological battle that is taking place in Australia, Japan, the United States, Europe, and in like-minded societies all over the world, said Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu in his remarks to the World Affairs Council (WAC) in Los Angeles on March 11.

Wu stated in his speech to the WAC that Taiwan felt the brunt of Chinas intensified campaign to subvert Taiwans democracy every day, through military intimidation, economic coercion, diplomatic assaults, disinformation, and political subversion, seeking to undermine our elected government and interfere with our elections.

The new IPDGC platform will serve between Taiwan and the United States to defend and promote shared values of democracy, human rights, freedom, and good governance in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, Wu said at the opening ceremony of the IPDGC in Taipei.

The platform will also help the United States and Taiwan increase mutual cooperation and pursue joint projects in the region that assist other countries in addressing the governance challenges of the day, Brent Christensen, Director of the AIT, said at the ceremony.

Christensen also praised Taiwan as a valuable partner for the United States in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

The Trump administration has emphasized its steadfast and enduring commitment to advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific through investments and partnership in economics, security, and governance, stated a White House press release last November.

The press release also announced that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence had led an initiative to cooperate with allies, partners, and regional institutions in the Indo-Pacific region to promote sound, just, and responsive governance.

The Indo-Pacific region generally covers India, the United States, and major Asian democracies in the region, especially Japan and Australia.

The Importance of Taiwan

The United States has had no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan since 1979, after President Jimmy Carters administration formalized U.S.-China relations. Taiwan has constantly been under pressure from Chinas growing military and economic power.

In a speech on Jan. 2, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said that one nation with two political systems is the basic strategy to unify Taiwan with China.

The model of one country, two systems was created prior to the return of Hong Kong to China. Beijings leader hoped that the practice of the model in Hong Kong would pave the way for Beijing to unify Taiwan with China as well.

However, many people in the international community have considered the model a failure in Hong Kong, since the level of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong has continuously gone downhill since Hong Kongs return to China.

During the 79-day Umbrella Movement in 2014, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents, including many high school students, took to the streets to protest for universal suffrage. Hong Kong authorities cracked down on the movement.

Taiwans president Tsai Ing-wen, in contrast to Chinas Xi, has been promoting a Taiwan consensus ever since 2011, before she was elected.

The Taiwan consensus includes freedom, democracy, human rights, and provides an alternative to the model of one nation with two political systems proposed by China.

China has been the worlds second largest economic power by GDP since 2010. However, its economic growth hasnt brought the Chinese people the freedom and democracy that the Western world expected. In particular, China still lacks religious freedom.

It seems that the Chinese government is at war with faith. Its a war they will not win, said Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, during his visit to Hong Kong in early March.

The Chinese Communist Party must hear the cry of its people for religious freedom, Brownback said.

He spoke about groups in China that are persecuted for their faith, including Catholics, Muslims, Tibetans, and practitioners of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong.

China and Taiwan, which have similar cultural backgrounds, contrast sharply in the area of religious freedom.

Falun Gong was very popular in China before the Chinese regime started persecuting the practice in 1999. In Taiwan, Falun Gong is not persecuted and has steadily flourished.

At the opening ceremony of the IPDGC, Christensen said that democratic values, fundamental freedoms, and human rights belong to each and every member of the human race all around the world. They are God-given, universal rights. The failure of some governments to recognize this truth does not detract from it in the slightest.

Sun Yat-sen is honored as the founder of the Republic of China (now embodied in Taiwan), the first democratic republic in Asia, based on the values of the American founding fathers and traditional Chinese culture.

More than a century later, Taiwan is at the frontline facing the strongest communist tyranny in human history. The small island nation with a population of 23 million is joining the leader of the free world in defending the common values shared by all democratic countries in the region.

Taiwans embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people, Vice-President Mike Pence said in a speech at the Hudson Institute last October.A bump fire stock that attaches to a semi-automatic rifle to increase the firing rate is seen at Good Guys Gun Shop in Orem, Utah, Oct. 4, 2017. REUTERS/George Frey/File Photo

US Appeals Court Refuses to Block Trumps Bump Stocks Ban

WASHINGTONA U.S. appeals court refused to halt President Donald Trumps ban on bump stocksrapid-fire gun attachments used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. historyin the latest courtroom defeat for firearms rights advocates who oppose the policy.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 1 upheld a lower court ruling that denied a request by opponents of the policy for a preliminary injunction lifting the ban, which took effect last week. The U.S. Supreme Court twice last week, in cases from Michigan and Washington, rejected stay requests from gun-rights advocates.

The policy was embraced by Trump in the wake of an October 2017 mass shooting that killed 58 people at a country music festival in Las Vegas. It requires owners to turn in or destroy the attachments. People caught in possession of the devices could face up to 10 years in prison.

The appeals court previously carved out a temporary exception to the ban for members of the Firearms Policy Foundation and other organizations pursuing the legal challenge. In the April 1 decision, the court said it would extend that temporary reprieve for two days to allow the plaintiffs to seek a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bump stocks use a guns recoil to bump its trigger, enabling a semiautomatic weapon to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, a rate closer to that of a fully-automatic weapon.

Those challenging the policy have argued that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) lacks the authority to equate bump stocks with machine guns. One of the laws at the center of the legal dispute was written more than 80 years ago, when Congress restricted access to machine guns during the heyday of U.S. gangsters use of tommy guns.

The appeals court, in its 2-1 ruling, said in its decision that gun rights activists had failed to show that ATF acted unreasonably when it reinterpreted the language to include bump stocks. The judge who dissented in the ruling, Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, said that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their challenge and I would grant them preliminary injunctive relief.

By Jan WolfePatrons crowd the platform at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) Metro Center stop in Washington, on Dec. 20, 2004. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

US Experts, Lawmakers Highlight Chinas Threat to US Rail Security

Chinas ambitions to become a top leader in the railway industry is threatening U.S. national security, according to industry experts and lawmakers.

Chinese rail manufacturers have been able to expand quickly globally due to Beijings government policies and heavy subsidies.

One company in particular, the state-owned rail car manufacturer China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), has racked up several contracts in major U.S. cities in recent years.

Concerned that the partnerships could pose security threats, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently sought to address the issue with new legislation.

The Transit Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act was introduced by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) on March 15, which would prohibit federal money from being used to award a procurement contract or subcontract for passenger rail cars and transit buses to Chinese state-owned, controlled, or subsidized enterprises, according to a press release from the office of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Brown and his colleague Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) are co-sponsors of the legislation.

China poses a clear and present danger to our national security and has already infiltrated our rail and bus manufacturing industries, Cornyn said in the press release, arguing that the new legislation would help safeguard the U.S. transportation and infrastructure sectors.

Recent Deals

Chinas CRRC succeeded in winning contracts in several major U.S. cities to supply rail cars. According to local news site Boston.com, CRRC was awarded an $843 million contract by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to assemble 404 subway cars in 2014.

Then, in March 2016, the Chicago transport authority contracted CRRC to build 846 rail cars for $1.3 billion, according to Reuters.

A year later, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded CRRC with a $647 million contract to supply 282 subway cars, according to Reuters.

Winning mass transit contracts is just the first step in Chinas agenda to take over the U.S. freight rail sector, retired U.S. Brigadier General John Adams warned in a report he wrote for the U.S. industry group Rail Security Alliance in October last year.

The Chinese government is banking on the fact that once CRRC secures sufficient U.S. municipal transit contracts, it can pivot quickly and inexpensively toward the more strategically important [U.S.] freight rail sector, Adams wrote.

Freight railroads play a key role in U.S. military operations, such as transporting military equipment to their destinations. The report warned that Chinese-made rail cars would provide Beijing knowledge of early and reliable warning of U.S. military mobilization, based on information such as GPS train locations.

The new bill also seeks to improve cybersecurity within U.S. public transportation systems, such as by requiring any rail transit operator to develop and execute a plan for identifying and reducing cybersecurity risks.

State Support for Overseas Growth

CRRCs aggressive push into the American market is tied to Chinas state industrial policies.

Senator Baldwin explained in the press release about the new bill: China has made clear its intent to dismantle U.S. railcar manufacturing in its Made in China 2025 planour economic and national security demands that we address Chinese attempts to dominate industries that build our nations critical infrastructure.

Beijing rolled out Made in China 2025 in May 2015, an industrial blueprint that envisions turning China into a manufacturing powerhouse in 10 tech sectors, including robotics, advanced information technology, advanced rail equipment, and aerospace.

The U.S. administration under President Donald Trump has criticized Made in China 2025 for abetting Chinese entities theft of intellectual property, targeting primarily the United States and Europe, in pursuit of policy goals.

CRRC is also a key feature of Beijings flagship foreign policy initiative, One Belt, One Road. According to the companys website, Liu Hualong, who is both the firms chairman and the Communist Party secretary, has publicly stated his support for the initiative on several occasions.

One Belt, One Road (OBOR, also known as Belt and Road) is an investment initiative announced by Beijing in 2013, which aims to build up trade routes in Asia, Europe, and Africa through Chinese-financed infrastructure projects.

Under OBOR, CRRC signed a contract to provide rail cars for Pakistans 27-kilometer (16.7 miles) metro line, according to CRRCs website. 27 trains were delivered in May 2017, according to Pakistani media reports.

According to a December 2018 article by Chinese state-run media China Daily, CRRC had 83 subsidiaries in 26 countries as of the end of 2017. 58 of the 83 were established after 2013, when OBOR was officially launched.

Domestic State Support

In recent years, CRRC also has been the beneficiary of many government subsidies. According to the companys website, it received a total of 1.298 trillion yuan ($193 billion) in subsidies in 2014 and 1.802 trillion yuan ($268 billion) in 2015.

While there are no public figures for how much CRRC received in the years since, the company also has received government research subsidies. For instance, in 2017, CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive, a subsidiary of CRRC, received 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in subsidies from the central government for digitizing its rail traction system. A year later, the company received 9 million yuan ($1.3 million) in subsidies for developing underwater robotics and selfless driving system projects.

CRRCs chairman Liu is also a high-level Party official. He is a member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Partys internal anti-corruption watchdog.

According to the companys website, the company has established over 160 central Party organizations and over 1,900 regional branches, with a total of over 85,000 Party members.

Cybersecurity Concerns

Cybersecurity risks in U.S. public transportation systems were the topic of a Congressional hearing in February 2019, where vice president of the Rail Security Alliance, Erik Olson, spoke of the potential threats.

Olson pointed to the case of a procurement proposal issued by the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) in September last year, which sought the acquisition of new subway cars, video surveillance, monitoring and diagnostics, data interface with WMATA, and automatic train control systemsall of which are vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to Olson.

Given Chinas history of cyber espionage and hacking, particularly targeting American businesses and government agencies, Olson stated that We cannot trust a Chinese state-owned enterprise to build, own, or operate in U.S. critical infrastructure.

An example would be the June 2015 cyber attack against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which breached the personal records of roughly 4.2 million current and former federal employees. The attack has been attributed to Chinese entities.

There are more than 140,000 miles of track running through every major American city, according to U.S. statistics.

Without action, Americas industrial, military, and other government interests could be forced to rely significantly or wholly on rail cars made by the Chinese Government, thus creating massive cyber vulnerabilities that threaten our military and industrial security, Olson warned.

In China, CRRC dominates 90 percent of Chinas market for production of rail locomotives, bullet trains, passenger trains, and metro vehicles, according to Olson, citing a 2015 report by the South China Morning Post. Its rapid growth in the U.S. market can also be attributed to state-backed financing, Olson said.Intel logo is seen behind LED lights in this illustration taken on Jan. 5, 2018. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

US Semiconductor Group Urges More Research Funding to Counter China

SAN FRANCISCOA trade group for the semiconductor industry on April 3 called on U.S. government leaders to boost funding for chip research and science education while easing limits on green cards in an effort to counter Chinas investments in chip technology.

The Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents firms such as Intel Corp, Micron Technology Inc and Nvidia Corp, is asking U.S. officials to raise federal funding for chip research from a current $1.5 billion to $5 billion over the next five years and double funding for related fields such as materials science.

The group also wants changes to help it recruit skilled workers. In the short term, that means making it easier for skilled immigrants the industry needs from countries such as China and India to obtain permanent U.S. residency. And in the long term that means boosting education spending to double the number of American science and engineering graduates by 2029.

Since President Donald Trump began his campaign to tackle intellectual property theft by Beijing, the U.S. State Department has issued restrictions on granting visas to Chinese graduate students in certain high-tech fields.

Scholars studying robotics, aviation, and high-tech manufacturingfields identified as national priorities by the Made in China 2025 economic blueprintwould be limited to one-year visas. Such limitations went into effect on June 11, 2018. The United States visa restrictions reflect concerns about a real trend: Chinese nationals who excel in important fields after studying or working in the United States, only to later be recruited back to China.

The two efforts are meant to play off one another, with increased research dollars for U.S. national labs, universities and companies creating more jobs for the new graduates, Sanjay Mehrotra, chief executive of Micron and current chair of the trade group, told Reuters.

It helps feed the pipeline of  talent that is very much needed to maintain global competitiveness in the industry, he said.

The U.S. semiconductor group wants funding to counter the rise of Chinas chip industry, which is booming as the government there has poured research dollars into advancing the technology along with related fields such as artificial intelligence. China imports hundreds of billions of dollars worth of chips but can currently supply only a fraction of its demand domestically.

Chinese officials are seeking to change that dynamic and last year fast-tracked plans to bolster the countrys chip industry after the United States banned sales of chips to the Chinese phone vendor ZTE Corp, nearly crippling the company before U.S. officials relented.

The U.S. chip industry group is also asking for U.S. trade agreements to include provisions for the fair treatment of U.S. firms in foreign courts during intellectual property disputes.

Its no secret that when an American company has an (intellectual property) problem in China, they dont get any significant relief in Chinese courts, John Neuffer, chief executive of the trade group, told Reuters.

In November, the U.S. Justice Department indicted two companies based in China and Taiwan alleging they conspired to steal trade secrets from Micron. The move was part of a broader crackdown against alleged Chinese espionage on U.S. companies.

By Stephen Nellis. The Epoch Times contributed to this report.Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends a news conference at the end of the "One Belt, One Road" Forum in Beijing on May 15, 2017. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

US Will Not Send High-Level Officials to Chinas Silk Road Summit

WASHINGTONThe United States will not send high-level officials to attend Chinas second One Belt, One Road summit in Beijing this month, a U.S. State Department spokesman said on April 2, citing concerns about financing practices for the initiative.

Chinas top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, said on Saturday that almost 40 foreign leaders would take part in the summit due to be held in Beijing in late April.

The first summit for One Belt, One Road (OBOR, also known as Belt and Road), which envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with massive infrastructure spending, was held in 2017 and attended by Matt Pottinger, the senior White House official for Asia.

There are no such plans this year.

We will not send high-level officials from the United States, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in answer to a question from Reuters.

We will continue to raise concerns about opaque financing practices, poor governance, and disregard for internationally accepted norms and standards, which undermine many of the standards and principles that we rely upon to promote sustainable, inclusive development, and to maintain stability and a rules-based order.

We have repeatedly called on China to address these concerns, Palladino added.

A person familiar with the matter said Washington was considering sending a lower-level staffer from the U.S. embassy to observe and take notes on the conference but not to participate, though a final decision has not yet been made.

Chinese leader Xi Jinpings OBOR initiative has proven controversial in many Western capitals, particularly Washington, which views it as a means to spread Chinese influence abroad and saddle countries with unsustainable debt through non-transparent projects.

Some of Chinas closest allies have confirmed they will attend the summit on Saturday, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The United States has been particularly critical of Italys decision to sign up to the plan this month, during a visit by Xi to Rome, the first for a G7 nation.

The worlds two biggest economies have levied tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bilateral trade since July 2018.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday said the countries expect to make more headway in trade talks this week, while the top U.S. business lobbying group said differences over an enforcement mechanism and the removal of U.S. tariffs were still obstacles to a deal.

By David BrunnstromA street kitten looks out from behind a panel of lights along the Old City of the Cypriot capital Nicosia on Aug. 4, 2018. (Hasan Jamali/AFP/Getty Images)

USDA Scientists Announce End to Kitten Slaughterhouse

Scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have announced they are putting a stop to a controversial research program critics have dubbed a kitten slaughterhouse.

Since 1982, researchers at the USDAs Agricultural Research Services lab have been infecting cats with toxoplasmosisa potentially deadly parasitic illness.

The cats were fed infected meat, and the parasites eggs harvested for use in experiments designed to give scientists a leg-up in fighting the food-borne disease.

The animals were later euthanized.

USDA officials announced on April 2 that this practice is now over. In a statement, the USDA said its toxoplasmosis research has been redirected and the use of cats as part of any research protocol in any ARS laboratory has been discontinued and will not be reinstated.

https://t.co/8bi7bKZP61 the USDAs kitten slaughterhouse has finally been relegated to the litterbox of history.  Aimee Annichiarico (@Aimer85) April 2, 2019

The USDA also said that following a public outcry over the research program, the department had already earlier put a halt to killing cats.

In May 2018, after hearing the feedback of our customers and stakeholders, USDA took several actions, including commissioning external and internal scientific reviews that assessed the agencys involvement in this research area and the feasibility of adoption for cats used in the research.

Additionally, no cats have been infected with toxoplasmosis pathogens or euthanized since September 2018.

Veterinary groups cited by the BBC said since toxoplasmosis is treatable, the cats could have been put up for adoption rather than put down.

The USDA said, however, that an independent review indicated only cats that had never been infected would be safe to adopt out.

An external independent panel charged with reviewing the safety of adopting the cats unanimously agreed that cats infected with toxoplasmosis pathogens should not be placed for adoption.

The 14 remaining cats on the program that have never been infected with the disease are to be adopted by USDA employees.

Fight to Shutter Kitten Slaughterhouse

Activists at the White Coat Waste Project (WCW) campaigned against the so-called kitten slaughterhouse, arguing the research program led to the unnecessary death of thousands of cats.

The organization noted in a statement on its website that the WCW first exposed the USDAs secretive 37-year-old kitten experimentation laboratory in May 2018 using the Freedom of Information Act, and launched a grassroots and lobbying campaign to end the wasteful program that wasted over $22 million and killed and incinerated more than 3,000 healthy kittens.

A bombshell WCW report released in March titled USDA Kitten Cannibalism claimed that the department bought hundreds of dead cats and dogs in China and other countries and fed them to its lab cats.

The USDA didnt address cat cannibalism in its statement. The department said its toxoplasmosis research had come to an end after helping to cut the prevalence of T. gondii [toxoplasmosis] by as much as 50 percent in the United States.

In March, bipartisan legislation, dubbed the Kitten Act, was introduced in Congress to end the USDA program, describing it as taxpayer-funded kitten slaughter.

With all the awful reports coming out, it was clear that Americans opposed USDAs cruel testing on kittens. This is a decisive victory against government animal abuse and wasteful spending, Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), a cosponsor of the House bill, told NPR.

My colleagues and I signed onto the #KITTENAct to help put a stop to the cruel and unnecessary experiments on #cats at @USDA labs. Today the #USDA announced that it would cease these experiments. #EndAnimalCrueltyhttps://t.co/bbOUMGdHrl  Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) April 2, 2019

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the legislation to the Senate.

I commend the USDA for their decision to end this type of testing on kittens. They listened to the people and responded appropriately to our concerns. This is how our institutions, our government, and our democracy should and must work. https://t.co/l9TJ7ifTRW  Rep. Jimmy Panetta (@RepJimmyPanetta) 2 kwietnia 2019

The USDA made the right decision today, and I applaud them for their willingness to change course, Merkley said in a statement cited by NPR. Its a good day for our four-legged friends across America.

Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), another cosponsor of the bill, responded to the USDA announcement, saying, I commend the USDA for their decision to end this type of testing on kittens. They listened to the people and responded appropriately to our concerns. This is how our institutions, our government, and our democracy should and must work.

Anthony Bellotti, the founder of the White Coat Waste Project, was cited by NBC as calling the move a historic victory for taxpayers and animals.

We applaud the USDA for its wise decision to permanently end its taxpayer-funded kitten experiments and adopt out the survivors, Bellotti said and expressed satisfaction that the USDAs kitten slaughterhouse has finally been relegated to the litterbox of history.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, toxoplasmosis is a leading cause of death attributed to food-borne illness in the United States.

More than 40 million men, women, and children in the United States carry the toxoplasma parasite, the CDC notes, but very few have symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness.

The CDC warns that for pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, toxoplasmosis infections could have severe consequences.Viking Pilsner Malt via MoreBeer

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Emerson confirmed on Wednesday plans to build a new headquarters in Brookfield for its Branson precision welding equipment division, with plans to employ 220 people in a new office and manufacturing center in Berkshire Corporate Park.

Branson has its current headquarters on Eagle Drive in Danbury, with Emerson having initially declined comment in January when Hearst Connecticut Media first reported the subsidiarys plans. Brookfield officials gave approval last month for the project to proceed.A Naples, Fla. businessman named Casey Askar confirmed he has taken ownership of the Farmington mansion sold for $2.9 million by rapper 50 Cent.

Casey Askar purchased the property through a limited liability company, with Askars businesses including Askar Brands which operates several quick-service restaurants nationally including Papa Romanos, Papas Pizza To-Go, Breadeaux Pizza, Blackjack Pizza, Mr. Pita, Stucchis Ice Cream and CJs Brewing Company.WASHINGTON  Connecticut is certain to benefit from the Navys plans to step up submarine production, but there are fiscal hurdles and other challenges to overcome before the state can count on that ramped up production.

Navy officials testifying in front of Congress last week on the Pentagons proposed $750 million budget were keen on buying three Virginia-class submarines next fiscal year, instead of the traditional two-a-year it has asked lawmakers to fund.

Its very clear theres a commitment to three subs, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The Pentagon has asked for $10.2 billion to allow Electric Boat, and its partner Newport News Shipbuilding, to build three fast attack Virginia-class submarines next year.

Thats a significant increase over the less than $6 billion that has been traditionally appropriated each year for the Virginia-class program because each sub will cost $3.2 billion apiece, up from $2.7 billion for the older boats.

The new subs will cost more because they will be larger and modified to include the Virginia Payload Modules, which will be placed on most Virginia-class boats built in 2020 and beyond. Those modules increase the number of missiles each sub is able to launch.

But even if Congress agrees to the $10.2 billion for the Virginia-class program next year, that money wont be spent right away. Under the Pentagons plan, that third sub wont be built until 2023.

Thats because the shipyards are now gearing up to build another type of submarine, the huge, 560 foot-long ballistic missile Columbia-class. Construction of the first Columbia-class is scheduled to begin in 2021 at a cost of at least $6 billion.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said she was mystified as to why the Navy was asking for money for a third sub in its 2020 budget, but would not build that sub until 2023.

Navy acquisition chief James Geurts said the decision to seek money for the third sub now was based on the fact our biggest shortfall is in attack submarines and it will get worse before it gets better.

Geurts also said the third submarine would be purchased outside the contract for the next block of 10 Virginia-class subs that the Navy is negotiating with Electric Boat, negotiations that have dragged on longer than expected.

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who represents a district thats home to both Electric Boat and Naval Submarine Base New London, said EB had planned to lay a few people off as production dropped off between the construction of the first Columbia-class sub in 2021 and the second boat in 2024.

The third Virginia-class sub will smooth out the employment levels, said Courtney, the head of the House Armed Services seapower subcommittee.

A budget gimmick

The Navy decided to add a third sub to its 2020 budget because it says it is falling behind against growing Chinese and Russian fleets.

The U.S. submarine fleet right now numbers 51 boats. But with the retirements of older Los Angeles-class subs, the fleet will be at 42 subs in the year 2026. Meanwhile, the Navy has determined it needs 66 subs to ward off all threats.

Even with a third submarine in 2020  it is still going to be the furthest away from its validated requirement for the next 20 years, Bill Merz, deputy chief of naval operations, told Courtneys panel at a recent hearing.

Merz also said that despite backlogs at shipyards and bottlenecks with the supplier base, the Navy needs to ramp up its construction of submarines.

We have been fighting very hard to get that [Virginia] program back on track, and no matter what we do  even with a third submarine in 2020  it is still going to be the furthest away from its validated requirement for the next 20 years, he said.

At the same hearing, Geurts said the build time for Virginia-class subs has been cut from 84 months to 66, but weve been a little bit challenged on pushing that number any lower.

While the Navy has made submarine construction a priority in the nations defense, the overall size of the Pentagons budget poses a problem in Congress.

President Donald Trump is seeking a $750 billion national defense budget for fiscal 2020, a sizable increase over the $716 billion Congress enacted for this year.

To get around congressional budget caps, the Defense Departments budget request includes boosting the Pentagons war fund, which is not constrained by budget caps, to spend on weapons programs like the construction of submarines.

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky., on Wednesday called the plan a patently dishonest budget maneuver to avoid statutory budget caps.

Yarmouth also said increasing the Pentagons budget through the war fund could result in another partisan stalemate and government shutdown.

At the Senate Armed Services committee hearing last week, Hirono said, I do not support such a gimmick.

We must also make sure that any increases in (Pentagon) resources do not come at the expense of domestic programs.

Courtney said the topline in the Pentagons budget request is going to come down.

But he also said hes confident we can get the numbers down and still get that third sub.

One thing Courtney said is likely to be on the cutting room floor when Congress finishes work on the defense budget is the $7 billion requested to fund construction of Trumps controversial border wall between the United States and Mexico.

On Monday, Courtney, every other member of Connecticuts House delegation, and dozens of other lawmakers signed a letter to the Democratic and Republican heads of the House Appropriations Committee to fully fund the third Virginia-class sub.

The Virginia-class sub remains one of the most effective and sought after tools in the nations arsenal, the lawmakers wrote.

Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, said hes confident money for the third sub will survive congressional cuts to the Pentagons budget.

I think thats one type of spending that wont be cut by Congress, Thompson said. The Navy has several categories of warships and submarines is where it has the biggest shortfall.NORWALK  Across the country, about one in 59 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Those numbers are higher for boys, as autism affects four times as many boys than girls, according to Autism Speaks, an advocacy and research group.

Sophia Aponte, the co-chair for Norwalk SPED Partners, knows that all too well as she has a son with autism.

Her goal is to help make him and other kids part of the community, she said. Thats why she attended the sixth annual Light It Up Blue event on Tuesday evening at the Norwalk Green.

Despite the growing numbers, many people dont know all the ways autism can affect a person and what some of the challenges those with it face.

Thats one of the reasons World Autism Awareness Day, this year celebrated on Tuesday, was created 12 years ago.

The reason were having this is to raise awareness, said Jeffrey Spahr, Norwalk deputy corporation counsel, who has an autistic son and helps put on the event each year. Were making a start in Norwalk.

Spahr highlighted the efforts that have been put into place for additional training for police officers and more awareness on the part of fire officials.

We train the police officers on how to interact with people on the spectrum, Spahr said.

That can be especially important in high-stress situations, Spahr said, such as when an officer asks a person to drop something. Spahr said those with autism may not follow that command, which can be an issue for both police and citizens.

The fire department is also planning a special sensory friendly fire safety event that can educate those with autism without all of the sirens and flashing lights.

The event was organized by Families for Autism Awareness, Information and Recognition. The goal was to make the city aware of those living with autism and how they can help support them.

Gov. Ned Lamont attended the event to read the Governors Official Autism Awareness Proclamation.

Im also just reminded every kid is special, Lamont said, standing at the gazebo on the Norwalk Green. We appreciate what makes you so special.

State Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk presented Spahr with the City of Norwalks proclamation of Autism Awareness Day.

Duff said he hoped the event and the efforts local departments were putting into place would lead to a better understanding of the disorder.

Dawn Di Noto, a resident of Norwalk, said she was there to let people know about the different groups and events in the area so people with autism or families with autistic members could become an active part of the community.

Were here to celebrate the amazing people in our community, she said.

kelly.kultys@hearstmediact.comNORWALK  Two Board of Education members have agreed to no longer serve as administrators on education-related social media groups.

Chairman Mike Barbis, who created the Facebook group NEXT... For Norwalk in Education and Barbara Meyer-Mitchell, who created Norwalk Parents for Education, both said they would step down from their administrative roles, based on the findings compiled by fellow board member Julie Corbett in the boards new Code of Conduct, which she drafted.

This is one of those areas where theres not a lot of case law yet, related to this, but we wanted to try to head off some of those issues and put them out there, Corbett said at Tuesdays regular meeting, addressing acceptable board conduct on social media. Corbett stressed that the code did not suggest that board members couldnt comment and participate on social media, but said being a groups administrator could create legal liabilities for the board.

If you are administering a social media platform and you revoke someone else from being a member or from commenting, that could be then infringing upon their rights, said Corbett, who consulted the boards legal counsel, the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and social media codes of conduct adopted by nonprofit and commercial entities.

This is a relatively untapped area and code of conducts that weve looked at across the state, and honestly across the country, very rarely talk about social media, Corbett said.

As of Tuesday, seven board members  Corbett, Barbis, Erik Anderson, Heidi Keyes, Bruce Kimmel, Sarah Lemieux and Mike Lyons  had signed the official document. Bryan Meek and Meyer-Mitchell, both of whom were calling into the meeting, have stated their intent to sign the code, which is non-compulsory and not an official policy.

Corbett has said she started pushing for the code since her election, in 2017, and started drafting it in fall 2017. In the past, it was common for boards to sign a civility code, though the last one had not been enacted for several years and was out of date. In conversations with CABE, and in reviewing the policies of other school boards in the state and nationwide, Corbett found that many have a code of conduct built into their bylaws. While this code stops short of that, she said future boards could decide to make her code an official policy.

Really the purpose of developing this code of conduct over the last year or so since we first started looking at it was really to somewhat improve our own self governance, holding ourselves to high standards as elected officials and ensuring that we maintain our own roles and responsibilities as board members, Corbett said.

In addition to addressing social media, the code breaks down behavior according to six ethical standards, including equity, trustworthiness, integrity, commitment to service and keeping a student-centered focus.

Corbett stressed that the code was not intended to limit the First Amendment rights of any board members and that Barbis and Meyer-Mitchell could return to administering their groups at whatever point they stop serving on the board.

Barbis said he started the NEXT group with two other people and intended to step down as an administrator. As of Wednesday afternoon, he was no longer listed as an administrator.

I want to honor this code and do the right thing. And I dont want to put the board in any kind of difficult position or anyone to have any questions. So I am going to step away from that, Barbis said.

Though Meyer-Mitchell dialed into the meeting, she also vowed to step down as an administrator, and said she would set up a time with Corbett in the coming days to sign the document. She said Wednesday that she plans to drop her role as an administrator in the coming days.

Im very proud to have built something that has helped the community over four-and-a-half years and Im also proud that Ive partnered with some really wonderful women who will take it over beautifully, Meyer-Mitchell said.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586Hundreds of Venezuelans poured across the Simon Bolivar International Bridge into Colombian territory on Tuesday morning after breaking through the security blockades set up by the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB).

Venezuelans had been stopped at the Colombian border because they were unable to take the illegal crossings that were now flooded by the rising Tachira River - so they climbed over or got around the barrier of huge shipping containers that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered installed there to prevent citizens from crossing the bridge.

Meanwhile, Colombian Migration Director Christian Kruger said the Maduro government and the GNB are responsible for whatever happens to people who make a daily crossing between Colombia and Venezuela, now that they have the blockades to deal with.

As we have said for almost a month, the decision of the usurper Maduro to block the bridges with shipping containers to stop people from going over them only leads to irregular methods of entry, during which anything can happen, Kruger told reporters.

Many people continue to get over or around the shipping containers placed on the Venezuelan side last Feb. 27, and which block the middle of the bridge that connects the Colombian city of Cucuta with San Antonio in Venezuela.

Four days before that, Maduro broke off relations with Colombia and closed the three border crossings to Cucuta after the frustrated attempt by opposition leader Juan Guaido, accepted by more than 50 countries as interim president of Venezuela, to bring humanitarian aid into his country, an effort that ended in an outbreak of violence.

Faced with that situation, thousands of people head daily for the illegal crossings known as shortcuts hoping to stock up on food, medicines and hygiene products in Colombia.

Kruger said that Venezuelans have found themselves forced to use those shortcuts so they can cross into Colombia and then return to their own country where they not only have to bribe the Bolivarian National Guard, but now also risk their lives in the torrential waters of the Tachira River.

Maduro is playing with the lives of Venezuelans, and this should be condemned by the international community, the official said.

Last March 15, Colombian police began to run checks on migrants who use the illegal crossings.

As part of the operation they track criminal records, verify the legality of their ID documents and inspect whatever goods theyre carrying, Cucutas Metropolitan Police commander, Col. Jose Luis Palomino, told reporters at the time.

Meanwhile, most of Caracas on Tuesday was trying to resume its normal activities amid power blackouts, protests in some neighborhoods and a half workday as part of the governments electricity rationing, although assorted parts of the country remained without any electricity at all.

The capitals main public transportation service, the metro, began providing regular service on Tuesday, thus improving the mobility of Caracas residents who on Monday had stood in long lines at bus stops around the city waiting for the few operating buses to come by and ferry them to their destinations.

Some businesses, which had also been affected by the massive blackouts in March, also began opening their doors, although others remained shut.

The schools are still not providing classes, but some private universities resumed their activities despite the obligatory day off ordered by the Maduro government.

Potable water supply still has not been fully reestablished although some parts of the capital are getting that service back.

On Tuesday, once again there were protests in some of the residential areas, such as Petare.

There are sectors of Caracas and other states that have been without power since last week.

Residents of the western states of Zulia, Trujillo, Merida and Falcon told EFE that they have not had electricity or water service since last Friday.

In the east, towns in Anzoategui state like Anaco and Bruaual have been without electricity for 30-40 hours, state Gov. Antonio Barreto Sira said on his Twitter account.

Although there has been no official announcement about the situation in other states, on the social networks users are reporting that central states like Aragua and Carabobo are without power.

Since Sunday, electricity has been rationed around the country, although the details of this plan ordered by Maduro have not been released, after the massive blackouts last month which the government attributes to sabotage and terrorism against the countrys main Guri hydroelectric plant.

Maduro blames the opposition and the United States for cybernetic attacks and long-range sniper fire that disabled the electric grid.

Venezuelas frequent blackouts have largely paralyzed the country, given that the Internet, the water supply, business, communications and transport have all been shut down or at least paralyzed to varying degrees.

In government news, Maduro fired Electric Energy Minister Gen. Luis Motta Dominguez and replaced him with Igor Gavidia, an engineer whose top priority will be dealing with the continuing power outages across Venezuela.

I want to thank comrade ... Motta Dominguez, who has gone through four years of constant wars at the head of the Electricity Ministry and Corpoelec. I have asked him to rest for a while, I have asked him to prepare for other responsibilities in the field of revolution, Maduro said Monday.

The president said in an address to the nation that the new minister is an electrical engineer with 25 years of experience in the industry.

Gavidia will also serve as chairman of state-owned utility Corporacion Electrica (Corpoelec).

This is the first time Maduro has appointed someone who is not a military officer to head this ministry. Mottas predecessor was Jesse Chacon, a former military officer.

Gavidia took over the post a day after the government launched a power-rationing plan that Maduro said marked the start of the new stage that we have to open to defeat the electric war.

The president said he appointed Freddy Brito as head of the Science and Technology Ministry, which has been reactivated as a Cabinet department.

Maduro also created the Executive Secretariat of the Electricity General Staff, which will be under Interior and Justice Minister Nestor Reverol.

The secretariat must operate 24 hours a day in coordination, review and permanent action, Maduro said.

The president said classes would resume on Wednesday. Classes were suspended on March 25 following a series of blackouts across the country.

We are returning to class in the schools, high schools, colleges and universities, gradually ... going back to class in resistance, Maduro said, adding that adults needed to tell children about the terrorist attacks we are experiencing.

On Sunday, protests broke out in Caracas as residents woke to yet another blackout that affected several regions.

Officials have blamed the outages on sabotage against the National Electric System (SEN), which has been dealing with power outages for weeks.

The latest power outages come nearly a month after the massive blackout that Venezuela experienced on March 7 that kept virtually the whole country in the dark for five days until the government managed to regain control of the situation and restore electric service.

The government said at the time that sabotage at the Guri hydroelectric complex was to blame for the blackout.

Maduro directly blamed the United States and the opposition for the alleged sabotage, claiming that electromagnetic attacks had been staged on the electric grid.

The opposition, however, blamed the Maduro regime for failures in the system, saying that the governments poor management of the grid was the real cause of the outage.

The early March blackout caused about 15 deaths due to the lack of electricity at Venezuelan hospitals, the opposition claims, while officials contend that just two people died.Three years ago, during discussions of the Board of Educations 2016-17 operating budget, it became clear that Norwalk had problems with its middle schools. Not only was there a decline in state test scores from fifth to sixth grade, but also those scores did not recover in seventh and eighth grade. Many of our students were thus not fully prepared for high school.

Nationally, student progress in middle schools has long been a difficult issue. These schools deal with challenges that transcend traditional academic concerns. However, there was something unusual about Norwalks middle schools: Per pupil expenditures had been exceeding spending levels for our high school students. Generally, the opposite is the case.

The board could not continue to invest in middle school programs that were not working. Fortunately, Superintendent Steven Adamowski proposed, and the BOE supported, a redesign of our middle schools; a redesign whose goals were to raise academic performance and ensure all our middle school students were prepared for high school.

The reforms included introduction of a house system, with students remaining in the same houses for their entire middle school experience; schedules based on 84-minute blocks of instruction that allowed for more imaginative and comprehensive approaches to subject matter; long-needed academic support programs that enabled below-grade-level students to catch up; and implementation of a new science curriculum.

The redesign has had a positive impact on academic growth, as reflected in rising test scores. But there is still room for improvement. At its February and March meetings, the Curriculum & Instruction Committee discussed an Enhanced Middle School Design Proposal presented by Superintendent Adamowski and Chief Academic Officer Brenda Myers. The committee endorsed the proposal, which will be piloted next year at Ponus. The full board will review and vote on it this April.

The most significant change is a reduction of the instructional blocks from 84 to 60 minutes, thereby ensuring daily instructional periods in science, along with English Language Arts, math, and social studies. The new schedule will provide every student, including those receiving academic support instruction, time to take electives such as world languages, visual arts, band and chorus.

The committee also discussed the possibility of making middle school world language instruction a core academic subject, instead of an elective. This change would dovetail naturally with the districts goal of strengthening world language instruction from kindergarten through grade 12.

Moving to the 60-minute blocks not only provides more time for daily science instruction, it also allows for the implementation of a revised approach to social studies that better aligns that curriculum with the state English Language Arts exam, especially when it comes to writing.

An interesting aspect of the original middle school redesign was the decision to move from a grade level system of student placement, in which sixth graders are always with other sixth graders, and so on, to a house system in which students stay within their houses for their entire middle school experience.

There are advantages to having a house system at the middle school level: Students get to interact over a sustained period with students of different ages and from different grades. And staff have the time to become more familiar with students over the three-year period.

But creating a house system is not easy, especially for staff who have spent years interacting with colleagues based on subject matter and grade level. The committee discussed with Dr. Damon Lewis, the Ponus principal, ways to strengthen the house system, to provide more time and training for house leaders and ensure that grade-level demands on staff do not undermine the integrity of the houses.

A major expansion/renovation has begun at Ponus, and in two years it will become a K-8 school with a focus on science and related subjects, such as engineering and technology. The committee deemed it critical to adjust the schedule to ensure science instruction takes place every day.

According to the states most recent Accountability Index, Norwalk  for the second year running  is the number one school district in Connecticut among cities with more than 100,000 people. We are proud of that. And we plan to keep working to improve the quality of education that our students receive.

Bruce Kimmel is a member of the Norwalk Board of Education.The history of Japanese migrants and their descendants in Peru, a community that today numbers more than 100,000 people and is one of the countrys most dynamic, began 120 years ago with the arrival of a ship carrying 790 travelers seeking work at coastal sugar plantations.

Those initial migrants aboard the Sakura Maru paved the way for what has been a story of success and integration, including outstanding contributions in the realms of politics, culture, business and gastronomy, with Perus famed cuisine having been clearly influenced by Japanese cooking methods.

The Empire of Japan chose Peru as a destination for its citizens during the Meiji period (1868-1912) since that country was the first in Latin America to enter into diplomatic relations with the Asian nation.

At that time, Japans rulers were looking to westernize their young farmers by relocating them to a faraway South American country that was experiencing an agricultural boom.

The first migrants, all of them men, arrived in Peru on April 3, 1899, with contracts to work for four years at sugar plantations in coastal valleys ranging from Lambayeque in the north to Canete in the south.

Between that date and Japans entry into World War II in 1941, around 30,000 Japanese traveled via the Pacific Ocean to Peru, with the first arrivals being laborers who expected they would to return home upon termination of their contacts.

A later wave of immigrants during that same 42-year period arrived by invitation of their family and friends already in the South American country.

The first Japanese came with a four-year contract, and the truth is that many of them did not return, whether due to illness, death or because they were unable to because in that era a trip to Japan took 40 days. Its wasnt an easy matter, Abel Fukumoto, who is the president of the Peruvian Japanese Association and was born in Peru to Japanese parents, told EFE.

Many never returned. Other returned much later, he said, noting that his father waited 40 years before going back to his homeland.

My mother never returned to Japan. She married her husband by photo, lived here, had her children and never was able to return. But the truth is she liked Peru so much that it wasnt that hard, Fukumoto said.

For many of Perus first migrants, their lives were ones of relative comfort and abundance compared to what they had experienced in Japan, even though they initially worked as agricultural and domestic laborers.

In just a few years, members of the Japanese immigrant community were already owners of shops, restaurants, hair salons and other small businesses in Peruvian cities.

They went from the countryside to the cities, not to Lima necessarily, but to the large cities in the north, because they had mainly arrived at plantations that were north of Lima, from Ancon to Lambayeque and to the south as far as Canete, Fukumoto recalled.

Those small businesses were later transformed by later generations of Japanese-Peruvians into large corporations, including ones run by the Miyasato and Furukawa families.

Small farms became larger operations, among them San Fernando S.A., a company that engages in the breeding, production and marketing of chicken, turkey and other food products.

World War II, however, saw much of that progress come to a halt, with many fortunes and businesses disappearing and mass deportations and confiscations carried out amid a rupture in diplomatic relations between Peru and the Axis powers.

The history of (Japanese immigration to Peru) really needs to be divided into two parts: before the war and after the war. Before (that global conflict), there was a lot of effort, a lot of work, there was progress, but that was cut short by the war, Fukumoto said.

In that difficult era, Japanese migrants and their descendants, known in Peru and elsewhere in the world as nikkei, adopted a spirit of resignation as an antidote to resentment and sought to forge ahead in a country that, in spite of everything, offered them hope for the future.

Fukumoto, a second-generation member of Perus nikkei community, says his parents never talked to him about the suffering they endured due to World War II and so he never had a sense of any past wrongs that needed to be righted.

He said one possible explanation for the success and famed longevity of the Peruvian-Japanese community is that many of these migrants can trace their roots back to Okinawa, a very warm (part of Japan) with beautiful beaches and excellent food that is home to very cheerful people.

Okinawa residents are very friendly people. Maybe that makes them happier and longer-lived, Fukumoto said.

During this years 120th anniversary of the arrival of the Sakura Maru, Fukumoto said the best way the Japanese community can pay tribute to those first migrants is to contribute to the development of Peru, a nation that admitted and welcomed them and where they have felt so well received from the outset.

mmr/mcEDWARDSVILLE  Communication is more than just talking and listening  its also about sending and receiving messages through attitude, tone of voice, facial expressions and body language.

As people with Alzheimers disease and other dementias progress in their journey and the ability to use words is lost, families need new ways to connect. Join us to explore how communication takes place when someone has Alzheimers. Learn to decode the verbal and behavioral messages delivered by someone with dementia and identify strategies to help you connect and communicate at each stage of the disease.Thousands of Cuban migrants hoping to be allowed to enter the United States are stranded in Ciudad Juarez, located across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

They have welcomed us pretty well here. They give us food with a little chili, but thats not their fault, Juan Carlos Flores, a Cuban migrant who has been in this border city in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua with his wife for more than a month, told EFE.

Flores said he chose this border crossing, where long lines have been the norm recently in the wake of President Donald Trumps threat to close the border, after hearing that asylum seekers could cross into the United States quickly and without danger.

The couple decided to leave home because they did not like the Cuban government, telling EFE that although there were pros and cons in the system, they preferred to leave the island in the hope of finding a better job in the United States, the land many dream of reaching.

According to official figures, 70 percent of the more than 3,300 migrants currently in transit in this Mexican border city are Cubans.

Juarez had become a city that was no longer important in terms of migratory flows into the United States. Seeing ourselves again at the center of migratory flows was something very surprising, Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Colef) Population Studies Department researcher Jesus Pena told EFE.

Pena, an expert on migration, said the situation changed after the arrival of 100 Cuban migrants in the border city last October.

The first group of migrants was allowed to enter the United States less than 24 hours after setting foot in Juarez.

Those people traveled from Brazil to Ciudad Juarez because the first (Central American) migrant caravan was in Tijuana. I think that was easier for them than to go to other border (crossings) because there are more connecting flights and bus routes to Ciudad Juarez, Pena said.

After the arrival of the first group of Cubans in Juarez, word began to spread about the quick and easy access to the United States via Ciudad Juarez-El Paso among the migrants relatives and friends.

The Cuban migrant community also took advantage of Panamas decision to remove visa requirements and joined the exodus from Central America.

Traveling on buses and even flying, the Cubans began arriving at the border and were counted among the more than 10,200 migrants in Juarez registered by the State Population Council (Coespo) at the end of October 2018.

While in other places they are welcoming people of other nationalities, here we are receiving mostly Cubans, Coespo coordinator Enrique Valenzuela said during a recent press conference.

Valenzuela said that due to the high numbers of migrants traveling north, 10 shelters have been set up in the border city.

In February, a temporary shelter was opened in the Bachilleres Gymnasium, where more than 500 migrants were housed after Casa del Migrante - a non-profit group that has traditionally provided shelter to migrants - reached maximum capacity.

Now, the gym that used to have hundreds of sleeping mats inside only has 90 migrants left, all Cubans, sleeping in five different rooms.

Adriel, who like Juan Carlos spends the night at the gym, said he decided to leave his home in Cubas Villa Clara province to live in the nation that promises the American dream, security and freedom.

My reason was, basically, to seek democracy, freedom of expression. There was no freedom, they were on top of you constantly, making life practically impossible, the Cuban migrant told EFE.

The Cuban migrant said that two of his relatives, like him, belong to the opposition in the Caribbean country.

Without providing too many details, he explained that this put him in constant danger.

I feel it because I am Cuban, I have a family, a mother, brothers, and nobody wants to leave their homeland, but when you have to do it, you have to do it, he said in tears.FYI: Seven out of ten people in the state of Georgia are apparently going to hell. At least thats what Doyle Kelley, a fire-and-brimstone Baptist preacher claims.

Kelley made this prediction last month while delivering an invocation in the Georgia State House chamber in his capacity as Chaplain for the Day. Admonishing the

legislators to Do all in the name of Jesus Christ, he then stated that Seventy percent of the people in the state of Georgia are on their way to Hell.

The preacher is quite certain about that figure. The statistics came out that theres seventy percent of the people in the state of Georgia that are lost, Kelley noted.

He then attempted to flesh out that percentage by explaining, There are over ten million people in the state of Georgia, which translates into seven million people lost.

Georgians were understandably curious about the source of Kelleys seventy percent statistic. Trey Kelley, his son who serves as a Republican legislator, told the media that his father bases this number on a poll that refers to the percentage of people  seven out of ten  who dont claim church membership or religious affiliation.

Kelleys invocation didnt meet with the approval of everyone in the chamber. Josh McLaurin, a Democratic legislator, protested that Kelleys prayer might well have been unconstitutional. His point is well taken. The Supreme Court in its 1983 Marsh v. Chambers case ruled that the state of Nebraskas tradition of opening its sessions with a prayer didnt violate the Establishment Clause. The court noted, however, that the content of the prayer didnt indicate the prayer opportunity has been exploited to proselytize or advance any one or to disparage any other faith or belief.

I think we can agree that an exhortation to Do all in the name of Jesus Christ marginalizes Jews and other non-Christians. And to argue that those who dont claim church membership or religious affiliation are going to hell disparages persons of other faiths and beliefs.

As a child, I was taught that my fellow Roman Catholics had an inside track to heaven. Non-Catholics could reach heaven only if they were invincibly ignorant and couldnt grasp the truth of Catholicism. This theology argued for a heaven populated only by Catholics and really dumb non-Catholics.

Doorbell-ringers from Clifton Baptist Church, a fundamentalist house of God back in the day, once informed me that only Biblical fundamentalists such as the members of their church would enter heaven. Emmett Cox, the churchs pastor, asked me if I knew where Id go when I died. I replied, Probably just up the street to Staten Funeral Home. Cox and his evangelical companion immediately gave me up for lost and moved on to the next house.

Christians who have embraced the Calvinist doctrine of predestination believe that God ordained at the beginning of time who would enter heaven. Those predestined for hell cant attain heaven through church membership, professions of faith, good works or any combination thereof.

Rev. Frank S. C. Wicks, a Unitarian minister, preached a sermon in 1907 titled Good Men in Hell in which he argued that compassionate persons would never accept the bliss of heaven while other human beings suffered in hell simply because they didnt believe in a particular dogma. Indeed, those who possess empathy and compassion would go to comfort the damned. Fear might drive a man to the acceptance of salvation, Wicks said, but love drives him to the very pit of hell.

Ive stood with the marginalized and excluded all my life. If I have the opportunity to stand with them after I die, I fully intend to do so. And I wont be the only one. Psalm 139:8 reads: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. God, too, stands with the rejected.

****

John J. Dunphys latest book, Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials, includes interviews with men who served in the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Marlowe Hood (Agence France-Presse) Paris  Wed, April 3, 2019 10:01 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87310e802 2 Health e-cigarette,smoking,tobacco,teenagers,millennials,health,#health Free

The rapid spread of e-cigarette use among young teenagers has not slowed the decline in smoking in the same age group, much less reversed it, according to a new study.

Nor has vaping caused 13-to-15 year olds canvassed in Britain to see tobacco use in a more positive light, researchers reported Tuesday.

The findings, published in the BMJ journal Thorax, are the latest to conclude that nicotine-delivering electronic cigarettes are not, as once feared, a gateway drug for tobacco.

"Our research does not support the hypothesis that e-cigarettes 'renormalized' youth smoking during a period of growing but largely unregulated use in the UK," the study concluded.

But neither did it alleviate growing concern about the health consequences of vaping, which remain largely unknown in part because the practice is so new.

It took decades, experts point out, to determine that smoking tobacco -- which accounts for more than seven million premature deaths worldwide every year -- is truly dangerous.

Research on nearly 100,000 adults in the United States -- presented at a major conference last month there -- showed that e-cigarette use increases the likelihood of heart attacks, coronary artery disease and depression by 34, 25 and 55 percent respectively.

Rates of these conditions were far higher among smokers.

Another study from February, published in the Nature Journal Scientific Reports, linked chemicals used in 90 percent of vaping systems to impaired lung function.

"We must take aggressive steps to protect our children from these highly potent products," the US Surgeon General said in a rare public advisory in December, warning of the harmful impact of nicotine on still-developing brains.

The new findings looked at changes in behaviour and attitude among a quarter of a million young teens in Britain from 1998 to 2015.

During that period, they found, the percentage of 13-to-15 years olds who had smoked at least once fell from 70 to 27, and the share of regular smokers dropped from 19 to five percent.

Smoking not 'renormalized'

Perceptions changed as well. Only 27 percent of young teens in 2015 said it was "OK to try a cigarette", compared with 70 percent 15 years earlier.

Crucially, the rate at which these shifts took place barely slowed, if at all, from 2011 to 2015, the period when e-cigarettes were taking off.

Read also: E-cigarette use linked to heart trouble: Study

"Favorable perceptions of regular smoking among this age group also fell at a faster rate after the proliferation of e-cigarettes, which would not be expected if smoking was in the process of being 'renormalised'," the authors concluded.

Figures from the rest of Europe and North America suggest similar trends.

The use of e-cigarettes in the United States jumped by more than 75 percent in 2018 compared with the year before, prompting the US Food and Drug Administration to call last fall tighter regulations.

Teens in every age bracket are today more likely to vape than to smoke cigarettes, according to the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Nearly 10 percent of 13-to-14 year olds said they had vaped within the last month, but less than four percent had lit up a cigarette, the NIDA reported in November.

For 17-to-18 year olds, the gap closed, but the number of smokers was still 50 percent lower than users of e-cigarettes.

In the United States today, one in 20 adults -- or more than 10 million people -- use e-cigarettes, while three times as many are smokers.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Frederik Balfour and Katya Kazakina (Bloomberg)  Wed, April 3, 2019 14:03 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa8731157bf 2 Art & Culture millennials,art,artwork,Simpsons Free

Millennials snapped up $28 million worth of art inspired by the Simpsons television show, along with skateboarding shoes and cans of spray paint at a Sothebys auction in Hong Kong as a new generation of collectors comes of age.

The auction room suddenly got a lot hipper, with all these cool millennial buyers in hoodies, said Edie Hu, art advisory specialist at Citi Private Bank in Hong Kong. Their tastes are very different from their parents, and Sothebys is tapping into that.

The highlight of the 33-lot auction of items belonging to Japanese fashion designer Nigo was a painting by Brooklyn street artist KAWS based on the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album but populated with Simpsons characters. It sold to an unidentified buyer for $14.8 million including fees, a record for the artist and about 15 times the estimate.

#AuctionUpdate: THE KAWS ALBUM, commissioned by NIGO from KAWS, sells for HK$116m / US$14.8m, smashing the previous record for the artist by more than five times over pic.twitter.com/DRxgFOMFpC  Sotheby's (@Sothebys) April 1, 2019

Read also: South Korea's burnt-out millennials choose YouTube over Samsung

A young Chinese buyer with a short back and sides haircut, who was wearing a green army camouflage jacket, shelled out $2.6 million for another KAWS piece called UNTITLED (KIMPSONS #3). The work depicts the Simpson family sprawled unconscious on their couch, with the artists signature crosses for eyes.

I am not surprised by the demand, but I am surprised by the final number, said Max Dolgicer, a New York collector whos been buying the artists work for seven years. Its a very fast-moving market.

In November, another painting by KAWS, whose real name is Brian Donnelly, sold for a then-record $3.5 million. Last week, a 37-meter-long inflatable version of his signature character, called Companion, floated on its back in Hong Kongs Victoria Harbor during the Art Basel Hong Kong art fair.

Other items at the auction included two pairs of sneakers designed by KAWS for Nigos A Bathing Ape (Bape) line of clothing that fetched $16,000, and an 18.5-inch high KAWS figure based on the Japanese manga character Astro Boy, which sold for $303,000.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Frederik Balfour and Chinmei Sung (Bloomberg)  Wed, April 3, 2019 13:03 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311449c 2 Lifestyle rich,city,luxury,wealth,Hermes Free

To show off a $50 million Mark Rothko painting that Sothebys plans to sell in New York, the auction house took it to Asia to tempt wealthy bidders. Outside of the companys regional base in Hong Kong, the artwork made only one stop -- not Shanghai or Tokyo or Singapore, but Taipei.

"We take the art to where the buyers are," said Patti Wong, chairman of Sothebys Asia, who hosted a two-day preview attended by Maggie and Richard Tsai and Yageo Corp. chairman Pierre Chen. "The Taiwanese market is hugely important for us."

China may be minting billionaires faster than anywhere else, but Taiwan has been building fortunes since the 1950s. According to Knight Franks 2019 Wealth Report, Taipei was eighth in a global list of cities ranked by the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, with 1,519 people who have at least $30 million in assets. And the property firm predicts that number will rise to 1,864 by 2023.

Wealth creation on the island of 23.6 million people took off in the 1970s with the proliferation of hundreds of small manufacturers cranking out everything from televisions to Barbie dolls that fueled Taiwans export-led growth. By the 1980s, the city had moved up the value chain, making electronic components and goods, led by computer companies and chip makers such as Acer Inc. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

When China began opening to investment, many Taiwanese companies shifted production across the Taiwan Strait to ride Chinas industrial boom. New Taipei City-based Foxconn Technology Group made founder Terry Gou a fortune worth $4.3 billion as of April 1.

Money that flowed back to Taiwan created some startling symbols of wealth. When the Taipei 101 tower opened in 2004, it was the worlds tallest building, eclipsed only in 2010 by Dubais Burj Khalifa, and housed Christian Diors largest flagship store in the world.

But a good chunk of the money earned by Taiwans entrepreneurs stayed abroad. According to a UBS Group AG report, the Taiwanese hold $500 billion offshore, third behind China, with $1.4 trillion and the US with $700 billion.

Theyre also fond of real estate. According to Knight Frank, Taiwans super-wealthy own an average of 5.4 homes each, compared with just over 4 for Hong Kongers and 4.6 for those in the Middle East. In downtown Taipei, apartments in Belgian architect Vincent Callebauts twisted, carbon-eating residential tower, Tao Zhu Yin Yuan, reportedly sell for NT$1 billion ($32 million) apiece, making them among the priciest in the region.

Much of the wealth on the island belongs to founders who never took their companies public, and some of them are now looking to cash out. Precision Motion Industries Inc., a supplier to the semiconductor industry whose shareholders include Pai Young-yao, is seeking a buyer in a deal that would value the company at $1 billion, according to people familiar with matter.

Read also: Exploring Taipei's halal tourist sites

"Over 90 percent of our clients are entrepreneurs with unlisted companies," said Dennis Chen, head of wealth management Taiwan at UBS, which has seen annual double digit growth in the past five years.

Unlike the stereotype of the new wealth portrayed in the film "Crazy Rich Asians," most wealthy Taiwanese families eschew ostentatious displays of riches.

"We are not showy," said art-lover Tsai, who co-heads Fubon Financial Holding Co. with his brother. "Taiwanese learned the importance of modesty from the Japanese and value the traditional Chinese virtue of humility.

Chen agrees. "Most of our clients never fly business class," he said.

Thats not to say Taiwans top 1 percent dont know how to enjoy their money, they just do so without fanfare, said Annie Leung, chairman of Bellavita, a luxury mall in the heart of Taipei. The mall has a VIP club with fitting rooms where well-heeled shoppers can try on clothes and pricey jewelry without ever having to enter a store. Hermes even provides generic brown bags to people who dont want to broadcast their purchases.

"They dont want to have an obvious orange bag on the street," said Leung, whose father C.C. Leung is co-founder of Quanta Computer Inc. "High-end consumers like to spend their money, but they dont always like to be seen."Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Madrid  Wed, April 3, 2019 09:06 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87310e64e 2 Entertainment Netflix,Money-Heist,streaming-service Free

US streaming giant Netflix said Monday it will release the third part of its hit Spanish crime caper "Money Heist" in July.

"The vacation is over. 'Money Heist returns July 19," the company said in a statement.

The series, about a long-prepared, multiple-day assault on the Royal Mint of Spain, is Netflix's most watched non-English language show, the company said last year.

Netflix also released a 30-second trailer for the third part of the series. Several returning cast members are seen in the video, including Miguel Heran who plays Rio and Ursula Corbero who depicts Tokyo.

The short clip shows their characters relaxing on a tropical island as well as dozens of armed police who appear headed to try to detain them.

Read also: 'Money Heist' makers give sneak peak of new thriller

Spains Atresmedia and Vancouver Media produced the first two parts of the series, called "La Casa de Papel" in Spanish, which was broadcast initially on private Spanish TV station Antenna 3 in 2017.

Netflix acquired the series in late 2017 and re-released in worldwide, turning it into a global phenomenon.

The success of the show, which won the Emmy for best international drama in 2018, led Netflix to open last year its first European production hub in Madrid.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) La Paz, Bolivia  Wed, April 3, 2019 07:05 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87310a2f4 2 Environment biology,frogs,Bolivia,Sehuencas-water-frog Free

The fate of a species may just rest on this love story.

Happily, the first date between Romeo, once the last-known Sehuencas water frog, and Juliet, who was discovered deep inside a Bolivian cloud forest in January, went so well the two have been living together in the male's aquarium since.

According to a statement by Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) on Monday, the pair were introduced on March 1 after being cleared of chytridiomycosis, which has decimated amphibian populations throughout the Neotropics region.

After a period of observation, they were moved into Romeo's aquarium, where he made a mating call for the first time since 2017: a clear sign he is eager to breed.

"Romeo has been really sweet to Juliet, following her around the aquarium and sacrificing his worm meals for her," said Teresa Camacho Badani, chief of herpetology at the Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d'Orbigny in Bolivia, which is working on the project with the GWC.

"After he's been alone for so long, it's wonderful to see him with a mate finally."

Romeo had been found in the same cloud forest a decade ago and it was feared that he was the last survivor of his species.

With a lifespan of 15 years, time was running out to find Romeo a mate to ensure the survival of the species, although the frog himself never gave up hope, continuing to call out for a mate during his decade in captivity.

Read also: Romeo the lonesome frog is feelin' the love

Twinkle-toed performance

But it's not quite happily ever after, at least not yet.

Romeo hasn't fully figured out amplexus -- the mating position for frogs where the male holds the female until he can fertilize her eggs as she lays them.

Some species of frog need to go into amplexus for weeks or even months, but it isn't known how long it lasts for the Sehuencas.

So far Romeo has gotten into the correct position a handful of times -- the longest for about 15 minutes on the first day the two were put together.

Since meeting Juliet, Romeo has also exhibited a behavior water frog experts had not encountered for this species: a performance in which he rapidly twinkles the toes of his back feet, likely intended to impress the female.

Apart from Juliet, four other Sehuencas water frogs were brought in from the wild during the same expedition: two males and two additional females.

They were the first Sehuencas frogs that researchers had seen in the wild in a decade. The others have just begun showing signs of being ready to breed, and remain together in a single aquarium.

According to the GWC, Bolivia has the 10th highest level of amphibian diversity in the world, but 22 percent of those species now face the threat of extinction.

The Sehuencas frog, which is completely aquatic, was once found in abundance at the bottom of small streams and rivers or in ponds deep inside mountain forests.

A combination of climate change, habitat destruction, contamination, chytridiomycosis and the introduction of invasive trout provoked the abrupt demise of many aquatic frog species in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Josa Lukman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 3, 2019 16:46 985 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311926d 1 Entertainment HBO,HBO-Asia,Cable-TV,Asia,Billy-Christian,eric-khoo,Singapore,series Free

From Asian cuisines to sci-fi and the world of the supernatural, premium cable television network HBO Asia will feature them all in its newest exclusive lineup of Asian original productions.

Four series will soon make their debut, including Food Lore, an eight-episode anthology series exploring the human narrative through the perspective of Asian cuisines.

Helmed by award-winning Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo, Food Lore features eight countries across Asia and is directed by a number of Asian directors, including Indonesias own Billy Christian.

Food Lore. (HBO Asia/-)

According to Billy, the offer to participate in Food Lore directly came from Khoo, who was very impressed with one of the movies directed by the Indonesian filmmaker.

My film, Mereka Yang Tak Terlihat [They Who Are Not Seen] was screened at the Scream Asia Film Festival, which was created by Khoo. Its a horror film, but it also has elements of drama in it. Khoo loved the movie, we got into a discussion about my movies, and the offer came after that, Billy said, adding that he originally thought that Food Lore was related to Folklore, a horror anthology also by HBO Asia.

Billy explained that he wanted to create something based on popular Indonesian dishes like rendang and nasi goreng. However, he changed his mind later on, preferring to utilize a simple dish familiar to many Indonesians of all backgrounds.

Then I set out to create a story that is connected to the ingredients of the dish. Its uniquely Indonesian, iconic and directly connected to the story.

Primarily known for his supernatural-infused movies, Billy said there were some challenges in creating the series, which directly relates to the senses.

In horror, its how to give the viewers a good scare during and after the movie. The challenge here is to get the audience to experience the dishs flavours, like spiciness, saltiness and sweetness,

Its a challenge for me to create the visuals in such a way that they can taste whats on the screen. Its also a challenge to get the audio to bring some suggestion to our palate.

Billy said the team was currently scouting locations for filming.

I want Indonesians from all over the country to be able to relate to the story, particularly because every region has this specific vegetable that is central to the plot.

Also part of the new Asian originals lineup is Dream Raider, HBO Asias first science fiction drama starring Vivian Hsu, David Wang, Jason Wang, Weber Yang and Ellen Wu.

Dream Raider. (HBO Asia/-)

Directed by Daniel Fu and Simon Hung, Dream Raider centers on a team of police and scientists investigating a criminal conspiracy exploiting the human consciousness involving advanced technology that enables them to enter the dreams of others.

Then there is Taiwans The World Between Us, which follows the aftermath of a mass shooting where the fates of everyone involved, from the killers to the media, are linked to one another.

The World Between Us. (HBO Asia/-)

The 10-episode drama is shot entirely in Taiwan, helmed by award-winning filmmaker Lin Chun-Yang and written by the renowned screenwriter, Lu Shih-Yuan. A Taiwanese all-star cast also joins the production, including Alyssa Chia, James Wen and Wu Kang-Jen.

The last in the lineup is the second season of The Teenage Psychic, a coming-of-age drama featuring teenage intricacies mixed with the supernatural directed by up-and-coming director Liu Yan-Fu. Actress Kuo Shu-Yau reprises her lead role as Xiao Zhen, a 17-year-old psychic born with the ability to see spirits. New cast members joining Kuo include two-time Golden Bell Award-winning actress, Wen Chen-Ling and up-and-coming star Fandy Fan.

The Teenage Psychic. (HBO Asia/-)

The latest lineup of Asian originals is set to follow up HBO Asias worldwide success in 2018, according to HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink.

Over the past seven years, we recognize the significance and importance of locally produced programming. Since 2012, the number of Asian original productions we have done has been increasing and they have all proven to be very effective for us, Spink said.

We maintain our commitment to producing outstanding programming and will continuously aim to present our content to our audience in the region, in an easily accessible way. We will continue to produce the highest quality content that the HBO brand represents and showcase to the world the best Asia has to offer. (hdt)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 3, 2019 10:42 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873110e77 4 Books Bologna-Children-Book-Fair,Gramedia,Mizan Free

Six Indonesian publishers are participating in the Bologna Childrens Book Fair 2019. Representatives from publishing companies Gramedia, Kesaint Blanc, Elex Media, Yayasan Litara and Mizan, as well as literary agent Borobodur Agency, which represents smaller publishers, are attending the worlds biggest children's book fair.

The Indonesian team is displaying more than 150 children's book titles in various categories such as folktales, fantasy, religion, to language and character building. A press release said that besides books, there were also five board games and products from Indonesian language comic series Si Juki, Indonesian-made horror game Ghost Parade, educational games brand Marbel, children's digital story book Riri, and digital content creator Hey Blo!.

Indonesias theme for the display is 17,000 Islands of Imagination.

Esti Andayani, Indonesias ambassador to Italy, appreciated Indonesias participation in the book fair.

This participation is special because it also marks the celebration of Indonesia and Italy's 70 years of diplomatic ties, with creative economy and small industry cooperation as the theme. Publishing companies hold an important element in the creative industry, Esti said.

Read also: 'Sambal Nation' spices up London Book Fair

National Book Committee (KBN) head Laura Bangun Prinsloo said the biggest copyright sales came from childrens books.

Meanwhile, the Bologna Childrens Book Fair is the worlds biggest book fair, which can be a strategic market, said Laura.

The book fair is an annual event with 1,200 participants from more than 70 countries each year. (gis/mut)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java  Wed, April 3, 2019 21:15 985 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311e1f3 1 Food IRRI,rice,rice-production Free

Indonesia welcomed the new country office of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on Monday in Bogor, West Java.

IRRI director general Mathew Morell, together with the head of the Agriculture Ministrys Research and Development Agency, Fadjry Djufry, inaugurated the IRRI country office on Monday. The office, located in the same area as the research agencys head office on Jl. Merdeka, is expected to speed up knowledge and technology transfer on rice.

Director general of IRRI Mathew Morell together with the head of Agriculture Ministrys Research and Development Agency (Balitbangtan) Fadjry Djufry officiated IRRI country office in Indonesia (JP/Theresia Sufa)

#BreakingNews: New IRRI country office inaugurated in Bogor, Indonesia ! https://t.co/MhdBKwdDGw

Morrel said on behalf of the IRRI, he was thankful to be trusted by the government of Indonesia in applying the technology and skills of the IRRI. He also expressed the IRRIs commitment to partnership with the research agency and national partners to encourage research in the future.

During his visit to Indonesia, Morrell also participated in national consultation between the agency and the IRRI, for the ASEAN + 3 initiative in Indonesia on Rice genetic solution for climate resilience and value addition in ASEAN.

Read also: IRRI to receive annual funding of US$1.4m from Crop Trust

Meanwhile, Djufry said partnership between the Indonesian government and the IRRI had been ongoing since 1972, and that the IRRIs rice varieties had significantly increased Indonesias rice production.

He went on to say that the Ciherang rice variety, which came about 10 years ago, was the result of collaborative work between the government and the IRRI. The Ciherang variety was a marriage between local rice and the IRRIs rice seed. It is the most planted variety in Indonesia.

We already have around 300 varieties of new superior rice, and most of them are the result of cooperation with the IRRI. Ninety percent of superior rice variety planted in Indonesia are from the agency, and in 2019 we also released superior rice variety to overcome stunting, namely Inpari IR NutriZinc, said Fadjry.

Inpari IR NutriZinc is the first rice variety in Indonesia that contains zinc, created to help put an end to stunting in Indonesia. It is a superior rice variety resilient to brown planthopper, and is able to provide up to 50 percent of daily zinc requirements. (mut)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (Kyodo News) Tokyo  Wed, April 3, 2019 23:11 985 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311f3d3 2 Art & Culture wedding,Reiwa,Japan Free

Japan's local governments are planning something special for those who register their marriage on the first day of the new era, including offering gifts and commemorative photos, as they expect a spike in the number of couples tying the knot on May 1.

The start of the new era Reiwa upon the enthronement of Crown Prince Naruhito will fall on an auspicious day for marriage according to a traditional Japanese calendar, likely prompting many couples to file their marriage papers that day.

Some local governments plan to set up temporary counters for marriage registrations, instead of accepting the documents at the security guards' room -- a usual practice on a public holiday.

Japan has designated May 1 this year as a one-off holiday to celebrate the imperial succession, as part of a 10-day Golden Week vacation period.

Others plan to celebrate the "new-era marriages" by taking photos of couples and offering them presents.

Read also: Emperor burger: Tokyo chef whips up $900 monster for new monarch

The city of Kaga in the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa will open marriage registration counters from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 1.

Staff will take commemorative photos of couples standing in front of a cardboard background illustrated with hearts while their registration is processed. The photos will then be framed and presented to the newlyweds.

"We want to celebrate marriages on the first day of the new era, which will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," an official for the project said.

The city of Okayama in western Japan will mark the day by setting up a counter accepting marriage registrations at Okayama Castle's Akazu gate.

From May 1, the city government will use special marriage papers with illustrations of the castle and Momotaro (Peach Boy), a popular hero of Japanese folklore originating from Okayama Prefecture and said to have been born from a giant peach.

Those registering their marriage will also receive pairs of celebratory local pottery cups with the date engraved on them.

On average, the city of Okayama receives 20 marriage registration requests a day, but it expects the number will jump to 100 on May 1. "We hope (couples) will memorialize their (personal) event at the historical (castle)," a city official said.

In Toyohashi city in the central Japan prefecture of Aichi, five or six workers will be ready to offer potted geraniums and colored paper as gifts to the first 100 couples registering their marriage.

In Komae, a Tokyo suburb, Mayor Toshio Matsubara will be on hand to congratulate couples as they get married, a practice deviating from the usual bureaucratic process. "He has a strong desire to celebrate that day," explained a city official.

The Komae city office expects to receive around 30 to 40 registration requests for marriage on May 1, as high as Nov. 11, 2011, when many couples appreciated the date containing six ones.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 2 2019

The government plans to promote items produced by inmates through e-commerce platforms to help the prisoners adjust back to regular life and earn a living once they are released from prison.

Business empowerment for convicts has been a recurring program run by the Law and Human Rights Ministry for the last seven years, with support from the Industry Ministry.

However, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said this would be the first year that the government would initiate partnerships with e-commerce platforms. In previous years, the products were only marketed through exhibitions or at certain shops.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 3, 2019 12:12 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311393a 1 City accident,fallen-tree,bad-weather,jakarta,Jakarta-accidents Free

An uprooted tree on Jl. Dermaga Raya in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, fell on a truck and killed the driver, Suyatno, on Tuesday.

Duren Sawit Police crime unit chief First Insp. Fadoli said that Suyatno was driving down the road when the tree suddenly toppled and fell on his truck. The accident took place during the heavy rain and strong winds that hit the capital on Tuesday afternoon.

The tree was beside Jl. Dermaga Raya and the victim was driving alone, Fadoli said as quoted by kompas.com.

Fadoli said that a witness at the scene immediately called firefighters to rescue Suyatno.

According to the witness account, the victim died at the scene while his hands were still holding the wheel, he added.

East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency operational head Gatot Sulaeman said it was difficult for his team to recover Suyatnos body because the tree had severely damaged the front of the truck.

We should focus on recovering the body first. Its pretty hard. The victim died at the scene, Gatot said, noting that the process took an hour.

Jl. Dermaga Raya remained closed until the firefighters cleaned up the area. (vla)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 3, 2019 17:16 985 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311ae3e 1 Business Garuda-Indonesia,flight,emergency-landing,Sri-Lanka,Jeddah,Saudi-Arabia,passenger-flight,aviation,Airlines Free

A Garuda Indonesia aircraft serving flight number GA 972 with 338 people onboard made an emergency landing at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo at 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday due to low cabin pressure in the middle of the flight.

The Airbus 330 departed from Aceh at 8:20 p.m. local time for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. However, in the middle of the flight, the crew detected low cabin pressure inside the cabin.

Out of concern for safety and the passengers' comfort, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing at a nearby airport in Colombo.

Everyone on onboard landed safely. At the moment all passengers are staying overnight at a nearby hotel while waiting for a replacement airplane, which departed from Denpasar [Bali] at 12:30 p.m. local time, said Garuda Indonesia corporate secretary Ikhsan Rosan in an official statement received on Wednesday afternoon.

Ikhsan said the decision to send another aircraft was to ensure safety and security.

Garuda also sent a technician to Colombo to make sure the Garuda aircraft that made the emergency landing could be operated again.

Garuda Indonesia also wishes to express our sincerest apologies for the discomfort experienced by all passengers, Ikhsan said.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 4, 2019 10:04 985 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311cf16 1 Politics election,Jokowi,Prabowo-Subianto,Joko-Widodo-Maruf-Amin,2019-presidential-election,#2019GeneralElections,non-voting,golput Free

It never occurred to Lini Zurlia that she would become the subject of a controversy surrounding golput (voting abstention) on social media. A photo she posted late last month, depicting her holding up a sticker saying Saya Golput, was originally intended as harmless self-expression.

However, what initially began as a declaration of political preference quickly turned into a public referendum on political participation.

I honestly didnt know I was going to go viral. I openly declared as an abstainer on Twitter because I could no longer stand the toxic narrative of cebong [tadpole] and kampret [small bat]. So I turned to abstention as an alternate narrative and as a form of protest, Lini told The Jakarta Post, while referring to supporters of Jokowi and Prabowo.

Her Twitter page, @Lini_ZQ, is home to a pinned thread explaining the reasons behind her commitment to abstention, in addition to her controversial photo.

At the time of writing, the photo had generated over 2,000 retweets since its posting on Mar. 28.

In recent weeks, a group of nonvoters has emerged from obscurity to start a campaign advocating abstention as a form of protest against political candidates as the country holds its collective breath for the presidential election on April 17.

The movement, dubbed Saya Golput [I Abstain], has recently become the center of online discourse surrounding the coming presidential election which pits incumbent candidate President Joko Jokowi Widodo against challenger Prabowo Subianto.

In Indonesian, the term golput can mean abstention. But historically, the word refers to those who came to the polling stations and spoiled the ballots as a political protest against elections under the New Order regime.

The hashtag #SayaGolput has for weeks served as a proverbial battleground between those who remain steadfast in their voting preferences and those who choose to support neither of the candidates.

Lini, who currently serves as an advocacy officer for human rights activist network ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, has been thrust into the forefront of the movement, and eventually helped it gain traction as the rest of the public braced themselves for the coming election.

Abstention is a perfectly legitimate option in a scenario where the only available options are candidates who misrepresent the peoples aspirations, she said.

She pointed to a tweet posted on Jokowis official Twitter account as another reason why she had become disillusioned with the coming election.

She considered Jokowis tweet, which dismisses rumors of legalizing LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) as misinformation, to be a deliberate effort to erase the existence of the countrys non-heterosexual demographic.

Now you know why I choose to abstain, #SayaGolput. Hello, my queer fellas, you all are hoax! [sic] Lini wrote in reply to Jokowis tweet.

Nah kamu tau kan kenapa saya haqqulyaqeen #SayaGolput



Hello my queer fellas, you all are hoax!

Mamam tuh https://t.co/kbHo4xOTXq  Lini Zurlia (@Lini_ZQ) April 2, 2019

I supported and voted for Jokowi back in 2014 because his promises regarding human rights appealed to me. It was the first time I ever voted for a presidential candidate. Unfortunately, five years later, Jokowi has failed to deliver on his promises, Lini told the Post.

Voter turnout in Indonesia has traditionally been high, consistently exceeding 70 percent for national elections since the end of the Soeharto regime.

However, the abstention rate has shown an increasing trend since the 1999 general elections, and disillusioned voters have recently taken to social media to voice their intention to abstain from voting on April 17 because of their disappointment with both presidential tickets, particularly with their stances on human rights.

In 2014, Jokowi campaigned on a platform of, among other things, solving past cases of human rights abuse, but activists and experts have criticized the incumbent for a lack of progress on uncovering atrocities committed in the countrys past.

Meanwhile, ever since the 2014 election, Prabowo Subiantos candidacy has raised deep concerns among human rights activists over the candidates alleged involvement in the kidnapping of pro-democracy activists in 1997 and 1998.

Those who declared to abstain have provoked strong responses from members of the public.

Lini, for instance, has recently come under fire online as many Indonesian netizens have found her views to be disruptive to the election and the countrys democracy. Some even went so far as trading ad hominem blows, often openly mocking her for being a radical activist.

Golput snob + SJW [social justice warrior] + Feminist + open-minded starter pack, Twitter user @hairulad wrote, alongside Linis photo.

Golput snob + SJW + Feminist + open minded starter pack. pic.twitter.com/59ztKK0AE9  Hairul Aditya (@hairulad) April 1, 2019

Twitter user @InfoTwitwor posted a side-by-side comparison between a photo of Lini and a still image of Edna Mode, a snarky fictional designer of superhero costumes from Pixars popular animated feature The Incredibles.

Temukan perbedaan pic.twitter.com/0bLpFawm4y  Info Twitwor & Drama (@InfoTwitwor) March 31, 2019

I am very flattered that people actually compared me to Edna. Shes such an iconic character. I definitely took it as a compliment, Lini responded, adding that those who meant the Edna Mode comparison as an insult misunderstood the fictional character.

Aku sih ga tersinggung sama meme ini. Because Edna is cool dan udah dari dulu dikatain mirip Edna. #sayagolput pic.twitter.com/u3WYpt6cti  DhyCat (@purplerebel) April 3, 2019

Last month, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri dismissed abstention as a cowardly move.

As Indonesian citizens, we are obliged to vote. Those who choose to abstain are cowards, she said during a speech, as quoted by tempo.co.

Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) politician Tsamara Amany defended nonvoters, reassuring them that they were not cowards.

If you choose to abstain, you are not a coward. We will never get tired of convincing you, but we will always respect your decision, Tsamara wrote in a tweet.

Untuk kamu yang memilih #Golput, kamu bukan pengecut. Kami tidak akan pernah lelah meyakinkan kalian. Tapi apa pun keputusan kalian, kami pasti hargai. @psi_id pic.twitter.com/7Ka92BH7LF  Tsamara Amany Alatas (@TsamaraDKI) April 2, 2019

Lini said she had always welcomed anyone looking to engage in discussions about abstention.

I am okay with the deluge of responses Ive been receiving, however harsh they might be. Im okay as long as people do not physically respond with violence, she said.

Lini added that people who chose to abstain still had the right to critique the government since the country was bound by the constitution to protect and serve its citizens, regardless of their political preferences.Military operations conducted by the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Nduga regency, Papua, in the past few months have led to various human rights violations, a recent investigation initiated by the Nduga administration has alleged, allegations that the TNI has denied.

According to the investigation report, TNI personnel allegedly destroyed and burned down residents houses--forcing thousands of people to leave their homes for safety. The personnel are in Nduga in search of the West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB) fighters who killed 19 workers of state-owned construction firm PT Istaka Karya in December.

Tens of thousands of the fleeing residents currently live in neighboring districts without access to sufficient food, education or health services. Around 4,238 residents have fled to Kagayem district, 5,021 people to Yal district, 5,056 to Jigi district and 4,001 persons to Inikgal district.

Hundreds of others have decided to take refuge in the forests, spending nights between life and death, the report claims.

At least nine mothers have given birth in the forests without proper medical treatment, risking their lives, it says.

TNI personnel have also reportedly shut down and destroyed at least 34 churches during their operations in the conflict-ridden regency. SION GKI Mapenduma church has even been used by the TNI as a headquarters.

Residents alleged the TNI has killed at least 25 people, including two students, who were not connected to separatist rebels.

Nduga residents now live in fear and trauma. They have lost everything during the military operations, said an investigator, Theo Hesegem. He urged the government to withdraw the TNI from Nduga and instead adopt a soft approach through dialogue.

Similar opinions were expressed by local clergymen Erson Wenda and Esmond Walilo and Catholic priest John Jonga. The three figures expressed hopes that residents could go back to their villages and rebuild their homes and other public facilities soon.

We have seen numerous military operations and human rights violations since 1969, and it seems that we are far from the finish line, John said, adding that the key to stopping the clashes was the governments willingness to arrange a sincere dialogue with the Free Papua Movement.

Since the leadership of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, we have been fed with false promises of a peaceful dialogue, but this never comes true, Erson said.

They were addressing a press conference facilitated by Amnesty International Indonesia in Jakarta recently.

Usman Hamid, director of Amnesty International Indonesia, urged the government to immediately address the problem in Nduga, especially survivors struggling in evacuation sites.

The government must take necessary action immediately, he emphasized, adding that the government should also ensure punishment of any military personnel proven to be involved in human rights violations in the region.

Papua military spokesman Col. Muhammad Aidi told The Jakarta Post that the report alleging that military personnel had destroyed houses and churches was a "hoax.

We, the TNI, are committed to the Geneva Convention [against torture, other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment]. So, it is inconceivable that we would destroy a place of worship, Aidi said, adding that the investigation was carried out by groups who sided with the Free Papua Movement.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Wed, April 3, 2019 16:50 985 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873119560 1 Politics voting-problem,money-politics,election,Election-day,election-preparation,vote-buying,#2019GeneralElections,#2019PresidentialElection,2019-elections Free

With only a couple of weeks until polling day, residents of a housing complex in Nenas village, Batam, Riau Islands, have made it clear their votes are not for sale.

They have erected a banner at the entrance to the complex that says: Accept serangan fajar, but do not vote because of it.

Serangan fajar refers to the common practice of candidates paying cash to voters a few hours before polls open. The banner is therefore stating that while residents may accept money given to them, they should not allow it to influence how they cast their votes.

Tohom Sinaga, the head of neighborhood unit (RT) 003 and community unit (RW) 009 in Nanas, said the banner was a method of educating the community before polling day.

This is a part of the political education. We want to encourage our community to be consistent in choosing their future leaders, Tohom said as quoted by kompas.com.

Tohon said Nenas comprised nine neighborhood units with 15,000 families. Therefore, he said it was important to inform the community about avoiding vote-buying.

Meanwhile, the head of Batam Election Supervisory Agency, Syailendra Reza Irwansyah Rezeki, said the banner did not violate any rules because it was merely a statement.

But of course it becomes a problem when they accept money from candidates. It means there is transactional politics happening there," Syailendra said. (hol)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 4 2019

The Gerindra Party became the leading opposition party after the 2014 general election. The April 17 elections will be the third time the nationalist party has taken part in national elections.

Cofounded in 2008 by former commander of the Armys Special Forces (Kopassus) Prabowo Subianto along with his younger brother, businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, politician Fadli Zon and former deputy spy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono, the Pancasila-based political party ran for elections for the first time in 2009.

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Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 4 2019

The government has shown its commitment to defending the palm oil sector from a negative campaign waged by the European Union (EU), which has been resilient in its stance against the commodity in recent years. However, it has neglected several internal issues that may contribute to the EUs anti-palm oil policy.

The absence of accurate data on oil palm plantations and low engagement with political EU figures may hamper the governments efforts, according to Indonesias palm oil stakeholders.

Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDP-KS) president director Dono Boestami revealed recently that the organization had only three sets of data on the palm oil sectors total land use in Indonesia, all of which come from state agencies.

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Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, April 4 2019

Indonesia has expressed support for an initiative by France and Germany to enhance multilateralism, amid concerns about a drift toward unilateralism, particularly after the recent United States move over the disputed Golan Heights.

The main reason behind Indonesias support was because Jakarta wanted to show its commitment to principles of multilateralism, said the Foreign Ministrys director for international security and disarmament, Grata Endah Werdaningtyas.

On Tuesday, France and Germany invited Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, along with representatives from 14 other countries, including Canada, Japan and Norway, to attend a working lunch of the new initiative  called the Alliance for Multilateralism  in New York.

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Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginThe Mohawk marquee has been used as something of a community bulletin board for years.

North Adams Committee Advises Deed Restriction on Mohawk Marquee



The Community Development Committee discussed restrictions on the potential sale of the Mohawk Theater. Only a few people attended the meeting. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The Community Development Committee is recommending two restrictions related to the request for proposals being prepared for the Mohawk Theater.

The three-member board is advising that RFP include that the buyer shall maintain the historical integrity of the marquee in perpetuity and that all proposals be presented at a public meeting before the mayor's office selects one.

The idea of selling the historic theater has lead to strong debate at City Council and Community Development meetings on how to ensure the 80-year-old structure will continue to be a Main Street presence.

The City Council had been weighing ways to be part of the selection process or how to control or restrict the uses of the movie house. One way, councilors thought, would be to "flip the process" by issuing an RFP first and weighing responses before declaring the property "municipal surplus." But an opinion by the city solicitor received last week closed off that possibility.

The opinion did, however, state the ability of the council to place restrictions on RFP. But after numerous ideas about conditions that could be imposed, a much quieter Community Development meeting on Tuesday focused one element: the marquee.

"In conversations with the public, it all comes down to the marquee," said committee member Rebbecca Cohen. "It all comes down to we want the integrity of Main Street, or the focal point of Main Street, to be the marquee."

The only significant work on the structure was a stabilization and facade project a decade ago; the city's owned the structure since 1991. Committee Chairman Benjamin Lamb noted that this is the first step toward action  there had been a lot of conversation of what to do with the cinema in the past but it never went further.

"We have to make a move on this or it's going to be continue to be a spinning wheel," Cohen said.

Administrative Officer Michael Canales said the council could put on restrictions and the administration would take that back to the city solicitor.

"Consider what you want," he said. "When we get the RFP, we'll go to our lawyers to figure out how to do it. ... I think comes back to Ben's saying be very liberal in your interpretation and we'll find out if its enforceable."

Committee member Eric Buddington thought a historic restriction would preserve the exterior  and the marquee  but not the interior.

"This is not exactly a historical restriction ... but I don't think it's unprecedented to place requirements like that," he said.

Canales said a deed restriction could be placed on the marquee to preserve it, similar to the restriction on Notre Dame Church to preserve the steeple. State Historical Commission funds had been used to repair the spire so the restriction will follow to the new owners.

Cohen was also concerned with how the marquee would be used. Could the city restrict what was on the sign or could the community continue to use it? Bryan Sapienza, a member of the Public Arts Commission, asked if maintaining the integrity preclude technological upgrades like LEDs?

Lamb said Proctor's Theatre in Albany, N.Y., has maintained its historic marquee but equipped it with LED boards.

"I think the technology can co-exist," said Sapienza, referring to Las Vegas' Fremont Street that has LED and neon. "Old and new can co-exist quite nicely."

Cohen wasn't so sure. Communities take pride in their historic elements, she said. "They don't like bright lights and want the authenticity. ... People have an emotional attachment to the marquee."

There was the possibility of retaining ownership of the marquee or placing rules on what the marquee could state. "How far can we go? Can we censor what they're putting up on the marquee?" asked Cohen.

"Either the city use it as it does now for events or it be under the control of the property owner and the city would have no say," said Buddington. "I would not want to try to split that in any way."

In the end, the committee determined to place a broad deed restriction to ensure the maintenance and preservation of the marquee and leave any potential changes or signage discussion to the city's normal process for now.

There was less discussion but quick consensus on the idea of having be informed on all bids received. The council would only have authority over the sale if the bid selected is less than the assessed value; if above, the mayor would have the authority to execute a purchase and sale agreement without council input. So far, no bids on municipal properties have been above assessed or appraised value with the exception of the City Yard.

"It is an additional step that has to happen," said Lamb. "Once we do the disposition, according to the law, we do not have control over the further sale. But that restriction of at least having an additional step process, to me is important.

"The community has another chance to speak on it, we have an opportunity to speak on it as representatives of the community."Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin William Wilkes and Mathew Carr (Bloomberg)  Wed, April 3, 2019 06:03 986 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873109ee8 2 News Ryanair,Airlines,pollution,environment,Europe,travel Free

Ryanair Holdings Plc was one of the 10 biggest polluters in Europe last year, a first for a company that doesnt run coal-fired power plants.

Thats the conclusion of analysis of European Union carbon emissions data undertaken by Transport & Environment, a Brussels-based research group. The group found Ryanairs carbon dioxide emissions rose 6.9 percent last year.

The findings underscore the airline industrys rising contribution to the greenhouse gases blamed for damaging the atmosphere. Pollution from airlines has risen by about two-thirds since 2005 and is forecast to keep rising as flying becomes more affordable. That puts the industry on course to become the single-biggest emitter within three decades.

Read also: Ryanair bans carry-ons for passengers paying its lowest fares

Other industries are managing to cut their output of harmful substances. Last year, the EU Emissions Trading System recorded an 3.8 percent reduction in greenhouse gases. Nations from Germany to the U.K. are phasing out coal plants to curb emissions.

Ryanair was ninth on the list of top polluters in Europe. The remaining slots in the top 10 were taken by utilities that generate electricity from coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel.

In a statement, Ryanair said it is Europes greenest & cleanest airline and that passengers travelling on Ryanair have the lowest CO2 emissions per kilometer traveled than any other airline.

The International Civil Aviation Organization recently moved to address aviation emissions by adopting self-policing guidelines. Those call for offsetting any carbon increases by planting trees or investing in cleaner technologies. Critics of the plan said offsets have already been tried and dont work, in part because theyre hard to police.

EU emissions covered by the regions carbon market resumed a decline last year after rising slightly in 2017, according to preliminary data.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 3, 2019 20:33 985 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87311dec1 4 News Malindo-Air,Kuala-Lumpur,denpasar,Adelaide Free

Malaysian-based airline Malindo Air will open a new route connecting Kuala Lumpur with Denpasar in Bali and Adelaide in Australia on April 16.

A special one-way offer will be available for economy class at RM679 (US$166.26) and business class at RM2,399.

Flight reservations can be made through Malindo Airs official website malindoair.com, ticketing offices, customer care centers and travel agents.

In the initial period flights will be available four times a week every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Monday using Boeing 737-800NG aircraft that can accommodate 12 business and 150 economy class passengers, as well as Boeing 737-900ER offering 12 business and 168 economy class seats.

Read also: Citilink after tourists, students with new route from Surabaya to Kuala Lumpur

Adelaide is the fourth Australian country flown to by Malindo Air after Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne, Malindo Air CEO Chandran Rama Muthy said in a statement, adding that plans were in hand to increase flight frequency in the near future.

Adelaide Airport managing director Mark Young welcomed the opening of the new route, saying that it would provide more alternatives to connect Bali and Kuala Lumpur.

This route can be a good alternative for Indonesian domestic connectivity, along with with Batik Air, Lion Air and Wings Air, he said. (gis/kes)11 hours ago

US stock indexes fall after best weekly gain since February

Stocks fell in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday in a sluggish start to the week following the market's best weekly gain since February. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 2:50 p.m. Eastern.

Read ArticleThe Hero Captain of Entebbe

The Fellowship | April 3, 2019

Usually, the Advocates and Allies of the Jewish people we feature are those Righteous Gentiles who acted with bravery and selflessness during the Holocaust. But there are heroes from other eras we must remember, as well. The Times of Israel tells us about one such hero who is being remembered fondly by Israel  the French pilot of the plane hijacked and held in Entebbe, who refused to be released and remained with the Israeli hostages:

Israeli and French officials Wednesday mourned the death of Michel Bacos, the Air France pilot who along with his crew insisted on remaining with Israeli and Jewish hostages after pro-Palestinian terrorists hijacked his flight and diverted the plane to Entebbe Airport in 1976. He died in Nice on Tuesday at the age of 95.

On June 27, 1976, Palestinian terrorists hijacked an Air France jet flying from Tel Aviv to Paris. The plane was diverted to Uganda, where the hijackers were welcomed by dictator Idi Amin.

The terrorists freed the non-Jewish passengers immediately upon arrival but the Air France crew members, with the captain at their head, refused the captors offer of release and instead chose to remain as hostages with the planes Jewish passengers.

On July 4, 98 of the hostages were rescued in an operation by elite Israeli commandos. Four hostages lost their lives along with the mission commander Yonatan Netanyahu, elder brother of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Bacos was eulogized by Netanyahu, who called him the hero captain.

I bow to his memory and salute Michels bravery, Netanyahu tweeted.

He refused to leave his Jewish and Israeli passengers, even though the hijackers offered him the option. He remained with them through all their suffering, until IDF soldiers under the command of my brother Yoni freed them in a daring operationHamas Threatens Families of Captured Israelis

Stand for Israel | April 3, 2019

As Israel works to keep the current calm near the Gaza border, her enemies will not let up in their evil tactics. The Jerusalem Posts Tzvi Joffre reports that the terror group took to social media to threaten the families of Israelis whove been captured in Gaza, warning Israel to Accept our terms or else:

You will see your sons only if you accept the terms of the Resistance, read a Hamas-attributed post released on Tuesday threatening the families of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.

The tweet featured pictures of family members of the four captured Israelis.

Later on Tuesday, the Al-Qasam Brigade released a music video on their Twitter titled A Message from Captivity targeted towards the families of Israelis captured by Hamas.

The fictional video is presented from the perspective of one of the captives, who is writing a letter to their family in IsraelStand for Israel | April 3, 2019

The recent American recognition of Israels sovereignty over the Golan Heights has brought the region back to the forefront of international attention. But it has long been an important place for Israel. JNS Avrohom Shmuel Lewin talks to Avigdor Kahalani, the IDF commander who during the 1973 Yom Kippur War heroically led Israels defense of the Golan against Syria:

If ever there was a counterpart to the biblical story of young David facing Goliath, the Yom Kippur War was just that. Avigdor Kahalani, now 74 and a modern-day David, was commander of a tank battalion in 1973 that blocked a Goliath Syrian army from conquering the Golan Heights.

When the Yom Kippur war broke out in 1973, more than 1,400 Syrians tanks poured into the Golan. Opposing them were just 170 Israeli tanks, led by Lt. Avigdor Kahalani. At first, the Syrians seemed poised to push into the Jordan Valley. Over several weeks of intensive fighting and suffering horrendous casualties, Kahalani managed to hold off the Syrian attack and eventually push them out of the Golan

Q: Besides being a moral boost, how does Trumps recognition change facts on the ground? The international community still doesnt recognize Israels sovereignty on the Golan Heights and came out against Trumps announcement.

AK: It gives the government and people of Israel a feeling that the Golan Heights is here to stay under Israeli sovereignty forever, and that no prime minister in the future can give it up. As far as the international community is concerned, it will take time until they absorb and internalize it. The global impact of any U.S. policy is very significant. Now all international forces that wanted to push us out from the Golan realize that if they try anything, they will be met not only by Israeli forces but by American forces as well. The main thing now is that Israel must establish industries and direct people to settle there. Following Trumps formal recognition of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan, if leveraged correctly, has a tremendous trade potential

Q: You had been seriously wounded during the Six-Day War and had to undergo multiple operations. How did they let you participate in the Yom Kippur War and even lead a battalion? Normally, people with such injuries get discharged from the army?

AK: I forged my Profile. My Profile was 31, and I changed it to 97.

Q: How did you manage that?

AK: I took 12 rehabilitation courses and then went back to being a tank instructor, and slowly and gradually, my commanders saw that I am acting normal, no irregularities, although inside I felt that I may be suffering, but I didnt reveal this to a soul. I really experienced something very traumatic. I was in the hospital for a year and underwent 12 plastic surgeries. But I felt I had to get back to the tanks. If I displayed any heroism, it was my going back to the tanks

Q: How did your 170 tanks manage to push back their armada?

AK: Well, no doubt, there were miracles which I cannot explain. The Syrians arrived from the east and crossed the border; they bombed the mine fields, erected bridges and arrived close to us. They started hitting our tanks; their artillery shelling was massive, and their planes bombed us all over. It was crazy because we had no Israeli aircraft to protect us. Over 1,400 Syrian tanks stormed across the northern border of Israel. Israel had fewer than 200 tanks with which to face this Goliath.

The first night of the war, I asked for aircraft support, but it didnt come. The Syrians had infrared night vision to strike with precision throughout the night. We could only strike back in the darkness and hope to strike the enemy. I lined up my tanks and began a barrage of gunfire. The Syrians believed that there is a vast Israeli armada facing them. By Tuesday, I lost two-thirds of my men and was left with seven tanks. When my commander asked me how many tanks I had left, I told him 41 just in case the enemy was listening.

Like David, who faced Goliath with only five stones, Kahalani started moving his seven tanks towards the Syrian armada. We were facing hundreds of Syrian tanks in their relentless advance. I ordered my men to begin a barrage of gunfire at them, not expecting to stop them but at least hoping to slow them down until reinforcements arrive. Reinforcements didnt come.

But suddenly, to my amazement and without explanation, the Syrians seem to have been struck with fear and started to retreat. Syrian soldiers begin running from the battlefield in all directions.High-pressure guns, using dirty water banned for Songkran

BANGKOK: High-pressure water guns, ice, dirty water and celebrants drinking alcohol while on vehicles are all banned during the coming Songkran festival.

culturealcoholSafetytourism

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 2 April 2019, 05:37PM

Thousands of tourists are expected to participate in the Songkran revelry.

Pol Gen Chalermkiart Srivorakhan, deputy national police chief, said today (Apr 2) the bans came out of a meeting on safety measures to be enforced during the festival and were intended to boost the confidence of people wanting to celebrate.

The use of high-pressure water guns, ice and dirty water would be prohibited, as would drinking alcohol while on a vehicle, firing gunshots into the sky and selling alcohol to people under 18 years old, said Pol Gen Chalermkiart, who chaired the teleconference with senior police and other officials nationwide.

Riding in the back of pickup trucks to throw water during Songkran will be allowed, Pol Gen Chalermkiart said.

He also sought the cooperation of young people in wearing appropriate clothing during the Songkran celebrations.

He said thousands of tourists were expected to participate in the Songkran revelry at popular venues in Bangkok such as Khao San, Silom and Asiatique.

In the provinces, Khao Niew Road in Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai of Songkhla were popular venues for Songkran celebrants.

Read original story here.National Ombudsman rails on Phuket Airport security over thefts from luggage

PHUKET: The Chief Ombudsman for Thailand has called for better security measures to be introduced at Phuket International Airport to prevent the theft of valuables from passengers luggage in the security-controlled areas at the airport.

tourismtransportcrimepolice

By The Phuket News

Wednesday 3 April 2019, 01:31PM

Chief Ombudsman for Thailand Gen Viddhavat Rajatanun delivered his message for airport security to be stepped up to prevent thefts from passengers luggage yesterday (Apr 3). Photo: PR Dept

Chief Ombudsman for Thailand Gen Viddhavat Rajatanun delivered his message for airport security to be stepped up to prevent thefts from passengers luggage yesterday (Apr 3). Photo: PR Dept

Chief Ombudsman for Thailand Gen Viddhavat Rajatanun delivered his message for airport security to be stepped up to prevent thefts from passengers luggage yesterday (Apr 3). Photo: PR Dept

Chief Ombudsman for Thailand Gen Viddhavat Rajatanun delivered his message for airport security to be stepped up to prevent thefts from passengers luggage yesterday (Apr 3). Photo: PR Dept

Gen Viddhavat Rajatanun, officially holding the position Ombudsman for Chief Ombudsman Thailand, raised the issue while inspecting the airport yesterday (Apr 3).

Also present to deliver the message were Watanyoo Thippayamonta, Deputy Secretary-General of the Office of the Ombudsman, and Lt Col Thepjit Wiwakupta, Commander of the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau Region 4 Division.

Gen Viddhavat said the issue had been brought to his attention after receiving a slew of complaints.

I went to Suvarnabhumi Airport and gave suggestions to relevant agencies there, he said.

Now I have spoken with Phuket International Airport Deputy Director Wichit Kaewsaithiam. Operations and Maintenance Division Chief Banpot Sonto, Phuket International Airport Security Director Pol Maj Prawat Tantiputsapat, and investigators of the Sakoo Police as well as the private companies involved with carrying luggage, he added.

We are aware of passengers travelling by plane having valuable assets packed in luggage that was loaded under the plane. The items packed in the luggage failed to arrive at the destination, he said.

This has an impact on the confidence of security standards. We must urgently find solutions to this problem, fast, Gen Viddhavat said.

This has happened at Suvarnabhumi Airport. I must provide suggestions to relevant agencies here, too. Officials must check the loading operations of passengers things and the aircraft parking areas, Gen Viddhavat advised.

Among the solutions to this problem, first we must control of the entry and exit of personal vehicles in controlled areas, and we must set patrol lines for checking staff and their belongings, he said.

Gen Viddhavat also remarked on the facility already having more than 795 CCTV cameras installed.

The airport may need more CCTV cameras installed, Gen Viddhavat said.

We must check the CCTV camera system for improvement. There must not be any damaged cameras, the cameras must be installed at the correct locations and at the correct angles to make sure no areas are obscured in order to the check operations of ground staff, he said.

For the long term, Phuket International Airport must revise its security system plan, including the maintenance of government property and passengers and organize parking prevention.

If you follow this advice. I believe the problem will be reduced. It will definitely benefit the confidence and image of the security, General Viddhavat said.

After delivering his security advice at the airport, Gen Viddhavat yesterday afternoon conducted an inspection of tour boat operators at Ao Por to review the water transport safety measures in operation there in his role of improving confidence among tourists in Phukets water safety standards.Small parties eligible for party-list seats

BANGKOK: A drafter of the organic law on the election of MPs insisted on Tuesday (Apr 2) that small parties which received fewer than 71,000 votes can be awarded party-list seats under the proportional representation system.

politics

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 3 April 2019, 09:17AM

The Thai-Japan Youth Centre in Bangkoks Din Daeng district is packed with election officials, MP candidates and their supporters as political parties registered their candidates in February. Photo: Bangkok Post

Jade Donavanik, who sat on the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), said the new electoral system differs from previous polls in that it does not impose a minimum vote requirement.

In the past, parties that failed to get 5% of the overall votes were not eligible for party-list seats. However, in the March 24 election all parties that won enough votes will receive party-list seats in proportion to the votes they received, he said.

He also expressed concern about the growing confusion over the calculation method amid criticism from major parties that a dozen small parties capturing between 30,000-50,000 votes will be awarded party-list seats.

Im quite concerned about this. I dont know from whom the media got information about the calculation method and whether those people truly understand Section 128 and Section 129 of the law [pertaining to the calculation], he said.

According to Mr Jade, in the case of overhang seats, the number of additional seats will be taken from the other parties proportional entitlement, meaning some parties will get fewer party-list seats.

Representatives from 12 small parties which say they are eligible for 13 House seats between them on Tuesday lashed out at the Pheu Thai Party for suggesting that the votes cast for them be disregarded.

They were referring to Pheu Thais claim that only 16 political parties should be allocated party-list seats.

A total of 1,059,700 people cast their votes for the [small] parties. Dont dismiss their votes. And if you look at votes in the constituency system, the winners from major parties didnt receive so many votes anyway said Mongkolkit Suksintaranont, leader of the Thai Civilised Party.

EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma said the EC has yet to discuss how to apply the formulas for the party-list MP calculation and a decision is expected this week.

Chaikasem Nitisiri, one of Pheu Thais prime ministerial candidates, said on Tuesday it would be unreasonable to calculate House seats for political parties that obtained just a few votes.

Meanwhile, the EC on Tuesday insisted it has operated in a transparent manner. It also said it took five days to announce the initial result which was similar to past elections.

Commissioner Pakorn Mahannop also said the agency is close to completing its probe into the delayed delivery of ballots from New Zealand to determine who is accountable. The EC has ordered them categorised as uncounted, not spoiled he said.

Read original story here.Should cryptocurrency be a part of your financial portfolio?The Morning Rumble

Listener Tim got hit by 3 cars on the motorway after pulling over to help someoneBrookfield Asset Management Inc. is planning to buy a commercial property site in Shanghai for around $2 billion (U.S.), according to people familiar with the matter.

Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners III is considering buying three office towers and a retail mall at Greenland Huangpu Center from a unit of Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Ltd., the people said, asking not to be identified because the details arent public.

A transaction of that size would rank among the biggest commercial property deals in China by a foreign firm. Singapores CapitaLand Ltd. and GIC Pte spent 12.8 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) in November for Shanghais tallest twin towers, located along the citys North Bund. That was Shanghais largest commercial property deal involving a foreign investor, according to CBRE Group Inc.

Greenland Hong Kongs stock has been halted since Monday pending a notifiable transaction. A Hong Kong-based media officer for the company didnt immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. A media representative for Brookfield Asset Management in Asia Pacific said the group was unable to immediately comment.

Loan Discussions

Separately, Brookfield is in talks with banks for a loan of as much as $1 billion to back its planned purchase, three of the people said. The financing would include both onshore and offshore tranches, they said.

The Canadian alternative asset manager in January announced the closing of Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners III, its latest flagship global private real estate fund. BSREP III is Brookfields largest private fund to date with total equity commitments of $15 billion.

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The foray wouldnt be Brookfields first in China. In 2013, the group agreed to invest $500 million into Shui On Land Ltd.s Xintiandi entertainment complex unit in Shanghai. Last year it partnered with Singapore-based warehouse operator GLP Pte to develop rooftop solar projects in the nation, and purchased two retail malls in Shanghai for $285 million.

Commercial property investments in China rose 9.5 per cent last year to a record 296 billion yuan, with about one-third of that coming from overseas investors, Cushman & Wakefield Plc data show. And foreigners are keeping up the pace, accounting for about half of the 53 billion yuan of transactions in the first quarter, according to Sam Xie, CBRE Group Inc.s head of research in China.

International investors need a larger exposure to China to diversify risks in a global portfolio, Xie said. For global asset managers, Chinas economy is less dependent on other counterparts and its growth is still among the worlds highest.

For the first time in at least three years, China ranks as the No. 1 cross-border property destination, according to an investor-intention survey by CBRE. Shanghai is the No. 1 city. Blackstone Group LP is considering an acquisition of Shanghais Chamtime Plaza for more than 10 billion yuan, other people familiar with the matter said last month.EDMONTONUnited Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney has long said that his first move, should he become premier, would be to scrap the provincial carbon tax and challenge any attempt from the federal government in court to force one on Albertans.

It was a position he reiterated Monday, filling up his blue pickup truck for the cameras, the day a federal carbon levy came into effect for Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick, the four provinces that did not have a carbon tax plan of their own that met federal standards.

I will instruct our attorney general to file at the Alberta Court of Appeal by April 30 a judicial application challenging the constitutionality of Justin Trudeaus federal carbon tax, Kenney said, speaking to media during a campaign stop outside the Lymburn Esso Station in Edmonton. We will join our allies in the governments of Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick in doing so  to stand up for taxpayers in taking this fight all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The implementation of a federal carbon tax wont change anything for Albertans for now, as the New Democratic Party government already has a consumer carbon tax of its own, passed as part of its Climate Leadership Plan, introduced in November 2015.

The Climate Leadership plan is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million tonnes by 2020.

The provincial government has hailed the carbon tax as the most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, using pricing pressure to drive down emissions while allowing the government to reinvest in projects that promote further emissions efficiency.

How does Albertas carbon tax work?

The provincial plan included a carbon levy that started at $20 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, rising to $30 per tonne in 2018.

This results in an extra cost of approximately eight cents per litre on diesel fuel, seven cents per litre on gasoline, $1.50 per gigajoule of natural gas, and four cents per litre on propane.

Albertas carbon levy has raised more than $1.8 billion, all of which has been reinvested in Albertas economy either through rebates to low- and middle-income Albertans or investments in projects related to energy efficiency or climate change.

How much is it costing people?

According to provincial data, the average direct cost of the carbon tax  meaning extra fees based on the amount of gasoline used in their car or natural gas used to heat their home  in 2019 for a single Albertan is around $286 per year, $388 per year for a couple, and $508 for a family with two children.

These numbers are not exact, as it all depends on how much each person uses.

Indirect costs  for example, increases in the price of groceries as the cost of transporting produce to stores rises with the additional tax on diesel and gasoline  are estimated to range between $75 and $110 per household per year.

However, those costs are offset by automatic rebates.

In Alberta, singles earning less than $47,500 per year and families who earn less than $95,000 per year qualify for a full rebate.

The average single Albertan who qualifies for a full rebate will get $300 back in 2019, a couple would receive $450, and a family with two children would receive $540.

The Alberta government is also giving partial rebates to singles earning up to $51,250 per year, couples earning up to $100,00 per year, and families earning up to $103,00 per year.

In all, 66 per cent of Albertans will receive a carbon tax rebate, with 60 per cent receiving the full rebate.

What is the money spent on?

Albertas carbon tax is designed to be revenue neutral, with all of the revenue generated by the $30 per tonne carbon tax returned directly to Albertans through rebates or reinvested in the economy.

Shannon Phillips, NDP incumbent for Lethbridge-West who served as minister of environment and parks, overseeing the Climate Change Office, said under the law, the Alberta government can only spend revenue left over from the carbon tax after rebates have been paid on climate adaptation, tax cuts or rebates on investment in initiatives that reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.

Money from Albertas carbon tax is being used to fund transit projects like the Green Line in Calgary and the Valley Line in Edmonton, flood prevention infrastructure like Calgarys Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir, and initiatives aimed at improving energy efficiency through Energy Efficiency Alberta programs, which is estimated to generate $3 for Albertas economy for every $1 invested.

While it may seem strange for the Alberta government to charge this carbon tax just to give it all back, Kent Fellows, an economist with the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, said the whole system is designed to promote energy efficiency rather than reducing emissions by cutting production.

Its a delicate balancing act, but first and foremost, it is about reducing emissions, said Fellows.

What this looks like on a consumer level, Fellows said, is a family deciding to drive less because of an increased cost of filling up their cars gas tank  a decision that would reduce their greenhouse gas emissions  who then spend their rebate on buying new bikes, further reducing their dependency on their car while seeing that rebate reinvested in the local economy.

Calculating the impact on businesses is a bit more complex, as it depends on what the business is producing, how much greenhouse gases they are emitting and how they are able to pass on those costs to customers down the line.

Fellows said the biggest impact would be felt by companies based in Alberta that are selling products internationally in markets that dont have a carbon tax, such as the United States.

However, fuel sold for export is exempt from the carbon tax, and large industrial facilities that emit 100,000 tonnes or more of greenhouse gases fall under a different set of rules.

Fears over how the carbon tax will affect smaller businesses, Fellows said, is probably more pronounced than it ought to be, as Alberta companies competing for business in Alberta operate under the same rules, meaning one company in the same industry would only have an advantage over another if their product was more energy efficient.

The idea is to try to keep the industry competitive internationally, but within that industry to balance it so that firms have a strong incentive to try to get those emissions down, Fellows said.

Fuel prices already fluctuate wildly, Fellows noted, adding businesses in Alberta already absorb those fluctuations.

Money from the carbon levy has also been used to finance a 33 per cent small business tax cut, and there are exemptions available for farmers and First Nations.

The leader of the UCP, however, has promised to scrap Albertas carbon tax, joining the governments of Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick in court to challenge the federal governments imposition of its own carbon tax as unconstitutional.

What would happen if Alberta got rid of its carbon tax?

If Alberta was to do away with its own carbon tax plan, the federal government would impose its plan, which is what happened in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick on Monday.

The federal plan brings in a tax of $20 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. That tax would increase by $10 per tonne each year until it reaches $50 per tonne in 2022.

Albertas carbon tax would have continued to increase to match the federal plan, reaching $40 per tonne in 2021 and $50 per tonne in 2022  with that extra money calculated as general revenue and used as part of the NDPs path to balance the budget by 2023  however NDP Leader Rachel Notley announced Alberta would not be willing to match federal carbon tax targets unless the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project goes through.

The federal carbon tax plan is designed to be revenue neutral, meaning money collected by the federal carbon tax would be returned to the province through tax credits to individuals or businesses that are unable to recoup the cost from downstream consumers.

Having a federal carbon tax is important for Canadas economy, said Fellows, as it prevents one province from gaining an economic advantage over the others at the expense of the environment.

The main difference the imposition of the federal tax would create for Albertans, said Keith Brownsey, a professor of political science at Mount Royal in an interview with the Star Edmonton on Tuesday, is that the provincial government wouldnt get to choose where that money is spent.

Were going to get a carbon tax one way or another, Brownsey said.

However, Kenney has said he will fight the federal government to the Supreme Court of Canada to oppose their forced carbon tax.

Can Alberta fight the federal carbon tax?

The main constitutional argument against the federal carbon tax is that Ottawa is overstepping into provincial jurisdiction.

Its not going to work, Brownsey said. The federal government has the ability to tax anything it wants; under the Constitution Act 1867, it was given both direct and indirect taxation. There are only two types of taxes  direct and indirect.

However, the case presented by the Saskatchewan government argues that the federal government isnt allowed to treat provinces differently, saying the federal government does not have the right to impose their own carbon tax based on whether they approve of what the provincial government is doing.

These legal challenges are ongoing.

If they cant beat the federal carbon tax in court, Kenney said he would work to get rid of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, promising to do everything within our power to ensure that he is not returned as prime minister.

The legal challenge of the Notley-Trudeau carbon tax could take years. The fast track to scrap the Notley-Trudeau carbon tax is defeating Premier Notleys close ally Justin Trudeau at the polls this October, Kenney said.

Whether or not a federal government would do away with its carbon pricing plan depends on who forms government when Canadians go to the polls in October.

The UCPs election platform does include a plan to encourage reduced greenhouse gas emissions through regulation, specifically the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund that, if the UCP were to form government, would take effect in 2020.

The TIER plan would mandate that facilities that emit 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases or more will have to reduce their emissions by 10 per cent, increasing 1 per cent every year after.

Should they be unable to meet those targets through reducing emissions alone, those facilities could either pay into the TIER fund at $20 per tonne, or purchase carbon offset credits from facilities making greenhouse gas emission reductions elsewhere in Alberta.

According to the UCPs platform, the first $100 million in revenue from the TIER fund and half of all remaining revenue would be used to invest in carbon emission reducing technology, while the rest would go bolstering the bottom line of Albertas budget.

Read more about:HOUSTON, B.C.Members of a First Nation in northern British Columbia who oppose a planned pipeline through their traditional territory say they will build a new camp to block its path.

A statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday says the Likhtsamisyu clan of the Wetsuweten First Nation is asserting its sovereignty by creating a new, permanent land reclamation on their territory.

It says the camp will be strategically located in order to impede the ability of the Coastal GasLink corporation to force their pipeline through Wetsuweten land.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline would transport natural gas from northeastern British Columbia to LNG Canadas export terminal on the coast in Kitimat, B.C.

The company says it has signed agreements with all 20 elected First Nations councils along its path but the hereditary clan chiefs of the Wetsuweten First Nation say the project has no authority without their approval.

In January, RCMP enforced an injunction against members of the nations Gidimden clan and supporters who built a blockade along a logging road toward the projects work site.

Read more:

Agreement reached in Wetsuweten, Coastal GasLink land dispute

Heres what you need to know about the Wetsuweten protests

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The Unistoten camp, led by members of another clan, was conceived as a re-occupation of the land and has been a focal point of resistance against Coastal GasLink and other proposed oil and gas projects for almost 10 years.

Its important that people realize this fight is far from over, the statement says.

The events of December and January should be regarded as one phase in a struggle that has been going on for a decade. A new phase of struggle will begin in the spring of this year, and it may prove to be the decisive one.

Coastal GasLink says in an emailed statement that it is aware of social media discussions regarding the construction of new structures in areas near the companys right of way.

Preliminary construction activities are underway and the project has permits and authorizations from British Columbias environmental assessment office and the BC Oil and Gas Commission, it says.

We continue to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities to ensure the pipeline is built in an environmentally sustainable manner that ensures First Nation members, businesses and local communities maximize their economic opportunities.

The Likhtsamisyu clan statement calls for volunteers to help build a cabin, outbuildings and a structure for a kitchen, dining room and bunks from April 28 to May 18.

The camp will be led by warrior chiefs Dsahayl and Smolgelgem, who is also known as Warner Naziel and co-founded the Unistoten camp.

We will be building permanent buildings on our territory in an effort to assert our pre-colonial rights and jurisdiction on our lands, the chiefs say in a statement.

The projects website also says they are embarking on a path of litigation (that) will hold all colonial antagonizers accountable for their actions against our people.

Read more about:VANCOUVEROne of Canadas largest private-sector unions promised Tuesday to fight the federal Liberals if the government approves the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA) before steel tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are removed.

Canadas United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (known as the Steelworkers) began their four-day national policy convention in Vancouver on Tuesday.

The Steelworkers in Canada have more than 225,000 members in industries that range from manufacturing, to services, security and universities. But on Tuesday morning, the convention was laser-focused on the Steelworkers namesake industry, with leaders calling on the federal government to fight back more forcefully against U.S. steel tariffs and prolong efforts to prop up the domestic industry as a months-long trade war rages on.

Trump in May slapped tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum imported from Canada and other allies.

Local 9548 union president Cody Alexander, who represents workers at Algoma Tubes in Sault Sainte Marie, Ont., said local members were initially sympathetic to Trumps campaign promises to crack down on imports of cheap steel from China to protect American jobs.

But the unexpected tariffs on Canadian products have sent shock waves through his small community, as workers feel unsure whether they will keep their jobs for long.

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in June that the steel and aluminum tariffs Washington imposed on Canada and other allies were designed to force them to address the overproduction and overcapacity of steel around the world.

The Trump administration has also drawn direct links between steel imports, tariffs and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which concluded when the parties signed the United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement in November.

But the agreement hasnt been ratified yet, prompting calls by the union to reject it.

Steelworkers national director Ken Neumann said the signing of the agreement, which was not accompanied by the removal of the tariffs, was an affront to workers who saw the government giving up their best bargaining chip.

Do not ratify the USMCA, Neumann said, calling out the government in a speech to more than 400 union delegates Tuesday. Have the decency. When you say you have our back, show us what you mean.

A third of Canadian exporters reported being hurt by the tariffs in a December survey. The Steelworkers said the tariffs led to job losses, uncertainty and a reduction of steel exports to the U.S. of up to 29 per cent.

Neumann vowed the Steelworkers would make the tariffs and trade deal an election issue.

The union also wants the government to extend temporary steel industry safeguards implemented in October, which apply a 25 per cent tax to certain foreign steel products in cases where the level of imports from trading partners exceeds historical norms.

Currently Canada has tariffs on U.S. steel, and the extra 25 per cent tax could apply to imports of cheap steel from China and elsewhere.

Steelworkers want to see the rule, which encourages the purchase of domestic steel, made permanent. A construction industry coalition called The Canadian Coalition for Construction Steel opposed the move, saying it would make accessing steel more expensive for builders in Canada.

Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the B.C. Building Trades unions, said theres no doubt construction jobs are impacted by the tariffs and Canadas response to them. But he still wants to see Canada encourage the use of domestic product.

We should be using the best steel available, and it comes from Canada, he said.

With files from The Canadian Press

Read more about:OTTAWAA spokesman for federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says Chinas move to issue a non-compliance complaint against a third Canadian canola-seed exporter was not a recent escalation of an ongoing trade dispute because the notice was delivered in January.

Speaking to a parliamentary committee Tuesday, Bibeau told lawmakers she had been informed that a third Canadian canola company had received a non-compliance notification from China over quality concerns with its product.

Hours later, Bibeaus spokesman Oliver Anderson said its important to add that the non-compliance notice against the third firm  which asked the government not to be identified  should not be viewed as a new intensification of the countries feud.

Chinese authorities also issued non-compliance notices to major Canadian canola-seed exporters Richardson International Ltd. and Viterra Inc. in January  and in early March it suspended both companies licences to sell canola seed in China.

Bibeau said Tuesday that the third companys licence had not been revoked.

Chinas moves in recent weeks to block Canadas key canola-seed shipments are widely seen as retaliation for the December arrest of senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the behest of the United States.

In January, three Canadian companies received notices of non-compliance regarding shipments of canola seed from Canada to China, Bibeau said in a statement Wednesday. In March, China suspended the registration of two of the companies. They have not suspended the registration of the third company.

Bibeau also said Canadian and Chinese officials are continuing to discuss the matter.

The Liberal government has insisted it wants to find a scientific solution to the dispute and Bibeau sent a letter to her Chinese counterpart with a request to send a delegation of experts to China to examine the issue.

The federal Liberals have also established a working group that includes officials from Richardson and Viterra and representatives from the governments of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Read more about:OTTAWAA lawyer for Joshua Boyle suggested Wednesday his wife made up a story that he struck her in the face at their Ottawa apartment in the months after the couple were freed from captivity in Afghanistan.

During cross-examination in Ontario court, lawyer Lawrence Greenspon painstakingly dissected Caitlan Colemans allegations that Boyle repeatedly assaulted her before she fled their home in late 2017.

Boyle, 35, has pleaded not guilty to offences against Coleman that include assault, sexual assault and unlawful confinement.

Greenspon quizzed Coleman about a December 2017 incident in which she says Boyle hit her in the face following an argument in their dining room.

After pressing her for details of the argument, the number of times Boyle struck her and how she reacted, Greenspon floated the notion that Coleman had invented the altercation.

Im going to suggest to you that this incident you describe in the dining room did not occur, he said.

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Coleman flatly rejected Greenspons assertion.

Boyle and Coleman were seized by extremists in Afghanistan during a 2012 backpacking trip and rescued five years later by Pakistani forces. Coleman gave birth to three children while being held by the Taliban-linked group.

She has told the court that she and her husband were abused by their captors. But Coleman said she also suffered violence at the hands of her husband, including frequent spankings on the buttocks, punches and slaps to the face, choking and biting.

Following their release, the couple flew back to Canada, staying for a time with Boyles parents in Smiths Falls, Ont. They then left for an Ottawa hotel, eventually settling into the apartment.

Coleman has testified her husbands violent ways continued, dashing hopes of a more harmonious marriage.

Boyle made a late-night 911 call on Dec. 30, 2017, to say Coleman had run screaming from the apartment, threatening to kill herself.

Police responded and found Coleman just over an hour later at a downtown hotel with her mother Lyn, who was visiting from Pennsylvania.

Ottawa police Sgt. Shane Henderson has told the court that Coleman provided a detailed statement saying she was trying to get away from her husband because he had threatened to kill her and had assaulted her numerous times, including just hours earlier.

Boyle was arrested in the early hours of Dec. 31, 2017.

He sat in the public gallery of the courtroom Wednesday taking notes about the proceedings, betraying little emotion during his estranged wifes testimony.

Coleman said she decided to escape her husband the night of Dec. 30 when he punched her in the face with his fist and possibly slapped her  she cannot recall  after telling her to remain in the bedroom.

In essence I think that was the turning point, she told the court Wednesday.

During questioning, Greenspon noted that there was no indication of bruising or other marks on Colemans face in police photographs taken the next day.

Coleman recounted how, before slipping out of the apartment, she retrieved her passport and those of her children from a red zippered bag.

It was a great concern for me to leave the children with Josh, she testified. But she wanted their passports because she was also afraid that he might just take the children and disappear.

Greenspon suggested Coleman made sure she had the passports because she wanted to bring the children with her to the United States at some point. That was your thinking.

Coleman firmly disagreed, saying she had no intention of taking the children across the border. That was not my reason for taking the passports that night.

The trial continues Thursday with testimony from a Global Affairs Canada employee, and cross-examination of Coleman is expected to resume later.

Read more about:MONTREALThe Quebec governments bill to ban the wearing of religious symbols for some state employees is drawing wide-ranging opposition, from teachers donning symbolic hijabs in the street to an eminent philosopher who co-authored a report that inspired the legislation.

But Premier Francois Legault stood firm Wednesday, saying people who would be excluded from public sector jobs because of the law can find other work.

Earlier in the day, about 150 teachers, students and community members linked hands outside a Montreal-area high school, forming a human chain to protest Bill 21.

Many in the crowd wore kippas and hijabs in solidarity with those who could be locked out of the public service under the Coalition Avenir Quebec governments legislation to prohibit religious symbols for state employees in positions of authority.

Teachers at the protest argued its ridiculous to think that teachers who display their religion are less able to do their jobs or would try to convert their students to their beliefs.

Although we are authority figures, as theyve labelled us, what we wear really doesnt influence our students in any negative way, said Westmount High School teacher Furheen Ahmed, who wears a hijab.

Were there like any of our other colleagues, teaching the curriculum, encouraging our students to be critical thinkers, to be good people, all those things.

The legislation targets a number of positions, including teachers, Crown prosecutors, prison guards, judges and police officers. Those who are already serving in those jobs would be exempted.

The Quebec government argues the bill is reasonable and in line with the values of Quebecers, but opponents have denounced it as discriminatory. They say it unfairly targets religious minorities and especially Muslim women, since teachers who wear the hijab are among those who stand to be affected.

Among those denouncing the bill is Charles Taylor, a Montreal philosopher who co-chaired a government-mandated commission on religious accommodation that concluded in 2008.

Taylor, 87, said the provisions of the bill are clearly discriminatory.

If you practice certain kinds of religion, you dont get certain kinds of jobs, which other people who dont practice that kind of religion do get, he said. Not discriminating based on religion is an absolutely elementary principle of secularism that has been lost on the government, he added.

In its final report, the commission chaired by Taylor and Gerard Bouchard did recommend restricting religious symbols for employees holding so-called coercive authority, such as police officers and judges.

Taylor has now fully rejected that compromise after realizing that the distinction between coercive and non-coercive authority was not a meaningful one to most people, and that the recommendation has been used as a premise to restrict freedoms to a much broader list of people.

This was meant to be a prudential move to stop something worse, but it wasnt doing that at all, so theres absolutely no more reason as far as Im concerned to support that, he said, adding that Bill 21 could give a certain colour of legitimacy to those who hold Islamophobic beliefs.

Taylor no longer supports any restrictions on religious symbols and says hell be fighting the bill in any way he can.

Questioned in Quebec City, Legault appeared undeterred by the fact that one of the fathers of the principle underpinning the bill vehemently opposes it.

Its of Mr. Taylor that you have to ask questions. Hes the one who left the Bouchard-Taylor consensus, Legault said. I continue to think that our position is reasonable.

Legault appeared equally unmoved by the plight of aspiring teachers or police officers who wear religious symbols, noting that there are other jobs available.

At least two school boards and several Montreal-area mayors have promised not to enforce the bill, which has also been denounced by rights groups and Montreals mayor. But opponents acknowledge it could be difficult to challenge due to the governments choice to use the Canadian constitutions notwithstanding clause as a way of shielding it from court battles.

An association representing Jewish lawyers in the province says a legal challenge may still be possible.

Were looking into whether the notwithstanding clause usage covers everything they think theyre covering, said Frank Schlesinger, chair of the human rights committee of the Lord Reading Law Society.

Schlesinger said many lawyers, including Jewish men who wear kippas, could be impacted by the law, which would apply to anyone serving on a government committee as well as judges and prosecutors.

Though he does not think Jews are the main targets of the bill, he says his group is also standing up to the government on principle. If we dont stand up for everybody, what are we worth? he asked.

Read more about:MONTREALA Quebec mother convicted in the killings of her two young daughters will appeal the guilty verdicts.

Adele Sorellas lawyers filed a motion today with the provinces Court of Appeal.

A jury found the 53-year-old woman guilty on March 5 on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of her daughters, Amanda, 9, and Sabrina, 8. The girls were found dead in the family home in Laval on March 31, 2009.

The jury rejected her defence seeking a verdict of not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Sorella told the court she had little memory of the day when her daughters were found dead. And medical experts testified that Sorella experienced a dissociative episode the day of the killings.

Sorellas lawyers raise three arguments in support of the appeal: the guilty verdicts were unreasonable and not supported by the evidence; the rejection of the not criminally responsible defence was also unreasonable; and the trial judge erred in her instructions to the jury.

It was the second trial on the charges for Sorella. In 2013, she was found guilty of first-degree murder, but the verdict was overturned in 2017 when the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled the trial judge had erred in her instructions to the jury.

Read more:

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Sorella has been in custody since her conviction last month.

Sentencing arguments are scheduled for April 5 before Superior Court Justice Sophie Bourque, who presided over the trial.

A second-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for at least 10 years. Invited by the judge to offer sentencing suggestions, two jurors suggested she should be eligible for parole in 10 years while the other 10 jurors said it should be after 20 years.

Read more about:As York police announced on Wednesday a second arrest in last months alleged kidnapping of a Markham student, more details have emerged in the case that has drawn international headlines, featuring the abduction of a wealthy Chinese familys son, super luxury cars and a ransom request.

Wanzhen Lu, 22, claims that three days after he was snatched from the underground parking lot of his building, he managed to jump out of a moving vehicle despite having his hands duct-taped in front of him, a police source told yorkregion.com.

He told investigators that his alleged kidnappers had moved him to another vehicle and drove him north, said the source, who did not want to be identified so he could discuss the case.

Lu said after he escaped, he ran into the bushes and hid, before finding his way into the yard of resident Dave Wynn in Gravenhurst, about a two-hour drive from Markham.

Wynn told the Gravenhurst Banner that Lu was scared sh--less, when they met at the bottom of his driveway before 10 p.m. on March 26.

I guess they beat him up a little bit and Tasered him when they kidnapped him . . . you can look into somebodys eyes and know they are distraught and he was just rattled . . . they hooded him, so he didnt know where he was and he was out in the cold in just a sweatshirt and jeans, Wynn said. He still had the duct tape on his sweater as he managed to get the hood off him . . . he was one scared young kid.

Read more:

Kidnapped Markham student was released by his captors, police say

York police search for 22-year-old man kidnapped in Markham parking garage

Lu told investigators he doesnt know what happened to his kidnappers afterward.

His injuries, including significant body scrapings appear consistent with having jumped from a moving vehicle, according to the source.

It marked an end to his harrowing ordeal that began at about 6 p.m. on March 23 in the underground parking lot of his Markham condo at Hwy. 7 and Birchmount Rd.

Lu was returning home from a shopping trip with his girlfriend, carrying a pot in a box, getting ready to try out a new recipe.

Surveillance video caught the disturbing scene of the kidnappers using a stun gun to force Lu into a Dodge Caravan, the source said. The video showed sparks flying from the weapon when the kidnappers used it on Lu when he initially tried to escape, the source said.

The suspects held the victim for the next three days, the source said, during which Lu told investigators he sat on a mattress at an unknown location.

Investigators are not ruling out anything and continue to look at all possibilities in the case, the source noted.

The kidnap attempt was not done in a professional manner, with none of Lus money accessed, the source said. Lu didnt even have his wallet on him.

The men also failed to get Lus high-end cars.

I think because of the cars, someone thought he had more than he did, the source said.

The source confirmed there was a ransom request, but would not elaborate.

Lus father is the head of an organization responsible for building temples and churches in China, the source added, while Lus mother and her side of the family is the wealthier of the two.

Lu only has one friend and his girlfriend in Canada. Neither are believed to be involved, the source said.

The Dodge Caravan, with stolen plates, appears to have been used by those involved without the knowledge or consent of the owner, according to the source.

As the investigation continues, York Region police announced Wednesday morning that they have arrested a second man in the kidnapping.

A 33-year-old man was arrested after a search warrant was executed at a Brampton home, police said.

Hashim Abdullahi has been charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement, assault with a weapon and assault. He will next appear in Newmarket court April 8.

The arrest comes just hours after another suspect turned himself in to York Region police.

Police had issued a Canada-wide warrant for Abdullahi Adan, 37, of Toronto, on Monday and he turned himself in overnight.

He also is charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement, assault and assault with a weapon.

Adan appeared in court Tuesday via video with unkempt hair, a goatee and a Pittsburgh Steelers hoodie.

Two other suspects are still being sought and police are urging them to surrender.

One is described as wearing a mask, blue pants and a black jacket at the time of the abduction. The second is described as 6-ft.-1 with dark skin and wearing a black Canada Goose jacket.A wave of student activism that has been building in recent weeks is set to culminate Thursday in a provincewide anti-Ford government student walkout that organizers hope will be the largest in Canadas history, involving hundreds of schools.

The protests are being stitched together by the same student advocacy group behind several recent protests, including the Sept. 2018, sex-ed curriculum demonstration that had some 40,000 students from 70 schools walking out of classes across Ontario, according to March for Our Education, the student organizing body.

The students are turning up the pressure on Premier Doug Ford  with the #studentssayno movement  over such issues as education funding cuts, changes to the curriculum and plans to increase class sizes.

When our core values and our wallets are being attacked, were not afraid to stand up, said organizer Frank Hong, 17, coexecutive director of March for Our Education. Our generation is a lot more politically motivated than people think and were a lot more active.

Thursdays protest is just the latest example of Ontario high school and post-secondary students displaying their collective might. Other recent demonstrations focused on tuition funding cuts, inaction around mental health services and climate change.

Experts said the protests are pushback against the perception that millennials and their younger counterparts are apathetic technology addicts, and a sign they are challenging the decisions of older generations that they believe threaten their future.

Read more:

Opinion | White hot angry youth ready to protest education cuts

Students promote civic engagement in walkout over class sizes

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Our generation (Gen Z) is in that social media age, where we can quickly mobilize, and its popular to mobilize. It is the it thing to do now, said Hong, a Grade 12 student at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute.

The world is stacked against our generation, he said. Thats what most kids in our generation feel.

In advance of the walkout, Hong and two other leaders of March for Education staged a news conference, in conjunction with former education minister, Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter, at Queens Park on Wednesday afternoon.

University of Torontos Judith Taylor said were now living in a social movement society, where mobilization is a part of everyday life.

Despite that Taylor, a professor in the department of sociology, said young people today are no more mobilized than prior generations, statistically.

University of British Columbias David Tindall, a sociology professor and social movement scholar, echoed that sentiment.

What weve witnessed over the past week doesnt necessarily speak to millennials being more socially conscious or active than their parents or grandparents, Tindall said.

But what recent events have done is send a message that millennials are debunking the perception of being apathetic, Taylor said.

This is an indication, this generation has not turned away from on the street mobilization, said Taylor, who studies activism within public institutions.

High school students like Cecily Campbell, 16, are getting in on the action.

The Westview Centennial Secondary School student said putting down her cellphone to protest helps to debunk the notion of teenagers lacking interest or concern about policy changes that impact them.

A lot of adults are looking at me, like, Oh wow, you care? Campbell said. There are a lot of 16-year-olds who have a voice and we need to ensure that our voice is being heard, although Im not able to vote.

Campbell, who has a younger brother with autism, is spearheading a walkout  calling on the Ford government to reverse its planned OSAP, autism funding and secondary school curriculum changes  at her school Thursday.

Ryerson University criminology professor Dan Horner, agreed that this crop of youngsters is making a concerted effort to set the record straight, after being knocked for being disengaged.

Weve been trained to think of them as spoiled and apathetic, said Horner, a historian of politics, power and popular resistance. Maybe, it appears more surprising that they are willing to engage in strikes and demonstrations.

Experts said some of what weve seen recently involves students pushing back against their parents and grandparents generations, due to feelings of being left out of the discourse around education funding equity, LGBTQ rights, affordability and the environment.

Tindall said he doesnt get the sense students are specifically targeting any one generation of older adults, but students have communicated it as an intergenerational equity issue, and, I think, part of that is to appeal to their parents and to their grandparents. Older generations are making decisions that are against the interest of younger generations.

That divide is something teenagers like Campbell have to tend with.

My parents have different views, because theyre from a different generation, Campbell said. We were left out of the conversation. I have to fight back, and say, this isnt right. I have to educate my parents as well.

Share your thoughts

The provincial government is taking heat on both the high school and post-secondary fronts.

This generation is frustrated, said Clement Cheng, 20, a fourth-year undergrad, who organized a walkout on March 20 at the University of Toronto over the Ontario governments changes to post-secondary tuition funding.

Its gotten to a breaking point, he said. Its affecting everything from the air we breathe and our very ability to keep living in the city thats so expensive.

He said the student outcry seems to fall on deaf ears.

Politicians dont show up for us and university administrators are not standing up for us, Cheng said. We cant sit back because older people are not doing anything to stop how quickly things are foreclosing for us.

Tamara Rayan, who describes herself as a queer person of colour, is active on many fronts where she feels people like her are under-represented.

Theres a lot of areas where Im not visible in the school? said the 26-year-old U of T student, who participated in the recent protest against tuition changes.

She said student-led activist groups on campus provide a sense of belonging for people like her who feel left out.

Were under pressure, where our rights are being taken away, she said. Who else is going to speak for us?

One thing connecting all of these issues, is that, in the political world, there is an intergenerational struggle right now, said UBCs Tindall.

Tindall said theres an older generation who doesnt want to shoulder higher taxes to fund government programs for younger people and those of different ethnic backgrounds. He noted that teenagers are disproportionately going to feel the effects of climate change.

He said in the western world right now were in a period of heightened inequality.

Millennials and people in entry level positions have relatively few opportunities and theyre aware of this.

Horner, who specializes in protest and political violence, said there are a lot of activist groups that are finding the power in this type of demonstration  walkouts and demonstrations. Its a great way of capturing public attention.

He said the walkout over tuition funding cuts has traces of the 2012 Quebec demonstrations led by student unions over the governments plan to raise tuition.

U of Ts Taylor said the students have had an awakening around the notion that a minority of people can spark change, if they keep an issue on the agenda and effectively capture state attention.

Students feel theyre about to inherit some set of extremely unattractive things that prior generations have put on their shoulders, she said.

When you see that its harder to pay for education or OSAP becomes more complicated, you see a pushback because they believe they should be guaranteed some of the same rights, she said.

Experts said, while millennials are a digitally-driven, they dont see a link between smartphones and the growth of protests; they do, however, see digital imprints on the way the protests are run.

There were lots of walkouts and protest in the 1960s and 1970s when mobile phones didnt exist and social media didnt exist, Tindall said. Its hard to say this phenomenon is due to social media. It does make things more efficient.

Taylor said time will tell if these protests are one-offs or sustained campaigns.

What we need to look at is the follow-through, she said. It would be interesting to follow next week and the week after that, to see if students maintain their scrutiny and pressure.

Jason Miller is a breaking news reporter based in Toronto. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic

Read more about:The Southdown Institute mental health treatment centre missed a chance to explain what its mission is when it didnt respond to accusations that priests who had sexually assaulted children were sent there as part of a coverup scheme by the Catholic Church, says the institutes new president.

Attention last August focused on the 53-year-old centre, which operated in Aurora before moving in 2013 to Holland Landing just north of Newmarket, after the release of an explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report.

Of 300-plus priests who had sexually abused boys and girls in that state over decades, the grand jury identified seven predators sent to Southdown for treatment rather than facing criminal charges.

A Southdown spokesperson declined to discuss the revelation then.

Read more:

U.S. report reveals several priests accused of sexual assaults in Canada

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However, on Feb. 1, the centre welcomed new president and chief psychologist, Father Stephan Kappler, who believes Southdown missed an opportunity to respond to the accusations and explain its mission to the community.

The priest and Dr. Eran Talitman, a psychologist with Southdown for 20 years, sat down for a far-ranging interview, including accusations the centre laundered offending priests before the church reassigned them to unsuspecting parishes and concerns abusive clergy were tested out in local churches before going on to unknowing congregations.

Both men said they are upset thinking the community might fear Southdown and its clients.

Only a very small percentage of clients are referred to Southdown for sexual misconduct, with the majority treated for mental health issues such as depression, substance abuse and struggles with interpersonal relationships, Talitman said.

Although the centre treats people of the cloth, mostly Catholic but also from other Christian denominations, it is an accredited organization independent from the church, Kappler said.

Licensed staff are mandated to report disclosures of recent, current or threats of future sexual assault to the Childrens Aid Society and police, he said.

That means clients at Southdown for sexual assault have already had their offences reported and adjudicated, Kappler said.

While the church once turned a blind eye to sexual abuse by clergy, a tectonic change in culture means it now follows reporting protocols and 99 per cent of offending priests are now removed from ministry, Kappler said.

That time period when people may have looked the other way is over, he said, although victims would clearly disagree the church has adequately responded to the sex abuse crisis.

Kappler knows the church was forced to change following media reports of widespread sexual assaults by clergy.

The other thing that has changed is, I would say, there is zero tolerance, he added.

As a priest, it makes you sick this is happening in the priesthood by somebody who was entrusted to care for a child. Clearly, it makes your stomach turn. It makes you angry, it makes me angry. We (Southdown) are trying to be part of the solution to that, not the problem.

Sex offenders are assessed on a number of psychological factors such as whether they take responsibility for the abuse they inflicted, said Talitman, adding they are often stunted in their psychological, emotional and sexual development.

A letter from Southdown assessing priests likelihood to reoffend is sent to clients diocese and church leadership, he said.

Talitman acknowledged the church likely ignored past warnings of predator priests.

Thats the early days, definitely the early days. Theyve come a long way to take it much more seriously, he said.

But youre right, if bishops or leadership ignored that, thats on them. I hate to say that but thats really on them. You can look at it many different ways. For me, a comfort is that is not happening today. That situation, that scenario just doesnt occur today because the parameters have changed. There are no loop holes.

Talitman understands people are very shocked, hurt, angry and feeling sickened about priests sexually abusing children.

But he stressed Southdown and its clients are not a danger to the community because he has a duty to report to authorities a client he suspects will harm the public.

What the public needs to understand is if we have anybody here who we think is at risk to harm anybody in the public, they stay on the grounds, they dont go out, he said.

A grandfather who lives across the road, Paul Forbes, said the centre and its clients have been good neighbours who generally stick to themselves.

In the wake of a historic Vatican sex abuse summit in February, Kappler shares critics concerns Pope Francis failed to adopt concrete solutions to the crisis.

But hes pleased the church continues to take strides forward in addressing disgusting sexual abuse.

Its painful but it has to be talked about. Because were only as unhealthy as our secrets, he said.Sidewalk Labs bid to create a data-driven neighbourhood along Torontos waterfront is by no means a moon shot, insists the CEO of the American firm behind the proposal.

Dan Doctoroff, Sidewalks chief executive, appeared in Ottawa Tuesday before a Liberal-majority federal standing committee on access to information, privacy and ethics. He was joined by Sidewalk Labs spokesperson Micah Lasher, and John Brodhead, the firms director of policy and strategy.

The trio faced fierce questioning from committee members of all political stripes about the urban innovation firms Quayside project, including over how committed parent company Alphabet is to what Sidewalk is trying to accomplish in Toronto, gaps in privacy laws pertaining to the data collection Sidewalk envisions at Quayside and the roles Brodhead  a veteran of the Liberal party and former chief of staff in the federal department of infrastructure  played before joining Sidewalk Labs last year.

Sidewalk Torontos project, part of a joint partnership with Waterfront Toronto, calls for developing a 12-acre parcel of land near Queens Quay and Parliament St., and potentially bringing the firms innovation and technology deep into the Port Lands after that.

Conservative MP and standing committee member Peter Kent asked Doctoroff whether the Quayside project  which if approved would house about 5,000 people and feature data collecting sensors intended to make urban life more efficient  is one of your parent company, Alphabets famous moon shots?

Alphabet owns Sidewalk and the latters sister firm Google.

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Kent told the committee Alphabets moon shots are audacious projects where large amounts of money are invested, but if the projects dont pay off, Alphabet simply walks away.

Kent said he read that Alphabet last year walked away from projects that lost $865 million dollars, which, Kent noted was quite a bit more than the $50 million of its own money that Sidewalk is spending to develop its Toronto project.

Is there any way Sidewalk (Labs) project here can be considered a moon shot, by your parent company? Kent asked.

Doctoroff, who said earlier in his testimony that Alphabet does expect a reasonable rate of return on the capital it invests in Sidewalk, disagreed with the moon shot notion.

We spend an awful lot of time with our parent bringing them up to speed with what is happening here and we believe they are extremely excited about what we are doing, he said.

Doctoroff said neither he nor the 100-member Sidewalk Labs team, of which about 27 are in Toronto, consider the Quayside project a moon shot.

Im almost 61 years old and could be doing a lot of different things. I believe I am spending what may be the last major phase of my career on something that I think is extraordinarily important, said Doctoroff, the former deputy mayor for economic development of New York City from 2002 to 2008.

Doctoroff told standing committee member and Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith that Sidewalk hopes to make money by developing Quayside and a small area nearby that will house Googles new Canadian headquarters, financing infrastructure for the eastern waterfront (Sidewalk has suggested that would include a new LRT) and licensing a small number of tech products that could be marketed beyond Toronto to other parts of the world.

Sidewalk has also talked about making profits by becoming the innovation manager for the entirety of the eastern waterfront.

On data and privacy  one of the most contentious aspects of the Sidewalk proposal  Doctoroff told the committee there is a vacuum in Canada when it comes to privacy laws governing depersonalized or de-identified data, what Sidewalk refers to as urban data.

An independent civic data trust would oversee this data, Sidewalk says.

The key, however, should be striking the balance between privacy protection, while not muting innovation, a theme Doctoroff has been discussing with the media recently.

Our hypothesis is that anytime someone wants to use urban data they would have to make a detailed application  we would be in the same position as everyone else  to the data trust for approval of the use of that data, Doctoroff told the committee.

That application would include what data is being collected, how it would be used, he said, adding that Sidewalk wants to find the right balance between ensuring privacy protection and at the same time not completely chilling innovation.

But those decisions would not be ours to make, he said.

In response to a question from NDP MP and standing committee member Charlie Angus, Brodhead said he had absolutely no contact with Sidewalk Labs while he was chief of staff for then-infrastructure minister Amarjeet Sohi in 2018.

Infrastructure Canada oversees Waterfront Toronto, which has partnered with Sidewalk Labs on the Quayside project.

Brodhead said his first contact with Sidewalk came after it had secured the request for proposal on the project, while he was working in a different federal department.

Brodhead said he got in touch with the Ethics Commissioners conflict of interest office in late January 2018 following multiple conversations with Sidewalk Labs that led him to expect a job offer. When the offer came, Brodhead told the standing committee he submitted paperwork and the conflict of interest office green lit the deal.

He was hired six months after Sidewalk had secured the RFP.

Read more about:Krystie-Anne Haufler was expecting a peaceful hour in downward dog surrounded by adorable puppies  instead she says she was banned from a series of popular puppy yoga classes for having a bad vibe.

And shes not the only one to be shut out.

Wanting to get in on a growing, made-for-Instagram trend of yoga with animals, Haufler bought two tickets last December for a class near Yonge and Sheppard from the Hive, an Ottawa-based events company that runs puppy yoga sessions in various spaces across Toronto and Ottawa. They were meant as a gift for her mothers birthday.

But upon arrival, the 28-year-old says they were told if they needed mats they had to book them on an app. As they tried to do this, the room filled up until there wasnt comfortable space left, she says.

She asked for a refund for her $90, which she got on the spot. But 10 minutes later, she says she received an email informing her she was banned from the Hives puppy yoga and other events.

I was like, are you kidding me? Haufler says.

She says she followed up with the company in an Instagram direct message and was told, We ban people based off vibes..you had a bad vibe, you got banned, according to a screenshot of the exchange she shared with the Star. Shes since been blocked from seeing their Instagram posts.

Yoga is supposed to be about Zen, Haufler says. And you go there and youre treated like youre not worthy.

Others have also said theyve been banned. The Star reviewed two complaints about the Hives puppy yoga classes with the Better Business Bureau that reference customer bans, and spoke with another woman who said her boyfriend was threatened with a ban after a dispute over using a pass as a gift.

The Star sent a detailed list of questions that included inquiries into Hauflers experience and the other complaints to the Hives PuppyYoga.com email, and received a reply signed the Hive that read only: People get banned from the Hive.

A second email cited hundreds upon hundreds of glowing reviews, on its Instagram account, which features pictures of smiling young women playing with puppies and the tag line: looking for fellow Real Ones.

Its all part of the marketing strategy, the email added.

The email did not state whether banning people based on vibes was part of the marketing strategy, or clarify what a bad vibe means.

After this story went online, the Star received a Facebook message from the Hive pointing to skewed perspectives from people that wanted us to bend our policy.

Nine girls have cried from happiness in our classes, one girl said the class saved her life, we did a make-a-wish type thing for a boy in Ottawa, we raised money for a foundation, the message read, the Hive is a Utopia.

The message added 99.994% of people that have attended have not been banned but my generation is all about #outrageculture so you do you.

On its PuppyYoga.com website, the Hive explains the company is based off of bees and we are creating exclusive communities within communities. It goes on to say there will be a colony in each city it operates in, and getting into the colony brings access to exclusive events and giveaways.

Only people with good positive and loving vibes will be invited to join the colony, the website warns. There are people that get banned from our events if we think they are too negative.

In all caps, it encourages people to VIBRATE HIGHER.

Haufler is speaking out because she wants to warn other yogis to avoid future events.

It just doesnt seem like a good business model at all, she says.

Pardis Parhizgar has a similar customer-beware message. She was thrilled to receive a pass to a puppy yoga class from her boyfriend in late January.

It was one of those cool fads. Obviously I love animals, I dont even love yoga, but the point is you just go sit there and play with the puppies, says the 26-year-old marketer.

But after noticing a section on the website that specified tickets have to be in customers own names, she got worried and contacted administrators over Instagram direct message to make sure she could still attend.

She says she received a response that her boyfriends account would be flagged and he would be banned if it happens again as our events arent meant as gifts, according to a screenshot of the conversation she shared in a Facebook post.

I couldnt believe my eyes, Parhizgar told the Star. Theres no way a legitimate business would speak to a consumer like this.

She didnt go to the class and never got the roughly $45 for the hour-long session back, as she was then also blocked on Instagram, she says, and emails went unanswered.

It completely ruined my birthday, it completely ruined my experience, she says.

She thought about filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but says that threatening to be banned for bad energy didnt fit any criteria on the site.

There are, however, three outstanding complaints against the company filed in the last year with the non-profit consumer watchdog.

In one, filed in December 2018, the complainant said they sent the company several emails trying to find out the location of a class for which they had purchased tickets, but their emails went unanswered. They said they reached out through social media and finally got a response saying why should we respond? To an email like that? They ended up blocking me on social media, banning me from their events AND refunding me the tickets I was looking forward to giving as a gift.

In another complaint from October, the complainant said they unsuccessfully tried to get a refund after a friend got one, although the friend was also banned.

The final January 2019 complaint discusses communication problems encountered trying to change a time slot.

Better Business Bureau spokesperson Carlie Bero said PuppyYoga.com does have a very clearly stated refund policy on their website. It says they dont do refunds or transfers at all and dont reply to emails about them.

But she says they have received an F rating with the non-profit, the lowest possible, because they ignored the complaints.

We dont accredit any business unless they are a B+ or higher, so theyre very far off from being accredited, she says.

Update  April 3, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version to include further comment from the Hive.NATO marks its 70th anniversary this week unsure if itll make it to 75.

Donald Trumps demands that North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies pony up and meet their defence-spending commitments risks damaging morale. But the U.S. presidents broader doubts about the value of the alliance are far more corrosive for NATOs future cohesion.

And then theres Turkey. As Selcan Hacaoglu reports, Turkey joined NATO in 1952 while fighting alongside U.S. and British troops in the Korean War, becoming a strategic bulwark against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But even decorated Turkish veterans of that war now question if the U.S. is still an ally and cast doubt on NATO.

Meanwhile President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government is awaiting delivery of a state-of-the-art S-400 missile-defense system from Russia, shrugging off U.S. demands it take Americas Patriot system while ignoring the very reason NATO was founded in 1949: to provide collective security against Soviet Russia.

All of which should mean theres plenty to discuss when foreign ministers from NATOs 29 members meet in Washington this week. Instead, those hosted by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo may be happy to get out unscathed.

Global Headlines

Last-ditch move

U.K. leader Theresa May tore up her two-year Brexit strategy yesterday and asked her archrival, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, to help write a new plan. While this will mean another delay to Britains departure, it could result in a much softer breakup, including a permanent customs union with the European Union.

Image rehabilitation

China is making its first attempt to better define President Xi Jinpings signature trade policy as he prepares to host world leaders at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing later this month. Bloomberg reports exclusively that authorities are drafting new rules for overseas investments in a bid to stop companies misusing the label after unchecked use damaged the programs reputation abroad, fuelling criticism its a debt trap focused on spreading Xis influence.

Seeking Mueller

Attorney General William Barr has left Trump out of his deliberations over how much to release publicly from Robert Muellers investigation, Shannon Pettypiece and Chris Strohm report. The House Judiciary Committee plans today to authorize a subpoena for Muellers unredacted report on election interference by Russia, as well as all underlying evidence. Barr has promised to provide parts of the report by mid-April.

Fallen saviour

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who led Algeria out of a civil war to become its longest-serving president, resigned yesterday after throngs of protesters and eventually his military allies told him to quit. Rarely seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, his political demise will deepen uncertainty in the OPEC member and send a warning to another embattled North African ruler, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan.

Risky business

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expelled two key lawmakers from his caucus, seeking to bury a scandal thats hurt his chances for re-election in October. His move against former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould  who said she was pressured to end a prosecution of construction firm SNC-Lavalin  and Jane Philpott is a risk for a government that prided itself on having a cabinet made up equally of men and women.

What to Watch

Frances parliament is debating a bill aimed at tightening security around its 5G networks. It doesnt name Chinas Huawei but provides a framework for protecting networks that could see suppliers handing over industrial secrets in order to bid for contracts.

Venezuelas National Assembly leader Juan Guaido called for a mass protest on Saturday after political rival President Nicolas Maduros rubber-stamp assembly stripped him of immunity from prosecution.

The first of many trials for Malaysias former premier Najib Razak is underway, seen as a test of the nations readiness to get to the bottom of a $4.5 billion scandal over state fund 1MDB. Najib has denied wrongdoing.

Ex-President Barack Obamas Home Town of Chicago has made history, electing former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot as its first black, female mayor. Lightfoot will also be the first openly gay leader of the nations third-most-populous city, which is struggling with gun violence and fiscal woes. Lightfoot had never held elective office and will replace Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who chose not to run for a third term.WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump boasted again on Tuesday of successfully threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau into NAFTA concessions, claiming that Canada wasnt nice to the U.S. on trade until he intervened and made them nice.

Trump made the comments at a Republican dinner in Washington. He seemed to believe his rambling speech was private, musing at one point about the possibility that it would leak. In fact, it was being filmed by the media.

Canadas very, very tough. You know, we love Canada. We think of the beautiful song and the ice hockey games. O Canada, isnt it beautiful. But in the meantime they knock the hell out of us on trade, and they have been doing it for a long time, and theyre very tough, and theyre not at all nice about that situation. But weve made them nice. Weve made them nice, he said.

And theyre not happy about what happened, but our farmers are gonna be able to sell now into Canada, which they were restricted from doing.

Canada was the number-one export market for U.S. farmers in 2017, according to data from Trumps own administration, purchasing $20.5 billion worth of American products. Trump seemed to be referring to Canadas protected dairy market, which he pressured Trudeau into opening slightly to U.S. farmers.

Trump has delivered various trade-related jabs at Canada during his presidency, though his rhetoric has warmed since the two countries and Mexico agreed on a new NAFTA deal. Trump previously called Canada brutal and very spoiled.

In remarks obtained by the Star last year, during the negotiations, Trump told reporters off the record that he was pressuring Trudeau into NAFTA concessions by displaying a photo of the Oshawa-made Chevrolet Impala, a threat to impose tariffs on imported Canadian cars.

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The story changed slightly in his Tuesday remarks. This time, he claimed he had emphasized the tariff threat by calling Canadians into the Oval Office and showing them a little plastic car.

Every time I had a problem, I would just take, you know, especially cars  I had a little plastic car on my desk, and Id have the leaders come over and Id just take the car out, put it on the front of the desk, they say: OK, we agree. Because the big thing is the cars. Canadas sending us tremendous numbers of cars, theyre practically untaxed, and yet they dont take our agricultural product, he said.

Trump spoke as his administration struggled to earn congressional support for the new NAFTA deal. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on him earlier Tuesday to reopen the talks with Canada and Mexico to address her partys concern about the enforcement of labour provisions.

Trudeaus government has also been making demands to Trump, suggesting that the House of Commons will not hold a ratification vote until the president lifts his tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Trump is still contemplating tariffs on imported cars and auto parts, but Trump agreed in the new NAFTA deal to effectively exempt Canada from any such tariffs.

Read more about:SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - Police in El Salvador say the father-in-law of ex-President Mauricio Funes has been arrested in Costa Rica and is wanted back home for alleged corruption.

National Civil Police deputy director Cesar Flores Murillo said Wednesday that Juan Carlos Guzman Berdugo is facing a process of extradition that has a 30-day window.

Prosecutors have said Guzman is wanted for prosecution on money laundering related to a corruption network allegedly led by Funes in which $351 million was purportedly diverted from government coffers.

Funes and his partner, Ada Mitchell Guzman, are also implicated. Both are in Nicaragua where they were granted asylum in 2016. They have denied wrongdoing.Japans research whaling fleet led by the Nisshin Maru, an 8,145-ton vessel that has engaged in research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean for nearly 30 years, returned to Shimonoseki Port, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Sunday.

The history of Japans research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean has come to an end as the Japanese government withdraws from the International Whaling Commission and resumes commercial whaling in July.

We never took down our Japanese flag in the Antarctic Ocean, said Koji Matsuoka, 52, a deputy division chief of the Tokyo-based Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR). We kept the faith, at the very least, when we faced any kind of hindrance.

The Japanese government contracted the foundation to conduct research whaling.

Research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean had been undertaken by a fleet comprising five vessels led by the Nisshin Maru factory ship.

The research routine started with crew members scanning the ocean surface to find whales breaking the surface of the water to breathe. After the whales are spotted, the two vessels called whale catchers rush to the sites and catch the whales using tools such as harpoons. The two remaining ships conduct visual checks on the number of whales at the sites.

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The catches are loaded onto the Nisshin Maru. On deck, crew take measurements of the whales weight and dimensions, check their stomachs contents and harvest samples for genetic analysis. Then the carcasses are stored in a freezer, brought back to Japan as byproducts of the research and sold in markets.

Research whaling began in November every year and lasted until the following March. On one voyage in recent years, the fleet caught 333 Antarctic minke whales.

Matsuoka participated 15 times in the research whaling voyages conducted by the fleet led for about 30 years by the Nisshin Maru.

As expedition leader, Matsuoka has led about 200 crew members in their 20s and 30s during 150-day voyages.

But research whaling has come under harsh criticism by anti-whaling countries and organizations.

In particular, Sea Shepherd, an anti-whaling organization, rammed its boats against vessels of the Japanese fleet. Sea Shepherd activists also threw bottles containing butyric acid, which discharges a strong odour, and smoke canisters onto the Japanese ships many times.

As I feared what I would be able to do if we were attacked while sleeping, Matsuoka said, I was unable to sleep almost every day during each of the voyages.

Such obstructions became fiercer by the year and research whaling was temporarily suspended in 2011.

Crew members bought prepaid cards before departure and listened to their family members voices via satellite phone, Matsuoka said. It mentally supported them.

However, research whaling is highly appreciated internationally for its study results, as the low-key efforts have provided data on whale populations and their biology.

Research whaling found that more than 510,000 Antarctic minke whales reside in the Antarctic Ocean, and populations of fin whales and humpback whales, which had fallen due to overfishing by many countries, had rebounded since the 1990s.

The Nisshin Maru will end its role in research whaling. From July, the ship will engage in commercial whaling in waters adjacent to Japan.

Research whaling was a history of challenges toward superb goals, such as knowing the rough numbers of whales residing in vast ocean areas, Matsuoka said. I hope young people will eat whale meat little by little and with gratitude from now on.

The IWC adopted a moratorium suspending commercial whaling in 1982 and Japan suspended its commercial whaling in 1988.

Japan instead conducted research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean and the northwest Pacific Ocean from 1987.

In 2014, Australia filed a lawsuit against Japan concerning its research whaling at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ruled against Japan in the suit and handed down a judgment that its activities could not be regarded as scientific research.

As a result, the Japanese government was forced to re-examine its research whaling programs. In December last year, the government announced Japans withdrawal from the IWC and is scheduled to leave at the end of June.

From July, Japan will conduct commercial whaling targeting minke, sei and Brydes whales in Japans territorial waters and its exclusive economic zones. Research whaling will be discontinued.

However, even after the withdrawal, the Japanese government will continue visual checks on whales using other ships, such as those of the Fisheries Agency.

Japan will participate in the IWCs activities as an observer and plans to provide scientific data about whales.

Read more about:CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian senator was censured by his colleagues on Wednesday for seeking to blame the victims of last months mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.

Sen. Fraser Anning was the target of widespread condemnation for blaming the attack in New Zealand on immigration policies. He faced more criticism later for physically striking a teenager who cracked a raw egg on his head in a viral incident in Melbourne.

On Parliaments second sitting day since the March 15 attack in which 50 people died, government and opposition lawmakers moved the censure motion against Anning for divisive comments seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people.

Sen. Annings comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place, Government Senate Leader Mathias Cormann told the Senate.

Anning dismissed the censure motion as an attack on free speech. It is also an exercise in left-wing virtue signalling of the worst kind, he told the Senate before the vote.

He sits as an independent lawmaker after defecting from the anti-Muslim One Nation party, whose two senators abstained from the censure vote.

One Nation Sen. Peter Georgiou read a speech on behalf of party leader Pauline Hanson, who was absent.

Hanson said while Annings comments were untimely and therefore deemed highly insensitive, he still maintains a right to his opinion.

If One Nation endorses your action to censure Sen. Anning, your freedom of speech as elected members of this chamber will be removed, the speech said.

A day after the Christchurch attacks, Anning faced more criticism for physically striking the teenager who cracked an egg on his head at a Melbourne public appearance  17-year-old Will Connolly, who became known around the world as Egg Boy.

Anning on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Scott Morrison for saying at the time that Anning should be subject to the full force of the law for his retaliation against Connolly. Police investigated the altercation but no charges have been announced.

It might have only been an idiot with an egg this time, but there is a continuum that begins with this and ends with a fanatic with a gun or a bomb, Anning said.

But apparently, according to Prime Minister Morrison, thats OK, as long as the victims are conservatives, he added.

The minor Greens party later failed to win majority support for a motion for the Senate to suspend Anning.

Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistan-born Greens senator, produced an online petition to the Senate with more than 1.4 million signatures calling for Anning to resign.

She argued that he should be suspended as well as censured.

It is terrifying that rightwing extremist groups have a found a mouthpiece in Federal Parliament, Faruqi told the Senate.

An Irish-born lawmaker who criticized British policy toward his homeland in 1920 became the only Australian legislator to be expelled from Parliament by a vote of colleagues.

Senate President Scott Ryan warned that laws had been tightened in the 1980s so that suspending Anning could be challenged in the courts.

After New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously called Annings comments on the shootings a disgrace, her deputy Winston Peters on Tuesday called Anning a jingoistic moron.

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.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant has been charged with murder in the shootings and is due to appear in a New Zealand court on Friday.LONDON - Prince Harry and his wife Meghan the Duchess of Sussex are planning to write to the family of an elderly war widow who was among his biggest fans before she died in Australia.

The royal couple is described as deeply saddened by the death of Daphne Dunne. She was 99.

Her family said on social media on Tuesday that their mother and grandmother passed away peacefully on Monday.

She was a truly special lady who will be greatly missed by so many, the family said.

The simple act of stopping Daphne in the street and holding her hand meant more to Daphne than anyone could ever imagine, it added.

The Australian press reported that she died after being hospitalized with pneumonia.

She had met Harry three times during his visits to Sydney, Australia, and had recently received a letter from Harry and Meghan on her birthday.

Harry had introduced Dunne to Meghan on his most recent visit.

Dunne said afterward that it was lovely to meet the duchess, Meghan. Harry is a wonderful man and Im so happy he had found happiness.PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Czech police say they have extradited to Austria two suspects who allegedly formed a terror cell with a man detained by Austrian authorities over unsuccessful attacks on trains in Germany.

They said Wednesday that the two Iraqi citizens, a 30-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman, were escorted to the Austrian border Tuesday and handed over to Austrian officers. They pleaded not guilty but agreed to be extradited.

They were arrested at Austrias request last week at after arriving at Pragues international airport.

The first suspect, a 42-year-old Iraqi, was arrested in Vienna on March 25. Hes suspected of carrying out two attacks late last year, including one in which a high-speed train hit a steel cable stretched over tracks between Nuremberg and Munich. Nobody was hurt.PARIS - The Latest on Renaults board meeting and the investigation into former chairman Carlos Ghosn (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

Renault says that certain expenses incurred by its former chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn, involve questionable and concealed practices and violations of the Groups ethical principles.

Ghosn was arrested in November in Japan, where he also served as chairman of Nissan. He has been charged with breach of trust and with falsifying financial reports in understating his income. He denies wrongdoing.

Further reports have emerged of suspicious payments to a Renault-Nissan distributor in Oman under Ghosns watch.

After a special board meeting, Renault said an internal investigation into Ghosns practices shows a serious lack of transparency at the joint venture it has with Nissan, RNBV, which Ghosn headed.

It said: Certain expenses, which have yet to be precisely quantified, but may amount to several million euros since 2010, raise serious questions as to their conformity with RNBVs corporate interest.

___

10:15 a.m.

The board of carmaker Renault is meeting to settle ex-chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosns final paycheque  and wrap up its investigation into possible financial wrongdoing under his leadership.

The meeting Wednesday at Renaults headquarters in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt comes after new reports of suspicious payments to a Renault-Nissan distributor in Oman under Ghosns watch.

Ghosn has denied wrongdoing, and announced Wednesday that he will hold a news conference next week to tell the truth about whats happening. Hes facing financial misconduct charges in Japan, where he also served as chairman of Nissan before his November arrest.

The Renault meeting will finalize pay packages for Ghosn and other executives for 2018. Ghosns fixed salary at Renault was 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million) but he also received variable pay based on company and personal performance.BEIRUT - Islamic State militants blew themselves up following clashes with the U.S.-backed Syrian forces in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which was liberated from the extremists nearly two years ago, a war monitor said Wednesday.

The U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces first confirmed then denied the report.

The conflicting reports could not be immediately reconciled, and reflected the precarious security situation in the city, which the militants once called their capital, and which remains plagued with lawlessness despite efforts to rebuild.

SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali called the initial news a misunderstanding. Bali said the explosion was caused by a land mine that wounded people. Another activist group, Raqqa Being Slaughtered Silently, said a land mine that went off in the western part of Raqqa killed two people.

But Rami Abdurrahman, head of Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said militants attacked a headquarters for the SDF in Raqqa city late Tuesday and early Wednesday, clashing with forces before blowing themselves up.

Abdurrahman said the Observatory said the explosions caused an undetermined number of casualties among the Syrian forces. He shared pictures of the killed militants, including one with a gutted belly.

Raqqa has been rife with lawlessness since it was liberated from the militants in October 2017.

Its liberation was a major blow to the militants. The SDF and the U.S.-led coalition went on to fight the militants in rest of Syria, declaring military victory against IS last month. But Syria and Iraq remain infested with sleeper cells.BEIRUT - Venezuelas foreign minister, meeting with anti-U.S. allies in the Middle East, said Wednesday that opposition leader Juan Guaido is in breach of the constitution and that the judiciary has to take care of it.

Venezuelas National Constituent Assembly, loyal to President Nicolas Maduro, has stripped Guaido of his immunity, putting him at risk of arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president in January.

He is in breach of most part of the constitution, so the judiciary has to take care of those who violated the Venezuelan law, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told reporters in Beirut.

The United States and roughly 50 other nations recognize Guaido as Venezuelas interim leader, asserting that Maduros re-election last year was illegitimate.

Arreaza met with Lebanons president and foreign minister in Beirut. He is expected to meet with an official from the Hezbollah militant group before travelling onward to Syria.

Maduros government has warm relations with Syria and its allies in Lebanon, all of which are opposed to U.S. policies.

Russia, a major backer of Syria, and China, which has invested heavily in Venezuelas oil industry, back Maduro.

Last weekend, a Russian aircraft carrying military officials and equipment arrived in Caracas and is believed to have flown via Syria, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site. Russian officials have scoffed at U.S. demands to withdraw military personnel, saying their presence in Venezuela is fully legitimate.

In December, Russia sent two Tu-160 strategic bombers to Venezuela for several days in a demonstration of support for Maduro, who has rejected demands from the United States and dozens of other countries that he resign.

We have had co-operation, military and technical co-operation with Russia for almost 17 years, and its just developing as it should, Arreaza said. The only interference we have had for 20 years, every day of every week of every month of every year, is from the United States.CHICAGO - Lori Lightfoots victory in the Chicago mayors race signalled hope among voters that the nations third-largest city may someday move beyond long-entrenched divides, racial and otherwise, that have left large parts of the metropolis feeling ignored by people in power.

Lightfoot became the citys first black female and first openly gay mayor when she defeated another black woman, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, in Tuesdays election. She joins Chicagos top prosecutor and police chief as black leaders in a city that continues to struggle with race relations.

But the significance of her win also transcended race or gender. Lightfoot was the outsider, a little-known former federal prosecutor who grew up in Ohio and had never been elected to public office, much less climbed through the ranks of Chicagos Democratic machine. Yet she toppled some of the biggest political names and most powerful leaders in the city with a promise to end political corruption and be a voice for low-income and minority people and neighbourhoods.

Today is April 3, a new day for all of Chicago, Lightfoot said Wednesday at a news conference called by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to promote postelection unity . Preckwinkle stood beside her.

Chicago has long struggled with issues of segregation, housing discrimination mostly targeting blacks and Hispanics and a generationally engrained mistrust of the citys mostly white police department.

The tension between police and residents exploded in protests following the 2014 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a white police office. Jason Van Dyke was sentenced earlier this year to fewer than seven years in prison for second-degree murder.

Chicago also has seen its population drop, due largely to thousands of black residents leaving neighbourhoods on the South and West sides  areas South Side resident and political consultant Delmarie Cobb describes as gutted. At the same time, downtown and predominantly white neighbourhoods on Chicagos North Side have been growing and glistening with new investment.

For black residents, you cant help but feel that the city and the city leaders have turned their backs on you, Cobb said.

When you see hundreds of thousands of black people leaving a city that once had a reputation as being the land of opportunity for black people, people want to know that somebody is going to speak for them, Cobb added.

Joyce Ross, 64, supported Lightfoot and said one of the reasons shes most excited about her taking office stems from her own unsuccessful efforts to get a city job decades ago. She recalled it as a time when who she knew seemed more important than what she knew.

Then came the election of Harold Washington, the citys first African American mayor, who also was on the outs with the Democratic establishment.

I got three calls really quick about jobs I could apply for, recalled Ross, who lives on Chicagos West Side. She did apply, and soon she was working for the city.

John Allison, a 64-year-old dog catcher, also compared Lightfoot with Washington, and said he believes she has a better chance of bringing the city together.

She had more of a unity-type thing that kind of reminded me of Harold Washington, where she would let everybody in, Allison said.

Finley Campbell, a spokesman for the Chicago-based Unitarian Universalist Multiracial Racial Unity Action Council, said part of what makes Lightfoots win historic is also that she reached out successfully to white voters.

She earned broad support, receiving about three-fourths of the total vote and winning all 50 Chicago wards. Her margins of victory ranged from about 8 percentage points in a largely black South Side ward to as high as 75 percentage points in predominantly white wards on the North and southwest sides.

It is historic because a black, openly gay sister is out there, Campbell said. Whats also historic for me is she reached out very successfully to the white ethnic community, where you have traditional Polish, German, Irish-type people. Theres also a connection to the firefighters and police department, and working-class people.

Her ability to say I will represent you, too, accounts for it being successful.

Lightfoot said she took Tuesdays results as a mandate for change, and that she plans to take full advantage of it. But she noted there is much difficult work ahead .

She said her priorities upon taking office will be to get a handle on violence, rebuild the public school system, ensure Chicago is welcoming to immigrants and confront the citys deep financial problems.

Honeymoons come and go, and I want to make sure were doing all we can to really breathe life into the historic nature of this election, she said.

___

Williams reported from Detroit. Associated Press writer Don Babwin and video producer Noreen Nasir in Chicago also contributed to this report.ANAHEIM, Calif. - Four women were arrested and charged with running a prostitution network in California, Nevada and Utah that generated tens of thousands of dollars a month, authorities said Wednesday.

The women had a website that appeared to be a legitimate service but wasnt and had office space in two California cities they used as call centres, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

In this case we have women exploiting women for gain, Spitzer told reporters. These are not victimless crimes.

Authorities said the four women are charged with pimping and pandering and the two alleged ringleaders, Jodi Leigh Hoskins, 43, and Torri Ti Wilkinson, 37, are also charged with conspiracy.

The other two women charged, Aisha Kaluhiokalani, 39, and Andrea Smith Tizzano, 30, allegedly ran the call centres, authorities said.

It was not immediately known if the women had lawyers.

Police found out about Companions Escorts a year ago through an undercover agent who was investigating human trafficking, said Sgt. Juan Reveles of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force.

The company has a website with photos of scantily dressed women and purports to meet ALL your adult entertainment needs.

Three women were arrested Tuesday in California. Hoskins was arrested in Nevada and authorities are seeking for her to be extradited to Southern California.NEW YORK - In a story April 3 about tips to help small business owners avoid burnout, The Associated Press misidentified the company owned by Annemarie Fowler. It is Speak Confident English, not Speak English Confidently.

A corrected version of the story is below:

5 strategies to help small business owners battle burnout

Small business owners can struggle with burnout when they try to do too much all by themselves and for too many hours in a day

By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG

AP Business Writer

Small business owners can struggle with burnout when they try to do too much by themselves and for too many hours in a day. Those who have found themselves burned out have developed strategies aimed at preventing a recurrence.

Among them:

 Set limits. When Victoria Bogner gets home after a day at the financial advisory firms she runs, her phone and laptop go into a separate room; she doesnt answer calls or emails while spending time with her two young children. And, Bogner says, Ive trained my clients and staff that, unless theres a big emergency, Im not working on the weekends. Bogner, CEO of McDaniel Knutson Financial Partners in Lawrence, Kansas, was burned out five years ago from working 60-plus hours each week.

 Delegate, delegate. Paul Altero and Bill Hart tried to build and run Bubbakoos Burritos restaurants themselves and then realized they were burning out. The partners, whose company is based in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, were so exhausted they considered giving up on their plans when the chain had grown to eight locations. They began making big hires  managers, construction supervisors, an administrative assistant  and got back their energy and momentum.

 Learn to say no. Candace Barr burned out after taking on too much work in her resume business, Strategic Resume Specialists. She realized that not only was she exhausted, but she couldnt deliver the high quality expected by clients paying $1,600 to $1,800 for an executive-level resume. She began turning down some business. It was hard for me to say no and its still hard for me to say no, Barr says, but she recognized she had to do it.

 Make R&R a priority. Owners need to schedule periodic breaks and vacations  and not spend their time off staring at a laptop and emailing on their phones. Annemarie Fowler schedules break times every day, including 15 minutes for coffee every morning and half an hour of reading for pleasure at the end of the day. Fowler, owner of the online learning website Speak Confident English, burned out after trying to keep up with her clients around the world, even in Australia, half a world away from Fowlers home in Omaha, Nebraska.

 Watch for the warning signs. Dentist Ben Dancygier has had periodic burnout, and recognized it when he developed some typical symptoms: My body ached. I was exhausted, moody, eating poorly. I was putting everything, everyone, the business first and foremost and hadnt taken any days off. Dancygier, owner of Valley Pediatric Dentistry in Hopewell Junction and Jefferson Valley, New York, has felt burned out several times in the 18 years since he started his practice, usually when he plunges into a new project.

_____

Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg. Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com.When Andreas Gal returned from a business trip in Sweden last fall, he was carrying two company-owned devices: an iPhone XS that flashed Confidential and Proprietary on its lock screen and a MacBook Pro bearing a sticker that read PROPERTY OF APPLE. PROPRIETARY.

The three U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who stopped Gal at San Francisco International Airport ordered him to unlock the phone and hand it over, the technologist said in a Medium post. Gal told them he couldnt do anything without first consulting a lawyer or his employer, due to the nondisclosure agreement he had signed with Apple that specifically prohibited him from giving such access.

This request seemed to aggravate the customs officers, he wrote in the post titled, No one should have to travel in fear, published Tuesday. They informed me that I had no right to speak to an attorney at the border despite being a U.S. citizen, and threatened me that failure to immediately comply with their demand is a violation of federal criminal code.

Eventually, the officers let Gal leave, but not before stripping him of the Global Entry card that gave him expedited travel privileges. Before leaving the airport, an officer gave Gal a piece of paper. In handwritten words it read, Port 2801, Supervisor Bowman and a phone number.

Gals account has now sparked a civil-rights complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California. It also highlights what other travellers, lawmakers and privacy advocates have described as alarming and invasive government requests to search personal devices at border crossings and airports.

The ACLU Foundation alleges that Gal was subjected to interrogation and retaliation by customs officers, according to the March 28 complaint sent to the Department of Homeland Security. The group is demanding an investigation into whether Customs and Border Protection violated the First and Fourth amendments, and has called for a review of the agencys border search policies.

Digital devices contain huge amounts of personal data about our lives and our work, said Jacob Snow, a staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation. Border Patrol agents should not be able to access this data without a search warrant.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection said, All travellers arriving to the U.S. are subject to CBP inspection, which may include computers, mobile phones, cameras and other devices. Keeping America safe and enforcing our nations laws in an increasingly digital world depends on our ability to lawfully examine all materials entering the U.S.

In 2018, the agency conducted 33,293 border searches involving electronic devices, both inbound and outbound. Thats a more than 10 per cent jump from 2017.

The privacy issue over granting law enforcement access to electronic devices has received increased attention in recent years. Apples legal battle with the FBI over a locked iPhone in 2015 placed the company at the centre of that debate and elevated the issue to national prominence. Apple had declined the FBIs requests to unlock the phone used by a gunman in the San Bernardino, California, mass shooting.

Searches of electronic devices at the border have both extended that debate and presented new concerns about the rights of citizens and travellers as they enter and depart the country.

All people and baggage at border crossings are subject to search and detention, according to the CBP. The agencys guidelines state that travellers flagged by officers for additional screening could be asked to turn over their device unlocked or give up their passcodes.

Sen. Ron Wyden has described CBPs policies on such searches as overly intrusive. He has argued that Americans are entitled to their full constitutional rights, regardless of where they are located in the country.

Hungary-born Gal is a vocal proponent of encryption and efforts to limit warrantless surveillance. He noted that officers also asked about his work with a former employer, Mozilla.

Read more about:LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Prosecutors in Arkansas plan to pursue the death penalty for one of two brothers accused in the killing of a Little Rock mother and her two young children in 2017.

Pulaski County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Johnson told Circuit Judge Herb Wright on Tuesday that prosecutors would seek the lethal injection for 26-year-old Michael Collins of Colorado, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The county last sought the death penalty in 2009.

Collins and his brother, 22-year-old William Alexander of Little Rock, have been charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the deaths of 24-year-old Mariah Cunningham, 5-year-old ALayliah Fisher and 4-year-old Elijah Fisher. The family was found stabbed to death in their Little Rock home in December 2017.

The brothers will stand trial separately. Collins trial date will be scheduled at his next hearing on May 28. The death penalty wont be sought for Alexander, prosecutors said.

Collins and Alexander were also charged in July with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the death of Billie Thornton, 64. Thornton was found dead in his Little Rock apartment in July 2017.

Arkansas hasnt performed any executions since 2017, when four inmates were executed in eight days.

The last of the states lethal injection drugs expired in January. Arkansas doesnt have any executions scheduled, and state prison officials last year said they wouldnt search for any new lethal injection drugs until a law keeping the source of drugs secret is expanded to cover manufacturers.

___

Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.comEL PASO, Texas - An immigration court in El Paso, Texas, that only approves a handful of the asylum cases it considers each year routinely violates due process, attorneys contend in an administrative complaint filed Wednesday.

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association claim in their joint complaint that the court at the El Paso Service Processing Center has arbitrary and unjust rules that decrease asylum-seekers chances of staying in the country.

In 2017, the most recent year for which data was available, the El Paso court approved only 4 of the 88 asylum cases it considered, or about 4.5%. The previous year, it approved just 3 out of 130 applications, or 2.3%.

Nationwide, about 40% of asylum seekers are approved, and their cases largely depend on which judge they go before. In New York, some judges grant asylum to 60% of applicants.

Kathryn Shepherd, an attorney for the American Immigration Council, said the court is dysfunctional and abusive.

For example, the court limits the amount of evidence that asylum seekers can submit in their cases. For those seeking to avoid deportation, the court requires them to submit all of their evidence before it will schedule a merits hearing, which forces such migrants to proceed without necessary evidence or stay locked up while waiting to receive such evidence. The court also doesnt allow lawyers to represent their clients by phone, which reduces immigrants access to representation, the complaint states.

This is just barely scratching the surface of the devastating impact of this toxic court because we will never know how many lives have been ruined or harmed as the result of this courts practices, Shepherd said.

A spokeswoman for The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts, said it would not comment on the complaint, which was filed administratively and is not a lawsuit. The groups are asking the agencys oversight body to investigate the court.

The allegations come as the number of immigrants who are crossing the border near El Paso has skyrocketed.

Most are Central American families fleeing extreme violence and poverty, and many seek asylum.

In El Paso on Wednesday, border authorities were holding immigrants in a tent on the northeast side of the city following the closure of a temporary holding facility under a bridge that drew outrage after families staying there said they had to sleep on gravel in cold temperatures.

Its unclear how many people were in the new facility or how long they had be there.PALM BEACH, Fla. - As palm trees swayed in the ocean breeze, Yujing Zhang approached Secret Service agents in the Mar-a-Lago parking lot.

She said she was going to the swimming pool at the Palm Beach presidential estate and presented agents with two Chinese passports in her name. That raised suspicions with her screeners, but a call to the front desk at Mar-a-Lago revealed a club member with a similar last name and with that, and a possible language barrier, reception waved her through.

Not long after, Zhang was arrested carrying four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a thumb drive containing computer malware in an incident that is shining a spotlight on the unique difficulty of fortifying the oceanside Florida estate of President Donald Trump  who was staying at the club that weekend but golfing elsewhere at the time.

Zhangs arrest has revived concerns about security  particularly cyber security  at a presidential refuge that mixes social functions, world diplomacy and extraordinary access to the president. Hundreds of members frequent Mar-a-Lago and the presidents other private clubs, which function as working resorts even when Trump himself visits, creating a series of challenges that test the Secret Service.

Federal officials were looking into whether Zhang was part of a larger effort to gain access to the president and do potential harm, and were combing through her devices and treating the case as a credible threat, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak about the ongoing probe and discussed the matter on condition of anonymity.

Democratic lawmakers were inquiring about a possible connection to Li Yang, the Republican donor and spa owner who promised Chinese business leaders that her consulting firm could get them access to the president at Mar-a-Lago.

Democrats on Wednesday called for an investigation into security at Mar-a-Lago, and whether classified information stored there is at risk from hostile foreign governments. House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said he would get a briefing Thursday from the Secret Service.

We want to make sure that the Secret Service is being the very best that they can be, and we want to find out more about exactly what kind of security they had down there in Florida, Cummings said. I think its very, very, very, very important that the president be protected. And I feel very strongly about that.

Trump on Wednesday dismissed the incident, saying it was just a fluke situation.

We have very good control, he told reporters.

With the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Floridas Intracoastal Waterway to the west, Mar-a-Lago sits on the Palm Beach barrier island, a 128-room, 62,500-square foot symbol of opulence and power. Long a Trump favourite since he purchased it from the foundation of the late socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1985, the president travels to the estate every few weekends during its winter high season, abandoning Washingtons chill for Florida sunshine.

For the president, I think Mar-a-Lago is not so much a club, but his Xanadu, said Chris Ruddy, publisher of Newsmax and a longtime club member and Trump friend. My feeling is he also sees it as place of destiny and fate because Mrs. Post wanted it as the winter White House.

While there, Trump has been known to crash weddings, pop in on charity events and, one time, order air strikes.

He has not been shy about conducting government business there. It was while hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping that Trump, over a chocolate cake dessert, authorized a missile launch at Syrian airfields after a chemical attack. On another occasion, he and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe sat on an outdoor patio, as guests dined nearby, and reviewed options for responding to a North Korean ballistic test.

Such interactions could make Mar-a-Lago a tempting target, particularly for cyberattacks.

Mar-a-Lago has not been sufficiently well-defended against not just physical attacks, but against counterintelligence exploits, including digital attacks, said David Kris, an authority on foreign intelligence at Culper Partners consulting company in Seattle.

Federal agencies spent about $3.4 million per Trump visit, much of it on security, according to an analysis done by the U.S. Government Accountability Office of four 2017 trips. The Secret Service doesnt decide who is invited or welcome at the resort; that responsibility belongs to the club. Agents do screen guests outside the perimeter before theyre screened again inside.

The agency said in a statement that, with the exception of certain facilities that are protected permanently, like the White House, the practice used at Mar-a-Lago is no different than that long used at any other site temporarily visited by the president.

But Mar-a-Lago is different from other presidential retreats.

Unlike Ronald Reagans and George W. Bushs ranches or George H.W. Bushs seaside vacation home in Maine, Mar-a-Lago is open to members who pay $14,000 annual dues after a $100,000 or $200,000 initiation fee. They expect access to the facility and want to host their equally affluent guests  and they are used to getting their way.

Nabil Erian, a former Marine and government counterintelligence officer, said guarding Mar-a-Lago is a nightmare.

If this venue was uniquely for the president, it is easier to manage the perimeter, said Erian, an executive at the security firm CTC International Group in West Palm Beach. Because Mar-a-Lago is a club and not just a home, Frankly, it increases the risk of something like this happening.

Last Saturday, Zhang changed her story at the indoor reception desk, saying she was there a little early to take photos, but had come to attend a United Nations Friendship Event between China and the U.S., which didnt exist.

Zhang also told agents she was at the club because her Chinese friend Charles told her to travel from Shanghai, China, to Palm Beach, saying that if she attended the event she could speak with a member of the Republican presidents family about Chinese and American foreign economic relations, according to the complaint.

A man named Charles Lee ran the United Nations Chinese Friendship Association, and was photographed at least twice with Yang, the spa owner whose website advertised access to Trump.

Yangs attorney said she did not know Zhang, and merely attended two of the same events as Lee. But the Miami Herald reported that Lee recruited people for Yangs events. The criminal complaint made no mention of a possible connection.

Zhang was charged with making false statements to federal agents and illegally entering a restricted area. She remains in custody pending a hearing next week. Her public defender, Robert Adler, declined to comment.

But general club access doesnt mean access to Trump or his guests. When Trump is at Mar-a-Lago, more screening and security measures are required.

I really think its overblown. There is a lot of security, and the staff is wonderful, said Toni Holt Kramer, a nine-year member of the club and founder of the group The Trumpettes. Mr. Trump wants us all to feel right at home there.

___

Lemire reported from New York while Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo, Mary Clare Jalonick and Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire , Long at http://twitter.com/@ctlong1 and Spencer at http://twitter.com/@terryspen .NEW YORK - Its simply a human touch. Hes a warm, affectionate person. He hugs everybody.

In the days since allegations surfaced of uninvited touching on the part of Joe Biden, several women in politics and beyond have been coming to his defence, vouching for his character and saying it was merely his old-fashioned tactile style at issue  nothing intentional, and certainly nothing sexual.

But the nature of the defence, coming frequently but not exclusively from older women, as well as Bidens own assertion that he never felt he was acting inappropriately, raises some uncomfortable questions. Chief among them: If Biden really had no idea what he was doing, is he simply too out of step to be his partys standard-bearer in the #MeToo era?

Theres a bit of not getting it when it comes to the gender story here, said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics. To me, theres been a patronizing quality to this, an alpha male asserting himself physically, that I think is problematic for him.

Neither Lucy Flores, the former Nevada politician who described an uncomfortable kiss on the back of her head, nor the other four women who came forward with their own stories before Wednesday have accused the former vice-president of sexual harassment. Rather, theyve described behaviour that made them feel uncomfortable because it invaded their personal space, regardless of Bidens intentions.

On Wednesday night, The Washington Post reported that three additional women had recounted uncomfortable encounters with Biden. One of them, Vail Kohnert-Yount, said she was a White House intern in the spring of 2013 when she met Biden in the West Wing and that, as they chatted, he put his hand on the back of her head and pressed his forehead to hers and called her a pretty girl.

For Biden, of course, the stakes are huge: Hes deciding whether to jump into the crowded field for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination  a field that includes a half-dozen women.

Fighting to change the narrative, he released a video statement Wednesday, promising to be more mindful of physical boundaries. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future, he said. I get it.

The statement, his second, came as some prominent women and longtime allies came to Bidens defence, none more passionately than former Sen. Jean Carnahan of Missouri. In a series of tweets, she noted Bidens human touch and praised the way he consoled her after she lost her husband and son.

It was his empathy and encouragement ... that gave me strength to meet each day, Carnahan, a Democrat, wrote. Yes, I sometimes got a shoulder pat or even a head kiss. Joe has a deep desire to share in the lives of others.

Across the aisle, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine called Biden just a warm, affectionate person. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while bluntly counselling him to change his behaviour and pretend you have a cold, said she did not see his behaviour as disqualifying him for a presidential run.

Beyond politics, Gloria Steinem also had understanding words for Biden, saying in an email to The Associated Press that I think women are more than smart enough to know that a) Joe Biden is who he is and hugs everybody, b) this was minor compared to most sexual harassment. But the feminist leader immediately added: We all need to get to a place where bodies are private property and not to be touched without permission.

Steinem also noted this was a moment for change on the campaign trail: When was the last time you saw a female candidate hugging every male supporter? she mused. Whatever is going on, its way too gendered! We need to have the same guidelines for everybody.

In his statement, the 76-year-old Biden said he understands the changing social norms, seeking to ease concerns about whether he is up to adapting to a new era, where what was once considered by some to be charming  a quick compliment on a womans appearance or a flirtatious hug  is now seen as boundary crossing. Bidens initial comments, insisting that he never knew his behaviour was making women uncomfortable, were in themselves troubling to some women.

I keep hearing, Well, hes an older man and its a generational thing, said Walsh at Rutgers. But one of the issues hes going to be confronting as a candidate is a generational question. This may, in fact, point out the generational difference of how he sees women and the way he behaves himself around women.

Laura Kelber, 61, a Democratic voter and a screenwriter in New York, takes issue with Bidens focus on his own intentions.

Intentions, she said, are not the point. Its not OK to demean and invade womens space, she said. Its totally offensive and inappropriate. Kelber said shes proud of younger women for sounding the alert about Bidens physical behaviour.

But the debate didnt split neatly on generational lines.

Meghan McCain called Biden one of the truly decent and compassionate men in all of politics. The 34-year-old daughter of the late Republican Sen. John McCain is a co-host of The View, where she and Biden shared an emotional moment during her fathers illness. Biden, a friend of the Arizona senators, was praised at the time for switching seats with another host so he could grasp a weeping McCains hands as he consoled her.

I feel saddened that people are jumping on this issue just to find dirt, said Rachel Corson, 19. Someone who is very highly respected in government who might have made a mistake and wasnt clear with his communication ... I find it disheartening that we are looking for something he did wrong.

Complicating the debate was the question of a political double standard, given long-standing accusations of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump and his famous boast, on tape, about groping women.

Trump was asked Wednesday whether Biden should apologize for the ways he has interacted with women, and he replied, No, hes going to make his own decisions. Hes very capable of making a decision, I assume.

Some feminist advocates have preferred not to comment on the Biden issue because of that perceived double standard, not wanting to criticize either the women expressing discomfort or Biden himself.

Some voters, though, had no problem invoking it. We have a president who grabs crotches, and now we are damning this man? said Susan Chandler, a 72-year-old retired assistant principal in New Hampshire.

Corson, the college student, said she thinks there could be a silver lining to the episode; women may feel bolder about speaking up in situations that perhaps dont rise to the level of harassment but need to be aired nonetheless.

Feeling uncomfortable is never OK, she said. This may open a window for more people who arent in the public eye to say, Yeah, that happened to me. I felt uncomfortable, and I think it was wrong.HAVERHILL, N.H. - Authorities who searched a home and dug up a basement in northern New Hampshire said Wednesday they found no evidence of a college student who disappeared after crashing her car nearby 15 years ago.

Maura Murray, a 21-year-old University of Massachusetts-Amherst nursing student, left campus on Feb. 9, 2004, after lying to professors about a death in the family. She drove north to New Hampshire and was last seen shortly after crashing her car on Route 112, a road in Haverhill that leads to the White Mountain National Forest. Authorities had searched outside the home soon after Murray disappeared but had not searched inside until this month. The new search was prompted by outside searches using dogs owned by private citizens and a radar scan that suggested the ground had been disturbed, said Associate Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin.

State Police reviewed the video from those dog searches as well as the results from the ground penetrating radar, and based on that review we determined there was no credible evidence that there was any evidence connected to this case in that home, and certainly no evidence of human remains. There was certainly no probable cause to do any search on that home, he said. Despite that, we did contact the homeowners and they graciously gave us consent to search that home.

Digging in the basement turned up only what might have been a piece of pottery or an old pipe, Strelzin said.

Murrays father, Fred Murray, and supporters organized a search of a basement near the crash site last fall after getting the homeowners permission. Murray said two separate visits by cadaver dogs and a radar scan last fall identified something underneath the basement floor. He believes his daughter is dead, the victim of a crime, and said Wednesday hes not satisfied with the authorities conclusions.

You dug down today, but did you dig in toward the corner of the wall? he said. What Im unsure of at this point, given the fact that our dogs  accredited dogs  is it possible theyre both wrong? Its unlikely, isnt it?

Murray said Wednesdays news was harder than previous incidents when seemingly promising leads didnt pan out.

This one hurts, because I thought we finally had it, he said. This one is worse than the other false alarms and dead ends. I was pretty sure.

Maura Murrays family and some investigators believe she just wanted to get away for a few days. She had recently resolved a criminal matter involving use of a stolen credit card and caused extensive damage to her fathers car during a crash. A few days before she disappeared, she was working her security job at UMass-Amherst when the phone rang, and she burst into tears. The caller and the subject of the call remain unknown.

After the crash, a couple who lived nearby called police. A school bus driver who also lived nearby asked her if she wanted him to call police. She said no, but he called anyway. By the time officers arrived, she was gone.

Strelzin said such cases typically have periods of dormancy and activity, and this one has been particularly active in the last year or so.

This case has generated a tremendous amount of activity, some it youd maybe call wild speculation. But regardless, the State Police and our law enforcement partners have continued to follow up on every single lead, and we encourage people to contact us with information, he said. Sometimes people think, maybe the police already know that but we encourage people to contact us.

Murray said he wont give up, but he needs more help to continue his own investigations.

Ill stick my nose back on the trail, he said. Its all I can do.

___

AP writer Kathy McCormack in Concord contributed to this report.BALTIMORE - Healthy Holly is a polite African American girl with devoted parents and a little brother. She loves exercise. She craves fresh fruit and vegetables. And shes now the bane of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pughs existence.

Since the state prosecutors office began a criminal investigation into Pugh at the Maryland governors request earlier this week, theres been a growing tide of examinations spurred by revelations that she was paid $700,000 over roughly eight years for her self-published paperback series about the fictional Healthy Holly. By Wednesday afternoon, the total grew to $800,000 after a businessman divulged that his financial firm gave Pugh $100,000 after she clinched the 2016 Democratic primary.

The first-term mayor went on an indefinite leave of absence amid the accelerating scandal involving the lucrative sales of her obscure childrens books to a $4 billion hospital network she once helped oversee and a major health plan that does business with the city.

Al Redmer, Marylands insurance commissioner, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his regulatory agency is now looking at Kaiser Permanente, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, and a state car insurance fund for possible wrongdoing.

To the extent that any insurance carrier would divert funds away from that mission is something that could be concerning based on the facts, Redmer said in an interview. Our role is to make sure that entities that we regulate have in no way violated the law or regulations.

Pressure on Pugh ratcheted up dramatically after the Kaiser Permanente disclosed Monday that it paid her limited liability company about $114,000 between 2015 and 2018 for roughly 20,000 copies of her illustrated books. The company said it purchased Healthy Holly books because we believe residents would be inspired by a book about health and wellness authored by a member of the Baltimore community.

Another city health provider, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, said it made contributions to Associated Black Charities, a non-profit that manages the citys taxpayer-funded Children and Youth Fund, to purchase and distribute books.

CareFirst declined to comment, while Kaiser said it would co-operate fully with any investigation. Pughs attorney has said she looks forward to co-operating with the state prosecutors probe and will provide as much information as possible to put this matter to rest.

Also Wednesday, Acting Mayor Bernard Jack Young, who has taken over Pughs day-to-day responsibilities since she went on leave, told reporters hes directed Baltimores law department to pull dozens of the most recently authorized city contracts for review. In a closed-door meeting, Baltimores ethics board voted to open a probe into Pughs book deals.

Johns Hopkins Health System disclosed that Pugh, during her days in the state senate, once approached a senior employee to buy her illustrated books. The employee declined. Hopkins spokeswoman Kim Hoppe said theyve found no evidence of any Healthy Holly purchases or donations to Pughs company.

J.P. Grant, the Maryland businessman who revealed his firms $100,000 payment Wednesday in an interview with The Baltimore Sun, said Pugh told him his companys check would help distribute Healthy Holly books to schoolkids.

Citing deteriorating health from pneumonia, Pugh abruptly retreated to her home Monday amid multiple calls for investigations of her highly lucrative book deals, including a $500,000 arrangement with the University of Maryland Medical System. There was no contract behind the deal and the hospital network described some of the purchases as grants in federal filings.

Pugh, who sat on a state Senate committee that funded the regional health network before becoming mayor, began serving on the systems board in 2001. She stepped down from the volunteer board last month and returned her most recent payment of $100,000.

The non-profit Associated Black Charities said five organizations donated $87,180 to pay for Healthy Holly books, of which the charitable group kept $9,552 to use as general support.

One of those groups was apparently the quasi-public Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund. Its former executive director, M. Kent Krabbe, authorized a $7,500 donation in 2012, shortly before Pugh  then a state senator  successfully sponsored legislation supported by the company. That donation was first reported by the Baltimore Business Journal.

Krabbe left his leadership role at the car insurance fund in 2015, eventually becoming a director of Pughs inaugural committee in 2016 and then joining the Baltimore Department of Transportation as operations manager for special events, a newly created position that came with a $107,100 salary. He could not be reached for comment.

Mark McCurdy, the current director of the states car insurer of last resort, said there was nothing in their records to say why Krabbe had the auto insurance carrier write a check to Pughs Healthy Holly company for its outreach program with Associated Black Charities.

On the surface, its not the kind of donation that fits our philosophy, said McCurdy, stressing that the car insurance fund never received or distributed any Healthy Holly books.

Meanwhile, the University of Maryland Medical Systems acting CEO has announced that the former state Sen. Francis X. Kelly and two of his sons would also take voluntary leaves from boards of six affiliated organizations. Kelly & Associates Insurance Group has done millions of dollars in business with the hospitals.

About one-third of UMMS board members received compensation through the medical systems arrangements with their businesses. Legislation is pending in Marylands capital focusing on board governance.

___

Follow McFadden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmcfaddWASHINGTON - White House adviser Ivanka Trump is planning a trip to Africa to promote a global womens initiative shes leading.

President Donald Trumps daughter will visit Ethiopia and Ivory Coast over four days this month. The White House said Wednesday that her schedule includes a womens economic empowerment summit in Ivory Coast as well as site visits and meetings with political leaders, executives and female entrepreneurs in both countries.

Accompanying her will be Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. On parts of the trip, they will be joined David Bohigian, acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, as well as Kristalina Georgieva, interim president of the World Bank Group, which is hosting the summit.

OPIC provides loans, loan guarantees and political risk insurance, funding projects that stretch across continents and industries.

It will be Ivanka Trumps first visit to Africa since the White House undertook the Womens Global Development and Prosperity Initiative in February. In a statement to The Associated Press, she said she was excited to travel to Africa to advance the effort.

Georgieva said in a statement that economic empowerment can help unleash the enormous potential of women entrepreneurs for job creation and economic growth, especially in Africa.

The initiative involves the State Department, the National Security Council and other U.S. agencies. It aims to co-ordinate current programs and develop new ones to assist women in job training, financial support, legal or regulatory reforms and other areas.

Ivanka Trump says the goal is to economically empower 50 million women in developing countries by 2025.

Money for the effort will come through USAID, which initially set up a $50 million fund using dollars already budgeted. The presidents 2020 budget proposal requests $100 million for the initiative, which will also be supported by programs across the government as well as private investment. The White House spending plan would cut overall funding for diplomacy and development.

Ivanka Trump has made womens economic empowerment a centerpiece of her White House portfolio. She has made a number of international trips, with a focus on these issues, including to Japan and India. Her travel to Africa follows a five-day tour that first lady Melania Trump made there last year, with a focus on child welfare.

Like the first lady, Ivanka Trumps efforts could be complicated by the president, who was criticized last year after his private comments about s---hole countries in Africa and other regions were leaked to journalists.SALEM, Ore. - A judge has defended former President Barack Obamas expansion of a national monument in Oregon, ruling against a logging companys lawsuit that said the expansion deprived it of timber.

Environmental groups hailed Tuesdays ruling. The case ironically put the Trump administration in the position of defending Obamas expansion of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, even after Trumps former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended shrinking it.

In the lawsuit against President Donald Trump, lawyers for environmental groups sided with U.S. Justice Department lawyers in fighting the logging company. Two similar lawsuits are being heard in federal court in Washington.

For the Trump administration, the unlikely alliance is all about preserving presidential power. For the environmentalists, it is about protecting the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, which at the stroke of Obamas pen in his final days in office in 2017 nearly doubled in size to more than 150 square miles (390 square kilometres).

Kristen Boyles, attorney with Earthjustice, a San Francisco-based legal group that is one of the defendant-intervenors in the three lawsuits, applauded the decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke.

Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is one of Americas natural wonders, not a collection of standing logs for a timber company, Boyles said.

Clarkes ruling is not final. He referred his report and recommendation to a U.S. district judge, and said any objections are due within 14 days.

John Murphy, owner of Murphy Co. and Murphy Timber Investments LLC, the Oregon timber concern that brought the lawsuit in federal court in Medford, said it would file an objection.

I am very disappointed in Judge Clarkes decision, Murphy said in a telephone interview. We operate five mills, and we need the wood.

Murphy noted that other mills have been shutting down because of lumber scarcity and competition from the Southeast, where much of the timber is grown on private land. In contrast, roughly half of the land in Oregon belongs to the federal government.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton created Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, a unique habitat where three mountain ranges converge, forming a biological corridor for mule deer, grey wolves and spotted owls. It is home to more than 200 bird species, the imperiled Oregon spotted frog, deer, elk and many kinds of fish.

Obamas expansion extended it into Northern California, and onto 62 square miles (161 square kilometres) of land that Congress designated in 1937 for timber harvesting to allow local communities to prosper.

The land is designated for permanent timber production, Murphy said.

Clarke said Obama did not exceed his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to expand the monument. The act authorizes a president to set aside federal land as protected national monuments. Timber harvesting is banned in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, except for environmental reasons.

Opponents of the expansion said that because it intrudes on land already reserved for timber production, the president unilaterally disregarded an act of Congress.

But Clarke wrote in his decision that while the main purpose of the 1937 law is for timber production, no court has found that it sets aside federal public land exclusively for timber production or that it invalidates other federal environmental laws.

Meanwhile, Trump has yet to decide Cascade-Siskiyous fate.

Zinke in August 2017 recommended reductions or other changes at Cascade-Siskiyou and nine other national monuments, but Trump has acted on only two. He cut the size of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante, both in Utah.

If Trump winds up also shrinking Cascade-Siskiyou, the environmental groups that have lined up with him against the three lawsuits will likely wind up as his adversaries.

We dont think the president has the power to shrink monuments, Boyles said.

___

Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselskyWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Attorneys for Robert Kraft are attacking the Florida police investigation that resulted in the New England Patriots owner being charged with paying for sex at a massage parlour.

In a document filed Wednesday in Palm Beach County court, Krafts attorneys allege Jupiter police illegally searched the Orchids of Asia Day Spa.

They also say that video cameras the officers hid inside the spa violated constitutional privacy protections.

They want all evidence collected against Kraft thrown out, including video that police say shows him receiving paid sex acts from spa employees.

Twenty-four other men face similar charges in Palm Beach County. If Krafts attorneys prevail, they could cite that decision to get evidence against them thrown out.

Prosecutors declined comment Wednesday. Jupiter police did not respond to emails or telephone calls seeking comment.NEW YORK - Mayor Pete, as hes known to his growing fan base, is running a surprisingly strong and well-funded campaign for president. Lori Lightfoot has just won a landslide victory to become Chicagos mayor.

Together, the ascendance of Lightfoot and Pete Buttigieg  the two-term mayor of South Bend, Indiana  highlights the remarkable progress made recently by gay and lesbian politicians, to the point where their sexual orientation is either an asset or a nonissue. Both Lightfoot and Buttigieg have talked comfortably about LGBT issues and their own same-sex marriages.

The real news is not that openly gay candidates are successful, but that being openly gay has become irrelevant, said Richard Socarides, a former Clinton White House adviser on gay issues.

Here are two people with fresh ideas and a new vision for the future, Socarides said. Voters dont care about their sexual orientation. Thats a sea change.

It was only in 1998 that Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin became the first openly gay person to gain a seat in the House of Representatives. There are now eight LGBT members of the House, and two in the Senate  Baldwin and Arizonas Kyrsten Sinema, whose bisexuality never became an issue in her closely contested election campaign last year.

Lightfoots victory Tuesday in the third-largest U.S. city, along with lesbian Satya Rhodes-Conways victory in Madison, Wisconsin, brings the number of LGBT mayors to 37, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which recruits and supports LGBT candidates. In Colorado, Jared Polis was inaugurated in January as the nations first openly gay governor.

Annise Parker, a lesbian who served three terms as mayor of Houston and is now CEO of the Victory Fund, said LGBT candidates such as Polis and Lightfoot are achieving positions that cause folks to sit up and take notice.

Its not a fluke or an oddity, she said. These are dedicated, hardworking public servants who bring a directness and integrity to their service ... Theyre being open about who they are.

Buttigieg  at 37, the youngest prominent contender in the Democratic presidential race  has received rave reviews for many of his public appearances and reported raising $7 million in the first fundraising period of the campaign. His husband, Chasten, has amassed 176,000 Twitter followers with cheerful and sometimes wry commentary about their relationship and their dogs, and has been invited to headline a gala being held Saturday in Houston by the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT rights group.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said Lightfoots and Buttigiegs appeal is based on character, leadership and ideas.

Yet Minter also suggested that LGBT candidates may have certain distinctive strengths.

They may be more likely to empathize with others who have experienced discrimination or obstacles, he said. They may also be more likely to cherish the opportunity to run for office and serve, something other politicians may take for granted.

One indicator of the shifts in LGBT politics is that Lightfoot, a former prosecutor, and Buttigieg, a Harvard graduate, Rhodes scholar and Afghanistan war veteran, have not been immune to criticism from some activists.

For many members of the LGBTQ community, a candidates mere identity as gay or lesbian is not enough, said professor Katherine Franke, who teaches gender and sexuality studies at Columbia University.

Neither Lightfoot nor Buttigieg are particularly progressive in their policy positions on a number of issues, Franke said. Lightfoot has been criticized for being too pro-prosecution and pro-police in a city that has suffered significant police violence, and Buttigieg has been critiqued for his identification with elites.

Thus far, the advancement of LGBT politicians has not been a bipartisan phenomenon. Very few of the nations top-tier LGBT elected officials have been Republicans, and only a handful of Republicans in Congress have signalled support for the Equality Act, a sweeping LGBT-nondiscrimination measure that has near-unanimous Democratic support.

Its exceedingly frustrating, Parker said. Wed love to support more candidates in the GOP, but the party of Donald Trump has no place for them. It has chosen to attack the rights and livelihoods of LGBT people to solidify political power.

Tyler Deaton of the American Unity Fund, which seeks to boost support for LGBT rights among Republicans, acknowledged in an email that LGBT Democrats are having an amazing year.

Its a lesson to my fellow Republicans about the electability of LGBTQ candidates, he wrote. The party needs to look more like the voters, which includes recruiting and elevating more candidates who are women, people of colour, religious minorities, and LGBTQ people.

The flip side is a boon for the Democratic establishment, which courts financial and political support from LGBT activists and donors. Just last week, two Democratic presidential contenders  Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey  spoke at a West Coast gala held by the Human Rights Campaign.

For some LGBT activists, the pace of change  and the greater public acceptance of LGBT candidates  is dramatic.

Lawyer Roberta Kaplan reflected that only six years ago she was litigating before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Edie Windsor, who faced an enormous tax bill because she was married to a woman instead of a man. Two years later, in 2015, the high court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The traditional Jewish blessing thanks God for keeping us alive, sustaining us, and bringing us to this season, Kaplan said in an email. That is very much how I feel today when I see news like Lori Lightfoots victory in Chicago or Pete Buttigiegs candidacy for president.SAN ANTONIO - An Air Force major based in San Antonio who is charged with evidence tampering related to his wifes disappearance in February has been released from jail.

Andreen McDonald was last seen alive Feb. 28. Her husband, Andre McDonald, was arrested on the tampering charge in March after investigators discovered he had bought a shovel, an axe, gasoline and a burn barrel then tried to destroy the receipts. Investigators also found blood and hair in their bathroom, according to court records.

Authorities believe the 29-year-old businesswoman is dead.

The 40-year-old major was released from Bexar County Jail Tuesday after posting $300,000 bail, the San Antonio Express-News reported. Bail was originally set at $2 million.

State District Judge Frank Castro placed Andre McDonald under full house arrest and ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring device. McDonald is also barred from visiting their home or contacting their 6-year-old daughter.

Authorities have not found any substantive clues to Andreen McDonalds whereabouts after weeks of searching, including on Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, where they suspect Andre McDonald went after his wife disappeared.

___

Information from: San Antonio Express-News, http://www.mysanantonio.comDETROIT - The state of Michigan is placing a frail paroled prisoner in an assisted-living centre at taxpayer expense after the federal government declined to deport him to Cuba, officials said.

Prudencio Loyrafuls life sentence for drug crimes was reduced in December by then-Gov. Rick Snyder, an exceptional decision that made him eligible for release after 30 years in prison. The parole board knew the 72-year-old wasnt a U.S. citizen and figured that federal authorities would take him off the states hands.

But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said no.

As a result, the Corrections Department has spent weeks trying to come up with a solution for Loyrafuls, a native of Cuba who doesnt speak much English and uses a wheelchair. Since winning parole in January, he has stayed at a prison hospital in Jackson and been shuttled between prisons in Muskegon and suburban Detroit.

Were just not going to drop him off in the middle of town and say, good luck, said Chris Gautz, a department spokesman.

He said the parole board believed Loyrafuls wasnt a threat to public safety, a key factor in any release. But Gautz acknowledged that deportation was a consideration, too, when the board looked at his application.

If another country was going to take him back, thats one less individual that taxpayers here have to pay and take care of, he said.

Loyrafuls declined to speak to The Associated Press.

He was convicted of cocaine trafficking in Macomb County and sentenced to life in prison in 1989, nine years after entering the U.S. Loyrafuls wasnt a model inmate: He had 32 major misconduct tickets.

He also wasnt contrite when he appeared at a public hearing in December, a critical step for any prisoner seeking to have a sentence shortened by a Michigan governor. Many of Loyrafuls statements to the parole board chairman were hostile and didnt make sense.

Youre just playing me. ... Im not going to tell you anything. ... I am number one in this country, he said, according to a transcript.

Nonetheless, the board recommended that Snyder cut Loyrafuls no-parole sentence. He signed the order days before leaving office on Jan. 1.

ICE, which was aware of Loyrafuls, declined to take him. Spokesman Khaalid Walls said it was a matter of prosecutorial discretion after a comprehensive review. He didnt elaborate.

The Corrections Department subsequently has worked to send Loyrafuls somewhere. He is supposed to be placed at an assisted-living centre this week, said spokeswoman Joelle Craddy.

We will pay until other sources can be arranged. The goal is generally 90 days or less, she said.

Luciano Perez, a former prisoner who shared a cell with Loyrafuls, tried to put his friend in a good light.

Im blessed to have met him because I look at him like a grandpa. ... He is remorseful for what he did, Perez, who owns a trucking company, told the parole board. He might not flat-out tell you like this, but I promise you that hes no longer a threat to the public.

___

Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteapIslamabad, Apr 3 (UNI) Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asked the United States to play its due role in resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India.

The demand was made during a telephonic conversation between Qureshi and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Tuesday.

Tensions between India and Pakistan had been running high following Feb 14 militant attack in Pulwama in which 44 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred in a suicide attack claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group.

The foreign minister briefed Pompeo on the de-escalatory measures taken by Pakistan, including the handing over of captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. Both the leaders exchanged views on the current situation in the region, as well as discussed bilateral issues.

Qureshi said bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US carried special significance for peace and stability in the region. The US role for de-escalation in the region was laudable, he added.

The continuing Afghan peace process was also discussed during the telephonic conversation. The two leaders agreed to continue cooperation on the matter. They discussed Pakistans facilitating role and agreed that the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzads forthcoming visit to Islamabad would provide an opportunity to further build on the gains made so far, the statement said.

Separately, Qureshi said Kartarpur Corridor would be inaugurated this year on the birthday of Baba Guru Nanak Opening of Kartarpur Corridor will not only help improving relations with India but also provide the Sikh community an opportunity of spiritual tourism, he said while addressing a conference in Islamabad. Qureshi said a number of steps have been taken to promote tourism the country.

Image: UNIJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Just weeks after winning a key regulatory approval, one the nations largest wind energy projects is facing a new obstacle from Missouri legislation that could prevent the proposed high-voltage power line from being strung across the property of unco-operative landowners.

A Missouri House panel advanced legislation Wednesday that would prohibit the use of eminent domain to acquire easements for the Grain Belt Express project. The proposed 750-mile (1,255-kilometre) transmission line would carry wind power from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois into Indiana, where it would connect to a power grid that serves eastern states.

The $2.3 billion project has been repeatedly delayed by regulatory hurdles and court battles but won a significant victory in March, when Missouris utility regulatory commission reversed its previous denials and approved the project. Missouris certificate of convenience and necessity deems it a public utility, which allows it to pursue condemnation cases in local courts against landowners who refuse to sell easements.

The legislation is intended to block that  either forcing the power line to zig zag around unwilling sellers or zapping it altogether.

Clean Line Energy Partners, based in Houston, has been pursuing the project since 2010. In November, Chicago-based Invenergy announced it was buying the project  a deal that would strengthen the projects finances but still needs regulatory approval.

Unlike traditional power line projects, the Grain Belt Express is not part of an existing energy distribution system and would not carry power directly to residential customers. It instead would sell power to other utilities. A coalition of Missouri municipal utilities has agreed to purchase some of the energy, but the vast majority would go to eastern states.

Thats sparked opposition from some Missouri landowners and politicians.

Were asking our Missouri farmers and rural areas to give up their land and their rights so that people further east can save on their energy bills? I dont think thats good for Missourians, said Republican Rep. Dean Plocher, the chairman of the committee that advanced the eminent domain legislation.

Invenergy spokeswoman Beth Conley said the legislation would delay or prevent residents in dozens of Missouri communities that agreed to purchase the wind power from saving millions of dollars annually through cheaper rates.

While approving the project last month, the Missouri Public Service Commission concluded that the broad economic, environmental, and other benefits of the project ... outweigh the interests of the individual landowners.

At a legislative hearing this week, Marilyn OBannon vowed that she and her relatives never would agree to provide easements for the transmission line to pass through about 5 miles of her familys farmland near Madison. She expressed concerns that their farms would be harmed by the construction without benefiting from any of the electricity passing overhead. Her familys farms get their power from a rural electricity co-operative.

They think were just out here complaining because its our land, but every acre really counts, especially when the commodity prices are where they are today, OBannon told The Associated Press.

Other property owners appear more willing to sell easement rights without going through condemnation proceedings.

I really believe in renewable energy, said Donna Inglis, whose Huntsville property lies in the path of the power line. She added: I think a lot of the people on the line are being very selfish, because theyre worried about me. Theyre not worried about the better good.

___

Follow David A. Lieb at: https://twitter.com/DavidALiebHOUSTON - Prosecutors said Wednesday they are dropping a murder charge against a former deputy who had been accused, along with her husband, in the strangulation death of a man they confronted outside a Houston-area restaurant.

The Harris County District Attorneys Office said that after reviewing all the evidence in the case, prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauna Thompson had committed a crime.

Chauna Thompson and her husband, Terry, were both indicted for murder in the May 2017 death of John Hernandez. Her trial was set to begin April 26.

The incident began after Terry Thompson confronted Hernandez, 24, about urinating in the parking lot of a Dennys in Sheldon, about 25 miles northeast of Houston.

Chauna Thompson, who was off-duty, then arrived and helped subdue Hernandez before later performing CPR on him. She was later fired by the Harris County Sheriffs Office.

First Assistant District Attorney Tom Berg said Thompson failed both morally and as a sheriffs deputy.

She should have done more as a peace officer to intervene but that is not a crime, Berg said. Our job is to do justice, not just seek conviction.

Prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday to drop the murder charge and a judge was expected to accept the request, Berg said.

A jury in November sentenced Terry Thompson to 25 years in prison. Prosecutors said at trial that Thompson kept Hernandez in a chokehold even after he stopped resisting.

Hernandez died in a hospital three days after the confrontation. A medical examiner ruled he died of lack of oxygen to the brain caused by strangulation and chest compression.

Prosecutors took into consideration that Chauna Thompson performed CPR on Hernandez as one of the factors when making their decision to drop the charge, Berg said.

The Hernandez family will never truly have justice because this should not have happened to him, said Cesar Espinosa, the executive director of FIEL Houston, a community group that has worked with the family since his death.

Its a hard pill to swallow but I ask that we centre on what the family wants which is to close this dark chapter in their lives, Espinosa said.

Greg Cagle, Chauna Thompsons attorney, said his client should not have been charged because she was the only person who did anything to help Hernandez. When she realized Hernandez was in trouble, Cagle said she told her husband to get off him, called the sheriffs office and performed CPR for 12 to 14 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

Shes very happy to not have to go to court and potentially spend the rest of her life in prison for something that we now agree shes not guilty of, Cagle said.

Thompsons appeal of her firing was put on hold pending the outcome of her case. Cagle said that appeal can now proceed but he has not discussed the issue with Thompson.

In a statement, the Harris County Sheriffs Office said it continues to offer its condolences to the Hernandez family, and that Thompsons appeal of her firing is pending before the Civil Service Commission.

Hernandezs family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in June 2017 against the Thompsons and Dennys, asking for at least $1 million in damages.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70HONOLULU - A new guided missile destroyer that is among the U.S. Navys newest class of warships has arrived in Pearl Harbor.

The USS Zumwalt arrived Tuesday morning after making its first operational trip, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Tuesday.

The 610-footlong guided ship outfitted with stealth features departed its home port of San Diego on March 8 and made a stop in Esquimalt, British Columbia on March 11, according to Navy officials.

The approximately $4 billion ship then visited Ketchikan, Alaska, for a short stay beginning March 23, officials said.

The journey from Alaska to Pearl Harbor was the farthest foray into the Pacific for the ship that was launched in October 2013, officials said.

The ship cost about $4 billion, has a crew of about 175 and is 100 feet (30 metres) longer and 13 feet (4 metres) wider than the previous class of U.S. destroyers, according to officials.

The ships design was originally planned for 32 ships but production plans were scaled back to three ships.

___

Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.comWASHINGTON - Hes a libertarian-leaning Republican. Shes the popular House freshman of the liberal Democratic vanguard.

Yet in this time of polarized politics, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have found common ground on Syria.

She is among a dozen lawmakers signing on to a letter Paul has written supporting President Donald Trumps deliberate withdrawal from the countrys war.

Paul said on Wednesday the letter is a continuation of the bipartisan movement in Congress to snatch back power from the executive branch on war authority.

The Kentucky senator is encouraging Trump to stick to his gut as other Republicans push the president to continue U.S. involvement fighting Islamic State militants.

The House this week is considering legislation to halt U.S. involvement in the civil war in Yemen.NEW YORK - On the opening day of a gathering of black leaders and voters in New York, two Texans seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination delved into the issue of reparations for African Americans over slavery.

Speaking at the four-day conference of the National Action Network, the civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro weighed in on the topic. The question of whether to support reparations for African Americans as a means of addressing centuries of slavery and legal discrimination emerged as something of a litmus test earlier this year for Democratic presidential candidates.

After a speech that at times drew on stories of civil rights history from ORourkes hometown of El Paso, he was asked by Sharpton whether he would back a House bill that would create a commission to study the issue of reparations. He said equivocally that he would back the bill, sponsored this year by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.

Later, ORourke said that hed discussed the issue with Brian Stevenson, the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Foundational to reparations is the word repair, foundational to repair is the truth, ORourke said.

Until all Americans understand that civil rights also involves the injustices that have been visited and continue to be visited on people, we will never get the change that we need to live up to the promise of this country. So absolutely I would sign that into law, he said.

According to Jackson Lee, the bill would make recommendations concerning any form of apology and compensation to begin the long delayed process of atonement for slavery.

ORourke is the latest 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to back the legislation. Castro, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey also support it.

Castro, one of the most vocal candidates on the issue, said Wednesday that he has long believed that our country will never truly heal until we address the original sin of slavery.

If, under our Constitution, we compensate people if we take their property, why wouldnt we compensate people who were considered property and sanctioned by the state? he asked the crowd.

The annual Manhattan conference plays host to presidential hopefuls and other influential speakers each year. By the end of the week, a dozen Democrats running in 2020 will take the stage alongside Sharpton to make their pitch to black voters. While the candidates who spoke Wednesday drew distinctions on their views on reparations, they also discussed reforming the cash bail system, endorsed automatic and same-day voter registration, and voiced support for legalizing marijuana.

ORourke also said that he would support reversing an order from the Trump Justice Department that restricted the federal governments ability to use court-enforced consent decrees when state and local law enforcement agencies are accused of abuse. Filed in federal court and overseen by a monitor, a consent decree is generally a road map for changes in fundamental law enforcement practices. Civil rights groups have said the move by the Trump Justice Department rolled back progress made under the Obama administration.

There must be accountability for enforcement of the law, there must be accountability for use of force, and federal funds to local police departments and sheriffs departments must be tied to accountability, ORourke said Wednesday.

Following his remarks, ORourke was asked by reporters about the scrutiny former Vice-President Joe Biden is facing over his past behaviour with women. Two women have said that Biden  who is considering a 2020 presidential bid of his own  had touched them in overly familiar ways. Biden has said he doesnt believe he has acted inappropriately during his long public life but will pay attention to womens experiences.

I think we need to listen to those who are raising their stories who have the courage to come forward, ORourke told reporters.MIAMISome students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School walked out of school Wednesday to protest insufficient mental health resources on campus following two Parkland shooting survivors suicides last month.

The Miami Heralds news partner CBS 4 Miami reports that the walkout happened around 11 a.m. local time and took about 15 minutes as Broward County Sheriffs Office deputies blocked traffic. At least one student complained that the resources provided at the school are not enough for students needing help.

Within one week, a Parkland sophomore and the best friend of a Stoneman Douglas school shooting victim took their lives, new blows to a community still suffering from the shooting that left 17 dead on Valentines Day last year.

Stoneman Douglas sophomore and gun control activist Lauren Hogg tweeted about her dismay Wednesday morning.

Im just gonna put this out there- Giving kids bananas and asking them not to kill themselves without actually talking about mental health is NOT the mental health support we need at school, she wrote.

Hogg subsequently tweeted a photo of mandarin oranges, bananas and granola bars in front of a banner that read Be Passionate Be Strong Remember You Are Loved Be Proud To Be An Eagle.

Read more:

Parkland parents, teachers seek help at mental health forum after two student suicides

Linked by pain: 2 school massacre survivors, dad kill selves

Two Parkland moms now divided over guns

CBS 4 Miami also reported that Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie held a meeting at 1 p.m. updating the community on available mental health resources and support, including the 211 helpline and Eagles Haven Wellness Center. The new centre created for the Stoneman Douglas community opened ahead of schedule to accommodate the community after the suicides, according to Miami Herald radio news partner WLRN.WASHINGTON - Vice-President Mike Pence warned Turkey on Wednesday that it could risk its membership in NATO if it goes ahead with plans to buy a Russian air defence system despite widespread U.S. and international opposition.

Pences escalating rhetoric came after Turkey insisted Wednesday that the Russian deal was done, signalling an apparent impasse between the two NATO allies.

Speaking at a NATO 70th anniversary event, Pence said Turkey risks expulsion from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, which could cripple Turkish manufacturers who are making parts for the aircraft. And he raised the possibility of much broader recriminations.

Turkey must choose, Pence said. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in the history of the world or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?

Other U.S. officials have stopped short of threatening Turkeys underlying relationship with America or NATO, but there have been growing calls for swift action, including sanctions, against Ankara to stop the S-400 purchase.

Turkeys foreign minister, however, appeared unmoved by the U.S. threats, saying that buying the Russian S-400 system is a done deal. We will not step back from this.

The U.S. has offered to sell Turkey the American-made Patriot missile defence system, but Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it could not be delivered in time.

We couldnt get it for 10 years, Cavusoglu said at the Atlantic Council on Wednesday morning. Thats why we had to buy from Russia. And we tried to buy from other allies as well. It didnt work. So it is an urgent need of Turkey. I mean, we need air defence systems urgently in Turkey.

Cavusoglu also met Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, whose Democratic chairman and ranking Republican member said they made clear our bipartisan opposition to Turkeys plan to acquire the Russian missile system. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said they cautioned Cavusoglu that deepening ties with Moscow will risk sanctions and Turkeys involvement in the F-35 program.

The U.S. and other NATO allies have repeatedly complained about the purchase of the S-400 system, saying it is not compatible with other allied systems and would represent a threat to the F-35. Officials have said that Turkeys acquisition of both U.S. and Russian systems could give Moscow access to sophisticated American technology and allow it to find ways to counter the F-35.

Pence described the purchase as deeply troubling and said it poses great danger to NATO, to the strength of the alliance.

As a result, U.S. government leaders have repeatedly threatened to shut down Turkeys participation in the F-35 program if the Russian purchase goes through.

On Monday, the Pentagon took its first retaliatory step and stopped delivery of F-35 fighter jet parts and manuals to Turkey.

But so far, Turkish pilots continue to train on the aircraft at Luke Air Force Base, outside Phoenix, Arizona. And, Pentagon leaders insist there is still hope for some type of negotiated settlement.

We havent given up on trying to work our way through this, said Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Weve made what we think is a very good offer for the Patriot to provide for the air defence capabilities of Turkey.

He told reporters that the U.S. has made it clear to Turkey that the F-35 and the S-400 are incompatible systems, but were still working our way through that and hope we can come up with an arrangement.

Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan also expressed optimism, saying he is confident that the Patriot system proposal will work out.

Cavusoglu, however, said he believes Turkey can convince the U.S. that the S-400 will not be a risk or threat to NATO.

We made very clear that this system will not see any NATO system, including F-35s, as an enemy, he said, adding that Turkey has proposed setting up a technical working group that would make sure the S-400 did not pose a threat.

___

Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.Clevelands zoo has opened as scheduled Wednesday morning after police and park rangers searched unsuccessfully for a man and a woman seen climbing over a fence there following a police pursuit.

Cleveland police responded early Wednesday to reports of shots fired and pursued a pickup truck leaving the scene. The truck crashed into a pole.

Cleveland police say a 20-year-old man was arrested at the scene, but the man and the woman escaped into the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Metroparks spokeswoman Jacqueline Gerling says rangers conducted a full sweep but did not find anyone.ST. LOUIS - A federal judge should end restrictions on when St. Louis police use chemical agents such as pepper spray and tear gas to break up protests, according to a court filing on behalf of the police department.

The 39-page motion filed Friday seeks to dissolve a preliminary injunction issued in 2017 after the American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of protesters who took to the streets in response to the acquittal of former officer Jason Stockley.

A judge on Sept. 15 2017, found Stockley, who is white, not guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black drug suspect. Within minutes of the announcement, protests broke out.

Demonstrations lasted for weeks, and some turned violent. Police were at times pelted with bricks and bottles. Several officers suffered minor to moderate injuries. About 300 people were arrested.

But police were accused of abusive actions that included arresting law-abiding demonstrators, innocent bystanders and journalists, and inappropriately using tear gas and pepper spray. The police actions spurred nearly two dozen lawsuits and prompted a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that led to indictments of four officers .

U.S. District Judge Catherine Perrys November 2017 injunction in the ACLU lawsuit said police cant end protests or use chemical agents to punish people for exercising their right to free speech. Her order said that before using chemical agents, police need probable cause to arrest a person, must first give clear and unambiguous warnings, and must allow people enough time to obey police commands.

The judge cited testimony and video evidence showing that officers acted in an arbitrary and retaliatory fashion to punish protesters for voicing criticism of police or recording police conduct, she wrote at the time.

But police in the new filing said their own video evidence gathered from media, police officers, even plaintiffs in the lawsuit, suggested that officers were under siege. The filing said police used pepper spray only to clear streets, come to the aid of officers, and defend Mayor Lyda Krewsons home after hundreds of protesters gathered outside of it in September 2017.

The filing also compared St. Louis response favourably to what happened in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, and in Baltimore during protests that followed officer-involved fatalities.

Police on the whole responded to extremely difficult challenges with disciplined effectiveness, the filing said. St. Louisans did not experience the violence and terror of full-scale riots, as did Ferguson or Baltimore in similar situations. For this the community (including plaintiffs, though they may not realize it) owes a debt of gratitude to the vast majority of St. Louis police officers.

The case is scheduled for trial Aug. 26. ACLU attorney Tony Rothert said hell save the thrust of his response for trial.

We view the case and the evidence that weve gathered in the last year-and-a-half quite differently than the city does, Rothert said.

In November, the Justice Department announced the indictments of officers Dustin Boone, Randy Hays, Christopher Myers and Bailey Colletta. Boone, Hays and Myers were accused of beating an undercover officer during a Stockley protest, unaware he was a colleague. Colletta was accused of conspiring to cover up the crime.

Concerns about police behaviour were raised again in January, when officer Nathaniel Hendren was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of another officer, Katlyn Alix. Charging documents said they had been drinking and playing a variation of Russian roulette, taking turns pointing a gun loaded with one bullet at each other and pulling the trigger. Alix died of a chest wound.

___

This version of the story corrects the date of the filing to Friday from Monday.JUNEAU, Alaska - During Republican Mike Dunleavys successful run for governor last year, he offered few specifics for his vision of limited government but was clear that Alaska residents should get a full payout from the states oil-wealth fund.

Lawmakers and Dunleavys predecessor capped the annual checks at $1,600 or less the past few years as they struggled to address a budget deficit that has persisted amid low to middling oil prices and is now estimated at $1.6 billion.

Dunleavys call for paying the full amount this year, around $3,000 each, plus what they missed out on the past three years, was a centerpiece of his campaign.

But now that hes governor, residents are learning what it will take to pay a full dividend, and many dont like their options.

Dunleavy has proposed sweeping cuts, including potentially selling a state museum; idling Alaskas ferry fleet while the future of that service, critical to many coastal communities, is debated; slashing health and social service programs; shifting costs to local governments; and cutting the University of Alaska system budget by an amount nearly equivalent to the cost of running two of its three flagship campuses.

Some see this as a manufactured crisis that doesnt consider potential new or increased taxes and too highly prizes the annual checks over education and other government services.

The formula for calculating the amount residents receive from Alaska Permanent Fund earnings is set in state law, based on an average of the funds income over five years. Starting in 2016, former Gov. Bill Walker and the lawmakers capped the yearly dividend, at $1,022, $1,100 and $1,600. A full dividend this year would be roughly $2,900 to $3,100.

Alaska has no personal income or state sales tax.

Frank Kelty, the mayor of Unalaska, a community of about 4,300 along the far-flung Aleutian Islands that is home to one of the nations busiest fishing ports, likens Dunleavys quest to pay a full dividend to President Donald Trumps push for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The governors looking at any kind of pool of money he can try and grab, and its all going into this dividend promise that he made, Kelty said. I dont think thats right.

Dunleavy argues the state must live within its means. He says spending is the problem, not the dividend, and sees revenue that would come from new or increased taxes as a pathway to more spending. Dunleavy is seeking constitutional changes that include a spending cap, giving voters a say on tax or dividend changes approved by lawmakers and giving the Legislature a say on tax-related voter initiatives. Key senators have begun kicking around the idea of a change in the dividend calculation.

He hasnt said if he would accept a smaller dividend, or how heavily hell wield his veto power. He said hes willing to use every tool available to make sure we have our fiscal house in order.

Lawmakers in recent years blew through billions of dollars in savings as they struggled to address the deficit. With savings dwindling and disagreement over taxes and continued cuts, they began tapping permanent fund earnings, typically used to pay dividends and fortify the nest-egg fund, to help pay for government last year. This created tension, with the decades-old dividend, widely considered an entitlement, seen as competing against other programs for funding.

A new law that seeks to limit what can be taken from fund earnings calls for a withdrawal of $2.9 billion for the coming budget year for both dividends and government expenses. Paying a full dividend for 2019 alone would take $1.9 billion. That doesnt include any back-payment.

The dividend provides a financial boost more critical for residents with lower incomes and those in high-cost rural areas. Checks have ranged from about $331 a person in the programs early years to $2,072 in 2015, the year before it was capped.

Roger Stone, a Dunleavy supporter from Ketchikan, doesnt agree with everything Dunleavy proposed but sees his budget as a wake-up call that somethings got to give.

I think that they need to take a hard look at whats really necessary in state government, Stone said of lawmakers. Once that happens, he said hes willing to have a lower dividend, seeing that as preferable to a sales or income tax.

Former state Sen. Rick Halford unsuccessfully sued Walker for roughly halving the amount available for dividends in 2016 and agrees with Dunleavys effort to pay a full dividend. But he said it isnt a full debate when options such as taxes on oil and other resources arent being considered.

Nothing should be off the table, he said.

Jan MacClarence said she and her husband, who are in their 70s, are moving from a state-owned elder-care facility in Anchorage after 3 1/2 years and into an apartment to avoid the budget stress. State officials have proposed rate increases of between 40% and nearly 140% for Pioneer Home residents to reflect costs of care, though they have said no one would be evicted or barred entry based on their ability to pay.

MacClarence said being on their own and using food delivery and personal care services as needed is better than worrying every year about what lawmakers might do.

As lawmakers have held hearings around the state on Dunleavys budget proposals, the governor has begun travelling to make his case.

Hes faced criticism for participating in what some see as friendly venues, including events hosted by the limited government group Americans for Prosperity-Alaska, which asked people to register in advance and reserved the right to kick out anyone who was disruptive. Some of the gatherings drew protesters; police alleged one woman yelled at the governor in Nome and resisted their commands, but the prosecutor there declined to pursue charges.

Community meetings and some budget hearings held by lawmakers have drawn big crowds. Hundreds spoke against cuts to the ferry system, a thoroughfare for coastal communities not connected to the mainland road system.

The state wants to hire a consultant to recommend reshaping the system and reducing its costs. Dunleavy has expressed openness to keeping some runs going while that process plays out, but no boats are currently set to sail past Oct. 1.

Many residents of small southeast Alaska communities travel by ferry with their cars to the bigger city of Juneau to buy supplies at places like Costco, or fly there and take the ferry home. Walt Weller, the mayor of Pelican, a town of about 70 people 70 miles (113 kilometres) west of Juneau, called the ferry a lifeline.

When youre out here at the end of everything  I mean no roads, float planes only  100% weather-dependent, were pretty doggone dependent on that ferry, Weller said. He acknowledges people choose to live there but said the ferries  even with limited runs  have helped make that possible.

To have people claim that theyre going to give everybody giant (dividend) checks and then rip our road out from underneath us is fairly upsetting, he said.Dhaka, Apr 3 (IBNS): Bodies of two students have been recovered from Hotel Samrat on Dhakas Green Road in Bangladesh, media reports said on Wednesday.

Police recovered the bodies from a room on the eighth floor around 4:30pm, Tejgaon Police OC Mazharul Islam told bdnews24 news portal.

The dead have initially been identified as Aminul Islam, a student of Tejgaon College University, and Mariam Chowdhury, a student of World University, the police told the newsportal.

As per reports, the two people identified themselves as married couple as they checked into the hotel.

The newsportal said in its report, Noticing that the couple had not left their room until Tuesday afternoon, authorities of the hotel went to the room and called for them.But after their calls went unheeded, the authorities informed the police of the matter.

Police later arrived in the hotel and found the two bodies.DALLAS - Texas prisons will no longer allow clergy in the death chamber after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the scheduled execution of a man who argued his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser couldnt accompany him.

Effective immediately, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will only permit prison security staff into the execution chamber, a spokesman said Wednesday. The policy change comes in response to the high courts ruling staying the execution of Patrick Murphy, a member of the Texas 7 gang of escaped prisoners.

Texas previously allowed state-employed clergy to accompany inmates into the room where theyd be executed, but its prison staff included only Christian and Muslim clerics.

In light of this policy, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Texas couldnt move forward with Murphys punishment unless his Buddhist adviser or another Buddhist reverend of the states choosing accompanied him.

One of Murphys lawyers, David Dow, said the policy change does not address their full legal argument and mistakes the main thrust of the courts decision.

Their arbitrary and, at least for now, hostile response to all religion reveals a real need for close judicial oversight of the execution protocol, Dow said

Murphys attorneys told the high court that executing him without his spiritual adviser in the room would violate the First Amendment right to freedom of religion. The 57-year-old  who was among a group of inmates who escaped from a Texas prison in 2000 and then committed numerous robberies, including one where a police officer was fatally shot  became a Buddhist while in prison nearly a decade ago.

In his concurring opinion, the courts newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that Texas had two options going forward: allow all inmates to have a religious adviser of their religion in the execution room, or allow religious advisers only in the viewing room, not the execution room.

The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations, Kavanaugh wrote.

Kristin Houle, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, called the new policy cruel and unusual, and urged the department to reconsider.

Prison chaplains will still be able to observe executions from a witness room and meet with inmates on death row beforehand, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel. He declined to elaborate on the reasoning behind the policy change.

The change brings Texas in line with most other death penalty states, which do not allow clergy into the execution chamber, according to Robert Dunham, a lawyer and executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. But it is also likely to open new legal fights for Americas busiest execution state, he said.

The policy change could be challenged as generally discriminating against religion and as retroactively targeting Murphy despite having a general formulation, Dunham said. If these arguments are presented to the high court, a ruling could have implications for how executions are conducted around the country, he said.

The Supreme Courts decision in Murphys case followed a similar appeal in February, when the court ruled Alabama could execute a Muslim inmate without his Islamic spiritual adviser present in the execution chamber. The court decision that allowed Dominique Ray to be executed attracted public criticism , and Dunham said the ruling staying Murphys execution might have been an effort by the justices to avoid further blowback.

When you look at the courts order, they were hoping that Texas would give them a way out by accommodating Patrick Murphys request, he said. Texas has chosen not to do that, so its likely that the ball with be back in the proverbial judicial court.MINNEAPOLIS - The Latest on the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman in 2017 (all times local):

5:40 p.m.

A judge and attorneys are winnowing the jury pool for the murder trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed an unarmed woman.

Another four prospective jurors were excused Wednesday afternoon for the trial of 33-year-old Mohamed Noor. A retired school principal was excused after she questioned why police would have to shoot someone. Also excused was a young woman who said she identified with the victim, 40-year-old life coach Justine Ruszczyk Damond. Two men were excused after saying they faced financial hardships staying for a potentially lengthy trial.

Noor is charged with murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Damond, who had dual citizenship in the U.S. and Australia. She was engaged to a Minneapolis man.

So far, 16 potential jurors have been excused. Jury selection continues Thursday.

___

12:50 p.m.

Six more potential jurors have been excused from the murder trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman when she approached his squad car after calling 911 to report a possible crime behind her home.

Attorneys and the judge agree Wednesday to excuse five potential jurors based on their written answers to a questionnaire. One person said the defendant, Mohamed Noor, shouldnt have been a cop and should be punished.

Noor is charged with murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old with dual citizenship in the U.S. and Australia.

Another potential juror, a young man whose uncle was shot in a gas station robbery, was questioned and excused after he said he found it hard to understand why anyone would fire a weapon at another human and take their life.

A total of 12 potential jurors have been excused so far. A pool of 75 potential jurors filled out questionnaires on Monday.

___

12:10 a.m.

Jury selection is resuming in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman who had called 911 to report a possible assault.

Mohamed Noor is charged with murder and manslaughter in the July 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond. Damond, a 40-year-old life coach, had approached Noors squad car in the alley behind her home when she was shot.

A pool of 75 potential jurors filled out questionnaires Monday. Attorneys for both sides and the judge agreed to dismiss six people on Tuesday based on their written answers to questions such as their experiences with a person of Somali heritage. Direct questioning starts Wednesday.

Noor is Somali-American. Damond was white.CROSBY, Texas - The Latest on a fire at a Houston area chemical plant that killed one worker and injured two others. (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

Company officials have identified the worker killed in a fire at a Houston area chemical plant as James Earl Mangum.

KMCO says the two other workers who were injured during the Tuesday fire at the companys facility in Crosby remain in critical condition. Their identities were not released.

The company says that all operations at the plant are suspended indefinitely and that the site is under control of Texas fire officials.

____

12:30 p.m.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says it will investigate a fire at a Houston area chemical plant that killed one worker and injured two others.

The Chemical Safety Board said Wednesday it will join other agencies probing the cause of Tuesdays blaze at a KMCO chemical plant in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometres) northeast of Houston.

The safety board, an independent federal agency that investigates industrial chemical incidents, is also probing the March 17 blaze at a petrochemical storage facility in nearby Deer Park .

Rachel Moreno, with the Harris County Fire Marshals Office, says her agencys investigators havent been able to enter the plant because of ongoing clean up and emergency operations.

Harris County officials say ongoing air monitoring shows no health risks to the area around the plant.PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Latest on Mar-a-Lago (all times local):

6:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump is dismissing the arrest of a Chinese woman caught carrying a device containing computer malware at his private Florida club, saying it was just a fluke situation.

Trump told reporters as he met with senior military leaders Wednesday evening that hes not concerned at all about the weekend incident at Mar-a-Lago or whether the Chinese might be trying to conduct espionage against him.

He contends that we have very good control.

Trump is also commending the Secret Service, saying he could not be happier with their conduct and that the result was good.

Federal officials are looking into whether the incursion was part of a larger effort to gain access to the president and do potential harm.

Senate Democrats are also asking the FBI to investigate potential security vulnerabilities at the club.

___

6 p.m.

Federal officials are looking into whether a Chinese woman arrested at President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago club with a device containing computer malware was part of a larger effort to gain access to the president and do potential harm.

Thats according to a U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official wasnt authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said federal agents are combing through Yujing Zhangs electronics and treating the case as a credible threat.

The 32-year-old was arrested over the weekend while the president was visiting the club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Court papers say Zhang was carrying two Chinese passports and had four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a thumb drive containing computer malware.

 Michael Balsamo in Washington

__

2 p.m.

Senate Democrats are asking the FBI to investigate potential security vulnerabilities at President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after the arrest of a woman carrying two Chinese passports and a device containing computer malware.

Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday. They said the incident, in their words, raises very serious questions regarding security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago, which foreign intelligence services have reportedly targeted. The woman, Yujing Zhang, briefly gained access to the club after lying about why she was there.

The Democrats previously asked Wray to investigate a Trump campaign donor from Florida who is the founder and onetime owner of a spa that has been implicated in an alleged human-trafficking ring. They said the FBI hasnt responded.MANDAN, N.D. - The Latest on bodies found at a business in Mandan, North Dakota (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

State and local police have searched in a field about half a mile from a North Dakota business where an owner and three employees were found slain.

Authorities didnt immediately confirm whether Wednesdays search was related to the bodies discovered Monday at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, just outside Bismarck.

Investigators say they dont know who the killer is, but that the person is not among the dead. Police have classified the case as a multiple homicide.

The people found dead were Robert Fakler (FAWK-lur), who co-owned the property management company, along with employees Adam Fuehrer, Lois Cobb and her husband, Bill Cobb.

The company reopened Wednesday with a police officer stationed outside. On its Facebook page, the company thanked the community for its generosity and support.

___

9:40 a.m.

A North Dakota business where an owner and three employees were found dead has reopened with a police presence, though police still havent said what caused their deaths.

The bodies were discovered early Monday at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, a city just outside Bismarck. Police have classified the case as a multiple homicide, but police havent said how the four died or identified a suspect.

The people found dead were Robert Fakler (FAWK-lur), who co-owned the property management company, along with employees Adam Fuehrer, Lois Cobb and her husband, Bill Cobb.

Faklers wife and company co-owner Jackie Fakler returned to work Wednesday as a police officer monitored the parking lot. She and other workers declined comment, saying they were dealing with a difficult time.

On its Facebook page, the company thanked the community for its generosity and support.COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - The Latest on governors meeting with federal officials about flooding (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

The governors of three Midwest states ravaged by March flooding say they will pushing for more control over management of the Missouri River that borders their states.

Management of the dams and levees along the river falls to officials of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, who met with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson for much of Wednesday afternoon in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The three governors, all Republicans, questioned a shift by the Corps in 2004 to no longer prioritize flood control along the river over other goals, such as maintaining fish and wildlife habitat.

Asked whether the Corps indicated it would or could cede some river management decisions to the states, Parson replied, Well, they listened.

The governors said they plan to work together for that change, even if it means petitioning Congress to give states more authority in river management.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has been slated to attend Wednesdays meeting, but ran into travel problems that required her to back out.

___

2 p.m.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials were set to meet Wednesday with the governors of four flood-ravaged Midwestern states amid criticism of the federal agency for its management of swollen waterways.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, all Republicans, and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, were to meet with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Council Bluffs.

Parson is among critics who have accused the Corps, which manages the rivers dams, of making the flooding worse. Last month, Parson admonished the agency to prioritize human safety and property over other goals, such as preserving fish and wildlife habitat.

But the Corps has said it works to balance all its priorities and that much of the flooding was well out of its control. The agency said that much of the water that created the flooding came from record rains and melting snow that flowed over frozen ground and directly into the river downstream of its dams, all while massive amounts of water filled Missouri River reservoirs and had to be released.WASHINGTON - The Latest on the United States and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (all times local):

2:40 p.m.

In the first address to Congress by a NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg has acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance.

He also has called for bigger defence budgets to cope with global challenges such as Russian assertiveness, the core reason NATO was created in Washington 70 years ago this week.

The NATO secretary general said: We have to be frank. Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences.

___

10:35 a.m.

The head of NATO is using the alliances 70th anniversary to make an unprecedented pitch to a joint meeting of Congress for trans-Atlantic unity.

Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday will be the first NATO secretary-general to make such an address.

The venue highlights the strained relations between President Donald Trump and NATO members that have long looked to the United States for leadership and support in defending Europe and North America.

Trump has questioned the value of NATO, its benefit to the United States and the motive of members he considers to be freeloaders.

Stoltenberg is a two-time former prime minister of Norway and has praised Trump for pushing members to spend more on defence. He said before his speech that the invitation to appear before Congress was an expression U.S. public support.

___

12:10 a.m.

President Donald Trump wants NATO members to continue increasing their financial contributions, offering allies his praise for stepping up those contributions in recent years but still complaining the U.S. continues to carry more than its share of costs.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited the White House on Tuesday ahead of an address to Congress thats scheduled for Wednesday. His trip to the U.S. comes as the alliance marks its 70th anniversary.

Trump took credit for the increased defence spending by NATO members even though the upswing began before Trump took office.

After Russias 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula, member countries agreed to boost defence budgets and move toward spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defence by 2024. The U.S. spends about 3.4% of its GDP on defence.COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials were set to meet Wednesday with the governors of four flood-ravaged Midwestern states amid criticism of the federal agency for its management of swollen waterways.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, all Republicans, and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, were to meet with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Council Bluffs.

Parson is among critics who have accused the Corps, which manages the rivers dams, of making the flooding worse. Last month, Parson admonished the agency to prioritize human safety and property over other goals, such as preserving fish and wildlife habitat.

But the Corps has said it works to balance all its priorities and that much of the flooding was well out of its control. The agency said that much of the water that created the flooding came from record rains and melting snow that flowed over frozen ground and directly into the river downstream of its dams, all while massive amounts of water filled Missouri River reservoirs and had to be released.

On Wednesday, the Corps released numbers showing record March runoff in the upper Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa, of 11 million acre feet  nearly 4 million acre feet more than the previous record of 7.3 million set in 1952. The average March upper basin runoff is 2.9 million acre feet, the Corps said.

Officials have estimated that the flooding caused nearly $1.4 billion in damage in Nebraska and more than $1.6 billion in Iowa. That includes an estimated $1 billion of damage to farms in both states, where flooding destroyed stored crops, tore up land and equipment and killed livestock. Thousands of homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed in Nebraska alone. The damage total is expected to grow as more assessments are made.

Kansas and Missouri officials are still waiting on damage estimates, although Kansas officials say that state saw flood damage limited to about 31,000 acres of mostly farmland and some stored grain. In Missouri, the surging river caused dozens of levee breaches that inundated about 168,000 acres in Missouris two hardest-hit counties of Holt and Atchison.

Officials have said the March floods could be just the beginning of a rough spring, as hefty snowpack in the northern Plains adds to already swollen rivers and streams. That includes the Mississippi River, which started falling Wednesday in St. Louis as the crest moves downstream.

St. Louis closed its floodgates in advance of Tuesdays crest. Although the flooding there isnt classified as major, it closed some roads, including stretches of Missouri 94 and 67.

Downstream, the flood fight continues. The Corps said it handed out more than 100,000 sandbags to communities in its St. Louis district, including Clarksville, parts of Jefferson County and Ste. Genevieve.ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - U.S. prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against four adults who lived at a New Mexico compound where authorities found the remains of a toddler who was reported missing in Georgia, court documents say.

The two men and two women are charged with kidnapping the boy, who authorities say suffered from seizures that went untreated because a leader of the group believed medicine suppressed Muslim beliefs.

They could have faced the potential of the death penalty if convicted of abducting 3-year-old Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj because authorities say it resulted in his death.

But prosecutors said in a filing ahead of a court hearing Wednesday in Albuquerque that they would not seek capital punishment against Jany Leveille, Hujrah Wahhaj, Subhana Wahhaj and Lucas Morton.

They are all members of an extended family, and travelled from Georgia to New Mexico in late 2017 with their children, the now-deceased child and his father, authorities say.

A search for the missing boy led authorities in August to raid the groups compound along a remote stretch of desert north of Taos, where they found 11 malnourished children, guns, ammunition, a firing range and the remains of Abdul-Ghani.

The boys father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, who also was arrested at the compound, was not charged in his sons abduction. U.S. law generally does not allow authorities to charge parents with kidnapping their own children, except in international cases.

All five suspects also are facing terrorism-related charges amid accusations they conspired to support planned attacks on U.S. law enforcement officers and other government employees.

They have pleaded not guilty to all charges and remain in federal custody. The groups attorneys say the five are innocent of the charges.

Federal prosecutor George Kraehe said in court Wednesday that prosecutors were still reviewing cellphone records and thousands of emails for any additional evidence.

The case is scheduled to go to trial next year.Listening to the Ford governments lines, its the dawn of a wonderful new day for drug addicts in Ontario. Folks, help is on the way.

Theyve got 15  count em, 15!  supervised injection sites across the entire province.

Trouble is, there used to be 21 approved sites and, before this government took power, an understanding that this rapidly growing health crisis would require even more to save lives.

Of all the examples of this government calling something white when clearly its black, this might be the worst. Thats because the cost, as pointed out starkly by Torontos medical officer of health, is nothing short of death.

Its troubled, addicted and predominantly young adults who will die unnecessarily and in greater numbers in parks, alleys, stairwells and washrooms because of what the government is doing.

Thats the obvious outcome of a province reducing approvals and funding, effective immediately, in the midst of an opioid crisis that claimed more than 1,200 lives last year  and would have killed many more had it not been for supervised injection programs.

Its hard to overstate the tragic stupidity of this policy.

In Toronto, the only reason two of the sites chopped last Friday were able to open their doors this week is because the federal government stepped in with a temporary emergency approval and the sites have reserve funding to keep going for a few weeks.

But the idea that they can find charitable donations to replace provincial funding is absurd. These arent cute puppies or a popular pink-branded health cause; its addicts they serve.

Without provincial funding these sites will close. Its just a question of how soon. And that really does seem to be what the province has wanted all along, no matter the terrible cost.

One site alone near Torontos Dundas Square has reversed 750 overdoses since it opened 20 months ago. And even that city-run site, called The Works, is now in limbo, seemingly for the crime of being close to Ryerson University.

Last October Health Minister Christine Elliott received considerable credit for seeming to walk Premier Doug Ford back from his election statement that he was dead against these sites and planned to close them.

After a three-month review, which served to delay both good and bad action, she came up with a new name, costly new requirements and a provincial cap of 21. That arbitrary number was based on what happened to already be approved, not what was needed across Ontario.

She hasnt even delivered that and has now moved on to the bigger picture.

Certainly its true, as Elliott says, that addicts need more than just a supervised place to inject drugs. But without that first, they are more likely to wind up in a morgue than clients of all those mental health and addiction services the government claims to be focused on.

Dead people cant be treated for their addictions.

Once again, though, the Ford government has put ideology before evidence.

Injection sites dont create addicts any more than comprehensive sex education in schools creates gay people. This isnt a luxury service that draws people to an area. And forcing programs to close, or not approving needed new ones, doesnt make addicts stop being addicts.

As one man put it when asked where hed go if The Works closed: Bridges, alleys, parks, the bathroom of Five Guys, while your family is there eating burgers and fries.

This government is fond of replacing evidence-based policies with poorer politically driven ones and trying to paper over it with slogans about making life better for the people of Ontario.

Well, in this case, the people are going to be in body bags.

No slogan will change that. Only the necessary health care service, the very one this government is taking away, can do that.

Read more about:New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): The US has said it would "utilize all available resources to ensure Jaish-e-Mohammad supremo Masood Azhar was held accountable for his crimes and denied China's charges that it had circumvented UN security councils sanctions committee to blacklist the Pakistan-based terrorist.

In a statement to Hindustan Times on Tuesday, the US state department spokesperson said: While we strongly prefer that UNSC designations take place through the committee process, the United States and its allies and partners, including those on the UN Security Council, will utilize all available avenues to ensure that the founder and leader of the UN-designated terrorist organization JeM is held accountable by the international community.

The spokesperson also confirmed that the US had "circulated a draft UNSC resolution with UK and French support.

On Monday, China claimed "positive progress" had been made in the process to resolve the issue of listing Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN.

At the regular media briefing here, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said: After the application for designation of Azhar was proposed (in the 1267 committee), China is in close communication and coordination with various parties and made positive progress."

"The US knows that very well, he added and said the US moving a draft resolution at the 15-member UN Security Council to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar at this junction was setting a bad example.

Shuang, however, did not elaborate on what kind of progress has been made on the issue.

Last Thursday, China had asked the US to "act cautiously" after the latter circulated a draft resolution at the 15-member UN Security Council to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar.

Jaish claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack at Pulwama that killed 40 Indian soldiers.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang had then said: "This (moving the draft resolution) 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."

The US draft resolution to blacklist the Pakistan-based terrorist has been supported by France and UK. This comes two weeks after China blocked a proposal to list Masood Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council.Jody Wilson-Raybould seemed to have it all back in 2015.

She was a successful lawyer, a Crown prosecutor in B.C., a treaty commissioner and regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.

When Justin Trudeau asked her to run for the Liberals in the 2015 election she eagerly accepted, saying she entered politics because of her frustration over the failure of the Conservative government to make major progress on economic and social needs of Indigenous peoples.

Once elected, Wilson-Raybould quickly became a rising star.

She was seen as a tough, powerful voice for First Nations communities and women, as well as a fresh face on the federal scene with serious clout in cabinet in the key roles as justice minister and attorney general.

Today, just four years later, her political career is in tatters, her reputation and motives under attack and  worst of all  her personal goal of improving the long-term fortunes of Indigenous peoples across Canada, the very reason she entered politics, is at serious risk due to her own actions that could well result in the Conservatives return to power.

Opposition politicians and many commentators are blaming Trudeau for the SNC-Lavalin affair that led ultimately to his move late Tuesday to turf Wilson-Raybould and former cabinet minister Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus.

In reality, though, Wilson-Rayboulds own ego and her act of deception is as much  or more  to blame for the state she finds herself today.

The best example of how her ego hurt her came when she took the extraordinary step of making four huge demands of Trudeau for her to remain in cabinet after the Globe and Mail published its report about how she felt pressured by Trudeaus office to overrule federal prosecutors by offering a remediation agreement in the criminal case against SNC-Lavalin.

According to a key Liberal insider, Wilson-Rayboulds four demands, all of which Trudeau had to accept, were:

First, that Gerald Butts, principal secretary to Trudeau, be fired. Butts resigned of his own will on Feb. 18, apparently feeling he had no choice despite his strong conviction that he had never pressured her.

Second, that Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, who she had secretly recorded in a phone call, be fired. Wernick announced on March 18 that he will step down on April 19.

Third, that David Lametti, who succeeded her as justice minister and attorney general, be required to uphold her view on how to proceed against SNC-Lavalin.

Fourth, that Trudeau make a full apology to her and the entire Liberal caucus for what she claims was undue political interference and pressure on her in the SNC-Lavalin case by the prime minister, Butts and Wernick.

Her ego also seemed in play when she defiantly told Trudeau and her fellow Liberal MPs, many of who fear the affair she had ignited will result in them losing their own seats in the October election, that she still intended to run again as a Liberal. She seemed oblivious, or didnt care, about all the political damage she had inflicted on Trudeau and her Liberal colleagues.

The final straw for many who were prepared to give her leeway in the affair came when she revealed she had secretly recorded a phone call with Wernick, and then made it public. Unseemly, sleazy and dishonest were common responses.

The deception was her ultimate downfall. How could anyone, including Trudeau, who had handled the entire affair badly, go along with a justice minister secretly recording the top bureaucrat?

For Trudeau, who Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were clearly out to dethrone as Liberal leader, his decision to kick them out of caucus, belated though it was, may have given him some backbone and may in some way be a springboard to decisive leadership in the future.

For Philpott, the fall from power has been swift. But the rise and fall has been even faster for Wilson-Raybould.

Until the past few weeks, she was a dynamic force in Ottawa. She had the power to make a real difference for the causes and people she holds most dearly. Now, four years after she entered with so much hope and promise, all thats gone.

Read more about:OTTAWAJody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott say they have no regrets for defending the independence of the justice system even if it cost them their seats in the Liberal caucus.

I am, to put it lightly, disappointed and I would say that if you stand up for what you believe is right and you hold strong to your principles, the truth and principles must always come first, Wilson-Raybould, the former minister of justice and attorney general, said Wednesday.

Thats why I did it and thats what Ill continue to do.

Philpott, who quit her cabinet post as president of the Treasury Board in March because she had lost confidence in how the Trudeau government handled allegations of political pressure on Wilson-Raybould, acknowledged that recent weeks have been very difficult.

She said she made her decision on the basis of what I believe is best for Canadians, to stand up for the truth, and to stand up for the independence of the justice system.

Its very unfortunate that it has come to this but we have to make difficult choices in politics, she said. We arent always in control of all of the things that will happen, the Markham-Stouffville MP said.

Read more:

Justice department memo says Ottawa has wiggle room to allow SNC-Lavalin to bid on federal contracts even if convicted

Opinion | Stephen Lautens: SNC-Lavalin scandal is like watching the sausage being made

SNC-Lavalin scandal probe must be reopened, Opposition MPs say

But you have to be able to hold your head high and look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and say that the choices that you made were the best ones under the circumstances.

Wilson-Raybould and Philpott spoke with reporters before taking their new seats in the Commons as independent MPs, no longer sitting in the Liberal benches after being ejected from the party caucus.

Trudeau announced the expulsions in a tough speech to Liberal MPs on Tuesday night. He declared that Wilson-Raybould and Philpott had lost the trust of fellow caucus members, and singled out Wilson-Rayboulds secret taping of a telephone conversation with Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick as unconscionable.

But Wilson-Raybould denounced that criticism Wednesday, saying its alarming that people are focused on her decision to record the conversation rather than on what it revealed.

In that recording, the former attorney general repeatedly warned Wernick that Trudeau and his officials were engaging in political interference with the SNC-Lavalin prosecution.

The 17-minute call on Dec. 19 ended 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.

Trust is a two-way street, said Wilson-Raybould, who until now has said the pressure Trudeau and his officials applied to her was inappropriate but not unlawful.

On Wednesday, she seemed to take a harder line. Talking about unconscionable, I think  its unconscionable to tread over the independence of the prosecutor. It is unconscionable not to uphold the rule of law.

Wilson-Raybould defended her decision to record her conversation with Wernick. She said there was nothing illegal about it and that in any other circumstance, it would be inappropriate.

I was protecting myself. I knew that something very dangerous and wrong was going to happen and my job was at risk, Wilson-Raybould said.

Philpott turned aside the question about whether any law was broken. To say that its good enough if something hasnt broken a law is a very, very low bar to hold, she said, and I would hope that all politicians would say that we would also not cross ethical boundaries.

Trudeau said that neither MP would be allowed to run for the Liberals in the October election.

Philpott has committed to serving out her term, while Wilson-Raybould said she continues to think about her next steps. Both declined to say whether they would run again.

I need to take some time to reflect. This has ... been an incredibly difficult time, not only for the two of us but also for our families, Wilson-Raybould said. I need to be very considered in what happens next.

Philpott, a first-term MP who was seen as a rising star in cabinet, said Wednesday she wasnt going to bat for Wilson-Raybould when she quit cabinet in March.

Rather, she said she found it impossible in good conscience to publicly back the governments position on the SNC-Lavalin file and deny there had been any high-level interventions.

Philpott also suggested she was surprised by the expulsion from caucus.

What happened yesterday was not something that I anticipated would happen, certainly in the manner that it happened, she said. Asked if she was disappointed in Trudeau, she said in French that Id like to say the prime minister has led our country well in these past years and I wish him the best. I wish him the opportunity to continue his good work.

Philpott, a medical doctor, said she could return to her former career, which I loved, but felt politics was a way she could use her experience to contribute in a significant way.

I would like to think that there are maybe steps I could continue in a political role somehow, she said.

Their removal from the Liberal caucus put Trudeau and Liberals MPs on the defensive Wednesday about their commitment to the partys feminist and Indigenous agenda.

Conservative MP Candice Bergen accused Trudeau of ejecting the two women from caucus as punishment for drawing attention to questionable conduct by the prime minister and top officials on the SNC-Lavalin file.

When these two women told the truth, he didnt want them around. He punished them. Clearly the message is, if you tell the truth in the Liberal caucus, you get booted out. Its unconscionable to watch this happen, said Bergen.

The tough questions came on a day when young women from across the country gathered on Parliament Hill for an initiative to promote the engagement of women in politics. The Daughters of the Vote event, organized by Equal Voice Canada, brings together 338 delegates, one for each riding, who take a seat in the House of Commons.

Trudeau faced a protest from some of the women delegates, who were unhappy with the removal of Wilson-Raybould and Philpott from caucus and the pace of the governments reconciliation agenda with Indigenous peoples.

As he prepared to speak in the Commons, some 40 women stood and turned their backs. Others left the chamber.

Trudeau tackled the topic head-on, acknowledging what he called disagreements in the Liberal caucus.

This is part of what politics needs to be about, hearing from different voices, learning from each other, he said.

Its not going to be easy. Its not going to be simple, Trudeau said.

Diversity only works if there is trust. Within a team, when that trust gets broken, we have to figure out how to move forward, he said.

One delegate asked about the governments pledges on reconciliation. What about the promise that you made to Canada, about restoring a nation-to-nation agreement? she asked.

Trudeau responded that his government is making progress but cautioned against quick fixes.

Parliament in Canada has failed Indigenous peoples, for decades, for generations  with policies aimed at assimilation, marginalization, eradication, he said.

We have taken significant steps in trying to get Canada back on the right path, he said. But what took centuries to break is not going to be simply fixed in a year or two. We know this is a long-term job.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer faced his own protest as a large number of women left the chamber during his speech, returning only after he was finished.

Riley Yesno, of the Eabametoong First Nation in Northern Ontario, said the expulsion of Wilson-Raybould from caucus evoked images of colonial repression over Indigenous peoples.

To see an Indigenous woman expelled from a high position of power speaks volumes, said Yesno, who called Wilson-Raybould an important role model.

It was like a microcosm of the history of Canada, with white men telling Indigenous women where they can and cannot be and exercising their power and privilege over top of them, said Yesno, who left the chamber for the speeches by both Trudeau and Scheer.

Sabine Moller, of the riding Esquimalt  Saanich  Sooke, stayed in the chamber but turned her back on the prime minister.

I turned my back to say that this is a silent protest. Were not going to be disruptive, but we must be heard that there needs to be more done on reconciliation. It cant just be talk, Moller said.

Liberal MPs defended the governments record and rejected questions about whether the loss of Wilson-Raybould and Philpott was a step backward for the governments feminist agenda.

Absolutely not. This issue is about two members of Parliament ... its not about female members, said Jennifer OConnell (Pickering-Uxbridge).

Melanie Joly, minister for tourism, official languages and la Francophonie, defended the prime minister.

We have a feminist agenda. Our record speaks for itself. As to my two colleagues, I would argue that loyalty and feminism are two different things. And actually, there is no female or male definition of loyalty. Its either you have team spirit, you want to work in a team, or you dont, Joly said.

Treasury Board President Joyce Murray, who had hoped both women would remain in caucus, said Wednesday she was fine with the decision. She said it was clear to her that the prime minister had worked hard to keep the two in caucus but there had to be support on their part for the prime minister and for the work that we do.

Clarification - April 4, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version to accurately reflect the comments of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott. They said they have no regrets for defending the independence of the justice system, not,judicial system.

Read more about:OTTAWAThe Liberal government could invoke a public interest exception that would allow SNC-Lavalin to avoid a 10-year federal contract ban even if it is criminally convicted, according to a justice department memo.

Yet the justice department advice, which had been requested by the Privy Council Office (PCO) but never delivered, says the reasons to grant such an exemption are narrow.

The five-page memo was written by Nathalie Drouin, Jody Wilson-Rayboulds former deputy minister, and is dated Nov. 9, 2018.

It makes clear the option of a mediated settlement of the SNC-Lavalin corruption charges is one avenuue that would avoid the contracting ban because no conviction would be registered against the company. The government could also change its policy on contracting bans, or in certain narrow circumstances, invoke the public interest exception to continue doing business with the company.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not rule out a mediated agreement for the company. Asked if it was still on the table for his government, Trudeau replied, That is entirely up to the attorney general.

The justice departments memo indicates there is also another option in law.

It says that depending on the offence for which the company is convicted, it could be ineligible to bid on federal contracts for a period of up to 10 years unless the government considered it possible and appropriate to invoke a public interest exception.

Marked protected/solicitor client privilege, it was quietly posted on the Commons justice committee website this week as the controversy over the Liberal governments attempts to aid SNC-Lavalin culminated with Trudeaus ouster of Wilson-Raybould and former cabinet Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus.

The two women had already resigned from Trudeaus cabinet over concerns the prime minister and his officials pressured Wilson-Raybould to negotiate a settlement in the SNC-Lavalin prosecution.

Trudeau acknowledged for the first time in the Commons that he did hear Wilson-Rayboulds first early warning to him on Sept. 17. She has testified she looked him in the eye and asked Are you politically interfering with my role, my decision as the attorney general? I would strongly advise against it.

Asked directly by Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre if he heard her say that, Trudeau said in question period Wednesday, once she said that, I responded no, I am not, it is her decision to make and she then committed to revisit and look into the decision once again.

Wilson-Raybould testified she told him that day her mind would not change. The prime minister, his former top aide Gerald Butts and former privy council clerk Michael Wernick have said they did not believe her decision was  or could be  final at that early stage, and that she ought to consider the fallout of a conviction on the company.

Drouin testified her officials drew up a memo on the topic after the Privy Council requested an opinion on what the possible consequences of a criminal conviction might be for the company.

SNC-Lavalin still faces one count of fraud under the criminal code and one count of corruption under the Corruption of Foreign Officials Act. But the memo does not outline any of the evidence or indicate that the company is alleged to have bribed the Libyan regime of Moammar Gadhafi between 2001 and 2011.

Read more:

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The team has to trust each other: Trudeau kicks Wilson-Raybould and Philpott from Liberal caucus

Drouin signed the memo and wrote: The reasons to invoke the public interest exception are narrow.

She listed an emergency where any delay in contracting from a company could harm public interest; situations where the contract is essential to maintain sufficient emergency stocks or situations where not entering into the contract with the company/supplier would have a significant adverse impact on the health, national security, safety, public security or economic or financial well-being of Canadians or the functioning of any portion of the federal public administration.

Other than this narrow public interest exception, Drouin writes that the federal governments corporate integrity policy does not afford the government any discretion to continue to contract with the convicted company/supplier.

However the memo does underline that Public Works Canada consultations were underway to change that policy to reduce the time a company would be suspended from bidding on contracts.

Drouin said she never delivered the memo to Wernick at the instruction of Wilson-Rayboulds office. Drouin testified at the justice committee that I knew my minister was not comfortable for us continuing those conversations. I felt I should test with her office before I shared the piece with the Privy Council Office, and I was instructed not to send it.

Wilson-Raybould testified she didnt recall giving a specific instruction on the memo. But in her written brief last week she questioned why Wernick asked for the advice in the first place having known I had already considered the matter and had decided not to intervene.

The memo essentially summarizes the general legal frameworks that cover the SNC-Lavalin case. The Star had requested the document last week, but was denied access because justice department officials said their analysis of whether it could be released was still underway.

It says the biggest difference between a conviction and an outcome under the newly enacted legal regime that allows a deferred prosecution agreement or remediation agreement in cases like SNC-Lavalins is the ineligibility period during which a convicted company would be suspended from business with the federal government.

In other words, a conviction might lead to a period of ineligibility, but a remediation agreement would not, she wrote.

Any period of suspension or debarment is likely to trigger adverse effects, such as foregone business opportunities, reputational damage, and possible reporting requirements to third parties, such as banks and other financial institutions that are the source of operating capital.

In the SNC-Lavalin case, the independent director of public prosecutions Kathleen Roussel declined as early as Sept. 4  according to court documents  to enter negotiations with the company to mediate a settlement of the criminal trial. The company announced the prosecution decision to its shareholders and to the public on Oct. 10 and continued to aggressively lobby for a deferred prosecution agreement or DPA.

A DPA could allow it to avoid being debarred from bidding on federal contracts for up to a decade as a result.

Roussel gave formal notice of her decision to Wilson-Raybould on Sept. 4, when the former attorney general was out of the country at a conference, but Wilson-Raybould testified she provided a copy of that notice to the PMO in September, and in the Sept. 17 meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told him she would not overrule Roussel.

Wernick said, in the now-infamously recorded phone call on Dec. 18 between the clerk and the former minister, that he was not aware she had shared Roussels notice with the PMO that he worried she and Trudeau were at loggerheads. He said the prime minister was gonna find a way to get it done one way or another.

Trudeau told the Commons Wednesday, I was not debriefed on that conversation between the clerk and the minister. I should have spoken directly with the minister. There was not an opportunity to do that.

Wilson-Raybould says she was finally replaced as attorney general for refusing to bend to what she called inappropriate political pressure by Trudeau and his officials to mediate a settlement for SNC-Lavalin.

She later quit cabinet in February after the story went public and Trudeau denied pressuring her.

Her replacement as justice minister and attorney general, David Lametti, says the option of a deferred prosecution agreement or DPA with SNC-Lavalin remains one that is available under the law, however Lamettis office confirmed Wednesday he has so far not issued a directive in the matter.

Read more about:Jody Wilson-Raybould appears to have written a whole new manual on how to lose your job in politics.

Maybe there have been other politicians who turned a cabinet demotion into a three-month-long crisis for their governments, though none spring to mind. Perhaps there are other ministers who have spent days warning their bosses not to move them out of their jobs.

But no one in Canada, until Wilson-Raybould, appears to have done this so publicly and with such bridge-burning tenacity  up to and including Tuesdays fiery warning to fellow Liberals against ejecting her from caucus.

None of the warnings worked. In the space of three months, Wilson-Raybould has become the former justice minister, the former veterans affairs minister, and as of Tuesday night, a former Liberal MP and no-longer candidate for Vancouver Granville in the next election.

More to come, Wilson-Raybould said in the tweet announcing her ejection from Trudeaus caucus. No doubt thats true  for a minister who was notoriously media-shy while in cabinet, shes been a magnet for controversy and attention since leaving it.

Regardless of what one thinks of Wilson-Raybould  and her story has polarized politics, even friends and families  her long-running exit from Trudeaus fold is unprecedented in terms of the damage its done to all sides of her dispute with the PMO.

Read more:

Texts between Gerald Butts and Jody Wilson-Raybould show mounting anger, frustration over shuffle

Wilson-Raybould and Philpott ejected from Liberal party, Trudeau announces

Defiant and unbowed, Wilson-Raybould absolutely ready for next salvo in SNC-Lavalin affair

Why Trudeau let it go on so long is one mystery of this saga  the prime minister is well-versed in ejecting troublesome colleagues, be they appointed Liberal senators or errant MPs. His speech to Liberal caucus on Tuesday night, his fans and critics will say, is one he might well have delivered weeks ago.

The how of it going on so long, however, is less of a mystery. If weve learned nothing else in the latest wave of revelations about the behind-the-scenes conversations leading to her demotion, Wilson-Rayboulds fierce streak of self-preservation has shone through.

She secretly taped a conversation in December with Michael Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council  a move that Trudeau described as unconscionable in his Tuesday night speech.

She sat on vacation in Bali in early January, tapping out multiple warnings in text messages to Gerald Butts, the prime ministers principal secretary  messages revealed on Tuesday when Butts handed over his emails and texts to the Commons justice committee.

Timing of pushing me out is terrible  it will be confounding and perplexing to people, Wilson-Raybould wrote from Bali. What is being proposed is a mistake.

She even had a fellow minister, Jane Philpott, take a bullet for her too, first telling Trudeau that Wilson-Raybould would see dark motives behind the shuffle, then resigning in solidarity with her a month later. Philpott got ejected from Liberal caucus on Tuesday night as well.

Though Wilson-Raybould asserts she had no hand in the original leak of her story to The Globe and Mail back in February, her version of events around SNC-Lavalin has asserted itself since the beginning as the prevailing narrative. From the beginning, even when confirmed facts were sparse, her tale had the benefit of the doubt; Trudeaus side, not so much.

Many will say that this is the power of bringing an outsider into the insiders game of politics. An Indigenous woman, new to the Liberal party and its ancient history and customs in Canadian politics, introduced massive disruption to the status quo.

Certainly thats how her supporters and the opposition parties will be casting her ouster from the Liberal fold. Thats the more to come to watch in days and weeks ahead.

But as Trudeau said in his Tuesday night speech to the Liberal caucus, infighting is actually more the rule than the exception in his party, and thats what tipped him out of his patience and understanding with Wilson-Rayboulds long-smouldering exit from her old job.

In other words, two former ministers are gone from Trudeaus Liberal party because they reminded him of past party dramas  Jean Chretien versus Paul Martin, or even John Turner versus Pierre Trudeau.

No previous break in Liberal party unity has happened quite this way, however, in terms of time or public damage. It has been a fascinating glimpse into how Trudeaus government works  or doesnt, in the case of the paralysis its caused. It has also been a testament to the persistence of Jody Wilson-Raybould, who throughout that long goodbye rewrote a lot of rules on how to lose a job in politics.

Susan Delacourt is the Stars Ottawa bureau chief and a columnist covering national politics. Reach her via email: sdelacourt@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @susandelacourt

Read more about:A former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister is unveiling an ambitious plan to lead the decimated party out of the wilderness.

Steven Del Duca will announce his bid Wednesday for the provincial Liberal leadership by promising to field 30 candidates under the age of 30 across Ontarios 124 ridings in the 2022 election.

In a letter to party members, Del Duca says at least half of Liberal candidates should be women and the party should scrap its $10 membership fee after its debts are cleared to boost its numbers to 100,000.

The next provincial election will take place on June 2, 2022  three years and two months from today. And we have a ton of work to do to be ready, writes the former MPP.

Del Duca lost his Vaughan riding when Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives toppled then premier Kathleen Wynnes Liberals last spring, leaving the Grits with just seven seats after nearly 15 years in power.

While the party, which no longer has official status in the legislature, has yet to set a date for a leadership contest, there is considerable interest in the post.

Read more:

Opinion | Bob Hepburn: Time for Ontario Liberals to reform its leadership selection process?

Whats ahead for Ontario Liberals in 2019? Rebuilding and finding a new leader

Former minister Steven Del Duca: I wasnt meddling, I was building transit

Recent public-opinion polls have been encouraging due in part to Fords stumbles on issues like funding for autism, patronage appointments and high school class sizes.

Liberal MPP Michael Coteau (Don Valley East) has already declared his intention to run, and caucus mates Nathalie Des Rosiers (Ottawa-Vanier), Marie-France Lalonde (Ottawa-Orleans), and Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood) are also testing the water. Lawyer Tim Murphy, a former MPP, past campaign chair and one-time party president, is being urged by friends to seek the leadership.

But Del Duca is considered a front-runner because of his deep roots in the party and superior organization.

Ive been a riding president, campaign manager, (Ontario Young Liberals) campus club president, executive council member, political staff-person, candidate, MPP and minister, the veteran Grit writes.

Ontario Liberals must remember that there are no shortcuts to success. There are no easy, magical routes to victory. And no one individual will be able to do whats needed all on their own, he continues.

To me, its not about moving our party to the left or to the right. Its about winning the next election so that we can move Ontario forward.

Saddled with a campaign debt of around $7 million and more restrictions on fundraising thanks to Wynnes reforms that banned corporate and union contributions, the next Liberal leader will have a daunting challenge.

The Conservatives have promised to phase out the $2.71 per-vote public subsidies for political parties. Currently, the Tories receive $6.3 million annually while the NDP gets $5.2 million, the Liberals about $3 million, and the Greens around $700,000.

On top of that, Ford has been out-fundraising all the other parties combined, including an event in February that netted a record $4 million.

The Liberals, who will mark the first anniversary of their defeat with an annual general meeting June 7-9 at the International Centre in Mississauga, are mindful they have much ground to cover.

Del Duca wants the party to launch The Victory Tap, a fundraising app for smartphones that enables every member to raise an unlimited number of smaller donations ($100 or less, at a time) for their riding association or the central party.

As well, he said the Liberals have to reconnect with the grassroots for policy development to ensure they are reflecting what members want.

Ontario is bigger than the neighbourhoods around Queens Park, he writes.

My ambition is based on the unbridled belief that Ontario can be so much more than it is today.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

Read more about:VANCOUVERThe former B.C. director of the Liberal Party of Canada says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should have resigned Tuesday, instead of the party ejecting MPs Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from caucus.

Michael Haack said Trudeau has broken the pledges he made when he ran for office in 2015 and has angered Canadians over his handling of the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

We talk about peace, order and good government; thats been thrown out the door to win, said Haack, who served as director of operations for the Liberal Party of Canadas B.C. wing until late 2017. Seven weeks ago Trudeau could have owned up and apologized.

Now its too late, he said.

Meanwhile, Ujjal Dosanjh  B.C.s former premier who was later health minister under prime minister Paul Martin from 2004 to 2006  said Tuesday that Trudeau did exactly the wrong thing if he wants to stanch the bleeding caused by the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Dosanjh said that instead of booting two of his star cabinet members from caucus, Trudeau should immediately fess up to his offices mistakes, apologize and fire his advisers.

Read more:

Opinion | Susan Delacourt: Jody Wilson-Raybould rewrote the book on how to lose your job

The team has to trust each other: Trudeau kicks Wilson-Raybould and Philpott from Liberal caucus

Texts between Gerald Butts and Jody Wilson-Raybould show mounting anger, frustration over shuffle

I say this as a loyal member of the party: The narrative spun by the Prime Ministers Office has been absolutely incredible, and he needs to change all his advisers, he said.

Wilson-Raybould is at the centre of a controversy thats dogged the party for nearly two months, after alleging she was subjected to a sustained campaign of inappropriate pressure by Trudeau and his office to persuade her to intervene in the criminal prosecution of Quebec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. Philpott resigned last month after Wilson-Raybould stepped down from cabinet, saying she was also concerned about the integrity of the justice system.

Wilson-Raybould broke the news of her expulsion in a tweet just as Liberal MPs gathered for a special caucus meeting, ostensibly to decide the fate of her and Philpott. The pair had already resigned their cabinet positions over the controversy.

Speaking to those gathered Tuesday, Trudeau said the two could not continue as Liberals given their public lack of confidence in his leadership and the party.

The decision came despite a last-minute appeal from Wilson-Raybould to her Liberal colleagues to allow her to stay, based on the principles for which she joined the party.

In her two-page letter, Wilson-Raybould said she joined the Liberal party to promote progressive policies on climate change, Indigenous reconciliation, criminal justice and the economy. She said she believed the Liberals wanted to transform our political culture and to pursue a more responsive, representative and less partisan approach to the governing of the country.

Staffers could be seen inside Wilson-Rayboulds Vancouver constituency office Tuesday evening but they werent speaking to the herd of reporters pacing outside on the sidewalk in front of the building.

Both Haack and Dosanjh said time is running out for the Liberals to change course, as a federal election looms before Oct. 21.

Haack said that, after watching a video of Trudeau explaining why the party booted Wilson-Raybould and Philpott, he phoned party headquarters to cancel his monthly donations after years of contributions.

I wont be donating any time for the foreseeable future, he said.

He said the damage done to the Liberals over their handling of the scandal could only have been overcome by Trudeau resigning as leader.

In an election year, the only way for the party to combat this is for the prime minister to have resigned today.

Dosanjh, who served as B.C.s attorney general before becoming premier, said he was aghast at the repeated attempts by the prime minister, his office and the Clerk of the Privy Council to badger Wilson-Raybould over and over and over.

As a former attorney general myself, that was highly inappropriate, Dosanjh said. Wasnt there any adult in the room who could tell him what Wilson-Raybould was doing was legally her right?

With files from Jen St. Denis, Tonda MacCharles and Bruce Campion-Smith

Read more about:CNN And WaPo Demand That Trump Further Escalate Tensions With Russia





By Caitlin Johnstone

April 02, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - CNN has aired a segment in which pundit Fareed Zakaria tells the networks audience that the US president has been unwilling to confront Putin in any way on any issue and asks will Venezuela be the moment when Trump finally ends his appeasement?

The segment is a near-verbatim reading of Zakarias Washington Post column from a couple of days prior, so thats two massive prongs through which this false and pernicious narrative is being driven into mainstream consciousness claiming that the Trump administration has been far too dovish toward Moscow, rather than dangerously hawkish as is actually the case.

Zakaria begins his segment by describing the Trump administrations (completely illegitimate) efforts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, then describing Russian efforts to counter this agenda as an attempt to taunt the United States. He then spends the rest of the segment asking if Trump will be brave and patriotic enough to further escalate tensions against a nuclear superpower. Zakaria concludes by implying that if Trump fails to increase world-threatening nuclear tensions to effect yet another US regime change intervention in yet another oil-rich country, it will be because he is a Kremlin agent.

Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The big question for Washington is: Will it allow Moscow to make a mockery of another U.S. red line? Zakaria said. The United States and Russia have taken opposing, incompatible stands on this issue. And as with Syria, there is a danger that, if Washington does not back its words with deeds, a year from now, we will be watching the consolidation of the Maduro regime, supported with Russian arms and money.

Yes Fareed, there is a real danger that if the Trump administration you liberal pundits claim to oppose doesnt act like the reckless madman you claim he is and tempt hot war with a nuclear superpower in order to effect regime change in a sovereign nation, that regime change agenda will fail. Very, very dangerous to not flirt with nuclear war over US resource control agendas.

The administration has been tough on Russian involvement in Venezuela, said Zakaria. Trump himself has even declared, Russia has to get out. But that is an unusual statement from Trump, who has almost never criticized Putin and often sided with Russia on matters big and small.

Zakaria goes on to cite the Obama administrations ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul, who claimed in a Washington Post article that, contrary to the Trump administrations claims of being hawkish toward Russia, Even on small issues of little relevance to American national interests, Trump sides with Putin.

I have never alleged collusion or conspiracy between Russia and Trump, writing merely that we should wait to see what evidence special counsel Robert S. Mueller III presented, Zakaria concludes, trying to shelter himself from the ridicule that is being directed at the debunked Russiagate conspiracy while simultaneously promoting it. But the real puzzle remains: Why has Trump been unwilling to confront Putin in any way on any issue? And will Venezuela be the moment when Trump finally ends his appeasement?

War obsessed CNN pushing Trump to destroy Venezuela to prove hes not Putins bitch. My god, this is pure war propaganda. https://t.co/RUQiRHvcYv  Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) April 1, 2019

You could not ask for a more perfect illustration of just how dangerous and toxic this years-long Russiagate psyop has been. Even after the Mueller investigation concluded with no mass arrests, no sealed indictments, no further indictments and no evidence of Russian collusion, the mass media war propagandists are attempting to use the Russia hysteria theyve already manufactured via the collusion narrative to create demand for more escalations against Russia. Fragmenting and undermining Russia and shoving it off the world stage has been an agenda of opaque US government agencies since the fall of the Soviet Union, and steps have been taken into a new cold war to effect this agenda for more than five years now, long before liberals in America spent any part of their day thinking or caring about Vladimir Putin. Mass media outlets like CNN and WaPo have been actively facilitating this agenda by promulgating these false narratives, and they are playing an instrumental role in convincing the US populace to keep their foot off the brake pedal in an accelerating and world-threatening new cold war.

Trump has already greatly escalated tensions with Russia by implementing a Nuclear Posture Review with a much more aggressive stance against Russia, withdrawing from the INF treaty, bombing and illegally occupying Syria, arming Ukraine, staging a coup in Venezuela, and many, many other hawkish actions taken against the interests of Russias geostrategic and economic interests. It is an indisputable fact that Trump has been more aggressive toward Russia than any other president since the fall of the Berlin wall. But the Russiagate narrative enables the war propagandists to not only ignore these escalations and the danger they pose to all life on earth, but to demand more and more of them.

Stephen Cohen, one of the foremost experts on US-Russia relations in America, made the following observation way back in April of 2017 in an interview with Democracy Now:

I think this is the most dangerous moment in American-Russian relations, at least since the Cuban missile crisis. And arguably, its more dangerous, because its more complex. Therefore, weand then, meanwhile, we have in Washington theseand, in my judgment, factless accusations that Trump has somehow been compromised by the Kremlin. So, at this worst moment in American-Russian relations, we have an American president whos being politically crippled by the worst imaginableits unprecedented. Lets stop and think. No American president has ever been accused, essentially, of treason. This is what were talking about here, or that his associates have committed treason. Imagine, for example, John Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis. And for the viewers who are not of a certain age, the Kennedy administration was presentedand the evidence, by the way, was presented to us; they showed us the surveillance photos. There was no doubt what the Soviets had done, putting missile silos in Cuba. No evidence has been presented today of anything. Imagine if Kennedy had been accused of being a secret Soviet Kremlin agent. He would have been crippled. And the only way he could have proved he wasnt was to have launched a war against the Soviet Union. And at that time, the option was nuclear war.

To be clear, we came within a hairs breadth of total nuclear annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Nobody likes to think about how close we all came to losing literally everything, and we didnt find out exactly how close we came until years later, but armageddon came *this* close to happening. The primary risk of nuclear war isnt that one will be planned and carried out in the hope of one side emerging victorious, its that something can go cataclysmically wrong as a result of miscommunication or misunderstanding in the midst of complex and confusing escalating tensions. This almost happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Due to his extensive knowledge of the dynamics in play, Cohen saw all this coming long before anyone else, and accurately predicted the waves of cold war escalations weve seen since. Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard recently confirmed his prediction, tweeting, Short-sighted politicians and media pundits whove spent last two years accusing Trump as a Putin puppet have brought us the expensive new Cold War and arms race. How? Because Trump now does everything he can to prove hes not Putins puppeteven if it brings us closer to nuclear war.

This is how depraved the mass media are. Theyre willing to lull the populace into complacency with the formation of a new cold war that threatens everyone they love, even get them demanding direct confrontation, all to please their plutocratic owners, their military-industrial complex sponsors, and the intelligence agencies with which they are aligned. Theyre willing to risk getting us all killed for money and crude oil.

If were going to begin bringing our society and ecosystem into health, were going to have to find a way to extricate the influence of these toxic manipulators from the minds of the greater populace. As long as theyre able to propagandize the majority into consenting to even the most insane omnicidal agendas, well never be able to use our superior numbers against the malignant manipulations of the few who would rule us. Whoever controls the narrative controls the world, and right now its the evil fingers that are pulling the strings of empire lackeys like Fareed Zakaria.

Caitlin's articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast, throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. https://caitlinjohnstone.com

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==When he graduated from university in Japan, Tomohiro Ohno didn't know what he wanted to do. But he knew what he didn't want to do, which was work for a traditional Japanese company.

So he ended up founding a firm that's more space age than staid: Ohno was an early mover into augmented reality. The company he started, Kudan, is developing programs that enable computers to have the equivalent of human eyes, using what Ohno and his industry call computer vision algorithms.

Kudan listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December. It was a sparkling debut. The stock shot up more than sixfold to a high at the end of February, which saw his fortune top $800 million. While it has since given up some of those gains, the market value is still about $1.3 billion, and Ohno owns more than half the shares. He's currently estimated to have a net worth of about $700 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Still, the 49-year-old entrepreneur is far from getting carried away.

"It's a ridiculous amount," Ohno, who goes by "Tomo," said in an interview in Tokyo. "That doesn't mean anything. We're not aiming to increase market value," he said. "It doesn't really impact us."

While people often associate augmented reality with Pokemon Go, the hit mobile game that makes images of anime characters seem as if they're in users' real-world locations, Ohno says the technology is so much more than that. "I've nothing against Pokemon Go," he said. "But after all, it's just showing Pikachu" - one of the characters - "in the corner of the room."

Kudan is deploying the technology for different purposes. It's developing programs that enable computers to perceive real-world objects in three dimensions. They have uses in everything from driverless cars to drones and even vacuum cleaners. It works with other technologies such as artificial intelligence to enhance the autonomous and interactive experience.

"AI is the brain and we are the eyes," said Ohno, who started his career as a management consultant before working at a startup in Bristol, U.K. and then founding his own business buying and selling computer-game licences. "The eyes and brain need to work together."

Kudan recently announced a partnership with California-based Synopsys Inc. to have its technology embedded into Synopsys products, which cover markets from mobile to automotive. While Ohno says making his company massive isn't his main goal, this kind of alliance helps Kudan gain exposure.

"We don't want to be the next Google," Ohno said. He wants Kudan to be more like ARM Holdings, the chip designer owned by SoftBank Group Corp. whose technology is in most smartphones. "ARM is massive, but tiny compared to Intel. But it's everywhere. That's where we want to go."

Kudan initially focused on using augmented reality for marketing, according to Ohno. No one was successful in making the technology easily digestible to ordinary people at the time, giving the company a good business opportunity, he said. But soon, a bigger firm doing similar things emerged as a competitor. That caused Kudan to come up with a strategy of making competitors its customers, instead of defending its turf.

The process involved switching the company's business model from using AR for marketing to developing apps using the technology and finally becoming a provider of algorithms to other companies. Kudan's chief technology officer, John Williams, who Ohno calls a "self-taught genius" and his best friend, convinced him to move away from apps into the underlying technologies, Ohno said. Now, Kudan has a wider customer base, including previous competitors, he said.

"It's a highly rated stock among investors," said Tomoichiro Kubota, an analyst at Matsui Securities Co. in Tokyo. But there is "the risk of seeing a company with a similar model popping up," he said. And "the other side of expectations being high is that we're in a situation where there's been quite a bit of buying, and it's looking expensive."

Kudan trades at more than 150 times book value, and more than 35,000 times earnings, which were negligible for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. The stock fell 1.2 percent on Wednesday in Tokyo.

That won't unduly concern Ohno, who is more focused on developing the business and other goals, such as setting up a unit in China and taking it public. He's still based in Bristol, where his company's technology lab is located. Kudan has fewer than 20 employees, many of whom have doctoral degrees from a computer vision laboratory at the University of Bristol. Ohno said the company hires only experts in their field, and shuns meetings as unnecessary, because his people already know what to do.

The office in Bristol is situated in a former church. Ohno's seat has a five-meter stained-glass window directly behind him, which shines a glow of light over him on sunny days. Asked if he has plans to move to a new location, he said he's happy where he is.

"I do look like a god there," he said.How the U.S. Creates Sh*thole Countries: A Review

By Danny Haiphong

Cynthia McKinney and her co-writers have produced an important literary tool for anti-imperial agitation and education.

Trumps use of sh*thole offered an opportunity to explain the realities of U.S. foreign policy to the people.

April 02, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Cynthia McKinney has been on the frontlines of the struggle for global peace for decades. Known first as a dissenting voice in Congress and then for her work in exposing the truth about the U.S.-led wars on the Palestinian, Libyan, and Black people here in the United States, McKinneys voice is seldom heard in the arena of corporate politics. She has long understood that one of the most critical tasks of this historical juncture is the mobilization of the masses to stop the endless wars waged by U.S. Empire. In a series of essays written by activists, scholars, and analysts from across the political spectrum, McKinney shows through practice what this should look like. Her new book How the U.S. Creates Sh*thole Countries is an invaluable piece of literature that seeks to transform anti-war ideas into an anti-war movement.

The book challenges the liberal ethos that Trumps vulgar sh*thole comments in January of 2018 were some aberration or detached from reality. Liberal elites work hard to erase the realities of racism and war by claiming the moral high ground of respectability politics. Their criticisms of Trump center around his foul language to distract from the role that they play in the creation of sh*thole countries. McKinney and the rest of the authors condemn Trump for characterizing Haiti and African nations such as Nigeria as sh*tholes while attempting to answer a question that neither racist demagogues nor liberal elites dare to ask: What exactly causes the massive suffering experienced around the world?

Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

How the U.S. Creates Sh*thole seeks to transform anti-war ideas into an anti-war movement.

The text wastes no time in identifying the U.S. as the primary source of the sh*thole conditions found in every corner of the planet. U.S.-led devastation is broken down into four sections. The first section lays bare the broad effects of U.S. imperialism worldwide and the millions of people that the system has displaced, impoverished, and murdered. More specific cases are presented in the next section, including the U.S. role in the colonial occupation of the Palestinian people and the contemporary impact of the U.S. use of Agent Orange chemical warfare and landmines to kill and poison the Vietnamese people. The last two sections deal with the propaganda mill of the U.S. Empire. Contributors end the text by conducting a thorough analysis of how the U.S. is itself a sh*thole country.

What makes this book special is the purpose behind it. From the first page, it is obvious that the authors are not merely attempting to teach others about the horrors of U.S. foreign policy. This is an important function of the text but not its central one. As McKinney herself explains in the introduction, This book presents new analyses of old narratives that wither under scientific scrutiny and calls for a new, innovative vision for US policy created by courageous leadership, like that shown everyday by the contributors of this book.

U.S. imperialism has displaced, impoverished, and murdered millions.

Indeed, the book unites a range of voices with years of experience in the struggle for peace against a backdrop of endless American warfare. Brian Wilson, who lost his legs blocking munitions transfers to Nicaragua during the U.S. contra wars, details his visit to El Salvador where he learned of the extensive role that the U.S. played in the proxy war (1980-1992) on the FMLN and the massive displacement and death roll left in its wake. Former editor of the New African magazine Baffour Ankomah analyzes the corporate plunder of several African nations and its role in creating massive levels of impoverishment and instability in the resource-rich continent. In Ghana, for example, Ankomah explains how large multinational mining corporations have expatriated over half of their profits while paying zero dollars in taxes back to the national government. Such an outcome, according to Ankomah, is the rule rather than the exception for most African nations.

Human rights lawyer Christopher Black and this writer contribute analysis regarding why the truth about U.S. empire is so hard to disseminate. The first two sections of the book detailing the extensive U.S. record of creating sh*tholes abroad are thus intimately connected to the last two sections which concern the deplorable conditions right here in the center of the imperial albatross and the imperial propaganda that facilitates popular obedience to the destruction. This book makes clear that it is impossible to understand the suffering of the masses in nations such as Somalia without studying and condemning the narratives that justify the policies that create sh*thole conditions. As Christopher Black explains, . . . propaganda is used to provoke war, to sustain war, to turn other people, declared to be the enemy, into beings that need to be killed. It robs them of their humanity, of their kinship with us, their desires and dreams, and makes them into vermin to be destroyedwith ease and even joy in the killing.

Corporate plunder creates massive levels of impoverishment and instability on the African continent.

From Puerto Rico to Ghana, Venezuela to Palestine, the U.S. has spread the misery of its sh*thole model in the service of corporate profit and military domination. Despite this reality, the peace movement in the U.S. remains small and ineffectual. How the US Creates Sh*thole Countries seeks to reverse the contradiction between the dire conditions before us and the relatively stagnant political waters in which we swim. It is an effective intervention which offers a wealth of public information to counter a system based on the accumulation of private wealth from the spoils of war. Regardless of whatever one thinks of Trump as an individual, his use of sh*thole offered an opportunity to explain the realities of U.S. foreign policy to the people and the contributors of the book seized the time.

It is only fitting that the plight of the U.S. poor concludes the text. U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike pay dearly for the wars that cause sh*thole conditions at home and abroad. The deplorable conditions of poor people and working people in the U.S. continue to worsen. Mired in debt and unable to afford healthcare and the necessities of life, poor and working people in the U.S. have little stake in the wars carried out on the poor in distant nations. Contributing authors such as Richard Falk and Robin Eastman Abaya make this abundantly clear.

Propaganda makes people into vermin to be destroyed.

How the U.S. Creates Sh*thole Countriesis a must-read for those looking to politically educate themselves and others about the causes and effects of the U.S. Empires foreign policy. This is the first step toward developing and strengthening a much-needed peace movement in this period where the crisis of U.S. imperialism threatens to engulf the world in endless, potentially nuclear wars with the rising powers to the East, Russia and China. The warmongers, the war-makers, and the corporate elite will not promote this book. It will be up to the forces of peace and justice in the world to elevate its message and popularize its analysis before it is too late.

Danny Haiphong is an activist and journalist in the New York City area. He and Roberto Sirvent are co-authors of the forthcoming book entitled American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: A Peoples History of Fake News- From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror

This article was originally published by " Black Agenda Report " - Via paulcraigroberts.org

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In Case You Missed it - Why We're at War? Confessions of a USA Economic Hit Man, Meet John Perkins



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Peace and joyThe former chief financial officer of United Continental Holdings is betting that the U.S. airline industry needs another budget airline.

Andrew Levy, who also helped establish Allegiant., is raising money for a new low-cost niche carrier designed to serve secondary airports with a reliable experience that differs from current players in the market.

"We think the opportunity exists for a real high-quality, highly reliable, extremely low fare, basic transportation service," Levy said Tuesday. The airline, which has not yet been named, will offer "a better product and experience but still offer really low prices," he said, comparing the venture to the past experience of Southwest Airlines. "I think Southwest showed that for many, many years."

The Houston-based company has not decided on an aircraft type but is leaning toward leasing Boeing Co.'s 737-800, given the worldwide grounding of the company's new 737 Max. The planes would seat 189 passengers, a high-density approach designed to help the company offer fares below the industry average.

Levy, 49, purchased XTRA Airways, a Florida-based charter carrier, in August. XTRA's parent last year sold most of its fleet to Swift Air but kept one Boeing 737-400 to retain its Part 121 commercial airline certification. The charter company, which operated two 737s for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, is being transformed into the new scheduled operation. The airline is seeking to raise $100 million and expects to finish its fundraising by June.

The carrier could start service with around five aircraft late this year or in early 2020, Levy said.

The aggressive schedule would place its debut ahead of another planned U.S. airline entrant-dubbed Moxy-that is expected to begin flights in 2021 using the new Airbus A220. That carrier is being formed by David Neeleman, the serial entrepreneur who established JetBlue Airways Corp. and Azul SA in Brazil, and also holds a large stake in TAAP Air Portugal.

Levy said his revamped airline would not be a clone of ultra low-cost carriers like Spirit Airlines Inc. or Frontier Airlines Inc. It would seek to innovate parts of the low-cost travel experience, including offering a more simplified fee structure than competitors, which typically charge ancillary fees for things like seat assignments, water and carry-on bags.

"You have to do something different," he said, declining to discuss specific details of the proposed airline's product, service or network. "The idea that you can come in and just do what others do but just do it better, I don't buy that."

New airlines face long odds of success in the U.S., the world's most mature aviation market. Levy's strategy calls for building a "defensible" network, away from the big airlines, to avoid incurring a response. The business envisions stimulating new air travel, as all low-cost carriers must, and selling into unmet demand on underserved routes.

The business model is based upon the notion that most of the large U.S. airlines' capacity growth has trailed general economic growth for several years, firming up their profits and making fares higher than they might be without the spate of industry mergers.

U.S. airlines' consolidation and the resulting financial stability-marked by billions in annual profits-represents a dramatic turnaround from decades of boom-and-bust cycles. It also signifies that airlines are no longer "suicidally competitive," as stocks sage Warren Buffett once put it, a situation that has induced him to invest heavily in the industry. His Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is now among the largest owners of the four biggest U.S. carriers, including a stake in Delta that now tops 10 percent.

Levy's plans were reported earlier by WBUR, a Boston radio station.Walgreens Boots Alliance is facing a reckoning and it's hitting the drugstore chain's billionaire chief executive, Stefano Pessina, in the walllet.

Beset by bruising retail competition, changing drug-price economics and consolidation among its rivals, the company saw its shares fall Tuesday by the most since August 2014, sinking 13 percent to close at $55.36. The plunge came after the chain posted lower second-quarter profits and cut its guidance for the fiscal year.

Pessina, a multibillionaire who owns 15.4 percent of the company, saw his net worth decline by $1.18 billion, from $11.35 billion to $10.17 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

There were few bright spots for Walgreens in the past three months, a period Pessina said was the toughest in his tenure as CEO. At its pharmacy counters, the source of two-thirds of its U.S. sales, Walgreens filled more prescriptions but was hurt by smaller reimbursements from insurers. Meanwhile, same-store retail sales fell 3.8 percent in the quarter as shoppers picked up fewer cold remedies and tobacco products.

Makers of brand-name drugs, under pressure from politicians, haven't been raising prices as rapidly, limiting a source of growth for drugstores like Walgreens. On top of that, wholesale prices for generic medicines aren't dropping as fast as they were a year or two ago, depriving the company of significant markups.

Walgreens' U.S. business is "under siege," said Evercore ISI analyst Ross Muken in a note to clients, saying the results were worse than even pessimistic investors imagined. Pessina said on a conference call with analysts that Walgreens management saw the trends coming but wasn't quick enough in putting countermeasures in place.

Pessina, who resides in Monaco, has made and lost billions from his Walgreens holdings. He first received a stake in Walgreens in 2012 when the company bought 45 percent of Alliance Boots, the British drugstore chain he then chaired. After Walgreens acquired the remaining 55 percent of Alliance Boots at the end of 2014, Pessina's net worth was almost $11.7 billion. His wealth peaked at $15.3 billion in July 2015.

A spokesman for Walgreens declined to comment on the change in Pessina's wealth.

Walgreens is less diversified than its biggest rival, CVS Health Corp. CVS, which already owned drug-benefit manager Caremark, bought insurer Aetna Inc. last year. But Walgreens' 2015 plan to acquire drugstore rival Rite Aid Corp. -- which would have vaulted it past CVS in store count -- fizzled after regulators objected. Walgreens ended up buying 1,932 Rite Aid stores but not the company itself.

Those purchases, completed last year, have brought Walgreens to a total of 9,560 U.S. stores. Walgreens said Tuesday it would close 750 U.S. stores, up from a previously announced 600. And it boosted its cost-cutting target to more than $1.5 billion a year by fiscal 2022, from more than $1 billion.

Most recently, Walgreens has focused on partnerships. The company announced a retail partnership with grocer Kroger Co., a drug-delivery agreement with FedEx Corp., and a digital-health effort with Microsoft Corp. But those haven't yet made a difference on the bottom line.

On the conference call, Pessina promised things would eventually turn around.

"We still believe in this market. We still believe that this market is a market for the future, a big market with continuous growth," Pessina said, emphasizing that he wouldn't use cash to overpay for a big acquisition.URBANA  Usually, when food historian Cynthia Clampitt gives her talk about the history of corn, she has to explain why.

Not so at last weeks lecture at the University of Illinois, whose researchers started the conversation around hybridization of corn, developed super sweet corn and started the Morrow Plots, the oldest experimental crop field in the country.

Almost everywhere, I know people say, Well, why would you write a book about corn? I dont think Ill get asked that here, she said. Its a huge, huge honor to be here because (UI) is such a big part of the corn story.

Corn has led to everything from the rapid westward expansion of the United States to the growth of cities, especially Chicago, Clampitt argued.

The ripple effect from corn has led to the mail-order catalog, the Buckingham Fountain and the Chicago Bears, she said, and at one time, Peoria was the largest consumer of corn in the country.

A huge amount of corn was turned into whiskey. Right from the beginning, basically, whiskey was popular in the colonies, but it became increasingly popular as we moved further west, Clampitt said. And the winner in the contest of who makes the most whiskey: Peoria, Illinois.

Peoria used to be known as the whiskey capital of the world. It was the largest consumer of corn in the United States from the mid-1800s until Prohibition; 186,000 gallons of whiskey a day. And it was so much whiskey that the taxes from whiskey from Peoria was 50 percent of the federal budget.

Corn, which simply means the dominant crop of a region, first became corn as we know it in Mexico, long before Europeans arrived, Clampitt said, about 10,000 years ago.

It started when what looked like ambitious crabgrass with a small cob emerged with a jumping gene that allowed it to mutate quickly.

With just regular cross-breeding, there were already at least 200 varieties by the time Europeans arrived.

The first to be developed was popcorn, then a quick-growing variety called flint corn that was popular along the eastern seaboard.

The next one to develop was flour corn, Clampitt said, which was much easier to grind and was used in the Southwest in tortillas, for example.

Then in the Midwest, dent corn became popular.

If youre driving across Illinois, youre mostly looking at dent corn, Clampitt said. Dent corn was the last major corn race to be developed in Mexico.

And finally, around the 1600s, sweet corn was developed by the Iroquois Indians in the Great Lakes area.

It didnt become popular among Americans until after the Civil War, Clampitt said, as most corn can be sweet corn if its picked at the right stage and eaten quickly enough.

Most corn converts the sugar to starch quickly after its picked, Clampitt said, but sweet corn has an enzyme that delays that conversion process.

Since corn is relatively easy to grow and harvest, its development allowed natives to build their societies, Clampitt said.

This corn is basically what gave us all of those pyramids and the mathematics and the astronomy you see in Latin America, she said. That all came out of the ability to have everybody free to do stuff other than just plant food and try to survive.

When the Europeans came over, they realized corns advantages, and part of the reason they expanded west so quickly was because they ran out of space to plant corn.

Corn was also easy for those traveling west, as one seed could grow a half a pound of food.

Corn made it possible for the Midwest to be settled faster than any other region in the history of the world, Clampitt said. With corn, all settlers needed was a backpack, a hatchet and a gun, and you were set, you could go anywhere.

In the 1800s, the grain elevator was developed, allowing corn to be transported in much larger quantities than when it was stored in bags.

This removed farmers from the corn they grew, which led to the commodity markets. The Chicago Board of Trade was created in 1848, and Chicago became the center of the corn industry.

This helped Chicago become the dominant city in the Midwest, overtaking St. Louis.

All of a sudden Chicagos got the grain elevators. St. Louis is not interested because, of course, in 1848, its still a slave state, Clampitt said. They have people carrying all those bags. Its like, why would we build a grain elevator when weve got guys to carry all these heavy bags for us?

The corn industry built up wealth in Chicago, including the Buckingham family, which owned grain elevators and eventually created the Buckingham Fountain in Chicago.

An entrepreneur named Aaron Montgomery Ward created a catalog for farmers, so that the empty trains of corn that went to Chicago could be filled with products on the way back.

And in 1906, Gene Staley bought a cornstarch factory and, after he became wealthy, started the Decatur Staleys, which became the Chicago Bears.

These were only a few of the impacts of corn Clampitt mentioned, along with Henry Fords assembly line, time zones and corn flakes.

Her book, Midwest Maize, was published in 2015 by the University of Illinois Press.

Clampitt was asked how she ended up writing a book about the history of corn, and she said it was an easy choice.

Ive been doing food history for a long time, and after a while you start to notice where the big stories are, and corn is it for the United States, she said. Corn is the story of America.MILWAUKEE (AP)  Abebech Jima and her family came to Milwaukee from Ethiopia three years ago looking for a chance to start over.

Like many refugees seeking asylum, the family wanted to live somewhere safe and away from the life-threatening conflict tearing their country apart.

Jima and her husband, Zerihun Tadesse, eventually connected with Kai Gardner-Mishlove, who would pick refugees up at the airport, show them their apartment and help them adjust to life in Milwaukee.

The newcomers would repay Gardner-Mishlove with food, a symbol of their gratitude. The meals she ate in their homes tasted better than any food she had ever eaten in a restaurant. After experiencing many flavors, spices and dishes, Gardner-Mishlove realized that other people deserved to get a taste, too.

Tables Across Borders was created.

People dont realize how diverse the refugee community is in Milwaukee, she said. Each culture has the soul food of that cuisine.

Gardner-Mishlove eventually joined forces with Saehee Chang, whose mother was a refugee from North Korea and has connections in Milwaukees food network.

Through Chang, Gardner-Mishlove contacted several restaurant owners in Milwaukee: Greg Leon of Amilinda; Christie Melbye-Gibbons of Tricklebee Cafe; and Caitlin Cullen of The Tandem.

Together, they formulated a plan to hold six dinners with meals prepared by refugee chefs who identified as Ethiopian, Rohingya, Congolese, Syrian, Karen and Serbian.

The restaurants set up a schedule: Amilinda would have Ethiopian cuisine on Feb. 25 and Syrian cuisine on April 8; The Tandem would have Rohingya cuisine on March 11 and Serbian cuisine on May 13, and Tricklebee would have Congolese cuisine on March 25 and Karen cuisine on April 29.

When word got out, all dinners, priced at $60 each, sold out.

Tables Across Borders hopes to continue showcasing refugee chefs. In the future, it plans to partner with additional restaurants that wish to host a pop-up dinner.

Jima, who prepared the meal for the first Tables Across Borders event, said through food, people feel encouraged to share and forge connections.

Food is the best way to communicate your idea or your problem, she said.Why Was Guaido Barred from Holding Public Office for 15 Years?

By teleSur



April 02, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Besides acting against the Venezuela's Constitution, the U.S.-backed politician received funds from irregular sources and lied about it.



Venezuela's Comptroller General Elvis Amoroso announced Thursday that the opposition politician Juan Guaido has been barred from holding public office for 15 years over irregularities in his financial activities.

This decision was taken "considering that the deputy Juan Guaido has refused to present his sworn statement (...) has systematically violated our Constitution (...) has usurped public functions and has performed actions with foreign governments which have harmed Venezuela's People," the Comptroller General said explaining his agency's decision.

The sanction against the U.S.-backed opposition politician stems from violations of the Organic Law of the Comptroller General, all of which could not be dismissed because the lawmaker refused to justify his income sources. More specifically, it is the consequence of a "fiscal fraud," that is, the legally unjustified use of more than US$100,000 to fund more than 91 trips inside and outside Venezuela.

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In compliance with his public functions, the Venezuelan State Comptroller initiated an audit of Guaido's financial activities in February. Amoroso's authority and capabilities are defined by the Organic Law of the Comptroller General and the National System of Fiscal Control, whose Article 78 defines that the state Comptroller may request affidavits of assets from any public official.

The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Venezuela is the institution that monitors and controls the nation's income, expenses, public goods and assets. According to the lawyer Ana Cristina Bracho, Guaida as a congressman is a public official who has specific functions, rights and prohibitions.

"Upon assuming his term, he vowed to respect the country's laws and institutions," Bracho said and added that "he also vowed to respect the absolute prohibition of accepting honors, charges and rewards of foreign countries.

Article 187 of the Constitution of Venezuela states that members of Congress are obliged to perform tasks for the benefit of the Venezuelan people and cannot receive additional income, or hold positions other than their parliamentary functions.

Guaido was out of the country for a total of eight months. So far, however, he has not explained the origin of the money used to finance his international political tour.

Summing up, the U.S.-backed opposition politician has been disqualified from holding public office for the following reasons:

1. Guaido hid and falsified data at his affidavit of patrimony. He received money from natural or legal persons, either national and international. These resources were not declared or justified before the Comptroller's Office.

2. Guaido did not respect legal and constitutional standards which specify that the congressmen must comply with law-defined tasks and cannot perform other jobs or receive other income.

3. Guaido usurped functions, performed actions backed by foreign governments against the Venezuelan people and accepted honors or rewards of foreign governments.

This article was originally published by " teleSur " -

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Peace and joyAfter a fire burned down the main building of a storied civil rights center in Tennessee last week, the organization has said that a symbol associated with the white power movement was found in the parking lot next to the ashy rubble of the former building.

The Highlander Center, which hosted civil rights figures like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Stokely Carmichael in the 1950s and 60s, made the disclosure on its Facebook page Tuesday.

No one was injured, but the fire destroyed the office, which housed what the center said was decades worth of historical documents, speeches, artifacts and other memorabilia from its history, including the era of the civil rights movement. The Wisconsin Historical Society, which is the center's official archivist, said that a majority of its archives are safe.

"While we do not know the names of the culprits, we know that the white power movement has been increasing and consolidating power across the South, across this nation, and globally," it wrote.

The center, which comprises about 10 buildings on a 200 acre campus in New Market, a town 20 miles east of Knoxville, was the site of a blaze that was sparked in the early hours of Friday morning. By 6 a.m., the center's main office building was completely engulfed in flames.

The fire is still being investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and state fire investigators, and no determination has been made about its origin.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Coffey, who did not return a request for comment, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that the graffiti was a hashtag-like symbol discovered at the scene Friday.

"It's not a traditional, throw-it-in-your-face symbol that you would immediately recognize," Coffey told the newspaper. "But it has been used by individuals in the past. We have seen this symbol associated with different groups."

Chelsea Fuller, a spokeswoman for Highlander, told the Associated Press that the symbol "looks like a tic-tac-toe board."

White supremacist groups have made incursions into Tennessee, according to the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, which tracks hate groups. A rock on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where students are encouraged to paint, has been defaced by white supremacist graffiti multiple times in recent years. And prominent white nationalists have looked to grow their fringe movement among the school and its student body.

In early 2018, the rock was painted with a series of hate symbols, including a grid-like symbol associated with the Romanian fascist organization that was lead by violent anti-Semite Corneliu Zelea Codreanu in the 1920s.

And the state has been the target for several white supremacist rallies, events and conferences in recent years, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

The Highlander Center was founded in 1932 as the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle in southeastern Tennessee with the purpose of organizing unemployed and working class people, according to its website. It also fought segregation in the labor movement in the 1940s, which expanded into a broader fight against segregation in the 1950s. But those activities made it a target - of both federal and state investigators during an era of Communist paranoia, as well as segregationists, and racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Rosa Parks attended a two-week workshop at the center on school desegregation in 1955 just a few months before she sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which helped strike down segregation in public facilities in the South.

"It was my very first experience in my entire life going to a place where there were other people, and people of another race, and where we were all treated equally and without any tension or feeling of embarrassment or whatever goes with artificial boundaries of racial segregation," Parks told interviewer Studs Terkel in 1973. "And I would like to say, too, that [Highlander founder] Myles Horton along with his staff and others there on the mountain did give me my first insight on the fact that there were such people who believe completely in freedom and equality for all."

A book published by author John Glen about the center's history noted that it faced consistent harassment, that peaked at its location in Knoxville in the 1960s.

"Staff members endured . . . a KKK parade past the center, repeated vandalism, firebombs, burglaries, gunshots, and taped telephone messages branding Highlander as a "malignant organization" whose "red spiders" taught "hate, violence, and riots."

The center, which did not return a request for comment, opened in its current location in 1972.Jersey County Sheriffs Department

GRAFTON  A Jersey County deputy braved chilly waters this weekend to rescue an 83-year-old man whose vehicle was partially submerged in floodwaters on Illinois Route 100.

Authorities were called about 12:30 p.m. Sunday to a site near Pere Marquette Illinois Youth Center. Deputy Justin Decker responded and saw the man splashing inside the vehicle, according to a report.WASHINGTON - They grew louder and meaner and, at their peak, the Philadelphia Phillies fans issued a unified reminder of what was going on inside Nationals Park.

"We've got Harper!" they yelled, again and again, after Bryce Harper crushed an upper-deck, two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning. Harper used to play for the Washington Nationals, that was the subplot Tuesday night, but the result was an 8-2 Phillies win that was at least a few shades of troubling for their hosts.

This was still a nine-inning game, an important one between division foes, not just five at-bats to measure the relationship between city and departed star. And it was costly. Trea Turner, the Nationals' 25-year-old shortstop, exited in the first after he was hit in the hand by a pitch. Matt Adams, once giving Ryan Zimmerman the day off, was taken out three innings after he fell over a railing along the first base line while tracking a foul ball.

Manager Dave Martinez later announced that Turner broke his right index finger, and there is no timetable for his return. Adams is day-to-day with back spasms. The Nationals otherwise had spotty defense, and shoddy situational hitting, and their bullpen struggled yet again. This time it was Wander Suero and Matt Grace, giving up four sixth-inning runs punctuated by a run-scoring single for Harper. And it was Jeremy Hellickson, a starter moonlighting in relief, allowing Harper's 458-foot home run in the eighth.

It all triggered those sharp-edge cheers and showed, Harper or no Harper, that there are clear constants of the Nationals' 1-3 start.

"We lost one of our good players and we lost," Martinez said. "We got to come back tomorrow, and we got to get better."

It was all Harper in the lead-up, for the days and hours before he was booed, mercilessly, and finished 3 for 5 with a single, double, home run and three RBI. He is at the center of the Phillies' lineup, and the center of this rekindled rivalry, and was the center of attention for the fourth game of the Nationals' season. Some things change. Others don't.

The day began with a thank you message, posted to Instagram just after 10 a.m., from Harper to Washington in 286 words. Then, around 3 p.m., he sat in a full news conference room, brimming with cameras and reporters, all relaying each answer to the world. He expressed, again, his gratitude to Washington, for seven good years, for helping him grow up. He tried to explain how this felt. He teared up, his voice catching, when mentioning the baby boy he'll soon welcome.

Then, at 7:48, after a rain-delayed start, Harper strode toward home plate for his first at-bat. The crowd booed, just as it did through a pregame video tribute, and just as it did throughout the night. It erupted six pitches later, when Max Scherzer struck out Harper with an 85-mph change-up, and they were off.

"I didn't know what it was going to be like," Harper said. "Heard the boos. Kind of just remembered that I have 45,000 people in the city of Philadelphia - and more - that were sitting at their TV cheering."

But Washington fans were quickly quieted in the bottom of the inning. Turner squared to bunt, and a high-and-inside fastball from Phillies starter Zach Eflin hit his right index finger. It looked so similar to June 29, 2017, when a Pedro Strop fastball hit Turner in the right wrist. That injury, a nondisplaced fracture, sidelined him for exactly two months. This one is serious, too.

Turner yelled "Damnit!" before walking off the field, skipping down the dugout steps and going straight through the tunnel to the clubhouse. The Nationals will turn to Wilmer Difo in Turner's absence. Turner didn't think his hand was misplaced on the bat, leading his finger into trouble. He just wasn't happy with Eflin's pitch.

"I don't expect anybody to throw basically at my head," Turner said. "So for me, when I see the ball in that kind of tunnel, first thought is slider, maybe started up and in. I tried staying in there with the bunt, and it kept running."

Scherzer took the second matchup with Harper, striking him out on a diving cutter in the third. Harper won the third matchup, doubling to right in the fifth, before Scherzer stranded two runners in scoring position with back-to-back strikeouts. The Nationals trailed by two runs then - the first on a Maikel Franco solo homer, the second on a passed ball by Yan Gomes - and Scherzer was done after five innings, seven hits, nine strikeouts and 96 pitches thrown.

Nationals relievers gave up 10 runs in 7 1/3 innings in their season-opening series against the New York Mets. They allowed six more Tuesday, four in one crippling frame, turning Scherzer's solid start into a lopsided loss. Suero recorded one out and put runners on the corners in the sixth. Grace then yielded a bases-clearing double to Jean Segura, and Harper plated Segura with an RBI single to make it 6-0.

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon lofted a two-run homer in the bottom half, giving the Nationals a hint of life. But it made just a small dent for Harper to restore. His bat whipped Hellickson's 89-mph pitch high above the field, above the Philadelphia fans who traveled to see him, above the facing of the second level and into the first rows of seats. Harper watched it for a moment, maybe two, before flipping his bat like a pinwheel toward the Nationals' dugout.

It punctuated his and the Nationals' night.

"It's the emotion of the game," Harper said of how he celebrated the homer. "That's it. That's about it."

He used to do that for Washington: perform, pump energy through the stadium from the other side. Now he doesn't. These teams have 18 more games scheduled for this regular season, the first of Harper's 13-year contract with the Phillies. But the Nationals need their bullpen to improve by the second one, at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday, because even the April games count.RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax on Wednesday said he has asked prosecutors in two states to investigate allegations by two women that he sexually assaulted them, saying that will prove his innocence.

Fairfax, D, made a lengthy statement before television cameras - and handed out a report on two polygraph examinations that he said he voluntarily took and passed - as lawmakers gathered in Richmond for the day to wrap up business from this year's legislative session.

"When all the facts and evidence are examined by unbiased law enforcement professionals, I am confident they will reach the conclusion . . . that I am telling the truth," said Fairfax, a 40-year-old former federal prosecutor. "I did not assault Vanessa Tyson. I did not assault Meredith Watson."

The day's official business had not even gotten underway before dramas played out in Capitol Square involving the accusations against Fairfax, as well as scandals enveloping the state's other top Democrats: Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring, both of whom admitted to wearing blackface as young men.

As some lawmakers were still arriving at the Capitol, House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, held a news conference to call attention to some outstanding mysteries surrounding Northam's scandal, and to highlight reluctance by Democrats to hold a public hearing with Fairfax's accusers. A former prosecutor, Gilbert dismissed Fairfax's polygraph results, noting that such evidence is not admissible in court.

"Ted Bundy passed a polygraph," he said, referring to the convicted serial killer.

Members of the Legislative Black Caucus, who in February called for Northam and Fairfax to step down, held their own news conference to say they were willing to work with the governor when he champions issues that they support. As an example, they noted the governor's efforts to end the practice of suspending driver's licenses for nonpayment of court fines.

The caucus chairman, Del. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, ducked when asked for reaction to national TV appearances this week on "CBS This Morning" by Fairfax's accusers, Tyson and Watson.

"That's a good segue to the next press conference," he said, referring to the one Fairfax was about to hold.

Reading from a five-page statement, Fairfax rebutted the tearful television appearances by the two women. He said he had a consensual encounter with Watson in 2000 when they were undergraduates at Duke University and another with Tyson in 2004 when they were in Boston to attend the Democratic National Convention.

"I do not believe that national television appearances or legislative hearings are the right vehicles to get at the truth," he said. "Sensationalizing allegations does not make them true. Yet airing salacious allegations without evidence does enormous damage."

"Over the years, I have built a reputation as a committed public servant," he said. "Both as a federal prosecutor and as lieutenant governor, I have stood up for women and for victims of criminal behavior. Make no mistake. If the facts alleged by Dr. Tyson and Ms. Watson were true, the conduct would be criminal. Such conduct is against everything I stand for in both my public and private life."

"In my 40 years, no one has ever alleged that I have ever done anything like what either of these women describe, allegations that were both first made public at the very moment that it appeared that I might become governor of this great Commonwealth," he said.

Fairfax, who had been widely expected before the scandal to run for governor in 2021, said he wanted to reassure Virginians.

"I have asked for this opportunity to speak today because I want the people of Virginia who honored me by electing me as their lieutenant governor to know that your trust was not misplaced," he said.

After speaking, Fairfax ignored shouted questions from reporters and left the room.

Watson's lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, said Watson wants a public hearing "not a months-long or years-long criminal investigation which is done in secrecy. We know that Fairfax and his protectors will use any criminal inquiry to say he can't answer any questions in public. He says he wants due process, but a hearing is due process. He still refuses to answer questions - as both accusers have done."

Smith also said that as a lawyer, Fairfax would know that the Supreme Court of Virginia has "ruled in cases spanning three decades that polygraph tests are so thoroughly unreliable as to be of no proper evidentiary use and are therefore inadmissible to establish guilt or innocence."

Attorneys for Tyson said she still wants to testify publicly at a bipartisan legislative hearing.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins in Massachusetts, would not say whether she has launched a probe.

"As a matter of policy, we don't discuss any sexual assault investigation in the absence of criminal charges," he said.

Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry's office in North Carolina did not respond to a request for comment.

Elsewhere, an estimated 6,500 March for Life demonstrators gathered outside the state Capitol, chanting, "Life, life, life!" while holding signs that read, "Stop Abortion Now."

Nearby, a smaller crowd waved signs demanding to "Keep abortion legal."

Carol Driskill, 73, a March for Life attendee, said she hoped the turnout would convince Northam and lawmakers to steer away from pro-abortion-rights laws.

"Our governor was on the radio explaining how to kill a baby," said Driskill, referring to the controversy over a failed bill introduced by Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, that sought to limit restrictions on late-term abortions.

It was the backlash to that legislation that led to the Feb. 1 revelations of a racist photo on Northam's medical school yearbook page and his use of blackface as a young man. Then, when it appeared that the governor might resign and be replaced by Fairfax, the allegations of sexual assault against Fairfax became public. In short order, Herring admitted that he, too, wore blackface at 19 for a party during college.

Republicans have seized on the three scandals to urge voters to back them instead of Democrats. This is an election year in Virginia, when all 140 seats in the legislature will be on the ballot. Republicans have a two-seat majority in each chamber and are trying to hold on to control.

As the antiabortion rally got underway Wednesday, state Sen. William Stanley Jr., R-Franklin, urged the crowd to help ensure that Republicans maintain their small majorities.

"The General Assembly is at a crossroads," Stanley said. "You can deliver the majorities that will make life permanent in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They need to hear from us that we will not stand for murder."

At his news conference, Gilbert said he wanted details about the outcome of a private investigation that Northam said he would launch soon after a racist picture in his 1984 medical school yearbook page emerged. The photo shows one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan hood. Northam initially took responsibility for the photo, then said he was not in the picture but confessed to putting shoe polish on his face to imitate Michael Jackson in a dance contest.

A placard perched on an easel beside Gilbert asked a series of questions: "Has the private investigator he said he would hire completed their work yet? If he was not in the photo, does he know who was and how it got on his page yet? Have Democrats already forgiven and forgotten in advance of Northam's future fundraising?"

Northam's office said last week that it has no update on the private investigation.

"Everybody's back to business and back to normal - or very close to it - despite the fact that all these unanswered questions remain, not only with the governor and attorney general, but especially with the lieutenant governor," Gilbert said. "I think even folks who are tired of this and numb to it still would like those questions resolved."

- - -

The Washington Post's Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report.PITTSFIELD  A Kansas man will spend two years on probation after video of a 2017 traffic stop contradicted his claim of misconduct against an Illinois State Police trooper.

Gary C. Schmeling, 73, of Overland Park, Kansas, was originally charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, but pleaded to a misdemeanor attempted disorderly conduct charge.EDWARDSVILLE  Significant rain in March led to above normal soil moisture in Illinois and major flooding events on many local streams and rivers, according to Brian Kerschner, spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the University of Illinois Illinois State Water Survey.

The preliminary statewide average precipitation for March was 4.16 inches, which is 1.20 inches above the long-term average.

Major and historic flooding on the lower Ohio River Basin in southern Illinois continued into the first week of March, as a result of substantial February rain events.

By the middle of the month, a strong and historic low-pressure system brought heavy rain, storms, and strong wind to Illinois and the rest of the Midwest. The heavy rains and combined regional snow melt resulted in additional widespread flooding concerns across the region. This included a major flooding event for northern and northwest Illinois, with the Rock, Fox, and Mississippi Rivers experiencing significant crests.

The heaviest March precipitation fell across the central and southern portions of the state where 4 to 6 inches were common. Five stations in these regions reported over 6 inches of precipitation for the month.

Totals were lower in northern Illinois with generally 1.5 to 3 inches. The lowest totals for the month occurred along the Illinois/Wisconsin border.

The highest March precipitation total of 6.41 inches was reported at a station near Jerseyville in Jersey County.

Soil moisture profiles across Illinois remain in the 90th percentile or higher heading into April. This leaves soil conditions favorable for spring runoff, an ever-growing concern for the agricultural community.

Low temperatures began the first full week of March with a brutal Arctic outbreak in which temperature departures of 15 to 25 degrees below normal were common across Illinois.

During this time, three stations recorded minimum temperatures of -10 degrees or colder. The lowest reading in the state, -12 degrees, occurred at the Little Red School House station in Cook County on March 5.

In contrast, the warmest reading in the state was 76 degrees, reported at a station near Dixon Springs in Pope County on March 13.

Preliminary results show that March 2019 finished with a statewide average temperature of 36.6 degrees, which is 4.7 degrees below the long-term average.

March temperature departures finished below average statewide, with the coldest departures occurring across large areas of central Illinois and in the northwest corner of the state.

Snowfall in March occurred statewide, although it rarely lasted long. Storm tracks show that the maximum snowfall was near the corridor from Rushville to Springfield, and a second was centered near Kankakee. In both cases, 3 to 5 inches of accumulation were measured.

The National Weather Service (NWS) spring flood outlook places the entire state in its flood risk zone. Eastern and central Illinois are subject to a minor flood risk, while western, extreme northern, and southern portions of the state are in a moderate flood risk zone. Locations immediately along the banks of the Mississippi River are in a major flood risk zone.

Looking ahead at the rest of April 2019, the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) is favoring probabilities of above-average temperatures statewide. This is a welcome change compared to April 2018, which ranked as the second coldest April in state history. An active weather pattern looks to persist, as the April outlook favors slight probabilities of above-average precipitation for the western half of the state.CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  Boeing's new space capsule for astronauts faces more launch delays.

The Starliner capsule was supposed to make its debut this month, after a series of postponements. But the first test flight is now off until August. And the second test flight, with astronauts, won't occur until late in the year.

MISSION MOON: A look back on the humble and nerdy Neil Armstrong, only on HoustonChronicle.com

NASA announced the revised lineup Wednesday. At the same time, officials said the first Starliner crew will remain at the International Space Station longer than the few weeks originally anticipated. The length will be decided later.

SpaceX, NASA's other commercial crew provider, flew its new Dragon capsule to the International Space Station last month. The first Dragon with astronauts could fly this summer, but the schedule is under review.

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.In 1999, it was Yugoslavia in the crosshairs of the imperialists, now its Venezuela

By Neil Clark

April 02, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - To mark the 20th anniversary of the start of NATOs illegal 78-day bombardment of Yugoslavia, over 200 distinguished guests from all over the world gathered for a conference of the Belgrade Forum of the World of Equals. To mark the 20th anniversary of the start of NATOs illegal 78-day bombardment of Yugoslavia, over 200 distinguished guests from all over the world gathered for a conference of the Belgrade Forum of the World of Equals.

The gathering titled Never to Forget: Peace and Progress instead of Wars and Poverty promoted genuine internationalism. Participants came from Israel AND Palestine. From Iran and Japan. From Britain, Germany, Italy, France and other NATO countries which had taken part in the bombing. From Venezuela, Cuba, Bulgaria, Greece, Brazil, Croatia, Canada and South Africa. India and Nepal, Austria and Switzerland, Ireland, Portugal, Turkey and Lebanon. From the US AND Russia. This was the real international community on display.

Speaker after speaker denounced NATOs unlawful aggression, and stressed the wider significance of the military action of 20 years ago, which not only lacked a mandate from the United Nations Security Council, but was also in breach of NATOs own charter.

Eva-Maria Follmer-Mueller, president of the Mut zur Ethik Association in Switzerland, described it as a historic turning point.

Momir Bulatovic, the prime minister of Yugoslavia in March 1999, called the bombing a crime which only grows in significance. He pointed out that it was the first step in a still ongoing war against other countries. He and subsequent speakers, (myself included), noted that since 1999 weve had US-led attacks on a series of independently-minded, strategically important and resource-rich sovereign states, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, while others, such as Iran and Venezuela have been subject to intense economic warfare. Each time were encouraged to see these conflicts as stand-alones with the leader of the target state demonized, usually as the New Hitler, and someone who must be stopped, but actually they are all part of the same war. A war for empire and the global hegemony of the US and rapacious international finance capital.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

From Brazil, Socorro Gomes, the president of the World Peace Council, reminded delegates that Yugoslavia was a peaceful country that had not invaded anyone. To get round this, Kosovo was referred to in the US and depicted on maps on the television as if it was a separate country, not as a part of Yugoslavia. The media war on Yugoslavia began long before the bombing.

According to HRW, around 500 civilians were killed in the NATO air strikes. The Russian Foreign Ministry puts the toll much higher, at around 2,000.

In Belgrades Tasmajdan Park, theres a very poignant memorial to the 89 children killed in the bombing, entitled We were just children. Among the victims was a brilliant 15-year-old maths prodigy called Sanja Milenkovic, who died along with eight others, when the bridge in Varvarin was bombed at Pentecost. Marina Colic read out a very moving tribute to Sanja from the German politician Willy Wimmer. Sanjas last words were Dont be crazy Mum, whos going to drop bombs on a small town. Answer: NATO. Thats who.

An exhibition outside the main hall in the Serbian Army House graphically illustrated the horrors of the bombing. Anyone seeing the pictures of dismembered, blood-spattered people being pulled out from debris following a NATO air-raid would ask the same question that I did: How on earth could any of this be justified as a humanitarian action?

The line that there was no alternative is simply not true. Had Western powers been genuinely concerned over resolving differences between Pristina and Belgrade they could have brokered a deal between Rugova, the Kosovo Albanian leader, and Milosevic, the leader of Yugoslavia, which would have allowed international peacekeepers (but not NATO forces) into Kosovo to protect ALL of its citizens, and at the same time disarm the KLA. But they deliberately chose to bomb.

Speakers recalled that at the Rambouillet Conference Milosevic was presented with an ultimatum to which he could not possibly consent. This is backed up by the testimony of the late Lord Gilbert, a British Minister of State for Defence Procurement, who, in 2000, admitted, I think certain people were spoiling for a fight in NATO at that time. I think the terms put to Milosevic at Rambouillet were absolutely intolerable: how could he possibly accept them? It was quite deliberate.

NATO got its war and the direct material damage to Yugoslavia resulting from it has been put at $100 billion. The countrys infrastructure was targeted for destruction and you can still see the ruins from some attacks, such as the one on RTS (Serbian television), which killed 16 people, in Belgrade today. One of the most shocking aspects of the NATO humanitarianism was its widespread use of depleted uranium. Slobodan Petkovic, a member of the Serbian governments commission for determining the consequences of the use of D.U., stressed there was no military need for NATO to use it. So why did they?

In a really powerful oration, Liz Payne of the British Peace Council, said the bombing of Yugoslavia was a deadly experiment and a blueprint for further aggressions across the world. We recall with horror the orchestrated terror and devastation inflicted purposefully and mercilessly on the people of Serbia by the US and its allies, including by the right-wing Labour government of Britain and the neoliberal Establishment in whose interests it acted. She finished with the words While imperialism continues there can be no world of equals.

Linking the events of 1999 with today, Professor Zahari Zahariev from Bulgaria said that the whole continent of Europe is ready for a new Helsinki process, a reference to the 1975 accords which were the high-water mark of post-war detente between East and West.

In a thought-provoking address, he distinguished between globalization, which is a technical process, and globalism, which he called the ideology of imperialismand it was this ideology which was behind the attack on Yugoslavia and the other wars. While many speakers lambasted the EU, Zahariev said the idea of European unity is not imperialistic per se and that what we really need is to emancipate the EU from neoliberal capitalism.

The question is: is this really feasible given the strong links the EU has to corporate power and finance capital?

Some of the loudest applause at the entire conference came after Dia Nader de El-Andari, the Charge dAffaires of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Serbia, declared No pasaran! after a stirring address. In 1999, it was Yugoslavia in the crosshairs of the imperialists, now its Venezuela, with the US having the temerity to warn Russia, Venezuelas ally, to get out.

Cross-continent solidarity was also expressed by Chris Matlhako, of the South African Communist Party. He called for the dismantling of US military bases, NATO and their allies in Africa and elsewhere on the globe, and detailed the disastrous impact of the NATO assault on Libya, which has been a big boon to terrorist groups. We must work hard to block the US and its allies unilateralism in the world today, he declared.

President of the Serbian Generals and Admirals Club, Milomir Miladinovic, reminded delegates that despite the 78-days of bombing, Yugoslavia was not defeated militarily in 1999. We fought a glorious victory against the aggressor, these were heroic days in the face of the much bigger enemy, he said.

According to Miladinovic, the JNA (Yugoslav National Army), lost just 17 tanks and 30 artillery pieces and withdrew from Kosovo practically intact. And the aggression from NATO didnt come cost-free with the Yugoslav forces and their obsolete equipment successfully taking down a US F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber, appropriately enough called Something Wicked. That was a great moment for those who always support David against Goliath and love it when the underdog lands a blow. In a nice postscript, the retired army officer whose unit shot down the plane is now friends with the US pilot.

The conference ended with me reading out the Belgrade Declaration. The history will note the fact that in 1999, blindly following alien geopolitical interests, Europe fought itself. Never forget the great crime NATO committed twenty years ago, and what it led to.

Neil Clark is a journalist, writer, broadcaster and blogger. He has written for many newspapers and magazines in the UK and other countries including The Guardian, Morning Star, Daily and Sunday Express, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, The Spectator, The Week, and The American Conservative. He is a regular pundit on RT and has also appeared on BBC TV and radio, Sky News, Press TV and the Voice of Russia. He is the co-founder of the Campaign For Public Ownership @PublicOwnership. His award winning blog can be found at www.neilclark66.blogspot.com. He tweets on politics and world affairs @NeilClark66

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Peace and joySome people caught stealing in Illinois could soon 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 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 Wednesday. 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 would then 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.Who will be held accountable for the deaths of nine people during a biker-club shootout in the middle of a Twin Peaks restaurant parking lot in broad daylight in 2015?

No one, the district attorney's office in McLennan County, Texas, announced Tuesday.

Barry Johnson said his office would drop all remaining charges against the bikers, bringing the years-long saga to a remarkably anticlimactic end without obtaining a single conviction against any of the notorious brawl's participants.

The announcement comes nearly four years after roughly 200 members of rival motorcycle clubs descended on the Waco strip-mall parking lot, allegedly to settle a territorial dispute. It soon devolved into a bloody melee. Terrified diners enjoying a midday lunch took cover in the restaurant as dozens of Bandidos and Cossacks bikers exchanged gunfire and brandished knives. Overwhelmed police added to the gunfire but failed to stop the violence. Nine people died in just minutes, making it the deadliest biker shootout in U.S. history. At least 20 were critically injured. Dozens of guns and knives were abandoned as swarms of tattooed men scattered.

Nearly everyone at the scene - 177 people - was arrested.

What followed was a prosecutorial fiasco as, one by one, the criminal cases collapsed under a former district attorney's leadership. During the four years of prosecution against dozens of alleged gang members, only a single case went to trial, resulting in a mistrial. The vast majority of the original 177 cases were dismissed.

For Johnson, who took office Jan. 1, the mess he inherited was too hopeless to clean up. He suspected further prosecution of the remaining 24 individuals would fail, just like the rest. It was time to let it go, he said.

"I do not believe that it is a proper exercise of my judgment ... to proceed with the further prosecution of what I believe to have been an ill-conceived path that this District Attorney's Office was set upon almost four years ago," Johnson wrote in his statement, "and I do not believe that path should continue to be pursued."

The Bandidos and the Cossacks both trace their roots in Texas to the 1960s and, for years, the Lone Star State biker gangs remained rivals. The trigger of the May 17, 2015 brawl, however, has largely remained mysterious even as prosecutors interviewed dozens of bikers. Authorities said the shootout was the result of a turf war, arguing that the Bandidos were angry when the much smaller Cossacks club began wearing Texas patches on their jackets. Bikers present at the shooting disputed this, with some saying it began when one biker ran over another's foot.

Problems plagued the case from the very beginning. Within hours of the shootout, then-District Attorney Abel Reyna issued 177 blanket arrest warrants for those found at the scene. No matter their suspected degree of involvement, all faced identical felony charges: engaging in organized criminal activity, resulting in murder and aggravated assault.

Some, however, were not even connected to the brawl and just happened to be wearing biker-like clothing while dining at Twin Peaks, where the Bandidos were hosting a social event. Multiple erroneous arrests resulted in multimillion-dollar lawsuits that are still pending, the Austin American-Statesman reported. At least 130 of the bikers have filed civil rights lawsuits against the police and DA's office, angry they had been labeled "gang members" and insisting they were innocent of any gang conspiracy.

Defense attorneys for the men weren't the only ones who bashed Reyna for the blanket accusations. As former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes told the Houston Chronicle in 2018: "You got to prove who the bad egg is. You can't just say, 'I'm going to put all the chickens in jail.' "

Ultimately, 155 motorcycle club members were indicted by a grand jury on the identical charges. Johnson wrote in his letter that he was perplexed why Reyna didn't more closely examine each biker's actions so he could bring more specific charges against each one. Had he done so, Johnson wrote, Reyna could have had a better opportunity to present evidence that would "support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

"In my opinion," Johnson wrote, "had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences against many of those who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl. Over the next three years the prior District Attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day."

Reyna said in a statement to the Waco Tribune-Herald that he disagreed with Johnson's decision and with some of the "accusations" Johnson made in his statement but said he would "respect the fact that voters of McLennan County chose Mr. Johnson to make these types of decisions."

The only person to go to trial was Christopher "Jake" Carrizal, president of the Dallas Bandidos chapter. McClennan County spent $1.3 million preparing for Carrizal's trial and investigating all the Twin Peaks cases, WAFB9 reported.

Carrizal was accused by prosecutors of organizing the brawl, based in part on text messages about the Twin Peaks in which he instructed Bandidos members to bring their "tools," which prosecutors say meant guns, and to "leave your women at home."

Carrizal, however, maintained on the witness stand that the Cossacks group ambushed them at Twin Peaks, showing up with bulletproof vests and looking for a fight.

Speaking to the jury, the thick-bearded biker wiped tears through his black-framed glasses as he recounted being surrounded by Cossacks, "just lying there, waiting to be stabbed or shot," as the Waco Tribune-Herald reported. Carrizal admitted firing his gun but claimed it was in self-defense.

"I know you're blaming us for this event, but I don't blame us," he said, according to the news station KWTX. "I don't blame the cops for it."

He blamed only the Cossacks, he said.

Of the dead, six were Cossacks, one was a Bandido, one belonged to another motorcycle club and another man was not affiliated with any club, according to KVUE. Ballistics evidence later showed that four of the men who died had bullet wounds from the same caliber rifles fired by police, the Associated Press reported. A grand jury declined to indict three of the Waco officers who were involved.

In November 2017, the jury in Carrizal's case voted 10-2 for acquittal, causing the mistrial.

Johnson told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday that he didn't want a repeat of that "nightmare."

"To open that Pandora's box back up and start down that road again - when we don't feel that, after looking at the facts and the evidence, that we would be able to meet our burden of beyond a reasonable doubt - would be irresponsible, in my opinion," Johnson said. "Therefore, I am making the decision now to end this nightmare that we have been dealing with in this county since May 17, 2015."

Before being voted out of office, largely over the handling of this case, Reyna dismissed all but 24 of the cases. He downgraded the charges from engaging in organized criminal activity to rioting, a class B misdemeanor.

Johnson could have upgraded those riot charges to felonies based on the violent acts in the parking lot but said he believed the risky legal maneuver might not withstand an appeal. He said he feared wasting more taxpayer money and judicial and law enforcement resources.

Defense attorneys for the bikers were thrilled, telling the Tribune-Herald they had known since the start that their clients would prevail.

"They destroyed this case a long time ago," Houston attorney Paul Looney told the newspaper. "They were kind of like a chicken that had its neck wrung. They ran around the yard for a bit, but eventually they fall over dead. That is what happened here."CALAIS, France - "The Guv'nor!" is a red wine "stuffed with bramble and plummy flavours" that sells for about $5 a bottle, $30 a case. It's a house specialty here at Majestic Wine Calais, one of the sprawling discount wine warehouses within walking distance of the English Channel. And it's part of a cottage industry aimed at the steady flow of Brits who come by ferry to load up their cars with plonk far cheaper than at home.

But this journey, this industry, could be among the many casualties of Brexit - especially if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a withdrawal deal, as it's set to do on April 12.

Peter Williamson, a 74-year-old retiree from Biggin Hill, outside London, is in the Guv'nor's target demographic, though it was a Chilean white he was looking for at the Majestic warehouse last week. He said he was skeptical that wine would be much more expensive or less accessible after Brexit. "I think the French need the money," said Williamson, who voted to leave the EU. "They can't turn away money from the British."

But trade experts say that, absolutely, the landscape would shift.

"Today, wines are sold extremely easily. That will change completely," said David Caron, a customs representative for CFDT, one of France's largest labor unions. "They can return to the U.K. with a small quantity. But a whole trunk? Tomorrow there will be limits."

Despite the hand-wringing that followed Britain's 2016 referendum, the French seem largely resigned to the pending reality of Brexit. No European leader has taken a harder line against British political waffling than French President Emmanuel Macron. And, since January, the French government has a had a detailed contingency plan for the increasingly likely scenario of a no-deal Brexit.

This is especially true in Calais, the closest point in France to Britain and a major transport hub. The port of Calais sees as many as 50 ferry departures and arrivals between the two countries each day, with a passenger flow of 10 million a year. Calais is also an entry and exit point for trucks - and 22 million tons of goods - traveling by rail through the Eurotunnel.

How much this flow is disrupted by Brexit will depend in part on how Britain leaves.

If it departs with a withdrawal agreement, it will get a two-year transition period to sort out a trade relationship with the EU. But if Britain leaves abruptly without a deal, it will lose its trade privileges overnight, and it probably will have to accept new tariffs, border inspections and document checks that weren't necessary while it was a member of the unified bloc.

To prepare for that possibility, the European Commission last week adopted an emergency proposal to keep the Channel Tunnel operating normally for 90 days - provided Britain maintains "safety standards identical to EU requirements."

The French government also has begun recruiting 700 additional customs officials. French unions say even more are needed, and to make the point they have been staging strikes that have crippled Eurostar train services and created traffic jams near Calais.

But Jean-Marc Puissesseau, the Calais port boss, said he is confident his operation is ready. Last month the port completed a 6 million-euro customs processing center.

"This is a well-oiled machine," Puissesseau said, as he noted on a color-coded map the new zones where Britain-bound trucks would be directed once they entered the facility.

Britain, too, has been rolling out contingency plans: reserving space on ferries, encouraging pharmaceutical companies to increase their supplies.

To be sure, having a sufficient supply of wine to last through Brexit is a lesser concern. But Jack Merrylees, a spokesman for Majestic, said some stockpiling was happening in Calais.

"The numbers certainly suggest that customers are taking the opportunity to stock up," Merrylees said. "It's clear that there is uncertainty and that it's well worth getting the savings in now."

Across the street from Majestic is the Calais Wine Superstore, another warehouse with aisles that seem to go on and on. Soft Frank Sinatra tunes play as customers scan new and old world reds and whites, and a selection of rose that ranges from sunset pink to the color of nail polish remover.

Teresa Borcherds, 58, a retiree from Berkshire who in 2016 voted to remain in the EU, said she and her husband usually come to the warehouse every three months and weren't due back for at least another month and a half. But they came last week because of the pending Brexit deadline, she said.

What were they stockpiling? "J.P. Chenet - that's wine," she said. "And then lager and beer."

This may be their last trip. "Thirty pounds for petrol on the way here, 30 for the fare, 30 for petrol again," Borcherds said. "If you're only buying cigarettes, it's not worth it."

Nearby were Ian and Joy Massif, 72 and 71, respectively, who were perusing everything but the French wines on offer. "We've got nothing against the French," Ian said, laughing. "They operate a very good supermarket." He added that their usual itinerary included a stop here, a stop at the nearby Carrefour grocery and then home. "No eating. No drinking. Home," he said.

Both husband and wife voted to leave the EU, and both were still concerned about the migrant situation in Calais, which, after the peak of Europe's migrant influx, became a de facto holding pen for asylum seekers desperate to enter Britain, which mostly denied them entry.

"The last time we came we saw some just along the road," Joy Massif said. "You locked your doors because you worried about it. And, of course, we've got them at home, with Dover being so close."

Ian Massif pointed out that the two cases of wine on their trolley reminded him of the limits that used to exist before Britain joined the EU in 1973. "Forty years ago, that would be your allowance - that's it," he said, noting that they planned to take home a load.

"We don't drink it all ourselves," Joy joked.

"We don't drink it all at one time, either," Ian laughed. "There are so few pleasures left, aren't there, darling?""Post Reports" is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you've come to expect from the newsroom of The Post - for your ears.

- - -WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans on Wednesday unilaterally changed the rules governing presidential nominations, a bitter escalation of the long-running dispute over the rights of the minority in a chamber once hailed for its bipartisan nature.

The move, on a largely party-line vote of 51 to 48, will ease the confirmation process for President Donald Trump's nominees to sub-Cabinet positions in federal agencies. The Senate is poised to make the same change later in the day to speed judicial nominees at the district court level.

The move exposed raw emotions delivered in highly personal terms between the two sides, particularly an angry exchange between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

"He started this whole thing," McConnell said just before the final vote, glaring at Schumer and blaming him for a decision 18 years ago that was one of many steps toward Wednesday's actions.

Moments earlier, Schumer accused the GOP leader of wanting to turn the Senate into a "conveyor belt" to approve Trump's nominees and admonished Republicans for allowing McConnell's "debasement of the Senate."

Under previous Senate orders, these nominees used to require 30 hours of debate after they had cleared an initial procedural vote. Now, such nominees will receive just two hours of formal debate before a final confirmation roll call.

In changing the rules, Republicans accused Democrats of trying to block the formation of Trump's administration and the federal judiciary by dragging out the confirmation of noncontroversial nominees merely to create procedural gridlock.

Democrats countered that Trump, in conjunction with McConnell, has jammed the Senate with a set of historically unqualified nominees and broke with traditions of previous administrations, of both parties, in consulting with senators from the other party on many appointments.

The final steps played out in a heated debate before the first set of several procedural votes set to occur into Wednesday evening. The parliamentary move was once deemed so controversial that senators call it the "nuclear option," a violation of long-standing requirements that rules changes had to be approved by a two-thirds majority.

"When history is written, this is all going to look like a tragic farce," Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said in the final minutes of debate, imploring Republicans to back away from such a hyperpartisan action.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., followed with a brief history of the nomination battles dating to the early days of the President George W. Bush administration, beginning with Schumer, then a first-term senator, crafting a plan to block Bush's judicial nominees.

"Today, Senator Schumer will reap what he sowed," Cotton said.

Democrats have long complained about Cotton's obstruction during President Barack Obama's second term, including his refusal to allow a vote on the nomination of Cassandra Butts, a friend of the president, to be ambassador to the Bahamas for two years. She died while waiting for Senate confirmation.

The new rules will allow McConnell to rapidly confirm nominees to U.S. district courts, two steps below the Supreme Court, and to positions such as the assistant secretary of the Commerce Department - which was the post that triggered Wednesday's fight and rules change.

McConnell has said shifting the federal judiciary to the right is his single biggest priority as Senate leader, a process that he began with great controversy by refusing to consider any nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court after his February 2016 death.

McConnell refused to give nominee Merrick Garland a hearing in the last year of Obama's term, keeping the seat vacant for the next president to fill.

A year later, after Trump's victory, Senate Republicans faced a filibuster of Neil Gorsuch's nomination to fill the Scalia vacancy and executed a party-line change of rules to lower the threshold for all judicial nominees to a simple majority. Republicans cited the Democratic use of the "nuclear option" in 2013 when they lowered the filibuster hurdle for every other nominee.

The two actions, taken together, effectively left the minority party with almost no power to block presidential appointments, so long as the majority was unified in support. The last line of defense became using up every bit of time that was afforded to the minority, to try to slow the majority's pace.

Republicans, in late 2013, began to drag out every last hour of Obama's nominees, until they won the majority in the 2014 midterms and for the final two years of Obama's administration ground the confirmation process to a virtual halt.

That left more than 100 vacancies for the lifetime appointments on federal courts at the start of Trump's presidency. McConnell took full advantage of that opportunity and set a record pace for confirming judges to the circuit courts of appeal, the powerful benches one rung below the Supreme Court.

Democrats charged McConnell with hypocrisy as he, Trump and other Republicans boasted about the fast pace of confirming judicial nominees while complaining about obstruction by Democrats.

"My colleagues on the other side can't have it both ways," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who took a lead role in drafting the new proposal, said he has tried to get a bipartisan deal that would have changed the rules under the normal procedure, hoping that Democrats would want a potential president of their party to benefit from the faster confirmation process.

Democrats, however, were willing to vote for such a proposal only if it did not take effect until after the 2020 election, a move Republicans rejected.

"I've been rebuffed for two years, not a single Democrat has been willing to join us," Lankford said.

Schumer said Republicans would regret the move.

"To do this for such blatantly political ends is simply unworthy of this institution," he said.For the Intelligencer

EDWARDSVILLE  Students from the Luke Snell Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville took first place for cost category in the Mortar Workability Competition at the 2019 ACI Concrete Convention and Exposition held March 24-28 in Quebec, Canada.

Participating SIUE students included chapter president Dalton Brookshire, of Nokomis, and vice president David Rall, of Belleville. Both Brookshire and Rall are seniors in the School of Engineerings Department of Construction. Faculty Advisor Anne Werner, PhD, PE, also supported the winning efforts in Quebec.WASHINGTON - When President Donald Trump reduced the size of Utah's Bears Ears National Monument by more than 1.1 million acres, his administration assured the public "important objects of scientific or historic interest" would still be protected.

Many areas the Trump administration removed from Bears Ears are rich in uranium and oil deposits and may eventually become more accessible to developers. They had been off-limits under Barack Obama's 2016 proclamation creating the monument.

And many sites significant to the Native American governments that lobbied Obama to designate the monument now lie outside the redrawn boundaries.

"We knew exactly what was within that geographical boundary," said Shaun Chapoose, a tribal councilman for the Uncompahgre band of the Ute Tribe, The Washington Post reported April 2. "We knew the gravesites, we knew where the artifacts were, we knew where certain plants and herbs grew."

That Post team, using drone footage and three-dimensional modeling, put together a visually stunning and seemingly encyclopedic list of the places left out of Trump's new boundaries.

Along the San Juan River, for example, an extensively etched cliff wall lies outside the redrawn lines. "The oldest drawings on this wall could date to 4000 BC, according to Sally Cole, an archaeologist in Bluff, Utah. They help identify how society developed, from groups of hunter-gatherers to agrarian communities."

The Abajo Mountains too, in the northeast portion of the Obama-era monument, were removed from the boundaries. Cliffside caves once provided shelter to the ancient Puebloans, to whom the Hopi and Zuni people trace their ancestry. "A thousand years ago, the Abajo Mountains harbored human life in every ravine and gully," the Post team reported.

Also excluded from the new monument boundaries is the Valley of the Gods, a desert valley "dotted with stone pillars that jut vertically out of the valley floor and rise straight upward for hundreds of feet." The sandstone valley was once home to the Clovis, a prehistoric people of the earliest inhabitants of North America who hunted now-extinct mammoths and giant sloths.

The courts still need to resolve the question of whether Trump's unraveling of his predecessor's proclamation, hailed by Utah conservatives as a reversal of a "federal land grab," is legal. The president's executive order was immediately challenged in lawsuits from tribal and conservation groups. Those cases are ongoing.She was captured at about the age of 12 in West Africa and forced aboard the Clotilda, the last slave vessel to arrive in the United States in 1860.

Now researchers have identified Redoshi as the last known African-born survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave trade when she died in 1937, according to a statement released Tuesday by Newcastle University in Great Britain. Renamed Sally Smith in Alabama, she may have been 110 years old at the time of her death.

Until now, researchers believed the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade was Oluale Kossola, also known as Cudjo Lewis. But, according to research by Hannah Durkin, a lecturer at Newcastle University, Redoshi lived two years longer than Cudjo, who died in 1935.

Durkin said she first saw a reference to Redoshi in the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and began researching her life story from other writings.

In 2018, HarperCollins published Hurston's manuscript, "Barracoon: The Story of the Last 'Black Cargo,'" 90 years after she wrote it. "Barracoon" detailed the life of Kossola, or Cudjo Lewis, who was just a teenager when he was captured in what is now Benin. Kossola and more than 100 Africans were forced to board the Clotilda in 1860, even though the United States had banned the importation of enslaved people in 1808.

The Clotilda, a retrofitted timber cargo ship, illegally carried 110 Africans to Mobile, Alabama. It was the last slave ship to arrive in the United States.

Redoshi was among the human cargo, Durkin said, and the story of her life provides important information on the illegal slave trade and the tragedy of slavery.

"These materials add hugely to our understanding of transatlantic slavery as a lived experience," Durkin, a lecturer in literature and film in Newcastle University's School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, said in the release. "Now we know that its horrors endured in living memory until 1937, and they allow us to meaningfully consider slavery from a West African woman's perspective for the first time."

After she was kidnapped and forced aboard the Clotilda, Redoshi was sold in Alabama to plantation owner Washington Smith, who also founded the Bank of Selma. There, she was given the name Sally Smith.

Last year, a reporter discovered what he believed was the wreck of the Clotilda, buried in mud along the Mobile-Tensa Delta, just north of Mobile. According to historical accounts, the owners of the ship burned it in 1860 to hide evidence of its illegal human cargo.

In Alabama, Redoshi was forced to work nearly five years "in both the house and the fields," on the Bogue Chitto plantation in Dallas County, Alabama.

"Her husband, who was known as William or Billy, was kidnapped with her and died in the 1910s or 1920s," Durkin said.

Durkin said she found information about Redoshi's life in an interview in the Montgomery Advertiser, and in "Bridge Across Jordan," a memoir by Amelia Boynton Robinson.

After the Emancipation Proclamation, Redoshi continued to live with her daughter on the plantation where she was enslaved until her death in 1937.

"She lived through tremendous trauma and separation," Durkin said, "but there is also a sense of pride in these texts. Her resistance, either through her effort to own her own land in America or in smaller acts like keeping her West African beliefs alive, taking care in her appearance and her home and the joy she took in meeting a fellow African in the 1930s, help to show who she was."Of all the odd, counterfactual and conspiratorial claims President Donald Trump has made over the past four years or so, this one may take the cake: He said Tuesday that his father was born in Germany, even though he wasn't.

It is at least the third time he has said this.

"My father is German - was German," Trump said. "Born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany."

Fred Trump is of German descent, and his father was a German immigrant. But Fred Trump was born in New York. As The Washington Post's Philip Bump detailed shortly after Trump's election:

"Donald Trump's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1885. He landed in New York City but eventually made his way west, settling in Seattle. In November 1891, he bought a restaurant at 208 Washington Street in the city for $600. (This history is from Gwenda Blair's 'The Trumps,' a history of the family.) It was in Seattle that Friedrich became a citizen - on Oct. 27, 1892, just in time to register to vote in the 1892 presidential election, the first for which Washington was eligible to cast its ballots. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer listed Trump as a registered voter shortly before the November election."

Friedrich Trump was expelled from Germany in 1905, apparently because he had emigrated illegally. He and his wife, Elisabeth Trump, returned to the United States when she was pregnant with Fred Trump, the president's father, according to The Post's reporting and Blair's book. So about the only way you could say Trump's father has claim to the German homeland is that he may have been conceived there.

ALSO Democrats divided over how speedily to subpoena Mueller report

Trump was perhaps using the claim to express solidarity with the man he was sitting next to Tuesday at the White House, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The previous two times Trump made this claim were also while talking about U.S.-European relations.

In July, Trump named the European Union as one of the United States' biggest foes. "Maybe the thing that is most difficult - don't forget both my parents were born in EU sectors, OK?" he said. "I mean, my mother was Scotland, my father was Germany. And - you know I love those countries."

Trump's mother was a Scottish immigrant.

And just days before, he made the same claim at a NATO summit in Brussels. "I have great respect for Germany; my father is from Germany," Trump said. "Both of my parents are from the EU, despite the fact they don't treat us well on trade."Video shows harrowing journey asylum seekers take to enter US

By Matt Gutman

April 02, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The razor wire cuts the man's face and blood trickles down his jawline. More noticeable, however, are the screams of the children. Its a cold late December morning near Yuma, Arizona, and smugglers had led dozens of asylum seekers to a breached part of the border wall that traverses a canal into the U.S.

The blades of the concertina wire ensnare shirts and jackets of asylum seekers who are dunked into the 55 degree water, wading through the drainage ditch just yards from the San Juan del Rio Colorado border crossing. One cannot easily make out faces, only wet fists gripping the steel slats and the piercing screams of children. On the other side, U.S. Border Patrol agents are filming and shouting in Spanish, Go backdont do this. Look at the child! Hey! Be careful with the child! Be careful with the child!

ABC News obtained video showing the chaos and complexities faced by authorities and asylum seekers in the growing border crisis. According to federal authorities, a million asylum seekers and migrants are forecast to cross into the U.S. during the 2019 fiscal year, the majority of them families with children traveling from Central America, like the ones seen in this video.

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President Donald Trump has threatened to shut down all or parts of the 2,000-mile long U.S. border with Mexico, accusing Mexico of doing too little to stop the record flow of asylum-seeking families and unaccompanied minors into the U.S.

This video shows three Mexican police officers intervening that December morning. The first wades into the water, moving his way toward the screaming children. Another is edging his way along the bottom of the border fence toward the hole through which the asylum seekers went under and through.

The man with the cut, in a burgundy shirt, carries a screaming child to the bank.

A Honduran mother and her children and another unidentified woman are waiting to cross. Custom and Border Patrol policy prevented U.S. officials from intervening, a CBP spokesperson said.

Border agents can be heard yelling at the women: "Youre going to traumatize this poor child. Shes crying, if she crosses the child can drown."

The Mexican police beseech one of the Honduran children not to go through. A female Mexican officer yanks a child out of a mothers arms and takes her up the bank on the Mexican side.

The officers on both sides are unsure which children belong to which adults. Their own calls and directions are pierced by the cries of children.

The Mexican officer edging his way toward the hole finally jumps in, blocking it with his body. No one else can come through. But theres a woman who has just crossed. The Mexican officers and the Border Patrol agents erroneously believe she is one of the childrens mothers. The woman hesitates, hands over mouth, deliberating between rejoining her sister's family on the Mexican side or making an asylum claim in the U.S.

CBP officials later told ABC News they have not been able to find the woman in their records despite having processed her and taken her asylum application. But her sister, who remained on the Mexican side of the border with her two children, later went to a Mexican migrant shelter where she spent Christmas night. The following day they left. Like many asylum seekers, they didnt say where they were going.

ABC News' Robert Zepeda, Ignacio Torres and Galia Sotomayor contributed reporting.

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Peace and joyWOOD RIVER  Political signs are a fact of life, and sometimes seem to have a life of their own, but recently there has been some controversy over political signs on city property, including in the hallway at city hall.

The signs are in support of the citys proposed 1 percent sales tax increase.

Officials from the Illinois State Board of Elections originally said there are no state regulations prohibiting that, then later, after the initial story was out, said they had found a Wood River City ordinance prohibiting political signs on city property.

Mayor Cheryl Maguire said the city also has an ordinance allowing the city to put up signs, comparing it to signs promoting farmers markets and special events.

On Monday a Madison County Judge heard a complaint over the signs, saying that city officials couldnt put up any more, but could keep the ones up through Wednesday  the day after the election.

Without going into the merits of the referendum, for the city to be actively promoting a ballot issue with yes signs at multiple locations is out of bounds.

The city put the referendum on the ballot, and is actively promoting its passage. Maguire has stated that they would not allow opponents to put up signs, so there is no question of equal access.

To us that appears to be electioneering. What is truly unfortunate is the sign on display in the hallway in front of the City Clerks Office, and visible signs inside the Clerks Office.

And Maguire doesnt appear to understand why the practice crosses an ethical boundary.

Maguire maintains that it is for the public good. But in a few years would signs supporting Maguires reelection show up, because she or another official feels it is for the public good?Ecuador's president says Assange breached terms of London embassy asylum

President Lenin Moreno of Ecuador told radio stations on Tuesday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has repeatedly violated the terms of his asylum in the Andean nations London embassy, where he has lived for nearly seven years.

Moreno, interviewed by the Ecuadorean Radio Broadcasters Association, said Assange does not have the right to hack private accounts or phones and cannot intervene in the politics of other countries, especially those that have friendly relations with Ecuador.

Attorneys for Assange did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Moreno made the comments on Assange after private photographs of him and his family at a time years ago when they were living in Europe circulated on social media. Although Moreno stopped short of explicitly blaming Assange for the leak, the government said it believed the photos were shared by WikiLeaks.

Mr. Assange has violated the agreement we reached with him and his legal counsel too many times, Moreno said in the interview in the city of Guayaquil. It is not that he cannot speak and express himself freely, but he cannot lie, nor much less hack private accounts or phones.

Moreno did not say whether or not the government would take steps to remove Assange from the embassy.

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Assange took refuge in Ecuadors London embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation.

That probe was later dropped, but Assange fears he could be extradited to face charges in the United States, where federal prosecutors are investigating WikiLeaks.

Ecuador last year established new rules for Assanges behavior while in the embassy, which required him to pay his medical bills and clean up after his pet cat. He challenged the rules in local and international tribunals, arguing they violated his human rights. Both courts ruled against him.

Last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is linked to the Organization of American States, rejected Assanges request that Ecuador ease the conditions it has imposed on his residence in the London embassy.

Assange says Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum and is putting pressure on him by isolating him from visitors and spying on him. Ecuador has said its treatment of Assange was in line with international law, but that his situation cannot be extended indefinitely.

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Peace and joyThe energy watchdog has fined Big Six supplier SSE 700,000 for failing to hit last year's target to install gas smart meters for its customers.

Ofgem said that although SSE met its electricity smart meter installation target for 2018, the supplier only reached its gas target in February of this year  less than two months after the deadline.

SSE has agreed to pay 700,000 to Ofgem's consumer redress fund, run by the Energy Savings Trust, which supports customers in vulnerable situations as well as the development of innovative energy products or services.

SSE missed it's gas smart meter installation target, set by the Government, by two months

However, Ofgem said it has decided to not take formal enforcement action against SSE, which supplies around 3.6 million households, due to the steps SSE has taken.

Natalie Hitchins, Which? Head of Home Products and Services, said: 'It's right that the regulator is taking action against individual firms lagging behind on smart meter installations, but there is a mountain to climb to get the rollout back on track.

'We need urgent action to resolve the remaining technical issues with second-generation smart meters to ensure they work properly for consumers.

'All parties involved in the rollout must work together to ensure people can enjoy the benefits of smart meters, such as greater convenience and a more competitive energy market, rather than hassle and soaring costs funded by their own bills.'

Energy suppliers are legally required to take all reasonable steps to roll-out smart meters to all homes and small businesses by the end of 2020, under the Government's smart meter roll-out programme.

Individual annual targets for smart meter installations have been set by the Government as part of this aim and the watchdog monitors supplier's performance against these targets.

Providers with more than 250,000 customers must also set annual targets for the proportion of their customers that will have smart meters by the end of each year. However, these targets are commercially confidential.

Ofgem said it was 'closely monitoring' supplier approaches to the roll out of smart meters and vowed to 'hold suppliers to account if they do not meet their obligations'.

There has been criticism of the 2020 deadline, saying it is unrealistic, with the National Audit Office saying in November of last year that the government has 'no realistic prospect' of reaching its target.

It's report also said installers will need to replace 39 million old meters within the next two years if it wants to meet the deadline.

Which? said the industry would have to install 30 meters every minute over the next two years to meet the target whereas it currently installing fewer than ten.

The criticism has been supported by recent official figures that show smart meter installation dropped by 16 per cent year-on-year in the final three months of 2018.

Domestic smart meter installation also fell 2 per cent in the final quarter compared to the previous quarter.

By the end of 2018, 12.65 million smart meters were installed in UK households, representing a quarter of all domestic meters.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: 'When suppliers don't hit their targets it's customers who miss out. It's only right that it's firms who pay the price when this happens.'

'Smart meters will provide benefits to consumers. They put the customer in control - whether that's by more accurate billing or helping them consider how to reduce the amount of energy they use.

'The deadline for smart meters to be installed in all homes and small businesses by the end of 2020 remains unrealistic. It should be extended to 2023.'I received a letter from Phoenix Life in October regarding an outstanding sum of money in my father's name.

I sent my identification details, but was unable to answer some questions about my father as I had become estranged from him, my mother and my three brothers for several years  although I went to my father's funeral in 2003.

I phoned Phoenix Life and was told that, because two of my brothers had not sent any paperwork, it could not release the money.

The firm needs a letter from both of them declaring they have no interest in the money. I have no idea where they live.

M.H., Somerset.

Frozen out: A family split left one reader unable to collect his share of his father's estate

Tony Hazell replies: Being estranged from your family can throw up all sorts of difficulties in situations like this. Thankfully, Phoenix Life has taken a common sense approach.

Normally, payment is made to one executor so the money can be distributed correctly.

However, in view of your situation, Phoenix Life has decided to handle things a little differently.

It has an obligation to take all reasonable steps to find potential claimants, but it now accepts it would be inappropriate to ask you to help any further. Therefore, it has paid your quarter share directly to you.

Where has my personal savings allowance gone?

On my HMRC coding notice for 2016/17 I had a personal allowance of 11,000 and a personal savings allowance of 1,000, giving me a tax-free income sum of 12,000.

On my tax letter for 2017/18, the personal allowance changed to 11,500. When I queried why there was no personal savings allowance, I was told this was included in the personal allowance, which suggests my total tax-free sum has been reduced by 500.

There is no personal savings allowance on my 2018/19 letter either, so where has it gone?

Mrs J. H., Essex.

Tony replies: Well spotted. The personal savings allowance did appear on coding notices in 2016/17 and has since vanished. But don't worry, you are still receiving it  as is everyone else.

I asked HMRC why it's no longer there and was told it's because it is not actually a tax allowance, it's an allowance on interest earned on savings.

It often appears that the lower your income, the more complex tax becomes.

As you correctly state, the personal allowance gave 11,500 of tax-free income for 2017/18. It is 11,850 for this tax year, which ends on April 5, increasing to 12,500 for 2019/20.

The allowance covers income from all sources, including wages and pensions. On top of this, those on low incomes receive a 5,000 starting rate for savings income, giving a potential 16,850 of tax-free income this year.

This is mainly of use to pensioners who are on low incomes but who have accumulated savings during their working lives. The starting rate is eroded by any earned or pension income above the 11,850 personal allowance.

For example, if you earned or had a pension of 13,850, you would lose 2,000 of the savings starting rate, reducing it to 3,000.

Anyone earning more than 16,850 does not qualify for the savings starting rate.

Then we come to the personal savings allowance to which you refer. This allows basic-rate taxpayers and non-taxpayers to earn a further 1,000 tax-free interest per year. The allowance for higher-rate taxpayers is 500, while very high earners paying additional-rate tax lose this allowance altogether.

Finally, whoever told you the savings allowance has been absorbed into the main personal allowance is just plain wrong.

I'm 92 and E.on has hiked my energy payment by 30

I have received my energy from E.on for many years.

In November, it informed me my direct debit was going up by 30 a month, despite my account being in credit.

I have phoned the firm and got nowhere. I have also sent two emails, only to receive an electronic notification that its staff were 'very busy'.

I am 92, widowed and I can't afford to pay such a large bill increase.

Mrs J. B., Essex.

Tony replies: I sent your letter to E.on as soon as I received it  and waited for a response.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

I chased it. And chased it. Eventually I received a simple statement telling me that your direct debit had been put back to the level it had been previously.

That's great news  but why couldn't it just do this when you phoned it the first time?

And why did it take so long to provide me with such a simple piece of information?

Perhaps it was just 'very busy' again.Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton was reinstated as the fashion chain's chief executive last night after a bitter power struggle saw almost the entire board resign.

At a dramatic showdown in the City of London, 51.5 per cent of shareholders backed his plan to return and revive its ailing fortunes.

The knife-edge decision marked a humiliating defeat for Superdry chairman Peter Bamford and chief executive Euan Sutherland, who quit along with six of the other seven directors.

Mates no more: Superdry chief exec Euan Sutherland, left, with the company's founder Julian Dunkerton, right

The mass exodus followed a five-month public battle between co-founder Dunkerton and bosses at the fashion chain he set up in 2003.

Seizing the job as chief executive last night following his victory, Dunkerton outlined plans to 'rebuild the Superdry brand and the business', adding: 'The hard work starts now.' But the company's shares fell 8.8 per cent, or 48p, to 500p.

Dunkerton, Superdry's largest shareholder with an 18.4 per cent stake, left the business in March last year to pursue other business interests.

But it has since suffered a decline in sales and profits, sending shares down almost two-thirds.

He and co-founder James Holder accused Sutherland and his top team of presiding over a 'catastrophic' fall in the share price, blaming a change in strategy for hitting sales.

Superdry has cut the number of products it stocks and shifted production to the Far East to save money. It has also launched a childrenswear range which Dunkerton is expected to ditch.

The row climaxed yesterday after Dunkerton demanded shareholders vote on his plans to return and turn around its fortunes.

As well as backing him, they also approved his plan to appoint former Boohoo chairman Peter Williams to the board.

The coup sparked a string of resignations as finance boss Ed Barker and remuneration committee chairman Penny Hughes followed Sutherland and Bamford out of the door.

Four other directors  Dennis Millard, Minnow Powell, Sarah Wood and John Smith  handed in their notice and step down on July 1.

Superdry's corporate brokers UBS and Investec also quit.

Company secretary Simon Callander is the only board member to remain. Williams has now stepped in as chairman, with Dunkerton appointed interim chief executive.

Bamford noted that 74 per cent of investors other than Dunkerton and Holder, who own 28 per cent of shares between them, had voted against the proposals.

Institutional investors Investec, Schroders and BBVA are thought to have backed Dunkerton.

Dunkerton, who is married to 32-year-old designer Jade Holland Cooper, said the turnaround is likely to take two years.

'There may be a bit of turbulence in the beginning but it won't be as dramatic as anyone has said,' Dunkerton said.

'We will point this company back in the right direction, quickly and efficiently. The opportunities are greater now than they were two years ago.'

At a stormy meeting, Superdry shareholders lashed out Sutherland and his team.

Chas Howes, who is a former Superdry finance boss and owns 64,000 shares, accused the company's bosses of 'lining their pockets' while presiding over a poor performance.

'Financial performance has been appalling,' Howes said.

'You recently bought shares [at] under 4, deliberately taking advantage of a disaster you have created when minority shareholders have suffered.'

John Olive, an individual investor, added: 'Frankly the board should depart, let us move on, bring Mr Dunkerton back and let's have some sense about the business that we're in.'

Dinesh Jain accused Sutherland and Bamford for failing to take responsibility.

He said: 'It's as if everything is Julian's fault and nothing is your fault and you have refused to accept responsibility.'The bow sections of the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier were built at Appledore

A consortium of British and international companies is circling the historic Appledore shipyard in Devon.

Three firms  one British and two foreign  are putting together an offer either for a long lease or a joint venture with the shipyard's owner, Langham Industries.

Another six companies have expressed an interest in building vessels at the site.

The yard has been shut since March 15 when submarine builder Babcock International's lease ran out.

Babcock left Appledore, near Barnstaple, which has been a shipbuilding hub since 1855, after it failed to find enough work.

The closure put 196 jobs at risk, though around half have been relocated by Babcock.

Langham Industries boss Chris Langham, 67, said: 'We're doing everything to make the yard attractive to someone taking over or to an incoming operator.'NSA Whistleblower: Government Collecting Everything You Do

By Empire Files

April 02, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Abby Martin interviews former Technical Director of the National Security Agency, Bill Binney, who blew the whistle on warrantless spying years before Edward Snowden released the evidence. They discuss the US empires mass surveillance program and dangers of the Intelligence Industrial Complex.

Today, the mass surveillance of all Americans by the US government and its corporate partners is a totally normalized reality. Despite its widespread acceptance, it is an outrageous, blatant violation of our constitutional rights.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Its difficult to ascertain how the chilling effect of dragnet spying has changed society in the post 9/11 world.

However, many insiders in the intelligence community understood the dangers of these programs from the beginning.

Edward Snowden is celebrated as a hero for bringing proof of NSAs mass spying and bulk collection to the world.

But years prior, Bill Binney had blown the whistle on this very same program. A 36-year NSA veteran, Bill Binney was the technical director, responsible for developing and overseeing the agencys spying technology.

He even developed Thin Thread, the data monitoring program that was later hijacked by the Bush administration to implement widespread warrantless surveillance.

Mounting pressure caused Obama to pass the USA Freedom Act in 2015, which only outsourced its bulk acquisition to telecom companies, using the secretive FISA court as an intermediary.

And nearly 20 years after 9/11 these unaccountable agencies are using new fears, like of Russian cyber-warfare, to grow their power and operations.

I caught up with Binney in Vancouver, at the University of British Columbia, where he received the Allard Prize for International Integrity, to talk to him about blowing the whistle and the fight against the surveillance state today.

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

Listen: Nuclear War on Russia? : Stephen F. Cohen : Prof. Stephen F. Cohen talks to Lew Rockwell about what the CIA wants.

US Government's Refusal to Confirm or Deny It Put American Journalist on Drone Kill List Called 'Chilling'

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Peace and joyLondon housing developer L&Q is to build 20,000 homes in the North West

A major London housing developer is to build 20,000 homes in the North West.

L&Q said the 4billion investment was part of its plan to expand beyond the South East, where land is more expensive and in short supply.

It said that at least half the homes will be 'genuinely affordable'.

And it will cater for people aged above 55 and those with special needs.

As part of the plans, L&Q is in talks to buy Manchester-based Trafford Housing Trust (THT), which it said would provide a 'gateway' into the northern market.

THT has around 9,000 homes under management. This compares to L&Q's portfolio of 90,000 mainly in London and the South East.

The two firms already have a joint venture together.

David Montague, L&Q's boss, said: 'We are excited by the opportunity to invest with a partner that shares our social purpose, values and ambition, has excellent local knowledge and a strong reputation for innovation and delivery.'The City watchdog has issued an unprecedented warning over the high-risk Isas introduced by George Osborne.

Regulators urged the public to think twice before putting their cash into an Innovative Finance (IF) Isa, a product launched by the then Chancellor in 2016.

It came after savings firm London Capital & Finance collapsed, owing 237million to 11,500 investors.

Risk: Regulators urged the public to think twice before putting their cash into an Innovative Finance (IF) Isa, a product launched by the then Chancellor George Osborne in 2016

IF Isas allow savers to put their nest eggs into speculative investments such as mini-bonds.

The money is lent directly to companies with the promise of higher returns than regular savings accounts offer.

Gains are tax-free but investors' cash is not legally protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, meaning if the company the money is lent to goes bust they stand to lose everything.

The Financial Conduct Authority said it has seen evidence that IF Isas are being marketed alongside safe-as-houses cash Isas.

The FCA also reported widespread confusion over how IF Isas work.

'Investments held in IF Isas are high-risk with the money ultimately being invested in products like mini-bonds or peer-to-peer investments,' the watchdog said. 'Anyone considering investing in an IF Isa should carefully consider where their money is being invested before purchasing.'

Trading firm London Capital & Finance went bust earlier this year, owing 237million.

It claimed to offer savers returns of 8 per cent and said their cash would be invested in start-ups through mini-bonds held in an Isa.

But, in fact, the cash was given to just 12 firms in what its administrators have said was a series of 'highly suspicious transactions'.

And it appears that the money was not kept in Isas after all. Investors are now expected to get back just 20 per cent of what they gave to LCF, and the Serious Fraud Office is investigating.

There will also be an independent inquiry into whether the FCA failed in its duty as a regulator.

If Isas were announced by Osborne in 2015 to support the growth of so-called peer-to-peer lenders.

Traditionally, a saver would deposit their money in an account at a bank, which would then lend the cash out.

The bank would pay the saver a small amount of interest and lend at much higher rates, pocketing the difference as profit.

Peer-to-peer firms cut out the middleman and mean almost all the interest goes straight to the saver, giving much higher returns.

However, up to 85,000 of savings are protected by law if a bank goes bust.

There is no protection at all for money that is invested with peer-to-peer firms.Martin Samworth's office at the glass and steel London headquarters of CBRE  the world's largest commercial property services group  directly overlooks Debenhams' flagship Oxford Street store.

The view might be regarded as a metaphor of the collapse of the High Street and the Brexit arrow aimed at property values.

The ebullient 59-year-old Samworth, who has risen to the very top of New York-quoted CBRE as the company's international president, Advisory Services, based in London, takes a different view.

Backing Britain: Martin Samworth of the world's largest commercial property services group CBRE

Not only does he see recovery opportunities on Britain's high streets but he also reports inward investment in property is as strong as ever and the prices of upmarket homes in the UK's biggest cities are coming back.

'The high street is going through a significant change. But the prime end of the market will continue. People want to socially interact. They want to go out and add a leisure experience,' Samworth says.

An indicator of continuing overseas interest is the offer for the UK-based real estate investment trust RDI by the Australian predator Cromwell.

And AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould argued recently that British property firms were undervalued.

Over lunch in his capacious office, Samworth, pictured, shows little anxiety about what is next for the British market.

If his confidence sounds like estate agent's bluster we shouldn't be surprised. Samworth joined property company St Quintin directly from Birmingham Polytechnic where he studied estate management.

Some 36 years later, his feet have barely touched the ground. When we meet, he is hotfoot back from Singapore and is heading to Australia.

The roots of CBRE can be traced back to America's most recognised realtor Coldwell Banker (CB), founded in San Francisco in 1906.

In 1998, it merged with the international arm of Richard Ellis (RE), the British firm founded in 1773.

CBRE is unrecognisable, no longer dominated by stiff, traditional surveyors. It embraces new technology, the flexible office model associated with Wework and has its own embryonic investment bank. Last year, worldwide revenues hit 16.4billion and it had 90,000 staff.

As the possibility of a disruptive Brexit looms, much has been made of the damage to the UK's global reputation. But Samworth is confident, in spite of survey data suggesting commercial construction and civil engineering might be stalling.

'International investment in the UK continues. There is a strong appetite and I think in one or two parts of the world they may have pressed pause.

'But in the last six months you have seen some of the most high-profile buildings sold. There has been a diverse appetite from Koreans, Americans and the Middle East.

'The Chinese may have pulled back because of restrictions on outbound investment. US-based opportunity funds are back doing business.' They are attracted by 'where the pound is, there is still a foreign exchange advantage.'

It is not just London catching the imagination. He says: 'Manchester and increasingly Birmingham now is an attraction for global investors  both commercial real estate and residential. We are selling quite a few high-end flats in Birmingham, some to the Chinese.'

One attraction is new infrastructure. 'London is, I think, second only to Dubai in terms of the amount of infrastructure coming on stream  258billion was the last figure I saw, way ahead of New York and Moscow.'

If the uncertainty over Brexit were to be lifted, Samworth is in no doubt as to what would happen. 'There is investment waiting that has been deferred.

'That could take place and we will see something of a bounce.' He offers a brighter perspective amid the gloom from some.

The Russians and Chinese may be less active but other overseas investors are keeping the faith with global Britain.Savers have just three days to use their tax-free Isa allowance before losing it.

Banks and building societies are enticing savers with new top easy-access accounts paying as much as 1.5 per cent.

The best deals are usually online but even in branches savers can earn up to 1.35 per cent  or 135 on a 10,000 lump sum.

However, they should watch out for onerous terms and conditions among top payers such as allowing just one withdrawal a year, or slashing the rate after 12 months.

Isa deals: Banks and building societies are enticing savers with new top easy-access accounts paying as much as 1.5 per cent

The advantage of putting savings into a cash Isa is that any interest is automatically tax free.

You have until the close of business this Friday to use your 20,000 allowance for the current tax year. On April 6, you get a new 20,000 allowance, which you have until April 5, 2020, to use.

Paragon's Limited Edition Easy Access Cash Isa at 1.45 per cent, OakNorth's Easy Access Cash Isa at 1.44 per cent, and Shawbrook's Easy Access Cash Isa at 1.43 per cent are among the top online deals.

If you are looking for a branch-based account, Newcastle BS paying 1.35 per cent, Virgin Money with 1.16 per cent and Coventry BS at 1.15 per cent are among the best payers with a wide network.

Smaller providers include Kent Reliance at 1.4 per cent and Market Harborough BS and Monmouthshire BS at 1.15 per cent.

There are better cash Isa rates on offer but they have stricter terms and conditions. For example, Santander's eIsa pays 1.5 per cent. But to qualify for the account you must also be a Santander 1/2/3 World or Select customer.

The rate is also only payable for a year. After this your money will be transferred into the bank's Isa Saver, which pays as little as 0.35 per cent  so you must remember to switch again to a better deal.

Leeds BS new Limited Edition Online Access Isa Issue 11, out yesterday, pays 1.46 per cent.

There are no withdrawal restrictions, but the account only runs until May next year. Skipton Online Bonus Cash Isa, launched this morning, pays 1.42 per cent, including a 0.42 percentage point bonus for the first 16 months.

Virgin Money's Double Take E Isa pays 1.45 per cent. You can make just two withdrawals and no more, though you can close the account by transferring to another Isa.

Nationwide pays 1.4 per cent on its Loyalty Single Access Isa, but you must have been a member of the society for at least a year.

The best rate available to new customers is 1.3 per cent. You are also restricted to just one annual withdrawal; more and your rate will drop to 0.5 per cent.

Savers should watch out for onerous terms and conditions among top payers such as allowing just one withdrawal a year, or slashing the rate after 12 months

Yorkshire BS's Single Access deal pays 1.46 per cent and limits you to withdrawals on one day a year.

The Nationwide and Yorkshire accounts are available online and through branches.

Leeds BS branch-based Double Access account pays 1.3 per cent but just two withdrawals are allowed annually. Any more and 30 days' interest is lost.

And Newcastle BS Easy Access is paying 1.35 per cent including a 0.6 percentage point bonus for a year, after which your rate will drop to 0.75 per cent unless you switch.

If you are willing to tie up your money for a year, you can earn 1.78 per cent from OakNorth Bank, 1.77 per cent from Shawbrook Bank or 1.75 per cent from Charter Savings Bank online.

In the High Street, Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks pay 1.6 per cent fixed for a year to their current account holders. Kent Reliance pays 1.6 per cent, Yorkshire BS 1.55 per cent and Leeds BS 1.51 per cent.

It takes just a few minutes to open an account online if you have your National Insurance number (find it on your payslip, P60 or letters about tax, pensions or benefits).

To meet this year's Isa deadline your cash must reach the account before midnight, Friday.

In branch, you will have to take proof of who you are, such as a passport or driving licence. You also need proof of where you live from a recent council tax bill, a bank statement or utility bill.

If you have trouble getting this information together in time for Friday, you can still open an account quickly with existing savings or current account providers as they have already completed these checks. Once your money is there, you can move it to a different cash Isa or a stocks-and-shares Isa later.

Finally, beware advertisements for a new type of Isa which can appear on comparison sites with headline-grabbing rates of more than 6 per cent. These might look like an ordinary savings account but are much riskier.

The City regulator yesterday warned that savers should 'carefully consider' where their money is invested before putting it into an innovative finance Isa.

The Financial Conduct Authority says it has seen evidence that the riskier products were being promoted alongside cash Isas.

These Innovative Finance Isas are offered by peer-to-peer lenders which, through their websites, match up savers and borrowers  both individuals and small businesses.

They are riskier as the borrower might find they cannot afford to pay the interest promised, or default on their loan altogether.

Unlike other Isas, your money is also not covered up to 85,000 by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the firm goes bust.

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Read MoreBy John Solomon

April 02, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Two years after leaving office, Joe Biden couldnt resist the temptation last year to brag to an audience of foreign policy specialists about the time as vice president that he strong-armed Ukraine into firing its top prosecutor.

In his own words, with video cameras rolling, Biden described how he threatened Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in March 2016 that the Obama administration would pull $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees, sending the former Soviet republic toward insolvency, if it didnt immediately fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.

I said, Youre not getting the billion. Im going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: Im leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, youre not getting the money, Biden recalled telling Poroshenko.

Well, son of a bitch, he got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time, Biden told the Council on Foreign Relations event, insisting that President Obama was in on the threat.

Interviews with a half-dozen senior Ukrainian officials confirm Bidens account, though they claim the pressure was applied over several months in late 2015 and early 2016, not just six hours of one dramatic day. Whatever the case, Poroshenko and Ukraines parliament obliged by ending Shokins tenure as prosecutor. Shokin was facing steep criticism in Ukraine, and among some U.S. officials, for not bringing enough corruption prosecutions when he was fired.

But Ukrainian officials tell me there was one crucial piece of information that Biden must have known but didnt mention to his audience: The prosecutor he got fired was leading a wide-ranging corruption probe into the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings that employed Bidens younger son, Hunter, as a board member.

U.S. banking records show Hunter Bidens American-based firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, received regular transfers into one of its accounts  usually more than $166,000 a month  from Burisma from spring 2014 through fall 2015, during a period when Vice President Biden was the main U.S. official dealing with Ukraine and its tense relations with Russia.

Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The general prosecutors official file for the Burisma probe  shared with me by senior Ukrainian officials  shows prosecutors identified Hunter Biden, business partner Devon Archer and their firm, Rosemont Seneca, as potential recipients of money.

Shokin told me in written answers to questions that, before he was fired as general prosecutor, he had made specific plans for the investigation that included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board, including Hunter Biden.

He added: I would like to emphasize the fact that presumption of innocence is a principle in Ukraine and that he couldnt describe the evidence further.

William Russo, a spokesman for Joe Biden, and Hunter Biden did not respond to email messages Monday seeking comment. The phone number at Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC in Washington was no longer in service on Monday.

The timing of Hunter Bidens and Archers appointment to Burismas board has been highlighted in the past, by The New York Times in December 2015 and in a 2016 book by conservative author Peter Schweizer.

Although Biden made no mention of his son in his 2018 speech, U.S. and Ukrainian authorities both told me Biden and his office clearly had to know about the general prosecutor's probe of Burisma and his son's role. They noted that:

Hunter Biden's appointment to the board was widely reported in American media;

The U.S. Embassy in Kiev that coordinated Biden's work in the country repeatedly and publicly discussed the general prosecutor's case against Burisma;

Great Britain took very public action against Burisma while Joe Biden was working with that government on Ukraine issues;

Biden's office was quoted, on the record, acknowledging Hunter Biden's role in Burisma in a New York Times article about the general prosecutor's Burisma case that appeared four months before Biden forced the firing of Shokin. The vice president's office suggested in that article that Hunter Biden was a lawyer free to pursue his own private business deals.

President Obama named Biden the administrations point man on Ukraine in February 2014, after a popular revolution ousted Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych and as Moscow sent military forces into Ukraines Crimea territory.

According to Schweizers book, Vice President Biden met with Archer in April 2014 right as Archer was named to the board at Burisma. A month later, Hunter Biden was named to the board, to oversee Burismas legal team.

But the Ukrainian investigation and Joe Bidens effort to fire the prosecutor overseeing it has escaped without much public debate.

Most of the general prosecutors investigative work on Burisma focused on three separate cases, and most stopped abruptly once Shokin was fired. The most prominent of the Burisma cases was transferred to a different Ukrainian agency, closely aligned with the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, known as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), according to the case file and current General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko.

NABU closed that case, and a second case involving alleged improper money transfers in London was dropped when Ukrainian officials failed to file the necessary documents by the required deadline. The general prosecutors office successfully secured a multimillion-dollar judgment in a tax evasion case, Lutsenko said. He did not say who was the actual defendant in that case.

As a result, the Biden family appeared to have escaped the potential for an embarrassing inquiry overseas in the final days of the Obama administration and during an election in which Democrat Hillary Clinton was running for president in 2016.

But then, as Bidens 2020 campaign ramped up over the past year, Lutsenko  the Ukrainian prosecutor that Biden once hailed as a solid replacement for Shokin  began looking into what happened with the Burisma case that had been shut down.

Lutsenko told me that, while reviewing the Burisma investigative files, he discovered members of the Board obtained funds as well as another U.S.-based legal entity, Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, for consulting services.

Lutsenko said some of the evidence he knows about in the Burisma case may interest U.S. authorities and hed like to present that information to new U.S. Attorney General William Barr, particularly the vice presidents intervention.

Unfortunately, Mr. Biden had correlated and connected this aid with some of the HR (personnel) issues and changes in the prosecutors office, Lutsenko said.

Nazar Kholodnytskyi, the lead anti-corruption prosecutor in Lutsenkos office, confirmed to me in an interview that part of the Burisma investigation was reopened in 2018, after Joe Biden made his remarks. We were able to start this case again, Kholodnytskyi said.

But he said the separate Ukrainian police agency that investigates corruption has dragged its feet in gathering evidence. We dont see any result from this case one year after the reopening because of some external influence, he said, declining to be more specific.

Ukraine is in the middle of a hard-fought presidential election, is a frequent target of intelligence operations by neighboring Russia and suffers from rampant political corruption nationwide. Thus, many Americans might take the restart of the Burisma case with a grain of salt, and rightfully so.

But what makes Lutsenkos account compelling is that federal authorities in America, in an entirely different case, uncovered financial records showing just how much Hunter Bidens and Archers company received from Burisma while Joe Biden acted as Obamas point man on Ukraine.

Between April 2014 and October 2015, more than $3 million was paid out of Burisma accounts to an account linked to Bidens and Archers Rosemont Seneca firm, according to the financial records placed in a federal court file in Manhattan in an unrelated case against Archer.

The bank records show that, on most months when Burisma money flowed, two wire transfers of $83,333.33 each were sent to the Rosemont Senecaconnected account on the same day. The same Rosemont Senecalinked account typically then would pay Hunter Biden one or more payments ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 each. Prosecutors reviewed internal company documents and wanted to interview Hunter Biden and Archer about why they had received such payments, according to interviews.

Lutsenko said Ukrainian company board members legally can pay themselves for work they do if it benefits the companys bottom line, but prosecutors never got to determine the merits of the payments to Rosemont because of the way the investigation was shut down.

As for Joe Bidens intervention in getting Lutsenkos predecessor fired in the midst of the Burisma investigation, Lutsenko suggested that was a matter to discuss with Attorney General Barr: Of course, I would be happy to have a conversation with him about this issue.

As the now-completed Russia collusion investigation showed us, every American deserves the right to be presumed innocent until evidence is made public or a conviction is secured, especially when some matters of a case involve foreigners. The same presumption should be afforded to Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Devon Archer and Burisma in the Ukraine case.

Nonetheless, some hard questions should be answered by Biden as he prepares, potentially, to run for president in 2020: Was it appropriate for your son and his firm to cash in on Ukraine while you served as point man for Ukraine policy? What work was performed for the money Hunter Bidens firm received? Did you know about the Burisma probe? And when it was publicly announced that your son worked for Burisma, should you have recused yourself from leveraging a U.S. policy to pressure the prosecutor who very publicly pursued Burisma?

John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist whose work over the years has exposed U.S. and FBI intelligence failures before the Sept. 11 attacks, federal scientists misuse of foster children and veterans in drug experiments, and numerous cases of political corruption. He serves as an investigative columnist and executive vice president for video at The Hill.Chinese army arrives in Venezuela

?

By News Desk

April 03, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - A group of Chinese soldiers arrived in Venezuela on Sunday as part of a cooperation program between Beijing and Caracas.

According to reports, more than 120 soldiers from the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army arrived at Venezuelas Margarita Island to deliver humanitarian aid and military supplies to the government forces.

#Venezuela #China #Russia #Caracas #Chinese army soldiers arrived in Venezuela Chinese Peoples Liberation Army soldiers, as part of a cooperation program, arrived, after delivering humanitarian supplies, to one of Venezuelan military facilities. pic.twitter.com/HwZ9Ee67d0  Sukhoi Su-57 frazor (@I30mki) April 1, 2019

The arrival of the Peoples Liberation Army in Venezuela comes just days after the Russian armed forces deployed to the country to install a military helicopter training facility.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

However, this move by the Russian military has not come without heavy criticism from the Trump administration and several U.S. congressmen.

Maduro calls for hands off #Venezuela while he invites security forces from Cuba and Russia, so he and his cronies can keep plundering Venezuela. It is time for Venezuelan institutions to stand for their sovereignty. Russia and Cuba, #HandsOffVenezuela, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on March 28th.

These moves by the Russian and Chinese armed forces appear to be a powerplay against the U.S. administration, who is actively pushing to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power.

The U.S. has attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela from Colombia; however, the Maduro administration contends that the purpose of these deliveries is to transport weapons to the opposition.

This article was originally published by " Al Masdar News " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

Chinas PLA Troops In Venezuela: A Watershed Moment In World Politics : The reports mention that the group of Chinese military personnel is 120-strong and arrived on the Margarita Island

China refutes reports of sending troops to Venezuela to help Maduro

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Peace and joyLike Libya and Syria, Venezuela Is Not Just About Oil

By Andre Vltchek

April 03, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Yes, the latest research confirms that Venezuela is so rich in natural resources, that it could single-handedly satisfy all global demand for oil, for over 30 years. And it has much more than oil to offer, in its Orinoco basin and in other areas of the country.

But it is not all about oil; actually, far from it.

Those who believe that what propels the spread of Western terror all over the world, are just some business interests and legendary Western greed, are, from my point of view, missing the point.

I noticed that such individuals and analysts actually believe that capitalism is responsible for everything, and that it creates the culture of violence of which, both victims and victimizers, already became hostages to.

After working in all corners of the world, I am now more and more convinced that capitalism is actually the result of Western culture, which is predominantly based on expansionism, exceptionalism and aggression. It is also constructed on a deeply rooted desire to control and to dictate. Financial/monetary greed is just a by-product of this culture which has elevated its superiority to something that could be defined as religious, or even religiously fundamentalist.

Or in other words: belief in its own superiority is actually now the main religion in both Europe and North America.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

What makes the Libyan, Syrian and Venezuelan scenarios so similar? Why was the West so eager to viciously attack, and then destroy these three, at the first glance, very different countries?

The answer is simple, although it is not often uttered in the West; at least not publicly:

All three countries stood at the vanguard of promoting and fighting with determination for such concepts as pan-Africanism, pan-Arabism and Patria Grande  essentially Latin American independence and unity.

Gaddafi, Al-Assad and Chavez have been, regionally and internationally, recognized as anti-imperialist fighters, inspiring and giving hope to hundreds of millions of people.

Gaddafi was murdered, Chavez was most likely killed as well, and Al-Assad and his nation have been, literally and for several long years, fighting for their survival.

The current Venezuelan President Maduro, who is determinedly loyal to the Bolivarian revolutionary ideals, has already survived at least one assassination attempt, and, is now facing direct mafia-style threats from the West. At any moment, his country could get attacked, directly or through the Latin American client states of the West.

It is because Africa, the Middle East and Latin America have been considered, and for centuries treated, as colonies. It is because whenever people stood up, they were almost immediately smashed into pieces by the iron fist of Western imperialism. And those who think that they are in control of the world by some divine design, do not want things to change, ever.

Europe and North America are obsessed with controlling others, and in order to control, they feel that they have to make sure to exterminate all opposition in their colonies and neo-colonies.

It is a truly mental state in which the West has found itself; a state which I, in my earlier works, defined as Sadistic Personality Disorder (SPD).

To get the complete picture, one also has to recall Indonesia, which was literally liquidated as an independent and progressive nation, in 1965. Its internationalist president Sukarno (father of the Non-Aligned Movement, and close ally of the Communist Party of Indonesia  PKI) was overthrown by the handpicked (by the West), treasonous, intellectually and morally deranged, General Suharto, opening the door to turbo-capitalism, and to the unbridled plunder of the natural resources of his nation. Once a guiding light for the entire Asian independence struggle, after the US/UK/Australia-orchestrated extreme genocide, Indonesia has been reduced to nothing more than a lobotomized and dirt-poor client state of the West.

The West has an incredible capacity to identify true regional independence leaders; to smear them, to make them vulnerable by inventing and then upholding so-called local opposition, and later, by liquidating them and with them, also their countries and even their entire regions.

Sometimes, the West attacks particular countries, as was the case with Iran (1953), Iraq, or Nicaragua. But more often, it goes directly for the big fish  leaders of regional opposition  such as Libya, Indonesia, Syria, and now, Venezuela.

Many defiant individuals have literally been murdered already: Gaddafi, Hussein, Lumumba, and Chavez, to name just a few.

And of course, whatever it does, the West is trying to destroy the greatest leaders of the anti-Western and anti-imperialist coalition: Russia and China.

It is all far from only being about oil, or about profits.

The West needs to rule. It is obsessed with controlling the world, with feeling superior and exceptional. It is a game, a deadly game. For centuries, the West has been behaving like a fundamentalist religious fanatic, and its people have never even noticed that their world views have actually became synonymous with exceptionalism, and with cultural superiority. That is why the West is so successful in creating and injecting extremist religious movements of all denominations, into virtually all parts of the world: from Oceania to Asia, from Africa to Latin America, and of course, to China. Western leaders are at home with Christian, Muslim or even Buddhist extremists.

But Syria has managed to survive, and up to today it is standing. The only reason why the government forces are not taking the last terrorist bastion, Idlib, yet, is because the civilian population would suffer tremendous losses during the battle.

Venezuela is also refusing to kneel and to surrender. And it is clear that if the West and its allies dared to attack, the resistance, the millions of people, would fight for the villages and countryside, and if needed, would withdraw to the jungle and wage a guerilla liberation war against the occupiers, and against the treasonous elites.

Washington, London, Paris and Madrid are clearly using an extremely outdated strategy: one that worked against Libya, but which failed squarely in Syria.

Recently, in Syria, near the frontline of Idlib, two top commanders told me that they are fighting not only for Syria, but for the entire oppressed world, including Venezuela. They clearly detected that the West is using precisely the same strategy against Caracas, which it tried to use against Damascus.

Now, Venezuela is also suffering and fighting for the entire oppressed world.

It has no right to fail, as Syria had no right to surrender.

The destruction of Libya had already brought a tremendously negative impact on Africa. And it has opened the doors to the renewed and unbridled French plunder of the continent. France was promptly joined by the U.K. and the U.S.A.

Syria is the last bastion in the Middle East. It is all there is now, resisting the total control of the Middle East by the West. Syria and Iran. But Iran is not yet a front, although often it appears that soon it might become one.

Venezuela cannot fall, for the same reasons. It is at the northern extreme of South America. Below, there is an entire continent; terrorized by Europe and North America, for decades and centuries: brutalized, plundered, tortured. South America, where tens of millions used to be exterminated like animals, forced to convert to Christianity, robbed of everything and ordered to follow bizarre Western political and economic models.

In Brazil, the progressive socialist government of the PT had been already overthrown.

If Venezuela falls, everything could be lost, for decades, maybe even centuries.

And so, it will fight. Together with those few other countries that are still left standing in this Western Hemisphere; countries which the dictators in Washington D.C. openly describe as their backyard.

Caracas stands and fights for the vast slums of Peru, for destitute millions in Paraguay, for Brazilian favelas, for privatized aquifers and the murdered rain forest in Brazil.

As Syria has been fighting for the Palestine, for the destitute minorities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, for Yemen, for Iraq and Afghanistan  two countries robbed of almost everything by NATO.

Russia has already showed what it can do for its Arab brothers, and now is demonstrating its willingness to support its another close ally  Venezuela.

China is rapidly joining the coalition of anti-imperialist fighters, and so is South Africa.

No  Venezuela is not only about oil.

It is about the West being able to close access to the Panama Canal, by Chinese ships.

It is about the total control of the world: ideological, political, economic and social. About liquidating all opposition in the Western hemisphere.

If Venezuela falls, the West may dare to attack Nicaragua, and then the bastion of socialism and internationalism  Cuba.

That is why it  Venezuela  should never be allowed to fall.

The battle for Venezuela is now already raging, on all fronts, including the ideological one. There, we are not only fighting for Caracas, Maracaibo or for Ciudad Bolivar: we are fighting for the entire oppressed world, as we did and are doing in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and Idlib, as we may soon have to do in many other cities, all over the world. For as long as Western imperialism is alive; for as long as it is not going to give up its dreams of controlling and ruining the entire planet, we cannot rest, we cannot let down our guard, we cannot celebrate final victory in any part of the world.

Therefore, this is all far from being just about oil. It is about the survival of our planet.

Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Three of his latest books are Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism , a revolutionary novel Aurora and a bestselling work of political non-fiction:  Exposing Lies Of The Empire . View his other books here . Watch Rwanda Gambit , his groundbreaking documentary about Rwanda and DRCongo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky On Western Terrorism . Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and the Middle East, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website and his Twitter .

First published by NEO  New Eastern Outlook

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==See Also==

From the archives: Blueprint of the PNAC Plan for U.S. Global Hegemony: Some people have compared it to Hitler's publication of Mein Kampf, which was ignored until after the war was over.

From the archives: The Project for the New American Century.: At no point in history has the active and informed involvement of the People, all of them, been more absolutely required.

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Peace and joyPaul Buckowski/Times Union

ALBANY  SUNY Polytechnic Institute Professor Nate Cady was awarded a $1.8 million grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, Oneida County.

The grant is to study memristors, which are also known as "memory resistors" in computer chips that act like synapses in the brain and offer promise for huge leaps in computing power. The Air Force is interested in memristors for drones, aircraft and satellites.Reid Perry, who plays The Kid in the touring show "Tap Dogs," has been training for the job his entire lifeliterally. He was just 3 years old when his dad, Australian choreographer and show creator Dein Perry, started teaching him to tap dance in the shed behind their house. Eventually, Dein started a school, Tap Pups, that Reid attended.

"My whole childhood and teenage years, I had my dad as a teacher, and dance was always something we could bond over," the younger Perry reflected in a recent interview.

And "Tap Dogs," which is on stage at Proctors on Wednesday, became the brass ring that he dreamed of grabbing.

"Whenever the show came back to Australia, it was an incredible motivation to see my dad and my uncle [Dein's brother, Sheldon Perry] performing," he said.

A native of Newcastle, a steel town in New South Wales, Dein Perry spent a decade performing in musical theater before conceiving and choreographing "Tap Dogs" in 1994, as an evolution of the Tap Brothers ensemble he'd formed a few years earlier. It made a splash at 1995 festivals in Sydney and Edinburgh and won Perry his second Olivier (the British equivalent of a Tony). Since then, the show has been performed for more than 11 million people in 330 cities and 37 countries (including the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney). And now Reid Perry, at age 21, is along for the ride.

It's not his first time in front of an audience: As a teenager, he danced at the Lord Mayor's New Year's Eve Party at the Sydney Opera House and the opening ceremonies of the World Masters Games, among other appearances. But "Tap Dogs" is in his blood, so it's a not only a dream realized but also a kind of homecoming. He performed in a short version of the show when he was 18, and joined the touring cast last yearplaying, appropriately, the youngest and greenest member of the crew.

"There's no dialogue, but we have very distinct characters," he said. "The Kid is very eager and a little bit naive. He's always getting picked on and always trying to learn. "

The hard-hitting "Tap Dogs" style has garnered comparisons to "Stomp," and is often described in terms such as "blokey" and "testosterone-fueled." The six male dancers wear street clothes and metal-plated work boots, and tap on a set with multiple levels and surfaces, a concept inspired by Dein Perry's years working as a union machinist in Newcastle as a teenager.

"It takes place on a construction site that we're building as we go along, and every time we change the look of the set, it adds a new element," Reid Perry explained. "We're tapping on different surfaces and objectsramps, ladders, not just normal floor. One guy's tapping upside down. There's one part where we're tapping in waterwater's everywhere and we're wearing special boots." (Proctors is offering seats in the pit for the show, but be warned that you might get wet.)

The cast, a mix of Australians and Americans, is joined onstage by two female musicians, Japanese drummer Noriko Terada and Brazilian percussionist Catarina Percinio, who perform live throughout the 85-minute show, which has no intermission.

"Everybody gets a solo moment, but mostly we're all onstage all the time," Perry said. "Over the months, we've all realized how intense it is. I've never been this physically fit in my entire life."

Before arriving in the States, the tour made stops in South Africa, China and Saudi Arabia.

"Each audience has a different vibe," Perry said. "It's really cool when we have a receptive and loud crowd  we feed off that energy."

But his favorite performance so far has been the first: opening night in London, with his whole family attending, including his father, who stopped performing in the show in 2005 but continues to serve as director and choreographer.

"My mom, my sister, my grandparents, my cousins were all there, too," Reid recalled. "My mom has been to the show so many times to see my dad dance, and it was really special for her to see her son up there, and it was special for me to do it for her, too."

Tresca Weinstein is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.The following capsule reviews of recent releases, long runs and revivals come from various wire services, as noted:

RATINGS: G - Suitable for all ages. PG - Parental guidance recommended. PG-13 - Parental guidance strongly suggested. R - Restricted; anyone under 18 must be accompanied by adult. NC-17 - No children under 17.

    Excellent    Good   Fair  Poor

The Beach Bum

Comedy. A rebellious stoner named Moondog (Matthew McConaughey) lives life by his own rules. With Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Zac Efron, Jonah Hill and Martin Lawrence. Matthew McConaughey is at his dirt bag finest as a stoner-poet named Moondog in Harmony Korine's "The Beach Bum," a bizarre and transfixing carnival of vulgarity and vice. There is a lot of fun to be had living in Moondog's world for 95 minutes, and the film goes down suspiciously easy for something so ugly and amoral. But it's also no wonder why once you're out of the intoxicating haze of Korine's milieu that a bad taste starts to form. (R for pervasive drug and alcohol use, language throughout, nudity and some strong sexual content)  1/2 (Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press)

Captain Marvel

Action. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. This is the first female-led Marvel movie since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with 2008's "Iron Man." Also stars Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Bening, Gemma Chan and Ben Mendelsohn. Let's get the bad news over with quickly: "Captain Marvel" is no "Wonder Woman." Captain Marvel is a bland character. Superhero movies are, at their best, stories about super personalities, usually in collision. Danvers is just a nice boring person. (PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief suggestive language)  (Mick LaSalle, Hearst Newspapers)

Dumbo

Adventure. In Tim Burton's live-action remake of the classic animated film, a young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus. But when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer. Tim Burton's "Dumbo" will be with us for a long time. Like the original 1941 "Dumbo," from Walt Disney, this movie will probably outlast every single person connected with it and will move and delight children who haven't yet been born  and maybe their kids, too. It's a lovely children's movie, which isn't to say that every moment of it is splendid and enchanted, because that's not the case. The experience of watching "Dumbo" is more like, "This is OK, this is all very pleasant"  and then suddenly, there are tears in your eyes, and not from allergy season. There is just something very potent in the whole "Dumbo" thing, in Dumbo as a concept. Burton and screenwriter Ehren Kruger take that concept and maximize it for the 21st century. (PG for peril/action, some thematic elements, and brief mild language)  (M.L.)

Five Feet Apart

Drama. A pair of teenagers with life-threatening illnesses meet in a hospital and fall in love, but can't bridge the title distance. For all audiences, the situation presented in "Five Feet Apart" is frustrating and poignant  two beautiful teenagers, and they can't touch each other. But it's easy to imagine the movie's effectiveness will be stronger with viewers so young that they'll want the two to touch each other, anyway. That's the true market for this picture, teenagers who think you can say "Baby I don't care" to a fatal infection and come out ahead on the deal. Everyone else may watch "Five Feet Apart" in a state of preoccupation, while we notice that, actually, they're more like four and a half feet apart. Yet even this is proof that the movie has something, because we don't want them to get sick  or rather, sicker. We become especially concerned about Stella, who really does seem as wonderful as Will thinks she is. Richardson is a glowing screen presence, full of wit, mischief, concern, feeling and intelligence. But still, halfway through "Five Feet Apart," you may start wishing these two would either kiss or get off the pot. At 116 minutes, "Five Feet Apart" is too much of a just-OK thing. (PG-13 for thematic elements, language and suggestive material)  1/2 (M.L.)

Glass

Thriller. Security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis from "Unbreakable") uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy from "Split"), a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities, all while Elijah Price/Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson from "Unbreakable") pulls the strings. Also stars Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy and Albany native Charlayne Woodard. Considering how undramatic, misguided and scaldingly boring "Glass" is, it seems superfluous to add that it's also about 15 years late to the party. Pleas on behalf of genetically mutated superheroes have been a recurrent staple since the first "X-Men" movie in 2000. (PG-13 for violence including some bloody images, thematic elements, and language) Zero stars Lowest rating (M.L.)

Gloria Bell

Drama. A free-spirited woman (Julianne Moore) in her 50s seeks out love at L.A. dance clubs. Director Sebastian Lelio ("A Fantastic Woman") is behind the camera for this English-language remake of his own Chilean film, 2013's "Gloria." When Americans remake foreign films, they usually figure out a way to screw things up, but "Gloria Bell"  based on the terrific Chilean film "Gloria"  gets it right. One probable reason for this is that "Gloria Bell" has the same director that "Gloria" did, Sebastian Lelio. Yes, some small things get lost in the translation. Still, this is a strong movie about a woman in her late fifties, and there are not many titles in that category. (R for sexuality, nudity, language and some drug use)  (M.L.)

Hotel Mumbai

Thriller. The true story of the Taj Hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai. Hotel staff risk their lives to keep everyone safe as people make unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and their families. With Dev Patel, Armie Hammer and Jason Isaacs. The film's depiction of the extent and cruelty of the violence is overwhelming, as was surely intended. But the fictionalized parts are hamstrung by cliches of character, situation and dialogue, making for a very uneasy experience as the body count grows and grows. (R for disturbing violence throughout, bloody images, and language)  (Walter Addiego, Hearst Newspapers)

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Animated. In the final installment of the animated series, Hiccup discovers Toothless isn't the only Night Fury, and must seek "The Hidden World," a secret dragon utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first. The third installment in the animated series is a lovely movie that takes real chances. It moves the story forward considerably, so that it would be hard for the filmmakers to go back on the idea of this being the last of a trilogy. (PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor)  1/2 (M.L.)

The Hummingbird Project

Drama. A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal. With Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgard and Salma Hayek. "The Hummingbird Project"  the title comes from the time it takes for a hummingbird to flap its wings, about 0.15 of a second  is at once an offbeat comedy and a satisfyingly weird thriller. (R for language throughout)  (G. Allen Johnson, Hearst Newspapers)

If Beale Street Could Talk

Drama. Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight" follow-up concerns a woman (KiKi Layne) in Harlem desperately scrambling to prove her fiance (Stephan James) innocent of a crime while carrying their first child, based on the novel by James Baldwin. What's disappointing is that Baldwin wrote a tight, lively, passionate, witty book, and Jenkins has delivered a sprawling, slow-moving, passionate, somber movie. Jenkins had the actors. He had the story, too. He didn't have to be fancy. He could have just left it to the actors and to Baldwin, and they would have brought it home. Next time, Jenkins needn't work so hard. (R for language and some sexual content)  1/2 (M.L.)

Isn't It Romantic

Comedy. A young woman (Rebel Wilson) disenchanted with love mysteriously finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy. Also stars Liam Hemsworth. (PG-13 for language, some sexual material, and a brief drug reference)  (M.L.)

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Animated. Five years after everything was awesome, the world is facing a new threat: LEGO DUPLO invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild. (PG for some rude humor)  (Peter Hartlaub, Hearst Newspapers)

On the Basis of Sex

Drama. The story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights and what she had to overcome in order to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Like Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself, the movie about her life, "On the Basis of Sex," sneaks up slowly, growing steadily in estimation, until a point is reached, not at the end but well into the proceedings, that it's all downright inspiring. Even before the finish, it's goosebumps all around. (PG-13 for some language and suggestive content)  1/2 (M.L.)

Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral

Comedy. A joyous family reunion becomes a hilarious nightmare as Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia, where they find themselves unexpectedly planning a funeral that might unveil unsavory family secrets. (PG-13 for crude sexual content, language, and drug references throughout)

Unplanned

Drama. As one of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors in the nation, Abby Johnson fought to enact legislation for the cause she so deeply believed in. Until the day she saw something that changed everything. (R for some disturbing/bloody images)

Us

Horror. In Jordan Peele's latest "social thriller," a family's serenity turns to chaos when a group of doppelgangers begins to terrorize them. Stars Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss. This is a more-serious work than Peele's previous film, "Get Out," and it's a surprising departure. "Get Out," though enjoyable, was almost too obvious in its intention, too transparent in its thinking. "Us" is wonderfully confused, a horror film that taps into unconscious terrors, within the audience and probably within the filmmaker, as well. (R for violence/terror, and language)  (M.L.)

Wonder Park

Animated. This animated feature tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive. The film, from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies, is about reclaiming happiness and imagination when it is sorely needed the most. But "Wonder Park," frankly, isn't very much fun. It becomes so enslaved with its nonsensical plot that it forgets this is supposed to be about coming to terms with the possible loss of a loved one. (PG for some mild thematic elements and action)  1/2 (G.A.J.)Downtown Albany Restaurant week brings deals on meals from April 13-19

The next Downtown Albany Restaurant Week, the 15th year for the promotion, will be held Saturday, April 13, through Friday, April 19, at 16 restaurants throughout downtown. Participating restaurants will offer three-course meals from limited menus for $25 (minimum estimated retail value: $35). Several are offering a student price of $20 on Monday, April 15.

See participating restaurants and menus at downtownalbany.org.

Professional chefs sought for fundraiser

The timesunion.com/Table Hopping culinary competition and wine tasting fundraiser called Chefs in Motion, a benefit for Colonie Senior Services Centers, is seeking additional local professional chefs to compete at the event, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 10, at Beltrone Living Center in Colonie. Eight chefs/restaurants have signed on, with room for up to five more.

Interested chefs should contact Diane Conroy-LaCivita, CSSC's executive director, at dconroylacivita@colonieseniors.org.

The event name, Chefs in Motion, was chosen to reflect the fact that proceeds will go to underwrite Colonie Senior Services Centers' transportation programs.

Attendees will sample and vote on culinary creations from participating chefs, who will be provided a selection of locally sourced products and seasonal produce. The event will highlight New York state vintners, winemakers and sommeliers in an additional Stump the Wine Expert competition that will be part of the VIP reception prior to the event's official start time.

Tickets  $75 VIP, $65 general admission, $30 for seniors and under-35s  are available by calling 518-459-2857, Ext. 302.

Co-sponsors are timesunion.com. Table Hopping, the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the New York State Wine and Grape Foundation.

Chef, sommelier Paul Parker battling cancer; funds being raised for expenses

Paul Parker, an erudite, eccentric food and wine expert who learned the hospitality trade in his mother's former Saratoga County restaurant, Chez Sophie, eventually running it for eight years, has begun treatment for cancer. He was recently diagnosed with cancer of the tongue that has spread to the lymph nodes in his neck.

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A GoFundMe page that has been set up to benefit the family  Parker; his wife, Cheryl Clark, a former journalist who previously was the Times Union's restaurant critic; and their kids, Nico, 16; and Leocadie, 13  says, in part: "Paul will likely be out of work for several weeks at least as he deals with the side effects of his treatment. They have insurance, but the expected co-pays, deductibles, related medical expenses and non-medical side costs are, frankly, scary." The page is gofundme.com/help-paul-and-cheryl.

Parker, 56, said, "The diagnosis is scary but not as scary as many others. The prognosis is very good. The treatment is very scary, perhaps in particular for me, as it involves my throat in general and my tongue specifically."

He is a wine specialist for Purdy's Discount Wines & Liquors in Saratoga Springs and is a sommelier for the Saratoga steakhouse Salt & Char on an as-needed basis during the off-season. He worked for many years at Chez Sophie, founded in 1969 and located in several places in Saratoga County, including in a restored silver diner in Malta, which Parker and Clark took over after the death of his mother in 2001; it later moved to a hotel in downtown Saratoga Springs before closing in 2009. Parker opened Rare Earth Wine Bar in Glens Falls in fall 2013, and, after it closed two years later, was head chef at DownTown City Tavern, also in Glens Falls. Clark teaches in the BOCES system and is starting a web content-development firm focusing on sites for restaurants and other small businesses.

Compiled by Steve Barnes. Items to be considered for publication must be submitted to sbarnes@timesunion.com. Visit his blog, blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping.Capital Region residents want to fly nonstop from Albany to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Nashville, according to results from a Times Union poll.

More than 1,500 responded to the poll and 200 people commented on Facebook about which nonstop flights they want to see in Albany. Las Vegas topped the list.

Many Las Vegas travelers were frustrated because, at times, there have been nonstop flights to Vegas from Albany.

You had them, took them away, reinstated them, and took away again?? Why?? one commenter said.

Southwest eliminated direct flights to Las Vegas in April 2017 but there have been talks of rekindling the route.

Other poll respondents said they dont fly out of Albany because the prices are high and the planes are small.

Why is Albany 8 percent more expensive? What can they do to resolve that? I know many local people who fly out of other airports to avoid those high prices, one respondent said.

Like most travelers, I would rather drive 2-3 hours to an airport with larger aircraft and fly cross country in comfort, another said.

Albany International?

A couple of dozen people voted for cities in Europe.

Albany will never attract the talent or economic investment it desires with the airport's limited domestic and international flight routes. If Newburgh can find a way to offer international flights with Norwegian Air, certainly Albany "International" Airport and NYS can do the same, a commenter said.

There were two votes for Toronto and none for Montreal. Air Canada ended service from Albany to both cities in 2013, eliminating the last international flights from the Albany airport.

Not-so seasonal

Several airports on the Top 20 list already have seasonal nonstops from Albany, but travelers want them to be available any time of year.

We need year-round direct flights to Fort Myers. It's getting more difficult for us Senior Citizens to have to change planes, one respondent said.

Miami to heat

Many Miami voters said a direct flight to Miami would make it easier to visit the Caribbean.

You can't get there from here

Although Maine did not make the Top 20 list, supports of direct flights to Maine were vocal.

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A ton of Albany residents vacation in Maine, but hate the traffic-filled drive through Massachusetts and New Hampshire. This has come up many times in conversation that a flight to Maine would be very popular out of Albany, one said.

There is no way to fly East from Albany without going to Boston, Newark, Philly or DC first. That is ridiculous. A trip to Maine costs more than flying to Europe. There are national parks/monuments there that draw millions of people, another said. These destinations are about an hour of flight time from upstate New York. Why can't we get there from here?

And two cities that didn't make the cut

Boston (received 1 vote) will disappear from Albany's list of cities with nonstop flights on May 2, when Cape Air ends its three daily flights there after losing a federal Essential Air Services subsidy.

And financially struggling OneJet ended service to Buffalo (received 5 votes) after just seven months on the route when the airline shut down without warning last August.

Massachusetts transportation planners are looking at speeding up east-west train service, but only as far west as Pittsfield. And one elected official, promoting a northern route across Massachusetts, would have trains from Boston terminate in North Adams.

New York efforts to promote high-speed rail service to Buffalo  110 mph or higher  appear dead. So for now, you'll just have to drive.

The full results

Rank | Airport | Votes

1Las Vegas316

2Los Angeles227

3Nashville212

4Dallas112

5Miami105

6New Orleans49

7Houston28

8Seattle25

9Myrtle Beach25

10Ft. Myers, Fla.23

11San Francisco21

12West Palm Beach17

13Austin16

14Sarasota, Fla.15

15Phoenix14

16Pittsburgh14

17Puerto Rico12

18Jacksonville, Florida11

19Richmond, Va.10

20Raleigh, N.C.10

BALLSTON  Residents who are overwhelmed by on-going development that they say is overtaking the town and its agricultural district have gathered signatures to challenge the officials whom they feel are to blame  Republican-backed Supervisor Tim Szczepaniak and Councilman Bill Goslin.

The Democratic Committee and Ballston Neighbors United have set the stage for a Republican primary by getting behind GOP incumbent Charles B. Curtis for Town Board after he was rejected by his committee for the 2019 election. They are also backing Republicans Eric P. Connelly for supervisor and Peter J. Solberg for Town Board. Solberg is also being backed the town's GOP.

Curtiss and Connelly will also run on the Democratic line. As well, Curtiss and Solberg will also have their names on the Independence line. This will assure all three will have a spot on the November ballot if they don't make it past the June 25 Republican primary.

"We are supporting these three because they have the same vision," Democratic Committee Chair Susan Robbiano said. "They care about the issues the people care about, not what the party cares about."

Goslin, when reached on Wednesday, said he welcomes the primary challenge.

"I have no issue with it," Goslin said. "It's democracy. I look forward to the campaign."

Supervisor Szczepaniak , who has never been opposed since winning election in 2015, said that he's proud of his record and that these primaries are being pushed by a former supervisor Patricia Southworth, who was in office from 2008-2013 and is now temporarily working in Minnesota.

"Why would we want to go back to the dark days," Szczepaniak said, referring to Southworth's term in office. "I've worked diligently and would put my record up against anyone's. I have provided the best services in the best interest of the people of Ballston."

For her part, Southworth said Szczepaniak's belief that she's involved from afar is ridiculous and an insult to the people of Ballston who are organizing against him and Goslin.

"Do I think they are working in the best interest of the town, no," Southworth said. "But it's not me orchestrating this from thousands of miles away. Their actions, especially the sewer project, is what did it. The Kingsley Road people (who opposed the Route 50 sewer) are organized and intelligent."

Robbiano said for too long the Republican committee hand-picked candidates who went on to run unopposed. That made them beholden to the dictates of the town GOP, which she said is "totally out of touch" because their goal is "develop, develop, develop" in order to get a larger slice of Saratoga County's sales tax pie.

"On one side of their mouth they say Ballston is a farm first community, but on the other, they are trying to bring in water and sewer lines to the ag district," she said. "It's totally out of control."

Szczepaniak disagrees saying he is working to control growth by slowing down adoption of the proposed zoning changes. He said he was also a deciding vote for farmers' ability to transfer their development rights.

Robbiano says Curtiss, who is a dairy farmer, is the one who is trying to protect the land. She also said that is why he was rejected by the GOP because he votes with the people, not the party.

Sarah Wood, chair of the town Republican committee, said that was not the case. She said the committee interviewed three candidates and selected the two strongest -- Goslin and Solberg.

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She also said that the committee does not control its endorsed candidates and that a primary "is not a bad thing."

"It shows the community is civic-minded," Wood said. "We all have a common goal, to make the town of Ballston a wonderful place to live. This shows people are willing to fight for the community."

Robbiano said that the 35 volunteers collected more than 500 signatures for each of the candidates. She said residents were enthusiastic and would call her on the phone to make sure they got a chance to sign for Curtiss, Connelly and Solberg.

"So many people are upset," she said.

David Nuzzi said that residents are tired of candidates working for "the ever-present flood of outside interests."

"Ballston needs a more transparent town government that encourages all residents to participate," Nuzzi said. "Ballston does not need leadership that hopes for low turn-out at town meetings and at the ballot."

In addition to water and sewer lines, residents are opposed to a proposed 264-unit senior housing project. The Spinney Group plan on 60 Middleline Road is in the town's protected ag district.

"The comprehensive plan does not allow building in the ag district," Robbiano has said. "So this proposed senior living district is in direct opposition to what the residents of Ballston have said they want."The man who escaped Hoosick Falls police last month was found dead of a suspected drug overdose on Tuesday in Athol, Mass.

Justin Faatz, 35, escaped from police on March 26 while in the Hoosick Falls police station. Faatz was facing charges of burglary and criminal possession of stolen property stemming from a Jan. 1 arrest.NASSAU  Town Supervisor David Fleming said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating newly discovered environmental contamination that is believed to be related to the Dewey Loeffel Superfund site five miles away.

The town, along with the EPA, state Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health, and the Rensselaer County Department of Health, have worked for the last month to reach out to residents possibly impacted by a new area of contamination on Route 203, according to a statement released by Fleming on Wednesday.

The approximately 19-acre landfill off Mead Road is located four miles northeast of the village of Nassau in a small valley between two hills that are forested. It was formerly used as a dump in the 1950s and 1960s, much of it hazardous waste that was carried in by haulers for several companies including General Electric Co., Bendix Corporation, which is now Honeywell, and Schenectady Chemicals, which is now SI Group. The waste materials were dumped into a lagoon area, oil pit and drum burial area, according to the EPA.

Fleming said the newly-found contamination off Route 203, between Sweets Crossing and Hanley roads, several miles south of the landfill, is believed to be related to Loeffel operations decades ago  perhaps as a staging area for trucks. The EPA must investigate more what the origin of the contamination is.

Twenty-six private wells were tested in the area of the new contamination off Route 203, and the preliminary results found none were found to have dangerous levels of chemicals such as PCBs, which was the contamination found at the Route 203 site. Three wells were found to have the chemical TCE present, but the levels were low enough for safe human consumption.

Rensselaer County provided bottled water to residents when testing began March 18, as well as providing backup water supplies at the Nassau ambulance facility. The preliminary water test results were shared with residents this week.

Fleming said the EPA is continuing its investigation into the extent of contamination found, and results from the well testings still need to be finalized.

The discovery of the chemical PCB, a toxic chemical now known to cause adverse health impacts in humans, points to the contamination likely coming from the Loeffel site, which holds more than 46,000 tons of industrial hazardous wastes, including solvents, waste oils and PCBs.

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Fleming said the EPA tested the new site after a resident at a Dewey Loeffel forum expressed concerns that the Route 203 land might be contaminated as well. The town is asking individuals who might have information about that site, or others, to email supervisor@townofnassau.org.

"That is why we are asking for the public's continued assistance in locating other potential sites," Fleming said.Vireo Health, a maker of medical marijuana in New York, is expanding into the recreational marijuana market with the $10 million acquisition this week of a Massachusetts firm.

The company bought Mayflower Botanicals Inc., a registered marijuana dispensary certificate holder in Massachusetts. As part of the transaction, Vireo acquired 73 acres of land in rural New Bedford, Massachusetts, that's been zoned for the production, processing and distribution of medical cannabis, with an expedited path toward adult-use licensure.

Founded and run by physicians, Vireo officials described the company's transition from the medical to recreational marijuana market as "inevitable."

"Our science drives us," said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, founder and CEO of Vireo. "We know that cannabis has a role on the medical side of things, but we also believe it has a role to play in health and wellness and recreation."

Specifically, Kingsley said, it's a far safer recreational alternative to both alcohol and tobacco, which kill a respective 88,000 and 480,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It's time to recognize that a public health policy focused on adults replacing their consumption of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products with cannabis has the potential to save thousands of lives each year," he said.

He hedged those remarks by adding that he was not offering a "blanket endorsement" of cannabis as "100 percent" safe. High-potency marijuana has been linked to psychosis and negative outcomes in those with schizophrenia. Kingsley and other medical professionals are also concerned about the potential effects of long-term marijuana use on developing minds.

"It's not a panacea or a cure-all," he said. "But taken as a whole, cannabis is certainly a lot safer than what we call the 'terrible triad'  opioids, alcohol and tobacco."

New York last year approved the use of medical marijuana as a replacement for opioids for those experiencing pain in an attempt to curb an epidemic of opioid addiction and related overdose deaths.

Vireo currently operates in nine states including New York. In addition to its processing and cultivation facility in Johnstown, it operates dispensaries in Albany, Johnson City, Elmhurst and White Plains.

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The company has spent tens of thousands of dollars to lobby New York lawmakers on the topic of legalized adult-use marijuana, public records show.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed to legalize marijuana for recreational use in the first 100 days of the 2019 legislative session. But the issue fell out of budget negotiations late last month, and now supporters worry it might not garner enough votes for a standalone vote this session, which goes through June.

Massachusetts, meanwhile, legalized recreational adult-use in 2016, and the first sales began in November 2018.

Demand from neighboring New York has been high. Theory Wellness, a dispensary just over the border in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, told the Times Union this week that it's sold products to nearly 15,000 New Yorkers since its launch on Jan. 11.

Vireo Health hopes to get its Massachusetts cultivation facility and a co-located dispensary up and running this year.Home Search ICH How Brzezinski's Chessboard Degenerated Into Brennan's Russophobia By Mike Whitney Russia is an inalienable and organic part of Greater Europe and European civilization. Our citizens think of themselves as European. Thats why Russia proposes moving towards the creation of a common economic space from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, a community referred to by Russian experts as the Union of Europe which will strengthen Russias potential in its economic pivot toward the New Asia. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, February 2012 April 03, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The allegations of Russian meddling only make sense if theyre put into a broader geopolitical context. Once we realize that Washington is implementing an aggressive containment strategy to militarily encircle Russia and China in order to spread its tentacles across Central Asian, then we begin to understand that Russia is not the perpetrator of the hostilities and propaganda, but the victim. The Russia hacking allegations are part of a larger asymmetrical-information war that has been joined by the entire Washington political establishment. The objective is to methodically weaken an emerging rival while reinforcing US global hegemony. Try to imagine for a minute, that the hacking claims were not part of a sinister plan by Vladimir Putin to sow discord and division in the United States, but were conjured up to create an external threat that would justify an aggressive response from Washington. Thats what Russiagate is really all about. US policymakers and their allies in the military and Intelligence agencies, know that relations with Russia are bound to get increasingly confrontational, mainly because Washington is determined to pursue its ambitious pivot to Asia plan. This new regional strategy focuses on strengthening bilateral security alliances, expanding trade and investment, and forging a broad-based military presence. In short, the US is determined to maintain its global supremacy by establishing military outposts across Eurasia, continuing to tighten the noose around Russia and China, and reinforcing its position as the dominant player in the most populous and prosperous region in the world. The plan was first presented in its skeletal form by the architect of Washingtons plan to rule the world, Zbigniew Brzezinski. Heres how Jimmy Carters former national security advisor summed it up in his 1997 magnum opus, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives: Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get our FREE Daily Newsletter For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia (p.30).. Eurasia is the globes largest continent and is geopolitically axial. A power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the worlds three most advanced and economically productive regions. . About 75 per cent of the worlds people live in Eurasia, and most of the worlds physical wealth is there as well, both in its enterprises and underneath its soil. Eurasia accounts for 60 per cent of the worlds GNP and about three-fourths of the worlds known energy resources. (The Grand Chessboard:American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Basic Books, page 31, 1997) 14 years after those words were written, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took up the banner of imperial expansion and demanded a dramatic shift in US foreign policy that would focus primarily on increasing Americas military footprint in Asia. It was Clinton who first coined the term pivot in a speech she delivered in 2010 titled Americas Pacific Century. Heres an excerpt from the speech: As the war in Iraq winds down and America begins to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, the United States stands at a pivot point. Over the last 10 years, we have allocated immense resources to those two theaters. In the next 10 years, we need to be smart and systematic about where we invest time and energy, so that we put ourselves in the best position to sustain our leadership, secure our interests, and advance our values. One of the most important tasks of American statecraft over the next decade will therefore be to lock in a substantially increased investment  diplomatic, economic, strategic, and otherwise  in the Asia-Pacific region Open markets in Asia provide the United States with unprecedented opportunities for investment, trade, and access to cutting-edge technology..American firms (need) to tap into the vast and growing consumer base of AsiaThe region already generates more than half of global output and nearly half of global trade. As we strive to meet President Obamas goal of doubling exports by 2015, we are looking for opportunities to do even more business in Asiaand our investment opportunities in Asias dynamic markets. (Americas Pacific Century, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Foreign Policy Magazine, 2011) The pivot strategy is not some trifling rehash of the 19th century Great Game promoted by think-tank fantasists and conspiracy theorists. It is Washingtons premier foreign policy doctrine, a rebalancing theory that focuses on increasing US military and diplomatic presence across the Asian landmass. Naturally, NATOs ominous troop movements on Russias western flank and Washingtons provocative naval operations in the South China Sea have sent up red flags in Moscow and Beijing. Former Chinese President Hu Jintao summed it up like this: The United States has strengthened its military deployments in the Asia-Pacific region, strengthened the US-Japan military alliance, strengthened strategic cooperation with India, improved relations with Vietnam, inveigled Pakistan, established a pro-American government in Afghanistan, increased arms sales to Taiwan, and so on. They have extended outposts and placed pressure points on us from the east, south, and west. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been equally critical of Washingtons erratic behavior. NATOs eastward expansion has convinced Putin that the US will continue to be a disruptive force on the continent for the foreseeable future. Both leaders worry that Washingtons relentless provocations will lead to an unexpected clash that will end in war. Even so, the political class has fully embraced the pivot strategy as a last-gasp attempt to roll back the clock to the post war era when the worlds industrial centers were in ruins and America was the only game in town. Now the center of gravity has shifted from west to east, leaving Washington with just two options: Allow the emerging giants in Asia to connect their high-speed rail and gas pipelines to Europe creating the worlds biggest free trade zone, or try to overturn the applecart by bullying allies and threatening rivals, by implementing sanctions that slow growth and send currencies plunging, and by arming jihadist proxies to fuel ethnic hatred and foment political unrest. Clearly, the choice has already been made. Uncle Sam has decided to fight til the bitter end. Washington has many ways of dealing with its enemies, but none of these strategies have dampened the growth of its competitors in the east. China is poised to overtake the US as the worlds biggest economy sometime in the next 2 decades while Russias intervention in Syria has rolled back Washingtons plan to topple Bashar al Assad and consolidate its grip on the resource-rich Middle East. That plan has now collapsed forcing US policymakers to scrap the War on Terror altogether and switch to a great power competition which acknowledges that the US can no longer unilaterally impose its will wherever it goes. Challenges to Americas dominance are emerging everywhere particularly in the region where the US hopes to reign supreme, Asia. This is why the entire national security state now stands foursquare behind the improbable pivot plan. Its a desperate Hail Mary attempt to preserve the decaying unipolar world order. What does that mean in practical terms? It means that the White House (the National Security Strategy) the Pentagon (National Defense Strategy) and the Intelligence Community (The Worldwide Threat Assessment) have all drawn up their own respective analyses of the biggest threats the US currently faces. Naturally, Russia is at the very top of those lists. Russia has derailed Washingtons proxy war in Syria, frustrated US attempts to establish itself across Central Asia, and strengthened ties with the EU hoping to create a harmonious community of economies from Lisbon to Vladivostok. (Putin) Keep in mind, the US does not feel threatened by the possibility of a Russian attack, but by Russias ability to thwart Washingtons grandiose imperial ambitions in Asia. As we noted, the National Security Strategy (NSS) is a statutorily mandated document produced by the White House that explains how the President intends to implement his national security vision. Not surprisingly, the documents main focus is Russia and China. Heres an excerpt: China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity. They are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence. (Neither Russia nor China are attempting to erode American security and prosperity. They are merely growing their economies and expanding their markets. If US corporations reinvested their capital into factories, employee training and R and D instead of stock buybacks and executive compensation, then they would be better able to complete globally.) Heres more: Through modernized forms of subversive tactics, Russia interferes in the domestic political affairs of countries around the world. (This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.) Today, actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Adversaries target media, political processes, financial networks, and personal data. (The western media behemoth is the biggest disinformation bullhorn the world has ever seen. RT and Sputnik dont hold a candle to the ginormous MSM Wurlitzer that controls the cable news stations, the newspapers and most of the print media. The Mueller Report proves beyond a doubt that the politically-motivated nonsense one reads in the media is neither reliably sourced nor trustworthy.) The Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community is even more explicit in its attacks on Russia. Check it out: Threats to US national security will expand and diversify in the coming year, driven in part by China and Russia as they respectively compete more intensely with the United States and its traditional allies and partners. We assess that Moscow will continue pursuing a range of objectives to expand its reach, including undermining the US-led liberal international order, dividing Western political and security institutions, demonstrating Russias ability to shape global issues, and bolstering Putins domestic legitimacy. We assess that Moscow has heightened confidence, based on its success in helping restore the Asad regimes territorial control in Syria, Russia seeks to boost its military presence and political influence in the Mediterranean and Red Seas mediate conflicts, including engaging in the Middle East Peace Process and Afghanistan reconciliation. Russia will continue pressing Central Asias leaders to support Russian-led economic and security initiatives and reduce engagement with Washington. Russia and China are likely to intensify efforts to build influence in Europe at the expense of US interests (The Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, USG) Notice how the Intelligence Community summary does not suggest that Russia poses an imminent military threat to the US, only that Russia has restored order in Syria, strengthened ties with China, emerged as an honest broker among countries in the Middle East, and used the free market system to improve relations with its trading partners and grow its economy. The IC appears to find fault with Russia because it is using the system the US created to better advantage than the US. This is entirely understandable given Putins determination to draw Europe and Asia closer together through a region-wide economic integration plan. Heres Putin: We must consider more extensive cooperation in the energy sphere, up to and including the formation of a common European energy complex. The Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea and the South Stream pipeline under the Black Sea are important steps in that direction. These projects have the support of many governments and involve major European energy companies. Once the pipelines start operating at full capacity, Europe will have a reliable and flexible gas-supply system that does not depend on the political whims of any nation. This will strengthen the continents energy security not only in form but in substance. This is particularly relevant in the light of the decision of some European states to reduce or renounce nuclear energy. The gas pipelines and high-speed rail are the arteries that will bind the continents together and strengthen the new EU-Asia superstate. This is Washingtons greatest nightmare, a massive, thriving free trade zone beyond its reach and not subject to its rules. In 2012, Hillary Clinton acknowledged this new threat and promised to do everything in her power to destroy it. Check out this excerpt: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described efforts to promote greater economic integration in Eurasia as a move to re-Sovietize the region.. We know what the goal is and we are trying to figure out effective ways to slow down or prevent it, she said at an international conference in Dublin on December 6, 2012, Radio Free Europe. Slow down or prevent it? Why? Because EU-Asia growth and prosperity will put pressure on US debt markets, US corporate interests, US (ballooning) national debt, and the US Dollar? Is that why Hillary is so committed to sabotaging Putins economic integration plan? Indeed, it is. Washington wants to block progress and prosperity in the east in order to extend the lifespan of a doddering and thoroughly-bankrupt state that is presently $22 trillion in the red but continues to write checks on an overdrawn account. But Russia shouldnt be blamed for Washingtons profligate behavior, thats not Putins fault. Moscow is merely using the free market system more effectively that the US. Now consider the Pentagons 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) which reiterates many of the same themes as the other two documents. Today, we are emerging from a period of strategic atrophy, aware that our competitive military advantage has been eroding. We are facing increased global disorder, characterized by decline in the long-standing rules-based international ordercreating a security environment more complex and volatile than any we have experienced in recent memory. Inter-state strategic competition, not terrorism, is now the primary concern in U.S. national security. (Naturally, the security environment is going to be more challenging when regime change is the cornerstone of ones foreign policy. Of course, the NDS glosses over that sad fact. Heres more:) Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors..(Baloney. Russia has been a force for stability in Syria and Ukraine. If Obama had his way, Syria would have wound up like Iraq, a hellish wastelands occupied by foreign mercenaries. Is that how the Pentagon measures success?) Heres more: China and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model China and Russia are now undermining the international order from within the system. China and Russia are the principal priorities for the Department because of the magnitude of the threats they pose to U.S. security. (National Defense Strategy of the United States of America) Get the picture? China and Russia, China and Russia, China and Russia. Bad, bad, bad. Why? Because they are successfully implementing their own development model which is NOT programed to favor US financial institutions and corporations. Thats the whole thing in a nutshell. The only reason Russia and China are a threat to the rules-based system, is because Washington insists on being the only one who makes the rules. Thats why foreign leaders are no longer falling in line, because its not a fair system. These assessments represent the prevailing opinion of senior-level policymakers across the spectrum. (The White House, the Pentagon and the Intelligence Community) The USG is unanimous in its judgement that a harsher more combative approach is needed to deal with Russia and China. Foreign policy elites want to put the nation on the path to more confrontation, more conflict and more war. At the same time, none of these three documents suggest that Russia has any intention of launching an attack on the United States. The greatest concern is the effect that emerging competitors will have on Washingtons provocative plan for military and economic expansion, the threat that Russia and China pose to Americas tenuous grip on global power. It is that fear that drives US foreign policy. And this is broader context into which we must fit the Russia investigation. The reason the Russia hacking furor has been allowed to flourish and spread despite the obvious lack of any supporting evidence, is because the vilifying of Russia segues perfectly with the geopolitical interests of elites in the government. The USG now works collaboratively with the media to influence public attitudes on issues that are important to the powerful foreign policy establishment. The ostensible goal of these psychological operations (PSYOP) is to selectively use information on audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of organizations, groups, and individuals. The USG now sees the minds of ordinary Americans as a legitimate target for their influence campaigns. They regard attitudes and perceptions as the cognitive domain of the battlespace which they must exploit in order to build public support for their vastly unpopular wars and interventions. The relentless Russiagate narrative (which was first referred to the FBI by the chief architect of the Syrian War, former-CIA Director John Brennan) represents the disinformation component of the broader campaign against Russia. Foreign policy elites are determined to persuade the American people that Russia constitutes a material threat to their security that must be countered by tighter sanctions, more sabre-rattling, and eventually war. Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com. Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.Albany

Students at Coxsackie-Athens Middle School are being offered a deal: Take this week's statewide English and math tests and you are exempt from taking core subject final exams in June.

Several schools in addition to Coxsackie-Athens have said test-takers in some situations can skip their finals. And other schools across New York are offering students various incentives  including holding pep rallies or promising pizza parties  in order to get more participation and better scores in the mandated English and math exams being given this week in grades 3-8.

Meanwhile, computer problems have plagued the online assessments. Schools can offer the tests on paper or online, but bugs and delays are disrupting the online tests this year. Computer problems also caused issues with testing in 2018 when the English test was marred by faulty internet connections, blank screens and outright crashes.

On Tuesday morning, some students taking the online exam had problems filing their tests.

If schools hadn't started the testing by late Tuesday morning, they were advised to wait until later in the week. Initially the state Education Department wanted schools to resume testing on Wednesday. By Tuesday afternoon the Education Department said Wednesday would be a non-testing day in order to work out the bugs.

"They are more than glitches, they are absolute failures," said NYSUT vice president Jolene DiBrango.

Strategies to promote the tests continue to evolve.

At Albanys Pine Hills Elementary, there was a Test Pep Rally last week to get youngsters psyched for the exams. And at the Thomas OBrien Academy of Science and Technology in Albany, students at their rally listened to inspirational music from a gospel choir and shouted We Got This!

The Albany School District doesn't specifically tell parents whether or not students should take the tests.

Other schools have made phone calls to parents urging students to participate and promised pizza parties if enough students take the tests.

Some schools are warning students there will be no Refusal Rooms, meaning that youngsters who arent taking the tests may have to sit and stare at their desks all day while their classmates are busy with the assessments.

In West Genesee, school officials are advising parents that missing the test will reduce their childs ability to persevere and be resilient in the face of challenges.

Some schools, including Coxsackie-Athens, were requesting that parents provide written opt-out slips ahead of the test date.

Those who oppose standardized testing are against these latest efforts.

"It's really unbelievable," said Jeannette Deutermann, of NYS Allies for Public Education, an umbrella group that opposes administration of the 3-8 tests and believes parents should boycott them.

Others disagree. We think generally its a good thing, said Brian Fritsch of High Achievement NY, which supports the tests as a way to help chart student progress.

The state Education Department says it is up to parents to decide if their children should take the tests.

But state officials are stressing that this years assessments have been shortened and developed with teacher input.

Teachers from across the state serve on committees to write, evaluate and select the questions for the tests, said Education Department spokeswoman Emily DeSantis. Hundreds of New York State educators were involved in creating, reviewing and selecting questions for the 2019 Grades 3-8 ELA and Math test forms.

The tests are taking place amid ongoing disagreements, even though lawmakers this session passed a measure that essentially uncoupled test results from teacher evaluations.

The results dont go on student records and they dont figure into their grades. Instead, they are used to assess how a school is performing overall.

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Such assessments are a requirement of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

But the opposition from some quarters continues.

NYS Allies, for example believes that schools are over-testing students and have created a test and punish environment where school administrators have to worry about rankings or ending up on a watch list if scores arent high enough. The organization also believe testing stigmatizes schools with numerous poor and disadvantaged students who tend to get lower scores.

Supporters, though, say an objective measurement can provide accountability and a way to measure student progress and diagnose shortcomings.

Either way, there are pressures to get high participation. Federal guidelines say that 95 percent of the students should be participating in these tests  on a school, district and state level.

Last year about 18 percent of the 3-8 students statewide boycotted the exams. But many schools had far higher rates, with state numbers going down because of pockets of high opt-outs, particularly on Long Island.

There have been other questions about the test.

New York State United Teachers, the states major teachers union, contends the tests are still too long, with some students taking three to six hours to complete. Thats too much for sixth graders. And they say the tests are too advanced for the ages of the students taking them.

Even after the test week ends there may be issues to address.

Deutermann wonders if allowing some students to skip their finals while others dont could create grading discrepancies.

Officials from Coxsackie-Athens didnt return a call on Tuesday for comment. State regulations give schools discretion on whether to have final exams in some grades.

A notice from the district said students who participate in the 5-8 State Exams will be exempt from taking core subject final exams.

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTUALBANY - The U.S. has constantly been at war since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Pat Hynes, environmental activist and public health expert, is convinced that militarism has made climate change worse.

"Oil is a factor in war. Oil is at the root of the climate crisis. Oil is also indispensable for war because of all the weapon systems," Hynes said. "Wars exacerbate and accelerate fossil fuels used and greenhouse gas emissions. They accelerate climate change."

Hynes, who directs the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice in western Massachusetts, will make her case in a talk "War and Warming: Can We Save the Planet without Taking on the Pentagon?" at the protest group Women Against War's annual gathering Thursday.

Women Against War's Annual Gathering When: Thursday, April 4, 5:30 p.m. Where: First Lutheran Church, 181 Western Ave., Albany Details: Bring Savory or Sweet Finger Food to Share

Suggested Donation $10-25

Parking lots off Western Ave and off Cortland Place

RSVP to MaudPEaster@gmail.com See More Collapse

Local peace activist Marcia Hopple also will be honored as the 2019 Woman of Peace. The event will be held at First Lutheran Church, 181 Western Ave., Albany, at 5:30 p.m.

Hynes, 75, said she was raised during the Vietnam war, questioning whether it was possible to have a just war. She's researched the effects of using Agent Orange in Vietnam, the disproportionate damage of war on women and children and trauma endured by veterans. She retired a decade ago as a professor of public health at Boston University with a focus on urban environmental justice.

In recent years, Hynes has turned her attention to bringing together older peace activists and younger climate activists to link U.S. militarism and global climate change.

Hynes' research reported that at the outset of the Iraq War, the Army estimated it would need more than 40 million gallons of gasoline for three weeks of combat, more than the total quantity used by all Allied forces during WWI. The Iraq War generated more carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions each year than 139 countries annually.

Both the manufacturing and upkeep of war machinery depletes fossil fuels, Hynes said. Rebuilding war-torn cities in the Middle East, where most buildings are made of cement, also exacerbates climate change, she added.

Hynes also said the U.S. defense budget robs funds from domestic renewable energy research and programs. She pointed out President Donald Trump's 2020 budget has proposed increasing military funding while cutting money to transportation, housing and education. The budget will still be debated by Congress.

While Hynes supported the controversial New Green Deal introduced by progressive Democrats, she criticized its premise that wouldn't reduce the defense budget to combat climate change.

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As director of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, Hynes organizes social justice camps, publications and educational programs as well as protests. She encourages citizens to get involved by scrutinizing political candidates.

"I don't want to create hopelessness," Hynes said. "It's to reflect reality so that we do know and can figure out what to do."

Hopple, a 74-year-old retired college administrator, has been involved with Women Against War since it started at the onset of the Iraq War and helped organize an initial fast that involved more than 100 women for more than 100 days.

Since then, she's critiqued U.S. policy on Iran, staged protests to highlight war casualties, and met with elected representatives from both sides of the aisle to debate whether Congress has authorized U.S. involvement in wars around the world - most recently in Yemen. The U.S. government recently voted against military support for a bombing campaign led by Saudi Arabia against Yemeni rebels in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and is starving millions.

Hopple encouraged citizens to engage with their elected representatives to not "give up too easy on diplomacy before ever considering militarism."

"It does feel like you're possibly making a difference. It's hard to get that feeling. Lots of people never see an opening for even how to begin to try to help," Hopple said. "It's good to have that opportunity and we hope other people will take it up as well."ALBANY  Gov. Andrew Cuomo was successful in getting a package of tougher laws targeting illegal and unsafe stretch limousines included in the $175 billion state budget that was hammered out over the weekend.

Although the state Assembly and Senate originally removed nearly all of the governor's proposed limo regulations from earlier versions of the budget, large portions of Cuomo's original plan  and some additions  made it into the final budget agreement.

That includes a new $85 state inspection fee that has limo operators up in arms.

Cuomo spokesman Jason Conwall said the governor "aggressively pursued these common-sense initiatives, and the landmark legislation that is now enacted will enhance safety for all New Yorkers and visitors as they travel on our roads."

The most substantial changes to come out of the state budget agreement are tougher criminal and civil penalties on illegal limo operators who circumnavigate state oversight, as has been alleged of Prestige Limousine, the Wilton-based limo company that owned the stretch 2001 Ford Excursion involved in the Schoharie crash last October that killed 20 people.

The legislation also gives the state Department of Transportation and the State Police broad new powers to remove license plates from stretch limousines that fail inspections or fail to get state certification.

But upstate limousine operators, who had been successful in blocking a total ban on stretch limousines that Cuomo originally proposed, say they are wary of the new $85 fee that will be charged during semi-annual state Department of Transportation inspections of stretch limousines and tour buses. DOT currently does not charge a fee for the inspections under its bus safety program, which stretch limousines and other large for-hire passenger vehicles are required to go through.

Cuomo originally proposed a $120 inspection fee. And while the number was lowered to $85, limo industry advocates say it will put smaller companies out of business, along with new requirements for higher insurance coverage on stretch limos that was also included in the budget deal.

David Brown, who owns Premiere Transportation in Albany, says insurance carriers are going to hike premiums or even drop coverage of the smaller limo companies with fewer financial resources out of fear they will run afoul of the new regulations.

"The mom-and-pops, they are going to get hit on this," Brown said.

Kevin Barwell, president of the Limousine, Bus and Taxi Operators Of Upstate New York, said the new inspection fee "just seems like another money grab" and is unrelated to the underlying problem of oversight of illegal operators and a lack of communication by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Motor Vehicles on oversight of stretch limousines.

"This can happen again," Barwell said. "There's really nothing in there that addresses safety."

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Although the operator of Prestige, Nauman Hussain, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide for allegedly knowingly renting out a limo that had safety issues, a months-long Times Union investigation uncovered numerous instances where Prestige Limousine was able to remain in business despite side-stepping state regulation and failing roadside inspections by the state Department of Transportation and State Police.

The company was also able to illegally obtain a DMV inspection sticker for the Excursion from two Saratoga County inspection stations in clear violation of state law. Because of the number of passengers that they carry, stretch limousines are required to go through DOT's more stringent bus inspection program every six months instead of the DMV's annual inspection program.

Cuomo's new limo regulations seek to close those loopholes by giving police the power to immediately seize plates from illegal limos or those that fail inspections. It also makes it a felony for knowingly operating an illegal limo when it results in a death  such as in the case of the deadly crash in Schoharie.

Brown, the owner of Premiere Transportation in Albany, said the new limo legislation eliminates a lot of "grey areas" that existed in state transportation law that made drastic action against limo and bus companies difficult without a lengthy hearing and appeal process.

"Now there is no grey area at all. If there is any doubt, they're going to pull the plates in a heartbeat," Brown said. "It's good for the good guys and it's bad for the bad guys."

Limo legislation included in the budget bill would also require state DOT to come up with a standard by which limo companies would provide "conspicuous display" of proof of their state certification, inspection information and driver qualifications to customers.

In the case of the Schoharie crash, DOT officials have said that the vehicle owned by Prestige Limousine would have been unable to prove any of that.[April 03, 2019] $750K Grant from Bank of Yazoo City and FHLB Dallas Assists Rehab Project

A $750,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant from Bank of Yazoo City (Bank of Yazoo) and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) will assist Yazoo City Housing Authority (YCHA) in renovating six low-income apartment complexes in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Established in 1952 in accordance with state and federal law, YCHA manages Gateway (News - Alert) Affordable Communities, a portfolio of apartments throughout Yazoo County consisting of senior communities and multifamily properties. YCHA operates a variety of programs designed to provide affordable housing solutions to Yazoo County residents and to promote community and economic development. The renovations will improve living conditions for the 1,200 low- to very low-income residents who call Gateway home. "This comprehensive rehabilitation is a strip-to-studs renovation that will place all units in a like-new condition," said Art Schuldt, president of Housing Solutions Alliance, LLC, managing member of this rehab project. "This effort is all about transforming lives in the wake of dwindling external funds and securing a financial footing for Yazoo City Housing Authority for years to come." A portion of the $750,000 AHP grant will be earmarked for such improvements as added insulation, replacement of interior doors and frames, windows, ceilings and floors, painting, kitchen and bathroom fixtures and new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The water and sewer infrastructure will also be replaced and additional parking and a new laundry facility will be added. Construction started in January, and the project is scheduled for completion in two years. Aside from the renovations, portion of the grant will be applied toward gap funding.



Prior to this revitalization initiative, more than 70 units had been deemed uninhabitable, according to Mr. Schuldt. This is the second AHP grant for YCHA.

AHP funds are intended to assist FHLB Dallas members like Bank of Yazoo in financing the purchase, construction and/or rehabilitation of owner-occupied, rental or transitional housing, as well as housing for homeless individuals in communities. AHP funds are targeted toward households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the median income for the area. "This rehab project is such a huge undertaking," said Van Ray, president, CEO and chief lending officer of Bank of Yazoo. "For us to partner with FHLB Dallas and contribute something to this initiative that we know will affect hundreds of residents means a lot to our bank." In 2018, FHLB Dallas awarded $14 million in AHP grants to 29 affordable housing projects. In Mississippi alone, more than $6 million AHP grants were awarded, affecting approximately 900 units. "We deeply admire Bank of Yazoo's commitment to quality affordable housing in the Mississippi Delta," said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and Community Investment director at FHLB Dallas. To learn more about the AHP, visit fhlb.com/ahp. About Bank of Yazoo City Bank of Yazoo City was founded in 1876 and currently operates in Madison, Rankin and Yazoo Counties in Mississippi. Bank of Yazoo is an Equal Housing Lender which provides traditional banking products and services and understands the importance of giving back to the community and supporting the financial needs of the communities in which it operates. For more information, visit bankofyazoo.com. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $72.8 billion as of December 31, 2018, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 825 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005543/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] eSilicon awards six scholarships to top female STEM students in Vietnam

SAN JOSE, Calif., and HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- eSilicon, an independent provider of FinFET-class ASICs, custom IP and advanced 2.5D packaging solutions, awarded six scholarships to recognize outstanding female STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students with outstanding global citizenship in a ceremony at STEMCON 2019 Vietnam on March 15, 2019. These awards are sponsored by eSilicon and implemented through the USAID sponsored BUILD-IT (Building University-Industry Learning and Development through Innovation and Technology) public-private partnership, led by Arizona State University. eSilicon executive joins the winners (pictured left to right): Tran Thi Anh, Nguyen Ngoc Gia Han, Nguyen Hoai Nhi, Ngo Thi Xuan Thanh, Phan Thi Thu Thao, eSilicon HR VP Bruce Newton and HRBP eSilicon Vietnam Nguyen Anh Phuong. Not pictured: scholarship recipient Do Thanh Lam.



eSilicon supports engineering students around the globe in achieving their career goals. This scholarship program aims to nurture and develop the next generation of female engineering leadership in Vietnam, helping them fund their university tuition fees or engineering research projects. eSilicon evaluated students in key areas in addition to academic excellence, including developing practical engineering project solutions, demonstrating leadership and exhibiting a passion to help others. The eSilicon team directly interviewed and selected the winners, with support for marketing, application and the award ceremony though its partnership with Arizona State University, implementing partner for BUILD-IT. The award ceremony was held during STEMCON, which brings together education leaders, faculty and cororate partners to discuss and promote quality STEM education and public/private partnerships at the largest conference of its kind in Southeast Asia.



About eSilicon

eSilicon provides complex FinFET ASICs, market-specific IP platforms and advanced 2.5D packaging solutions. Our ASIC-proven, differentiating IP includes highly configurable 7nm 56G/112G SerDes plus networking-optimized 16/14/7nm FinFET IP platforms featuring HBM2 PHY, TCAM, specialized memory compilers and I/O libraries. Our neuASIC platform provides AI-specific IP and a modular design methodology to create adaptable, highly efficient AI ASICs. eSilicon serves the high-bandwidth networking, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G infrastructure markets. In addition to supporting STEMCON and the Sunflower Mission in Vietnam, eSilicon supports paid internships and training in Italy and Romania. About BUILD-IT

As the third major USAID award to ASU, the BUILD-IT public-private ecosystem is designed to produce graduates who can solve problems and engineer solutions and value for Vietnams social and economic development. BUILD-IT leverages the vast capabilities of the implementing partner Arizona State University, along with diverse government, industry, and academic partners linking technology and engineering higher education to the needs and capabilities of industry partners, building strategic leadership skills to advance university autonomy, program and instructional quality and formal lasting partnerships.

About ASU

Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American research university, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it. For three years in a row, ASU has been ranked the nations most innovative university by U.S. News & World Report. About STEMCON

Arizona State University hosts the largest, longest running engineering education conference in Vietnam. The 2019 conference was the seventh year for bringing together Southeast Asias greatest minds and influencers in the STEM fields. The conference unites policy makers, corporate leaders and educational directors as well as students, teachers, and entrepreneurs poised to make an innovative change in the Southeast Asian STEM environment. www.esilicon.com Collaborate. Differentiate. Win. eSilicon is a registered trademark, and the eSilicon logo and Collaborate. Differentiate. Win. are trademarks, of eSilicon Corporation. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Contacts: Sally Slemons Nanette Collins eSilicon Corporation Public Relations for eSilicon [email protected] [email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Former Head of Food Safety at Chipotle Mexican Grills Joins LexaGene's Scientific Advisory Board

BEVERLY, Mass., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LexaGene Holdings Inc. (OTCQB: LXXGF; TSX-V: LXG) (the Company), a biotechnology company that develops genetic analyzers for pathogen detection and other molecular markers, is pleased to announce that food safety innovator Dr. James Marsden has joined LexaGenes Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to steer LexaGenes penetration into the food industry.

Dr. Marsden, as a world-renowned food safety expert, served as an advisor to the White House on food safety and nutrition and has testified on numerous occasions to the United States Congress, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In 2016, Dr. Marsden was recruited by Chipotle to implement a best-in-class food safety program after several incidences marred the company. Over the last three years, he worked tirelessly to make impactful changes and has helped rebuild Chipotles reputation. With his recent retirement from Chipotle, Dr. Marsden has decided to join LexaGenes team. Moving forward, he will help LexaGene advance its goal of becoming the first provider of automated pathogen testing instruments for the food industry that utilize highly-multiplexed genetic tests which can return results in an hour rather than days. Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGenes founder and CEO, states, Jim is widely regarded as an expert and pioneer in food safety. Having his support behind LexaGene is exciting and will help ensure that our offering is the answer to the food industrys unmet needs. I look forward to working with Jim to establish key collaborations with major food processing companies to evaluate our technology and build demand for rapid market penetration. Dr. James Marsden served as the executive director of food safety at Chipotle where he was responsible for directing the food safety programs at Chipotle Mexican Grills, ShopHouse restaurants, and Pizzeria Locale. He was recruited into the position to bring best practices in food safety to Chipotle and push suppliers to adopt stricter policies for food safety testing. To Chipotle, he brought over forty years experience in the food industry working with government officials, regultors, food companies, trade associations, and academics. He previously worked for several food companies and technology providers, and served as Vice President for Scientific Affairs at the American Meat Institute (AMI) and President of the AMI Foundation. Earlier in his career, he was a Professor at Kansas State University, and provided expert testimony in cases involving foodborne disease outbreaks from E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and Norovirus.



Upon being invited to join LexaGenes SAB, Dr. Marsden stated, The food industry has been looking for the right genomics-based technology to adopt to help make their products safer. LexaGenes technology has the speed, breadth of detection, sensitivity, and ease-of-use that the industry is demanding, and it is affordable enough for wide-spread adoption. I look forward to the opportunity to help LexaGene make an impact on the market so that companies can deliver the freshest and safest foods possible to its customers. LexaGene has an opportunity to set the standard for genomics-based pathogen detection in the food industry, and I look forward to helping them achieve this goal. To be added to the LexaGene email distribution list, please subscribe on the Company website here .

About LexaGene Holdings Inc.

LexaGene is a biotechnology company developing the very first fully automated pathogen detection platform that is open-access. The open-access feature will empower end-users to target any pathogen of interest, as they can load their own real-time PCR assays onto the instrument for customized pathogen detection. End-users simply need to collect a sample, load it onto the instrument with a sample preparation cartridge, and press go. The instrument is expected to offer excellent sensitivity, specificity, and breadth of pathogen detection. The instrument will be able to process multiple samples at a time, in an on-demand fashion, returning results in about 1 hour. The company expects to sell its technology in the veterinary diagnostics market, food safety market, and more. Media Contacts

Nicole Ridgedale

Director of Corporate Marketing, LexaGene

800.215.1824 ext 206

[email protected] Investor Relations

Jay Adelaar

Vice President of Capital Markets, LexaGene

800.215.1824 ext 207

[email protected] The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the success of technology development efforts, the cost to procure critical parts, performance of the instrument, market acceptance of the technology, regulatory acceptance, and licensing issues -- that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations as disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Icelandair and Loylogic Announce a Strategic Partnership for a Global Travel Rewards Portal

Loylogic, the global leader in e-commerce and e-payment solutions for loyalty programs, and Icelandair Saga Club, Icelandair's loyalty program, announce a partnership to launch Loylogic's cutting edge travel platform. The global portal enables Saga Club members to collect or redeem points, and a combination of both, by booking hotels and renting cars from thousands of offers across the world. With its experience and track record in the loyalty and travel industry, Loylogic was a natural fit for the Saga Club program which was looking for new ways to engage their members and increase their redemption and collection offering. Dominic Hofer, Founder and CEO of Loylogic, adds, "We are thrilled to enter this new partnership and to work with Icelandair on the design and implementation of a new global travel solution. Following our belief to provide more choice to programs and their members, our travel solution offers the flexibility for members to redeem and collect points or even do both at the same time thus increasing points sales. We are looking forward to a strong collaboration and to sharing this goal with Icelandair."



Nott Thorberg, Director of Loyalty at Icelandair, adds, "We are excited about our partnership with Loylogic which gives our members the ability to book any hotel and rent a car with Saga Points, in full or as partial payment, while earning Saga Points for the part they pay in cash. Our strategy is to offer our members flexibility and outstanding experiences in all the products we offer, using the latest technology and partnership opportunities to be at the forefront of the industry. This partnership allows us to double down on this focus and offer our members third party points redemptions and earning in the most seamless and flexible manner." About Icelandair Saga Club

Icelandair Saga Club is Icelandair's Frequent Flyer Program and has members all over the world. The program offers multiple benefits to its most frequent flyers as well as special offers and rewards for all members. Icelandair Saga Club was founded in 1992 but Icelandair has been flying for over 80 years. Icelandair is a leading airline offering flights to and from Iceland, and attractive option for cross Atlantic flights. Icelandair provides safe, reliable flights and exceptional service on flight to metropolitan areas on both sides of the Atlantic. About Loylogic Loylogic is the world's leading innovator and creator of points experiences, insights, commerce and engagement. Founded in 2005 with offices around the world and a global content network of more than 500 merchants and 2,000 online stores offering millions of products and services, Loylogic, the new paradigm of points-based e-commerce and e-payment solutions, is the partner that the world's leading loyalty programs trust with making their points and miles loved most. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005314/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] MadCap Software Introduces Industry-First Authoring for Chatbots and AI with Newest Releases of MadCap Central and MadCap Flare

La Jolla, CA, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MadCap Software , Inc., the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft Visual Studio, today announced that MadCap Flare 2019 and MadCap Central April 2019 Release are now available. Together, the latest versions provide more comprehensive functionality than ever for creating, reviewing and delivering modern online Help, technical documentation, training content, and knowledge management centers. MadCap Flare and MadCap Central are part of the MadCap Authoring and Management System (AMS). Combining the power of desktop authoring with the convenience of the cloud, MadCap AMS provides a complete solution to support the entire content development lifecycle. MadCap Flare offers cutting-edge technical authoring and publishing capabilities with advanced features to maximize authoring efficiency, content reuse, and multi-channel publishing. MadCap Central is the first cloud-based platform for content and project management designed specifically for the documentation industry. As a result, content developers can leverage one integrated system to streamline their content delivery, from authoring, publishing and translation to cloud-based project, content and workflow management. MadCap Flare 2019 introduces another industry first with a new built-in Micro Content Editor. Now authors have the ability to create new micro content or tag existing content as micro content that can be easily digested by chatbots and other machine-learning and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Additionally, Flare adds: Functionality for publishing content directly to Zendesk, the cloud-based help desk solution used by more than 200,000 organizations worldwide

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) variables, or CSS custom properties, facilitating the reuse of styles and reducing CSS clutter

A new Chinese user interface to support the growing use of MadCap Flare in China

Several other new features and enhancements, including a fully redesigned user interface, updates to the UI themes, a new Start Page, and other usability improvements MadCap Central April 2019 Release also gets a completely redesigned user interface for a sleek new look and feel. Updates to the cloud-based platform go well beyond the aesthetics and UX with major enhancements under the hood that add speed and improve overall workflow and performance, We are living in a new age where companies are demanding greater content reuse across applications and departments, and end-users or consumers of the content, expect quicker and more accurate answers to questions via chatbots and machine-learning apps, said Anthony Olivier, MadCap founder and CEO. With the newest releases of MadCap Central and MadCap Flare, we are extending our commitment to our growing list of 18,000-plus organizations worldwide that rely on our solutions to adapt to evolving market and technology demands. Asa first mover in the industry, in addition to topic-based authoring, we now give everyone using our products the ability to re-purpose existing content and create new machine-learning ready micro content, delivering a modern user experience.



MadCap Flare 2019 Introduces Industry First with Micro Content MadCap Flare is used by thousands of companies worldwide to create and publish their technical documentation, user guides, instruction manuals, online Help, and support websites to any number of print, web, desktop and mobile formats in users languages of choice. It is the only professional authoring and publishing solution that allows authors to create and publish not only responsive HTML5 output with top and side navigationwhich more closely resembles a modern, search engine-optimized, and completely customizable informational websitebut also high-end print documentation from the same source of content. Additionally, a native XML architecture gives MadCap Flare the extensibility of leading enterprise content management (ECM) systems.

MadCap Flare 2019 is the first software for technical authoring and documentation that now offers the ability to author new and tag existing content as micro content. Micro content is short, concise information that stands alone and is easily consumable by users and machine-learning applications. Most people experience micro content when they conduct a Google search, and the results include a featured snippet that provides a definition or an answer to a question or a chatbot user asking specific questions. Using the new Micro Content Editor in MadCap Flare, authors now can create new micro content directly or repurpose existing content, and then add micro content in a Flare project to corresponding search queries. Similar to Google, the featured snippets in Flare output appear above regular search results, ensuring that this targeted information is seen before anything else, rather than being buried in the results, greatly enhancing the user experience. Today, the delivery of micro content for search results is available out of the box. However, the micro content in MadCap Flare also can be customized for use in chatbots, virtual reality instructions, field-level Help, and a frequently asked questions (FAQ) database, among other applications. "An important factor for effective user documentation is the speed at which users can find information, said Swapnil Ogale, technical writer. The micro content functionality in Flare allows authors to deliver exactly thata precise piece of content relevant to specific search queriesusing the new Micro Content Editor. With the new Micro Content Editor in MadCap Flare, I can easily create and leverage existing topics and snippets to improve the users search experience, said Thomas Bro-Rasmussen, technical writer. I look forward to applying this feature with other technologies, such as chatbots, embedded Help, augmented reality, and virtual reality applications. New Zendesk Plugin, CSS Variables, and Chinese UI in MadCap Flare With the latest release, MadCap Flare offers several other new and enhanced capabilities for delivering modern, best-in-class content, including a plugin for Zendesk, CSS variables, and fully localized Chinese UI. Zendesk Plugin  MadCap Connect for Zendesk complements the MadCap Connect for Salesforce plugin, enabling authors to integrate their MadCap Flare content with the leading cloud-based solutions for help desk centers and customer relationship management, respectively. Using the new MadCap Connect for Zendesk plugin, authors can publish MadCap Flare output to a Zendesk Help Center dashboard, enhancing the ability of knowledge bases or FAQs to support any service desk tickets on a help desk users Zendesk dashboard. CSS Variables  Variables have always been available for use with content in MadCap Flare, but now they are also available with the look and feel of the content to enhance single-sourcing. These CSS variables let authors place the value for a style in one place and reuse it throughout a stylesheet. To change a value, an author only needs to do so in one place, and the new value is propagated everywhere that the variable is referencedsaving time and ensuring consistency. Chinese UI  The growth of businesses in China seeking to provide modern documentation is rapidly growing. Now, with MadCap Flare 2019, authors there can take advantage of Chinese language technical authoring software for the first time, rather than having to use general word processing software. When users launch MadCap Flare, a dialog displays asking them to select a UI Language, including Chinese in addition to English, French, German, and Japanese. Availability and Pricing MadCap Flare 2019 and MadCap Central April 2019 Release are available today as part of the MadCap Authoring and Management System. Per-user subscription pricing for MadCap AMS is $2,988 per year or $249 per month. The subscription includes 30 GB of storage per company account (with additional storage available), free product upgrades and updates, Platinum-level maintenance and support with unlimited email and telephone support, a knowledge base, and forum access. Standalone perpetual licenses for MadCap Flare and subscriptions for MadCap Central are also available. Visit MadCap Software at https://www.madcapsoftware.com/ or contact MadCap Software at [email protected] or +1 (858) 320-0387 to learn more. About MadCap Software MadCap Software, Inc. is a trusted resource for the thousands of companies around the globe that rely on its solutions for single-source multi-channel authoring and publishing, multimedia, and translation management. Whether delivering technical, policy, medical, marketing, business, or human resources content, MadCaps products are used to create corporate intranets, Help systems, policy and procedure manuals, video tutorials, knowledge bases, eBooks, user guides, and more to any format, including high-end print, online, desktop or mobile. MadCap services include product training, consulting services, translation and localization, and an advanced developer certification program. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, MadCap Software is home to some of the most experienced software architects and product experts in the content development industry. Learn more about MadCap Software at www.madcapsoftware.com . MadCap Software, the MadCap Software logo, MadCap Authoring and Management System, MadCap Central, and MadCap Flare, are trademarks or registered trademarks of MadCap Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other marks are the properties of their respective owners. Rebecca Hurst Kinetic.PR for MadCap Software [email protected] 650-679-9282

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Reputation.com Discusses Link Between Online Reputation and Dealerships' Financial Health in Speaking Session at Digital Dealer 26

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reputation.com , provider of the first and only complete cloud-based enterprise reputation and customer experience management platform, today announced its participation in the Digital Dealer 26 Conference and Expo with an education breakout session titled, Whats Your Reputation Worth? The session will be held Wednesday, April 10. Reputation.com will also exhibit its award-winning online reputation management (ORM) platform at Booth No. 219. The event takes place April 9-11 in Orlando, Florida.

In his presentation, Ali Fawaz, sr. dir., Worldwide Automotive at Reputation.com, will explain how online reputation, when managed effectively, leads to better business oucomes for the retail dealer. Attendees will learn about the importance of Google search rankings and why its important to ensure accuracy in your listings. In addition, Mr. Fawaz will provide best practices for improving online reputation to drive more sales and improve service.



Reputation.com will also exhibit at Booth No. 219. There, executives will be on hand to demo the companys leading online reputation management platform and answer questions about how retail dealerships can use it to improve the overall health of their online reputation and learn how dealerships use Reputation Score to sell, on average, 2.4 more vehicles per month. WHAT: Whats Your Reputation Worth? WHO: Ali Fawaz, Senior Director, Worldwide Automotive, Reputation.com WHEN: April 10, 2019 10:05 a.m. ET WHERE: Room W204B Digital Dealer 26 Conference & Expo Orange County Convention Center Orlando, Florida About Reputation.com

Reputation.com delivers the only integrated SaaS platform that helps location-based enterprises improve their reputation with consumers online and onsite, across the entire customer journey  from finding a location on search, to conversion, to operational improvements that deliver a better customer experience.

Reputation.com technology manages tens of millions of consumer reviews, surveys and social media interactions across hundreds of thousands of online points of presence for global companies spanning 77 industry verticals, including healthcare, retail, automotive, restaurants and others. To learn more, visit www.reputation.com . Media Contact: Brigit Valencia

BOCA Communications

360.597.4516

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] StarCom Racing & Superior Essex Join Forces to Raise Funds to Support Local Michigan PD

StarCom Racing (SCR) and Superior Essex join forces to raise awareness for Napoleon, TWP Police Department (NTPD) of Michigan. The officers work with a very limited budget and often rely on donations from local organizations to help pay for basic supplies. Currently, the men and women of NTPD need upgraded body and in-car cameras to better protect themselves and the citizens of Napoleon. "The integration of premium technology has become necessary in our line of work. This comes with a price tag (News - Alert) that does not fit into a small community police department's budget," said NTPD Chief of Police Duaine Pittman. "The advancements in technology for today's law enforcement officers and cost of these necessary tools have made it very difficult for small communities to fit into an already tight budget. We are excited to partner with StarCom Racing and Superior Essex in a conjoined effort to raise the necessary funds that Napoleon needs." SCR alongside Superior Essex and NTPD Police Chief, Duaine Pittman, have turned to the people of America and NASCAR Fans alike to bring awareness to the department and help them raise funds. NTPD created a Go Fund Me page that can be found at: www.gofundme.com/napoleonpolicefundraiser. We encourage you to head to this site and donate to the police deprtment. All donations are appreciated, and no amount is too small.



The goal is to raise $15,000 which will be awarded in full to NTPD at the Firekeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, June 9 at Michigan International Speedway. The race will feature the 00 Chevy Camaro, driven by Landon Cassill. Superior Essex has donated a portion of their sponsorship to honor the NTPD by displaying the department's badge proudly on the car. "I had the very distinct pleasure of meeting Chief Pittman earlier this year at the Daytona 500," said David Ducharme, global account manager at Superior Essex, "During our conversation, Chief Pittman mentioned how he had to turn to donations from local organizations to purchase bulletproof vests for his officers. It was at that moment that I knew the NASCAR community needed to stand up." Ducharme says, "There is no other fan base that appreciates the men and women of law enforcement more than the NASCAR family and I knew that we had to do something to support this very deserving department."

"The combined efforts of StarCom and Superior Essex provide a unique opportunity to connect fans of NASCAR and concerned American citizens in supporting a community's public safety," said Brian Ensign, vice president, demand creation at Superior Essex. About Superior Essex Superior Essex is a leading manufacturer and supplier of communications cable and accessory products serving the communications industry and related distribution markets for over 80 years. Superior Essex is a trade name for Superior Essex International LP and other companies of Superior Essex Inc. SuperiorEssexCommunications.com About StarCom Racing StarCom Racing, a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Team, based in North Carolina was launched in September 2017. SCR purchased a Charter and will run a full schedule for 2019. SCR was formed by a collective group of seasoned NASCAR specialists, as well as successful business entrepreneurs from SCR's parent company, StarCom Fiber. For any sponsorship opportunities, please reach out directly to our Marketing Director, Elyshia Cope at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005465/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Trend Micro's Industrial IoT Joint Venture, TxOne Networks, Offers Sneak Peek of Solution to Securing Industrial Machinery

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, and Moxa, a leader in industrial communication and networking, preview their first jointly developed security offering. The new Industrial intrusion prevention system (IPS), which is in beta version, detects and blocks common exploits and provides whitelisting control in operational technology (OT) environments. It will be shown at Hannover Messe (News - Alert), taking place from April 1 - 5, in Hannover, Germany. "In five short months since formalizing our industrial security joint venture, we are happy to show-off our solution for tackling security weaknesses prevalent across industrial environments," said Eva Chen, CEO for Trend Micro (News - Alert) which is the majority partner in TXOne Networks. "We listened to the needs of both leading manufactures and critical infrastructures operators then harvested the best intellectual property existing within the partner companies. The result is a customized answer that goes beyond traditional security tools to mitigate the complex challenges." Mission critical machines are getting connected as the world adopts modern manufacturing. Some of these are legacy devices that were designed before connectivity was possible so they lack security layers, and in many cases its inconvenient to install patches and updates as well. They are fundamentally exposed to both highly targeted attacks of the sort that hit US utility firms last year, and 'unintentional' raids like WannaCry and NotPetya that have caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.



Trend Micro Research has shown how hackers can easily exploit OT devices' lack of proper authentication to cause major damage. That's why TXOne Networks' Industrial IPS not only provides virtual patch protection but also supports protocol whitelisting in order to shield the relatively weak authentication. Industrial Control System (ICS) vulnerabilities are easily exploited and being found in ever greater numbers. However, neither perimeter-based firewalls nor ICS detection or OT asset management tools can prevent lateral movement and internal infection. A perimeter firewall isn't enough when a compromised universal serial bus (USB) or laptop gets introduced and potentially propagates malware.

"Innovation can expose new security weaknesses and such is the case with Industry 4.0. We are seeing efficiencies and the economic advantages, but adopters need to consider the security implications and design networks, technologies, processes and reporting lines that will address the new environment," said Dr. Terence Liu, general manager for TXOne Networks. "As the most holistic security answer for these environments, our solution can help. TXOne Networks shelters both the hardware and software advancements of Industry 4.0 firms and our defense-in-depth capabilities set our solution apart from others." These are the key features included from a centrally managed console: Certified industrial-grade hardware to support large fluctuations in temperature

Threat detection and blocking to mitigate worm propagation

Protocol whitelisting control to prevent APT (News - Alert) and DoS attackers from taking advantage of legacy equipment lacking effective authentication

Virtual patching to shield vulnerable OT devices To find out more about Trend Micro's IoT security solutions, please visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/us/iot-security. About Trend Micro Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world's most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their journey to the cloud. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005308/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Vantage Specialty Chemicals Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Textron Plimon, S.L.U. Natural Oils Business

H.I.G. Capital, LLC ("H.I.G."), a leading global private equity investment firm with over $30 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Vantage Specialty Chemicals Holdings, Inc. ("Vantage" or the "Company"), a leading, vertically-integrated provider of naturally derived ingredients, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Textron Plimon, S.L.U. Natural Oils Business ("Textron"). Textron is a leading manufacturer, processor and specialty formulator of natural oils for the personal care, food and chemical industries. Located near Barcelona in Granollers, Spain, Textron is focused on supplying high quality, natural oils out of a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that sources oils and seeds from all over the world. Textron's product portfolio includes cosmetic oils, formulations of EVOILS, food oils, bismuth derivatives, cosmetic ingredients and preservatives. As part of the transaction, Textron will spin-off its Spanish distribution business ("Plimon") which will remain with the prior ownership group and continue distributing products for Textron. "The acquisition of Textron supports our commitment to strategically grow and expand the value we bring our customers throughout the world in natural oils. This strategic combination builds upon Vantage's existing leadership position in jojoba oil and further establishes Vantage and Textron as premier providers of natural oils to broaden and complement our specialty ingredient solutions for evolving trends in personal care and food," commented Andy Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Vantage. "This is an exceptional combination of people and natural products, which will provide significant benefits for both companies and most importantly our customers," said Martin Lascorz, owner and CEO of Textron who will continue to work with the combined entities. "With the support and backing of Vantage, Textron is well positioned to meet the growing needs of our customers and continue to bring expanded opportunities to our employees. We are delighted to be a part of the Vantage family." "Textron significantly diversifies Vantage's natural oils business beyond jojoba and establishes Vantag as a leading producer of high-quality, natural oils with unique supply chain, testing, and formulation capabilities," commented Keval Patel, Managing Director at H.I.G. "We are excited to build upon Vantage's European manufacturing footprint following the acquisition of LTG last year as we continue to expand our specialty personal care business globally."



Textron is the fourth add-on acquisition that Vantage has completed since H.I.G. acquired the Company in October 2017. The transaction is expected to close by June 2019.

About Textron Plimon, S.L.U. Textron is a leading manufacturer, processor and specialty formulator of natural oils for the personal care, food and chemical industries throughout Europe and globally. Natural oils are vital ingredients utilized in the manufacturing of a wide range of products for daily use across personal care and food applications. Textron was founded in 1980 by Martin Lascorz. For more information, visit https://www.plimon.com. About Vantage Vantage is a leading producer of naturally derived, specialty ingredients focused on Personal Care, Food, Consumer Care and Industrial end markets with a portfolio of over 2,000 products. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Vantage operates a global manufacturing and supply chain across 9 manufacturing facilities, 14 formulation laboratories and 19 distribution warehouses located in 14 countries across the United States, Latin America, South Africa, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.vantagespecialties.com. About H.I.G. Capital H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over $30 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused / value-added approach: 1. H.I.G.'s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses. 2. H.I.G.'s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance. 3. H.I.G.'s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com. * Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005773/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Visible Supply Chain Management Brings on The Cynosure Group as a Minority Partner

Visible Supply Chain Management ("Visible"), the industry leader in shipping and fulfillment services for small to midsize businesses, today announced it has welcomed The Cynosure Group ("Cynosure"), one of the premier family-backed investment firms in Utah, as a minority shareholder and member of its Board of Directors. "Cynosure, originating with the Eccles family of Utah, purchased a minority position in Visible and will be long-term partners to our business," said Casey Adams, president of Visible. "Although their position is relatively small, their long-standing expertise in business, associated with a shared emphasis on doing the right things for the right reasons, will help Visible achieve its goal of growing its supply chain business more quickly than could otherwise be achieved. In addition to becoming a shareholder, Cynosure will participate as a member of our board of directors. The relationship with Cynosure has been building for a number of yars and we are excited to continue to draw closer to such talented individuals."



"We are very excited about partnering with Visible's experienced management team. By providing collaborative, flexible and patient capital, we believe we can support Visible for the years ahead as they disrupt and improve the supply chain management industry while maintaining their status as one of the fastest-growing supply-chain providers in the U.S.," said Keith Taylor, managing director of Cynosure. "Cynosure is excited to collaborate and realize the outcome of this partnership." The Visible and Cynosure partnership comes on the heels of Visible's achievement of 72 percent CAGR growth over the prior five years as well as industry and business awards including the top spot in MWCN's (Mountain West Venture Capital Network) Mountain Mover Awards in 2018. Visible serves 25K customers worldwide, shipped more than 171 million packages in 2018 and executed with 99.98 percent fulfillment accuracy.

About Visible Supply Chain Management Since 1992, Visible Supply Chain Management has provided customized solutions for B2B and B2C organizations. With comprehensive services in e-commerce, direct sales, direct response and omnichannel, Visible can design effective strategies for clients that include transportation, logistics, brokerage, fulfillment and even custom packaging solutions. About The Cynosure Group Tracing its roots to the Eccles family of Utah, The Cynosure Group is an independent alternatives asset manager and advisor that makes long-term investments on behalf of families, foundations, and other like-minded institutions. Cynosure's collaborative solutions focus on alternative asset classes and range from select direct investment opportunities in profitable small to mid-sized companies, to comprehensive portfolio construction and allocations. For more information, visit www.cynosuregroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005218/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Walton Family Foundation Expands Economic Research Efforts to Focus on Entrepreneurship and Millennials

Today, the Walton Family Foundation announced the addition of two senior fellows who will undertake research on key topics to help improve economic performance across America's Heartland states by advocating fact-based solutions to foster job creation, knowledge-based and inclusive growth, and improve health statuses. Richard Florida and Joel Kotkin, both renowned researchers in their respective fields, will join the Foundation for a one-year term as senior fellows. Florida will focus his research efforts on entrepreneurship while Kotkin will focus on millennials in the Heartland. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005605/en/ Richard Florida was named by the Walton Family Foundation as a Senior Fellow, where he will focus his research on the Heartland Economy and entrepreneurship. Photo Credit: Zanetti Photography "We are proud to welcome both Richard Florida and Joel Kotkin to our growing team, as we expand our work to improve economic performance across the Heartland at this very critical time," said Ross DeVol, who is leading reearch efforts on the Heartland economy.



Later this year, these economic research efforts will shift to a new organization, Heartland Forward, a think and do tank whose mission is to improve economic performance in the center of the United States by advocating fact-based solutions to foster job creation, knowledge-based and inclusive growth and improved health statuses. Heartland Forward will pursue its mission through independent, data-driven research, action-oriented convenings, such as its flagship convening, "Heartland Summit," and impactful policy recommendations. "Entrepreneurship is a key component to economic growth in every community, and I look forward to researching and sharing key learnings and best practices on how best to integrate entrepreneurship across Heartland communities and strengthening its economic status," Florida said. For more information on Richard Florida and his work, click here.

"As a new generation of citizens, the millennial generation, come of age, we must ensure that their talents are being utilized in every community, not just in the big cities along the coasts," Kotkin added. "Millennials will play a key role in the Heartland's economy for years to come - it's up to us to figure out if it is within our communities or from a distance." For more information on Joel Kotkin and his work, click here. About the Walton Fellows Program As part of the Walton Fellows Program fellows are responsible for internal and external thought leadership and conduct research and build or improve processes on behalf of the programs of the foundation. This program does not accept unsolicited applications. About the Walton Family Foundation The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. The children and grandchildren of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2018, the foundation awarded more than $595 million in grants in support of these initiatives. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005605/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Watermill Group Acquires Enbi in Cross-Border Deal

Watermill Group, a strategy-driven private investment firm, has acquired Enbi, a leading manufacturer of high-performance precision rollers, gaskets, seals and insulation for complex applications in image transfer, fusing, substrate transport and acoustic and thermal insulation. Enbi serves world-class OEMs in digital printing, ATMs and cash handling systems, HVAC as well as other industries in which exacting precision and quality are critical to end-product performance. The Enbi deal marks Watermill's second major cross-border acquisition in two years, deepening the firm's presence in Europe and adding to its global portfolio of holdings. "Enbi is a dynamic engineering-driven organization," stated Tracy Streckenbach, Partner, Watermill. "The company's technical acumen and worldwide manufacturing capabilities have established it as an innovative partner serving rapidly changing, global end markets. We are looking forward to working with Enbi's talented leadership team and applying Watermills strategy-driven approach to accelerate growth."



Founded in Nuth, The Netherlands, and headquartered in Shelbyville, Indiana, Enbi's manufacturing presence spans the US, Europe and Asia. These facilities, combined with Enbi's globally collaborative approach to problem solving, fuel the organization's agile product development prowess and enable it to scale manufacturing services that meet the specific technological needs, volume demands and geographic strategies of market-leading customers. Ms. Streckenbach added: "Enbi has demonstrated an ability to anticipate and deliver on technically-rigorous customer demands in evolving markets. We see rich opportunities to deepen and expand that critical capability, while maintaining the company's high standards for safety and productivity."

"We built and grew Enbi's leading-edge position by providing precision products that help our customers compete at the highest level," stated Robert Sallmann, CFO, Enbi. "As we begin this exciting journey with Watermill, our customers and partners can expect that same commitment to product and service excellence, while we work in parallel to fortify our strengths and uncover new opportunities to bring best-in-class thinking to the market." Watermill acquired Enbi from Platinum Equity for an undisclosed amount. For Watermill, Grant Thornton (News - Alert) provided tax due diligence, Phoenix provided financial due diligence advice, and K&L Gates and Blais, Halpert, Lieberman & Greene provided legal counsel. Lincoln Financial advised Enbi, and Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP provided legal counsel. About the Watermill Group The Watermill Group is a strategy-driven private investment firm that helps companies achieve their full potential through strategic transformation. For more than four decades, Watermill has been acquiring, operating and improving companies. Watermill looks for businesses in which it can apply a unique combination of strategic insight and management expertise to re-imagine their future and drive growth. About Enbi A leading manufacturer of high-performance precision rollers, insulation, gaskets and sealing technologies, Enbi serves best-in-class OEMs in digital printing, ATMs and cash handling systems, HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) as well as other industries in which exacting precision and quality are critical to end-product performance. The company serves a worldwide customer base from its headquarters in Shelbyville, Indiana as well as manufacturing facilities in the US, Europe and Asia. To learn more, visit enbigroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005252/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Wisconsin Students, Educators Experience Operating Engineer Career Path at Externship Day

The Wisconsin Operating Engineers (IUOE Local 139) today hosted an Externship Day at the OE 139 Joseph Goetz Training Center in Coloma, WI, where high school students, parents, educators, administrators and counselors gained insight into one of Wisconsin's most in-demand industries. During the hands-on event, attendees had the opportunity to work with heavy equipment simulators, tour the 400-acre facility and hear firsthand from apprentices and contractors during a panel discussion. "Opening students' eyes to career pathways that might not immediately involve college is becoming increasingly important, given the high cost of postsecondary education and a growing demand for skilled workers," said Nicholaus Sutherland, head of school at Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin (WIDCA). "Especially for students who don't see themselves pursuing a four-year degree right out of high school, Externship Day is an excellent way to get an in-depth look at a promising alternative." Interested students can start completing coursework required by Wisconsin Operating Engineers while still enrolled in high school through a partnership with WIDCA. By completing required courses through WIDCA, participating students ca get a significant jumpstart on their life after high school.



In addition to seeing what an operating engineer's day-to-day might look like, attendees also learned what technical skills are required - and how they can get them through the Destinations Career Academy's Pre-Apprenticeship Program, Local 139 and Fox Valley Technical College. "The Wisconsin Operating Engineers are committed to meeting the industry's need for a skilled workforce. Our partnership with WIDCA to provide online pre-apprenticeship courses, and the bi-annual Externship Day are two examples of this commitment to workforce development," says Terry McGowan, President/Business Manager of the IUOE Local 139. "Our members take great pride in the investment they have made in the Coloma Training Center, and many volunteered today, side-by-side with our signatory contractors, to share this exciting career pathway with high school students."

Technology is now a large part of our everyday lives, and its popularity has led to a substantial increase in the number of high-paying Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) jobs like those featured at Externship Day. Ninety-three out of 100 STEM jobs pay more than the national average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and federal and state politicians are giving these positions particular attention as they look for new ways to activate their local economies. As policymakers point out, as our local and national needs continue to change, so must our approach to education. "From my first day in the State Assembly nine years ago, one of my top priorities has been finding ways to connect students to the academic and employment resources they need," said Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa). "I am proud to be an advocate for WIDCA, the Local 139 Training Center, and other organizations that strive to improve employability for Wisconsin residents." "Programs like these have been quintessential in helping to close the employment gap we have in Wisconsin," said State Senator and Education Chair, Luther Olsen (R-Ripon). "It's great to see groups like WIDCA and Local 139 invest in the state's future workforce and provide the kind of hands-on experience our students deserve." About Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin (WIDCA) is the state's first online career and technical education-focused school. The Operating Engineers' Pre-Apprenticeship Program offered through WIDCA is a collaborative effort of Wisconsin Operating Engineers (IUOE Local 139) that is supported by the International Union of Operating Engineers National Training Fund. To learn more about the program and how your community can offer this exciting opportunity, visit www.buildingwisconsintogether.com. To learn more about WIDCA, visit widca.k12.com or connect with the school on Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005577/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Zeno Media and BTC Bahamas Announce Exclusive Streaming Radio Partnership

NEW YORK and NASSAU, Bahamas, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Zeno Media and BTC Bahamas today announced its first mobile carrier supported audio streaming service for the Bahamas to include exclusive Bahamian, Haitian, and Jamaican radio content from around the globe. Delivered via the Google Play Store and Apple App Store , listeners have access to exclusive talk, religious, sports, and music content directly from their BTC Mobile phone. Zeno Media is a top ten streaming radio company that amplifies local voices while connecting niche and diaspora communities to their hometown radio stations and BTC offers a full suite of landline, internet, mobile and television services. The exclusive app can be downloaded by visiting this link . "This partnership is the first of its kind for content delivery on the carrier side and our teams are the first to address the radio listening needs of the Bahamian, Haitian, and Jamaicn diaspora communities within a single app," said Morris Berger, CEO of Zeno Media. "We believe this unique model is one that can be replicated across multiple regions globally. With our exclusive and global licensing agreements, along with mobile operators network of subscribers, we have the opportunity to help broadcasters increase audience footprint and advertising revenues."



BTC's Director of Consumer Operations, Ben Freeman said, "We remain committed to creating meaningful moments for our customers. Starting today, customers can download our BTC Radio App. This is yet another 'Blue Letter' day in the history of BTC. We are proud to be the first mobile carrier to introduce a radio app, providing access to local radio stations free of charge. Additionally, our customers can also listen to content from other Caribbean countries like Jamaica and Haiti also free of charge." The BTC Radio app can be used in the Bahamas, but also supports connectivity from anywhere. Listeners can follow their favorite Bahamian stations on the go, download podcasts from local organizations and personalities, and customize the app including language support for English, Creole, and French. Stations include:

More 94 FM, Hot 91.7, 100 Jamz, Beat 103.5 FM, Island 102.9 FM, and Star 106.5 from the Bahamas. RJR, Nationwide News Network, Zip FM, and NCU FM from Jamaica. Caraibes FM, Radio Tele Lumiere, and Radio Tele Shalom from Haiti. An internet connection is required for live streaming and downloading podcasts and can be used either on Wi-Fi or throughout the Bahamas on Bahamas' biggest LTE network. Users have the ability to fast forward, rewind, pause live streams; download/storage of favorite podcasts; quick links to favorite shows and browse archived content for playback at a later time. About Zeno Media

Zeno Media is a top ten streaming radio company, amplifies local voices while connecting niche and diaspora communities to their hometown radio stations and native language programming. With more than 650 apps and 7,000+ large and small broadcasters globally, the company averages 2 billion listening minutes every month and has a growing audience of 8 million monthly active users. Zeno Media is the pioneer and largest player in the Call-to-Listen space. The company also offers the only end-to-end streaming solution at no cost as well as innovative tools that help broadcasters monetize content and broaden their audience base worldwide. Learn more at www.zenomedia.com or by contacting [email protected] . View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zeno-media-and-btc-bahamas-announce-exclusive-streaming-radio-partnership-300823729.html SOURCE Zeno Media

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 02, 2019] The global robotic lawn mower market is expected to proliferate at a CAGR of 11.07% and 12.78% in terms of value and volume respectively during the forecast period 2019-2027

NEW YORK, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- KEY FINDINGS

The global robotic lawn mower market is expected to proliferate at a CAGR of 11.07% and 12.78% in terms of value and volume respectively during the forecast period 2019-2027, as per the market analysis carried out by Inkwood Research.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05762023/?utm_source=PRN





The elimination of safety hazards related to traditional lawn mowers and the reduction of time spent on household activities are mainly responsible for the market growth.The robotic lawn mowers market is increasingly getting commoditized with many low-cost models being introduced in the market regularly in each year.



Therefore, vendors are focusing on futuristic products.



MARKET INSIGHTS

A smart robotic lawn mower is characterized by intelligent visual navigation and its ability to integrate with the internet and control through a smartphone application. It is fitted with a navigation system that enables the device to track the area required to be mowed, cutting equipment that is the main functional unit of the device, two-way interactions with the user, and an efficient energy management system.

The global robotic lawn mower market segments include technology and end-user.The raw materials constitute the single largest cost component in the robotic lawn mower market.



So fluctuations in their prices can severely impact the market growth for the robotic lawn mowers. But, increased penetration of intenet services, improved economy, and upgrading of purchase and delivery options with the emergence of m-commerce can pave the way for better access to the variety of options the marker provides to its customer base across the world.







REGIONAL INSIGHTS

The global robotic lawn mower market is geographically segmented into a few major regions, namely, North America , Europe , Asia Pacific and the remaining countries forming the Rest of World segment.

The Europe region was the highest contributor to the global market for robotic lawn mowers in 2018. The major reason for this growth in demand is the introduction of new variants of robotic lawn mowers in the market by the vendors, which had been technologically more advanced than their predecessors that were accepted by end-users at large.



COMPETITIVE INSIGHTS

MTD Products Inc., LG Electronics, Deere & Company, Robert Bosch GmbH, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Husqvarna Group, Hitachi, Ltd., the Kobi Company, Stiga S.P.A., and Zucchetti Centro Sistemi S.P.A. are the major companies contributing to the market advancement, which have been profiled in the report.

These companies are using organic and inorganic strategies for growth.For instance, in 2018, Deere had launched multiple models, namely, the John Deere 6080A, 6500A, and 6700A PrecisionCut fairway mowers.





Product launches can help any company to penetrate further into the consumer base and expand its reach.



Companies mentioned

1. DEERE & COMPANY

2. HITACHI, LTD.

3. HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.

4. HUSQVARNA GROUP

5. LG ELECTRONICS

6. MTD PRODUCTS INC.

7. ROBERT BOSCH GMBH

8. STIGA S.P.A

9. THE KOBI COMPANY

10. ZUCCHETTI CENTRO SISTEMI S.P.A



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05762023/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-global-robotic-lawn-mower-market-is-expected-to-proliferate-at-a-cagr-of-11-07-and-12-78-in-terms-of-value-and-volume-respectively-during-the-forecast-period-2019-2027--300823095.html SOURCE Reportlinker

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 02, 2019] ARTEIA launches its utility token, ARTK, and a peer-to-peer platform

BRUSSELS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Arteia announces the launch of its ICO (Initial Coin Offering). Arteia offers the first comprehensive, advanced technology platform set to empower art collectors by linking a collection management system to a matching platform supported by a provenance tracker. Arteia Collect, launched in October 2018, is the ultimate cataloguing solution to manage any kind of collections and was created by collectors for collectors. Arteia will open at the end of the ICO it's decentralized platform allowing art market's actors to interact around a provenance ledger, to share, study, inventorize, lend and trade artworks through matching marketplaces, in a tokenized ecosystem. Founded in 2016 in Brussels, and with its first product, Arteia Collect, launched in October 2018, Arteia's project stems from the desire to bring more transparency and more security to the art world, the project is led by a mix of experts from the art, business and tech field. Its founders, Philippe Gellman (CEO), Marek Zabicki (CTO) and Olivier Marian (CSO), are entrepreneurs and experienced collectors. Unlike any other known project, the Arteia platform's MVP will be fully functional at the end of the ICO and will already offer the 5 use cases described in the white paper to the token holders. "We raised already EUR 3 million since the creation of the company to develop our working platform and we are onboarding new collectors every week. Now it's time to rocket our project on an international basis and an ICO seemed the mos accurate way to get the necessary means and develop a whole tokenized eco-system. We will bring more efficiency and liquidity on the secondary market with much lower fees than on the actual Art market and more transparency creating a universal ledger by anchoring in the Blockchain the provenance of Art pieces. The Arteia solution powered by our ICO is a promise of greater transparency and more equal distribution for the art market," comments Philippe Gellman, the CEO of Arteia. Arteia: the solution for an art market looking for innovation The art market is one of the last still barely touched by the digital revolution. Art is a very profitable asset class, and art sales have been booming in the past years, partly due to the gradual introduction of online sales and online-only auctions. However, the market lacks transparency related to artwork provenance, price-setting and commission fees. These problems pave the way for blockchain technology to make a critical and long-lasting impact on the industry by bringing more trust and liquidity to the art market. Arteia has developed an innovative decentralized peer-to-peer service for artists, collectors, and professionals of the fine art ecosystem: a comprehensive platform to serve the needs of all the actors in the art market. In this sense, we are proud to have already been able to develop partnerships and solutions with key respected actors in the sectr, such as our joint venture with Cahiers d'Art, RAISONLINE, that will be the first digital catalogue Raisonne solution anchored to the blockchain.



We create the art world of tomorrow The total pool of token for this operation is fixed at 400,000,000 (four hundred million) ARTK, the Soft cap for this operation is settled at US $3.5 million and the Hard cap is at US $15 million. 50% of the tokens will be sold during the ICO.

Token prices will be fixed shortly before the pre-sale and the main sale according to BTC and ETH volatily. This ICO will be one of the first offering where all 5 use cases described in the Whitepaper will be running and available for token buyers at the end of the fundraising sale period when the toekens are issued. What use for the ARTK token? The ARTK token will allow its owner to subscribe to and access the platform's services directly after the ICO. It will also manage the access to the provenance tracker where artists and estates will be able to store publicly and securely the provenance of their artworks. The five use cases that will be available for token holders will be: Subscription to the cataloging solution . Provenance: adding provenance details of an artwork by the users and consulting the provenance of an artwork. Match ing and allow ing both parties to agree on the details of a transaction in a secure and trusted environment provided by smart-contracts powered by the ARTK token. Lending: allow ing collectors to safely lend his artworks to museums and exhibitions. Showcase: creat ing a public or private showcase and gain recognition or just share the passion . In the long run, Arteia's goal is to become a global platform for the art market actors, with a marketplace supported by our provenance ledger, to trade art works in fiat or crypto currencies. Such a platform will help the digital world of token and crypto to connect with the physical field of art. "Cofounded by collectors and engineers, Arteia uses the finest and latest technologies -- including blockchain -- to suit the needs of all the actors of the art world. Our teams have been working for three years to develop this product, which is already used by artists and galleries. More than 30 000 artworks are already onboarded," explains Philippe Gellman, CEO Arteia Blockchain technologies for the highest possible level of trust, security and confidentiality Created by collectors to meet their needs, Arteia knows the extent to which the security and confidentiality of art collections are foremost. This is why Arteia's access is protected by Two-Factor Authentication and allows the user to decide where the data is stored (on various hosted servers around the world, or on a personal server disconnected from the Internet). Arteia also leverages on blockchain technologies to develop its artwork provenance tracker, creating an immutable history of each artwork life. This provenance database will serve as a tool to verify the authenticity of an artwork and to establish the value of the piece. Dealing with artworks with a veritable digital identity will also bring higher trust in the platform. Furthermore, blockchain technologies will enable the creation of immutable digital "catalogues raisonnes" by contemporary artists, creating a complete list of all their works in a simple and secure manner. "Arteia's blockchain infrastructure will allow peer-to-peer connections between art collectors allowing direct sales,and we are looking forward implementing price predictions and trends analysis to help them make better decisions. In this sense Arteia is a real use case for blockchain technologies: offering transparency and liquidity on the market, it will allow people, to use art as an investment in a rapidly changing digital age," points out Marek Zabicki, CTO Arteia. About Arteia: Arteia's solution is an integrated platform serving all the needs of actors in the art market. By combining a cloud-based collection management with blockchain services of provenance, peer-to-peer trading and lending based on smart contracts, Arteia brings a cutting-edge solution to the market. These technologies will be further enhanced using Artificial Intelligence, data science and a micro-targeting approach to interests and profile matching to provide the highest level of decentralized services to art lovers and art professionals. For more information, please visit https://blockchain.arteia.com/ Legal disclaimer This press release contains certain prospective statements concerning[Arteia] and its activities. [Arteia] is transmitting this information as of today and does not commit itself under any circumstances to update it as a result of new information or future events. The press release should not be considered as a promise or commitment of any kind to[Arteia] and its project. This press release does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an offer to purchase any shares and does not constitute an offer or listing prospectus within the meaning of the applicable[Swiss legislation]. It cannot be considered as an investment invitation or recommendation and cannot be used as a basis for an investment decision. It is returned for the rest to the White Paper and in particular its disclaimer section. White paper available here.

SOURCE Arteia

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Future Data Acquires 64.86% Equity Stake in Cyber Security Specialist Maximus Group for HK$12 Million

HONG KONG, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GEM Board-listed Future Data Group Limited ("Future Data" or the "Group", stock code: 8229), a technology services company specializing in system integration and cyber security, today announced that it has entered into a share purchase and subscription agreement with Maximus Venture Holdings Limited to acquire 24,000 sale shares and subscribe 24,000 new shares of Maximus Group Consulting Limited ("Maximus Group") for a maximum cash consideration of HK$12 million. Upon the completion of the transaction, Future Data will hold 64.86% of the entire issued share capital of Maximus Group. This deal accelerates the Group's strategy in Hong Kong and Macau's cyber security market by vertical integration. Through the acquisition of Maximus Group, Future Data will have access to a customer base of 150 corporate customers and government agencies in Hong Kong and Macau originated in Maximus Consulting (Hong Kong) Limited ("MXC"), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Maximus Group, and it positions Future Data as a leader in the second-tier service provider category within the cyber security market, behind the Big Four. The Group has been working with MXC for the past two years as its partner in the cyber security market. MXC has been providing sales and marketing services while the Group has been delivering the technology services and managing the projects. With this acquisition, Future Data now has full access to the US$440 million (HK$3.4 billion) Hong Kong and Macau cyber security market, whic is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17% by 2020 (source: Frost & Sullivan).



Mr. Giang Phung, Vice Chairman of Future Data, said, "Demand from customers is causing explosive growth in the cyber security market and provides high margins for our business, which will translate into tremendous growth in our Group's profitability in the years to come. Combining Korea's strength in revenue growth in network infrastructure and Hong Kong's high margin cyber security business, we have a new business platform to deliver better returns to our shareholders." Mr. Roger Chung, Director of MXC, said, "Our customers are asking for end-to-end integration between our teams who conduct sales and plan for the scope of work, which is MXC; and teams doing project delivery and management which are from Future Data, to ensure seamless project execution and protect customer data privacy. This vertical integration completely removes those barriers and allows us to scale the business to help it achieve better results."

"Having worked together with MXC on numerous projects over the past two years, our teams have built up the necessary trust and confidence that will make this vertical integration successful," Mr. Phung added. About Future Data Group Limited Listed on the GEM Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2016, Future Data is a new breed of company within the technology services industry. Founded in Korea in 1997, Future Data provides a wide range of network infrastructure and security services to corporate customers. The Group's distinct competitive advantages include the partnerships and alliances it has forged with a diverse base of leading technology suppliers and the ability to interweave its software development capabilities with a number of these suppliers. More information on Future Data can be found at http://www.futuredatagroup.com. About Maximus Group Consulting Limited An investment company incorporated in British Virgin Islands in 2016 which holds the entire share capital of Maximus Consulting (Hong Kong) Limited. About Maximus Consulting (Hong Kong) Limited ("MXC") Established in 2003, MXC is a Hong Kong-based company that provides professional one-stop information on security services and solutions, specializing in cyber security and anti-hacking services. MXC is trusted by over 150 businesses, performs over 100 security assessments annually, and monitors more than 300 cyber security devices through our SOCs. Positioned as a human-based artificial intelligence in the cyber security space, MXC has helped numerous major corporations in the finance, insurance, airline, logistics, and telecom industries to deter cyberattacks and prevent cybercrimes. More information on MXC can be found at http://www.maximusholding.com SOURCE Future Data

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Trend Micro Report Reveals 65% of Manufacturing Environments Run Outdated Operating Systems

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced new research that demonstrates the threats facing manufacturing networks still running outdated technology, including risks to intellectual property and production processes. The report, Securing Smart Factories: Threats to Manufacturing Environments in the Era of Industry 4.0, outlines the security dimension of a new era for manufacturing driven by IoT and connectivity everywhere. Manufacturers are heavily investing in the convergence of traditional operational technology (OT) with IT networks in 2019, adding new technology to environments that are still vulnerable to more than 10-year-old issues, like Conficker. "Industry 4.0 offers unparalleled opportunities to increase productivity, enhance process efficiencies, and realize on-demand manufacturing, but it also dramatically alters the threat risk model for these facilities," said Steve Quae, Executive Vice President, Network Defense and Hybrid Cloud Security for Trend Micro (News - Alert). "As this research outlines, the convergence of IT and OT could unwittingly have a serious impact on production lines, and could lead to the loss of IP and competitive advantage. Trend Micro will continue to support the industry by providing innovative AI-driven solutions to protect business critical data and processes across the connected world."



The report highlights the unique triple threat facing manufacturing, including the risks associated with IT, OT and IP. Previously isolated operations networks are being connected to the IT network to drive efficiencies, but this exposes insecure proprietary protocols and potentially decades-old OT equipment that is often not patched frequently enough because of its criticality. There is a harsh disparity between the significant operations performed by these devices and the fact that they operate for years with known vulnerabilities. According to Gartner (News - Alert)1, "OT networks and assets, and their security implications, were undiscovered and unmanaged for many years. As a result, current OT networks are unsegmented with a mix of production protocols, unidentified assets, legacy systems and devices. These industrial components have many unsecure communication channels to corporate/IT networks, and they utilize different vendor architectures and security standards."

In addition to maintaining legacy infrastructure with known weaknesses, new vulnerabilities are being discovered more frequently than ever before in these systems. Zero-day vulnerabilities purchased in human-machine interfaces (HMIs) of industrial control systems increased by more than 200 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year. Manufacturers are thus exposed to both targeted and commodity malware, including cryptocurrency mining attacks that could harm key production processes by consuming processing power and causing network latency. Ransomware is also a major threat to manufacturers if the attack affects production. To help mitigate the impact of Industry 4.0 threats, Trend Micro recommends manufacturers remember the basics of cybersecurity, such as restricting user access and disabling directory listings, as well as identifying and prioritizing key assets to protect. To find out more, read the complete report here: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/internet-of-things/security-in-the-era-of-industry-4-dealing-with-threats-to-smart-manufacturing-environments. About Trend Micro Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud workloads, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and investigation, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in 50 countries and the world's most advanced global threat research and intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their connected world. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com. 1 Gartner, Inc., 2018 Strategic Roadmap for Integrated IT and OT Security, Saniye Burcu Alaybeyi, 3 May 2018 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005045/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Vodafone Qatar Partners with MediaKind to Deliver New and Immersive IPTV and OTT Services to Multiscreen Audiences

MediaKind, a global media technology leader, today announces it has been selected by Vodafone (News - Alert) Qatar to deliver MediaFirst - the next generation cloud-based multiscreen TV Platform service to consumers in Qatar. This MediaFirst deployment will provide Vodafone Qatar with the capability and flexibility to launch new content over existing IPTV (News - Alert) or OTT devices. The deployment of the new TV platform is due to commence before year end. Vodafone Qatar's customers will be able to enjoy a full range of compelling user experiences that are consistent across all devices, with access to online and offline video content. The platform will be deployed based on a continuous engagement model where a partner owns and develops the full solution ecosystem, enabling the delivery of rich features such as immersive content, universal search, rich metadata and advanced personalization, all within a single pay-TV subscription. Diego Camberos, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone Qatar, says: "Our customers are demanding ever increasing access to a wider range of on-demand, mobile and immersive content offerings, which means we have to find new, innovative methods of delivering deeper, more meaningful and highly personalized services. By partnering with MediaKind, we have access to a next generation cloud-based multiscreen media platform that enables our customers to watch all their favorite content whenever they want and on the device they prefer. With the deployment of MediaFirst TV Platform, we are ensuring our customers benefit from a technology that can adapt to future media delivery needs." Damien Montessuit, Senior Vice President, EMEA, MediaKind, says: "MediaKind is in a unique position to offer end-to-end solutions with products and capabilities that can adapt to fit market trends. Our heritage in building, integrating and supporting media platforms with global and regional expertise, enables rapid time-to-market with high quality operator grade service. Through the deployment of MediaFirst - our next generation cloud-bsed multiscreen TV Platform - we are strengthening our global leadership in delivering highly immersive, personalized TV experiences by providing Vodafone Qatar customers with access to rich, consistent viewing opportunities across any device, anywhere."



The deployment combines a wide range of different products and solutions from the MediaKind Universe (MediaKind's portfolio of solutions) to deliver a unified consumer experience over any access network and includes MediaFirst TV Platform; Video Storage and Processing Platform; Headend Compression; Content Management system; and Professional Services for Integration, Support Services and Platform Operation Services. ENDS

About MediaKind at NAB Show At NAB Show 2019, MediaKind (SU720) will show how it is enabling content owners, broadcasters and service providers to evolve, adapt and shift to new and dynamic workflows with its portfolio of next generation solutions and services. During the show it will present the MediaKind Universe, a solution and service portfolio with industry renowned breadth and depth. Just as the consumer is positioned firmly at the center of today's media universe, encircled by choice, the MediaKind Universe responds in kind, enabling content owners & originators, broadcasters and pay TV operators service providers to efficiently deliver unique, immersive experiences. For further information please visit here. About MediaKind We are MediaKind, a global leader of media technology and services, established as a joint venture between One Equity Partners and Ericsson (News - Alert). Our mission is to be the first choice among service providers, operators, content owners and broadcasters looking to deliver immersive media experiences. Drawing on our longstanding industry heritage, we are driving next-generation live and on-demand, mobile and multiscreen media experiences for everyone, everywhere. Our end-to-end portfolio of media solutions include Emmy award-winning video compression solutions for contribution and direct-to-consumer video service distribution; advertising and content personalization solutions; high efficiency cloud DVR; and TV and video delivery platforms. About Vodafone Qatar P.Q.S.C Vodafone Qatar P.Q.S.C. ("Vodafone Qatar") provides a comprehensive range of services including voice, messaging, data, fixed communications and ICT managed services in the State of Qatar, for both consumers and businesses alike. The Company commenced commercial operations in 2009 and has over 1.4 million customers as of December 31, 2018. Its state-of-the-art network infrastructure is expanding to cover key locations in the country with fibre connectivity and 5G, along with an extensive digital ecosystem, which will contribute to Qatar's continued growth and prosperity. Vodafone Qatar's vision is deeply rooted in its mission to connect today's ideas with the technologies of tomorrow by pioneering digital innovation and becoming people's first choice in telecom and digital services. Please visit www.vodafone.qa for more details. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005374/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] The Apache Software Foundation Announces Call for Presentations and Registration Open for ApacheCon, its Official Global Conference Series

Wakefield, MA, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the all-volunteer developers, stewards, and incubators of more than 350 Open Source projects and initiatives, announced today that its call for presentations (CFPs) and registration are open for ApacheCon, the ASF's official global conference series.

The Official Logo for ApacheCon, with URL



ApacheCon draws attendees from more than 60 countries to experience "Tomorrow's Technology Today" by showcasing key Open Source technologies independent of business interests, corporate biases, or sales pitches. ApacheCon content is selected entirely by Apache projects and their communities, enabling participants at all levels to learn about the latest innovations in dozens of categories that include Big Data, containers, Cloud, DevOps, IoT, servers, and Web frameworks, among others. Participants learn about Open Source development "The Apache Way", through hands-on sessions, keynotes, real-world case studies, trainings, hackathons, BarCamps, and more in a deliberately intimate, collaborative, vendor-neutral environment. "The first ApacheCon started 21 years ago and quickly rose to prominence for its strong community presence, both in content and spirit," said Rich Bowen, ASF Vice President of Conferences. "Through the years, ApacheCon has featured Apache projects from virtually every technology area in Open Source, presented by hundreds of individuals from the greater Apache community. We are proud to continue to be the primary gathering of the collective Apache community worldwide, and look forward to celebrating the ASF's 20th Anniversary together at ApacheCon." Attendees will join The Apache Software Foundation to celebrate its 20th Anniversary at the following events: Apache Roadshow : 13-14 May 2019 in Chicago, Illinois

: 13-14 May 2019 in Chicago, Illinois ApacheCon North America : 9-12 September 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada

: 9-12 September 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada ApacheCon Europe: 22-24 October 2019 in Berlin, Germany Call for Presentations

The Call for Presentations (CFPs) is open for both ApacheCon North America and Europe evens. ApacheCon North America will feature over a dozen tracks, including Apache project summits for Cassandra, CloudStack, Tomcat, and Traffic Control, as well as user community-generated content, such as from the Open Geospatial Consortium, which will be organizing a track for the third consecutive year. Content tracks at ApacheCon Berlin will feature Big Data, Community, IoT, Machine Learning, and Open Source Design, among other categories. The Apache Roadshow/Chicago has just closed its CFP and will be featuring AdTech, FinTech, Insurance, "Made in Chicago" Startups, Podling Shark Tank, Community Diversity, and other categories as part of its program.



Registration

Registration is open for all three events, with time-limited, early registration incentives and additional discounted rates available for individual participants as well as groups. Sponsors

ApacheCon sponsors gain visibility and competitive advantage by engaging with the greater Apache community, industry influencers, and potential future collaborators. Many sponsors consider Apache conference events to be invaluable resources for recruiting top Open Source talent. ApacheCon Platinum Sponsors include Google Cloud, DataStax, and Tencent Cloud. Sponsorship opportunities are available for all three events; prospectuses are available for download from each conference Website.

Key Dates and Details Apache Roadshow/Chicago : 13-14 May, Logan Square

https://www.apachecon.com/chiroadshow19/

Registration open; venue details available online





: 13-14 May, Logan Square https://www.apachecon.com/chiroadshow19/ Registration open; venue details available online ApacheCon North America/Las Vegas : 9-12 September, Flamingo Hotel and Casino

https://apachecon.com/acna19/



CFP closes 13 May 2019

Early registration ends 27 June 2019

Discounted sleeping room rates at the Flamingo close 19 August 2019 (or when the block is sold out, whichever comes first)





: 9-12 September, Flamingo Hotel and Casino https://apachecon.com/acna19/ CFP closes 13 May 2019 Early registration ends 27 June 2019 Discounted sleeping room rates at the Flamingo close 19 August 2019 (or when the block is sold out, whichever comes first) ApacheCon Europe/Berlin : 22-24 October, Kulturbrauerei

https://aceu19.apachecon.com/



CFP closes 26 May 2019

Early registration ends 31 May 2019

Venue details available online





: 22-24 October, Kulturbrauerei https://aceu19.apachecon.com/ CFP closes 26 May 2019 Early registration ends 31 May 2019 Venue details available online Credentialed members of the media and analyst community may contact Sally Khudairi at [email protected] for information on obtaining press passes. About ApacheCon

ApacheCon is the official global conference series of The Apache Software Foundation. Since 1998 ApacheCon has been drawing participants at all levels to explore "Tomorrow's Technology Today" across 300+ Apache projects and their diverse communities. ApacheCon showcases the latest developments in ubiquitous Apache projects and emerging innovations through hands-on sessions, keynotes, real-world case studies, trainings, hackathons, community events, and more. For more information, visit http://apachecon.com/ and https://twitter.com/ApacheCon About The Apache Software Foundation (ASF)

Established in 1999, the all-volunteer Foundation oversees more than 350 leading Open Source projects, including Apache HTTP Server the world's most popular Web server software. Through the ASF's merit-based process known as "The Apache Way," more than 730 individual Members and 7,000 Committers across six continents successfully collaborate to develop freely available enterprise-grade software, benefiting billions of users worldwide: thousands of software solutions are distributed under the Apache License; and the community actively participates in ASF mailing lists, mentoring initiatives, and ApacheCon, the Foundation's official user conference, trainings, and expo. The ASF is a US 501(c)(3) charitable organization, funded by individual donations and corporate sponsors including Aetna, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Anonymous, ARM, Baidu, Bloomberg, Budget Direct, Capital One, Cerner, Cloudera, Comcast, Facebook, Google, Handshake, Hortonworks, Huawei, IBM, Indeed, Inspur, Leaseweb, Microsoft, ODPi, Pineapple Fund, Pivotal, Private Internet Access, Red Hat, Target, Tencent, Union Investment, Workday, and Verizon Media. For more information, visit http://apache.org/ and https://twitter.com/TheASF  The Apache Software Foundation. "Apache", "Cassandra", "Apache Cassandra", "CloudStack", "Apache CloudStack", "Tomcat", "Apache Tomcat", "Traffic Control", "Apache Traffic Control", and "ApacheCon" are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. All other brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. # # # Sally Khudairi Vice President The Apache Software Foundation +1 617 921 8656 [email protected] Jessie Hennion Public Relations Director, Virtual, Inc. The Apache Software Foundation +1 781 876 6280 [email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Lazard Adds to Leadership Team

Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) today announced several leadership appointments, effective June 1, 2019. Alexander F. Stern, currently Chief Executive Officer of Financial Advisory and Chief Operating Officer of Lazard, will become President of Lazard. Peter R. Orszag, currently Head of M&A, North America, will become Chief Executive Officer of Financial Advisory. Alexandra Soto, in addition to her current role as Chief Operating Officer of Financial Advisory, will become Group Executive, Human Capital and Workplace Innovation. "These appointments bolster our leadership team to accelerate Lazard's global growth, both organically and inorganically," said Kenneth M. Jacobs, Lazard's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "At a time of tremendous change in the asset management and financial advisory landscape, we are positioned to be an industry disrupter, serving clients with the best thinking, the best people and innovative technology." As President, Mr. Stern will be responsible for refining and implementing Lazard's growth strategy, as well as its technology initiatives. He will work closely with Mr. Jacobs, Ashish Bhutani, Lazard's Chief Executive Officer of Asset Management, Vice Chairman and a member of Lazard's Board, and Lazard's newly formed Strategic Growth Committee, which will consist of senior members of Asset Management, Financial Advisory and the Company. Mr. Stern will also effect the transition of his Financial Advisory responsibilities to Mr. Orszag. Mr. Orszag will lead our Financial Advisor business, which just completed its fourth consecutive year of record revenue, with a mandate to reinforce and expand the industry's leading global independent advisory franchise.



Ms. Soto will assume her additional responsibilities in this new corporate executive role as Group Executive, Human Capital and Workplace Innovation. Her mission will be to make Lazard the preeminent place to work for the best people in the financial services industry. "I look forward to working to refine and execute Lazard's strategy with Alex, Ken and the members of our Strategic Growth Committee," said Ashish Bhutani, "Our people are our most important asset, and we have implemented a number of important initiatives in our workplace and culture. I am confident that with Alexandra's leadership we can make Lazard the preeminent place to work for the best people in our businesses."

"Alex, Peter and Alexandra exemplify Lazard's culture of excellence, integrity and results," said Mr. Jacobs. "Their new leadership roles position Lazard squarely on a path toward accelerated growth and enhanced value for all our stakeholders." Mr. Stern, based in New York, joined Lazard in 1994. He has served as Chief Operating Officer of Lazard since November 2008 and as Chief Executive Officer of Financial Advisory since 2015. Mr. Orszag, based in New York, was named head of M&A for North America in 2018, after joining Lazard as a Vice Chairman in 2016. Mr. Orszag served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama Administration, after which he joined Citigroup. Ms. Soto, currently based in London, joined Lazard in Paris in 1993, and has focused primarily on cross-border investment banking. She was named Chief Operating Officer of Financial Advisory in 2018. About Lazard Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from 43 cities across 27 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Central and South America. With origins dating to 1848, the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters, restructuring and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments and individuals. For more information on Lazard, please visit www.lazard.com. Follow Lazard at @Lazard. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005212/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Wowza Showcases Live-Streaming Solutions Powered by Microsoft Azure at NAB

Wowza (News - Alert) Media Systems is collaborating with Microsoft at the NAB Show in Las Vegas to demonstrate live video streaming solutions on Microsoft Azure. These include a solution integrating Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities, as well as the Wowza Streaming Cloud service stream sources feature. Developed by combining Wowza Streaming Cloud with Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services, the next-generation AI/ML capabilities will be showcased live at NAB in the Microsoft (SL6716) and Wowa (SU7114) booths. This live-streaming technology identifies objects and people in near-real time with minimal latency or impact on the stream.



In further collaboration with Microsoft, Wowza recently announced its new stream sources feature in Wowza Streaming Cloud. Stream Sources allows Wowza to maintain transcoding services distributed across Azure's global footprint, providing faster start-up time and geographically agnostic streaming capabilities. Users can quickly generate multi-bitrate streams, optimizing content for audiences in a variety of network environments. This, combined with Wowza's recent launch of GUI-based workflows for its Ultra Low Latency service, provides users with unmatched performance and reliability for global streaming. Wowza representatives at the Microsoft booth (SL6716) will be demonstrating how Streaming Cloud with Ultra Low Latency, powered by Microsoft Azure, provides unparalleled live-streaming capabilities and sub-three-second global video delivery. Additionally, Wowza will be hosting several in-booth live interviews with Microsoft to highlight the power of this combined technology stack. To schedule an appointment or learn about product updates during the show, please visit https://calendly.com/wowza/nab-2019.

About Wowza Media Systems Wowza Media Systems is the recognized gold standard of streaming, with more than 22,000 customers in 170+ countries. By reducing the complexities of video and audio delivery to any device, Wowza enables organizations to expand their reach and more deeply engage their audiences, in industries ranging from education to broadcasting. Service providers, direct customers and partners worldwide trust Wowza products to provide robust, customizable and scalable streaming solutions-with powerful APIs and SDKs to meet organizations' evolving streaming needs. Privately held, Wowza was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Colorado. For more information, please visit www.wowza.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005182/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] ILPA and Colmore Partner to Ensure Members Get a "FAIR" Deal

DALLAS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Colmore, the leading provider of private market Limited Partner services, and the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA), announced today an exclusive membership offer for Colmore's fee validation service. Colmore's Fee Allocation Incentive Reporting program, or "FAIR", is designed to help private markets investors validate fees, expenses and carried interest allocations charged by underlying fund managers. Ben Cook, CEO of Colmore said, "ILPA has been fundamental in helping LPs get better access to fee and expense reporting data. What comes next is where we come in: providing confidence that the fees are as the Investor expected." Cook continued, "We spent a lot of time developing an approach to fee validation that is both pragmatic and robust. We are delighted that this partnership will help ILPA members benefit from a service that we're currently providing to some of the largest investors in the world." Steve Nelson, ILPA's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We know that fee transparency and validation in private markets is a key area of focus for our members. We've responded by working with the industry and issuing templates that provide greater disclosure, offer more clarity and drive efficiencies around this important data. Colmore's service is a positive addition to this value chain and we encurage our members to take advantage of this offer to validate all that has been agreed upon."



Colmore's approach provides investors with greater confidence and transparency in their underlying private fund charges by reviewing the fund documents, such as the LPA and the financial statements provided by the General Partner. Using a mixture of accounting calculations, technology and statistical analysis, Colmore provides detailed reports to investors, showing actual fees against expected fees and benchmarking individual funds against a wider pool of funds with the same vintage and sector focus. About Colmore:

Colmore delivers cutting-edge technology and services to private market investors, allowing for real-time portfolio monitoring, fee validation and accounting. Colmore's industry-defining solutions are made for the fintech era, designed to give investors more control, clarity and confidence. Headquartered in Birmingham, UK and Dallas, TX the team has many years of in-house private market experience. www.colmore.com

About ILPA:

The Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) engages, empowers and connects limited partners to maximize their performance on an individual, institutional and collective basis. With more than 500 member institutions representing over $2 trillion USD of private equity assets under management, ILPA is the only global organization dedicated exclusively to advancing the interests of LPs and their beneficiaries through best-in-class education, research, advocacy and events. For more information, please visit ILPA.org. For further information, please contact:

Ben Cook, Chief Executive Officer

Phone +1-469-913-1450

Email: [email protected]

www.colmore.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ilpa-and-colmore-partner-to-ensure-members-get-a-fair-deal-300821636.html SOURCE Colmore, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] StrongKey Secures Certification for Open-Source FIDO2 Server

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers estimate that passwords are the root problem in 80% of all successful security breaches. StrongKey announced today that its open-source FIDO2 server has received FIDO2 interoperability certification from the FIDO Alliance, which is dedicated to solving the world's password problem. This certification assures StrongKey's customers are protected by strong cryptographic-based authentication that protects against phishing, malware and other attacks. Click to Tweet: [email protected] Open-source FIDO2 Server receives FIDO2 Certification: http://bit.ly/2JTWDL5 #authentication #encryption @FIDOAlliance Implementers of StrongKey's solutions will gain the following FIDO2 benefits: Low-friction user experience, stronger security and privacy, fewer hassles and less time wased

Greatly improved app security, easier application development, fewer password resets, reduced complexity of DevSecOps and lower operational costs

A viable approach to recommending strong security and privacy controls to consumers



Steve Brasen, research director with IT industry analyst firm Enterprise Management Associates, said: "Passwords are the weakest link in enterprise security management. The FIDO2 protocol is essential for establishing unified access controls that transcend traditional high-friction, password-based authentication processes. FIDO2 certification enables StrongKey to deliver strong identity assurance while minimizing or completely eliminating impacts on user productivity through the introduction of passwordless authentication solutions." Arshad Noor, CTO, StrongKey, said: "For 18 years, StrongKey has been committed to providing the strongest possible level of encryption and authentication technology to keep data safe. StrongKey's implementation of the FIDO2 protocol and the certification of its FIDO2 server are logical additions to our track record of holding ourselves to the highest standard so we can fulfill our mission of making breaches irrelevant."

About StrongKey

StrongKey is a privately held company based in Silicon Valley, California and Durham, North Carolina. It is the leader in enterprise key management infrastructure, bringing new levels of capability and data security at a price point significantly lower than other solutions on the market. Providing products and services in symmetric key management, encryption, tokenization and strong authentication, StrongKey is focused on securing data in cloud computing, e-commerce, healthcare, finance and other sectors mandating protection of sensitive data. StrongKey's solutions are installed at customer sites around the world and are key components of mission-critical business operations. PR contact:

Katrina Porter

Nadel Phelan, Inc.

831-440-2406

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/strongkey-secures-certification-for-open-source-fido2-server-300823693.html SOURCE StrongKey

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Travelers Finds 82 Percent of Baltimore-Area Drivers Surveyed Use Phones While Driving

The Travelers Institute, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV), will host a symposium, "Disrupting Distraction," today at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. The program, part of the company's Every Second Matters? distracted-driving education series, kicks off Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and will address the latest trends and research around distracted driving and promising approaches to tackling this important public health problem. In a survey of 500 Baltimore-area drivers commissioned by Travelers, 82 percent of respondents said they use a mobile device while driving. Some of the activities that drivers in the region admitted to engaging in while behind the wheel include: Reading texts or emails (51 percent).

Updating or checking social media, such as Facebook or Twitter (News - Alert) (26 percent).

Shopping online (21 percent).

Recording video (21 percent). "Family obligations requiring attention or not wanting to miss something important were the top reasons Baltimore-area drivers gave for communicating on a mobile device while driving," said Jessica Kearney, Second Vice President, Travelers Institute. "We know we're putting ourselves and others at risk by allowing mobile devices and other distractions to take our attention away from the road, yet this issue persists across the country." Baltimore residents are not alone, as mobile devices also continue to distract drivers nationwide. According to the 2019 Travelers Risk Index, a national survey of 2,000 consumers and executives, nearly 80 percent of consumers said they make or receive phone calls while driving, and more than 30 percent admitted to having been in a near-miss or crash because they were distracted. Many respondents said they continue these risky behaviors because it would be very difficult to stop or because they feel pressure to always be available for work.



Today's event - held in partnership with the National Transportation Center at Morgan State University, the National Safety Council and the Road to Zero Coalition - will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET. It will feature a discussion with Dr. Babar Shafiq, Director, Orthopaedic Bone Health Center and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who will share firsthand experiences treating victims of distracted driving, and a panel session moderated by Kearney with experts including: Lt. Colonel Kevin Anderson, Chief of Operations Bureau, Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

Chris Hayes, Second Vice President, Transportation Services, Risk Control, Travelers.

Dr. Mansoureh Jeihani, Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Studies, Morgan State University.

Jane Mellow, Senior Program Manager, Road to Zero Coalition, National Safety Council. "It's alarming how prevalent the distracted-driving problem remains in our communities, especially considering how preventable these crashes are," said Dr. David Wilson, President of Morgan State University, who will give a welcome address at the event. "We're proud to work with the Travelers Institute on this event, which will generate meaningful conversations, encourage smarter choices and help make our roads safer for everyone."

Visit the Travelers Institute website for more information about the company's Every Second Matters campaign. About the Travelers Institute

The Travelers Institute, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies, Inc., engages in discussion and analysis of public policy topics of importance to the insurance marketplace and to the financial services industry more broadly. The Travelers Institute draws upon the industry expertise of Travelers' senior management, as well as the technical expertise of many of Travelers' underwriters, risk managers and other experts to provide information, analysis and solutions to public policymakers and regulators. Travelers is a leading provider of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business. For more information, visit www.travelers.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005473/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] LENSEC Will Show a Release Preview of Perspective VMS v4.0 at ISC West 2019

HOUSTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LENSEC Physical Security Experts will be at ISC West 2019 in Las Vegas to demonstrate the newest feature additions for Perspective VMS. This will be a release preview in advance of a major software roll out. In April 2019, LENSEC will release Perspective VMS v4.0 with notable improvements over previous software versions. The LENSEC team will showcase several of these features at ISC West prior to the official release of PVMS v4.0. While at ISC West, the team from LENSEC will be available at booth #L8 in the lobby of the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, NV. Look for signs in the lobby in front of the Expo Center pointing to the LENSEC booth location. In version 4.0, Perspective VMS will add notable new features, including the following:  Interlink  PVMS Interlink is designed for a distributed multi-site. This is an advanced framework of interconnected systems. Perspective VMS allows individual sites to operate fully autonomously, including web services. Interlink connects the diverse, autonomous sites. The primary differentiator this functionality introduces is individual web hosts at each site. This maintains local connectivity when the network connection is lost over the Global Area Network (GAN/WAN) and full functionality of the application must remain. The systems unite under an interconnected framework when overall connectivity is established. This addition strengthens PVMS enterprise capabilities.  WebRTC  Previously tested in PVMS v3.5.0, WebRTC is a communications protocol for secure video streaming. With the release of PVMS v4.0, WebRTC will become the standard used for HTML compliant adaptive streaming. This will enable PVMS with the ability to stream within a container supported by HTML5 compliant web browsers, including Apple iOS. There is a technical article explaining WebRTC in The LENSEC Perspective Newsletter  January 2019 edition. Here is the link: https://lensec.com/lpn-01-19.  RFID Integration  PVMS v4.0 adds the ability to initiate or trigger a programmable action using a Workflow routine based on a defined event from a configured Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID).  Custom Themes  In PVMS v4.0, users will have the ability to change the interface, enabling choice of layout and colors. The LENSEC team will also be demonstrating Perspective VMS Fleet Security Management. This is a new feature released in PVMS v3.5 enabling management of security applications and video from the transportation fleet. PVMS provides a hardware-agnostic version of fleet security management that can be used with security equipment on-board vehicles. Fleet Security Management helps unify the security footprint under one platform. Now fleet security can be monitored using the same software as traditional building infrastructure. New features added for Fleet Security Management include the following: GIS Mapping

High Resolution Video Archived From a Mobile Transportation Fleet for Forensic Investigation

Metadata Captured from Integrated Vehicle Equipment (brakes, bus stop arms, blinkers, speedometers, etc.)

Built-in Cellular Communication Provides System Access While Vehicles are Deployed

Built-in Wi-Fi Enables Video Access When Buses Return to the Depot. The LENSEC team invites security integrators and their customers to stop by and visit us at ISC West. Contact us to schedule a demonstration or discuss your upcoming projects with our team. More information on Fleet Security Management is included on our website at https://lensec.com/fleet/.







Contact:

Keith Harris

LENSEC Marketing & Communications Manager 3151 Briarpark Drive #125, Houston, TX 77042 Email: [email protected] Website: https://lensec.com/ Phone: (512) 913-3907 Phone: (713) 395-0800

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lensec-will-show-a-release-preview-of-perspective-vms-v4-0-at-isc-west-2019--300823515.html SOURCE LENSEC

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] We The People Offers Franchise Opportunities to Sell Crowdfunded Products

ST. LOUIS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- We The People (WTP), the global arm of the world's only multichannel crowdfunding retail chain and community, today announced that it is seeking to expand its presence by offering franchise opportunities to open stores across the country through its U.S. subsidiary Funded USA LLC. WTP established its first U.S.-based store in St. Louis in March 2019 and has plans to open more corporate locations before the end of 2019. In addition, the company is launching franchise operations to boost its global growth by partnering with U.S. entrepreneurs. In the next three years, WTP is planning to open numerous franchise stores in the U.S. "WTP connects crowdfunding creators with a consumer audience, and we are excited to expand our reach by partnering with entrepreneurs looking to invest in an original franchise business," said Jay Kang, CEO of WTP. "By expanding the number of WTP storefronts in the U.S. with franchise partners, we will be able to offer creators more retail opportunities and help more entrepreneurs accomplish their vision of owning a franchise." The company intends to register and develop franchise partnerships in Missouri, Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, Hawaii, North Carolina, New York, California, Massachusetts, and Florida from 2019 to 2020. Franchises are currently being offered in Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas. Monthly sales for each store are estimated to start at $50,000. Franchisees will pay three to five percent in royalties, as well as a fee for national marketing, public relations, and advertising to support the brand. The WTP team will provide franchisees with training and support, as well as proven ideas for community events and promotions to build connections with local creators and consumers. Being strong community members is a core principle of WTP. Over the last sixmonths, it has hosted "For Creators, By Creators" (FCBC) events in St. Louis, Las Vegas, and Boston and is planning future events in other U.S. cities. FCBC brings together entrepreneurs to network, learn, showcase, and access resources to build global companies. The next FCBC event will be held in New York City on April 25th . Future locations for events will include Texas, California, and North Carolina.



WTP has built its reputation helping entrepreneurs with education, funding, a roadmap to achieve sustainability, and other support in launching and bringing a crowdfunded product to market. By combining its online platform and brick-and-mortar space, WTP innovated and perfected an internationally proven model to generate revenue for these crowdfunded entrepreneurs and their products. From a cottage industry, crowdfunding is projected to rapidly grow to $300 billion by 2025, at a faster rate than any other retail channel. Consumers' growing interest in crowdfunded products, unique inventions, and creators' personal stories propelled WTP's growth from zero to six stores in two years.

To date, WTP has brought more than 200 brands and more than a thousand products to the public via its brick-and-mortar and online stores. For more information about WTP, visit wtpstoreusa.com . ABOUT WE THE PEOPLE

Established in 2016, We The People (WTP) is the world's only multichannel crowdfunding retail chain and community. Founded for creators by creators, Ryan Sim, Joel Liew, Nison Chan, and CEO Jay Kang, WTP has gone from 14 brands to more than 200 brands with multiple product lines, featured in six stores in Singapore, Malaysia and St. Louis, MO. In the U.S., consumers can purchase top crowdfunded products through wtpstoreusa.com . Providing education, e-commerce, and brick-and-mortar retail space for crowdfunded entrepreneurs, WTP is quickly becoming the hub of innovation in Asia and around the world. With its goal to bring together the global creator community, WTP currently has plans for expanding internationally to the United States, China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Media Contacts Joshua Milne, PR Specialist, TribalVision, 617-501-1620, [email protected]



Ryan Sim , Managing Director, Marketing & Business Development, We The People, [email protected]

, Managing Director, Marketing & Business Development, We The People, Terry Pancake , Manager of Franchise Operations, Funded USA LLC, We The People, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/we-the-people-offers-franchise-opportunities-to-sell-crowdfunded-products-300823535.html SOURCE We The People

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Eleven Tech Entrepreneurs Selected to Participate in Ninth Annual FinTech Innovation Lab New York

Eleven emerging technology companies have been selected to participate in the 2019 FinTech Innovation Lab New York, a 12-week program founded by Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE: ACN) and the Partnership Fund for New York City that helps early- and growth-stage enterprise tech companies accelerate product and business development through in-depth engagement with top financial services and venture capital executives. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005289/en/ This year's participants are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cryptography and other technologies to tackle key industry challenges, including improving online engagement with customers, detecting financial compliance risks, driving operational efficiencies, measuring and underwriting cyber risk and tackling diversity and inclusion. "The strength of New York's financial services sector makes this the best city for companies to collaborate with leading banks and bring new innovations to market. The Lab will help this year's class tap into a deep well of financial services expertise, making Wall Street and the insurance sector more competitive and building New York's tech future," said Maria Gotsch, co-founder of the Fintech Innovation Lab New York and President and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City. The 2019 FinTech Innovation Lab New York participants are: CloudFrame - which transforms legacy mainframe applications into cloud-native Java without adding undue risk to the mission-critical data and business processes, providing immediate cost savings and a pathway to cloud migration.

- which transforms legacy mainframe applications into cloud-native Java without adding undue risk to the mission-critical data and business processes, providing immediate cost savings and a pathway to cloud migration. Cyberwrite - provides a simple to understand report benchmarking the risks and financial impact of cyber-attacks on any small or medium-sized business worldwide in real time and on demand, which enables business owners to purchase the bespoke cyber policy they need. The solution is used for customer engagement, informed underwriting and aggregated risk management by the insurance ecosystem.

- provides a simple to understand report benchmarking the risks and financial impact of cyber-attacks on any small or medium-sized business worldwide in real time and on demand, which enables business owners to purchase the bespoke cyber policy they need. The solution is used for customer engagement, informed underwriting and aggregated risk management by the insurance ecosystem. Extend - which is a digital credit card distribution platform for banks, fintechs, businesses, and their customers. The Extend platform redefines how credit cards are issued and shared and provides virtual credit card distribution without requiring any bank tech development.

- which is a digital credit card distribution platform for banks, fintechs, businesses, and their customers. The Extend platform redefines how credit cards are issued and shared and provides virtual credit card distribution without requiring any bank tech development. FairFrame - combines AI and decades of social science research into an easy-to-use text analysis platform: a 'spellchecker' for unconscious bias. It gives managers real-time feedback on their writing and provides never-before-seen data, analytics and metrics for organizations, HR and D&I leaders.

- combines AI and decades of social science research into an easy-to-use text analysis platform: a 'spellchecker' for unconscious bias. It gives managers real-time feedback on their writing and provides never-before-seen data, analytics and metrics for organizations, HR and D&I leaders. Genus AI - whose next-generation Enterprise AI platform extends financial institutions' existing systems to help them understand and engage with customers in an emotionally intelligent way, driving retention and revenue.

- whose next-generation Enterprise AI platform extends financial institutions' existing systems to help them understand and engage with customers in an emotionally intelligent way, driving retention and revenue. Goalsetter - whose goal-based savings and gifting platform enables families to use social savings, gifts and gamification to teach kids financial literacy and independence, backed by an FDIC-insured account.

- whose goal-based savings and gifting platform enables families to use social savings, gifts and gamification to teach kids financial literacy and independence, backed by an FDIC-insured account. HyperScience - which uses proprietary, novel machine learning technology to automate data entry and streamline document processing for large enterprises by extracting handwritten, printed, and highly distorted text at accuracy levels surpassing manual data entry.

- which uses proprietary, novel machine learning technology to automate data entry and streamline document processing for large enterprises by extracting handwritten, printed, and highly distorted text at accuracy levels surpassing manual data entry. Inpher - which uses cryptographic technology to power advanced analytics and AI applications without exposing or transferring sensitive data across departments, organizations or jurisdictions.

- which uses cryptographic technology to power advanced analytics and AI applications without exposing or transferring sensitive data across departments, organizations or jurisdictions. Magma Trading - which has created a new kind of stock market that allows broker-dealers to trade large blocks of equities. Magma's structure allows market-making firms to post large potential trades without fear of getting run over by high-speed electronic sweeps.

- which has created a new kind of stock market that allows broker-dealers to trade large blocks of equities. Magma's structure allows market-making firms to post large potential trades without fear of getting run over by high-speed electronic sweeps. npm - which manages the world's largest software registry, empowering 11,000,000 JavaScript developers with industry-leading tools and services. npm lowers engineering costs, reduces time to market and improves user experience while providing a greater level of security.

which manages the world's largest software registry, empowering 11,000,000 JavaScript developers with industry-leading tools and services. npm lowers engineering costs, reduces time to market and improves user experience while providing a greater level of security. Theta Lake - a cloud-based communication compliance platform, uses AI and deep learning to detect compliance risks in what was said, shared, and shown, powering risk insights and workflow automation, while also providing secure, compliant archiving for video, voice, and chat - all driving down the cost of compliance.



"We're excited to welcome these startups into the New York Lab and look forward to helping them refine their solutions," said David Treat, a managing director in Accenture's Financial Services practice and co-head of the Fintech Innovation Lab New York. "Simply going digital won't be enough to differentiate financial institutions. They must embrace powerful new technologies to innovate their business models and personalize experiences for their customers, which this year's participating companies are clearly demonstrating."

The companies in this year's FinTech Innovation Lab New York will highlight the progress they have made with the Financial Institution Partners on June 27 at the Bank of America Tower at Bryant Park to an audience of more than 250 executives across banking, insurance, and capital markets, and venture capital. "We continue to see widespread interest among insurance companies in partnering with or investing in insurtechs to help create business underwriting and claims efficiencies, improve the customer experience or tackle emerging risks like cybersecurity," said John Cusano, a senior managing director in Accenture's Insurance practice. "We look forward to seeing the progress made by these firms at the Demo Day in June." "Traditionally, it is difficult for fintechs and insurtechs to turn an initial meeting with a financial services company into a sale," said Sunny Parikh, Sunny Parikh, Vice President, Partnership Fund for New York City; Director of FinTech Innovation Lab New York. "The FinTech Innovation Lab shifts the paradigm; instead of fintechs focusing on selling their technology, they can focus on solving their customers most pressing challenges. That is why so many of our Lab companies develop long-term relationships with participating banks and insurance companies." The selection committee for the New York FinTech Innovation Lab comprises executives from the following participating financial institutions: Ally Financial; Amalgamated Bank; American Express (News - Alert); American International Group, Inc.; AON; AQR Capital Management; AXA XL; Bank of America; Barclays; BlackRock; BNP Paribas; BNY Mellon; Capital One; Chubb; Citi; Credit Suisse; The D.E. Shaw Group; Deutsche Bank; Fidelity Investments; Global Atlantic, Goldman Sachs; The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America; JPMorgan Chase & Co; KeyBank; Marsh & McLennan Companies; Mastercard; Morgan Stanley; New York Life; NFP; Pitney Bowes; Rabobank; RBC Capital Markets; Societe Generale; Synchrony; The Hartford; The Travelers Companies, Inc.; TIAA; UBS; U.S. Bank; USAA; Wells Fargo (News - Alert); and Zurich Insurance. Supporting venture-capital firms include Anthemis Group, Bain Capital Ventures, Canaan, Contour Venture Partners, Nyca Partners, Rho Ventures, RRE Ventures and Warburg Pincus (News - Alert). Founded in 2010 by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City, the FinTech Innovation Lab New York provides early- and growth-stage fintech companies with access to the world's leading financial institutions. The Lab was established to help make New York a leader in fintech and grow technology jobs by leveraging the concentration of large financial services institutions and deep domain expertise that exists in New York. Since the New York Lab's inception, its alumni companies have raised more than US$790 million post program and completed over 200 pilot programs, and five of the companies have been acquired. Following the success of the FinTech Innovation Lab New York, Accenture established the FinTech Innovation Lab London in 2012 and the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific in 2014. The FinTech Innovation Labs are now a leading venue for introducing financial services firms to breakthrough technologies that improve efficiency, security and customer experience. The Labs' alumni have raised a total of nearly US$1.2 billion in venture capital financing since participating in the Lab. Participating financial institutions and venture-capital firms commented on their involvement in the FinTech Innovation Lab New York: "The Fintech Innovation Lab is a great forum for Aon to connect and collaborate with the thriving innovation ecosystem in NYC," said Steve Petrevski SVP, Head of Enterprise Analytics, Innovation & Partnerships, Aon. Donna Nadeau, AXA XL's COO, North America Insurance, who participates in the Lab alongside Alpa Patel, AXA XL's CIO, Americas, said, "As an insurer focusing on innovation and collaboration, we're proud to be a part of the community that is helping create the future of our industry. Our partnership with fintech and insurtech entrepreneurs is one way through which we execute on our commitment to put our customers first, challenge the status quo and build sustainable and prosperous businesses." "We are proud to host the FinTech Innovation Lab New York - this is our fifth year," said David Reilly, Bank of America CIO, Global Banking & Markets and Enterprise Risk & Finance Technology Executive. "Our relationship with the Partnership Fund for New York City is invaluable. Working with the Lab's participants gives Bank of America the power to stay close to the latest in innovative solutions, which help make our customers and clients financial lives better." "The continued digitization and disruption of the financial services industry, including insurance, is a tremendous opportunity to modernize and deliver a better customer experience with more compelling and relevant products and services," said Monique Shivanandan, Chubb Global Chief Information Officer. "In a world increasingly shaped by technology, the collaborations amongst start-ups and large corporates participating in the FinTech Innovation Lab will continue to help us develop and adopt emerging technologies and re-imagine the customer experience." "Credit Suisse is proud to once again partner with the FinTech Innovation Lab. As a bank that understands the strategic importance of technology and innovation, we welcome the opportunity to mentor and support emerging technology companies in New York to help accelerate their growth," said Adrianne Dicker Kadzinski, Global Innovation Lead at Credit Suisse. "We've been involved in this program for many years and are excited to continue to mentor New York Fintech companies on how to navigate the financial services ecosystem. JPMorgan Chase actively engages and partners with fintechs to deliver best in class value to our customers," said Larry Feinsmith, Head of Global Technology (News - Alert) Strategy, Innovation & Partnerships for JPMorgan Chase & Co. "We are delighted to support the FinTech Innovation Lab and mentor the next generation of innovators as they chart new territory for their company and the industry," said Sean Manahan, head of Technology Business Development at Morgan Stanley. "The startups' enthusiasm and creativity are truly energizing, and we look forward to see them grow and partner with us to deliver new services for our clients and our business." "We are thrilled to be members of the Fintech Innovation Lab and to participate in New York's fintech ecosystem by supporting start-ups with our expertise and access to our resources," said Simon Letort, Chief Digital Officer at Societe Generale. "This also complements our innovation strategy and our recently announced innovation fund, SG Ventures." "Zurich is excited and proud to once again collaborate and mentor these emerging tech companies," said Paul Horgan, head of U.S. Commercial Insurance for Zurich North America. "We see this as an investment in the development of innovative products and services that can meet the needs of business - now and in the future. Thank you to Accenture and the Partnership Fund for bringing together this year's innovative tech entrepreneurs and our New York finance colleagues for such a worthy and inspiring program." About the Partnership Fund for New York City The Partnership Fund for New York City is the $160 million investment arm of the Partnership for New York City, New York's leading business organization. The Fund's mission is to engage the City's business leaders to identify and support promising entrepreneurs - in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors - to create jobs, spur new business and expand opportunities for New Yorkers to participate in the City's economy. As an "evergreen" fund, realized gains are continuously reinvested. The Partnership Fund Board is led by Co-Chairmen, Charles R. Kaye and Tarek Sherif. Maria Gotsch, President and CEO, leads the team. More information about the Fund can be found at www.pfnyc.org. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions - underpinned by the world's largest delivery network - Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 477,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005289/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] OneDigital Health and Benefits Acquires Northwestern Benefit in Biggest Acquisition in Company History

OneDigital Health and Benefits, the nation's largest company focused exclusively on employee benefits and HR, has acquired Northwestern Benefit, Atlanta's leading employee benefits broker and one of the largest independent benefit firms in the country. This is the largest acquisition in OneDigital's history, bringing the company to nearly 50,000 employer clients and over 1,600 employees around the country. It follows 28 acquisitions in 2018 and five year-to-date in 2019, which has helped the company grow to over $400 million in annual revenue. "This represents an exciting milestone for OneDigital, where our largest acquisition to date is also located right here in our home state of Georgia. Northwestern lets us compete in the Atlanta benefits marketplace in an entirely new way," says Adam Bruckman, CEO of OneDigital. "We're not just looking to enter markets. We are looking to disrupt markets through organic growth and large-scale acquisitions with proven leadership. Northwestern Benefit is an indication of what's to come." Northwestern Benefit has been serving clients in Georgia and across the nation for over 20 years, with services spanning benefits, compliance, wellness, HR consulting, employee education and strategic workforce planning. As the two companies come together with complementary capabilities and hundreds of client-facing employees now in Atlanta, OneDigital will be able to deploy expert teams from across a deeper bench to bring the best possible benefits and HR to solutions employers. Northwestern Benefit's existing clients will also benefit from OneDigital's national scale, infrastructure and leadership. "Northwestern Benefit's proven sales culture and well-established client service models significantly expand our middle market scale and capabilities," said Mike Sullivan, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of OneDigital. "It's a transformative combination for OneDigital, and we're on the lookout for more of the strongest, most innovative firms across the country. We expect north of 25 acquisitions again this year to bring us over the $500 million revenue threshold and further cement our position as the leading benefits and HR consultancy in the country."



Northwestern Benefit CEO David Asbury will join the OneDigital team as Senior Managing Principal, with its other employees staying on in client-facing or corporate positions. "There is such strong alignment in how OneDigital and Northwestern serve clients and think about the future of the benefits market," said David Asbury, CEO of Northwestern Benefit. "As the benefits space continued to consolidate and we considered acquirers, it was incredibly important to me to find the right partner. With OneDigital's scale, reach and long-term vision, we knew our organizations would fit together and be stronger together right off the bat."

OneDigital's comprehensive advisory services and market-leading solutions are offered in over 80 offices throughout the country. The firm has a well-established track record of doubling and tripling the size of operations in new markets and is seeking additional firms to join this team over the next 12-24 months. About OneDigital Health and Benefits OneDigital Health and Benefits, the nation's largest company focused exclusively on employee benefits and HR, combines people and technology to power business growth. Serving companies of all sizes, OneDigital offers employers a sophisticated combination of strategic benefit advisory services, analytics, compliance support, human resources management tools and comprehensive insurance offerings. Headquartered in Atlanta, OneDigital's more than 1,600 employee benefits and human resource strategists serve the needs of nearly 50,000 employers across the nation and manages over $5.8 billion in premiums as a result. OneDigital has been named to the Inc. 5000 List of America's fastest-growing companies every year since 2007. Currently listed as 13th in EBA's Top 50 Brokers in the Large Employer Group, OneDigital's experience offers a fresh thinking and strategic perspective that will improve all aspects of plan design and performance. About Northwestern Benefit Northwestern Benefit, the largest privately-held benefits broker in Georgia, creates an integrated approach where sales, consulting and service are equal players in providing preeminent advice and support. We provide real consulting solutions tailored to the client's industry, locale, culture and budget. Our consultants map out a benefits strategy to ensure they support the needs of each client. Founded in 1996, we have grown to 150 employees and serve over 600 clients throughout the United States, impacting over 230,000 lives. Our sole focus is health and welfare consulting services, with the mission to be the preeminent service organization in the marketplace by achieving operational excellence driven by value-based people. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005099/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Don't Date Hackers and Cyber Thieves

Spring brings a surge in activity for online dating services as many singles make a fresh start in their search for the perfect match. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005483/en/ HSB survey finds consumers ignore risks of online dating. (Graphic: The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company) There could be trouble ahead for some, however, as consumers looking for romance discount the threat of hackers, imposters and other cyber criminals who may target the popular Internet sites. When asked how worried they were that their personal data would be compromised online, a cyber survey of consumers released today by Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB), part of Munich Re, found singles showed little concern about using dating websites and apps. "Online dating risks can include fraud, blackmail and invasion of privacy," said Timothy Zeilman, vice president for HSB, a provider of cyber insurance to consumers and businesses. "Yet, many people reveal their personal and even intimate information without thinking about digital security." Daters are cheated in so-called romance scams, when people they meet online ask for money or banking information. Often, they use phony dating profiles and may use the victim's data to steal their identity, apply for credit cards, or threaten to expose personal facts or photos unless they're paid. People reported losing $143 million in romance schemes in 2018, the highest total of any type of consumer complaint tracked by the Federal Trade Commission. The FBI estimates that criminal complaints of online dating fraud tripled over five years to $230 million lost in 2016. So, are people worried? Although the HSB poll conducted by Zogby Analytics found respondents were most concerned that a virus, hacker or computer attack would damage their data, laptops or smartphones (68 percent "very or somewha concerned"), they were far less anxious about dating sites and apps.



Only 37 percent were somewhat or very concerned their personal information would be exposed through online dating, and 35 percent were "not at all concerned." That ranked near last of 24 categories - only defamation and lawsuits from online bullying were considered less of a threat. Help Keep Your Data Safe When Online Dating

Consumers should be more cautious with the personal data they share through dating websites and apps. Here are some tips to help protect your privacy and security. Be aware that scammers and cyber criminals will be trolling even reputable dating sites.

Strong passwords, passphrases and other basic cyber security measures are important. Use multi-factor identification when available.

Never visit dating sites on public, unprotected Wi-Fi networks. Install a VPN and disable GPS tracking when using dating apps to make it more difficult to identify your location.

Don't share personal information through the messaging feature on a dating site, texting or emails. Do it in person if you decide to meet a date.

Use online search engines to check people out. Search for the person's name, together with the word "scam" and do an image search for photos they share. Fraudsters are clever, but often lazy, using the same messages and images.

Don't send money to anyone you meet through an online dating site or app. Don't share your banking information, purchase tickets or make travel arrangements for dates.

Beware a "match" who avoids meeting in person.

Don't share intimate images through an online dating site. Remember, anything shared electronically is stored indefinitely, long after a relationship may end. Survey Methodology

Zogby Analytics was commissioned by Hartford Steam Boiler to conduct a survey in December 2018 of 1,510 adults in the United States. Based on a confidence interval of 95 percent, the results had a margin for error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. That means all other things being equal, the identical survey repeated would have results within the margin of error 95 times out of 100. Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB), part of Munich Re, is a multi-line specialty insurer and provider of inspection, risk management and IoT technology services. HSB insurance offerings include equipment breakdown, cyber risk, specialty liability and other coverages. HSB blends its engineering expertise, technology and data to craft inventive insurance and service solutions for existing and emerging risks posed by technological change. Throughout its 150 year history HSB's mission has been to help clients prevent loss, advance sustainable use of energy and build deeper relationships that benefit business, public institutions and consumers. HSB holds A.M. Best Company's highest financial rating, A++ (Superior). For more information, visit www.hsb.com and connect on LinkedIn, Twitter (News - Alert) and Facebook. Munich Re is one of the world's leading providers of reinsurance, primary insurance and insurance-related risk solutions. The group consists of the reinsurance and ERGO business segments, as well as the capital investment company MEAG. Munich Re is globally active and operates in all lines of the insurance business. Since it was founded in 1880, Munich Re has been known for its unrivalled risk-related expertise and its sound financial position. It offers customers financial protection when faced with exceptional levels of damage - from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season and the California wildfires in 2018. Munich Re possesses outstanding innovative strength, which enables it to also provide coverage for extraordinary risks such as rocket launches, renewable energies, cyber attacks, or pandemics. The company is playing a key role in driving forward the digital transformation of the insurance industry, and in doing so has further expanded its ability to assess risks and the range of services that it offers. Its tailor-made solutions and close proximity to its customers make Munich Re one of the world's most sought-after risk partners for businesses, institutions, and private individuals. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005483/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Phenom People Closes 2018 Growth with New Fortune 500 Customers, Over 190 New Global Hires, Industry-First Product Innovations and 14 Award Wins

AMBLER, Pa., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phenom People today announced 2018 milestones and accelerated momentum into 2019. The company welcomed new enterprise customers and over 190 new employees, launched innovative product features, and won multiple awards for its technology and company culture, including being named to Deloittes 2018 Technology Fast 500.

Phenom Peoples mission hasnt changed. We are trying to help a billion people find the right job, said Mahe Bayireddi, CEO and Co-founder of Phenom People. Looking toward the horizon, we are only going to continue transforming how recruiters source and hire talent, and how HR professionals maintain happy and healthy workplaces. We are grateful for our customers and employees who make it possible for our technology to evolve while lowering costs, increasing retention and improving new-hire quality. Enterprise Customer Base Fuels Global Growth With one-third of customers outside of the U.S., Phenom People continues to expand its customer base across all major industries, including hospitality, technology, healthcare, pharmaceutical and financial services. Notable 2018 customers include the worlds largest genealogy company, an American global manufacturer of confectionery and pet food, and one of Europes most valuable consumer goods companies. CSGs Maximo Rocha, Executive Director, Global Talent Acquisition & Employment Branding, remarked on how the Phenom platform empowered CSG to leverage talent data and analytics to optimize their recruitment strategy: The Phenom platform allows me to campaign to candidates who never completed an application. You cant put a price tag on that. Phenoms Workday integration was critical for me. The last thing I want to do is give my recruiters yet another tool where theyre having to manage two different items. You can go with four or five different providers, or you can work with one robust solution. Worldwide Employee and Executive Expansion To meet the growth of enterprise demand, Phenom People added 197 headcounts worldwide. New hires furthered product development, expanded services and support, and filled key management positions. Sales presence further expanded across three continents in seven countries including India, the U.S., Israel, Canada, U.K., the Netherlands and Ireland. New Phenom People vice president hires include: Brad Copeland, Vice President of Enterprise Sales

Jonathan Dale, Vice President of Product Marketing

Abby Euler, Vice President of Sales Operations

Saumil Gandhi, Vice President of Strategic Alliances

Nancy Gray-Starkebaum, Vice President of Customer Experience

Susan Slater, Vice President of Customer Success

Jennifer Wilga, Vice President of Global Account Management Over 200 Platform Updates for Talent Acquisition and Talent Management Phenom People released significant product innovations and updates that help companies discover, engage and retain talent through a single platform. Notable inovations include Internal Mobility & Referrals, CRM Insight Dashboard, Personalization On-Demand, Phenom Bot and Phenom AI.



Internal Mobility & Referrals: Increases employee engagement and retention with an internal career site that aids in the discovery of new job opportunities. Automates the referral process for hiring managers and talent management professionals. CRM Insight Dashboard: Provides recruiters with real-time visualization of candidate intent and fit to better identify qualified and enthusiastic talent. Boosts productivity with detailed views into assigned jobs, leads, applicants and referrals that can be easily organized with lists and tasks.

Personalization On-Demand: Delivers tailored job recommendations instantly to candidates who provide more information about their background and skills by answering a questionnaire, engaging with a chatbot, connecting a social profile or uploading a resume. Phenom Bot & Phenom Bot Plus: Engages active and passive candidates by bringing automation to the apply process and improving recruiter productivity. Performs five critical functions: sourcing, job search and apply, screening, interview scheduling and answering candidate FAQs. Phenom AI: Powers the entire Phenom platform, delivering hyper-personalized talent experiences, intelligent search and actionable insights to connect the right talent with the right job faster. Supports spelling correction, prediction, synonyms, and natural language processing to identify candidate intent and deliver the most relevant search results. Provides the ability to discover new job seekers, rediscover existing candidates, tap into cloud-sourced suggestions, obtain trends in the pipeline and view dynamic talent pools. Includes candidate fit and engagement scoring to drive quality-of-hire and recruiter efficiency. Award-Winning HR Software Company Phenom People was honored with 14 awards and recognitions, including TAtechs Recruiting Service Innovation (ReSI) Award for Innovator of the Year (Employment Site Partner category). Talent acquisition professionals voted Phenoms Personalized Career Sites as the most efficient in attracting, engaging and converting candidates into applicants. Additional awards: Comparably Culture Awards for nine categories, including CEO, Diversity, Happiest Employees, Leadership, Managers, and Women

Deloittes 2018 Technology Fast 500, rank No. 128

Inc. Magazines Best Workplaces

Philadelphias 2018 Top Workplaces

Stevie Award for Employer of the Year Inaugural Talent Acquisition and Technology Innovation Conference, IAMPHENOM Phenom People hosted its first namesake set of conferences, IAMPHENOM and IAMPHENOMVX (a virtual event), to disrupt the HR and talent acquisition industry. The physical event brought together hundreds of attendees and 15 speakers, including CHROs, talent acquisition leaders, influencers and New York Times best-selling authors. Phenom People used the event to discuss pressing industry subjects and unveil Phenom Peoples innovative product roadmap. IAMPHENOM 2019 is set to double attendance and speakers, as well as include a pre-conference training session for customers. The pre-conference will take place on April 23 for existing customers, who can complete Phenom People certification before they leave. The two-day main event for the public follows on April 24 and 25 in Philadelphia at the Hilton Penns Landing Hotel on the Delaware River Waterfront. To register, visit www.iamphenom.com. Phenom People delivers a single platform for Career Site, CRM, CMS, Chatbot & SMS, Internal Mobility & Referral Application, Talent Analytics and AI. Serving some of the largest organizations in the world, Phenoms platform eliminates multiple-point solutions, reduces cost, and increases ROI for talent acquisition and talent management. About Phenom People Phenom People is redefining what it means to search for a job and recruit top talent. We are empowering talent acquisition and management teams to discover, engage and retain talent through a single platform approach. Our platform is built on artificial intelligence (AI) which drives personalization, automation and accuracy for all of the stakeholders in the talent lifecycle. We believe people should be happy and inspired by their jobsjust as we are. That simple belief fuels our collective desire to fundamentally transform talent acquisition. For more information, please visit www.phenompeople.com. Note to editors: Trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners. Media Contact:

Derek Herman

Phenom People

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Duff & Phelps Announces 22 Managing Director Promotions

Duff & Phelps, the global advisor that protects, restores and maximizes value for clients, today announced that the firm has promoted 22 colleagues to the managing director level. Jacob Silverman, President of Duff & Phelps, commented, "At Duff & Phelps, we are committed to providing clients with best-in-class service while promoting transparency and good governance. Our new managing directors achieved this career milestone through their hard work and dedication to our firm's values and I look forward to their continued success at Duff & Phelps." Devon Ackerman, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - New York Mr. Ackerman is part of the Cyber Risk practice and an industry-recognized authority on digital forensics and the investigation of cyber-related threats and incidents. He has over 10 years of investigative and leadership experience in law enforcement as a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI, and now leads a forensic team guiding investigations on cyber-based corporate espionage and sabotage investigations; ransomware and malware cyber intrusion events; PII and PHI compromises; and many other types of cyber-related investigations involving misuse of networked endpoints and infrastructure. John Arvanitis, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Boston Mr. Arvanitis is part of the Compliance Risk and Diligence practice and has more than 27 years of experience across a broad range of compliance-related programs, including anti-money laundering, know your customer, global anti-money laundering processes and program and policy formation. He advises clients worldwide on anti-money laundering matters and other aspects of compliance programs, bringing impactful and valuable insight to their challenges through his extensive international and domestic financial investigative experience. Katsumi Asai, Valuation Advisory - Tokyo Mr. Asai is part of the Valuation Advisory Services practice and has more than 10 years of experience in business enterprise valuations, exchange ratios, valuations of goodwill and intellectual properties and other related issues. His expertise includes valuation of both minority and controlling interests in closely-held companies for purposes of acquisition and divestiture pricing, tax planning and financing. Rishi Aswani, Valuation Advisory - Mumbai Mr. Aswani is part of the Alternative Asset Advisory group, based in Mumbai, with responsibility for overseeing portfolio valuations and secondary market advisory in India. He has over 14 years of financial advisory experience and specializes in mark-to-market valuations across diverse portfolios of illiquid and privately-held securities. Nicolas Ballian, Valuation Advisory - Sao Paulo Mr. Ballian is responsible for overseeing the Valuation Advisory Services and Alternative Asset Advisory practices in Brazil. He has over 15 years of financial advisory experience and specializes in the valuation of Level 3/illiquid assets for private equity fund managers and intangible assets under IFRS 13 guidelines or equivalent local GAAP standards. Mariellen Davies-DeMarco, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Reston Ms. Davies-DeMarco of the Compliance Risk and Diligence practice has 18 years of experience in the due diligence, compliance and investigations industry. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner and leads the practice's North American operations as well as Kroll's due diligence research and analysis process. Seth Fliegler, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Morristown Mr. Fliegler is part of the Disputes practice and has more than 15 years of experience in business valuation and financial analysis with a focus on the financial services industry. He provides consulting and expert testimony on a wide range of matters including valuation, solvency, commercial and economic damages and fraud investigations. Brendan Hanratty, Corporate Finance - Dublin Mr. Hanratty is part of the Restructuring Advisory practice and has more than 20 years of experience in corporate advisory services. He advises clients on strategic financial issues, debt raising and structuring and corporate restructuring situations. Mr. Hanratty focuses on providing independent advice on financial and operational matters to produce concise, actionable objectives supporting clients through projects and transactions.



Santiago Hernando, Valuation Advisory - Bilbao Mr. Hernando is part of the Valuation Advisory Services practice in Spain. He has 33 years of valuation experience focused on projects primarily in Spain, Portugal and other countries in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and several countries in Africa.

David Jimenez-Ayala, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Madrid Mr. Jimenez-Ayala is part of the Disputes practice and has more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, transaction services, forensic accounting and auditing. He has led major forensic projects for anti-money laundering cases, forensic accounting and fraud detection and provides litigation support as an expert witness. Hiroki Katayama, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Tokyo Mr. Katayama is head of the Business Intelligence and Investigations practice in Japan. He is responsible for managing a variety of risk consulting engagements, including complex compliance-related engagements in Japan and coordinating the delivery of such tasks globally for Japan-based clients. Mr. Katayama's areas of expertise include reviews of business processes and financial due diligence. Stephen Kopeck, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Reston Mr. Kopeck is part of the Cyber Risk practice. Over a career spanning both law enforcement as a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service and a cyber leader in private industry, he has developed extensive expertise in cyber investigations, specializing in digital forensics, incident response and threat intelligence. Dave Kothari, Internal Firm Services - Mumbai Mr. Kothari leads the firm's global service center, which provides client and operational support services to the firm's subsidiaries across the globe. In a career spanning over 17 years, he has built his expertise through spearheading technology and operations for companies, enabling profitable business expansion, improved performance and exponential growth. Mr. Kothari previously led the firm's global technology support initiative and integration for over 25 acquisitions made by Duff & Phelps. Robin Lesage, Corporate Finance - Paris Mr. Lesage is part of the Transaction Advisory Services practice and has more than 13 years of due diligence experience related to both buy-side and sell-side projects for a range of clients in France and internationally. He has advised both private equity funds and strategic buyers across a wide variety of sectors, including manufacturing, energy, telecommunications and infrastructure. Jonathan Martin, Valuation Advisory - Chicago Mr. Martin is part of the Valuation Advisory Services practice, focusing on the consumer products and industrials sectors. His experience includes purchase price allocations and goodwill/asset impairment testing for financial reporting purposes under U.S. GAAP; business and asset appraisals for tax planning purposes; stock option valuations; and business valuations for management planning and advisory purposes. Savino Alfredo Natalicchio, Valuation Advisory - Milan Mr. Natalicchio is part of the Real Estate Advisory Group and is responsible for the special divisions department, which includes the shopping center, hospitality, renewable energy and feasibility practices within Valuation Advisory Services. He has more than 16 years of experience in real estate valuation for a wide range of clients, including private equity firms, funds and banks, and has conducted work in the U.S., Italy and throughout Europe. He is currently Chair of the Italian Retail Professional Group in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Michael Quinn, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Philadelphia Mr. Quinn is part of the Cyber Risk practice and has more than 12 years of experience in cybercrime investigations, having managed a variety of state-sponsored and criminal intrusion matters for several FBI field offices. He leads a multi-disciplined team of incident response experts to help clients evaluate and strengthen their cyber readiness. Kurt Uhler, Valuation Advisory - Los Angeles Mr. Uhler is part of the Real Estate Advisory Group and has over 10 years of experience in the Southern California and Las Vegas markets. He is primarily focused on real estate valuation and consulting for institutional owners/operators of real estate. Mr. Uhler has performed valuation assignments relating to financial reporting, fairness opinions, appraisal reports, debt valuation, positive assurance and market analysis. Amaury Wernert, Valuation Advisory - Paris Mr. Wernert is part of the Valuation Advisory Services practice. He has over 10 years of experience performing valuation engagements for financial reporting, tax and transactional purposes, across various industries including Infrastructures, energy, healthcare and industrial products. J. Andrew Valentine, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Dallas Mr. Valentine is part of the Cyber Risk practice. He is a prominent computer crime and cyber security professional who excels in multiple capacities, with more than 17 years of experience in cybercrime investigations in both law enforcement and private capacities. He has managed several high-profile criminal forensic and data breach investigations in the U. S. and internationally. He routinely leads PCI (News - Alert) forensic investigations (PFI) and manages a team of investigators certified to do the same. Mengmeng Yu, Valuation Advisory - Morristown Ms. Yu is part of the Valuation Advisory Services practice and has over a decade of experience assisting clients with appraisals of businesses, intangible assets and equity. She specializes in advising corporations and estates regarding their financial reporting and tax reporting needs. Ms. Yu is a member of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications industry group and has extensive expertise in the cable, media, consumer products and telecommunication industries. Sarah Zheng, Governance, Risk, Investigations and Disputes - Shanghai Ms. Zheng is part of the Business Intelligence and Investigations practice and has over 15 years of experience with high-profile multinational companies, financial services, management consulting and investment firms. She specializes in due diligence, business intelligence, litigation support and fraud investigation cases in China and internationally, and helps clients best manage investment risks, employee risks, intellectual property protections and corporate security. About Duff & Phelps Duff & Phelps is the global advisor that protects, restores and maximizes value for clients in the areas of valuation, corporate finance, investigations, disputes, cyber security, compliance and regulatory matters, and other governance-related issues. We work with clients across diverse sectors, mitigating risk to assets, operations and people. With Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps since 2018, our firm has nearly 3,500 professionals in 28 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.duffandphelps.com. M&A advisory, capital raising and secondary market advisory services in the United States are provided by Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC. Pagemill Partners is a Division of Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC. M&A advisory, capital raising and secondary market advisory services in the United Kingdom are provided by Duff & Phelps Securities Ltd. (DPSL), which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. M&A advisory and capital raising services in Germany are provided by Duff & Phelps GmbH, which is a Tied Agent of DPSL. Valuation Advisory Services in India are provided by Duff & Phelps India Private Limited under a category 1 merchant banker license issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005065/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Temple Launches Digital Innovation Foundry at Fox School of Business

PHILADELPHIA, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Students and faculty are able to collaborate with professionals to create never-before-seen digital products at the Institute for Business and Information Technology's new Digital Innovation Foundry (DIF) at Temple University's Fox School of Business. The Capgemini Digital Innovation Lab at the Foundry opened Monday, March 18, with the help of $1.27 million in funding from corporate and individual donors. DIF, hosted by the Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT) at the Fox School, empowers students and faculty from across the schools at Temple University to work with technology industry professionals to create digital prototypes that they can integrate into the global market. Through the opportunities at the DIF, students, alumni and professionals are able to assess the effectiveness of their products in overcoming challenges in the business world, and faculty are able to conduct design research. "The mission of the Foundry is closely aligned with our focus on digital innovation and transformation so we are pleased to invest in the new Capgemini Digital Innovation Lab at Temple University," says Jonathan Brassington, the head of Capgemini Invent and an IBIT Advisory Board member. The DIF is unlike the traditional business incubator model in that it allows teams of students, professors and industry professionals to collaborate on long-term digital innovation projects that focus on the technology first, while working with a meld of academic research and creative thinking. "The Foundry is another example of the dedication at the Fox School to create opportunities for collaboration between students, alumni and professionals and to support the innovation and creativity, which will empower our students and alumni to become tomorrow's leaders," says Interim Dean Ronald Anderson, the Fox School of Business and the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management. Students from any of Temple's 17 schools will be able to work first-hand with businesses undergoing digital transformations. "DIF is a way toensure we're sending our graduates out into the corporate world with an experience of collaborating across disciplines," says IBIT Advisory Board member and alumna Sondra Barbour, former executive vice president at Lockheed Martin Corporation and board member at 3M.



Several board members made remarks at the foundry's opening: Niraj Patel , managing director at DMI: "Technology will transform every industry." The foundry is "an initiative that will engage all of Temple's disciplines to produce digital innovation."

, managing director at DMI: "Technology will transform every industry." The foundry is "an initiative that will engage all of disciplines to produce digital innovation." Andrea Anania Stewart , IBIT board member: "The Digital Innovation Foundry has a practical, well-thought-out plan to engage students, industry, and faculty." Bruce Fadem, advisory board chairman, lead the effort to create the foundry and several businesses that hold advisory board seats at IBIT were involved in creating the foundry, including Alexion, AmerisourceBergen, Emtec, NBCUniversal, Pfizer, QVC and Scholastic.

"Having been on the corporate side for 30-plus years primarily as a Chief Information Officer, I'm well aware that the pressure to constantly make sure there's a return on investment is very large," Fadem said. "So for corporations to be able to take advantage of a facility that already exists, this is a great opportunity." For more information about the Digital Innovation Foundry, contact Matthew Coughlin, associate director of communications at 215-204-6083 or [email protected]. About the Fox School of Business

Temple University's Fox School of Business is the largest, most comprehensive business school in the Philadelphia region and among the largest in the world, with more than 9,000 students, 220 full-time faculty and 60,000 alumni around the globe. The Fox School has a proud tradition of delivering innovative, entrepreneurial programs for the past 100 years. With facilities that provide access to market-leading technologies, the school fosters a collaborative and creative learning environment. Coupled with its leading student services, the Fox School ensures that its graduates are fully prepared to enter the real-world job market. Learn more at fox.temple.edu . Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram and LinkedIn . Matthew Coughlin

Associate Director of Communications

Fox School of Business

[email protected]

215-204-6083 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/temple-launches-digital-innovation-foundry-at-fox-school-of-business-300823841.html SOURCE Temple University's Fox School of Business

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Spirent Federal Systems Announces New Board Members

Spirent (News - Alert) Federal Systems, the nation's leading provider of GPS/GNSS test equipment, announced today that Robert Lollini and former director of the GPS Directorate at LAFB, Col. (retired) Bernard Gruber have joined the Spirent Federal Board of Directors as CoB and Government Security Committee Chairman, respectively. Robert Lollini and Bernard Gruber have replaced Lawrence Garrett and George Emery. Mr. Garrett, who was a former Secretary of the Navy, and White House Counsel, served as the initial chairman of the board of Spirent Federal Systems and has retired after 17 years in that position. Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy (retired) George Emery has retired after 6 years on the Spirent Federal Systems Board of Directors. Spirent Federal President/CEO, Ellen Hall stated "It is a sad day to have such great leaders retiring, but we are happy to have former Col. Gruber and Bob Lollini joining our dynamic company. We are leading the industry in innovation and quality products for the US government and these two new leaders will help us continue that momentum." Bernard Gruber brings to the position the experience gained from a long and distinguished career in the government and military sector. Mr. Gruber has held several positions in important commands focused on navigation in space, including serving as the chief of Space and Global Integrated Intelligence at The Pentagon from 2009-2010, Director, Global Positioning System (GPS) at the Los Angeles Air Force Base from 2010-2013, and he is currently the director of Precision Guidance and Advanced Programs, Armament Systems at Northrop Grumman (News - Alert). Robert Lollini is crrently the chief executive officer and president of BioFire Defense LLC. Mr. Lollini contributes to the board his broad understanding of strategic financial and executive management. He has held various executive positions in recent years including serving as a member of the board of directors for Myrexis Inc. and chief financial officer and treasurer of BioFire Diagnostics, before taking his current position as CEO and president of BioFire Defense LLC. BioFire Defense is a subsidiary and proxy company of bioMerieux.



Spirent Federal Systems was formed in July 2001 by Spirent Communications as a wholly owned subsidiary and U.S. proxy company. Spirent Federal markets and sells Spirent Communications' (News - Alert) GNSS products in North America. The company also provides value-added features and ongoing customer support. Spirent Federal Systems is headquartered in Pleasant Grove, UT., with support and sales offices throughout the US. For more details, please reach out to us directly at [email protected] or 801-785-1448.

https://www.spirentfederal.com/gps/company/leadership/board/ Spirent Communications plc. offers test, measurement, analytics, and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and networks. The company provides products, services and information for high-speed Ethernet, positioning and mobile network infrastructure markets, with expanding focus on service assurance, cybersecurity and 5G. Spirent is accelerating the transition of connected devices, network equipment and applications from development labs to the operational network, as it continues to innovate toward fully-automated testing and autonomous service assurance solutions. For more information, please visit www.spirent.com. Any product roadmap information provided above is for informational purposes only and is subject to change. No contractual commitments are being made. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005280/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] 'Evolve' Your Understanding of Ecosystem Integration at Cleo Connect 2019

One certainty in your business ecosystem today is that change is always happening. Whether that means hiring new talent, deploying new applications and IT systems, expanding how and where you sell, or pivoting to a different business model altogether, how you embrace market-driven change and evolve your organization is critical for success. Cleo, the global leader in ecosystem integration solutions, understands that business evolution means adapting to changing market demands and industry requirements, which can affect customer and partner relationships and ultimately, your bottom line. That's why we've made "Evolve" the theme of Cleo Connect 2019. Registration is now open for this year's Cleo Connect user conference, which runs Oct. 7-10 at Orlando World Center Marriott in Florida. The three-day summit brings together Cleo executives, customers, and partners who are shaping how today's enterprises create value through strategic integration technology and provides exclusive opportunities for participants. "Cleo Connect is a great opportunity for me as a Cleo user to learn more about the platform and the roadmap, and to bounce ideas off other customers and learn how they're using it," said Evenflo IT Director Chip Gaetano, who participated in one of the customer panels at Cleo Connect 2018. "It's a well-run event that's worth the time, and we really learned a lot about what ecosystem integration means and its value to businesses like ours." This year's program will provide attendees valuable opportunities to explore how today's most successful enterprises are leveraging ecosystem integration to best evolve their businesses and manage constantly shifting marketplace dynamics. Participants will get exclusive access to the latest Cleo software updates, insights on ecosystem integraion use cases, and a strategic roadmap for Cleo Integration Cloud, the modern platform that is rapidly transforming how businesses all over the world connect and integrate partners, applications, and data.



A welcome reception Oct. 7 kicks off three days of educational sessions, hands-on experiences, and social events, and will include opportunities to: Access the latest features, functionality, and best-practices for using Cleo integration products

Participate in one-on-one workshops with Cleo product, services, and engineering teams

Hear firsthand from Cleo users about how they are leveraging Cleo's blend of application, cloud, and B2B integration to increase business value

Network with top industry peers, Cleo executives, and integration experts Cleo CEO Mahesh Rajasekharan will deliver the keynote address on Tuesday, Oct. 8, with focused breakout sessions continuing through Thursday, Oct. 10. Additional agenda highlights will focus on evolving to improve business agility, such as:

The massive benefits of integrating e-commerce order-to-cash processes

Creating end-to-end workflows that enable easy governance and comprehensive visibility

Automating the manual, non-EDI data exchanges that slow productivity

Best practices for business process management "The term 'evolve' speaks directly to progress and growth, which is the goal for every business," Rajasekharan said. "Cleo delivers ecosystem integration solutions that consistently empower our great customers to grow their business and create value in new ways. Face-to-face collaboration during events like Cleo Connect is invaluable, and it helps us better understand the real business challenges out there so we can always align our technology to deliver the best results for our customers and partners." The 2019 Cleo Connect early-bird registration rate of $795 (a 33 percent savings off the regular conference rate) is valid through April 30 and includes all meals and admission to special event nights. For more information about why you should attend Cleo Connect 2019, watch this short video. To sign up, please visit our registration page. About Cleo Cleo is an ecosystem integration software company focused on business outcomes, ensuring each customer's potential is realized by delivering solutions that make it easy to discover and create value through the movement and integration of enterprise data. Cleo gives customers a strategic, "outside-in" visibility into the critical end-to-end business flows happening across their ecosystems of partners and customers, marketplaces, and internal cloud and on-premise applications. Our solutions empower teams to drive business agility, accelerate onboarding, facilitate modernization of key business processes, and capture new revenue streams by reimagining and remastering their digital ecosystem through robust application, B2B, and data integration technologies. For more information, visit www.cleo.com or call +1.815.282.7695. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005236/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] APWG.EU Cybersecurity Awareness Symposium Examines Behavioral Interventions Against Cybercrime at Global Scale

APWG.EU is holding its fourth annual Symposium on Global Cybersecurity Awareness in partnership with the European Commission and the Council of Europe (Convention on Cybercrime) on June 26-27, to be held at the European Commission Representation Office in Bucharest with the theme of "Considering Behavioral Interventions at Global Scale". The objectives of the Symposium, inaugurated by APWG.EU in 2016, are the establishment of global strategies for cybersecurity awareness development - and the cultivation of research, measurement tools and awareness assets deployed as instruments of cybercrime prevention regimens, subject to the same rigor as any other kind of public health measure. The Awareness IV Bucharest review committee is receiving proposals for presentations from: developers of awareness programming; curators and advocates of awareness campaigns; and researchers on all behavioral aspects of cybersecurity, user metrics and behavioral interventions against cybercrime - and all related areas of public policy and risk management. Other topics of interest include, but are not limited to: * Cybersecurity education and cyber awareness program development

* Cybersecurity awareness training metrics/evaluation of awareness campaign effectiveness

* Case studies of successful cyber awareness training / campaign

* Instruments that work in awareness: training, hacking demos, etc.

* Techniques and tools to raise awareness

* New techniques to train users

* Cybersecurity awareness in critical infrastructure

* Case studies on a country's legislation support in cybersecurity education/awareness

* Metrics and techniques to measure efficacy of awareness programming Important dates: Session/Talk submission: April 18th, 2019 Author notification: May 2nd, 2019 Symposium: June 26-27, 2019 The submission instructions and webform are available on the Symposium's notes page: https://apwg.eu/bucharest-global-cybersecurity-awareness-2019/



Awareness IV Bucharest coincides with the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union <https://www.romania2019.eu/> in 2019. The timing and venue places this year's symposium and its discussions of awareness - as an instrument of programmatic suppression of cybercrime - within a potent multilateral context. APWG Secretary General Peter Cassidy, founder of the symposium, said, "Interest in the behavioral aspect of cybercrime and appreciation of its role in cybercrime's success has never been higher since APWG's eCrime research conference began receiving scholarly papers on related subjects in 2006. Since then, our STOP. THINK. CONNECT. cybersecurity awareness campaign has been launched in 21 nations, joining scores of other awareness efforts worldwide."

With industry's increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity awareness/education/training offerings, researchers from manifold disciplines entering the space and the increasing interest of enterprises, national government and inter-governmental organizations in behavioral aspects of cybercrime prevention, Awareness IV Bucharest promises to be a keystone event. About the APWG.EU APWG.EU, established in 2013 as the Anti-Phishing Working Group European Foundation, is an industry association focused on unifying the global response to cybercrime. The organization provides a forum for responders and managers of cybercrime to discuss phishing and cybercrime issues, to consider potential technology solutions, to access data logistics resources for cybersecurity applications, to cultivate the university research community dedicated to cybercrime, and to advise government, industry, law enforcement and treaty organizations on the nature of cybercrime. Based in Barcelona, Spain, APWG.EU is the EU chapter of the APWG, established in Fall 2013 as a non-profit scientific research foundation managed by its trustees for the benefit of cybercrime fighters across Europe and beyond. (APWG, founded in 2003 as the Anti-Phishing Working Group, operates as a 501c6 tax-exempted corporation.) The APWG is the worldwide coalition unifying the global response to cybercrime across industry, government and law-enforcement sectors. APWG's directors, managers and research fellows advise: national governments; global governance bodies; hemispheric and global trade groups; and multilateral treaty organizations. APWG is co-founder of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, the global online safety public-awareness collaborative and founder/curator of the eCrime Researchers Summit, the only peer-reviewed conference dedicated to cybercrime studies, proceedings of which are published by the IEEE (News - Alert). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005245/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] DreamBox Learning CEO to Speak at ASU GSV Summit on Why Diversity is a Super Power to Unlocking Winning Cultures and Companies

DreamBox Learning, the company that pioneered Intelligent Adaptive Learning technology, announced today that CEO and President Jessie Woolley-Wilson will speak at the 2019 ASU GSV Summit in San Diego, Calif., on April 10. She will discuss how an intentional and consistent focus on creating a culture that values diversity cultivates high-performing companies, including examples from her work at DreamBox. ASU GSV is the world's leading education and workforce innovation summit and convenes the most innovative leaders in global education, workforce and technology to discuss opportunities to ensure every individual has an equal opportunity to participate in the future. "At DreamBox, our mission is centered around a core belief that empowering the future workforce starts by unlocking the learning potential of every child, regardless of race, gender, or zip code. By equipping learners with technology that adapts to their specific needs and empowering educators with the professional development opportunities that best support their instruction we become one step closer to meeting that mission," said Woolley-Wilson. "Increasingly, leading companies are beginning to understand how vital diverse voices are in organizational success. Diverse voices translate into varied backgrounds and cultures that enable different approaches to problem-solving. I look forward to discussing ways the industry can come together to ensure students step into a more diverse and more eqitable workplace."



In her session, Unlocking Potential Through Diversity, Jessie will share her belief that access to quality education for all students is the best strategy to ensure minorities are represented throughout all levels of education, policy and business. She will dive into the challenges facing today's schools, and how industry leaders can unleash the power of diversity to create solutions and products that will unlock the learning potential of all children. The DreamBox K-8 digital math platform empowers the next generation by providing every student with an opportunity to learn and love math, regardless of where they live, where they come from or how they look. DreamBox seamlessly adapts in real time to each student's unique learning needs by recommending the right lessons and scaffolding at the right time, while also offering students programs in both English and Spanish.

DreamBox also supports educators through a range of professional development courses-delivered in person or online-to learn more about math concepts on an as-needed basis, enhance differentiation and improve student performance. This year Jessie will also receive the #PowerofWomen award, which recognizes female CEOs and founders who have announced market-leading transactions or activities in the last year. In 2018, DreamBox secured $130 million from TPG Growth's Rise Fund to accelerate growth to more school districts and fuel product development. Today, over three million students and more than 130,000 educators are experiencing the real-time impact of DreamBox. For more information about Jessie's speaking session, please visit here. About DreamBox Learning DreamBox Learning, founded in 2006 in Bellevue, Washington, is the only K-8 digital math program powered by students, built by and for educators, and independently proven to positively impact student achievement. DreamBox dynamically adapts and differentiates in real time based not only on students' answers, but also on how they solve problems. Along with actionable reporting and tools that empower differentiation for all learners, DreamBox gives teachers content-specific professional development and provides administrators with insights about how all students are progressing. The company's pioneering platform has won more than 40 top education and technology industry awards and is in use in all 50 states and throughout Canada. DreamBox is available for PC and iPad. For more information, visit http://www.dreambox.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005206/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Kingston Enables 8K Production Workflows at 2019 NAB Show

NAB Show - Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, is set to demonstrate how its latest and upcoming products empower the next generation of 8K broadcast and production workflows at the 2019 NAB Show (booth #C2656). Kingston will have demonstrations highlighting the capabilities of its family of solid-state drives as well as other memory solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005295/en/ Kingston's DC500R Enterprise SSD - optimized for read-intensive applications (Photo: Business Wire) "Consumers continue to demand higher quality from their traditional broadcast and OTT services, and Kingston is an integral part of the media ecosystem as we power the infrastructure that brings more realism and crystal-clear graphics to TVs everywhere," said Keith Schimmenti, enterprise SSD business manager, Kingston. "We are fully committed to delivering the highest performance and most stable solutions that allow content creators to shoot, edit and produce live and on-demand content in resolutions up to 8K ? all while reducing the amount of CPU load on editing bays and production workflows." During the show, Kingston will demo: A Digital Imaging Technician's (DIT) production cart that is powered by a combination of Kingston Server Premier memory as well as the recently launched DC500 Series enterprise data center SSDs and forthcoming U.2 NVMe SSDs. A DITs role on set is to monitor daily footage in real time. After a production wraps for the day, the dailies are downloaded onto a DIT's cart before going out to postproduction facilities such as color and sound processing. Kingston-powered DIT carts were deployed on a recent award-winning Netflix television show shot on the Warner Bros. lot. Kingston solid-state drives greatly improved the workflow by reducing ingest time of the daily footage followed by duplicating to other drives for postproduction services.

The company will also feature an 8K Video Workstation demo using "off-the-shelf" components. Real-time editing is achieved through a combination of U.2 NVMe and SATA enterprise SSDs, 128GB of server memory and an NVIDIA RTX-6000 GPU all on a Lenovo (News - Alert) ThinkStation P710 workstation. Kingston's storage and memory solutions enable consistent low-latency performance that yields zero dropped frames when editing 8K video in Adobe (News - Alert) Premier Pro CC.



[email protected] to schedule a meeting during 2019 NAB Show. Kingston can be found on:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kingston

Facebook (News - Alert): http://www.facebook.com/kingstontechnology

Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/KingstonTech

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kingstontechnology/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/kingston

About Kingston Digital, Inc.

Kingston Digital, Inc. ("KDI") is the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions. Established in 2008, KDI is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, USA. For more information, please call 877-546-4786 or visit www.kingston.com. Editor's Note: For additional information, evaluation units or executive interviews, please contact David Leong, Kingston Digital, Inc. 17600 Newhope Street, Fountain Valley, CA (News - Alert) USA 92708, 714-438-1817 (Voice). Press images can be found in Kingston's press room here. Kingston and the Kingston logo are registered trademarks of Kingston Technology Corporation. IronKey is a registered trademark of Kingston Digital, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005295/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] IvySys Technologies Awarded DARPA Contract to Detect Global Disinformation Campaigns

IvySys Technologies, an advanced software engineering company, announced today that it has been awarded a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract for up to $1.5 million, dependent upon successful completion of milestones, by the US Army Contracting Command for support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Innovation Office (I2O) Computational Simulation of Online Social Behavior (SocialSim) program. "As recent geopolitical events have evidenced, we need a new approach to accurately analyze and predict the spread of global online information at-scale," said Dr. James A. DeBardelaben, President and CEO of IvySys Technologies. "IvySys will bring forward our proven big data and advanced analytics capabilities as we partner with DARPA to confront this rising challenge." The goal of the SocialSim program is to develop innovative technologies for high-fidelity computational simulation of online behavior. The program will support efforts to analyze strategic disinformation campaigns by adversaries ad advance other critical missions in the online information domain.



The way online information shapes understanding and influences outcomes of events in the world has been a hot-button topic recently. Today's openness of global information enables anyone to freely self-publish online with no editing, fact checking or accountability. At the same time, the new paradigm of information creation and flow provides nation-states and nonstate actors the opportunity to deliberately spread deceptive and inaccurate information throughout the globe without detection. Under the three-year contract, IvySys plans to deliver quantitative predictive models that capture the dynamics of how information trending in one online domain penetrates into another. IvySys' approach will exploit the fact that orchestrated misinformation campaigns produce different spreading patterns than naturally-occurring information behavior to enable early detection of inauthentic online behavior.

Having worked with DARPA since 2006, IvySys is now combating these new threats by extending its extensive signal processing-based advanced analytics capabilities, honed in the signals intelligence (SIGINT) and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) domains, to the big data and social network analytics domains. About IvySys Technologies IvySys Technologies is an advanced software engineering company specializing in automated solutions for critical intelligence analysis and threat awareness for U.S. national security agencies and the Intelligence Community. As an R&D innovation partner to the U.S. Government's most advanced research and development agencies, IvySys is a leader in advanced analytics, modeling and simulation, information sharing, and interoperability of intelligence systems. Founded in 2005, IvySys is a Small Disadvantaged Business located in Arlington, Virginia. For more information, visit www.IvySys.com. The views, opinions and/or findings expressed are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005559/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] GXChain Set to Publish White Paper for its Trusted Computing Protocol in April

HANGZHOU, China, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GXChain recently announced it will publish the white paper for its Trusted Computing Protocol in April 2019. The release of the protocol's white paper outline on GXChain's official Twitter page provides a preview of what the white paper will cover, including the Trusted Computing Protocol's key benefits to the industry as well as its technical architecture. GXChain's Trusted Computing Protocol (TCP) is a system of solving privacy protection problems combined with the blockchain and a trusted execution environment. TCP is a new type of architecture that disentangles consensus, storage and computing. To achieve efficient Trusted Computing supported by a trusted execution environment and high scalability, GXChain has redesigned the state model and increased true random numbers in the Tendermint consensus algorithm with the aim of pursuing a higher network throughput and showing the value of decentralized governance. The Trusted Computing protocol has the following three characteristics: Hierarchical Network In most blockchains, such as Ethereum, the computing performance is much lower than one fullnode. All nodes in the network perform the same computing. Its performance does not increase as the number of network nodes increases. GXChain considered how to meet the requirements of multiple forms of computing (such as privacy, computing and complex computing) under different scenarios and correspondingly reduce computational redundancy. GXChain designed a hierarchical network and optimized the consensus algorithm to separate computation from consensus and storage. Under normal circumstances, a transaction requires only one node to execute.



Layer 2 Scheme TCP positions itself as a Layer 2 solution capable of providing computing capacity expansion and privacy computing capabilities for any blockchain. GXChain supports the Plasma protocol, which will allow GXChain to improve the state model and subsequently imbue it with more innovative ideas while maintaining the consensus of the blockchain. The main goal of GXChain's future work will be to improve the design of and standardize the Plasma protocol.

Trustless Environment TCP is a decentralized privacy computing platform, and GXChain is committed to building trust between data holders and data consumers in a trustless environment. Instead of following the traditional industry mode, GXChain uses the blockchain as the underlying infrastructure to solve the trust problem at value transfer level. At the same time, the platform has the basic attributes of being traceable, tamper-proof and possessing a smart contract. It uses TEE to provide a secure and trusted data computing environment at the bottom to solve the problem of data leakage. As the markets for AI and big data continue to grow, Trusted Computing Protocol is a secure data computing protocol that can provide a solution for existing privacy concerns in these markets. GXChain aims not only to be a global leader in business applications but also to contribute to the development of underlying global technology development. The ultimate aim of the platform is to carry out complex computing under the premise of protecting data privacy, building trust between multi-participants in the data economy, and helping the big data and artificial intelligence industries to begin a new chapter of growth and public confidence that their sensitive data is secure. About GXChain As a leader in blockchain and the data economy, GXChain is a fundamental blockchain for the global data economy, designed to build a trusted data internet of value in the second quarter of 2019. Benefiting from DPoS based Graphene underlying architecture, GXChain possesses functions including G-ID, GVM, BaaS and Blockcity, which are convenient for application development. GXChain based DApp-Blockcity has more than two million verified users and provides abundant data for other DApp developers. GXChain launched Decentralized Data Marketplace, serving hundreds of Chinese enterprises. GXChain team independently developed its main net and launched it in June 2017. Based on decentralization, cryptography, and smart token design, GXChain provides a leading solution for the data economy by developing multiple trusted data modules. Trusted data on-chain, trusted data storage and trusted data exchange have been gradually realized with many commercialized applications. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gxchain-set-to-publish-white-paper-for-its-trusted-computing-protocol-in-april-300823668.html SOURCE GXChain

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] TalkTalk Optimizes Residential Wi-Fi with ASSIA CloudCheck Solution

Customer Quality of Experience proactively managed through combination of TalkTalk's next-generation Wi-Fi Hub and ASSIA's contextual analytics and machine learning REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 3, 2019 /CNW/ -- Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Inc. (ASSIA) and TalkTalk have announced the successful deployment of ASSIA CloudCheck Wi-Fi management solution as part of TalkTalk's game-changing residential Wi-Fi Hub to improve Quality of Experience (QoE) for customers of the UK telecommunications operator. The CloudCheck cloud-based service measures, manages, diagnoses, and proactively optimizes in-home Wi-Fi networks using contextual analytics and machine learning. As part of their end-to-end Quality of Experience solution, TalkTalk also uses ASSIA's DSL Expresse Dynamic Line Management software product to manage and optimize their broadband services. The solution will reach over a million households by the end of the year. "In home Wi-Fi performance is increasingly becoming the primary factor in how a residential customer perceives the quality of service provided by their internet service provider," said Phil Haslam, Chief Network Officer at TalkTalk Plc. "Coupled with advances we have made in recent years analyzing network telemetry data to improve broadband connectivity performance, the ASSIA solution gives us the additional data and visibility we need to understand the various patterns that can affect in-home Wi-Fi performanceand the management and optimization tools to deliver the best experience for our customers." "TalkTalk is a trailblazer in seeing the opportunity to deliver customer satisfaction by taking responsibility for the performance of home Wi-Fi," said David Stevenson, Chief Revenue Officer, ASSIA. "Their commitment to accurately measure broadband and Wi-Fi speeds, diagnose issues, and proactively optimize network performance aligns perfectly with our mission at ASSIA." TalkTalk has implemented the complete CloudCheck sotware platform including CloudCheck TruSpeed that accurately measures Broadband speeds to comply with the Ofcom VCOP (Voluntary Code of Practice). Today, UK homes equipped with TalkTalk's Wi-Fi hub are transparently measuring both broadband and Wi-Fi speed performance in order to proactively optimize in-home performance and help customers better understand issues of coverage, device obsolescence, and where necessary, optimize setup to improve customer experienceespecially during peak times.



ASSIA's CloudCheck scoring and data mining capabilities will be released in June 2019 to further enhance TalkTalk's Customer Service Dashboard which has successfully used network telemetry data to more accurately pin point issues and solutions to poor connectivity. Both ASSIA and TalkTalk are committed to better assess and address major sources of customer quality of experience issues to improve the overall service provided. About CloudCheck Software

ASSIA's CloudCheck Wi-Fi management offering is a hardware-agonistic, software-only solution that monitors, manages, and optimizes home Wi-Fi networks for service providers. Its unique layered architecture, composed of a cloud component that provides performance and scale and a smart agent on the CPE, manages the delivery of broadband to the device at scale. The CloudCheck service uses contextual analytics and machine-learning algorithms to evaluate historical and real-time conditions of the Wi-Fi environments and make automatic, usage- based optimizations that are ideal for each node on the network. Status updates, alerts, and recommendations are available to call center agents via APIs or a mobile app that turns field technicians and subscribers into Wi-Fi "experts" that can provide assisted or self-care. The CloudCheck platform seamlessly integrates with other care workflows and can use external data to make better decisions. To learn more visit https://www.assia-inc.com/products/cloudcheck/.

About TalkTalk

TalkTalk is the UK's leading value for money connectivity provider. TalkTalk believes that simple, affordable, reliable, and fair connectivity should be available to everyone. Since entering the market in the early 2000s, TalkTalk has a proud history as an innovative challenger brand. Today, TalkTalk provides landline, broadband, TV and mobile services to over four million customers. TalkTalk operates Britain's biggest unbundled broadband network, covering 96% of the population, supplying services to consumers through the TalkTalk brand, to businesses through TalkTalk Business, and by wholesaling to resellers. TalkTalk Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange. About ASSIA

ASSIA is a trusted partner with the leading market share of management and optimization software solutions for global broadband and residential access networks. ASSIA's Expresse broadband system enables significant operational expense reduction for Internet Service Providers in the areas of subscriber care, of increased customer satisfaction, and of more connections upgrade to higher revenue-generating service tiers. ASSIA's ClearView software provides both broadband access and Wi-Fi connection analysis and recommends appropriate steps to resolve problems using language that is easy to understand by call-center agents and field technicians. ASSIA's CloudCheck Wi-Fi optimization software enables service providers and enterprises to deliver premium digital experiences over residential Wi-Fi networks. ASSIA has more than 100 million broadband households under contract worldwide. Thanks to the company's product evolution and contributions to broadband standards, ASSIA is poised to help ISPs across the world as they upgrade their networks with next-generation G.Vector and G.Fast standards. For more information, visit www.assia-inc.com. Expresse, ClearView, and CloudCheck are registered trademarks of ASSIA.

"ASSIA" is an acronym for "Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Incorporated." Media Contact:

David Stevenson

ASSIA

(650) 654-3400

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/talktalk-optimizes-residential-wi-fi-with-assia-cloudcheck-solution-300823523.html SOURCE ASSIA

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] KeyBank Elevates Online Lending Capabilities With Closing Of Laurel Road Acquisition

CLEVELAND, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyBank National Association today announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of Laurel Road Bank's digital lending business. The acquisition underpins KeyBank's strategic growth efforts, by enhancing its digital capabilities through customized, end-to-end lending products. Laurel Road, based in New York City, has built a compelling student loan refinancing platform, which launched in 2013 and has rapidly grown to total more than $4 billion in loan originations to date. The digital platform offers a simple and personalized process with attractive refinancing options, providing customers with potentially meaningful savings over the life of their loans. In 2018, the company introduced an online mortgage platform using the same simple and secure lending technology to offer home buyers and owners a streamlined digital application process. In acquiring Laurel Road, KeyBank continues its strategy of building targeted scale against defined client segments such as healthcare professionals, lawyers, and graduate students. Specific to Laurel Road, KeyBank will focus in three areas to drive growth: Expand national, digital-only lending capabilities: Capitalize on Laurel Road's sustained success in delivering its capabilities through strategic partnerships and direct-to-market branding to enhance KeyBank's digital-lending offerings to customers. Boost KeyBank's client experience through compelling digital tools: Maximize the industry-leading technology behind Laurel Road's platform to drive growth and improve efficiencies. Deliver a holistic banking experience to a targeted segment of consumers: Leverage Laurel Road's expertise within the millennial professional market to build on its success and expand product offerings to acquire, broaden, and deepen relationships. "Part of KeyBank's strategy is to pair the best of the best in fintech with our industry expertise and scale. Now that the deal is officially closed, we're thrilled to begin work with Laurel Road," said Jamie Warder, Head of Digital for KeyBank. "The three pillars we've outlined aim to expand our business and offer more customer segments a comprehensive, digitally-led suite of services, and Laurel Road is a pivotal piece of this growth plan." "We're deeply proud of what we've built at Laurel Road and share in Jamie's excitement to get to work integrating and growing our combined products and business," said Gary Lieberman, Founder and Chairman of Laurel Road Bank. "Laurel Road set out to deliver a simple yet superior lending experience for millennials at every financial milestone. As art of KeyBank, our capabilities and scale have even more potential, and together we're committed to enhancing the digital financial experience for all customers."



KeyBank seeks to accelerate growth by leveraging Laurel Road's national reach, existing infrastructure and technology capabilities. The Laurel Road brand will remain in place. Laurel Road's three bank branches located in southeast Connecticut are not part of this transaction. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. KeyBank was advised by KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., and Debevoise & Plimpton. Laurel Road Bank was advised by RBC Capital Markets and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp's (NYSE: KEY) roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $139.6 billion at December 31, 2018. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of over 1,100 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/ . KeyBank is Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. About Laurel Road

Laurel Road began originating student loans in 2013 and has since helped thousands of professionals with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees consolidate and refinance more than $4 billion in federal and private school loans. Laurel Road also offers a suite of online graduate school loan products, mortgages and personal loans that helps simplify lending through customized technology and personalized service. In April 2019, Laurel Road was acquired by KeyBank, one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies. For more information, visit www.laurelroad.com. Laurel Road is a brand of KeyBank National Association offering online lending products in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The mortgage product is not offered in Puerto Rico. KeyBank is a Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. NMLS ID # 399797. Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "outlook," "goal," "objective," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "project," "believe," "estimate" and other words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements represent management's current expectations and forecasts regarding future events. If underlying assumptions prove to be inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties arise, actual results could vary materially from these projections or expectations. Factors that could cause Key's actual results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in KeyCorp's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as in KeyCorp's subsequent SEC filings, all of which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are available on Key's website (www.key.com/ir) and on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website (www.sec.gov). Forward looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and Key does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/keybank-elevates-online-lending-capabilities-with-closing-of-laurel-road-acquisition-300823962.html SOURCE KeyCorp

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Oscar-Winning Rock Climber Alongside Lyft to Keynote Vancouver's TractionForce 2019

VANCOUVER, April 3, 2019 /CNW/ - Vancouver cloud technology company, Traction on Demand, today released its speaker lineup for TractionForce 2019 featuring world-renowned rock climber and lead in the Oscar-winning documentary, Free Solo, Alex Honnold. The ticketed event will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 23, 2019. "We're introducing a lot of firsts to this year's TractionForce including a new venue, a ticketed format, and Oscar talent," said Greg Malpass, Founder and CEO at Traction on Demand. "It's important we continue to find new ways to elevate our event offering which is what drove the decision to shift this year's format." Among other leaders, Lyft's Managing Director for Canada, Aaron Zifkin, will join Alex Honnold on the keynote stage. While Honnold and Zifkin operate in different capacities, their keynote sessions will similarly explore how defining and staying true to personal and Collective Whys has led to growth and success in business. "We're as dedicated now to educating attendees on the importance of making purpose-driven investments in people and technology as we were seven years ago when the conference first launched," said Malpass. "We're rally proud of this year's speaker lineup. Our goal is to continue attracting world-class talent to the stage while keeping the ticket cost at a price point that's accessible."



In addition to keynote presenters, this year's lineup will include speakers from TELUS, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and CerebralSelling.com among others. For a complete speaker lineup and to purchase early bird tickets, please visit: www.tractionforce.ca . As a sponsor-run community event, TractionForce acknowledges the support of its platinum sponsors Conga , Dell Boomi , NewVoiceMedia , Altify and Traction Guest. Sponsor support ensures attendees have access to top speakers and content.

About TractionForce: TractionForce is Western Canada's largest cloud technology and business transformation conference. In its seventh year, the event looks to inspire individuals and organizations, commercial and nonprofit, to effectively leverage technology to do more, with less. TractionForce programming includes educational technology-driven sessions and thought-provoking speakers from across industries. About Traction on Demand: Traction on Demand is one of North America's largest independent Salesforce.com consulting and application development partner with 5,000+ projects on the platform. We develop innovative cloud technology solutions for North America's largest and most influential brands, as well as hundreds of small and medium-sized companies. As one of the country's first 100 certified B Corporations, Traction on Demand has been named a top 10 best places to work in Canada since 2014, proving that team, community and ethics are top priorities. Traction on Demand's incubated SaaS product companies include Traction Guest, Traction Hierarchies, Traction Complete and Traction Rec. SOURCE Traction on Demand

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP Investigating The Boeing Company's Directors and Officers for Breach of Fiduciary Duties - BA

Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP ("Scott+Scott"), a national securities and consumer rights litigation firm, is investigating whether certain directors and officers of The Boeing (News - Alert) Company ("Boeing" or the "Company") (NYSE: BA) breached their fiduciary duties to the Company and its shareholders. If you are a Boeing shareholder, you are encouraged to contact attorney Joe Pettigrew with Scott+Scott for additional information at (844) 818-6982. Scott+Scott is investigating whether members of Boeing's board of directors made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Company's new 737 MAX 8 automated stall-prevention system was susceptible to deadly malfunctions; (ii) Boeing maintained inadequate internal controls to ensure the timely reporting and dissemination of such malfunctions; and (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On October 29, 2018, a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet operted by the Indonesian airline, Lion Air, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all passengers and crew. On November 12, 2018, post-market, the Wall Street Journal published an article, entitled "Boeing Withheld Information on 737 Model, According to Safety Experts and Others," citing "safety experts involved in the investigation, as well as midlevel [Federal Aviation Administration] officials" and reporting that Boeing "withheld information about potential hazards associated with a new flight-control feature suspected of playing a role in last month's fatal Lion Air jet crash[.]" Over the 11 days following the publication of the Wall Street Journal article, Boeing's stock price fell a total of $44.71 per share, or roughly 12.5%, to close at $312.32 per share on November 23, 2018.



On March 10, 2019, 157 people perished after an Ethiopian Airlines-operated Boeing 737 Max 8 model airplane crashed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, shortly after take-off. In the wake of the crash, regulators around the globe, including the Federal Aviation Administration, grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 jets. On March 11, 2019, Boeing's stock price fell $22.65, or over 5%, to close at $399.89. Federal investigators are looking into whether Boeing provided incomplete or misleading information about the 737 MAX aircraft to U.S. air-safety regulators and customers.

What You Can Do If you are a Boeing shareholder, you may have legal claims against the Company's directors and officers. If you wish to discuss this investigation, or have questions about this notice or your legal rights, please contact attorney Joe Pettigrew toll-free at (844) 818-6982 or at [email protected]. About Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP Scott+Scott has significant experience in prosecuting major securities, antitrust, and employee retirement plan actions throughout the United States. The firm represents pension funds, foundations, individuals, and other entities worldwide with offices in New York, London, Connecticut, California, and Ohio. Attorney Advertising View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005651/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] dataxu's Unmatched Ability to Help Advertisers and Media Companies Thrive in Converged TV Fuels Record Growth of TotalTV Business; Ed Montes Named President & GM, TotalTV

BOSTON, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- dataxu , a leading provider of software for marketing and media professionals, today announced record growth across its TotalTV business and has named Ed Montes President and GM, TotalTV.

Since launching TotalTV, a comprehensive converged TV solution that enables audience-based planning, targeted buying, and measurement across CTV, linear, and addressable TV, dataxu has been filling a tremendous market need facing advertisers and media companies. TotalTV allows marketers to find audiences no matter what they are watching. This has led to rapid growth of the business for dataxu, including a 1,250 percent increase in converged TV inventory across the companys TotalTV marketplace (the largest curated advanced TV inventory marketplace available), a 641 percent increase in advertisers running converged TV campaigns, and converged TV revenue that is 250 percent of the prior years revenue. The company is charging ahead even stronger in 2019 as the majority of the companys revenue comes from TotalTV. To support this momentum, Ed Montes assumes the role of President and GM, TotalTV, reporting directly to CEO Mike Baker. Montes previously srved as President of Solutions and Chief Revenue Officer. In his new role, Montes oversees all TotalTV sales, marketing, and product management.



Said Baker, Were doubling down on our tremendous success with TotalTV by increasing our investment in the business and organizing our leadership and operations around the solution to go further and faster. In recognition of his significant contributions and our confidence in his ability to drive it even more rapidly forward, Ed Montes is being promoted into an expanded leadership role. Said Montes, I couldnt be more excited to serve as President and GM, TotalTV. Advertising supported TV on demand is the fastest growing segment of the global media market over the next five years, and our unmatched ability to plan and measure converged TV with OneView, our cross-device data management, is the lynchpin to our success -- as it solves a big problem for advertisers and media companies.

The core challenge in executing advanced or converged television targeting is deciphering consumer device identity. OneView solves this giant challenge by connecting the dots between people and their TVs. Now agencies and their advertiser clients can tie TV investment to specific business outcomes, including digital and in-store purchase behavior. In Q2, Baker and Montes will host an investor day and participate in a TotalTV roadshow to provide customers, partners and analysts with more updates on the business and solutions. To learn more now, visit https://www.dataxu.com/totaltv/ . About dataxu

dataxu helps marketing & media professionals use data to improve their advertising. Our software empowers you to connect with real people across all channels, including TV, capturing consumers attention when and where it matters most. With 10 offices around the world, were here to help power your business forward. Discover what you + our software can do at www.dataxu.com . Contact:

Alexis Roberts

Blast PR for dataxu

[email protected]

805-886-8511

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] RealD Wins European Patent Office Decision On Triple-Beam Patent Asserted Against Volfoni In German Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Visual technology market leader RealD Inc. announced today that the European Patent Office's (EPO) Opposition Division has upheld the validity of another one of the Company's key patents for light-doubling 3D cinema projection systems. As a result, RealD's European patent that covers triple-beam 3D cinema projection systems (EP2846180) remains in full force. RealD announced on December 18, 2017 the filing of a complaint with the District Court in Dusseldorf, Germany, alleging that Volfoni SAS, Volfoni GmbH and CinemaNext Deutschland Gmbh have infringed three of RealD's European patents by the importation, sale, or offer for sale of the Volfoni SmartCrystal Diamond cinema systems in Germany. In the complaint, RealD requested an injunction banning the sale of the infringing devices and sought financial damages. To date, the EPO has fully reconfirmed the validity of two of RealD's patents asserted in the German lawsuit and issued a favorable preliminary opinion on the third. The German lawsuit is set for trial in July 2019. "ReaD invests substantial resources to develop products that result in the best possible customer experience. To continue making such investments, we must protect our intellectual property and are delighted that another decision by the EPO has done just that. We look forward to demonstrating to the Dusseldorf court the infringement of our patents by the Volfoni SmartCrystal Diamond systems," said Neil Mothew, RealD's Vice President of Intellectual Property & Legal Affairs.



Globally recognized as the world's visual technology leader, RealD pioneered digital 3D cinema and today has the world's largest 3D cinema platform. RealD's patented light-doubling 3D cinema systems deliver the most light efficiency of any other 3D cinema projection technology, and as a result, provide a superior projected 3D image at a lower operating cost. About Opposition Proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO)

EPO Opposition Proceedings are post-grant adversarial proceedings in which interested third parties can challenge the validity of all the national parts of a European patent via a single centralized procedure. The decision of the Opposition Division to uphold RealD's EP2846180 as it was originally issued is available online, and is open to an appeal to one of the EPO's Technical Boards of Appeal. The decision of the Opposition Division to maintain RealD's EP2067066 as it was originally issued is available online, and is no longer open to appeal. A favorable preliminary opinion was recently issued by the Opposition Division regarding RealD's EP2469336 patent (available online) for which a final hearing has been scheduled in October 2019. About RealD Inc. RealD is a leading global licensor of 3D and other visual technologies. RealD's extensive industry-defining intellectual property portfolio is used in applications and products that enable a premium viewing experience in the theater, the home and elsewhere. RealD was founded in 2003 and has offices in Beverly Hills, California; Boulder, Colorado; London, United Kingdom; Moscow, Russia; Shanghai, China; Beijing, China; Hong Kong; and Tokyo, Japan. For more information, please visit our website at www.reald.com. Media Relations: US

Steve Elzer (on behalf of RealD)

[email protected] EMEAR contact

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reald-wins-european-patent-office-decision-on-triple-beam-patent-asserted-against-volfoni-in-german-lawsuit-300823872.html SOURCE RealD

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Retired Superintendent Turned Strategic Advisor Joins EdTechTeam

IRVINE, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- EdTechTeam, the global leader in Google for Education training and innovative professional development, today announced a recent addition to the company's advisory team, meant to help meet the changing needs and challenges of school leadership. Dr. Jane Westerhold, an educator with 40 years of experience and Illinois Superintendent of the Year in 2013, has been hired as a Senior Strategic Advisor to support EdTechTeam's multiple programs, initiatives, and strategies for making a meaningful impact in schools. "We're excited to have Dr. Westerhold on the team. She excels at inspiring educators, her voice is well respected among school leaders, and she has proven she can empower others to make lasting change in their schools," says Mark Wagner, EdTechTeam Founder and CEO. "Her experience developing programs for school districts will help support EdTechTeam's capacity as we expand our efforts to support large-scale high-impact projects across the globe." Dr. Westerhold has been an educator for more than 40 years. She retired from Community Consolidated School District 62 in Des Plaines, IL in 2016 after serving as superintendent for 11 years. One of her many major accomplishments includes overseeing the successful completion and opening of a comprehensive early learning center, which was named in her honor in 2015 as the Jane L. Westerhold Early Learning Center. Dr. Westerhold is also passionate about preparing students to be globally competitive and became the driving force behind the digital transformation in teaching and learning in District 62. In anuary 2017, Dr. Westerhold began serving as the interim superintendent for North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park, IL and served in such capacity until June 30, 2018. Dr. Westerhold has served many community and educational organizations. She was the 2015 President of the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), served on the AASA, The School Superintendents Association Governing Board, currently serves on the Board for the National Center for Educational Research and Technology (NCERT), and is a past Executive Committee member for the District Administration Leadership Institute (DALI).



About EdTechTeam EdTechTeam, a California Benefit Corporation, is a global network of educational technologists with a mission to improve the world's education systems using the best learning principles and technology available. With 44 employees and more than 400 contractors, most of which are practicing or former educators, EdTechTeam operates in 49 states and 39 countries, with local subsidiaries in Canada, Colombia, Australia, Mexico, South Africa, and the UK, producing professional development experiences in 12 languages for over 50,000 educators face-to-face per year, and approximately 250,000 educators including books and online events.

The core team of world-class instructional leaders works closely with schools and districts around the globe to effectively and appropriately implement positive school change. EdTechTeam aims to inspire and empower educators to design meaningful personalized learning experiences for students. EdTechTeam is an official Google for Education Professional Development Partner. Having been involved in producing the Google Teacher Academy from its inception in 2006 through the most recent iteration of the Innovation Academy in 2019, the team is best known for their series of Summits featuring Google for Education, with almost 500 conference-style events produced to date since July 2012. Through a Custom Learning program, more than 600 smaller (mostly workshop style) events will be delivered in 2019 as well. EdTechTeam also helps schools, districts, and other institutions develop capacity in six areas key to successful school change: courageous leadership, empowered teachers, student agency, inspiring spaces, robust infrastructure, and engaged community. Media Contact:

Chris Bell

Phone: 949-407-9051

Email: [email protected] Related Images dr-jane-westerhold.jpeg

Dr. Jane Westerhold View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/retired-superintendent-turned-strategic-advisor-joins-edtechteam-300823924.html SOURCE EdTechTeam

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] NSS Labs to Develop the 2019 Threat Detection and Analytics Systems Group Test

AUSTIN, Texas, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NSS Labs, Inc., a global leader and trusted source for independent, fact-based cybersecurity guidance, today announced that it is developing its Threat Detection and Analytics Systems (TDA) Group Test with results to be released in 2019. As part of todays announcement, the company is also issuing a call for industry engagement from both enterprises and vendors that offer threat visibility and automation and response capabilities through the use of analytics to help shape and evolve the upcoming group test and accompanying methodology.

While enterprises aspire to attain a perfect security architecture, the reality is that weaknesses can stem from a number of factors. These can include configuration error, lapses in operational hygiene, user error, threat and evasion capabilities, and malicious insiders. Increasingly, enterprises are turning to threat detection analytics technology to address evolving use cases for analytic capabilities to identify, investigate, and respond to incidents before a major incident or breach occurs. Threat detection and analytics products improve the incident responders ability to rapidly assess and identify threat activities that incorporate subtle and advanced attack techniques that can bypass individual security controls unless examined across the attack sequence. Through the application of analysis algorithms and both traffic and often endpoint technologies, TDA technologies help to accelerate the response workflow and improve incident outcomes by correlating data across many data surfaces. Incident responders are uniquely able to address attacks in progress and help organizations avoid serious data loss or damage if they learn of incidents early enough in the attack chain and have sufficient detail to prioritize and act on threats. This forthcoming test will evaluate both traditional TDA products and new entrants striving to address evolving enterprise use case requirements for this technology. Some of the capabilities this test will examine include enhanced identification of false positive events, detection of malicious activity or content, and operational and workflow impacts such as a products ability to streamline enterprise operations by integrating with other security tools.

In 2018, NSS Labs performed the industrys most comprehensive group test of leading breach detectin system products. Three products from market-leading vendors were examined for security effectiveness, performance, and total cost of ownership. Of the products that participated in the group test, only one product demonstrated full resilience tested against attack variants. For more information about the test, click here .



The TDA group test will help enterprises evaluate whether to replace or refresh existing BDS deployments with TDA products or investigate new approaches that incorporate analytics and advanced feature sets, said Jason Brvenik, Chief Technology Officer at NSS Labs. We encourage both enterprises and vendors to collaborate with us as we examine this evolving category. NSS Labs has a long history in testing enterprise-class security products. NSS Labs rigorous group tests offer independent analysis of the top security technologies used today by Global 2000 companies. The tests provide the industrys most comprehensive review of security effectiveness, performance, and total cost of ownership. Enterprises rely on our tests for fact-based, empirical data that they can use to inform their decision making. Within the last 12 months, NSS Labs has released group test results for several categories of mature and evolving cybersecurity products. To learn more about our group tests, visit the NSS Labs website .

As with all NSS Labs group tests , there is no fee for participation, and the test methodology is available in the public domain to provide transparency and to help enterprises understand the factors behind test results. Click here for more information about our group test policies. Enterprises that wish to provide feedback regarding NSS Labs upcoming TDA Group Test and its associated test methodology can send feedback to [email protected] . Vendors can send feedback to [email protected] . Additional Resources: Visit the NSS Labs website

Follow NSS Labs on Twitter

Follow NSS Labs on LinkedIn About NSS Labs, Inc.

We test the worlds security products. Based in Austin, Texas, our research and testing laboratory is recognized globally as the most trusted source for independent, fact-based cybersecurity guidance. C-Suite executives and information security professionals from many of the world's most demanding enterprises rely on NSS Labs to accelerate security decisions with greater confidence. For more information, visit www.nsslabs.com . Contact:

Jessica Johannes

Phone: +1 512-498-7076

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Advancing Community-Driven Health Research, Innovation and Education at the Heart of New MOU

Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) and Health City have entered into a collaboration to advance partner and community-driven health initiatives through the development of customized training and creation of opportunities for CUE's students. "We know the development of talent to drive the new health economy in our region is crucial. Concordia University of Edmonton has developed unique opportunities for their students and for entrepreneurs in the health and life sciences that will directly translate to industry. We're pleased to be collaborating with them on a framework for this kind of long-term university-community partnership," says Health City CEO, Reg Joseph. The agreement provides a framework to boost research and collaboration activities, and foster student talent, within the health innovation space, by accessing CUE's unique offerings in applied artificial intelligence, as well as the entrepreneurship and business incubator space. "Concordia University of Edmonton is proud to be partnering with Health City on this MOU that will enhance our contribution to the health ecosystem in Edmonton in a number of important ways," comments CUE President Tim Loremn. Dr. Manfred Zeuch, VP External Affairs and International Relations adds, "We are excited for this new partnership which aims to enhance the life and well-being of Edmontonians. CUE is well positioned for such enterprising collaborations."



About Health City Health City is an economic development organization created to catalyze and accelerate health innovation in Edmonton.

Our focus is on transforming innovations from our region into solutions that have commercial application and global relevance; adopting them for impact in Edmonton and scaling them for export to global markets. Health City's role is to form innovation consortiums, bringing together highly talented people and organizations to enable innovation and products to get to market. Health City serves as a central connection point for Edmonton's health innovation sector; working with and seeking inspired partners who share a vision for excellence, have a culture of collaboration and who are driven to take health innovation to the next level. Find out more: edmontonhealthcity.ca About Concordia University of Edmonton CUE is a boutique university, small enough that every student is essential yet large enough for a global outlook. In and out of our classrooms and lecture halls, we translate what we learn into extraordinary hands-on experiences. We live and work on a small campus, a river valley oasis, but Edmonton is our workshop. Our ultimate goal has not changed since 1921: to be more than students and professors, to create a community of active citizens, of good and honourable people. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005531/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Remix Expands Policy Team to Enable Better Transportation Outcomes

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Remix (remix.com), the platform used by 350+ cities worldwide to plan and manage their transportation future, announced the addition of two new Policy Advisors today: Jascha Franklin-Hodge, former Chief Information Officer of the City of Boston, and Meera Joshi, former Commissioner of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. Both will be advising Remix as the team works with city customers and partners to achieve the best transportation outcomes for all. Both Franklin-Hodge and Joshi bring a wealth of policy experience that will be invaluable in such a rapidly changing environment. Jascha Franklin-Hodge is a national thought-leader on data governance. During his tenure as Chief Innovation Officer at City of Boston, Franklin-Hodge created the City's first Digital Team to build exceptional, user-centered digital services, such as the award-winning Boston.gov and BOS:311 mobile app. He also established a Citywide Analytics Team to apply the tools of modern data analysis and modeling to improve quality of life in the city, enhance the operations of government, and support data-driven policy making. His team addressed issues as diverse as firefighter safety, workforce diversity, and ambulance response times. Franklin-Hodge also spearheaded city policy and programs related to broadband and digital equity, created a digital constituent communication program, and led Boston to be the first-ever city to negotiate a data sharing agreement with Uber in 2015. Prior to his career in public service, Franklin-Hodge founded Blue State Digital and led the technical infrastructure that powered the success of the 2008 Obama campaign. He recently finished his term as a Joint Research Felow with the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at the Harvard Kennedy School.



Meera Joshi is the former Commissioner of NYC's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), where she oversaw the largest private for-hire ground transportation industry in the U.S., making a million trips a day. Under her leadership, the agency fostered tremendous diversity, growth, and innovation in the taxi, car service, ride-hailing, and commuter van industries while maintaining the highest standards of public safety and consumer protection. Joshi initiated programs that have made TLC a national leader in data analysis, accessibility for individuals with disabilities, protecting drivers' pay, and traffic safety. Joshi is a vocal advocate for the value that robust transportation data brings to policymakers and citizens alike, and under her tenure, NYC became the first city in the nation to require detailed data from large app operators like Uber and Lyft. By making much of this data public, she has become a leader in the Open Data movement. Under her leadership, NYC created the largest wheelchair-accessible for-hire fleet in the country, including a program that centrally dispatches a wheelchair-accessible taxi on demand to anywhere in the five boroughs, and created the first pay protection for drivers of app services like Uber and Lyft in the nation. TLC serves as one of the lead agencies in New York's citywide "Vision Zero" program and promotes traffic safety through a comprehensive suite of education, outreach, enforcement, and technology promotion programs. Through these efforts, fatalities involving TLC vehicles were reduced by 50 percent. Joshi is currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation Policy.

Franklin-Hodge and Joshi join the accomplished members on Remix's policy team today, Rachel Zack and Andrew Glass Hastings. Remix is excited to have such a strong team pushing for better transportation policy outcomes in cities  including equitable access to mobility services, sustainability, and safety. ABOUT REMIX: Remix is the platform for designing and managing your city's transportation future. Trusted by 4,000 planners in 350+ cities worldwide, Remix helps cities understand how streets, public transit, and private mobility work together  so that ultimately cities are safe, accessible, and equitable for everyone. Headquartered in San Francisco, Remix was founded in 2014 out of Code for America, a nonprofit that believes government can work for the people, by the people, in the digital age. To learn more, visit remix.com. Press Contact:

Tiffany Chu

Co-founder, Remix

415-610-5336

[email protected] Related Images remix-policy-advisors-jascha.png

Remix Policy Advisors, Jascha Franklin-Hodge and Meera Joshi Related Links Remix website Remix blog View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remix-expands-policy-team-to-enable-better-transportation-outcomes-300823973.html SOURCE Remix

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] $400K Grant to Rehab 40 Homes in Mississippi

Hancock Resource Center (HRC) was awarded a $400,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant from The First, A National Banking Association and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas). The funds will assist 40 low-income, elderly and special-needs homeowners living in substandard conditions to make critical home repairs in Mississippi's Hancock and Harrison counties. "Without grants like this one, the families in our community would be living in homes that are in disrepair or living in homes that make it just a little bit harder to live," said Rhonda Rhodes, HRC president. "The AHP allows our community members to live in healthy, happy homes, which in turn makes for a happy and healthy community." Jerome Brown, senior vice president and director of Community Development at The First, A National Banking Association, said the AHP grant directs resources to an underserved population. "The residents this grant will benefit are hard workers, but struggle to make ends meet due to various life circumstances," Mr. Brown said. "The AHP grant will help 40 families to make critical repairs to their homes, which for a rural area is a big deal." FHLB Dallas annually returns 10 percent of its profits in the form of AHP grants to the communities served by its member institutions such as The First, A National Banking Association. AHP grants fund a variety of projects, including home rehabilitation and modifications for low-income, elderly and special-needs resident; down payment and closing cost assistance for qualified first-time homebuyers and the construction of low-income, multifamily rental communities and single-family homes.



"In addition to making affordable housing more accessible in underserved areas, the AHP also helps to alleviate issues associated with substandard housing," said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. "We're proud to partner with The First in their efforts to improve the quality of life for residents in this part of the state." The 2019 AHP application is available Monday through May 16, 2019. Applications are only accepted through FHLB Dallas members. For more information about the AHP, visit fhlb.com/ahp.

About The First, A National Banking Association The First, A National Banking Association, headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, began as a dream on a back porch in South Mississippi. A group of local businessmen talked about creating a bank that would take care of business by taking care of people one customer at a time... and The First was born. Now, that dream has grown from a back porch to cities and towns all over South Mississippi, South Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. The First is more than a bank...because it is still a group of friends building relationships and taking care of business one customer at a time! The First currently has 73 locations and assets of $3 billion. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $72.8 billion as of December 31, 2018, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 825 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005723/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] AiX, an AI Fintech Firm is Launching 'Bondsai - The World's First Artificial Intelligence Bond Broker', Setting Their Sights on Disrupting a $15 Trillion Market

LONDON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bondsai will be the world's first AI powered conversational Bond Broker, handling initial Bond offerings and secondary market trading. AiX has partnered with XinFin to leverage the XinFin protocol to facilitate offerings of global cutting-edge Infrastructure deals and create liquidity in traditional bonds in order to generate funding for projects. AiX's Bondsai along with XinFin will enable Development Banks and Government Treasuries to efficiently offload de-risked loans to secondary markets and thus provide more new lending. By tokenizing infrastructure bonds, XinFin & AiX aim to bridge a gap in the market allowing them to provide direct liquidity access to global institutional investors for investments in critical physical infrastructure projects such as power, water, and transportation. The first issuance of bonds will take place in the 3rd Quarter of 2019 and will consist of approximately $250- $400m of AAA rated, sovereign backed, post-risk infrastructure bonds from the books of the Development Banks and Government Treasuries. AiX will act as the syndicate lead, automatically connecting market makers, brokers, banks and institutional investors over Bondsai - their AI trading platform. XinFin will use Bondsai for OTC Trading and will get continuous support from AiX's technology and hybrid institutional broking team. AiX will leverage Xinfin's KYC Enforced Public Network Masternodes for global public investors including pension funds, insurance companies and financial institutions as potential tokenised bond buyers, to generate liquidity for the digital infrastructure bonds via its innovative technology. The Infrastructure Digital Bond Trading Syndicate will be led by AiX's head of business development and sales, Bob Velez, a former MD and Head of U.S. / EU Equities for BGC partners and U.S. Marine veteran with a 25-year institutional finance career. The AiX team has unique experience in developing brand new inancial markets across the globe and so is perfectly positioned to develop this opportunity.



Bondsai is anticipating volumes of $10-$20 billion in digital infrastructure bonds in the first year, and expects volumes to continue growing quickly over the longer term. Sharing his excitement on formalizing the AiX and XinFin collaboration, Joseph Appalsamy, Head of Business Development, XinFin (an ADGM RegLab Participant) said, "We look forward to this exciting collaboration with AiX as we team up to help bridge the global infrastructure gap by delivering innovative regulated infra asset and instrument tokenization using artificial intelligence technology for trading and market making to unlock global liquidity."

Jos Evans, CEO, AiX said, "AiX is thrilled to be a part of this brave new world in finance. We are firm believers in the future of the security token ecosystem and will work tirelessly with the XinFin team to ensure the best execution for these new digital asset classes and products by using Bondsai to source institutional liquidity globally." About Bondsai: Bondsai is a full artificial intelligence broker that aims to replace the current antiquated broking & execution practices of voice brokers. Bondsai is capable of managing infinite amounts of data sources, while broking thousands of instruments simultaneously, works 24/7 and is hard coded with MIFID II best execution and regulatory code of ethics. About AiX: AiX and its artificial intelligence technology is disrupting traditional asset classes in the interdealer market. AiX provides a true best execution and price discovery through groundbreaking AI, connecting traders across markets and providing unprecedented insight and control. AiX makes trading simpler, smoother and more secure, boosting profits in the process. AiX has backing from major financial firms and has a team of experienced inter-dealer brokers. Through regulatory umbrella partnerships the team will be able to provide best execution to institutions in any regulated asset class. Ombrello Solutions is a trading name of Arian Financial LLP [FCA registration number 415230]  an established London based Inter-Dealer Broker which has been providing liquidity across all asset classes, in the Institutional market for 18 years. Website: https://AiXtrade.com About XinFin Network: XinFin is an open source Hybrid Blockchain protocol initiated out of Singapore. XinFin Network[XDCE] is a utility network that lets enterprises deploy real-world applications on the Hybrid Blockchain Protocol in a conducive, compliant, and regulation-friendly environment for diverse use cases in trade, finance, remittance, supply chain, healthcare, and other industrial areas to improve business efficiency. The XDC Dev Environment encourages developers to build DAPPs using smart contracts. The XinFin community derives its success from the ecosystem comprising of developers, network utility, and long-term backers. Website: https://www.xinfin.org View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aix-an-ai-fintech-firm-is-launching-bondsai---the-worlds-first-artificial-intelligence-bond-broker-setting-their-sights-on-disrupting-a-15-trillion-market-300824068.html SOURCE AiX

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Matco Tools Wireless Chargers Recalled by Professional Tool Products Due to Burn Hazard

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2019/Matco-Tools-Wireless-Chargers-Recalled-by-Professional-Tool-Products-Due-to-Burn-Hazard Recall Summary Name of Product: Matco Tools wireless chargers Hazard: The wireless chargers can overheat, posing a burn hazard. Remedy: Refund Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled chargers and return them to the place of purchase for either a full refund or Matco Tools store credit of equal value. Consumer Contact:

Professional Tool Products toll-free at 866-496-8423 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or online at www.professionaltoolproducts.com and click on "Product Recalls" for more information. Recall Details Units: About 4,800 in addition, about 200 were sold in Canada)



Description:

This recall involves Matco Tools brand wireless chargers. The recalled chargers are round and have "MATCO TOOLS" and the Matco logo printed on a black background in the center. They measure about 4 inches in diameter and  an inch in height and were sold with a USB connector cable. Incidents/Injuries: Professional Tool Products has received six reports of the chargers overheating, including two reports of burns to consumers' fingers.

Sold Exclusively At: Matco Tools mobile truck stores nationwide from November 2018 through January 2019 for about $25. Importer: Professional Tool Products LLC, of Travelers Rest, S.C. Manufactured in: China In Conjunction With: Canada Health Canada's press release is available at: http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2019/69358r-eng.php Footer This recall was conducted voluntarily by the company under CPSC's Fast Track Recall process. Fast Track recalls are initiated by firms, who commit to work with CPSC to quickly announce the recall and remedy to protect consumers. About U.S. CPSC:

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals  contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years. Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission. For more lifesaving information, follow us on Facebook, Instagram @USCPSC and Twitter @USCPSC or sign up to receive our e-mail alerts. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 or teletypewriter at 301-595-7054 for the hearing impaired. CPSC Consumer Information Hotline

Contact us at this toll-free number if you have questions about a recall:

800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054)

Times: 8 a.m.  5:30 p.m. ET; Messages can be left anytime

Call to get product safety and other agency information and to report unsafe products. Media Contact

Please use the phone numbers below for all media requests.

Phone: 301-504-7908

Spanish: 301-504-7800 Recall Number: 19-098 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/matco-tools-wireless-chargers-recalled-by-professional-tool-products-due-to-burn-hazard-300824081.html SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] UBS Private Wealth Advisor Michael Matthews, Named #2 in Washington State on Forbes List of 2019's Best-In-State Wealth Advisors

UBS Private Wealth Management has announced that Michael Matthews, a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager located in Bellevue, WA has been named #2 in Washington State on the Forbes list of Best-in-State Wealth Advisors for 2019. This is the third year that Michael has been named to the list. The Forbes ranking of America's Top Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative data, rating thousands of wealth advisors with a minimum of seven years of experience and weighing factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and best practices learned through telephone and in-person interviews. Portfolio performance is not a criteria due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes or SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for rankings. Michael has over 30 years of experience and is the founder of The Matthews Group at UBS. The Matthews Group consists of 14 financial service professionals. The team provides comprehensive wealth management for individuals, business owners, entrepreneurs, multi-generational families and retirees. "I'm very proud that Michael has received this recognition," said John Mathews, Head of Ultra High Net Worth Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management. "There were 3,000 advisors selected to the Best-In-Stat (News - Alert) Wealth Advisors list this year, and of the 52 selected from Washington State, he was ranked as being one of the very best. This award is well deserved and a testament to his professionalism and dedication to the needs of his clients."



For the full list and further information, please visit: https://www.forbes.com/best-in-state-wealthadvisors/#1f66298a291d Notes to Editors

UBS Global Wealth Management As the world's largest wealth manager, UBS Global Wealth Management provides comprehensive advice, solutions and services to wealthy families and individuals around the world. Clients who work with UBS benefit from a fully integrated set of wealth management capabilities and expertise, including wealth planning, investment management, capital markets, banking, lending and institutional and corporate financial advice. About UBS UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private clients in Switzerland. UBS' strategy is centered on our leading global wealth management business and our premier universal bank in Switzerland, enhanced by Asset Management and the Investment Bank. The bank focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital efficient, and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook. UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in 52 countries, with about 34% of its employees working in the Americas, 34% in Switzerland, 18% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 14% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG employs approximately 61,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).  UBS 2019. All rights reserved. The key symbol and UBS are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of UBS. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005731/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] SingPost to sell U.S. eCommerce businesses following strategic review

SINGAPORE, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore Post Limited ("SingPost") announced today that following a strategic review of its U.S. eCommerce businesses, it will commence a sale process of Jagged Peak and TradeGlobal. SingPost believes its strengths and strategic competitive advantages are in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific, which provides attractive growth opportunities. Mr Paul Coutts, Group Chief Executive Officer of SingPost, said: "Arising from the strategic review, we will step up our investment to better serve our home market in Singapore, as well as leverage our competitive advantages in Asia-Pacific." SingPost will make further announcements as appropriate on the exit. SingPost's non-U.S. business units will not be affected by the divestment. About Singapore Post Limited

For more than 160 years, Singapore Post (SingPost) as the country's postal service provider, has been delivering trusted and reliable services to homes and businesses in Singapore. Today, SingPost is pioneering and leading in eCommerce logistics as well as providing innovative mail and logistics solutions in Singapore and around the world, with operations in 19 markets. Building on its trusted communications through domestic and international postal services, SingPost is taking the lead in end-to-end integrated and digital mail solutions. The suite of SingPost eCommerce logistics solutions includes front end web management, warehousing and fulfilment, last mile delivery and international freight forwarding. About TradeGlobal

TradeGlobal, a subsidiary of Singapore Post Limited, is a leading end-to-end eCommerce provider, delivering best-in-class solutions to the world's most recognizable fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands. Unifying website development, digital marketing strategies, creative services, omnichannel order management, fulfillment, logistics and customer care across domestic and international boundaries, TradeGlobal provides the technologies and operations that empower businesses of all sizes to evolve and expand. For more information, visit www.tradeglobal.com.



About Jagged Peak

Jagged Peak, a subsidiary of Singapore Post Limited, is a global, end-to-end eCommerce solutions provider with software and services that enhance the scalability and profitability of omnichannel businesses. Its full-featured eCommerce Platform (ECP) and robust Order Management System (OMS) can be deployed alone or coupled with a Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Transportation Management System (TMS) to form a shop-to-ship, cloud-based software suite that integrates the entire order life cycle with visibility across business units and distribution channels. Combining this best-in-class technology with customer support, digital agency, fulfillment, merchant of record, cross-border and marketplace management services, Jagged Peak offers a uniquely holistic approach to eCommerce. For more information, visit www.jaggedpeak.com. Singapore Post

Shannon Lim

+65 9788 5238

[email protected]

Philip Lim

+65 9816 9395

[email protected] Jagged Peak

Kristine Champion

Marketing Director

+1 813-637-6900

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/singpost-to-sell-us-ecommerce-businesses-following-strategic-review-300823891.html SOURCE Singapore Post Limited

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] ATLATL Announces 2019 International Laboratory Ventilation Equipment Open

The Zhangjiang Life and Health Industry (Incubator) Alliance ("Alliance") has announced that it would host the "2019 Shanghai International Laboratory Ventilation Equipment Open" between July to September this year at the ATLATL Innovation Cluster, located at the heart of Zhangjiang High-Tech Park. The Zhangjiang Life and Health Industry (Incubator) Alliance was initiated by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and formally established on December 26, 2018 with over 20 life and health industry related enterprises and institutions, including the Shanghai Center of Biomedicine Development, 6 Dimensions Capital, Vp Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Platform, Vp Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Incubator, ATLATL Innovation Cluster, and China Healthcare Consulting. In December of last year, Dr. Tang Ming, Chairman and CEO of E3 Green Technology (Shanghai) Company, proposed the initiative to hold an international laboratory ventilation equipment open. In February of this year, E3 Green Technology, WALDNER Germany and Shanghai Dafeng Laboratory Equipment Company, jointly issued an open invitation to global colleagues in the laboratory ventilation equipment industry to participate in the "2019 Shanghai International Laboratory Ventilation Equipment Open" ("Open"). The purpose of the event is to "showcase advanced technologies, encourage innovation, promote laboratory safety and energy-efficiency." Participating teams can be organized as individual companies or a combination of companies with complementary technologies. Each team will build a model laboratory on the same scale and operate in accordance with the same room set-point requirements. The real-time safety and energy-efficiency results will be released globally for public viewing online. The Alliance is inviting relevant organizations and institutions to form an Organizational Committee and plan the event in a unified manner. At the same time, Professor Liu Dong, China's leading expert in the field of laboratory HVAC, and Mr. Chip Albright, former Chairman of SEFA and industry expert, will co-chair the event's Evaluation Committee, inviting experts from representative academic circles, design institutes and well-known enterprises to form the rest of the Evaluation Committee. Professor Ye Yang, Vice Director of the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy ofSciences, said: "The purpose of the Alliance is to further integrate the resources of Zhangjiang's Life Science Industry and create a life and health related innovation ecosystem with global influence. In the biomedical industry, the Zhangjiang area has the highest concentration of innovative enterprises and institutions in the nation. There are a large number of biomedical research and development laboratories that urgently need revolutionary technologies and products in the laboratory ventilation equipment industry to help solve the long-term problem of poor laboratory safety and energy-efficiency, and to protect the life safety and health of scientific researchers. The Alliance will make every effort to be a worthy organizer and we welcome enterprises with advanced technologies and products from all over the world to participate in the international open. We hope that this event will surprise the R&D workers in our laboratories and help raise the safety level of laboratories in China from the current backward state to an international leading level."



Dr. PC Zhu, General Manager of ATLATL Innovation Cluster, founded the first Class A shared laboratory workspace platform in Boston, U.S., a few years ago. It has since incubated a number of exceptional "unicorn companies" such as CRISPR, Editas, C4 Therapeutics, TCR2, CUE, Cristone, etc. Within one year, companies in the platform infused capital investments of over $5 billion. Within three years, five companies went IPO, elevating the notoriety of the platform within the life science industry. During his extensive survey visit of China in 2016, Dr. PC Zhu concluded that the current Chinese market has a greater need for a high-quality incubator platform. After nearly two years of preparation and construction, the ATLATL Innovation Cluster was launched, attracting many more "unicorn companies" in the industry. Dr. PC Zhu said that the ATLATL Innovation Cluster provides high-end laboratories and environments for first-class biomedical R&D projects. The primary standard for our laboratories is first-class safety on an international level. On the premise of safety, we then pursue comfort and energy-savings. I have visited and surveyed countless laboratories in China, including several top-ranking universities and national research institutes. Many of them have serious safety concerns. They have extremely strong odors, high cross-drafts, and doors that can't be pulled open due to improper pressurization. We should help revert this adverse situation as soon as possible. ATLATL is willing to contribute towards the promotion of laboratory safety, energy-efficiency and innovation for China and the world, so we will provide the Open's venue space for free for half a year to host the event. During the months of the competition, we will also organize a series of activities based on the theme of laboratory safety and energy-efficiency. ATLATL has more than just laboratory workspace, we also have elements of arts, cultures and humanities. As such, it will evolve into an innovation promoting cluster, and being one of the forefront advocates of laboratory safety and energy-efficiency will be fundamental to its growth.

Mr. Jiang Tao, General Manager of Vp Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Platform, expressed that the leaders of Zhangjiang Park regards the Open event as a top priority, with special instructions to extend utmost support and to ensure its success. Mr. Jiang said: "Although our Zhangjiang Pharma Valley Platform is also willing to host the event venue at no cost, Dr. Zhu's ATLATL Innovation Cluster is re-built on the former Dow Corning (News - Alert) China R&D headquarters, so its hardware and infrastructure are first-class on a world level. As such, we believe it may be more suitable as the Open event venue space. However, as long as we are able, we will do our best to provide support for other aspects of the Open event. We hope that this event will help promote many laboratories in the Zhangjiang Park, as well as laboratories all over the country, to reach a world-class level of safety and energy-efficiency." ["Atlatl" is a Nahuatl word that means "spear thrower", which enabled ancient hunters to throw farther and faster, eventually generating greater returns. ATLATL is innovation's spear thrower - to facilitate innovators' growth and enhance their ability to reach milestones more quickly than ever.] View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005766/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Best's Commentary: Blizzards, Heavy Rains and Melting Ice Produce Catastrophic Midwest Flooding

While heavy rains and rapid snowmelt have caused catastrophic flooding in Nebraska and other states along the Missouri River, a new AM Best commentary identifies those companies with the greatest exposure to this Midwest flooding. The Best's Commentary, "Blizzards, Heavy Rains and Melting Ice Produce Catastrophic Midwest Flooding," also breaks down the state level of participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Unfortunately, for example, fewer than 10,000 policies are in force in Nebraska for its nearly 2 million residents. The reports also notes that early published estimates of damage to infrastructure, private property and agriculture have exceeded $1 billion and have since been increased to as much as $3 billion, with that figure expected to increase even further. National and multinational insurers whose portfolios are diversified geographically should not be subject to losses that result in pressure on their capitalization, therefore AM Best does not expect rating pressure on those carriers. Smaller, single state, or regionally focused insurers whose portfolios feature a concentration of risks in the affected states however, could suffer proportionately larger losses. Less diversified companies could be affected materially, not only from a profit and loss perspective, but in terms of balance sheet strength as well. While property/casualty insurers will bear the cost of certain claims-submerged automobiles, lost livetock (cattle), and damages to heavy farm equipment-the vast majority of the damage to homes and personal property is expected to be uninsured. In all likelihood, the damage costs will again be absorbed by residents and business-owners, with state and local authorities likely bearing a portion of the cost to rebuild communities.



The states hit hardest by these floods-such as Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota-generally have NFIP insured rates of less than 1%, another reminder of the massive insured "protection gap" in the United States and the ineffectiveness of the current flood program. Federal flood maps are outdated in many cases so it is likely that prospective insureds did not have a true idea of their susceptibility to potential flood losses. Flood losses to business and vehicles, including business interruption claims, will likely generate the lion's share of the insurable losses from the storms. Losses to onshore commercial and industrial properties and their contents, along with insured commercial automobiles, are expected to be substantial, especially for companies with geographic concentrations in the affected states. Business interruption claims for commercial enterprises and, to a lesser extent, additional living expenses for covered residential property owners could also drive up the loss total for which primary insurance companies, and their reinsurers, will be liable.

AM Best will continue its ongoing dialogue with rated insurers and monitor developments as the situation evolves. To access the full copy of this commentary, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=284280. AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. Copyright  2019 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005781/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] New Ecommerce Fraud Publication Is First Ever Nexus for Merchants to Crowdsource Fraud Prevention Knowledge & Best Practices

TORONTO, April 3, 2019 CONTACT: New eCommerce fraud prevention publication entitled Merchant Fraud Journal launches; Will honest, hard-working online sellers finally have the insider knowledge and resources they need to protect themselves against cyber thieves? Research shows 90% of global consumers participate in digital commerce, but US eCommerce merchants alone lost $19 billion to fraudulent online orders in 2018. As online sellers continue to struggle with combating cyber fraud, the Merchant Fraud Journal, a new online publication dedicated to educating eCommerce merchants about how to better protect themselves against cyber thieves, has launched. <>The launch responds to a specific market need. Despite the global eCommerce market already being valued in the several trillions of dollars, no resource existed where eCommerce merchants, payment professionals, and other industry professionals could go to get educated on the myriad of challenges they face.



Merchant Fraud Journal was co-founded by two former fraud prevention industry professionals, at the forefront of using the "deep learning" AI currently powering eCommerce fraud protection models. "The technology and business process knowledge needed for online sellers to greatly reduce the impact of eCommerce fraud is scarcely available right now," one of the publication's co-founders said. "The problem is that it's typically siloed within each merchant's internal processes and isn't shared between merchants. Merchant Fraud Journal aims to bridge this gap by bringing industry professionals together to share their knowledge. Our goal is to help honest businesses quickly understand their security options and take action, so they can get back to focusing on their core business activities."

Merchant Fraud Journal is designed to be a resource of crowdsourced knowledge contributed by industry thought leaders and fraud prevention tool experts. Topics will include chargebacks, false positive declines, account takeover fraud, friendly fraud, data breaches and more. SOURCE Merchant Fraud Journal

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019]

Palomar Display Products, Inc. awarded a $40.7M US Army contract modification

CARLSBAD, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Palomar Display Products, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a $40,714,894 contract add-on modification to deliver gunner display systems for the M1 Abrams tank. The new total contract value is in excess of $78 million.

These optically coupled display systems have been designed, tested and qualified by Palomar Display Products, Inc. and over 6,000 of these particular units have been delivered to date to US and International customers.

"The recurring demand of our gunner's displays for the most advanced combat vehicle in the world reinforces Palomar's deep rooted position as the principal supplier of thermal sight displays for the US and International armored vehicle market," stated Palomar Display Products President Paul Bell. "Moreover, this cntract modification reiterates the importance of our decades long service and support we have been providing to our warfighting customers and user community worldwide."







Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Palomar Display Products, Inc. is a proven world leader in the development and manufacture of high-resolution tactical targeting displays that are installed on tens of thousands of armored vehicles worldwide.

Contact Information:

Palomar Display Products, Inc.

Zeev Kalansky, VP Business Development

Phone (760) 931-3289

5803 Newton Drive, suite C

Carlsbad, CA 92008

http://www.palomardisplays.com/



Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12762834



Press release distributed by PRLog

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/palomar-display-products-inc-awarded-a-40-7m-us-army-contract-modification-300824079.html

SOURCE Palomar Display Products, Inc.[April 03, 2019] Baozun Releases 2018 Chairman Letter

SHANGHAI, China, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dear Shareholders: We are glad to deliver another solid year, with our Gross Merchandise Value, or GMV, increasing by 54% year over year to RMB29.4 billion in 2018, outpacing the growth of the e-commerce industry in China, while we accelerated our brand acquisition to serve a broader portfolio of 185 brand partners by the end of 2018. Despite some uncertainties in Chinas macro environment, e-commerce is still growing at a healthy rate. In 2018, online retail sales of goods and services in China grew by 23.9% to RMB9.01 trillion, accounting for 23.6% of Chinas total retail market, according to Chinas National Bureau of Statistics. Already the largest e-commerce market in the world by far, China is poised to become the largest retail market in the world in 2019, edging out the United States. Online shopping is now integrated into the daily lives of Chinas consumers, and as Chinas leading brand e-commerce service provider, we believe Baozun is well positioned to further penetrate this market and provide best-in-class service to our brand partners. We are committed to delivering sustainable value to our brand partners through innovative, value-added solutions that meet their evolving needs. In our view, Baozun is setting a precedent for the next phase of the e-commerce revolution, where omni-channel operations, empowered by technology and data-driven digital marketing, work together seamlessly to significantly improve operating efficiencies and drive returns and growth. Let me offer thanks and congratulations to our brand and business partners, our fantastic software engineers, execution specialists, and our entire Baozun family, and especially to you, our shareholders, for helping make Baozun a winner again this year. 2018 Highlights Our motto for the coming years is Technology empowers future success. We believe our future success rests on technological innovation, and we are increasingly devoting resources towards expanding our technology infrastructure and hiring the best talent in the industry to drive future growth. Our Technology and Innovation Centers are currently focused on three areas  a Cloud-based System Plus that help brands set up their official brand stores and official brand WeChat Mini Programs; a Retail Operation Support System, or ROSS, with digital tools to improve efficiency and reduce costs; and an upgrade of our core e-commerce systems such as Order Management System, or OMS, and Warehouse Management System, or WMS. Seamlessly integrated with our e-commerce support systems, our proprietary Cloud-based System Plus enables efficient set-up of official brand stores and comprehensive customization to fulfill brands specific needs. We see growing demand for our Cloud-based System Plus as more premium brands leverage this sophisticated platform to establish their customized online presence with highly-customized features, maximum speed and efficiency. ROSS encompasses a series of modules that greatly increase the degree of automation and efficiency in online store operations, which helps us improve our own operating efficiency, reduce store maintenance costs, and enhances our ability to serve more brand partners. We demonstrated some of our cutting edge technologies at our third annual Global Brand Commerce Summit in Shanghai, including proprietary tools such as VOC, or voice of consumers, that helps our brand partners analyze consumer behavior, and an AI writer that improves labor efficiency. We continued to upgrade OMS, one of our core e-commerce systems, to OMS version 4.0, with improved functions to support omni-channel synchronization, customer experience optimization, order processing reliability and scalability, as well as integration with our Cloud-based System Plus. OMS4.0 greatly improves efficiencies in end-to-end e-commerce operations, including reducing labor costs. More importantly, our updatedOMS is key to our ability to expand our cooperation with more leading brand partners to further penetrate the brand e-commerce market and explore other addressable markets.



Our digital marketing is a strategic, high value-added service that deepens our cooperation with our brand partners and serves as an effective partner acquisition channel. As our industry increasingly recognizes our achievements, we have won awards including the 2018 Greater China Effie Awards, the 9th Tiger Awards and the Golden Mouse Awards, 2018 Marketing ROI Festival, all of which are pre-eminent awards in the industry and serve to increase our visibility in brand e-commerce and 4A level marketing, further helping us attract brand partners. Leveraging our industry leadership, advanced technology infrastructure and effective digital marketing capabilities, we have been able to accelerate customer acquisition. We added a net of 33 brand partners last year, taking our total to 185 brand partners by the end of 2018. We continue to onboard new brand partners, and we are confident that our long-term investments in technology will further reinforce our long-term competitive advantages and market leading position in Chinas brand e-commerce market.





Overall, we are glad to close the year with strong growth from existing brands and increasing contribution from newly-added brands, helping us grow our revenue 30% to RMB5.4 billion, of which service revenue grew more than 52% to RMB2.9 billion in 2018. Non-GAAP income from operations totaled RMB433.2 million in 2018, an increase of 37% from 2017, and non-GAAP net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of Baozun Inc. was RMB346.2 million, representing basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB6.11 and RMB5.79, respectively, compared with RMB4.95 and RMB4.55, respectively, for 2017. Key Strategies for 2019 Our proven success and reputation have attracted many brands to come to us. With our improved operating efficiencies, we now have the capacity to serve more of these brands. Im excited to say that our pipeline has never been stronger, and we will proactively extend our brand portfolio to achieve more balanced and sustainable growth. To execute our growth strategy, we reorganized our business structure during the first quarter of 2019 to add focus on e-commerce, supply chain logistics, and technology innovation: E-commerce group: A reorganized structure and precision segmentation We reorganized our business structure to focus on apparel, cosmetics, FMCG, and mother and baby categories, which we believe have strong growth potential going forward. In the future, we will emphasize the quality of our GMV by selecting brand categories with higher margin contributions to further strengthen our position as a market leader. Logistics and supply chain group We continued to expand our warehouse capacity in 2018 to address increasing demand from our brand partners. We also expanded our cooperation with third parties to broaden our logistics network, leveraging their resources to better serve our partners. We upgraded our WMS to version 4.0, which closely tracks flow of goods to ensure accurate and timely delivery of products and inventory, and is fully integrated with our core e-commerce systems, Cloud-based System Plus, and third-party couriers to support omni-channel synchronization. During the 2018 Singles Day, we began using customized picking robots in some of our warehouses to improve efficiency and increase fulfillment speed. We plan to further strengthen our value-added services to our brand partners, such as automated storage, intelligent sorting and retrieval, and highly efficient packing and delivery allocation. We also plan to expand our cooperation network with third parties to leverage their resources so that we can serve more customers and optimize our warehouse utilization. Technology and Innovation Center Technology is the DNA of our business, and one of our competitive advantages. Since the launch of our Technology and Innovation Center in 2017, we have established a talented team of over 800 IT engineers in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. We expect to harvest some of the innovations in the coming year while we will also continue to optimize our product offerings, pipeline, and monetization strategies. We are looking to improve the experience of our brand partners and customers and achieve breakthroughs in innovation. We remain committed to being one of Chinas best employers while seeking to attract the best talent as we build our team. We remain excited about the markets opportunities and expect to have a tremendous 2019, with your help and support. Thank you again for your support of Baozun. Sincerely,

Vincent Wenbin Qiu

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Baozun Inc. Safe Harbor Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target," "going forward," "outlook" and similar statements. For example, our statement about our expectations for Company performance in the first quarter and fiscal year 2019 is a forward-looking statement and is inherently uncertain. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions, and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. For example, the level of consumer economic activity in China could impact our sales results in unpredicted ways. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under law. About Baozun Inc. Baozun is the leading brand e-commerce service partner that helps brands execute their e-commerce strategies in China by selling their goods directly to customers online or by providing services to assist with their e-commerce operations. The Company's integrated end-to-end brand e-commerce capabilities encompass all aspects of the e-commerce value chain, covering IT solutions, store operations, digital marketing, customer services, warehousing and fulfillment. For more information, please visit http://ir.baozun.com For investor and media inquiries, please contact: Baozun Inc.

Ms. Wendy Sun

[email protected] Christensen

In China

Mr. Christian Arnell

Phone: +86-10-5900-1548

E-mail: [email protected] In U.S.

Ms. Linda Bergkamp

Phone: +1-480-614-3004

Email: [email protected]



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] First BanCorp. Announces Payment of Dividends on Preferred Stock

First BanCorp. (the "Corporation") (NYSE:FBP), the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, announced today that its Board of Directors has declared the following monthly cash dividends on its outstanding shares of Series A through E Noncumulative Perpetual Monthly Income Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock"):







Series Monthly Dividend Per Share Outstanding Shares Record Date Payment Date A $0.14843750 197,386 April 26, 2019 April 30, 2019 B $0.17395800 296,146 April 15, 2019 April 30, 2019 C $0.15416670 249,852 April 15, 2019 April 30, 2019 D $0.15104167 285,522 April 15, 2019 April 30, 2019 E $0.14583330 415,240 April 15, 2019 April 30, 2019

The Corporation's ability to continue to declare and pay dividends on the Preferred Stock is dependent on certain Federal regulatory considerations, including the guidelines of the Federal Reserve Board regarding capital adequacy and dividends and on the Corporation's agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the "Federal Reserve") to obtain regulatory approval to pay dividends to stockholders. Although there is no assurance that any dividends will be declared on the Corporation's Preferred Stock in any future periods, the Corporation intends to continue to request the Federal Reserve's approval to enable it to continue to pay the monthly dividends on its Preferred Stock. About First BanCorp. First BanCorp. is the parent corporation of FirstBank Puerto Rico, a state-chartered commercial bank with operations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Florida, and of FirstBank Insurance Agency, LLC. Among the subsidiaries of FirstBank Puerto Rico are First Federal Finance Limited Liability Company and First Express, Inc., both small loan companies, and FirstBank Puerto Rico Securities Corp., a broker-dealer subsidiary. First BanCorp's shares of common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FBP." Safe Harbor This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" concerning the Corporation. The words or phrases "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "look forward," "should," "would," "believes" and similar expressions are meant to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created by such sections. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Corporation's ability to declare dividends on the Corporation's Preferred Stock in any future periods and the Corporation's intention to request the Federal Reserve's approval to enable it to continue to pay the monthly dividends on its Preferred Stock once regulatory approvals expire. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans, estimates or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to the factors described in the Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K, in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in other filings with the SEC (News - Alert). The Corporation does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any "forward-looking statements" to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements, except as required by the federal securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005836/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Extron and Panopto Streamline Video Capture and Content Management

SEATTLE, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Extron, the leader in integrated AV solutions , and Panopto, the leading enterprise video platform provider, today announced a strategic partnership to seamlessly integrate Extron's configurable AV control systems with Panopto's media capture software and video content management system. For businesses and universities, the partnership will dramatically simplify the recording and management of presentations, lectures, and events. Starting today, Extron is making available certified drivers for its in-room control systems, which now integrate with Panopto's video capture software, enabling presenters to start and stop Panopto-compatible remote recorders with a single click. Second, in the coming months, Extron's SMP (Streaming Media Processors) will also be directly integrated with Panopto, enabling ad hoc and scheduled video streaming from SMP products through the Panopto video content management system. The integration will support live, scheduled and on-demand publishing workflows. "This is a very exciting time as Exton integrates solutions from our uniquely broad AV product portfolio with Panopto's powerful enterprise video streaming platform to provide robust turn-key video solutions for the modern classroom and meeting space," says Casey Hall, Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Extron. "Whether it be simple push-button control to hands-off, fully-automated streaming and recording for any environment, we are jointly taking media capture and management to a new level of simplicity for the industry."



"Extron and Panopto share a belief that AV technologies should simplify how organizations communicate and share knowledge," says Sean Gorman, Chief Operating Officer of Panopto. "With today's announcement, we're taking the next step toward that goal, bringing together Extron's room control hardware and expertise with the leading video platform for businesses and universities." The Extron-Panopto integration will provide the industry's first unified solution for AV control, media capture, video content management, and delivery.

For more information on Extron streaming media technologies, click here . About Panopto Panopto helps businesses and universities create searchable video libraries of their institutional knowledge. Since 2007, the company has been a pioneer in video content management systems, video capture software, and inside-video search technology. Today, Panopto's video platform is the largest repository of expert learning videos in the world. Headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Pittsburgh, Sydney, Hong Kong, and London, Panopto has received industry recognition for its innovation, rapid growth, and company culture. For more information, visit www.panopto.com . View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/extron-and-panopto-streamline-video-capture-and-content-management-300824306.html SOURCE Panopto

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Discover Financial Services Announces 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) plans to host its 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders at its headquarters in Riverwoods on Thursday, May 16, 2019, at 9:00 a.m. Central time. Live audio of the meeting will be available on Discover's corporate website at https://investorrelations.discover.com. Presentation slides will be available shortly before the beginning of the meeting. A replay of the meeting will be available after 2 p.m. Central time on May 16, 2019. <> About Discover



Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its direct banking business. It operates the Discover Global Network comprised of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 190 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005891/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][April 03, 2019] Second Lady Karen Pence to Visit NASA's Johnson Space Center

HOUSTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Second Lady Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, will visit NASA's Johnson Space Center on Friday, April 5, to complete a Sister Cities International gift exchange with representatives from Houston and its Sister City, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). News media are invited to attend the gift exchange ceremony at 12:30 p.m. CDT Friday in Johnson's Space Vehicle Mockup Facility where astronauts train for voyages to the International Space Station and soon, to the Moon. On Friday, Mrs. Pence will present Abu Dhabi's gift, a three-dimensional sculpture entitled "The Constellation," to Houston City Council Member Jack Christie near the mockup of the Orion capsule being developed as the spacecraft for a new generation of explorers to the Moon and on to Mars. The facility is used to train astronauts for missions to the International Space Station an soon, to the Moon. H.E. Falah Al Ahbabi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, presented the sculpture to Mrs. Pence, the Honorary Vice Chairwoman of Sister Cities International, in a March 13 ceremony t the Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi, UAE.



At the same ceremony, Mrs. Pence presented Abu Dhabi with a letter and a gift of a framed postcard featuring the "First Manned Moon Landing" on behalf of the Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. The gift highlights the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969, and recognizes the interest and dedication UAE is showing in the development of its space program. Mark Geyer, director of NASA Johnson Space Center, and Vanessa Wyche, deputy director of Johnson, and astronaut Randy Bresnik will be present to share Johnson's role in human exploration with Mrs. Pence and about a dozen Sister Cities guests.

U.S. media wishing to attend the ceremony must request credentials from the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than noon Thursday, April 4. The deadline for foreign media has passed. Television media should plan to arrive at Johnson no later than 11 a.m. to allow time for badging. Other media should arrive at the badging office no later than 11:30 a.m. Media will be escorted from the Johnson Security Office, Bldg. 110, adjacent to the center's main gate off NASA Road 1. Learn more about NASA, the International Space Station, and the plans to return America to the Moon at: https://www.nasa.gov/ NASA Johnson Space Center news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to [email protected] In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes). This will add the email address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list. The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/second-lady-karen-pence-to-visit-nasas-johnson-space-center-300824382.html SOURCE NASA

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]7 new movies and shows this weekend on Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon and more

Our guide on what to watch this weekend and all the new movies and shows on Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon and more streaming servicesThe Moto G7 Power is an Android phone that delivers amazing battery life and solid performance for a very affordable price.

The Moto G7 Power is an Android phone that delivers amazing battery life and solid performance for a very affordable price.

The Moto G7 Power delivers two things you should care about: very long battery life and a cheap price. One of the best Android phones for the money, this $249/180 phone boasts a high-capacity, 5,000-mAh battery. In fact, this is one of the longest running phones in the last few years.

Although you have to accept some trade-offs to get those several extra hours of endurance, don't be fooled by this phone's bargain price. Although a newer Moto G Power is on the way, the Moto G7 Power is one of the best phones for those on a budget and is easily one of the best cheap phones available.

Moto G7 Power specs



Moto G7 Power Moto G7 Moto G7 Play Price $249/180 $299/240 $199/130 Screen Size (Resolution) 6.2-inch LCD (1512 x 720) 6.2-inch LCD (2270 x 1080) 5.7-inch LCD (1512 x 720) OS Android 9 Pie Android 9 Pie Android 9 Pie Processor Snapdragon 632 Snapdragon 632 Snapdragon 632 RAM 3GB 4GB 2GB Storage 32GB 64GB 32GB Rear Camera 12 MP 12 MP/5 MP 13 MP Front Camera 8 MP 8 MP 8 MP Battery 5,000 mAh 3,000 mAh 3,000 mAh Size 6.3 x 3 x 0.37 inches 6.1 x 3 x 0.31 inches 5.9 x 2.8 x 0.32 inches Weight 6.9 ounces 6.1 ounces 5.3 ounces Color Marine Blue Ceramic Black, Clear White Starry Black, Deep Indigo

Moto G7 price and availability

Like the $299/240 Moto G7 and $199/130 G7 Play, the $249/180 G7 Power is available unlocked and set up to support all wireless networks in the U.S. That includes CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint, as well as GSM-based ones like AT&T and T-Mobile. You can get the Moto G7 Play at Amazon and Best Buy.

As of April 29, the Moto G7 Power is offered in-store at T-Mobile and the Uncarrier's prepaid subsidiary, Metro by T-Mobile. It retails for $237.50, which breaks out into $9.50 a month if you opt for an estimated installment plan over 24 months.

The Moto G7 Power comes in just one color, Marine Blue, and one configuration, containing 32GB of built-in storage and 3GB of RAM. You can expand that through the use of a microSD card for up to another 512GB of space for apps, games and media.

Design: Big with a notch

Motorola has given all of its latest G-series handsets the notch treatment. But unlike the regular Moto G7, with its teardrop design, the G7 Power adopts a more conventionally styled notch, with the earpiece and selfie camera front and center  similar to what you'd find on one of Apple's latest iPhones.

The only problem with this look is that it's hardly original. Increasingly, phones have notches like the one Motorola bestowed on the G7 Power. Couple that awkward design with the G7 Power's rather noticeable bottom bezel and body clad in glossy plastic, and you're left with a phone that tries and fails to conceal its budget roots.

It doesn't help that the G7 Power is also very big, with its 6.2-inch display and a slightly thicker frame to haul around that beefy, 5,000-mAh battery. There's still a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack up top so you can use a good old-fashioned pair of headphones.

However, Motorola unfortunately hasn't added true IP-rated water resistance or near-field communication to any device in the G7 range, so this phone feels a bit dated, even at its low price.

Display: Colorful, but not the sharpest

The G7 Power trades the 6.2-inch, full-HD+ LCD display in the regular Moto G7 for a slightly lower-resolution panel with the same dimensions. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a massive issue for such an inexpensive handset, but because the G7 Power's screen is no smaller than the G7s, those missing pixels tend to make their presence known rather quickly.

The display on this $249/180 variant measures 1570 x 720, which translates to about 279 pixels per inch. That's great for energy efficiency but not quite so good for the appearance of on-screen content. Text and icons can't help but look a hair jagged on the G7 Power, though the farther you hold the phone away from your eyes, the less noticeable the effect.

If you can see past the resolution deficit, this is still a display you'd be happy to use to watch anything.

Motorola might be stretching those pixels a bit wider than we'd like, but at least the G7 Power's color reproduction and brightness didn't leave much to be desired. The handset covered 123 percent of the sRGB color space and notched a Delta-E accuracy score of 0.35 in our testing. Those are respectable numbers for a budget-priced LCD-toting smartphone. In fact, both are nearly dead-even with the pricier Moto G7 and its showings of 135 percent and 0.34, respectively. (For Delta-E, closer to zero is better.)

However, the G7 Power really impressed in its brightness. At 558 nits on the max setting, this member of Motorola's midrange family totally outshone the pricier G7 and its 445 nits. All that extra light coming through the display makes a big difference outdoors on a sunny day, when dimmer screens make reading text a struggle. In those scenarios, we'd definitely rather take the Power than its siblings.

And truthfully, if you can see past the resolution deficit, this is still a display you'd be happy to use to watch anything. I fired up Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse and jacked the G7 Power's color profile up to Saturated to really make those juicy comic book hues pop. The searing neon lights of Times Square were the perfect backdrop for the web slinger's antics, and as I shifted the device in my hand from side to side, those colors stayed remarkably consistent.

Cameras: Good enough for the price

On the back of the G7 Power is one 12-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 aperture. It's not quite the same as the f/1.8, 12-MP sensor in the regular G7, but in practice, the G7 Power produces images that are very, very similar. In fact, in the sub-$300 budget segment, it's actually the best camera phone we've tested.

What G7 Power does lack, however, is a secondary 5-MP shooter to enable depth-of-field effects. However, this isn't a terribly huge absence either, because the Moto G7's shallow depth-of-field portraits and bokeh aren't all that impressive, as is the case with many other budget phones' dual-lens systems.

For those reasons, I came away reasonably pleased with the G7 Power's performance against its more expensive sibling. This shot of buildings hovering over New York City's Bryant Park looks pretty much identical in the two G7 models, even though the standard G7 costs $50 more.

Inside the park, the G7 Power compares favorably against one of our favorite camera phones for the money, the Nokia 7.1. Like other Motorola handsets of the past, the G7 Power does get a bit overzealous with the saturation; Bryant Park's iconic fountain isn't quite as red as the device would lead you to believe. That said, there really isn't much difference between these phones' photos, even though the Nokia 7.1 costs $100 more than the Motorola.

The G7 Power really struggles in portraits and bokeh, however. Because the phone has only one rear-facing lens, the device needs to rely on software, not optics, to blur the background.

Some high-end devices, like the Pixel 3 and iPhone XR, can accomplish software-based bokeh without a noticeable drop in quality. However, Motorola's computational photography isn't quite up to that level, and that leads to unwelcome artifacts and inconsistent blurring on the edges of my colleague Shaun's face. Additionally, Nokia's handset just does a much better job picking up those finer details in Shaun's face, as well as his skin tone.

Finally, the G7 Power's 8-MP front-facing camera also seems pretty much the same as the one in the G7. Problem is, it's not a particularly great shooter for selfies, as its shots are often noisy and just blurry enough that they always seem slightly out of focus. The Nokia 7.1, with its impressive dynamic range, more-accurate white balance and superior sharpness, easily takes the win here.

Performance: Solid, just not for gamers

The Snapdragon 632 system-on-chip and the 3GB of RAM in the G7 Power are sufficient for ordinary duties, like web browsing, navigation and social media. Just don't expect this phone to handle demanding games

The G7 Power plainly wasn't up to the task when I dove into PUBG Mobile. Even on the battle-royale shooter's lowest graphical settings and with the frame rate set to prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity, the experience was still jerky, which made it difficult for me to pick off enemy combatants.



F1 Mobile Racing ran much more consistently, though again at remarkably low settings. In fact, the resolution was so low and track-side scenery and lighting were so sparse that it looked worse than a PlayStation 2 game.

The culprit is the phone's Adreno 506 GPU. It's an old chip that can't keep pace with its modern contemporaries, in phones such as the Nokia 7.1. And it very clearly demonstrated its limits during 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited graphical benchmark, in which the G7 Power managed only 14,802. Some budget phones, including Nokia's, actually max this test.

Fortunately, Geekbench 4's overall test of system performance proved to be much more the G7 Power's forte. There, the inexpensive handset delivered a score of 4,485  nearly 400 points behind the Moto G7's mark and around 500 behind that of the pricier, more powerful, Snapdragon 636-equipped Nokia 7.1.

Battery Life: The new cheap phone champ

Up to this point, the G7 Power probably seems like a totally serviceable, if uninspiring budget phone. And that conclusion would be mostly accurate; in fact, it's the same impression we came away with regarding the regular G7.

The G7 Power's astonishing battery life is the primary reason to buy this phone.

However, the G7 Power happens to have an ace up its sleeve  one the other Moto models don't  in its 5,000-mAh battery. And it's this battery that propelled the phone to an astonishing 15 hours and 35 minutes of endless web-page streaming over T-Mobile's LTE network in our testing. This runtime makes the Moto G7 Power the longest-lasting phone we've tested in the last two years.

For those keeping count, that's 7 hours longer than the 8 hours and 50 minutes the standard G7 granted us and more than twice as long as the 7 hours and 41 minutes from the Nokia 7.1, which costs $100 more than the G7 Power. And it's that endurance  especially in an era when it seems like phones are lasting less and less time on a charge  that makes the G7 Power stand apart from the budget crowd.

The G7 Power's battery life is the primary reason you should want this phone. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the amount of time it takes to top that battery back up. Even with Motorola's included TurboPower USB Type-C adapter, the G7 Power managed to get to only 29 percent capacity after 30 minutes of being plugged in.

Software: Plain and simple

Motorola has set a precedent for supporting its handsets with a quality, pure Android experience, and the G7 Power is no different.

The G7 Power ships with Android 9 Pie installed but will see one major update to Android Q over its life span. While Motorola hasn't fussed with Google's stock software experience, the manufacturer has given the G7 Power a number of extra features and shortcuts via the appropriately named Moto app.

In that app, you'll find options for gesture controls, old favorites like chopping to trigger the flashlight and twisting for the camera, and the always-on Moto Display feature, which elegantly serves up notifications and alerts even while the phone is in a low-power, sleep state. Moto Display was one of the first always-on interfaces on a smartphone, and even though it hasn't really changed in years, it's still just as convenient and useful today.

Bottom line

The G7 Power is not a flashy device. For the most part, it's a fine option for a cheap phone, with performance that's serviceable (so long as you don't game) and a software experience and selection of features that are among the finest in its class.

For $249/180, that's fine. But the G7 Power stands apart in one big way: battery life. It's this handset's claim to fame, and it's a factor that shouldn't be overlooked. Consider that the $299/240 Moto G7 really struggled with longevity on a charge and that for $50 less, the G7 Power provides an alternative that is almost the same in every way that matters while also lasting a lot longer on a charge.

For my money, I'd skip the regular G7's frivolous features, save $50 and go for the G7 Power. The peace of mind of having a phone that lasts an eternity is worth it. While the Nokia 7.1 offers a more premium design and better camera if you have more to spend, anyone chiefly concerned about battery life and looking for a device under $300 needn't look further than the G7 Power.

Credit: Tom's Guide(Image credit: VCG/VCG/Getty Images)

Fire inside a scrap metal container set off an explosion Sunday, outside the Kunshan, China manufacturing plant of Taiwanese manufacturer Waffer Technology Corporation, as reported by Reuters. Waffer is known for its fine magnesium casings for things such as graphics coolers, notebook and other device cases and automotive components. Seven people died and five more were injured in the aftermath.

Though the company expects April revenue to drop by up to 50 percent, the long term outlook for the plants workers remains somewhat uncertain as investigators have not yet allowed it to be reopened.

The news follows in the heels of a similarly devastating chemical plant explosion less than 200 miles away in Yancheng on March 21 in which 78 people died. As such, Beijing has stated that it will launch a month-long, nation-wide inspection campaign regarding transportation and safety of companies handling hazardous chemicals and mining materials.Kansas City's best political cartoonist explains a recent trend of papers dumped without explanation and how urban core residents can address this phenomena in the last days of legacy media. Take a look:Celebrate Kansas City Flower Power

After A Fire Destroyed 7,000 Of His Plants, Kansas City's Orchid Grower Comes Out Of His Cave David Bird never gets bored with his plants. Orchids, he notes, are the largest family of blooming plants on Earth, with almost 30,000 species. He's been hooked ever since a family trip to Hawaii in 1978, when he bought five Dendrobium orchids.

Fear Sunken Sunflower State???

More Than Half Of Kansas Is At Risk For Flooding This Spring Major flooding on stretches of the Missouri River from Nebraska and Iowa through Kansas and Missouri resulted in several breached levees and significant damage to cities, towns, and farmland in March. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the threat of even more flooding isn't over yet.

Show-Me Today's Tax Beef

COOKIE MONSTER CAPTURED IN KCK!!!

Thief caught trying to steal truck loaded with cookie dough in KCK KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Police arrested the driver who tried to steal a truck filled with cookie dough Wednesday. Kansas City Cold Storage said the truck belongs to them, and someone broken into the truck and stole it while the driver ran inside to grab paperwork. The driver left the vehicle running.

Cowtown Needs Snow Help

KCMO and public works association work together KANSAS CITY, Mo. - This winter's weather took a toll on streets around Kansas City, Missouri. First drivers had to find which roads were plowed; and once the snow melted, drivers had to dodge a multitude of potholes.

KC Front Porch Presser

Union Station Set To Add Soaring Sculpture To Kansas City's Downtown Skyline Union Station is set to add a shape-shifting display the downtown skyline this summer with a huge floating sculpture described as jaw-dropping by one observer who knows a bit about art. "When you see this sculpture fly, you'll believe in magic," said Tony Jones, the president of the Kansas City Art Institute, who saw a similar work by the artist in downtown Los Angeles.

Kansas City Royals Already DEEP Discounting This Rebuilding Season

Attend every home Royals game this season for $29.99 per month KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- The Royals are offering a new deal to get fans out to Kauffman Stadium this season. The team has partnered with MLB Ballpark app to help fans attend as more home games this season at a discounted rate. For $29.99 per month, fans get a ticket to every regular season home game.

Bloggers lament that hottieshould bebut the reality is that social media "influence" is mostly just corporate pay-for-play; denizens of the open Internet and the real world alike should never let their phones dictate their perception of reality. Checkit:Closer to home, we dive right into these news links . . .And this is thefor right now . . .Kansas City Urban Core Biz Confronts Crime With Neighborhood Support

Community rallies behind Chris Goode after overnight Ruby Jean's break-in Chris Goode isn't angry, the Ruby Jean's founder said after an overnight break-in left shattered glass and an empty cash register at his juicery and kitchen on Troost. "When trials come, maintain the faith and just keeping pressing forward," Goode said. "People responded to that message pretty quickly.

Golden Ghetto Addicts In Training

Blue Valley School District says vaping is 'epidemic' in classrooms OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Blue Valley School District officials say they are having a problem with students vaping at school. The problem is so severe that school officials are calling it an "epidemic." "Students have been caught vaping in classes, in our hallways, in our bathrooms," said David Stubblefield, Blue Valley's executive director of school administration.

Rock Chalk Discovery But No Confirmation From Original Flat Earth Inhabitants

KU researchers have possibly uncovered the day dinosaurs died LAWRENCE, KS (KCTV) -- A team of researchers at the University of Kansas have dug up some important clues to Earth's history. For years, a team of university paleontologists have been working at a site in North Dakota. They believe what they found helps explain what happen to the dinosaurs and published their findings this week.

Golden Ghetto Doggie Tribute

GOOD DOG! Overland Park police K-9 Gus to retire Facebook: Overland Park Police Department SOURCE: Facebook: Overland Park Police Department A very, very good boy has earned his retirement -- the Overland Park Police Department says one of its K-9s is hanging up his collar.In a post on Facebook, the department said Gus, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois born in the Netherlands, will soon be retiring.Police said Gus is a dual purpose police service dog, meaning he helps with patrol work like tracking suspects and searching buildings and open areas, in addition to sniffing out narcotics.

Cowtown Talk Therapy Testimony

StoryCorps In Kansas City - Finding A Life That Is 'Enough' KCUR is part of StoryCorps' One Small Step initiative to bring together people of differing political opinions for real conversations. This is one we've chosen to highlight. Joanna Berkebile and Stacey Todd have lived very different lives. Berkebile intentionally set down roots in Kansas City, working as a realtor.

Uptick For Alex?!?!

Kansas City Royals: Alex Gordon sets interesting MLB Record Walks, bean balls, and poor play by the Chicago White Sox all contributed to Alex Gordon's record. It is a record nonetheless. The Kansas City Royals are looking at alternative ways get on base and to score runs. No one has talked about this strategy. Seriously though, Gordon may be on to something for himself.

Sprinkles For Kansas City Midweek

Spotty showers possible Wednesday afternoon with rounds of rain overnight Thursday afternoon will be dry into a warm Friday.

With respect to hottie. . . Once again we turn to the panty game to figure out our place in the world of so many consumer products without nearly as much promise, even on a bad day. Take a peek:Closer to home, these are the news links we're checking right now . . .is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now . . .30 PERCENT DROP

Kansas City Election Board: 19.05%

Platte County: 16.04%

Clay County: 13.34%

16.1% Average

FACTOR IN THE NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS AND TURNOUT FOR THE KCMO VOTE WAS A MERE 6% AT BEST!!!

Life Lesson: Taxes Are Too High

Voters turn down mayor's early childhood education sales tax Kansas City voters rejected a pre-kindergarten education plan that would have been funded by a new 3/8-cent sales tax. The margin was almost two to one. The plan was heavily promoted by Mayor Sly James, who admitted he was frustrated with the outcome.

Low Rent Democracy Will Power Big Bucks In Upcoming Contracts

Results of KC and Lee's Summit school board elections | The Kansas City Star These are the 10 candidates who sought sub-district Kansas City school board seats (from left, starting with top row). Sub-district 1: Rita Marie Cortes and Matthew Steven Oates. Sub-district 2: Nathaniel (Nate) Hogan. Sub-district 3: Manuel (Manny) R. Abarca IV. Sub-district 4: Clinton Adams, Marvia Jones, Ibrahim Ramsey and DeMonte Rochester.

Suburban Upset

Blue Springs voters turn out council incumbent Galen Ericson on Tuesday was elected to the Blue Springs City Council, beating incumbent Dale Carter and Scott Casey in District 1. Incumbents Chris Lievsay and Susan Culpepper will join him, returning to their seats, Culpepper having run unopposed.The race for the District 1 seat was the most highly contested, with Ericsson earning 627 votes, 41.55 percent of the total turnout, with Carter at 34.99 percent, or 528 votes.

Golden Ghetto Against Pet Reprieve

OP council votes down pet day care over noise concerns The Overland Park City Council on Monday denied a permit to a proposed pet day care that had neighbors expressing concerns.

STL Aftermath Resonates

Michael Brown's mother defeated in Ferguson council race FERGUSON, MO (AP) - Michael Brown's mother has been defeated in her bid for a seat on the City Council in Ferguson, Missouri, where her son died in a police shooting that helped give rise to the national Black Lives Matter movement. Lesley McSpadden lost Tuesday in a three-way race in Ferguson's 3rd Ward.

Doggie Democracy On Outskirts

Liberty Won't Ban Pit Bulls Any Longer, And Parkville's Parks To See More Taxpayer Money Northland voters repealed a pit bull ban and agreed to one of two sales tax increase in Tuesday's municipal elections. Here's a breakdown of what passed and what didn't. Clay County Liberty is now the 24th city in Missouri to repeal its pit bull ban, a topic that's proved controversial across the country.

End Game

Justus, Lucas advance in Kansas City's mayoral race on June 18 FAIRWAY, KS (KCTV) -- From 11 candidates, to now just two -- Kansas City voted and now has its candidates for mayor. Councilwoman Jolie Justus, 48, and Councilman Quinton Lucas, 34, have secured the top spots to vie for the city's top office. Mayor Sly James was term-limited and will leave the city's top post in July.

Just as our TKC Blog Community predicated, voters mostly stayed away from Kansas City election politics.Even among the official numbers from the KCEB, the latest election resulted in around afrom the so-called "Blue Wave" vote. Remember that in Nov. 2018 a nationwide Democratic Party full court press resulted in 50% local turnout.Last night's official turnout numbers . . .However . . .Putting all of the data together, pollsters reveal they haven't seen the public so disinterested in Mayoral politics since the Cleaver Vs. Cofran contest of 1995.Even a walk on local streets revealed that very few people knew or cared about the vote despite nearly blanket local MSM coverage.Moreover, the trend is clear . . . With no Mueller report and the public growing more distrustful of election hype . . . Voters are turning away from their local polling stations.And so we offer more than a few election leftovers that deserve a peek for most of our neighbors who were more likely to spend last night playing video games than exercising their right to vote.Developing . . .The McLaren Grand Tourer Is All But Ready to Debut

McLaren says it will be the most practical mid-engined supercar on the marketSilver Airways is returning to Bar Harbor, Maine for the peak summer season with daily nonstop service between Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport (BHB) and Bostons Logan International Airport (BOS) from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

Silver Airways is returning to Bar Harbor, Maine for the peak summer season with daily nonstop service between Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport (BHB) and Bostons Logan International Airport (BOS) from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.

During last years summer season, Silver Airways carried out an impressive 100 percent controllable completion factor, as well as arrivals well over 80 percent on the Bar Harbor  Boston route.

Again this year, the flight schedule is designed to conveniently connect to Silvers numerous codeshare and interline partners in Boston to over 75 destinations across the U.S. and beyond, including 27 of the most important airports via Silvers codeshare with JetBlue to the northeast corridor, Florida and California.

To celebrate the resumption of the summer service between Bar Harbor and Boston operating May 23  September 3, 2019, Silver is offering fares from $89* for travel Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as fares from $120 for daily travel available at silverairways.com for a limited time and for ticketing before April 15, 2019.

Mainer and New Englander travelers welcomed Silver Airways with open arms last summer and we are so excited to be kicking off Silvers Bar Harbor  Boston service even earlier this summer, said Silver Airways CEO Steve Rossum. On behalf of the hardworking men and women of Silver Airways, we couldnt be more thrilled to deliver yet another season of safe, exceptional operational performance for business and leisure travelers flying between Bar Harbor and Boston and beyond.

We are very excited to have Silver Airways back in 2019 serving our community and our visitors from all over the world! said Brad Madeira, Airport Manager County of Hancock, Maine. We had a phenomenal first season with Silver last year and are expecting that even more people will discover all that Silver has to offer this year, including their safe and reliable service, affordable fares, and the convenience of connecting with Silvers codeshare and interline partner airlines in Boston, making flying to Downeast Maine the very best way to get to and from here!

The Bar Harbor  Boston route will be operated with Silvers fleet of 34-seat Saab 340B Plus aircraft.

Silver Airways Bar Harbor (BHB)  Boston (BOS) service effective May 23  September 3, 2019:

Departure Arrival Flight # Stops Frequency Boston  Bar Harbor 11:00 am 12:10 pm 148 0 Daily except Sat/Sun Boston  Bar Harbor 12:00 pm 1:10 pm 148 0 Sat/Sun Boston  Bar Harbor 4:00 pm 5:10 pm 149 0 Daily Bar Harbor  Boston 8:45 am 10:00 am 147 0 Daily except Sat/Sun Bar Harbor  Boston 10:00 am 11:15 am 147 0 Sat/Sun Bar Harbor  Boston 2:00 pm 3:15 pm 148 0 Daily

Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Travel industry news and trends. Subscribe

 2021 Travel Industry WireThis summer, theres even more excitement to be had on the range, as Ranch Rider will be offering complementary rodeo and art gallery tickets to guests of the Colorado Cattle Company



(TRAVPR.COM) UK - April 2nd, 2019 -

This summer, theres even more excitement to be had on the range, as Ranch Rider will be offering complementary rodeo tickets to this years Greeley Stampede Rodeo (01 - 07 July), and free tickets to the 20th Annual Stampede Western Invitational Art Exhibit & Sale (23 - 30 June) to guests of the Colorado Cattle Company.

Tony Daly, Managing Director at Ranch Rider comments, At the award winning Colorado Cattle Company, there are daily opportunities to work the herd and the on-site Cowboy School is the perfect place to earn your spurs in horsemanship, roping and team penning. Off the trail you can be assured of true 'city slicker' comfort, as the facilities include an indoor heated swimming pool, sauna, hot tub and saloon.

Known as Colorados premiere summer western celebration, the Greeley Stampede Rodeo will celebrate its 98th year in 2019. Aside from complementary tickets and transportation to the event for three nights, guests of the Colorado Cattle Company will also receive EXCLUSIVE Behind the Chutes access on a tour hosted by rodeo officials. SAVE 420pp in July: Six nights from only 1,370pp (no single supplement) including accommodation, meals, ranch activities (including riding), use of ranch facilities and taxes. Transfers available from Denver for only 50pp (based on two people). Excludes return flight from 859pp.

The 20th Annual Stampede Western Invitational Art Exhibit & Sale features the original works of 46 artists. Guests of the Colorado Cattle Company will enjoy a special tour, free admission to the gala event on Tuesday 25 June and an exclusive meet and greet with the artists on the 24th. Complementary transportation will be available for guests of the Colorado Cattle Company along with 50% savings on the shipping cost of any artwork (complete with artists personal signature) purchased. SAVE 300pp in June: Six nights from only 1,490pp (no single supplement)including accommodation, meals, ranch activities (including riding), use of ranch facilities and taxes. Transfers available from Denver for only 50pp (based on two people). Excludes return flight from 859pp.

-ends-

Ranch Rider (01509 618 811). ATOL PROTECTED No 4660 ABTA 96395/V9150.

###shalender@tribune.com

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 2

The fall in apparel exports has compelled the region-based exporters, especially from Punjab and Haryana, to look towards new and emerging markets. They are eyeing markets that have seen an extraordinary year-on-year increase in demand for Indian apparels in the past two years. These countries include the US, UK, Japan, Chile and Israel.

Overall, exports in these markets have risen between 23 and 51%. According to exporters, the demand from key import markets such as the Middle-East, France, Sri Lanka and Sudan has been continuously on the decline in the recent months. The exports suffered a negative growth between 16 and 49%.

The problem is further compounded by increasing competition from other exporting nations such as Cambodia and Bangladesh which enjoy low labour costs than India.

There has been consistent decline in traditional markets like France, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and Sudan. Having received setback, the exporters are eyeing new markets like the US, Japan, the UK and Israel, said Harish Dua, managing director of Ludhiana-based KG Exports.

Major apparel hubs in the northern region are in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Panipat, Gurugram and Noida. Apparel clusters in the three northern states employ over two million workers. Around 200 textile exporters are based out of Punjab and Haryana alone.

Tamil Nadu is Indias biggest apparel exporter, followed by Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Punjab. These five states account for over 92% of Indias apparel exports. The major exporting countries are the US, the EU (mostly Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands), the UK, and the UAE. These four markets import 75% of Indias apparel exports.

The apparels exported to these countries are mainly made of cotton, synthetic and polyester. Cotton and synthetic are domestically produced whereas the demand for polyester is met by domestic manufacturers as well as through import.

According to ICRA, Indias apparel exports are estimated to de-grow by 4-5% in FY2019, following a similar de-growth of 4% in FY 2018 and modest growth rates of 1% and 3% in FY2016 and FY2017, respectively.

Though the exporters are targeting new countries, India has not been able to capitalise on the opportunity, mainly because of cost advantage enjoyed by Bangladesh and Vietnam, said Narinder Chugh, managing director of Ludhiana-based Million Exporter (P) Ltd. According to Drip Capital, some policy changes and interventions could give boost to the sector it needs. As India cant compete on labour costs, the focus should be on expanding schemes for tech upgrades and introducing more policies that incentivise apparel exporters to upgrade technology.pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Mumbai, April 3

The government and the Reserve Bank will have to bring in a new set of regulations to ensure that borrowers repay their debt on time following the Supreme Court striking down an earlier rule of the monetary authority, Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.

Amidst a rash of announcements over income support schemes, the bureaucrat also stressed on the need to ensuring higher growth to fund such dole-outs.

With the Supreme Court striking down (the February 12, 2018 RBI circular on NPAs) as ultra vires, the issue needs to be relooked by both the RBI and government to arrive at a new regulation that will ensure that financial discipline from borrowers should continue, he told reporters.

Speaking on the sidelines of a conference of the world federation stock exchanges here, Kant said such a move ensuring timely repayment and resolution of stressed assets is essential for long-term growth.

Kant said a lot of work has been done by the government and the RBI to bring in financial discipline and good regulation to end crony capitalism.

In what is being seen as a jolt to the bad assets resolution framework, the Supreme Court Tuesday quashed the stringent RBI circular which mandated banks to recognise even one-day defaults and finding a resolution within 180 days failing which the account in question has to be sent to bankruptcy courts if it is Rs 2,000 crore and above.

The unexpected ruling by a single judge bench of Rohinton Nariman has put a big question mark on the resolution of 70 large accounts which together owe the system over Rs 3.8 lakh crore.

The ruling came on a petition filed by 34 power companies which alone owe Rs 2.3 lakh crore to banks.

Legal and industry experts have voiced concern over the order, stating that there was a marked change in borrowers behaviour after the circular was issued which would now change for the worse.

Meanwhile, on the rash of announcements on income support like the Congress promise of ensuring an annual income of Rs 72,000 each to 20 crore families through the Nyay scheme, which would involve an outgo of Rs 3.6 lakh crore per annum, Kant flagged the need to look at growth.

You cannot have redistribution without growth. If you dont grow higher you will not have surpluses to put into these schemes, he said, adding the country needs to grow at 9-10 percent as against the present 7 percent, to generate such surpluses.

While delivering his speech, he said radical reforms will be required to accelerate growth from the present levels.

We will have to focus more on manufacturing that will result in higher exports which deliver higher margins per unit of sale, he said, adding such a move will also create jobs as we cannot grow without jobs.

Agriculture will also need to be focused on, Kant said, and called for scrapping the APMC and Essential Commodities Acts.

He made it clear that agriculture cannot grow on subsidies and can develop only through market interventions.

He also said the country has become data-rich before actually becoming rich economically, stressing that the vast quantum of data being generated is a big asset, leading to a slew of changes, including an end to physical bank branches and branch managers. PTIshalender@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

The Supreme Court today quashed an RBI circular, directing banks to initiate insolvency proceedings against companies having bad debts of Rs 2,000 crore or above within 180 days, failing which the corporate debtor would have to be taken to National Company Law Tribunal for insolvency proceedings.

We have declared the RBI circular ultra vires, said a Bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman.

The Circular mandated that banks will have to disclose defaults even if the interest repayment is overdue by just one day, and will have to put a resolution plan in place within 180 days.

However, during the pendency of the matter, the top court had on September 11 last year asked banks to maintain status quo and not to initiate insolvency proceedings against loan defaulting companies.

The verdict  which will have a bearing on bad loans running into lakhs of crores of rupees  came on a batch of petitions by companies from various industries  power, fertiliser and sugar  challenging February 12, 2018 circular issued by the central bank.

The regulated sector companies of fertiliser, power and sugar had contended that their prices are regulated by the government and they dont get paid on time and thus they are not able to pay the banks on schedule and they are not wilful defaulters and cant be treated as such.

The circular was challenged by petitioners such as the Association of Power Producers and Independent Power Producers Association of India which said it failed to distinguish between genuine and wilful defaulters.

They said the circular suffered from non-application of mind and failed to draw a distinction between various forms of stressed assets from different industrial sectors.

They contended that under IBC the resolution plan gives then 270 days but the RBI circular had reduced it to 180.

The circular, if upheld, would have taken several power, sugar and shipping companies to insolvency.

However, quashing the circular, the Bench said a generic circular directing banks to take recourse to Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was beyond the powers of Section 35AA of the Banking Regulation Act.

About the circulareditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, April 2

The local police have booked six persons, including two head constables and an assistant sub-inspector, for allegedly duping a Jind resident of Rs 12 lakh on the pretext of providing jobs to two youths.

Joginder Singh, a resident of Jind, in his complaint to the police, said he came in contact with Jasbir Singh, a resident of Nada Sahib village, Sector 31, through one of his brothers, who was into property business. He said Jasbir had taken Rs 12 lakh on May 5, 2016, on the pretext of providing jobs to his son and nephew on the post of clerk in the Haryana Assembly. He said Jasbir gave him cheques in exchange stating that if he could not provide the jobs, he could encash the cheques.

He said Jasbirs brother Jaswinder Singh Gujjar and Surinder Singh, both head constables, Chander Singh, ASI, Rajpal Premi, a resident of Rasulpur village in Kaithal district, and Anand Kumar were also with him when he paid them the money. He said the suspects also took a buffalo worth Rs 3 lakh from him.

Joginder said after this, the suspects gave them a roll number of a fake Haryana Assembly exam and asked his son and nephew to appear for the exam.

He alleged that the suspects continued to assure him that the work would be done. He said later, he came to know that Jasbir Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Chander Singh and Anand Kumar had gone to Thailand on a weeks tour and used the money there.editorial@tribune.com

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 2

The Congress has again reposed its faith in Pawan Kumar Bansal, who has been named to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Chandigarh constituency for the eighth time. The decision was conveyed to him after a meeting of the Central Election Committee that was chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi this evening. Chandigarh Congress president Pradeep Chhabra also attended the meeting.

Bansal was one of the three contenders who had staked claim to the party ticket for the Chandigarh LS seat this time. Besides Bansal, Manish Tewari, a former Union Minister, and Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, a former MLA of Punjab, were in the race. The core committee of the Chandigarh Congress had recommended his name to the screening committee.

While the BJP is yet to announce its candidate, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already named Harmohan Dhawan as its candidate.

Bansal lost the last LS elections to BJP candidate Kirron Kher by a margin of 69,642 votes. Kher, who had jumped into the electoral fray for the first time, had polled 1,91,362 votes, while Bansal got 1,21,720 votes and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Gul Panag was at the third position with 1,08,679 votes.

The lawyer-turned-politician had to resign as the Railway Minister in 2013 after his nephew was arrested in the alleged railway bribery scam.

Though the BJP has been leading a diatribe against him since then, Bansal strongly refuted the allegations. Replying to the allegations, Bansal said he had no role in the case as the officer concerned was not appointed member (electrical) in the Railway Board and no chargesheet was filed against him. The Congress high command reposed faith in him in 2014 and has done so this time as well. Bansal has contested seven Lok Sabha elections from Chandigarh, winning four of them in 1991, 1999, 2004 and 2009. He served as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the Minister for Water Resources, the Minister of State for Finance and Parliamentary Affairs and the Railway Minister. Bansal won the seat for the first time in 1991. However in the 1996 and 1998 elections, BJPs Satya Pal Jain won the Chandigarh seat.

Bansal has studied at Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, Government College, Chandigarh, and the Department of Laws, Panjab University.

He started his politics from the Youth Congress and was the general secretary of the Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress from 1976 to 1978. He was also appointed the president of the Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress in 1982. Later, he remained president of the Punjab Youth Congress in 1982-83.

Bansal also remained a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1984 to 1990.

He was also member, Committee on Subordinate Legislation, Rajya Sabha General Purposes Committee, and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Reacting to Bansals candidature, Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon said it would not affect the BJP in any way as people of the country had already decided to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again.

Says Will restore image of Chandigarh

Surrounded by a large number of supporters at his Sector 28 house on Tuesday evening, Bansal said the Congress would form the next government at the Centre as people were feeling cheated by the BJP. Bansal said there was an environment of dejection everywhere. The image of the city had been dented and development had came to a standstill. He said MP Kirron Kher had failed to live up to the expectations of the people. The Metro project had been dumped without any reason. The city slipped in the rankings in the swachhta survekshan. He said the Congress would not only restore the glory of the city butwould also bring the required funds for the cash-starved MC and the Administration, which does not even have funds to pay salaries. He said NYAY, a scheme announced by the Congress, would be the final assault on poverty. The scheme would ensure minimum income for the poor. Thanking the leadership, Bansal said the party would win the seat by a handsome margin.

Navjot Kaur thanks supporters

A ticket aspitant , Navjot Kaur Sidhu thanked supporters in a message posted on her WhatsApp group. She said all team members have been working exceptionally well for strengthening the party and reaching out to people with our vision for Chandigarh and the partys vision for our country. Love, hard work, honesty and compassion and keeping selfless service is the mission of our team.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 2

The local police seized 26 kg of gold, worth around Rs 7.80 crore, from an SUV at a naka in Dera Bassi near here today.

Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Harcharan Singh Bhullar said four persons -- Rakesh Kumar of Kardi village in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, Balbir Chand, a resident of Dobad Kallan village, also in Hamirpur, Sanjay Kumar of Baliana village in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, and Jaswant Singh of Gewda village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan -- had been detained in this connection.

The SSP said the suspects were travelling in a Mahindra XUV when they were intercepted at a naka in the Dera Bassi subdivision area.

During a search of the vehicle, we recovered 26 kg of gold in the shape of bricks. During preliminary quizzing, the suspects claimed that the gold had been imported from South Africa. However, they could not produce any document or proof of the ownership of the gold, said Bhullar.

The SUV has been impounded by the police.

We have registered a case in this connection at the Lalru police station, said the SSP, adding that information in this regard had also been provided to Income Tax Department and the GST Department for necessary action.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 2

Three snatching incidents were reported from Sector 7, Kaimbwala and Industrial Area here today.

Sources said 42-year-old Anju Devi had left her house for morning walk in Sector 7. While she was at a park, a miscreant came and caught hold of her neck. The miscreant snatched the victims earring, leaving her injured.

The police visited the spot. The second incident was reported around 12.30 pm from Kaimbwala.

Sources said a purse containing around Rs 500 and some documents was snatched from the victim.

The third snatching was reported around 4.30 pm from the Industrial Area, Phase I.

Sources said the victims mobile phone was snatched by the miscreant who managed to escape from the spot.

No arrest was made in the snatching incidents.GS Bajpai

GS Bajpai

Professor, National Law University, Delhi

ON March 19, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on a public interest litigation (PIL) pertaining to the denial of voting rights to prisoners  both undertrials and convicts. Primarily, averments have been made by the petitioners on the grounds that Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, is violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 as it prevents a prisoner from exercising his right to expression  voting being a medium of expression as per the apex court in PUCL & others vs Union of India (PUCL 2013)  and that it discriminates between those incarcerated and those out on bail or under preventive detention.

The principle of felony disenfranchisement, upon which Section 62(5) is based, finds its moorings in the doctrine of civic death  that a convict forfeits all his family and political rights. In the UK and Russia, a convicted prisoner still does not have the right to vote on the reasoning that the conviction brings with it a restriction of liberties. However, the principle of felony disenfranchisement has now been abandoned in many progressive common law jurisdictions. The Canadian Supreme Court struck down a provision debarring prisoners serving a sentence for more than two years from voting, observing that the right to vote was fundamental to democracy and the rule of law. In South Africa, where convicted prisoners were deprived of their right to participate in the elections, the Constitutional Court declared the same to be invalid and inconsistent with the constitution.

As can be inferred from the judgments of the Indian Supreme Court on the rights of prisoners  convicted or otherwise (for instance, DK Basu, Sunil Batra, Francis Coralie Mullin cases), the doctrine of civic death cannot find a strict application in our democracy. However, with no regard for proportionality, the RP Act expands the principle of felony disenfranchisement by going beyond the requirement for conviction and includes undertrials in its ambit. By corollary, apart from the right of incarcerated persons to vote, the principle of innocent until proven guilty  a cornerstone principle of our adversarial criminal justice system  too becomes an unsuspecting victim to this institutionalised injustice.

Given the state of affairs of our overburdened and understaffed criminal justice system, it is hardly surprising that two-thirds of all persons incarcerated are undertrials. As per the Prison Statistics 2015, there were 2,82,076 undertrials and 1,34,168 convicts incarcerated in various prisons across the country. These numbers do not include the statistically significant figure of those under lawful detention of the police on election days.

Several institutional barriers stand in the way of the petitioners  many of which have been set up by the Supreme Court itself. As per the three-judge Bench of the apex court in the PUCL (2013) case, the right to vote in India is not a constitutional or a fundamental right but a statutory right in contradistinction to the freedom of voting  a sub specie of the freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a). Further, the reliance of the petitioners on Rajbala vs State of Haryana (2015) on this point is potentially problematic, given that the two- judge Bench holds the right to vote to be a constitutional right without taking note of the PUCL (2013) case and is per incuriam to that extent. It is a different matter that the PUCL (2013) judgment can be subjected to critique for upholding the view taken in the Kuldip Nayar case that the right to vote, as distinct from the freedom to vote, is a statutory right without adequately engaging with Reddi Js judgment in the PUCL (2003) case which states unambiguously that the right to vote, if not a fundamental right, is certainly a constitutional right.

The averment of discrimination between those confined to prisons and those convicted and out on bail or those under preventive detention has already been argued before the Supreme Court in the case of Anukul Chandra Pradhan vs Union of India (1997). This argument was rejected on the grounds that the object of the legislation is decriminalisation of politics, even though the judgment is silent on the point of how preventing undertrials or even convicts from voting will help avoid criminalisation of politics. Ironically, under Section 8(3) of the RP Act, a person convicted of an offence which carries imprisonment of under two years is eligible to contest an election.

In the Anukul case, the Supreme Court almost echoed the civic death doctrine in its comment that the person who is in prison for his own conduct is deprived of his liberty during the period of his imprisonment (and) cannot claim equal freedom and consequently, Restriction on voting results automatically from his confinement. While it is acceptable that incarceration may place certain restrictions on the freedom of the prisoners (for example, freedom of movement), it is certainly not acceptable that they be deprived of those rights which not only form a part of our constitutional mandate but are also fundamental to the health of our democracy.

The petitioners argument that Section 62(5) of the RP Act places restrictions on the right to freedom of expression of the prisoners may hold weight. However, the petitioners forum of choice (Delhi HC) may find itself institutionally constrained to order substantive relief.

It is debatable whether denial of voting rights to prisoners comes under the reasonable restriction thesis of the judiciary. The RP Act seems flawed owing to the fact that it violates a basic fundamental right  right to life. Right to life includes the right to choose. The laws made in Parliament are equally applicable to prisoners. Therefore, all, including those behind the bars, have the right to choose their representatives.

Views are personalLt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd)

Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd)

former GOC, 15 Corps, Kashmir

THE attempt to blow up another CRPF bus through a car-borne suicide bomber comes much earlier than estimated. It has been my steadfast belief that the era of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and car bombs would return with a vengeance to Kashmir, their effect having been witnessed in internal hybrid conflicts of Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. As the usage got more vicious and there were no qualms about the choice of targets, this unethical tool of organised violence found more and more takers, leading to its comeback in Kashmir.

The latest attempt was almost a repeat of the Pulwama attack on February 14, except for the location, which was just south of the Pir Panjal range at Banihal. Owais Amin, a 20-year-old Kashmiri from Shopian, has been arrested for the attempt which went awry when he tried to ram the car fitted with IEDs (improvised explosive devices) into the CRPF bus. At least one IED or a gas-filled cylinder caught fire and probably did not explode, but reduced the car to ashes. Amin escaped in the melee, but was apprehended later by the J&K Police while attempting to sneak back into the Valley.

Those who have been involved in searches for IEDs in J&K in the 1990s and the early 2000s would vouch for the complexities in their fabrication in local houses and subsequent deployment on roads and country lanes. These are not simple demolition sets which people may imagine; these involve more than just the explosive, detonator, fuse wire and switch. Upgrade that to the level of a car bomb and a suicide bomber and it becomes even more dangerous to handle before it detonates. The work involving fabrication of such a car bomb is usually delegated to what are called IED doctors; one of them involved in the Pulwama incident was later cornered and killed by the Army within 100 hours of the occurrence. There are probably a couple of such doctors in the Valley, trained by the Pakistani deep state. The spectre of radicalisation is helping in finding recruits such as Owais Amin and Adil Ahmad Dar (Pulwama bomber). It appears that the effects of what Pakistan planned over many years as part of the Zia doctrine are now beginning to have greater impact. A new generation of young Kashmiris has been radicalised sufficiently to associate itself with trans-national radical trends, something we earlier perceived as unlikely. Ironically, as the international trends are waning, a surge is appearing in Kashmir.

The near miss by Owais Amin has not been owned up by any terror group so far and will unlikely find ownership due to the botched attempt or simply due to a chiding the deep state may have given the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for putting it in a spot. Can we therefore expect a repeat of such attempts in the coming days? The assumption should surely point towards greater possibility. A couple of reasons for this can be identified. First, the General Election in India diverts the attention of intelligence agencies at all levels. Second, the resultant impact at such a time creates more confusion in response and far more antipathy among the public, which is getting more restive by the day. Third, the Pakistani leadership appears fairly gung-ho about the impact of the Pulwama attack and perceives that it weathered the storm of Indias response. Internationally, while there has been a furore, Pakistan probably perceives that it has escaped international opprobrium. Ayesha Siddiqa, noted Pakistani author and commentator, writes: The understanding in Pakistan is that the post-Pulwama situation has actually worked to its advantage  or is a stalemate. The situation today is comparable to the Rann of Kutch operation in 1965, or the 1965 war. As far as the diplomatic war is concerned, that will be long and protracted. It is this perceived advantage that spells the dangers of more threats in Kashmir, and not from car bombs alone. Innovative ways of beating the Indian intelligence agencies will be the aim and intent, with maximum impact sought. A misconceived notion seems to exist in Pakistan that India is tied in knots and even serious analysts like Ayesha Siddiqa seems to be swayed by it. There appears to be a fair misreading of Indias military capabilities due to our more than transparent discussions on national media about an existing hollowness. The reported communication by Indias National Security Adviser (NSA) to his US counterpart on February 27 that India may not hold back if the captured IAF pilot was ill-treated and the move of some surface-to-surface missile batteries spells a level of seriousness which Pakistan does not appear to take at face value. Pakistans introspection on its ability to wage war against India, given the state of its economy, should force it to desist from any further risk. However, the irrationality and hara-kiri approach, without examining the terminal end of actions it initiates, continues to create an impasse which may hurtle the subcontinent towards a war-like situation earlier than ever contemplated before. A lot would depend on what China advises the Pakistani leadership, having just bailed it out of yet another imminent bankruptcy. Also, much would depend on PM Imran Khans ability to resist the Generals whose gung-ho attitude and misplaced confidence now needs to be factored even more in Indias appreciation of future security scenarios.

While Indian intelligence agencies have done a creditable job and the Pulwama incident was not something easily avoidable, it is going to be difficult to defend them in the event of more such acts by pro-Pakistan elements in Kashmir or elsewhere. Indias diplomatic efforts must remain at a high pitch not for any other reason but to convey the seriousness with which India looks at the developing situation in the subcontinent. Pakistan appears to have pinned far too many hopes on its nuclear basket. Our unwillingness not to speak about our own nuclear capability may be misconstrued by our adversary.

Perhaps it is time to do what former Army Chief General Padmanabhan did in early 2002  the conveyance of a message in no uncertain terms. Getting Pakistan to a state of full military mobilisation will cost it dear and put the international community on tenterhooks. India can no longer sit and await being hit by the next spectacular event that Pakistan has planned. An escalation this time will probably mean war and Pakistan can only do lip service to its capability to withstand the Indian military might.laxmi@tribune.com

UTTAR PRADESH CM Yogi Adityanath has a knack for renaming places. Now, he has gone a step further by referring to the Army as Modiji ki sena, as if its the Prime Minister, not the President, who is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces. Adityanath made the remark while campaigning for none other than former Army Chief VK Singh, a minister in the NDA government. He said: The Congress leaders would feed biryani to the terrorists, while Modis army gives them bullets or bombs. This brazen personalisation of the Services has expectedly drawn a sharp reaction from retired officers as well as opposition parties. Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas has asserted that the armed forces dont belong to any individual but to the nation, while Lt Gen HS Panag (retd) has said such comments could lead to politicisation of the Army.

The government has been quick to extract political mileage from the exemplary work done by the defence personnel, be it the surgical strikes after the Uri attack in 2016 or the recent Balakot airstrikes in the wake of the Pulwama carnage. The ASAT missile test, a landmark in defence research, was announced with great fanfare last week and touted as an achievement of the ruling dispensation, but the Election Commission (EC) did not consider it a violation of the model code of conduct. The EC went by the rule book. But these are political minefields open to diverse interpretations.

Such lacunae embolden politicians to appropriate national institutions for electoral gains. The EC needs to crack the whip  while acting within the ambit of the model codes provisions  so as to discourage such practices. Irresponsible statements that denigrate the defenders of the nation can have a disturbing effect on their morale, besides straining ties between the military and political leadership. The Army, the Air Force and the Navy know their job pretty well and are known for taking decisive action for the sake of national security, no matter which party is in power. Piggybacking on the forces feats is not only unfair, but also unethical.editorial@tribune.com

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, April 2

BJP candidate from Kangra Kishan Kapoor met the Dalai Lama yesterday to seek his blessings and Tibetans support. Those with Indian citizenship can participate in the electoral process.

Lobsang Wangyal, who is famous for organising the Miss Tibet contest, has an Indian voter. He said he was excited to exercise his franchise.

During the last parliamentary elections, I had cast my vote at the Baghsunag polling booth, Lobsang said. His request for Indian citizenship was accepted in 2014. I was issued a voter slip and now, I have a voter identity card also, he added. Before accepting the citizenship, he was a refugee and did not have any state.

Still, many Tibetans feel that their movement for freedom will be compromised in case they take Indian citizenship. This is not correct. In India also, people belong to various states and have Indian citizenship. Similarly, we will be able to maintain a link with our Tibetan roots even after taking up Indian citizenship. Tenzing Norbu, another Tibetan with Indian citizenship, said she would cast vote in the parliamentary elections. We are very thankful to the Government of India for providing us voting rights and Indian citizenship. It will ease the life of women, she said. As per the information, 170 Tibetans from McLeodganj are registered as voters for the Lok Sabha poll. During the last parliamentary poll, 133 Tibetans had cast their vote. In Kangra, about 217 Tibetans are registered voters.

Tibetans born in India between 1950 and 1987 were allowed Indian citizenship by the Supreme Court as per the Indian Citizenship Act. Though there are about 15,000 registered Tibetan refugees staying at various places in Kangra district, only 217 are registered voters.

BJP will win with majority: Kapooreditorial@tribune.com

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, April 2

The Congress on Tuesday night fielded MLA Pawan Kajal from the Kangra Lok Sabha constituency as it released another list of 20 candidates, including nominees for Punjab and Chandigarh.

Earlier in the day, Pawan via Facebook announced his candidature as party LS candidate from Kangra and appealed to the voters to support him. However, the seriousness in the Congress campaign seems to be missing in Kangra.

While BJP candidate and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Kishan Kapoor started his campaign a week ago, Congress candidate Pawan Kajal was holidaying in Sri Lanka. Sources said Pawan would be back after a couple of days after which the party would organise a motorcycle rally in Kangra to start his campaign.

They blamed the ticket game for the slack campaign. Initially, it was expected that veteran BJP leader Shanta Kumar would contest from Kangra. After Kumar withdrew from the election scene, other senior Congress leaders had shown interest in contesting from Kangra.Senior Congress leader GS Bali, who had initially said no to the ticket, had earlier maintained that he might contest in case party president Rahul Gandhi asked him to do so. Former HPCC president Sukhwinder Sukhu had also reportedly supported Balis candidature.

From Virbhadra Singhs camp, former minister Sudhir Sharma and Kajal had staked their claim. It was being expected that Sharma would most likely be the candidate since he had the resources and also had the support of the Virbhadra camp. Sources said Kajal never considered himself a serious contender for the ticket and was pitched in by a section of Congress leaders as an OBC candidate. The OBC community has about 30 per cent vote share in Kangra. Later, Sharma withdrew from the race.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Mandi, April 2

Ashray Sharma, Congress candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, has received a warm welcome on his arrival in the town on Tuesday.

He was accompanied by Congress leader and former Excise and Taxation Minister Prakash Chaudhary, former CPS Sohan Lal Thakur, Congress spokesperson Vijay Pal Chauhan, former Telecom Minister Pandit Sukh Ram and other local Congress leaders.

Power Minister Anil Sharma, father of Ashray, was absent from the programme. Ashray travelled in an open jeep, along with his supporters, from Slappar to Mandi and received a rousing welcome on the way. His grandfather, former Telecom Minister Pandit Sukh Ram, was also in the cavalcade.

Factionalism comes to the fore in the Congress as many loyalists of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and senior Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur did not attend the programme of Ashray in Mandi. Neither Virbhadra, nor Kaul Singh took part in the roadshow. Addressing workers, Ashray said the Congress would work in unison to defeat BJP candidate Ramswaroop Sharma.

He said, My father, Power Minister Anil Sharma, is with me and his blessings are always with me.

He urged the people to vote for the Congress. He said he would work for the betterment of the constituency.

To instill the confidence in party workers, he said, The decision, taken by me and my family to join the BJP, was wrong in the last Assembly elections and I apologise to Congress workers. It was a big mistake on our part.

Targeting Ramswaroop Sharma, he said the MP had failed to bring development in Mandi. Many projects were hanging fire because of his incapability to take up the matter at the Centre.

Ashray also targeted Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and said the BJP was only a jumla party. The CM had said the time of Sukh Ram had gone but he forgot that Sukh Ram had brought revolution in the field of telecommunications when he was the Telecom Minister.

Sukh Ram said,The return in the Congress is a big honour to me. On the suggestion of a BJP leader, we had joined the BJP. As a result, people gave a clear mandate to the party in the last Assembly elections. When I asked for ticket for my grandson, the BJP denied it. Thereafter, I met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and requested him to let them return in the party. He accepted my request.

I also met Virbhadra and urged him to forget the differences. He gave his blessings to Ashray and assured me to join the election campaign of Ashray, he added

He urged party workers to work hard at the grassroot level to ensure the win of Ashray from Mandi.

Father Anil Sharma gives event a misseditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 2

The All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) has expressed dismay over the pro-Pakistan and separatist line adopted by mainstream parties, National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Kashmir ahead of the parliamentary elections.

At a meeting organised by the ASKPC to discuss the difficulties faced by displaced people exercising their franchise, its president Ravinder Raina urged the community voters not to vote for those who question the merger of Jammu and Kashmir with India.

It is unfortunate that the so-called mainstream parties in Kashmir are toeing the pro-Pakistan line during the election campaign and still enjoying the privileges offered by the Indian democratic system. Pandits should not vote for those parties, said Raina.

He also questioned the failure of politicians to mention anything about the plight of the community and about its rehabilitation during campaigning.

The displaced people feel that its the mockery of the democratic process when they will vote for candidates who never address their issues. A majority of the voters live in camps of Jammu and would vote for constituencies in Kashmir, said Raina.

ASKPC general secretary TK Bhat, said the decision of the Election Commission of India not to scrap the mandatory filling of the M-Form would again deny thousands of people their voting rights.

We have seen in the past Assembly and Lok Sabha elections that the cumbersome process for Pandit voters is leaving them frustrated. Even the online facility for migrant voters is not going to solve their issues. They should be allowed to vote like any other voter, said Bhat.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 2

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said peace between India and Pakistan, which recently had an intense face-off which led to a major aerial skirmish, was subservient to the solution of the Kashmir issue.

If India and Pakistan want peace, then the solution of Kashmir is very important, otherwise it (peace) will not happen, he said while addressing an election campaign rally in central Kashmirs Ganderbal district.

Farooq said his party had never asked for azadi but wanted conditions, on which accession was agreed, to be restored. There will be no peace in our state until they restore the autonomy.

The former Union Minister, who is now contesting as his partys candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, also mocked the Balakot strikes and said if the casualties would have been in hundreds, they have been known to the world.

He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, I have not seen an actor like him. He has beaten Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Shahrukh Khan.

If any Muslim questions them, they accuse him of being an anti-national as if only they are nationalists. They call us Pakistani. If we wanted to go to Pakistan, we would gone in 1947, Farooq added.amansharma@tribunemail.com

Udhampur, April 3

BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday lambasted the Congress over its stand on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, saying nobody can dilute the AFSPA as the BJP will be standing like a rock in support of security forces.

Addressing a rally in Udhampur, Shah said, The Congress and its leaders should feel ashamed of what they have announced in their manifestoto dilute AFSPA and withdraw sedition clause.

Nobody can dilute AFSPA as the BJP will be standing like a rock behind security forces who are protecting our borders, Shah told the rally, organised in support of BJP leader Jitendra Singh.

He also warned Pakistan, saying if a single bullet comes from there we will fire shells from here.

BJP will not allow anybody to snatch Jammu & Kashmir from India, Shah said.

In its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls released Tuesday, the Congress promised that if voted to power it will review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Jammu and Kashmir. It also proposed to omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code that defines the offence of sedition, saying it has been misused and become redundant because of subsequent laws.  PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 2

Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone on Tuesday hit out at NC vice-president Omar Abdullah for his statement on getting the posts of Sadr-e-Riyasat and Wazeer-e-Azam for J&K.

At a series of workers meetings in Kupwara, Sajad said it would have been entertaining had it not been so ironic observing Omars puerile tantrums and desperate antics.

Promising everything under the sun, betraying his desperation and lacking self-confidence, Omar conveniently papers over the role of his family legacy for bringing Kashmir to the juncture it is at now. While he himself may have a distorted sense of history, the public memory in Kashmir remains vibrant and receptive to an informed analysis and sense of accountability, he added.

Castigating Omar on his remark that once brought back to power, he will reintroduce the designations of Prime Minister and Governor, Lone said: Its quite amusing that it was his grandfather who sealed the deal, blocking the revision of the step. While the Congress in 1965 amended the J&K Constitution to do away with the terms Sadr-e-Riyasat and Wazeer-e-Azam, the amendment, however, incorporated a legal provision to reverse the decision. It was Sheikh Abdullah who in 1975 as head of the state facilitated the amendment to Article 368 of the Constitution of India, which debarred this position from being reversed and made it a permanent feature of the state Constitution. So is Omar implying the obvious by promising to reverse the amendment, that indeed at the root of every major act of erosion of the special status of J&K his family has a central role, he added.

Sajad said the Public Safety Act was a convenient tool designed to purge the Opposition, especially the Jamaat-e- Islami, and was rampantly used by his father Farooq Abdullah in 1987 against his political rivals the Muslim United Front. Harping on the promise to repeal the draconian PSA, Omar overlooks the fact that the law itself was introduced by his grandfather Sheikh Abdullah in 1978 only a year after coming to power in 1977.

Sajad said whenever in power, the NC had undermined not just the special status of the state but also the basic rights of the J&K citizens.editorial@tribune.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the bail granted to Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, a Kashmiri businessman, by the Delhi High Court in a terror-funding case filed against him by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

We deem it proper to reverse the order passed by the High Court granting bail to the respondent. Instead, we agree with the conclusion recorded by the designated court that in the facts of the present case, the respondent is not entitled to bail in connection with the stated offences, a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi said, allowing the NIA appeal.

The Delhi HC had on September 13 last year granted bail to Watali, who was arrested for his alleged role in a terror-funding case involving Lashkar-e-Toiba chief and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

Watali, who was lodged in Delhis Tihar Jail after his arrest in August 2017, could not be released even after he was granted bail as the Supreme Court stayed the Delhi High Courts order granting him bail.

On Tuesday, the top court restored the trial courts order rejecting Watalis bail plea, saying, We are of the view that in the present case, the designated court rightly opined that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the respondent is prima facie true.

The NIA had raided the businessmans house in June and August 2017 and had claimed to have found highly incriminating material pertaining to the receipt of funds by Watali from foreign sources and their further distribution to terrorists and separatists in the Kashmir valley for anti-India activities.

The raids were part of the NIAs probe into the alleged terror funding by Pakistan-based groups to stoke unrest in the Kashmir valley, which witnessed widespread violence after security forces gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

The NIA Special Court had earlier rejected his bail plea, but the Delhi High Court granted him bail.

Reversing the Delhi HCs verdict granting bail to Watali, the Supreme Court said, We find force in the argument of the appellant (NIA) that the High Court, in the present case, adopted an inappropriate approach whilst considering the prayer for grant of bail. The High Court ought to have taken into account the totality of the material and evidence on record as it is and ought not to have discarded it as being inadmissible.

The High Court clearly overlooked the settled legal position that, at the stage of considering the prayer for bail, it is not necessary to weigh the material, but only form an opinion on the basis of the material before it on broad probabilities, the SC said.shalender@tribune.com

Rajesh Aggrawal

There is little doubt that agriculture and allied activities have undergone a major change in the past few decades. From completely manual to highly mechanised and automated, from labour intensive to capital intensive, the field has witnessed several paradigm shifts.

Today agriculture world over is driven by scientific knowledge and uses new technology and research to improve yields and prevent crop damage. Not only has the new market-driven economy brought about a change in the ways agriculture is practiced, it has also introduced multiple new fields and career prospects in agriculture. The agrochemical industry is a key component of agriculture today. The industry has helped increase the reach and penetration of agrochemicals that has allowed farmers across the world better their crop yields and income and adopts more effective ways of fighting pest damage. For agri science enthusiasts, the agrochemical industry today offers a wide spectrum of career opportunities from laboratory to farms. Several specialisations have emerged in the fields of pest, weed and disease management, manufacturing and research.

With new developments like introduction of green chemistries, plant breeding techniques; highly improved and efficient agricultural equipment and use of latest soil testing techniques, biological products, and the agrochemical industry is breaking new ground every day.

Career pathways

If you are looking for opportunities to make a career in the field of agrochemicals, here are a few options that you can consider, according to your aptitude and predisposition:

Agricultural Research

This sector has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, with research and development being recognised as key to resolve crop woes and improve yields. It has two basic fields i.e. chemistry and the bio efficacy. This is an interesting field that offers to explore new avenues and test them rigorously to find new solutions. The research further specialises in the domain of insects, weeds and crop diseases. Students interested in a career in agrochemical research can opt for any of these specialisations.

If you are an enthusiast in this field and want to make a career studying the subject, one branch you can turn to is agriculture science.

Agriculture scientists play a key role in the evolving agrochemicals industry by devising new ways and products to improve agricultural productivity, development of new agro chemicals and fertilisers. Research & Development in the field of agrochemicals is an ever expanding field and India is witnessing a growth of indigenous R&D facilities in the arena.

Pesticide Regulatory Specialist

Licensing and registration is an integral part of the agrochemical industry. If one wishes to stay on the greener side of the law, it is necessary to restrict the chemical composition of agrochemical products according to the legal limits and follow due procedure in acquiring a license for production and sale. This is where the role of a pesticide regulatory specialist comes in.

Statutory compliance with respect to the health and environment laws of the nation and state, and new product registration are the main functions of a regulatory specialist. Agrochemical manufacturing companies have dedicated positions for regulatory specialists who make sure their products comply with all norms. The products do not pass muster unless internal regulatory experts approve them. In agrochemical field, adhering to such regulations are very important for the collective health of the country.

An agrochemical graduate with in-depth knowledge about agricultural laws in the country and a managerial efficiency to look over legal matters of licensing and registration is ideal for the job.

Quality Assurance Expert

In the field of agriculture, which provides us with daily sustenance to survive in this world, quality assurance and control is a necessary function. Therefore, at the stage of production of agrochemicals as well as on the field, one has to keep the quality of product in check.

Monitoring and reviewing raw material information, detecting environmental changes, and inspecting equipment, materials and crops are part of the job. Crop Testing Specialists, who test the agro chemical product on the crops, also work hand-in-hand with these quality control experts by scientifically experimenting with prototypes on certain crops to help them review the information through observation.

Quality experts need to be knowledgeable about the agrochemicals and their possible side effects, and also need to possess the personality for a strict supervisory role. On-field presence requirement implies some physical proficiency as well.

Agrochemical Formulation Scientist

This is an ambitious line of work for people who are interested in the agrochemical industry and the processes involved. Formulation scientists are involved in the production of agrochemicals as well as the post-production work of transferring technology to the field from the lab. New product development and direct involvement in designing are the exciting opportunities that await a formulation scientist in agrochemicals.

Since this involves a lot of lab work, people with a previous experience in labs and those who know their way around chemicals are highly recommended for this duty. A background in extensive chemical research in laboratories is a must.

It is clear that the agrochemical industry is a breeding ground for various exciting and new career opportunities to nurture and grow in. And you should definitely considering exploring the field!

Job roles and pay scale

The popular job roles in the agrochemical business are in the domain of agriculture finance, sales and marketing, procurement and supply chain, strategy and planning, quality control, farm auditor, and project management. Freshers with a BSc Or BTech may start with a monthly salary of Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000, depending on the job role, skill portfolio and the educational institution. However, upon gaining an experience of 4 to 6 years, one can earn as much as Rs 6 to Rs 15 lakh per annum.

Advanced level education (Masters or PhD.) can prove helpful the jobseekers with a background. Masters degree holders can expect an average starting salary of Rs 6 lakh a year and with 4 to 6 years of industrial experience, the pay package could increase to Rs 9 to Rs 16 lakh per year. For those are academically inclined, garnering substantial industry experience can help in exploring job opportunities within the academia with handsome pay packages, along with great work-life balance. Research professionals within the academic setups can earn in the range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 per month. With a host of agricultural reforms taking place in India and a robust export scenario coming through, we can hope the agrochemical sector will bloom in the near future and become of the dependable employers in the country. Salary brackets, however, are just indicative and may vary from company to company.

Marketing

If you have a flair for selling, then sky is the limit for an agriculture graduate. Marketing of new agrochemical products is a very large field within the marketing industry that requires special expertise and experience. Marketing of agrochemicals targets both retailers (who sell the product to farmers) and farmers directly. Most agrochemical manufacturing organisations, including Insecticides India Ltd, have dedicated and thickly employed marketing departments that work round-the-clock to help take their new products to the audience. If you have a degree in marketing, you can polish it further to suit the needs of the agrochemical industry. Having a knack of rural marketing is also important.

Educational qualifications

Agriculture research: MSc in Agriculture or PhD.

Agrochemical Marketing: BSc in Agriculture is the minimum requirement, MSc in Agriculture and also MBA in Agri business would an added benefit

Pesticides Regulatory Specialist: MSc in Agriculture/Chemistry or PhD

Quality Assurance: MSc or PhD in Organic Chemistry

Agrochemical Formulation Scientists: MSc in chemistry or PhD.

 The writer is Managing Director, Insecticides India Ltdshriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, April 3

The immense love and support, soothed me in my process of healing, says Irrfan Khan. The actor has been undergoing treatment for neuro-endocrine tumour in London for the past one year.

The 52-year-old actor returned to India in March.

Irrfan shared a heartfelt letter on Wednesday. Pouring his heart out he said he is grateful for all the love.

He wrote: Maybe somewhere in the pursuit of winning, we forget how much it means to be loved. In our vulnerability, we are reminded. As I leave my footprints onto these steps of my life, I want to pause to be grateful for receiving your immense love and support, it soothed me in my process of healing. So I travel back to you, thanking you from the bottom of my heart.

Irrfan had shared the news of his illness via social media in 2018.

He was recently spotted at the Mumbai airport. The talented actor is in town to shoot for his next film Hindi Medium 2 opposite Kareena Kapoor Khan.

The actor was trying to keep a low profile with the help of a black scarf. But, after a while he removed his mask and the paparazzi spotted him.

Dressed in casuals and a hat, Irrfan appeared healthier than before. He walked with confidence and even, posed for pictures.

Irrfan was last seen in 'Blackmail' and 'Karwaan'.

Also read: Salman Khan shares a behind-the-scenes picture from Dabangg 3harinder@tribunemail.com

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 2

The special status to Jammu and Kashmir was given by the Government of India, it is not that the state had asked for it, the former Sadr-e-Riyasat (head of state), Dr Karan Singh, has said, while dismissing the notion that J&K got special powers to guarantee the Muslim majority character of the state.

There was nothing like that, the veteran politician said in an interview to The Tribune. The word was never used. It is not that we said that we are a Muslim majority state, thats why we should get special status. The fact is that the special position was offered by the Government of India. Dont forget that.

Dr Karan Singh, as head of the state, had signed the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir in 1957. He recalled how a Pakistan-sponsored war in J&K (1947-48) in violation of international law and United Nations resolutions came in the way of the merger of the state with India after it had acceded to the country.

The debate on accession and the special status of J&K has been ratcheted up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi joining issue with National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah over the restoration of posts of Sadr-e-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam (head of government) of the state. These posts existed in J&K until 1964.

Recalling that the instrument of accession signed by his father Maharaja Hari Singh was identical to that signed by other princely states, Dr Karan Singh said there was a two-part tango as far as other states were concerned.

First was the accession, and then Sardar Patels role in integrating the states. Getting the accession done was by itself important, the second step was merging with the Indian republic. And that we didnt do.

The reason for that, he said, was that there was a war on in J&K, the matter was in the UN. They were passing all sorts of resolutions, at that time the question of merger did not arise.harinder@tribunemail.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 2

Presenting itself as the only national alternative to the ruling BJP, the Congress today unveiled its 2019 Lok Sabha poll manifesto, positioning itself as a pro-poor, pro-farmer and pro-freedom party vis-a-vis an oppressive saffron dispensation.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched the 54-page document, saying the forthcoming elections present a stark choice to the people.

Will India be a free, democratic country or will it be governed by a pernicious ideology that tramples upon peoples rights; will India get rid of poverty or will it remain marked by inequities of wealth? Gandhi asked, declaring that he had never broken a promise he made.

Anti-poverty and libertarian regime are the hallmarks of the 2019 Congress manifesto that sets 2030 as the deadline for poverty eradication using the flagship NYAY (minimum income support) scheme to give Rs 72,000 directly to 20 per cent poorest every year.

The document titled Congress can deliver makes five big promises  poverty elimination; freedom from farm indebtedness; job creation; womens security and liberal ecosystem with no place for sedition (Section 124-A of the IPC) and criminal defamation (Section 499 of the IPC). The party said it would enact laws against religious discrimination and hate crimes like lynching.

The manifesto dwells on anti-corruption, pledging to investigate the Rafale deal; circumstances that led to the escape of bank fraudsters; and review of spectrum and natural resource allocation policies to ensure transparency.

On national security, which the BJP is leveraging to poll advantage after Pulwama, the Congress said it would raise defence expenditure that the NDA government had slashed, besides insulating armed forces from politics.

In its freedoms agenda, the Congress says it will amend laws to curb the powers of police and probe agencies to search, seize and arrest and take steps to ensure bail becomes a rule and jail an exception.

The manifestos big thrust remains on Nyay, for which Gandhi launched a poll slogan  Gareebi pe vaar, bahattar hazaar.

Direct cash to poor will jumpstart the economy that PM Modis demonetisation jammed, Gandhi said.

The Congress manifesto seeks to engage farmers hugely as Gandhi promised a standalone farmers budget and de-criminalisation of farm indebtedness.

We wont consider loan default by farmers a criminal offence. We will consider it a civil offence, the Congress chief said, promising 22 lakh new jobs.

All this is doable and we will do it, insisted a confident Gandhi at a event attended by UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh and party veteran P Chidambaram, who headed the manifesto panel.

He took swipes at PM Modi, wrapping up his attack by saying Congress manifesto was peoples mann ki baat and not some individuals mann ki baat.

The manifesto also targets young voters (1.6 per cent of all electors), with the Congress bonanza to start new business.

Come and open new enterprise, create jobs, no questions will be asked for three years; no regulations will be needed, Gandhi said.

MAJOR THRUST AREAS and PROPOSALS

JOBS: 4 lakh central vacancies will be filled by March 2020; 10 lakh seva mitras will be appointed in gram panchayats; 3-year tax breaks for new business ventures

FARMERS: Farm debt to be considered a civil liability and not criminal; separate kisan budget; new commissions to strategise on agriculture sector

POVERTY ERADICATION BY 2030: Nyay (Nyuntam Aay) scheme  Rs 72,000 annually into the bank accounts of 5 crore poorest families, which is 25 crore individuals

ECONOMY: New GST regime with a single, moderate standard rate of tax on all goods and services; savings rate to be taken to 40 pc of GDP and investment rate to 35 pc of GDP

AFSPA to be reviewed: Review of AFSPA to balance security and human rights concerns; abolition of sedition and criminal defamation; CrPC changes to make bail a rule; limited powers to police to search and arrest

WOMEN QUOTA BILL: Womens Reservation Bill in first session of Parliament; one-third jobs in Central government for women; abolition of rules that prohibit night shifts

ON JAMMU & KASHMIR: Unconditional dialogue with the people of the state; AFSPA to be reviewed; movement of troops out of Kashmir valley to bordersuttara@tribuneindia.com

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, April 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister engaged in an intense battle of nicknames on Wednesday.

At a rally in Siliguri, Modi, BJPs chief election face, called Banerjee speed-breaker Didi.

I do feel sorry that while we could work speedily for development in various states in the country, West Bengal was an exception. This was so because there is a speed-breaker here. The speed-breaker is known to people here as Didi, Modi said. His jibe was in reference to Banerjees refusal to be part of Modi governments flagship healthcare programme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, or more popularly, Ayushman Bharat.

He then went on to say: Didi is speed-breaker for your development, Modi said.

The Prime Minister claimed the chief minister wanted people to stay poor, because, if poverty ceases to exist, Didis politics will also come to an end. The story of the Congress party and the Communists was no different.

He also took a swipe at the chit fund scams in West Bengal, and Trinamool Congress leaders supposed involvement.

Didis ministers and other associates robbed ordinary people of their savings by promising them huge return if they invested in chit fund, he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee responded to the Prime Minister alternately calling him expiry Babu and expiry PM.

In response to Modis allegations that she had prevented development in the state, Banerjee told a public rally here in Cooch Behar district that income of farmers in Bengal has increased three times under her rule. "I am not Modi, I don't tell lies," she said. She claimed that 12,000 farmers committed suicide during Modi rule in the country. With PTIrchopra@tribunemail.com

Mumbai, April 3

Three people fell into a septic tank in suburban Chembur on Wednesday morning and efforts were on to rescue them, a civic official said.

Locals said the fire brigade control room got information at 10.08 am that some people had fallen into the septic tank located at Vashi Naka in Chembur, the official from the civic bodys disaster management cell said.

A team of fire brigade personnel was rushed to the spot and efforts are on to rescue the victims, he said.

The property belonged to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and its authorities were informed, he added.

Details were awaited. PTIrchopra@tribunemail.com

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, April 3

Tension prevails on the Benaras Hindu University (BHU) campus after three motorcyclists shot at a 23-year-old student outside the Birla hostel gate on Tuesday night. Later, he succumbed to his injuries at BHUs Institute of Medical Sciences.

According to police sources, a case has been registered against the BHU chief proctor and four others for the conspiracy to murder the student. The four have been detained for interrogation.

Gaurav Singh was earlier pursuing his MCA. The son of a BHU employee, he was an accused in the 2017 campus violence and had been jailed in 2018. He had since been expelled.

According to eyewitnesses, the three assailants on a motorcycle opened fire at Gaurav, who received injuries in stomach and chest. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died.

Police sources say the killing was a result of the personal enmity related to student politics.

Following the incident, Varanasi DM Surendra Singh and SSP Sureshrao A Kulkarni rushed to the campus and summoned police force from 16 neighbouring police stations as the agitated students went on the rampage at the trauma centre where Gaurav had been admitted.

In view of the tension on the campus, the district police quietly conducted the post-mortem and sent the body to his native village in Rohania in Varanasi for last rites.amansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, April 3

The CBI has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone who can provide any information leading to the arrest of self-styled preacher Virender Dev Dixit, who is wanted in cases of alleged rape of his disciples.

The agency has urged the citizens to share any information with the agency on phone 011-24368657, Fax 01124368662 and email spstfdel@cbi.gov.in, which can lead to his arrest, CBI spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said.

He said the identity of the person providing information will be kept secret.

The CBI had in March 2018 informed the Delhi High Court that its efforts to locate 77-year-old Dixit, who had allegedly confined several women at his ashram, Adhyatmik Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya, in Rohini here, have not yielded results so far.

The agency has informed that Dixit is absconding and has not joined investigation and efforts are being made to trace him in Nepal, a High Court bench had said.

The agency had issued two Look Out Circulars on January 22, 2018 and February 22, 2019 against him.

An interpol Blue notice to locate him has also been issued on the request of the CBI on March 26, 2018.

The Delhi High Court had on December 20, 2017 directed the CBI to investigate the alleged illegal confinement of girls and women in the ashram where they were kept in animal-like conditions behind metal doors in a fortress surrounded by barbed wire.

The CBI has taken over probe into the three FIRs registered by Delhi Police at Vijay Vihar police station in Rohini by re-registering them, CBI officials said.

The two cases are against Dixit for alleged rape and criminal intimidation, while one case is against unidentified people for allegedly obstructing the work of a high court-appointed committee which went to the ashram on December 19, 2017.

The court had asked the CBI to investigate the FIRs lodged in Delhi against the Rohini-based ashram and its founder-cum-spiritual head Dixit and the daily diary entries relating to complaints of missing girls, commission of sexual offences and even a case of suicide there.  PTIrchopra@tribunemail.com

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday called the Congress manifesto a danger for the country, saying it would only demoralise the armed forces.

Addressing a press conference here, she took on the Congress on its promise to amend AFSPA in its manifesto. She claimed that it would be used to encourage frivolous charges against officers.

She said the armed forces are fighting at the cost of their lives. Why should it be presumed that the powers of the armed forces are opposed to human rights? she asked.

The minister alleged that the Congress is trying to weaken the armed forces and pull down their morale.

She said the armed forces needed protection.

She also wondered as to why the manifesto was silent on martyrs. The Congress manifesto mentions nothing about the martyrs, she said.Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.amansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, April 3

The Centre has cleared all decks to accord the organised service recognition and service benefits to thousands of Central Armed Police Forces officers seeking better promotion and monetary benefits for serving large tenure of their career in areas affected by Naxalism, terrorism and insurgency.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed the chiefs or Directors General (DsG) of the five Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) -- CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISFto forward proposals containing details of officers eligible for benefits of Non-Functional Financial Upgradation (NFFU) and Non-Functional Selection Grade (NFSG).

The order accessed by PTI stated that these details are required to be submitted to it by Thursday as the matter has been accorded top priority by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

A senior official said the ministry is working with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and will soon issue a notification in this context for granting NFFU and NFSG to Group A officers of these forces.

The MHA has sought the details by the first half of Thursday and it is expected that the notification will be issued by the DoPT by this weekend, they said.

The move comes in the backdrop of recent judgements made by the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court.

The apex court in February had upheld a Delhi High Court verdict on the subject and agreed that all the CAPFs be recognised as organised services, saying it will remove stagnation, ensuring the promotion and other service-related benefits to officers in the same post.

The Delhi High Court on March 15 had asked the Centre to file a compliance affidavit on the subject after a retired and a serving officer of these forces filed a contempt petition before it saying the government has not complied with its directions.

In its February order, the SC had held that Group A officers of the CAPFs should be given all benefits, including NFFU from 2006 in terms of the 6th pay commission.

The top court, during this hearing, had upheld the Delhi HCs two verdicts by which it had granted organised service status to these forces and also to the officers of the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

NFFU is a concept introduced in the 6th pay commission and was granted to what the government termed as Group A organised services.

Under NFFU, if all the officers of a particular batch cannot move up the ladder owing to lack of vacancies and only one does, the others will automatically get financial upgradation as the one promoted.

However, it would only involve a financial upgrade but not rank or perks.

The recognition will also enable CAPF officers to get better deputation opportunities in other government departments that will help them gather knowledge and expertise of different domains.

Also, more command-level posts would be reserved for the cadre officers of these forces as compared to those coming on deputation from the Indian Police Service (IPS).

The SC had dismissed the appeals of Centre against the Delhi HC order, saying that in the monographs published by the DoPT right from 1986 till date, CAPFs have been shown to be a part of the central Group A services.

The officers of these forces command units that are deployed to undertake anti-Naxal operations, counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency tasks, border guarding and they also render a variety of roles for maintenance of internal security and conduct of elections across the country.  PTIvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Santiago, April 2

India and Chile have agreed to work together to strengthen the global response to defeat and destroy terrorism in all its forms and manifestations as President Ram Nath Kovind held discussions with his Chilean counterpart on matters of mutual interest, including cooperation in defence.

The two sides signed three MoUs in the fields of mining, culture and disability during Kovind's visit here. Kovind arrived here on Sunday on the last leg of his three-nation tour that also took him to Bolivia and Croatia.

Kovind discussed issues of mutual interest with his Chilean counterpart Sebastian Pinera, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted. "We exchanged views and assessments of our respective neighbourhoods and regions," Kovind said.

Thanking Pinera for his strong condemnation of the Pulwama attack in J&K, the President said India and Chile have agreed to work together to strengthen the global response to defeat and destroy terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and hold those responsible, accountable for their brutality against humanity.

They also called upon all countries to work towards eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and financing channels. They emphasised the need for stronger international partnership in countering terrorism and extremism, including through increased sharing of information to combat terrorism, also bilaterally, a joint statement said.

Both leaders expressed the importance of early finalisation of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, the statement said. India offered training slots to Chilean armed forces in the premier defence institutions, including for courses in mountain warfare and peacekeeping. "The two countries should also seize the opportunity to jointly manufacture defence equipment," Kovind said.

Chile is the sixth largest trading partner of India in the Latin American region. The bilateral trade between the two nations registered an increase of 50 per cent in 2017-18, to reach $2.8 billion.  PTIpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Jerusalem, April 3

A delegation led by Israels National Security Adviser lost classified documents related to weapons deals with India but in a stroke of luck they were recovered, thanks to a restaurant waiters presence of mind, a media report said on Wednesday.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Meir Ben Shabbat travelled with several members of the National Security Council (NSC) to India in January this year when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

The Israeli NSA in those meetings also discussed about different weapons deals between the two countries, newspaper Haaretz reported.

Israel reportedly wishes to sell India several advanced weapons manufactured by defence industries, such as spy planes, unmanned aircraft, anti-tank missiles, cannons and radar systems.

An aide to Shabbath had printed several documents related to possible weapons deal with India ahead of the trip, which reportedly also included classified information.

The delegation dined at a restaurant prior to boarding the plane and the aide who had printed the papers reportedly left them there.

However, a waiter at the restaurant found the documents after the delegation had left and contacted a friend whose mother works for the Israeli Embassy in India.

The waiters friend flew to India and gave her mother the documents which she then passed on to the security officer of the embassy.

A probe carried out by the NSC found that the loss of documents had not inflicted damage on Israels security, the report said.

NSC Chair, Yoav Horowitz, issued directives to launch a probe into the incident which drew conclusions that no dangerous entities were exposed to the contents of the documents.

Shabbats aide was accused of losing the documents and was placed under warning, the report said.

The incident was taken care of immediately, a security investigation was carried out and lessons were learned, the Israeli Prime Ministers Office told the daily. PTIamansharma@tribunemail.com

Visakhapatnam, April 3

Hinting at her prime ministerial ambition, BSP chief Mayawati said on Wednesday she would use the experience she has gained as UP chief minister to give the best government at the Centre if we get an opportunity.

She said she has been Uttar Pradesh chief minister four times.

I have a lot of experience. I will use that experience at the Centre and work for peoples welfare, the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo said at a press conference here.

If we get an opportunity at the Centre, we will adopt the UP pattern and give the best government in all aspects. At all levels, a good government, she asserted.

Asked if she would like to become the prime minister, Mayawati, however, said things would be clear when results of the general election are declared on May 23.

The BSP is contesting Lok Sabha and state assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh in alliance with the Jana Sena, the CPI and the CPI(M).

As part of the alliance, the BSP is contesting three Lok Sabha seats out of the 25 in the state and 21 assembly seats of the total 175.

Flanked by Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan at the presser, Mayawati said people want a change at the national level.

They want a party in power that takes care of their welfare. They want our country safe, she said.

She pointed out that her party had garnered the third-largest vote share in the 2014 election, after the BJP and the Congress.

Asked if theres a need for a Third Front, the BSP chief replied it would become clear when the election results come out.

In the 2014 election, BJP promised big things. But it did not fulfil the promises in five years, she said, adding that the ruling party has diverted peoples attention from those promises to other issues.

On the Congress, she said people rejected the party that has remained in power for the longest time because it failed to honour its promises and the BJP took advantage of it.

Last time the BJP promised Rs 15-20 lakh for each poor family. Now the Congress is talking on the same lines. It is promising Rs 72,000 per year.

The Congress should remember, when Indira Gandhi was in power she had started the 20-point programme in the name of Garibi Hatao. Kya garibi hati (Was poverty eradicated)? Mayawati asked.

She said the BSP always talked less and believed in delivering more.

If BSP gets an opportunity at the Centre, it will work for the poor and the unemployed, irrespective of their caste. We will give top priority to them. And farmers have multiple problems and we will try to get rid of them, she said.

Her government, if elected, would not be biased towards any state.

If Congress is in power at the Centre, it supports some states and does not support others. BJP has its own equations. It will not happen with us, she said.

Claiming that the BJPs situation was very bad, particularly vis-a-vis the BSP-SP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP chief said the ruling party was worried. Wherever we have alliance, BJP will suffer, she said.

Mayawati also promised to grant the special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

AP people are angry that both BJP and Congress did not deliver SCS. If we get a chance at the Centre, we will give SCS, she said.

The BSP chief hoped that the JSP-BSP-CPI(M)-CPI alliance would for the government in Andhra Pradesh and Pawan Kalyan would become the CM.

People dont want to fall in the trap of regional parties of either Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSR Congress) or Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam Party). They want a new leadership, young blood who could lead the state well... They should give a chance to Pawan Kalyan...  PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Patna, April 2

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attacked the grand alliance over its stand on terrorism and accused it of coining the term Hindu atankwad (Hindu terror) for political advantage.

Addressing a rally in Gaya, Modi said the country used to be rocked by terror attacks with alarming frequency in all corners, including Gaya, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Varanasi etc. There was a sudden drop in such incidents after May 2014.

The change was not brought about by me. You effected that change through your vote, he said, evoking a huge round of applause.

The government machinery remained the same, but there had been a change in the style, policies and the will of the government, he said.

Our agencies were not lacking in ability even before we came to power. But they were not allowed to work on account of appeasement politics of the previous government. And to misdirect the probe, the bogey of Hindu terror was raised. In a case like Samjhauta Express blast, the role of Pakistan was completely brushed under the carpet, the PM alleged.

The PM shared dais with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and LJP chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. He wooed voters for JD-U nominee Vijay Kumar Manjhi.

Before Gaya, the PM sounded the poll bugle in Maoist-infested Jamui Lok Sabha constituency. He said a large number of youths following Maoist ideology had joined the mainstream in the past 5 years.

He said all those following the path of Naxalism would be brought back into the mainstream. The NDA government was committed to tackle both terrorism and Naxalism with an iron hand, he said. Slamming the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) over its stand on Balakot airstrike, the PM said: As Indian forces ravaged terrorist camps inside Pakistan, the Opposition demanded proofs. They acted as spokespersons for Pakistan.

The PM urged people to give him more time to accomplish the remaining developmental work. Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) candidate Chirag Paswan is the NDA nominee from Jamui.

Appeasement politics

Our agencies were not lacking in ability (to tackle terror cases) even before we came to power. But they were not allowed to work on account of appeasement politics of the previous government. And to misdirect the probe, the bogey of Hindu terror was raised.  Narendra Modi, Prime Ministereditorial@tribune.com

New Delhi, April 2

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed people in South India feel hostility from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he decided to contest from Wayanad in Kerala to send out the message that he stands with them.

The Congress announced on Sunday that party chief Gandhi will contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

There is a feeling in South India, a very strong feeling in South India, that they are not being carried (along) by the current government. South India feels hostility from Narendra Modi, they feel that they are not being included in the decisions of the country, Gandhi said.

So, I wanted to send a message to South India that we are with you and I am standing with you. That is why I am standing from Kerala, he said in response to a question after the launch of the partys manifesto.

The Congress announcement that the party chief will contest from Wayanad evoked sharp reactions from the Left and Right of the political spectrum.

The CPM and CPI said the move signalled the Congress wanted to take on the Left, which would work towards defeating him in the elections from Wayanad.

BJP chief Amit Shah reacted to the development saying Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him.

Addressing a rally in Wardha, Maharashtra, on Monday, the Prime Minister said the Congress is scared to field its leaders from constituencies where the majority dominates in terms of voter-base. He, however, did not name Gandhi.

The Congress is hoping to further consolidate its position this time in Kerala. Top Congress leaders have contested from the South earlier as well.  PTIuttara@tribuneindia.com

Kozhikode, April 3

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in addition to his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will file his nomination by 11 am on Thursday, senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala said.

Gandhi might be accompanied by his sister and AICC in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress sources told PTI.

They said the Congress chief will board a helicopter to Wayanad, about 90 km from here, to file his nomination.

"A roadshow will be held tomorrow, before the filing of nomination papers, in which thousands of party workers will take part," Chennithala told reporters here Wednesday.

Senior Congress leaders, including Mukul Wasnik, KC Venugopal, Mullappally Ramachandran, and Indian Union Muslim League leader K Kunhalikutty are in Kozhikode to make arrangements for the event.

Tight security is in place in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts in view of the high-profile visits.

A senior district police official told PTI that the Congress chief will arrive at 8.30 PM on Wednesday.

"He will stay at the guest house and will leave for Wayanad in the morning. Time and logistics are yet to be finalised," he said.

He said he cannot divulge the details due to security considerations.

The Congress announced on Sunday that Gandhi will contest from Wayanad constituency, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Gandhi has claimed people in South India "feel hostility" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he decided to contest from Wayanad to send out the message that he stands with them.

Fighting to win

Left said it would teach Rahul Gandhi how to "fight elections on the ground", even as the Congress said nothing will affect its chief's prospects in the state.

We are fighting this polls to win, a senior CPI leader said, on the eve of Gandhi filing his nomination to fight the elections from the hill constituency.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF)a coalition of left-wing parties in Keralahas fielded CPI's PP Suneer from the Wayanad parliamentary constituency, which has seven assembly segments, three each in Wayanad and Malappuram districts and one in Kozhikode district.

CPI's Wayanad district leader, Vijayan Cherukara, said the LDF candidate has almost completed three phases of campaigning and he has directly connected with nearly four to five lakh voters.

The fourth phase of campaign is meeting families and it will commence in two days.

The Left feels that the people of the constituency will not choose a candidate like Gandhi as he would not be able to concentrate fully on their issues due to his busy schedule as Congress president at the national level.

Rahul Gandhi is like an invisible God. It will be easy for him to win polls in his family bastion Amethi (Uttar Pradesh). But the soil of Wayanad is different. We will teach him on how to fight elections on the ground, Cherukara told PTI here.

He said the morale of some Left leaders was affected after Gandhi decided to contest elections from Kerala but then our workers have become more energetic and are ready to take up the challenge". Left workers have unleashed a campaign on the ground against "the anti-farmer, anti-tribal and anti-minority policies of both the Congress and the BJP, Cherukara said.

We will introduce new campaign methods like flash mobs to reach out to young voters of the constituency. Separate campaigns will be organised to reach out to tribals, farmers and minorities, he said, adding that the Left is getting "stronger.

The Congress, however, said that nothing will work against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad.

Wayanad district Congress general secretary D P Rajasekharan said Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad has energised workers of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the state and his presence alone will help the front to win all 20 Lok Sabha seats.

The people of Kerala are discussing only one thing. That is Gandhi's decision to fight polls from Wayanad, a tribal district.

"It shows his commitment to address problems of poor and marginalised in the society, said Rajasekharan, who is also the UDF election committee convenor of the Sulthan Batheri assembly segment.

Senior Congress leader and state INTUC chief R Chandrasekharan said the people, particularly farmers, were upset with the anti-farmer and anti-labour policies of the state and central governments.

Farmers are committing suicide in Wayanad and other parts of Kerala due to the crisis in agriculture sector and the Congress under Gandhi's leadership is committed to address their issues if the UPA is voted to power, he said.

He said the Congress and its trade union wing INTUC will highlight the issue of crisis in the farming and labour sectors and farmer suicides in Wayanad and other parts of Kerala during the election campaign.

The Central and state governments have failed to address the issues in farming sector post the devastating floods in Kerala. Farmer suicides are reported from many parts of Kerala and some from Wayanad district also," the Kerala Indian National Trade Union Congress said.

He said the Congress in its manifesto has promised to have a separate budget for farmers and help them the burden of farm loans.

This will help the farming community to come out of the deep crisis they now face due to denial of minimum support price (MSP) for their produce for last five years, he said.

Thousands of farmers, who engaged in farming after taking bank loans, are facing revenue recovery proceedings in Wayanad district alone, according to various agriculture organisations. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Dehradun, April 1

Bracing for the April 11 poll, Uttarakhand has heightened security around the Char Dham shrines and will seal the border with Nepal two days ahead of the elections, a top police official said here on Monday.

To ensure a free and fair process, 60 additional companies of Central forces will be deployed to manage 11,238 polling booths, Director General of Police (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar said.

We have also increased vigil around all four Char Dham shrines  Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, Kumar said. All shrines are still closed and will only open separately in the first week of May.

The long border with Nepal would be sealed in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts on April 9, he said.

Checking on the inter-state borders had also been increased by erecting 85 barriers with the adjoining states of UP and HP.

Of the total 11,238 booths, nearly 563 have been declared vulnerable and 969 critical. Most of the vulnerable and critical booths are mostly in the plains such as Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Dehradun.

In addition to 16,000 state police personnel, Home Guard jawans will also be deployed in the state. There will be 235 flying squads also to keep vigil in the state.

Our arrangements for the EVMs will be totally foolproof, Kumar said. The EVMs will be stored in 11 strong rooms after the votes are cast. These will be across the state and guarded by five companies of the ITBP .  IANSmonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Beijing, April 3

China on Wednesday hit out at the US for threatening to use "all available resources" to designate Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a 'global terrorist', saying Washington's move is complicating the issue and not conducive to peace and stability in South Asia.

After China put a hold on a French proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council, the US on March 27 circulated a draft resolution to the powerful 15-nation Council to blacklist Azhar and subject him to a travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here that China is adopting constructive and reasonable stand on the issue to resolve it properly.

He was responding to a question about State Department spokesman's assertions that the US will use all "available resources" to blacklist Azhar.

The US on Tuesday reportedly said it will utilise all available resources to ensure Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Azhar, was held accountable.

The State Department was responding to China criticising the US, France and the United Kingdom for moving a draft resolution at the UNSC as not a constructive move and that it set a bad example.

China, on Monday criticised the US for directly taking the issue of listing Azhar as global terrorists to UN Security Council after it had put a technical hold on the US, UK and French resolution earlier to declare him a global terrorist in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee dealing with counter-terrorism issues.

On Monday, Geng claimed "positive progress" has been made to resolve the vexed issue and accused the US of scuttling its efforts.

China has so far blocked the move to designate Azhar as a 'global terrorist' four times in recent years.

On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said vast majority of the UNSC members believe that efforts should be made under the 1267 Sanctions Committee to solve this designation through dialogue and consultation instead of pushing the draft resolution at the UNSC.

Also China has been working hard with relevant sides and is making positive results. The US knows that very well. Under such circumstances the US still insists on pushing the draft resolution, doesn't make any sense," he reiterated.

He said the US' action is not consistent with the UN rules and customary practice and sets a bad precedent.

It is only complicating the issue and not conducive to peace and stability in South Asia," he said.

China will continue to adopt constructive and responsible attitude to participate in discussions and deliberations on the designation issue," he said. We hope this issue will finally be resolved properly, he said.

To another question that no evidence has come about the involvement of JeM in the terror attack in Pulwama and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Geng said, On the recent incident in Kashmir, China has stated its position. We hope South Asia could maintain peace and stability and we hope India and Pakistan will engage in dialogue and through dialogue and consultation resolve outstanding issues."

India handed over a dossier to Pakistan 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.

Pakistan has already said that it has not found any link between the JeM and the Pulwama terror attack and demanded more information/evidence from India. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 2

Following the raid by the Khanna police on the premises of Father Anthony Madasserry and reports appearing in the media related to him and three other priests of Diocese of Jalandhar running a Rs 40-crore partnership firm, several priests have claimed that they have already shown their resentment on the matter to the church authorities.

The priests, who are averse to running a firm, allege that it is a violation of Section 286 of the Canon Law as per which, clerics are forbidden to practice commerce and trade, either personally or through another, for their own or anothers benefit, except on the permission of the lawful ecclesiastical authority.

A senior priest says, We have taken to priesthood after baptismal vow for poverty. Then how can we run a Rs 40-crore business? This is completely unethical and we have raised this matter a number of times in our meetings.

Another priest says, The idea of floating a firm started after Franco Mulakkal took over as Bishop in 2013. Initially, a plan was rolled in to start Prarthana Bhawan TV channel. In 2014, Sahodhaya was started and soon expanded. Finding things going the wrong way, one of the four priests had quit Sahodhaya affairs, but his name is still on record.

Even the nuns are openly opposing such business practices. The nuns supporting Sister Lucy of Franciscan Clarist Congregation, who got a notice for not returning the salary she was drawing as a schoolteacher, have opened up on the matter. Kerala-based Sister Anupama, who is siding with the victim nun in the alleged rape case against Bishop Franco, has said, This is a clear case of partiality and patriarchy in the system.

Like Father Anthony Madassery, who is facing I-T interrogation, his partner in the firm Father Jose Palakuzha, also maintained that there was no violation of Canon Law since they had the permission of Bishop Franco.

We are not running a profit-making company. Our purpose is only to give employment and do charity. We are also running transport business for schools and employing drivers and conductors, he said, adding that so far he had not been interrogated by the I-T team.amansharma@tribunemail.com

Ruchika M. Khanna &

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 3

Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has returned from his self-imposed exile of almost three weeks. His long absence from office, as well as the city, has led to work piling up in the most public dealing department of the government.

For the past three weeks, the otherwise firebrand minister, went incommunicado. He was reportedly in Delhi, but had refused to get in touch with anyone from Chandigarh. During his absence, his close aides maintained that he was not talking to anyone because of a dental procedure he underwent.

Highly-placed sources in the government said that Sidhu had even refused to talk to the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, who tried to reach out to him twice. With elections to the Lok Sabha on May 19 being perceived as a litmus test for the Congress, the Chief Minister has been concerned over almost all development works, approval of building plans and grant of change in land use not being done, besides administrative work suffering.

During Sidhus long period of absence, post facto approvals were given for whatever little work that was allowed by the department, reportedly after the Chief minister intervened. Sidhus rather long absence from work now and the alleged delay in his decision making has been a sore point within the state unit of Congress too. This fact had earlier been discussed by the Congress MLAs with the CM during their meeting held earlier this year.

When contacted, Sidhu told The Tribune, It is wrong to suggest that I was sulking. I had undergone a dental procedure and was advised bed rest. I decided to prolong my bed rest till I felt better, he said.

When asked about his role in the Congress during the general election, Sidhu said, I have not been assigned any role by the Congress High Command, including campaigning for the party. I am waiting for them to as assign me a role appropriate to my stature. Sidhu added that he had never sought any ticket to contest the election. I was sounded well in advance about my role in campaigning. I have already told my party that I will not contest from anywhere other than Amritsar. I had left the BJP only because they wanted me to contest from Kurukshetra, he said.

It may be mentioned that Sidhu was earlier reportedly snubbed by the office of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, when he was not allowed to share stage with the latter at the rally in Moga last month. His name was also not included in the list of star campaigners released by the Congress party.

His wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, has also not been granted the party ticket for contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Chandigarh -- a seat she had been eyeing for herself. She has also expressed her disillusionment over not being considered for the party ticket from City Beautiful , after the name of Pawan Bansal was announced yesterday.

Upon his return -- after 19 days -- Sidhu cleared some files yesterday, say sources. But he attended office today and cleared 25 files of change in land use; issuing of chargesheets, administrative work and granted approvals for sanctioning building plans of commercial and multi-storey residential projects, said an official source.editorial@tribune.com

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 2

Parents across the state who have their wards studying in ICSE-affiliated convent schools have alleged irregularities in the sale of books by Sahodhaya, a Rs 40-crore firm run by four priests of Jalandhar Diocese, including Father Anthony Madasserry.

The company has been under the Income Tax Department scanner since the Khanna police raid on Friday evening.

These parents have alleged that the schools were forcibly getting an undertaking from them that they will buy books only from Sahodhaya, for which even receipts are not being issued. They have also alleged that the books are overpriced.

The parents of a convent school at Sujanpur said they had been publicly lodging protests and had even taken up the matter with the district administration. The company is clearly trying to circumvent the orders of the Supreme Court as per which the schools cannot sell books from the campus. Instead of having counters, they have now taken to this method of setting up a company of their own, he said. A protest on this issue was also held at Sultanpur Lodhi on Monday.

Interestingly, two of the four priests running Sahodhaya are also directors of schools in Jalandhar where the company has set up its counters, thus having a clear conflict of interest. Father Anthony is the director of St Josephs School, Defence Colony, and Father Jose Palakuzha is the director of St Judes Convent School, Nakodar.

A priest, who serves in a convent school, said, We were earlier following the practice of calling the publishers and finalising the books to be recommended in consultation with the subject teacher and principal. In return, the publisher whose book got selected sometimes offered voluntary donation to the church. But Bishop Franco and his aide Father Anthony changed the entire system in Diocese-run schools.

Education Minister OP Soni is learnt to be abroad. When contacted, Director General School Education Mohammad Tayyab said, I will not like to comment anything regarding the book sale system followed in ICSE schools. We have no connection with them.

Father Xavier Thazhathuveettil, Director Education of the Diocese, did not respond to calls. Father Anthony had earlier said that if schools were forcibly getting undertaking from the parents, they should approach the school authorities on this. Father Jose Palakuzha, who is a partner in Sahodhaya, denied any profit-making in the book business. Most top publishers and distributors in Jalandhar have said they have not been able to increase their business beyond Rs 2 crore, that too after being in the line for years.

Have to shell out more than MRP

"If we do not give this undertaking, we are threatened that our ward would be expelled. Also the books prescribed are not available in the open market and can be purchased only from Jalandhar. They also do not give us any receipt. When we calculate the total amount on the basis of the MRP of books and other items, it is less than the money charged from us. We have submitted many complaints but to no avail." A parent of a child studying at a Machhiwara schoolpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Ottawa, April 3

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday sought to quell a crisis that threatens his chances of re-election, expelling from party ranks two former Cabinet members he said had undermined the ruling Liberals.

Trudeau said former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board chief Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal legislators. They were also barred from running for the party in the federal election this October.

The Liberals have been in turmoil since Wilson-Raybould said in February that officials had inappropriately pressured her last year while she was justice minister to ensure that construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc escape a corruption trial.

The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken, Trudeau told an emergency meeting of caucus.

Civil wars within parties are incredibly damaging because they signal to Canadians that we care more about ourselves than we do about them, said Trudeau, 47, who took office in November 2015 and faces a tough re-election battle this autumn.

Wilson-Raybould, who tweeted news of her ouster before Trudeaus announcement, was demoted in January and resigned the next month. Philpott quit shortly afterward, saying she had lost confidence in how Trudeau was handling the matter.

If people cant express trust in the party and the prime minister, then they need to find another political vehicle in order to advance their ideas. Its as simple as that, Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters.

The expulsion represented a change of course for Trudeau, who said as recently as last week that the Liberals needed strong legislators with differing points of view.

But increasingly angry parliamentarians had demanded both women be removed from caucus on the grounds they were undermining party unity.

Opinion polls show the crisis has cut public support for the Liberals to such an extent that they could lose in October to the official opposition Conservatives.

Trudeau, who came to power promising sunny ways and a greater role for women in politics, admitted it has been a difficult few weeks.

The scandal also cost him the services of his closest aide, Gerald Butts, and Michael Wernick, the head of the federal bureaucracy.

Wilson-Raybould said on Twitter: I have no regrets. I spoke the truth as I will continue to do.

Last Friday, to back her case, she released the audio of a confidential conversation with Wernick, who did not know she was recording him. Trudeau said that was unconscionable. Philpott said on Facebook that she did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister ... it appears that the caucus is intent on staying the current course, regardless of its short-term and long-term consequences. Trudeau has denied any wrongdoing. The scandal is starting to hit his fortunes in the populous province of Quebec, where the Liberals say they need to pick up seats in October to remain in power.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeaus decision sent a message that if you tell the truth, there is no room for you in the Liberal Party. Reuterseditorial@tribune.com

Washington, April 2

As he threatens to shut down the southern border, President Donald Trump is considering bringing on a "border" or "immigration czar" to coordinate immigration policy across various federal agencies, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Trump is weighing at least two potential candidates for the post: former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, according to the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the conversations publicly.

Kobach and Cuccinelli are far-right conservatives with strong views on immigration. Cuccinelli was seen at the White House on Monday.

The planning comes as Trump is threatening anew to close the US-Mexico border as soon as this week if Mexico does not completely halt illegal immigration into the US. And it serves as the latest sign that the president plans to continue to hammer his hardline immigration rhetoric and policies as he moves past the special counsel's Russia investigation and works to rally his base heading into his 2020 re-election campaign.

Aides hope the potential appointment, which they caution is still in the planning stages, would serve as the "face" of the administration on immigration issues and would placate both the president and his supporters, showing he is serious and taking action.

White House press aides, Kobach and Cuccinelli did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment. Kobach previously served as vice-chair of the president's short-lived election fraud commission, which was disbanded after finding little evidence of widespread abuse.

A Department of Homeland Security official noted that White House czars had been appointed in the past when there has been an urgent need for sustained, inter-agency policy coordination. While Homeland Security often plays a leading role when it comes to immigration policy and enforcement, the department is not in charge of officials at the departments of Health and Human Services, State, Defense and Justice, which often play key roles. Trump has often complained, both publicly and privately, about how he has not been able to do more to stop the tide of illegal immigration, which he has likened to an "invasion" and described as a national security crisis. Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March. More than half of those are families with children. Still, Trump has been pushing. He has deployed National Guard troops to the border, forced a government shutdown to try to pressure Congress to provide more money for his long-promised border wall, and eventually signed an emergency declaration to circumvent lawmakers. He also moved Saturday to cut direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where citizens are fleeing north and overwhelming U.S. resources at the southern border. Those moves have involved a swath of government agencies. The Justice Department manages the immigration courts that decide whether a migrant is deported; Health and Human Services manages the care of migrant children apprehended at the border; agencies within Homeland Security manage the allocation of legal status, immigration enforcement and asylum requests; and the Pentagon and the Army Corps of Engineers manage facets of border wall construction.  APgspannu7@gmail.com

Islamabad, April 3

Pakistan Army on Wednesday promoted 40 Brigadiers to the rank of Major General.

The approval for the promotions was given by Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at an army promotion board meeting held in Rawalpindi.

In a statement, the army said that the board approved promotion of 40 Brigadiers to Major General.

It said that 11 of them were from Army Medical Corps.

These promotions are considered as a routine affair but they came amid tensions between Pakistan and India after the deadly Pulwama terror attack and subsequent Indian air strikes on terror camps in Balakot.  PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Vatican City, April 2

Pope Francis said on Tuesday the Catholic Church had to acknowledge a history of male domination and sexual abuse of women and children and repair its reputation among young people or risk becoming a museum.

But, in a major document in which he mentioned an array of scandals and again admitted significant failings by clergy, he also said the Church could not agree with everything some feminist groups propose, a clear reference to the Church's ban on a female priesthood.

The pope is grappling with criticism over the Church's response to a decades-long clerical sexual abuse crisis that has gravely damaged its standing around the globe and seen it pay out billions of dollars in compensation.

Francis made his comment in a 50-page Apostolic Exhortation about a month-long meeting of bishops in October on the role of young people in the 1.3 billion-member Church. Francis (82), urged youth not to be disillusioned by the sexual abuse scandal, but to work with the overwhelming majority of priests and other clergy faithful to their vocation. He said clergy sexual abuse was a tragedy and asked young people to help the Church in this dark moment.

A living Church can look back on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence, the pontiff said. With this outlook, she can support the call to respect womens rights, he said.  Reuterspardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, April 3

President Donald Trump took a step back on Tuesday from his threat to close the US southern border to fight illegal immigration, as pressure mounted from companies worried that a shutdown would cause chaos to supply chains.

Trump threatened on Friday to close the border this week unless Mexico acted. He repeated that threat on Tuesday but said he had not made a decision yet: Were going to see what happens over the next few days.

Closing the border could disrupt millions of legal crossings and billions of dollars in trade. Auto companies have been warning the White House privately that it would lead to the idling of US plants within days because they rely on prompt deliveries of components made in Mexico.

The US Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business lobbying group, has been in contact with the White House to discuss the very negative economic consequences that would occur across the country, said Neil Bradley, the groups top lobbyist, on a call with reporters.

Trump praised efforts by Mexico to hinder illegal immigration from Central America at its own southern border. On Monday, the Mexican government said it would help regulate the flow of migrants.

I really wanted to close it, Trump said on Tuesday night at a fundraiser for congressional Republicans.

The Mexican government has not published apprehension statistics, but a senior White House official said it had provided daily updates to the Trump administration, including specific apprehension numbers.

They say theyre going to stop them. Lets see. They have the power to stop them, they have the laws to stop them, Trump said earlier on Tuesday.

Push back

Trump has made fighting illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America a key part of his agenda, but shutting down one of the worlds most used borders might be a step too far, even for many of his fellow Republicans.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in warning Trump against such a move.

Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing, McConnell told reporters on Tuesday.

A group representing General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said in a statement that any action that stops commerce at the border would be harmful to the US economy, and in particular, the auto industry.

Dozens of US vehicle, engine, transmission and other auto parts plants could close because of a lack of components in the days after a border shutdown. It would also prevent thousands of vehicles built in Mexico from landing in US dealer showrooms.

Automakers exported nearly 2.6 million Mexican-made vehicles to the United States in 2018, accounting for 15 percent of all vehicles sold in the country. Some, like the Chevrolet Blazer SUV, are only made in Mexico.

Retailers are also raising alarm bells, according to officials with two groups that represent hundreds of US retail firms.

It will be unprecedented self-inflicted pain, said David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. We are still nervous about this and we have been talking to some of our companies about maybe ramping up direct pressure on the White House by getting CEOs to call.

Slower border

Senior US Department of Homeland Security officials said on Tuesday a recent redeployment of some 750 officers on the border to deal with a surge in migrants - mostly Central American families turning themselves in to border agents - had already led to a slowing of legal crossings and commerce at ports of entry.

Wait times in Brownsville (Texas) were around 180 minutes, which were two times the peaks of last year, said a senior DHS official on a call with reporters. We ended the day yesterday at Otay Mesa (California) with a backup of 150 trucks that hadnt been processed, the official said.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday that backups were delaying commercial traffic at the US-Mexico border at several crossings. He said the government had not drastically changed its migration strategy following the shutdown threats.

DHS officials said border facilities had been overwhelmed by families seeking asylum, fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Manuel Padilla, a 30-year veteran of the US Border Patrol, would now serve as the agencys coordinator on the border response.

US Customs and Border Protection estimated that some 100,000 migrants were apprehended or encountered at the border in March, the highest level in a decade. The system is on fire, a DHS official said.

Because of limits on how long children are legally allowed to be held in detention, many of the families are released to await US immigration court hearings, a process that can take years because of ballooning backlogs.

To try to address the problem, the Trump administration in January started sending some migrants to wait out their US court dates in Mexican border cities. On Monday, DHS said it would dramatically ramp up that program, despite court challenges.

The biggest priority for Nielsen is to seek action from Congress to change the immigration laws, said a DHS official.

She sent a letter to Congress last week repeating many of the Trump administrations demands, including a request to quickly deport Central American minors that cross the border alone.

Under current law, minors who are not from the contiguous countries of Canada and Mexico are placed in the care of sponsors in the United States, which Nielsen called a dangerous pull factor for migrants. Migrant advocates and some Democrats in Congress oppose the proposed legislative changes, saying they would send vulnerable children back to dangerous situations in their home countries.

Trump said he had spoken with a few Democrats on Tuesday about the administrations proposals and added: Theyre changing their minds. ReutersGeneral Labors & Drivers Jobs 2019 in Qatar

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Brussels, April 3

A European Parliament committee on Wednesday backed giving Britons the right to travel to the European Union without visas after Brexit, following weeks of controversy over the way the draft legislation dubs Gibraltar a UK "colony".

As the EU prepares for Brexit, Spainwhich ceded Gibraltar to Britain after an 18th century warinsisted that the UK territory be described that way in the draft law, which has upset London.

EU member states were then unable to agree on a joint position with the European Parliament for weeks as the lawmakers' point man for the file, Briton Claude Moraes, blocked it over the use of the term "colony", while other capitals took the side of Madrid.

As Britain faces the risk of an abrupt split from the bloc as soon as next week, EU states put pressure on the parliament this week to approve the file, with the chamber's head eventually removing Moraes from his role in a rare step.

The new so-called parliamentary rapporteur, Bulgarian EU lawmaker Sergei Stanishev, was picked on Tuesday, and on Wednesday spoke before the committee voted 38 to 8 in favour of the law, which still calls Gibraltar a UK "colony".

"The 12th of April is coming and the faith of millions of UK citizens and EU citizens and their right to travel is in our hands," he said when asking the committee to back the proposal.

Some lawmakers said the legislation was "ludicrous", accused the Spanish government of intransigence ahead of national elections later this month, and complained about how the European Council which brings together member states bulldozed the European Parliament on the issue.

The decision must still be approved by a plenary session of the EU parliament on Thursday to become EU law.

It would give Britons visa-free travel to the EU even in the event of a no-deal Brexit, on condition that Britain offers the same terms to EU citizens visiting for up to 90 days.

EU leaders next meet on Brexit on April 10. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that she would be asking them for another Brexit delay beyond April 12 to agree her stalled EU divorce deal with the opposition Labour party in the hope that it would then be ratified by the UK parliament.  ReutersGOVERNMENT is continuing negotiations for the sale of the refinery in Pointe-a Pierre, Energy Minister Stuart Young said in Parliament yesterday.

Young said he and Finance Minister Colm Imbert were monitoring the sale of the refinery and there were about four international prospects who were still very interested.Four companies are to submit proposals by December 15 for the acquisition of the Petrotrin rPython Software Engineer Job 2019 in Islamabad

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Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If an employer asks to pay money for any purpose, do not pay at all and report us at contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs may not be applied online here. Human typing error is possible. Error & omissions excepted.- The governor argued the bail amount was outrageous and against the bail and bond policy

- His lawyer Paul Nyamodi pleaded with the court to release him arguing he was not a flight risk

- The governor was arrested alongside other county officials in connection with a fuel supply scam

- He was released on a KSh 100 million cash bail and an alternative KSh 150 million bond

Embattled Samburu governor, Moses Lenolkulal, has applied for review of bail term issued by the High Court on Tuesday, April 2, after failing to raise KSh 100 million cash bail.

As a result, the governor has not been released and is currently being held at the Industrial Area Remand Prison in Nairobi.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal arrested, taken to EACC headquarters

Samburu governor, Moses Lenolkulal, was arrested by EACC detectives in connection with alleged theft of county funds. DPP Noordin Haji had approved his prosecution. Photo: Standard.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Court slaps Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal with KSh 150M bond in KSh 84M fraud case

TUKO.co.ke on Wednesday, April 3, confirmed the county chief returned to the High Court's Anti-Corruption Division seeking to have the bail term reviewed.

In the application filed on Wednesday morning, Lenolkulal's lawyer Paul Nyamodi protested the bail amount terming it as completely outrageous and claiming it was not in line with the bail and bond policy.

It goes against the bail and bond policy, specifically that the bond amount should not be excessive and should not be greater than necessary to guarantee that the accused persons will appear in court, the lawyer argued.

READ ALSO: Wacha vitisho bila vitendo  Sabina Chege kwa Rais Uhuru kuhusu ufisadi

Nyamodi pleaded with the court to set his client free arguing he does not pose any flight risk owing to his position as the governor of Samburu county.

Lenolkulal was arrested on Tuesday morning by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Noordin Haji, approved his prosecution.

The governor was arrested alongside his deputy Julius Leseeto and several other county officers over a fuel supply scam whose tender was allegedly awarded to Oryx Service Station.

READ ALSO: ODM wants referendum to give DCI, DPP more teeth to fight graft

Lenolkulal was accused of conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office and conflict of interest and unlawful acquisition of public property.

However, appearing before Milimani Anti-Corruption Corruption Court's Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti on Tuesday, the governor denied the charges.

The judge directed that the politician be freed on a cash bail of KSh 100 million or KSh 150 million bond.

READ ALSO: Mombasa: Makupa Police Station OCS in trouble for repeatedly presenting injured suspects in court

The accused was also ordered not to step in his county office until the DPP application to bar him from accessing the offices for two years is determined.

The prosecution team in its submission had applied to bar the governor from accessing his office for two years pending investigations.

Do you have a life-changing story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Should Deputy President William Ruto be impeached? - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Breaking News- A team of six lawyers from various nationalities want to represent Kenyans whose families perished in the Boeing 737-8 MAX Ethiopian airlines crash

- The lawyers plan to sue Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines and demand compensation for the families

- They urged families who were affected by the crash to come forward to bolster their case

Barely a month after the Ethiopias deadliest plane crash and a team of six lawyers have vowed to sue the aircraft manufacturer Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines.

This will be on behalf of eight Kenyan families whose kin perished in the tragic incident on March 10.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Someone must tame Sudi and other hatemongers before they lead Kenyans to a bloodbath

Led by one Carlos Velasquez, the lawyers urged other Kenyans who had been affected in one way or another to come together and to take on the American aircraft firm Boeing.

TUKO.co.ke has since learnt the lawyers are seeking compensation to the families of the people who perished in the crash.

Velasquez was wary of the fact that the case might be a tedious one but promised justice to the families affected.

Eight Kenyan families to sue Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines for relatives' deaths. Photo: Ethiopian Airlines

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Heartbreaking photos from the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302

Obviously what these families want is compensation for their loved ones who died during that unfortunate crash and what we seek to do is file claims against the manufacturer of the aircraft because clearly from what we have, the aircraft had problems with its system that led to the crash, Velasquez said during a press briefing on Wednesday, March 3.

Families could barely hold back their tears when they realised their loved ones in the ill-fated plane were no more. Photo: Getty

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Tourist wowed after her pal was 'offered' a Kenyan husband aboard low-cost Madaraka Express

The American lawyers will take a week in the country to attempt to reach out to the families who are willing to go through with the case and possibly receive some form of compensation.

As reported earlier, Kenyan bore the most casualties in the crash which claimed 157 people, including eight crew members.

In total, 32 Kenyans were killed in the crash and because of the extent of the crash, there were hardly any remains for families to collect for a decent send off.

Majority of the families had to make do with soil from the massive crater which was created when the Boeing 737-8 MAX came into contact with the ground.

Do you have a life-changing story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news

Kenyans insist 'Huduma Namba' is Satanic:

Source: Tuko NewsIn Parliament today, there was an exchange of words between an Opposition MP and the Health The foreign ministers of NATO member states are going to consider in Washington a package of military response to Russia's aggression, which will guarantee safe passage of the Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov.

"This package provides for enhanced surveillance, including air surveillance, and increase in the number of NATO ships in the Black Sea to ensure the safe passage of Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov," Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison, the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, said at a briefing in Washington D.C., an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to her, the NATO Allies must make sure that these waters are open for unhindered shipping and all of the NATO countries that live in the Black Sea and around the Black Sea are also under our security umbrella.

In this regard, she recalled that Russia had been placing an increasing number of weapons in Crimea, which remains to be a part of Ukraine.

"It is very important that Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Georgia have security guarantees in the Black Sea both for shipping and for safety on land," the ambassador stressed.

Hutchison also recalled the seizure of Ukrainian Navy ships and detention of crew members in November last year. "It is unacceptable that they are keeping Ukrainian sailors in Moscow prison right now. And, therefore, we intend to make sure that we have an opportunity to restrain a very aggressive Russia," the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO said.

A meeting of NATO foreign ministers will be held in Washington D.C. on April 3-4.

olThe State Aviation Administration of Ukraine accepted the applications of the Ukrainian SkyUp Airlines for the performance of flights from Kyiv to Paris and Nice (France) and from Kharkiv to Paris.

This is stated in the corresponding decision, which was published on the website of the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine.

In particular, SkyUp Airlines was permitted to perform regular flights from Kyiv and Kharkiv to Paris (France) three times a week and from Kyiv to Nice (France) twice a week.

In addition, the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine accepted the application of SkyUp Airlines for increasing the frequency on Kyiv-Sanya (China) route from two to three flights a week.

Also, the State Aviation Administration permitted Ukrainian airline YanAir to perform regular flights from Kyiv and Odesa to Stockholm (Sweden) and from Odesa to Erbil (Iraq), Dusseldorf (Germany) and Sulaymaniyah (Iraq) three times a week.

In addition, the State Aviation Administration permitted the Ukraine International Airlines to fly from Kyiv to Gothenburg (Sweden) with the frequency of seven flights a week and increased the frequency of UIA flights on Kyiv - Burgas (Republic of Bulgaria) route from four to five flights a week.

olThe Cabinet of Ministers has supported the draft resolution on amending the provisions on the use of Ukraines airspace because of the recent "voyage" of MP Yuriy Boiko to Russia

The decision was approved at a government meeting on Wednesday, April 3, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. The document was presented by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.

Minister Avakov stated that the draft resolution on amending the provisions on the use of airspace of Ukraine is aimed at protecting the state security and preventing possible threats to the national security of Ukraine by making non-schedule flights from the aggressor state impossible".

The draft resolution imposes a ban on non-schedule flights and private flights between Ukraine and the aggressor state, expect for the flights carried out to ensure missions of international organizations - the UN, the Red Cross and the OSCE," the minister said.

As reported, Ukrainian MP Yuriy Boiko met with Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev on March 22 at the Gorki residence outside Moscow. Among other participates of the meeting were also chairman of the Opposition Platform  For Life Party Viktor Medvedchuk and Russias Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller.

iyWizz Air will begin to operate flights on Kyiv-Lublin (Poland) seasonal route starting from June 30.

"Wizz Air is pleased to announce the resumption of flights on Kyiv-Lublin (Poland) seasonal route. This summer season, the first flight will be performed on June 30. Ukrainian passengers can already plan their next trip and book tickets on the website wizzair.com or via the WIZZ mobile app at the prices from EUR 19.99 / UAH 609, Wizz Air press service reports.

The flight will be operated twice a week: on Mondays and Fridays.

As the Kyiv - Lublin flight resumed, Wizz Air offers Ukrainian passengers 46 routes to 13 countries from Ukraine. Over the first three months of 2019, Wizz Air transported 450,000 passengers on its low-cost routes to / from Ukraine, showing more than 90% growth compared to the same period last year.

olfacebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter

Published April 2, 2019

Monroe, Louisiana  The University of Louisiana Monroe announced today, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, that it would provide healthcare screenings and education events to citizens in Union, Morehouse, Richland, East Carroll, West Carroll, Tensas, Madison and Bienville parishes for the next three years thanks to a $96,679 grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation.

The ULM Colleges of Health Sciences and Pharmacy will partner with Ochsner LSUHSC-Monroe (formerly E.A. Conway) and local community organizations to conduct healthcare screenings and educational events in the service area. According to Project Manager, Dr. Susan Lacey, the ULM Kitty DeGree Chair in Nursing, When individuals are identified at-risk or need additional education to manage a previously diagnosed condition, they will be referred to their original provider, a local provider, and/or a Federally Qualified Health Clinic.

Screening for Life will also train area citizens to help manage the screenings and events. After the grant ends, ULM faculty will remain engaged with the Community Health Workers (CHWs) as they continue screenings and education in places where people gather, such as churches and beauty shops.

Susan Chappell, Executive Director of ULM Advancement, Foundation and Alumni Relations, said, We thank Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation for making it possible to reach north Louisiana citizens living in underserved areas with Screening for Life.

ULM President Nick J. Bruno said the Screening for Life grant will allow the university to expand its healthcare services to surrounding communities that rank high nationally for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and obesity.

Thanks to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, ULM will be able to make an impact with people who have a significant need for healthcare services, Bruno said.

Michael Tipton, president of the Blue Cross Foundation, says that the ULM project stands out for its partnerships, Our Foundation has positioned itself to support communities coming together to solve tough health problems. We commend this unique partnership of educators, healthcare providers and community leaders to improve the health and lives of those living in the northeast region.

The three year program begins August 1, 2019.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation works each day to improve the health and lives of Louisianians by empowering everyday people to do extraordinary good. By building and funding coalitions of friends, families and neighbors, the Foundation hopes to build a healthier Louisiana, particularly for its children. The Foundation is funded solely by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, but is a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity.

Michael Tipton, President of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation (front center), presents a check for a $96,679 grant for the Screening for Life program to University of Louisiana Monroe President Dr. Nick J. Bruno (front right) joined by Louisiana State Sen. Francis Thompson (front left). Also pictured (from left to right) are, Dr. Susan Lacey, Kitty DeGree Chair in Nursing and project manager for Screening for Life, Roxanne Smith of the ULM Foundation, Lauren Fowler of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, Mike Vining with the city of Monroe, Louisiana State Rep. Frank Hoffman, Katie Murray of Louisiana State Rep. Jack McFarlands office, Dr. Ken Alford, Interim Dean of the College of Health Sciences, Hannah Livingston of U.S. Sen. John Kennedys office and Dr. Paula Griswold, Associate Dean of the College of Health Sciences.

Emerald McIntyre/ULM Photo Services| By Lou Cortina

Barbara Pierce Bush believes in the power of partnership and that health is a human right. Ten years ago, she combined those beliefs into action as co-founder of Global Health Corps (GHC), a nonprofit committed to mobilizing young professionals in an effort to boost health equity around the world.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore has announced that Barbara Pierce Bush, co-founder and board chair of Global Health Corps, will serve as commencement keynote speaker at the Universitys May 16 ceremony in Baltimore.

And as the keynote speaker at the University of Maryland, Baltimores (UMB) commencement on May 16, shes eager and excited to tell the Class of 2019 about GHC, its fellows, and their inspirational work.

Our fellows work every day to make a difference in the world, says Bush, chair of the nonprofits board of directors and its former CEO. Their stories are not dissimilar to those of the UMB graduates  young leaders who have the skills, drive, and passion to make a positive impact on the world and serve others.

(Read more about UMB's 2019 commencement.)

Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, was first moved to action in the area of global health equity in the summer of 2003, when as a Yale student she accompanied her father on a trip across eastern Africa as he launched the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Once thinking of a career as an architect, she switched gears, graduated with a degree in humanities, and began to focus on global health.

I was in college, and I vividly remember landing in Uganda, and there were hundreds of people waiting in the streets for drugs that had been available in the United States for years, Bush recalls. Those stark images of the inequity that exists in the world certainly blew my 21-year-old mind, and it taught me an unbelievable lesson of not stepping back.

Bush certainly has stepped forward, co-founding Global Health Corps in 2009 and serving as its CEO until January 2018. Since its inception, GHC has placed more than 1,000 professionals from 40-plus countries into one-year paid fellowships with government health entities or nonprofits in eastern Africa, southern Africa, and the United States. The fellows, who help to fill areas of need in those organizations, work in teams of two  one national fellow and one international fellow.

And fellowships are not given only to those from the medical fields. A fan of interprofessional collaboration, a hallmark at UMB, Bush believes it takes a variety of professionals to tackle health inequity. For instance, GHC fellows with architectural backgrounds helped design a system that changed the way air flows through a health center in Rwanda, decreasing the risk of spreading tuberculosis, and other fellows have worked on improving drug-delivery methods in impoverished African communities.

We need finance gurus and supply chain analysts, architects and designers, and educators and journalists, Bush says. We need leaders with diverse skill sets to come together to solve the most complex challenges and ensure everyone has access to quality health care. This is who weve been recruiting and training at Global Health Corps.

Under Bushs leadership, GHC made sure its training integrated leadership and professional development with self-reflection and personal learning, building skills that are essential for effective and ethical leadership. The organization also is committed to diversity, describing it as the key to driving its fellows ability to be empathetic and effective leaders in the health equity movement.

Diversity and inclusion matter enormously in global health, Bush says. Historically, the people who have effected change in global health have often been from medical backgrounds. Theyve often been academic, and theyve often been Western. And while weve made tremendous strides in global health, it is critical to acknowledge that change-makers can come from everywhere.

Bushs work with GHC has not gone unnoticed. In 2011, she was named one of Glamour magazines Women of the Year. In 2013, Newsweek recognized her as one of its Women of Impact. In 2014, she was named one of Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs. And in 2018, she won the Skoll Foundations Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Bush also is a member of UNICEFs Next Generation Steering Committee and has served on the board of directors of Covenant House International, PSI, and the United Nations Global Entrepreneurs Council.

The awards are nice, but Bush says shes most proud of the community of global leaders GHC has cultivated and then connected to a wide range of health entities, as well as the fact that 95 percent of fellows remain in the global health field beyond their one-year GHC tenure.

Each leader individually is incredible  committed to health equity, eager to learn from others, and willing to show up day after day and listen, regardless of the challenge they and their team are facing, Bush says. But collectively, this network blows me away. Its incredibly rewarding to see young leaders who are deeply passionate about health but dont necessarily see how they fit in the sector complete the fellowship and emerge with a deeper understanding, passion, and commitment to being health equity advocates for life.

And her advice to UMBs graduates? Stay open to new ideas and dont be afraid to explore new avenues in your career.

I was on a clear path to becoming an architect, a job Id always dreamed of, Bush says. And, lucky for me, I didnt stick to that path. Instead, I nurtured the voice in my mind that was always interested in reading about global health and said yes to a number of moments in life that led to the founding of Global Health Corps. For that, my life is so much bigger than it wouldve ever been.Every year, a number of species go extinct due to numerous reasons such as the changing environment, habitat destruction, the introduction of predators, and even human interference. Most of these species face the same fate as dinosaurs and are wiped from the face of the Earth forever. But every once in a while, a species, almost in a Biblical way, comes back from the dead. They are known as the Lazarus species, which are thought to be extinct only to be rediscovered sometime later. Keep reading this article to know about 10 such rediscovered species that were earlier thought to be extinct

1. Wollemi Pine

The Wollemi pine is a tree whose genus was thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago until an Australian man found several live trees in a remote valley of New South Wales in 1994.

The Wollemi pine is a dinosaur-era plant and is known as the dinosaur tree or living fossil. It is so named because it is the only remaining member of an ancient genus that dated back to the time of the dinosaurs. Before 1994, it was only known due to its fossil record. In 1994, David Noble, a National Parks and Wildlife Service Officer from New South Wales, was exploring an inaccessible part of Wollemi National Park. During his expedition, he stumbled upon some trees located in a sandstone gorge. Since he had never seen such trees, he took some samples. When he presented the samples to botanists, they were surprised to find this ancient line of conifer alive. Based on their location, the trees became known as the Wollemi pines.

The oldest known fossil of the Wollemi tree is about 200 million years old. Currently, the Wollemi tree is classified as critically endangered. It is found only in two sites, both located in Wollemi Park in New South Wales. It is an evergreen tree with distinctive, brown and knobby bark that resembles bubbling chocolate. The tree grows continuously except in the winter season when it develops a white, waxy coating over its growing buds. This coating or polar caps protects the growing tips. Botanists believe that the species has survived the ice ages using this technique. (1, 2)

2. Red-crested Tree Rat

A rodent that was believed to be extinct for 113 years casually showed up on the handrail on the front porch of an ecolodge in Colombia in 2011. It let researchers photograph it for two hours before disappearing into the night after which it was never seen again.

Red-crested tree rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis) is a magnificent guinea-pig-sized rodent. It was last seen in 1898 before being declared extinct. Later several organized searches were conducted but to no avail. In 2011, a red-crested tree rat shocked biologists worldwide by casually appearing at the El Dorado Nature Reserve in Sierra Nevada, Columbia. On 4 May 2011, this mammal casually showed up at the front door of IUCN Member ProAves El Dorado Nature Reserve Eco-lodge at 9:30 p. m.

This nocturnal mammal was rediscovered by two volunteer researchers from ProAves, Lizzie Noble and Simon McKeown. According to them, the animal appeared near the handrail where they were sitting and even let them photograph it including close-ups. After a brief photo session, it calmly went back to the forest. The red-crested tree rat is now included in the critically endangered species of IUCN list. (1, 2)

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3. Neptunes Cup

Neptunes Cup is a species of sponge went extinct in the early 1900s due to over-harvesting. Surprisingly, more than a hundred years later, two specimens were rediscovered off the coast of southern Singapore.

Neptunes Cup (Cliona patera) is a large sponge shaped like a wine glass. Due to its cup-like shape, it was sometimes used as tubs for babies. The Neptunes Cup measured up to a meter in both height and width. Due to its size, it was highly sought after by private collectors and museums. As the demand increased, people started over-harvesting it until they disappeared from Singapore in the 1870s. Later, in 1908, some collectors spotted it in West Java, Indonesia. Since then, the species was declared extinct.

Fast forward a century, and in 2011, two live Neptunes Cup sponges were found in the waters off St. Johns Island, Singapore. The first specimen was found in March 2011 by biologists of an environmental engineering firm. Soon, a second sponge was found just 50 meters away. Since then, four more sponges have been found in Singapore. (1, 2)

4. Coelacanth

The coelacanth, a prehistoric fish more related to reptiles and mammals than modern fish, was thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago until a fisherman caught one in 1938.

The coelacanth is a dinosaur-era fish that was believed to have gone extinct 65 million years ago until it was rediscovered in 1938. Before then, it was only known to the world through some fossil records. On 23 December 1938, a live specimen was caught off the east coast of South Africa by a local angler. Museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered it among other catch on the fishing trawler of the fishermen. Fascinated by this unusual fish, she sent drawings of the fish to a Rhodes University ichthyologist, JLB Smith. After recognizing the fish, Smith immediately sent his famous cable: MOST IMPORTANT PRESERVE SKELETON AND GILLS = FISH DESCRIBED.

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When Latimer sent the drawings to Smith, he was on a vacation. Latimer wasnt able to preserve the fish for long and so sent it to a taxidermist. By the time Smith recognized the fish and sent the cable, the fish was already stuffed. Since the skeleton was no longer available, Smith began a hunt for a second specimen. He found one more than a decade later. Currently, there exist two kinds: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth and the Indonesian coelacanth. The West Indian Ocean coelacanth is assessed as a critically endangered species by the IUCN. (1, 2)

5. Blue-Bearded Helmetcrest

The beautiful Blue-Bearded Helmetcrest bird was thought to be extinct for 69 years until they were rediscovered in the Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia in 2015.

The blue-bearded helmetcrest bird is one of the worlds rarest hummingbirds. It is named after the males distinctive blue beard and cowlick-like crest. The bird was first discovered in 1880, and since then, only 62 specimens were collected, the most recent being collected in 1946. From 1999 to 2011, multiple expeditions were conducted in search of the blue-bearded helmetcrest. Several groups of scientists searched the diverse alpine ecosystem of Sierra Nevadas paramo, but all of them failed for almost a decade.

The high-altitude habitat of these birds were being degraded by extensive burning and overgrazing. Due to this, scientists feared that the species might be extinct. After multiple failed expeditions, IUCN classified the species as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) in 2014. Soon after, in 2015, two conservationists documented three specimens of these birds. They spotted three birds in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park, Colombia while documenting fires set by local farmers. (1, 2)Over the past decade, UNDP has been a global leader in aid transparency.

As a founding member of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), we have been at the heart of a global transparency movement, working to make information on development and humanitarian resources open and accessible to all development partners.

As the coordinator of the IATI Secretariat for the last five years, UNDP is proud to have been a part of its remarkable progress. We are delighted to see the launch of 10th Anniversary edition of IATIs Annual Report, which notes the tremendous impact that the initiative has made in advancing the transparency and open data agenda since its launch.

Over 950 governments, multilateral institutions, and civil society organizations have made the decision to openly publish details of their spending on more than one million development and humanitarian projects. This ensures that information on development resources is accessible and thus can be used for a variety of uses including coordination, forward planning and advocacy.

Thanks to the commitment from its members and the wider community, almost US$152 billion of spending was reported to IATI in 2018, a US$7 billion increase since 2017.

UNDP has also walked the walk, holding ourselves to the highest standards in our own implementation of the IATI Standard. We have published detailed information on more than 4,000 projects worth over US$5.5 billion in 2018, making this information available through our own transparency portal, open.undp.org, as well as through the IATI Registry.

Opening our books has made us more accountable to our donors and partners, and we're proud that our efforts have led us to be ranked among the top four most transparent organizations in each of the past four independent Aid Transparency Index assessments.



We will continue to make improvements to the quality and comprehensiveness of the data we publish. We will also continue to develop open.undp.org, for instance by adding satellite imagery to our active projects and by publishing disaggregated data on our contributions towards the Sustainable Development Goals and humanitarian activities.

IATI data can enable donors and multilateral agencies to better understand where their spending will have the greatest impact. Civil society organizations can see what interventions are taking place, where to improve coordination, and how to best avoid duplication. Citizens and journalists around the world can also consult IATI data to hold their governments to account in terms of spending and use of resources.

The availability and use of data through IATI, which can strengthen the effectiveness of aid to address poverty and crises, can serve as further catalyst to achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030.

At UNDP, we see tremendous opportunities in supporting our government partners in their systemic use of IATI data, while governments themselves have seen the incredible benefits associated with the availability of such data. The Government of Madagascar has used IATI data to learn about more than US$830 million of spending on development and humanitarian projects in the country over a ten year period through IATI information that was not previously reported to them via traditional sources. With such information, governments can more effectively plan and coordinate activities using forward-looking IATI data.

As IATIs strategic planning exercise for 2019-22 takes place, UNDP will continue to advocate for the more systematic use of IATI data by our partners in programme countries. It serves as a key tool for planning and coordination activities to support national development plans.Along a main road in Buzi, Mozambique, fallen mango trees, that once stretched high in to the sky, litter the sidewalks. Buildings have been reduced to rubble, while many of those still standing no longer have roofs or windows. The front end of a car lies wrecked outside what used to be a food shop, its back end washed away by floodwaters.

Looking out from the barred window with sadness in his eyes, Jacob, 64, the shops owner is still struggling to take it all in.

All my stocks are destroyed. he says. The rice, the pasta, everything, I dont know how I will survive now.

For miles around, towns and villages have been left in ruins after Cyclone Idai caused the River Buzi to burst its banks, leading to unprecedented flooding. Residents are returning, only to find there is little left of their homes and possessions.

All my stocks are destroyed. The rice, the pasta, everything, I dont know how I will survive now.

Schools are closed until further notice. Hospitals and health clinics are barely functional. Electricity wires lie in the mud, next to discarded flip flops and plastic waste.

You just see a dark city, like a dark township, says Antonio, the owner of the local supermarket. I wonder whats next. We need help now.

When the cyclone churned ashore on the night of March 14-15, Antonio and his wife frantically tried to keep the roof of their family home intact as hurricane-force winds tore off tile after tile.

It was unbelievable, says Chillo, Antonios nephew. I saw things flying through the air  things I never thought could be lifted, spinning sheets of roofing metal, twisted tree limbs and household items of all sizes.

Antonio, 44, sits in the living room of his home in Buzi, damaged by Cyclone Idai.  UNHCR/Alissa Everett

A family spreads their household belongings in the front yard to dry after Cyclone Idai's rampage through Buzi, Mozambique.  UNHCR/Alissa Everett

School teacher Manuel clears mud from the foundations of what was his home in Buzi, Mozambique, which was hit hard by Cyclone Idai.  UNHCR/Alissa Everett

A husband and wife try to salvage their mattress, washing it in the sun in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, Buzi, Mozambique.  UNHCR/Alissa Everett

Seven-year-old Rosa holds her younger brother, Manuel, at a shelter for women and children displaced by Cyclone Idai in Buzi, Mozambique.  UNHCR/Alissa Everett

Manuel, Antonios neighbour was not so lucky. A wooden doorframe is all that remains of his house. When the floodwaters rose, they melted away the mudbricks. His family were forced to shelter on the roof of a nearby bar for seven days before they were able to return.

Nearly three weeks after Idais rampage, Buzi remains cut off from the nearest major town, Beira, as the roads have either been washed away or are covered in debris. Helicopters fly in life-saving aid, but they can only carry so much, and the needs vastly outstrip what humanitarian organizations are able to deliver.

Last week, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, airlifted some 80 tonnes of life-saving aid to Mozambique, including shelters, blankets, mosquito nets, solar lamps and plastic sheeting to help around 10,000 of the most vulnerable survivors get back on their feet. Distributions are ongoing, and staff are ensuring the most vulnerable survivors are living in safety.

Meanwhile, amid widespread shortages, the price of food has rocketed. It will be some time before commercial supply chains can be restored and shops can properly restock. Rice now sells in Buzi for up to five times as much as it did just three weeks ago. The cyclone hit at the end of the growing season, destroying some 711,000 hectares of crops and leaving farmers with no money to buy new seeds. There is now a real risk of famine in a country that already had one of the worlds worst rates of child malnutrition.

What we need now is food, says Antonio. We dont have food here. My kids go climbing up and down trees looking for coconuts. But thats not enough. I received a half cup of beans, but I have many family here. They all look at me and say do something. Its very hard you know, its like Im failing to be a good father.

Many people are getting sick here. There is no water for us to drink."

With wells supplying drinking water soiled and latrines filled with mud, a cholera outbreak is presenting a fresh threat in cyclone-stricken areas. Already, more than 1,000 people have been diagnosed with the potentially-fatal disease, according to government reports. Oral vaccines have been flown in to the country but until they are administered, some are left with little choice but to consume contaminated food and water.

Many people are getting sick here, says Antonio. There is no water for us to drink. I wonder whats next for us because this water comes with different diseases. By consuming this kind of water, people are vomiting, they are having a problem with their stomach. Its no joke the things that are happening here.

People are anxious for what the future holds. Some have decided to leave Buzi, fearful that this will not be the last time the town sees extreme weather. In total, around 150,000 people are living in displacement sites in Mozambique, either unwilling or unable to return home.

Every year its getting worse, says Vito, a primary school teacher. Every year it gets hotter and wetter. Theres nothing left in Buzi. I cant bring up a family here.Naftogaz concludes EUR 14 mln contract with Norwegian lawyers for litigation with Gazprom

Ukraine has been working with the law company since 2014.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterConsumer gas prices are capped at their current level of UAH 8.55 ($0.32) per cubic meter.

The Ukrainian government has banned state-run gas producer Naftogaz from raising consumer gas prices, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said on Wednesday, a move likely to please voters but disturb the country's creditors.

The ban, which took effect retroactively from April 1, was announced as President Petro Poroshenko, a Groysman ally, tries to boost his chances ahead of the second and final round of a presidential election on April 21, Reuters said.

Poroshenko narrowly qualified for the run-off by coming second in a first round vote last Sunday, but faces a tough task to beat frontrunner Volodmyr Zelensky, a TV comedian-turned-politician.

Read alsoNaftogaz, European TSOs to cooperate on unbundling of Ukrainian GTS

While capping consumer gas prices at their current level of UAH 8.55 ($0.32) per cubic meter, Groysman said on Wednesday that the government was at the same time authorizing Naftogaz to cut prices if favorable market conditions prevailed.

Groysman said last month he would urge the finance ministry and Naftogaz to start talks with the International Monetary Fund to try to prevent any future rise in gas tariffs for households.

The IMF, a major lender to Ukraine, has repeatedly urged Kyiv to raise gas tariffs to market rates, making it a condition of future financial aid for the war-hit country.

The Ukrainian government raised gas prices by nearly a quarter in October, allowing it to secure a new $3.9 billion stand-by aid agreement with the IMF.

Gas prices are a sensitive issue in a country where a large part of the population lives on the verge of poverty, and the increase in October dented Poroshenko's popularity with some voters.Hutchinson said Russia's destabilizing behavior in the region was "unacceptable."

U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison during a Washington briefing ahead of the NATO foreign ministerial April 2 stated that the Alliance was preparing to adopt the Black Sea package against Russia.

Measures will be taken against the background of developments in the Kerch Strait, according to the Ambassador.

Hutchinson said Russia's destabilizing behavior in the region was "unacceptable."

To retain stability in the Black Sea area, NATO Allies intend to apply aerial surveillance measures as well as send their ships to make sure there is a "safe passage" of Ukrainian vessels through the Kerch Strait.

Read alsoU.S. envoy hopes Ukraine, Georgia to someday become NATO Allies

It is "very important" for countries surrounding the Black Sea to see that NATO has "more attention to assure that those waters are cleared" and that those countries are "safe from Russian meddling."

At the NATO ministerial in Washington, all aspects will be discussed of the Russian military threat, including in the Black Sea.

As UNIAN reported earlier, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison spoke about the search for opportunities to strengthen defenses in the Black Sea in connection with Russian aggression against Ukraine.The president will appeal to the government to ensure immediate financing of the international audit at Ukroboronprom.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said the whole senior management of Ukraine's defense giant Ukroboronprom must be tested on lie detector.

"We appeal to the Government to ensure the organization of testing of the entire senior management of Ukroboronprom on lie detector. Separately prepare the lists of those who are to undergo the test. I ask you to include the heads of state enterprises of the defense industry, both CEOs and those responsible for finances," Poroshenko said at a meeting with Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov and Deputy Secretary of the NSDC Serhiy Kryvonos, according to the president's press service.

The president heard a report by Serhiy Kryvonos on the proposals for inspecting Ukroboronprom and reforming the defense sector.

"In case you find relevant grounds, I ask you to hand the results of lie detector tests over to SBU counterintelligence or law enforcers. That's if certain circumstances of a crime committed are revealed," Poroshenko said.

The president also stressed that based of the recommendations of Colonel Kryvonos he would appeal to the Government for the immediate financing of the international audit at Ukroboronprom. He added the decision would be made in April.

Poroshenko said the audit should be also conducted by the State Audit Service of Ukraine.

Read alsoEmbezzlement in Ukraine defense sector: NABU director speaks of "large amount of work" done in probe

The president stressed the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine should conduct an audit of Ukroboronprom's activities. He instructed Turchynov to take control over the issue and report on the results of the inspection.

Poroshenko also stressed the need to involve public organizations in the inspection and inform the public of the results.

Moreover, the president underscored the importance of accelerating the consideration in the Verkhovna Rada of the bill on amendments to the law on the state defense order.

"We have to disclose this information," Poroshenko said.

He added he had consulted with the international partners and they fully supported those steps.

Regarding the issue of the Supervisory Board of Ukroboronprom, Poroshenko supported the proposal to involve representatives of strategic partners to ensure the efficiency and transparency of its functioning.

In turn, Turchynov said the majority of the enterprises of the defense industry worked in regular mode and effectively enough, in particular on the implementation of a missile program.

"In the near future, it is planned to test new powerful rocket systems and, given their importance for strengthening our country's defense, we invite you to personally take part in the final stage of the testing," Turhcynov said.

The president said the latest missile weaponry should be provided to the Armed Forces after the completion of the tests that will take place in the next few days.Russia has been using these areas as a constant source of destabilization in Ukraine.

Had Russia planned to grab the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (the so-called "DPR" and "LPR"), they would have long done that, says head of Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation Iryna Bekeshkina.

"But Russia's main goal is to have these territories back in Ukraine, in a way that Russia retains control over them, while Ukraine finances them. Such a Trojan horse, or a cancerous tumor, which they are trying to plant into Ukraine's body. Of course, Ukraine stands against this. So far, the 'DPR' and the 'LPR' are being used as a source of destabilization in Ukraine. And Moscow doesn't need these territories to accede to Russia as Moscow doesn't want to take care of them forever," the expert wrote for the Ukrainian news outlet Glavred.

Read alsoKremlin: After Ukraine's elections, Donbas settlement possible only based on Minsk accords

At the same time, the expert is confident the Kremlin was well aware of the poll results and understood that the three candidates would be fighting for victory in the presidential elections in Ukraine: Volodymyr Zelensky, Petro Poroshenko, and Yulia Tymoshenko.

"Of course, Boyko would be the most desirable winner for them, but it didn't work out that way. Poroshenko was the most undesirable out of the three possible candidates, at least the Kremlin said so. Therefore, Zelensky's victory will not a shocker to Russia at all. One time, Zelensky had said he was ready for talks even with the devil, if needed, for the sake of peace in Donbas. Therefore, there might be hopes [in Russia] that it would be possible to push Ukraine to compromise on Russia's terms if Zelensky's at the helm. It's hard to say how realistic these hopes are and it's hard to say something definite about Zelensky's foreign policies," Bekeshkina added.A total of 18,873,399 votes have been counted following the first round of elections.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has processed 99.89% of the protocols of precinct election commissions in the first round of presidential elections held on Sunday, March 31.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, showman Volodymyr Zelensky so far saw support of 30.23% of the voters.

Some 15.95% of voters voted for the incumbent head of state, Petro Poroshenko, and 13.39% - for leader of the Batkivshchyna Party, Yulia Tymoshenko, meaning that the latter has not made it to the runoff.

Read alsoUkraine elections: Political analyst says open union with Tymoshenko risk for Zelensky

Co-chairman of the Opposition Platform  For Life Party Yuriy Boyko had 11.67% of the vote. Some 6.91% of voters supported leader of the Civil Position Party Anatoliy Hrytsenko, while 6.04% voted for ex-chief of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine Ihor Smeshko. Leader of the Radical Party Oleh Liashko scored 5.47%, candidate from the Opposition Bloc  Party of Peace and Development Oleksandr Vilkul got 4.15%, and candidate from the Svoboda Party Ruslan Koshulynsky had 1.62%.

The remaining candidates gained under 1% of the votes.

A total of 18,873,399 votes have been counted.

Some 1.18% of ballots have been declared invalid.

The CEC has not yet received protocols from two precincts in Vinnytsia region, nine in Kyiv region, 10 in Odesa region, and 20 in Chernivtsi region.The situation with the Kerch Strait and navigation is "well known," claims Peskov.

The Kremlin has reacted to NATO's plans to send ships to ensure the safe passage of Ukrainian ships across the Kerch Strait to the Sea of Azov.

"When they file a request, the decision will be made. But this [the Sea of Azov] is a closed reservoir, so this is a separate issue. I would not argue hypothetically  we could only talk about some particular case," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Wednesday, according to an UNIAN correspondent in Russia.

He said there is a system of "notification of such plans, which must be implemented."

At the same time, Peskov stressed the Kremlin negatively assesses the statement by the U.S. permanent representative to NATO that the Allies are planing to send ships to the Black Sea to ensure the passage of Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait.

Read alsoCanadian, Spanish frigates from NATO Maritime Group arrive in Odesa

"[We assess this] negatively. We don't understand what they mean. The situation with the Kerch Strait and navigation is well known in accordance with international law, with international legislation. Russia's position is very consistent, and it is also well known," Peskov said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison during a Washington briefing ahead of the NATO foreign ministerial April 2 stated that the Alliance was preparing to adopt the Black Sea package against Russia.

To retain stability in the Black Sea area, NATO Allies intend to apply aerial surveillance measures as well as send their ships to make sure there is a "safe passage" of Ukrainian vessels through the Kerch Strait.

It is "very important" for countries surrounding the Black Sea, she said, to see that NATO has "more attention to assure that those waters are cleared" and that those countries are "safe from Russian meddling."The move comes following a bizarre Moscow visit of presidential candidate Yuriy Boyko and Vladimir Putin's crony Viktor Medvedchuk where the two met Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has imposed a ban on chartered flights between Ukraine and Russia, with the exception of those required by missions of the United Nations, the Red Cross, and the Organization for Security Cooperation of Europe.

"We've analyzed [head of the Opposition Bloc, presidential candidate Yuriy] Boyko's flight to the aggressor state. He took advantage of a loophole in our legislation, got the green light from Russia's FSB, and flew from Kyiv to Moscow for talks with the aggressor state's prime minister. Therefore, we propose a resolution to amend regulations on the use of the Ukrainian airspace," Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said at a government meeting on April 3, as reported by an UNIAN correspondent.

The resolution was submitted for consideration to protect state security by eliminating loopholes for irregular air services between Ukraine and Russia.

Read alsoUkraine election: Zelensky in big lead as 99.89% votes counted

"The draft resolution proposes a ban on chartered flights between Ukraine and the aggressor state, with the exception of flights that are necessary for the missions of the United Nations, the Red Cross and the Organization for Security of European Cooperation," he said.

The minister added that Yuriy Boyko flew to Moscow without breaking the legislation.

"Earlier, the National Security and Defense Council [NSDC] decided to impose restrictive measures on a number of Russian airlines. At the same time, the ban did not apply to irregular flights between Ukraine and Russia, which are carried out by aircraft not registered in Russia," Avakov said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman urged to support the resolution and condemned Boyko's visit to Moscow where he traveled along with Chairman of the political Council of "Opposition Platform - For Life" Party Viktor Medvedchuk, known for his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Read alsoChief prosecutor Lutsenko to open criminal case against Boyko, Medvedchuk for "trip" to Moscow

"We support the draft resolution. Such restrictions will be in place until Russia becomes a civilized state," he said.

"No one has the right to humiliate the country [Ukraine]. Even when it comes to politicians who may have a different ideology. This is our country, our home. We have been attacked. Unfortunately, our neighbors turned out to be our enemies. Moreover, over 13,000 Ukrainians died, while more than 30,000 were wounded. And it's unfair to humiliate the country for the sake of 13% of one's rating," the prime minister said.

"This is my position. We may impose any restrictions, but it is difficult to impose restrictions on having no shame," he added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller met with Boyko and Medvedchuk in Medvedev's residence outside Moscow on March 22.

The politicians reportedly discussed issues of cooperation in the gas sector. Boyko said he was ready to offer the Russian Federation options for extending the transit gas contract, since the current government of Ukraine "is not proactive" in resolving the issue.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned the visit of Boyko and Medvedchuk to Moscow. On March 27, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine instructed to clarify the situation regarding the violation of border crossing by Boyko and Medvedchuk.Some 7,000 border guards were working on Election Day in Ukraine.

Ukraine's State Border Guard Service has reported that 87 foreigners were denied entry into Ukraine on Election Day on March 31.

"On Election Day, the State Border Guard Service worked in an enhanced mode. One hundred administrative and four criminal cases for illegal border crossing were registered, six people were detained. Eighty-seven foreigners were not let into the country on a well-grounded basis," Chairman of the State Border Service Petro Tsygykal said.

Read alsoUkraine's border guards get provocative SMS messages ahead of elections

"Twenty-five weapons were seized. Some 7,000 border guards were working," he added.

As UNIAN reported, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he would order the country's border guards not to let Russian observers in the country amid elections in Ukraine.

The first round of the presidential elections in Ukraine took place on March 31. The turnout was 62.8% of voters. The Central Election Commission has so far processed more than 99% of the protocols. Actor and businessman Volodymyr Zelensky and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko will face each other in a run-off scheduled for April 21.The probe into a possible abuse of power is underway.

The National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has said searches at the premises of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) were being conducted as part of a probe into the possible abuse of power.

"NABU detectives are conducting searches at the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) in Kyiv. Investigative actions are carried out as part of a probe into a possible abuse of power by officials in a number of government agencies, including law enforcement and judicial branches, and also ARMA, resulting in inflicting losses on legal entities for UAH 9.5 million (US$351,331)," NABU wrote on Facebook.

Read alsoTop managers at Ukroboronprom must be tested on lie detector: Poroshenko

The circumstances of an attempt to unlawfully seize property worth over UAH 3.6 billion (US$133.13 million) of the Rostok-Holding group of companies are being investigated in the framework of the same proceedings. The crimes are qualified under Part 3 Article 15, Part 3 Article 206-2, Part 2 Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"During the pretrial investigation launched in January 2019, NABU detectives, among other things, have been studying the circumstances of a number of transactions that could have been carried out using forged documents and stamps," NABU added.

The searches have been warranted by Kyiv's Solomyansky district court and being conducted under the procedural guidance of the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).As a preventative measure, it is essential that all children and adults in eastern Ukraine are taught to identify landmines and explosive remnants of war and shown how to avoid or minimize the risks.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for increased efforts to address the dangers and legacy of landmines in eastern Ukraine.

The region is one of the most landmine-contaminated areas in the world and where mines continue to be laid in the ongoing conflict, UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said at a Tuesday press briefing in Geneva.

Twenty years after the adoption of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention, and ahead of this weeks International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on April 4, UNHCR is seeking to heighten awareness of the horrifying threat from mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices in Ukraine, according to the official.

"There is a vital need for the government, humanitarian organizations and all parties to the conflict to expand their mine action work in Ukraine," the statement says. "According to the 2018 Landmine Monitor Annual Report, Ukraine ranked third globally for overall casualties behind Afghanistan and Syria, and landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to kill or injure people."

Read alsoIn March, OSCE monitors record highest number of violations since Nov 2018

As in other parts of the world, it is civilians who are particularly at risk. As well as the dangers for anyone forced to flee a conflict, mine contamination also poses serious hazard for refugees and internally displaced people in being able to return to their homes.

In eastern Ukraine, mine contamination affects over two million people, Mantoo said, limiting freedom of movement and posing a serious threat to civilians crossing the contact line between government and non-government controlled areas.

Mantoo explans that the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance means that it is hard, or sometimes impossible, to repair critical infrastructure damaged by shelling, such as water pumping stations that supply water to thousands of people in eastern Ukraine. Mine contamination also impacts people subsistence farming and livelihoods and hinders access to schools and healthcare facilities.

The Ukrainian national authorities estimate that about 7,000 square kilometers in government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk are contaminated but the full extent of the contamination is not clear. The situation in non-government controlled areas is understood to be acute.

The Government has taken positive steps by adopting Ukraines Mine Action Law which came into force on Jan 25 and a set of National Mine Action Standards for organizations conducting mine clearance operations, based on international best practice, which took effect on April 1, according to the official. "Adequate funding is now needed to implement the laws provisions," she adds.

Read alsoDeaths and injuries in Donbas caused by mines, ordnance result of Russian aggression  U.S. Embassy

UNHCR reiterates the importance of broadening the scope of mine victim assistance to ensure a comprehensive cover for all victims, in line with the United Nations Policy on Mine Victim Assistance. Currently under Ukraines Mine Action Law only those under 18 are entitled to financial assistance. The United Nations Policy recommends that landmine victim assistance includes data collection, medical care, physical and other rehabilitation, including psycho-social care.

As a preventative measure, it is essential that all children and adults in eastern Ukraine are taught to identify landmines and explosive remnants of war and shown how to avoid or minimize the risks.

Humanitarian mine action partners in Ukraine started to recruit and train women for demining positions. Many women come from mine-contaminated villages and are working to improve the safety and economic future of their own communities.Three enemy troops were killed in action and another eight were wounded as Joint Forces returned fire, intelligence reports say.

In the past 24 hours, Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 14 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with two Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action and another two as wounded in action.

"Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and another two were wounded in the shelling. Joint Forces delivered a proper response to all enemy attacks, having eliminated three invaders and wounded another eight," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on April 3, 2019.

Read alsoUkrainian officer reveals enemy death toll in Donbas in March (Photo)

Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from 152mm artillery systems, 82mm and 120mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms to attack Ukrainian defenders of the towns of Avdiyivka and Popasna, and the villages of Shyrokyne, Hnutove, Vodiane, Novozvanivka, and Katerynivka.

According to intelligence reports, three enemy troops were killed in action and another eight were wounded.

"Since Wednesday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked Ukrainian positions yet," the report said.The female soldier, Yana Chernova, had "no chance of surviving in this hell," according to the Donbas Battalion commander.

A major battle erupted near the town of Popasna in Donbas on April 2, resulting in two Ukrainian defenders being killed in action.

A 120mm projectile hit the trench, according to TSN.

The battle began at noon and lasted for several hours. After its ending, fragments of not only a 120mm, but also 152mm projectile were found at the position where the troops had been killed. In total, four projectiles hit the position, the report says.

"Their drone was operating at a little over a 1,000 m altitude over our positions. Most likely, it was spotting fire," Commander of the Donbas Battalion, Viacheslav Vlasenko, said.

Read alsoDonbas death toll rises as Ukraine reports 2 KIAs on Tuesday

The military have been expecting the attack since it was mostly quiet during the elections. The site where the 152mm projectiles hit was calm  it hadn't seen such shelling for a long time. Soldiers say tanks and armored personnel carriers have been spotted near the border and the number of enemy troops has also increased.

As reported earlier, a soldier with callsign Did [Gramps] and a female soldier Yana Chervona callsign Vidma [Witch] were killed in the shelling. The latter took active part in the Maidan events in Kharkiv and became a volunteer, serving in the Aidar Battalion, and in Donbas Battalion since 2016. She is survived by a son and daughter.

"Yana Chernova had no chance of surviving in this hell," the Donbas Battalion commander said, posting the picture of the position hit by the enemy.These are jamming systems.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has spotted Russia's brand new military equipment near the village of Yuzhna Lomuvatka in Russia-occupied Luhansk region.

"The newest Russian military equipment  the R-330Zh Zhitel (Resident) automated jamming communication station and the Tirada-2 electronic warfare [jamming] system  was spotted by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission not far from the village of Yuzhna Lomuvatka in Russia-occupied part of Donbas," the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna said on Wednesday, April 3.

Read alsoUkraine forces destroy enemy military vehicle in Donbas (Video)

According to Army Recognition, a global military army magazine, the R-330ZH also named Zhitel is a jamming communication station designed and manufactured by the Russian Company Protek. The system is in service with the Russian army and deployed by the 18th motor rifle brigade. The whole system includes one Ural-43203/KAMAZ-43114 truck and one shelter with four telescopic masts. The truck is the control center for the operators. The shelter is equipped with four telescopic active phased array transmitter antennas mounted on a four wheels trailer. The R-330ZH is designed for detection, analysis, direction-finding and jamming of satellite and cellular phone communication systems operated in the frequency from 100 to 2000 MHz. The jamming system provides analysis and selection of emitters' signal parameters. The R-330Zh jamming station was used by the Russian army during the Crimean crisis in March 2014.

According to the InformNapalm international OSINT community, Tirada-2 is an electronic warfare jamming system specialized in disabling communication satellites. The development of this system began in 2001. The first time it was publicly announced in 2017. In August 2018, at the Army 2018 Forum, a contract for supplying the Russian Ministry of Defense with these latest EW systems was publicly signed, and in the autumn they were tested. The manufacturer is OAO Elektropribor Zavod Company from Vladimir, Russia.

As UNIAN reported, members of the OSCE SMM to Ukraine say they spotted a massive buildup of multiple launch rocket systems, tanks, artillery systems, mortars and other types of weapons in Russia-occupied areas in Donbas.The president once again expressed an opinion that it would be possible to "get along" with Russia.

U.S. President Donald Trump during a White House meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he hopes Russia will not be a threat to NATO security.

"I hope that it [Russia] is going to be a security threat," he told reporters. "I hope we have a good relationship with Russia and, by the way, China and everybody else."

Read alsoStoltenberg: NATO preparing for world with more Russian missiles in Europe

Trump also stressed NATO's increased capabilities since he had taken office.

In this regard, Jens Stoltenberg said: "Allies are investing more and that provides them new capabilities we need to maintain credible defense for all NATO countries."

"I think we'll get along with Russia," Trump concluded. "I do believe that.""We are NATO Allies and we have common airspace," Andrzejczak said.

Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Rajmund Andrzejczak says Lithuania and Poland could agree on synchronizing their air defense systems and consider protecting Lithuanian facilities with the help of the U.S. Patriot anti-missile systems being purchased by Poland.

"We are NATO Allies and we have common airspace. Thus, there are no borders for our plans. There is no limit to drills or military operations," he said during his Vilnius visit, as reported by the Ukrainian media outlet European Pravda, referring to Delfi.

"Of course, it depends on planning. If the system is effective sufficiently, then we can agree on how to synchronize our air defense systems in Poland and Lithuania," the military official added.

Meanwhile, the U.S. decided to halt delivery of jets and other related equipment to Turkey following repeated warnings over the issue and an American offer to sell Turkey an alternative to the S-400, the Patriot missile system, at an acceptable price, Foreign Policy wrote.Some 2,200 troops will be involved.

NATO will hold multi-national Sea Shield 2019 naval drills in the Black Sea from April 5 to April 13.

"14 Romanian warships and six warships from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, Turkey with 2,200 troops will carry out joint combat tasks in the Black Sea region," Ukraine's Mission to NATO said on Twitter on Wednesday.

As UNIAN reported earlier, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison announced at a Washington briefing ahead of the NATO foreign ministerial meeting on April 2 that the Alliance was preparing to adopt the Black Sea package against Russia. Measures will be taken against the background of developments in the Kerch Strait, according to the U.S. Ambassador. Hutchinson said Russia's destabilizing behavior in the region was "unacceptable."

The Kremlin responded to the statement, saying that it negatively assesses such plans.

Read alsoKremlin concerned about NATO's Black Sea package statement

According to Romania's Ministry of National Defense, the scenario of the Sea Shield 2019 exercise is fictitious and aims at planning and conducting a Crisis Response Operation (CRO), under the mandate of a Resolution of the United Nations' Security Council (UNSC), in the context of a security environment characterized by symmetric and asymmetric threats.

The Romanian Naval Forces, as host, deploy an impressive force structure within the Sea Shield 2019 drills. Two corvettes, two frigates, two minesweepers, two missile-carrier boars, two maritime ships for combat divers, three maritime tugboats, an EOD detachment (specialized in the fight against underwater threats), two mobile missile launching detachments and other support vessels as well as distinct specialized structures (243 Radar and Surveillance Brigade, 11 Communications and Information Technology Center, the Maritime Hydrographic Directorate, the Center for the Information Technology and Cybernetic Defence) that will provide ground-based support will participate in this exercise under the command and coordination of the Fleet Command.

The Romanian Air Forces ensure the combat sequences against the air defence threats with the help of the MIG 21 LanceR and F-16 aircraft, while the American and Turkish naval forces will operate two maritime patrol boats.

The Romanian Land Forces participate in the exercise with a detachment of the 9 "Marasesti" Brigade, for the protection of the ground communication ways and of Constanta Harbor.

NATO's Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) designated the Standing Naval Maritime Group (SNMG-2), which operates in the Black Sea starting March 28, 2018, to participate in the Sea Shield 2019 drills . The SNMG-2 is made up of Bulgarian, Canadian, Dutch, Romanian and Turkish ships. Also, Greece and Bulgaria are represented in the exercise by a combat ship.

The foreign military ships are to enter Constanta Harbor on Saturday, April 6, 2019 (the date scheduled for the official opening ceremony of the Sea Shield 2019 drills) at the Passenger Terminal, in the presence of the Chief of the Naval Forces Staff, Rear Admiral Alexandru Mirsu.

Official visits and working sessions to discuss the organizational details of the sea sequences planned to be conducted will take place during the two day-stopover in the harbor.Country

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Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe(credit: courtesy of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas)

Encompassing both The Venetian and The Palazzo, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas brings the soul of Renaissance Venice to Las Vegas. With a total of 4,028 suites at The Venetian and 3,066 palatial suites at The Palazzo, the resort is one of the largest on The Strip in terms of total rooms. For those looking for a secluded getaway, the 12-story Venezia hotel tower at The Venetian offers 1,013 suites providing a hotel within the hotel for maximum luxury. The resort also boasts the largest standard rooms on the Las Vegas Strip, nearly double the size of their counterparts.

Earlier this year, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas unveiled their Want the World Experiences which includes an over-the-top hotel package, as well as individual experiences guests can partake in.

(credit: courtesy of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas)

In March 2019, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas began its Want the World, a collection of curated moments inspired by the vigor, warmth and generosity of the Italian spirit. These experiences give guests the opportunity to sample the rich breadth of activities at The Venetian Resort with an exclusive, over-the-top package (which starts at $450,000) and a selection of experiences. The ultimate trip begins by arriving in Las Vegas via private jet, where a Maybach vehicle awaits to whisk the guest to a 6,500 square-foot presidential suite for a four-night stay inclusive of a private butler. In-suite luxe amenities include: monogrammed red silk pajamas, Swarovski red crystal-encrusted magnum of Moet Champagne and a majestic cake adorned with a 2.5 total carat ruby and diamond necklace and matching 2.47 carat Burma ruby and diamond ring from Bellusso Jewelers.

(credit: courtesy of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas)

Enjoy other splendors across the resort like a personal photographer to document the stay, an in-suite Champagne pedicure and Diamond massage experience from Canyon Ranch Spa + Fitness and an in-suite four-course custom dinner prepared by Chef Lorena Garcia of Chica and a two-hour salsa dancing lesson. Sip on gold-flecked cocktails at The Dorsey cocktail bar, brunch at Yardbird where youll sink your teeth into 24k gold-dusted chicken n waffles and Cristal mimosas and to sweeten the deal, eat a decadent Red Velvet Cake Batter CrazyShake at Black Tap with a 5.5 carat diamond bracelet from Bellusso Jewelers.

For guests looking for an a la carte menu of experiences, a sampling of ever-evolving moments includes:a specially curated menu of signature dishes at Mott 32, a tequila masterclass at Chica, 12-course tasting menu at Yardbird, VIP table experience at TAO Nightclub, SUSHISAMBA exclusive Bluefin Tuna carving ceremony and Omakase, and more.

(credit: courtesy of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas)

Finished in Fall 2018, The Palazzo tower at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas underwent a design overhaul that saw both its casino floor and suites being refreshed. The casino floor now features an overhead electric ribbon of color along with new marble pathways with patterns and medallions drawn from rich Italian history. The refreshed Palazzo guest suites blend opulence with earth-friendly nods including LEED-standard wall coverings, flooring, lighting, and finishes.

(credit: courtesy of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas)

The resort also announced two new culinary additions (with two more to come at the end of the year) and three new cocktail destinations for imbibers and foodies alike to explore. Mott 32, one of Hong Kongs most award-winning restaurants and a culinary icon in contemporary Chinese cuisine, brings its acclaimed menu of authentic Chinese recipes with progressive cooking techniques to The Palazzo tower at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. Introducing their Italian cuisine to the Las Vegas market, The Factory Kitchen, the popular restaurant from Los Angeles arts district, serves an approachable menu of fresh, seasonal, and locally sourced ingredients. Chef David Chang will be opening Majordomo Meat & Fish to The Venetian Resort in late 2019, bringing a fusion of Asian American dining in a lively and engaging experience. And lastly, sixth+mill pizzeria and bar will open in St. Marks Square inside Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian Resort.

(credit: courtesy of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas)

A trio of new bars at The Venetian Resort is providing guests with a radical departure from the citys traditional nightlife scene. The bars that make up The Cocktail Collective  The Dorsey, Rosina, and Electra Cocktail Club  all have distinct personalities and cocktail options. Swing by The Dorsey for its signature cocktail, The Penicillin, and enjoy it alongside curated live music; or head to Rosina, a luxurious old-school cocktail retreat, and click its Champagne Call Button that allows pleasure seekers to simply top off their flute with the push of a button; or surround yourself with the energy at Electra with a menu focusing on rums, agricoles, and mezcals.Hong Kong stocks opened with more gains Wednesday morning, pushing a rally into a seventh day as a report said China and the US were closing in on a trade deal

Hong Kong, April 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2019 ) :Hong Kong stocks opened with more gains Wednesday morning, pushing a rally into a seventh day as a report said China and the US were closing in on a trade deal.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.

54 percent, or 160.60 points, to 29,785.27.

But the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.56 percent, or 17.67 points, to 3,159.15, and the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, eased 0.51 percent, or 8.99 points, to 1,748.61.Angola expects Russia to deliver two SU-30K fighter jets at the end of May, Angola's Defense Minister Salviano De Jesus Sequeira told Sputnik on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2019) Angola expects Russia to deliver two SU-30K fighter jets at the end of May Angola 's Defense Minister Salviano De Jesus Sequeira told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"Angola has always had good cooperation with Russia in the field of the military.

According to the contract, we have already received six SU-30K planes, we are waiting to receive two more planes, because we were initially talking of eight machines. We are expecting that the other two will be delivered to Angola at the end of May," Sequeira said.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Angola would consider purchasing Russian S400 systems, but is hindered by its economic situation and so has not held any talks in this regard, Salviano De Jesus Sequeira, Angola's minister of national defense, told Sputnik on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2019) Angola would consider purchasing Russian S400 systems, but is hindered by its economic situation and so has not held any talks in this regard, Salviano De Jesus Sequeira, Angola 's minister of national defense, told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"Of course we would have an interest in these systems [S-400], but currently due to the economic crisis in Angola, which is quite serious, we are not conducting any negotiations on this issue," Sequeira said.Trade between Russia and Angola in 2018 declined by about one third to $80 million, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, whose head, Dmitry Kobylkin, is a co-chair of Russia-Angola intergovernmental commission, told Sputnik on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2019) Trade between Russia and Angola in 2018 declined by about one third to $80 million , a representative of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, whose head, Dmitry Kobylkin, is a co-chair of Russia-Angola intergovernmental commission, told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"By the end of 2018, Angola ranked 15th among the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of trade with Russia. At the same time, Russia's trade with Angola decreased by one third (33.6 percent) and amounted to about $80 million," the ministry's representative said following the Russia-Angola Business Forum.

The ministry also noted that the sides looked for opportunities to develop trade relations between the two countries and identified "growth points" to change the situation and boost bilateral trade.

A business council was established under the intergovernmental commission for that purpose.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco is on an official visit in Russia and is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. According to the Kremlin, the parties are set to discuss the prospects for the further development of Russian-Angolan relations in trade, economic and humanitarian fields, as well as international and regional issues.WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2019) The United States welcomes expanding ties with Mongolia following talks with visiting Minister of Defense Nyanmaa Enkhhbold, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a statement.

"We look forward to expanding our ties with this free and independent country of the Indo-Pacific region," Bolton said via Twitter on Tuesday.

Bolton described his talks with Enkhhbold as thoughtful and noted that Mongolia's armed forces have been fighting alongside US troops for many years.

"Had a thoughtful discussion with Minister of Defense Nyamaa Enkhhbold of Mongolia today," Bolton said.

Last September, Mongolian troops participated with Chinese forces in a stage 1 of Russia's Vostok military exercises that involved 300,000 Russian soldiers.Examples of the Port City registered trademark on the clean and contrasting packaging the brewery has developed to make their brand stand out. (Photos by Jay Premack/USPTO)

Theres a lot of ways in the industry that there could be confusion even if your brewery is in a different location, says Karen.

Choosing a name for a new beer at Port City is always a momentous occasion. Our strategy at the beginning was to try and have words that evoke a feeling or a state of mind, says Bill.

Theres an ongoing conversation between production, between marketing and the sales team and even with our wholesaler. We test out names and toss things about with our customers to try to figure out the way forward.

Optimal, Port Citys witbier (a Belgian-style wheat beer) and most popular seller, is a prime example of their strategy. We think its distinctive, and [the name] is evocative of an ideal state.

Port City had another advantage that positioned them to leverage intellectual property (IP) from the start: Karen is a practicing trademark attorney.We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to formThis undated photo provided by the Los Angeles Police Department shows Eric Holder. Los Angeles police are seeking Holder, who they believe shot and killed rapper Nipsey Hussle Sunday, March 31, 2019, outside the rapper's clothing store where he was trying to remake his community. (Los Angeles Police Department via AP)Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the president of Indias Catholic bishops, has issued a Pastoral Letter on behalf of Indias Catholic bishops, in view of the imminent general election.

By Robin Gomes

Indias Catholic Bishops are urging their faithful to exercise their sacred duty and right to vote judiciously in the upcoming general election for the good of the country by choosing leaders who listen to the people and respond effectively to their anxieties and needs.

As Pastors of our people, we Bishops consider it is our duty to address you . so that joining hands with all people of good will, our community can effectively contribute to shaping the future of our nation, writes Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay, in a Pastoral Letter issued on behalf of Indias Catholic bishops on March 14.

Stressing that all of us are truly proud of our country, Card. Gracias, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) urges every community to pray and to discern in prayer what is best for the nation.

With about 900 million Indian voters above 18 years of age, the April 11 to May 19 general election is being bitterly fought, with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking another term.

The BJP came to power in the last general election in 2014 with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. The Indian National Congress, that has ruled the country for most of its history, was thoroughly voted out of power largely because of alleged corruption. The party is seeking a comeback.

In an interview, Card. Gracias explains to Vatican News that in the Pastoral Letter, Indias Catholic bishops are reminding Catholics of their duty to vote for the good of the country and for future generations. The bishops are also urging the faithful to pray in order to be able to vote judiciously.

Listen to Cardinal Oswald Gracias

Attention to vulnerable groups

The CBCI Pastoral Letter expresses concern about some of the problems the nation is facing as it goes to the polls. The widening gap between the rich and the poor is a worrisome issue and that attention needs to be given to the poor.

Card. Gracias says the nation needs an inclusive economy that provides the poor with opportunities to improve themselves, such as through employment, encouraging entrepreneurship and providing them education .

Another concern, the 74-year old cardinal expresses is a safe environment for the people, especially women and children. With violence against women on the rise, he says, there is need to create a mentality which ensures the dignity of women.

Another two vulnerable groups that need special attention, he continues, are the tribals or the indigenous people and the Dalits, those outside Indias rigid caste system who are regarded so low in social status that they were once considered untouchables.

Given the fact that India is a multi-religious and multi-cultural society, the CBCI president says that the government must promote national integration involving the participation of all in nation-building. The nation must be made to feel one family composed of different creeds, cultural backgrounds and ethnic groups.

With climate change a big issue today, India's Church also urges that the government be sensitive to the issue of environment .

What type of leaders?

In the Pastoral Letter, the bishops also suggest that leaders of the country must listen to the people and respond to their needs. The should be concerned about the poor, the marginalized and those at the peripheries of society.

The bishops acknowledge governments have made efforts in this regard but perhaps efforts need to be redoubled to ensure that all make progress. Everyone should be included in Indias progress.

At the very outset of the Pastoral Letter, Card. Gracias clarified that the Catholic Church does not identify herself with or side with any political party but, as before every election we feel called to give some general guidance to our people for the good of our country.A member of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Brother Paul McAuley, was found dead on Tuesday in Peru, on the grounds of an international youth hostel he had founded.

By Vatican News

De La Salle Brother Paul McAuleys was found Tuesday morning by his students at the La Salle Intercultural Student Community in the city of Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon. Local authorities have announced an investigation into the circumstances of his death.



Brother Paul McAuley was a well-known defender of the environment, and an advocate for the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon region. Originally from England, Paul McAuley moved to Peru in 1995 as a missionary. He worked among the poor in the capital Lima, and later in Moyobamba and San Jose de Amazonas.

Since 2000, Brother Paul McAuley had lived in Iquitos, the largest city in the Peruvian Amazon. He dedicated himself to various development and educational projects, especially among the indigenous populations.

In a statement released by the Episcopal Conference, the Bishops of Peru said they mourned the death of Brother Paul McAuley, and expressed their condolences to the Brother Visitor, Jorge Aguilar, the Superior of the Congregation in Peru; and to all the De La Salle Brothers.

In their statement, the Bishops called on the authorities to clarify the facts and find those responsible for Brother Pauls death.

The worlds first Polar Journey exhibit, located adjacent to Shark Reef Aquarium inside Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, has extended its run through September, 15 2019. The popular, interactive experience has entertained and educated more than one million guests since it debuted in March 2017.

Polar Journey provides curious guests an up-close look at a vital part of our world, the Earths polar regions and the animals that call them home, said Adrienne Rowland, director of animal care at Shark Reef Aquarium. Visitors discover the many fascinating aspects of these regions, and we expect they will walk away with a greater appreciation for their importance to our planet.

Polar Journey offers eight interactive scenes for guests to explore:

Ice Caps : Guests are placed in reclining seats under a dome screen, transporting them to the Arctic and Antarctica through an engaging and informational film.

: Guests are placed in reclining seats under a dome screen, transporting them to the Arctic and Antarctica through an engaging and informational film. Mesmerizing Jellies : Visitors are captivated by the beauty and grace of three species of jellies from the frigid waters of the Arctic. The interactive display reacts as guests approach for a closer view.

: Visitors are captivated by the beauty and grace of three species of jellies from the frigid waters of the Arctic. The interactive display reacts as guests approach for a closer view. Swarming : Guests are invited to play a quiz game at Penguin Info Terminals where penguin robots demonstrate how animals survive in the polar regions by acting as a swarm.

: Guests are invited to play a quiz game at Penguin Info Terminals where penguin robots demonstrate how animals survive in the polar regions by acting as a swarm. Feeding Krill : Families get in touch with underwater polar creatures by engaging with an interactive wall projection. Kids can explore further by virtually feeding krill to the animals and seeing the response simulated by stunning artistic movement.

: Families get in touch with underwater polar creatures by engaging with an interactive wall projection. Kids can explore further by virtually feeding krill to the animals and seeing the response simulated by stunning artistic movement. Ice Fractures : Guests view the effects of climate change by journeying over floating sheets of ice in the deep blue sea with ice cracking beneath their feet, creating stunning formations.

: Guests view the effects of climate change by journeying over floating sheets of ice in the deep blue sea with ice cracking beneath their feet, creating stunning formations. Sea Explorer : This CGI, 270-degree panoramic view, motion ride experience allows guests to travel to the Arctic while feeling as if they are immersed in a submarine.

: This CGI, 270-degree panoramic view, motion ride experience allows guests to travel to the Arctic while feeling as if they are immersed in a submarine. Polar Science: Media-based interactive games provide players information about the polar regions in an entertaining way. Visitors can listen to Arctic sounds in special cocoon chairs, take a photo with simulated polar bears and challenge each other through memory games.

The exhibit is a partnership between Shark Reef Aquarium and Attraktion!, Austrias leading developer of technology-based attractions.

Polar Journey is open through September 15, 2019 Sunday  Thursday, 9:30 a.m.  8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m.  10 p.m. Last admission is 30 minutes prior to close.

Shark Reef Aquarium is open Sunday  Thursday 10 a.m.  8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.  10 a.m. Last admission is one hour prior to close.

The Las Vegas community is invited to enjoy fresh air with the whole family by participating in the Girls on the Run Las Vegas (GOTR) seasonal Spring 5K presented by United HealthCare/ Health Plan of Nevada. The event will be held on Sunday, May 5 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

This seasons race will be led by nearly 450 girls from 29 different sites around the valley, as well as hundreds of running buddies and community runners. The Spring 5K is the celebration concluding the 2019 Girls on the Run Las Vegas season and is open to community runners.

Each year, the Girls on the Run hosts two 5K events, gathering hundreds of young girls from over 50 elementary and middle schools in Clark County to accomplish one common goalto be healthy, confident and joyful. Each girl is paired with an adult Running Buddy who runs alongside them during the 5K. This celebratory, non-competitive event marks the conclusion of a season-long, experienced-based curriculum designed to develop confidence, friendship, strength andemotional and spiritual health in young girlsall while integrating running. The program provides participants with a sense of accomplishment and instills the value of goal-setting at a young age.

Red Rock Running Company (RRRC) generously donated nearly $3,000 worth of adult-sized running shoes to be worn by older girls in the program. The company also hosted 16 shoe fittings and will contribute 12 volunteers as well as the Spring 5Ks post-race snacks. In addition, RRRC will invite customers to donate to GOTR at every sale through Dec. 31, 2020 at its two locations in Henderson and Las Vegas.

Girls currently participating in Spring 2019 Season GOTR program are already registered to run the 5K. Guests can register as a community runner if they are not registered as a Running Buddy or affiliated with a current GOTR program participant. This race is stroller and family-friendly.Have you ever heard about Banania? The French brand was born in 1912 and is still selling chocolate drinks today, mostly in France. The name Banania comes from the ingredients used to make the unique chocolate powder: cocoa, honey, cereals, but also banana flour (produced in Africa in those days). Banania is well known in France for two reasons: its unique taste, but also for the scandals due to its advertisements.During a visit near Lake Managua, Nicaragua in 1909, the journalist Pierre Lardet discovered the recipe for a cocoa-based drink. When he returned to Paris, he started its commercial fabrication and, in 1912, began marketing Banania with the picture of an Antillaise. Her image was replaced in 1915 with the drawing of a widely smiling Senegalese man.At the outset of World War I, the popularity of the colonial troops at the time led to the replacement of the West Indian by the now more familiar jolly Senegalese infantry man enjoying Banania. Pierre Lardet took it upon himself to distribute the product to the Army, using the line(for our soldiers: the abundant food which keeps, using the least possible space).The brands yellow background underlines the banana ingredient, and the Senagalese infantrymans red and blue uniform make up the other two main colors. The slogan(Its good) derives from the pidgin French supposedly used by these soldiers (it is, in fact, an invention). Slowly but surely, the slogan and the character became inseparable as the expression was coined:(thebuddy).The brand conveys a pejorative, degrading and racist image towards people of black color whom it portrays as ill-educated, inarticulate and barely able to string together three words of French, according to the writ from theUse of the slogan since early in the last century has been so influential that some people now associate Banania with skin color. This deplorable caricature has led to hurtful insults against black children in schools and in the street, it said.The form of the character has since evolved to more of a cartoon character. However, the original advertising has become a cultural icon in France. Posters and reproduction tin-plate signs of the pre-war advertising continue to be sold.In the 1970s and early 1980s, Banania sponsored the Yellow Jersey of the Tour de France. In France the Banania brand is now owned by the newly founded French company Nutrial, which acquired it from Unilever in 2003.Vintage Banania advertisements, boxes and crockery are today highly prized by collectors.Binh Thuan urges grid upgrade as renewables spike, photo Shutterstock

In a document recently sent to the prime minister, Bui Van Thinh, chairman of the Binh Thuan Wind Association, pointed out that the total capacity for both wind and solar power approved in the province was 6,000MW, presenting the issue of an impending grid overload.

Nhat Dinh, a renewable energy expert, said that cities and provinces need to develop power plans with the vision towards the next seven to 10 years as well as enabling the grid to deal with their future projects.

Back in 2016, when the revised Power Development Plan VII was issued, no investors registered any interest in developing solar or wind power projects in the central region.

However, under the prime ministers Decision No.11/2017/QD-TTg enacted in April 2017 on mechanism for encouragement of solar power development in Vietnam, the feed-in tariff (FiT) of 9.35 US cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for solar power has brought about an intense wave of investment, leading to the current overload.

Given the absence of a specific zoning plan for solar power and the lack of infrastructure facilities, such projects struggle to get off the ground as the power that the projects would create cannot be generated to the national grid.

Binh Thuan has also stated that many solar power plans under consideration overlap titanium mining projects. As such the solar power schemes can only continue once the zoning plan for titanium mining is adjusted.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Binh Thuan has titanium reserves of 599 million tonnes, accounting for 92 per cent of the countrys total titanium reserves. The location of the reserves is also complicating wind power projects. The province also reported that the exploitation of titanium in previous years has caused serious pollution to water resources and has resulted in water depletion, which is particularly bad during the dry season.

The province has also asked the government to offer an incentive of a FiT of 9.35 US cents per kWh following the recent approval given to nearby Ninh Thuan province.

The government has issued a resolution allowing solar power projects in Ninh Thuan to enjoy the FiT of 9.35 US cents per kWh for a period of 20 years providing they begin commercial operations by the end of 2020. This is an extension of the earlier commercial operation date (COD) deadline of June 30 as set by the prime minister in Decision 11.

The extension of the COD given to Ninh Thuan will give time for the projects that have been approved by the prime minister to reach a combined capacity of 2,000MW.New CEO Rupert Hogg has overseen a return to profit for Cathay Pacific after two years of losses and now it is now entering the budget sector AFP/Anthony WALLACE

Asia's biggest international carrier has historically eschewed the low-cost sector, even as the region's rising middle class has fuelled an unprecedented boom in air travel and demand for cheaper routes.

But last week it finally bit the bullet, announcing it was buying HK Express for US$600 million from the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate HNA Group.

The move allows Cathay to take over the city's only budget carrier and gifts it much needed slots at one of the world's busiest transport hubs - prompting many to ask why it had taken the airline so long to make such a move.

Analysts say Cathay's reluctance to embrace the budget model was a result of its conservative way of thinking, in much the same way Nintendo was dragged kicking and screaming into the mobile gaming market after years of weak earnings.

But it is not too late for the airline, they say.

"It's more like catching up rather than changing the landscape," Jackson Wong, analyst at Huarong International Securities, told AFP, adding that Cathay realised it had to "face reality" that the budget market was something they needed to embrace.

Asia-Pacific is now the world's largest market for low-cost carriers, accounting for nearly 600 million seats in 2018, according to CAPA Centre for Aviation.

TOO GOOD AN OPPORTUNITY

And thanks to the region's booming middle classes, seat capacity has quadrupled over the past decade.

During that time Cathay resisted moving into the low end of the market, even as their rivals did the opposite - Singapore Airlines formed Tigerair in 2003 and Qantas followed up with Jetstar Asia.

Now Asia's skies are littered with budget carriers: AirAsia, Scoot, Nok Air, IndiGo, Lion Air, VietJet, the list keeps growing.

For a while Cathay's intransigence worked, it remained an avowedly premier - and profitable - brand.

But as the regional budget scene grew, airlines in China and the Middle East began competing on longer haul flights and the more luxury frills Cathay offered.

By March 2017 Cathay reported its first annual net loss in eight years and announced a three-year overhaul to cut costs and improve efficiency.

Under new chief executive officer Rupert Hogg the move appears to have paid off - last month the airline announced it had swung back into the black after two years of losses.

Brendan Sobie, chief analyst at CAPA, said HK Express was too good an opportunity to pass up once it became clear the troubled HNA Group was looking to sell.

"It's in their home market, they have to look at it, and quite frankly they'd be silly not to do it," he told AFP.

According to Sobie, structural constraints and limited airport slots made it difficult for Cathay to establish a separate low-cost carrier, which was why it had previously said it would not think about a no-frills carrier until Hong Kong airport's third runway came into operation in 2024.

LOSSES "WOKE THEM UP"

He said the lack of space at home was also a limitation for competitors, making the move into the sector less urgent for Cathay, which had opposed budget airline Jetstar's application to operate in Hong Kong in 2015.

But the purchase was not a financial "slam dunk" for Cathay, Sobie warned, given the small margins of budget airlines in the region and the fact that HK Express reported a net loss of US$18 million in 2018, according to Cathay.

Shukor Yusof, the founder of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics, said Cathay's brief foray into the red changed thinking at the company.

"The losses Cathay suffered in consecutive years woke them up and they realised if they didn't alter their thinking, they'd be marginalised and become irrelevant," he said.

"Then they saw how Singapore Airlines changed its strategy and that strategy worked," he said, adding that Cathay should have moved into the budget sector 10 years ago.

He said turning HK Express around was a "big ask".

"But if they apply stringent cost cuts and exploit the buoyant Chinese market, profitability is a possibility in two to three years," he said.

He predicted HK Express may start to price aggressively and target a select group of travellers, with mostly leisure flyers among them.

"I foresee HK Express behaving and exhibiting characteristics similar to Ryanair in Europe," he said, referring to the notoriously no-frills Irish low-cost carrier.Renewable energy becomes more profitable and attractive to overseas investors thanks to lower costs

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency)

Vietnams Strategy for Renewable Energy Development hopes to triple the output of electricity produced from renewable sources from 58 billion kilowatts per hour (kWh) in 2015 to 186 billion kWh by 2030  targets that have been dubbed as bold and ambitious.

At the Vietnam Energy Summit 2019 recently held in Hanoi, Nguyen Quang Minh, deputy director of the Power System Department at the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam, said, In Vietnam, there are seven wind farms in operation with the total installed capacity of 270 megawatts (MW). Around 4,000MW of wind energy has been approved in the plan. After Decision 39, another 7,000MW is being proposed for approval.

The governments Decision No.39/2018/QD-TTg dated September 2018 on the revision of the wind feed-in tariffs (FiT) which replaced Decision No.37/2011/QD-TTg on the support mechanisms for the development of wind power projects is seen as a positive step to promote renewable energy.

The prime ministers Decision No.11/2017/QD-TTg on support mechanisms for the development of solar power projects in Vietnam will also serve to encourage the development of solar power projects by setting FiT for solar projects at 9.35 US cents. This could potentially create a boom in the solar sector as the country looks to add 121 solar power projects with the capacity of 8,100MW to its national electricity plan by the end of this year.

Vietnam is witnessing a wave of investment in renewable energy. The sheer number of projects approved shows that the field is currently very attractive, said Cao Quoc Hung, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.

With the right policies in place, the cost of electricity from solar and wind power technologies could fall by between 26 and 59 per cent by 2025, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Innovation driving costs down

The cost of renewable energy is now dropping at such a speed that it should be a consistently cheaper source of electricity generation than traditional fossil fuels within years, according to the IRENA.

The organisation, which is made up of 160 nations, said the cost of generating power from onshore wind has fallen by around 23 per cent since 2010, whilst during the same period the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity has fallen by 73 per cent.

With further price falls to come in green energy options, the IRENA believed that all renewable energy technologies can be competitive on price with fossil fuels by 2020. Globally, onshore wind schemes are now costing an average of $0.06 per kWh, although some schemes are coming in at $0.04 per kWh, while the cost of solar PV is down to $0.10 per kWh. In comparison, the cost of electricity generation based on fossil fuels typically ranges between $0.05 to $0.17 per kWh.

Antonio Castellano, partner at global management consultants McKinsey & Company, told VIR that Our reviews of data and interviews with industry experts suggest that, even without factoring in externals, renewables have become the cheapest form of new power generation in the country on levelised cost of electricity (LCOE). The trend has been fuelled by the nations remarkable natural solar and wind resources combined with a significant drop in costs over the past five years. These include a 75 per cent decrease in solar costs and 30 per cent fall in the cost of wind, making the LCOE on new renewables cheaper than traditional thermal generation.

In energy markets around the world, rising competition will continue to drive innovation. While equipment costs will keep declining, reductions in balance-of-system, operation, maintenance, and capital costs are becoming increasingly important drivers for overall cost reduction.

Castellano added that the technology is opening a number of opportunities. Renewables, distributed generation, and smart grids demand new capabilities and are triggering new business models and regulatory frameworks. Data collection and exchange are growing exponentially, creating digital threats but also valuable opportunities.

The utility of the future will be a fully digital system. This means todays utilities face a digital transformation of their business. This can begin with quick moves to improve efficiency and expand the customer base, Castellano said. Alongside this, startups are pushing the boundaries of innovation across all elements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, therefore it is important to incorporate work with them in order to unlock their renewable energy potential.

Making power more attractive

According to Castellano, there are future opportunities to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the domestic renewables market as there is a growing demand and need for huge capacity, whilst the power sector will become a popular sector for FDI. Financiers currently remain cautious as they require transparency and feasibility when doing business. The countrys current power plan requires investment of roughly $150 billion by 2030 and also improvements to the grid infrastructure.

In order to create a market for renewables that is attractive enough to encourage developers to build projects, the government could consider introducing steps such as power purchase agreements (PPAs), improving transparency, upgrading transmissions, and creating a mix power mast plan. As current PPAs come as a take it or leave it option, it increases risks for developers. PPA could become a key factor in opening the door to capital investment and start the country along the path of developing a strong renewables industry.

Building a cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy future for Vietnam will not happen overnight, Castellano said. Other markets are further along in their development of renewable power and have enjoyed great benefits from their government. Without exception, governments played a critical role in jump-starting the market, generally through legislation or a public commitment. In addition, governments have often helped in accelerating investment through strong incentives and a well-planned, transparent project-approval process.

Besides, organising financial arrangements is not an easy task when it comes to power projects that require huge capital and have legitimate environmental concerns. As seen in bidding documents from the thermal power BOT Nghi Son 2 plant in the central province of Thanh Hoa, it took 10 years for the project to complete all the necessary procedures to reach financial closure. In renewable energy, despite high FiT and investment incentives, only a few projects have made it to the construction stage and have become operational. Meanwhile, the majority of renewable energy projects domestically are still at the pre-investment stage due to a number of issues which has arisen from approval, financing, and PPA implementation.

According to law firm VILAF, renewable energy developers still encountered challenges in getting projects to the operations phase. Issues include questionable bankability of the PPA, the lack of credit rating of the off-taker, and operational risks. The lack of comprehensive information is seen as one of the greatest challenges for investors and developers. Even though it has been discussed, there still remains no clear information on the number of projects, development status, among other factors, creating confusion and uncertainty for all involved.

Project developers are responsible for grid connection costs and risks. However, the PPA does not factor in project capacity, distance from existing transmission lines, and higher costs of installing lines over longer distances, noted the Vietnam Business Forums Energy Sub-Working Group.Real estate agents seen on a street in Da Nang. - Photo plo.vn

The order was issued amid reported unusual prices hikes in the two localities real estate markets.

In Da Nang, land prices in many areas have been inflated by the spread of false information regarding planning or new construction projects.

In mid-March, Da Nang issued a document requesting the management and supervision of real estate brokerages and land transactions be enhanced to prevent land price increases.

On March 8, the municipal Department of Construction warned about illegal real estate transactions in the city and urged home seekers and investors to be watchful.

Land prices in Quang Nam Province were also reported to increase unusually recently. In response, the provincial Peoples Committee asked districts, towns and municipal authorities to temporarily halt the splitting of land slots and converting of land use right purposes in some areas.Overview of the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Briefing the media on the outcomes of the Governments regular March meeting on April 2, Dung said that the consumer price index (CPI) in March dropped 0.21 percent, resulting in an average CPI rise of 2.63 in the first quarter of 2019.

At the same time, total retail and service revenue in the period increased 12 percent, while trade surplus in March hit 1.56 billion USD.

The number of newly-established firms was 28,451, up 6.2 percent, and the number of companies resuming their operation was over 15,000.

However, at the meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pointed out that the Vietnamese economy is still facing many challenges. African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, unfavourable weather, and unstable farm produce prices are threatening the agriculture sector, he noted.

The PM said that the disbursement of development investment in the state-owned sector has been low, while state budget disbursement has reached only 14.7 percent of the yearly target. Meanwhile, the centrally-managed capitals disbursement fell 30.5 percent year-on-year. The growth of the industry and service sectors has slowed down, while credit growth has been low.

Dung said that during the Governments meeting, the PM asked ministries and sectors to focus on creating breakthrough steps to ensure that this years growth is higher than that of 2018.

The Government leader asked ministries to explain causes behind the slow capital disbursement and offer up solutions.

Although the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) Report 2018 showed progress in some aspects of the business environments compared to 2017, the PM still stressed the need to continue improving integrity and transparency. Ministries, sectors, and localities should enhance the quality of supporting services for businesses, giving them more favourable conditions in administrative procedures, especially those related to land use, tax, and customs, said the PM.Motorists wait in line to cross the border into California from Mexicali, Mexico. (AFP/SANDY HUFFAKER)

Delays were already rising at several key border crossings as Trump ratcheted up pressure on Democrats in Congress to toughen US laws against illegal immigrants, threatening to hurt the US economy in the name of border security.

"It is a national emergency on the border," Trump said.

If Mexico does not stop migrants from transiting across its territory, and if Congress does not act, he said, "the border's going to be closed, 100 per cent."

"Sure it's going to have a negative impact on the economy," he said. "Security is more important to me than trade."

Trump said Democrats were blocking reforms for political reasons but could fix the problem "in 45 minutes."

He was not specific, but Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has asked Congress to give border officials the power to forcibly repatriate Central American illegal immigrants, including children who arrived alone, back to their countries.

The threat to close the border, which handled some US$612 billion worth of trade in 2018, sent shivers through the economy, and drew warnings from allies of the president.

"Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country, and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday.

100,000 MIGRANTS A MONTH

Homeland Security officials said they were preparing for the possibility of a shutdown of at least some border entry points as they divert staff to deal with the flood of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, expected to hit nearly 100,000 a month.

Nielsen cut short an official trip to Europe to return for meetings early Tuesday on the border crisis, and on Monday Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he would be meeting Nielsen and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the crisis.

Officials said facilities for handling the migrants - who for the moment cannot be sent back after they cross the border and request asylum - are overtaxed and understaffed, creating hazardous conditions.

"We are in a full blown emergency. The bottom line is all options are on the table right now," a senior Homeland Security official, who declined to be named, told journalists Tuesday.

"The volume of vulnerable populations that's arriving is unsustainable ... The humanitarian situation cannot be ignored and the security situation cannot be ignored."

Trump said Mexican officials had reacted to his threat to close the border last week by clamping down on the caravans of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in the three Central American countries.

Mexico "made a big step over the past two days," he said, adding that they would have to continue if they don't want the border closed.

He also defended his decision to cut off "hundreds of millions of dollars" in US aid to the three countries, accusing them of arranging the caravans of migrants.

The three "don't do anything for us," he said. "They're taking advantage of the United States. So I cut off the payments yesterday," Trump said.

LONG LINES AT BORDER PORTS

On Monday Nielsen ordered an "emergency surge" of personnel to deal with the situation, including moving 750 staff to areas of the border where the migrants arrive.

Many were being diverted from official ports, leading to slowdowns in processing arriving visitors and commercial vehicles.

Delays for incoming traffic were three hours at Brownsville, Texas, for the second straight day, and over two hours in other areas.

White House chief economist Larry Kudlow though said they were working to minimise the economic impact from a closure of the border - including keeping truck lanes open.

"The question is, can we deal with that and not have any economic damage?" he said on CNBC.

"I think the answer is we can and people are looking at different options, particularly if you can keep those freight lanes, those truck lanes open."Fitted out with 230 comfortable leather-covered seats and high-quality carpeting, the first five rows of Vietjets spacious new A321neo have been especially designed to accommodate passengers who choose to fly Skyboss, the airlines premium service.

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan attends the delivery ceremony of Vietjets brand new A321neo, registered as VN-A600, at Airbuss factory in Toulouse, France.

The aircrafts interior also features a lively lighting system and a striking decor that create a comfortable and refreshing ambience through the whole cabin.

Mr. Dinh Viet Phuong, Vietjet Vice President and Mr. Jean-Francois Laval, Airbus Executive Vice President Sales Asia join in the A321neo aircraft delivery ceremony

We are pleased to be the aircraft manufacturer of choice for Vietjet, one of the fastest growing carriers in the Asian region, said Jean-Francois Laval, executive vice president Sales Asia at Airbus, at the delivery ceremony in France.

The A321neo with its maximum flexibility, fuel efficiency, and the lowest-possible operating costs in its size category provides an ideal platform for the carriers growth. At Airbus, we are honoured to be a key partner of Vietjet, and we look forward to seeing more of our aircraft flying in its colours, he added.

This A321neo is also the 60thaircraft of its model that Vietjet has received directly from Airbus, among almost 80 aircraft that the airline is operating. The new aircraft will immediately join fleet operations starting this April.

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan with fellow dignitaries from the National Assembly as well as executive representatives of Vietjet and Airbus join the cutting of the red ribbon at the delivery ceremony of the new A321neo in Toulouse, France.

The official visit of the Vietnamese National Assembly chairwoman to the aircraft manufacturers factory and other engine manufacturers underscores the significant commitment of Vietnamese leaders in supporting the development of the aviation industry and other affairs related to technology transfer, and strategic co-operation within the industry.

Since its inception in 2011, Vietjet has been a pioneering airline, positively contributing to the development of the national and regional aviation industry.

Since its inception in 2011, Vietjet has been a pioneering airline, positively contributing to the development of the national and regional aviation industry.

In the words of Vietjets vice president Dinh Viet Phuong, Vietjet is currently operating a fleet of new Airbus A320 family aircraft with an average age of 2.82 years, making it the youngest fleet in the world.

The A320 family aircraft has greatly contributed to Vietjets impressive operation performance, including the airlines technical reliability rate standing high at 99.64 per centin recent years as well as being one of the airlines with the lowest operating costs in the world.

The delivery of this new A321neo once again emphasises Vietjet's great efforts to grow and modernise its fleet, so we can continuously contribute to the growth of tourism and economies across the region, while meeting our utmost objective of bringing maximum comfort, joy, and safety to our passengers, Phuong said.

Vietjet is the first airline in Vietnam to operate as a new-age airline offering flexible, cost-saving ticket fares and diversified services to meet customer demand.

Vietjet is a fully-fledged member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with an IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate.

Vietjet was named Best Ultra Low-Cost Airline 2018-2019 and awarded the highest ranking for safety with 7 stars in 2018 by the worlds leading safety and product rating website, AirlineRatings.com.

The airline has also been listed as one of the world's 50 best airlines for healthy financing and operations by Airfinance Journal in 2018.

Currently, Vietjet operates around 400 flights daily, carrying more than 70 million passengers to date, with 108 routes covering destinations across Vietnam and international destinations such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, mainland China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Cambodia.David Duong

What is the significance of the inauguration of these two bridges and the approach road to Green Environmental Technology Park?

Vietnam Waste Solutions (VWS) has just inaugurated two bridges and an approach road leading to the Green Environmental Technology Park in Tan Lap commune, Thu Thua district of the Mekong Delta province of Long An. The bridges are named VWS01 and VWS02, while the road has a design load of HL93.

The length of the entire route is 200 metres, including the side roads to the bridges. The 75m wide bridge has six lanes that are 3.5m wide each. The three lanes on each side are separated by a 5m wide median strip. There are two pavements which are about 10m wide and a safety corridor which is about 13.5m wide.

The project has been launched after one year of construction, which proves VWSs efforts and determination to increase investment and put the project into operation as soon as possible. To facilitate the goal, the company has mobilised significant financial, technology, and human resources.

What is the role of Green Environmental Technology Park in Long An?

Green Environmental Technology Park in Long An was approved by the prime minister in Decision No.1440/QD-TTg dated October 6, 2008. This is one of the most modern waste treatment facilities, not only in Asia, but across the globe.

Covering an area of 1,760 hectares, the park will be developed in three phases. The first phase, which will last until 2025, will treat an estimated 21,400 tonnes of waste per day.

Meanwhile, in the second phase (from 2026 to 2035) and the third phase (until 2050), the park will handle 26,800 and 40,000 tonnes each day, respectively. A total of $450 million will be poured into the first phase of the project.

The total capacity is adequate to meet the waste treatment demand of the southern key economic zone. At present, eight localities in the area discharge more than 10,000 tonnes of waste per day, 7,000 tonnes of which comes from Ho Chi Minh City.

It is projected that more than 20,000 tonnes of waste will be produced a day in the park by 2020, with 9,000 tonnes coming from Ho Chi Minh City alone. Meanwhile, industrial waste is on the rise and will catch up and may even move ahead of household waste.

Vietnam Waste Solutions plays a key role in the battle to conserve resources and protect Vietnams environment

What are the most outstanding features of the project, and what new technologies will you apply for waste treatment?

The project applies cutting-edge technologies that not only comply with Vietnams Law on Environmental Protection, but also meet the most stringent US standards. Once in operation, the project will process different types of waste, including household waste, hazardous waste, medical waste, industrial waste, electronic waste, sewage, and old tyres.

Most of the waste recycled will be converted into energy as well as produce compost fertilisers, liquid fuel, and fuel gas. The project will minimise burial rate below 9 per cent in order to conserve land resources and protect the environment.

According to the prime ministers decision, the project will be capable of handling 40,000 tonnes of waste per day with a lifespan of 75-100 years. Thus, Green Environmental Technology Park will play a vital role in waste treatment for the southern key economic zone.

When waste treatment activities are concentrated on a single site, investors can mobilise large resources to invest in state-of-the-art technologies, which results in lower fees for pollution treatment. Meanwhile, it is easier to use large garbage trucks to collect garbage around the park.

As a result, there will be fewer trucks running around the area, reducing unpleasant odours in the streets. It is also convenient for the regulatory bodies to monitor garbage collection and waste treatment activities in the park.

The contract between CWS and San Jose city is set to expire in 2021. Do you have any difficulties in extending the contract for another 15 years?

Indeed, we are facing some obstacles in the negotiation of the new contract. Under the contract, we are running a programme of garbage collection. Accordingly, each household can dispose of three unwanted items free of charge every year, such as a bed, a wardrobe, or a fridge. They can call us in advance so the company can prepare vehicles and workers to collect the items, especially those of a large nature.

However, in recent times, there has been information handed out wrongly, saying that households can discharge any number of large items and call the company anytime to collect them. The company could not prepare enough vehicles, collectors, and phone operators for this onslaught. As a result, our services failed to meet customer expectations.

Furthermore, residents were also told that they do not need to classify waste by its source believing they should place all garbage together in order to reduce costs.

As a result, many households do not classify their waste, making it harder for us to collect. We had to increase fees for collection, equal to the fee of unclassified waste made by other companies. The city decided to re-bid the project because of concerns with our services and fees.

In addition, we also face difficulties in transferring from the garbage bin to the truck, with issues in ensuring lids remain shut after the bin is returned to its original location. Other firms have also struggled with the same problems for the past 12 years. However, in recent times only our company has been fined for it.

What solutions have you prepared to tackle these problems?

We have put forward some very convincing arguments to the San Jose City Council against the evaluations made by the San Jose Environmental Services Department.

Specifically, the company collects recycled waste from 166,000 households, amounting to 80 per cent of all households in San Jose city. Over the past 12 years, our services have never been caught out for poor service.

Meanwhile, our fees are not higher than other companies. We have continued our efforts to bring the best services to the residents. The company is pledging support from the state protection agency for ethnic minorities as well as the Vietnamese community, which account for 11 per cent of San Joses population.

As a result, the San Jose City Council has requested the San Jose Environmental Services Department open negotiations about our services and fees. We accept to be inspected for one year for different issues such as letting customers call anytime, closing the lids of the garbage bins, as well as reducing the garbage collection fee for each household. Our fees are lower than other companies by $1, totalling $2 million per year.

What is your preparation for the upcoming inspection?

VWS will be inspected for one year. To ensure transparency, we have requested the city to hire a third-party inspection company. The fees for garbage collection this year will be higher than in the old contract, but they will match the new fees in the 15-year contract.

As we are an ethnic company, it is quite hard to win such a contract, not to mention keeping it. It will take time and a great deal of effort to prove our capability.

As a Vietnamese American, how do you feel about the successful development of of Da Phuoc Integrated Waste Management Facility and Green Environmental Technology Park?

The successful investment in Vietnam has significant meaning not only to me, but also to much of the Vietnamese overseas community. It shows that Vietnamese people all over the world can produce significant achievements when they return to invest in their homeland.The URL has been copied to your clipboard

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Kenyas Garissa University on Tuesday marked four years since an al-Shabab militant attack claimed 148 lives, most of them students. While the Somali terrorist group has claimed assaults since then, it remains their deadliest attack inside Kenya. Rael Ombuor reports from Nairobi.U.S. President Donald Trump met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House Tuesday, where he took credit for increased burden sharing in collective defense spending. As White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is commemorating its 70th birthday in Washington with less pomp than usual, out of concerns for further verbal attacks from an American president who has repeatedly criticized the trans-Atlantic military alliance.Uganda says its security forces are searching for a American tourist and local driver who were abducted at gunpoint late Tuesday in a national park.

Ugandan police have identified the American as 35-year-old Kimberly Sue Endecott and her driver as Jean Paul.

They say four unidentified gunmen kidnapped Paul and Endecott near a wilderness camp inside Queen Elizabeth National Park early Tuesday evening.

According to a statement, an elderly couple who were also held up but not taken alerted a park official to the abduction.

A statement Wednesday from Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said police, soldiers and wildlife officials have launched a joint operation to locate and rescue the captives.

Uganda says the kidnappers, using the victim's mobile phone, have demanded a ransom of $500,000. "We strongly believe this is the reason behind the kidnap," police said.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is located in western Uganda, on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda said it has closed border crossings with Congo in an effort to keep the kidnappers from fleeing.

A State Department spokesman said U.S. officials are aware of reports of the kidnapping.

"Security forces are responding to the incident. We have no further information to offer at this time," the spokesman told VOA.

In Washington Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with families of Americans who are detained abroad. He urged them not to give up hope but reiterated that the U.S. does not pay ransom money to free American citiziens.

Please remember that any payment to a terrorist or a terrorist regime gives money so that they can seize more of our people. We cannot accept that risk," Pompeo said.Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was indicted on Tuesday on corruption charges brought by prosecutors who said he took part in a bribery scheme related to the Angra 3 nuclear power plant complex on the coast near Rio de Janeiro.

The case is part of Operation Car Wash, Brazil's largest corruption investigation, which has put dozens of businessmen and politicians in jail since 2014.

Federal Judge Marcelo Bretas accepted charges of corruption and money laundering against Temer, his former energy minister, Wellington Moreira Franco, and six other close aides.

Temer, who left the presidency just three months ago, was arrested with the others on March 21 and released four days later. They all deny any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors said the graft at Angra was one action of a "criminal organization" that Temer had run during his four decades in public life, which they alleged received or arranged upward of 1.8 billion reais ($462.5 million) in bribes.

The investigation into kickbacks on the nuclear plant's construction contract involves the Brazilian subsidiary of Swedish consulting firm AF Poyry, along with Brazilian engineering firms Engevix and Argeplan.

The Swedish company declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. Engevix and Argeplan did not reply to requests for comment.

Temer, 78, faces charges in another corruption investigation in which prosecutors accuse him of using a middleman to procure a suitcase full of cash from JBS SA, the controlling shareholders of the world's largest meatpacker.

In 2017, his aide Rodrigo da Rocha Loures was caught on video by security cameras running out of a Sao Paulo restaurant carrying a bag with 500,000 reais ($128,165) in cash that prosecutors said was a bribe from the owners of JBS.

Temer denies the allegation. Rocha Loures, who has also denied the charges, is awaiting trial.As the British parliament ties itself in knots over how to exit from the European Union, that nation's senior diplomat in Washington is cautioning U.S. opinion leaders not to mistake the debates in London for signs of weakness  either in the economic or security domain.

Above all, he cautions, the world should not underestimate Britain's determination to sustain itself as a global power backed by capabilities.

Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the United States, did his best on Tuesday to deliver an optimistic note about the convulsive Brexit deliberations to an uncertain audience at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Darroch reminded the audience that Britain's economy has shown much more resilience than many had expected during the "inevitable period of uncertainty" since the British public voted narrowly in June 2016 to leave the European Union.

Britain has seen "nine years of uninterrupted economic growth," he noted, adding that the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s projection for British economic growth in 2019 surpasses that of either Germany or Japan.

Reason for concern

The ambassador's upbeat prognosis was challenged by former State Department chief economist Heidi Crebo-Rediker, who pointed out that Britain has seen a 25 percent drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) since the Brexit referendum. Darroch acknowledged that FDI "may have taken a hit in 2018," but argued that in 2017, immediately after the Brexit vote, Britain's FDI figures "held up strikingly well."

Crebo-Rediker acknowledged that Britain's economy has demonstrated "macro resilience, but countered that forecasts for the financial future of post-Brexit Britain were, in her view, rather poor. She citied estimates that 10 percent of banking assets have already been moved out of the country.

Darroch insisted that overall, his country's economy "is doing pretty well" and contains "a lot of soundness and strength." As evidence, he listed a low unemployment rate of about four percent and a current budget deficit of around 1.1 percent of GDP  a figure "many around the world would envy."

Britain committed

The ambassador, a former national security adviser, also stressed Britain's commitment to what he described as "our contribution to international security and defense."

Britain's current defense spending is 2.1 percent of GDP, second only to the United States among NATO members. "We're investing tens of billions in upgrading our defense capabilities over the next decade or so," he said.

Darroch emphasized that Britain's primary security interest will remain with NATO, but did not rule out other initiatives. Suggesting greater freedom of action post-Brexit, he said, "As an independent, sovereign country, we can choose to cooperate in anything that happens around the world where we think our involvement serves our national security interest."

Ultimately, Darroch said, Britain's objective and intention is to "remain as a major global player, arguably even more so in future."Newly enacted Islamic laws governing gay sex and adultery in Brunei have sparked international outcry.

The laws, which took effect Wednesday, will allow those convicted of adultery and homosexuality to be stoned to death.

The harsh penalties have been included in the Southeast Asian country's Sharia Penal Code, which was instituted in 2014 by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

The new laws apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim.

Under the laws, thieves could have their right hand amputated on their first offense and their left foot on their second.

The codes are designed to bolster the influence of Islam in the Muslim-majority country of about 430,000 people.

Celebrities such as Elton John, Ellen DeGeneres and George Clooney have denounced the new laws and have helped rally support for a boycott of nine hotels in the United States and Europe with ties to Hassanal.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France are continuing to urge the oil-rich country to reverse the enactment of the new laws.

U.S. Secretary of State Deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said Brunei's decision "runs counter to its international human rights obligations" and that the U.S. "strongly opposes violence, criminalization and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups." He called on the country to implement the U.N.'s Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said, "Any religion-based legislation must not violate human rights, including the rights of those belonging to the majority religion as well as of religious minorities and non-believers."

Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson also condemned Hassanal's action, saying, "Brunei's new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that should not even be crimes."

Amnesty International's Rachel Chhoa-Howard denounced the new laws as "vicious" and called on the global community to condemn them.A decision by the U.S. government to cut aid to three Central American nations is "counterproductive," likely to backfire and fuel rather than stem the flow of migrants north fleeing gang violence and dire poverty, charities said on Tuesday.

The U.S. State Department said on Saturday it would carry out President Donald Trump's repeated threats to end foreign assistance to programs in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - known as the Northern Triangle.

Trump has criticized the three nations for doing little to stop the flow of migrants and asylum seekers, many of whom are seeking better lives in the United States.

Charities that receive funding from the U.S. government to promote economic and social development in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras say aid cuts not only will do little good but will make matters worse.

"The people who are really going to get hurt by this are the people who are the region's most vulnerable, including small farmers and teenagers trying to avoid the pressures of joining gangs and escape violence," said David Ray, vice president of policy and advocacy at global charity CARE.

"Poverty, violence and insecurity - those are exactly the drivers of migration. So to undercut those programs seems to be self-defeating," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The United States provides hundreds of millions of dollars every year for development projects in the Northern Triangle, including crime and gang violence prevention, efforts to strengthen agriculture and justice systems, anti-corruption programs and job skills training.

U.S. foreign aid to Central America dropped to $527.6 million this year from $655 million in 2017, according to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a think-tank.

Trump's idea to cut aid to the Northern Triangle could add to migration north as conditions at home worsen, experts said.

"He is concerned about border security," said Robert Zachritz, vice president for advocacy and government relations at charity World Vision. "If you want to solve that problem, what he is proposing is counterproductive."

World Vision relies on $127 million of U.S. government funding for Northern Triangle projects.

CARE would have to scale back in the Northern Triangle on efforts that include a project helping poor farmers in Guatemala grow sustainable crops.

"That program would be severely curtailed without the U.S. funding," Ray said.

Fierce Battle Ahead

But cutting aid will likely face strong opposition in the U.S. Congress, which must approve Trump's plan to change spending bills already passed.

To win Congressional approval, the Trump administration must provide a formal notice explaining its plans for reallocating the aid money.

"It is Congress that decides on how much foreign assistance the U.S. is going to provide," said Adriana Beltran, head of WOLA's Citizen Security Program and Central America expert.

"Congress has control of the purse, so it's going to lead to a fierce battle," she said.

Rick Jones, senior advisor for charity Catholic Relief Services, which last year planned projects in the Northern Triangle with the help of $34.4 million in U.S. government funds, also said aid cuts would fuel migration.

"Cutting off aid is morally wrong and is counterproductive," Jones said. "It will undermine the gains that have been made in reducing violence and will spur more migration."

One of its endangered projects provides training and jobs to more than 5,000 young people in poor and violence-torn communities in Honduras and El Salvador, he said.

"Cutting aid will provoke greater instability in Central America, provoking ever more migration," said Vicki Gass, senior policy advisor at Oxfam, a British-based charitable confederation that does not receive U.S. aid. "We know that people are leaving because of the widespread violence, devastating climate change, endemic corruption, and structural economic inequality - not addressing these fundamental problems is not the answer."Two Chinese fighter planes that crossed into the airspace of political rival Taiwan this week extended a series of breaches over the past two decades and herald more, further straining already tense relations, defense analysts say.

The two J-11 planes crossed 43 nautical miles over a median line south of the Taiwan Strait Sunday morning until the Taiwanese air force pressured them to leave, the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei said. The incident quickly touched off a round of venting by Taiwanese government officials against China and sparked a rebuke against Beijing in Washington.

Although the planes stayed in Taiwans airspace for 12 minutes, longer than usual, they have crossed the median line before at least since 1999, defense experts believe. Some cases are accidental and the Chinese aircraft leave without incident.

Now analysts expect to see more planes on Taiwans side of the line as pressure on Taiwan. China/Taiwan relations have soured since 2016, pushing Taiwan closer to its powerful, informal ally the United States and angering Beijing further.

If theres once, theres a second time and if a second time theres a third. So I hope the Taiwan government, the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, can be very resolute and determined, said Michael Tsai, chairman of the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies in Taiwan.

Median line

A U.S. military official established the median line in 1955 in the ocean strait between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan and both sides normally honor it even during the coolest of political relations. After a series of air battles in the strait, in 1958 China and Taiwan reached a tacit agreement to observe the line, Taiwans government-run Taiwan Today news website says.

Chinas keeping to its side of the line assures the militarily weaker Taiwan that the Peoples Liberation Army air force isnt about to attack the democratically ruled island thats just 160 kilometers across at its narrowest point.

Beijings Communist leadership has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s and threatened to take it by force if needed. After President Tsai Ing-wen took office in Taipei almost three years ago, Beijing dropped dialogue with Taiwan because Tsai does not see both sides as part of a single China.

Crossovers logged since 1999

Chinese planes crossed the line in 1999 after ex-president Lee Teng-hui enraged China by suggesting special state-to-state relations, according to local media reports. The comment went against Beijings pursuit of unification.

Since 1999, Chinese jets have occasionally tried to penetrate the line to gauge Taiwans response, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the think tank Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taiwan.

Some aircraft cross the median line by accident, especially during harsh weather, Michael Tsai said. He cited one case that caused concern in 2001, when Taiwans anti-China ex-president Chen Shui-bian was starting his first term in office. Normally the two sides communicate internationally if a plane is about to cross, he said.

It happened before but the Sunday incident, because they stayed there for over 10 minutes, thats really unusual, Yang said.

State-run media in China said Monday the median line crossover was a caution to the United States. The U.S. government, Chinas former Cold War foe and a staunch informal backer of Taiwan, regularly passes naval ships through the Taiwan Strait.

More crossovers expected

Analysts and some in government caution of more flights over the median line as long as China is trying to pressure Taiwan into political unification. Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that call on January 2 in a speech in Beijing.

What I expect is they will do even more in the future and try to exhaust our air force, Yang said. Taiwans air force will not be exhausted but must keep a very close eye on their Chinese counterparts, he said.

Chen Ming-tong, minister of the governments Mainland Affairs Council, linked the Sunday incident to the Chinese Presidents broader push for unification. The Council said in January more than 80 percent of Taiwanese oppose unification.

He has his own political agenda. Hes going to push it forward step by step, Chen told reporters on Monday. Hes got his own design. No matter whos in charge in Taiwan in the future, hes got the resolve to unify with Taiwan. I dont rule out that (provocations) will become a standing thing. Its of course attracting international attention and theyll think hes altering the status quo. They will think hes a provoker.A Chinese woman who got through security checkpoints at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida carrying a thumb drive coded with "malicious" software was arrested Saturday for entering a restricted property and making false statements to officials, according to a court filing.

Documents filed by the Secret Service on Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida say that shortly after noon Saturday, Yujing Zhang approached a Secret Service agent screening visitors to Mar-a-Lago seeking entrance to the club.

Zhang produced two Chinese passports displaying her photo and said she wanted to go to the pool. Secret Service officers could not initially find her name on an access list for the property, according to the Secret Service affidavit filed with the court.

A club manager said that a man named Zhang was a club member, and even though Yujing Zhang did not give a clear answer as to whether the man was her father, the Secret Service affidavit says resort officials allowed her on the property on the assumption she was related to a member.

Resort personnel became suspicious after Zhang appeared to have trouble explaining why she was visiting Mar-a-Lago, according to the affidavit.

Zhang initially said she was there for an event staged by a group called the United Nations Chinese American Association.

But resort staff found no such event was scheduled, according to the court filing.

A receptionist then contacted Secret Service personnel who questioned Zhang and concluded she did not have "any legitimate documentation" authorizing her entry to Mar-a-Lago, according to the filing.

'Malicious malware'

After detaining her, investigators found in Zhang's possession four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive device and a thumb drive, the Secret Service court filing says. Initial examination of the thumb drive determined it contained "malicious malware," the Secret Service said.

"While the Secret Service does not determine who is permitted to enter the club, our agents and officers conduct physical screenings to ensure no prohibited items are allowed onto the property," the Secret Service said in a statement.

In a court filing on Tuesday, a public defender representing Zhang said she was invoking her right to remain silent.

A Justice Department spokeswoman had no comment on the arrest.Trucks inched through traffic Wednesday and some stores reported fewer customers in U.S.-Mexico border towns as staffing shortages tied to a surge in asylum seekers slowed checkpoints and threats of a complete closure of the border scared shoppers.

U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his threat to close the border, or parts of it, saying Congress could avert such a shutdown by changing laws to fix what he called immigration "loopholes."

Business leaders on both sides of the border have lashed out against the threat, saying a shutdown would hurt supply chains and $1.7 billion in daily trade at some of the world's busiest land crossings.

Already, Washington's decision to move 750 agents from commercial to immigration duties has triggered long delays for legitimate cross-border traffic.

Petra Gomez, 63, who owns discount store Buy 4 Less near the Otay Mesa crossing in California, opposite Tijuana, said Trump's threats were also taking a toll.

Fear of being trapped

"Many people are not crossing for fear that if they close the border, they will be trapped," she said, referring to the tens of thousands of people who cross every day from the Tijuana area into California. "If they close the border, I will have to close because I will not have clients."

However, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday there were no "serious problems" at the border, and that the government was in constant communication with U.S. authorities to keep it open.

"It's not in anyone's interest to close the border," he told reporters at his regular morning news conference.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has estimated that 100,000 migrants were apprehended or encountered at the border in March, the highest level in a decade. Most were Central American families claiming asylum.

The CBP said it would suspend cargo operations every Saturday at one of its El Paso crossing points until it had enough staff to operate fully.

On Wednesday, some lanes were open to commercial traffic at El Paso, Laredo and Otay Mesa. The longest wait stretched up to five hours at a section of the El Paso crossing where only one of six lanes was open at a major bridge, according to the CBP. In Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, lines of trucks were longer than usual, according to a

Reuters witness.

'Green gold'

Mexico is the third-largest trading partner of the United States, and is its largest supplier of agricultural products, including vegetables and avocados.

"Avocados in particular have the potential to become the new green gold in terms of prices" if a shutdown caused shortages, Moody's said in a report on Wednesday.

Americans would run out of avocados in three weeks if imports from Mexico were stopped, Steve Barnard, president and chief executive of Mission Produce, the largest distributor and grower of avocados in the world, said this week.

The Business Roundtable, a powerful private sector lobby, said in a letter to White House officials on Wednesday that shutting the border would severely damage U.S. businesses, particularly those that depend on employees who commute daily to work from Mexico.

Luis Ventura, 23, crosses from Tijuana every day to work at a customs agency in San Diego. More than just concern over his job, he fears a shutdown would take him away from his son.

"If you close the border, either I stay in Tijuana without work or I stay here without family," he said.As the flood waters recede in cyclone-hit southern Africa, officials are starting to assess medium- and longer-term requirements, including food security, health needs and improving disaster preparedness.

"For 2019, food security is going to be a serious, serious issue," World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley told a U.N. meeting about Cyclone Idai on Tuesday.

Beasley, who addressed the session via a video link, noted "the crops in these areas, particularly in Mozambique, are just gone. So, the harvest for this season is gone, and the chances for next season are minimal at best."

"Hundreds of thousands of hectares of agricultural land have been essentially put out of use in the short term," U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said. "There is now only two or three weeks to prepare for the small harvest and to plant for the small harvest. So, there is an urgent need for seeds and tools and fertilizers to at least rescue the potential for the small harvest later in the year."

Cyclone Idai slammed into Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in mid-March bringing powerful winds, major rains and storm surge flooding. Nearly 900 people have been confirmed dead across the three countries, while many more are missing, and hope is fading for them to be found alive.

"The waters into which they were lost are waters infested with crocodiles. They are waters infested with hippos, and they may never be found," Zimbabwe's U.N. Ambassador Frederick Shava said of the missing.

Even before Idai wreaked havoc, parts of this region faced food insecurity. Inconsistent rains combined with an economic crisis had 5.3 million people in Zimbabwe in humanitarian need. Now, the U.N. says an additional 270,000 people require assistance.

Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, was facing a lean season pre-cyclone, and more than 3 million people were at risk for crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity.

Then Idai came and washed away crops that were just about to be harvested.

"Food will be needed not only in the short run, but going forward," said Malawi Ambassador Perks Master Clemency Ligoya.

"Commodity prices for the existing food stuffs have already increased by close to 50 percent," he noted.

Then there are the health issues. Cholera cases have already topped 1,000, as flood waters spread contamination. Malaria is also expected to rise as flood waters provide breeding grounds for mosquitos, which spread the disease.

Officials are also worried about patients with chronic diseases getting access to medicines and treatment in the storm's aftermath.

"Vaccines, medicines and other supplies, including condoms and delivery kits for pregnant women, have been destroyed," Ligoya said. "Roads and bridges to some health facilities were damaged. Displaced populations are lacking primary health care services, as they are not able to access health facilities. The continuum for care for people with HIV and TB (tuberculosis) has been disrupted."

Education has also been disrupted. Zimbabwe's envoy said 87 damaged schools were closed in one hard-hit area, and it could be a long time before they can all be rebuilt.

"So, we may have to do schools in tents in order to continue the education of the kids," Shava said.

The U.N. has issued an appeal for $394 million to cover emergency needs for three months for the three countries. Only $46 million has been promised so far. Additional appeals will come later for longer-term requirements.

The diplomats from the cyclone-hit countries said a more robust early warning system is needed in the region to prevent a future disaster, and that lessons could be learned from countries in Asia that have advanced tsunami warning systems in place.Facebooks announcement this week that it has taken down hundreds of pages linked to Indias main opposition Congress party and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party turned the spoltight on the blitz of disinformation being used to influence nearly 900 million voters as social media becomes the primary battleground in the worlds largest general election starting April 11.



It really huge, to put it mildly. Your audience has entirely moved to social media, says Kanchan Kaur, a Bengaluru-based assessor at International Fact-Checking Network at the U.S.-based Poynter Institute.

Those policing social media content say steps being taken by social media giants to curb fake news are not even scratching the surface of the problem as false posts are shared faster than they can be taken down. The concern in India say cyber experts, is not foreign interference as in the 2016 United States election, but disinformation battles waged by political parties and their supporters.



Spending on creating political messages, memes and videos has soared as political parties hire hundreds of cyber warriors to run their social media cells and motivate tens of thousands of volunteers to target the over 300 million who use Facebook and about 240 million on WhatsApp.



The upcoming Indian election is a no-holds-barred contest as Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist BJP fights to stay in power and the Congress Party to return to the center of Indian politics.

The greatest worry, says Jency Jacob, who heads fact checking website, Boom, is the blatant misuse of old videos and images to suggest that one political party or leader is not good for the country. Most people dont have the inclination to go back and check whether what they are seeing is true or not. Boom is partnering with Facebook in countering fake news.



Fake news and hyper nationalist videos and texts proliferated to unprecedented levels in the aftermath of recent tensions between India and Pakistan following a suicide bombing in Indian Kashmir, say fact checkers.



Some examples: a Facebook user shared a recording of a call in which the BJP head, Amit Shah, is allegedly heard saying that We agree that for election, we need a war. The fake post, meant to show the BJP indulging in war mongering for electoral gains, had used spliced audio from older interviews. It was seen by 2.5 million viewers and shared many times before being taken down.

On the other side of the spectrum, a message spread via Whats App portrayed the opposition Congress Party as soft on militancy. It claimed that a party leader had promised money to free terrorists and stone pelters from prison if voted to power. It was later flagged as false.



Other posts that have been debunked: claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi topped the list of 50 most honest politicians; a photshopped image of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress Party wearing a cross intended to show her as a non-Hindu in an increasingly polarized election campaign.

Of greatest worry are those that have the potential to trigger communal tensions. A recent video falsely showed a mock drill at a temple in Gujarat as an incident involving two terrorists.



We are working hard to fight the spread of false news on the platform through a combination of technology and human review, Facebook said in a recent press release. It has partnered with seven media groups and fact checking organizations to counter false news and ramped up efforts to block fake accounts. On Tuesday, WhatsApp launched a helpline called CheckPoint tipline for users to check out the authenticity of information circulated on the platform. It has also carried out public education programs to help people identify rumors.



These are all useful steps. I think they are coming in a bit late but I dont think they are sufficient, says Nikhil Pahwa, digital rights activist and editor of MediaNama.



Indeed even as fact checkers work overtime, cyber experts say they lack the capacity and speed to check the fake news that proliferates on social media.



And even if it is debunked, Kanchan Kumar questions How many of us look at fact-checking websites? We have what we call a confirmation bias. If a news agrees with what we think, we like to believe it is true and we like to pass it on to other people.



WhatsApp efforts to limit the spread of misinformation by restricting forwards in India has been easily circumvented by political parties who use their army of volunteers to create tens of thousands of groups on the messaging platform that is hugely popular among Indians. Instagram is the latest social media platform being used to target young, first-time voters who number 90 million.



There are thousands of accounts that are not officially connected with political parties, but help carry their messages according to cyber experts. Both the Congress Party and the BJP denied any connection with the pages that were taken down by Facebook this week for coordinated inauthentic behavior.



Jency Jacob called it a significant action. Facebook is admitting that their platform can be utilized by various interested parties for political reasons, which is not the idea why they had the platform in the first place.



There are no answers on how deep will be the influence of fake news on social media in the upcoming elections, but its ability to manipulate opinion is a cause of worry. I think the ramifications of disinformation and even humor in a political context are fairly significant, according to Pahwa.















Democrats mocked President Donald Trump on Tuesday for pushing back his promise of sweeping health care reform until after the 2020 election, and said they were happy to make it a central campaign issue.

Trump in recent days had pledged to use court action to end Obamacare, the signature law of his Democratic predecessor President Barack Obama, and said his Republican Party would over the next few months push for a better health care plan at lower cost for most Americans.

But Republican leaders in Congress quickly shied away from the issue and pushed him to reconsider.

In a series of late-night Twitter posts Monday, Trump did just that, saying there would be no vote on any health care legislation until after next year's election.

Democrats gleefully jumped on the delay, saying it showed Trump and his party have no idea what to do with health care beyond repealing Obamacare.

"Last night the president tweeted that they will come up with their plan in 2021. Translation: They have no health care plan," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. "They are for repeal, they have no replace."

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said he told Trump on Monday that the party was not about to restart work on comprehensive health care legislation, noting they were unable to pass a plan when they controlled both chambers of Congress in the first two years of the Trump presidency.

"I made it clear to him we were not going to be doing that in the Senate," McConnell told reporters.

Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in November elections after campaigning heavily on health care.

Trump said on Tuesday he and Republicans would draw up a new health care plan ahead of the 2020 election and implement it soon afterward.

"I think we're going to have a great health care package. ... If we get back the House and on the assumption we keep the Senate and we keep the presidency  which I hope are two good assumptions  we're going to have a phenomenal health care," Trump told reporters.

He said a Republican plan would mean most Americans pay lower premiums and deductibles for their health care than they currently pay under the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

While Trump's delay gives Republicans more time to knit together an alternative to Obamacare, it all but guarantees a 2020 battle over the divisive issue.

"Don't let President Trump fool you, America. Republicans are not the party of health care. They are the party that wants to end your health care," Schumer said at a rally Tuesday. "We Democrats will not stop fighting tooth and nail to protect America's health care, today, tomorrow, and on in through 2021."

Trump and his fellow Republicans had vowed in the 2016 presidential election to "repeal and replace" Obamacare but failed to do so during their first two years in power, despite control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Several of the leading candidates for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination, including a number of current U.S. senators, have already made health care a major part of their campaign message.

Trump accuses Democrats of seeking "a socialist takeover of American health care," and is certain to take that argument onto the 2020 campaign trail.

"I see what the Democrats are doing. It's a disaster what they're planning, and everyone knows it," he told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office.A Florida man, who last week pleaded guilty to mailing pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and critics of President Donald Trump late last year, has said in a letter to a judge that he didn't know the devices could actually hurt anyone.

In the letter made public Tuesday, Cesar Sayoc says he never meant to harm anyone.

During a plea proceeding, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff asked Sayoc if he knew the devices would hurt anyone. Sayoc replied, yes.

But then in a handwritten letter to Rakoff, Sayoc said he only replied in the affirmative because his lawyer told him to do so.

"In my heart, I wanted to say no,'' he wrote. "I realized that it was the wrong thing to say, because under no circumstances my intent was to hurt or harm anyone. The intention was to only intimidate and scare."

Sayoc admitted to mailing 16 pipe bombs, some of which were sent to former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former vice president Joe Biden, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, billionaire financier George Soros, actor Robert De Niro, several members of Congress, and to the CNN offices in New York and Atlanta.

None of the bombs exploded before being intercepted, and no one was injured.

On Tuesday, Rakoff asked lawyers on both sides if the contents of the letter will impact the guilty plea Sayoc entered two weeks ago. He gave them two weeks to answer.

Sayoc was arrested in late October at a Florida auto parts store. He had been living in a van plastered with Trump stickers and images of Trump opponents with crosshairs over their faces.Guatemala's former attorney general Thelma Aldana will seek to overturn a decision from the country's top elections authority that would prevent the anti-corruption crusader from running for president, a top aide said on Tuesday.

A little over two months from the June vote, the electoral court rejected Aldana's candidacy in a decision announced on Monday that cited an arrest warrant issued against her, which alleged irregularities during her tenure as chief prosecutor.

The electoral court case against Aldana, who served as attorney general from 2014 to 2018, was pursued by her political opponents.

Among the presidential front-runners in recent polls, Aldana has denied the charges and dismissed them as politically motivated.

"Why are there so many attacks? Because she represents a serious threat to the various economic, political and illicit interests that operate in the country," Rotman Perez, Aldana's campaign manager, told Reuters.

Perez said Aldana will opt for one of two options: ask the country's Supreme Court to reinstate her on the ballot or seek an appeal with the Constitutional Court, Guatemala's top judicial body.

He did not say when the presidential hopeful would make her next move.

Aldana, 63, leads the left-of-center Seed Movement party and is currently in neighboring El Salvador due to what she has described as political persecution.

Aldana led the field of presidential candidates with 28 percent ahead of the June 16 election in a recent Mitofsky poll, outpacing Zury Rios, the daughter of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, and former First Lady Sandra Torres.

During her tenure as Guatemala's top law enforcement official, Aldana helped uncover corruption cases that led to theconviction and imprisonment of ex-President Otto Perez.

She has also been a vocal supporter of the U.N.-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG.

Current President Jimmy Morales, who has been a target of CICIG investigators, has ordered the body to end its work and leave the country.A Paris auction house says it's selling a revolver that was possibly used by Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh to take his own life.

Described by some as the art world's most famous weapon, the 7 mm pocket revolver will be put up for sale by Auction Art on June 19.



The handgun was discovered in the 1960s in a field in the northern French village of Auvers-sur-Oise, where Van Gogh is widely believed to have shot himself in the chest in 1890. He died two days later.



A book by Pulitzer-Prize winning authors has questioned that version of the painter's death. It concluded that Van Gogh was shot by two teenagers.



The revolver going under the hammer in Paris was part of a 2016 exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.With House Democrats ramping up their wide-ranging investigations of President Donald Trump, Congress and the administration are bracing for what is shaping up to be a long, hard fight over access to documents and witnesses that could go on for the remainder of Trump's first term in office.

On Wednesday the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to authorize subpoenas to obtain the full report on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election from special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as the testimonies of five former White House officials interviewed by the special counsel

While Trump has left it to Attorney General William Barr to decide whether to release the complete report, the president is expected to assert what is known as executive privilege over some portions of records other congressional committees are seeking as part of their investigation of the administration. That has set the stage for a showdown between Democrats in Congress and the White House, raising the specter that the issue may ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

WATCH: House Democrats Prepare to Demand Mueller Report



But if the past is any indication, the coming battle is likely to be fought  and eventually settled  through political give and take between the executive and legislative branches of government rather than the courts, said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and author of an acclaimed book on executive privilege.

"Historically, I found in my studies on executive privilege that presidents and Congress have done a good job of engaging in a negotiating process and settling these matters because they both understood that they had a real incentive not to let this go into the courts and not to let these matters drag on," Rozell said.

Executive privilege

Executive privilege is the right of the president and his senior advisers to protect certain communications from disclosure to Congress and the courts. While the courts have long recognized that power, as well as Congress' authority to investigate the executive branch, they've been reluctant to decide disputes over access to records between the two branches of government.

"Courts have typically required the executive and the legislative branches to engage in a good faith back-and-forth accommodation process about the information before the court will ultimately decide the issue of whether certain documents or testimony are required to be provided to the Congress," said Margaret Taylor, a senior editor at the popular Lawfare legal blog and a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.

Short of serving a subpoena, Congress has other tools it can use to seek access to information from the executive branch, including the power of appropriation and the power to confirm senior administration officials, Taylor said.

"These are other tools that Congress can use to hasten  the provision of information from the executive branch to the Congress," Taylor said.

Congress' power to investigate

While not enshrined in the Constitution, Congress' power to investigate and obtain confidential information from the executive branch is "extremely broad" and has been recognized as essential to its legislative function, according to the Congressional Research Service.

To obtain information or testimony from executive branch officials, congressional committees initially submit a request. When that fails, Congress can resort to another means of compulsion: subpoenas.

Failure to comply with a congressional subpoena can lead to a vote by the full House or Senate holding the person in contempt of Congress and referring him or her to the Department of Justice for prosecution. If the Justice Department is unwilling to bring charges, Congress can seek a civil judgment from a federal court compelling the individual to respond.

WATCH: Request for Mueller report

With the power of executive privilege, presidents have wide latitude to refuse to fully comply with congressional subpoenas. While there is no consensus on the scope of executive privilege, Taylor said presidents have claimed executive privilege over several categories of information  sensitive or classified information; presidential deliberations with advisers; attorney-client communications; law enforcement investigations and national security matters.

"These claims of executive privilege aren't always successful," Taylor said. "Sometimes the president ends up waving the privilege and going ahead and sharing the information."

While presidents going back to Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s have asserted executive privilege, previous presidents "exercised various forms of presidential secrecy that are consistent with what we today call executive privilege," Rozell said.

Past examples

But it was during the 1970s Watergate scandal that the concept became firmly established when the Nixon administration unsuccessfully fought a grand jury subpoena to turn over secret recordings of White House conversations between President Richard Nixon and his aides.

"The Supreme Court in that case said there is a principle of executive privilege, but it does not apply in this particular instance because there are allegations of wrongdoing, and criminal justice requires access to as much information as possible in order to get the facts," Rozell said.

Since Nixon, American presidents have invoked executive privilege to varying degrees of success.

In 2001, President George W. Bush asserted executive privilege over internal Justice Department deliberations regarding the FBI's handling of confidential informants in the 1960s. Turning over the documents, Bush wrote, would "inhibit the candor necessary" to the deliberative process and would be "contrary to national interest." Congress fought back and eventually reached an agreement with the Justice Department to receive the documents.

On occasion, presidential claims of executive privilege have ended up in court, although by the time a court has issued a verdict, the issue has become moot.

In 2011, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed internal Justice Department communications and other records as part of its investigation of "Operation Fast and Furious," a federal gun-running program run amok. Then-President Barack Obama invoked executive privilege to deny the committee access to the records. Three and half years later, a federal court rejected Obama's assertion of privilege while recognizing that some records were protected and ordering the two sides to negotiate an agreement.

The Supreme Court has never considered a case over a congressional subpoena versus executive privilege. But given the apparent unwillingness of both the administration and congressional Democrats to compromise, experts say the possibility the issue will land before the high court can't be discounted.

"I don't think it's likely that a subpoena dispute will end up before the Supreme Court," Rozell said. "Usually, it would be a lower level federal court that would get involved. But it could conceivably be a battle that goes all the way to the United States Supreme Court."The International Labor Organization is reporting a dramatic 48 percent reduction last year in the use of forced and child labor in Uzbekistan, which for decades has been listed among the world's worst offenders.



The ILO says wages "increased by up to 85 percent compared to the previous harvest," and that "cotton pickers were paid on time and in full."



Uzbekistan, a leading cotton producer and exporter, is slowly reforming itself to eradicate forced labor, which its officials have publicly recognized as a "stain on the country's image." The U.S. has recently taken Uzbek cotton off its list of products produced with forced or child labor, praising President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's reforms.



Almost one-fifth of Uzbekistan's adult population picks cotton each year, according to the report. More than half are women. But the ILO says schoolchildren and students are no longer mobilized for picking.



Still, the U.N. agency says, "there are many challenges with implementation at the local level," and despite the ILO's top line conclusions, many citizens still complain that child and forced labor persists during the cotton harvest.



Labor Minister Sherzod Kudbiyev says that Mirziyoyev's administration has a clear idea about how to end forced labor and is committed to working with international and local partners.

"Sitting in Washington, facing our harshest critics, discussing the toughest issues and brainstorming how to fight together should tell you something about how much change has taken place in our system," Kudbiyev told VOA during a recent visit to the United States.

Progress, but problems, too



The Cotton Campaign, an international coalition against forced labor in Uzbekistan, sees the progress but disagrees with the ILO on the extent of change.



"We've seen significant progress," Bennett Freeman, one of the campaign's leaders, told VOA. "The real breakthrough came in 2017 when the president publicly acknowledged massive forced labor in the cotton sector going back decades and made a commitment to end it.



"But big challenges remain to dismantle the quota system, to move the whole system of cotton production to the private sector and toward mechanization, and to reduce reliance on cotton as the agricultural sector is reformed."



The ILO found that 170,000 people were still forced to pick cotton in 2018, reflecting a long history of recruiting students, teachers, nurses and doctors as pickers. The ILO and Uzbek officials say there are now rules to prohibit involving the education and health care sectors in the harvest and that remedial measures were taken when those rules were violated.



It is hard to overestimate the importance of cotton to Uzbekistan's economy. According to the World Bank, Uzbekistan is the world's sixth-largest producer of cotton, dedicating 65 percent of its irrigation water and 13 percent of all electricity to the crop.



However with World Bank support, the country has been working to diversify its agriculture sector. The crop accounted for 90 percent of Uzbekistan's total exports in 1992 but just 3.4 percent in 2016. As a share of GDP, revenue from cotton has dropped from 10 percent in 1992 to just 1.8 percent in 2016.



The government is also working to address the central control of cotton production, processing and marketing, a legacy of Uzbekistan's Soviet past.

Deputy Prime Minister Tanzila Narbayeva told VOA the government has launched a "cluster system" aimed at privatizing more than 50 percent of total cotton production, in line with ILO recommendations. "Uzbekistan not only wants to adhere to international laws and standards but to create economic opportunities," Narbayeva said.

Rights monitoring

In another sign of political reform, Uzbek human rights activists told VOA that they "felt free" to conduct their monitoring during the 2018 harvest season. The ILO trained 200 local labor inspectors, who in turn investigated 2,000 cases of alleged forced labor, leading to 206 officials being sanctioned for violations and fined, demoted or dismissed.



Like other human rights campaigners, Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, praised the ILO for "appropriately crediting the strides the government has taken to raise cotton wages and work in a new, more cooperative spirit with civil society activists" while disciplining officials.



But, he argued, "the key now is to end the quota system, allow farmers and workers the ability to freely organize, rights activists to monitor the harvest without fear of retaliation, and provide registration for local organizations to operate without interference."Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday European powers were incapable of bypassing sanctions imposed on Tehran by the U.S. after it withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.



Iran and six world powers agreed on a deal in 2015 that severely restricted Tehran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief and economic incentives.



However, President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), last May, reimposing punishing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The other parties to the nuclear deal  Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, plus the European Union  insist they remain committed to making it work.

Europe 'cannot shy away'



"The Europeans at first viewed the JCPOA as an achievement, but maybe they were not prepared to, and certainly they were not capable of standing up against U.S sanctions," Zarif said in an interview with Khamenei.ir, the official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.



"We will continue pressing the Europeans to implement their commitments. Europe must know that they cannot shy away from their responsibilities with a few statements and some unaccomplished plans," he added.



Zarif, who was his country's chief negotiator in the talks that led to the deal, said that Iran would continue to pressure the Europeans to act on their obligations within the deal but added that "we never had any hopes" in them.



Instead of the Western powers, the Islamic republic has turned to its traditional partners such as Russia and China, Zarif said, adding "the future of our foreign policy lies in that way."Iran's oil minister on Wednesday urged local oil and gas firms to help with providing aid to victims of severe flooding, as one international aid agency announced extra funds to bolster relief efforts.

At least 26 of Iran's 31 provinces have been hit by heavy downpours that began March 19. The flooding  the country's worst in a decade  has killed 62 people, the head of crisis management at the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization said Wednesday, according to student news agency ISNA.

A state of emergency was declared in several provinces including oil-rich southwestern Khuzestan, where state news agency IRNA said 70 villages were ordered evacuated Tuesday.

WATCH: Floodwaters destroy a bridge in Darreh Shahr, Ilam Province, Iran, April 2, 2019. (Video verified by VOA Persian and received from audience member in Iran)

Iranian drilling companies and other energy firms have been assisting rescue efforts in flooded areas, notably using their pumps to remove water.

But minister Bijan Zanganeh suggested they should do more.

"Along with performing their essential duties, (firms in the sector) should use all of their existing capabilities to help the people and reduce the flood waters," he said on the ministry's newsfeed.

Western oil and gas firms have been forced to pull out of Iran since Washington last year reimposed economic sanctions after quitting a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.

President Hassan Rouhani, whose critics have accused him of mismanaging the emergency response to the disaster, on Wednesday said the sanctions were hampering efforts to deliver aid, echoing comments by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

WATCH: Aftermath of flash flood in Pol Dokhtar, Lorestan Province, Iran, April 2, 2019. (Video verified by VOA Persian and received from audience member in Iran)

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied that contention Tuesday, saying Washington was ready to help via the Red Cross and Red Crescent and blaming Iran's clerical establishment for the scale of the disaster.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it had released just under 500,000 Swiss francs ($500,000) as cash grants for 3,000 Iranian families that have lost homes and livelihoods in the floods.

"Iran is under water. This is an unprecedented crisis ... The Red Crescent response is massive, and it is growing every day," said IFRC Middle East and North Africa director Sayed Hashem in a statement.In an exclusive interview with the Voice of America's Kurdish Service, Mohammed al-Halbousi, Iraq's speaker of the Council of Representatives, said support of the U.S.-led coalition to ensure a lasting defeat of Islamic State (IS) is crucial as Iraq continues its efforts against the group's insurgency activities.

Discussing whether neighboring Iran can meddle in Iraqi politics by pushing for the withdrawal of U.S. troops after the military defeat of IS, al-Halbousi said Iraq does not wish to be a proxy of any country, adding that the "overwhelming majority" in the Iraqi government supports the presence of the coalition forces.

"No guardianship on Iraq," al-Halbousi said, adding, "Any country can express its objection if it deems this presence will have a negative impact on it, but Iraq makes its own decisions."

The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is the "single goal" of defeating IS and its radical ideology, al-Halbousi said.

"We do not allow Iraqi soil to be used against any neighbor," he said, but "we do not accept a country to impose its will on Iraq regarding Iraqi agreements with the international coalition, United States, or any other country."

Insurgency

The Iraqi government declared final victory over IS in December 2017, three years after the militant group seized about a third of the country's territory. The group has since gone underground, maintaining insurgency attacks against security forces and operating in small groups outside various cities.

Al-Halbousi said the next step for Iraq is to focus mainly on intelligence sharing, combating insurgency tactics and reconstructing areas destroyed by war. He said international cooperation is also vital to help Iraq deal with IS family members and captured foreign fighters.

"Iraq will prevail and move beyond those challenges with or without international support, but the time will be much longer if we do not have cooperation with regional and international powers," he said.

U.S. forces left Iraq in 2011, but returned after IS gained prominence in 2014. There are currently around 5,200 American troops stationed in Iraq, mostly at the Ain Assad Airbase in Al Anbar Province. U.S. military officials say their mission is to advise, assist and support Iraqi forces in the fight against IS.

Countering Iran

President Donald Trump has said U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to counter Iran's threats.

In an interview with CBS News in February, Trump said U.S. troops withdrawing from neighboring Syria would soon be moved to Ain Assad Airbase to keep an eye on Iran, which his administration has accused of being the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and of wanting to acquire nuclear weapons.

"We spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it," he said. "And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem."

For their part, Iranian officials say they could use their deepening influence in Iraq to defy U.S. pressures, particularly after the U.S.'s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

"At a time when the United States is seeking to pressure the Iranian nation with its unjust sanctions, we need to develop and deepen our relations to stand against them," said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a visit to Iraq last month.

Iraqi officials have publicly expressed frustration over the U.S.-Iran competition in Iraq, fearing the rivalry could weaken Iraqi sovereignty and its ability to get back on its feet after IS's defeat.

"Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," Iraq President Barham Saleh said in February, appealing to the U.S. and Iran to keep their conflict away from Iraq.

Al-Halbousi charged that officials in Baghdad wish to maintain a balanced relation with the U.S. and Iran to best serve Iraqi interests. He said good relations with Iran are equally indispensable to Iraq due to long historic ties and border sharing.

"Iran is a neighbor. They undeniably played an important role in helping Iraq against terrorism by providing support to Iraqi security forces. There are also religious ties between the people of Iraq and Iran. We wish our relationship to continue as neighbors, based on mutual respect," he said.Istanbul's opposition mayoral candidate urged Turkey's elections board Wednesday to confirm his narrow victory after it launched a partial recount of votes in eight of the city's 39 districts.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was dealt a political blow in Sunday's elections, as early results show the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) narrowly defeating Erdogan's ruling AK Party in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey's two largest cities.

In Istanbul, the AK Party (AKP) candidate, former prime minister Binali Yildirim, was narrowly defeated by opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) mayoral candidate Ekrem Imamoglu.

Erdogan's AK Party filed appeals Tuesday to contest the outcomes in Istanbul, demanding a correction of alleged irregularities and that votes determined to be invalid be recounted. After considering the appeals, the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) ordered a recount in eight districts in Istanbul.

Imamoglu urged the YSK to "do its job" and declare him the winner of Istanbul's mayoral race. "We want justice," he told reporters, and added, "The world is watching us."

WATCH: Experts Weigh in on Results of Turkey's Local Elections

AKP Deputy Chairman Ali Ihsan Yavuz defended his party, maintaining it is not conducting any illegal acts and noting the vote difference between Imamoglu and Yildirim had narrowed to less than 20,000 votes.

"We believe the reality will emerge tonight and we will all accept the results. Both Ekrem Imamoglu and the AK Party will have to accept the outcome," he said at a news conference.

If the opposition party's preliminary victors are confirmed, the CHP will assume control of Istanbul, Turkey's commercial hub, and Ankara, Turkey's capital. Erdogan, who campaigned hard for the AKP, would likely lose some control over local contracts in the two cities, possibly impeding his efforts to lift Turkey's economy out of recession.White House adviser Ivanka Trump is planning a trip to Africa to promote a global women's initiative she's leading.



President Donald Trump's daughter will visit Ethiopia and Ivory Coast over four days this month. The White House said Wednesday that her schedule includes a women's economic empowerment summit in Ivory Coast as well as site visits and meetings with political leaders, executives and female entrepreneurs in both countries.



Accompanying her will be Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. On parts of the trip, they will be joined David Bohigian, acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corp., and Kristalina Georgieva, interim president of the World Bank Group.



OPIC provides loans, loan guarantees and political risk insurance, funding projects that stretch across continents and industries.



It will be Ivanka Trump's first visit to Africa since the White House undertook the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative in February. In a statement to The Associated Press, she said she was ``excited to travel to Africa'' to advance the effort.

Multi-agency effort



The initiative involves the State Department, the National Security Council and other U.S. agencies. It aims to coordinate current programs and develop new ones to assist women in job training, financial support, legal or regulatory reforms and other areas.



Ivanka Trump says the goal is to economically empower 50 million women in developing countries by 2025.



Money for the effort will come through USAID, which initially set up a $50 million fund using dollars already budgeted. The president's 2020 budget proposal requests $100 million for the initiative, which will also be supported by programs across the government as well as private investment. The White House spending plan would cut overall funding for diplomacy and development.



Ivanka Trump has made women's economic empowerment a centerpiece of her White House portfolio. She has made a number of international trips, with a focus on these issues, including to Japan and India. Her travel to Africa follows a five-day tour that first lady Melania Trump made there last year, with a focus on child welfare.



Like the first lady, Ivanka Trump's efforts could be complicated by the president, who was criticized last year after his private comments about ``s---hole countries'' in Africa and other regions were leaked to journalists.Nearly two weeks after U.S.-backed forces declared victory over the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria, local and international groups are rushing to begin a mine clearance campaign in areas freed from the terror group in eastern Syria.

As Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue trying to clear the town of Baghuz from the remnants of IS fighters, they also are aware of thousands of landmines and other improvised explosives left behind by the terror group in Baghuz and elsewhere in eastern Syria.

Mine experts say that despite defeating IS militants in all areas in eastern Syria, the thousands of civilians who have been displaced because of the war on IS would not be able to return to their homes anytime soon.

"We have obtained information that Baghuz and its surrounding areas are full not only of landmines, but also of munitions and other types of explosives," said Mustafa Othman, director of operations at Roj Mine Control Organization (RMCO), a local group that has been engaged in mine-clearing activities across northern and eastern Syria.

"These explosives have already taken a lot of civilian lives," he told VOA in a phone interview.

Othman said that IS maintains active sleeper cells in the region, making mine workers a key target for potential attacks.

"It's going to take months before civilian residents are allowed to return," he said.

Nearly 200 civilians have been killed this year, and many others have been wounded because of landmine explosions across northern and eastern Syria, according to local reports.

Recent explosion

One day after the SDF announced victory in Baghuz, a Syrian driver working with reporters from NBC News was killed by a device that exploded in a house used as a media center for journalists covering the battle.

Baran Misko, a Kurdish reporter, was at the scene.

"There were seven of us inside the house when the explosion happened; three Syrians and four Americans. It wasn't a typical landmine. It was actually a device that contained a large amount of explosive materials," he told VOA.

Misko said the explosion was "so powerful that it burned down the entire building within seconds."

Large quantities

Several international groups have been working on demining efforts in Syria, including the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a British organization that has operations in various countries around the world.

"On a monthly basis, we dismantle between 10 and 15 tons of mines and other explosive remnants of war in Syria," a coordinator at MAG told VOA. He requested anonymity for security reasons.

He said it is difficult to estimate the number of mines planted by IS, but he added that "we consider all areas formerly held by [IS] as mine-affected territory."

"We are still clearing some areas that were liberated from Daesh three years ago, so you can imagine the scale of challenges we're dealing with," said the MAG worker, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

U.S. efforts

The United States has been a major contributor of mine-clearance efforts in Syria since the beginning of the conflict in 2011.

From 2013 to 2018, the U.S. contributed more than $81 million to humanitarian mine action efforts in northeast Syria, according to a State Department annual report on U.S. mine removal efforts worldwide.

"Now that the physical caliphate has been defeated, protecting those military gains by bringing stability to northeast Syria is a key U.S. objective," said Jerry Guilbert, Chief of Programs for the U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.

"Addressing the explosive hazards that are left in ISIS's wake is a key priority for U.S. objectives in northeast Syria," Guilbert told VOA during a teleconference Wednesday, using another acronym for IS.

25,000 explosives removed

The report, released Wednesday, also highlighted that U.S. implementation partners have cleared more than 25,500 explosive hazards from more than 24.5 million square meters (6,054 acres) in Syrian cities and towns freed from IS, including Raqqa, once IS's de facto capital.

"Raqqa is one of the most heavily contaminated places on Earth that our programs have come up against since 1993," Guilbert said.

He said that through U.S. programs, upward of 300 Syrian nationals have been trained to conduct international demining standards, adding that U.S. efforts in this aspect are largely focused on enabling stabilization and humanitarian aid in areas previously controlled by IS.

"We are clearing facilities to allow MSF [Doctors Without Borders] to establish health clinics. We are clearing water pumping stations and sewage facilities so that clean water can begin flowing into Raqqa. We're clearing electrical grids and schools so life can begin returning to normalcy," Guilbert said.

Mine awareness

The U.S. State Department annual report comes one day before the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on April 4.

Since 2005, the U.N. has been observing the day each year to raise awareness about landmines and explosive remnants of war, and efforts to eradicate them.

"On this International Day for Mine Awareness, let us reaffirm our commitment to eradicating the horrendous damage caused by landmines and assisting those who have been harmed by their use," said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in remarks about the day.

This year, the U.N. has launched a campaign called "Safe Ground" to step up mine removal efforts in conflict zones.

"With this global campaign, our aim is to turn minefields into playing fields, and to raise resources for victims and survivors of armed conflict," Guterres said.A mass vaccination campaign against cholera has begun in Mozambique to prevent this deadly disease from turning into a full-blown epidemic.



Mozambique's Ministry of Health confirms more than 1,400 cases of cholera and two deaths, with most cases in Beira, the city hit hardest by Cyclone Idai.

The campaign is spearheaded by the World Health Organization and United Nations Childrens Fund. During the coming five days, the two agencies and partners plan to vaccinate nearly 900,000 people in the city of Beira and three surrounding areas.

Oral cholera vaccinations usually involve two doses given seven days apart. But WHO spokesman Christian Lindemeier says the amount of available vaccine is enough for only one dose for each person.

We are hoping that in the course of the year when things are a bit calmer, a second dose could be given, which then extends, of course, the protection. Right now ... the emergency protection is at least six months," Lindemeier said. "That is why we would like to follow up within the six months to have a longer protection, because let us not forget the area in Mozambique is highly endemic for cholera anyway.

Aid agencies note the national vaccination campaign is only one of several approaches being taken to curb the spread of cholera. UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac says of equal importance is the provision of safe drinking water to people throughout the disaster zone.

The fact that together with the government and our partner DFID (United Kingdom Department for International Development) we have rehabilitated the water system in Beira for 500,000 people after only one week will now pay off, we think, and will contribute to save thousands of lives in the city just because it is preventing the further spread of the disease, said Boulierac.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated. It is mainly caused by the ingestion of contaminated food and water. The young, the frail and the old are most vulnerable.

Children, in particular, are at great risk. Health officials warn children who contract cholera in the morning could be dead by the evening if they are not immediately treated.Steve Herman, Cindy Saine and Valeria Jegisman contributed to this report.



WASHINGTON  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned the U.S. Congress Wednesday of the threat of a "more assertive Russia," saying that the West's key military alliance is not looking to start a new Cold War with Moscow but needs to deter its military aggression.

In an unprecedented address to a joint session of Congress on the 70th anniversary of NATO's creation at the end of World War II, Stoltenberg also said the 29-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization "has no intention of deploying land-based nuclear missiles in Europe." He accused Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the U.S. says it is leaving because of Russian violations - a claim Russia has denied.

"We do not want to isolate Russia. We strive for a better relationship with Russia," Stoltenberg said. "But even with a better relationship, we still need to manage a difficult one."

He said, "NATO will always take the necessary steps to provide credible and effective deterrence."

WATCH: NATO Secretary General Warns US Congress of Challenges to Alliance

Stoltenberg called on NATO allies to spend more on defense, to meet the Western alliance's goal of each country spending at least 2 percent of the size of its national economy on defense by 2024, a standard only eight NATO countries currently meet.

Stoltenberg credited U.S. President Donald Trump, who once called NATO "obsolete," with pushing NATO countries to increase their defense spending and said, "It has had a real impact."

A two-time Norwegian prime minister, Stoltenberg acknowledged differences among the NATO countries on trade, energy, climate change and other issues, but said, "This is democracy. It's not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invited the NATO leader to speak to members of the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate to show bipartisan support from lawmakers in spite of Trump's ongoing criticism of NATO.



'Far from obsolete'

As foreign ministers of NATO gather in Washington, foreign policy analysts - and Stoltenberg in his address to Congress - are emphasizing it is one of the most successful military alliances in history and still relevant.

NATO is adapting and allies are spending more on defense," Mark Simakovsky of the Atlantic Council told VOA. "And I think this (Trump) administration is understanding more and more how critical NATO is to some of the challenges that it faces, including China. So, in many ways, NATO is far from obsolete.

Trumps criticism that NATO members aren't spending the required 2 percent target, as well as political upheaval in Europe - including the impending British exit from the European Union - and calls by some to kick Turkey out of NATO, can leave the impression, however, that the defense alliance is fracturing.

I don't think that's the case. The alliance is strong, Estonian Defense Minister Juri Luik told VOA, pointing to increased political dialogues and military exercises among NATOs members, as well as more U.S. military equipment and troops being brought to Europe.

You're not giving the money to somebody else. You're not putting it into a NATO budget somewhere; you're spending it on yourselves," says McCain Institute executive director Kurt Volker, who formerly served as U.S. ambassador to NATO. But it is a demonstration of your commitment to your own security, which then gives NATO the confidence that this is a country that we can help defend as well, because they are committed to defense of their own territory.



Trump took credit Tuesday for pushing other NATO countries to spend more on defense, but criticized Germany, Europe's biggest economic power, for not doing more. Berlin now plans to spend 1.5 percent by 2024, missing the 2 percent NATO target.

Damaged trust

Others agree that defense spending is important, but they say the alliance is fundamentally about the members' ability to trust each other, and that Trump has damaged that trust.

"When an American president questions the value of the alliance, our enemies in Moscow and Beijing are now questioning whether or not NATO would come to the defense of some smaller NATO nations that the president has criticized as maybe not worthy of NATO's defense, says Simakovsky, a former Europe/NATO chief of staff in the policy office of the U.S. secretary of defense. But I don't think at this summit the administration is going to be announcing any departure of the United States.

Brooking Institutions Robert Kagan is expressing concern that Trumps attitude toward the European Union and expressed hostility toward the defense alliance could bring more chaos to the continent.

Think of Europe today as an unexploded bomb, its detonator intact and functional, its explosives still live. If this is an apt analogy, then Trump is a child with a hammer, gleefully and heedlessly pounding away. What could go wrong? writes Kagan in a coming issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.As their rickety motorboats puttered out into deep Mediterranean waters for the first time in almost two decades, the Palestinian fishermen prayed for deep-water mackerel and tuna to supplement Gaza's usual shallows fare of sardines, shrimp and crab.

This week, as part of Egyptian-mediated efforts to ease the plight of 2 million residents of the blockaded Gaza Strip, Israel has extended the area where it permits Palestinians to fish.

"Such a distance has been off-limits. And hopefully there are lots of fish to bring back," said 69-year-old fisherman Ahmed al-Amoudi.

Israel keeps a naval cordon on Gaza, part of a blockade it and neighboring Egypt say is necessary to prevent arms smuggling by the Hamas Islamists that rule the coastal territory.

Israel has long limited Palestinian fishing waters, and has varied the size of the zone. It was tightened to just 6-9 miles (9-15 km) from the coast in recent years. But on Monday, Israel broadened the limit to 12-15 miles (19-24 km) out, its widest since 2000, before a Palestinian revolt erupted.

"This step is part of the civilian policy aimed at preventing a humanitarian deterioration in the Gaza Strip and reflects the policy of distinguishing between terror and the uninvolved populace," an Israeli official said.

Palestinians saw the move as an Israeli concession to a year of protests at the border, combined with several surges of cross-border fighting which have prompted mediation by Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar on ways to help Gaza's economy.

"Thanks to God and then to the 'March of Return,' which opened up the sea for us," al-Amoudi said, referring to the weekly demonstrations at the frontier, which demand a lifting of the blockade and the right for Palestinians to return to homes their families fled or were forced from when Israel was founded.

Hoping for the best

April to June are peak Gaza fishing season. The sector accounts for less than 5 percent of the enclave's GDP and supports some 50,000 people, a fraction of the 2 million population.

But the fishing has value beyond the numbers, as one of the few viable industries in Gaza, where more than half the population is unemployed and nearly 80 percent receive some form of aid, according to the World Bank.

With Gaza's land borders tightly controlled by neighboring Israel and Egypt, the sea's horizon provides many Palestinians with a glimpse of hoped-for freedoms of movement in the future.

The U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladtenov welcomed Israel's decision to increase the fishing zone, adding, "[I] urge for a substantial improvement of the movement and access for goods and people, including between Gaza and the West Bank."

He said that the United Nations and its partners have raised about $45 million that would allow the creation of around 20,000 jobs in Gaza this year.

The fishermen still have it hard, with fuel and spare parts for their boats scarce. They say that Israel has also barred the importation to Gaza of wire cables that would allow them to line nets for plumbing the depths.

But fisherman Wael Abu Mohammed was still cautiously upbeat.

"With 15 miles now we will be comfortable, if there are no problems with the Israelis," the father of 10 said. "We hope for the best."

Gaza violence

The past year has been the deadliest in Gaza since the last war between Hamas and Israel five years ago, with nearly 200 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces at the border demonstrations. One Israeli soldier was killed.

United Nations investigators say Israel has used excessive force. Israel says it has no choice but to use deadly force to protect the border from militants and infiltrators.

The Israeli navy has in the past fired on Palestinian boats that strayed from the fishing zones, sometimes impounding the vessels and detaining their occupants. In addition to smuggling, Israel worries about seaborne attacks. In the 2014 Gaza war, Hamas frogmen swam from Gaza to storm an Israeli coastal base.

The Israeli official said that maintaining the expanded zone for Gaza fisherman "depends on [them] honoring the agreements" and that any attempt to venture beyond it "will be handled accordingly by the [Israeli] security services."The election of anti-graft lawyer Zuzana Caputova as Slovakia's president has boosted her liberal, pro-European Union party's prospects in EU elections, against the grain of rising populism across the continent, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday.

Caputova's success has given a dose of optimism to Europe's liberal camp ahead of the May elections, where eurosceptic parties are expected to make gains around the continent.

Her Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, which will run in the EU election on a joint slate with Spolu (Together) party, saw their joint support double since February to 14.4 percent, an AKO agency poll of 1,000 people conducted on April 1-2 said.

Neither of the two parties have any seats in the national or European parliaments at the moment.

If successful, the PS candidates would join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament while Spolu would join the European People's Party (EPP).

President-elect Caputova said she would quit PS in coming days in a nod to a tradition that the president, who does not wield day-to-day power, is usually non-partisan.

On the other end of the political spectrum, the AKO poll also showed rising support for the anti-European, far-right People's Party-Our Slovakia which rose to 11.5 percent in April from 9.5 percent in February.

Its leader, Marian Kotleba, had also run for president and together with another anti-system, anti-immigration candidate, supreme court judge Stefan Harabin, clinched 25 percent in the presidential election's first round last month.

The ruling leftist but socially conservative party Smer, whose candidate lost to Caputova in the run off vote on Saturday, saw its support fall to 19.7 percent in the opinion poll, under 20 percent for the first time in more than a decade.

Smer remains the biggest group in parliament but has seen losses since last year's murder of an investigative reporter that triggered mass protests and led to the resignation of Smer leader Robert Fico as prime minister.

The three-party coalition Smer leads would lose its parliamentary majority after junior partners, Slovak national party (SNS) and ethnic-Hungarian Most-Hid, also lost support.

A national parliamentary election is due in a year.

Slovakia's daily Dennik N reported on Monday that outgoing President Andrej Kiska, who endorsed Caputova before the vote, would announce the launch of a new party this week.

Kiska, who has been a staunchly pro-western voice in Slovak politics and has often clashed with Fico's Smer, is Slovakia's most trusted politician with an approval rating of 57 percent, according to a separate AKO poll this month.Spain's health minister called on Wednesday for so-called conversion therapy to be abolished after a report that a branch of the Catholic Church had offered to "cure" gay people.

El Diario, an online newspaper, said a reporter posing as a gay man trying to change his sexuality was told to stop watching porn and masturbate less in a counselling session provided by a diocese of the Catholic Church close to the capital Madrid. Its representatives called the report "fake news.

Minister expresses regret

But Maria Luisa Carcedo Roces, Spain's minister for health, consumption and social welfare, expressed regret that the practice persisted, saying it was illegal and calling for it to be "completely abolished.

"I thought that in Spain, accepting the various sexual orientations was assumed in all areas, but unfortunately we see that there are still pockets where people are told what their sexual orientation should be," she said at a press conference.

"I regret that this is happening and that a law is being broken," she said, according to an audio recording sent to the Thomson Reuters Foundation by the ministry press office.

Conversion therapy, which can include hypnosis and electric shocks, is based on the belief that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is a mental illness that can be cured.

Promoting or carrying out conversion therapy is banned in the region of Madrid, regardless of whether the person undergoing it has consented or not. Punishments include fines of up to 45,000 euros ($51,000).

'Fake news'

In a statement on its website the diocese of Alcala de Henares called the report "fake news" and said that while it acknowledged the "respect and love due to all people, it would offer help to "all those who freely request it.

Books recommended on the Alcala diocese website include "How to prevent homosexuality: children and gender confusion.

The minister also said offering such courses to children would contravene their rights, and that if the law continued to be broken, the Department of Justice would have to decide what action to take.

El Diario said the therapist at the Regina Familiae counselling center had told the undercover reporter that she "could go to jail" for trying to help him become straight.

Treatment outlawed

Malta, Ecuador and just over a dozen U.S. states have outlawed conversion therapy, according to the ILGA, a network of LGBT+ rights groups. Countries including Britain, New Zealand and Australia are considering bans.

A fifth of gay, lesbian and bisexual British people who have tried to change their sexuality have attempted suicide, according to a study of the controversial practice in Britain that was released in February.Thousands of Venezuelans broke through barricades along the international border with Colombia on Tuesday, according to the migration office in Bogota, which warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that he would be held responsible for any problems that may occur.

Maduro in February blocked bridges joining the two nations in a bid to prevent a U.S.-backed effort to distribute hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid to the crisis-wracked nation.

With bridges blocked by containers and trucks, Venezuelans have been wading through the Tachira River to reach the city of Cucuta, on Colombia's northern border, to find food, medicines and work. But torrential rains in recent days has made that impossible.

"The usurper Maduro is responsible for anything that may happen to the population that is transiting between the two countries," said Christian Kruger, head of Colombia's migration agency, highlighting the risk to the Simon Bolivar bridge being weakened.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled to Colombia to escape widespread shortages of food and medicine in their homeland, seeking jobs locally and passage into other Latin American countries.

Venezuela plunged into a deep political crisis in January, when Juan Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled congress, invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Nicolas Maduro's 2018 re-election was not legitimate.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken steps to ratchet up pressure on Maduro and bolster Guaido, who has been recognized as president by the United States and more than 50 other countries, including Colombia.

Colombia's government says providing Venezuelan migrants access to basic services and expanding healthcare, education and public utilities costs it a half percentage point of annual gross domestic product. Colombia's GDP in 2018 was some $312 billion.This story originated in VOA's Ukrainian Service. Pete Cobus contributed to this report.



LONDON - Ukrainians who live abroad strongly prefer sitting President Petro Poroshenko to other candidates in last weekends first-round presidential election, contradicting the choice of voters who reside within the eastern European nation.

According to official tallies of votes cast in Ukraine, comedian-turned-actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy was the preferred choice of 30 percent of the electorate, giving the novice politician a commanding lead over the incumbent Poroshenko, who came in a distant second with roughly 16 percent of the vote.

According to official tallies from Ukraine's 101 foreign polling stations, however, the majority of Ukraines 20 million-strong expat community -- less than a half-million of whom are registered to vote -- gave Poroshenko 38.9 percent of their estimated 55,000 ballots, leaving Zelenskiy with 26.1 percent, and the difference split among the first rounds other 37 candidates.

Geographic voter preferences

Like their Ukraine-based counterparts, who handed victory to Zelenskiy in 20 of 25 reporting oblasts -- the five outliers located the countrys far east and west respectively -- voter preference among members of the countrys global diaspora also tended to be geographically clustered.

Poroshenko, for example, was the clear favorite among Ukrainians based the United States, where he garnered 56 percent of the vote. He enjoyed similarly strong showings in Canada (49.9 percent), the United Kingdom (52 percent), France (46 percent) and Germany (42 percent). He also claimed landslides (between 53 and 59 percent) in Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Montenegro, Thailand and Australia.

Zelenskiy had a significantly stronger showing throughout Central and Eastern European countries such as Latvia (43 percent), Belarus (41 percent), Slovakia (40 percent), Hungary (32 percent), along with victories in Armenia, Czech Republic and Georgia. Zelenskiy also captured 38 percent of Polands Ukrainian diaspora.

Overall, Poroshenko claimed victory in 53 of the 71 foreign nations where Ukrainian expats are eligible to vote; Zelenskiy triumphed in 16 of them, whereas pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Yuri Boyko won in Estonia and Moldova with 35 and 33 percent respectively.

The breakdown suggests that Western-based Ukrainian voters tended to vote more conservatively than their Central- and Eastern-European counterparts, who appeared more amenable to voting for a newcomer.

Poroshenko, a 53-year-old confectionary magnate before he was elected five years ago, saw his approval ratings slip amid Ukraine's economic turbulence during the first part of his term. Although real wages have ultimately increased and the economy is growing, ongoing dissatisfaction with cronyism and demands for more effective actions against corruption prompted him to build a re-election campaign that vows to defeat the Russian-backed separatists in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.

Zelenskiy, 41, who plays a schoolteacher-turned-president infuriated by corruption in a popular television sitcom, made fighting corruption a focus of his actual candidacy, in which he proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for new direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine, although he has yet to provide a detailed plan of action.

Boyko, 60, the Russian-friendly candidate who performed well in Estonia and Moldova, claimed 11.6 percent of votes cast on Ukrainian soil, where campaign vows to represent Ukraines Russian-speaking population notched victories in the ethnic-Russian strongholds of Luhansk and Donbass in Ukraines war-torn eastern flank.

Ukrainian officials refused to recognize votes cast by Ukrainians living in Russia, citing an inability to guarantee that a country with whom it is at war would conduct fair and transparent polling procedures. Although wire news outlets reported that some Russia-based Ukrainians did cast ballots from authorized polling stations in Finland and Belarus, data recorded in previous years show that Russia-based Ukrainians arent particularly engaged in domestic Ukrainian affairs.

This years foreign turnout cast 18,000 fewer votes than in 2014, when about 73,000 members of the Ukrainian diaspora helped push Poroshenko into office.

Long treks to the polls

In the United States, some diaspora members drove hundreds of miles to cast their votes.

We drove about 15 hours yesterday," Yaroslav Kuznetsov of Tampa, Florida, told VOA Ukrainian, explaining that Ukrainian voting laws required expats to vote at their nearest consulate.

For Kuznetsov, that entailed a trek to Washington, D.C., but one that he didn't mind making.

"Its very important for the country for Ukraine for our future," he said.

Ukrainian-American Andriy Nemchenko flew to the nation's capital from Dallas, Texas.

Its most important elections because it is a chance for Ukraine to finally cut off ties with Russia," he told VOA.

In Ukraine, police officials said they had received more than 2,100 complaints of violations on voting day alone, in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling stations.

But election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe hailed Sunday's election as competitive and free, even though it criticized procedural violations and said there were indications that state resources were misused in the vote.

Zelenskiy and Poroshenko have advanced to a runoff on April 21.White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday that U.S. trade talks with China are continuing to progress as negotiations between the world's two biggest economies resume in Washington this week.

Kudlow told reporters that the two countries made good headway in Beijing last week, with China acknowledging such problematic issues as the theft of intellectual property, forced technology transfers and computer hacking.

He said no decisions have been made on automobile tariffs.

U.S. lawmakers are taking a wait-and-see attitude on the lengthy talks.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key ally of President Donald Trump, told VOA's Mandarin service, "I'm hopeful. I think the president is right to insist on change. We want it to be a win-win for both countries. And I will see. We will know in a few weeks."

He added, "It's got to be some enforcement mechanism that future Congresses and presidents can believe will work, because it just can't be, you know, a deal in name only."

Another Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis, said, "One of the things that I'm particularly focused on is intellectual property and intellectual property protection. So, I hope that we're moving along not only the general terms of the trade agreement but also a real focus on what I think is the single greatest threat long term, and that's having China more productively participate in the production of intellectual property."

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley said the U.S. hopes to complete the trade negotiations by the end of April.

But Myron Brilliant, executive vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobby for the biggest American corporations, said concluding the talks will not be easy.

"The end game is never going to be easy," he said. "It's talks about the two largest economic powers in the world. You are talking about a set of issues that requires some changes, significant changes, in China's behavior."

Yihua Lee of VOA Mandarin service contributed to this report.Three of the eight countries to which Washington granted waivers to import Iranian oil have now cut their shipments from Iran to zero, a U.S. special representative said on Tuesday.

While the United States has set a target of driving Iranian oil exports to zero, it granted temporary import waivers to China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea.

"In November, we granted eight oil waivers to avoid a spike in the price of oil. I can confirm today three of those importers are now at zero," Brian Hook, the envoy on Iran, told reporters.

Hook did not identify the three countries.

"There are better market conditions for us to accelerate our path to zero. We are not looking to grant any waivers or exceptions to our sanctions regime," Hook said.

A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Monday that the U.S. government was considering additional sanctions against Iran that would target areas of its economy that have not been hit before.

The administration aimed to follow through with new sanctions around the anniversary of U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement last May withdrawing the United States from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers, the official said.

The accord sought to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb in return for the removal of sanctions that had crippled its economy. Trump ordered U.S. sanctions to be reimposed on Iran.A Democratic-controlled congressional panel on Tuesday subpoenaed a former White House security clearance chief to answer questions about a whistleblower's claims that senior Trump administration officials granted national security badges to at least 25 people that government reviewers had rejected for an array of concerns.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee approved the subpoena to Carl Kline on a party-line 22-15 vote after the panel's top Republican, Congressman Jim Jordan, protested, calling the investigation a "partisan attack" and an "excuse to go fishing" through personnel files of White House officials.

But Democrats, led by the panel's chairman, Congressman Elijah Cummings, moved ahead with the investigation based on claims made by Tricia Newbold, an 18-year government security clearance official under both Republican and Democratic presidents. Kline was her boss at the White House before taking a position at the Defense Department.

Newbold told investigators for the congressional panel last month that senior Trump administration officials often overruled concerns by career employee clearance reviewers that prospective White House officials "had a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use and criminal conduct."

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that in pursuing the investigation Democrats were "playing a very dangerous and a shameful game, frankly. They're asking for personal, private and confidential information from individuals that they know they have no right to see."

But another top House Democrat, Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, told VOA the career employees' security clearance reviews are "not something to be willy-nilly overturned by the president because he wants to give a family member clearance."

One focus of the Cummings panel is the security clearance given last year to President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a White House adviser, over the protests of then White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

Kushner has denied anything unusual about his clearance, telling Fox News late Monday, "I disclosed all of my holdings to the Office of Government Ethics, and what I did with them is they told me what to divest, what to keep, what rules to follow. We followed all that."

Newbold told investigators that while Trump as president had the right to overrule career employees' denials of the security badges, the officials' clearances "were not always adjudicated in the best interest of national security."

She told investigators she had been suspended for 14 days without pay earlier this year after protesting internally about the way in which the security clearance denials had been overturned and now was worried about returning to work after she decided to go public with her concerns.

"I'm terrified of going back," she told investigators. "I know that this will not be perceived in favor of my intentions, which is to bring back the integrity of the office."

But Newbold said she decided to become a whistleblower because, "I would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security."

Cummings's memo on Newbold's statements to investigators did not identify any of the officials who have been granted security clearances against the recommendations of the security reviewers. But the panel said it is reviewing the clearances given to Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Kushner, and National Security Advisor John Bolton.The United States is prepared to pump U.S. dollars into Venezuela to fortify the economy if President Nicolas Maduro leaves, the top White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Wednesday.

Kudlow told reporters that Washington is already working with banks and the International Monetary Fund on a rebuilding plan to revitalize the country's crushed economy and said that, when the time comes, "we will be moving as fast as we can."

"We call it Day Two," he said at a briefing arranged by The Christian Science Monitor newspaper.

"It would be a rescue plan, it would be a restructuring plan, it would be a plan to put cash into the country."

Venezuela's oil economy has crumbled under a collapse of crude exports and international sanctions against Maduro, who Washington and its allies view as illegitimate.

The United States has been pressuring for Maduro to step down or be overthrown, but he has clung to power with the support of Venezuela's military.

"The timeline is to get rid of Maduro. I have no idea when that is going to be," said Kudlow.

Once Maduro leaves economic assistance would be immediate, beginning with pushing the US currency in to reignite economic activity, moving it via "banks, iPhones, apps," said Kudlow, who is director of the National Economic Council.

"The cash will not be bolivares, it will be dollars, at least at the beginning," he said.

"There is no demand for bolivares. Dollars are the answer."U.S. senators from both parties on Tuesday asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry for details about recent approvals for companies to share nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia, with the lawmakers expressing concern about possible development of atomic weapons.

Saudi Arabia has engaged in "many deeply troubling actions and statements that have provoked alarm in Congress," Senators Bob Menendez, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, told Perry in a letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

The senators said Congress was beginning to re-evaluate the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and they believe Washington should not be providing nuclear technology or information to Saudi Arabia now.

The Trump administration has been quietly negotiating a deal that would potentially help Saudi Arabia build two reactors.

Last week news reports revealed that since November 2017, Perry has authorized so-called Part 810 approvals allowing U.S. companies to share sensitive nuclear information with the kingdom. The approvals were kept from the public and from Congress.

The senators asked Perry to provide them by April 10 with the names of the companies that got the 810 approvals, what was in the authorizations, and why the companies asked that the approvals be kept secret. U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat, also asked the Energy Department in a separate letter what was in the approvals.

While 810 agreements are routine, the Obama administration made them available for the public to read at Energy Department headquarters. Lawmakers say the department is legally required to inform Congress about the approvals.

Perry approved the seven recent authorizations as the administration has tried to hash out nonproliferation standards with Saudi Arabia. Such a pact, known as a 123 agreement, would have to be agreed before U.S. companies can share physical exports of materials and equipment to build reactors.

The kingdom has resisted standards on reprocessing spent fuel and enriching uranium, two potential paths to making nuclear weapons.

The United States has been competing with South Korea, France, Russia and China on a potential deal to help build reactors in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is expected to announce the winner this year.

Lawmakers from both parties have been concerned about Saudi Arabia's bombing campaigns in Yemen, which is on the brink of famine, and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Concern in Congress grew last year after the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS that "Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible."

Perry has said the 810 approvals were kept from the public for corporate proprietary reasons.

He has also said that if Saudi Arabia relies on China or Russia for building nuclear reactors those two countries don't give a "tinker's damn" about non-proliferation.

Many non-proliferation experts dispute the notion that a deal with China or Russia would be riskier. These people say the United States has many other levers it can pull to influence nuclear behavior.

At another Senate hearing, the five members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including Chairman Kristine Svinicki, would not say whether the NRC raised any concerns over the 810 approvals in a required consultation with the Energy Department.

Svinicki said the NRC's consulting role on the approvals is narrow and delegated to staff.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who asked the question of the NRC at the hearing, told Reuters in an interview that the commissioners' lack of knowledge about the approvals was "stunning."

"It's kind of scary because we do rely on them to provide input into this process and not a single commissioner knew anything about what input they may or may not have provided."Maz Jobrani likes to make people laugh.

The Iranian-American knew early in life that he wanted to become an actor or comedian. His path to stardom was a long journey.

His immigrant story is not unusual: He was born in Irans capital, Tehran but grew up in America.

Jobrani came to the U.S when he was 6 years old, just before the Iranian revolution in 1979. He and his parents moved to California where he attended school. Jobrani says he grew up around a lot of people that made him laugh. His introduction to acting was an audition for a school play.

And when I was 12, I ended up trying out for the school play and I fell in love with being on stage.

Jobrani says he had many friends who were funnier than he, adding to his interest in being a comedian.

A lot of my friends were the funny people in school. I have friends from when I grew up that were funnier than I was!

Jobrani tried a conventional career path, studying political science in college and even starting a Ph.D. program at UCLA.

But, the comedy of Eddie Murphy was a more powerful influence.

The reason Im a comedian, is because Im a fan of comedy. I think what inspired that was Eddie Murphy because back then I use to love watching comedy and I believe I discovered Eddie Murphy probably by watching Saturday night live and from there I just wanted to be like Eddie Murphy.

Now as a full-time comedian, Maz Jobrani uses comedy to bridge the cultural divide caused by Islamic extremism. His performances both ridicule that extremism and challenge American stereotypes of Muslims.

In the movie Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero, Jobrani starred as the title character. Jobrani co-wrote and co-produced the indie comedy. He says the film playfully makes fun of American preconceptions of the Middle East.

You know most people when they see people of Middle Eastern on film and television in America they tend to see people in the news burning flags and protesting and being anti-American. We wanted to make a movie about a guy who loves America. Who wins the green card lottery to come to America from Iran. Who wants to be a cop like his hero Steven McQueen was back in the day when he use to watch Steven McQueen movies, but once he comes to America, he realizes that America of the 21st century doesnt embrace immigrants the way he thought they would and the only job he can find is working as a security guard in a Persian grocery store and from there he has to go on to save the world.

Jobrani can turn that which frightens him into something funny. For example, the comedian was alarmed when he first heard the phrase axis of evil. President George Bush used the term to describe Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

But he soon realized it could also make a great name for a series of shows. So, in 2005, the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour came to be. The shows featured Jobrani and three other comedians of Middle Eastern descent. The group first appeared on the American television channel, Comedy Central.

Jobrani says it is always a good feeling when people laugh at your jokes.

Its a good feeling when people laugh at your jokes and your stories is a good feeling because then you realize that its working, its relating. The worst feeling is when youre doing standup and for whatever reason there is a crowd that doesnt relate to you. Those are the nights when you think to yourself, Wow, I cant wait to get off the stage. But when they get you its a great feeling and its probably one of the reasons you stay up there. Its this drug that keeps feeding you. Its kind of like what I would assume surfing would be because every laugh is like a wave. You want to catch that wave and ride it out until the next life comes. So whether its doing stand-up comedy or putting on a movie, youre goal as a comedian is to make people laugh.

Life as a comedian has been good for Maz Jobrani. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows. He has toured much of the world and performed for the King of Jordan.

Maz Jobrani also has a bestselling book, Im Not a Terrorist, But Ive Played One on TV. It tells the story about his life in a very funny way.Maduro loyalists stripped Venezuela's Juan Guaido of immunity Tuesday, paving the way for the opposition leader's prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.



But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker remains unclear. Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president's socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages .



He declared himself Venezuela's interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader.



The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio  who has Trump's ear on Venezuela policy  said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaido as his country's legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduro's government to "abduct" him as a coup.



"And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly," Rubio said on Twitter.



However, the vote against Guaido was unanimous, and Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.



"They don't care about the deaths," Cabello said. "They don't have the slightest idea what the consequences of war are for a country."

The Constituent Assembly, which is made up entirely of Maduro loyalists, met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered it to strip Guaido's immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general. The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence through street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

The Constitution guarantees immunity for elected officials, and says that in order to withdraw immunity the accused lawmaker must be given a preliminary hearing before the Supreme Court. The action must be approved by the National Assembly  steps that weren't taken in Guaido's case.



The Constitutional Assembly was created two years ago, when Maduro became frustrated by the democratically elected and opposition-dominated National Assembly rejected the president's policies. Its creation essentially replaced the National Assembly, rendering it powerless.



Before the vote, Guaido dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate, and continued his calls for Maduro to step down.



"This is not even persecution," Guaido said. "This is inquisition."



Guaido has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and Tuesday night's vote was but the latest instance of that. Officials have jailed his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, and accused him of involvement in a "terrorist" scheme to overthrow the government. Maduro's government also barred Guaido from holding public office for 15 years for allegedly hiding or falsifying data in his sworn statement of assets.

The opposition leader, however, has drawn masses of Venezuelans into the streets and garnered broad international support, demanding Maduro give up rule of the crisis-wracked nation.



Defying the court order, Guaido left the country in late February for a 10-day tour of South America, meeting with foreign leaders who support the Venezuelan opposition and who reject Maduro's election last year for a second six-year term.



Maduro blames Washington of attempting a coup to overthrow him and install Guaido's puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuela's vast oil reserves.Venezuela's foreign minister, meeting with anti-U.S. allies in the Middle East, said Wednesday that opposition leader Juan Guaido is in breach of the constitution and that the judiciary has to "take care" of it.

Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly, loyal to President Nicolas Maduro, has stripped Guaido of his immunity, putting him at risk of arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president in January.



"He is in breach of most part of the constitution, so the judiciary has to take care of those who violated the Venezuelan law," Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told reporters in Beirut.

The United States and roughly 50 other nations recognize Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader, asserting that Maduro's re-election last year was illegitimate.



Arreaza met with Lebanon's president and foreign minister in Beirut. He is expected to meet with an official from the Hezbollah militant group before traveling onward to Syria.



Maduro's government has warm relations with Syria and its allies in Lebanon, all of which are opposed to U.S. policies.



Russia, a major backer of Syria, and China, which has invested heavily in Venezuela's oil industry, back Maduro.



Last weekend, a Russian aircraft carrying military officials and equipment arrived in Caracas and is believed to have flown via Syria, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site. Russian officials have scoffed at U.S. demands to withdraw military personnel, saying their presence in Venezuela is fully legitimate.

In December, Russia sent two Tu-160 strategic bombers to Venezuela for several days in a demonstration of support for Maduro, who has rejected demands from the United States and dozens of other countries that he resign.



"We have had cooperation, military and technical cooperation with Russia for almost 17 years, and it's just developing as it should," Arreaza said. "The only interference we have had for 20 years, every day of every week of every month of every year, is from the United States."The U.S. Senate has drafted a plan aimed at helping bring back democracy to Venezuela through economic aid and pushing U.S. allies to impose sanctions on the Maduro regime.

Eight Republicans and seven Democrats are co-sponsors of the Verdad Act  Venezuela Emergency Relief Democracy and Development.

Democrat Bob Menendez of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the proposal is a bipartisan effort "to put teeth behind our support for the Venezuelan people as they seek to restore democracy and prosperity ... and end the nightmare that has been the Maduro reign of terror."

The act calls for a "peaceful diplomatic solution" in Venezuela while authorizing the Trump administration to spend another $400 million in humanitarian aid.

It also requires the State Department to work with Latin and European allies to impose their own sanctions on the Maduro regime. The U.S. would lift sanctions against Venezuelan officials not accused of human rights abuses if they recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.

The U.S. would then work with global financial institutions to rebuild the Venezuelan economy after the Maduro regime falls.

Other co-sponsors of the act call Maduro's government "Illegitimate" and a "gang of narco-terrorist thugs holding the Venezuelan people hostage."

The Trump administration announced its own plans for revitalizing the disastrous Venezuelan economy once Maduro is gone, including cash contributions to citizens and food.

Earlier Wednesday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza accused Guaido of violating the country's constitution and called on the judiciary to take action.

It was Guaido who said, as leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, he has the constitutional authority to declare Maduro's presidency illegitimate, claiming he won a second term in December through a rigged election.

Lawmakers loyal to Maduro have stripped Guaido of the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed as a member of parliament, putting him at the risk of arrest.

The chief justice of the Venezuelan Supreme Court has said Guaido should be jailed for violating a court-imposed ban on leaving the country. Guaido visited several South American countries last month to seek support for his efforts to force Maduro to step down.A recent spate of violent, deadly attacks against impoverished foreign nationals isnt about outsiders, South Africans say, but rather about the countrys problems and contentious politics.

Last week, a mob in the coastal city of Durban attacked a group of largely undocumented Malawians, killing at least two people. Low-level xenophobic violence is a continuous reality in South Africa, peaking in 2008 with a spate of attacks that left 67 people dead. South Africa, with its developed economy, has long been a magnet for intra-African migration.

Ndivhuwo Mabaya, spokesman for the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told VOA that police came up with a simple analysis of the situation during a meeting earlier this week with top South African officials and the diplomatic corps.

These are groups of criminals who are taking advantage of the economic and social challenges in our townships and then mobilize other criminals to target foreign-owned shops, he said as police concluded their presentation. So what we have agreed is that the police will go back, do more work on the investigations and come back on Friday to present again to the ambassadors.

Those who work with foreign nationals say this isnt a simple matter of crime and punishment. Sharon Ekambaram, who leads the refugee and migrant rights program for Lawyers for Human Rights, reiterated her groups explanations for the causes of the violence: abject poverty, inequality, and the governments failure to improve living standards for all South Africans. Although she said she is encouraged by the international relations departments response this time, she urged the government to do more.

I feel like structures like disaster management response  in general, the state at all levels  the response in proportion to whats taking place remains inadequate, she told VOA. And we go back to this every time this happens. Were in this state, media is covering it, and we cant see a visible presence of the police, we cant see anyone being arrested for this behavior, and were all running around trying to see what we could do.

Yet again, this episode of violence has come before a major election, which appears to have prompted a flurry of high-level condemnations, including from President Cyril Ramaphosa. But only days earlier, on the campaign trail, he had harshly criticized small business owners  many of whom are foreign nationals  who set up shop in impoverished areas without getting the proper licenses.

And so, both campaigners like Ekambaram and political players like the small, far-left Black First Land First movement  which also condemned the attacks  say political parties bear responsibility for the violence as well.

It is them, the African National Congress and parties such as the Democratic Alliance, who fuel this kind of thinking that puts our people in a position where they have to attack other black people, said Deputy President Zanele Lwana.

The long-ruling ANC is again expected to dominate the May election.Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has submitted his resignation, state news agency APS said on Tuesday, following weeks of mass protests.

The move came after Algeria's army chief of staff demanded immediate constitutional procedures to remove the ailing, 82-year-old leader from office.

Feuding political and military factions appear to be waging a behind-the-scenes tug-of-war to determine the future of the government.

Students continued to protest in the capital city, Algiers, against President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika and his government, despite the announcement that he would leave office before his term officially ends April 28.

One young man in a track suit told Arab media the apparent decision by the president is not the best way to deal with ongoing protests.

He says this is not a satisfactory response to the demands of the people and it is, in fact, an end run to circumvent their demands.

Presidential adviser Ali Bou Ghazi even told journalists that he questioned the authenticity of the statement from Bouteflika's office.

Ghazi says he has doubts as to whether Bouteflika actually issued the statement that was made in the president's name.

Amid the apparent confusion among Algeria's political and military elite, it appeared clear that protesters, like this crowd heard here in the provincial town of Batna, were intent on continuing demonstrations which began almost five weeks ago.

Algerian analyst Fatah Benhammou told Al Arabiya TV it has been reported by some media outlets, including the Al Khabr newspaper, that the army favors former President Lamine Zerwal as the country's interim head once Bouteflika steps down. Amateur video on social media purported to show Zerwal returning a few days ago to Algiers.

Amid the uncertainty over what comes next, one-time Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Benbitour speculated about the legality of the coming phase of the country's political drama.

He says Army Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah probably senses the people will not accept parliament speaker Abdel Qader Ben Salah as the interim leader and the Constitutional Council has not responded to a request that the president be declared unfit, according to Article 102 of the constitution.

Benbitour said the army chief is planning to avoid the Constitutional Council entirely and "make use of Articles 107 and 108 of the constitution," which refer to the "sovereignty of the people."

At the same time, Algerian political leaders were questioning the legitimacy of the new government recently formed by new Prime Minister Noureddin Badawi. Tibi Rafiq of the Talayat al-Hurriyat party told Al Hurra TV that Badawi's government was unacceptable.

Rafiq says the people oppose Badawi and alleges Badawi has been responsible for numerous acts of electoral fraud during his years as interior minister.

Malek Ben Qassem of the ruling FLN party told Al Hurra TV, however, a political plan outlined by the army is a wise solution to the current crisis.

He says the army has put forward a roadmap based on the constitution, and President Bouteflika has agreed to step down, sparing the country a political void. He says there will be a three-month period under an interim head of state, coinciding with national dialogue, followed by new elections under an independent electoral commission.

Meanwhile, Islamist leaders, whose followers appear to be participating heavily in the ongoing demonstrations, are expressing disapproval of the army's interim plan. Abdallah Jaballah, head of the Islamist Justice and Development Party, was reported by Arab media as calling Monday's announcement "null and void."Malawi has appealed for international aid for nearly a million people affected by floods from Cyclone Idai. Authorities say people in cyclone-affected areas are in dire need of food, water, shelter, and sanitation.

The appeal is for aid targeting 162,000 households in areas worst hit by Cyclone Idai's flood waters.

Official figures show the cyclone killed 60 people, injured more than 600 and displaced hundreds of thousands, many to temporary camps.

Minister of Homeland Security in Malawi Nicholas Dausi said they are in dire need of food, shelter and sanitation.

"Our intention is to tell the world that Malawi has a big problem regarding the natural disaster that has befallen us," he said. "It's an appeal to both monetary and humanitarian assistance to the international world even people of goodwill to come for an assistance. There is desperation in the camps."

Malawi's Department of Disaster Management said the country needs about $43 million for cyclone relief. But authorities say they have secured less than half that amount.

Catherine Bodza, a flood-displaced villager in Chikwawa district, said there are problems at the camp because of food shortages.

She said they were initially given maize flour in a cup of water to cook porridge and later were given a plate of maize flour.

Recently, she added, they have been given two basins of maize flour. But most of the time, she said they sleep without eating anything.

Flood victim Paul Mwandiyamba said most of the assistance they have received is from politicians running for office in upcoming May elections.

He said when they come with one bag of maize, they tell us to eat together in a group. This is not practical, he added, because some of us have four children and others have five children. It is still not enough.

In many areas of Malawi's East Bank, providing cyclone relief aid is still a problem because of damaged roads and bridges.

Maria Jose Torres, country coordinator for the United Nations Development Program, said efforts are being made to help Malawi meet the needs of flood-affected people.

"The United Nations is working towards implementing the plan," she said. "We are already mobilizing from out [of] central emergency response funds. It's now pointing to [a] million dollars but we are acknowledging that actually it is not enough and will continue with the effort to bring more attention."

Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique in early March, swamping entire villages with heavy rains that flooded parts of southern Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Malawi President Peter Mutharika in early March declared half the country's districts disaster areas.The United States has provided an additional US$2.5 million to respond to emergency needs for Cyclone Idai victims in Zimbabwe.

In a statement, the U.S Embassy in Harare said the contribution, provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Food for Peace, will support immediate food needs in the most affected areas of Manicaland Province.

USAID will work through the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide immediate food assistance to approximately 133,000 individuals affected by the cyclone in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts. The contribution includes more than 2,000 metric tons of U.S. in-kind sorghum, vegetable oil, and fortified cereals that were prepositioned from USAIDs warehouse in Durban, South Africa."

U.S. Ambassador Brian A. Nichols is quoted as saying: The United States stands with the people of Zimbabwe during this devastating time. The humanitarian assistance from USAID will save lives and alleviate suffering as people rebuild following the tragedy of Cyclone Idai.

WFP Country Director Eddie Rowe is also quoted as saying: This timely contribution from USAID is key in meeting the immediate food needs of the people who are still battling to recover from the catastrophic impact of Cyclone Idai, and support early recovery efforts as they start to rebuild their lives.

The U.S. Government has provided nearly $10 million in humanitarian assistance to help people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi who have been affected by Cyclone Idai. This includes US$100,000 for GOAL Zimbabwe to support water, sanitation, hygiene, and shelter for 36,400 individuals in cyclone-affected areas of Manicaland Province.

In Zimbabwe, an estimated 270,000 people are in need of assistance. The U.S. Government is working in partnership with other donor governments, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, local relief groups, and others to provide timely emergency relief to those impacted by the cyclone.Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Mainly clear. Low around 35F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low around 35F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.Cultural tourism is booming in Italy, with Rome at the top.

Rome retains its title as Italy's top cultural destination, attracting 15.2 million tourists and 36.6 million overnight stays in 2018.The news was announced by Assoturismo Confesercenti ahead of the upcoming 100 Citta d'Arte d'Italia, the most important annual meeting for Italy's cultural tourism sector, to be held in Bologna on 30 May.

The figures for Rome represent an increase of 1.1 million tourists compared to the previous year, spending an average of 2.4 nights per visitor in the capital.

Foreign tourists accounted for 64 per cent of Rome's overnight visitors in 2018, staying an average of 2.6 nights.

54 per cent of Rome's foreign tourists were from Europe, with the other 46 per cent coming mainly from North America (22.1 per cent), south-east Asia (10.8 per cent), Central and South America (6.7 per cent) and Middle East (6.5 per cent).

The Colosseum attracted an average of 21,000 tourists a day in 2018.

The report by Assoturismo Confesercenti shows that Italy's citta d'arte (art cities) registered a total of 44.4 million tourists in 2018 - 600,000 more than 2017 - with overnight stays up from 110 million to 113.4 million.

Overseas tourism to the southern Italian city of Matera - European Culture Capital 2019 - has rocketed by 216 per cent over the last seven years.

International tourists generated a 41.3 billion boost to Italy's economy last year and industry figures believe the cultural tourism sector is set to grow even more, helped by a burgeoning Chinese tourism market.In January, the company launched its information campaign instructing users how to correctly operate the quick release. At the heart of it was a safety video that runs more than nine minutes. Britax also offered consumers different ways of securing the front wheel  a bolt or a modified quick release  or a 20 percent discount on a new stroller. The offer was limited to certain strollers made before October 2015 and was available for a single year, features that consumer advocates say make safety efforts less effective.Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell 1.6 percent in February, the biggest drop in four months, reflecting a plunge in the volatile commercial aircraft category. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the decline came after a small 0.1 percent rise January, and it was the weakest showing since a 4.3 percent fall in October. Orders in a category that serves as a proxy for business investment plans also edged down in February, falling 0.1 percent after a 0.9 percent advance in January. The manufacturing sector has been strained for a few months, reflecting a global economic slowdown and trade tensions that have hurt U.S. exports.The administration, which negotiated the new trade accord in 13 months of breakneck diplomacy, opposes reopening the negotiations. Robert E. Lighthizer, the presidents chief trade representative, says the U.S. instead could use the threat of unilateral tariffs under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act to enforce the deal.An analysis by the USDA of 35 of the 40 plants estimated that the number of federal inspectors on slaughter lines would shrink from 365 to 218. That same analysis estimated that the new system will save $6 million annually and that large plants  by increasing their line speeds by more than 12 percent  will increase their profits annually by more than $2 million. The current cap on line speed is 1,106 hogs per hour, or 18 hogs per minute.The project is one of three that on Tuesday won Samsungs Solve for Tomorrow Contest. Projects from schools in Virginia and North Carolina also won the national competition that challenges students to use STEM skills to solve real-world problems. Each school will be awarded $100,000 in Samsung technology and supplies.For the survey, which was done in December and January, the company assessed more than 12,000 user-generated insights into two dozen apps covering four categories: airlines, hotels, rental car companies and online travel agencies (OTAs), such as Orbitz and Expedia. Participants were asked to recall the last time they used an app and to perform a function with the tool. With this data, the study then ranked satisfaction and loyalty based on the apps clarity of information, ease of navigation, appearance, screen-loading speed, and range of services and activities.Wilson Blvd., 3100 block, 1 a.m. March 24. A theft at a bar was reported.Our organizations do not agree on all issues, but one principle we unreservedly support is our right to gather together to express ourselves, the letter said. We are very concerned that, should these rules go into effect, they will chill speech and harm our national discourse.Pioneer Dr. near Arwell Ct., 10 a.m. March 27. When police initiated a traffic stop and approached the vehicle, the driver attempted to strike the detectives with the vehicle, then sped off. The driver, a 25-year-old Severn man, and passenger, a 23-year-old Severn man were arrested. The driver was charged with three counts of first-degree assault, possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, controlled dangerous substance possession (not marijuana), distribution of controlled dangerous substance with firearm, firearm possession, drug trafficking, and having a loaded handgun in a vehicle. The passenger was charged with possession of more than 10 grams of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm, drug trafficking, and having a loaded handgun in a vehicle.Of the dead rabbit that was found at his farm, he said, one got out of its cage and he thinks his dog got to it and killed it. He said he had just put it on top of the cage until I had time to do something with it.It is unique to a community centered on Christ that hurtful behavior can be repudiated while reconciling those who were hurt with those who did the hurting into a communion of mutual love and respect, Ewanciw wrote. We have such a communion here at Saint Bernadette School, and in order to maintain it we all must strive each day to live with love and respect for each other, as our Catholic faith shows the way.In a statement, Maj. Gen. Linda L. Singh  adjutant general of Maryland for the Maryland National Guard  said the loss of one of our own is always very difficult, and little can be said to ease the pain, but we must remember Staff Sgt. Floress dedication to our nation and state and honor her service.These were among incidents reported by the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office and the Leesburg and Purcellville police. For information, contact your police or sheriffs department.In Maryland, lawmakers made an exception for service members, who will be able to buy tobacco at 18 by showing a military ID. Sen. Michael J. Hough (R-Frederick) pushed the exemption and said that, as an Air Force veteran, he found it offensive that the country found 18-year-olds mature enough to die in combat but that states did not trust them to make good decisions about their health.The two bills, one receiving approval in the House of Delegates and the other getting initial approval in the state Senate, would bar board members from holding single-source contracts with UMMS and require stringent financial disclosures. They would also dissolve the current board in several stages. Nine board members, including Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh (D), had contracts with the hospital system, in some cases worth millions of dollars.East-West Hwy., 3500 block, March 19. A man assaulted a 6-year-old on a sidewalk because he didn't move out of his way.An arrest affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court says Mobley, who joined the department in 2011, argued with the patient as he assessed her condition about 7 a.m. Tuesday and that the patient struck him twice with her cellphone. Officials did not say why the patient was brought to the hospital in the 900 block of 23rd Street NW in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood.Trevon Hudson-White of Clinton, was driving west on Ritchie Road not far from the Beltway about 1 a.m. Sunday when he crossed the double yellow line into oncoming traffic and hit another car head-on, according to Prince Georges County Police.A lot of people have strong feelings on both sides, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who walks past it on the way to and from his first-floor office. It is a very bold choice for a government building. But you can take whatever you want from it, whether it reflects the enormity of the responsibilities that we face or the enormity of our challenges. I dont think its wrong to have something of colossal size in a place as serious as this.Everybodys back to business and back to normal  or very close to it  despite the fact that all these unanswered questions remain, not only with the governor and attorney general, but especially with the lieutenant governor, Gilbert said. I think even folks who are tired of this and numb to it still would like those questions resolved.We all agreed in the beginning that we were going to call ourselves Womens March something so that we could convey a sense of unity. Womens March Chicago has worked very hard to build our brand and build our name and build our connection to the community, Algee said. My hope always has been that were all out here trying to do the same thing, which is to help empower women.The sentences were 30 days to six months for Michael Bonatucci, 21, of Woodstock, Ga.; two to six months for Luke Visser, 21, of Encinitas, Calif.; and three to nine months for Joshua Kurczewski, 20. A fourth defendant, Joseph Sala, 21, received three to 10 months of house arrest. Kurczewski and Sala live in Erie, Pa.Its not that these letters are inconsequential, said Leigh Turner, a University of Minnesota bioethicist who has documented the industrys growth. But if youre trying to tackle this one business at a time, youre not going to make a dent. Were talking about one new warning letter when there are now hundreds of clinics out there. . . . Why not send out 50 warning letters, 100 warning letters?Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.The Justice Department sued the nonprofit Safehouse in February, arguing that opening the facility in Philadelphia  the first supervised consumption facility in the United States  would violate federal law. Likening the idea to a crack house, federal officials say allowing the use of illicit drugs with impunity enables and exacerbates the intractable opioid problem; the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania argued that opening Safehouse would violate the Controlled Substances Act, which makes it illegal to open or run a place where illegal drugs are knowingly used.While the 11 women are being tried separately, they have been present at joint court appearances, and they appear to be facing similar charges related to their activism and rights work. Yet on Wednesday, the court gave them different dates for their next session.These personal anecdotes are prompted by Joe Bidens sudden dunking in the #MeToo vat of public humiliation following two womens allegations of past inappropriate touching. Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state legislator, wrote last week in New York magazines The Cut that, during a 2014 rally when she was running for lieutenant governor, Biden approached her from behind, placed his hands on her shoulders, smelled her hair and planted a big slow kiss on the back of her head. On Monday, former congressional aide Amy Lappos told the Hartford Courant that, in 2009, Biden rubbed noses with her at a fundraiser. Despite his, shall we say, warm personality, no one, including those he has touched, is accusing Biden of anything approaching a crime.It doesnt have to be this way. With sustained resources and a commitment to enforcing the law, we can bring more cases under existing rules. Beyond that, we should enact the Ending Too Big To Jail Act, which I introduced last year. That bill would make it easier to hold executives at big banks accountable for scams by requiring them to certify that they conducted a due diligence inquiry and found that no illegal conduct was occurring on their watch. This would force executives to look for wrongdoing or face prosecution for filing false certifications with the government. The proposal would also create a permanent and well-funded unit dedicated to investigating financial crimes.This finding is not about the potential back doors, nor about Chinas overweening party-state, but is just as worrisome. After discovering problems last year, the board said no material progress has been made by Huawei on those problems and it found further significant technical issues in Huaweis software and engineering processes. Huawei has promised a $2 billion, five-year effort to fix the issues, but the oversight board said it has not yet seen anything to give it confidence in Huaweis capacity to successfully complete the promised changes. The board added that strongly worded commitments from Huawei in the past have not brought about any discernible improvements. Among other things, the board said it found sloppiness in software coding; sometimes developers may be actively working to hide bad coding practice rather than fix it.We need to stop blaming Mexico for problems beyond its control, such as the flow of refugees from Central America, and accept our fair share of blame for its drug wars. The Mexican drug cartels wouldnt exist, after all, without so many Yanqui customers. Yes, Mexico has many problems  but so do we. In fact, some of our problems look similar: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is a populist demagogue similar to Trump. For all of Mexicos woes, it is the 12th-largest economy in the world, with a higher per-capita GDP than China. Mexico deserves our respect and our cooperation. It doesnt deserve to be demonized.But if Brexit happens, the E.U. wont consent to a gaping hole in its borders. Unless Britain hews to E.U. rules, Ireland, which will remain in the E.U., must have something like a border somewhere  either with the United Kingdom or with the E.U. Which leaves the Irish government with a conundrum. Ireland walling itself off from the E.U. to maintain a connection with Northern Ireland would defeat the purpose of E.U. membership. But its neither practical nor politically acceptable for the Irish government to actively reharden the border with Northern Ireland.People sadly may not always be able to write or speak the truth in public, but they know what it is. They can be free in their own minds, even in unfree places. It may be too risky to publish anti-government exposes, but that doesnt mean people believe pro-government lies. They keep the truth alive in the one place that the censors cant reach, which is inside their heads.Once again, victory has gone to those who think winning an election mandates the use of public office to force their religious beliefs on the populace at large. Certainly, not every legislator who voted against the End-of-Life Option Act, or voted to amend it into irrelevance, did so for that reason. Just as certainly, many, if not most, did, as they admitted.New Yorks organ-donation system, in particular, is an appalling wreck. The agency in charge of organ donations for New York City has been on the verge of losing its contract for years  yet no matter how poorly it performs, the contract continues. Until recently, the state placed hurdles in the way of drivers who wanted their licenses to record their desire to donate. Perhaps most shocking, some of the hospitals in New York best known for transplant surgery have only the flimsiest protocols for encouraging their own patients to be donors, according to the New York Times.In Montgomery, Ala., there is now a moving and sacred national memorial dedicated to lynching victims. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice presents the victims of racial violence through 6-foot-tall monuments, one for each county where a racist, terrorist lynching occurred. The presentation of the monuments and the overall feeling of the memorial are one of truthfulness and recognition of the terror the victims endured. Each victim is named, and each county is identified.As for El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, the so-called Northern Triangle countries from which most migrant families are now leaving in hopes of entering the United States, there are at least two problems. One is their limited capacity to stanch emigration and close their borders in the face of waves of their own citizens fleeing crime, violence and dysfunction. Another is the diminution of Washingtons leverage by Mr. Trumps foolish decision to halt the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. aid intended to tackle the very problems impelling the current wave of migration.Lesson 1. The legislature is the first branch of government. Its prerogatives are those defended first in the Declaration of Independence. The legislature is treated in the first article of the Constitution; the executive, not until the second. When the Federalist Papers scrutinize the powers and responsibilities assigned to each branch of government, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay also start, in Paper 52, with the legislative branch. The job of the executive  namely, the president  is simply that, to execute, and in particular to execute the will of the people.With Wednesdays vote, Democrats were seeking to put Republicans on record as siding with Trump in his attempt to use the courts to overturn the ACA, known as Obamacare, including politically popular provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions and allow individuals to remain on their parents insurance plans until age 26.Republicans on the panel have attacked Cummingss inquiry, saying that he has politicized the discussion of the clearance issue and that he cherry-picked excerpts of the closed-door interview with Newbold. They complained that GOP members were unable to attend because they were told about it only the previous afternoon.The United States alone accounts for the vast majority of NATO defense spending, Trump said as he met with Stoltenberg at the White House on Tuesday. And we really cannot rely on one nation to defend all. If you look at it, the disproportionality of what the United States is doing is really too great, but were working on that.K bank, Kakao Bank suffer net losses for 2 straight years



By Kim Bo-eun



When internet-only banks were launched two years ago, expectations were high over the impact they would have on the banking industry.



However, after two years, the two players K bank and Kakao Bank have failed to make a remarkable impact. They have failed to differentiate their services from major banks that have developed mobile banking applications.



Both internet banks posted deficits for two consecutive years.



K bank posted a net loss of 80 billion won in 2018, after making a net loss of 84 billion won a year earlier.



Kakao Bank's net loss came down to 20.95 billion won last year, after marking 104.49 billion won in 2017.



"It took internet banks in Japan five years to switch to a surplus. K bank is growing and figures are improving," a spokesperson of K bank said



The profitability of internet banks is limited because they currently operate with a limited amount of capital.



With a third internet bank set to launch, the existing two will face greater competition. A consortium led by Viva Republica and another by Kiwoon Securities have applied for licenses to operate internet banks.



Lee Byung-yoon, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Finance, said "The banks have provided a stimulus to the market, but need to make further efforts to make a greater profit."



In order to enhance their performance, the internet banks need to increase their capital to do their lending business in a more aggressive manner, but hurdles lie ahead.



Last year, revisions were made to a law governing internet banks, enabling nonfinancial companies to own up to 34 percent of shares of internet banks. The law went into effect in January.



Because telecommunications firm KT runs K bank and Kakao runs Kakao Bank, the revisions paved the way for the companies to inject new capital into the banks as major shareholders.



In March, KT requested the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to review the company's eligibility to become a majority shareholder of K bank.



Kakao plans to make the same request, to become a leading shareholder of Kakao Bank.



However, it is uncertain what decision the FSC will hand down for the requests. This is because the companies are either being investigated by the Fair Trade Commission or have a record of having violated regulations.



In order to become major shareholders, they need to be clear of criminal penalties for violating regulations on finance, fair trade and taxation in the past five years, although financial authorities can decide to overlook a penalty if violations are deemed minor.



KT is currently being investigated by the FTC along with SK Telecom, LG Uplus and Sejong Telecom on suspicions of collusion in a circuit line business project.



In 2016, it was also fined 70 million won for violating fair trade regulations in making a bid for a project to develop a subway advertisement information technology system.



Meanwhile, Kakao M, which was merged with Kakao last year, got a 100 million won fine the same year for violating fair trade laws in fixing the prices of online music content.



Kakao founder and Chairman Kim Beom-su is currently on trial for violating the fair trade act, for omitting shareholding structure information of five subsidiaries.



And there is Trumps confession, in an Oval Office interview with Sherman and Palmer, that he is not particularly troubled that Republicans lost control of the House in the 2018 midterms  the sort of electoral defeat that would devastate most other presidents, and the sort of admission that might disappoint Trumps fellow Republicans. The president told the duo that had Republicans held the House, especially by a narrow margin, it wouldve been impossible for him to accomplish anything because of the legislative horse-trading among all the various factions in the chamber.Hillary wanted to put up wind. Wind! Trump said, referring to the energy policies of his 2016 Democratic presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton. If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 percent in value. And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, okay?The two actions, taken together, effectively left the minority party with almost no power to block presidential appointments, so long as the majority was unified in support. The last line of defense became using up every bit of time that was afforded to the minority, to try to slow the majoritys pace.Last weekend, she joined three other candidates who talked about rural issues at the Heartland Forum in Storm Lake, Iowa. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced an agricultural policy plan last week that she says will help Iowa family farmers by slicing up agricultural monopolies. And former congressman John Delaney (D-Md.) also rolled out a proposal heavy on rural infrastructure that he says would greatly help the Hawkeye state. Other candidates, such as Beto ORourke, have said they will go to rural Iowa counties that havent had a visit from a Democratic candidate for president in years.The fight over the Mueller report is expected to land in the courts. Senior Justice Department officials have expressed opposition to releasing information that could damage an individual who is not charged with a crime. But when it comes to the president, Democrats argue, Barr has an obligation to make the report public, and they have said they will sue for the entire document if Barr does not comply.But after putting Mays speech on rewind and watching a few times  one diplomat compared it to a close interpretation of the Bible  attitudes started to soften. The reversal was complete after British officials passed the message to their colleagues Wednesday morning that May was prepared to hold European Parliamentary elections next month if she did not win approval of her divorce deal by next Wednesday, when E.U. leaders are set to meet.Peter Williamson, a 74-year-old retiree from Biggin Hill, outside London, is in the Guvnors target demographic, though it was a Chilean white he was looking for at the Majestic warehouse last week. He said he was skeptical that wine would be much more expensive or less accessible after Brexit. I think the French need the money, said Williamson, who voted to leave the E.U. They cant turn away money from the British.



By Bahk Eun-ji







Packed meals sold at convenience stores here contain a very high level of sodium, sometimes even more than World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended daily consumption level of 2,000 milligrams, a consumer group said Wednesday.







Green Consumer Network Korea said it surveyed 15 pre-packaged lunch boxes from five convenience store chains nationwide  CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Emart 24 and Ministop  for three months from last July.







The WHO recommended maximum daily intake of sodium is 2,000 milligrams per day for adults. But the average amount contained in the 15 meals was 1,393 milligram per package, meaning a person could consume 69.6 percent of the daily recommended level of sodium with one packed meal.







Among them, 7-eleven's chicken lunch box contained the largest amount of sodium, with 2,397 milligram, which surpasses the daily recommendation.







Some products contained different amounts of sodium from those recorded on the packaging. One meal sold at Ministop showed it had 228 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams, but the consumer group's study found it actually contained 343 milligrams.







"Consumers worry about consuming too many additives or condiments in those convenience stores' lunch box meals," the consumer group said in its report.



"The meal manufacturers need to make efforts to reduce sodium amounts for consumers' health."

Conditions in Alabama prisons amount to a violation of the Constitutions Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment, the Justice Department found. In their letter to the governor, federal investigators said they may file a lawsuit within 49 days to force changes inside the prisons but would prefer to negotiate a settlement with the state.There is no U.S. supplier of end-to-end 5G network components. The major U.S. telecom companies, which have pledged to exclude Huawei and another Chinese firm, ZTE, from their 5G systems, rely on European providers Ericsson and Nokia and the South Korean firm Samsung. But Huawei, the worlds largest telecom equipment provider, is making a big play for business with rural carriers in the United States and with countries in Europe and the developing world.Last week, the administration divulged that it had kept secret from Congress as well as the public seven authorizations for nuclear energy companies to use in wooing Saudi Arabia, a potential customer interested in building two nuclear reactors for civilian purposes. The information kept under wraps includes the identity of the companies and the type of information.But she said theres no question that expelling Wilson-Raybould and Philpott could hurt Trudeaus prospects. Now that theyve been ejected from the Liberal caucus, the pair may feel more inclined to speak freely about their experiences in Trudeaus cabinet, uninhibited by the demands of party loyalty.The Algerians who poured into the streets for the past six weeks seek a clean break with the current political order. To many, Bouteflikas ouster is only the first notch in their struggle to bring about a democratic transition. They want to end the monopoly of military veterans, lawmakers, business tycoons, and clan members that has backed Bouteflika for decades and still retains control of the country.Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was Canadas first indigenous attorney general, said Tuesday Trudeau had informed her she was no longer a part of the Liberal caucus and had been stripped of the partys nomination for the upcoming election to keep her seat in Parliament.Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, right, welcomes Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo to the Pentagon during an arrival ceremony April 1, 2019 in Arlington, Virginia. AFP-Yonhap



South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo has received a U.S. government decoration for his contribution to strengthening the bilateral alliance during his stint as the country's top uniformed officer, Seoul's defense ministry said Wednesday.



In Washington on Tuesday, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford conferred the Legion of Merit, a top award given to a foreign military official, on the minister for his role in cementing the relationship between the allies and promoting peace on the peninsula.



Jeong, who served as the South's JCS chief from August 2017-September 2018, was in Washington for talks with acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and other events.





South Korea Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, left, and US Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan speaks during a meeting at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on April 1, 2019. AFP-Yonhap



"This decoration is given not just to me, but it is one that I receive on behalf of all South Korean troops," Jeong said. "I will do my utmost for the honor of both South Korean and U.S. troops, and the enhancement of the robust South Korea-U.S. alliance."



Dunford praised the leadership and insights that the minister showed during his term as South Korea's JCS chairman, according to the ministry.



Before the award ceremony, Jeong and Dunford held talks on the security situation on the peninsula and other pending alliance issues.



"Minister Jeong and JCS Chairman Dunford agreed to continue close cooperation over the goal of the complete denuclearization of the peninsula and the establishment of peace, while sharing the view that the South Korea-U.S. alliance stands as a linchpin of peace and stability on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia," the ministry said in a press release.





Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, left, and Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan testify during a House Armed Services Committee hearing regarding the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Budget Request from the Department of Defense, March 26, 2019 in Washington, DC. AFP-YonhapThe Barakah nuclear power plant. Korea Times file



The state-run energy corporation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) lodged a protest against Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's decision to remove experts from the Barakah nuclear plant, a lawmaker said Wednesday.



The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) sent a letter to the Korea Electric Power Corp., which controls the KHNP, in January to express concern over the withdrawal, the document revealed by Rep. Choi Yeon-hye of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party showed.



In the letter sent by ENEC CEO Mohamed Al-Hammadi to KEPCO CEO Kim Jong-gap, the UAE company raised issue with the "unilateral decision" to withdraw "critical" experts away from Barakah, the country's first nuclear plant built by South Korea.



"I am shocked to be informed by my team that a significant number of experienced KHNP people have immediately departed the Barakah project and returned to Korea, and that this was done with little or no prior notification," the letter added.



The ENEC claimed that South Korea should take immediate actions to resolve the issue, claiming the departure of experienced KHNP resources came at a critical time as well.





President Moon Jae-in and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan stand with government officials and workers of Korea and the United Arab Emirates in front of a reactor in Barakah which Korean companies completed construction of. YonhapAs the never-ending Brexit saga continues with a disastrous UK crash-out still possible, The B Word: What Brexit Means for Ireland examines what that could mean for Irish people, the economy and everyday life.

Presented by Virgin Media News economics correspondent Paul Colgan, the documentary looks at how the cost of living could rise dramatically, as we import many of our goods from Britain. It also weighs up the impact on Irish exports, as farmers worry about potentially massive tariffs on their products.

The B Word addresses concerns about the re-emergence of a hard border on the island should Brexit end badly and how such an outcome could lead to turmoil here.

To press home the need to avoid checks at the border, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told European leaders last year about the most devastating IRA attack on a customs installation during The Troubles. The bomb attack in 1972 killed nine people, including four customs officials at Newry Customs House.

Among those who narrowly avoided death that day was Thomas Colgan, father to Virgin Media News economics correspondent Paul Colgan. In this documentary, Paul interviews his dad about what happened when the bomb exploded. I could hear raised voices. And with that the alarm went off and I bolted for the back door. I just got in through that door, the door closed and the thing went off. At one stage I thought I was blind, but it was dust. The only thing keeping my clothes together was the collar of the coat and the belt of the trousers - all the seams were busted. It was a mad mad time," Thomas Colgan recalls.

In 1972, 496 people died. And I dont understand why anyone would even think of risking that ever happening again. If you went to London and scaled that up as a percentage of population, thats about 3000 people in a year. If that had happened there, there would have been something done about it. It wouldnt have lasted 30 years.

In addition, Paul speaks to Dublin Port CEO Eamonn OReilly who says that unless Britain decides it will stay closely aligned to Europe, then checks will be needed at ports, driving up costs and leading to delays. The only way you can have frictionless trade in the future as weve had in the past is for Britain to be a member of both the Customs Union and the single European market. Anything less than that means there will be checks.

If, for example, Britain remains in the Customs Union but not the single market, there is every possibility that food standards will diverge and the food products will therefore will have to be checked in the way were planning for.

Mr OReilly says that any additional checks would add to costs for haulage operators and these costs would inevitably be passed down the line to Irish consumers.

Professor Jim Dornan, respected doctor and father to 50 Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan, also talks to Paul and says Brexit has forced him to consider a plan that could see the two parts reunited. From a Unionist background in north Down, Professor Dornan says a new Ireland will have to be debated over the coming years ahead of any possible border poll.

I would be happy to be thought of as a soft nationalist because I want to be a European, so its a matter of do I want to be a European or do I not want to be a European. Were living in very interesting times. That 'new Ireland probably would be Northern Ireland and the Republic together in some either federated or united way, but it could even include Scotland and Wales.

I would like to be part of a movement that encouraged people above politics to get together so that when we do eventually have a vote that well have facts."

The B Word: What Brexit Means for Ireland airs on Virgin Media One on Thursday at 7.30pm.One gauge of avocado prices is having its biggest gain in almost a decade as consumers weigh the latest rhetoric from Donald Trump on his threat to close the US border with Mexico, a major supplier of the fruit.

Prices for Mexican avocados have skyrocketed. Credit:Oliver Hoffmann

The Mexico City Hass price from Michoacan, the heartland of Mexican avocado production, jumped 34 per cent on Tuesday. That would be the biggest one-day gain since April 13, 2009.

There are a couple of possible drivers for the spike. It may be due to increased demand in anticipation of a border shutdown, or it follows Trump's toned down rhetoric on a possible closing.It was a state secret and the source of a kingdom's riches. It was so important that US military planners once debated how to seize it by force. For oil traders, it was a source of endless speculation.

Now the market finally knows: Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest conventional oil field, can produce a lot less than almost anyone believed.

Production at Saudi oil fields is declining. Credit:AP

When Saudi Aramco on Monday published its first ever profit figures since its nationalisation nearly 40 years ago, it also lifted the veil of secrecy around its mega oil fields. The company's bond prospectus revealed that Ghawar is able to pump a maximum of 3.8 million barrels a day -- well below the more than 5 million that had become conventional wisdom in the market.

"As Saudi's largest field, a surprisingly low production capacity figure from Ghawar is the stand-out of the report," said Virendra Chauhan, head of upstream at consultant Energy Aspects in Singapore.An Ausgrid worker has died in hospital after suffering an electric shock while working on power lines on Sydney's lower north shore.

Emergency services were called to Riverview Street in Riverview about 11.40am on Tuesday to reports that a man had suffered an electric shock.

Paramedics treated line worker Robert Nicholls, 39, at the scene before he was taken, in a critical condition, to Royal North Shore Hospital, where he died.

"He received a serious electric shock while carrying out work on Tuesday," an Ausgrid spokeswoman confirmed.Yesterday, I received a scarifying voice mail generated by computers. It began: This is the Australian Taxation Department. Uh oh," I thought to myself, because, really, who else was there to think this too, seeing as I was alone at the time. "Ive never heard of the Australian Taxation Department. They must be the super secret part of the Australian Taxation Office, who are always running out of iTunes credit. I was terrified and I missed what the computer voice said next, not because I was terrified but because it wasnt in "every" good English. It was almost as though the Australian Taxation Department was so broke after spending all its iTunes money that they had to hire cheap Russians to do all their phoning up for them. But not actual Russians, no matter how cheap. Instead the Australian Taxation Department was sending Russian robot voices after me with poor translation software.

When I calmed down enough to listen to the robot voice, I wished I hadnt because although he was oddly sympathetic about the unfortunate investigation the other robots had done to me, they had definitely discovered that I was guilty of "tax avoidation" and I would have to give them all my iTunes cards and if I had none I could get some from "the Woolworths" or a nearby station servicing gas. Well, dear reader, this was a relief, let me tell you. Because, as bad as it would have been having Russian voice robots coming after me for tax avoidation, I could at least rest easy that they hadnt uncovered all of my tax evasioneering, which is much worse. As one fellow who is also known as Nick Moore told me on the Twitters, I had better call my accountifier with all despatch and get some advice from a lawologist or risk enjailification. It is a serious risk too. Another fellow who was not Nick Moore, but instead was actually Mike Carlton, replied that his Russian robot spoke in a fake American accent and told him he would have him arrestified before 5PM for his loopholery.Grandson of SK Group founder Chey Jong-gun is taken to Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on charges of buying and using liquid marijuana, April 1. Yonhap



A growing number of foreign-educated young scions of South Korea's conglomerate owner and wealthy families are making scandalous headlines these days for using banned substances.



Many of the well-heeled Korean students gain easy access to prohibited substances while studying in foreign countries with loose drug laws and are caught for drug law violations in South Korea unable to quit the habit after returning home, police investigators said Wednesday.



Earlier this week, police in Incheon, west of Seoul, requested an arrest warrant for a grandson of SK Group founder Chey Jong-gun on charges of buying and using liquid marijuana in violation of the Narcotics Control Act.



The 31-year-old grandson, whose name has been withheld, is suspected of making 15 purchases of liquid marijuana, which is illegal in South Korea, between March and May last year.



The disgraced SK scion attended a university in the United States.



A 27-year-old Korean man identified only as Lee, who was arrested by police last month on charges of selling drugs to Chey, also studied abroad, according to reports.





SK Group founder Chey Jong-gun's grandson allegedly bought liquid marijuana five times in violation of Korea's Narcotics Control Act. Yonhap



Police investigating Lee's case said they have confirmed circumstances that a 28-year-old grandson of Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung also bought the banned substance from Lee.



Chung reportedly met Lee while studying abroad.



Lee was quoted as confessing to police that he came to know Chung during their overseas study and they smoked marijuana together. Chung is now staying abroad.



As the cases of Chey and Chung unfolded, allegations have surfaced that children of owners of a famous apparel manufacturer and retailer, and a renowned stationery company used drugs while studying abroad.



According to an informant, the children disclosed their use of narcotics to their acquaintances while attending a foreign university between 2017 and 2018.



In addition, there have been numerous cases of foreign-educated Korean students being caught secretly attempting to buy drugs or smuggling them into the country.





Hwang Ha-na, granddaughter of Namyang Dairy founder Hong Du-yeong, allegedly used illegal drugs in 2011 and 2015 but the charges were dropped. Photo from InstagramLoading His grandfather on his father side, George Johnson Carroll, was a member of both the Ballarat and Melbourne mining exchanges. In Carrolls sardonic words George got the megas (megalomania) when he named his last company the Carroll Mining Company  and when this company went bust in the 1890s the entrepreneur was consigned to a mental asylum where he died and the family was left to fend for themselves. Carrolls father , also George, was 9 at the time and as restless and enterprising as his father. He followed the gold discoveries to Western Australia and labouring work to New Zealand. He fought in both the Boer War and the First World War and earned a MC campaigning from the Middle East to France. He then settled in Mackay, Queensland, where he became involved in local commerce  a pub, shops and, ultimately, a newsagency where Carroll spent his early childhood. A happy life as a boarder at All Souls, Charters Towers, saw Carroll, a cocky youth whod done well at books and sport, leave school to enter the army. He volunteered for the AIF and was sent to New Guinea and, towards the end of the war, to Borneo. Carroll afterwards recalled his respect for the diggers he met, who had suffered through the Depression and whose first job came only when they enlisted to fight the Japanese. He admired their courage, lack of self pity and their sardonic observations about their uniformed and civilian masters. I wanted to understand how this  the economic hammer blow of the Depression  happened to them, he recalled for this article.

After the war he took an economics degree at the University of Queensland and played skilful rugby union, as a fly-half for the University and Queensland . The rugby network, so important in Queensland, got him in to stockbroking. (Whats the Dow doing today he asked a rugby friends stockbroking father, met in Queen Street, Brisbane, and attracted a job offer almost immediately). In 1951 he was appointed finance editor of The Courier Mail and in 1960 joined The Sun-Herald in Sydney as finance editor. Despite the tensions of the relationship Carroll stayed at Fairfax for the rest of his working career, refusing at least one offer from Rupert Murdoch whom he admired but sensibly wanted to keep at arms length. Its a bit staccato over there, he commented. In 1964, though, Murdoch provided Carroll with his greatest opportunity, by launching The Australian, a national broadsheet daily aimed directly at Fairfax and the business and up-market

readership of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and the Financial Review. The launch of The Australian and its aggressive competition and its (small l) liberal approach to reporting and commentary was the major impetus in revitalising post-war Australian journalism.

Bob Dempsey, National Times production editor, Evan Whitton, Editor, and Vic Carroll, right, look over the first printing of the National Times Business Review. Credit:Gerrit Fokkema Murdoch hired away from the Financial Review, its brilliant, erratic editor, Max Newton, and Carroll was appointed the new editor of the Review, only recently transformed from a biweekly to a daily, as a result of Newtons advocacy. When Murdoch hired Newton and his closest lieutenants to launch The Australian, their plan was to undermine the Financial Review. But as Carroll recalled for this article Max [Newton] left me with the talent  those left behind by Newton included Maximilian Walsh, David Love, Alan Wood, John Pierce and Michael Baume. Carroll soon afterwards added to the staff Peter Robinson, who became his deputy, Robert Gottliebsen and Trevor Kennedy. Carroll encouraged Max Walsh and his Canberra staff to analyse the economic implications of government policy and examine the excesses arising from the Liberal-Country Party coalitions political dominance, delivered by the preference votes of the Democratic Labor Party.

Sir Warwick Fairfax shows his son Warwick jnr the Fairfax printing presses. Carrolls paper was an aggressive critic of the eras extreme tariff protection, and the political corruption, economic inefficiencies and social inequities it produced. The Financial Review gave a platform for anti-protectionists  notably Bert Kelly, the Modest Member whose column despite its light hearted, bantering tone slipped the knife in to the supporters of protection, particularly in the Country Party leadership and laid bare the harm the policies did the rural industries that the Country Party relied on for its electoral base. With his small but talented staff he helped set the agenda for economic reform in Australia that came with the Hawke government in 1983. The paper reported on the excesses and consumer rip offs of the cosy oligopoly in banking, insurance, shipping and consumer finance. These campaigns were one part of an increasingly sophisticated paper that grew from a circulation at its lowest point of 15,000 in the early days of the Carroll regime to become the established financial daily of Australia  a rich revenue platform. Many of the targets for scrutiny were close to or had the support of the Fairfax company, board, and family, not least the Bank of NSW, the AMP , the Liberal Party of Bob Askin and Bill McMahon and the foreign policies of the Menzies and later Coalition governments.

Carroll weathered many rebukes and threats of discipline. Calls to see Sir Warwick Fairfax or the companys management, he referred to as going to get the cuts  though Carroll observed at the time and later that the discipline of having to think through persuasive defences of his papers journalism contributed significantly to its quality. In such tight spots, he was a stubborn and taciturn man, given to formidably long silences, and grudging acceptance of these rebukes. Vic Carroll was a man from whom words, let alone praise, were sparing. David Bowman, the executive editor of the Fairfax papers in 1976 remarked in a typical memo that Carroll responds neither to friendliness nor to kicks. He was a man from whom words, let alone praise, were sparing. When editor of The National Times I once complained that a story idea had failed. It should have worked. It was a good idea, I said. Good ideas work, he pointed out.

In 1975 The National Times, which I then edited, published a series written by Evan Whitton that detailed the lies and deception of the Menzies government when it committed Australian troops to Vietnam  a policy The Sydney Morning Herald had strongly supported. The Fairfax board considered sacking Carroll, by then managing editor of both the Financial Review and The National Times, as well as myself and Whitton, the deputy editor. The sentence for Carroll was reduced to exile at the magazine subsidiary of the company and in 1980, the chairman James Fairfax and the new chief executive Greg Gardiner readily welcomed

Carroll back as editor of the Herald, which was in a moribund editorial and commercial state. The board that approved the appointment included Sir Warwick Fairfax, Sir Vincent Fairfax, John B. Fairfax and Angus McLachlan, all admirers of his editorial skills but critics of Carroll in the past. Elsewhere, only Ranald McDonalds Age and Lord Thomsons Sunday Times in London in the 1970s offered such tolerance for editor/trouble makers and Thomson solved his problem by declaring he took an interest only in the bottom line. That could not be said of the Fairfax family until that dim figure, Warwick junior arrived.

In the early 1980s Carroll worked the magic again, beginning the reconstruction of the editorial and commercial fortunes of the Herald by putting together another talented team, led by Chris Anderson, Eric Beecher, Paul Kelly, Valerie Lawson, Ian Hicks and the man he acknowledged as the memory of the Herald, Alan Peterson. Loading Carroll, Anderson and Beecher introduced the daily supplements that gave the paper an extra dimension  and additional advertising. Police rounds stories were curtailed, financial and sport coverage expanded. More analytical political coverage in Canberra was introduced and the state government came under severe scrutiny. The activity of the Herald writer Evan Whitton in the early 1980s in deciphering the patterns and reporting the full detail of the notorious corruption of the NSW police was a significant factor in restoring the Heralds credibility  and Carroll and his deputy Anderson were the gatekeepers who swung this particular gate wide open, to the anger of the corrupt officers of the government, the courts and the police and the state Labor government of the time. Carroll was one of the first editors to recognise the gold mine of talent represented by women, who until the 1960s were generally kept out of the newsroom  particularly of a financial paper. Yvonne Preston, subsequently an influential writer on the Financial Review and The National Times, and Beijing correspondent for the Herald, was hired from the Reserve Bank. Anne Lampe, who later consistently irritated the big insurance companies with her reporting on the dubious investment value of their life insurance policies, wrote a letter for the letters page of the Review and was hired on the strength of that.Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's first budget has been warmly received by WA business, but its economic forecasts make for gloomy reading west of the Nullarbor.

University of Notre Dame politics expert Martin Drum said the budget appeared designed as a campaign cornerstone for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who will likely call an election within days.

WA business has welcomed Josh Frydenberg's first federal budget. Credit:David Rowe

But he warned Labor in WA could seize on the tough economic outlook embedded in the budget papers.

"The forward projections are not very rosy for Western Australia," Dr Drum said.Ever since Apple released the first unibody laptop more than a decade ago, anodised aluminum has become the defacto material by which premium notebooks are constructed. HP is looking to change all that with the leather bound Spectre Folio that can easily switch between laptop and tablet mode thanks to its unique convertible hinge.

The full grain leather covers the entire outside of the device and elegantly borders the display, keyboard and trackpad. HP assures us it is not out there slaughtering cows and instead uses leftover leather from factories. Either way the leather feels extremely high quality.

The HP Spectre Folio is covered in leather.

There are a number of benefits to using leather over metal or plastic. Firstly, the leather feels pleasant to the touch while also adding a grippy texture, making it more comfortable to hold when closed. The base of the laptop is never to hot or cold on your legs and you can throw it in your bag and move it around freely without worrying about scratches or dents. Leather simply ages better provided you can keep it away from substances that may dye or discolour it such as ink, lipstick, red wine or oils.

Outside of the unique look and feel the HP Spectre Folio, which starts at $2999, boasts one of the best convertible PC designs. There's a seam in the leather case behind the display that allows it to transform into various modes from the default laptop mode.By Kim Hyun-bin



Amid a sex and drug scandal that also involves alleged corrupt ties between celebrity nightclub-owners and police, the latter are being accused of being "lenient" in their investigation into alleged drug use by Hwang Ha-na, the granddaughter of Namyang Dairy Products founder Hong Du-yeong.



The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Wednesday it had opened its own investigation to uncover whether charges against Hwang were dropped due to her family connections, although she was directly implicated in drug cases in 2011 and 2015.





Picture of Hwang Ha-na from her Instagram.

In 2015, Hwang was booked for supplying a university student surnamed Choi with 0.5 grams of methamphetamine, which they used together. But she faced no criminal charges and was not even summoned for questioning even after Cho specifically stated Hwang was the supplier.



Unlike Hwang, Cho was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail suspended for three years.





"Saemunan Theater," a replication of a Korean movie theater from the 1960s to 80s, stands in the middle of Donuimun Museum Village, Jongno, Seoul. Old movies are screened for free on the second floor. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government



By Lee Suh-yoon



Donuimun Museum Village, a dense cluster of historic buildings and alleys saved from demolition for Seoul's 2017 architecture biennale, is now a theme park for those who want to experience an earlier Seoul.



Thematic exhibitions and replicated interiors have been set up inside the restored buildings here, which range from traditional hanoks and two-story Japanese- and Western-style housing units to the concrete blocks built after the 1960s. Highlights include a retro arcade, an old-style movie theater, a socializing club that catered to foreigners and a photo studio specially equipped for a 1980s-style wedding altar photo shoot in black-and-white.





Donuimun Museum Village from above / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Retro arcade and comic book library at Donuimun Museum Village / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government



Young resident artists and older craftsmen now wait in designated hanoks or first-floor studios, inviting visitors to interact with art installations or make souvenirs. One exhibition, titled "Mom's closet," displays seated mannequins dressed in "mom fashion" of the 1970s. Visitors can dress up in similar clothes packed in small bundles next to them.



To celebrate its renewal, the village will hold special music concerts, activities and guided tours this weekend.





Visitors play games like Super Mario and Tetris inside the retro arcade at Donuimun Museum Village, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon





A nostalgic replication of a student's room in the 1970's / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government



The original name for the site of today's Donuimun Museum Village is Saemunan, which literally translates to "the neighborhood inside the new gate" (Donuimun is another name for Seodaemun, or old Seoul's "west gate"). The Donuimun gateway was nicknamed the "new gate" since it was demolished in 1413 and restored in 1422.



From the 1960s to 70s, Saemunan was home to hundreds of "tutoring rooms," as the neighborhood was surrounded by Seoul's most elite high schools.





The replication of the old-fashioned barbershop at Donuimun Village / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

The replicated interior of a "socializing club" that catered to foreigners who lived in the area around the 1970s / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government



"This used to be the 'Sky Castle' then," an on-site guide explained during a tour of the village Tuesday afternoon, referring to a popular K-drama named after a fictional elite housing complex where parents go to extremes to get their children admitted to top-tier universities.



But after ex-dictator Chun Doo-hwan banned tutoring in 1980 and elite high schools were relocated to the south of the Han River as part of a Gangnam-centered development in the late 1970s, the neighborhood started catering to office workers instead. It gradually turned into a dining district where white-collar workers from companies and government offices popping up near Gwanghwamun Square.





The comic book library at Donuimun Museum Village / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government



In 2003, however, the neighborhood was earmarked for development as part of the city-led New Town project, which cleared out run-down areas north of the Han River for modern complexes and facilities to catch up to the breakneck development south of the river. All tenants were cleared out of the neighborhood between 2013 and 2015, but instead of bulldozing the area to make a park  as was the original plan  the city decided to preserve it as a time capsule for Seoul residents.



As the remaining buildings carried safety hazards, the buildings were mostly rebuilt to their original form with minor adjustments and the village opened for the Seoul's architecture biennale in 2017.





A street mural depicts a local resident grieving over the demolition of other old neighborhoods in the area to build high-rise complexes. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government



On the glass slab in front of the movie theater, the neighborhood is described as "an urban regeneration village that sprung from a deep regret for traditional ways of 'redevelopment' that tear down everything to build something new." The self-reflection, however, came after locals were pushed out. Donuimun Museum Village is but a petrified shell of a neighborhood that once pulsed with a dynamic community of locals.





A 1970s government poster at Donuimun Museum Village tells citizens to report any North Korean propaganda slips to the police. / Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoonLeukocytes use their nucleus as a ruler to choose path of least resistance

How do mobile cell types like leukocytes or metastatic cancer cells reach their place of action during immune surveillance or cancer dissemination, respectively? The research group around Michael Sixt at IST Austria has now shown that leukocytes use their nucleus as a ruler to screen their surroundings for the largest pores--and thereby find the path of least resistance.

Certain cell types continuously crawl through the body to reach their place of action. For instance, all leukocytes--the white blood cells of the immune system--in the human body cover a cumulative distance of more than 100,000 km per hour. On their journey, these migratory cells have to find their way through a three-dimensional maze crowded with other cells and extracellular matrix. Certain cell types--mesenchymal cells like fibroblasts--move forward by digesting the tissue they come up against, thus leaving behind a tunnel as a wake of devastation. Leukocytes, on the other hand, show an amoeboid way of movement that allows them to move around 100 times faster. Also, they do not digest or remodel their environment (if they did, they would perforate the body with more than two million kilometers of tunnels per day!). How these extremely fast cells navigate through the dense meshwork of interstitial connective tissue fibers without harming other cells has been of great interest to cell biologists. Professor Michael Sixt and his team--including first author Jorg Renkawitz, Postdoc at IST Austria at the time of the study and now leading his own research group at the Biomedical Center of Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany--have now found out how leukocytes manage to choose the path of least resistance when navigating through complex environments.

Nucleus measures pore size and helps leukocytes to move full speed ahead

To understand the mechanism behind this selective form of cell movement, the researchers built an obstacle course for leukocytes in reconstituted tissue where the cells could choose between differently sized pores while following global directional cues such as chemotactic gradients. What they observed was that whenever the amoeboid cells had a choice, they used the bigger pores, i.e. the path of least resistance. In further tests, the scientists found that the cells facilitate this active directional movement by pushing their nucleus very much to the front of the cell so it can serve as a kind of mechanical gauge or ruler. In other words, as the cell is moving forward, it applies cytoskeletal forces to insert its nucleus into several adjacent pores to measure pore sizes. Michael Sixt: "The usual organelle to steer a cell is the actin rich leading front, which explores the environment. Unexpectedly, we found that this is not what determines the path of a leukocyte. Instead, it is the nucleus that guides the cell through the bigger pores. This makes sense as the nucleus is the most bulky part of the cell and also sensitive to damage."

Microtubules make sure that cells are not fragmented when passing through pores

Whenever the cells successfully push their nucleus through a pore, they have to retract the nucleus-free protrusions, which are still inserted in the other pores, to avoid becoming entangled or even fragmented. To tell the protrusions to retract, the microtubules disappear from these protrusions as soon as the microtubule organizing center (which always follows the nucleus) passes through a pore. This disappearance of the microtubules triggers actomyosin contraction and the cell finally retracts the remaining protrusions. When the researchers actively destroyed the microtubules, the cells entangled because the supernumerary protrusions had not retracted, kept moving forward through other pores and migrated in many directions. Ultimately, the cell fractured into pieces and died. "Our findings are based on the analysis of leukocytes. Yet, most probably, the mechanisms are the same for any other amoeboid cell types involved in developmental, immunity or regeneration processes. Also, the mechanism might help to explain how cancer cells move from one part of the body to another to form metastases and, most importantly, how to stop them from doing so," Michael Sixt concludes.

###

The study was partly supported by data from collaborators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA. Michael Sixt's work for this study was supported by the European Research Council (ERC), a grant from the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) and the FWF DK "Nanocell". Jorg Renkawitz was supported by ISTFELLOW funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), and an EMBO long-term fellowship co-funded by the European Commission.

IST Austria

The Institute of Science and Technology (IST Austria) is a PhD-granting research institution located in Klosterneuburg, 18 km from the center of Vienna, Austria. Inaugurated in 2009, the Institute is dedicated to basic research in the natural and mathematical sciences. IST Austria employs professors on a tenure-track system, postdoctoral fellows, and doctoral students. While dedicated to the principle of curiosity-driven research, the Institute owns the rights to all scientific discoveries and is committed to promote their use. The first president of IST Austria is Thomas A. Henzinger, a leading computer scientist and former professor at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, and the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland. The graduate school of IST Austria offers fully-funded PhD positions to highly qualified candidates with a bachelor's or master's degree in biology, neuroscience, mathematics, computer science, physics, and related areas. http://www. ist. ac. at

Animal welfare

Understanding cell biological processes is only possible by studying real cells and the natural physiological environments of organisms, in this case of mice. No other methods can serve as alternatives. The animals were raised, kept and treated according to the strict regulations of Austrian law.

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.By Kim Ji-soo



Compared to some other voters across the world, the Korean voters may well be lucky in that we only routinely discover our Cabinet minister-nominees have some "baggage" when they arrive for review at the parliamentary hearing for confirmation.



Readers by now know that KAIST Professor Cho Dong-ho who was a nominee for science and technology minister and Choi Jeong-ho, the candidate who was tapped as land and transportation minister nominee, have both quit their candidacies. To be more clear, Cheong Wa Dae withdrew Cho's nomination and Choi voluntarily removed himself as nominee. Both had performed poorly at the hearings, apologizing for perceived ethical lapses.



Cho was first criticized for problems with his real-estate investments and his two sons' supposedly lavish lifestyles during their time studying abroad. It was however his problematic attendance at the 2017 World Biomarkers Congress, an international conference known to be organized by OMICS International held in Spain that raised the biggest concerns. The conference, regarded as a "non-performing" one, was never reported to the presidential office.



Choi had been marked by the fact that he owned multiple houses  one of which his daughter inherited from him while he lived there paying monthly rent  in an administration that has strongly pledged to clamp down on property speculation.



The presidential office said that otherwise both Cho and Choi passed through the internal screening process for nomination. The ouster of the two nominees was unavoidable because they fell short in people's eyes.



The exit of the two candidates may well have been inevitable, following the resignation of Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom. Kim quit after his family purchased a mini-sized building in the redevelopment-designated neighborhood in Heukseok-dong, Seoul.



As individuals, they may feel that the higher level of scrutiny is unfair. The line between speculation and investment is often thin, and the issue of real estate is currently a popular topic of discussion in Korea.



At restaurants and coffee shops, the talk is about property. People are constantly exchanging information about neighborhoods, apartments and officetels. Surely, the housing issue is a perennial challenge for individuals and society at large. Yet, there is a palpable sense of fear of being left behind  to own housing either for residential purposes or to let as a source of income for post-retirement. In Korea's highly-competitive society, the rush to act, whether it be to beat climbing real estate prices, or tightening regulations, is pressing. In that vein, it would be challenging not to join the rush, an existential challenge of sorts for many, and more so for those holding posts that require a sense of service, mission and integrity.



President Moon Jae-in's administration with its traction in democracy and human rights movements, is respected for its higher standards of ethics. Scrutiny of the administration born following the candlelight revolution is likely to be stronger, but the administration has a right to stick by its reasons for nominations.



The administration however must make more effort to engage and persuade in unfurling its decisions and policies, rather than to stridently declare them. Change comes fast in this society, and stridency in policymaking should include engagement and flexibility to dance with the fast-occurring changes.



Because of the political nature of the parliamentary hearings, administrations often explain that it's hard to find candidates willing to undergo the public grilling, reducing the talent pool. Surely the voters deserve better.

Minor opposition Bareunmirae Party Rep. Lee Jae-hwan, a candidate for Wedneday's bi-election, receives a ballot at voting staion No. 9 set up at a senior citizens' community center in an apartments village in Changwon's Seongsan-gu district in South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Yonhap



South Koreans began to vote Wednesday in by-elections that could be a barometer of public sentiment ahead of next year's general elections.



Up for grabs are two parliamentary seats in South Gyeongsang Province in the country's southeastern region and three local councilor posts in South Jeolla Province and North Gyeongsang Province.



Voting kicked off at 6 a.m. and is to run until 8 p.m. at 151 polling stations, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).



The turnout for early voting on Friday and Saturday reached 14.37 percent. For the parliamentary elections, the turnout for advance voting came to 14.71 percent.



The main focus is on who will fill the two parliamentary seats in the southeastern province, a manufacturing hub for the auto and shipbuilding industries that is bearing the brunt of the economic downturn.





Election administrative officers check a voter's identity for Wednesday's bi-elections at voting station No.1 set up at Seosin-dong Community Center in Jeonju's Wansan-gu district in North Jeolla Province. Yonhap



There may only be two parliamentary seats being contested, but political parties see the votes as a litmus test ahead of the nationwide parliamentary elections slated for April 2020.



The constituencies at stake lie in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and Tongyeong-Goseong, 450 km southeast of the capital.









Liberal politicians have received strong voter support in Changwon  liberal candidates have been selected in three of the general elections since 2004. Conservative contenders have held firm in Tongyeong on the southeast coast, meanwhile.



During campaigning, the ruling Democratic Party (DP) highlighted its drive to boost the regional economy in South Gyeongsang Province, from where President Moon Jae-in hails.



The DP clinched an overwhelming victory in the local elections last June, aided by strong support for Moon and his drive for peace with North Korea.



But with the public support ratings for Moon and the ruling party declining, the governing party has poured its efforts into mustering liberal votes in the by-elections.





Voting station No.6 at Joongnim Community Center in Tongyeong's Gwangdo-myeon area in South Gyeongsang Province is occupied by election administrative officers and voters, Wednesday. YonhapSeen above is a South Korean vessel suspected of illegally transferring oil to a North Korean ship in 2017. Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



The prosecution is investigating a South Korean vessel that was allegedly used to violate United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea.



The ship is being detained in Busan as its crew is suspected of transferring oil to a North Korean tanker in 2017, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wednesday.



The ministry said it impounded the vessel last October to look for evidence to prove that it was involved in the illegal activity.



The 7,850-ton tanker was built in 2000 and it is suspected of having been involved in the illegal transfer in the latter half of 2017.



If investigators confirm the allegations, chances are the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) may list the vessel for breaching the international sanctions imposed on the North.



The foreign ministry said it is continuing to inform the council and the United States on the progress of the investigation into the crew of the vessel.



"Relevant authorities are carrying out investigations into the crew of the South Korean-flagged ship, and the government is discussing with the U.S. and the U.N. sanctions whether the ship violated the U.N. resolutions against the North," a ministry official said.



The UNSC pays keen attention to the ship-to-ship transfer of oil to the North, as it views cutting the oil supply to the regime as the most effective measure to isolate it.



As the North is unable to import such products as petroleum and coal from neighboring countries, such as China and South Korea, the regime is seeking to receive them via secretive routes.



Pyongyang also recently showed signs of resuming its nuclear program, prompting the U.S. and UNSC to threaten even tougher sanctions.



Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on two Chinese companies for engaging in ship-to-ship transfers of oil and coal, criticizing them for helping the North avoid the international measures.



The U.S. Department of State is also urging the South Korea to not engage in activities that go against the sanctions.



Last week, the department warned a South Korean company, which illegally imported North Korean coal, saying that Washington would take "unilateral action" against any organizations facilitating the evasion of sanctions.



"The U.S. will not hesitate to take unilateral action against entities that conduct prohibited activities or facilitate evasion of sanctions," the Voice of America (VOA) quoted a department official as saying last week.



Politicians here also urged the government to take measures to ensure there will be no recurrence of the recent incident.



"The government should keep in mind that strict sanctions are the shortcut to realize the North's denuclearization," Rep. Yoo Ki-june of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said in a press conference at the National Assembly, Wednesday.



He said the government should be aware that countless unreported illegal oil transfers may be taking place currently.



"South Korea, as a relevant party in handling the regime's denuclearization, should strictly monitor any acts that breach the sanctions on the regime," he said.

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo stands to attention after receiving the Legion of Merit, a top U.S. government decoration given to foreign military personnel, from his former counterpart, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense



By Park Ji-won



South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo has received a top U.S. military award for strengthening the alliance between the countries and promoting peace while working as chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the defense ministry said Wednesday.



U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, who served as Jeong's counterpart, conferred the Legion of Merit, an award given to foreign military officials with exceptionally meritorious conduct, on Jeong in Washington D.C., Tuesday.



The U.S. military commended Jeong for his role in cementing the relationship between South Korea and the U.S. and promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to the ministry.



Dunford praised Jeong for his close cooperation with the U.S. He said the South's defense minister has exceptional leadership skills and insights allowing him to make wise decisions in regards to establishing peace on the peninsula.



Jeong, who served as the JCS chief from August 2017 to September 2018, visited Washington for talks with acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan on the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON). They have launched the Special Permanent Military Committee (SPMC) and agreed to have talks monthly to discuss the matter.



"I am extremely honored to receive the U.S. Army's top decoration given to a foreign army and give thanks to the U.S. government and U.S. Department of Defense," Jeong said.



"This decoration is given not just to me, but it is one that I receive on behalf of all South Korean soldiers. I will do my best for the honor of both South Korean and U.S. troops and the development of the robust South Korea-U.S. alliance."



Jeong, meanwhile, told reporters there is no plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Seoul and the allies are monitoring the activities of a missile launch site in Tongchang-ri, North Korea.

Officials prepare for video reunions of families separated in the 1950-53 Korean War, at the Korean Red Cross headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung, Joint Press Corps



The government is speeding up preliminary works for the video reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, starting repairs and maintenance on designated venues for the event.



The Ministry of Unification started work Wednesday on 13 reunion venues across the country. It will be completed by the end of this month, the ministry said.



Work includes replacing and repairing some outdated telecommunications devices here, as the two Koreas have not had video family reunions since November 2007.



"We are unable to use network, telecommunication and video devices of the past, so it is necessary for us to carry out the overall renovation," Jung Jae-eun, chief of the Korean Red Cross' inter-Korean affairs office, said.



He said it has not been decided whether North Korea will use the same network equipment for the event.



"The two sides need more contact for working-level negotiations and it is likely that the North will use the same equipment as that of the South," Jung said. "But details should be fine-tuned through negotiations."



The South plans to test the facilities for two weeks when the work is finished at the end of the month.



Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said the government puts priority on clear pictures during the event, as most of the separated family members are elderly.



"On the technology side, we focus on generating clear images from the network and visual devices," he said at a media briefing.



The two Koreas agreed to carry out the video family reunions during the inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last September in Pyongyang.



The decision came amid inter-Korean reconciliation last year when the North offered to denuclearize and make efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula.



Baik said specific timelines for the video reunions have not been fixed.



"We are going to start working-level negotiations with the North after finishing internal discussions with relevant authorities," he said.



"We will make more internal preparations for the event and proceed with the negotiations with the North afterwards."



But the outlook for smooth progress of the event remains uncertain, as North Korea recently showed signs of returning to the past in the wake of the failure of the Hanoi summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in February.



With the much-anticipated summit ending in failure, the North expressed discontent over the attitude of the U.S., threatening to resume its nuclear armament.



Last month, the North also abruptly withdrew officials from the inter-Korean liaison office in Gaeseong, North Korea.

The American Red Cross is encouraging donors to give blood or platelets during National Volunteer Month this April by offering a little extra incentive in honor of the final season of HBOs Game of Thrones.

Those who come to donate blood by April 30 will be automatically entered for a chance to win a full-size Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. Terms and conditions apply and are available at RedCrossBlood.org/HBOGameofThrones . Additionally, all presenting donors from April 11 to 30 will receive a commemorative Bleed For The Throne poster, while supplies last , and automatically be entered in the sweepstakes.GREENWICH  Former Ambassador Tom Niles spoke Wednesday morning to the Retired Mens Association of Greenwich about foreign policy under President Donald Trump.

Niles his 36 years of experience and insights in the U.S. Foreign Service He has served as the U.S. ambassador to Canada from 1985 to 1989, ambassador to the European Union from 1989 to 1991, assistant secretary of state for Europe and Canada from 1991 to 1993 and ambassador to Greece from 1993 to 1997.SHELTON  Its the talk among city parents in lunchrooms, at bus stops, at Veterans Memorial Park and on the Shelton residents Facebook page.

People are asking why Shelton High School Headmaster Beth Smith was placed on administrative leave last week, and whats going to happen now.

There have been no specific answers, although city officials have confirmed a criminal investigation of Shelton High staff members after an undisclosed incident last week involving two students.

The reasons should be made available to parents, Amy Jaffer said Wednesday, as she waited for her son to get off his bus near the Plumb Memorial Library. These are people we put put in charge of a children, if any wrongdoing has been done, parents need to know.

Mayor Mark Lauretti has acknowledged that Shelton police and the states attorneys office are conducting an investigation involving multiple staff members. So far the only announced suspension has been of Smith.

Police Chief Shawn Sequeira, a retired state police detective who once worked for the state Department of Children and Families, has said his department is looking into whether school personnel followed state law. But he has specified which laws pertained to this case.

Obviously, everyone wants to know what actually happened, Anuja Goyal said as she walked downtown, watching her son ride his bike. There has been no public discussion.

There have been a number of controversies at Shelton High in the last few years.

In 2011, student James Tate attracted worldwide attention  which helped overturn a decision by Smith to bar him from attending the prom after taping foot-high letters on the outside of the high school, asking a girlfriend to go with him.

In 2015, six teenage Shelton girls had to alter or replace their prom gowns after school officials deemed the outfits too revealing.

In 2016, the parents of a Shelton High student killed in a car crash prevailed on the Board of Education to issue a posthumous diploma for their son.

Last year, after petitions were circulated by seniors Justin Hafele and Tiana Boccuzzi, Superintendent of Schools Chris Clouet canceled plans to hold graduation ceremonies at Ansonias Nolan Field because of ongoing turf field renovations at Shelton Highs Finn Field.

Matt Horvath, a Shelton High sophomore, said hes noticed no changes at school since Smith was placed on leave and Assistant Principal John Skerritt took over her responsibilities.

Mr. Skerritt moved right in, Horvath said. But Horvath said he, too, wonders what is going on.

The matter did not come up during Wednesdays special meeting of the Board of Education, where the agenda was limited to the budget and redistricting, with no public comment session. The next scheduled school board meeting is April 23.

A notice remained posted on the Shelton Public Schools website and includes: SHS Principal, Dr. Beth Smith, will be out on administrative leave until further notice. This is a personnel matter.

Editors note: An earlier version of this story said Shelton High School Headmaster Beth Smith was suspended. According to Shelton Superintendent of Schools Chris Clouet, Smith not suspended but was placed on paid administrative leave, which does not imply any wrongdoing.WESTPORT  Ordinances to ban single-use plastics and the sale of recreational marijuana currently under consideration by the Representative Town Meeting are moving closer to a vote.

The ban on single-use plastics, which would prohibit plastic food containers, straws, stirrers and cups in local restaurants, is being spearheaded by RTM member Andrew Colabella along with his eight co-sponsors.

Colabella first presented the proposed ordinance at the March 5 meeting, and the ban is expected to come before the RTM for a vote on April 24 meeting, he said.

Since the bans introduction, the RTM Ordinance Committee added language to allow some restaurants who cant wash dishes on-site to hand out single-use plastic plates and utensils.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends some food establishments provide single-use plastic kitchenware if they cant clean reusable dishes, Colabella said.

It would be a facility that doesnt meet minimum dish-washing requirements or doesnt have the facilities to wash plates and silverware. It would be a smaller facility, Westport Weston Health District Director Mark Cooper.

Some food shops need to provide single-use dishes instead of reusable ones because they dont have septic tanks with the capacity for water needed to wash dishes or are located near a waterway where dishwashing waste would be a concern, Colabella said.

Those establishments who need to provide single-use plastic kitchenware may apply to the Director of Health for exemption after exhausting all viable alternatives, the proposed ordinance now reads.

I think the ordinance is hitting everything on the head, Colabella said, noting the text is a near-copy of the single-use plastic ban passed in Seattle in July.

The ordinance unanimously passed the RTMs environment and ordinance committees and also has support from several local organizations, including Sustainable Westport.

The pot ban, meanwhile, is not as far along.

First introduced by co-sponsors Greg Kraut and Jimmy Izzo, the recreational pot shop ban will likely come before the RTM for a vote in May or June.

The goal of the ordinance is simply no retail sales of recreational marijuana in Westport and thats what were trying to get with the legal language, Izzo said. Were just saying you cant buy marijuana for recreational use in Westport.

The proposed ordinance comes on the heels of the Planning and Zoning Commissions approval last June of a medical marijuana shop in town, which is set to open on the Post Road this summer.

All businesses engaged in the retail sale, use or distribution of marijuana and/or marijuana products for nonmedical use are prohibited within the Town of Westport, the proposed ordinance reads.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, second from right, celebrates at his election campaign office in Tongyeong's Buksin-dong area in South Gyeongsang Province after claiming a parliamentary seat representing Tongyeong-Goseong in Wednesday's bi-elections, April 3. Yonhap



The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and the leftist Justice Party each won one parliamentary seat in Wednesday's by-elections, in what could be a barometer of public sentiment ahead of next year's general elections.



The elections were held to pick two lawmakers and three local councilors in three provinces, including South Gyeongsang Province in the country's southeastern region.



Voter turnout for the by-elections as a whole reached 48 percent, according to the election watchdog. The turnout for parliamentary elections came to 51.2 percent.



The elections were seen as a litmus test of voter sentiment ahead of the nationwide parliamentary elections slated for April 2020.



The main focus was placed on two parliamentary seats up for grabs in districts of South Gyeongsang Province  the industrial city of Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and Tongyeong-Goseong, 450 km southeast of the capital.



Yeo Young-guk of the minor Justice Party won in Changwon by a narrow margin after it and the ruling Democratic Party (DP) merged their candidacies to muster liberal votes last week. Jeong Jeom-sig of the LKP secured the seat in Tongyeong-Goseong.





Yeo Young-guk of the minor Justice Party, left, hugs the party chairwoman Lee Jeong-mi at his election campaign office in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, April 3, after winning his parliamentary seat representing the city in Wednesday's bi-elections. Yonhap



Yeo, a former labor activist, beat Kang Ki-youn of the LKP. while Jeong, a former prosecutor, won a victory against Yang Moon-seok of the ruling party.









Liberal politicians have received strong voter support in Changwon, as liberal candidates have been selected in three of the four general elections since 2004. Conservative contenders have held firm in Tongyeong on the southeast coast.



The DP and the LKP are expected to fight fiercely to take the initiative ahead of next year's elections.



In the by-elections, the DP failed to add a parliamentary seat to its current 128 posts. But it could get the Justice Party's backing in its drive to pass a set of reform bills in the third year of Moon Jae-in's presidency.



The DP clinched an overwhelming victory in the local elections last June, aided by strong support for Moon and his drive for peace with North Korea.



But the public support rating for Moon and the DP has declined, dented by the economic downturn and stalled denuclearization talks between the United States and the North.





The main opposition Liberty Korea Party chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, left, and the party's floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won watches ballot counting for Wednesday's bi-elections at the party's main office in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo-gu District, April 3. YonhapBy Ko Chang-nam



I participated in an international symposium to discuss a proposed East Asian Railway Community (EARC). The event was held in Seoul, March 14, to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI).



About 500 railway experts from around the world attended the symposium, including those from the Northeast Asian region  China, Russia, Mongolia and Japan  as well as the United States and Europe.



Among them many were from international organizations including the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) and the UIC (Union International des Chemins de Fer or the International Union of Railways). They gathered to discuss President Moon Jae-in's proposal to build a railway community in East Asia.



Dr. Park Jung-joon of the KRRI made a presentation on the vision of the EARC and the importance of technological cooperation for linking the Trans-Korean Railway (TKR) and the Trans-Continental Railway.



Specifically Dr. Park proposed a three-phased approach to the EARC initiative. This would include forming a consultative organization, a test operation project, and establishing a cooperative organization under the name of the initiative.



Tuguldur Baajiikhuu, director of the GTI Secretariat, also made a presentation on GTI activities and its perspective on enhancing regional transport connectivity in Northeast Asia.



As everyone knows, about seven months have passed since President Moon proposed the initiative. Since then there have been multi-layered talks on achieving the initiative.



However, there is not a single specific plan or roadmap for making it a reality. Therefore, in my opinion, now is the right time to draw up a roadmap or better still, a concrete plan to accomplish the initiative.



I would like to mention a few points regarding the fulfillment of this ambitious plan.



First of all, there are three important factors to consider in order for the EARC to become a reality: organization, budget and manpower.



For the budget, we can utilize the South-North Cooperation Fund and international finance organizations to provide money for the project. Regarding manpower, we can utilize people from various fields and government officials, as well as international experts.



However, until now, no one has officially addressed the organization necessary to bring about the EARC. We need to bring an organizational plan to the table.



In this regard, I would like to suggest utilizing the GTI as a platform for multilateral dialogue or discussion. In this context, I raised a question about Dr. Park's first phase of forming a consultative organization: "Why don't we utilize the GTI Secretariat as a consultative organization for the East Asia Railway Community because the GTI is pushing forward with a plan to make itself an international organization?"



In response, Tuguldur said the GTI was ready to play a role as a platform for dialogue, discussion and consultation on railway cooperation in East Asia.



Secondly, I would also like to suggest to the government that it make efforts to persuade North Korea to rejoin the GTI in the near future.



North Korea withdrew from the GTI in November 2009, upset with the lack of foreign direct investment and angered by the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program. Since then, the North has not rejoined the GTI mainly because of geopolitical reasons.



However, with political tension eased after the inauguration of the Moon government in 2017, the environment is improving, though to be sure, some setbacks exist. Therefore, it is the right time for North Korea to rejoin the GTI for multilateral cooperation in Northeast Asia.



Thirdly, we need to accelerate international cooperation to establish the EARC. An outstanding example of international cooperation regarding the community is the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's trip to Hanoi by train to hold a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.



We cannot overemphasize the importance of international cooperation in Northeast Asia. It seems that North Korea also realizes this because the country has increased its international presence these days.



To sum up, I hope the global agenda of the EARC will be an icebreaker for facilitating international dialogue amid the deadlock between Kim and Trump over nuclear issues after the breakdown of their second summit.





Ko Chang-nam is a former economic affairs officer of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

By Pattharapong Rattanasevee



The outcome of Thailand's 2019 general election, the first since the military took power in a coup in 2014, has been murky. With a lot of concerns and reports over a delay, amid fraud and alleged voting irregularities, this could cause grave difficulties in redrawing the country's political direction.



The Election Commission has until May 9, however, to release the official results. The process of negotiations to form a coalition government with third parties has begun as two have claimed a mandate: The Thaksin-aligned Pheu Thai which won 137 out of 350 constituency seats and the pro-military Palang Pracharat Party who that took 97 seats, but inched ahead in the popular poll with 8.4 million, according to the unofficial release of the total number of votes.



By the way, according to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, the new government is unlikely to take shape until a coronation ceremony in May.



Interestingly, there was a rising star in this election, the newly-formed Future Forward Party (FFP) led by tycoon-turned-politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, receiving 6.2million votes at the latest count, making it appear as Thailand's third-strongest party.



The party has become hugely popular among young voters through presenting itself as one of the anti-military (but pro-Thaksin) parties as well as its modern take on politics and attractive social media campaigning.



Targeting young voters and disenfranchised citizens, it called for the abolishment of the military-drafted constitution, a cut in the defense budget and the removal of any possibility of a military coup in the future.



These ambitious commitments have raised serious doubts as to whether they can be achieved, considering several constraints within the Thai political system, and whether they will trigger severe political conflicts. Just after launching the party, Thanathorn presented it as an alternative to the established parties, promising to heal political rifts.



Recently, Thanathorn stated on BBC Thai, "Thai politics has clearly transformed from anti/pro-Thaksin polarization into anti/pro-military government." Nevertheless, after analyzing the election results and the fall of the anti-Thaksin Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest political party, which had been the second-strongest in previous elections but has now lost its stronghold in Bangkok and many southern provinces, his assertion may be proven wrong.



Among most first-time voters, it might be true that the continuity of the military government was their most important concern, but among the rest of the country it might be not.



Just before the election, Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democrat Party's leader, significantly announced that he did not support the military government and also would not ally with the pro-military party in a post-election coalition. Such positioning seemed to polarize voters into three camps and dissatisfied its loyal supporters which are mainly anti-Thaksin.



As a consequence, the large number of votes that should have belonged (or used to belong) to the Democrats have been directed to support the Palang Pracharat Party, evidently resulting in its huge number of votes, because people perhaps thought that the military would be a more effective way to fight Thaksin's influence in Thai politics.



In fact, none of the voters in Thailand really wanted to be subject to oppression under military rule unless something more important, peace and order, was considered worth sacrificing for. Thus, Thanathorn's rhetoric was just an illusion concealing the reality.



Furthermore, apart from the anti/pro-Thaksin political polarization, the FFP phenomenon has significantly triggered "a new level of political divide" within Thai society.



Reportedly, severe disagreements and bitter quarrels over opposite political stances between the young and the old occurred in some families and at workplaces, separating mothers from their children, grandfathers from their beloved grandchildren, teachers from students and even bosses from employees.



Some people acted aggressively toward people voting for the opposition, blaming them or treating them as fools. This battle of the generations has been increasingly evidenced on the internet and social media and is starting to go beyond politics.



Political discussion has been denied in public in order to preserve a peaceful and friendly gathering atmosphere. This may be comparable to the U.K.'s current Brexit experience whereby the young chose to remain within the EU while the old voted to leave.



On the whole, post-election Thailand will see a rocky transition back to democracy, as the military is certain to remain an influential force in politics. The political arena is likely to return to the pro- and anti-Thaksin rhetoric as in the past.



The political rift within society is back in place much earlier than expected, and this time deeper, bitter, multilayered and more intensified, and as such could inevitably break into violence anytime. It was far from over.





Dr. Pattharapong Rattanasevee is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Science and Law, Burapha University, Thailand.







By Kwak Yeon-soo



Ki Eun-hye, a freelance interpreter in her 30s, recently made a big purchase, buying an adjustable bed for 3.8 million won ($3,450). Although she spent a significant amount of money on the new bed, she claims it has brought her life-changing benefits.



"Many still think of adjustable beds as hospital beds, but they offer unparalleled comfort. They offer a more restful sleep, and I can read and work in bed comfortably," Ki said. "The zero gravity setting relieves back pain, giving me extra comfort."



Kang Jung-hwa, an office worker of five years, frequently goes to a nearby nap cafe during her lunch hour to recover from stress and fatigue.



"I visit nap cafes whenever I don't have lunch meetings," Kang said. "I like the cozy atmosphere, and lying in a hammock refreshes me."



Like Ki and Kang, more and more Koreans are opening their wallets, despite stagnant income growth and the tight job market, to purchase goods and services that help them get a good night's sleep.



According to the latest sleep study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Korea was placed the lowest in regards to the amount of sleep people enjoyed out of 26 countries surveyed.



The survey found that the average Korean sleeps seven hours and 41 minutes per night, 41 minutes shorter than the OECD average.



Data from the National Health Insurance Service shows that the number of South Koreans with sleep disorders stood at 400,035 in the first half of 2018, a sharp increase from the 450,000 recorded throughout all of 2015.



With the steady increase in the number of sleep-deprived Koreans, the "sleep" market has been growing over recent years and is expected to reach 3 trillion won ($2.64 billion) this year, according to the Korea Sleep Industry Association (KSIA). The industry is booming to such an extent that people in Korea have coined the "Konglish" term "sleeponomics" to describe it.



"As consumers are more obsessed with wellness, they feel like they have to spend a lot of money in order to get a good night's rest," an official at Shinsegae Department Store said.



"The sleep industry has expanded to include products ranging from bed sheets and pillows to lighting equipment. Among them, bed sales have grown roughly five times compared to five years ago."



Another industry analyst here said a steep rise in the number of people with sleep disturbance is seeing the introduction of a wider variety of sleep-related items, such as horsehair pillows, air purifiers and massage chairs.



Nap cafes, where people look for a quick remedy for fatigue, also continue to flourish.



Mattress manufacturer Best Sleep has been running "Best Sleep" healing cafes across the nation to offer customers relaxation and beverages.



Another home textile company Evezary has been operating "Sleep & Sleep" centers, where sleep coordinators recommend products to solve sleeping disorders.



"When we are sleep deprived, it can increase the risk of various medical conditions, including hypertension, memory loss, depression, and in cases of zero sleep, death," Kim Jee-hyun, a professor of the Department of Medicine at Dankook University, said.

By: Paige Cline Sometimes I am asked to reprint a column from the past. Here[Read More]China's President Xi Jinping, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. AFP-Yonhap



By Keegan Elmer





U.S. President Donald Trump has said he called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "king" during a visit to China 18 months ago, and said his Chinese host "liked it".



Speaking at a Republican fundraising dinner in Washington on Tuesday, Trump shared the episode with guests, apparently to underline his friendly relationship with the Chinese leader.



The revelation came a day before negotiators from the United States and China began another round of highly anticipated talks in Washington to try to end their months-long trade war.



"President Xi, who is a strong man, I call him 'king'," Trump said in a wide-ranging speech at Tuesday's dinner. "He said, 'But I am not king, I am president.' I said, 'No, you are president for life, and therefore you are king.' He said, 'Huh  huh.' He liked that. I call him 'king'. I get along with him great."





U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2017. Reuters-Yonhap



Trump said he made the remark to Xi during his visit to Beijing in November 2017  but it was only four months later that the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp legislature, passed a constitutional amendment abolishing the term limit of the Chinese presidency.



A month after Trump's visit to China, the White House published a national security strategy, in which it called China a "strategic competitor", and months later the tariffs war with China began.



Trump has been known to conduct diplomacy through flattery, touting his good relations with world leaders even during tense negotiations.



In his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Trump called Kim a "great leader" as the two sides positioned to make a historic nuclear deal for the Korean peninsula  although he had called Kim "rocket man" in 2017 when tensions were high, and a "maniac" on his campaign trail in 2015.





U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a working dinner after the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 1, 2018. Reuters-YonhapShes performed for British royalty and radio, rubbed shoulders with some of the worlds greatest classical luminaries, taught scores of aspiring musicians since the age of 12 and once tickled the ivories for silent movies as a teenager growing up in the citys West End.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/4/2019 (986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shes performed for British royalty and radio, rubbed shoulders with some of the worlds greatest classical luminaries, taught scores of aspiring musicians since the age of 12 and once tickled the ivories for silent movies as a teenager growing up in the citys West End.

Winnipegs grande dame and beloved musical matriarch, pianist and teacher Thelma Wilson, celebrates her 100th birthday on April 12. Members of her equally accomplished clan that include four children, nine grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren are flocking here from across Canada, the U.S., Europe and Iceland to help mark the auspicious occasion.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Thelma Wilson, who turns 100 this month, is regarded as the matriarch of Winnipeg's music community.

"I dont know, but since theres so much to-do about my 100th birthday, Im beginning to think its rather important," the humble musician with a dignified, regal bearing, says at a local seniors residence where she has lived for the past two-and-a-half years.

Music has been a leitmotif running throughout her life for nearly a century, her treasured grand piano only an arms length or two away in her living room.

In fact, Wilson, who retired only seven years ago, launched into an excerpt from Schumanns Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), flawlessly performed from memory during this interview  surely the most poignant performance of this entire season.

SUPPLIED Thelma and husband Kerr Wilson at their 50th wedding anniversary in 1991.

"All my life, I have wanted to play the piano, and its always been a big part of my life," says Wilson, her mind still sharp as a tack.

"I would rather play piano than read a book, and still play as much as I can although my hands are beginning to get older," she adds with a laugh.

I would rather play piano than read a book, and still play as much as I can although my hands are beginning to get older."

Born on April 12, 1919 to the children of Icelandic pioneers who first settled in Manitobas "New Iceland" Interlake district during the early 1890s, Wilson began piano lessons at age five with her mother Helga (nee Kjernested), and briefly violin with her father Bjorn Guttormson, ultimately choosing the keyboard instrument because her mother was "more fun."

After her parents realized that their eldest of four children  Wilsons sole remaining sibling, kid brother Norman, 95, lives in Saskatchewan  possessed natural talent, the young girl continued lessons with Louis McDowell, the renowned local teacher and graduate of Germanys Leipzig Conservatory, diligently practising her weekly assignment of pieces by her favourite composers, including Chopin, Beethoven, Bach and Liszt for up to four hours a day.

Her lifelong love for teaching started at 12 when she began accepting her own pupils  many of them older than their pre-teenaged teacher  and charged a princely sum of 25 cents a lesson.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Wilson with a photo of her son Eric Wilson, a cello professor at UBC who co-founded the Emerson String Quartet.

Wilson quickly became a collaborative pianist of note, accompanying school choirs at General Wolfe School and later Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute during their regular concerts, as well as the annual Manitoba Music Competition Festival, forerunner of the Winnipeg Music Festival, also birthed in 1919.

Success came early after her choir earned the festivals top award, leading to an invitation to perform at the Winnipeg Civic Auditorium  original playground for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for 40 years  during its gala opener in 1931.

Now a member of the Winnipeg Music Teachers Association, Wilson received a "thrilling opportunity" through that organization to meet world-renowned artists gracing the auditorium stage for its "Celebrity Concert Series," including such notables as Myra Hess, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Percy Grainger, Marian Anderson, Jascha Heifetz and Vladimir Horowitz.

She met her future husband, lyric baritone J. Kerr Wilson, while accompanying Gilbert & Sullivan productions at her school. Kerr, originally a violinist, had begun to sing principal roles in the annual shows, with Thelma quickly becoming his regular collaborative pianist for his various performances at festivals, recitals and auditions.

The duo made beautiful music together, continuing to harmonize their lives as they embarked on their first weekly recital program for a local radio station. The couple wed on Oct. 11, 1941, rented their first home, and bought a grand piano "on time" with their banked wages from the radio show, building a life together steeped in music.

Two of their four children, acclaimed Canadian cellist Eric Wilson, a co-founder of the Emerson String Quartet and longtime cello professor at the University of British Columbia, and Kerrine Wilson, a local pianist, organist and teacher, recall growing up in their Kingston Row home teeming with laughter.

JEFF DE BOOY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Thelma Wilson, Icelandic Festival volunteer.

"Every room was full of music," Kerrine recalls.

"It was like a conservatory of sound," Eric says over the phone from Vancouver.

Music is something that you dont put into a child. If it is there, you just draw it out."

Eric, Kerrine and Victoria, B.C.-based violinist son Carlisle, a former Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra member and conductor for the Winnipeg Youth Orchestra formed their own chamber group, The Wilson Trio, and would fine-tune their repertoire in their bedrooms while their mother taught downstairs and their father polished his latest ballad in the living room.

Youngest son Mark continued to hone his own artistic skills as a visual artist, now living in Iceland with his family as a businessman.

One of Wilsons fondest memories is being invited to give a command performance for a youthful Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during their 1959 visit to Winnipegs Government House, receiving a call out of the blue from the wife of then-lieutenant governor John Steward McDiarmid, with the request that would rattle the nerves of even the most seasoned artist.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Thelma Wilson (right) and her daughter, Kerrine Wilson.

However, Wilson, ever a consummate professional, reveals her greatest concern was not the actual recital itself, but learning how to curtsy properly in front of the monarch  ultimately mastering the skill in time for their performance of Sir Edward Germans The English Rose from Merrie England.

"All ladies should curtsy before the Queen, and I was so afraid I would fall," she says. "But I didnt fall. I wasnt afraid of playing the piano because that was like being at home."

However, the tale doesnt end there. As the event came to an end, Wilson recounts how the Queen went upstairs to retrieve her fur stole.

Wilsons charismatic Irish husband, who died June 11, 2006, had become so infused by the spirit of the moment that he bounded after the Royal, planting himself squarely at the foot of the staircase and belting out an a cappella version of Will Ye No Come Back Again as the Queens personal troubadour.

Another memorable highlight for Wilson was accompanying Eric during the 1971 Geneva International Competition in Switzerland, where they won a bronze medal in a competition of 65 chamber groups from all over the globe  a personal thrill for Wilson, who says performing extensively with her son throughout the years felt wholly "natural."

But teaching has always been closest to her heart, inspiring multiple generations of students, including her own grandchildren and great-grandchildren into her early 90s.

"What I enjoyed most was working with the individual, because I always considered the person first, and then the music," she explains. "Music is something that you dont put into a child. If it is there, you just draw it out."

"I like to quote Beethoven. He said, 'One who loves music will never be unhappy. And I believe that.

However, what Wilson is most proud of is her vibrant family, often referred to in local circles as a "dynasty," with Wilson its revered elder and matriarch.

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In addition to watching her own children grow into noteworthy established artists, she takes great delight following her granddaughter, New York City-based conductor Keri-Lynn Wilsons stellar career, who graduated (as did Eric) from the Juilliard School in New York City and travels the world to lead orchestras, including the WSO in January 2018.

Another granddaughter, Tiffany Wilson, teaches locally and serves as president for the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers Association, a high-profile position that Wilson also held between 1975-79.

Now poised to begin her next grand chapter as a centenarian  and still going strong  Wilson doesnt miss a beat when asked what music has meant to her personally.

"Its been my life, and also my husband, and my childrens lives. Its been part of our daily living," she responds. "And you know, I like to quote Beethoven. He said, 'One who loves music will never be unhappy. And I believe that."

holly.harris@shaw.caWinnipeg is one of three stops on a summer national tour of 20 internationally recognized artists from India and Canada.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg is one of three stops on a summer national tour of 20 internationally recognized artists from India and Canada.

The Winnipeg Art Gallery will host Vision Exchange: Perspectives from India to Canada from May 11 to Sept. 8. Featuring more than 100 pieces of art, the show represents a watershed in the citys artistic profile.

It was organized by the National Gallery of Canada with the Art Gallery of Alberta, and Edmonton and Toronto are the only other cities to land stopovers.

The WAG jumped at the chance to host the exhibit.

"Fortunately we have an excellent relationship with the National Gallery of Canada and we have a very good relationship wit the Art Gallery of Alberta," says WAG director and CEO Stephen Borys.

Vision Exchange is a first for Manitoba and it was an important cultural fit because it reflects an immigrant population that has chosen to put down roots here and contribute to the city's growth.

"Winnipeg has one of the largest South Asian, East Asian populations, and this is a chance for us to expand the conversation with the community. In this case we are expanding the dialogue about culture, about society, about geography, history and politics," Borys adds.

The collection draws from the National Gallery and from private collections and artists in Canada, Delhi and Mumbai.

Old Kildonan Coun. Devi Sharma will serve as honorary patron for the Winnipeg stop. She is Winnipegs first Indo-Canadian city councillor and her patronage signals the shows importance to Winnipeg.

"Winnipegs South Asian community continues to grow and Vision Exchange is a unique opportunity to come together to share stories and reflect, while also celebrating the art and culture of the land," Sharma said in WAG's announcement.

Divya Mehra, one of the 20 artists whose work will be shown, is from Winnipeg. Mehras body of work focuses on the long-term effects of colonization and institutional racism, a topic that will be familiar to gallery visitors from a Canadian context.

India, like Canada, was a British colony. It was partitioned into Pakistan and India in 1947 when the British Rai relinquished its nearly century-long hold on the subcontinent under the Indian independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, whose non-violent brand of civil disobedience inspired similar human-rights movements around the world.

"That was the thing that struck me. All of the discussions we've been having at the WAG, addressing the issue of colonialism and giving voice to it, as soon as I read about the history (in India) especially of partition, I realized this is another country, in a different but similar way, with a colonial legacy," says Andrew Kear, the WAG's head of collections and exhibitions.

Part of that legacy plays out in a comical but bittersweet way with one of Mehra's works: a 2.5-metre-high bouncy castle in the shape of the Taj Mahal. The site is a tomb built in 1632 by an emperor to pay homage to his favourite wife and, for centuries, it was regarded as a holy site venerated for its architecture. Today's pilgrims are mostly tourists who pay homage to the love story of the once powerful ruler for his lost beloved.

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"We've probably shown Indian artists here and there in the past, but in terms of a real focused look at contemporary art in India, this is the first one. It's a response to a group of artists and a demographic we haven't addressed," Kear says.

The exhibition was organized by Art Gallery of Alberta chief curator Catherine Crowston and National Gallery associate curator Jonathan Shaughnessy. It launched at the Edmonton Gallery and moved on to the Art Museum at the University of Toronto until March 23.

The show features a framework woven from an interdisciplinary collaboration among painters, sculptors, photographers, writers and filmmakers that ran from 1969 to 1972 in Delhi and Mumbai, then still known by its colonial name, Bombay.

The National Gallery of Canada described the exhibition as interweaving political, cultural and social themes with three overlapping arcs: the reframing of historical narratives from non-western perspectives; the issues of sovereignty, shifting borders and relationships with the land; and the realities of exile, migration and diaspora.

The other artists featured in the show include Ashim Ahluwalia, Sarindar Dhaliwal, Atul Dodiya, Gauri Gill, Tanya Goel, Shilpa Gupta, Sunil Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Reena Saini Kallat, Amar Kanwar, Bharti Kher, Akbar Padamsee, Jagdeep Raina, Raqs Media Collective, Dayanita Singh, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, Vivan Sundaram, Thukral + Tagra and Rajesh Vangad.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.caWhen it comes to engaging young students in science, a group of seventh graders at All Hallows Academy may be proof that finding their interests is key.

Tapping into those interests and creating science experiments around them, led three students to First Place wins in their fields at the 64th annual Greater San Diego County Science & Engineering Fair in mid-March in Balboa Park.

Heading into the statewide competition are Sholeh Mozaffari, Summer Stys and Julia DeAndrade. They will proceed to the California Science & Engineering Fair, April 29-30, in Exposition Park, just south of downtown Los Angeles, where 900 participants from 400 schools will present some 800 projects to compete for awards totaling $60,000.

There is a science to everything, and I like using science in an interactive way, Sholeh told La Jolla Light. This makes it more interesting and fun. Its really important to find something youre interested in  and apply science to it (when working on fair project).

Summer added: When I was in second grade, I was very into geology  I still am  but as I got older, I started to like chemistry and kitchen sciences, and I helped out with cooking and baking. Once you find the aspect of science you like, you can stick with it and really make it work. I never thought I was a science person, but I surprised myself by finding an area of science that worked for me.

For schoolmate Mary Tyson, who did not make it to State, but was recognized for her participation in the County-level fair, it was an introduction to engineering that opened her eyes to science.

I remember at (All Hallows Academys) Science Night a few years ago, we had the opportunity to build little houses by sticking toothpicks in gumdrops and it was so fun. I loved doing it, and didnt realize that was science. I thought science was boring  I started to realize that there were a lot of interesting fields within science, she said.

In addition to the three State Fair-bound young scientists, several All Hallows students did well in local science competitions.

24 of our students competed against each other at Science Night and had to come up with their own experiments and do the whole process themselves, said All Hallows science teacher Chelsea Humkey. They were judged by representatives from the local science community  an engineer, bio-tech scientist and a doctor of chemistry, etc.

From there, 13 students were chosen to compete for the County competition, and from those 13, eight were approved and went on to the County Science Fair. Of those eight, Sholeh, Summer and Julia will proceed to State.

All Hallows Academy seventh grader Julia DeAndrade next to her Science Night display about her experiment. Courtesy

Julias project

Julia said she sought to determine which surface  between cement, grass, asphalt and sand  would reflect the most amount of ultraviolet rays.

I was trying to figure out which surface would be the safest and which the most harmful for kids, because many parks and playgrounds have one of those surfaces, she said. I used UV measuring beads and a UV reading card and placed them above the surfaces to measure the reflection each surface had. I learned that the sand surface was the most reflective and the grass was the least reflective.

Of the State competition, Julia added: This is a great opportunity because I never participated before and Im excited to experience it and see how its going to be.

Sholehs project

Sholeh measured how different hair types respond to different chemical processes. She treated African American, Caucasian and Asian hair with texturizers and different volume developers (a product that activates hair dye) to see which would change the most and least.

My mom was a cosmetologist for 12 years and she always talked about working on different types of hair, so I thought this would be something interesting to explore, Sholeh said. She found that depending on the type of product applied, different hair types did respond differently (some in line with her hypothesis, some contrary to it).

Summers project

Summer tested how a drinks sugar content would relate to its temperature after a timed period. Im really interested in cooking, but I always wondered why I was cautioned when dealing with sugary things, she said. This project could help with safety and understanding how to cook with sugary things. If sugars are not watched, they can bubble over or burn something, she said.

Summer boiled water, coconut water, Gatorade, Sprite and Red bull on a hot stove for five minutes and recorded the temperature and then repeated the process until each drink had been tested 10 times. The she averaged the temperature. The results showed me that the higher the sugar content, the hotter it will be, she said. My hypothesis was correct.

Marys project

Mary swabbed the tables at a handful of La Jolla restaurants and tested them for bacteria and found (brace yourself) one had more than 600 bacterial colonies, and all the rest had at least 50 colonies.

It was very surprising, there was E coli, salmonella, food poisoning, strep, a lot of strep actually, and staph. It was terrible, she said.

Joey Zabrockis project

Joey Zabrocki also participated in the County competition. His project was to test the strength of duct tape compared to flex tape.

I put some one-inch pieces on my stairway  in between the rail  and, using a digital gauge, pulled on them to measure how much weight it would take to break the seal, he said. The flex tape could hold 36 pounds of pressure and the duct tape could only hold 7 pounds, so there was a big difference.

Joey reports playing with Lego blocks as a child, and wanting to be an engineer when he grows up. My dad is in the Navy and they do work underwater, and since you could use these underwater, it made me want to do this project, he said.

Julia, Summer and Sholeh also report feeling drawn to study science as young(er) children.

My dad is a physicist and I remember in preschool, he would come to school and do these cool presentations. I remember seeing him up there with these steaming chemicals and it seemed so interesting, Julia said.

Summer added: My dad is a surveyor in the engineering field, so whenever he saw me playing with Lego or exploring, he would encourage me to keep exploring.OTTAWA  A third Canadian canola company has been subject to questionable restrictions from China in recent weeks as Ottawa warns against escalating the spat.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/4/2019 (986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A third Canadian canola company has been subject to questionable restrictions from China in recent weeks as Ottawa warns against escalating the spat.

"Theres another company that has a non-compliance (order)," Fred Gorrell, a senior official with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), told reporters Tuesday.

"If they do not get compliant, there would be other implications."

China issued a "non-compliance order" on Winnipeg-based Richardson International and Viterra before halting all imports of canola seed from those two companies last month. Gorrell said a third company had also received a non-compliance notice, which China transmits through the CFIA.

He did not say whether the issue with the third firm occurred closer to January or April.

In one of two House committee hearings on the issue Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said she was "not allowed to share" the name of the third affected canola firm.

Gorrell, who has overseen Canadas responses when China raised other concerns about canola in the past, testified Tuesday that he expects face-to-face meetings with officials would bear some progress.

"I have strong confidence in what were doing."

He also clarified China hasnt officially raised any such concern about non-canola crops, despite media reports suggesting otherwise.

On Thursday, a working group consisting of the three Prairie provinces, industry groups and federal scientists will have its first telephone call, Bibeau said.

She confirmed not having reached out to the Chinese ambassador, saying her officials will first speak with counterparts in China to secure an invitation letter, which is required to apply for a visa.

Chinas embassy in Ottawa released a statement this past Saturday, saying the country first detected "quarantine pests in imported Canadian canola" on Jan. 4, and that the issue came up four times after that.

"The two sides have been maintaining communication on technical matters in this regard," the embassy wrote, though the country "has continuously intercepted quarantine organisms."

The statement insisted customs officers raised "legitimate, reasonable" concerns "in compliance with" local and international laws.

MPs expressed skepticism toward that claim Tuesday, noting Chinas foreign ministry had said just three days prior Canada should "promote the sound and steady development of bilateral relations" and "take some concrete measures to correct its previous mistakes."

Neepawa-area MP Robert Sopuck said the Liberals might have to escalate their approach.

"Theyre playing real hardball and, quite frankly, theyve come across like an unreliable customer," the Conservative MP told the Free Press.

Sopuck said its clear China is retaliating for last Decembers arrest in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States.

Earlier Tuesday, Richardson International CEO Curt Vossen testified that farmers are already switching to less profitable crops.

Canada exported $2.7 billion of canola seed to China last year. "It has probably consistently been the most effective cash-generating crop for western Canadian farmers," he testified in Ottawa.

"While we are confident that we can eventually find other markets, it will not be a painless exercise."

He expected "a scaling back of the acreage in Western Canada this spring" from five to 15 per cent, "in light of these developments."

Meanwhile, Rick White, head of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, noted Ottawas cash-advance program issued $116 million to roughly 1,200 farmers Monday, the first day of the program, to have extra liquidity to deal with issues like the canola spat.

In past years, that pot of money helped offset losses caused by railway backlogs.

"This program is on fire and it needs to expand because they are going to hit the lid on it."

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International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr testified that hes "working the phones" to find where Canadian farmers can export their canola, despite the market rate dropping by a tenth.

Carr would not provide any examples of how Ottawa would proceed if its current approach yields no progress, or say whether hes considering launching a case at the World Trade Organization.

"If theres a problem, we will work toward solving the problem. If there isnt, then we have to move on," he testified, saying hes been "waiting for a while now for Chinese officials to show us that they have evidence that contradicts ours."

The Free Press surveyed six major canola companies, asking whether they received such a notice.

G3 Canada declined to comment, as did Parrish and Heimbecker as well as Louis Dreyfus Co. Meanwhile, ADM, Cargill and Paterson Grain did not provide an answer by deadline.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.caThursdays second Quadrant Behavioural Finance Conference at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, organized and hosted by the Asper School of Business, is not going to cause all the downtown hotels to fill up.

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Thursdays second Quadrant Behavioural Finance Conference at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, organized and hosted by the Asper School of Business, is not going to cause all the downtown hotels to fill up.

But the prestigious academic finance conference is becoming a signature event for the Asper School, leveraging the schools research specialization in human behaviour.

The academic conference is bringing in experts in the field from around the world, including one of the founders of behavioural finance research, Meir Statman from Santa Clara University, as well as no less than five officials from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia who are presenting a paper titled "The Financial Consequences of Identity Theft: Evidence from Consumer Credit Bureau Records."

Gady Jacoby, dean of the Asper School, said, "One of my strategic goals is to enhance the research reputation of the school, and the best way to do that is to capitalize on our current strength, which is in behavioural management."

Thats not just in the area of finance, but also includes management, human resources and consumer behaviour.

Including Statman from Santa Clara and the officials from Philadelphia, leading academic experts presenting at the conference will be coming from as far away as the University of Mannheim in Germany, Tilburg University in the Netherlands, Tsinghua University in Beijing and from universities across the U.S.

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The events lead sponsor is Quadrant Private Wealth, a Winnipeg private wealth manager, which has also encouraged sponsorship from a handful of prestigious Canadian portfolio managers.

Murray Palay, executive chairman and portfolio manager at Quadrant, said hes happy to help the Asper School create a prestigious event like this to help grow its own name and reputation.

"Universities in other cities have these types of people come to speak to classes and faculty and students all the time. But Winnipeg is not on the radar," he said. "But why not Winnipeg? Most people dont realize that, other than the banks, the largest base of head offices for financial institutions (in Canada) is here."

The conference is to be held here every two years and Jacoby said the first one has inspired a lot of research from Asper faculty and PhD students into behavioural management studies.

"My goal is to leverage this strength in order to push the reputation of the school," Jacoby said. "So, in the future the plan is to have not just a behavioural finance research conference, sponsored by Quadrant, but also to have an annual behavioural management conference."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.caLONDON - With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Prime Minister Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek a further delay to Brexit as U.K. politicians sought a compromise solution to the crisis.

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LONDON - With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Prime Minister Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek a further delay to Brexit as U.K. politicians sought a compromise solution to the crisis.

May made the announcement after the EU's chief negotiator warned that a disruptive and costly Brexit was likely unless Britain broke the impasse that has paralyzed the government and Parliament.

After failing repeatedly to win Parliament's backing for her Brexit blueprint, May said the country needed "national unity to deliver the national interest."

Following the defeat of the government's plan and a range of lawmaker-written alternatives, May said Britain would need a further delay to its EU departure, currently scheduled for April 12. She offered to hold talks with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find a compromise solution.

"This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer," May said in a televised statement from 10 Downing St. after an all-day Cabinet meeting.

European Council President Donald Tusk gave a cautious welcome to May's change of course.

"Even if, after today, we don't know what the end result will be, let us be patient," he tweeted  a suggestion the EU would wait for Britain to present a clear plan.

Earlier, EU negotiator Michel Barnier offered a downbeat assessment of the situation.

"As things stand now, the no-deal option looks likely. I have to tell you the truth," Barnier said in Brussels.

Barnier said "we can still hope to avoid it" if London produced a breakthrough before an April 10 EU summit.

The leaders of the EU's 27 remaining countries have given the U.K. until April 12 to leave the bloc or to come up with a new plan, after British lawmakers thrice rejected an agreement struck between the bloc and May late last year.

The House of Commons has also failed to find a majority for any alternative plan in two days of voting on multiple options.

May's statement came after a seven-hour meeting of her fractious Cabinet, which is split between supporters of a "soft Brexit" that keeps close economic ties with the EU, and Brexiteers who believe a no-deal exit is better than compromising.

May's words seemed to indicate that she was veering away from the possibility of a no-deal Brexit  but also that she has not given up on her own unloved withdrawal agreement.

Her plan is to seek approval for the legally binding agreement  which sets out in detail the terms of Britain's departure from the EU  after securing cross-party political support for a vision of future ties between the U.K. and the bloc.

If she and Corbyn fail to reach agreement, May said Parliament would get to vote on a range of options  and the government would be bound by the result. It is the first time she has committed to following the instruction of lawmakers.

May didn't indicate how long an extension she would seek from the EU, though she said she hoped Britain could pass the agreement by May 22, in time to avoid participating in elections for the European Parliament.

Corbyn said he would be "very happy" to sit down with May, even though "so far she hasn't shown much sign of compromise."

Corbyn said Labour would present May with its conditions for Brexit, which include a close economic relationship with the bloc through a customs union, maintaining high environmental standards and protecting workers' rights.

May's move infuriated pro-Brexit politicians, who say Britain must cut ties to the EU in order to forge an independent economic policy.

"I think people will feel very short-changed," said former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a prominent pro-Brexit voice in Parliament.

But May's words brought relief for those who fear the effects of a no-deal Brexit, which would complicate trade and travel, with new checks on borders and new regulations on dealings between the EU and Britain.

Businesses have warned that the economic impact in Britain could be devastating.

Ford of Europe Chairman Steven Armstrong said "a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the automotive industry in the U.K."

Edwin Morgan, interim director general of business group the Institute of Directors, said May's statement was "a welcome step towards compromise," though there remained obstacles ahead.

"We urge the leader of the opposition to work with the prime minister to find a solution," he said. "Both sides must play ball."

Britain's political paralysis  and May's failure to get Parliament's approval for the withdrawal agreement she negotiated  have exasperated EU leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that if Britain's politicians could not agree on a way forward, "they will de facto have chosen for themselves to leave without a deal."

"We cannot avoid failure for them," Macron said before a meeting in Paris with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

But Varadkar stressed "there's still time" for May to come to the April 10 summit with "credible" proposals.

Meanwhile, British lawmakers intent on avoiding a no-deal Brexit have drawn up plans to prevent Britain crashing out of the bloc, by accident or design.

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"We are now in a really dangerous situation with a serious and growing risk of no deal," Labour Party legislator Yvette Cooper said.

Cooper introduced legislation, which Parliament is set to consider, this week, that would compel May to seek to extend the Brexit process beyond April 12 in order to prevent a no-deal departure.

___

Raf Casert reported from Brussels. Mike Corder in Halfweg, Netherlands, contributed to this story.

___

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/BrexitHey there, time traveller!

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In this February 2019 photo made available by NASA and Boeing, Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson helps NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, left, and Mike Fincke, right, train for a spacewalk inside the International Space Station Airlock Mockup at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The three are assigned to Boeing's Crew Flight Test, Starliner's first flight with crew as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner capsule, supposed to make its debut in April 2019, was pushed back until August. (NASA/Boeing via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Boeing's new space capsule for astronauts faces more launch delays.

The Starliner capsule was supposed to make its debut this month, after a series of postponements. But the first test flight is now off until August. And the second test flight, with astronauts, won't occur until late in the year.

NASA announced the revised lineup Wednesday. At the same time, officials said the first Starliner crew will remain at the International Space Station longer than the few weeks originally anticipated. The mission length will be decided later.

SpaceX, NASA's other commercial crew provider, successfully flew its new Dragon capsule without a crew to the International Space Station last month. The first flight with astronauts could be as early as this summer, but the schedule is under review.

Boeing said the last major milestones have been cleared and the capsule is almost finished. But scheduling conflicts with an early summer Air Force launch helped push the Starliner's debut into August.

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The Starliner will fly on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket, the same kind of rocket needed for the Air Force's critical mission in late June, from the same pad.

While the first SpaceX astronauts will visit the space station for a few weeks at most, the Starliner's three-person crew will move into the orbiting complex for an extended period. The typical station stay is about six months.

NASA wants to reduce its reliance on expensive Russian Soyuz capsules as soon as possible, and so the Boeing test flight will double as a taxi mission for station residents. NASA astronauts have been stuck riding Russian rockets since the end of the space shuttle program.

SpaceX Dragons and Boeing Starliners will return human launches to Florida, following the eight-year hiatus. NASA contracted with the two companies to handle space station ferry flights, so it could focus on getting astronauts to the moon and, eventually, Mars.

___

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Some of the most active companies traded Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

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Some of the most active companies traded Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:

Toronto Stock Exchange (16,263.87, up 35.81 points).

Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA). Energy. Down 29 cents, or 2.93 per cent, to $9.60 on 7.9 million shares.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Health care. Down 11 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $12.09 on 6.7 million shares.

Prometic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX:PLI). Health care. Down 6.5 cents, or 22.03 per cent, to 23 cents on 6.4 million shares.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Up two cents, or 0.75 per cent, to $2.70 on 5.8 million shares.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX:CPG). Energy. Down 12 cents, or 2.77 per cent, to $4.21 on 4.6 million shares.

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Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Financials. Up 34 cents, or 0.46 per cent, to $74.25 on 4 million shares.

Companies reporting:

BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE). Up 48 cents to $59.62. Howard Maker, head of the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services, says "bill shock" continues to be a top irritant for customers of Canada's telecommunications and television services. The industry ombudsman says customers continue to receive bills that are devastatingly high, but the causes have evolved since Canada implemented a code of conduct for wireless carriers in 2013 and updated it with more stringent rules in 2017. Incorrect billing charges accounted for 16.5 per cent of all issues raised in 9,831 complaints to the CCTS over a six-month period to Jan. 31 and was the top issue for almost every type of service.

Gibson Energy Inc. (TSX:GEI). Up 48 cents or 2.1 per cent to $23.43. The Calgary-based company says the sale of its trucking arm means it has completed all of the non-core asset sales it targeted a year ago as part of a strategy to focus on its Alberta oil storage and handling assets. Gibson, which helps send one in four barrels of crude exported from Western Canada through its Hardisty terminal in central Alberta, says it will pocket about $100 million from the sale, bringing its divestiture proceeds to about $325 million since early 2018. It says Trimac Transportation has agreed to pay about $70 million for the trucking assets and a Trimac affiliate is to pay $30 million for property in Edmonton containing a field office and shop, with the deals expected to close later this year.

Cenovus Energy Inc.(TSX:CVE). Up one cent to $12.15. Oilsands producer Cenovus Energy is recommending investors at its annual general meeting vote against a shareholder motion requiring it to set greenhouse gas emission targets aligned with the goals of the Paris climate accord. The proposal by the Fonds de Solidarite des Travailleurs du Quebec would force Cenovus to set medium- and long-term targets for its direct and indirect methane and other GHG emissions from operations. In its response, Cenovus says the request is "overly demanding" because achieving the Paris goal of limiting the global average temperature increase to less than two degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels will take an integrated national and global level plan.

Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO). Up 66 cents to $102.14. The Bank of Montreal's chief executive says it has seen a "moderation of growth" in Canadian consumer loans and mortgages but its economists say the risk of recession in the year ahead remains "relatively low." BMO CEO Darryl White says the moderation was both "healthy and expected" and credit quality continues to be "very good" in these consumer portfolios. He added that BMO remains confident in its medium-term target of earnings-per-share growth of seven to 10 per cent.New York City is set to become the first American metropolis that seeks to ease traffic congestion, cut pollution and boost mass transit by charging motorists a hefty toll for the privilege of driving into its most crammed areas. So can it work?

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Motorists roll south on 7th Avenue in Times Square, Friday, March 29, 2019, in New York. Long ringed by some of the most expensive toll roads in the U.S., New York City is poised to take things even further with a plan to use automated license plate readers to charge drivers who motor into the most congested parts of Manhattan during times when crosstown traffic is at its worst.(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

New York City is set to become the first American metropolis that seeks to ease traffic congestion, cut pollution and boost mass transit by charging motorists a hefty toll for the privilege of driving into its most crammed areas. So can it work?

If the experience of other cities around the world that have tried it is any indication, the answer appears to be yes. London, Singapore and Stockholm have all reported that "congestion pricing" systems similar to the one now being planned for Manhattan led to initial reductions in traffic and improvements in air quality, while creating a steady stream of revenue to support public transit and other infrastructure.

"New York is a prime example of cities where it tends to work, which is very high density, with relatively good public transportation" or at least the skeleton of a good system, said John Rennie Short, professor of public policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

But critical questions still to be resolved that could determine what the experiment ultimately looks like and whether it is successful, experts said.

Motorists cross over the Brooklyn Bridge heading west into Manhattan, Friday, March 29, 2019, in New York. Long ringed by some of the most expensive toll roads in the U.S., New York City is poised to take things even further with a plan to use automated license plate readers to charge drivers who motor into the most congested parts of Manhattan during times when crosstown traffic is at its worst.(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

New York has to work out details of the plan, which would use a network of license plate readers to bill vehicles for using surface roads anywhere in Manhattan south of Central Park. That includes the cost of the toll, which is likely to be more than $10.

Will the tolls raise enough money to make the city's strained mass transit system reliable? Is there enough alternative transportation for commuters who decide to give up their cars? How will the tolling system affect the delivery trucks, taxis and ride-hail vehicles that now comprise a big proportion of Manhattan traffic? And will so many vehicles be made exempt from the tolls that the effect on travel patterns is minimal?

Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University, predicted that in the end the city might see only a modest decline in traffic, as people either absorb the cost and keep driving, or switch to services like Uber and Lyft.

"We're not going to see people abandon their cars to get into the subway," he said.

Primarily, he said, the system is likely to benefit the public transportation system, which now has a new source of revenue for much-needed repairs and upgrades.

In this March 28, 2019 photo, traffic makes its way into Manhattan from Brooklyn over the Williamsburg Bridge in New York. Long ringed by some of the most expensive toll roads in the U.S., New York City is poised to take things even further with a plan to use automated license plate readers to charge drivers who motor into the most congested parts of Manhattan during times when crosstown traffic is at its worst. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

"This is a terrific victory ... for the mass transit ridership and for New York's capacity to respond to the crisis of its mass transit system," he said.

New York state legislators approved a conceptual plan Monday for the tolling system, which would supplement an existing network of bridge and tunnel tolls that charge $9.50 to $15 for vehicles coming into Manhattan via seven of the 20 bridges and tunnels leading onto the island.

A panel will now be convened to set the toll prices  one recent proposal suggested around $12 for passenger vehicles  and create possible exemptions or credits for some drivers. That could include discounts for motorists already paying a toll enter Manhattan. The earliest the tolls could begin is Dec. 31, 2020.

One model for the system has existed since 2003 in London, which offers evidence that the system could work  and a cautionary note for how it may need to adapt over time.

Initially, London charged drivers 5 pounds, or about $6.50, to come into the central part of the city during the workweek.

The toll initially had a considerable effect. In its first year, congestion dropped 30%, buses got 6% faster and there was a 12% reduction in emissions.

In recent years, however, congestion has dramatically worsened, despite the fee rising to 11.50 pounds, about $15, per day. Officials say that was due in large part to the flood of app-based for-hire vehicles like Uber, which were initially exempt from the tolls. As a result, the city is lifting the exemption starting April 8.

In Stockholm, a pilot program that was put in place with less-than-enthusiastic public support in 2006 became much more popular as people saw immediate drops in congestion and air pollution, so much so that residents voted to make it permanent in 2007. Singapore's system has been around since the 1970s.

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About 717,000 vehicles a day enter the Manhattan zone considered for the program, a recent city study said. One estimate said a congestion pricing plan with an $11.52 toll could reduce traffic by 13 per cent and raise gross revenues of $1.1 billion per year, much of which would go to support trains and buses after expenses.

"Even a small reduction in traffic can have a substantial impact on the larger traffic network," said Kate Slevin, senior vice-president of state programs and advocacy at Regional Plan Association, an advocacy organization that supports the congestion toll.

Asked about concerns over whether such a beleaguered transit system could even handle more riders if people decided not to drive into Manhattan, Slevin pointed out that transit officials have almost two years to take steps that will help, like redoing bus routes.

"The good news is there's going to be a couple of years before the congestion toll is turned on," she said.

___

Associated Press Writer David Klepper in Albany contributed to this report.The Great-West Life name, in existence since the company started 128 years ago in Winnipeg, will disappear from the retail landscape in a major reorganization announced today.

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The Great-West Life name, in existence since the company started 128 years ago in Winnipeg, will disappear from the retail landscape in a major reorganization announced today.

Great-West Life and subsidiaries London Life and Canada Life are rebranding under the name Canada Life, even though the original company of that name is smallest of the three.

The companies will also be integrating their products and services.

The rebranding will take place over the next year, replacing the Great-West Life name and its skeleton key symbol. "It will be a new logo, look and feel and all that," said Paul Mahon, president and CEO of the holding company, Great-West Lifeco, that owns the three companies.

"We also like that a single brand will be more broadly known to Canadians instead of some people knowing who Great-West Life is, others London Life, and others Canada Life," he said.

'This doesn't change in any way our commitment to Winnipeg. Winnipeg will continue to be a very, very important part of our operation in Canada'Paul Mahon (above), president and CEO of the holding company, GreatWest Lifeco.

The Canada Life name was decided upon after extensive planning and market research, including surveying. The companys buildings in Winnipeg will receive temporary signage until they can be completely rebranded later.

The second part of the announcement, the integration of the companies into a single legal entity, is still subject to approval by federal regulators, policyholders and board members. The federal regulator is the superintendent of financial institutions.

However, the three companies are operating almost as one company already. Great-West Lifeco purchased London Life in 1997 and Canada Life in 2003.

"Its the work we do in the background to simplify our corporate structure," Mahon said of the integration.

Mahon promised there would be no job losses as a result.

"This is not at all in any part about trying to get at job reductions. As a matter of fact, this change wont result in any job reductions," he said.

The three companies have more than 11,000 employees in Canada. The duplication between the companies has been largely eliminated already. "We brought our administration systems together, and we brought a lot of our finance and accounting systems together, all in the background," Mahon said.

Efficiencies will be in marketing and the companys ability to spend less time building duplicate products, Mahon said.

Neither is Winnipeg threatened as the companys largest employment base. Great-West Life is the citys largest public company, with 3,300 employees in Winnipeg.

"This doesnt change in any way our commitment to Winnipeg," Mahon said. "Winnipeg will continue to be a very, very important part of our operation in Canada."

The three companies combined serve 13 million customers, or nearly one in three Canadians, and have 23,000 distributors across Canada.

"Our intention is to migrate to a unified product portfolio, first for our individual or retail products throughout this calendar year of 2019, and then for our group products in 2020," Mahon said.

Great-West Life was established in 1891, London Life in 1874, and Canada Life in 1847, two decades before confederation.

Each has developed individual strengths over time that have been and will be further integrated. For example, London Life is known for a strong line of life insurance products, and Canada Life for a very strong brokerage market. Great-West Life has been known for its group insurance plans. It was the first to venture into that market in the early 1900s and today is the largest group health insurer in the country.

"We view this as a play where we can leverage the strengths of the three companies; we can become more efficient, more focused on innovation and faster to market," he said.

The assets of the newly branded Canada Life total $450 billion, as of Dec. 31, 2018. Last year the companies donated more than $13 million to projects in Canada.

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"This is really a transition over a couple of years, but the one thing we want customers to know is all the products and services that are currently in place, all of those important promises weve made, none of those change," Mahon said.

The change is for the Canadian operation only. It doesnt affect the holding company Great-West Lifeco (TSX symbol: GWO), which owns all three entities. Neither does it include its extensive United States and European businesses.

Great-West Lifeco, second only to Manulife as the largest insurance company in Canada in terms of assets, is owned by Power Corp., a Canadian multinational diversified management and holding company based in Montreal.

The holding company, Great-West Lifeco, has 31 million customers from all its companies worldwide, 24,000 employees, and more than 240,000 brokers.

Total assets are $1.4 trillion.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.caOTTAWA  Canadas main line of defence against an invasive species plaguing Lake Winnipeg has little actual muscle, according to a federal audit released Tuesday.

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OTTAWA  Canadas main line of defence against an invasive species plaguing Lake Winnipeg has little actual muscle, according to a federal audit released Tuesday.

Boats at risk of transmitting zebra mussels have crossed into Manitoba without making waves, because not enough border officials know how to spot those containing invasive species, nor how to respond when they do.

"I was kind of surprised at the breadth of the lack of information and knowledge that the government has, in order to manage this file," environment commissioner Julie Gelfand said in an interview.

Since 2013, zebra mussels have been found along the southern basin of Lake Winnipeg.

In infant form, the mussels are undetectable to the human eye, and they feed off particles in the water other species rely on, while releasing nitrogen and phosphorus.

In adult form, the mussels can be the shape of a fingernail, and form clusters consisting of tens of thousands, clogging drinking-water infrastructure and even hydroelectric dams.

Ottawa and Manitoba have both made it a top priority to contain the spread. Yet officials with the Canada Border Services Agency at Emerson told auditors "they sometimes sent uncleaned boats back to American car washes before allowing the boats to re-enter Canada. But car washes are not an effective way to decontaminate boats, since the water temperatures are often not hot enough to kill the mussel."

Gelfands audit found border guards werent clearly told they had to refer suspected cases of aquatic invasive species to conservation officials, nor how to react when they come a cross a high-risk boat and dont have a conservation official available.

The training Ottawa does provide isnt targeted to border guards working at crossings that are most likely to encounter these issues.

Her report also found Fisheries and Oceans Canada "had not distinguished its responsibilities from those of" Manitoba, and thus "did not intervene to prevent potentially contaminated boats from entering Canada" at the Emerson crossing.

Scott Higgins, a research scientist with the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development, said that speaks to a broader confusion over jurisdiction. Over time, federal governments have given provincial counterparts authority over fishery regulations, such as the ability to issue fines.

"They havent followed through on providing the provinces with additional resources to deal with this," said Higgins, adding the issue seems particularly acute in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Maritimes.

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"The federal government has a leadership role here."

Neepawa-area MP Robert Sopuck agreed, saying he was concerned Ottawa wasnt doing enough to ward off "a chain reaction" that could imperil the supply of pickerel.

"It's extremely difficult" to control the spread of zebra mussels, said Sopuck, a former marine biologist.

Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson accepted the reports recommendations, but noted his government put up $43.8 million over five years in the 2017 budget to combat aquatic invasive species.

"We are working actively to align the work were doing federally with the provinces," he told reporters.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.caA "class issue" could be emerging in the way post-legalization cannabis offences are prosecuted, a Winnipeg lawyer says.

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A "class issue" could be emerging in the way post-legalization cannabis offences are prosecuted, a Winnipeg lawyer says.

"I have some concern that the application of the law will end up being a class issue, that certain people will be singled out for punishment under the penalty provisions in the Cannabis Act and other people will be hit with regulatory penalties," defence lawyer Scott Paler said.

"I'm concerned that there may well be a double standard there."

His client, a 31-year-old Winnipeg man, was sentenced to 10 months in jail Tuesday for what is likely the first cannabis possession conviction in Manitoba since the drug was legalized last fall.

Rodney Clayton Felix pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for the purpose of distribution under the federal Cannabis Act, as well as a mischief charge. He was caught with 86.3 grams of cannabis, after he reacted angrily to being 15 cents short while he tried to make a purchase at a downtown Winnipeg mall on Nov. 9, 2018.

"I have some concern that the application of the law will end up being a class issue, that certain people will be singled out for punishment under the penalty provisions in the Cannabis Act and other people will be hit with regulatory penalties. Defence lawyer Scott Paler

Felix wanted to buy a memory card at The Source at Portage Place and gave the cashier $10, but when he found out it cost a total of $10.15, Felix cursed and ripped a speaker off the store wall.

He was arrested and police searched his backpack, finding the marijuana packaged in dime bags, a folding knife, scale, grinder, more than one cellphone and other drug paraphernalia. He was on bail at the time, facing a drug charge that was later stayed.

The federal Crown prosecutor asked provincial court Judge Dale Schille to impose a 15-month jail sentence in light of Felix's previous convictions for trafficking in marijuana and cocaine. Schille agreed jail time was necessary for Felix, saying "he is, any way you slice it, a drug dealer."

But Paler asked for a fine.

"Those types of penalties should be reserved for people who are selling marijuana on a large scale on the black market or theyre selling marijuana to people who are underage. Those types of offences, in my view, are far more grievous than the type of scenario were talking about with Mr. Felix, who is absolutely the lowest of the low in terms of this type of offence," he said in court.

Since there is no legal precedent for this type of case under the Cannabis Act, Paler presented Judge Schille with a copy of a Winnipeg Free Press story that reported some sellers at the Winnipeg stop of the HempFest Cannabis Expo were ticketed and fined for selling illegal edibles in February.

The argument didn't hold up in front of the judge, who commented on the "dearth" of similar cases, but said the article "really has no correlation to the facts before me at all."

Investigators pack up illegal edible products that contain THC in the Kootenay Labs Booth at the Hempfest Canada Expo in Winnipeg in February. The sellers were ticketed and fined. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)

In an interview, Paler said the consequences for cannabis distribution seem to be "as severe if not more severe" than they were under the previous legislation.

Cannabis was legalized for recreational use in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018, with a personal public possession limit of 30 grams.

"They got a ticket for a little over $2,500 for violating the regulations with respect to distribution of cannabis materials (at the February cannabis Expo).... but an Aboriginal man with three ounces of pot in his backpack gets a significant jail sentence," he said, suggesting the low-level distribution of black market cannabis should be treated the same as alcohol or tobacco.

"It seems to me there's a pretty stark contrast between the way they deal with cannabis, which is a legal substance to have, an alcohol and tobacco.

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"Bootlegging alcohol or selling black market cigarettes tend to end up with a financial penalty, but the perspective on marijuana is apparently much different."

"They got a ticket for a little over $2,500 for violating the regulations with respect to distribution of cannabis materials (at the February cannabis Expo).... but an Aboriginal man with three ounces of pot in his backpack gets a significant jail sentence." Defence lawyer Scott Paler

Felix has three months left to serve of his sentence, followed by the two years of probation Schille also imposed.

"It is obviously extremely unfortunate for Mr. Felix that all of this could have been avoided had he fished 15 cents out of his pocket, because thats the catalyst for all of this unfolding," Schille said.

Police didn't find any extra cash when they searched Felix's belongings.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemayAs speculation mounts about whether Premier Brian Pallister will call a spring election, new poll results suggest he may have a fight on his hands in Winnipeg, the province's most important battleground.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/4/2019 (986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As speculation mounts about whether Premier Brian Pallister will call a spring election, new poll results suggest he may have a fight on his hands in Winnipeg, the province's most important battleground.

The Progressive Conservatives still hold a commanding lead in rural Manitoba, but continue to slide in Winnipeg, where they are now trailing the NDP by four percentage points  36 per cent to 32, according to the latest Probe Research poll.

While the New Democrats inch ahead in Winnipeg (up six per cent in support since December), the Liberals' backing is wavering across the province, down three per cent over the same time period, according to polls commissioned by the Free Press.

The most recent Probe poll, which surveyed 1,000 Manitobans between March 12 and March 24, found a one-point provincial sales tax cut promised by the PCs in the 2019 budget didn't appear to increase the party's popularity.

PC support actually dwindled by two per cent overall since December. This time around, 42 per cent of decided or leaning voters said they would back a Tory candidate if an election were held tomorrow.

Meanwhile, 30 per cent of those surveyed would support the NDP (up three per cent from December), and 18 per cent would vote for the Liberals (down three per cent).

Probe president Scott MacKay said he didn't expect a large upswing in Tory support after the PST cut (scheduled for July 1), mostly because those voting for the party already believed the move was coming. He expected any "horse-trading" to happen between the NDP and Liberals, parties which traditionally battle for left-leaning votes.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister

If Pallister were to call an election before the fixed date of Oct. 6, 2020, the new poll results show his party could win a second majority mandate.

"The thing about (dropping the writ) is you usually do need a reason to go early. It cant just be totally crass opportunism," MacKay said.

Pallister floated a reason last week at a Manitoba 150 launch party. He noted some Manitobans have told him they don't want politicking interfering with the sesquicentennial celebrations scheduled for 2020.

The Manitoba government legally has to call the election on a Tuesday. If it sticks to the fixed election date, it must hold a blackout period of 90 days before the election. That would forbid government announcements or advertising during a year bound to be full of public events.

Chris Adams, a political scientist with St. Paul's College, said the 150th anniversary could cramp the Tories' style because "it does carve out a piece of the year where the government cant be proclaiming things."

Adams said the Manitoba Liberals' "brand halo" seems to be wearing off as their federal counterparts are plagued by the SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. affair, which cost them two more caucus members (Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott) Tuesday.

He wondered whether the provincial party has enough organizational clout and capacity to get its "electoral machine" up and running for an early election.

Paul Thomas, a political scientist at the University of Manitoba, also believed SNC-Lavalin is affecting local Liberals.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS NDP leader Wab Kinew

"Many voters who pay limited attention to public affairs and are ill formed about basic features of the political system, are prone to confuse and conflate events on the national and the provincial level," he said.

Thomas said the Tories will likely be happy with the latest Probe results, which are positive for them just past the midway point in their first mandate. He believed the PCs would also like to see the Liberals poll higher.

"If the Liberals do well, it comes at the expense of the NDP and the PCs come out the winner, I guess."

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbuMid-Coast trolley project hits midpoint

On March 29, local leaders gathered to celebrate the halfway point in the Mid-Coast Trolleys construction by serving breakfast to construction crews in a staging yard near the future Voigt Drive Trolley station.

This is a major milestone for a major project, said San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) board chair and Poway mayor Steve Vaus. Not only is this project large in scale, but its impact on the San Diego region is bound to be monumental. This is the largest public transit project in our regions history.

The $2.1 billion Mid-Coast Trolley project will extend Blue Line Trolley service from Old Town north to the University City community, serving the VA Medical Center, UC San Diego and University Town Center.

Originally scheduled to open sometime between July and December 2021, the opening date is now being reported as late 2021.

By the projects completion, workers are projected to have poured 4 million cubic feet of concrete, installed 27 million pounds of rebar, and laid 83 miles of railroad ties.

Free day of music at The Conrad

The La Jolla Music Society (LJMS), operator of the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, invites the public to a free, family-friendly open house featuring performances by harpist Chiara Capobianco, Drummers Without Borders and LJMSs education partners including the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet, San Diego Youth Symphony & Conservatory and San Diego School of Creative & Performing Arts.

The bill concludes with headlining performances by Grammy-winning trumpeter Curtis Taylor at The JAI theater, and a program of dance and live music in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall with the PGK Dance Project.

The event will take place 2-6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27 at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave.

Vaxx action

Last weeks La Jolla Light story about potentially illegitimate vaccine medical exemptions issued to La Jolla public-school students went to press just as State Senator Richard Pan and Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez jointly introduced state measure SB 276, transferring the power to decide which cases merit vaccine exemptions from local doctors to public-health officials.

Three years ago, we stepped up our states vaccination laws to protect students and the entire public from being exposed to potential diseases, said Gonzalez, who represents San Diego. Now, were seeing ant-vaccination parents and a few doctors get around that law by loosely seeking and issuing medical exemptions when families are willing to pay. The real cost is a threat to herd immunity and public health.

The Light story found that 28 of 487 district-wide medical exemptions from vaccines were issued to La Jolla public school students between July 2015 and January 2019. One doctor excused four students, one excused three, and three others excused two each.

First UCSD cancer patient receives stem cells

As part of a clinical trial at UC San Diego Healths Moores Cancer Center, the worlds first human patient was treated for cancer with FT500, a human-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapy, in February.

This is a landmark accomplishment for the field of stem cell-based medicine and cancer immunotherapy, said Dan Kaufman, director of cell therapy at UCSD School of Medicine. Together with Fate Therapeutics, weve been able to show in preclinical research that this new strategy, to produce pluripotent stem cell-derived natural killer cells, can effectively kill cancer cells in cell culture and in mouse models.

The patient, Derek Ruff, found that his cancer had returned after 10 years of remission  this time as Stage IV colon. Despite aggressive rounds of chemotherapy, palliative radiotherapy and immunotherapy, his disease progressed. Ruff and his doctors now patiently wait to see if the progression of his cancer has slowed.

Everyone is excited and optimistic about this trial and it spilled over to us, Ruff said. My options arent otherwise good. Some people may not opt for a clinical trial, but for me, I want a chance at a cure.

Art & Wine Fest OK on wine, needs art

The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, scheduled for Oct. 12-13 along Girard Avenue, still needs oil painters, photographers, watercolorists, sculptors, jewelers and artists in mixed-media, ceramics and glass to show and sell their work.

Applicants must have a free profile account on Zapp (zapplication.org), then pay a non-refundable application fee of $35. For more info, visit ljawf.com or e-mail artists@lajollaartandwinefestival.com

Taxman cometh to Kiwanis

San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister will speak at the next Kiwanis Club of La Jolla meeting, noon Friday, April 5 at Chateau La Jolla, 233 Prospect St. Admission for the public is $15, and includes lunch. Questions? Call (858) 945-2280.

Jersey Mikes donates to Rady

The Jersey Mikes sub shop in La Jolla joined its 42 other San Diego franchises by donating 100 percent of the proceeds of sales on March 27 to the Rady Childrens Hospitals 3D Innovations Lab. In the past eight years, Jersey Mikes said it has helped raise more than $1 million for Rady Childrens.

 Compiled by Corey Levitan from local reports.In a case Manitoba's top court calls "nothing short of surreal," a Winnipeg woman who hid the bodies of six infants in a storage locker has won her appeal, which argued that her sentence was too long.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a case Manitoba's top court calls "nothing short of surreal," a Winnipeg woman who hid the bodies of six infants in a storage locker has won her appeal, which argued that her sentence was too long.

Andrea Giesbrecht's sentence for six counts of concealing a child's body has been reduced to three years from 8 1/2 years, in a decision released Wednesday by the Manitoba Court of Appeal.

Surveillance footage of Andrea Giesbrecht from the McPhillips Street U-Haul. Staff discovered the remains of six babies in a storage unit rented by Giesbrecht in October 2014 after she didn't pay the rental fee.

Sentenced in July 2017, and factoring in time served before her trial, she is now due to be released from prison.

"This is a deeply disturbing case. We will never know why these six little lights went dark due to the accuseds appalling dishonesty. However, just as the mighty are not above the law, the unpopular are not outside of its protections, even on facts as troubling as here," states the decision written by Court of Appeal Justice Christopher Mainella.

"The original sentence assumed certain culpable actions by the accused of which she was never tried or convicted."

"We will never know why these six little lights went dark due to the accuseds appalling dishonesty. However, just as the mighty are not above the law, the unpopular are not outside of its protections." Court of Appeal decision

Giesbrecht, 45, was never charged with homicide after staff at a McPhillips Street U-Haul unit discovered the remains of six babies in a rented storage unit in October 2014. The mother of two teenage sons had a gambling addiction and neglected to pay the rental fee.

Over the years, she managed to conceal multiple pregnancies from family and friends, but Giesbrecht has never explained what caused the deaths of the five boys and one girl or why she kept the remains.

Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky launched an appeal, which cited 42 reasons, against Giesbrecht's sentence and conviction. The case was before the court of appeal for almost two years, and the defence's arguments were eventually distilled to nine.

"Nobody's ever seen a case like this before," he said Wednesday. "There's nothing to compare it to.

Andrea Giesbrecht will be released from prison immediately. (CBC)

"It's remarkable that my favourite arguments did not succeed. The ones I put forward that I didn't know had a chance of success did succeed."

The appeal court agreed with Brodsky's arguments that the sentence was too long and Giesbrecht was sentenced as if she had committed a violent crime, even though she was never charged with one.

Brodsky said Giesbrecht is "exuberant" and is looking forward to getting home to her family. She had been serving her sentence at a facility outside Manitoba.

"Everyone will think that she got a break from the court, and I don't want anything to happen to her," the lawyer said.

Provincial court Judge Murray Thompson imposed the 8.5-year sentence in July 2017, after he found Giesbrecht guilty of the six charges.

An evidence photo of a storage locker from April 18, 2016 presented by the prosecution in Giesbrecht's trial. (Photo Sentinel Storage employee)

During a lengthy trial that ended in October 2016, three medical experts testified the infants were likely born alive. Their decomposed remains  some no more than bones  were found in garbage bags inside plastic containers in the Winnipeg storage unit.

All, including one that was partly mummified, were found to be between 34 and 42 weeks gestation.

Giesbrecht (second from left in sunglasses) after being convicted of six counts of concealing a child's body. She left the Woodsworth Building through the back door after being granted bail on Feb. 6, 2017. (Winnipeg Free Press files)

When he imposed the sentence, Thompson ruled Giesbrecht knew the infants would likely have been born alive.

The Court of Appeal took issue with the judge's logic, saying it would lead to more serious punishments for women who knew about birth control, abortion or assisted delivery but didn't choose those options.

It was an error, Mainella wrote, "to treat as an aggravating sentencing factor the failure of a woman to make reproductive choices in a particular way."

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.Commentators have noted the thrown-together nature of the 2019 federal budget released last month. There seem to be several ill-considered initiatives, and some parts of the budget openly contradict other government programs and reforms.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Commentators have noted the thrown-together nature of the 2019 federal budget released last month. There seem to be several ill-considered initiatives, and some parts of the budget openly contradict other government programs and reforms.

One of the more prominent contradictions relates to housing policy. In 2016, the federal government tightened eligibility requirements for mortgages and expanded the mortgage stress tests. These measures were designed to cool the countrys housing market.

Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press FILES Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivers the federal budget in the House of Commons on March 19.

Budget 2019, however, introduced measures that could reignite parts of the housing market. Specifically, it introduces the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, which allows eligible first-time homebuyers to finance a portion of their purchase (10 per cent for a new home, five per cent for an existing home) through a shared-equity mortgage with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC). This could easily stimulate portions of the housing market  specifically the condo market generally and the starter-home market outside large metropolitan areas.

So with one hand, the federal government tightens the housing market to try to reduce demand, while the other hand tries to stimulate certain parts of the housing market by making it easier to buy.

The budget also proposed to give first-time homebuyers greater access to their RRSPs by increasing the Home Buyers Plan withdrawal limit from $25,000 to $35,000. This aims to improve the possibility of home ownership for millennials by allowing them to contribute more of their savings towards a down payment.

However, the federal government (in concert with the nine participating provinces) recently introduced increases to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) that include a higher payroll tax. The higher tax means less disposable income for savings, making it more difficult for millennials and Canadians in general to save in RRSPs. The evidence demonstrates that higher mandatory CPP contributions will cause Canadians to save less in their RRSPs and other private savings vehicles.

With Canadians reducing savings in their RRSPs to offset the higher CPP tax, they will have less money to withdraw later to buy a home.

With one hand, the government increases RRSP access to finance a down payment, but with the other hand, makes it more difficult to contribute to RRSPs.

Finally, theres job training, one of the only areas where the government will actually spend money immediately on new programs. The new Canada Training Benefit aims to help workers upgrade skills and training so they can remain active and productive in the labour market.

A subtext for this initiative is the need to keep older workers in the labour force. The program is available for Canadians up to age 64.

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However, the government has also reversed previous policy reforms that would have seen the age of eligibility for federal public retirement programs increase from age 65 to 67 (over a decade-plus implementation period). That move was made, in part, to encourage older workers to remain in the workforce. Undoing this policy was one of the first initiatives of the Liberal government after it was elected in 2015.

Again, the federal government encourages older workers to remain in the workforce with one policy, but discourages them with another.

Overly politicized budgets, particularly those seemingly assembled haphazardly, can produce poor policies. The contradictions throughout Budget 2019 indicate that several of the proposals were not well-considered with respect to previous government reforms.

Those policies should be reconsidered in a broader context of what both hands of government are doing on various issues.

Jason Clemens and Jake Fuss are economists at the Fraser Institute.

 Troy MediaFollowing a complex La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) election that resulted in a two-way tie and three-way tie in early March, a special meeting was held March 28 to break the ties and announce election results.

14 candidates ran for 10 seats; 6 three-year terms, 1 two-year term, and 3 one-year term. But during the election, two questionable votes were cast and two ties were discovered, and a mechanism to resolve these issues was not immediately available. Details on what constituted a questionable vote were not specified.

Following the election, LJCPAs president, vice president, election sub-committee members and San Diego Planning Department staff met with the City Attorneys office to find a solution.

Presiding over the special meeting, San Diego senior planner Marlon Pangilinan explained: We determined that should the election result in tie votes, the City Attorneys office be informed and consulted prior to the announcement of the election results. So we did that.

San Diego senior planner Marlon Pangilinan reads the methodology for breaking the LJCPA ties, as recommended by the San Diego City Attorney. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

The City Attorneys office stated, that while its possible that the votes in question were the reason for the tie votes for those particular candidates, it is also possible they were not a factor at all. The options provided by the City Attorneys office were to either use the tie-breaker procedure in the bylaws  there actually is a procedure regarding tie votes we were able to identify  or repeat the election.

Pangilinan explained that the LJCPA provision for breaking ties is a coin toss to determine the winner.

Based on the advice received  the tie-breaker procedure contained in the bylaws is being used to resolve the (ties) tonight, he said.

From there, outgoing LJCPA chair Bob Steck read the determined results and moved forward with the tie-breaking protocol.

He said the following top vote-getters will all serve in three-year terms: Glen Rasmussen with 55 votes, Dave Ish with 53 votes, Mike Costello with 51 votes, Nancy Manno with 47 votes, Kathleen Neil with 42 votes, and Dan Courtney with 41 votes.

Then we had our first tie between Tony Crisafi and Jim Fitzgerald at 40 votes each, he said. The reason it is a little tricky is the results will determine who will get a two-year term and who will get a one-year term.

The tie was resolved via a coin toss  in which Fitzgerald earned a two-year term and Crisafi won a one-year term.

LJCPA trustee Patrick Ahern, tasked with flipping the coin to break the ties, shows off the quarter he will use. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Now, the second tie, Steck said as he cleared his throat, is a little trickier. It is between Eamon Callahan, John Fremdling and Greg Jackson, who all earned 39 votes.

Two of them will serve a one-year term and the other will be sitting on the bench and, hopefully, will run again, Steck said.

Callahan and Jackson were in attendance, and current LJCPA trustee Diane Kane stood in as a proxy for Fremding. Trustee Patrick Ahern flipped a coin and Jackson and Fremdling called correctly and earned a seat.

The remaining candidates did not earn enough votes. There were also three write-ins, but none garnered enough votes to be considered.

LJCPA members are charged with making recommendations to the City Council, Planning Commission, City staff and other governmental agencies on land- use matters  specifically concerning the preparation of, adoption of, implementation of, or amendment to, the Citys General Plan or a land-use plan when it relates to the La Jolla Community Plan boundaries. The LJCPA also advises on other land-use matters as requested by the City or other governmental agency.

The 10 elected trustees will be seated and officers will be elected at the 6 p.m. Thursday, April 4 meeting at the Rec Center, 615 Prospect St. lajollacpa.orgThe La Jolla Coastal Access & Parking Board has hit another snag in its longtime goal of improving access and parking in The Village.

The local board that manages the La Jolla Coastal Access & Parking Fund has a two-fold goal  the implementation of a shuttle system to move people throughout The Village and remote parking reservoir, and implementing other short-term or long-term parking solutions for The Village.

However, the first goal has been stymied for years after the board determined a shuttle system is not sustainable, and an alternative has yet to be agreed upon; and the second was recently dissolved.

The La Jolla Coastal Access & Parking Fund was established through Coastal Commission-required contributions by office-space developers in the 1970s and 80s. As of early 2018, there was more than $380,000 in the account.

The short-term parking solution that was implemented to meet these terms was acquiring monthly parking passes for La Jollas private parking lots and underground garages and reselling them at a discount to employers and individuals.

This program was managed by former La Jolla Village Merchants Association (LJVMA) executive director Sheila Fortune since 2010.

She stepped down in October 2018 and the board then hired its current executive director, Jodi Rudick. The City contracts directly with LJVMA who, in turn, administers the La Jolla Coastal Access & Parking program through the La Jolla Coastal Access & Parking Board.

A contract between the City and the LJVMA to operate the program, which is normally executed annually, for Fiscal Year 2019 has not been executed, primarily due to turnover in LJVMA staff and board leadership, said City spokesperson Anna Vacchi. Additionally, parking space availability in parking structures previously dedicated to the discounted parking program is no longer available.

The City is open to and in active discussion with LJVMA regarding implementing a similar program for Fiscal Year 2020.

At the March 13 LJVMA meeting, Rudick explained there was a meeting in the works to determine what the next steps for the program would be, and because LJVMA holds three seats on the Coastal Access & Parking Board, appointed two members and an alternate: Rudick, Robert Mackey and alternative Max Shenk.

The meeting was not set by press time.

In the meantime, the LJVMA parking task force has contracted with Ace Mobility Solutions for five hours of pro bono work per month to review problems in The Village for idea generation to solve Village parking woes. Ace parking commercial division director of operations, Brad Elsass, will conduct the work and report back to the board at future LJVMA meetings.

And while the communication between LJVMA and the City has decreased in recent years as it pertains to the Coastal Access & Parking Fund, Vacchi said the City is committed to the success of the program.

Communication (with LJVMA) is increasing now, which should result in improved services, she said. The City is open to discussion regarding operating a remote shuttle and short-term parking projects as part of a successful La Jolla Coastal Access & Parking program and to meet obligations outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the California Coastal Commission (that governs the board).

Progress on the other part of the program  the shuttle system  has ebbed and flowed in recent years. The MOU calls for the creation of a shuttle dedicated to transporting people around The Village, and an off-site reservoir to house the shuttle.

After the board determined the shuttle system was not sustainable, it dedicated meetings in 2013-2015 to brainstorming alternatives, so the money could be used in accordance with the terms of the MOU, but with longevity. However, California Coastal Commission representatives were not satisfied with any of the suggested solutions that were posed. As such, meetings slowed to their current, sporadic state. <end_bug_diamond>

Learn more at lajollacpa.org/cap.htmlAfter a less-than-successful attempt at creating a Marine Memorial Mall at the foot of Marine Street, La Jolla resident and architect Erik Holtsmark returned to the La Jolla Parks & Beaches (LJP&B) advisory group with plans for another seaside project  this time for Scripps Park.

The plan, he revealed through early renderings at the LJP&B March 25 meeting, is to redevelop the dusty picnic area in Scripps Park, remove the existing tables and trim the trees, and install new rounded cement tables and fixed stools. Because of his Marine Memorial Mall proposal, which involved the creation of sculptures, water features, seating and restroom facilities, Holtsmarks name was at the top of the list to create a plan.

Though LJP&B disapproved the Marine Memorial Mall and the proposal was withdrawn, LJP&B chair Ann Dynes said she appreciated the effort behind it.

I happened to be in Scripps Park about a month ago and looked at the area in the middle and there are four picnic tables there  and the area is a little scruffy, Dynes said. I had coffee with Erik and thanked him for the work he did on the Marine Memorial Mall and asked him if he had time to re-vision what we could do there.

Holtsmark explained: There are Australian tea trees at the north end and the south end, which are a problem right now. They can be trimmed to open up the viewing space to the ocean. These trees are beautiful in terms of the trunks and the branches, but the crowns are not attractive. There is a lot of space to work with if you trim out the trees in certain areas.

The Scripps Park picnic area off Coast Boulevard sits on dirt and includes tables and Australian tea trees. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Any improvements would need to meet the terms of the Scripps Park Plan, which he said allows for the pruning, removing and replacing of trees, and contouring and grading. It allows for correcting the interface between the grass and the ground, and artistic designs and create a sense of place, Holtsmark said.

However, the prospect of losing the trees raised a few eyebrows.

I personally love those old Dr. Seuss trees, and if they are not in trouble, they shouldnt have to go, said LJP&B trustee Melinda Merryweather.

Trustee Jane Reldan questioned what would be used to replace the trees, should they be removed, and restore the shade.

Holtsmark explained there are about 15 trees that could be considered.

The three rectangular existing tables would also be taken away as part of his plan.

Im very adamant about using (six) round tables, because if you use round tables and fixed stools or chairs, you can bring in extra chairs, strollers or wheelchairs, he said.

Although Holtsmark offered statuesque features coming from the table to provide shade, collect solar energy and provide a creative design, trustee Judy Adams Halter opined: The park does need help and this could be an improvement, I would just try to keep it very natural.

Going forward, trustee John Shannon said it would be important to observe how people use the park and create features to accommodate that usage.

Rather than vote on the project, the board agreed to visit the site, consider what needs should be met, decide the aesthetic they would like to see in place and discuss it all at a future meeting.

This is just a first run, but I think we all agree it would be fabulous to have a good plan for this area that we could get the City to implement or generate private donations for, Dynes said.

In other Parks & Beaches news ...

Tree Talk: In light of a lot of tree stuff that has come up lately, Dynes invited San Diego City Forester Brian Widener to speak and explain the City process with planting and trimming trees.

San Diego City Forester Brian Widener addresses the La Jolla Parks & Beaches advisory group with an explanation of who maintains what. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Two issues in particular include the trimming of overgrown palm trees on the south end of Coast Boulevard, near a seating area known as a belvedere; and the possible replacement of a palm tree at the Wedding Bowl.

We wanted to see what we could do with the City to get these projects going, and see who trims and maintains them, Dynes said.

Widener explained: We manage all the trees on public property, in streets right of way; that includes planting and trimming trees, but sometimes there is a backlog because it takes a while to determine whose jurisdiction the tree is under, based on the location. He said the Development Services Department and Transportation & Stormwater share responsibility for different tree-related projects, and some areas are subject to cross-jurisdiction. He suggested using the Citys Get It Done App to report trees in need of trimming care to the appropriate entities.

Trustee Bob Evans said he would work with Widener to request the City trim the palm trees at Coast Boulevard. If not, were looking to collect donations to get the trees trimmed, Evans said.

Slope work resumes: Representing City Council member Barbara Bry, Mauricio Medina said the slope stabilization project on Torrey Pines Road resumed following a rainy period. They are still aiming to finish by the summer construction moratorium (May 27), he said. I will keep on them to make that deadline. We appreciate everyones patience on this, it will be exciting when that project is done.

The project would restore the slope between Little Street and Roseland Drive, and has been underway, off and on, since spring 2018.

Acquisition working group: Trustee Merryweather said she was seeking suggestions for places in La Jolla where mini-parks or pocket parks could be created, and volunteers to help her with a project to compile a list of locations. By 2020, we are going to be completely under-parked in La Jolla, so any place we can make out, such as Moss Lane and Pottery Canyon, would be great to turn into a park, she said.

Merryweather added that she would consult the Citys Real Estate Assets Department (for City-owned but vacant properties) and report back at a future meeting.

La Jolla Parks & Beaches board next meets 4 p.m. Monday, April 22 at the Rec Center, 615 Prospect St. lajollaparksbeaches.orgUniFirst Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, personalization, rental, cleaning, delivery, and sale of a range of uniforms and protective clothing. It operates through following segments: U.S. Rental and Cleaning, Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, First Aid, and Corporate. The U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells uniforms and protective clothing and non-garment items in the United States and Canada. The Manufacturing segment designs and manufactures uniforms and non-garment items primarily for the purpose of providing these goods to the U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. The Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning segment sells specialty garments and non-garment items primarily for nuclear and cleanroom applications and provides cleanroom cleaning services at limited customer locations. The First Aid segment provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies as well as maintains wholesale distribution and pill packaging operations. The Corporate segment consists of costs associated with its distribution center, sales and marketing, informatio

Read MoreNabors Industries Ltd. engages in the provision of platform work over and drilling rigs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. The U.S. Drilling segment includes land drilling activities in the lower 48 states and Alaska, as well as offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment consists of land-based drilling rigs in Canada. The International segment focuses in maintaining a footprint in the oil and gas market, most notably in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, and Venezuela. The Drilling Solutions segment offers drilling technologies, such as patented steering systems and rig instrumentation software systems that enhance drilling performance and wellbore placement. The Rig Technologies segment comprises Canrig, which manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools. The company was founded by Clair Nabors in 1952 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), 2nd Road, ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Limited, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! 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.Avant Diagnostics' quiet period expired on Monday, November 22nd. Avant Diagnostics had issued 26,400,000 shares in its initial public offering on October 13th. The total size of the offering was $660,000,000 based on an initial share price of $25.00. During Avant Diagnostics' quiet period, insiders and underwriters involved in the IPO were prevented from issuing any research reports for the company because of SEC regulations. Now that the company's quiet period has ended, brokerages that served as underwriters are now able to initiate research on the company.The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA.Fortis Inc. operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 433,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 98,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,233 megawatts (MW), including 59 MW of solar capacity. The company also sells wholesale electricity to other entities in the western United States; owns gas-fired and hydroelectric generating capacity totaling 65 MW; and distributes natural gas to approximately 1,048,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, it owns and operates the electricity distribution system that serves approximately 572,000 customers in southern and central Alberta; owns 4 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 225 MW; and provides operation, maintenance, and management services to five hydroelectric generating facilities. Further, the company distributes electricity in the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador with an installed generating capacity of 143 MW; and on Prince Edward Island with a generating capacity of 130 MW. Additionally, it provides integrated electric utility service to approximately 67,000 customers in Ontario; approximately 270,000 customers in Newfoundland and Labrador; approximately 31,000 customers on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and approximately 15,000 customers on certain islands in Turks and Caicos. The company also holds long-term contracted generation assets in Belize consisting of 3 hydroelectric generating facilities with a combined capacity of 51 MW; and the Aitken Creek natural gas storage facility. It also owns and operates approximately 91,000 circuit Kilometers (km) of distribution lines; and approximately 49,500 km of natural gas pipelines. Fortis Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in St. John's, Canada.

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3.9 Community Rank

Outperform Votes El Paso Electric has received 256 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes El Paso Electric has received 192 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment El Paso Electric has received 57.14% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about El Paso Electric and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe EE will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe EE will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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NextExelon Corp. operates as a utility services holding company, which engages in the energy generation, power marketing, and energy delivery business. It operates through the following segments: Mid Atlantic, Midwest, New York, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and other Power Regions. The Mid-Atlantic segment represents operations in the eastern half of PJM, which includes New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, the District of Columbia and parts of Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The Midwest segment operates in the western half of PJM, which includes portions of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, and the United States footprint of MISO, excluding MISO's Southern Region, which covers all or most of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, the remaining parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio not covered by PJM, and parts of Montana, Missouri and Kentucky. The New York (NY) segment provides operations within ISONY, which covers the state of New York in its entirety. The ERCOT segment includes operations within Electric Reliability Council of Texas, covering most of the state of Texas.

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 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.KB Financial Group, Inc. engages in providing financial services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Other Banking Services, Credit Card, Life Insurance, Investment and Securities business. The Corporate Banking business segment provides services such as loans, overdrafts, deposits, credit facilities and other foreign currency activities. The Retail Banking business segment offers services such as private customer current accounts, savings, deposits, consumer loans and mortgage loans. The Other Banking business segment provides services relating to banking business besides corporate banking and retail banking services. The Credit Card business segment offers services such as domestic as well as overseas credit and debit card operations. The Investment and Securities business segment provides services such as investment banking and brokerage. The Life Insurance business segment provides products such as life insurance and wealth management. The company was founded on September 29, 2008 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

Read MoreGRC International Group plc, through its subsidiaries, provides various products and services to address the information technology (IT) governance, risk management, and compliance requirements of organizations in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the United States, Australia, and internationally. The company provides instructor-led and self-paced training courses on data protection, cyber security, ISO 27001 certification, and business continuity. It also offers on-site and remote support services to design and implement cyber security, data protection and privacy policies, procedures and practices, penetration testing, payment card industry data security standard, SoC2 compliance and cyber essentials certification and consultancy, privacy by design, privacy as a service, and GDPR compliance. In addition, publishes and distributes books, toolkit documentation templates, and software; and software solutions including a range of software-as-a service products, such as e-learning, risk assessment and data flow mapping tools, data seeding, and data watermarking solutions. GRC International Group plc is headquartered in Ely, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreInvesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund is a close-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Invesco Ltd. The fund is co-managed by Invesco Advisers, Inc., Invesco Asset Management Deutschland GmbH, Invesco Asset Management Limited, Invesco Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Invesco Hong Kong Limited, Invesco Senior Secured Management, Inc., and Invesco Canada Ltd. It invests in the fixed income markets across the globe with a focus on the United States. The fund invests in securities of companies that operate across diversified sectors. It invests in fixed income securities such as senior secured floating rate loans, fixed rate loans, and collateralized debt. The fund employs fundamental analysis with a bottom-up security selection process to create its portfolio. It conducts in-house research to make its investments. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index. It was formerly known as Invesco Van Kampen Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund. Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund was formed on June 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read MoreiShares MSCI Canada ETF's stock was trading at $23.42 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWC shares have increased by 57.7% and is now trading at $36.93.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.There is not enough analysis data for John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III.

5.0 Community Rank

Outperform Votes John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III has received 281 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III has received 61 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III has received 82.16% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about John Hancock Preferred Income Fund III and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe HPS will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe HPS will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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Next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..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 BP: 200 PS Overseas Holdings Inc., 563916 Alberta Ltd., ACP (Malaysia) Inc., AE Cedar Creek Holdings LLC, AE Goshen II Holdings LLC, AE Goshen II Wind Farm LLC, AE Power Services LLC, AE Wind PartsCo LLC, AM/PM International Inc., ARCO, ARCO British International, ARCO British Limited, ARCO Coal Australia Inc., ARCO El-Djazair Holdings Inc., ARCO Environmental Remediation L.L.C., ARCO Exploration Inc., ARCO Gaviota Company, ARCO International Investments Inc., ARCO International Services Inc., ARCO Midcon LLC, ARCO Oil Company Nigeria Unlimited, ARCO Oman Inc, ARCO Resources Limited, ARCO Trinidad Exploration and Production Company Limited, ARCO Unimar Holdings LLC, Actomat B.V., Advance Petroleum Holdings Pty Ltd, Advance Petroleum Pty Ltd, Air BP Albania SHA, Air BP Brasil Ltda., Air BP Canada LLC, Air BP Croatia d.o.o., Air BP Finland Oy, Air BP Iceland, Air BP Limited, Air BP Norway AS, Air BP Sales Romania S.R.L., Air BP Sweden AB, Air Refuel Pty Ltd, Allgreen Pty Ltd, AmProp Finance Company, American Oil Company, Amoco (Fiddich) Limited, Amoco (U.K.) Exploration Company LLC., Amoco Bolivia Petroleum Company, Amoco Bolivia Services Company Inc., Amoco Canada International Holdings B.V., Amoco Capline Pipeline Company, Amoco Chemical (Europe) S.A., Amoco Chemicals (FSC) B.V., Amoco Cypress Pipeline Company, Amoco Destin Pipeline Company, Amoco Environmental Services Company, Amoco Exploration Holdings B.V., Amoco Guatemala Petroleum Company, Amoco International Finance Corporation, Amoco International Petroleum Company, Amoco Leasing Corporation, Amoco Louisiana Fractionator Company, Amoco MB Fractionation Company, Amoco MBF Company, Amoco Main Pass Gathering Company, Amoco Marketing Environmental Services Company, Amoco Netherlands Petroleum Company, Amoco Nigeria Exploration Company Limited, Amoco Nigeria Oil Company Limited, Amoco Nigeria Petroleum Company, Amoco Nigeria Petroleum Company Limited, Amoco Norway Oil Company, Amoco Oil Holding Company, Amoco Olefins Corporation, Amoco Overseas Exploration Company, Amoco Pipeline Asset Company, Amoco Pipeline Holding Company, Amoco Properties Incorporated, Amoco Remediation Management Services Corporation, Amoco Research Operating Company, Amoco Rio Grande Pipeline Company, Amoco Somalia Petroleum Company, Amoco Sulfur Recovery Company, Amoco Tri-States NGL Pipeline Company, Amoco Trinidad Gas B.V., Amoco U.K. Petroleum Limited, Amprop Illinois I Limited, Amprop Inc., Anaconda Arizona Inc., Arabian Production And Marketing Lubricants, Aral Aktiengesellschaft, Aral Luxembourg S.A., Aral Services Luxembourg Sarl, Aral Tankstellen Services Sarl, Arco Mediterraneo Inversiones S.L., Areas Noriega S.L., Areas Singulares Reyes S.L., Aspac Lubricants (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Atlantic 2/3 UK Holdings Limited, Atlantic Richfield Company, Atlantic Richfield Companyd, Autino Holdings Limited, Autino Limited, Auwahi Wind Energy Holdings LLC, B2Mobility GmbH, BASS Management Pty Ltd, BP (Abu Dhabi) Limited, BP (Barbados) Holding SRL, BP (Barbican) Limited, BP (China) Holdings Limited, BP (China) Industrial Lubricants Limited, BP (GTA Mauritania) Finance Limited, BP (GTA Senegal) Finance Limited, BP (Gibraltar) Limited, BP (Guangzhou) Advanced Mobility Limited, BP (Hunan) Petroleum Company Limited, BP (Indian Agencies) Limited, BP (Shandong) Petroleum Co. Ltd, BP (Shanghai) Trading Limited, BP - Castrol (Thailand) Limited, BP AMI Leasing Inc., BP Absheron Limited, BP Advanced Mobility Limited, BP Africa Limited, BP Africa Oil Limited, BP Akaryakit Ortakligi, BP Alaska LNG LLC, BP Alternative Energy Holdings Limited, BP Alternative Energy Investments Limited, BP Alternative Energy North America Inc., BP Alternative Energy Trinidad and Tobago Limited, BP America Chembel Holding LLC, BP America Chemicals Company, BP America Foreign Investments Inc., BP America Inc, BP America Inc., BP America Limited, BP America Production Company, BP Amoco Chemical Company, BP Amoco Chemical Holding Company, BP Amoco Chemical Indonesia Limited, BP Amoco Chemical Malaysia Holding Company, BP Amoco Exploration (Faroes) Limited, BP Amoco Exploration (In Amenas) Limited, BP Andaman II Ltd, BP Angola (Block 18) B.V., BP Argentina Exploration Company, BP Argentina Holdings LLC, BP Aromatics Holdings Limited, BP Aromatics Limited, BP Asia Limited, BP Asia Pacific (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., BP Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BP Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, BP Australia Capital Markets Limited, BP Australia Employee Share Plan Proprietary Limited, BP Australia Group Pty Ltde, BP Australia Investments Pty Ltd, BP Australia Nominees Proprietary Limited, BP Australia Pty Ltd, BP Australia Shipping Pty Ltd, BP Australia Swaps Management Limited, BP Aviation A/S, BP Benevolent Fund Trustees Limited, BP Berau Ltd., BP Biocombustiveis S.A., BP Bioenergia Campina Verde Ltda., BP Bioenergia Ituiutaba Ltda., BP Bioenergia Itumbiara S.A., BP Bioenergia Tropical S.A., BP Biofuels Advanced Technology Inc., BP Biofuels Brazil Investments Limited, BP Biofuels Louisiana LLC, BP Biofuels North America LLC, BP Biofuels Trading Comercio Exportacao Ltda., BP Bomberai Ltd., BP Brasil Ltda., BP Brazil Tracking L.L.C., BP Bulwer Island Pty Ltd, BP Business Service Centre Asia Sdn Bhd, BP Business Service Centre KFT, BP CIV Pty Ltd, BP Canada Energy Development Company, BP Canada Energy Group ULC, BP Canada Energy Marketing Corp., BP Canada International Holdings B.V., BP Canada Investments Inc., BP Capellen Sarl, BP Capital Markets, BP Capital Markets America, BP Capital Markets America Inc., BP Capital Markets p.l.c., BP Car Fleet Limited, BP Caribbean Company, BP Castrol KK, BP Castrol Lubricants (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., BP Central Pipelines LLC, BP Chembel, BP Chemicals (Korea) Limited, BP Chemicals East China Investments Limited, BP Chemicals Investments Limited, BP Chemicals Limited, BP China Exploration and Production Company, BP Comercializadora de Energia Ltda., BP Commodities Trading Limited, BP Commodity Supply B.V., BP Company North America, BP Company North America Inc., BP Containment Response Limited, BP Containment Response System Holdings LLC, BP Continental Holdings Limited, BP Corporate Holdings, BP Corporate Holdings Limited, BP Corporation North America, BP Corporation North America Inc., BP D-B Pipeline Company LLC, BP D230 Limited, BP Danmark A/S, BP Developments Australia Pty. Ltd., BP Dogal Gaz Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, BP East Kalimantan CBM Limited, BP Eastern Mediterranean Limited, BP Egypt Company, BP Egypt East Delta Marine Corporation, BP Egypt East Tanka B.V., BP Egypt Production B.V., BP Egypt Ras El Barr B.V., BP Egypt West Mediterranean (Block B) B.V., BP Energy Asia Pte. Limited, BP Energy Colombia Limited, BP Energy Company, BP Energy Europe Limited, BP Energy Solutions B.V., BP Energy do Brasil Ltda., BP Energia Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., BP Espana S.A. Unipersonal, BP Estaciones y Servicios Energeticos Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, BP Europa SE, BP Exploracion de Venezuela S.A., BP Exploration & Production Inc., BP Exploration (Absheron) Limited, BP Exploration (Alaska), BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Exploration (Algeria) Limited, BP Exploration (Alpha), BP Exploration (Alpha) Limited, BP Exploration (Angola), BP Exploration (Angola) Limited, BP Exploration (Azerbaijan), BP Exploration (Azerbaijan) Limited, BP Exploration (Canada) Limited, BP Exploration (Caspian Sea), BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Limited, BP Exploration (D230) Limited, BP Exploration (Delta), BP Exploration (Delta) Limited, BP Exploration (El Djazair) Limited, BP Exploration (Epsilon) Limited, BP Exploration (Gambia) Limited, BP Exploration (Greenland) Limited, BP Exploration (Madagascar) Limited, BP Exploration (Morocco) Limited, BP Exploration (Namibia) Limited, BP Exploration (Nigeria Finance) Limited, BP Exploration (Nigeria) Limited, BP Exploration (Psi) Limited, BP Exploration (STP) Limited, BP Exploration (Shafag-Asiman) Limited, BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Limited, BP Exploration (South Atlantic) Limited, BP Exploration (Xazar) Pte. Ltd., BP Exploration Angola (Kwanza Benguela) Limited, BP Exploration Argentina Limited, BP Exploration Australia Pty Ltd Level 15, BP Exploration Beta Limited, BP Exploration China Limited, BP Exploration Company (Middle East) Limited, BP Exploration Company Limited, BP Exploration Indonesia Limited, BP Exploration Libya Limited, BP Exploration Mexico Limited, BP Exploration Mexico S.A. De C.V., BP Exploration North Africa Limited, BP Exploration Operating Company, BP Exploration Operating Company Limited, BP Exploration Orinoco Limited, BP Exploration Personnel Company Limited, BP Exploration Peru Limited, BP Express Shopping Limited, BP Finance Australia Pty Ltd, BP Finance p.l.c., BP Foundation Incorporated, BP France, BP Fuels & Lubricants AS, BP Fuels Deutschland GmbH, BP GOM Logistics LLC, BP Gas & Power Investments Limited, BP Gas Europe S.A.U., BP Gas Marketing Limited, BP Gas Supply (Angola) LLC, BP Ghana Limited, BP Global Investments, BP Global Investments Limited, BP Global Investments Salalah & Co LLC, BP Global West Africa Limited, BP Greece Limited, BP Guangdong Limited, BP High Density Polyethylene - France, BP Holdings (Thailand) Limited, BP Holdings B.V., BP Holdings Canada, BP Holdings Canada Limited, BP Holdings International B.V., BP Holdings North America, BP Holdings North America Limited, BP Hong Kong Limited, BP India Private Limited, BP Indonesia Investment Limited, BP International, BP International Limited, BP International Services Company, BP Investment Management Limited, BP Investments Asia Limited, BP Iran Limited, BP Iraq N.V., BP Italia SpA, BP Japan K.K., BP Korea Limited, BP Kuwait Limited, BP LNG Shipping Limited, BP Latin America LLC, BP Latin America Upstream Services Inc., BP Lubricants KK, BP Lubricants USA Inc., BP Luxembourg S.A., BP Malaysia Holdings Sdn. Bhd., BP Management International B.V., BP Management Netherlands B.V., BP Marine Limited, BP Mariner Holding Company LLC, BP Maritime Services (Singapore) Pte. Limited, BP Marketing Egypt LLC, BP Mauritania Investments Limited, BP Mauritius Limited (in liquidation), BP Middle East Enterprises Corporation, BP Middle East LLC, BP Middle East Limited, BP Midstream Partners GP LLC, BP Midstream Partners Holdings LLC, BP Midstream Partners LP, BP Midwest Product Pipelines Holdings LLC, BP Mocambique Limitada, BP Mocambique Limited, BP Muturi Holdings B.V., BP Nederland Holdings BV, BP Netherlands Upstream B.V., BP New Ventures Middle East Limited, BP New Zealand Holdings Limited, BP New Zealand Share Scheme Limited, BP Nutrition Inc., BP Offshore Gathering Systems Inc., BP Offshore Pipelines Company LLC, BP Offshore Response Company LLC, BP Oil (Thailand) Limited, BP Oil Australia Pty Ltd, BP Oil Espana S.A., BP Oil Hellenic S.A., BP Oil International, BP Oil International Limited, BP Oil Kent Refinery Limited (in liquidation), BP Oil Llandarcy Refinery Limited, BP Oil Logistics UK Limited, BP Oil New Zealand Limited, BP Oil Pipeline Company, BP Oil Senegal S.A., BP Oil Shipping Company, BP Oil UK Limited, BP Oil Venezuela Limited, BP Oil Vietnam Limited, BP Oil Yemen Limited, BP Olex Fanal Mineralol GmbH, BP One Pipeline Company LLC, BP Pacific Investments Ltd, BP Pakistan (Badin) Inc., BP Pakistan Exploration and Production Inc., BP Pension Escrow Limited, BP Pension Trustees Limited, BP Pensions (Overseas) Limited, BP Pensions Limited, BP Petrochemicals India Investments Limited, BP Petroleo y Gas S.A., BP Petrolleri Anonim Sirketi, BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc., BP Pipelines (BTC) Limited, BP Pipelines (North America) Inc., BP Pipelines (SCP) Limited, BP Pipelines (TANAP) Limited, BP Pipelines TAP Limited, BP Polska Services Sp. z o.o. Ul., BP Portugal -Comercio de Combustiveis e Lubrificantes SA, BP Poseidon Limited, BP Products North America, BP Products North America Inc., BP Properties Limited, BP Raffinaderij Rotterdam B.V., BP Refinery (Kwinana) Proprietary Limited, BP Regional Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd, BP River Rouge Pipeline Company LLC, BP Russian Investments Limited, BP Russian Ventures Limited, BP SC Holdings LLC, BP Scale Up Factory Limited, BP Senegal Investments Limited, BP Services International Limited, BP Servicios de Combustibles S.A. de C.V., BP Servicios territoriales S.A., BP Shafag-Asiman Limited, BP Shipping Limited, BP Singapore Pte. Limited, BP Solar Energy North America LLC, BP Solar Espana S.A., BP Solar International Inc., BP Solar Pty Ltd, BP South America Holdings Ltd, BP Southern Africa Proprietary Limited, BP Southern Cone Company, BP Subsea Well Response (Brazil) Limited, BP Subsea Well Response Limited, BP Taiwan Marketing Limited, BP Technology Ventures Inc., BP Technology Ventures Limited, BP Train 2/3 Holding SRL, BP Transportation (Alaska) Inc., BP Trinidad Processing Limited, BP Trinidad and Tobago, BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC, BP Turkey Refining Limited, BP Two Pipeline Company LLC, BP UK Retained Holdings Limited, BP Venezuela Investments B.V., BP West Aru I Limited, BP West Aru II Limited, BP West Papua I Limited, BP West Papua III Limited, BP Wind Energy North America Inc., BP Wiriagar Ltd., BP World-Wide Technical Services Limited, BP Zhuhai Chemical Company Limited, BP+Amoco International Limited, BP-AIOC Exploration (TISA) LLC, BPA Investment Holding Company, BPNE International B.V., BPRY Caribbean Ventures LLC, BPX (Eagle Ford) Gathering LLC, BPX (KCS Resources) LLC, BPX (Karnes) Gathering LLC, BPX (Permian) Gathering LLC, BPX (WSF Operating) Inc., BPX Energy Inc., BPX Midstream LLC, BPX Operating Company, BPX Production Company, BPX Properties (GP) LLC, BPX Properties (LP) LLC, BPX Properties (NA) LP, BTC Pipeline Holding Company Limited, BXL Plastics Limitedv, Bahia de Bizkaia Electridad S.L., Baltimore Ennis Land Company Inc., Black Lake Pipe Line Company, Blueprint Power, Brian Jasper Nominees Pty Ltd, Britannic Energy Trading Limited, Britannic Investments Iraq Limited, Britannic Marketing Limited, Britannic Strategies Limited, Britannic Trading Limited, Britoil Limited, Burmah Castrol, Burmah Castrol Australia Pty Ltd, Burmah Castrol Holdings Inc., Burmah Castrol PLC, Burmah Castrol South Africa (Pty) Limited, Burmah Chile SpA, Butamax Advanced Biofuels, CASTROL Austria GmbHb, CH-Twenty Inc., CNAA, Cadman DBP Limited, Casitas Pipeline Company, Castrol (China) Limited, Castrol (Ireland) Limited, Castrol (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Castrol (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Castrol (Tianjin) Lubricants Co. Ltd., Castrol (U.K.) Limited, Castrol Australia Pty. Limited, Castrol B.V., Castrol BP Petco Limited Liability Company, Castrol Brasil Ltda., Castrol Caribbean & Central America Inc., Castrol Colombia Ltda., Castrol Del Peru S.A., Castrol Egypt Lubricants S.A.E., Castrol India Limited, Castrol Industrie und Service GmbH, Castrol KK, Castrol Limited, Castrol Lubricants RO S.R.L, Castrol Mexico S.A., Castrol Namibia (Pty) Limited, Castrol Offshore Limited, Castrol Pakistan (Private) Limited, Castrol Philippines Inc., Castrol Servicos Ltda., Castrol Ukraine LLC, Castrol Zimbabwe (Private) Limited, Centrel Pty Ltd, Charge Your Car Limitedc, Chargemaster, Chargemaster (Europe) GmbH, Chargemaster Limited, Charging Solutions Limited, Clarisse Holdings Pty Ltd, Coastwise Trading Company Inc., Consolidada de Energia y Lubricantes (CENERLUB) C.A., Conti Cross Keys Inn Inc., Coro Trading NZ Limited, Cuyama Pipeline Company, DHC Solvent Chemie GmbH, Dermody Developments Pty Ltd, Dermody Holdings Pty Ltd, Dermody Investments Pty Ltd, Dermody Petroleum Pty. Ltd., Dome Beaufort Petroleum Limited, Dome Wallis (1980) Limited Partnership, ECM Markets SA (Pty) Ltd, Elektromotive Limited, Elite Customer Solutions Pty Ltd, Elm Holdings Inc., Energy Global Investments (USA) Inc., Enstar LLC, Estacion de Servicio Alto Campoo S.L., Estacion de Servicio Ganzo 10 S.L., Estacion de Servicio Reocin 9 S.L., Estacion de Servicio Santillana II S.L., Estacion de Servicio Sardinero S.L., Estonian Aviation Fuelling Services, Europa Oil NZ Limited, Exomet Inc., Expandite Contract Services Limited, Exploration (Luderitz Basin) Limited, Exploration Service Company Limited, FWK (2017) Limited, FWK Holdings (2017) LTD, Finite Carbon, Flat Ridge 2 Holdings LLC, Flat Ridge Wind Energy LLC, Foseco Holding Inc., Foseco Holding International B.V., Foseco Inc., Fosroc Expandite Limited, Fotech Solutions Ltd, Fowler Ridge Holdings LLC, Fowler Ridge I Land Investments LLC, Fowler Ridge II Holdings LLC, Fowler Ridge III Wind Farm LLC, FreeBees B.V., Fuel & Retail Aviat ion Sweden AB, Fuelplane- Sociedade Abastecedora De Aeronaves Unipessoal Lda, GOAM 1 C.I S. A .S, Gardena Holdings Inc., Gelsenkirchen Raffinerie Netz GmbH, Grampian Aviation Fuelling Services Limited, Guangdong Investments Limited, Highlands Ethanol LLC, Hosteleria Noriega S.L., IGI Resources Inc., Insight Analytics Solutions Holdings Limited, Insight Analytics Solutions Limited, Insight Analytics Solutions USA Inc., International Bunker Supplies Pty Ltd, Iraq Petroleum Company Limited, Jupiter Insurance Limited, Ken-Chas Reserve Company, Kenilworth Oil Company Limited, Kingbook Inversiones Socimi S.A., Latin Energy Argentina S.A., Lebanese Aviation Technical Services S.A.L., Limited Liability Company BP Toplivnaya Kompania, Limited liability company Setra Lubricants, Lubricants UK Limited, Lytt Limited, Manormaker (Nominee No. 1) Limited, Manormaker (Nominee No. 2) Limited, Manormaker GP Limited (99.90%) 11 Black Horse Lane, Mardi Gras Transportation System Company LLC, Markoil S.A., Masana Petroleum Solutions (Pty) Ltd, Mayaro Initiative for Private Enterprise Development, Mehoopany Holdings LLC, Mes Tecnologia En Servicios Y Energia S.A., Minza Pty. Ltd., Mountain City Remediation LLC, No. 1 Riverside Quay Proprietary Limited, Nordic Lubricants A/S, Nordic Lubricants AB, North America Funding Company, OMD87 Inc., OOO BP STL, Omega Oil Company, OnSight Analytics Solutions India Private Ltd., Open Energi, Orion Delaware Mountain Wind Farm LP, Orion Energy Holdings LLC, Orion Energy L.L.C.b, Orion Post Land Investments LLC, Oyambre 1 S.L., PRODUITS METALLURGIE DOITTAU, PT BP Petrochemicals, PT Castrol Indonesia, PT Castrol Manufacturing Indonesia, PT Jasatama Petroindo, Pacroy (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Peaks America Inc., Pearl River Delta Investments Limited, Petrocorner Retail S.L.U., Phoenix Petroleum Services Limited, Pozuelo 4 S.L., Prospect International C.A. (In liquidation), Puente Arce 4 S.L., Remediation Management Services Company, Richfield Oil Corporation, Rio Corvo 2 S.L., Rolling Thunder I Power Partners LLC, Romax Insight Korea Ltd., Ropemaker Deansgate Limited, Ropemaker Properties Limited, Ruhr Oel GmbH, Rusdene GSS Limited, SOFAST Limited, SRHP, Saturn Insurance Inc., Sherbino I Holdings LLC, Sherbino Mesa I Land Investments LLC, Sociedade de Promocao Imobiliaria Quinta do Loureiro SA, Societe de Gestion de Depots d'Hydrocarbures - GDH, South Texas Shale LLC, Southeast Texas Biofuels LLC, Southern Ridge Pipeline Holding Company, Southern Ridge Pipeline LP LLC, Sp/f Decision3 (GreenSteam) Company, Standard Oil Company, Standard Oil Company Inc., Standard Oil of Ohio, Stryde Limited, Sunrise Oil Sands Partnership, TISA Education Complex LLC, TJKK, Taradadis Pty. Ltd., Telcom General Corporation, Terre de Grace Partnership, The Anaconda Company, The BP Share Plans Trustees Limited, The Burmah Oil Company (Pakistan Trading) Limited, The Standard Oil Company, Thorntons, Toledo Refinery Holding Company LLC, Torrelavega 7 S.L., Union Texas International Corporation, Vastar Pipeline LLC, Veba Oel AG Veba Oel, Verenium, Viceroy Investments Limited, Villacarriedo 8 S.L., Warrenville Development Limited, Water Way Trading and Petroleum Services LLC, Welchem Inc., West Kimberley Fuels Pty Ltd, Westlake Houston Development LLC, Whiting Clean Energy Inc., Windpark Energy Nederland B.V., and Winwell Resources L.L.C.The following companies are subsidiares of Tesco: Adminstore Limited, Adsega Limited, Alfred Preedy & Sons (Trustees) Limited, Alfred Preedy & Sons Limited, Anthony Heagney Limited, Arena (Jersey) Management Limited, Armitage Finance Unlimited, Armitage Luxembourg s.? r.l., BLT Holdings 2010 Limited, Bath Upper Bristol Road Management, Bedminster Estates Limited, Beehythe Estates limited, Berry Lane Management Company Limited, Blinkbox Books Limited, BlinxBox, Booker Group, Brian Fords Discount Store Limited, Broadfields Management Limited, Brookmaker (GP) Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 1 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 2 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 3 Limited, Broughton Retail Park Nominee 4 Limited, Buckingham Road (Bletchley) Management Company Limited, Bugden Ltd, Buttoncable Limited, Buttoncase Limited, Canterbury Road Management Limited, Cardiff Cathays Terrace Management Company Limited, Careneed News Limited, Cheshunt Finance Unlimited, Cheshunt Holdings Guernsey Limited, Cheshunt Hungary Servicing Limited Liability Company, Cheshunt Luxembourg S.? r.l., Cheshunt Overseas LLP, China Property Holdings (HK) Limited, Chirac Limited, Cirrus Finance (2009) Limited, Cirrus Finance Limited, Cirrus Luxembourg s.? r.l., Clarepharm Limited, Clondalkin Properties Limited, Comar Limited, Commercial Investments Limited, Crazy Prices, Crest Ostrava a.s, Cullens Holdings Limited, Cullens Stores Limited, Daily Wrap Produce Limited, Day And Nite Stores Limited, Delamare Cards Holdco Limited, Delamare Cards MTN Issuer plc, Delamare Finance PLC, Delamare Group Holdings Limited, Delamare Holdings BV Netherlands, Delamare Luxembourg s.? r.l. Luxembourg, Delamare One Limited, Dunnhumby Ventures LLC, ELH Insurance Limited, Edinburgh Butterfly Farm Limited, Edson Investments Limited, Edson Properties Limited, Ek-Chai Distribution System Co. Ltd., Euphorium (London) Limited, Euphorium (North London) Limited, Euphorium Group Limited, Euphorium IP Limited, Europa Foods Limited, Faraday Properties Limited, Flitwick Pharmacies Limited, Food & Wine Lovers Limited, Forum Liberec s.r.o, Freds Food Construction Limited, Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund, Gain Land Limited, Genesis sp. z o.o., Gibbs News Limited, Gibbs Newsagents Limited, Gida Sanayi A.S., Giraffe, Giraffe Cafe Limited, Giraffe Concepts Limited, Golden Island Management Services Limited, HIT hypermarket Sp. z o. o., Halesworth SPV Limited, Harris and Hoole Holdings Limited, Harris and Hoole Limited, Harris and Hoole Nominees Limited, Homeplus, Hymall Co. Ltd., J E Properties Holdings Limited, Jasper Sp. z o. o. Poland, KSS Retail Limited, Kabaty Investments Tesco (Polska) Sp. z o. o. Sp.k, Kingsway Fresh Foods Ltd, Koxka Hungary Refrigeration LLC, Launchgrain Limited, Launchtable Limited, Laws Stores Limited, Lazada Group S.A., Lee (Southern) Limited, Lek?ren? Tesco Bansk? Bystrica k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Dunajsk? Streda k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Ko?ice k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Lama k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Nitra k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Petr?alka k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Pie?tany k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Pre?ov Vukov k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Senec k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Spi?sk? Nov? Ves k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Trenc??n s.r.o. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Zlat? Piesky k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Lek?ren? Tesco Zvolen k.s. Slovakia Limited Partnership, Linebush III Holdings Limited, Linebush III Limited, Linebush IV Limited, Linebush Limited, Linebush V Limited, London and Home Counties Superstores Limited, Lowfoods Limited, M & W Limited, Merrion Shopping Centre Ltd, Mills (East Midlands) Limited, Mills (West Midlands) Limited, Mills Group Holdings Limited, Mills Group Limited, Mobcast Services, Monread Developments Limited, Morgam Holdings Limited, Morgam News Limited, Motorcause Limited, NPL (Hardgate) Limited, Nabola Development Limited, NutriCentre Limited, OC FORUM Liberec Ltd., Oakwood Distribution Limited, Obchodn? dom Bratislava s.ro, Obchodn? dom Ko?ice s.ro., Obchodn? dom Nitra s.ro., Obchodn? dom Pre?ov s.ro., Old FEHC Inc., Old FEPC LLC, One Stop Community Stores Ltd, One Stop Convenience Stores Limited, One Stop Stores Limited, One Stop Stores Trustee Services Limited, Orpingford, Orpington (Station Road) Limited, Oxford Fox and Hounds Management Company Limited, PEJ Property Developments Limited, Paper Chain (East Anglia) Limited, Pharaway Properties Limited, Power Supermarkets Limited, Premier Garage (Worthing) Limited, Pulford Foods Limited, R.J.D. Holdings, Retail Property Co. Ltd, S Bottomley & Bros Limited, Sanders Supermarkets Limited, Sandtable Limited, Sarcon (No. 239) Limited, Seacroft Green Nominee 1 Limited, Seacroft Green Nominee 2 Limited, Shire Park Limited, Shuke Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Snowman Retail 1 Limited, Snowman Retail 2 Limited, Sociomantic AB, Sociomantic Labs B.V, Sociomantic Labs Inc, Sociomantic Labs Internet Hizmetleri Limited ?ireketi, Sociomantic Labs LLC, Sociomantic Labs Limited, Sociomantic Labs Private Limited, Sociomantic Labs Pte Ltd, Sociomantic Labs S.r.l, Sociomantic Labs SARL, Sociomantic Labs Servicos Web Ltda, Sociomantic Labs Sp.z.o.o., Sociomantic Labs s.r.o., Sociomantic S.L.U., Sociomantic labs GmbH, Spen Hill Developments (Holdings) Ltd, Spen Hill Developments (Portishead) Ltd, Spen Hill Developments (Tonbridge) Limited, Spen Hill Developments Limited, Spen Hill Management Limited, Spen Hill Properties (Holdings) plc, Spen Hill Properties (Southend) Limited, Spen Hill Regeneration Limited, Spen Hill Residential No 1 Limited, Spen Hill Residential No 2 Limited, Station House Welling Management Limited, Statusfloat Limited, Stewarts Supermarkets Limited, Streatham Management Company Limited, T & S Management Services Limited, T & S Properties Limited, T & S Stores Limited, TESCO (POLSKA) sp. z o.o., TESCO Akad?mia K?pz?si ?s Fejleszt?si Kor?tolt Felelss?g T?rsas?g, TESCO MOBILE POLSKA SP. Z O.O., TESCO STORES SR a.s., Tapesilver Limited, Teesport (GP) Limited, Teesport (Nominee) Limited, Telegraph Properties (Kirkby) Limited, Tesco (Foxtrot 1) Limited, Tesco (Foxtrot 2) Limited, Tesco (Fujian) Industry Limited, Tesco (Jersey) Limited, Tesco (Overseas) Ltd, Tesco (Yorkshire) Limited, Tesco Aqua (1LP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (3LP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (FinCo1) Limited, Tesco Aqua (FinCo2) Limited, Tesco Aqua (GP) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Aqua (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Atrato (1LP) Limited, Tesco Atrato (GP) Limited, Tesco Barbers Wood Limited, Tesco Bengaluru Private Limited, Tesco Blue (1LP) Limited, Tesco Blue (FinCo2) Limited, Tesco Blue (GP) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Blue (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Capital No. 1 Limited, Tesco Capital No. 2 Limited, Tesco Card Services Limited, Tesco Card Services Limited, Tesco Card Services Ltd., Tesco Chile Sourcing Limitada, Tesco Coral (GP) Limited, Tesco Corporate Treasury Services PLC, Tesco Depot Propco Limited, Tesco Distribution Holdings Limited, Tesco Distribution Limited, Tesco Dorney (1LP) Limited, Tesco Dorney (GP) Limited, Tesco Dystrybucja Sp. z.o.o., Tesco EU IT Services s.r.o., Tesco Employees Share Scheme Trustees Limited, Tesco Estates Limited, Tesco Europe B.V. Netherlands, Tesco Family Dining Limited, Tesco Food Sourcing Brazil Representa??o De Servi?os Ltda., Tesco Food Sourcing Limited, Tesco Foundation (Nadacia Tesco), Tesco Freetime Limited, Tesco Fuchsia (1LP) Limited, Tesco Fuel Limited, Tesco Global Employment Company Limited, Tesco Guangdong (HK) Co. Limited, Tesco High Beech Limited, Tesco Holdings BV, Tesco Holdings Limited, Tesco Home Shopping Limited, Tesco Hungary (Holdings) Limited, Tesco International Franchising s.r.o., Tesco International Internet Retailing Limited, Tesco International Services Limited, Tesco International Sourcing Limited, Tesco Ireland Holdings Limited, Tesco Ireland Limited, Tesco Ireland Pension Trustees Limited, Tesco Jade (GP) Limited, Tesco Joint Buying Service (Shanghai) Co Limited, Tesco Kipa Kitle Pazarlama Ticaret Lojistik ve, Tesco Kirkby (General Partner) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (LP) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Unitholder 1) Limited, Tesco Kirkby (Unitholder2) Limited, Tesco Lagoon GP Limited, Tesco Licences Limited, Tesco Lotus Retail Growth, Tesco Lotus Retail Growth Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund, Tesco Maintenance Limited, Tesco Mauritius Holdings Limited, Tesco Mobile (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Tesco Mobile CR s.r.o., Tesco Mobile Communications Limited, Tesco Mobile Ireland Limited, Tesco Mobile Ireland Limited, Tesco Mobile Limited, Tesco Mobile Services Limited, Tesco Mobile Slovakia s.r.o, Tesco Mobile Slovakia s.r.o., Tesco Mobile CR, Tesco Nanjing Zhongshan, Tesco Nanjing Zhongshan (HK) Co. Limited, Tesco Navona (1LP) Limited, Tesco Navona (GP) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Navona (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Navona PL Propco Limited, Tesco Opticians Limited, Tesco Overseas (Holdings) Limited, Tesco Overseas Investments Limited, Tesco Overseas ULC, Tesco Passaic (1LP) Limited, Tesco Passaic (GP) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee 1) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Passaic (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Passaic PL Propco Limited, Tesco Pension (Jade) Limited, Tesco Pension Investment Limited, Tesco Pension Trustees Limited, Tesco Personal Finance, Tesco Personal Finance Compare Limited, Tesco Personal Finance Group Limited, Tesco Property (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) (No.2) Limited, Tesco Property (Nominees) Limited, Tesco Property A.S., Tesco Property Finance 1 Holdco Limited, Tesco Property Finance 1 PLC, Tesco Property Holdings (No. 2) Limited, Tesco Property Holdings Limited, Tesco Property Limited, Tesco Property Nominees (No.5) Limited, Tesco Property Nominees (No.6) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (GP No.2) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (GP) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (No.1) Limited, Tesco Property Partner (No.2) Limited, Tesco Red (1LP) Limited, Tesco Red (GP) Limited, Tesco Red (Nominee 2) Limited, Tesco Red (Nominee Holdco) Limited, Tesco Sarum (1LP) Limited, Tesco Sarum (GP) Limited, Tesco Seacroft Limited, Tesco Secretaries Limited, Tesco Services Limited, Tesco Sourcing India Private Limited, Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Tesco Stores (Thailand) Ltd, Tesco Stores CR a.s., Tesco Stores Limited, Tesco Technology Services HK Limited, Tesco Treasury Services PLC, Tesco Trustee Company of Ireland Limited, Tesco Underwriting Limited, Tesco Vin Plus SA, Tesco Worldwide Limited, Tesco for Thais Foundation, Tesco-Global Stores Privately Held Co. Ltd, Tesco.Com Limited, The Brookmaker Limited Partnership, The Teesport Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Aqua Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Atrato Limited Partnership, The Tesco Blue Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Coral Limited Partnership, The Tesco Dorney Limited Partnership, The Tesco Kirkby Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Navona Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Passaic Limited Partnership Limited Partnership, The Tesco Property (No.2) Limited Partnership, The Tesco Red Limited Partnership, The Tesco Sarum Limited Partnership, Trent Hypermarket Private Limited, Trigger Retail Ltd, Valiant Insurance Company DAC, Value House Properties Limited, Variable Preference, Ventnor High Street Management Company Limited, Verulam Properties (2001) Limited, Verulam Properties Limited, Victoria BB Sp z.o.o., WE7, WSC Properties Limited, Wanze Properties (Dundalk) Limited, Weymouth Avenue (Dorchester) Limited, Whitecastle Properties Limited, Wm. Low Supermarkets Limited, Woolwich Central Residents Management Company Limited, Worple Road Plc, Xiamen Firste Property Limited, Xiamen Firste Property Limited, aAcklam Management Company Limited, dunnhumby (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, dunnhumby (Thailand) Limited, dunnhumby Canada Limited, dunnhumby Consulting Services India Private Limited, dunnhumby Czech s.r.o., dunnhumby Employment Company Limited, dunnhumby Holding Limited, dunnhumby Hungary Kft, dunnhumby IT Services India Private Limited, dunnhumby Inc, dunnhumby International Limited, dunnhumby Ireland Limited, dunnhumby Italia Srl., dunnhumby Limited, dunnhumby Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., dunnhumby Netherlands B.V., dunnhumby Norge A.S., dunnhumby Overseas Limited, dunnhumby Poland Sp z.o.o, dunnhumby Slovakia s.r.o., dunnhumby South Africa (Pty) Ltd, dunnhumby Trustees Limited, and dunnuhumby.The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreVarian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services medical devices and software products for treating cancer and other medical conditions worldwide. It operates through Oncology Systems and Proton Solutions segments. The Oncology Systems segment offers hardware and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, artificial intelligence based adaptive radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, as well as quality assurance equipment. Its products include linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment accessories, and quality assurance software; and information management, treatment planning, image processing, clinical knowledge exchange, patient care management, decision-making support, and practice management software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, physicians' offices, medical oncology practices, radiotherapy centers, and cancer care clinics. The Proton Solutions segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services products and systems for delivering proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The company has a strategic agreement with McKesson Corp. to supply treatment delivery systems and planning, services, and radiotherapy information system solutions to its U.S. Oncology Network and Vantage Oncology affiliated sites of care; and a strategic partnership with Siemens AG to represent Siemens diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics in the United States and other select markets. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Read MoreUTICA, N.Y. - Local realtors, property owners, city representatives, and community members attended the Downtown Community Forum meeting Tuesday night to discuss Utica's housing market.

A few issues discussed were affordable housing, people having options to buy, and the condition of the houses in the area.

The co-chair for the Downtown Community Forum, Alyssa Spina, says this discussion is important and timely.

"The housing market needs to make sure that we have the inventory to meet the demand and we have the services to identify what the right housing is," Spina said.

One concern with the market in Utica is not having enough houses to purchase. People in the community say the area isn't accommodating as many residential homes as it is rental properties.

"Many of the new homes that are being introduced into the market are being introduced as rentals, and not necessarily as properties people can buy, which can lead to a lack of commitment to ensuring that Utica is the best that it can be," Spina said.

The manager for the Homeownership Center in Utica, Kristen Graves, says there are more rental properties than there are homes.

"The homeownership rate is about a little over 40 percent -- the rest being rentals," Graves said. "Right now we've got different generations going for the same house. So you've got millennials going to the starter home, where you've got your older generation whose families moved out who are also going for that started home because they're down sizing."

Another issues raised by the people at the meeting and the people in the community is finding affordable homes.

"Maybe some of the housing that is available is not necessarily affordable for the people who are seeking homes," Spina said.

Graves says affording a home is also about being comfortable with the cost.

"Affordable housing is not stretching yourself," Graves said. "Understanding that to be in affordable housing you're spending about 30 percent of your grossed median income."

There are also many challenges with buying older homes in the city.

"The housing stock is all significantly older, 80 percent is built pre-1978," Graves said. "So with that youve got asbestos, knob and tube, youve got lead issues within the home, and also the lead pipes within the home. So its a lot to keep up with, maintain, it weighs on health issues, so were seeing a lot of issues with that.

Experts say the best thing to do is to educate yourself before buying a home.

"Doing your research and knowing what you're getting into especially in the Utica area," Graves said. "So it's just becoming educated and working with somebody and knowing the resources that are available."

Graves says the Homeownership Center is a resource available to help educate home buyers on what they can afford to buy, and what its going to cost in the long term to maintain the home.

The next Downtown Community Forum will be held May 7.ROME, N.Y.-- Easter Sunday is three weeks away and the Rome Rescue Mission is in need of donations in order to provide meals for the hundreds they serve each and every year.

Easter for us it's the most important holiday of the year," said Matt Miller, executive director of the Rome Rescue Mission. "We have a beautiful traditional ham dinner. We do a lot of deliveries and to-go meals and things of that nature. We have a great Easter egg hunt at on the side yard here and so it's a really good day of celebration and fun."

Miller said the mission is in need of food or monetary donations to help prepare meals for the celebration. This year he is expecting to serve even more people.

"The needs seems to be getting bigger and we just want to make sure that people are provided a really nice meal and the holidays," he said. "We plan on serving at least 400 people and that includes some of the to-go's that we do and the deliveries. There's a lot of people that are shut-in and they don't have the ability to come here and we really encourage people to give us a call and we will get it meal to anyone who is in need. People can call right up until Easter morning I'll make sure they get a meal."

The mission is located on 413 East Dominick St. in Rome.

For more information call (315) 337-2516 or visit: romemission.orgIts been 45 years to the day since a tornado outbreak rocked Kentucky, killing dozens and destroying homes and businesses.

"Right here is where our steps where going down," says Beverly Tackett, who says she still remembers what happened to her childhood home like it was yesterday.

"This little section right here is where our house was."

The devastating outbreak of 1974 tore apart Tacketts home as it ripped through the small town of Stamping Ground.

"It wiped out most of the previous house that was here, and if it had not been for that house our house where I lived at the time would have been wiped out. We would have been gone."

That was just the impact in Scott County, where several people were injured. On that fateful day, 71 Kentuckians were killed. Kentucky historian, Dr. Ron Bryant, remembers that day and the impact it had on the town.

"By the evening those clouds starting rolling in, and they were as black as tar," says Bryant. "When the tornado starting dropping down it was just like an army marching through destroying everything in its path. There were places throughout the state that looked like a bomb had hit them, in fact there was a trailer park here in Scott County - here near Stamping Ground - that looked like a trash heap after it was over."

Keep in mind that in 1974, weather warning systems were not as accurate as they are today.

"We have so many hills here, you can't see them coming on a flat ground."

The memories are still fresh, 45 years later. If you were here, you remember everything you were doing before the storm  even down to the food you were about to eat.

"Im 63 years old, I was 18 when this tornado hit. I cannot eat Brussels sprouts, because when I think of them it takes me back to the tornado and I just can't seem to get that out of my memory," says Dr. Bryant.

Dr. Bryant says the 1974 tornado outbreak was so powerful, it destroyed more than 200 barns throughout the Commonwealth.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said there is a "legitimate anxiety" among U.S. farmers about the current trade war with China. Perdue spoke to a packed audience on Purdue University's campus Tuesday morning as part of Purdue Ag Week.

"What I've told the President before is that farmers are true patriots," said Perdue. "They're some of his biggest supporters and they've been very loyal. But it's difficult to pay the bank with patriotism."

Perdue said the roadblock right now is that China has not lived up to its commitments.

"It's like a big marriage. You have to understand what is expected of each one and how you fulfill that commitment," Perdue said on the ongoing partnership between the two nations. Perdue's optimistic a deal will get done because the two countries are still talking.

"This is the number two guy in China," Perdue said about Liu He, the official the United States is working with on a compromise. "This is an emissary that President Xi has sent here that can speak for him."

"The good news is, if we can resolve this quickly, farmers can expect some real upticks," Perdue said during a live interview with News 18 This Morning Tuesday. "In fact, we've seen China buy more corn right now than they have in the past five years. They've also placed orders for soybeans and so it could be very very good if a resolution is reached. If President Trump is successful in his efforts to resolve this issue, then it could be extremely good."

Proposed Border Shutdown

Perdue also addressed President Trump's proposed shutdown at the southern border. He says he prefers it not to include agricultural trade.

"That may be wishing for too much," said Perdue. "There is a crisis at the border. The Democrats continue to want to ignore that."

Long-Term Effect of Midwest Flooding

Perdue said citizens can expect to see a rise in beef prices in the near future following widespread livestock loss due to major flooding in Nebraska.

"It's significant," said Perdue. "If you're in the middle of it, it's devastating. That's why we are hopeful that the disaster bill that's running through Congress right now will include some help for those farmers who lost everything."

Changes for Ag Graduates

Perdue said he believes the United States is entering a fourth Industrial Revolution where food will become health. He says the next generation of farmers will be responsible for that.

"The potential for agriculture is just excellent," Perdue said. "We will create foods that will make us healthier and reduce obesity."

Farmer Mentorship

The secretary also rolled out an idea that Daniels and the crowd seemed to be on board with during the conversation. Perdue said a mentorship program between older and younger farmers could be the fix to a lack of young people coming back to the farm.

"Groups of people creating little clubs maybe centered around Lafayette, Indiana," Perdue explained of his idea. "A group of farmers that are in the latter years that may not have a relative that they want to hand the farm off to. They may just be growing their potential buyer for their farm."

Duirng the talk, Daniels said the average age of a farmer is 58. He agreed with Perdue that a mentorship program was needed.

"Farming is a risky business, we know that," said Perdue. "But again, you can't expect young people to go into, for passion, because they love the lifestyle of farming if they can't feed their family that way."INDIANAPOLIS (WLFI)  Senate Bill 474 passed the house unanimously Tuesday.

As we previously reported the bill would help prevent animal abuse by forbidding convicted abusers from owning pets.

It's authored by Senator Ron Alting and supported by the Tippecanoe County Animal Advisory Board.

The board looks at local animal cruelty cases to help educate law enforcement and the public to determine how to make positive change.

The bill will now head to Governor Eric Holcomb's desk.LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)- Ivy Tech Lafayette hosted more than 100 local high schoolers for its annual 'Hispanic Student Day' Wednesday.

The event gives students the opportunity to learn about the benefits of higher education and get a taste of the college life.

Ivy Tech provided college workshops, speakers and an open discussion panel.

Along with Ivy Tech officials, Purdue's Latino Cultural Center attended 'Hispanic Student Day' as well.

The event started in 2006 and attendance has grown rapidly over the years.

The goal is to show each student they can reach their education and career goals through community college.

Ivy Tech Lafayette's Director of Admissions said it helps for students to have support from the community.

"We're looking for the community, especially the parents of these students, just to provide support for them," Hernandez said. "Whether it be emotional support or financial support of any kind, especially the community."

Although the event is targeted for Hispanic students, Ivy Tech welcomes any student to attend.

Hernandez wants community members to know there is a way to support Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA students, furthering their education.

"Ivy Tech does have a scholarship for DACA students called 'The Dreamer's Fund.' So we're always looking for community members to donate to that scholarship fund."

Hernandez and his wife started 'The Dreamer's Fund' last March. He said the scholarship received so much attention that by this fall, they were able to give out $500.00 scholarships to several students.

To make a donation, click here.FOUNTAIN COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)  An Illinois woman has been arrested for leading police on a high speed, multi-state chase.

Police said Christina Newell stole a vehicle after she discovered it with the keys still in the ignition in a bank parking lot.

They followed her from Vermillion County, Illinois to Fountain County.

Deputies used stop sticks to stop the vehicle. They say Newell then got out of the vehicle and displayed a handgun.

She surrendered several minutes late.

She faces charges including possession of a handgun without a license and stolen property.

Newell is currently in custody at the Fountain County Jail.

Once Newell has been released from Fountain County, she will still face charges in Vermilion County, IL for forgery, possession of stolen property and aggravated fleeing and eluding police.INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  The Indiana Senate approved legislation Tuesday aimed at getting Indiana off a list of five states without a hate crimes law, and Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb promised to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk.

The Republican-dominated chamber voted 34-14 Tuesday to approve the bill's bias crimes language after several Democratic senators urged its defeat, saying it falls short of what's needed because its language does not explicitly cover age, sex or gender identity.

Holcomb, who had pushed for more comprehensive legislation with an enumerated list of traits that include gender and gender identity, said he'll sign the measure, which would allow judges to impose longer sentences for crimes motivated by bias.

"Criminals who attempt to instill fear by attacking others based, for example, on who someone loves, who they are, how they identify, how they pray, should know their sentences can, and I believe should, be enhanced to the fullest extent of the law," he said in a statement.

Holcomb and other Republicans argue that the bill covers all 6.6 million Hoosiers because it covers all characteristics and traits, whether expressly listed or not.

The law's language refers to Indiana's bias crimes reporting statute that mentions color, creed, disability, national origin, race, religion and sexual orientation, but doesn't explicitly cover age, sex or gender identity. However, the bill says bias can also be considered due to the "victim's or the group's real or perceived characteristic, trait, belief, practice, association, or other attribute."

A Senate committee had passed another hate crimes bill in February, but a few days later the state Senate stripped out a list of specific protected traits , including sexual orientation, gender identity and race.

Members of the House voted 57-39 last week to advance the current bias crimes legislation after the new language was amended into an unrelated bill.

Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage said during Tuesday's debate on the bill that while the original bias crimes bill went through an open legislative process that included debates and amendments, the measure that emerged from the House came from a process she called "obnoxious, cowardly and a disrespectful misuse of the system." She said the way it was handled was a failure of House leadership.

"It could have been taken from the playbook on how to minimize debate," she said. "There was no committee hearing, there was no committee debate. Instead it was slipped in a second reading amendment like a thief in the night. Throw it in there, vote right now ... This was a total shirking of duty."

Senate Democratic Leader Tim Lanane of Anderson said in a statement that he's "deeply disturbed that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle saw this language and thought that leaving out age, sex and gender identity from the list of protected classes was good enough."

"The Republican supermajority showed their true colors this session in regards to their feelings towards our minority communities in this state. It is cowardly to not specify an all-inclusive list," he said.

Holcomb has pushed for comprehensive hate crimes largely because the Anti-Defamation League lists Indiana as one of only five states, along with Georgia, South Carolina, Wyoming and Arkansas, without hate crimes protections.

The Anti-Defamation League said Friday that it was "deeply disappointed" by the legislation, saying in a statement that the current bill is too vague and "does not meet our standard for a real and effective hate crimes bill in 2019."

House Speaker Brian Bosma said Tuesday that the legislation "meets or exceeds" bias crimes statutes on the books in 21 other states "and all of those states are off the list of states without a bias crimes law."

"There's no reasonable assertion as to why this all-inclusive measure doesn't take Indiana off the list," he said in a statement.

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce's CEO, Kevin Brinegar, urged Holcomb to sign the bill, calling it "a big step in the right direction."

"Though the list is not as comprehensive as we had advocated for, what the Legislature has passed is still a meaningful hate crimes bill," he said in a statement. "... To those wanting a perfect bias crimes bill that spells out everything, we hear you and we understand; that was our shared goal. While that's ideal, it was not politically realistic at this time.

In 2015, then-Gov. Mike Pence signed a religious protections law that critics widely panned as sanctioning of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. After the state faced boycott threats, lawmakers made changes to the law to prevent it from being used to justify discrimination against LGBT people in the state.INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  The Indiana Senate has approved legislation that would largely ban a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure.

The Republican-dominated chamber voted 38-10 Tuesday in favor of the bill, which now heads to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.

The measure would ban dilation and evacuation abortions that the legislation calls "dismemberment abortion." It would make it illegal for doctors to use instruments such as clamps, forceps and scissors to remove a fetus from the womb unless there's "serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function" to the woman.

Doing so would become a felony punishable by one to six years in prison.

Abortion rights groups argue that banning the procedure would wrongly interfere with private medical decisions.

The House approved the bill in February on a 71-25 vote.CLINTON COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)  A small plane was forced to make an emergency landing just north of the Frankfort airfield Wednesday morning.

According to the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, around 8:30 a.m. Clinton County Central Dispatch received a report of an airplane that had landed in a field. The aircraft had experienced engine trouble and made an emergency landing in a field just North of the Frankfort Airport.

The press release states a flight student and instructor from Purdue University took off from Purdue Airport on the way to Marion Indiana when the plane started to experience engine trouble. The pilots made the decision to turn around and head back to Purdue when the engine failed completely.

They attempted to make it to the Frankfort Airport when it was decided they were unable to make it. The pilot then made a landing in a field just North of the Frankfort Airport. Officials say both pilots were uninjured and walked away from the aircraft.

FAA was notified and will be conducting an investigation.It has been a long and gruelling wait for Lokpal to finally come in place as an anti-graft body. On March 19, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh who is a former Supreme Court Judge and former Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court who retired in May 2017 and a current member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was appointed as India's first Lokpal after President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Justice Pinaki as the country's first Lokpal. Earlier we saw how President Kovind had nominated former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi as eminent jurist as member of the panel to select Lokpal against the vacancy arising following the death of senior advocate PP Rao. The Lokpal Selection Committee was headed by the Prime Minister and had as its members - Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House, Chief Justice of India and an eminent jurist nominated by President. A Judge of the top court nominated by the Chief Justice of India or any other member can also be selected to be a part of Lokpal Selection Committee.

To put things in perspective, all eight newly-appointed members of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal on March 27 took the oath of office. They were administered the oath by Lokpal chairperson Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose. Former Chief Justices of different High Courts - Justices Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale of Allahabad High Court, Pradip Kumar Mohanty of Jharkhand High Court, Abhilasha Kumari of Manipur High Court and Ajay Kumar Tripathi of Chhattisgarh High Court took oath as judicial members in the Lokpal. Also, first former woman chief of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam were sworn in as the Lokpal's non-judicial members.

In retrospect, we all saw earlier how way back in 2011 the social reformer Anna Hazare had crusaded for getting this law enacted and many eminent individuals from different walks of life joined him though most of them had a political agenda to fulfil unlike Anna who had no political aspirations to realize! But the overall objective was good that there must be an effective anti-graft body in place in India. There can be no denying it!

Simply put, it was in January 2011 that the government formed a Group of Ministers to suggest measures to tackle corruption. Also, the Group of Ministers were entrusted with the onerous task of examination of the proposal of a Lokpal Bill due to relentless agitation by Anna Hazare. In July 2011, the Union Cabinet approved the Lokpal Bill and both Houses of the country passed it in December 2013.

Needless to say, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 came into being on January 1, 2014. Both UPA and NDA came on one platform to supports its passage as any opposition to it would send a wrong signal among the people which no party can afford but dilly-dallying on one ground or the other saw it being kept in abeyance for a long period of more than five years and it was only after the incumbent CJI Tarun Gogoi intervened and repeatedly sent signals to Centre that this institution of Lokpal could finally see the light of the day! Parliament has certainly not covered itself with glory by ensuring the excruciatingly slow progress of Lokpal institution since the last more than five years!

It may be recalled that it was way back in 1966 that the historic recommendation for a Lokpal at the Centre was first made by the Administrative Reforms Committee of 1966. It had recommended two independent authorities - one at the Centre and one at the State level to probe complaints against State functionaries including MPs. The idea of a Lokpal as Ombudsman first came up in Parliament in 1963 during a discussion on budget allocation for the Law Ministry and it was LM Singhvi who first coined it in 1962. It is now after 56 years that we finally now have a Lokpal in place! This is terrible!

According to Professional Referral Source (PRS) legislative research, the Lokpal Bill has been introduced eight times in the Lok Sabha in 1968, 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2001. It would be vital to mention here that each time the Lok Sabha was dissolved before the Bill's passage could be ensured except in 1985 when it was withdrawn. Also, it must be borne in mind that several commissions including the First Administrative Reforms Commission of 1966 as mentioned above, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution of 2002 and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission of 2007 recommended the constitution of Lokpal. According to PRS Legislative Research which is an Indian non-profit organization, Sweden which was first country to have a Lokpal along with Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Spain, New Zealand, Burkina Faso and the United Kingdom are some of the countries which have the office of an ombudsman that is Lokpal.

To be sure, it must be mentioned here that the Lokpal has jurisdiction to inquire into allegations of corruption against anyone who is or has been Prime Minister, or a Minister in the Union Government, or a Member of Parliament, as well as officials of the Union Government under Groups A, B, C and D. Also, it must be mentioned that chairpersons, members, officers and directors of any board, corporation, society, trust or autonomous body either established by an Act of Parliament or wholly or partly funded by the Centre are also covered. Not stopping here, it also covers any society or trust or body that receives foreign contribution above Rs 10 lakh.

What's more, the Lokpal Act, which stipulates appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the States to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants was passed in 2013. It is worth noting that according to the rules, not less than 50 percent of the members of the Lokpal panel shall be from amongst the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women. Also, upon selection, the chairperson and members shall hold office for a term of five years or till they attain 70 years of age.

It would be imperative to mention here that the Lokpal cannot inquire into any corruption charge against the Prime Minister if the allegations are pertaining to international relations, external and internal security, public order, atomic energy and space, unless a full Bench of the Lokpal, comprising of its chairperson and all members, considers the initiation of a probe and then at least two-thirds of the members approve it also. It is good that such a hearing should be held in camera but it is quite baffling to note that if the complaint is dismissed, the records shall not be published or made available to anyone. How can this be justified? Why can't there be more transparency? Why this hush hush? Is there something to hide?

Interestingly enough, a preliminary inquiry should be completed within 30 days of receiving a complaint. The period can be extended to a further three months. It must be mentioned that a full inquiry has to be completed within six months which is extendable by another six months. It must be also mentioned that trial should be completed within a year of filing the case and the time period can be extended to a maximum of two years. It is commendable that a Lokpal does not need prior sanction from the government to investigate a complaint.

More crucially, a complaint under the Lokpal Act should be made in the prescribed form and must be pertaining to an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act against a public servant. Also, there is no restriction on who can make such a complaint. When a complaint is received, the Lokpal may after examining it order a preliminary inquiry by its Inquiry Wing, or refer it for investigation by any agency, including the CBI, if there is a prima facie case found.

Be it noted, before the Lokpal orders an investigation by the agency, the Lokpal is mandated to call for an explanation from the public servant to determine whether a prima facie case exists that can be pursued. The Act makes it clear that this provision will not interfere with any search and seizure that may be undertaken by the investigating agency. The Lokpal may refer the complaints pertaining to the Central Government servants to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). The CVC will then send a report of the Lokpal regarding officials falling under Groups A and B and proceed as per the CVC Act against those in Groups C and D.

Now let us turn to the procedure for preliminary inquiry. The Inquiry Wing or any other agency will have to ensure completing its preliminary inquiry and submitting a report to the Lokpal within 60 days. Before submitting its report, it has to seek comments from both the public servant and the competent authority. Also, there will be a competent authority for each category of public servant. As for instance, for the Prime Minister, it is the Lok Sabha and for other Ministers, it will be the Prime Minister and for department officials, it will be the Minister concerned.

Going forward, a Lokpal Bench comprising of not less than three members shall consider the preliminary inquiry report, and after giving an opportunity to the public servant shall decide whether it should proceed with the investigation. It can order either a full investigation, or initiate departmental proceedings or close the proceedings. It is also empowered to proceed against the complainant if the allegation is false. The preliminary inquiry should normally be completed within 90 days of the receipt of the complaint.

It must be disclosed here that the agency ordered to conduct the probe has to file its investigation report in the court of appropriate jurisdiction and a copy before the Lokpal. A Bench of at least three members will consider the report and after considering it may then grant sanction to the Prosecution Wing to proceed against the public servant based on the agency's chargesheet. It may also ask the competent authority to take departmental action or direct the closure of the report.

Earlier, the authority vested with the power to appoint or dismiss a public servant was the one to grant sanction under Section 197 of the CrPC and Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. But now this power will be wielded by the Lokpal which is a judicial body and will have to seek the comments of the Competent authority' as envisaged in Section 24 as well as the public servant's comments before granting such sanction.

All said and done, finally now India has in place a Lokpal as the anti-graft body to check and combat corruption which is certainly a great milestone and was due since a long time! But it would be premature to rush to any conclusions soon. We have to see now effectively it functions and what all roadblocks its faces in its functioning! One truly hopes that the Lokpal will be able to meet the high expectations of the people and function effectively for which it has been constituted! Some shortcomings must be revisited like Lokpal must have power to deal with not just public servants who come within the purview of the Union as we see right now but also broadened to include in its ambit the public servants in the states also! It must be ensured by Lokpal that all Lokayuktas are appointed in all States and there is no vacancy in any State on any ground whatsoever!



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Tags : Constitutional LawSuriname, a country in South America, has many unique facts associated with it. Here is a list of some of them.

Suriname Is The Smallest South American Country

With an area of only 163,821 square kilometers and a population of only 541,638 individuals as per the 2012 census, Suriname is the smallest country in South America both in terms of area and population.

Nearly 50% Of Surinames Population Lives In Paramaribo

Paramaribo is the capital of Suriname and nearly half of its population of around 241,000 people live in this city.

Suriname Has Only One Cinema

The TBL Cinema is the only cinema in Suriname. It is located in Paramaribo.

It Is One Of Two South American Countries With Left-side Driving

While all other countries in South America have right-hand driving, Suriname and Guyana are the only two countries on the continent with left-hand driving.

Only Nation Outside Europe With Dutch As A Language Of The Majority

Surinames official language is Dutch, a legacy of Dutch colonial rule in the country. More than 60% of the Surinamese speak Dutch as their mother tongue while the rest of the population speaks it as a second language. Suriname is the only country outside Europe where Dutch is spoken by a majority of the population.

Despite The Small Size, Suriname Has Incredible Ethnic Diversity

East Indians, Maroon, Creole, Javanese, Amerindian, Chinese, White, and many other ethnic communities call Suriname their home. Intermarriage between the various ethnic groups has also resulted in the country having a significant population of mixed ethnic descent.

Large Parts Of Suriname Is Covered By Unspoilt Rainforests

Suriname has managed to conserve nature very well. Large parts of the countrys land are covered by pristine tropical rainforests hosting a great diversity of flora and fauna. A massive part of this forest area is protected in the form of natural parks, reserves, sanctuaries, etc. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Suriname Is A Land Of Many Festivals

The great ethnic diversity of Suriname contributes to its rich culture which includes numerous celebrations and festivals all year round. The Surinamese celebrate Holi, Christmas, Javanese Arrival Day, Indian Arrival Day, Day of the Maroons, Diwali, Eid ul-Fitr, Good Friday, and many more secular and religious festivals and ceremonies.

Suriname Is A Symbol Of Religious Tolerance

Suriname is one of the worlds very few locations where a Jewish synagogue is located next to a mosque. The country is also home to worship places of other religions like Hindu temples and Christian churches. All religious groups in the country co-exist peacefully and religious tolerance is one thing among others that Suriname teaches the world.

The Capital Of Suriname Is A UNESCO World Heritage Site

The inner city of Paramaribo, Surinames capital, was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2002. The place has many buildings of historical importance and religious significance.Israel has one of the most advanced economies in the world. Israels economy is characterized by high standards of living, high technology, and modern infrastructure. Below are the biggest industries in Israel that are responsible for its advanced economy.

High-technology

Israels technology sector is growing faster than any other industry in the country. Science and technology are the countrys most highly developed and industrialized sector, making it a significant part of the economy. According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, high-tech industries are growing at an average of 8% per years and about 5% of the countrys GDP is spent on these industries, the highest among all the OECD countries. In 2016, about 70% of the countrys industrial products were derived from high-tech industries.

Manufacturing

While the high-tech industry often gets international recognition for its contribution to Israels economy and the number of start-ups, the manufacturing industry is also robust and contributes greatly to the countrys economy. The country has a well-developed manufacturing industry with large production capacity. Israel has a high-tech and well-developed chemical industry mainly located in the Ramat Hovav and near the Dead Sea.

Diamond Industry

Israeli diamond industry is an important part of the manufacturing sector. The country is one of the leading centers for diamond cutting and polishing in the world, with the industry accounting for 23.2% of all export products. Cut diamonds were Israels biggest export product in 2016 and accounted for 12% of the worlds production. The US is the largest market for the Israeli diamond, accounting for 36% followed by Hong Kong at 28% and Belgium at 8%.

Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the highly developed industries in Israel and a major source of export products. Israel is a leader in agricultural technologies and one of the major exporters of fresh produce. The fact that most of the country is desert and unconducive for agriculture has not hindered the country from carrying out the activity on a large scale. Agriculture accounts for about 2.5% of the total GDP and 3.6% of the export. Also, Israel was able to produce 95% of its food requirement in 2008 despite only 3.7% of the total labor force working on the farm.

Tourism

The tourism industry is one of the major sources of foreign revenues for Israel, attracting over 3 million visitors in 2017. The growth of this industry is not showing any sign of slowing down. The tourism industry employs about 200,000 people or about 6% of the workforce. Israel has numerous historical and religious sites, beaches, and museums that have played a key role in the growth of the tourism industry.

Transportation

Israels developed transportation system plays a critical role in its economic success. The country has invested in this sector over the years and continues to do so with the aim of increasing its capacity to handle the growing population. There are three deep-water ports in Israel, one in the Red Sea and two in the Mediterranean Sea. The ports provide access to the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Air transport has facilitated the export of high-value goods from all the other sectors of the economy and also aided in the growth of the high-tech sector. The highly developed highway system enables people to move freely and efficiently.Papua New Guinea is a sovereign nation located in Oceania. It spans an area of 178,700 square miles with a relatively underdeveloped economy. According to the IMF, the country has the 110th highest GDP in the world at $20.7 billion. Papua New Guinea has a wide array of natural resources which are vital to the country's economy such as arable land, minerals, and fish among others.

Arable Land

As of 2014, the arable land in Papua New Guinea accounted for about 2.6% of Papua's territory. Between 2009 and 2014 the size of arable land in Papua had remained relatively constant. Despite its small size, the arable land in Papua is one of the country's most important activities. In 2011, the Papuan government estimated that the agricultural sector contributed about 30% of the nation's GDP. The Papuan government estimated that in 2005 about 85% of the country's labor force was employed in the agriculture sector.

Sweet Potatoes

One of Papua New Guinea's most important crops is sweet potatoes which are mainly grown in the highlands. Most of the sweet potatoes grown in Papua New Guinea are grown on a small scale. The Europeans introduced sweet potatoes to Papua New Guinea from Central America. The Papuan government estimates that the country's farmers grew more than 1,000 different varieties of sweet potatoes.

Coffee

According to the Papuan government, coffee is grown on about 337 square miles of the country's territory making it one of the most important and widely cultivated crops. The coffee sector is one of Papua New Guinea's most important sectors and it employs about 2.5 million Papuans. Research by a UN agency indicated that the coffee grown in Papua New Guinea accounted for approximately 1% of the coffee grown worldwide. The most important coffee growing areas in Papua New Guinea are located in Simbu and the eastern and western highlands. The most common variety of coffee grown in Papua New Guinea is Arabica which accounts for roughly 95% of the country's coffee.

Fish

Papua New Guinea's territorial waters are home to several varieties of fish such as the blue marlin, the yellowfish tuna, and the dogtooth tuna. The Papuan fishing sector is vital to the country's economy and it contributed $48,775,478 to the country's GDP in 1999. Papuan fishers rely on a variety of techniques to capture fish such as spearfishing and the use of nets.

Forests

One of Papua New Guinea's most important natural resources is forests which cover about 64.3% of the country's territory. Approximately 91.2% of forests in Papua New Guinea are classified as primary forests. The forests of Papua New Guinea are important because they are home to a large variety of animals out of which 25% are considered endemic to the region. From 1990 to 2010 it was estimated that the country lost approximately 9% of its forest cover mainly because of deforestation.

Minerals

Papua New Guinea has a large variety of minerals which contribute significantly to the countrys economy. Some of the important minerals in the country include gold, silver, and copper among others. The mining sector became important to the Papuan economy during the 1970s. Some of the most well-known mines in the country include the Ok Tedi Mine and the Lihir gold mine. The vast array of minerals in Papua New Guinea has attracted investment from several nations such as China, South Africa, and Australia.

Gold

One of Papua New Guinea's most important minerals is gold which is extracted from most of the country's mines. The Lihir gold mine is one of Papua New Guinea's most important gold mines and it produced 47,225 pounds of gold in 2015. Another major gold mine in Papua New Guinea is the Simberi gold mine which produced approximately 5,450 pounds of gold in 2015.In a clear threat to expel Julian Assange from Ecuadors London embassy, the countrys president, Lenin Moreno, declared in an interview yesterday that the WikiLeaks founder had repeatedly violated the conditions of his asylum. Moreno stated that his government would take a decision... in the short term on Assanges circumstances.

The comments are the latest public indication of an advanced conspiracy to force Assange out of the embassy, where he sought political asylum in 2012, and into the clutches of the British and US authorities.

If he leaves the building, or is expelled from it, Assange will be arrested by British authorities on trumped-up bail charges. Assange would likely face extradition to the US over concocted espionage or conspiracy charges, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or the death penalty, for his role in WikiLeaks exposure of war crimes, illegal diplomatic intrigues and mass surveillance.

In the interview with the Ecuadorian Radio Broadcasters Association, Moreno made unsubstantiated and slanderous claims that Assange had been hacking... private accounts and phones. He blamed the WikiLeaks founder for a corruption scandal currently engulfing his government.

Morenos allegation that Assange had violated the conditions of his asylum was a reference to a draconian protocol imposed on the WikiLeaks founder by the Ecuadorian government last October, following the shut-off of his internet access and the severe curtailing of his right to receive visitors in March, 2018.

The Ecuadorian president restated the terms of the protocol, forbidding Assange from making any political comments, including about his own plight. Underscoring that Moreno is closely collaborating with the major powers, Al Jazeera reported that he made statements to the effect that Assange cannot intervene in the politics of other countries, especially those with friendly relations with Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian protocol is a flagrant violation of international law. Assanges status as a political refugee has been upheld by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and other international rights organisations. There is no basis in international legislation for the political asylum of a journalist and publisher to be made conditional on his or her silencing.

Through much of the interview, Moreno sought to attribute the deepening crisis of his government to the activities of WikiLeaks and Assange. In February, the contents of Morenos mobile phone and gmail account were sent to an opposition lawmaker and subsequently published online. The leaks and related documents, dubbed the INA papers, allegedly implicate Moreno and his closest associates, including his brother, in corruption, perjury and money laundering.

Senior officials in the Ecuadorian government began blaming Assange for the leaks last week. Moreno continued the theme, absurdly declaring: In WikiLeaks we have seen evidence of spying, intervention in private conversations on phones, including photos of my bedroom, of what I eat, of how my wife and daughters and friends dance.

Today, the Ecuadorian government filed a complaint with the UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy, denouncing WikiLeaks over the corruption scandal. It did so the day before the Rapporteur was due to visit Assange to investigate his claim that Ecuadorian authorities are illegally spying on his communications.

Moreno and the government have not offered any proof for their allegations. They are well aware that Assange does not have internet access, because the government terminated it in March last year. The only evidence of WikiLeaks ties to the INA papers, provided by Morenos supporters, is that the organisations Twitter account, which is not controlled by Assange, tweeted reports and media articles about the revelations.

While Moreno is undoubtedly seeking to scapegoat Assange for his governments crisis, he is also using the publication of the INA papers as the pretext for escalating long-standing plans to evict the WikiLeaks founder from the London embassy. In the interview, Moreno restated his governments position that it would be willing to see Assange exit the building provided only that his life is not endangered.

Since coming to office in May, 2017, the Moreno regime has moved to renege on the previous Ecuadorian governments decision to grant Assange asylum. At the same time, it has rapidly expanded relations with the US.

Fidel Narvaez, who was Ecuadors consul to London until 2018, bluntly warned that the interview demonstrated the government seeks a false pretext to end the asylum and protection of Julian Assange. Narvaez wrote that Moreno was using the INA scandal to yield to US pressure on Assange.

Morenos comments coincide with a stepped-up US pursuit of the WikiLeaks founder. On March 8, Chelsea Manning was arrested and jailed indefinitely for refusing to testify at a closed-door grand jury hearing aimed at concocting charges against Assange.

Manning, who in 2010 courageously leaked US army war logs and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, was imprisoned for seven years under the Obama administration. Now she has been held in solitary confinement by the Trump administration for more than three weeks.

At the same time, the claims of the Democrats, much of the corporate media, and the US intelligence agencies that WikiLeaks collaborated with Donald Trump and Russia in 2016 to deprive Hillary Clinton of the US presidency have been discredited. The Mueller investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government concluded last month without any criminal indictments.

This underscores the fact that the campaign over Russian interference was always a fraudulent pretext for the imposition of sweeping online censorship measures and political repression.

The discrediting of the Democratic Party allegations, however, will not result in any let-up in the campaign against Assange and WikiLeaks. Rather, the Trump administration and its nominal Democratic opponents are increasingly converging in their persecution of dissident publishers and whistleblowers, such as Assange and Manning, and a broader assault on civil liberties.

This is demonstrated by the fact that no figure from the US political establishment has raised a word of protest over the attacks against Assange. The corporate press and all of the official political parties in Britain and Australia have similarly signalled their support for the jailing of Manning and the US-led vendetta targeting Assange.

Representing a tiny corporate and financial elite, all of them see the suppression of free speech and democratic rights as critical to preventing the emergence of a mass political movement of the working class under conditions of a resurgence of the class struggle and widespread hostility to war, austerity and authoritarianism.

Morenos statements underscore the urgency of stepping up the fight for Assanges freedom and for the immediate release of Manning. The Socialist Equality parties in Australia and the US held powerful demonstrations last month to rally workers, students and young people to this crucial fight. We urge all readers of the WSWS who want to take up the struggle to free Assange and Manning to contact us.Prime Minister Theresa May emerged from a fractious seven-hour cabinet meeting of her Conservative Party with an unprecedented offer to collaborate with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to secure an agreement on Brexit they could jointly recommend to parliament. If agreed, this would then be put to the European Union.

May faced the threat of 20 cabinet members supporting a no-confidence motion against her government if she agreed to a soft Brexit, i.e., maintaining access to the Single European Market and a customs union, combined with a letter signed by half the Parliamentary Tory Party urging a no-deal exit.

Yet she eventually secured Cabinet agreement for an appeal to Corbyn for national unity to deliver the national interest.

May said she would use any agreement reached to seek, at an emergency summit of the EU on Friday April 10, an extension to Article 50 enabling withdrawal from the EU beyond the current April 12 date. This was reportedly agreed by Cabinet only after Brexiteer Michael Gove shifted some colleagues from an initial 14-10 votes against. May stressed, however, that any delay should extend no longer than to May 22, so as to avoid the UK having to take part in elections to the European parliament. She said that we need to be clear what such an extension is for: to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way.

Any negotiations with Corbyn would be about future relations with the EU post-Brexit, based on the precondition of accepting the Withdrawal Agreement she has negotiated with the EUs 27 member states and which could not be swiftly renegotiated.

If no joint agreement that both could put to the house is possible, May would offer up another round of votes in parliament on various options agreed on with Corbyn. This time, the votes, currently scheduled for next Monday, would not be merely indicative. The government would agree to accept as binding whatever proposed arrangement secured a majority and put it to the EU, providing that Labour did the same.

May risks alienating a large swathe of her party, given that any discussion would be on a softer Brexit than her own deal, which has already proven unacceptable to a core of 30 Tory hard-Brexiteers, who call themselves the Spartans, and the 10 Democratic Unionist Party MPs on which she has relied for a majority.

That she is prepared to take such a riskof permanently splitting the Toriesconfirms the gravity of the political crisis of rule facing British imperialism. May warned explicitly that the Brexit impasse and constant delays were doing damage to our politics.

That she would consider an arrangement with Corbyn as a way forward is a political indictment of the Labour leaders role during months in which the Tory Party has been tearing itself apart.

Corbyn responded to Mays appeal within less than an hour, telling the Press Association he was very happy to meet the prime minister. He continued: We recognise that she has made a move, I recognise my responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didnt support Labour but nevertheless want certainty and security for their own future, and thats the basis on which we will meet her and we will have those discussions.

Rather than seeking to mobilise the millions of workers who embraced his call for an end to the pro-business austerity regimes of Blair, Brown, Cameron and May, he has appeased Labours right wing, adopted its policies, and allowed his supporters to be witch-hunted out of the party. He and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have spent months pledging to uphold the national interest cited by May in talks with big business and the City of London.

Collusion with May is the logical outcome of this political betrayal. Last week, deputy Labour leader Tom Watson told the Blairite think tank Prospect that he was ready to take part in a government of national unity with pro-Remain Tories. Corbyns spokesman described such a national government as an establishment stitch-up designed to deny a proper voice for the majority of voters in this country. Days later he will be huddled in private discussions with the prime minister.

Asked whether he would now not move a vote of no-confidence in May, Corbyn replied that he would hold this in reserve.

There is no guarantee that this latest manoeuvre will succeed. May has forever lost the support of some hard-Brexit Tory MPs, who will be seeking ways to ensure their preferred option of a no-deal exit from the EU. Potential leadership challenger Boris Johnson said it was very disappointing that the Cabinet has decided to entrust the final handling of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party, and that he would never agree to a customs union with the EU.

Corbyn is in no better position to guarantee Labours unanimous agreement. Leading Blairite MP Yvette Cooper tabled a bill yesterday seeking to prevent any possibility of a no-deal exit and seek a much longer extension of Article 50. Cooper is working with former Tory minister Sir Oliver Letwin and a cross-party group of MPs and wants a one-line bill passed through the House of Commons today so it can be put to the House of Lords before the EU summit.

Fellow Blairites such as Hilary Benn are seeking to combine any alternative Brexit plan voted for on Monday with agreeing to a confirmatory second referendum. This would put any deal agreed up against the alternative of remaining a member of the EU.

If things go wrong, the EU has made clear that a no-deal Brexit is being planned for. French President Emmanuel Macron, meeting with Irish Premier Leo Varadkar, said only a credible plan supported by a parliamentary majority agreed by April 10 would prevent this. The EU cannot forever be the hostage of a political crisis in the UK, he said.

However events now unfold, the claim that Corbyns election to the leadership of the Labour Party offered a way forward for the working class has been shredded. His role since taking office has been to suppress the class struggle and politically neuter the working class.

His monomaniacal focus over the past week on steering a path between the pro-Remain and pro-Brexit factions within his own party has been his apprenticeship for the much bigger job of preventing the rupture within ruling circles from destabilising British imperialism and provoking a revolutionary social and political offensive by the working class.

The only way forward for workers and young people is to break with Labour, build the Socialist Equality Party and take up the perspective of the class struggle based on a socialist programme. The answer to the endless imposition of austerity, militarism and authoritarian measures by all factions in the Brexit conflict is neither a new arrangement with the EU nor continued membership, but the forging of a unified movement of the British and European working class for the United Socialist States of Europe.On the eve of announcing an election for next month, the Liberal-National Coalition government last night handed down a blatant vote-buying budget pitched at satisfying the demands of big business and the wealthy, and appeasing voters in vulnerable electorates, while feigning concern for low to medium income families.

The first budget produced since last Augusts removal of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, it provides a glimpse of the anti-working class agenda that drove the coup by the Coalitions hard right faction, which installed Scott Morrison as his replacement.

Throughout his speech, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg repeatedly declared no new taxes. This was designed to assure the wealthy elite that a Coalition government would continue to slash social spending and corporate taxes, whatever electoral lip-service it felt compelled to make to fairness to try to head off widespread discontent and anger.

Households on above-average annual incomes over $46,000, and up to $126,000, were promised cash handouts this year of up to $2,160 for a dual-income family, via income tax offsets. It will do nothing to alleviate the mounting pressures produced by falling real wages, collapsing house prices and deteriorating social services and infrastructure.

But for the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, those on less than $46,000, there was nothing at all. For some welfare recipients, there will be small one-off payments of $75 for singles and $125 for couples, supposedly to cover soaring power bills.

All these handouts are cynically aimed at stimulating immediate consumer spending in order to boost retail and related profits, and attempt to stave off a developing economic slump.

With particular cruelty toward hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers, the government rejected calls for a $75 a week rise in the sub-poverty NewStart allowance. The current payment amounts to just $39 a day and has not increased in real terms since the 1990s.

Another $2.1 billion will be gouged out of welfare recipients over the next five years by yet another Centrelink data matching crackdown on people trying to augment their pitiful benefits by working in low-paid casual, temporary or part-time jobs.

Equally callous is the massive underfunding of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which is the result of disabled people and their carers being unable to access assistance packages, or facing cuts and long delays. By some calculations, the NDIS underspent about $3 billion this financial year and the same next yearalmost equivalent to the governments projected $7.1 billion surplus for 201920.

We are six years into the [NDIS] rollout and we have heard of people waiting two years for a wheelchair, Kirsten Dean from disability advocate group Every Australian Counts told the media.

More savings totalling several billion dollars have been achieved by paying out less for aged pensions, as the eligibility age steadily increases to 67, and by cutting thousands of people off welfare payments altogether.

On every front of dire social need, such as the mental health crisis, the dental health disaster, the lack of affordable housing, the chronic under-funding of public schools, hospitals and universities, the budget offered little or nothing. Refugee support services were further cut by nearly $80 million a year.

A $525 million skills package supposedly offering training to youth and jobless workers, contains only $55 million in new money over five years, and follows a $200 million cut last year.

By contrast, the corporate elite has been promised yet more tax cuts. Planned multi-billion-dollar corporate tax cuts will be brought forward by a year. An immediate tax write-off for asset purchases will be raised from $20,000 to $30,000 and extended to companies with annual turnovers of $50 million, up from $10 million.

By 2024, the government pledged to introduce income tax cuts for the wealthiest layers. Its virtual flat tax plan would lower the rate to 30 percent for all income from $45,000 up to $200,000 a year. This would give households on and above that level $11,640 in annual tax savings.

In another effort to shore up big business, government corporate regulators will be given $600 million over five years to restore public confidence in the financial sector. A royal commission exposed systemic predatory practices and abuses by the banks and finance houses, all permitted by the same regulators.

Under the phony banner of easing congestion, a promised 10-year $75 billion infrastructure program will be boosted to $100 billion, primarily satisfying business transport and freight requirements. This spending also features flagrant pork-barrelling. It is highly targeted to local projects in electorates, many in rural and regional areas, that the government fears losing in next months election.

More electoral bribes are certain to be offered during the election campaign. The budget sets aside $3.2 billion for handouts, under the heading decisions taken but not yet announced.

All the budgets projections are likely to be blown out of the water, however. Treasurer Frydenbergs speech began with a patent lie. He became the fifth consecutive treasurerCoalition and Labor aliketo claim to be delivering a budget surplus. Back in black, he proclaimed.

In reality, the accompanying Treasury papers point to an array of downside risksfurther housing price falls, a deepening construction slump, slowing growth in China, the US-China trade war, the Brexit crisis, and stagnating economies in Japan and Europe. A temporary rise in global iron ore prices, mainly caused by a mine disaster in Brazil, is expected to go into reverse, potentially halving the projected surplus.

The Treasury warned of ongoing risks to the global economy and major economic and financial shocks that may be encountered in the future. It demanded strong fiscal management. In other words, regardless of which party heads the next government, further austerity and profit-driven measures will be unleashed against the population.

In order to prepare for social unrest, the repressive apparatus of the state is being strengthened. Millions more dollars will be poured into further increasing the staffing, resources and surveillance capacities of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the electronic spy agency, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).

These agencies have been vastly enlarged already since 2001, as part of the fraudulent war on terrorism. Now they are being taken to a new level, in the name of combatting foreign interference and cyber warfare. These are code words for heightened political surveillance, enforcement of the anti-democratic foreign influence laws passed last year, and censorship of on-line activity.

ASIO and the AFP will get an additional $571 million, raising their staff numbers by 107 and 312 respectively over the next financial year, plus $35 million to set up a Foreign Interference Threat Assessment Centre. The ASD will receive $4 billion through to 2023 for a Cyber Security Response Fund, ostensibly to protect the integrity of elections from foreign meddling.

These measures also feed into preparations for war, including by demonising China and Russia. Military expenditure will increase by $1.3 billion to $38.7 billion in 2019-20. This will keep rising every year, to reach 2 percent of gross domestic product in 202021, to meet commitments made to the US to boost preparations for potential conflicts with China. Procurement of submarines, frigates, warplanes and other weaponry over the decade will cost more than $200 billion, which could build hundreds of schools and hospitals.Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant enjoyed wide-ranging ties with international right-wing extremist circles, reaching as far as Europe. He was no individual attacker, as the official narrative claims. On 15 March, the Australian shot and killed 50 people in two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, and injured dozens more.

Last year, Tarrant donated 1,500 to the Austrian Identitarian Movement (IBO). As a result, the public prosecutor in Graz has ordered the house of IBO leader Martin Sellner to be searched. The spokesman for the prosecutors office, Hansjorg Wacher, said that possible ties between the Christchurch shooter and Sellner were being investigated.

The donation came to light in the course of an investigation into another matter. The filing of a charge on the criminal offence of participation in a terrorist organisation was being considered, Wacher added.

For his part, Sellner said he had received an unusually high donation in 2018, and sent a thank you email to Tarrant. He added that his house had been searched before he could report the donation. Sellner went on to reject having any connection to the Christchurch attack, and accused Tarrant of wanting to associate him with it, in order to provoke repression against the Identitarian Movement.

This is obviously nonsense. Tarrant was in Vienna last winter, and it seems likely that he had ties to right-wing extremist groups. He participated in right-wing extremist discussions on 8chan, and commented on posts on Facebook and other media outlets using his own name. Although it remains unclear whether he developed ties to Sellner and other leading Identitarian figures during this time, it has not been excluded. The parliamentary subcommittee for internal affairs is now examining the Christchurch shooters ties in Austria.

By contrast, the political and ideological links between the Christchurch shooter and the Identitarians are clear. In his manifesto, released shortly before his attack, Tarrant based himself on a number of their conceptions. Its title The Great Replacement is taken from the Identitarians vocabulary. Even after the attack in New Zealand, a group of Identitarians marched in Vienna under the banner Stop the great replacement. Such agitation against uncontrolled mass migration, and the description of refugees as invaders are typical for the right-wing extremist scene around the Identitarians.

The same goes for their barely concealed calls for violence and vigilante justice against the left. Thank God I bought a weapon before the asylum madness started. It would be hard to get something decent now, Sellner tweeted in 2015. And, just one day prior to the massacre in Christchurch, when a two-year weapons ban (imposed after he fired at antifa demonstrators with an air pistol) was lifted, Sellner said in a video, So now with the blessing of the state I can take entirely legal steps to ensure security for me and my girlfriend in a society which is rampant with criminality and becoming ever more violent. In fact, it is being made increasingly difficult for citizens to arm themselves for their own security, while at the same time insecurity rises and public safety can no longer be guaranteed.

The fact that his [Tarrants] gaze reached as far as Austria is quite remarkable, Bernhard Weidlinger, an employee of the Documentary Archive for the Austrian Resistance (DOW), said, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung. But it is by no means surprising that he selected the Identitarians for a donation. The content of the attackers manifesto overlaps considerably with the Identitarians world view.

The Identitarians are a right-wing extremist group that emerged 16 years ago in France and now maintains close connections to a network of far-right parties and militant neo-Nazi groups across Europe. They have been active in Austria since 2013. Although their membership numbers are relatively low and their activities meet with broad hostility and opposition from the vast majority of the population, they are well connected to high levels of government and enjoy support from the judiciary.

This was made clear in July last year. Seventeen members of the Austrian Identitarian Movement, including Sellner, were acquitted by the Graz District Court on every major charge in their case. The judgement was widely seen as a scandal. The Identitarians were charged because they had intimidated political opponents, disrupted their meetings, and promoted radical, xenophobic, and Islamophobic ideologies. According to the court, the accused were not guilty of sedition, or the formation of, or participation in, a criminal association.

Around six months prior to the Graz decision, the conservative Austrian Peoples Party (OVP), led by Sebastian Kurz, formed a coalition government with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which maintains ties with the Identitarians. FPO members are also active in the Identitarian Movement, and high-ranking party officials appear in public with them.

For example, FPO Interior Minister Herbert Kickl spoke in 2016 at the right-wing extremist Congress of Europes Defenders, which was attended by the Identitarians and supporters of other far-right groups. Kickl has played a leading role in adopting more restrictive laws on the rights to asylum and foreigners ability to stay in Austria.

The ties between the FPO and the Identitarians are especially close in Graz. In January 2016, FPO member of the state parliament Gerhard Kurzmann joined a protest march there, organised by the Identitarians against the accommodation of refugees in an old barracks. FPO local councilor Heinrich Sickl reportedly had contacts to neo-Nazis as a 17-year-old, according to the Vienna-based Der Standard. To this day, he rents rooms to the Identitarians in a multi-party building in the centre of Graz. Sickl participated in Identitarian demonstrationssometimes serving as a stewardincluding in a march against immigration in the border town of Spielfeld in 2015. The FPOs Mario Eustaccio, deputy mayor of Graz, was also present in Spielfeld.

According to Kontrast.at, the Free Association of Academics in Styria (FAV) organised a 2015 seminar, to which Sellner was invited as a speaker. The right-wing extremist publication AULA reported on the meeting. The report carries a photo of Sellner and Sickl posing together.

Deputy Chancellor Hans-Christian Strache also maintains close ties to the Identitarians. Photos from 2015 show the FPO leader sitting at a table with two well-known Identitarian members in a bar in Styria.

After the Identitarians stormed the stage in a theatre at the University of Vienna in April 2016, where a play by Austrian playwright Elfriede Jelinek was being performed, Strache defended them on Facebook. The Identitarians are a non-party, non-left citizens movement, which has obviously adopted its free activism as a contrast and critical counterpart to the left, which, however, unlike the Identitarians, often unfortunately resorts to acts of violence, the subsequently deleted post declared. They are basically young activists of a non-left civil society.

Official government policy also corresponds to the Identitarians line. The latest border-protection exercises, carried out jointly by the Interior and Foreign ministries, took place in southern Styria in 2018 and were entitled Pro-border, an Identitarian slogan. In 2016 and 2017, Strache posted on Facebook that the population exchange, which the Identitarians promote as a conspiracy theory, had already been accomplished, according to Der Standard.

In this context, Chancellor Kurzs threat to take action against the Identitarians, and consider a potential ban, amounts to an attempt to cover his governments tracks, curtail democratic rights, and prepare the ground for the banning of other, predominantly left-wing organisations.

For its part, the FPO immediately spoke out against banning the Identitarians. According to the television news program ZIB, Strache said that the proposed ban was Kurzs initiative, and he did not support it. An association cant be dissolved just because a madman gave it a donation, he remarked.Organizers of a meeting to introduce black mayoral candidates in the city of Savannah, Georgia, barred reporters from non-black press from covering the event. The meeting held March 27 to unite the black community around a single black mayoral candidate was organized in a church with a sign on the door proclaiming No media (T.V. Radio, etc.) Black Press Only! Despite the No Media message, African-American reporters from two local television stations were permitted in.

This meeting was organized by Rev. Clarence Teddy Williams, the owner of the Trigon Group, which touts itself as a consulting company that will strive to help our clients develop a strategy so that they will be successful. From its website description, the Trigon group appears to be a typical effort to cash in on connections with the black-dominated city government to facilitate access to lucrative contracts for investors and businesses.

The barring of whites from the meeting reflects the political desperation of Democratic politicians who are trying to reverse losses they sustained in the previous 2015 municipal election. They are calculating that their political redemption will be facilitated by using race as a glue to garner black votes.

Three black mayoral candidates are standing for election against the incumbent Republican mayor, Eddie DeLoach. Elections for mayor and for eight aldermen are scheduled to take place this coming November.

Two of the three black candidates attended the meeting, including Alderman Van Johnson and defeated 2015 mayoral candidate Louis Wilson. Both of them justified their attendance despite the crude advocacy of racialist and exclusivist politics.

Johnson stated, Its not my meeting, I was asked to come and give a statement, so I came and I gave a statement. Similarly, Wilson dismissed his attendance with the words, I didnt plan the meeting so I cant comment on that part.

The only mayoral candidate who did not attend was the city council representative Regina Thomas. She claimed to be an inclusive candidate and stated to the press that she will win the upcoming elections even if there is another black candidate against the incumbent Republican mayor, who is white.

Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia and was set up in the year 1733 by James Edward Oglethorpe, who as a representative of Englands King George II, named the region around it as Georgia, the thirteenth and the last British colony on North American soil.

Savannahs population today numbers around 145,000, with about 55 percent African-Americans, who generally vote Democratic when they participate in elections. Poverty is rampant in this city, and even according to official statistics, more than 25 percent of the population are poor. Median household income amounts to a mere $37,000.

The municipal government had been dominated by the Democrats since 1991, but that changed in 2015 when the incumbent Edna Jackson, Savannahs first black female mayor, lost to conservative businessman and Republican Eddie DeLoach, who ran a law-and-order campaign focusing on crime fueled by deepening poverty.

Jackson had the dubious distinction of becoming the first incumbent mayor defeated in the city in 20 years, despite the black leadership of the local Democratic Party apparatus uniting behind her. Two other black female Democrats on the board of aldermen lost their seats to conservative white Republicans.

The political issues facing workers in Savannah, and everywhere in America, include poverty, raising wages, and providing access to health care and education. But the corrupt upper-middle-class African-American politicians in the Democratic Party have no program on such issues.

Unable, as a capitalist party, to offer any genuine measures of reform to the impoverished workers of all races in Savannah, the local Democrats are seizing on the issue of race as a weapon, calling on black voters to defeat white Republicans.

Out of this orientation came the black press only decree at the campaign meeting, which recalls the bitter historybarely a half century agowhen thousands of black workers and youth, and their white supporters, engaged in years of bitter struggle against racial segregation in Georgia and across the South.Conservative Home Secretary Sajid Javid has handed UK police increased stop and search powers on the pretext of fighting the rise in knife crime.

The new powers follow a knife crime summit held at Downing Street Monday, overseen by Prime Minister Theresa May. They make it easier for officers to search anyone they choose within a certain area under a section 60 check.

Whereas previously section 60 stops had to be authorised by a more senior officer, a police inspector can now give approval. The threshold of suspicion is lowered, from reasonable belief that violence will occur to reasonable belief that violence may occur.

No one should accept the rationale that such measures are essential to tackle knife crime. Forty people had been stabbed to death in the UK by March this year. In the 12 months ending March 2018, 285 people across the country were killed in knife attacks, following consecutive rises in 2015, 2016 and 2017. These figures have generated immense media coverage and government attention, but there are definite and opposed class interests at work in the national conversation on knife crime.

Behind these statistics are hundreds of grieving families and friends looking for answers. But none will be found in the screaming banner headlines of the right-wing press or draconian statements of the government. These forces are seeking to exploit the pain and confusion of the mostly working-class communities affected to push a law and order campaign with terrible implications for those same neighbourhoods.

The Daily Mail writes, A knife to the heart of Britain: Shocking scale of youth knife crime is revealed, while the Telegraph asserts, The knife-crime epidemic in Wild West Britain means we need to talk about ID cards again.

The evidence does not support the apocalyptic claims of the Conservative press. Last year saw the highest number of knife homicides recorded since 1946. However, the average knife homicide rate for 2001 to 2008 was significantly higher than the years 2014-2018. Hospital admissions for knife assaults have increased since 2014, but the peak was around the years 2006-2007. Police records for knife crime only go back to 2011.

Overall violent crime has fallen significantly since the 1990s, according to crime surveys and hospital admissions.

Another claim made repeatedly in the media is that knife crime is bound up with a surge in gang membership and violence. Again there are clear instances of new and destructive gang activity, centred around the illegal drugs trade.

The statistics, however, do not come close to confirming that gang warfare has become embedded in our culture, as the Telegraph claims. In 2016, according to the Metropolitan Police, known gang members were responsible for 24 percent of stabbings where the victim was under 25, and 7 percent of all knife offences. In 2017, just one in every 500 violent crimes recorded by the Met was classified as gang-related. Gangs are believed to be responsible for only 15 percent of murders committed in London since 2010.

The right-wing media is using highly emotive events to construct a false narrative with reactionary political objectives. The impression given is of feral bands of young working class, mainly black, men running riot in London. This is used to justify calls for ever more violent and authoritarian methods of policing, already including the more aggressive use of stop and search powers, harsher sentencing, a more widespread use of taser stun guns and the introduction of ID cards.

The drumbeat for harsher stop and search measures has been relentless, with the Daily Mail leading the way. Recent headlines include Beat gang violence with more stop and search, Police MUST use more stop and search to stop gangs and Stop and search should be used in schools.

Last August, the right-wing Centre for Social Justice think tank, co-founded by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, published a report making the same argument and demanding a zero tolerance approach. Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair lent his weight in an interview, saying he always believed police should have access to stop and search powers and called on May to hold an emergency national security Cobra committee meeting on knife crime and do whatever it takes.

There is zero evidence that stop and search does anything to reduce violent crime. A College of Policing study of Metropolitan Police boroughs looking at 10 years of data from 2004-14 found that it had no effect. Its real purpose is to help the police intimidate working class youth.

Calls for stricter sentencing conveniently ignore the fact that sentences for knife crimes have steadily lengthened since 2008alongside an increase in offences. The home secretary nonetheless introduced a raft of knife crime prevention orders in February, requiring low standards of proof to secure up to two years detention.

Human rights group Liberty, the Runnymede Trust and the Childrens Society warned that these measures raised profound human rights concerns, being likely to be based on assumptions and stereotypes relating to where a person lives, where they go to school or who they are friends withall of which may be crude proxies for race or socio-economic status.

Repression is to be increased, with Tasers being deployed by police in far greater numbers. Chief Commissioner Cressida Dick cited the rise in knife crime to justify handing 1,800 extra stun guns to Londons Metropolitan Police in 2017. The Police Federation called for the move to be followed by other police forces. Earlier this month, Kent police quadrupled the number of officers equipped with Tasers to 1,500.

These are dangerous developments. The 285 people stabbed to death in the worst year for knife homicides on record were matched by 283 people killed following contact with police that same year, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Calls for stricter policing have nothing to do with reducing violence, but with increasing the states capacity for dishing it out.

The Labour Party has played a crucial role, with Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan backing the use of stop and search. While making some criticisms of racial profiling, Abbott affirmed last November Our officers need more resources to keep us safe. Evidenced based stops will always be a vital tool in fighting crime Last year, Khan demanded a significant increase in targeted stop and searches and said he wanted police to feel confident to carry them out.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is positioning Labour as a party of law and order. In a speech last month, he complained, Since 2010, weve seen 21,000 police officers taken off our streets Labours manifesto commits to funding 10,000 more police officers.

The underlying cause of knife crime is not a lack of police, but the social devastation wrought by austerity. Where Corbyn does mention this, he carefully avoids the fact that Labour councils everywhere are imposing cuts after being instructed by himself and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell to set legal budgets.

Young people have seen a catastrophic fall in their living conditions over the past decade. More than one in four children are growing up in households suffering the effects of poverty. Over 760 youth centres have been closed since 2012, equating to 4,500 lost youth workers. Permanent exclusions from overstretched schools increased by 56 percent between 2013-14 and 2016-17. The statistics of worsening mental health problems among young people give a glimpse of the huge psychological impact of these conditions. It is this toxic brew of social circumstances which produces tragic acts of violence.

The ruling class are using fevered reports of violence borne out of austerity and social decay to impose ever more draconian repression in defence of the capitalist system. In opposition, workers and youth must fight for the only serious solution to all social ills: the establishment of a genuinely humane, socialist society.Chelsea Mannings legal team submitted a motion on Monday to the US Eastern District Court of Virginia for her immediate release pending her appeal of the decision that sent her to jail indefinitely on March 8.

Manning was imprisoned by District Judge Claude Hilton on civil contempt charges for courageously refusing to testify before a secret grand jury preparing a frame-up case against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

The latest motion argues that the judges decision to remand Manning to the Alexandria Detention Center was in violation of her constitutional rights and should be reversed. It says, Ms. Manning timely filed her notice of appeal, and now requests that this court grant bail pending the resolution of the appeal.

On Friday, March 29, Mannings legal team filed an appeal of her imprisonment for contempt with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. US law provides that release must be granted as long as the appeal is neither frivolous nor a delay tactic.

The release motion says that Judge Hiltons initial decision to deny bail pending appeal was in violation of appellate rules. These rules require the court to state in writing the reasons for refusing bail. Judge Hilton not only failed to follow this procedure, he refused to comment at all on the matter.

The vindictive nature of Hiltons jailing of Manning is self evident. As the motion explains, Without explicitly ruling on the motion for bail, he ordered Ms. Manning to custody of the Attorney General. He issued no written denial or justification therefor, nor did he issue any verbal rationale for denial of bail.

Manning has been held in prolonged solitary confinement, called administrative segregation, a form of torture according to the UN Rapporteur on Torture, for more than 25 days. The political aim of the jailing and confinement of Manning is clear: to force her to provide answers to questions before a grand jury that will be used as part of the US governments case against Julian Assange.

WikiLeaks founder Assange, who has himself been living under prison-like conditions in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years, faces life imprisonment or the death penalty if extradited to the US on manufactured espionage and conspiracy charges. Both Manningwho provided US war logs and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks in 2010and Assange, who published this information, are being persecuted for exposing and publishing to the world the truth about the crimes of American imperialism.

Mannings motion elaborates on the fact that Judge Hiltons decision to find her in contempt was a violation of her Fifth and Sixth amendment rights because the hearing was held in a closed courtroom. The motion also explains why her appeal is neither frivolous nor a delay tactic and that Manning is not a flight risk or danger to the community.

Furthermore, the motion outlines why Mannings continued imprisonment has already been transformed from coercive to punitive. This is the point reached when it becomes clear to all that the witness is not going to testify under any circumstances and continued imprisonment serves no further purpose.

Ms. Mannings attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, told Sparrow Media, This is the strongest appeal of a grand jury contempt I have ever seen, and so release ought to be granted. The lower court acted without considering clear legal mandates and this error, including the denial of release, must be corrected in the appellate court.PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5

Second wave: Independent unions step in

At this time, only about 14 companies had agreed to the 20/32 and were already carrying out firings, even though the strike was costing companies a whopping $50 million per day, according to Index.

On January 30, the strike began to spread to maquiladoras affiliated to the smallest of the three main unions in the city, the Workers Union of the Maquiladora and Assembly Industry (STIME), led by Ruben Longoria Uribe. (The SJOIIM, the Industrial Union of Maquiladoras Workers or SITPME and the Union of Maquiladora and Assembly Industry Workers or STIME are all part of the Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM.) Some 1,500 maquiladora workers put down their tools at Spellman to demand the bonus of 32,000 pesos. The electronics company quickly agreed.

Hundreds of workers at a Coca-Cola bottling plant affiliated to the SJOIIM began partial stoppages to demand the 20/32. The Mexican financial daily El Financiero proclaimed the next day the end of labor peace in Mexico.

In the next few days, workers at Toyoda Gosei Rubber and other STIME plants joined the second wave of wildcat strikes in defiance of the union. After a four-hour strike at Ballinger on February 4, the company agreed to the 20/32, which led other workers at SITPME to organize a mass assembly that afternoon to call for a general strike demanding the 20/32, regardless of whether it was pegged or not to their contract. They also raised as a major demand getting rid of the union.

Thousands at 25 maquiladoras from SITPME and STIME were suddenly on strike, and workers at the supermarket chains Chedraui, Smart and Soriana, the milk processing plant of Vakita, and trash collectors joined them.

On February 2, inspired by the Matamoros rebellion, workers at the five campuses of the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) in Greater Mexico City struck to demand a 20 percent wage hike. At the time, teachers in the western state of Michoacan were carrying out strikes and intermittent blockades of railways connected to the crucial Port of Lazaro Cardenas. On February 7, about 680 workers at General Mills in the central Mexican city of Irapuato, Guanajuato, launched a four-day wildcat strike against unjustified firings and for significant improvements in benefits and conditions. Moreover, auto parts workers in Ciudad Victoria continued to threaten to strike for a 30 percent raise.

Within a week after this second wave started, all the maquiladoras affiliated to the SJOIIM agreed to the 20/32. Nonetheless, the companies started firing hundreds of the most militant workers while Index, the association of maquiladora owners, threatened 25,000 layoffs.

While creating the illusion that she was guaranteeing workers demands simply by reviewing each contract, Prieto displayed as much eagerness as the companies to shut down the strikes. For instance, on February 5, when Swedish-based Autoliv agreed to the 20/32, she told workers we have to go back to work now. When workers expressed concerns about reprisals like firings to avoid paying the bonus offered in four installments, she defended the corrupt companies that were stealing from the workers. This isnt the fault of the companies, Prieto declared, the companies have their interests. We are not professional agitators. We wanted something legal. The company will not decapitalize only because you want your bonus of 32,000 pesos

When concerns about the AMLO administration were raised, she told Autoliv workers, He is my president and your president. All of his detractors seek only to channel water to their own mill.

That weekend, on February 9, the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter and the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees held a demonstration outside the headquarters of General Motors in Detroit to oppose the plant closures announced by GM in the US and Canada. Demonstrators rejected the anti-Mexican agitation by the United Auto Workers and Unifor and called for workers to build rank-and-file committees, independent of the unions, in order to unite with workers in Mexico and around the world against the assault on jobs and living standards by the transnational corporations.

In addition to greetings from the framed up Maruti Suzuki workers in India, several workers in Matamoros sent statements of support of the demonstration. Bernardo, an Inteva worker already back at work, declared, If you unite the strikes in the US with those in other parts of the world, the workers movement would strengthen because we would be closing down the road of the corporate elite. On February 12, the WSWS received a video from striking auto parts workers at Fisher Dynamics in Matamoros who stated: Brothers in Detroit, Michigan, in your struggle against mass layoffs, stand firm and we will continue to stand together!

The political establishment, including the union bureaucracy, moved to contain the second wave of strikes and prevent these internationalist sentiments from finding an organized and more politically conscious expression.

In Ciudad Victoria, the CTM union led by Maria Dolores Zuniga cancelled the strike announcement that weekend demanding a 30 percent raise and imposed a sellout agreement of 16 percent. Then, a February 11 report by Proceso described how the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC) prevented wildcat strikes by Walmart workers in Monterrey convincing them to affiliate.

On February 13, Morena Senator and leader of Mexicos Miners Union, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, announced the co-founding with the Electricians Union (SME) of the International Labor Confederation (CIT), openly framing the decision as a response to the wave of strikes initiated in Matamoros. The development received the support of the American AFL-CIO labor federation and positive coverage by the Wall Street Journal and other corporate outlets. The next day, Index called for the immediate intervention of AMLO and the new CIT in Matamoros.

The employers then escalated the firings and layoffs, including the closing of the Joyson Safety Systems plant with 700 workers on February 15, as well as the repression by the police and union thugs. The president of the Business Coordinating Center or CCE, Juan Pablo Castanon, doubled the previous threat made by Index to 50,000 layoffs in Matamoros.

In the first week of February, Susana Prieto moved to corral workers in Matamoros behind the independent unions. She began visiting picket lines with Luis Carlos Haro, an activist from the pseudo-left Political Organization of the People and Workers (OPT), which was founded by the Electricians Union (SME). On February 3, Prieto said to a picket line at Joyson that he was helping for a few days. Haro then gave special greetings from the Alliance of National, State and Municipal Organizations of the Movement of San Quintin Workers and the Independent, National and Democratic Union of Workers of San Quintin [SINDJA].

Prietos relation to Haro goes back at least to the December 2017 Binational Conference co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO and SME, in which Haro was a coordinator and Prieto a keynote speaker. As mentioned above, Prieto continued to organize frequently with the Alliance co-founded by the AFL-CIO in San Quintin.

On February 12, the WSWS warned workers about the purpose of bringing Haro along: These forces seek to provide a new facade to the same trade union bureaucracy to subordinate workers independent initiative to the dictates of the corrupt union structures, the government, and ultimately, the ruling class and imperialism. In apparent response, Prieto insisted that day to workers, you never saw me with a union, only to tell a picket line at Kasco wanting to leave SITPME, I believe that you need to form independent unions here. Trade unions are good; we [the workers] are the corrupt ones, along with the people who administrate them.

Third wave: Trade unions suppress strikes across the country

On February 25, a third wave of strikes began when 400 metalworkers at Sigosa, Seyco Joits and Sistemas Estructurales y de Construccion, which are affiliated to the Miners Union led locally by Javier Zuniga and nationally by Senator Gomez Urrutia, struck in Matamoros demanding the 20 percent raise and a bonus of 48,000 pesos (US$2,513). In Ciudad Victoria, about 500 workers at Spring Window Fashion struck demanding to leave the union. At this time, 15 maquiladoras from the second wave were still on strike, but a week later all but threeand the Coca-Cola bottling planthad agreed to the 20/32. The fear that the strikes would merge and spread was largely behind the decision by the companies to accept the 20/32.

During the following two days, 2,900 metalworkers at two yards owned by Dragados Offshore, which produces drilling platforms, in Altamira, Tamaulipas and Pueblo Viejo, Veracruz carried out wildcat strikes demanding raises as high as 100 percent. On February 28, a strike announcement was postponed at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UACM), where workers demand a 12 percent raise. That week, the CROC was compelled to file a strike announcement involving 90,000 Walmart workers from across the country to demand a 20 percent raise.

All of these struggles remained within the grip of the unions and were quickly sold out. The Miners Union has opposed any struggle against the threatened closures of the three metallurgic plants in Matamoros. Workers at Spring Window Fashion were convinced to simply switch to a different union within the CTM, the one led by Maria Dolores Zuniga. The union at UACM postponed the strike indefinitely after workers rejected a sellout agreement of a 5.47 percent raise. Finally, CROC cancelled the strike at Walmart agreeing to a 5.5 percent raise.

To be continued

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5

The threat by the Trump administration to close the 2,000-mile-long US-Mexican border, the busiest international boundary on the face of the planet, with roughly 350 million documented crossings each year, is an unmistakable symptom of the intense crisis of a global capitalist system that is careening toward dictatorship and war.

The pretext for this international provocation is a supposed national emergency created by Central American refugees fleeing horrific levels of violence and poverty. These conditions in the so-called Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are the legacy of a century of US imperialist oppression, marked by near-genocidal counterinsurgency wars and savage military dictatorships installed with Washingtons backing.

Trump lashed out at the right-wing and corrupt US-backed governments in Central America, tweeting that they have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. He followed the tweet with an order to cut off all US aid to the three Northern Triangle countries.

He also accused Mexico of doing nothing to stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country, and issued the threat to shut down the US-Mexico border.

He wants these governments to implement a policy of bloody repression sufficient to terrorize would-be asylum seekers, i.e., to make it clear that they are more certain to die if they attempt to leave their home countries than if they stay.

Trump, who has deployed some 4,700 US troops to the border and boasted of turning it into a war zone, confided last week to Fox News Sean Hannity that ordering troops to turn machine guns on the men, women and children seeking asylum would be a very effective way of doing it, but We cant do it. One only need add the unspoken thought, At least not yet.

The shutting down of the border is meant as punishment against Mexico for failing to prevent the Central American refugees from heading north. In reality, the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), which came into office posturing as a left alternative, has collaborated closely with Washington, militarizing sections of its own side of the border and penning up migrants in concentration camps.

It has also acquiesced to the US Department of Homeland Securitys so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, or Remain in Mexico policy, which was imposed unilaterally, forcing asylum seekers to stay across the border in Mexico until their cases are heard, a process that can take months or even years. First implemented at the San Ysidro-Tijuana port of entry, it is now being extended to other border crossings, forcing refugee families to live in impoverished and dangerous conditions in Mexican border towns.

This cruel policy has been implemented as US migrant detention facilities are overflowing, with over 13,000 children being held in appalling conditions.

There are signs that the shutdown is being progressively implemented, with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen ordering 750 agents transferred from ports of entry to Border Patrol units rounding up refugee families attempting to enter the US in more remote areas. This number may be expanded to 2,000, forcing the shutdown of entry lanes and a dramatic slowdown for those trying to cross the border.

The supposed crisis is of the immigration authorities own making, with the introduction of a go-slow policy for asylum seekers at the ports of entry, known as metering, which has forced them to seek to cross the border and turn themselves in elsewhere.

While the corporate media has treated the threat to close the border with its typical fatuousnessthe most frequently broadcast report is on the danger of an avocado shortagethe human and economic costs of a shutdown are incalculable.

In a country where 36 million people are of Mexican descent and roughly one million people and nearly half a million vehicles cross the border every day, the separation of families, of workers from their jobs and students from their schools would inflict immense hardship. As for the economy, the US Chamber of Commerce warned that a closure of the border would provoke an unmitigated economic debacle, affecting some $1.7 billion in daily trade between the two countries.

Trump on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to congressional Democrats, saying that only their approval of sweeping changes in immigration laws could stop him from ordering the border shutdown. We need to get rid of chain migration, we need to get rid of catch and release, and visa lottery, and we have to do something about asylum, and, to be honest with you, we have to get rid of judges, he said. In other words, Trump is demanding a regime of summary deportation for anyone daring to set foot on US soil, riding roughshod over international laws protecting refugees and the right of asylum, as well as constitutional principles of due process.

Asked by reporters if he was concerned about the economic impact of closing the border, Trump responded, Security is more important to me than trade. So were going to have a strong border, or were going to have a closed border.

The irrationality of this approach is breathtaking. The global integration of the world capitalist economy is nowhere more evident than on the US-Mexican border. The breaking of supply chains linking the low-wage maquiladora factories that produce parts on the Mexican side of the border from the auto plants on the US side would result in short order in a paralysis of production, forcing plant shutdowns and, with time, threatening US automakers with bankruptcy.

This irrationality, however, lies not merely in the twisted and criminal mind of Donald Trump, but in the capitalist system itself and in the irreconcilable contradiction between the global integration of production and the capitalist nation-state system.

Trump is not some mad exception. Europe has effectively sealed its own borders to desperate migrants seeking refuge from the effects of 17 years of uninterrupted US-led wars in the Middle East and Central Asia. The Mediterranean has been turned into a no-go zone, where 34,000 have lost their lives. European Union member states have built over 600 miles of border walls since 1989 and deployed an additional 10,000 armed guards to keep out or deport anyone who makes it to the continent.

The sealing of borders, the laying of razor wire barricades, the creation of concentration camps for refugees and the whipping up of far-right, xenophobic and fascist forces are all part of an international turn to reaction that echoes the darkest days of the 1930s. The buildup of militarized borders and the forces of state repression is directed against not only migrants and refugees, but the working class as a whole. In the US, Europe, Mexico, Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, workers have entered into explosive struggles that have emerged for the most part outside of the control of the official pro-capitalist parties and trade unions.

This global movement found powerful expression in the strike by some 70,000 maquiladora workers in Matamoros, just a few miles from the US border, which began in January in opposition to the pro-company trade unions and the ruling Morena party of Lopez Obrador. The strike underscored the objective character of the working class as an international class, connected in a single process of globally integrated production, with the stoppages in Mexico slowing production throughout the North American auto industry. As the Matamoros workers sought to forge new rank-and-file organizations to lead their struggles, they appealed for support from workers in the US and expressed solidarity with auto workers confronting plant shutdowns in North America.

This striving for the unification of the class struggle across the national boundaries that capitalist governments are seeking to transform into impenetrable war zones points the way forward for the workers of every country.

The crisis facing immigrant workers and the working class as a whole can be resolved only through the fight for the international unification of the working class based on the strategic perspective of world socialist revolution. This requires an unconditional defense of the right of workers from every part of the world to live and work in the country of their choice, and an irreconcilable struggle against every attempt to divide native-born and immigrant workers.Eight miners died and three more barely survived after poisonous gases filled the galleries of an informal gold mine in El Toro mountain located in the highlands of the department of La Libertad, in northern Peru, last weekend. This tragedy is the result of the ruthless drive for profits by the owners of informal mines, operating often without licenses, which have proliferated by the thousands in the Peruvian highlands, from the border with Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south.

The tragedy occurred last Saturday when the miners, after having completed their work, re-entered the mine to collect their belongings. Underlying it are the universally dangerous conditions in which the informal miners operate, without observing minimum safety regulations dictated by the central government.

Most of Perus mining sector involves large-scale, capital-intensive operations that are in the hands of transnational companies associated with Peruvian families that have owned mines for decades, investing billions of dollars in Peru.

Such investments are a top priority for Perus bourgeois government. Due to its orientation toward international capital, the Peruvian government of President Martin Vizcarra, just like its predecessors, has ignored the needs and conditions of those working in small, informal mines, many of whom are poor peasants working for an owner living in comfort and luxury hundreds of kilometers away in the capital, Lima.

It is reported the toxic gas that killed the miners emanated from a pipeline ruptured as a result of explosive activities that caused a roof collapse in another nearby mine within El Toro mountain itself.

Miners die for the same reasons, facing the same dangerous conditions and exploitation by the capitalist owners all over the world. These latest victims in Peru included Francisco Rondo Baca, Isaias Vasquez Serin, Orlando Valderrama Victorio, Ulises Narro Alva, Cesar Contreras Tandaypan, Hhonatan Fumbajulca Anticona, Jose Sanchez Rodriguez and one more as yet unidentified.

Other miners and community members in the area were the first to give notice of the disaster to the police and public officials of the town to start rescue operations. One of the relatives stated, We had to take them outside, but they are dead.

One of the survivors, Cesar Rondo Baca, narrated how when they re-entered the mine they began to feel dizzy, suffered headaches and lost their sense of hearing. He was saved because he managed to crawl toward the exit of the tunnel, which eight of his companions failed to do, staying in the sinkhole that filled with deadly gases.

Upon arrival of the Criminal Investigation Section (in Spanish, SEINCRI), prosecutor Henry Espinoza Urbina from the regional capital, Huamachuco, met the refusal of some relatives of the victims who opposed autopsies of their dead, arguing that the owner of the mine had promised them a reward in the event of a deadly tragedy. Only three were taken to the morgue in Trujillo, the departmental capital.

The disaster that claimed the lives of eight miners is a tragedy that is repeated almost every week in the informal mines of Peru. In particular, the El Toro mine is known as one of the most dangerous in illegal mining. The locals warned that people die buried in holes or by a bullet. ... In El Toro death is a daily occurrence. A month ago, one miner was killed and three injured when the roof of a tunnel collapsed due to lack of safety measures.

There are more than half-a-million informal miners in Peru. Many have agriculture as their main source of income, but when the price, for example, of potatoes drops, must work in mining under conditions in which they put their lives at risk.

The proposal of the ultra-right Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, founder of the Liberty and Democracy Institute, and follower of the economists Milton Friedman (founder of the monetarist economic policy) and Friedrich Hayek (of the Austrian school that defends classical liberalism), is that the informal miners be formalized obtaining title to their properties. In the past, de Soto proposed applying his remedy to pymes (small and medium-size enterprises), but the empirical results discredited his postulates, when it became known that the pymes experiment ended up favoring big capital, due to the high percentage of bankruptcies, with the banks taking over the assets.

Carlos Sanchez, whose brother Gilmer Jose Sanchez Rodriguez perished inside the mine, demanded justice: My brother died at the mine. We were notified by the owner of the contract, and we went to the mouth of the mine and picked up the body of my brother. We ask that they close that mine, there are already many dead and everything goes unpunished. We ask for justice.

For dozens of years these words of demanding that they close that mine and we ask for justice have fallen on the deaf ears of the centralized bourgeois state in Lima, the capital of Peru.

Informal mining in Peruand the same can be said for Ecuador, Bolivia and Chileis the result of poverty, corruption of public servants and ruthless hunger for wealth at the expense of the lives of the miners. Above all, the capitalist state in many Latin American countries limited its presence to the capital and other large cities, ignoring the needs of the natives of Inca and Aymara descent who populate the rural areas. The mine owners operate without respecting safety conditions because they know that it is easy to bribe public inspectors, who themselves receive poverty wages from the government.

The indifference to human life is reflected in an article published in Mining, the magazine of the Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru. On the front page is a photo of the general manager of the main company operating gold mines in El Toro mountain, Jaime Polar, flanked by the flags of Peru and the company. In an interview made a year and a half ago, Jaime Polar indicates that some 5,000 illegal miners exploit the El Toro goldfields.

El Toro is owned by the Corporacion del Centro Sociedad Anonima Cerrada (CDC Gold), a Peruvian mining company incorporated in 2010, which houses seven mining concessions and has reserves of 700,000 gold ounces, according to a technical report made by SGS Canada in October 2014.

This reporter called CDC Gold headquarters in Lima asking for information on whether the tragedy occurred in one of its mines. CDC Gold refused to confirm or deny its involvement, refusing to give any information.

In the interview with Mining magazine, Jaime Polar states that his business provided an example of the transformation of an area where more than five thousand illegal miners operated into a future world-class operation. This is a transparent attempt to put on a face of decency before national and foreign investors who read the magazine, while on the ground the informality continues because ignoring the lives and safety of the miners, while paying them miserable wages, is the most lucrative way to operate.

The gold-rich mountain has seen conflicts between the owners of CDC Gold and local residents of the region. In May of last year, the Energiminas magazine reported that for several days, protesters blocked the entrance to the El Toro mining company in Huamachuco, after demanding that they be offered employment, the hiring of personnel from the region and compliance with payment commitments to their suppliers.Beginning March 15, thousands of retired Sears employees were informed via a form letter that their life insurance benefits had been eliminated. Retirees were given two optionseither convert all or a portion of the previously held policy into a new plan, and begin making payments, or watch it evaporate. As of this writing, it is unknown how many will be affected; however, the previous policies covered approximately 90,000 retirees across Sears and Kmart.

Sears is at the center of the retail apocalypse, which has led to mass layoffs and downsizings throughout the country. In 2019, it is estimated that more than 6,300 stores across the US will close, with tens of thousands of employees losing their jobs. With their employers failing to meet projected profits, workers, pitted against top-performing stores and each other, have been forced to accept wage freezes and benefit cuts, while investors on Wall Street have remunerated themselves fabulously.

Sears staved off liquidation earlier this year in a $5.2 billion February bankruptcy sale to current chairman Edward Lampert, who was also the companys largest creditor. The sale transferred ownership of Sears Holding Corp. to Lampert and the hedge fund he founded, ESL Investments, which completed the sale. The infamous asset-stripper sold his plan to New York bankruptcy judge Robert Drain as an opportunity to save jobs, while operating a leaner Sears. This leaner Sears has an estimated 40,000 employees today, down from 355,000 in 2006.

The ones made to tighten their belts are not billionaires like Lampert, however. Instead, retirees will be left in the lurch, swindled out of a previously promised benefit, unable to afford a new plan on the free market. Life insurance policies increase in monthly premiums as a person ages. This means that a majority of those affected, who are already well into retirement, will be unable to afford a new plan. A vast majority of the 90,000 retirees potentially impacted have been retired for years and are on a fixed income. The previously earned policies ranged in coverage from $5,000 to $10,000.

Ron Olbrysh, chairman of the National Association of Retired Sears Employees (NARSE), told CBS News that for many former employees life insurance was the last benefit they had. And while these last benefits were eliminated on the 15th, many have yet to receive a letter. Olbrysh himself didnt receive notification until five days later.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, former employee Tom Dowd, 76, explained that he was hurt not only by the loss of benefits, but also in how the message was delivered. I spent my adult life there, Dowd told the paper, and if nothing else, that requires a little bit of dignity as opposed to a letter saying your benefits are gone, and heres how much you can pay to get them back.

According to NARSE, the average policy is between $8,000 and $10,000 in coverage, while the average policy holder is 80 years old. Continuing his interview with CBS News , Olbrysh detailed the plight of a 91-year-old former employee of 37 years whose benefits were arbitrarily cancelled. To maintain his coverage, he would have had to pay more than $3,000 a year. Already saddled with exorbitant out-of-pocket costs for health coverage, an average of $4,300 a year, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, this added unexpected expense is a cruel insult to retirees who dedicated the best parts of their lives to the massive corporation.

This cost-cutting measure, in the name of maintaining profitability, will no doubt be used to further enrich Lampert and key personnel occupying top positions in the company. According to Olbrysh, under the previously held life insurance policies, Sears paid approximately $16.6 million in premiums for eligible retirees for the year that ended Dec. 31, 2017. Meanwhile, as part of the court-approved bankruptcy sale, up to $25.3 million in bonuses were made available to executives and high-ranking employees in December 2018.

Senator and 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sent out a perfunctory tweet chastising the company for its greed, while offering no perspective or solutions for those affected. Likewise Olbrysh, who previously served for more than a decade as assistant general counsel for Sears, conceded that while NARSE could take Sears to court, he is already tempering expectations of winning back benefits, pointing out that the company is dying.

The choice for workers and youth is clear, the financial aristocracy and the courts that legalize theft cannot be used to win back what was earned or promised. The continued pilfering of pensions, benefits and wages will only stop once workers and retirees take the conduct of the struggle into their own hands and out of the hands of duplicitous capitalist politicians and company lawyers.A 10-minute aerial confrontation between Chinese and Taiwanese fighter jets over the Taiwan Strait on Sunday has once again highlighted the dangers of a war in Asia fueled by the Trump administration, which has deliberately inflamed the regions volatile flashpoints.

Taiwan condemned what it described as a reckless and provocative move by Beijing after two Chinese warplanes crossed the de-facto maritime border in the Taiwan Strait known as the median line. The Taiwanese military scrambled its own fighter planes to warn off the Chinese jets.

Taiwanese presidential spokesman Huang Chung-yen declared that China should stop acting in ways that endanger regional peace and well-being, and not become an international troublemaker. He said that Taiwans president, Tsai Ing-wen, had been informed and directed the islands armed forces to take all necessary combat preparedness measures.

If Chinese warplanes did cross the median line, it would be the first incursion since 2011 which was judged to be accidental. Beijing is yet to comment on Sundays incident, which comes in the wake of a series of US moves that are aimed at bolstering ties with Taiwan and calling into question its adherence to the so-called One China policy.

US President Richard Nixons rapprochement with China in 1972 involved the tacit recognition of Beijing as the legitimate ruler of all China, including Taiwan. In 1979, the US formally established diplomatic relations and ended its ties with the military dictatorship on Taiwan established by the Kuomintang (KMT) after its defeat in the 1949 Chinese revolution. At the same time, Washington committed to opposing any forcible reunification with Taiwan by Beijing and to continuing arms sales to Taipei.

Trump, who on assuming office publicly called the One China policy into question, has repeatedly and deliberately provoked Beijing by boosting arms sales to Taiwan, increasing US naval operations in the tense Taiwan Strait, and by signing the Taiwan Travel Act into law authorising top level contact between US and Taiwanese civilian and military officials.

Prior to Sundays aerial stand-off, the US military sent two shipsthe Navy destroyer Curtis Wilbur and Coast Guard cutter Berholfthrough the Taiwan Strait for the third time this year and the sixth time since it resumed such transits last July. The Chinese foreign ministry stated that it had lodged representations with Washington and urged caution by the US to avoid harming Sino-US relations and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Last Wednesday, Taiwanese President Tsai used a so-called transit stop in Hawaii to launch a broadside against China and call for a beefing up of US arms sales to Taipei in remarks delivered via video link to the right-wing US think tank, the Heritage Foundation.

Tsai accused Beijing of trying to alter the status quo and undermine our democratic institutions. She dismissed Chinas one nation, two systems proposal for unifying Taiwan with the mainland and declared that Chinas actions underscored the need for Taiwan to increase our self-defence and deterrence capacities.

Tsai belongs to the Democratic Progressive Party, which is based on Taiwanese nationalism and does not accept the current status quo in relations with China. While stopping short of declaring formal independence from China, which could provoke a Chinese attack, the DPP, encouraged by the Trump administration, has adopted a more assertive stance for Taiwan.

Tsai was touring the Pacific in a bid to shore up Taiwans diplomatic relations with three tiny Pacific Island statesPalau, Nauru and the Marshall Islands. The three are among the few countries in the world to maintain relations with Taiwan, rather than China.

The most significant aspect of Tsais comments was a call for the US to sell more than 60 advanced F-16V fighter jets to Taiwan, as well as M1 heavy tanks, which she said would greatly enhance our land and air capacities, strengthen military morale and show the world the US commitment to Taiwans defence.

The US has not sold fighter jets to Taiwan since 1992. While the F-16V fighters are fourth generation, not fifth generation warplanes, they are fitted with advanced radar and avionics, unlike Taiwans present aging fleet of F-16s. The US has so far refused to sell its fifth-generation stealth fighters, the F-22 and F-35, to Taiwan.

While the sale would not immediately alter the military balance between China and Taiwan, it would be a clear sign that Washington is strengthening ties with Taipei and would enhance Taiwans capacity to take part in a US-led war against China. The islands strategic location just off the Chinese mainland prompted US General MacArthur to describe it in 1950 as an unsinkable aircraft carrier in the event of war.

Bloomberg reported on Monday: Trump administration officials have given tacit approval to Taipeis request to buy more than 60 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16s, according to people familiar with the matter.

Suggestions that the US sale could proceed have sent shockwaves through Beijing. The Chinese foreign ministry last week said that it had lodged stern representations with the US, while the defence ministry warned that the sale undermined the One China policy.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian told the media last Thursday: Any words or actions that undermine the One China policy are tantamount to shaking the foundation of China-US relations, are inconsistent with the fundamental interests of China and the United States and are also extremely dangerous.

Chinas show of air power over the Taiwan Strait was clearly meant as a warning to both Taiwan and the US.

Taiwan, along with the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea, are among the most volatile and dangerous flashpoints in the world. Yet the Trump administration is recklessly disrupting longstanding diplomatic norms as it escalates its confrontation with China over trade and steps up its military preparations for war.

Trumps aggressive stance towards Beijing is a continuation of the Obama administrations pivot to Asia aimed at encircling China and building up US military forces in the Indo-Pacific. US imperialism is determined to maintain its global hegemony if need be through military force against China, Russia or any other potential rival.

The danger is that a minor incident in the Taiwan Strait, whether deliberate or accidental, could become the trigger for a conflict between nuclear-armed powers that escalates out of control into all-out war.The 40th session of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last month adopted a new resolution giving the Sri Lankan government two more years to implement its unfulfilled pledges on transitional justice and accountabilityi.e., war crimes related to the brutal three-decade war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Entitled Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, the March 21 resolution was initiated by the UK and co-sponsored by Colombo, with behind the scenes negotiations by India, Washingtons regional strategic partner.

The resolution praised the Sri Lankan governments positive steps towards the protection of human rights, commitment to release military occupied lands to civilians, and repealing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The positive steps are a fiction. Ten years after the end of the war the North and East of the country remain under military occupation. While some land has been handed back to civilians, the military has refused to release all occupied land, citing unspecified security reasons. As for repealing the PTA, Colombo plans to replace the repressive legislation with an equally draconian Counter Terrorism Act.

The war against the LTTE, which began in 1983, was the culmination of systematic discrimination by Colombos ruling elite against the islands Tamil minority since formal independence in 1948 aimed at dividing the working class along ethnic lines.

The war ended in May 2009 with the military annihilation of the LTTE and, according to UN reports, the killing of more than 40,000 civilians in the final months of the conflict. Other allegations include the disappearance and torture of thousands of Tamils. Successive Colombo governments, which depend heavily on the political support of the military, have desperately sought to prevent any investigation into these crimes.

Washington, the worlds biggest violator of human rights, initiated UN resolutions on Sri Lankan human rights violations after the war ended. Its concerns had nothing to do with democratic rights but were to apply political pressure on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse who purchased weapons and established close economic relations with Beijing. The US, as part of its efforts to isolate China, wanted Sri Lanka to end its ties with Beijing and align itself with Washingtons geo-strategic plans.

After Rajapakse resisted these demands, Washington sponsored a regime-change operation which brought Maithripala Sirisena to power in the January 2015 presidential election. The current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga were principal supporters of the operation.

After Sirisena and Wickremesinghe shifted Sri Lankan foreign policy towards Washington and New Delhi, the US in October 2015, moved another resolution in the UNHRC. The resolution dropped previous calls for an international investigation into human rights violations and called instead for an internal judicial mechanism under international supervision. In March 2017, Washington extended implementation of these demands for two more years.

When the Trump administration quit the UNHRC in June 2018 over its limited criticism of Israel, the UK took the initiative to develop last months resolution in consultation with India.

An article in the Wire, an Indian web site, reported that New Delhi has been kept informed at every stage of drafting of the resolution. It noted that there were concerns about the very recent turbulent political history and the fraught ties between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe.

An unnamed Indian government official said: It was felt that the government required a break and decide not to impose any stringent strictures. In other words, no pressure should be placed on Colombo about investigating the war crimes and other abuses.

The turbulent political history is a reference to Sirisenas failed coup last October when he removed Wickremesinghe as prime minister and attempted to replace him with Rajapakse. The political manoeuvre was rejected by the US and India who still consider Rajapakse to be pro-China.

When Rajapakse was unable to secure majority support from MPs, Sirisena dissolved the parliament. Sri Lankas Supreme Court declared Sirisenas actions unconstitutional, forcing him to reappoint Wickremesinghe as prime minister.

However, the factional war continues as the ruling elite fights over how best to deal with the countrys mounting economic crisis, the IMFs austerity demands and increasing strikes by workers, student protests and ongoing unrest among the rural poor. Each faction is preparing dictatorial methods of rule to deal with the mounting anti-government unrest.

Sirisena has withdrawn the support of his faction of Sri Lanka Freedom Party from the UNPs so-called unity government and is seeking re-election as president later this year with the endorsement of the Rajapakse-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

He has also intensified efforts to secure backing from the military and Sinhala chauvinist organisations, reversing his previous support for an investigation into human rights abuses during the war and openly rejecting war crime allegations against the military. Last month Sirisena hypocritically claimed he was unaware of the latest UNHRC resolution and that he rejected it.

Rajapakse and his supporters are building an extreme-right movement, appealing to the military, Sinhala supremacist groups and the conservative Buddhist establishment, in a bid for power. Rajapakse has accused the government of betraying the security forces by agreeing to a war crimes investigation and is whipping up anti-Tamil sentiment to divide the working class. The Rajapakse faction is also trying to convince the US and their allies that they are ready to work with those powers.

Not to be outdone, the UNP-led government is continuing its efforts to whitewash the war crimes. Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs Tilak Marapana, who led the delegation to Geneva, claims that the UNHRC has exaggerated the death toll during the last stages of the war and was unfair for insisting on investigations.

The latest UNHRC resolution is another political warning from Washington and New Delhi to both Sirisena and Rajapakse not to destabilise the close military and political relations they have established with Sri Lanka over the past four years.

The outcome of last months UNHRC meeting has also exposed the reactionary politics of the Tamil capitalist parties. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) backed the regime-change operation that removed Rajapakse as president in 2015, claiming that the Tamil people could secure their democratic rights with the support of international powers.

Addressing parliament on March 22, TNA leader M. A. Sumanthiran backed the UNHRC resolution while demagogically declaring that his organisation would take steps to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court if it reneged on its promises to the UN.

Former Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran, who was also a former TNA leader, and several other political groups wrote to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. They urged her not to extend the time frame for the Colombo government to comply with transitional justice and accountability requirements and to directly monitor the human rights violations.

Irrespective of their tactical differences, all the Tamil parties seek to secure the privileges of the Tamil elite by serving the imperialist powers. These formations are also nervous about the rising unrest amongst Tamil workers and poor in the North and East and the danger of unified action with their counterparts in the south of the island.

Exposure of the war crimes and human rights abuses of the Sri Lankas ruling elite are the concern of the entire working class, Tamil and Sinhala alike. However, prosecution of those responsible for these crimes, and the defence of all democratic rights can only be secured by a unified revolutionary movement of the entire working class for a Sri Lanka-Eelam Socialist Republic of workers and peasants as part of a Socialist Federation of South Asia. This is the perspective fought for by the Socialist Equality Party.Tens of thousands of yellow vests demonstrators took part in the 20th weekend of protests across France last Saturday, following the announcement one week before that Operation Sentinel army soldiers had been authorized to shoot at them. They denounced Macrons threats and the refusal of the government to respond to any of their demands against social inequality and the militarized police state. The Yellow Number Facebook page reported 102,000 protesters, while the government claimed only 34,000 demonstrated.

In Bordeaux, 5,000 protested, defying the police prefects ban and the declaration by the town hall that Bordeaux would be a ghost town. They marched to Place de la Victoire, where police fired upon them with tear gas. Several other cities saw large groups of yellow vests: 5,000 in Toulouse, 3,500 in Saint-Etienne, 2,000 in Epinal, and 1,000 in Lyon. In Avignon, the police took control of the gates of the old city walls to limit access to the town center.

Several hundred yellow vests rallied in Nice to protest against the violent attack on the 73-year-old Genevieve Legay by security forces the previous week.

In Paris the police counted 4,000 protesters. Following the threats by the military and amid an ongoing struggle by the Algerian working class and youth to overthrow the hated military-backed regime, WSWS reporters noted an increasingly thoughtful and determined atmosphere among many demonstrators, aware of the historical stakes of these struggles.

Beatrice spoke about the development of the protests since the first mobilizations against Macrons planned regressive petrol taxes. We realized that it was not only the problems of taxation. We saw a lot of things that were wrong. There is a problem of purchasing power in every profession. We saw all the money squandered by the government. She expressed the hope that we will finally restructure France. Our governors have been failing for more than 40 years.

She expressed her solidarity with protests in Algeria and said she hoped soldiers would disobey orders to fire on protesters in France: If it comes to civil war it would be horrible. But in any case, democracy in France already has already greatly deteriorated.

While noting that some police wear yellow badges and show their solidarity with the movement when protesters question them, she also opposed the violence carried out by the police: There are some who love to hit, she said. You see me. I am not violent. I am nothing at all. But there are some [police] who are crazy, and I will say, among the Anti-Criminal Brigade (BAC) some that one would think are in militia. ... We see people arrested, handcuffed and then they are beaten on the ground. Once you have taken control of someone, you stop. After that it becomes a form of torture.

Beatrice, who works as a secretary, also expressed her deep distrust for the trade unions, which broke the truckers strike as the yellow vests movement began. She explained, We know the unions are bought There was the heavy truck strike at the beginning of the movement. The government immediately brought in the unions and right away, it was: Shut up, take what you are given. After that the truckers were bound hand and foot. They told us, we no longer have to strike because the union negotiated.

Beatrice also spoke about her grandparents, who were members of the French Communist Party (PCF) during the Second World War and knew deportees. Asked about the role of the PCF today, she said, They do nothing, that is clear. When I was young, I was involved... But I do not see any party fighting against capitalism. As for a fight today against capitalism, she added, that remains the goal.

Bastien and Agnes

The WSWS also spoke to Bastien and Agnes, both members of Unsubmissive France, the party of Jean-luc Melenchon. Bastien called for a Citizens Initiative Referendum (RIC) and pointed to the strong demand for social equality. For example, we can see that the fortune tax and the cuts to housing subsidies and the lowering of housing subsidies have not been passed. Referring to the struggle of workers and young people to bring down the Algerian military dictatorship, he added: I think it is beautiful. The young people are committed to defending democracy.

Asked about Macrons decision to authorize the army to fire on yellow vests, Bastien said, The bourgeoisie has always been more with Hitler than the Popular Front. We can see that even in Brazil: Bolsonaro was elected with the support of the liberals. In the end, the bourgeois liberals accommodate themselves very quickly with restrictions on public liberties and an authoritarian capitalism.

He also noted the discrediting of the trade unions and established political parties of their role in defeats of workers struggles. There are party interests or unions that take precedence over the interests of workers. They are there to win elections, and put the struggles afterwards. Asked about the financing of the union apparatus by employers and the state, he reacted: Its clear there is a significant risk when the government is funding them.

Victor and Delphine

Victor expressed his support for the protests: We want greater purchasing power. Ive been unemployed for a year. Im a printer and was making 1,900 euros per month after taxes. For the same job now Ill be offered 1,400 to 1,500. The fall in wages has been huge. Im 56. Ive committed to buying a home, and now find myself needing 300-400 euros extra by the 10th of the month because I have to pay my bills.

Victor said workers can no longer rely on unions to defend themselves. I do not have a very high opinion of them, since they are subsidized by the government, he said. Theyre not the unions of before The general secretary [Philippe Martinez] of the CGT labelled the Yellow Vest protests as a fascist movement.

Being subsidized [by the government] means a lot, he added. I dont think its healthy. They say they defend workers but they are paid by the state or the employers.

He said that Macrons threats would not intimidate the movement: Hes playing on fear. The armored cars have not stopped us. All the names weve been called: fascists, anti-Semites, maybe soon pedophiles as well Although the latest trend is the label of a terrorist. I saw a riot police officer armed with a military-grade weapon. I asked him why he had it. He pointed to a young man who had dismantled the scaffolding from a roadblock on a Paris street, and said: He is a terrorist. I really do not have the same vision of terrorism.

Responding to Macrons declaration last year that the fascist dictator Petain, who headed the Vichy regime under Nazi occupation, was a great soldier, Victor drew parallels with the present day. Where are we going today? When there were wars in the past, political opponents were slaughtered in the streets or were simply imprisoned or disappeared... The Vichy police deported the Jews and political opponents. What interests me is that at that time, the Resistance fighters were also labelled terrorists at the time.3rd April 2019

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In a wide ranging interview with London South East, Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited President and CEO Arthur Millholland told us of the plans being put in place for a drilling programme at OPL 226 in the Niger Delta.

Arthur explained that much of the Autumn had been taken up with resolving issues with the Indian group Essar who hold 20% of the Nigerian licence.

"We expect the Bond to be in place in the coming weeks. The term sheet was fully accepted by the Nigerian bank last week and the paperwork will take a few more weeks." said Arthur.

"Last week our affiliate signed a letter of intent for a brand new drilling rig which is in an Asian shipyard" said Arthur.

"Remember, a drilling rig is a vessel and every five years has to be recertified. Lease a new one and no recertification costs are incurred."

Next steps are for a more binding letter of intent and then a contract which means we commit to take it to Africa.

Finally, when we spoke about working capital, Arthur accepted that the 3 Million raised will not be sufficient to take the business to drilling and testing. "We are going to have to raise additional working capital. We have options open to us other than equity. It may not be equity and for now that's what I'm going to say."The Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe (EFFE) initiative has named the Campus Festival in Debrecen one of the most popular festivals in Europe for the second time.

The 12th Campus Festival will host programs at more than 70 locations in Debrecens Nagyerdo park this July 17-21.

According to Csaba Bako, the festivals PR head, this years lineup will feature international favorites including nu-metal pioneers Limp Bizkit, hip hop group Delinquent Habits, Alan Walker, Willy William, and Nora En Pure.

The list of Hungarian performers features rockers Tankcsapda, celebrating their 30th anniversary, Halott Penz, Majka, Kowalsky meg a Vega, and many others.



There will be more than 300 concerts by domestic performers.



Click here to learn more about Campus FestivalPolice in Alabama confirm that over the weekend, a 6-month-old girl was fatally shot by her father, who then turned the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide.

PEOPLE confirms with officials in Calhoun County that Kahlia Marie Gordon was killed on Sunday, shortly before 1 p.m.

The murder allegedly followed some sort of a domestic dispute, but police are not discussing what led up to the violence.

According to investigators, Kahlias father, Trenton Gordon, also shot the girls grandfather inside a home in Ohatchee.

Gordon then fled the scene with Kahlia, police said, and once outside the home, shot the baby girl once, killing her.

Police said Gordon then died by suicide with the same gun.

Responding officers tried to revive the baby, but it was too late. Her grandfather is said to be recovering from the incident.

A GoFundMe account has been established to help cover the burial costs for Kahlia.

 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.

WIAT reports that Kahlias mother, Christina Gamez, recently filed for a protection from abuse order following a domestic violence incident that occurred back on Valentines Day.

The station claims court documents allege Gordon violated that order on March 29  just two days before the murder-suicide.Angelina Jolies first child is about to leave the nest.

The activist and actress, 43, is preparing for her oldest son Maddox, 17, to attend college in the fall  and the mom of six couldnt be happier for him to take the big step.

Im nothing but proud, Jolie tells PEOPLE in the latest issue. I look forward to all he will do.

Though Jolie doesnt specify where Maddox will be enrolling, the oldest in the Jolie-Pitt clan was seen visiting universities in South Korea with his mom in tow last November. The two visited campuses in Seoul while Jolie was in the country on an official visit as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) Special Envoy.

RELATED: When in Seoul! Angelina Jolie Takes Son Maddox, 17, on a University Tour in South Korea

Maddox Jolie-Pitt with mom Angelina Jolie in 2017 | George Pimentel/WireImage

Jolie, who shares Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 12, and 10-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with ex Brad Pitt, is also focusing on another project with her six kids  a new global current affairs TV program for children shes partnering with the BBC for.

We enjoy reading the kids pullout of the New York Times and look at National Geographic, says Jolie, but as a parent, I felt there wasnt that one vetted and reliable internationally-minded news program tailored for children that we could sit down and watch together each week. That is what I hope this will be for our family and other families.

RELATED: Angelina Jolie Gets Support from Sophie, Countess of Wessex in Fight to Prevent Sexual Violence

Angelina Jolie with Knox, Vivienne, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara and Maddox | Monica Schipper/Getty

Jolie continues to be actively involved with political and current global events, including her work with the UNHCR and the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), which she set up along with former British foreign secretary William Hague in 2012.

The activist gave a passionate speech in front of the United Nations to urge them to deploy more female peacekeepers to war-torn areas and beyond.

If you look across the world there are far too many women and girls who are not only not seeing progress, their rights are slipping away from them. We have to change laws that treat women as second-class citizens. But we also have to enforce them, Jolie says of her next steps with PSVI.

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RELATED: Angelina Jolie Delivers Passionate Speech Advocating for Women at the United Nations

Angelina Jolie speaking at the U.N. | JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty

Up next, the Oscar winner is gearing up for the release of Disneys Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, a sequel to the blockbuster 2014 film and her first starring role in 4 years. Jolie is once again starring with Elle Fanning in the movie, and the two are joined by Michelle Pfeiffer for the second outing.

I love my horns, Jolie says of her iconic Maleficent costume. It is such a pleasure to play her and I hope the audience enjoys her as much as I do. It was wonderful to work again with Elle and to have a chance to work with Michelle.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil hits theaters Oct. 18.Onscreen, Audrey Hepburns life often seemed like a fairytale, but the actress real-life story was shadowed by lasting trauma from her experiences during World War II.

It was something she rarely spoke of in detail.

Part of the trauma was rooted in her mother Dutch Baroness Ella van Heemstras early Nazi sympathies, which are detailed in a new biography

Dutch Girl

by Robert Matzen, excerpted by PEOPLE in this weeks issue.

Says Matzen: Hepburn feared Ellas Nazi past would kill her career, but still, they remained close.

Ella had met Adolf Hitler in 1935 and wrote he was a most charming personality in a British Fascist newspaper. She kept a framed photograph of herself taken at Hitlers Munich headquarters from the day.

After Germany invaded Holland, she saw maintaining cordial relations with German Nazi officers as the best way to keep her family safe.

For a time she even dated a Nazi officer.

GoodKnight Books

Hepburn didnt share in her mothers views. The Breakfast at Tiffanys actress barely survived Germanys five-year occupation of Holland, and she risked her life for the Dutch Resistance  ferrying messages to British and American fliers whod been shot down over Holland and delivering the Resistance newspaper to Dutch loyalists.

In addition, her entire family hid a British paratrooper in their cellar after the devastating Battle of Arnhem.

Hepburns younger son, Luca Dotti, tells PEOPLE, There were times reading this book that I was crying.

I imagine how brave my mother was and how easily she could have died, he says. You can feel her trauma but also her strength.

British actress Audrey Hepburn (right) leading her dog by the leash while walking with her mother, the Dutch Baroness Ella Van Heemstra in Rome | Mondadori Portfolio via Getty

For more about Audrey Hepburn, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Through secret police files, classified archives and interviews with Dutch survivors who knew Audrey and her family, Matzen reveals how Ella, like some aristocrats in the 1930s, had fallen for Hitlers nationalism and promises of economic prosperity.

Yet that all changed when she experienced the brutality of the Nazi regime.

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After the execution of her brother in law, Otto van Limburg Stirum, who did not support the Nazi regime, and after many of her Jewish friends had been sent away to concentration camps, Ella turned her sympathies to the Dutch Resistance, says Matzen.

Hepburn was never able to accept her mothers early affiliation with the Nazis, Matzen writes. It became a secret she guarded her entire life.

RELATED: The Truth About Audrey Hepburns Slim Figure  and How She Nearly Starved to Death During WWII

Hepburn pursued acting after the war and moved to London where she was joined by her mother after a Dutch investigation into her pro-Nazi activities concluded and found Ella to be politically unreliable but not guilty of crimes.

Hepburn never confronted her mother about her early support of Hitler and carried the weight of it for many years.

Still, the two shared a bond after surviving the war, and she cared for her mother in her later years at her home in Switzerland.

Hepburn, who died in 1993 at age 63 from abdominal cancer, spent the last four years of her life as an ambassador for UNICEF. Even more than her beloved films, she found in her mission to call attention to the suffering of the worlds children, her true calling.Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was the target of an attack at an event she was attending in Los Angeles where she spoke on Muslim-American civil rights. According to court records obtained by The Blast, LAPD launched an investigation on March 19 after a woman called the Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills and threatened a bomb attack. []

0403_Rep-Ilhan-Omar-Hilton-Hotel

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was the target of an attack at an event she was attending in Los Angeles where she spoke on Muslim-American civil rights.

According to court records obtained by The Blast, LAPD launched an investigation on March 19 after a woman called the Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills and threatened a bomb attack.

Officials claim the female caller, who dialed in from a blocked number, threatened to bomb the hotel for allowing Omar into the hotel. The congresswoman was scheduled to appear as the featured speaker at a banquet for the Council of American-Islamic Relations.

Dozens of protestors showed up to the hotel for the March 23 banquet, as Congresswoman Omar has been the target of attacks ever since she made claims that many considered to be anti-semitic.

In February, Omar came under fire for tweeting Its all about the Benjamins baby in reference to the financial support the U.S. offers Israel. She later apologized and said, anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.

Now LAPD investigators are looking to pull the cellphone information from the call to the Hilton in hopes of finding the suspect who made the threat.

The post Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Target of Bomb Threat at Muslim-American Event in Los Angeles appeared first on The Blast.0403_Mally-Mall-Sway-Lee-Cottom-Toop-Monkey

UPDATE

3:22 PM PT  CA Fish and Wildlife now tells us they actually recovered serval cat from Mally Malls home, and are still searching for the Cotton-top Tamarin monkey.

Mally Mall received an early morning visit from officials looking to recover a critically endangered monkey that he should not have been keeping as a pet.

An official from California Fish and Wildlife tells The Blast they conducted an early morning raid Wednesday at the home of Love & Hip Hop star Mally Mall as part of an ongoing investigation into possession of exotic animals.

Were told after Chris Brown was busted with a capuchin monkey earlier this year, the Fish and Wildlife office was flooded with tips from people claiming Mally had also been in possession of illegal animals.

The official told us that Fish and Wildlife agents were able to identify a Cotton-top Tamarin monkey on Mallys social media, and made plans to recover the critically endangered primate.

The Blast did some digging, and Mally does in fact have a video of rapper Swae Lee from 2018 holding what appears to be a Cotton-top tamarin.

Fox 11 LA

Were told officials contacted LAPD to assist with the breach of Mallys San Fernando Valley home, and they successfully seized the monkey.

Now, were told Fish and Wildlife officials are working with L.A. prosecutors on possible charges. At this time, Mally is not under arrest and no citations have been issued.

Were told Fish and Wildlife was the leading agency in the investigation.

Instagram Photo

The post Endangered Monkey Recovered from Mally Malls Home During Raid, Investigation Sparked by Chris Browns Case appeared first on The Blast.Ex Bush Daughter-in-Law Speaks out Unprompted on Candid New Barbara Biography: 'Very Ironic' Sharon Bush Says Barbara Bush Biography Is 'Ironic'

Sharon Bush  who was married to former President George W. Bushs brother Neil Bush for 23 years and shares three children with him  says a new biography has her reflecting on how her ex-mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, treated her in the wake of her headline-making 2003 split from Neil.

In Susan Pages The Matriarch, which includes interviews with Mrs. Bush in the months before she died, Sharon learned that the former first lady thought about killing herself during a deep depression in the 70s.

There are suggestions in Pages book that the despair might have been linked to an alleged  but never confirmed  affair between George H. W. Bush and his longtime aide Jennifer Fitzgerald.

As recounted in lengthy articles in Texas Monthly and Vanity Fair at the time, Sharon and Neils marriage notoriously collapsed in the early 2000s and he quickly remarried to a woman with whom he became involved at the end of his relationship with Sharon.

Afterward Sharon was not shy about describing how she felt cut-out of the Bush family.

Though Sharon said last fall she was not invited to President Bushs funeral, relations seem to have smoothed over the years: Many family members reportedly gathered in March for the Texas wedding of Neil and Sharons daughter Ashley.

Still, Sharon says Pages Bush biography stirred up some painful feelings. Earlier this week, a friend suggested she speak to PEOPLE.

Of Mrs. Bush, she says, I just found it very ironic that when my husband, her son, left me for his mistress after a 23-year marriage and our three children, that she turned a blind eye to me.

Vanity Fair reported in 2004 that Mrs. Bush told Sharon she did not want to get involved between her son and former daughter-in-law: Thats for you and Neilsie to work out. According to Texas Monthly, Mrs. Bush reportedly once told Sharon: You talk to your mother. Neilsie will talk to me.

The elder Bushes made clear that the divorce did not affect their feelings for their grandchildren, according to Vanity Fair.

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Speaking with PEOPLE, Sharon says, Im way over it. But she immediately circles back to what she feels like are parallels between her situation and that of her in-laws.

Although she stated that she doesnt have any direct knowledge, Sharon says she believes the years-long rumors of an affair between President Bush and Fitzgerald. In her view, she doesnt understand why Mrs. Bush didnt act differently toward her as her marriage fell apart and her husband grew close to another woman.

I would have thought she would have been more empathetic, having gone through that herself, Sharon says.

Its just interesting that she was suicidal but would not even take my phone calls, wasnt empathetic at all, she says of Mrs. Bush, adding, I was in shock because, you know, we had a very close relationship.

Sharon Bush in 2017 | Monica Schipper/WireImage

The extended Bush family, including Neil and Sharon | jean-Louis Atlan/Sygma via Getty

According to Pages book, Fitzgerald first worked for President Bush while he was the top U.S. diplomat in China and later followed him back to Washington, D.C., then onto his campaign and the White House.

Allegations that they had an affair would erupt during the 1988 and 1992 presidential campaigns. Both Bush and Fitzgerald would consistently deny them. So would Barbara Bush, Page writes.

Sharon, now the development director for Cristo Rey Brooklyn where she is focused on helping disadvantaged children (Its so important to get them while theyre young), thinks her ex-mother-in-law knew about the affair the whole time.

Speaking with Page before passing away last spring, Mrs. Bush said she grappled with thoughts of suicide during the darkness of her deepest depression, after her husband became director of the CIA.

I felt terrible, she told Page. I would pull over and park so I wouldnt go hit a tree. I mean, I really felt that depressed.

Mrs. Bush has said her feelings were likely fueled by a combination of factors, including her husband having to be more secretive because of work and her empty nest at home. But, Page writes, Some of those close to her speculated to me that there might have been another reason for Barbara Bushs depression as well. Namely: Jennifer Fitzgerald.

All parties involved have always denied such a relationship was real.

According to Page, Fitzgerald retired to Florida. (PEOPLEs efforts to reach her this week were not successful.) She has said any affair with the president simply didnt happen.

I have nothing but the deepest respect and admiration for the entire Bush family, she said.A former Texas jailer has been accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with an inmate.

Rebecca Ruth Anderson, 23, was arrested in March for the state felony of violating the rights of a person in custody. She was released on $5,000 bail after she turned herself in to authorities.

She was arrested on that basis but hasnt been charged, Andersons attorney Bill Walsh tells PEOPLE.

According to FOX4, Anderson was picked up after tips to the sheriff, including one from an ex-boyfriend.

There is a lot more to this than that Rebecca Anderson had sex with an inmate and that is the end of the story, says Walsh. I dont think the story ends here. There is much more that hasnt been revealed at this point.

According to Walsh, Anderson worked at the Hood County jail for just over a year and resigned in 2018 under great conditions.

Walsh says the alleged incident occurred while she worked at the facility.

In a statement released Tuesday, Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said he was disappointed over this situation and that he expects more from his employees.

I do not tolerate employees that break the law and requested the Texas Rangers investigate the allegation that was brought to my attention, he wrote, according to the statement obtained by NBCDFW. As an elected official, I try to be transparent as possible and let the public know what is going on at the Hood County Sheriffs Office.

 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.

Walsh says his client has already been convicted by social media.

I was hoping to cut this off but it got to the media too quick, he says. It upsets me because she has been tried and convicted by the court of public opinion and there is a lot more to this case than has been revealed, but enough has been revealed to trash her. Her life is wrecked.

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Anderson is currently serving in the military, says Walsh.

She is 23 and military minded, he says. Dad raised her and her and her dad are glued to each other. They have so much respect for each other. This doesnt fit a profile of somebody who would commit this crime.

The Hood County Sheriffs Office and Hood County District Attorney could not be reached for comment.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)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Republicans started a long-shot drive Tuesday to force a House vote on a measure that could imprison doctors for five years if they don't try saving the lives of infants born during attempted abortions.

Their effort seems likely to fail in the Democratic-controlled House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has refused to allow a vote on the bill. Republicans hope it will be politically damaging for Democrats from moderate districts who oppose the GOP move and see it as a way to energize conservative anti-abortion voters.

"How can you have a leader in Congress say that they think it's OK to murder a baby once it's born outside the womb?" No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who's pushing the effort with Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., said of Pelosi's blockage of the measure.

Asked about the remark, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill called the GOP measure "yet another front in the Republican war on health care." He called it "a blatant attempt to criminalize doctors" and said it will fail.

Dr. Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California at San Francisco, said it's inaccurate to suggest that it's legal to kill a newborn baby. "Any infant born alive during an abortion or otherwise needs to be treated as any live human," Grossman said.

Opponents of the GOP measure say births during attempted abortions are extremely rare, generally occurring when doctors determine that a child won't survive and parents opt to spend time with him or her before death.

Jacqueline Ayers, a vice president for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said Republicans were "shaming women and criminalizing doctors for a practice that doesn't exist in reality." National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said Democrats opposing the measure "believe abortion is such an absolute 'right' that it protects what amounts to infanticide."

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Republicans have pushed the issue since it arose earlier this year in two states.

Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist, spoke favorably in January about state legislation to ease restrictions on late-term abortions. He said "a discussion would ensue" between doctors and the family over the next steps if an infant is born who is badly deformed or incapable of living.

President Donald Trump has criticized a new abortion law in New York that permits abortions of a viable fetus after 24 weeks of pregnancy if the mother's life is in danger  codifying conditions specified by U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

House Republicans are utilizing a seldom used procedure that forces a vote on a measure once 218 lawmakers, a majority, sign a petition. Aides say all 197 Republicans are expected to sign. Republicans seem likely to fall well short of the 21 Democrats needed to succeed.

By Tuesday evening, the petition had more than 190 signatures, including two Democrats: Daniel Lipinski of Illinois and Ben McAdams of Utah.

Senate Democrats blocked a GOP effort in February to force debate on a similar bill.This whole musical hiatus thing isnt really working out for Justin Bieber. No less than a week after Iceland blamed him for ruining an entire canyon, the Biebs is back in the headlines for pissing people off with an April Fools gag.

Essentially, he joked that he and his wife, Hailey (nee Baldwin) Bieber, were having a kid, complete with mock-up photos. When it was later revealed that wasnt the case  in a doctored sonogram photo featuring a dogs head, no less  many fans and followers got outraged, with some claiming the Biebs was being insensitive to those who cant have children.

As one is wont to do nowadays, Bieber apologized on Instagram, issuing a full statement. Theres always gonna be people offended, he wrote, his teeth clearly slicing through his tongue, theres also people who dont take jokes very well, I am a prankster and it was APRIL FOOLS. I didnt at all mean to be insensitive to people who cant have children.

Revisit the April Fools joke below, followed by his full statement shortly after.On April 2, the family of Prince Harry's "Australian grandma" Daphne Dunne shared the sad news that she has died. The Sydney resident died just a few days after her 99th birthday, for which she received a card from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Part of their sweet letter read, "We hope you have a wonderful celebration surrounded by family and friends and that you've managed to escape hospital."

Harry first met Daphne in 2015, during a military trip to Australia. They met again two years later, then most recently in October during Harry and Meghan's royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji. This time, Harry made sure to introduce his wife to his oldest fan. Meghan told Daphne "hopefully next time we see you, we'll have a little one with us," as prior to the trip, Kensington Palace had announced her pregnancy. Sadly, Daphne won't get to meet baby Sussex, but she did at least get one final message from her beloved royals before she died. As her family shared the news, they did so with a poignant message: "It is fitting that Daphne passed away on the first of April as it is a month of renewal, remembrance and reunification with her loved ones that passed before her."

Ahead, get a closer look at all of Daphne's sweet interactions with Harry and the moment she met Meghan, who she claimed was "just what the prince needs."



Related:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are So Kind to Elderly Women and, Yes, We NoticedJust over two weeks after the deadly Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane crash, and 13 days after President Trump announced the model would be grounded indefinitely, another of the controversial jets has had to make an emergency landing.

A Southwest flight operating a Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane experienced an issue shortly after taking off from Orlando International Airport on Tuesday afternoon and had to return to make an emergency landing, a spokesperson for Southwest confirms to PEOPLE. Fox 35 Orlando first reported the incident.

The plane was not carrying any commercial passengers at the time, as it was on its way from Florida to California, where it was going to be stored due to the ban enacted last week by the Federal Aviation Administration. The only people on board were the pilot and co-pilot.

According to Southwest, the ferry flight returned to Orlando International Airport just before 3pm EDT after Pilots reported a performance issue with one of the engines shortly after takeoff. The Crew followed protocol and safely landed back at the airport.

The plane is now on its way to an Orlando maintenance facility for review.

Asked whether the issue could be related to the software malfunction that might have caused the previous MAX 8 crashes, the spokesperson said, No connection at all, noting Tuesdays problem was all engine related.

Six 737 MAX 8 and 9 planes were at the Orlando airport at the time the grounding order was given, Fox 35 reports.

Both the Ethiopian Airlines crash earlier this month and a Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October 2018, which resulted in the deaths of 189 passengers and crew, are believed to be related to a software malfunction affecting the 737 MAX 8.

Both those incidents occurred under similar circumstances and the FAA has said new evidence suggests they may be linked.

Countries around the world grounded Boeing 737 MAX series jets in the days after the second crash. However, North American carriers including Southwest and American, which both fly the MAX 8, and United which flies the MAX 9, continued to use the plane and stood behind the safety of their fleet.

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The U.S. followed suit on March 13, when in a press conference President Trump stated that he would issue an emergency order to ground the 74 MAX 8 and MAX 9 planes in operation in the country based on new information and physical evidence that weve received from the [Ethiopia crash site] and from other locations and through a couple of other complaints.

Southwest has 34 737 MAX planes in its fleet, a spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE, and had grounded them in accordance with the ban.A 19-year-old was arrested after crashing a stolen car into the periphery of Taylor Swifts Rhode Island home early Tuesday morning.

According to TMZ, the Hopkinton Police Department said that authorities began a high-speed car chase around 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday, after a police officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle that refused to stop and quickly sped away.

During the chase, TMZ reports that the driver lost control and crashed into the gate of Swifts home. The outlet added that nobody was home at the time of the crash.

According to the Westerly Sun, the driver was Shykeim Edwin Lewis, 19, of Hartford, Rhode Island. Lewis struck the white wall outside of Swifts property with the car and then ricocheted into the main entrance gate. He then attempted to flee the car on foot, before being caught by police.

RELATED: Video Shows Woman Leading Police on 100 mph Chase Before Fleeing Car Carrying Baby

Westerly Police Chief Shawn Lacey confirmed to PEOPLE that Lewis was arrested on Tuesday.

Lewis was charged with reckless driving by engaging police in high-speed pursuit, obstructing an officer, felony receiving stolen goods, and driving when license is suspended or denied.

RELATED: Taylor Swifts Boyfriend Joe Alwyn Has Zero Interest in Being a Celebrity: Source

In an exchange captured by Comments by Celebs on Wednesday, Swift, 29, responded to the incident on Instagram, commenting on a fan pages screenshot of an article about the crash.

Nothing good starts in a getaway car, she wrote alongside a shrugging emoji, referencing her 2017 song Getaway Car.Two California Teens Die After Being Electrocuted While Trying to Rescue Dog from Canal

Two California teens died on Monday from apparent electrocution while reportedly trying to rescue a dog that had fallen into an irrigation canal, according to CBS Sacramento.

Jacob Hourmouzus, 17, and Jacob Schneider, 17 were out near the Dixon Irrigation Canal in Dixon with two friends when they saw a dog attempt to cross the canal and fall in. According to witnesses, they sprung into action, jumping into the canal to save the dog. To keep from being swept further down the canal, both boys reportedly grabbed hold of a bridge, not knowing it was electrically charged.

RELATED: Verizon Worker Suspended Without Pay for Rescuing Cat Stuck on Telephone Pole

When doing so, witness reports state the two teenage boys appeared to have been electrocuted and unable to release their grip from the metal bridge, the Solano County Sheriffs Office said, KCRA-TV reported.

One of their friends, a third teenage boy, saw what was happening and jumped into the canal to knock Hourmouzus and Schneider free from the bridge  pulling them, and the dog, to the side of the canal. The fourth friend, a teenage girl, called 911, according to KCRA-TV.

CBS13 News

First responders started life-saving efforts while taking the boys to the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Vacaville, according to KXTV, a local ABC affiliate. The boys  both Dixon High School students  were pronounced dead at the hospital, KXTV reported.

RELATED: Missing Puppy Found Alive In Destruction After Deadly Tornado Hits Southeast Alabama

My son died being a good boy, Hournouzuss mother, Candy Carrillo told CBS Sacramento, adding to The Sacramento Bee that 17  years old was too soon for any young person to be taken off this earth.

The Solano County Sheriffs Office and Dixon Fire Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comments.

RELATED VIDEO: Search Dog, Flo, Finds Handler During Search And Rescue Training

CBS Sacramento reported that their crew saw exposed wires near the bridge when reporting on the incident, but no sign warning people of the electrical current  and according to their inquiry with the Solano Irrigation District, the bridge was never supposed to be electrified. An investigation is ongoing, according to the outlet.

My son is not ever coming home, or saying good morning mama, or I love you, or his birthday in May, or graduation, Carrillo told CBS Sacramento. Nothing. Its gone and it shouldnt be.

The dog was also taken to emergency care, and according to KCRA-TV, survived the incident and is in good health. It has been reunited with its family.Lara Trump dismisses talk of Republican challenging Trump in New Hampshire primary originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Lara Trump, a senior adviser for President Donald Trumps re-election campaign, stopped at a fundraiser in New Hampshire Tuesday and told attendees their campaigns plan is to stay out of Democrats way and let them battle it out.

But in New Hampshire, the battle isnt just between Democrats and Republicans. Some prominent Republican state leaders arent working to help get the president re-elected  in fact, theyre actively working against it.

Lara Trumps stop in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the nation, falls on the heels of a week-long visit by former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who is considering challenging the president in the Republican primary.

My odds at getting in are better than half, Weld told ABC News, adding that he believed it would be morally iffy if no one raised their hand against the president.

Lara Trump was quick to dismiss any notion of a potential challenger to her father-in-law.

I would hope that no one would be  I dont want to say dumb enough  but dumb enough to run against Donald Trump. Trump said in an interview with WMUR, a local ABC affiliate in Manchester, New Hampshire.

(MORE: Who is running for president in 2020?)

But Weld accused the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, which declared their undivided support for the president in 2020, of trying to stop any type of contest altogether.

I dont know what theyre afraid of but theyre afraid of something, he said.

While in New Hampshire, Weld said he's met with voters who were "dismayed" and frustrated with the gridlock in Washington, pitching himself as a prospective candidate who is economically conservative and would be willing to reach across the aisle on issues like health care.

"Theres not much in common between the two of us, other than were both large orange men," he said.

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A short drive away from Massachusetts, Weld has strategically gauged how voters are reacting in New Hampshire  a state that often sets the tone by holding the first primary in the U.S.

He has also attracted the attention of former state Republican leaders. The former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican party is working as an adviser to Weld and another former state party chair welcomed the former governor into his home for an event.

PHOTO: Lara Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, Oct. 22, 2018. (AFP/Getty Images, FILE)

"I acknowledge thats a minority view in the party but that doesnt mean we have to accept a re-nomination of this president or another term," said Fergus Cullen, the former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. Cullen, a self-identified "Never Trumper," hosted Weld and 60 voters at his home over the weekend.

While 68% of likely Republican voters said they would vote for President Trump in a February poll by the University of New Hampshire, Cullen is still keeping out hope.

Be careful with a guy that got nothing to lose, Cullen said.

The state's Republican party, according to their bylaws, must remain "strictly neutral" in a primary contest. The newly-elected chairman, Steve Stepanek, who co-chaired the president's New Hampshire campaign in 2016, still believes his party is united on both a state and national front.

"We welcome all legitimate candidates," Stepanek said. "I find it disheartening that we have people actively looking to try to encourage people to challenge the president."

Now, the state Republican party is looking to ramp up their efforts after Democrats held onto two U.S. House seats in the midterm elections and won the majority in the state legislature.

We have to understand that the Democrats have out-organized us, out-raised us, and quite frankly we have to do a better job as a party, Stepanek said.

He plans to rebound with a focus on training, expansion of their town committees and fundraising. The fundraiser Tuesday night brought in $70,000, according to a state party official. On a national level, the RNC raised $14.6 million in February, the second highest February ever, with more than half of the donations coming from small-dollar donors, according to an RNC official.

As Democrats continue to amplify their presence in New Hampshire, Lara Trump shrugged off a challenger from either party.

Are we worried about Joe Biden? Not really, she said. Joe Biden had a shot for eight years in the Obama administration to do great things for this country and we didnt see a whole lot come out of that, she told WMUR.

Hurling insults at Democratic candidates, Lara Trump called Beto ORourke a skateboarder and referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, repeating rhetoric used by her father-in-law to target Warren.

I still say save your money, dont waste your money or time running against Donald Trump in 2020 because youre not going to beat him. Save it until 2024, Trump said.How I met my best friend and bridesmaid on an app (ABC News)

How I met my best friend and bridesmaid on an app originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com

How to navigate adult life like a boss, from turning your job into a career, investing your hard-earned money, building relationships and more. Because adulting is not easy.

"I never thought I'd meet one of my bridesmaids on Bumble," says Allison Schmidt.

The Illinois teacher, 27, who moved to a suburb of Chicago two years ago, said she didn't know many people and didn't expect to find a best friend though a perceived dating app.

Bumble, which began as a way for singles to meet and date, moved into the best friend business with BFF in 2016. The company created the app to address how hard it can be -- especially for young women -- to make real connections post-college.

Alex Williamson, chief of brand at Bumble, said there are countless others like Schmidt, who leave a "friend factory" like high school and college, and feel somewhat lost.

"When you move to a new city for work, it's great to have work friends, but you need something that separates your work life from your personal life and that's hard to find," she explained. "Your friends are your consistency, they are the people that turn a new place into a home."

Williamson said she's found that women in a group setting or environment are often "guarded" with one another, which makes it even harder to make friends.

"There's this lack of support amongst women that's finally changing now with the women's empowerment, #MeToo, Times Up," she said. "But when we launched this in 2016, we found it was an immediate support system and everyone was kind to one another, when you're on there, everyone is on there to make a friend."

Bumble to bridesmaid

Audrey Westfall, 26, said she found it almost "impossible" to make friends in the suburbs of Chicago before she tried the app.

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"I had work friends, but I never really hung out with them outside of work because you just end up talking about work when you're out," she said. "It's so hard to adult after college. I was feeling pretty lonely. I'm married and I'm happy but having girlfriends is different."

PHOTO: Audrey Westfall and Allison Schmidt met on Bumble BFF and became best friends. (Courtesy Audrey Westfall)

When Westfall tried Bumble BFF last March, she instantly clicked with Schmidt -- so much so that Westfall remembers scaring her fiance half to death because she was out for so long.

"We both loved Taylor Swift, had the same fashion sense and decided to hang out. She was my first Bumble date I guess," Westfall said. "I told my husband I'd be back in an hour or so and I ended up talking to her for like 4 hours. My husband was like, 'What happened, are you OK? I even pinged your phone, I wasn't sure if you got kidnapped!' He just wanted to make sure I was safe."

Their relationship "blossomed" so much so that Schmidt popped the question.

"I asked her to be my bridesmaid," she said. "I don't think she saw it coming, she knew she'd be invited, but I had to ask her about being a bridesmaid. Our friendship is just stronger than some of my friendships since college, some friends I've known for years."

In fact, Schmidt will tie the knot later this month.

"Your friends are your consistency, they are the people that turn a new place into a home," Westfall said.

What if one-on-one isn't right for you?

Paula Kostiuk, 26, had to deal with the opposite. She went to college just outside of Washington, D.C., and then watched as most of her friends moved away after graduation.

"My avenue for a social life was kind of gone," she said. "Which is super common in big cities. You're either staying in the big city cause that's where the job is or you're moving to the big city."

Kostiuk joined the "DC Unprofessionals" group on Meetup.com a few years ago, which she now helps organize. Groups as small as 20 or as large as 3,000 gather on Meetup. It's a buffet of experiences right at your fingertips. Her group boast almost 3,300 members and host happy hours, dinners, brunch outings, trivia nights and more.

PHOTO: Members of the 'DC Unprofessionals' MeetUp group hang out together in Washington in an undated handout photo. (Courtesy Paula Kostiuk)

"Our motto is, 'All are welcome.' We don't care what you do, what your background is. We just want an avenue for you to socialize in," Kostiuk said.

"We were looking around in the Washington, D.C., Meetup community and saw a need for a younger group," she said. "We saw a need for a place that young people could have an avenue to socialize, because D.C. is such a transient city. People move here right out of college and then sometimes have no social life."

One-on-one meetings were a little too daunting for her, so the group hang is something that feels more natural.

PHOTO: The MeetUp.com group 'Hey Siri How Do I Make New Friends After College' is pictured at a gathering in an undated handout image. (Courtesy Steve Man)

This doesn't mean there aren't people who still can't get over the "fear factor" of coming out to meet an entire group they didn't know before, according to Kostiuk.

"We always say ... come have a drink and just talk to people," she said.

And that philosophy definitely applies to Steve Man's unique group "Hey Siri How Do I Make New Friends After College" in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

PHOTO: The MeetUp.com group 'Hey Siri How Do I Make New Friends After College' is pictured playing a boardgame in an undated handout image. (Courtesy Steve Man)

Like Kostiuk, many of Man's friends moved away after college and while he found a lot of apps that would help him date or find a job, he didn't know how he could just make a new buddy.

"As I've gotten more comfortable and gotten to know people more, I've started inviting people over to my apartment to watch movies too," he said. "I've found it doesn't really matter what you do, it's all about the people that come and just like to have a good time."Severe weather threat extends from Oklahoma to Mississippi, set to bring large hail and damaging winds (ABC News)

Severe weather threat extends from Oklahoma to Mississippi, set to bring large hail and damaging winds originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

A storm that pounded California with heavy rain and flooding on Tuesday is now moving east, bringing severe weather to several states.

Parts of rural Texas and Oklahoma will be impacted Wednesday night.

Related Video: Storm Drops Unusual Snowfall on East Coast

The main threat with these storms will be large hail and damaging winds. A brief tornado is also possible.

PHOTO: Severe storms are possible in northern Texas and western Oklahoma on Wednesday. (ABC News)

By Thursday the severe weather threat expands to the South, stretching from eastern Texas to Jackson, Mississippi, and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes are all possible in this region on Thursday.Why Justin Bieber's April Fools' pregnancy Instagram post wasn't a smash hit originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com

Beliebers everywhere were stunned when Justin Bieber posted an photo of an unborn baby in a sonogram photo to Instagram on Monday. The post, which had no caption, sent fans into a tailspin.

Given the date of the post -- April 1st -- and the fact that the sonogram photo appeared to be taken from Wikipedia, plus the fact that wife Hailey Baldwin commented "very funny ...", all signs pointed to a bad April Fools' joke.

(MORE: Baby boom in the classroom: Nearly half of elementary school's teachers announce pregnancies)

(MORE: 9 labor and delivery nurses at a medical center are pregnant at the same time)

The initial post was followed by two more: One of Baldwin in what appears to be a doctor's office and then a sonogram photo with a puppy superimposed on top.

Bieber has come under harsh criticism since the post. Many commenters feel infertility and pregnancy are not a joking matter, given the number of couples who struggle with infertility. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 12 percent of women, ages 15 to 44, have had difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term.

Last year, ABC News covered the story of woman whose viral Instagram post on why pregnancy-related April Fools' Day jokes are not at all funny. Chelsey Cardinal now has children, but struggled to conceive.

"People don't understand that the pain of infertility doesn't disappear just because you have children," Cardinal said. "Looking back on it now, I used to hold so much anger at those posts. Now I look at it as an opportunity to educate people," she told ABC News in 2017.

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Experts agree.

Sonya Frazier, a licensed mental health counselor based in Tampa, Florida, told ABC News that it's important to "be mindful of the implications" of jokes and pranks on April Fools' Day.

"Words do hurt," she added. "And infertility is still much of a personal and private experience for many women and men. To joke about such a topic could potentially trigger a stream of negative emotions in those who are trying to conceive."

Joi-Marie McKenzie contributed to this report.Photo credit: Getty Images

From Oprah Magazine

In the beauty world, argan oil-also marketed as Moroccan oil-is so handy that its often referred to as liquid gold." The nickname stems not only from its amber color, but also for the valuable ways argan oil benefits your hair, skin, and face.

This powerful product is extracted from the nut of fruits from the argan tree, exclusively found in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains in the southwestern region of Morocco, Africa.

Although it seems like argan oil burst onto the beauty scene only a few decades ago, Moroccan women have been producing-and using the product-for thousands of years. Berber women, an indigenous ethnic tribe of North Africa, have been integrating argan oil into their routines, applying it regularly to the face, nails, and hair, since at least 600 BCE says Jenefer Palmer, founder of OSEA, a non-toxic cosmetics company.

Ready to test the potential argan oil benefits for yourself? Here's what dermatologists say you can expect.

Argan oil helps moisturize dry, flaky skin.

Thanks to high levels of vitamin E and essential fatty acids (namely, oleic acid and linoleic acid) argan oil has extremely hydrating effects for dry skin, says Paul Dean, M.D., of Grossmont Dermatology Medical Clinic and founder of SkinResourceMD.com. The antioxidants in argan oil can also be helpful for people with skin conditions like eczema, he notes.

And, it helps other products absorb into your skin.

Argan oil is rich in oleic acid, which can improve skin permeability and assist with other ingredients penetrating the skin barrier, says Susie Wang, expert skincare chemist and co-founder of 100 Percent Pure.To seal in hydration and give skin an extra boost of moisture, apply one to two drops of argan oil afteryour daily moisturizer, suggests Joshua Ross, a celebrity aesthetician with SkinLab. This is especially beneficial after plane travel.

Argan oil may help prevent wrinkles, too.

The omega fatty acids in argan oil help to strengthen tissues in skin and therefore can aid in wrinkle prevention, explains Ross. A 2014 study found that women who applied argan oil to their skin and consumed it improved their skins ability to retain water (a key to reducing signs of aging). Researchers further determined that it wasnt just skin-deep, but actual deep cell-level change.

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To up the anti-aging powers, look for products that combine argan oil with ceramides. Argan oil's fatty acids work even better on skin when theyre combined with ceramides, which also helps protect the lipid barrier of the skin," says Ross.

Acne prone? You can still use argan oil.

Although it may not seem like youd want to slather oil on top of acne, argan oil can actually help pimple-prone skin. Often, people tend to break out not because their skin is naturally oily, but because their skin is inflamed, dry, and damaged, Wang explains. "One of the major fatty acids in argan oil-linoleic acid-can help reduce inflammation, soothe skin, and improve moisture."

Argan oil doubles as a hair product.

Because it's high in essential fatty acids, argan oil can improve the health of your scalp. "Our scalp is where the cells that create our hair is located, and in order to have healthy hair, you need to have healthy scalp," Sivak explains.

To help the essential fatty acids reach your scalp, try this: Add 1-3 drops of oil (depending on your hair length-a little goes a long way) to your palms, and warm the oil by rubbing your hands together, suggests Elena Duque, an esthetician and owner of BodyBrite Bayside. Apply from the roots to the ends, and massage any excess into your scalp. This can help to help fight dandruff and an itchy scalp, mend split ends, and even promote hair growth.

And it can make your hair color last longer.

The antioxidants found in argan oil are especially beneficial for color treated hair to prevent loss of pigment, Ross notes. An easy way to introduce it is by adding 1-2 drops and lightly running your fingers through your hair after styling or just adding it to the ends. Err on the conservative side as to not make the hair greasy, he notes.

Argan might have cardiovascular benefits.



Research suggests that argan oil can effectively reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease thanks to its high concentration of oleic and linoleic acids, Wang says.

Other studies have found argan oil may be helpful in combating certain cancers, although more research is needed. Researchers credit these health benefits to the heart-healthy acids in argan oil, as well as anti-inflammatory compounds such as vitamin E, CoQ10, and polyphenols.

Here's what type of argan oil to look for:

Only buy products that are labeled "100% Pure Argan Oil," experts suggests. Avoid using products where argan oil is a minor ingredient (i.e. listed low on the ingredient list) or products full of synthetic ingredients that are hard to pronounce and sound unfamiliar, Wang says.

In order to avoid skin irritation, purchase argan oil products that are fragrance-free, Dean suggests. This is especially important for people with sensitive skin, since fragrance can be a big cause of contact dermatitis and skin irritation.Are you a self-defined chunk spelunkersomeone who digs through cookie dough ice cream in search of the chewy dough pieces? If so, Ben & Jerrys has a new product youre going to want to get your sticky hands on ASAP: Cookie Dough Chunks.

The Vermont-based company first started putting cookie dough in their ice cream in 1984, and they havent looked back since. Today, cookie dough is their most popular flavor worldwide, with fans going crazy for the sweet chunks of dough that compliment the ice cream.

Ben & Jerrys new Cookie Dough Chunks, launching April 3, were created for the people that wish they could set aside the ice cream and get straight to the good stuff. Thats right, its just the doughyou can skip the spoon altogether.

RELATED: Ben & Jerrys Debuts 3 New Ice Cream Pints with Cookie Dough in the Center

Fans have been asking for just the chunks for a while now, says Innovation Manager Jody Eley. During a short market test in Vermont last summer, fans snatched up the dough in record time. Bags flew off the shelves in mere days and stores could not keep the delicious dough bites in stock! Now, Ben & Jerrys is rollin out the dough to fans across the US.

Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerrys Cookie Dough Chunks are made using the exact same cookie dough that you find in Ben & Jerrys cookie dough ice cream, available in three different flavors for your tasting pleasure: Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Vegan Chocolate Chip. Each flavor comes in a  lb. bag with about eight servings per container.



RELATED VIDEO: Celebs Reveal: My Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

The snackable dough bites are safe to eat raw, unlike regular cookie dough, because they are made using pasteurized eggs and heat-treated flour. The new Vegan Chocolate Chip flavor has also been certified by Vegan Action, so you can feel confident in your choices while you snack.

The bags will be available for $4.99 at participating retailers nationwide starting in April, and at participating Ben & Jerrys Scoop Shops.Four years after two Jaba Garmindo factories abruptly closed in Indonesia, displacing 4,000 workers, a group of labor activists is calling upon the Blackstone Group, which at one time controlled a sportswear label that was among the companies that produced goods there, to compensate the former employees $10.8 million in unpaid and severance wages.

Jack Wolfskin was the German outdoor brand that Blackstone previously controlled that was among the labels making products there. The International Labor Rights Forum, AFL-CIO, United Students Against Sweatshops, and Global Labor Justice put the word out Tuesday morning, claiming that the total amount reflects what is owed to the displaced workers.

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A Blackstone spokesman said Tuesday, While we are sympathetic to the situation of these workers, this factory was owned by a third party  not Jack Wolfskin. Furthermore, Blackstone no longer has any investment in Jack Wolfskin.

In addition to Uniqlo and Jack Wolfskin, a Workplace Relations Commission report from December 2018 noted that s.Oliver and Gerry Weber produced knitwear and apparel there before Jaba Garmindo went bankrupt. Press also indicated that Jaba Garmindo supplied apparel to H&M, the report stated. Asked about that Tuesday, a WRC spokeswoman said, We were not able to confirm that there was any H&M production in the plant. Our belief is that those press reports were in error.

Executives at Jack Wolfskin did not respond immediately to requests for comment Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Fast Retailing said she was unable to reach anyone at Uniqlo. She referred to a post from last year regarding the matter, which stated, Fast Retailing met face-to-face with trade union representatives of PT Jaba Garmindo in Jakarta, Indonesia, in July 2017 and November 2018, in the presence of an independent mediator. The most recent meeting was attended by the Fast Retailing executive responsible for sustainability, as well as company members directly involved in the matter.

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On account of a mutual agreement to keep the content of the meeting confidential, further details are not available to be shared at this time. However, Fast Retailing confirms its plan to continue to discuss with trade union representatives the offer to help facilitate re-employment for former PT Jaba Garmindo employees who remain without employment today.

Two other spokeswomen for Uniqlo did not respond to requests for comment.

The situation is symptomatic of the global garment industry, where failure to pay severance is a critical problem, especially in Indonesia, according to labor activists. Each Jaba Garmindo employee is owed $2,700. An International Labor Rights Forum spokeswoman said, Its really up to Blackstone to come up with the funds. If they wish to work with other brands that were also sourcing from the factories at that time such as Uniqlo and each pay a portion, thats great. If they want to get the factory owner to pay up their fair share, thats fine, too. Its not really for us to determine what is the portion that Blackstone pays, but were calling on Blackstone to ensure that the full amount is paid.

Acknowledging that the onus is on all of the brands to pay up, the ILRF spokeswoman said there has been an international campaign targeting Uniqlo for several years. Last fall, Uniqlos only offer was re-employment at a location far from where workers live, and workers refused since that would require moving, she said. Former Jaba Garmindo workers were part of a speaking tour in Tokyo last year and two will be part of one at Uniqlos flagship opening Friday in Copenhagen, where Fast Retailing Co.s founder and chairman Tadashi Yanai is expected.

We really want Blackstone, Jack Wolfskin and Uniqlo to work together to ensure that the full amount is paid to the workers There really should be no further delays at this point. Its been four years already since the factories closed. Its very hard for these workers and their families to make ends meet without the wages and severance that theyre owed, the IRLF spokeswoman said.

A WRC spokeswoman said, We believe that the proportional approach in the end does not work for peopleThe larger brands need to step up and take leadership.

A Human Rights Campaign spokesman noted that in recent years, companies like Nike and H&M have covered what would be considered severance for factory workers when their overseas contractors shut down. But that only became more routine after the WRC would do studies showing universities that they were violating their Codes of Conduct. Then United Students Against Sweatshops would go after the companies and beleaguer them in the way that youre only too familiar with and eventually force them to do it, he said, Now with respect to H&M and Nike, they all do that now almost routinely. Its not that they dont need a watchdog. Blackstone isnt doing it and there have been attempts to get them to do it for three or four years. Finally, U.S. labor rights group like WRC and the International Labor Rights Fund are getting on their case.

Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.Man Who Married His Kidney Donor Needs Another Transplant as His Wife's Donated Organ Is Failing

An Indiana man is in a race against time as he searches for another person to donate their kidney and save his life.

In 2010, Kyle Froelich desperately needed a kidney donor after he was diagnosed with a condition at age 12 that leads to kidney inflammation and makes it difficult for his organs to filter waste products from his blood, Time reports.

After meeting Chelsea Clair at a car show, Kyles long search for a new kidney was over after the then-stranger offered him hers.

But, it turns out she was more than just a perfect match medically, as the duo formed an inseparable bond and eventually started dating after the transplant was completed. In 2013, after Kyles health improved, they got married.

But things took a turn for the worst recently when Kyle came down with an illness causing his kidney that was donated by his wife to fail. Now, hes on the hunt again for another person willing to donate their kidney.

Its a time crunch for him too  if Kyle does not find a match within the next year, hell be forced to undergo kidney dialysis and could eventually die, Time reports.

Kyle and Chelsea Froelich | Kyle Froelich/Instagram

While the grim news would likely seem troubling or stressful for many, Kyle, now 28, is remaining calm and collected having previously gone through this experience.

RELATED: Single Dad Walks Around Disney World in T-Shirt Asking for a Kidney  and Finds a Match

Weve done it before. You have to stay optimistic, he told Time. I dont ever worry about it. I just have faith that its going to happen. When it happens, it happens.

During Kyles last search, he discovered that none of his family and friends could be matches because he had a rare Type O blood, he explained during a recent appearance on Today.

Type O is typically hard to come across, in part because only 7% of the population is Type O negative  the universal donor, according to the American Red Cross.

[O blood types] can give to anyone, but can only receive from O, Kyle, who is O positive, said on Today. So I can only receive an O kidney, which is a fairly rare blood type.

Story continues

Id had so many people tell me that they wanted to do it, Kyle told Time. And it was  for a long time  a letdown because nobody was ever a match.

Though Chelsea luckily came in at the right time and was a perfect kidney match for Kyle, the couple  who share a six-year-old son, in addition to Chelseas 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship  is now right back where they started nearly 10 years ago.

RELATED VIDEO: Miracle Boy, 13, Who Was Apparently Brain Dead Wakes After Parents Sign Organ Donation Papers

This time around, however, its even harder, Chelsea, 31, told the outlet. Its definitely different than the first time, when he was younger and didnt have any children or responsibilities like that. Its scary, she said. But Im hopeful.

According to Dr. Tim Taber, Kyles nephrologist at Indiana University Health, multiple transplants are common for kidney recipients. Still, Dr. Taber told Time that Kyles kidney failure came a little sooner than we expected for him.

As the Froelichs work to find a new match, Kyle is hoping flyers, word-of-mouth, and being on the national organ waiting list will lead him to the person who will save his life.

RELATED: Tennessee Man Finds Out Wife Is Kidney Donor Match with Custom Baseball Card: You Want to Save My Life?

There arent any guarantees with the list, however, as Dr. Taber told Time that the wait list for a kidney, which currently holds more than 100,000 Americans, is between three to six years in Indiana.

Youre never done looking until youre on the table for surgery, Kyle told the outlet. There are so many things that can go wrong and change. Thats why it was such a big deal when Chelsea was a match the first time.

I dont have another one to give him, so I hope somebody will step forward like I did and help us, Chelsea added to Today.

Those who are interested in donating a kidney to Kyle can find more information here.Photo credit: Liz Clayman

From ELLE Decor

If you head to Mercado Little Spain, the new market-cum-restaurant-complex at Hudson Yards, looking for impeccable paella or mouthwatering Iberico ham, you wont be disappointed. But you might also be surprised to find that your aesthetic experience while there is as rich and authentic as your culinary one. Mercado Little Spain, the first New York endeavor for Jose Andres, who partnered with Ferran and Albert Adria, was designed by Capella Garcia Arquitectura in collaboration with ICrave. The goal was to ensure that the sprawling individual spaces (among them the market, an all-day Spanish Diner, the fire-cooking restaurant Lena and the seafood spot Mar) were outfitted in decor coming almost exclusively from Spain. Here, Juli Capella, a founding partner of Capella Garcia Arquitectura, walks us through the details and inspiration behind her work.

Photo credit: Liz Clayman

What was the general design concept for Mercado Little Spain? Did you have a specific memo from Jose Andres and the Adrias?



One day Jose called me urgently to go to Madrid to visit markets and restaurants with some American partners. This is how the adventure began, looking for what would be the ideal typology for a spacious food hall in Manhattan. When we developed it, in long meetings with Jose and the Adria brothers, a special and unique place came out. The two basic inspirational concepts were, on the one hand, the old Spanish markets of fresh fruit and fish, and also the shape of the small Spanish towns, with their little houses and small streets and squares, where people go out to meet, chat, and drink and eat to celebrate.



How did Mercado's design compare, both in terms of concept and actual execution, with other work you have done with him?



This is Jose's most challenging project because of its size and being in New York. He knew it was a difficult and demanding city and had to be prepared and convinced with a powerful project. It is a bet that has little to do with his Jaleo restaurants, which already have an experienced and successful formula. With the Mercado on the contrary it was a new invention. There is no other place like it, it does not look like a real market or a food court.



The tiles throughout the space are particularly striking. Why did you specifically choose Vives Ceramica and why were tiles such an important part of the design concept?



Jose wanted Little Spain to be a piece of the best of Spain-not just food-placed in the middle of Manhattan. That is why we wanted all the furniture, lamps and materials to be original Spanish. Ceramic is a very typical material of Spain. We are the second largest world producer of it, and we have very advanced companies, such as Vives in Castellon, with a truly rich catalog that allowed us to outfit each stall with a different kind, suitable for each offering: red in the ham station, green in the fruit station, pastel in the ice cream station, blue sea in fish station. All the countertops of the bars and kiosks are Silestone or Dekton, two high-quality materials invented by the Spanish company Cosentino that sells all over the world. Its our Formica! And there is also a lot of hydraulic pavement, typical of Catalonia. All this helps to create a very Spanish atmosphere.

Story continues

Photo credit: Liz Clayman

What inspired the design of the churros station? It has a very futuristic, 60s feel to it.



In the collective memory of the Spaniards of my generation, there is always a van or trailer selling churros. During our childhood, in the 60s, we saw them tour the streets offering churros and hot chocolate. That's why we wanted to make a tribute as if a van had parked inside the premises. The orange color is a tribute to the color of the Spanish fruits, always vibrant colors and hanging lights.

Photo credit: Liz Clayman

The murals are also very impressive. Why were they important to your concept and how did you choose the artists and themes you wanted?



Jose has always liked to incorporate artistic works in his restaurants-he is a promoter and collector. But beware, it is not about hanging pictures once the place is finished, but from the beginning incorporating art and taking into account creative young people, to be able to show their work in relationship with each venue. Here we chose Javier Mariscal, author of the Olympic logo of Barcelona 92, who made a trompe l'oeil drawing of people sitting, enjoying themselves on an outdoor terrace in Ibiza watching the sea.

Photo credit: Liz Clayman

The other mural is by an emerging young man, Sergio Mora, who stands out for his ironic style, with a viewpoint of very Spanish magical surrealismlike Dali-which gives us a vanguard touch in the space, welcoming the visitor.

Photo credit: Liz Clayman

There is also graffiti in the Spanish Diner by Mikel Urmeneta, a Basque artist with a rich universe of characters that are like pets that populate space.



How does the design of Mercado balance its inspiration and its setting, specifically reflecting Spain and also nodding to the New York neighborhood its in?



It is very curious the coincidence that MLS is located just below the High Line, whose structure of metal pillars and cast iron beams is very similar to that of the Spanish markets. That is why there is also a constructive harmony here. For the design, we worked with the local team ICrave, which has helped to Americanize the space. There are two cultures that have always been in contact, there was a neighborhood called Little Spain in New York, not far from Hudson Yards, but it was eclipsed by Little Italy and Chinatown, and now is the time for it to come back!

('You Might Also Like',)WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was prepared to close the U.S. southern border if necessary but that Mexico has apprehended thousands of people in recent days and its actions have made a big difference in the immigration situation. Trump threatened on Friday to close the border with Mexico this week unless Mexico took steps to help the United States with illegal immigration, a move which had threatened to overload U.S. ports of entry in the region. The administration softened its tone on the issue on Tuesday, saying Mexico was taking greater responsibility for dealing with the immigration flows. "They have started to do a significant amount more. We've seen them take a larger number of individuals" and hold those who have asylum claims in Mexico while they are being processed in the United States, White House spokeswoman Sanders told reporters at the White House. "We've also seen them stop more people from coming across the border so that they aren't even entering into the United States. So those two things are certainly helpful and we'd like to see them continue," Sanders said. Trump hinted at a softening earlier in a Twitter post on Tuesday. "After many years (decades), Mexico is apprehending large numbers of people at their Southern Border, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador," he said. He also told reporters at the White House he was still prepared to do that if necessary but that Mexico had apprehended thousands of people in recent days, having a big impact on the border situation. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by David Alexander; Editing by Alistair Bell)(Adds Census Bureau director's comment)

By Susan Heavey and Jonathan Stempel

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday injected himself into one of the most consequential cases of the current Supreme Court term, saying the nation's 2020 census would be "meaningless" without adding a citizenship question to the questionnaire.

The comment on Twitter came ahead of an expected Supreme Court ruling by the end of June on whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' decision to add the citizenship question violated federal law.

"Can you believe that the Radical Left Democrats want to do our new and very important Census Report without the all important Citizenship Question," Trump tweeted. "Report would be meaningless and a waste of the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs to put together!"

Trump's critics have accused the White House of encouraging an undercount by dissuading Hispanics and other immigrants from participating in the census, disproportionately affecting Democratic-leaning states and municipalities.

Many states, cities and civil rights groups have gone to court over the citizenship question, which is among a series of White House policies signaling tighter control over immigration.

These include Trump's declaration in February of a national emergency to obtain funds for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and his threat to close the border as soon as this week, disrupting legal crossings as well as trade.

The U.S. Constitution requires a census counting the number of residents every 10 years.

Results are used to draw political boundaries, allocate seats in Congress and at the state and local level, and distribute roughly $800 billion of federal funds.

"The census is the administration's new front on its war on immigration and, sadly, the president's tweet today bears out that concern," said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director on the House census oversight committee who now advises groups seeking an accurate 2020 count.

Story continues

'VERITABLE SMORGASBORD'

When Ross announced the addition of a citizenship question in March 2018, he said it was in response to a Department of Justice request for data to help enforce the Voting Rights Act, which protects eligible voters from discrimination.

Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections. Non-citizens comprise about 7 percent of the 328.7 million people living in the United States. Census questionnaires have not included a citizenship question since 1950.

The Supreme Court is reviewing a Jan. 15 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan that Ross broke a "veritable smorgasbord" of federal rules by adding the question, a decision he called "arbitrary and capricious."

Furman also said the Voting Rights Act was as a "pretextual" rationale for adding the question, a decision that Ross had "already made for other reasons."

The judge said the change would cause many states to lose federal funding, while Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas would lose congressional seats.

Furman, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, stopped short of a finding that Ross intended to discriminate against immigrants.

Oral arguments at the Supreme Court are scheduled for April 23.

Steven Dillingham, who became director of the U.S. Census Bureau in January, declined to discuss Trump's tweet but said the bureau was focused on obtaining a full, complete count.

He spoke to reporters at a press briefing on Monday, one year before National Census Day marking the 2020 count.

'LONG PEDIGREE'

Furman's decision came in a lawsuit brought by 18 U.S. states, 15 cities and a variety of civil rights groups.

In urging the Supreme Court to overturn Furman's ruling, Solicitor General Noel Francisco, representing the Justice Department, said Ross had discretion to add the citizenship question, and that there was a "long pedigree" in the census for asking about citizenship or country of birth.

He also said other democracies including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom ask about citizenship on their censuses.

Another federal judge, Richard Seeborg in San Francisco, on March 6 also declared the citizenship question illegal.

Following that ruling, the Supreme Court said it will also decide whether Ross' actions violated the Constitution's Enumeration Clause, which sets out terms for counting people.

Adding the citizenship question could lead to an undercount of 4.2 million Hispanics alone, the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy estimated last month. (Reporting by Susan Heavey and Lauren Tara LaCapra in Washington, and Nick Brown and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Susan Thomas and Bill Trott)With the telecom industry on the cusp of 5G boom, various technological firms are aiming to stretch the boundaries of 5G to reap its immense benefits across diverse industries. The farming industry is the latest to be bitten by the 5G bug as it aims to automate production and scale up farm outputs for future population explosion.



Why 5G?



5G is billed as the technology of the future with faster download speed and seamless transfer of data. Leveraging state-of-the-art communication network architectures, 5G is touted to be the primary catalyst for next-generation Internet of Things (IoT) services. These include connected cars coupled with augmented reality and virtual reality platform, smart cities and connected devices that revolutionize key industry verticals. Moreover, 5G is likely to augment the scalability, security and universal mobility of the telecommunications industry, which is expected to lead to the wide proliferation of IoT.



Leveraging such technological advancements, the farming industry is using remote sensors and drones as key tools to test and collate data for the latest farming technologies. Drones with 5G capabilities have been used to boost potato production in the Netherlands through precision agriculture tests. The test involved capturing accurate images of the field through a camera drone and sent to an agricultural machine through 5G mobile connection on real-time basis. This has helped to set the precise dose for proper protection of the crop from pests to boost farm productivity. As the entire process required large bandwidth hitherto unavailable in existing 4G networks, 5G emerged as the perfect option to achieve the desired results. Moreover, it saved time for farmers to physically scan the entire field to detect the quantum of pesticide required for the crops.



Other 5G Innovations in Farming



5G sensors, artificial intelligence and cloud computing methods are increasingly being adopted in Japan to monitor water temperature and salt concentration in oyster farms. Drones with 5G capabilities are used to capture images of fish as they swim in large tanks in farmed fishing. These images are then analyzed to calculate the timing and volume of seafood required according to the weight of the fish. These efficient farming operations are vital to sustain the growing industry that is crippled with shrinking workforce and aging population. Moreover, it helps to reduce seafood wastages to a large extent and improves farm productivity.



A U.K. government initiative with support from tech firm Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO has launched a smartphone app called Me+Moo to track "connected" cows. The project involves 5G-connected collars that send daily updates on the cows health and behavioral patterns for accurate data. Veterinarians and nutritionists can then monitor this data for proper feeds and medicines that would have been otherwise been impossible for farmers to do on an individual basis on large farmlands.



Road Ahead



Such technological innovations seem to be the call of the hour to bridge the gap between the soaring global population and the food produce required to feed it. Per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the world will need to grow 70% more food in 2050 than it did in 2009. No wonder that leading technological firms are pitching in their contribution to spearhead innovations in the farming industry. At the same time, firms like T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS, CenturyLink, Inc. CTL and United States Cellular Corporation USM are working tirelessly for rural broadband expansion to benefit the overall industry.



With such a holistic growth model, 5G is poised to be the next game changer in the farming industry.



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.The Independent

Scientists say they finally have an explanation for a mystifying, bright blue light that came from deep in space. Three years ago, astronomers were stunned to see a bright blue flash that came out of the spiral arm of a distant galaxy, some 200 million light-years away. It looked like a supernova, but it was even brighter and faster than those already extreme events. Scientists found that it consisted not only of the bright flash of light, but also pulsing and powerful X-rays, with hundreds of millions of such pulses being traced back to the same object.Washington (AFP) - Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he raised $18 million since launching his 2020 presidential campaign, a substantial sum which, coupled with strong polling, puts him atop the pack of declared contenders for the Democratic nomination.

"We are building an unprecedented coalition to not only defeat (Donald) Trump but transform the country into one that works for all people," the liberal US senator said on Twitter.

Since announcing his candidacy on February 19, Sanders raked in $18.2 million from 525,000 individuals, who gave an average of $20, a sign of considerable small-donor support.

Most donors were under 39 years old, a "huge" asset to the candidate, his campaign director Faiz Shakir said on a press call, as the 77-year-old Sanders builds a grassroots revolution that has inspired younger voters.

The fundraising haul adds to millions of dollars that Sanders had raised previously through the network he built while running for president in 2016, when he lost the party's nomination to Hillary Clinton.

He finished the first quarter of 2019 with $28 million in the bank, according to Shakir.

"The state of the Bernie campaign is strong and getting stronger by the day," Shakir said.

Two other candidates in the large herd of Democrats seeking to challenge Trump in 2020 have released their first quarter figures.

Senator Kamala Harris of California, who ranks third in polling behind former vice president Joe Biden -- who has yet to enter the race -- and Sanders, announced she raised $12 million from 218,000 individuals since her campaign launched on January 21.

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, announced Monday that his campaign raised $7 million in the opening months of 2019, an impressive haul given he was virtually unknown to most Americans just weeks ago.

Prominent candidates Beto O'Rourke and Senator Elizabeth Warren are among several 2020 hopefuls expected to release their first quarter figures in the coming days.

Candidates have until April 15 to file their fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission.AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro on Tuesday called for the U.S. to end criminalizing illegal border crossings under an immigration plan that marks the first policy rollout of his 2020 campaign.

The former San Antonio mayor unveiled his proposals at a time when President Donald Trump is threatening to shut down the southern border with Mexico. Castro, who is still searching for a toehold in a crowded Democratic field, is also now going further on immigration than his 2020 rivals who have all widely condemned Trump's border crackdowns and rhetoric.

"The truth is, immigrants seeking refuge in our country aren't a threat to national security. Migration shouldn't be a criminal justice issue," Castro wrote in a blog post laying out his plan.

Castro is the grandson of a Mexican immigrant and the only Latino candidate in the field . He has made reversing Trump's hardline approach to immigration a central part of his campaign since entering the race in January, and like other candidates, has called for pathways to citizenship and stopping construction on a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

But his new immigration platform now includes specifics that would include making being in the U.S. illegally a civil, and not criminal penalty. Trump's "zero tolerance" policy on illegal border crossings called for prosecuting every adult, even if it meant splitting families.

Castro is also calling for reconstituting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by splitting the agency in half and putting enforcement duties elsewhere. Other candidates have been less detailed about their plans for ICE, which some in the party's liberal flank have called to abolish.

Castro announced a rally in his hometown of San Antonio later this month at the same time Trump is expected to make a fundraising swing through Texas.

___

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pauljweberMexico City (AFP) - Closing the US-Mexican border would "not be good for anyone," Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez warned Wednesday, as his American counterpart, Donald Trump, kept up his threats to do just that.

The leftist leader made the comment after Trump tweeted there was a "national emergency" on the border and renewed his threat to close it partly or entirely -- the latest jab in his fight to curb immigration and build his border wall.

"Closing the border would not be good for anyone. It's not the most advisable" option, Lopez Obrador told a press conference.

He said, however, that his government had "very good communication" with the United States on the border and migration issues.

"We're helping, and we're going to continue helping to avoid a conflict ... We're going to try to defuse the tension," he said.

Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, has sought to maintain a cordial relationship with Trump, despite their ideological differences.

Trump nevertheless returned last week to the Mexico-bashing of his 2016 election campaign, tweeting that the United States's southern neighbors "just take our money and 'talk'" and threatening to close the border.

He has struck a softer tone this week, praising Mexico for taking a "big step over the past two days" and detaining "large numbers" of irregular migrants from Central America trying to reach the United States.

That caused head-scratching in Mexico, where there has been no significant change in migration policy recently.

Lopez Obrador was happy to take the praise, however.

"I'm glad the United States government recognizes that we are helping," he said.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Tuesday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told him the United States will not close the border, despite Trump's threats.

Travelers and truckers coming from Mexico have, however, faced huge lines at the border since last week, caused by the Trump administration's decision to reassign hundreds of border officers to deal with migrants.

Despite wait times of up to eight hours to cross the border -- which handles $1.7 billion in goods and hundreds of thousands of people each day -- Lopez Obrador downplayed the matter.

"There are no major problems" at border crossings, he said.New York (AFP) - Ethiopian officials on Thursday are expected to release preliminary conclusions in the probe of last month's crash of a Boeing 737 that killed 157 people, two sources told AFP on Wednesday.

The report on the March 10 crash on the Ethiopian Airlines plane could be published late Thursday morning in Ethiopia, which would be in the middle of the night in the continental United States, said the sources close to the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Aviation regulators around the world grounded Boeing's 737 MAX last month following the Ethiopian Airways crash, which came less than five months after an October Lion Air crash that killed 189 people.

Scrutiny has centered on an anti-stall system developed specifically for the planes that has given pilots problems.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that pilots on the doomed Ethiopian plane initially followed emergency steps outlined by Boeing but still could not regain control.

The pilots shut off the anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, but switched it back on because they could not regain control, The Journal reported, citing people briefed on the preliminary findings.

Seeking to win back public confidence in the planes, Boeing released photographs of its chief executive, who joined a test flight of a 737 MAX with the company's updated anti-stall system.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that Boeing needed to undertake more work on the proposed fix before it could be submitted for review.

Boeing distributed a cockpit photo of Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg wearing earphones and seated behind two pilots.

A second shot showed the Boeing chief exiting the aircraft at Boeing Field in Washington state.

"The flight crew performed different scenarios that exercised various aspects of the software changes to test failure conditions," the company said. "The software update worked as designed and the pilots landed safely at Boeing Field."

Boeing said it planned to submit its proposal to the FAA in the coming weeks following "a thorough and disciplined approach to the development and testing" of the enhancements.By Jamie Freed and Jason Neely

SINGAPORE/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The pilots of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX jet that crashed last month had initially followed Boeing Co's emergency procedures but later deviated from them as they tried to regain control of the plane, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.

The crash killed all 157 people on board and led to a global grounding of 737 MAX jets and scrutiny of the certification process for the Boeing plane.

Boeing had issued guidelines to pilots on how to disable an automated anti-stall system after a deadly crash in Indonesia in October, that were followed by an emergency airworthiness directive by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The Journal report, citing unidentified people briefed on the matter, said the pilots had initially shut off the MCAS anti-stall system that was pushing the airplane's nose down shortly after it took off from Addis Ababa.

The pilots then cranked a manual wheel in an attempt to stabilise the plane, the report said, but they eventually decided to restore power to the usual electric trim on their control yokes, likely because the manual attempt did not achieve the desired results.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Boeing declined to comment.

"We are not commenting on an active accident investigation per international protocols," a Boeing spokesman said.

The planemaker said on Monday a proposed software enhancement package to MCAS would be submitted in the "coming weeks", having previously said it would deliver the fix for U.S. approval by last week.

A 737 pilot told Reuters last week it was "not physically easy to make large trim changes to correct, say, an MCAS input" by using the wheel.

"You - or more than likely the other pilot - have to flip out a little handle and wind, much like a boat winch," the pilot said.

The Ethiopian Airlines pilots appeared to have restored power to the electric system to cope with a persistent steep nose-down angle, the paper said.

Story continues

Their actions reactivated MCAS and allowed it to continue its strong downward commands that they were unable to counteract using electric thumb switches, the paper said.

The FAA directive after the Indonesian crash had instructed pilots to use cut-out switches in the centre console to shut off the electric power to the system.

The switches should remain off for the remainder of the flight, the FAA directive said.

A preliminary report by Ethiopian investigators is due within 30 days of the March 10 disaster, according to international rules governing crash investigations.

Ministry of Transport spokesman Musie Yehyies said there were no plans to publish the report on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Singapore and Jason Neely in Addis Ababa; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Tait and Darren Schuettler)Tokyo (AFP) - Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn took to Twitter on Wednesday vowing to tell his side of the story, as Tokyo prosecutors reportedly weighed fresh charges over suspected financial misconduct.

In the latest twist in a rollercoaster of a case, Japanese media reported authorities were probing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least $32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman.

Some of that money is believed to have been used to buy a luxury boat allegedly used by Ghosn and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.

If Tokyo prosecutors were to proceed, it would be the fourth criminal charge against the 65-year-old former high-flying auto executive, who denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

Ghosn already faces three charges of financial misconduct over allegations he under-reported his compensation and sought to transfer personal losses to Nissan's books.

Tokyo district prosecutors were discussing the case with more senior colleagues before deciding whether to move ahead, Japanese media said.

Prosecutors were not able to immediately confirm the reports, but were due to hold a media briefing on Thursday.

Shortly after the reports emerged, a verified Twitter account in Ghosn's name said he would be speaking to journalists next week.

"I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening. Press conference on Thursday, April 11," said the tweet, sent early Wednesday afternoon in English and then Japanese.

A spokeswoman for the executive later confirmed the news conference in a statement to AFP.

The tweet sparked questions over his bail conditions -- which was thought to include a ban on internet access -- but his lead lawyer Junichiro Hironaka later insisted his client was within his rights.

Asked about his use of Twitter, Hironaka told reporters camped outside his office: "We are not doing anything that violates the terms of his bail."

Story continues

Hironaka added he was not sure exactly who wrote the tweet.

- 'Flight risk' -

If prosecutors were to file new charges, it would not necessarily mean a return for Ghosn to the detention centre where he spent more than three months before winning bail on March 6, according to a local lawyer.

"The prosecutor can hit Ghosn with new charges without sending him back to prison," said the lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous.

"Prosecutors would need to again justify a detention by saying he was a flight risk and could destroy evidence, and the chances seem fairly slim."

Hironaka said he was not aware of any fresh arrest warrant.

The news came after it emerged that lawyers for Renault -- Nissan's parent company that Ghosn also led -- have handed over documents to prosecutors showing millions of euros in payments to the firm's distributors in Oman.

An internal probe by Nissan, which is cooperating with prosecutors, has found Ghosn had approved over $30 million in payments to a distributor in Oman, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP.

Some of this money ended up in personal accounts, or was used for purchases and investments by Ghosn -- mainly to buy a yacht and make investments via his son's firm -- according to this person.

A spokesperson for Ghosn has already rejected these allegations.

"The payments made by Renault to the distributor in Oman have not been diverted from their commercial objectives and under no circumstances has all or part of such payments benefited Carlos Ghosn or his family," the representative said in a statement in on Tuesday.

In Paris, Renault's board of directors however said a joint Renault-Nissan audit of their Dutch subsidiary RNBV -- reportedly involved in the alleged payments -- had raised "serious questions" about Ghosn's claimed expenses.

In a bolt from the blue that rocked Japan and the business world, Ghosn was arrested on November 19 after prosecutors stormed his private jet at a Tokyo airport and took him into custody.

He spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on a bail of nearly $9 million.

Nissan swiftly sacked him as chairman and is also expected to remove him from the board at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting slated for Monday.Paris (AFP) - France is to ban a popular type of breast implant which has been linked to a rare form of cancer, Le Monde newspaper and French public radio reported Wednesday, citing a letter from health authorities to implant manufacturers.

In a decision it called "historic", Le Monde said France's National Agency for Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) had informed manufacturers on April 2 of its plans to ban "the manufacture, distribution, importing, exporting, promotion and wearing of textured breast implants and polyurethane breast implants".

In the letter, which Le Monde published on its website, the agency cites a "rare but serious danger" posed by the implants, which have been linked to anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (BIA- ALCL), a rare form of cancer.

The ANSM, which has been tracking wearers of breast implants since 2011, is expected to formally announce its decision on Thursday.

In November it said it had recorded 53 cases of BIA- ALCL, with an "over-representation" among wearers of textured breast implants and recommended implants with a smooth surface instead.

Most of France's estimated 500,000 implant wearers are believed to have implants with a textured velcro-like surface which sticks to the breast tissue, to avoid slipping out of position.

Breast implants are used in breast enhancements, or for reconstructive purposes after a mastectomy for breast cancer.

France was at the centre of a major scandal involving implants in 2010 after it emerged that the maker of a popular brand of implants had been filling them with a cheap industrial-grade silicone gel, which was more dangerous for wearers than medical-grade silicone.

The company, Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), was shut down and its founder Jean-Claude Mas was sentenced to four years in prison for fraud.

In a March 2017 report, the US Food and Drug Administration found that women with breast implants had a "very low but increased risk" of developing anaplastic large-cell lymphoma compared with women who did not have them.

Of the 359 cases of BIA-ALCL reported in the US, 203 were found in wearers of textured implants compared with 28 in wearers of smooth implants, the report said.By Tim Kelly and Naomi Tajitsu

TOKYO (Reuters) - Lawyers for Carlos Ghosn asked a Tokyo court on Tuesday to try the ex-Nissan Motor Co boss separately from his former employer, arguing he would otherwise not get a fair hearing to fight charges of financial wrongdoing.

The request marks the first major legal manoeuvre by Ghosn's new legal team since his release on bail last month, as he faces mounting accusations of financial misconduct during his time at the helm of Nissan and partners Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors, one of the world's biggest automaking groups.

The case has shaken the global auto industry and marked a dramatic fall from grace for an executive once lauded for his rescue of Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago.

Tokyo prosecutors have indicted Ghosn and Greg Kelly, a close associate who served as a director on Nissan's board, on financial-misconduct charges. Nissan is also included in the indictment for making false disclosures in annual securities reports, for which the company has expressed regret.

"No matter how you look at it, having Ghosn sit alongside Nissan at the trial would be peculiar, it would go against his right to a fair trial," his main defence lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told a briefing.

Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in November after Nissan told prosecutors its own investigation uncovered evidence of his wrongdoing. He spent more than 100 days in a detention centre before being released on $9 million bail last month. Ghosn, now ousted as chairman of Nissan, denies the charges, as does Kelly.

Ghosn faces criminal charges in Japan over failing to report around $82 million in salary from Nissan, and for temporarily transferring personal financial losses onto Nissan's books during the global financial crisis.

"It's right that his lawyers wouldn't want Ghosn to stand trial with Nissan. Nissan will plead guilty and that would clearly influence the mood of the trial," said Nobuo Gohara, a lawyer who heads Gohara Compliance and Law Office, which is not involved in the Ghosn case.

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OMAN CONNECTION

Hironaka, a high-profile defence lawyer dubbed "the razor" for his courtroom prowess, told the briefing that his team wanted Ghosn's case separated from that of Kelly's because the American is a potential key witness for the Ghosn defence.

Tokyo prosecutors were not immediately available to comment on Ghosn's lawyers' requests. A Nissan spokesman said the company could not comment on judicial procedures.

Hironaka also said he did not rule out the possibility of further charges against Ghosn in Tokyo.

Reuters reported on Monday that Renault had alerted French prosecutors to payments made to a Renault-Nissan business partner in Oman, citing three sources.

Renault has established it paid out millions of euros described as dealer incentives to Omani distributor Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA) over five years from around 2011, said the sources, who were briefed on the findings.

Hironaka told the briefing he was aware of the report but had not spoken to Ghosn about it. Ghosn's French lawyers have denied the allegations of potential embezzlement in Oman.

Nissan had previously found that its own regional subsidiary made questionable payments of more than $30 million to SBA.

Responding last month to earlier reports about the Nissan payments via SBA, a Ghosn family spokesman said: "The dealer incentive payments were directed by regional heads, not the CEO, and rewarded top performing dealers around the world."

Nissan is holding an extraordinary shareholders meeting next week to vote to remove Ghosn and Kelly as directors, and Hironaka said there was no plan to appeal if shareholders vote to depose the former executives.

An external committee reviewing governance at Nissan said last week there were enough facts to suspect violations of laws and the private use of company funds by Ghosn.

It described a corporate culture at Nissan "in which no one can make any objections to Mr. Ghosn", who was "in a way deified within Nissan as a saviour who had redeemed Nissan from collapse".

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Tim Kelly; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Muralikumar Anantharaman)Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot dead in the US city of Los Angeles Sunday, sparking an outpouring of grief from fellow celebrities as the city's mayor blamed "senseless gun violence."

According to local media reports, Hussle was shot in front of his own clothing store Sunday afternoon at close range, by a man who fled in a getaway car.

"Our hearts are with the loved ones of Nipsey Hussle and everyone touched by this awful tragedy," LA Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted.

A police spokesman told AFP the suspected shooter remained at large.

"L.A. is hurt deeply each time a young life is lost to senseless gun violence," Garcetti said.

The Los Angeles Times reported the shooting was "likely planned and gang-related."

- 'Gone 2 soon' -

The Grammy-nominated rapper found minor commercial success but was highly revered among his peers, and his shock death triggered an outpouring of tributes from hip hop royalty.

"Gone 2 soon," rapper Snoop Dogg posted on Instagram. "I'm so sad right now I'll just reflect on the good times we had."

Superstar Rihanna posted that "this doesn't make any sense!

"My spirit is shaken by this! Dear God may His spirit Rest In Peace and May You grant divine comfort to all his loved ones! I'm so sorry this happened to you @nipseyhussle."

Outside his clothing store, a crowd gathered behind yellow police tape, and a grief-stricken woman clasped her hand over her mouth.

At least one cartridge case lay on the ground, near a black ball cap.

Long part of the underground rap circuit, Hussle struggled to find fame but began selling his own mixtapes, which rap king Jay-Z once bought 100 of for $100 each.

Hours before his death Hussle -- whose youth was intertwined with Los Angeles gang culture -- tweeted: "Having strong enemies is a blessing."

Hussle's "Victory Lap" scored a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album at this year's ceremony.

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It was his first formal album, which dropped after six years of teasing but ultimately lost the honor to rap's woman of the moment Cardi B.

Megastar Drake also posted his condolences, saying: "My whole energy is just at a low right now hearing this."

"You were a real one to your people and the rest of us," Drake wrote. "Rest easy my g."

Born Ermias Asghedom, Hussle was seen by many in Los Angeles as a lynchpin of the community, redistributing his earnings into the violence-plagued neighborhoods he came from.

The artist was involved in a project to reclaim the California city's southern districts for the black residents who made it sing.

"Hussle had a vision of a neighborhood built for and by the sons and daughters of South L.A." said city councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson in a statement following news of the rapper's death.

"During his life, he moved from shadows into the bright hope of freedom and community revitalization."

Hussle was open about his early years in the notorious Crips gang, telling the Los Angeles Times newspaper in 2018: "we dealt with death, with murder."

"It was like living in a war zone, where people die on these blocks and everybody is a little bit immune to it," he said.

"I guess they call it post-traumatic stress, when you have people that have been at war for such a long time."Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced a barrage of criticism and protests from women in parliament Wednesday after expelling two former ministers at the center of a political meddling scandal.

Opposition parties assailed Trudeau for ousting Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from his Liberal Party the previous evening, saying it called into question his feminist bona fides.

Earlier, dozens of women at an event promoting political engagement turned their backs on him as he addressed the group in the House of Commons.

"I continue to work hard to advance the cause of women, but there is always more to do," the leader told reporters as he arrived for work.

Trudeau expelled Wilson-Raybould and Philpott -- his onetime attorney general and budget minister, respectively -- after months of infighting over accusations that his government meddled in a prosecution.

The upheaval has tarnished his golden boy image and undermined a re-election bid that once looked like a sure bet.

In the House of Commons, Trudeau pushed back at his critics, listing his government's achievements, including gender parity in his cabinet, and more measures to come, such as a move towards pay equity.

"We have 18 strong women members of cabinet who lead every day on the big issues that matter to Canadians," he shot back at accusations that he sought to silence the two whistleblowers.

The last straw for Trudeau, he said on Tuesday, was the release of a secret recording by Wilson-Raybould of a call with Canada's top bureaucrat to back her meddling claim.

"What message is the prime minister sending to Canadians, particularly to young women, when he kicks out former cabinet ministers just for doing the right thing?" asked New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh.

"They have seen women speak truth to power and then get shown the door," he said.

Since February, accusations that Trudeau's inner circle sought to shield engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from a corruption trial have rocked his government.

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The Montreal-based firm was charged in 2015 for allegedly paying bribes to secure contracts in Libya.

Wilson-Raybould refused to ask prosecutors to settle the case, and the trial is set to proceed.

But she testified to lawmakers, after resigning, that she'd experienced "consistent and sustained" political pressure to interfere in the case, including "veiled threats." Philpott quit in solidarity.

Trudeau has steadfastly denied the allegations, which led to the resignations of two senior aides and plunged his Liberals behind the opposition Tories in opinion polls just months before elections.The pastoral village of Mishmeret in central Israel, with a population around 1,000, seems an unlikely warzone. Birdsong is louder than traffic, and the cyprus-lined streets mostly lead to farmhouses growing tomatoes, habanero peppers, and flowers for export overseas. But on March 28, British-Israeli Robert Wolf ducked under a blue tarp cordoning off the remains of his family home, a pile of collapsed wood and broken concrete, and surveyed the damage wrought by a rocket that crashed through his roof March 25, some 75 miles from where it was fired in southern Gaza.

This is a quiet place. Normally you dont hear of anything happening here, Wolf, 60, tells TIME after the attack. But three days ago our whole lives changed. Had his son not fallen asleep on the couch with the window open enabling him to hear an early morning warning siren, Wolf says, he would have lost not only his home but the six members of his family who along with him were injured in the blast.

Its a fear that hangs over many in Israel, which lives under genuine, incredible existential threat from Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas and other militant groups, according to Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), an independent research center based in Jerusalem. As Israelis prepare to vote on April 9 in the most closely-watched election in years, the rocket that hit Wolfs home has raised fresh questions over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus handling of Gaza, and cast doubt on the Mr. Security image he has long cultivated.

Cross-border tensions have been ticking up over the past year, but the rocket that collapsed Wolfs central Israel home on March 25 marked a new escalation, striking only 11 days after two others flew towards Tel Aviv for the first time since 2014. In response to the Mishmeret attack, the military closed border crossings, sent two brigades to southern Israel, and prepared to call up thousands of reservists, raising fears of a land incursion. The last such conflict, in 2014, left about 2,200 Palestinians dead, more than half of them civilians. On the Israeli side, 67 soldiers were killed along with six civilians, according to the U.N.

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Saturday also marked one year since the start of the March of the Return protests, at which thousands of Palestinians have gathered weekly at the frontier between Gaza and Israel to protest dire living conditions and call for the right to return to ancestral homelands. Israel says the demonstrations are cover for Hamas terrorist attacks and its soldiers have killed around 200 Palestinians and shot 6,000 unarmed demonstrators since the border demonstrations began. The anniversary march on Saturday, attended by 40,000 people, had been seen as a potential flashpoint for further escalation but the IDF said Hamas exercised restraint not seen in the past year. Still, IDF soldiers fatally shot four demonstrators, and hours after Israel re-opened Gazas borders Sunday, five more rockets were fired from the Strip. No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the rockets, but Israeli tanks later shelled Hamas positions.

Israelis are watching events in Gaza unfold just as Israels election campaign approaches its final stages. Netanyahu, who has been in power for three consecutive terms since 2009 and also led Israel from 1996-1999, is hoping to surpass Israels founder David Ben-Gurion as the longest serving prime minister in the countrys history. But he is facing serious headwinds. In late February, Israels Attorney General said he would indict the prime minister on bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges, pending hearings. Netanyahu has also risked the support of moderate Israelis by fostering a deal between his far-right coalition partners and the extreme right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, so as to boost boths chances of passing the 3.5% of the vote threshold required to enter the Knesset. The move prompted rare criticism from AIPAC, Americas largest pro-Israel lobbying body, which called Otzma Yehudit racist and reprehensible.

There are so many things to be disgusted by, says Yossi Mekelberg, an Israeli politics expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House, its really whether the electorate has reached a point where enough is enough.

In 2015, Netanyahu swept to victory on the back of a campaign focused on security, and rallied his base by stoking fears of Arab Israelis voting in droves for the opposition. (Arabs make up about a fifth of Israels total population.) While his 2019 campaign has also drawn accusations of incitement against Israels Arab minority, repeating the same trick on security presents a challengethis time, he is up against an emblem of the defense establishment.

Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantzwho has campaigned for national reconciliation instead of incitementis running near level with Netanyahu in recent polls. He has recruited two other retired IDF generals to the centrist alliance he formed with former finance minister Yair Lapid, including hawkish former defense minister Moshe Yaalon. While the incumbent has attempted to portray Gantz as insane, unstable and a weak leftist, his battlefield experience and Netanyahus lavish praise for his rival pre-election means few accusations have stuck. Gantz quickly claimed the recent escalation showed that Netanyahu, who has also been Israels defense minister since last December, had sacrificed the countrys deterrence against Hamas.

Some security experts echo criticisms of Netanyahu. Retired IDF Brigadier General Shlomo Brom, now head of the Israeli-Palestinian relations program at the Institute of National Security Studies says that Netanyahu has procrastinated rather than advancing a coherent strategy on the Gaza Strip, coming up with ad hoc responses to the problems of the moment. Those include allowing Qatar to send cash to Hamas in order to stabilize Gaza, and working with the militant group at the expense of the Ramallah-based Fatah, which wants to achieve its vision of Palestinian statehood by political means instead of armed struggle. Netanyahu has made it clear there is no prospect of a Palestinian state under his leadership and allowed Israeli settlements to expand in the West Bank, which is under what Brom calls an apartheid reality.

Gantz may have an edge on Netanyahu in recent leadership polls, but the incumbents right wing religious block is still deemed more likely to win a majority in the Knesset. And although Gantzs manifesto includes a vaguely worded commitment to deepen the processes of separation from the Palestinians, analysts say its not clear he has a coherent strategy either. He doesnt say much, says Chatham Houses Mekelberg. You have to assume things from his background, where he was born, certain things he says, and who are his political partners. A January OpEd in Israels English-language newspaper Haaretz simply said: Talk to us Benny Gantz.

While the rocket attacks appear to have dented Netanyahus record on defensein a poll conducted in their wake 54% of respondents said they were not satisfied with his handling of security, a jump of 15% on the previous surveytheres no indication that will affect election outcomes, says IDIs Plesner. In fact, voters who switch allegiance from Likud may be more likely to move further right judging by a separate poll in which more than half of respondents said the IDFs response to the rockets had been too weak. Netanyahus education minister Naftali Bennet, of the recently-formed New Right party, has urged Israel to open the gates of hell on Hamas.

For now, it appears neither Hamas nor Netanyahu want escalation. But human rights groups say the status quo is also desperate. On March 17, the U.N. condemned Hamas for cracking down on Gazas long-suffering people after hundreds had demonstrated under slogans like Revolt of the hungry.

Beside the wreckage of his collapsed house, Wolf dismissed the far rights bellicose rhetoric, saying he was against a response that would lead to the loss of more civilian lives in Gaza and Israel. He spoke of his anger at Hamas, his determination to rebuild, and how friends from Israels Jewish, Arab and Druze communities had comforted him after the destruction of his home. But Israelis should think carefully about the security situation before they vote on April 9, he said: Theres a saying, its better the devil you know than the devil you dont. Well, its not true. Sometimes you might as well take a risk.BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that's running into conflicts with farmers and ranchers as its numbers rebound in some regions.

The proposal would give states the authority to hold wolf hunting and trapping seasons. It was announced Wednesday by acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt at a wildlife conference in Denver.

Wolves had previously lost federal protections in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, where hunters and trappers now kill hundreds of the animals annually.

Wildlife advocates and some members of Congress reacted with outrage to the latest proposal and promised to challenge any final decision in court.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now with the group Defenders of Wildlife, warned of an "all-out war on wolves" if the plan advances.

"We don't have any confidence that wolves will be managed like other wildlife," she said.

But government officials countered that the recovery of wolves from widespread extermination last century has worked and they no longer need the Endangered Species Act to shield them.

"Recovery of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act is one of our nation's great conservation successes, with the wolf joining other cherished species, such as the bald eagle, that have been brought back from the brink," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire said in an emailed statement.

Agriculture groups and lawmakers from Western states are likely to support the administration's proposal.

Further details were expected during a formal announcement planned in coming days.

Long despised by farmers and ranchers, wolves were shot, trapped and poisoned out of existence in most of the U.S. by the mid-20th century.

They received endangered species protections in 1975, when there were about 1,000 left, only in northern Minnesota. Now more than 5,000 of the animals live in the contiguous U.S.

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Most are in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rockies regions.

Protections for the Northern Rockies population were lifted in 2011. State officials and government biologists say the region's wolves have continued to thrive despite pressure from hunting. The animals are prolific breeders and can adapt to a variety of habitats.

Wildlife advocates want federal protections kept in place until wolves repopulate more of a historical range that stretched across most of North America.

Since being reintroduced in Yellowstone National park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s, the Northern Rockies population has expanded to parts of Oregon, Washington and California.

Those states so far have not allowed hunting, despite growing pressure from ranchers whose livestock herds have been attacked.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has argued for years that gray wolves have recovered in the lower 48 states, despite experts who contend they occupy only about 15 percent of the territory they once roamed. Agency officials insist the recovery of wolves everywhere is not required for the species no longer to be in danger of extinction.

John Vucetich, a wildlife biologist at Michigan Technological University, said most wolf experts probably would agree the species is not at imminent risk. But said he dropping federal protections was a premature move.

Many people "still find it difficult to live with wolves," primarily because they kill livestock as well as deer and elk that people like to hunt, Vucetich said. If wolves are returned to state management, he said, "I do worry that some of the states could be overly aggressive and that wolves could fare worse than their current condition."

The government first proposed revoking the wolf's protected status across the Lower 48 states in 2013. It backed off after federal courts struck down its plan for "delisting" the species in the western Great Lakes region states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Fish and Wildlife Service officials disclosed to the AP last year that another scientific review of the animal's status had been launched.

Shire declined to disclose the agency's rationale for determining the species had recovered, but said members of the public would have a chance to comment before a final decision in coming months.

Ryan Yates, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation, applauded the federal agency's plan and said many farmers and ranchers have lost livestock to wolf kills since the species was granted legal protections. The farmers and ranchers will respect state regulations aimed at managing wolf populations, he said.

"Some people like them, some people don't, but the law's the law," Yates said.

Lawmakers in Congress frustrated with court rulings maintaining protections for wolves have backed legislation to forcibly strip protections in the Great Lakes region and beyond. A similar effort by lawmakers ended protections for Northern Rockies wolves.

___

Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan. Associated Press writer Gillian Flaccus contributed from Portland.

___

Follow Matthew Brown at https://twitter.com/matthewbrownapBy Laila Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged down on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a surprise build in crude inventories, but futures held near their highest in almost five months as OPEC-led output cuts and sanctions on Iran tightened the supply outlook.

Brent futures settled at $69.31 a barrel, losing 6 cents. Their session high was $69.96, the strongest since Nov. 12, when they traded above $70.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $62.46 a barrel, falling 12 cents after briefly hitting $62.99, the highest since Nov. 7.

Crude stocks in the United States rose 7.2 million barrels last week, as net imports climbed, production edged higher to a new record and refining rates slowed, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts had forecast a decrease of 425,000 barrels. [EIA/S]

"Crude imports rose and crude exports fell, which translates into considerably higher net imports. Crude oil processing remained lower than usual. Crude oil production increased to a new record level of 12.2 million barrels per day," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch. "All of this contributed to the large stock build."

Despite the sharp increase in U.S. crude inventories, market participants said prices were positioned to move up on tightening global supply and signs of demand picking up.

"Those are the issues that have supported the market here," said Bob Yawger, director of futures at Mizuho in New York. "At the end of the day, this market is really bulled up and it wants to trade higher."

Crude oil futures were supported by ongoing efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, a group known as OPEC+, to reduce oil output by about 1.2 million bpd this year.

Supply from OPEC countries hit a four-year low in March, a Reuters survey found this week. [OPEC/O]

Oil production from Russia fell to 11.3 million bpd last month, but missed the country's target under the supply deal.

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In a signal that supply may tighten more, a U.S. official said on Tuesday that three of eight countries granted waivers by Washington to import oil from Iran had cut such purchases to zero, adding that improved oil market conditions would help reduce Iranian crude exports further.

But despite also being under U.S. sanctions, Venezuela's state-run energy company, PDVSA, kept oil exports near 1 million bpd in March, PDVSA documents and Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Signs of progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations and positive Chinese and U.S. factory activity data in recent days has also helped market sentiment by easing fears about weakening global oil demand.

(Additional reporting by Noah Browning in London, Aaron Sheldrick and Stephanie Kelly in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy)A cat stands next to a graffiti wall in Cova da Moura neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal, Dec. 1, 2018. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

LISBON, Portugal  Just a 20-minute drive from downtown Lisbon lies Cova da Moura, one of Portugal's poorest and most neglected neighborhoods, but whose immigrants from Cape Verde are transforming the area's image.

Long considered a no-go area by Lisbon residents, Cova da Moura is a warren of small streets where Cape Verdeans make up two-thirds of the 6,000 residents. They celebrate their home, a tiny archipelago off Africa's west coast, with music, food and street art  which tourists increasingly want to experience.

"Sometimes the only thing people know about Cova da Moura is the negative side," said Paulo Cabral, 36, who was born locally to Cape Verdean parents. "But that isn't the whole truth."

Sitting a short distance away from the tiny room where he grew up, Cabral, who now organizes tours of Cova da Moura, said contact with its people helps change perceptions.

He jokingly calls Cova da Moura a "more developed area" of Cape Verde.

"When you visit once, you keep on coming back."

His tours cost five euros per person, and are most popular with tourists, especially Germans. A typical Cape Verdean lunch on the tour costs 7.50 euros.

Cova da Moura's simple brick-and-concrete dwellings stretch across 40 acres of hills on the outskirts of the capital.

The area remains notorious within Portugal for its crime rate and a trial over alleged police brutality. Seventeen officers at a local police station have been charged with torture, kidnapping, falsifying reports and other crimes.

Police declined to comment as the trial is ongoing.

Laundry hangs outside a house in the Cova da Moura neighborhood near Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

MORNA MUSIC

Most evenings, Cova da Moura is alive with African beats and melodies. One of the musicians is Francisco Fortes. A bricklayer by day, the 56-year-old's true passion emerges when he takes the stage at Coqueiro, one of the dozens of restaurants serving traditional food, to sing morna ballads.

Made famous by Cape Verde's singing legend Cesaria Evora, morna is a musical mainstay here. The more upbeat funana and batuque styles, which will be featured in Madonna's upcoming album, are also popular.

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Madonna has had a home in Portugal since 2017.

"Living in Cova da Moura is just like living in Cape Verde," Fortes said as he ate a richly flavored cachupa stew.

In the streets, some named after Cape Verdean islands, murals honor the country's heroes, such as Amilcar Cabral, who fought against Portuguese colonial rule.

Now retired, 75-year-old Evaristo Marques, who was born in Cape Verde's capital Praia, doesn't see himself living anywhere else. "People can say whatever they want about Cova da Moura, but I will only leave this place when I'm dead," he said.

People like Marques started settling in Cova da Moura in the 1960s, but it was only in 1974, when the so-called Carnation Revolution ended Portugal's dictatorship, that the neighborhood became a hub for migrants coming from the former colonies in Africa.

Cova da Moura resident Paulo Cabral. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Migrants built illegal sheds and basic infrastructure, but there was no running water, sewers or electricity. Now sturdy two- or three-story houses have replaced wooden shacks and the muddy streets have been paved. Poverty is still a problem, with most residents employed as construction and domestic workers.

A 2017 United Nations report found that those from former colonies living in Portugal are among the poorest and most deprived in terms of access to adequate housing.

"People may be poor here but they have big hearts, and preserving culture is part of who we are," Cabral said. (Reuters)

Story by Catarina Demony

Photography by Rafael Marchante/Reuters

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.

A scene in Cova da Moura. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Women preparing for the celebration of Santa Catarina. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Rapper Timor Young Smoke, 27, with his friends in Cova da Moura . (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

"People can say whatever they want about Cova da Moura, but I will only leave this place when I'm dead," says Evaristo Marques, 75. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Idrissa Mane, 44, works as a tailor. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters

Patrons of Coqueiro, one of the dozens of restaurants in Cova da Moura. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters

Women during the celebration of Santa Catarina in Cova da Moura. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters

A view of Lisbon from Cova da Moura. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Residents attend a procession during the celebration of Santa Catarina in Cova da Moura. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Cape Verdean cook Benvinda Mendes, 73, locally known as "Totta," takes a break as at her restaurant. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

"Living in Cova da Moura is just like living in Cape Verde," guitarist Francisco Fortes, 56, says. (Photo: Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

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Read more from Yahoo News:The Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday passed a series of gun-control bills that were introduced in response to the mass shooting that claimed eleven lives at the citys Tree of Life Synagogue last year.

The legislative package, which passed 63, prohibits the public use of assault-style rifles like the AR-15 used in the synagogue shooting, bans the use of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, and allows the authorities to temporarily seize the firearms of anyone determined to be dangerous.

Were happy to take a stand, Councilman Corey OConnor, who led the legislative effort, said after the bills passed. Its going to be a difficult battle, but we are willing to fight it. People are starting to change their minds and be more open to some sort of gun control.

Opponents of the legislation booed lawmakers after it was passed, and at least one man vowed to move to an area where his right to self-defense would not be infringed.

My guns are not hurting anybody. I have no intent of hurting anybody, lifelong Pittsburgh resident Dennis Jordan told the Council. I am not going to be allowed to own my guns because of this ordinance. I am ready to move out of this place. You just want to control people. You want to take away my right to protect people.

City council will shortly be voting on gun legislation this morning. We spoke to two members of the public with opposing views. Stay with @KDKA for updates. pic.twitter.com/L7nA6IRfwM  Amy Wadas (@AmyWadas) April 2, 2019

The legislation, which initially prohibited the possession of assault-style rifles outright, was weakened in order to make it more likely to survive the legal challenge sure to be brought by pro-Second Amendment activists. Those activists believe Pennsylvania state law, which prohibits municipalities from regulating the possession of guns and ammunition, is on their side.

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All of its illegal. Pennsylvania preemption law says that no municipality, period, may in any manner regulate. And thats at the heart of what theyre doing, Kim Stolfer, president and co-founder of Firearms Owners Against Crime, told CBS.

The legislation was initially introduced days after a lone gunman opened fire inside the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 27, killing eleven and injuring seven in the deadliest attack on Jews in American history.

Allegheny County district attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., a Democrat, told City Council members in January that, while he understood their motivation, the proposed legislation was unconstitutional.

More from National ReviewPittsburghs City Council has approved three controversial gun reform bills months after a gunman shot and killed 11 people at the citys Tree of Life synagogue. But the votes set up the city for a number of legal challenges.

The 6-3 final vote on Tuesday on a package of three gun control bills comes about five months after the deadly synagogue shooting. The legislation would restrict military-style assault weapons (including the AR-15, which authorities have said the Tree of Life shooter used during the massacre), ban the use of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, and allow guns to be seized temporarily from people deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, who introduced the reforms with Councilman Corey OConnor in December, tells TIME that the Tree of Life shooting marked a turning point in the citys reckoning with gun laws, noting that activists and politicians in the region have been fighting to reduce violence for decades. This is not just about mass shootings like the ones that have happened in our district, she says. It runs the whole gamut of gun violence. Homicides kill people on a weekly basis and its just too much.

Twelve people so far have died this year in shooting deaths in Allegheny County, whose county seat is Pittsburgh, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which compiled data from the county medical examiner as well as local police reports. City officials said in January that, in 2018, Pittsburgh had 55 homicides, including the Tree of Life victims, and 114 non-fatal shootings. Officials did not specify if all the homicides were shooting deaths.

Pittsburgh has a home rule charter, which affords the city some independence from the state legislature. But Pennsylvanias law on the charter says a municipality shall not enact any ordinance or take any other action dealing with the regulation of the transfer, ownership, transportation or possession of firearms. The states firearms code has an amendment that expressly prohibits municipalities from regulating the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components. That inherent tension has set in motion a legal battle over gun rights in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania more broadly.

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Pennsylvanias legislature is the only entity that can change the state law to grant cities and municipalities the right to regulate firearms on their own, according to David Harris, a professor at the University of Pittsburghs law school. Right now, Pittsburgh and the courts can battle it out over the specificity of wording in the bills and the state legislation, Harris tells TIME. Because the provision from the city bans the use of certain weapons, one could argue that the state law does not technically stipulate anything about firearms usage. In order to have this stand up, courts will have to find that the idea of using these items that are now part of the citys law is different than all the other ways the state prohibited cities from regulating firearms, Harris says.

Gun rights advocates in the Pennsylvania region have repeatedly challenged the legality of the legislation since it was announced. In January, hundreds of gun rights supporters gathered at a pro-gun open carry protest at the City-County Building, where speakers defended their rights to carry weapons and decried Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. Later that month, more than 100 critics and supporters of the legislation appealed to the city council at a public hearing.

Mahita Gajanan

Justin Dillon, a resident of Erie, Pa. who organized the pro-gun rally, tells TIME he felt the legislation, which he argues violates state law, came as an outsize reaction to the Tree of Life shooting. They used the shooting tragedy and used emotions to pull proposed ordinances, he says. You want law abiding gun owners and people that own guns to follow your laws and regulations, but while youre breaking the law.

City officials have criticized the bills as well. Council members Anthony Coghill, Darlene Harris and Theresa Kail-Smith voted against the measures, citing the state law against firearm regulation. Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala warned the City Council in January that its proposed legislation would violate state law.

While I certainly see the desire for such type of legislation at the state and federal levels, I believe that City Council does not have the authority to pass such legislation, he wrote in a letter addressed to OConnor. I am also certain that you realize that if such legislation passes, there is sure to be a resident of Allegheny County who seeks to file a private criminal complaint alleging a violation of 6120, referring to the statute that bans municipalities from regulating firearms.

Still, proponents of the citys gun control bills remain steadfast. Peduto, in response to gun rights advocates saying they would file complaints against him, said: Arrest me. He is expected to sign the bills into law.

Arrest me. Sue me. Impeach me. I was elected to protect my constituents and that is exactly what I will do. https://t.co/sp1lxRVzVO  bill peduto (@billpeduto) January 28, 2019

Beyond a question of legality and wording is a bigger fight to bring more control to cities and municipalities, Harris says. Pittsburgh officials are well aware of the state law. By challenging it, they hope to harness energy statewide to convince the state legislators to change the rules. Such actions stem from frustration over not being able to react to gun violence in the past, according to Harris. He points to New Zealand, where lawmakers have already voted on new gun restrictions after a gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in March. Theyre frustrated that they cant simply do what the Prime Minister of New Zealand did after the shooting at the mosques, Harris says. She said, Thats that. It hasnt even been a month.

Harris adds that Pittsburghs new ordinance symbolizes the citys attempt to do anything to try and make a change. They dont want to just say, Nothing is possible,' he says. Theyre willing to try and have the fight.

The ordinance itself, according to Harris, is a pretty narrow kind of thing. But it shows the lengths to which cities can go to show they want to determine their own laws for firearms regulation. In Pennsylvania, home to a diverse gun culture, having the state dictate firearms regulations doesnt suit each and every town or municipality, Harris says. Its very different to live in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia or by Harrisburg near the state game reserves, he says. Its just very different. Cities would like to see if they would have the freedom to determine whats appropriate for them.

The National Rifle Association said Tuesday that it was helping Pittsburgh residents file a lawsuit to challenge the citys definition of large capacity magazines in light of the newly enacted ordinance.

Pittsburgh residents have a right to carry the self-defense tool that best suits their needs and the NRA is proud to support this challenge to the citys magazine ban, Chris W. Cox, the NRAs executive director, for its institute for legislative action, said in a statement. Restricting law-abiding citizens from exercising their constitutional rights will do nothing to stop violent criminals.

Peduto told the Post-Gazette he was not surprised by the legal challenges.

We have not been able to get any movement in Harrisburg and Washington, and the answer is just dont do nothing. Weve seen what doing nothing has done. It has led to an escalation in severe mass murders. And were going to take action on a local level, he said. So were not surprised about the lawsuit. We anticipated it. And we look forward to the next part of this challenge, which will be through the court system.Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said he discussed with his deputy secretly taping President Trump during the tumultuous early months of the administration when many people in the U.S. government really thought that you had an unhinged president.

Bharara, who was fired by Trump two days later, says he quickly rejected the idea and never carried it out.

It was a wacko time in the United States, he said, describing in unusually candid terms his thinking during the weeks after the firing of FBI Director James Comey, when Bharara was still serving as the chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan. Maybe some people werent thinking fully rationally, but people were really worried. And, people really thought that you had an unhinged president.

There was a state of tension and a state of shock that was pervasive throughout the government at the time, Bharara said in an interview for the Yahoo News podcast Skullduggery.

Bharara, considered a potential candidate for attorney general in a future Democratic administration, is promoting his recently published book, Doing Justice. During a discussion about the book, the former top prosecutor provided new details about a tense moment on March 9, 2017, when, for a brief moment, he and his deputy discussed secretly recording Trump. The discussion came after Bharara  who was appointed by President Obama but was originally asked to stay on by Trump  got a bizarre phone message that the president wanted to talk to him.

Bharara never learned why Trump was calling. But he emphasized it was highly unusual for a president to be calling a U.S. attorney, especially one who had jurisdiction over the Trump Organization and the presidents own business affairs. Although he had no open case on Trump, he was concerned about the possibility the president would ask about some other ongoing criminal case, creating an awkward moment where I would have to end the conversation and report it to the Justice Department.

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But, he worried, Whos gonna believe me?

Bharara consulted with his deputy, Joon Kim. We thought about and then rejected the possibility of recording the president, Bharara said, because we thought thats a bridge too far. But, we did think about it. Because, the concern was ... both for my protection, and the other partys protection, the other party being ... Individual-1 ... that nothing untoward was spoken about ... or he didnt ask me for my loyalty, etc. It would have been nice to have a record. (Individual-1 is how Trump was described last year in court documents filed by Bhararas successor in the case against the presidents former lawyer, Michael Cohen, over violations of campaign finance law. Cohen pleaded guilty. Trump has not been charged in the case.)

Bharara said he believes that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was thinking along the same lines  and wasnt joking  when he too also briefly considered taping Trump in the days after the firing of Comey. And he doesnt accept the argument that Trump, being new to Washington, didnt understand the long-standing tradition that the White House shouldnt interfere in or seek to influence Justice Department investigations.

Some people say, Well, he doesnt understand the protocols, he doesnt understand what the guidelines are, its all new to him, Bharara said. Thats bulls***. ... He knows exactly what hes doing. He knows exactly what is proper, whats not proper. Because, he won the presidency in part by yelling at rallies in front of tens of thousands of people about the airport meeting between then- Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton while the Justice Department was investigating Hillary Clintons email server.

Bharara also said the wacko nature of Trumps presidency has not dissipated. Well, there are spikes in wacko-ness, right? he said. And he added Trump has proven himself time and again to be a congenital liar  another reason Bharara and others have either considered secretly taping him, or actually done so.

Look, theres a theme that runs through all peoples meetings with the president ... whether theyre allies, like Michael Cohen or Omarosa [Manigault] or others, or theyre people who youre supposed to have some arms length distance from, and they all want to document the phone calls. Either by recording them, thinking about recording them, memorialize them right away, he said.

Preet Bharara. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: AP)

Download or subscribe on iTunes: Skullduggery from Yahoo News

Look, this is not a partisan statement. The man lies. The man mischaracterizes not only what happens behind closed doors, in meetings with people who wouldnt be able to prove what words were actually uttered. He lies about the things that he says on national television the next day. ... Whether its in Helsinki, or in any other context. A human being who so blithely lies about what he says and about what other people say, you know what? Intelligent, reasonable, cautious folks like to think about how to protect their own reputations in that context.

Given the unusual nature of the Trump presidency  and his de facto immunity from criminal prosecution under current Justice Department policy  Bharara tends to side with House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler that the full report by special counsel Robert Mueller should be released  even if that seems to cut against the views expressed in his own book.

In a chapter of his book titled Walking Away, Bharara writes about the obligations of a prosecutor when he or she chooses not to indict a high-profile target, and whether to explain to the public their reasons. It was a dilemma Bharara faced many times, given the many high-profile investigations, of targets from Wall Street mogul Steve Cohen to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, that never resulted in indictments.

We could demand that our prosecutors explain at length their decision to walk away, especially when the smell of smoke is strong in public nostrils, so citizens can be satisfied about the rectitude of those decisions, Bharara wrote in Doing Justice. But prosecutors can get into deep trouble, if they talk too much about a decision not to prosecute. ... After all, the subject has a right to fairness also, to be free from prosecutorial slander. You owe it to the system and to the guidelines of the department, as well as to the presumed innocent party you chose not to charge, to keep your mouth shut. It is a quandary. Believe me, I appreciate the impulse to talk. A decision to decline, to walk away is not a blessing of the conduct, but in the system we have, minimalism tends to be the best practice.

Bharara said, however, those words dont necessarily apply to Muellers decision not to bring charges against Trump.

In your standard criminal case its a binary choice. And the only thing you can do is you can prosecute or not prosecute. But, he added, theres two things that are unique about the president. One is, he has a shield against criminal prosecution due to Justice Department policy. The other factor is, he is accountable to Congress through a potential impeachment process.

And those factors, Bharara argues, should give Congress the authority to take stock of Trumps conduct by seeing the Mueller report.

The presidents different from everyone else, he said.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - With its high murder rate and huge armed forces, Brazil has long been in the cross-hairs of foreign weapons makers. Now they have a powerful champion: pro-gun President Jair Bolsonaro.

The right-wing former army captain, who relaxed gun ownership laws soon after taking power in January, has raised hopes among foreign firms that his next move will be easing investment restrictions on Brazil's 200 billion reais ($55 billion) defense sector.

"For many, many years nothing moved here for us and now there's really hope and optimism that this will change in the near future," Martin Neujahr of Swiss company RUAG Ammotec told AFP as he stood next to a bench displaying rows of gleaming high-precision bullets at a major defense expo in Rio de Janeiro this week.

Now, Neujahr said, the firm was seeing strong interest from Brazilian police forces in its "specialized products" that include subsonic sniper bullets designed to suppress noise and make it harder to locate a shooter.

Some 450 Brazilian and foreign companies, ranging from makers of machine guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers to "target detection" technology and surveillance drones, are on display at the four-day LAAD defense and security expo.

Vice-President Hamilton Mourao, Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva, Justice Minister Sergio Moro and Rio de Janeiro state Governor Wilson Witzel attended Tuesday's opening, underscoring the high-level support for an industry Brazilian leaders have been trying to liberalize for years.

"Since the president's election, he has advocated for continuing opening up the market to foreign investment," said Robert Muggah, research director at the Igarape Institute think tank in Rio.

"The armed forces, however, have been more reluctant and defend the strategic importance of national champions", Muggah added, referring to Brazilian gun maker Taurus and ammunition producer CBC, which dominate their respective markets.

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Foreign interest in Brazil's arms sector is not surprising -- rampant violent crime in the country of 209 million people and a military estimated by Global Firepower to total more than 1.6 million personnel means a lot of demand for weapons and ammunition.

But measures protecting local manufacturers from competition, including tax breaks and subsidies, have long frustrated their access.

Bolsonaro's chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, signaled earlier this year the government was studying ways to change that.

Participants at the expo, including police officers and gun club members, were unequivocal about their desire for greater access to foreign-made arms, which they consider to be higher quality than Made in Brazil products.

"I love firearms," Edgar Silva, an amateur shooter, told AFP as he admired handguns made by German company Walther.

"I came to see the new products. I hope that the Brazilian market will finally open and that all good Brazilian citizens will have the right to own and carry weapons."

- 'Huge market' -

Despite being on the sidelines of wars, Brazil has long been a significant maker of weapons for countries that want to fight.

Brazil is the third-largest exporter of small arms and ammunition in the world, said Muggah, with annual sales topping $500 million.

And it accounted for 27 percent of South American arms imports from 2014 to 2018, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Both foreign and domestic arms makers are hoping that Bolsonaro's rise to power will translate into looser laws and greater government spending in the sector. Brazil's defense budget was around $30 billion in 2018.

"Yes, yes and yes," a representative for a European handgun maker told AFP enthusiastically when asked if Bolsonaro's election was good for business.

"Brazil is extremely important for us," he added, as burly men in dark suits cocked and aimed nine-millimeter pistols at imaginary targets.

"President Jair Bolsonaro is a president who understands the importance of having strong defense and proper public safety in the country ... because of this, the market has been warming up these last few months," said Luiz Monteiro, institutional relations director for Condor Non-Lethal Technologies.

Drone maker Aeronautics Group, one of more than a dozen Israeli companies at the expo, also hopes closer ties between Brazil and Israel will improve its chances.

"We believe it's a good opportunity to be here," said Dany Eshchar, deputy chief executive for marketing and sales, as Bolsonaro wrapped up a three-day visit to Israel.

"It's a huge market for us -- we consider Brazil as the North America of Latin America."French carmaker Renault said Wednesday that a joint Renault-Nissan audit of their Dutch subsidiary RNBV had raised "serious questions" over millions of euros in expenses incurred by ousted CEO Carlos Ghosn.

"Certain expenses which have yet to be precisely quantified, but may amount to several million euros since 2010, raise serious questions as to their conformity with RNBV's corporate interest," Renault's board of directors said in a statement.

The statement said that "RNBV's internal organisation suggests serious deficiencies in terms of financial transparency and expenditure control procedures."

The board had asked Renault's management to work with Renault's alliance partner Nissan "to jointly remedy these deficiencies as soon as possible," it added.

The statement came amid reports in Japan that prosecutors there were considering bringing further charges against Ghosn, who spent more than three months in custody on charges of financial misconduct involving both his pay and Nissan's accounts.

He denies the charges.

The reports said that investigators were reportedly eyeing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least $32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman in transactions that reportedly involved Amsterdam-based RNBV.

Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a yacht allegedly used by Ghosn, 65, and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The claims are the latest in a deluge of accusations involving the former head of the world's biggest-selling auto alliance, which consists of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Ghosn, who is also being investigated over his extravagant wedding at Versailles Palace outside Paris in 2016, has called a press conference on April 11 to tell his side of the story.

- 'Ethical violations' -

The business world was stunned when Ghosn was arrested on November 19 as he stepped off his private jet at a Tokyo airport.

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Nissan swiftly removed him as chairman and he was also later deposed as chairman and chief executive of Renault.

On Tuesday, Renault said some expenses incurred by Ghosn "involve questionable and concealed practices and violations of the Group's ethical principles".

These related particularly to "relationships with third parties, management of conflicts of interest, and protection of corporate assets."

Besides details relating to the Versailles wedding -- Ghosn obtained the use of the former royal palace thanks to a Renault sponsorship deal -- the company said it has also informed French authorities of "potential issues concerning payments made to one of Renault's distributors in the Middle East."

Ghosn spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on a bail of nearly $9 million last month.Representative Ilhan Omar is awaiting the results of an investigation into allegations she spent $6,000 in campaign funds for her personal use, Washington D.C.s local ABC affiliate reports.

Authorities are expected to issue rulings in the next month to six weeks on two complaints filed last year with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board against the Minnesota Democrat by Republican state lawmaker Representative Steve Drazkowski.

Drazkowski accused Omar of siphoning money from her campaign fund to pay her divorce attorney as well as to travel to Boston and Estonia.

I had observed a long pattern, Drazkowski said. Representative Omar hasnt followed the law. Shes repeatedly trampled on the laws of the state in a variety of areas, and gotten by with it.

Omar fielded questions on the investigation, and the campaign finance board followed standard practice and declined to confirm whether a probe was ongoing.

Drazkowski claimed Omars critics are afraid to speak out against her because of her status as the first Somalian-American to be elected to Congress.

Theres a political fear that people have, Drazkowski said, of being called a name, being called a bigot, being called racist, being called Islamophobic.

Omar, who represents Minnesotas 5th District including Minneapolis, drew heavy criticism from her partys leadership earlier this year when she suggested that Jewish U.S. citizens pay allegiance to a foreign country, as well as several other remarks deemed anti-Semitic by both sides of the aisle.

Republicans have pushed for Omar to be stripped from her spot on the House Foreign Affairs Committee because of her comments.

More from National ReviewMoscow (AFP) - A US proposal to send more NATO ships to the Black Sea to ensure safe passage for Ukrainian vessels and deter Russia is viewed "negatively" in Moscow, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

Washington has been working on a package to boost surveillance and deploy more NATO vessels to the Black Sea after a naval confrontation between Moscow and Kiev last year, the US ambassador to NATO said.

The measure was expected to be discussed during talks by NATO foreign ministers in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin viewed such a proposal "negatively".

"We do not understand what they mean by this. The situation with the Kerch Straight and navigation there is well known," he told reporters.

Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko told Russian news agencies the plan would only lead to "increased military risks" in the region.

"If additional military and technical measures are needed from our side, we will adopt them," Interfax news agency quoted Grushko as saying.

Most alliance members share concerns about Russia which backs separatists in a smouldering conflict in eastern Ukraine that has so far claimed some 13,000 lives.

In November, Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels, capturing two dozen sailors near the Kerch Strait, as they tried to pass from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea.

It was the first open military clash between Kiev and Moscow since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and a pro-Russian insurgency erupted in eastern Ukraine.

"We are going to make sure that we have the capability to deter a very aggressive Russia," US ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison told reporters on Tuesday.

She said the US package was designed "to assure that there is a safe passage for Ukrainian vessels through the Kerch Strait."

Observers say that an increased NATO presence in the region is one of Russia's worst nightmares.

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Putin has openly said that Moscow's decision to take over Crimea was partly motivated by NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe.

Peskov did not say Wednesday whether Russia would in fact allow NATO ships to pass through the Azov Sea.

"A decision will be made when there is such a request," the Kremlin spokesman said.

The West has accused Moscow of illegally blocking access to the Sea of Azov, used by both Russia and Ukraine.

A NATO spokesman declined to comment on the US ambassador's remarks but pointed to comments by Stoltenberg on Monday when he outlined plans to increase the alliance presence in the Black Sea.

Stoltenberg said NATO would step up port visits as well as exercises and training with Ukraine and Georgia.

But while he urged Russia to respect international law and the law of the sea, Stoltenberg made no mention of assuring freedom of navigation.By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is investigating claims by a number of whistleblowers that aviation safety inspectors, including some who worked to evaluate the now-grounded Boeing 737 MAX, were not properly trained or certified, the committee chairman said on Tuesday. More than 300 Boeing 737 MAX jets have been grounded worldwide after two crashes - in Indonesia in October and in Ethiopia last month - killed nearly 350 people. Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, said in a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration that the FAA may have been notified about the training and certification concerns as early as August 2018 - before the Indonesia crash - citing information from the whistleblowers and documents. The letter did not disclose if the whistleblowers worked for Boeing, the FAA or another entity. The FAA has come under criticism for delegating some of its certification responsibilities to Boeing and other manufacturers. In his letter, Wicker asked acting FAA administrator Daniel Elwell to provide answers to detailed questions by April 16. Asked about the claims, the FAA referred to Elwell's testimony at a Senate hearing last week in which he said "the FAA welcomes external review of our systems, processes, and recommendations." The FAA has a "very good whistleblower program", Elwell said at the hearing, and added: "There were no comments made by employees to our knowledge." Wicker's letter said the whistleblowers alleged that safety inspectors without proper safety training could have been participants on the Flight Standardization Board that evaluated the 737 MAX 8 to "determine the requirements for pilot type ratings, to develop minimum training recommendations, and to ensure initial flightcrew member competency." Wicker's letter also says the committee is "led to believe that an FAA investigation into these allegations may have been completed recently." Boeing said last week that it was reprogramming software on its 737 MAX passenger jet to prevent erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that is under mounting scrutiny following the two deadly nose-down crashes. The worlds largest planemaker said the anti-stall system, which is believed to have repeatedly forced the nose lower in the Indonesia accident, would only do so one time after sensing a problem, giving pilots more control. On Monday, Boeing and the FAA said Boeing's planned software fix and training revision would be submitted to the FAA for approval in "the coming weeks." The company previously said it planned to deliver the fix for government approval by last week. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Sonya Hepinstall)By Kenneth Maxwell and Tim Kelly

TOKYO (Reuters) - Ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn promised to "tell the truth" at a news conference next week, taking to Twitter to announce his first briefing since being released on bail and hours after a report that prosecutors were preparing a fresh case against him.

Ghosn, widely lauded for rescuing Nissan Motor Co from the brink of bankruptcy two decades ago, has experienced a dramatic fall from grace that shook the global auto industry and raised questions about the future of Nissan's alliance with France's Renault SA.

He was arrested in Tokyo in November and faces charges of financial misconduct and aggravated breach of trust over allegedly failing to report around $82 million in salary and temporarily transferring personal financial losses onto Nissan's books during the financial crisis.

Released on $9 million bail last month, Ghosn has denied the charges, calling them "meritless" and saying he was the victim of a boardroom coup.

"I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening. Press conference on Thursday, April 11," Ghosn tweeted from the @carlosghosn account on Twitter, which displayed the blue tick mark indicating it had been verified by the social media site.

The account was created this month. It was the sole tweet, posted in Japanese and English.

While Ghosn is under strict bail terms - including on internet usage - his lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters the tweet did not violate those terms.

Hironaka also said there had been no requests from Tokyo prosecutors, after Japan's Yomiuri newspaper and other media outlets reported authorities were preparing a fresh case against Ghosn over payments the automaker made to a business partner in Oman.

FRESH CHARGES?

Prosecutors are in discussions with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office and others and plan to make a decision soon on whether to prosecute Ghosn on further charges of aggravated breach of trust, the newspaper said, citing sources involved in the case.

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A spokesman for the Tokyo prosecutors office said he was not aware of any new investigation when contacted by Reuters.

Ghosn's spokesman has previously said payments of $32 million made over nine years were rewards for the Oman firm being a top Nissan dealer. Such dealer incentives were not directed by Ghosn and the funds were not used to pay any personal debt, the spokesman said.

Sources told Reuters earlier this week that Renault had alerted French prosecutors after uncovering suspect payments to a Renault-Nissan business partner in Oman while Ghosn was chief executive of the French automaker.

Nissan had previously established its own regional subsidiary made questionable payments of more than $30 million to the Oman distributor, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA).

Evidence sent to French prosecutors late last week showed that much of the cash was subsequently channelled to a Lebanese company controlled by Ghosn associates, the sources said.

Reuters has not been able to reach SBA for comment on the matter.

(Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Kaori Kaneko, Sam Nussey and Kwiyeon Ha; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter)New legislation to tighten New Zealand gun laws in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings drew overwhelming support when it was introduced to parliament on Tuesday.

Lawmakers voted 119-1 in favour of the bill, which bans military-style semi-automatic (MSSA) rifles like those used in the March 15 rampage by a white supremacist which claimed 50 lives.

Police Minister Stuart Nash said the attack by accused gunman Brenton Tarrant showed current firearms restrictions were inadequate.

"Far too many people in this country have access to these dangerous firearms for no legitimate purpose, but at significant risk to the public," he said.

The sole holdout against the legislation was David Seymour, a conservative whose ACT Party has a single seat in parliament.

Seymour criticised the speed with which his colleagues were handling the legislation, fast-tracking a process that usually takes months so that the law will take effect by the end of next week.

"It is important that we maintain our tradition of sober, robust law-making at all times, but especially now," he said in a statement.

"The best way to show defiance in the face of terrorism is to refuse to erode our democratic institutions."

Seymour had intended to try to stall the legislation in parliament but missed his chance when he arrived in the chamber late after spending too long explaining his plan to media.

- 'Compelled to act quickly' -

Nash was unapologetic about the hurried timetable for outlawing MSSAs, which will see the ban put to the vote twice more before it would formally become law.

"We don't ever want to see an attack like this in our country again," he said. "We are compelled to act quickly."

Further curbs -- potentially including a gun register, tighter vetting and stricter gun storage rules -- are set to be passed by the end of the year.

New Zealand has about 1.5 million privately owned firearms, or 0.3 per person, including an estimated 13,500 MSSAs

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The government has also said it will review laws dealing with hate speech.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, widely praised for her compassionate and decisive leadership following the Islamophobic attack, has also called for action by social media giants after the alleged gunman livestreamed the atrocity online.

She has also ordered a judicial inquiry into whether intelligence services could have prevented the attack.

Nash said the largest criminal investigation in New Zealand's history was now probing the country's worst mass shooting.

"Dozens of specialist police investigators, supported by Australian federal and state police, are following up concerns about a number of high-risk individuals," he told parliament.

"As we meet today, a number of people are before the courts for trying to promote hateful publications and videos of death; for unlawfully possessing weapons; for making threats against our citizens, and, for murder."

Tarrant was apprehended soon after his killing spree and the 28-year-old Australian is due to appear in Christchurch High Court on Friday via video link from an Auckland prison.Washington (AFP) - The Trump administration stepped up its threat to close down the US-Mexico border on Tuesday, warning both Congress and Central American governments to take action to stem the flow of migrants into the country.

"The president's not threatening. He's taking his job as the commander in chief very seriously in terms of protecting the American people," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

Closing the border is "not our first choice," she said. However, she added, "Maybe that it's the best decision."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen cut short an official trip to Europe to return for meetings early Tuesday on the border crisis.

And DHS officials said border crossing times were already lengthening as they divert staff to areas between official ports to deal with tens of thousands of migrant families crossing illegally into the country.

A senior Homeland Security official, who declined to be named, told reporters that a definitive solution on border closures had not been made yet.

"The bottom line is all options are on the table right now," he said.

"We are in a full blown emergency," he said.

"The volume of vulnerable populations that's arriving is unsustainable.... The humanitarian situation cannot be ignored and the security situation cannot be ignored."

On Saturday Trump said in a tweet that he was prepared to shut border crossings to force Mexico to halt the flood of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

Officials said the number being detained for crossing the border illegally has reached near 100,000 a month, mostly from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

"Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border!"

The warning stirred fears across border populations who cross legally daily for business, family visits and other reasons.

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But it also shook US and Mexican industry, who depend heavily on the open border for trade in everything from farm goods to auto parts.

Delays for incoming traffic at key ports mounted Monday, hitting three hours at Brownsville, Texas, as port staff were diverted to dealing with migrants.

DHS says that besides getting Mexico to block the transit of migrant caravans to the border, Congress should take immediate action to give border officials the power to forcibly repatriate Central American illegal immigrants, including children who arrived alone, back to their countries.Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was happy with NATO allies' rising spending on defense, hailing a "rocket-ship" increase since he took office.

"Tremendous progress has been made and NATO's much stronger," Trump told reporters as he met NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the alliance's 70th anniversary celebrations in Washington.

"It's a rocket ship up," he said of the spending. "People are paying and I'm very happy."

Trump has long voiced skepticism about NATO, accusing Western allies of being freeloaders that do not pull their weight on military spending.

The Trump administration has been especially incensed with Germany, Europe's largest economy, which is not on track to meet a 2014 pledge by NATO members to spend two percent of GDP on defense.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, has stood behind Trump on the spending goals and credited his blunt approach with pushing members.

Between 2016 and the end of next year, the 28 NATO members other than the United States will have boosted military spending by $100 billion, Stoltenberg said earlier this year.

Trump said that he was also looking for a better relationship with Russia -- now, as 70 years ago, seen as the primary threat by the Western alliance.

"I hope we have a good relationship with Russia," Trump said. "I think we'll get along with Russia."

The comments come little more than a week after a long-awaited probe by former FBI chief Robert Mueller found no criminal collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, according to a synopsis released by the Justice Department.Washington (AFP) - Tensions soared Wednesday between the United States and two of its NATO partners, Germany and Turkey, marring a 70th birthday celebration for the alliance aimed at showing a united front against a resurgent Russia.

Hours before foreign ministers from the 29-member Western alliance opened talks in Washington with a leisurely reception, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a stinging rebuke both to Germany over its level of defense spending and to Turkey for buying a major arms system from Russia.

"Germany must do more. And we cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence told a think-tank forum on the NATO anniversary.

"It is simply unacceptable for Europe's largest economy to continue to ignore the threat of Russian aggression and neglect its own self-defense and our common defense," Pence said.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced annoyance that few allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are meeting a goal set by the alliance in 2014 to devote two percent of GDP to defense.

Germany last month announced that defense spending would slip to 1.25 percent in 2023.

Hungry for energy, Germany has also forged ahead with Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that will double the amount of gas it can import from Russia.

"If Germany persists in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as President Trump said, it could turn Germany's economy into literally a captive of Russia," Pence told the event, held incongruously in a hip new music venue.

Pence, however, promised that the United States "is now and will always be Europe's greatest ally" -- a tonal shift from Trump, who has loudly wondered whether it is worth defending smaller NATO members such as Montenegro.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said afterward that burden-sharing was about more than expenditure and that NATO was foremost "an alliance of values."

Noting that Germany's history made military spending controversial, Maas pointed out that Berlin is the second largest troop contributor to Afghanistan and is constructing a new NATO command center in the city of Ulm.

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"We in Europe know that we cannot take our security for granted. We have to shoulder responsibility in order to continue safeguarding it, in our own interest," he said.

- 'Turkey must choose' -

Western powers have also increasingly clashed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government, which has cracked down on dissent at home and threatened to strike US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria.

On Monday, the United States said it was suspending Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter-jet program due to Ankara's plans to buy Russia's S-400 missile defense system, raising fears that Moscow could gain data to hone its hardware and shoot down Western aircraft.

"Turkey must choose -- does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out a change of heart, saying: "The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this."

Cavusoglu said Turkey still backed NATO on core concerns and would never recognize Moscow's 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine.

"We have been working with Russia," he said. "But it doesn't mean that we are undermining the alliance and we agree with Russia on everything. There is no shift on our foreign policy."

He later met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned him of "potentially devastating consequences" if Turkey goes ahead with threats to strike Kurdish fighters in Syria.

- No 'new Cold War' -

The 70th anniversary comes amid rising concern over Russia, which has supported separatists in Ukraine and Georgia, sought to sway the 2016 US election and was suspected in a poisoning attack in England.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an address to the US Congress, said the alliance wanted better relations with Russia -- but needed to prepare a strong defense.

"We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naive," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg appeared to soothe Trump during a White House meeting on Tuesday, crediting the US leader's tough rhetoric with pushing the Europeans and Canada to bolster their defense budgets by $100 billion between 2016 and 2020.

Lawmakers repeatedly rose to standing ovations as Stoltenberg hailed the value of the alliance.

"NATO has been good for Europe, but NATO has also been good for the United States," he said.

"The strength of a nation is not only measured by its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends. And through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other power."Tripoli (AFP) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Libya Wednesday ahead of a conference aimed at paving the way for elections to help end years of chaos in the country.

"I have just arrived in Libya, totally committed to support a Libyan-led political process leading to peace, stability, democracy and prosperity for the Libyan people," Guterres said on Twitter.

The UN has announced an all-party conference expected for April 14-16 in western Libya to draw up a roadmap towards elections and out of the turmoil it has faced since a 2011 uprising.

The national conference aims to fix dates for legislative and presidential elections in the North African state, which has been torn apart by military, political and tribal feuds since the NATO-backed ouster of longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi.

Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli, is rejected by a rival administration in the east of the country that is backed by strongman Khalifa Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army.

Unity government leader Fayez al-Sarraj and Haftar agreed at a February meeting in Abu Dhabi to work towards organising elections.

"To avoid any major confrontation and to create the conditions to stabilise the situation in Libya, it's essential to unify the institutions of Libya," Guterres said in Cairo before flying to Tripoli.

"We hope that the conversations that took place between Sarraj and Haftar in Abu Dhabi and the understanding will be an important step to guarantee that, and that this can be consolidated by a national conference."

The visit by Guterres was the first by a UN Secretary General to Libya since 2014.United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Wednesday agreed to discuss revamping the UN peacekeeping force in Mali but cautioned that any changes, including a possible major drawdown, should not jeopardize the West African country's stability.

The council unanimously adopted a French-drafted statement requesting that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres draw up options for "a potential significant adaptation" of the 14,000-strong force, known as MINUSMA.

The statement set the stage for a showdown between France, which is seeking to keep a large UN presence in Mali, and the United States, which is pushing for major cuts to peacekeeping missions.

Guterres will present the options to the council before it decides in June on the renewal of MINUSMA's mandate.

The peacekeeping force was established in 2013 after the jihadist takeover of northern Mali was beaten back during a French military intervention.

A peace deal was signed in 2015 between the government and some armed groups, but the jihadist insurgency has shown no signs of weakening, spilling over to Burkina Faso.

Mali's Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga warned the council last week that a big drawdown of MINUSMA could put at risk fragile gains made to contain the threat from extremist groups.

The statement cautioned that changes to MINUSMA should enhance the blue helmet's ability to support the peace deal "without jeopardizing the stability of Mali and its region."

The council called on the government and armed groups to agree on a "revised roadmap" to implement the peace deal.

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 prospects for peace.

MINUSMA is considered one the most dangerous peace missions run by the United Nations. Sixteen peacekeepers have died in attacks this year alone.Paris (AFP) - Rising sea temperatures have wrecked the Great Barrier Reef's ability to regrow, researchers said Wednesday, highlighting for the first time a 90 percent fall in new corals since back-to-back heatwaves bleached the World Heritage site.

Following the unprecedented loss of swathes of the reef -- the world's largest living structure -- in successive ocean heatwaves in 2016 and 2017, the number of new corals measured a year later was found by a team of scientists to be 89 percent lower than historical levels.

Coral reefs make up less than one percent of Earth's marine environment, but are home to an estimated 25 percent of ocean life, acting as nurseries for many species of fish and a habitat for birds, sharks, dolphins and porpoises.

The study measured how many adult corals survived along the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef, off the northeast coast of Australia, following consecutive summers of unusually warm seas that bleached and killed off numerous coral species.

It discovered a "crash" in coral replacement compared to levels measured in years before a mass bleaching event.

The population of one species -- Acropora, a branching coral that supports thousands of marine species -- tumbled by 93 percent.

"We never thought we would see disturbance on a scale to affect recruitment to this extent," said Andrew Baird, co-author of the study that appeared in the journal Nature.

The team estimated that it would take between five and 10 years for the reef's production of baby corals to fully recover -- but only if there isn't another bleaching event.

Atmospheric temperatures have risen by around one degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) since the middle of last century, and coral is uniquely sensitive to fluctuating heat levels.

Last year an expert panel of international climate experts warned that coral structures -- including the Great Barrier Reef -- would most likely not survive a 2C rise.

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- 'Too big to fail, until now' -

Bleaching occurs when warmer ambient temperatures cause coral to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced four mass bleaching events in recorded history -- all within the last two decades.

"Dead corals don't make babies," said Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at Australia's James Cook University.

"Fever babies means recovery will be slower, and the shift in species means the reefs will not recover to the same configuration as before," he told AFP.

"The question is, will that recovery be interrupted by another mass coral bleaching event due to escalating global warming?"

Hughes said there may however be some hope, as evidence suggested that some coral species are more resilient to temperature fluctuations than others.

The team found that while bleaching occurred in both 2016 and 2017, it took much greater heat exposure to cause the same level of bleaching the second time around -- meaning the reef was naturally adapting to house more heat-tolerant coral varieties.

"So the reef is now moving rapidly to a new configuration, with a greater proportion of the species that are resistant to bleaching, or that are capable of bouncing back the fastest," Hughes said.

The number of species, however, would likely be greatly reduced, earlier research has shown.

Co-author Morgan Pratchett however warned that there was a limit to the amount of warming the reef could take.

"It's highly unlikely that we could escape a fifth or sixth (bleaching) event in the coming decade," she said.

"We used to think that the Great Barrier Reef was too big to fail -- until now."Steve Wynn

Billionaire Steve Wynn, chairman and chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts Ltd., speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on May 3, 2017. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg



A group of former lawyers connected to Wynn Resorts were involved in long-running efforts to conceal allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against the casino giants founder, Steve Wynn, according to a report released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.



The 200-page report was released in conjunction with a three-day hearing the regulatory body kicked off on Tuesday to determine the suitability of the company for a Massachusetts gaming license, and whether it will be able to run a casino and resort scheduled to open this summer in Boston.



The report says a group of executives, including two former general counsels, and outside lawyers disregarded company policies by failing to report allegations of sexual misconduct against Wynn to the companys board. The report also notes that most of the individuals involved are no longer at the company, including Steve Wynn, who resigned in February last year.



Their efforts at secrecy made it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for gaming regulators to detect this potentially derogatory information through typical regulatory means, which rely heavily on robust self-disclosures, the investigators wrote.



Wynn Resorts said it does not dispute the findings in the regulatory bodys report. The company said that any employee aware of allegations of sexual assault against Wynn who did not investigate or report those claims is no longer with the company.



Brian Kelly, a Nixon Peabody partner who represents Wynn, said, Mr. Wynn denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex and nothing in this report changes that. In fact, the Commission and its investigators have acknowledged today that its not their role to decide the truth or falsity of those allegations and that Mr. Wynns conduct is not the focus of their hearing.



The Massachusetts investigation was spurred by a Wall Street Journal article in January last year that included multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Steve Wynn.



The earliest of those allegations came to light in 2005, according to the WSJ report and the Massachusetts regulatory investigation, when a manicurist said she was raped by Wynn in his office.



Frank Schreck, chairman of the gaming practice at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, was involved in the settlement negotiations with the woman in 2005, the report says. Schreck helped structure a new business entity to make $7.5 million worth of payments over a 10-year period to the alleged victim, the regulatory report says. It notes the settlement was structured for utmost secrecy.



Schreck, whom the gaming commission's report says had a relationship with Wynn spanning decades, represented the company in the settlement negotiations, according to a deposition of another outside lawyer involved in the case. But the investigators found that Schreck failed to alert the companys then-general counsel to the issue and didnt seek a waiver or consent from either Wynn or the company before taking on the matter, saying that was the way its been for 40 years.



This is but one example of the companys failure to identify the existence of a potential conflict between the companys interests and those of Mr. Wynn, and to assess outside counsels obligations with respect to representation accordingly, the report says.



A spokesperson for Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck said, As part of a thorough review by Brownsteins leadership, a leading independent legal ethics expert reviewed the conflict of interest question and concluded that, based on the information Frank Schreck had at the time, he acted appropriately. The spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request to name the ethics expert.



Marc Rubinstein, Wynn's general counsel at the time of the allegations, later learned of the settlement agreement with the manicurist after receiving bills from outside lawyers that he didnt recognize, the report says.



Rubinstein inquired about the legal bills and was eventually allowed to see the settlement agreement in Schrecks office under the condition that he not take any notes, photos or copies, the report says. After that encounter, Rubinstein asked Jerome Coben, then a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, if he needed to advise the companys board of directors about the matter, the report says. It also notes that Rubinstein was not aware that the original claim leading to the settlement included allegations of sexual assault. Ultimately, he did not report the matter, the report says.



A few months after learning of the settlement, Rubinstein told investigators that Wynn approached him, saying he needed loyalty to him first and to the company second. The report says Rubinstein told investigators he was offered the chance to resign with severance or work at the company on an at-will basis. Rubinstein resigned in 2006.



It is concerning that the general counsel and outside counsel for the company did not recommend notification to the board (via disclosure to the audit committee) or any action at the corporate level, or that the general counsel did not take the further step to address with the board the dysfunction that general counsel for the company was not apprised of the matter in the first place, the gaming commission's report says.



Rubinstein did not immediately return phone messages seeking a comment on the report. Coben, who retired from Skadden in 2008, declined to comment.



Rubinsteins replacement as general counsel, Kimmarie Sinatra, played a much larger role in the Massachusetts report. She left the company in February last year, shortly after the WSJ article ran. Wynn Resorts media contacts did not provide contact information for Sinatra, whose bar registrations still list her Wynn phone number and email address.



The report says Sinatra was informed of the 2005 settlement as early as 2009, when Wynns then-wife, Elaine, learned of the payment. Elaine Wynn has claimed she told Sinatra that the basis of the payment was an allegation of rape against Steve Wynn, but Sinatra, in conversations with investigators cited in the report, vehemently disagrees with that assessment. The report says Sinatra said she was only informed of the settlement.



Either way, neither Sinatra nor Elaine Wynn reported the allegations to the board of directors at the time, according to the report. They also failed to disclose the settlement in a 2013 licensing process with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the report says.



The Commission will have to consider whether the Massachusetts gaming law and regulations mandated disclosure of the 2005 settlement and related sexual assault allegation or any other allegation of sexual misconduct or sexual conduct involving Mr. Wynn and a subordinate employee, the report says.



The report also says that members of the companys legal department became aware in 2017 that the 2005 settlement included an allegation that Wynn had raped and impregnated a manicurist. That information came out during discovery in a legal proceeding, the report says. Still, nobody at Wynn Resorts told the board of directors of the allegation despite the company having adopted a policy months earlier that required the board to be notified of any matter likely to jeopardize its reputation. The company also did not tell regulators about the allegations, the report says.



The company first alerted regulators to the allegations after the WSJ article was published on Jan. 26, which the report says set off a cascade of activity.



On Feb. 2, Sinatra told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that the boards special committee investigating the sexual misconduct claims had hired OMelveny & Myers for an independent investigation. On Feb. 6, Wynn resigned as CEO. Six days later, the company announced that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where Sinatra was formerly a partner, would conduct the investigation.



That change was partly explained by the companys newly installed CEO, Matthew Maddox, telling investigators that he was displeased with OMelveny for issuing a press release before being officially engaged, according to the report. Maddox "also expressed deep concern about what he understood to be a large fee charged by O'Melveny for work it performed in another matter for an unrelated company," the report says.You have permission to edit this article.

Edit CloseAn Australian senator was censured by his colleagues on Wednesday for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.

Sen. Fraser Anning was the target of widespread condemnation for blaming the attack in New Zealand on immigration policies. He faced more criticism later for physically striking a teenager who cracked a raw egg on his head in a viral incident in Melbourne.

On Parliament's second sitting day since the March 15 attack in which 50 people died, government and opposition lawmakers moved the censure motion against Anning for divisive comments "seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people."

"Sen. Anning's comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place," Government Senate Leader Mathias Cormann told the Senate.Three of eight countries granted waivers by Washington to import oil from Iran have now cut the imports to zero, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, adding that improved global oil market conditions would help reduce Iranian crude exports further.

The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran after President Donald Trump last May withdrew the country from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers, accusing it of supporting terrorism and conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

While the United States has set a goal of completely halting Iran's oil exports, it granted temporary import waivers to China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to ensure low oil prices and no disruption to the global oil market.Nechama Rivlin, wife of President Reuven Rivlin, is hospitalized in a severe condition following a sudden deterioration in her medical condition after she had recently underwent a lung transplant operation.

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Mrs. Rivlin is sedated and intubated but her condition is considered to be stable following an uneventful night, said the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva in a statement.

First lady Nechama Rivlin (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Mrs. Rivlin was rushed to the hospital Tuesday evening due to severe shortness of breath that results from a cardiac situation, said the hospital.

President Rivlin cut his visit to Canada short and returned to Israel Wednesday morning; he headed straight to the hospital to be at his wifes side.

Mrs. Rivlin has for many years suffered from pulmonary fibrosis. In the past year, her condition deteriorated to the extent that she required an oxygen tank at all times.

Some three weeks ago, the first lady underwent a lung transplant surgery and is still recovering from the complex surgery in light of her other medical conditions, which make the recovery lengthy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he wishes Mrs. Rivlin a swift recovery, along with all the people of Israel.WASHINGTON - Three of eight countries granted waivers by Washington to import oil from Iran have now cut the imports to zero, a US official said Tuesday, adding that improved global oil market conditions would help reduce Iranian crude exports further.

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The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran after US President Donald Trump last May withdrew the country from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers, accusing it of supporting terrorism and conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani

While the United States has set a goal of completely halting Iran's oil exports , it granted temporary import waivers to China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to ensure low oil prices and no disruption to the global oil market.

The Trump administration is currently in consultations with the countries ahead of a May 2 deadline when the waivers expire.

"In November, we granted eight oil waivers to avoid a spike in the price of oil. I can confirm today three of those importers are now at zero," Brian Hook, the special US envoy for Iran, told reporters.

Hook did not identify the three countries.

"There are better market conditions for us to accelerate our path to zero," Hook said. "We are not looking to grant any waivers or exceptions to our sanctions regime."

Hook said US oil sanctions against Iran removed about 1.5 million barrels of Iranian oil exports off the market since May 2018.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian FM Javad Zarif (Photo: AFP)

"This has denied the regime access to well over $10 billion in (oil) revenue - a loss of at least $30 million a day," he said.

Oil prices on Tuesday hit their highest level so far in 2019, with Brent crude approaching $70 a barrel on the prospect that more sanctions against Iran and Venezuelan disruptions could deepen an OPEC-led supply cut.

Analysts believe the administration is likely to extend the waivers to the remaining five countries to placate top buyers China and India and to decrease the chance of higher oil prices.

China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey are likely to be given waivers that could cap Iran's crude oil exports at about 1.1 million barrels per day, US-based analysts at Eurasia Group said in January. That would remove Italy, Greece and Taiwan from the waivers list.

Hook said a decision on whether to extend the waivers would be made "in due course." A total of 23 countries that once imported Iran oil had cut imports to zero, he added.

"With oil prices actually lower than they were when we announced our sanctions and global production stable, we are on the fast track to zeroing out all purchases of Iranian crude," Hook said.

A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Monday that the US government was considering additional sanctions against Iran that would target areas of its economy that have not been hit before.

Hook said more than 26 rounds of US sanctions against Iran had restricted the country's cash flow and constrained its ability to operate in the region.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran's government of mismanagement that has led to devastating flooding across the country. At least 47 people have been killed in the past two weeks from flash floods.A would-be Palestinian attacker was shot dead Wednesday morning during an attempted stabbing near Huwara in the West Bank. The man was shot by two armed Israeli civilians, including his target.

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The attacker was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva in critical condition and died shortly afterwards. No one else was harmed in the incident.

The scene of the Wednesday stabbing attack near Huwara, West Bank (Photo: Avraham Binyamin)

Initial reports said the attacker blocked an Israeli vehicle in which a father and his daughter were sitting, at a junction near Huwara on Route 60, close to the Palestinian city of Nablus. He approached the cars driver with a knife in his hand when the driver and an Israeli driving a nearby truck opened fire.

The driver was later named as Yehoshua Sherman, who runs the field campaign for the New Right Party.

Yehoshua Sherman testifying at the scene of the attack Wednesday (Photo: Nadav Goldstein, TPS )

I went to work and drove from Elon Moreh towards the Tapuach Junction, said Sherman. At one of the junctions (along the way) a terrorist charged at the car and tried to open the door. I got out of the car (from the other door) and as he was making his way to me, I shot him along with another man who driving a truck behind me.

Yossi Dagan, the head of Shomron Regional Council, expressed his support for the two Israelis who neutralized the attacker: This is how one should act  firmly, against those who seek our harm, and with no fear, Dagan said.

This event highlights the importance of finishing the new road that bypasses Hawara, as weve agreed with the prime minister. There is no reason why Israeli residents should drive through hostile Arab communities every morning and endanger their lives and their childrens lives, said Dagan. "The road should be completed swiftly.In a charged election campaign that has been heavy on insults and short on substance, Israels conflict with the Palestinians has been notably absent from the discourse.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus ruling Likud Party has offered no plan for what many believe is the countrys most existential problem. His main challenger speaks vaguely of separation, while Netanyahus hard-line partners speak openly of the once unthinkable idea of annexing all or parts of the West Bank. Talk of a Palestinian state, the international communitys preferred solution for the past two decades, is non-existent.

An illegal outpost in the Shomron region, West Bank; the hard-liners offer annexation while the two-state solution is hardly addressed (file photo) (Photo: Shlomo Melet)

It is a far cry from past elections, when peace with the Palestinians was the central issue for voters. This apparent lack of interest reflects widespread disillusionment in Israel over years of failed peace efforts.

But it also is a testament to Netanyahus success in sidelining the issue. Capitalizing on internal Palestinian divisions and promoting sometimes contradictory policies, Netanyahu has succeeded in managing the conflict without addressing the bigger issue of how two intertwined peoples will live together in the future. Strong backing from the Trump administration has given him an extra boost.

The peace track is currently in a coma, said Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. Theres not much hope for a viable solution to be revived in the near future, so people can just keep pushing it aside until someday it comes back to haunt them.

Netanyahu took office in early 2009 and under heavy pressure from then-President Barack Obama reluctantly stated his support for an independent Palestinian state, albeit with many conditions, which were rejected.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference, April 1st (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Things quickly went downhill, and serious peace talks never took place during Obamas time in office.

Throughout his tenure, Netanyahu has repeatedly cast blame on the Palestinians, accusing President Mahmoud Abbas, who seeks a negotiated settlement with Israel, of incitement and promoting terror. At the same time, he has maintained behind-the-scenes security cooperation with Abbas forces in the West Bank in a joint struggle against the Hamas militant group.

In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Netanyahu has engaged in frequent rounds of fighting, but is also conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations with his bitter enemy in hopes of maintaining calm.

The Trump administration has further sidelined the Palestinians by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital, prompting the Palestinians to sever ties with the U.S. A long-promised peace plan, which the White House says will be released after the election, faces dim prospects, if it is even released.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the papers acknowledging Israel sovereignty over the Golan Heights, March 25 (Photo: EPA)

With the peace process in a deep freeze, it is perhaps no surprise that none of the major Israeli parties are talking about the Palestinians.

The Palestinian cause is totally absent in the Israeli elections, and when it comes, it comes only in a negative context, said Ahmed Majdalani, a senior Palestinian official. This is worrisome, because it tells us that we are going from bad to worse.

Some of the Palestinian public seeks the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip  areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day war  for an independent state. The so-called two-state solution is widely backed internationally as the best way to end the conflict.

If Israel continues to rule over millions of Palestinians, the thinking goes, the Palestinians will eventually abandon their dream of statehood and instead demand Israeli citizenship and full equality. In such a scenario, Israel would no longer be able to be both Jewish and democratic.

Israelis accuse the Palestinians of rejecting generous peace offers, most recently in late 2008, a narrative the Palestinians reject. The Israelis also point to the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, which cleared the way for Hamas to seize power from Abbas forces two years later.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg; Netanyahu has repeatedly cast blame on Abbas, accusing him of incitement and promoting terror (Photo: Reuters)

Ahead of the election, several religious and nationalist parties, along with individual members of Netanyahus Likud party, have openly called for annexing parts or all of the West Bank. These plans include a range of proposals for the Palestinians, including nonvoting residency rights, possible citizenship or financial incentives to emigrate.

It remains unclear how hard these parties, all potential coalition partners for Netanyahu, will push, though Trumps recent recognition of Israels annexation of the occupied Golan Heights has led to stepped-up calls for annexing West Bank territory.

Likud spokesman Eli Hazan said he does not expect annexation to be on the agenda. He said the party strongly believes in the status quo. We are against the one-state solution and two-state solution. Both ways may lead to the end of Israel as a Jewish and democratic country, he said.

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israeli Democracy Institute and a former lawmaker, said he did not think Netanyahu would give in to the annexation calls. At the end of the day, West Bank annexation is the prerogative of the prime minister, he said.

Netanyahus main challenger, former military chief Benny Gantz, has given Israels peace camp some dim hope.

Benny Gantz, Blue and White leader (Photo: EPA)

His Blue and White partys platform devotes just a few sentences to the Palestinians, promising an open horizon for political settlement and pledging to work with Arab neighbors to find a way to deepen the separation. It makes no mention of Palestinian statehood, and says Israel will continue to maintain control of parts of the West Bank and never divide Jerusalem.

Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian negotiator, said the lack of interest on the Israeli side is harmful to the Palestinians in the short term but much worse for Israel in the long term.

It means the end of the two-state solution, he said. The alternative will be an apartheid system, and this will cause huge damage to Israeli democracy and the image of Israel.

Yossi Beilin, one of the chief architects of Israels historic 1993 interim peace agreement with the Palestinians, said Netanyahus policies have been devastating for peace prospects. Yet he remains confident the two-state solution will one day be adopted due to a lack of alternatives, and even believes that Gantz for sure will pursue a peace deal if elected.

Ironically, Trumps peace plan, if released, may force Netanyahus hand, Beilin said. If elected, Netanyahu will have a hard time resisting his close friends proposal while his hard-line coalition partners oppose any concessions to the Palestinians.

The impact of the plan might be very interesting, Beilin said.Amid pending medical cannabis reforms, hundreds of farms across Israel have applied for permits to grow and distribute the plant, according to the Ministry of Health.

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The reforms are intended to standardize prescription procedures and ensure quality. Under new guidelines, patients will purchase marijuana at pharmacies with a physicians prescription. Hundreds of doctors will undergo training in order to be legally permitted to prescribe cannabis for treatment.

The BOL Pharma medical cannabis farm (file photo) (Photo: EPA)

Although it was supposed to be instituted on April 1, the Ministry of Health delayed full implementation until the end of the month without specifying why. Nevertheless, ministry spokesperson Eyal Basson said that hundreds of farms had requested cultivation permits.

So far, 565 farms have submitted requests to the Ministry of Health to obtain licenses to grow medical cannabis, Basson said. Of these, 384 have already passed the first round of tests in the licensing process, and this was after they underwent police checks and land ownership verification.

Initial approval covers only planning and construction.

The spokesperson added that under the new guidelines, farms wishing to operate a medical cannabis business must abide by stringent quality standards in addition to ensuring that the site is properly secured.

Six farms are currently approaching the end of the third stage of the licensing process and have already established farms that successfully passed security checks as well as agricultural quality tests, Basson noted. In addition, another eight farms have completed all the tests and have received work permits.

Some 40,000 patients use medical marijuana in Israel, where the potential market is valued at $165 million. At the moment, the government has approved the use of the plant for the treatment of a wide array of ills, including cancer, Parkinsons, epilepsy and terminal illnesses.

Despite this, supply has not kept up with demand, and there are reports of chronic shortages. The countrys leading supplier, Tikun Olan, which currently services over 15,000 patients, recently announced a major shortfall of cannabis in flower form.

Maayan Weisberg Yoels, head of international relations at Tikun Olam, said the company was ramping up its production efforts.

Weve invested a lot of time and a lot in (production), Weisberg Yoels said. Were doing everything we can to get back on track.

Zehut Party supporters rally for the legalization of cannabis ahead of the April 9 elections in Tel Aviv, April 2 (Photo: AFP)

In a related development, there was an attempted robbery at a Tikun Olam warehouse in northern Israel over the weekend.

According to police, armed and masked robbers raided the facility, located near the Sea of Galilee, in the first robbery of its kind. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld described it as a serious crime.

The security guard was robbed of his weapon, so thats a more serious incident, Rosenfeld said, adding that the matter was still under investigation.

Rosenfeld added that the suspects stole a quantity of drugs, which were still evaluating, and that he did not expect other facilities to be targeted.

Were not heightening any security specifically, Rosenfeld elaborated. But this was a bit of a wake-up call.

Tikun Olam insists that no cannabis was stolen from the warehouse, as it was empty at the time.

The burglars threatened the guards with weapons, broke into a warehouse that was empty of merchandise, and left, Weisberg Yoels said in a written statement. Tikun Olam clarifies that cannabis was not stolen from the farm.

Earlier in the week, Israeli authorities partially decriminalized the recreational use of marijuana. Henceforth, possession of the plant at home is no longer an offense, although those found with small amounts of cannabis in public will be fined without undergoing criminal proceedings. The new laws do not apply to minors or soldiers.President Reuven Rivlin thanks the public for all the support he and wife received following her hospitalization overnight. Mrs. Rivlin is in serious but stable condition at Beilinson Hospital in central Israel after she was admitted for breathing and heart disorders some three weeks after a lung transplant.

"I have just visited my wife Nechama, and I am very encouraged. Nechama had a cardiac condition that has been treated and I very much hope that when she wakes up she will be able to return to the recuperation she began immediately after the transplant," Rivlin says. I want to thank you for that support. It crosses all boundaries, comes from all ages, all views across the spectrum and proves to us time after time the strength of our people.

The president also praises the medical team caring for his wife: "We have no words for the medical care that Nechama has received over the last weeks. The wonderful team at Beilinson Hospital is an outstanding example of first-class public healthcare and we are deeply grateful to them.Militant groups in the Gaza Strip, which are dominated by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have ordered their members to stop all launches of firebombs towards Israeli communities on the opposite side of the border, Palestinian newspaper al-Quds reported Wednesday.

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All Hamas and Islamic Jihad men were also ordered to end their nightly disturbances along the Gaza border fence, the report said, as well as the use of explosives during riots along the border. The new directives are in line with the understandings being reached with Israel under Egyptian mediation.

Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh attend last weekend's March of Return protests on the Gaza border

Also Wednesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that efforts to reach an arrangement with Israel, following last weeks flare-up in the Gaza border region, are progressing well, and that a prisoner swap is not out of the question.

Understandings regarding the ceasefire and the removal of the blockade on the Strip are progressing, Haniyeh said in an interview with Palestinian newspaper al Istiqlal. Yesterday we got the schedule for the implementation of many issues that are part of the arrangement.

Hamas is currently holding the remains of two Israeli soldiers who fell in the 2014 Gaza war, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, as well as two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip of their own accord, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. The families of the four have urged the government to take steps to secure their return.

Haniyeh said that Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations are supporting the negotiation process. Egypt is mediating the negotiations, as there are no direct ties between Israel and Hamas.

There is no reason why we cant discuss a prisoner swap through outside mediators, Haniyeh said, but added that the current understandings do not include such a deal.

An airborne firebomb launched at the Israeli border during Saturday's March of Return protests on the Gaza border (Photo: AFP)

On Tuesday, Haniyeh said that his organization has given Israel a series of demands regarding its security prisoners, jailed in Israel, who are set to begin a hunger strike next week.

The demands were passed to Israel by the Egyptian delegation, and included the removing the cell phone jamming device for prisoners, lifting recent sanctions on the prisoners, restoring visits and improving prison conditions.

Illustrative: Prison Service guards searching cells of Hamas prisoners (Photo: IPS)

According to Hamas, some of the understandings with Israel regarding the Gaza Strip will be implemented before the elections on April 9, and some afterwards.

The understandings that will be implemented before the elections are the simpler ones, such as expanding the fishing area off the Gaza coast (already done); easing restrictions on exported goods from Gaza; improving the electricity supply by operating the turbines at the power plant; and beginning projects that will provide temporary employment.

The understandings that will be implemented after the elections include the construction of another power line from Israel to Gaza within six months and the construction of a gas pipeline to the Gaza power plant within a year. In addition, the Palestinians are demanding the establishment of infrastructure and alternative energy projects.

The timetables will be presented to representatives of the Palestinian factions in Gaza, who will announce whether they accept or reject them.The body of an Israeli soldier who fell in battle during the First Lebanon War has been returned to his family after 37 years, the IDF said.

The body of Brooklyn-born Sgt. Zachary Baumel was repatriated to Israel several days ago via a third country.

After DNA tests at Abu Kabir Forensics Institute in Tel Aviv confirmed his identity, the body was handed over to family members.The body of an Israeli soldier who disappeared in battle during the First Lebanon War has been returned to his family after 37 years, the IDF said Wednesday.

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The remains of Brooklyn-born First Sergeant Zachary Baumel were repatriated to Israel several days ago via a third country. According to IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, the body was returned to Israel on an El Al plane and identified after years of "significant intelligence operations."

Zachary Baumel

After DNA tests at Abu Kabir Forensics Institute in Tel Aviv confirmed his identity, the body was handed over to family members Wednesday afternoon. He will be laid to rest in the coming days, the Israeli media reported

Baumel went missing during the June 1982 battle against Syrian troops at the Lebanese village of Sultan Yacoub, close to the Lebanese-Syrian border. He was believed to have been captured by enemy forces.

Prime Minister Netanyahu visited by Baumel family

X

The Battle of Sultan Yacoub took place on the sixth day of the First Lebanon War, known in Israel is Operation Peace for Galilee. Israel suffered 20 confirmed losses in the battle, as well as dozens of wounded. Six soldiers were unaccounted for, including Feldman, Baumel, and Katz.

The fates of the other three soldiers were later discovered: One was killed in the battle and buried in Syria, with his body being returned to Israel after the war; another was captured by the Syrians and freed two years later; and the third was captured by a terrorist organization and freed via a prisoner exchange deal that took place three years later.

Zachary Baumel in his IDF uniform (Photo: Reproduction)

The operation to return Baumel's remains, led by Colonel A. of the intelligence branch, was planned in recent months and reached its height a week ago, when the troops who were tasked with bringing his body back were given a green light to proceed.

"There was no deal and no negotiations to return Baumel. He was returned in a military operation," said IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manlis.

"We are not saying where his body was found. The operation proves that we never abandoned the Sultan Yacoub case. The families know that we will continue to make every effort to bring their sons home."

Zachary Baumel with his father, Yonah (Photo: Reproduction)

According to Saudi-owned Arabic news channel, Al Arabiya, Russia - which has a strong military presence in Syria - helped to recover the body.

Earlier this week, as soon as the identity of the fallen soldier was confirmed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Russian President Vladimir Putin and requested a meeting to personally thank him and discuss other issues related to Syria that remained open from their previous encounter.

Netanyahu will depart Thursday for Moscow, a decision that had raised some eyebrows given the proximity to the April 9 elections.

After 37 years, Sgt. 1st Class Zachary Baumel has returned home to Israel. pic.twitter.com/9Mroebhz41  Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 3, 2019

The families of the other who soldiers who have been missing since Sultan Yacoub, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman, were informed that Baumel's remains had been located.

The relatives of IDF navigator Ron Arad, who disappeared during a mission over Lebanon in 1986, and the families of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who have been missing in Gaza since the 2014 war with Hamas, were also told that Baumel's remains had been returned.

'A difficult day'

President Reuven Rivlin welcomed the news of the return of Baumel's body and praised the the security forces who were involved in the operation.

We have received the moving and painful news that the body of First Sergeant Zachary Baumel has been brought home to Israel. Thirty-seven unbearable years of painful waiting, of questions and doubts have come to an end thanks to the determined and ceaseless work of the IDF and Israel's intelligence community, Rivlin said in a statement.

On this difficult, moving and sad day, our thoughts are with the Baumel family, crying and hurting with them as they bring their son Zachary to eternal rest in our country, our land, he added. I thank the IDF and the whole Israeli intelligence community for their commitment, bravery and action, day and night, to bring our soldiers and those who fell defending the country and the people, home.

"We will not cease until all our soldiers have returned home  First Sergeant Yehuda Katz, First Sergeant Zvika Feldman and all those missing in action and whose place of burial is not known. Our commitment to our soldiers has always been, and will always be, a shining light. We go to battle together, and together we return from it, he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a televised statement, in which he called the mission to retrieve Baumel's remains the essence of the Israeli spirit.

"This is one of the most moving moments of all my years as prime minister of Israel," he said. "Zachary's bones, which were brought to Israel, were identified with certainty. Next to them were his overalls and his tzitzit (religious garment won by observant Jewish men)," he added.

"The operation to return him to Israel is the ultimate expression of the mutual responsibility and comradeship that characterize us as a nation, as an army and as a country."

Baumel's funeral will take place on Thursday at 7pm at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Israeli military confirmed Wednesday evening.Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said "there is no doubt" that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

Bolsonaro's remarks directly contradicted information on the museum's website saying Germany's Nazi movement rose out of right-wing radical groups responding to the rise of communism.Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said "there is no doubt" that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

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Bolsonaro's remarks directly contradicted information on the museum's website saying Germany's Nazi movement rose out of right-wing radical groups responding to the rise of communism.

In Tuesday's televised comments, the Brazilian president echoed previous remarks by his country's foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, also claiming the Nazis were leftists.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro at Yad Vashem (Photo: AFP)

Asked by reporters if he agreed with Araujo, Bolsonaro said, "There is no doubt, right?"

He went on to say that the Nazi party's name was the National Socialist Party of Germany, which includes the word "socialist." The official name was the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Despite their name, the Nazis followed a fascist and anti-Semitic - rather than a socialist - ideology.

Bolsonaro leaves Israel on Wednesday to return to Brazil. His four-day visit came just one week before Israel's election in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking re-election.

The visit had initially been seen as potentially boosting Netanyahu's election prospects but fell short of the prime minister's expressed hope that Brazil would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro at Yad Vashem (Photo: AFP)

Bolsonaro suggested soon after his inauguration in January that he would move the embassy, but his government later walked back the comments. Brazilian officials instead announced during his Israel visit that the country would open a trade office in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu has said he hopes the trade office is a step toward moving the embassy there as well.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, who Bolsonaro regards as an ally, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017 and ordered the American Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which took place last May.

Israelis and Arabs dispute the status of Jerusalem, which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Israel regards the city as its "eternal and indivisible" capital but that is not recognized internationally.

Jerusalem is home to Yad Vashem, which documents the Holocaust and is a memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during World War Two.US Vice President Mike Pence warned Turkey on Wednesday against buying a Russian S-400 anti-missile system, keeping up the pressure on its NATO ally to abandon the purchase that Washington considers a threat to US military equipment.

"Turkey must choose. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said in remarks at a NATO event in Washington.Israeli troops struck on Wednesday evening three Palestinians who breached a security fence in southern Gaza Strip, said the IDF Spokespersons Unit.

The wounded Palestinians were evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.The funeral of Zachary Baumel will take place on Thursday at 7pm at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Israeli military said Wednesday evening.

Baumels remains were returned to his family after 37 years since his death during the First Lebanon War in 1982.LANSING  The Michigan Land Bank Authority announced Tuesday that nine communities, including the village of Ontonagon, Ontonagon Township, Bessemer and Ironwood and Houghton County will receive a total of $350,000 to help eliminate blight in their communities.

The Rural Community Demolition Grant was made available to county Land Banks and local units of government to help communities remove vacant and abandoned structures from their neighborhoods, allowing them to prepare for future developments that spark business investment and provide job opportunities for residents.

The $50,000 grant to the Village of Ontonagon will enable the village to tear down the former Wagars Restaurant on the main street in Ontonagon. The restaurant has been closed for years, is in dangerous condition and a blight on the business district, according to Village President Ken Waldrop.

The township grant will be used to tear down the house of the late Doug Filppula adjacent to the Township Park. It will be purchased by the park board seeded and become an area of the park where handicap visitors can sit and watch Lake Superior.

Three of the nine communities, the village of Ontonagon, West Branch and Manistee are participating in Project Rising Tide, a program run by the Talent and Economic Development Department of Michigan to provide at risk communities with tools needed to design and build a successful economic framework.

In addition to the resources and assistance from Project Rising Tide, grants will continue to help these communities establish long term sustainable changes to bring about overall prosperity, according to Senator Jim Stamas, R-Midland, who spearheaded the funding in the budget last year.

Waldrop, who made the removal of blight from the village a key issue for his term in office, said addressing of such blight is long overdue. He said the village becoming Land Bank eligible was key to the success. Waldrop said the old restaurant is the second such blighted building to be demolished. Earlier the village demolished the old courtesy garage across from the village offices.

Village Manager Joe Erickson said the award was a pleasant surprise and he was pleased. He added the demolition will be a big improvement to the business community and thanked the business owners who wrote letters in support of the grant. He also credited the work of the DDA, for the work they did on the issue.INVERNESS, Fla. - Robert E. Manninen, 75, passed away peacefully March 28, 2019, at his retirement home in Inverness, after a lengthy hospital stay. He was surrounded by his family and loved ones.

Bob was born on April 1, 1943, in Ontonagon, Mich., to Willho and Ann Manninen of Ewen, Mich. After graduating from Ewen High School in 1961, he attended Northern Michigan University. He served our country in the Air Force, then settled in Fresno and worked with the California Air National Guard.

He was a beloved, loving father and an entrepreneur who loved family, cars, boats and life. After retirement, he and his wife, Judy, traveled the U.S., settling in Florida.

Bob is survived by his son Mike (Sara) Manninen, of Hawaii; two stepchildren and their mother, Judy, of California; siblings, Gerry (Rita) Manninen, of Minneapolis, Pat (Bob) Franti, of Bruce Crossing, Mich., and Carol (Bryan) Besonen, of Trout Creek, Mich .; and numerous nephews and their families.

After cremation, ashes will be placed in a Florida veterans cemetery.

A celebration of Bob's life will be held this summer at Bond Falls, Mich., where he made lasting memories.More than 70% of investors would shy away from purchasing a second-hand property if they could no longer claim negative gearing benefits, according to a new survey conducted by Washington Brown Quantity Surveyors.

The Labor Party has proposed a limit to negative gearing on second-hand homes, allowing deductions only on newly-built properties, so investors will be encouraged to direct their funds to those properties to boost supply.

With the clear majority of respondents having second thoughts about purchasing a second-hand property if this proposed policy is implemented, any government should be considering the wider implications for both the property markets around Australia and the effect on the broader economy, said Tyron Hyde of Washington Brown Quantity Surveyors.

The result appears to support the widespread feeling that there is almost no need to change the countrys negative gearing policy. Of the nearly 3,000 people surveyed, less than 20% thought that changes to the policy were essential.

With such a significant number of people responding, its pretty clear that the overwhelming majority feel that now is not the time to make wholesale changes to negative gearing, said Hyde.

Notably, the research showed that many respondents were away of potential changes, with over 60% of those surveyed confirming they knew that property investors would no longer be able to claim expenses such as strata fees, property management fees, or repairs and maintenance on established properties, should the Labor Party abolish negative gearing.

More than 80% of Aussies also know that proposed negative gearing legislation changes would mean that income losses from newly acquired, second-hand rental properties would no longer be able to be offset against employment income.

Eighty percent of survey respondents also said that the negative gearing policy of either party will be a deciding factor in how they vote in the upcoming federal election.

Whilst the responses here do not indicate which way the respondents will vote, they certainly suggest this policy will factor into voters decision-making. This is a hot and somewhat sensitive topic! Its clear from these results that negative gearing will definitely be an influencing factor at the ballot box, Hyde said.Today

Partly cloudy. Gusty winds in the afternoon. High 73F. SSE winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Windy early. Low 44F. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunny skies. High 63F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.Past Blog Posts Dec 2021 (14) Nov 2021 (23) Oct 2021 (25) Sep 2021 (25) Aug 2021 (28) Jul 2021 (24) Jun 2021 (26) May 2021 (28) Apr 2021 (32) Mar 2021 (29) Feb 2021 (31) Jan 2021 (29) Dec 2020 (27) Nov 2020 (31) Oct 2020 (34) Sep 2020 (30) Aug 2020 (27) Jul 2020 (26) Jun 2020 (23) May 2020 (28) Apr 2020 (25) Mar 2020 (41) Feb 2020 (18) Jan 2020 (23) Dec 2019 (19) Nov 2019 (19) Oct 2019 (22) Sep 2019 (17) Aug 2019 (16) Jul 2019 (18) Jun 2019 (15) May 2019 (18) Apr 2019 (23) Mar 2019 (20) Feb 2019 (22) Jan 2019 (27) Dec 2018 (15) Nov 2018 (23) Oct 2018 (15) Sep 2018 (21) Aug 2018 (21) Jul 2018 (17) Jun 2018 (17) May 2018 (25) Apr 2018 (24) Mar 2018 (23) Feb 2018 (19) Jan 2018 (26) Dec 2017 (13) Nov 2017 (22) Oct 2017 (15) Sep 2017 (23) Aug 2017 (16) Jul 2017 (16) Jun 2017 (21) May 2017 (21) Apr 2017 (19) Mar 2017 (24) Feb 2017 (24) Jan 2017 (27) Dec 2016 (18) Nov 2016 (21) Oct 2016 (24) Sep 2016 (21) Aug 2016 (23) Jul 2016 (22) Jun 2016 (21) May 2016 (19) Apr 2016 (23) Mar 2016 (26) Feb 2016 (25) Jan 2016 (16) Dec 2015 (10) Nov 2015 (15) Oct 2015 (14) Sep 2015 (13) Aug 2015 (13) Jul 2015 (10) Jun 2015 (16) May 2015 (13) Apr 2015 (15) Mar 2015 (14) Feb 2015 (12) Jan 2015 (10) Dec 2014 (9) Nov 2014 (9) Oct 2014 (12) Sep 2014 (10) Aug 2014 (12) Jul 2014 (10) Jun 2014 (10) May 2014 (11) Apr 2014 (13) Mar 2014 (12) Feb 2014 (7) Jan 2014 (11) Dec 2013 (9) Nov 2013 (12) Oct 2013 (7) Sep 2013 (15) Aug 2013 (12) Jul 2013 (11) Jun 2013 (10) May 2013 (11) Apr 2013 (19) Mar 2013 (15) Feb 2013 (14) Jan 2013 (18) Dec 2012 (15) Nov 2012 (10) Oct 2012 (16) Sep 2012 (15) Aug 2012 (20) Jul 2012 (13) Jun 2012 (11) May 2012 (25) Apr 2012 (16) Mar 2012 (11) Feb 2012 (14) Jan 2012 (23) Dec 2011 (2) Nov 2011 (4) Oct 2011 (5) Sep 2011 (6) Aug 2011 (4) Jul 2011 (2) Jun 2011 (6) May 2011 (7) Apr 2011 (14) Mar 2011 (10) Feb 2011 (9) Jan 2011 (6) Dec 2010 (6) Nov 2010 (10) Oct 2010 (10) Sep 2010 (8) Aug 2010 (4) Jul 2010 (4) Jun 2010 (8) May 2010 (8) Apr 2010 (3) Mar 2010 (7) Feb 2010 (5) Jan 2010 (3) Dec 2009 (1) Nov 2009 (1) Oct 2009 (6) Sep 2009 (5) Aug 2009 (1) Jul 2009 (1) Jun 2009 (4) May 2009 (3) Apr 2009 (5) Mar 2009 (5) Feb 2009 (7) Jan 2009 (6) Dec 2008 (4) Nov 2008 (2) Oct 2008 (11) Sep 2008 (17) Aug 2008 (7) Jul 2008 (7) Jun 2008 (7) May 2008 (4) Apr 2008 (2) Mar 2008 (4) Feb 2008 (4) Jan 2008 (7) Dec 2007 (2)A Chinese woman who got through security checkpoints at President Donald Trump`s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida carrying a thumb drive coded with "malicious" software was arrested on Saturday for entering a restricted property and making false statements to officials, according to a court filing.

Documents filed by the Secret Service on Monday in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida say that shortly after noon on Saturday, Yujing Zhang approached a Secret Service agent screening visitors to Mar-a-Lago seeking entrance to the club.

Zhang produced two Chinese passports displaying her photo and said she wanted to go to the pool. Secret Service officers could not initially find her name on an access list for the property, according to the Secret Service affidavit filed with the court.

A club manager said that a man named Zhang was a club member, and even though Yujing Zhang did not give a clear answer as to whether the man was her father, the Secret Service affidavit says resort officials allowed her on the property on the assumption she was related to a member.

Resort personnel became suspicious after Zhang appeared to have trouble explaining why she was visiting Mar-a-Lago, according to the affidavit.

Zhang initially said she was there for an event staged by a group called the United Nations Chinese American Association. But resort staff found no such event was scheduled, according to the court filing.

A receptionist then contacted Secret Service personnel who questioned Zhang and concluded she did not have "any legitimate documentation" authorizing her entry to Mar-a-Lago, according to the filing.

After detaining her, investigators found in Zhang`s possession four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive device and a thumb drive, the Secret Service court filing says. Initial examination of the thumb drive determined it contained "malicious malware," the Secret Service said.

The White House referred questions on the incident to the Secret Service on Tuesday. The Secret Service declined comment, saying the investigation was still open.

In a court filing on Tuesday, a public defender representing Zhang said she was invoking her right to remain silent.

A Justice Department spokeswoman had no comment on the arrest.Has Congress president Rahul Gandhi taken a wrong step forward (or backward) by deciding to contest for the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala? In principle, this is not so, but in practical detail, I think the answer is yes.

It seems to be that the keenly contested general elections this year has begun to resemble a snakes and ladders game. When the Pulwama attack happened, it seemed like the BJP had hit the mouth of a snake, but when the Balakot strikes happened, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed to have converted a potential snake into a ladder as national security became mainstream in the election discourse.

Again, when the Congress president upped the ante for Modi and BJP president Amit Shah by announcing a Rs 6,000-per-month basic income scheme for the poorest Indians to counter the NDA government's PM KISAN scheme that offers a fraction of that to farmers, it seemed Rahul Gandhi had begun climbing a ladder.

However, the Wayanad move has turned out to be a snake for Rahul Gandhi, in my opinion, because it gave Modi a chance to hit out against minority-centric politics. We thought the Congress had begun to avoid the minority-ist tag after Rahul Gandhi declared himself a Shiv bhakt to counter insinuations that he was not for Hindus.

BJP's national-security-plus-Hindutva pitch seems to be working substantially across the Hindi belt, though I would not say that about the regions south of the Vindhyas and east of Patna. In this see-saw, snakes-and-ladders election year, Rahul Gandhi is stronger than what his critics might say, but is weaker than what his supporters might think.

The Wayanad gambit invites charges that the Congress needs to avoid if it is to remain a national party because the sentiments whipped up by the BJP are such that even a please-all manifesto of the kind Congress released this week has limitations despite its sense of painstaking detail. The cynic might say speeches matter more than manifestos.

I have also been reading that the anti-incumbency factor in elections has been receding since 2002 in India, and this means Congress needs to go more than that extra mile.

The Wayanad shift by Rahul Gandhi has made the CPM counter the Congress when one thought they were teaming up to beat the BJP. With friends like that, Congress is definitely on a tricky wicket. If you had asked me which seat Rahul G would contest from if the south was a priority, I would have guessed Medak in Telangana because that is the place from where his grandmother Indira Gandhi won in 1980 on her comeback after the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in the post-Emergency elections in 1977. Of course, this would mean playing ball with K Chandrashekar Rao, the Telangana Chief Minister, who won the seat in 2014 before relinquishing it to become the CM of the newly-carved state. KCR now is pulling his own line as a "Third Front" leader, mocking both the Congress and the BJP.

Now, here is the deal. Mainstream Telugu parties like the YSR Congress and Telugu Desam Party are discredited in Telangana because they staunchly opposed the division of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. KCR is enjoying a long political honeymoon thanks to his decades of leadership for the movement that created the state he is ruling. But somewhere, the anti-incumbency factor kicks in, and that would help the Congress. Given that KCR walks the tightrope between the BJP and Muslim groups alike, befriending him would have helped the Congress as a tactical alliance. The Congress is the natural inheritor of the opposition mantle in Telangana, given its support for the formation of the state and its socio-economic platform that helps farmers, Dalits and minorities in the region. Being gracious to KCR's Telangana Rashtra Samiti here now would have fortified Congress in the north while building a beach-head in the south. That would have required Rahul Gandhi to go that extra mile.

But if there is one thing the Congress does not know, it is going that extra mile. Like the maharajas who sported their royal turbans long after Independence in 1947, the Congress has an identity crisis in which it has to choose between defeating the BJP and retaining its identity.

The Congress is reluctant to live down memories of an overarching, imperious "Grand Old Party" of India. It does not know that winning and keeping allies is an art. Modi won power in 2014 on the BJP's own strength, but his party has been nice to those who stood by him in difficult times and has even kissed and made up with a difficult ally like Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (United) in Bihar.

Under a fourth-generation PM aspirant, one would have thought Congress would shed its modern maharaja attitude under Rahul Gandhi. There is not enough sign of it so far, though the manifesto he has outlined is a dramatically democratic one. Given that he is coming out with his own ideas and crafting his own set of advisers, his decision to contest from Wayanad is strange because the move smells of the Congress of yore. Habits die hard, it seems.

What all this means on the political chessboard is that by gaining a pawn in Kerala, Congress may be losing a rook and a bishop in Rajasthan or MP. In plain English, Rahul Gandhi may win in Wayanad, but Modi's BJP will win more seats in the north thanks to that.

Ultimately, politics is a game in which when a throw of dice is done well, the board changes from snakes and ladders to chess. That's dicey.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)Beijing: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Zero" will be the closing film of the Beijing International Film Festival.

The festival, which will run from April 13 to April 20, will open with "The Composer", a forthcoming Chinese-Kazakh co-production, as its opening title.

The decision to programme "Zero" in such a prominent slot underlines the growing success which Indian films are enjoying with Chinese audiences, reports variety.com.

Directed by Aanand L Rai, the Hindi language film released in December last year.

It features SRK as a person with dwarfism in a love triangle with a scientist with cerebral palsy (actress Anushka Sharma) and a famous actress (Katrina Kaif).

"The Composer" is the first movie to emerge from a cooperation agreement between China and Kazakhstan under Chinese President Xi Jinping's infrastructure-building project, the Belt and Road Initiative.

Directed by Kazakhstan's Xirzat Yahup, it describes the life of a Chinese composer stranded in Almaty in the 1940s who strikes up a friendship with a Kazakh composer.

The line-up is a mix of Hollywood blockbusters (including all five "Jason Bourne" films and all four "Mad Max" titles); homage to filmmakers, including Akira Kurosawa and Alfonso Cuaron (with screenings of "Gravity" and "Children of Men"); and lesser-known works from countries including Indonesia and India.New Delhi: With the Supreme Court nixing February 12 circular, the banks will now have discretion in taking the defaulting companies to NCLT under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), said experts.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the RBI's February 12 circular, which prescribed rules for recognising one-day defaults by large corporates and initiating insolvency action as a remedy.

In the best interest of customers, banks will take a call on referring cases to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on case by case basis, a top public sector bank official told PTI.

Prior to February 12 circular of the RBI, the resolution mechanism available to banks were Corporate Debt Restructuring Scheme (CDR), Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A), and Joint Lenders' Forum (JLF).

It would be difficult to say now cases would be resolved only through a particular mechanism like CDR, S4A or JLF, the official said, adding it would depend on the gravity of the default cases.

Banks can also look at the Project Sashakt as mechanism for the resolution of stressed assets apart from CDR, S4A and JLF, another senior public sector bank official said.

Last year, over two dozen lenders, led mostly by state-run banks, signed the inter-creditor agreement (ICA) under 'Project Sashakt' to speed up the resolution of stressed assets that are under the Rs 500 crore bracket.

According to former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi banks can now take defaulting companies on their own instead of being directed by the regulator.

"It is for the banks now to take a call on case to case basis whether the default is such that it can be taken to NCLT or they are willing to give some more time or restructure it. All these options are within the commercial domain of banks...They will still remain answerable to the RBI," Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Executive Partner Punit Dutt Tyagi said.

According to Tyagi, the resolution can be done through any of the mechanism which existed prior to February 12, 2018 circular.

According to the circular, lenders had to classify a loan account as stressed if there was even a day of default. The bankers had to mandatorily refer all accounts with over Rs 2,000 crore loans to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) or the bankruptcy court if they failed to resolve the problem within 180 days of default.

Lenders were supposed to file an insolvency application under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 within 15 days of the completion of the 180-day deadline. The circular also withdrew the loan resolution mechanisms the RBI had implemented, such as Corporate Debt Restructuring and Strategic Debt Restructuring.

Revised framework for resolution of stressed assets issued on February 12, 2018 invited criticism from various quarters, including a parliamentary panel.

The Reserve Bank of India substituted the previous guidelines with a harmonised and simplified generic framework for resolution of stressed assets in view of the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

"Although the new guidelines have been termed as harmonized and simplified generic framework, yet they are far from being so," Standing Committee on Energy in its report tabled in Parliament last year said.

"The Committee are of the opinion that the coinage of restructuring in resolution plan is hollow without having any serious meaning or business which only reflects the blurred vision of RBI in understanding and appreciating the problems. The Committee expect that clarity of thought and transparency in approach should be the guiding factor to streamline and strengthen the sector squirming under ineluctable hardships," it said.London: Filmmaker Simon Kinberg says "X-Men: The Last Stand" could have given a more wholesome treatment to the story of telepathic and telekinetic mutant, Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix.

Kinberg, who served as the writer for the 2006 film, said they were unable to go "cosmic" with the subplot.

"I really felt that one of the mistakes we made with 'X-Men 3', which told, in a way, the Dark Phoenix story but it was the subplot of that film, one of the mistakes we made was that we didn't go cosmic with it, like the comics," the director told DigitalSpy on the sidelines of WonderCon.

Famke Janssen has starred as Jean Grey in four "X-Men" films and Sophie Turner took over the role in 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse" as the mutant's younger version.

The "Game of Thrones" star reprises the role in the upcoming "X-Men: Dark Phoenix", which marks Kinberg's directorial debut.

He added the new film is an "opportunity" to redo the story at a time when the comic book superhero genre is undergoing evolution.

"I think that was a time in superhero movies where that just wasn't being done, and now we live in a time with 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Thor: Ragnarok' and so many comic book movies are interstellar and cosmic that we felt like this was an opportunity to do our version of that," he said.

The director described "Dark Phoenix" as "a much more grounded, naturalistic and organic version" of the story.

"But nevertheless (it) has an alien character, a cosmic force and sequences in space," he teased of Jessica Chastain's character, who manipulates Jean Grey.

It marks Chastain's entry into Disney-Marvel's mutant superhero universe.

The film, also starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and Tye Sheridan, will release in the US on June 7.New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday sought before a court here a month's time to decide whether to grant sanction to prosecute former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the 2016 JNU sedition case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat directed the AAP government to file a "proper reply", citing a definite time-frame.

DCP of Special Cell of Delhi Police, Pramod Kushwaha, had earlier told the court that the agency has already sent a request to the Delhi government seeking sanction and added that sanction was an administrative action and the charge sheet can be filed without that.

The Delhi Police had earlier told the court that authorities were yet to give requisite sanctions to prosecute Kumar and others in the case, and it would take two to three months to procure sanctions.

On January 14, 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 February 9, 2016.Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Mankeshaw, popularly known as Sam Manekshaw, is considered as one of the greatest military commanders of India.

Born on April 3, 1914, he was the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. He served as the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) during the India-Pakistan War of 1971 and fought five wars during his four-decade-long military career.

He was among the first ones to be inducted into the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in 1932 and was among the first batch of officers who were commissioned from the IMA in 1934. He began his service in the British Indian Army. In World War II, he was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry.

Mankeshaw was appointed the eighth chief of the Indian Army in 1969 and served on the post till 1973. After retirement, in January 1973, Manekshaw was honoured with the rank of Field Marshal, making him the first army officer on whom the rank was conferred.

He also cheated death several times. In one such incident, during World War II in February 1942, Manekshaw was hit nine times in the stomach by a machine-gun but he continued fthe ight. He was so critical that the doctor operating on him was about to give up on his bullet-riddled body. When asked what had happened, Manekshaw quipped that he was kicked by a mule.

At the end of 1947, Pakistani forces infiltrated Kashmir and captured Domel and Muzaffarabad. After this development, Maharaja Hari Singh, the Jammu and Kashmir ruler, asked for help from India and signed the Instrument of Accession. Meanwhile, Manekshaw had carried out an aerial survey of Kashmir and suggested the immediate deployments of troops to prevent Kashmir and Srinagar from being captured. Though the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was not initially in favour of this, he later agreed and troops were sent to Kashmir. Srinagar was occupied just before Pakistani forces reached the outskirts of the city.

In 1961, Manekshaw was caught amid controversy for allegedly making derogatory comments about the political leadership following which he was labelled as unpatriotic. He was charged with sedition. But he was exonerated and he took command of IV Corps in November 1962. Manekshaw told Nehru that the court action against him was a conspiracy and that his promotion had been due for more than a year following which Nehru had apologised.

In 1963, Manekshaw was promoted to the position of the army commander and took over the Western Command. He was transferred in 1964 to the Eastern Command.

An ardent admirer of the Gorkha soldiers, Manekshaw had once famously said, If a soldier says he is not afraid of death, he is either lying or he is a Gorkha.

Under him, the Indian Army conducted victorious campaigns against Pakistan during the 1971 war which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

In 1971 April-end, when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi asked Manekshaw if India was prepared to go to war with Pakistan, he replied that he could guarantee victory over Pakistan if she would allow him to handle the conflict on his own terms, and set a date for it to which she agreed. The strategy planned by Manekshaw was followed by the Army launching several operations in East Pakistan. The forces were used to harass the Pakistani Army stationed in East Pakistan in the lead-up to the war.

The war started officially on December 3, 1971, but as the war followed Pakistan's resistance started to fade away crumbled. His radio message to the Pakistani troops was, "Indian forces have surrounded you. Your Air Force is destroyed. You have no hope of any help from them. Chittagong, Chalna and Mangla ports are blocked. Nobody can reach you from the sea. Your fate is sealed. The Mukti Bahini and the people are all prepared to take revenge for the atrocities and cruelties you have committed...Why waste lives? Don't you want to go home and be with your children? Do not lose time; there is no disgrace in laying down your arms to a soldier. We will give you the treatment befitting a soldier".

Manekshaw addressed the Pakistani army several times and Pakistan had to surrender. After the war, Manekshaw became known for his compassion towards the Prisoner of Wars (POWs).

He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 1972 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1968, the second and third highest civilian awards of India respectively, for his service to the nation.A delegation of National Security Council of Israel lost classified documents related to weapon deals while travelling to India, Haaretz reported, adding that the delegation was headed by National Security Adviser Meir Ben Shabbat.

The documents, which were later recovered by chance, were left at an Israeli restaurant. The NSC carried out a thorough probe in the incident and found that no damage has been caused to Israel's security due to their unintentional mistake.

Ben Shabbat and other members of the council had travelled to India in January. During their visit to India, Ben Shabbat met his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Haaretz, discussions over different weapon deals between the two countries were held during Ben Shabbat's meetings with PM Modi and Doval.

Haaretz added that Israel is planning to ink deal with New Delhi to sell several advanced weapons manufactured by defense industries. The weapons which Israel is interested in selling to India include, spy planes, unmanned aircraft, anti-tank missiles, cannons and radar systems.

Before embarking on their trip to India, several documents related to these weapons were printed by Ben Shabbat's aide. Some of these documents contained classified information, noted Haaretz.

Before boarding their plane to India, Ben Shabbat and his aides stopped at a restaurant and the aide who printed the documents left them there. The investigation found that the documents were found by a waiter after the delegation departed. The waiter checked out some pages of the documents and realized they were related to India and he immediately got in touch with a friend whose mother works for the Israeli Embassy in India. The friend flew to India and gave the documents to his mother; who then passed them on the security officer of the embassy. The incident was then reported to the council by the security team of the embassy.

The probe in this incident was launched at the directive of council chair Yoav Horowitz. After the probe, it became clear that the classified documents were not exposed to any dangerous entity. "The incident was taken care of immediately, a security investigation was carried out and lessons were learned," The Prime Minister's Office said about the incident.New Delhi: Businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, is under the Enforcement Directorate`s (ED) "close scanner" in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal as the "dragnet closes in", agency sources said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the ED informed a city court that Puri had been called for questioning and will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent arrested by the agency in March-end, in the money laundering case.

Puri is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hindustan Powerprojects, one of India`s leading integrated power players in the energy sector.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed the agency to interrogate Gupta for three more days after the court was informed by the ED that he needed to be confronted with Puri who was summoned last week to join the investigation on Wednesday.

An ED official, requesting anonymity, told IANS that it was not clear if Puri had joined the probe on Wednesday but confirmed that he had been questioned several times in connection with the contract to supply 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force.

India on January 1, 2014, scrapped the deal with Italy-based Finmeccanica`s British subsidiary AgustaWestland over an alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore for securing the deal.

"Ratul Puri was questioned on many occasions in AgustaWestland case for routing the kickbacks. This time, he will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta," said the official.

Asked whether Puri can be arrested, the official said: "We have evidences against him which are to be corroborated. Puri`s arrest depends on what investigators find during his confrontation with Gupta. If things go against Puri, he may be arrested this week."

Puri`s questioning along with Gupta, who was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), came after disclosures by lobbyist Rajiv Saxena.

Saxena has turned approver in the case after he was deported from the United Arab Emirates and arrested by the agency here.

Saxena has shared information about Puri with the ED which the agency wants to establish by confronting Gupta, who is suspected of possessing some payment details in the purchase of the choppers.

The ED is probing the case to establish suspected bribes allegedly paid to the "middlemen" when India agreed to purchase the VVIP helicopters.

In December last year, Dubai-based businessman Christian Michel, an alleged middleman in the deal, was extradited to India and lodged in Delhi`s Tihar Jail.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged there was an estimated loss of euro 398.21 million (Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth euro 556.262 million.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, alleged that he received euro 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

"The money was nothing but kickbacks," the charge sheet said.

The ED investigation found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from AgustaWestland through "criminal activity" and corruption in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.Despite the joint operation by India and the Myanmar Army in March against the insurgent group, Arakan Army, the danger on the Kalanan transit project is not over yet.

According to a report, the Arakan Army has claimed that it killed 45 Burmese soldiers in retaliatory action against the Myanmar Army. According to the report of Indian intelligence agencies, Myanmar Army wants to impose an emergency in the whole Rakhine state so major operation can be launched against the Arakan Army. The report also suggests that Arakan Army also targeted a vessel carrying raw materials for Kaladan Project and destroyed it.

''The Arakan Army is getting help from abroad. They are getting arms and explosive training to launch massive attack on Myanmar Army. Its very tough situation for the Burmese Army, on one hand they are fighting against Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and there is another big challenge to fight against Arakan Army,'' according to an official attached to the Defence Ministry of India.

The Arakan Army has claimed that it killed 45 jawans of Myanmar Army in Mrauk-U and Paletwa in Rakhine. The Myanmar Army had confirmed the death of nine of its soldiers. The Myanmar Army has launched aerial attack at several camps of the Arakan Army and now they are seeking that emergency be declared in whole Rakhine.

The Indian Army has also carried out operation between February 17-March 2, on its own area along the Indo-Myanmar border. It is said to have destroyed almost 12 camps of insurgent groups. But in spite of these operations threat still looms large on the Kaladan Project.

As per Indian Army sources, the soldiers didn't cross the Myanmar border and carried out operation against the Arakan Army in its own area.

The operation was done in the area of south Mizoram and the Army had described it as a great success. But on the ground, the situation is still the same and the Myanmar Army is expecting more help from India so Kalanan Project can be secured fully.

''The Arakan Army had attacked a Burmese vessel carrying 300 steel frames for the Paletwa Bridgea and abducted the entire crew but they were later released. The vessel had sailed from Yangon to Paletwa. The Arakan Army is conspiring to launch more such lethal attacks,'' said a security officer working in Indian security establishment.

The Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project is being viewed as India's gateway to the Southeast Asia. India entered into a framework agreement with Myanmar in April, 2008, to facilitate implementation of the project. On completion, the project will help connect Mizoram with the Sittwe Port in Rakhine State of Myanmar. On the Indian side, work is on to extend the Aizawl-Saiha National Highway by 90 km to the international border at Zorinpui.A high level of aerial activity was witnessed at Mendhar in Poonch along the Line of Control and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses reported seeing several IAF jets flying over the area.

This comes a day after news agency ANI reported that the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Army will be destroying three to four unexploded bombs fired by the Pakistan Air Force in Mendhar area. These bombs were fired by Pakistan on February 27 in retaliation following the IAF airstrikes a day before. However, the bombs did not explode after being released from their Mirage-III combat planes.

The development comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan. The IAF scrambled Sukhoi-30 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets to chase away four Pakistani F-16s flying close to Punjab border on late Sunday night. The Pakistani warplanes were accompanied with a surveillance drone, possibly trying to detect the deployment of Indian troops in border areas.

Defence Spokesperson, Jammu later confirmed that there "was no air space violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch."

Tensions between India and Pakistan had flared after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) killed over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a preemptive nonmilitary operation, carried out by IAF's Mirage 2000 jets, in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 to decimate the biggest terror camp of JeM. Pakistan Air Force, retaliatory strikes downed IAF's MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.New Delhi: Based on specific inputs, Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday arrested a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist, accused of looting four rifles from the residence of a Congress legislator last year.

The Police said that it received inputs from reliable sources about the accused and arrested him from a private hospital in Srinagar, where he had gone to get treatment for his injuries, which he sustained during a gunbattle in Pulwama.

"Danish Haneef was taken into custody from a private hospital in Srinagar where he was being treated for injuries sustained during a gunbattle in Pulwama district," the officer told PTI today. When interrogated, the accused admitted his role in rifle theft and his association with banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Danish Haneef, along with few other terrorists, had looted four rifles from the Jawahar Nagar residence of Congress MLA Muzaffar Ahmad Parray in December 2018. A case was also registered against him by Rajbagh Police in Srinagar.

Meantime, the police is carrying out further interrogation of the accused.Ahmedabad: More than 4.51 crore voters, including 10.06 lakh first-timers, are eligible to exercise their franchise across the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat that goes to the polls on April 23, a top official said Wednesday.

The figure, which saw a drop in third gender voters, was arrived at after revision of electoral rolls in the state.

Between September 1, 2018, and March 25, 2019, a total of 10.05 lakh voters were added to the existing list in the revision carried out in two phases, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Murali Krishna said.

The total number of eligible voters in Gujarat now stood at 4,51,25,680 - 2,34,28,119 crore males, 2,16,96,571 crore females and 990 from the third gender, he said while addressing a press conference here.

The revision of electoral rolls involved addition, deletion, updating of details and change in address.

The number of third gender voters came down by 149 to 990 following the revision carried out between February 1, 2019, and March 25, 2019, Krishna said.

"It appears mistakes in marking might have been removed during modification, which is why the number went down," he said.

After the revision of electoral rolls, of the 26 Lok Sabha seats, Navsari has the highest number voters at 19.71 lakh, followed by Gandhinagar (19.45 lakh), Rajkot (18.83 lakh), Surendranagar (18.47 lakh), and Bardoli (18.26 lakh).

The Bharuch parliamentary seat has the lowest number of voters at 15.64 lakh.

Krishna said a total of 127 candidates have filed their nomination forms till April 2. The last date for filing nominations is April 4.

He informed that Rs 3.37 crore in cash had been seized during operations carried out by the income tax department, flying squads and state surveillance teams after the model code of conduct came into effect on March 10.

Of this, Rs 1.63 crore was seized in Ahmedabad, Rs 93 crore in Valsad and Rs 44.70 lakh in Surat, he said.

Of the total 56,925 registered weapons in the state, 51,677 were deposited with government authorities after declaration of the election schedule on March 10, he said.

Also, 44,948 non-bailable warrants were issued and 1.90 lakh people detained under various CrPC sections since the model code of conduct came into force, Krishna said.MUMBAI: Buckling under immense pressure from its ally Shiv Sena, the BJP has denied ticket to its sitting MP from Mumbai Northeast, Kirit Somaiya, for the upcoming Lok Sabha poll.

The 65-year-old Kirit Somaiya's dropping has left everyone surprised because he is one of the most prominent faces of the BJP in parliament. Experts maintain that Somaiya has paid the price for speaking against Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray.

Somaiya has been the BJP MP from Mumbai Northeast twice and he is the only sitting MP from Maharashtra who has been denied ticket by the ruling party. In 2014, Somaiya won the Mumbai Northeast seat by over three lakhs.

Somaiya kept on replying to Sena's attacks on the BJP over the last few years when the relations between the two parties soured after the 2014 Lok Sabha poll and the Assembly election in the state. Every time Sena launched an attack on the BJP, it was Somaiya who was the first one to hit back at Uddhav Thackeray's party.

The acrimony between the BJP and Shiv Sena ended in February with both the sides announcing that they will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha poll as allies. Recently, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray accompanied BJP President Amit Shah when the latter went to file his nomination from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Though the two parties ironed out their differences, the anger of Shiv Sena chief against Somaiya did not end and as a result of which he ended up losing the ticket.

Kirit Somaiya had sensed that he was in trouble and he had requested a meeting with Uddhav Thackeray to settle the matter but the Sena chief refused to meet the BJP leader.

Three Assembly constituencies of Mumbai Northeast - Mulud, Ghatkopar East and Ghatkopar West - have a large number of Gujarati population and in 2014 the BJP had managed to win the votes of Gujaratis to ensure Somaiya's victory from this seat.

Kirit Somaiya, who is a Chartered Accountant, was constantly targeting Shiv Sena by filing RTI against the party leaders. The BJP leader had repeatedly targeted the Shiv Sena for bad roads in Mumbai and corruption in BMC, which is under the control of Sena.

Things got worse during the BMC election when Kirit Somaiya launched a direct attack on Uddhav Thackeray by saying that the BMC is under the control of a 'Saheb' who lives in Bandra. It is to be noted that Uddhav's residence 'Matoshree' is located in Bandra. Kirit Somaiya upped the ante once again when he challenged the Sena supremo to make a public declaration of his properties.

Sources said that Shiv Sena had told the BJP clearly that the party will oppose Somaiya nomination and no Sena worker will campaign for him. Sena MLA from Vikhroli, Sunil Raut, had also threatened to contest as an Independent if the BJP decides to field Somaiya from the seat again.

Meanwhile, Somaiya has welcomed BJP's decision to field Manoj Kotak from Mumbai Northeast. Somaiya said that he will support Kotak and ensure that the BJP wins from this seat.MATHURA: Bollywood's 'dream girl' Hema Malini had a dream run in the last Lok Sabha polls but her electoral rivals claim she neglected her constituency and wasn't approachable during her term and Brijwasis would reject her this time.

But Hema Malini is pinning her hopes on the work the Narendra Modi government has done in the past five years.

She is up against Narendra Singh of the RLD, which is part of the alliance with the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, and Congress's Mahesh Pathak.

The opposition is also billing it a 'Brijwasi vs outsider contest' claiming that Hema Malini was never approachable during her entire term. The opinion of voters was somewhat divided. Some fell that the Balakot air strike and Mission Shakti could be electoral issues while for others, problems of farmers, unemployment and lack of development are major issues here.

"We don't know Hema Malini but we have full faith in Modi. Sometimes you have to forget own problems for the sake of the country," said a shopkeeper near the Krishna Janambhoomi temple.

"Hema Malini never came to our village. We did not see her after 2014. We prefer a local who is approachable," said a resident of Chhata.

Narendra Singh, who lost previous three assembly elections, accused her of neglecting the constituency, saying one cannot work for Mathura while sitting in Mumbai.

"I am a Brijwasi and know about the problems of locals. Last time, she won because of the Modi wave but after that she was not involved with her constituency. Forget about the people, her own party cadres are against her. Vikas (development) is missing in Mathura," he said.

"She did nothing for cleaning of the Yamuna, Chhata sugar mill and unemployment issues, monkey menace in Vrindavan etc.," he said.

He claimed this contest is a secular vs communal one in which secular forces will win.

But Hema Malini contested this and said people believe in Modi and will vote for him and her work. "I have done a lot of work and a lot has to be done. For that I need another five years. I will revive the old heritage of Brij with modern facilities. I am contesting this election only for the development of Mathura and have spent all my MP fund for good causes," she told PTI.

In 2014, Hema Malini defeated Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate Jayant Chaudhary by a massive margin of 3,30,743 votes. Analysts said if the opposition candidate could win if its manages to swing the Jat, OBC, Muslim and Thakur votes in its favour.

It may be mentioned here that Narendra Singh's elder brother and three-time former MP Manvendra Singh joined the BJP recently. Congress candidate Mahesh Pathak is eyeing the upper caste votes.

The temple town has a total of 17,99,321 voters, 8,23,276 of them being women. Mathura has five assembly segments -- Chhata, Mant, Goverdhan, Mathura and Baldev. The BJP won this seat from 1991 to 2004, the Congress (Manvendra Singh) in 2004 and Jayant Chaudhary of RLD (2009).The Centre on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court (SC) opposing the Election Commission's stand on electoral bonds, stressing that the issuing of electoral bonds was a pioneer step aimed at bringing major poll reforms and ensuring transparency and accountability in funding for political parties.

In its new affidavit, the Centre said that earlier individuals or corporates were making huge cash donations to political parties using illicit means of funding. The affidavit added that unaccounted black money was also used in electoral process.

The Centre opposed the EC's stand just a day after the poll panel filed an affidavit before the apex court expressing concerns over the issuing of electoral bonds, saying the changes implemented by the central government in several laws will affect the 'transparency' of the electoral process.

On Wednesday, an SC bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that it will hear the petitions challenging the validity of the Centres decision on April 5.

The SC bench told advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represented Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), that an appropriate bench will hear the matter on April 5.

In its plea, ADR has sought a stay on the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018, which was notified by the Centre in January last year. The NGO has said that changes introduced in the relevant Acts have "opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate donations to political parties and anonymous financing by Indian as well as foreign companies, which can have serious repercussions on the Indian democracy".

The Centre has said in its fresh affidavit that the electoral bonds attempt at bringing greater transparency, ensuring KYC compliance and keeping an audit trail in comparison to the earlier opaque system of cash donations."

Accordingly, the concern of the Election Commission of India that electoral bonds will enable foreign companies to influence Indian policies is without any legal or factual merit, it said.

The government added that there was unregulated flow of black money under the old system and the unaccounted-for monies received by political parties were also spent without being accounted for, thus creating/enabling a parallel economy, as it were, through the use of unaccounted for cash.

It is submitted that contrary to the concerns raised by the Election Commission of India, the amendments in the respective legislatures have been made and the Electoral Bond Scheme has been introduced, as a pioneer step in bringing electoral reforms, to ensure that the spirit of transparency and accountability in political funding is maintained, it said.

Further justifying the issuing of electoral bond, the government said, Under the present system, electoral bonds can be issued only by an authorized bank, being the State Bank of India. All payments made for the issuance of the electoral bonds are accepted only by means of a demand draft, cheque or through the Electronic Clearing System or direct debit to the buyers account. No Black money can, therefore, be used for the purchase of these bonds, it said.

The government said the new system makes it mandatory for the political party to disclose the receipt of money through electoral bonds. The Centre's affidavit also added that under the new system political party have to account for the receipt of money too.

The Electoral Bonds is a positive step in the right direction to ensure accountability and transparency in conducting elections. The need to bring about such a change was felt as the measures that existed on the book were either not enough or were proving to be ineffective/insufficient in dealing with the menace of corruption in Elections, it said.

It may be recalled that the electoral bonds were announced by the BJP-led government at the Centre in the earlier budget despite stiff resistance by opposition parties.Jammu: Seeking a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Avinash Rai Khanna on Monday said the country had witnessed scams under the Congress rule, while the BJP had flooded it with welfare schemes.

Campaigning for Union minister Jitendra Singh, the BJP candidate from the Udhampur-Doda seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Khanna asked the people to compare the Congress era of multi-crore-rupee scams with the current BJP rule that brought multi-sectorial schemes.

Addressing a large gathering of village heads, presidents and members of the municipalities of Kathua district, the BJP national vice-president and Jammu and Kashmir in-charge said, "India faced scams under the Congress rule, while the BJP has flooded the country with welfare schemes."

Khanna believes that, prior to the formation of the BJP government at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UPA-I and UPA-II had created "history" in scams.

"The BJP formed its government at the Centre in 2014 and in the last five years, a large number of welfare schemes for all sections of the society like the Mudra Bank Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ayushman Bharat scheme, Ujjwala, Sukanya etc. Have been launched and crores of people across the country have availed them," he added.

BJP state general secretary Narinder Singh, claimed that the Modi wave had rendered the Congress issueless and its leaders were unable to face the public.

Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Rajiv Jasrotia said that Singh would win with a huge margin, as his five-year term had been splendid with a record number of development projects brought for the first time.Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress over their election manifesto that pledges to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a press brief in the national capital, the senior BJP leader questioned this and said it is an effort to weaken the morale of the armed forces and that it clearly undermines the forces. She alleged that the Congress is trying to dilute the immunity of the security forces.

Sitharaman accused the party of supporting separatists and anti-nationals. She asked that by bringing a change to AFSPA who does Congress want to help, adding that the manifesto of the party demoralises the Army.

"Our govt has removed the AFSPA from many states when it deemed it fit. A govt just can't remove it, as stated in the Congress manifesto. The Centre and state need to coordinate for its removal. It'll severely impact security doctrine," said Sitharaman.

Reiterating her stand, she warned that any change in the AFSPA's law will provide convenience to separatists and terrorists and that the Congress' suggestion is only to sensationalise their offer.

She also added that the Congress wants to reduce the power of the district level officials in Jammu and Kashmir. Citing an example of a situation, she said that currently the district officials are empowered to implement Section 144 of the CrPc when the need arises. But the Congress intends to take away this power that will lead to chaos.

"We have to work together for Jammu and Kashmir. The manifesto of the Congress is dangerous to the nation," said Sitharaman.

She alleged that after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed the party had announced that they will give martyr status to the paramilitary force but nothing has been mentioned in their manifesto.

The Congress on Tuesday had released their manifesto, It questioned that if amending AFSPA was anti-national, why did the government withdraw it from Tripura, Meghalaya and some districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Congress, in its 54-page manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha poll, has promised to review the deployment of armed forces, move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely, reduce the presence of the Army and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the Valley and entrust more responsibility with the Jammu and Kashmir police for maintaining law and order.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said it would compromise national security.New Delhi: A day after releasing Congress' manifesto for the upcoming national election, party president Rahul Gandhi made a new poll promise for ex-servicemen. In a tweet, he announced that if voted to power, Congress would allow qualified ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the Civil Services.

"Our ex-Servicemen are Indias pride and must be given the respect they deserve. We will allow qualified Ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the Civil Services. The Central Armed Police Forces will be opened up to ex-Servicemen under the age of 40," read Rahul's tweet.

Congress' poll manifesto, titled 'Hum Nibhayenge,' (We will deliver) was released by Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior leader P Chidambaram among others.

Briefing the media about the manifesto, the party leaders asserted that the manifesto focusses on the issues of jobs, farmer distress, safety of women and boosting the rural economy. The Congress also promised to increase the spending on defence and expedite modernisation programmes of the Armed Forces.

Earlier, the Modi government also notified positions of joint secretaries through lateral entry scheme. News agency PTI had reported that over 6,000 candidates had shown interest in 10 posts of joint secretaries in the central government offered to private sector specialists as part of the Modi government's bid to bring in fresh talent in bureaucracy.Ahmedabad: The head of an organisation representing 'harassed husbands' has jumped into the Lok Sabha poll fray in Gujarat with a promise that if voted to power, he will voice woes of men "victimised" by their wives.

Dashrath Devda, who runs an NGO called 'Akhil Bhartiya Patni Atyachar Virodhi Sangh', on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from the Ahmedabad-East Lok Sabha constituency.

"I will continue to fight for men who are victimised by their wives and in-laws in the name of dowry," Devda said.

He has entered the poll fray for the third time as an independent candidate, after unsuccessfully contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha and the 2017 state Assembly polls.

Devda, whose NGO claims to have nearly 69,000 registered members, got around 2,300 votes in the last Lok Sabha election and only 400 votes while contesting the Assembly poll from Naroda constituency two years ago.

"Unlike other contenders, I don't spend money on campaigning. I approach voters by going door-to-door, and promise them that I will ensure men get equal rights. If voted to power, I will voice the concerns of men whom their wives harass by using IPC section 498 (domestic violence)," he said.

Devda said he will seek abolition of this Indian Penal Code section "which has been abused by many", and also raise the demand for setting up a national commission for men.

He said the Domestic Violence Act also needed to be revised.

"I believe both men and women need to have equal rights. Hundreds of men are committing suicide every year after being harassed by their wives. We need to work to stop this," he said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday slammed the Congress, terming its manifesto as a "hypocrisy document" which was "full of lies". Addressing his second rally in Arunachal Pradesh within a week, the prime minister cited the Congress manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, and said it had promised that every house would have electricity by 2009. "However, till 2014 around 18,000 houses were unelectrified... Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called hypocrisy document, not a manifesto," PM Modi said. He also said the Lok Sabha poll will be about the fight between "trust and corruption, and about resolution and conspiracy".

The prime minister also kickstarted his campaign in West Bengal. The PM held two rallies, one from Siliguri and another at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee also held a rally in the state. CM Banerjee also held er first public meeting for the general election in Dinhata.

Banerjee, who was earlier scheduled to begin her campaign meetings on April 4 in North Bengal, has preponed it by a day to address the rally at Dinhata in Coochbehar constituency, which goes to polls in the first phase. BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh claimed that people in North Bengal will go to hear the Prime Minister at Siliguri. "Who will go to Dinhata?" he asked. The distance between Dinhata and Siliguri is about 170 km by road.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will address two poll rallies in Chhattisgarh's Naxal-hit Bastar constituency. The Bastar seat will alone go to polls in the state in the first phase of elections on April 11. Chouhan's public meetings will be held in Sukma and Kondagaon districts. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will visit Nagaland, Assam and Meghalaya where he will hold rallies.

Thank You for joining us. Do come back again on Thursday (April 4) for live updates of Lok Sabha election.

Here are the updates from Wednesday (April 3)

* BJP releases a list of 4 candidates for elections to the Odisha state legislative assembly.

BJP releases a list of 4 candidates for elections to the Odisha state legislative assembly. pic.twitter.com/BhmhekLtmH  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* Election Commission issues notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his 'Modi ki sena' remarks, made during a speech. The Commission has asked him to file a reply by April 5, ANI reported.

Election Commission issues notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his 'Modi ki sena' remarks, made during a speech. The Commission has asked him to file a reply by April 5. pic.twitter.com/BDX9AEXVLA  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* "Akhilesh is my elder brother. There's no question of 'Yadav' here. Ppl won't choose you only bcos you're a Yadav, if you contest on that,you'll lose badly. Today nation is thinking about other issues," said Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua', BJP candidate from Azamgarh.

* Congress party releases list of 6 candidates in Gujarat for Lok Sabha Election.

Congress party releases list of 6 candidates in Gujarat for #LokSabhaElections2019 . pic.twitter.com/HD9pfeNpzr  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* Meghalaya to have at least 60 all-women polling booths during Lok Sabha Election. Chief electoral officer FR Kharkongor said, "There's always been high enrollment&turnout of women in state, 52% voters are women. We had 67 pink booths last yr, at least 60 this time"

Shillong: Meghalaya to have at least 60 all-women polling booths during #LokSabhaElections2019 . Chief electoral officer FR Kharkongor says, "There's always been high enrollment&turnout of women in state, 52% voters are women. We had 67 pink booths last yr, at least 60 this time" pic.twitter.com/vPmuUYuJOE  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* Jharkhand: At least 2000 school children formed a human chain in Khunti to create awareness about the upcoming #LokSabhaElections2019 . 14 parliamentary constituencies of Jharkhand will undergo polling in 4 phases, Khunti on May 6.

Jharkhand: At least 2000 school children formed a human chain in Khunti to create awareness about the upcoming #LokSabhaElections2019 . 14 parliamentary constituencies of Jharkhand will undergo polling in 4 phases, Khunti on May 6. pic.twitter.com/Ha77gHaeMz  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

*"If by mistake these 'Mahamilavti' people get power then naxals will get a big boost. Congress has already promised in manifesto that sedition case will not be imposed on any urban naxal, they have promised to do away with sedition law," PM Modi.

* "Some sitting in AC rooms in Delhi are saying 'its been long, people are now forgetting Balakot strike'. You tell me, have you forgotten? We have still not forgotten 1962 war,how will we forget Balakot?" PM Narendra Modi in Gondia, Maharashtra.

* Congress party release list of 1 candidate in Odisha for Lok Sabha Election and 9 candidates for elections to the Odisha state legislative assembly.

Congress party releases list of 1 candidate in Odisha for #LokSabhaElections2019 and 9 candidates for elections to the Odisha state legislative assembly. pic.twitter.com/onxlg0nsoN  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on PM Modi: "He is an expiry babu. His government has expired. You (PM) said in Siliguri that we (TMC) did not do anything for poor, what have you done in the last five years? Don't speak lies everyday.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on PM Modi: He is an expiry babu. his govt has expired. You(PM) said in Siliguri that we(TMC Govt) did not do anything for poor, what have you done in the last 5 years? Don't speak lies everyday. pic.twitter.com/gdsODzv8r1  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* Centre creating scarcity of helicopters in Karnataka, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy told PTI

* Mamata Banerjee addressed a rally in Coochbehar on Tuesday and attacked PM Modi, saying he is making a mockery of the Army by calling them Modi Sena. "I am born in the land of Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. We wont take a nationalist certificate from you," she added.

* "If you choose Narendra Modi govt, in next 5 years we'll oust every single infiltrator from the country. Infiltrators are eating our country like termites. They want to change demography of Jammu. As long as there's BJP govt, we won't let this happen," BJP president Amit Shah in Jammu and Kashmir.

* Telugu Desam Party (TDP) complains to Election Commission against Nellore MLA & YSRCP's Nellore candidate Anil Kumar Yadav over a speech he delivered on Tuesday, ANI reported. The party mentions 'It was intended to terrorise public who are not supporters of YSRCP.'

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) complains to Election Commission against Nellore MLA & YSRCP's Nellore candidate Anil Kumar Yadav over a speech he delivered yesterday. The party mentions 'It was intended to terrorise public who are not supporters of YSRCP.'  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has said that Jammu and Kashmir's relation with India will end if terms and conditions of its accession altered

* "RSS, BJP and PM Narendra Modi want to divide the nation. They spread hatred, while the Congress wants to unite the nation. The party wants to spread harmony and brotherhood," said Rahul Gandhi in Assam.

* "We had given Assam special status but the BJP snatched it away. If we come to power, we will once again give Assam the special status," Rahul Gandhi says at Golaghat.

* The money for NYAY will come from the pockets of all the businessmen protected by PM Modi, said Rahul Gandhi. He added that the time has come to shift the narrative of country towards the truth. Earlier the slogan was 'Acche Din' but now it is, 'Chowkidar Chor Hai'.

* "While BJP made you stand in long queues for your own money with draconian policies like demonetisation, we will bring you justice with NYAY and provided minimum income support of Rs 12,000 for all poor families of the country," said Rahul Gandhi in Assam.

* Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses rally in Assam's Golaghat

* A squad of the Election Commission stopped Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's vehicle to conduct a check. The Static Surveillance team of the EC stopped the Chief Minister's SUV on the highway while he was on his way to Hassan. Kumaraswamy was photographed sitting in the front passenger seat. (READ FULL STORY HERE)

* Navjot Kaur who had applied for Chandigarh Congress ticket says, "Pawan Bansal ji (LS candidate) is a senior leader. I respect the party's decision and we will work towards his win. My vision was to work for the benefit of the youth in the area. Unfortunately, it could not take off."

* I am waiting for this speed breaker to go so development can gather speed: PM Modi tells BJP rally in Siliguri

* Speedbreaker Didi has not allowed people of Bengal to Benefit from Ayushman Bharat scheme: PM Modi tells rally in Siliguri

* After the Balakot air strike when our forces returned the pain that should have been felt in Islamabad and Rawalpindi in Pakistan but it was felt by Didi (Mamata Banerjee) in Kolkata. She said that what has PM Modi done says PM Modi

* Mamata Banerjee has put a brake to the development of more than 70 lakh farmers in the state: PM Narendra Modi at Siliguri rally

* If poverty ends then the politics of CM Mamata Banerjee will also come to an end, PM Narendra Modi at Siliguri rally

* There is a speed breaker in the state called 'Didi'. She stalls the development in the state: PM Narendra Modi at Siliguri rally

* PM Narendra Modi addresses rally in Siliguri, West Bengal.

* BJP chief Amit Shah addresses a rally in Uttrakhand's Uttarkashi.

* PDP president and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti has filed her nomination from Anantnag parliamentary constituency

* To protect and develop Arunachal Pradesh, you need to ensure that NDA forms govt in the centre: PM Modi

* In their 2004 manifesto, Congress stated that every house would have electricity by 2009. However, till 2014 around 18,000 houses were unelectrified: PM Modi

* Just like them (Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called hypocrisy document, not a manifesto: PM Modi

* We never committed the sin of betraying farmers but we introduced mechanism from seed to market. Besides, we implemented PM KISAN scheme: PM Modi

* On the one hand, you've people who insult your culture and on the other, you have a chowkidaar who accepts your culture as his own, says PM

* We want to make Arunachal Pradesh and entire northeast gateway of East Asia. For new Arunachal Pradesh, our vision, is connectivity, resources and respect, says PM Modi

* It is with the support of the people of Arunachal Pradesh that we have been able to develop roads, national highway, railway and improve the air connectivity of the state with the rest of the nation. It is the result of your strong trust on us: PM Modi in Pasighat

* This election is a fight between promises and intentions, faith and corruption, relationships and conspiracies, says PM Modi at Pasighat

* It's because of your support that I was able to continue developmental work for Arunachal Pradesh, says PM Modi at Pasighat

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public rally at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a public rally at Pasighat shortly. pic.twitter.com/kBRuPa6iLU  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* BSP chief Mayawati and JanaSena Party Pawan Kalyan to hold a press conference in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam at 11 am. The press meet venue has been changed to Sai Priya Resorts Rushikonda from Hotel Gate.

*

#WATCH RR Bansal, Samajwadi Party, while interacting with party workers in Chhatarpur: Ye hamare karyakartaon ka kartavya banta hai ki gaon mein jaayein, jo log vote nahi daal rahe hain, unse parchi le aaye aur parchi laa karke vote daalo. #MadhyaPradesh (02.04.2019) pic.twitter.com/XMd0Is6y21  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

* Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath will hold two rallies in Meerut, and Ghaziabad.

* NCP leader Sharad Pawar will hold a rally in Maharashtra's Solapur.

* BSP leader Mayawati is scheduled to hold a rally in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada.

* Several leaders will also file nominations:

BJP leader Jaya Prada will file nominations from Uttar Pradesh's Rampur.

NCP leader Supriya Sule will file nomination for Baramati in Pune, Maharashtra.

BJP leader Jitendra Singh will file nomination in Jammu.

LJD leader Sharad Yadav will file his nomination in Madhepura. Tejashwi along with other Mahagathbandhan leaders are likely to accompany him.

PDP leader Mehbooba Muti will file nomination from Anantnag, Jammu.

* The PM will hold a rally in Arunachal Pradesh's Pasighat at 10.30 am. He is also scheduled to address a rally in Maharashtra's Gondiya at 6.55 pm.

* PM Modi is scheduled to kickstart his campaign in West Bengal on Wednesday by holding two rallies--one in Siliguri and the other in Kolkata. CM and and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee too will hold a rally, in Dinhata, in the state. The PM is scheduled to kickstart his campaign in the TMC-ruled state from Siliguri at 1 pm and will hold another rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata at 3. Banerjee, who was earlier scheduled to begin her campaign meetings on April 4 in North Bengal, has preponed it by a day to address the rally at Dinhata in Coochbehar constituency, which goes to polls in the first phase.

* BJP president Amit Shah will address two election rallies in Jammu. BJP president Amit Shah will address two mega rallies in Udhampur and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Shah will be campaigning for BJP candidates -- sitting MP Jugal Kishore Sharma and Union minister Jitendra Singh -- seeking re-election from Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituencies.

* Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to campaign for his party in Assam and Northeast on April 3. He will visit Dimapur, Nagaland, followed by Bokakhat in Kaliabor Lok Sabha Constituency and Lakhimpur LS Constituency in Assam and in Meghalaya's Shillong, where he will attend two meetings with his party and stay overnight.

* Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan will address poll rallies in Chhattisgarh. Chouhan's public meetings will be held in Sukma and Kondagaon districts. He will arrive at the Raipur airport around 10.30 am and leave for Sukma in a helicopter. After addressing a rally in Sukma, he will go to Kondagaon where he will address another public meeting around 1 pm. He will later return to Raipur where he will address a press conference before leaving for Bhopal.MANDYA: In an electoral battle between two un-equals, age wise or otherwise, a star war is on for supremacy in Karnataka`s Mandya Lok Sabha constituency where polling is due on April 18 in the first phase.

In what could have been a sure victory for Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) candidate and Kannada-Telugu films actor Nikhil Kumaraswamy, in the party`s bastion, the dramatic entry of multilingual south Indian actress Sumalatha Ambareesh in the fray as an Independent has queered the pitch and divided the people across the constituency in the old Mysuru region, about 100 km southwest of Bengaluru.

Though 55-year-old Sumalatha is not new to the electorate in the key constituency, which her late husband and Kannada rebel star M.H. Ambareesh represented thrice, once as a JD-S member and twice as a Congress member, 29-year-old Nikhil, a novice in politics, is betting on the party`s stronghold to debut in Parliament, more as the son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and grandson of JD-S supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

The sudden death in Bengaluru on November 24, 2018 of the 66-year-old Ambareesh has snatched Mandya of its demigod, as he was not only a son of the soil, but also the most popular leader of the district, through which the river Cauvery flows southwards.

The loss was so huge that Ambareesh`s body had to be flown on November 25 to Mandya from Bengaluru for allowing lakhs of his people, including his legion of fans, to pay homage to him from Mandya, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts.

"The outpouring of grief, love, affection and respect lakhs of people have for Ambareesh is to be seen to be believed. He was everything for the people of Mandya and could identify with anyone, irrespective of age, caste, creed or gender. I was moved by their warmth and feelings to Ambareesh, who cared so much for them. I am contesting to represent him politically too and continue his legacy of serving them," said Sumalatha while electioneering with Kannada stars campaigning for her to win the battle.

Though Ambareesh was with the Congress for over a decade and served as Union Minister of State of Information and Broadcast in the first UPA government (2006-07) and a cabinet minister in the Siddaramaiah government in the southern state (2013-16), he did not contest in the May 2018 assembly elections for health reasons.

"As the Congress allowed JD-S to contest from Mandya under the seat-sharing pact as pre-poll allies, I decided to contest as an Independent for the sake of Ambareesh and the people of Mandya who were very dear to him," recalled Sumalatha.

Mandya was one of the two Lok Sabha seats the JD-S won in the May 2014 elections, with Hassan being other from where Gowda`s another grandson, Prajwal, is contesting in place of Deve Gowda, who has represented for a record 6 times since 1991. Prajwal is the son of state PWD minister H.D. Revanna. Nikhil`s mother Anita Kumaraswamy is a member of the state assembly from the Ramanagara segment,

As Ambareesh was an icon in the film industry, a dozen Kannada actors and actresses, including popular heroes Darshan and Yash, have joined the campaign for Sumalatha, as her husband was a legend and considered a part of the triumvirate along with matinee idols Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan.

Nikhil debuted in the tinsel world with a Kannada-Telugu bilingual film "Jaguar". His latest film, "Seetharama Kalyana" in Kannada, was released recently. His third film "Kurukshetra" is under production.

As Nikhil too belongs to the politically dominant Vokkaliga community in the state, especially in the old Mysuru region, the JD-S hopes he will be able to defeat Sumalatha at the hustings and allow the party to retain the constituency, in which the party had won all the 8 assembly seats in the May 12, 2018 elections.

"Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy are very popular in the old Mysuru region, especially in this (Mandya) district, as they are treated as `son of the soil` despite hailing from Holenarsipur (in Hassan district). The party`s symbol - a woman carrying paddy on her head - and its manifesto represent lakhs of farmers and rural folk across the state," party spokesman Ramesh Babu told IANS.

With the JD-S heading the 10-month-old coalition government even after winning only 37 seats in the 225-member house in the assembly polls, and Kumaraswamy waiving a staggering Rs 48,000 crore in farm loans, the party is upbeat on Nikhil benefiting from the goodwill farmers and the rural electorate have for the Gowdas.

"In the assembly elections, our party won 25 of the 55 seats in the old Mysuru region, which is the highest in the state. Since then, our party has consolidated its presence with a slew of pro-farmers and pro-people policies and programmes for the socio-welfare development of them. These have generated a lot of goodwill to our party, and Nikhil is bound to benefit from this," Babu asserted.Nagaland constituency is the only Lok Sabha seat in the Northeastern state.

Nagaland registered 83.09 percent voter turnout in 2019, a loss of 5.44 percent. The total number of electors in the constituency is 1206287 while the total voter turnout is 1002361. While in 2014, the constituency registered 88.53 percent voter turnout. The total number of electors in the constituency was 1177572 while the total voter's turnout was 1042504.

The Nagaland Parliamentary constituency comprises of all the 60 Assembly segments in the state. At least 12,09,613 voters including 5,96,134 women were eligible to exercise their franchise at 2,227 polling stations in Nagaland.

The first phase of voting in the lone Lok Sabha constituency in Nagaland ended on April 11. The fate of four candidates will be decided on May 23 when counting of votes takes place and the result is declared.

Here is the full list of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election in 2019 from Nagaland Lok Sabha constituency of Nagaland.

1 K L Chishi Indian National Congress Affidavit 2 Hayithung Tungoe National People's Party Affidavit 3 Tokheho Yepthomi Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party Affidavit 4 Dr. M M Thromwa Konyak Independent

Nagaland constituency is the only Lok Sabha seat in the Northeastern state. The sole Lok Sabha seat in the state went to poll in the first phase on 11 April and counting will be held on May 23.

The Nagaland Parliamentary constituency comprises of all the 60 Assembly segments in the state.

Nagaland constituencies: All you need to know

In the 2014 election, Naga Peoples Front leader and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio won the seat by a massive margin of 4,00,225 votes. Neiphiu Rio had bagged 713,372 votes as against his nearest rival of Congress KV Pusa who stood at the second spot with 313,147 votes.

However, by-poll in Nagaland was necessitated because of the resignation of Neiphiu Rio after he took over as the Chief Minister of the state. Naga Peoples Front could not win the bypoll as Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party's Tokheho Yepthomi bagged 594,205 to defeat the Naga Peoples Front candidate C Apok Jamir by a margin of 1,73,746 votes.

Earlier in the 2009 election, Naga Peoples Front's CM Chang had won the seat by securing 8,32,224 votes, winning by a margin of 483021 votes against his nearest rival from Congress K Asungba Sangtam.SILIGURI: Launching a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called her a "speedbreaker" in the path of development of West Bengal. PM Modi stressed that the people of the state must vote out Mamata if they want to usher in development in West Bengal.

"I have not been able to ensure development of Bengal in the same speed as in the rest of the country. The reason for this is that in Bengal there is a speedbreaker, and this speedbreaker is known as Didi," Modi said.

Continuing his attacks on the TMC supremo, Modi accused Mamata of depriving the people of Bengal of getting medical benefits of upto Rs five lakhs under the 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme launched by the Centre. It is to be noted that TMC government had withdrawn its consent to the scheme.

PM Modi also attacked Mamata for not allowing the farmers of West Bengal to make use of the beenfits of direct transfer of money to their accounts under the 'PM Kisan Samman Yojana'.

During the rally in Siliguri, Modi said that the chitfunds supported by TMC-led government have looted the poor of Bengal. "Didi has destroyed through her associates the poor people who invested in the chit funds," he said. Modi claimed that there is no difference between TMC, Congress and the Left but they will not succeed in their designs becuase they are up against a chowkidar.

The PM also slammed Mamata and other opposition leaders for raising questions over the airstrike carried out by Indian Air Force inside Pakistan and said, "Who was supposed to cry and who started crying? Chot usko laga aur dard inko lagi (The hurt was there and the pain was felt here)," he said.

Modi said that more than pain felt in Rawalpindi, it was felt by didi in Kolkata."

Modi also targeted the Congress over its manifesto in which the party has said that it will review some clauses of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) after coming to power. The prime minister said that AFSPA is like a "shield" for the security forces in counter-terrorism operations and its removal will weaken the armed forces.

(with PTI inputs)Kolkata: The battle of Bengal is all set to heat up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee kickstarting their campaign Wednesday in the state that sends third largest number of Lok Sabha members to Parliament.

While Modi will address a rally at Siliguri, Banerjee will hold her first public meeting for the general elections in the state at Dinhata, both in North Bengal.

Political circles are agog that a war of words are on the cards with Mamata Banerjee deciding to hold her public rally on the same day the Prime Minister will commence his campaign in the state.

Banerjee, who was earlier scheduled to begin her campaign meetings on April 4 in North Bengal, has preponed it by a day to address the rally at Dinhata in Coochbehar constituency, which goes to polls in the first phase.

West Bengal has a total of 42 Lok Sabha seats, the third largest number after Uttar Pradesh's 80 and Maharashtra 48.

After a good performance in last year rural polls and also in a few bypolls, the BJP has pipped CPI(M) as well Congress to emerge as main challenger to TMC in Bengal.

The BJP president Amit Shah has set an ambitious target of winning 23 seats in the state.

Mamata Banerjee popularly called "Didi", who has been playing an important role in bringing together anti-BJP parties on one platform and whose party see a potential PM candidate in her, is sparing no effort to stop saffron party increase its footprint in the state.

"The Chief Minister will address the rally at Dinhata on Wednesday at 3.00 pm," TMC Coochbehar district secretary Rabindranath Ghosh said.

The TMC supremo's nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee will also address two rallies in the district - one at Sitalkhuci and the other at Tufanganj on the same day, Ghosh said.

The PM is scheduled to kickstart his campaign in the TMC-ruled state from Siliguri at 1.00 pm and will hold another rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata at 3.00 pm on the same day.

BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh said that apart from the Prime Minister, several other top saffron party leaders will hold rallies in the state in the run up to the seven-phase elections in West Bengal.

Party national president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Cabinet ministers-- Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani and several others will address election rallies in West Bengal, Ghosh told PTI.

"How many of these leaders will she counter? She will not find time to talk about her own candidates if she tries to give answer to the addresses of all of them in her rallies," Ghosh said about speculations that Banerjee has preponed her rally by a day to take on what Modi says in his public meeting at Siliguri.

The BJP state president claimed that people in North Bengal will go to hear the Prime Minister at Siliguri. "Who will go to Dinhata?" he asked.

The distance between Dinhata and Siliguri is about 170 kms by road.

Coochbehar and Alipurduars will go to polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 11.

Elections for the three seats of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Raiganj in North Bengal will be held in the second phase on April 18.

Siliguri is within the Darjeeling constituency, which is one of the two seats BJP won in the 2014 elections.

It has, however, fielded greenhorn Raju Bista in place of its sitting MP S S Ahluwalia from the seat.

Banerjee had said on Sunday that she will go to Coochbehar in North Bengal on April 4 and then to Assam to address rallies there the next day and will be back to Bengal again for addressing election rallies.

"I will address nearly 100 meetings in Bengal," the fiesty leader, who has been trying to cobble up an united opposition alliance against the BJP, had said.Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Shaktisinh Gohil will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2019, sources told Zee News.

Patel, the in-charge Congress's Bihar, refused to contest the polls citing party responsibilities.

The party on Wednesday released another list of 20 candidates comprising. The list consists of six constituencies from Punjab, four seats from Gujarat, three from Jharkhand, two each from Karnataka and Odisha, one each from Himachal Pradesh and D&N Haveli.

The party fielded Paresh Dhanani, the Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly, as its candidate from the Amreli Lok Sabha constituency in upcoming national elections. It also announced names of Mulubhai Kandoriya from Jamnagar, Somabhai Patel from Surendranagar and CJ Chavda from Gandhinagar against BJP national president Amit Shah.

Setting the narrative for the upcoming general elections, the Congress Tuesday released its manifesto - 'Congress will deliver'  with six key themes: Kaam, Daam, Shaan, Samman, Sushasan and Swabhimaan.

Releasing the manifesto, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that the manifesto lays major thrust on jobs creation, addressing agrarian distress and strengthening the education and health sectors besides charting a roadmap to boost economic growth. It has a separate budget for the welfare of the farmers.Actor Vivek Oberoi, who is all set to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic 'PM Narendra Modi', on Wednesday slammed the Congress alleging that they are afraid of 'chowkidar ka danda' (the stick of the watchman).

Speaking to reporters the actor questioned the overreaction of the party. Calling the film a modest one, he asked why senior lawyers like Abhishek Singhvi and Kapil Sibal are wasting time on filing a PIL on the film.

He said that the movie doesn't project PM Modi as larger than life as he is already one and asserted that it is an inspirational and independent film. Oberoi also added that PM Modi is already a hero not only for him but for crores of Indians staying within the country and abroad.

"I don't understand why some people are overreacting like this. Why are such senior and famous lawyers like Abhishek Singhvi ji and Kapil Sibal ji wasting time on filing a PIL on such a modest film? Don't know if they are scared of the film or of Chowkidar's 'danda'. We are not projecting Modi ji as larger than life, he already is larger than life. We are not projecting him as a hero, he already is a hero, not only for me but for crores of people in India and abroad. Its an inspirational story which we brought to the screen," said Vivek.

The actor said that the film has nothing to do with politics or election. He added that the story is that of a 'desh-bhakt' (patriot). He accused the Congress of fearing the film.

"Film has got nothing to do with politics or elections. The story is that of a Desh-bhakt. It is a sad to see that legendary lawyers like Singhvi and Sibal are wasting their time behind a film. Why should they fear a small little film? Just because they are worried about political bickering and battle. Where is the proof? How can they mud sling on 18 years of my career? You are free to doubt. But the truth is it is an independent film. It is an inspirational story of a chai wala (tea vendor) in Vadnagar rising to such level without having the backing of a big family, English education and resources. This film shows what he went through. This biopic shows that anybody can become Prime Minister," added Vivek.

Ever since BJP kick-started its 'main bhi chowkidar' campaign ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election, 'chowkidar' has become a part of political discussions.

The film follows PM Modi from his humble beginnings to his years as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and finally his victory making him the prime minister. The movie recently came under the EC scanner after Congress and Left parties complained to the poll body saying that it violates the Model Code of Conduct. However, in a major relief to the makers of the biopic, the Bombay High Court on Monday disposed-off the PIL.

"We are filmmakers, we are not used to these courts and like you have Freedom of Expression, we as filmmakers have the freedom to make films on any subject and release anytime," said Vivek.

The actor also asserted that the movie is not funded by any political party and is not part of any propaganda

The film is scheduled to release on April 5.New Delhi: The Mumbai Police arrested an executive BMC engineer in connection with the foot-over bridge collapse near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station in March, in which six people had lost their lives.

This is the third arrest made in the case.

On Monday, the Mumbai Police had arrested assistant engineer SF Kakulte, working with the bridges department of the BMC. Last month, police arrested structural auditor Neerajkumar Desai. According to police, both Patil and Kakulte knew that a mishap like bridge collapse might take place but acted negligently on the matter.

On Wednesday, a Mumbai court sent both Patil and Kakulte to police custody till April 5.

Patil has been booked under section 304A (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He worked with the bridges department of the BMC between September 2014 and December 2018. Kakulte was booked under IPC section 304A (causing death by negligence).

A preliminary report into the collapse submitted by the BMC said Desai's firm DD Desai's Associated Engineering Consultant and Analysts Private Ltd had conducted an audit of the bridge and had declared it safe for use. Desai, who worked with a private firm, had allegedly gave clearance for continued use of the ill-fated bridge after a structural audit, police had said. PTI DC NSK

Earlier, the Mumbai police had booked officials of Mumbai civic body, which were responsible for its maintenance and the Central Railway in connection with the bridge tragedy. However, it retracted its move later.New Delhi: The beautiful and highly talented Alia Bhatt is often making headlines due to her glamorous appearances. She turned cover girl for Grazia magazine recently and her outfits have our attention! In the cover, Alia looks stunning in a pink metallic structured saree. The look is completed with minimalist makeup and swept back hair.

Check out the cover here:

Can't get your eyes off her? We feel you!

The actress shared two more photographs from the shoot which are high on glitz and glamour.

Check them out here:

Alia will next be seen in Karan Johar's magnum opus 'Kalank'. The film has an impressive star cast with the likes of Varun Dhawan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, and Aditya Roy Kapur besides Alia. The film is one of the biggest releases this year and will hit the silver screens on April 17.

Fans have been eagerly awaiting the Abhishek Varman directorial which promises to be a visual spectacle.

Coming to Alia's personal life, the actress is dating heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor and is often spotted with him. Recently, the duo was seen hand-in-hand at the Zee Cine Awards and their pics went viral instantly. Even though the two haven't directly admitted to dating each other, they drop ample hints that there is something brewing between them.

Alia and Ranbir will star together in Ayan Mukerji's 'Brahmastra'.New Delhi: Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan was spotted at the Mumbai airport recently post his cancer treatment in London. The actor has returned to the bay after almost a year and looked healthier in comparison to his previous outing. After returning to the city, Irrfan took to Twitter on Wednesday and wrote a heartfelt note thanking all his fans for their love and support.

His note reads, Maybe somewhere in the pursuit of winning, we forget how much it means to be loved. In our vulnerability, we are reminded. As I leave my footprints onto these steps of my life, I want to pause to be grateful for receiving your immense love and support, it soothed me in my process of healing. So I travel back to you, thanking you from the bottom of my heart.

Check out his tweet here:

The actor left us all in shock last year when he announced that he had been diagnosed with NeuroEndocrine Tumour  a rare form of cancer.

On the work front, the actor will reportedly start shooting for the sequel of 'Hindi Medium'. The film was a huge success and starred Irrfan along with actress Saba Qamar. In the sequel, Kareena Kapoor Khan will be playing the female lead.BIKANER: A live mortar bomb has been detected near India Air Force's Nal airbase, located nearly 13 kilometres west of Rajasthan's Bikaner town, on Wednesday morning. Indian Air Force (IAF) officials and the Army immediately reached the spot to investigate the matter.

The mortar case has been taken away by the Army and investigation is underway.

"Today morning, a kind of ammunition box was found on Ganganagar Bypass road. We informed the Army about it. They said it was a mortar case. Army's bomb squad has taken it with them. Probe on," Bikaner SP Pradeep Sharma told ANI.

The development comes amid simmering tensions between India and Pakistan.

The IAF scrambled Sukhoi-30 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets to chase away a Pakistani package of four F-16s flying close to Punjab border on late Sunday night. The Pakistani warplanes were accompanied with a surveillance drone, possibly trying to detect the deployment of Indian troops in border areas.

Tensions between India and Pakistan had flared after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) killed over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a preemptive nonmilitary operation, carried out by IAF's Mirage 2000 jets, in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 to decimate the biggest terror camp of JeM. Pakistan Air Force, retaliatory strikes downed IAF's MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India on March 1.New Delhi: After arriving on Reliance JioPhones in September 2018, messaging app WhatsApp is now available on Nokia's '8110' with India becoming the first market to receive the update in Nokia's feature device, HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, announced on Tuesday.

The slider banana 4G feature phone is designed with intuitive tactile mechanics with slide to answer and end calls as well as a helicopter-style spin on its axis.

"We're so happy that our fans in India will get WhatsApp on 'Nokia 8110' first anywhere in the world," said Ajey Mehta, Vice President and Country Head - India, HMD Global.

Running the web-based mobile operating system (OS) KaiOS, the phone supports VoLTE calling and comes equipped with pre-loaded Google apps like Assistant, Maps, Search and other apps like Facebook, Outlook and Gmail.

Priced at Rs 4,999, the feature phone is available offline as well as on Amazon.in, Flipkart.in and Nokia's official website in traditional black and banana yellow colour variants.

The feature phone was first announced in February 2018 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona.New Delhi: There's sad news for Disha Vakani fans as their favourite actress, who is seen on the popular show 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' might not return as the iconic Dayaben. The makers, in fact, have started hunting for a fresh face to the play the lead character.

'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' producer Asit Kumarr Modi told Bombay Times, I will have to start looking for a new Dayaben. No one is bigger than the show. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah will go on with a new face, because the family is incomplete without Dayaben.

Dayaben aka Disha Vakani took maternity break from the show after she was blessed with a baby girl last year. Now, it has been a long hiatus and the makers will have to show Dayaben's character return eventually.

Asit Kumarr Modi was asked about Daya's return by Indianexpress.com, and he replied saying, There are women who take maternity breaks and then resume work. We have given Disha leave and now we cannot wait more so will have to start looking for a new Dayaben. We will have to replace her, for the audience who have waiting for Dayas return. And as its said, the show must go on.

Disha got hitched to Mayur Pandya on November 24, 2015.London: Veteran actor Diana Rigg has said she would have loved to stay on "Game of Thrones" a little longer.

The actor played House Tyrell matriarch Olenna Tyrell from season three onwards. The character was killed off in the third episode of the seventh installment, after she willingly drinks a cup of poisoned wine.

Rigg said it was not her decision to leave the show and wished she did not have to bid adieu to Olenna that early.

"It wasn't my decision to have Lady Olenna killed off in 'Game of Thrones'. I'd love to have stayed on," the 80-year-old actor told The Guardian.

Rigg then referred to Tywin Lannister, played by Charles Dance, who gets killed by his son Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) in the fourth installment of the series.

"Thank God I didn't die on a toilet like Charles Dance's character," she added.

"GOT" returns with its eighth and final season on April 14.VARANASI: The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student was shot dead inside the campus by unidentified assailants.

Gaurav Singh, pursuing Master of Computer Applications (MCA) in the university, was standing outside his hostel on Tuesday evening and talking to friends when motorcycle-borne persons came and opened fire at him. The assailants immediately fled the spot, said police.

Singh sustained bullet injuries in his stomach and was rushed to the trauma centre of the BHU's Institute of Medical Sciences. He later succumbed to his injuries.

Varanasi: MCA student at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Gaurav Singh, who was shot at in front of Birla hostel yesterday, has succumbed to his injuries. Anil Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Varanasi Cantt says, "we have arrested 4 people. It was a case of personal enmity" pic.twitter.com/pqsJTg8xI1  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 2, 2019

Police arrested four people in connection with the incident after reviewing CCTV footage. A massive manhunt is still underway.

"We have arrested four people in this matter. It was a case of personal enmity," Anil Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Varanasi Cantonment told news agency ANI.

The deceased's father, Rakesh Singh, is a worker at the BHU.ANKARA/ISTANBUL: Turkey has proposed to the United States that they form a working group to determine that Russian S-400 missile defense systems do not pose a threat to US or NATO military equipment, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

The United States and Turkey have been at loggerheads over Ankara`s decision to purchase the S-400s, which are not compatible with NATO systems, from Russia. Washington has warned that proceeding with the deal could result in U.S. sanctions and the exclusion of Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program.

"It will not be integrated into the NATO system...therefore we propose the United States to establish a technical working group to make sure that this system will not be a threat - neither to (U.S.) F-35s nor the NATO systems," Cavusoglu told a panel in the United States.

He said it was "not our aim" to integrate the S400 system into that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because "it`s for our own use." Turkey and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump need to explain to the U.S. Congress why Ankara had to go through with the purchase from the Russians, Cavusoglu said.

Turkey says it needs the S-400s, to be delivered in July, to defend against potential security threats and President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said he would not back down from the "done deal." Cavusoglu, in Washington for a NATO summit, said he would "definitely" repeat this to U.S. counterparts during his visit.

Seeking to apply pressure, the United States halted delivery of equipment related to the stealthy F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey, its first concrete step to block delivery of the jets due to Ankara`s planned purchase of the S-400s.

A U.S. official on Tuesday said that the purchase risked triggering sanctions. Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said that he expected the dispute to be resolved.

In a broader move to stop the delivery of the fighter jets, four U.S. senators introduced a bipartisan bill last week to prohibit the transfer of F-35 aircraft until Washington can certify Turkey will not take the delivery of the S-400s.Euro Dollar Price Bottoming Setup

The Euro Futures chart is highlighting recent support and our proprietary Fibonacci price modeling systems are suggesting that a current support zone may be setting up for a decent upside move to near 1.15. Momentum has stalled to the downside after the Brexit kerfuffle. It is our opinion that this move to near 1.125 will likely hold as support and prompt an upside price move towards the 1.15 price level.

Volatility within the ZE is normal and this type of price rotation appears to continue. An upside bottom/base near 1.125 may prompt a larger upside price swing in the Euro Futures because it relates a higher low price formation following Fibonacci Price Theory. This set would indicate that a lower low attempt has failed and would suggest that the Euro Futures price would now attempt a new Higher High (above 1.155).

Skilled traders should watch for any breakout above 1.134 as confirmation of the upside price rally and target 1.15 or higher. This could also drive the US Dollar a bit weaker over this same time-span. Might be an excellent setup for quick profits.

Do you want to find a team of dedicated researchers and traders that can help you find and execute more winning trades in 2019 and beyond visit our trade alert newsletter at www.TheTechnicalTraders.com or learn our trading techniques through our Trading Courses today?

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.



Safe Stocks Are No Longer Safe in the Age of Disruption - Amazon Example

Imagine losing 20% of your nest egg in the market.



For many folks its just gut-wrenching. So investors often pay giant premiums to buy stocks they believe are safe.



You probably know that fast-growing stocks in exciting industries may be pricey. But boring, slow-growing stocks are often expensive, tooif theyre perceived as safe.



And while you might not realize it, theres a good chance youre paying through the nose to keep your money safe.

The Safest Stock on Earth

Take Procter & Gamble (PG).



Its a 200-year-old company thats grown into the 15th-largest publicly traded company on earth by selling essentials.



Its brands include Gillette razors, Tide laundry detergent, Crest toothpaste, Dawn dish soap, and Bounty paper towels.



No matter what happens in the markets, well always brush our teeth, wash our clothes, and clean the dishes. Thats why selling necessities is a rock-solid business.



From 19822012, Procter & Gamble grew its sales 28 out of 30 years. This track record is why P&G has long been considered one of the safest stocks on earth.

You Must Pay Dearly to Own Safe Stocks

P&G trades for roughly 25X its profits.



Thats very expensive for a business thats seen profits drop 20% over the past decade. For reference, the average S&P 500 company trades for 21X profits.



If you own P&G stock, youre not paying for growth. Youre not paying for a shot at big profits. Youre paying a steep price for one thing: safety.



For decades, P&G stock has held up its end of the deal.



For example, when the S&P 500 cratered 30% from the summer of 2007 through the end of 2009, P&G held strong, losing just 1.5%.

Were Living in the Age of Disruption

Take Amazon, the most iconic disruptor stock.



The online giant has put dozens of companies out of business in the last few years.



By selling stuff online for cheap, it has disrupted big retailers like Toys R Us, Sears, Circuit City, and RadioShack into bankruptcy.



In 2000, online sales totaled $27 billion. This year that figure will jump above $550 billiona 20X leap in less than two decades.



By claiming a big chunk of this growth, Amazon has driven its stock over 100,000% since it IPOed in 1997:







But while everyones been focused on Amazons takeover of retail, it has been preparing an even more disruptive assault on safe businesses.

Amazon Threatens Safe Stocks Like P&G

In the past three years, Amazon has launched more than 100 of what it calls private label brands. They are Amazons own products, sold under different names.



For example: Its Presto! brand sells toilet paper and paper towels. And Basic Care sells cough and flu medicine.



Amazon now sells its own diapers, dish soap, laundry detergent, baby wipes, and around 5,000 more everyday items.



Theres not a whole lot of difference between most essential items.



Crest toothpaste is roughly the same as Aim, which is roughly the same as Colgate. And do you really care if the batteries in your TV remote are Duracell, or Energizer, or a private label Amazon brand?



Findings from research firm Jumpshot show Amazon already controls 97% of the online battery market. And 94% of online kitchen and dining product purchases happened on Amazon last year.



The key here is Americans are buying more and more essentials online.



The fastest-growing category on Amazon is food stapleslike breakfast cereals. Personal care products like soap and toothpaste are a close second.



Amazon raked in roughly $7.5 billion through selling its private label products last year. Research from investment firm SunTrust suggests this will climb to $25 billion by 2022.

Amazon Has a Trojan Horse in 100 Million American Homes

Over 100 million Americans pay $119/year for Prime membership. Prime is Amazons subscription service that gets you free delivery.



Prime members tend to buy a lot of stuff on Amazon. According to leading research firm eMarketer, Prime members spend 5X more than regular customers on Amazon. And one in every two Prime members buys something from Amazon at least once a week!



As part of Prime, Amazon offers a program called Subscribe & Save. In short, it lets you create an automatic subscription to thousands of products.



You simply ask Amazon to send you laundry detergent monthly, and a container of it will show up on your front porch at the same time every month.



Amazon has spent billions developing these so-called frictionless services. The idea is to make it so quick, easy, convenient, and cheap to get basics through Amazon, youll rarely bother going to stores anymore.

Amazon Started Pushing Its Own Products to Prime Members

Amazons subscription service has been around for a couple of years. Whats different now is it has begun to heavily promote its own basic products instead of ones made by other companies like P&G.



Log onto Amazon and see for yourself. It now features its own private label products prominently at the top in almost every category.



And if you order by voicethrough Amazons Alexa deviceAmazon automatically sends you Amazon brand products.



Amazon is now encroaching on the territory of formerly safe stocks like Procter & Gamble.



My research suggests it will gradually suck the life out of these companies as more and more essential purchases move online.

Im Not Just Picking on P&G

As the 15th-largest publicly traded company on earth, P&G has the most to lose. But its safe peers face the same big problem.



Unilever (UN), which owns household brands like Axe deodorant and Dove skin care, has seen its sales sink below 2001 levels.



Nestle (NSRGY) sells popular products like Poland Springs water and Nescafe coffee. Its business has flatlined since 2005.



All three of these stocks trade for higher than 20X profits.



Their businesses are not growing



Their stocks are expensive



And the most disruptive force on the planetAmazonis invading their turf.



Does that sound like a safe place to put your money?

By Stephen McBride

http://www.riskhedge.com

 2019 Copyright Stephen McBride - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.



Algerians poured onto the streets in celebration yesterday night, after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his resignation. This comes after one-and-a-half months of mass protests against his rule. But this alone will not solve anything, and the masses are now calling for the downfall of the whole regime.

Late Tuesday evening, Bouteflika was seen on TV handing over his resignation, alongside Abdelkader Bensalah, the president of the constituent council, who is formally set to take over the presidency until new elections are organised within a 90-day period. Defiant until the end, the statement, written by the cabal of people behind Bouteflika, was a partial jab at the army, who pressured Bouteflika to resign last night:

"This decision, which I take in my soul and conscience, is destined to contribute to the appeasement of the hearts and minds of my compatriots, to allow them to take Algeria towards a better future to which they legitimately aspire (...)"

Euphoria and defiance on the streets

Following the announcement, tens of thousands took to the streets in the capital Algiers to celebrate the downfall of the invalid dictator. The mood was euphoric, but at the same time, defiant, with slogans such as: Congratulations, this is only the beginning; "Every day, a demonstration, we will not give up; The people decide; They will all be judged and "The people want to kick them all out!" Many people are saying that, instead of invoking article 102 (which places power in the hands of the constitutional council) they want article 7, which states that, the people are the source of power.

"    "



"Ce pays est le notre et nous imposerons nos choix". pic.twitter.com/ENc1BhsHAt  Hamdi (@HamdiBaala) April 3, 2019

A France24, a reporter from Algiers gave an apt assessment of the mood, when she said the following:

We were definitely taken aback by the raw emotion. This is what weve been asking for, for the past six weeks. This is what the people have been protesting about for the past six weeks. Now the main demand of the protesters has been granted (...) The initial response was one of euphoria, one of extreme joy. Its a sense of triumph, a sense of victory. But people are also aware that this is just the beginning... This is the beginning of the real struggle, which is to get rid of the regime around the president and not only him as a person. Because we all know that he wasnt the one calling the shots, because hes been too sick anyway to do so.

Les klaxons resonnent dans le centre ville. Des personnes commencent a converger vers la Place Audin #Alger pic.twitter.com/HRbRXirSUt  Zahra Rahmouni (@ZahraaRhm) April 2, 2019

On entend aussi  lbled bledna ou ndirou raina  ;  Ali La Pointe, Ali La Pointe, lAlgerie walet  et surtout  Chaab yourid i thassbou gue3  (Le peuple demande quils soient tous juges) #Alger #Algerie pic.twitter.com/8jVHyoUx85  Zahra Rahmouni (@ZahraaRhm) April 2, 2019

Over the past few weeks, it has become increasingly clear that the regime is unable to resist the revolutionary movement, which was gaining momentum by the day. Over the past month alone, there have been four huge days of action, with millions of people on the streets and two widespread strike movements, the last of which shut down large sections of the public sector and state-owned enterprises last week. The protests were strongest in places such as Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou, where the local chapters of the UGTA organised full general strikes and de facto held power. These are Kabyle areas, who have a recent history of revolutionary movements. Nevertheless, the pressure for a general strike was present throughout the working class, which made Down with [UGTA general secretary] Sidi Said! one of the main slogans on the protests in the past weeks. No doubt, these strikes struck terror in the ruling class, who did not want to see an independent, working-class movement developing.

At the same time, the aims of the movement changed throughout this period. Starting with the demand for Bouteflika not to stand in the elections, the demand today is, unequivocally, the downfall of the whole regime.

There is jubliation on the streets, but also a determination to push further / Image: fair use

Splits at the top

The rising strength and confidence of the revolutionary movement provoked a whole series of splits and defections within the regime. Fearing for their own positions, layer after layer from within the ruling elite started to distance themselves from Bouteflika and the immediate circle around him. Top businessmen, state officials, as well as the main bosses federation, the head of the UGTA trade union federation, and coalition parties the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the Democratic National Rally (RND) were all seen calling for the resignation of Bouteflika.

Last week, the army chief of staff, who has so far been adamantly on Bouteflika's side, issued a call for declaring the president unfit to rule and handing over power to the constituent council. This call was reiterated yesterday, when Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah demanded the presidents immediate resignation. In the clearest sign of a direct split within the absolute top of the regime, as a threatening show of force, the commander in chief also summoned a meeting of the army tops in the same breath.

Fearing for their own positions, layer after layer from within the ruling elite started to distance themselves from Bouteflika / Image: Wikimedia Commons

The entry of the army onto the scene in this manner reflects the divisions within the ruling class. One camp, behind Bouteflika, is adamantly opposed to giving any concessions to the revolutionary masses. This faction is comfortable at the top of the regime and stands to lose the most of all the factions of the ruling class. It fears that giving concessions to the masses will only embolden and further radicalise the movement.

The army, conversely, represents another wing, which also has French imperialism on its side, and which can see that this movement will not go away. Instead of dragging the process out and risking a complete collapse of the system, it is attempting to lead the movement down safe paths. They speak of the people and the army, conveniently forgetting that the army has been a key pillar in the dictatorship until now. And Salah, who has been threatening the movement since it started on 22 February, is suddenly supposed to be a servant of the people?

In another symbolic gesture, the business tycoon, Ali Haddad, who was also the head of the main bosses association, was arrested trying to leave the country with large sums of money. The arrest of people moving capital out of the country has been a major demand of some layers in the movement, particularly middle-class elements. And it is clear that the army is trying to appear to carry out the will of the revolution with this act.

No confidence in the army

But let us be clear, the army forcing Bouteflika to resign and arresting people like Haddad, at this stage, is only aimed at saving the system as a whole. Yes, most probably the generals will allow elections to take place in the near future. But these elections will be tailored so as not to interfere with any of the vital interests of the ruling class. By giving cosmetic concessions from above, they are trying to maintain all of the main pillars of Algerian capitalism, while demobilising the revolutionary masses. At the same time, the generals are manoeuvring to concentrate more power in their own hands going forward.

Of course, if the army had tried to openly suppress this movement in the past month-and-a-half, it would almost certainly have led to its lower ranks (who are mainly composed of working-class and peasant soldiers themselves) to break away, leaving the general staff suspended in midair. The collapse of the army would have been the precursor to the collapse of the whole regime. Thus, the generals are pathetically trying to ride the mass movement instead of opposing it head-on.

However, having seen the instability in Egypt after the army pushed aside Mubarak in 2011, the generals are not necessarily interested in direct rule at this point. Instead, they are trying to play up the myth of bourgeois constitutionalism and legalism (which some liberal and middle-class elements within the movement have also emphasised) by calling for the implementation of article 102 of the constitution. In this way, by following the law and with the intervention of the army as an organised force, they are also trying to undermine the confidence of the masses in their own power.

But the resignation of Bouteflika does not change anything fundamentally. The friendly manner in which power was handed over to Abdelkader Bensalah last night showed what is really happening: a manoeuvre by the regime to create the illusion of change, while keeping everything intact. Abdelkader Bensalah, the newly functioning president in charge, has been a staunch ally of Bouteflika right to the end. Except for Bouteflika, all of the key people in power remain in place. As many protesters pointed out, those in power now are the same people who have been ruling on behalf of the vegetative Bouteflika for years.

The streets immediately saw through this deception. If any real change is to be achieved, all of these people must be removed. That is, the whole regime must be removed. But what should replace it? Already, there are many reports of committees being set up to coordinate the struggles in the neighbourhoods, schools and workplaces. Some of these have organised the protests, coordinated stewarding to ensure disciplined marches, and even led teams to clean up afterwards  to a far-higher standard than one would expect from the state, we should add.

In places like Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia as well, the strike committees de facto held power in their hands, ensuring the strike did not harm ordinary people (for instance, by making cooking gas available). These committees must be generalised and connected on a regional and national scale. In this way, the revolution can erect the embryonic elements of a new type of power, based on the working class, the youth and the poor. Needless to say, they are far more competent at running society than the present parasites at the top.

They all must go!

For years, these people have been living off the blood of ordinary Algerians. On paper, Algerians are benefitting from a huge public sector, with enormous sums spent on healthcare, education etc. But these services are falling apart by the day. Where is the money going? While the rich live in obscenely luxurious conditions, tens of thousands of youth are forced to leave the country every year. Those who remain are, for the most part, forced to live in precarious conditions, jumping from one short-term job to another  if they are lucky. The youth, which makes up the majority of the population, faces an unemployment level of 30 percent. At least 24 percent of the population is living in poverty, and the average purchasing power is reported to have fallen by up to 60 percent since 2014.

The only way to solve these problems is not only to change the tops within the state apparatus, but also to expropriate the ruling class as a whole. All the properties of the oligarchs must be expropriated and, along with the major state-owned enterprises such as Sonatrach, run under the control and management of the working class. Instead of syphoning off the profits of these entities into the pockets of corrupt regime insiders, they must be used to raise living standards and develop Algerian society. Today, this society is falling apart, but on the basis of a democratically planned economy, it could flourish on a level never seen before.

The whole regime must fall! Victory to the Algerian masses! / Image: Mohamed Soltan

The Algerian masses have shown enormous strength and determination. Without any organisation or prior plan, they have made the ruling class, the state and the army bow to them. Now, they must finish the job and remove these people from all positions of authority, and take power into their own hands.In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used.

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Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.comTuesday, 2nd April 2019, on behalf of The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (the Borrower, or MCB) (www.MCB.mu), Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited (SMBCE), together the coordinators (Coordinators) and active bookrunners (Active Bookrunners), announced he signing and successful closing of general syndication for MCBs USD 800,000,000 Dual Tranche Syndicated Term Loan Facility (the Facility).

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Citi joined the Facility as Bookrunner prior to the launch of syndication. Mizuho Bank, Ltd will be acting as facility agent on the transaction. Ahead of the launch of general syndication, the Facility attracted significant commitments during a successful senior syndication phase.

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The deal was very well received in the loan market, with commitments in excess of USD 1.0 bn. This significant over-subscription necessitated the scaling back of total commitments, even after upsizing the facility to USD 800,000,000. Twenty-four geographically diverse banks participated in the Facility, reflecting MCBs strong appeal to international investors, as well as the Borrowers robust credit story.

Commenting on the Facility, Raoul Gufflet, Deputy Chief Executive of MCB, highlighted that: We are very pleased of the keen market interest attracted by this syndication, and the support from a wide pool of lenders spanning Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It testifies of the international recognition of MCBs investment-grade credit worthiness and confidence in the banks strong fundamentals and international growth prospects. The Facility will support MCB in further optimising and diversifying its funding profile, whilst executing on the delivery of its domestic and African ambitions

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April 3, 2019--(BRONX, N.Y.)--The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded an international consortium led by Albert Einstein College of Medicine, part of Montefiore, a five-year, $22 million grant to develop antibody-based therapies against four highly lethal viruses for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.

The viruses are the tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) and three hantaviruses, which are spread by rodents: Andes virus (ANDV), Sin Nombre virus (SNV), and Puumula virus (PUUV). The NIAID has designated all but PUUV as Category A agents--emerging infectious diseases or pathogens that pose the highest risk to national security and public health.

The project, called the Prometheus Center for Excellence in Translational Research (Prometheus), focuses on viruses that spread from animals to people. It builds on a 2017 study involving ebolaviruses, believed to spread to people from fruit bats or primates. In addition to Einstein, the participating institutions leading the project are the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Inc., The University of Texas at Austin, and Adimab, LLC, a biotech company.

Building on Ebola Research

Einstein, USAMRIID, Mapp Biopharmaceutical, and Adimab scientists were part of a team that analyzed 349 natural human antibodies against ebolavirus in the blood of a survivor of the 2013-16 West African Ebola outbreak. After finding that two of the antibodies potently neutralized all six known ebolaviruses in tissue culture, the investigators developed MBP134, a cocktail of two fully human monoclonal antibodies that protected animals against all three major disease-causing ebolaviruses. (Monoclonal antibodies, or mAbs, are antibodies made by identical immune cells that are all clones of a unique parent cell.) The current leading ebola therapy, a mAb cocktail called ZMapp, is effective against only a single ebolavirus.

"Prometheus will leverage this proven approach for rapid mAb discovery and evaluation to develop prophylactics or therapeutics for two other important groups of emerging viruses with potential to cause severe disease outbreaks in humans," said Kartik Chandran, Ph.D., principal investigator on the grant and professor of microbiology & immunology and the Harold and Muriel Block Faculty Scholar in Virology at Einstein. "With our expanded group of partners, we have the capability to go from initial antibody discovery and evaluation all the way to drug development, animal studies, clinical trials, and licensing."

Einstein will serve as the lead and coordinating institution for Prometheus and also will co-lead one of the projects with John Dye, Ph.D., chief of viral immunology at USAMRIID: identifying the most promising antiviral antibodies and studying how they block the viruses from entering host cells. Other members of the Einstein team include Jonathan Lai, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, and Johanna Daily, M.D., M.S., professor of medicine and of microbiology & immunology and an infectious disease specialist at Montefiore.

The second project will be co-led by Zachary Bornholdt, Ph.D., director of antibody discovery at Mapp Biopharmaceuticals and Jason McLellan, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular biosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. This project will focus on engineering viral antigens to be used for antibody discovery, structural studies to define the antibody epitopes (i.e., the targets to which antibodies bind), and engineering antibodies to maximize their antiviral effectiveness in animals and humans. Other Prometheus components, led by Andrew Herbert, Ph.D., senior research scientist for the Geneva Foundation at USAMRIID, and Larry Zeitlin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Mapp Biopharmaceutical, will focus on testing the antibodies for their effectiveness in animal models and the preclinical development of lead antibodies.

Need to Combat Emerging Threats

Dr. Chandran noted that naturally occurring, fully human mAbs are an ideal technology for addressing viral threats. First, they've participated in a successful host response to a pathogen. Second, they've undergone testing to show that they recognize the target pathogen and don't target host molecules.

"Human mAbs therefore are less likely to react to normal cells and cause toxic side effects than other therapies," added Dr. Dye. "The manufacturing processes for mAbs are well-established and mAbs have proven safety profiles, which should speed their development and reduce the risk of late failures during the later drug-development phases."

"We are looking forward to expanding on our success with the MBP134 product and further leverage through the Prometheus project our multi-disciplinary collaboration to develop viable immunotherapeutic products targeting pathogenic threats to public health," said Dr. Bornholdt.

In addition to Einstein, Prometheus comprises teams from the following institutions: Geneva Foundation, Tacoma, Washington; USAMRIID, Frederick, Maryland; Mapp Biopharmaceutical, San Diego, California; The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; Adimab LLC, Lebanon, New Hampshire; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Umea University, Sweden; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

###

About Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2018-2019 academic year, Einstein is home to 711 M.D. students, 160 Ph.D. students, 107 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 265 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 1,800 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2018, Einstein received more than $172 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, cancer, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States through Montefiore and an affiliation network involving hospitals and medical centers in the Bronx, Brooklyn and on Long Island. For more information, please visit http://www. einstein. yu. edu , read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and view us on YouTube.

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.Joint Statement by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Countries

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Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition

S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to PositiveAnna Hakobyan delivers remarks at US Congress (video)

The visit of spouse of Armenian Prime Minister Anna Hakobyan to the United States has kicked off, Voice of America reports. Mrs. Hakobyan has participated in an event dedicated to her at the US Congress and met with the Congressmen. She also delivered remarks introducing Armenias achievements and stating that the country is fully on the path to democracy and ensuring real economic growth, and each support on this path by Armenias friends is welcomed. Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who has Armenian origins, stated that the Congress will make all efforts so that the US will provide assistance to Armenia from economic and political terms. We want to be sure that democracy in Armenia not only will be maintained, but also will prosper, and the country will fully develop, she said. Congressman Adam Schiff also attended the meeting. We need to raise the partnership of our countries to a new level in order to help your wonderful government to succeed, he said. Anna Hakobyan introduced the Congressmen on the Women For Peace initiative within the frames of which Armenian women call on all women around the world to raise their voice for peace so that no soldiers will be killed in the border. Anna Hakobyans visit to the US has started by the visit to the Library of the Congress where she was presented on the exhibits of the Armenian literature. Thereafter, the PMs spouse had a meeting with the Armenian community representatives in the Armenian Embassy of US. During her visit Mrs. Hakobyan will try to raise funds for the My Step and City of Smile charity foundations.[April 02, 2019] Novra Adds Broadpeak's Technology to its Next-Gen Video Products for the OTT Market WINNIPEG, April 2, 2019 /CNW/ - At the upcoming NAB show in Las Vegas April 6 to 11, International Datacasting (a Novra Group Company) and technology partner Broadpeak will launch a new version of the Novra S400Pro satellite receiver that includes integrated Broadpeak nanoCDN technology. This new product helps pay TV operators and others implementing ABR (adaptive bitrate) formats, such as HLS or DASH, leveraging their existing network equipment for scalable, low-latency delivery of live streaming video. The combination of the nanoCDN agent and the S400Pro enables delivery of ABR video content via satellite for multiscreen/multidevice playout. Key features include: ABR format video suitable for multiple devices (from big screen to mobile phone)





Works with any IP infrastructure at the edge from local Wi-Fi and Ethernet to 4G/5G and cable





Uses the latest open standards technologies such as MPEG CMAF for maximum quality and efficiency Novra's S400Pro is a versatile, cost-effective satellite receiver that receives DVB-S/S2 and outputs IP data, including video streams for media players. Novra's family of satellite receivers, with over 80,000 installed globally, are widely used for applications such as weather networks, digital signage, media distribution, IP-TV and many others. The S400Pro is the next-generation in our satellite family and features a Linux OS, dual satellite inputs, dual LAN outputs, a USB port, on-board storage, SNMP and throughput of over 100 Mb/s. A DVB-S2X version will be available later in the year. Broadpeak's nanoCDN makes it possible to deliver adaptive bitrate formats (HLS, DAS) over satellite, and therefore reach tablets, smartphones or other connected devices with a stream that has the quality of DTH broadcast. Adopting adaptive bitrate formats on satellite also allows merging satellite and OTT video offer into one consistent experience. Novra Group CEO Harris Liontas commented, "We are excited to announce this technology partnership with Broadpeak. Novra's S400Pro is our new generation of satellite receivers, developed using our extensive application and domain knowledge and unparalleled ingenuity to create a platform for a family of products that are easily adaptable to diverse and changing customer requirements. Combining this with the efficient and flexible video delivery enabled by Broadpeak's nanoCDN results in a unique product to meet the dynamic requirements of our growing video customer base. The industry is facing big challenges as the way people access video continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Our growing suite of video solutions help our customers turn those big challenges into big opportunities." "We are delighted to partner with Novra to enable the delivery of adaptive bitrate format via satellite. Both products combine perfectly to offer satellite operators the possibility of addressing mobile devices in addition to TVs" said Jacques Le Mancq, CEO of Broadpeak. The S400Pro and nanoCDN will be on display at the National Association of Broadcasters NAB show in Las Vegas, April 6-11. International Datacasting/Novra Group will be in South Hall, booth SU3621, Broadpeak in Booth SU9221. About Novra Technologies Inc.: Novra (TSX-V: NVI) is an international technology provider of products, systems and services for the distribution of multimedia broadband content. The Novra Group of companies includes Novra, International Datacasting Corporation, and Wegener Corporation. The companies in the group are known for a strong focus on applications including: broadcast video and radio, digital cinema, digital signage, and highly reliable data communications. For more information visit: www.novragroup.com About Broadpeak: Broadpeak designs and manufactures video delivery components for Content Providers and Network Service Providers deploying IPTV, Cable, Satellite, OTT and mobile services. Its portfolio of solutions and technologies powers the delivery of movies, television programming and other content over managed networks and the internet for viewing on any type of device. The company's systems and services help operators increase market share and improve subscriber loyalty with superior quality of experience. Broadpeak supports all of its customers worldwide, from simple installations to large delivery systems reaching capacities of several million of simultaneous streams. Broadpeak is headquartered in Cesson-Sevigne, France. For more information visit: https://.broadpeak.tv SOURCE Novra Technologies Inc.

[ Back To www.mobilitytechzone.com/wimax's Homepage ]Market, culture or street trade? (video)

From January of this year, the municipality has taken very active steps to ban street trade in the city. Despite the municipality's decision and action, the objective of A1+ has fixed illegal street trade cases. "Most of the residents welcome this decision of the municipality. However, since democracy is not only the opinion of the majority, but also the minority, it also must be taken into consideration and analyzed, "said Hakob Karapetyan, press secretary of Yerevan municipality. "What does the minority want? The minority claims that street trade should continue because it is convenient, so the when the buyer gets off the bus, he can immidiatyly stop and buy fruits and greens and does not lose time at the store, market, and also he supports the socially vulnerable group." "But the city's appearance should be "comfortable" as well, the streets must be clean and free of food that is sold on sidewalks," said press secretary. According to the spokesman, the mayor will be determent in the issue of street trade, and our citizens dealing with trade may be confident that everyone will have equal conditions, their business will not be affected, and as a result the city will win."It's not the roadway, it's not the way it's lined, it's not the layout of it, it's not the engineering of it, it's not the traffic volume on it, it's not the trucks, it's not the speed limit. It's the people who are on the road, and we could all take a hint and do a little bit better at...Hattal-Taylor Post looking for new membersNational Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and President of the Senate of France Gerand Larcher (Source: VNA)



During a meeting with President of the Senate of France Gerand Larcher in Paris on April 2nd, NA Chairwoman Ngan said there are 200 French businesses operating in Vietnam, and France is the fourth largest European trade partner of the country.

Vietnam wants France to raise its position among countries and territories investing in the country, she said.

The legislator said that she and the Vietnamese NA delegation had held a working session with the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group and 15 major French businesses, adding that there will also be activities between the two countries enterprises during her visit to the city of Toulouse.

According to Ngan, via exchanges and working sessions with French companies, she found that the companies feel secure investing in Vietnam. A number of firms have been operating in Vietnam for over two decades and are seeking opportunities in diverse areas, which is the reason why the two countries need to reinforce political-diplomatic ties in order to pave the way for economic links, she said.

The guest hoped that with its position and role in Europe, France and its Senate will support the strengthening of ties between Vietnam and the European Union (EU), including the signing and ratification of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Larcher, for his part, reiterated two important milestones in France-Vietnam ties, which are the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1973 and strategic partnership in 2013. Together with growing bilateral political and diplomatic ties, economic partnership has seen good progress and was a focal point under discussion at the cooperation conference between Vietnamese and French localities held in Toulouse city the same day.

Lauding Vietnams geopolitical importance and recalling Vietnams successful hosting of the second DPRK-USA summit, Larcher said Vietnam plays a significant role in coordinating political activities in the region.

He thanked the Vietnamese top legislator for inviting him to visit Vietnam, saying that it will afford the two legislatures a chance to strengthen their ties, thereby bolstering future joint work between the two nations, especially in economy.

With regards to the EVFTA, he affirmed the Senates support for Vietnam. He stressed that France has taken the lead in realising the EUs policy of multilateralisation and diversification of diplomatic ties and trade.

The host also pledged to do his best to push forward the EFFTA signing and approval.

On cultural and language cooperation, Vietnam has opened bilingual classrooms since 1995, serving as an important bridge for bilateral relations. Larcher said the improvement of bilingual education will contribute to raising the quality of bilateral ties.

On the East Sea issue, Ngan hailed Frances stance on the maintenance of maritime freedom and order in line with international law. She urged France to raise its voice on the issue at multilateral forums and bilateral talks with partners in Asia-Pacific.

The host said the freedom of travelling at sea is important and France is concerned about the issue.

He added that peaceful methods are the choice for addressing disputes and conflicts, which is also what countries are looking toward./.Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk!

You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan meets French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in Paris on April 2nd (Photo: VNA)



The Vietnamese NA leader said that her visit - the next in a series of high-level visits by leaders of the two countries, including the France visit of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Vietnam visit of PM Edouard Philippe in 2018 - shows the sound relationship between the two countries and opens up new cooperation prospects in economics, defence, culture, and education.

She said that following the PMs visit, many French firms have conducted investment and business activities in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese newly-established carrier Bamboo Airways is negotiating with Airbus on aircraft purchase, while the Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air will receive their airplanes from Airbus on April 3rd, she said, adding that FPT Group will soon be opening its representative office in Toulouse.

She said that thanks to regular visits of Vietnamese and French leaders, as well as the promotion of political-diplomatic cooperation, new economic partnership opportunities have been opened up for the two countries.

The top legislator affirmed that Vietnam pays great attention to cooperation with France in Europe. In her meetings with leaders of the Senate and National Assembly of France, she proposed that the French parliament urge the European Parliament to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA).

For his part, PM Edouard Philippe conveyed his delight that the business communities of Vietnam and France have fostered their partnership.

He said that during his 2018 visit, he discovered that Vietnamese and French firms share the same wish to connect and partner with each other.

Along with aviation and aerospace, Vietnam is interested in cooperation in the satellite industry, the French PM said, adding that French businesses, with strength in technology and experience, can be good partners in the field.

Noting that the Vietnam-France joint project to build metro line No.3 in Hanoi is progressing, he said that 2019 is an important stage for the project. The French Space in Ho Chi Minh city is a symbol of the Vietnam-France relations, he said, expressing his hope that the work will be constructed soon.

Regarding the EVFTA, he affirmed that France will always support Vietnam and hopes that the deal will be signed and ratified soon.

NA Chairwoman Ngan said that the Vietnamese side will speed up the procedures so that the French Space in HCM city will be implemented soon./.L&E Buys INGATHER Research & Sensory

In the US, Raleigh, NC-based focus group facilities and recruiting services company L&E Research has acquired Denver, Colorado-based INGATHER Research & Sensory. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.



INGATHER, which was founded in 2011 by Christine Cook (pictured), provides what it describes as 'reality' research facilities such as a commercial culinary and consumer test kitchen setting for sensory testing. The firm can also offer access to a 'home' where participants can cook and/or test food in a real residential kitchen. All facilities are equipped with a wide range of technology including in-house split screens, live streaming and flat screen TVs.



Following the deal L&E Research has ten facilities across the US. Company President Brett Watkins comments: 'We are excited to add the INGATHER Research team in Denver to our rapidly growing network of qualitative research solutions. With our recent Bay Area, California and Kansas City, Missouri additions, this allows us to provide qualitative research solutions from coast to coast in almost every region, covering all time zones in the United States. It also adds a full commercial kitchen and sensory solution our clients will value'.



Web sites: www.leresearch.com and www.ingatherresearch.com .



Scores also rose for processing of construction permits and personal documents. However, the results show no progress in levels of bribery for obtaining land use rights certificates, or in diversion of public funds by officials, and more than half of the respondents said water quality in their locality had worsened over the past three years.

Over 14,300 citizens randomly selected from all 63 provinces were interviewed for the 2018 Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) report. The index assesses citizen experiences with national and local government performance in governance, public administration and public service delivery.

Photo: sggp.org.vn

This years report marks 10 years since the first PAPI research began in 2009. Over the past decade, more than 117,000 Vietnamese citizens from all parts of the country have contributed to making PAPI a widely recognized source of objective, up-to-date data on local government performance for the interest of all Vietnamese citizens.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Viet Nam, said: After ten years, PAPI continues to serve as a powerful instrument to promote good governance in Viet Nam. The heart of PAPI is very close to UNDPs mission - putting people at the center of development. PAPI provides a tool for listening to citizens, to their expectations of government, and in that way enables them to participate in the governance process. Over the years PAPI has become a model instrument for participatory governance that other countries have sought to emulate as a key indicator for SDG 16 on peaceful, just, inclusive societies."

However, the most important determinant of overall satisfaction with governance and public administration performance tends to be control of corruption in the public sector. In 2018, fewer citizens said they need to pay a bribe for state employment, public health care, primary education, or construction permits, continuing the steady decline seen in 2017. However, concerns about bribery for land use right certificates and public officials diversion of public funds remained constant over the past two years. In addition, while nearly 60% of citizens said that corruption at the commune level had decreased in the past three years, the proportion dropped to less than 50% when asked about corruption at the national level. Corruption also emerged as one of the top three issues of greatest concern in 2018.

As gender equality is a high priority in Viet Nams sustainable development agenda, the 2018 report examines public views on gender and leadership positions. Findings from the research show that a majority of voters have no preference for either male or female candidates. Among the minority who do have a preference, more are likely to prefer men than women. This bias is most pronounced for political leadership positions, and, interestingly, is most pronounced among women.

Photo: papi.org.vn

Commenting on gender and leadership, Ambassador to Viet Nam Mr. Craig Chittick added that, The 2018 PAPI findings highlight an important opportunity for more women to be elected to political positions, while also suggesting that efforts are needed to end societal stigma against women in elected positions, especially among female voters.

Citizens reported several positive trends related to political participation at the local level in 2018. Results indicate a consistent decrease in the number of citizens reporting that they were asked by a village chief or local official to contribute to a project: about 50% of those contributing said they did so voluntarily in 2017 and 2018, which was up from an average of about 45% prior to 2017, suggesting decreased use of pressure to force citizens to contribute to a local infrastructure project financially, with in-kind contributions, or through their labour.

The dimension of transparency in local decision-making also saw significant improvement, including higher satisfaction with transparency of commune budgets and expenditures. These are important improvements that speak to increasing openness at local levels. However, transparency in land use plans, despite some improvement, remains a weak area where local governments need to improve.

In the vertical accountability dimension, a greater number of citizens reported interactions with village and commune authorities in 2018 than in 2017. However, citizens also reported that they had few chances to meet with leaders at higher (district, provincial and national) levels of government. In addition, scores for the new Access to Justice sub-dimension show that levels of trust in courts and judicial agencies, and access to local courts and non-court mechanisms when citizens have civil disputes, were relatively low in 2018.

Regarding provision of basic public services, the 2018 results reveal a striking divergence. The public health sub-dimension, for example, saw continued improvement, largely thanks to the increased number of respondents accessing health insurance, with the coverage rate rising from 80% in 2017 to 87% in 2018. Scores in the basic infrastructure sub-dimension, which includes garbage collection, road quality, and electrification, also improved dramatically in 2018. Public primary education saw some decline, however, mainly due to lower satisfaction with the quality of primary schools and primary education.

It is important to note, however, that the general progress in this area is not necessarily enjoyed equally by all groups. Ms. Cait Moran, Ambassador of Ireland to Viet Nam, said: One of the areas where we have supported PAPI is on the issue of ethnic minorities, who are generally poorer and traditionally have had less access to public services. We are very keen to see a further focus on understanding the differences between ethnic minorities and other groups that PAPI focuses on, so that public policy can shift to fully support ethnic minority communities.

When asked about the most important issues facing the country, poverty was again the most important issue for citizens in 2018. Despite rapid improvements in economic conditions in 2018, about 25% cited poverty as their top concern. The sharpest increases in 2018, however, were in concerns about corruption, economic growth, law and order, and education. Since 2015 concern about the environment has also surged in importance.

Photo: kinhtedothi.vn

In response to this emerging challenge, the 2018 PAPI survey included a series of questions to better understand citizens view and preferences related environmental governance. The results show strong public support for environmental protection, even at the expense of economic development. Respondents also expressed a strong preference for renewable green energy, though this must be coupled with a reliable supply of electricity. In addition, citizens have concerns about worsening water quality in their localities; more than half of the respondents said water quality had worsened in the past three years.

Results also show good progress by all provinces in public administrative procedures. Consistent improvement over time is evident for all four public administrative services, which include certification services as well as application procedures for construction permits, land use right certificates (LURCs), and personal documents especially. However, considering the gap between the 2018 scores and the maximum possible scores, there is room for provinces to enhance their services, in particular the performance of one-stop shops for LURCs.

The downward trend in land seizures stalled in 2018, with citizens reporting a slight increase compared to 2017. In cases where residential land was taken, the degree of satisfaction with the compensation slightly increased, but remained at less than 40%. The consistently low scores in this sub-dimension signifies that land transparency remains an important area where local governments should improve.

Finally, the 2018 PAPI Report looks at overall provincial performance. The 2018 results show that each province has its own strengths and weaknesses, as none of the 63 provinces excelled in all eight dimensions. In addition, there is a significant disparity between the highest total provincial score of 47.05 points and the potential maximum score of 80 points (on the scale of 10-80 points for all eight dimensions). This gap suggests there is room for further reforms and better implementation of policy by local governments as they strive to be more open, transparent, accountable, and responsive, and to act with integrity.

The 2018 PAPI includes a variety of changes made to better reflect governance and public administration performance in Viet Nam over time. PAPI continues to be refined and renewed - to make it a more useful tool to inform the government of policy choices for the benefit of Vietnamese citizens from all walks of life.

I think PAPI serves as an open platform for citizens to express their interests and concerns, for central and local government agencies to better understand citizens expectations, and for public agencies and citizens to work together towards a facilitating Government, a Government of the people, by the people and for the people, said Dr Pham Van Tan, Vice President and General Secretary of the Viet Nam Union for Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA), the parent organization of the Centre for Community Support and Development Studies (CECODES), a key PAPI partner./.Sunita Natti By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: On Tuesday, just when RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was about to chair his second Monetary Policy Committee review, the Supreme Court reduced the central banks controversial February 12 circular to a rump.

Das, who took charge amid conflicting times with the banking regulator getting into governments crosshairs over surplus reserves, finds himself in yet another difficult situation. Will the RBI file an appeal? Will it restore past schemes, enabling resolution of bad loans? Or will it stand mute to concerns about its regulatory might?

The February 12 circular, or the Revised Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets-2018 that SC struck down, subsumed a jaw-dropping 28 debt restructuring schemes dating as far back as 2001.

Whats damning is Supreme Court terming RBIs amended provisions of the Banking Regulation Act as ultra vires, raising doubts if the banking regulators role is somewhat diminished.

The government can either change the law to give RBI legal authority or set up alternative mechanisms (for debt restructuring). The PPP framework needs an overhaul along the lines suggested by Kelkar Committee, Dr Arvind Virmani, chairman, Foundation for Economic Growth & Welfare (EGROW), told this publication.

Restructuring allows banks to keep loan accounts standard and prevent classifying them as Non-Performing Assets (NPA). The multiple schemes, instead of recovering dues, created a debtor-friendly environment, with restructured accounts suffering high failure rates, while borrowers indulged in repeated defaults.

Citing the bitter experience, the Reserve Bank argued that harsh measures were necessary in public interest as banks use depositors money (taxpayers money in case of PSBs) to lend, and hence, only a time-bound resolution process was considered a game-changer.

With the circular now sent to the scrap heap, what fills the void? RBI has no compulsion to direct banks on loan restructuring. It did so earlier in the larger interest. Banks are free to decide if they want to restructure. Even if they dont want to, thats also permissible under the law, said R Gandhi, former deputy governor, RBI.

Nothing prevents banks from recovering money or taking errant entities to NCLT. The fact is that they needed strong backing, which came from RBI, but now thats diminished. Now that support is withdrawn and banks have to fight on their own, he added.

The bone of contention includes two Sections of the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2017  Section 35AA and 35AB  empowering RBI to issue directions to banks on insolvency proceedings. A clutch of power and sugar firms argued that forced sale sacrifices public money without economic benefits.

Virmani pointed out that while taking up resolution of power sector bad loans, the issue of power sector loans cannot be separated from state governments monopoly over distribution, their failure to allow competition and the Union governments controls on and incomplete de-nationalisation of coal sector.

Its therefore a special problem and shouldnt be confused with normal loans to, and loan repayment by, private firms in competitive, uncontrolled sectors! he added.

The debateBy PTI

NEW DELHI: Cracking down on tax evaders, the CBIC has asked tax officers to be cautious while processing application for fresh GST registration by those businesses whose earlier registration has been cancelled due to non-compliance.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) also directed tax officers to analyse the information by an applicant in the fresh registration form regarding details of proprietor, director/members of managing committee of associations/board of trustees etc vis-a-vis any cancelled registration having same details.

Recently, a large number of registrations has been cancelled by tax officers on account of non-compliance.

However, it has come to notice of taxmen that such businesses continue to operate without any registration and are not applying for revocation of cancellation of registration and are instead applying for fresh registration.

Instead, many of them are applying for fresh registration, so as to evade taxes which were due under earlier registration.

"It is instructed that the proper officer may exercise due caution while processing the application for registration submitted by taxpayers, where the taxpayer is seeking another registration within the State although he has an existing registration within the said State or his earlier registration has been cancelled," the CBIC said in its communication to field offices.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) law allows a person to take separate registration on same Permanent Account Number (PAN) in the same state.

However, a tax officer can reject the application for registration if the information or documents submitted by the applicant is found to be "deficient" if details in relation to earlier registration are suppressed.

Some of the details that may be concealed in the application for new registration are date of commencement of business, date on which liability to register arises, reason to obtain registration etc.

Such persons may also not furnish the details of earlier registrations, if any, obtained under GST on the same PAN.

"The proper officer may compare the information pertaining to earlier registrations with the information contained in the present application, the grounds on which the earlier registration(s) were cancelled and the current status of the statutory violations for which the earlier registration(s) were cancelled," the CBIC said.

In cases where the registration has been cancelled due to non-compliance, the officer would have to check whether the business had filed application for revocation of cancellation of registration.

"It is advised that where the applicant fails to furnish sufficient convincing justification or the proper officer is not satisfied with the clarification, information or documents furnished, then, his application for fresh registration may be considered for rejection," the CBIC said.

About 1.2 crore businesses are registered under GST, which was rolled out on July 1, 2017.

"Many of the taxpayers are unable to cope with the burden of compliances and the pace of GST evolution, committing bonafide mistakes. A blanket push on tax officers to scrutinise all applications with a coloured lens would lead to presumption of guilt without giving even first opportunity of being heard," AMRG & Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said.By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Theres a change of guard at the helm of Googles southeast Asia operations. Rajan Anandan, vice-president (southeast Asia and India), Google, will bid adieu by the end of this month to join Sequoia Capital India as a managing director. Vikas Agnihotri, country director (sales), will replace him in the interim.

We are grateful to Anandan for his huge contribution to Google over the past eight years. His entrepreneurial zeal and leadership has helped grow the overall Internet ecosystem in India and southeast Asia, and we wish him all the best in his new adventures, said Scott Beaumont, president, Google Asia Pacific.

Anandan, who is also an angel investor, will join the leadership team at Sequoia, which currently has six other managing directors, to focus on developing Surge. Surge is a scale-up programme for start-ups in India and southeast Asia.

Anandans deep understanding of technology, significant operating expertise and track record of growing tech businesses across the region will help Surge founders scale and build the transformational businesses of tomorrow, said Shailendra J Singh, managing director at Sequoia.

Before joining Google in 2011, Rajan led Microsoft and Dell in India and was earlier a partner at McKinsey & Co in Chicago.

8 amazing years. 850million internet users across India and SEA. Many billions of revenue and fastest growing region in the world. Incredible team that thinks big and executes superbly, Rajan tweeted on his departure.Sunitha natti By

Express News Service

The ongoing legal battle between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Kotak Mahindra Bank will stand the test of the time and throw clarity on whether the regulator is empowered to issue ownership directions to private banks.

Unlike public sector banks, private lenders are incorporated as regular entities under the Companies Act, 1956 and are mandated to comply with the corporate governance norms prescribed by markets watchdog SEBI. Separately, as per reports, the RBI is considering setting up a panel to look into ownership issues of private lenders, though there has been no official word yet.

In December 2018, Kotak not only challenged RBIs direction to reduce its promoter shareholding as prescribed, it also contested the regulators role, insisting that under Section 12 and 12b of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, RBI wasnt empowered to issue directions to banks to reduce their promoter shareholding or otherwise contemplate reduction of shareholding of any person in a bank.

On Monday, the two-judge bench at the Bombay High Court adjourned the hearing to April 22. Both the petitioner (Kotak) and the respondent (RBI) are fighting it out with the former arguing that the regulator was unfairly creating an impression that the promoters interest was being furthered through the petition. Uday Kotak, vice chairman and MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank currently owns nearly 30 per cent in the lender.

As per RBIs banking licensing norms, a private banks promoter holding should be brought down to 40 per cent within three years of operations, 20 per cent within 10 years and 15 per cent within 15 years. Last August, Kotak proposed to issue non-convertible perpetual non-cumulative preference shares to reduce its promoters stake to 19.7 per cent, worth Rs 500 crore at Rs 5 a piece, which the RBI shot down arguing that preference shares dont comprise core equity and help promoters retain voting rights.

Typically, stake dilution is done by issuing fresh equity shares, by selling promoter shares or through acquisitions, but Kotaks beef with the central banks diktat is that reducing promoter shareholding amounts to raising huge capital not warranted for its business and growth, and would be detrimental to stakeholders including non-promoter shareholders. RBI, however, insists that stake reduction is essential to prevent concentration of power, to which Kotak suggested that by diluting stake itll ensure that voting power is not concentrated in the hands of a single group.

In the past, Uday Kotak has exercised multiple options to pare his 45 per cent stake like buying out ING Vysya in 2014, selling a stake to GIC and issuing new shares, which together reduced his shareholding to 30 per cent in five years. Though the court has refused to stay the RBI directive in the past, the central bank hasnt imposed punitive action awaiting the final verdict.Ramu Patil By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Tuesday morning, around 11 am Jeevanahalli Circle in Banaswadi, Bengaluru wears a

deserted look. The large migrant population from the neighbouring states, is, as usual out at work. But just 15 minutes later, the emptiness is filled with a crowd--people surfaces from nowhere, like a wave. Its a procession of BJP candidate PC Mohans taking the area by storm.

Im all for Modi. He has taken a tough stand on Pakistanthe border issues, says Manjunath, an owner of a small provision store near the circle, seemingly convinced by the BJP leaders who address an impromptu street corner on the good work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today India commands lot of respect in the world, says Manjunath, almost repeating what he has just heard.

In this cosmopolitan constituency of Bangalore Central, mostly dominated by middle classes, Modi is a factor, much more than the local candidate. It is an election for PM ModiIm just the messenger, BJPs PC Mohan is candid, also because its PM Modis image and charisma that he hopes will see him through, this election. Not his own work as a sitting MP or the pull of the lotus symbol.

Mohans task, however, may not be easy. His nearest rival, Rizwan Arshad, is certainly not giving him a cake walk. The Congress quite cannily fielded young Arshad, an MLC, from the Central Bangalore Parliamentary constituency. Obviously, keeping the sizable linguistic-and-religious-minority vote-bank in mind.

Thirty-nine-year-old Arshad is pitching his local connect with fervor. If its PM Modi and national security for Mohan, Arshad is promising to raise problems of Bangalore Central in the Lok Sabha. He also working round the clock, addressing six to seven meetings a day. That is the advantage of being young. You can work till you drop, says Rizwan, in a tangential reference his opponents age.

Rizwans war-room is buzzing with activity of the new kind. No longer can public meeting suffice, candidates need social media warriors to supplement their traditional campaign.In 2014, however, in a similar contest, BJP PC Mohan had trounced Rizwan by a margin of 1.30 lakh votes, making full use of the Modi wave of 2014.

Its a thorny contest, coloured by a bit of ego fight.Two-term MP, Mohan is not taking any chances. I start my campaign day addressing morning walkers, tap into fresh minds. Manage to put in 16 hours of public meetings, he adds.But, this is also the constituency from which Prakash Raj is contesting as an independent candidate. Raj, with cinematic appeal and gift of the gab, will pull in some votes. His is a direct anti-Modi appeal thats expected to cut into Rizwans votes.

It is going to be a tough contest between the Congress and BJP, Prakash Raj is not so much a factor, except as a vote cutter says political analyst Mohan Ram, a resident of Gandhi Nagar, part of the Bangalore Central constituency.

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Of the eight assembly segments in the Bangalore Central LS seat, five are held by the Congress, the three by BJP. Thats what gives Rizwan, a slight edge and an air of confidence. The Congress could gain from the consolidation of Muslim, Christian and Dalit votesthats 50% of the constituency. Also, as the only Muslim candidate of the Congress across Karnataka, Rizwan is getting support from his party MLAs, particularly Shivajinagar MLA Roshan Baig.

Between all this, the Kannada Film Workers Artist Technicians Federation (KFWAT) Secretary KS Ravindranath, is surprisingly supporting Modi and not Prakash Raj. This election is about giving

Mr Modi a second term, he personally feels.

Not everyone agrees though. Some like, Gayatri M, an advocate of Karnataka High Court, thinks, demonitisation and GST have killed the economy and the service class, the rest she feels is all propaganda.Look at the impact of GST, everything has become so expensive. We have to pay Rs 2 tax to buy a needle. Eating out has become prohibitiveky expensive. It hurting the middle class and not generating any jobs, she says.

INTERVIEWSVaishali Vijaykumar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Egg-shaped rattles, cherry-shaped teethers, and night sky-themed mobile are lined up on a table. All toys are made of neem wood and dyed with natural extracts from vegetables. We came across Ariro (lullaby in Tamil)  a toy brand at a pop-up in the city. Founded by city-based couple Vasanth Tamilselvan and Nisha, Ariro has toys for infants and children up to three years old.

When we became parents for the first time, we found that our daughter had atopic dermatitis or eczema. It develops in early childhood. Our child had an allergic reaction to plastic toys. We started scouting for wooden toys. In fact, we designed our own toys. Our friends also wanted them. One thing led to another and we started Ariro in April last year, says Vasanth.

The couple travelled to France and Indonesia to study the medicinal benefits of wood and wooden toys. Vasanths wife Nisha is a Montessori teacher. The duo brainstormed with other teachers and designed toys keeping in mind the needs and sensitivity of the child. They joined hands with local artisans. The carved products are coloured using vegetable dyes and brought to their warehouse in Chetpet from where they are dispatched.

The segment of zero to three years is a crucial time. But the options for this segment are sidelined in many kids websites and stores. We need to ensure that the infants have organic growth with a healthy lifestyle and mental stability. With more parents switching over to natural options, neem wood has become a popular choice. Our orders have doubled. People from abroad have also shown interest, says Vasanth. Ariros toys amplify cognitive development, help motor skills development and aids hand-eye coordination.

Teethers are available in shapes of fruits and vegetables, and cradle mobiles made of wood have birds, clouds, airplanes, and stars as toys. Their toy collection includes 18 varieties of rattles, 12 of teethers, seven of mobiles, sliders, stackers, and puzzles. Stacking and nesting toys are said to help with spatial development, dexterity, and reasoning skills.

Everything from design to delivery is time-consuming because all are hand-made toys. We have also mentioned the storage and maintenance details for our toys behind the package. Its simple  keep water away. Some parents even drop in at our warehouse to get a touch-and-feel. We also suggest the toys are neatly arranged and kept within the reach, he shares.

Ariro delivers across India. For details, www.ariro.inMs. Sibeth Ndiaye (Source: aficanews.com)

Ms. Ndiaye was named to the post in a mini-cabinet reshuffle, just hours before her first press briefing at the Elysee Palace lectern.

Sibeth Ndiaye, a 39-year-old born in Dakar, only obtained French citizenship in 2016 while working as a communications adviser for Macrons presidential campaign.

Ndiaye comes from a family of politicians, her mother was president of Senegal's Constitutional Council. She moved to Paris to study at university and became the left-wing student activist before joining the Socialist Party in 2002.

Ndiaye is the second Senegalese-born woman to hold a prominent title in the French government. Politician Rama Yade held several positions in former right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet.

Besides, Cedric O, a 36-year-old former treasurer for Macron's campaign, has replaced Digital Affairs Minister Mounir Mahjoubi, who is also planning to compete for the Paris mayor job.

President Emmanuel Macron also appointed legislator Amelie de Montchalin, 33, as new European Affairs Minister, to replace Ms. Nathalie Loiseau.

The three new faces in the government are all aged under 40./.By Express News Service

CHENNAI : The Principal Sessions Court here has confirmed the trial courts judgment convicting former police inspector Abdul Samad for holding foreign currencies to the tune of Rs 2.94 crore without prior permission from the Reserve Bank in 1993.

Abdul Samad was convicted under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA) by the Economic Offences Court-II, Chennai. The court had convicted Abdul Samad to two years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 for acquiring foreign currencies without prior permission from the RBI.

During FERA investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, a search was conducted at the residential premises of Samad on July 15, 1993 and foreign currencies  US dollar 1,92,493, Saudi Riyals 5,44,000, Qatar Riyals 12,000, UAE Dinar 70,500 and Singapore Dollars 11  (all equivalent to Rs 2,94,50,120) were seized. The Principal Sessions Court dismissed Samads appeal and confirmed the trial courts order on conviction.By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Wednesday sought a months time from a city court to decide whether or not to grant sanction to prosecute former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar in the 2016 sedition case.Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat directed the Aam Aadmi Party government to file a proper reply citing a definite time-frame it is looking at.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell of Delhi Police, Pramod Kushwaha had earlier told the court that the police have sent a request to the Delhi government seeking sanction. He told the court that the sanction was an administrative action and the charge sheet can be filed without that.

The Delhi Police had said the AAP government is yet to give requisite sanctions to prosecute Kumar and others in the case, and it would take two to three months to procure sanctions as a result.On January 14, the police filed a charge sheet against Kumar and others, claiming he was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised in the JNU campus during an event on February 9, 2016.

Kumar and other students of JNU were booked for sedition after they allegedly raised anti-India slogans at a rally in the campus held to commemorate Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The others accused in the case include Anirban Bhattacharya and Umar Khalid.

Hanging by a thread

Kanhaiya Kumar, the former JNUSU president whose name figures in the charge sheet, is the CPIs Lok Sabha candidate from Begusarai constituency in Bihar. Any go ahead for action by the AAP government means a setback to the political career of Kanhaiya. Begusarai votes on April 29. The last day of filing nomination is April 9Kaushani Banerjee By

Express News Service

Tourism Australias culinary brand ambassador and world renowned chef Tony Howell was recently in Delhi as part of a special dinner curated by JW Marriott. We caught up with the chef to discuss Australian cuisine, his inspiration behind cooking and his favourite dishes. Heres an excerpt:

How has Australian cuisine evolved over the years?

Years ago, Australian food was aligned with British food, but that didnt really suit our climate. Australia is melting pot for so many different cultures and they have influenced Australian food. Traditionally  well for 60,000 years  the worlds oldest living culture, the Australian Aborigines, lived off the land, foraging native Australian bush food and hunting native animals and fishing. When settlement from the British happened some 230 years ago, they brought their own food with them. And with every wave of immigration  from the Italians and Greeks in the 1950s to the Asians in the 1980s and Indian, Middle Eastern and African immigration in more recent times, theyve all influenced what we call Modern Australian Food.Now days, the trend is for fresh, sustainable local produce and to keep things clean and not overpower the taste of the great protein which Western Australia is renowned for. I do feel blessed to work with such outstanding produce.



Have you been to India before and what do you think of the cuisine?

No, it was my first trip to India, but definitely not my last. On my second night in India, Nikhil Agarwal from All Things Nice took who organised the dinners took me to a place called The Bombay Canteen in Mumbai and it was an absolute winner. We had an Indian Prawn dish and a duck curry and both dishes had similarities to Thai food  Ive spent a bit of time in Thailand over the years. The modern Indian food we had was fantastic and outlined regional flavours  it was almost like travelling India in one restaurant.

You were part of Fresh TV and MasterChef Australia. Do you think theres been a rise of food television over the last couple of years?

Definitely. MasterChef has been running for about 11 years and My Kitchen Rules (MKR) is in its tenth season now. The popularity of food programs doesnt look like slowing down any time soon. I think food television has inspired people to cook, to try new food and generally educated people about food. Its also shown that there is a good career to be had in the hospitality industry. When I first started out, the only people who knew chefs names were apprentices who wanted to work under someone with a reputation, now some chefs are celebrities.

Tell us a little about how you became a chef and what is your main inspiration behind cooking?

As a 14-year-old, all I wanted to do was go surfing, so I got a job in a Mexican restaurant so I could save up to buy surfboards. It was whilst working in that Mexican restaurant that I discovered how much I enjoyed being in kitchen, the bond between chefs, the hard work and stress but most of all the camaraderie, it was something that I enjoyed. The environment there was fun. From there I went to a better restaurant and learnt from the best chefs in the city.

Which are some of your favourite dishes and cuisines?

I love Thai food  the clean flavours that are perfectly balanced. I also love French food, Italian food, Vietnamese, Indonesia, but most importantly, I love good produce. Fresh, seasonal produce thats been grown or raised with care with minimal intervention. You can taste the difference. Just-caught fresh fish is always so much better than expensive two-day old oysters.By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A Hyderabadi citizen who was allegedly held captive and tortured in Somalia by her in-laws since 2018, was rescued after the intervention of the Prime Ministers Office and the Ministry of External Affairs. She arrived in Mumbai Airport on Tuesday.

Afreen Begum (31), a resident of Nawab Saheb Kunta in the Charminar area of the city, was rescued from Mogadishu, Somalia on March 28. This rescue was especially tricky as India does not have an embassy in Somalia. Hence, the Indian High Commission in Nairobi (Kenya) had to carry out the rescue operation with help from Somalian police.

The incident date backs to 2013, when Begum married Mohammed Hussein Duale who was then working at a private firm in Hyderabad, had a Canadian passport, but his family was based in Somalia and the family went there in July 2018.By Express News Service

KOCHI: In a sarcastic take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CPM politburo general secretary Sitaram Yechury, on Tuesday, asked him to remain in outer space as its chowkidar. While speaking at an election campaign rally for LDF candidate P Rajeev at Rajendra Maidan, Yechury said Modi is claiming himself as the Chowkidar of outer space after his recent speech on the missile launch.

My request, not mine, but also that of the general public to Modi is you remain the chowkidar of outer space. You remain there and give our India back to us, the CPM leader added sarcastically.In his hour-long speech, Yechury mainly attacked Modi and the RSS for the wrong policies and for seriously damaging the secular values of India by polarising the nation.

However, he was also critical about the candidature of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad. This is a very crucial election in the history of independent India. The outcome of this election will determine whether India will survive as a secular republic. It is necessary to oust the Modi Government. Otherwise, India will be under the grip of communal forces, he said.

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Yechury hardens stance against Rahul contesting in Wayanad

ALAPPUZHA: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury hardened his stance against the candidature of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad. In a rally held as part of the election campaign of LDF candidate AM Ariff on Tuesday, Yechury said the candidature of Rahul will help the BJP.

The Congress is facing the BJP in the national level and they are trying to form a secular government at the Centre. The Left Front has been supporting such a move. So, what is the relevance of the contest of Rahul in Wayanad? It is sending the wrong message to the march towards the formation of a secular government.

The BJP, the main opponent of the Congress, is irrelevant in Kerala. Rahul is facing challenges in Amethi and if so, he opted Wayanad, the people of Wayanad will also give him a lesson, Yechury said. The Left parties are the protectors of secularism in the country. We have proved it in 2004. The first UPA Government with the support of the Left parties functioned effectively, he said.By Express News Service

KOCHI: Of all the variants of cancer, the one which has the highest rate of incidence in India is breast cancer. And it is also the one that claims the most lives in India, the reason being that women are shy of getting themselves tested. However, a path-breaking device made by a team of scientists from Kerala will help women detect breast cancer in the very early stage minus the embarrassment they feel in going to a doctor. This very device also led A Seema, the chief investigating officer of the team, to be decorated with the Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian award for a woman, by the President of India recently. She was also awarded the National Award for Women's Development (NAWD) through the Application of Science and Technology.

According to A Seema, the device is a low-cost bra that can detect breast cancer right at the early stage. "A regular mammogram costs between Rs 1,500 and Rs 8,000 and also might have a side-effect since X-rays are used in imaging the tumour. Besides those who have taken a mammogram would try to avoid taking another since it is a painful process," she said. Since the bra is portable, it becomes an effective tool in the hands of every health worker or ASHA worker in the rural areas, she added. "Even young girls can wear it. The bra caters to all body types and can be worn by those as young as 15 or 20 years. In the case of mammograms, only women over 40 years can undergo screening," she said. According to Seema, her team of scientists have been working for the past four years to perfect the device. "At present, the image produced by the bra is a 2-D one. We are now working on a project that aims at improving the imaging. The aim is to produce a 3-D image since it will give the doctor a better understanding of the place and position of the tumour," she said.

According to MN Muralidharan, co-investigator, the device works by mapping the heat signature of the tumour. "Since the tumour cells multiply rapidly, a lot of blood vessels develop and the high metabolic rate produces a lot of o heat," he said. The device uses this heat signature to map the tumour, so no radiation is involved, he added.

Also, this instrument is much cheaper than a digital mammogram machine which costs about Rs 3.5 crore. "The wearable device costs between Rs 400 and Rs 500 and once commercialised it will cost just Rs 50, said Seema. According to her co-investigator, she is now working on a diverse number of projects some which include a super-capacitor for the defence and also a tiny thermal sensor for use in meteorological devices.Kiran Narayanan By

Express News Service

KOCHI: With the nation all set to go for the elections, the demands of the 1000-odd families in Puthuvype are once again hogging the limelight. The natives of the coastal area have been protesting the construction of the LPG terminal plant for over a decade now. The agitations had heightened two years ago when the residents went on an indefinite strike, seeking the government to relocate the project due to safety concerns.

In the wake of the elections, the protestors say they will only vote for the candidate who will stand by their demands.The protest began in 2009. "We have been demanding the transfer of this plant to Ambalamugal owned by the state government, close to the proposed petrochemicals and pharma park complex. Whoever supports our demands will receive our votes," said MB Jayaghosh, chairman of the LPG Terminal Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samiti.

Agitators say all fronts are responsible. "The project was envisagerd during the UPA-II government in the centre. The groundwork began during the LDF regime in the state. When the protesters' petition came before the NGT council, the incumbent NDA government has stood with the project."We are not here for a blame-game. If the project is implemented, almost 65,000 lives will be under threat," said KS Murali, convenor of the LPG Terminal Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samiti.

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The ongoing work on the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) project was halted in mid-February 2017 after the islanders launched an indefinite protest. However, the IOC has reiterated the work of the LPG Plant will soon restart, because heavy investment was made for the project. "IOC and other stakeholders have already completed 40 per cent of the project. Rolling back of the project will result in loss of public money," said an IOC official.

However, the protesters point that the figures by the authorities are faulty. "The terminal is being established in two parts, one comprising the LPG shipment receiving jetty at the Multi-User Liquid Terminal (MULT) for unloading the imported gas and the storage facility. They are combining MULT with the storage to shoot up the numbers. There is no need to shift MULT from the existing location. As they are laying a pipeline to Tamil Nadu as part of the project, they can easily shift the storage facility to Ambalamugal," said Jayagosh.

The agitators have also raised concerns about the findings of the experts panel constituted by the state government. "They have made 15 recommendations to assuage our demands. But the committee's terms of reference are not in tandem with our demands. Still, we are remaining positive," he said.By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Commissioners Task Force (CTF) officials cracked a case of robbery and arrested six persons for stealing Rs 1.26 crore from their employer. The accused were arrested from Vijayawada on Tuesday and teams have been formed to nab another absconding accused. According to the police, Vasupalli Nagaraju (29) from Visakhapatnam took the help of Vasupalli Das (32) from Visakhapatnam, Reddypalle Kishore alias Nani (28) from Rajamahendravaram, Parikela Bhavani Shankar (22) from Mylavaram (Krishna district), Chitluri Sai Harshavardhan (22), and a juvenile  in planning the robbery.

Addressing a press conference, commissioner of police (CP) Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said Nagaraju, the prime accused, was working as an assistant for the complainant, Abhinav Reddy, a Hyderabad-based chili exporter. Reddy approached Two-Town police officials a week ago and complained that he had been robbed of around `1.7 crore at YSR Jakkampudi Colony layout.

In his complaint, Abhinav Reddy said three unknown men wearing khaki trousers and black shoes stopped their vehicle near KR Market posing as CTF officials on election duty. When they found the cash, they asked Reddy to show bills to prove that the money rightfully belonged to him. Then, they suddenly attacked Reddy and fled with the cash.

Nagaraju, an associate of Reddy, who was also one of the complainants in the case, had been chalking the plan with his friend Ravindra for a month. He took the help of Nani and Das in bringing the money from Hyderabad to Vijayawada and checked in at Manorama Hotel. We investigated and found that he was the accused, and recovered `1.26 crore. Some more amount is yet to be recovered, said the CP.The cash was unaccounted, and there is a possibility that it was circulated in hawala transactions, Rao added.

Polices account of how the robbery took place

Nagaraju, an associate of Reddy, who was also one of the complainants in the case, had been chalking the plan with his friend Ravindra for a month. He formed a gang and posing as eelction officials, the gang intercepted the victims vehicle. Posing as a victim, Nagaraju accompanied his boss Abhinav Reddy in filing a complaint about the robbery. Nagaraju then took the help of Nani and Das in bringing the money from Hyderabad to Vijayawada and checked in at Manorama Hotel.By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: In a democracy, vote is the most precious and powerful tool to decide the peoples future. Hence, it is every ones responsibility to exercise their right to vote judiciously, said Vijayawada Commissioner of Police (CP) Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao. Participating in the Be Heard. Because the Nation is Listening seminar organised by The New Indian Express, in association with Kakaraparti Bhava Narayana (KBN) College, here on Tuesday to create awareness among voters, the CP addressed a roomful of young post graduates.

Only when people vote can they get the leadership they desire. If you do not wish to become a lamb that becomes food for two fighting wolves then use your vote judiciously, he advised the youngsters. The CP added Indians were fortunate as the country is a republic, unlike many others where a section of the society, a community or a particular gender is bereft of the right to vote.

Explaining how the police were strictly implementing the Model Code of Conduct, the CP assured the students of a safe and secure environment where voters could cast their vote without any fear. 20-30 years ago, the situation was different. But today we live in good times, when no situation can arise where one can influence or intimidate the other.

Dr MC Das, a well-known management consultant and retired professor, described voting as a bounden duty of every citizen of the country. Not using ones right to vote is no less a crime than sedition, he emphasised. He cited examples of countries like Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to vote, and Switzerland, where women only got that right in 1970s.

From April 11, people will decide their fate for the next five years. The verdict will be out on May 23. In the past, bloodshed and violence were ways for a leader to succeed, but now we choose our leader with votes, sans any violence or bloodshed, he added. In his welcome address, KBN College Principal V Narayana Rao said 65 per cent of the countrys population was youth, which was why other countries envied India.

But the question is do the youth use their power properly? Are they using their right to vote? No, there was only a 60 per cent turnout in the last MLC elections. When a 95-year-old gets worried if she finds her vote missing, why should a youth be indifferent? Let there be a change and all of us cast our votes to decide the fate of our country, he urged. On behalf of The New Indian Express, Deputy Resident Editor T Kalyan Chakravarthy gave the vote of thanks.

What to do?

 What needs to be done if you have your name on the voter list, but do not have EPIC?

Use any valid identity card to cast your vote.

 What to do if someone has illegally used your vote?

Demand to exercise your franchise by showing your ID and you will be given Tendered Ballot Paper.

 If you do not wish to vote for any candidate?

Go for NOTA option

Vijayawada Youth more inclined to exercise their franchise

Vijayawada: Unlike in the past, there is an increasing awareness among new voters about their right to vote and most are eager to exercise it to see their favourite leaders come to power. M Sai Ram, a 21-year-old MBA student of KBN College, says voting is the only option if people want to see a change of the government. If one wants the right people to come to power, then he/she must vote for those who will actually make a difference.

Agreeing with him, A Varudhini, a PG student from the same college, says using the right to vote is always the right thing. If one does not vote, he/she will be guilty of bringing those people to power who do not deserve it, she stresses. Abdul Hafeez, another management graduate, asked why one should forgo ones right.

Not using an opportunity is as good as misusing it, he says. Asked what the youths look for when they vote, D Siva Ranjani, an MBA student, says she looks for a person who will contribute in a regions development and make a difference there. Her friend Varudhini states she is interested in a candidates profile rather than the party he or she represents.Krupa Ge By

Express News Service

Thiagarajan Kumararajas Super Deluxe, even before the release of its trailer, was one of the most anticipated comebacks from an Indian director.

Amid heavy buzz, following a befittingly bizarre teaser and trailer, the film is out and has instantly become somewhat of a cause even the critics want to champion.

The cause of good cinema doing well. Here is someone who has worked hard (it shows), here is someone who seems to trust the audience (whether that is naive is up for debate), and here is someone who wants to engage with the audience, not to be overly preachy, but to ask everyone to go easy.

Super Deluxe is possibly an easier film to review than it is to break down in terms of its representation, especially of its women. The complication comes from the characters themselves (written entirely by men). Samanthas Vembu for instance is an incredible role and she is fantastic, going from cool to funny to broken with utter ease.

Kumararaja armed with a wicked sense of humour smashes the pathini tag weaponised by men and held like a sword upon married women, with extremely well-timed coincidences. The film itself is an ode to coincidences and how much we take the randomness of life for granted. It attributes much of what comes as sudden relief to luck rather than a divine design.

ALSO READ: In Super Deluxe, I needed the least takes, says Samantha Akkineni

Leela, played by Ramya Krishnan, too challenges the idea of what a mother can be in the Amma sentiment laden universe of Tamil cinema.

In the one long shot where she runs through the hospital, she is incredible and powerful, making me wish I could have seen more of her and her life. And Gayathrie as Jyothi feels like the ultimate tribute to the women of Visus brand of cinema (whose Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, Kumararaja has said somewhere he likes a lot). Shilpa too (played by Vijay Sethupathi) is an extremely nuanced role. She holds a secret until the end of the film. She is battling a spiritual crisis that has nothing to do with her identity and the focus on the latter through the film feels almost like a misdirection, because we are all so focused on what shes wearing that we are missing out on what shes thinking.

Kumararaja also slips in an articulation of identity in a manner that is accessible even to someone as young as Shilpas incredible son.

In the large scheme of things, an unexpected character tells a teenager in the movie towards the end, We are all the same. Looking at the film purely through that message you see why Kumararaja doesnt think it odd that a cis man plays a trans woman in Super Deluxe. And Vijay Sethupathi delivers something extraordinary.

ALSO READ: My insecurities dont influence my decisions, says Samantha Akkineni

For a star who should traditionally be looking at making more macho movies with more fight scenes, so he can rake in the monies from B and C centres, to be playing Shilpa indeed shows Vijay Sethupathi taking himself as an actor far more seriously.

One cant help but wonder though, looking at our films through the we are all made of the same material lens, will we cast trans actors in cis roles (its not unheard of, look at Colette for instance) any time soon? Perhaps some of the filmmakers associated with Super Deluxe (Nalan, Mysskin, Neelan K Sekar, who co-wrote the film, and Kumararaja himself) will give us something like this as they are seen as the ones radically changing the scene?

I decided to write a column about representation some time ago because I found myself watching a movie every week. I love the idea of sitting in a theatre and watching a good masala movie, but also found myself shrinking at what I saw on screen often when the women came on.

There were some stretches in Super Deluxe that made me flinch and feel restless. They felt incredibly long. Bagavathi Perumal as Berlin, an Sub-Inspector, is possibly the most one-dimensional role in Super Deluxe. Hes irredeemably bad, except perhaps to caterpillars. And in his hands, both Vembu and Shilpa, undergo humiliation.

ALSO READ: Shilpa is pure and taught me how to be her, says Vijay Sethupathi on 'Super Deluxe'

The scenes where there looms a threat of sexual violence against these women from Berlin, felt too long and too voyeuristic, too male gaze-y. I couldnt wait for them to end. Was it the intention of the self-aware male writers? So that when Berlin met his end it would be that much of a relief?

If Berlin represents the voyeurism of male gaze, and he dies from a television crashing on his head, does that count for something? I will know more perhaps when I watch the movie a second time. Which I think a lot of us, who like sitting in a dark room with strangers, being vulnerable to someones ideas, will be doing.

Krupa Ge

@krupage

This weekly column is a rumination on how women are portrayed in cinemaPeople present hada, a ceremonial silk cloth to show respect, during a spontaneous mourning ceremony to pay tribute to those who lost their lives while fighting the forest fire in a funeral parlour in Xichang City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 2, 2019. A fire that killed 30 people and engulfed about 15 hectares of forest in southwest China's Sichuan Province was extinguished Tuesday, local authorities said. Thirty people, including 27 firefighters and three locals, lost their lives while fighting the fire. (Xinhua/Zhang Chaoqun)

11

1

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday told a Delhi court that jailed Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah generated funds from Pakistan and other countries to carry out unrest in the Valley.

The agency made the submission before Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora while opposing Shah's bail application in a decade-old money laundering case for alleged terror financing, in which the accused is currently lodged in Tihar central jail here.

ED's special public prosecutor N K Matta told the court that Shah was "involved in generation of huge proceeds of crime from various countries, including Pakistan, to carry out unrest in Kashmir and amassed huge wealth in the form of immovable and movable assets." Advocate Samvedna Verma, appearing for ED, told the court that if granted the relief, Shah may use his influence in threatening the witnesses and may not be available for facing the trial.

"Accused Shabir Shah is involved in channelizing the illegal money sources from foreign countries, i.e., Pakistan, avoiding banking channel to fund the terror organisations in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country and if released on bail, he may use his influence in pressurizing/ threatening the witnesses and may not be available for facing trial," the agency said.

It also alleged that Shah was in regular touch with Hafiz Sayeed, Chief of Pakistan-based banned terror outfit, Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

There are serious allegations against Shah and further investigation in the case was going on and the properties were being identified, the ED said, adding that it was trying to establish the money trail.

Advocate M S Khan had moved the bail application on behalf of Shah on the ground of parity after the Delhi High Court recently granted bail to co-accused and alleged hawala dealer Mohammad Aslam Wani in the case.

The case was registered in 2007 for the alleged offence committed in 2005 and the accused was arrested on July 25, 2017.

The court had in August 2017 denied bail to Shah after ED submitted that it was probing whether he had received money from "enemy countries" like Pakistan to promote terrorism in India.

Shah was arrested in connection with the August 2005 case in which the Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested Wani, claiming that Rs 63 lakh was recovered from him, out of which Rs 52 lakh was allegedly to be delivered to Shah.

The agency had earlier issued summonses to Shah in the case, the prosecution had said, adding that Wani had claimed that he had given Rs 2.25 crore to Shah.

Investigating agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have cracked down on Hurriyat leaders, arresting Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law -- Altaf Ahmed Shah, also known as Altaf Fantoosh -- and several other Kashmiri separatists.Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRI NAGAR: A study group has been constituted in Jammu and Kashmir to suggest measures to further strengthen security for movement of convoys along the 270-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway.

The study group has been formed. It will go to the blast site at Banihal and give a report on how to strengthen security mechanism on the highway, Director General of J&K Police Dilbagh Singh said in Jammu.

The study group has been formed after Saturdays failed suicide car bombing on CRPF convoy at Banihal.

Police have arrested Hizbul Mujahideen militant Owais Amin of south Kashmirs Shoipan district, who was driving a Santro and escaped with minor injuries after a failed car bomb blast attempt on Sunday evening.

A CRPF bus suffered minor damages in the blast. The DGP said it is good for the investigation that the trigger mechanism of the car bomb was not perfect.

A minor blast took place due to which the car caught fire and he (driver) sustained minor injuries. The secondary blast comprising IED, gelatin sticks of superpower 90 grand, petrol and 2 LPGs did not explode, he said.

Asked whether it was a fidayeen attack, the DGP said, Yes. It was. He had come to carry out fidayeen attack. He escaped after the first blast.By IANS

NEW DELHI: Businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, is under the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) "close scanner" in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal as the "dragnet closes in", agency sources said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the ED informed a city court that Puri had been called for questioning and will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent arrested by the agency in March-end, in the money laundering case.

Puri is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hindustan Powerprojects, one of India's leading integrated power players in the energy sector.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed the agency to interrogate Gupta for three more days after the court was informed by the ED that he needed to be confronted with Puri who was summoned last week to join the investigation on Wednesday.

An ED official, requesting anonymity, told IANS that it was not clear if Puri had joined the probe on Wednesday but confirmed that he had been questioned several times in connection with the contract to supply 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force.

India on January 1, 2014 scrapped the deal with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland over an alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore for securing the deal.

"Ratul Puri was questioned on many occasions in AgustaWestland case for routing the kickbacks. This time, he will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta," said the official.

READ HERE | AgustaWestland: Court asks Tihar authorities to produce CCTV footage on Michel's torture allegation

Asked whether Puri can be arrested, the official said: "We have evidences against him which are to be corroborated. Puri's arrest depends on what investigators find during his confrontation with Gupta. If things go against Puri, he may be arrested this week."

Puri's questioning along with Gupta, who was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), came after disclosures by lobbyist Rajiv Saxena.

Saxena has turned approver in the case after he was deported from the United Arab Emirates and arrested by the agency here.

Saxena has shared information about Puri with the ED which the agency wants to establish by confronting Gupta, who is suspected of possessing some payment details in the purchase of the choppers.

The ED is probing the case to establish suspected bribes allegedly paid to the "middlemen" when India agreed to purchase the VVIP helicopters.

In December last year, Dubai-based businessman Christian Michel, an alleged middleman in the deal, was extradited to India and lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged there was an estimated loss of euro 398.21 million (Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth euro 556.262 million.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, alleged that he received euro 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

"The money was nothing but kickbacks," the charge sheet said.

The ED investigation found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from AgustaWestland through "criminal activity" and corruption in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.By Online Desk

The BJP has reportedly hired four trains at a cost of Rs 53 lakh for supporters from Jhargram, Lalgola, Purulia and Rampurhat to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Speaking to Bangla daily Anandabazar Patrika, a railway official said the four special trains were hired by the BJP as per the guidelines of Election Commission. The trains were booked through 'Flat Tariff Rate,' which is a fixed rent.

Modi will address his first rally in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls at Kolkata's iconic Brigade Parade Ground.

The venue holds great significance as it has witnessed many historic events right from the 1972 Bangladesh liberation rally to the most recent opposition rally, where the Mahagathbandhan was formed. Around eight lakh supporters are expected to attend the rally in Kolkata.

It will be the first time the Brigade ground will witness a covered rally. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the health of supporters is their top priority so the rally is happening in a covered space to protect them from the scorching heat.

The Prime Minister, who campaigned in Arunachal Pradesh earlier on Wednesday, will be addressing two rallies in West Bengal in Kolkata and Siliguri later. Modi was scheduled to address a rally in Siliguri on Tuesday but it was cancelled after the West Bengal government denied permission to hold it.

Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee will hold a campaign in Dinhata in the state on the same day. She has sharply criticised Modi in past rallies and even challenged him to a public debate before the general elections.Sumi Sukanya Dutta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Nearly 160 central institutions might have to initiate admission against newly adopted economically weaker section seats this year without immediate funding support from the Centre.

A proposal to sanction Rs 5,650 crore for these institutions towards building infrastructure and faculty recruitment has not been taken up by the Union Cabinet due to non-approval of the Election Commission.

Sources in the government said that a cabinet note of the proposal was sent by the Union Human Resources Development Ministry before the model code of conduct came into effect early last month, but it could not be taken up in the last Cabinet meeting before the general election dates were announced by the EC.

And then the cabinet secretariat sent the proposal for the EC for vetting but it has not received a go-ahead yet, a senior official told this newspaper.

Unless this sanction comes through, institutions will not get any funding support from the Ministry.

A total of 158 central institutions, including Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology and central universities-are offering 25 % more seats-over two years-to accommodate additional 10 % EWS candidates.

The Centre, in January this year, had adopted a policy of 10 % reservation for EWS candidates from upper castes in admission and jobs and also said that 25 % seats will be increased across institutions to ensure that existing seats in other quotas and general category students are not disturbed.

As per the note sent by the HRD Ministry a total of 2.15 lakh additional seats are to added by 158 institutions over two years, of which 1.19 lakh more admission will happen in the coming academic session.

The demand

The maximum amount of Rs 2,682 crore has been sought by 40 central universities, followed by 23 IITs which have collectively asked for Rs 1,095 crore for 2019-20 and 2020-21.SV Krishna Chaitanya By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Indian defence and space scientists on Tuesday dismissed NASAs claim that the space debris created by Indias anti-satellite missile test increased the likelihood of small particles hitting the International Space Station.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine had called Indias A-SAT test a terrible, terrible thing, claiming 24 of the 400-odd pieces of orbital debris were spotted above the apogee of ISS, increasing risk to astronauts by 44 per cent over a period of 10 days.

This criticism came as a surprise as North American Aerospace Defence Command had recently estimated the debris would disintegrate in 45 days.

Lt Gen David Thompson, vice-commander of the US Air Force Space Command, in a hearing before a subcommittee of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, said that soon after the test US agencies had started collecting information about the break-up of the vehicle and were tracking about 270 different objects in the debris field.

He informed the committee that the debris posed no immediate threat to the ISS or most other satellites in Low Earth Orbit.

W Selvamurthy, former Chief Controller, Research and Development (Life Sciences and International Corporation), DRDO told TNIE NASA chiefs comments were discriminatory.

Compared to the amount of debris the US, Russia and China have created during similar tests in the past, Indias footprint is minuscule.

Moreover, our test was carried out at an altitude of 300 km, which is much lower than the ISS and other strategic space assets of both India and foreign nations.

The debris will enter earths atmosphere and burn out, Selvamurthy said, adding that this was the usual American ploy.

There is no need for India to pay heed to such comments. Such brazen statements will not help US-India bilateral ties, he said.

Meanwhile, an ISRO official questioned the veracity of NASAs claim that 24 pieces had catapulted above the ISS.

For the debris to travel from 300 km to over 400 km where the ISS is located, upwards from the point of impact, they need velocity. A satellite travels at a speed of 7.8 km every second. The A-Sat missile has hit the satellite head-on, which ensures there is no velocity given to the debris and they fall downwards, he said.By Online Desk

MUMBAI: In a shocking incident, five leopard cubs were killed in Maharashtra as farm workers burnt trash in a sugarcane field on Wednesday. The cubs were born in the farm at least three weeks before, police said.

The incident happened near Awasari village in Junnar tehsil of Pune Wednesday.

"We were there to cut the harvest. The farm owner asked us to burn trash in the field and we did so, unaware that the cubs were there," a farmworker said.

According to police, farm workers tried to burn dry waste of the farm, following which a blaze broke out. After some people in the area noticed the cubs, the fire brigade, police and forest department were alerted. But it was too late as by then the cubs were charred to death, the official said.

The carcasses were handed over to forest department officials after post mortem, police said.By PTI

BOKAKHAT (Assam): Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that funds for the ambitious 'NYAY' scheme would come from the pockets of "chor" businessmen favoured by 'chowkidar' Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its benefit would be directly transferred to bank accounts of women members of poor families.

Each of the 20 per cent poor families will get Rs 72,000 annually and Rs 3.6 lakh in five years, Gandhi said, adding that funds for the scheme will coming from the pockets of 'chors' (thieves) like Anil Ambani in whose accounts 'chowkidar' Narendra Modi has deposited money during the last four years.

"Modi had promised four years ago that he would deposit money in the accounts of the people but he has done it only in the case of some rich people like the Ambanis. It is the rich who keep chowkidars, which Modi has become for them. We will deposit money in the accounts of the poor, particularly women, irrespective of their caste, class or religion," the Congress president said.

He accused Modi of "stealing" Rs 30,000 crore from the Air Force and putting it into a "thief's (Anil Ambani's) pocket".

READ HERE | NYAY to have Bhagwan on board? Here's the truth!

"It is poor people's money which we will take out from them," he said. The MGNREGA's annual budget is Rs 35,000 crore and almost an amount of this size was given (by the NDA government) to a single person, Gandhi claimed.

He said that Rs 3.6 lakh to be given to each beneficiary over a period of five years under the NYAY scheme will be deposited in the accounts five crore women, which will in turn will benefit 25 crore people and revive the economy.

READ HERE | Rahul Gandhi asks people to choose between 'BJP's lie of Rs 15 lakh and Congress's truth of Rs 3.6 lakh'

Gandhi addressed two rallies in Assam on Wednesday in support of Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi and Congress candidate from Lakhimpur constituency Anil Buragohain.

Mounting an attack on the prime minister, Gandhi said he claims to be a 'chowkidar' and had promised to put Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts.

"But is a chowkidar bigger than a mazdoor (worker) or a farmer. Chowkidars are only in front of the houses of rich people like Anil Ambani, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya but not in front of poor people's houses," he mocked.

He repeatedly referred to BJP President Amit Shah as "murder accused" and said it was he who had exposed Modi's 'jumla' (false promise) of giving Rs 15 lakh to every Indian.

ALSO READ: NYAY can give rise to social tensions, try this instead, says economist Jayati Ghosh

Referring to demonetisation, the Congress chief said, "Modi put people in queues before banks for their own money. But Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Ambanis were not in line. While you were busy standing in queues, India's thieves looted the money and fled with the help of the chowkidar.



Stating that youths now want to start small businesses and become entrepreneurs, he said that under the present system they have to seek permission from various government departments and even give bribes.

FOLLOW PUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

"This is Narendra Modi's 'Make in India'. We (Congress) have said for the next three years no permission will be needed to start a business and after that public sector banks will give help." Criticising the BJP for the imposition of GST, he said at a time when poverty level is the highest now in 35 years, Modi has imposed 28 per cent 'Gabbar Singh Tax' causing losses for the poor.

"When our UPA government comes to power, the Gabbar Singh Tax will be changed to the real GST. There will be no corruption or need to pay bribes," he said.

Both Kaliabor and Lakhimpur will go the polls in the first phase on April 11.By ANI

KOLKATA: The Foreigners Division of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notice to the wife of Trinamool Congress leader and Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee for making false representation and concealing material facts while submitting documents before competent authorities to get her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

Abhishek's wife Rujira Naroola has been asked why she filled Form 49A without mentioning that she is a Thai national holding an OCI card.

As per MHA, Naroola was supposed to fill 49AA to get a PAN by declaring herself as a foreigner holding an OCI card. She has been asked to reply in 15 days as to why she had made false representations and concealed facts.

"The Central Government has been further informed that on 14.11.2009 Ms. Rujira Naroola applied for PAN card by filling Form 49A without intimating her real status as a Thai national holding OCI card and mentioning Shri Gursharan Singh Ahuja as her father. She was actually required to fill Form 49AA to get a PAN by declaring herself as a foreigner holding an OCI card. On the basis of information given in her application Form 49A, she has obtained the PAN card bearing no ****** under the name Ms. Rujira Naroola in the capacity of an Indian citizen," the MHA said in the notice.

The notice added, "Whereas the Central Government has examined the matter the discrepancies mentioned above and is prima facie of the opinion that the registration of Ms. Rujira Naroola as an OCI cardholder is liable for cancellation in the interest of general public under subclause (a) & (e) of section 70D of the Citizenship Act, 1955."

"Ms Rujira Naroola, an OCI Cardholder, is hereby called upon to show cause as to why she has made false representation and concealed material facts while submitting documents before the Competent Authorities to get her OCI and PAN cards," it read.

The MHA in the letter also asserted that if no reply is received within 15 days from the date of issue of this notice then the appropriate decision in the matter would be taken on merit on the basis of available records by the Central Government.Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, 57, feels the popular anger against the BJP will not be limited to Chhattisgarh but across the country. Talking to Ejaz Kaiser, he compared Congress president Rahul Gandhi with PM Narendra Modi, saying the former does not lie or believe in rhetoric as a tool to politics of brand marketing. Excerpts.

What is the Congress pitch for this poll?

People of Chhattisgarh can easily compare 60 days of Congress with 60 months of the BJP at the Centre. PM Modi asked for five years; promised many things. Now their failures stand exposed. Every segment of the population feels cheated and disillusioned. Where is black money, `15 lakh in every bank account, 2 crore jobs annually, the Swaminathan committee report for farmers? Demonetisation led to a rise in unemployment and corruption as in the Rafale deal and high fuel prices. Nothing came out of the 2-G scam, the coal scam and others they vociferously raised against Congress and came to power in 2014.

NDA has claimed several pro-people welfare successes. The slogan: Desh nahi Jhukne doonga has found resonance post-Pulwama.

Every Indian feels proud of our Army and the IAF. But our question is, wasnt Pulwama a serious intelligence failure? How could a vehicle with 350 kg explosives access a sensitive area to target a convoy? When then home minister Shivraj Patil had to resign after the Mumbai terror attack for changing his suit, why is nobody seeking Modis resignation for busying himself with a photo-shoot during the Pulwama attack? A day after the air-strike, who revealed the figure of 300 terrorists killed to the media. You cant label one as anti-national for asking the right questions. The BJP has to reply.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

How has Rahul Gandhi emerged as a rival to PM?

The most basic difference is that Rahulji, even after becoming the Congress president, directly interacts with people and does not lie. What he says, he delivers. Modis leadership is built on the rhetoric used to market himself. Its for the people to judge whether they got the Achhe Din he promised.

Main Bhi Chowkidar is seen as a strong poll slogan for BJP to gain ground.

It will be counter-productive. In 2014, BJP tried the Chaiwala campaign but no one so far has found the railway station where Modi sold tea or the shop or even kettle he used. Nobody remembers buying tea from him. It was propaganda. Now they are calling themselves chowkidars when thousands of crores of our money has been stashed abroad by fugitives Nirav Modi, Mallya, Choksi etc, even as controversial Rafale deal files have gone missing.

Before the Chowkidar catchword, other issues raised by the Opposition parties seem dwarfed.

The frightened BJP acts like the ostrich which instinctively buries its head in the sand thinking that the trouble will pass. Thats not reality. Slogans dont help people.

The Congress in Chhattisgarh is contesting polls for the first time after returning to power. Does that give you an upper hand?

After 15 years in power, BJP won just 15 Assembly seats because of anger against its misgovernance, which persists. We have met 50% per cent of our major promises (18 of 36) within two months  a clear message that our party delivers on its promises. Peoples confidence and trust in Congress will help us in the state and across India.

BJP has changed all sitting MPs to counter negativity. Will that have an impact?

Such a decision suggests the BJP leadership distrusts its local leadership and that it is fighting an internal crisis. It only bolsters our prospects.

Did the BJP decision surprise the Congress?

The BJP rules at the Centre. It might have carried out surveys and the inputs may have suggested it has been thoroughly weakened and its state leaders have lost trust. They were left with no option but to experiment. The situation could further deepen BJP infighting.A firefighting helicopter heads to battle a forest fire in Muli County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 2, 2019. A fire that engulfed around 15 hectares of forest in southwest China's Sichuan Province has been contained as of Tuesday noon, local authorities said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun)

CHENGDU, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A fire that engulfed around 15 hectares of forest in southwest China's Sichuan Province has been contained as of Tuesday noon, local authorities said.

"However, there are still areas that are burning. Due to complex terrain, we need more time to extinguish the fire," said Wu Song, county chief of Muli, Sichuan's Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

"We're ready to increase precipitation artificially," Wu said.

Local authorities have dispatched more than 600 people to quench the blaze which broke out at around 6 p.m. on Saturday at a remote spot in the mountains at an altitude of over 3,700 meters.

Thirty people, including 27 firefighters and three locals, lost their lives while fighting the fire.

5

1

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]By Express News Service

BHOPAL: The unexplained removal of Special Armed Force (SAF) security guards from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Headquarters in Bhopal on Monday night triggered a political controversy in the Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, compelling Chief Minister Kamal Nath to re-deploy security in less than 24 hours.

Surprisingly, Congress veteran and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh criticised the development.

The septuagenarian, who is the official Congress candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat took to Twitter to express his discomfort.

Removing security from the RSS office isnt proper. I request Chief Minister Kamal Nath to order restoration of adequate security at the RSS office in Bhopal, he wrote.

Reacting to Singhs tweet, the BJPs state media convener Lokendra Parashar, replied saying why are you worried after yourself getting the security removed. All nationalist forces know what you think about them. Youre that individual who linked Hindu with terror. Dont be a hypocrite due to fear of elections...

Nath soon scrapped the decision. Security was removed not only from RSS office but five other places, due to a complaint in EC pertaining to paucity of security personnel. Ive directed officials to immediately restore security, he said.Sana Shakil By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Congress manifesto proposes to reduce the presence of Army and central armed police forces in the Kashmir Valley and also promises to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA, which grants special powers to the armed forces in insurgency-hit areas, if the party is voted to power.

In its section on Jammu & Kashmir, the manifesto says AFSPA and the Disturbed Area Act will be reviewed in Kashmir. On AFSPA, Congress said that it will make suitable changes in the text of the law to balance security requirements and human rights.

The party promised to review the deployment of armed forces and move more troops to the border to stop infiltration.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surejwala, however, clarified the party stand on AFSPA and said, We will not withdraw it without consulting the Army...There are some areas, where AFPSA is required. Besides Kashmir, AFSPA is also applicable to certain areas of Northeast.

The manifesto states that the whole of J&K is part of India and added that Congress will not touch Article 370 which grants special rights to Kashmir.

The Congress stand on Article 370 is the exact opposite to that of the BJP which advocates abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A which are applicable to Kashmir.

Omar defends statement

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah defended his statement on restoring the posts of sadr-e-riyasat (president) and Wazir-e-Azam (prime minister) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar said the NC had taken the same stand even when he was a minister in the Vajpayee government.By PTI

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday accused the Congress of spreading the word "Hindu terror" during its rule, saying it encouraged terrorists from Pakistan to carry out their activities in India.

It also criticised former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah over their stand on Article 35-A of the Constitution, saying if such voices are not curbed, the border state will remain in the grip of unrest and instability.

The remarks of the Sena, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress, accusing it of insulting "peace-loving" Hindus by linking them to terrorism.

"The word 'saffron terror' or 'Hindu terror' was spread when the Congress was in power at the Centre.

Besides allegations, false cases were also filed against Hindus in the Samjhauta train blast and Malegaon bomb blast cases," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It claimed that "gross injustice" was meted out to Swami Aseemanand (in the Samjhauta blast case), and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit (both accused in the Malegaon case).

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

"The spread of the term 'Hindu terror' encouraged terrorists from Pakistan. Pakistanis put the onus of terror strikes on Hindu extremists. Now, a court has found Swami Assemanand not guilty," the Marathi daily said.

It noted that Modi, during his rally at Wardha in Maharashtra on Monday, slammed the Congress for insulting the Hindu religion worldwide and blotting the country's 5,000-year-old culture by linking Hindus to terrorism.

"Modi has aggressively played the Hindutva card in the 2019 battleground. Some say 40 per cent of the ground (at Wardha rally) was empty during Modi's speech. But, it is important that 60 per cent was filled with people in the extremely hot weather conditions," it said. By raising a voice for it, Modi and the BJP have proved that "Hindutva cannot be separated from politics," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

Further slamming the Congress, it said the party earlier claimed that late ATS chief Hemant Karkare, IPS officer Ashok Kamte and senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar were not killed by terrorists during the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, but were victims of "Hindu terror".

"This was unfortunate for the country and brought disrepute to it. Pakistan's hand in the attack could be proven as terrorist Ajmal Kasab was captured alive. Otherwise, the Pakistan connection would have remained hidden," it said.

The Sena also hit out at PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah over their stands on Articles 370 and 35-A of the Constitution.

Mufti recently warned that any tampering with Jammu and Kashmir's special status would "undermine and nullify" the state's accession to the Union, while Abdullah sought a separate Prime Minister for Kashmir.

The Sena said both the leaders have openly challenged the Constitution and the law of the land.

"If such worms are not crushed in time, then Kashmir will always remain unstable and in unrest. Only the roar of Hindutva can provide a shield for the country. However the issue should not be forgotten after elections," it said.

Petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of Articles 370 and 35-A, which grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir and special rights and privileges to its "permanent residents", respectively.By Express News Service

PATNA/RANCHI: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday charged his rival and RJD president Lalu Prasad with being in constant touch with his party leaders over the phone despite being in prison.

Following the charge, Lalus room in a hospital was raided by police during the day, but nothing was found.

The statement kicked off a huge row, however, with Lalus son and former deputy chief minister in Nitish cabinet, Tejashwi Yadav debunking it wholesale.

The Bihar CM alleged that Lalu, who is serving sentence in fodder scam cases in Ranchis Birsa Munda jail, was in constant touch with the outside world in contravention of prison rules and even managing politics.

It is well known that Lalu telephones his associates and people, rules be damned, Kumar told a news channel.

As per the jail manual, visitors are allowed only three days in a week and it is applicable to all prisoners. Jharkhand IG (Prisons) Harsha Mangla said there was no truth in Nitishs statement and that Lalu was under tight security.

This is completely wrong; there is no substance in the claims made by the Bihar Chief Minister. We conduct regular searches of the entire premises Lalu Prasad is currently lodged in, and no mobile phone or any other objectionable article was recovered from there, said the IG.

The RJD chief is not talking to anybody over phone.

Mangla said that since the model code of conduct kicked in, Lalu has been denied visitors, even family members. Lalus elder son Tej Pratap in Patna testified to this.

He said, I myself have been trying to talk to him but not been able to.

Mangla further said that a search was conducted by a joint team of SP City, RIMS administration and Superintendent of Jail, in the ward Lalu is admitted on Tuesday also, but nothing objectionable was recovered.

The team also inquired from the RJD chiefs attendants, who also denied the allegation and said even they are not allowed to keep mobile phones.

Lalu, a heart patient, is currently admitted to RIMS in Ranchi. He also suffers from kidney ailments and had recently undergone a fistula operation.

He had been granted a six-week provisional bail by the Jharkhand High Court on May 11, 2018, for the purpose of medical treatment on the condition of restraining himself from any political activity. Lalu had also been asked to submit medical reports before the court.Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

Three-time former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is the tallest leader of the Congress in Northeast, who was instrumental in scripting victories for the party in Assam thrice on the trot from 2001. Gearing up for a hectic poll campaign at 83, the still vibrant leader opens up to TNIE on all issues political:

What are your views on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which kept Northeast on the edge for a few months?

The states in India were created on the basis of language and culture and traditions, not on religion. Therefore, there cannot be a Bill on the basis of a religion. This is precisely because it goes against the principles of our Constitution. In any case, what is the need for a Citizenship Bill? There are no large-scale complaints about harassment (of non-Muslims) in Bangladesh or Pakistan. Even today, there are more than two crore Hindus living in Bangladesh. There havent been complaints about them being subjected to harassment or religious persecution. There is no precedent for such a law anywhere in the world. Even Pakistan, which is not a secular country, does not have a law protecting the interests Muslims, who are harassed elsewhere in the world.

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has struck an alliance with the BJP despite the move being opposed by a section of its leaders. Do you see a future for the AGP?

After the AGP forged a pre-poll alliance with the BJP, despite the latters assertion that it will pursue the Citizenship Amendment Bill if voted to power, I dont see a future of the party. The AGP has betrayed the people of Assam. The alliance was sealed to serve its sheer lust for power. The people of Assam will not forgive the AGP.

Will the AGP-BJP alliance be a threat to the Congress?

No threat at all. It is, in fact, going to help us. People know we have been fighting against the Citizenship Bill. They have realized that Congress is committed. So, the only choice left to them is Congress. I am very optimistic they will vote for us. As I see it, the AGP-BJP alliance is a blessing in disguise for the Congress.

FOLLOW OUR LOK SABHA POLL COVERAGE HERE

Can the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), led by Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, be an option for the Congress in its hunt for allies?

Congress cannot go for an illicit marriage. I personally favour a love marriage instead of an illicit marriage. I will not endorse an alliance between the two parties.

Are PM Modi and the BJP politicising the Pulwama terror attack and the events following the incident?

They (BJP) are raising all such issues to cover up their failure. Why are they taking shelter under it? The Indian Air Force had done an excellent job and we are all proud of it. The armed forces belong to the whole country and not to one political party. Since the BJP failed to deliver on its promises, it is playing on the sacrifices of our forces to curry favour with voters. Our economy is in very bad shape. All sectors are lagging. Instead of giving a true picture to the people, the Prime Minister is trying to use the sacrifices and valour of our armed forces to derive political capital.

Has Modi been able to deliver on promises made to people in the Northeast?

He has utterly failed to fulfill his promises. He had promised to drive out illegal immigrants after May 16, 2014. After coming to power, he did nothing to that end. The NDA has not done anything to stop the flow of illegal migrants into Assam. Today, the BJP doesnt talk about the immigrants or creating jobs or granting Scheduled Tribes status to 6 communities in Assam, as it had promised.Ramesh Babu G By

Express News Service

SRIKAKULAM: Netas promise the moon before elections and vanish after getting elected. They forget their promises for five years. Well aware of the attitude of public representatives, some people have decided to put up flexi banners at the entrance of their village barring the entry of any politician unless they make a definite commitment to solve their problems immediately after getting elected.

The trend started recently by Manikyapuram residents has gone viral and become inspiration for more villages in the Uddanam area in the district. Now, Kusumpuram residents have put up a similar banner, while Baruva Kotturu villagers are preparing to follow suit.

Manikyapuram villagers, whose novel idea has become a talking point among leaders and people in the area, are now planning to take a step forward and demand a written undertaking from contestants to solve their problems.

We are planning to take a written commitment from contestants to fulfil the demands in the presence of villagers, said S Santosh, a youth leader of the village. Manikyapuram has showed us the way and, inspired by its example, we too have put up a flexi board listing our demands, said Janardhan Dolai, a youth leader from Kusumpuram.

Amenities promised by netas remain unfulfilled

He said though elected representatives promised several amenities for the village, most of them remain unfulfilled. We need a health centre, drinking water and a library in the school, CC roads to Kambeputtuga, Juttuputtuga and Gusirivalasa, drainage, compensation for the loss suffered by Kalingapatnam villagers in the Cyclone Titli, renovation of playground and granting of ST status to the Bentu Oriya community.

The issues have been pending for the last six years. Unless contestants promise to resolve the problems in front of all the villagers, we will not allow them into our village, he said.

They (candidates) also must discuss with the residents all the problems displayed on the banner before entering the village. We are planning to take a written commitment from contestants to fulfil the demands in the presence of villagers, said S Santosh, a youth leader of Manikyapuram.Ashwini M Sripad By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: At 106 years, Prof G Venkatsubbiah, a resident of Jayanagar, is looking forward to cast his vote on April 18. This will be his 17th General Election since 1951. He is one of the 5,579 centenarians in the state who are eligible to vote and will be casting their votes in the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll.

Unlike most first-time voters, Prof GV was not 18, when he cast his vote for the first time. He was 38 when he voted in the General Election of 1951 and then again, in the same year, for the then Mysuru state assembly elections. I havent missed a single election since then  Lok Sabha polls, assembly polls or even corporation elections. I have also voted for teachers constituency during the MLC elections, he said.

Reminiscing about the election fever during his youth, the professor said in those days, campaigning was done at places where more people gathered. Although I do not remember which year and which candidate, there were days when two candidates contesting against each other would campaign from the same rooftop at Gandhi Bazaar. There was no mud-slinging like it is now. They would talk and debate on issues, he recalled.

Being a voter who has not missed a single election, the professor plans to ensure that all his neighbours and others go to the polling station on April 18. For the past many elections, he has been going to the polling station with the help of his son Arun.

FOLLOW OUR ELECTION COVERAGE HERE

Padma Shri awardee Saalumarada Thimmakka is a voter of Hulikal village of Magadi taluk in Ramanagara district. She stays with her adopted son at Bengaluru. Her son Umesh said, Thimmakka has voted in every election. Last year, we were at Belur to attend some pooja, which is some 200 km from her polling station. It was a lot of distance for her to cover, and given her age, it wasnt advisable too. However, she did not let it stop her and made sure that she travelled all the way and voted.

Freedom fighter HS Doreswamy, who turned 100 last year, is also one of the prominent persons to be voting in Bengaluru. Karnataka has 1.48 lakh voters, who are over 90 years and 5,579 who have crossed 100. Interestingly, most of the centenarian voters live in Mysuru, Belagavi and Tumakuru. One of the senior officials from the Chief Electoral Office said they have made arrangements for wheelchairs and other facilities to help senior citizens.

These voters need not have to stand in queues, and they would be allowed to vote first. In spite of the difficulties they face, these senior citizens show more enthusiasm in casting votes than the young voters. They vote in large numbers, the official said.Vinodh Arulappan By

Express News Service

MADURAI: In the last Lok Sabha election, The Nilgiris, a reserved constituency, in the State had recorded the highest number of votes to NOTA. As many as 46,559 voters voiced their dissatisfaction with the candidates, who contested in the Queen of Hills.

On September 27, 2013, the constitutional bench headed by the then chief justice P Sathasivam and comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai, Ranjan Gogoi held that "A voter may refrain from voting at an election for several reasons, including the reason that he does not consider any of the candidates worthy of his vote. One of the ways to express such opinion is staying away from the polling booths, but this is not an ideal option for a conscientious and responsible citizen. Thus, the only way by which it can be made effectual is by providing a button in the EVMs to express that right. This is the basic requirement if the lasting values in a healthy democracy have to be sustained, which the Election Commission has not only recognised but has also asserted."

It is essential to look back whether the purpose of NOTA was served?

In the existing system a dissatisfied voter usually does not turn up for voting which in turn provides a chance to impersonate that person and cast a vote thus defying the actual purpose of NOTA.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, the first three places where NOTA option was recorded is in the reserve constituencies. The Niligiris secured first place in NOTA all over the country, the second and third places were secured by Sriperumbudar (27,676 votes) and Tiruvallur (23,598 votes).

The apex court which allowed the NOTA symbol in the EVM machines had also observed that "For democracy to survive, it is essential that the best available men should be chosen as peoples representatives for proper governance of the country." Furthermore, the Supreme Court also considered NOTA as a provision of negative voting that would be in the interest of promoting democracy and would send clear signals to political parties and their candidates as to what the electorate think about them.

However, there is no motivation for the voters to go to the polling booth and reject all the candidates, as it would have the same effect of not going to the polling station at all. Thus, unless there is any legal consequences, the NOTA would remain as a mere 'button' in the Voting Machines, with hardly any major impact on the voters as well as the candidates.

Candidates least bothered by NOTA?

If one raising the question that did the political parties acknowledged the NOTA, the answer would be 'No'. Most of the political parties had fielded the same candidates in the constituencies, where over 15,000 voters had opted for NOTA in the past election.

In The Niligiris, which recorded the highest number of NOTA in the Country, in the previous elections, DMK had again fielded A Raja. AMMK fielded Sarubala Thondaiman as it candidate, who contested on behalf of Congress in the previous election in Tiruchy. It recorded the fourth highest number of NOTA votes in the State in the last Lok Sabha elections. Further J Jayavardhan from AIADMK had been again fielded in Chennai South Constituency, where 20,402 voters called for NOTA. BJP had given seat to C P Radhakrishnan again in Coimbatore constituency, when 17,428 voters opted for NOTA in 2014 general elections.

Thus, the ultimate justification made by the Apex Court "it is essential that people of high moral and ethical values are chosen as people's representatives for proper governance of the country, and NOTA button can compel political parties to nominate a sound candidate" is on thin ice. Apart from the political parties, a sect of voters by rejecting all the candidates, including the independents, without observing the quality of candidates, had questioned the authenticity of the choice made by rest of the voters who voted for candidates.

In the last election, a campaign to vote for NOTA was spearheaded and voting to NOTA was seen as a matter of fancy among the first timers and young voters. According to a survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections all over the country, most number of NOTA votes were casted by the upper caste voters than any other caste or minority group. According to the survey, 2.5 per cent upper caste voters opted for NOTA in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In the seven reserved constituencies of Tamil Nadu, 1,51,565 voters chose the virtual candidate, NOTA.

2014 Lok Sabha - NOTA votes in Reserved (SC) Constituencies

Nilgiris NOTA 46559

Sriperumbudar NOTA 27676

Tiruvallur NOTA 23598

Nagapattinam NOTA 15662

Thenikasi NOTA 14492

Chidambaram NOTA 12138

Villupuram NOTA 11440

2014 Lok Sabha - NOTA votes in South Tamil Nadu

Madurai NOTA 19866

Thenkasi NOTA 14492

Tirunelveli NOTA 12893

Virudhunagar NOTA 12225

Thoothukudi NOTA 11447

Dindigul NOTA 10591

Theni NOTA 10312

Sivaganaga NOTA 8042

Ramand NOTA 6279

Kanniyakumari NOTA 4150

2014 Lok Sabha - NOTA votes in West Tamil Nadu

Nilgiris NOTA 46559

Salem NOTA 20601

Coimbatore NOTA 17428

Erode NOTA 16268

Krishnagiri NOTA 16020

Tiruppur NOTA 13941

Pollachi NOTA 12947

Dharmapuri NOTA 12693

2014 Lok Sabha - NOTA votes in Central Tamil Nadu

Tiruchirappalli NOTA 22848

Namakkal NOTA 16002

Nagapattinam NOTA 15662

Karur NOTA 13763

Mayiladuthurai NOTA 13181

Thanjavur NOTA 12218

Chidambaram NOTA 12138

Perambalur NOTA 11605

Cuddalore NOTA 10338

2014 Lok Sabha - NOTA votes in North Tamil Nadu

Sriperumbudar NOTA 27676

Tiruvallur NOTA 23598

Kancheepuram NOTA 17736

Villupuram NOTA 11440

Kallakurichi NOTA 10901

Arakkonam NOTA 10370

Trivannamalai NOTA 9595

Arani NOTA 9304

Vellore NOTA 7100

2014 Lok Sabha - NOTA votes in Chennai

Chennai Central NOTA 21959

Chennai South NOTA 20402

Chennai North NOTA 17472SV Krishna Chaitanya By

Express News Service

CHENNAI : Around 200 people, who were employed on contract basis, were rendered jobless as Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project (TBGP), which was mooted eight years ago to increase tree cover outside forest areas, has come to a close and a proposal for project extension is pending with the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF). TBGP was being implemented from 2011-12 by the State government with loan assistance of Rs 469.60 crore from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). The project officially ended on March 31. The government has recently submitted a proposal seeking funds of over Rs 1,800 crore to extend the project.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Syed Muzammil Abbas, who recently took over as Chief Project Director of TBGP, said the employees were taken on contract for the project period. Now, the project has ended as well as their contract. To a query, the official said there was still the question of renewing their contract at this juncture since the approval for project extension was still pending with the Union Environment Ministry and JICA. The staff on contract include technical assistants, junior research fellows, data entry operators, superintendents etc.

Sources said they had reportedly sought appointment with Forest Minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan. Environment secretary Shambu Kallolikar told Express that the government was hopeful of getting approval for project extension and the contract employees, who lost their jobs, would be reconsidered.

Meanwhile, official records reveal that though the project required 532 staff, the forest department tried to manage work with half the strength. As on March 2017, 30 out of 68 posts (56 per cent) of Forest Range Officers and 148 out of 226 posts of Foresters (65 per cent) created exclusively for the implementation of the TBGP remained vacant resulting in incompletion of several works.

Mired in controversies

The overall implementation of the project itself was mired in controversies. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March 2017 has identified several failures. Financial management failure of the government to sanction the agreed funds, non-utilisation of State share of Rs Rs 87.18 crore towards establishment charges, parking of government funds of Rs 49.35 crore outside the government account indicated imprudent financial management.

Selection of plantations based on beneficiary preference instead of field investigation for tree cultivation in private lands and failure to ensure survival of the planted saplings resulted in non-achievement of the green cover to an extent of 19,044 hectares, the CAG report said.

Inspection for records showed that the percentage of survival of plantations ranged between 46 per cent and 60 per cent during 2012-13 and 2013-14 which was below the survival rate of 70 per cent fixed. Also, 10.53 lakh seedlings planted under long rotation category in 18 Divisional Management Units were reported as zero per cent survival. The expenditure of Rs 2.14 crore incurred for raising nursery and plantation cost became infructuous.

Vital projectBy Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Coming down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJPs religious-based politics, TRS working president KT Rama Rao on Tuesday said, in 2014, Modi said he was a chai wala and now he was saying that he was a chowkidar. But, the nation today needs a zimmedar (responsible) and Imandar (loyal) leader. Addressing a several roadshows in Malkjaigiri Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday, while campaigning for TRS MP candidate Marri Rajasekhar Reddy, Rama Rao appealed to the people to think wisely and choose their leader.

The entire country is talking about the development of Telangana, Rama Rao said and added that many states are emulating welfare schemes of Telangana now. KTR asserted that PM Narendra Modi never responded to the requests of the State government. He accused the Centre of ignoring recommendations of NITI Aayog to sanction Rs 24,000 crore for Mission Bhagiratha.

Modi completely failed in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Telangana, he alleged.

IT Park in Malkajgiri

Accusing the Centre of always ignoring Telangana, Rama Rao said: To develop Telangana, we need more of TRS MPs in Delhi who can strongly fight for the interests of the State.Taking a dig at Congress and BJP, KTR said that both are restricted to North India and were no longer national parties. If you vote for Congress, Rahul Gandhi will benefit and if you vote for BJP, PM Narendra Modi will benefit. But if you vote for TRS, people of Telangana would receive the benefits, he said.

Seeking support for TRS candidate Marri Rajasekhar Reddy, who will be taking on Congress contestant A Revanth Reddy, KTR said: On one side there is an educationalist and on the other side there is a person who was caught in cash for vote case. Think carefully and vote for the right person. As an election promise, KTR mentioned that he would work towards setting up an IT Park in Malkajgiri Lok Sabha segment. KTR said that the victory in the Lok Sabha elections would make TRS the deciding factor in national politics.

Drone used, police case registered

Hyderabad: Rachakonda police on Tuesday registered a case against the organiser of a rally and the operator of a drone camera for using it to shoot visuals of a roadshow headlined by TRS working president KT Rama Rao. Police on bandobast duty noticed the drone and confiscated it immediately.Ruan Xiyue (L), the fourth generation artist of Carved Gourd Ruan, communicates with Ruan Yizhou, an arts and crafts master of Gansu Province, at a gourd carving studio in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, April 1, 2019. A carved gourd, as the name suggests, is a gourd carved with landscapes, portraits, animals, calligraphy or poems, and then painted with ink. The process of gourd carving includes choosing gourd, painting, engraving and coloring. It was inscrbed in the first group of provincial intangible cultural heritages of Gansu in 2006. (Xinhua/Fan Peishen)

15

1

[ Editor: WPY ]By PTI

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he called his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a "king" during his first state visit to Beijing in 2017 and that the top Communist Party leader appeared to appreciate the remark.

Addressing the National Republican Congressional Committee spring dinner in Washington on Tuesday, Trump said Xi had denied he was a king.

"He said, 'But I am not king, I am president. 'I said 'No, you're president for life, and therefore you're king'," Trump told his audience, prompting laughter, CNN reported.

"He said, huh. He liked that. I get along with him great," it quoted the US President as saying.

Trump, 72, visited Beijing in November 2017, just months before China's rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress, dropped the two-term limit on the Chinese presidency in March.

The controversial move cleared the way for Xi, 65, to serve indefinitely as China's head of state, strengthening his grip on power.

China abolished monarchical rule in 1912 when the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Pu Yi, was overthrown to establish the Republic of China.

Xi is also serving as General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

President Trump was accorded red-carpet treatment during his 2017 visit to Beijing, becoming the first foreign leader to dine in the Forbidden City since the founding of modern China.

Speaking from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing before their bilateral meeting, Trump said, "My feeling toward you (President Xi) is an incredibly warm one. As we said, there's great chemistry, and I think we're going to do tremendous things for both China and for the United States. And it is a very, very great honour to be with you. Thank you very much."

After their meeting, Trump told Xi, "I want to thank you again - you're a very special man - for your gracious hospitality."

Trump has also hosted Xi at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in April 2017.

Following Trump's trip to China the relationship between the two countries has grown rockier.

Starting early in 2018, Trump began imposing tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of Chinese exports to narrow the trade deficit, sparking a trade war.

In his speech to the Republican committee, Trump said that had he not imposed the tariffs, the Chinese economy would have caught up with the United States within years.

"They would have caught us within a short period of time, within two years, by the end of my term, if you had a normal president, They would have caught us. But right now it's going to be a long time before they catch us," he claimed.

US and Chinese negotiators have been meeting in Beijing and Washington in recent weeks to hammer out a comprehensive trade deal between the world's top two economies.

Trump said his administration was standing up to China's "chronic trade abuses."

"They've taken advantage of our country and you know what, I respect them for it. I say it, we should have been doing that to them," he said.

To pressure China, the US imposed tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods.

Beijing retaliated by taxing $110 billion in US imports.By PTI

LONDON: A 58-year-old Indian-origin woman who posed as a doctor to dupe elderly people into engaging her services for a fee has been convicted of seven counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of supplying a prescription-only medicinal product by a UK court.

Kamlesh Bassi used different aliases to pretend to be a qualified medical doctor, a nurse, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, an osteopath and a chiropractor, Warwick Crown Court was told at a hearing last week.

She targeted elderly people and persuaded them to hire her as a medical professional, also offering services as a masseuse and household help.

"Bassi deliberately targeted vulnerable individuals. By lying about her credentials she abused their trust, gained access into their homes and potentially put their lives at risk by supplying Naproxen without knowing their medical history," said Hannah Sidaway, a Specialist Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in West Midlands.

The drug Naproxen, a pain relief medication supplied to three of the victims, were Bassi's own prescription tablets and the court was told about the dangerous consequences it could have had on the victims.

"Bassi acted selfishly for her own financial gain. She was a danger to the public and especially the most vulnerable individuals in our society. Her conviction serves as a reminder that those who fraudulently offer medical services will be robustly prosecuted by the CPS," Sidaway said.

Bassi, from the city of Coventry, targeted people across the West Midlands region of England.

She has been remanded in custody after being found guilty last Friday and will be sentenced at a hearing on May 5.By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia and condemned the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces along the Line of Control which resulted in the killing of one civilian.

Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal, who is also the Director General (South Asia & SAARC), summoned Ahluwalia and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces along the LoC on April 1 and 2, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

One civilian, identified as 18-year old Muhammad Attique of Jugal Pal village, was killed in the firing on April 2, Faisal said.

Four civilians were injured in the firing on April 1 and three women wounded on April 2, he said.

Faisal alleged that Indian troops "intentionally targeted" civilians travelling in a civil bus on April 2 in Bagsar Sector.

"This is not only in clear violation of existing arrangement but also unethical and immoral," he added.

The Indian forces along the LoC and the Working boundary are "continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons", he said.

READ HERE: Fully prepared to meet challenge of ceasefire violations by Pakistan: BSF DG

"This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violation," he alleged.

"The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws.

The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," the FO statement said.

Faisal urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate these and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.

He also said that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the LoC.From city council meetings to local bars and even a pipe shop, candidates are finding new places to wait out election results. The internet anReporter

Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee).Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.Reporter

Lyndsay Jones is a reporter covering education at The News-Gazette. Her email is ljones@news-gazette, and you can follow her on Twitter (@__lyndsayjones).Widely used public health surveys may underestimate global burden of childhood diarrhea

Public health surveys used in as many as 90 countries may be missing the number of recent diarrhea episodes among children by asking parents and caregivers to recall events two weeks versus one week out, suggests a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The researchers, whose findings were published March 25 in the International Journal of Epidemiology, compared the responses to two large public health surveys that were worded almost identically, and concluded that the survey with a two-week recall period, which has been the standard in the field, is less accurate than the survey with a one-week recall period.

"People asked to recall events over a two-week period may remember significantly less than they would if the recall period were just one week," says study principal investigator Natalie G. Exum, PhD, an assistant scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Bloomberg School. "Understanding the global burden of diarrheal diseases in young children is critical to identifying tools to treat and prevent diarrhea in this vulnerable population."

Diarrhea is a significant global health concern because there are between 1 and 2 billion cases of it every year among children under 5, including about 500,000 fatal cases. In many low- and middle-income countries diarrheal illness is a leading cause of death among young children.

Researchers commonly estimate the burden of diarrheal illness in countries where it is endemic using large-scale, house-to-house surveys of mothers and other caregivers. The most widely used set of surveys, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development, ask respondents to recall cases among children in their care in the previous two weeks. The number of recalled cases in this period, as a proportion of the sampled population, is an estimate of "two-week prevalence:" a snapshot of the overall diarrhea burden that researchers can compare to similar two-week snapshots taken at other times or in other populations.

Human recall is subject to error, however, and prior, smaller studies have hinted that a two-week recall period for diarrhea prevalence surveys may yield less accurate results than shorter recall periods.

A newer set of public health surveys, conducted under the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) project, are almost identical to DHS surveys but use a one-week recall period instead. Launched in 2013, PMA2020 is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with direction and support provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and the Johns Hopkins University Water Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

For this study, Exum and her colleagues compared results from PMA2020 and DHS surveys of similar communities in the same five African countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda) from 2013 to 2016. The PMA2020 surveys covered 14,603 households and the DHS surveys 66,717 households.

On average, there should be more diarrhea cases in any two-week period compared to any one-week period. Thus the two-week prevalence--the percentage of the sampled population that had a bout of diarrhea in the two weeks prior to the survey--should be greater than the one-week prevalence. Yet the researchers found that the DHS surveys yielded a two-week diarrhea prevalence estimate of 16.0 percent, whereas the PMA2020 surveys yielded a one-week diarrhea prevalence estimate that was higher, at 21.4 percent. Moreover, the PMA2020 surveys consistently yielded higher estimates than DHS when compared on a country-by-country basis.

The scales of the surveys and the similarities of their questions and covered populations were such that the difference in outcome was unlikely due to statistical "noise," the researchers note.

The authors are recommending that future versions of the DHS use a one-week recall period instead of the traditional two-week period.

"Comparison of 1-week and 2-week recall periods for caregiver-reported diarrhoeal illness in children, using nationally representative household surveys" was written by Katie Overbey, Kellogg Schwab and Natalie Exum.

###

Support for the research was provided by the Osprey Foundation of Maryland and the National Institutes of Health (T32 ES007141).

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.The General Statistics Office late last week reported that the Vietnamese economys GDP grew by an optimistic growth rate of 6.9% year-on-year, with continued macroeconomic stability, and the business climate continuing to be improved. The first-quarters number of newly-established enterprises has increased to a five-year high.

This rate is lower than the 7.45% in the same period last year, but much higher than the first-quarter growth rates in the 2011-2017 period, said a GSO report on the first-quarter economic report.

To break down the figure, in the first three months of 2019, the agro-forestry-fishery grew 2.68%, contributing to 4.9% of economic growth, while the growth rate of manufacturing and construction sector is 8.63%  holding 51.2% of economic growth, and that of the service sector is 6.5%, accounting for 43.9% of economic growth.

The key growth impetus in the first three months of the year came from the manufacturing and processing sector, which increased 12.35% on-year, said GSOs head Nguyen Bich Lam.

According to the GSO, in the first three months of this year, Vietnams index for industrial production climbed 9.2% year-on-year.

In which, the manufacturing and processing sector expanded at a high level of 11.1%, contributing an 8.5% increase to industrial production growth. The production and distribution of electricity  a vital input for the economy - ascended 9.4%.

If the mining sector did not decrease, Vietnams industrial production would have been increasing strongly as previously. In the first quarter of the year, this sector reduced 2.1%, leading to a 0.3% reduction to industrial production growth.

Also, according to the GSO, total revenue from retail activities and consumption services in the first three months hit about US$51.52 billion, up 12% year-on-year.

According to a GSO survey on Vietnamese businesses performance released last week, 45.6% of respondents expect their performance will improve in the second quarter of 2019, and 34.8% forecast their business will remain stable.

In the first quarter of 2019, Vietnam saw 28,451 newly-established enterprises, with total registered capital of VND375.5 trillion (US$16.33 billion), up 6.2% in the number of enterprises, and 34.8% in capital. Besides, operational enterprises increased their capital by another VND722.5 trillion (US$31.4 billion). Thus, total new capital inserted into the economy was VND1.098 trillion (US$47.74 billion).

Duong Manh Hung, head of the GSOs Department for National Account Statistics, said that in the upcoming quarters, one of the big propellants of the economy may be the US$9.3 billion Nghi Son oil refinery and petrochemical plant and Chinas Taiwanese-backed US$10 billion Formosa steel complex in the central region of the country.

The Nghi Son plant officially began commercial operation in late December 2018. Building work on the project began in 2013. It was funded through investment from PetroVietnam (25.1%), Kuwait Petroleum International (35.1%), and the Japanese firms Idemitsui Kosan (35.1%) and Mitsui Chemicals (4.7%).

Together with the Dung Quat oil refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai, the fuel provided by Nghi Son will meet about 80% of the domestic demand, reducing dependence on imports from foreign markets.

The GSO head Nguyen Bich Lam stressed that despite new impetuses, Vietnams 2019 economic growth must still rely on basic factors, including a rise in manufacturing and processing, public consumption, and positive impacts of free trade agreements, as well as on efforts by the government in creating a more favourable business climate.

Meanwhile, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung held that the key driving forces of the economy must come from institutional reform in service of the public and enterprises.

All regulations must be reviewed in favour of them, so that their difficulties will be removed. All economic sectors must have a level playing field to develop, he said.

In need of quality improvement

However, according to World Bank Country Director in Vietnam Ousmane Dione, in order to ensure sustainable growth for Vietnam, growth quality must be pursued.

Preliminary simulations indicate that Vietnam needs to move to productivity-led growth, with substantial increase in the average growth rate of productivity, an achievement that has been attained by only a few countries to date, Dione said.

But raising productivity would require substantial improvement in all quality aspects of growth. These include efficient resource allocation, improved quality of human capital, improved quality investment in infrastructure and service delivery, as well as innovation, making them all conducive for improved productivity, he said.

According to him, international experiences show that effective innovation requires an open-minded and well-sequenced reform agenda, and countries at different stage of development have different priorities in innovation.

I believe that Vietnam can still enjoy significant gains from technology transfers and adoption, and firms should be placed at the centre of the innovation agenda. Having a business environment conducive to firm innovation would work better for Vietnam now than common supply-driven measures such as increased spending for research and development (R&D) or focus on invention activities.

However, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), since the new government was elected in early 2016, the contribution of total-factor productivity (TFP) has been on the rise.

Specifically, the TFP ratio in the economy, which sat at 33.58% in the 2011-2015 period, rose to 43.29% in 2016-2018. In 2018, the ratio stood at 43.5%. TFP is a measure of the efficiency of all inputs to a production process. Increases in TFP result usually from technological innovations or improvements.

Meanwhile, the economys labour productivity has also climbed 5.93% from US$4,166 per labourer in 2017 to US$4,512 in 2018. In 2016, the figure was US$3,852 per labourer.

Per capita GDP is estimated to be US$2,587 for 2018, up by US$198 against 2017.

In addition, the economys incremental capital output ratio (ICOR), which is the additional capital required to increase one unit of output, has reduced from 6.42% in 2016 to 6.11% in 2017, and 5.97% in 2018. The average ICOR for the 2016-2018 period is 6.17%, higher than the 6.25% of the 2011-2015 period.One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021Wilkes County split between Congressional Districts 10 and 12 Wilkes County has been split between Congressional Districts 10 and 12. According to the maps finalized by the General Assembly, the majority of Wilkes County has been enveloped by Congressional...

Chinas trade war does affect Georgias economy; Chris Clarke Chris Clarke, the CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, broguth new facts to light during rotarys weekly meeting. The issue of globalization and the rise of China may seem...

Cobb and Harden selected to play in Border Bowl Washington-Wilkes Tiger Varsity Football players Dalen Cobb and JoVares Harden have been selected to play in the annual Georgia vs. South Carolina Border Bowl football game. Scott Skadden, a broadcast...Chief Executive Carrie Lam

Beginning, of course, with the 25 splendid young men and women who have been selected as this year's Innovation & Technology Scholarship Award winners. They are all undergraduates coming from six universities and a wide range of programmes in science, medicine and engineering. Their purpose, dedication and pursuit of knowledge have been recognised, and I have no doubt that this award will mark a fresh milestone in their quest for excellence.

The universities are no less worthy of recognition. They serve the students with a distinction driven by commitment and pride. And, clearly, they have instilled in each of our award winners a culture of learning steeped in innovation and technology, grounded in scientific research and critical thinking.

I am as delighted as anyone here, including of course the parents. After all, my Government is committed to nurturing Hong Kong's rise as an international I&T hub. And we can't do that without our world-class universities and our world-class students. My Government's role is to help enable their success through our policies, initiatives and resources. We help, as well, by proactively pursuing desired goals for our economy and our community. Which is why, in my Policy Address last October, I pledged $20 billion to the Research Endowment Fund under the University Grants Committee. These funds will strengthen the research capabilities of our universities. My Government also set in motion a scientific research matching fund of $3 billion to further boost research funding through contributions from the non-public sector.

We are also setting up two world-class research clusters at the Hong Kong Science Park. One will be dedicated to healthcare technology, the other to artificial intelligence and robotics. In each, internationally renowned institutions will establish research laboratories, collaborating with our universities and centres of research excellence.

I look forward, as well, to proposals for the City I&T Grand Challenge. As outlined in my Policy Address, my Government has allocated $500 million over the next five years for this annual competition, which seeks to encourage our people, students included, to apply I&T to tackle issues and challenges related to our everyday lives. I'm sure many of our students here today have some smashing thoughts and grand ideas on improving our daily lives. Our grand challenge welcomes them.

The bigger challenge, of course, is ensuring Hong Kong's continuing success in the years and decades to come. An international I&T hub to be developed in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will help get us there, through supporting policies from the Central Government and efforts of the three governments. I am confident that the 25 young men and women we are honouring today will play a vital role in realising the promise of I&T development in Hong Kong.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam gave these remarks at the award presentation ceremony of the Innovation & Technology Scholarship Award 2019 on April 1.A report by the US Trade Representative has made an inaccurate statement about Hong Kong due to its misinterpretation of the World Trade Organization requirement, the Government said in a statement.

Responding to the 2019 National Trade Estimate Report, the Government clarified today that Hong Kong, as a free port, does not impose any customs duties on imported goods. The city therefore does not have any laws, regulations or administrative procedures for valuing goods for customs duties purposes.

Hong Kong has, since 1996, fulfilled its notification obligations under the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement. As there has been no change to the policy since then, there is no need for Hong Kong to notify WTO further or reply to the Checklist of Issues which concerns individual WTO members' valuation systems for the collection of customs duties.

The Government said Hong Kong, as a founding member and staunch supporter of the WTO, takes its obligations and rights seriously, and maintains a good track record of submitting timely notifications to the WTO.

On Hong Kong's efforts in intellectual protection rights protection, the Government noted the report recognises the city's robust IPR protection and enforcement.

The Government said it is determined to enhance the copyright regime meet international standards, though copyright issues are controversial.

The Government has proposed law amendments to enhance the copyright exceptions for people with a print disability, so as to meet the standards under the Marrakesh Treaty.

Rigorous enforcement actions against online piracy will also continue.

To combat counterfeit products, the Customs & Excise Department has signed co-operation pacts with major courier operators to stop infringing shipments, while co-operation with other enforcement authorities in combating the transnational flow of infringing goods will go on.The Government proposed amendments to extradition laws because there is a loophole in the existing legal framework that needs to be plugged, Chief Executive Carrie Lam says.

The Fugitive Offenders & Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 was tabled at the Legislative Council for its first and second reading today.

During her Question Time at LegCo ahead of the bills tabling, Mrs Lam noted the proposed law revision aims to provide a legal basis for Hong Kong to deal with a Taiwan homicide case involving a Hong Kong suspect who returned to the city.

The Chief Executive told legislators that in the absence of an arrangement with Taiwan, the Government was unable to do anything despite the formers request to surrender the fugitive.

Mrs Lam said no matter what the considerations were when the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance was enacted in April 1997, there is a legal loophole in todays circumstances, and what she meant by a loophole was a gap in the law that a criminal suspect may utilise to evade being surrendered.

Through the legislative amendments, the Government wishes to plug the loophole to fill that gap, to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a haven for fugitive offenders, she added.The Vietnamese NA leader said that her visit  the next in a series of high-level visits by leaders of the two countries, including the France visit of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Vietnam visit of PM Edouard Philippe in 2018  shows the sound relationship between the two countries and opens up new cooperation prospects in economics, defence, culture, and education.

She stated that following the PMs visit, many French firms have conducted investment and business activities in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese newly-established carrier Bamboo Airways is negotiating with Airbus on aircraft purchase, while the Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air will receive their airplanes from Airbus on April 3, she said, adding that FPT Group will soon open its representative office in Toulouse.

NA Chairwoman Ngan said that thanks to regular visits of Vietnamese and French leaders, as well as the promotion of bilateral political-diplomatic cooperation, new economic partnership opportunities have been opened up for the two countries.

The top legislator affirmed that Vietnam pays great attention to cooperation with France in Europe. During her meetings with leaders of the Senate and National Assembly of France, she proposed that the French parliament urge the European Parliament to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA).

For his part, PM Edouard Philippe expressed his delight that the business communities of Vietnam and France have fostered their partnership.

He said during his 2018 visit, he discovered that Vietnamese and French firms share the same wish to connect and partner with each other.

Along with aviation and aerospace, Vietnam is interested in cooperation in the satellite industry, the French PM said, adding that French businesses, with strength in technology and experience, can be good partners in the field.

Noting that the Vietnam-France joint project to build metro line No.3 in Hanoi is progressing, he said that 2019 is an important stage for the project. The French Space in Ho Chi Minh City is a symbol of the Vietnam-France relations, he said, expressing his hope that the work will be constructed soon.

Regarding the EVFTA, he affirmed that France will always support Vietnam and hopes that the deal will be signed and ratified soon.

NA Chairwoman Ngan said that the Vietnamese side will speed up the procedures so that the French Space in HCM City will be implemented soon.The development by the RBZ will go a long way in clearing foreign currency from the parallel market. By formalising these bureaux de change, the much needed foreign currency will be channelled back into the formal system and from there Government will be able to account for it, he said.(Newser)  There are fresh signs that Julian Assange's extremely long stay in Ecuador's London embassy might be nearing its end. President Lenin Moreno told the Ecuadorean Radio Broadcasters' Association Tuesday that the WikiLeaks founder has "repeatedly violated" the terms of his asylum in the embassy, where he has been holed up since 2012, reports Reuters. The president complained that "photos of my bedroom, what I eat and how my wife and daughters and friends dance" had been shared online. He didn't accuse Assange himself of sharing the private photos, though his government has said it believes WikiLeaks is responsible for the leak, the Guardian reports.

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"It is not that he cannot speak and express himself freely, but he cannot lie, nor much less hack private accounts or phones," Moreno said. "We should ensure Mr Assanges life is not at risk but hes violated the agreement we have with him so many times." WikiLeaks called the accusations "completely bogus" and accused Moreno of seeking revenge after it reported on corruption allegations against him. "If President Moreno wants to illegally terminate a refugee publisher's asylum to cover up an offshore corruption scandal, history will not be kind," WikiLeaks said in a statement, per the AP. According to WikiLeaks, Moreno had said he will make a decision on Assange's future "in the short term." (Last year, Ecuador ordered Assange to avoid political activity and look after his cat properly.)(Newser)  A chemical engineer in California spent more than a year trying to kill a colleague by poisoning her food and water with "toxic amounts of cadmium," prosecutors say. David Xu, 32, is being held without bail on charges including premeditated attempted murder resulting in great bodily injury and felony poisoning, ABC reports. Court documents state that the victim, a fellow engineer at Berkeley Engineering and Research, noticed "a strange taste or smell from her water and food" after she left it unattended at work, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. She experienced "immediate and significant health problems" and was hospitalized more than once, according to court documents.

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Investigators say that after two of the woman's relatives became ill after drinking from her water bottle, blood samples showed that they all had elevated levels of cadmium, a metal often used in rechargable batteries. Court documents state that investigators checked surveillance footage and saw Xu pouring a substance into the woman's water bottle on Feb. 11 and March 4. Tests on the water found toxic levels of cadmium. No motive for the alleged poisoning was disclosed, reports KGO, which notes that Xu worked as a consultant in materials and chemicals and has served as an expert witness in the field. The victim, identified in court papers as Rong Yuan, is still recovering. (Last month, a German man was sentenced to life in prison for poisoning his co-workers' sandwiches.)(Newser)  President Trump gleefully brought up the Joe Biden misconduct allegations at a GOP fundraising event in Washington on Tuesday night. The president told the National Republican Congressional Committee event that "socialists" were behind claims of unwanted touching from Biden, whom he described as the "only non sort of heavy socialist" among potential Democratic 2020 candidates, NBC reports. "They got to him," Trump chuckled. "I was going to call him," he added. "I was going to say, 'Welcome to the world, Joe. You having a good time, Joe?" Trumpwho boasted about grabbing women on the infamous Access Hollywood tapejoked about Biden again when he talked about getting good news from a general on the fight against ISIS, the Hill reports. "I said 'General, come here. Give me a kiss.' I felt like Joe Biden," Trump said.

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Over the weekend, two women accused Biden of unwanted touching, and two more have now come forward, the New York Times reports. Caitlin Caruso says she was 19 when Biden rested his hand on her thigh and hugged her "just a little bit too long" during an event addressing sexual assault at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Writer DJ Hill says Biden made her "very uncomfortable" at a 2012 event when he put his hand on her shoulder and moved it down her back as she and her husband were photographed with the then-vice president. People who know Biden describe him as an "inveterate hugger who has no ill intent" and while aides admit that touching strangers is different, they say it was never seen as an issue, the Times notes. (Nancy Pelosi has some advice for Biden.)(Newser)  President Trump raised eyebrows Tuesday with an easily disproved false claimabout his father. "My father is Germanwas German," Trump said. "Born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany." This is at least the third time in recent years Trump has said his father was born in Germany, but Fred Trump was born in New York City in October 1905, the Hill reports. Trump's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, was born in Germany and emigrated to the US in 1885. He returned to his homeland years later but was expelled in early 1905 for having left the country to avoid military service. His wife, Elisabeth Trump, was pregnant at the time, meaning Trump's father was probably conceived in Germany but not born there, reports the Washington Post.

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Trump has made the claim about his father before while discussing relations with the European Union. "Dont forget both of my parents were born in EU sectors, OK?" he said last July. "My mother was Scotland. My father was Germany." He made the claim Tuesday during a White House event with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, USA Today reports. "I mean, Germany, honestly, is not paying their fair share," he said. "I have great respect for Angela and I have great respect for their country." The Week notes that after World War II, Fred Trump spent many years claiming that his ancestry was Swedish, a claim his son repeated in The Art of the Deal. (Read more President Trump stories.)(Newser)  Mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 10: You won't want to miss the chance to possibly see "something no human has ever seen before." That's how Popular Mechanics is framing the big reveal scientists are expected to makea photo of Sagittarius A*, a black hole in the Milky Way 25,000 light-years away. Per a statement from the European Southern Observatory, six simultaneous pressers will be held around the globe, at which researchers will present "the first result" of the Event Horizon Telescope project, a two-year initiative that trained a network of radio telescopes worldwide on Sagittarius A*, USA Today reports. That result is widely anticipated to be the first-ever photo of a black hole, though curiosity has been piqued as to what exactly that picture will entail.

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That's because black holes are technically invisible, as they suck up all electromagnetic radiation and present as, well, black, per ScienceAlert, which also notes that the logistics around taking a photo of Sagittarius A* are further complicated by the fact that the black hole is smothered in dust and gas, and that spacetime in the vicinity of a black hole is "weird." Instead, what will likely be seen in any presented photo will be the "event horizon," the edge of the black hole where light can't get away. Per Yahoo News, some have said the image would probably look like "a ring of bright light around a dark blob." The press conference will be streamed live on YouTube. In the meantime, Forbes notes the six "supermassive questions" everyone has in advance of the supposed photo. (Read more black hole stories.)(Newser)  A couple honked at a female driver they thought might hit their vehicle in a McDonalds drive-thru in Australia on Feb. 22. The next day, the windows of their Ford Ranger pickup were smashed, reports the Sun. Less than two weeks later, a bomb placed beneath the truck exploded. It was "grievance-fueled violence" sparked by a "benign" interaction, Detective Superintendent Michael McLean says, per the Guardian. According to police, Ryan Sharp began a six-week campaign of online harassment, intimidation and death threats after his girlfriend tried to file a police report about the couple's initial toot in Warrawong. A specialist police squad targeting potential would-be terrorists eventually helped locate the pair, who were arrested in Illawarra on Tuesday, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

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The Australian Associated Press describes Sharp, 33, as a tradesman with knowledge of electronics, who was also allegedly threatening another person. "The work done by this male to identify where the victim lived was quite ingenious and indicated a specific intent," says McLean. Police note a pipe bomb, drone, and baton were among several items seized during searches of a home and car. Sharp, taken into custody by cops in riot gear, faces numerous charges including using a carriage service to threaten to kill, destroying or damaging property, and placing an explosive on a vehicle with the intent to cause harm. His 31-year-old girlfriend is charged with being an accessory after the fact to destroying or damaging property, and stalking or intimidating. (Read more bomb stories.)(Newser)  The official name of the tiny nation of Brunei is Negara Brunei Darussalam, with Negara meaning country and Darussalam translating to "abode of peace." Outraged people around the world might find that latter part a misnomer. Brunei was on Wednesday set to introduce the most drastic elements of its sharia penal code, a penal code the AP reports was enacted in 2014 but whose laws saw a staggered start, with the most contentious ones being delayeduntil now. Adultery and sex between two men are punishable by death under the new laws. CNN reports sex between two women is punishable by 100 lashes. Those convicted of theft can have their right hand amputated; on the second offense, their left foot. More:

The Guardian reports Brunei now stands alone in east and southeast Asia as having a national sharia penal code.

As for the motivation, the AP sees it as part of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's effort to make Islam a more prominent force in the country; about two-thirds of its 430,000 people are Muslim. But the Guardian presents a different theory: that the sultan is trying to "shore up support among the countrys conservatives due to the waning fortunes of the oil-dependent economy, which has been ravaged by recession in recent years."

The BBC speaks with the head of human rights group the Brunei Project, who offered this take: "Connected to this is [Brunei's] interest in attracting more investment from the Muslim world, along with more Islamic tourists ... this could be seen as one way of appealing to this market."

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The Guardian sums up some of the shock flowing through the small, underground LGBT community there: Homosexuality is already punishable by a sentence of up to 10 years, but an LGBT rights activist who has regularly visited the country described the sentiment up until now: One LGBT person said to him, "'Look at how I dress, look at how I act, am I being arrested by the police?' And then a few others said, I think we are okay as long as we dont rock the boat, have parades and announce our sexuality."

What's unclear is whether anyone will actually be stoned to death. The BBC reports the last execution in Brunei happened in 1957.

CNN reports the announcement of the new laws on the government's website quoted the sultan as saying Brunei "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." The office of the prime minister was unwavering in a statement released Saturday: "Brunei Darussalam is a sovereign Islamic and fully independent country and, like all other independent countries, enforces its own rule of law."

One quote getting plenty of pick-up comes from Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch: "Bruneis new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes." He called for the immediate suspension of such punishments.

Celebs like Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have joined George Clooney in speaking out against the lawsand suggesting retribution. DeGeneres on Tuesday tweeted, "Tomorrow, the country of #Brunei will start stoning gay people to death. We need to do something now. Please boycott these hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Raise your voices now. Spread the word. Rise up."

(Read more Brunei stories.)(Newser)  A mother initially said an Egyptian man tried to kidnap her daughter from a West Virginia mall, but he was released from jail after she changed her story the following day. The mother and 5-year-old were shopping at Old Navy in the Huntington Mall in Barboursville on Monday night when the incident unfolded; police say it appears the whole thing was spurred by Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan patting the child's head, leading to a "cultural misunderstanding." The girl's mother initially told police Zayan tried to drag her daughter away by the hair and she pulled out a gun to scare him off, WSAZ reports.

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Zayan, 54, was charged with attempted abduction and jailed on a $200,000 bond. But no witnesses to the alleged incident could be found, and video surveillance appeared to show a different story, police say, per WOWK. During a subsequent interview, the mother admitted she may have misinterpreted the situation and overreacted. Cabell County prosecutors reduced Zayan's bond so he could be released after the mother's story changed, and he got out Tuesday night, emotional and crying as he reunited with his family. The original charge was expected to be dropped, but police say he could possibly still face a battery charge. It's not clear whether the mother will face any charges. (A female American tourist has been abducted in Uganda.)The host expressed his delight at the growth of Vietnam-China relations as seen through frequent mutual high-ranking visits and fruitful cooperation in trade, investment, and tourism. While people-to-people exchanges between counterpart organisations have been fostered, friendship activities between residents in the countries border areas have also increased.

Noting similarities in the roles, functions, and tasks of the VFF and the CPPCC, Man said the two sides have held annual high-level delegation exchanges as well as signed agreements to enhance cooperation between the two organisations at both central and local levels, thereby helping to consolidate their countries friendship.

He also highly valued the CSCLF as a prestigious, people-based organisation that has contributed greatly to global peace, international friendship, and social progress. It has obtained numerous attainments in mother and child healthcare; education support; poverty reduction; scientific-technological knowledge popularisation; and literature-arts, sports, and healthcare promotion.

The official voiced his hope that as CSCLF Chairman, Wang will continue helping to reinforce the foundations relations with the VFF and its member organisations, as well as to develop the friendship between the Vietnamese and Chinese peoples.

For his part, Wang pledged further contributions to people-to-people diplomacy and the partnership between the CPPCC and the VFF.

He added that he would also step up the CSCLFs cooperation activities in Vietnam so as to help develop the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.(Newser)  An American woman was kidnapped at gunpoint from Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park Tuesday night, Reuters reports. Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, and her Ugandan driver were on a game drive in the safari park when four gunmen ambushed the vehicle and took them both. An elderly couple at the scene weren't abducted and reported the incident to police. The suspects quickly used one of the victims' phones to call authorities and demand a ransom of $500,000, NBC News reports. A search has been launched, and police have blocked the nearby border with Congo in an attempt to trap the group. (Read more Uganda stories.)(Newser)  It took 42 years to get justice for the Lyon sistersdecades that didn't pass unnoticed by Mark Bowden. In a Washington Post article adapted from his new book, The Last Stone: A Masterpiece of Criminal Interrogation, Bowden writes that he was a "green 23-year-old" on the crime beat at the Baltimore News-American in March 1975 when Sheila and Katherine Lyon, ages 12 and 10, vanished after going to the Wheaton Plaza shopping mall in Montgomery County, Maryland. Their bodies were never found, and it wasn't until 2017 that Lloyd Lee Welch pleaded guilty in the case. Bowden traces how that came to be: Detectives revisited the case over the years, and one came across a statement given by a then 18-year-old Welch, who claimed to have seen the abduction. They tracked him down to a Delaware prison, where he was serving time for molesting a 10-year-old girl.

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Detective Dave Davis first interviewed Welch on Oct. 16, 2013, and found a man who "appeared to enjoy talking for its own sake." Welch was full of denials and lies but in that first session, Davis asked him to speculate on the girls' fate. The killer "killed em and he probably burned em," he replied. Detectives listening in from an adjacent room were startled. As one put it, "Who says 'burned them'?" In later conversations, his story continually shifted but led investigators to probe the entire Welch clan, their Appalachian roots, the incest that went on, and a bloody duffel bag two cousins recall Welch tossing on a bonfire. And while Welch always fingered other relatives as the culprit, "graduallyoften inadvertentlyhe revealed more and more about himself and the crime." One detail that kept recurring: a basement hangout one could only enter from the backyard. Then Davis found that basement ... and the evidence within. Read the full story here. (Read more Longform stories.)Borough Mayor Bryce Ward speaks on the negative impacts of Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposed budget cuts during the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday afternoon, April 2, 2019 at the Westmark Hotel. Eric Engman/News-MinerLet us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community.

Submit hereThe Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.

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Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer.The ceremony saw the attendance of Casimiro Abreu, Acting Director of Mozambique's National Institute of Natural Disaster Management (INGC); Venerable Thich Dong Hue, member of the Executive Council of the VBS Central Committee and President of the Vietnam Buddhist Association in Mozambique; Vietnamese Ambassador to Mozambique Le Huy Hoang; as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and aid agencies of Mozambique, and the Buddhist followers and Overseas Vietnamese community in Mozambique.

Speaking at the event, Venerable Thich Dong Hue said that the aid package, including more than 20 tonnes of food and relief supplies, conveyed the solidary and sharing of the VBS and Vietnamese Buddhist followers towards the cyclone victims.

Venerable Thich Dong Hue expressed his hope that the local authorities and people would soon overcome the consequences of the cyclone.

In reply, INGC Acting Director Casimiro Abreu, expressed his thanks to the VBS, the Vietnamese Embassy, OVs community in Mozambique for the aid, treasuring the support given by Vietnamese Government and people for his country.

Earlier, on March 26, Movitel, a joint venture of the Vietnamese military-run telecom group Viettel in Mozambique, handed over a shipment of aid to a local aid receiver in Beira city, Sofala province, which was hard-hit by cyclone Idai.

Super tropical cyclone Idai is considered the biggest natural disaster in the past 30 years, heavily affecting the central region of Mozambique and some neighbouring countries, such as Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The cyclone claimed the lives of over 780 people and seriously affected the living of more than 2.9 million others. In Mozambique, it is reported to have left at least 518 people dead, 1,522 injured and 135,000 homeless, and destroyed 3,318 schools.The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says 12,974 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya in two years. The agen...

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says 12,974 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya in two years.









The agency said the returnees were assisted back from the volatile North African country by the European Union (EU) and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Voluntary Assisted Returnees Programme which began in April 2017.









The coordinator, NEMA Lagos Territorial Office, Alhaji Idris Muhammed, made this known while receiving a fresh batch of 132 Nigerians from Libya on Tuesday night.









The Nigerians arrived the Cargo Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos aboard a chartered Buraq Air aircraft with registration number 5A-DMG at about 7.30p.m.









They arrived barely 24 hours after another batch of 180 of their compatriots returned to Nigeria from the same country.









Muhammed said they comprised of 58 female adults, two female children and four female infants as well as 59 male adults, five male children and six male infants.









According to him, the returnees came back from four major cities in Libya  Alkrarim, Misursta, Benghazi and Ghanfoda, where they had been stranded en route Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.









Muhammed thanked IOM and EU for facilitating the return of the Nigerians and assured them that the Federal Government was ready to work with development partners to create a conducive environment for young Nigerians.













He noted that this would help to curb the scourge of irregular migrations and the desperation of young people to fend for themselves.









Muhammed said the support and cooperation towards the programme by all levels of government in the country showed that all hands were on the desk to find a lasting solution to the issue.









Also speaking, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Ketil Karlsen, who witnessed the 65th flight since the programme started, said migration should be an aspiration but not desperation.









Karlsen said:  Migration, mobility and curiosity to know new places are as old as humankind itself and are natural.









What is not natural is the kind of irregular migrations that leads to wrong purposes and put peoples lives at risk.









The ambassador commended all the national and international partners who had been participating in the success story of the exercise.









He lauded the excellent tasks of IOM in the process of identifying, locating mobilising and convincing the stranded Nigerians to voluntarily return home.









Karlsen further praised the UN Migration Agency for initiating the reintegration attractions like the start-up capitals, vocational training and psychological services that had added value to the returnees.







The Senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has described the 2019 general elections as the ...





The Senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has described the 2019 general elections as the worst in the history of Nigeria.





He explained that the recent general elections in the country were characterized with irregularities.





Senator Shehu Sani, a human right activist, who lost his bid to return back to the Red Chamber to Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress, has challenged the results of the elections in the Elections Petition Tribunal.





Speaking on the outcome of the general elections in the country, Senator Sani said that the 2019 polls under President Muhammadu Buhari administration was the worst elections ever conducted in the country considering the irregularities and other malpractices that followed the conduct of the elections in the country.





According to him, though there was no perfection in the conduct of elections anywhere in the world, But no sensible person will say the 2019 elections is credible or above the standard of the 2019 elections which gave President Buhari his victory.





Appraising the outcome of this years polls, Sani said, We have seen the effort invested by former President Goodluck Jonathan before the 2015 general elections, and also we have seen the systematic subversion of elections matters under this government, since the beginning of this recent elections, there have been a lot of infractions and distortion.





Some have been with us for very long time. The 2019 general elections was characterised by armed thuggery, massive abuse and misused of security personnel, vote buying, acts of intimidation against voters and INEC officials, manipulation of results and figures and indiscriminate and allocation of votes.





Senator Sani added, We have also seen the decapitation of very principles and ethics of credible elections by those in position of authority.





We expected this elections to be credible, better than 2015, but we have seen how in some cases, INEC Officials were used to temper with results and mandate of the people, and how solders were used to intimidate and attack voters and policemen were also used back thugs and thuggery in many of the States.





And also, we have seen how the phenomenon of inconclusive elections have become so confusing and contradictory.





So, as far as I am concerned, I can say that if President Buhari is planning to leave a legacy of credible elections, this cannot be a good legacy for all that we have gone through.





Sani argued, The lot of people that have died, the number of mandates that have been stollen, and the way the voting process was discredited are all issues we need to take into consideration to determine if we are really growing our democracy or retarding it.





He said that a situation where political leaders buy themselves into public offices or use violence and intimidation to force themselves back to power would not augur well for the nation.





He stressed, One of the cardinal pillars of democracy is the ability of the citizens to elect their leaders freely, but when the process is destroyed, undermined and decimated, then the legitimacy of people who are going to occupy public offices will be seriously questioned and this is where we find ourselves today.



Following the reported cases of kidnapping and security challenges on Abuja-Kaduna road, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-rufai ...





Following the reported cases of kidnapping and security challenges on Abuja-Kaduna road, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-rufai said the police and other security agencies were reinforcing their presence on the major expressways leading in and out of the state.





A statement on Tuesday afternoon by Senior Special Assistant to Governor Elrufai on Media and Publicity, Mr. Samuel Aruwan said  this was announced following a meeting of the Kaduna State Security Council summoned today by Malam Nasir El-Rufai to assess the situation on the Kaduna-Abuja and Kaduna-Birnin Gwari roads. 





Governor El-Rufai presided over the meeting via teleconference from Dakar, Senegal, where he accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari.





According to him, Present at the meeting were Brigadier General OJ. Akpor, Garrison Commander I Division, Air Commodore I. Sani, Base Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police AT Abdullahi, State Director Department of State Services, Ahmed Idris Koya.





Others included, Modu Bunu, Commandant Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Secretary to the State Government, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, DIG Murtala Abbas, Special Adviser on Internal Security, Adamu Mansur, Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs and Special Services and Samuel Aruwan, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity.





His words, The Kaduna State Security Council appealed for calm, assuring citizens plying the Abuja-Kaduna and Kaduna-Birnin Gwari roads of robust security patrols on the resolutions adopted for immediate implementation





The meeting assured residents that the government will continue to partner with security agencies operating in the state towards the protection of life and property of the citizenry. Further details of the meeting were not made public to avoid undermining security measures.



Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to the president on diaspora, says in the last three years, Saudi Arabia has executed eig...





Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to the president on diaspora, says in the last three years, Saudi Arabia has executed eight Nigerians for drug-related offences.





The latest of the executions was carried out on Monday, involving a Nigerian woman.





Speaking with state house correspondents on Tuesday, Dabiri-Erewa described the execution as tragic.





She said 20 other Nigerians were on death row while some have been sentenced to various jail terms in the country.





She disclosed that some airlines had been working with drug syndicates to put drugs in the bags of unsuspecting passengers.





She appealed to Nigerians to abide by the laws of Saudi Arabia when travelling there.





So we have had cases where truly they didnt commit the offence. We have appealed to the Saudi authorities to make the trials fair, open and ensure that justice is done, she said.





Even if you are going to die, you will know that you die for an offence you committed. So, while we appeal to Nigerians going to Saudi Arabia, we know it is tough, obey the laws of the land. Even Kolanut is treated as a drug.





So we will continue to appeal to the Saudi authorities to treat some of the cases with some form of leniency.





Like I said, we have 20 of them in Saudi, this is the eighth to be executed and we are hopeful that maybe we will be able to save the others.





It is pathetic, it is tragic but we will continue to appeal to Nigerians to obey the laws of the land where you are.





However, we expect the trial to be fair, open and ensure that justice truly is done because somebody is sentenced to death.





She also described as disgraceful the involvement of five Nigerians in the robbing of a bureau de change of different currency worth Dh2.3 million (N226,182,000) in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE).





She listed their names as Chimuanya Ozo, Benjamin Ajah, Kingsley Nwonka, Toochukwu Arise and Chile Ndumodu.





These five boys are a disgrace to this country and an embarrassment. So if UAE decide to be hard on Nigerians then we will complain that they are hard on us, she said.





But we will continue to say that one bad apple should not spoil the whole bunch. Nigerians are hardworking, intelligent so these few should not spoil the whole bunch because this has made news all over the UAE now.





We are going to continue to name those who disgrace the country anywhere in the world and we will continue to appeal to Nigerians to be good ambassadors wherever they find themselves.



The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has called on banks to be wary of dubious in...





The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has called on banks to be wary of dubious individuals or groups within and outside their establishments who abuse both the whistle-blowing policy of the Federal Government as well as the Post No Debit, PND, order in the sector.





He said there were strong indications that some banks officials divulge information on high-net-worth accounts to their accomplices, who in turn obtain a purported PND order to fleece unsuspecting customers.





Magu gave the warning during a meeting with Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Lagos.





He also lamented that the Post No Debit, PND, order was being abused by certain individuals in connivance with unscrupulous bank officials to achieve some set goals.





According to him, These individuals demand bogus five percent commission on the isolated high-net-worth accounts of the bank customers, thereby making a mockery of the whistle-blowing policy of the Federal Government and subversion of ethical practice of the banks, which emphasises confidentiality of their customers.





We must stop the unfolding connivance against high-net-worth accounts in the banks. Some of these accounts might not necessarily be under investigation.





They might be inheritance or proceeds from genuine investments.



A Federal high court sitting in Abuja has today,2nd April, nullified the candidacy of, Ademola Adeleke, the Peoples Democratic Party(PD...

A Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified Adeleke's participation at the Osun Governorship election on the ground that he did not have WAEC, the minimum qualification to contest any election.

When would the court also nullify Buhari's participation at the presidential election?  Jackson Ude (@jacksonpbn) April 2, 2019

The court ruling on Dancing Senator's certificate scandal has just endangered our democracy once again...what we are trying to build up, Buhari is WICKED....



  Y.A.N Lade (@YAN_Lade) April 2, 2019

In a bid to achieve their desperate motives in Osun State, the APC true fraudulent means decided to set a template that will consume their biggest political asset, Buhari. I'm pleased that issues of Buhari's oluwole WAEC result is included in the petition by Atiku. #AtikuIsComing April 2, 2019

Adeleke has had his victory and participation nullified. Buhari's own is still not up for debate however.



Nigeria we hail thee  Blithe! (@h_abnrmal) April 2, 2019

Buhari has no Waec, he is the president while court nullified Adeleke mandate, claiming he has no Waec.



Aint Nigeria a comic book 



A stark illiterate is Nigerian president, while people who claim to be educated play along with him.



Look at Nigerian judiciary - shame!!  Nwanne Ka Enyi (@Nwanne_KaEnyi) April 2, 2019

Nonsense. Adeleke enemy will fail woefully. Who is a chief forger? Buhari is still fresh in our memories  ABIJE SIMON IRIFO (@SimonIrifo) April 2, 2019

Judiciary need to clear their name by finalising buhari WAEC scandal too bkox, opposition's case started lately to buhari WAEC scandal that failed to assign to a judge for buhari's appeal since 3 years now.  Prince Olasupo Damola (@OlasupoPrince) April 2, 2019

how come he became a senator And how about mr Buhari who was presented a waec certificate he never sat for Lol its a big shame on the judiciary Seriously just when we thought the judiciary was the last hope of the common man Here they go again  KingOFsParta (@o_parta) April 2, 2019

Consequently, this has sparked reactions from Nigerians with some citing that President Muhammadu Buhari is guilty of the same offence.NE recalls that Adeleke won at the election tribunal recently.Clifford Iroanya, erstwhile ally of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has warned against any furth...





Clifford Iroanya, erstwhile ally of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has warned against any further attempt to denigrate his image.





The warning is a fallout of a confession by one of Kanus coordinators, Candy Stallworth, in the United States of America (USA), before Honorable Judge J. Scott Duncan of the Circuit Court.





She was said to have told the court that Mr. Kanu fed him with fake information which she used against Dr. Clifford Iroanya.





In 2017, Ms. Candy Stallworth had reportedly made several accusations against Dr. Iroanya, which included belonging to a terrorist group within and outside Nigeria.





Consequently, Dr. Iroanya, who said he was inundated with calls from all over the world from concerned friends and family members after reading the widely-circulated publications, instituted a lawsuit against Ms. Stallworth through his Attorney, Hunter R. Higdon, Esq. of James L. Chase & Associates, PLC (Attorneys and Counselors at Law) based in Pensacola-Florida.)





It was further gathered that after failing to prove the allegations against Dr. Iloanya, Ms. Stallworth entered into a plea bargain in lieu of going into full court trial.





In her plea bargain, Ms. Candy Stallworth affirmed the following That all the allegations she made against Dr. Iroanya were false.





That she made those allegations based on false information she received from Nwannekaenyi Kenny Okwu-Kanu, and five others.





Reacting to the judgement, which emanated from the plea bargain, Iroanya said the lessons learnt here are that individuals should be more circumspect and measured in their utterances and writings.





Also, those who receive information from their organizational leaders and associates must verify and critically analyze that information before making use of them because it could cause an embarrassing backlash as is the case of Ms. Candy Stallworth.





Lastly, those who go to social media to freely pour venoms and acidic words and making threats on others must desist because the consequences may be too damning on them.





For Ms. Candy Stallworth, she has learnt her lessons and will never make such mistakes again in her life and if she does, then she will live with the consequences.





For the six indicted accomplices named in the judgment and their cohorts who are still defaming Dr. Iroanya and other innocent people, they are hereby urged to stop now or they will regret their actions sooner than later.





Let these indicted accomplices and their cohorts take a little bit of their time to go through Section-373 to Section-375 of CAP. C38 L.F.N. 2004 (The extant Criminal Code Act/Law in Nigeria) for which culpability is independent of location, time, and media/platform upon which the defamatory actions were made.





They must understand that Dr. Iroanya will not hesitate to invoke and deploy this Law to send them to jail, should they continue with their defamatory activities, Iroanya concluded.



The statement did not elaborate on the intended topics of discussion. The two leaders will meet five days before Israel's April 9 election in which the right-wing Netanyahu faces a strong challenge from a centrist candidate.

On April 1, Netanyahu told reporters he and Putin spoke by telephone about Syria, whose Russian-backed president, Bashar al-Assad, has been gaining ground in an eight-year civil war.

Israel worries Assad's Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah reinforcements could set up bases to attack it from Syria, and has carried out scores of air strikes against them.

Thursday's meeting could also help Netanyahu in the closely contested election, in which he has played up his statecraft and security credentials in the face of the politically untested challenger Benny Gantz, a former military chief.LinChung Oliver, Nollywood actor who plays the role of Sylvanus in TV series, Do Good, has died after a car accident on his way to Lag...

LinChung Oliver, Nollywood actor who plays the role of Sylvanus in TV series, Do Good, has died after a car accident on his way to Lagos after attending his mothers burial in his hometown.





Basorge Tariah, the producer and star actor in the sitcom `Do Good, announced the incident on his Instagram page.





My Heart is so so heavy right now. I am in a dark and painful place. Tragedy is a euphemism. We just lost SILVANUS of DO GOOD, he wrote on Wednesday.





My dear brother was returning from the burial of his mother when death added my friend to his mean account. RIP. These tears wont stop flowing.





Am so speechless and so sad. You were such a lovely soul. You smile, you play and never complained.





You leave a vacuum that most of the world cannot fill. I will miss you so much, it burns my heart. Sleep! Sleep great and awesome Talent. Sleep.





Oliver is widely referred to as LinChung and Sylvanus for his role in Basorge Tariah Jnr produced series, Do Good.





He once worked at Star FM on a radio programme alongside a few other comedians.



Alhaji Saad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, on Tuesday tasked government at all levels on adequate construction and equipping of healt...





Alhaji Saad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, on Tuesday tasked government at all levels on adequate construction and equipping of health facilities to help in the effective healthcare delivery.





The Sultan made the call while declaring open the first quarter review meeting of Northern Traditional Leaders Committee(NTLC) on Primary Health Care, which centered on an update on Kaduna State.





The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that the major focus of the meeting was to receive update on Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services(CHIPS) initiative launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018.

The CHIPS initiative is aimed at using community based women to improve maternal and child health care, part of which includes educating women on importance of visiting health facilities when the need arises in order to avert deaths from preventable diseases.





Abubakar, who decried the deplorable status of health care facilities in the country said, I will like us to talk about the position of our healthcare facilities across the towns and villages.





You cant come around with such programme, CHIPS, advocating about going to clinics for antenatal and you dont have the clinics. There are so many buildings across the villages in the name of clinics, but theres no nurses, nothing.





So, we will want to see states and Federal Government embark on construction and equipping of full healthcare facilities across the villages and towns where we have large population of our people, he said.





He assured that traditional leaders in the North would do everything humanly possible in ensuring that new born and mothers live healthy.





He said provision for manpower, drugs and shelter are very paramount in ensuring adequate and effective healthcare delivery.





The Sultan assured Nigerians that, we will not relent until we have a total and healthier society, because without a healthy society you cannot do anything, so health is very important to all our people.





We have talked about polio, but there are also killer diseases and other diseases ravaging our communities, so its our responsibility to continue this serious work in a much stronger capacity.





The Sultan, who admitted that the traditional leaders in ten years have recorded tremendous success in the Polio eradication programme, however, noted that the disease was not the only health challenge bedeviling the country.









We also have so many other diseases and one of them is hunger.





We will continue to work strongly with stakeholders and government at all levels until we achieve total health coverage in all our communities across the Northern states in particular, he said.





Earlier, the Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib, said the meeting was to focus on how the traditional rulers can use their unique position as custodians of heritage and culture to mobilise people in communities for improved Primary Health Care, especially on CHIPS.

Shuaib said the traditional leaders have recorded success in polio eradication programme and such success can be replicated in the CHIPS initiative.





According to him, the point to note is how they have been able to provide leadership in all ramifications towards polio eradication, especially as they have assisted in casting away doubts on polio vaccines and immunisation.





When community members saw their leaders are advocating for immunisation and vaccines, they came out and started receiving it. As you can see, we are just five months away from been declared a polio free nation. This is significant, he said.













He added that the first quarter meeting was aimed at expanding the horizon of the traditional leaders in terms of what they would be engaging in.





Moving forward, they will be taking up the role President Buhari asked them to take which is providing leadership around CHIPS programme.



A clash between two rival cult groups, Black Axe and Klans, in Calabar South, Cross River State has resulted in the death of three perso...

A clash between two rival cult groups, Black Axe and Klans, in Calabar South, Cross River State has resulted in the death of three persons.









A source who witnessed the killing of one of the victims at about 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday on Ambo Street, narrated to our correspondent how it happened.









The source who pleaded anonymity said, We had just finished a church programme at about 11:00 p.m. and we were going home when some young men accosted a youth and began hitting him with a plank.









After hitting him several times with the plank, they later used a machete to cut the victim who was screaming for help. The victim was said to have come to visit someone in the neighbourhood when he was waylaid.









Everybody had to run from the scene as it appeared it was cultists that were attacking each other. After about an hour, the police from Mbukpa Police Station arrived the scene but did not meet the culprits who escaped immediately they finished killing their victim.









It was gathered that a reprisal attack on Wednesday afternoon on a street near Ambo street also resulted in the death of another victim.









Our correspondent also gathered that earlier on Wednesday, another victim was said to have been shot dead around Chamley Street also in Calabar South.









Details about the attack on Chamley Street were sketchy as of the time of filing this report. The incident was also attributed to rival cult clash.









The state Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Irene Ugbo, when contacted confirmed the incidents.













Three persons were killed when two cult groups, Black Axe and Klan, clashed. Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the incidents and they are being interrogated.







Zamfara state government on Wednesday imposed curfew on all the fourteen local governments from 7 pm to 7am. Commissioner for Loca...

Zamfara state government on Wednesday imposed curfew on all the fourteen local governments from 7 pm to 7am.









Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Bello Dankande Gamji, announced the decision in Gusau.









The commissioner explained the curfew became unavoidable in view of the security threat bedevilling the state.









He lamented a woman and her child were abducted recently when she boarded a tricycle to her home.









Dankande, who was flanked by the Commissioner of Police Celestine Okoye, warned the police will be spread in all nooks and crannies of the metropolis enforce the curfew and arrest defaulters.









He further revealed most of the crimes committed were organised and perpetrated with some commercial motorcycle riders and tricycle operators.







BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged civil affairs authorities to better fulfill their duties by focusing on poverty alleviation, special groups and public concerns.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the statement in an instruction read at a national civil affairs conference held in Beijing Tuesday.

Identifying civil affairs work as a fundamental aspect of social development, Xi called on Party committees and governments at various levels to be committed to a people-centered approach, strengthen leadership over the civil affairs work and enhance civil affairs services at the primary level.

Civil affairs organs should better perform their duties of ensuring basic livelihood security, strengthening social governance at the primary level, and providing basic social services, to make new contributions to finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and turning China into a modern socialist country, Xi said.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, speaks while meeting with participants of a national civil affairs conference in Beijing, capital of China, April 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

When meeting with participants of the meeting, Premier Li Keqiang acknowledged the progress made in this area and stressed the tough tasks ahead.

Li asked the civil affairs departments to implement the policies of the CPC Central Committee and State Council and make sure people living below the minimum living standards and those in exceptional difficulties receive sufficient support.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with participants of a national civil affairs conference in Beijing, capital of China, April 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)Trump says "100 percent" ready to close U.S.-Mexico border if no deal reached with Congress

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tuesday he was "100 percent" ready to close the southern border if no deal is reached with Congress on immigration reform.

"If they don't or if we don't make a deal with Congress, the border's going to be closed. A hundred percent," Trump told the press at the White House.

Trump said the United States is "maxed out" in processing illegal immigrants, and that it was "a very unfair thing."

The U.S. president blamed the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador for failing to check the stream of immigrants traveling into the United States, threatening to cut off aid to these countries.

"They don't do anything for us ... we're giving hundreds of millions of dollars to these three countries," Trump said.

"They arrange these caravans, and they don't put their best people in those caravans," Trump said. "We're not going to have it anymore."

Trump's remarks fortified speculations that the United States may take the drastic measure despite risking undermining the economy.

Earlier Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said closing the southern border is possibly the "best decision."

"It may be that it's the best decision that we close the border," Sanders told the press. "Democrats are leaving us absolutely no choice at this point."

Neither Trump nor Sanders mentioned a timeline for such a move, although Trump previously suggested that it could be as early as this week.

The threats are a continuation of a prolonged campaign from Trump to tackle illegal immigrants entering the United States, a centerpiece of his presidential campaign promise. Over the past two years, he has clashed with the Democratic party over related issues such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the border wall, and immigration reform.President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers a speech at the central conference on political and legal work in Beijing, capital of China. The conference was held in Beijing on Jan 15 and 16, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping called upon civil affairs authorities to focus their efforts on meeting the requirements of poverty reduction, special groups and matters of public concern in an instruction released on Tuesday.

The remark by Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of Central Military Commission, came as the 14th National Conference on Civil Affairs began in Beijing on Tuesday.

Xi said work related to civil affairs is related to the public's well-being and the hearts and minds of the people, and it is also fundamental work that extends a helping hand to those most in need.

Party committees and governments at various levels should stay committed to a people-centered approach and improve their capacities in civil affairs services at the primary level, he said.

He also urged civil affairs authorities to enhance their Party building, stay committed to advancing reform and innovations, better assume their responsibilities in ensuring the well-being of the public, improve governance at the primary level and provide basic social services.

Premier Li Keqiang met with the participants of the national conference on Tuesday.

He appealed to the civil affairs authorities to prioritize efforts to meet the basic needs of the people, extend assistance to those most in need and build an even more tightly woven safety net for the public's livelihood.

It is also important for them to better meet the needs of the elderly, those with disabilities, the sick, and children living in difficult circumstances, he said, adding that basic social services should be better developed to help the public better address their problems.

The reform to streamline administration, enhance compliance oversight and improve government services should be deepened so that the public can more easily access administrative services, the premier said.

He also highlighted the importance of giving more play to the role of the private sector so that services such as eldercare and nurseries can blossom to enrich the supply of social services and create more jobs.

The premier also called for better development of charity work and further promotion of a spirit of volunteerism to make society warmer and more harmonious.

The conference also highlighted the achievements of work in the sector since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, and made arrangements for future work.The Nansha Bridge, as shown from an aerial drone, is officially opened on Tuesday. LIANG XU/XINHUA

A new bridge across the Pearl River estuary officially opened on Tuesday, and it is expected to play an important role in accelerating economic cooperation and infrastructure connectivity among cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The Nansha Bridge is the first innovative megaproject to begin service after the central government unveiled development plans for the Bay Area in February, according to Liu Xiaohua, general manager of Guangdong Provincial Communications Group Ltd.

"It is a major passageway that links the large cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou in the eastern part of Pearl River Delta to Foshan, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in the western part," Liu said at the launching ceremony on Tuesday.

The central government's development plan for the Bay Area encourages Guangdong province cities, plus Hong Kong and Macao, to further expand their cooperation and exchanges to become a world-class Bay Area in the coming years.

"Completion of the bridge also marks a milestone in expressway construction in Guangdong province, one of the country's economic powerhouses," Liu said.

Guangdong, the nation's first area to launch reform and opening-up, now has over 9,000 kilometers of expressways in service, thus taking the lead in expressway construction on the mainland, he said.

The Nansha Bridge connects Guangdong's expressway networkfrom Dongchong in Guangzhou's Nansha district where Nansha Port is located, to Shatian in Dongguan, known as "the world's factory".

Drivers transporting goods can shorten their travel by at least 10 km, or 30 minutes, when they drive from Guangzhou's southern areas via the Nansha Bridge to Dongguan, Liu added.

Construction of the massive project started about five years ago, and has cost more than 11 billion yuan ($1.64 billion).

The 12.9-km Nansha Bridge has eight lanes and is designed to handle 100,000 vehicles per day, greatly easing congestion on the Humen Bridge, another crossing at the mouth of the Pearl River. The Humen Bridge was designed to accommodate 80,000 vehicles daily, and has suffered from major traffic jams during rush hours.

The Nansha Bridge is designed allow vehicles to reach speeds of 100 km/hour. And the service life of the bridge is expected to last over 100 years.

Experts have forecast daily traffic volume over the Nansha Bridge will exceed 60,000 vehicles during the Tomb Sweeping Day holidays from Friday to Sunday.

Peng Shengxian, a business representative from Dongguan, said the bridge is an amazing project that will greatly help local businesspersons and drivers save time and money.

Peng, who frequently travels to Zhongshan for business, said it will now take him about an hour to drive to Zhongshan from Dongguan via the new bridge. "But previously, it took me about two hours," he said.

Also, businesses in Dongguan can save on production costs when they transport cargo to Nansha Port via the Nansha Bridge, he added.Residents take hada, white silk scarves that signify goodwill and purity, to a funeral home in Xichang, Sichuan province, on Tuesday to pay tribute to the 30 victims who died when fighting a recent forest fire in a nearby area. ZHANG CHAOQUN/XINHUA

China issued a red alert, the highest level, for forest fire risks in arid northern and southwestern regions, including Sichuan province, where a forest fire broke out on Saturday, leaving 27 firefighters and three others dead.

Beijing, Tianjin, and the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Sichuan, will see the risk of forest fires stay at the highest level until Monday, and "under the red alert, no open fires are allowed in forests and grasslands", Yang Xiaodan, chief forecaster of the National Meteorological Center's Public Information Center, said on Tuesday.

The alert was issued based on comprehensive considerations, including the persistent dry weather, strong winds and high temperatures, and also the coming Tomb Sweeping Day, which falls on Friday, when thousands will travel to ancestors' grave sites and in some cases, burn offerings.

"Recent satellite data has shown areas of heat and fire were much more numerous than average levels in recent years," Yang said.

It is the first red alert for forest fire risks this year, with the last one issued in March 2016, the center said in a statement.

The red alert was announced after the deadly high-altitude forest fire broke out on Saturday in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, engulfing around 15 hectares of forest.

It was the deadliest event for rescue workers since the Ministry of Emergency Management formed last year.

The authorities have applied for them to be officially declared heroes, the center said on Tuesday.

The forest fire was brought under control at 3 pm on Tuesday through joint efforts from five helicopters and over 500 firefighters, said Tang Yi, director of Liangshan's security enforcement team, on Tuesday afternoon.

Sichuan has opened a special investigation into the cause of the blaze and will release the results in due time, he said.

By Tuesday afternoon, 23 bodies had been transported to a funeral home in Xichang, Liangshan Yi, where the firefighting team was based.

Some 3,000 locals visited the mortuary, holding chrysanthemums, wreaths and hadawhite ceremonial scarvesin their hands. Many had tears in their eyes, said Song Ming, an information officer with the prefectural government information office.

Of the 30 victims, the oldest was 49 and the youngest 19.

Zhang Hao, a 29-year-old victim, had recently married. Before the tragedy, all the information he uploaded in his WeChat Moments was about his firefighting missions. In one photo, he showed how difficult it was for him to clean his hands after one mission.

Jiang Feifei, another 29-year-old victim, said via his WeChat Moments that he was washing his clothes when he was asked to rush to the deadly blaze after just two missions.SanneBerg/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Bipartisanship in Congress is rare these days, but on Wednesday lawmakers of every stripe agreed: Something must be done to stop the scourge of illegal and unwanted robocalls to cell phones.



The Senate Commerce Committee approved a new measure, called the TRACED Act, to crack down on scammers who prey on unwitting cell phone users, many masking the origin of their telephone numbers to increase the likelihood of unsolicited calls being accepted -- a practice known as spoofing.



Half of all calls to cell phones this year will be robocalls, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the lead sponsor of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act. Thune said he, too, had received his fair share of the pesky calls.



This legislation cant get signed into law soon enough, Thune said.



One industry estimate by the firm Hiya, as first reported by the Washington Post, says these types of unwanted communication accounted for nearly a third of the 26.3 billion robocalls made to Americans in 2018.



Our goal is to provide authentication so that consumers know who's calling them, said Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass, who authored the bill with Thune. Markey said the measure would slap offenders with much tougher penalties which the federal government can impose upon these fraudsters, upon these scammers, upon these tricksters who have insinuated themselves into the lives of every single American.



The Federal Trade Commission's "National Do Not Call Registry" has proved ineffective in the face of a rising problem as millions of consumers can attest. Technology has improved to such a degree, lawmakers said, particularly with regard to reaching cell phones, that senators said its time for the laws to catch up.



Since we're seeing such an escalation of the use of technology to disturb people's homes, we need an escalation in technology in order to give people protections in their homes and also on their iPhones, Markey said, holding out his own phone. iPhones have now become a place where no longer is privacy protected.



The legislation, similar to a bill introduced in the House last week by Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., would mandate that major phone carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon, employ technology within roughly 18 months of final passage that would tell consumers the origin of an incoming call and whether that number has been verified. The Pallone bill has an added advantage to consumers: It requires that this service be provided for free.



We are going to say to the telephone and cable companies that there must be an authentication technology that detects where these calls come from so it's very clear that they don't come from the United States of America  and you don't have to answer that call because you will know where they come from, Markey said.



In a letter to the committee from all 50 state attorneys general announcing support of the new legislative push, the group warns, The hardware and software required to make robocalls is easy to obtain, is relatively inexpensive, enables mass-dialing of thousands of calls for pennies, and allows telemarketers to fake or spoof Caller ID information.



Although several providers and third parties offer call blocking and caller identification verification products, virtually anyone can send millions of illegal robocalls and frustrate law enforcement with just a computer, inexpensive software (i.e., auto-dialer and spoofing programs), and an internet connection, the letter continued.



The FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last year called on phone carriers to act to implement authentication technology, but he did not mandate it.



Lawmakers are now coming together to make these major changes to the system mandatory.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.A self-driving tractor equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) runs along the planned routes through the remote control during the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)

TUNIS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- "It gives me joy, hope and growth. I'm so proud to be part of the BeiDou family," said Nada Laabidi, manager of the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center in the Tunisian capital of Tunis.

A project manager of the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO), Laabidi has been working part-time at the center for a year. But her passion for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has become so intense that she is determined to study in China to attain a degree in satellite navigation.

This is because she, like many other people in the Arab world, sees the huge potential and opportunities provided by the growing space cooperation between China and the Arab states. The two sides are jointly building a "Space Silk Road" led by the BDS application within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China in 2013.

A SPACE SILK ROAD TAKING SHAPE

On a sunny afternoon in April at the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center, Ahmed Zenkri, a sophomore engineering student from Tek-up University, was amazed by the perfect run of a self-driving tractor equipped with the BDS, during which it smartly averted obstacles and drove along the planned routes via remote control.

"I have never seen this technology in Tunisia before," Zenkri told Xinhua. "But I am absolutely impressed."

Zenkri is not alone. Many Arab experts and business people attending the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum in Tunis on Monday were stunned by the precision of the navigation service provided by the BDS.

Such a driverless tractor, which is part of precision agriculture, can reduce labor costs and increase crop yields, Shen Jun, deputy director of the International Cooperation Center of the China Satellite Navigation Office, told Xinhua.

"The demonstration was amazing. I saw how the BDS, a modern technology, can be integrated into the traditional agricultural sector. The driverless machinery can operate in a highly accurate way, so I believe that the system can be applied to a wide range of other agricultural activities," said Hassan Kherroubi, a Tunisian specialist in the mechanical industry at the Mjez El-Beb engineering school.

The BDS, developed and independently operated by China, can provide services of comparable quality to other major satellite systems like the American GPS and European Galileo systems, said Mohamed Ben Amor, secretary-general of the AICTO.

Being compatible with other positioning systems, it also boasts unique advantages such as providing two-way messaging services, which can not only reveal one's position, but also broadcast one's position to others, according to Ran Chengqi, director of the China Satellite Navigation Office.

With the BDS starting global service in late 2018, many expect it to add a whole new dimension to China-Arab cooperation, which has been picking up speed under the BRI.

The BRI refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond.

At the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum attended by more than 200 officials, experts and business people from China and Arab countries, several agreements on furthering cooperation on the BDS application were inked.

The participants envisioned building a "Space Silk Road" through closer cooperation on a wider application of the BDS in the Middle East.

"The BDS cooperation is the best example of the strategic cooperation between China and Arab states, as satellite navigation integrates many hi-tech areas, including telecommunication and space technologies," Slim Khalbous, Tunisian minister of higher education and scientific research, said at the forum.

"This is an important opportunity for Tunisia, while the BDS cooperation also means the further upgrade of China-Arab relations," Khalbous said.

Kamal Hassan Ali, assistant secretary general of the Arab League in charge of economic affairs, praised China, which has made important contributions to building the ancient Silk Road, for establishing an excellent mechanism for cooperation and exchanges with Arab states.

"The size of our cooperation will grow bigger, as the China-Tunisia cooperation has borne many fruits, and it will achieve greater progress in other countries in the region too," Ali said.

Wang Zhaoyao, chairman of the Chinese Satellite Navigation Committee, called for jointly building a China-Arab "Space Silk Road" which he said will help Arab states share more benefits from the China-made navigation satellite system.

He noted that the BDS has been applied in many Middle Eastern countries, including Tunisia, Algeria, Kuwait and Sudan in areas such as precision agriculture, telecommunication, maritime monitoring and disaster relief.

Li Chengwen, the Chinese ambassador for China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs, said that the "Space Silk Road" is taking shape as the BDS becomes a new engine for pushing forward fruitful China-Arab cooperation, especially in hi-tech areas.

GREAT POTENTIAL TO BE TAPPED

To promote the application of the BDS in Arab countries, the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center, the first BeiDou overseas center, was officially inaugurated in April 2018, in accordance with a memorandum of understanding signed at the first China-Arab States BeiDou Cooperation Forum held in Shanghai, China in 2017.

The BeiDou system has witnessed several successful cases of application in Arab countries. Most Arab states have been aware of the China-built satellite system and recognized its benefits.

In 2016, the BDS technology was used by Kuwaiti engineers in the construction of the 300-meter-tall iconic building of the National Bank of Kuwait to improve accuracy.

The BDS assisted Kuwaiti workers in installing the core wall structure of the building, which was designed in a complex shape, with millimeter-range accuracy.

In 2017, the augmentation infrastructure of the BDS has been installed across Algeria with centimeter-range accuracy, playing an important role in local military, security, transport and agriculture.

After a successful test of the BDS application in autonomous vehicles, Tunisia is expected to implement a pilot project on smart farming with the BDS application in the near future.

"As the Arab world is more and more keen to turn to digital transformation, I am confident that there is huge potential for the BDS to be adopted and implemented by Arab countries," Laabidi told Xinhua.Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of an inspection program on the enforcement of the Law on Promoting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Beijing, capital of China, April 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) has launched an inspection on the enforcement of the Law on Promoting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in a bid to improve the legal and business environment.

NPC inspection teams will be sent to six provincial regions, in addition to inspections carried out by entrusted local legislative authorities in eight other regions.

The inspection is designed to facilitate implementation of the law among various government agencies, said Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, while presiding over the first plenary meeting of the program Tuesday.

Those agencies are required to protect the legitimate rights and interests of SMEs and private entrepreneurs, and provide guidance to the healthy development of SMEs, according to Li.

Li instructed inspectors to adopt a problem-oriented approach and explore new working methods such as introducing third-party evaluation on law enforcement.

First adopted in 2002, the law was revised in September 2017 and the revised version went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) holds talks with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar in Beijing, capital of China, April 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar in Beijing Tuesday.

China and Mongolia, having maintained the diplomatic ties for 70 years, are facing important opportunities for further development of bilateral relations, Wang said.

The two sides should maintain close high-level exchanges, align the Belt and Road Initiative with Mongolia's development strategy, carry out aid projects regarding development and people's livelihood, facilitate the implementation of major projects on energy and mineral resources, and deepen cooperation in various fields, Wang said.

Mongolia is willing to work with China to push forward cooperation projects on agriculture and animal husbandry, mining, energy, transportation and infrastructure within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to continuously enhance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Tsogtbaatar said.The usual irregularities and shenanigans notwithstanding, the voting patterns of the U.S. electorate may undergo a sea change in the coming decades as the numbers of people who identify as non-religious continue to rise. One of the biggest demographic stories of the last few decades, the rise of the nones has been interpreted as a threat and as an inevitable reckoning for corrupt and scandal-ridden institutions driving millions of people out of churches across the country.

Politics and social issues are hardly the only reasons, though they poll second in list from a 2017 Pew survey. At number one is I question a lot of religious teachings, at number three, the slightly more vague I dont like religious organizations. Its maybe a surprise that nonbelief in God appears all the way at number four. Which speaks to an important point.









Not all of those exiting the pews have renounced their faith or converted to another, but huge numbers have joined the ranks of those who claim no religion in survey and polling data. Their numbers are now equivalent to Catholics and evangelicals, the two religious groups most in decline behind mainline Protestant churches. Political scientist Ryan P. Burge of Eastern Illinois University is not surprised. Its been a constant steady increase for 20 years now, he says, pointing to data from a General Social Survey visualized in the graph above.

The last decade has seen the sharpest upturn yet, with nones now estimated at 23.1 percent of the population. If this riseand subsequent plateaus and declines in the major religious groups surveyed (and the batch of non-Judeo-Christian Other Faiths dismissively lumped together)continues, the shift could be dramatic. In 2014, 78% of the unaffiliated, according to Pew polling, were raised in and walked away from a religion. The shift in identity among young people tends to correlate with a shift in politics.

The rising tide of religiously unaffiliated voters, writes Jack Jenkins at Religion News Service, is a group that a 2016 PRRI analysis found skews young and liberal. Its one that might offset the oversized influence of white evangelicals, who now make up 26% of the electorate and 22.5% of the population.

Any such conclusions should be drawn with several caveats. Evangelicals punch way above their weight, says Burge. They turn out a bunch at the ballot box. Thats largely a function of the fact that theyre white and theyre old. And, he might have added, many are in less economically precarious straits than their children and grandchildren, more susceptible to mass media messaging, and less prone, by design, to finding their vote suppressed. A 2016 PRRI report noted that religiously unaffiliated Americans do not vote in the same percentages as evangelicals, and are often underrepresented at the polls.

Additionally, and most importantly to point out any time these numbers come up: the nones is an entirely overdetermined category full of people who agree on little, but theyre not signing up for any church committees any time soon for a handful of loosely-related reasons. If herding atheists, only one part of this group, is like herding cats, trying to corral 23% of the population without any shared creed or specific ideology is corralling an even less predictable menagerie. We need to know far more about what people affirm, as well as what they deny, if we want a clearer picture of where the countrys politicsif not its government or policiesmight be headed.

via Kottke

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Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagnessBEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese agriculture scientists have bred new rice varieties named "Green Super Rice (GSR)" for developing Asian and African countries to reduce hunger and increase the income of farmers.

Supported by the Chinese government and the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation, the project has bred 78 GSR varieties for 18 countries with a total growing area of 6.12 million hectares since its launch in 2008, hoping to benefit 30 million resource-poor smallholder rice farmers in Asia and Africa.

GSR varieties are superior rice varieties that can produce high and stable yields. They need less chemical fertilizers, pesticides and water, and are more tolerant to pests, diseases, drought, salinity, submergence and other abiotic or biotic stresses, said Li Zhikang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences.

The target regions of the project includes nine other Asian countries (Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) and nine African countries (Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda, Liberia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal). In addition, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou provinces, and Guangxi Zhuang and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions of China are included.

The research team led by Li has developed an efficient molecular breeding strategy by which the selecting period of new varieties can be cut down from 8-10 years to 4-6 years.

Scientists upgraded the varieties, which were grown in a temperate zone in China to adapt to a tropical climate. The target countries choose from abundant varieties with diverse superiority according to their local agriculture conditions including drought, submergence and problematic soils.

With a stronger tolerance for tough conditions, GSR varieties can achieve an average 0.89-1.83 tonnes increase per hectare, which is worth 230.9 dollars per hectare for a rice farmer, according to a survey conducted in the Philippines.

When super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the central Philippines in 2013, most coconuts in the area, on which local farmers depended for their livelihood, were destroyed. A silver lining to their gloomy situation came in the form of GSR seeds they received several months before the typhoon came.

"I like GSR because its grains are good and are considerably heavier than previous rice grains I tried in the past," said Montano, one of the first farmers to grow the tough variety GSR 8. "The crop is tolerant to pests and diseases."

"Even though we were badly affected by the typhoon, we were able to improve our livelihoods and get back on our feet because of GSR 8," said Lazarte, another typhoon survivor.

"I have seen significant change and tremendous potential also in African countries," said Li Zhikang. When he investigated in Africa five years ago, the total amount of rice planting area in Africa was a bit more than 100,000 hectares, but the number climbed to 1.2 million until 2018.

Since 2012, the GSR project has supported an international effort for sequencing a collection of 3,010 diverse rice accessions from 89 countries which represent 95 percent of the genetic diversity of global rice seed resources, believed to be the world's largest project in plant genome resequencing.

The results have been published in the journal Nature. The free availability of all data generated from this effort and seeds of all sequenced rice germplasm accessions have contributed tremendously to global efforts in rice functional genomics, and advanced the global rice breeding in the era of genome-based breeding by design, according to the research team.

Under frequent extreme weather and climate events, scientists are facing serious challenge to enhance rice productivity of resource-poor fields in Asia and Africa.

"China has a very strong rice breeding and rice genetics effort, and the GSR project has shared germplasm resources from Chinese research institutes to many Asian and African countries," said Gary Atlin, senior program officer of the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation. "China has provided really wonderful support for rice research and development all over the developing world."

As the Belt and Road Initiative has become popular among more and more countries, a lot of advanced technology and products from China will go abroad and play a key role in promoting food security in resource-poor areas, said Li Zhikang. EnditemWASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump held talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Tuesday, during which he continued urging his European allies to increase military expenditure.

Claiming that the United States is paying a "very big" and "disproportionate share," Trump told reporters during the meeting that the other NATO members are paying more on defense expenses but still not enough.

"We've worked together on getting some of our allies to pay their fair share. It's called burden sharing ... they're catching up," said Trump.

The U.S. president singled out Germany for not keeping up the pace. "They're not paying what they should be paying," he said.

Trump also suggested NATO raise its 2-percent military expenditure benchmark to a higher standard.

"At some point, I think it's going to have to go higher than that," he said.

Stoltenberg, acknowledging Trump's "very strong leadership on burden sharing," pointed out that by the end of 2020, the 28 NATO members, apart from the United States, will have added 100 billion U.S. dollars into their defense budgets since Trump took office.

Trump and Stoltenberg also discussed anti-terrorism, Russia and cyber threats during their talks, according to a statement released by the White House.

Stoltenberg was in Washington to attend the two-day foreign ministerial talks to mark the security bloc's 70th anniversary. He was expected to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

Trump has long been blaming the NATO countries that they have not met the 2-percent benchmark on military spending.

NATO's European allies spent more on defense for a second consecutive year in 2017, but the majority of them still failed to meet the target of spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense.Zhang Bo (L, Front) and his co-pilot gesture before taking off at an airport in Chicago, the United States, on April 2, 2019. The 57-year-old Chinese man Zhang Bo kicked off his second flight around the world on Tuesday in a Diamond DA42 aircraft from Chicago. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

CHICAGO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A 57-year-old Chinese man kicked off his second flight around the world on Tuesday in a Diamond DA42 aircraft from Chicago, the third most populous U.S. city.

Bo Zhang, in captain uniform, carefully examined every major part of the aircraft, put two pieces of luggage into the cockpit, and waved goodbye to relatives and friends in a small airport, an hour's drive southwest of Chicago.

Zhang plans to fly to Canada, enter the Arctic circle, cross the Davis Strait into the Greenland and the Iceland. He will go further to Europe, then turns to Turkey, Kazakhstan and Russia before entering China. Afterward, Zhang will go past northeast China, Russia, the Bering Strait and fly back to Chicago. The around-the-world flight will pass through 23 countries and is scheduled to take two months.

Zhang made history in 2016 when he performed his first flight around the world in a propeller-driven aircraft. On Aug. 7, 2016, Zhang took off from Beijing in a TBM700 Single-engine turboprop aircraft, went past 23 countries, measured 40,818 km and landed safely in Beijing on Sept. 24, 2016, after 44 landing points in 49 days.

Compared to the first flight, Zhang faces bigger challenges this time. The DA42 aircraft he flies this time is piston propelled and has no pressure cabin, which means limited endurance and flying altitude. Theoretically the voyage mileage of the aircraft is only 1,500 km.

"So I need to skip forward along the coastal lines," Zhang told Xinhua.

With the first flight experiences and skills, Zhang is confident that he will complete the flight.

"I am excited before every flight. This is an around-the-world flight, I am as excited as I did more than two years ago. I am more confident," he said.

Zhang plans to arrive in Hangzhou, capital of eastern China's Zhejiang Province, before the last week of April to attend the Yunqi 2050 Conference, a volunteer-only, non-profit conference that gives Chinese youth a stage to make their voices heard and maximize their energy and talent.

"China is energetically developing general aviation industry at present. Through the flight, I want to let the youth know what aviation is, and unveil the mysteries that shroud aviation. Aviation is in fact not far from our daily life," Zhang said.

Zhang also wanted to share with the youth, "young people should have ideals and aspirations, and as long as one persists, he will be able to achieve the goal."

Having obtained his Master's and Ph.D degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Zhang had a special feeling for the U.S. state of Illinois. That is why he chooses Chicago as the start and landing point for his second around-the-world flight.

Built in 2001, the Diamond DA42 aircraft Zhang flies belongs to China's Zhejiang Wanfeng Group.Today, Brunei's harsh new law allowing death by stoning as a punishment for gay sex comes into effect, leaving the tiny country's LGBTQ community in fear.

Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and previously punishable by a ten-year prison sentence. Now sodomy, along with rape, adultery, robbery, and insult or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad, will carry a death penalty. Lesbian sex is punishable by 40 strokes, or prison. An additional new law punishes theft with possible limb amputation.

While these laws are incredibly harsh, it's unlikely that stonings will actually occur. In order for someone to be convicted of sodomy, for example, four Muslim witnesses must be present for the act and report it.

Still, life will no doubt become even harder for LGBTQ Brunei residents. A 40-year-old gay Bruneian who is currently seeking asylum in Canada told the BBC that citizens are now understandably more afraid to express their sexuality publicly. "The gay community in Brunei has never been open, but when Grindr came that helped people meet in secret. But now, what I've heard is that hardly anyone is using Grindr anymore," he said.

Several celebrities have sought to increase public awareness about Brunei's pivot to Sharia law. George Clooney and Elton John are currently boycotting a list of nine luxury hotels in cities across the U.S. and Europe that are owned by Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, including the famed Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.

"This April third will hold its own place in history. On this particular April third the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay," Clooney wrote in an op-ed. "Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism, this stands alone."

John shared his own sentiments: "I believe that love is love and being able to love as we choose is a basic human right. Wherever we go, my husband David and I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect  as do each and every one of the millions of LGBTQ+ people around the world." Ellen DeGeneres has also called for people to "rise up" against the legislation.If we could literally dream up a movie trailer, it would be this first preview of The Dead Don't Die  an absolutely insane zombie apocalypse flick that pretty much stars half of Hollywood.

But who exactly is amongst the superstar billing? Well, for one, the film stars Bill Murray, Adam Driver, and Chloe Sevigny as three deputies in the town of Centerville who find themselves "battling a zombie horde as the dead start rising from their graves," per IMDb. And as Driver's characters says in the film's trailer, it looks like "this isn't gonna end well."

Related | Jim Jarmusch in Control

Written and directed by legendary cult favorite Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don't Die also features the likes of Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, and Tilda Swinton as an off-kilter mortician. And in between appearances from Luka Sabbat, RZA, Caleb Landry Jones, and Tom Waits, it's set to be a hilariously surreal, thoroughly deadpan affair with a lot of swords, undead rockstars (namely, '70s rock icon, Iggy Pop), and zombie guts. Talk about all-around incredible.

The Dead Don't Die premieres in theaters June 14. Watch the first trailer for yourself, below.Iranian Official: State Bans on Social Media Apps Have Slowed Flood Relief

04/03/19

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

Iranians Ask Why Apps that Could Hasten Relief Remain Blocked

State filters on social media apps have reduced the efficiency of relief operations in flood-hit regions of Iran, according to an official working for a state agency that publishes public awareness statements.

"If filtering was not an obstacle, the rescue operations would have been more effective," tweeted Alireza Moezi, the secretary of the government's Information Council, on March 24, 2019. "Let's learn from experiences."

Moezi also stated that those who have been able to share information via the apps by using virtual private networks (VPNs) which enable users to bypass state filters have helped relief efforts.

"Conventional media have fallen behind because they are not able to share information easier and quicker than social media," he said.

"Messaging apps and social media have played an outstanding role as rescue information carriers, especially Telegram and Twitter [both filtered in Iran]," he added.

On April 2, 2019, Morteza Khaledi, the spokesman of Iran's Emergency Medical Services Organization, reported 57 people had died as a result of flash flooding which began on March 19 and had affected 23 of the country's 31 provinces. (The actual number of casualties could be much higher.)

The hardest-hit provinces are primarily located in south and central Iran, including Fars, Isfahan and Yazd. The governor-general of Khuzestan Province had declared a state of emergency after flooding swallowed buildings and bridges in his region on March 31.

"It's not right to block people who are trying to save their lives"

Popular social media networks like Facebook and Twitter offer free, built-in tools that allow users to inform the public about natural disasters, request help, or mark themselves as "safe."

Unable to effectively censor content on the apps, the Iranian government has blocked access to many of them in the country. The widely used Telegram messaging app had 40 million monthly users in Iran according to the company before it was filtered in May 2018.

As news and images of the flooding began making waves on these social media apps, which are filtered in Iran, some people in Iran began asking why they are still not allowed to access them.

"You know people need to share information so why aren't you lifting the filter on Telegram?! You know most people use Telegram and the national media organization [Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting] has never been cooperative when you needed help and it's incapable of doing anything. Are you saying that the people should suffer even under these circumstances? #floods @azarijahromi," Iranian user Nazanin Matinnia tweeted at the minister of information and communications technology on April 1.

Some officials meanwhile called for the bans to be lifted.

"I wish that the honorable Prosecutor [General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri] would at least temporarily lift the filter on Telegram so that the people could use it as a means of communication," tweeted Member of Parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi.

Journalists also struggled to get information to the public, in some cases asking colleagues to post information for them because various VPN tools, which are used to bypass state filters had suddenly become unusable during the flooding.

One Iranian user tweeted: "Vahid Basereh, one of the local reporters in Ilam [city], sent me these photos via WhatsApp and wrote: 'My VPN does not work. Please share this information: Because of relentless rains there are landslides and falling rocks from the mountains at the entrance to the city."

Commenting on that tweet, BBC Persian reporter Kayvan Hossein wrote: "This tweet has two important aspects both of which are terrifying: One about the dangerous situation caused by landslides and falling mountain rocks and the other about his VPN not working. In situations where sharing information is vital, censorship can turn into a deadly phenomenon."

As Iranians struggled to access information about the floods, Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani posted freely on Twitter and Telegram, which are blocked off to the Iranian public.

Many Iranian users directed their tweets at Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.

Parvin Mohammadi, who describes herself as a child psychologist, tweeted: "The villages in Lorestan Province are grappling with floods and yet they have lost the only means they have to seek help. There's no news from these villages. There's no internet connection. Messaging apps work with VPNs but the connections are so weak that it's almost impossible to share information. In the midst of this flood, what are you doing young minister@azarijahromi?"

Jalal Rouhani, who identifies herself as an information technology expert, tweeted, "I wish Twitter was not filtered. Damn all three of them: those who imposed the filters, those who imposed the sanctions and extremists."

Journalist Parastoo Beiranvand tweeted: "In the current crisis conditions, when roads are being cut off and we can't get information from the people, it's necessary to allow communications without filters. Shouldn't you think about this young minister @azarijahromi and at least temporarily remove the filters?"

Entrepreneur Jalal Ofteadeh tweeted: "I wish at least they would open access to Twitter and Telegram to be able to share information about the crisis and when the water recedes they can filter it again. Of course, maybe they think sharing information is not good under any circumstances."

Reporter Hossein Dehbashi tweeted: "The Twitter accounts belonging to the supreme leader, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the judiciary chief and the head of the National Auditing Organization are issuing urgent and decisive orders concerning the handling of floods in Golestan Province. This is at a time when Twitter is filtered and you cannot access it without a VPN. Well, this will later be hard to explain for history."

Activist Sina Qelich wrote: "Under these circumstances, the Crisis Management Organization can make a request to lift the filter on Telegram. Despite the filter, Telegram has been the main source of information. It's not right to block people who are trying to save their lives.

Last week Iranian authorities warned citizens that they could be prosecuted for posting images or videos online about the flooding under the charge of "disturbing public opinion."



Report: Closing of the Gates:

Implications of Iran's Ban on theTelegram Messaging AppUS blocking humanitarian aid to flood-hit Iranians: FM Spokesman

04/03/19

Source: Press TV

Tehran says the United States has frozen the accounts of the Iranian Red Crescent Society as part of its cruel sanctions against the Iranian people, thus preventing other countries from sending humanitarian aid to people in Iran's flood-stricken areas.



Iranian Red Crescent delivering aid to Ahvaz in Khuzestan province

(photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)

"Given that the accounts of the Iranian Red Crescent have been blocked [due to US sanctions], no foreign citizen or Iranian national living abroad is able to send any relief aid to flood-hit people," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi told IRNA on Tuesday.



This measure exposes the American officials' hostile approach towards the Iranian nation and counters all their "ridiculous" claims that the sanctions do not target the people of Iran, Qassemi said.



A destroyed bridge in Pol Dokhtar, Lorestan province

(see more photos by Islamic Republic News Agency)

At least 57 people have been killed in the past two weeks in floods and extreme weather conditions in various Iranian provinces, from north to south, following the heaviest downpours in the country in at least a decade.



Iran has announced a state of emergency in several provinces threatened by flooding and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes in the affected provinces, where dozens of villages have been evacuated already.



Iranian Armed Forces delivering aid to Ahvaz in Khuzestan province

(photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)

Qassemi further said, "Usually, even in difficult and emergency conditions, not all banking systems will be blocked and the sending of humanitarian aid will be possible through bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, but the US has blocked all aid delivery channels in an inhumane and cruel move."



The Iranian spokesperson urged the international community and international relief organizations to stand against Washington's vicious act.



"The US must be held accountable for all the consequences of preventing the dispatch of aid to Iran's flood-stricken people," Qassemi pointed out.

Qassemi further highlighted the severe damage caused by the floods across Iran, calling on international institutions to take swift measures to help the flood-hit people, particularly at a time when the lack of certain equipment such as choppers is hindering rescue operations.



A house destroyed in Pol Dokhtar, Lorestan province

(see more photos by Islamic Republic News Agency)

US President Donald Trump withdrew his country in May 2018 from the multilateral Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and decided to re-impose unilateral sanctions against Tehran.



In November 2018, the Trump administration announced the re-imposition of the "toughest" sanctions ever against Iran, with a special focus on its banking and energy sectors. The bans returned in place in two phases later that year.



Iranian Red Crescent delivering aid to Ahvaz in Khuzestan province

(photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)

On Monday, a senior Trump administration official said the US government is considering additional sanctions against Iran that would target areas of its economy that have not been hit before.



On the same topic, Iran's foreign minister said on Monday that the US is waging "economic terrorism" against the Islamic Republic by employing restrictive measures that are troubling the relief efforts targeting flood-stricken people across the country.



Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted the remarks, saying the sanctions are "impeding aid efforts by Iranian Red Crescent to all communities devastated by unprecedented floods. Blocked equipment includes relief choppers."

FAKE NEWS: @SecPompeo claim that US "ready to assist @ifrc, which would direct money through Iranian Red Crescent for relief"



REAL NEWS: As @ICRC President noted, Iranian Red Crescent can't receive any funds due to illegal US sanctions. US should own up to its ECONOMIC TERRORISM pic.twitter.com/rFjVDdrc4O  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 2, 2019

Back in December, the top Iranian diplomat once again reiterated the ineffectiveness of US sanctions with regard to causing any change in the Islamic Republic's policies, saying that they only hurt "ordinary Iranians."

Initial supplies from @UNICEF_IRAN are already on their way to #Iran  to help the Ministry of Health ensure immunization and young child nutrition services are quickly re-established in several flood-affected provinces. pic.twitter.com/fvnJ1GaBYT  UNICEF Iran (@UNICEF_IRAN) April 3, 2019

Related Photos:

Floods Impact On The People Of Pol Dokhtar In Lorestan Province

































Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaboso constituency in the Western Region, Kwabena Mintah Akando has said the ruling New Patriotic Party [NPP] has failed with their chance in government.



According to him their numerous promises to Ghanaians before the 2016 General elections have not been realized especially with respect to economic development issues.



 . . You must make your opposition talks reflect the Ghanaian economy positively as you promised and lectured now that the baton is in your hand, he categorically told Vice President Bawumia.



Speaking on UTVs Adekye Nsroma political discussion segment, Kwabena Mintah Akando stated that members of the NPP will know which political party speaks and work based on truth if they will listen to themselves.



Discussing the Economic Management Teams Town Hall meeting and matters arising, he cautioned the Vice-president to know the difference between being in opposition and in government.



 . . We want to see the economic intelligence in our pockets and its effect on our economy, but not in promises or on paper when we are suffering, he said.



Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, addressed the public in a maiden townhall meeting.



The maiden Town Hall Meeting is on the theme, Our Progress, Our Status, Our Future, and forms part of a new initiative announced early on by the Information Ministry.









Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi/Peacefmonline.com









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Featured VideoLu Airu, headmaster of the experimental school affiliated with Beijing No. 20 High School, dines with students in the classroom.

Headmasters and executives in Chinese primary schools, middle schools and kindergartens have been encouraged to dine with students in school canteens to ensure food safety and collect student opinions about the food, Beijing Youth Daily reported on April 2.

In response to increasing concerns regarding food safety in school canteens, Chinas Ministry of Education, State Administration for Market Regulation, and National Health Commission jointly issued new regulations on the administration of food safety and nutritional health in schools, brought into force on April 1.

According to the regulations, primary schools, middle schools and kindergartens in China shall establish a dining system which requires school officials to dine with students in school canteens, and as long as the conditions allow, these schools shall also introduce a mechanism to invite parents to eat with students.

Schools in Beijing have established various mechanisms to adhere to the new regulations, while many introduced measures years ago.

Liu Hong, the headmaster of Fengtai Experimental Primary School in Fengtai District of Beijing, has dined with students since the opening of the school canteen six years ago.

Eating with students gives me the chance to get their feedback on the quality, taste, and their expectations of the food, said Liu. She disclosed that the canteen has been following strict rules to provide students with food that fits their taste. Since the meals are prepared with less salt and oil for the students' health, the canteen also prepares separate dishes for the teachers, who may think the student meals are too bland.

According to Liu, the school has established a dual-insurance mechanism to help improve student satisfaction, which states that besides the headmaster, there will be a different senior school executive dining with students every day, who will have to fill in a dining record form.

Similar mechanisms have also been put into place in many other schools in Beijing.

Lu Airu, headmaster of the experimental school affiliated with Beijing No. 20 High School, said that besides dining with students, she asks students for their opinions on the food, to write detailed comments about the meals and provide suggestions for improvement.

All procedures relating to food supply in the school canteen must be recorded and inspected, said an executive of Dongsijiutiao Primary School in Dongcheng District of Beijing. He explained that information about the sources of ingredients, tableware hygiene, students opinions on the food, temperature of the food, and staff training would all be recorded in detail.

Moreover, some schools have established food committees and introduced mechanisms to invite parents into school canteens to dine with their children.

Fengtai Experimental Primary School has created a food committee made up of parents. Each semester, members of the committee visit the school kitchen regularly and gather students feedback on the food.

A primary school in Taishitun Town, Miyun District of Beijing has established a food committee made up of parents, students, and teachers. Members of the committee hold regular discussions to decide what food to serve in the school canteen.

Parents are invited to stay for a meal with the students during big events, and are encouraged to express their opinions and suggestions.

Xinqiaolu Middle School of Mentougou District of Beijing has also established a food management committee, which is made up of parents, teachers, students, school doctors, and officials.

Members of the committee dine with the students and collect their opinions on the meals, with each parent being invited to eat with students in the canteen for five days in a row.

One day is not enough, as there may be accidental factors, said Zhao Fang, vice-principal of Xinqiaolu Middle School, adding that eating with the students for five days can help the parents get to know the meals their children are eating every day.Unionised Staff of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company Limited has distanced themselves from what they described as obvious political orchestrated petitions and statements issued by some faceless individuals circulating on some media platforms, to deliberately bring the reputation of the company as well as the Managing Director into disrepute.



According to the Unionised Staff of BOST, these detractors are only seeking to satisfy their parochial interest and rather subject the reputation of some of the employees into disgrace.



In a press statement copied to Peacefmonline.com, the Unionised Staff of BOST insisted that inasmuch as they are not in the habit of dignifying every statement with a response, they are moved to respond to this because of the conscious efforts of the faceless people to tarnish the image of the Managing Director, Mr. George Mensah Okley.



We want to tell Ghanaians that the Managing Director of BOST; George Mensah Okley is one of the most hardworking, result-driven and fair minded Managing Director to have come to BOST and we the Unionised Staff are fully behind him, the statement read.





Below Is Full Press Statement Issued By Unionised Staff of BOST:



For Immediate Release



Ignore Rumour Mongers Seeking To Destroy BOST



Our attention has been drawn to a statement from some faceless individuals circulating on some media platforms that seek to deliberately bring the reputation of the company and that of the Managing Director (MD) and some employees into disrepute in order to satisfy their parochial interest.



Inasmuch as we are not in the habit of dignifying every faceless statement with a response, we are moved to respond to this because of the conscious efforts of the faceless people to tarnish the image of the MD.



We, Unionised Staff of BOST categorically distance ourselves from the obvious political orchestrated petitions and statements and also urge Ghanaians to equally treat same with the contempt it deserves.



We want to tell Ghanaians that the Managing Director of BOST; George Mensah Okley is one of the most hardworking, result-driven and fair minded Managing Director to have come to BOST and we the Unionized Staff are fully behind him.



For starters, it takes a rare breed of individual in Ghana to decide to work with people based on their competence and integrity and not ones political affiliation. Any right thinking person who has the corporate interest of BOST at heart should applaud Mr. Georges exemplary leadership and not condemn him.



Mr. Okley has done his best since he took over as MD of BOST. We believe his achievements deserve mention rather than this desperate attempt by these faceless individuals to tarnish his image. A few of his achievements are as follows:



1. Great advancements in securing funding and technical partners to upgrade BOST depots, restoring integrity in our operations at all BOST depots. We expect that this will raise our HSE to glob al standards.



2. A better and clearer relationship with the Bulk DISTRIBUTING COMPANIES (BDCs) has been established and this has further business to the company thereby giving the company a competitive edge over competitors. A typical example is the execution of through put agreements with almost all BDCs and collection rate of through put fees has increased from 43% to 96%.



3. Strategically, BOST is currently negotiating the purchase of a Depot in the Western Region with a Ghanaian Bank to free some private interests and to have some presence in that part of the country.



4. The acquisition of the VRA depot as a foundation to the petroleum plans in the Western Region. We are also planning on building an LPG network to support the delivery of governments cylinder Recirculation Model. The success of the restructuring the companys debts with the MOF will enable this take off soon.



5. The MD has successfully renegotiated and is at the stage of shipping into the country pipelines to refurbish the existing degraded pipeline between Accra plains depot and our transit depot in Akosombo. The contract has been awarded and the project will start within the next couple of weeks. This is a milestone in the history of the company because these pipelines were locked up in Houston, USA for the past ten years and no previous BOST MD was able to do what he has done within his short stay in office.



Under our current MD, BOST seeks to forge strong alliances and build confidence with the Banking and investment community. The good news is that we are well on course to achieve this milestone as well with excellent financial practices and compliance with regulations.



Following the above policy direction of the company under the leadership of the MD and his competent Board, it is therefore important that Ghanaians, the government and workers at BOST avoid paying attention to rumour mongers in order to give the hardworking MD the peace of mind to carry out the policy that he has initiated. This will serve BOST and Ghana greatly in the long run.







SIGN:



Senior Staff Chairman Senior Staff Secretary



Abdul Rahman Ekow Sey







Local Union Chairman Local Union Secretary



Louis Doe Anku Peter Akoma Agyarko





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video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.Operatives of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) have busted a member of a money-laundering syndicate in the country.



The suspect, Darwich Hussein, 38, a Lebanese, who was travelling to Beirut, Lebanon, was arrested with $1.4 million and 256,000 euros in his carry-on bag at the KIA in Accra last Monday.



Arrest



According to the Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board, Mr Francis Torkonoo, the suspect was arrested while going through departure formalities at the KIA.



Upon reaching the NACOB checkpoint, it was realized that Hussein was in a hurry to board the plane with a large carry-on bag, thus arousing the suspicion of the security operatives who demanded to conduct a search on him.



Mr Torkonoo said when the carry-on bag was opened, it contained some neatly parcelled items covered with three T-shirts.



And when the parcels were subsequently unwrapped, the officers found bundles of dollar and euro bills.



Hussein was, therefore, arrested and taken to the NACOB Headquarters where the money, totalling $1.4 million and 256, 000 euros, was counted.



According to Mr Torkonoo, there was no evidence that the money was declared at the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).



Ownership



The suspect told investigators that the money belonged to him and that he was the Managing Director of Lamo Industries Limited, fabricators of aluminium profiles and metal forging, which was registered in Ghana in 2013.



He said the company was located at Block G of the Asokwa Industrial Area in Kumasi, but when probed further, he changed the narrative by claiming that the company had collapsed for which reason he decided to sell all his assets and take the money back to his country, Lebanon.



The suspect also alleged that after the company was liquidated, he was employed at R. C. Rema Company Limited where salaries paid to him accumulated to the tune of $1.4 million.



When pressed further, Husein mentioned the name of another Lebanese as the one who gave him the money to be delivered to his business partners in Lebanon.



Cedi depreciation



The NACOB executive secretary said activities by money launderers could be a contributory factor to the recurrent depreciation of the Ghanaian currency and, therefore, reminded businesses and the travelling public that anybody with such large sums of foreign currency had to declare them at the airport.



He said based on activities of money launderers in the country, security agencies had intensified their surveillance on them.



Mr Torkonoo said the suspect would be put before court after investigations.

Source: Graphic.com









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Featured VideoThe family of Ahmed Hussein-Suale, the investigative journalist who was murdered a few months ago have accused the Ghana Police Service of peddling falsehood in their update.



The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Police Service at a press conference Tuesday had indicated that they have interrogated 13 suspects and put one on remand in the Ahmed murder case.



But speaking in an interview on Citi Eyewitness news, Alhassan Yunus, Spokesperson of the family said in as much as he doesn't want to sound 'cynical', "the issue they (Police) put out there wasnt accurate. They asked us to cooperate with them which we have been doing. They are not telling us anything but look at the explanations they are giving. As at now, we dont know what to do again, we are confused about the whole situation. But we are planning to meet and have a fresh talk with them (police) this week.



According to him, we have listened to the police but as a family, we are not happy with the information the police put out because we made the arrest that the police talked about ourselves.



Citizen's Arrest



Mr Yunus further indicated how they arrested one suspect at Ridge and handed him over to the Police.



"On March 15, we made the first arrest at Ridge Junction because the police said it could not get to where the suspects were because it was a very dangerous place. So we went there and made the arrest on our own and handed the first person to the police and followed them to the Madina Police Station. When we got there, they said the case was beyond them so they had to transfer it to the CID Headquarters, Alhassan Yunus noted.

















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Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah has insisted that the state should stop taking care of ex-President John Dramani Mahama.



He argued that since Mr. Mahama is aspiring to become a president again, it is not proper for the state to foot his bills anymore.



The minister has therefore called for an open debate to determine if Mr. Mahama should be taken care of by the state or not.



According to Mr. Osei-Mensah, he is convinced that the state should not take care of someone who is aspiring to become a president.



Mr. Mahama is now a presidential aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and that is the gospel truth. With his presidential ambition, I am convinced that the state should stop taking care of him as a former president, he stressed.



The minister added: If the state will continue to take care of him, then all other presidential aspirants should also be taken care of by the state.



He was addressing hundreds of NPP members during the Ashanti Regional NPP Youth conference and inauguration of youth working committees.



Held in Kumasi last Saturday, it was graced by Samira Bawumia, the Second Lady, and Henry Nana Boakye, NPP National Youth Organizer.



Mr. Osei-Mensah, who was brimming with rage, said Mr. Mahama has nothing to offer the country after failing to deliver as president.



Mahama only wants to come back as president so that he can steal from the coffers of the state again, he pointed out.



He, therefore, charged the NPP youth to campaign vigorously so that victory 2020 for the NPP would be a done deal.

Source: Daily Guide









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Featured VideoAudio Attachment: Listen to Dr. Bawumia

Vice President and leader of Ghanas Economic Management Team [EMT], Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the current administration will not spill lies on Ghanas state of the economy to score cheap political points.



According to him, he will only deliver facts to the people as his government is working tirelessly to revamp the ailing economy in recent times.



Speaking at the maiden Economic Management Team Town Hall Meeting in Accra, Dr Bawumia noted that his delivery is based on well researched data  however, anyone who disregards must prove with facts and credible evidence.



The data will speak for itself; if you disagree you should bring your own data and your record. But dont disagree by saying that the EMT members have big heads. You will only resort to insults when you are allergic to facts, he said.



The Vice President was addressing Ghanaians on the current state of the economy together with key members of the Economic Management Team (EMT)



Themed, Our Progress, Our Status, Our Future, the maiden event will see the team tackle major issues of concerns that have been raised by sections of the public in recent times.



Prominent among them is the cedis recent depreciation challenge and governments announcement of reduction of import duties, the exchange rate, matters on energy, the broader economy, and governments flagship projects.







Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoVice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that government with effective from tomorrow Thursday, April 4, 2019 will reduce all import duties by 50%.



The Vice-President also disclosed that import duty on cars have also been cut by 30%.



He explained that the move is to let Ghanaians appreciate the fact that the Akufo-Addo administration is a listening government that always have the interest of Ghanaians at heart.



Whiles admitting that import charges are higher in Ghana than any Africa country, a phenomenon he said was not appropriate, the Vice-President, who is the head of the Economic Management Team was emphatic that it should be a flat rate across.



Why should the cost of scanning a container, vehicle examination fees, and network charge is a percentage of the value of the goods in the container. Why should the cost of processing a container, covering import be a percentage of the cost of the value of the goods? he questioned.



Dr Bawumia said these reforms are part of measures to deal with smuggling at the various entry points into the country as well as assisting businesses in Ghana.



To reduce the incidence of smuggling and enhance revenue, the benchmark delivery value of imports will be reduced by 50 per cent, Dr Bawumia said at a Town Hall meeting in Accra on Wednesday, 3 April 2019, to wild cheers from the gathering.





Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Ambrose_wash









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoDeputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen says there is a missing link in the police narration about their statement on the missing Takoradi girls.



He is asking them to furnish even if not Ghanaians, at least the parents of the missing girls some more information that will calm them down and be rest assured that the police is working effectively to ensure their release.



Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that he does really understand what the police was trying to tell Ghanaians about the missing girls.



"For Christ sake the Police must have been more articulate and more deep on the issues of the missing Takoradi girls. They are our chilldren and that their well being must be our concern, so if you come to give us this scanty information about their where about, then there is a missing link somewhere," he added.



Nana Obiri Boahen who is asking the police to engage the family and relatives of the missing girls and make available every needed information that will appeal to the hearts and minds of their parents.



The Ghana Police Service has revealed that it is getting closer to finding the three kidnapped girls, a saga that has grabbed the nations attention for months.



We know where the girls are, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department, DCOP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah told reporters on Tuesday.



She appealed to families of the victims to keep on keeping on.



The families have been desperate for news of their daughters and their whereabouts since the first, Priscilla Bentum, was kidnapped in August 2018.



A suspect in the case, a Nigerian named Samuel Udoetuk Wills was assaulted in and outside court the last time he appeared March 4, 2019.









Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe National Democratic Congress has served notice that it will respond appropriately to the Economic Management Team (EMTs) Town Hall Meeting held on Wednesday, which the former described as the "usual populace rhetoric rather than a fact-based presentation" on the economy.



According to the opposition party, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's lecture was "full of misleading facts and patent mis-statement laced with populist rhetoric".



A statement signed by the NDC's General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, assured Ghanaians that "the NDC Finance and Economic Team will take advantage of the public lecture organized by the Coalition For Restoration to address the numerous distortions and lay bare the true facts of the state of the Ghanaian economy".



That event is scheduled to take place at Mensvic Hotel, East Legon, on Thursday, April 4th at 1:00pm



The EMT, under the direct leadership of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, this morning challenged political opponents of the government to provide data to prove the economy is on a nosedive.



Speaking at a maiden Town Hall Meeting, the Vice-President sought to assure the public that the economy is on a sound footing with credible data available to support that claim.



These are based on credible data and let anyone who disagrees bring his data, Bawumia served notice in his presentation dubbed: Our progress, Our status, Our future.



According to him, statistics available indicate the economy is performing better than previous governments. But the NDC says that is more of a lie than a truism.





Below Is A Copy Of The NDCs Statement.



The National Democratic Congress has taken note of the town hall meeting addressed today by the Chairman of the Economic Management Team, H. E. Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia.



In a manner reminiscent of his utterances during the 2016 general election campaign, Dr. Bawumias lecture was full of misleading facts and patent misstatements laced with the usual populist rhetoric rather than a fact-based presentation on the economy.



The NDC Finance & Economy Team will take advantage of the public lecture organized by the Coalition for Restoration (CFR)) to address the numerous distortions and lay bare the true facts of the state of the Ghanaian Economy.



The event is scheduled to take place at Mensvic Hotel, East Legon, tomorrow April 4th at 1:00 pm and it is open to all Ghanaians from all walks of life.



Johnson Asiedu Nketia



General Secretary





Source: Isaac kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Featured VideoActor, Clement Bonney, known in showbiz as Mr Beautiful has admitted that, being sidelined by movie producers has affected him largely.



He told Kofi Adomaa on Kofi TV that the action by movie producers has denied his fans the chance to be entertained in the local movies.



He noted that his sideline has equally affected the movie industry at large because it has reduced the quality of excitement a viewer needs to derive from watching the local movies.



He said, It has affected me because my fans dont have the chance to enjoy me and it has also affected movie productions because it has affected the quality content that viewers need to see.



Mr Beautiful added that the collapse of the movie industry should be blamed largely on the abysmal performance of the government followed by the actors and the producers.



"50% is from the government, 25% from both actors and actresses and 25% from production, he explained.



Mr Beautiful indicated movie producers can use stories from Ghana and South Africa in their movies to tell good and authentic stories for their audience but the movie producers in Ghana feel reluctant because they don't know how to package such stories.



He stressed that the use of vulgar language in some local movies has also contributed largely to low patronage of the local movies.



In Kumasi, the use of words like fool, animal, etc are seen as normal and not an insult but when it comes to Accra, Central, North, and you use these words, its a big issue. I started telling them that these vulgar words we are entertaining in the movies will affect us along the way but they didnt agree with me he said.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









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Featured VideoA BYD electric bus arrives in Kyoto, Japan, June 20, 2018. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

Chinese car brands, including Geely, BYD, Chery and SAIC Motor, are becoming increasingly popular in countries along the Belt and Road, as China continues to not only export cars, but also produce win-win cooperation in localized production.

Carrying 2,602 cars which were made in China, a roll-on-roll-off ship recently left for Malaysia and Israel from Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east Chinas Zhejiang province, meaning that over 10,000 cars have now been exported from this port.

Automakers in China have been expanding their market with high-quality vehicles that can meet the demands of foreign markets.

It has been a common practice for Chery to carry out in-depth research on target countries, including industrial policies, local markets and customer habits, to develop new products tailored for these markets, said Du Weiqiang, Deputy General Manager of Chery International.

A Geely plant near Minsk, capital of Belarus. (Zhang Ruoxuan/Ma Ping)

For example, the surface temperature in Saudi Arabia is as high as 70 degrees Celsius. There must be some changes in configuration and function to cater for the local climate, temperature difference, road conditions and customer needs, Du said.

Thanks to this strategy, Chery has exported over 1.4 million cars to over 80 countries and regions around the world over the past 16 years, of which 46 are participating countries of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Through the BRI, Chinas car producers have deepened cooperation with local companies via overseas mergers and acquisitions.

In August 2015, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile (SGMW) started construction of its overseas factory in Indonesia. By doing so, the company opened up an outlet for itself, as well as helping 16 related companies in the area.

Geely has established plants for power assemblies and automobile production in Britain, Sweden, Belgium, Belarus, Malaysia among other countries, a sales network covering 4,000 stores across the globe, and five major research and development centers with over 20,000 researchers.

Yang Xueliang, vice president of Geely Auto Group, explained that Geely has upgraded its going out strategy from exporting products to exporting technologies, talents, standards and capitals as well.

The overseas development strategy of auto companies in China has produced mutual benefits and win-win results for both sides, creating job opportunities, providing technical training for local personnel and winning appraisal from people overseas.

Yang said that Chinas auto industry is supposed to integrate into BRI construction and the global industrial chain, and join the global competition and cooperation to bring more benefits to customers.Families to honor the Chinese Air Force soldiers who died in WWII in the US

(Photo/Hunan Longyue Center for Peace and Public Welfare Development)

For decades, a total of 52 Chinese Air Force officers and soldiers who sacrificed their lives during World War II have slept in Brisbane National Cemetery at the border between the United States and Mexico. For countless days, they have rested there desolately, without any visits from their descendants.

Though on the opposite bank of the Pacific, the 52 families of these heroes never gave up hope to find their missing loved ones. This year, the family reunion would finally took place.

Li An, a Chinese Canadian, visited the 52 Chinese Air Force tombstones, where her second uncle Li Jiahe is buried.

Li Jiahe, who was a student during the WWII, decided to join Chinese Air Force in response to an recruitment advertisement by the air force coalition, which was formed by the US and China to fight against the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Lis parents had looked forward to his return and they were crushed when they found out about his death after four years of anticipation.

After years of searching, Lis descendant finally found his gravestone and paid homage to this air force hero.

During her visit, Li An noticed that there were 52 tombstones of Chinese Air Force without any homage from their relatives. This made her determined to find their offspring for those young people who had sacrificed their lives on American soil to defend peace in this world.

With the joint endeavor from Li and Hunan Longyue Center for Peace and Public Welfare Development, the families of 21 pilots of the 52 Chinese Air Force soldiers who sacrificed their lives during WWII have found their ancestors and will fly across the Pacific to pay homage to them during the Qingming Festival, a day to honor ancestors and commemorate deceased family members and relatives.NAIROBI  Kenya Airways subsidiary, and budget airline, Jambojet, is moving to boost its fleet by leasing four more aircraft this year in readiness to launch new routes.

According to Business Daily, the carriers chief executive officer (CEO), Allan Kilavuka, says they will be leasing Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 to add to its existing fleet of five aircraft.

The 5-year old airline is building on its success in Uganda, where it launched a daily flight in February last year, to expand to other regional countries.

We are expecting four additional Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft this year as part of our fleet expansion, said Mr. Kilavuka in an interview with the daily.

He said at the moment they are engaging the individual governments to seek approval to operate in their countries and that they plan to embark on the new destinations as soon as their requests are approved.

The plan is to launch the destinations in 2019. However, it is dependent of receiving the approvals on time, the CEO said.

The lease is expected to last for 10 years, during which time Jambojet will be making monthly payment to the owners of the aircraft.

Entebbe route, a success story

According to the carrier, the Entebbe route has witnessed a 17 percent growth since the first flight was launched last year.

Jambojet was, in 2017, granted regulatory approval to fly to 16 routes including Entebbe, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Kigali, Juba, Bujumbura, Hargeisa, Mogadishu, Goma, Kisangani and Moroni.

RelatedKAMPALA  Environmentalists under their umbrella body, World Wild Fund (WWF), have expressed concern over the deteriorating weather conditions in the country brought by current climate change.

Speaking at the earth hour function in Kampala on Monday, Mr David Dule, the Executive Director of WWF, said Ugandans have destroyed forests and swamps, leading to prolonged drought.

Currently water resources have been spoilt; research shows that our water bodies like Lake Victoria have been contaminated by pollution and other factors and this has also reduced the capacity of waters in our country, he said

Earth Hour is all about uniting people to protect the planet. It can be, through servicing your car regularly, using an energy saving stove or planting a tree. Earth Hour is famous globally for switching off lights to show support for nature.

In Uganda, the team is using Earth Hour as a mobilization tool to unite people to take action to save the planet.

Mr. Dule added that the Paris agreement states that we should actually maintain the temperature at less than at 1.5 degrees but that this is not being done.

This means we are losing the target and it calls to take action, this urgently requires acceleration development in the implementation of national adaptation plan that builds social and ecological resilient to climate change and to provide the resilient future for the community, he added

Mr. Dule added that we already have the national adaptation plan but we really need to accelerate the implementation and have the commitment to maintain it.

State Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Godfrey Kiwanda revealed that weather is one of the biggest tourism products in Uganda.

Tourists come to Uganda to enjoy our weather because its favourable but the climate change has affected the industry and Ugandan are not bothered to restore it, once we lose on this thats one of the biggest challenges and set back the tourism industry is going to lose, he said.

Mr. Kiwanda added that the weather condition has totally changed because of deforestation, air pollution and occupation hazards and its unfortunate that Ugandans call it development which is not right.

Earth hour is one such opportunity for Ugandans to give back to nature by adopting environmentally friendly practices that will ensure that we conserve the part of African, He said

Mr. Kiwanda added that our vision 2040 and National development plan highlight tourism among the top avenues to propel Uganda into middle-income status.

Tourism is currently the highest GDP earner in Uganda, and the current climate change has started to threaten our national resource basket, this, therefore, call for close effort to all Uganda to take action against climate change, he said.

RelatedNear-Term Predictions for Russian Ruble by FortFS

On Monday, the Russian Ruble exchange rate increased by 0,9% up and reached 64 rubles per dollar. The Russian currency managed to regain a part of Friday's loss. Russian assets (currency and bonds) had gained support from a exposure reduction slowdown coupled with higher oil prices.

Monday's tax figures turned out to be strong. According to Bloomberg, the total amount of tax payments replenishing the budget reached 2.62 trillion rubles.

Another factor supporting the Russian assets turned out to be the end of the investigation related to Russia's thread in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections. For those of you who don't know, a group of investigators accused Donald Trump of some conspiracy with involving Russia. The end of the investigation decreased the tensions and the downward pressure on Russian assets in general.

At this point, those market players who invest in Russian assets are currently interested in auctions held by the Russian Ministry of Finance. At the same time, some Russian experts say that after the period of tax payments that replenished the Russian budget quite a lot, there are very few factors remaining when it comes to backing a stronger ruble. However, the influence of the USA 's aggressive rhetorics on the Russian Ruble is still strong. According to ProFinance, the Russian national currency nearly lost the support of exporters after they had to pay yet another tax, but the ruble may still be purchased by foreign investment funds. So, the demand for oil seems to be one of the very few factors backing the ruble and other Russian assets at this point and in the neat future.

The current policy pursued by the Federal Reserve is now helping the ruble a bit. However, the currency market interventions pursued by the Russian central bank are playing against it, FortFS reports. This means that those who are now playing against the central bank are likely to give up at some point in the near future, probably in April. While some experts expect the USDRUB exchange rate it fluctuate within the scope of the 63,5-65 range, Sberbank Asset Management experts name a tighter range - 64-65 rubles per dollar.

You are free to discuss this article here: forum for traders and investors

Text: Near-Term Prospects of Russian Ruble by FortFS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(Southcn.com/Gao Long, Zhu Jian)

A hospital in Guangzhou, capital of southern Chinas Guangdong province, recently carried out a chest surgery using 5G technology, marking the first time that 5G has been used in this way in the province.

The operation, connected live to another hospital in northern Guangdongs remote Yangshan county with 4K HD cameras, boosted the application of advanced 5G technology in medical practice.

Wang Wenlin, a chest surgery expert at Guangdong No.2 Provincial Peoples Hospital, led the surgery, which was seen as a demonstration for doctors at the Yangshan-based hospital.

With the help of 5G technology, the surgical technique will help more doctors carry out similar operations, Wang said.

Wang visited over 20 hospitals across China last year to introduce his surgical techniques for chest deformities. Now, 5G-based live streaming can better promote his method and therefore benefit more patients.

Before the surgery, Guangdong No. 2 Provincial Peoples Hospital had signed a cooperation document with China Telecom Corporation Limited Guangzhou branch and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. to form a 5G-based smart medical service system.

Tian Junzhang, head of Guangdong No.2 Provincial Peoples Hospital, said that the hospital would take the lead to become a pilot hospital for 5G applications in the province and offer more remote demonstrations of surgeries under the 5G network.Welcome Guest! You Are Here:Posted by Jay on at 08:00 AM CST

Tune in as Jay & Chris make final preparations for Star Wars Celebration Chicago running down a list of all the various panels, authors, times, locations, exclusives and more for the biggest Star Wars event of the year! It's a jam-packed show and one you won't want to miss, especially if you're planning to attend yourself. As usual, you can also get a quick update on what new comics, books and magazines to be on the hunt for and Dennis stops by to discuss Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Volume 4 on the April episode of Jedi Journals!



Time Codes:

Comics - 0:06:49

Aphra Vol 3 TPB Discussion - 0:12:32

Comics pt 2 - 0:40:52

Books - 0:46:13

Magazines - 1:12:40



Click here to listen!Are you a Hunter or a Carnivore?

Join us September 20  22, 2019 to test your hunting prowess during The Hunter Games. Registration is NOW open.

Enjoy rifle, archery, and wingshooting competitions, see the latest in outdoor gear and try your hand in fun side matches. Bring the whole family and enjoy this inaugural event at Rockcastle Shooting Center.

The Hunter Games Rifle Competition is designed to test your marksmanship with the rifle youll use this Fall  all in realistic hunting scenarios. Hunter division requires 20 to 40 rounds of ammunition, while the Carnivore division demands 40 to 80 rounds, longer shots and harder targets.

The Hunter Games Archery competition has multiple challenging field stages and an additional division for junior archers, while our wingshooting competition features a 100 bird course, set up to simulate everything from fast-dropping mallards to wary geese. Get ready for your best hunting season ever!

There are several titles to walk away with, but the most coveted is the Ulitmate Carnivore, which is based on the cumulative score for competitors who shoot in the Carnivore division for rifle, archery, and wingshooting (note: there is only one division for the wingshooting competition).

Get the full details at RECOILweb.com/HunterGames.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump has not yet made a decision about closing the southern border, the head of the National Economic Council said on Wednesday, but he said he and other top advisers had raised serious concerns about the potential economic impact and were proposing that commercial trade be allowed to continue.



I dont know if this is going to happen, the president will give his views today or as the days go by, but anything we can do to ameliorate the economy story we will do, Larry Kudlow said. Its being looked at very, very carefully.



Last week, the president threatened to close either parts or all of the southern border and on Wednesday morning, continued to put pressure on Congress to take legislative action to eliminate the loopholes at the border.



Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the Border! If no action, Border, or large sections of Border, will close. This is a National Emergency! Trump tweeted.



If the president decides to close the border, Kudlow said he has been in touch with top administration officials about how to mitigate the potentially costly damage to the economy. One suggestion Kudlow made was closing lanes of transportation for travel, but keeping freight lanes open to cut down on commercial supply-chain disruption.



Ive talked to various officials and DHS and others who are more knowledgeable than I, and that is possible.



Kudlow acknowledged that both he and Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, have advised the president on the economic impact of closing the border. On Tuesday, the president said that border security is more important to him than trade.



Trading is very important. The borders are very important. But security is what is the most important," Trump said on Tuesday in the Oval Office with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.



"All you hear me talking about is trade, but let me just give you a little secret -- security is more important to me than trade. So we're going to have a slower border or a closed border."



A chorus of Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and industry leaders such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have warned the president against shutting down the border.



Closing the U.S.-Mexico border would inflict severe economic harm on American families, workers, farmers, and manufacturers across the United States, Neil Bradley, chief policy officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday.



U.S. trade with Mexico exceeds $1.7 billion daily, and nearly half a million people legally cross the southern border every day as workers, students, shoppers, and tourists. Even threatening to close the border to legitimate commerce and travel creates a degree of economic uncertainty that risks compromising the very gains in growth and productivity that policies of the Trump Administration have helped achieve.



But while Kudlow said the president is correct to be sounding the alarm about immigration, he wouldnt agree with the president that security is more important than trade.



I think theyre both essential, Kudlow said when asked about the presidents comments. I fully support him and his efforts to try to solve this border crisis and the issue of border security is not an easy thing to do ...if you could wave the magic wand, you just need immigration reform."



Both the president and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that Mexico has stepped up and has made serious efforts to decrease migration across the U.S. - Mexico border.



"They have started to do a significant amount more, we've seen them take a larger number of individuals and hold in Mexico that have asylum claims while they wait to be processed in the United States," Sanders said. "We've also seen them stop more people from coming across the border so that they aren't even entering into the United States.



At a press conference on Wednesday, the president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, dodged a question about whether or not Mexico was actually increasing detentions of Central American migrants at the border but struck an optimistic tone that Trump would not actually shut down the border.



"We are acting very prudently. And we are looking for the law to be respected and we are doing very well," Lopez Obrador said. "I'm not pessimistic, I'm optimistic, I think things are going to work out."

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.A technician checks rails at a steel plant in Handan, Hebei province. [Photo by Hao Qunying / For China Daily]

Crude steel production capacity in Hebei province and Tianjin will be capped at 200 million metric tons and 15 million tons by 2020, as part of China's efforts to optimize the iron and steel industry, a senior government official said.

"There is too much capacity in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the surrounding areas, as well as the Yangtze River Delta region," said Lyu Guixin, an inspector with the raw material department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region takes up only 2.2 percent of China's territory, but accounts for 25 percent of the nation's crude steel output."

Although official figures from the Chinese authorities are not available, Zeng Jiesheng, chief analyst with steel e-commerce platform Ouyeel.com, told Chinese media earlier that the iron and steel capacity of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region stood at about 280 million tons.

Besides, most of the steel firms in the region still use blast furnaces that are more polluting than electric furnaces, which results in huge energy consumption and pollution discharge burdens, according to Lyu.

To better protect the environment, it is not enough to relocate the production capacity from one place to another within a province as some local governments have done, he added.

Lyu made the remarks at the 2019 China Iron and Steel Development Forum, which was jointly held by the China Metallurgical Industry Planning &Research Institute and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in Beijing over the weekend.

Since 2016, China has made remarkable progress in reducing overcapacity in the sector, fulfilling the upper overcapacity reduction goals for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) two years in advance. The utilization rate of crude steel capacity has risen from 70 percent in 2015 to more than 80 percent now, according to Lyu.

However, Chinese authorities will continue to curb any tendency to increase iron and steel capacity, and the focus has shifted from cutting overcapacity to improving the industry's high-quality development, Lyu said.

The high profits in the sector last year, which were a result of slashed capacity in the previous years, have prompted the attempts to expand steel capacity illegally, according to him.

"For the next phase, it is critically important to keep the overall capacity from growing, while at the same time to optimize the capacity layout in the industry and increase product quality to achieve high-quality development in the sector," he said.

Lyu also revealed that the authorities will carry out a random inspection on illegal steel production activities this year, through means such as satellite remote sensing, electricity consumption monitoring, and illegal production activity reporting platforms.

Liu Zhenjiang, secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, urged the industry to be aware of the fact that growth may outpace demand in the sector.

"China's steel output grew rapidly in the first quarter of 2019, and crude steel output from China accounted for more than half of the world total, a record," he said, adding the increased output has led to increased steel inventories.

China's iron and steel industry reported profits of 470.4 billion yuan ($70 billion) in 2018, surging 39.3 percent year-on-year, while crude steel output grew 6.6 percent to 928.26 million tons, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.Tulsa, OK -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/03/2019 --This is commonly known as the legal doctrine of respondeat superior. However there are other ways in which an employer may also be liable. This depends on the particular facts and circumstances of a given accident. For example, on March 18, 2019, U.S. District Judge Robin J. Cauthron of the Western District of Oklahoma declined to dismiss a personal injury lawsuit against U.S. Xpress, Inc., based on allegations of "negligent entrustment." This refers to a situation where the owner of a car or truck allows someone else to operate the vehicle even if they knowor reasonably should have knownthat other driver was "careless, reckless, and incompetent."



IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, ANDREA ANNESE SUFFERED INJURIES WHEN HER CHEVROLET CAMARO COLLIDED WITH A SEMI-TRAILER OWNED BY U.S. XPRESS AND OPERATED BY ONE OF ITS DRIVERS.



According to Annese's subsequent personal injury lawsuit, the two vehicles were in adjacent lanes at a stoplight. Annese was in the inside turn lane and the semi-truck was in the outside lane. As both vehicles turned, the collision occurred. Annesse alleged the semi-truck driver "left the scene of the wreck without conferring with [her] or waiting for the police to arrive."



ANNESE SAID U.S. XPRESS WAS RESPONSIBLE UNDER BOTH RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR AND NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT.



With respect to the latter, she alleged that U.S. Xpress was negligent in its hiring, training, and supervision of the semi-truck driver. More specifically, she pointed to the driver's accident history, which Judge Cauthron explained included "five preventable accidents over the preceding three years." Based on this history, the judge denied a U.S. Xpress motion for summary judgment on Annese's negligent entrustment claim, explaining there was "enough evidence in the record to support a jury finding" that the driver was careless and that U.S. Xpress "was aware of this" when it entrusted its truck to him.



ACCORDING TO TULSA, OK TRUCK ACCIDENT LAWYER CHARLES BRYAN ALRED,



"Semi-trucks can weigh upwards of 80,000 pounds when fully loaded. This makes them dangerous weapons in a collision with the typical passenger car. This means that trucking companies have a special responsibility to ensure they only hire and retain qualified drivers with good safety records. As the judge's ruling the U.S. Xpress case illustrates, a trucking company that fails in this duty can be held responsible by a jury for significant damages."Bellevue, WA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/03/2019 --In the coming months, there may be some changes coming to Washington state law regarding the penalties for solicitation of prostitution. Under current state law, the punishment for prostitution; the illicit sale of sex, and for solicitation; the illicit buying of sex; are largely similar.



However, HB 1383, a bill that is making its way through the Washington State Legislature, proposes changes to the rules. If passed into law, the bill would make a second arrest for solicitation or prostitution a gross misdemeanor. Likewise, this is punishable by a maximum of 364 days in prison along with a $5,000 fine. A significant increase in penalties when compared to current law. For instance, solicitation of prostitution is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail along with a $1,000 fine.The lead sponsors of the bill are Mike Pellicciotti (D-Olympia) and Vicki Kraft (R-Olympia).



With broad bipartisan support, HB 1383 has already passed in the Washington House of Representatives. In the coming days, the Washington State Senate will have its chance to vote on the measure. In fact, a committee vote is on April 2nd, 2019. If successful, the legislation could go before the full State Senate in the next several weeks. Should the reform packaged pass, lawmakers hope that the increased penalties will help to disincentivize potential "johns" for patronizing prostitutes. As explained by the Seattle sex crimes defense lawyers at The Nahajski Firm, "Sex-based offenses are already serious crimes in Washington. If Washington legislators do indeed pass this bill and sign it into law; there is little doubt that prosecutors will quickly begin seeking harsher sentences for defendants charged with solicitation of prostitution."



It is worth noting that the city of Seattle has also put local regulations in place to discourage prostitution. Under 5.290 of the Seattle Police Manual, a person convicted of prostitution or of the solicitation of prostitution may be on a Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution order, otherwise known as a SOAP. Under this type of legal order, a person is barred from entering high prostitution areas of the city at certain times of day. While breaking the terms of a SOAP is not a new criminal offense in Seattle, it is a violation of an offender's probation.TIANJIN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- LEGO bricks have found a place in the classroom at northern China's Tianjin University, aiming to deepen students' knowledge and understanding and foster creative thinking.

The LEGO course, launched in early March, was first applied to students from the university's College of Management and Economics.

Students poured their creative thinking into LEGO bricks. For example, a mini car built by green bricks represented new energy vehicles, and a lady with a shining diamond driving the car meant that the brand's targeted consumers were wealthy females.

"I can gain a deeper understanding by building LEGO models, and sharing ideas with others can trigger more insights," said student Jiang Zixiao.

According to teacher Shi Yingjie, the course is not a simple game of building blocks but a multi-level studying system that integrates LEGO and the elaborate organization of key points.

"It is appealing to students because they can probe into the subject while 'playing.' The course can cultivate students' innovative thinking, self-expression, interpersonal skills and teamwork," Shi said.

The LEGO course was introduced to the university by Shi Liangxing, the dean of Xuanhuai School of Entrepreneurship &Innovation. He said the course will also be applied to politics, engineering and architecture courses in the future.

In addition to students attending the university, teachers, middle and high school students, as well as managers from enterprises, have access to the course.

LEGO has been a massive hit in China since it entered the country over two decades ago. The Chinese market registered strong double-digit revenue growth in 2018 as the Danish toy giant expanded business in more cities and on e-commerce, digital and physical platforms.Counselor Wang Xinmin, addressing journalists on 27th March 2019 in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Charge dAffairs of the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone, Wang Xinmin, has disclosed that China is ready to jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with international partners to respond to the call of the times.

Addressing a news conference in Freetown on Wednesday, Wang said that China hopes to create new drivers to power common development through the Belt and Road. We hope to turn it into a road of peace, prosperity, openness, green development and innovation and a road that brings together different civilizations, he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative originates from China but belongs to the world, as it involves countries in different regions, at various development stages, and with different cultures. It is a platform of open and inclusive cooperation and jointly provides a public good to the world.

Wang revealed that as of March 25, 2019, China had signed 172 cooperation documents with 124 countries and 29 international organizations to build the BRI. In Africa, 37 countries have joined, including Sierra Leone.

In pursuit of international cooperation within the BRI, the Embassys Charge dAffairs noted that parties are following the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. Countries are joining hands to meet global economic challenges, he said.

Aiming to draw on each others strengths and deliver win-win results, the parties will explore new opportunities, seek new drivers and expand new space for development, moving closer toward a community of shared future for mankind, he noted, adding that this is what President Xi Jinping had in mind when he first put forward the Belt and Road Initiative.

Sierra Leone is expected to join other nations in the much-anticipated second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), which will be held in Beijing in late April. Its the most important diplomatic event China will host this year and an international gathering that will capture the worlds attention.

President Xi will give a keynote address at the opening ceremony and chair a leaders roundtable. There will also be a high-level meeting, thematic forums, and a CEO conference.

With the theme of Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future, the second BRF aims to bring about high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). At the invitation of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Hon. Nabeela Tunis, the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, has confirmed her attendance.

The BRF has three key highlights this year. First, the number of foreign heads of state and government expected to attend will be much larger than that of the first BRF. Second, it will be a much bigger gathering with thousands of delegates from over 100 countries. Third, there will be more side events, including 12 thematic forums focusing on practical cooperation and, for the first time, a conference organized specifically for the business community.Parliament holds meeting attended by gov't to discuss several topics [03/April/2019] SANAA, April 3 (Saba) - The Parliament on Tuesday held its session under the chairmanship of its Speaker Yahya Al-Ra'i in the presence of the Prime Minister and his deputies, members of the National Salvation Government, the Mayor the Capital and the heads of departments and government bodies.















In the meeting, al-Ra'i welcomed Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Habtoor, his deputies, all the ministers, the Mayor of Capital and the specialists in the government.















Al-Ra'i stressed the complementarity of performance between all legislative, executive and judicial powers of the state in order to achieve harmony between the executive and supervisory functions, which would enhance the tasks and duties entrusted in accordance with the Constitution and the law.















He also stressed the need for the government to meet its obligations to implement all the recommendations already approved by the parliament, stressing also the need to avoid the aggravation of any problems that would increase the suffering of Yemenis especially with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan to alleviate the seize of suffering has burdened the citizen.















"We are all in the service of the homeland and the citizen, and we must work with utmost efforts to alleviate the suffering and the effects of the aggression and the siege on our country," he said.















Al-Ra'i pointed to the need to move and communicate with all organizations, bodies, human rights institutions and parliaments of the world to deliver the seize of grievance of the Yemeni people and their suffering through available channels, including the Yemeni who are abroad.















For his part, praised the PM stressed that the government faces many difficulties and challenges because of the continuation of US-saudi aggression coalition and siege, which requires concerted efforts to overcome them and to meet all the necessary commitments as possible and available. He added that "the government is preparing to receive Ramadan with a number of treatments, especially those related to the functions of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry."















At the meeting, the people's deputies stressed the need for the government to implement the recommendations approved by the parliament, including the unification of all revenue sources and within the framework of the law and referral of all cases to the judiciary in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the law and canceling high prices of domestic gas, foodstuffs, consumer goods and medicines..















The people's deputies pointed out the importance of paying salaries to all civil servants, especially civilians, and create good conditions to receive this holy month on Ramadan, deliver the assistance provided to Yemen to its beneficiaries as well as coordination between the ministries and competent authorities on controlling and eradicating diseases and infectious epidemics including cholera and H1N1.















The people's deputies reiterated the importance of obliging the President of Sana'a University to accept the students of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hodeidah, who were included in the recommendations, solving the problems of cars and motorcycles non-registered, simplifying and facilitating procedures for citizens and improving traffic services.















At the meeting, ministers of oil and minerals, planning and international cooperation, water and environment, public health, population, industry and trade, and finance finance, the Mayor of the capital and the undersecretary of the interior ministry talked about the procedures related to their ministries.















"We asked the Ministry of Civil Service to prepare final lists so that a half of the salaries could be paid to the state employees before the month of Ramadan and another half of the salary before Eid al-Fitr," said Minister of Finance Dr. Rashid Abu-Mehm.















The Minister of Finance referred to a number of measures on the control and planning of expenditure in accordance with the recommendation of Parliament on the expenditure plan.















On his part, Mayor of the Capital Sanaa Hamoud Obad referred to the measures s taken to reduce the environmental disaster that threatens the Municipality of the capital represented in irrigating the vegetables with sewage and the meetings that took place with the sheikhs of Bani Harith, in direct coordination with the Minister of Water and Environment, to take measures to prevent such behavior harmful to public health For consumers in the capital.















He pointed out that one of these measures to prevent the authorization of such vegetables from enter via security points at the outskirts of capital as they are harmful to public health ..















He pointed to the subject of rising prices and measures taken to control the offenders via the closure of some shops manipulating prices.















Obad stressed that the local authority in the capital will work on the implementation of decisive and firm measures before the month of Ramadan, which reduces the burdens that burdened the citizen.















In light of this, the parliament approved the formation of a joint committee of parliament and the government to stand up to the issues, topics and proposals presented by the members of the parliament at this meeting and crystallize it to submit a report on solutions to the parliament at a future meeting.















The parliament had started its session by reviewing its previous minute and approved it and will continue its work on Wednesday morning, God willing.























AA

SabaBy SA Commercial Prop News

Office space In Pharos House, Westville | Regus South Africa



When this years Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum warned that the world is sleepwalking into a crisis, the impact on business may not have been top of mind.

However, failing to prepare for business disruption in the case of crisis can leave companies  and entire economies  at risk of substantial financial losses. But just because events are unexpected, doesnt mean your business has to be unprepared. Leading workspace provider Regus is using its scale and experience at the forefront of the industry to provide a comprehensive recovery service that covers every eventuality.



An increasingly risky world



The Global Risks Report concludes that extreme weather is the risk of greatest concern today (followed closely by cyber attacks and data fraud) and that companies spend almost nine times as much on repairing damages than on prevention. With most businesses relying heavily on vital infrastructure, they need to ensure they have strategies in place to protect their assets and ensure continued operations, no matter what happens.



A recent survey by Regus found that 40% of businesses rely solely on what their current workspace recovery provider tells them, rather than fully exploring their options. Whats more, industry experts estimate only 20% of businesses test their business continuity plans, and even fewer put aside the time to do so with key staff members. Facing up to corporate limitations and weaknesses may be a daunting prospect, but its clear the risks of not doing so are far more concerning.





The impact of going unprepared



Failing to properly prepare for serious disruption of operations can severely affect a business in both the short and long term. Regus survey found that only a third of global businesses recovered their data as planned in the event of disaster, and only 23% ended up with the access to systems they had planned for. In short, one disaster can very easily lead to another.

In March 2011, when Japan was hit by both an earthquake and a tsunami that affected 740,000 small businesses and 80,000 major companies, 300,000 employees were displaced and $209bn was lost in sales nation-wide. Another severe earthquake is assumed to hit Japan within the next 30 years, and despite experts predicting a 12.8 trillion in damages, many local businesses are still not ready to cope with the ongoing risks.

Regus offering

If an office location or network is compromised in any way, companies that sign up for the Workplace Recovery programme can use Regus network of over 3,500 of locations in 110 countries to relocate core operations within 24 hours. This means that if needed, a business can access fully equipped workspaces that are near its original office location or closer to home within hours, or one business day after an incident occurs.

The programme is deliberately flexible: Regus offers three tiered plans that can be customised to meet both needs and price points, with additional around-the-clock support from its global team. Regardless of whether a business location happens to be in a flood-prone area, or the building has a burst pipe that floods the office, Workplace Recovery equips companies with keys to multiple alternative offices so that they can always deliver to clients and customers.

So rather than sleepwalking into a crisis, smart businesses can confront the challenges of tomorrow with their eyes wide open.

To find out more, visit regus.co.za or call +27 11 549 5697.Four civilians were injured on Tuesday in indiscriminate Pakistan shelling on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

Police said the injured have been given medical treatment.



A 6-year old girl, a woman and an Inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) were killed and 13 others injured in indiscriminate shelling and firing by the Pakistan Army in the same sectors a day earlier.



Due to heightened tension along the LoC, authorities today cancelled the cross-LoC trade between Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch and Rawalakot in Pakistan administered part of the state.





Indian and Pakistani troops traded mortars and gunfire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri and Poonch districts on Tuesday.



The first violation of the ceasefire by the Pakistan Army took place in Rajouri and it then spread to Poonch district, officials said.



Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand said that around 5 p.m. the Pakistanis used mortars and small arms to target Indian positions along the LoC in Shahpur and Kerni sectors of Poonch district.



"Indian positions retaliated and heavy firing exchanges are now going on between the two sides," the spokesman said.



Authorities closed all educational institutions within a 5-km distance of the LoC in Poonch district as a precaution.



Earlier, firing exchanges started between the two armies in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district at about 11.30 a.m.



"The Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," the spokesman said.Chinese and Sierra Leonean officials at the official opening ceremony on Saturday 30th March 2019

The Confucius Institute at the University of Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the Academic and Career Advisory and Counseling Services (ACACS), recently held its second International Company Exhibition, Job Fair and Career Exposition in Freetown, Sierra Leones Capital. The development-oriented event attracted lots of Chinese and other private sector companies, who showcased job opportunities to young job seekers and university graduates.

The aim of the job fair and international company exhibition is to provide a platform where students, graduates and the general public can interact with companies, organizations and institutions from diverse sectors, as potential employers. It gives the opportunity for face-to-face discussions and also provides a stage for companies to showcase their essence and connection with the development of Sierra Leone.

Professor He Mingqing, Director of the Confucius Institute, described his Institute as a bridge between eastern and western civilization. We are making efforts in communication and mutual learning among civilizations, managing to act as a good role model for mutual understanding and bonds of friendship between China and Sierra Leone, and try our best to serve the local people, so we are very happy to organize this event in collaboration with (ACACS), he said.

Job seekers talk with Chinese companies

Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone, Zhang Xueqian, described employment as a cornerstone of the wellbeing and wellspring of wealth. He explained that today, investment has become the key engine of job creation and the Chinese Embassy encourages Chinese investment in Sierra Leone.

With increasing Chinese companies investing and implementing China-aid projects here, employment has been hugely expanded, Mr. Zhang said, citing an example to the Masiaka Highway Project, which has created more than 800 jobs for the local people, and has indirectly promoted the development of economy and trade throughout the whole country. He further explained that vocational education plays a vital role in every individuals career as well as Sierra Leones social and economic growth.

Commissioner of the National Youth Commission, Ngolo Tom Katta, underscored the importance of the job fair, which he advised young people to take advantage of in the building of their future careers.

Dr. Samuel Doe, the United Nations Development Programmes Resident Coordinator, said there is lots of potential in the job market that remains untapped, and advised job seekers and graduates to make themselves as employable as possible.

Professor Lawrence Kamara, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Fourah Bay College, advised the graduates to make good decisions and suggestions on the kinds of job they should choose. He described the platform as a window of opportunities for job seekers and graduates.

BJP President Amit Shah BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Congress for its silence on the National Conference chief Omar Abdullah's demand of a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir. "Omar Abdullah says there should be a separate Prime Minister in Kashmir. His associates are raising pro-Pakistan slogans. But Congress is silent. I want to ask Congress President Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether you are supporting or opposing this demand," Shah said at an election rally in Uttarkashi town in the Tehri constituency of Uttarakhand which is going to the polls on April 11.



Shah, however, made it clear that the BJP would oppose the demand of a separate Prime Minister tooth and nail. "Till we are alive, we will never allow this demand to be fulfilled," he said.



In this context, he reminded the people of the "sacrifice" of the BJP leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who strongly opposed Article 370 that gives autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir state.



"We are following the path of Shyma Prasad Mukherjee and we will not allow such thing to happen," Shah said.



Referring to the manifesto of the Congress, Shah attacked the opposition party for seeking the scrapping of the sedition law.



"Who are you protecting? In JNU, they (students) called for dividing our country into thousand pieces. But you stood silent outside. Do you want to protect all those who are facing sedition charges," he asked.



He also claimed that the Congress wanted to repeal all laws that provide security to the armed forces. "You cannot simply do it. We are standing like rock with the armed forces," he said.



Referring to the Pulwama terrorist attack in February, he said only Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the stamina to retaliate against terrorists.



"When the Pulwama attack occurred, there was commotion and sadness all around the country. But our Prime Minister launched a big attack against terrorists. This attack occurred when there was no possibility of a surgical strike due to the heightened security on the borders by Pakistan. But we carried out airstikes and destroyed all terrorists," he said.



After the Balakot attack, he said a wave of happiness ran through the country and everybody looked happy.



"But our Rahul Gandhi and the Pakistan Prime Minister faces looked just the same," he said, adding that the country will never be secure under Congress rule.



"If you want to make India a powerful nation and global leader, only Prime Minister Modi can fulfill your aspirations," he said.



He also asked the people to vote for BJP in all the five seats in Uttarakhand to repeat the feat of 2014. "We are on the path of development. This development will continue," he said.



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Apr-02-2019 22:17 TweetFollow @OregonNews Hwy 18 at Dayton Closed for Hours Due to Crash into Bridge The bridge crosses the Yamhill River, and is a main thoroughfare for travelers.

Photo credits: ODOT; KLYC Radio; OSP;

Bonnie King, Salem-News.com

(DAYTON, Ore.) - A wood chip truck on its way from Willamina to Vancouver with a full load of chips crashed Monday morning near Dayton, closing Hwy 18 in both directions from 9 o'clock until after 4 p.m. Those that were nearby at the time heard the loud crash, followed soon thereafter by sirens and an immediate traffic jam build up. 54-year old Marvin Brown of Vancouver, Washington was driving the semi truck eastbound on Hwy 18. For an unknown reason, the truck left its lane of travel, crossed the highway and hit a section of the bridge over the Yamhill River. The crash was about 1 mile west of the intersection with 99W, causing extensive damage to the bridge. Travelers going south on Hwy 18 were detoured around the closure using Kreder Road which connects to 99W just north of Lafayette. Those traveling north were detoured through Lafayette, causing enormous back up for thousands of vehicles. Dayton was cut off from easy access to Newberg, so that includes anyone coming from Salem this direction. Lafayette Highway became backed up for miles. Some avoided the lineup by turning around and driving into McMinnville to catch 99W there, which was very out of the way but still saved time. During the detour kerfuffle, another crash was reported on 99W and Kreder Lane, an intersection usually used by locals that understand the difficulty. Crews at the truck crash scene removed the truck from the bridge and cleared the area, which took an extensive amount of time. Officials did not know at once why it crossed the highway into the bridge. Oregon State Police station Commander Fred Testa told KLYC News "it doesn't appear there was a mechanical problem with the truck". Some speculate that the truck may have had a tire blow out, others surmise the driver may have been "drowsy driving". The investigation is ongoing. After seven hours, the highway was completely reopened.

Sources: ODOT; KLYC Radio; OSP

#ORHwy18 #Oregon #DaytonOregon #ODOT #OSP #Traffic #OregonTraffic #Crash #TrafficCrash _________________________________________

Oregon | Traffic | Crash | Most Commented on





Articles for April 1, 2019 | Articles for April 2, 2019 | Articles for April 3, 2019Selbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- North America holds the major share in the 3D printing in automotive market. It held more than 40% share of the total revenue in 2017. The presence of major market players, such as Stratasys and 3D Systems, in the region is a primary factor supporting the market growth. The region has also witnessed higher R&D investments than other regions, which has further fostered the advancements in the 3D printing technology. Furthermore, supportive government initiatives will also foster the market growth. For instance, the U.S. government is constantly working with various private institutions and academic establishments to promote the use of additive manufacturing technologies in the region.



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The hardware market accounted for over 75% of the 3D printing in automotive market. The hardware market includes 3D printers and materials. The growth of the market is attributed to the falling prices of 3D desktop printers. The price of the desktop printer is declining at an annual rate of 2-3% over the past five years and is estimated to resonate the trend during the forecast period.



3D Printing in Automotive Market is anticipated to be over USD 8 billion by 2024. The growing need for developing complex and high-quality components while keeping the manufacturing costs low is a primary factor driving the demand for the 3D printing solutions in the automotive sector. The technology has allowed manufacturers to produce components, which were not feasible through traditional manufacturing methodologies. The traditional manufacturing technology produced numerous components separately & then assembled these components into a single entity. Whereas, the 3D printing technology provides designers the freedom to produce various components in a single entity.



The software market will grow at a CAGR of over 25% due to the growing demand for the third-party developers. These third-party developers are developing open-source 3D CAD software? compatible with a wide range of printers and technology. Furthermore, they are also collaborating with key 3D printing hardware and OEM manufacturers to eliminate the intricate software solutions that design hardware components based on software components.



The Fused Deposition Modelling technology held over 50% market share in the 3D printing in automotive market in 2017. This growth is credited to technological advancements in composite materials used across FDM processes and its ability to print larger components.



The prototyping is expected to account for approximately 60% of the market share in the 3D printing in automotive market. The additive manufacturing technology enables faster development of prototypes and consumes less resources as compared to the conventional manufacturing technologies. Moreover, it also reduces the tooling costs as it allows manufacturers to use the same tooling equipment to develop a wide variety of models.



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Asia Pacific 3D printing in the automotive market is expected to grow substantially at a CAGR of over 30% during the forecast timespan. The industrialized countries, as well as emerging nations in the region, have introduced numerous initiatives to strengthen the productivity and competitiveness across the automotive manufacturing sector. In addition, countries including Singapore & China have allocated millions of dollars to commercialize the technology.



The 3D printing in automotive has portrayed a rapid growth over the last decade as the companies operating in the market have attracted investments to capitalize and commercialize the technology. The players in the market are introducing various strategic initiatives to expand their market share and strengthen their product portfolio. For instance, 2018 EOS & SLM Solutions collaborated with Audi to incorporate 3D printing technology across its manufacturing facility. This collaboration is aimed at developing new product offerings to gain an advantage over its competitors.



The key players in the market are 3D Systems, Arcam, Autodesk, Exone, FlashForge, Hoganas, HP Development Company, Monoprice, Optomec, Ponoko, Prusa Research, Stratasys, Voxeljet, WANHAO 3D PRINTER, XYZ Printing, Materialise, Nano Dimension, Proto Labs, SLM Solutions Group, Electro-Optical Systems, Concept Laser, and Renishaw.



Table of Content:



Chapter 1. Methodology & Scope



1.1. Methodology



1.1.1. Initial data exploration



1.1.2. Statistical model and forecast



1.1.3. Industry insights and validation



1.1.4. Scope



1.1.5. Definitions



1.1.6. Methodology & forecast parameters



1.2. Data Sources



1.2.1. Secondary



1.2.1.1. Paid sources



1.2.1.2. Public sources



1.2.2. Primary



Chapter 2. Executive Summary



2.1. 3D printing in automotive industry 360 degree synopsis, 2013 - 2024



2.1.1. Regional trends



2.1.2. Hardware trends



2.1.2.1. Printer trends



2.1.2.2. Material trends



2.1.3. Service trends



2.1.4. Software trends



2.1.5. Technology trends



2.1.6. Application trends



Chapter 3. 3D Printing in Automotive Industry Insights



3.1. Introduction



3.2. Industry segmentation



3.3. Industry landscape, 2013 - 2024



3.3.1. 3D Printing Market



3.4. Industry ecosystem analysis



3.5. 3D printing market evolution



3.6. Market news



3.7. Technology and innovation landscape



3.7.1. Hybrid printing



3.7.2. Multi-material printing



3.7.3. Direct metal printing (DMP)



3.8. Use cases



3.8.1. Fluid handling



3.8.2. Exterior interior trim



3.8.3. Manufacturing process



3.8.4. Exhaust/emissions



3.8.5. Powertrain & drivetrain



3.8.6. Frame, body, doors



3.8.7. OEM Components



3.8.8. Electronics



3.8.9. Wheels, tires & suspension



3.8.10. Interior & seating



3.9. Industry impact forces



3.9.1. Growth drivers



3.9.1.1. Abiltiy to develop more complex and higher quality products



3.9.1.2. Cost effetive, fast custoization and faster time to market



3.9.1.3. Supportive government initiatives



3.9.1.4. Decline in the price of desktop printers



3.9.2. Industry pitfalls & challenges



3.9.2.1. Scalability



3.9.2.2. Inabilty to manufacture larger parts and components



3.9.2.3. Lack of skilled professionals



3.9.2.4. Intellectual property concerns



3.10. Growth potential analysis



3.11. Porter's analysis



3.12. PESTEL analysis



Chapter 4. Competitive Landscape



4.1. Introduction



4.2. Company market share, by revenue, 2017



4.2.1. Stratasys



4.2.2. EOS



4.2.3. GE Additive



4.2.4. 3D Systems



4.2.5. HP



4.3. Company market share, by shipment, 2017



4.3.1. XYZ Printing



4.3.2. Wanhao



4.3.3. Monoprice



4.3.4. FlashForge



4.3.5. Prusa Research



4.4. Other prominent vendors.



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Blog: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- Automotive Robotics Market will surpass 210,000 units by 2024. The welding process is reportedly one of the toughest production processes in the automotive cosmos, and any excess involvement of humans in the operations may plausibly lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The application of robotics in the welding procedure has profound significance, given that the automated bots would keep laborers away from the welding and paint fumes, which would considerably stimulate automotive robotics market share.



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It has been observed that the usage of SCARA bots are quite commonplace in high-speed assembly operations due to the increasing demand for optimized productivity and zero bottlenecks. Automobile assemblies demand the perfection in tasks such as windshield installation, wheel mounting, and screw driving, all of which have been deemed as viable contenders for automation. The deployment of robots for mobilizing smaller assembly components to fabricate larger ones is also prevalent in recent times  a move which is likely to stimulate automotive robotics market from assembly line operations.



Assembly operations hold pivotal importance in the overall automobile manufacturing process. Automakers have been deploying automation for assemblies on a significantly large scale, pertaining to the factors of safety, high quality, and capacity. In addition, robots help to reduce the waste caused due to frivolous human errors, which would apparently lead to the lesser variability in the assembly. In consequence, this would be responsible for controlling the process at every stage of the assembly line in addition to maintaining the consistency in the time required for every process, which would indisputably lead to the growth of automotive robotics industry share from assembly operations.



Automotive Robotics Market By Product



- Articulated

- Cartesian

- SCARA

- Parallel

- Cylindrical



Automotive Robotics Market By Application



- Welding

- Handling operations

- Robotic processing

- Robotic assembly

- Paint & dispense

- Others



The profound significance that robotics holds in assembly applications is quite vivid from certain statistics. In consonance with the estimates compiled by analysts, assembly operations held more than 15% of the overall automotive robotics market share in 2016. Currently, the automotive manufacturing sector holds the record of having almost 90% of their final assembly operations performed with the help of automation. Furthermore, it is fundamental to mention that the demand for automation in body-in-white and powertrain assembly applications is indeed scaling tremendous heights, thereby augmenting automotive robotics industry size from assembly applications.



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Germany has a powerful base of automakers, on the grounds of which it has been forecast that robotic applications would be deployed heavily across the automotive sector in the region. Subject to the extensive implementation of robotics, Germany automotive robotics industry is likely to gain a strong ground in the ensuing years. The expansion of this business space across Germany, UK, and Italy is certain to boost Europe automotive robotics market, which contributed nearly 25% toward the overall industry share in 2016.



As per estimates, the demand for robots from vehicle component suppliers increased by 53% in 2016, and that from automotive original equipment manufacturers rose by 32% in the same year. This goes to prove that automotive robotics industry has bright prospects across North America. In fact, research reports claim that North America automotive robotics market is expected to witness a lucrative growth over the coming years, having held a valuation of USD 1 billion in 2016.



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Global industry consists of several players and the key players are ABB, KUKA, Fanuc, and Yamaha acquiring significant market share in 2016. Other notable players include Omron Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Rockwell Automation, Staubli, and Universal Robots.



About Global Market Insights:

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- Commodity chemicals (bulk chemicals) are a group of chemicals that are made on a very large scale and act as intermediates to produce other chemicals, which, in turn are used to produce a extensive range of end-user products including construction materials, adhesives, plastics, apparel and tires. Commodity chemicals are the largest sub-segment of the chemical industry. Commodity chemicals are commonly traded under broad categories such as organics, inorganics, plastics resins, synthetic rubbers, fibers, films, explosives and petrochemicals. These broad categories include chemicals such as, acetic acid, acetone, acrylate esters, adipic acid, acrylonitrate, benzene, bisphenol, butadiene, butanediol, butyl acetate, hexane, melamine, polyvinyl chloride, propylene, methanol, methyl, glycol and glycerines. These chemical are very low in product differentiation, and hence making price the dominant economic factor in purchasing decisions for the end users.



Request Sample Report@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/2787



The commodity chemical industry is highly fragmented and served with large number of local or regional players. Asia Pacific is by far the largest market for commodity chemicals accounting almost half of the total market. It is followed by North America and Europe. The growth prospective is still high in Asia Pacific attributed to the growing economy and ongoing trend and support for manufacturing sector in the developing countries such as India, China, and Indonesia. Bulk availability of crude oil and natural gas from gulf countries such as Saudi Arabian, Iran, Iraq and Syria is helping the commodity chemical industries in Asia Pacific.



Commodity chemicals serve a wide range of industries ranging from personal care products to aerospace industries. It has its application either directly or indirectly in almost all manufacturing industries. The economy growth and increasing Gross domestic product (GDP) of developed and developing countries around the world is boosting the overall market of commodity chemicals. However the stiff regulation of the governments around the world regarding the health and environment side effect of chemicals and fluctuating prices of crude oil and natural gas are posing significant challenge for the industry.



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Some of the major players in commodity chemicals market include, BASF SE, Bayer AG, The Dow Chemical Company, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, PPG industries, Linde Group, Akzo Nobel, LyondellBasell Industries, Asahi Kasei, Sumitomo chemicals, Evonik Industries, INEOS Group Holding and Chem China.Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- "Social media refers to the activities which integrate web technology, social interaction, and user-generated content. Social media includes blogs, social networks, photo libraries, virtual worlds, location-based services, and video sharing sites. Worldwide agencies use social media internally and externally to share information, support business processes, and connect people to government", according to "The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration." As for all records management purposes, capturing and maintaining evidence are key capabilities of such solutions.



Social Media Records Management Market: Drivers & Restraints



According to a survey by Gartner, 39% of all businesses participating said they do not any form of social media tracking or monitoring in the organization. Among the participating B-2-B firms, 51% said they lacked social media tracking policies and processes. In social media records management, agencies are facing the challenges because of the dynamic and collaborative nature of social media such as recordkeeping in a collaborative environment. Also, the content is located in multiple places and the ownership of data relies on a third party.



Request Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2300



Social Media Records Management Market: Segmentation



The global social media records management market is classified on the basis of region.



Social Media Records Management Market: Overview



Due to the increasing amount of content and activities on social media, documentation of the information which is related to a specific organization becomes increasingly relevant. This covers all platforms where multiple users and organizations interact in a social and unstructured manner which includes large platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn among other social networking websites, and social media content and activities on individual forums, blogs, etc. For the preservation of social media activities, software are designed for capturing a number of scattered blogs or other social media content.



Social Media Records Management Market: Region wise Overview



Geographically, global Social Media Records Management market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Middle East and Africa (MEA). Social media records management is the application of records management principles to unstructured social media content. Social media allows individuals to create, organize, edit, collaborate, comment on, combine, share content, like content, resulting in the creation of Federal records. The Federal Records Act defines Federal records as any material that is recorded, made or received in the course of Federal business, regardless of its form or characteristics, and is worthy of preservation.



Social media content which satisfies the requirements of this definition must be managed according to the applicable laws and regulations. In December 2012, North Carolina state government unveiled a social media archiving platform which is the first of its kinds to offer complete public access to archived social media data and metadata. The Social Media Archive displayed Facebook and Twitter posts from or directed at a handful of agencies initially, but eventually the tool expanded to include more than 130 of the state's social media websites. Federal agencies and state and municipal government offices are required to store records of communications so that they will be available for future researchers and can be produced in response to Freedom of Information Act.



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Social Media Records Management Market: Key Players



The key players in global social media records management market are Iron Mountain Incorporated, ArchiveSocial, Qumram AG to name a few.Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- Prominently operated by Colgate-Palmolive Company, Glaxo Smith Kline plc, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Unilever plc, and Dentsply Sirona, the dental hygiene devices landscape is currently witnessing dominance of toothbrush sales. In recent years, the dramatic growth of the E-commerce sector is translating into elevating online sales of dental hygiene devices, which is posing strong competition facing the retail pharmacy segment.



Toothbrush Records Highest Sale, Online Retail Firms up



A recent market research study by Future Market Insights provides exclusive insights on the current and prospective performance of global dental hygiene devices market, in terms of sales volume as well as revenue.



"The report categorizes dental hygiene devices landscape into the toothbrush, scalers, polishing devices, and others on the basis of product type. Toothbrush has been the top-selling product in global dental hygiene devices landscape, attributed to widespread availability, extensive selection range, broad price range, and frequent innovation," explains a senior research analyst at FMI.



Currently, toothbrush sales account for almost 60% of the total market revenue, whereas the report indicates that dental scalers and dental polishing devices are gradually gaining ground. The study projects over 5% year over year revenue growth for the latter two in 2019 and ahead.



Retail pharmacies will remain the largest revenue generating channel of distribution in dental hygiene devices market. Whereas, online pharmacies are slated to present promising investment opportunities to dental hygiene devices manufacturers. The report projects that revenue generated through online retail would cross the US$ 1 billion mark in the next 3-4 years.



Key Dynamics Prompt at Rising Oral Care Concerns



The global dental hygiene devices market is low-value high-volume landscape, which remains the key factor that dampens investment. While baby boomers have been referred to as the primary consumers of dental hygiene devices, a growing percentage of juvenile and millennial people afflicted with one or more oral health problems points to the widening prospects of dental hygiene devices in coming years.



Request to View Sample of Research Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8177



Increasing dental disease prevalence, coupled with the increasingly sophisticating infrastructure of dental care across developing regions, is predominantly responsible for improving the scope of dental hygiene devices penetration. Dental caries, periodontal conditions, and oral cancer mark some of the most significant concerns related to oral healthcare, among the population.



"OTC (over-the-counter) nature of a majority of dental hygiene devices remains one of the key factors positively influencing their widespread availability and sales," says the FMI analyst.



Adding further to it on the potential market growth barriers, the analyst says, "As dental disorders are often non-life threatening, a notable portion of the patient population tends to initially prefer alternative treatments over dental hygiene devices. Price pressure and poor RoI are identified to be longstanding challenges for manufacturers of dental hygiene devices to initiate large scale investment projects".



Asian Economies Create an Attractive Investment Pocket



The report sheds light on all the aspects related to worldwide demand for dental hygiene devices and offers insights on the growth prospects projected for global dental hygiene devices market through the next few years.



The report forecasts steady yet moderate yearly revenue growth of 4.7% in 2019, and around 1/3rd of the total market value is poised to be accounted for by the Asia Pacific. North America and Western Europe are likely to hold a collective share of more than a third of the global market value.



APAC and Latin America are poised to remain highly lucrative regional markets for manufacturers of dental hygiene devices owing to consistently increasing demand for dental treatments in these regions.



Although the widening patient pool is driving the steady demand for dental hygiene devices, a sizeable population based in developing countries is still undiagnosed and untreated. FMI research points to the presence of several untapped opportunities in a massive untreated population and thereby highlights high attractiveness of emerging regional markets for dental hygiene devices manufacturers.



Besides frequent product innovations, key players in the global dental hygiene devices market maintain their strategic focus on the enhancement of distribution channel by strengthening existing marketing efforts across Asian markets, particularly in India, Singapore, and Malaysia.



A Methodology of this Report is Available upon Request @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-8177



Toothpaste Innovations Account for a Trending Wave



The report suggests that strategic collaborations, new product launches, and geographical expansion remain the highlights of developmental strategies adopted by key companies operating in dental hygiene devices landscape.



Electric/battery-operated toothbrush innovations continue to shape new launch strategies of a majority of companies, whereas most of the market leaders are focusing on introducing novel toothpaste ranges specific to various oral care demands.



GSK recently unveiled a range of Aquafresh Advance specifically for 9-12 years olds' demographic, targeting enamel protection and cavity prevention. The company's Consumer Healthcare arm also launched a new Sensodyne Rapid Relief range in the US.



P&G also released a new toothpaste range recently, specifically for improved gum health.



Dabur India Ltd. launched a modern variant of their flagship toothpaste range i.e. ayurvedic specialist toothpaste in gel format.Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- Dodecanol also called as Lauryl alcohol or 1-dodecanol is classified as a fatty alcohol. It is a colorless, tasteless solid with a floral smell. It is manufactured by hydrogenation of palm kernel or coconut oil fatty acids. The major use of dodecanol is as a chemical intermediate for the manufacture of dodecyl sulfate and dodecyl ethoxylate. Additionally, it is used as a vital raw material in the manufacture of surfactants. It is also used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, lubricating oils, flavoring agents and as an emollient among other.



The primary driver for dodecanol market is the growing personal care market. The emergence of products such as fabric softeners, skin care products and fatty alcohol based detergents are driving the market for dodecanol. The growth of this market is significant in the developing third world countries, where the manufacturing bases are finding new ground. Dodecanol can be used in many forms such as alcohol ethoxylate and sulfates, which are used as wetting agent and emulsifiers in paints and coatings. Growth of the paints & coatings market is expected to augment the demand for dodecanol. A restraining factor for this market is that it is acutely toxic to marine organisms and it is an eye irritant, hence it requires safe handling and disposal.



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The surfactants market has undergone an evolution from tallow to vegetable oil to synthetic surfactants and to fatty alcohol surfactants. Over the past few years the use of dodecanol for surfactants has declined in North America, Western Europe and Japan. There has been a surge in demand for dodecanol in developing regions such as South Africa, Brazil, China, Malaysia and Indonesia as new producers have started operating facilities in these countries.



Dodecanol market can be broadly segmented on the basis of applications, such as anionic surfactants, quaternary ammonium compounds for detergents, nonionic surfactants, coatings & inks, PVC plasticizers, water treatment, lubricant additives and flavors & fragrances among others. Dodecanol can be compounded with many functional groups which impart special properties to it and set it apart from the pure form of dodecanol.



The end use of dodecanol can be classified into four broad categories, namely, personal care, household detergents, industrial & hard surface cleaning and other uses. Under personal care, dodecanol can be used in its pure form or as alcohol ethoxylate or as esters or as quaternary ammonium salts. The end uses for these forms of dodecanol are creams, lotions, skin products, bath oils, lipsticks, medicated cosmetics and sunscreen agents. For use in these products, dodecanol acts as a thickener, carrier, opacifier, anti static and sheen agent. For use in household and industrial detergents, dodecanol acts as a dispersant, foam controller, wetting agent, foam stabilizer and germicidal carrier. It finds application in laundry products, wool washing, scouring cleaner and fabric softener. For use in other industries like textiles, leather, plastics, pharmaceuticals and paper, dodecanol imparts properties such as that of a leveling agent, bacteriostat, water evaporation retardant, coupling agent, plasticizer and anti corrosion agent. In addition to this, lauryl alcohol ethoxylate which is a derivative of dodecanol can be used for silicon and wax emulsification, in colorants manufacturing and electroplating industry. Out of all these applications, dodecanol has widespread application in the surfactants market. Besides imparting fragrance, dodecanol also acts as a carrier, thickener and foam controller. These properties make it an excellent and irreplaceable ingredient for surfactants.



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The major players in the market of dodecanol are SIGMA-ALDRICH Corporation, Chemos GmbH, Merck Schuchardt OHG, Leap Labchem Co., Ltd, Jinan Haohua Industry Co., Ltd., AK Scientific, Inc., Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Haihang Industry Co., Ltd., East Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, Symrise AG, Magna-Kron Corp., Shanghai IS Chemical Technology Ltd., Seidler Chemical Co., Inc., CellMark USA, LLC and Mosselman S.A among others.New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- The latest report Electric Car Battery Pack Market discusses everything a business owner needs to know about the Electric Car Battery Pack market for the forecast period, 2019 to 2026. The document offers an insight into what the target customer's needs and wants. Industry experts have extracted data from various sources on size, share, growth rate, production volume, production capacity, import and export status, distribution channels and more and have analysed it thoroughly. By properly assessing the competitors and their offerings the study aims at empowering business owners to step ahead.



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Scope of the Report:

The research methodologies used for evaluating the Electric Car Battery Pack 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 Electric Car Battery Pack market are:

BYD, Panasonic, CATL, OptimumNano, LG Chem, GuoXuan, Lishen, PEVE, AESC, Samsung, Lithium Energy Japan, Beijing Pride Power, BAK Battery, WanXiang, Hitachi, ACCUmotive, Boston Power



Market split by Type, can be divided into:

- Lithium Ion Battery

- NI-MH Battery

- Other Battery



Market split by Application, can be divided into:

- PHEVs

- BEVs



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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.



Estimating the potential size of the Electric Car Battery Pack industry:

Industry experts conducting the study further estimate the potential of the Electric Car Battery Pack industry. Such information is important for firms looking to launch an innovative service or product on the market. Industry experts have measured the total volume of the given market. Researchers have calculated the industry in terms of sales by the competitors and end-user  customers. Data on the entire size of the Electric Car Battery Pack market for a particular product or a service for the forecast period, 2019 to 2026 covered in the report makes it valuable. This information reveals the upper limit of the Electric Car Battery Pack industry for a specific product or service.



The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What is the estimated growth rate of the Electric Car Battery Pack 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 Electric Car Battery Pack 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 Electric Car Battery Pack 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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There are 10 Chapters to deeply display the global Electric Car Battery Pack market.

- 1 Electric Car Battery Pack Market Overview

- 2 Global Electric Car Battery Pack Market Competition by Manufacturers

- 3 Global Electric Car Battery Pack Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2019)

- 4 Global Electric Car Battery Pack Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2019)

- 5 Global Electric Car Battery Pack Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

- 6 Global Electric Car Battery Pack Market Analysis by Application

- Continue



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Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.comNorthbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/02/2019 -- The report "Electronic Films Market by Film Type (Non-Conductive and Conductive), Material Type (Polymer, ITO on Glass, ITO on Pet, and Metal Mesh), Application (Electronic Display, PCB, and Semiconductors), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" The electronic films market is expected to grow from USD 7.6 billion in 2018 to USD 10.2 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period. The properties of electronic films such as chemical resistance, high-temperature tolerance, low coefficient of friction, optical transparency, conductivity, UV & weather resistance, fouling resistance, moisture resistance, high insulation, non-flammable properties, low surface energy, and low dielectric constant are driving the market.



Browse 44 market data Tables and 45 Figures spread through 121 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Electronic Films Market - Global Forecast to 2023"



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The non-conductive electronic films to account for the largest market share in 2018

Non-conductive film type to account for the largest market share due to its high demand from electronic display, PCBs, and semiconductors applications. These films are known for their significant physical properties such as high-temperature tolerance, low coefficient of friction, chemical inertness, weather/UV resistance, and negligible moisture absorption. High demand for non-conductive electronic films from electronic display, PCBs, and semiconductor manufacturers is driving the market. The upcoming 5G in China by 2020 and adoption of digital signage will boost the demand for PCBs and electronic display.



Polymer to be the largest material type segment of the electronic films market during the forecast period

The polymer material type is estimated to dominate the electronic films market in during the forecast period because the films based on this material are used in various applications such as electronic display, semiconductors, and PCBs, whereas films based on other materials are mainly used in electronic displays. Furthermore, the use of polymer material type is expected to rise in the future due to upcoming 5G in China by 2020 and rapid use of PCB in automotive electronics.



Electronic display to be the largest application of electronic films during the forecast period

Electronic display to be the largest application, in terms of value, during the forecast period. There is a rising preference for large screen size LCDs in residential and commercial destinations. Large screen size LCDs have a larger surface area, and this leads to higher consumption of electronic films. Digital signage uses technologies such as LCD and LED in public spaces, stadiums, retail stores, hotels, and restaurants. The demand for digital signage is increasing due to the flourishing retail industry. Furthermore, over the past few years, display technology has undergone radical changes, which has led to the increased adoption of OLED (organic light emitting diode), QDLED (quantum dot light emitting diode), and EPD (electronic paper display) technologies.



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APAC is expected to be the largest market for electronic films during the forecast period.

APAC dominated the electronic films market as the countries, such as China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan are the leading producers of electronics. China is the world's largest producer of electronics. Currently, the global electronics and LCD display market is dominated by China, Japan, and South Korea, in terms of production and revenue. The low manufacturing cost due to government incentives has encouraged electronics producers in other regions to establish manufacturing facilities in APAC. According to the International Trade Centre (ITC), Hong Kong is one of the largest electronics exporters in the region. In 2016, Hong Kong's electronics exports constituted 17% of Asia's total exports.



The major players in the electronic films market include DowDuPont (US), Toray Industries Inc. (Japan), Gunze (Japan), Nitto Denko Corporation (Japan), Saint-Gobain S.A. (France), The Chemours Company (US), Toyobo Co, Ltd. (Japan), Teijin Ltd. (Japan), TDK Corporation (Japan), and 3M (US).



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Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.



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sales@marketsandmarkets.com(Chinanews.com / Photo by Zhai Yujia )

An expected 68.2 million railway trips will take place in China from April 30 to May 4, an increase of 6.73 million year-on-year, with an average of 13.64 million passengers per day, or an increase of 10.9 percent.

China Railway Corporation, operator of the countrys rail network, will go to all lengths to ensure safe and convenient travel for passengers during the International Labor Day holiday.

To accommodate the four-day holiday rush, the company will add 539 pairs of high-speed trains and 156.5 pairs of ordinary trains.

As more tourist cities in China now have access to high-speed rail, traveling by high-speed train has become increasingly fashionable, according to the China Railway Corporation.

The company also offers 34 pairs of direct trains from some large and medium-sized cities to popular tourist cities, including Zhangjiajie, Wuyishan and Dunhuang.Selbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- U.S. electrophysiology market valued over USD 1.3 billion in 2017 and is estimated to follow similar trend during the forecast period owing to high technological adoption in the country coupled with increasing research activities pertaining to development of new ablation techniques. Presence of industry leaders, undertaking numerous initiatives to sustain market competition will positively impact U.S. electrophysiology market growth.



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Rising prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation along with rising number of baby boomers will drive electrophysiology market. Incidence of atrial fibrillation increases with age; hence growing geriatric population base will act as high impact rendering factor for electrophysiology market. Electrophysiology Market will reach over USD 6.5 billion by 2024; as per a new research report.



Technological advancements pertaining to advancing mapping, navigational and ablation techniques used in electrophysiology should accelerate EP devices adoption rate during the forecast period. Furthermore, on-going clinical studies focusing on developing innovative ablation solutions will positively impact business growth.



EP diagnostic catheters product segment is estimated to witness around 5.4% CAGR during the forecast period owing to rising awareness about cardiovascular diseases and growing preference towards early disease diagnosis and treatment. Application of diagnostic catheters in cardiac ablation procedures as well as procedures not involving ablation such as pacemaker, or CRT device implantation will further drive business growth.



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Based on indication, electrophysiology industry is segmented into atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, atrial tachycardia, atrial flutter, WOLFF-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, and atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia. Increasing prevalence of ventricular tachycardia will drive ventricular tachycardia segment growth. As per the American Heart Association, ventricular tachycardia is responsible for most of the sudden cardiac deaths in the U.S.



Japan electrophysiology market is primarily driven by growing geriatric population base and rising number of people suffering from chronic conditions including cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes. Government support coupled with technological advancements in EP devices will further drive Japanese electrophysiology industry.



Few notable industry players operating in electrophysiology market include Biotronik SE & Co. KG, Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, Koninklijke Philips, Magnetecs Corporation, Japan Lifeline, Stereotaxis, Topera, Boston Scientific Corporation, GE Healthcare, Microport Scientific Corporation, Medtronic, and Siemens AG. Market players are currently focusing on geographical expansion by adopting various strategies such as acquisition, merger, strategic collaboration and partnership to gain significant market share and sustain market competition.



Table of Content:



Chapter 1. Methodology



1.1. Methodology



1.2. Market definitions



1.3. Forecast parameters



1.4. Data sources



1.4.1. Secondary



1.4.1.1. Paid sources



1.4.1.2. Unpaid sources



1.4.2. Primary



Chapter 2. Executive Summary



2.1. Electrophysiology industry 360 degree synopsis, 2013 - 2024 (USD Million)



2.1.1. Business trends



2.1.2. Product trends



2.1.3. Indication trends



2.1.4. Regional trends



Chapter 3. Electrophysiology Industry Insights



3.1. Industry segmentation



3.2. Industry landscape, 2013 - 2024



3.3. Industry impact forces



3.3.1. Growth drivers



3.3.1.1. Increasing prevalence of atrial fibrillation



3.3.1.2. Technological advancements in electrophysiology devices



3.3.1.3. Increasing preference for electrophysiology catheter ablation



3.3.2. Industry pitfalls and challenges



3.3.2.1. High investment for EP devices



3.3.2.2. Dearth of skilled professionals in emerging nations



3.4. Growth potential analysis



3.4.1. By product



3.4.2. By indication



3.5. Porter's analysis



3.6. Regulatory landscape



3.7. Competitive landscape



3.7.1. Strategy dashboard



3.8. PESTEL analysis



Chapter 4. Electrophysiology Market, By Product



4.1. Key segment trends



4.2. EP ablation catheters



4.2.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)



4.2.2. Radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheters



4.2.2.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)



For more information on this report at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/electrophysiology-market/?utm_source=releasewire.com-SP



Related Report:



2018 Global Diagnostic Electrophysiology (EP) Catheters Industry Report - History, Present and Future



The global market size of Diagnostic Electrophysiology (EP) Catheters is $XX million in 2017 with XX CAGR from 2013 to 2017, and it is expected to reach $XX million by the end of 2023 with a CAGR of XX% from 2018 to 2023.



https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/2018-global-diagnostic-electrophysiology-ep-catheters-industry-report-history-present-and-future?utm_source=RR-SP



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Blog: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- The eye testing equipment is used to determine defects or the abnormalities in the eyes. The eye testing equipment is also used to analyze eye disease. Considerable growth in the occurrence of eye-related syndromes particularly cataract and glaucoma across the globe has played a significant role in fuelling the growth of eye testing equipment market.



The eye testing equipment market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, due to the important factors such as increasing awareness towards eye care, high expenditure one eye related treatments, high need for ophthalmology instruments and equipment and availability of better eye treatments in hospitals. The extensive use of eye examination devices create growth opportunities for the eye testing equipment market.



Report Highlights:

Detailed overview of parent Eye testing equipment market

Changing Eye testing equipment 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 of Eye testing equipment Market

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



Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-8668



Increasing Need for Eye Checkups to Create High Demand for Eye Testing Equipment



Optimists use highly computerized and sophisticated eye testing equipment for an eye examination. The eye testing equipment market has witnessed significant growth in the past few years due to the increase in the senior population and the increase in eye diseases. From the past few decades, there is increasing demand for the people suffering from glaucoma which results in loss of vision permanently.



As per American Optometric Association (AOA), the refractive errors such as astigmatism myopia, and presbyopia affected an estimated 185 million persons in North America in 2015.

Increase in frequency of eye diseases across the globe has led to a rise in the necessity of eye checkups and eye care. This is driving the growth rate of the global eye testing equipment market.



High R&D Investments for Upgrading Eye Testing Equipment

Manufacturers of the eye testing equipment are focusing on introducing the up graded and the enhanced eye testing equipment's for better treatments of people.



In 2018, NIDEK CO., LTD., one of the prominent Japan based manufacturer of eye testing equipment, introduced Ophthalmology instrument namely, Gonioscope GS-1 with angle detection, GEL immersion checkup, data storage and report export, along with liner and circular images of eye

These continuous launches by the manufacturers in eye testing equipment by investing funds in the Research & Development is efficiently fuelling the demand for the eye testing equipment market across the globe.



Eye Testing Equipment Market: Segmentation



The eye testing equipment market has been segmented on the basis of equipment type, application type, end use, and region.

Segmentation on the basis of equipment type:

Slit lamp

Perimeter

Bio meter

Tonometer

Fundus camera

Optical coherence tomography scanner

Auto refractor

Keratometer

Ophthalmoscope

Corneal Topography



Segmentation on the basis of application type:

General examination

Cataract

Glaucoma

Other Eye diseases



Segmentation on the basis of end use:

Hospitals

Clinics

Educational Institutes



Eye Testing Equipment Market: Competitive Landscape



The prominent key players of the eye testing equipment market are Carl Zeiss, Topcon Corporation, , Metall Zug AG, , Escalon, Nidek Co., Ltd., Novartis (Alcon), Heine Optotechnik, Luneau Technology, Heidelberg Engineering GmBH, Potec, BON Optic, Visionix, Tomey CorporationReichert Technologies, Huvitz, Canon, Essilor, and LuxVision.



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Eye Testing Equipment Market: Regional Overview



On the basis of geography, North America is capturing the largest market share in the eye testing equipment market owing to increase in healthcare expenditure by the government and the manufacturers. Europe is also expected to hold major share of the market owing to rise in awareness related to treatment of cataract and effective diagnosis and eye checkups.Also, the Asia Pacific Excluding Japan is expected to witness a high growth in eye testing equipment market in the forecast period. Due to an increase in eye diseases and the increasing need for better treatment. Along with that, the development of eye testing equipment market in Middle East Africa is moderate due to the increase in a number of hospitals and eye testing equipment manufacturing industries in the region. These factors are capably driving the growth of the eye testing equipment market around the globe in the forecast period.Rockville, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- Carotid stenting system is a non-surgical, percutaneous procedure, generally indicated for improving the lumen diameter of carotid arteries patients considered at high risk for strokes or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). As the procedure of carotid stenting systems is less invasive and better tolerated, they are considered to safe and effective alternative to surgical procedures for the treatment of carotid occlusive disease in patients who are at high surgical risk or inoperable. These factors are likely to augment the development of carotid stenting systems market.



In the recent years, there has been increase in the number of patients with cardiovascular disease such as coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis, primarily due to aging, pollution, smoking, changing lifestyle habits, and others. This has led to surge in the demand for carotid stenting systems and complementing the expansion of its market across the globe. Prevention and treatment methods of carotid occlusive disease are also being in low- and medium-economies which is expected to fuel growth of carotid stenting systems market. These systems lower the risk that usually prevails in conventional surgical treatment. Further, adoption of technological advancement and new innovations to improve the treatment will possibly shape the future of carotid stenting systems market.



Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is an endovascular procedure to treat narrowing of the carotid artery, which reduces the risk of transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) or strokes. It involves the placement of a stent in the carotid artery to treat narrowing of the carotid artery and decreases the risk of stroke. A stent is a metal or plastic tube inserted into the lumen of the carotid artery to avoid its narrowing and thereby keeping the passageway open for blood flow. Carotid stenting is the preferred therapy for patients, who do not want to undergo carotid surgery.



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Carotid Stenting Systems Market: Drivers and Restraints



The increasing graph of cardiac diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary artery diseases driven by growing risk factors such as high consumption of cholesterol rich foods, sedentary lifestyles, substance abuse, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure is the key driver for the growth of the global carotid stenting systems market. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common heart disease in the U.S. and is the leading cause of deaths, claiming over 370,000 lives annually.



Technological advancement in stents such as drug eluting stents, use of biodegradable, and bio-absorbable materials for stent construction, improvements in stent design such as bifurcated stents and others are driving the growth of the global carotid stenting systems market owing to greater efficiency and efficacy. Improvements in implantation techniques and development of complementary technologies such as real-time diagnostic imaging such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and others have resulted in greater confidence and concurrent number of stenting procedures performed. Another advancement is the development of stent coatings to combat stent-based trauma, and restenosis.



The restraining factors of the global carotid stenting systems market are high cost of the procedure, risk of infection and stent failure, thrombosis, restenosis or the re-narrowing of the arteries, and lack of of trained manpower and specialty hospitals. The global carotid stenting systems market also faces competition from balloon angioplasty, coronary angioplasty, and carotid endarterectomy.



Carotid Stenting Systems Market: Segmentation



The global carotid stenting systems market is segmented based on components, route of administration, animal models, clinical indications, study design, and region.



Based on material of construction, the global carotid stenting systems market is divided into the following:



Bare Metal Stents

Stainless Steel

Nickel titanium

Cobalt Chromium

Others

Polymers

Poly- lactide/glycolide acid

Polycaprolactone

Others

Others

Based on configuration, the global carotid stenting systems market is divided into the following:



Open Cell

Closed Cell

Based on specialty, the global carotid stenting systems market is divided into the following:



Bio Absorbable and Biodegradable Stent

Drug Eluting Stent

Radioactive stents

Others

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Carotid Stenting Systems Market: Overview



The global market for carotid stenting systems is consolidated with a few large players dominating the scene. The market trends include a definite shift in favor of developing regions of Asia Pacific, such as India and China. There is also a strong trend of collaboration between large hospitals and third party payers owing to growing adoption of healthcare insurance.



Carotid Stenting Systems Market: Regional Outlook



The global carotid stenting systems market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to account a large share in the global carotid stenting systems market owing to concentration of key market players, consolidation of healthcare, and large research and development expenditure.



The Asia Pacific excluding Japan carotid stenting systems market is expected to grow at a significant CAGR owing to growing healthcare expenditure. China and India are expected to drive a lion's share of the market growth owing to growing healthcare infrastructure and expenditure. The expanding number of cases owing to growing risk factors is another driver of the market. Europe carotid stenting systems market is expected to be led by Germany, France and the U.K. The Middle East and Africa carotid stenting systems market is expected to be skewed in favor of the gulf economies of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. The development of large medical complexes such as the King Fahd Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, coupled with the large public healthcare share of which is approximately 75 % of the total healthcare expenditure is expected to drive the market for carotid stenting systems in the MEA.



Carotid Stenting Systems Market: Key Players



Examples of some of the major players operating in the global carotid stenting systems market are Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cardinal Health Company, Medtronic, Silk Road Medical, InspireMD, Balton Sp. z o. o., etc. Collaboration between players and strategic business partnerships are the strategies that can yield premium.



The global carotid stenting systems 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 carotid stenting systems 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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Read Industry News at - http://theguardiantribune.comNew York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- A new market assessment report on Grinding Mills market provides a comprehensive overview of Grinding Mills 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 Grinding Mills market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026.



Request for Sample Copy of Grinding Mills Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/32952



Scope of the Report:

This industry assessment for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026 incorporates projections pertaining to the investment feasibility, gross margin, profits, consumption volume, production capability and major market vendors. Likewise, statistics associated with the competitive landscape, shifting consumer behaviour and spending power is showcased and well-explained with the help of treasured resources such as charts, graphs and graphic images, which can be easily incorporated in the business or corporate presentations.



Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers:

Sweco, Metso, Outotec, Retsch, DCD, FLSmidth, Furukawa, KHD Humboldt Wedag, Gebr. Pfeiffer, MIKRONS, CITIC HIC, Shenyang Metallurgy, Liaoning Provincial Machinery, Zhongde Heavy Industry, Henan Hongji Mine, Hongxing Machinery, Pengfei Group, Fote Heavy Machinery, Shanghai Minggong



Market split by Type, can be divided into:

- Wet Grinding Mills

- Dry Grinding Mills



Market split by Application, can be divided into:

- Metal Mining

- Mineral Mining

- Others



Major Regions that plays a vital role in Grinding Mills market are:

- North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

- Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.)

- Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

- South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.)

- Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.)



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Subject matter experts conducting the study also take a closer look at the products at their development stage and in the pipeline to help business owners conclude on the business strategies that can lower their cost and promise great returns or profits. Strong emphasis on new launches, acquisition and mergers, collaboration, import and export status and supply chain management empowers the business evangelists, manufacturers and business owners build a robust strategy when it comes to making an investment.



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.



Extensive data on market segmentation:

The Grinding Mills Market 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.



Estimating the potential size of the Grinding Mills industry

Industry experts conducting the study further estimate the potential of the Grinding Mills industry. Such information is important for firms looking to launch an innovative service or product on the market. Industry experts have measured the total volume of the given market. Researchers have calculated the industry in terms of sales by the competitors and end-user  customers. Data on the entire size of the Grinding Mills market for a particular product or a service for the forecast period, 2019 to 2026 covered in the report makes it valuable. This information reveals the upper limit of the Grinding Mills industry for a specific product or service.



The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What is the estimated growth rate and market share and size of the Grinding Mills market for the forecast period 2019 - 2026?

- What are the driving forces in the Grinding Mills market for the forecast period 2019 - 2026?

- Who are the prominent market players and how have they gained a competitive edge over other competitors?

- What are the market trends influencing the progress of the Grinding Mills industry worldwide?

- What are the major challenges and threats restricting the progress of the industry?

- What opportunities does the market hold for the prominent market players?



Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/grinding-mills-market



There are 10 Chapters to deeply display the Grinding Mills market.



Chapter 1 covers the Grinding Mills 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 Grinding Mills, for the period 2019- 2026;



Continue



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Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.comNew York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- The latest market research report titled Immunoassay Analyzers market offers a detailed evaluation of the market situation within a specific geographic region. This Immunoassay Analyzers 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 Immunoassay Analyzers Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/32957



Scope of the Report:

The research methodologies used for evaluating the Immunoassay Analyzers 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 Immunoassay Analyzers market are:

Beckman Coulter, Inc., BioRad, Siemens Healthcare, Roche Diagnostics, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Luminex Corporation, Meril Life Sciences, Abbott Laboratories, Randox Laboratories, Becton Dickinson and Company, Aesku Diagnotics, BioMerieux, Arlington Scientific, Carolina Liquid Chemistries Corporation, Biokit, Perkin Elmer, Inova DX, Diasorin



Market split by Type, can be divided into:

- Immunofluorescence

- Chemiluminescence

- ELISA

- Enzyme Linked Fluorescent System

- Multiplexed Assay System

- Radioimmunoassay



Market split by Application, can be divided into:

- Infectious Diseases

- Endocrinology

- Drug Monitoring

- Cardiology

- Oncology

- Allergy Testing



Buy Immunoassay Analyzers Market Report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/32957



Major Regions play vital role in Immunoassay Analyzers market are:

- North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

- Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.)

- Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

- South America Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile etc.)

- Middle East & Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.)



The market intelligence study for the Immunoassay Analyzers 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.



Understanding the market size:

The size of the Immunoassay Analyzers market is viewed in terms of the Share of Market, Total Available Market as well as Served Available Market. Not only does the study present the combined revenue for a particular market but also the market size for a specific geographic region. Analysis of percentage or the size of the Total Available Market based on the type of product, technology, regional constraints and others form an important part of the Immunoassay Analyzers report.



Market share:

The report discovers market's total sale that is generated by a particular firms over a time period. Industry experts calculate share by taking into account the product sales over a period and then dividing it by the overall sales of the Immunoassay Analyzers 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 Immunoassay Analyzers 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.



The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What is the estimated size of the Immunoassay Analyzers market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026? What will be the growth rate of the industry during the estimated period?

- What are the prominent driving forces likely to impact the progress of the industry across different regions?

- Who are the major market players occupying a strong foothold in the Immunoassay Analyzers market? What are the winning strategies adopted by them to stay ahead in the competition?

- What are the potential opportunities for the Immunoassay Analyzers market for the forecast period, 2019 - 2026?



Read More @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/immunoassay-analyzers-market



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Market Expertz | Web: www.marketexpertz.comHarrisburg, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- Internet Search Portals Global Market Report 2019:

Internet Search Portals Market Global Report 2019 from The Business Research Company provides the strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global Internet Search Portals market. The Internet Search Portals market consists of the revenues generated from sales of advertising, subscriptions and advisory services by entities.



Click the link to get a free Sample Copy of the Report:

https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/03261159679/internet-search-portals-global-market-report-2019-including-covering-google-bing-baidu-ask-yahoo/inquiry?source=releasewire&Mode=28



Scope:

Companies Mentioned: Google, Bing, Baidu, Ask, Yahoo



Metrics Covered: Number of Enterprises, Number of Employees



Countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam



Regions: Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa



Time series: Five years historic and forecast.



Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets, GDP proportions, expenditure per capita, Internet Search Portals indicators comparison.



Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data, market share of competitors, market segments.



Sourcing and Referencing: Data and analysis throughout the report is sourced using end notes.



Browse the report description and TOC:

https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/03261159679/internet-search-portals-global-market-report-2019-including-covering-google-bing-baidu-ask-yahoo?source=releasewire&Mode=28



The internet search portals market consists of sales by entities (organizations, sole traders or partnerships) that operate web sites which provide a search engine to generate and maintain extensive databases of internet addresses and content in an easily searchable format. This industry includes internet search web sites and covers other additional Internet services internet search portals offer such as e-mail, connections to other web sites, auctions, news, other limited content and serves as a home base for Internet users. This market includes revenues from sales of advertisement and other services offered on its search portals.



North America was the largest region in the global internet search portals market, accounting for 33% of the market in 2018. Asia Pacific was the second largest region accounting for 32% of the global internet search portals market. Middle East was the smallest region in the global internet search portals market.



The competition for search traffic is significant amongst major players like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Strategic partnerships are seen amongst major competitors contributing a large share to their revenues. For instance, Apple uses Google as its default search engine which has contributed as much as $8.8 billion to annual revenues of Google and Yahoo switched to Microsoft Bing.



Get Flat 15% Discount:

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sales@marketinsightsreports.com | irfan@marketinsightsreports.comNew York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research "Global Market Study on Nano-Enabled Packaging For Food and Beverages: Intelligent Packaging to Witness Highest Growth by 2020", the global nano enabled packaging market for food and beverages industry was worth USD 6.5 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.7% during 2014 to 2020, to reach an estimated value of USD 15.0 billion in 2020.



A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/2809



The global progress in technologies is making lives simpler and safer. Nanotechnology is one such field which is dynamically progressing and is contributing to the development of several industries, including food and beverages packaging. Nano-enabled packaging gives longer shelf life to food and beverages as compared to traditional plastic packaging. Food and beverages packaging is done through two different technologies under nano-enabled packaging-active and intelligent packaging. Active packaging has a comparatively

larger market than intelligent packaging.



Intelligent packaging is growing at a faster rate as compared to the active packaging. Customers prefer traceable food and beverages packaging, since it offers information such as expiry date and best use period, present state of the consumables. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags keep customers informed about the state of the food within the packaging. Intelligent packaging is mostly used for fruits and vegetables, meat products, and beverages. Stricter regulations associated with active packaging have been stimulating the use of intelligent packaging in Europe and North America.



Intelligent packaging in the U.S. is growing mainly due to the increasing demand for fresh fruits and vegetables. Americans are shifting their breakfast preference from junk foods to fresh alternatives. The U.S. is one of the largest producers and exporters of cherries globally. With the ease in trade regulations, fruit exports of the U.S. have increased. In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that after ten years of negotiations, U.S. cherries can be exported to Western Australia, one of the most important markets for cherries. The increasing demand for intelligent packaging in international trade (especially in fruits) is laying out opportunities for this technology in food packaging.



The Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) proposed by FDA in 2011 is another growth indicator for intelligent packaging wherein the fresh produce, including fruits and vegetables, are required to be scientifically grown, harvested, packaged, and stored. The farm products that come in the act's domain are lettuce, spinach, cantaloupe, tomatoes, sprouts, mushrooms, onions, peppers, cabbage, citrus produce, strawberries, and walnuts.



Nano-enabled packaging finds its application in several industries, including bakery, meat, beverages, fruit and vegetables, prepared foods, and others. The increasing demand for meat products, beverages, vegetables, and prepared foods is expected to drive their respective nano-enabled packaging markets, while the market share of bakery products is expected to decline on account of the rapid growth of other application segments.



Nanotechnology is at a nascent stage and, therefore, usage of nano-enabled packaging is low in the food and beverages industry. Limited numbers of buyers have more leverage to negotiate with nanotechnology companies. On the other hand, there is a plethora of companies providing nano-enabled packaging solutions to the food and beverages industry.



To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/2809



Nano-enabled packaging market for food and beverage is very competitive with a large number of players offering an array of patented products. The major players in this industry include Amcor Limited, Bemis Company, Inc., Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, L.L.C., Klockner Pentaplast, Sealed Air, and Tetra Pak International S.A.New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- The latest market evaluation report on the Ophthalmology Drugs market explores how the Ophthalmology Drugs market will continue to expand for the forecast period 2018 - 2026. The study further serves as a unique research for stakeholders, product owners, and field marketing executives looking for actionable data and unique resource on market size, share, and growth. The market intelligence report gives business evangelists an authority to review the major trends, opportunities, and challenges expected to shape the future of the industry during the estimated period. Importantly, the study not only helps spot the major vendors but also their winning strategies. The real-time data accumulated through qualitative and quantitative research technique further help business owners determine where they stand in comparison to their region, country, and product category.



Request sample to get a list of companies@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/sample-enquiry-form/33026



Major Players in Ophthalmology Drugs market are:

- Novartis

- Regeneron

- Roche

- Bayer

- Allergan

- Shire

- Mallinckrodt



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.)



Ask for discount on the report @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/discount-enquiry-form/33026



Ophthalmology Drugs 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 Ophthalmology Drugs 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 Ophthalmology Drugs market



Market by Type

- Lucentis (ranibizumab)

- Eylea (aflibercept)

- Avastin (bevacizumab)

- Restasis (cyclosporine)

- Alphagan (brimonidine tartrate)

- Lumigan (bimatoprost)



Market by Application

- Chorioretinitis

- Choroiditis

- Retinitis

- Others



Knowing the trends influencing the industry performance

Stakeholders, marketing executives and business owners planning to refer a market research report can use this study to design their offerings and understand how competitors attract their potential customers and manage their supply and distribution channels. When tracking the trends researchers have made a conscious effort to analyze and interpret the consumer behaviour. Besides, the research helps product owners to understand the changes in culture, target market as well as brands so they can draw the attention of the potential customers more effectively.



Our trend analysts look for the crucial connection between consumer trends, behaviour and values, to provide context for the sectors, demographics and global themes that matter to you.



Purchase full Ophthalmology Drugs report through this link and get 15% free customization on the report@ https://www.marketexpertz.com/checkout-form/33026



The study dives deep into the profiles of top market players and their key financials. This comprehensive report is not only for business analysts and any existing and new entrant can use it when designing their business strategies. The research is one of its kind global analyses of aspects such as import and export status, supply chain management, profit and gross margin worldwide for the forecast period 2018 - 2026. Extensive coverage of statistics associated with recent events including acquisition and mergers and strengths and weaknesses of a company forms an important part of the study on the Ophthalmology Drugs market.



The research provides answers to the following key questions:

- What will be the market size and growth rate of the Ophthalmology Drugs market for the forecast period 2018 -2026 across different regions?

- What are the key driving forces expected to shape the future of the industry worldwide?

- What strategies are the prominent vendors adapting to stay ahead of their competitors?

- Which major trends are impacting the development of the Ophthalmology Drugs market worldwide?

- Which factors can hinder, challenge or even restrict the expansion of the Ophthalmology Drugs market worldwide?

- What are the opportunities or future prospect for the business owners operating in the market for the forecast period, 2018 - 2026?



Browse the report description @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/ophthalmology-drugs-market



Key Points From TOC

Chapter 8 Upstream and Downstream Analysis of Ophthalmology Drugs

8.1 Industrial Chain of Ophthalmology Drugs

8.2 Upstream of Ophthalmology Drugs

8.2.1 Raw Materials

8.2.2 Labor Cost

8.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses

8.2.4 Manufacturing Cost Structure

8.2.5 Manufacturing Process

8.3 Downstream of Ophthalmology Drugs

8.3.1 Leading Distributors/Dealers of Ophthalmology Drugs

8.3.2 Leading Consumers of Ophthalmology Drugs



Chapter 9 Development Trend of Ophthalmology Drugs (2018-2026)

9.1 Global Ophthalmology Drugs Market Size (Sales and Revenue) Forecast (2018-2026)

9.2 Global Ophthalmology Drugs Market Size and CAGR Forecast by Region (2018-2026)

9.3 Global Ophthalmology Drugs Market Size and CAGR Forecast by Type (2018-2026)

9.4 Global Ophthalmology Drugs Market Size and CAGR Forecast by Application (2018-2026)

9.5 Global Ophthalmology Drugs Market Size Forecast by Sales Channel (2018-2026)



Continue



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News: www.marketexpertz.com/market-newsPhiladelphia, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- The leading Philadelphia auto accident lawyers at Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C. are available all year round to represent auto accident victims. This dedicated firm prides itself on its experienced lawyers, with even its most junior attorneys holding over a decade of experience. Their team of attorneys strategize every case so that all clients have a high level of advocacy on their side.



Clients receive counseling and guidance after a car accident. It is important to seek legal advice after an accident because, unfortunately, insurance companies will act quickly to spin the facts and find a way to deny the claim.



Also known as the "Philly Legal Eagles," the team at Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C. has cemented its reputation with over 40 years of service to the residents of New Jersey and Philadelphia. Clients of Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C, will also find a welcome alleviation of the typical stress of a personal injury lawsuit due to the firm's commitment to compassion and responsiveness.



The firm understands that, for clients, being kept up-to-date on the status and progress of their case is crucial. Attorneys at Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C. are always available to answer questions and provide guidance. Victims represented by Rizio, Hamilton & Kane will not pay the attorneys unless they themselves receive a settlement.



Those seeking a truck accident lawyer in Philadelphia, can click here to reach one of the firm's attorneys. Its team is at hand all year round to assist Philly residents with legal advice following an auto accident.



About Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C.

Since 1978, Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C. has been serving the Pennsylvania and New Jersey areas. As injury lawyers in the Philadelphia area, the attorneys at Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C. are always available to speak to their clients and promptly return phone calls if they are away from their desks. The Philadelphia lawyers of Rizio, Hamilton & Kane know that when one is in need of a personal injury attorney in Philadelphia, that person desires and deserves the personalized attention that Rizio, Hamilton & Kane, P.C. can provide.



To receive personalized attention and a free consultation, call the firm at their toll-free number 855-U-CAN-SUE or visit https://www.rizio-hamilton.com/.Local students are taught to drive train on a simulation machine. (Photo by Lyu Qiang from Peoples Daily)

Africas first Luban workshop, a Chinese program designed to provide state-of-the-art technical and vocational training around the world, was recently introduced in Djibouti.

The workshop will offer an opportunity to turn the dreams of more young people into reality.

To establish Luban workshops in Africa and offer vocational training for young Africans is a concrete measure to implement the eight major initiatives of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh attended the opening ceremony of the workshop. He sent his congratulations to the workshop, and said that the program would boost Djibouti's overall development by training the country's youth.

A Chinese teacher trains local students in railway gauge measurement. (Photo by Lyu Qiang from Peoples Daily)

Chinese technologies will bring innovation to Djiboutis education and inject new energy into the countrys development, Guelleh noted.

Chinese Ambassador to Djibouti, Zhuo Ruisheng, said that the Luban workshop marked a new chapter of China-Djibouti cooperation in regards to vocational education. He hopes that the two countries can join hands and build the workshop into another example of China-Africa cooperation and South-South Cooperation.

The workshop was built by Chinas Tianjin municipal government, Djiboutis Ministry of Education, Tianjin First College of Commerce, Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

Four programs related to railway and commerce have been established, and each student will receive three years of education.Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- According to a new market research report "Security as a Service Market by Component (Solutions and Services), Application Area (Network Security, Endpoint Security, Application Security, Cloud Security), Organization Size, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the security as a service market size is expected to grow from USD 7.6 billion in 2018 to USD 16.5 billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.9% during the forecast period. The key factors driving the security as a service market include mandate to follow regulatory and data protection laws, increase in demand for cloud-based security solutions, and high cost and risks in managing on-premises security solutions.



The mandate to follow regulatory and data protection laws, high cost and risks in managing on-premises security solutions, and increase in demand for cloud-based security solutions are the main drivers of the market.



Browse and in-depth TOC on "Security as a Service Market"

78  Tables

36 - Figures

158 - Pages



Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=132531603



The Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) segment to account for the highest market share in 2018



Security and vulnerability management is the procedure in which vulnerabilities in IT are identified and the risks of these vulnerabilities are assessed. It is a proactive approach to secure sensitive data by eliminating the weaknesses of the network security, which include contingent cyber threats, such as dormant malware attack and other advanced invasion techniques. The process includes the checking and identification of risks, along with mitigation and patching of the unwanted software program. Businesses rely on the solution to quickly assess and prioritize the vulnerabilities, along with scanning the network asset information, security configuration, and threat intelligence. With the increasing instances of cyber-attacks, Internet of Things (IoT) and connected device vulnerabilities, and growing pressure from cybersecurity regulations, the SIEM segment is expected to garner the highest revenue during the forecast period.



The application security segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period



Application security solutions and services enable enterprises to secure their business-sensitive applications through greater visibility, control, and the use of existing security solutions, such as Identity and Access Management (IAM), web filtering, and application whitelisting, which enable the security of enterprise applications and software codes from external and internal threats, including web attacks, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), site scraping, and frauds. Business-sensitive applications are one of the primary targets of attackers, as they carry information about critical assets, as well as processes that are followed by an enterprise. Cloud-based application security solutions and services are providing cost-effective and scalability functionality to customers which is thereby inducing high growth in this market.



The BFSI vertical is expected to maintain the leading position in terms of revenue generation during the forecast period



Increased instances of spyware/keylogger, Trojans, viruses, ransomware, and other malware in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) vertical are driving the adoption of security as a service solutions. The BFSI vertical is also a major target for cybercriminals, as it holds sensitive information of employees, customers, assets, offices, branches, and operations. Furthermore, with stricter regulations, and increasing instances of frauds and cyber-attacks, the need for real-time detection and protection from advanced threat, and brand protection is driving the growth of the security as a service market in the BFSI vertical.



Speak to Analyst @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=132531603



North America is expected to account for the largest market size during the forecast period



North America is expected to account for the largest market size in the overall security as a service market during the forecast period. The increase in the number of IoT and connected devices and vulnerabilities associated with them are some of the factors driving the adoption of security as a service solutions and services. The presence of many security as a service vendors, as well as, widespread awareness about these solutions would continue to account for the region's highest market share during the forecast period.



The security as a service market comprises major solution providers, such as McAfee (US), Trend Micro (Japan), Zscaler (US), International Business Machines Corporation (US), Microsoft (US), Clearswift (UK), Alert Logic (US) Cygilant (US), Barracuda Networks (US), Panda Security (Spain), Stratejm (Canada), Radware (China), Mindsight (US), Sentinel Technologies (US), and Happiest Minds (India). The study includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the key players in the security as a service market, along with their company profiles, recent developments, and key market strategies.



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Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.comHampton Roads, VA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- As a company owned and operated by military veterans, Tarzan Tree Service is excited to give back to their community with comprehensive tree removal, maintenance, and other services. Their tree service company in Virginia Beach, VA is proud to announce that they are now accepting orders for new emergency and scheduled tree service to Virginians ahead of the upcoming spring season.



From trimming and pruning to emergency dead tree and limb removal, Tarzan Tree Service provides almost every tree service a property owner could need. Their veteran-owned company prides themselves on providing honest service to the hardworking men and women of Virginia, and they take the time to carefully explore all property maintenance and tree removal options before they begin work.



Tarzan Tree Service knows that an emergency or even a scheduled tree removal can put a major dent in any household or business budget  which is why their team always offers free quotes before they get started on any job. Free quotes and estimates help tree owners find a solution that works with their budgets and property needs, and the team at Tarzan Tree Service is more than happy to assist with any and all tree-related questions or needs.



Property owners who are looking to work with a more reliable tree service company in Chesapeake, VA know to rely on Tarzan Tree Service for fast responses, affordable pricing, and a job that's well-done, every single time. Anyone interested in learning more about the team at Tarzan Tree Services or who would like to schedule an appointment for service is encouraged to give them a call today at 757-204-1390 or to pay them a visit online at https://www.tarzantreevb.com to fill out a contact request form.



About Tarzan Tree Service, LLC

Tarzan Tree Service, LLC. is owned and operated by Alex Domino and Rob Lacerda, both military veterans. Since its inception in 2011, the company has served the Hampton Roads area by offering tree trimming, removal and stump grinding to the many wooded properties in the community.Edison , NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- Travel retail refers to selling of goods to international travelers on various locations which attracts tourism. Mostly, such products are sold at airports. Also, at boarders shops, duty free and travel retail are available. Considering the rise in number of air travelers, which is projected to be 7.2 billion by 2035, the demand for travel retail is expected to gain traction during forecasted year. According to Market Analyst at AMA, the Global Travel Retail market may see a growth rate of 8.6% and would reach the market size of USD155.8 Billion by 2025.



Advance Market Analytics recently introduced Travel Retail Market study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2024. Travel Retail 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.



Get Free PDF Sample Pages Of Travel Retail Market Report: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/87477-global-travel-retail-market



Major Key Players in This Report Include,

Aer Rianta International (Ireland), China Duty Free Group (China), DFASS Group (United States), DFS Group (Hong Kong), Dufry AG (Switzerland), Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG (Germany), King Power International Group (Thailand) and Lotte Group (South Korea)



The report focuses on Global Travel Retail Market major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What's more, the market development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.



On the basis of geography, the market of Travel Retail has been segmented into South America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America), Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Europe (Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Rest of Europe), MEA (Middle East, Africa), North America (United States, Canada, Mexico). If we see Market by Channel, the sub-segment i.e. Airport will boost the Travel Retail market. Additionally, the rising demand from SMEs and various industry verticals gives enough cushion to market growth.



The research methodology used to estimate and forecast the Travel Retail Market began with capturing data from the key vendors' revenue and market size of the individual segments through secondary sources, industry associations, and trade journals, such as the World Analytics Association and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. The bottom-up procedure was employed to arrive at the overall market size of the market from the individual segments. After arriving at the overall market size, the total market was split into several segments and sub segments, which were then verified through primary research by conducting extensive interviews with the key industry personnel, such as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Vice Presidents (VPs), directors, and executives. The data triangulation and market breakdown procedures were employed to complete the overall market engineering process and arrive at the exact statistics for all the segments and sub segments.



For Early Buyers | Get Up to 20% Discount on This Premium Report: https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/request-discount/87477-global-travel-retail-market



Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Travel Retail Market:

Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product Objective of Study and Research Scope the Travel Retail market

Chapter 2: Exclusive Summary  the basic information of the Travel Retail Market.

Chapter 3: Displaying the Market Dynamics- Drivers, Trends and Challenges of the Travel Retail

Chapter 4: Presenting the Travel Retail 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 Travel Retail 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, Travel Retail Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies.



Data Sources & Methodology



The primary sources involves the industry experts from the Travel Retail 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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sales@advancemarketanalytics.comHarrisburg, NC -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2019 -- The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the Yellow Fever Vaccines market and contains qualitative and quantitative insights, historical and forecasted data, competitor and regional analysis from 2014 to 2025. The research report provides analysis and information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types and applications.



Request a Free Sample Report before Purchase: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/04031169394/global-yellow-fever-vaccines-market-insights-forecast-to-2025/inquiry?source=releasewire&Mode=11



The report covers the profiles of major players in the global Yellow Fever Vaccines market such as: Bio-Manguinhos, Sanofi Pasteur, China National Biotec Group.



Yellow Fever Vaccines Market, by Types:

Powder

Liquid



Yellow Fever Vaccines Market, by Applications:

Hospitals

Clinics

Others



Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East & Africa.



Several important Key questions answer covered in this Yellow Fever Vaccines market research report:

- What is status of Yellow Fever Vaccines Market? -This Overview Includes Analysis of Scope, Prospect, Growth trend, Sales by regions, manufacturers, types and applications.

- What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?

- What is Yellow Fever Vaccines Market forecasts (2019-2025)?  Considering Sales, Revenue, Growth rate, Price and Trends for Regions, Types and Applications?

- Who Are Yellow Fever Vaccines Market Key Manufacturers?

- What will be the market size and the growth rate in 2025? -What are the key factors driving the global Yellow Fever Vaccines market?

- What are the key outcomes of the distinct analysis of the world Yellow Fever Vaccines Market-Analysis done by considering prime elements?



Browse Full Report: https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/04031169394/global-yellow-fever-vaccines-market-insights-forecast-to-2025?source=releasewire&Mode=11



The research includes historic data from 2014 to 2018 and forecasts until 2025 which makes the reports an invaluable resource for industry executives, marketing, sales and product managers, consultants, analysts, and other people looking for key industry data in readily accessible documents with clearly presented tables and graphs.



The study comprises a mix of data pertaining to the key restraints, drivers, competitive landscape, regulatory forces, key strategies implemented by the key players, and opportunities, expected to have a profound impact on the scope of growth of the market. A detailed analysis of these factors allows the report to present a reliable forecast regarding the future growth dynamics of the Yellow Fever Vaccines market.



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sales@marketinsightsreports.com | irfan@marketinsightsreports.comThe discovery of life on Mars would get pretty much everyone excited. But the scientists hunting for it would probably be happy no matter what the outcome of their search  whether life turned out to extinct, dormant or extant. Theyd even consider finding no evidence of life whatsoever to be an important discovery. But, as the saying goes, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and it will take many decades of detailed exploration of Mars to be reasonably sure that life has always been absent there.

There have been no direct observations of living organisms or fossils on Mars so far. But there are other types of evidence.

One of the most often cited is the controversial detection of methane in the planets atmosphere, first in 2004 and then in 2014. This could have been produced by some kind of past or present microbial lifeform. However, the abundance is so low that the data remain uncertain.

And in 2018, the team behind the European Space Agencys Trace Gas Orbiter said they had failed to discover any methane.

Now a new paper, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, reports a fresh detection of methane in the planets atmosphere, along with a theory of where it came from. But given how difficult it is to make reliable measurements of this gas, how confident can we be about the results?

Double detection

The new research used archived data acquired between 2012 and 2014 by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer aboard Mars Express, which studies the composition of the planets atmosphere through the infrared radiation that is reflected and emitted by the planet. This is the same instrument that first detected low levels of methane in Mars atmosphere in 2004.

The difference between the two sets of observations comes from the mode in which the spectrometer operated. In 2004, the data were acquired by the instrument looking through the atmosphere to the surface as Mars Express orbited the planet. In the new study, the instrument was pointed at a single surface feature, and tracked the feature as the spacecraft orbited.

The significance of the data arises from the feature that the team selected to track: the Gale Crater. This, of course, is the site where the Curiosity rover is operating  and where the Tunable Laser Spectrometer on board Curiosity detected elevated levels of methane in 2014.

The spectrometer on Mars Express was tracking the Gale Crater before, during and after Curiositys detection. Excitingly, it also detected elevated levels of methane in the region  the first time that a simultaneous detection of methane at the surface and in the atmosphere has occurred. This, perhaps, makes the new measurement more reliable than the previous detections.

The researchers also attempted to pinpoint the source of methane using a grid-mapping technique. They created computer models of emission scenarios in each grid and also looked at geological features in each place to see if there were potential sources of methane. They inferred that the methane was released from a region to the east of Gale Crater and that the most likely origin of the gas was seepage of along faults in ice beneath the surface.

Finding where the methane came from is only a stage in determining how it formed. Importantly, there are many mechanisms other than living organisms that could have produced it, for example geological processes. For example, a geological event may have fractured the ice containing bubbles of methane to release it into the atmosphere.

But the new study does not attempt to make any conclusions about the origin of the methane. However, the authors do comment that their findings, especially in corroborating the Curiosity data, suggest that the methane release is more likely to be by small, short events, rather than episodic large exhalations. Indeed, it could be speculated that small events are more likely than large ones if Mars turns out to experience the marsquakes (similar to an earthquake) that the Insight mission is programmed to detect.

So whatever the source, it does seem there may be methane on Mars after all. However, well need further confirmation to be completely sure. Fortunately, fresh findings are most likely to be available soon. The team that failed to discover methane with the Trace Gas Orbiter has been analysing new data for several months.

As it has an extremely sensitive detector for methane on board, it is anticipated that continued data collection over the next few years will give a much better picture on whether there is a seasonal, or an episodic variation in atmospheric methane. Or it could reveal that it is just an illusory will-o-the-wisp.

_____

Marco Giuranna et al. Independent confirmation of a methane spike on Mars and a source region east of Gale Crater. Nature Geoscience, published online April 1, 2019; doi: 10.1038/s41561-019-0331-9



Author: Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.Along with Greece, Egypt and Cyprus held a joint military drill in November 2018 on the Greek island of Crete

Egypt's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohamed Farid discussed boosting military and security cooperation with Cyprus during talks Tuesday with visiting chief of the Cypriot National Guard.

An official reception ceremony was held for Lieutenant General Elias Leontaris at the Egyptian Ministry of Defence in Cairo, with military music and the national anthems of the two countries played, Egypt's military said in a statement late Tuesday.

The two officials discussed developments in the region and ways to bolster security and military cooperation between the armed forces of both countries.

Leontaris was quoted in the statement as saying that he looks forward to increasing the number of joint military exercises with Egypt.

The two countries, along with Greece, held a joint military drill in November 2018 on the Greek island of Crete that involved air and navy forces.





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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi held talks on Wednesday with visiting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on international efforts to end crises in the Arab region, MENA reported.

The talks focused on efforts to settle the crises in Syria, Libya and Yemen, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at a joint press conference with the UN chief after the meeting.

The two sides also discussed efforts to solve the Palestinian issue on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions and the two-state solution, Shoukry said.

The FM also lauded efforts exerted by the UN chief that served to further peace and security in Africa.

On the upcoming visit by El-Sisi to the the US next week, Shoukry said that El-Sisi will discuss with US President Donald Trump the strategic relations between the two countries in the various fields as well as the situation in the region.

El-Sisi will highlight in his meeting with Trump Egypt's stance on the necessity of observing international legitimacy regarding the Golan Heights as part of Syria that can not be seized by Israel.

Trump recently recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

The Egyptian-US talks will also review means of establishing stability in the region and fighting terrorism.

During the press conference, Guterres confirmed that Egypt is playing a major role in Libya and that Egypt and the UN are cooperating to prevent a confrontation between warring parties in Libya and achieve stability there.

The UN chief said that he will head from Egypt to Libya to hold talks on the situation in the North African country.

As for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Guterres lauded Egypt's efforts to stop escalation in the Gaza Strip and extend relief assistance to the Palestinian strip.

Guterres also noted that Egypt and the UN are working to implement the two-state solution with Jerusalem as a capital for both states. He noted that his talks with President El-Sisi took up the situation in Syria and means of reaching a settlement that is based on United Nations Security Council resolution 2254.

The talks also touched on the situation in Yemen.

As for efforts to fight terrorism, Guterres added that a summit meeting will be held in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss fighting terrorism in Africa.

The UN chief said that no state can settle the problem of terrorism on its own, adding that cooperation between Egypt and the UN on this score is based on three points; peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.

On Trump's decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Guterres said that the UN is of the position that any resolution should respect Syrian sovereignty over its territories, including the Golan.

"We affirm Syrian sovereignty over the occupied Golan," he said.

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On the 40th anniversary of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi is in Washington to pay tribute to Anwar Al-Sadat and consult on possible scenarios for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement

President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis scheduled three-day visit to the US capital next week will have Middle East peace as its underlining theme.

According to a White House statement issued during the last week of March, US President Donald Trump will meet Al-Sisi in the Oval Office on 9 April for talks that will cover 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.

According to an Egyptian diplomatic source, this will of course include the issue of the Trump peace plan that we expect to finally be announced in the coming weeks.

Al-Sisis meeting with Trump will coincide with Israeli elections. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu is running against Benny Gatz, a popular former general, though in the assessment of informed Washington and Cairo sources Netanyahu remains the frontrunner, and Trump is expected to unveil the final draft of his administrations peace plan once the elections are over and a new Israeli government formed.

The same sources agree that during their Oval Office meeting Trump will brief Al-Sisi on the content of the final version of the peace document and that Al-Sisi will confirm his commitment to promoting Middle East peace.

In his statement before the Arab Summit in Tunis on Sunday Al-Sisi reminded participants of the Arab peace initiative first offered in 2002 and said the Arabs hand is still reaching out with and for peace.

Some Arab leaders who took part in the summit, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, have shunned US mediation, insisting Trump was too biased towards Israel to act as a peace broker, though Cairo, according to an Egyptian diplomatic source, is still willing to invite Abbas for talks following Al-Sisis return from Washington, to share and consult on the updates.

We will be talking to all parties though we realise it is a very difficult situation, said the Egyptian diplomatic source. He added that whatever the possible shortcomings of the Trump deal it is better to try to get something than have nothing.

We need to start at some point and then try to improve the terms of the deal as we go along. Thats how peace deals are done.

President Al-Sisi is also expected to attend a ceremony at the US Congress to honour late president Anwar Al-Sadat on the 40th anniversary of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty which Sadat signed with the then Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at the White House on 26 March 1979.

Sadat family members, and probably his widow Jihan, will be present for the ceremony and the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal.

A congressional delegation visited Cairo in February to invite Al-Sisi to take part in the ceremony though, according to the Egyptian diplomatic source, President Al-Sisi only agreed to attend the event after it was confirmed that his schedule and that of President Trump would allow for a bilateral meeting to discuss Middle East peace, overall regional developments and bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri, in Washington to discuss the details of Al-Sisis visit, received confirmation that the meeting would go ahead.

During his talks in Washington Shoukri also received assurances that Al-Sisis presence in Congress will not be overshadowed by any comments made by participating Congressmen on the domestic situation in Egypt.

During his talks in Washington President Al-Sisi will affirm that he is committed to a process of reform that will be decided by the Egyptian people, including any amendments to the constitution done through parliament, said the diplomatic source.

While Washington sources do not expect Al-Sisi to face any heckling from Congressmen they do not preclude the issuing of some statements reflecting concern over developments in Egypt, though these could well be counter-balanced by praise from other quarters for Al-Sisis regional policies, especially in relation to promoting Arab-Israeli peace and encouraging closer cooperation with Israel. There are no plans, as yet, for a joint press conference of the two presidents.

Al-Sisi last met Trump in September on the fringe of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. In April 2017 Trump had received Al-Sisi at the White House in a meeting that officials on both sides described as cordial.

Over the last two years Egyptian officials have voiced concerns that relations with the US had not been as positive as Cairo had hoped.

They particularly complain about US hesitation over closer economic engagement and expanded military cooperation, and their disappointment was made clear to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his most recent visit to Egypt.

The Sisi-Trump meeting is expected to examine a broad range of regional issues, including the Trump initiative to launch a regional umbrella for American-Arab cooperation bringing together the US, Egypt, Jordan and the six GCC member states.

The Middle East Security Alliance (MESA) is intended to cover military, political and economic cooperation. Officials from the nine countries are still discussing its final framework. Their last meeting took place in Tampa, Florida, in March, and included the chiefs of staff of the nine states.

Developments in Syria will be high on the agenda of the meeting. Egypt has been actively pushing for the re-integration of the Syrian regime in the Arab League.

According to the Egyptian diplomatic source, during meetings in Cairo in March, with King Abdullah of Jordan and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi, Al-Sisi discussed the possibilities of re-admitting Syria to the Arab League. Both leaders were in favour, as is Tunisia, the current chair of the Arab Summit.

Al-Sisi is expected to brief the US administration of the outcome of these talks while in Washington in the hope of reducing US opposition to the rehabilitation of Bashar Al-Asssad.

Libya is also likely to feature on the agenda of the Sisi-Trump talks. According to the same Egyptian diplomatic source during his talks in Cairo in March with Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, a leading mediator in the Libya peace talks, Al-Sisi stressed the importance of ensuring a political balance in Libya that does not exaggerate the Islamists influence and secures an adequate power share for the military.

For Egypt, Libya is a crucial front in the war against terrorism, as is Syria, said the source.

It is inevitable that these issues will be on the agenda of the strategic Egyptian-American dialogue which, the diplomat says, should regain momentum this year after more than a decade of suspension.

Away from the Oval Office and Congress, Al-Sisi is expected to attend a gala dinner in Washington hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce where he will make a brief statement to encourage US investments in Egypt.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 April, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Reaching out for peace

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Doaa El-Bey reviews Egyptian-US relations ahead of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis visit to the US

We take the opportunity today to celebrate the progress we have made and to emphasise our unwavering dedication to pursuing a more comprehensive peace in the region that respects the dignity and security of all involved, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement after meeting last week in Washington with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri.

Shoukri was in Washington to prepare for President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis visit to the US, scheduled for next week.

Al-Sisis trip comes at a delicate moment. As 2017 came to a close US President Donald Trump acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

A few months later he moved the US Embassy to Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. Last month he decided to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

Speculation has also swirled around the so-called deal of the century  the Trump administrations plan, about which nothing is known apart from a few unconfirmed leaks, to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict  devised by Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, and White House Middle East peace negotiator Jason Greenblatt.

Ali Hefni, a former assistant to Egypts foreign minister, stresses that Egyptian-US relations remain strong. Both states, he says, have managed to cooperate in the past and coordinate their stands on pressing regional issues.

Unfortunately, Washingtons take on peace in the region is not helping. Egypts position is very clear: the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Golan are occupied Arab territories, as UN resolutions have repeatedly confirmed.

President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi restated Egypts position at this weeks Arab Summit in Tunisia, and is expected to press the point during his meeting with Trump next week.

One diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, worried about what Washington might do next. Egypt and other Arab states adhere to UN resolutions and the Arab peace initiative as the basis for resolving the conflict  ie they predicate normalising relations with Israel on the return of all occupied territories.

My worst fear is that soon there will not be any occupied territories to return, he said.

In last weeks two-day visit in which he met with Pompeo, senior US officials and members of Congress, Shoukri brought up the Golan Heights. In his meeting with Pompeo Shoukri said: Egypts stance towards the Golan Heights is consistent. The Golan is occupied Arab land, as recognised under international law and in UN resolutions.

The two officials discussed how to advance regional security and stability and agreed on intensifying political consultations.

Pompeo also congratulated Egypt on the 40th anniversary of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.

The Golan Heights and building peace in the region were also addressed during Shoukris meeting with US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez said Shoukri had underlined the Golan Heights status as occupied Arab land and held firm to the Egyptian position that a two-state solution must be implemented on the basis of the Arab peace initiative.

The Arab-Israeli peace settlement is not the only difference between Cairo and Washington. US aid to Egypt and Cairos human rights record are also contentious issues.

Egypt is the second largest recipient of US foreign assistance. Israel is the first.

Since the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty the US has provided Egypt with more than $40 billion in military aid and $30 billion in economic assistance.

In August 2017 the US withheld $200 million in aid because of alleged human right violations. The money was released a year later but the move is seen as a precedent. Some $1.38 billion has been requested for 2019.

Egypt has been accused repeatedly of violating human rights. Some commentators argue the allegations are exaggerated, inaccurate and politicised, and are a pretext to call for reducing aid to Egypt in order to pressure Cairo into adopting particular positions.

The two countries do seem to see eye-to-eye on combating terrorism and countering the Iranian hegemony.

Pompeo reiterated Washingtons commitment to countering terrorism and Iranian influence during his visit to Egypt in January.

In a controversial speech delivered at the American University in Cairo during his visit Pompeo said the Trump administration hopes to establish a coalition of GCC states, Egypt and Jordan as a counterweight to Irans regional ambitions.

In short, both countries may agree to differ on some issues but common interests and the will to keep the region stable compel them to cooperate, says Hefni.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 April, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Promoting mutual interest

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This years event, to be held from May 28-29, 2019 at the Domotel Kastri Conference Center, in Athens northern suburbs, will host over 30 senior cruise executives responsible for ports and destinations including MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Holland America Group, Disney Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines and Celestyal Cruises, among others.

CLIA European Ports Committee

Many of them will also participate at a meeting of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) European Ports and Destinations Advisory Committee, to be held at the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum for the first time and engage with the regions destination representatives on the exhibition floor and the events many networking opportunities.

Elisabetta De Nardo, VP Port Development, MSC Cruises and Chairman of CLIAs European Port & Destination Advisory Committee, said: Greece continues to be a region of great importance for the international cruise industry. In recent years, following geopolitical instability in other areas across the Mediterranean Sea, Greece has assumed an even more prominent role in Eastern Med cruise itineraries. I look forward to discussing the challenges and opportunities that we face with other stakeholders.

Second phase port privatisation

Some of these opportunities include the impending legislation that kicks-off the 2nd phase of the Greek ports privatisation process, effectively allowing investment in cruise terminal concessions across the country, a much-awaited move likely to increase homeporting. These developments have also attracted the interest of leading cruise terminal operators, such as Global Ports Holding, which will be present at the event.

As of May, the first in line port privatisations are Alexandroupoli and Kavala. The list also includes top cruise destinations Corfu and Heraklion, both of which have confirmed their participation as exhibitors, together with Piraeus and Rhodes.

Greece is the destination of choice for 35m tourists annually, mainly thanks to its climate and two idyllic island archipelagos.

An increasing number of arrivals comes from the US

According to Athens International Airport data, the number of American arrivals has increased over 113% during the last five years with many travelling to the country for its varied cruise product options.

In response, the major US cruise lines have increased their 2019 Greek ports of call, and others such as Disney Cruises, are resuming operations in the country as early as next year. Disney will visit Piraeus, Katakolon, Santorini, Mykonos and Crete next summer, following a five-year absence. Disney has confirmed its participation at the Posidonia Forum too.

MSC Cruises has some 400 calls in Greek port destinations in 2019, making this its busiest year for Greece. Many cruise lines are taking advantage of the popularity of Santorini and Mykonos, with the latter also securing many overnight calls for this summer season. 2020 will also see a return of a number of cruise lines to Turkeys western coastline, as well as to Istanbul.

Smaller ships

This year will also see the largest number of small cruise ships with a capacity of under 500 passengers cruising in East Med.

Airam Diaz Pastor, president of the Association of Mediterranean Cruise Ports (MedCruise), said: Ports, terminals and destinations from the East Med, Black Sea and Red Sea are experiencing an increase in cruise passengers and calls and cruise lines are confirming their itineraries for 2020 and 2021 in the region. Moreover, both turnaround and transit calls are coming back to Turkey, which will have a positive impact in the whole region.

In this context, and to promote a sustainable cruise business in these regions, MedCruise has launched two Working Groups - one focused on the Black Sea and another on North Africa - composed by port members and associated members.Australia has been attending the annual event since 1994 when a combined Cruise Australia and New Zealand stand was manned at the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami.

The Australian team is made up of representatives of state tourism organisations, ports, ground handlers and shipping agents.

The ACA chairman Grant Gilfillan, who is ceo of the Port Authority of New South Wales, will take part in a conference panel session on the Asia Pacific region. Gilfillan will speak alongside Debbie Summers, chairman of the New Zealand Cruise Association and Joel Katz, CLIA Australasia and Asia md.

Attending this event each year gives our members the opportunity to meet with key decision makers in one place at one time, ACA ceo Jill Abel said.

Abel, who is attending for the 15th year, said a representative of the new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal at Luggage Point is part of the Australian team for the first time, highlighting the important role cruising plays in Queensland.

Regional partners

The ACA will again be joined by regional partners including the New Zealand Cruise Association and representatives from Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands.

Down Under BBQ

Abel said the ACA and NZCA will again hold its popular Down Under BBQ for conference delegates.

Immediately after SCG, Abel and her team will hold an Aussie Day at Royal Caribbeans office in Miami, showcasing shore excursions and pre- and post- cruise itineraries.Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesOne of Nashvilles most-loved holiday traditions will continue in 2019: Vince Gill and Amy Grant will return to the historic Ryman Auditorium once again for their December residency.

This year, for the first time ever, theyre adding matinees on December 15, 22, and 23.

Vince and I are thrilled to be able to return to the Ryman Auditorium for the holidays again this year, Amy says. "We look forward to these shows because they are a great time to connect with family and friends and continue a Nashville tradition."

Here are the dates for Amy Grant & Vince Gill - Christmas at the Ryman, with tickets going on sale Friday:

December 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Egyptian-US military relations have grown steadily closer over the last four decades and Cairo is keen to further strengthen ties, especially in the area of joint defence.

The relationship has had a major impact on security developments in the Middle East in terms of counter-terrorist operations, intelligence coordination and maritime security in the Red Sea.

Egypt may have reduced its dependency on US armaments  according to the SIPRI 2018 Yearbook France now ranks as the countrys main source of weapons, followed by Russia and with the US third  arms imports from the US are far from being the sole determinant of the bilateral relationship.

The fact is the Egyptian-US armaments programme no longer meets Egypts needs following regional upheavals and the collapse of neighbouring Arab states.

Washingtons suspension of Apache helicopter and spare parts contracts during the period immediately following the 30 June 2013 Revolution made it clear that Egypt must have alternative options and Cairo is keen to remain apart from the jockeying for position among international powers.

The Egyptian-US military relationship is Egypts most significant bilateral military relationship. It has been four decades in the making and is still doing well, Mohamed Kamal, a professor of international relations and an expert on Egyptian-US affairs, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

The uninterrupted length of the military relationship is combined with training programmes, both practical and academic. Many Egyptian military personnel have followed training programmes in the US and there is a long history of joint military drills, most notably the Bright Star series, as well as collaboration in joint military operations such as the war to liberate Kuwait.

US military aid to Egypt was one of the outcomes of the Camp David peace process.

US aid is extremely important in the context of our relationship with the US, says General Mohamed Qashqoush, a professor of national security affairs and commander of the first rounds of the Bright Star manoeuvres. Egypt is the second largest recipient of US military aid. The degree of benefit derived from the programme has been enormous. The US remains at the forefront in arms manufacturers. Its weapons are among the most technologically advanced in the world.

US weapons achieve their desired ends effectively. I was there when Egypt obtained the TBS-59 system, a tactical radar system that was the best in the world at the time. Egypt was the only country the US allowed to acquire the system which was otherwise deployed exclusively in US bases in Europe and in Bahrain.

On Egypts diversification of armaments sources, Qashqoush told the Weekly: The question as to what we would do in the event of tensions in our relationship with the US used to surface regularly and until about five years ago the answer, with regard to possible alternative arms supplies, was unclear.

Kamal believes that US military aid, despite its importance in the bilateral Egyptian-US relationship, will inevitably change sooner or later, though this will be managed in such a way it does not affect overall ties.

Logistical support, says Kamal, is another critical dimension of the relationship.

Despite the changing US role in the Middle East and the shift of focus from the Atlantic to the Pacific Egyptian logistical support is still needed. The Suez Canal continues to play a vital role, not just as a corridor for trade and energy supplies but as a major logistical asset.

The mutual strategic interests of both sides lend impetus to the strengthening of Egyptian-US relations, says Qashqoush, and through the course of four decades the mechanisms have evolved to ensure this takes place.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 April, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: In pursuit of security

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Discussions at different panels across the day covered everything from trading patterns and slow steaming, to bad bunkers and insurance.

Gary Vogel, ceo of Eagle Bulk noted that fuel economics would be impacting drybulk trade patterns- with scrubber equipped vessels more suited for longer haul voyages with more time at sea. Vessels seeing higher fuel prices, presumably ultra-low sulphur gas oil or expensive blends, would be better suited for shorter trades, with relatively greater proportions of port time.

A different angle on shifting trade patterns was evident at the chemical tankers session with Hans Feringa, ceo of Team Tankers pointed out that MR tankers, one of the shipping markets strong sectors, could likely switch out of the chem sector, as they are needed to inefficiently shuttle various grades of refined fuels between refineries and bunkering locations.

Read more: IMO 2020 goes mainstream and its political ramifications

For container vessels, George Youroukos, executive chairman of Global Ship Lease took a positive view of IMO 2020 - but for different reasons. He noted that containerships, with bigger engines than other vessels of similar dwt, spend more time at sea (relative to other sectors). He suggested that the sector would likely see slow steaming in order to save fuel, which would have the impact of reducing the effective supply.His suggestion that the fleet would slow down by 1  2 knots, with each knot of slowdown effectively removing 5% from the fleet, with the slower speeds absorbing some of the capacity that exists.

Another angle on IMO2020 came in a lunchtime speech from Intertanko Chairman Paolo dAmico said that optional discharge ports previously perfunctorily in charter parties now required detailed scrutiny. Compliant fuel may not be available at all ports.

Fresh answers to questions of scrubber investment came in an exchange between Hamish Norton, president of Star Bulk Carriers and Ioannis Zafirakis, chief strategy officer at Diana Shipping. Norton repeated a point that hes made before- that scrubber investment was viewed as a hedge against potentially much higher fuel prices. Zafirakis suggested that speculation about the prices of fuel was not the primary business of the company, and not a rationale for investment.

A representative from Big Oil, John LaRese, from ExxonMobil Marine Fuels, highlighted the careful steps that his company was taking to provide compliant fuels post 1 January 2020, and urged shipowners to work with reliable suppliers (in the face of unknowns with newly introduced blends).

Read more: ExxonMobil seeks to reassure shipowners on 2020 compliant low sulphur fuels

The insurance industry representative on the panel, Joseph Hughes, chairman and ceo of the American Club, noted that the legal and insurance companies would suddenly get very busy if there were a casualty tied to bad bunkers.Hudong Zhonghua has inked agreement with DNV GL to jointly develop the world largest 270,000 cu m LNG ship. Additionally, the shipyard also signed a contract with DNV GL to class a 15,000 teu container vessel conversion to LNG propulsion. In February 2019, Hudong Zhonghua bagged the first LNG power system conversion order for large-sized container vessel from the ship owner Hapag-Lloyd.

Meanwhile, the shipyard signed development agreement with BV for 220,000 cu m FLNG to provide solutions for oil & gas exploration in South China Sea and offshore LNG exploration projects globally.

Hudong Zhonghua said it maintains a closely collaborative approach with BV on LNG supply vessel and LNG-powered vessel development. The cooperation between the two parties aims to promote the development of large-sized FLNG in China.

Read more: Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding eyes land-based LNG business

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding is a leading shipyard based in Shanghai. The company recently started cooperation with domestic oil industry player China Petroleum Engineering & Construction to enter into land-based LNG market.A national conference that challenges assumptions about crime and criminal justice will be held on the campus of Eastern Michigan University (EMU) April 12-13. Called "Centering the Margins: Addressing the Implementation Gap of Critical Criminology," this is the fourth iteration of the annual critical criminology conference.

The conference started at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2016, but it moves to a new university each year. Rita Shah, an assistant professor of criminology at EMU, is the organizer of the 2019 event. She says the field of critical criminology "looks beyond traditional definitions of crime and looks at societal and structural issues and the reasons behind why there is crime."

"One of the big things we often question is why do we define crimes the way we do," Shah says. "There's a historical, cultural context behind why something becomes a crime."

Shah says that at large criminology conferences, it's sometimes hard for people in the subfield of critical criminology to find each other. That's what prompted the initial conference.

This year the conference will include two keynote speakers, workshops, research panels, and a chance for undergraduate and graduate students to display posters about their work and talk one-on-one with participants.

Keynote speakers are Allison Cotton, a professor of criminal justice and criminology at Metropolitan State University of Denver in Colorado; and Lisa Monchalin, an EMU graduate who now teaches in the Department of Criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia.

Monchalin's work focuses on crime's impact on indigenous people. Shah says she also wanted to include someone who could speak about the criminal justice system's effect on black women and girls, which led her to engage Cotton as a keynote speaker.

"We knew we wanted someone who focused on marginalized voices, and one of these areas that unfortunately does not get as much attention is the plight of black girls and women," she says. "We wanted to find someone who does work in that area, and her research and work seemed fascinating and fit that goal."

The poster sessions for students are part of Shah's goal of making the event as inclusive as possible. She says being on a panel or making a formal presentation about an academic paper can be intimidating, but poster sessions give students a chance to talk about their work in a "less high-stakes environment."

"I think for a lot of us, it's so much easier to chat about our work than do a formal presentation if you've never done one before," she says. "When you do a poster, you practice talking about your research conversationally, and that can (later) translate into a more formal presentation once you get the research lingo."

Registration is now closed for the conference, but more information is available here.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township and the project manager of On the Ground Ypsilanti. She has served as innovation and jobs/development news writer for Concentrate since early 2017 and is an occasional contributor to Driven. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.

Photos courtesy of Rita Shah.Press Release

April 3, 2019 Angara proposes 'Build, Build, Build' jobs for El Nino-stricken farmers Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara asked the government to look into the possibility of providing provisional employment to drought-stricken farmers and farmworkers under the Duterte administration's "Build, Build, Build" program to help them deal with the temporary loss of income or livelihood due to El Nino phenomenon that is expected to be felt until August this year. "Habang naghihintay tayo ng kongkreto at pangmatagalang solusyon sa tagtuyot na taon-taon nating nararanasan, mahalagang mabigyan natin ng pansamantalang tulong ang ating mga magsasaka at manggagawang bukid na kasalukuyang nakararanas ng matinding gutom sanhi ng labis na tagtuyot sa kanilang lugar," Angara said. Angara said the infrastructure initiative - the centerpiece program of the Duterte administration - aims to generate around one million jobs annually in the medium-term and presents a silver lining for farmers who belong to 60 percent of the poorest of the poor in the country. "Many of our farmers and farmworkers have already started to look for jobs in construction sites to earn a living after losing their crops to the ongoing dry spell. I hope they can be accommodated in the Build, Build, Build program," said the lawmaker from Aurora who is running under the platform "Alagang Angara." The Department of Labor had announced that the government would need 800,000 to 1 million construction workers to fill in the labor gaps of its priority infrastructure program, where a total of 75 flagship projects with a combined total of $36 billion in investments are to be put up in various parts of the country. These workers are needed for the construction of six airports, nine railways, three bus rapid transits, four seaports and 32 roads and bridges in Negros Oriental, Leyte, Cebu Bohol and Misamis Occidental, among others. Angara has earlier appealed to government to dispatch immediate help to farmers who are now bearing the brunt of El Nino-induced drought. He said many farmers, especially those in food-growing areas in the country, are in urgent need of assistance whether in the form of cash, food aid or alternative livelihoods. He made the appeal after several provinces and cities in the country have been placed under state of calamity due to the impact of El Nino. Latest data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) showed that agricultural damage caused by El Nino has already reached P5.05 billion. The NDRRMC also reported that the dry spell has affected 177,743 hectares of land and 164,672 farmers. Based on previous reports, the hardest hit region is SOCCSKSARGEN, followed by Bicol, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, and CALABARZON. According to the country's state weather bureau PAGASA, El Nino conditions are expected to last until August from the previous forecast of June this year.Press Release

April 3, 2019 De Lima slams gov't for call to delist 625 'desaparecidos' from UN list Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has chided the government for urging a United Nations panel to remove from its official list more than 600 cases of enforced and involuntary disappearances in the Philippines. De Lima filed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 1032 calling for an inquiry into the Philippine government's action calling for the removal of 625 names from the list of enforced or involuntary disappearance cases from the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) records. "There is a need to strongly reconsider this motion by the government as this is a grave injustice not only for the victims of enforced disappearances themselves, but also for their families and loved ones who have longed for the proper closure to these pending cases for the longest time," she said. Last Feb. 14, in a meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Philippine Mission led by Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Human Rights Committee formally asked the UN-WGEID to delist 625 names of Filipinos from its list of victims of enforced disappearances. In justifying such action, the Philippine government officials reasoned out that the country has put in place a strong legal framework and institutional mechanisms to address the issue of enforced disappearances in the country. "Despite the passage of the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law, not a single state agent has been convicted and punished for carrying out enforced disappearances, which may seriously challenge the main cause and grounds cited in the Philippine government's move to delist certain cases of enforced disappearances from the official records of the [UN WGEID]," she said. Signed in December 2012, Republic Act No. 10353, also known as the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act, criminalizes the practice of enforced and involuntary disappearances. De Lima explained the length of the disappearance, which is also a cited ground for the delisting by the Philippine government, is unacceptable "because the act constituting enforced disappearance is a continuing offense." As a member and party to the UN and the Human Rights Council, she underscored the country's commitment to all international agreements and optional protocols for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. "Despite the government's avowed declaration for human rights, we have yet to see the end to systematic killings, abductions and enforced disappearances, mostly of activists," she said. Commission on Human Rights Chairperson (CHR) Jose Luis Martin Gascon earlier proclaimed that the Philippines has yet to end the "troubling" phenomenon of the forcible removal of people even as they persistently deny that the victims are held captive by state authorities. The government's motion asking the UN panel to remove 625 cases of enforced and involuntary disappearances - mostly attributed to government forces between the period 1975 and 2012 - from its official records was strongly opposed by the CHR, several human rights groups, such as Karapatan, and the families and loved ones of the victims. In December 2018, De Lima filed SR No. 969 urging Mr. Duterte to ratify the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance to strengthen access to justice and the right to effective remedy. Enforced disappearance is defined by the UN as "the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared persons which place such a person outside the protection of the law."Press Release

April 3, 2019 Drilon urges caution in review of contracts with private, foreign entities Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said that extreme caution must be exercised in implementing the President's directive to review all governmentcontracts and loan agreements, saying that existing and binding contracts cannot simply be classified as onerous and cancelled, for doing so would represent a clear breach of contract. "In general, I am in favor of reviewing these proposed contracts with China and other bilateral or multilateral international agencies, like World Bank and Asian Development Bank, etc.," said Drilon said, a former justice secretary. "But I must caution that existing and binding contracts cannot simply be classified as onerous and cancelled," he warned. "The government must avail of the procedure outlined in the contract," he emphasized. To do otherwise, Drilon stressed, would constitute a breach of the country's obligations under the contract. He added that it would have legal and financial implications. "The government must respect the sanctity of the contracts. Otherwise, no country or entity would enter into contracts with us because we cannot be trusted to honor our obligations," Drilon said. The principle on sanctity of contracts dictates that once parties duly enter into a contract, they must honor their obligations under it, Drilon explained. Considering the existence of such legal doctrine, Drilon said it is incumbent upon the government to be very careful in entering into a contract. If the government thinks a contract duly executed is disadvantageous or onerous, Drilon said it can renegotiate its terms, go to court for its reformation, or terminate the same in accordance with the procedure laid down in the contract, subject to the consequences provided in the agreement. He added that the government could bring it to the Ombudsman if it violates the anti-graft law. Drilon also said that the power to review contracts must not be used to harass. Earlier, Drilon backed calls to review the loan agreements that the Philippines signed with China, including the Chico River Dam and Kaliwa Dam. He said that it is important that the government ensures that these are not disadvantageous to the country or that they will not place the country in a debt trap. "Let us review and expose the terms. We owe it to the public, because it is the public, through their taxes, who will pay the loan," he said.Sen. JV Ejercito urges OFWs to get vaccinated against measles, other diseases

REELECTIONIST Senator JV Ejercito on Wednesday urged Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to get vaccinated after the Philippine Consul in Hong Kong reportedly confirmed that 4 Filipino domestic workers were found infected by measles.

"Now, more than ever, OFWs should strictly comply with vaccination requirements. The four infected OFWs in Hong Kong highlight the need for our health care to be more accessible to our contract workers abroad and Filipinos in general," Ejercito said in a statement.

Reports said the Philippine Consul in Hong Kong revealed that among the 30 people who were positive of measles infection, four were OFWs.

"An efficient vaccination program for OFWs would definitely protect them from health threats," Ejercito said.

Ejercito, chairman of the Senate health committee and principal sponsor of Universal Health Care (UHC) law, said that while a quick response to any health concern is commendable, "we shouldn't just spring action only during 'emergencies' such as this one."

"We must stop operating from a damage control mindset, but we should be proactive when it comes to health care. Huwag po nating hintayin na tayo'y magkasakit," he said, adding that preventive health care is one of the essential thrusts of UHC.

The UHC, spearheaded by Ejercito, is a law that makes all Filipinos covered by the National Health Insurance Program of the government.

Early this year, Ejercito had urged parents to launch a "war on measles" by having their children vaccinated.

"They (OFWs) must get themselves vaccinated against measles and other health threats that would compromise their well-being and their livelihood. Hindi madaling magkasakit lalo na kung malayo ka sa pamilya mo. Who will take care of you?" he said.Press Release

April 3, 2019 Beware of Fake News! Lacson Assures No Cut in Pension

More at: https://pinglacson.net/2019/04/03/beware-of-fake-news-lacson-assures-no-cut-in-pension/ Retired military and uniformed personnel need not worry about alleged cuts in their pension this year, as there is no truth to claims that the Senate has slashed the budget for it. Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson gave this assurance on Wednesday, noting he even sought an increase in the Pension and Gratuity Fund in the P3.757-trillion proposed budget for 2019. "Our retired military and uniformed personnel will get the much-deserved increase in their pension retroactively, once President Rodrigo Duterte signs the budget bill into law," Lacson said. He noted several pensioners and retired military and uniformed personnel had asked him about the supposed budget cut for their pension. Earlier reports quoted House appropriations committee chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. as saying the Senate made several budget cuts, including for the Pension and Gratuity Fund. Also, Lacson advised pensioners to be wary of fake news, especially those desperate to keep their "pork" in the budget. "It's bad enough that some parties continue to peddle lies to confuse the public, all to keep their pork. It's worse if they claim they are doing this in the name of transparency. Fake news na, fake transparency pa," he said. Lacson had sought to increase the Pension and Gratuity Fund in the 2019 budget by P876.42 million to fund the additional P15,000 increase in old-age pension of 4,869 senior veterans. Also, he and Sen. Gregorio Honasan II co-authored the Senate Joint Resolution authorizing the increase in the base pay of military and uniformed personnel in the government, and for other purposes. The Senate Joint Resolution was approved and signed as Joint Resolution No. 01. On the other hand, Lacson noted none of the amendments he proposed to the budget bill involved budget cuts for the pension of military and uniformed personnel. Lacson sought as well an increase of P666.219 million for the Veterans Memorial Medical Center's 2019 budget, so it can acquire medicines for its patients. He said the VMMC sought his help as he was defending the budget of the Department of National Defense, which supervises the VMMC. "The VMMC said the price index for medicines went up, and this will affect its service to its patients. During the budget hearing of the Department of Health, I asked DOH Sec. Francisco Duque III if there was indeed such a price increase for medicine, and he confirmed it. That prompted me to seek an institutional amendment for the VMMC's budget for medicines," he said. On the other hand, Lacson sought a cut in the appropriations for Road Right of Way in the Department of Public Works and Highways' budget, since the DPWH itself pointed out it did not need the amount. It was during the interpellations that the DPWH disclosed, through Senate finance panel chairperson Loren Legarda, that there are still funds for RROW from its FY 2018 appropriations that have yet to be utilized, and the DPWH said it does not need P20 billion for 2019.Press Release

April 3, 2019 Nancy wants 'gender equality' on marital consent of parents There remains a provision in the Family Code of the Philippines, despite reforms undertaken addressing gender equality, which unduly prejudices women. Thus said Sen. Nancy Binay who seeks to amend a provision on marital consent of the father to the marriage of a child between the ages of 18 and 21. Such provision, Binay said, clearly shows the preferred consent of the father to the marriage of a child over the consent of the mother. "There is no rational explanation for the preference for paternal marital consent. The Family Code itself recognizes that, save for certain instances, men and women, as regards their children, are partners of equal status and thus exercise joint parental authority," she said in seeking to amend Article 14 of Executive Order No. 209. "This bill proposes to eliminate vestige of gender insensitive provisions of Family Code and strengthen the equality of men and women, particularly in their family relations," she added. Under the existing Family Code, which came into effect on Aug. 3, 1988, women are supposed to be no longer subservient to men and became an equal partner in various family matters concerning, among others, the community property and parental authority. The consent to the marriage of "either parent, the guardian or persons having legal charge" of either or both of the contracting parties who are between the ages of 18 and 21, should suffice in applying for a marriage license, Binay said in proposing the amendment. Such consent shall be manifested in writing by the interested party, who personally appears before the proper civil registrar or in the form of affidavit made in the presence of two witnesses and attested to before any official authorized by law to administer oaths, Binay added. The personal manifestation shall be attached to the application for marriage license and the affidavits, Binay further added. Senate Bill No. 1952 remains pending before the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.A 36-strong delegation of Egyptian businessmen is in Washington as part of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairos (AmCham) 42nd door-knock mission to the US. The annual event aims to boost cooperation between the two countries in the area of trade and investment.

This years visit coincides with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis trip to Washington, and in the wake of the Arab Summit in Tunisia.

During the mission, which began on 31 March and ends on 5 April, the delegation met with members of the US Congress, administration officials, think tanks, media and representatives of the US business community.

The impact of Egypts economic reform measures and the investment opportunities available for US businesses in Egypt were the centre of discussions.

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to visit Egypt in May for the IMFs fifth review of Egypts implementation of its economic reform programme. The review will precede the disbursement of $2 billion, the final tranche of the $12 billion Extended Fund Facility agreed in late 2016.

Subir Lall, the IMFs Egypt mission chief, told the press delegation accompanying the door-knock mission that implementation of the economic reform programme had helped stabilise the Egyptian economy and poised it for growth, cut unemployment to its lowest level since 2011, increased hard currency reserves and improved the countrys public finances.

Lall praised the steps taken by the Egyptian government to improve the investment environment and encourage the private sector to expand.

This visit also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of the US Egypt Business Council which marked a new phase in the bilateral partnership.

US direct investments in Egypt stood at $22.6 billion in 2016, representing 35.4 per cent of US direct investment in Africa and 46.2 per cent of US direct investment in the Middle East, according to AmCham figures.

Egypt is also one of the largest recipients of US foreign assistance worldwide. According to the US Agency for International Developments (USAID), Egypt has received nearly $30 billion since 1978.

This years mission comes at a time when the US administration has stated its interest in building stronger partnerships in the Middle East and Egypt is well positioned to maintain its leading role as a key alley and partner.

Paul Salem, vice president of the Institute for Middle East Studies in Washington, said the relationship between the current US administration and Egypt embraces the continuing cooperation on the economic, military and counter-terrorism levels and the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

He stressed that although US President Donald Trump will not back down from his decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, taken to stabilise his position with core voters at home and bolster Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahus election chances, he recognises the importance of Egypt as a longstanding lynchpin of regional stability and understands the Egyptian role in Gaza and Cairos relations with Fatah and Hamas.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 April, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Knock on

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We're in the car, my bodyguard Jose and I, trying our best to make our way through a Caracas under complete blackout. The streets are eerily empty but as always here in Venezuela, the quiet is dangerous and Joses head is on a constant swivel, his almond eyes focused on everything but me.



The Russians have just arrived in Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro's Eastern ally sent tons of military equipment and two planes carrying at least 100 Russian troops to touch down at Caracas airport as tensions in this fractured country rise to the point of no return. Having seen the images of these foreign soldiers lining up at the airport, saluting their Venezuelan colleagues, Jose and I are discussing what comes next  not only for the country but for us, the team that has been working together for almost two months.



"If the war starts, we can't have you at a hotel, because the hotels will be some of the first targets for the regime and the Russians. We will move you into my house and we will have our base there for as long as this takes. But please, Annika, understand what I am saying  there will be bodies all over the streets, this war has only two possible endings  a new government or an emboldened old one with no restraints and no consequences."



...The arrival of the Russians means that Maduro is far from resigning to the opposition wave, but rather preparing for a showdown that will have many actors and many victims. The Russian soldiers may be few, at least for now, but they are bringing something more valuable than men  the skill-sets needed to fight a drawn-out war in the jungles of Venezuela. Because that is what will happen if war hits this country, despite any White House fantasies about a quick and clean operation that puts an end to the last socialist stronghold. A war would not be fought army to army, but rather army to army to paramilitary groups, Cuban operatives, FARC guerrillas, and Russian mercenaries.

The situation in Venezuela is dire. The father of one of my closest friends is in Venezuela, and we long ago fell out of contact, because he doesn't have electricity. Which, in addition to keeping him off Facebook, also means he has to walk up and down 13 flights of stairs to leave or access his flat. Where there is also often no running water.He is a brilliant, charming, intensely lovable man, who used to be a professor. Now he sells American dollar bills to make money so he can eat. We used to chat by Skype, with my friend serving as interpreter, because I speak even less Spanish than he speaks English. When he would visit, we would have elaborate conversations via charades and laughter and hugs. Now I just worry about him a lot in a vacuum of communication.It's very grim there. And it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.Annika Hernroth-Rothstein at the Daily Beast: 'The Wise Are Running for Their Lives': Venezuela Simmers with Violence as Putin Sends in Russian Troops There is much more at the link, and I hope you will take the time to read it.There's a lot fighting for our attention and concern and compassion these days. Among those many things are the people of Venezuela. Spare some time and energy for them. Send some good thoughts their way. They need them. And much more than that.The former dissident Abano Healthcare shareholders are probably crowing about now, saying, see, we were right.

The news is certainly bad: last week, the company said annual net profit will fall 12.6 percent amid challenging conditions in Australia and that it has therefore halted its purchases of new dental practices across the Tasman.

Craigs Investment Partners analyst Stephen Ridgewell says it was more the decision to cease growing practice numbers in Australia than the downgrade that caused such a reaction in the share price  the company does intend to continue to buy practices in New Zealand.

The shares have fallen as low as $3.85 from $5.75 the day before the downgrade and are way less than half the record at $10.20 in December 2017 during dissidents Peter and Anya Hutson and James Reeves $9.84 per share partial takeover bid.

The Hutsons and Reeves had argued when they launched their offer in September 2017 that Abano should stop buying practices altogether, claiming the companys strategy of building scale by acquisition had been value destructive for shareholders and that the company was underperforming financially.

Then, Abano had 196 practices, 92 of them in Australia, and it has 239 now, 116 of them in Australia, making it the largest Australasian corporate dental group by practice numbers, although probably not by revenue.

It raised $35 million from a rights issue in 2017 to fund that expansion and its gearing is now on the high side at 45.6 percent, suggesting the decision to cease buying Australian practices reflects its now capital-constrained position.

But saying the Hutsons and Reeves were right requires a considerable re-writing of history: less than 3 percent of Abanos shareholders could be persuaded to accept the Hutson/Reeves view and their takeover offer.

Unlike Hutson and Reeves supporters, Ridgewell isnt rewriting history now when he says the dissidents had the correct diagnosis back then but were offering the wrong cure.

In December 2016, he wrote that Abanos performance in Australia had been disappointing but that he expected the companys strategy would deliver higher returns than under the Hutson/Reeves plan.

Except that hasnt happened. Abano has maintained its long-term track record of disappointments, Ridgewell writes in his latest note.

Abano has been spending about $40 million a year on acquisitions and that, in theory, should have meant spreading overhead costs over a growing number of practices and reducing costs on a per-practice level.

Instead, overheads have continued to grow while same-store sales in Australia have gone backwards and on a compounding basis.

The latest advice that same-store sales in Australia in the nine months ended February were down 1.6 percent follows falling sales every half year since the first half of 2016, with the sole exception of the second half of 2018, the six months ended May of that year, when sales were flat.

Back in 2015, same-store sales in Australia were flat after 4.7 percent growth in the second half of 2014 but an 8 percent same-store sales fall in the first half of that year. Across full years, Abano hasnt achieved same-store sales growth in Australia since 2012.

Thats almost completely at odds with Abanos experience in New Zealand  same-store sales in this country in the latest nine months were up 1.8 percent, an improvement on the first-halfs 1.6 percent growth and on top of 3.3 percent growth the previous year.

Chief executive Richard Keys says the New Zealand experience of increasing margins consistently between 2011 and 2018 demonstrates Abanos strategy can work.

Precisely why the experience in Australia has been so bad is difficult to understand and is probably due to a whole raft of reasons.

One of them, certainly, is that Abano is still only about 70 percent through the process of rebranding its Australian practices as Maven while in New Zealand it has been promoting the Lumino brand since 2011 and was the first dental brand to advertise on television.

Another reason is the changing demographics of the dental industry. Many of the practices Abano is buying are from baby boomers with retirement on their minds.

The reason why so many baby boomer dentists are selling their businesses to corporates such as Abano is because so many younger dentists are women who dont usually want to invest large sums into small businesses, tending to prioritise their families and investment in their own homes.

Forsyth Barr analyst Chelsea Leadbetter notes that a higher number than usual of senior dentists retired in the three months ended February in Australia and were replaced by lower-earning juniors, contributing to the weakness in that quarter  the sales decline accelerated from 1.2 percent in the first half.

And then there are macro-economic explanations such as the mining bust, which hit when Abanos Australian presence was mostly in Queensland and Northern New South Wales, and now the general malaise the Australian economy is suffering with house prices falling sharply in Sydney and Melbourne.

But the opportunity in Australia is so much greater in New Zealand  last year, Abano estimated Australias dental market had A$9.4 billion in revenue from about 8,000 practices compared with New Zealands NZ$800 million, and that it had about 15 percent of the New Zealand market but less than 2 percent of the Australian market.

Plenty of other people have seen the potential too, ranging from British-based multi-national Bupa, which probably has the largest dental network in Australia by revenue, to private equity firms such as Crescent Capital  its National Dental Care chains website shows 60 practices. Crescent ignored a request for comment for this story.

There are a number of other privately-owned aggregators too such as Melbourne-based Ekera Dental with about 20 practices.

And then there are the listed rivals, 1300 Smiles with 35 practices, most of them in Queensland, Pacific Smiles with 82 and Smiles Inclusive, a company floated on ASX last year by a former Abano employee, Mike Timoney, who sold Abano the beginnings of its Australian dental business in mid-2008 and was later sacked.

Increased competition and rising prices for Australian practices, with ebitda multiples rising from 3-4 times, as in New Zealand, to 5-6 times, is one of the reasons Abano gave for pausing its Australian strategy.

Smiles Inclusive, a roll-up of 52 practices, has turned into a disaster zone with its former chair David Herlihy and Timoney at odds with the board and waging a battle for control, projected profits turning to losses and its share price tanking from A$1.16 to 18 cents.

1300 Smiles share price is flat. Although it has been reporting rising sales, it has been buying practices, including three in March, but it doesnt report same-store sales.

Since it bought nine practices in the year ended June, the 3.9 percent rise in revenue it reported in the six months ended December most likely was only positive because of those purchases  the business was disrupted by flooding in Townsville where it has seven practices.

Pacific Smiles has a completely different business model from the roll-up model of buying existing practices in that it has created each of its practices from scratch, which makes a comparison of its sales growth  up 18.5 percent in the six months ended December  spurious.

A better guide to how its faring is whats been happening to its profit margins since it listed in 2014 and they have declined from 15.1 percent of patient fees to 12.2 percent in the latest six months.

Its shares are also down more than 30 percent in the last 12 months, mirroring the decline of Abanos shares until its profit downgrade.

So its clear theres more going on in Australia than Abano simply executing its roll-up strategy poorly.

(BusinessDesk)

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New Zealand commodity prices lifted in March, continuing a positive trend that started in January, ANZ Banks monthly commodity price index shows.

The world commodity price index rose a monthly 1.4 percent in March but was down 2.1 percent from a year earlier. In local currency terms, the index also rose 1.4 percent on the month and 2.5 percent on the year.

Firmer prices were recorded in the agriculture and forestry sectors but dairy once again provided the largest price lift," said ANZ agriculture economist Susan Kilsby.

Dairy prices gained 2.5 percent on the month and are expected to keep rising in the coming months as the market is supported by slower growth in global milk production, she said.

The meat and fibre index lifted 1.1 percent on the month in March. International prices for lamb softened 0.5 percent but are still 4.8 percent higher than a year earlier. Wool prices also eased 2.3 percent in March on subdued demand for coarse grade wool.

Beef prices lifted 2.9 percent due to stronger prices in the US for imported manufacturing grade meat, as more Australian and New Zealand beef is sold directly to China.

The horticulture index was stable and while strong crops are expected, markets are likely to absorb the additional volume without hindering prices, said Kilsby.

International forestry prices lifted 0.4 percent in March, following a similar lift the previous month. Increased demand from China following the Chinese New Year holiday has kept pricing strong.

Chinese construction demand remains strong despite caution surrounding economic growth rates. Prices of both export grade logs and pulp logs lifted during March. Further lifts in the price of export grade logs are expected as the market remains firm.

Aluminium prices lifted 0.4 percent on the month in March, adding to the gains made in February. Supply from Russian aluminium company Rusal has resumed to Europe and the United States after sanctions were lifted at the end of January.

(BusinessDesk)

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Meridian Energy is pushing for faster action on the disclosure of gas trading, maintenance shutdowns and near-term production and consumption forecasts.

The countrys biggest electricity generator says a work programme underway within the Gas Industry Company  the industry regulator  is too slow and risks damaging the reputation of both the gas and electricity sectors.

Chief executive Neal Barclay says the uncertainty created by the lack of transparency in the gas market is a major cause of the current volatility in the electricity futures market.

In a letter to GIC chief executive Andrew Knight, Barclay says gas industry players should be able to disclose very soon information on the timing and scale of planned and unplanned outages at major facilities, wholesale prices and traded volumes, one-year consumption forecasts and one-week and one-year production forecasts.

We expect that voluntary agreement to disclose at least some of this information would not be too difficult to negotiate with gas market participants, with the relevant information then disclosed on the GIC website, Barclay says in his March 29 letter.

We suggest the GIC should explore urgently with gas market participants what can be achieved and what they believe they could commit to.

Meridian operates dams and wind farms. But like all power retailers, it relies on the gas- and coal-fired plants operated by Contact Energy, Genesis Energy and Nova Energy for electricity supplies when hydro lakes are low or when demand is high.

Barclays letter was sent two days after the GIC hosted a workshop on options for improving information disclosure in the sector. It was acting after complaints mid-2018 on the limited information Shell provided on shutdowns at the Pohokura field last year. The GIC previously signalled new disclosure regulations may not be in place before 2020.

Power prices soared late September when the second unplanned outage at Pohokura coincided with declining hydro storage, reduced output from the Maui field, repair work on the Maui pipeline north of New Plymouth, and a planned shutdown at the Kupe gas field.

Power prices, while still high, have moderated in the past week as hydro storage has returned to average levels. But further disruption to gas flows from the offshore part of the Pohokura field is expected this month when new operator OMV completes a round of well maintenance and the COSL Boss, a jack-up rig, is disconnected from the fields offshore production platform.

Last month, the GIC indicated a voluntary information disclosure regime may not work in New Zealand, given the number of firms that had said they wouldnt participate and the tight controls that exist in some joint-venture agreements.

Barclay said Meridian will work with the Electricity Authority and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to expedite a regulated solution if one is required. The quickest option may be to write new rules directly into the Gas Act, he said.

The Electricity Authority will have jurisdiction over some gas market players, given their participation in the power market, and amendments to the electricity industry code could also be used to improve gas market disclosures, he said.

(BusinessDesk)

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The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment took longer and wrote a bigger report but still rejected New Zealand Steel's latest complaint that Chinese imports have an unfair government subsidy.

The ministry was asked to investigate by BlueScope Steel-owned NZ Steel, which claims imported goods are being dumped on the local market, and that China is unfairly subsidising those firms. MBIE has to look at whether goods are dumped separately from whether they're subsidised.

Both studies were meant to be completed in October. While it wrapped up the dumping component on time, a High Court ruling complicated things for MBIE. That judgment found shortcomings in a separate subsidy review into imported Chinese galvanised steel coil and ordered the ministry to revisit that work.

MBIE's latest report took that judgment to heart, acknowledging NZ Steel's successful judicial review in the March 2019 report, and saying those issues had been addressed in its latest recommendation to the minister.

A contentious issue for NZ Steel was MBIE's testing of whether Chinese steel companies were meaningfully controlled by the Chinese government. The ministry said this investigation differed from earlier ones in that three of the four sample Chinese manufacturers cooperated and it was able to verify the information provided.

With that extra help, MBIE came to the same conclusion it did on two similar accusations that Chinese imported steel products were unfairly subsidised: Chinese government support was so small as to be meaningless.

"MBIEs conclusion is that on the basis of the primary information provided direct by interested parties and substantiated by verification or from other evidence available to MBIE, and for the programmes concerned, there was no financial contribution by a government or any public body," the report said.

"In addition, in relation to claims of preferential loans, MBIE has established that the cooperating sample manufacturers did not receive loans at preferential rates, while in relation to providers of hot-rolled coil (HRC), the prices paid by the sample manufacturers were broadly similar whether the supplier was an SIE (state-invested enterprise) or not, and were also similar to world export prices."

The 263-page document is the longest of the three subsidy reports produced by the ministry during the past two years, and included greater detail on how it uses information in its investigations.

Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi signed off the investigation's termination on March 28, with the notice published in the government's Gazette on April 1. That coincided with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's first state visit in Beijing, where she met with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in a fleeting trip.

The mere fact that an investigation was being considered in mid-2016 stoked speculative reports that New Zealand exporters faced retaliation if anti-dumping provisions were imposed on Chinese steel imports.

China's steel exports have been a bone of contention around the world. US and European producers accused the Asian nation of undercutting their local industries through subsidies and overproduction.

NZ Steel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Australia's BlueScope, is the country's largest steelmaker. It considers that steel made in China is subsidised by the government there and that imports of it cause material damage to the domestic industry.

The local steelmaker has sought relief over three different steel products, complaining of unfair subsidies or product being dumped in New Zealand to undercut domestic production. Each time it's been told any subsidies are too small to make a difference to the company's margins, and that dumping that's occurred has also been too small to undermine the local industry.

NZ Steel's first complaint about claimed subsidies on galvanised steel coil imports is back with MBIE after the successful judicial review, and is running behind schedule.

MBIE was targeting a February release for an essential facts and conclusions report, which typically forms the basis for a final decision. On March 6, MBIE told BusinessDesk it hoped to have the report out in "a few weeks". That initial time-frame would have meant a final report could have been made in April.

(BusinessDesk)

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The loss of major cities in last weeks municipal elections is a personal setback for Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan and the ruling AKP Party

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set the tone for this years municipal elections in Turkey long before the campaign opened.

He threatened, flung slurs, called opposition leaders and their supporters terrorists and supporters of terrorism, and vowed to give them all Ottoman slaps on election day.

He toured every corner of the country, district by district, holding campaign rallies sometimes two or three times a day.

As in previous elections, all government facilities were available to the candidates of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the National Peoples Party (MHP), the AKPs partner in the Cumhur (Republican) alliance.

These included state television and the 90 per cent of the national press that the ruling AKP government controls and that has relentlessly reiterated the anti-opposition mudslinging.

But despite this grossly uneven playing field, Erdogan failed to crown his new presidential system at the local level.

In fact, Sundays polls could mark the beginning of the end of the Erdogan regime, since while at the national level the AKP came out ahead, garnering about 44 per cent of the vote while the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) won just over 30 per cent, it was a victory that came with the loss of major metropolises including Ankara, the capital of Turkey and the seat of Erdogans power.

But the hardest blow came from Erdogans hometown, Istanbul, which was wrested from the grip of Erdogans former prime minister Binali Yildirim and handed to the opposition CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu.

Turkeys tourism capital of Antalya, home to 34 per cent of the countrys tourist spots, according to the Turkish Ministry of Culture, also fell to the CHP, while historic Izmir remained unchallenged as a CHP bastion.

These metropolises, the engines of Turkeys economic and political life, are where the CHP scored its real election victory. So it was little wonder that thousands of the partys supporters flocked to the CHP headquarters in Ankaras Sogutozu neighbourhood to rejoice at wresting their city from the clutches of a ruling party that had long ignored its needs.

Erdogan still occupies the presidential White Palace in Ankara, and he still controls the state apparatus, however.

Since last October, he has frequently threatened to have elected municipal officials arrested on terrorist charges and replaced by government-appointed trustees, and the CHPs winning candidate in Ankara, Mansur Yavas, suspects that this may now be his fate.

On the eve of the elections when it was clear that Yavas held the lead over his AKP rival in the polls, Erdogan threatened that Yavas might soon find himself at the wrong end of legal proceedings. There is also this business about taxes, as that man Yavas is a tax evader.

At this moment, the Ministry of Finance is looking into the documents on this situation, the president said, whose son-in-law is the minister of finance.

CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu is charged with insulting Interior Minister Soliman Soylu in a speech he made ten months ago and proceedings have begun to lift Kilicdaroglus parliamentary immunity.Erdogan has also threatened IYI Party Chairwoman Maral Aksener with jail. Her response was a music video that showed people being interrogated because of their social-networking activities and exercise of free speech, with the lyrics asking will you have enough handcuffs for everyone? Have you calculated the cost?

Meanwhile, a steady stream of Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) members continues to join the former co-chairs of their party, Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas, who have been held in high-security prison since November 2016.

Another CHP Party MP, Aysu Bankoglu, is being investigated on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda and praising crime and criminals, in a reference to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

HDP Co-chair Sezai Temelli is also the subject of an investigation on charges of spreading propaganda for and praising a terrorist organization (the PKK), and the Turkish prosectors office has asked to have his parliamentary immunity lifted.

Bankoglu maintains that her words were taken out of context and that the AKPs campaign was to accuse the opposition of allying with the PKK and the Gulenist Movement.

The likelihood is that the ruling party will pursue this strategy with even greater vigour now that it has lost control of key cities in the municipal elections.

Observers anticipate that the electoral setback of the AKP, a personal setback for Erdogan, will induce him to consolidate his power further.

The newspaper Haberturk has said that Erdogan will announce the creation of a new security ministry that will restructure Turkeys security and intelligence agencies and bring them under one roof.

However, major problems may come from closer to home, as the infighting and power struggles within the ruling party are no secret, and these may even threaten Erdogan.

Abdurrahman Dilipak, a columnist for Yeni Akit, an Islamic fundamentalist daily close to Erdogan, has urged the need to end the corruption in the government, for example.

Beneath the headline, The Devil has thrown down the Gauntlet, Dilipak said that corruption, bribery and nepotism are the commonly talked about subjects among the electorate.

Without mentioning names, he urged that competence rather than connections become the criterion for appointments to government service.

The results of the municipal elections may also spur the announcement of the splinter party that former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu reportedly begun to establish some months ago.

Citing journalist Fatih Altayli, the Turkish Cumhuriyet newspaper reported that Davutoglu had established offices for his new party in 40 districts around the country and that major figures from the AKP were likely to join, among them former president Abdullah Gul and former deputy prime minister Ali Babacan.

Should such a new party come to fruition, Erdogans AKP could find itself in a minority in parliament after having held a majority of the seats for the last 17 years.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 April, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Defeats for Erdogan in Turkeys elections

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The highly-anticipated season will see a mix of old favourites and fresh new characters to drive the storyline to its intrepid twists and turns, Netflix had said earlier.

Actress Kalki Koechlin will reportedly join the cast of Netflix's popular series Sacred Games Season 2, which will return this year with a new trail of betrayal, crime, passion and a thrilling chase through Mumbais underbelly.

Now there is a buzz that Kalki, whose film Candyflip was released on Netflix earlier this year, will be part of the second season of Sacred Games.

The second season picks up from Sartaj Singh (actor Saif Ali Khan) pursuing his relentless battle of saving the city and Ganesh Gaitonde (actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui) facing bigger challenges to retain his position as the legendary kingpin of Mumbai.

The intriguing Guruji (actor Pankaj Tripathi), introduced in season one as Gaitonde's 'third father', plays a pivotal role in unfolding a chain of events that shape the next season.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap will continue directing Ganesh Gaitonde's track, while director Neeraj Ghaywan will take over Sartaj Singh's plot.

Vikramaditya Motwane and Varun Grover will continue their roles of being the showrunner and the lead writer respectively.

The first season also starred Radhika Apte and Kubbra Sait.

Last December, Mirzapur actress Harshita Gaur had confirmed that she had bagged a pivotal role in Sacred Games season two.

Actor Jatin Sarna, who made a big impact with a small role as Nawazuddin's volatile hitman Bunty in Sacred Games, will also be back in Season 2 of the Netflix series, although his character was killed in the first season.

"The second season goes into a flashback. My character Bunty is on a wheelchair. So I need to harness and control my natural energy level to play a subdued physically limited character," Jatin said.



Israel has recovered the body of a U.S.-born Israeli soldier missing since a 1982 tank battle against Syrian forces during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon that year, in a case vexing the nation ever since, the military said on Wednesday.

Zachary Baumel, who immigrated to Israel with his parents from New York in 1970, was 21 when he fought in Israels invasion of Lebanon and was declared missing in action along with two other soldiers in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub.

The body has now been in Israel for a few days, military spokesman Jonathan Conricus told journalists, saying it was identified by DNA and flown in by El Al Israel Airlines.

The spokesman declined to say how or where the body of Baumel, a tank crewman and sergeant, was recovered. In 2018, Russia said its troops in Syria had been trying to locate the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in previous conflicts.

Two other Israeli tank crew members are still listed by the military as missing in action from the June 10-11, 1982 confrontation.

In 2016, in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russia returned an Israeli tank captured by Syria at Sultan Yacoub and transferred to a Russian museum.

At the time, Netanyahu said Israel will not rest until it can bring the remains of Baumel and the two others home for burial.

Israel hoped forensic tests might determine if Baumel was killed outright or died under other circumstances, Conricus said.

Over the years, there had been unverified reports that Baumel and the other soldiers missing at Sultan Yacoub might have survived the fighting and been captured.

Baumels father, Yona, who died in 2009, led an international campaign to discover whether his son might still be alive.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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Forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar are preparing a mission to liberate the homeland from terrorism, a force spokesman said on Wednesday, suggesting the capital Tripoli was a desirable destination.

Ahmed Mismari did not say directly whether his force would move on Tripoli in western Libya, which is controlled by the internationally recognized government opposing a parallel administration in the east.

But he said the Libyan National Army (LNA) was gathering forces for a possible mission to liberate the homeland from terrorism.

We do not want Tripoli for the power or money, we want Tripoli for sake of the dignity and prestige of a strong state, he told reporters.

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/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe89f4340)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe8e79430)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe89f4340)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe8e79430)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe8a408f0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe8e79430)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe8e79430)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe84b3600)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe8e55a00)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe8e55a00)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe8e53a38)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe92b2b68)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe8e53a38)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe92b2b68)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fe8e8c678)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe92b2b68)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe92b2b68)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fe84b3e70)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe9020560)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fe9020560)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0Canada's population growth is being fuelled largely by immigration with India being the top source country for new arrivals.

The country added 71,131 immigrants in the final three months of 2018, for a full year increase of 321,065, according to the latest estimates released by Statistics Canada in Ottawa.

The annual increase is the largest since 1913  when 401,000 immigrants flocked to the country  and the fourth largest in historical data going back to 1852.

Today Canada has an estimated population of 37.28 million, which ranks 38th in the world.

The 2018 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration said India with 51,650 new arrivals in 2017 was the top source country followed by the Philippines and China.

Immigration has helped tackled Canadas ageing population and declining birth rate, and immigrants have helped address these by contributing to labour force growth, said Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Canada welcomed more than 286,000 permanent residents in 2017. Over half were admitted under Economic Class programs. The number also included over 44,000 resettled refugees, protected persons and people admitted under humanitarian, compassionate and public policy considerations.

The latest inflows have helped the nations population growth top half a million people for the first time since the late 1950s, the statistics agency said, and are part of a boom in international migration that includes a surge in non-permanent residents like foreign students.Indian and Canadian officials met last week in Ottawa for the 16th meeting of the India-Canada Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism and discussed cross border terror and the issue of Khalistani extremism.

"The delegations discussed the reference for the first time to the threat from Khalistani extremism in Public Safety Canadas 2018 annual Report on Terrorism Threats in Canada," said a release by the Ministry of External Affairs.

In December 2018, a report by Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness said that Canada not only faces threats from Khalistani extremists but also that some Canadians continue to support Khalistani extremism.

The report identified two key Sikh organizations - Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation - as being associated with terrorism and currently remain listed as terrorist entities under the Canadian Criminal Code.

The report has triggered outrage among Canadian Sikhs. The World Sikh Organization (WSO) of Canada has mounted a campaign to get Canada to remove the inclusion of Sikh (Khalistani) Terrorism in Public Safety Canadas 2018 Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada.

Despite a widespread outcry by Canadian Sikhs and many elected officials who rejected the inclusion of the Sikh community, the Report has not yet been revised and the section continues to be included, WSO said in a statement.

The report does not make any reference to current extremist activities in the Sikh community and simply states, some individuals in Canada continue to support Sikh (Khalistani) extremist ideologies and movements.

The 1985 Air India bombing by Khalistani terrorists, which killed 331 people, remains the deadliest terrorist plot ever launched in Canada.

India-Canada Joint Working Group reviewed threats posed by "terrorist groups worldwide and in their respective countries and regions, including cross-border terrorism" and discussed actions "undertaken to counter-terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization to violence."

While the Canadian delegation was led by Global Affairs Canada's Director General for the counter-terrorism, crime and Intelligence Bureau, Martin Benjamin, and India's Joint Secretary for counter-terrorism from the Ministry of External Affairs Mahaveer Singhvi.

Both sides also discussed challenges posed by virtual currencies, cyberspace and terrorist propaganda shared on social and other media sites.

In the meet, India and Canada have concluded an agreement on a Joint Action Plan to strengthen counter-terrorism collaboration which involves information and technology sharing.

New Delhi has offered to host the 17th meeting of the Joint Working Group and the third Expert Sub-group in 2020.A German court said Wednesday it had dropped a case against a former Nazi concentration camp guard, finding the seriously ill 95-year-old unfit for trial.

Johann Rehbogen was accused of complicity in mass murder at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland.

His trial began on November 6 but was suspended as he suffered from serious heart and kidney problems.

Given the gravity of his ailments, the court in Muenster ended the case, deeming him "permanently unfit for trial".

Rehbogen was aged 18 to 20 when he served as a guard from June 1942 to September 1944 at the Stutthof camp.

The German, from the western district of Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia state, was charged with being an accessory to the murders of several hundred camp prisoners.

These included more than 100 Polish prisoners gassed in June 1944 and "probably several hundred" Jews killed from August to December 1944 as part of the Nazis' so-called "Final Solution".

He broke down in tears at the trial opening and subsequently told the court he was ashamed of having been in the SS.

Rehbogen however insisted that he was unaware of the systematic killings at the camp.

The trial is among a handful of the final such cases involving surviving SS personnel.

The cases have resurfaced since the legal basis for prosecuting former Nazis changed in 2011 with the landmark conviction of former guard John Demjanjuk.

He was sentenced on the grounds that he served as a cog in the Nazi killing machine at the Sobibor camp in occupied Poland, rather than for killings or atrocities linked to him personally.

German courts subsequently convicted Oskar Groening, an accountant at Auschwitz, and Reinhold Hanning, a former SS guard at the same camp, for complicity in mass murder.

Both men were convicted at age 94 but died before they could be imprisoned.

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The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization warned the U.S. Congress on Wednesday of the threat posed by a more assertive Russia, including a massive military buildup, threats to sovereign states, the use of nerve agents and cyberattacks.

We must overcome our differences now because we will need our alliance even more in the future. We face unprecedented challenges - challenges no one nation can face alone, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Saying time is running out, Stoltenberg also called on Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which U.S. President Donald Trump plans to withdraw the United States this summer.

NATO has no intention of deploying land-based nuclear missiles in Europe, Stoltenberg said. But NATO will always take the necessary steps to provide credible and effective deterrence.

Stoltenberg used his speech to give an impassioned defense of the 70-year-old Western alliance, a partnership he called the most successful alliance in history, which has often been derided by Trump since he took office in 2017.

Members of Congress, who greeted Stoltenberg with repeated cheers and standing ovations, said they viewed his address to the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate as a chance to reaffirm the American commitment to the NATO alliance.

Stoltenberg was the first leader of an international organization and the first Norwegian to be accorded the rare honor of such an address.

Good for The United States

NATO has been good for Europe, but NATO has also been good for the United States, Stoltenberg said. The invitation to Stoltenberg to speak as the alliance celebrates its 70th anniversary in Washington was widely seen as a way to send a message to Trump about strong bipartisan support for NATO.

The strength of a nation is not only measured by the size of its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends, Stoltenberg added. And through NATO the United States has more friends and allies than any other power. This has made the United States stronger, safer and more secure.

The Senate is due to vote later this year on whether North Macedonia can become NATOs 30th member.

Trump has ruffled feathers among European allies by repeatedly saying NATO nations need to pay more for their militaries and ease the burden on the United States.

Earlier this year, before inviting Stoltenberg to Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation of her fellow Democrats to Brussels, where they sought to reassure European allies that differences over Trumps policies were mere family squabbles and that transatlantic ties remained strong.

Members of Congress have also introduced legislation expressing support for NATO or seeking to keep any president from withdrawing from the alliance without lawmakers approval.

Stoltenberg met on Tuesday with Trump, who said his pressure on NATO nations to pay more for their defense is leading to tens of billions of dollars more in contributions, but the allies may need to boost their budgets even more.

Stoltenberg said NATO member countries are adding billions to their defense spending - $41 billion in the last two years. He expects that figure to rise to $100 billion next year.

This is making NATO stronger, he said. This is good for Europe, and it is good for America.

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Egypt's non-petroleum exports recorded $4.1 billion in January and February, including $3.1 billion in industrial products and $961 billion in food commodities, the Export and Import Control Authority said.

The 22 countries of the Arab League received more than one-third of Egypt's non-petroleum exports (37.3 percent) in both months, worth $1.5 billion, the authority's head Ismail Gaber said, according to state news agency MENA.

The European Union came second, receiving exports worth $1.2 billion, followed by the United States, which received Egyptian exports at a value of $290 million.

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South Korea to launch world's first national 5G networks



Seoul, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2019



South Korea launches the world's first fully-fledged 5G mobile networks Friday, a transformational leap that already has superpowers sparring for control of an innovation that could potentially change the day-to-day lives of billions of people.

The superfast communications heralded by fifth-generation wireless technology will ultimately underpin everything from toasters to telephones; from electric cars to power grids.

But while the South has won the race to be first to provide the user experience, that is only one part of a wider battle that has pitted the United States against China and ensnared giants including Huawei.

Hyper-wired South Korea has long had a reputation for technical prowess, and Seoul has made the 5G rollout a priority as it seeks to stimulate stuttering economic growth.

The system will bring smartphones near-instantaneous connectivity -- 20 times faster than existing 4G -- allowing users to download entire movies in less than a second.

In the same way that 3G enabled widespread mobile web access and 4G made new applications work ranging from social media to Uber, 5G will herald a new level of connectivity, empowered by speed.

It is crucial for the future development of devices ranging from self-driving vehicles that send data traffic to one another in real time, industrial robots, drones and other elements of the Internet of Things.

That makes it a vital part of the infrastructure of tomorrow, and the 5G standard is expected to bring about $565 billion in global economic benefits by 2034, according to the London-based Global System for Mobile Communications, an industry alliance.



- 'One million devices' -



But the implications have pitted Washington against Beijing in an increasingly bitter standoff.

The US has pressed its allies and major economies to avoid 5G solutions from Chinese-owned telecom giant Huawei, citing security risks that technological backdoors could give Beijing access to 5G-connected utilities and other components.

But Chinese firms dominate 5G technology.

Huawei, the global leader, has registered 1,529 5G patents, according to data analysis firm IPlytics.

Combined with manufacturers ZTE and Oppo, plus the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology, Chinese entities own a total of 3,400 patents, it says -- more than a third of the total.

South Korea comes next, with its companies holding 2,051 patents.

In contrast, US firms have 1,368 altogether, IPlytics said -- 29 fewer than Finland's Nokia alone.

All three of South Korea's mobile operators go live with their 5G services on Friday.

"5G's hyper speed can connect one million devices within a one square kilometre zone simultaneously," KT said in a report.

Neither KT nor SK Telecom use Huawei technology in their 5G networks, but it is a supplier to LG UPlus, the three companies told AFP.

On the same day, Samsung Electronics will release the Galaxy S10 5G, the world's first available smartphone using the technology, and rival phonemaker LG follows with the V50s two weeks later.



- Cost barrier -



More than three million South Koreans will switch to 5G by the end of this year, predicted KT vice-president Lee Pil-jae.

Until now, no mobile networks have offered nationwide 5G access. In the US, hotspots in a few selected cities have offered 5G speeds but over wifi only, while Qatari firm Ooredoo says it offers 5G services in and around Doha -- but does not have devices available to use them.

US network carrier Verizon will launch fifth-generation services for mobile users in Chicago and Minneapolis next week, with more than 30 cities due to follow this year.

Japan is also expected to roll out a limited deployment in 2019 before full services start in time for next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Cost is likely to be a barrier for user uptake initially, analysts say, as the cheapest version of the new Galaxy handset will be priced at 1.39 million won ($1,200).

"While there are many cheap 4G smartphones under $300, Samsung's 5G phones are well over $1,000, which could be a major minus point for cost-savvy consumers," a KT representative told AFP.

None of South Korea's three network operators would say how much they have invested in 5G -- but Seoul's economy minister Hong Nam-ki put it at at least $2.6 billion this year alone.

"If 5G is fully implemented," he said, "it will greatly improve people's lives".

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SAMSUNG ELECTRONICSEgypt's Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem was awarded a shield of recognition from the Catholic University of Milan by its President Mario Gatti at the end of the fourth edition of the Arab Language and Culture Festival organised at the university.

The festival was held earlier this week under the title 'Sheherazade Outside The Palace'.

The ceremony was attended by an array of writers, intellectuals, poets and ambassadors, including Ambassador Ehab Abu-Sari, Egyptian General Consul in Milan Ahmed El-Ameri, chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority and Ambassador of the UAE to Italy Emad Abu-Ghazi, writer and former minister of culture Hussein Mahmoud, as well as students from the university and members of the Egyptian community in Milan.

1

Abdel-Dayem was granted the award in recognition of her role as a model for creative Arab women and the first woman to be appointed as Egypt's Minister of Culture, and in appreciation of her long artistic and administrative career.

In a speech, Abdel-Dayem thanked those who teach the Arabic language and support spreading the language and the Arab culture. She also praised the initiatives taken to preserve the Arab identity, spreading its culture and its values among university students, and expressed gratitude to the Italians and Europeans who are interested in it.

A scientific committee at the celebration consisted of Francisca Krau, professor of Arabic language and culture at Louis University in Rome, Salah Fadl, professor of Arabic Literature at Ain Shams University, Wael Farouk, professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the Catholic University, Christina Gatty, director of the Arabic Language Studies Institute at the Catholic University, Giovanni Gopper, dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature at the Catholic University, and Maria Teresa Zanola, president of the European Council of Languages.

During her visit to Italy, Abdel-Dayem also met with her Italian counterpart Alberto Bonisoli in Rome with the aim of strengthening cultural relations between Egypt and Italy. The meeting was attended by Egyptian ambassador to Rome Hisham Badr.

Abdel-Dayem said that her meeting with the Italian minister of culture dealt with the possible ways of enhancing the cultural and artistic relations between Egypt and Italy, stressing that the cultural ties between the two countries have always had a positive effect on the Egyptian artistic scene, especially on the Egyptian opera.

They also discussed a number of suggested proposals to organise joint cultural events and activities between the two countries.

Abdel-Dayem invited her Italian counterpart to visit Egypt at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, ambassador Hisham Badr declared that head of the Italian Foundation SIB Eugenio Benedetti held a special celebration for the Egyptian minister of culture, which was attended by the head of the Napoli Opera -- the oldest opera in Italy -- as well as a number of cultural and artistic figures in Italy.

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General Gaid Salah: key figure of power in Algeria



Algiers, April 2 (AFP) Apr 02, 2019



Army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who pushed for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to leave office, was a faithful supporter of the leader before turning on him in the face of mass protests.

Born in 1940 in the Batna region, 300 kilometres (186 miles) southeast of Algiers, he was 17 when he joined the National Liberation Army which for three years battled French colonial rule.

With Algeria's independence in 1962, he entered the ranks of the army before attending a Soviet military academy and scaling the ladder.

Gaid Salah successively commanded several military regions, before being appointed chief of staff of land forces in 1994, two years into the decade-long civil war between the Algerian army and armed Islamists.

In 2004, when he was about to be sent into retirement, Salah was tapped by Bouteflika to replace chief of staff Mohamed Lamari, who was from a faction that opposed to a second term for the president.

Now indebted to the president, General Gaid Salah became a loyal supporter of Bouteflika who in turn gave him the means to modernise the armed forces.

After returning from Paris in July 2013, where he spent 80 days in hospital following a stroke, Bouteflika gave him the added responsibility of deputy defence minister.

It was seen at the time as a title handed to the general in exchange for his support of Bouteflika for a fourth presidential term in 2014, in spite of his poor health.

General Gaid Salah also backed Bouteflika when he came under attack from the powerful DRS intelligence agency and its chief, General Mohamed Mediene, who was finally retired in 2015.

In recent months, he began by publicly supporting Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term.

But he abandoned the veteran leader after a string of manoeuvres from the presidency failed to quell public anger that had brought hundreds of thousands out onto the streets.

Last week he called for Bouteflika to either step down or be declared unfit to hold office.

On Tuesday he upped the pressure again by rejecting an announcement that the president would resign by the end of his mandate on April 28 and demanded the start of impeachment proceedings.

In a statement Gaid Salah called for "the immediate application of the constitutional procedure for removing the head of state from power".

Without naming anyone, Gaid Salah criticised "the stubbornness, the procrastination and the deviousness of certain individuals who are trying to make the crisis last and make it more complex with the only concern being their narrow personal interests".

He said the army's "sole ambition" was to "protect the people from a handful of people who have unduly taken over the wealth" of the country.US warns Beijing against force after Taiwan incursion



Washington, April 2 (AFP) Apr 02, 2019



The United States on Tuesday warned Beijing against the use of "force or coercion" on Taiwan after the self-ruling island said that two Chinese fighter jets crossed a traditionally respected maritime line dividing the two sides.

"The United States opposes unilateral actions by any party that are aimed at altering the status quo, including anything related to force or coercion," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters.

"Beijing should stop its coercive efforts and resume dialogue with the democratically elected administration" in Taipei, he said.

Beijing -- which considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification -- has stepped up its jet and warship crossings near the island since the 2016 election of Beijing-skeptic President Tsai Ing-wen.

But going a step further, Taiwan's defense ministry said that two Chinese J-11 fighter jets took the highly unusual step Sunday of crossing the median line in the Taiwan Strait that divides the mainland from the island.

Taiwan scrambled its own aircraft and protested the "intentional, reckless and provocative action."

The United States, like the vast majority of countries, recognizes only Beijing, but it maintains a close relationship with Taiwan.

Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act passed by the US Congress, Washington is legally obliged to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

National security advisor John Bolton stressed US commitment for the Taiwan Relations Act in a tweet on Monday amid events to mark the law's 40th anniversary.

"Chinese military provocations won't win any hearts or minds in Taiwan, but they will strengthen the resolve of people everywhere who value democracy. The Taiwan Relations Act and our commitment are clear," he wrote.French military doctor killed in Mali



Paris, April 2 (AFP) Apr 02, 2019



A French military doctor was killed in Mali when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device during an operation against "armed terrorist groups", the French presidency and army said Tuesday.

France's army for the past year and a half has carried out military operations against jihadists in northeast Mali and into the border area of neighbouring Burkina Faso.

Captain Marc Laycuras, who belonged to a medical unit from Mans in western France, died in the Gourma region near the Burkina frontier, army spokesman Patrik Steiger told AFP.

He said Laycuras and another wounded soldier "were immediately taken by helicopter" to hospital near Gossi, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Gao where the French Barkhane force is based.

The doctor was gravely wounded and died of his injuries, Steiger said, adding that the other soldier was not in a serious condition.

"No enemy or any particular presence had been detected in the area at the time of the explosion," he said.

The doctor was the 24th member of the French military to die in Mali since France intervened in 2013 and drove back jihadist groups who had taken control of the north of the country.

President Emmanuel Macron in a statement expressed his "very great sadness" at the news of the doctor's death.

Macron also reiterated France's "full support for Mali and the United Nations forces in implementing the peace accord" reached in 2015 with some armed groups.

But jihadist raids remain a persistent threat and the Gourma region is known to be a sanctuary for several armed groups, based in the forests and along the Burkina border.

In the centre of Mali, an ethnic mosaic, attacks have had a bloody impact on groups with a history of rivalry.

Just last month 160 people were massacred, the victims Fulani herders in the village of Ogossagou who were killed by suspected militiamen from the rival Dogon ethnic group.

The violence persists despite the presence of a strong French military contingent, UN peacekeepers, and the creation of a five-nation military force in the Sahel region.UK Army probes video of Labour leader photo used for target practice



London, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2019



The British Army said on Wednesday it is investigating after a video emerged showing soldiers on a shooting range firing at a picture of opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The 26 seconds of footage shared on social media, reportedly recorded in Afghanistan, shows four army personnel shooting at an image of the veteran left-wing leader.

"We are aware of a video circulating on social media," an army spokesperson said.

"This behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects.

"A full investigation has been launched."

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "This behaviour is alarming and unacceptable. We have confidence in the Ministry of Defence to investigate and act on this incident".

Britain's Press Association said it understood the soldiers had fired a non-lethal hardened wax substance instead of metal bullets at the Corbyn image, which is pockmarked in the footage.

It said the incident is believed to have taken place in the past few days and involved soldiers from the army's 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment.

The range is on a compound in Kabul where personnel practice "guardian angel" drills protecting VIPs, according to Sky News.

Images of celebrities feature at the site, but for use as targets to be protected rather than shot at, it added.

"If authentic this is unacceptable," junior defence minister Tobias Ellwood said on Twitter, vowing that he was "looking into it".

Corbyn, 69, a leftist stalwart, is a reviled figure among many British Conservatives and right-wingers who label him a Marxist.

A low-level fixture of British politics for four decades, he unexpectedly took control of the Labour Party in 2015 on a proudly socialist programme.

A proclaimed pacifist, Corbyn has promised to make "conflict resolution and human rights" central to Britain's foreign policy if he took power, and to be "guided by the values of peace, universal rights and international law".Russia opposes US plan for more NATO ships in Black Sea



Moscow, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2019



A US proposal to send more NATO ships to the Black Sea to ensure safe passage for Ukrainian vessels and deter Russia is viewed "negatively" in Moscow, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

Washington has been working on a package to boost surveillance and send more NATO ships to the Black Sea after a naval confrontation between Moscow and Kiev last year, the US ambassador to NATO said.

The measure was expected to be discussed during talks by NATO foreign ministers in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin viewed such a proposal "negatively".

"We do not understand what they mean by this. The situation with the Kerch Straight and navigation there is well known," he told reporters.

Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko told Russian news agencies the plan would only lead to "increased military risks" in the region.

"If additional military and technical measures are needed from our side, we will adopt them," Interfax news agency quoted Grushko as saying.

Most alliance members share concerns about Russia which backs separatists in a smouldering conflict in eastern Ukraine that has so far claimed some 13,000 lives.

In November, Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels, capturing two dozen sailors near the Kerch Strait, as they tried to pass from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea.

It was the first open military clash between Kiev and Moscow since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and a pro-Russian insurgency erupted in eastern Ukraine.

"We are going to make sure that we have the capability to deter a very aggressive Russia," US ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison told reporters on Tuesday.

She said the US package was designed "to assure that there is a safe passage for Ukrainian vessels through the Kerch Strait."

Observers say that an increased NATO presence in the region is one of Russia's worst nightmares.

Putin has openly said that Moscow's decision to take over Crimea was partly motivated by NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe.

Peskov did not say Wednesday whether Russia would in fact allow NATO ships to pass through the Azov Sea.

"A decision will be made when there is such a request," the Kremlin spokesman said.

The West has accused Moscow of illegally blocking access to the Sea of Azov, used by both Russia and Ukraine.Iraq PM to make first official Iran visit Saturday



Baghdad, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2019



Iraqi premier Adel Abdel Mahdi will travel to Iran on Saturday, a member of his office said, in his first official visit to the country rivalling Washington for influence over Baghdad.

The US reimposed tough sanctions on Tehran's energy and finance sectors last year but has granted Baghdad several exemptions to keep temporarily importing Iranian gas and electricity, crucial to Iraq's faltering power sector.

Abdel Mahdi, 77, has repeatedly said Iraq wants good ties with both the US and Iran.

The prime minister would spend two days in the Islamic republic, a member of his office told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to press.

He was expected to discuss "the issue of trade outside the framework of sanctions" in addition to "the rapprochement and the convergence of views between Iran and Arab countries", the official said.

Iran is the second-largest supplier of imported goods to Iraq and also enjoys vast political influence in the country, particularly among Iraq's Shiite parties.

Those factions credit Iran for helping Iraqi armed forces defeat the Islamic State group in a fierce three-year battle that ravaged much of the country.

Since declaring victory over IS in 2017, Iraq has strived to make a diplomatic comeback as a mediator among regional rivals.

A string of top officials have visited the Iraqi capital in recent months, including Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in March, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January, and a host of Arab leaders.

During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Abdel Mahdi said he was planning trips to Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States, without specifying dates.

The premier has rarely travelled since coming to power in October, making his first trip abroad in late March to Egypt.

There, he met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan to discuss economic and security cooperation among the three countries.

Last month, Iraq's speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbusi travelled to the US, where he said his country would need to rely on Iranian gas and electricity for another three years.NATO chief says not seeking 'new Cold War' with Russia



Washington, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2019



NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the alliance was not seeking a new "Cold War" with Russia on its 70th anniversary but called for greater efforts at deterrence.

"We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naive," Stoltenberg said in an address to the US Congress during NATO celebrations in Washington.

Stoltenberg said that the 29-nation alliance needed to prepare for the end of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the United States is exiting as it says a Russian system is in violation.

"We do not want to isolate Russia. We strive for better relationship with Russia," Stoltenberg said.

"But even with a better relationship, we still need to manage a difficult one," he said.Pence tears into Germany, Turkey on NATO anniversary



Washington, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2019



Tensions soared Wednesday between the United States and two of its NATO partners, Germany and Turkey, as the alliance opened a 70th birthday celebration aimed at showing a united front against a resurgent Russia.

Hours before foreign ministers from the 29-member Western alliance opened talks in Washington, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a stinging rebuke both to Germany over its level of defense spending and to Turkey for buying a major arms system from Russia.

"Germany must do more. And we cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence told a think-tank forum on the NATO anniversary.

"It is simply unacceptable for Europe's largest economy to continue to ignore the threat of Russian aggression and neglect its own self-defense and our common defense," he said.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced annoyance that few allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are meeting a goal set by the alliance in 2014 for each member to devote two percent of GDP to defense.

Germany last month announced that defense spending would slip to 1.25 percent in 2023.

Hungry for energy, Germany has also defied the United States and several Eastern European states by forging ahead with Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline with Russia that will double the capacity of the existing link.

"If Germany persists in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as President Trump said, it could turn Germany's economy into literally a captive of Russia," Pence said.

Pence, however, promised that the United States "is now and will always be Europe's greatest ally" -- a tonal shift from Trump, who has loudly wondered whether it is worth defending smaller NATO members such as Montenegro.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, speaking at Columbia University in New York before heading to Washington, denied Germany was dependent on Russia.

"Germany is very involved with different NATO missions and we will fulfill our commitments. Germany can be relied upon," he said.

- 'Turkey must choose' -



Western powers have also increasingly clashed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government, which has cracked down on dissent at home and threatened to strike US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria.

On Monday, the United States said it was suspending Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter-jet program due to Ankara's plans to buy Russia's S-400 missile defense system, raising fears that Moscow could gain data to hone its hardware and shoot down Western aircraft.

"Turkey must choose -- does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out a change of heart, saying: "The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this," he said.

Cavusoglu said Turkey still backed NATO on core concerns with Russia and would never recognize Moscow's 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine.

"We have been working with Russia," he said. "But it doesn't mean that we are undermining the alliance and we agree with Russia on everything. There is no shift on our foreign policy."

- No 'new Cold War' -



The 70th anniversary comes amid rising concern over Russia, which has supported separatists in Ukraine and Georgia and sought to sway the 2016 US election.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an address to the US Congress, said the alliance wanted better relations with Russia -- but needed to prepare a strong defense.

"We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naive," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg appeared to soothe Trump during a White House meeting on Tuesday, crediting the US leader's tough rhetoric with pushing the Europeans and Canada to bolster their defense budgets by $100 billion between 2016 and 2020.

Lawmakers repeatedly rose to standing ovations as Stoltenberg hailed the value of the alliance.

"NATO has been good for Europe, but NATO has also been good for the United States," he said.

"The strength of a nation is not only measured by its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends. And through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other power."The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy StatementOn a long-disused film set outside Damascus featuring mud houses, palm trees, alleyways and camels, actors in flowing robes are making a television series that the producers say is part of a gradual revival of their industry.

Like most other sectors of the economy in Syria, the film and television business has been hit hard by a war that has killed half a million people, forced millions from their homes and laid waste to swathes of the country since 2011.

Any films or TV series made by Syrian production houses during the war were rarely bought by the customers in the Gulf and elsewhere that once made up an important part of their market. Actors and directors moved abroad. Studios lay silent.

However, fighting around Damascus ended last year after a series of massive government offensives, reflecting a wider increase in state control around the country, and Syrian studios are starting to work again.

Ziad al-Rayes, head of the television producers' association in Syria, said it was again possible to film comfortably and effectively.

"Here you can find four seasons. Here you have mountains, desert, valleys and snow," he said. It is cheaper to film in Syria than elsewhere, he added.

The television series being produced outside Damascus is about a Sufi cleric called Muhiy al-Din bin Arabi, and is set in historic Mecca, the holiest city of Islam located in modern-day Saudi Arabia.

It is being made to air in the United Arab Emirates, the producers said. Television series are also being made for broadcast in Lebanon and in Syria's two closest allies Russia and Iran, the producers' association said.

The film set was part of a large studio lot that was unused for most of the war and shows signs of disrepair. A nearby set in the same studio is made up like an ancient Roman city.

During the war many famous Syrian actors left the country to work in other Arab states. One well-known actor, 41-year-old Qays al-Sheikh Najib, is now filming for the first time in Syria for eight years, playing a photographer in a new series called A Safe Distance, which looks at how the Syrian war affected people.

"Syrian actors always tried to keep up their good level and they could maintain their level in the Arab world," he said.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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No New Satellite for North Korea







Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 02, 2019





North Korea has not launched a satellite since early 2016, and their space program has never succeeded in placing a functioning satellite into orbit. Boffins have been waiting for a new launch to take place for some time. There were plenty of ballistic missile tests in 2017, but nothing on the space launch front. North Korea has previously spoken of plans for larger rockets and more satellites. It has also gained a lot of attention for recent upgrades to its spaceport at Tongchang-Ri, which now ... read moreFilmMagic for dcp via ABC/Jeff Kravitz/AMA2018This summer, you may want to plan a trip up north to take in Quebec's annual Festival dete, which just means "Summer Festival."

Mariah Carey is the biggest pop performer on the bill for the 11-day event in Quebec City, which will feature over 250 performances across 10 different stages. It'll give you another chance to see Mariah in North America, since her Caution tour heads overseas this weekend and wraps up June 13 in Amsterdam.

Other performers who'll take the stage between July 4-14 include Imagine Dragons, Logic, Diplo, Kygo, twenty one pilots, CHVRCHES, Flora Cash, Loud Luxury, Blink-182 and classic rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Passes go on sale at noon on April 4, and cost around $80 for all 11 days.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.What prompted the constitutional amendments?

The amendment of the constitution in any country serves to cope with the political, economic and social changes that may occur in that country.

It is possible for the nation to exercise its right to amend some provisions of the constitution through referendum, so as to put the people through the experiences of thinking that is modern, developed and appropriate to the status of Egypt and the needs of its people and their capacity and energies. These are the most important things necessitating the constitutional amendments.

The amendment process aims to protect the right of the current generation to self-determination by having them participate in a referendum to decide whether they approve these amendments, especially given that the current constitution was put at a critical stage after the revolution of 30 July 2013. 

The idea of extending the presidential term to six years is not linked to any particular person, but serves to provide the time necessary to complete national projects and economic reforms, and for the citizens to begin to feel the results of these reforms on the ground.

The extension also serves to complete the mission to eliminate terrorism in Sinai and to preserve for the people the gains of security and stability, and to avoid entering into a new spiral of chaos and start from scratch, if not worse.

The re-formation of the Shura Council as a second legislative chamber serves to facilitate and expedite the completion of legislation required for practical life and to reduce the burden on the House of Representatives by specifying the role of this council in drafting legislation. This council will include a number of legal experts and specialists to contribute to the completion of such legislation.

The amendments also aim to increase the representation of women in the House of Representatives in recognition of their role in political life and the competence they have demonstrated in fulfilling the tasks entrusted to them.

Will there be international review of the referendum?

The international review of the referendum is already in place in order to show the impartiality of the referendum process in all its stages before all local and foreign civil society organisations as well as foreign election commissions.

The National Elections Commission issued Decree No. 23 of 2019 establishing a database to register local, foreign and international civil society organisations and foreign commissioning bodies. It also stated that all organisations that followed the 2018 presidential elections should review the referendum process. This decision also allowed any other organisation that did not participate in the review of the presidential elections to submit an application to the National Elections Commission to request its registration in the database to follow up on the referendum.

Wont the proposed constitutional amendments transform Egypt into military property?

The constitutional amendments are a genuine right of the House of Representatives elected by the people as it is a democratic activity common to most countries. The proposed texts have no provisions that would make Egypt a military property. It supports stability and balance between the authorities and supports the fair representation of women, Copts and people with special needs in the House of Representatives and thus enable those groups to participate effectively in political life.

What guarantees that a transparent dialogue about the amendments took place in parliament?

The community dialogue was held to discuss the amendments and was composed of six sessions totalling 20 hours for the members of the House of Representatives to listen to the stakeholders from the state and the community regarding the constitutional amendments.

The basis of community dialogue is democracy; listening to all opinions in preparation for the decision in order to cover all segments of society and its categories, and transparency; full coverage by the media, the press and the editors of parliament. The dialogue also involves the participation of various representatives of Egyptian society including Al-Azhar and the Church, judges, national councils and unions, economists, representatives of civil society, media members and the press, political parties, academics, economic and financial entities and a number of public figures.

What segments of society are benefiting from the constitutional amendments?

Women:

Solidifying the representation of women in parliament and having a constitutionally reserved quota of no less than one quarter.

Workers and farmers:

Continuing to ensure adequate representation of both workers and farmers.

Youth, Copts, Egyptians abroad and people with disabilities:

Solidifying representation -- which was previously on a temporary basis -- of all segments of society due to the success of this experience in increasing representation, which entrenches the principle of civic equality.

Senate:

Increase community representation, expand participation, and hear the most voices and opinions.

What are the proposed amendments concerning the presidency? 

Keeping the presidential term limit at two terms while extending term lengths to six years instead of four, which is necessitated by the practical reality, in terms of growth, evolution and the development of state institutions.

The creation of the position of one or more vice presidents to assist the president in performing his duties, and to determine who would take the place of the president during absence in a way that serves the interest of the country and its stability.

Civilian state

Not having military trials for civilians except in crimes of aggression against the military and border areas.

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by V. Anandasangaree

This Request comes to you from one of the most senior Tamil politicians of Sri Lanka who had been a Member of Parliament for over 17 years and winner of UNESCO s Madanjeet Singh award for the Promotion of tolerance and non-violence for the year 2006. I am the leader of the Tamil United Liberation front founded 47 years back in 1972. Two eminent and prominent lawyers of Ceylons early forties of the last century, Hon.S.J.V.Chelvanayagam, QC and Hon G.G.Ponnambalam,QC agreed, to ignore their 23 years of political enmity ,to merge their political parties llankai Thamil Arasu katchi and All Ceylon Tamil Congress respectively. They formed the new Tamil Front on 14.05.1972 named Tamil United Front subsequently renamed as Tamil United Libration Front, with clear intention of not reviving their former parties anymore and left it as their legacy for the Tamil people to look after all their interests.





The merger of the two major Tamil political parties, at the time when the government was preparing to adopt a new Republican Constitution in 1972, was an important event in the history of Sri Lanka and also a land mark. The formation of the TULF at that time was a compelling need, to bring the two parties under one banner and was acclaimed as a great achievement, by the Tamils spread all over the world. The armed groups operating at that time, found the new formation, which was very strictly committed to non-violence, as a stumbling block for their progress and had opted not to join the new party. In spite of several obstacles it faced the TULF made very good progress. It is very wrong for anyone to say that non-violence failed and gave way to armed struggle. However, due to series of assassinations in the leadership, the TULF suffered a setback which gave way for a new alliance. The secretary of the TULF at that time, Mr.R.Sampanthan having failed in his efforts to take the TULF as a wing of the LTTE, opted to contest on the Federal Party symbol the House. He submitted his nomination paper announcing that they were submitting the nominations on behalf of the LTTE. Their election manifesto for the 2004 General Elections declared LTTE as National leaders and Sole Representatives of the Tamil people. The betrayal of Mr.R.Sampanthan left the TULF with no option other than to contest the General Election of April 2004 as an independent group. Those gross betrayals of Mr.Sampanthan and his team have brought ruin to the Tamil community with no hopes of easy revival.





It was only at the election held on 2nd April 2004,democracy got completely derailed leaving the country in a terrible mess. It was also at this election the TNA won 22 seats including 2from the National list. The TNA leaders condoned the conduct of that organization which under threat, intimidation and large scale impersonation, helped the TNA to sweep the polls depriving the large portion of the voters of their right to vote. Not only the TNA leadership failed to prevent that organization interfering with the polling, the government that was formed at that time also failed in its duty either to expel the fraudulently elected members or to suspend them. The strong request and pressure of theElection Monitoring teams, both local and foreign, for a re-poll in the North and East was turned down by the Commissioner of Elections. In this situation it is still a mystery as to why all the democratic organizations, NGOs, political parties, Human Rights Organizations, Diaspora in particular and such others, within and out of the country kept silent without uttering one word condemning the TNA for illegally sitting and voting in parliament. The political parties in particular failed to condemn the TNA as a fraudulent organizations should share the blame for the present situation. I dare say that if these organizations jointly condemned the manner as to how the election was held in April 2004, several thousands of lives could have been saved.





It is very unfortunate that my repeated protests were neither taken seriously nor recognized by anybody. I needless add that the people were the biggest victims in this destruction process of democracy with no hopes of its revival in the near future. It is high time now for all to get together and save democracy without allowing it to be meddled with by interested parties. If we have contested the 2004 General Elections as desired by the LTTE, Taraki Sivaram and TULF. our desire would have been completely fulfilled and war also would have ended in April 2004. But the Federal Party without giving the LTTE timely advice only encouraged them for all their doings and now wants the LTTE cadre tried for war crimes. Because of them the war got extended for five years from 2004.





During the 30 years of war apart from other sufferings of the people of all ethnic groups, Human Rights violations caused the worst harm to all people. Most of my suggestions some of which are given below if adhered to several thousand lives could have been saved and suffering by Human Rights violations could have been reduced to the very minimum.





1. In January 2009, when LTTE lost kilinochchi I pleaded with the TNA either to have the stranded people released or to quit the Parliamentary seats. There was no response from TNA.

2. To my appeal His Excellency responded by summoning a meeting to discuss various matters at which I pointed out that there were still 330,000 stranded, although president disagreed with the figure. TNA was absent from this meeting as well.

3. The TNA failed to attend a meeting convened by Indian Foreign Secretary, I found fault with them for failing to attend that meeting without stopping the war.

4. When the British Parliamentary team came the TNA warned them about impending disaster after announcement of Indian election results. That means they had pre-knowledge of the disaster.





I strongly urge the international community to intervene genuinely in matters of this nature without favoring any individual leader.





V.Anandasangaree, Secretary General-TULF



by Zulkifli Nazim

Robert Hare, the leading expert on psychopathy as a mental disorder, who devised a psychopathic checklist, observed that psychopaths representing just one percent of the general population possess an especially heightened need for both power and prestige, seemingly prerequisite essentials for every aspiring politician. A startling accuracy of referring to Politicians as 'Psychopaths'





It is an understanding among honourable and educated elite to think of politicians being natural-born psychopaths - Callous, manipulative, exploitative, unrepentant and smarmy  these are the diagnostic traits of the psychopath. And it seems so right.





As the twenty-first century gets into its stride, we judge politicians to be self-serving and not straight-talking but also out of touch, all the same, and a joke.





This finding cannot be dismissed as simply a reflection of a general culture of deference at the time. In the same responses, people wrote about doctors as selfish and ignorant, scientists as inhuman with one-track minds, and lawyers as dishonest, thieving sharks Citizens described their loathing for politicians who made them angry, disgusted, and depressed.





The current economic, political, and legal system in Sri Lanka breeds political psychopaths. We are on a path, rewarding psychopathic behavior and punishing those with conscience and integrity.





Political Psychopaths are in love with power and risk taking, masters of manipulation, self-serving opportunism and self-aggrandizement, and hold virtual doctorates in deceit and deception; and they can comfortably operate without conscience, guilt or any genuine level of empathy toward others.





The behaviour and speeches of our politicians both in and outside the parliament, show that these political psychopaths are highly skilled at playing others in order to get what they want.





We have been primed for extravagant hope. Weve been deceived into thinking that if we work really, really hard, well own that dangling carrot. But nothing could be further from the truth. We are a nation awash in hope.





These scheming politicians are keenly perceptive at reading people, understanding their motives and values, brilliant at learning their weaknesses and blind spots, and highly effective at inducing both sympathy and guilt in others. They appear to be caring and considerate, but only on the most superficial, disingenuous level  It means that they are not straightforward, giving a false appearance of frankness at every turn.





The supporters of politicians, collaborators, confederates and partners in crime have an uncanny ability to pick brains, soliciting information, knowledge, creative ideas and even secrets from others. These scoundrels opportunistically utilize them to their own advantage parading them as their own ideas and knowledge, and craftily taking and receiving undeserving credit and accolades from bosses and those in power.





Equally our politicians are also gifted actors, able to take on chameleon-like colors according to their particular social setting and company. Though they lack a capacity to feel emotions with any depth or intensity, as actors and manipulators they are able to manufacture crocodile tears for effect whenever it suits and benefits them. Their obtuse and reprehensible acts become acceptable.





They have no trouble putting on the act of emotions when they are determined to manipulate others most often into feeling guilty or sympathetic toward them. The only genuine emotion these psychoneurotics express is anger whenever their manipulations are thwarted or rebuffed.





We have seen them use intimidation tactics and behave impulsively and even violently when angered, especially in response to a perceived personal insult or perceived betrayal of trust or perceived lack of respect for their authority. They are perennial predators bloodthirstily lusting for more and more power. But most often their emotional tirades are to manipulate, gain power and control over others.





Their gamey nature and sexual impropriety, lusts for insatiable desire to win at all costs, and a gloating, short lived gratification that brings victors spoils.





(The term Victors spoils was derived from the phrase "to the victor belong the spoils" by New York Senator William L. Marcy, referring to the victory of Andrew Jackson in the election of 1828, with the term spoils meaning goods or benefits taken from the loser in a competition, election or military victory.)





A politician spends more time, energy and money trying to get elected/and reelected to public office than any other single pursuit or pastime. In this pragmatic way, the psychopathic description that they are mere public cons and hustlers selling themselves on the highest, competitively demanding stage is neither too simplistic nor an exaggeration.





Just as effective as they are at absolving themselves of any and all responsibility and culpability of being completely blameless, they are equally skilled at pointing the finger at others and throwing them under the bus. In order to get elected and stay elected, they use their chief assets of cunning charm and capacity to fabricate seamlessly at will, their power to manipulate.





Once these political degenerates believe others have served their purpose, they are deemed no longer of any real value and quickly disposed of, discarded and/or betrayed.





What are we going to do about it? We are aware that whether we like it or not we have to dwell in such an atmosphere, engage in collective conversations and try to do our best hoping for a reasonably better future for our country and its citizens.





In conclusion, we have shown that popular images of the good politician have changed and as such it has become our bounden duty to establish a new image rooted in the professionalisation of politics, the ideology of intimacy, and democratic egalitarianism.





We understand that this new image is more difficult for politicians to perform. It is more demanding, since it asks politicians to be not only for the peopleto be honest, capable, moderate, and strongbut also of the peopleto be normal and in touch with real life and ordinary people. In addition, the professionalisation of politics means that politicians are less able collectively to represent the different virtues expected of them. Furthermore, the contexts of interaction between politicians and citizen have changed. The modes of interaction afforded by media events and professionalised campaigning make it more difficult for politicians to perform virtues and for citizens to calibrate judgments.





Citizens want a multi-faceted relationship with their elected representatives but are offered a series of one-dimensional experiences that disappoint and frustrate and so provide the driving force behind negative attitudes towards formal politics.





We should be able to guide mainstream institutional practices that might lend themselves to a process by which citizens could judge politicians in a multi-dimensional way.





Finally, the outcomes of the political process are seldom clear-cut. For long periods, there appears to be nothing noble about politics at all. Politics, after all, is a battle for influence and the exercise of power. That this activity involves politicians in hustle, intrigue, lies, and deceit pro-vides little surprise to most citizens who have long understood that politics is prone to such a dynamic. Politics has the quality of being both the decent pursuit of the common good and a rather unedifying process that involves humans behaving badly. So, any reforms offered will have to embrace this split personality of politics and work with the grain of an inherently imperfect system.





Concluding with a point to ponder:





In his book Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky writes about how elementary truths are consistently overlooked because the state does such a good job of obfuscating what is really going on. This obfuscation is essential in a free society where there always exists the threat that a free population might hinder the mechanisms of power.English02/04/2019

CONSTRUCTION OF HYDROPOWER PLANTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES WILL ENHANCE SRPSKAS ECONOMY

Once we start building hydropower plants, a highway, and other large infrastructure facilities, this will allow for growth of GDP, an average wage, the standard of living and employment. But this is not something we can do in the 100 days of the Governments term in office, says Viskovic. An interview by Darko GAVRILOVIC



BANJALUKA, April 2 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic says he is proud of the fact that in the first 100 days of its term in office, the Government started the construction of three hydropower plants on the River Drina in which Srpska and Serbia will invest more than 450 million Euros, noting that the construction of these hydropower plants and the implementation of large infrastructure projects will have multiple benefits for Republika Srpska and will enhance its economy.



According to him, the construction of hydropower plants of installed capacity between 180 and 200 megawatts will bring huge benefits, primarily for people living in that area, but also for Srpska since it will have a significantly greater clean power production, as required by Europe.



Europe does not allow, or has great reservations towards, the construction of energy facilities that are harmful to the environment, Viskovic said in an interview for SRNA.



The Republika Srpska Prime Minister says that prior to the construction of the said three hydropower plants, the construction of the Dabar hydropower plant will begin.



A contractor, who will implement a turnkey project, will be selected in the next month or two, and they will finance and build the power plant, said Viskovic.



Viskovic says that it is the aim of the Government to reduce the number of employees in the administration, but not in a way to lay them off and send them to the streets, but to limit employment in public companies and institutions, which will reduce their number through retirement and voluntary leave.



We are negotiating with the Chamber of Commerce and the Union of Employers Associations to offer them a certain number of people from the public sector. The Government and institutions would pay wages and contributions to these people, and businesses would have an obligation to keep them for three or five years. They need labor force, we have a surplus, and we can offer them that surplus, Viskovic said.



Regarding policy pertaining to wages in the public sector, Viskovic says that wages of employees in education and culture have been harmonized with wages of other budget beneficiaries.



We increased wages to police officers of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs with secondary and higher education since we are witnessing the migrant crisis and the difficulties of their daily job. The fact that our members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with secondary and higher education had lower wages than all other police officers in BiH was devastating, the Republika Srpska Prime Minister said.



According to him, it is the aim of the Government to try to keep wages in the public sector at the present level and to be able to increase wages and harmonize pensions through an increase of wages in the real sector and an increase of budget revenues.



A prerequisite for it, the Prime Minister says, are measures which will enable greater budget revenues than they are now.



He told SRNA that the aim is to achieve annual growth of GDP of at least 4.5%, but that this does not depend only on circumstances in Srpska.



All measures and projects I mentioned are aimed at economic growth. Once we start building hydropower plants, a highway, and other large infrastructure facilities, this will allow for growth of GDP, an average wage, the standard of living and employment. But this is not something we can do in the 100 days of the Governments term in office," says Viskovic.



Commenting on the consequences of the failure to form authorities at the level of BiH, Viskovic says they are being felt since there are things the Republika Srpska Government cannot implement alone.



A very important issue for Srpska and its citizens is the distribution of funds collected by the BiH Indirect Tax Authority /ITA/. We have a problem due to the failure to form the BiH Council of Ministers and governments in the FBiH where peoples term in office have expired and who say that they are not authorized to make decisions, and this is the end. The ITA calculated that much more money from VAT should go to Srpska at the moment, and this would be significant funds for our budget, but we cannot resolve this issue, Viskovic said.



He says this is why a dispute was launched with the ITA and that Srpska proved that it was harmed due to the unharmonized revenue distribution coefficients.



A court ruling was issued on the basis of which bank accounts have been blocked, but some banks want to implement it and some do not, and this is why we need this level of government /the Council of Ministers/ to resolve this issue, Viskovic said.



According to him, more than KM 150 million has been blocked for 15 months in the bank accounts of Elektroprenos BiH, money intended for investments.



Of this amount, more than KM 60 million should be invested in Srpska. This is a lot of money which would enable us to employ people and increase wages and GDP. Businessmen in Srpska and the FBiH, whose business operations are closely tied to Elektroprenos, cannot work and are waiting. We have a project of construction of a substation in Banjaluka, which received all permits, but the project has been halted, Viskovic said.



He says the term in office of the Elektroprenos management has expired.



The terms in office of some management members expired back in 2017. All terms in office have expired there. This is why we need the Council of Ministers to resolve all these issues and unblock everything. Some things that I would like to do and that I should do, I cannot do because not everything depends on me. I am here to do as quickly as possible and in keeping with the law everything that depends on the Republika Srpska Government, Viskovic said in an interview for SRNA. /end/sgYoung farmers with outstanding ideas for running a successful farm whilst caring for the environment and local water and air quality have been awarded the prestigious Great Farm Challenge Award 2019.

Ideas brought forward in this years competition included using a tramline to reduce the risk of water pollution and methods to stop cattle from drinking directly out of rivers to avoid damage to river banks.

Natural Englands Catchment Sensitive Farming team, the Environment Agency and water companies for the areas involved - Severn Trent, Anglian Water and United Utilities  have awarded students from agricultural colleges from across the East of England, the North West and the West Midlands with the prestigious prize.

Regional award ceremonies were held last week in recognition of over 150 young agricultural students collaborative and innovative solutions to future farming.

The young farmers worked together on projects to assess and address the impact of different farm practices on their local natural environment and farm business. These projects were then developed into plans and presented to a panel of judges, with the participants demonstrating how they would care for the environment and run a successful farm whilst protecting local water and air quality.

This year Natural England are proud to announce that the regional winners and runners-up impressed the judging panel comprising representatives from Natural England, Environment Agency, water companies and Young Farmers Clubs with their plans for managing a successful farm. The young farmers focused on minimising run-off from pesticides, nutrients and suspended solids such as sediment and algae that can be problematic for aquatic life, whilst also looking at ways to improve air quality and use water wisely on the farm.

Geoff Sansome, Natural Englands Head of Agriculture, said:

Its great to see so many young people engaged and positive about the future of farming. Its even better that they so clearly understand the challenges of diffuse water pollution. This is good farming that is good for the environment, planned at a landscape scale - this is the Governments 25 Year Environment Plan being put into practice.

The students have gone above and beyond to find practical solutions for protecting water and air quality, assets and skills that will serve them well as tomorrows successful farmers.

Using a case study farm, some of the agricultural students discovered the management of tramlines could be an effective way to reduce the risk of sediment and phosphorus pollution of surface water. These young farmers presented their plans to change the direction of the tramlines to reduce the amount of sediment and pesticides moving into the water course from crop spraying, and advised the farmer to plough across slopes to avoid tramlines moving down slope. To avoid soil run-off into the water course, the students also proposed adding grass or vegetative buffer strips or crop parallel to the water course to catch sediments and pesticides.

James Eckley, National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs Chief Officer, said:

NFYFC is delighted that Leicestershire Federation of Young Farmers Clubs chairman and dairy farmer Alistair Hughes was part of the judging panel for an event that challenges young agricultural students to find solutions to improve water and air quality on farms.

YFC members are aware of the challenges, demands and opportunities ahead for their farming future and NFYFC commends the achievements of this collaborative project.

Notably, one college discovered the farm had not conducted soil testing in 15 years. Soil testing should be conducted every three years and is important for efficient nutrient management and for the assessment and minimisation of pollution of surface and ground water to conserve water quality, caused by agricultural practices.

Others looked at ways to prevent cattle from drinking directly from the river to avoid poaching and river bank damage, and came up with the solution of using water bays for cattle to drink from instead of the river.

The students noted that farmers could seek advice from their local Catchment Sensitive Farming Officers to find out what grants are available to help fund some of these actions.Israelis have long been leaning towards rule under a strongman, which also appears to keep the right wing in power

The most salient feature of the climate in Israel in the run-up to general elections set for 9 April is the determination of most Israeli parties to unseat Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after 10 consecutive years in power.

Some opposition parties, such as the Labour and Yesh Atid parties, have the more ambitious goal of ousting government by the right, as a whole. But opinion polls show that the right-wing parties in their various shades are still more popular than the left, centre and Arab parties.

So, the next government will almost certainly be another right wing one. Parties opposed to Netanyahu had also hoped that he would have been brought to trial already in connection with allegations of corruption that the Israeli police have been investigating for two years.

However, for fear of being accused of deliberately attempting to influence Israeli voters in favour of the opposition, the Israeli attorney general has agreed to defer releasing the evidence against the prime minister until after the elections.

In view of the prevalent right-leaning political mood, it appears that the opposition parties only hope for toppling Netanyahu rests with the courts at a later date.

The Israeli Political System In Crisis

This widespread hope among the opposition reflects a profound crisis that has afflicted the Israeli political system since the turn of the century: a grave deterioration in Israeli confidence in democracy.

Successive reports by the Israeli Democracy Institute depict a mounting preference for an autocratic strongman over institutionalised decision-making mechanisms such as parliament. This is not to suggest that democracy, in form, is in jeopardy in Israel.

However, the growing tendency to look for a strongman and vote for his party, regardless of that partys political platform, is sapping Israeli democracy of its substance.

The trend has led Shlomo Avineri, professor of political science at the Hebrew University and former director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to hold that political parties in Israel suffer a dual crisis: an ideological emptiness and the prevalence of personalisation of politics.

The media commotion over political issues focuses on individual personalities, as opposed to political groups or bodies, and political party structures have been thrown into havoc as a result.

Conventionally, the political party relied on a permanent and active membership, with activities in the branches, and party conferences and meetings to discuss policies and ideology.

This has been replaced by the registration institution that enables people to officially join a political party shortly before an election and to take part in the process of choosing candidates.

Benny Gantz Against Netanyahu

In the framework of the aforementioned political crisis, political parties have been hunting for a personality to rival Netanyahu. In view of the general belief that security is what most concerns Israeli voters, the opposition has resorted to forwarding figures from the military establishment as a means to reassure voters, on the one hand, and to wrest the security card from Netanyahu.

The prime minister has long cast himself as the sole political leader capable of delivering on security. He points to his success in achieving deterrence along the northern front (Syria and Lebanon) over a whole decade.

Hizbullah has not staged a serious attack against Israel during this period, despite the blows that Israel has delivered to it, the most recent being the unearthing of some border tunnels earlier this year.

To the south, major confrontations with Hamas have grown less frequent. It has been five years since the last major intervention in the south, which had occurred in two to three-year intervals in 2009, 2012 and 2014.

In other words, Netanyahu, in the current elections, can boast of having ensured Israeli security for five years.

To neutralise Netanyahus claim to being the only candidate capable of ensuring Israels security needs, three parties (the Israel Resilience Party, Yesh Atid and Telem) came together to form the Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) electoral alliance.

Their list is headed by former chief of general staff Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, and it includes other generals  former defence minister Moshe Yaalon and Gabi Ashkenazi, another former chief of general staff  as well as a former deputy director of the Israel Security Agency Shin Bet and a former deputy director of Mossad.

The line-up clearly sends a message to the Israeli voter that, when it comes to security, Kahol Lavan has expertise and capacities far superior to Netanyahus (who is not a member of the military establishment). But will Israeli voters be convinced enough to opt for this list over Netanyahu and the Likud?

Propelling generals to the fore has not always been the key to success in Israeli politics. The Labour Party was unable to halt its decline in the Knesset by choosing a former general, Amram Mitzna, to lead it in 2014.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli leader with the most security experience (he served as director of military intelligence, chief of general staff and minister of defence), proved unable to steer the Labour Party back to pre-eminence when he chaired it from 2009 to 2013.

In its campaigns, the Kahol Lavan alliance has homed in on two basic issues: security and corruption.

On the former, Gantz has said that he is the only one capable of keeping Hamas reined in, reminding voters that he sent parts of Gaza back to the Stone Age (he commanded Israeli troops during the 2014 war against Gaza). On corruption, on a number of occasions, Gantz has charged that Netanyahu raked in 16 million shekels in illicit gains in the German submarine deal.

He called it the greatest security-related corruption case in the history of the State of Israel. The Likud and Netanyahus campaign manager accused Gantz of lying because investigations have shown that Netanyahu was not personally involved in the scandal, even if some of his close associates were.

The Opinion Poll Ruse

According to an opinion poll aired on Israeli Channel 13 on 21 February, the Blue-White list would win 36 seats in the election, while the right-wing Likud Partys share of Knesset seats would drop to 26.

A similar poll by the same channel aired on 12 March showed the Kahol Lavan receding to 31 seats and the Likuds share rising to 28.

The rest of the seats were distributed as follows: United Right 7, Labour 7, Arab-majority list Hadash-Taal 7, Meretz 6, United Torah Judaism 6, the New Right 6, the United Arab List-Balad 5, Shas 5, Yisrael Beiteinu 4, Hawiya 4 and Kulanu 4.

By the time of the last survey aired by the same channel on 30 March, the Kahol Lavan and the Likud were tied at 30 seats each.

It should be borne in mind that such polls are not accurate gauges of election results. For one, between 25 and 35 per cent of those polled are still undecided and elections can always pack surprises because of swing votes.

After his defeat against Netanyahu in 1996, Labour Party leader Shimon Peres said, opinion polls are like perfume: nice to smell, dangerous to swallow. Only the day before the 1996 general elections, the opinion polls had tipped Peres as the winner.

But even supposing that the elections yield Channel 13s 12 March prediction, namely that Kahol Lavan beats Likud by three seats, the same poll gives the right, as a whole, at least five seats more than the centre and left-wing parties (Kahol Lavan, Labour, Meretz and the Arab lists) put together.

In other words, Netanyahu still has a big chance of leading the next coalition government in Israel because Kahol Lavans three seat lead would not be enough to form a government without some party from the right.

On the other hand, even if some of the right-wing parties could be convinced to join a coalition with Kahol Lavan, the government would find itself constantly subjected to blackmail over economic, social and security policies that incur the disapproval of the Israeli right in general.

Conclusion

The crisis of the political system of the Hebrew state casts a shadow over the forthcoming elections. In the opinion of observers both inside Israel and abroad, that state, long vaunted by its leaders as an oasis of democracy in the Middle East, has lost its affinity with the Western democratic model.

The Likuds and Netanyahus perpetuation in power for 10 years, the promulgation of racist laws such as the nationality law, the attempts to erode the independence of the Supreme Court, the restrictions on NGOs and civil society as a whole, the relentless attacks against the press and Netanyahus attempts to control it are among the many phenomena that indicate that Israel now suffers the same ailments as its neighbours, not least of which is scepticism in the concept of democracy as a foundation and framework for government.

It is therefore difficult to predict, with any degree of certainty, that the Israeli right in general, and Netanyahu in particular, will lose in the next elections.

For two decades, the Israeli electorate has showed a preference for a strongman over a candidate faithful to democratic governance, which presumes an ability to make choices on the basis of rational choices between alternative political platforms and policy choices.

Netanyahu banks on the force of his personality, which has enabled him to remain in power for a decade, though Trumps recent recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Syrian Golan will probably help the right-wing leaders prospects.

So, it appears that his adversaries strongest hope remains the corruption trial, although if and when that happens Israel will be plunged into a greater crisis, unless it can come up with a strongman like Netanyahu to contend with the many security threats, and to take the difficult decisions when Trump unveils his plan for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 April, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Israeli elections: Can Netanyahu be unseated?

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Would better access to the Mississippi River be advantageous to Ste. Genevieve?

Yes! It would boost tourism and be awesome for locals. (82%, 115 Votes)

Not really. Anyone who really wants to see it can drive to the ferry landing. (18%, 26 Votes) Total Voters: 141Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.Herald reviewer Georgina pictured with the Scrummy Mummies

Georgina Fuller reviews The Scummy Mummies at The Theatre Chipping Norton, 29th March

Wine, crude jokes, odes to Captain Birdseye, confessions, childbirth and camaraderie. The Scummy Mummies, a London-based comedy duo, treated 200 women (and Phillip, who had got the wrong night but still came back after the interval) to an entertaining and eclectic evening at Chipping Norton theatre last week.

To the uninitiated, the Scummy Mummies, aka Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn, perform raucous shows across the country for frazzled and flawed mums and also host one of the UKs most popular parenting podcasts. Recent guests have included Jenny Eclair, Dara OBriain and Sandi Toksvig. They also have an ever-growing social media following with over 92k followers and a new book out.

They are, essentially, the antithesis of Yummy Mummies. Whereas a Yummy Mummy will feed their kids homemade guacamole, take them on a woodland walk and help them learn the violin, for example, a Scummy Mummy will give them fish fingers, teach them how to play Angry Birds and take them to Aldi.

They started the show by congratulating everyone in the audience for getting out of the house and ditching their childrens bath and bed time, which was met with amused applause. There were a series of amusing jokes from asking the audience who was there with their real friends and who was there with their NCT friends.

From the song about staying away from the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) to the tune of the YMCA to the one about pre and post kids (before kids I was hot stuff, then I got up the duff,) to the Eye of the Tiger, we were treated to a series of Victoria Wood esque songs and sketches, performed in their inimitable shiny lycra body suits.

There was also a Scummy Mummy confessions session where members of the audience were invited to write down their most embarrassing parenting fails to be ranked on the Scumometer (an ironing board.) Some of the cleaner ones included hiding in the cupboard with an iPad while pretending to play hide and seek to sending your child into pre-school in pyjamas because you cant be bothered to argue with them. The winner won a bottle of Scumpagne but I wont reveal her confessions for as Im not sure its suitable for a family newspaper.

Another sketch included a 101 Room style ditching of all the things the Scummy Mummies hated about parenting, from swimming lessons, passive aggressive Whats App groups to World Book Day.

My friend Tori, who came along for the ride, said she enjoyed the rude songs the most. It was like one big, laugh out loud therapy sessions for mums, with raw honesty and raucous laughter, she said.

The Scummy Mummies will be performing in Leamington Spa on the 15 May. www.scummymummies.comUK Screen Alliance, the trade body for UK vfx and facilities houses, is calling for all European workers in the industry to apply for settled status ahead of Brexit.

The UK Settlement Scheme for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens is now open for applications. UK Screen Alliance is pushing for workers who are EU citizens and are either currently in the UK or arrive before the ending of free movement, to apply for Settled or Pre- Settled status whether or not they intend to stay in the UK for the long term, as it will give them a considerable advantage in gaining jobs in the UK in future.

EU citizens who have already been in the UK for five consecutive qualifying years are entitled to Settled Status allowing them to live and work as usual in the UK after Brexit. Those that dont yet have five qualifying years can receive Pre-settled Status and will be able to live and work in the UK after Brexit until they build up the necessary five qualifying years to achieve Settled status.

After December 31st 2020, it is highly likely that the UK will introduce a new visa system for EU citizens who want to enter the UK to live and work. EU citizens with Settled or Pre-settled status will not require these visas and will be at a considerable advantage over new workers arriving from the EU when it comes to obtaining jobs in the UK, as employers will not need to sponsor an expensive visa for them, such as the proposed Skilled Worker Visa.

A qualifying year toward obtaining Settled status is defined as being resident in the UK for more than 6 months in any 12-month period. Once Settled Status is achieved, an EU citizen can be absent from the UK for up to 5 years before they lose their Settled status.

It is also possible for EU citizens normally resident in the UK to get Settled status if they start work or self-employment in another EU country and have lived and worked or been self-employed in the UK continuously for 3 years beforehand and usually return to their home in the UK once a week.

The ease of qualification for Pre-Settled and Settled Status and the fact that the application process is now free-of-charge means that there is no real downside for EU citizens currently in the UK to apply whether they intend to stay in the UK for the long-term or not. This will keep their options open for their future employment in the UK, providing they spend the required amount of time in the UK each year.

For further detailed information on Settled or Pre-Settled Status and how to apply go to https://eucitizensrights.campaign.gov.uk/

EU citizens can also get support with any questions about their application from the EU Settlement Resolution Centre

Share this story66-million-year-old deathbed linked to dinosaur-killing meteor



by Staff Writers



Berkeley CA (SPX) Apr 03, 2019



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.

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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Washington (UPI) Mar 28, 2019

Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...Miguel Diaz-Connell recognized that the country goes through "s"Complex situation Lack" During the meeting with the top officials of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government, considering the celebrations organized for the end of the year, The state press

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

During the seven years I was the spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, I handled topics related to the country's peaceful development and modernization of its defense capabilities almost on a daily basis.

Many foreign journalists, scholars, and others concerned with China's defense asked me questions about the development of the country's aircraft carrier, J-20 stealth fighters, and whether the PLA Rocket Force was equipped with new missiles.

I provided objective information on defense and military development during and after press conferences and organized foreign journalists' visits to our troops. My colleagues also introduced the modernization of the Chinese military through various channels and platforms. Such endeavors contributed to developing an objective, balanced, and comprehensive view of China's military.

However, some journalists were very interesting. If I didn't brief them on the latest development of China's military's buildup, they perceived the military as non-transparent and a threat. If I showed them conventional weapons, they said it was just for show and the military was still viewed as a threat. If I showed them advanced weaponry, they worried we were even more threatening due to the country's rapid development.

I was confused by all this and wondered if a therapy had been developed that could cure them of their "Chinaphobia?"

Many asked that since the Chinese military pursues peaceful development, why are they continuing to strengthen the modernization drive?

The answer, to begin with, is out of the need to safeguard sovereignty and national interests. China has yet to achieve national reunification.

In view of the severe challenges to world peace brought about by hegemonism and power politics, the country faces the arduous task of safeguarding sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity. At the same time, it must address security threats such as terrorism, separatism, extremism, and natural disasters.

Second, China needs to fulfill its international obligations as a major global power. Chinese traditional culture emphasizes that friends and neighbors should help each other.

Recent years have seen China participate in UN peacekeeping and maritime rescue operations. China's global military presence is not an attempt to gain a sphere of influence, interfere with the internal affairs of other countries, invade foreign territories or disrupt regional order, but to assume more international responsibilities and obligations according to its capabilities and play a more significant role in maintaining regional stability and world peace.

Third, China needs to catch up with new military trends. Major powers have achieved progress in the field of advanced military technology. You cannot demand one stick to old-fashioned flip phones when everyone has switched to smartphones.

China has made some progress in military modernization, but it lags Western countries. As military modernization continues, defense power does not determine whether or not a country is a threat.

China has reiterated it will remain on the path of peaceful development and pursue a defensive national defense policy. China will never seek hegemony, nor will it engage in military expansion. China is a country that keeps its promises.

Finally, I want to tell the story of a young, highly educated Chinese solider who belongs to the generation born after the 1990s. This man has served in the Chinese Navy for three years. It only took him one minute to decide he would join the Navy, but he has congratulated himself throughout his three years of service.

While in the Navy, this man has done two things. One, fighting pirates in the Gulf of Aden while safeguarding the international sea passage. Two, patrolling the South China Sea for the safety of the motherland. This man only wishes to safeguard national security and contribute to world peace like all Chinese soldiers.

The article is an abstract of a speech by Yang Yujun, dean of the Academy of Media and Public Affairs, Communication University of China, at the 2019 China Development Forum recently held in Beijing.Bill Chizek/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- When does capital punishment become "cruel and unusual?"



The Supreme Court this week, in a narrow 5-4 decision, offered a sweeping defense of the death penalty, including in cases when an inmate faces the risk of extreme pain.



"The Eighth Amendment does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority in the death row appeal by Missouri convict Russell Bucklew. The amendment prohibits the infliction of "cruel and unusual punishments."



Bucklew, 50, suffers from a rare condition known as cavernous hemangioma, which causes blood-filled tumors to grow on his head, face, neck and mouth. He claims a lethal injection of pentobarbital could burst the tumors, causing him to choke and suffocate on his own blood.



He proposed an alternative method of execution by nitrogen gas, which has not been used in the state.



"His main claim now was that he would experience pain during the period after the pentobarbital started to take effect but before it rendered him fully unconscious," Gorsuch wrote. But, he also noted that the lower courts found Bucklew "produced no evidence that his proposed alternative  would significantly reduce the risk."



Gorsuch said unconstitutional punishments are those that "intensify the sentence of death with a (cruel) 'superaddition' of 'terror, pain, or disgrace.'" He ruled that Missouri's plan to execute Bucklew with pentobarbital would not.



Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh joined the majority opinion.



"His suit in the end amounts to little more than an attack on settled precedent," Gorsuch wrote.



Bucklew was convicted in the 1996 kidnapping and rape of his ex-girlfriend; murder of her boyfriend; and shootout with police. He later escaped from jail while awaiting trial and attacked his ex-girlfriend's mother with a hammer.



His decades-long legal appeals have not challenged his conviction or the constitutionality of the death sentence itself. Rather, Bucklew contends the type of drug Missouri uses for executions would cause him unreasonable pain.



Missouri is one of 30 states with the death penalty. Hanging was the primary method of execution in the state until 1936 when lethal gas was added as an option, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 1987, the state adopted lethal injection.



"The experts dispute whether Bucklew's execution will prove as unusually painful as he claims," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in a dissenting opinion, "but resolution of that dispute is a matter for trial."



"The question is not  whether a punishment is deliberately inflicted to cause unnecessary pain, but rather whether we would today consider the punishment to cause excessive suffering," Breyer said.



In a separate dissent opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor took issue with the language in Gorsuch's opinion, warning against a rush to judgment in death penalty cases, which often get delayed for years by numerous appeals.



"There are higher values than ensuring that executions run on time," Sotomayor wrote. "If a death sentence of the manner in which it is carried out violates the Constitution, that stain can never come out. Our jurisprudence must remain one of vigilance and care, not one of dismissiveness."



Support for the death penalty remains near historic lows, according to recent public opinion polling.



Roughly half of Americans -- 54 percent -- said they support the death penalty in a Pew Research poll released in June 2018. Thirty-nine percent said they were opposed.



Three American inmates have been executed, by lethal injection, so far this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2018, there were 25 executions nationwide.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Apr 03 2019 8:34 am

[COMMUNICATED] Just days remain until Pesach, and Jews around the world have begun to prepare. It is an almost universally stressful time financially. While some are factoring travelling into their budgets, however, many families in Israel are questioning whether they can afford chicken at the seder.

A striking percentage of Bnei Brak families today live below the poverty line, making the upcoming holiday particularly challenging. 12 years ago, Rabbi Asher Indursky was shocked to observe that many of his friends and neighbors were forced into debt each Pesach.

The mitzvos of Pesach and beautifying the chag are incumbent upon every Jew  and it is tragic that so many men, women, and children must choose between using every penny they have, or having a holiday that is not kavodik. Thus began Chasdei Eliyahu, an organization which distributes food, clothing, and other basic Pesach supplies to poor families each year. Some receive the goods for free, while others are subsidized. Each familys package has a total value of $180. The Kimcha DPischa campaign has recommendations from an impressive list of rabbanim, including Rav Chaim Cohen, Rav Mordechai Gross, Rav Yitzhok Tuvia Weiss, and the Badatz.



If you've run out of good things to watch on Netflix but are still dying to avoid your revision, then I've got you covered, with another list of books that you can dive into and get an hour or two's break:

Image Credit: MiraCosic on Pixabay

If you're looking for something funny, fast to read and totally feminist, then I definitely recommend this one. It's only around 340 pages so could easily be read in an hour or two's revision break and it's everything you've ever wanted. The main character, Izzy O'Neill, is hilarious but it also touches on serious topics like revenge porn, slut shaming and the myth of the friend zone. Also the sequel is already out so you can binge both back to back.A Little Mermaid retelling, but our Ariel (Lira) is a vicious siren who becomes human as a punishment from her mother, the Sea Queen. In order to return to the sea and regain her siren legs, she has to kill a sailor, but not just any sailor - a Prince who sidelines in killing sirens.Hey I'm at least changing up the VE Schwab book this time, so you can forgive me right? Vicious is a short read, at only 340 pages, but it's packed with action, villains and revenge. The book follows Eli and Victor, two former friends and college roommates, who have gained superpowers after near death experiences, and unfurls through a non-linear chronology that reveals how the two came to be enemies.If you loved the Netflix show, then perhaps try the series of books that inspired it. It's a long series of 13 books, but they are all under 400 pages and exam season lasts a couple of weeks, so you could probably get a good way through the series by the end.A fantastically fun teenage heist romp, Heist Society follows Kat Bishop and her crew as she is pulled back into the family business (theiving). Kat has to rob an incredibly secure art gallery in order to return a mobster's art collection to him, or risk her father being killed.One of my favourites and an incredibly underrated historical fiction book, Cross My Heart follows teenage Nicole as she joins the Belgian Resistance during WWII and aims not to get caught by the Nazis. An incredibly fast paced and engaging book at only 384 pages to boot, this is a book you could easily finish in one afternoon.Fan of the film? Then try the book which it was based off, an epistolary novel which follows Charlie as he writes letters to an unnamed friend throughout his first year of high school. It's only 230 odd pages as well, so not too much of a distraction.Love time travelling ships? Then this book is perfect for you as it follows Nix, the daughter of a captain who can sail anywhere, in anytime, as she attempts to help him find the map that will lead him back to her mother in 1868 Honolulu, even though in doing so, Nix risks her entire existence being erased.I actually read this one myself during exam season last year, and it's perfect - it's full of short stories, so you can take them in small chunks as a reward for finishing work. As they're not directly connected to the main Grishaverse, just stories that happen within the world, you can read them without any prior knowledge of the rest of the series.The film version is FINALLY coming out this summer, so if you're wanting to get familiar with the story before that, or wanting to refamiliarize yourself with the world, then I'd definitely recommend it. The book follows young criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl as he attempts to steal fairy gold. It's a captivating world, a fast paced story, and will be the perfect distraction from your exams.Over the years Liverpools Baltic Triangle has become the playing ground for like-minded creatives, hosting some of the cities biggest club nights, and world-renowned talent.

Baltic Weekender comes as a celebration of this movement, as it exhibits some of the most promising local talents among prolific names in the electronic music scene.

Image Courtesy Of Baltic Weekender Festival

Going from strength to strength in its third year, the 2-day festival is brought to you by 24 Kitchen Street and local promoters Abandon Silence. The weekender takes place over the final weekend of Liverpool students academic year, becoming a huge staple on the student calendar.

This year, Baltic Weekender has announced some massive names, with Hertfordshire duo Maribou State, English producer George Fitzgerald, and an exclusive opening party set from Russian whizz Nina Kraviz. Detroit Swindle, DJ Stingray, Flava D, KETTAMA, and local party starter Mele, are also set to appear across the weekend, with as Liverpools finest local selectors and DJs bringing their flavours to the line-up.

As well as bringing some of the biggest talents in D&B, techno, grime, house and everything in between, Baltic Weekender showcases Liverpools creative hub and its resistance against the ever-looming shadow of gentrification. Some of the cities most vibrant venues such as Constellations, New Bird Street Warehouse, Hangar34, District, Brick Street are just a few of the spaces lending their floors for the weekend.

Be quick to grab a ticket, as the weekend is massively popular and has sold out for the past few years. Second release tickets are currently priced at 50.40, day tickets are 28.00, and the opening concert is currently priced at 33.60. Tickets are available here.Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here

You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: 

Home PageBy Cui Mingxuan, Guo Yuandan and Wu Zhiwei

What a tense situation! Two J -11 fighter jets of the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) flew over the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which triggered a 10-minute standoff between the military aircraft from both sides, reported the Taiwan media. The news immediately sparked an uproar on the island.

The Chinese mainland does not recognize the so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait, since both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China. Liu Guoshen, Executive Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center for Peaceful Development of Cross-Strait Relations, said in an interview on March 31 that the so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait is a pseudo-proposition. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China. Both sides have and only have one motherland, that is the Peoples Republic of China, and we share a responsibility to safeguard the unity and integrity of the country's territory and sovereignty.

According to Taiwans NOWnews.com, the origin of median line of the Taiwan Strait is said to be a virtual non-intrusive median line proposed by the United States during the Cold War. Nevertheless, the mainland, adhering to its political stance, has never recognized the so called median line of the Taiwan Strait. During the Cold War, the Taiwan air force controlled the Taiwan Strait and their military jets frequently flew over the median line of the Taiwan Strait to carry out reconnaissance missions. After Lee Teng-hui proposed the two states theory in July 1999, the PLAAF military aircraft often flew over the median line of the Taiwan Strait in attempts to force Taiwan to revoke the theory.

Then this time, whats the reason and intention behind the PLAs rare move? There are many speculations on the island. Quoting expert analysis, the Central News Agency (CNA) of Taiwan said that the PLA aims to use air force to take the control of the waters, as its response to the frequent movements of the US ships through the Taiwan Strait. Jie Zhong, a Taiwan research fellow, said that this is obviously an intentional act by the mainland, as the PLAAF military aircraft did not leave even after they met with Taiwan interceptors. Its quite possibly aimed at US recent moves and the joint actions of the US and Taiwan to boost political ties.

Su Ziyun, Chief of Taiwan Tamkang Universitys Integrated Strategy and Technology Center, said the mainland has demonstrated its attitude clearly that it viewed the previous passing through of the Taiwan Strait by the US warships as a signal of provocation. Such a move of the PLAAF military aircraft shows obvious self-confidence, because once they pass the median line of the Taiwan Strait and move further eastward, they will enter the range of Taiwan anti-aircraft missiles.

According to an analyst, after the 1990s, the PLA military aircraft would only cross the midline of the Taiwan Strait under two kinds of situations: one is when the Taiwan authorities made big moves on Taiwan independence; another is when other countries took major actions to interfere in Chinas internal affairs. This time, there is no doubt that these two situations are combined.

He believed that judging from the tendencies of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2020 Taiwan leader election campaign, DPP is likely to take the risk of Taiwan independence, which will inevitably worsen the cross-strait relations. Recently, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also expressed that the United States will take more actions to implement the Taiwan Travel Act, implying that the US will constantly be engaged to interfere in Chinas internal affairs. So now, when some people attempt to stir up waves in the Taiwan Strait, the PLA will naturally take the responsibilities of defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Its nothing to be surprised at all.

Liu Guoshen, the Executive Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center for Peaceful Development of Cross-Strait Relations, said that peaceful settlement serves as the best solution for reunification of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The mainland pursues peaceful development of cross-strait relations and hopes to finally achieve peaceful reunification. However, a peaceful settlement requires the joint efforts from both sides, not a one man show. If the Taiwan authorities do not cherish the current peaceful development of cross-strait relations, the mainland will certainly make every effort to make sure that its determination to defend the territorial sovereignty and integrity of the country is known by others.US National Security Adviser John Bolton, the US State Department and the Pentagon all blamed People's Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets for crossing the so-called "middle line" of the Taiwan Straits.

What's ridiculous is how the US and the Tsai Ing-wen administration are continuously breaking the status quo in the Taiwan Straits, but Washington is accusing the PLA of doing that.

Washington is following a wrong line in the Taiwan Straits. It is playing the Taiwan card because it regards China as a strategic rival. The US has overestimated its military power's deterrence of the mainland as well as Taiwan's wish to always serve as a US pawn. Washington has also underestimated Beijing's resolve and ability to take countermeasures. It has put itself in a dilemma.

The root of the unstable cross-Straits situation is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) refuses to accept the one-China principle and adopts policies to confront the mainland. The DPP's act is partly based on political ideals and partly on electoral tactics. But it's uncertain how long such radical policies can exist in Taiwan politics. Washington is unwise to bind its Taiwan policy to the DPP's radical line.

As US warships repeatedly passed through the Taiwan Straits, why didn't they ever consider that the PLA would take countermeasures? It's Washington's blind confidence if it believes Beijing fears to act considering their relations.

Although China hopes to maintain stable China-US relations in the long run, it is prepared for fiercer competition in some areas. China will not take the initiative in escalating disputes, but it will fight to protect its core interests, especially on the Taiwan question.

Taiwan is close to the mainland, and the latter has abundant resources and strong strategic resolve. The US, however, should understand it doesn't have enough cards in Taiwan. Washington is choosing the wrong place, time and opponent to flex its muscle in Taiwan Straits.

The PLA has many choices, including crossing the "middle line," flying over the Taiwan island and even turn Taiwan into a Lebanon-like situation. These choices don't necessarily lead to war, they are enough to force Taiwan authorities to readjust their radical policies.

The US is powerful, but how many choices does it have in the Taiwan Straits, except to send warships and upgrade its relations with Taiwan? If the US military returns to Taiwan, China's Anti-secession Law will be violated, and the PLA will launch a direct attack. We believe Taiwan authorities have no guts to accept the US military, because they know it will be the death knell of "Taiwan-independence" forces.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs again put forth a proposal on Taiwan on Monday. But if a military confrontation breaks out in the Taiwan Straits, the proposals will be meaningless and Taiwan's political pattern will be changed. The Taiwan Travel Act needs the coordination of radical Taiwan authorities, but this remains uncertain.

Some radical Americans suggest selling more advanced aircraft to Taiwan, which is a dangerous move that breaks the status quo. The mainland will adopt stiffer countermeasures. Neither should the US overestimate the Taiwan military's loyalty. The advanced military technologies that the US sells to Taiwan will eventually come back to the mainland.

Nor can US acts in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Straits coordinate with each other. China is restrained in the South China Sea. But if the US threatens the security of China's islands, the PLA's military hardware will land on the islands overnight.

The former US governments' policies toward Taiwan were basically prudent. If the current US government fails to understand the complexity of the Taiwan question and acts aggressively, it is bound to pay the price.

BRP Davao del Sur (LD-602)./ PHOTO FROM BRP DAVAO DEL SUR FACEBOOK PAGE

MANILA, Philippines  The Philippine Navy will sendi its strategic sealift vessel BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602) to take part in Chinas multinational fleet review later this month.

Navy Flag-Officer-in-Command Vice Adm. Robert Empedrad said the Philippine Navys participation was part of goodwill. The review is being held to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy.

Empedrad said he will also be attending the event.

Asean Navy chiefs will be coming. I heard more than 30 chief of the Navy are attending the celebration, he told Inquirer.net.

This will be the first time that the Philippine Navy will be sending a ship to a Chinese fleet review. The voyage from Philippines to China would take five to six days.

The Navy vessel will anchor off Qingdao City in eastern Shandong province from April 21 to 24.

The celebration is expected to show Chinas growing naval might and to display a friendlier image to its counterparts amid criticisms for its activities in the South China Sea.

Earlier in January, the Navy said the decision to send a ship for the event was in keeping with the Presidents policy in engaging not only with our traditional ally and strategic partners but other countries as well.

Disclaimer: This article was originally produced and published by Inquirer.Net.

Chinese guard of honor participate in the transfer ceremony to hand over the remains of Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the Korean War in Incheon, South Korea, March 28, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shortly after 11:36 am on Wednesday, a PLA Air Force plane landed at Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, returning the remains of 10 Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War (1950-53).

South Korea held a transfer ceremony earlier that day at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon to hand over the remains.

During the ceremony, South Korean troops handed over the coffins, covered by China's national flag, to Chinese soldiers who carried them into the PLA airplane.

It marked the sixth hand-over ceremony. South Korea had transferred the remains of 589 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the Korean War, including 437 in 2014, 68 in 2015, 36 in 2016, 28 in 2017 and 20 in 2018 each.

China and South Korea have consulted every year on the hand-over of the Chinese soldiers' remains found in South Korea. The transfer has been usually made days before Tomb-sweeping Day, the Chinese holiday for commemorating the dead, in early April.

The South Korean defense ministry said in a statement that the transfer ceremony was a part of efforts to heal the scar of the war and conveyed the message of peace to enhance regional peace and stability.

The ministry vowed to maintain cooperative relations with its Chinese counterpart and continue the transfer of the Chinese soldiers' remains for the development of the bilateral relations.

The Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) fought alongside the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) army in the Korean War against the South Korean army and the United States-led UN forces between 1950 and 1953.

remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.In early March, the US Naval Sea Systems Command released latest draft request for information on what it wants in its next-generation guided-missile frigate, the FFG(X). Although the FFG (X) is still in model demonstration stage, the US Navy has expected to award a detail design and construction contract by 2020.

Why the US Navy speed up its FFG(X) Frigate Program? What is the technical performance of the FFG(X)? Dr. Li Li, military observer and Professor from China National Defense University, made an in-depth analysis as follows.

Dr. Li: The prime reason why the US Navy rushes to launch the FFG(X) Frigate Program might be the inadequacy of US Navys Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The LCS Program adopted a small-volume solution after several modifications, which led to a big problem in the subsequent development: the LCS cannot carry sufficient firepower, even though it is expected to be able to fulfill various missions.

The reason for this problem is that in 2004 when the LCS Program was approved, the US estimated that only limited countries were capable of making direct challenges at sea, and most of them were allies.

However, as time passing by, many countries have accelerated their navy construction and developed advanced combat ships with bigger tonnage and heavier firepower. The original design of the LCS is no longer sufficient to deal with possible adversaries in specific areas under current major powers competition. Therefore, the United States is determined to make improvements on the basis of current LCS, building a new-generation frigate with increased tonnage and stronger firepower.

According to the US Navy plan, there will be 20 FFG(X) in service within 10 years. Dr. Li pointed out that the displacement of them is currently set at 6,000 tons, equipped with 3 phased array radars, 32 Mark-41 Vertical Launch System cells, and 8 to 16 anti-ship missiles, together with medium- and long-range air defense missiles, etc. All this clearly indicates that the US intends to build a multi-mission guided- missile frigate. As for the details, Dr. Li illustrated as following.

Dr. Li:

First, if 20 FFG(X) are to be built now, the batch would be quite large. We noticed that the US is further strengthening the frigates ability of detect, attack, as well as its entire firepower. This is a very obvious goal of the US.

Second, the FFG (X) should get its entire Air Surveillance Radar improved to detect targets of further distance. The new frigate shall be able to coordinate in operations and share target information with other warships and aircraft.

Third, the FFG(X) must be able to carry anti-ship missiles. It is a clear goal that the frigate should be able to carry at least 8 to 16 beyond visual range (BVR) anti-ship missiles.

Fourth, the FFG(X) must be able to carry helicopters. The presently expected displacement is 6,000 tons, meaning that the overall capacity would be greatly improved.

Fifth, the FFG(X) may be equipped with laser weapons. But if it can really carry a 100-kilowatt laser weapon system in the future, the US should come up with some innovative ideas on the frigates own energy supply.

The latest requirement for the next-generation FFG(X) Frigate Program is that the cost per frigate should be no more than $950 million. Dr. Li pointed out that the cost of the program is controlled at a very low level. In the future, it will mainly undertake the functions of sensor platform, fire attack, as well as command and control within a certain range.

Dr. Li: According to the current procurement budget of US Navy in 2020, many major programs are actually covered, including the Ford-class aircraft carrier program. The FFG(X) is a new-generation frigate for the future combat, and the US has allocated 1.3 billion dollars for it, of which only over 50 million are applied to related research, while the rest of 1.2 billion were for the procurement of the first frigate. There will be two more purchases by 2021, instead of one as planned initially, which clearly indicates the intention of accelerating the US procurement plan.

Facing such a plan, we can see that the US Navy's determination to replace its LCS is very clear.

The US Navy plans to build a Ghost Fleet that includes unmanned surface vehicle Sea Hunters with an estimated displacement of 140 tons, and unmanned warships with a displacement of about 2,000 tons. The unmanned warships can be loaded with large radar modules and vertical launcher cells, benefiting from their larger tonnage. The core commanding ship of theGhost Fleet is actually the FFG(X). Under the command of FFG(X) frigate, the Ghost Fleet can cruise in certain sea area for a long time, performing unmanned duty tasks. This is a very clear intention of the United States for the future.Recover your password.

A password will be e-mailed to you.Bears begin season with victories The Burke County High School Bears started the season with a pair of wins. In their first game against Screven County, the Bears finished big with a 91-40 score. They were led by Kinte Gross and Edward Wimberly, 14 points each, Tykevian Hiers and Avian Allen, 12 each, and Dantavious...

EBA boys basketball hits the court The Edmund Burke Spartans boys varsity basketball season got underway with three practices and two games last week. The majority of the team played in the semi-final football game on Friday and showed up for basketball practice on Monday. I don't know how they do it, said Coach Larry Keller....

Lady Spartans up record to 5-1 Edmund Burkes Lady Spartans (5-1) picked up two wins following a week that began with a disappointing loss. On Nov. 30, the girls fell to Bulloch Academy 68-25. We played a very good Bulloch Academy team and learned a lot about how far we have to go to reach our...

Bears fall to Carver, end season with playoff exit Burke Countys season has ended with a loss in the quarterfinal round of the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) playoffs. The Bears lost to the Region 5, number 2 seed, Carver- Atlanta Panthers, 46-14, last Friday in Atlanta. Carver will move on to face the defending class AAA champion Pierce...MBABANE  Kobla Quashie and Associates has been enlisted as the best evaluated tenderer to audit NERCHA.



In tender results issued by the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA) it was announced that the company could soon enter into a contract to undertake internal audit services to the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS.

The audit firm was selected as the best to execute the job after having scored 78 per cent since it had priced its bid at E690 000. Their competitors, Ndallahwa and Company, which amassed 59.3 per cent during evaluation did not make the cut because they could not meet the minimum technical qualifying score of 70 per cent.



It was clarified that in accordance with the Public Procurement Act of 2011, the contract could be entered into soon after the lapse of a 10-day working period to allow for the submission of any application for review.



Decision



The contract award decision does not constitute a contract, read the tender results in part.

It should be mentioned that there is no mandatory audit firm rotation (MFR) in Eswatini.

Mandatory audit firm rotation requires companies to rotate audit firms periodically.



Eswatini Institute of Accountants Executive Director Barnabas Mhlongo recently explained that other jurisdictions do have MFR requirements, for example the European Union (EU).

He mentioned that the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors, (IRBA) in South Africa had announced a timetable for new MFR rotation requirements. MFR will come into effect in South Africa in 2023.

In Eswatini, audit committees are allowed to exercise their own judgment, Mhlongo clarified.



Mhlongo explained that in terms of section 232(1) of the Companies Act; Every company shall at the annual general meeting, appoint an auditor to hold office from the conclusion of that meeting, until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting.

The EIA director said there was no law relating to mandatory partner rotation.



He said the Independent Ethics Standards Board for Accountants Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (IESBA Code) which binds members of SIA, in section 290, deals with the familiarity threat that may arise through using the same senior personnel on an assurance engagement over an extended period of time and the safeguards that can be put into place to address such threats (such safeguards usually include rotating the senior personnel on the audit or requiring an engagement quality control review).MBABANE - This is an unfair labour practice. Former journalist Brian Mohammed has taken government to court after he was allegedly overlooked for the position of communications officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, despite having acted in the position for eight years.



Mohammed is currently employed as an Immigration Officer II in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

He now wants the Industrial Court to order the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to ensure that he is appointed into the position of Communications Officer.

Mohammed is also praying for an order directing government to pay him the difference between Grade C5 and b5 for a period of eight years, being the period he allegedly acted in the post of communications officer.



He is further seeking an order declaring governments action of making him act in a position for a period of eight years, either without remuneration and/or confirmation, as an unfair labour practice.

Respondents in the matter are the Civil Service Commission, principal secretary  private and Cabinet, principal secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the attorney general.



Giving a background of the matter, Mohammed stated that he was employed in the Ministry of Home Affairs as a supervisor (Immigration Officer II).

He informed the court that he was promoted into this position (Immigration Officer II) in 2013, after being employed as an assistant immigration officer in 2009.



Informed



After my initial appointment as an Immigration officer, I was informed that the Ministry of Home Affairs needed someone to act as a communications officer and that is how I acted in the position since 2010 up until July 2018, submitted the applicant.

He told the court that as of now, he was not sure of his duties, as no formal communication had been made to him regarding any of the duties expected of him.



The applicant averred that he had gathered information from the corridors that the CSC and the principal secretary (private and Cabinet office) had hired a certain Mlandvo Dlamini into the position he had been acting in for the past eight years.

He pointed out that the CSC was clothed with the authority to interview and eventually employ.



However, in the present case I am advised that the interviews for candidates for the position of communications officer were firstly conducted not by the CSC, but by a panel inclusive of principal secretary  private and Cabinet offices. In total there were three interviews, two of which were at the Cabinets office and the last one was conducted by the CSC, alleged Mohammed.

According to the applicant, all this information came to his attention in or about the month of August 2018.



He contended that he had been executing the duties of communications officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs since 2010.

Mohammed asserted that on July 3, 2015, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs wrote a memorandum confirming that he (Mohammed) had acted in the post since 2015 and was the rightful candidate to take over the position.



Aware



He highlighted that he was aware of the scheme of service for ministerial communications officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which basically outlined the duties of communications officer.

I submit that in the eight years, I have been duly executing those duties and I have further attended workshops meant for different government communications officers, argued the applicant.

He pointed out that in or about the month of June 2015, the principal secretary- private and Cabinet offices, issued a memorandum to all principal secretaries and the subject matter was Government Website Redesign Process. Mohammed said he was one of the individuals assigned to redesign the government website.



Mohammed also stated that post 2015, he had been executing the duties of communications officer and he had been attending to instructions of the Minister of Home Affairs, updating of government calendar timeously.

He disclosed that he had been coordinating press conferences for national events announcements, was a member of the communications Committee dealing with issues relating to His Majestys birthday, drafted and submitted the Ministry of Home Affairs Service Charter. He said he did all this in his capacity as a Communications Officer.



These are allegations contained in an affidavit whose veracity is still to be tested in court and government is yet to file its papers.

The matter is still pending in the Industrial Court and government is yet to file its papers in the event it is opposing the application. Mohammed is represented by Banele Gamedze of Musa M Sibandze Attorneys in Mbabane.MBABANE- It would seem some residents of Manzini tolerate the crowing of roosters but cannot stand the noise from churches.

Some residents of Manzini have called upon those who conduct church services to reduce the noise in the city.



Relax



The concerned residents, especially those who relax at their homesteads and guest houses on Sundays, claimed that they were disturbed by the loud noise each time they tried to try to find peace during weekends, especially on Sundays. Their concern comes after some residents of the same city complained roosters whch crow day in and day out.



We are grateful that the Manzini Municipality has shown its concern on the residents who dont keep roosters which make noise in some parts of the town. We believe that it is high time the municipality addressed the issue of churches which make loud noise with their musical instruments from as early as 7am until late on Sundays, said some of the concerned residents.



The affected residents stated that they lived at Coates Valley and Madonsa where some churches were closer to their homesteads and guest houses. Something must be done about the noisy churches, they reiterated. Mathokoza Thwala, the Public Relations Officer of the Manzini Municipality, said the law governing towns prohibited any form of noise, be it from homesteads, churches or liquor outlets.



Thwala said it was for that reason that the municipality hired a security company to attend to emergencies reported to the town authorities.

We have a toll a free number 8002004 which operate 24 hours. We also have another number 2505 7000, which is reachable through landline and cellphones to make sure all emergencies are attended to as soon as they are reported, Thwala said.



He urged the city residents to call the office for a quick response should anyone violate their rights. He said the municipality hired the security company to make sure that city laws were adhered to.

It is not the first time people complained about loud noise from churches.



Recently, Judge Titus Mlangeni filed an urgent application seeking an order to interdict a nearby church disturbing his peace. This was after the church held an all night prayer near the judges homestead. In his application, the judge put it to the attention of the court that the church members were praying so loud that he even heard the exact words of their prayer in the middle of the night.











MATSAPHA  The journey home after school is supposed to be fun, filled with laughter and games; but not for some Kwaluseni Central Primary School pupils.



The school is located about four kilometres from Matsapha Shopping Complex and about two kilometres from Mbhuleni, a notorious location in the northern part of Manzini.



It is in this corridor that five pupils of the school have allegedly lost their innocence due to being sexually molested by fellow schoolmates and pupils from nearby schools. According to a parent, whose identity will be concealed to protect the identity of the survivor, the minor came back home from school later than the normal time. This worried the parent. The parent enquired from the pupil what had caused her delay as she arrived home after 5pm, yet the school breaks at about 2pm.



It was during this enquiry that the minor narrated what had caused her delay from school. The pupil, aged eight, said after school, while in the company of another female pupil, they were ordered to go to an abandoned structure at the infamous Mbhuleni community.



Older



There, the minor narrated that there were older boys from school and others from another nearby school. The boys were in the company of some girls from her school.

There, the boys allegedly ordered them to undress and started to sexually molest some of the girls. Narrating this, the Grade II pupils said: Bebasisoma!

This is a SiSwati verb, usually used by children to refer to engaging in sexual intercourse.



It is said when the boys ordered the minor to join her female schoolmates in performing the explicit acts, she started to utter inarticulate sounds of lamentation.

In fear that this would draw attention to their den, the alleged perpetrators ordered the crying girl to leave  which she did.



It was after hearing about the ordeal that the parent hastily took her child to the police and later to hospital for medical examinations.

The medical examinations were to establish if there had been any penetration during the ordeal endured by the child. It is standard procedure which follows reporting a case of sexual violation.



The impeccable source said following this, the matter was reported to the schools head teacher, Muziwethu Simelane. The school then proposed a meeting between parents of all the involved pupils. However, the meeting between the parents and the administration did not take off on Monday. Instead, according to sources, it was postponed to a later date.



Deny



The head teacher, when approached about the allegations made against pupils of his school, could neither confirm nor deny them. This happened in different instances, on different dates.

Clarity on the allegations was first sought on Friday, and on the day, Simelane said: There has been no formal complaint (brought to the school), but we dont dispute it as it happened outside the school (boundaries).



He proceeded to express hope that the inquest made by this publications senior reporters would yield a visit by some of the stakeholders concerned to the school premises. On Monday, the head teacher claimed that the parents had still not visited the school, despite that one of the parents was found outside the administration offices, while the affected pupils were inside the staffroom. The survivors were dismissed by one of the teachers and informed that they would be called later on.



On the other hand, Simelane said: Even if the incident happened outside the school premises, it was the responsibility of the school to nurture the pupils.

Simelane said they would capacitate the pupils on the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act. He said the administration would engage members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) to engage the pupils through their Domestic Violence/ Child Protection Sexual Offenses Unit.



This, he said, would be easier for the school as police visited them weekly to educate pupils about traffic laws.

Abuse

Independent investigations revealed that there were five pupils who had gone through such abuse at the hands of the boys aged between 11 and 13.

In fact, a source close to the matter alleged that the other girls were repeatedly abused.

Some of the boys who are implicated in the matter are not pupils as they are known for terrorising community members living in Mbhuleni and surrounding areas like Mbikwakhe, Ndzevane and Logoba, to mention a few, the source said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer, Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, said no case had been officially documented.

However, Inspector Mnguni further said: The parents should bring the children to the police so that they can be given a form to medical practitioners.

She said even if days had gone by after the alleged sexual violation, the Domestic Violence/Child Protection Sexual Offenses Unit was skilled in getting information which may lead to prosecution.

Its about the violation endured by the pupils. The unit will know what to do and they are qualified to get information from the children.PIGGS PEAK  A man who was allegedly killed for portraying himself as the boss proved that even in his death, he was superior.



This may sound like a scene from the 1990 movie titled Ghost, in which a murdered man haunted his killer, but for Piggs Peak police officers, it became a reality when a man handed himself over after he claimed to be haunted by a man he allegedly killed.

Nearly three weeks after the deceased mans decomposing body was discovered around Piggs Peak at an area known as Plantation, a man stormed the police station, claiming that he was the one who murdered the person.



This was after he claimed that the dead mans spirit was haunting him since the murder. The suspect is said to be from KaNncesi near Piggs Peak.

Terrified, the suspect narrated to police officers how the dead mans spirit constantly reminded him to tell his relatives about what he had done with his body. The name of the alleged killer is known but will not be revealed as he is yet to appear at the magistrates court.



mystery



The murder became a mystery for the police as all they heard was that the man had a set of car keys as well as a remote control device.

On March 16, 2019, the Times of Swaziland SUNDAY reported that a mans body was discovered near Piggs Peak but that he had not been identified at the time. However, it has now been established that the body was that of a man called Sifiso Lekwati Dlamini of Nkoyoyo in Mbabane. Lekwatis body had a stab wound when it was discovered but the motive or who actually killed him remained a mystery until the suspect unveiled himself.



His alleged killer is said to have told police officers that since the murder, he had not been able to sleep.

Not only did he claim that he was being haunted in his sleep but he alleged that he began to see his victim even during the day.

The suspect claimed he began to have visions of the victim during the day as though he was hallucinating.



The murder suspect said in the visions the deceased instructed him to tell his relatives what had transpired. It was for this reason that the suspect then went to the police to tell them about what had happened to the deceased.

According to the information he allegedly gave police officers, the two had been acquaintances but Lekwati claimed to be superior to the suspect. It appeared this made him feel jealous and angry that he was being belittled, alleged a source close to police investigations.



This is said to have angered the suspect as he also wanted to be the superior one.

It is alleged the suspect felt bullied by Lekwati.

The suspect is said to have told police that he then used brake fluid to drug Lekwati by pouring it into his beer as they were drinking.



Unknown that his beer had been laced with brake fluid, Lekwati is said to have continued drinking. As he became drugged, Lekwati is said to have become weak and drowsy.

The suspect said during this time, he then saw an opportunity to attack Lekwati and used a knife to stab him.



knife

Interestingly, not only did the suspect admit that he had allegedly killed Lekwati but that he also brought with him the knife he used to stab his victim.

On the day the body was discovered, the police noted that Lekwati had been dead for some time. The police also discovered that Lekwati had been wearing tights similar to leggings usually worn by women.

The set of keys which were found on Lekwati with a remote control device gave an impression that he had a vehicle and that he may have been a well-established businessman.European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier said Tuesday that Britain is getting closer and closer to having its exit from the EU go forward with no deal in place on the terms of its withdrawal.

Speaking in Brussels, Barnier said there is still hope to avoid a so-called no-deal Brexit. But he indicated Britain has limited options, with the only "orderly manner" being a scenario where the British parliament accepts the deal Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiators agreed to after two years of talks with the EU.

To date, British lawmakers have rejected that agreement three times. May is expected to try to bring it back for a fourth vote. The prime minister is spending hours Tuesday holding Cabinet meetings in search of a way to finally resolve the Brexit crisis.

Crawford County Womens Services are taking part in Sexual Assault Awareness Month. As part of this years campaign, the group has put up teal ribbons across the county.Top-level representatives from over 140 countries from Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Asia will gather in Dubai next week to take part in this years edition of the worlds leading foreign direct investment (FDI) platform, the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM).



Set to take place from April 8 to 10 under the theme Mapping the Future of FDI: Enriching World Economies through Digital Globalization, the global event, an initiative of the UAE Ministry of Economy, will host tens of thousands of exhibitors and visitors who will network and exchange expertise with each other and promote a myriad of investment opportunities in their respective states.



Apart from high-profile conferences and forums, the event will also feature an exhibition to provide governments and private organisations alike with an opportunity to present their relevant programs and projects with the greatest socio-economic impact to a vastly diverse international audience. The interactive exhibition will offer participants as well a rare chance to connect with visitors and conference delegates such as regional and global industry leaders and key stakeholders, said Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO of Annual Investment Organizing Committee.



Exhibitors from more than 25 countries will showcase their respective mega developments, significant expansion activities in key economic sectors, and prevailing business climate and regulatory environment. The exhibiting countries include Saudi Arabia, Algeria, China, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ghana, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, the United States, the UAE, India, Ukraine, Seychelles, Somalia, Egypt, Cameroon, Cyprus, Poland, Somaliland, Swaziland, Indonesia, and DR Congo, among others.



Additionally, AIM 2019 will enable participants to showcase the potentials of their respective local sectors to a diverse global audience. This year, several countries including UAE, South Africa, China, Georgia, Italy, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Botswana, and Indonesia will present at the forum. The presentations will be highly informative, emphasising important economic features and conditions as well as investment data including fascinating details about the investment environment in these countries.



While Sierra Leone's $7.96 billion Medium Term National Development Plan will spur immense investment opportunities in key sectors of agriculture, fisheries and marine, education, tourism, and mining over the next five years (2019-2023), Italy will also demonstrate markets opportunities for Capital Raising, Investment and Digital Transformation. It will also present to the audience investment opportunities in Emilia Romagna. The country will also bring to light the largest food park in the world and agrifood logistics in Bologna and shed light on the importance of investing in Italy now.



This edition of AIM will also witness the presence of a delegation of 200 officials, investors and businessmen from Libya who will highlight how Libya is evolving as a market for expanded socio-economic opportunity, offering a load of benefits for foreign investors.



AIM is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. It is considered the largest global investment gathering of corporate leaders, policy makers, businessmen, regional and international investors, entrepreneurs, leading academics, and experts. - TradeArabia News ServiceNational Bank of Bahrain (NBB) announced that it has selected Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, to provide its TCS BaNCS solution for core banking.



This is in line with the banks digital transformation and efforts to diversify its business lines, deliver superior customer experience, and leverage the power of an extended and connected ecosystem, said a statement from NBB.



TCS BaNCS is a comprehensive and contemporary solution that will standardise and streamline NBBs operations across multiple countries where the bank operates including its home market of Bahrain as well as in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where NBB is continuing to expand its presence and activities, it stated.



The solution spans customer management, loans, deposits, payments, origination, Islamic banking and liquidity management for retail and corporate banking and will enable a unified customer experience across multiple channels while leveraging multi-country and multi-entity capabilities.



Additionally, NBB is looking to collaborate and integrate with the emerging ecosystem of Fintechs in the regions banking and financial industry by leveraging TCS BaNCS open APIs, digitalised workflows, and cognitive capabilities.



Chief Operating Officer Iain Blacklaw said: "As part of our ongoing journey of transformation, we are pleased to announce another milestone in this process with the selection of TCS BaNCS. This will modernise our IT landscape, lay a strong foundation for digitalisation and offer a consistent and contextual experience to our customers."



"Our goal is to unlock new revenue streams by leveraging larger and extended ecosystems, introduce new products quickly, and expand our customer base across multiple countries in the region," he stated.



In the Business 4.0 economy, forward thinking organisations like NBB are empowering consumers, business customers, and partners by leveraging the power of ecosystems and connectedness, remarked Venkateshwaran Srinivasan, the head of TCS Financial Solutions.



With the selection of TCS BaNCS for Core Banking, spanning retail and business banking, NBB will be able to establish a customer centric, experience-led, foundation and create newer business models that drive value for their customers and partners alike. We are happy to be partnering with NBB on this transformational journey, he added.



TCS BaNCS for Core Banking helps banks and financial institutions cater to customers needs throughout their life journeys, based on anticipated requirements, and over the devices of their choice.

Designed on the Digital First, Cloud First philosophy, it comes with a high performing processing engine and open banking capabilities.

It supports a wide range of products and services covering assets and liabilities, and can be deployed to fit the business and operating model of a bank with an assured 24x7x365 availability, as evidenced at the 450 sites where it has been installed successfully.-TradeArabia News ServiceEagle Hills Muscat, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based private real estate investment and development company Eagle Hills and Omani group Izz International, has unveiled its luxury project, The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, in Muscat.



Situated in a prime beachfront location along the luxurious Shatti Al Qurum, The Residences overlook the Oman sea, offering residents and visitors uninterrupted sea views and access to a blissful beach promenade.



The project is being designed to bring a new era of luxury living and serve a growing market of residential real estate, delivering a select number of exclusive apartments in the capital, said a statement from Eagle Hills Muscat.



The Residences at Mandarin Oriental are being introduced for the first time in the region, representing Omans first high-end branded, fully-serviced residences.



While contemporary in style, the architectural landscape of the project presents inherent characteristics that reflect the spirit of Muscat, it added.



Residents will also have privileged access to exceptional services and the finest amenities available at Mandarin Oriental, Muscat, said the statement from the Omani developer.



The project was launched by Eagle Hills Chairman Mohamed Alabbar in the presence of Sayyid Assad bin Tarek Al Saeed, Deputy Prime Minister for Relations & International Affairs and Special Representative of the Sultan, it stated.



They will also benefit from a range of bespoke resident services and enjoy a unique lifestyle, offering the comfort of a private home combined with the legendary service of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, it added.



Announcing the project, Alabbar said: "The leadership of Oman, with its long-term vision and guidance, has continued to drive the sultanates sustainable development, successfully carving a unique niche in the region as a destination highly conscious of maintaining its natural and cultural heritage."



"Eagle Hills presence in Muscat in partnership with Izz International and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group reflects the defining quality of our project  a unique project that further accentuates Omans legacy," he stated.



Both the hotel and residences at Mandarin Oriental, Muscat aim to merge the urban vibe and the relaxed atmosphere of a waterfront sanctuary right in the heart of the vibrant and ever-growing city of Muscat, noted Alabbar.



"With this development, Eagle Hills continues to redefine authentic luxury across its projects by ensuring its developments blend well with the natural surroundings," he added.



Izz International CEO Mohammed Abdul Hameed Al Busaidi said: "The success story of Eagle Hills across various international markets is testament to its world-class development approach, which complements Izz Internationals vision for Oman."



"We are committed to delivering excellence and the highest quality of property developments in the Sultanate, in line with the countrys development programs and economic strategies. Mandarin Oriental, Muscat is a pioneering brand and we are proud to be partnering with Eagle Hills in bringing the concept of luxury branded residence to Oman," he noted.



We are delighted to be introducing the Residences by Mandarin Oriental in Muscat. We look forward to bringing the brands legendary hospitality to the owners of these prestigious private homes, said Richard Baker, the chief relationship officer for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.



Merely a kilometre away from Royal Opera House Muscat, eight kilometres to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and 15 km to Muscat International Airport, the project location offers easy access to major attractions and central business areas across Muscat.



As a leisure and lifestyle destination, the project offers residents and guests premium amenities including a wide variety of food and beverage outlets and fine dining restaurants, various banqueting and meeting spaces and a ballroom opening to the sea, said the developer in a statement.



The development also features a state-of-the-art Spa at Mandarin Oriental designed around a Persian Hammam, and an outdoor swimming pool set amid a vast outdoor landscaped area for both kids and adults within reach to the sandy beach.



The residential units on offer include a one-, two-, and three-bedroom luxury apartments and two penthouses comprising four bedrooms each.



The development will benefit from other facilities such as 24-hour Concierge, maintenance and security, private residents-only access and drop-off area, valet parking, retail outlets and access to an exclusive residents-only lounge.



Additional recreational amenities exclusive for residents include a swimming pool with a kids pool, a common residents lounge, a multi-purpose room, a childrens play room and games room as well as a private residential courtyard.-TradeArabia News ServiceCBRE, the global real estate consulting firm with a major presence in all the GCC countries as well as Morocco, Egypt and Turkey, has appointed Ciaran Lynch as the new head of its property management service line in Bahrain.



With wide knowledge of the local market and offering a full range of commercial and residential property management services to a range of businesses and government entities, the new hire takes on a key role for the firm in the kingdom, said the statement from CBRE.



Lynch has been appointed as the head of CBRE Bahrains property management service line and is responsible for leading the property and facility management team.



The 15-strong property management team in Bahrain currently manages a diverse portfolio of 24 properties including retail, commercial office, industrial and residential properties.



The project's annual rental income stands at around $27 million and the total lettable area under management is estimated at 265,000 sq m.



Lynch joins CBRE having previously held the position of deputy general manager at Impact Estate in Bahrain.



Ciaran has also gained significant property management experience over the past 15 years, taking responsibility for regional malls and diverse property portfolios for major developers and real estate firms in Ireland, including Harcourt Developments, Lisney and Savills.



Ciaran is a qualified chartered surveyor, specialising in property and facilities management and is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors as well as the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.



Commenting on the appointment, Richard Botham, general manager, CBRE Bahrain, said, We welcome Ciaran, whose experience will prove invaluable as we continue to drive exceptional results for our clients.



CBRE operates in all the GCC countries as well as Morocco, Egypt and Turkey with over 500 employees and supported by an international network of over 90,000 colleagues across 480 offices. The firm offers a wide range of services in research, development consultancy, advisory and transactions, property and facility management and valuation.-TradeArabia News ServiceThe second annual Future Blockchain Summit opened yesterday (April 2) in Dubai, with a projected 10,000 visitors to the two-day event, hosted by Smart Dubai and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).



Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, director general of Smart Dubai inaugurated the event by praising the citys continued commitment to new technologies, before revealing plans for the 2019 launch of new guidelines in relation to blockchain advancement.



She said: Dubai has always been a trendsetter when it comes to embracing advanced technologies  and blockchain is no exception.



Empowered and inspired by the forward-thinking vision of our leaders, Smart Dubai has been progressing with the implementation of the ambitious Dubai Blockchain Strategy, launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council in 2016.



Today, we are currently implementing several city-wide government and private sector blockchain use-cases, and later this year will be launching the official policies for blockchain development and implementation in Dubai.



Keynote-led discussions across Future Blockchain Summits Prism Stage yesterday also comprised speakers from international entities and industry-leading companies including the US Department of State, the United Nations, the Dutch Government, du, Coca Cola and SAP.



Phil Chen is consumer technology firm HTCs Decentralised Chief Officer, and spoke about blockchain being bigger than the smartphone.



He said: The internet today is very centralised it keeps track of everyone, with more predictive power and surveillance capabilities than ever before rested in the hands of handful of companies. What we need today is a decentralised web and that is possible through blockchain, which allows people to own their digital identities. In todays digital-age, anybody can have access to your email and use it to transfer, for instance, money. In order for such things to not happen, you will need to own your own digital identities.



Speakers on Wednesdays final day of the Summit include Nolan Bushnell, Founder - Atari & X2 Games; Susan Oh, Co-Chair of AI & Blockchain for Impact - United Nations; Dale Chrystie, Blockchain Strategist - FedEx and Kristo Vaher, CTO - Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for Estonia.  TradeArabia News ServiceOne of the world's most celebrated French chefs is set to fly from the Cote d'Azur to Bahrain with a star-studded team for a kitchen takeover at Bahrains peak degustation restaurant, Mahonia.

For two nights only, on April 15 and 16, two Michelin star Chef Bruno Oger will be serving up an eight-course gastronomic experience of Mediterranean haute cuisine composed of the finest internationally-sourced ingredients, the restaurant announced.

Executive chef Oger is best known on the high-end culinary scene as the genius behind the official dinners of the Cannes Film Festival, and as the proprietor of Bastide Bruno Oger which comprises the famed gourmet restaurant La Villa Archange, the brasserie Le Bistrot des Anges. He was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres medal by the French Government in 2003 and won Best French Chef of The Year in 2010.

Pastry Chef Sylvain Mathy, the renowned 2002 dessert champion of France, will also be visiting to put his unique spin on the sweet offerings. Rounding out the team will be Chef Oger's right-hand-man Jacques di Guisto, F&B Director Eric Descazaux and other trusted members of his team from the French Riviera.

Mahonia has distinguished itself as a world-class destination for chefs as well as epicures since its launch. Already noted for its ongoing Four Hands Dinner Series - wherein chefs from the World's Best Top 50 Restaurants List collaborate with resident Executive Chef Herve Pronzato - this new kitchen takeover concept demonstrates Mahonia's commitment to introducing truly unique and one-off experiences for guests, it said.

Founder Sawsan Baluch commented: At a time when the Arabian Gulf is being looked to as the global epicentre of innovative luxury lifestyle ideas, we strive to put Bahrain on the epicurean world map.

The special menu for the two nights features an eight-stage progression of dishes such as Cape Breton Lobster (arguably the best lobster in the world), Prawn Ceviche with Caviar, and Lamb with Provencal condiment. The dessert portion includes an oversized madeleine designed to be shared, driving home the French influences that will imbue the entire extravaganza.

Chef Bruno Oger commented: "This is an exciting event for all involved. The team and I look forward to taking over the kitchens of Mahonia to produce an authentic, curated and bespoke taste of France in the heart of Arabia. Meanwhile, we welcome the opportunity to be inspired by the island kingdom as well as the team and venue of Mahonia."

Seating at this boutique destination is extremely limited and early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment, said the restaurant. More information is available at www.mahoniabh.com or by calling +973 1700 0071  TradeArabia News ServiceOil prices for the first quarter of 2019 have posted their best quarterly performance since 2009, said the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) in a new research.



Buoyed by signs of a tightening market, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead in curbing production, and a decline in production from the US, Russia, Canada, Libya and Iran, among others, oil prices are expected to firm up during second and third quarter of the year, it added.



A tightening market



Improving oil prices have been driven by a tightening market, with production cuts across a number of global producers. Opecs efforts to set production limits, in addition to commitments to the Vienna Agreement, have resulted in significant reductions in output by leading oil producers.



Opec-11 compliance reached 106 per cent in February, with aggregate production falling by 812 kb/d. Non-Opec compliance improved to 52 per cent in February, from 25 per cent in January of this year. Russia recently reiterated that it intends to fully comply soon, said NBK Research.



Political turmoil has resulted in a supply adjustment, with output from Venezuela, Libya and Iran falling. Even in the US, supply has been less bullish. While US crude production continues to break new ground, the number of oil drilling rigs has fallen for six consecutive weeks, by 7.8 per cent in 2019.



NBK Group chief economist Dr Saade Chami said: We expect oil prices to firm up over the second and third quarter of this year, as estimated global oil demand remains unchanged and the demand/supply balance flips into deficit for the second and third quarter of the year.



The possible non-renewal of the 180-day US sanctions waivers on Iran expiring in early May will have a significant impact on oil markets, with a potential reduction in supply of several thousand barrels. However, experience taught us that oil prices are subject to large swings as we have witnessed recently.



The report indicates that a more aggressive response vis-a-vis Iran in the context of falling Venezuelan production could lead to an even tighter market, especially in heavy crude, and propel crude prices above what US president Donald Trump would be comfortable with. Extending the waivers for another six months or slowly tightening the criteria, by reducing the list of countries eligible for waivers, might become an attractive middle way for the US.



Dr Chami continued: Of course, the oil price outlook rests on several moving parts, both economic and political, and not all of which will necessarily come into play to the extent envisaged  or at all  during the remainder of the year. Policy changes, global geopolitical conditions and market dynamics will continue to affect a rapidly shifting price environment.



Downside risks to oil prices could include greater-than-expected US shale-led supply gains; termination of the Opec+ supply agreement in June, or under-compliance by a few members; and a further weakening of global economic growth.



The International Maritime Organizations 2020 regulations, set to come into effect next year, will put upward pressure on diesel and crude oil prices. With maritime shipping accounting for 3 per cent of demand for oil, ships will now be required to shift from high-Sulphur fuel oil to low-Sulphur diesel/gasoil.



The oil price impact of this development could be asymmetrical, with upward price pressure on light sweet crudes such as Brent, which are low in sulphur, and downward pressure on higher levels of sulphur.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe leaders of Greece and North Macedonia hugged, took selfies and signed a new agreement for air patrols on Wednesday in a display of newly-friendly relations since a nearly three-decade name dispute was settled earlier this year.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev was all smiles as his counterpart Alexis Tsipras became the first Greek prime minister to pay an official visit to the ex-Yugoslav republic since it declared independence in 1991.

The pair struck a deal last year for Macedonia to be re-named North Macedonia -- satisfying Greece's longstanding complaint over an implied claim to its province also called Macedonia -- and the change came into force in January.

The deal has opened the way for North Macedonia to seek membership of the European Union and NATO blocs. Upon arrival, Tsipras and Zaev snapped selfies, while the Greek leader's wife was presented with flowers.

The two prime ministers discussed infrastructure projects including improving a railway between the Macedonian capital Skopje and Greek port Thessaloniki.

"We are writing history," Zaev said. "You are looking at two neighbors, friendly people who have shown Europe and the entire world that with brave decisions and good wishes for togetherness, something that was impossible yesterday has become reality today."

Luxury hotel brand JW Marriott is set to open its first hotel in Oman in the third quarter of 2019, it was revealed.



The 304-room five-star hotel, being developed by Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran), is being built next door to the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of the OCEC development final phase, Omran said in a statement.



The company has made great strides in the development of the JW Marriott hotel project at Madinat Al Irfan, ahead of its anticipated soft opening in Q3 2019, it said.



JW Marriott Muscat will play a vital role in boosting the Mice sector in the sultanate, attracting business travellers and tourists.



It will feature six food and beverage outlets, two ballrooms, a business centre, meeting rooms and a spa and fitness centre. It will also encompass three outdoor pools and open-air function areas overlooking a natural Wadi.



The project was reviewed during a site visit by Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, chairman of Omran; Peter Walichnowski, CEO of Omran and senior officials of the company. The project development team, led by Engineer Said Al Qasmi, Senior vice president, OCEC Project at Omran, briefed the officials on the progress and various facilities of this upcoming landmark hotel.



Following the tour, Walichnowski commented: The addition of the JW Marriott hotel to Omrans portfolio, a global brand icon in hospitality, is another milestone that will further contribute to the competitiveness of OCEC as full-fledged events destination in the region. It will give rise to further investments for the Madinat Al Irfan, as well as contribute to the national agenda of economic diversification



The completion of the JW Marriot reinforces our position as the largest hotel investment company in the sultanate and given the size and quality of our portfolio, we are exploring ways to share ownership of this portfolio with the private sector. We want to give local and international investors a chance to invest in the growth of the Omani tourism sector in a convenient and cost effective way, Walichnowski said.



Operated by Marriott International under the JW Marriott brand, the luxurious 304-room hotel is designed in accordance with the highest international standards for health and safety. The new hotel is compliant with the advanced Leed green building certification, which aligns with Omrans sustainability policies.



In November 2017, Omran opened the 296-room Crowne Plaza at the OCEC and is also planning a distinctive 280-room Ibis Style hotel next to this Crown Plaza. The three hotels would contribute a total additional 880 rooms to the sultanates hospitality and Mice sector. - TradeArabia News ServiceAl Bateen Executive Airport (ABEA), owned and operated by Abu Dhabi Airports, received the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2019 for its Al Bateen VVIP project.



Mohammed Al Katheeri, senior vice president Strategy & Communications at Abu Dhabi Airports, received the ACI Asia-Pacific Green Airports Gold Recognition trophy in a ceremony held during the ACI Asia-Pacific World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition which took place in Hong Kong, China on April 3.



Al Bateen Executive Airports Al Bateen VVIP project was one of the best among 19 submissions, under this years theme Green Airport Infrastructure. Al Bateen VVIP is an environmental project that aims to minimise the impact of aviation on the environment.



Al Katheeri said: We are proud to be recognised for our environmental efforts and achievements. Abu Dhabi International Airport first received an accreditation level of reduction from the ACIs Airport Carbon Accreditation program, and now we are delighted to see Al Bateen Executive Airport receive ACIs Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2019.



"Sustainability is one of our core corporate values and we are committed to following the best environmental practices to minimize our carbon footprint, as part of our mission to being the worlds leading airport group across all levels, Al Katheeri added. - TradeArabia News Service

The University of Houston is receiving a $1 million gift from the Arab-American Educational Foundation (AAEF) to support the creation of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Colloquium Endowment, Graduate Seminar and the Center for Arab Studies Endowment- all of which will hold and sponsor a variety of educational activities dedicated to improving societys understanding of Arab culture.

The Center will promote sustained multidisciplinary research, teaching, publications, community engagement in an atmosphere that is underlined by scholarly rigor, intellectual openness and academic freedom, said Paula Myrick Short, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

When it opens, UH will join Georgetown University as one of only two universities in the country to have academic centers that focus solely on the modern Arab world.

This gift will empower several educational endeavors that look seriously at the modern history of the Arab world and Arab Americans, said Aziz Shaibani, AAEF president.

Specifically, the AAEF gift will establish:

The AAEF Farouk Shami Endowment to support a national graduate colloquium in Arab studies

The AAEF Michael and Hoda Kardoush Endowment to fund a lecture and seminar program

The Mahmoud Darwish Endowment to back a wide variety of research and outreach activities

The Center for Arab Studies and the partnership with AAEF will allow UH to raise the level of training and opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students through international collaborations, scholarships, lectures, seminars and research-related initiatives on the Arab world, said Antonio D. Tillis, dean of the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

The founding director of the center is Abdel Razzaq Takriti, UH associate professor and the inaugural Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Arab History, a position that was launched in 2015 through a partnership between AAEF and UH.

Its a major milestone for UH. This center pushes us forward in carrying out our mission of forging a deeper connection with Houstons vibrant Arab-American community and furthering U.S. understanding of modern Arab society, Takriti said.

Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the world and Arabic is among the top five languages spoken in Houston. Eloise Brice, vice president for University Advancement said its important for UH to be part of meaningful conversations about the Arab region.

The University of Houston continues to make huge inroads in partnerships that enhance our academic portfolio and reputation as an institution of higher learning, said Brice.The Korea Tourism Organization is making great efforts to attract corporate groups on incentive tours, a lucrative business in the tourism industry.

Some 1,800 employees of the Hong Kong branch of British insurance company Prudential will visit Korea next week. Last month, 1,292 employees of Vietnamese paint producer 4 Oranges visited the country.

Incentive tours are offered by companies to employees as a reward for achieving business objectives. As the average spending per tourist on an incentive tour stands at W2.48 million, compared to W1.68 million for an ordinary tourist, many countries are going to great lengths to attract incentive tours (US$1=W1,137).

"We expect Prudential Hong Kong staff's visit to produce revenues of W4.84 billion," said a spokesman at the KTO.

China used to account for the largest number of such tourists to Korea, with the percentage reaching 45 percent with 120,000 visitors in 2016. But the number dropped to a mere 17,000 in 2017 due to Chinas unofficial boycott of Korean products and services over the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery here.

As a result, of some 248,000 foreign visitors on incentive tours and for business meetings last year, up 22.6 percent from 202,500 in 2017, some 24 percent were those from Vietnam, 15 percent from Thailand, 13 percent from Taiwan and 12 percent from Indonesia. Chinese accounted for 16 percent.India expresses sorrow at the loss of life and damage to property in Nepal thunderstorm

New Delhi, Apr 2 (UNI) India on Tuesday expressed sadness about the loss of life and damage to property in Nepal following the devastating thunderstorm that struck Bara and Parsa districts of Nepal.

"....Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost their dear ones, sustained injuries or suffered damage to their property," an MEA statement said here.

The Government of India is ready to provide 'relief assistance' as may be required by Nepal.A South Korean-flagged ship that is believed to have transferred oil onto a North Korean tanker has been grounded for almost six months in Busan.

A Foreign Ministry official on Tuesday said the ship has been kept from leaving Busan port since last October on charges of violating UN Security Council resolutions.

The government embarked on an investigation based on a tip-off from U.S. intelligence that the ship transferred refined oil to a North Korean tanker on the high seas. The ship was built in 2000 and can carry around 7,850 tons of cargo.

A Foreign Ministry source said, "We launched an investigation into the ship about a year ago and also consulted closely with the UNSC." But the seizure raises concerns that other South Korean ships may be involved in illegally supplying oil to the North.

The UNSC requires member nations to capture, search and seize any ship suspected of violating international sanctions against North Korea.

Seoul seized three foreign vessels, the Togo-flagged Talent Ace, Hong Kong-registered Lighthouse Winmore and Panamanian Koti, and the South Korean ship, named Lunis, was placed on a U.S. sanctions list last month.

(April 3, 2019)  Amid 11 days of celebration, San Antonio fashion guru Michael Quintanilla and designer Graciela Carrillo take a step back from the party and look at the colors, clothing, and fashions that brighten the citys annual Fiesta celebration.

The UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) welcomes these two fashionistas for the new exhibit, Fiesta Passion, Fiesta Fashion, April 6  May 5.

Fiesta is such a fun time of year, said ITC executive director Angelica Docog. San Antonians express a joy and love through their clothing, with vibrant colors and over-the-top accessories from head to foot. With two of our citys finest minds in fashion curating this exhibit with items from their own personal collections, were looking forward to something exceptional at the institute this Fiesta season.

Fiesta Passion, Fiesta Fashion will showcase the dazzling clothes, hats, shoes, dresses, uniforms, purses, pins, medals and more that embody and express the vibrancy of the Fiesta season.

Quintanilla, an award-winning journalist and former fashion writer at the Los Angeles Times and San Antonio Express-News, is a common face on the Fiesta circuit, emceeing and attending events clad in exuberant attire, rife with sequins and rhinestones, and topped off with flamboyant hats.

Graciela, a designer and local legend, has dressed Fiesta royalty, wives of the Rey Feo, event hosts, and presenters at the Tejano Music Awards. Her unique creations blend Western panache, the Latin flair of her Mexican heritage, and the international spirit of San Antonio.

When I think about Fiesta I think about what Im going to wear, which has to be memorable, said Quintanilla, known to all as Mr. Fiesta. For Fiesta, I create my own over-the-top garments, hats and shoes. After all, a party demands party clothes. For me that means bling  the more bling, the better.

Among Quintanillas favorite pieces in the exhibit is his signature 1972 vintage drum major coat, a gift to him by a good friend. Quintanilla has hand-embellished the dazzling garment through the years with rhinestones, crystals and metallic fringe, adhering to his motto of more is more.

But every garment, every hat, also tells a story about my culture as well as my love for pop culture and whats happening in current events and politics, too, he said. The fun is in finding a colorful and hopefully, irreverent spin on all of it because its Fiesta.

While Fiesta royalty celebrate the week in duchess gowns, Texas Cavalier uniforms and Rey Feo crowns, everyday San Antonians join in the celebration with sashes of medals, decorated hats, colorful shirts and other attire that capture and display the spirit of Fiesta.

I enjoy this so much, Graciela said. Working with each piece, you get to know them, to develop connections with the fabric.

Graciela sources fabrics from across Latin America, often traveling to Mexico to find the perfect fabrics for her work. She embellishes traditional patterns and materials, creating spectacular designs for women of all shapes, sizes, and ages.

Graciela lives a wear it now! philosophy. Life is too short not to wear beautiful clothes, she says. Drawing from her more than 30 years of designs, Graciela has selected pieces that highlight some of her most iconic styles, as well as new forward-looking creations.

She recently created a Frida Kahlo-inspired floral crown with a mixture of cornhusk and silk flowers, revealing the springtime style of San Antonio. Other pieces reflect her unique blend of Tejano and Western influences.

Graciela once dressed community leader Teresa Wickham in a hand-beaded and suede-fringe poncho, and Maria Elena Torralva-Alonso in a pinstriped blazer with hand-stitched sequins and leather fringe for the Tejano Music Awards.

Some people might wear Fiestas hallmark patterns and bright colors as a once-a-year costume, while others might wear these colors and patterns year-round as symbols of their heritage, said Victoria Ingalls, curatorial researcher at the institute. The Fiesta fashion represents San Antonios complex history of cultural interactions, shared heritage, and vibrant and diverse communities.

Ultimately, this exhibit represents a love story for a citywide party that expresses exactly what Puro San Antonio means, and Ive got the glue gun burns to prove it! Quintanilla said.

The UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures is located on the UTSA Hemisfair Campus, 801 E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd.Five Teams to Compete in Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition April 18 at UW

Five student-led teams are vying for seed prize money to get their business plans off the ground in the John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition sponsored by the University of Wyomings College of Business.

The entrepreneurial competition awards cash prizes to outstanding teams of student entrepreneurs who submit their business plans for new ventures that show significant business potential. The competition will be held at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center Thursday, April 18.

The entrepreneurship competition is part of a daylong UW Entrepreneurship Summit. The UW College of Business hosts both the competition and summit. For more information, click here. To RSVP for the business summit, click here.

This year, teams entered the competition from various disciplines across campus. The final five student teams created companies, and each worked with a mentor for the final presentation.

Known as the UW $10K Competition until 2011, the John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition encourages students to act on their talents, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow's leading businesses.

For more information about the student competition and the business summit, call Caitlyn Spradley, marketing and communications specialist for the UW College of Business, at (307) 766-4112 or email caitlyn.spradley@uwyo.edu.

The five John P. Ellbogen $50K Entrepreneurship Competition finalists, their projects, team members, majors and hometowns are:

-- Asabi: Team members are Aisha Balogun Mohammed, majoring in computer engineering with minors in computer science and Honors, from Ilorin, Nigeria, and Heather Baker, a communication and journalism graduate student with a minor in international studies, from Cheyenne. Asabi is a nonprofit organization that will create and implement practical courses, such as programming, in a format compatible with structural limitations of developing countries.

-- Autosense Vehicle Occupancy Detection System (VODS): Team members are Kyler Lunberg, majoring in electrical engineering, from Laramie; Dalton Hass, majoring in computer engineering, from Cheyenne; and Braxton Cooper, majoring in electrical engineering, from Sheridan. The Autosense VODS is a device that will use a variety of sensors to monitor the environment of a vehicle, and help prevent human and animal deaths.

-- Petrichor Records: Abbigail Williams, a journalism major with a minor in Honors, from Laramie, is a soloist for the competition. Petrichor Records is an independent, local record label in Laramie, with a focus on signing do-it-yourself bands based on talent, not genre.

-- Scitech Energy: Team members are Vahideh Mirchi, a graduate student majoring in petroleum engineering with a minor in interfacial phenomena, and Morteza Akbarabadi, a recent UW graduate, both from Iran. Scitech Energy proposes to formulate highly efficient bio-friendly surfactants for application in enhanced oil recovery.

-- Torch Creamery: TeaLayna Hill, majoring in social work with a minor in disability studies, from Belle Fourche, S.D., is a soloist in the competition. Torch Creamery will provide quality ice cream creations through advocacy and employment for people with disabilities.Top Australian Professor Arvanitakis to Teach at UW in 2019-2020

James Arvanitakis

One of the top professors in Australia will teach at the University of Wyoming next academic year, thanks to a new agreement between the Fulbright Program and the UW College of Arts and Sciences School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies (SPPAIS).

James Arvanitakis, internationally recognized for his innovative teaching style, will instruct four SPPAIS classes in 2019-2020 as UWs first Fulbright Milward L. Simpson Visiting Professor. The position came about after SPPAIS Head Stephanie Anderson and the executive director of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, Thomas Dougherty, signed a four-year agreement. Dougherty is a native of Casper and regularly visits campus and the state. Funding for the endeavor comes from SPPAIS Milward L. Simpson Fund and the Fulbright Program.

We are honored to have such an internationally renowned scholar come to Laramie, Anderson says. Most importantly, he is extremely excited about meeting our students and giving talks around the state. I really want to thank Tom Dougherty and Fulbright for making this happen.

Tentative courses for him to teach at UW include citizenship in a globalized world, the complexity of piracy, data politics and space and international relations.

Arvanitakis is the dean of the Graduate Research School at Western Sydney University (WSU), while also serving as a lecturer in humanities and as a member of the universitys Institute for Culture and Society. He was the recipient of the prime ministers University Teacher of the Year Award in 2012 and an Eminent Research Award from the Australia India Education Council in 2015. He was the founding head of the academy at WSU that received an Australian Financial Reviews higher education excellence award in 2016 and the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogues Excellence in Education Award in 2017.

Arvanitakis research areas include citizenship, resilience, piracy and the future of universities. He has written more than 100 articles and three books. He is a regular media commentator, appearing on ABC, and hosts the podcast Sociologic.

For more information about Arvanitakis, visit his website: www.jamesarvanitakis.net/.Scott Olson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Lara Trump, a senior adviser for President Donald Trumps re-election campaign, stopped at a fundraiser in New Hampshire Tuesday and told attendees their campaigns plan is to stay out of Democrats' way and let them battle it out.



But in New Hampshire, the battle isnt just between Democrats and Republicans. Some prominent Republican state leaders arent working to help get the president re-elected -- in fact, theyre actively working against it.



Lara Trumps stop in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the nation, falls on the heels of a week-long visit by former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who is considering challenging the president in the Republican primary.



My odds at getting in are better than half, Weld told ABC News, adding that he believed it would be morally iffy if no one raised their hand against the president.



Lara Trump was quick to dismiss any notion of a potential challenger to her father-in-law.



I would hope that no one would be  I dont want to say dumb enough  but dumb enough to run against Donald Trump, Trump said in an interview with WMUR-TV, a local ABC affiliate in Manchester, New Hampshire.



But Weld accused the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, which declared their undivided support for the president in 2020, of trying to stop any type of contest altogether.



I dont know what theyre afraid of but theyre afraid of something, he said.



While in New Hampshire, Weld said he's met with voters who were "dismayed" and frustrated with the gridlock in Washington, pitching himself as a prospective candidate who is economically conservative and would be willing to reach across the aisle on issues like health care.



"Theres not much in common between the two of us, other than were both large orange men," he said.



A short drive away from Massachusetts, Weld has strategically gauged how voters are reacting in New Hampshire -- a state that often sets the tone by holding the first primary in the U.S.



He has also attracted the attention of former state Republican leaders. The former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican party is working as an adviser to Weld and another former state party chair welcomed the former governor into his home for an event.



"I acknowledge thats a minority view in the party but that doesnt mean we have to accept a re-nomination of this president or another term," said Fergus Cullen, the former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. Cullen, a self-identified "Never Trumper," hosted Weld and 60 voters at his home over the weekend.



While 68 percent of likely Republican voters said they would vote for President Trump in a February poll by the University of New Hampshire, Cullen is still keeping out hope.



Be careful with a guy that got nothing to lose, Cullen said.



The state's Republican party, according to their bylaws, must remain "strictly neutral" in a primary contest. The newly-elected chairman, Steve Stepanek, who co-chaired the president's New Hampshire campaign in 2016, still believes his party is united on both a state and national front.



"We welcome all legitimate candidates," Stepanek said. "I find it disheartening that we have people actively looking to try to encourage people to challenge the president."



Now, the state Republican party is looking to ramp up their efforts after Democrats held onto two U.S. House seats in the midterm elections and won the majority in the state legislature.



We have to understand that the Democrats have out-organized us, out-raised us, and quite frankly we have to do a better job as a party, Stepanek said.



He plans to rebound with a focus on training, expansion of their town committees and fundraising. The fundraiser Tuesday night brought in $70,000, according to a state party official. On a national level, the RNC raised $14.6 million in February, the second highest February ever, with more than half of the donations coming from small-dollar donors, according to an RNC official.



As Democrats continue to amplify their presence in New Hampshire, Lara Trump shrugged off a challenger from either party.



Are we worried about Joe Biden? Not really, she said.

Joe Biden had a shot for eight years in the Obama administration to do great things for this country and we didnt see a whole lot come out of that, she told WMUR.



Hurling insults at Democratic candidates, Lara Trump called Beto ORourke a "skateboarder" and referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, repeating rhetoric used by her father-in-law to target Warren.



I still say save your money, dont waste your money or time running against Donald Trump in 2020 because youre not going to beat him. Save it until 2024, Trump said.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.The Seoul Metropolitan Government wants to expand Gimpo International Airport's overseas services.

Passengers can currently fly from Gimpo to China, Japan and Taiwan but no further than a 2,000 km radius from there.

But the city wants the restriction to be lifted so that the airport can operate long-haul routes. That would take some of the pressure off Incheon International Airport but also put the two airports in direct competition.

A feasibility study is underway and the results are expected around June.U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have met twice in the past year to discuss denuclearization.

"Subject to the approval of our Board of Governors, we could respond within weeks to any request to send inspectors back to [North Korea]," he told the 15-member council during a meeting on the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Yukiya Amano told the UN Security Council that the IAEA was the only international organization equipped to carry out the job "in an impartial, independent and objective manner."

The United Nations atomic watchdog said on Tuesday that if a deal was reached with North Korea to give up its nuclear program then it would be ready to send in inspectors within weeks -- if asked -- to verify and monitor denuclearization.

North Korea is under tough UN Security Council sanctions that have been steadily tightened since 2006 to choke off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Trump and Kim last met in Vietnam in February, but the summit was cut short after they failed to reach a deal on the extent of economic sanctions relief for North Korea in exchange for steps to give up its nuclear program. On the day that their talks in Hanoi collapsed, Trump handed Kim a piece of paper that included a blunt call for the transfer of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States, according to the document seen by Reuters.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has not had access to North Korea since Pyongyang expelled its inspectors in 2009, and it now monitors the country's nuclear activities mainly through satellite imagery.

Amano said that sending in IAEA inspectors "would help to make the implementation of any agreement sustainable." "It would also contribute to the denuclearization of [North Korea] in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, as required by numerous resolutions of the Security Council," he said.

The IAEA already monitors the implementation of a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers to curb its nuclear program. Trump withdrew the United States from the deal with Iran in May 2018. "Our inspectors have had access to all the sites and locations in Iran which they needed to visit," Amano said.

Separately, the South Korean defense minister told reporters in Washington that it was too early to tell whether activity near the Dongchang-ri site in North Korea was preparation for an actual missile launch or was just to "add another card" in Pyongyang's negotiation strategy.

Last month, South Korean intelligence agencies said they had detected signs that North Korea was restoring part of the Dongchang-ri missile launch site it tore down.

With Huawei on the radar for spying on behalf of the Chinese government, it is facing an international boycott and its 5G equipment has been banned in several nations. In the U.S., a more serious security breach occurred when Facebook entered into an agreement with Huawei that gave the Chinese company access to user data. And now, Facebook is under criminal investigation.

Sharing data with Huawei

In July last year, Facebooks data sharing deal with Huawei came to be public knowledge. According to reports, an agreement between the two companies was signed sometime before 2010 and gave Huawei special access to Facebook user data. It was not clear how Huawei was using the data it collected.

This could be a very big problem. If @Facebook granted Huawei special access to social data of Americans, this might as well have given it directly to the government of #China, Senator Marco Rubio said in a tweet. According to Facebook, their deal with Huawei was similar to its partnership with BlackBerry in which the device maker could access personal information like the religion, political leaning, and relationship status of the user. This is a dangerous admission.

If Huawei were successful in collecting, storing, and transmitting such data to its servers back in China, it would essentially mean that the Chinese government has access to American Facebook users political preferences. The Chinese regime could use this information to run campaigns on Facebook through covert channels to influence American voters. Realizing that the agreement could turn out to be a major scandal, Facebook tried to downplay the issue.

All Facebooks integrations with Huawei, Lenovo, OPPO, and TCL were controlled from the get-go  and Facebook approved everything that was built Given the interest from Congress, we wanted to make clear that all the information from these integrations with Huawei was stored on the device, not on Huaweis servers, Francisco Varela, Facebook vice president, said in a statement (Business Insider).

It was not just Huawei with which Facebook had such a data sharing agreement. Almost 150 companies, including biggies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Sony, etc. were allowed access to data of millions of Facebook users without their consent. Other China-based companies that benefited from such deals include OPPO, TCL, and Lenovo. Experts say that this is a clear case of breach of privacy.

Its like having door locks installed, only to find out that the locksmith also gave keys to all of his friends so they can come in and rifle through your stuff without having to ask you for permission, Ashkan Soltani, a research and privacy consultant who formerly served as the Federal Trade Commissions chief technologist, said to The New York Times.

Under investigation

Facebook is currently under criminal investigation for the data deals it made with the companies. In New York, a grand jury subpoenaed records from two smartphone makers who had entered into such agreements with Facebook. The social media company stated that it is cooperating with the investigators.

Sentiment against the companys data-sharing deals is clearly negative, with lawmakers raising questions about Facebooks trustworthiness. How can consumers have control over their data when Facebook does not have control over the data? Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, said in a statement (Daily Mail).

If Facebook is found guilty, the tech company is likely to face huge fines since the lawmakers will be keen to convey the idea that the privacy of citizens is of paramount importance.

Follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our weekly emailGovt - Use of colony Language in Visa Regulation is Disgraceful

"The decision this morning by the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament to reverse its position and bow down to pressure from the European Council epitomises much of what is wrong with the European Union."

"In this case it is obvious that extreme pressure exerted by Spain and the bullying tactics of Spanish MEPs, on purely nationalistic grounds, has led to the acceptance of the colony language in relation to Gibraltar. This is a disgraceful state of affairs." reacts the Government of Gibraltar in a statement released this morning.

"The possibility of a no deal Brexit on 12 April has not helped. This meant that many MEPs, who would otherwise have been supportive, also wanted the legislation in place in time for that deadline.

The measure in question provides for British Citizens to be able to enter the European Union visa-free and stay for 90 days in a 180 day period and it applies only in the event of a no deal Brexit. In other words, if the Withdrawal Agreement is approved by the UK Parliament, then this measure will not see the light of day. The inclusion of the footnote has no practical consequence in the sense that visa free travel will apply to British Citizens from Gibraltar. The only object of the exercise appears to be to use offensive and pejorative language in an attempt to irritate both Gibraltar and the United Kingdom. The official term for the status of Gibraltar in international law and under the Charter of the United Nations is that of Non Self Governing Territory.

The irony is that all the other UK Non Self Governing Territories, which are also listed in the same Regulation, gladly do not have to suffer the indignity of being referred to in the same insulting manner. Gibraltar has been singled out.

The Government understands that the meeting of the LIBE Committee this morning was flooded with Spanish MEPs and officials, many of whom were not even Members of the Committee itself. There was a visible, concerted attempt to reach the maximum number of votes allocated to each group by moving people around from one to the other. This behaviour shocked Members of the European Parliament of other nationalities who were heard to complain that the matter had been handled very badly and even declared that PP MEPs should be ashamed of themselves."

Government have said it would like to pay tribute to UK Labour MEP Claude Moraes who held out for the position that his Committee had unanimously agreed, without the offensive language, until he was removed because of his nationality. "Mr Moraes has behaved in a professional and in an impeccable manner throughout in standing up for the European Parliament position against the European Council and the move orchestrated by Spain."Tomb-sweeping has become a profession

From:Shanghai Daily | 2019-04-03 07:29

The Qingming Festival, or tomb-sweeping day, is a busy time for 36-year-old Xie Haiyan. She sweeps tombs for those who cannot visit, sometimes crying at the tombs for them.

Qingming, which falls on Friday this year, is a traditional time for Chinese people to pay respects to their ancestors.

Demand is rising for the business that caters to people who cannot return home to sweep their family tombs.

Xie, who is from east Chinas Anhui Province, said the cost can be up to 1,000 yuan (US$150) depending on the services required.

I prepare fruits and pastry for clients, clean their beloved ones tombs, light incense or candles, burn tinfoil paper, lay flowers, read funeral orations and bow, and send a video clip to clients for confirmation, which marks the end of the whole process, she said.

Xie works for the Songhe Mausoleum and Xujing Xiyuan cemetery in Shanghai and graveyards in neighboring Jiangsu Province.

A former cemetery worker, she has been in the industry for seven years.

Sometimes, Shanghainese people seek dishes such as hongshaorou (pork braised in brown sauce) for their deceased relatives, and that costs extra, said Xie.

She earned more than 10,000 yuan during the Qingming Festival and dongzhi last year. Dongzhi, or the winter solstice, is another day for tomb-sweeping.

In the past, the service was not known to many, but now many cemeteries are promoting it, and the demand keeps rising year on year, she said. Most of my clients are those who live abroad. At first, senior people in my family were against it, believing it was inauspicious, but they gradually accepted the idea.

A number of businesses now advertise such services online. Some practitioners say they will have a bath, change clothes, and avoid alcohol or meat a day before tomb-sweeping to show piety and solemnity for the deceased. Some charge 100 yuan for crying for three minutes, and an extra 50 percent for kowtowing in a show of respect.

A service provider in Shanghai surnamed Zheng does not work for any cemetery.

He charges 799 yuan and has taken seven orders for this years Qingming Festival.

There are more clients at dongzhi, said Zheng, who has been offering the service for three years. Last year he earned 30,000 yuan.

There were clients asking me to cry for their mother when sweeping her tomb, but I refused, he said.

It is more like a performance for money and I cannot fake a cry.

Only the crying of true family members expresses sorrow.

Li Lin, at Fushouyuan Cemetery, said: The majority of people requiring the service are those studying or working overseas who cannot come back during the festival.

Jack Chen, who works in the United States, has not been home for four years. His grandparents tombs are in Shanghai. He purchased the service from the Songhe Mausoleum.

I dont want my grandparents to feel lonely when other tombs around them are visited every year, thus I hoped others could visit them on my behalf, Chen said.

Sociologist Gu Xiaoming with Fudan University, said: People should hold an open attitude toward the emerging service because it has its demand and is reasonable when people cannot come back.

However, the service is not acceptable to everybody.

Sweeping tombs is a deep-rooted Chinese tradition, and asking others to do it is against the traditional value of filial piety, said Ge Aiping, a Shanghai resident in her 50s.

Paying for the service makes the tradition twisted.

Angela Li, another Shanghai resident in her 20s, added: If I have time, I will certainly do it myself and talk with my deceased family members, which others could not do for me.Born and brought up in Chyamhasingh of Bhaktapur, Bikram Prajapati was irritated at the sight of brick kiln chimneys scattered around his house and black smoke that billowed from them. As a child, however, he did not know what to do about it; he felt helpless.

As Prajapati was growing up, he learned that dust produced by the kilns was a more serious problem than the smoke. When he studied mechanical engineering at Tribhuvan University, he received an opportunity to design technology that could separate smoke from dust, and make the brick production process dust-free. He, however, did not have sufficient time to implement the model as he had to think about his career.

Now 11 years later, Prajapati leads Bajra Brick that produces bricks without producing both dust and smoke. From an irritated child to a promising entrepreneur, Prajapati is a representative of Nepali businesspersons who are eager to transform their traditional trades into green enterprises.

The lost dream revived

When Prajapati, in partnership with two other classmates of the same locality, developed the new design in 2008, the team received exciting appreciation from professors. Theirs was a doable solution to the problem facing their own town whereas other students had explored far-fetched possibilities such as new designer vehicles.

We thought of something from which the common people in our society could benefit, Prajapati remembers, But, the design was left in the lurch when my colleagues went to the United States and Thailand.

A year later, Prajapati himself migrated to Japan to work for Honda. The Japanese job was okay, but he felt isolated in Japan. As he tendered his resignation, the business conglomerate sent him home with a new responsibility. Prajapati felt victorious.

After three to four years, I realised that it was Japan, but not Nepal, that was earning revenues from my work, the entrepreneur narrates, Hence, I quit Honda in 2014 with a vow to do something on my own.

After days of contemplation, he thought it would be the right time to roll out his college assignment in the market. But, he did not have money to implement the project.

I approached many investors, but they did not want to experiment with new technology, Prajapati informs, adding his mothers brother, Gokul Prasad Prajapati, who was into the business for past few years, agreed to support later.

The Prajapatis collected a capital of Rs 15 million including some bank loans to register Bajra Brick and Tile Industries Pvt Ltd in December 2014.

Growth

Prajapati was undertaking research on improved brick production technologies while he was looking for partners. During the research, he found that the dust-free and smoke-free brick and tile production technologies were already implemented in many parts of the world.

He then procured a Chinese machine to produce tiles and tested it. The test was successful, but its mould would allow a flat rectangular shape like that of a flooring tile, he informs, Therefore, we negotiated with the Chinese company to design a unique mould for us to produce bricks in the right shape.

The companys plans were affected by the 2015 April earthquake, but it rose back to operation a week after the disaster. Willing to expand his business, Prajapati applied to the Rockstart Impact business accelerator programme in 2016, after which he secured some foreign investment for the project.

He briefs, We spent some amount as a working capital whereas we also added some products.

Currently, Bajra Brick produces three major items: concrete bricks, flooring tiles, and hollow blocks. In all of the products, it uses concrete dust collected from crusher factories and cement.

Our contribution to air pollution is not zero; it, in fact, is negative, he claims, We dont emit any smoke or dust. Rather, we collect dust for our production which otherwise would go to the atmosphere as a pollutant.

Uniqueness of Bajra bricks

After the 2015 earthquake, many new technologies surfaced in the Nepali construction market. One of them was interlocking bricks.

While many people confuse Bajras concrete bricks with interlocking ones, Prajapati claims the two have significant differences. Interlocking bricks are easy to produce at a small scale as the process involves a hand machine, and it can be produced with the clay available everywhere, he informs, But when it uses clay available anywhere, its strength is compromised. Further, such bricks leave a narrow space for connecting mortar. It means there is more space for water sipping.

Constructing a house with concrete brick is 20 per cent cheaper and 40 per cent stronger than using traditional clay bricks, according to him. Likewise, its water absorbency rate is 9 per cent compared to 35 per cent of others.

Prajapati claims that his hollow bricks also share the same quality. Hotel Akama in Dhumbarahi, which has 16 stories in its main building, has used our hollow blocks in the construction, he says, After the hotels confidence, our market performance has significantly improved.

Challenges and opportunities

Though Bajra Brick claims to be the first company to produce concrete bricks in Nepal, it is facing a tough competition these days. After us, many companies started with big investments, he says, Hence, we also have to think of expansion.

Within the next few days, the company is introducing the lithopore aerated concrete (LPAC) in Nepal. As the company welcomed the new machine all the way from Germany last week, Prajapati is hopeful that it will address two major problems seen in currently available lightweight bricks.

In AAC bricks, water absorbency rate is quite high whereas, in CLC ones, the physical strength is questionable, he says, The LPAC is a solution to both of them. He claims it took him six months to convince the German manufacturer that exporting their machine to Nepal would leave a positive impact on their global business.

Some of my clients are waiting for the LPAC for past one year, a confident businessman hopes, This technology will give stronger houses to them and better market presence to me.If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now!

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The Clemens Fine Arts Center has been presenting dance in our community for over 50 years and our latest offering is one of the most groundbreaking dance companies touring today. Founded in 1971 by Artistic Director Brenda Way, ODC is known nationally for its rigorous technique and numerous artistic collaborations. Comprised of 10 world-class dancers, the company performs its imaginative repertory for more than 50,000 people annually.



Get your tickets today to experience the internationally renowned ODC Dance Company. Link below to get your tickets.



PADUCAH - ODC Dance is featured at the Clemens Fine Arts Center on the campus of West Kentucky Community & Technical College this Friday, April 5 at 7:30 pm. Adult admission is $30 and $15 for students.

On the Net:By Apr. 02, 2019

Jeff Laird, customer service manager at Land Between the Lakes said, Everyone is welcome to join us as we kick off the trail. There will be local vendors, free guided kayak and canoe trips and information about the amazing accessibility of water-based recreation in the region.



The Land Between the Lakes Regional Water Trail initiative is a collaborative effort to develop and promote the water resources around the Land Between the Lakes region to create economic, health and social benefits for the region and its citizens. A National Water Trail designation is being sought.



This project will be completed in phases. Phase 1 includes the 300 mile shoreline of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Phases 2 and 3 will encompass approximately 186 miles of Kentucky Lake/Tennessee River and 118 miles of Lake Barkley/Cumberland River. A map and descriptions of water trail access points is available at www.landbetweenthelakes.us/watertrails/.



This project received assistance from the National Park Services Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. TRCA administrators from Tennessee and Kentucky worked with a team of federal, state and local agencies, including the US Forest Service, National Park Services, US Fish and Wildlife, Friends of Land Between the Lakes, US Army Corps of Engineers, Kentucky and Tennessee State Parks, TVA and state and local tourism offices.

DOVER, TN - The Land Between the Lakes Regional Water Trail will launch at 10 am on Saturday, April 6 at Brandon Spring Group Camp, 336 Brandon Spring Rd., Dover, TN, inside Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, with a public event.Home  Just In  Nepal Police arrests 540 Biplav cadres in past one year

Kathmandu, April 3

Nepal Police says it has arrested over 540 cadres of Netra Bikram Chand Biplav-led Maoist party since mid-April last year.

Concluding that the party carried out terrorist activities, the government imposed a ban on its activities last month. Since then, police have adopted a strategy to arrest as many cadres as possible.

Nepal Police spokesperson SSP Uttam Raj Subedi says 104 cadres of the party were arrested from various parts of the country in past 20 days.

Some of the arrested, however, have already been released, according to Subedi. Others are facing cases, he adds.

Police say they have confiscated publicity materials and documents about military training from them.By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 03, 2019 | 02:15 PM | PADUCAH

The Department of Energys Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office has extended the contracts for three technical support services providers, potentially through the end of the year, according to an agency spokesperson.In a notice released in January, DOEs Office of Environmental Management indicated it could push back the expiration of the contracts held by the three companies  Tennessee-based RSI EnTech and Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve), along with New Mexico-based Strategic Management Solutions  from April 1 to Dec. 31, if needed. A series of 3-month extensions by the Energy Department would allow it.ExchangeMonitor.com reports Pro2Serves extension could be worth $5.6 million for continued technical support services at the Paducah site. Strategic Management Solutions would receive up to $10 million for its support services for conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) at both Portsmouth and Paducah. RSI EnTech could receive up to $9 million to continue providing technical services at Portsmouth if they are extended all the way through December, a DOE spokesperson said Monday.Last year, the Department of Energy tried to replace the three individual contracts with a single one that covered everything in the separate contracts - information technology, infrastructure, administrative support, and technical engineering. The agency awarded a five-year, $137 million consolidated contract to Pro2Serve last June, but withdrew the award in August following a bid protest.The Energy Department has not publicly discussed its plans for a new procurement for long term technical support services at Portsmouth and Paducah.Portsmouth and Paducah are the sites of two now-retired gaseous diffusion plants used to enrich uranium first for military purposes and later for commercial nuclear power sites.

On the Net:By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 03, 2019 | 06:57 AM | CARLISLE COUNTY

A Carlisle County man was arrested Tuesday on methamphetamine and other drug charges.

According to the Carlisle County Sheriff's Office, the Carlisle County E911 center received a phone call Tuesday afternoon from the Garland Manor Apartments in Bardwell. The telecommunication officer reportedly heard a woman screaming. Deputies arrived and found a woman having a medical emergency. Deputies provided aid until the Carlisle County Ambulance Service could arrive.

After medical personnel were on scene, deputies began questioning the other occupants in the apartment. One of the occupants informed deputies that they had been smoking marijuana earlier in the day. Thirty-one-year-old Kimberly Mitchell, of Bardwell, surrendered a marijuana pipe with a small amount of marijuana. She was cited for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Deputies questioned another occupant, 25-year-old Dylan Hayward of Bardwell, after observing white powder in his nostril. When questioned about the powder, Hayward allegedly told deputies he had been snorting crushed up Lortab pills.

Deputies say Hayward was in possession of the straw that he had used to snort the controlled substance. He was arrested and charged with possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hayward was transported to the Ballard County Jail. Once there he was searched again and a bag containing approximately two grams of methamphetamine was found in his clothing. He was additionally charged with possession of methamphetamine and promoting contraband.Mayfield under dusk-to-dawn curfew; no volunteers requested at this timeBy West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 03, 2019 | 08:51 AM | CARLISLE COUNTY

A man is wanted for questioning after police searched a home in Bardwell Tuesday night.

As the result of a drug investigation that began last week, the Carlisle County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at a home in the 400 block of Front Street.

During the search, deputies reportedly found an ink pen shell that had been used to snort controlled substances, along with a bag of methamphetamine. As a result of that search warrant, deputies want to question James West.

West is also wanted out of Carlisle County on an arrest warrant charging him with possession of methamphetamine. Anyone with information on West's whereabouts is asked to contact the Carlisle County Sheriff's Office.Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 02, 2019 | UNION CITY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 02, 2019 | 12:42 PM | UNION CITY

Discovery Park of Americas cafe has rebranded, becoming the Sabins Cafe, and the new decor honors local photography legends who captured some of the most entrancing images of Union City, Tenn. and Reelfoot Lake life in the 1920s. Created by Verne and Nonie Sabin, the collection of photos has been praised nationwide for creating a window through which everyone can experience the lives of those living in the Reelfoot Lake region during that time.



Verne and Nonie Sabin illuminated the wild beauty of Reelfoot Lake, and a century later their photographs remain some of the most captivating displays ever produced of this area. While the couples photography business flourished in Union City from 1919 to 1924, the two had their first encounter years earlier at the Illinois College of Photography in 1913. Verne Sabin and Nonie Rhoads fell in love while attending the university, and despite Nonie moving with her family to Union City, the two kept in contact through letters. Nonie, an early female entrepreneur, opened the Cottage Studio in town, while Verne continued to practice photography in Illinois until he joined the U.S. Army in 1918 and was stationed as a photographer at Newport News, Virginia. Fate would bring the two together again when Nonie was assigned to travel to Newport News while working for the government.



Verne and Nonie returned to Union City together in 1919 and were married within a week of their arrival. That same year, the Sabins began offering a variety of photography services to the community. Included were 24-hour film processing, movie production, commercial photos, portraits, filming and photographing special events with a panorama camera; the couple quickly built a large local clientele with their tremendous versatility. Their work was praised for capturing the natural allure of the Reelfoot Lake, and many of their photographs displayed residents whose lifestyles had become intertwined with the landmark.



In 1923, the couple offered a 300-photograph series of Reelfoot Lake to the state of Tennessee for $35. Although the letter written by Verne Sabin to Governor Austin Peay can be found in the papers of the governor, no response to Sabin has been found or recorded. Despite the offer being ignored or rejected, the photographs provided a vivid illustration of how passionate the residents of Reelfoot Lake were about its preservation to the state representatives. The Sabins photographs presented stunning sunsets amongst the cypress trees, determined fisherman proudly displaying their most recent reels and the unbelievable variety of vegetation.



Only a few years after Verne and Nonies offer, with rising demand from lake residents, the state government took its first step in preserving what is now considered Reelfoot Lake State Park by purchasing 280 acres of surrounding land. The couple left the lake behind in 1924 for new opportunities in Texas, and the Sabins continued their photography business there until 1935. In 1964, Nonie and Verne Sabin made their final visit to the lake that had marked the origin of their photography business and new lives together. Nonie Sabin died in 1971, and her husband, Verne, in 1976.



In 1986, many of the Sabins photographs were displayed in an exhibit produced by the Obion County-Union City Museum. Two visitors to the exhibit who worked for the Tennessee State Library and Archives believed that the photographs were worth preserving and found Mrs. Lela Karweil, the Sabinsdaughter who then owned their collection, and Dr. Wintred Smith, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin who had coordinated the display. They encouraged Karweil to donate her parents collection to the state library, and between 1989 and 1990 the Tennessee State Library and Archives received dozens of boxes containing the Sabins life work.



The collection was microfilmed, and the original works were placed in a climate-controlled vault for preservation, with prints eventually being provided to a variety of educational programs and facilities. Sadly, some of the photographs that were offered for sale in 1923 were either never found or had been damaged beyond usability after suffering numerous moves in Texas before returning to Tennessee. The Obion County Museum merged with Discovery Park of America, and with the merger came the Sabins photographs, some of which have been on display in the Reelfoot Room at the museum. With the addition of those that will now be displayed in Sabins cafe, their work will be enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of DPA visitors from around the world. A small book with more images is available for sale in the museum gift shop.From failing student to CEO

Wits alumnus, Tshibvumo Sikhwivhilu shares his story of how his failures led to his success with graduates in the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering.

Sometimes what may seem like failure, is in fact a route leading to your greatest future.

This is the opinion of Tshibvumo Sikhwivhilu, an MBA and engineering graduate from Wits addressed graduands on 28 March 2019 where Wits alumnus and distinguished architect, Herbert Prins was awarded a University Gold Medal. Prins, one of South Africas most eminent authorities in the field of architecture, design and heritage, was recognised for his contribution to heritage, preservation and architecture, his professional and academic distinction, and his exceptional contribution and service to society.

Sikhwivhilu, who hails from a village outside Thohoyandou in the Limpopo province was one of top performing students at Ernest Oppenheimer House during his early years at university. It was only in his third year, when he became a member of the House Committee with his then classmate, now business partner Elmond Khoza that his marks started to drop.

We kept so busy with all house affairs to an extent that our marks started to not (just) drop, but drastically plummet, he says.

Failing nine out of 11 modules in his third year, he was academically excluded and he had to plea with his then Head of School, Professor Ian Jandrell. The school waived his exclusion. It was after facing yet another academic exclusion for failing twice and losing his bursary that he had to redirect all his focus towards his academics. The loss of his bursary meant seeking for alternative ways of funding.

This situation was a lot more dire the second time around because my bursary dropped me as per their terms and conditions and this is when I had to begin doing part-time work outside to pay for my fees. Sikhwivhilu found part-time employment in one of the earliest local solar power firms in 2012 and had to use what he says was his last opportunity to successfully complete his studies.

The harsh realities of life had set on us and we had one last opportunity to get ourselves out of the mess we had created. Indeed, we grabbed the opportunity with all our four hands and came back to campus with a new sense of purpose, he says. It was then, after his stint at the local firm and his honours project, where they did a feasibility study on solar energy for the Genmin Laboratory rooftop that his company with his business partner was born, Lamo Solar.

Despite all the challenges he endured and his failures, Sikhwivhilu is today the proud co-founder and CEO of Lamo Solar. Aside from his business, Sikhwivhilu devotes some of his time towards the empowerment of youth by maximising their social impact.

About Tshibvumo Sikhwivhilu

Mr Tshibvumo Sikhwivhilu is the Chief Executive Officer of Lamo Solar. A Wits alumnus who graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, Mr Sikhwivhilu is experienced in system design, analysis, problem solving and critical thinking. He read for his MBA at the Wits Business School where he explored the economic viability of the distributed generation of renewable energy, particularly solar PV, in rural parts of South Africa. During his MBA studies, he was awarded an international scholarship to take his electives at the Louvain School of Management in Belgium.

In 2016, Sikhwivhilu won the Best Entrepreneurial Venture Award from the Association of MBAs in London and later that year, won the Eskom Business Investment Competition in the Engineering and Construction sector. He now serves as an adjudicator on this committee. Last year, Sikhwivhilu graduated cum laude from the Advanced Business Management programme at the Eskom Contractors Academy and is currently the Brand Ambassador of the Eskom Business Investment Competition, the Eskom Small Business Expo and the Eskom Contractors Academy.

Sikhwivhilu was selected by Investec as part of a delegation of entrepreneurs in the renewable energy sector to attend a business excursion at Stanford University in the USA. He is also a guest lecturer at the Wits Business School and has served on several student and alumni bodies at Wits.

Despite his engineering and business background, Sikhwivhilu is passionate about maximising the impact of a youth-led, volunteer- based non-profit organisation that aims to bridge the educational information gap between rural underprivileged learners and their suburban counterparts, known as the Thusanani Foundation, of which he is a Director.

Sikhwivhilu believes that education remains the greatest social, cultural and economic equaliser of our time and spends numerous hours uplifting unemployed youth and women in townships and rural areas. For example, he currently dedicates part of his time towards training 25 unemployed young people from Soshanguve so that they can attain an accredited qualification in the design, installation, operation and maintenance of solar PV systems.South Africa's plan to fight prejudice is full of holes

The South African government has launched a plan aimed at addressing pervasive prejudice in the country.

Its called the national action plan to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

A plan like this may seem redundant given that the countrys Constitution explicitly affirms lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people. It also states that everyone has the right to a safe life within the countrys borders.

But this hasnt translated into the desired changes on the ground. South Africa is still riddled with racial inequality, gendered discrimination and violence against non-nationals.

In the light of this, the plan is welcome.

But in our view this is an action plan without a plan. It offers frail remedies to poorly diagnosed problems. Of the documents 67 pages, only nine outline actions. These include collecting better statistics, educating the public and the police and demanding official commitments to equality. Theres nothing new here. The government is already doing most of these things  or it should be.

On top of this the document puts too much blame on the countrys past. Yes, apartheid was evil. But blaming all contemporary forms of discrimination and inequality on it is a dodge. It lets post-apartheid leadership off the hook for exacerbating inequality and failing to curb emergent forms of discrimination.

Weighing the plan

The action plan has been billed as a technical framework. As it stands it offers almost no information about budgets, oversight, clear standards for measuring progress or accountability mechanisms.

Instead it relies on existing mechanisms, including the so-called Chapter 9 institutions that support the countrys constitutional democracy. But, these have proven themselves to be relatively toothless.

The most significant proposal is for the Department of Justice to undertake a study into forms of contemporary discrimination. This is long overdue and should have helped inform a more robust action plan.

Without a careful reading of discrimination in South Africa, the action plan relies on perceptions and politics rather than facts.

There is one positive. The document proposes an approach that makes it clear a range of factors affect peoples lives. These include gender, location, disability, sexual orientation and health.

But these are not followed through. Instead, half the document discusses land ownership, poverty, and economic inequality. These are discussed almost entirely in terms of old apartheid categories: black, white, coloured, and Indian. The solutions it sets out depend on a more concerted redistribution of resources and economic opportunities. These measures are welcome and necessary. Nevertheless the approach buries other forms of bias and discrimination within patterns of racialised inequality.

Passing the buck

The action plan is almost entirely one-dimensional because it focuses on rooting out contemporary forms of bias and discrimination inherited from its apartheid past. History matters. But framing all forms of discrimination as apartheid legacies blinds South Africans to the range of new forms of discrimination.

For example, by relying exclusively on apartheid era racial categories, it overlooks various patterns of discrimination within groups. And it fails to acknowledge that for many years now inequality within the black population has been greater than inequality between blacks and whites.

Another example is education. Its true that disparate education levels were inherited after the end of formal apartheid. But responsibility for the troubling state of rural schools falls squarely on the current government. The same goes for clinics and other services.

The reliance on apartheid era racial categories also blinds citizens to other troubling aspects of South African society. One example is the almost exclusive focus on black-white inequalities and oppression. There are only two short paragraphs in the document noting ethnic or linguistic discrimination. This doesnt make it into the action items, nor is there mention of discrimination by members of black communities against one another, or among themselves. And it doesnt stop there.

Xenophobia and violence

Xenophobia has a prominent place in the plans title. But its almost totally overlooked in the actual document.

The plan briefly acknowledges xenophobic violence. Whats missing is reference to other forms of widespread discrimination against non-nationals seeking access to education, employment, housing, or life-saving medical services.

When it comes to violence, the plan rehearses familiar  but empirically questionable  claims that inequality and economic competition breed resentment and attacks on foreigners. But nowhere does it describe the gangs, community leaders, and political officials who typically foment xenophobic attacks.

The action plan similarly fails to condemn the local, provincial, and national politicians who regularly blame foreigners for their own failures to deliver services as well as economic and physical security.

Towards an effective plan

If rights and security depend on protecting everyone, then South Africans deserve a document that relies less heavily on established but unsubstantiated narratives intended to justify economic redistribution.

South Africa cant afford to wait for economic equality before addressing its virulent and sometimes violent forms of discrimination. The origins of discrimination may be rooted in apartheid practices and mindsets, but history cannot be changed. Instead, the national action plan must address all factors  including current policies and politicians  that foster all forms of discrimination.

H. Refiloe Ogude, a doctoral candidate in public and urban policy at The New School, New York, contributed to this article.

Loren B Landau, Research Chair on Mobility & the Politics of Diversity. Migration; Urban Transformation, Xenophobia and Inclusion, University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.We are all one - A must-see exhibition on why we are

Successful Early Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition extended and taking place at Iziko Museum in Cape Town.

The Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour  Mother Africa Welcome Home Exhibition has been expanded and updated from its first run in late 2018 in Stellenbosch, and will now be on show from 17 April 2019 onwards at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town.

In 2018 the SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen in Norway, and the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa collaborated in this first-of-its-kind exhibition to showcase the discovery of our early modern human origins and the multitude of innovations that originated in southern Africa.

It is an extraordinary multimedia presentation comprising 16 unique display panels that include six videos by renowned documentary filmmaker Craig Foster. The exhibition expertly brings to life the extraordinary rich archaeological record of three unique South African archaeological sites - Blombos Cave, Klasies River and Klipdrift Shelter - while taking the visitor on a multi-sensory journey of discovery of our common ancestry.

The daily life of early Homo sapiens has been re-created on film and the artefacts and objects they made and used have been meticulously replicated and displayed to illustrate what life for humans was like between 120 000 to 50 000 years ago. The videos illustrate the remarkable scientific work of the SapienCE/Wits archaeologists who assisted in the reconstruction of scenes that depict the daily activities of our early human ancestors on this archaeologically rich stretch of the southern African coastline.

Three archaeological sites are brought to life

The exhibition features the unique archaeological discoveries that scientists have made over the course of some 30 years at three of their core archaeological sites: Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River, all situated on the southern Cape coast of South Africa. The sites were occupied by early Homo sapiens (humans like us) between 120 000 and 50 000 years ago, a key period in the evolution of modern human behaviour. Archaeological deposits found in the sites have been meticulously dated using the latest available technology.

Of the many exciting finds displayed and a highlight of the exhibition is the ochre-processing toolkit excavated from the 100 000 years old levels at Blombos Cave near Still Bay in the Western Cape.

This remarkable discovery, found almost perfectly intact, provides the earliest evidence for the manufacture of a red ochre-rich paint that was mixed and stored in the first known containers - abalone shells. The mixture contains ground red ochre, seal fat and ground bone, charcoal and a liquid. It is the same recipe used in ancient Egypt 2000 years ago.

The people living in Blombos Cave made beads out of tiny estuarine shells and strung them in various ways to be worn, possibly, as necklaces or pendants. They also engraved abstract designs on more than fourteen pieces of ochre, some 100 000 years old, and made the earliest known drawing that dates to 73 000 years - an abstract design made with an ochre pencil on a stone flake. This design recently captured the worlds imagination when it was named the worlds first Hashtag. These engravings and the drawing are regarded as the first evidence for art.

Aesthetically beautiful, bifacially (meaning having two sides) worked stone spearheads, made from specially heated stone and then pressure flaked using a technique thought to have evolved in Europe 20 000 years ago, add to the repertoire of technologically and symbolically advanced material culture that these early humans produced.

The exhibition also showcases finds from Klipdrift Shelter that were dated at around 66 000  59 000 years ago, and include engraved eggshell fragments and engraved ostrich egg water flasks as well as replicas of finely crafted stone tools. Small flakes, essentially tiny pieces of stone, were shaped to form crescents, or half-moons and these were attached to wooden shafts with glue (made from plant resins and ochre) to make arrows. The wood shafts of the arrows and the bows have not preserved, but the wear patterns on the stone flakes tell us the whole story. This southern African evidence, that is also found at Klasies River, is the oldest for bows and arrows found anywhere and ranges from 70 000  55 000 years. Klasies River has also offered up some of the oldest human remains in southern Africa, evident from bones found from people living in the cave 120 000 years ago.

We are all one

The We are all One' message features strongly throughout the exhibition, pointing to the clear and current genetic evidence that all Homo sapiens - people like us - have their origins in Africa and is revolutionary in our understanding that all people on earth share a common ancestry. Regardless of where in the world we live, Africa is our original home. Our ancestors evolved here and by examining our DNA, scientists tell us we are all African and only moved to Asia and then the rest of the world 70 000 years ago.

The decades of archaeological discoveries at these three very rare and unique caves allow us to enter a time machine to relive parts of the extraordinary lives of our ancestors, people who were anatomically modern, intelligent humans and like us in so many ways. A people's history' is richly portrayed via multimedia to educate visitors of all ages about their own past and encourage a sense of pride in us knowing that we all come from Africa.

About the exhibition

The Origins of Early Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition is a showcase of a culmination of some 30 years of archaeological research in the southern Cape, undertaken by Professor Christopher Henshilwood, Dr Karen van Niekerk, Professor Sarah Wurz and their research teams at Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River. The exhibition has been curated by award-winning documentary filmmaker Craig Foster and Curator at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at University of the Witwatersrand, Petro Keene. The exhibition is designed to explore key aspects of archaeological research and is linked to the SapienCE/Wits research programme that focuses on early human origins and innovations in southern Africa.

The exhibition was first showcased late in 2018 at the Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. Since then it has been expanded and updated to include finds from the Klasies River site.

The Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town is proud to offer visitors and learners to the Mother City the opportunity to add to their cultural exploration of South Africa through a world-class exhibition that educates us about our common past and allows us to see first-hand where and how all humans ancestors lived.A self-driving tractor equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) runs along the planned routes through the remote control during the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Meng Tao]

"It gives me joy, hope and growth. I'm so proud to be part of the BeiDou family," said Nada Laabidi, manager of the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center in the Tunisian capital of Tunis.

A project manager of the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO), Laabidi has been working part-time at the center for a year. But her passion for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has become so intense that she is determined to study in China to attain a degree in satellite navigation.

This is because she, like many other people in the Arab world, sees the huge potential and opportunities provided by the growing space cooperation between China and the Arab states. The two sides are jointly building a "Space Silk Road" led by the BDS application within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China in 2013.

A Space Silk Road Taking Shape

On a sunny afternoon in April at the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center, Ahmed Zenkri, a sophomore engineering student from Tek-up University, was amazed by the perfect run of a self-driving tractor equipped with the BDS, during which it smartly averted obstacles and drove along the planned routes via remote control.

"I have never seen this technology in Tunisia before," Zenkri told Xinhua. "But I am absolutely impressed."

Zenkri is not alone. Many Arab experts and business people attending the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum in Tunis on Monday were stunned by the precision of the navigation service provided by the BDS.

Such a driverless tractor, which is part of precision agriculture, can reduce labor costs and increase crop yields, said Shen Jun, deputy director of the International Cooperation Center of the China Satellite Navigation Office.

"The demonstration was amazing. I saw how the BDS, a modern technology, can be integrated into the traditional agricultural sector. The driverless machinery can operate in a highly accurate way, so I believe that the system can be applied to a wide range of other agricultural activities," said Hassan Kherroubi, a Tunisian specialist in the mechanical industry at the Mjez El-Beb engineering school.

The BDS, developed and independently operated by China, can provide services of comparable quality to other major satellite systems like the American GPS and European Galileo systems, said Mohamed Ben Amor, secretary-general of the AICTO.

Being compatible with other positioning systems, it also boasts unique advantages such as providing two-way messaging services, which can not only reveal one's position, but also broadcast one's position to others, according to Ran Chengqi, director of the China Satellite Navigation Office.

With the BDS starting global service in late 2018, many expect it to add a whole new dimension to China-Arab cooperation, which has been picking up speed under the BRI.

The BRI refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond.

At the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum attended by more than 200 officials, experts and business people from China and Arab countries, several agreements on furthering cooperation on the BDS application were inked.

The participants envisioned building a "Space Silk Road" through closer cooperation on a wider application of the BDS in the Middle East.

"The BDS cooperation is the best example of the strategic cooperation between China and Arab states, as satellite navigation integrates many hi-tech areas, including telecommunication and space technologies," Slim Khalbous, Tunisian minister of higher education and scientific research, said at the forum.

"This is an important opportunity for Tunisia, while the BDS cooperation also means the further upgrade of China-Arab relations," Khalbous said.

Kamal Hassan Ali, assistant secretary general of the Arab League in charge of economic affairs, praised China, which has made important contributions to building the ancient Silk Road, for establishing an excellent mechanism for cooperation and exchanges with Arab states.

"The size of our cooperation will grow bigger, as the China-Tunisia cooperation has borne many fruits, and it will achieve greater progress in other countries in the region too," Ali said.

Wang Zhaoyao, chairman of the Chinese Satellite Navigation Committee, called for jointly building a China-Arab "Space Silk Road" which he said will help Arab states share more benefits from the China-made navigation satellite system.

He noted that the BDS has been applied in many Middle Eastern countries, including Tunisia, Algeria, Kuwait and Sudan in areas such as precision agriculture, telecommunication, maritime monitoring and disaster relief.

Li Chengwen, the Chinese ambassador for China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs, said that the "Space Silk Road" is taking shape as the BDS becomes a new engine for pushing forward fruitful China-Arab cooperation, especially in hi-tech areas.

Great Potential to Be Tapped

To promote the application of the BDS in Arab countries, the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center, the first BeiDou overseas center, was officially inaugurated in April 2018, in accordance with a memorandum of understanding signed at the first China-Arab States BeiDou Cooperation Forum held in Shanghai, China in 2017.

The BeiDou system has witnessed several successful cases of application in Arab countries. Most Arab states have been aware of the China-built satellite system and recognized its benefits.

In 2016, the BDS technology was used by Kuwaiti engineers in the construction of the 300-meter-tall iconic building of the National Bank of Kuwait to improve accuracy.

The BDS assisted Kuwaiti workers in installing the core wall structure of the building, which was designed in a complex shape, with millimeter-range accuracy.

In 2017, the augmentation infrastructure of the BDS has been installed across Algeria with centimeter-range accuracy, playing an important role in local military, security, transport and agriculture.

After a successful test of the BDS application in autonomous vehicles, Tunisia is expected to implement a pilot project on smart farming with the BDS application in the near future.

"As the Arab world is more and more keen to turn to digital transformation, I am confident that there is huge potential for the BDS to be adopted and implemented by Arab countries," Laabidi told Xinhua.

A self-driving tractor equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) runs along the planned routes through the remote control during the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Meng Tao]

Nada Laabidi (L), a narrator at the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center, introduces China's carrier rocket sending satellites of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Meng Tao]

Mohamed Ben Amor, secretary-general of Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization, speaks at the second China-Arab States BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Cooperation Forum in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Meng Tao]

Kamal Hassan Ali, assistant secretary general of the Arab League (AL) in charge of economic affairs, receives an interview with Xinhua during the second China-Arab States BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Cooperation Forum in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Meng Tao]

Ran Chengqi (L, front), director of the China Satellite Navigation Office, shakes hands with Mohamed Ben Amor, secretary-general of Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization, at a statement signing ceremony during the second China-Arab States BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Cooperation Forum in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Meng Tao]

Li Chengwen, Chinese ambassador for China-Arab States Cooperation Forum Affairs, speaks at the second China-Arab States BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Cooperation Forum in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, April 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Meng Tao]

(Source: Xinhua)A contestant shows a picture during the "Chinese Bridge" competition in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2, 2019. The Romanian edition of the 18th "Chinese Bridge," an annual Chinese proficiency competition for foreign college students, was held here on Tuesday, with Paula Sorina from the University of Bucharest winning the Grand Prize. [Xinhua/Chen Jin]

The Romanian edition of the 18th "Chinese Bridge," an annual Chinese proficiency competition for foreign college students, was held here on Tuesday, with Paula Sorina from the University of Bucharest winning the Grand Prize.

Titled "One World, One Family," the competition attracted 14 contestants, representing hundreds of local students studying Chinese in four universities in the capital city of Bucharest, central cities of Sibiu and Brasov, as well as Cluj-Napoca from the northwest.

The students competed in three segments featuring free speeches, Q&As and artistic performances, showing their outstanding Chinese proficiency, their love of Chinese history and culture, and their understanding of China's economic and social development.

Many contestants said that Chinese learning opened a door for them to a wider world. They will work hard in Chinese and strive to be the messengers of friendship between the two countries.

Paula Sorina, a third-year student, will represent Romania for the "Chinese Bridge" international final in China, while Maria Lungu, also a third-year student at the University of Bucharest who took the first prize in the contest, will travel to Beijing to watch the final competition.

Addressing the event, Jiang Yu, Chinese ambassador to Romania, said the first group of Romanian students went to China to study Chinese in 1950, and a few years later, China and Romania decided to launch university specializations to learn the languages of the other side.

As bilateral relations deepened over the years, the enthusiasm of learning Chinese and understanding China has increased in Romania, and here came the Confucius Institutes, she continued.

The ambassador reminded that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Ample Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation and she called for opening a new chapter in bilateral friendship and cooperation.

Rodica Cherciu, inspector of the Education Ministry who coordinates the Chinese teaching, spoke highly of the Confucius Institutes in promoting Chinese language, introducing Chinese culture and helping people-to-people exchanges.

According to the official, more and more Romanians are interested in Chinese and Chinese culture and some 1,500 primary and middle school students are currently learning Chinese at school. She said that the Education Ministry is willing to further strengthen cooperation with China in educational exchanges, mutual recognition of credits and youth exchanges.

Since the unveiling of the first Confucius Institute in Sibiu in 2007, Chinese teaching and learning have attracted increasing attention in this country. At present, there are four Confucius Institutes, over ten Confucius Classrooms and more than 130 teaching points in Romania.

Paula Sorina from the University of Bucharest performs during the "Chinese Bridge" competition in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2, 2019. The Romanian edition of the 18th "Chinese Bridge," an annual Chinese proficiency competition for foreign college students, was held here on Tuesday, with Paula Sorina from the University of Bucharest winning the Grand Prize. [Xinhua/Chen Jin]

A contestant performs during the "Chinese Bridge" competition in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2, 2019. The Romanian edition of the 18th "Chinese Bridge," an annual Chinese proficiency competition for foreign college students, was held here on Tuesday, with Paula Sorina from the University of Bucharest winning the Grand Prize. [Xinhua/Chen Jin]

A contestant performs during the "Chinese Bridge" competition in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2, 2019. The Romanian edition of the 18th "Chinese Bridge," an annual Chinese proficiency competition for foreign college students, was held here on Tuesday, with Paula Sorina from the University of Bucharest winning the Grand Prize. [Xinhua/Chen Jin]

Jiang Yu, Chinese ambassador to Romania, addresses the "Chinese Bridge" competition in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2, 2019. The Romanian edition of the 18th "Chinese Bridge," an annual Chinese proficiency competition for foreign college students, was held here on Tuesday, with Paula Sorina from the University of Bucharest winning the Grand Prize. [Xinhua/Chen Jin]

(Source: Xinhua)First Minister Questions: No talks, no sites identified regarding nuclear waste burial  Wrexham could rule itself out as site

This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Apr 3rd, 2019

The below is the another in our now regular summaries of this weeks First Minister Questions session from Cardiff Bay. First Minister Questions takes place every Tuesday when the Assembly is sitting and can be watched live via Senedd.tv

For those who have never ventured onto the Senedd site, you can view the session the below was taken from here, that displays a video of the meeting (along with creation of your own clips!) plus by clicking the meeting information and papers link you are able to view all the supporting documentation, along with a link to the full transcript.

Wrexham did not appear to get a mention this week, however last April we tweeted about a geological disposal facility consultation that sounded like storing a collection of rocks, that was slight more

Interesting point by @RitchieThomas13 a Geological Disposal Facility sounds quaint, and communities like Wrexham may want to host one, perhaps like a fete or the Olympics. *clicks link* Errr no ta. pic.twitter.com/bNroDSK7u6  Wrexham.com (@wrexham) April 16, 2018

That was discussed at FMQs (below) with it noted by the First Minster that Wrexham could look to explicitly opt out of any such siting, The local authority within which that community lies also has rights under the policy that we have proposed, and a local authority could declare that it does not want to see any geological disposal within its local authority boundaries, and that would override anything that that local community might say.

No sites identified for nuclear waste burial

The opening question was from Llyr Gruffydd AM (Plaid, North Wales) who asked for a statement on nuclear waste burial. Radiological waste disposal is a devolved matter, but there was questions from another document that Mr Gruffydd said was silent on nuclear.

Mark Isherwood AM (Con, North Wales) later added the decision as to where to bury the waste would ultimately be determined by geology and asked if there been any discussion with six locations identified in England?

The Welsh Government has not identified any sites or communities where geological disposal of radioactive waste could take place, and there is no intention to do so. A facility can only be built in Wales if there is a community willing to host it, and it secures full planning, safety and environmental consents.

 First Minister, Mark Drakeford

The First Minister added that, as far as he believes, geological disposal of nuclear waste is devolved, This radioactive waste has been created by us. It is in the lifetime of people in this Chamber where this waste has been created. And we do have a responsibility to deal with the consequences of what we have done, rather than simply saying that we will play no part in bearing that responsibility, that somebody else must do it instead, or that we hand it on to future generations that come after us to clear up the mess that we have left. Because that mess is there; it has already been created

Responding to Mr Isherwood the First Minster added, We will not and have not identified such sites, and we dont intend to do so. It is for any local community that is willing to come forward to do so, and if no community comes forward, there will be no disposal here in Wales.

First Minister accepts High Court inquiry judgement

The first question from Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price AM (Plaid, Carms. E. & Dinefwr), related to Monday nights indicative votes on Brexit. 24 Labour MPs from Wales voted against a second referendum and a large number opposed revoking Article 50.

The to and fro was similar what the chamber had heard before, boiling down to the Welsh Government supporting an option thats as close to the Welsh Government-Plaid Cymru Brexit paper as possible. However, the First Minister warned that revoking Article 50 would be serious and couldnt be used as a negotiating tactic, only to prevent crashing out of the EU without a deal at the last minute (still set for April 12th).

Adam Prices second series of questions related to the High Court judgement on the Sargeant QC inquiry including, Did the Welsh Government accept they unlawfully interfered? Would the Sargeant family receive an apology? Would it be converted into a statutory public inquiry? A request was also made to publish a redacted version of the leak inquiry report.

I can confirm that the Welsh Government accepts the judgment of the High Court in full. I can confirm I first became aware of the terms of the judicial review and the issues at stake on it when I was briefed on becoming First Minister. I can also confirm Im in the process of receiving advice on what the judgment says and the courses of action available to me. As soon as Im able to resolve those issues, Ill issue a statement to the Assembly setting out my decisions.

 First Minister, Mark Drakeford AM (Lab, Cardiff West)

Criticism of GP contract negotiations

Leader of the Opposition, Paul Davies AM (Con, Preseli Pembs.), said GPs were in crisis:

The BMA in Wales spoke out at the weekend with what they called sadness over how recent contract negotiations with your Government had gone. Chairwoman of the general practitioners committee, Charlotte Jones, said your overall approach had been disappointing and that the resultfell well short of a deal where the committee could actually look doctors in the eye and say it was good for the profession.

 Leader of the Opposition, Paul Davies

He added that werent only GP problems, but falls in the number of midwives, nurses and visiting staff too.

The First Minister said GPs have been offered a 5.4% raise in the 2019-20 contract and talks will resume to discuss alternative ideas. Employment in the Welsh NHS was at record levels (92,500 staff) with increases in doctors, consultants, scientific/technical staff and ambulance staff  but this

was conveniently overlooked by the Conservatives.



Keep up to date with what is going on in the Senedd via SeneddHome.com





(Click for large)Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 01:22:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ROME, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Italy is likely to be forced to compensate for lower exports and perhaps even the return of thousands of mid-level and blue collar workers when Great Britain finally withdraws from the European Union.

The country had been expected to leave the European Union March 29. But the government secured an extension as the so-called "Brexit" negotiations stalled, with British lawmakers deciding which of four plans (or perhaps no plan at all) will be used to guide the first-ever departure of a nation from the European Union.

Meanwhile, the 27 member states that will remain in the European Union are bracing for the process of erecting commercial and immigration barriers between them and Europe's second largest economy.

"By most measures, Italy will suffer less than other countries in Europe," Giuseppe De Arcangelis, a professor of international economics at Rome's La Sapienza University, told Xinhua. "But there will still be significant difficulties for Italy."

De Arcangelis and other analysts noted that in terms of negotiating the European Union's terms for Brexit, Italy is staying in line with other European Union member states and so not charting its own course as it has done in some other areas.

But that does not make the country immune to direct impacts from the process, according to Antonio Villafranca, research coordinator and the co-head of the Center on Europe and Global Governance for the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, a think tank.

"Around 5 percent of Italy's trade goes to Great Britain and there are those who say that percentage will shrink a little but that it won't be too bad," Villafranca said in an interview. "But I don't agree. Italy's trade surplus with Great Britain is worth 12 billion euros (13.5 billion U.S. dollars), which is not an insignificant amount. If that is reduced, it will be a blow to Italy's economy."

Italy's exports to Great Britain are concentrated in a few key areas such as manufactured mechanical parts, fashion items, and food and wine. With Brexit in place, those items would be taxed differently, increasing prices and reducing demand. The impacts would be concentrated more in the wealthier, industrialized northern parts of the country, Villafranca said.

"The exports won't go to zero but they will be reduced," Villafranca said. "For Italy's economy, which is continually either in recession or on the edge of recession, that is an unwelcome development."

Depending on the Brexit plan that is eventually adopted, any gaps in trade rules could use those already in place with the World Trade Organization. In that case, Villafranca and De Arcangelis said, it would be to Italy's advantage to push for more specific trade terms quickly.

There's another Italian export that De Arcangelis said worth taking into consideration: workers. There are an estimated 250,000 Italians working in London, De Arcangelis said, the second largest diaspora in the city after those from Poland. Depending on visa rules, some may be forced to leave.

"If that happens, highly-skilled workers will find job elsewhere," De Arcangelis said. "But medium-skilled workers or lower-skilled workers like waiters or laborers won't have that option. Many may end up returning to Italy, where unemployment rates are already too high."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 02:22:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TIRANA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank predicts a slower economic growth for Albania in the next three years compared to 2018, expert of World Bank (WB) in Albania Hilda Shijaku said on Tuesday.

During the presentation of the Regional Economic Outlook for Western Balkan Countries, Shijaku said that fiscal risks continue to be present in Albania.

According to the report, the economic slowdown will be influenced by a number of internal and external factors.

"The slow pace in the economies of the European Union countries is a factor that is expected to have a negative impact on the country's economy over the next three years," Shijaku said.

Meanwhile, the political uncertainty created in the country and delays in reforms are also seen as obstacles to economic growth.

"The political crisis and insecurity have caused investors to withdraw and harmed business in the country," Shijaku said.

Albania's economic growth, however, continued to strengthen in 2018, reaching 4.2 percent.

"The acceleration in the economic growth had a major impact in the economic balances improvement, over the past year," Shijaku noted.

Shijaku added that in recent years the domestic investment has increased and foreign investments continue to occupy significant weight in the country's economy.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 03:02:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MADRID, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Spain's Teatro Real (Royal Theater) and China's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) have signed an agreement on exchange of audiovisual materials through an online platform, Palco Digital.

The accord, signed on Monday by the Managing Director of the Teatro Real, Ignacio Garcia-Belenguer, and the President of the NCPA, Wang Ning, will allow consumers to view material on demand.

"The NCPA will offer one opera and four concerts live, as well as five documentaries to present them in the Palco Digital platform. Following the launch of this project, viewers from several countries will be able to view them on the internet," Wang Ning told Xinhua

The NCPA president also said the accord was positive for both institutions because "culture is connected."

"We are going to present the classical operas of the world to the Chinese audience, but we also want to introduce some Chinese operas to the world to help integration and exchange between cultures. It doesn't matter if it is from the East or the West, art has a common character," he added.

"I think this cooperation is very important, especially under the influence of the Road and Belt initiative," said Wang Ning.

For Garcia-Belenguer, the agreement is another step towards greater collaboration between the two institutions which have enjoyed a close relationship for several years.

He said the relationship between the Teatro Real and China had received an important boost following the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan to the theater on Nov. 28, 2018, during their official visit to Spain.

"We are working to take Flamenco to China, to carry out joint university projects and exchange initiatives so our respective employees can see how each other works," he commented.

The Royal Theatre, which opened in 1850, is now considered to be the most important center for classical music, opera and ballet in Spain.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 04:03:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Shen Zhonghao, Li Jizhi, Lian Zhen

HANOVER, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The world is on the path to go from automated and digitalized industry towards autonomous industry, said ABB Group's Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Spiesshofer in an interview with Xinhua at the Hanover Fair.

In his view, with artificial intelligence (AI) augmenting humans' potential even stronger to drive the next wave of productivity, the future of industry is defined by autonomous technologies.

At this year's fair, the Swiss industrial technology giant ABB showcased how a production cell could work in the "factory of the future."

ABB's booth features a model production line assembling wristwatches in lot sizes of one in real time by robots with high precision.

"We demonstrate what we can do in the digital industry, which really changes the way how we produce, work, live and move," Spiesshofer told Xinhua.

He firmly believes that manufacturing in the future will be increasingly intelligent and flexible thanks to the integration of robotics with machinery and AI.

China is "a fantastic market for ABB, where we're fully integrated in the local value chain of robotics," he explained. The 55-year-old CEO predicts tremendous growth for the future.

ABB today has a full range of businesses in China, including research and development (R&D), manufacturing, sales and services.

In October 2018, the Swiss company announced an investment of 150 million U.S. dollars in Shanghai to build a new advanced robotized factory.

"I think China is a true powerhouse of AI," said Spiesshofer. He said he admired the momentum that China has been building in taking industry forward and using AI to drive productivity in a significant way, noting that "China is a strong market, a strong key technology base."

Using AI to complement its research and development staff in China will allow ABB to strengthen its team there and grow together with China in the future, said Spiesshofer.

"We will continue to invest...and (we) welcome the support of the Chinese government to make investments in China even easier," he said.

A total of 6,500 exhibitors from 75 countries and regions are present at the Hanover Fair. The five-day event showcases the latest technologies for industrial use.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 04:28:24|Editor: Yurou

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Photo taken on April 2, 2019 show a United Nations Security Council meeting on non-proliferation at the UN headquarters in New York. The UN Security Council on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to advance the goals of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the only treaty that contains legally-binding commitments to nuclear disarmament. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to advance the goals of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the only treaty that contains legally-binding commitments to nuclear disarmament.

The council members made the reaffirmation after meeting on supporting the Non-proliferation Treaty ahead of the 2020 Review Conference.

In a press statement after the meeting, they reaffirmed "their commitment to advance the goals of the NPT as the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

They underscored the viability and the mutually reinforcing character of all the commitments taken under the treaty, the need for its full implementation and the importance of achieving universal adherence to the treaty.

The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since 1970, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

Joined by 191 states, it represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon states.

The members of the Security Council concurred that the 2020 NPT Review Conference provided an opportunity for the NPT states parties ,to reaffirm their commitment to the treaty, to commemorate its historic achievements and strengthen the nuclear-disarmament and non-proliferation regime.

They expressed their readiness to work together and join efforts to achieve a successful outcome at the 2020 conference.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 04:33:30|Editor: ZX

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Antonio Gumende, permanent representative of the Republic of Mozambique to the United Nations, addresses a UN special meeting on the Cyclone Idai in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, at the UN headquarters in New York, April 2, 2019. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Tuesday called for more funding and long-term aid to Cyclone Idai victims in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Tuesday called for more funding and long-term aid to Cyclone Idai victims in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

About three weeks after Cyclone Idai struck, the needs remain profound in the three southern African countries, Mohammed told a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on the disaster.

The risks of more floods, spread of disease and more lives lost persist. Many areas are now affected by cholera outbreaks, with the current tally of 1,000 cases expected to grow.

The storm flattened thousands of homes and flooded acres upon acres of farmland. And more than 200,000 people have been displaced, she said.

Yet the international response is still underfunded, she warned. The three countries need more than 392 million U.S. dollars for the next three months. Currently only 46 million dollars has been tallied, she noted. "We call on member states to bridge this gap urgently."

At the same time, she said the international community must look toward rebuilding and preventing such disasters in future.

"Beyond the emergency phase, we need to ensure sustained support that will help people and governments cope with the longer term development consequences of the storm, from shelter and health to food security."

She urged member states to raise ambition on climate action -- on both mitigation and adaptation.

While it is impossible to link any single weather event with climate change, such extreme storms are consistent with what scientists are saying about the impacts of global warming, she said.

Against this background, she encouraged member states to engage in the events leading to a UN Climate Summit to be convened in September 2019 by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The summit is an unprecedented opportunity for national governments to bring realistic, concrete climate mitigation and adaptation plans, said Mohammed. "It is time to show leadership and pave the path to a safer, more prosperous and sustainable world."

Cyclone Idai, which struck on March 14, has killed more than 700 people and destroyed 100,000 homes. Thousands of schools and dozens of health facilities have been rendered useless, said ECOSOC President Inga Rhonda King.

Almost half a million hectares of crops, ready to be harvested, are lost, posing food security risks and endangering livelihoods in addition to cholera outbreaks, she said.Mongolian Parliament Chairman Miyegombo Enkhbold (C, front) from the Mongolian People's Party (MPP) speaks after receiving his candidacy certificate in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, on May 27, 2017. (Xinhua)

ULAN BATOR, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian parliament speaker Gombojav Zandanshatar said here Tuesday that his country is keen to strengthen parliamentary cooperation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Zandanshatar made the remarks when meeting with the DPRK's Ambassador to Mongolia O Sung Ho, according to a statement of the Mongolian parliament's press office.

"The Mongolian parliament will pay special attention to further developing traditional friendly relations between our two countries," said Zandanshatar. "We are willing to further enhance parliamentary cooperation with the DPRK."

In an effort to expand parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, he made a proposal on co-organizing a parliamentary session of the regional countries in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia at any time under the theme of promoting regional peace and stability by pushing forward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the statement said.

For his part, the DPRK ambassador said that "the DPRK attaches great importance to DPRK-Mongolia relations. A further expansion of friendly relations and cooperation between our two countries is a foreign-policy priority for the DPRK."

Mongolia and the DPRK have maintained good relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1948.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:08:42|Editor: ZX

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European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete (L) shakes hands with Romanian Energy Minister Anton Anton during the first informal meeting of energy ministers of the European Union (EU) Member States in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2, 2019. European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete on Tuesday called for rapid implementation of BRUA gas project to ensure that natural gas is connected to Austria as soon as possible. (Xinhua/Cristian Cristel)

BUCHAREST, April 2 (Xinhua) -- European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete on Tuesday called for rapid implementation of BRUA gas project to ensure that natural gas is connected to Austria as soon as possible.

According to Arias Canete, the BRUA gas pipeline is fundamental for the European Commission and will allow natural gas to reach Hungary and Austria from Bulgaria and Romania.

Arias Canete has been stressed in various occasions in recent years that BRUA is a strategic project of common interest extremely important to diversify the sources of natural gas, which will ensure energy security in the region, increase competition and lead to lower prices.

Referring to divided opinions on the project within the Budapest authorities, Canete stressed that "for the Commission, it is important that this project be carried out", regardless of the final route to be selected.

The BRUA gas pipeline is an interconnection project in southern Europe linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, attempting to lessen the region's dependence on Russian energy by providing a new route for the future natural gas exploitation in the Black Sea.

Phase I of the project stipulates the construction of a 479-km line on the territory of Romania from Podisor in the southeast to Recas in the west and is expected to be operational by the end of this year.

The first informal meeting of energy ministers of the European Union (EU) Member States was held on Tuesday in Bucharest by the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council.

The meeting discussed the priorities of the future energy system in the EU, from the perspective of ensuring energy transition post 2020 from fossil fuels to renewable energy.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:28:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine announced at a congressional testimony on Tuesday a plan to put human to Mars by 2033 and would request more money to fund the ambitious plan.

It came after NASA's new schedule to land American astronauts on the Moon by 2024, four years ahead of its previous schedule, an aggressive plan U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called a "stated policy of this administration," but American lawmakers worried NASA couldn't meet the deadline.

Pence urged NASA last week to return American astronauts to the Moon within five years, warning that if NASA cannot do it, it is NASA, not the mission, that must change.

Bridenstine cited at the congressional hearing on NASA's budget in fiscal year 2020 the goal of putting astronauts on Mars by 2033 as a reason why NASA need to accelerate the Moon landing plan.

The NASA chief said so in response to U.S. congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's question why the country need a "crash program for the Moon."

"The Moon is the proving ground," said Bridenstine. "We can move up the Mars landing by moving up the Moon landing."

However, NASA's delayed development of its new heavy-lift rocket the Space Launch System (SLS) may mean additional difficulties for realizing these goals on time.

Also, SLS's replacement options or buying commercial rockets like Delta IV heavy rockets and Space X's Falcon Heavy are now technically challenged in terms of thrust capability, launchpad availability and docking ability, according to Bridenstine when addressing a town hall meeting on Monday.

NASA keeps its eyes on human exploration of Mars in 2030s, and does not specify any certain year, according to NASA's official website.

Given the distance to Mars, spacecraft has to take at least six months to get there, making the 2033 schedule tighter.

Bridenstine said NASA was preparing a request for additional funding to achieve the 2024 Moon landing goal.

In this year's budget request, NASA planned to devote more than half of its 21 billion U.S. dollars budget to building the key components of the Exploration campaign that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. But the request was made with the original Moon landing plan by 2028 in mind.

Bridenstine said NASA would have an updated budget request by April 15.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:28:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BRUSSELS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said here on Tuesday that a no-deal Brexit was becoming more likely by the day after British lawmakers rejected alternative options.

The House of Commons' rejection on Monday night of potential solutions to the current ordeal of Brexit has further dimmed the lights for an orderly divorce deal between London and Brussels.

"The only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit is and will be through a positive majority" in the British House of Commons, he said.

Barnier said Britain could have a long extension of Brexit, but only on the basis of "a strong justification".

Barnier said an extension beyond the end of May would require Britain to take part in European parliamentary elections, which "would carry significant risks for the EU and therefore strong justification would be needed".

That Britain could leave without an agreement with the European Union is "day after day more likely", he said. But he insisted that the European Union was prepared for this scenario.

Barnier made it clear that even if Britain asks for a long extension, the withdrawal agreement will not be reopened, and that negotiations on the country's future relationship with the European Union cannot legally take place until Britain is no longer a member.

"We have always said that we can accept a customs union, or relationship along the style of the Norway model. The Political Declaration today can accommodate all of these options already. But if the UK so wishes we are ready to rework the Political Declaration" Barnier added.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:28:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADEN, Yemen, April 2 (Xinhua) -- At least two Yemeni soldiers were killed on Tuesday in an armed attack on a military police headquarters in the southwestern province of Taiz, a government official told Xinhua.

A group of gunmen attacked the headquarters in Taiz, leaving two soldiers killed, and wounding a number of others including a passer-by, the government source said on condition of anonymity.

Violent clashes broke out between the soldiers guarding the headquarters and the attackers, causing unknown injuries among the attackers, the source added.

The gunmen attacked the headquarters in an attempt to free prisoners inside the jail but the attack was foiled, he noted.

The military police forces loyal to Yemen's internationally-backed government confirmed in an online statement that its headquarters was under armed attack carried by armed groups.

The city center of Taiz is under the control of the government, while the outskirts of the city and areas in the countryside of the province are still witnessing armed confrontations between pro-government forces and the Houthi rebels.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:33:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BAGHDAD, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday that he intended to visit Saudi Arabia, Turkey and some other Gulf countries in the coming weeks to boost Iraq's ties with the regional countries.

"During the next two weeks, we will make an official visit to Saudi Arabia and discuss important issues," Abdul Mahdi told a press conference after a weekly cabinet meeting.

The prime minister said he will discuss the issues of trade exchange, customs tariff and the development of relations between the two countries.

According to Abdul Mahdi, a high-level Saudi delegation of 90 people including some ministers, is scheduled to visit Iraq on Wednesday to discuss common issues.

The relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia have improved since Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy in the capital Baghdad in 2016 after 25 years of closure.

Abdul Mahdi did not specify the dates of his planned tours to Turkey and some other Gulf countries.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:49:06|Editor: ZX

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HANOVER, Germany, April 2 (Xinhua) -- German automaker BMW Group and Microsoft on Tuesday announced the introduction of their new community initiative, the Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP), to enable faster and more cost-effective innovations in the manufacturing industry.

"Microsoft is joining forces with the BMW Group to transform digital production efficiency across the industry," Scott Guthrie, executive vice-president of Microsoft Cloud and AI Group, said at the Hanover Messe.

The profitability of production in the manufacturing industry has often been hampered by complex software systems that store data in silos, thus slowing down production, according to the companies.

"The OMP is designed to break down these barriers through the creation of an open technology framework and cross-industry community," the two companies explained in a statement.

The BMW Group and Microsoft are aiming to accelerate industrial IoT developments in the future in order to increase production efficiency.

BMW currently has over 3,000 systems, robots and autonomous transport systems connected to its IoT platform, which is built on Microsoft Azure. The German car company was planning to provide the Open Manufacturing Platform with "relevant initial use cases".

By the end of 2019, the companies are planning to work together with four to six partners on up to 15 concrete projects.

"Mastering the complex task of producing individualized premium products requires innovative IT and software solutions," said Oliver Zipse, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG.

"The interconnection of production sites and systems as well as the secure integration of partners and suppliers" were particularly important, Zipse added.

Other manufacturers and suppliers including companies from outside the automotive industry would be encouraged to join the OMP community the companies announced.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:54:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SANAA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Heavy clashes and artillery shelling erupted on Tuesday night between the Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels on the southeastern edges of Hodeidah port city amid UN peace efforts to maintain the cease-fire deal.

Residents said the fighting was concentrated at Rabasah neighbourhood, Sanaa street, Hodeidah airport and Red Sea mills, with no casualties reported yet.

The escalation came hours after the World Food Programme was denied access to the city' mills to fumigate over 51,000 tonnes of wheat aid at risk of rotting.

The United Nations has warned against targeting food aid which could risk lives of millions of Yemenis.

The Iranian-allied Houthi rebels control the city while the Saudi-backed government troops have advanced to the southeastern outskirts.

Hodeidah is the key lifeline entry point for the country's most food imports and humanitarian aid. The four-year grinding war has pushed over 20 million to the verge of starvation.

Yemeni warring parties reached the peace deal on Hodeidah in December last year as a first step toward striking a comprehensive political solution.

They have largely held the cease-fire deal but failed to withdraw their forces.

The UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths has been shuttling between the rival sides to push the deal toward the implementation.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 05:54:12|Editor: ZX

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by Eric J. Lyman

ROME, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The economic gap between Italy's wealthy, industrialized northern regions and the agrarian, poorer south dates back generations.

Latest statistics show the gap is still expanding, while the government floats a plan that could widen it even further.

Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance this week released new figures, showing the difference in wealth between northern and southern regions is reaching record proportions.

According to the statistics, the richest communities in Italy are clustered around the northern metropolis of Milan and other nearby regions.

The richest community is Basiglio, near Milan, where the average resident earns 47,808 euros (53,555 U.S. dollars) per year in declared taxable income. Several of the poorest communities in the south had average incomes of well below a quarter the rate in Basiglio.

All told, the three richest regions are Lombardy which includes Milan, Emilia Romagna which includes Bologna, and Lazio which includes Rome. The bottom three -- Basilicata, Molise, and Calabria -- are all deep in the country's south.

The ministry's figures showed the gap is growing compared to five or ten years ago. Economic growth rates in the northern regions are more than twice the rates in the south, the data showed.

"It ends up being a problem that feeds itself," Andrea Ciarini, an economic sociologist with the Department of Social and Economic Sciences at Rome's La Sapienza University, told Xinhua.

"It's not only a question of the northern regions having more money. They also have more political power and more opportunities, and so the gap grows."

Ciarini said there is no other country in Europe where the gap between the richest half of the country and the poorest half of the country is as large as in Italy.

The historical origins of the gap between north and south involve many factors, including the types of governments that thrived in each area, conquests, natural resources, and organized crime.

But once a gap is established, according to economist Vittorio Pelligra, it gives the wealthier areas built-in advantages, such as better schools, more investment, better infrastructure, and better health care.

"The northern parts of Italy are on par with the wealthy countries of northern Europe," Pelligra, who teaches at the University of Cagliari and who is the coordinator for the BERG research group and part of the North-South Economic Research Center, told Xinhua. "The south is more in line with the former communist countries of Eastern Europe or with North Africa."

One government proposal that could have an impact on the problem is an idea to give greater autonomy to the wealthiest northern regions. The plan, which is still in planning stages, would let those regions keep more of the taxes they collect internally and make decisions on how the money is spent on a regional level.

Both Ciarini and Pelligra said if it became law, such a plan would magnify the gap by reducing potential developmental resources from the south.

"There's a kind of social contract that is being ignored," Pelligra said. "A country can't move forward when there are first-class citizens in one part of the country and second-class citizens in another part."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 07:04:37|Editor: ZX

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UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Nicholas Koumjian of the United States as head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said his press office.

Koumjian will be the first head of the Myanmar mechanism, which was established by the Human Rights Council on Sept. 27, 2018 and welcomed by the General Assembly on Dec. 22, 2018, the office said in a statement.

Koumjian brings to this position over 35 years of experience as prosecutor, including almost 20 years of experience in the field of international criminal justice.

Since November 2013, he has been serving as the International Co-Prosecutor for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Koumjian previously served as Trial Attorney at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as Deputy General Prosecutor for serious crimes in Timor-Leste, as International Prosecutor in the War Crimes Section of the Prosecutor's Office for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as Principal Trial Attorney and Senior Appeals Counsel in the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

In addition, he also worked as a prosecutor in the United States of America and has professional experience in the fields of international human rights law and transitional justice.

Koumjian holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 07:04:38|Editor: Yurou

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Zhang Bo (L, Front) and his co-pilot gesture before taking off at an airport in Chicago, the United States, on April 2, 2019. The 57-year-old Chinese man Zhang Bo kicked off his second flight around the world on Tuesday in a Diamond DA42 aircraft from Chicago. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

CHICAGO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A 57-year-old Chinese man kicked off his second flight around the world on Tuesday in a Diamond DA42 aircraft from Chicago, the third most populous U.S. city.

Bo Zhang, in captain uniform, carefully examined every major part of the aircraft, put two pieces of luggage into the cockpit, and waved goodbye to relatives and friends in a small airport, an hour's drive southwest of Chicago.

Zhang plans to fly to Canada, enter the Arctic circle, cross the Davis Strait into the Greenland and the Iceland. He will go further to Europe, then turns to Turkey, Kazakhstan and Russia before entering China. Afterward, Zhang will go past northeast China, Russia, the Bering Strait and fly back to Chicago. The around-the-world flight will pass through 23 countries and is scheduled to take two months.

Zhang made history in 2016 when he performed his first flight around the world in a propeller-driven aircraft. On Aug. 7, 2016, Zhang took off from Beijing in a TBM700 Single-engine turboprop aircraft, went past 23 countries, measured 40,818 km and landed safely in Beijing on Sept. 24, 2016, after 44 landing points in 49 days.

Compared to the first flight, Zhang faces bigger challenges this time. The DA42 aircraft he flies this time is piston propelled and has no pressure cabin, which means limited endurance and flying altitude. Theoretically the voyage mileage of the aircraft is only 1,500 km.

"So I need to skip forward along the coastal lines," Zhang told Xinhua.

With the first flight experiences and skills, Zhang is confident that he will complete the flight.

"I am excited before every flight. This is an around-the-world flight, I am as excited as I did more than two years ago. I am more confident," he said.

Zhang plans to arrive in Hangzhou, capital of eastern China's Zhejiang Province, before the last week of April to attend the Yunqi 2050 Conference, a volunteer-only, non-profit conference that gives Chinese youth a stage to make their voices heard and maximize their energy and talent.

"China is energetically developing general aviation industry at present. Through the flight, I want to let the youth know what aviation is, and unveil the mysteries that shroud aviation. Aviation is in fact not far from our daily life," Zhang said.

Zhang also wanted to share with the youth, "young people should have ideals and aspirations, and as long as one persists, he will be able to achieve the goal."

Having obtained his Master's and Ph.D degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Zhang had a special feeling for the U.S. state of Illinois. That is why he chooses Chicago as the start and landing point for his second around-the-world flight.

Built in 2001, the Diamond DA42 aircraft Zhang flies belongs to China's Zhejiang Wanfeng Group.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 07:44:48|Editor: Lu Hui

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UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution that strongly condemns continuing violence and acts of terrorism targeting individuals, including persons belonging to religious minorities, based on religion or belief.

In the wake of the horrific attack at two New Zealand mosques, in which 50 people were killed and 50 others injured in March, the assembly on Tuesday convened the meeting and adopted the anti-hate resolution, titled "Combating terrorism and other acts of violence based on religion or belief."

The assembly condemned "in the strongest terms" the heinous, cowardly terrorist attack aimed at Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, and expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and the people of that country.

The assembly urged all countries to protect and promote freedom of religion and belief and to foster a domestic environment of religious tolerance, peace and respect.

Introducing the resolution, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the assembly that the international community "must stand up against the spiral of hate."

Sending condolences to the families of the Muslims who were killed in Christchurch in a clearly planned terrorist attack, he said that "Islamophobia and racism go hand in hand."

He also criticized the actions of "reckless politicians" who often use distorted historical narratives and toxic conspiracy theories "to equate Islam with terrorism."

The draft of the resolution proposed by Turkey declares that the member states are "deeply alarmed by all terrorist attacks against places of worship that are motivated by religious hatred, including antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred."

Craig J. Hawke, permanent representative of New Zealand to the UN, told the meeting that after the horrific attack, New Zealand is taking action "to stop such a senseless attack in the future," including the announcement of "new, stronger gun control laws."

"All semi-automatic weapons used during the terrorist attack on March 15 will be banned," he said.

"The government is addressing the role social media platforms played in these events, and is identifying steps we can take, including on the international stage, with our partners," he added.

"Condemnations of violence and terrorism must now turn to a collective response. We all have a part to play. New Zealand is committed to turning our despair into meaningful action," he noted.

Charles Whiteley, first counsellor of the delegation of the European Union to the UN, said that "it is in that spirit of solidarity that we gather together here today - to make plain our opposition to those who sow hatred against those practicing their religion or beliefs and our determination to do more to make sure that such hatred no longer finds its articulation in terrible acts of terrorism."

"That resolution underscores the deep concern felt by the international community at rising discrimination, violence and intolerance directed against religious communities. The EU has also sought to bring a focus to bear on the major challenges faced by persons belonging to faith communities or minorities across the world, including in Europe," he said.

Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, hailed the adoption of the resolution that was amended to include a specific condemnation of antisemitism as "an Israeli achievement at the UN."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 07:49:52|Editor: Yurou

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China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu (Front) addresses a UN Security Council meeting on non-proliferation at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 2, 2019. Ma Zhaoxu said on Tuesday that nuclear weapon states should abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum concept with regard to nuclear disarmament. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese UN envoy said on Tuesday that nuclear weapon states should abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum concept with regard to nuclear disarmament.

China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu made the remarks at a Security Council meeting on supporting the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) ahead of the 2020 Review Conference.

Ma said nuclear weapon states should discard the nuclear deterrence policy based on the preemptive use of nuclear weapons and diminish the role played by nuclear weapons in their national security policies.

In particular, he said China calls on Russia and the United States to continue to resolve their differences through negotiations and consultations, return to the compliance with the obligations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty as soon as possible, and explore the extension of the current U.S.-Russia nuclear disarmament treaty.

The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since 1970, is the only treaty that contains legally-binding commitments to nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states have joined the treaty.

In a press statement Tuesday, the Security Council members reaffirmed "their commitment to advance the goals of the NPT as the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

They expressed their readiness to work together and join efforts to achieve a successful outcome at the 2020 review conference.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 07:54:54|Editor: ZX

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UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine arrived Tuesday in Mozambique, a country already hit with more than 1,000 cases of the deadly diarrheal disease in the wake of Cyclone Idai, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

Mozambique's Ministry of Health confirmed 1,052 cases of cholera in the aftermath of the cyclone, which made landfall on March 14 near the port city of Beira, UNICEF reported. The vast majority, 959 cases, were in Beira where one death was confirmed.

"The disease is spreading rapidly," UNICEF said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said 884,953 doses of cholera vaccine, procured by UNICEF and WHO, arrived in Beira, adding that the vaccination campaign was expected to start Wednesday.

"The procurement of vaccines is one of several approaches UNICEF and its partners are taking to curb the spread of cholera, along with re-establishing water treatment systems and distributing water purification products," said Michel Le Pechoux, the deputy representative of UNICEF in Mozambique.

"Humanitarian teams are acting quickly to raise awareness in communities about symptoms and prevention methods, including hygiene practices and the important need for the vaccinations, particularly in the current conditions which include stagnant water and overcrowding in temporary shelters," he said.

Earlier in the week, humanitarian aid workers set up cholera treatment centers in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the three southern African countries hit by Idai.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 09:10:35|Editor: ZX

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KIEV, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian opposition politician and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko said on Tuesday she will not contest the results of Sunday's presidential election, local media reported.

Tymoshenko, the leader of the Fatherland party, told reporters in Kiev that in the near future, she would focus on preparation for the parliamentary elections scheduled for October.

Tymoshenko stressed that she would not support any of the candidates who will take part in the second round of the presidential election on April 21.

Tymoshenko was viewed as one of the three front-runners in the presidential race along with incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and actor Volodymyr Zelensky.

With 99.12 percent of all ballots counted, Zelensky garnered 30.23 percent of the votes, while Poroshenko gained 15.92 percent in the first round.

Tymoshenko, who is ranked third with 13.39 percent of voter support, has no chance for the run-off.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 09:25:40|Editor: ZX

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WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not attend a ministerial-level meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) later this week in France, said the State Department on Tuesday.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan will instead lead the delegation to the G7 foreign affairs ministerial meeting slated for Friday and Saturday in France, according to a statement from the State Department.

The department did not give explanation about the top U.S. diplomat's absence. When asked by reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday, the department's Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino only said that Pompeo "has full faith in" Sullivan and "his ability to advance America's national security interests" at the meeting.

Sullivan is expected to discuss the situation in Venezuela, Iran and the Korean Peninsula with other participants.

The G7 ministerial meeting on foreign affairs sets the stage for the G7 Leaders' Summit in August in the French seaside resort of Biarritz.

The last G7 summit in Canada ended up with U.S. President Donald Trump rebuking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and retracting U.S. support for a joint communique via a tweet.

Hours after leaving the G7 summit in Canada on June 9, Trump said on Air Force One that he had instructed U.S. representatives not to endorse the joint communique released at the end of that G7 summit and called Trudeau "dishonest & weak" in his tweets.

G7 includes the seven leading industrialized countries of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 09:30:42|Editor: ZX

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CANBERRA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has delivered his first Federal Budget, announcing tax cuts worth 158 billion Australian dollars (111.5 billion U.S. dollars) for working and middle-class Australians.

Frydenberg on Tuesday night announced Australia's budget for 2019-2020 at Parliament House, forecasting a surplus of 7.1 billion Australian dollars (5.01 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of financial year 2019-2020, rising to 17.8 billion Australian dollars (12.5 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of 2021-2022.

"Tonight, I announce that the Budget is back in the black and Australia is back on track," Frydenberg said in his budget speech.

"For the first time in 12 years, our nation is again paying its own way."

The promised tax cuts are on top of tax cuts worth 144 billion Australian dollars (101.6 billion U.S. dollars) legislated by the government in 2018, bringing the total value of the package to 302 billion Australian dollars (213 billion U.S. dollars).

Under the cuts, annual tax refunds to 10 million Australians earning up to 126,000 Australian dollars (88,965 U.S. dollars) per year will increase by up to 1,080 Australian dollars (762.5 U.S. dollars) for singles and 2,160 Australian dollars (1,525.1 U.S. dollars) for families with two incomes.

Bill Shorten, leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), described the budget as a "con" that was designed "to get through the next six weeks" of the election campaign.

He promised that if elected in May, the ALP would support the first stage of the expanded tax cut package but would boost relief for those earning less than 40,000 Australian dollars (28,242 U.S. dollars) per year.

In addition to the significant tax cuts, Frydenberg also announced that under his budget the government's plan to invest 75 billion Australian dollars (52.9 billion U.S. dollars) in infrastructure over 10 years will be raised to 100 billion Australian dollars (70.6 billion U.S. dollars).

Funding for schools will be increased to 300 billion Australian dollars (211.8 billion U.S. dollars), a 63 percent increase, and 3.9 billion Australian dollars (2.75 billion U.S. dollars) has been set aside for an emergency response fund for natural disasters.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 09:50:50|Editor: Lu Hui

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UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy to the United Nations (UN) said Tuesday the international community should jointly steer the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) toward pragmatic results.

Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Ma Zhaoxu made the remark at a Security Council meeting on supporting the NPT ahead of the conference.

Ma called for abandoning the Cold War mentality, upholding the multilateral arms control regime, as well as strengthening dialogue and consultation and safeguarding the treaty regime.

"All parties should actively encourage and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy cooperation and make it a hallmark of the current round of treaty review process," he stressed.

The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since 1970, is the only treaty that contains legally-binding commitments to pursue nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states have joined the treaty.

In a press statement Tuesday, Security Council members reaffirmed their commitment to advancing "the goals of the NPT as the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

They expressed their readiness to work together and join efforts to achieve a successful outcome at the 2020 conference.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 09:55:57|Editor: ZX

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CANBERRA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced that it will reduce the nation's foreign aid budget by about 117 million Australian dollars (82.5 million U.S. dollars).

Included in the Federal Budget for 2019-20, which was delivered by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Tuesday night, the nation's overseas aid expenditure will fall from 4.16 billion Australian dollars (2.93 billion U.S. dollars) in financial year 2018/19 to 4.04 billion Australian dollars (2.85 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019-20.

A majority of the cuts will be in the amount spent on aid programs in southeast and south Asia, with aid to Pakistan to be cut from 39 million Australian dollars (27.5 million U.S. dollars) to 19 million Australian dollars (13.4 million U.S. dollars) and that for Cambodia from 56 million Australian dollars (39.5 million U.S. dollars) to 43 million Australian dollars (30.3 million U.S. dollars).

Another 50 million Australian dollars (35.2 million U.S. dollars) from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade budget will be re-directed to fund "iconic" national and regional tourism projects.

Aid to the Pacific will go untouched, with the government committing 1.4 billion Australian dollars (988 million U.S. dollars) in foreign aid for the region in 2019-20, 35 percent of the total aid budget.

Marise Payne, Australia's minister for foreign affairs, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the budget was about advancing Australia's national interests by protecting the security and prosperity.

"As our southeast Asian neighbors transition from developing economies, the government is increasingly focused on building economic resilience, alongside poverty alleviation," she said.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 10:16:06|Editor: ZX

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) arrives at the White House for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. April 2, 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump held talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Tuesday, during which he continued urging his European allies to increase military expenditure. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump held talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Tuesday, during which he continued urging his European allies to increase military expenditure.

Claiming that the United States is paying a "very big" and "disproportionate share," Trump told reporters during the meeting that the other NATO members are paying more on defense expenses but still not enough.

"We've worked together on getting some of our allies to pay their fair share. It's called burden sharing ... they're catching up," said Trump.

The U.S. president singled out Germany for not keeping up the pace. "They're not paying what they should be paying," he said.

Trump also suggested NATO raise its 2-percent military expenditure benchmark to a higher standard.

"At some point, I think it's going to have to go higher than that," he said.

Stoltenberg, acknowledging Trump's "very strong leadership on burden sharing," pointed out that by the end of 2020, the 28 NATO members, apart from the United States, will have added 100 billion U.S. dollars into their defense budgets since Trump took office.

Trump and Stoltenberg also discussed anti-terrorism, Russia and cyber threats during their talks, according to a statement released by the White House.

Stoltenberg was in Washington to attend the two-day foreign ministerial talks to mark the security bloc's 70th anniversary. He was expected to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

Trump has long been blaming the NATO countries that they have not met the 2-percent benchmark on military spending.

NATO's European allies spent more on defense for a second consecutive year in 2017, but the majority of them still failed to meet the target of spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 10:41:20|Editor: ZX

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ABUJA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's movie industry, also known as Nollywood, is open for foreign investments in order to have a wider outreach, according to industry stakeholders.

Nollywood is perhaps the largest movie industry in the world in terms of quantity of movies produced every week. However, the stakeholders said funding is one of its major challenges and the industry is in dire need of increased collaboration with foreign investors who can take it to the next level.

In an interview with Xinhua, Segun Arinze, a top Nollywood actor and former national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), said the movie industry has opened itself up and is looking for ways to invite more people, including foreigners, to come and invest in it.

"One of our major challenges is funding. It is always a major challenge when it comes to filming," Arinze recently told Xinhua in Lagos.

With overwhelming popularity, Nigerian movies started to dominate television screens across the African continent and by extension, the diaspora, since the early 2000s. The movie industry also has a strong following in the African diaspora community in Europe, especially in Britain.

Arinze, who described Nollywood as "a multi-billion dollar industry that provides employment," said foreign investments are not going to have any negative impact on the industry.

In terms of technicalities, the industry has grown in leaps and bounds amid daunting challenges, the former AGN president said.

"China, for instance, can go into partnership with Nollywood in terms of technology, finance, and expertise. China and Nigeria have one thing in common: population. Let us have a synergy by working together and pushing the industry forward," he said.

Gabriel Afolayan, another actor whose father Ade Afolayan is a pioneer of the Nigerian theater, said stakeholders are currently working hard to maximize every opportunity that they have with support from external bodies and corporate bodies.

"We have managed to keep the industry moving and to help with the paradigm shift of how things are. I pray we get better over time," he added.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 10:46:23|Editor: ZX

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MOSCOW, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Belarus have advanced significantly in the last 20 years along the path of mutually beneficial cooperation and integration, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

In a congratulatory letter to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on the occasion of the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Russia and Belarus, Putin recalled large-scale joint projects implemented in trade, economy, humanitarian, scientific, technical and other areas.

"The coordination of our efforts in foreign policy and defense is strengthening the international standing of Russia and Belarus and the security of our citizens," Putin said.

The Day of Unity of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia is annually marked on April 2. It was on the date in 1996 that then presidents of Russia and Belarus, Boris Yeltsin and Alexander Lukashenko signed the Treaty on the Formation of the Commonwealth of Russia and Belarus in Moscow.

The Treaty on the Creation of the Union State of Russia and Belarus was signed in 1999. The two countries will mark its 20th anniversary on Dec. 8 this year.

"The Union State Treaty unites the closest partners and good neighbors on the post-Soviet space. This is the reason for vitality and huge potential of Belarus-Russia integration," Lukashenko said in a message of congratulations to Putin on the same day.

He said that trust and mutual understanding will continue to shape the construction of the Union State and help bring bilateral relations up to a new level.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 11:01:29|Editor: Lu Hui

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SYDNEY, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Former Australian Foreign Minister and former Premier of New South Wales state Bob Carr has described the Belt and Road Initiative as China's conversation with the world and an opportunity to bring modernization to developing nations.

Carr was the longest serving state premier of New South Wales and is currently director of the Australia China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, giving him a uniquely broad perspective on regional affairs.

In an exclusive interview, Carr told Xinhua that if done with transparency, the Belt and Road Initiative stands to be a multilateral success, citing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a benchmark for Belt and Road Initiative governance arrangements.

"With the Belt and Road Initiative, China is saying, 'let our conversation be about mutual economic development," he said.

"That doesn't resolve all the hard questions, but let's say the concept is potentially very, very good."

This month the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing, with world leaders gathering to discuss the future of the project.

Carr said the Belt and Road Initiative stands to benefit particularly developing nations by sharing China's resources and experience in implementing large scale infrastructure.

"Potentially it exports China's modernization to other countries," he said.

"It's China saying 'we've got surplus capital, we've got surplus expertise, we think it's an advantage if we invest with you."

However, encouraging other nations and private entities to invest requires guarantees of transparency and return on investments, Carr said.

"The world... wants to see a range of projects, airports, rail, road in which the private sector is able to invest and get a return," he said.

"Belt and Road has got to be less of a grand concept, and more like a string of specific proposals. It needs what investors call a deal flow," said Carr.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 11:06:33|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Artificial intelligence and big data, two technologies China is avidly embracing, will drive a renaissance in hardware development and investment, said a report on Wednesday's China Daily.

China is working on new ways to improve chip performance, power and costs for AI applications, which will present huge opportunities for companies laying the foundations for such technological breakthroughs, said Gary Dickerson, president and chief executive officer of Applied Materials Inc, a leading semiconductor and display equipment company.

The US-based company's sales hit 5.1 billion U.S. dollars last year in China, tripling from 2015 to 2018. And that figure represented 30 percent, or the largest proportion, of revenue worldwide.

According to Dickerson, AI and big data have the potential to transform entire industries and create trillions of dollars of economic value. But that also poses challenges for infrastructure makers, because building global AI infrastructure using current technology requires excessive energy consumption.

Both China and the United States have tremendous strengths that can contribute to accelerating the promise of the AI-big data era.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 11:06:34|Editor: Lu Hui

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INCHEON, South Korea, April 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Wednesday returned 10 more remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

The transfer ceremony was held at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, west of the capital Seoul, to hand over the remains of 10 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the war.

During the ceremony, South Korean troops handed over the coffins, covered by China's national flag, to Chinese soldiers who carried them into an airplane.

It marked the sixth hand-over ceremony. South Korea had transferred the remains of 589 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the Korean War, including 437 in 2014, 68 in 2015, 36 in 2016, 28 in 2017 and 20 in 2018 each.

China and South Korea have consulted every year on the hand-over of the Chinese soldiers' remains found in South Korea. The transfer has been usually made days before Tomb-sweeping Day, the Chinese holiday for commemorating the dead, in early April.

The South Korean defense ministry said in a statement that the transfer ceremony was a part of efforts to heal the scar of the war and conveyed the message of peace to enhance regional peace and stability.

The ministry vowed to maintain cooperative relations with its Chinese counterpart and continue the transfer of the Chinese soldiers' remains for the development of the bilateral relations.

The Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) fought alongside the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) army in the Korean War against the South Korean army and the United States-led UN forces between 1950 and 1953.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 11:11:37|Editor: xuxin

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Employees work at the plant of SANY America in Peachtree City, Georgia, the United States, March 29, 2019. SANY America, the U.S. subsidiary of China's heavy construction equipment manufacturer, is to start building its brand excavators "completely from scratch" in June in the United States. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

PEACHTREE CITY, the United States, April 2 (Xinhua) -- SANY America, the U.S. subsidiary of China's heavy construction equipment manufacturer, is to start building its brand excavators "completely from scratch" in June in the United States.

"Now, we've hit that kind of critical mass point, we are now in a position that we can actually start to build products here," Doug Friesen, chief executive officer (CEO) of SANY America, told Xinhua in a recent interview at his office in Peachtree City, southern U.S. state of Georgia.

The company, which started as a sales and service organization in 2006 in the United States, actually started "semi knocked-down" (SKD) - assembling partially prefabricated vehicles - in October last year, said Friesen.

"And in June of this year we change that to CKD ("completely knocked-down"), which means everything comes in as individual parts, and then we build that completely from scratch," he said.

"It's just like just brand-new start," Friesen said. "In the beginning, what we do is bringing everything in (from China), and then we build up a market through distribution channels of distribution."

The transformation is part of the strategic globalization efforts made by SANY, China's leading heavy equipment manufacturer based in Hunan Province, said Friesen, who assumed his current position in June 2017.

"This came strategically as a result of SANY having a very serious effort to globalize," he said. "And in this globalization effort, there is a recognition that wherever you sell, you should manufacture."

Sixteen SANY excavator models will eventually be brought to the United States, potentially serving the markets of Europe, North and South America, said the veteran business leader.

"We're shooting for 6,000 units (of excavators) here in the United States, and currently we're in about 1,000. That'll be all product lines," he said.

Referring to the open land around the manufacturing site, the CEO said this land is for expansion, which will lead to a significant growth in the number of local hired hands.

For its manufacturing team alone, SANY America planned to expand from 25 job posts to approximately 300 within five years, Friesen said.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 12:24:51|Editor: ZX

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Photo taken on April 2, 2019 shows a man at his mud house at a makeshift camp in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. More than half of people in Afghanistan's about 30 million population are multidimensional poor as the poverty-stricken country struggles with militancy, high rate of unemployment and war in decades, said a statement released by the government on Sunday. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 11:36:51|Editor: ZX

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- More than 900 Google workers have signed a letter objecting to the tech giant's treatment of temporary contractors, in what organizers are calling a "historical coalition" between Google's full-time employees and temps, vendors and contractors (TVCs).

In March, Google abruptly shortened the contracts of 34 temp workers on the personality team for Google Assistant -- a digital assistant that reads you the weather, manages your calendar, sends a text message, among others -- which affected contractors around the globe and reinvigorated the debate over Google's extensive use of TVCs.

The TVCs on the personality team described themselves in the March 27 letter as "the human labor that makes the Assistant relevant, funny, and relatable in more than 50 languages." They are responsible for coming up with the Assistant's not-too-groan-inducing jokes as well as the tone and content of more serious questions.

TVCs make up 54 percent of Google's global workforce, and more than half of the people are on the personality team, according to the letter.

On March 8, 34 TVCs were informed that their contracts were ending ahead of schedule, either on April 5 or, in a few cases, on July 31, according to the letter.

"By the time I got the news, I was already in agony and very stressed," said one of the fired TVCs, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The moment you say you work for Google, people think you are rich ... They don't know that I don't even have insurance."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 11:46:57|Editor: ZX

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CAPE TOWN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The South African government on Tuesday warned against the circulation of fake information about the recent xenophobia-related attacks in parts of the country.

Recent attacks on foreigners have been hijacked by people who fuelled the tensions through fake news on social media, the government said in a statement.

Certain images and videos that appear on social media are old and unrelated to any of the reported incidents of alleged attacks on foreign nationals over the past few days, the statement said.

For instance, a message being circulated about foreign nationals burning South African-owned trucks in Limpopo Province is not true, government spokesperson Phumla Williams said.

A new spate of violence against foreigners erupted in some parts of the country last week, particularly in the coastal city of Durban where at least six people were killed and several others seriously injured during the attacks.

Various images and information about the attacks have appeared on social media. But according to the South African government, lots of such images and information are fake.

The spread of misinformation, fake pictures and videos on social media as well as fake websites may be fuelling tensions in the communities between South Africans and foreign nationals, Williams said.

"While government is concerned about the reported incidents of alleged attacks on foreign nationals, we would like to caution South Africans not to be duped to believe everything they read or see on social media that is purported to be about attacks on foreign nationals," said Williams.

She said the government has consistently condemned fake news websites masquerading as authentic news websites.

However, the recent spate of the fake online stories calls for greater efforts to raise awareness in society about fake news and fake social media posts, Williams said.

These fake videos and images on social media as well as websites do not subscribe to any codes of conduct that the media fraternity do and their agendas are directed at ruining the image of South Africa and its relations with neighboring countries and the continent, Williams said.

She said the government respects the right of freedom of the press and freedom of expression but fake news stories are a slanderous attempt against the brand of South Africa with no interest in respecting the Constitution of South Africa.

South Africa is host to some 274,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, according to the UN refugee agency.

Foreigners are blamed for taking up jobs that should have been taken by locals. A message that has been circulating on social media since last week calls for protest action against the employment of foreigners as truck drivers and security guards.

Xenophobia-related attacks are not unrare in South Africa. In 2015, widespread violence against foreigners broke out in parts of the country, leaving several foreigners killed. Ever since, sporatic incidents of xenophobia-related attacks have been reported.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 12:22:12|Editor: ZX

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VIENTIANE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Laos has taken a step towards the development of electric vehicles with the launch of a pilot project of vehicle battery charging stations.

The Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines is set to work with the private sector on the project as part of efforts to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) and support the government's move to minimize the use of fossil fuels, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Wednesday.

"We are heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels, which always causes a huge deficit annually. Therefore, this pilot project on the use of electric vehicles will be very helpful in decreasing the consumption of fuel," Minister of Energy and Mines, Khammany Inthirath said during an event on Tuesday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project.

"Laos has abundant potential for the use of natural resources such as water, solar power and wind, and waste. These could be used to generate 26,000 MW. So far, about 20 percent of this potential has been developed," he said.

The minister said that in 2016 Laos imported almost 2,000 million liters of fuel, worth more than 1 billion U.S. dollars.

Prior to a workshop on electric vehicles, state-run Electricite du Laos (EDL) signed an MoU with EV Lao Co., Ltd for a feasibility study on charging stations, which will be jointly implemented by the two sectors.

EDL's Managing Director, Boun-oum Syvanpheng, said his firm has been actively studying charging systems for electric vehicles as part of preparations for changing over to clean energy.

President of EV Lao Co., Ltd Bounleuth Luangpraseuth said charging stations could be installed at public and private locations and called for recommendations from the public and private sector for the development and operation of electric vehicles in Laos.Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation launches new research initiative for digital tools

NEW YORK, NY, April 2, 2019 - As part of its Diagnostics Accelerator research program, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced today a new initiative that aims to fast-track the development of digital tools for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

The Diagnostics Accelerator program was created in July 2018 with initial funding commitments totaling nearly $35 million from partners including ADDF Co-Founder Leonard Lauder, Bill Gates, the Dolby family, and the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, among others, to develop novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Since its inception, the Diagnostics Accelerator program has welcomed additional funders such as The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. The latest to join this coalition of philanthropists include Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, bringing the current program funding to nearly $50 million.

"The Diagnostics Accelerator brings together philanthropic capital with a venture investment mindset to advance bold new ideas for easier and more accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias," Lauder said. "Initially, our goal was to raise $35 million to be spent over the next three years. We have exceeded our goal."

In a Gates Notes post published today, Gates reiterated the progress advancing the science of biomarkers for early detection and diagnostics, noting, "It's hard to overstate how important finding a reliable, affordable, and easy-to-use diagnostic is for stopping Alzheimer's." Gates highlighted how the use of advanced technology and digital tools, such as blood tests and mobile phone apps, can help empower doctors, patients and caregivers, and ultimately lead to better outcomes.

The Diagnostics Accelerator was created to address the lack of biomarkers that easily and more specifically screen and diagnose patients, stage disease progression, monitor response to treatment, and improve the rigor and efficiency of clinical trials. All are critical to the development of effective drugs for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's.

"The interest from the philanthropic as well as the scientific community has been tremendous," said Howard Fillit, M.D., Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. "The ADDF is excited to expand its research support for the development of digital biomarkers that will augment traditional lab tests and imaging tools with creative and cost-effective approaches to collect, track and analyze patient data."

Digital tools may allow the remote capture of changes in a patient's physical and mental status at various stages of Alzheimer's disease. Information gathered can span from cognitive assessments to motor ability to sleep disruptions. "This real-world evidence has the potential to add significant value to clinical trials, increasing patient engagement, enhancing monitoring, and greatly improving treatment outcomes," Dr. Fillit said.

Funding provided through the Diagnostics Accelerator Digital Biomarker Initiative is open to scientists and clinicians worldwide working in:

Academic medical centers, universities, or other nonprofits. Industry partnerships are encouraged.

Biotechnology companies. Funding is provided through mission-related investments. Existing companies and new start-ups are both eligible.

Rigorous scientific and where applicable business due diligence will be conducted by the ADDF on each proposal. For more information and/or to apply for funding visit Digital Biomarker RFP.

###

About the Diagnostics Accelerator

The Diagnostics Accelerator is a partnership of funders dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and to advance the development of more targeted treatments. Through translational research awards and access to consulting support from industry experts, this program will challenge the research community to develop novel fluid and digital biomarkers.

About the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation

Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer's disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer's, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded over $115 million to fund more than 590 Alzheimer's drug discovery programs and clinical trials in 18 countries. To learn more, please visit: http://www. alzdiscovery. org/

Media contacts:

Amy Losak

losak@optonline.net

Geralyn LaNeve

glaneve@alzdiscovery.org

212-901-7997

This story has been published on: 2019-04-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.Pattanaphong Khuankaew/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Senate Republicans approved a rare change in the chambers rules slashing the debate time for many of President Donald Trumps nominees, putting them on a fast-track to confirmation.



It is time for this sorry chapter to end, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell chastised his Democratic colleagues, accusing them of mounting not a principled investigation of a few nominees, but just endless obstruction.



The GOP change made Wednesday afternoon with the opposition of all but one Democrat and two Republicans, cuts the debate time for nominees from a mandatory 30 hours to just two hours for nominees to the lower court and executive branch.



Its a move sure to please the GOP base which has, for years, prioritized judicial nominees.



The debate turned remarkably bitter Wednesday between the Senate's two leaders.



Sen. McConnell, who is up for re-election in 2020, said the chamber, in which Republicans hold a 53-seat majority  seven votes shy of what is needed to forcefully end a filibuster - was forced to hold 128 votes to shut off debate on Trumps nominees.



Thats more than five times the previous six presidents combined, said the GOP leader, who has called confirming judges his number one priority, particularly in a chamber often stymied by partisanship.



His Democratic counterpart, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, took to the floor, shushing the chamber, and blistered his colleagues across the aisle, accusing them of a grander, more cynical strategy that would grease the conveyor belt for controversial nominees.



I want to issue a warning about whats at stake in this fight, Schumer said, What Leader McConnell, President Trump, and Republicans in the Senate are trying to do is use the courts to enact the far right agenda that Republicans know they cannot enact through the legislative processlike ending womens reproductive freedom.



Schumer condemned his counterpart while glaring in his direction, calling the rules change Machiavellian, adding, I am sorry, so sorry that my colleagues have gone along with Senator McConnells debasement of the institution.



A red-faced, animated McConnell rose to defend himself against Schumers attacks, his second floor speech of the day. The GOP leader recalled Democrats in a panic after President George W. Bush was elected after a bruising campaign and vote recount in 2000.



The alarms went off. Theyre going to appoint a bunch of crazy right wingers to the court, McConnell shot back, recalling Democrats blocking the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the circuit court of appeals, a stinging defeat for Republicans.



He started this whole thing that weve been wrestling with since 2003, McConnell exclaimed, pointing at Schumer.



GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Utah's Mike Lee voted against the rules change. Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the lone Democrat to vote with the majority.



"I oppose changing the post-cloture time rule. I certainly oppose breaking the rules of the Senate to do so. The current rules can work for the American people; they simply require us to do the same," Sen. Lee said.



One author of the current rules change tried to take the partisanship out of the debate.



Republicans believe that regardless of who the president is, he or she ought to be able to hire their own staff, said Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, just before the vote.



Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, who worked with Lankford, assured his colleagues that Supreme Court justices and Cabinet secretaries would be exempt from the change.



But, one Democrat, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, who may join the growing field vying for the chance to take on the President in 2020, said that Republicans must have forgotten about GOP obstruction in the Obama Administration.



Before President Obama arrived in Washington, the filibuster was used 68 times on this floor, Bennet said. In the first five years of the Obama administration, the Republicans filibustered his nominees79 times.



Despite the rancor, there was broad agreement on one McConnell assurance. The GOP leader told members that there would be no change in the legislative filibuster, this despite prodding from President Trump to do just that.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 12:42:20|Editor: ZX

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by Levi J Parsons

BRISBANE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China is well-placed to lead the globe in the development and uptake of artificial intelligence (AI), a world-renowned Israeli futurist told Xinhua.

In Brisbane for QODE, a two-day tech conference beginning on Tuesday, Dr. Roey Tzezana explained that on top of China's advanced technical capabilities there also appears to be much more "hunger" and "curiosity" to develop the technology.

"China understands that AI is going to change the world and it wants to lead in this area, and it actually has a pretty good chance of getting their within a decade," he said.

Having traveled to China recently while working for the Israeli Consulate, Tzezana gave a round of lectures to speak about his new book "Guide to the Future" which details how AI and blockchain are expected to change the modern world.

"So I moved around, I lectured at universities and to the general public and it was amazing because I saw how curious they were and how much they wanted to know, to learn and to develop their skills and also how concerned they were for the future," he said.

"When you put this all together, you have this sort of hunger for knowledge and a great deal of motivation that signifies good things for the future," he said.

"So I have a feeling in China, they will get it sooner than in other countries because once China decides to do something, a certain process or a certain technology, it commits itself fully, where as western countries are still very hesitant about what they are going to do with this technology," Tzezana said.

With extensive insight on how new technologies are likely to shape the future, Tzezana's expertise is in high-demand across the world.

As well as providing advice to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Brown University research fellow also works as a consultant to several firms and international bodies advising on how best to prepare for the onset of disruptive technologies like AI.

"There are two ways that AI can change the world for the best, the first way is by optimizing existing systems and optimizing decision making," Tzezana said.

"So for example, AI will provide medical services for us wherever we are, whenever we are that are fully competitive, not with the level of a human medical expert but with a committee of human medical experts and this abundance of healthcare, something even the most wealthy can not enjoy in the present, will arrive in just a decade," Tzezana said.

"The other kind of AI that we're starting to consider is Artificial General Intelligence, which basically means an AI that can invent new ideas on its own, that can provide solutions before the questions have even been asked," Tzezana said.

"So it's not just about optimizing processes anymore, it's about reinventing everything that we thought we knew about companies, about healthcare, about insurance, about infrastructure and even about governance," Tzezana added.

But while the technology has the potential to radically transform the world for the better, Tzezana warns there also lies a number of dangers.

"There are two main pitfalls, one is malicious AI that deceives its users by acting not as an agent of the users but instead as an agent of the government or of industry," he said.

"So we need to be very careful to regulate AI so that the AI does not act maliciously and does not deceive the users," he said.

"The other problem with AI is that AI can make mistakes. The new AI systems are learning systems and they're learning from us and learning from each other, so if we don't train them the right way they might learn the wrong kind of lessons," he added.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 12:47:22|Editor: ZX

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MOGADISHU, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) top envoy in Somalia on Tuesday welcomed the allied forces' capture of the strategic town of Sabiid in the southern region from the control of the al-Shabab extremists group.

Francisco Madeira, special representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission for Somalia, said the control of such strategic areas will defeat the enemy.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops in a joint operation with the Somali National Army (SNA) have successfully liberated the strategic bridge town of Sabiid and three other regions from the control of insurgents.

Sabiid town, situated in Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, is one of the strategic objectives which are earmarked for liberation.

Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn, AMISOM force commander, said the liberation of the town by the allied forces marks an important part of the implementation of the revised AMISOM Concept of Operations (CONOPS).

The CONOPS, which aims to provide a structure for AMISOM operations in 2018-2021, marks the final phase of the AU mission's transition and its eventual exit from Somalia.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 13:17:31|Editor: Lu Hui

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UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy to the United Nations (UN) said Tuesday the international community should jointly steer the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) toward pragmatic results.

Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Ma Zhaoxu made the remarks at a Security Council meeting on supporting the NPT ahead of the conference.

Ma called for abandoning the Cold War mentality, upholding the multilateral arms control regime, as well as strengthening dialogue and consultation and safeguarding the treaty regime.

"All parties should actively encourage and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy cooperation and make it a hallmark of the current round of treaty review process," he stressed.

Also, at the meeting, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu encouraged creative thinking for "a successful outcome" of the 2020 review conference.

"In 2020, state parties need to consider what possible outcome can both ensure success and drive forward implementation of the treaty," Nakamitsu said.

The UN disarmament chief also warned that the prospect of the use of nuclear weapons is higher than it has been in generations.

The disarmament success of the post-Cold War era has come to a halt and there is "dangerous rhetoric about the utility of nuclear weapons and an increased reliance on these weapons in security doctrines," she said.

Since 1995, NPT review conferences have produced decisions, action plans, practical steps and measures to improve the effectiveness of the review process itself.

The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since 1970, is the only treaty that contains legally-binding commitments to pursuing nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states have joined the treaty.

In a press statement Tuesday, Security Council members reaffirmed their commitment to advancing "the goals of the NPT as the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

They expressed their readiness to work together and join efforts to achieve a successful outcome at the 2020 conference.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 13:22:33|Editor: Lu Hui

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NEW YORK, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Grass-roots communication and long-term commitment are crucial factors for foreign companies to achieve success and sustainability in the United States, an expert in financial services has said.

"Sometimes grass-root-level trust is much more robust than the federal level," Takaaki Nakajima, advisory principal of the New York branch of London-based PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), told Xinhua in a recent interview.

In the United States, state governments have more power to manage its own economy, while the federal government is more like a coordinator, said Nakajima.

State governments "always welcome any investment from foreign countries, because they want to grow the economy, they want more diversity, and more jobs," he said, emphasizing that "grass-roots trust and communication are key for many foreign companies working in the United States."

Long-term commitment is another critical element for foreign companies to create reputation, said Nakajima.

In 2016, multinational enterprises from Britain, Japan, and France were the top three foreign employment origins of U.S. workers, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Nakajima believes it showed that "countries with strong and a long period of connections to local economies in the United States" will "make their investment more sustainable and successful."

"Back in the 1960s and 1970s, many Japanese companies were able to get themselves connected and attached to communities and people in the United State through slow, gradual development, and they built trust ... and reputation in the country," he said.

"The progress is time-consuming, and most shareholders and investors have had enough patience for future growth, rather than quick growth in the coming quarters," he said.

"I don't know if this model still applies to this 'everything/everyone moving quickly world,' but at least history tells us about that," he added.

Having engaged nearly 30 years in the financial sector in the United States, Nakajima, together with executives from Asian corporations, was invited by the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC), a non-profit organization representing Chinese enterprises in the United States with more than 1,500 members, to share his insight on doing business in the world's largest economy.

The CGCC is writing an annual report on Chinese enterprises in the United States, which aims to guide the business community and policymakers from both countries to seek win-win cooperation.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 13:22:35|Editor: 

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CANBERRA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Almost one third of Australia's population is made up of people who were born overseas, data has revealed.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 7.3 million migrants, or 29.4 percent of the total population, called Australia home as of the end of June 2018.

England remained the biggest source of Australia's overseas-born residents.

"People born in England continued to be the largest group of overseas-born residents, accounting for 992,000 people," Neil Scott, ABS assistant director of migration statistics, said in a media release.

"However, this has dropped from a peak of just over a million (1,013,000 people) in 2014."

China with 651,000 people remained in second place from 2017. India moved into third place with 592,000 people dropping the New Zealand born at 568,000 down to fourth place.

Australia's Chinese-born residents are younger than those who migrated from England, with a median age of 34 for the Chinese compared to 56 for the English.

According to the ABS, Australia is home to people born in every country in the world.

"Australia's multicultural society is made up of migrants born in every country around the world," Scott said.

"Although almost 18 million Australians were born here, our society is continuing to become more culturally diverse over time."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 13:32:41|Editor: mingmei

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TUNIS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's home-grown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has great potential in Arab countries, said secretary-general of the Arab Information Communications Technologies Organization.

Mohamed Ben Amor made the comment in an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum, which was held from Monday to Tuesday in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.

Several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed between Arab companies and Chinese institutions during the forum, which well served the objective of the event to promote exchanges between the two sides, said Amor.

The BDS, with its trial operation launched in 2011 and global service started last year, is indigenously-developed and independently-operated by China.

The system is compatible with other major navigation systems around the world, such as American GPS and Europe's Galileo system, and has high precision in positioning and navigation services, said Amor.

It is also capable of providing short message service, which is not available in other navigation systems, said the Arab satellite authority chief.

Since the first edition of the forum was held in Shanghai in 2017, Chinese-Arab cooperation over the BDS has achieved considerable progress.

In April 2018, the first overseas BDS/GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) center was established in Tunis to showcase the Chinese navigation satellite technology to the Arab world and boost international exchanges and cooperation in the field.

Through joint efforts between China and Arab countries over the past year, now most satellite authorities in the Arab region are aware of the BDS and its benefits, said Amor.

In addition, Tunisia has already launched a pilot program of adopting the BDS in a self-driving tractor to serve the smart agriculture sector, he said, adding that his organization is planning to bring the technology to the rest of the Arab world.

As the Arab governments are embracing the digital initiative, there is substantial potential for the wide use of the BDS in a variety of fields here, such as transport and energy, said Amor, adding that he thinks the BDS "has a bright future" in the Arab world.

Cooperation over the BDS was operated under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa through the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

China-Arab cooperation on the BDS adds "a new dimension" and new insight to the BRI, as it explores a "Space Silk Road" as an innovative and important way to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, said Amor.

The Arab technology official concluded by saying that he believed the BRI will bring development and prosperity to the Arab region, as the initiative is based on mutually beneficial cooperation.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 13:37:45|Editor: 

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UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "took note of" the announcement by the Supreme Court of the results of the presidential and gubernatorial elections in the Comoros, said his spokesman Tuesday.

Guterres expressed his deep concern over the reports of violence and fatalities as well as arrests of political opponents and restrictions on media, said Spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

He added the UN chief "underscored the imperative of upholding the rule of law and the respect of fundamental rights."

Earlier Tuesday, the Comorian Supreme Court confirmed Azali Assoumani as the winner of the March 24 presidential election in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Violence broke out last week after one of the candidates Soilihi Mohamed, who came fourth in the vote, was arrested for "trying to set up a parallel government," according to media reports citing government sources.

The secretary-general urges the Comorian authorities and other national stakeholders to refrain from any action likely to heighten the current tensions, said Dujarric.

He echoed the call by the African Union (AU) for an inclusive dialogue, under the leadership of the AU, reiterating the United Nations' readiness to "support such efforts to promote national cohesion, peace, stability and development in the Union of the Comoros."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 13:47:54|Editor: 

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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, April 3 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand police said on Wednesday that they believe a Christchurch man who died of suspected suicide last week was a "significant threat to the community," according to local media Newsbub.

New Zealand Police confirmed that Troy Dubovskiy supported the Christchurch terrorist attack and possessed violent extremist content at his house, as well as firearms and ammunition.

Troy Dubovskiy allegedly committed suicide after three hours negotiation with the police when his properties were raided for firearms.

It is understood that Dubovskiy supported the actions of the man charged with murder in relation to the Christchurch terror attacks. However no connection has been established between the two. Investigation is still ongoing.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 14:28:16|Editor: ZX

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Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong (C) places a Chinese national flag on a coffin containing the remains of a soldier of the Chinese People's Volunteers dead in the 1950-53 Korean War, during a transfer ceremony at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, April 3, 2019. South Korea on Wednesday transferred to China the remains of 10 more Chinese soldiers dead in the Korean War. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

SHENYANG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The remains of 10 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War were returned to China on Wednesday from the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Escorted by two Chinese fighter jets, a plane carrying the remains and 145 belongings of the fallen soldiers landed at an airport in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, at around 11:36 a.m.

More than 200 people attended a ceremony held at the airport to welcome back the martyrs.

The remains will be buried in a martyrs' park in Shenyang, with a burial ceremony due to be held Thursday. Remains of a total of 589 soldiers sent back from the ROK have been buried there between 2014 and 2018.

The Chinese People's Volunteers fought with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's army in the Korean War against the ROK army and U.S.-led UN forces between 1950 and 1953.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 14:48:29|Editor: Lu Hui

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SANTIAGO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese electric buses have helped modernize the public transit system in Chile's capital Santiago with their cutting-edge technologies and contemporary designs, said officials and local citizens.

"Talking about electric public transit sounded futuristic several years ago. But today, it's a reality that circulates through our streets daily," Chilean Transport and Telecommunications Minister Gloria Hutt said recently at a ceremony when she unveiled a fleet of 100 Chinese electric buses.

In December 2018, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera unveiled the first 100 electric buses for Santiago's transit fleet, which were made by Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD. In January this year, Hutt unveiled a second fleet of 100 electric buses made by Chinese manufacturer Yutong.

Since the December unveiling, the red-and-white buses, Wi-Fi enabled and fitted with USB ports, have become a preferred means of transport for many of the city's 5.6 million residents, who now can have a cleaner, quieter, and more comfortable ride with bonus amenities.

"They are quite comfortable. They have an air-conditioning system, so they are fresh, and they aren't noisy, unlike conventional buses that run on fossil fuel," said Moises Bittner, a language and music teacher who takes the buses for his daily commute.

Both Chile and China share an appreciation for nature and clean energy, he said.

Alex Villegas, a bus driver for local transportation firm Metbus, operates one of the new BYD buses along Route 516, one of the longest in the Santiago Metropolitan Region.

The job has been made "more pleasant" by the Chinese buses, and the passengers appreciate the better ride, said Villegas.

"The time will come when it's all 100 percent electric and the public, which appreciates it compared to the old buses, will benefit the most," he said.

"China has made a great contribution to workers here in our country through the renovation of buses. Thank you so much," he said.

The Chinese-made electric buses are now a crucial part of Santiago's new Metropolitan Mobility Network, which also uses other forms of transportation including subways, suburban trains and bikes.

Apart from the use of Chinese electric buses, Santiago's public transit infrastructure was also revamped, with new electronic bus stops, fare cards, and exclusive lanes.

The electro-terminal in the commune of Rinconada, the biggest in Chile and Latin America, is equipped with 37 electric charging stations. Each station can accommodate two buses, with each bus being fully recharged in two and a half hours.

Grecia Avenue, which crosses Santiago from west to east, has become Latin America's first "electric corridor," as officials called it. And La Alameda, main avenue of Santiago, is poised to become the region's largest electric corridor, with some 158 electric buses serving the route.

"We are going to achieve something that seemed impossible just a short time ago -- very soon, Santiago is going to be the city, outside China, with the most electric buses in the world," President Pinera has said.

Bringing environment-friendly vehicles into the city "clearly marks the route, the road map, and the future we want to give (to) our public transit," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 15:03:46|Editor: xuxin

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WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has raised 18.2 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2019, which demonstrates stronger-than-ever support for the left-leaning politician.

The figure, released by Sanders' campaign manager Faiz Shakir on Tuesday, is likely to put Sanders in front of the Democrats who seek to unseat incumbent President Donald Trump. Kamala Harris, U.S. senator from California and another popular candidate, said she has raised 12 million dollars.

Shakir said 525,000 individual donors made 900,000 donations averaging 20 dollars to the Sanders campaign. The average age of the donors was under 39.

"Supporters have shown up big time for this campaign. Huge, you could say," Shakir told the press.

Sanders announced his campaign in February, and said he raised 6 million dollars in the first 24 hours.

The fundraising speed outpaced Sanders' first presidential bid in 2016, when he raised 15.2 million dollars in the first two months of his campaign.

The veteran politician caused a sensation during the 2016 presidential election, almost beating Hillary Clinton to the Democratic nomination with his left-leaning platform. Sanders was especially popular with young voters, many of whom were drawn to his promises to promote social welfare.

Other candidates are expected to release their fundraising figures to the Federal Election Commission by April 15. Beto O'Rourke, a charismatic former lawmaker from Texas, is expected to be another strong fundraiser.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 15:29:05|Editor: Yurou

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Afghan army soldiers take part in a military operation against Islamic State (IS) in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, April 2, 2019. Five militants of the Islamic State (IS) group including commander Mawlawi Suliman have been killed in a drone attack against the group in Achin district of the Nangarhar province, said a statement of the provincial government released here Wednesday. Militants affiliated with the IS outfit and operating in Nangarhar and the neighboring Kunar and Nuristan provinces, are yet to make comment. (Xinhua/Emran Waak)

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Five militants of the Islamic State (IS) group including commander Mawlawi Suliman have been killed in a drone attack against the group in Achin district of the eastern Nangarhar province, said a statement of the provincial government released here Wednesday.

"Acting upon intelligence report, the unmanned plane struck a hideout of IS group in Sawarband area of Achin district early this morning, killing notorious commander Mawlawi Suliman along with four of his armed men on the spot," the statement said.

No civilians or security personnel were hurt during the deadly strike, the statement added.

Militants affiliated with the IS outfit and operating in Nangarhar and the neighboring Kunar and Nuristan provinces, are yet to make comment.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 15:39:16|Editor: xuxin

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KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Malaysian court started hearings Wednesday on the corruption charges against former Prime Minister Najib Razak after previous delays.

Najib showed up at the high court in Kuala Lumpur for the hearings on the seven charges, including criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power involving 42 million ringgit (10.3 million U.S. dollars) deposited into his personal bank account from SRC International, a former unit of state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

A small number of Najib's supporters, including some from his constituency in Pekan town of Pahang state, were present outside the court building, but they were dwarfed by members of the press and the police contingent of around 60 who were present to provide security and crowd control.

The trial date was set following the decision by the Federal Court last week to lift the stay of proceedings order granted by the Court of Appeal to Najib, which he filed on in February.

The trial proceeded despite his legal team filing an application for a judicial review against the Federal Court's decision to lift the stay of proceedings order on Tuesday.

The trial of the SRC case was initially slated to start in February but was put on hold after the Court of Appeal granted a stay of proceedings pending related appeals.

Najib has been slapped with a total of more than 40 charges related to corruption involving billions of dollars after his Barisan Nasional coalition lost the general elections last May.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 15:44:26|Editor: xuxin

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Israeli soldiers inspect the site of a shooting incident at a junction near Beita village, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, April 3, 2019. A Palestinian attacker was shot injured in the West Bank on Wednesday morning after he attempted to stab an Israeli, the Israeli military said. (Xinhua/Nidal Eshtayeh)

JERUSALEM, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian attacker was shot injured in the West Bank on Wednesday morning after he attempted to stab an Israeli, the Israeli military said.

The incident took place outside the Palestinian town of Huwara, south of Nablus city.

The Channel 12 TV news reported that the initial investigation suggested that the suspect attempted to open a parking vehicle where a young Israeli woman was sitting to stab her before he was shot by the Israeli driver and another civilian.

The suspected sustained serious injuries and a military ambulance took him to the Rabin Medical Center in central Israel, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

No Israelis were wounded in the incident, the spokesperson added.

The incident comes amidst tensions in the West Bank and a day after Israeli troops killed a young Palestinian man amidst clashes near Jerusalem.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:04:41|Editor: xuxin

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BAGHDAD, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi army on Wednesday dropped leaflets over Anbar's provincial capital Ramadi, offering a reward for intelligence about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the top leader of Islamic State (IS) group, a local official told Xinhua.

"The leader of Daesh (IS group) and his fighters stole your land and killed your people, and now he is hiding in safety away from the death and destruction that he planted. With your intelligence reports, you can avenge," the leaflets said, providing two hot lines on WhatsApp.

The leaflets offered 25 million U.S. dollars for anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In March, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced the defeat of IS militants in eastern Syria, but the fate of the top leader of the extremist IS group is still unknown.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:09:46|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have identified a gene linked to severe acne in Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China.

In 2014, researchers from Kunming Institute of Zoology, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University identified SELL and DDB2, two genes that are involved in androgen metabolism, inflammation and scar formation in severe acne in Han Chinese.

According to the researchers, the 2014 study is a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and focused on "common variants," or genetic variants that are expected to be found in most of the general population manifesting a certain disease.

In recent years, scientists have found that common variants alone did not explain the genetic basis of human diseases. More studies showed that rare genetic variants occurring at low frequency in a population may play a significant role in human diseases.

Identity-by-descent (IBD) mapping has been emerging as a novel way in recent years to detect rare variants in existing GWAS datasets. In the new study, researchers applied IBD to analyze data from a 2014 study and identified F13A1, a gene linked to severe acne.

In the research article published online on the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, the researchers said previous studies found that mutations of F13A1 will increase the level of Interleukin 6 which is involved in the formation of acne.

The study is expected to provide new perspectives on early diagnosis and intervention of severe acne.

Appearing as small to large painful and pus-filled red bumps, acne is a skin condition resulting from clogged pores. The Pillsbury acne grading scale classifies the severity from Grade 1 (least severe) to Grade 4 (most severe). For Grade 4, many comedones and deep lesions tend to join together into a continuous area on the cheeks and upper forehead.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:14:52|Editor: xuxin

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HELSINKI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish State Institute for Economic Research (VATT) has concluded that the basic income experience appears not to increase the employment level of its recipients, VATT said on Tuesday.

In the Finnish income test of 2017-2018, the test group of 2000 jobless persons were given a monthly incentive of 560 euros no matter if they found a job or not. If they would start working they were allowed to keep the 560-euro basic income on top of their possible salaries. A comparison cohort was dealt with the old system where they lost the unemployment compensation if they found a job.

Despite the concretely attractive vista of more money at their disposal, the new employment rate of basic income recipients did not exceed that of the comparison cohort who received normal unemployment benefits, said VATT in a media release.

VATT's researcher Jouko Verho believed that it would be impossible for any Finnish government in the future to afford such a lucrative basic income system.

Finland started to test the basic income for the unemployed at the beginning of 2017. The test was carried out on the basis of a public law enacted for the test. The final results will be completed by 2020.

Initial results from the first year of the test was published in a nationally televised press conference in February this year, drawing a similar conclusion.

Meanwhile, VATT found out the basic income recipients remained positive towards receiving the employment services offered by the public labor offices. They showed up for meetings and responded to contacts, even though they would not be punished for not doing such.

While those who do not receive the basic income are often reluctant to go for training, they are forced by the law to do so, or may lose the benefits. But the basic income recipients did so voluntarily and did not intend to avoid.

"They participated as the others, even though the basic income recipient status made it possible for them not to use the services," leading researcher of VATT, Kari Hamalainen said.

He noted that other researches have shown that personal meetings with labor office staffers are very effective in encouraging the people to work.

Researcher Verho praised the use of random selection in creating the test groups. He hoped the method would be used also in future tests in planning changes in the social security systems.

Besides Finland, countries such as Canada and Kenya have also experimented with the basic income system.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:19:58|Editor: mingmei

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WUHAN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Police in central China's Hubei Province recently apprehended four suspects for allegedly dealing drugs through express parcel service.

The public security department of Yicheng was informed that there was illegal drug trade going on in the city last year. After an investigation, policemen caught a suspected drug dealer surnamed Zhang.

Further investigation showed that Zhang had been receiving drugs from a suspect surnamed Yang in Yunnan Province.

Yang had been sending drugs, disguised as preservatives, together with food in express parcels to Yicheng. With the help of another two suspects, Zhang sold the drugs to buyers in the provinces of Henan, Gansu and Hubei.

Policemen caught the suspects and seized a total of 1,077.7 grams of methamphetamines last month.

Further investigation is underway.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:35:10|Editor: mingmei

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CHANGCHUN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's leading automaker FAW Group unveiled three customized models of its Hongqi brand, as the group accelerates R&D in the field of intelligent connected vehicles.

Mounted with lidar, smart cameras, a multi-sensor and a millimeter wave radar system for anti-collision, the pure electric SUV model Hongqi EV has a detection range of more than 200 meters and is able to sense surrounding pedestrians, vehicles, obstacles and traffic lights.

The Hongqi H7 plug-in hybrid featuring V2X communication technology and high precision positioning will achieve autopilot driving on straightaways, curves and roundabouts and can make U-turns and change lanes automatically.

With no cockpit, the self-driving Hongqi minibus is embedded with a robotic system that integrates voice and image interactions between passengers and pedestrians.

The Jilin-based FAW-Hongqi has cooperated with tech firms including Huawei, Baidu, Intel and iFlytek, as well as Jilin University in the provincial capital Changchun on autonomous and smart driving, intelligent safety systems and big data mining and management.

Hongqi, meaning "red flag," is China's iconic sedan brand established in 1958 and has been used as the vehicle for parades at national celebrations. The brand sold 33,028 cars in 2018, marking a 602-percent rise year on year.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:45:19|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Education (MOE) has made progress in regulating after-school training institutions, the People's Daily newspaper reported Wednesday.

An overhaul by the ministry covered 401,000 after-school training institutions last year, targeting unlicensed operation and extracurricular programs that put students under too much pressure.

According to the newspaper, nearly 270,000 after-school institutions were found to have problems, and 98.9 percent of them have completed rectifications.

Education authorities will focus on curbing after-school courses that are too advanced for the school's normal curriculum, causing unnecessary competition among students, Chen Dongsheng, an official with the MOE, was quoted by the paper as saying.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:50:22|Editor: xuxin

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LUSAKA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of Zambia and Botswana on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to the completion of the construction of a mega bridge aimed at boosting trade in the region.

The two leaders made the commitment after holding talks in Lusaka, the Zambian capital during Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi's one-day working visit.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu told reporters after the talks that the meeting was an affirmation of the commitment by leaders of the two countries to complete and commission the Kazungula Bridge by next year.

The 259-million-U.S.-dollar rail-and-road bridge project was mooted in 2007 in order to replace an existing ferry.

The Botswana leader arrived here in the early hours of Tuesday for a meeting with his Zambian counterpart and immediately left after the talks.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 16:50:26|Editor: xuxin

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LUSAKA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Zambian on Tuesday released the National Trade Policy and National Export Strategy in efforts to spur the country's export.

The documents have been aligned with the country's Seventh National Development Plan, Christopher Yaluma, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry said at an event to launch the two plans.

Export development will be placed at the center of the country's economic diversification and contribute to sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development, he said.

Under the plans, Zambia hopes to score a 15-percent growth in export year-on-year.Police work on the site of a knife attack in the center of Surgut, Russia, on Aug. 19, 2017. (Xinhua/Sputnik)

MOSCOW, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Denis Khisamov, a former officer of the Russian Defense Ministry, was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 19 years for participating in activities of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, Russia's North Caucasus District Military Court in the city of Rostov-on-Don ruled Tuesday.

The court also ruled to restrict Khisamov's liberty for another year and strip him of his military rank of a reserve captain, Tass news agency reported.

According to the court's statement, Khisamov received training in an IS camp in Syria, participated in armed clashes and carried out other task assignments such as monitoring all parties to the Syrian conflict and recruiting supporters.

Tass reported that Khisamov quit service from a subordinate research institute of the defense ministry with the rank of reserve captain in 2009 and was arrested in Turkey in 2017 after years of participation in terrorist activities in Syria.

The Russian Federal Security Service initiated legal proceedings and investigations into this case.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 17:05:35|Editor: Li Xia

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YAOUNDE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon said Tuesday that it firmly opposed what it called "bias" report by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on atrocities in its war-torn English-speaking regions.

The HRW report published on March 28 blamed government forces for killing "scores of civilians", using indiscriminate force, and torching "hundreds of homes" over the past six months.

"The government of Cameroon categorically rejects these allegations against its professional forces who are fighting to preserve the territorial integrity of the country," Cameroon's Minister of Communication and government spokesman, Emmanuel Rene Sadi told a press conference here.

The minister accused the HRW of "obvious bias in favor of armed gangs." He said Cameroon was "really surprised" that the report failed to put stress on kidnappings, closure of schools, burning of hospitals and "other atrocities" committed by armed separatists.

Armed separatists fighting for the "independence" of the two Anglophone regions in Cameroon have been clashing with government forces since November 2017.

The United Nations estimates that at least 430,000 people have been displaced internally by the conflict.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 17:05:37|Editor: Li Xia

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PHNOM PENH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is providing huge opportunities for Cambodia in terms of social and economic development, United Nations officials and experts said at a forum here on Wednesday.

The initiative, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was proposed by China in 2013, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road.

"BRI offers tremendous opportunities for Cambodia and the Royal Government has clearly indicated its commitment to the project," United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative Nick Beresford said during a BRI policy dialogue in Cambodia.

"Now, the challenge is to consider how these investments, and indeed all investments, in the country can be made fully inclusive and sustainable, so that we leave no one behind," he said.

Sarah Zhou, resident representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Cambodia, said that with a significant infrastructure gap, Cambodia can capitalize on China's resources and technical capabilities from BRI to finance its development priorities, boosting growth and employment opportunities.

"Given the scale of the initiative and its international scope, upgrading policy frameworks to foster greater coordination and cooperation between China and Cambodia could help maximize benefits," she said.

Chan Sophal, director of the Cambodia-based Center for Policy Studies, said Chinese aid and investments are crucial for Cambodia's socio-economic development.

China has been investing overseas and this is a good match to Cambodia that needs to rebuild the country to catch up with its neighbors, he said.

The UN in Cambodia believes that taking full advantage of the BRI requires adopting clear policies and continued analysis to assess progress in Cambodia, said UN Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis.

Cambodian Economy and Finance Ministry Under Secretary of State Hem Vanndy said Cambodia treated the debts the country contracted under the BRI like any other debts from multilateral and bilateral institutions.

"But BRI is not going to create a debt trap for Cambodia," he said in his closing remarks of the dialogue.

Since 2018, the UN in Cambodia has organized a series of policy dialogues on the BRI and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said a UN in Cambodia's press release.

These policy dialogues have engaged senior representatives of the Cambodian government, the diplomatic community, international organizations, academia, and think tanks, the release said.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 17:10:43|Editor: Li Xia

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HAVANA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Cuba bets on major investments to discover new oil reserves in the short term as well as expanding foreign investment in this sector despite a volatile international landscape, according to a senior industry official on Tuesday.

"Cuba currently produces a total of 57,500 barrels of equivalent oil per day and this volume covers 60 percent of the national demand to generate electricity. We are working on increasing production in the coming years," Osvaldo Lopez, head of exploration at the state-owned oil firm Cuba Oil Union (CUPET) told Xinhua.

Due to Venezuela's economic crisis, shipments from the South American nation have been nearly cut in half to around 55,000 barrels per day, which has forced Cuba to resume oil imports from Russia and Algeria.

Despite this situation, the goal of the Cuban government is to completely satisfy the country's domestic demand with national production, which today only meets 50 percent demand.

"About 99.4 percent of Cuba's production is located in an oil strip of 750 square km between the capital and the resort town of Varadero, about 140 km east of Havana, and the other 0.6 percent, in the central region of the country," he added.

Since 2013, Cuba's oil production has decreased between 4 and 7 percent due to the low rates of new wells drilled each year amid difficult economic conditions the island is experiencing, said the official.

Last year only two wells were drilled, although in the coming months three will be put into operation and another three will begin the exploration phase.

"The goal is to increase production with low risk. Oil exploration is expensive and uncertain but it's the only way to make new discoveries, add reserves and compensate the balance between what is extracted and what is added," said the CUPET official on the sidelines of Cuba's 7th Oil and Gas Congress.

CUPET also seeks to sign five new contracts in the near future with foreign companies for deep-water drilling and offshore production, he stated.

Cuba's foreign investment business portfolio offers different joint ventures in the sector as CUPET estimates the country has oil and gas production potential equivalent to 22 million barrels per year.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 17:15:51|Editor: Li Xia

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MANILA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- An improvised bomb exploded Wednesday afternoon in the southern Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat, injuring at least six civilians, a military spokesman said.

Colonel Gerry Besana, the spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said the explosion occurred at around 3 p.m. local time near a roadside restaurant in a town named Isulan in Mindanao.

No other details were available as government security forces rushed to the scene to investigate.

"An explosive ordnance team is now patrolling the vicinity," Besana said, adding that "all military checkpoints were ordered to implement strict measures" to track down the perpetrators.

The victims were rushed to a hospital for treatment, he added.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 17:25:57|Editor: Li Xia

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Jia Yuran, a third-grade pupil from China's southernmost school on Yongxing Island, enjoys her painting classes most because the internet has enabled her to take the course with her urban peers some 400 km away.

Jia is one of the four primary school students in Sansha, a city in China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

Thanks to an online program, they now have access to the same quality classes including painting, music, math and traditional Chinese culture as peers in Hainan's capital city of Haikou.

"The internet helps alleviate, to some extent, the shortfall of teachers and enables us to offer a wider range of classes other than main subjects in spite of the small number of students we have," said Zhang Li, a teacher at Jia's Yongxing School.

As China goes digital in education, quality educational resources that were once unique to developed urban regions are rapidly extending to classrooms in frontier and rural areas.

Like Jia, close to 100 million rural Chinese students in primary and middle schools are covered by a national satellite broadband transmission network for online education.

Since late 2012, the proportion of primary and high schools that have access to the internet have grown from 25 percent to 96 percent, according to Wednesday's People's Daily.

The internet infrastructure allows ongoing enrichment of digital educational resources and improvement of teachers' knowledge.

A national online public platform for educational resources was put into operation in late 2012.

By May 2017, all primary and high schools had been able to retrieve for free some 19 million items of learning materials covering all 12 grades, figures from the newspaper show.

The internet infrastructure connects not only students with quality education, but also rural teachers with top education specialists.

South China Normal University has launched an online training program, gathering experienced teachers to form workshops, each of which allows 300 teachers to take classes.

In addition, the university set up a remote diagnosis center, in which education specialists watch rural teachers prepare classes via live streaming on mobile devices or review their recorded classes to spot problems and offer tailor-made advice for them to improve.

In April last year, the Ministry of Education released an action plan to step up efforts in applying information technology to education, pledging to bring internet access to all primary and middle schools across the country.

"The key lies in introducing information technologies to the whole process of learning and teaching activities as a way to advance balanced urban and rural education," said Yang Zongkai, president of Xi'an-based Xidian University.

"I expect systemic reform in education as the sector further goes digital," Yang noted.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 17:36:09|Editor: Yang Yi

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China encourages centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to enhance cooperation with other firms to promote the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to the country's top state asset regulator.

Central SOEs should follow the principle of marketization while working with enterprises of all types of ownership in an open, cooperative and win-win manner, Xiao Yaqing, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Xiao made the remarks while meeting former World Bank President and partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) Jim Yong Kim in Beijing on Monday.

The BRI has provided a vast stage for corporations to work together, Xiao said.

Kim, the 12th president of World Bank, said the BRI helps promote the development of countries related to the initiative and GIP would like to deepen cooperation with China's central SOEs to complement strengths and achieve mutual benefits.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 17:46:14|Editor: Li Xia

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JUBA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Wednesday called on holdout opposition groups to join a fragile peace deal as the east African country races against time to form a new government next month.

Cabinet minister Martin Elia Lomuro said the government is ready engage the armed groups who declined to sign the September 2018 peace deal in a bid to end the five-year conflict.

"The government and the leadership of South Sudan is ready to engage with all those who have not signed the agreement and those who have concerns," Lomuro told state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Cooperation (SSBC).

President Salva Kiir on Tuesday met Ismail Wais, special envoy of the east African regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in South Sudan, to discuss implementation of the fragile peace deal.

Nearly seven months into the pre-transitional period, parties to the peace deal have failed to implement key provisions of the accord such as cantonment and integration of forces and delays in determining the number of states.

Several armed groups, including those led by former army chief Paul Malong and renegade general Thomas Cirilo Swaka have so refused to ink the peace deal despite repeated efforts by IGAD to get them on board.

Lomuro said Kiir urged the IGAD envoy to continue engaging the estranged groups and convince them to lay down arms and join the path of peace.

"We are ready to engage them and embrace them to come home and be part and parcel of the implementation process and find solutions," Lomuro said.

South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013, and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.

The UN estimates that about 4 million South Sudanese have been displaced internally and externally. A peace deal signed in August 2015 collapsed following renewed violence in the capital, Juba in July 2016.

Under the new peace deal, opposition leader Riek Machar, along with four others will once again be reinstated as Kiir's deputy.

But the peace agreement signed on Sept. 12 last year is already behind schedule and there are worries that the parties may not meet a May 12 deadline to form a new unity government.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 18:01:26|Editor: Li Xia

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ULAN BATOR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Mongolian government on Wednesday decided to prohibit all government employees from playing casino games and staying in any gambling places at home and abroad.

"No government official is allowed to gamble," Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, head of the cabinet secretariat, told a press conference.

Reports have been made public in recent years that Mongolian civil servants, especially high-ranking officials of state-owned companies, have played in casinos in foreign countries, Oyun-Erdene said.

Anyone found violating the ban will be fired.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 18:16:38|Editor: Li Xia

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A 3D rendering of the main campus of Westlake University is displayed at a launching ceremony of construction for the university's main campus in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 3, 2019. Westlake University, a new research-oriented private university, started construction Wednesday of its main campus in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. With an investment of over 4.6 billion yuan (686 million U.S. dollars), the first phase of the construction covers almost one square km and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021, said Ji Qingke, vice president of Westlake University. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

HANGZHOU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Westlake University, a new research-oriented private university, started construction Wednesday of its main campus in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.

With an investment of over 4.6 billion yuan (686 million U.S. dollars), the first phase of the construction covers almost one square km and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021, said Ji Qingke, vice president of Westlake University.

A total of 36 buildings will be built on the campus, including two large research buildings that occupy half of the total construction area, Ji said.

"We are striving to promote the development of cutting-edge technologies and contribute to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the civilization of humankind," said Shi Yigong, president of the university.

Currently, the university has recruited 85 world-class scientists and enrolled 139 doctoral students.

Founded in October last year, the university is China's first modern private research-oriented university with aspirations to become one of the world's top research institutes. It will focus on basic research in natural and medical sciences, and in technology.

The establishment of Westlake University was first proposed by Shi, a structural biologist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and six other scientists in 2015.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 18:26:48|Editor: Li Xia

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TASHKENT, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The newly established Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China transport corridor will significantly facilitate transport and create favorable conditions for regional economic growth, said an Uzbek businessman in the transportation sector.

The transport corridor, which connects landlocked Uzbekistan with the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou via the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi, provides the shortest land route between Uzbekistan and China via Kyrgyzstan, Rustam Azimboev, deputy general director of the Uzbek-Chinese joint venture Silk Road International said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"It will significantly reduce transport costs, customs among other fees, as well as cargo delivery time by seven to eight days from East Asia to countries in the Middle East and Southern Europe," Azimboev added.

Silk Road International started to use the corridor for cargo transportation as soon as the company was set up, said Azimboev, adding that the rolling stock fleet of the joint venture is equipped with various modern vehicles with a carrying capacity of up to 26 tons.

"Over the past period, more than 150 round trips have been done with export and import cargoes. The main route of transportation along the new corridor lies through Tashkent-Andijan-Osh-Irkeshtam-Kashgar and way back. Export goods, such as cotton yarn, dried agricultural products, juices, etc have been transported from Uzbekistan to China. In the opposite direction, production and processing equipment, components, project cargoes and others are transported," he said.

Azimboev said the transport corridor has provided a good opportunity for the region's further development, in particular, by attracting goods from other countries.

"In 2018, Silk Road International used the corridor to transport goods along the routes of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan and China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan. Customers of these shipments were satisfied with the delivery time, cost and quality of services rendered," he said.

Azimboev said the corridor will also contribute to the implementation of China's Belt and Road Initiative, a mega-project of historical significance that will boost trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation for the benefit of the development and prosperity of the participating countries.

He believes that setting up preferential railway tariffs for domestic transportation of export-import and transit cargo to and from the Kashgar station in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as well as optimizing the functioning of border checkpoints will be another powerful impetus for the further development of the new corridor, which will at the same time increase its attractiveness for the participants of foreign trade operations.

It used to take eight to 10 days along the old route to transport cargoes from Uzbekistan to China, while it takes only two days along the new routes.

The first cargo motorcade along the new Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China transport corridor was actuated on Feb. 25, 2018.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:02:13|Editor: xuxin

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COLOMBO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka on Wednesday took a national pledge to eradicate the drug menace in the island country with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya and other officials taking oaths to work towards a drug free country.

Government officials and members of the tri forces gathered at the Independence Square in capital Colombo, under the directives of President Sirisena along with hundreds of people for the oath taking ceremony.

The pledge was also live streamed to schools, for students to take part in the oath taking ceremony.

Sirisena said the aim of this national pledge was to achieve economic and social prosperity in Sri Lanka while accomplishing the sustainable development goals.

The president said the illegal drug trade, which had spread like a major menace throughout the island, could not be controlled only through seizing illicit drugs, conducting raids or taking legal action, but the time had also come to eliminate this threat through implementing a broad attitude change.

Sirisena said he will continue to invite all Sri Lankans to take the national pledge to make Sri Lanka a drug free country.

Sri Lanka has in recent months launched a severe crackdown on the illegal drug trade with several drug lords and smugglers taken into custody.

On April 1, under the directives of Sirisena, authorities destroyed 769 kg of cocaine, which the police had seized in island wide raids carried out during the past few years.

The heroin was valued at over Rs.10 billion, an estimated 57 million U.S. dollars.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:02:14|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China will nurture leading enterprises that work with vocational schools and higher educational institutions in boosting human capital and employment.

Enterprises can apply for such qualification, especially those in sectors like modern agriculture, smart manufacturing, high-end equipment and old-age care, according to a guideline issued Wednesday by the country's education ministry and top economic planner.

Those which serve major national strategies, have strong demand for technical professionals, invest heavily in human capital and live up to their corporate social responsibilities will enjoy support during the evaluation, the guideline said.

The government will offer a support package including financial, fiscal, land and credit preferential policies to qualified firms.

Deepening the integration of business and education is highlighted on China's reform agenda, as the strategy will improve both education and business operation efficiency, lending steam to the country's high-quality development.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:02:19|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Nansha Bridge opened Tuesday in the southern province of Guangdong, becoming China's first bridge with a 5G network, the country's state-asset regulator said Wednesday.

As the latest major transport project in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the 12.89-km bridge began to provide 4G and 5G services on the day it opened, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

To ensure smooth network connectivity, telecommunication base stations were launched on the towers and lamp posts of the bridge, an innovative technique, said the commission.

Also known as the Humen Second Bridge, the 40.5-meter-wide Nansha Bridge is the world's widest steel box girder suspension bridge.

Linking Guangzhou and Dongguan, two major cities in the Greater Bay Area, the bridge is designed for a traffic speed of 100 kph and expected to greatly relieve traffic pressure in the area.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:07:22|Editor: xuxin

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COLOMBO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lanka Army on Wednesday said it would hold the largest ever military exercise in July to coincide with 10 years since the end of the island's 30-year civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

In a statement, the army said the month-long military exercise will begin on July 1, with the participation of over 5,000 soldiers.

The program titled, "Exercise -- Western Shield," will extend from Mannar, in the north to Puttalam, in the north western province, including Kalpitiya, Wilpattu National Park, Mavillu and Thabbowa Forest Reserves and the Western Coastal Belt.

The exercise will provide the opportunity for army trainees to march through those areas which are not usually accessible to others except for forest conservation authorities, the army said.

The army further said that army personnel would also be trained to stay well-attuned, refreshed and upgraded to meet with any future warfare threat.

"'Exercise -- Western Shield', the biggest ever infantry training module, will make a milestone in the army history," the army said.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:22:44|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China is a country under much scrutiny, and any economic changes it makes, big or small, are likely to come under the microscope.

This March, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a main gauge of the manufacturing sector, reversed its downward trend to reach a six-month high. Before that, it had hovered below the boom-bust line for three months.

In addition, the latest development on fixed-asset investment and retail sales beat expectations, with consumption in rural areas and online sales posting robust growth, in particular.

The sound economic data came in as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned earlier that clouds were building for a possible "economic storm" in 2019, citing factors including trade tensions, tariff escalations, financial tightening, Brexit uncertainty, and a slowdown of the Chinese economy. Good news out of China is immediately turning stock markets green. Wall Street rallied as strong China data helped allay concerns about a slowdown in global growth.

To credit these encouraging changes to cyclical factors is superficial. Long-sighted government stimulus has played a key role.

One reason behind the economic upturn is tax cuts. The government has slashed the value-added tax rate in multiple industries, reduced social insurance contributions and streamlined administrative procedures on an unprecedented scale.

A deeper cause is Chinas ongoing structural reform, which has been reshaping Chinas economic structure by relying less on investment and exports, with consumer spending accounting for 76.2 percent of GDP last year.

More attention has been attached to the private sector. The Chinese government believes in the essential role of the private sector, as can be seen in strengthened funding support and eased market access for private firms.

Compared with policy tools used in the past, such as loosening credit and massive short-term stimulus, China's leadership is taking structural reforms seriously.

While external uncertainties will remain this year, China will push for structural reform in a steadfast manner. China withstood the test of previous headwinds and will stand the test of upcoming uncertainties so long as it stays resolute in advancing structural reform.File photo shows senior Kenyan policymakers, lawmakers, scholars and media representatives visit the AVIC technical and vocational training program at Kenya Technical Trainers College in Nairobi, Kenya, on Oct. 30, 2018.(Xinhua/Zhang Yu)

NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese enterprises based in Kenya have launched a scholarship to boost vocational training in the east African nation.

Kenya-China Economic and Trade Association (KCETA), a non-profit body that represents 97 members of Chinese owned companies, said in a statement that 1.5 million Kenya shillings (15,000 U.S. dollars) has been set aside to benefit 15 students at the initial phase.

The scholarship is named after Jin Yetao, a former employee of Avic International who lost his life in the Ethiopian plane crash on March 10.

"The Jin Yetao Scholarship is a special scholarship bestowed by KCETA dedicated to college students in vocational and technical universities," said Li Changgui, general manager of China Road and Bridge Corporation in Kenya.

Li said the scholarship that was launched in honor of a young Chinese expatriate who dedicated his working life to vocational training in Kenya and the greater eastern African region, will inspire future generations to embrace positive values.

Jin joined AVIC International after graduation in 2011 and was responsible for the company's overseas vocational and training program.

He was aboard the Ethiopian Airlines jetliner, ET302 that was travelling to Nairobi from Addis Ababa on March 10 but crashed six minutes after takeoff, killing all the 157 passengers and crew onboard.

Su Tianshu, managing director of AVIC International, hailed Jin's contribution to vocational training, medicare and infrastructure development in Kenya, terming him an illustrious ambassador for the Belt and Road Initiative that aims to boost Sino-Africa ties.

So far, two Kenyan vocational training institutes have expressed willingness to participate in the Jin Yetao scholarship whose first batch of beneficiaries will be announced in September this year.

Kevit Desai, principal secretary in the state department of vocational and technical training, said the launch of Jin Yetao Scholarship will be a game changer in Kenya's quest to bridge skills gap and promote industrial growth.

"We are saddened by the devastation the air crash caused so many families, but we must inherit the victims' will and continue what they started. In that sense, the Scholarship is very timely and has great significance," said Desai.

Guo Ce, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, said the launch of Jin Yetao Scholarship will strengthen China-Kenya cooperation to achieve mutual benefits.

"Jin Yetao is a representative of hundreds of Chinese expatriates working in many different sectors across Kenya. His story will encourage our Chinese compatriots and their Kenyan counterparts to work even harder and jointly promote our partnership to an even higher level," said Guo.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:32:49|Editor: mingmei

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HONG KONG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Legislative Council (LegCo) of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) started Wednesday to discuss a draft bill on amendments to the HKSAR's Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance.

The Fugitive Offenders & Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, proposed by the HKSAR government, was tabled at the LegCo meeting for first and second reading on Wednesday.

As he motioned for the second reading of the bill at the LegCo meeting, the HKSAR government's Secretary for Security John Lee said that amendments to the two ordinances aim at solving two "practical problems" - to deal with a 2018 homicide case that happened in Taiwan but involves a Hong Kong suspect who has returned to Hong Kong; and to fill a loophole in HKSAR's existing legal framework concerning mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

Lee called on the LegCo members to support the bill so as to provide legal basis for HKSAR to cooperate with Taiwan over the homicide case.

After Wednesday's meeting, the bill will be submitted to a committee of LegCo for detailed scrutiny.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:48:06|Editor: xuxin

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KWALE, Kenya, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police said on Wednesday they are interrogating 17 suspected members of the outlawed separatist group, the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) in the coastal Kwale County.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the suspects aged between 41 and 84 years were arrested in a residential house on Tuesday in Diani, a tourism resort region.

"The suspects were nabbed as they assembled at a house in Kibundani area," DCI said in a statement.

Kwale police said they had recovered membership registers and contributions at the said house. The suspects are set to be arraigned in court law Wednesday after investigations have been completed.

The police have been accusing the MRC, an increasingly violent Islamic group of working in cahoots with al-Shabab terrorist group, to carry out the gruesome attacks in the coastal region.

MRC whose key agenda remains largely unclear beyond the call for the separation of Mombasa and the coastal region from the rest of Kenya is also charging that the coastal people's rights to land and property ownership has been violated.

The group's grievances are mostly about marginalization and land rights are shared by many on the coast.

On 2010, the government declared the MRC, together with 32 other organizations, illegal on grounds that they were not properly registered and were bent on engaging in criminal activities

Security agencies suspect the MRC could be receiving funding from Somali insurgent group al-Shabab to carry terror attacks in the region including the killing of more than 60 people in Lamu in 2014.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:48:07|Editor: xuxin

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YANGON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar police force warned drivers on Wednesday of strictly abiding by traffic rules in driving during the upcoming traditional water festival due to begin on April 13.

In order to prevent casualties and loss of the people due to accidents during the festival, drivers are urged not to drive if drunk, not to race for joy, not to drive at high speed and not to drive with side doors, rear bonnets and number plates taken out.

The police force cited the casualties in its press release Wednesday as warning that there occurred 350 accidental cases during the water festival in 2018, in which 133 people died with 690 being injured.

Most of the cases were registered with Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Bago regions during that year.

Among Myanmar's 12 seasonal festivals throughout the year, the Thingyan water festival represents the grandest which is believed to bring peace and prosperity to everyone.

Myanmar people throw and douse water onto one another to wash sins and to make clear the moral impurities from old year, according to their belief.

This year's Thingyan festival will be celebrated for four days until April 16, after which April 17 will usher in Myanmar new year with people turning over a new leaf, leaving misfortunes in the old year and starting new from the new year day.

During the festival, roads and streets will be crowded with people dancing to music and dousing each other with water.

Meanwhile, the police force vowed to step up security measures during the event to ensure safety for the people taking part in the festive activities.

The country's traditional Thingyan water festival, which is for all ages, also represents a unique and entertaining event.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:53:10|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 fighters have been killed over the past 24 hours in Afghanistan as warring sides have increased operations with the herald of spring in the conflict-battered country, officials said Wednesday.

In the latest violent incident, armed militants opened fire on police in the country's southern Kandahar city, the former stronghold of Taliban group, on Wednesday killing one police constable and injuring another, provincial government spokesman Aziz Ahmad Azizi said.

The rivalry between the government and the Taliban militants has also increased in Bala Murghab district of Afghanistan's western Badghis province as the militant group has gained ground and the government forces' fighting aircraft stormed Taliban positions since Tuesday, killing 22 insurgents and injuring 13 others, an army statement said Wednesday.

Similarly, the security forces crackdown on Taliban positions in Sholgara district of the country's northern Balkh province have left 11 insurgents dead and 15 others injured, army spokesman Mohammad Hanif Rezai said.

Government forces operations have also killed 12 Taliban fighters in northern Badakhshan province and four fighters of hardliner Islamic State outfit in eastern Nangarhar province since Tuesday.

To overcome the security challenges and check militancy, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani approved a security plan on Tuesday to boost security across the war-battered country especially for cities and highways.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 19:58:12|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- "China congratulates Azali Assoumani on his re-election as president of Comoros," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

The final results announced by Comoros' Supreme Court on Tuesday of its presidential election confirmed Azali's re-election as president of the Indian Ocean island country, earning 59.05 percent of the ballots cast.

Spokesperson Geng Shuang said that China and Comoros enjoy traditional friendship, and the Chinese side attached great importance to the development of bilateral ties.

"We stand ready to work with the new government of Comoros in strengthening friendly cooperation in various fields within the frameworks of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, to advance the two countries' friendly cooperation up to a higher level," he added.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:03:16|Editor: xuxin

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BRUSSELS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The European Council and the Parliament announced on Wednesday that, after Brexit, UK citizens coming to the Schengen area for a short stay (90 days in any 180 days) should be granted visa free travel.

The agreement, which was already confirmed by EU ambassadors on behalf of the Council on Tuesday, was approved by the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee on Wednesday.

The text now needs to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.

According to EU rules, visa exemption is granted on condition of reciprocity. And the British government has stated that it does not intend to require a visa from EU citizens travelling to the UK for short stays.

The European Commission would monitor the respect of the principle of reciprocity on a continuous basis and immediately inform the European Parliament and the Council of any developments which could endanger the respect of this principle.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:03:18|Editor: mingmei

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TAIPEI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves reached 464.08 billion U.S. dollars at the end of March, up 143 million U.S. dollars from February, the island's monetary authority said Wednesday.

The market value of securities investment and the new Taiwan dollar-denominated deposits held by overseas investors reached 370.8 billion U.S. dollars at the end of March, according to the latest data.

Gold reserves were valued at 526.7 billion new Taiwan dollars, accounting for about 23.76 percent of Taiwan's total forex reserves.

By the end of March, banknote issuance in Taiwan reached 2.3 trillion new Taiwan dollars (about 74.74 billion U.S. dollars).Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:03:19|Editor: mingmei

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Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, speaks at a meeting on lowering the pension insurance contributions of enterprises in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng said Wednesday that local authorities must shoulder their responsibilities in implementing measures to lower the pension insurance contributions of enterprises.

Localities and related departments must ensure a substantial reduction in the actual burden of companies, Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said at a meeting.

The country will lower the share borne by employers for urban workers' basic pension insurance, and localities may cut corporate contributions down to 16 percent, according to this year's government work report.

Han stressed that all localities should properly implement the requirements and make scientific plans for the implementation.

Since retired workers rely on their pensions, the country must ensure the fund's financial security, as well as the timely and full payments of pensions to retired workers, Han said.

He added that China should properly implement the central adjustment system for the basic pension funds, and speed up the pension fund adjustment at the provincial level.

The basic pension mechanism should be further reformed to ensure that those who have paid more or paid for a longer period of time can receive a larger pension after retirement, Han added.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:03:21|Editor: mingmei

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XIAMEN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A former vice governor of Anhui Province has been sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes, abusing power, insider trading and disclosing insider information.

The sentencing of Chen Shulong was announced by the Intermediate People's Court of Xiamen in Fujian Province. Chen was ordered by the court to have all his personal assets confiscated and turn over all illicit gains and their interests to the state.

In court, Chen said he accepted the sentencing and would not appeal.

According to the court, Chen used his various positions between 1994 and 2016 in Anhui to seek benefits for others in business operations, obtaining projects and personnel promotions, and in return illegally accepted money and goods worth over 275.8 million yuan (about 41 million U.S. dollars).

When serving as the Party chief of Wuhu City in Anhui, Chen illegally granted subsidies for equipment or land-transferring fees to certain enterprises, resulting in economic loss of the state totaling 2.9 billion yuan, the court found.

Chen was also found to have illegally bought and sold shares through others in the stock market when he possessed insider information as Wuhu Party chief and Anhui vice governor, illegally profiting more than 137.5 million yuan.

In addition, Chen leaked insider information to others who then engaged in stock trading to illegally gain more than 30 million yuan.

The court said Chen was given a lenient punishment as he confessed, provided additional information about his crimes, showed repentance and voluntarily surrendered his illicit gains, which have all been recovered.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:13:27|Editor: xuxin

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SOFIA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A small aircraft crashed on Tuesday evening in North Macedonia, killing four Bulgarian citizens on board, Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the remains of the crashed Cessna aircraft were found on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. local time in Yakubitsa Mountain at an altitude of 2,200 meters.

The plane was flying from Ohrid, a small resort city in the southwest of North Macedonia, to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and fell from a height of 4,200 meters, it said.

According to information from North Macedonian Air Traffic Control, the aircraft was caught in severe turbulence and the pilot has lost control, the statement said.

On Wednesday before noon, North Macedonian rescue teams managed to get to the scene of the accident, it said.

The bodies have not yet been identified, and no identity documents were found on the scene, it added.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:18:31|Editor: Xiang Bo

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Chinese Consul General in Auckland Xu Erwen participate in the 2019 Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day in Auckland, New Zealand, Feb. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

Related video: Xinhua Headlines: China-New Zealand tourism year expected to boost bilateral ties, understanding

by Li Huizi, Lu Huaiqian

WELLINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Jacinda Ardern has concluded her first official visit to China since becoming New Zealand's prime minister in October 2017, saying her country welcomes investment from Chinese enterprises and pledging to create a favorable business environment without discrimination against any enterprise from any country.

During her meetings with Chinese leaders, both sides called for speeding up negotiations to upgrade the decade-old bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA), continuously enriching the China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership, and boosting cooperation under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

During their meeting in Beijing on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ardern agreed to continuously enrich the China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership based on the principles of mutual trust and mutual benefit.

Ardern's visit to China at a moment when her country was facing a special important agenda showed the great importance she and the New Zealand government attached to bilateral ties, said Xi, expressing sincere condolences for the deadly shootings in Christchurch on March 15.

China has always viewed New Zealand as a sincere friend and partner, Xi said, adding that China-New Zealand ties, established 47 years ago, had always been at the forefront among relationships between China and Western countries.

China stands ready to work with New Zealand to maintain their ties as a "front-runner" in relations between China and Western countries, Xi said.

Under the new circumstances, the two countries need to further deepen mutual understanding and trust and respect each other's core interests and major concerns in the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and seeking common grounds while shelving differences, he said, calling on both sides to expand substantial cooperation.

Although Ardern's visit was reduced to a brief 10 hours due to her intensive domestic schedule to handle the aftermath of the mass shooting, her short trip has attracted worldwide attention.

"It was a very important and timely visit... I really attest to the value that this government puts on the relationship with China, and I also thought there was a number of really interesting and significant agreements between the leaders," said Jason Young, director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington.

Ardern's first official visit to China was well received on both New Zealand and international media, and the successful visit lays a solid foundation for improvement of bilateral ties, New Zealand legislator Raymond Huo told Xinhua.

Stephen Jacobi, executive director of the New Zealand China Council, said the visit was rich in both symbolism and substance. The symbolism was that Ardern met Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and was received in the Great Hall of the People.

"The images of those meetings have been broadcast around China and New Zealand to demonstrate the strength of the relationship between New Zealand and China," Jacobi said, adding that the visit also has substance, particularly in terms of trade and economy.

Christchurch city councilor Jimmy Chen said it is most important for both countries' leaders to meet face to face to clear up some issues and build up mutual trust and confidence.

FTA UPGRADE, BRI COOPERATION

Calling for speeding up negotiations to upgrade the FTA, Xi said China will support capable enterprises to invest in New Zealand while New Zealand needs to provide a fair, just and unbiased business environment for Chinese enterprises.

China welcomes New Zealand to participate in the Belt and Road construction, Xi said, encouraging both countries to enhance cooperation in international affairs, jointly strive for an open world economy and uphold multilateralism and multilateral trading.

During talks with Ardern on Monday, Li also stressed a rules-based multilateral trade system.

China stands ready to synergize the BRI with New Zealand's development strategies, tap into the potential and promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation, Li said, emphasizing that the two sides should create a fair, just, transparent, convenient and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises from both countries.

Wayne Huang, principal of the East Auckland-based Institute of Commercial Education New Zealand, said China's rapidly developing economy and its large consumer base provide a huge market for New Zealand and the rest of the world.

Since 2013, China has been New Zealand's largest trading partner and China's peaceful development has become an important opportunity for New Zealand, Huang said.

"In recent years, China-New Zealand cooperation has expanded from traditional commodity trade to service trade," he added.

New Zealand was the first developed country to recognize China as a market economy in 2004 and to sign and launch negotiations to upgrade the FTA with China.

According to the Chinese government, two-way trade reached 16.86 billion U.S. dollars last year, a 14-percent increase on a year-on-year basis.

As a result of such robust trade, more and more made-in-China electronics and textiles are available in New Zealand, while lamb and a wide range of dairy products like milk powder are becoming increasingly popular among Chinese consumers.

New Zealand is the first developed Western economy to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the BRI with Beijing. Also, following Ardern's visit, New Zealand Trade Minister David Parker will lead a business delegation to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in April.

Jacobi of the New Zealand China Council said one particular thing his council is working on is a conference that would look at how to build a link between China, New Zealand and South America as part of the Belt and Road.

Each country has to decide for itself how it wants to be involved, and there should be a uniquely Kiwi way of being involved in the Belt and Road, Jacobi said.

Legislator Huo said as with other Western countries, New Zealand faces serious aging infrastructure.

And Auckland could be turned into a business hub similar to Singapore to connect China and South America in terms of flights and cooperation in infrastructure, environmental protection and high-tech development, said Huo.

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGES

China is now New Zealand's largest source country of foreign students and second largest of foreign tourists.

The two countries unveiled the Year of Tourism one day ahead of Ardern's China trip. The arrangement was signed by the two country's premiers in 2017 in a bid to build on relationship and strengthen economic and cultural ties.

"Tourism is a crucial strand in our bilateral relationship, and is a particularly important driver of economic growth," Ardern said in a message to Saturday's opening ceremony in Wellington.

There was an 8.8-percent increase in Chinese holidaymakers to New Zealand from 2017 to 2018. The number of New Zealanders visiting China has also reached a new high, Ardern said.

"Chinese tourists are attracted by scenic beauty and cultural diversity of New Zealand, and visitors from New Zealand marvel at China's natural wonders and rich heritage as an ancient civilization," Li said in a welcoming message.

According to New Zealand government figures, around 600,000 visits were exchanged between the two countries last year, including about 450,000 arrivals by Chinese tourists.

By 2024, Chinese tourist arrivals are expected to boom to more than 800,000. The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment predicts by 2024 China is expected to overtake Australia to become New Zealand's largest source of visitor revenue.

Tourism New Zealand General Manager Rebecca Ingram said that her agency's focus is on ensuring that New Zealand remains a desirable destination and top of mind as an option for Chinese travelers.

Jacobi said the significant growth of Chinese visitors to New Zealand is driven largely by a combination of increasing wealth in China, particularly in the middle class, and the improved economic activities between the two countries.

Legislator Huo said people-to-people and cultural exchanges are getting increasingly smooth between the two countries.

Huo cited the ongoing exhibition of Terracotta Warriors in Wellington as an example of the popularity of ancient Chinese culture among Kiwi audience.

(Video reporters: Qiu Bo, Lu Huaiqian, Zhang Xiaoqing; Video editor: Zhang Yucheng)Famed Apollo astronaut Michael Collins will be the featured guest at EAA AirVenture 2019s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11s landing on the Sea of Tranquility. Collins will be joined by Joe Engle, another Apollo alumnus, but who never flew in that program. Engle did fly on the Space Shuttle and is the last living X-15 pilot. A second shuttle pilot, Charlie Precourt, will host the event, to be held on July 26 at AirVenture.

Even a half-century later, the Apollo 11 mission stands as one of the great human achievements of all time, said Rick Larsen, who coordinates AirVenture features and attractions. Collins, you may recall, was the command module pilot of Apollo 11s Colombia and orbited the moon in solitude while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin completed the first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969. The Colombia was the only major piece of flight hardware to return intact to earth.

Collins, who once famously said he gave Apollo 11s chances of success as 50/50, attended West Point and flew F-86 Sabres in the U.S. Air Force. Post-NASA, he served as director of the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum for seven years. He has also written widely, including 1974s Carrying the Fire, documenting his experiences in the space program.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:18:40|Editor: xuxin

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MOGADISHU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said Wednesday it has developed policy guidelines on law enforcement to Jubbaland and South West states' police forces to help modernize policing.

Alusine Dumbuya, project officer in AMISOM police reform and restructuring department, said the policy documents cover issues critical to establishing a professional police force including code of conduct, transfer guidelines, human resource management, dress code, community policing, recruitment, promotion and gender equality.

"These are guiding principles for the Somali Police Force that will be used effectively and efficiently to improve policing activities in the federal member states," Dumbuya said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

The development of policy documents is part of the AU mission's police's grand program aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Somali police to maintain law and order in the federal member states and secure the country against al-Shabab insurgency.

Other federal member states, according to the AU mission, will also receive the documents.

According to the AU mission, the development of the policy guidelines was part of the ongoing implementation of the Somalia Transition Plan whose key objective is to establish a strong Somali National Security Force capable of securing the country.

Mohamed Nasir Guled, Somali Police Commander in charge of Lower Jubba, said the policy documents will help professionalize Jubbaland State Police Force and improve policing services in the region.

"The documents we have received today are intended to streamline policing activities and we appreciate the help provided by AMISOM," said Gulled.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:23:42|Editor: mingmei

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MACAO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The World Trade Organization (WTO) has recently examined and approved the China's Hong Kong-Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) to ensure that the agreement is in lines with the WTO rules, the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) said in a press release on Wednesday.

At the WTO meeting held on Monday, both the representatives from the Macao SAR government and the Hong Kong SAR government presented the objectives and contents of the Hong Kong-Macao CEPA, which was signed in October 2017 to strengthen trade relations and exchanges of technical cooperation between Macao and Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong-Macao CEPA is a free-trade agreement with the characteristics of the principle of "one country, two systems", which also complies with the WTO rules, the representatives said at the meeting, according to the press release.

The Hong Kong-Macao CEPA mainly covers expansion of trade in goods and services, simplification of customs procedures, collaboration in matters relating to intellectual property, and establishment of a work program on economic and technical cooperation.

Under the arrangement, Hong Kong is to make available to Macao service suppliers a further 105 service sectors in Hong Kong, while Macao is to make available an additional 72 service sectors in Macao to Hong Kong service suppliers.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:49:05|Editor: mingmei

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Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, talks with villagers at Tianlong Village of Lianhua County, east China's Jiangxi Province, April 1, 2019. Zhao Leji made an investigation and research tour in Jiangxi Province from Sunday to Wednesday. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

NANCHANG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's top anti-graft official has stressed efforts to supervise the implementation of major strategic missions set out by the Party and the country.

Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, made the remarks during his investigation and research tour in east China's Jiangxi Province from Sunday to Wednesday.

Discipline inspection and supervisory authorities at all levels were called on to focus on the implementation of major decisions of the CPC Central Committee and contribute to the building of a moderately prosperous society.

During the tour, he called for greater efforts to fight corruption in poverty alleviation, and promote a new type of cordial and clean relationship between government and business.

While meeting with local CPC officials, Zhao stressed that supervision should focus on the practice of "formalities for formalities' sake" and bureaucratism to alleviate the burden on primary-level authorities.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:54:07|Editor: mingmei

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Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and secretary of the leading Party members' group of the NPC Standing Committee, presides over a meeting to study the spirit of the speech given by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, at the second meeting of the Commission for Overall Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Wednesday meeting of the leading Party members' group of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), or the top legislature, stressed efforts to create a favorable legal environment and provide a solid legal guarantee for China's reform, development and stability.

The meeting was held to study the spirit of the speech given by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at the second meeting of the Commission for Overall Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee, according to an official statement.

The Wednesday meeting was presided over by Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee and secretary of the committee's leading Party members' group.

The meeting urged continuous efforts to be made to improve the Chinese socialist system of laws, and strengthen the foundation for the rule of law.

Meanwhile, it called for lawmaking in a well-conceived and democratic way and in accordance with the law, which is key to improving the quality and efficiency of lawmaking.

Legislation-oriented investigation should be beefed up, with special attention to be paid to regulating boundaries between the government and the market and reconciling various interests and relations, according to the statement.

The meeting stressed expedited efforts to adopt the basic medical care and health promotion law, the vaccine administration law and the drug administration law as well as continued efforts to prepare for the promotion and implementation of the foreign investment law.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 20:59:13|Editor: xuxin

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TOKYO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday it will allow its potential rivals to have access to thousands of its propriety technical patents incorporated in the automaker's hybrid and electric vehicles (EV), to try and generate more competition in the lucrative market.

Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, said it will grant royalty-free access to 23,740 patents related to its electrification technology from Wednesday to the end of 2030.

The move comes as the automaker, developer of the ubiquitous Prius models of hybrid cars, is hoping to expand the market by encouraging its competition to make use of unrestricted access to its patented technology, such as those used in the batteries and fuel cells of its hybrids and EVs.

Toyota will also offer technical support to manufacturers that opt to use Toyota's batteries and other patented technology for a fee, the automaker said.

Against a backdrop of tighter regulations on emissions and a global-wide shift towards hybrid and EV automobiles, Toyota is also hoping that by making its patented tech widely available, it will simultaneously be able to increase its own supply and therefore cut costs in the competitive market.

Toyota vice president Shigeki Terashi explained the automaker's move to ally more closely with other manufacturers, as the global industry has to operate within increasingly tougher emissions guidelines.

"We will become a supplier of electrification technology. The level of electrification technology required by global environmental regulations is becoming stricter year by year," Terashi was quoted as saying at a press conference on the matter in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, where the automaker is headquartered.

Toyota launched a similar initiative in 2015 to open up its patents on fuel-cell vehicles, but the scheme only led to a very limited number of contracts.

Toyota rolled out the first iteration of its hybrid Prius, as a subcompact 4-door sedan, in 1997. The technical details behind its hybrid power-train and related technology has been largely classified since the Prius' launch.

It went on to become the world's first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid car, with the automaker saying it believes it will not lose its competitive edge by opening up its know-how to other carmakers in its field.

"We will not lose competitiveness as long as we make progress in our technology," said Terashi.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:09:16|Editor: mingmei

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URUMQI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), China's largest oil refiner, announced its latest technological innovation, which improves the exploration efficiency of oil reservoirs with a high natural decline rate.

The innovation, undertaken by the group's northwest oil field, roots its major application significance in effectively delaying the estimated production decline stage of oil wells.

Tahe oil field, a major petroleum and natural gas production base in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has seen its annual decline rate drop from 17 percent in 2016 to 13.9 percent this year, thanks to the innovation, according to experts participating in the group's project review.

It has also reduced the cost of crude oil per barrel by 3.75 U.S. dollars, generating a direct economic benefit of 1.04 billion yuan (about 155 million U.S. dollars).

The technical method not only helps better identify underground caverns of oil storage below 6 km, but also increases accuracy when calculating the detection radius around the oil wells, to better guide the fine mining.

It also improve the efficiency of oil extraction by pumping groundwater back into the well, allowing oil bodies less dense than water to rise.

In 2025, the oil field's annual decline rate is expected to fall to below 12 percent, the group said.

Tahe oil field is located in the Tarim Basin, one of China's largest petroliferous basins. Developed by Sinopec's subsidiary Sinopec Northwest Oil Field Company, the oil field has scattered underground caverns with a high nature decline rate.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:09:18|Editor: xuxin

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NEW DELHI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- India's International center for Automotive Technology (ICAT) will organize a NuGen Mobility summit 2019 in November this year, officials said Wednesday.

The heavy industries and public enterprises ministry said the summit would be held at Manesar, falling in the national capital region (NCR) of Indian capital - New Delhi from November 27 to 29.

"The objective of the summit is to share new ideas, learnings, global experiences, innovations and future technology trends for faster adoption, assimilation and development of advanced automotive technologies for a smarter and greener future," a statement issued by the heavy industries and public enterprises ministry said. "This event will help in building a platform for bringing together all stakeholders in the automotive industry to understand global advancements in technologies."

According to ministry, officials more than 2,500 participants and over 250 exhibitors are expected to take part in the summit.

"Experts working with leading international scientific and research organisations and testing laboratories from various countries like the United States, Europe, Japan and other Asian countries will also participate in the event and share their experiences and knowledge on development of smart and green technologies and the challenges that the industry needs to overcome," the statement said.

"The event aims to bring together the automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEMs), professionals, researchers, academic experts, vehicle system suppliers, test equipment supplier, quality managers, product planners, component developers, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) members and students from all over the world."

ICAT Manesar is a leading world class automotive testing, certification and research and development service provider under the aegis of the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP), the government of India.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:19:25|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, China's cabinet, said Wednesday it was necessary to amend laws and supporting regulations and policies to ensure the implementation of the foreign investment law.

Draft amendments for administrative licensing law, trademark law, construction law and electronic signature law were passed Wednesday at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

It was also decided at the meeting to submit the draft amendments to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for deliberation, according to a statement after the meeting.

Suggestions for revisions include adding the principle of "non-discrimination" in administrative licensing, substantially raising the amount of compensation for infringing exclusive rights to use trademarks, and cutting approval time for applications for qualified construction permits.

Last month, the National People's Congress passed the foreign investment law, a landmark legislation that will provide stronger protection and a better business environment for overseas investors. The law will become effective on Jan. 1, 2020.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:24:29|Editor: mingmei

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GUANGZHOU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Surgeons in the southern Chinese city of Gaozhou successfully conducted cardiac endoscopic surgery with help from experts 400 km away via a 5G wireless network on Wednesday.

The surgery was performed on a 41-year-old female patient suffering from congenital heart disease and lasted nearly four hours.

The entire process was transmitted via live feed to an expert team in Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, located in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province.

The 5G wireless network, which offered a transmission speed 10 times faster than a 4G service, was stable throughout the surgery, according to technicians.

Guo Huiming, head of the expert team, monitored the whole process on a large screen, which also showed the patient's vital signs and a model of her heart generated by virtual reality (VR) technology.

At one point, Guo instructed the chief surgeon in Gaozhou to move the cutting point 3 cm upward to avoid harming the nerve.

"With 5G technology, doctors who are 400 km apart can cooperate to conduct a surgery," said Yu Xueqing, president of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital. "It saves a lot of time and enables doctors to treat more patients."File Photo: A malnourished Yemeni child receives treatment at a hospital in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah on Dec. 3, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP)

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Around 113 million people in 53 countries experienced acute food insecurity in 2018, slightly down from 124 million in 2017, said a UN spokesperson Tuesday.

Nearly two thirds of those facing acute hunger are in eight countries: Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, Stephane Dujarric said, citing the Global Report on Food Crises 2019.

According to the report launched jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Food Programme and the European Union, climate and natural disasters pushed another 29 million people into acute food insecurity last year.

In a message on the launch of the report, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the report highlights the plight of millions of people who must fight every day against severe hunger and malnutrition and points the way towards solutions that can rebuild lives and livelihoods in communities around the world.

The UN chief stressed that determined action is needed to uphold last year's UN Security Council condemnation of the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

In May 2018, the Security Council adopted a resolution to urge states to conduct investigations within their jurisdiction into violations of international humanitarian law related to the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.

The Global Report on Food Crises is produced each year by the Global Network Against Food Crises, which is made up of international humanitarian and development partners.The pilot who died in the crash of a Piper Navajo in Madeira, Ohio, had previously snagged a persistent fuel leak in the aircraft but flew it again a week later before the leak had been diagnosed and repaired. Its not clear from the report whether pilot David Sapp was aware the aircraft had not been repaired. According to the NTSB, Sapp, 62, took off from Cincinnati Municipal Airport-Lunken Field on a survey flight on March 12 and reported fuel problems when he was about seven miles out. He was returning to Lunken when the aircraft disappeared from radar about five miles from the field.

A relative told the NTSB that Sapp had complained the aircraft had a fuel leak and it was killing his sinuses. An employee of the company that owned the plane told the NTSB the aircraft sat on the ground for about a week at Lunken and was supposed to be exchanged for another. The employee said the aircraft was not switched out and the Sapp was called in to fly it. He flew some survey patterns near Cincinnati before heading north to work near Dayton when he reported the problems. The twin hit a tree and house but no one on the ground was injured. There was little fuel in the left engine fuel system but fuel was found in right engine system.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:34:36|Editor: xuxin

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NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese pay TV company, StarTimes, said Wednesday it will focus on local content to boost viewership in African countries, an official said on Wednesday.

Aldrine Nsubuga, newly appointed regional marketing manager, also called for the inclusion of homegrown content on local terrestrial platform bouquets to increase viewership among the nations where the Chinese firm has a foothold.

"Local content is key to growth of a television station. Research has shown that for every seven channels, four of the most-watched are home-grown networks," Nsubuga, who joined StarTimes regional office in Nairobi from Uganda two weeks ago, told journalists in Nairobi.

"In Uganda where I come from, StarTimes is the leading TV station, commanding 73 percent of the share market with 1.5 million subscribers and where the secret to the success is none other than local content," he remarked.

Nsubuga said home-grown content also comes with other benefits to local production houses and personnel like producers, directors, actors and other support staff, adding that StarTimes screens all Uganda Premier League matches which has added to its popularity.

The official, who is in charge of seven countries within the East African region, said that for the last six years, StarTimes has experienced a growing influence in the 28 countries in Africa where it has a presence and with a subscriber base of 28 million viewers.

Japheth Akhulia, StarTimes director of marketing and public relations, regretted that there is no local content being aired by the company in Kenya, but promised they will work towards that end.

"In spite of that, we are number two in the Kenyan market by subscriber base. The more we identify with what Kenyans love, the more we will capture the market," Akhulia said.

He announced the drop in cost of their superior bouquet by 50 percent from 1,499 shillings (14.99 U.S. dollars) to 7.49 dollars per month as well as addition of six more channels.

With the changes, StarTimes Basic and Nyota bouquets will now retail at 5.99 dollars and 2.59 dollars per month respectively.

"These strategic changes are mainly geared towards growing our subscriber retention, upgrading subscribers to higher bouquets as well as growing our numbers in our quest to enable more households to access and enjoy digital television at the most affordable rates in the market," Akhulia said.

He said to complement the changes, the TV company will continue to enable customers the choice to subscribe daily, weekly or monthly a service tailored towards enabling them to continue watching premium television content based on the amount they wish to spend at a particular time.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:39:39|Editor: Yurou

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Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza (L) attends an event marking the solidarity with Venezuela in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 3, 2019. Foreign Minister of Venezuela Jorge Arreaza slammed on Wednesday the interference of the United States in his country. Arreaza arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday morning for a two-day visit. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)

BEIRUT, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister of Venezuela Jorge Arreaza slammed on Wednesday the interference of the United States in his country.

"The only interference we have had for the past 20 years ... is from the United States," Arreaza said following his meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil on Wednesday.

Arreaza said that, contrary to the relation with the United States, Venezuela's relations with Russia are cooperative.

"We have had military and technical cooperation with Russia for almost 17 years and it is developing as it should," he said.

Venezuela's foreign minister said that all countries must respect the international law.

Arreaza also met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun the same day, and the two discussed bilateral ties and the situation of the Venezuelan people of Lebanese origin and their role in Venezuela, reported by the National News Agency.

Arreaza arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday morning for a two-day visit.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:39:46|Editor: xuxin

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KIEV, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian cabinet on Wednesday has decided to impose a ban on irregular direct flights to Russia in addition to the restrictions on regular flights imposed in 2015, local media reported.

According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the new restrictions will apply to all private flights except those needed to support the missions of international organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The government's decision was taken after Yuriy Boyko, a Ukrainian presidential candidate and founder of the "Opposition Platform - For Life" party, and a representative of the party visited Moscow last month, the agency said.

In 2015, Kiev barred all Russian airlines from flying to Ukraine in a move that prompted a retaliatory response from Moscow. Transit flights between the two ex-Soviet neighbors were also suspended.

Relations between Kiev and Moscow have been deteriorating since early 2014 over issues of Crimea and eastern Ukraine.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:44:52|Editor: xuxin

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NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional bloc, on Wednesday warned of a looming food crisis in eastern Africa where 10.7 million people are food insecure.

IGAD said immediate action is needed following a foreseen high risk of worsening food insecurity in parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda if forecasted rainfall deficits materialize.

"There is need for immediate and coordinated planning by governments, donors and all concerned stakeholders to respond to the potentially deteriorating food security and nutrition situation," IGAD's Food Security and Nutrition Working Group said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The bloc said the delay in the start of the March-June long rains, coupled with forecasted rainfall deficits in April, are building on already dry conditions due to poor October-December rains over some parts of eastern Africa.

It said the poor performance of the past season's short rains already led to below-average crop production and deteriorating pastures in some agro-pastoral and marginal mixed-farming areas.

"If the forecasted rainfall deficits materialize in April, this would lead to an atypical increase in food insecurity, likely to peak from June to October," it added.

IGAD warned that northeastern Kenya, souther and central Somalia, and southern and eastern Ethiopia would likely experience a rapid decline in pastoral conditions.

The authority attributed the current dry conditions and high temperatures to deteriorations in pastures and water availability in these areas, affecting livestock body conditions, reducing milk production and leading to earlier-than-normal livestock migration.

"Crop production would also be below average in marginal agricultural areas of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

"This, along with the potential of lower than average production of key regional players such as Uganda and Tanzania, could cause price increases and reduce access of poor households to basic food supplies," it added.

IGAD called on member states to conduct regular monitoring using remote sensing and joint field rapid assessments in worst-affected areas, with particular emphasis on performance of the 2019 long rains and crop production levels and cereal supplies.

"You should also monitor pasture, water, and livestock body conditions, prices of key cereals and livestock and food security outcomes," said IGAD.

It called for the use of integrated management of acute malnutrition and a further supply-chain pipeline for ready-to-use supplementary food and ready-to-use therapeutic food.

The bloc warned that although the food insecure population is lower than numbers observed during the drought of 2017 (15.3 million people), there is a high risk of a worsening situation due to forecasted rainfall deficits.

Currently, despite poor agricultural and pastoral conditions, favorable market prices for key staple foods and livestock are facilitating food access for households.

According to IGAD, good performance of last year's long rains has also mitigated to some extent a further deterioration of conditions.

Cereal prices remain largely below average while livestock prices are similar to or above average across most markets. Exceptions, however, are conflict-affected areas of southern Ethiopia.

"Although a temporary relief is expected in pastoral areas during the second half of the rainy season (end of April through May), should rainfall deficits occur, the severity and size of the food insecure population might quickly rise afterwards," it said.

The regional bloc urged countries to map current and planned interventions to ensure a more coordinated response and strengthen the existing food security information systems and coordination.

The eight-member group comprises of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:49:56|Editor: mingmei

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by Xinhua writer Liu Si

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China and Europe should work together to safeguard multilateral order that has been under pressure at the moment, said experts from the Brussels-based research center Carnegie Europe.

"We are partners," Pierre Vimont, former French ambassador to the United States and senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, said. He picked "partnership" as a keyword to describe today's China-Europe relations, while acknowledging sporadic minor disagreements.

Noting that many geopolitical issues and political crisis linger around the world, Vimont said China and Europe could certainly work together because both sides "see eye to eye to a large extent on many of the issues."

"It's about improving our partnership," he added.

As the United States now treats Europe as an economic competitor, Europe realizes that this new world is going to be "competitive," and that is why Europe adjusted its rhetorical emphasis on foreign policies from the word "commission" to "competition," said Tomas Valasek, director of Carnegie Europe.

But "it doesn't change the fact that Europe and China are mostly partners and mostly cooperating," Valasek added.

Speaking on cooperation, the Carnegie experts highlighted the importance for China and Europe to join hands in safeguarding multilateralism.

Vimont said the liberal order has been put under pressure due to various challenges, which made it prominent for China and Europe to work together to "improve the efficiency of the multilateral order."

One problem is that the United States once promoted the liberal order for years, whereas it now seems less interested in it, the former ambassador said.

If China and Europe "start thinking together and trying to improve together the things as they are, maybe it will help America think again to come back to the mainstream of those who support the multilateral order," he added.

Vimont believes that the European Union is a multilateral body in favor of multilateralism. He recalled Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at Davos about two years ago, when he was impressed that China was very supportive of multilateralism.

"There is a natural alliance," he said.

The expert pointed out a string of other areas where China and Europe could deepen their cooperation, including climate change, new technology, artificial intelligence, data protection and issues related to social inequalities.

Vimont and Valasek both hailed the signing of a memorandum of understanding in March on jointly advancing the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between China and Italy.

Everybody is ready to conduct business and build a very strong partnership with China, Valasek said.

"This is a huge market," he said. "The Europeans want to be there."

Valasek considered geography very important to the BRI cooperation for Europe. There were gaps, particularly in terms of infrastructure, in some parts of Europe, where "countries are going to work with China most closely," he said.

When the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Europe, as the experts said, should "adapt" to and "re-balance" itself in the new situation.

The past decade was difficult for Europe with social inequalities, populist waves and social unrest being major challenges, but Asian countries, especially China, have achieved better performance, Vimont said.

Valasek attributes Asia's faster growth to its better choices, including opening-up, adding that Europe to some extent has open arms, "so the idea is not (to) block China's way, but for all of us to (gain) benefits."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 21:49:58|Editor: xuxin

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RIGA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Cash payments in real estate transactions will be banned in Latvia under new provisions passed in the final reading by lawmakers on Wednesday, parliamentary spokespeople informed.

The new amendments to the law on taxes and duties will come into effect on May 1, 2019.

The ban on cash payments in real estate transactions has been imposed in order to prevent fictitious deals where the parties want to sell or buy property for sums above the reported price, the parliamentary press office said. Until now, cash payments of up to 7,200 euros (8,086 U.S. dollars) were allowed in real estate transactions.

The law has been amended bearing in mind that large cash transactions can pose the risk of fictitious transactions and fraud, as well as money laundering, said the Finance Ministry, which drew up the amendments.

The Finance Ministry's representatives also indicated that in the case of cash transactions it is more difficult for the tax authority to control the accuracy of tax payments on such deals. Also, it is difficult to check whether the deal has actually happened.

The draft amendments also included a proposal to restrict cash payments when selling or buying motor vehicles but that proposal was rejected by the parliament. (1 euro =1.12 U.S. dollars)Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 22:05:10|Editor: ZX

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Ouyang Hua, vice president of Shanghai University, delivers a speech during the ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of joint program the Confucius Institute at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 3, 2019. Bogazici University in Istanbul and Shanghai University of China on Wednesday voiced readiness to cooperate more as they marked the 10th anniversary of joint program the Confucius Institute at Bogazici. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)

ISTANBUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Bogazici University in Istanbul and Shanghai University of China on Wednesday voiced readiness to cooperate more as they marked the 10th anniversary of joint program the Confucius Institute at Bogazici.

"From now on we want to carry on this long and good friendship between our universities ... we want to take it to the next stage," Mehmed Ozkan, rector of Bogazici University, said at the ceremony.

"We want to make it more successful and more comprehensive, covering other topics other than culture and language," he added.

Ouyang Hua, vice president of Shanghai University, spoke of the role played by the joint program in teaching Chinese language, facilitating academic cooperation and exchanges between the faculty and students as well as bilateral cultural exchanges.

"These efforts have promoted mutual understanding between the Turkish and Chinese people, as well as the friendship between Bogazici University and Shanghai University, between the city of Shanghai and the city of Istanbul," he said.

He voiced hope for the next-decade cooperation "to be better in our own ways."

The Confucius Institute has been founded now at four universities in Turkey.

Cui Wei, the Chinese consul general in Istanbul, mentioned the strategic cooperation between Turkey and China and what has been achieved under the Belt and Road Initiative over the years.

"We expect to achieve more in the upcoming ten years between Turkey and China, between Shanghai and Istanbul, and between the two universities," he said.

An exhibition featuring Shanghai-style culture in modern China was held on the occasion, plus a recital of passages from works of Orhan Pamuk and Mo Yan, the Turkish and Chinese writers awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a singing of Turkish and Chinese songs by Turkish students.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 22:20:19|Editor: xuxin

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ADEN, Yemen, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Wednesday that it decided to suspend its activities in the southern port city of Aden after a security incident against one of its facilities in the city.

The MSF announced in a statement that it has officially decided to suspend receiving patient cases after a group of unknown gunmen kidnapped a patient from its hospital based in Omar Mukhtar neighborhood of Aden province.

"The MSF has decided to stop admitting patients to the hospital starting from Wednesday noon. This decision has been taken since the abduction of a patient and any violence against the MSF staff or patients within the organization's facilities cannot be tolerated," it said.

"We will review the decision as soon as the security situation improves from our point of view and appreciation," it added.

It's the first time for the MSF to suspend its work in Aden and the organization has been operating in the southern city since 2015 and offers its services to patients free of charge, according to the statement.

The government-controlled city witnesses sporadic security incidents despite the efforts of the newly-recruited security forces that are trying to limit such chaotic attacks.

The southern port city of Aden, where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has been based since 2015, is considered as Yemen's temporary capital.

The Yemeni government, allied with the Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has been battling Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels for control of the country for more than three years.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 22:25:27|Editor: xuxin

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BEIRUT, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's state security arrested on Wednesday 8 Syrian nationals over illegal entry to Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.

The Syrian nationals were arrested in Morh Kfarsghab, a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon, according to the report.

The arrested were transferred to the judicial bodies for further investigations.

There are many reasons that could drive Syrians to Lebanon, including seeking education and attending an interview by European embassies.

In 2015, however, the Lebanese government has barred the UN refugee agency from registering Syrian refugees or placed additional restrictions on their entry into the country without guarantors, work visas or visas for transit.

Such measures led to a rise in the number of Syrian refugees attempting to enter Lebanon illegally.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 22:30:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JUBA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Wednesday entered into a partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to domesticate global best practices that can promote rule of law, human rights and peace.

Alfred Kiri Yokwe, South Sudan's local government minister of Law Enforcement Agency and Parliamentary Affairs, said that fidelity to the rule of law, human rights and gender mainstreaming is key to restoration of peace in the world's youngest nation.

"We need to improve our courts to enable them apply justice effectively bearing in mind that South Sudan is now hosting many nationalities that need equal protection of the law," said Yokwe.

He spoke during a forum for traditional chiefs who were trained on the harmonization of customary law, statutory law including the alignment of the traditional practices with human rights standards.

"We are now tasked to disseminate the agreement to our people and we encourage peaceful coexistence in our societies so that we can address issues that confront us," said Yokwe.

"War is over and we need development and to preach peace to our people and the chiefs are part and parcel of carrying out this message," he added.

Lealem Berhanu Dinku, UNDP South Sudan's senior advisor on Democratic Governance and Stability Unit, said the training will build upon resolutions agreed during last year's annual rule of law forum and identify inconsistencies for further alignment with the country's bill of rights, legal principles of the formal courts and international standards.

He said UNDP is supporting the ministry of justice, local government courts, and traditional authorities since 2005 to push for the promotion of rule of law, access to justice and good governance.

"We will continue to support you because harmonizing traditional justice system into the judiciary system is very important for the realization of achieving good governance in the country," Dinku told traditional chiefs.

In February, South Sudan's peace monitors said fidelity to the rule of law and governance were key to achieving durable peace in the country following the outbreak of the conflict in late 2013 that has uprooted about 4 million South Sudanese internally and externally.

Since then, the civil war has devastated families, communities, and traditions, including judicial institutions in the country.The Lightspeed Aviation Foundation announced at Sun n Fun 2019 that it will be providing Lightspeed Zulu 3 headsets to the Experimental Aircraft Associations (EAA) Ray Aviation Scholarship recipients. According to EAA, the headsets will be awarded to each scholar upon completion of their first solo flight and ground school requirements.

The Lightspeed Aviation Foundation, through its 2019 Growth Initiative, wants to empower great programs, such as this one from EAA, to make them even more effective in expanding and promoting a vibrant pilot community, said Lightspeed Aviation founder and president Allan Schrader. As tools for enhanced flight training, were thrilled our headsets will help these scholars earn their wings and facilitate clear growth for aviation.

The first two Ray Aviation Scholarship recipients were announced in February. Scholarships will be available to as many as 100 students funded by $1 million provided by the Ray Foundation. The scholarship program is administered through EAAs chapter network and EAA reports that more than 200 chapters have applied to participate. As part of the initiative, scholarship students will be tracking their flight training progress on social media.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 22:45:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MANILA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China and the Philippines wrapped up their bilateral talks on the South China Sea issues here on Wednesday, with both sides hoping for an early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

"Both sides reiterated their commitments to full and effective implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and agreed to maintain the positive momentum of the negotiations towards the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, based on consensus," a statement, issued after the talks, read.

China and the Philippines convened the Fourth Meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea on Wednesday in Manila, respectively led by Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou on the Chinese side, and Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Meynardo LB. Montealegre of the Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs on the Philippines side.

"Both sides affirmed the importance of the BCM as a venue for enhanced and regular dialogue. Both sides also noted the significance of the BCM as a platform for pursuing measures to increase mutual trust and confidence," the statement read.

In this regard, both sides acknowledged that the BCM, as a forum for raising differences with a view to addressing them, preventing and properly managing incidents at sea, and enhancing maritime dialogue and cooperation, can play a significant role in the stable and steady development of bilateral relations.

"Both sides reiterated that while the contentious issues in the South China Sea should not be ignored, they are not the sum total of the Philippines-China relations and should not exclude mutually beneficial cooperation in other fields," the statement said.

Both sides also reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting regional peace and stability, freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the South China Sea.

Both sides reiterated their commitment to addressing disputes by peaceful means, without resorting to the threat or use of force, through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned, in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Both sides likewise agreed that their bilateral relations should serve the interests of the Filipino and Chinese peoples and contribute to peace, stability, and development in the region.

Both sides also exchanged views on oil and gas development.

The two sides also recognized the importance of other complementary multilateral platforms, including ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, ASEAN Regional Forum, and East Asia Summit, in promoting peace and stability in the region.

The Fifth Meeting of the BCM will be held in China in the second half of 2019.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 22:55:59|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAR ES SALAAM, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Vodacom Tanzania's managing director Hisham Hendi, an Egyptian national, and four other people on Wednesday appeared in court charged with committing economic sabotage-related crimes.

Vodacom Tanzania is the east African nation's leading telecommunication company by market share.

Hendi and his co-accused appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam facing 10 counts, including fraudulently using network facilities, which caused the government a loss of 5.8 billion Tanzanian shillings (about 2.5 million U.S. dollars).

They were remanded in custody as economic sabotage related offenses cannot be bailed.

Lazaro Mambosasa, the Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Commander, said Hendi was arrested earlier, adding that his issue was handled by Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

Semu Mwakanjala, TCRA acting public relations manager, confirmed the arrest of the Vodacom Tanzania CEO.

Earlier in the day, Vodacom Tanzania issued a statement saying: "Vodacom Tanzania Plc can confirm that it is fully cooperating with an investigation led by the Tanzania Police Force."

The statement added: "Several Vodacom employees, including managing director Hisham Hendi, are being questioned by relevant authorities in relation to the alleged fraudulent use of network facilities."

Vodacom Tanzania assured its customers that the issue would have no impact on its service delivery and that it has taken measures to ensure that the company's operations continued without interruptions and disruptions.

Hendi was charged in court almost a week after he was appointed new managing director for Vodacom Tanzania.

Prior to the appointment, Hendi served as acting managing director for Vodacom Tanzania since September 2018.

In 2016, Hendi, who holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the Cairo University, was recruited to lead marketing and sales functions.

He has 15 years of experience in telecommunication industry, having worked in various leadership positions in United Kingdom, Egypt and South Africa.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:01:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that the United States has blocked international relief aid to Iranian victims over the recent deadly floods.

It is a "crime" of the United States to block the delivery of foreign relief to Iran's Red Crescent Society, Rouhani was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

Rouhani urged the Iranian Foreign Ministry to sue the U.S. crime.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also accused the U.S. of putting bans on delivery of international aid to the country's flood-stricken people. He said that the U.S. pressures constituted an act of "economic terrorism."

Since two weeks ago, heavy rains and unprecedented floods in most parts of Iran have claimed the lives of at least 60 people and injured 478 others.

Downpours and floods have also caused massive destruction to the agricultural sector, infrastructure as well as the residential areas.

Besides, tens of villages and cities are still surrounded by high water levels and a number of villages disappeared under the mud and sludge.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:16:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Keren Setton

JERUSALEM, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Just days before Israelis head to the polls, voters are as divided as ever and experts expect the country is heading for tumulus times which might actually result in another general election within the next year.

This election, in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking his 4th consecutive term, is seen as a critical one that will determine the future of Israel and the face of its democracy.

The Israeli system is a parliamentary one, which means a coalition government needs to be formed in order to get the majority of the 120 parliament seats.

Netanyahu's main opponent is the leader of the Blue and White party Benny Gantz. Even in polls which show Gantz's party taking the lead, Netanyahu and his Likud party consistently have enough mandates in their bloc that will enable them to form a government.

"It's very hard to bet against Netanyahu. Netanyahu, perhaps by a very very thin margin, will be the most likely person to put together a coalition," said Gerald Steinberg from the Political Science Department at Bar-Ilan University.

The current campaign has been largely about the leadership of Netanyahu. His most recent tenure in office has been marred by corruption scandals which have recently culminated into a decision by the Israeli attorney general to indict him on several allegations pending a hearing expected by July of this year.

According to Israeli law, a prime minister must resign only after all appeals have been exhausted. This could mean Netanyahu will be conducting a trial as a sitting premier. It is widely believed that in such a case, he will have difficulty finding coalition partners to sit with.

"It's going to be a very turbulent political season and we might end up with another election not that far in the horizon," said Gayil Talshir from the Political Science Department at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

While Israel is dealing with various critical issues - security, the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, economy and the high cost of living in the country, large socio-economic gaps and an increasingly fragmented society, the election is focused on Netanyahu and his leadership style.

Many of his faithful voters adopt an "all or nothing" approach when it comes to Netanyahu. In polls published throughout the campaign, the results have been consistently in favor of him when the public has been asked who is more suited to lead the country.

After a decade in office, if re-elected, there is a chance for him to become Israel's longest serving prime minister. His popularity, skillful politics and undeniable achievements make it difficult for any possible successor.

For Netanyahu's opposition, both in the political arena and amongst the people, the allegations of corruption against him should be enough to send him home.

"He's doing terrible things to the country, I think that he's corrupt even if it's not provable," said Michael Sager of Jerusalem.

Under Netanyahu, the Israeli economy has strengthened and bilateral ties with many countries, including China, have improved. Israel has solidified its status as an innovation hub. He has also largely averted wars on both of Israel's volatile borders in the north and south of the country.

The American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the Golan heights as Israeli sovereign territory may be controversial on an international level, but are at the consensus of most Israelis - left or right. His close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump has been used by Netanyahu repeatedly throughout the campaign.

Relations between Israel and moderate Arab countries have been fortified under the Israeli premier and this cannot be underestimated in the delicate balance of power of the Middle East.

Still, there is criticism of his hostility towards the media and his attacks on the police and the judicial system as he went on the offensive to defend his reputation.

Critics say that his attacks against law enforcement are undermining Israeli democracy. During his last term, a contentious Nation-State bill was passed which gives Jews preferred status in the country. He has polarized the Arab minority in Israel which account for almost 20% of the country's population.

"The last Netanyahu government was very right wing and very conservative," Talshir said, adding "the majority of the people are not sure one week before the elections what they are going to vote and what kind of Israel they want to see after the elections."

Should Netanyahu form the next government, his fate will be in the hands of the judicial system. He will try to claim that any move against him will be an undemocratic attempt to oust him from power after winning the popular vote.

"I think it's almost definite that there will be corruption trials against Netanyahu after the elections. If he's elected, it will be a very complicated system," Steinberg told Xinhua.

"Israel is not going to have a period of stability whatever the result of the elections are and we could be back in elections in 6 months," he said.

What seems certain is that the Israeli political system is headed for some rocky times. With polls showing still many undecided voters just days ahead and many small parties at the borderline of the threshold to enter the Israeli Knesset, the forecast is cloudy with thunderstorms, and perhaps another election ahead.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:16:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's health and education authorities Wednesday pledged to work together to control child myopia.

Health departments will help schools and parents to conduct targeted intervention, said Ma Xiaowei, head of the National Health Commission, at a meeting between the commission and Ministry of Education.

Ma said priority would be given to young students, and health departments would assist schools in measures such as increasing outdoor activities, as well as reducing electronic device use and homework.

Health departments will also carry out a special monitoring program on the eyesight of school-age children and allocate more resources to the eyesight examinations, and counselling services, he said.

Education departments will supervise schools to take concrete measures and evaluate their performance, Minister of Education Chen Baosheng said at the meeting.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:21:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADDIS ABABA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have called for strong collaboration in the operationalization of the African Standby Forces (ASF), the AU revealed on Wednesday.

Officials of AU and NATO made the joint call following the meeting of AU Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, Sarah Anyang Agbor, with commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, and commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, admiral James G. Foggo III, the pan African bloc said in a statement on Wednesday.

The meeting at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa "acknowledged the importance of advancing the collaboration between the African Union and NATO in issues related to political connectivity, capacity building, and continental collaboration," the statement read.

The AU commissioner, during the meeting, highlighted some of AU's flagship projects such as "Silencing the Guns by 2020," which the AU said has recorded achievements in conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction across the continent.

Agbor, noting the positive cooperation among the two parties, also called for closer collaboration and support in the operationalization of the African Standby Forces (ASF) and the operationalization of the AU Continental Logistics Base in Douala, the AU said.

The ASF is a continental and multidisciplinary peacekeeping force with military, police and civilian contingents that act under the direction of the AU, and is deployed in times of crisis across the 55 AU members.

Meanwhile, Douala of Cameroon was selected in 2011 as the site of the AU's Continental Logistics Base (LOGBASE).

Agbor also stressed that the AU, which is currently implementing a reform agenda, envisaged for self-financing of the African Union's conflict prevention and resolution efforts with the creation of the Africa Peace Fund.

Admiral Foggo also briefed the AU officials on NATO's new efforts in counter-terrorism, cyber-security and the refugees and migration crises in Europe.

"There has been enormous progress on the Africa continent, particularly in those 38 countries that have a coastline. We can be very proud of what our African partners have achieved," an AU statement quoted Foggo as saying.

He further emphasized that "political connectivity is very important and must be strengthened as well as political cooperation and practical collaboration are very essential for progress."

"NATO is ready to bring expertise from political and military organizations. Integrity building programmes of NATO can help to build good governance. Moreover, as part of the Maritime Security efforts, one of the vessels will be brought to go round the Gulf of Guinea," he said.

The visit of the NATO high-level delegation is said to be part of the preparations for the upcoming staff talks between the AU and NATO, slated for May this year in Addis Ababa.

In 2014, a technical agreement was signed between the AU and NATO leading to the opening of a NATO Liaison Office at the AU Headquarters in 2015. As part of the agreement NATO has been providing training for military and civilian staff of the AU, it was noted.

AU-NATO cooperation, which dates back to 2005 when the AU requested for logistics and airlift support for its Mission in Sudan, mainly encompasses three areas including operational support, capacity-building, and assistance in the establishment of the African Standby Force (ASF), according to the AU said.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:21:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BRUSSELS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned the United Kingdom on Wednesday that if the country's European Union (EU) Withdrawal Agreement is not adopted by April 12 by the House of Commons, no short extension to the Brexit deadline will be possible as requested by British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday.

Speaking in Brussels, he said: "April 12 is the final date for possible approval. If the House of Commons does not adopt a stance before that date no short-term extension will be possible."

"I believe a no-deal at midnight on April 12 is now a very likely scenario," Juncker said, adding that: "It is not the outcome I want."

His comments came as Prime Minister May said on Tuesday she would seek "as short as possible" a delay to the current Brexit date of April 12. She also reiterated that she did not want Britain to have to take part in the European Parliament elections starting May 23.

Juncker also set out conditions for talks after a no-deal Brexit: the UK must honor its financial commitments to the EU; citizens' rights must be upheld and protected; and a solution must be found to the Irish border issue that "preserves peace and the internal market."Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:26:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WARSAW, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The reshuffle of the Polish government would take place after the Easter holidays, Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin said on Wednesday.

"The final decision will belong to the Prime Minister," Gowin, who's also the minister of Science and Higher Education, told radio station TOK FM.

"It is not even sure that a reconstruction will take place. Rather, we are leaning towards having ministers who are on top of the lists for the European Parliament leave their positions. But I do not think the reshuffle would cover anyone else," Gowin added.

Catholic Easter will be celebrated on April 21 this year.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party said the reshuffle was likely to take place before European Parliament elections in May.

In February, PiS announced that some of its ministers and vice ministers would be running for seats in the European Parliament, including Deputy Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, Minister of the Interior and Administration Joachim Brudzinski and Minister of National Education Anna Zalewska.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:26:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KAMPALA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- An American tourist and her Ugandan driver were on Tuesday evening kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the western district of Kanungu, a government spokesperson said here on Wednesday.

Ofwono Opondo, Uganda government spokesperson said that four armed assailants ambushed and kidnapped the duo near Katoke Gate at Queen Elizabeth National Park.

The police has identified the victims as 35 year old female American, Kimbley Sue Endecott and driver, Jean Paul.

He said a joint operation by police, Uganda People's Defense Forces and Uganda Wildlife Authority Game wardens is under way to rescue the duo.

Polly Namaye, Uganda deputy police spokesperson said the kidnappers using the victim's phone have demanded 500,000 U.S. dollars.

"We strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind the kidnap," Namaye told reporters.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-03 23:31:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSCOW, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Recently elected Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Wednesday he wants to ensure the continuity of the "model" relations between Kazakhstan and Russia.

"I will do everything possible in order to strengthen the achieved potential of friendship between our peoples," Tokayev said before the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Tokayev, succeeding his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, was sworn in as Kazakhstan's president last month. He made his first official foreign visit to Russia, Kazakhstan's close ally.

He said relations between the two countries are constantly developing along an ascending line and fully complied with the national interests of their peoples.

Russia and Kazakhstan are not only partners, but close allies, Putin said, greeting Tokayev.

"Our relations, both through international organizations and in bilateral terms, are developing very efficiently. We are achieving serious and noticeable results that affect the standard of living of our peoples," he said.

Putin said he is confident that the visit of Tokayev would serve to strengthen multifaceted relations between the two countries.

Kazakhstan and Russia are founders of the Eurasian Economic Union, and also members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Russia uses the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to launch its spacecraft.Adding to the FAAs look-see into Boeing and an ongoing FBI investigation into the certification of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, the Senate Transportation Committee is launching its own investigation. This time is has to do with whistleblower complaints claiming the FAA improperly trained its safety inspectors to review the MAX 8 design and certification.

In light of recent 737 crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, the committee is investigating any potential connection between inadequate training and certification of Aviation Safety Inspectors who may have participated in the FSB evaluation of the 737 MAX, Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the committee, said in a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell delivered on Tuesday.

Wicker said the FAA may have been notified about these deficiencies as early as August of 2018 and that an in-house investigation of the allegations may have already been done and completed by the FAA.

Meanwhile, Boeing said earlier this week that although it had hoped to deliver revised software to the MAX fleet by mid-April, that fix will be delayed at least several more weeks. Some 350-plus MAX jets remain grounded as safety agencies grind through investigations on two crashes, one in Indonesia in October 2018 and a second in Ethiopia in March. Those probes appear to be focusing on a background anti-stall system called MCAS, which may have been erroneously triggered by faulty angle-of-attack sensors.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 00:01:57|Editor: Yurou

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Nepali State Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Dhan Bahadur Budha (Front) speaks during the ground breaking ceremony of the reconstruction project of the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 3, 2019. Nepal's sole international airport Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) started its reconstruction project of its runway on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)

KATHMANDU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's sole international airport Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) stared its reconstruction project of its runway on Wednesday.

The ground breaking ceremony of the project was held in the runway premise in the presence of Nepali State Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Dhan Bahadur Budha and high level aviation officials.

This is the first time that the TIA runway is being reconstructed. The current runway, which is 3,050 meters long and 45 meters wide, was built in 1975.

Chinese company China National Aero-technology International Engineering Corporation (CATIC) is the contractor of the Rs 3.75 billion (34.17 million U.S. dollar) project.

Addressing the ground breaking ceremony, Budha said the renovation will contribute to Visit Nepal Year 2020, which aims to attract 2 million foreign tourists in the country in 2020.

Sanjiv Gautam, director general at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, said "After the rehabilitation program, it will help us to enhance our safety level, it will increase our capacity and it will help us to have a smooth operation."

Following the immense pressure in runway especially after the earthquake of 2015 and considering the upcoming Visit Nepal Year 2020, the government came up with the upgrade plan, according to the officials.

Zhang Fan, the economic and commercial counsel1or of the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, said the project has a great importance in terms of connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative. He also urged the Nepali side to cooperate for the smooth implementation of the project.

The project has been viewed as a very challenging task since the renovation will be performed in the runway with regular operation of flights, in addition to the short time frame of three months before the monsoon begins.

"Our company will strictly perform the contract to ensure the safety, quality, and efficiency of the project by means of first-class management and engineering," CATIC Vice President said.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 00:22:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a report released Wednesday cautioned against an ongoing trend in which market power has increasingly concentrated among "a small fraction of dynamic firms."

In one of the analytical chapters of the IMF's updated World Economic Outlook report, the full version of which is expected to be published on April 9, the international lender analyzed the rise of corporate market power and its macroeconomic effects.

The research found out that market power has increased moderately across advanced economies, but not in emerging market economies. For companies in advanced economies, the report said, price markups over marginal costs have risen by close to 8 percent since 2000.

Despite the fact that the increase has been fairly widespread across advanced economies and industries, "within them, it has been concentrated among a small fraction of dynamic-more productive and innovative-firms," the IMF said in the report.

In addition, further increases in the market power of these already-powerful firms, according to the report, could weaken investment, deter innovation, reduce labor income shares, and make it more difficult for monetary policy to stabilize output.

The study noted that rising corporate market power so far seems more reflective of a "winner-takes-most" by more productive and innovative firms than of weaker pro-competition policies. It suggested that policymakers heed the phenomenon's "challenging macro macroeconomic implications" and engage in reforms that keep future market competition strong.

Addressing an event at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the winner-takes-most dynamic is "especially pronounced in the digital economy."

"I am not saying that we currently have a 'monopoly problem,'" Lagarde said. "But I am saying that we should take appropriate measures-so that it does not become a problem."

To cope with the issue, the IMF chief called for actions on reducing barriers to entry for new firms and reforming competition frameworks to ensure a level playing field in all sectors, whether traditional or high-tech.Russian army S-400 Triumph medium-range and long-range surface-to-air missile system rehearse before the World War II anniversary in Moscow, on May 7, 2017. (Reuters File photo)

ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that his country will not step back from the deal to buy the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

"The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this," Cavusoglu said at a think-tank forum in Washington, where NATO foreign ministers gathered for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the security bloc.

The Pentagon said on Monday that it had halted delivery of F-35 related parts to Turkey because of the latter's purchase of the S-400 defense system from Russia.

"We don't see our relations with Russia as an alternative to our relations with others. And nobody, neither the West nor Russia, can ask us to choose between," Cavusoglu said.

Responding to the remarks that the S-400 cannot integrate into the NATO system, the Turkish minister said the United States could establish a technical working group to ensure that the S-400 will not be a threat to F-35s or the other NATO systems.

In December 2017, Turkey finalized a deal with Russia over the purchase of the S-400 surface-to-air missile system. Russia will deliver the first batch of the defense batteries in late 2019.

Meanwhile, Turkey plans to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets from the United States, and its pilots are training on the weapons platform at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona of the United States.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 02:28:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADEN, Yemen, April 3 (Xinhua) -- At least three women were killed Wednesday when a projectile landed on a residential area in the Red Sea coast city of Hodeidah, local residents said.

"A projectile landed on Rabsah neighborhood in the southern parts of Hodeidah province, killing three women and injuring other civilians," one of the residents based in Hodeidah told Xinhua by phone.

The Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels exchanged accusations of bombing the residential neighborhood in Hodeidah.

The Iran-allied Houthi rebels control the city while the Saudi-backed government troops have advanced to the southeastern outskirts.

Hodeidah is the key lifeline entry point for the country's most food imports and humanitarian aid. The four-year grinding war has pushed over 20 million to the verge of starvation.

Yemeni warring parties reached a peace deal on Hodeidah in December last year as a first step toward brokering a comprehensive political solution.

Sporadic breaches are daily recorded in Hodeidah as the two belligerent sides failed to withdraw their forces in accordance with an agreement reached in the Swedish capital Stockholm.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 02:43:53|Editor: Yurou

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GENEVA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- One in four health care facilities around the world lacks basic water services, impacting over two billion people and raising the risk of infection, antimicrobial resistance and poor-quality care, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF jointly warned on Wednesday.

In their latest report entitled "Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene" (JMP), the WHO and UNICEF assess water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in health care facilities worldwide.

Besides basic water services, the report also finds that one in five health care facilities has no sanitation service, impacting 1.5 billion people, and that many health centers lack basic facilities for hand hygiene, and safe segregation and disposal of health care waste.

These services are believed to be crucial to preventing infections, reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance and providing quality care, particularly for safe childbirth.

"When a baby is born in a health facility without adequate water, sanitation and hygiene, the risk of infection and death for both the mother and the baby is high," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. "Every birth should be supported by a safe pair of hands, washed with soap and water, using sterile equipment, in a clean environment."

In another report, WHO and UNICEF researchers revealed that more than one million deaths each year are associated with unclean births, where infections account for 26 percent of neonatal deaths and 11 percent of maternal mortality.

To cope with the situation, governments will debate a resolution on water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities at the 2019 World Health Assembly, to be held in May. Such a resolution was unanimously approved by the WHO Executive Board earlier this year.

The WHO and UNICEF have recommended that governments establish national plans and targets, improve infrastructure and maintenance, and engage communities, so as to improve the WASH services in health care facilities.

These actions and resulting improvements in WASH services can yield dramatic returns on investment in the form of improved maternal and newborn health, preventing antimicrobial resistance, stopping disease outbreaks and improving quality of care.

According to UNICEF, 7,000 newborn babies died every day in 2017, mostly from preventable and treatable conditions, including infections like sepsis. UNICEF is calling for governments and authorities to make sure that every mother and baby has access to affordable, quality care.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 03:29:30|Editor: Yurou

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Workers cheer as they pose for photos at the 300th BYD electric bus offline ceremony in Lancaster, Los Angeles County, the United States, April 3, 2019. China's leading electric vehicle maker BYD said on Wednesday that it has rolled out the 300th bus at its Lancaster manufacturing plant in the U.S. state of California, marking a milestone for production. The 300th bus, a 35-foot BYD K9S model transit bus, is one of three built for the Capital Area Transit System of Baton Rouge, capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, the company said in a release. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

LOS ANGELES, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's leading electric vehicle maker BYD has rolled out the 300th bus at its Lancaster manufacturing plant in the U.S. state of California, the company said on Wednesday.

The 300th bus, a 35-foot BYD K9S model transit bus, is one of three built for the Capital Area Transit System of Baton Rouge, capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, the company said in a release.

"We are very proud of this 300th American bus milestone. We are passionate about our mission to create a cleaner environment here in North America and across the globe," BYD President Stella Li told Xinhua.

In a celebration with its customer Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) on Wednesday, BYD said that AVTA is expected to realize 1 million miles of zero emission bus operations in May.

AVTA has ordered 85 electric buses from BYD, and 25 buses have been delivered up to now, according to the company.

Li called AVTA a model for transit agencies seeking affordable green technology -- especially those in California needing to comply with state regulations requiring zero-emission fleets by 2040.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris termed the 300th bus as "the tip of the iceberg." He said BYD has created hundreds of well-paying American jobs with more on the horizon as the company expands its product lines of battery electric buses, trucks and forklifts.

Since delivery of its first U.S. battery electric bus in 2014, BYD has provided buses for customers in 13 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces.

"As the first Chinese vehicle company setting up a manufacturing facility in the United States, BYD has not only achieved impressive business success, but also made significant contributions to local employment growth and social and economic development," said Shi Yuanqiang, deputy Chinese consul general in Los Angeles.

"BYD is a perfect combination of technology, engineering and innovation of China and the United States, which yields mutual benefits and win-win results," Shi said.

When BYD opened its Lancaster manufacturing plant in 2013, it had a handful of employees working on 10 buses in a 106,000-square-foot (9848-square-meter) building that once housed a motorhome manufacturing facility, according to the release.

In just six years, BYD has grown to become the largest battery electric bus manufacturer in North America, with more than 750 employees.

According to BYD, it has spent 70 million U.S. dollars in 2018 on components and services from American vendors, many from southern California. In all, BYD has invested more than 250 million dollars in North America.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 04:30:04|Editor: Yurou

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The United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Haiti is held in the Security Council chamber, with drapes pulled open, at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 3, 2019. UN Security Council looked and acted differently Wednesday with two visible changes -- perennially closed drapes were pulled open and an hourglass was placed on the table in front of the council president, German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who wished to have the chamber "enlightened." (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Xinhua writer Wang Jiangang

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- UN Security Council looked and acted differently Wednesday with two visible changes -- perennially closed drapes were pulled open and an hourglass was placed on the table in front of the council president, German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who wished to have the chamber "enlightened."

With the two huge drapes, which had never been opened during the council's previous convenings, pulled wide open, the Security Council looked much brighter as balmy spring sunlight flooded in, while the East River just outside the window sparkled with ripples.

"We want to have an enlightened Security Council. And I'm very grateful for the Secretariat that our intervention to have the curtains opened was successful," said Heusgen, beaming.

"We have now light in the Security Council," he added.

Without a pause, Heusgen introduced another "innovation" -- an hourglass. The president would want the speakers to save unnecessary and overelaborate formalities, avoiding spending too much time in thanking too many people before hitting the point of their speeches.

Holding the "handmade" hourglass in his hands, the German ambassador said sand would begin to trickle down when it is turned. "It's about five and a half minutes. It's a bit beyond node five, which recommends five-minute interventions," he said, adding that "we'd give an extra 30 seconds, as "there is an inalienable right to speak."

Jerry Matthews Matjila, South African UN ambassador, chipped in with the suggestion of leaving the hourglass always there.

Echoing his views, Heusgen said "we will follow the proposal of our South African friend and make a resolution out of this."

"We do this because we believe in the Security Council," said Heusgen, noting that "we believe that this is a very important body. In times when there are many difficult issues on the international agenda, we have to meet the expectations of our citizens, and we have to make this work."

The influence of the hourglass on Wednesday's speakers was immediate and obvious.

U.S. Acting Permanent Representative to the UN Jonathan Cohen cast glances at the hourglass while making his statement, finishing his speech within the newly-suggested speech time limit.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and some other UN officials tried to limit their speeches to one to three minutes, finishing what they wanted to say in the shortest possible time.

The day's Security Council meeting on the issue concerning Haiti ended in 2 hours and 40 minutes thanks to the ingenious "intervention."Chinese travellers arrive at the Boryspil airport in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 20, 2016. (Xinhua)

KIEV, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian cabinet on Wednesday has decided to impose a ban on irregular direct flights to Russia in addition to the restrictions on regular flights imposed in 2015, local media reported.

According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the new restrictions will apply to all private flights except those needed to support the missions of international organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The government's decision was taken after Yuriy Boyko, a Ukrainian presidential candidate and founder of the "Opposition Platform - For Life" party, and a representative of the party visited Moscow last month, the agency said.

In 2015, Kiev barred all Russian airlines from flying to Ukraine in a move that prompted a retaliatory response from Moscow. Transit flights between the two ex-Soviet neighbors were also suspended.

Relations between Kiev and Moscow have been deteriorating since early 2014 over issues of Crimea and eastern Ukraine.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 04:50:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BAGHDAD, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabian Minister of Commerce and Investment Majid a-Qasabi, who is on a visit to Iraq, on Wednesday announced that his country will open a new consulate in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Thursday.

At a joint press conference with the Iraqi Oil Minister Thamir al-Ghadhban, al-Qasabi told reporters "tomorrow a consulate of Saudi Arabia will open in Baghdad, and three other consulates will be opened in Iraq."

Earlier in the day, al-Qasabi, who headed a Saudi delegation of 115 members, including seven ministers and dozens of businessmen, arrived in Baghdad on a two-day visit to hold the second session of the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council.

"The large delegation confirms the seriousness and keenness in building bridges of communication and promoting investment between the two countries," al-Qasabi said.

He also revealed that Saudi Arabia has allocated one billion U.S. dollars for the implementation of Saudi projects in Iraq.

For his part, al-Ghadhban said the two sides "tomorrow there will be a meeting to review results of previous discussions and to discuss the work of joint committees, in addition to revitalizing bilateral trade relations."

The Saudi delegation and the Iraqi side are expected to sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on various fields, and the Saudi delegation will also meet with Iraqi President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and the Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi.

The first session of the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council was held in Riyadh in October 2017 under the sponsorship of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

On Tuesday, Abdul Mahdi said that he'll pay an official visit to Saudi Arabia within the next two weeks to discuss the issues of trade exchange, customs tariff and the development of relations between the two countries.

The relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia have improved since Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy in the capital Baghdad in 2016 after 25 years of closure.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 05:50:45|Editor: Yurou

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) meets with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Egypt, on April 3, 2019. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday held talks with visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over various regional issues and ongoing efforts to combat terrorism. (Xinhua/MENA)

CAIRO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday held talks with visiting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres over various regional issues and ongoing efforts to combat terrorism.

Sisi and Guterres discussed the recent developments in the Middle East region, particularly in turmoil-stricken Libya, Syria and Yemen, said Egypt's presidential spokesman Bassam Rady in a statement.

"The UN official reviewed the UN efforts to reach political settlement to these regional issues, noting the UN keenness on enhancing cooperation with Egypt to safeguard peace and security in the Middle East region," Rady added.

Sisi reiterated Egypt's fixed policies and positions on such regional crises, which are based on maintaining the unity and integrity of states and supporting their national institutions.

With regards to the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Egyptian president expressed his country's support for the UN efforts and relevant international initiatives to reach a just and comprehensive settlement for the major issue.

The meeting was attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and head of the General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel.

Guterres is scheduled to fly to Libya following his visit to the Egyptian capital Cairo, ahead of a UN-sponsored national conference that seeks to pave the way for elections to help end years of chaos in Libya.

At a press conference with Shoukry following the meeting, Guterres stressed the necessity of unifying Libyan institutions "to avoid any major confrontation and to create the conditions to stabilize the situation in Libya."

"I have just arrived in Libya, totally committed to support a Libyan-led political process leading to peace, stability, democracy and prosperity for the Libyan people," Guterres tweeted on Wednesday evening.Sling Aircrafts Jean dAssonville and Wayne Toddun successfully completed a nonstop trip from Torrance, California, to the Lakeland area for Sun n Fun 2019 in 13.5 hours. Benefiting from early tailwinds and an additional 30 gallons of fuel (over the normal 45-gallon long-range tanks), the Sling TSi made the trip with ease, landing with 1.5 hours of fuel, despite the crew having to maneuver around spring weather.

According to dAssonville, the idea started with the usual need to get aircraft from the companys U.S. headquarters in Torrance to Sun n Fun. Its a bit of a flying circus, he says. We make many stops because were limited by the slowest airplanes with the smallest fuel tanks. But now that the company has had some success and the two-seat LSAs are available locally, there was only the need to bring the new TSi eastward. So they hatched the plan to fly nonstop.

We took off at 4:00 a.m., just a bit over gross, dAssonville recalls. We cruise climbed to 17,500 feet at 120 KIAS and 300 FPM or so. For the first bit of the trip we had nice tailwinds and fine weather. But then around New Orleans, we hit a line of rain we couldnt cross. Eventually, the crew descended in VFR conditions to within 1000 feet of the Gulf of Mexico.

Of course, now wed lost our tailwind and, in fact, picked up a headwind, says dAssonville. We decided that we could continue by throttling back, so we did. We were able to go 100 KTAS on between 4.2 and 4.6 gallons per hour. By comparison, at 17,500 feet, we were going 155 KTAS on 6.8 GPH. Even though we had a 37-knot headwind, we still had the fuel reserves.

The Sling TSi actually landed at Tampa Executive because Lakeland was closed for the night. After 13.5 hours in the airplane, which was actually very comfortable, they said, the next day, they brought the TSi into Lakeland.

The TSi is a heavily updated version of the Sling 4 four-seat experimental. Myriad aerodynamic refinements have upped its performance, as has the 141-HP Rotax 915IS. Built of conventional aluminum, the TSi kits will be available this summer. Estimated finished cost is just over $141,000 (including engine, prop and avionics) but a quick-build option is available, bringing the total to just more than $164,000.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 06:31:06|Editor: Yurou

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BRUSSELS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker appeared to close the door on Wednesday before British Prime Minister Theresa May's request for a second short extension of Brexit, saying it would not be possible if the withdrawal agreement was not approved by the British House of Commons by April 12.

Shortly after May's appeal, Juncker gave the strongest evidence to date among growing indications that the European Union (EU) was bracing itself for a no-deal Brexit against the deadlock in British politics, despite how costly it would prove to both the bloc and Britain.

NO-DEAL BREXIT "VERY LIKELY"

"I believe that a 'no deal' at midnight on the 12 April is now a very likely scenario," said Juncker as he addressed Members of European Parliament (MEPs) meeting in Brussels for a part plenary session on Wednesday.

"It is not the outcome I want. But it is an outcome for which I have made sure the European Union is ready," Juncker added.

Nearing the end of his term before the European elections in May, Juncker said that if Britain will be in a position to approve the Withdrawal Agreement with a sustainable majority by April 12, the EU should be prepared to accept an extension until May 22.

April 12 would be the "ultimate deadline," however, for the House of Commons to approve the withdrawal agreement, he said.

Absent that approval, "no further short extension will be possible," said Juncker, for whom to extend any further would risk compromising the bloc's elections, and destabilizing the EU.

Speaking Tuesday in Brussels, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier also said a no-deal Brexit was likely. "I do not wish for no-deal, I did not work at any moment for a no-deal, even if we are prepared," he said.

During a Tuesday press conference on the occasion of an official visit to Paris by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, French President Emmanuel Macron placed the responsibility for the no-deal scenario with British leaders, asking for the British government to say what it proposed, and "to say it now."

"If the United Kingdom is not capable, nearly three years after the referendum, to propose a solution the brings together a majority, it will itself have chosen, de facto, to leave without an agreement, and we can not avoid failure for them," the French president said and repeated in a tweet.

For his part, Varadkar also indicated that the EU needed to avoid a "rolling extension," and that any proposal for more time "must have a clear purpose and a clear plan."

Both leaders pledged solidarity, and insisted that the "good functioning" of the EU and the single market needed to be a priority.

LOSSES EXPECTED IN EU AND BRITAIN

Governments and independent analysts appear to agree that a no-deal Brexit, in which the two parties revert to World Trade Organization rules, would be the costliest scenario with repercussions for both Britain and the EU.

According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, the real output for the remaining 27 EU members would decline by 1.5 percent in the long-run relative to a no-Brexit scenario.

In such a case, the Republic of Ireland would be hit hardest with an output loss of 4 percent, followed by the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium.

A report by the Dublin-based Economic & Social Research Institute published on March 26 also said Ireland would be the worst-affected in the EU. In the most undesirable scenario of a disorderly no-deal Brexit, the level of real output in the Irish economy would be 5 percent lower, compared to Britain staying in the EU.

While the EU members appear sure to suffer losses, Britain is widely predicted to be biggest loser.

In terms of trade, total EU exports would be reduced by just over 2.1 percent in the case of a no-deal Brexit, but total British exports would fall by just over 9.8 percent, according to economists Martina Lawless and Edgar Morgenroth.

In a late March report, German think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung estimated EU citizens would bear the brunt of 40 billion euros per year in income losses in the case of a no-deal Brexit, but that British citizens would suffer income losses of 57 billion euros per year, or approximately 900 euros per capita per year.

Meanwhile, European businesses and trade associations are preparing for the worst. A report on "Risks and Vulnerabilities in the EU financial system," published Tuesday by the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities urged EU banking, insurance, pensions and securities sectors to make strong contingency plans for possibilities of strong market volatility following a no-deal Brexit. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 06:36:10|Editor: Yurou

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 3, 2019. Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the military alliance does not want a "new arms race" with Russia while urging Moscow to keep compliance with a landmark arms control treaty. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the military alliance does not want a "new arms race" with Russia while urging Moscow to keep compliance with a landmark arms control treaty.

"We do not want a new arms race, we do not want a new Cold War," said Stoltenberg while addressing a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, one of the highlights during his stay in Washington to celebrate the alliance's 70th anniversary.

The NATO chief talked much about Russia in his speech, urging the country to keep its compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a missile pact signed by Washington and Moscow over three decades ago to curb arms race.

"I continue to call on Russia to return to compliance with the INF Treaty," said Stoltenberg, insisting on Russia's violation of the agreement.

"NATO has no intention of deploying land-based missiles in Europe," he added.

Meanwhile, Stoltenberg made it clear that NATO will "take the necessary steps to provide credible and effective deterrence" against Russia.

During his speech, Stoltenberg also called for unity in the bloc while recognizing serious divergence. "Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has long been blaming the NATO countries that they have not met the 2-percent benchmark on military spending.

NATO is holding two-day foreign ministers' talks to commemorate its establishment for seven decades. Russia is set to be a major issue for the discussion.

The INF Treaty, signed in 1987 between the Soviet Union and the United States, marked the first-ever pact reached by Washington and Moscow on nuclear disarmament and a major step forward in restricting the arms race.

However, the two sides have been accusing each other of violating the arms control agreement amid increasing tensions in recent years. Moscow announced in early March about its suspension of complying with the pact, following a similar decision by Washington in February.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 06:41:13|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Wednesday that China supports the UN secretary-general's proposed drawdown and exit roadmap for peacekeeping in Haiti.

China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Wu Haitao made the remark at a Security Council meeting on Haiti, including on the UN peacekeeping mission in the Caribbean country known as MINUJUSTH.

As MINUJUSTH is likely to conclude in October, Wu said the mission should continue to transfer the responsibility to the Haitian government in a steadily and orderly manner and complete the drawdown and exit on schedule.

"With regard to the transition to a special political mission post-MINUJUSTH, members of the Security Council, the secretariat, and the Haitian government should fully discuss the relevant issues," he said.

The Haitian government should continue to strengthen its coordination and collaboration with the United Nations to ensure a smooth transition, he urged.

In addition, he said China hopes that the Haitian government can assume its responsibility of maintaining the country's stability and development, enhance its self-development capacity, and strengthen the rule of law.

He also expressed hope that the Haitian government can conduct a constructive nationwide dialogue and properly resolve differences through consultations.Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-04 06:51:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MADRID, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The increase in the minimum wage approved by the Spanish government in December will have a "neutral" impact on job creation, Spanish Minister for Economy and Business, Nadia Calvino, commented on Wednesday.

Calvino based her conclusions on the unemployment figures for March, which were published on Tuesday and showed a fall of 33,956 in the number of Spaniards out of work to 3.2 million. Meanwhile the number of people contributing to the social security system in Spain rose to over 19 million, the highest level in 11 years.

She confirmed that the economic measures approved by the government, among which was an increase of the minimum wage to 900 euros a month had had a positive impact on the spending power of Spanish families and given a boost to internal demand.

The minister explained that the government predicted the measures would have a "neutral" impact on job creation and highlighted the ability of the Spanish economy to resist uncertainties elsewhere. To back this point up, Calvino pointed out the 2.6 percent growth in Spanish GDP in 2018, which was above the growth rates of most other European countries.

The government predicts a growth of 2.2 percent in Spain in 2019 with much of the growth maintained by increasing internal demand which Calvino described as "the key motor for driving" the economy. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)Fermierul care trece de la productia de fructe la procesarea lor. Secretul lui: fara adaos de zahar

Sucuri naturale din zmeura, mure, aronia sau mere, marmelada si gem de prune, gutui, zmeura, chipsuri si batoane din fructe, toate fara adaos de zahar, sunt bunatatile pe care un fermier buzoian [citeste mai departe]BOLDG/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivered an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, kicking off a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers and the celebration of the alliances 70th anniversary.



"The strength of a nation is not only measured by the size of its economy, or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends, Stoltenberg told Congress. And through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other power."



The address followed Stoltenbergs meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, in which the president praised his leadership of the alliance. Stoltenberg  who has led NATO since 2014  has routinely credited Trump for pushing NATO allies to spend more on defense, something he did again before Congress on Wednesday.



"NATO allies must spend more on defense. This has been the clear message from President Trump, and this message is having a real impact, Stoltenberg said. All allies have increased their defense spending. Before they were cutting billions, and now they're adding billions.



"The media never gives me credit, but he gives me credit," Trump told reporters on Tuesday.



At times, Trumps America First foreign policy has publicly undercut NATO -- including a report from the New York Times in January (should link) that the president had spoken to aides about withdrawing from the alliance. But days after the story was published, Trump seemed to assure U.S. allies, saying Were going to be with NATO 100 percent.



So what exactly is NATO, and why is the organization so significant? ABC News breaks down the alliance.



What is NATO?



NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a security alliance established in 1949 during the early days of the Cold War to counter Soviet aggression in Europe. Now numbering 29 countries in Europe and North America, the alliances goal is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means, according to its website.



North Macedonia is on track to become the organizations 30th member.



The organization promotes democratic values and encourages member nations to work together on issues of defense and security to prevent long-term conflict.



NATO adheres to a policy of collective defense, meaning an attack on one member is considered "an attack against all." The policy is outlined in Article 5 and has only been invoked once, after the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked Sept. 11, 2001, and NATO members sent troops to Afghanistan where they still train and advise Afghan security forces today. There have been 1,044 non-U.S. NATO service members killed fighting in Afghanistan.



How does NATO work?



Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, each member nation is represented by an ambassador that sits on the North Atlantic Council (NAC), the alliances political decision-making body. The NAC meets at least once a week and is chaired by Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway.



When political decisions require military involvement, NATOs Military Committee helps plan the military elements needed for an operation. While NATO has few permanent military forces, member nations can voluntarily contribute forces when the need arises.



Where is NATO operating right now?



Currently, NATOs website lists six active operations and missions: Afghanistan, Kosovo, securing the Mediterranean Sea, training mission in Iraq, supporting the African Union, and policing airspace.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved..        2025 .,       ,           ,   ...The deal is worth USD 14 million; Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS has been providing the legal escort of litigations between the Ukrainian and the Russian gas companies since 2014

National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz-Ukraine and Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS (Norway) have signed a new contract worth 14 million dollars. It stipulates that the Norwegian law company will keep on providing legal services for the Ukrainian side in the litigations between the Ukrainian and the Russian gas companies.

The respective news piece was released at the website of ProZorro, the system of transparent public procurement.

The tender took place on March 21, with Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS being the only participant.

The deal expires on December 31, 2019. The price consists of the fee paid to the Norwegian company, the expenses for involving third sides and the expenses on working travels.

Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS has been providing the legal escort of litigations between the Ukrainian and the Russian gas companies since 2014.Open source

There have been no fights in Donbas combat area since the morning of April 3, the Defense Ministry of Ukraine reports.

The authority confirmed that on April 2, the Russian occupant forces opened fire 15 times.

In Luhansk region, they attacked the outposts in Novozvanivka, Kalynove, Popasna and Katerynivka. Seven violations of the ceasefire were reported in this region.

In Donetsk region, the pro-Kremlin mercenaries landed eight attacks, specifically in Verkhnyotoretske, Shyrokyne, Avdiivka, Vodyane and Hnutove.

Two Ukrainian fighters lost their lives in combat on April 2. Volunteer Yana Chervona and military serviceman Oleksandr Melyutin were killed by the same 120 mm mine. Yana Chervona served with the 54th Brigade since 2016. In 2013-2014, she supported the Euromaidan movement in Kharkiv. When the military conflict in Donbas began, she joined the volunteer movement and helped the army. Chervona is survived by her husband and two children, a son and a daughter.Mykola Shyptur has now been imprisoned for over five years serving a 9-year sentence on a surreal charge of attempting to murder paramilitaries

Mykola Shyptur, Ukrainian political prisoner NTC band

Russia had seized its first Ukrainian political prisoner even before completing its illegal annexation. Mykola Shyptur has now been imprisoned for over five years serving a 9-year sentence on a surreal charge of attempting to murder paramilitaries who were trying to abduct, and probably kill, him.paramilitaries

It is bitterly poignant that Shyptur had come to Crimea for a demonstration in support of Ukrainian unity on 9 March, the 200th anniversary of the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenkos birth. During the later Soviet years, when protests of any kind would get you arrested, people would gather near monuments to Taras Shevchenko , including on the anniversary of his birth on 9 March 1814. Since Russias invasion in 2014, this has once again taken on huge symbolic importance for Crimeans, though any gathering is likely to result in prosecution for an unauthorized protest.

Shyptur was born in Ivano-Frankivsk on 26 May 1978, and has a wife, Yulia, and son, now 13, whom he has not seen for five years. The family had been living abroad for some time, however they were back in Ukraine when Euromaidan began. Shyptur spent several months on Maidan, and then set off for Crimea, where armed paramilitaries, including many Russian Cossacks were helping Russian soldiers to seize control.

He was one of four Maidan activists, together with Serhiy Tkachuk, Vladislav Polishchuk  a doctor, and Olha Chernyatynska who arrived separately in Sevastopol on 7 March 2014. They spent the first two nights before the planned pro-unity rally for the Shevchenko bicentenary trying to circulate leaflets explaining the farcical nature of the so-called referendum which Russia was using as a smokescreen for its forced annexation.

The account of events on 9 March given by Tkachuk and Polishchuk is backed by the BBC correspondent present. All speak of the pro-unity demonstration having been peaceful, and attacked by Russian Cossacks with whips and other aggressive self-defence paramilitaries.

The two other men were badly beaten by the paramilitaries, but they, Shyptur and Chernyatynska managed to get back to the flat that local activists had rented for them. They were aware that the paramilitaries would be able to recognize them, and planned to lay low.

It was at very least strange that Chernyatynska suddenly announced that she needed to go into the city. They tried to dissuade her, warning that if she was caught, it wouldnt be just herself that got into trouble, but she didnt listen. Then around 20 minutes later, she rang Shyptur asking him to come and help her.

It is not clear what exactly she said, but Shyptur pulled out a pistol that the other men were unaware that he had, saying, as he ran out the door, that it might be needed.

As the others had warned, Chernyatynska did indeed lead paramilitaries to the flat, but only after Shyptur, having found her surrounded by paramilitaries, tried to help them both escape by firing some warning shots.

He was caught and savagely beaten, with the torture methods used both then and later including an electric shock gun and savage injuries (breaking his fingers). Lawyer Edem Semedlyaev only saw him for the first time in 2016, yet reported then that he still bore the marks of the electric shocks.

The other three were held in captivity under 26 March, but were finally released and able to return to mainland Ukraine.

As mentioned, the gunshots meant that Shyptur faced a different fate, although they may have prevented the paramilitaries from abducting and killing him, as had already been the case with 39-year-old Crimean Tatar Reshat Ametov. He had been seized on 3 March during silent protest outside the parliament buildings in Simferopol and savagely tortured to death. It is likely that the so-called self-defence paramilitaries were also behind the disappearances of at least three other activists.

The police officer, called after somebody heard the gunshots, did have to record the event, which, it seems, prompted the police to remain firm when the paramilitaries tried to get them to simply hand over the Maidan activist.

A propaganda version of the events was shown on Russian-controlled local TV, with paramilitaries telling a police officer about how they had detained the young woman and how Shyptur had started shooting. The report here also merged all events that day and claimed that the Maidan activists were guilty of provocation, and that Shyptur had opened fire at the paramilitaries.

Whether or not Shyptur should have had a gun on him, he did have serious grounds to fear for his life.

That was ignored throughout, as was the fact that all of this had taken place on Ukrainian territory. Shyptur was tried illegally under Russian law, with the version presented being that he had shot three times at A.V. Kulish, a member of Russian Bloc. This, it was claimed, had been attempted murder (three times, at close range).

On April 28, 2015, judge Volodymyr Sybula from the Gagarin District Court in Sevastopol sentenced Shyptur to 10 years maximum security imprisonment. He was convicted of illegally transporting weapons and of the attempted murder of persons carrying out their official duties or civic duty. The appeal against Shypturs conviction was heard by another occupation court on June 16, 2015. This court dropped the illegal transportation charge and therefore reduced the sentence by one year. Since then he has been held in Prison Colony No. 1 in Simferopol.

It was only in 2016 that human rights activists learned of Shypturs existence and understood that his case bore all the hallmarks of politically-motivated persecution. The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union has lodged an appeal on the familys behalf with the European Court of Human Rights.It is said to be the first time a nuclear-powered submarine has launched a cruise missile directly from the base, a move drastically shortening the time it takes to make a submarines weapons ready for combat

Russian attack submarine fires Kalibr missile DefenceTalk

The Russian Northern Fleets newest and most advanced multi-purpose submarine, the Severodvinsk, has fired a Kalibr cruise missile without leaving the pier, Izvestia reports.

It is said to be the first time a nuclear-powered submarine has launched a cruise missile directly from the base, a move drastically shortening the time it takes to make a submarines weapons ready for combat. During Cold War times, Soviet ballistic missile submarines were ready to launch intercontinental nuclear weapons while moored, but according to Izvestia, this hasnt previously been the case with multi-purpose submarines.

The submarine-launched version of Kalibr cruise missile has a range of up to 660 km.

Severodvinsk is the first Yasen-class multi-purpose submarine. She started to sail for the Northern Fleet in 2014 and has Zapadnaya Litsa on the Kola Peninsula as home base. This is the westernmost base with the Northern Fleet, located a short 60 km from the border to Norway.

Within the next few years, six more Yasen class submarines will be added to the Russian Navy of which at least three is expected to sail for the Northern Fleet. The first one in line is Kazan  to be delivered to the Northern Fleet later this year.

Syrian war

The Kalibr cruise missile has proved to be highly effective and precise in strikes against both sea- and ground targets. During the Syrian war, the sea-based version of the missile was repeatedly launched from both submarines and surface warships in the Mediterranean against targets inside Syria.

Theoretically, the Kalibr missile launched from a Yasen class submarine moored at the base in Zapadnaya Litsa can reach targets in most areas north of the Arctic Circle in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland within minutes.

The possibility of launching cruise missiles directly from the berth significantly increase the combat effectiveness of submarines, says Igor Kudrin to Izvestia. Kudrin is a well-known expert on Russian submarines and today head of the St. Petersburg Submarines Club.

In a war scenario, Kudrin explains, Does the fleet not always have time to deploy, necessary for the vessels to sail out from the pier and proceed to the pre-assigned area of attack. Submarines should be able, if necessary, to launch their main weapon right there, without departing from the pier.

Nuclear warhead

At a meeting in Kremlin with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in December 2015, President Vladimir Putin confirmed that cruise missiles, like the Kalbir and Kh-101, can be tipped with a nuclear warhead.

Both the Kalibr missiles and the Kh-101 rockets are generally showing very good results. We now see that these are new, modern and highly effective high-precision weapons that can be equipped either with conventional or special nuclear warheads, the President said according to the transcripts from the meeting.

Putin and Shoigu were talking about the warfare in Syria.

Zircon cruise missile

Yasen-class submarines could in the future also be armed with Russias new Zircon hypersonic scramjet-powered cruise missile. With a speed of up to Mach 5 or 6, some 6,125 to 7,350 km/h, to a range of 500 km at low level and up to 740 km if flying semi-ballistic, according to Wikipedia.

In March, news agency TASS reported that the Kazan submarine will test-shoot a Zircon cruise missile next year. The same news article quotes Vladimir Putin of saying the missile can reach speeds of about 9 Mach and has a range of more than 1,000 km.

Showing military muscles

Senior Research Fellow Njord Wegge at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) says to the Barents Observer the cruise missile launch from the submarines base on the Kola Peninsula is a way for Russia to show military capabilities.

One should be careful with interpreting the missile launch as an escalation of the current situation, but rather view the event as a way for Russia display its capabilities and posture as a military great power, Wegge says.

At the same time, it seems reasonable to interpret the event as yet another signal of Russian dissatisfaction with recent western military practices, e.g. the US flying B-52 bomber planes closer to Russia.

In the current situation, Wegge emphasize that it is important for all parts to operate within the framework of international law, and to be as transparent and predictable as possible when conducting military training, to avoid misunderstanding an unnecessary escalation.

Read the original text here.The two leaders are likely to discuss the latest developments in Syria and Trump's decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights

Prime Minister of Israel Binyamin Netanyahu will meet Russian president Vladimir Putin on April 4.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the agenda has not been actually revealed; the outlet assumes it would most likely be the latest developments in Syria.

The Jerusalem Post also assumes that Trump's decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights could be discussed, too. Russia stands against this decision.

The meeting will take place five days before the election in Israel, where Netanyahu will stand against a powerful centrist opponent.

Ukraine made itself clear regarding the status of the Golan Heights and its territorial affiliation. The country's foreign ministry reported that Ukraine has been abiding by the 1981 UN Security Council decisions made in 1967, 1980 and 1981.

'Ukraine has been adhering by the UN Statute, living up to the UN Security Council decisions', Kateryna Zelenko, the ministry's spokeswoman stated.

The Resolution No.497, passed in 1981 specifically states that 'Israel's decision to set its own laws, jurisdiction and government on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is ineffective and has no international legal force'.

The Ukrainian official admitted that Ukraine continues to 'consistently stand for the achievements of comprehensive peace regulation in the Middle East, taking into account the legitimate interests of Israel's security'.The Administration of the U.S. President called Russia a threat for the Alliance and the West

The U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg Radio Liberty

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg met with the U.S. President Donald Trump within his visit to Washington to mark the 70th anniversary of the North-Atlantic Alliance. During the meeting, Trump expressed hope for good relationships with Russia, as Radio Liberty reported.

I hope we have good relationships with Russia. I think we will get along with Russia, Trump said.

It was noted that Trump said about a desire to improve relationships with Moscow after the commentary of his administration about Russia being a threat for the Alliance and the U.S.

A few hours before Trump said it, the official form the State Department said that Russias threat for the West and the U.S. will be the main topic of discussion of NATO Foreign Ministers on April 4 in Washington, the message says.Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Open source

Moscow is opened for dialogue with Kyiv directed at the implementation of Minsk Agreements, but the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko does not want that, as Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

We are open for a dialogue aimed not at small talk and made up reasons for inaction but at the practical implementation of Minsk Agreements. I have no doubts that Petro Poroshenko does not want that and will not do that. When Viktor Medvedchuk offered to discuss the autonomy status of Donbas he was called a betrayer. Poroshenko said this would never happen but he signed off on a special status of Donbas which is described in detail in Minsk Agreements, Lavrov said in an interview for Moskovskij Komsomolets.

Earlier, the political party Opposition Platform  For Life held an All-Ukrainian Congress.

"On January 29, during the Congress of Opposition Platform  For Life, we have discussed main provisions of this plan, we pointed out that negotiations should form the basis of the plan. As I have said then and I can repeat it now: this is direct talks between Kyiv and Donetsk, Luhansk and Moscow. I do think so, drawing upon the experience of the negotiation process, and I have been dealing with this since May, 2014. Therefore, I believe that such statement might change the situation in terms of a peaceful settlement, if there is a political will from all the sides. Yet, it might appear if it is effective in this quadrangle, through direct negotiations, Medvedchuk explained.Rostekh corporation states that the center's specialists are 'supposed to teach Venezuelan pilots to manage Russian gunships'

Russia's Rostekh corporation claimed to have opened a training helicopter center in Venezuela - in addition to the previously deployed manpower and aircraft.

Accordign to Reuters, the facility was opened last Thursday - 'the same day as the White House warned Moscow and other countries backing Maduro against sending troops and military equipment, saying the United States would view such actions as a direct threat to the regions security'.

Rostekh states that the center's specialists are 'supposed to teach Venezuelan pilots to manage Russian gunships'.

The center's actrual location has not been disclosed.

Earlier, we reported that the Russian military aircraft arrived in Venezuela. Ilyushin Il-62 and Antonov An-124 landed at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas on Sunday. Dozhd, the Russian TV channel, reported that, citing journalist Javier Malorca.

'99 Russian military servicemen came to the airport; they were led by Vasiliy Tonkoshkurov, the Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces reached the airport', reads the message on the TV channel's website.

Judging by the data of air naigation online services, the planes arrived from Syria.NABU detectives are investigating the criminal proceeding under the fact of possible power abuse by officials

Open source

The detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine are holding searchers of the National Agency of Ukraine for finding, tracing, and management of assets divided from corruption and other crimes (ARMA). The press service of Ukraines National Anti-Corruption Bureau reports this on Facebook.

The searchers are held in the framework of investigation of possible abuse of powers by the state officials as well as inflicting damages almost in $350,000 to the legal bodies.

The NABU detectives are investigating the attempts to take over the property of a group of companies LLC Rostock-Holding at the amount of over 132 million dollars.

The pre-trial investigation has been launched since January 2019. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine also does not rule out the possibility of forgery of document, seal or stamp for committing crimes.

Earlier, the investigators of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office detained the acting and former directors of the State Foreign Trade Enterprise SpetsTechnoExport on suspicion of embezzling $2,225 million, according to NABU.They arrived with a friendly visit and will spend there three days

FFH333 Toronto frigate of the Royal Canadian Navy and F81 Santa Maria frigate of the Spanish Navy are in Odesa seaport. The headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published the pictures of the ships referring to the informational agency of the Defence Ministry in Odesa.

Toronto and Santa Maria entered the Black Sea region as a part of the detachment of ships under the command of the flagship of F805 Evertsen frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Turkish F493 Gelibolu frigate which will stay in other ports of the countries of the Black Sea region.

Two frigates are patrolling in the Mediterranean Sea as a part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), they entered Odesa port for three days.

After visiting Odesa port the ships will participate in PASSEX training with the vessels of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Toronto frigate of the Royal Canadian Navy belongs to the ships of Batiste class with a tonnage of 4000 tons. It has been in service of the Canadian Navy since 1992.

Santa Maria frigate is one of six Spanish frigates of the same name. The sip was includedino the fleet in October 1986. The length of the ship is 139 metres, the width  14,3 metres. The tonnage makes around 4000 tons.

As it was reported, TCG Barbados frigate and TCG Marti of the Turkish Navy were in Odesa port in March.

Related video:Besides, the court lifted the arrest from his property

Open source

The court closed the case on illicit enrichment against Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelyan as Ukrainian News reported.

The court made such decision on April 3 as the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the article of the Criminal Code on the illicit enrichment unconstitutional. The court announced only the operative part of the decision.

Besides, the court lifted the arrest from the garage of the minister in Lviv, flat in Kyiv and BMW car as it is reported citing lawyer Oleksandr Lysak.

Earlier, Ukraines Anti-Corruption Bureau informed Infrastructure Minister Omelyan of suspected illicit enrichment.

NABU representatives stated that from January 1, 2000 to April, 26, 2018 Omelyan received $77,500 of official income. At least $123,214 were at his expenses within the period from 2008 till April 26, 2015.

Later, NABU detectives claimed that the crimes of Omelyan are not grave so they will demand to choose the restrictive measure for the minister in the form of bail in the sum of almost $179,000.

On September 19, Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv arrested the property of Volodymyr Omelyan.

Related video:



One of the suspects was taken into custody with a right for bail in the amount of $38,461

Open source

Kirovsky District Court has considered and satisfied the motion filed by the Prosecutors Office concerning the restrictive measure in a form of detention for the head of LLC Elan-We suspected of explosions in Kropyvnytsky on March 27, as the press office of the Prosecutors Office of Kirovohrad region reported.

The Court heeded the arguments of the Prosecutors Office and decided to arrest the suspect with a right for a bail amounting $38,461. The head of the company was detained in the courtroom, the establishment reported.

The Court decided to keep the second suspect, the engineer of this company, under home arrest at night and obliged him to wear an ankle monitor.

As the Prosecutors Office has filed a motion concerning his detention, such courts decision was appealed, the representatives of the Prosecutors Office informed.

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.Vladyslav Manger Open source

Kyiv Shevchenkivsky District Court ruled to partially satisfy the motion of the prosecution concerning Vladyslav Manger, a suspect in Handziuks case, as RBK-Ukraine reported.

The Court has admitted the request of the Prosecutors Office to change the restrictive measure for Vladyslav Manger and partially satisfied it. To reject the application of the prosecutor for replacing the restrictive measure with detention, the judge said.

She noted that Manger had to come to the investigator and prosecutor on call, had no right to leave Kherson without permission, had to report on the change of location, give his passport including the foreign one to the prosecutor, and wear electronic monitoring facility.

Besides, Kyiv Shevchenkivsky District Court started considering the request to change restrictive measure for Manger. On March 6, the Chairman of Kherson Region Council was suspended from duty for a month.

Manger is suspected of committing the crimes provided by the article of Ukraines Criminal Code on premeditated murder.

On March 6, Vladyslav Manger, the suspect in the organization of murder of activist Kateryna Hanzdiuk has been suspended from duty for a month.

On February 11, Vladyslav Manger was served with charge papers in Handziuks murder. In his turn, Manger said that he would not escape from the country due to suspicion of organizing the murder of Handziuk.

The court ruled to arrest Manger until March 3 with the possibility of bail. However, later lawyer Dmitry Ilchenko has posted a bail for his client Kherson Regional Council Head Vladyslav Manger.

On February 19, Vladyslav Manger started to wear the digital bracelet.

On November 4, 2018, it became known that Kateryna Handziuk died at the age of 34. She was doused with sulphuric acid in July this year. According to preliminary information, her death was caused by blood clot's detachment.

Besides, the doctors specified the cause for the death of Handziuk was specified. It was due to multiple organ failure and chemical burns.The pirates took away all valuable stuff, captured the crew and took them in an unknown direction

The Nigerian pirates attacked a ship with Ukrainians on board and took them prisoners, as Sea informational centre reported on Facebook.

On March 30, a group of armed Nigerian pirates has landed on board of the container ship Contship Oak, which was at anchor in Douala (Gulf of Guinea), took away all valuable stuff, captured the crew and took them in an unknown direction, the message says.

The information about the incident was passed to Ukraines Foreign Ministry and to Ukraines Consul to Nigeria. No official data from the establishment reported.

It was noted that the vessel belongs to a Greek company Contships and as of April 2 it was moored in the port of Douala.

Earlier, the Nigerian pirates capture 12 members of the Swiss crew of MV Glarus merchant ship.In May 2018 Ukraines Parliament has set an export duty at the level of 42 euros per one ton for scrap metal

The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko Presidential Administration press office

The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a law No. 9474 On increase of export duties on scrap metal at the level of 58 euros for a ton. The relevant information is contained in the card of the bill.

The law provides an increase of export duty from 42 to 58 euros for ton till September 2021.

As it was reported, in May 2018 Ukraines Parliament has set an export duty at the level of 42 euros per one ton for scrap metal. The norm was supposed to be in force till September 2019.

Yet, the Verkhovna Rada supported the law on the increase of export duty in February 2019 by 234 votes of the Ukrainian MPs.The issue is about the presence of Yury Lutsenko at the forum with Petro Poroshenko and his posts on Facebook

Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine and Yury Lutsenko, the Prosecutor General pravda.com.ua

The support of current President Petro Poroshenko by Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko doubts the independence of the Prosecutor Generals Office as the OSCE ODIHR reported.

The direct support of the current president by the prosecutor general contrary to the legislation raises concern. According to the interlocutor of the ODIHR OSCE and mass media publications, the Prosecutor Generals Office Head visited the events within the election campaign of the head of the state and made statements, including Facebook, which doubts the independence of the department, the document said.

Moreover, the criminal proceedings against a few candidates for the presidency were opened. At least three criminal proceedings were begun as citizens stated about their presidential ambitions.

Generally, the election campaign was competitive and peaceful. However, there were no real debates between the partakers of the race.

The observers noted that the public speeches of current President Petro Poroshenko blurred the lines between his official position and position as the candidate.

From the other side, Volodymyr Zelensky gave free concerts as the comedian during the election campaign; however, he did not hold any traditional agitation rally.

Earlier the OSCE stated that the first tour of the presidential elections in Ukraine took place in the conditions of the competition and the citizens were provided will all conditions for the free expression of the will.

Besides, the European Parliament expressed the opinion that the first tour of the Ukrainian presidential elections should be considered successful.

Related video:The session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of CIS countries will be held in Moscow

CIS Council of Foreign Ministers Open source

Ukraine has no intention to be present at the session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of CIS countries, as Ukraines Foreign Ministry informed, UNN reports.

This meeting is scheduled for April 5 in Moscow. Ukraine refused from participation due to termination of participation in CIS organizations under the decision of Ukraines National Security and Defence Council (NSDC).

Ukraine will not take part in the event as according to NSDC decision as of May 2, 2018 On termination of some international agreements concluded within CIS which came into force with the Presidents order as of May 19, 2018 our state has ceased its participation in the Commonwealth statutory bodies, the Foreign Ministry informed.

On April 1, the 1997 Ukraine-Russia Friendship Treaty lost its effect and is now considered invalid.

The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was signed on May 31, 1997, by President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and President of Russia Boris Yeltsyn. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Parliament ratified the treaty on January 14, 1998, and the State Duma on December 25, 1998. The document came into force on April 1, 1999. Under this particular document, the sides were obliged to respect each other's territorial integrity and confirmed the inviolability of the state borders, which were present at the time of the document's signature.

Ukraine-Russia Friendship Treaty document has been discarded due to the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Last month, Russia protested against the termination of the Treaty. Russian Foreign Ministry blamed the Ukrainian side for 'failing to live up to the document'.Such decision was made during the session of the Cabinet of Ministers on April 4

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine banned irregular direct flights with the Russian Federation. Such decision was made during the session of the Government, 112.ua reported.

It is proposed to set a ban on implementation of irregular flights between Ukraine and aggressor state except the flights required for provision of current missions of the international organizations, UN, OSCE and Red Cross, Ukraines Foreign Minister Arsen Avakov offered.

The Government in its turn supported the relevant decision.

According to the Minister, the founder of Opposition Platform  For Life Yuriy Boyko and the Chairman of the political council f the part Viktor Medvedchuk used a loophole in the law when they went to Russia as earlier, irregular flights of the aircrafts not registered in Russia were not prohibited.

I should be noted that earlier State Investigation Bureau opened a probe on the grounds of a possible misconduct of the officials of State Border Guard Service and State Aviation Service as the founder of Opposition Platform  For Life Yuriy Boyko and the Chairman of the political council f the part Viktor Medvedchuk flew to Moscow.

Earlier, the presidential candidate Yuriy Boyko stated that there was no violations of law within this flight.

In his turn, Medvechuk considers such statement of Ukraines Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko a provocation and PR against the politicians.Earlier it was returned for the correction of the misprints and explanation of the verdict

Viktor Yanukovych, ex-President of Ukraine (February 25, 2010  February 22, 2014) Ukrainian President

Obolon District Court of Kyiv has filed the case on the state treason of ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to Kyiv Appeal Court as Ukrinform reported.

Due to the necessity of the consideration by the court of the first instance, the case was returned. We have already considered the appeals filed by the lawyers on the correction of the misprints and appeals on the explanation of the courts decision. We refused the defenders, wait until the end of the term for the appeal, gathered the appeal complaints and the case went to Kyiv Appeal Court for the consideration of all filed appeals, Inna Svynarenko, the Spokesperson of Obolon District Court said.

As we reported earlier, Yury Ryabovol, the state lawyer of Viktor Yanukovych has filed the appeal against the sentence of Obolon District Court on the state treason case of the ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych.

On February 26, the court reported that five appeals were filed against the verdict for ex-President Viktor Yanukovych.

On March 5, Kyiv Court of Appeal returned the case of the ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to Kyiv Obolon Court to correct the mistakes and explanation of the verdict. But the court refused to do it.

The court found Yanukovych guilty of addressing the Russian President Putin and asking him to deploy troops in Ukraine.

Besides, the court sentenced ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to 13 years of the detention for the state treason and complicity in the holding of the aggressive war against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

Yanukovych was charged with state treason, assistance in deliberate actions against Ukraines state border, sovereignty and territorial integrity and assistance in leading the aggressive war against Ukraine.



Thank's for the fish. -- Douglas Adams

Come back again sometime. Thank you for visiting.Leave it to Chinese kitchen sink realist Jia Zhangke to drain every ounce of exoticism from the gangster film genre with his most intimate yet sweeping epic to date, Ash Is Purest White. Over the course of his career (which includes such international art house sensations as The World, Still Life, A Touch of Sin and Mountains May Depart), Jias independent, underground, shot- on- digital- video features have established him as a pioneer among Chinas Sixth Generation filmmakers.

Ash Is Purest White looks, on the surface, like a typical jianghu film. Jianghuwhich translates as rivers and seasrefers to a subset of Chinese martial arts films centered on the underworld of beggars, vagabonds, bandits and gangsters. Theyve evolved into the Chinese equivalent of organized crime dramas like The Godfather and Scarface. (In a brilliant, self-referential nod, the gangsters here all slavishly watch John Woos action classic The Killer, while Ashs soundtrack drops Sally Yehs melodramatic theme song from that 1989 film into the mix on more than one occasion.)

But Jia isnt the type to craft a standard-issue, laudatory celebration of criminal behavior. Instead of focusing his lens on low-level Chinese gangster Bin (Liao Fan from Black Coal, Thin Ice), Jia moves his camera over a foot or so to gaze into the face of Bins companion Qiao (played by Jias wife and muse Zhao Tao). Qiao is a pretty, not- necessarily- young woman with personality and energy. She hangs out at Bins garish nightclub, and its clear from her interaction with the various mahjong-playing hoods who habituate the joint that shes not the type to take crap from anyone. She flits among these gun-wielding criminalsutterly unintimidated by the macho environment playfully socking them in the back and stealing cigarettes.

Ash Is Purest White starts out in 2001an important step back in Chinas recent history. A quick side trip to Qiaos hometown reveals a grim little village choked with concrete-colored government housing. Qiaos father is an aging miner, still parroting the party line about workers rights and railing against the encroachment of capitalism. Contrast these scenes with the ones of Qiao dancing to the Village People in her boyfriends nightclub and its clear that the capitalist invasion her father fears has already happened. China is on the verge of some rapid social change.

Back in the big city, Bins ballroom dance-obsessed boss is assassinated by a rival gang. Soon, Bin finds himself targeted by some young punks on motorcycles. He holds his own in the ensuing street fight, but is quickly overwhelmed. Following this rare burst of action, Qiao frightens the thugs off with a warning shot from Bins handgun. When the authorities follow up with an investigation, Qiao refuses to rat out Bin over the illegal weapon. She takes the rap and ends up with a five-year prison sentence. Its clear at this pointas if it werent alreadythat Qiao takes the jianghu idea of honor and loyalty more seriously than Bin. No mere trophy girlfriend is this gal.

From here the film leapfrogs to 2006, when Qiao is released from prison. Unfortunately, Binembarrassed by Qiaos sacrifice and his inability to visit her in jailrefuses to speak to her. Unwilling to accept the brush off, she undertakes a long journey to see him. In this middle section, our protagonist is exposed to even more of the countrys shifting values. After being robbed of her cash and ID card along the way, Qiao is forced to live off the larcenous skills she acquired in prison. Looser and more amusing than the segments that bookend it, this extended road trip also opens up the films camera work, winding down the Yangtse River with Qiao and into a string of rapidly swelling townsall of which are about to disappear under the looming Three Gorges hydroelectric dam project. Yet more metaphorical evidence of Chinas shifting cultural landscape.

In the films final section, we slip into present-day China, with Qiao running her own gambling den back in the big city. Fortunes, times and people have changed dramatically. Ash Is Purest White is a long journey from start to finish, and Jia has a lot to say heremost of it tied to Chinas rapid transition from communism to capitalism. Its less about the dangers of an international, money-based economy and more about the inability of Chinas population to make the sudden cultural shift.

Most of the film is shot on handheld DV cameras in dark back rooms and dusty, overcrowded neighborhoods. But Jia and his regular cinematographer Yu Lik-Wai (with an assist from French director of photography Eric Gautier) know when to make with the vivid pop of color or the striking composition. This isnt the often depressing neorealism of Vittorio De Sica or Roberto Rossellini. Like his idols (Michelangelo Antonioni, for example), Jia finds a humble beauty in brutal honesty. Minimalist in nature and almost documentary-like in its visuals, Ash Is Purest White is a surprisingly light and engaging journeyone that evolves from revamped gangster film to contemplative character story to quietly observational look at modernity and the various discontents that come with it.bedo/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- Senior U.S. military leaders were optimistic on Tuesday that Turkey would receive America's next-generation fighter jets, despite Ankara's threats to purchase a Russian-made missile-defense system that could reveal critical information about the U.S. jets.



Turkey had indicated that it would purchase the Russian S-400 missile defense system instead of the U.S. Patriot system -- a move that concerned Pentagon leadership because of Turkey's existing partnership on the F-35 fighter jet program.

On Monday, the Pentagon announced it had suspended deliveries to Turkey of equipment related to the F-35s and threatened to cut its participation in the program if they went ahead with procuring the S-400.



But acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Tuesday that he expected Turkey's F-35s to ultimately be delivered and was optimistic that Ankara would purchase the Patriot instead.



"I am very confident in the Patriot proposal that we've delivered to Turkey: its availability, its pricing, and, very importantly, the industrial participation that comes along with the Patriot system," Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon.



"I expect we'll solve the problem so that they have the right defense equipment in terms of Patriots and F-35s," he added.



A small number of Turkish pilots are already training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona on the next-generation aircraft and some of the plane's parts are manufactured in Turkey. Over the life of the program, Ankara has planned to purchase 100 F-35s, which are made by Lockheed Martin.



"The S-400 and the F-35, weve made it clear that those are incompatible systems," Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Tuesday, adding, "We haven't given up on trying to work our way through this."



Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO Supreme Allied Commander and the head of U.S. European Command, said the issue is of broader concern outside the U.S. and Turkish relationship.



"That S-400 will be in the midst of a NATO-integrated air missile defense system as well," he said.



According to Scaparrotti, the presence of the S-400 in such close proximity to the F-35 provides a greater opportunity to analyze the aircraft and its capabilities.



"I'm not suggesting that Turkey can't be trusted, but I am saying that you take another risk with your system -- with what is probably our most sensitive technology," he told a small group of reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday.



But Scaparrotti too was optimistic that Turkey would not go through with purchasing the S-400.



"Although they've said, even Erdogan has said, that the S-400 is a done deal, I don't personally think it's a done deal yet," he said.



Ultimately, Dunford discounted that Turkey could become a less-reliable NATO partner and expressed confidence in the U.S.-Turkish relationship, saying that "our areas of convergence are far more than any areas of divergence."



"This is a tough issue, all alliances have tough issues, but Im confident well grind our way through it and emerge as strong allies on the back side," he said.



Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Ben Masters/iStock(NEW YORK) -- A Canadian woman said her "mom instinct" took over last week when she fought off a cougar that mauled her 7-year-old son in their backyard.



Chelsea Lockhart was doing household chores on Friday afternoon when she heard her son, Zachery, scuffling with something outside their home in Lake Cowichan, Vancouver Island. She said she rushed to the backyard to look for the source of the commotion and found the boy fighting for his life.



"I ran downstairs and I ran toward his voice. I turned the corner and saw this animal on my child," she told CTV on Tuesday. "He was on the ground and the cougar was attached to his arm. I had a mom instinct, right? I just leaped on it and I tried to pry its mouth open."



She said she doesn't know where she gained the strength, but she fish-hooked the juvenile cougar by the mouth and managed to pry him off.



"I looked at him and I just thought, 'Oh my god, my kid could die right before my eyes.' All you think is, 'What can you do? What can you do in your own physical strength?'" she recalled. "Im so grateful for him to be alive."



She said it's a miracle that Zachery survived the attack with only a gash on his head and a few cuts on his neck and arms.



"I knew that in my own power and in my own strength I wasn't going to be able to pry its mouth open, so I started praying in tongues. I'm just crying out to the Lord," she said. "Three sentences into me praying, it released and it ran away."



Zachery is expected to make a full recovery, his mom said. He was resting up at his grandma's house on Monday.



"We are definitely well on our way to recovery and Zach is resting at his grandma's house, having some one-on-one time there," Lockhart said. "His stitches are healing; he is well on his way to being fully recovered."



Officials with the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said they found two cougars, both juvenile males, about 20 yards away from the family's home. They were both hungry and looking for food, according to the service.



Scott Norris, sergeant with British Columbia Conservation Officer Service, said the animals were euthanized after the attack.



"The mom looked out from her deck and saw the cougar on top of him, and sprang into action," Norris told ABC News on Tuesday. "She grabbed the cougar and yanked it off her child."



Vancouver Island has had several cougar attacks over the past few years, but "its a rare occurrence," he said.

Copyright  2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.According to Minagri's Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate General (DGSEP), this outcome was underpinned by the agricultural (+9.2%) and livestock (+4.7%) sub-sectors.





In this sense, the agricultural sphere's increase was driven by a greater production of blueberries (+219%; in La Libertad and Lambayeque regions), grapes (+33.5%; Ica and Piura regions), cacao (+26.7%; Ucayali region), sugar cane (+23.3%; La Libertad, Ancash, and Arequipa regions), paddy rice (+8.2%; Amazonas, Ancash, and San Martin regions), among other products.





Meanwhile, the livestock sub-sector rose 4.7%, compared to the same month in 2018. This result was mainly boosted by a greater production of chicken (+5.2%; Lima, La Libertad, and Arequipa regions), eggs (+14.7%; Ica, Lima, La Libertad regions), raw milk (+2.9%; Cajamarca, La Libertad, and Arequipa regions), and pork (+3.9%, Lima and Ica regions).





First two months





On the other hand, Minagri indicated the farming sector expanded 5.3% between January and February this year, compared to the same period in 2018.





This outcome was also underpinned by the agricultural (+5.7%) and livestock (+4.8%) spheres.Last March, Salvador del Solar replaced Cesar Villanueva as the Inca country's Prime Minister. He leads a reshuffled cabinetOn April 9, President Vladimir Putin is to attend a plenary meeting of The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue 5th International Arctic Forum, also meeting with the presidents of Finland and Iceland and the prime ministers of Sweden and Norway, according to the Kremlin press service.

"Vladimir Putin is expected to hold meetings with President of Iceland Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson, President of Finland Sauli Niinisto, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg and Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven who will be attending the forum. They plan to discuss the status and prospects of bilateral relations, major international issues and regional problems with an emphasis on cooperation in the Arctic," the press release says.

"The participants are expected to exchange views on a broad range of issues related to the comprehensive development of the Arctic territories, including the rational use of natural resources, environmental security, transport support, protection of the interests of indigenous minorities of the North, as well as other aspects of sustainable growth in the Arctic."

Senior Executive Editor at Bloomberg for Business, Finance and Energy John Fraher will moderate the plenary session.

On April 9-10, St. Petersburg will host The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue 5th International Artic Forum.I don't know how many young women come to this blog or how many are parents of teenage or young adult women, but here are some safety tips from Kelsey's Army:

T

I

P

S

1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed.5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.Remember the acronym TIPS:ake Chargenform others of your whereaboutsrepare for any situationurvival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen)For more information, go to Kelsey's ArmyGYUMRI, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The Gyumri City Hall has applied to UNESCO for its historic central part to be included in the organizations preservation and protection territory, Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan told a news conference.

He said they havent yet received a response.

Gyumri seeks UNESCO to acknowledge the buildings located in the citys Kumayri Reserve-Museum area as a preservation site.

Most of the buildings of the area are in need of restoration.

Back in November, 2018 Armenian President Armen Sarkissian had raised the issue in Paris during a meeting with the UNESCO chief.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to Bulgaria Armen Sargsyan hosted on April 2 Vezhdi Rashidov, chair of the Bulgarian Parliaments Culture and Healthcare Committee to award the latter a certificate of gratitude on behalf of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situation for his humanitarian aid and financial assistance to Armenia for eliminating the consequences of the deadly Spitak earthquake, the foreign ministry said in a news release.

The awarding ceremony took place on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the earthquake.

At the time Armenia was hit by the earthquake, Rashidov was traveling on a tour for his exhibitions as a sculptor. Upon hearing the news, he and his friends decided to donate all proceeds from the exhibition, around 60,000 dollars, to Armenia to help the victims. He then traveled to the disaster zone personally.

Rashidov is a former Minister of Culture of Bulgaria who has traveled to Armenia in this capacity to promote bilateral ties. The Armenian Ambassador emphasized Rashidovs contribution to the development of relations and noted that he has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Armenian Ministry of Culture.

Rashidov thanked the Government and people of Armenia for appreciating his contribution and keeping the historic memory bright.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The visit of spouse of Armenian Prime Minister Anna Hakobyan to the United States has kicked off, Voice of America reports.

Mrs. Hakobyan has participated in an event dedicated to her at the US Congress and met with the Congressmen. She also delivered remarks introducing Armenias achievements and stating that the country is fully on the path to democracy and ensuring real economic growth, and each support on this path by Armenias friends is welcomed.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who has Armenian origins, stated that the Congress will make all efforts so that the US will provide assistance to Armenia from economic and political terms. We want to be sure that democracy in Armenia not only will be maintained, but also will prosper, and the country will fully develop, she said.

Congressman Adam Schiff also attended the meeting. We need to raise the partnership of our countries to a new level in order to help your wonderful government to succeed, he said.

Anna Hakobyan introduced the Congressmen on the Women For Peace initiative within the frames of which Armenian women call on all women around the world to raise their voice for peace so that no soldiers will be killed in the border.

Anna Hakobyans visit to the US has started by the visit to the Library of the Congress where she was presented on the exhibits of the Armenian literature.

Thereafter, the PMs spouse had a meeting with the Armenian community representatives in the Armenian Embassy of US.

During her visit Mrs. Hakobyan will try to raise funds for the My Step and City of Smile charity foundations.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Transportation, Communication and Information Technologies Hakob Arshakyan has held a meeting with EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Switalski to discuss EU-supported ongoing projects and upcoming initiatives of the EU aimed at development of Armenia, the ministry said in a news release.

Arshakyan noted the importance of the progress of the high tech sector and emphasized great expectations for future programs and prospects of effective cooperation.

The Armenian minister addressed the actions aimed at developing the Armenian National Polytechnic University, programs aimed at economic progress as a result of the education-scientific research  industry interrelation and the process of creating eco-system for developing the engineering sector.

The development of the Armenian digital agenda was also discussed, as well as the opportunities of EUs involvement in the process.

Arshakyan noted that Armenia is ready for multilateral and expanded partnership.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenian minister of economic development and investments Tigran Khachatryan received State Secretary at the Romanian ministry of foreign affairs Danut Neculaescu who is in Armenia to take part in the events organized by the Romanian presidency dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Eastern Partnership, the Armenian ministry told Armenpress.

During the meeting the officials discussed the commercial ties between Armenia and Romania and stated that the current trade turnover figures are not enough.

The Romanian MFA State Secretary said the Romania-EU business forum will take place soon which is expected to be attended by the businessmen and officials of the Eastern Partnership countries, including Armenia. He said this platform can contribute to boosting the bilateral economic ties.

The possibility of discussing issues of bilateral economic interest at the format of the Armenian-Romanian inter-governmental economic commission was also discussed.

The officials also expressed satisfaction over the opening of the Bucharest-Yerevan direct flight and agreed that it can contribute to tourism growth and development of cooperation between the two countries in this sector.

The sides agreed to take actions to hold bilateral tourism marketing events.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has testified today in court in a case concerning an assault against his political alliances campaigning office back in 2017.

Pashinyan was testifying in court as a witness.

During the last day of campaigning for the 2017 parliamentary election, the mobile campaigning office of the Yelk alliance was attacked and its flag was stolen. During those days Pashinyan was a Member of Parliament.

He told the court details on how he was informed over the phone about the attack and visited the site.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. You cannot surprise the population of Nagorno-Karabakh with the sounds of shots and guns. People living in a fragile world have long been accustomed to the feeling of a constant threat of attack. The same was on April 2, 2016, but the next Azerbaijani provocation quickly turned into a large-scale military operation. Military posts, as well as areas populated by peaceful inhabitants, were targeted by the Azerbaijani forces.

The morning in Nerkin Chartar village started as usual: children were going to school without having a sense of foreboding that they may appear under massive artillery fire. There was an explosion and the children fell down. 12-year-old Vagharshak Harutyunyan died at the scene. His friends were seriously injured. The rocket exploded next to the school not far from the square, where the school-wide morning exercise was supposed to take place in a few minutes.

The residents of Talish village, which is located very close to the Azerbaijani border, assessed the danger much earlier. The village was located on one of the main directions of the Azerbaijani forces attacks. The Khalapyans, an extended family of nine, were living in the northwestern part of the village. Valery and Razmella Khalapyans were living with their son and six grandchildren. Valery Khalapyans mother, 92-year-old Marousya Khalapyan was also living with them. After the beginning of the shelling, Valerys son took her wife and children to a safe place. He did not manage to take his parents and grandmother as there was no place left in his car. Before his return, the Azerbaijani soldiers had already entered the village. The Azerbaijani shot 64-year-old Valery Khalapyan and his 60-year-old wife Razmella Vardanyan were shot and tortured, with their ears cut off They also killed Marousya Khalapyan born in 1924.

On the same day, other shots of cruelty by the Azerbaijani soldiers appeared on the Internet, which were proudly shared on different Azerbaijani websites. Military criminals were shamelessly proud of their trophies. Private Kyaram Sloyan, a soldier from the Artsakh Defense Army, was beheaded after his death and Major Hayk Toroyan was beheaded alive. Members of the Armed forces of Azerbaijan also beheaded a 68-year-old military contractor and driver Hrant Gharibyan. According to available open sources, the criminals who did these atrocities were later awarded. Azerbaijani President IlhamAliyev himself awarded one of those servicemen Elnur Ferzaliev, who demonstrated the cut head of Private Kyaram Sloyan in one of the Azerbaijani villages as a trophy.

This is not the first time that military criminals appear in the rank of Azerbaijani heroes for their actions against humanity. It is worth remembering Azerbaijani serviceman Ramil Safarov, who in 2006 killed a sleeping Armenian serviceman Gurgen Margaryan during the NATO training in Hungary. Safarov was brought to the Hungarian Justice, was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, however, he was later extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was welcomed as a hero and until now he is taken as an example for the younger generations.

It should be noted, that Azerbaijan was sued by the European Court of Human Rights. Only in 2016, 23 lawsuits werefiled against the military crimes of the Azerbaijani servicemen, with which the ECHR launched an investigation, and has already started the procedure of communications with Azerbaijani authorities. Until now, no decisions were made on these issues.

Vlad VardanyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Foreign minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met with President of Ethiopia Sahle-Work Zewde on the sidelines of his official visit to Addis Ababa, the Armenian MFA told Armenpress.

The Armenian FM congratulated the Ethiopian President on assuming office and wished success in her key mission. Mnatsakanyan also congratulated Ethiopia on successful membership to the UN Security Council.

The sides exchanged views on the prospects of deepening and enriching the bilateral agenda. As a key direction they both highlighted initiating programs aimed at promoting the cooperation in IT and digital agenda.

The Armenian FM noted that the expansion of the relations with Ethiopia is among Armenias foreign policy key priorities, and the Armenian side is ready to take actions to more effectively utilize the existing potential. In this context they highlighted the need to take steps to expand the legal framework.

The Ethiopian President and FM Mnatsakanyan highlighted the role of the Armenian community in the countrys public and political life as a bridge between the two friendly countries.

At the request of President Sahle-Work Zewde, the FM introduced the recent developments over the peaceful settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The sides agreed that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of conflicts.

A number of other urgent issues of international agenda were also discussed during the meeting.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian on April 3 met with chairman of the Romania-Armenia parliamentary friendship group, chair of the Romanian-Armenian Union, Varuzhan Voskanian, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The two officials talked about the necessity to boost the economic ties between the two countries and take joint actions to promote development in this area.

The Romanian MP arrived in Armenia with the newly-launched Bucharest-Yerevan flight. In this context they attached importance to the existence of Romania-Armenia direct air communication, adding that it will boost tourism.

Armen Sarkissian and Varuzhan Voskanian also discussed issues on strengthening the parliamentary ties between the two states.

They also touched upon the Armenian community of Romania, the problems and prospects existing in the community. The officials emphasized strengthening the ties with Armenia in culture, science and education sectors.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Transportation, Communication and Information Technologies Hakob Arshakyan had a meeting with B&P Merchant Bank Per le Imprese President Luigi Bonandini, the ministry said in a news release.

B&P Merchant Bank Per le Imprese is an Italian organization engaged in multi-sector activities.

The Italian entrepreneur said he has shares in 400 Italian companies and is willing to create broad circles of cooperation in Armenia.

He said his company is specialized in road, bridge, tunnel, airport construction, among other sectors.

Arshakyan presented numerous ongoing projects that might interest the Italian businessman.

The Armenian minister especially highlighted the North-South Road Corridor construction.

The parties agreed to hold an expert bilateral discussion after submission of documents and information about the project.

Arshakyan expressed willingness to cooperate.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, 3 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 3 April, USD exchange rate up by 0.38 drams to 486.85 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.52 drams to 547.51 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.04 drams to 7.47 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 7.02 drams to 641.72 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 34.28 drams to 20196.54 drams. Silver price down by 0.52 drams to 235.18 drams. Platinum price down by 36.54 drams to 13304.7 drams.Otokar, a leading supplier of the Turkish Military and Security Forces for wheeled tactical vehicles, is showcasing its latest offerings at the LAAD Defence & Security Exhibition, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



The Cobra II armoured vehicle (Picture Source : Otokar)

Otokar, a Koc Group Company, whose military vehicles are in service of almost 55 different end users in five continents, will promote its own design and production military vehicles as well as turret systems and provide information about the capabilities of its land systems, said a company statement.

Pointing out Otokars success in export markets with its own design military vehicles, Serdar Gorguc, Otokar general manager, said: Our company continues to strengthen its position in the international defence industry with its technological superiority, engineering power, design capabilities and over 30 years of experience in military vehicles.

Today, more than 30,000 military vehicles designed to meet user expectations and needs against present day and future threats are actively used in several different missions in various regions. We aim to increase our presence in Latin America and LAAD exhibition is a good opportunity for us to get together with our potential clients, he added.

Serdar Gorguc underlined that Otokar, as a registered Nato and United Nations supplier, is ready to manufacture the best vehicles in line with the needs in Latin America.

He said: We have been able to gain significant experience about responding to the needs and expectations of this region through the military vehicles currently serving here. In addition to promoting our wide product range during the exhibition, we will also look for opportunities to establish industrial cooperation to localise the support of Otokar vehicles in the region.

We are also willing to evaluate transfer of technology and local manufacturing projects where Otokar has a well-established and proven track record, he added.

Otokar stands apart with its expertise in the design, development and system integration of all kinds of vehicles and platforms in the field of land vehicles for the defence industry. Otokar designs and manufactures a wide range of tactical armoured vehicles including 4x4 URAL, Cobra, Cobra II, Kaya II, ISV, Arma 6x6 and Arma 8x8.

Otokar products are recognised for their survivability, superior tactical and technical features and high ballistic and mine protection. Otokars combat proven wheeled vehicles serve in challenging terrain and extreme weather conditions, and demonstrated their performance in various theatre of operations.

Otokars Tulpar tracked armoured vehicle family is designed as a multi-purpose vehicle platform with its significant ballistic and mine protection and superior firepower to support new generation main battle tanks in battlefield and also for providing fire support for infantry.

Tulpars high power to weight ratio, all-terrain high-performance suspension and automatic track tensioning system offer superior mobility in diverse terrain and climatic conditions. Tulpars superior features and modular design allows it to be configured for multiple roles and missions.

Tulpar Light Tank which is a part of the family is integrated with 105 mm weapon system and provides a state-of-the-art solution with high firepower.

With the expansion of its vehicle family, Otokar turned its focus on turret and weapon station developments. With almost 30 years of knowledge and expertise in turret systems design and integration, Otokar developed Mizark, Bozok, Basok, Ucok and Keskin remote controlled turrets ranging from 7.62 mm to 30 mm. With its high-performance, high-tech turret systems, Otokar aims to strengthen its platforms and gain competitive advantage in the world, it stated.As one of the most important manufacturer of military vehicles in Europe, the French Company ARQUUS presents three combat vehicles specially designed for Special Forces at the Defense Exhibition SOFINS 2019. Based on his long experience in the development of armored vehicles, ARQUUS is able to offer a wide range of combat and armored vehicles to respond to the new needs of armed forces and Special Forces from all over the world.



ARQUUS Bastion 4x4 APC Armored Personnel Carrier at SOFINS 2019, Special Forces Operations Equipment Exhibition near Bordeaux, France. April 3, 2019. (Picture source Army Recognition)

At SOFINS, ARQUUS presents three vehicles which perfectly meet the Special Forces needs including the Bastion, the Sabre and the Trigger.

The ARQUUS Bastion is a modular range of 12-tonne armored vehicles. Its chassis, developed on the VLRA 4x4 light tactical vehicle, offers a combination of tactical performance, robustness and simplified maintenance. Bastions armored hull offers a large internal volume, as well as a protection against ballistic aggression, mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), according to the STANAG 4569 standard.

At SOFINS 2019, the Bastion APC is showed in APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) configuration that has a crew of two and can accommodate eight troops at the rear of the hull. Troops enter and exit the vehicle via a double door located on the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle has a length of 6 m, a width of 2.2m and a height of 2.4m. It has a gross weight of 10.5t and can carry a maximum payload of 2,000 kg.

The high hardness armored steel hull provides all-round protection against firing of small arms (ballistic protection Level 1 to Level 3, NATO STANAG 4569) and artillery shell splinters. The vehicle provides protection against anti-personnel and anti-tank mines and side explosives.



ARQUUS Sabre 4x4 Special Forces vehicle at SOFINS 2019, Special Forces Operations Equipment Exhibition near Bordeaux, France. April 3, 2019. (Picture source Army Recognition)

The SABRE is an export variant of the VLFS (Heavy Vehicle for Special Forces) which is now in service with the French Army Special. The vehicle will also be entered in service with two countries in the Middle East.

The Sabre is based on the Sherpa 4x4 light tactical vehicle designed with an open top architecture, the main feature requested by many Special Forces from all over the world.

The Sabre is a multi-echelon and joint combat vehicle, open to provide firepower, and designed with a large circular diameter that can accommodate all types of weaponry. Several secondary weapons posts are designed for the crew and it can also accommodate several communication systems (C4ISR).



ARQUUS Trigger 4x4 light tactical vehicle at SOFINS 2019, Special Forces Operations Equipment Exhibition near Bordeaux, France. April 3, 2019. (Picture source Army Recognition)

The Trigger is a light tactical vehicle based on a Ford chassis which can be configured for different roles and missions. The Trigger is able to be used as troops carrier and logistic vehicle. In its category, the Trigger has the biggest payload capacity on the market, with 1.3 t of payload and 4.6 m2 cargo. The Trigger benefits from a reinforced platform for military needs and a larger, deep and modular flatbed.

The ARQUUS Trigger is motorized with a four-cylinder 2.2l turbo diesel engine developing 150 hp. coupled to an six-speed mechanical drive gearbox. The vehicle can reach a maximum road speed of 170 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 1,000 km.

The Trigger LTV can integrate circular or swivel-mounted weapons systems such as 7.62mm and 12.7mm machine guns. It has proven records of offering greater stability with the 12.7mm machine gun.At SOFINS 2019, Special Forces Operations Equipment Exhibition, French Company Thales continues to promote its 4x4 light protected vehicle Hawkei for the European market including Belgium and Poland. The vehicle was designed and developed by Thales Australia for the Australian Department of Defences Land 121 phase 4 program that aims to replace the Australian Armys Land Rovers.



Thales Hawkei 4x4 light protected vehicle in a live demonstration at SOFINS 2019, Special Forces Operations Equipment Exhibition near Bordeaux, France, April 3, 2019. (Picture source Army Recognition)

The project of the Hawkei was launched in September 2009 and the first prototype vehicle was unveiled in November 2010. Thales Australia is the prime contractor in the design and development of Australias Hawkei lightweight mobility vehicle. Boeing, Plasan Sasa and PAC Group are partners of Thales, supporting the Hawkei project.

In October 2015, Defence entered into a contract with Thales to acquire and support 1100 Hawkei vehicles and 1058 trailers. Total budget and related funding for the Protected Mobility Vehicle  Light capability, as estimated by the ANAO, is $2.2 billion.1 Defence has expended $463.1 million of project funds to 30 June 2018, as well as $293.9 million on related costs.

In February 2019, during the defense exhibition IDEX, Thales Australia confirmed the vehicle is now in production for the Australian army, 70 units having already been delivered. The full-rate production will start by the end of 2019, a few months late on initial schedule. 1,100 units (plus 1,000 associated trailers) are to be delivered to the Australian army by 2021.

During SOFINS 2019, Thales has confirmed that the Hawkei will be offered for some program of armed forces in Europe. In 2018, the Australian Newspaper website has announced that the global export market for the Australian-made Hawkei light armored vehicle could be worth up to $2 billion. The first export contracts for the Hawkei could be in place in the next few months, with European nations expressing an interest in the Australian-designed protected mobility vehicle.

The layout of Hawkei 4x4 light protected vehicle is conventional, with the engine at the front, crew and troops compartment in the center and large cargo area at the rear. It incorporates high levels of blast and ballistic protection in a light, highly maneuverable and readily air transportable vehicle that has been engineered for peak performance.

The Hawkei 4x4 light protected vehicle is motorized with a six-cylinder, 3.2 liter direct injection diesel engine rated at 225 kW and producing maximum torque of 680 Nm at 2,000 rpm. It can run at a maximum road speed of 115 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 600 km.I hope that todays Papua New Guinean writers accept that idea and record for posterity some of the beliefs and stories from their ancestors, he said.

The Cleland family has sponsored the award since 2012 and former kiap Bob Cleland believes that any society benefits from being aware of its social and cultural heritage.

The award will be given for the writer or piece of writing adjudged to have best explored traditional customs, beliefs and stories, and promoted PNGs cultural heritage.

The Crocodile Prize  Papua New Guineas national literary contest  is open for 2019 with entries now being received for the Cleland Award for Heritage Literature .

That doesnt mean believe it or not believe it. It doesnt mean accept it or ignore it. It doesnt mean be proud of it or ashamed of it. It means, simply, to be aware of those traditions.

Its up to each writer to judge for themselves what things to write about and what things to ignore.

The Cleland name has a rich and honourable association with PNG.

Bobs father, Sir Donald Cleland, was the distinguished administrator of the then Territory of Papua and New Guinea from 1952-66 and played an important role as the nation prepared for Independence.

Dame Rachel Cleland, the wife of Sir Donald, was an active supporter of PNG culture and was a much loved figure in the country because of her close relationships with the Papua New Guinean people.

Bob Cleland, like his mother and father, has an intimate connection with Papua New Guinea and its people. He arrived in 1953 and worked as a field administrator in Eastern Highlands, East New Britain, Morobe, Simbu and Western Province.

Crocodile Prize director Ruth Moiam said the ongoing support of the Cleland family has been a massive boost to Papua New Guinean literature.

The support of Bob Cleland and his family  year after year  is incredible, she said.

The Crocodile Prize was founded in recognition that our own literature is vital for us to explore Papua New Guineas diverse cultural and social perspectives.

Understanding Papua New Guineas many traditions allows us to think more clearly about our shared future and the Cleland Award for Heritage Literature is promoting that process.My first task on this project was to locate a road from Pongani on the north coast using a strip map I had earlier prepared on a long patrol and which subsequently was extensively referred to by Comworks engineers.

To get an idea of its size, the estimated budget was $130 million, and that was prior to 1971. It would have been $1.4 billion in todays money.

This involved some of the biggest challenges that I ever had to face in Papua New Guinea.

SPRINGBROOK - This first story is fairly statistical but I have to do justice to the magnitude of the proposed Musa Dam hydro-electricity project.

My patrol report of the time records:

These diagrams are on a scale of 1 inch = 5 minutes walking time. This is equal to approximately 580 yards on reasonably flat, dry ground. There have been no adjustments for those places where the track climbs steep hills etc. The entire route from Pongani to Busi took 18 hours to walk (excluding detours and backtracking) which would be about equal to 70 miles of flat and dry track.

Bruce Neale, the engineer in charge, told me later that, when the bulldozers broke through two years later, it was 62 miles. I walked the route four times, including camping out when clearing it but never saw it finished nor drove along any section of it.

At about the same time, I received instructions to survey the dam site and determine ownership of the land so Comworks could establish a base camp. Work relating to this project took me on six patrols totalling 115 days over 18 months.

Apart from being extremely rugged country, remote even for the locals, the challenge was made more daunting by a total lack of information. This from my final patrol report: At the early stage, little of the area was known by our department in Popondetta, consequently I went in virtually blind.

The temporary patrol post at Safia, constructed in 1970

From Safia all I could see was very hilly country about five kilometres away on the other side of the Musa (Moni) River and for two weeks (the mail turnaround time) I procrastinated.

There had been some protest from the people and I had plenty of other matters to attend to.

Finally, I received a communication from the assistant district commissioner at Popondetta, Chris Day, ordered me to proceed, adding, If the people confront you, pull out and dont press the point.

Getting there wasnt easy. Normally, it took two hours to walk from Safia via Gobera, crossing the Adau River, then to the Gorge on the side of Streamgaugers Hut ending in a hair-raising crossing by raft to the Old Camp, with wild rapids in sight immediately downstream.

On one occasion, expecting the worst, I put my field notes down the front of my jeans  maski (never mind) losing my gear and food but I couldnt bear starting the survey over again  and the river was relatively low.

This river could truly flood - in 1971 Comworks recorded a 12 foot overnight rise. So we crossed further upstream then cut our way through boggy jungle on the other side of the Adau River, taking five hours to reach Safia.

On my first night at the deserted Camp, torrential rain caused me to find a way into the musty but dry Comworks shed. Looking around next morning, I noticed on a bench a QASCO air survey of the Gorge. There were a number of copies so I took possession of one.

For the first time, I could see the topography and other features, including five possible dam sites and a site for the proposed 400MW power station. Based on aerial photos, this map was an invaluable acquisition, giving me the confidence to proceed.

The first day, walking three hours to a start point, part of the chain broke off, so each measurement had to be adjusted. Then heavy rain and the dark forest made it impossible to read the prismatic compass, so I aborted the traverse two hours from my camp.

In the end, out of 93 stations up and down from 350 to 1,450 feet above sea level over a measured distance of 6 miles, only 23 were level readings, the steepest being 29 on the east side and 17.5 on the west.

Using trig tables, I manually converted each of these ground distances to plan measurements and with aneroid altimeter readings I was able to tie positions onto the contour map. My eventual plan of survey covers 1,620 acres (calculated using graph paper) and overlaid on the QASCO map all features matched exactly, with only a 0.5% error on the calculated closing line of 2,055 feet across the Gorge (an intervening drop which was virtually a cliff).

Footnote: The Musa hydro scheme never eventuated. It remains "standing in a wilderness like an unfinished adventure by the gods of legends and fables era".

Papuan Airlines Pilatus Porter unloading cargo and mail at Tufi airstrip



Returning to Tufi by Twin Otter after one of my patrols to the Middle Musa (Safia), half way across Dyke Acland Bay we were confronted by an ominous wall of dark cloud rising straight from the sea.A touch of Nelson

We were flying at just a few hundred feet, hoping there would be a way under the storm but there was not.

Nor was there any hope of going inland around the volcanic peaks of the Topographers (also known as Nelson Range) - Trafalgar, Victory, Britannia and Temeraire - rising to over 6,000 feet behind Tufi.

The peaks memorialised the English Admiral Nelsons famous battle and three of his ships.

The pilot had to turn back to Popondetta and we tried again later in the day, making it through the inland route with Mt Suckling (Nelsons uncle) on our right via Wanigela on Collingwood Bay (Nelsons vice-admiral) and up the coast past Hardy Point (the captain of HMS Victory) to Tufi.

On his 1874 survey voyage of Papua, Captain Moresby resolved that the features of this lofty promontory are so striking that he honoured them with great names.

Air transport is vital in Papua New Guinea and we had many memorable flights over country that we had previously trudged on foot. In mid-1972, I accompanied land titles commissioner Syd Smith to Safia to conduct a hearing to ratify my difficult and drawn-out survey and investigation into land ownership of the Musa Gorge.

We were to walk the boundaries of this extremely rugged area, camping out a few nights. However, the rivers were in full flood so we spent some days in the Patrol Hut at Safia interviewing land owners and waiting for the heavy rain to ease.

On the second night, there was a national news report that a cyclone had destroyed Tufi and a state of emergency was in place. Meanwhile, Smith endorsed my description of the boundaries and all we could do was wait for the Cessna to come and evacuate us.

Eventually, as we headed towards the coast at Pongani, pilot Alan Woodcock turned to me saying he was scheduled to pick up some vegetables for Popondetta from the agricultural officer at Afore on the Managalas plateau to our left.

One look at the dark clouds stretching from Hydrographers Range and out to sea was enough to convince me that the produce would have to await another day. Better it perish than us.

This was to be my last patrol to Safia and, to put a twist on Lord Nelsons dying words, I thought thank God I have done my duty.

I had flown with Alan often, and had faith in his ability. On a previous occasion, we flew low above the Musa River so I could identify the crossing, hoping to locate assistant patrol officer Dave Stent who was on his very first patrol and under my supervision.

Id sent a message for him to come in from Ovesa camp on the Pongani-Musa Gorge road-clearing project. The aircraft was flying so slowly the propeller was barely turning. Ten minutes later Dave walked in to Safia.

When we landed at Tufi, deputy district commissioner Max Denehy, who was also on board, drew me aside and said, Does he always fly like that? Thinking it a compliment, I replied in the affirmative.

On the strip at Tufi, an Army Caribou, lining up to the airstrip crabwise against a strong crosswind, aborted its take-off at the last moment with a full load of 44 gallon drums of avgas for a missing aircraft search.

We cleared everyone away and after a third attempt it took off for Wanigela flying low over our heads and just clear of the coconut trees.

We unload our baby gear from the Ansett Airlines DC3 at Kokoda

Flying stories were constantly in circulation. We relied on aircraft and PNG was a hazardous place in which to fly.

In late 1972, my wife Annette was going south (en route to Australia) from Kokoda and, after take off, for 20 minutes the DC3 circled above the station, slowly gaining height to climb over the mass of clouds covering the Owen Stanley Range to over 14,000 feet.

Finally the drone of the aircraft faded and we continued our usual office duties. The next day on the radio sked (schedule) we heard that the plane had diverted to Popondetta, where Annette spent the night.

On a later occasion, as we brought our few weeks old son back to Kokoda, the DC3 flight from Port Moresby could only be described as perfect. The air was calm and clear so for once we didnt have to climb over the high cloud  which would not have been kind to a baby in an unpressurised plane.

As we flew through the Gap, wing-tips appearing to almost touch the jungle-clad cliffs on either side, we were enthralled by the many remote waterfalls. Suitably impressed by our flight, we landed to find that the Papua New Guinean co-pilot was being trained on instrument flying and brown paper was stuck over the windscreen.Acorrada, in Galicia, northern Spain. (Source: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg)

Abandoned countryside villages and towns all across Europe are going to all sorts of lengths to attract people back to the deserted neighbourhoods.

The fairytale Italian city of Grottole partnered with Airbnb to invite four temporary citizens to the town to revitalise the town centre, while the mayor of northern Italian town Locana is paying families to move and live there.

Now, Acorrada  a little Spanish hamlet in the northern region of Galicia with six gray-stone houses and two grain stores  has been put up for sale for only 85,000 euros, or approximately AU $135,000, according to a Bloomberg report.

The little hamlet is owned by 57-year old policeman Gustavo Iglesias and others like him whose families lived there for generations, but have since abandoned the village for better employment opportunities.

Id like someone to buy it and do it up so that it continues to have a life, Iglesias told Bloomberg.

Spain is well aware of the trend of other rural locals who are ditching the country life: its called rural desertification.

For a lot of European countries and regions, the solution has been to put up houses  and now, entire villages  for sale and open up the market to international buyers.

Granda, an abandoned hamlet for sale in Lugo province. (Source: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg)

And theyve been snapping them up.

People are coming from all over the world to buy, said Pepe Rodil, a manager at a real estate agency specialising at such sales where foreign buyers account for 90 per cent of the transactions.

Pepe Rodil walks in front of Teixois hamlet in the region of Asturias. (Source: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg)

Heres a look at Acorrada:

(Gustavo Iglesiass village, Acorrada, in Galicia. (Source: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg)

Make your money work with Yahoo Finances daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news.Image: Adelaide Zoo

Two Chinese pandas are the unlikely stars of an Australian government showdown.

Wang Wang and Fu Ni, the giant pandas residing at Adelaide Zoo, are at the centre of what feels like a never-ending Aussie government funding debate.

In the federal budget on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government failed to commit to ongoing funding for the furry giants. This could mean Wang Wang and Fu Ni will be sent home to China in November  when the current loan agreement ends after a decade  if the Coalition government stays in power and funding talks with the Adelaide Zoo fail.

The pandas are on loan to Australia from China for a period of 10 years and at a cost of $1 million per year. The duo arrived at Adelaide Zoo in November 2009 and the zoo is one of only 22 zoos around the world to host giant pandas.

In the Adelaide Advertiser's story "10 burning questions the federal budget can answer for South Australia," the publication asked for an answer on panda funding.

"Will Adelaide Zoo get funding to keep giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni, rather than send them back to China after the existing loan agreement ends in November?" the author asked  for all of Australia.

In an email to Business Insider Australia, Zoos South Australia Chief Executive Elaine Bensted made it clear that funding for the pandas has never been a line item in the federal budget and that discussions are continuing with the Australia and South Australian government.

"We are having positive discussions with the Australian and South Australian Governments and are hopeful the funding will be extended. If the loan agreement is not extended, Wang Wang and Fu Ni will return to China," Bensted said.

A commitment in the government's federal budget would at least have allowed the pandas to relax a little and to get on with trying to make a baby.

Image: Adelaide Zoo

Despite the inaction from the Coalition government, the opposition Labor party has committed to extending funding for the giant pandas, should they be elected this year. Labor senator Penny Wong announced in February a Labor government would fund the agreement for five years.

Story continues

"We will fund, for five years, at $1.3 million a year, to ensure that we can continue to enjoy, and most importantly that our children can continue to enjoy, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, just as so many kids and their parents today are enjoying the pandas," Wong said at a press conference in Adelaide.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in response his focus was dying cattle in Queensland due to floods rather than pandas in South Australia.

"I will simply say this: My priority at the moment, actually with all due respect to the people in South Australia and pandas, is cattle lying dead on properties in north Queensland," he said. "That's where my focus is right now. If the Labor party wants to focus on pandas that's fine, Ill focus on dead cattle on the ground in north Queensland."

View this content at Business Insider

Adelaide Zoo is part of an international effort to create and conserve habitats for the giant pandas. The zoo is collecting knowledge about their nutritional requirements, reproductive biology and how the difference in hemisphere affects the pandas.

The international effort has already had a tangible effect: during the time the pandas have spent at Adelaide Zoo, the species has been downlisted from "endangered" to "vulnerable".

"Wang Wang and Fu Ni are tourism drawcards and have generated significant economic output for the South Australian economy and have supported the creation of many jobs in South Australia," Bensted told Business Insider Australia.

"It is important to remember their contribution is not just financial  conservation education and research is the major benefit. With half a million visitors each year, including 50,000 students, Wang Wang and Fu Ni are powerful ambassadors for their species and are priceless in terms of their contribution to education and conservation."

According to Adelaide Zoo, an analysis by The University of Queensland has shown the giant pandas contributed between $16.1 million and $51.5 million in total gross output to the South Australian economy in 2010 and the arrival of the giant pandas supported up to 1085 jobs in South Australia.

In 2018, Bensted said the zoo needed the government's money to keep the pandas. An animal-loving benefactor could also save the day.

"That sort of money is beyond our resources, we couldn't do that," Bensted told the ABC, in regards to Adelaide Zoo footing the bill. "There's no guarantee, but we've always said we'd like to keep giant pandas at Adelaide Zoo."

With all the fuss, how are Wang Wang and Fu Ni holding up? "They are doing really well," Bensted told Business Insider Australia. "When theyre not delighting the public and exploring their habitats, theyre busy munching on bamboo and having the odd nap."Flag-waving Algerians celebrated the resignation of ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika after two decades in power, but vowed to keep protesting to demand sweeping change to the country's whole political system. The 82-year-old president ceded power in the face of massive street demonstrations that have shaken the North African nation, with state media announcing late Tuesday he had submitted his resignation with immediate effect. Car horns sounded on the streets before jubilant crowds converged in the centre of the capital Algiers to cheer the departure of the veteran leader, who has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. At the same time, many people said they were determined to continue demonstrating, rejecting any transition that leaves power in the hands of the "system". "I want my daughter to remember this historic day. Bouteflika's gone, but it's far from over," said 35-year-old Amal, who wore a T-shirt with the slogan "I am against the system" and vowed to march again on Friday. For 44-year-old engineer Hamid Boumaza, Bouteflika's resignation was "too little, too late". "Bouteflika's departure is no longer enough. We want them all to go. We want full freedom and we will march for as long as necessary." Others paid tribute to the longtime leader, but regretted that he had clung to power for so long. "Bouteflika worked. I voted for him at first, but he didn't know how to leave with his head held high," said Bilan Brahim, 40. - 'Appeasement of hearts' - Algeria has largely avoided the turmoil unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings that brought down rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Libya. But discontent, particularly among the young, turned to anger after Bouteflika announced in February that he would seek a fifth term in office in an election that had been scheduled for this month. He dropped his bid in the face of the mass protests but also postponed the vote, angering Algerians who saw the move as a ploy to stay in power. On Monday, his office said he would resign before his mandate expires at the end of the month. And as pressure mounted, state television announced late Tuesday that Bouteflika "officially advised the Constitutional Council of the end of his term of office as President of the Republic". "This decision which I take in my soul and conscience is destined to contribute to the appeasement of the hearts and minds of my compatriots, to allow them to take Algeria towards a better future to which they legitimately aspire," his resignation letter said. Footage showed Bouteflika, dressed in a beige North African tunic and sitting in his wheelchair, handing the resignation letter to the head of the Constitutional Council, Tayeb Belaiz. The United States said the future of Algeria was now up to its people. "Questions about how to navigate this transition in Algeria, that is for the Algerian people to decide," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters. Russian, a longtime ally of Algeria, called for a transition without foreign "interference". French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Bouteflika's decision to step down marked the turning of "an important page in the history of Algeria". "We are confident in the ability of all Algerians to continue this democratic transition in the same spirit of calm and responsibility" that has prevailed in recent weeks, Le Drian added. Algeria's constitution says that once the president officially resigns, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, 77-year-old Abdelkader Bensalah, acts as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organised. The resignation came shortly after the military demanded impeachment proceedings be launched against Bouteflika. Armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah said the army's "sole ambition" was to "protect the people from a handful of (other) people who have unduly taken over the wealth of the Algerian people". A long-time Bouteflika ally, the general last week called on the president to resign or be declared unfit to rule, becoming one of the first of his longtime supporters to abandon him. Bouteflika had named a new government on Sunday, made up mainly of technocrats under recently appointed premier Noureddine Bedoui. The administration -- supposed to steer the country towards transition -- included General Gaid Salah remaining in his position as deputy defence minister. Among the other key Bouteflika backers is his younger brother and special adviser Said, who was frequently cited in the past as a likely successor to the president. Discreet and rarely seen in public, Said Bouteflika has exerted increasing influence behind the scenes as his brother's health worsened, but the president's resignation could take away much of his power. The resignation of Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika sparked scenes of jubilation in the capital Abdelaziz Bouteflika has long been accused of clinging to power Jubilant crowds converged in the centre of Algiers Hundreds of thousands of Algerians had taken to the streets in recent weeks demanding longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika resign Main dates in the career of Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who announced Monday he will resign before his mandate expires on April 28.

A 13-year-old boy has been praised for trading in his Xbox console to buy a car for his mum.

William Rabillo, 13, lives with his mum Krystal Preston and two siblings in the US state of Nevada and became aware she was struggling as a single mother, KOLO News reports.

Ms Preston told the news outlet her son was tired of seeing her cry.

When William isnt at school he does the odd job for people in the neighbourhood to earn some extra cash, KCIT reported.

William Rabillo traded his Xbox to get his mum a car. Source: Facebook/Krystal Preston

He told KCIT he watched YouTube videos of people surprising their mums with cars and wanted to do the same.

William recently came across a person selling their white Chevrolet Metro on Facebook.

It was really cheap so I asked her if I could trade it for my Xbox or earn it, and at first she said no, and then she thought about it, and then she said yes, he told KOLO News.

The teen said he told his mum, who was in disbelief. Thats until she was taken to see her new wheels.

Krystal Preston couldnt believe her son purchased a car for her. Source: KOLO News

Ms Preston wrote on Facebook she was in complete shock.

The last couple of weeks have literally been hell, she wrote.

But she completely lost it when she saw what her son did for her.

I am speechless, she wrote.

My 13-year-old son bought me a car.

I am so proud of my son. He is such a good kid.

What 13-year-old kid do you know that buys his mum a car?

Do you have a story tip? Email: y7newsroom@yahoo7.com.au.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoos daily newsletter. Sign up here.Chol Deng, her husband and five children sit, exhausted, under a tree, having journeyed back to South Sudan five years after fleeing their corpse-strewn hometown Malakal. Encouraged by a six-month lull in fighting as a peace deal holds for the first time since 2015, the family last month joined scores of others warily returning home from Ethiopia and Sudan. "People died, lots of them. People could literally walk on dead bodies across Malakal. That was why we left," Deng told AFP, recounting the family's flight to Sudan in February 2014. "I want to know if the country has peace. I want my kids to come back home." But for now, they will stay in Udier, an opposition-controlled village relatively untouched by war in the Upper Nile region, keeping an eye on a peace deal which appears to have run worryingly aground, analysts and diplomats warn. At some point, they are hoping to return to Malakal, once the country's second city and now a ghost town of flattened, burned homes flanked by a large UN-protected camp where some 30,000 former residents live. "I am always scared, I have seen people dying," Deng said of her fears of fresh fighting. In Udier, like in much of the country, young men with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders can be seen wandering along dirt paths between villages or strolling through the market. Just in case. - Stuck - Observers warn that the latest peace deal is in danger, with a long list of tricky issues to be resolved before a unity government is formed in May. "The two sides stopped fighting. That's the good news. But now they're stuck on nearly everything else," said Alan Boswell, a South Sudan expert with the International Crisis Group (ICG). Speaking to AFP in Juba, UN envoy David Shearer said it was promising to see that opposition members were back in town, for the first time in two years. However "we should be further along ... if momentum slows, frustration sets in, and that might lead to anger." Observers warn that reuniting arch-rivals President Salva Kiir and rebel leader and former vice president Riek Machar in government for a third time without resolving these issues could be a recipe for further disaster. It was the pair's running rivalry which kickstarted a civil war in 2013 characterised by brutal violence, rape and UN warnings about "ethnic cleansing". A 2015 peace deal brought Machar back as vice-president, and he returned to Juba with heavy security. When the deal fell apart in July 2016, the capital was engulfed by a brutal battle between their rival armies. Machar fled on foot with the fighting spreading across the country. But ahead of Machar's planned return in May, there have been no steps taken so far to discuss security control in the capital nor moves to establish a unified army. Speaking to AFP, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomoro insisted the deal was only one month behind schedule. "These delays will be corrected ... this agreement will not fail. "All we hear (from the international community) is 'oh we are late'... we are not hearing anybody telling us that 'oh this is the help we have for you.'" - A Herculean task - The government has asked foreign donors to fund much of its $285 million (252 million euro) budget to implement the deal. This includes gathering troops together in a designated zone and eventually creating a new army. "They haven't even taken the first steps, steps that don't cost anything, announcing how many troops they have and where," said a foreign diplomat in Juba. "It is a real dilemma for donors if you fund cantonment and it becomes an incentive for further recruitment." Many are also wary about Juba's record for looting state funds in recent years. "The peace agreement calls for much more fiscal transparency. It isn't there. If it was, there would be a lot different reaction from donors," said the diplomat. The other key issue yet to be addressed is the contentious matter of internal boundaries. When it won independence in 2011, the country was divided into 10 states but it has since been subdivided into 32, in what many critics see as a gerrymandering of traditional boundaries by Kiir to shore up his power. Boswell said members of a boundaries commission, set up just this month, "face an incredibly difficult if not impossible task". - No guarantors - The ICG has urged mediators to push Kiir, Machar and other signatories to agree on whether to postpone the unity government in May, and push for a third-party protection force in the capital. Part of the problem, said the ICG, is that no one has stepped up to enforce the accord, which was mediated by Uganda and Sudan -- whose President Omar al-Bashir is now embroiled in his own political crisis. "Can brokers patch (up) the peace deal enough to keep the parties from sliding back to war?" said Boswell. "And who will do this? Bashir is the only regional leader who is invested in the peace process, and he's rather busy at the moment." South Sudan's war has left 400,000 dead, and displaced nearly four million from their homes -- the latest bloody chapter in over half a century of near-constant conflict. While those like Chol Deng have dared to return, others in UN-protected camps (POCs) are waiting for concrete proof of peace. "When the peace comes, everyone wants to go back home," said Rebecca Nyalore John at the POC camp in Juba. "(When) there shall be no killing, no beating, we can return home and stay in peace. That is all." With a six-month lull in fighting following South Sudan's peace deal, some people have tried to return home, but others are hedging their bets and staying put at UN camps Since South Sudan won independence in 2011, tens of thousands of people have sought refuge at UN sites for the 'protection of civilians', known as PoC camps, which have provided shelter during repeated bouts of fighting Map of South Sudan locating Udier, Maban, Malakal and Pagak. In February 2014, rebels took over Malakal, leaving the streets of the flashpoint northern town littered with bodies and forcing thousands to flee South Sudan's civil war has left 400,000 dead and forced nearly four million others from their homes

A teacher claims shes been fired after a topless photo she shared with an ex-boyfriend somehow ended up in the hands of a student.

Lauren Miranda, 25, who taught maths to Year 7 students at Bellport Middle School in New York, was fired on Wednesday for not being a role model, according to a $4.2 million lawsuit filed by her lawyer.

Ms Miranda claims she took the photo three years ago for her then-boyfriend but the pair split up in January. She added shes never made the photo public.

The lawsuit claims administrators interrogated Ms Miranda with the intention of humiliating, embarrassing, and berating her about the photo.

Lauren Miranda claims she was fired from her teaching job over a topless photo she shared with an ex-boyfriend. Source: ABC News

Her lawyer John Ray told Yahoo she was called into a meeting with all these men who flashed her photo on a computer screen and said, Is this you?.

The 25-year-old was suspended without pay, according to the lawsuit, and on March 27, the school board voted to fire her. The teacher was not available for an interview with Yahoo.

Ms Miranda said in a press conference the picture was never posted, WPIX reported.

How it got out is the million-dollar question  If a male teachers nipples were displayed, there would be no punishment, she said.

The teacher also claims the principal told her the picture would distract students.

The photo in question which ended up in the hands of a student. Source: John Ray

How can I put you in front of a classroom where boys would be able to pull out their phone and look at this image of you? she claims he said.

Mr Ray said his client is also being denied tenure and was eligible for it this year.

The school districts motive is discriminatory  they intended to sexualise her because shes a woman, he said.

He claimed the school would not reinstate Ms Mirandas job instead of a lawsuit.

Ms Miranda said she loves her job.

I loved my students, my faculty, she said at a press conference.

I really thought this is where I was going to spend the next 30 years of my life.

South Country Central School District Superintendent Dr Joseph Giani told Yahoo: The district does not comment on active litigation.

Story continues

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Along with this name change, the look of our app and social accounts will change a little.

Yahoo News will still be your go-to source for stories that mean something to Aussies. So whether its the latest breaking news or stories you love to share with your friends  we will keep you in the know.

Once you update your app, youll see our new look and your notifications will be sent from Yahoo News.

You can also follow us on Facebook and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoos daily newsletter. Sign up here.Howie Hawkins has campaigned for New York governor and Syracuse mayor. His next race will be the biggest.

Hawkins, a co-founder of the Green Party, announced Wednesday that he is exploring a run for president in 2020. He is planning to seek the Green Party's nomination for the nation's highest office.

The formation of an exploratory committee is Hawkins' response to a call from Green Party members urging him to run for president.

If he runs, Hawkins said he would campaign on the Green New Deal. His proposal would differ from the plan backed by some Democrats by aiming to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2030.

An "ecosocialist" Green New Deal, as he called it, wouldn't be limited to energy delivery. He wants it to revamp agriculture, manufacturing, the military, transportation and waste management.

"Averting climate disaster requires a major mobilization of resources and transformation of the economy to put the protection of the planet and necessities of the people before profits," Hawkins said in a statement.

Hawkins, 66, has been a candidate for several offices in New York. He was the Green Party's nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006. Two years later, he ran for Congress in the Syracuse area.

Locally, he has campaigned for Syracuse mayor  most recently in 2017  and for Syracuse Common Council. He was a candidate for Syracuse city auditor in 2015.

Hawkins is a three-time candidate for governor. In 2010, he secured automatic ballot status for the Green Party by receiving 59,906 votes in the gubernatorial election.

His best campaign for governor was 2014, when he received 184,419 votes. Last year, 103,946 New York voters supported his candidacy.

A retired UPS employee and Teamsters member, Hawkins said if elected president he would advocate for an economic bill of rights. The document would include income and job guarantees, Medicare for all, free education from prekindergarten through college and housing for all.

The economic programs would be paid for by cutting military funding and a more progressive tax structure.

"By empowering racially oppressed communities with community ownership and control of public housing, schools, police and businesses, the Green Economy Reconstruction Program will free communities of color from being subject to the decisions of racist employers, bankers, landlords, real estate agents, lawyers, judges, police, parole boards and other gatekeepers," Hawkins said.

There are at least three candidates already seeking the Green Party presidential nomination. Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura announced last year that he had been approached by the Green Party to run for president in 2020.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Love 3 Funny 3 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2The New York State Police will no longer release mugshots, the agency announced Wednesday.

The decision follows passage of the 2019-20 state budget that included a provision effectively prohibiting the release of booking photos. The language was included in the budget because supporters believe the release of the images is an "unacceptable invasion of the individual's personal privacy."

The state police said it will no longer release mugshots and won't provide the images when requested by the press. The exception is if the agency chooses to release mugshots "for specific law enforcement purposes only."

Beau Duffy, a state police spokesman, said the photos could be released if it can assist police with developing leads for an investigation, finding witnesses or locating a wanted suspect.

"The law is not designed to limit all access to these photos, but instead to protect the privacy rights of individuals involved in the justice system and to allow law enforcement agencies to determine when disclosure is reasonable given the circumstances," Duffy said.

After the state police informed the press that it wouldn't distribute mugshots, The Citizen received a news release from the agency regarding a drug bust in Oneida County. The mugshots of the two men arrested on drug charges were included with the release.

The mugshot ban was proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his executive budget. He aimed to crack down on websites that post mugshots online, then attempt to extort individuals who wish to have the image removed.

These websites, according to Cuomo's office, often charge up to $400 to remove a photo after it's published online. The governor's State of the State booklet claimed the mugshot ban "will prevent the release of information that fuels this extortionate practice and help ensure the privacy of individuals."

A budget bill released last week would've extended the ban to include booking information. That provision would've prevented law enforcement agencies from releasing arrest records, such as the individual's name and the charges against them.

Before the budget was finalized, it was amended to exclude booking information from the ban. It would only apply to the release of mugshots, not arrest records.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 1 Angry 17The Auburn YMCA Y-Pals director, Johanna Lynch, has scheduled two events to raise funds that will directly benefit the program. The first is Rally for Pals, a co-ed volleyball tournament, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 6. The second is the 12th annual Bowl-a-Thon at 6 p.m. Friday, April 26, at Starlight Lanes in Aurelius.

Lynch has been with the Y-Pals for 13 years. She explained that the key element of the program is mentoring. In this case, older students or adults partner with children one-to-one to serve as positive role models. This is a great program, Lynch said. It gives children a chance to participate in events or go places they might never have been able to otherwise. As an example, a trip to Darien Lake is planned for this summer.

The YMCA leaders take the responsibility for the students in their care seriously. Before being accepted into the program, prospective mentors must fill out an application and then pass reference and background checks. All cleared mentors must then take YMCA program-specific training.

The benefits of young students having responsible mentors are well-documented. Students develop positive attitudes toward themselves and others, they gain experience working with other students in a cooperative manner, and they build increased self-confidence. A pamphlet published by the YMCA says, One in three young people are growing up without a mentor, a statistic called the mentor gap. Children with a mentor are more likely to attend school regularly, more likely to be active in their communities and less likely to use drugs.

The Auburn YMCA has recently started a new component of Y-Pals, the college student mentor program. College students are asked to commit to meet with their Y-Pals twice a month throughout the school year. The college students earn community service credits while they contribute to the emotional growth of younger students. Y-Pals staff are always present during any of these activities, and the college students must pass the same requirements as any other mentor.

The Y-Pals program is active in three local school districts: Auburn, Southern Cayuga and Union Springs. Older students partner with younger students once a week. During this time, students can finish their homework, play games or participate in other supervised activities. The children in the program are referred by school staff and then matched with a Y-Pal. The matching process is a joint process by Lynch, the schools teachers and counselors based on shared interests, goals and needs.

Parental permission is required for students to participate, and parents are encouraged to support the program by asking their children about the school day or what activities they are doing with their mentors. According to the Public School Review, Parental involvement is key to student success, and this support also leads to stronger family bonds.

Lynch said that the Bowl-a-Thon slots fill up quickly, so any interested bowlers should register early. There will be 50/50 raffles, trivia contests, food and music. The cost is $60 for a four-person team. Each bowler will receive a chance to win a free one-year YMCA membership. And there may still be time to sign up for the volleyball tournament.

For more information, contact Johann Lynch, Y-Pals Coordinator, at (315) 253-5304 ext. 118 or email johanna@auburnymca.net.

Joe Sarnicola is retired from the Auburn Enlarged City School District. He can be reached at joesarnicola@yahoo.com.

Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy PolicyFirefighters from multiple departments were called to a fire on Dresserville Road in Moravia on Tuesday afternoon.

The structure fire was reported at about 5:20 p.m, and members of the Moravia Fire Department arrived to find the home's kitchen fully involved, according to Moravia Chief Bill Andersen.

Firefighters were able to knock the fire down after approximately 30 minutes, Andersen said. Andersen added that the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The lone occupant of the home at the time was able to escape without injuries, while the home suffered significant heat and smoke damage throughout.

Dresserville Road was temporarily closed in the area of the fire so that fire trucks could reach the home.

Along with Moravia, fire departments from Locke, Sempronius, Groton, Cortlandville New Hope and Owasco also responded, and Fleming Fire Department covered Moravia's station.

Four Town Ambulance, the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, Cayuga County Fire Investigators and Emergency Management Office Fire Coordinators, the Red Cross and state police also responded to the scene.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 1 Angry 2SENECA FALLS  The Seneca Falls Town Board on Tuesday night voted down a resolution expressing opposition to the National Women's Hall of Fame over its induction of actress Jane Fonda because of her controversial visit to Vietnam.

The resolution was defeated 4-1, with one abstention vote counting against. If passed, it would have ended any financial donations, cooperation or in-kind services from the town to the Hall.

More than 150 people attended the board's meeting Monday, with numerous speakers representing the Hall, local veterans groups, or just themselves speaking for or against the resolution over the course of nearly two hours.

Fonda visited North Vietnam in 1972 during the midst of the Vietnam War  a visit that included an infamous picture of her sitting atop an anti-aircraft gun  sparking widespread controversy that still did not sit well with many of the gathered veterans Tuesday.

Several current and former members of the Hall of Fame board spoke in support of Fonda's inclusion, and also highlighted the Hall's positive impact on both the town and the region's economy and reputation.

The Hall of Fame board's incoming and outgoing presidents, Betty Bayer and Kate Bennett, both also noted that the board does not have a role in the induction process. Rather, members of the public nominate potential inductees which are then reviewed by an independent panel of judges.

Bennett, speaking to the veterans in attendance, said there was "no question" that many Americans did not know how to be grateful for their service, and said Fonda  who Bennett said had a number of accomplishments beyond the controversy she since apologized for  was not the first or last controversial woman inducted into the hall.

Similarly, Bayer said Fonda's inclusion would partly serve as a mechanism to start a discussion for "emotional repair from historical events."

Multiple Vietnam veterans, conversely, described Fonda as "treasonous," and said her inclusion in the Hall was disrespectful to them.

Seneca Falls Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1323 Commander David Ostroski said that, years after the war, its veterans were still not respected, and Fonda's inclusion  which he said he would never step foot in the Hall over  is another instance of that.

"To put her picture there is disrespectful to us, to every veteran,"Ostroski said.

A common theme among several veteran speakers was that there are plenty of other women more worthy of inclusion than Fonda.

Veteran Vernon Brewer II, echoing similar comments from fellow veteran Gene Simes, suggested nurses who tended to wounded in Vietnam or the mothers who lost sons to the conflict should be included over Fonda, saying she treated prisoners of war during her visit like "scum."

"How could anyone nominate this woman in the Hall of Fame?" Brewer asked.

When it came time to vote, several board members said they didn't care for Fonda, but their primary reason in voting against it was that it was not the town government's place to dictate what a private entity like the Hall decides to do.

"We shouldn't be put in this position," Avery said.

Board member Doug Avery also said the text of the resolution was flawed, as it mischaracterized an approximately $250,000 donation from the town and an approximately $420,000 transfer to the Hall.

The donation, Avery said, referring to Bayer's comments, was a match to help the grant secure a $2.5 million grant that later turned into $8 million in investments. For the $420,000, the town was only acting as a pass through for a grant from the state.

Board member Lou Ferrara read a letter from a fellow veteran and a former Seneca Falls resident that he said convinced him to vote against it.

The letter Ferrara read said the town did not need to vote for the resolution, as Fonda already "knows how much contempt veterans have for her."

Ferrara also became emotional when reading a list of friends he had known as a boy that were lost to the war, and said they had died to protect the freedom for Americans to do what they feel is right.

Supervisor Greg Lazzaro, who introduced the resolution last week, read his own letter from a Texas resident whose father died in Vietnam.

The letter said the "angst and fury" people feel toward Fonda is justified, and said that Fonda's apology more than a decade after her visit was meaningless. The letter ended by suggesting that Sharon Lane, the only combat nurse in Vietnam killed by direct fire, be inducted over Fonda.

Ultimately, the resolution was defeated, with only Lazzaro voting in support for it. Board member Dave DeLelys abstained, saying he could not in good conscience vote for or against it.

Staff writer Ryan Franklin can be reached at (315) 282-2252 or ryan.franklin@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @RyanNYFranklin

Love 2 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 5As the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, particularly on the Democratic side with more than a dozen candidates now in the race, sex workers are finding little to choose from in a field that includes nine candidates who have already voted in favor of the supposed sex trafficking law known as FOSTA/SESTA, according to an report published Tuesday by the increasingly political womens magazine Teen Vogue.

Sex workers warned that the bill would, rather than protecting them from traffickers, actually make their jobs and lives more dangerous. As AVN.com has covered, those predictions appear to have come truewhile at the same time, police have said that the law, which in effect bans online sex advertisements, have made their own jobs more difficult, in their efforts to track down and arrest traffickers.

When the bill came to a vote in the United States House of Representatives one year ago, only 25 reps voted against it, while 388 voted in favor. Among those 388 were current Democratic presidential hopefuls Beto ORourke of Texas, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and John Delaney of Maryland.

On the Senate side, only two U.S. Senators, Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon and Rand Paul of Kentucky, opposed SESTA, the Senate iteration of the bill. Current Democrats running for presidentBernie Sanders of Vermont, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Corey Booker of New Jerseyall voted in favor of the bill.

On the Republican side, of course, the one candidate in the race, Donald Trump, signed the FOSTA/SESTA bill into law last April, as AVN.com reported.

One other candidate currently gaining wide exposure, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, was asked in February for his views on FOSTA by OUT Magazine, but Mayor Pete seemed not to be well-informed about the law, though it had passed nine months earlier.

It doesnt sound like a good idea, he told OUT. But I need to get more educated on it.

Two of the Democrats, Harris and Gabbard, have since announced that they now support decriminalizing sex work, at least in some limited form. Sanders was also asked his position on decriminalization of sex work earlier this year, but said only, Thats a good question and I dont have an answer for that.

Among the other candidates, as Teen Vogue noted, Klobuchar has centered the issue of sex trafficking in her campaign, describing herself as a national leader in the fight to combat human trafficking.

Candidate Elizabeth Warren is a co-sponsor of a FOSTA-like bill for the financial sector, a bill that could cut off sex workers from their own earnings, if they keep their money in bank accounts.

Photo By Lorie Shaull/Wikimedia CommonsIt is a start!

Al Arabiya English, by Sonia Farid (excerptread on: Russian flights return to the Red Sea as Egypt's tourism slowly makes a comeback)

While the Cairo flights constituted a major breakthrough, the resumption of trips to Red Sea resorts was seen as the real remedy for the blow tourism had suffered following the ban. This explains why the landing on February 14 of the first flight carrying Russian tourists in Hurghada, located along the Red Sea coast, was hailed with so much optimism. But whether this optimism was well-placed or not is still uncertain.

Atef Abdel Latif, head of Mosafiron travel agency, said that Russians constituted 50 percent of tourists visiting Hurghada before the ban, and that is why their return is expected to boost tourism in the city. Russians are not among tourists who spend a lot of money, depending on the resorts where they stay for recreational activities. However, Abdel Latif said, they usually stay for a long time. He also noted that the weather encourages them to come in large numbers.



Deputy Director of the General Union of Egyptian Air Transport Yosri Abdel Wahab also argued that the weather plays a major role in the influx of Russian tourists. Russian tourism in Egypt is always at its peak in winter, he said, when Russia hits freezing temperatures.

For Abdel Wahab, the resumption of Russian flights to Hurghada is the start of a series of trips to different Egyptian cities. He expected direct flights to Luxor and Aswan to start very soon.

It is worth noting that while the Cairo-Moscow flights are operated by Aeroflot, trips to Hurghada are neither direct nor officially authorized by the Russian government. Sameh Selim of the Russian tour operator Pegas Touristik explained that flights take off from Moscow to Antalya on the Russian national carrier, then from Antalya to Hurghada on Turkish Airlines. He added that the reason for the companys decision to organize those trips was that the ban on flights to the Red Sea has not in fact been lifted.

Reservations for the trips, Selim said, opened in January and business has been going well so far. According to him, the trip lasts an average of seven days and costs around USD 1,100 including flight and accommodation. Selim added that the company will run eight flights per week to Hurghada and 12 to Sharm al-Sheikh from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Ufa, and other cities.UNC Board of Governors Chairman Harry Smith, left, and UNC Interim President Dr. Bill Roper speak with reporters after the board's March 22 meeting at Appalachian State University in Boone. (Screen shot from video provided by The Appalachian)

Click play to watch video of the news conference above.

After a week of public turmoil and bad press, University of North Carolina Board of Governors member Steve Long opened a March 22 meeting at Appalachian State University by offering his regrets for how he handled his criticism of board Chairman Harry Smith.On March 18, East Carolina University Chancellor Cecil Staton announced he was resigning, that he'd signed a non-disparagement agreement, and that he was taking an almost $600,000 separation deal.Immediately after that announcement, Long took to the media to berate Smith with allegations the chairman directed UNC System Interim President Bill Roper to remove Staton from his position. Long claimed the firing was the result of Smith's irrational personal vendetta against the chancellor.Long wrote in a March 18 letter.But Long seemed to change tune only a few days later, when he apologized to Smith and the board for the way he voiced his dissatisfaction.Long said.Long didn't, however, apologize for the content of his critique. He's not the only public figure to assert such claims.Smith, who frequently cites a small but vocal and "emotional" minority of people who share Long's views, accepted the apology. Long's comments were the resultSmith said. With that, the matter was seemingly settled.The incident followed a similar pattern in how the UNC BOG handles conflict: out of the public eye.Smith said Long approached him March 20 and they had a private conversation about the dispute.Smith said of his conversation with Long during a press conference after the board meeting.Smith said Long was passionate about making a public apology.On March 19,received multiple credible reports that a board member, Tom Fetzer, was collecting votes to publicly censure Long at Friday's meeting.Fetzer's response torequest for comment was to demand sources.refused and received no answers to questions.Staton's resignation was negotiated behind closed doors. Neither Roper nor Smith would say who initiated the chancellor's resignation. Staton said Monday the resignation wasn't his idea.Whenpushed for an answer, Roper simply responded,Roper indirectly confirmed he didn't independently seek Staton's resignation, stating,reported in November that Staton planned to leave as early as Jan. 1. At the time, Staton denied agreeing to resign. Until this week, the UNC System never has denied any offer was considered. Now, Staton and Roper have indirectly confirmed talks were under way.Personnel matters are private, and only the university and individuals of concern should be privy to them, Roper said.he told reporters.Roper also said maintaining transparency was an important goal for the system.Smith, who since November has taken issue withreporting on the situation with Staton and ECU, repeated his statements that facts, not emotions, matter.revisited requests to release a 360-degree performance review Spellings conducted last year. In November, Staton asked the UNC System to release the review.requested a release as well.Two months later, a group of more than 200 prominent ECU alumni, faculty members, and supporters, also wrote a letter backing Staton and asking for the 360's release.Smith said, alluding to "multiple requests" for certain public records.is still waiting for other sets of public records, which it has requested, from the UNC System and ECU.State Treasurer Dale Folwell. (CJ photo by Dan Way)

A plan by State Treasurer Dale Folwell to reform the nearly insolvent State Health Plan faces legislative pushback, prodded by hospitals and large medical providers. Folwell has no plan to abandon the reforms, which actuaries say would prevent the plan from going broke within four years.But House Bill 184 would force Folwell to drop those changes - even though the law would cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, and plunge the plan's unfunded liabilities $1 billion deeper into the red.Those projections came from a just-released legislative fiscal note attached to H.B. 184. It's the latest development in a bruising battle pitting the treasurer and State Employees Association of North Carolina against the state's biggest players in the health care market and some sympathetic lawmakers.The State Health Plan's actuary says Folwell's changes would avoid $486 million in extra health plan costs through fiscal year 2021-22, and an extra $1.1 billion in unfunded liabilities. The General Assembly's actuary puts the additional claims costs at $534 million, and pegs new unfunded liabilities at $1 billion.The self-funded State Health Plan represents more than 720,000 state employees and retirees, and spends $3.3 billion a year. It is the largest health-care buyer in the state. But is one of the worst-funded public health plans in the nation. It has 3 percent of the funding it needs to cover projected future expenses, with $35 billion in unfunded liabilities. By 2023, it won't have enough money to pay its bills.Folwell hopes to launch his Clear Pricing Project in January 2020, requiring health care providers to publish their prices. Letting health care consumers price shop would spark competition and reduce costs.The reference-based pricing model ties payments to Medicare rates, and builds in a profit margin for providers. It would bring uniformity and certainty to the current payment structure in which hospitals charge widely differing prices, some as much as 800 percent above cost.Hospitals and their lobbying arm at the N.C. Healthcare Association say Folwell's plan would cut revenues $450 million, equivalent to an average 15 percent of members' budgets.Partners for Innovation in Healthcare, a 501(c)4 independent expenditure organization, has launched a war of words against Folwell on Twitter, and a blistering advertising campaign.It has accused Folwell ofandto win re-election in 2020. It says his changesand his cost-cutting measures will result inIn another Tweet it attacksas disinterested in reforming and modernizing the State Health Plan.N.C. Healthcare Association Vice President Cody Hand said on Twitter.H.B. 184 would create a study committee to examine State Health Plan needs. It mandates continuing the current arrangement with third party administrator Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina until the end of 2021. Folwell wants Blue Cross NC to provide a less expensive, more transparent plan instead.Primary sponsors of H.B. 184 received notable political contributions from the N.C. Healthcare Association in 2018: Reps. Josh Dobson, R-McDowell, $5,200; Julia Howard, R-Davie, $2,000; William Brisson, D-Bladen, $3,000; and Gale Adcock, D-Wake, $6,200. Partners for Innovation in Healthcare publicly thanked them for sponsoring the bill.Julie Henry, N.C. Healthcare Association spokeswoman, insists her organization is separate from Partners for Innovation in Healthcare.Henry said. The entities share many health care concerns, but none is more important than blocking Folwell's changes, she said.Hospitals began talking to H.B. 184 sponsors last fall about the bill. Folwell told a legislative committee earlier this year his reforms would proceed unless the General Assembly passed a law blocking him.Henry said if Folwell moves forward, state employees will have fewer options to choose among doctors and hospitals.Folwell recently increased health care provider reimbursements to 82 percent above Medicare rates. Rural health providers would get 20 percent more than in his original proposal. Taxpayers still would save almost $258 million, and State Health Plan members almost $57 million in out-of-pocket costs yearly. Some hospitals would receive more money under his reform.Folwell said the adjustment expands the number of rural facilities benefiting from 20 to 70. His office is talking to hospitals about bundling payments and creating Accountable Care Organizations.Henry said. Folwell still relies too heavily on cutting rates as a short-term goal, while ignoring long-term ways to improve health care and reduce more expensive hospital visits.She said hospitals aren't completely dismissing Folwell's efforts.Henry said.Folwell is unhappy with legislative action intruding on the State Health Plan's Board of Trustees' unanimous decision to adopt his Clear Pricing Project. He said neither House party caucus has invited him to discuss his plan.or compete with the hospitals' large team of lobbyists, he said.He noted the General Assembly control of the State Health Plan to the treasurer while he was still in the General Assembly. Lawmakers recognized they had neither the time nor expertise to manage the huge, complicated system. Under legislative oversight, the plan was down to three days of operating reserves, and would have been shut down by regulators if it were an insurance company, he said.He says claims he'd cause hospitals to close are off base.Folwell said.The N.C. Rural Health Research Program lists six hospital closures since 2010, the most recent being Washington County Hospital in Plymouth on Feb. 14.He brushed off political and personal attacks, saying he also took heat as a lawmaker championing worker's compensation reform, and as a Commerce Department assistant secretary turning $2.5 billion in federal unemployment insurance debt into a surplus.He attributes the criticism to hospitals' objection to transparent pricing. They refuse to relinquish the power to dictate payments no other vendor in state government enjoys.Folwell said of his plan.The House has unanimously passed legislation to add North Carolina to a compact of states that would share psychological services in short supply. House Bill 297 would create a Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact allowing licensed psychologists in one state to practice telepsychology across state lines, and to practice temporary face-to-face psychology across state boundaries for 30 days within a calendar year. The House voted 109-0 Wednesday, March 27, to approve the bill, and sent it to the Senate.The compact is a priority of the Department of Defense because it helps military spouses with psychology degrees open practices.A compact needs seven member states to function. North Carolina would be the eighth. But Illinois will not become active until 2020. If H.B. 297 becomes law, the compact would open Oct. 1.The legislation mirrors a component of Senate Bill 361 , The Health Care Expansion Act of 2019. That omnibus health-care legislation was introduced in the Senate on Tuesday and referred to the Senate Rules Committee.North Carolina already participates in two multistate arrangements: The Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact , and Physical Therapy Licensure Compact Bill sponsors say H.B. 297 would enhance the state's ability to protect public health and safety while encouraging cooperation among PSYPACT states. The compact states could hold psychologists accountable by exchanging information about licensure, adverse actions involving legal or regulatory violations, and disciplinary history.To be licensed, a psychologist must hold a graduate degree in psychology from an institution meeting 10 criteria, and have no adverse actions or criminal history.In other action, the House voted 109-1 to pass House Bill 70 , delaying some entities from entering the N.C. Health Information Exchange Network.NC HealthConnex, as the network is called, would be a central collection point for patients' electronic health records and is designed to improve patient health outcomes. State Department of Health and Human Services officials told lawmakers last year about 90 percent of hospitals and 87 percent of county health departments were already connected to the system.However, Rep. Josh Dobson, R-McDowell, said some health-care providers cited several reasons they couldn't meet this year's June 1 connection deadline.Psychiatrists would be exempt until 2021 because of unusual challenges. State health facilities don't have an electronic records system, mostly because it would cost the state $200 million to create one. The bill requires them to begin submitting data a year after they install an electronic records system.The bill would make connection voluntary for entities such as durable medical equipment suppliers, personal care, hospice, respite care, and others.A new Civitas Institute poll shows a small majority of North Carolina voters describe themselves as pro-life. In a similar split, a small majority of NC. voters favor doing away with the Electoral College.Donald Bryson, Civitas Institute president, presented on the poll results with WBTV investigative reporter Nick Ochsner during a lunch meeting March 27.Harper Polling, on behalf of Civitas Institute, surveyed 500 North Carolina voters between March 14-17 in a mix of landline and cell phone interviews. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.38 percent.The poll asked the voters about their views on two hot-button issues: abortion rights and the Electoral College.When asked whether they consider themselves as pro-life or pro-choice, slightly more voters described themselves as pro-life. Fifty percent of respondents said they were pro-life, compared to 40 percent who identified as pro-choice. The remaining 10 percent were unsure.Bryson said the responses unsurprisingly fell along party lines, with Republicans and unaffiliated voters more likely to describe themselves as pro-life and Democrats more like to identify as pro-choice.Bryson said.In what circumstances should abortions be permitted?The majority of respondents, 24 percent, said only in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother's life is in danger. Nearly 20 percent said abortion should only be allowed only in cases in which the mother's life was at risk. Eleven percent said women should be allowed to get an abortion at any point during her pregnancy.Bryson said some people who identified as pro-life also said abortions should be allowed during certain trimesters of a pregnancy. Similarly, some people who identified as pro-choice said abortions should only be allowed in cases of rape, incest, or where the mother's life was in danger.Bryson said the definitions of pro-life and pro-choice are often fuzzy.The Electoral college has gained media attention lately with several Democratic presidential candidates proposing its abolition. Forty-seven percent of N.C. voters think the Electoral College should be abolished, and the president should be elected via the popular vote. Forty-three percent think the Electoral College should stay, and 10 percent are unsure.Ochsner said it was surprising to see that 21 percent of President Trump's supporters wanted to abolish the Electoral College. Trump didn't win the national popular vote during the 2016 presidential election, but he did earn the most electoral votes.Had the scenario been switched and Trump had lost the Electoral College vote, Bryson said, it's likely a majority of Republicans would support switching to the national popular vote.Despite a majority supporting doing away with the Electoral College, 55 percent opposed a bill to accomplish that goal. A bill proposed in the General Assembly would enter the state into an agreement to elect the president using only the national popular vote. If the state was party to this agreement the state would give all of its electoral votes to the candidate with the most votes nationally, regardless of which candidate had the most votes in North Carolina. Only 29 percent of poll respondents favored the bill.Ochsner and Bryson theorized this may be the result of voters reluctant to relinquish state sovereignty.Around 1,300 students are participating [in] "The Leggings Protest" on Notre Dame's campus today. ... The protest has two main objectives: for women and men to wear leggings in protest and to encourage conversations about female equality. PhD student Valeria Mora decided to discuss the letter with her class. She wanted her students to know that they can talk to her about issues like this. "The first thing I got was a huge gasp," said Mora. "They were like 'Yes! Yeah, I saw it too.'"

Let's think about the sons, rather than their mothers, for a moment. ... I wonder about what kind of pressure these four sons feel to "ignore" the young women around them. How do they handle swimming pools? Beaches? The checkout line at Target when Women's Health magazine is on display?



Do they feel like failures, on some level, if they experience a sexual urge? Are they ashamed when they feel attracted to someone? Have they let down their mom, who's working so hard to protect them from the temptations of female flesh that she'd write an open letter to the female half of Notre Dame, a university of more than 12,000 students?

Last Monday, a Catholic mother of four sons wrote a letter to The Observer, a student-run, daily print and online newspaper serving Notre Dame University, Saint Mary's and Holy Cross, asking for women to consider not wearing leggings because they cling to the body and leave little to the imagination. Reaction to her plea for modesty was furious; on Wednesday, WBST reported:On Friday, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune expressed her outrage thus:White started her letter by writing that she had hoped fashion would change, adding,White recalled going to church with her family and witnessingShe continued:White wrote,White commented,She concluded,N.C. Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes (CJ file photo) Click image to expand.

A federal grand jury indicted N.C. Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes , political donor Greg Lindberg of Durham, and two Lindberg associates on charges of wire fraud, bribery, and making false statements to law enforcement agents. The four allegedly orchestrated a scheme in which they would give Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican elected in 2016, campaign contributions. In return, Causey would allow lax enforcement of regulations that would help Lindberg's insurance companies. The indictment, handed down in March, was unsealed Tuesday.The four men pleaded not guilty at the federal courthouse in Charlotte. Each was released on a $100,000 bond, ordered to surrender their passports, and report any travel to probation officials, The News & Observer reported Hayes announced Monday he was retiring as chairman of the state GOP at the end of his term.According to the indictment, Lindberg offered to give $2 million to support Causey's re-election campaign, using an independent expenditure organization and the state Republican Party as conduits. Hayes allegedly joined the scheme and lied to FBI agents when asked about it. Causey cooperated with the investigation from the outset, turning over to the federal government a $250,000 contribution Lindberg made and helping the FBI by recording phone calls and conversations.Lindberg was the subject of a lengthy Wall Street Journal profile published in late February outlining the elaborate ways he bought nearly 100 companies by diverting $2 billion from life insurance companies he owned to underwrite his other businesses.the Journal reported.Lindberg also became North Carolina's largest campaign donor, providing $5.4 million in 2017 and 2018, primarily to Republicans, the Journal said.The indictment says in February 2018 Lindberg and associates John Gray and John Palermo tried to ply Causey with campaign contributions, hoping the Department of Insurance would remove a senior regulator whose duties included overseeing GBIG, a company Lindberg owns. Lindberg said the regulator wasHe wanted Causey to hire Palermo to replace the regulator.Causey balked at the idea. Lindberg then suggested moving the regulator to a different division in DOI and replacing her with another division head. Causey didn't go along with that plan, initially, delaying the process for months until Lindberg wrote checks to the Republican Party and the independent expenditure group.The indictment says Hayes was involved by May 2018. Causey asked the GOP chairman if he knew about Lindberg's plan to give money to the state party and divert the money to Causey's campaign. Hayes allegedly said,It's against the law for a donor to give money to a political party and direct it to an individual's campaign. Former Gov. Mike Easley, who in 2010 accepted a felony plea for campaign-finance violations, was cited by the State Board of Elections because his 2008 campaign for governor entered a similar scheme.According to the indictment, Lindberg gave $500,000 to the state GOP in June and July. The party transferred $250,000 from Lindberg to Causey's account by early August. The FBI began interviewing the four targets of the investigation later that month. The indictment says during an Aug. 28 interview with FBI agents, Hayes denied any knowledge of a campaign funding arrangement involving Lindberg and his associates to help Causey's campaign. Hayes also allegedly said he knew nothing about a plan to move around top officials at DOI.Lindberg gave generously to both major political parties. The Wall Street Journal story noted his North Carolina political donations ramped up during the tenure of Causey's predecessor, Democrat Wayne Goodwin:After Goodwin lost, Lindberg hired Goodwin as a consultant. Goodwin is chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party. He told the Journal he was cooperating with the investigation.Tuesday afternoon, N.C. Republican Party counsel Josh Howard issued a statement:Tina Tchen, who was former First Lady Michelle Obama's chief of staff, has been in the news quite a bit lately, mostly for her role in getting charges dropped against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.While Chicago police were still investigating an alleged hate crime against Smollett and considering him a victim, Tchen reached out to the Cook County State Attorney's Office asking for the investigation to be handed over to the FBI.Tchen sent in a text message to Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx on February 1.Foxx emailed Tchen that same day to say, "Spoke to the Superintendent [Eddie] Johnson" and that she had "convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation."Foxx also texted a relative of Smollett to say the same.Foxx texted.Smollett's relative responded by saying:Foxx replied that she couldFoxx recused herself from the case before Smollett was charged for allegedly concocting the hate crime against himself. He had claimed two white men wearing Make America Great Again hats physically assaulted him at 2 a.m. in Chicago during a polar vortex while yelling "This is MAGA country." It turns out the two men were of Nigerian dissent, wore plain red hats, and had been paid by Smollett for ajust before the alleged attack. The two men were seen buying supplies on surveillance video.Last week, Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police requested a federal investigation into Foxx's interference in the case.Tchen's name is not only appearing in reports about helping steer the Smollett investigation. She is also getting news coverage as the person hired to investigate alleged racism and sexism within the Southern Poverty Law Center. Earlier this month, the center's co-founder, Morris Dees, was fired. The president of the organization also recently resigned amid complaints from employees that women staffers were sexually harassed by Dees and that the organization's white leadership did not adequately advance minority staffers.In a statement announcing Dees' firing, then-president Richard Cohen said the center had hired "an outside organization to conduct a comprehensive assessment of our internal climate and workplace practices, to ensure that our talented staff is working in the environment that they deserve - one in which all voices are heard and all staff members are respected."The person hired to lead this investigation was Tchen. The Chicago-based attorney and co-founder of the Times Up Legal Defense Fund (part of the MeToo movement), will be assessing the SPLC's workplace culture.In a statement to The New York Times, the SPLC's board chairman, Bryan Fair, said the allegations and departures were "an eye-opening reminder that the walk toward justice must sometimes start at your own front door, and force you to look at your past so you can improve your future."Have Sheriff Offices in North Carolina, possibly even Beaufort County's Sheriff Office, become too political in the discharging of their sworn constitutional duties?

No, the sheriff is a constitutional officer.

Yes, the Sheriff Office, on strong occasion, often reverts back to political patronage in the dispensation of their sworn constitutional duties.Check concentrate feeder accuracy

WITH the cost of dairy cow concentrates rising farmers have been urged to check the accuracy of their feeders to ensure they are not overfeeding, or indeed underfeeding, their livestock.Here is a piece I wrote for the Stream on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her comments on climate change and whether it is still ok to have children.

When an American politician asks if it is still okay to have children, this is something to notice. Are you familiar with the progressive movement and their attraction to eugenics? Then you know the score. Its a short step from wondering if its okay for people to have children to making laws that forbid children. Sound like an overstatement?

Take a look at how fast eugenic musings translated into law. The word eugenics meaning well-born was coined by the English progressive (and Charles Darwin cousin) Francis Galton in 1883. Thomas Leonard tells what happens next in Illiberal Reformers.

The months of debate over Article 13 of the new EU Copyright Directive (passed in a tragicomedy of errors when some MEPs got confused and pushed the wrong buttons), the most contentious issue was whether the rule would require online service providers to spend millions on copyright filters, which are known to be error-prone and the source of mountains of algorithmic censorship, as well as being easily abused by would-be censors who can make false copyright claims with impunity and use them to prevent images, videos, sounds and words from ever appearing on the internet.



Now that the Directive has passed (barring a final formality: it still needs to be approved by the Council, whose members represent EU member-states), the critics are vindicated. It definitely requires filters.





Duh.





For example, the German negotiators who backed Article 13 said that the German version of the Directive would do away with filters and substitute some kind of copyright licensing system for them (this was a frequent argument made by people who insisted that filters would not be necessary). But

Gunther Oettinger, the EU Commissioner who led the charge for the Directive, has now admitted that this will not work: "I am convinced that the guideline sets relatively clear guidelines. As things stand, upload filters can not be completely avoided."





And then there's France, whose negotiators were so eager to see the Directive passed with Article 13 intact that they dropped their opposition to a Russian gas pipeline to get Germany to go along with it.

Just hours after the Copyright Directive was fatfingered through the EU Parliament, the French government announced that they would rush it into law, and that filters would be mandatory: "I also announce that the Higher Council of Literary and Artistic Property, the HADOPI and the CNC will jointly launch in the coming days a 'Mission to promote and supervise content recognition technologies'."

And since the tech platforms will need to comply with every EU nation's version of the Directive, if one nation requires filters, all 500 million Europeans will have to suffer under them.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.Yujing Zhang hacked her way into Donald Trump's private Florida club Mar-A-Lago with social engineering skills any self-respecting DEFCON or HOPE attendee would recognize.

Federal prosecutors allege in court documents the 32 year old Chinese woman lied to Secret Service agents, and told them she was a club member going to the pool.

According to the feds, at the moment she was lying to Secret Service agents, Yujing Zhang was carrying on her person:

 Two Chinese passports

 Four (4!) cellphones

 One laptop

 One external hard drive

 One USB thumb drive containing malware.

 She had no swimsuit.

The Secret Service agents apparently believed her. She briefly gained access to the club during the President's visit there this weekend.

From the Associated Press:

Agents say she wasn't on the membership list, but a club manager thought Zhang was the daughter of a member. Agents say that when they asked Zhang if the member was her father, she did not answer definitively but they thought it might be a language barrier and admitted her. Zhang's story changed when she got inside, agents say, telling a front desk receptionist she was there to attend the United Nations Chinese American Association event scheduled for that evening. No such event was scheduled and agents were summoned. Agent Samuel Ivanovich wrote in court documents that Zhang told him that she was there for the Chinese American event and had come early to familiarize herself with the club and take photos, again contradicting what she had said at the checkpoint. She showed him an invitation in Chinese that he could not read. He said Zhang was taken off the grounds and told she could not be there. Ivanovich said she became argumentative, so she was taken to the local Secret Service office for questioning. There, he said, it became clear Zhang speaks and reads English well. He said Zhang said she had traveled from Shanghai to attend the nonexistent Mar-a-Lago event on the invitation of an acquaintance named "Charles," whom she only knew through a Chinese social media app. Ivanovich said she then denied telling the checkpoint agents she was a member wanting to swim.

"While the Secret Service does not determine who is permitted to enter the club, our agents and officers conduct physical screenings to ensure no prohibited items are allowed onto the property," the U.S. Secret Service told reporters today.

"This access does not afford an individual proximity to the President or other Secret Service protectees. In such instances, additional screening and security measures are employed."

Zhang faces charges of making false statements to federal agents and illegally entering a restricted area. She is in jail, and her hearing is next week. Her public defender, Robert Adler, declined comment to AP.

There is no indication Zhang was ever near the president. There is also no indication that she is connected to Li Yang, a Chinese native, Republican donor and former Florida massage parlor owner.

Well okay then.

The terrifying thing to imagine here is this: She was clueless and bumbling, and got caught. How many professional intelligence agents or state-affiliated espionage agents have made it in, and achieved their goals? How many pro spies don't we know about?

Read the full AP story:

Chinese woman carrying malware allegedly got into Mar-a-Lago

[via Ken Vogel]Xenophobia remains a hotly-debated topic in South Africa, and there are vastly different views on the matter. Some South Africans feel that Africa belongs to all Africans and there should be no foreigners, others feel borders exist for a reason.

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South Africa seems to be divided on the issue of xenophobia.

The issue came into the spotlight again after a recent spate of violent xenophobic attacks spreading across the country, which have been condemned by EFF leader, Julius Malema.

It's a matter that President Ramaphosa also sternly addressed, and said xenophobia violates everything that South Africans fought for over many decades.

Briefly.co.za asked readers how they feel and if they agree that Africans shouldn't be considered foreigners in African countries.

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The response was mixed - some people agree and feel that South Africans must consider their neighbours as fellow Africans, but others say that South Africa is for South Africans only.

Here's some of what Mzansi had to say:

Nelson Mahasule Mahawani - South Africa for South Africans, that's it!

Tinashe Mapurisa - Only a poor/poor minded/uneducated will think that SA is for South Africans only , no foreigner is stealing any opportunity from you !!!

Elizabeth Mokoena - Tables will turn one day .... South Africans must think of that before they do what they are doing to other people

Solly Monepja Monepja - Why they dont go to Botswana is also in Africa ...but anyway they won't cause there ia Law enforcement in Botswana Africans they dont like going to Botswana..

READ ALSO: Lupita Nyongo is about to launch her childrens book on self-love

Madibi Moremadi - Dis people are destroy our country

Nduh Sthabiso Mtshali - its funny how south africa is for all when theres xenophobia but when it comes to fighting crime foreigners are nowhere to be found

Vee O'kuhle Pretty - That is most certainly true...we are one of the same continent, let's not be separated by countries

Lukas van den Heever - Dos people know the meaning of the word AFrican I am an African so are all people staying here

Facebook users got quite passionate about the matter. (Image Source: Facebook/Briefly South Africa News)

Source: Facebook

Clearly, this is a debate that can continue for a long time, and with no true closure in sight.

READ ALSO: Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Other Celebrities Who Have Crashed Normal People's Weddings

Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!

Source: Briefly.co.zaNews / National

by newzimbabwe

FORMER Finance Minister Tendai Biti Tuesday, threatened to recommend the dismissal of the entire Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) management over unclear tendering procedures and payments to special projects' by the parastatal in 2017.Biti the chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee said this after acting Zinara chief executive officer Mathelene Mujokoro had claimed management was yet to see the damning audit report in which red-flags were raised regarding projects that were bleeding the parastatal dry.But Biti would have none of it."A copy was given to the current board chairperson who had commented on the existence of that report and the undertaking by Zinara to take action on the basis of that report."So we do not believe your claim that you do not have a copy of that audit report,' the former Treasury chief said."We also do not believe you took sufficient measures to ensure that you had the report before this meeting. We sense an attempt to frustrate this committee on the part of the Zinara."Biti demanded that Zinara director administration and human resources Precious Murove also appear before the committee."It is Murove who wrote most of those letters that went to the contractors who carried out the special projects against the provisions of the procurement act which requires that all tenders, all supplies have to be subjected to competitive tender," the Harare East MP said.Biti also promised that the Transport Minister Biggie Matiza, the Zinara board and all the companies who were paid money unprocedurally would be summoned by the committee."However given the extent of massive shocking revelations in this report, and in the interest of ensuring you will be able to answer our questions fully, we are adjourning this meeting to Friday 5 April 2019 at 0900hrs."We are also directing Univern be present on this day. We are also going to write a letter to them for our desire to cross examine them," he said."Zinara people are so powerful. They are doing everything to stop and frustrate this enquiry. We want to assure Zinara and those who are doing so that we are unrelenting and that we will get to the bottom of the truth. We will present a full report to parliament."Biti added that despite the fact that Murove was fired recently the committee wanted him to attend.According to the 2017 audit report by the Auditor General Mildred Chiri, Zinara paid large sums of money to different contractors that include Twalumba Holdings, Univern (Pvt) Ltd, Bermipools, Notify Enterprises and others under the special projects' scheme amounting to US$71 million.News / National

by Staff reporter

GOVERNMENT's car scheme, which will allow civil servants to import vehicles duty-free, is a pie in sky and will not benefit the majority of its workers, but a select few senior members.The conditions set out by government through Statutory Instrument (SI) 52 of 2019, purportedly offering an incentive to civil servants, sets stringent conditions for one to qualify for the benefit.According to the instrument, only senior government officials from the level of principal directors, directors and deputy directors will be direct beneficiaries of the free import of vehicles.Those below the level of deputy director can only benefit subject to the discretion of the Finance ministry secretary."The secretary responsible for Finance and Economic Development may, according to his discretion, grant rebate of duty on a motor vehicle with a maximum import value of US$10 000 being imported by any serving public servant of Zimbabwe who has been in service for a period of no less than 10 years," the SI reads in part.Government has also said this facility will only be open for the importation of cars that are not more than 10 years old, forcing the poorly paid civil servants to buy the more expensive and latest models they can ill-afford.Holding a valid driver's licence is also another requirement for the civil servants to qualify for the rebate, as government moved to try and control rent-seeking behaviour.Teachers' unions have since dismissed the government offer as nothing, but a pie in the sky which did nothing to improve their plight.Zimbabwe National Teachers' Union Association co-ordinator Shepherd Mundondo told NewsDay that government should be lauded for introducing this policy."The idea would have been noble had it catered for every government employee who has been in service for at least three years, but the question is: why should it take 10 years for a permanent teacher to be entitled to benefit from the scheme?" he said.Most civil servants, including teachers, law officers and clerks, are taking home almost US$130 equivalent on the black market and are unable to afford latest vehicle models.News / National

by newzimbabwe

Suffering Voices of Zimbabwe (SVZ) vice president Wellington Shumba, claims a video of him showing off his stay at a five star hotel on government expense was doctored by the opposition MDC.The little known politician's video went viral on social media in the past few days after he was filmed boasting about spending government money while citizens moan about hardships.Ironically Shumba did not contest in the 2018 presidential election but came representing the New Patriotic front (NPF) lead by Tendai Munyanduri."That is a political opponent who is fighting me and probably Mnangagwa himself or the current government."They want to tarnish my name, my political career and that of President (Emmerson Mnangagwa)," said Shumba in an interview with NewZimbabwe.com Tuesday."And to be very open mwana wamai (my brother) that video was doctored. I suspect that there were division among ourselves (political leaders) whereby some were in favour of a local convener, while some wanted a foreign convener, I was totally against that."President Mnangagwa has had meetings with fringe opposition parties in a bid to find common ground and convince the world Zimbabweans are on the same page. However his call to dialogue has been snubbed by the main opposition MDC party lead by Nelson Chamisa.Shumba added: "And I am suspicious of the MDC Alliance or whoever may have infiltrated us to the point of making me an enemy of the people and an enemy of the State.""I am not even happy, someone may have even hacked my WhatsApp, I am not even on Twitter and doctored that video and to look as if it was me."Shumba claimed he was businessman and can afford to look after himself well."Why would I do that? I have got my own money. I own a mine for your own information. I am a big business man so handingabude ndichitaura zvinhu zvemarara zvakadaro, (I can't record myself saying such nonsense)," an animated Shumba said."I have nothing to do with that video, am not on Twitter. Check the origin of that video is not even known. I am still to find an expert kuti andiratidze kuti (to help me find) who doctored that video and what was the purpose."News / National

by Staff reporter

Masvingo High Court judge Justice Joseph Mafusire has reserved judgment in a case where legal and parliamentary watchdog Veritas Zimbabwe is suing the State media for biased reporting in favour of the ruling Zanu-PF party.Veritas Zimbabwe took the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers), the Zimbabwe Media Commission, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) to court to compel them to subscribe to section 61 of the Constitution ahead of the July 30, 2018 harmonised elections.Justice Mafusire agreed to hear the case on merits despite attempts by the respondents to have the matter dismissed on technical grounds.ZBC had argued that the case had been overtaken by events since the July 30, 2018 elections had come and gone and that there were "material disputes of fact" in relation to assertions made by Veritas in the application.The national broadcaster also wanted the application to be thrown away on the grounds that the applicant had not given a notice to file supplementary heads of argument.Zimpapers did not oppose the application.Veritas, represented by lawyer Doug Coltart, told the court that the primary purpose of filing the supplementary heads was to slightly alter the draft order sought in light of the changed circumstances.He said Zimbabwe would always conduct elections and the respondents should act in accordance with the Constitution."A draft order is not a document made under oath and the court can exercise its discretion and the order can always be amended. The supplementary draft order is there to assist the court," Coltart argued.On the ground that the case had been overtaken by events, Coltart said there was a misconception that impartiality in the State media only exists during the election period."These obligations are always ever-present. The relief being sought does not make any reference to the elections. An election is a process and not an event. There are by-elections going on throughout the electoral cycle. Whatever the ruling this honourable court hands down, it will certainly have a bearing on future elections," Coltartargued.In terms of section 61(4) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, State-owned media houses have a special constitutional obligation to be impartial, equitable, and unbiased."The case is premised on section 61 of the Constitution, which requires State media to be impartial, independent and provide fair opportunity for dissenting views. All arguments are closed and we are now just waiting for the judge to pass the judgment," Coltart told journalists outside the Masvingo High Court.BAZ, meanwhile, argued that the need for fair coverage does not fall under its purview.After hearing arguments from all the parties, Justice Mafusire reserved judgment.News / National

by Staff reporter

OVER 20 000 former Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra) cadres were deliberately left out of the vetting process by government.This was revealed by Zipra secretary-general Petros Sibanda soon after their weekend meeting in the city where the issue of their stolen properties and vetting process topped the agenda.Zipra,-PF Zapu's military wing during the liberation struggle, claims that previous vetting processes to determine the war veterans status of freedom fighters has been biased towards Zanla, the former military wing of then Zanu-PF.This, Zipra says, has left out some of the deserving fighters who even lost a limb and an arm in the trenches."We have an issue that we have kept raising with the government about the vetting process of some of our members who were left out."From our research and investigation that we carried out we figured out that over 20 000 Zipra cadres were side-lined in the country's vetting process of former liberation fighters."What this basically means is that despite their clear contribution to the liberation of this country they still cannot access pensions or any support from government like those who were vetted," Sibanda said.Sibanda said it has been the norm that Zipra and Zapu's outstanding fighters have been reduced to villains at every opportunity, while Zanu-PF villains are accorded hero status.In 2016, Zapu and Zipra embarked on a programme to honour unsung fallen ex-combatants who were denied hero status for various reasons by the then president Robert Mugabe regime.Several of Matabeleland and Zapu liberation war stalwarts like Mabuza, Richard Dube, Amos Ngwenya and former Zipra commander Lookout Masuku are buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery with no national hero recognition.The Zipra cadres, however, said they have on numerous occasions engaged government but with no reprieve."The government has never turned our plea down but I would rather say they have been romantic giving us promises and hopes that will never take place."We recently met with Defence and War Veterans deputy minister Victor Matemadanda but nothing came up. I am sure it's high time we take the bull by its horns and ensure that we try and help some of our colleagues who are languishing in poverty despite their well-documented contribution to the freedom of this country," Sibanda said.He, however, said there was also a substantial number of Zipras who didn't get vetted after they fled the country at the height of 1980s Gukurahundi disturbances."We have a lot of people who fled this country and we need them to come back and enjoy the fruits of what they fought for."Efforts to get a comment from Matemadanda were fruitless.However, former War Veterans minister Tshinga Dube while he admitted that there might be some who didn't get vetted he said he was in doubt that the number could go up to 20 000."It is something difficult to say, I really don't know why they were not vetted because it was not an exceptional process, whoever qualified was being vetted."But what I can say is that some were reluctant to go for vetting soon after the 1980s political disturbances, they were afraid that maybe there would be problems for them and also some had jumped into the countryside hence they missed on the process."Generally, I don't think the number can be that big for those who didn't get vetted," Dube who said he was in charge of the Zipra, selection, integration and demobilisation soon after independence told Southern News.In 1997, angry war veterans pressured Mugabe to pay them ZW$50 000 gratuities and other benefits for their role in the liberation struggle.While war veterans have been a vital cog of the ruling Zanu-PF during elections, spearheading the party's campaigns, those from the Zipra side have refused preferring to lean with the opposition, perhaps due to the manner in which they have been treated.- T. S. Eliot

Thoughts After Lambeth

"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."An Ottawa family is packing their bags and heading to Nepal to hike to Mount Everest base camp, more than 5,000 metres above sea level.

Todd Lavigne, Gina Kim and their three daughters decided on the adventure after Lavigne climbed Everest years ago and wanted to share some of the experience with his family.

They spoke to CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning before leaving for their trip.

The climb will be physically demanding, but according to Lavigne, as long as they take it slow it won't be dangerous.

"We'll check their oxygen [saturation] levels, check their heart rates and make sure that everything is in keeping with where it should be  make sure they don't have any headaches and their speech isn't slurred or anything like that," Lavigne said.

Kim said Lavigne's experience on the mountain meant she didn't have too many concerns.

"I was there too," she said. "I know what to expect a little bit, and I trust our beautiful princesses to follow the instructions."

Hallie Cotnam/CBC

Girls will carry own packs

Hailey and Sarah are 10-year-old twins, while Casey is one year younger.

Their parents let them choose between Mount Everest and a trip to Disney World  and they chose the mountain.

This is a trip that will give them some emotional, mental and physical strength. - Todd Lavigne

The three girls haven't done much out of the ordinary to prepare, aside from riding their bikes and taking their taekwondo classes.

It won't be an easy trip: Lavigne and Kim said they expect them to carry all their own gear up the mountain as they trek to base camp.

Finding the right gear was a challenge, too: the girls will mostly be wearing extra small women's sizes because most mountain climbing equipment doesn't come in children's sizes.

Ultimately, the family is hoping to share a unique experience with their daughters, while also giving them a sense of adventure.

"This is a trip that will give them some emotional, mental and physical strength," Lavigne said. "When we're done, it's going to have taught them that they can do something that's pretty big in life."Reuters

As Europe starts vaccinating younger children, countries are pursuing very different strategies in what will be a major test of parents' willingness to get their kids inoculated. One region in Italy is sending in clowns and jugglers to clinics, France and Germany are targeting only the most vulnerable kids, while Denmark has been administering shots even before the specially-designed vials and syringes have arrived. "Vaccination must be a game, a joyful moment when children can feel at ease," said Alessio D'Amato, health chief of the central Lazio region, in a video as he declared Dec. 15 "Vax Day" for children in the region. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's lower-dose vaccine on the 5-11 age group last month, following the go-ahead for older children in May.Many immigrants have made significant contributions to Calgary. Here are the voices of just four after recently receiving Immigrants of Distinction Awards from Immigrant Services Calgary for the difference they have made in their communities.

Claire Du

Susan Holzman/CBC, Tracy Fuller/CBC, Ellis Choe/CBC, Ellis Choe/CBC

Claire Du's family immigrated from China when she was only three years old in 2005.

Today, the 16-year-old already has an impressive list of accomplishments. She invented a device that will soon save the backs of people in her local gymnastics club. She's also the co-founder of a non-profit that aims to connect youth with leaders in the field of artificial intelligence.

"I am so grateful and I think that this award really motivates me to keep on trying to give back to our community," Du told The Homestretch.

After hearing some parents at a gymnastics club complaining about a problem, she set out to solve it.

"At my gymnastics club we have to lift these 100-kilogram carpets every day before and after training. It's tiring and difficult. It was a 30-year problem," she said.

"It's called a carpet-lifting machine that has these foldable flaps and support wheels in the back that make it easier on your back."

She looked online for ideas, went to hardware stores, got help from some robotics mentors and found a workshop that would work with the blueprints she developed.

It's now in the process of being implemented.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also a passion of the Grade 11 student. She co-founded AI4Youth Canada last summer to make connections.

"We did a national AI conference last year for high school students in Canada. We had around 350 participants. We are planning to do another conference this year at the end of August," Du said.

The field fascinates her.

"It's going to be revolutionary. It can be implemented in basically every single field you can think of and it already is. There are a lot of ways AI can help us improve our lives and help solve problems."

Story continues

Amy Giang

Ellis Choe/CBC

Amy Giang is known as a serial entrepreneur. She founded two real estate businesses and an online gifting service, not to mention one of the biggest oil change companies in Calgary: Lube Town.

If that isn't enough to keep her busy, she is also devoted to charitable work.

Her family moved to Canada in 1985 from Vietnam.

"My heart is just completely full and overwhelmed. I felt grateful and grateful to be living in Canada," Giang said of winning an award.

Looking back, she says, it felt like an uphill battle.

My family and I came in the 1980s with less than a dollar. None of us spoke any English. We came on Valentine's Day, it was 30 C and none of us had a winter jacket. But we knew this was the place for us. Everyone around us was very welcoming, they offered kindness everywhere we went," she said.

Giang was nine at that time.

"I learned the words 'yes' and 'no' very quickly. Always say 'yes' first and if there is a frown, say 'no' right away. With my Grade 5 education, I soon became the family translator."

She grew up in Forest Lawn and Penbrooke and invested in her first condo when she was roughly 17 years old.

"I was doing that while I was still in school. My mission was to get an education and do the family justice, while doing real estate on the side," Giang said.

"I went to school, became a computer scientist and got a very good job, which made it difficult to begin an entrepreneurship career."

But that's exactly what she did, as the founder of Lube Town, a successful chain of oil change shops.

"I work because I love my village. My village is my family, my staff, my customers, my community. I take care of them and they take care of me."

Wilmer Aburto

Susan Holzman/CBC

Wilmer Aburto takes a creative approach when it comes to overcoming stress or preparing people for job interviews. He uses art.

He's also a successful artist and photographer who immigrated to Calgary with his family from Nicaragua in the late 1980s.

"There was a lot of political turmoil happening in Nicaragua at the time," Aburto said.

He was grateful for a unique Calgary public school at the time.

"There was only one school in Calgary that offered English as a Second Language classes, so a lot of newcomer youth went to this school. Living in Canada and Calgary has been a very welcoming experience. The system that was in place was very supportive to learn English," he said.

It was a gift at a young age that opened up a world of possibilities for him.

"My parents gave me my first camera at age 10 here in Calgary. That was an introduction for a lifelong passion to capture portraits. I have been working on a series capturing models of colour, to bring some more representation to the city of Calgary."

He's also a social advocate who helps people get past their fears, helping with things like time management and interviewing skills.

"Art can be a great connector for social advocacy," Aburto said.

"I have supported over 252 individuals, and 86 per cent of those people have been able to connect to employment," he said, of his work over the past decade.

Oluseyi (Seyi) Smith

Ellis Choe/CBC

Oluseyi (Seyi) Smith is a two-time Olympian who moved from Nigeria in 1997. He's competed in both Summer and Winter Olympics  a rare accomplishment.

His recent Immigrant of Distinction award honours, in part, his volunteer work with the Canadian Olympic Committee around providing a safe environment for children to enjoy sport.

"It always feels good to win awards, it's a nice pat on the back for some of the work you are doing. I think my mom was happiest, she loves this kind of stuff," Smith said with a laugh.

"Either from the safe sport side or from helping with team agreements, it's a wide range of things we do just to make the sporting environment for all Canadian athletes as equitable and fun as possible," he said of his work.

It was the training facilities that brought Smith to Calgary eight years ago.

"I think they are the best in the country," he said.

An interaction with a teacher in his early years helped shape his trajectory.

"I just like sport. If I can't be competing in sport, it is nice to be around it. My entire life has been shaped because a teacher got me into sport in Grade 4, so I want to get other people engaged in sport, too. It was Olympic day at school. I did well. She said, 'Hey, you should join the track and field club.' I said, 'Why not?' It was as simple as that. It started two days a week. I made friends, I got better, I got into competitions and here I am today."

And sport, to this day, can help ground and balance a young person, he says.

"I would say take the risk, get out of your comfort zone, because that is what sport is. You will be surprised, all of the skills and people you will meet when you engage in sport. I think it makes us well-rounded people," Smith said.

"It gave me humility because I lost so much. Being able to lose is something I have honed after 15 years. If more people are able to lose and learn from that and figure out how to not to lose so badly next time, that's a good thing. Sport also introduced me to different countries and different people and gave me some perspective I didn't have before."By Abhishek Takle

MANAMA, April 1 (Reuters) - Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has "homework" to do to iron out the errors which may have cost him a win at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The German driver seized the lead at the start from team-mate Charles Leclerc on Sunday but was soon reeled in by the 21-year-old from Monaco, who passed Vettel on the sixth lap in only his second race for Ferrari.

Vettel's race unraveled further when he spun while defending second place from Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, who was handed victory when Leclerc suffered an engine problem with only 10 laps to go in the race.

The spin caused Vettel's tire to delaminate and the ensuing vibrations led his front wing to fall off a few corners later in a shower of sparks, forcing him in for an extra pitstop.

"I had a look at it again, certainly it was my mistake," the four times world champion, who finished fifth, said.

"Obviously, our race could have been a bit better without that spin at that time. Nevertheless it was a difficult race so plenty of homework on my side," Vettel told reporters on Sunday.

The spin is the latest error from Vettel, whose mistakes were a major factor in his defeat by Hamilton last season, but the German was also unhappy with his car's performance.

"It was quite clear that I couldn't go at the pace that Charles had today," Vettel said.

"I think Charles expressed a couple of times that he was quite happy with the car ... I was not entirely happy, struggling mostly with the rear end of the car," he added.

Still, Vettel drew encouragement from Ferraris return to form after a lackluster showing in Australia.

"We have plenty of reasons to look forward," he said. (Editing by Alan Baldwin/Alexander Smith)Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus, saying that trust with the two former cabinet ministers has been irreparably broken.

Trudeau delivered the news to the national Liberal caucus in Ottawa Tuesday night, saying the two could not stay on because they could not express confidence in the caucus.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken, whether it's taping conversations without consent, or repeatedly expressing a lack of confidence in our government or me personally as leader," he said.

"It's become clear that Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Philpott can no longer remain part of our Liberal team."

Trudeau said he came to power determined to end the Liberal infighting that had dogged the party in the past. He said civil wars damage parties because they make Canadians believe politicians care more about internal party politics than serving the public.

"Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided," he said. "We can't afford to make that mistake. Canadians are counting on us."

Trudeau said it's wrong for any politician to secretly record a conversation, but called it "unconscionable" that an attorney general would tape a conversation with the country's top civil servant  a reference to Wilson-Raybould's release last week of a recording of a phone conversation she had with Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick in December.

This political drama has been unfolding since Feb. 7, when the Globe and Mail reported that Wilson-Raybould had faced inappropriate political pressure on the SNC-Lavalin criminal prosecution decision. Trudeau said Tuesday he approached the issue with "patience and understanding" but eventually concluded the two MPs could not remain in the caucus.

He met with the caucus executive and leadership before informing Wilson-Raybould and Philpott today of his decision.

Story continues

Liberal MPs gave Trudeau a standing ovation after his remarks turned into a campaign-style speech, and many expressed "absolute support" for the prime minister and his decision. Several also said they were saddened by the way things unfolded and the fact they had lost two colleagues.

Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press

Wilson-Raybould tweeted the news before Trudeau addressed the caucus.

"I have just been informed by the prime minister of Canada that I am removed from the Liberal caucus and as the confirmed Vancouver Granville candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election," Wilson-Raybould tweeted.

Later, the B.C. MP said she is reflecting on what Trudeau "has done" and will talk to supporters "about what happens next." She thanked those "who believed in a new way of doing politics."

"What I can say is that I hold my head high and that I can look myself in the mirror knowing I did what I was required to do and what needed to be done based on principles and values that must always transcend party," Wilson-Raybould said on Twitter. "I have no regrets. I spoke the truth as I will continue to do."

Philpott, who was considered one of the most respected and competent members of Trudeau's cabinet, said the development was "profoundly disheartening."

"Rather than acknowledge the obvious  that a range of individuals had inappropriately attempted to pressure the former attorney general in relation to a prosecutorial decision  and apologize for what occurred, a decision was made to attempt to deny the obvious  to attack Jody Wilson-Raybould's credibility and attempt to blame her," she wrote in a Facebook post.

"That approach now appears to be focused on whether Jody Wilson-Raybould should have audiotaped the clerk instead of the circumstances that prompted Jody Wilson-Raybould to feel compelled to do so."

PM 'drowning in scandal'

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said the Liberals have chosen to "condemn colleagues who spoke truth to power and to prop up a prime minister who is drowning in scandal." "Canadians will view the removal of Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould from the Liberal caucus for exactly what it is: a betrayal of justice," Scheer said in a statement. "Elected officials are supposed to protect individuals who blow the whistle on government misconduct and corruption, not punish them."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wilson-Raybould and Philpott wanted to do politics differently by putting integrity ahead of partisan interests.

"Today, PM Trudeau and the Liberal government showed us exactly what they think about integrity. Thank you Jody for being loyal to Canadians. You deserve better," he tweeted.

Earlier today, Wilson-Raybould wrote a two-page letter to the national caucus, acknowledging many of them are "angry, hurt and frustrated."

"And frankly so am I, and I can only speak for myself," Wilson-Raybould wrote. "I am angry, hurt and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to. In giving the advice I did, and taking the steps I did, I was trying to help protect the prime minister and the government from a horrible mess."

She also defended her actions on the SNC-Lavalin file.

"I am not the one who tried to interfere in sensitive proceedings, I am not the one who made it public, and I am not the one who publicly denied what happened," she says in the statement.

She said the Liberals promised to break "old and cynical patterns" of centralizing power in the hands of a few unelected staffers and marginalizing backbench MPs.

"If indeed our caucus is to be a microcosm of the country, it is about whether we are a caucus of inclusion or exclusion; of dialogue and searching for understanding or shutting out challenging views and perspectives; and ultimately of the old ways of doing business, or new ones that look to the future."

Earlier Tuesday, Ontario Liberal MPs met to debate whether to kick Wilson-Raybould and Philpott, the former Treasury Board president, out of the caucus. Philpott, who resigned cabinet early last month after saying that she'd lost confidence in the government's handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair, attended the beginning of the meeting, then left, saying she wanted to show respect for her colleagues who were engaged in a sensitive discussion.

Chris Wattie/Reuters

Several Liberals have publicly condemned Wilson-Raybould for taping her Dec. 19 conversation with Wernick. The clerk did not know he was being recorded.

The 17-minute audiotape was submitted as evidence to the Commons justice committee Friday.

Claims of inappropriate pressure

Last month, Wilson-Raybould appeared before the Commons justice committee to answer questions about a Globe and Mail report citing unnamed sources that alleged she was pushed by senior officials in the Trudeau government to allow Quebec engineering firm SNC-Lavalin to avoid criminal prosecution on fraud and bribery charges by meeting a number of conditions laid out in a remediation agreement.

Once before the committee, Wilson-Raybould told MPs she had been improperly pressured by 11 officials in the Prime Minister's Office to reverse a decision that denied SNC-Lavalin access to such an agreement.

Wilson-Raybould said late Monday that she wanted to remain in the Liberal caucus and saw no reason why she should be expelled.

"I do not believe that I should be removed from caucus for doing my job and for doing what I believe is right," she told reporters as she left the House of Commons.

Liberals on the Commons justice committee used their majority Tuesday to defeat a Conservative motion that would have called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several of his top aides to testify on the SNC-Lavalin matter.

Alberta Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who tabled the motion, accused the Liberal members of being "agents of the PM."

"Not surprisingly, but disappointingly once again, the Liberals shot down our motion to hear from all of the key players in the SNC-Lavalin matter," he said.

Conservatives push for hearings

"It's clear that if we're getting to the truth, we need to hear from all the key players, yet again it's clear they are in control, doing the bidding of the PMO and so they shut that opportunity down."

Liberal MP and committee chair Anthony Housefather said there have been plenty of opportunities for people to put their information forward.

"We agreed to stop oral meetings, but we've accepted submissions that have come in, in writing, to the committee and we've accepted them and make them public," he said.

Read Wilson-Raybould's letter to the Liberal caucus:Documents submitted by Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former principal secretary, to the parliamentary committee investigating the SNC-Lavalin affair have been released by the committee.

The Commons justice committee has been studying allegations first reported in the Globe and Mail that former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould faced pressure from the Prime Minister's Office to overturn a decision by the director of public prosecutions to not offer a deferred prosecution agreement to Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. Such an agreement would let the company avoid a punishing criminal trial over bribes paid a decade ago in Libya.

Wilson-Raybould quit cabinet on Feb. 12, less than a week after the Globe story appeared and four weeks after she was shuffled out of the justice portfolio to Veterans Affairs.

The documents released by the committee include texts Butts exchanged with Wilson-Raybould after a meeting in December, and notes from a meeting between Trudeau, Wilson-Raybould and Butts in January before the shuffle.

Butts also told committee members that he had access to the texts and notes because they were obtained by his lawyer for his March 6 appearance before the committee, but they remain in the control of the Prime Minister's Office.

In the letter, Butts takes issue with Wilson-Raybould's account of how her former chief of staff, Jessica Prince, characterized her meeting with Butts and his PMO colleague Katie Telford in December  particularly his request to seek independent legal advice on whether SNC-Lavalin should be offered a deferred prosecution agreement.

Butts' submission follows explosive documents from Wilson-Raybould released last week that included an audio recording of her phone conversation with Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick. The clerk was not aware he was being recorded.

Read the Butts documents below.By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump took a step back on Tuesday from his threat to close the U.S. southern border to fight illegal immigration, amid pressure from companies worried that a shutdown would cause chaos to supply chains. Trump threatened on Friday to close the border this week unless Mexico acted. He repeated that threat on Tuesday but said he had not made a decision yet: "We're going to see what happens over the next few days." Closing the border could disrupt millions of legal crossings and billions of dollars in trade. Auto companies have been warning the White House privately that it would lead to the idling of U.S. plants within days because they rely on prompt deliveries of components made in Mexico. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying group, has been in contact with the White House to discuss the "very negative economic consequences that would occur across the country," said Neil Bradley, the group's top lobbyist, on a call with reporters. Trump praised efforts by Mexico to hinder illegal immigration from Central America at its own southern border. On Monday, the Mexican government said it would help regulate the flow of migrants. "Mexico, as you know, as of yesterday has been starting to apprehend a lot of people at their southern border coming in from Honduras and Guatemala and El Salvador and they're really apprehending thousands of people," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. The Mexican government has not published apprehension statistics but a senior White House official said it has provided daily updates to the Trump administration, including specific apprehension numbers. "They say they're going to stop them. Let's see. They have the power to stop them, they have the laws to stop them," Trump said. PUSH BACK Trump has made fighting illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America a key part of his agenda but shutting down one of the world's most used borders might be a step too far, even for many of his fellow Republicans. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in warning Trump against such a move. "Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," McConnell told reporters at Congress on Tuesday. A group representing General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said in a statement that "any action that stops commerce at the border would be harmful to the U.S. economy, and in particular, the auto industry." Dozens of U.S. vehicle, engine, transmission and other auto parts plants could close because of a lack of components in the days after a border shutdown. It would also prevent thousands of vehicles built in Mexico from landing in U.S. dealer showrooms. Automakers exported nearly 2.6 million Mexican-made vehicles to the United States in 2018, accounting for 15 percent of all vehicles sold in the country. Some, like the Chevrolet Blazer SUV, are only made in Mexico. Retailers are also raising alarm bells, according to officials with two groups that represent hundreds of U.S. retail firms. "It will be unprecedented self-inflicted pain," said David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. "We are still nervous about this and we have been talking to some of our companies about maybe ramping up direct pressure on the White House by getting CEOs to call." SLOWER BORDER Senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said on Tuesday a recent redeployment of some 750 officers on the border to deal with a surge in migrants - mostly Central American families turning themselves into border agents - had already led to a slowing of legal crossings and commerce at ports of entry. "Wait times in Brownsville (Texas) were around 180 minutes, which were two times the peaks of last year," said a senior DHS official on a call with reporters. "We ended the day yesterday at Otay Mesa (California) with a back-up of 150 trucks that hadn't been processed," the official said. Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday that backups were delaying commercial traffic at the U.S.-Mexico border at several crossings. He said the government had not drastically changed its migration strategy following the shutdown threats. DHS officials said border facilities have been overwhelmed by families seeking asylum, fleeing poverty and violence in Central America. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimated that some 100,000 migrants were apprehended or encountered at the border in March, the highest level in a decade. "The system is on fire," a DHS official said. Because of limits on how long children are legally allowed to be held in detention, many of the families are released to await their U.S. immigration court hearings, a process that can take years because of ballooning backlogs. To try to address the problem, the Trump administration in January started sending some migrants to wait out their U.S. court dates in Mexican border cities. On Monday, DHS said it would dramatically ramp up that program, despite court challenges. The biggest priority for DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is to seek action from Congress to change the immigration laws, said a DHS official. She sent a letter to Congress last week repeating many of the Trump administration's demands, including a request to quickly deport Central American minors that cross the border alone. Under current law, minors who are not from the contiguous countries of Canada and Mexico are placed in the care of sponsors in the United States, which Nielsen called a "dangerous 'pull' factor" for migrants. Migrant advocates and some Democrats in Congress oppose the proposed legislative changes, saying they would send vulnerable children back to dangerous situations in their home countries. Trump said he had spoken with "a few" Democrats on Tuesday about the administration's proposals and added, "they're changing their minds." (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Steve Holland and David Shepardson in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper, Nandita Bose and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City. Writing by Ginger Gibson and David Alexander; Editing by Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien)



After a long day in Hilo, punctuated by an amazing Manta Ray experience (for my traveling companions who couldn't stop talking about it), we went back to the other side of the island using the southern route. That choice was made because we wanted to see if we can take a peek at the volcano once again, since the day before we had been unsuccessful due to the heavy fog. The drive was long and us ladies in the back seat took a cat nap.When we arrived at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, I was surprised that the park was open and that you can easily drive up to the viewing deck, although the visitor center/museum was closed. Upon our arrival, we saw 5 people there. A couple who was watching from the far end and a trio of guys we met initially at the Manta Ray Experience. They took the tour before us. Then we found out they all live in the Bay Area as well.It was amazing because that night, with only the 9 of us there, the experience was pretty spiritual. We saw orange fiery bubbling coming out of a vent and little did we know that this was the beginnings of a major eruption of 2018. No one knew. We thought it was always like this. In fact when we were there, we all experienced the shaking, a small earthquake, followed by drumming and chanting from the distance. We surmised that the local Indian tribe was doing some sort of a ceremony. We took photos, and when we couldn't take any more, we drove back to the rental. Oh by the way, we got stopped by the police. Our driver apparently was going over the limit. Thankfully, they let us off with a warning.The following day was another gloomy rainy day. We were supposed to visit my husband's former co-worker who retired in Hilo to become a farmer. The flea market nearby was our meeting place, however, we overslept and coulnd't meet him up there. Still, we got to the market and see what was selling. Unfortunately, it was raining so hard we hardly took any photos at all. Afterwards we were given directions on how to reach the farm.But before we went to the farm, we wanted to see the thermal pool or the hot ponds of Ahalanui. Beautiful spot where locals and tourists dip in the hot pond and look out into the ocean. I wished that we had brought our suits so we could have dipped here too, but well we didn't plan this trip well. Sadly, I heard that this county beach park was overrun by lava on July 11, 2018. This was how the park looked like before the lava flow.From this park, the ex-coworker's farm is about 15 minutes away. We entered a private drive that forks a few yards from the main road. The house numbers were not listed on the signage. Then car coming out from the left side of the fork stopped to let us go, but when we asked if he knew the man we were going to visit, he said he didn't. So perhaps we should take the right side. Thankfully, we deduced correctly and pretty soon, we were pulling up in his farm.He had the most wonderful house I have seen for a retirement home. I loved it. He and his neighbors evacuated a day later, unfortunately. We have not heard from them since then, although we found out they were back in California soon after the evacuation.He started planting cacao and organized the first Chocolate Festival in Hilo a few months before this visit. He showed us his farm and visited with him for a bit.This was our last day in the Big Island and we had plenty of places to see still. SKYWATCH is a weekly gathering of sky lovers and sky watchers. Join us.Barbara Matteson, left, long-time mortgage loan officer at the Cape Cod Five's Chatham branch, is retiring this week after 45 years with the company. Patti Lotane, right, will step into her shoes as the branch's mortgage loan officer. TIM WOOD PHOTO

CHATHAM When Barbara Matteson applied for a teller's job at the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank in 1974, she had no experience in banking. At the time she was living and working at the Dolphin Motel, and a friend suggested working banker's hours might make it easier for Matteson to take care of her 4-year-old son.

Over the next four decades, she rarely worked banker's hours, but certainly found a home at the company she said goes above and beyond to support its employees.

After 45 years, Matteson, now a bank vice president and the Chatham branch's mortgage loan officer, is retiring. For many Chatham homeowners, from wealthy second (or third or fourth) home buyers to young families struggling to make a mortgage work, Matteson helped realize their dream.

Every case is different, she said in an interview last week. We can help people afford [a mortgage], make it happen when they don't think it can.

But that's changed over the years. In the past, home lending was just as much art as business, she said; things like family and character could be taken into consideration along with employment, credit history and other technical factors.

If [an applicant] didn't fit the mold, you could still explain why, she said. That made a difference. Today, with government regulations and a reliance on impersonal credit scoring, lenders have less latitude, she said, although there remains some flexibility.

Knowing the community was a big part of making those determinations, and Matteson is certainly a fixture in Chatham. She's worked at different Cape Cod Five branchesin Brewster and Centerville, and she opened the Yarmouth branch in 1987but always came back to Chatham, where she became manager in 1989.

Chatham is where I live, so it's always where my heart is, she said.

At first, as manager, she handled all of the bank's lending, including mortgage, home equity, auto, personal and commercial. That changed in the 1990s as the bank established separate departments for different types of lending. In the late '90s she was named a bank vice president and offered several jobs; she chose to stay in Chatham as mortgage loan officer.

A native of North Carolina, Matteson moved to Massachusetts in the second grade. She earned a scholarship to Anna Maria College and moved to the Cape with her first husband. During her years in Chatham, she's become deeply involved in the community, something the bank encourages. This bank really cares about the people and institutions in the towns, she said, and gives employees the time necessary to get involved.

That is good, Matteson said. When you get entrenched in the community like that, then you understand exactly what the bank is doingsupporting people.

Matteson took the bank's recommendation to heart and over the years has put in countless hours on town boards and committees and working for local nonprofit organizations. She spent 20 years working with the Chatham chapter of the Citizens Scholarship Foundation and Dollars for Scholars, aswhat else?treasurer. She was also treasurer of the Chatham Chamber of Commerce for a dozen years, and served on the Chatham High School Advisory Council, the Chatham Affordable Housing Committee, the Barnstable County HOME Consortium, and the Chatham Planning Board for six years, including a stint as chair. Many years ago, she also served as scorekeeper and statistician for several teams in the Cape Cod Softball League. She said she always makes it clear that while she is happy to help, she doesn't do public speaking; when it comes time to deliver the treasurer's report, she'll provide the data but someone else has to deliver it.

She currently serves as treasurer of the Chatham Rotary Foundation and is in her second year as a member of the town's finance committee. Chairman Stephen Daniel said Matteson's financial expertise and knowledge of the community gives her unique insight into the committee.

She's a person of such integrity, and she has close to 50 years of perspective that's different than other committee members, he noted. It can take a while to get up to speed on the town's complex finances, but Matteson is beginning to find her voice among the members, he said. Daniel added that after talking recently with Matteson and fincom member Andy Young, also retired from the Cape Cod Five, he was so impressed with their knowledge of housing issues that he plans to enlist them in a small working group after town meeting to delve into the town's housing problems.

Although she's stepping down from the bank, Matteson said she is definitely staying in town. She's looking forward to the flexibility retirement will afford, and plans to do some family traveling, visiting her sister in California, a family compound in the Blue Ridge Mountains and friends in Florida. She'll also spend time at a vacation home in Vermont.

Taking over as the Chatham branch's mortgage loan officer is Patti Lotane, who was previously mortgage loan officer at the bank's Orleans branch.

Everybody's been receptive and warm, Lotane said, acknowledging the big shoes she is stepping into. It's been nice.

Matteson credits President and CEO Dorothy A. Savarese with creating a nurturing environment at the bank, especially for women. She was glad Lotane was chosen to succeed her. Having a woman at the helm is important, Matteson said. To see that level of female influence from the top down makes a difference.

On behalf of the entire Cape Cod 5 family, we extend our deepest appreciation to Barbara for her years of dedicated service to the bank, Cape Cod and especially the Chatham community, Savarese said in a statement. It has been a privilege to work alongside Barbara, and her warm presence will surely be missed by all. We wish her the very best in her next chapter of her life.

The bank will hold an open house in honor of Matteson's retirement today, April 4, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Chatham branch. That's also her last day at work, and not coincidentally, the birthday of her late son Fred.The plovers are back.

The small shorebirds have begun returning to the area pretty much on time, according to local officials. The birds have been sighted on Nantucket Sound and Atlantic beaches, and efforts have begun to erect protective measures to help ensure a successful nesting season.

Plovers have been spotted on Red River Beach, Bank Street Beach and Merkel Beach in Harwich and at the east end of Harding's Beach in Chatham. There are also reports of plovers on North Beach and South Monomoy Island.

The birds are starting to show up, said Chatham Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson. They're definitely out there starting to check out the area. Piping plovers are listed as threatened under both federal and state Endangered Species Acts.

Matthew Hillman, refuge manager of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, said several plovers have been observed on South Monomoy Island, near the South Beach/Monomoy connection. Harwich Conservation Administrator Amy Usowski said she observed plovers on Bank Street and Merkel beaches while putting up symbolic protective fencing.

We're hoping they nest early so they fledge early, Usowski said. That would create fewer conflicts with beachgoers. They could nest soon or it could be over in a month or two.

The Harwich Conservation Department is planning to take more of a hands-on approach to management of the shore birds this year. In the past the Massachusetts Audubon Society has been contracted to monitor and oversee protective measures for the birds.

But we feel we should be more involved in it, Usowski said. Cost is definitely a factor as well. In previous years the town has paid Audubon $5,000 a year to monitor the bird, but after talking it over with Harbormaster John Rendon, Usowski said they agreed the conservation department could provide the monitoring. The contract has expired and Audubon was talking about raising the rate, she added.

Usowski's assistant, Nicole Smith, has been trained in shorebird monitoring and Usowski will take the training course this spring. The town is also advertising for a shorebird monitor to work 19 hours a week until the newborn plovers fledge. Ideally the person hired will have a background in biology and birds, but the town will provide training and the person will have to take the shorebird monitoring training course. Even with the additional personnel, the town will still save money by not contracting with Audubon, she said, adding that she hopes to have someone on board as soon as possible.

Funds for the monitoring program are in the harbormaster's budget because monitoring is required with beach nourishment projects and when the town rakes seaweed from the beaches. Usowski said officials are considering transferring the funds to the conservation department to have the monitoring under her departments jurisdiction.

We feel we should be more involved in it, she said.

Chatham will continue to use Audubon to monitor nesting plovers along Nantucket Sound and on North Beach Island and South Beach, Duncanson said. Assistant Conservation Agent and North Beach Manager Paul Wightman has begun putting out symbolic fencing to warn beachgoers that plovers are present, he added.

According to the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program's 2018 piping plover census, 18 pairs of plovers nested on Chatham's section of North Beach, while there were 13 pairs south of the Nauset Beach parking lot in Orleans and 15 pairs on the North Spit. Twenty-two pairs nesting on South Beach and 13 pairs on North Beach Island. There were five pairs on Harding's Beach, two on Ridgevale Beach and two on Forest Beach as well as two on Tern Island. A total of 74 chicks were fledged from those Chatham beaches, while 75 fledged from the Orleans' sections of Nauset.

Hillman reported that there were 36 pairs of plovers on the Monomoy Refuge, 7.4 percent fewer than the previous year. Twenty chicks were fledged.

One pair nested on Red River Beach, fledging four chicks.

Statewide, according to the report, 688 pairs of plovers were estimated to have nested on Massachusetts beaches, a 5.7 percent population increase. Those birds fledged a total of 893 chicks, a productivity rate of 1.3 per pair.Its April Fools' Day today and my twin seven-years-olds have been busy creating all kinds of gags to try and trick me. Full disclosure: Im not really tricked. However I do a damn good job of pretending to be! There have been whoops of surprise, screams of terror, and lots of, You tricked me! heard in my house today.





not to see. She said they were creepy flowers. Ooooh, scary! I have been instructed not to go into the art room, aka the kitchen, as they are creating their tricky masterpieces to fool me. My son just completed a six-legged spider (despite the unit on arachnids he just finished at schooland aced!). He taped it onto the wall beside my writing chair. Then there was the cellophane tape placed across the bottom of the bathroom and bedroom doorways that I guess I was supposed to stick to when I walked through. The fact that my daughter made flowers on popsicle sticks and stuck them to her tape kind of made them impossibleto see. She said they were creepy flowers. Ooooh, scary!





Lastly, there was lots of jumping out from behind doors and saying, Boo! Or pretending to see a spider or wasp hovering behind them and shouting, Run! Um, yeahthat was me. And I got them good!







So then I started thinking about the history behind April Fools Day and whether its something my characters in my Highlander historical series The Sons Of Gregor MacLeod might do.





According to Wikipedia, the holiday can be traced back to the 1500s in the UK. In Scotland, they celebrated April Fools Day this way:





In Scotland, April Fools' Day was traditionally called 'Huntigowk Day', [12] although this name has fallen into disuse. citation needed ] The name is a corruption of 'Hunt the Gowk', "gowk" being Scots for a cuckoo or a foolish person; alternative terms in Gaelic would be La na Gocaireachd , 'gowking day', or La Ruith na Cuthaige , 'the day of running the cuckoo'. The traditional prank is to ask someone to deliver a sealed message that supposedly requests help of some sort. In fact, the message reads "Dinna laugh, dinna smile. Hunt the gowk another mile." The recipient, upon reading it, will explain he can only help if he first contacts another person, and sends the victim to this next person with an identical message, with the same result. [12] 





While I dont have this fun scene in one of my books, it occurred to me that I definitely have a trickster in my seriesIsobel MacKinnon. She is Gavins younger sister and Kerrs beloved, although he has a lot of work to do before he wins her over. Isobel is referenced early on in the series, but she finally appears as a secondary character in my July 2019 release HIGHLAND CAPTIVE. And then she and Kerr finally get their own love story in the last book of the series, HIGHLAND THIEF, which Im currently writing.





So how is Isobel a trickster? Well, she plays pranks/tricks on people in her clan who deserve it. They havent committed a crime that needs their lairds judgment, but theyve done something else that has created discord amongst the clana scorned woman, a bullied man, a child made to feel like an outcastand Isobel is the judge, jury, and executionerof one of her traps.





As Kerr says of Isobel in HIGHLAND THIEF:





Have you seen how the clan looks to her to right a wrong? It may be too small an offence to warrant their lairds intervention, but they hope it has caught their ladys eye.





Or as Isobel says to Deirdre when talking about why she devises elaborate traps for her clan:





I let them know in some way that their behavior has been noted and found wanting.

Soa public shaming of sorts?

Perhaps. She leaned toward Deirdre. Doona you see? It balances the scales. Restores power to the person who has been maltreated and maintains the equilibrium of the clan. If tis a serious crime like theft or murder, I leave that to Gavin. But in this case, she indicated the parchment spread over the desk in front of her, the offender was Gavin. He treated you terribly and has to pay for it.I am declaring, on behalf of the clan, that I saw what he did to you and Ive condemned it.





And what kind of traps does Isobel set? Well, something that will cause inconvenience, indignity, and embarrassment to the censored person, but not something that will cause serious harm. It may involve things like prickle bushes, or ants, or buckets of honey. Or maybe I should say, ants AND a bucket of honey.





While I don't dive into all of Isobel's trickster ways until HIGHLAND THIEF, I do have a scene in book 4, HIGHLAND CAPTIVE, where Isobel declares to her brother Gavin that he is officially on her "shite" list for the way he treated Deirdre when he first met her. Without giving away too many spoilers, Gavin's son, Ewan, was kidnapped over two years ago, and Gavin never stopped searching for him. When he finally finds Ewan with Deirdre, he's filled with an anger that he can't let go, and she becomes an easy targetwhen all she did was love and cherish a boy in need of a mother.





Excerpt from HIGHLAND CAPTIVE (Out July 30/19):





Deirdre sat on the edge of the dais and waited, Isobel sitting down beside her.

Are you mad at him? Isobel asked.

Lewis?

Aye, Lewis. For not being there to protect you when Gavin and Kerr stormed your keep. For not demanding your return earlier.

Deirdre thought about it and felt a surprising niggle of resentment in her breast. Had that always been there? Im sure he had his reasons. He did ask about me.

Aye, and then he reminisced with Kerr about their hunting adventures together as lads.

Well, by then he knew I was safe. And if hed been at the keep when Gavin arrived, he could have been killed.

Where was he? Do you know?

was angry. Deirdre shrugged, feeling the usual tinge of embarrassment when she thought about that side of her marriage. And something more, too. It shocked her to realize sheangry.

The last time shed seen Lewis had been at the gathering where shed first met Gavin. Before that, she hadnt seen a trace of him for over two months. Hed even missed Yuletide. He did try to get me back before his father arrived. Thank goodness Gavin changed his mind about handing me over.

Isobel glowered at her brother, who was now pacing across the stone floor. Handing you overlike you were livestock rather than a person. When all this is oer, Im going to plan an unpleasant surprise for my dear brother.

Deirdres eyes widened. Verily?

And at holding a grudge. Aye. Im good at revenge.at holding a grudge.

Deirdre didnt know whether to be more amused or appalled by Isobels declaration. But I was his prisoner.

Isobel made a dismissive sound in the back of her throat. Id take revenge on your father and brother too, if I could. I didnt like your brothers tone when he spoke about you, or the demands he made. And your husband too, even though you say he saved you. Theres more to the story than youve told me, Im sure.

had been treated unfairly, been hurt by people who were supposed to have had her best interests at hearther brother, her father, her husband. Her mother and sisters too. And shed just pushed the feelings aside, just accepted their behavior as normal. Deirdre stared at her friend, a lump growing in her throat. Aye. Shebeen treated unfairly, been hurt by people who were supposed to have had her best interests at hearther brother, her father, her husband. Her mother and sisters too. And shed just pushed the feelings aside, just accepted their behavior as normal.

not normal, that shed been mistreated. That they were in the wrong and deserved to be punished for it. Now someone was telling her it wasnormal, that shed been mistreated. Thatwere in the wrong and deserved to be punished for it.

Im not a pawn on a chessboard to be pushed around! Not anymore. She pressed a hand to her mouth as anger bubbled up.

personhood , neer taken into consideration. But now that you plan to be with my brotherand I can see in your eyes that you doyou will face judgment. Youll finally stand up for yourself and take something that you want, and some arsehole people will condemn you for it. Furthermore, Isobel continued, oblivious to the effect her words were having on Deirdre, tis not just the way youve been treated since you were a lasstossed from clan to clan, your feelings, your, neer taken into consideration. But now that you plan to be with my brotherand I can see in your eyes that you doyou will face judgment. Youll finally stand up for yourself and take something that you want, and some arsehole people will condemn you for it.

Isobel!

What? Are you offended that Ive compared them to arseholes? Youre right. Tis not fair to the arsehole.

Gods blood, I doona know whether to embrace you oror Deirdre sighed. There is no alternative, is there? She pulled Isobel into a tight hug and whispered into her ear, Thank you.

Thank me after Ive extracted our revenge. Although I think Gavin will have his revenge first. It may be that hell be the only survivor around for me to punish. She spotted her brother. Gavin! she called across the great hall.

He looked over from where he was talking to Clyde, who looked even more grim than usual. Aye?

Fair warning, Brother. Youre on my bad side.

His brow rose. What did I do?

Tis for when you sent Kerr and me to the loch with Ewan and almost took Deirdre back to Lewis!

Kerr whistled his approval.

I brought her back, Gavin said. And I apologized.

Ill take that into consideration when I make my plans. Ive let things slide since Ewan was taken. Doona expect leniency anymore.

He scowled at her. You do realize were about to go to war?

She shrugged. When you return, then. Just so you know its coming. You willna know when, or where, or how, but its coming.

And you know that if anyone gets hurt or something gets broken because of your actions, there will be consequences.

Deirdres gaze jumped back and forth between them, as did everyone elses in the room. She couldnt believe what she was seeing and hearing. Isobel had flat-out told her brother to expect trouble from her, and no one had batted an eye. Not one of them yelled or threatened or raised a hand to frighten her.

The queen had spokenfor Isobel was a queen, and not a pawn like Deirdreand theyd all heard her and planned accordingly. * * * She'd saved his son. Could she save him as well? Laird Gavin MacKinnon is a changed manand not for the better. Ever since his young son, Ewan, disappeared two years ago, Gavin has grown callous and bitter. Scouring the countryside, his search leads him to a mysterious woman who maintains the boy is hers. He decides to take them both and ask questions later.



Deirdre MacIntyre will go with the brooding laird if it will keep her son safe. Gavin has to admit that the beautiful lass has a bond with Ewan, and things aren't adding up. When Deirdre's clan comes to claim her under threat of war, Gavin has a choice to make: fight for her or let her go.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Chapters/Indigo iBooks Google Play

~~~~~~~

Alyson McLayne is a mom of twins and an award-winning writer of contemporary, historical, and paranormal romance. Shes also a dog lover and cat servant with a serious stash of dark chocolate. After getting her degree in theater at the University of Alberta, she promptly moved to the West Coast of Canada where she worked in film for several years and met her Prop Master husband.

She and her family reside in Vancouver with their sweet but troublesome chocolate lab named Jasper.

Please catch up with Alyson on social media. She loves chatting with her readers!



















Late in 2018, AJ Fernandez Cigars released its fourth blend under its New World line, the New World Cameroon Selection. As the name indicates, it features a Cameroon wrapper and is the first Cameroon wrapper to be released in the AJ Fernandez Cigars portfolio. The first New World was introduced in 2014 in the form of a value priced Nicaruguan puro. This was followed by the New World Connecticut (a U.S. Connecticut Shade wrapper offering) later in 2014, and the New World Puro Especial (another Nicaraguan puro featuring a Criollo 98 wrapper that was a slightly more premium offering) in 2017. Like the original New World release, the New World Cameroon Selection is a value-priced cigar positioned in the $5.00 to $7.00 range. Today we focus on the New World Cameroon Selection in the Toro size.

When the New World was announced, AJ Fernandez Cigars explained the significance of the name New World and how it ties in with cigars:

In November 1492, Jerez and Luis de Torres first observed natives smoking as they were searching for the Emperor of China. Not knowing they landed in what is now known as Cuba, they came across natives that made rolls of palm and mais leaves in the manner of a musket formed of paper with tobacco on the inside. One would light one side and drink the smoke out of the other.

Without further ado, lets break down the New World Cameroon Selection Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table:

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

In addition to the Cameroon wrapper, the remainder of the blend features all-Nicaraguan tobaccos that include tobaccos sourced from AJ Fernandezs Nicaraguan farms.

Wrapper: Cameroon

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Factory: Tabacalera Fernandez

Vitolas Offered

The AJ Fernandez New World Cameroon Selection comes in seven box-pressed sizes. Each is packaged in 20-count boxes.

Petit Lancero: 5 x 38

Short Robusto: 4 x 48

Robusto: 5 1/2 x 54

Corona: 6 x 46

Toro: 6 x 50

Torpedo: 6 1/2 x 52

Churchill: 7 x 48

Appearance

The Cameroon wrapper of the AJ Fernandez New World Cameroon Selection Toro had a medium brown color, but also was a darker shade compared to many Cameroon wrappers. On the surface, there was a slight amount of mottling as well as a thin sheen of oil. This was a relatively smooth Cameroon wrapper. There were very few visible veins and the darker shade did a good job at hiding the wrapper seams. As for the box press, it had a near square shape.

The band to the AJ Fernandez New World Cameroon Selection has a parchment-colored background with green trim across the top and bottom. There is a portrait style print representing some Columbus-era New World explorers. Above the portrait is the text NEW WORLD in red font arranged in a slight arc. Below that text is the text by A.J. Fernandez in thin green cursive font. To the left of the portrait is the text PREMIUM AGED CIGAR  in green font and CAMEROON SELECTION in red font  arranged in landscape mode. There are gold medallions across the lower part of the portrait anfd some green and gold adornments on the far left and right.

There is a secondary band just below the primary band. It is green with thick gold trim. On the green section is the text CAMEROON SELECTION in red font.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

The cigar experience of the AJ Fernandez New World Cameroon Selection Toro commenced with a straight cut. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw delivered a mix of wood and natural tobacco sweetness. While it was a simple flavor profile, I found the flavors of the dry draw to be satisfactory. At this point, it was time to light up the New World Cameroon Selection and move on to the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The New World Cameroon Selection Toro started off with notes of sweet natural tobacco, wood, and red pepper. Early on the natural tobacco notes moved into the forefront. There was a caramel component to the natural tobacco that gave it some enhanced sweetness. Meanwhile, the wood and red pepper notes settled in the background. The pepper notes definitely coated the back of the throat. On the retro-hale, there was some additional pepper and natural tobacco sweetness present.

During the first third, the caramel component was prominent on the flavor profile. By the second third, the richness of the natural tobacco emerged. The caramel component now became more of a secondary note. As the New World Cameroon Selection Toro reached the midway point, there was a slight increase in pepper.

The last third of the New World Cameroon Selection Toro saw the natural tobacco remain the primary note. There was now more in the way of pepper notes. Meanwhile, there still were notes of wood and caramel in the more distant background. This is the way the AJ Fernandez New World Cameroon Selection Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

From a construction standpoint, the New World Cameroon Selection Toro was flawless  and this was reflected on the burn and draw. The burn maintained a straight burn path and relatively straight burn line from start to finish. The resulting ash was tight with a near white color to it. Both the burn rate and burn temperature maintained ideal levels from start to finish.

Draw

The New World Cameroon Toros excellent construction was also reflected on how the draw performed. This was a cigar that struck a nice equilibrium between openness and resistance. As a result, this was a low maintenance cigar to puff on and derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The New World Cameroon Toro is a cigar that is on the lower end of medium strength. For the most part, I found the strength level to remain relatively constant. As for the body, the New World Cameroon Toro started more dead-center medium. There was a gradual increase in intensity and by the second half, the New World Cameroon Toro was in medium to full territory. Midway through the second half, the increase in body leveled off.

As for the strength versus body, the body maintained the edge from start to finish

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

One thing I will say right out of the gate. If you are looking for an aber-complex cigar with lots of flavor nuances and transitions, the AJ Fernandez New World Cameroon is not going to be the cigar for you. But if you are looking for a well-constructed cigar that scores nicely in the flavor department then this is the cigar for you. This blend also seemed to sync up nicely with the Toro sized vitola. Finally, one cannot ignore this cigars $6.00 price point makes it a great value. This is a cigar that can be smoked by a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast any time of the day. As for myself, this is a cigar I would smoke again  and take advantage of the price point and buy multiples for my humidor.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Caramel, Wood, Red Pepper

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: Low to Medium

Strength: Medium

Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)

Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Buy Multiples

Score: 89

References

News: AJ Fernandez Announces New World Cameroon Selection

Price: $6.00

Source: Purchased

Brand Reference: AJ Fernandez Cigars

Image/Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted



1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.Singapore to replace GCE O and N Levels with common national exam by 2027

Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) will be replacing the current GCE O- and N-Level examinations with a common national exam by 2027.

The new exam will complement the subject-based banding system that is set to replace streaming in secondary schools, according to a report by Todayonline.

Making the announcement on Tuesday, March 5, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung also revealed that secondary school streaming will be scrapped by 2024 after about four decades.

There will also be a new secondary school curriculum under the new subject-based banding system. Each subject will be categorised into three tiers: General 1 (G1) corresponding to todays Normal (Technical) standard, General 2 (G2) to Normal (Academic), and General 3 (G3) to Express.

Photo courtesy: MOE

Students will be able to pursue subjects at different levels according to their abilities. All Secondary 4 students will sit for a common national examination from 2027, and obtain a common certificate, listing the subjects completed and the standard band of each subject. This is to reflect that subject-based banding is a more flexible, single course, said Mr Ong said, adding that the certificate will be co-certified by both Cambridge Assessment and Singapore. Both are strong international brand names in education, which will enhance the recognition and value of the certificate," he explained.

Currently, students in the Express stream sit for the GCE O-Level examination, while Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) students sit for the GCE N-Level examination at the end of Secondary 4.

With regards to whether there will be a Sec 5 level under the subject-based banding system, the minister said that the plan is to get students to go through a four-year curriculum by the time the new system takes effect in 2024. MOE will be exploring alternatives to a fifth year in secondary schools to allow students can enter post-secondary institutions.

One such alternative is having a similar programme to the Polytechnic Foundation Programme. This will allow the top 15 percent of the Sec 4 Normal (Academic) cohort to do a foundational year in the polytechnics before pursuing their diploma courses.Share this: Twitter

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Nairobi, April 2, 2019  Authorities in Burundi should fully restore broadcasting rights to the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America, and allow journalists in the country to contribute to the two organizations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The BBC and VOA have been barred from broadcasting in Burundi since May 2018, when their licenses were suspended, originally for six months, as CPJ reported at the time. On March 29, Burundis media regulator, the National Communication Council, announced that it had withdrawn the operating license for the BBC and renewed its suspension of the VOA, according to news reports and an official notice by the National Communication Council posted on Twitter by local press freedom organization SOS Medias Burundi.

The council also forbade local and foreign journalists operating in Burundi from directly or indirectly contributing to the two broadcasters, according to the notice.

The decision to keep the BBC and VOA off-air, and to forbid reporters from contributing to them, is clearly meant to deny Burundians access to critical reporting and to keep the world in the dark about what is happening in Burundi, said CPJs Sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. We urge authorities to lift the bans on VOA and the BBC and allow all media, local and international, to operate freely and independently.

Nestor Bankumukunzi, the president of the National Communication Council, who signed the notice announcing the moves, told CPJ via text message that he would answer CPJs queries but had not done so by the time of publication. Government spokesperson Prosper Ntahorwamiye declined to respond to CPJs questions.

The National Communication Council alleged that the BBC aired a documentary that was false, slanderous, and violated Burundis media laws, according to the notice. In December 2018, the BBC aired a documentary on alleged torture sites run by Burundian security services, which authorities dismissed at the time as fake news and demanded the broadcaster take down, according to news reports.

In its notice, the council also accused the BBC of violating assurances the broadcaster had allegedly made last year not to air content that did not meet its own editorial guidelines.

On March 29, the BBC issued a statement condemning the regulators decision, saying that it was a serious blow against media freedom. CPJs email to a BBC spokesperson requesting further comment did not receive a response.

In renewing VOAs suspension, the council accused the broadcaster of employing Patrick Nduwimana, former director of the privately owned, now-shuttered Bonesha FM, whom it claims is sought by law enforcement, according to the notice and previous reporting by CPJ. In an email to CPJ, a VOA spokesperson said that Nduwimana is a VOA Swahili contractor and does not broadcast in Kirundi [the national language of Burundi].

VOA Director Amanda Bennett, who is a member of CPJs board of directors, said in a statement that it was alarming that journalists in Burundi are now forbidden to communicate with VOA.

In the email to CPJ, the VOA spokesperson said that the station had ended the employment of freelance journalists in Burundi for their own safety, but added that none have reported receiving threats since the renewed suspension was announced.Share this: Twitter

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Nairobi, April 3, 2019Authorities in Somalia should urgently investigate an attack on the privately-owned station Universal TV and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Ten armed individuals, including nine in police uniform, who claimed to be attached to Somalias revenue authority, stormed the offices of Universal TV in the capital, Mogadishu, on March 30, and started shooting inside the building, according to Abdullahi Hersi Kulmiye, Universal TVs East Africa director, and a statement by the government-recognized National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

Abdullahi and Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, secretary general of the government-recognized NUSOJ, both told CPJ that the motive for the attack was unclear, but that they did not think it was to do with unpaid taxes. Abdullahi said that the men did not demand money. Mohamed Moalimuu told CPJ in an email, We believe it is kind of intimidation or pressure from the commander behind the raid. The man who led the raid was in civilian clothing, they said.

Abdinur Mohamed Ahmed, the director of communication at the office of the President in Somalia, told CPJ via email yesterday that the case was under investigation and appropriate measures would be taken once investigations are complete. In a March 30 post condemning the attack on his official Facebook page, Abdinur said it was an unacceptable that it was carried out by a section of the same security forces meant to enforce the rule of law. Abdinur did not respond to CPJs follow-up email asking if the attackers had been identified.

Abdullahi told CPJ that government officials with whom he spoke, including Commissioner of Police Bashir Abdi Mohamed and Internal Security Minister Mohamed Islow Duale, denied deploying police to the station, and said they would investigate. Neither official responded to CPJs phone calls and text messages today and yesterday.

This attack on Universal TV is outrageous and an unfortunate reminder that Somali journalists cannot expect safety, even in their own offices, said CPJs Sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. Authorities need to guard against impunity by credibly investigating this attack and ensuring those responsible are prosecuted.

Abdullahi told CPJ that he asked the armed men to leave and said he would speak to the man who identified himself as their commander but they refused and an argument ensued. The men refused to speak in Abdullahis office or to speak with Abdullahi Hassan Bariise, a police official whom Abdullahi called and whose department covers the Ministry of Finance and revenue collection department. Abdullahi said that the police official denied deploying the men to the station and said that he would send a response team. CPJ tried to reach the police official by phone today and yesterday, but was unsuccessful.

Abdullahi said that when he warned the armed men that their actions might be recorded, the leader confiscated his phone and started to shoot inside the building. Abdullahi told CPJ that most of the staff had been moved to another part of the building by the time the shooting started and that no one were injured. He said that a camera was damaged and programming was disrupted during the morning and did not resume until later in the afternoon.

Military guards from the nearby presidential palace arrived at Universal TV and disarmed and detained the 10 men, according to Abdullahi and Mohamed Moalimuu, who said he arrived at the station shortly after the attack.

Mohamed Moalimuu and Abdullahi told CPJ that sources in the police identified the individual who commanded the armed men and that Universal TV has filed a complaint against him at the military court in Mogadishu. The courts mandate includes prosecuting police, according to a 2014 report by Human Rights Watch.Austria Economics Minister: Europe Over-regulating Blockchain

Margarete Schrambock, the Austrian Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, has suggested that the country may buck European trends by leaving its blockchain technology sector unregulated. Margarete Schrambock. Source: Parlamentsdirektion / Thomas Jantzen

Per a report from Austrian news outlet Trending Topics, Schrambock stated, We dont need blockchain regulations. [] Europe has a strong tendency to over-regulate. And then people are surprised to see that there are no European firms in the worlds top 10 [blockchain companies]!

Schrambock was speaking at the ANON Blockchain summit in Vienna, an event that concludes later today.

The ministers thoughts were echoed by Marta Piekarska, Director of Ecosystem at Hyperledger, who stated, We dont regulate technologies such as machine learning or C++"  sparking the question that if that were the case, why should blockchain be any different?

Schrambocks comments appear to run contrary to remarks made last year by the head of the regulatory Financial Market Authority (FMA) Klaus Kumpfmuller, also reported by the same media outlet.

Kumpfmuller suggested that regulations for initial coin offerings (ICOs) could well be in the pipelines. The FMA submitted proposals for regulations to government ministries last year  although the fact that legislation has yet to materialize could suggest the government indeed has had a change of heart.

If Austria does decide to pursue a laissez-faire attitude to regulations, it may well find itself on its own in Europe. Recent government activities in France, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and Britain appear to suggest that fintech regulations are likely on their way in some form or another. Japan, meanwhile, is likely to push for an international consensus on blockchain and cryptocurrency regulations when it hosts the G20 summit in June.

The regulatory Financial Services Agency this week clarified its stance on requiring that cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan report suspicious transactions, per Crypto Watch.

Meanwhile, Tron last week announced that it will fall in line with regulatory requirements pertaining to Japanese gambling laws. Tron will move to ensure gambling dapps (decentralized apps) are kept off-limits to Japanese users and developers.SEC Hints What Crypto Assets Might be Securities (UPDATED 3)

On Wednesday, in a long-awaited move, a division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a framework for analyzing whether a digital asset is offered and sold as an investment contract, and, therefore, is a security.



(Updated on April 3, 17:04 UTC: two new sections - "Nothing new here" and "A no-action request" - have been added.

Updated on April 3, 18:26 UTC: two new paragraphs in the beginning of the "Nothing new here" section have been added.

Updated on April 4, 03:39 UTC: a new video with comments by a lawyer has been added to the "Nothing new here" section)

Source: iStock/ablokhin

However, in an announcement, Bill Hinman, Director of Division of Corporation Finance at SEC, and Valerie Szczepanik, Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation at SEC, stressed that the framework is not intended to be an exhaustive overview of the law, but rather, "an analytical tool to help market participants assess whether the federal securities laws apply to the offer, sale, or resale of a particular digital asset."

"This framework represents Staff views and is not a rule, regulation, or statement of the Commission. The Commission has neither approved nor disapproved its content," they added.

According to them, the information contained in this framework may apply to entities conducting the following activities related to digital assets:

offering, selling, or distributing

marketing or promoting

buying, selling, or trading

facilitating exchanges

holding or storing

offering financial services such as management or advice

other professional services

The framework focuses on the Howey test that helps to determine whether an asset, including digital assets, is an "investment contract."

"Usually, the main issue in analyzing a digital asset under the Howey test is whether a purchaser has a reasonable expectation of profits (or other financial returns) derived from the efforts of others," according to the framework.

It goes further to explain:

"A purchaser may expect to realize a return through participating in distributions or through other methods of realizing appreciation on the asset, such as selling at a gain in a secondary market.

When a promoter, sponsor, or other third party (or affiliated group of third parties) (each, an Active Participant or AP) provides essential managerial efforts that affect the success of the enterprise, and investors reasonably expect to derive profit from those efforts, then this prong of the test is met.

Relevant to this inquiry is the economic reality of the transaction and what character the instrument is given in commerce by the terms of the offer, the plan of distribution, and the economic inducements held out to the prospect. The inquiry, therefore, is an objective one, focused on the transaction itself and the manner in which the digital asset is offered and sold."

The framework also listed the following characteristics that are important in evaluating a digital asset - "the stronger their presence, the less likely the Howey test is met":

The distributed ledger network and digital asset are fully developed and operational

Holders of the digital asset are immediately able to use it for its intended functionality on the network, particularly where there are built-in incentives to encourage such use.

The digital assets creation and structure is designed and implemented to meet the needs of its users, rather than to feed speculation as to its value or development of its network.

Prospects for appreciation in the value of the digital asset are limited.

With respect to a digital asset referred to as a virtual currency, it can immediately be used to make payments in a wide variety of contexts, or acts as a substitute for real (or fiat) currency.

With respect to a digital asset that represents rights to a good or service, it currently can be redeemed within a developed network or platform to acquire or otherwise use those goods or services.

Any economic benefit that may be derived from appreciation in the value of the digital asset is incidental to obtaining the right to use it for its intended functionality.

The digital asset is marketed in a manner that emphasizes the functionality of the digital asset, and not the potential for the increase in market value of the digital asset.

Potential purchasers have the ability to use the network and use (or have used) the digital asset for its intended functionality.

Restrictions on the transferability of the digital asset are consistent with the assets use and not facilitating a speculative market.

If the AP facilitates the creation of a secondary market, transfers of the digital asset may only be made by and among users of the platform.

However, the document added that even in cases where a digital asset can be used to purchase goods or services on a network, where that networks or digital assets functionality is being developed or improved, there may be securities transactions.

According to the framework, in this case, among other factors, the following is present:

- the digital asset is offered or sold to purchasers at a discount to the value of the goods or services;

- the digital asset is offered or sold to purchasers in quantities that exceed reasonable use;

- and/or there are limited or no restrictions on reselling those digital assets, particularly where an AP is continuing in its efforts to increase the value of the digital assets or has facilitated a secondary market.

____

"Nothing new here"

"This guidance not only confirms that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities, it also goes a long way in helping entrepreneurs and technologists who have done the right thing know that they have done the right thing, and it should help those who want to build new networks know how the securities laws will be applied," Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at the Coin Center, a Washington based crypto-focused research and advocacy center, wrote in commentary on the framework.

According to him, the bottom line is that it is possible to fundraise by selling tokens in compliance with the securities laws and then have those tokens be clearly not securities when the promoter is no longer essential to the continued viability of the project.

Meanwhile, lawyer, blockchain enthusiast Preston Byrne tweeted that "there's really nothing new here."

"Any lawyer looking realistically at token sales will have given advice along these lines for years," he said.

According to Philip Liu, co-founder and chief legal officer of Arca, a Los Angeles-based crypto investment management firm, "the SEC just says if you issue tokens based on blockchain for use as a mere exchange mechanism for existing goods and services, the tokens are not a security."

Andrew "Drew" Hinkes, co-founder and the General Counsel of investment firm Athena Blockchain, concluded that "it'll be another way for lawyers to analyze offerings and make arguments, but this doesn't create the checklist that so many have begged for- which makes sense."

"The SEC wants you to talk to get lawyers and to communicate with the SEC on Finhub," he said in a tweet.

In March, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton also clarified his position on crypto, however, not everyone was convinced back then.

____

Stephen Palley, a partner at U.S.-based corporate law firm Anderson Kill, discusses what the framework means for ICOs

____

A no-action request

Also, the Division of Corporation Finance issued a no-action request regarding TurnKey Jet (TKJ), a private aviation firm, concluding that tokens issued by the company are not securities.

According to the Division, these are the reasons why it will not recommend enforcement action to the Commission:

TKJ will not use any funds from Token sales to develop the TKJ Platform, Network, or App, and each of these will be fully developed and operational at the time any Tokens are sold;

the Tokens will be immediately usable for their intended functionality (purchasing air charter services) at the time they are sold;

TKJ will restrict transfers of Tokens to TKJ Wallets only, and not to wallets external to the Platform;

TKJ will sell Tokens at a price of one USD per Token throughout the life of the Program, and each Token will represent a TKJ obligation to supply air charter services at a value of one USD per Token;

If TKJ offers to repurchase Tokens, it will only do so at a discount to the face value of the Tokens (one USD per Token) that the holder seeks to resell to TKJ, unless a court within the United States orders TKJ to liquidate the Tokens; and

The Token is marketed in a manner that emphasizes the functionality of the Token, and not the potential for the increase in the market value of the Token.

Blockchain and finance deal lawyer Joshua Ashley Klayman commented:Jurgen Kloppis confident defender Virgil van Dijk will be fit to face former club Southampton in Friday night's Premier Leagueclash.The Liverpool manager was left 'hoping' the Dutchman had not suffered a serious injury after he appeared to pick up a knock in the latter stages of their 2-1 win over Tottenham on SundayVan Dijk took part in training on Tuesday, easing worries over his fitness ahead of the trip to St Mary's. And at a press conference on Wednesday, Klopp confirmed: 'Virgil has trained normally. It all looks okay.'The Dutchman has led Liverpool's defence brilliantly this season, helping them concede fewer goals than any other team in the division.'He's so important to us not only as a player but as a person. I couldn't say a bad word about him even if I wanted to,' Klopp joked.'A brilliant boy... but he knows that you need the boys around you. Defending is team work.'Van Dijk was lavished with praise following the Reds' win over Spurs for helping prevent Moussa Sissoko net a late second for the visitors.Stranded with Sissoko and Son Heung-min bearing down on the Liverpool goal, the defender managed to block Sissoko's path to his team-mate and force him on to his left foot.Sissoko blazed his shot over the bar just minutes before a Hugo Lloris error gifted Liverpool three points that took them back to the top of the table.'It was perfect,' Klopp said of Van Dijk's defending.'He had to defend two players, close the passing way to the other player. If you can't be active you have to give the other player the chance to make the mistake.'It was from Mohamed Salah's late header that Lloris deflected the ball off Toby Alderweireld and into his own net.The Egypt international has now gone eight games without a goal but Klopp insisted: 'People talk about how many games he hasn't scored in but he doesn't seem bothered.'It's about work rate, doing it again and again, and one day the ball will bounce in your direction. We have 79 points - you can't have that if you have major problems in a season.'A Russian prosecutor says that a Norwegian man jailed on espionage charges has acquired classified information on Russian nuclear submarines.Frode Berg was arrested in Moscow in December 2017. His lawyer says that Berg, a retired Norwegian border inspector, is the victim of a setup.Prosecutor Milana Digayeva told Russian news agencies yesterday as Berg's trial began that the Norwegian man was collecting information about Russian nuclear submarines. The case is being heard behind closed doors for secrecy reasons.Digayeva said that Berg, who was allegedly on the payroll of Norwegian intelligence, was caught red-handed with the documents he had received from an employee of a military facility who was shadowed by Russian intelligence.A Russian spy plane has flown over secret US military bases  including Area 51  perhaps America's most guarded installation.The Tupolev 154 surveillance aircraft was first spotted in California last week, reports CBS News.But instead of sending the US military into panic, there is nothing the American government can do about it.The aircraft is flown under the Treaty on Open Skies  an agreement between Russia and the US that allows unarmed military planes to fly over each other's territory. It enables both superpowers to monitor each other's military forces and aims to ease global tensions.The Tupolev 154 is fitted with high-powered cameras and flew with the permission of the White House, officials said. US Air Force experts inspected the plane for compliance before its flight and American observers were aboard the aircraft.Flight data showed it flew over key military sites last week including into the state of Nevada where Area 51 is. The intensely secretive site has long been associated with UFOs and military conspiracy theories.Many believe Area 51, which is part of a US Air Force facility, is host to crashed space craft from other planets and their alien being pilots.After decades of speculation, the US government acknowledged its existence after declassified documents were released.The US has also flown Open Skies flights over sensitive Russian sites.Last December, it flew over Ukraine after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships off Crimea.Apart from Russia and the US, there are 32 other countries that are members of the Open Skies treaty.If President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to close the US-Mexico border, it would disrupt the flow of $US1.7 billion of goods daily to store shelves and factory floors - including not just avocados, but beer and car parts, too.The United States gets nearly 90 percent of its avocado imports from Mexico, and one of America's biggest suppliers, Mission Produce, has warned that the US could run out of the trendy toast-topper in just three weeks.But shutting down the border would do more than cut into the country's guacamole supply. Strawberries, tomatoes and bell peppers are sent north from Mexico. Americans also buy more than $US4.6 billion a year in beer, wine and alcohol - including tequila - from its southern neighbor, according the the Census Bureau.The United States is the country's largest agricultural trading partner, buying 78 percent of Mexican exports and supplying 69 percent of the country's imports, according to the US Department of Agriculture.A border closure would squeeze US corn, soybean and dairy farmers, too, if they can't ship their produce into Mexico.The spokesman for the American Farm Bureau told CNN that $US13.7 million in agricultural products flow across the border daily just through the port of entry in Nogales, Arizona.'Just a few hours' delay can potentially ruin whatever is in those trucks,' he said.Mexican manufacturers are also highly integrated in US supply chains and the closure could disrupt business for a variety of American businesses. The biggest import categories from Mexico are cars and trucks, machinery, medical instruments and fossil fuels.One economist predicted this week that the entire US auto industry would shut down within a week if the President closes the border, because every US auto plant depends on parts made in Mexico.Trump threatened to close the border this week amid a rising crisis of asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants.He tweeted Friday that he would be 'CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border,' in the coming week if Mexico does not crack down on illegal border crossings.The President is still weighing the decision, despite being warned by aides about the consequences of shutting down the border. One administration official described the effects as 'catastrophic' and 'a whole world of hurt.'Meanwhile, ratification of Trump's replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement is at stake. While the President and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts have signed the deal, it has yet to be ratified by their respective legislatures.Trump's threat to shut down trade could make it more challenging for Mexico's lawmakers to sign off, said Phil Levy, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, who served as a senior economist for trade under President George W. Bush.'If you can close down the border when you're mad at anything, what is the value of a deal?' he said.Political prisoner, activist, journalist, hymn-writer, emerging think tanker, aspiring novelist, hanger on of academia, parliamentary candidate for North West Durham, Shadow Leader of the Opposition, Speedboat, proudly banned from Twitter so officially more dangerous than the Taliban, eagerly awaiting the second (or possibly third) attempt to murder me.Andhra Pradesh: The Invisible Hands: Calling attention to Vizags undervalued fisherwomen

by Neeshita Nyayapati

April 03,2019 | Source: The Times of India

Last year, Vizags unsung sheroes, its underpaid or unpaid fisherwomen, finally got visibility via the short film The Invisible Hands. The award-winning documentary became the centre of attention recently, when it was screened at the International Film Festival of Fisherfolks 2019. Having bagged the third prize at the WSI (International Association for Women in the Seafood Industry) Film Festival in France last year for their documentary The Invisible Hands, the brother-sister duo of 28-year-old Shrinkhla Pandey and 25-year-old Shrayansh Pandey had more laurels coming their way, when their eight-minute-long short film was screened at the International Film Festival of Fisherfolks 2019 in March. The documentary does more than just showcase how fish trade takes place in Visakhapatnams harbour, and the star of the film is a fisherwoman from Mangamaripeta, Ratna, who runs a food truck at Beach Road with five other fisherwomen.



This is the first documentary weve ever made and showcased on a proper platform. We want to make more films with subjects that are authentic, says Shrinkhla. And anybody who watches The Invisible Hands cannot deny that it is as real as it gets. Despite making up the majority of the workforce, women in the fishing industry are often underpaid or even unpaid and thats one of the subjects which has been explored in the documentary. And the title The Invisible Hands is quite appropriate for the film because women have been contributing majorly to the fishing industry, but their work has mostly been overlooked.



We began to work on this project in January 2018. Whenever we would come to Vizag on leave, we would head to the fishing harbour and talk to the ladies selling fish there, says Shrayansh. It was here, while talking to one of the women, that we found out that there were actually six women who had chosen a different path. With the help of then collector Pravin Kumar, these women have been running a food truck to sell fish delicacies at Beach Road since 2017. The self-taught filmmakers immediately headed there, and it was at the truck that they would meet the star of their documentary, Ratna. According to Shrinkhla, as soon as she and her brother found out about the truck, they knew that they had found the subject for their film. And after they met Ratna, all doubts were dispelled.



We initially wanted to shoot with all the six fisherwomen but Ratna adjusted well and was the one who was willing to speak to us. But while making the documentary, we realised that she still doesnt understand the value of the business she runs. I tried to explain it to her after we finished filming, but Im not sure how much of it she understood, says Shrinkhla, adding: There are many women in the fishing business who get the short end of the stick. Over a span of 20 days in July last year, the siblingsgathered footage and edited them to complete their film. It was during this journey that we met Md. Aslam as well, a trader who explained to us how the fish trade takes place in Visakhapatnam and how fish from here end up all over the country. We knew immediately that we had the introductory part of our documentary covered as well, says Shrayansh.



He adds that the most satisfying aspect for the siblings was how happy Ratna had felt at being independent now. Her husband Raju is a traditional fisherman, the kind who fishes with hooks instead of nets and in a traditional fishing boat. She was happy that while initially it was he who would bring home the money, here she was sharing the load for the last two years. Apparently, there were at least 20 women when they began seeking the help of the local administration for this project. But due to one reason or another, many women dropped out, preferring to sell the fish their husbands caught at the harbour. Shrinkhla felt that these six women persevered, faced numerous difficulties and hence reaped the benefits, and that was why their story needed to be told.



Both Shrinkhla and Shrayansh used to work in Bengaluru when they decided to pursue their passions and switch to filmmaking. My brother used to work as a data analyst and has quit his job. I am yet to quit mine, says Shrinkhla. The siblings say that after watching documentaries like The Act of Killing, Faith Connections and Children of the Pyre, the making of this film was a dream come true project for them.



Shrinkhla further adds: The kind of response we have got for the documentary after it was filmed in France, Bangkok and Spain has encouraged us even more. Now, we want to do as many stories as we can, and give a voice to the people who dont usually have one. Her last words before ending the conversation are: Our documentaries might not have many monetary benefits; however, they are cathartic.Bangladesh: Over 6000kg jatka, fishing nets worth Tk16.17cr seized over a month in Chandpur

April 03,2019 | Source: Dhaka Tribune

Despite a two month ban in Chandpur, fishermen are continuing to catch jatkailish fry less than 25cm longin the Padma and Meghna rivers. It is illegal to catch jatka from the afore-mentioned rivers during March and April. The Chandpur District Fisheries Office said, in March alone, the mobile court held 63 sessions for jatka fishing. The authorities conducted 223 drives and confiscated 6,919kg of jatka. At the local market, a kilogram of jatka typically sells for Tk120.



They also confiscated 8,100,000 metres of fishing nets worth Tk16.17 crore. The taskforce jailed and fined 89 fishermen for being involved with illegal fishing activities in the month of March. Jail time ranged from a month to two years. The confiscated jatka was donated to orphanages and the fishing nets were burned. To ensure that the ban is being maintained, the police, Bangladesh Coast Guard, Bangladesh River Police, and the district administration are all keeping watch over the area. Still, the fishermen come from all over the district to illegally catch jatka after dark. District Fisheries Officer of Chandpur Asadul Baki said: Every time a drive is conducted, we have to hold 10-25 fishermen. And yet, the fishermen do not pay any heed.



We are giving people jail time and fines, but, still they will not stop catching jatka. Abdur Rahim, a local fisherman, said: Fishermen from Mohanpur, Ekhlaspur, and Gajaria come to this area and illegally catch jatka. Some of the local fishermen do it too. If the authorities cannot stop them, then what is the point of the ban?



Another fisherman Jahir Uddin said: We are abiding by the rules. However, the government only gives us 40kg of rice a month. It is not possible to keep the whole household fed with that amount.



 In March alone the authorities conducted 223 drives and confiscated 6,919kg of jatka

 The authorities also confiscated 8,100,000 metres of fishing nets worth Tk16.17 crore

 The confiscated jatka was donated to orphanages, the fishing nets were burned

 51,000 fishermen in Chandpur received 40kg rice each, throughout the duration of the ban

 Fishermen come from all over the district to catch illegally catch jakta ilish



Zakir Hossain, another fisherman told the Dhaka Tribune that they are not going into the rivers while the ban is in effect. We are fixing and maintaining out boats and nets, to keep them in good shape so we can use them when the ban is lifted, he said.



The authorities in charge of maintaining the ban are calling the fishermen reckless and greedy. Chandpur Additional District Magistrate Abdullah Al Mahmud Zaman said: Many fishermen are not heeding the ban and are greedily continuing to catch jatka. We are trying our best, but I would not say we are 100% successful. District Fisheries Officer of Chandpur Asadul Baki said: Out of the 89 fishermen given jail time or a fine, one got two years in jail, 81 got one year in jail, and seven of them got one month of prison time.



We have also confiscated two engine-powered boats. He said the authorities are planning on taking strict action against the fishermen that did not abide by the law. We are compiling a list of the offenders names. We will revoke their rights to go fishing in the rivers. He mentioned that at the Halda River, the fishermen themselves keep guard during the period of a ban, so no one can break the law. We hope to see such an initiative in this area too. Until then, we have to remain vigilant, he said. Deputy Commissioner of Chandpur Mazedur Rahman Khan said: Every month almost 51,000 fishermen in this area get 40kg rice each, throughout the duration of the ban. If they do not abide the law even after this, we have no scope of going easy on them.Punjab: Workshop held on shrimp farming practices, prevailing diseases

April 03,2019 | Source: The Tribune India

A one-day training-cum-awareness programme on Importance of aquatic animal disease surveillance in aquaculture environment was organized at College of Fisheries, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and National Fisheries Development Board (ICAR-NFDB) funded project on National surveillance on aquatic animal disease. Dr HK Verma, Director of Extension Education and Dr KS Sandhu, Dean, College of Fisheries, inaugurated the training programme.



A total of 24 progressive and potential farmers from different districts of Punjab participated in the event. One of the fundamental mandates of the training was to create awareness about shrimp farming practices, current prevailing diseases and prevention protocols. Dr Verma addressed the farmers and highlighted the utilisation of inland saline and water logged areas of Punjab and motivated them to take the benefit of the land.



Dr Sandhu told about the importance of surveillance, data management and interpretation data for sustainable production. He conveyed farmers to utilise the GADVASU facilities for field related problems, especially disease diagnosis. Dr Meera D Ansal, Head of Aquaculture Department, highlighted the scope of shrimp farming in Punjab. Dr Naveen Kumar BT, Course director of the training programme explained the source of specific pathogen free (SPF) seed, role of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) and Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA), and the importance of disease surveillance in shrimp farming in India.



Dr Prabjeet Singh and Dr Anuj Tyagi interacted with farmers about site selection, farm design, biosecurity measures and best management practices for sustainable shrimp farming. Dr Shanthanagouda and Dr Amit Mandal discussed about feed management and biofloc technology to increase and double the farmers income. Farmers and faculty members of the College interacted and shared the aspects related to shrimp farming activities, current and new technologies of farming in India, which help developing the confidence among the farmers.



In the afternoon session, farmers were exposed to onsite and point of care disease diagnostic tool (farmer-level kit) for quick detection of shrimp pathogens, and they were also demonstrated the shipment of shrimp samples for disease diagnosis in the laboratory. College of Fisheries has been organising specialised training programmes of variable duration as an entrepreneurship option for unemployed youth. In addition, the trend of aquaculture in Punjab has shown a positive sign which would potentially help in a Blue Revolution. The event concluded with vote of thanks and saying fish for health and wealth by Dr Anuj Tyagi.Gujarat: Fishermens landmark victory in US Supreme Court goes unreported in Indian media

April 03,2019 | Source: The Wire

A landmark legal victory secured by Indian fishermen belonging to the Kutch district of Gujarat in the United States Supreme Court in the last week February went completely unnoticed by the Indian media. The US Supreme Court, in a 7:1 decision, with one judge abstaining, ruled on February 27 that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, financing the construction of a power plant at Mundra, Gujarat, is entitled only to limited or restrictive immunity that foreign governments currently enjoy. Therefore, its claim for absolute immunity from suit, filed by local farmers and fishermen alleging air, land and water pollution in the surrounding area of the plant, is not valid, the court said. The plaintiffs were led by Waghers, a group of Muslim fishermen who have been fishing in the Mundra waters for generations.



Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the court, in which Justices Thomas, Ginsburg, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan and Gorsuch joined. Justice Breyer filed a dissenting opinion. Justice Kavanaugh, the latest appointee to the court, took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.



The International Organisations Immunities Act of 1945 (IOIA) grants international organisations such as the World Bank and the World Health Organisation the same immunity from suit as is enjoyed by foreign governments. At the time the IOIA was enacted, foreign governments enjoyed virtually absolute immunity from suit. Today, that immunity is more limited. Foreign governments are not immune from actions based upon certain kinds of commercial activity in which they engage.



The IFC finances private-sector development projects in poor and developing countries around the world. About ten years ago, the IFC financed the construction of the coal-fired Tata Mundra Power Plant in Gujarat, by providing $450 million in loans in 2008 to Coastal Gujarat Power Limited. Under the terms of the loan agreement, Coastal Gujarat was required to comply with an environmental and social action plan designed to protect areas around the plant from damage. The agreement allowed the IFC to revoke financial support for the project if Coastal Gujarat failed to abide by the terms of the agreement.



Internal audit said plant did not comply with action plan



According to IFCs internal audit, Coastal Gujarat did not comply with the environmental and social action plan in constructing and operating the plant. The audit report criticised the IFC for inadequately supervising the project. In 2015, a group of farmers and fishermen who live near the plant, as well as a local village, sued the IFC in the United States district court for the District of Columbia. They were led by the lead plaintiff, Budha Ismail Jam. They claimed that pollution from the plant, such as coal dust, ash and water from the plants cooling system, had destroyed or contaminated much of the surrounding air, land and water. Relying on the audit report, they asserted several causes of action against the IFC, including negligence, nuisance, trespass and breach of contract.



The district court concluded that the IFC was immune from suit because the IOIA grants international organisations the virtually absolute immunity that foreign governments enjoyed when the IOIA was enacted. The IFC argued before the US Supreme Court that affording international organisations only restrictive immunity would defeat the purpose of granting them immunity in the first place. It would expose international organisations to money damages, which would in turn make it more difficult and expensive for them to fulfil their missions, it argued. Allowing such suits would bring a flood of foreign-plaintiff litigation into the U.S. courts, raising many of the same foreign-relations concerns that we identified when considering similar litigation under the Alien Tort Statute, the IFC contended.



IFC did not deny allegations



Significantly, the IFC did not deny the allegations of environmental pollution that the Mundra plant caused to its surroundings.



Justice Roberts opined:



The IFCs concerns are inflated. To begin, the privileges and immunities accorded by the IOIA are only default rules.Notably, the IFCs own charter does not state that the IFC is absolutely immune from suit. Restrictive immunity hardly means unlimited exposure to suit for international organisations, the majority Judges held.



Holding that the IFC is not absolutely immune from suit, they reversed the judgment of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with their opinion. Petitioners, who included farmers and fishermen from Kutch, Gujarat, sued the IFC for damages and injunctive relief in federal district court, but the IFC claimed absolute immunity from suit.



The IFC is designated as an international organisation under the IOIA. One hundred eight-four countries, including the US, are members of the IFC. The IFC is charged with furthering economic development by encouraging the growth of productive private enterprise in member countries, particularly in the less developed areas, thus supplementing the activities of the World Bank.



Whereas the World Bank primarily provides loans and grants to developing countries for public-sector projects, the IFC finances private-sector development projects that cannot otherwise attract capital on reasonable terms. The IFC expects its loan recipients to adhere to a set of performance standards designed to avoid, mitigate and manage risks and impacts associated with development projects. Those standards are usually more stringent than any established by local law. The IFC includes the standards in its loan agreements and enforces them through an internal review process.



Interestingly, the plaintiffs in the case first approached the IFCs internal grievance mechanism for relief, but in vain. Writing in World Politics Review, Elliot Waldman observes on March 11:



Whether courts agree that a loan to the Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Power Plant project has sufficient nexus to the United States is unclear, but lawyers for Earthrights International, the advocacy group that represented the Indian plaintiffs, believe they have a good chance of success. At least one other case, involving farmers in Honduras who say that an IFC-supported company used death squads to terrorize them and dispossess them of their land, is likely to move forward as a result of last months ruling. Meanwhile, international lawyers have hinted that the judgment could lead to calls for strengthening internal accountability mechanisms of organisations like the IFC.



Indian governments turned a blind eye



But the worrying thing from the judgment is how the Centre and the state governments, through their Pollution Control Boards, turned a blind eye to the environmental pollution, which the local fishermen alleged, as a result of the functioning of the Mundra plant. Should not the Indian government have at least belatedly come forward to bear the litigation expenses of the Mundra farmers and offer help in further litigation in the lower courts in the US following this landmark judgment? May be that would be too much to expect from the current governments at the Centre and in Gujarat, hardly known for their concerns for environmental pollution caused by mega projects.Gujarat: Fishermen from Maha attack Gujarat sailors in sea

April 03,2019 | Source: The Times of India

Once again Gujarat fishermen were attacked by a group of fishermen from Maharashtra mid-sea about 35 nautical miles from Nava Bandar coast in Porbandar. At least three sailors of the total nine on board the fishing trawler Meghdoot Prasad were injured in the attack that took place in the intervening night of March 23 and March 24.



The incident came to light when the sailors returned to Porbandar shore on Monday evening. According to boat owner Somwar Majithiya, who is also the sarpanch of Nava Bandar, the local fishermen were attacked when they were fishing mid-sea. About 20-22 fishing boats belonging to Maharashtra fishermen surrounded the Gujarat fishermen and pelted stones at them injuring at least three. The Maharashtra fishermen also ransacked our boat and damaged its outer body. The damage could be to the tune of Rs 2 lakh or more. They have also destroyed our fishing nets, Majithiya told TOI.



The boat owner has lodged a complaint with the Porbandar Marine police and further investigation in the matter was underway. This is not the first time that the Gujarat fishermen were attacked mid-sea by their Maharashtra counterparts.Brunei is introducing strict new Islamic laws that make sex between men an offence punishable by stoning to death.





The new measures, that come into force on Wednesday, also cover a range of other crimes including punishment for theft by amputation.





The move has sparked international condemnation.





The sultan of the small south-east Asian nation on Wednesday called for "stronger" Islamic teachings.





"I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger," Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said at a public address, according to AFP news agency, without mentioning the new laws.





Brunei's gay community has expressed shock and fear at the "medieval punishments".





"You wake up and realise that your neighbours, your family or even that nice old lady that sells prawn fritters by the side of the road doesn't think you're human, or is okay with stoning," one Bruneian gay man, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC.





What is punishable under the changes to the penal code?





The death penalty would apply to offences such as rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery, and insult or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad.





Lesbian sex however, carries a different penalty of 40 strokes of the cane and/or a maximum of 10 years in jail.





Public flogging would also apply for abortion. And amputation is the punishment for theft.





Other changes include making it a criminal offence to "persuade, tell or encourage" Muslim children under the age of 18 "to accept the teachings of religions other than Islam".





The law mostly applies to Muslims, though some aspects will apply to non-Muslims.





Under the new laws, individuals accused of certain acts will only be convicted if they confess or if there are witnesses.









Brunei, on the island of Borneo, is ruled by Sultan Hassanal and has grown rich on oil and gas exports.





The 72-year-old sultan heads the Brunei Investment Agency, which owns some of the world's top hotels including the Dorchester in London and the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.





This week Hollywood actor George Clooney and other celebrities called for a boycott of the luxury hotels. TV host Ellen DeGeneres also called for people to "rise up", saying "we need to do something now".





Students at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London have also called for a school building named the Brunei Gallery to be renamed.





Brunei's ruling royals possess a huge private fortune and its largely ethnic-Malay population enjoy generous state handouts and pay no taxes.





Muslims make up about two-thirds of the country's population of 420,000.





Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei and punishable by up to 10 years in prison.





Brunei has retained the death penalty but has not carried out an execution since 1957.





Is this the first time Islamic law is being introduced in Brunei?





The country first introduced Sharia law in 2014 despite widespread condemnation, giving it a dual legal system with both Sharia and Common Law. The sultan had said then that the new penal code would come into full force over several years.





The first phase, which covered crimes punishable by prison sentences and fines, was implemented in 2014. Brunei had then delayed introducing the final two phases, which cover crimes punishable by amputation and stoning.





But on Saturday, the government released a statement on its website saying the Sharia penal code would be fully implemented on Wednesday.





In the days since, there has been international outrage and calls for the country to reverse course.





"These abusive provisions received widespread condemnation when plans were first discussed five years ago," said Rachel Chhoa-Howard, a Brunei researcher at Amnesty International.





"Brunei's penal code is a deeply flawed piece of legislation containing a range of provisions that violate human rights."





The United Nations echoed the statement, calling the legislation "cruel, inhuman and degrading", saying it marked a "serious setback" for human rights protection.





Why is this being implemented now?





There are several theories, but Matthew Woolfe, founder of human rights group The Brunei Project, said it could be linked to Brunei's weakening economy.





"One theory is that it is a way for the government to strengthen its hold on power in the face of a declining economy that could potentially lead to some unrest in future," Mr Woolfe told the BBC.





"Connected to this is [Brunei's] interest in attracting more investment from the Muslim world, along with more Islamic tourists this could be seen as one way of appealing to this market."





Mr Woolfe also added that the government might have hoped to get away with the latest roll-out without anyone realising.





"I think that the government did want to ensure that the international uproar that followed implementation of the first phase in 2014 had well and truly died down before further [implementation], in the hope it would just quietly [do so] without anyone realising," he said.





"It wasn't until increasing international attention that it finally came out and confirmed [this]."





The penal code changes were posted on the attorney general's website in December but only came to public attention in late March. There was no public announcement.





How are people in Brunei reacting?





One 40-year-old gay Bruneian currently seeking asylum in Canada, said the impact of the new penal code was already being felt in Brunei.





The ex-government employee, who left Brunei last year after being charged with sedition for a Facebook post that was critical of the government, said people were "afraid".





"The gay community in Brunei has never been open but when Grindr (a gay dating app) came that helped people meet in secret. But now, what I've heard is that hardly anyone is using Grindr anymore," Shahiran S Shahrani Md told the BBC.





"They're afraid that they might talk to a police officer pretending to be gay. It hasn't happened yet but because of the new laws, people are afraid," he said.





Another male Bruneian, who is not gay but has renounced Islam, said he felt "fearful and numb" in the face of the laws being implemented.





"We ordinary citizens are powerless to stop Sharia law from being implemented," said the 23-year-old who did not want to be identified.





"Under Sharia, I would face the death penalty for apostasy."





One gay man was hopeful that the laws may not actually be enforced widely.





"Honestly, I'm not too scared as the government here often bluffs with the harsh punishments. But it can and will still happen even with it being rare."

On day anti-gay law comes to Brunei, Sultan promises 'sweet' experiences

Sultan of Brunei claims a safe and harmonious welcome to visitors on the day the country introduced stoning to death for gay people and adulterers





The Sultan of Brunei has marked the day in which his country introduces strict Sharia laws by claiming the friendly country offers sweet experiences.





The Muslim-majority kingdom of Brunei has faced widespread condemnation since Gay Star News broke the news last week that it was quietly rushing to implement the Sharia Penal Code. This includes stoning to death for those found guilty of sodomy. Lesbians face 100 whip lashes or ten years in jail.





The sharia laws will implemented today also include death for adulterers and amputation for those found guilty of theft. Those found guilty of abortion also face flogging





Brunei  always devotes its worship to Allah





The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, 72, is the worlds longest serving leader. He has presided over the small kingdom, on the island of Borneo, for the past 51 years.





Today, to mark an Islamic festival, the Sultan gave a televised speech from a convention center near the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. Although not specifically mentioning the new penal codes, he said: I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger.





I would like to emphasize that the country of Brunei is a  country that always devotes its worship to Allah.





He went on to say say Brunei is a fair and happy place.





Anyone who comes to visit this country will have a sweet experience, and enjoy the safe and harmonious environment.





People are afraid





Gay people from Brunei do not share his opinion.





One gay man, Shahiran S Shahrani Md, currently seeking asylum in Canada, told the BBC: The gay community in Brunei has never been open but when Grindr came that helped people meet in secret. But now, what Ive heard is that hardly anyone is using Grindr anymore.





Theyre afraid that they might talk to a police officer pretending to be gay. It hasnt happened yet but because of the new laws, people are afraid.





Absurd propaganda





Bruneis new penal code has been condemned internationally.





Bruneis new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.





Sultan Hassanal should immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments.





Responding to todays speech from the Sultan, Robertson added: The Sultan is either in total la-la land or pushing out self-serving propaganda to hide that the legal wrecking crew has been through. Either way the result is the same. LGBT people in Brunei have been marked for death and hes the dictator who issued the order.





The Sultan and his senior government officials must be made into international pariahs for passing this law that will condemn people to death for who they dare to love.





Human rights activist Peter Tatchell also dismissed the Sultans speech.





The Sultans claim that visitors to Brunei can enjoy a safe, harmonious environment is absurd propaganda. His introduction of harsh Sharia law will put LGBT people at risk of execution by stoning. There is nothing safe or harmonious about that.





Inhuman punishments





Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, implored the Sultan not to implement the new penal code. She said the draconian changes, would enshrine in legislation cruel and inhuman punishments that seriously breach international human rights law.





Celebrities including George Clooney and Elton John have called for boycotts of luxury hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. A protest will take place this Saturday outside the Dorchester in London  one of the Sultans most famous hotels.





Royal Brunei Airlines





Yesterday, the Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby in Australia called upon its government to revoke Royal Brunei Airlines right to land in Australia. The Australian department of foreign affairs has issued a warning to travellers about the new penal code. However, local LGBTI advocates say a warning does not go far enough.





The penal code applies to all those who board a Brunei registered aircraft even when in Australia, says the group.





(It) will allow for inhumane and cruel punishments for queer people, such as death by stoning for consensual acts between same-sex adults.





Australias foreign office has yet to respond to the lobby groups request.





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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeAn effort to repeal Colorado's death penalty has hit a major roadblock.





Sources tell FOX31 that the legislation -- which had no trouble advancing out of Senate committees -- has been delayed several times from debate on the Senate floor over concerns the votes aren't there for passage.





One major reason Democrats who control the chamber are uneasy about the bill is one of their own is personally involved.





State Sen. Rhonda Fields' (D-Aurora) son was murdered by 2 of 3 men on Colorado's death row.





Fields has been publicly critical of the bill, believing Colorado voters should decide on repealing the death penalty instead of lawmakers.





Another major reason the measure is struggling is prosecutors have been telling lawmakers about why they believe the death penalty is important.





While Colorado district attorneys rarely seek the sentence, the threat of death oftentimes leads to criminals pleading guilty or helping investigators.





"Public defenders and defense attorneys come forward all the time and say, 'If you take death off the table, we will plead guilty to 1st-degree murder,'" George Brauchler, the 18th Judicial District Attorney, said.





Brauchler has been personally involved in lobbying lawmakers to vote no.





"You remove the death penalty from the books and you have agreed no one will plead guilty ever again to 1st-degree murder," Brauchler said.





The death penalty repeal bill is again scheduled for debate later this week.





FOX31 will continue to follow this bill and any amendments that might be offered to get more Democrats on board.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

KDVR news, Staff, April 2, 2019In a 5-to-4 decision that revealed fault lines and considerable friction over the use of the death penalty, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a death row inmate in Missouri may be executed by lethal injection notwithstanding a rare medical condition that he says will cause excruciating pain. The majority accused the inmate of gamesmanship and delay.





The decision made clear that feelings are still raw at the court over its 5-to-4 decision in February to allow the execution of a Muslim inmate in Alabama after his request to have his imam be present was denied, with the majority saying he should have asked sooner. Last week, the court stayed the execution of a Buddhist inmate in Texas in similar circumstances, over 2 noted dissents, with the majority apparently satisfied that the request had been timely.





On Monday, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said the Missouri inmate, Russell Bucklew, had waited too long to object to the way the state planned to execute him. Courts should police carefully against attempts to use such challenges as tools to interpose unjustified delay, Justice Gorsuch wrote.





He added that the dissenting justices were seeking to relitigate the February decision concerning the Muslim inmate in Alabama.





In dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer set out what he said was the larger dispute, stemming from the Alabama case and carrying into the one decided Monday.





The prisoners claim  that prisoners of some faiths were entitled to have a minister present at their executions while prisoners of other faiths were not  raised a serious constitutional question, Justice Breyer wrote. And therein lies the problem. It might be possible to end delays by limiting constitutional protections for prisoners on death row. But to do so would require us to pay too high a constitutional price.





Mr. Bucklew, the Missouri inmate, was convicted of murdering a man who had been seeing his former girlfriend, and of kidnapping and raping her. His lawyers said his condition, cavernous hemangioma, would make him choke on his own blood during his execution.





Justice Gorsuch wrote that the Constitution authorizes capital punishment and that states must be able to use it without undue delays. He added that the Eighth Amendments prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment bars only needless pain.





The Eighth Amendment does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death  something that, of course, isnt guaranteed to many people, including most victims of capital crimes, he wrote.





Justice Gorsuch wrote that Mr. Bucklew was required to propose a less painful method of execution but had failed to do so. He added that inmates litigating in good faith should be able to overcome that requirement.





We see little likelihood that an inmate facing a serious risk of pain will be unable to identify an available alternative  assuming, of course, that the inmate is more interested in avoiding unnecessary pain than in delaying his execution, Justice Gorsuch wrote.





Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Brett M. Kavanaugh joined the majority opinion.





Last year, 5 justices voted to stay Mr. Bucklews execution, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joining the four more liberal justices to form a majority. Justice Kennedy retired last summer, and Mondays decision suggested that his replacement by Justice Kavanaugh will harden divisions on the court over capital punishment.





Earlier Supreme Court decisions have required inmates challenging lethal injection protocols to identify available and preferable methods of execution.





A prisoner must show a feasible and readily implemented alternative method of execution that would significantly reduce a substantial risk of severe pain and that the state has refused to adopt without a legitimate penological reason, Justice Gorsuch wrote, summarizing the earlier decisions.





Mr. Bucklew argued that the requirement should not apply to people with rare medical conditions, but he did propose that nitrogen gas would be preferable.





Justice Gorsuch rejected that alternative. Nitrogen gas, he wrote, is not authorized by Missouri law and had never been used to carry out an execution in the United States. In dissent, Justice Breyer said that 3 states have authorized the use of nitrogen gas in executions.





Justice Gorsuch wrote that Mr. Bucklew had also not proved he would suffer less pain from nitrogen gas.





In a concurring opinion, Justice Thomas wrote that the court had made things too complicated. The Eighth Amendment bars only the deliberate infliction of pain, he wrote, and there was no evidence that Missouri had designed its lethal injection protocol to hurt Mr. Bucklew.





In dissent, Justice Breyer, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, wrote that Mr. Bucklew may face an excruciating and grotesque punishment.





Bucklew cites evidence, Justice Breyer wrote, that executing him by lethal injection will cause the tumors that grow in his throat to rupture during his execution, causing him to sputter, choke and suffocate on his own blood for up to several minutes before he dies.





In a separate dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized the majoritys emphasis on addressing delays in carrying out death sentences.





There are higher values than ensuring that executions run on time, she wrote. If a death sentence or the manner in which it is carried out violates the Constitution, that stain can never come out. Our jurisprudence must remain one of vigilance and care, not one of dismissiveness.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeA controversial new penal code goes into effect in Brunei today that could see those convicted of sodomy stoned to death, and lesbians given 100 lashes or up to ten years in jail.





Brunei Darussalam is a sovereign Islamic and fully independent country, and like all other independent countries, enforces its own rule of laws, the government said in a statement, according to Gay Times. Brunei Darussalam has always been practicing a dual legal system, one that is based on the Syariah Law and the other on Common Law. In fully implementing the Syariah Penal Code Order 2013 from 3rd April 2019, both systems will continue to run in parallel to maintain peace and order and preserve religion, life, family and individuals regardless of gender, nationality, race and faith.





In late March, news broke that Brunei had covertly been putting in place the new penal code that would include heinous acts like amputation as a sentencing for theft. It would also update its existing laws against homosexuality and sodomy, making those acts punishable by death. The move comes as a second wave in a three-part process the country began back in 2014.





Since the initial news surfaced, celebrities like George Clooney, Bobby Berk, Sir Elton John and Ellen Degeneres have all come out against the laws, calling on people to boycott the hotels in the Dorchester Group, which is owned by Brunei. Of those hotels, the Beverly Hills Hotel hosts glitzy Hollywood events like the Golden Globes. Degeneres was one of the most vocal in the initial boycott of the hotels back in 2014.





There have also been calls for a boycott on Brunei Airlines. The Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby in Australia called for the airline to be banned from landing in Australia. The group went on to say that the laws would apply to all those who board a Brunei-registered aircraft even when in Australia. Virgin Australia also said today that it ended a deal with the airline over the laws.





"It's absolutely crucial that the international community speak out now and demand that the Sultan of Brunei stop these barbaric changes that threaten the lives of Brunei citizens, Human Rights Campaign Global Director, Ty Cobb, wrote to Out in a statement on the initial news. The Trump-Pence Administration must also immediately make clear that these outrageous human rights abuses will not be tolerated."





The Advocate has reportedly filed multiple requests for comment on the matter from the Trump administration, but representatives have remained silent on the new laws, despite the Presidents repeated campaign promises that he would protect LGBTQ+ people. The United Nations has urged the country not to move forward, as the laws have received universal condemnation from human rights groups, including Amnesty International.





Pending provisions in Bruneis Penal Code would allow stoning and amputation as punishments  including for children, to name only their most heinous aspects, Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei researcher at Amnesty said in a statement last week. 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 Bruneis move to put these cruel penalties into practice.

Oxford University refuses to strip Sultan of Bruneis degree over gay death penalty law

Oxford University has ignored calls from its student union to strip the Sultan of Brunei of his honorary degree over the countrys implementation of sharia law, which makes gay sex punishable by death by stoning.





The Southeast Asian country has been widely condemned by human rights groups and celebrities alike for its draconian legislation, which came into force on Wednesday (April 3).



Oxford University awarded Brunei sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who has ruled over the country both as head of state and prime minister since 1967, an honorary degree of civil law by diploma in 1993.





All honorary doctorates should reflect the ethos of the University. VP of Welfare and Equal Opportunity at Oxford University, Student Union





But the institute has come under pressure from its official student body to take back the academic honour.





Speaking to PinkNews, Ellie Macdonald, vice-president of welfare and equal opportunity at Oxford University Student Union, said: All honorary doctorates should reflect the ethos of the University.





We want to create a safe and inclusive society for all and the people who receive this type of honour should be held to a high standard.





If they fail to meet that, as in this case, they should be stripped of their honour.





The top university, however, has refused to strip the sultan of the honorary degree.





At present, the University will not be rescinding the Sultan of Bruneis 1993 Honorary Degree of Civil Law by Diploma, a University of Oxford spokesperson told PinkNews.





We share the international condemnation of Bruneis new penal code and back the United Nations call to stop the code entering into force.





If they fail to meet that, as in this case, they should be stripped of their honour. VP of Welfare and Equal Opportunity at Oxford University, Student Union





In 2016, the University of Oxford came under fire after it refused to remove a statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College.





Aberdeen and Kings College London universities to review Brunei sultans honorary degrees





Oxford Universitys statement comes after the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, which awarded the sultan an honorary degree in 1995, said that it would review the academic honour in light of the countrys new anti-gay legislation.





A University of Aberdeen spokesperson told PinkNews: The University of Aberdeen is inclusive and open to all.





In light of this new information this matter will be raised as a matter of urgency with the Universitys Honorary Degrees Committee.





Kings College London has also confirmed that the university will review an honorary degree it gave to the sultan eight years ago.





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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeIraq will try 12 French nationals accused of fighting for the Islamic State group, who were caught by US-backed fighters in neighbouring Syria and transferred to Baghdad in February.





No court date has been set, but the suspects will be tried according to Iraq's counterterrorism law -- which can dole out the death penalty to anyone who joined a "terrorist" group, even if they were not explicitly fighting.





Below are profiles of the 12 detainees, according to an Iraqi security official, the French Terrorism Analysis Center (CAT) and other sources compiled .





Leonard Lopez





Even before IS, 32-year-old Leonard Lopez was known to French authorities for his activity on Francophone jihadist website Ansar al-Haqq in the 2000s.





In July 2015, the native Parisian travelled with his wife and 2 children to IS-held Mosul in northern Iraq before entering Syria, according to French investigators.





Lopez, known as Abu Ibrahim al-Andalusi after joining IS, was sentenced in absentia in 2018 for his involvement in Ansar al-Haqq but is a lso wanted on other charges.





Kevin Gonot





Kevin Gonot, 32, entered Syria through Turkey to join IS rival and former Al-Qaeda branch Al-Nusra Front, according to a "confession" published by Iraq's judiciary.





He then pledged allegiance to IS, fighting under the name Abu Sufyan, before being arrested in Syria with his mother, wife, and half-brother Thomas Collange, 31.





He said his father was killed in IS's de facto Syrian capital, Raqa.





French courts have already sentenced Gonot in absentia to 9 years in prison, according to CAT.





Fodil Tahar Aouidate





Fodil Tahar Aouidate, 32, made a first trip to Syria in 2013 and returned in 2014 to join IS, according to the French judiciary.





After 130 people were killed in IS's 2015 Paris attacks, Aouidate appeared in a video saying it was his "great pleasure and joy to see these unbelievers suffer as we suffer here."





Authorities also linked him to Belgium's Salafist movement, including the Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud.





France convicted 2 of Aouidate's sisters for "financing terrorism" for sending 15,000 euros to relatives in Syria.





Mustapha Merzoughi





A former French army soldier, Mustapha Merzoughi told Iraqi interrogators he joined IS after "research on social media and websites by IS and Al-Nusra Front".





He travelled to Aleppo in northern Syria for "religious and military training" then pledged allegiance to IS in Mosul.





Merzoughi, who is of Tunisian origin, hails from Toulouse -- also the hometown of Fabien and Jean-Michel Clain, who notoriously claimed the Paris attacks and were killed in Baghouz, IS's last bastion in east Syria.





Yassin Sakkam





Yassin Sakkam, 29, left France in late 2014 to fight with IS, posting online pictures of himself carrying arms and speaking to multiple media outlets about IS.





France has been seeking his arrest since 2016 and Kurdish authorities detained him in Syria in 2017.





His brother Karim committed a suicide attack at the Iraqi-Jordanian border in 2015, according to CAT.





Karam el-Harchaoui





Karam el-Harchaoui, 32, left for Syria in 2014 from Belgium. According to Belgian daily HLN, his younger brother and their Belgian wives were also IS members.





Salim Machou





At 41, Salim Machou was a member of the infamous Tariq ibn Ziyad brigade, "a European foreign terrorist fighter cell" that carried out attacks in Iraq and Syria and planned the Paris and Brussels attacks, according to US officials.





Vianney Ouraghi





Vianney Ouraghi, 28, left France for Syria in 2013 and joined Al-Nusra, before jumping to IS when the latter declared its "caliphate" in 2014, according to CAT.





Of Algerian origin, Ouraghi told his Iraqi interrogators that he had abandoned studies in psychology in France after "having been persuaded to join IS through social media".





He admitted undergoing religious and military training and was also present at "a foreign fighter shelter in Mosul".





Brahim Nejara





Brahim Nejara, 33, was involved in IS's foreign fighter operations, according to CAT.





He helped foreign fighters join IS in Syria, persuaded one of his brothers to commit an attack in France, and was associated with Foued Mohamed-Aggad, one of the suicide bombers at the Bataclan theatre in the 2015 Paris attacks.





Bilel Kabaoui





This 32-year-old hails from Sevres, around Paris, and travelled to IS territory in the summer of 2014, said CAT.





Mohammed Berriri





At 24, Mohammed Berriri worked with IS across various Syrian provinces, according to CAT, who did not specify whether he had spent time in Iraq with the group.





Iraq's prime minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, has hinted that Baghdad may try foreigners who have never fought in Iraq, saying his authorities had been pursuing some who "provided logistical support to those in Iraq, because as you know the battlefields became one."





Mourad Delhomme





Mourad Delhomme, 40, is of Algerian origin and was arrested around a year ago in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor, according to the CAT.





CAT describes him as a "jihadist veteran who worked as a judge" in IS courts, which regularly doled out harsh punishments including death sentences and lashings to anyone who violated the group's ultra-conservative rules.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

al-monitor.com, Staff, April 3, 2019FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIAPhase 1 consists of a four-story, 60,000 square foot facility situated fronting Speer Boulevard. The University is launching a fundraising effort to support the construction of the first phase with the balance of funding anticipated from the State of Colorado. The General Assembly will approve the funding (or not) during the current legislative session.

A future phase (or phases) would add two wings totaling an additional 135,000 square feet of space stretching behind the Phase 1 building towards 11th Street.

Below are two renderings showing the project after Phase 1 and after full-buildout, along with an evening view of the project at full build-out. The renderings are courtesy of ZGF, the firm hired to do the design. Additional interior renderings are available on the ZGF website here.When Pennsylvania state Senator Guy Reschenthaler (R) resigned this year to take a seat in Congress, an open seat was created in a very white district in the far western part of the state, parts of Allegheny (South Hills) and Washington counties, west and south of Pittsburgh. On Tuesday morning when voting began, Republicans held a 26-21 majority in the state Senate. Today that majority is 25-22, with two more red seats still to be filled.





Republicans were confident they could hold SD-39, which is 91.6% white, with German, Irish and Italian ancestry being predominant. In 2016, Reschenthaler had won it handily against Democrat Ed Eichenlaub, 90,987 (60.65%) to 59,044 (39.35%) and Trump won the district against Hillary by around 6%.





Last night Democrat Pam Iovino, a Navy veteran appointed assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs by George W. Bush, beat D. Raja, the very wealthy chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Committee and chief executive of an IT consulting firm. (He spent $1.2 million of his own on the race.) An immigrant from India, Raja described himself as a "pro-job, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment" candidate. He campaigned against raising the minimum wage to $15 and Iovino campaigned for raising it. Local unions backed Iovino, a former Navy captain, as did Gov. Tom Wolf, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Rep. Conor Lamb. She also campaign as a pro-Choice Democrat in favor of reasonable gun safety laws. Lines between the two parties weren't blurred and voters had a clear choice.





So why's this important? Trump narrowly won Pennsylvania against Clinton last time around because of areas like SD-39. He'll lose the state if he can't hold areas like this. He sent out a robo-call for Raja but it didn't help. Recent polling of Pennsylvania voters by Emerson shows that any Democrat would beat Trump in the state next year:

But there's more to it than that. The GOP has controlled the Pennsylvania state Senate for over 2 decades and as recently as last year, tthey held a super-majority. The 22 seats the Democrats hold with Iovino's win yesterday is the most they've had since 2014. She'll face re-election next year, along with three other competitive districts currently held by Republicans in Erie, Dauphin, and Delaware counties. If Democrats win all those races, they would have 25 seats, with Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman as the tie breaker for the final two years of Wolfs last term. The 39th was widely considered the most difficult seat for the Democrats to win.In addition to the fact that limousine travel is very glamorous, it is also the most comfortable trip you can...



NY Times column yesterday, Republican pundit David Brooks observed that "The Trump era has been all about dissolving moral norms and waging vicious attacks. This has been an era of culture war, class warfare and identity politics. Its been an era in which call-out culture, reality TV melodrama and tribal grandstanding have overshadowed policymaking and the challenges of actually governing." As David Graham pointed out in his piece for The Atlantic Monday, Can anyone deny that for Putin, the Russian investment in the election of Trump, is the gift that keeps on giving? In hiscolumn yesterday, Republican pundit David Brooks observed that "The Trump era has been all about dissolving moral norms and waging vicious attacks. This has been an era of culture war, class warfare and identity politics. Its been an era in which call-out culture, reality TV melodrama and tribal grandstanding have overshadowed policymaking and the challenges of actually governing." As David Graham pointed out in his piece forMonday, The Worse Things Are, the Better They Are for Trump , the last moves by the satanic pig-fucker Putin put in the White House "suggest his goal is not to fix the system, but to exacerbate turmoil for political gain... Trump and Lenin share a strategic instinct. Lenin reportedly said, 'The worse, the better'-- meaning that conditions that were more miserable for the people were likely to help his political aims. Trumps approach to immigration and health care, both in the past few days and throughout his presidency, evince a similar understanding of power."





A friend of mine, an independent who has never contributed politically except twice to Bernie, once in 2016 and once this year, always tells me that if Trump cleans up the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) problem, he'll be reelected. I've been telling him for over 2 years that Trump hasn't the tiniest interest in cleaning up the MS-13 problem, only of exacerbating it so he can use it to scare his low-IQ base.





Graham continued that last week Senor Trumpanzee announced plans to end assistance to the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, or as Fox & Friends put it, "3 Mexican countries." Senor T on Friday: "No money goes there anymore. Were giving them tremendous aid. We stopped payment." That's about $450 million, including money to support law-enforcement efforts against gangs. "The actual cash is a minimal amount-- a little less than 8 percent of the $5.7 billion Trump demanded for his border wall when he shut down the government in December, and less than 2 percent of the $25 billion the administration estimates the wall would cost overall. The fact that the aid numbers are small doesnt justify spending them per se, but theres a strong consensus among Latin America experts that these cuts are counterproductive. Its common to talk about push and pull factors in immigration. Pull factors are things that draw migrants to a new country: the promise of better work, for example. Push factors are those things that drive migrants to leave home: unstable politics, high crime, poor economies. Trump has worked to reduce one pull factor by trying to make it harder to get asylum, but he has limited options beyond that, because no president wants to make the economy worse in order to deter immigration (though Trump has been willing to risk hurting the economy to install protectionist tariffs). But Trumps decision to cut aid to countries that are major sources of immigrants to the United States seems likely to only increase the push factors, driving more people to attempt the journey as conditions in their home countries stagnate or worsen."

Many of Trumps decisions on border issues seem designed not to solve any problem. This includes Trumps standing threat to close the border with Mexico; his decision to end DACA, a program that he has said achieves goals he favors; and most prominently, his decision to separate unauthorized immigrant families arriving at the border. None of these do anything to solve or reduce what Trump has called a crisis at the border. In fact, they are likely to only worsen the crisis. Separations, for example, became a costly and distracting circus, taking up already short space in detention centers and then necessitating a major effort to reunite families and restore the status quo ante when courts predictably rejected the policy.



Along similar lines, its more politically useful for Trump to be in a lengthy fight about building a border wall than it is to have actually built it. If and when the wall is built, it will become clear that it isnt a panacea for immigration, but in the meantime, its a useful political wedge. The more migrants are coming toward the United States, the more Trump can warn of an invasion and inflame nativist fears that he thinks will help him win reelection. Trump isnt really interested in solving immigration. A permanent crisis is more useful to him.



The same dynamic holds true on Obamacare. Last week, the White House told a federal appeals court that the Affordable Care Act should be thrown out entirely. Trump then announced that he was calling on Congress to produce a replacement for the law. The decision was reportedly made over the objections of Trumps attorney general and secretary of health and human services, and it has received a chilly reception from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.



When the GOP controlled Congress in 2017 and 2018, it tried at length to repeal Obamacare and failed, and theres no chance a Democratic House will be amenable to rescinding or replacing the law. In the absence of legislative movement, Trump has worked to weaken the ACA throughout his presidency. He has cut back on outreach and advertisement, slashed subsidies, supported repeal of the individual mandate, and enabled so-called association health plans, which a judge struck down last week, calling them clearly an end-run around the law.



The cynicism of Trumps latest move on the ACA runs deep. The administration still doesnt have any plan for what it actually wants to do on health care. Meanwhile, Axios's Jonathan Swan reports that the president doesnt expect to win in the courts: Trump has privately said he thinks the lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act will probably fail in the courts, according to two sources who discussed the matter with the president last week. For Trump, its a political win-win. Either he gets Obamacare thrown out, or judges rule against him, giving him another chance to rail against the judicial system, delegitimizing it and further undermining the rule of law.



None of these steps would make any sense if Trumps goal was to improve health care, just as cutting aid to the Northern Triangle would make no sense if the president wanted to reduce immigration. But increasing turmoil is the point, since the worse things are, the better things are. For Donald Trump, at least.

Babies in Cages by Nancy Ohanian

Daily Beast: Daily Beast." In the file of "purposely making things worse for political gain, let's also look at a development Betsy Woodruff reported on Tuesday for the Homeland Security Disbands Domestic Terror Intelligence Unit . This is a win-win in Trumpworld: a wink and a nod to his neo-Nazi support base and a way to make a bad problem worse. What could be more Trumpian? "The Department of Homeland Security has disbanded a group of intelligence analysts who focused on domestic terrorism," reported Woodruff. "Numerous current and former DHS officials say they find the development concerning, as the threat of homegrown terrorism-- including white supremacist terrorism-- is growing. 'Its especially problematic given the growth in right-wing extremism and domestic terrorism we are seeing in the U.S. and abroad,' one former intelligence official told the."

The group in question was a branch of analysts in DHSs Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A). They focused on the threat from homegrown violent extremists and domestic terrorists. The analysts there shared information with state and local law enforcement to help them protect their communities from these threats.



Then the Trump administrations new I&A chief, David Glawe, began reorganizing the office, which is the DHS component that has a place in the Intelligence Community. Over the course of the reorganization, the branch of I&A focused on domestic terrorism got eighty-sixed and its analysts were reassigned to new positions. The change happened last year, and has not been previously reported.



Weve noticed I&A has significantly reduced their production on homegrown violent extremism and domestic terrorism while those remain among the most serious terrorism threats to the homeland, said one DHS official.



Former officials pointed to a spate of domestic terror attacks in recent years as evidence that DHS erred by shuttering this branch. From the massacre that left 11 people dead at a Pittsburgh synagogue to a shooting targeting Republican members of Congress in June 2018 to bomb threats that a deranged Trump fan directed at prominent Democrats and CNN, violent attacks informed by homegrown hatred have left Americans increasingly terrorized.



...Nate Snyder, a former DHS official who focused on violent extremism, said the departments move undercuts Trump administration claims that it takes domestic terror seriously.



You hear the secretary and this administration say how domestic terrorism is a clear priority and how resources will be bolstered, but you cant say that and then all of a sudden get rid of the unit thats there to detect threats and share information with our first responders, law enforcement, and federal partners, Snyder said. You cant have it both ways.Japanese casual wear retailer Uniqlo has advertised vacancies for managerial and retail positions in Vietnam.

According to advertisements on Jobstreet.com, a recruitment website, the Japanese corporation is looking for managerial and store level candidates urgently for its first store in Ho Chi Minh City.

The plan to open its first outlet this fall had also been mentioned in the annual report of Fast Retailing, Uniqlos parent company.

Accordingly, Uniqlo registered a domestic company, under the form of a two-member limited company, in Vietnam last October. Fast Retailing owns 75 percent of the joint venture, while diversified conglomerate Mitsubishi holds the remaining stake.

The company has a charter capital of $8.8 million, with all of its registered legal representatives: chairman, general director and chief executives being Japanese individuals.

This is part of Uniqlo's plan to expand its brand globally. Apart from Vietnam, Uniqlo also expects to open its first stores in Denmark, Italy and India this year.

The Nikkei Asian Review has reported that Uniqlo's arrival will intensify competition between foreign brands like Zara and H&M in Vietnam.

According to German research firm Statista, Vietnam's fashion revenue will grow 22.5 percent a year in the 2017-2022 period, reaching $988 million yearly by 2022.

Vietnams revenue from the fashion segment amounted to $486 million in 2017 and $557 million in 2018, and is projected to reach $661 million this year.

Uniqlo aims to have around 400 outlets in Southeast Asia and Oceania by 2022, generating $2.71 billion in revenue. The brand currently has 827 stores in Japan and 1,241 international stores.Vietravel is set to be the sixth airline in Vietnam. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Giant tour company Vietravel is seeking to set up an airline to develop its tourism business ecosystem.

Its chairman and CEO, Nguyen Quoc Ky, said at an event Tuesday that the company has applied for a license to launch Vietravel Airlines in Thua Thien  Hue Province.

If the central provinces transport department approves the proposal, it will forward the application to the government for final approval.

Ky said global travel companies are now tending to operate their own aircraft. "They are completing their ecosystem, and [Vietravel] needs to do the same to step out into the world."

Vietravel, one of the largest tour companies in the country, organizes charter flights with its partners. For the last two years it has been operating around 300 charter flights a year both domestically and internationally.

But aviation experts warn that operating an entire airline would be a whole different ball game, requiring investment in personnel and infrastructure to meet aviation regulations.

In Vietnam a company needs to have a charter capital of at least VND700 billion ($30.24 million) if it operates 10 aircraft, VND1 trillion ($43.19 million) in case of 11-30 aircraft and VND1.3 trillion ($56.15 million) for over 30 aircraft.

There are five airlines in Vietnam: state-owned Vietnam Airlines, Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO) and budget carriers Vietjet, Jetstar Pacific and start-up Bamboo. Vietnam Airlines owns a majority stake in VASCO and Jetstar Pacific.

Local airlines served almost 50 million passengers last year, up 10 percent from 2017, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.Delays have pushed the cost of the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station metro line up to $1.55 billion. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Contractors of Hanois second metro line have demanded $81 million in compensation for delays in handing over construction land.

The Hyundai-Ghella contractor consortium said recently that it has not received all the land required to construct four underground metro stations.

The consortium, comprising a South Korean and an Italian company, needs four land plots to construct the S9, S10, S11 and S12 stations. But so far it has only received the land for S9 and part of the land for S10. The land needed for building the S11 and S12 stations has not been handed over yet.

The consortium is also facing financial difficulties as it has not been paid for the finished work, it said.

According to the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB), the city owes the contractor consortium VND200 billion ($8.64 million) and French consultant VND72 billion ($3.1 million).

The MRB, which operates the metro project, also said that the compensation claimed is the contractors valuation that has not been verified.

The government will disburse funds to the contractors and the consultancy consortium this month, it added.

The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route, or the second metro line, runs 12.5 kilometers from Nhon area in the western district of Nam Tu Liem, via Kim Ma Street to Hanoi Railway Station in the downtown area. It runs 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks through eight stations and four kilometers underground through four stations.

Work on the line first began in 2010, with the cost estimated at $1.2 billion and operations scheduled to start in 2017, but delays have pushed the cost up to $1.55 billion.

So far about half of the project has been completed. The MRB plans to commercially operate the elevated section next year and the underground section in 2022.

Hanois first metro line, from Cat Linh to Ha Dong, is scheduled to begin operations this month. The 13-kilometer route runs from Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District to the Yen Nghia Station in the south-west Ha Dong District.Violence is endemic in Vietnamese schools, whether is between students, between students and teachers, and between parents and teachers. Photo by Shutterstock/Tom Wang

Frequent instances of violence in Vietnamese schools point to a societal problem, but it is yet to be recognized as such.

A traumatized ninth grade girl is in a mental hospital. She was put there by her own classmates who stripped her and beat her mercilessly, for no apparent reason than she refused to do a bullys bidding.

The hospital has recorded that the girl was shivering with fear when she was admitted, six days after the violence happened. To add to the trauma of being beaten, she had learnt that a video of her ordeal, showing her naked, was doing the rounds of social media.

The school administration tried to downplay the incident, telling the family that she was only "slightly beaten." They did not tell the family that video of her ordeal was circulating online. The administration also dealt with the matter lightly, suspending the perpetrators of the violence for just a week.

The girl named Hanh said she cannot bear to think of school now.

"I felt traumatized. I couldnt face them every day," shed said, explaining why she had not reported the violence right away, expressing her fear of further violent retribution.

Hanhs ordeal is not an isolated incident. Judging by reports over the last few years, violence is endemic in Vietnamese schools, whether is between students, between students and teachers, and between parents and teachers.

There were over 18,500 law violation and school violence cases involving teachers and students between 2011 and 2018, and more than 11,800 fights resulting in injuries, according to both the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Public Security.

A 2014 survey of 3,000 Hanoi students showed that 80 percent of students faced gender-based violence at least once and 71 percent faced school violence in the six months preceding the study.

Despite all these incidents, authorities have done nothing to analyze and deal with the scale of the problem, apart from predictable rhetoric about the need to punish the guilty, and stricter, tough punishments.

The strongest evidence that no strong step has been taken to tackle the problem is that many cases of violence have been captured on videos, showing that people watching others get beaten havent intervened to stop the violence and help the victims.

Four months ago, a teacher in the central province of Quang Binh assigned the whole class to slap a student a total of 230 times in the face for using swear words. Not a single classmate refused to obey the order.

Nothing has worked

Each time a violent incident is exposed, there is a storm of public outrage, officials and leaders step in, make their pronouncements, some people are punished, and some education campaigns are launched. These peter out after sometime, and the package comes out for the next incident.

"I feel lonely in class. I have a group of friends who sympathize with me, but they will not speak up," said Hanh.

Other experts have said that the current education curriculum fails to inculcate humanistic values in children.

"It is unacceptable that ninth graders are not aware of moral values, love and respect," Lam told local media.

Tran Thanh Nam, lecturer at the University of Education, Vietnam National University, said children are exposed everyday to violent content from various media sources, specifically the blockbuster hero movies, and this influences young people into thinking violence is normal.

This is dangerous, Nam added.

"We have raised awareness and put forward many solutions for school violence, but the situation has not improved, because we are not consistent in separating children from materials (violent content) that are prevalent in the society, schools and families," Nam told local media recently.

The urgency

If the issue of endemic school violence remains unsolved, a new generation will not believe in the humane values of their people and in the world, and will use power and violence to advance and solve problems, school psychologist Le Nguyen Phuong told Tuoi Tre.

Both Lam and Nam noted that each instance of school violence is closed with negotiations, warnings and suspension, but such punishments do not seem to be strict enough to create an apparent impact. They said the punishments have to be tougher to deter further violence.

School psychologist Phuong said that if there is evidence that a school and local authorities have covered and nurtured such a problem for a long time, the principal and others involved must be suspended.

Numerous discussions have been held to prevent school violence, but its incidence is still on rise, thus the existing solutions are ineffective, said Lam. "After such incidents, it is not only the schools where they happen, but also schools all over the country that need to review their curricula."

Nam said students should be educated on basic values like love, respect, cooperation and solidarity.

Following the public outcry, Phung Xuan Nha, Minister of Education and Training, asked local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and punish everyone responsible.

"The teachers who did not do their jobs must be dealt with. Students lacking morals and behaving indecently also need to be dealt with properly," the minister said.

Meanwhile, after three days of treatment in the mental hospital, Hanh has been able to sleep and communicate with others, but she is prone to anxiety attacks.

"I hope the teachers will be strict," she said, sitting in the hospital room with her back facing a reporters camera. "Please expel the five students or have them face stricter punishment."

*Victim's name has been changed.A screenshot from CCTV camera showed Nguyen Huu Linh laying his arm around a young girls neck inside an elevator at an apartment building in HCMC on Monday night.

A former senior prosecutor has been caught on camera apparently molesting a young girl inside an elevator in Saigon.

Nguyen Huu Linh, a retired deputy chief prosecutor in the central city of Da Nang, has caused public anger after the camera footage went viral.

A clip from the apartment building in District 4 Monday night shows a girl of around five walking into the elevator followed by Linh.

A security guard helps the girl select her floor before exiting.

As soon as the door closes the 61-year-old man comes close to the girl, wraps his arm around her neck and kisses her. The girl walks away from him as if to escape his clutches. Linh grabs her again and only lets her go when the door opens.

The girl runs out in apparent panic, stumbles and then runs away as fast as she can.

Nguyen Sy Quang, a senior HCMC police officer, said Linh was visiting family members living in the apartment. Building employees said he had drunk earlier that night.

On Wednesday morning the HCMC police said he had been summoned for questioning.

He initially told them that on seeing the cute little girl he had merely "petted" her.

Tran Ngoc Nu, a HCMC lawyer, told VnExpress Linhs act could be considered molestation of a person under 16, which is punishable by six months to three years in prison under the Penal Code.

In March a man was caught on camera forcefully hugging and kissing a 20-year-old girl inside an elevator in a Hanoi apartment building.

He was required to make a public apology to the victim but failed to do so.

He was eventually slapped with a VND200,000 (nearly $9) fine for "using offensive words and actions toward another person." This too quickly drew public criticism for being too lenient.

Official data on sexual harassment is not regularly published in Vietnam. But a 2014 survey of 2,000 Vietnamese women by the NGO ActionAid found 87 percent of women and girls experienced sexual harassment in public places.Hanoi has been ranked the second most polluted city in Southeast Asia on the basis of incomplete data, says Vietnam.

Vo Tuan Nhan, deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said at a Tuesday press conference that the World Air Quality Report released early last month, which says Hanoi had the second worst air quality in Southeast Asia, is not precise.

The report surveyed air quality in over 3,000 cities globally by measuring PM2.5 levels, referring to particulate matter of up to 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) in size data, regarded as the pollutant with the most health impacts.

In Southeast Asia, however, data has been used from 20 cities in four countries - Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

"Due to the lack of full data from 11 Southeast Asian countries, theres no convincing evidence to jump to a conclusion that Hanoi is the second most polluted city in Southeast Asia," Nhan said.

Nhan admitted that the concentration of PM2.5 in Hanoi has exceeded the permitted level, but only on some days, especially in the first three months of 2019, and the pollution was not widespread.

PM, or particulate matter, is the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. PM2.5, also described as super fine particles, is a fraction of the width of a human hair, which is released from vehicles, industry and natural sources like dust.

Nhan blamed Hanoi's worsening air quality on dense traffic, emissions from construction projects, industrial facilities and waste burning.

The ministry will work closely with the citys leaders to take more feasible measures to improve air quality in the capital, he said.

He also said that in the coming time, the ministry is planning to install 80 more automatic air monitoring stations across the city, allowing the public to keep track of air quality every day.

The World Air Quality report compiled by Greenpeace and Switzerland-based air quality monitor IQAir AirVisual showed the average PM2.5 level in Hanoi last year was 40.8 micrograms per cubic meter of air as opposed to 45.8 in 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guideline recommends an annual mean exposure threshold of 10 g/m3 to minimize health risks.

Although Hanoi has seen the improvement in air quality over the past year, it remained among the most polluted capital cities in the world, the report said, ranking it 12th among the 62 most polluted cities globally in 2018 and second in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia's Jakarta.

The 2018 Sustainable Cities Index, commissioned by Arcadis, an Amsterdam-based design and consultancy firm, ranked Hanoi among the least environmentally friendly cities in the world.

The city of eight million people has more than five million motorbikes and 550,000 cars. Data shows the number of private vehicles has been increasing at a rate of 4.6 percent annually, but the amount of land allocated for transportation projects has only been expanding at a rate of 0.4 percent.

In its pollution fight, the city legislature made a controversial decision last July to approve a ban on motorcycles by 2030.

The ostensible aim was to boost use of public transportation, including a new metro system, but this is a poorly developed sector in the capital city.Vietnam repatriates remains of two more American soldiers

The remains of two U.S. soldiers are being returned to the U.S. at Da Nang Airport April 2, 2019. Photo courtesy of Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper

Vietnam repatriated the remains of two U.S. soldiers at a ceremony at Da Nang International Airport Tuesday.

The remains were discovered during a joint Vietnam-U.S. search operation being carried out between February and April this year.

They were examined by the two countries' forensic experts, who concluded they likely belonged to U.S. soldiers designated missing in action during the Vietnam War.

U.S. government officials expressed gratitude at the ceremony and appreciated Vietnam's humanitarian gesture, goodwill and its full and increasingly efficient cooperation on the issue.

The search for the remains of U.S. soldiers missing from the Vietnam War is an ongoing humanitarian activity by the two countries.

The repatriation ceremony on Tuesday was the 148th since 1973.Border closure threat: motorists wait in line to cross the border into California from Mexicali, Mexico. Photo by AFP/Sandy Huffaker

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is "100 percent" prepared to close down the U.S.-Mexico border.

He warned Congress and Central American governments to take action to stem the flow of migrants into the country.

Delays were already rising at several key border crossings as Trump ratcheted up pressure on Democrats in Congress to toughen U.S. laws against illegal immigrants, threatening to hurt the U.S. economy in the name of border security.

"It is a national emergency on the border," Trump said.

If Mexico does not stop migrants from transiting across its territory, and if Congress does not act, he said, "the border's going to be closed, 100 percent."

"Sure it's going to have a negative impact on the economy," he said. "Security is more important to me than trade."

Trump said Democrats were blocking reforms for political reasons but could fix the problem "in 45 minutes."

He was not specific, but Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has asked Congress to give border officials the power to forcibly repatriate Central American illegal immigrants, including children who arrived alone, back to their countries.

The threat to close the border, which handled some $612 billion worth of trade in 2018, sent shivers through the economy, and drew warnings from allies of the president.

"Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country, and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

His call was backed by the Chamber of Commerce, which said in a statement that while it backed immigration reform, closing the border "would inflict severe economic harm on American families, workers, farmers and manufacturers across the United States."

100,000 migrants a month

Homeland Security officials said they were preparing for the possibility of a shutdown of at least some border entry points as they divert staff to deal with the flood of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, expected to hit nearly 100,000 a month.

Nielsen cut short an official trip to Europe to return for meetings early Tuesday on the border crisis, and on Monday Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he would be meeting Nielsen and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the crisis.

Officials said facilities for handling the migrants -- who for the moment cannot be sent back after they cross the border and request asylum -- are overtaxed and understaffed, creating hazardous conditions.

"We are in a full blown emergency. The bottom line is all options are on the table right now," a senior Homeland Security official, who declined to be named, told journalists Tuesday.

"The volume of vulnerable populations that's arriving is unsustainable... The humanitarian situation cannot be ignored and the security situation cannot be ignored."

Trump said Mexican officials had reacted to his threat to close the border last week by clamping down on the caravans of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in the three Central American countries.

Mexico "made a big step over the past two days," he said, adding that they would have to continue if they don't want the border closed.

He also defended his decision to cut off "hundreds of millions of dollars" in US aid to the three countries, accusing them of arranging the caravans of migrants.

The three "don't do anything for us," he said.

Long lines at border ports

On Monday, Nielsen ordered an "emergency surge" of personnel to deal with the situation, including moving 750 staff to areas of the border where the migrants arrive.

Many were being diverted from official ports, leading to slowdowns in processing arriving visitors and commercial vehicles.

Delays for incoming traffic were three hours at Brownsville, Texas, for the second straight day, and more than two hours in other areas.

On the Mexican side, Andres Morales Arreola, head of operations for border crossings in Chihuahua state, said the border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso had "collapsed" because so many U.S. border officials have been reassigned to deal with the migrant influx.

Long lines have formed at the border since Thursday, with wait times of up to eight hours for those trying to cross.

Ciudad Juarez Mayor Armando Cabada Alvidrez called on the city's bustling manufacturing sector to temporarily cut back shipments to the U.S. in order to reduce the backup.

However, White House chief economist Larry Kudlow said they were working to minimize the economic impact from a closure of the border -- including keeping truck lanes open.

"The question is, can we deal with that and not have any economic damage?" he told CNBC television.

"I think the answer is we can and people are looking at different options, particularly if you can keep those freight lanes, those truck lanes open."Nursing as a profession is gaining increasing influence in all aspects of healthcare provisions, hence it is important to ensure the professionals quality rather than the quantity. However, competent the doctors are or whatever advanced technology is used, unless supported by a skilled & dedicated nursing staff, a complete patient care is not possible. With a vision to impart love for care, Narayana College of Nursing, under the Narayana Group of Educational institutions, was established in 2002 at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. Apart from enabling the students to develop leadership skills at an early stage in their careers, Narayana College of Nursings prime concern is to impart ethical values of the noble profession.This overachiever has already received accreditation for PhD program in Nursing and is the only private nursing college in Andra Pradesh offering the same. Supported by innovative teaching methodologies and latest infrastructure & equipment (mental health Nursing lab, computer lab, LCD-enabled classrooms, latest AV aid techniques with modern simulations labs and more), the colleges periodically updated curriculum plays a crucial role in

moulding the professionals. Research being the buzz word at Narayana College of Nursing, the college insists all students on submitting their research works and assists them with its library having NTR MED NET membership. In fact, the college has more than five faculties holding PhD degrees and even sponsored students for persuading PhD. No wonder, the institute has already bagged many prestigious awards, including Best Nursing College in South India-2018 by International Accreditation Authority, Top 10 Promising Nursing College in India by Higher Education Review - 2017 and Best College of Nursing in AP - 2014 by World Wide Achievers.



"Practicing a student centered learning method, Narayana College of Nursing also regularly conducts faculty improvement programs"



Affiliated to Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, Vijayawada, A.P., the college offers B.Sc. Nursing (four years), GNM Nursing (three years), M.Sc. Nursing (two years), P.B.BSc (two years) and also PhD (three years full time or four years part-time). Dr. Indira S, Principal & Dean, Narayana College of Nursing, states, We strictly follow the Government policies and admission is purely based on merit and the fee decided by the Govt. every year. With the 1700 bedded parent hospital  Narayana General Hospital and Narayana Super Speciality Hospital (along with a hostel & 1200-seater central auditorium with A/C) in the same campus, the students are given training in practical hospital management too. Post successful completion of the course, 80 percent of the students are placed in the parent hospitals, while the rest often get placed in foreignThis blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.ABB and Rolls-Royce have announced a global partnership on microgrid technology and advanced automation. Together the two companies will offer an innovative, energy-efficient microgrid solution for utilities, commercial and industrial entities.

A microgrid is a small scale electric grid that combines power from distributed energy generation sources such as combined heat and power plants, diesel- and gas-powered gensets and renewable sources with batteries. The microgrid provides the overall control to coordinate these resources to meet the requirements of industrial, residential or consumer loads. Microgrids can either function off-grid, or connected to the main power grid. The ability of microgrids to seamlessly separate themselves from the main grid, in the event of a potential grid fault or emergency, is an increasingly important feature.

Reliable power supply - even during harsh weather conditions and times of peak consumption - is critical for economic growth. Integrating renewable energy is a sustainable solution to support uninterrupted power as well as encourage clean energy use. Microgrid solutions benefit utilities, industries and commercial sites that are looking for reliable power supply as well as cost and carbon emission reduction. Microgrids enable resilient power supply even with high penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Digital automation and control systems intelligently coordinate distributed energy resources and loads for the microgrid to function efficiently.

Rolls-Royce offers the MTU Onsite Energy brand power system solutions: from mission critical, standby and continuous power to combined generation of heat and power, and microgrids. "Due to the transformation towards decarbonization, customers need to pursue sustainable power options that also deliver utmost profitability. For this, we rely primarily on microgrids, which are autonomous energy supply systems that are efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly," said Andreas Schell, CEO, Rolls-Royce Power Systems. "Combining our integrated MTU diesel and gas genset system technology and our control solutions, with ABB's modular microgrid solution, control capability and remote service, will offer customers the combined strengths of the two world leaders in technology."

"ABB Ability e-mesh can ensure a stable power grid, even with a high share of renewable energy from various sources, working smoothly together with already installed gas or diesel engines," said Massimo Danieli, head of ABB's grid automation business line within the company's Power Grids business. "ABB has a vast number of microgrid installations globally and through our partnership with Rolls-Royce Power Systems, we will further support the growing interest for microgrid solutions globally."

The ABB Ability e-mesh solution will provide power generation asset owners a vertically integrated, unified view of their distributed energy resources and renewable power generation that is quick to deploy and that reduce operational costs. Cloud operations, site and fleet optimization, weather and load forecast and machine learning algorithms offer infinite insights for decision-making, such as knowing where to increase investments on maintenance or how to increase revenue streams to operate assets more profitable.

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader with a comprehensive offering for digital industries. With a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB is today a leader in digital industries with four customer-focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation, supported by its common ABB Ability digital platform. ABB's market leading Power Grids business will be divested to Hitachi in 2020. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com

Rolls-Royce Power Systems is headquartered in Friedrichshafen in southern Germany and employs around 11,000 people. With the fully consolidated companies, more than 140 sales partners and over 500 authorized dealerships at more than 1,200 locations Rolls-Royce Power Systems has a global distribution and service structure. The product portfolio includes MTU-brand high-speed engines and propulsion systems for ships, power generation, heavy land, rail and defense vehicles and for the oil and gas industry. Under the MTU Onsite Energy brand, the company markets diesel and gas systems for emergency, base-load and peak-load power requirements, as well as co-generation plants for combined heat and power. Operating under the Rolls-Royce brand in Bergen, Norway, the company also develops and produces medium-speed engines for marine and power generation applications. www.rrpowersystems.com

Contact: Head of Communications, Power Grids business, ABB, Roland Sladek, roland.sladek@ch.abb.com, Tel: +41 43 317 71 11

Contact: Spokeswoman Trade Media, Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG, Silke Rockenstein, silke.rockenstein@rrpowersystems.com, Tel: +49 7541 90-7740Aside from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) solar program - the largest solar program of its kind in the nation - is credited with spurring major private investment in clean solar power in Los Angeles County and creating thousands of high-quality local jobs. The pilot program has reached capacity with all 150MWs originally authorized either installed or active, along with a waitlist of interested participants.

"Los Angeles has a unique opportunity to show the nation that we can harness technology, an entrepreneurial spirit and the sun's energy to meet the demands of the climate crisis while producing the power needed to sustain our way of life," wrote leaders organized by the Los Angeles Business Council in a letter sent today to LADWP Board President Mel Levine on behalf of the organization's 500 members.

"Expanding solar programs [will] benefit the entire L.A. community by creating a pipeline of good paying local jobs, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of life for residents," the letter states.

This push to expand the FiT program follows a recent announcement by Mayor Eric Garcetti that the DWP will be closing three gas-fired power plants along the coast that generate nearly 40 percent of the city's natural gas portfolio. The decision to phase out the power plants supports L.A.'s goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean energy by 2045.

City leaders have yet to announce how the DWP plans to replace the nearly 1,700MW of lost electricity without raising energy prices or increasing the risk of power outages.

"This is a moment that calls for big-picture thinking," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez. "We need to accelerate our transition to clean energy even faster by quickly scaling the FiT program to generate more renewable energy, and consistent with the call for a Green New Deal for Los Angeles, we must seize the opportunity to be first in the nation to commit to targeting the environmental and economic benefits of this groundbreaking approach to our hardest hit front-line and disadvantaged communities."

Current participants in the FiT program include a variety of commercial, industrial and residential buildings in such neighborhoods as Boyle Heights, Sun Valley and Downtown L.A. Together, they are delivering affordable solar energy to the utility's power grid while generating a steady stream of income for the buildings' owners.

"The FiT pilot program generated $500 million in economic activity while displacing 2.7 million tons of greenhouse gases from the environment each year. That's like taking away the emissions from about half a million cars annually while delivering clean power to tens of thousands of LADWP customers," said J.R. DeShazo, director of UCLA's Luskin Center for Innovation, which has conducted in-depth analysis on the program.

"The FiT program delivered on its promise and is now ready for a significant expansion to bring it to scale," continued DeShazo. "According to our UCLA atlas, there are an estimated 10,000 acres of underutilized rooftops of office buildings, warehouses and apartment buildings in Los Angeles that could be put to use generating zero-carbon solar energy."

The program has drawn investment to underserved neighborhoods, with 40 percent of all projects in "solar equity hotspots," low-income communities with abundant rooftops for solar installations.

"The success of the FiT program demonstrates that you can grow the economy while investing in clean energy," said Luis Amezcua, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club's My Generation Campaign. "We urge city officials to fast-track the expansion of the FiT to continue pumping clean energy into the grid while creating good job opportunities in communities where health and economic benefits are needed the most."

Solar power has been in a continual state of innovation in recent years, with advances in solar panel efficiency, solar battery storage and solar system design. The FiT has also spurred innovative local manufacturing and financing programs, such as the Solar Strap roof attachment system and the imminent introduction of an online permitting process, as well as the attention of real estate owners and developers.

"The FiT program is an opportunity for our business to turn unused space - our building rooftops - into an income generating resource," said Randy Kendrick, CEO of Xebec Realty, which just installed the largest FiT solar array in Sun Valley on the roof of one of its industrial properties. "It's a smart business decision for us that also helps create a better environment for the community. At Xebec, we expect to install solar panels on more of our buildings within DWP territory, and already have identified two additional properties."

The Mayor's Sustainability pLAn sets a goal of 900 - 1,500 MWs of local solar by 2025 - half of which will be accomplished through solar FiT. Business leaders and environmental advocates convened by the LABC believe that goal is insufficient.

"We are grateful for Mayor Garcetti's leadership in putting us on a path to 100 percent clean energy. Now we must step up our solar goals and expand the FiT program to ensure our city's green transformation is rooted in equity and benefits communities that need it most," said Veronica Padilla, executive director of Pacoima Beautiful.

The call to increase the city's local solar targets comes as government, business and civic leaders are poised to convene at the LABC's 13th Annual Sustainability Summit at the Getty Center on April 5. The summit will explore public and private sector investments needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as restore certainty to California's energy market. A full schedule of events can be found at losangelesbusinesscouncil.org.

About the Los Angeles Business Council

The Los Angeles Business Council is one of the most effective and influential advocacy and educational organizations in California. For over 70 years, the LABC has had a major impact on public policy by harnessing the power of business and government to promote environmental and economic sustainability in the Los Angeles region. To learn more, please visit www.labusinesscouncil.org.On August 10, 2018, 55-year-old Vladimir Simonko had just got on a plane in Frankfurt, Germany to return home to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where his boyfriend Eduardas Platovas, also 55, was waiting for him. The plane had WiFi, so Simonko  who was returning from a business trip to Canada  connected to the network. You should never do that, he warns now from his office in the center of Vilnius. As soon as Simonko was online, his partner called him via Skype. Were being attacked, he told him. And Simonko was left, at 10,000 meters of altitude, in a complete state of shock.

At 4am on that day in August, a group of hooded figures, who are yet to be identified, hurled Molotov cocktails against the small office belonging to the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), which is the first organization in Lithuania to fight for LGBT+ rights. Simonko founded the organization in 1995, two years after the country decriminalized homosexuality. Fifteen minutes later, another Molotov cocktail was left outside the house of the couple, who work to bring visibility to the gay community in one of the most restrictive countries in the European Union when it comes to homosexuality. Only 24% of Lithuanians support same-sex marriage compared to the European average of 64%, according to a 2016 survey by the European Commission.

Some people put attacks such as that against the LGL down to pure homophobia, while others argue that it is more to do with the fact that until recently, the country was under the control of the Soviet Union. To adapt to something new, to something different and to literally open up, takes time, says Vytis Jurkonis, project director of the Lithuanian branch of an NGO called Freedom House. Despite the magnificent progress in recent years, the LGBT community is still facing habitual discrimination, explains Daniele Viotti, a member of the European Parliament who is on the civil liberties commission, via email.

The USSR considered homosexuality an undesirable decadence of the bourgeoisie Daniele Viotti, MEP on the civil liberties commission

When it comes to discrimination, the Baltic Republic comes 37th out of 49 European countries in the ranking of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), with family values being the main obstacle to the advancement of LGBT+ rights.

When the country, which has almost three million inhabitants, lived under the Soviet Union, everyone needed to be equal, says Viotti. The USSR considered homosexuality an undesirable decadence of the bourgeoisie, he explains. Whats more, homosexuality wasnt even considered to exist and was believed to be a notion that came from Western thought, says Simonko. However, since the dissolution of the Soviet bloc in 1991  Lithuania was the first of the 15 Soviet Republics to recover its sovereignty  and the subsequent accession to the European Union in 2004, the country has slowly been giving more public space to the LGBT+ community. However, this is mainly the case in Vilnius, which has hosted various pride festivals, including this years Baltic Pride which will take place in the spring.

The EU is the best thing thats happened to Lithuania, not only in economic terms but also legal ones Mark Adam Harold, a British councilor at Vilnius City Hall

The EU is the best thing thats happened to Lithuania, not only in economic terms but also legal ones, says Mark Adam Harold, a British councilor in Vilnius City Hall who despite being straigh, fights for LGTB+ rights. The European Parliament, which has funded this feature article, has taken action so that the rights of the LGBT community are respected and it has asked member states to approve anti-discriminatory laws, explains Viotti. However, there is still much that needs to be done because LGBT people continue to be the object of discrimination and victims of hate with more frequency, said recently Vera Jourova, the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.

Sources from the Lithuanian government admit, however, that what is starting to be seen in Lithuania is tolerance, but not coexistence for the LGTB+ community. Jurkonis, an activist and expert in human rights, is optimistic when it comes to this slow path but is sure that Lithuanian society has chosen to accept the LGTB+ community. In fact, he believes that the country is not in such a bad situation considering its geographical and historical context. Belorussian gays come to Lithuania so they can freely go out! he exclaims, pointing out that the Balkan republic conceded asylum to homosexuals from Chechnya in 2017.

A new generation

While breaking with the countrys communist past was certainly a breath of fresh air for the LGBT+ community, accession to the European Union gave rise to fresh hope for members such as Simonko, who had felt oppressed because of his sexual orientation. Simonko discovered his sexuality at 25, while he was studying in Russia. It was very late, he says, standing above a pride flag painted on a crosswalk with help from volunteers. When we have more money, Ill paint more, he explains. In Vilnius, where there is only one nightclub for the gay community  SOHO, which opens on Fridays and Saturdays  homosexual symbols are notable for their absence.

Tomas V. Raskevicius represents the new generation of gays in Lithuania and is Vilniuss first openly gay politician

Tomas V. Raskevicius represents the new generation of gays in Lithuania who want to come out of the closet without fear of their parents opinions  one of the biggest problems for a generation that grew up under communism, where homosexuality was prohibited. I am a professional gay, he says with a smile in Vilnius City Hall, a large glass skyscraper which looks over the Baltic city. He is the first openly gay politician at Vilnius City Hall.

Raskevicius, who is wearing a long quilted coat and a floral shirt, and is a shaved head and blue contact lenses, was Vilniuss first openly gay politician whose electoral campaign not only drew upon his personal history, but also on the defense of LGBT+ rights. During the campaign, Raskevicius recalls how he was harshly criticized by politicians and by society for not knowing how to be anything other than being gay. He explains how that showed him that there is a double standard for members of the LGTB+ community. We always have to be better, more competent and more knowledgeable. But weve already broken the glass ceiling, he concludes.

Things are moving along much quicker than anyone could imagine, explains city councilor Harold from his seat in the municipal chamber. He sums up his vision of the LGTB+ community during the last 15 years, the time during which he has resided in the country. The first Pride was violent. There were a lot of protests, including aggressions on the part of a number of politicians. During the second, just six eggs were thrown in protest, which was progress! he jokes. And the last one, which took place three years ago, was the celebration and festival that we all dreamed of. We have won the battle, this is no longer a fight.

Lithuania and LGBT Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1993.

Same-sex marriage is illegal.

Adoption by gay parents is illegal.

To change gender, a court ruling is required and only after surgery has taken place. The process is nonetheless very complicated.

The first Pride festival was in 2010.

English version by Asia London Palomba.Its more than a feeling: there are figures to back it up. Climate change has come to Spain, and its effects are mainly noticeable in the higher temperatures. The summer season now lasts almost five weeks longer on average than it used to in the early 1980s. And it is also hotter.

These are some of the conclusions of a new joint report from the national weather agency AEMET and the Ministry for Ecological Transition. Both institutions have offered data from the Open Data Climatico project, which collects evidence of the impact of global warming on Spain in the last 40 years.

An increasingly warm Mediterranean has an impact on coastal regions, with a rise in tropical nights

Beatriz Hervella, AEMET

According to the ministry, more than 32 million Spanish people are affected by global warming. Beatriz Hervella, an AEMET spokesperson, said that these people live in parts of Spain where the summers are now longer and hotter.

There has been an accumulation of very warm years in the last decade, and an increase in so-called tropical nights, or nights with a minimum temperature of 20C.

Minister Teresa Ribera underscored the cause of climate change: the greenhouse gas emissions cause by human activity. She also noted that the International Energy Agency has warned that emissions of CO 2  the main greenhouse gas  by the energy and industrial sectors reached a new record in 2018.

Earlier heatwaves Emilio de Benito The rising temperatures also mean that the first heatwaves of the year are coming earlier and catching us by surprise, says Julio Diaz of the National School of Public Health, which is part of the Carlos III Health Institute. Its not the same having one in May as it is in August. These higher temperatures are also bad for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, especially in older people. This expert on public health and the environment says the heat also increases visits to the doctor by people with kidney problems and those with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinsons. It likewise causes a rise in premature babies and low weight at birth. The heat is also linked to approximately 1,200 deaths a year in Spain, a number that could soar to 12,000 by the end of the century if something is not done, warns Diaz. It all depends on how we adapt. His study group has analyzed the effect of rising temperatures on the combined rate of morbidity and mortality, and observed that for every extra degree there was a 14% rise in 1983, but only a 2% or 3% rise in 2013, which shows that humans are adapting, or adopting what the Americans call the heat culture: a set of measures ranging from more air conditioning units to more green areas in cities and prevention plans for at-risk groups.

The AEMET report also highlights that in Spain, the surface area with a semi-arid climate has increased in the last 50 years by 30,000 km2  similar in size to the entire region of Galicia. The most affected areas are the region of Castilla-La Mancha, the Ebro valley and southeastern Spain. These are areas with classic or continental Mediterranean climates that have turned into semi-arid places with less rainfall, according to Ruben del Campo, another AEMET spokesperson.

The analysis is based on data collected by 58 observatories, 52 of which are located in or near provincial capitals and in the exclave cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. Six more were added because of the particular historical relevance of their data sets.

The analysis found that for at least five years since 2011, 37 observatories registered average annual temperatures within the hottest 20% in the reference period. The most extreme example was the Barcelona-Airport observatory, where every year since 2011 has been very hot.

As for the four seasons, their average temperatures are higher, although the rise is more noticeable in the spring, and especially in the summer. Summers in Spain are also getting longer and hotter, says the report. The study found that the summer season now lasts five weeks more than it did in the early 1980s.

The summer season, which AEMET defines solely by the temperatures, now starts earlier. According to the Madrid-Retiro weather station, in the 1970s the summer used to begin on July 15 and end on September 16. These days, it starts on June 11 and ends on September 22.

Mediterranean Sea

The report also analyzed the temperature of surface water in the Mediterranean, and concluded that it has been rising by 0.34C every decade since the early 1980s. This in turn is causing the sea level to rise. Since 1993, the global sea level has been rising 3.4mm a year.

An increasingly warm Mediterranean has an impact on coastal regions, with a rise in tropical nights, said Hervella. These hotter nights make it difficult to sleep, which in turn has an impact on health. A clear example of this is Alicante, she said, although inland cities such as Madrid can also experience tropical nights because of the heat island effect created by buildings that trap warmth.

English version by Susana Urra.Former US president Barack Obama speaking at the WTTC summit in Seville.

The most eagerly awaited guest at the global summit of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) arrived in Seville at midnight.

Former US President Barack Obama spent the night at Hotel Alfonso XIII, drawing attention from local residents and the press. In 2016, a scheduled visit by Obama to the Andalusian capital was cancelled due to a shooting in Dallas.

The former US leader spent the morning on a private visit to the Reales Alcazares, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, before returning to his hotel. Soon after 2pm, he left again for the convention center Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos, which is hosting the international event on April 3 and 4.

After meeting privately with around 50 summit attendees, Obama delivered an address that was not streamed on the WTTC website live feed.

After his speech, Obama was scheduled to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for around 20 minutes inside one of the centers private rooms. It will be their second one-on-one after their meeting last year in Madrid.

Although this is Obamas first trip to Seville, he has ties to the city because his daughter Malia lived there for a few months.

English version by Susana Urra.The deficit of the national budget of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2019 was UAH 25.3 billion with the approved annual figure of UAH 90 billion, such preliminary data of the State Treasury Service were voiced by the Ministry of Finance.

"The deficit was financed by government borrowings. Privatization receipts amounted to UAH 184 million," the ministry said in a press release.

According to its data, at the expense of government domestic loan bonds the national budget was financed by UAH 87.3 billion (UAH 57.3 billion, $1 billion and EUR38.7 million), a loan of EUR 529.2 million was raised under the guarantee of the World Bank, and eurobonds worth $350 million with maturity in 2028 were additionally placed.

The ministry said that in the first quarter of 2019, state budget revenues increased by 8.7% compared to the same period of 2018, to UAH 210.5 billion, making up 95.3% of the target, in particular general fund receipts were UAH 178.2 billion, or 91.8% of the plan.

Among the reasons for the under-fulfillment of the plan, the ministry named the reduction in tobacco production, the release of solar panels imports from VAT from January 2019, the decline in natural gas imports by Naftogaz Ukrainy, the strengthening of the hryvnia, and the overpayment of natural gas royalty for UAH 600 million as of the beginning of February.Ryanair will fly from Odesa and Kharkiv to Poznan from late Oct

Ryanair, the largest low-cost airline in Europe, will fly from Odesa and Kharkiv to Poznan from October 30 and 27 respectively, according to the airline's ticket booking system.

Flights from Kharkiv to Poznan will be operated from October 27 twice a week on Tuesdays and Sundays with departure at 22:00 from Kharkiv and at 18:00 from Poznan.

Ryanair will launch Odesa-Poznan flights from October 30 with a frequency of twice a week. Departure from Odesa will be at 21:30 on Wednesdays and at 10:30 on Saturdays, departure from Poznan will be at 17:45 on Wednesdays and at 06:30 on Saturdays.

The minimum one-way ticket price for these destinations starts from EUR28.

The booking system also indicates that both destinations are seasonal.

Such airlines as LOT, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines fly from Odesa to Poznan, while LOT and Belavia from Kharkiv.National Anti-corruption Agency of Ukraine (NABU) detectives on Wednesday are conducting searches at the premises of the National Agency of Ukraine of Ukraine for finding, tracing and management of assets derived from corruption and other crimes (Tracing, Recovery and Management of Crime Assets ARMA) derived from corruption and other crimes in Kyiv.

NABU on Facebook said the searches are being conducted in line with a criminal investigation into possible wrongdoing by officials from a number of state agencies, including Ukraine's judiciary, as well as ARMA, leading to UAH 9.5 million in damages to legal entities.The team of presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky expects incumbent President Petro Poroshenko to act on several issues prior to 'leaving office at the end of his term."

Zelensky's team said on Facebook, "We attentively studied the statement of Ukrainian President Poroshenko in which he says he heard the voices of young people, who voted against him."

The post continues with a list of 'demands' to Ukraine's head of state.

"We demand that, before the expiration of his term as Ukraine's president, he, through the parliamentary majority controlled by him, as well as the heads of law enforcement agencies, adopt a law abolishing income and expenditure declarations for public activists, restart the work of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) by reforming the composition of this agency with international participation experts and the introduction of an external audit of its activities, ensure the adoption of an electoral law to introduce a proportional system with open lists for the next parliamentary elections," the statement says.

The demands include issuing acts on the appointment of judges and ensuring the adoption of measures that will help unlock the start of work of the Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC), withdrawing the president's draft bill on the criminalization of illicit enrichment and instructing the coalition (of parliamentary factions in parliament) to support the draft law developed with the participation of international experts.

The Zelensky team also demands Poroshenko instruct the SBU State Security agency to deprive the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police and other law enforcement agencies of authority not to engage in fighting economic crime and to cease their pressure on business entities, as well as dismissing Serhiy Semochko from the post of first deputy head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service Deputy Chief.

The team demands the president eliminate the Rotterdam + scheme and launch an external independent audit of the activities of the National Commission, which carries out state regulation in the fields of energy and utilities.

The team demands Poroshenko publish a list of his offshore companies, banks in which these companies have accounts, as well as the financial statements of these companies over the past five years.

According to 99.88% of processed protocols, 30.23% of voters cast ballots for showman Zelensky, and Poroshenko - 15.95%.The Ministry of Defense in Kabul has denied reports that the members of Iran-supported Liwa Fatemiyoun have returned to Afghanistan.

Liwa Fatemiyoun, also known as Fatemiyoun Division, is an Afghan Shi'ite militia formed, trained and funded by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) beginning in 2014 to fight in Syria on the side of Bashar Assad's forces.

Reportedly, by late 2017, the unit numbered between 10,00020,000 fighters. A cultural official of the division, Zohair Mojahed, told Iranian news outlets in January 2018 that the group has suffered 2,000 killed and 8,000 wounded in combat in Syria since its establishment.

The division is made up of mainly of Hazara Afghan refugees living in Iran.

Earlier, on April 1, Associated Press had cited a senior official of Afghan Ministry of Interior as saying, "Roughly 10,000 veterans of the brigade have returned to Afghanistan.

The senior official in Afghanistans Interior Ministry who is introduced by AP as "familiar with government intelligence," said he was "not authorized to brief reporters" and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Afghan government and many experts believe Iran could mobilize these ex-fighters once more to assert its influence in Afghanistan, particularly as the United States accelerates its efforts to end its nearly 18-year military intervention, AP said.

Nevertheless, hours later, in an interview with RFE/RL's Afghan Service, Radio Azadi (Liberty), the spokesman of Afghanistan' Ministry of Defense, Ghais Mangal, denied the report, while insisting, "We have no comment on the Fatemiyoun Brigade, but deny the presence of its members in Afghanistan. However, we are going to investigate the report, and we will soon share the result with you."

Nonetheless, according to AP, "Afghanistan security officials worry that Iranian-backed Afghan veterans of the war in Syria will one day become a secret army for Tehran in Afghanistan itself, particularly after a U.S. withdrawal."

In a report published on October 1, 2017, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Tehran of recruiting Afghan immigrant children living in Iran to fight in Syria.

"Afghan children as young as fourteen have fought in the Fatemiyoun division, an exclusively Afghan armed group supported by Iran that fights alongside government forces in the Syrian conflict. Under international law, recruiting children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime," HRW said.

Since 2013, HRW said, Iran has supported and trained thousands of Afghans, at least some of them undocumented immigrants, as part of the Fatemiyoun division, a group that an Iranian newspaper close to the government describes as Afghan volunteer forces. In May 2015, Defa Press, a news agency close to Irans armed forces, reported that the Fatemiyoun had been elevated from a brigade to a division. There are no official public statistics on its size, but according to an interview published in the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News, it has about 14,000 fighters.

"Iran ran an extensive drive to bring Shiites from across the region and create a network of militias to help save Assad from the uprising against his rule  not only Afghans but also Pakistanis, Iraqis, and Lebanese. Now with the 8-year war in Syria winding down, the question is what will Tehran do with those well-trained, well-armed forces," AP reports.

Furthermore, according to AP, "Soldiers-for-hire from Afghanistans impoverished Shiite Muslim communities are returning to their homeland, where they are met with suspicion. Afghan security officials believe Iran is still organizing them, this time as a secret army to spread Tehrans influence amid Afghanistans unending conflicts."

In the meantime, Radio Azadi has quoted "informed military sources" in Afghanistan as saying, "There is no doubt that Fatemiyoun Division has returned to the country, and some Afghan politicians are defending its members."

Sadly, says an informed military affairs expert, Mohammadagol Mujahid, "There are individuals in Afghanistan's ruling establishment who support the Fatemiyoun Division for their personal benefits."

Mujahid insists that the government in Afghanistan is legally bound to disarm all groups that are threatening the country's security and hand their members to the Justice Department.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has denied remarks attributed to its president by Irans Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, about U.S. sanctions impeding flood relief assistance.

In an interview with Radio Farda, Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke, public relation officer of ICRC said that the president of the organization Peter Maurer never mentioned any specific country when he spoke at the UN on April 1.

Zarif had claimed in a tweet Aril 2 that Mr. Maurer told the UN Security Council U.S. sanctions are preventing the Iranian Red Crescent from providing effective relief assistance to the victims of two-week-long floods, which have brought unprecedented destruction to many regions in Iran.

Ivlev-Yorke said that ICRC is concerned about sanctions affecting assistance in general, but Maurer did not mention any specific country or a specific case at the UN.

He also added that ICRCs representatives in Iran are closely monitoring the situation in cooperation with the Red Crescent, which has already mobilized their staff and volunteers to assist flood-stricken areas. ICRC is ready to explore all possibilities with its Iranian counterparts if so required, Ivlev-Yorke said.

Asked if ICRC sees any sanctions-related limitation with providing aid to Iran, he answered, From our point of view we do not any limitations at this stage to our assistance to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told high-ranking civilian officials and military commanders Tuesday evening, April 2, that they should have anticipated damage caused by floods and prepared for it.

He said rivers and dams should have been dredged before the floods, construction in the vicinity of rivers should have been banned and cutting of trees should have been prevented among other necessary measures.

As Khamenei criticized lack of preparedness, he is the top leader who controls the most important levers of power in Iran. He can fire officials and choose their replacements with a subtle signal or clear order to the executive, judiciary and even legislative branches of the state.

Parallel with criticism, Khamenei also praised assistance rendered to the flood-hit citizens as "outstanding". This is needed to convince the people that the ruling establishment has not completely failed. Khamenei also ordered officials to take "serious measures to solve the problems of those who have suffered losses."

President Hassan Rouhani who was conspicuously absent in this meeting, while his vice president Eshaq Jahangiri was sitting next to Khamenei. Rouhani was criticized by some social media users for disappearing from the scene after a few visits to disaster areas.

Commenting on Rouhani's absence, Presidential Adviser Hesamoddin Ashna told ISNA news agency that Rouhani has been following relief efforts all day on Monday and the reason for Jahangiri's presence was that he had just visited flood-hit areas.

Social media users also lambasted organizations in charge of relief efforts for their poor performance and lack of coordination.

This comes while Khamenei praised "high-ranking officials and military commanders" for their "presence and coordination" in the troubled areas.

Khamenei's comments also contradicts Rouhani's criticism of IRGC's activities in flood-hit areas in the north, where the Corps demolished parts of a railway to let flood water pass to downstream areas calling the measure "useless." Rouhani's statement elicited angry reaction by IRGC Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Ali Jafari.

IRGC commanders have continued attacks on Rouhani's government for inadequate response to the disaster. One commander even said on April 2 that residents in Lorestan province are in "rebellious mood" and officials would not dare to show up in the area.

Earlier on Tuesday, Vice-President Jahangiri who was stranded in flood-hit areas in southwestern Iran because of airports closures, said he was going to Tehran for "a very important urgent meeting."

Others observed in pictures released by Iranian news agencies include top IRGC commanders, as well as Jahangiri, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian who briefed Khamenei on the situation of dams in flooded areas.

Khamenei said that officials should take a lesson from current floods and to apply those lessons in the construction of dams, roads, railways, as well as in various areas of urban planning in the future.

The railways with no water outlet underneath, which led to major flooding in Golestan province in northern Iran, was constructed by IRGC's financial conglomerate Khatam ol-Anbia.

Environment experts have blamed widespread human deforestation, development of areas close to major streams and irresponsible exploitation of mines as major reasons for the destructiveness of March floods that demolished tens of thousands of houses and damaged countless other residential units as well as farmlands and businesses across Iran during the last two weeks of March and the early days of April.

Investigative journalist Yashar Soltani wrote on Twitter that 70 percent of forests in the widely flooded Golestan province are at the disposal of "influential individuals and companies" for exploitation. Others on social media have named top clerics in the province being among those who benefit from widespread deforestation.

Soltani reported that 47,013 hectares of forests have been given to the Gorgan Seminary and another 13,000 hectares to the IRGC. The holy Shrine of Mashad also "owns" 991 hectares of forests in the same area.

Environmental Agency Chief Isa Kalantari told reporters that there were 2.8 million hectares of forests in northern Iran 60 years ago, but currently there are only 1.3 million hectares, which other reports say have been allocated to well-connected companies and individuals for wood-cutting and housing projects.

The latest reports from Iran say 57 people have died in the floods in various areas since March 20 and as many as 478 are wounded. Current estimates put damages at around 120 trillion rials ($1billion based on free market rates, $3 billion based on official rate). However, this is an initial estimate and the more accurate amount of damages will not be known for months after flood waters subside. Based on similar past instances, an accurate estimate might not emerge at all for political reasons. The higher the estimate, the more responsibility will lie with the Islamic Republic establishment.Heavy rains in the past two days have completely overwhelmed several towns in the mountainous Lorestan province, where forced evacuations were ordered and people in many cases had to flee to nearby mountains to escape unending torrent of floods.

The head of Irans Red Crescent Sarem Rezaee says Pol-e-Dokhtar, one of these towns, is still in super-crisis state and rescue workers are trying to bring it out of emergency conditions.

The head of Iran's emergency services said crews are doing their utmost to help residents and four helicopters have been sent to Lorestan to rescue injured people and distribute food. He added that 150 people who needed medical attention were flown to hospitals.

Some reports say that more than 55 people have died so far as a result of two weeks of floods.

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) once again blamed the civilian government for its inability to deal with the crisis. The commander of IRGC ground forces Mohammad Pakpoor said "there is no management" in the rescue and aid operations in Pol-e-Dokhtar and "no government official would dare" to show up in the area because "people are in a rebellious mood".

He insisted that "people are in a sorry state and conditions are bad".

Monday afternoon all communication and road connectivity with Pol-e-Dokhtar was lost, and Lorestans governor said that if extraordinary efforts are not made to send rescue workers and aid to the town we will witness a great human tragedy.

In a video taken mid-day Monday, a resident says that two-thirds of the city is under several feet of water. The images from Monday might not tell the real extent of the crisis, which worsened later in the day.

Dozens of elite rescue workers have been sent to Pol-e-Dokhtar, with a population of just under 25,000, but there is no information yet about possible casualties.

All rivers in Lorestan have breached their banks and have turned into channels for unprecedented floods. The Marook dam in the area has been swamped by excess water, which has surpassed the top, but there is no information about the destruction caused by this incident.

It was reported on Monday that water levels in Khorramabad, the capital of Lorestan had reached 3 meters, or more than nine feet.

Water pouring over Marook Dam in Lorestan

Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament addressed Irans vice president in a tweet saying, Mr. Jahangiri please come to the rescue of Lorestan province. Connection has been lost with a few towns and cities. Defenseless people are besieged by floods. All officials who are contacted say they cannot do anything.

Another province in the grips of flood emergency is oil-producing Khuzestan. Midnight Monday it was reported that more than fifty villages have been evacuated.

Two major dams in the province are completely full and all emergency hatches are open to relieve excess water behind Karkheh and Dez. Residents on the path of the water outflow have been warned to stay away from rivers.

On Tuesday, an emergency situation was declared in the city of Shush (or ancient Shusha). Thirty villages in the area were evacuated, in addition to was announced earlier for Khuzestan.

Multiple landslides have blocked small and major roads, as well as railroads in western and southwestern Iran. The rail link between the capital Tehran and Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan was severed on Monday.

Roads have also been blocked in northern parts of the country. The highway from Rasht, on the Caspian Sea and Qazvin to the south has been cut.

The Alborz mountain range in the north is covered with heavy snow that is melting fast with the rains and adding to water volume in rivers.

Heavy rains continue from midnight Monday in almost half the country, from north to center to the west and southwest.Flood emergencies continue in Western Iran, with tens of thousands of people sheltering in the open with little food or warm cloths to endure the cold and wet weather.

The number of people who have dies as because of floods has reached 62, with hundreds injured.

Flood waters have devastated most of Lorestan and have inundated the southwestern oil-producing Khuzestan provinces.

Mohsen Rezaee, a senior conservative politician and former IRGC commander warned that Karkheh Dam in Khuzestan is facing a critical situation. Quoting the management of the dam, Rezaee said that if more water is not released in coming days, with the next rains expected soon, the whole dam can be in danger and a big tragedy can happen.

A member of Iranian parliament reported from Pol-e-Dokhtar, the worst hit town, that many people have spent two nights in the open, having fled to the mountains and have nothing, Fars news agency quoted Hamidreza Kazemi as saying. The lawmaker appealed to government and organizations to send food and warm cloths to the area.

Kazemi reported that 60 villages in Lorestan are under flood water and cut-off from the outside world. Also, half of Pol-e-Dokhtar and Mamoolan and twenty adjacent villages are also under water.

An outspoken member of parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi warned President Hassan Rouhani that Lorestan province is facing a tragedy. Sadeghi tweeted that Pol-e Dokhtar is buried in mud, peoples needs such as food, drinking water and medicine have not been addressed and the lack of order and planning are widespread.

The representative of Lorestans governor in Mamoolan told Mehr news agency that all roads to the town are cut and until Wednesday morning there was connection to the outside world. He also criticized the Iranian Red Crescent for not being present in the region, insisting that if rescue workers had been sent in time, our problems would have been addressed.

In response to criticism on the state-controlled television, a government official lashed out at the management of a channel saying their programs are killing hope among people when the country is already suffering under sanctions.

Governor of Kermanshah province in the west said that floods have brought huge damage to roads and canals. He told IRNA on April 2 that road damage alone has reached $60 million.

IRNA reports that 70,000 hectares of agricultural land in Kermanshah has been damaged and it is early to estimate the monetary value of the disaster.

Another official had told the media on April 1 that floods have brought $1 billion in losses to the agricultural sector in 12 provinces. This estimate is bound to increase with floods that have wreaked havoc since April 1.

The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps on April 3 told Iranians to be patient, adding This blessing from God has been sent to Iran and we must appreciate it. In recent days, other Islamic Republic officials, such as president Rouhani have expressed similar sentiments.

Iran was suffering from drought for several years before =the unexpected rainstorms, which began in mid-March.WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) -

The United States on Tuesday imposed fresh sanctions on a network of companies and people in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates it said was helping to raise billions of dollars to fund the operations of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

The U.S. Treasury blacklisted 25 people and organizations, including a clutch of front companies based in the three countries, that were working on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Iran's defense ministry to raise money for their activities.

The targeted institutions include banks and other financial institutions such as Ansar Bank, Atlas Exchange, Iranian Atlas Company, the U.S. Treasury said in a statement.

"We are exposing an extensive sanctions evasion network that was established by the Iranian regime to evade American sanctions," Brian Hook, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, told reporters. "With this action today we are increasing our pressure even further on the Iranian regime."

Hook described Ansar as "the banker" of the Revolutionary Guards and its overseas operations run by Quds (Qods) Force. He said the bank paid the salaries of IRGC-Quds Force employees and Iranian foreign fighters in Syria.

"They created front companies to access the U.S. financial system on their own," said Hook, adding that Tehran was feeling the pressure from U.S. sanctions and created the network to look for a way around the restrictions.

He said the Ansar front companies had raised $800 million over the last year and a half to buy military vehicles and to fund the IRGC's and Quds Force operations.

Additionally, Hook said the United States was sanctioning Iran's defense ministry "for its support for terrorism" and providing logistics support to the Revolutionary Guards.

A U.S. official said the sanctions were not related to the U.S. State Department's labeling of groups as so-called foreign terrorist organizations, known as FTOs. The defense ministry was blacklisted in 2007 for its role in weapons of mass destruction proliferation, Hook added.

"We are now expanding our authorities against Iran's ministry of defense for its support for terrorism," Hook told reporters at the State Department.

The sanctions are part of a campaign by Washington to pressure Tehran to negotiate a comprehensive plan to end its nuclear and missile programs.

President Donald Trump withdrew last year from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers. Since abandoning the agreement, the United States has imposed a string of new sanctions aimed at choking off Iran's funding, especially from oil.

The IRGC is by far Iran's most powerful security organization and has control over large stakes of the Iranian economy and huge influence in its political system.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

The 19th meeting of the Air Navigation Coordination Commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) is underway in Baku on April 3.

The main topic of the meeting, which is held with the support of Azerbaijan Airlines, is Innovative technologies in air navigation and meteorological support of flights.

Director of Azeraeronavigation Air Traffic Control Department of AZAL Farhan Guliyev, Executive Director of the Interstate Council on Aviation and Use of Airspace Eldar Baghirzade, and Deputy Chairman of the IAC Konstantin Kleshev opened the meeting.

The meeting is also attended by the heads and experts of air navigation and meteorological services, research institutes, research and production centers and associations, as well as educational institutions of the States Parties to the Civil Aviation Agreement. The participants noted the high-level organization of the meeting, as well as informative and interesting presentations.

It was noted that the use of modern technology is one of the key factors for improving flight safety level.

During the visit the participants also got familiarized with the work of the Azeraeronavigation Air Traffic Control Department (AZANS), Airspace Supervision and Efficiency Centre (ASEC) and the National Aviation Academy.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 22 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said April 3, 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, April 3

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Illegal activities in occupied territories of Azerbaijan will be discussed in Strasburg, France, during the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Trend reports citing Permanent Representation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe.

A side event hosted by Samad Seyidov, the chairman of the Azerbaijani parliamentary committee on international and inter-parliamentary relations, on April 9, during PACE spring session will address the theme of Illegal activities in and with regard to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan: implications for the commitments taken before the Council of Europe, reads a message from the Permanent Representation.

PACE spring session will take place in Strasburg on April 8-12.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Head of Azerbaijans State Committee for Work with the Diaspora Fuad Muradov met with Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze, Trend reports with reference to the state committee on April 3.

Bakhtadze noted that he has a very positive attitude towards the projects of the State Committee for Work with the Diaspora, implemented in connection with the Azerbaijanis living in Georgia, and highly appreciates this work.

He instructed Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the state minister for reconciliation and civic equality in Georgia, who was present at the meeting, to intensify ties with the State Committee and to carry out more joint projects.

The meeting was also attended by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Georgia Dursun Hasanov and Deputy Chairman of the State Committee Faig Guliyev.

On the same day, Fuad Muradov met with deputy chairman of the Georgian Parliament, Chairman of the Georgia-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Zviad Dzidziguri, who noted that Azerbaijan and Georgia are strategic allies, the Georgian and Azerbaijani peoples are friends and brothers, and also stressed the importance of further intensifying bilateral ties.

The meeting was attended by Chair of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee of the Georgian Parliament Beka Odisharia, Azerbaijani members of the Georgian Parliament Mahir Darziev and Azer Suleymanov. The Azerbaijani side was represented by Ambassador Dursun Hasanov, representatives of the State Committee and other officials.

Muradov noted that, as the head of the State Committee, he paid a visit to Georgia for the first time last summer and studied the problems of Azerbaijanis living in Georgia. He stressed that projects are being prepared in the field of education, and on April 3, the opening ceremony of the Integration Center of Georgian Azerbaijanis will take place, and this will become the contribution of the Azerbaijani state in terms of the integration of Georgian Azerbaijanis into the local society.

He added that quotas were allocated in Azerbaijan for receiving pedagogical and religious education for Azerbaijanis of Georgia in 2019-2020.

Muradov also touched upon the issue of opening a monument to the Armenian separatist in Georgia, stressing that this doesnt correspond to the current level of bilateral relations.

Deputy chairman of the Georgian Parliament, Chairman of the Georgia-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Zviad Dzidziguri noted that the visit by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili to Azerbaijan was held at a high level, adding that the Armenian media published articles against this visit.

Azerbaijani MPs of the Parliament of Georgia Azer Suleymanov and Mahir Darziev delivered speech at the meeting.

They noted that the erection of a monument to Armenian separatist in Georgia casts a shadow on bilateral relations. It was also emphasized that in Azerbaijan it is important to adopt the Law on Compatriots, and that it is necessary to promote Azerbaijani culture in Georgia, and Georgian culture in Azerbaijan.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

The April battles showed to the whole world that the Azerbaijani army possesses the highest qualities and can complete any task at any time, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said.

He made the remarks April 2 at the meeting with servicemen of a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry.

Familiarization with the military unit today made a pleasant impression on me, he said.

In recent years, the military unit has been overhauled and all necessary conditions have been created for the educational process, he noted. This shows again that the Azerbaijani army is successfully developing today. The process of army building is proceeding rapidly, our military units are being refurbished and rebuilt, and the army is fitted with the most sophisticated equipment. This is natural, because we are at war. The war is not over yet  only the first stage of it is. Today, the Azerbaijani army is one of the strongest armies on a global scale.

Three years have passed since the April fights, he added.

The April battles are a glorious page of our history, Ilham Aliyev said. During the battles we sustained losses. May Allah rest the souls of all our martyrs in peace. The state made every effort to provide for the treatment and rehabilitation of our wounded soldiers. All our soldiers who were injured have fortunately returned to normal life. All measures were taken for their treatment, rehabilitation and return to active life.

The April battles are a great historic victory for us, one of the most successful military operations in our modern history, he added. You are well aware that prior to the fighting, the armed forces of Armenia constantly fired at our settlements and military positions from occupied territories. The Azerbaijani army carried out a very successful operation to thwart Armenian provocations and liberated a part of Agdara, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts which were seized earlier. Thousands of hectares of land were freed from the invaders and an area of tens of thousands of hectares passed under our control. The Azerbaijani flag now flies on the once occupied lands. During the battles, our soldiers displayed true professionalism and heroism. They once again demonstrated that Azerbaijani soldiers and officers are professional, they are attached to their homeland and are ready to fulfill their duty at any time.

The April battles were a very successful operation in military terms, because our military personnel liberated important strategic heights from the invaders from unfavorable positions, he noted.

At the same time, these battles are of great importance from a moral and psychological point of view, as Armenian propaganda had been spreading the myth for years that they are superior to us militarily, he said. The April battles showed to the whole world that the Azerbaijani army possesses the highest qualities and can complete any task at any time. The myth created by Armenia has been smashed to smithereens.

Our civilians also showed heroism during the fights, he noted. Several civilians died as a result of Armenian provocation. Hundreds of houses became uninhabitable and were burned out. We restored all these houses in a short time. In meetings with residents of the villages close to the contact line which I visited shortly after the fights, I was convinced of how high the national spirit of these people is, how fearless they are, as they did not abandon their homes and their villages even under shelling.

As a result of the fights, the village of Jojug Marjanli gained a new life, Ilham Aliyev said.

It was reconstructed in a short time, 150 houses, a school, a kindergarten, a medical center, a mosque, which is an analogue of the Shusha mosque, were built, and jobs were created, he noted. In other words, life returned to Jojug Marjanli. This shows yet again that the Azerbaijani people will never put up with this situation. It shows once again that all citizens of Azerbaijan live with one dream  the soonest liberation of our occupied lands and restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Unfortunately, our lands fell under occupation in the first years of independence, he said. The reason for this is that the forces that were in power at that time allowed Armenia to seize our lands by their unsatisfactory activity. As a result of the treacherous activities of the PFPA-Musavat tandem, the Armenian armed forces entrenched in the occupied lands and a direct communication was established between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, which allowed the enemy to continue its aggressive policy. But after the return of great leader Heydar Aliyev to power, the situation changed, a successful Horadiz operation was carried out. As a result of that operation, more than 20 settlements were freed from occupation.

Today, the city of Horadiz and those very villages are flourishing and reviving, the Azerbaijani president added. Work is carried out at the highest level there, he said.

The army building process was started, he noted. Today, Azerbaijan is one of the most powerful countries in the world in terms of army building. As I have already noted, according to the latest ratings, the Azerbaijani army is ranked in 52nd place in terms of its potential on a global scale. The two military parades held last year demonstrated our military might. The most modern weapons and equipment are purchased for our army and its combat capability is increasing. The April battles are a good example of this. We are doing and will continue to do everything necessary for our army. Last year, a successful Nakhchivan operation was carried out. As a result of this operation, we have seized strategic heights. These heights allow us the opportunity to control a vast territory. The successful Nakhchivan operation showed that our army is professional and its combat capability is at a high level.

All this is a reality, Ilham Aliyev said.

Today, every citizen of Azerbaijan can be justly proud of the Azerbaijani army, and we are proud of our soldiers and officers, he noted. The Azerbaijani army is the main factor playing a role in the protection of the territorial integrity of our state.

Day-to-day problems of our military personnel are being addressed, he added. Great attention is being paid to that as well. At the end of last year, more than 300 servicemen were provided with new apartments. To date, the state has provided hundreds of military personnel with apartments. This process continues. At the same time, the process of reconstructing military units has gained momentum. In recent years, I have participated in the opening of many military units and camps. I observe a high level and excellent conditions everywhere, including this military unit. Here I was shown photographs showing the situation in previous years. Of course, the situation was very difficult.

However, on the basis of my special instruction, the military unit was reconstructed in a short time and good conditions have been created here, he said. Excellent conditions have been created for those who work here, and for those who stay in hostels. I should also note that civil affairs in our military units are dealt with by civilians, and this is also an innovation. Thus, we have enabled servicemen and their activity to focus on the main service duty. At the same time, about 20,000 civilians have been provided with jobs.

As for the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, there is no change in our position here, Ilham Aliyev added. This conflict must be resolved only within the territorial integrity of our country. Nagorno-Karabakh is our ancestral and historical land. Our people have lived, created and built on these lands for centuries. Today, the whole world recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. All influential international organizations have adopted relevant decisions and resolutions. This is a historical and legal basis. No country has recognized and, I am sure, never will recognize the self-styled Nagorno-Karabakh republic.

Therefore, the goal of continuing the negotiations is to liberate the occupied lands, he said. As you know, the new leadership of Armenia wanted to change the format of negotiations. Some of their statements are also known to the public. However, the unequivocal position of Azerbaijan did not allow that to happen. The conflict is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied our lands. Eighty percent of soldiers on the occupied lands on the other side are Armenian citizens. Therefore, the negotiations must be conducted between the two countries. The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format. Both the talks between the foreign ministers and the meeting between the leaders show again that this is an Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Whenever we talk about a conflict, we call it like this: the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Justice and historical truth are on our side, Ilham Aliyev noted.

Economic and military strength is also on our side, he said. The work done in recent years, the reforms carried out in the military sphere, the buildup of our military power, the victories both in the political arena and on the battlefield inspire us even more and strengthen us.

You, the people serving here, know and understand your duty perfectly well, he added. You have participated in the most difficult battles and showed heroism and courage. The state appreciates your activity. I congratulate you on the successes achieved, I wish you and our army continued success and new victories.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format of negotiations on resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said.

He made the remarks April 2 at the meeting with servicemen of a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry.

Today, the whole world recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan, he said. All influential international organizations have adopted relevant decisions and resolutions. This is a historical and legal basis. No country has recognized and, I am sure, never will recognize the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic.

Therefore, the goal of continuing the negotiations is to liberate the occupied lands, he noted. As you know, the new leadership of Armenia wanted to change the format of negotiations. Some of their statements are also known to the public. However, the unequivocal position of Azerbaijan did not allow that to happen. The conflict is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied our lands. Eighty percent of soldiers on the occupied lands on the other side are Armenian citizens. Therefore, the negotiations must be conducted between the two countries."

"The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format. Both the talks between the foreign ministers and the meeting between the leaders show again that this is an Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Whenever we talk about a conflict, we call it like this: the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

A meeting has been held with servicemen, who were supplied with high-tech prostheses by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, at the Heydar Aliyev Center.

A minute of silence was observed for the martyrs of the April battles.

Assistant to the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Director of the Heydar Aliyev Center Anar Alakbarov addressed the event. He said that more than 100 officers and soldiers have been supplied with high-tech prostheses over the past three years. Anar Alakbarov read out First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva`s message to the event participants.

Other speakers at the meeting included lieutenant colonel Eldaniz Sadigov, captain Amil Dadashov, senior lieutenant Namig Aliyev and director of MEDICOM company Anar Rustamov.

Servicemen were presented with certificates of appreciation by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Then First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva met with servicemen, who were supplied with high-tech prostheses, and talked to them.

The servicemen thanked Mehriban Aliyeva for the care and attention.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a letter of congratulation to Zuzana Caputova as she was elected President of the Slovak Republic.

I hope that we will make joint efforts to develop the relations of friendship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Slovakia, the head of state said in his letter.

I wish you the best of health, happiness and success in your endeavours for the prosperity of the friendly people of Slovakia, President Ilham Aliyev said.Almaty, Kazakhstan, April 3

By Jeyhun Alakbarov  Trend:

The recently opened Baku-Almaty flight will greatly contribute to the economies of both countries, Fuad Yusifov, director of the marketing, commerce and production department of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) CJSC, said at the ceremony of the first flight of the Baku-Almaty route held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Trend reports.

According to Yusifov, the implementation of a direct flight is one of the priorities of Azerbaijans governmental policy.

"Due to the fact that Almaty is among the most important cities, both in terms of economy and tourist, the opening of this route is important. In the future, this flight will make important contributions for both countries," said Yusifov.

Moreover, Fuad Yusifov noted that international tourist exhibitions will be held in Baku in early April and in Almaty on April 17-19.

On April 2, Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC carried out the 3rd flight on the Baku-Almaty-Baku route.

AZAL flights will be made on Tuesdays and Saturdays with Airbus A319 aircraft (economy class, comfort club and business class categories). Flights will be carried out through the 1st terminal of Heydar Aliyev International Airport.Tehran, Iran, April 3

Trend:

Iran's Health Deputy Minister Alireza Raeisi has announced that any genetic attempt to change agricultural products is prohibited by the Health Ministry and the organization.

"The Health Ministry would resist any plan to implement genetic changes in agricultural products and the ministry would not allow the production of GMO's in the country," Trend reports citing Fars News Agency.

Referring to recent plan for GMO production in the country that was signed by members of Department of Environment he said that the Health Ministry would confirm the plan after reforms implementation in its context and if it's not harmful for health.

The genetically modified organism (GMO) products have been hot topic during past two years in Iran, despite growing opposition against GMO imports and consumption there have been some efforts to circulate these products in the country.

It is expected that Agriculture and Health Ministries decide over GMO's production in the country. While the Department of Environment has approved the plan, the Health Ministry has called on reforms in it and the Agriculture Ministry is waiting for the result.

Iran annually imports $5.5 billion worth of GMO's while some are being consumed without identification tag.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

Female entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan and Russia held discussions related to the implementation of joint business ventures, Sakina Babayeva, the head of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan, told Trend.

Babayeva noted that the negotiations are being held as part of the upcoming project, which envisages the creation of manufacturing enterprises.

"We are planning to establish a joint venture in Azerbaijan to produce food with our partners from Derbent. At present, we are conducting a detailed discussion of issues regarding the varieties of Azerbaijani food products that are in the greatest demand at the Russian market," she said.

The Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan was created with the support of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of Azerbaijan and was established in October 2017.

Over 143,000 women are engaged in business in Azerbaijan, according to statistics.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibovaBaku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Moodys Annual Azerbaijan Summit will take place May 23 in Baku, Trend reports with reference to the agency.

The event will be attended by leading analysts and investors from the CIS countries and Europe, who will discuss global trends and changes in the dynamics of the development of regional markets.

Also, the event participants will discuss volatility in the oil markets, global and local prospects in the energy sector, credit profiles of banks in CIS countries, government support for banks, fiscal policy challenges and other issues.

The latest Moodys report noted that the Azerbaijani banking system shows the highest capital adequacy ratio in the CIS, which is mainly due to the state support provided to the countrys biggest bank, the International Bank of Azerbaijan.

The previous summit was held May 24, 2018, in Baku.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Fakhri Vakilov  Trend:

Banks and the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Complex in Uzbekistan will receive funds from the placement of sovereign international bonds of Uzbekistan, Trend reports with reference to the data from Uzbek Ministry of Justice.

Under the presidential decree, these funds will be used as follows:

- $889.2 million will be placed by auction on deposit accounts of commercial banks;

- $20 million will be issued as debt of Agrobank;

- $89.9 million will be issued as a loan to the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Complex.

In February 2019, five- and ten-year sovereign international bonds of Uzbekistan worth $1 billion were placed on world financial markets.

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Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxriBaku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Sara Israfilbayova  Trend:

Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov will visit Baku on April 4, the Azerbaijani government told Trend on April 3.

Along with the minister, the representatives of more than 60 Russian companies operating in various sectors of economy, including agriculture, ICT, automotive engineering, chemical industry and others, will visit Baku.

An event will be held during the ministers visit to Azerbaijan and the businessmen of the two countries will participate in this event.

Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council Samad Gurbanov, Acting President of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) Yusif Abdullayev, Director of the Russian Export Center Andrey Slepnev will attend the event.

The participants of the event will discuss the issues of cooperation and further steps to strengthen the ties. A number of cooperation agreements between the two countries will be signed during the delegations visit.

According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia reached $2.55 billion in 2018. Moreover, the Azerbaijani goods worth $665.74 million were exported to Russia.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaSBaku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

Iran's Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani has announced a ban on the export of potatoes and onions in his letter to the Iranian Customs, to be put into effect starting from April 4, Trend reports referring to the website of Irans Trade Promotion Organization.

Citing the regulation of the local market as the basis for the aforementioned decision, the Iranian minister stated that the ban on the export of potatoes and onions would stay in place until further notice.

On the other hand, Mohammad Mousavi, Head of the Disaster Management Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad of Iran, said that more than 45 trillion rials (app. $1.07 billion) worth of damage was caused to the agricultural sector of 12 Iranian provinces in 12 days.

According to Mousavi, the damage caused by floods in Golestan accounted for 36 percent of the total, followed by Khuzestan at 14 percent, Mazandaran at 13 percent, Lorestan at 12 percent, Fars at 7 percent, and the remaining 18 percent accounting for the damage inflicted on the provinces of Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiyari, Isfahan, North Khorasan, Semnan, and Sistan and Baluchestan.

About 5 million tons of potatoes are produced in Iran, 4.5 million tons of which are meant for domestic consumption, and 500,000 tons for exports.

Given the damage to agriculture, it is possible that the ban on potato and onion exports will last until the end of the summer.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Fakhri Vakilov  Trend:

GM Uzbekistan shipped the first batch of Nexia R3 and R4 cars for export to Belarus on April 3, Trend reports with reference to the company's official website.

Previously, the company has already exported Nexia R3 cars for a large-unit assembly to the SararkaAvtoProm plant in Kostanay (Kazakhstan), as well as the finished R4 model to Ravon Motors Kazakhstan.

Since the beginning of this year, Uzbek cars have also been exported to Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

GM Uzbekistan and SaryarkaAvtoProm LLP (Kazakhstan) signed a production development contract. The parties have agreed to release 16,000 vehicles intended for sale up to the end of 2019, both in the market of Kazakhstan and export markets, including Russia.

The SKD assembly of the Ravon Nexia R3 sedan was launched at the Kazakh enterprise "SariarkaAvtoProm" in 2017. Capacity of assembly is about 3,000 cars a year, with the possible increase in production of up to 7,000 cars.

Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxriBaku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 3

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The European Commission has approved the allocation of 33 million euros for construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, Trend reports citing the European Commission.

The message says that 33 million euros of EU funds will finance the construction of a 182-km cross-border gas interconnector between Komotini, Greece, and Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

The pipeline is a European Project of Common Interest, contributing to the objectives of the Energy Union. The two countries' gas systems will be linked for the first time, diversifying energy sources in the region and increasing energy security. With more competition on the gas market, consumers will enjoy lower prices, said the European Commission.

IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.

The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 3

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Central and South-Eastern European Connectivity (CESEC) High Level Group recalls necessary efforts to ensure timely completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, Trend reports citing the European Commission.

CESEC High Level Group was held in Bucharest (Romania) on 1 April 2019.

High Level Group said it welcomes progress achieved so far and recalls the necessary efforts to ensure the timely completion of TAP by 2020.

It also welcomes progress in the implementation of the interconnector Greece  Bulgaria (IGB).

The public procurement procedures are expected to be finalized during the second quarter of 2019, enabling the launch of construction works before the summer. The High Level Group invites the project promoter to step up its efforts so that the pipeline can enter into operation in 2020 when the first TAP deliveries are also expected, reads a message from the European Commission.

The High Level Group further calls upon responsible transmission system operators to conclude the interconnection agreements in due time for the envisaged project schedule.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU). The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.

The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.

Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.

The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend:

The international rating agency Moody's Investor's Service maintains a stable outlook on Azerbaijans banking sector, Petr Paklin, vice president and leading analyst of the agency on Azerbaijans banking sector told Trend.

"Until August last year, for three consecutive years, the outlook was negative," he said. "The change in valuation was associated with an improved operating environment, expectation of further clean-up of loan portfolios from problem loans, as well as improved capital adequacy thanks to the help of shareholders and restoring the profitability of banks."

He noted that the agency positively assesses the decree by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on additional measures in connection with solving the issue of problem loans of individuals.

"These measures should improve household creditworthiness and reduce the volume of problem retail loans on banks balance sheets thanks to government support," he said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on additional measures in connection with solving the issue of the individuals problem loans.

The decree envisages the payment of compensation to citizens whose loan burden increased as a result of the devaluation of the manat in February and December 2015.

According to the decree, opportunities are created for restructuring concessional terms of both US dollar loans and manat loans with a delay of more than 360 days.

In January 2019, the assets of Azerbaijani banks amounted to 29.6 billion manats.

The loan portfolio of Azerbaijani banks amounted to 12.54 billion manats. Of this amount, the banks created reserves for 1.48 billion manats. Also, in the structure of assets, 1.19 billion manats accounted for cash held by banks, while 3.9 billion manats accounted for securities.

Total value of deposits in Azerbaijan in January 2019 amounted to 21.99 billion manats.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaSBaku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Askar Zhumagaliyev, Minister of Digital Development, Defense and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan and other Kazakh officials, visited Azerbaijan's High Technologies Park under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the country, Trend reports.

The Director of the High-Tech Park Tural Karimli told the guests about the park's activities, the future work of the Innovation Agency and the Falcons Summit.

Representatives of leading international companies in Azerbaijan, such as Huawei, CISCO, Oracle, Lenovo, BestComp Group, participated in the event and exchanged views on the prospects for cooperation.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

Tourists spent over $2 billion in Azerbaijan in 2018, spokesman for the Azerbaijani State Tourism Agency Kanan Guluzade told Trend on April 3.

More than 2,280,000 tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2018, he said. Over 360,000 tourists have already visited Azerbaijan this year.

"Most of the tourists arrived from Russia and Georgia, Guluzade said. Moreover, a lot of tourists have been recently arriving from the Middle Eastern countries. According to the data of the last two months of this year, many tourists from the South Asian region arrived in Azerbaijan.

He added that the main goal is to double the number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan till 2023.

Guluzade stressed that Azerbaijans tourist potential will be showcased at almost 20 international exhibitions soon.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

A 3 percent increase was observed in the number of incoming tourists in Azerbaijan, which was due to arrival of tourists from new countries, Kanan Guluzade, the spokesman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan, told Trend.

The agency spokesman noted that Georgian tourists hit the record in January-February 2019.

"This year, for the first time, the number of tourists from Georgia exceeded the number of those from Russia. In addition, work is underway to attract more Chinese tourists. In accordance with a signed memorandum, 200,000 tourists from China are expected to arrive in Azerbaijan," he said.

Guluzade stressed that during the first two months of 2019, there was a 7 percent decrease in the number of Arab tourists.

"But this is temporary, because the period of January-February is considered weak, from tourist standpoint. On the other hand, direct flights from Arab countries to Azerbaijan have decreased. There have been made some changes in the procedures for issuing visas to Iraqi tourists. All this influenced the number of foreign tourists. However, the situation may stabilize due to the fact that two new Arab airlines will fly to Azerbaijan. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the Middle East is a politically unstable region, and problems arise in connection with leaving the country. Therefore, such problems may occur periodically," he added.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

The 18th Azerbaijan International Travel and Tourism Fair (AITF) will start its work in Baku April 4, Trend reports April 3.

The company Iteca Caspian is the organizer of the exhibition, which will end April 6.

At the press conference held in connection with the opening of the exhibition, Spokesperson of Azerbaijans State Agency for Tourism Kanan Guluzade noted that just like every year, representatives of tourism markets of various countries, national and regional tourism organizations and government agencies will take part in the AITF.

He said that the AITF exhibition will be held with the active support and participation of the State Agency for Tourism and the National Tourism Promotion Bureau.

Guluzade noted that the development of tourism is one of the important issues for Azerbaijan.

Project Manager of Iteca Caspian Lala Huseynova said that travel companies, airlines, hotel chains, national and regional representatives of sanatoriums will present their services at the exhibition this year. Traditionally, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Morocco, Thailand and the Czech Republic will present their national stands, she said.

She added that the exhibition will also feature the stand of Azerbaijan, which will reflect the countrys tourism potential.

Those willing to relax in the cities and districts of Azerbaijan, as well as those who like nature and outdoor activities will be able to familiarize themselves there with interesting offers, she said.

She noted that the year 2019 was declared The Year of Nasimi in Azerbaijan by the presidential decree and this will also be reflected as part of the exhibition. The organizers of the exhibition with the help of the event Journey to the history and work of Nasimi will acquaint visitors with the rich culture of Azerbaijan.Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov wishes Recep Tayyip Erdogan great success in wake of Sunday elections, reports Trend citing to yenisafak.com

Kyrgyzstan's president on Tuesday congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the victory of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in weekend local elections, said Kyrgyz presidential sources.

In a phone conversation, Sooronbay Jeenbekov wished Erdogan great success and health, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Bilateral cooperation and implementation of agreements were also discussed during the call, the sources added.

Millions of Turkish citizens cast votes nationwide Sunday to choose mayors, city council members, mukhtars (neighborhood officials), and members of elder councils for the next five years.

The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party is leading in 16 metropolitan municipalities (larger cities), with 24 smaller cities also claimed by AK Party candidates, according to unofficial results.

On Sunday, the People's Alliance (Cumhur Ittifaki) of the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) garnered the majority of the votes, or 51.62 percent, against their rivals the Nation Alliance (Millet Ittifaki), which got 37.56 percent.

Voter turnout was 84.67 percent, with 48.3 million votes cast.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, April 3

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The international car exhibition Turkmen World  2019 is scheduled to be held in Ashgabat July 3-5, Trend reports April 3 with reference to the organizer of the event - the Turkmen Ministry of Automobile Transport.

The exhibition, aimed at the development of cooperation with foreign partners, will be held with the assistance of the Turkmen Interior Ministry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan.

The exhibition will feature vehicles of various modifications: passenger cars, trucks, specialized vehicles.

Turkmenistan traditionally buys machinery in South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and Belarus.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, April 3

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A meeting of the Council of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Heads of Governments will be held in Turkmenistans capital Ashgabat on October 11, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry.

This is envisaged in the action plan for implementing the concept of Turkmenistans CIS chairmanship in 2019. The upcoming events include Ashgabats hosting a forum of creative and scientific intellectuals of the CIS member states May 15-16.

Turkmenistan chairs the CIS this year.

The priority objectives within the concept of Turkmenistans CIS chairmanship in 2019 are increasing the level of cooperation of the CIS with international organizations, creating conditions for enhancing trade economic cooperation, and integration into global economic relations. Energy, transport and communications are the key areas of partnership interaction in the CIS.

Referring to its status of permanent neutrality, Turkmenistan decided to participate in the CIS structure as an associate member in 2005. In 1999, Turkmenistan withdrew from the Agreement on visa-free regime with all CIS countries. Turkmenistan ranks second among the CIS countries in terms of natural gas reserves after Russia. The main buyer of Turkmen fuel is China.The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that the United States has blocked international relief aid to Iranian victims over the recent deadly floods, Trend reported citing Xinhua.

It is a "crime" of the United States to block the delivery of foreign relief to Iran's Red Crescent Society, Rouhani was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

Rouhani urged the Iranian Foreign Ministry to sue the U.S. crime.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also accused the U.S. of putting bans on delivery of international aid to the country's flood-stricken people. He said that the U.S. pressures constituted an act of "economic terrorism."

Since two weeks ago, heavy rains and unprecedented floods in most parts of Iran have claimed the lives of at least 60 people and injured 478 others.

Downpours and floods have also caused massive destruction to the agricultural sector, infrastructure as well as the residential areas.

Besides, tens of villages and cities are still surrounded by high water levels and a number of villages disappeared under the mud and sludge.Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Russia and Kazakhstan are strengthening the military-technical cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, Trend reports referring to RIA Novosti.

President Putin made the remarks following the Russia-Kazakhstan talks.

"The military and military-technical cooperation is being strengthened, the president said. Russia assists Kazakhstan in training military specialists, specialists at the high schools of the Russian Defense Ministry and other security agencies."Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Istanbul Ataturk Airport closes on April 6, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey.

The last flight from the airport will take off at 02:00 (GMT +3), on April 6.

The final work on dismantling and removal of equipment will be carried out on April 5.

The process of dismantling and removal of equipment from Ataturk airport to the new Istanbul airport was earlier postponed until March 2019.

The opening ceremony of the new airport took place in Istanbul on October 29, 2018, which was attended by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan.

The third airport of Istanbul was built in the vicinity of Lake Terkos, located in the northern part of the city.

The construction of the airport cost 10 billion Turkish liras (TL), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey told Trend earlier. The following Turkish banks granted loans for the construction: Ziraat Bank - 1.54 billion euros (EUR), Halkbank and Vakfbank - 1 billion EUR each, Denizbank - 500 million EUR, Garanti and Finansbank - 300 million EUR.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems do not pose a threat to NATO, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cauvoglu said in Washington, DC, Trend reports referring to the Turkish media.

As Cavusoglu noted, the deal on the sale of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems has been completed and Turkey will not give up the Russian air defense missile systems.

Earlier, Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay also said that, with the acquisition of Russias S-400 air defense systems, Ankara acts exclusively from its national interests.

According to Oktay, Turkey will not abandon the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, stressing that no one has the right to prevent Ankara from making this choice.

Earlier the Pentagon confirmed halting the delivery of equipment related to the stealthy F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey due to Ankaras plans on acquiring Russias S-400 missile defense system.

Pending an unequivocal Turkish decision to forgo delivery of the S-400, deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability have been suspended while our dialogue on this important matter continues with Turkey, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a Defense Department spokesman, said in a statement.

The Pentagon also said that they had taken steps to prevent the supply chain during the creation of the F-35 from stopping because of the withdrawal of Turkey from the program to create the newest aircraft.

Initial reports of negotiations between Russia and Turkey on the supply of S-400 surfaced in November 2016. The signing of a contract was confirmed by the Russian side on September 12, 2017. Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the S-400 air defense systems will be deployed from October 2019. The supply of the S-400 air defense systems to Ankara cost $2.5 billion, head of the Rostec state corporation Sergey Chemezov said in December 2017. Turkey is the first country, a NATO member, which will receive the S-400 air defense systems from Russia.

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluTurkey is set to develop constructive relations both with Russia and the West, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Washington on Wednesday at NATOs two-day ministerial meeting, Trend reported citing TASS.

"Turkey is an independent country and sovereign country, and Turkey should actually have good relations with all the neighboring countries. Turkey doesnt have to choose between Russia or any others," he said in English.

The Turkish foreign minister pointed out that Ankara asks their allies not to see its relations with Moscow as an alternative to its relations with other nations.

"And we dont see our relations with Russia as an alternative to our relations with others. And nobody, neither West nor Russia, should or can ask us to choose between [these relations]," Cavusoglu said.US President Donald Trump, who is well known for his criticism of the North Atlantic alliance, noted that his strategy of pressuring NATO members to increase their defence spending is leading to tens of billions of dollars more in contributions, yet it is still not enough, Trend reports referring Sputnik.

During talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House a day before the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Washington, the US president claimed that the financing of NATO is a rocket ship up since he took office back in 2016.

Between 2016 and the end of next year, the 28 NATO members other than the United States will have boosted military spending "another $100 billion more by 2020 or a little bit into 2020," Trump confirmed.

The US President also said he would like to see NATO members pay more than 2 percent of their gross domestic product for defence  a shift from Trumps speech last year when he told NATO leaders to increase defense spending to 4 percent of GDP, adding that the United States pays 4.3 percent of its GDP to NATO.

Stoltenberg has said that the 2% guideline was not invented by the United States and was a target the 29 allies set in 2014 before Trump took office. However, he thanked Trump for his strong commitment to NATO and for his leadership in getting member nations to increase their commitments, adding that the allies are really stepping up.

"The clear message from President Trump has helped  is having a real impact. And this is about doing what NATO allies have pledged to do. We still have a long way to go  much to do  but we have really seen very strong progress in defence spending from NATO allies."

Trump also underscored that Germany, in particular, is not doing enough, as Berlin now plans to spend 1.5% by 2024, which is lower than the 2% guideline.

Germany honestly is not paying their fair share, he said. I have a great feeling for Germany, but they're not paying what they should be paying. We're paying for a big proportion of NATO, which is basically protecting Europe. Theyre paying close to 1 percent.

Trump has criticised the alliance since before he became president, at one point declaring NATO to be "obsolete." He later revised that statement, saying he no longer believed that to be the case during Stoltenberg's visit back in 2017.

The White House also issued a statement saying that Trump met with Stoltenberg to mark NATOs 70th anniversary and reaffirm US support for the alliance. The statement said the two leaders reviewed NATOs unprecedented progress to increase burden-sharing and also discussed ongoing efforts to fight terrorism (and) check Russian aggression. Trump emphasised the importance of a stronger NATO in opposing Russia during the meeting, yet underscored that he still believes that the relationship with Moscow will be good, adding that he hopes to get along with Russia.Its been one year since Richard Carranza stepped into the job as leader of the countrys largest public school system. Since he arrived as the mayor's second-choice guy, Carranza has made his mark. Hes leaned into tough conversations around race and equity and tried to reorganize the massive bureaucracy that serves more than 1.1 million students and has added essentially two more grades with pre-kindergarten and programs for three-year-old New Yorkers.

To mark the anniversary, WNYCs Jessica Gould talked with him about his accomplishments and how to move forward, especially on the issue of better integrating schools and classrooms.

The following interview is edited for clarity and length.

What is your vision of what real integration would look like in New York City public schools?

I think in New York City's public schools we have such a rich portfolio of opportunities of schools. And my vision is that a public school student in New York City really has options that are not limiting to them. Unfortunately in New York City we have a series of screens, we have a series of things that limit the options that children and parents have. And I think that we need to work on removing those options.

And there are folks who say, "Well, you have control, just take them away." Its not that easy. I think you have to engage communities and some of those are very difficult conversations. But you have to engage the community so that even if there's not agreement there is at least understanding why it's it's of such importance to take on that kind of work. That's the work that we're engaged in.

And as I reflect on my first anniversary here in New York City there are some people that would have liked us to go a lot faster and there are some people that are saying "Wait, you're going too fast." What we want to do is we want to do it right.

Tell me a few concrete steps of how to get there.

I think you have to have a conversation about it; it never works when there's an imposition of any kind of a system by anybody in authority. The good news is that there are multiple community districts across the city that are having those conversations. District 3 has done an incredible job of really taking on the issue of diversity in their schools. District 15 has taken on the issue of screens. There are about another eight districts across the city that we know of that are having these kinds of conversations. And we know because we've actually invested some resources to have the engagement process help those districts to get voices at the table.

We have a community wide diversity advisory committee that has given us their first series of recommendations. The mayor and I are actively looking at the recommendations and we'll be coming to the table around those that we can implement now or very soon .

There are a number of initiatives including a lot of work that we're doing around curriculum to make sure that the curriculum is culturally relevant but also academically rigorous for our students. We're taking a deep look at our gifted and talented program.

On specialized high schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio recently acknowledged that he should have done more to engage communities on his proposal to eventually eliminate the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) and admit top students to the specialized schools from schools across the city. What do you think should be done going forward to engage those communities including the Asian American community where some critics are?

So I give the mayor lots of credit. I think he is introspective and I'm going to give him a lot of credit for saying that. That being said, we could always do more engagement to that end. We have now visited every one of the 32 Community Education Councils, we've done a presentation, and we've answered questions. We've gotten feedback in every one of those communities. I personally have met with a number of groups, including some groups that are very closely affiliated with the Asian community. We've engaged with elected officials from all across the city and from across the state. Even some of our federal elected officials.

What's interesting is that whereas not too long ago folks would have said, "This particular issue is dead in the water," this legislative session we now have the speaker calling for hearings. We now have the senators saying that they want to have hearings. You have the speaker of the city council saying he supports the mayor and my plan to eliminate the test. So there is much more momentum.

That being said, you know these are going to be tough conversations and it's going to really call on us to determine where do we land, where is our moral compass, understanding that some communities have very strong feelings about this. I'm very buoyed by what's happening now and I'm excited to have that conversation. If anyone can have this conversation and actually get to a solution, its New York.

Listen to Jessica Goulds interview with interview with Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza on WNYC:

There seems to be a third option emerging, which is not keep the test or eliminate it, but find a better test. Do you think the SHSAT is a bad test and could it be replaced with a better one?

I think the SHSAT is not a particularly useful test for identifying students that have capabilities of being in a specialized school. It doesn't necessarily identify the grit or the hidden tenacity or even quite frankly the skill sets that you need to be able to write well or read well or to think logically. You literally have to learn how to take that test. That's not a good test. So is there room to look for a better instrument? There could be, only if that is part of a broader portfolio of other metrics as well. You cannot discount grades. You cannot discount attendance, you cannot discount what we ask kids to do every single day in their middle schools. And that's why I think the proposal we've put forward where that's taken into account has to be part of what we look for in identifying opportunity for students in these schools.

What is a culturally responsive curriculum?

If you look at a history book, do you see yourself in the history? I know that growing up, my stories are replete with my uncles, my older uncles, who went off and fought in World War II, fought in the Vietnam War. I know that I have uncles and aunts that worked in aircraft assembly plants. Do I see them in my history book or when I read a novel? Do I read novelists that share my cultural background and their cultural backgrounds. Is the perspective that I'm learning about just a Eurocentric perspective or is there room for other kinds of perspectives? Do they have an LGBTQ perspective? These are all the things that students bring into the classroom every single day. So the curriculum, what they read, what they study, who they learn about should be reflective of the rich diversity that is America.

Does that mean new books are coming to all the schools?

Well, you know books are important but also websites and artifacts and supplemental materials and experiences and art museums and tours. It means all of that. But the good news is that we've already put out an addendum to all of our base goals in social studies where we have different kinds of authors from different backgrounds.

I wanted to ask you about some specific student proposals on this subject [of integration]. I was at a community meeting last week where there was discussion from some Eleanor Roosevelt [High School] students who were talking about getting rid of screens and also getting rid of district preference. What do you think about that?

I want to learn more about what they're proposing. It's not the first time I've heard some of those ideas but I understand that students have proposals. Look, if you want to change the world, listen to the students. Talk about first-person constituents. They are in the classrooms, they are in our schools. So I am always very interested in what our students have to say.

Similarly the group Teens Take Charge. They have their proposal about academic diversity. What do you think about that?

Again, I want to know more about what does that look like. One of the things that I've enjoyed in this first year here in New York City is spending a lot of time with groups like Teens Take Charge, IntegrateNYC, and my own chancellors Student Advisory Council. They've done their homework. [They are] very articulate young people that have some real ideas about what this should look like. So I want to learn more about what they're proposing and then see how that becomes something that perhaps we pursue.

Speaking of tests, top of mind for many students and parents this week, I got a lot of responses on Twitter when I said that I was going to be seeing you: "Ask him why there's so much testing." To parents who are determined to opt out or interested in opting out, what would you say?

Well, you have to know how your students are doing. The state of New York has an assessment. When people say, Why should we do the test? It's the law. There is a law.

Now, parents have the right for their students to opt out of the test. That's not a secret. But I do think it's important information for parents to have. How is my child doing in this particular grade? Have they mastered the state standards?

Can tests get better? We can always make them better. We're working very closely with the state education department. We have teachers from our system that are on advisory panels that are reworking these tests. You know people want us to go out in the middle of the street and have a street fight about these issues. It's not the way I do business. So we're pushing back where we need to push back. But my message to parents is this is good information for you. Help us by making sure your students don't feel the stress. They need to relax. They need to do their best. They need to make sure they have a good night's rest. It will give you some information that's actionable. But again it's only one of many things that you need to look at to see whether or not your student is doing well.

Another specific question: on school safety. I know there's an agreement between the police department and the DOE being worked out over the role of security agents in schools. Can you tell me where things stand with that and why it hasnt come out yet?

It's imminent. We're two big agencies, NYPD and DOE, and there's lots of t's to cross and is to dot. So it's imminent.

Now the whole issue of security, and I said this in my City Council testimony, the issue of security is not an issue until God forbid something happens. And then people want to know why isn't there more security. I want to make sure that every one of our schools is secure. I don't want teachers to be the security force of our schools. We have to have security agents.

So we work with the NYPD and we'll continue to work with the NYPD. We want to make sure we have safe and secure facilities with entrances and exitsand then we want to make sure that the important security happens in the creation of an environment in the school where students feel safe, they feel supported. Parents want their children to be safe in school. And we do too.

I'd love to know the defining moment in your education. What moment in your education changed your life?

That's hard. But I would have to say going back to kindergarten. I started in public schools as an English language learner. I only spoke Spanish. And I remember my kindergarten teacher, to this day, when I walked through a department store and smell that perfume, I recognize it because Mrs. Ellis who seemed like she was seven feet tall, this huge smile, these big beautiful arms, this, big beautiful African-American woman would hug me and say, Baby it's going to be OK. Because I didn't understand a word that was being said. Yet I knew that I was in a safe place. And I learned English. That was transformative for me because school could have been a very hostile environment for me. But I remember feeling so warm and accepted and loved. And I remember Mrs. Ellis. I still remember to this day. When I smell that perfume, I think of her.

Jessica Gould is a reporter in the newsroom at WNYC. You can follow her on Twitter at @ByJessicaGould.KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2019 - 22:23 | World, All, Japan

China has decided to appoint Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, considered an expert on Japan, as its next ambassador to the neighboring country, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Beijing has already told Japan that it intends to replace the current ambassador, Cheng Yonghua, early next month, ending what has been an unusually long stint for a Chinese envoy in Tokyo, the sources said.

As relations between the two countries have been improving, Beijing has likely deemed it an optimal time to send a new ambassador, they said. Kong, 59, has worked in Japan as a diplomat for more than 10 years.

The news of the impending replacement comes amid expectations that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Japan in June, when the nation hosts the Group of 20 summit in Osaka. It would be Xi's first trip to Japan since he came to power in 2013.

A new ambassador presents their credentials to Japan's emperor to formally begin their stint. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is willing to cooperate with China in making that happen in a swift manner, the sources said.



(Cheng Yonhua, left, and Kong Xuanyou)

In Japan, Crown Prince Naruhito is due to ascend the throne on May 1, after his father Emperor Akihito's abdication the day before.

Some observers say China might be trying to reshuffle its diplomats in Tokyo, as the new imperial era Reiwa will start next month in Japan.

Kong doubles as China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs at a time when the international community is closely watching whether North Korea will achieve denuclearization as its leader Kim Jong Un has pledged.

Educated at Shanghai International Studies University where he majored in Japanese, Kong is a career diplomat who has so far served as ambassador to Vietnam and assistant foreign minister before becoming vice foreign minister in 2017.

Cheng, meanwhile, has been at the forefront of diplomatic efforts for more than nine years to improve China-Japan ties, which have been mired in a territorial spat over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing intensified after the government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Abe's predecessor, decided in September 2012 to bring the islets under state control.

The situation has changed recently, however, with the neighbors last year marking the 40th anniversary of the signing and taking effect of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China.

The Senkakus, called Diaoyu in China, are controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing.

After studying at Soka University in Tokyo, Cheng started to work at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo in 1977. He served as ambassador to Malaysia and to South Korea before becoming ambassador to Japan in February 2010.

His tenure is the longest among Chinese ambassadors to Japan, which established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1972.

Last year, Cheng strived to realize Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Japan and Abe's trip to Beijing.Anushka Sharma seems to be a fan of keeping secrets like no other. The actress should definitely consider changing her middle name to secrecy. She recently revealed that her husband Virat Kohli went to the extent of changing his name to Rahul so that nobody recognize the couple when they were planning to secretly tie the knot in Tuscany, Italy. The actress is now pregnant and she has been hiding it from the world since a long time. Anushka and Virat spend a lot of time together because she doesn't want to stay away from her husband anymore. Even more, since she is in such a delicate condition, Virat has asked her to stay closer.

also read Dabangg 3 title song to be shot in Maheshwar, 500 back dancers will be part of the song

Here it is to be noted that it is no wonder that Anushka Sharma has still not announced any movie which she will either be producing or acting in next. Meanwhile Virat Kohli was recently playing in IPL from the team Royal Challengers Bangalore. Anushka recently posted photos from a magazine photoshoot, but they are throwback photos.

Interestingly before Anushka Sharma could announce her pregnancy, former actress Amy Jackson announced her pregnancy the same way, in style. Amy, who was engaged to George Panayiotou, is now expecting a baby. She announced the news with a silhouette of her baby bump and mentioned, 'What better way to announce than on Mother's Day'.

also read Chappal kahan se liya Ranbir Kapoor asks reporter, watch incident here

However , before Anushka Sharma here Amy, who was last seen in '2.0', also featured on a magazine cover with her husband. She shared a photo of that today itself. Anushka and Virat are also in talks with a magazine for the same, and once things have been finalized, the couple would announce the grand good news. It has been two years since Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma tied the knot in December. They are finally ready to nurture a new life. Anushka has already told Virat that she would continue working in films even after the baby enters their lives. The couple will host a babyshower in the coming months.There was a time, and not so long ago, when upper Bowery briefly became one of the city's most incongruous stretches of destination-dining, with hotspots like Pearl and Ash, Cherche Midi, DBGB, and Rebelle hosting wine-soaked parties every night amid the battered old restaurant supply shops. They're all closed now, as is the also-very-briefly-hot French brasserie La Gamelle, on the block next to the New Museum, but it seems that restaurateurs have not entirely given up the historic stretch.

About a month ago a big new Greek mezze and meat palace opened in the La Gamelle (nee Bowery Diner) space, called Karvouna. Co-owner Dimitris Vlahakis and chef Giuseppe Scalco are from Greecespecifically, Athens and its environsand before cooking here Scalco spent time at the Greek steakhouse Merakia in the Flatiron District. So the passion and experience is definitely there, though whether it's enough to attract diners back to Bowery remains to be seen.

The Karvouna menu has many of the dishes you'd expect, from Spanakopita and feta-heavy salads to Lamb Ribs and Moussaka. But at a press dinner this week we sampled several of the more unusual-sounding offerings as well. One of Karvouna's self-proclaimed signature dishes are the Peinirli, or Pizza Boats, which arrive via a "100 years old street food recipe from Smyrna." These are basically canoe-shaped mini-loaves of hollowed-out bread (think khachapuri), filled with fluffy kefalograviera cheese and your choice of seasoned ground beef or bits of bacon.

There are Halloumi Fries, which are lightly-battered cheese sticks that you dip in a crock of yogurt, and a grilled Octopus mezze that sits in a creamy Santorini fava bean sauce. Chef Scalco cooks a lot of pig back there in the kitchen, and the Pork Belly mezze features a trio of crisp-skinned, heavily-fatted slabs of meat in a puddle of ouzo honey and sauteed greens.

The showstopper here is the Mix Grill For Two, which lands on your table atop a warm (though not actively aflame) hibachi. There's a lot of meat on this thing, including big chunks of heavily charred pork kodosouvli and a whole pork sausage cut into bite-sized pieces. Peppers, onions, and zucchini slices take up position on the vegetable side of the grill. It also comes with a side of Lemon Potatoes. For dessert we had two of pastry chef's Richard Chirol's creations, an unnaturally pink Red Velvet Halva and a log of Baklava covered in crushed pistachios.

Karvouna's basic layout is the same as it was in the La Gamelle days, and when we arrived in the early evening only the front dining area was open, a room dominated by a heavy, curvy bar and a mural of Medusa. The ceiling is all blue sky and puffy clouds.

Karvouna Mezze is located at 241 Bowery, between Stanton and Rivington, and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to midnight (212-388-0052; karvounamezze.com)OMNY, the MTA's new tap card system, has been spotted at several subway stations throughout the city in recent weeks. On Twitter and Reddit, straphangers have reported seeing the shiny, retrofitted tap card readers at the likes of Borough Hall, Bowling Green, Bleecker Street, and 28th Streets, at the entrances to the 4, 5, and 6 lines.

The new card readers are the first part of a pilot program the MTA is unveiling throughout the spring. For the next few weeks, MTA employees will be testing out the new readers, which will first run through 16 subway stations from Grand Central-42nd Street to Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center, and the SIM30 express bus in Staten Island. OMNY is expected to launch for MTA customers at those stations in May.

From there, the new system will gradually spread to include commuter rails such as the Long Island Railroad, as well as subway and bus lines throughout the boroughs. It's worth noting that other ways to get around the city, including the NYC Ferry and the PATH train, are not yet included in the OMNY rollout, as amNew York reports.

To use OMNY, people can wave their smartphones or a contactless bank card to get through the turnstile. Those who prefer using the MTA app or cellphone wallets, like Google Pay, can do that, too. It's still possible to buy an OMNY card itself to get through (and with cash), and people who don't have a smartphone can purchase this "contactless OMNY" beginning in 2021, according to a letter that the newly-minted MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye sent to employees in February. OMNY, which stands for One Metro New York, will completely replace the dreaded swipe by 2023 (Straphangers will be able to use MetroCards until then, though).

This @NYCTSubway turnstile started life accepting tokens. Then it had a magnetic stripe MetroCard reader bolted onto it. Now it has an NFC OMNY card reader for the next iteration of @MTA fare payment. Not activated just yet, but coming soon. pic.twitter.com/xLFfwCBAb7  Jason Rabinowitz (@AirlineFlyer) March 14, 2019

To install the new system, MTA has partnered again with Cubic, the same company that installed MetroCard readers throughout the city and that's developed the likes of London's Oyster card and Chicago's Ventra.

Damn look at these beautiful card reader MTA turnstiles. Welcome to the modern world, NYC pic.twitter.com/6g0Y8nddzs  Good Time Charley (@charleybone) April 1, 2019

Given the new electronic system's reliance on smartphones, it also raises questions about privacy and data collection. New York City Transit President Andy Byford and Chrissy Ditmore, the director of strategy for Cubic Transportation System, addressed this during a UK International trade fair panel Wednesday.

Regarding the potential to collect vast amounts of data from riders, Ditmore said, it's happening already. "Anyone that owns a cell phone is sending your personal information, data movements, shopping your everything to someone already anyway," she said. "The reality is that ship has sailed, in the U.S."

Byford added that having more granular data about riders will help the MTA improve its service. "It will also enable us to truly understand people's origins and destinations, so you can more effectively and more efficiently use tax payers dollars and scarce funding, you can more efficiently assign supply to demand."

Additional reporting by Stephen Nessen.

When in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the Swachh Bharat Mission and gave the mantra of 3Rs  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, not many could imagine how it will transpire in the coming years. From individuals and residential colonies to startups and big MNCs, today, everyone wants to contribute their small effort towards placing India among the worlds cleanest countries chart. Though we still have years to go, waste management solutions from companies like SMS Hyrotech is worth talking and using.Laced with the responsibility of the 3R mantra and a conscious zest to eliminate waste management hassles, S.P Singh (Founder & Chairman) incepted SMS Hydrotech in 1988 as a reputed manufacturer, supplier & exporter of broad range of waste-treating equipment. The company designs and develops high quality and cost-effective waste recycling machines for food/organic/horticulture waste and municipal solid waste shredder in different specifications as per clients requirements, guaranteeing a 100 percent natural, 24-hour composting process.

SMS Hydrtotech develops Organic/Food/Horticulture Waste Compost Machine, Horticulture Waste to Biomass Pellets and Municipal Solid Waste Shredders. Unlike compositing machines laced with the critical & lengthy operating method, SMS Hydrotechs Waste Compositing Machines are plug and play, with zero discharge, compact in size, Siemens Automation, and consumes less electricity that can be supported by solar power. Moreover, these machines have web-server functionalities that can be easily monitored over a website from anywhere, along with the infrastructural features that guarantee reliability, long & sturdy life services with easy installation & usage. Surya V Singh, CEO, SMS Hydrotech, avers, We ensure no lag in the quality, delivery & service support of our products & services, hence we maintain 24-hour service support and service back-up support available in 20 countries. "SMS Hydrotechs Waste Compositing Machines are plug and play, with zero discharge, compact in size, Siemens Automation, and consumes less electricity that can be supported by solar power" The Quality-Oriented Company with Moral Values Backed by rigorous R&D technical team headed by Singh and Surya, who also look after the production, planning, execution & service-support first-hand, SMS Hydrotech guarantees the best waste-disposal management solutions. In compliance with the 2016 waste management rules and regulations floated by MGT & the Ministry of Environment, the company has maintained a list of certificates,

government licenses and lab-testing reports to signify assured services. As a moral obligation, the company keeps a track on poor waste-dumping in illegal locations and informs relevant government bodies. This is why it has over 20,000 followers on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.



Furthermore, the company also propagates training and provides paid consultancy to create awareness among clients on understanding the importance of segregation, the different technologies available in the market and implementing them to resolve these issues. Striding on the success of these services and products, SMS Hydrotech is currently planning to introduce machines that are capable of running on 100 percent solar power & batteries with complete web monitoring and a controlling system.



Serving Executive Clientele

Certified under ISO 9001:2015, the company is known as one of Indias leading manufacturers of waste management machines & services, thereby offering service to executive clientele; some being, Hilton Hotels, Radisson Blu Hotels, Dell, Emirates Golf Club Dubai, the Indian Air-force, the Indian Army, Municipal Corporation of Faridabad, Power Grid Meerut and many more. Ever since the launch of its products in 2011, SMS Hydrotech has witnessed immense growth in support with governmental bodies over the years, earning a $1.7 million sale in the past fiscal year.Data from a landmark study of the world's longest migrating seabird reveals how overland migration is an integral part of their amazing journey.

Analysing the data from electronic tags retrieved from 47 Arctic Terns, the Newcastle University-led team has been able to characterise in unprecedented detail the route and stop-off points during this record-breaking bird's 90,000 km annual migration.

This includes:

An 8,000km, 24-day, non-stop flight over the Indian Ocean, feeding on the move

An overland detour from the Farne Irelands to the Irish Sea and over Ireland to the Atlantic

A short stay on the New Zealand coast before completing the final leg of their journey

A stop-off at Llangorse Lake, in the Brecon Beacons National Park, during their return journey in the Spring

Led by scientists at Newcastle University, UK, in collaboration with BBC's Springwatch and The National Trust, 53 adult birds nesting on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast were fitted with geolocators over a three year period.

Weighing just over 100 g the Arctic Tern has the longest migration of any bird, travelling all the way to Antarctica for the winter and back to the Farnes, which are owned and managed by the National Trust, to breed in the spring.

So far, 47 tags have been retrieved and the research team, led by Dr Chris Redfern of Newcastle University, are starting to analyse the data.

"Technology is revealing details of the movement and behaviour of these amazing birds in unprecedented detail," says Dr Redfern, whose initial findings in collaboration with Dr Richard Bevan are published today in the academic journal Ibis.

"Arctic Terns feed on surface fish and other marine animals so it has always been assumed they would migrate via a coastal route, down the North Sea and through the English Channel.

"But instead our data has shown their regular route is to travel overland across the UK to the Irish Sea and some are going even further crossing Ireland to the North Atlantic."

After that, it's a long hard trek south, down the coast of West Africa and then out across the Indian Ocean.

"Our data suggests their flight over the Indian Ocean is an 8,000 km long haul without a break, probably feeding on the move," says Dr Redfern. "For a bird that weighs less than an iPhone, that's an amazing feat.

"Many of the terns have gone even further, ending up around New Zealand before turning south towards the East Antarctic, finally arriving four months after leaving Northumberland.

"The scale of their migratory journey across featureless oceans is breath-taking! In that context, the UK land mass between the Irish Sea and the Farne Islands must be no obstacle at all to an Arctic Tern and the quickest route to their breeding colony."

The data also highlights key stop-off points off the coast of Lancashire and Wales in April and May as the Terns make their way back to the Farne Islands to breed. Dr Redfern, who carried out the study with Dr Richard Bevan and the Natural History Society of Northumbria, said the detailed picture of Arctic Tern migration patterns would help with future

conservation efforts.

"Understanding their behaviour in detail means we can start to build a picture of which areas are important feeding and breeding grounds."

Longest flight ever recorded

More than two thousand pairs of Arctic Terns breed on the Farne Islands. Sitting two miles off the coast of Northumberland, the islands are home to 87,000 pairs of seabird, including Puffin, Eider Duck and Shag. The National Trust has cared for the Farne Islands since 1925.

Previous studies have shown these birds are likely to return each year to the same few square metres of ground, making it an ideal environment to carry out year-to-year tracking studies with geolocators.

Earlier data from the study, featured on BBC Springwatch in 2016, showed that one bird had flown an estimated 96,000km (almost 60,000 miles) from its breeding grounds on the Farne Islands to its winter quarters in Antarctica.

The bird started its migration on 25/7/2015 reaching the tip of South Africa by 25/8/2015

It then moved into the Indian Ocean where it spent nearly all of October (7/10/2015-31/10/2015; 1st staging area - 35.4 S, 71.9 E)

After this it moved to its second staging area (60.6 S, 70.1 E) on the coast of Antarctica (3/11/2015 - 15/11/2015)

It then slowly made its way along the edge of the Antarctic continent until eventually ending up in the Weddell Sea (3/2/2016) where it stayed until 23/3/2016 (3rd staging area - 69.6 S, 25.3 W)

Finally, it moved up to the tip of South Africa (4/4/2016) and made its way along the west coast of Africa and arrived in the Farne Islands' area 4/5/2015

Over its lifetime the record-breaking tern could be flying as far as 3 million km between the Farne Islands and Antarctica, the equivalent of nearly four trips to the moon and back.

###SAN FRANCISCO (April 2, 2018) - One critically endangered species of smooth-shelled abalone is making a comeback in certain parts of its range along the California coast. To better understand the extent of black abalone recovery, a collaborative team led by scientists at the California Academy of Sciences, San Diego State University, University of Oregon, and Channel Islands National Park is turning to archeological sites on the Channel Islands. Their findings, published today in Ecology and Evolution, suggest that while the recent ecological rebound is encouraging, there's still work to do before the black abalone should be considered fully recovered.

"Our goal is to provide a deep historical lens for understanding black abalone across 10,000 years of human fishing," says Dr. Todd Braje, Academy Curator of Anthropology. "Documenting abalone populations across millennia helps resource managers put shorter-term decadal changes in context. We hope these data will serve as a new benchmark for setting management goals."

Black abalone play a critical role in the kelp ecosystem along the California coast. The marine snails are an important food source for key predators like the endangered sea otter. Historically, coastal Native Americans relied on abalone for over 10,000 years--the shellfish later became one of California's first commercial fisheries.

"Management goals are often set using modern data from fisheries already on the verge of collapse," says lead author Hannah Haas, a former Master's student at San Diego State University. "If we want to restore kelp ecosystems, we first have to understand what a healthy system actually looks like, and archeological data can help paint that picture."

To better understand the characteristics of a flourishing abalone population in a historically healthy ecosystem, the study team turned to the archeological record left behind along the rocky shorelines of the Channel Islands. San Miguel Island, the westernmost island in the archipelago, hosts archeological sites spanning the last 10,000 years where the Chumash and their ancestors once deposited abalone shells by the thousands into trash piles known as shell middens. The team recovered nearly 2,000 whole abalone shells from 26 shell middens and measured shell size. They then compared deep historical shell size to modern measurements of live abalone collected by Channel Island National Park biologists during recent ecological monitoring. Shell size indicates the ratio of juveniles to adults and the population structure through time, which can help scientists compare and contrast overall population health between deep historical and modern eras.

While there has been an encouraging rebound of black abalone in recent decades, current populations still pale in comparison to historical levels. Several thousand years ago, the distribution of juvenile to adult-sized abalone was more akin to what ecologists recognize as a healthy population. This was probably maintained by a delicate balance between competitors, predators, and prey that may have actually increased the productivity of black abalone over the long term.

"We hope that our long-term analyses over the 10,000-year history of black abalone fishing in Southern California may help resource managers determine whether current abalone populations are healthy," says Haas.

Millions of smooth-shelled abalone once clung to California's rocky coastline until a steep decline in the 1990s, driven by overfishing, warming waters, and a devastating infection known as withering foot syndrome. California closed commercial and recreational black abalone fisheries in 1993 and listed the species as endangered in 2009.

"A variety of perspectives and data are key to understanding how to manage toward ecological balance rather than an era defined by commercial fishing, sea otter extirpation, and ecosystem dysfunction," says Braje. "We're trying to put together a diverse group of scholars--archeologists, biologists, and resource managers--to combine data insights and all work toward the same goal of abalone recovery and restoring healthy California kelp forest ecosystems."

###

About Research at the California Academy of Sciences

The Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences is at the forefront of efforts to understand two of the most important topics of our time: the nature and sustainability of life on Earth. Based in San Francisco, the Institute is home to more than 100 world-class scientists, state-of-the-art facilities, and nearly 46 million scientific specimens from around the world. The Institute also leverages the expertise and efforts of more than 100 international Associates and 450 distinguished Fellows. Through expeditions around the globe, investigations in the lab, and analyses of vast biological datasets, the Institutes scientists work to understand the evolution and interconnectedness of organisms and ecosystems, the threats they face around the world, and the most effective strategies for sustaining them into the future. Through innovative partnerships and public engagement initiatives, they also guide critical sustainability and conservation decisions worldwide, inspire and mentor the next generation of scientists, and foster responsible stewardship of our planet.In two new species of rare giant stick insects, males turn livid blue or multicolored at sexual maturity -- but why?

Biodiversity hotspot Madagascar is one of the world's biggest islands, and home to some of its biggest insects. Now German scientists have discovered two new species of giant stick insect, living only in the dry forests of Madagascar's northernmost tip.

One giant female measures a whopping 24cm - but it is the smaller males that are most striking. At sexual maturity these daredevils abandon their stick-like camouflage for dazzling blue or many-colored shining armor.

Writing in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the researchers describe their rare and exciting findings, and wonder at the reproductive success of the least stick-like stick insects on the planet.

When two become four

"Nearly all of the 3000+ known species of stick insects try to be inconspicuous and just look like twigs," says senior author Dr. Sven Bradler of the University of Gottingen, Germany. "There are a very few, very large exceptions - and we have just discovered a couple more of them."

The authors re-examined specimens they'd previously identified as odd-looking examples of two existing giant stick insect species, whose adult males remarkably are bright blue or multicolored.

"These were similar in size - 15 to 24cm - but generally less spiny and a bit differently colored than typical examples of their kind," explains Bradler. "Now genetic tests confirm that the quirky individuals are in fact two new species, distinct from the original two but part of the same group." explains Bradler.

Bradler's reclassification places members of this group of species as close evolutionary relatives to other Madagascan stick insects, rather than cousins from overseas as previously thought. This is a potentially major finding, as it challenges the prevailing view that sticks insects colonized Madagascar multiple times.

He who dares, wins

The discovery also prompted the researchers to wonder: what reproductive advantage do these males gain from their bright colors, that is worth exposing themselves to predators?

The first author Dr. Frank Glaw of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich, and colleagues bred the new giant stick insect species in captivity to observe their behavior.

"Males of one species started mating attempts only when they achieved their bright blue color."

This might suggest that the males use their bright coloring to attract a mate. However, it is hard to believe the males could find a mate before being eaten - unless their bright coloring acts as a deterrent to predators.

"Males searching for a mate have to move about more, so pretending to be a stick becomes tricky. Better perhaps to plump for the opposite: a brightly colored warning."

Bright colors - suggestive of toxicity - keep safe vivid members of other typically camouflaged species, like lividly colored Madagascan frogs.

"In support of this, all stick insects have neck glands that repellant substances, and these are typically well-developed in brightly colored species. Alternatively, like the Madagascan frogs some giant stick insects may have developed the ability to accumulate toxins from their food."

But testing these hypotheses will be tough, admits Glaw.

Bradler adds "More than one factor may have played a role in the evolution of this remarkably conspicuous coloration. So even with more data on mate selection, habits, predators, natural food plants, toxins produced by defense glands and possible accumulation of toxins among giant stick insects, finding evidence for these ideas may prove difficult."

Colorful stick insects have a bright future

Whatever its function, the splendid coloring of the male giant stick insects could make them a strong flagship species to promote the unique biodiversity of Madagascar, and the need for its protection.

"Already the once-uncertain future of these two new species seems secured, with their forest habitat in northern Madagascar a hotspot for conservation priorities," says Glaw. "It is vital to maintain awareness and motivation to keep logging at bay. This precious area also harbors the highest density of critically endangered reptiles in Madagascar and is home of one of the most threatened primate species in the world, the lemur Lepilemur septentrionalis."

###

Please link to the original research article in your reporting: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00105/full

Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading Open Access scholarly publisher. Our mission is to make research results openly available to the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. We empower scientists with innovative Open Science solutions that radically improve how science is published, evaluated and disseminated to researchers, innovators and the public. Access to research results and data is open, free and customized through Internet Technology, thereby enabling rapid solutions to the critical challenges we face as humanity. For more information, visit http://www.frontiersin.org and follow @FrontiersIn on Twitter.SAN ANTONIO -- April 2, 2019 -- NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) recently awarded Southwest Research Institute the largest Hubble Space Telescope (HST) solar system program ever, with 206 of Hubble's orbits around the Earth allocated to the project. The Solar System Origins Legacy Survey (SSOLS) will focus on Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), particularly binary populations.

"The Kuiper Belt is a unique remnant of the solar system's primordial planetesimal disk," said Dr. Alex Parker, the SwRI planetary scientist leading the survey. "This cold, calm region has preserved an extraordinarily large population of binary objects, particularly those where the two objects have similar mass."

Hubble orbits at an altitude of about 350 miles, circling the Earth every 97 minutes. Most HST time is dedicated to studying interstellar space phenomena. The Kuiper Belt is a distant reservoir of ancient material that lies at the edge of our solar system, beyond all the terrestrial and giant planets. At the present time, the properties of the Kuiper Belt's unique population of binary systems can only be accurately measured with Hubble. SwRI leads this large HST project focused on characterizing the binary and color properties of over 200 unique KBOs. Team members are spread across the USA, Canada and Northern Ireland.

"These binary systems are powerful tracers of the processes that built the planets," Parker said. "We will use Hubble to test the theory that many planetesimals formed as binary systems from the get-go, and that today's Kuiper Belt binaries did not come from mergers of initially solitary objects."

Binary objects orbit around each other as they collectively circle the Sun. Recent models of small body formation suggest that binaries are leftovers of the very earliest times of our solar system, when pairs of bodies could form directly from collapsing swarms of small-scale "pebbles."

Competing theories of planetesimal formation predict different size and color distributions for binary and solitary KBOs. If objects first formed through an accretion process and were merged into binaries later, scientists expect the objects in binary systems to have dissimilar colors and to have a different size distribution than solitary objects. However, if planetesimals formed through a rapid collapse process that produced some solitary objects and some binary systems from the start, scientists would expect objects in binary systems to have a similar surface color and a size distribution similar to that of solitary objects.

The SSOLS program builds upon the legacy of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) and Canada-France Ecliptic Plane Survey (CFEPS), the two largest well-characterized Kuiper Belt surveys ever conducted. By drawing targets from these well-characterized surveys, SSOLS will provide a coherent framework to test leading theories of planetesimal formation and the origin and evolution of the outer solar system's architecture.

The SSOLS team will be posting updates, images, and results on its website, https://www.ssols.space/.

###

SSOLS is a Cycle 26 HST treasury program administered by STScI, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and based in Baltimore, Maryland. STScI is charged with helping humanity explore the universe with advanced space telescopes and ever-growing data archives.

For more information, visit https://www.swri.org/planetary-science.GREENFIELD, WI / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2019 / 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin, Inc. (BCOW), the holding company of PyraMax Bank, FSB, is pleased to announce the formation of 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin Community Foundation, Inc., a charitable foundation. As part of the reorganization of PyraMax Bank in January 2019, $100,000 and 48,767 shares of 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin, Inc. common stock were issued to the community foundation, which will emphasize support for affordable housing, education, health and human services, youth programs, and general community improvement.





Grants from the Foundation will be awarded throughout the year, and grant applications will be accepted year-round. Awards will be generally limited to the eight Southeastern Wisconsin communities in which PyraMax Bank currently serves, and recipients must demonstrate Section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(1) status. The foundation will also explicitly not provide financial support to political organizations or candidates, activities for religious purposes, contributions to individual endeavors or scholarships.

Interested parties may apply for grants from 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin Community Foundation, Inc. on the Community Giving page of PyraMax Bank's website (www.PyraMaxBank.com). Guidelines for grant applications and a fillable form are currently available, and submissions will be reviewed by the board of 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin, MHC.

About PyraMax Bank

PyraMax Bank was established in 1895. With more than $486 million in assets and eight locations in Southeastern Wisconsin, including Franklin, Grafton, Greenfield, Milwaukee, Mukwonago, South Milwaukee, Waukesha and West Allis. PyraMax Bank offers the unequaled power of local decision making, and a commitment to the local communities in which we operate.

Additional Links

PyraMax Bank Website - Community Giving

SOURCE: 1895 Bancorp of Wisconsin, Inc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/540753/1895-Bancorp-of-Wisconsin-Community-Foundation-Inc-Formed-by-PyraMax-Bank-FSB



The looming threat of recession has been rising in the current year due to a globally weakening macro-economic environment. Uncertainty over the resolution of the U.S.-China trade war, Brexit-related volatility, policy paralyses due to elections in major countries (India, Thailand) and a slowdown in China are signficant headwinds.



WTO, OECD & IMF Lowers Estimates



On Apr 2, World Trade Organization (WTO) lowered its global trade growth forecast for 2019. WTO economists now expect merchandise trade volume growth to decline from 3% in 2018 to 2.6% in 2019.



WTO attributed the lower GDP projections for North America, Europe and Asia for the decline in the current-year trade growth projection. Moreover, consensus estimates have world GDP growth slowing from 2.9% in 2018 to 2.6% in both 2019 and 2020.



Earlier, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) lowered 2019 world economic growth forecast from 3.5% to 3.3% due to prevalent trade tensions and political uncertainty in Europe. The organization provided a gloomy outlook for Europe, particularly the U.K. due to the lingering uncertainty about Brexit.





OECD stated that if the U.K. crashes out of European Union (EU) without a deal, it may see a recession in the near term. This apart, the group had a bleak opinion about China, as well as for most of the emerging markets.



OECDs lowered forecast followed the International Monetary Funds (IMF) footsteps.



How Should Investors Cope With Recession Threat



Apart from the gloomy projections, the yield-curve inversion between the 3-month US Treasury Note and 10-year U.S. Treasury Note has further spooked investors.



The rising recession threat amid global economic slowdown urges investors to take a careful note of their portfolios and re-balance those to counter a downturn. Investing in stocks from defensive sectors such as healthcare, staples, utilities and telecom looks prudent at this time as demand for their products and solutions remains invariant even during an all-encompassing slowdown.



The Zacks Style Score comes handy while picking such stocks. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), offer good investment opportunities ahead of recession. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Here we pick six stocks that also have a dividend yield of more than 4% and market cap greater than $5 billion. Higher dividend yield implies that these companies are more mature, with established customer base and relatively stable revenues, earnings, and cash flow.



Further, these stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 on a year-to-date basis.



Year-to-date Performance





Story continues







Our Picks



London-based Rio Tinto Group RIO is an international mining company with a market cap of $76.34 billion.



The company currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and has a VGM Score of A. Further, dividend yield is 6.01%.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 21% to $6.28, over the last 60 days.



Houston, TX-based Phillips 66 Partners LP PSXP currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of A. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion.



This master limited partnership (MLP), involved in operating and developing midstream energy infrastructures, has a dividend yield of 6.28%.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 has increased 6.1% to $4.37, in the last 60 days.



Toronto-headquartered Manulife Financial Corp MFC is one of the three dominant life insurers within the domestic Canadian market and possesses rapidly-growing operations in the United States and several Asian countries. The company has a market cap of $34.25 billion.



Manulife has a Zacks Rank #2, at present, and a VGM Score of B. Moreover, its dividend yield is 4.37%.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the ongoing year has moved up a penny to $2.19 in 60 days time.



Tulsa, OK-based ONEOK OKE is an energy company, engaged in natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) businesses, with a market cap of $28.96 billion.



ONEOK currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has VGM Score of B. Also, its dividend yield is 4.89%.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 has moved 2.1% north to $2.97, over the last 60 days. Earnings are expected to grow 6.8% year over year.



Prudential plc PUK holds a Zacks Rank #2 and has a VGM Score of A. The company has a market cap of $53.48 billion.



This London-based health, protection and life insurance solutions provider has a dividend yield of 4.33%.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has been revised 1.5% upward, in the last 60 days.



Calgary-based TransCanada TRP is a premier energy infrastructure provider in North America. The company carries a Zacks Rank #2, at present, and has a VGM Score of B.



TransCanada has a market cap of $42.32 billion and dividend yield of 4.97%.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the ongoing year has improved 2.1% to $2.91, over the last 60 days.



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Phillips 66 Partners LP (PSXP) : Free Stock Analysis Report



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchAirAsia CEO Looks to Disrupt Again, This Time in Online Travel

Who will be the biggest online travel agency in Southeast Asia in future? Traveloka? Expedia? Agoda?

If you have not added AirAsia to the usual suspects, nows a good time. As weve said before, online travel agencies will face competition from an unlikely source: AirAsia. Now its CEO Tony Fernandes has made it clear that the companys future lies in being more than just an airline. And a lot of that has to do with disrupting the disruptors in todays online travel space.

So if not an airline, what will AirAsia be? A tech player that happens to own an airline? Yes, yes, yes, Fernandes told Skift in an interview this week.

AirAsia has quietly been observing the disruption in the online travel and fin-tech space and believes its future is in travel e-commerce, he said.

See AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes at Skift Forum Asia

It sees that without so much as lifting a finger, or spending the millions that the big bad online travel players do on marketing and customer acquisition, it can rake in huge sales. Last year, sales of AirAsia tickets alone, on AirAsia.com, amounted to $4 billion (RM16 billion).

What if it opens the platform to be a full online travel agency that sells not just AirAsia tickets but other airlines?

What if it starts being bloody awesome at selling hotels and pushing deals, which it never did before?

Monster Machine

After 18 years in business, the proverbial pot of gold is not so much that AirAsia is now the largest low-cost carrier in Southeast Asia, but that the airline has gifted him a huge customer base and data, and a brand synonymous with value, which he can use to build other businesses, said Fernandes.

Ive 65 million monthly active users of AirAsia.com, why am I not monetizing that? he said.

In comparison, Traveloka has 22.2 million and Expedia 60 million, according to AirAsia figures. Yet, Traveloka has a valuation of $4 billion, Expedia $17.9 billion and AirAsia, $2.3 billion.

We looked at why investors started investing in OTAs and we suddenly thought, we have better data and reach than many of them. So weve been building the right people, systems and infrastructures for our platform business. And now were ready to unleash our monster machine.

Story continues

This is an ecosystem of AirAsia.com, AirAsias e-wallet and credit card BigPay, and a loyalty program that will enable customers to earn and burn points faster.

On April 8, AirAsia will relaunch the AirAsia.com website and mobile app, dropping the preference currently given to AirAsia flight booking, as is the norm with airline websites.

We never advertised hotels, holidays; we were that bloody awesome flight company. Now were going to be bloody awesome at selling hotels, holidays, et cetera. And we will be doing some cool things with AI, machine learning and voice that no other OTA has done. We are developing a smart travel planner for customers.

We will have our own messenger product  think of WeChat and some of the things we can do. Theres a whole lot more. Customers will continue their journey with us far longer than with the traditional OTAs, doing tours and activities, shopping and so on with us, said Fernandes.

Selling Competitors

But it is a moot point if other airlines will want to sell on AirAsia.com and hand over their customer data to a competitor.

Fernandes said he would sell all airlines, not just low-cost, as some full-service carriers have cheap fares as well. We will negotiate directly with airlines and also go to consolidators. Ive a lot of relationships with airlines  including those who dont like us  but ultimately, people want business from a strong channel, he said.

He expects AirAsia.com to begin including other airlines within this year.

Neither is he worried about cannibalizing his own airline sales. The Internet is transparent. People who buy AirAsia tickets would already have checked Kayak or other price comparison sites. Weve got to be good or our offers deserve to be kicked, he said.

Hotel content and packages currently are from AirAsiaGo.com, which is powered by Expedia, although that contract ends next year. We may continue with Expedia or work with someone else and build some of our own supply. The beauty is there is so much choice out there, said Fernandes. The ability to get inventory from other places is far different today than it was three years ago.

Its brands AirAsiaGo.com, Vidi, which provides tours and attractions, and Travel 360 destination guides will go, leaving only one brand, AirAsia.com. Their content will be fed into AirAsia.com but the brands will disappear as we dont want to drive traffic to five different websites. There will be only two platforms, AirAsia.com and BigPay, and the ability for customers to earn and burn faster with those two, he said.

He wont disclose sales targets for the new AirAsia.com and app, only saying his first goal is to replicate the $4 billion sales of AirAsia tickets in other services.

Amazonian

But wont AirAsia.com still be seen as an airline website, as its name suggests?

Amazon started by selling books; it now sells cabbage. Go-Jek is ride-hailing, now it delivers massages. We have delivered on planes, now we will deliver on everything else, said Fernandes.

Its easy to change peoples mindset about AirAsia to an online travel agency. Its just advertising and branding, something were good at. And about having a product that works, strong personalization through knowing our customers and strong payment infrastructure. Who wants to take 10 steps to pay when you can buy anything with one click?

Still, the biggest question mark is, can Fernandes cause another disruption? When he disrupted legacy carriers 18 years ago, its an industry that was begging for a disruption. Now hes up against disrupters, not legacies.

Expedia, for example, has more than 250 million app downloads, compared with AirAsias 32.2 million.

Said Fernandes, I came from the rock and roll [music] business, I didnt know anything about airlines. Yet we have executed one of the hardest businesses, there were politics, national carriers, rules and regulations and what not.

The similarity is uncanny. Now people say, Oh, hes an airline guy, how is he going to execute in the tech world? Well, we were a tech company before anyone else. We were the first website in Southeast Asia to sell tickets online.

As for Expedia [downloads], Expedia is global and has been doing this much longer. The only reason to download AirAsia app before was to buy AirAsia tickets. Expedia had many more reasons for people to download its app. Were now giving many more reasons for them to download AirAsia app.

Tech backbone

AirAsia has quietly made senior hires who came from tech companies such Grab, Expedia and Traveloka. Among them are Lye Kong Wei, group head of data, formerly with Grab; Elias Vafiadis, group head of software engineering, and Nikunj Shanti, group head of product, both former Expedia executives.

Fernandes said, How did AirAsia do well? We had the right people. Not all the people in AirAsia have the skills set to do what we want to do. Hence weve put in the right people, right plumbing in the last few years. Weve hired hundreds of people in the world.

AirAsia has set up a tech center in Bangalore, India, and will opening a center in Poland and Indonesia. It also worked with Palantir on data analytics and with Google on machine learning.

Fernandes said he is executing the vision from a cash positive standpoint, as opposed to relying on hundreds of millions of funds from wealthy benefactors.

Plus, its all low cost, he said. The biggest cash drains for online travel agencies are acquiring customers and spending huge dollars on advertising. We have the customers, data and network.

There is no need to spend $5 billion to build the business. Remember, I built the airline with two planes and less than half a million ringgit [$122,572].

See AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes at Skift Forum Asia

Subscribe to Skift newsletters covering the business of travel, restaurants, and wellness.(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc.s facial-recognition software is coming under fire again, this time from a group of artificial intelligence researchers that includes one of the fields most prominent scientists.

Twenty-six researchers, including Yoshua Bengio, a recent winner of the Turing Award, the industrys highest honor, called for Amazon to stop selling its Rekognition AI service to police departments in a post on Wednesday. Bengio was joined by Anima Anandkumar, a former principal scientist at Amazons cloud division, and staffers from Google, Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc. and several universities.

The group defended the work of two other AI researchers who found Amazons software had much higher error rates when predicting the gender of darker-skinned women in images, compared with lighter-skinned men. Amazon had argued against the results and methodology of that study, authored by the University of Torontos Inioluwa Deborah Raji and Joy Buolamwini, a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Amazon did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Almost everyone involved in facial-recognition technology sees problems, even as the software is being used for everything from tagging friends in social media photos to law enforcement. The dispute over Amazons software has been raging for almost a year. The company sold its Rekognition product to a police department in Oregon, sparking concern it could fuel discrimination. The American Civil Liberties Union said a test it ran of the software falsely matched 28 members of Congress with mugshots and that those flagged were disproportionately people of color.

It is important to have the social and scholarly debates about what is socially and ethically acceptable in the use of these new technologies, Bengio said in an email. This case highlights such issues in a very clear way and is a good way to increase public awareness. Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal, said he hopes the discussion will led to companies putting in place internal rules as well as the adoption of government regulations so that the best-behaving companies are not at a disadvantage compared to the others.

Story continues

Matt Wood, general manager of AI at Amazon Web Services, and Michael Punke, vice president of global public policy, said the company couldnt reproduce the results of Raji and Buolamwinis study. The Amazon executives also said the study did not use Rekognition in the right way and that it used one type of facial-AI software as a proxy for another.

Bengio, the Turing Award winner, and the other 25 AI researchers called Amazons response disappointing on Wednesday.

We hope that the company will instead thoroughly examine all of its products and question whether they should currently be used by police, the researchers wrote. Mr. Punke writes that the company supports legislation to ensure that its products are not used in a manner that infringes civil liberties. We call on Amazon to stop selling Rekognition to law enforcement as such legislation and safeguards are not in place.

The researchers also noted that other companies, including IBM and Microsoft, were able to reproduce the original studys data and use it to improve their facial-recognition systems.

The fact that company representatives chose to refute the Raji and Buolamwini paper highlights the importance of a rational and open debate, which will hopefully discourage other companies from using similar tactics, and instead encourage them to improve their products appropriately and engage in a constructive dialogue with scientists who work on these issues, Bengio said.

(Updates with comments from Bengio in sixth paragraph.)

To contact the author of this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alistair Barr at abarr18@bloomberg.net

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.Amedisys, Inc., AMED recently completed the acquisition of RoseRock Healthcare, a prominent hospice care provider in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Financial terms of the deal were kept under wraps.

RoseRock offers specialized hospice care to around 220 patients on a regular basis in the Northeastern Oklahoma. Amedisys is a major independent home health, hospice and personal care company with six home health care centers operating within Oklahoma. This buyout aligns with Amedisys strategy to venture into the hospice care market of the state.

About the Acquisition

Per the terms of the agreement, Amedisys has made a substantial buyout of all the assets of RoseRock healthcare. With the deals closure, Amedisys will now operate a total of 138 hospice care centers across 34 states. This strategic transaction is expected to pave the way for higher-quality patient care, better support for clinical teams and more awareness regarding the benefits of hospice care.

Market Prospects

Per Market Research Future, the global hospice care market is projected to witness a CAGR of 8.1 % during the forecast period of 2018-2023. Considering its abundant market prospects, this acquisition is a strategic fit.

Recent Developments by Amedisys Within the United States

Of late, Amedisys has been consistently expanding its hospice care business.

In February 2019, the company concluded the takeover of New Jersey-based Compassionate Care Hospice, a 53-location national hospice care provider that added 11 states to the acquirers hospice network. This acquisition makes Amedisys the third largest hospice organization in the United States.

Last October, the company culminated its purchase of Bring Care Home,a personal care provider in Northeastern Massachusetts.

Around the same time, Amedisys partnered with the Nashville-basedhome health and hospice predictive modeling and analytics company, Medalogix. This partnerships goal was to drive home health innovation.

Story continues

Price Performance

Over the past year, Amedisys stock has outperformed the industry it belongs to. The stock has soared 95.1% versus the industrys decline of 10.6%.

Zacks Ranks and Key Picks

Amedisys currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. (Buy) Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Stryker Corporation SYK, Penumbra, Inc., PEN and Varian Medical Systems, Inc VAR, each currently carrying a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Strykers long-term earnings growth rate is projected to be 10%

Penumbras long-term earnings growth rate is expected at 20.9%.

Varians long-term earnings growth rate is predicted to be 8%.

Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%. This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000  2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year.

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Zacks Investment Research(Bloomberg) -- When he graduated from university in Japan, Tomohiro Ohno didnt know what he wanted to do. But he knew what he didnt want to do, which was work for a traditional Japanese company.

So he ended up founding a firm thats more space age than staid: Ohno was an early mover into augmented reality. The company he started, Kudan Inc., is developing programs that enable computers to have the equivalent of human eyes, using what Ohno and his industry call computer vision algorithms.

Kudan listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December. It was a sparkling debut. The stock shot up more than sixfold to a high at the end of February, which saw his fortune top $800 million. While it has since given up some of those gains, the market value is still about $1.3 billion, and Ohno owns more than half the shares. Hes currently estimated to have a net worth of about $700 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Still, the 49-year-old entrepreneur is far from getting carried away.

Ridiculous Amount

Its a ridiculous amount, Ohno, who goes by Tomo, said in an interview in Tokyo. That doesnt mean anything. Were not aiming to increase market value, he said. It doesnt really impact us.

While people often associate augmented reality with Pokemon Go, the hit mobile game that makes images of anime characters seem as if theyre in users real-world locations, Ohno says the technology is so much more than that. Ive nothing against Pokemon Go, he said. But after all, its just showing Pikachu -- one of the characters -- in the corner of the room.

Kudan is deploying the technology for different purposes. Its developing programs that enable computers to perceive real-world objects in three dimensions. They have uses in everything from driverless cars to drones and even vacuum cleaners. It works with other technologies such as artificial intelligence to enhance the autonomous and interactive experience.

Brain, Eyes

Story continues

AI is the brain and we are the eyes, said Ohno, who started his career as a management consultant before working at a startup in Bristol, U.K. and then founding his own business buying and selling computer-game licences. The eyes and brain need to work together.

Kudan recently announced a partnership with California-based Synopsys Inc. to have its technology embedded into Synopsys products, which cover markets from mobile to automotive. While Ohno says making his company massive isnt his main goal, this kind of alliance helps Kudan gain exposure.

We dont want to be the next Google, Ohno said. He wants Kudan to be more like ARM Holdings, the chip designer owned by SoftBank Group Corp. whose technology is in most smartphones. ARM is massive, but tiny compared to Intel. But its everywhere. Thats where we want to go.

Kudan initially focused on using augmented reality for marketing, according to Ohno. No one was successful in making the technology easily digestible to ordinary people at the time, giving the company a good business opportunity, he said. But soon, a bigger firm doing similar things emerged as a competitor. That caused Kudan to come up with a strategy of making competitors its customers, instead of defending its turf.

Highly Rated

The process involved switching the companys business model from using AR for marketing to developing apps using the technology and finally becoming a provider of algorithms to other companies. Kudans chief technology officer, John Williams, who Ohno calls a self-taught genius and his best friend, convinced him to move away from apps into the underlying technologies, Ohno said. Now, Kudan has a wider customer base, including previous competitors, he said.

Its a highly rated stock among investors, said Tomoichiro Kubota, an analyst at Matsui Securities Co. in Tokyo. But there is the risk of seeing a company with a similar model popping up, he said. And the other side of expectations being high is that were in a situation where theres been quite a bit of buying, and its looking expensive.

Kudan trades at more than 150 times book value, and more than 35,000 times earnings, which were negligible for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. The stock fell 1.2 percent on Wednesday in Tokyo, paring this years gain to 93 percent.

That wont unduly concern Ohno, who is more focused on developing the business and other goals, such as setting up a unit in China and taking it public. Hes still based in Bristol, where his companys technology lab is located. Kudan has fewer than 20 employees, many of whom have Ph.D. degrees from a computer vision laboratory at the University of Bristol. Ohno said the company hires only experts in their field, and shuns meetings as unnecessary, because his people already know what to do.

The office in Bristol is situated in a former church. Ohnos seat has a five-meter stained-glass window directly behind him, which shines a glow of light over him on sunny days. Asked if he has plans to move to a new location, he said hes happy where he is.

I do look like a god there, he said.

(Updates with details on stock performance in 13th paragraph. A previous version was corrected to remove a photograph.)

To contact the reporters on this story: Yoojung Lee in Singapore at ylee504@bloomberg.net;Min Jeong Lee in Tokyo at mlee754@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Tom Redmond

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.Australia's ruling coalition announced its proposed budget on Tuesday that includes billions of dollars in tax cuts and an increase in infrastructure spending.

Wayne Swan of the Australian Labor Party, the largest opposition party, says the budget appears designed to win an upcoming election and is "a wasted opportunity" to address challenges in the economy.

However, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the proposed cuts in income taxes are part of a long-term plan to lift the Australian economy  with or without an upcoming election.

Several Australia opposition politicians hit out at the ruling government for proposing a federal budget that, as they claim, focuses on winning an upcoming election instead of driving economic growth in the coming years.

The government on Tuesday offered 158 billion Australian dollars ($112.18 billion) in tax cuts over the next decade aimed primarily at middle-income earners. The proposal also included an increase in infrastructure spending targeted at rural areas, which are said to hold an important voter base for the ruling coalition. Despite those measures, the government is projecting a return to a budget surplus for the first time in 12 years.

"It doesn't deal with the cause of very weak consumption in the Australian economy, which is basically a lack of wage growth and insufficient investment, private and public, in the infrastructure of the nation," Wayne Swan, former Australian deputy prime minister, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

"And that's why the budget, I think, is a wasted opportunity. It's a short-term election spendathon rather than a medium- and long-term plan for the future of the country," added Swan, who's the national president of the Australian Labor Party, the country's main opposition party.

Australia's government is primarily made up of two conservative parties: the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia. The coalition, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, is trailing left-leaning Labor in opinion polls. An election is expected to be held in May.

Story continues

The proposed budget will only be presented and put up for voting in Parliament if the conservative coalition wins the election.

Australia has avoided a recession for close to three decades and is expected by economists to extend that record. But growth has slowed in recent quarters, with a limited rise in wages and a fall in household wealth putting a lid on how much private consumption can lift the economy, economists said.

For his part, Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann touted the proposed cuts in income taxes as a solution to challenges facing the economy  with or without an upcoming election.

"This is a continuation of our long-term plan to provide the right incentive and reward for effort by hardworking Australians, but also to help low- and middle-income earners with cost-of-living pressures and to reform tax system to facilitate stronger growth into the future," he told CNBC's Will Koulouris.

What analysts say

Many analysts agreed there was a political consideration in the way the budget was drafted, and some questioned whether the tax cuts will be enough to lift consumption in Australia.

"In light of falling housing wealth, there's a risk that the additional income may be saved rather than spent," Marcel Thieliant, an economist at consultancy Capital Economics, wrote in a Tuesday note.

Ratings agency Moody's kept its highest possible AAA-rating for Australia after the budget announcement. It said overall spending "has remained contained" while the government has continued to support the economy. The agency also flagged risks, however.

"We expect the world economy to be slower, China economy to slow over this year to 6 percent growth," Martin Petch, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody's Investors Service, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

A softer external environment would hit Australia's economy, he added. On top of that, he said, there's a chance that commodity prices, employment growth and tax revenue may not be as strong as what the budget projected.





More From CNBC

April 2 (Reuters) - Australian cobalt developer Jervois Mining on Tuesday said it would buy out Canada-based Ecobalt Solutions Inc, for C$57.6 million ($43.29 million), to expand its geographical footprint into the United States.

As part of the acquisition, each common share of eCobalt will be exchanged for 1.65 common shares of Jervois, representing an implied offer price of C$0.36 per eCobalt share, a near 11-percent premium to the Canadian company's last close.

The merger gives Jervois Mining access to Ecobalt's Idaho Cobalt Project - a high grade cobalt deposit located in the U.S. state of Idaho.

Cobalt, which is mined as a by-product of copper and nickel, is all the rage of late as demand for the metal has risen exponentially for use in batteries for electric vehicles, which automakers consider the future of transportation. ($1 = 1.3308 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)STUTTGART, April 2 (Reuters) - The need for advanced safety features in automated and autonomous cars will see vehicle software revenues more than quadruple to $1.2 trillion a year by 2030, the head of auto parts supplier Continental said on Tuesday.

Ensuring an autonomous car can avoid an accident will require it to process signals from radar, camera and laser sensors, leading to a massive increase in demand for sophisticated software, Elmar Degenhart, chief executive of Continental, one of the world's biggest auto parts' suppliers, said.

"Software competence is mission critical for successful car companies but the industry lacks scale in this competence," Degenhart told the Auto Motor und Sport industry congress in Stuttgart, Germany on Tuesday.

Vehicle software currently generates annual revenues of $280 billion a year, he said.

The revenue growth potential and scarcity of software development skills at traditional car manufacturers makes technology companies outside the auto industry well placed to gain a foothold in the industry.

"Car companies are good at validation and homologation and lack software development skills, while software companies have the opposite problem," Degenhart said.

"The IT industry has always valued speed of development more than perfecting the product, while the auto industry has tended to veer toward perfecting a product over rushing it out."

Their approaches would become more aligned as the two industries cooperate more, he said.

"The software and the auto industry will have to work more closely together to develop autonomous vehicles and this will lead to a change in approach on both sides."

Separately Continental said it is sticking to plans to prepare for a potential listing its powertrain division on the stock market this year. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Susan Fenton)(Adds context, outlook)

SAO PAULO, April 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's largest airline, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, will not cancel its orders of Boeing Co's 737 MAX plane, the model which was involved in two fatal crashes, newspaper Valor Economico reported Gol's chief executive as saying on Tuesday.

"We will not cancel our orders," CEO Paulo Kakinoff said. "The 737 MAX is probably the best airplane ever made."

Gol is going through a significant fleet transformation and has bet heavily on the Boeing 737 MAX, with over 100 planes scheduled to be delivered in the next few years.

The airline has so far received seven aircraft, which it grounded after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed in March, the second accident involving that plane model in a span of five months.

Kakinoff added that he thinks it is possible that the 737 MAX planes will fly again by July. That decision is in the hands of regulators around the world.

Gol has flown Boeing planes exclusively since its founding and is the U.S. planemaker's largest client in Latin America. (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Susan Thomas)More than 200,000 tonnes of cheese are made in Ireland each year. Photo: PA

Irelands Ornua, the owner of the world-renowned Kerrygold dairy brand, has stockpiled tens of thousands of tonnes of cheese in the UK ahead of a potential no-deal Brexit.

Ornua CEO John Jordan said that, even if there is a major Brexit-related trade disruption, the decision to stockpile almost 40,000 tonnes of product, most of which is cheese, could allow the company to supply customers in the UK for around six months.

Weve somewhere between four to six months worth of stock relocated into the UK, Jordan told the Irish Times.

Under a tariff regime announced by the UK government, if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal, every tonne of cheddar imported to the country would be subject to a tariff of 221 (189), while 600 (512) would be applied to every tonne of imported butter.

This could result in tens of millions in additional costs per year for the Irish cheddar sector  something that would force Irish producers to increase prices significantly in the UK.

Jordan said the tariffs would cost his company 55m (47m). Even in the event of a soft Brexit, Ornua said that the administrative burden of dealing with this type of scenario could add as much as 8% to the companys costs.

The company reported its latest annual results on Wednesday, noting that the UK remains a key strategic market.

Ornua reported higher revenue and operating profits for 2018, pointing to increased dairy prices.

Turnover for last year rose by 0.6% to just over 2bn (1.7bn), while operating profit jumped by 14.8% on 2017 to 40.4m (34.5m).

Kerrygold is also now the fastest-selling food and drink product in Germany.As presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting: early efficacy data for the first six advanced breast cancer patients dosed with Bria-IMT in combination with KEYTRUDA suggest additive or synergistic effects on tumor regression (shrinkage).



Findings support BriaCells hypothesis: KEYTRUDA acts by "awakening" a component of the immune system, while Bria-IMT "puts the foot on the gas" of the immune system, leading to more powerful anti-tumor activity.

The combination with KEYTRUDA appears to overcome the limitation of requiring patients to have an HLA match with Bria-IMT.

Excellent overall safety profile for the combination.

BriaCell intends to advance these findings by accelerating patient dosing with the proceeds from its recently-closed private placement.

BERKELEY, Calif. and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. ("BriaCell" or the "Company") (BCT.V) (BCTXF), a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in targeted immunotherapy for advanced breast cancer, today announced early efficacy data of BriaCells novel immunotherapy, Bria-IMT, in combination with pembrolizumab [KEYTRUDA; manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)] (the Combination Study) in advanced breast cancer patients. Detailed findings are included below, with early evidence suggesting rapid additive or synergistic anti-tumor activity including examples of tumor reduction at multiple sites and disease stabilization. Additionally, the combination was very safe and well-tolerated in all 6 patients of the study.

BriaCell had hypothesized that combining Bria-IMT, which "puts the foot on the gas" of the immune system, with immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as KEYTRUDA, which act by "awakening" a component of the immune system, would lead to more powerful anti-cancer activity compared to Bria-IMT alone. Initial efficacy data for the first six patients supports BriaCells hypothesis. For Bria-IMT alone in monotherapy study, HLA matching between the patient and Bria-IMT appeared to be important for the development of anti-cancer activity, but the combination with KEYTRUDA appears to overcome this limitation.

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Summary of Early Data of Bria-IMT with KEYTRUDA Combination Study

All 6 patients were very heavily pre-treated with a median of 5 prior systemic therapy regimens (such as chemotherapy) prior to enrollment in BriaCells Combination Study.

These patients previously did not respond to a number of currently available therapies outside of BriaCell, and most had very weak immune systems, further emphasizing the importance of the positive results observed in BriaCells Combination Study.

Efficacy Data

Four patients rolled-over from BriaCells Bria-IMT monotherapy study:

Top Responder : One woman with stable disease on monotherapy had been on 8 prior chemotherapy regimens and had extensive tumor growth in her liver. She experienced a 43% reduction in the size of her liver metastases within 2 months and continues on the Combination Study. She had a tumor type that typically does not respond to KEYTRUDA alone, suggesting distinct benefits by the Combination Study. Of note, she is not an HLA match with Bria-IMT suggesting that the combination with KEYTRUDA may not require a match with Bria-IMT to result in tumor reduction. Consequently, the Combination Study regimen may work for patients regardless of HLA matching.

Three women had progressive disease prior to the Combination Study  they were only dosed for a short time, and either discontinued the treatment or showed progressive disease. They had very weak immune systems and very advanced cancer prior to BriaCells Combination Study.

Two patients entered the Combination Study directly without previous Bria-IMT treatment:

One woman achieved stable disease, in spite of 9 prior anti-cancer regimens (including 6 chemotherapy regimens and 3 biological therapy regimens) and therefore appears to have derived clinical benefit from the combination treatment. She matched Bria-IMT at one HLA allele (type).

Safety Data

The combination was very safe and well-tolerated in all 6 patients of the study.

"Early results from the Combination Study of Bria-IMT with KEYTRUDA in advanced breast cancer have revealed that anti-tumor activity of BriaCells novel immunotherapy, Bria-IMT, can be further enhanced with KEYTRUDA," stated Dr. Bill Williams, BriaCells president and CEO. "We are impressed with the early data of the Combination Study, suggesting efficacy and clinical benefits in a heavily-treated, difficult to treat patient population. One woman for example experienced a robust immune response to Bria-IMT before starting the combination study, and her tumor-reduction response to Bria-IMT was significantly enhanced when Bria-IMT was combined with KEYTRUDA. We look forward to the continuation of the Combination Study and hope to be able to offer better treatment solutions for advanced breast cancer patients. We would like to thank our consultants and patients who make these findings possible in the fight against this devastating disease."

About Phase I/IIa Combination Study of Bria-IMT with KEYTRUDA in Advanced Breast Cancer

The FDA has approved the combination study of Bria-IMT with KEYTRUDA, an anti-PD-1 antibody, for patients with advanced breast cancer. More information on the Combination Study of Bria-IMT with KEYTRUDA will be available on ClinicalTrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03328026).

About KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab)

Manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc., KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) is a prescription medicine that may treat certain cancers by working with the immune system. It has been approved for the treatment of a number of cancer indications, excluding breast cancer. For more information on pembrolizumab, please see: http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/k/keytruda/keytruda_pi.pdf .

About AACR

The AACR was founded in Washington, D.C., May 7, 1907, by a group of 11 physicians and scientists intending to further the investigation and spread the knowledge of cancer. To prevent and cure cancer using research, education, communication, collaboration, funding and advocacy has been the mission of AACR. With its programs and services, AACR advances research in cancer and related biomedical science by facilitating exchange of knowledge and innovations among scientists and clinicians dedicated to the fight against cancer, providing education and training in oncology treatment and advancing cancer etiology, prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment worldwide.

For more information on AACR, please visit: https://www.aacr.org .

About BriaCell

BriaCell is an immuno-oncology focused biotechnology company developing targeted and safe approaches for the management of cancer.

BriaCell is currently conducting a Phase I/IIa clinical trial of Bria-IMT, its lead candidate, in a Combination Study with pembrolizumab [KEYTRUDA; manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)]. The Combination Study is listed in ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT03328026.

BriaCell is developing Bria-OTS, an off-the-shelf personalized immunotherapy, for advanced breast cancer. Bria-OTS immunotherapy treatments are personalized to match the patient without the need for personalized manufacturing. Bria-OTS, which is expected to cover over 99 percent of the patient population, is designed to produce a potent and selective immune response against the cancer of each patient while eliminating the time, expense and complex manufacturing logistics associated with other personalized immunotherapies.

For additional information on BriaCell, please visit: https://briacell.com/.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation which involves known and unknown risks relevant to the Company in particular and to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in general, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. These risks are more fully described in the Company's public filings available at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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.

Contact InformationThe victim was working in a poor district in Peru when he was killed. (Facebook/Diocesis de Chosica)

A British environmental activist and missionary has been found burned to death at a youth hostel he ran in the Amazon in Peru.

Paul McAuley, 71, was found dead at the hostel he founded for indigenous students in the city of Iquitos.

Authorities have questioned six youths from the community who lived at the hostel since Mr McAuleys body was found on Tuesday.

The activist had been working to help Perus discriminated tribes in the fight against oil and mining interests.

The victim has been working to protect tribes against the threat of mining in the Amazon. (AP)

Director of Peru Programs at Environmental Investigation Agency, Julia Urrunaga, tweeted: What tough news. A great man who did a lot for indigenous communities, their rights and the forests.

The La Salle Christian Brothers, which is a religious group that Mr McAuley was part of, said in a statement that the activist had been found burned to death.

A student told the news outlet El Comercio: Yesterday we were talking together and today we see this painful scene.

We want to investigate because he, who has taken us for so many years and has given us everything, has been murdered.

Read More:

Peru community rejects talks with government in dispute over copper mine  community leader

Peru declares state of emergency near China-owned mine as protests mount

Mc McAuley, who was born in Portsmouth, had lived in Peru for 20 years and had been awarded an MBE for establishing a school in a poor area of Lima.

In 2010, the Peruvian government tried to strip him of his residency as they claimed he was inciting unrest after he fought attempts to open up the Amazon to drilling.

However hundreds of people protested against the government and to support Mr McAuley so he was then allowed to stay in Peru.

The Environmental Investigation Agency said Mr McAuleys death should be investigated."Chasm in the Classroom: Campus Free Speech in a Divided America" by PEN America. Photo: Evelyn Hockstein



University general counsel can play a unique and powerful role in assuring campuses across the country correctly handle free speech clashes without trampling on anyones constitutional rights, according to the leader of a new report on free expression.



Particularly in our polarized political climate, clear-eyed guidance that hews to legal principle will go a long way to helping campus communities navigate these evolving challenges, Jonathan Friedman told Corporate Counsel. Friedman is the campus free speech project director for PEN America, a nationwide group of 7,000 writing professionals who champion freedom of expression.



Friedman spearheaded the research and drafting of PEN Americas latest report, "Chasm in the Classroom: Campus Free Speech in a Divided America," which was released Tuesday. The 100-page report looks at recent trends, including the rise of hateful speech and incidents of bigotry on campus; shutdowns and disinvitations of controversial speakers; outrage campaigns against faculty members for their speech; the mixed views of a new generation of students on issues of free speech and hate speech; and problems with federal and state legislation purportedly aiming to protect free speech in polarized campus environments.



The report came out only three days after a high-level U.S. Department of Justice official gave a speech at Harvard University decrying the crisis in campus speech, and two weeks after President Donald Trumps March 21 executive order mandating that colleges uphold free speech or risk losing federal funds.



The report blames an increase in hate crimes, political polarization and heightened racial tensions that have occurred during the Trump administration for creating new challenges for free speech on campus. It debunks the Trump administrations account of free speech threats emanating only from the left, and details an array of infringements on speech, with special criticism of the Department of justice.



Saying there is a gray area between politics and hatred, it reviews the role of the Justice Department in 2017 and 2018, under former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The report accuses the DOJ of raising alarms over free speech that were consistently politicized and one-sided.



As PEN America Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Nossel put it, While we have never thought that there was a crisis per se when it comes to campus speech, there are legitimate concerns about ideas and viewpoints that have become hard to voice amid a climate of intense ideological rancor. While President Trump has spotlighted threats to speech emanating from the left, our analysis reveals that intolerance of opposing views cuts across the political spectrum.



The study analyzed more than 100 speech-related controversies in recent years, finding that many involved tensions between free speech and equality or inclusion.



The report says college officials, including general counsel, must be supported in their efforts to defend free speech on campus and must be equipped with the legal and moral arguments to confront the challenges that the Trump era presents.



Friedman explained that the reports analysis was shaped by four convenings in the 2017-2018 academic year on campuses that had been sites of free speech controversies: the University of California, Berkeley, Middlebury College, the University of Maryland at College Park and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville.



He said college general counsel or in-house counsel who took part in the meetings worried about the conflict between free speech and school values, such as equality. The in-house lawyers voiced some concerns related to ensuring compliance with First Amendment requirements, in terms of both freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, as well as the application of harassment and discrimination law, and the obligation to provide equal opportunities regardless of membership in protected classes, Friedman explained.



He said the general counsel were well aware that some campuses have been sued for alleged violations of expressive rights and were watching those cases closely to monitor applicable legal standards.



Friedman added, We know from our work how difficult it can be to host controversial speakers, or to investigate the facts in the wake of an incident. We believe that general counsel can play a unique and powerful role in these matters, both by educating administrators and senior leaders about the law, and by reminding them of the need to consider the rights of all partiesstudents, speakers, faculty, and protesters alikein any decision-making processes.



The report offers five pages of guiding principles for college faculty, administrators and student leaders on how to navigate campus controversies in ways that ensure a robust defense of free speech while forcefully addressing bias and bigotry.



For example, the report advises, Campus leaders should forcefully condemn hate crimes, slurs, and the display of manifestly hateful symbols or slogans, which may be constitutionally protected speech, while making clear that such expression violates their institutional values of inclusion. They should also offer support and assistance to those affected by the incidents in question.



The report also cautions that campus speech debates in the United States can have unintended global ramifications. Countries where campus speech issues are playing out in ways that echo developments in the United States include Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, it says.Cannabis growing in a greenhouse in California. Photo: Cascade Creatives/Shutterstock.com



A Colorado congresswoman introduced legislation Monday that would stop the federal government from taking actions against businesses selling marijuana in states that have made its use recreationally or medically legal.



U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colorado, introduced the Respect States and Citizens Rights Act that, if passed, would amend the Controlled Substances Act to prevent pre-emption of state marijuana laws.



Colorados marijuana-related business owners are just like any other legitimate business owners in our state, and are currently contributing more than one billion a year to our states economy, DeGette said in the press release announcing the bill.



Under President Barack Obama, then U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole released a memorandum indicating that the Department of Justice would not go after cannabis businesses in states where cannabis is legal. However, when U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was sworn in, he indicated he would go after cannabis businesses. Current Attorney General William Barr has said as long as those companies are in compliance with state laws, the Department of Justice will not intervene.



DeGette said, however, companies should not have to worry about the individual feelings of whoever is the attorney general. Theres no reason why they should have to go to bed every night worried that the federal government could suddenly take it all away from them, and treat them like a criminal.



In her announcement, DeGette said the amendment would also allow states to come up with their own framework to tax and regulate the cannabis industry.



Seth Goldberg, a partner at Duane Morris in Philadelphia, said this is one of a few bills seeking to change how the federal government looks at marijuana.



This bill really seeks to codify and turn into law this practice of non-enforcement, Goldberg said.



However, DeGette said the amendment would act as an additional safeguard for those states and companies operating within the law.



However, Goldberg said since the Obama administration, the federal government has practiced non-enforcement of state practitioners and has not indicated that will be reversed anytime soon.



Even absent this legislation, there is no indication that the federal government is going to start to exercise enforcement actions against state compliant participants, Goldberg said.



Goldberg said this kind of legislation would open up the industry on the state level.



It would give participants in the industry a clear green light to do their business, Goldberg said. It would potentially open up the avenues for banking in the industry, for insurance in the industry and for a greater expansion of the industry.Investing.com - U.S. crude hit fresh 2019 highs on Tuesday on a mixture of renewed optimism about the economic outlook and the ongoing effects of falling output from OPEC countries.

New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 5 cents, or 0.5%, at $61.87 a barrel by 7:58 AM ET (11:58 GMT). It had topped the $62-mark earlier on Tuesday for the first time since last November.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., slipped 4 cents, or 0.1%, to $68.97, pulling back from an intraday high of $69.50.

Better-than-expected readings of manufacturing activity in the U.S. and China released this week eased concerns that a slowing global economy might require less oil.

A Reuters survey released Monday showed that OPEC's crude output fell nearly 300,000 barrels a day to a four-year low in March. Saudi Arabia led the charge by cutting more production than promised, while power outages in Venezuela restricted the loading of export shipments.

Markets took Tuesdays news that Russia fell short of its oil-output cut target for March in their stride. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak had previously said April would be the first month that Moscow achieved full compliance with the output deal. Russia secured an effective exemption on cuts through the winter, a time when field maintenance poses particularly big challenges.

At the same time, there are signs that the explosive growth in U.S. output over recent months may be flattening out. Investing.com senior commodity analyst Barani Krishnan added ongoing declines in U.S. drilling activity to the list of bullish factors, calling it a perfect storm for traders and funds caught on the short side of the market."

Later on Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report on crude inventories for the week ended March 29 at 4:30PM ET (20:30 GMT).

Thats ahead of Wednesdays release of official government data from the Energy Information Administration, amid expectations for a draw of 1.2 million barrels.

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In other energy trading, gasoline futures gained 0.3% to $1.9044 a gallon by 8:01 AM ET (12:01 GMT), while heating oil advanced 0.3% to $1.9937 a gallon.

Lastly, natural gas futures traded down 0.1% to $2.705 per million British thermal unit.

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Oil Prices Press Lower, Paring a Fifth-Straight Week of Gains

Lebanon announces new blocks for offshore energy work

Oil prices dip amid economic concerns, but on track for weekly gainHOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / Cannabis has already disrupted alcohol, cigarettes, food, pharmaceuticals, and the global wellness industry. Even major retailers are jumping on board, seeing incredible opportunities for industry growth.

Neiman Marcus is pushing ahead with CBD sales at some of its stores and online. Simon Property Group is partnering with Green Growth Brands to open 108 stores in its malls just in 2019. Barney's will launch "The High End."

Now, one of the largest drugstores in the U.S. is selling cannabis products, too. CVS will carry a line of CBD products in eight states, including California, Illinois, Colorado, and Alabama.

Even Walgreen's will sell CBD products, including creams, patches, and sprays in 1,500 stores.

"This product offering is in line with our efforts to provide a wider range of accessible health and wellbeing products and services to best meet the needs and preferences of our customers," Walgreens spokesman Brian Faith told CNBC.

As demand for cannabis products intensifies, some of biggest beneficiaries include Pure Global Cannabis Inc. (TSX.V: PURE) (OTC PINK: PRCNF), Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL)(OTC: CRLBF), and Aleafia Health (TSXV: ALEF)(OTC: ALEAF).

Pure Global Cannabis' (PURE)(PRCNF) through its wholly-owned subsidiary PureSinse Inc., just announced it signed a merchant agreement with BuyWell Corp, a wholly-owned and operated subsidiary of Evergreen Pacific Insurance Corp. to sell PureSinse's premium and selected medical cannabis products on the BuyWell Care marketplace.

"BuyWell Care is an important partnership in supporting our medical cannabis business goals. We carried out a soft launch of our site mid-January after receiving our Health Canada sales license," says Malay Panchal, President and CEO of Pure Global. "This allowed us to test our systems to ensure it can handle larger volumes in the coming months. PureSinse now offers same day shipping within the Greater Toronto Area. With this we look to become the preferred premium cannabis provider for BuyWell clients and all medical cannabis patients by offering the best service and best cannabis products possible."

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"Pure Global and Evergreen Pacific are both patient-focused organizations in pursuit of improving the health and wellness of Canadians and making a positive difference in each patient's lives. This agreement creates an immediate sales channel for PureSinse connecting medical patients who seek premium quality medical cannabis from a licensed producer that is focused on patient care."

For More Information on Pure Global Cannabis, Click Here.

Cresco Labs Inc. (CL)(CRLBF) is betting big on the California cannabis market with a C$1.1 billion acquisition of Origin House. The deal will create a premiere distribution company that will serve the largest cannabis market in the world, California.

"[The deal] establishes Cresco Labs as the leading multi-state operator with one of the largest distribution platforms in California, which is projected to be a $7.7 billion cannabis market in 2022 by Arcview Market Research/BDS Analytics," said Cresco Chief Executive and Co-founder Charlie Bachtel, as quoted by MarketWatch. "Following the closing of this acquisition, Cresco brands will be in over 725 dispensaries across the country, giving us the largest and most strategic distribution footprint of any cannabis company in the United States."

For More Information on Cresco Labs Inc., Click Here.

Aleafia Health Inc. (ALEF)(ALEAF) recently acquired Emblem Corporation in an all-stock deal valued at $173.2 million. The company's Canabo Medical Clinic and Emblem's GrowWise Health will combine and now serve nearly 60,000 patients with 40 national medical clinics.

"The Emblem acquisition rapidly accelerates the execution of Aleafia's strategy to become a vertically integrated, diversified cannabis company. It is difficult to overstate the significance of securing the highest quality medicine for our patients and Aleafia," said Aleafia Health CEO Geoffrey Benic. "Emblem's product leadership in the medical and adult-use sectors and highly coveted supply agreements will perfectly complement Aleafia's cannabis production and clinic operations. This is a transformative transaction."

For More Information on Aleafia Health Inc., Click Here.

Legal Disclaimer

Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from aressed or implied by such statements. Winning Media which has a partnership with www.MarijuanaStox.com is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release.

For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Winning Media, which has a partnership with www.MarijuanaStox.com, is only compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation. Pursuant to an agreement between Winning Media (partners of MarijuanaStox.com) and Pure Global Cannabis, Winning Media has been paid sixty thousand dollars for advertising and marketing services for Pure Global Cannabis. We own ZERO shares of Pure Global Cannabis. Please click here for full disclaimer.

Contact Information:

281-804-7972

ty@marijuanastox.com

SOURCE: MarijuanaStox.com





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/540939/CVS-and-Walgreens-Are-Betting-Big-on-the-Future-of-Cannabis-Demand



DHL Supply Chain said today it will spend $100 million to build a 1.7 million square foot warehouse and distribution center complex near Charleston, South Carolina.

The Westerville, Ohio-based unit of Deutsche Post DHL group said it will construct three buildings in Dorchester County, South Carolina. The first building will be completed during the first quarter of 2020. The timeframe to complete the balance of the project will be based on demand, though a company spokeswoman said work on the two additional facilities will be finished no later than 2023.

DHL Supply Chain purchased 125 acres in the county, and named the parcel "DHL Commerce Park." The unit worked in tandem with DHL Real Estate Solutions, which provides property services for DHL. DHL Supply Chain is one of the world's largest contract logistics firms.

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), which owns and operates the Port of Charleston, has developed two so-called inland ports which carry goods by rail to and from the port. The first port, located in Greer, about 217 miles west of Charleston, opened in 2013. Its key customer has been the North American arm of German automaker BMW, whose main domestic assembly plant is in nearby Spartanburg. A second facility, in Dillon, about 161 miles north-northeast of Charleston, opened in April 2018. The Greer facility, which has been a solid performer from the start, received $25 million earlier this year to expand its operations.

The U.S. inland port network is expected to proliferate in the years ahead as businesses and seaports look for ways to connect U.S. inland markets with ports of entry through dedicated rail networks instead of via motor carrier. The Georgia Ports Authority, which runs the container port of Savannah 107 miles south of Charleston, has built one inland port in the state's northwest quadrant, has announced a second facility in northeast Georgia, and is considering a third in Georgia's south-central region.

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Walter Kemmsies, managing director and chief strategist, ports, airports & global infrastructure for logistics and industrial real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. called the DHL Supply Chain announcement "impressively bold and worthy of respect." Kemmsies is one of the nation's foremost experts in, and proponents of, the inland port model.

SCPA is "seeing significant distribution center and warehousing activity in our region, driven by port users who rely on our marine and inland facilities to handle growing import volumes bound for consumers across the Southeast," said Jim Newsome, its long-time president and CEO, in a statement. "DHL Supply Chain will play an important role in supporting the logistics needs of multiple port-related business segments."

In its announcement, the DHL unit emphasized that it has received inquiries from companies about doing business within South Carolina under scenarios unrelated to the inland port model.

Image sourced from Pixabay

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See more from Benzinga

 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.ATHENS, Greece, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Shipping Inc. (DSX) (the Company), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced the final results of its tender offer to purchase up to 5,178,571 shares of its common stock, par value of US$0.01 per share (the "common stock"), at a price of US$2.80 per share, net to the seller in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest. The tender offer expired at 5:00 P.M., Eastern Time, on March 27, 2019.

Based on the final count by Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the depositary for the tender offer, the total number of shares tendered in the tender offer was 3,889,386.6175 shares. Because the tender offer was undersubscribed, the Company will purchase all validly tendered shares from each tendering shareholder for an aggregate purchase price of US$10,890,282.53.

If shareholders have any questions, please call our information agent, Georgeson LLC, by telephone, toll free at (800) 248-7690.

About the Company

The Company is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Companys vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term time charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

Story continues

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect, pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, the Company managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Companys records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies that are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Companys control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Companys view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Companys operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Companys vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see the Companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Corporate Contact:

Ioannis Zafirakis

Director, Chief Strategy Officer and Secretary

Telephone: + 30-210-9470-100

Email: izafirakis@dianashippinginc.com

Website: www.dianashippinginc.com



Investor and Media Relations:

Edward Nebb

Comm-Counsellors, LLC

Telephone: + 1-203-972-8350

Email: enebb@optonline.netThis article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Did the New Tax Law Help or Hurt Ordinary Americans? Taxpayers Share Their Stories

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was meant to benefit middle-class taxpayers, not just the wealthy. At least, thats what President Donald Trump promised his tax reform would do.

Now that tax filing season is underway, Americans are finding out whether Trump made good on that promise. So far, not all taxpayers are feeling the benefit of the new tax law. Millions more are expected to see their refund shrink, if they get one at all.

In order to give you a look at how things are going or what you can expect from your taxes this year, GOBankingRates talked to taxpayers to find out who the winners and losers are of the new tax law.

1. A Single, Low-Income Taxpayer

Robin Bartee is among the lower-income taxpayers who werent expected to see as much of a benefit from the Trump tax reform compared to higher-income taxpayers. Her adjusted gross income in 2018 was about $25,000  which was half of what it was in 2017 when she worked full time. In 2018, she earned less because she was working part time at a law firm and as an adjunct professor.

Bartee filed as a single taxpayer on her 2018 return. And her income put her in one of the lowest tax brackets.

Take Advantage: Heres Every Single Tax Deduction You Could Possibly Ask For

She Kept Her Withholding the Same

Because of changes to the tax law, many taxpayers were encouraged to adjust their withholding to avoid owing taxes. However, Bartee didnt make any changes to her withholding. She claimed one allowance, as she always has. She also had employers withhold an additional $25 from each paycheck in 2018. Its something she has done every year to help ensure that she doesnt underpay her taxes. Im glad I did because this year without it, I wouldnt have paid enough, Bartee said.

Her Refund Was Significantly Smaller

For 2018, Bartee got a federal tax refund of only $270 compared with a $1,160 refund for 2017. She did pay less in taxes in 2018 because her income was lower. But her lower income didnt have much of an impact on her state income tax refund. She got $266 back from the state for 2018 compared with a $275 refund for 2017.

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My state refund was about the same, but my federal refund was only about 20 percent of what it was last year, Bartee said. Aside from her drop in income, nothing about her filing status changed. As in years past, she claimed the standard deduction on her federal return  which was $12,000 for 2018, up from $6,500 in 2017. The federal [refund] is so much less even though the standard deduction is higher, Bartee said. They took more of my money.

She Doesnt Feel Like Tax Reform Benefited Her

Bartee said she didnt expect to see a big benefit from the tax reform. However, she didnt expect to go entirely unrewarded. I should have gotten more back, Bartee said about her 2018 refund.

Thats why she called the tax reform a bait and switch. People hear tax relief. They assume its going to go to them, she said. In the past, when her income was as low as it was in 2018, she said she got a bigger refund, so Bartee said she doesnt feel like she got any relief from the new tax law.

Keep Reading: See Who Will Be Paying More In Taxes  It Might Be You

2. A Two-Income Couple

Riley Adams and his wife, Lily, are what would be considered DINKs  dual income, no kids. He is a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company in New Orleans and the creator of the personal finance blog Young and the Invested. She is a medical resident.

They filed jointly on their 2018 return, as they have in the past. And their combined income put them in the 22 percent tax bracket, Adams said.

They Changed Their Tax Withholding in 2018

For the 2017 tax year, Adams and his wife received a federal tax refund of nearly $2,500. Although their tax situation didnt change for 2018, they claimed an additional tax withholding allowance last year because they had received such a big refund. The more allowances a taxpayer claims on a W-4, the less tax is withheld.

We wanted less tax withheld from my paycheck to reduce our refund, Adams said. We didnt want to provide Uncle Sam an interest-free loan if we could avoid it.

They Lost Out on Itemized Deductions

Adams said he used TurboTax software to prepare his 2018 return, as he had done every year. In previous years, we itemized our deductions because we were able to exceed the standard deduction threshold, he said. So he entered lots of information to itemize again on the couples 2018 return, but the amount of those deductions didnt top the higher standard deduction of $24,000 for married couples filing jointly.

As a result, we entered copious information meant to count as itemized deductions, but found in the end none of it helped on our federal tax return, Adams said. We did see some benefit at the state return in Louisiana, so not all of that logging was a waste.

Find Out: Heres How to Claim That Car Donation as a Tax Deduction

They Owed Taxes

The couple didnt have any idea how the tax reform would affect them before filling out their return. They did get a $600 state tax refund, which was similar to what they had received in the past. Because they had adjusted their withholding, they assumed their federal refund would be smaller than the previous year, Adams said. What they didnt expect was that they would end up owing $1,000 in federal taxes when they filed their 2018 return.

Compared to last year, when we received almost $2,500 as a federal tax refund and a similar amount from the state, the change was a major shock to us, Adams said.

3. A Business Owner

Small-business owners are among those who benefited from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act thanks to a new 20 percent qualified business income deduction. However, some didnt get as much of a benefit as others  including Michael Menninger, founder of financial planning firm Menninger & Associates.

He benefited from the new 20 percent deduction for small-business owners, but other changes to the tax law hurt him. I happen to be one of the rare people who didnt benefit a lot by the tax law changes, said Menninger, who had income of about $200,000 in 2018 and filed single.

He Lost Out on State and Local Tax Write-Offs

The new tax law made several changes to deductions, including the deduction for state and local taxes. It limited the amount of state and local property, sales and income taxes that could be written off to $10,000, which hurt Menninger. Because he paid more in state and local taxes than the new limit, he missed out on about $10,000 in tax write-offs.

The New Tax Brackets Hurt and Helped Him

Menninger was among the higher-income earners who was hit by changes to the tax brackets. My taxable income put me in the 32 percent marginal tax bracket, he said. For single filer, that particular tax bracket got hit sooner than in prior years. For 2018, income of $157,500 to $200,000 for single filers was taxed at a 32 percent rate, whereas it wouldve been taxed at 28 percent or lower in 2017.

However, Menninger did benefit from the lower tax rates that hit a portion of his income. The 15 percent, 25 percent and 28 percent rates fell to 12 percent, 22 percent and 24 percent as a result of the new tax law  which meant he paid less taxes on his income below $157,500. Thanks to tax reform, he also avoided paying the alternative minimum tax  an extra high-income tax.

He Benefited Less Than He Thought He Would

Menninger said that most of his financial planning clients saw their taxes reduced by 8 to 13 percent as a result of new tax law changes. But the benefit wasnt as big for him. In the end, my total tax went down by a disappointing 2.5 percent compared to prior years, Menninger said.

4. A Married Taxpayer With 2 Children

Tiphani Davis has a unique tax situation. Shes married and has two children, but she files separately from her husband and only claims one child.

Their combined income would qualify as middle class or upper-middle class, she said. So Davis, a high school English teacher, files separately to meet the qualifications for the federal governments student loan income-based repayment program. The program reduces her monthly loan payments from $1,200 to $75.

She Owed Taxes

Davis said her income was a little higher in 2018 than 2017, but nothing else changed about her tax situation. Yet, rather than get a refund of a few hundred dollars as she did with her 2017 return, Davis ended up owing about $1,200 when she filed her 2018 return.

Im not sure what changed this year, she said. I made a little more, but it doesnt seem to be enough to see such a difference. She did not adjust her tax withholding in 2018 to compensate for changes to the tax brackets but now wishes she had.

She Questions How the Tax Law Is Helping Taxpayers

Davis didnt support the new tax law when it was enacted and now has found even less to like about it. I find it bizarre that a school teacher owes the federal government money when it seems the super wealthy get away with paying very little, she said. While they obviously pay way more than I do, my $1,000 hit is harder on me and my family than theirs.

She does realize that her married filing tax status isnt helping her, either. I think that if I wasnt caught in this endless student loan loophole it would be better, she said. But because we file separately, we lose out on a lot of credits.

Read more about the biggest tax reforms in U.S. history.

More on Taxes

We make money easy. Get weekly email updates, including expert advice to help you Live Richer.DigiFinex is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading services for multiple blockchain-based assets. These include, among dozens of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, BTC, ETH, LTC, EOS, and DFT (the DigiFinex native token) in over 100 trading pairs. DigiFinex has been in the market for less than two years but has already managed to become one of the most promising cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, with a recent 24-hour volume of over $1.5 billion according to CoinMarketCap. A service specifically designed for the Asian market The company DigiFinex Ltd put Singapore on the cryptocurrency map when it decided to establish its headquarters on the island  even though the exchange is still registered in the Seychelles. It wasnt a random

DigiFinex is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange that offers trading services for multiple blockchain-based assets. These include, among dozens of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, BTC, ETH, LTC, EOS, and DFT (the DigiFinex native token) in over 100 trading pairs.

DigiFinex has been in the market for less than two years but has already managed to become one of the most promising cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, with a recent 24-hour volume of over $1.5 billion according to CoinMarketCap.

A service specifically designed for the Asian market

The company DigiFinex Ltd put Singapore on the cryptocurrency map when it decided to establish its headquarters on the island  even though the exchange is still registered in the Seychelles.

It wasnt a random decision though. Not only does Singapore rank as the best country in Asia to do business, but it also has a growing economy and blockchain-friendly policy.

Singapore is, without doubt, Asias cryptocurrency capital. The authorities are knowledgable and ready to capitalise on blockchain technology at a time when Hong Kong and China are clamping down on cryptocurrency exchanges.

DigiFinex mainly targets the Asian market. This explains why the websites layout is built in Chinese and available mostly in Asian languages. The site also has two Western versions: English and Portuguese.

One of the most active global cryptocurrency exchanges

The platforms strongest point, according to developers, is the high level of security and safety that DigiFinex provides. Service accuracy is reached through three tools  a scalable HDM wallet, intelligent services solutions, and real-time records.

HDM wallet technology combines a unique cold wallet and a multi-layer hot wallet. The security of the device is ensured by the fact that it enables multiple signatures for a collection address. This is, at the same time, a safer way to expand the wallet depending on the users needs.

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According to DigiFinex developers, the platform also enables real-time accounting and transaction processing. This means that every time a user performs a transaction, the data is instantly available. This is possible thanks to a mechanism which allows the exchange to carry out continued backups and perform constant updates for the cache.

Despite starting from scratch in 2017, DigiFinex has seen exceptional progress and registered massive trading volumes. At its first anniversary in 2018, the platform already had over 1 million users from almost 100 countries, more than 300,000 active traders, and a little more than half a million app downloads.

Currently, DigiFinex is the fourth-largest global cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted volume and seventh-largest by reported volume, according to CoinMarketCap.

The BTI list of shame

Not everyone in the cryptocurrency ecosystem agrees with these numbers, however.

The Blockchain Transparency Institute (BTI) revealed in 2018 that most cryptocurrency exchanges use fake trading volumes to impress users and boost their relevance artificially.

According to the BTIs report, the real trading volume of DigiFinex barely reaches 1% of the reported volume. This was before the Bitwise report came out with damning data concluding that 95% of cryptocurrency trading volume was fake.

DigiFinex tokens

DigiFinex, like other exchanges, counts on high liquidity to gain trust. In 2018, the platform launched DFT, an ERC-20 Ethereum-based token with total liquidity of 130 million DFT. However, it doesnt seem enough for the Western markets to make DigiFinex their first choice for trading digital assets.

Safe trading

The DigiFinex trading fee model is similar to that of Binance. The fee is 0.2% for both makers and takers. The rewards depend on the monthly total trading volume and DFT holdings.

Besides competitive fees and promo events that have the potential to attract users even from outside the Asian market, the company claims to be one of the safest exchanges in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

DigiFinex was started by technical and financial teams with professional backgrounds in tech giants like Baidu, Tencent, and Xunlei. With a solid experience in blockchain technology, the founders insist on investing in continued cybersecurity to gain user trust.

Co-founder Kiana Shek stated:

We provide our customers with a fair and transparent trading environment, strictly monitoring and tracking the status of listed projects in real time. At the same time, our strict take-down mechanism prohibits project parties and any individuals or institutions from controlling the ecological balance of the global digital asset market.

The platform has fairly low transaction limits that grow as users verify their identities. This means that the exchange keeps any over-the-limit funds until the user provides the requested documentation.

The takeaway

Assuming that DigiFinexs volume is accurate, its safe to assume that most of it comes from the Asian markets. Japan seems to be the start-ups best performing market at the moment.

But even with low adoption from Western markets and the usual limitations that dont allow US-based traders to create accounts, DigiFinex is climbing fast and helping to place Singapore firmly on the cryptocurrency map.

The post How DigiFinex is putting Singapore on the cryptocurrency map appeared first on Coin Rivet.DowDuPont Inc. DWDP said that it has completed the separation of its Materials Science unit through the spin-off of Dow Inc., marking the completion of the first step toward the formation of three independent public companies. Shares of Dow start trading on the NYSE under the symbol "DOW" today.



Common shareholders of DowDuPont received one share of common stock of Dow for every three shares of DowDuPont common stock they held as of the close of business as of Mar 21, 2019. Moreover, DowDuPont common shareholders will get cash in lieu of fractional shares of common stock of Dow.



DowDuPont also noted that it remains on track to complete the spin-off of its Agriculture unit, Corteva Agriscience, on Jun 1, 2019 through the planned distribution of all of the shares of common stock of its fully-owned subsidiary, Corteva, Inc., to the holders of the company's common stock on a pro rata basis.



Following this, DowDuPont will retain the Specialty Products unit and change its name to "DuPont".



DowDuPonts shares have lost around 14% over a year, underperforming the roughly 11.8% decline recorded by the industry.





DowDuPont, last month, provided an update to its earlier stated modeling guidance for first quarter-2019. The company expects net sales for its Agriculture unit be down 4-6% and operating EBITDA to be down $125-$150 million on a year over year basis in the first quarter.



The company said that flooding during March in the Midwestern region of the United States led to transportation disruptions in the region. Moreover, significant road closures halted farming operations, delayed pre-season applications and limited the ability to deliver products to customers.



For the Specialty Products unit, DowDuPont envisions net sales and operating EBITDA to be in line with its earlier guidance. The company plans to release its first-quarter results on May 2.



Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider



DowDuPont currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).



A few better-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. KL, Ingevity Corporation NGVT and Israel Chemicals Ltd. ICL.



Kirkland Lake Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 47.1% for the current year and carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Its shares have surged around 96% in the past year. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Ingevity has an expected earnings growth rate of 17.9% for the current year and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Its shares have rallied roughly 50% in the past year.



Israel Chemicals has an expected earnings growth rate of 10.8% for the current year and carries a Zacks Rank #2. The companys shares have gained around 24% over the past year.



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchVANCOUVER, B.C., April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eldorado Gold Corporation, (Eldorado or the Company) is pleased to announce that as of April 1, 2019, mining, crushing and placing of ore on the Kisladag heap leach pad has resumed. This follows the Companys announcement on January 30, 2019 that it would resume full operations at Kisladag. Further testwork is underway to determine the effects of a 250 day leach cycles on deeper material, the results of which are expected to be available in late 2019 or early 2020.



Eldorados President and Chief Executive Officer, George Burns, stated: My thanks to Matt Badylak, Kisladag General Manager, and the team at site, as resumption of operations has started on schedule. We are now prepared to deliver on our 2019 Kisladag guidance of 145,000-165,000 ounces at a cash cost of $570-620 per ounce, increasing in 2020 to 240,000-260,000 ounces.

About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkey, Canada, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Brazil. The Company has a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, a portfolio of high-quality assets, and long-term partnerships with local communities. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (ELD.TO) and the New York Stock Exchange (EGO).

Contacts

Investor Relations

Peter Lekich, Manager Investor Relations

+1 604 687 4018 or 1 888 353 8166 peter.lekich@eldoradogold.com

Media

Louise Burgess, Director Communications & Government Relations

+1 604 687 4018 or 1 888 353 8166 louiseb@eldoradogold.com

Cautionary Note about Forward-looking Statements and Information

Certain of the statements made and information provided in this press release are forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, these forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", continue, projected, "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Story continues

Forward-looking statements or information contained in this release include, but are not limited to, statements or information with respect to: resumption of crushing and stacking at Kisladag, our guidance and outlook, including expected production at Kisladag; plans and goals, including our proposed testing plan at Kisladag and operating plans and priorities and related timelines.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, market uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information.

We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information, including assumptions about the geopolitical, economic, permitting and legal climate that we operate in; the future price of gold and other commodities; the global concentrate market; exchange rates; anticipated costs and expenses; production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, the impact of acquisitions, dispositions, suspensions or delays on our business and the ability to achieve our goals. In particular, except where otherwise stated, we have assumed a continuation of existing business operations on substantially the same basis as exists at the time of this release.

Even though our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Many assumptions may be difficult to predict and are beyond our control.

Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: recoveries of gold and other metals; geopolitical and economic climate (global and local), risks related to mineral tenure and permits; gold and other commodity price volatility; risks regarding potential and pending litigation and arbitration proceedings relating to the Companys, business, properties and operations; expected impact on reserves and the carrying value; the updating of the reserve and resource models and life of mine plans; mining operational and development risk; financing risks, foreign country operational risks; risks of sovereign investment; regulatory risks and liabilities including, environmental regulatory restrictions and liability; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical testing and recoveries; additional funding requirements; currency fluctuations; community and non-governmental organization actions; speculative nature of gold exploration; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; and defective title to mineral claims or properties, as well as those risk factors discussed in the sections titled Forward-Looking Statements and "Risk factors in our business" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form & Form 40-F. The reader is directed to carefully review the detailed risk discussion in our most recent Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR under our Company name, which discussion is incorporated by reference in this release, for a fuller understanding of the risks and uncertainties that affect the Companys business and operations.

Forward-looking statements and information is designed to help you understand managements current views of our near and longer term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change.

Except as otherwise noted, scientific and technical information contained in this press release was reviewed and approved by Paul Skayman, FAusIMM, Chief Operating Officer for Eldorado Gold Corporation, and a "qualified person" under NI 43-101.By Foo Yun Chee and Paul Sandle

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union has not raised any major concerns about the impact on Germany's cable market of Vodafone buying Liberty Global's assets, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, improving the chances of the deal going ahead.

Vodafone, the world's No.2 mobile operator, agreed in May to pay $22 billion for Liberty Global's cable networks in Germany and eastern European markets to challenge the dominance of former monopolies such as Deutsche Telekom.

In December, the EU opened a full-scale probe into the deal, which has been strongly criticized by rivals Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica Deutschland.

Antitrust regulators said at the time they were concerned the deal would damage competition in Germany and the Czech Republic.

Two sources, however, said the EU had accepted Vodafone's Kabel Deutschland and Liberty's Unitymedia cable networks, which serve different regions of Germany, were unlikely to ever overlap and so competition would not be reduced if they combined.

"That is no longer on the table," one of the sources said.

INFLUENCE ON BROADCASTERS

The Vodafone and Liberty cable assets used to belong to Deutsche Telekom and were broken up at the behest of the regulator when they were sold.

Competitors complain the proposed deal would recreate a dominant player in serving apartment buildings, where one gatekeeper typically controls access to multiple households.

Regulators, however, accepted there wasn't direct competition between Vodafone and Liberty when they were offering TV services to housing associations, the source said.

There were also no major EU concerns about the impact in the Czech Republic of combining fixed line and mobile services.

The EU said in December it would look into whether the combined group could have too much power in the Czech Republic through its ability to offer mobile, broadband and TV services.

That has been dropped from the so-called statement of objections issued to the companies, another source said.

Story continues

The EU still has outstanding worries about a few areas of overlap, including Vodafone reselling broadband that uses Deutsche Telekom's network in the areas covered by Liberty's cable network, one of the sources said.

The other issues concerned the increased influence the combined group would have on the broadcasters that supply programming, and the wholesale supply of TV to smaller operators.

Shares in Vodafone were up 0.2 percent at 1472 pence by 1405 GMT, while Liberty Global's were up 0.3 percent at $24.98.

Guy Peddy, head of telecoms research at Macquarie, said he continued to expect the deal would be completed in the middle of the year.

Vodafone said it was in constructive dialogue with the European Commission about the deal, which also includes operations in Hungary and Romania.

"This is a significant, pan-European transaction that will create a fully-converged national challenger in four European markets, and we remain confident that the Commission will recognize that it will deliver considerable benefits for consumers and competition," the company said in a statement.

"We still expect to receive final approval in the middle of this year."

Liberty Global was not immediately available to comment.

The European Commission declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine in Frankfurt. Editing by Georgina Prodhan and Mark Potter)Coaxial TV Cables are seen in front of Vodafone and Liberty Global logos in this illustration taken May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Files

By Foo Yun Chee and Paul Sandle

BRUSSELS-LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union has not raised any major concerns about the impact of Vodafone's buying Liberty Global's assets on the cable market in Germany, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Vodafone, the world's second biggest mobile operator, agreed in May to pay $22 billion for Liberty Global's cable networks in Germany and eastern European markets to challenge the dominance of former monopolies like Deutsche Telekom.

In December, the EU opened a full-scale probe into the deal, which has been strongly criticised by rivals DT and Telefonica Deutschland .

Antitrust regulators said at the time they were concerned the deal would damage competition in Germany and the Czech Republic.

Two sources, however, said the EU had accepted that Vodafone's Kabel Deutschland and Liberty's Unitymedia cable networks, which serve different regions of Germany, were unlikely to ever overlap and therefore competition would not be reduced if they combined.

"That is no longer on the table," one of the sources said.

The sources also said there was no major EU concern about the impact on fixed line-mobile convergence in the Czech Republic.

Vodafone said in a statement it was continuing its constructive dialogue with the European Commission about the deal, which also includes operations in Hungary and Romania.

Liberty Global was not immediately available to comment.

(Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine in Frankfurt. Editing by Jane Merriman and Georgina Prodhan)By Makiko Yamazaki and Yoshiyasu Shida

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Display Inc will begin to supply organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for the Apple Watch later this year, two sources said, a breakthrough for the cash-strapped company whose late shift to OLED has cost it orders from Apple.

The supply deal would mark Japan Display's foray into the OLED display market, the two sources familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

A spokesman for Japan Display said he could not comment on specific customers.

Japan Display's mainstay liquid crystal display (LCD) business has been slumping due to Apple Inc's recent shift away from LCD, and disappointing sales of the iPhone XR, the only LCD model in Apple's 2018 line-up.

The OLED display market is dominated by Samsung Electronics unit Samsung Display and LG Display, with Chinese players quickly catching up. OLED displays are generally thinner and allow more flexibility than LCD screens.

Samsung Display is currently the exclusive supplier of OLED panels for iPhones, while LG Display provides a majority of panels for the Apple Watch.

Hiroshi Hayase, senior director at IHS Markit, said it is a positive step for Japan Display, but added that the company would face a tough road ahead.

"Hurdles would be high to win orders for iPhones," Hayase said. "Samsung Display has built up its experience, technologies and production capacity over more than a decade. Can Japan Display really compete with such a rival and make ends meet?"

Shares of Japan Display jumped as much as 7.6 percent in Tokyo trade on Wednesday after the Reuters report. The stock finished up 6.3 percent at 84 yen.

NEW PLANT

Japan Display, which gets more than half of its revenue from Apple, has a small OLED pilot line at a smartphone screen plant in eastern Japan.

It is seeking investment from a group that includes China Silkroad Investment Capital (CSIS), sources have told Reuters. The company has said it is aiming for as much as $990 million in fresh financing.

The Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday the company board would vote on investment plans by the start of next week.

Story continues

Japan Display and the group are planning to build an OLED panel plant in China using Japan Display's technology to produce smartphone panels, which need a larger line that normally costs 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) or more to launch, the sources told Reuters.

Japan Display's technology uses a slightly different manufacturing method and equipment from Samsung to avoid infringing patents held by the industry leader.

Global smartwatch display shipments increased by 42 percent to reach 149 million units in 2018, driven by better synchronization functions with smartphones, according to IHS Markit.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Yoshiyasu Shida; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Heekyong Yang in SEOUL; Editing by David Dolan and Christopher Cushing)Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM has made a final investment decision with respect to the multi-billion dollar expansion of the integrated manufacturing complex in Singapore.



The investment relates to conversion of fuel oil and other undesirable crude product elements to enhance production of higher-value products as well as cleaner fuels with lower-sulphur content.



The Singapore facility accommodates the companys largest refinery with a capacity of 592,000 barrel per day as well as the worlds only steam cracker capable of cracking crude oil. Moreover, the oil giant's biggest integrated petrochemical complex is located in the country. The expansion project is part of ExxonMobils plan to boost the downstream and chemical earnings potential of the Singapore facility.



ExxonMobil did not disclose the amount it plans to invest in the expansion project. Beginning 2020, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is establishing new rules on marine fuels, restricting the sulphur content to 0.5% from 3.5% to control pollution from ships.



Per the plan, the company will boost production capacity of cleaner fuels with lower-sulfur content by 48,000 barrel per day, which includes high-quality fuels. In order to meet the growing demand in the Asia-Pacific region,the expansion will augment ExxonMobils Group II base stocks capacity by 20,000 barrels per day.



Engineering, procurement and construction contracts have been awarded to Tecnicas Reunidas for the new process units as well as Wood Group for interconnecting pipelines and supporting infrastructure facilities. As part of the project, the company is working on a long-term commercial agreement with Linde to upgrade residues from the site to hydrogen and synthesis gas.



The company has commenced engineering and procurement and construction, while operations are expected to begin in second half of 2019. The project is scheduled to come online in 2023.



Zacks Rank & Key Picks



Currently, ExxonMobil carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



Some better-ranked players in the energy space are Antero Resources Corporation AR, CrossAmerica Partners L.P. CAPL and SEACOR Holdings, Inc CKH. While Antero Resources and CrossAmerica Partners sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), SEACOR Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Antero Resources is an independent explorer, primarily engaged in the acquisition and development of natural gas, natural gas liquids as well as oil resources in the Appalachian Basin. The companys earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the last four quarters.



CrossAmerica Partners is involved in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels, comprising gasoline and diesel fuel. The partnership delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 452.2% in the last four quarters.



SEACOR Holdings is a diversified holding company, mainly focused on domestic and international transportation, logistics as well as risk management consultancy. The bottom line for 2019 is expected to inch up 1.7% year over year. The company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 20.5% in the trailing four quarters.



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchMichael Avenatti speaks to members of the media outside the federal court in New York on March 25, 2019. Photo: Louis Lanzano/Bloomberg



Embattled attorney Michael Avenatti has agreed to step down as lead plaintiffs counsel of a class action in which he won a $454 million verdict, but a fight remains over who will replace him.



Avenatti, best known as the lawyer who once represented the adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Donald Trump, faces criminal charges of extortion and bank fraud. Prosecutors in New York and California filed the charges last week, and Avenatti, who appeared with his criminal defense team in the California case on Monday, has entered no pleas in either case.



On Monday, two lawyers working with Avenatti on the class action, brought against Kimberly-Clark Corp. over the cost of allegedly defective surgical gowns, filed a motion to appoint them as interim class counsel in light of the criminal charges. Avenatti submitted a declaration supporting them as his replacement.



But a receiver in charge of collecting on a $10 million judgment against Avenattis law firm, Eagan Avenatti, filed a competing motion Monday for an indicative ruling to appoint Irvine, Californias Frank Sims & Stolper as lead class counsel. Its not just any firm: One of its attorneys, Jason Frank, a former contract attorney at Avenattis firm, is pursuing the $10 million judgment.



EA no longer has any employees or attorneys besides Avenatti, nor does it have any money in its bank accounts or legal malpractice insurance, wrote a lawyer for the receiver, Brian Weiss, referring to Eagan Avenatti. As such, EA does not have the resources to continue to represent the class.



The criminal charges in California alleged that Avenatti embezzled a $1.6 million settlement from a client trust account and provided false tax records to obtain $4.1 million in business loans from a bank in Mississippi.



The governments allegations are consistent with documentary evidence reviewed by EAs receiver, Weiss' lawyer wrote in Mondays motion. Avenatti remaining as class counsel is untenable.



According to court documents, the three name partners of Frank Sims all left Avenattis firm in 2016. Andrew Stolper, according to court records, was a non-equity partner at Eagan Avenatti starting in November 2014, while Scott Sims, also a non-equity partner, began in February 2012. Frank began working at Eagan Avenatti in 2009. After resigning, Frank claimed Avenatti owed him millions of dollars in unpaid compensation as an independent contractor, according to court records.



Frank, Stolper and Sims, and Weiss attorney, Jack Reitman of Los Angeles-based Landau Gottfried & Berger, did not respond to a request for comment.



Avenatti and the two attorneys he supported to replace him, William Hearon, of William C. Hearon P.A. in Miami, and Ahmed Ibrahim, of AI Law in Irvine, California, also did not respond.



According to court documents, the $10 million judgment comes from a settlement reached as part of Eagan Avenattis Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Santa Ana, California.



On Sept. 4, Frank, under the creditor name of Jason Frank Law PLC, sought to enforce the judgment in federal court before U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips of the Central District of California. Avenatti had attempted to disqualify Frank Sims & Stolper as Frank's counsel in the judgment action, given that Sims still represented him in a fee-sharing dispute tied to a $39 million settlement in 2011. Phillips rejected the disqualification.



On Monday, Avenatti's two former clients who got that settlement filed a malpractice lawsuit against him, his former and current law firm, and Michael Eagan, former partner at Eagan Avenatti, now in San Francisco. They also sued Frank, Sims and Alex Conti, a former Eagan Avenatti lawyer now at Conti Law in Newport Beach. The two former clients alleged in a complaint filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court that one of the two other law firms that helped obtain the $39 million settlement, Los Angeles-based Stoll, Nussbaum & Polakov, had sued them to collect its share of $15.3 million in attorney fees that Avenatti had refused to pay them. The complaint says Avenatti transferred the fees from a client trust account to a business operating account.



In the judgment action, Frank Sims sought to appoint a receiver, citing Avenattis failure to pay and brazen acts of bankruptcy fraud, such as failing to disclose contingency payments coming in from lawsuits. Avenatti stipulated to appointing Weiss as receiver on Feb. 13.



Among his firms largest assets, according to the receiver motion, were more than $10 million in attorney fees and costs anticipated to come from the class action against Kimberly-Clark.



In that case, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee reduced the award to $25 million. Kimberly-Clark and another defendant, Halyard Health Inc., have appealed the judgment, and Avenatti, on behalf of the class, appealed the judges decision to reduce about $450 million in punitive damages to $20 million.



In an amicus brief, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Tort Reform Association and the National Association of Manufacturers challenged the punitive damages.



In his motion to replace Avenatti in the class action, Weiss wrote that the partners at Frank Sims worked on the case while at Eagan Avenatti and that Frank, as a creditor, has the same economic incentive to maximize the value of the case on behalf of the class.



Hearon and Ibrahim, in their motion, noted that they both had significant roles in the trial and were intimately involved in the appeal.



There is thus no need for the court to make a wholesale change in the team of lawyers handling what remains of the appellate process, they wrote.



Hearon and Ibrahim also filed notices of appearances on Monday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, alongside the plaintiffs' appellate counsel, Stuart Esner, of Esner Chang and Boyer in Pasadena, California. The Ninth Circuit has yet to schedule oral arguments in the case, which is fully briefed.



Hearon and Ibrahim, who left Eagan Avenatti last month to start his own firm, had the support of the class representative, Bahamas Surgery Center, and Avenatti, both of whom filed declarations.



Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure that my fiduciary duties are met, I believe it is in the best interests of the class to relinquish my role as lead class counsel at this time, Avenatti wrote in a declaration.



A hearing on Avenattis replacement is set for May 3.MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Horizon National Corp. (FHN) will announce first quarter 2019 financial results in a news release prior to the market opening on April 16, 2019, followed by a conference call at 8:30 a.m. CT (U.S.) during which management will review earnings and performance trends. The company will also host a live webcast accompanied by a slide presentation. The news release, call, and slide presentation may involve forward-looking information, including guidance.



The slide presentation, financial supplement and news release will be available by 6 a.m. CT that morning at http://ir.fhnc.com/Event .



Conference call information



Analysts, investors and interested parties may call toll-free starting at 8:15 a.m. CT on April 16 by dialing 888-317-6003 (if calling from the U.S.) or 412-317-6061 (if calling from outside the U.S) and entering access code 7877722. The conference call will begin at 8:30 a.m. CT.



Participants can also opt to listen to the live audio webcast with the accompanying slide presentation at http://ir.fhnc.com/Event .



A replay of the call will be available beginning at noon CT on April 16 until midnight CT on April 30. To listen to the replay, dial 877-344-7529 (U.S. callers) or 412-317-0088 (international callers); the access code is 10129815. A replay of the webcast will also be available at http://ir.fhnc.com/Event by midnight CT on April 16 and will be archived on the site for a year.



About First Horizon

First Horizon National Corp. (FHN) provides financial services through its Capital Bank, First Tennessee Bank, FTB Advisors, and FTN Financial businesses. The banking subsidiary was founded in 1864, has the 14th oldest national bank charter in the country and the largest deposit market share in Tennessee. The company operates more than 250 bank locations across the Southeast and 28 FTN Financial offices across the U.S. FTB Advisors wealth management group has more than 300 financial professionals and about $4.8 billion in assets under management. FTN Financial is a capital markets industry leader in fixed income sales, trading and strategies for institutional customers in the U.S. and abroad. The company has been ranked by American Banker magazine among the Top 10 Most Reputable U.S. banks and as one of the nations best employers by the National Association for Female Executives and Fortune magazine. More information is available at www.FirstHorizon.com .

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FHN-G

CONTACT:

First Horizon Investor Relations, Aarti Bowman, (901) 523-4017

First Horizon Media Relations, Silvia Alvarez, (901) 523-4465U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission building in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission building in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)







The founder and former chief executive of a Silicon Valley mobile payments startup has agreed to pay $17 million to settle claims from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he misled investors about the company's performance.



According to the SEC's complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, former Jumio Inc. CEO Daniel Mattes caused the companies' revenues to be overstated in 2013 and 2014. According to the SEC, Jumios financial statements claimed gross revenues $101 million in 2013, when the actual number was only $9.5 million, and claimed $150 million in 2014, when it was only $7.7 million. The SEC also claims that Mattes, 46, of Wels, Austria, misled the company's board by assuring members that he would not sell his personal shares on the secondary market, when in fact he did just that, selling more than $14 million worth of stock. The company restated its financial results in 2015 and filed for bankruptcy in 2016, leaving investors with nothing.



Mattes, who is represented by Michael Duggan of Marks, O'Neill, O'Brien, Doherty & Kelly in Wilmington, Delaware, agreed to pay $14,617,922 in proceeds from stock sales plus $2,145,112 in prejudgment interest and a $640,000 civil penalty. The deal still requires judicial signoff.



Erin Schneider, the associate regional director the SECs San Francisco office, which is handling the case, said in a statement announcing the SEC's action that Mattes enriched himself at investors expense. Company executives must provide investors with accurate information irrespective of whether their companies are publicly or privately traded, she said.



Since leaving Jumio in 2015, Mattes, who is a judge and business angel on the Austrian version of the reality television show "Shark Tank," has founded .42.cx, an artificial intelligence startup in Austria where he is currently CEO. Representatives of Mattes' new company, whose website lists him as "Serial Internet entrepreneur. International speaker. Book author," didn't immediately respond to a message Tuesday. Neither did Duggan, his lawyer.



Also on Tuesday, the SEC reached a separate agreement with Jumios former chief financial officer Chad Starkey, whom the agency claims failed to exercise "reasonable care" in regards to the company's financial statements and Mattes' stock sales. Starkey, who had a background as a lawyer but was not a CPA, agreed to $420,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest related to his own stock sales, and to cooperate in the agency's investigation. According to a cached version of Starkey's LinkedIn page, which is now unavailable, he previously practiced at Robinson & Wood and Bowman and Brooke. Starkey's lawyer, Patrick Murphy of Murphy Cooke Kobrick in San Mateo, didn't immediately respond to a message Tuesday.(Bloomberg) -- If France is trying to keep Huawei Technologies Co. out of its next-generation telecommunications networks, its doing it a lot more subtly than the U.S.

The countrys parliament starts to debate Wednesday a bill aimed at tightening security around its 5G networks after an earlier version was rejected in February by senators for the governments failure to fully consult them. The bill doesnt name Huawei, but instead provides a framework for protecting networks by subjecting equipment to tests that may be tantamount to suppliers handing over industrial secrets to be eligible to bid for contracts.

We dont target any gear maker; we target equipment, said Thomas Gassilloud, a lawmaker from President Emmanuel Macrons party, Republic on The Move, who sits on the defense committee. He noted, however, that the bill will reflect Frances attempts to ensure the new networks are secure and its push for more reciprocal access to the Chinese market.

We are not naive, and the bill will leave room for the prime ministers national security agency to make the wisest choices taking into account both the networks security and our place in global competition, he said.

The bill shows that France isnt succumbing to pressure from the U.S. for an outright ban of Huawei. President Donald Trumps administration has been seeking to persuade countries across the world to exclude Huawei from 5G networks, pointing to Chinas National Intelligence Law that requires all its organizations and citizens to assist authorities with access to information, which according to the U.S. makes the company a tool for espionage.

France -- a large number of whose companies do business in China -- has gone to great lengths to not be seen as targeting Huawei. During Chinese President Xi Jinpings state visit to France late last month, Macron and his advisers avoided any public discussion of Huawei or cybersecurity. Instead, Macron said Europe is trying to build a coherent strategy with China.

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We give ourselves the means to be sovereign, like China has always done, with no discrimination on foreign investments, which are welcome in France like in Europe, he said. The comments were the latest demonstration of Europe de-escalating whats been a tense few months of U.S.-led anti-China tech sentiment, centering on Huawei.

READ MORE: Talk About Anything But Huawei During President Xis Paris Trip

For all that, though, the new French bill will require Huawei and other gear makers to divulge a lot more information on their equipment than in the past.

In addition to the safeguards in place for critical parts of the countrys telecoms networks, the bill envisages a vetting procedure that broadens the list of components that must be fully reviewed by government cyber experts. The core of networks and towers are already on that list, but now electronic components and software in the towers and equipment linked to the heart of the network will also be scrutinized, according to a copy of the bill.

READ MORE: France to Toughen 5G Telco Equipment Access, Citing Security

With 4G, Huawei could afford not to be in the protected heart of networks and still do business, but with 5G a much greater share of the equipment will require national security oversight, Gassilloud said. Not being eligible for it would make it structurally impossible to have a reasonable market share.

The application of the rules -- the choice of equipment depending on their location, the level of vetting demanded for some of the gear, the review of software used to protect the data -- will remain classified and under the oversight of the national security agency SGDSN and the cyber security agency ANSSI.

To increase oversight, the parliaments defense committee is proposing an amendment for so-called PMR, or private mobile radio, to be regulated in the same way as public 5G networks, something Germany is looking into. The PMR will be used for data-intensive and smaller-cell applications, like in urban areas or by large industries that want to build their own networks and bypass licensed mobile operators.

Ericsson AB, Nokia Oyj, Cisco Systems Inc. and Huawei are all competing to build Europes future network.

We absolutely have to adapt to the needs of each country as they move forward, with their 5G plans, Huaweis deputy director general for France, Minggang Zhang, said in an interview. The Chinese company wants the process to be open and transparent, he said.

In spite of U.S. pressure, 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 worlds biggest telecoms gear maker.

It has been chosen to equip Italys and Monacos networks. Frances four telecom operators have repeatedly called on Macrons government to leave the market open to all providers. Orange Chief Financial Officer Ramon Fernandez said barring Huawei in 5G equipment would result in a duopoly between the two European providers.

Telecom operators are anxiously awaiting the bill as they race toward their 2020 target for rolling out 5G networks.

Its of the utmost importance for us to have --as quickly as possible-- visibility on the way the government envisions the process to authorize the pieces of telecom gear, said Stephanie Brun, a spokeswoman for the French Telecom Federation. We need to avoid any delay, especially if we have to amend part of the work thats been carried out during the pilot test period or if we need to change our current networks on which future 5G networks will be based.

To contact the reporters on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net;Angelina Rascouet in Paris at arascouet1@bloomberg.net;Marie Mawad in Paris at mmawad1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.(Bloomberg) -- Senator Richard Blumenthal slammed the pace of the U.S. Federal Trade Commissions privacy investigation into Facebook Inc., saying it is inexplicable that the probe has stretched for more than a year without a fine against the company.

The Connecticut Democrat said in an interview on Capitol Hill Wednesday that he is flabbergasted and frustrated that the commission had not resolved the case. The inquiry, which started in March 2018, should have been done in one-tenth of the time, he said.

The FTC is investigating whether Facebook violated a 2011 consent decree when the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which had ties to Donald Trumps presidential campaign, obtained the data of millions of the sites users without their permission.

Blumenthal said its clear Facebook violated the 2011 order and should be fined more than the current record for a privacy case of $22.5 million.

Both the FTC and Facebook declined to comment on Blumenthals criticism.

The social media giant is in talks over the alleged privacy violations that could force the company to pay billions of dollars in a record-breaking settlement, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Last weekend, Facebooks chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, called for government regulation of four broad areas -- harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability. He suggested rules such as the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation as a common framework.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Stoller in Washington at dstoller1@bloomberg.net;David McLaughlin in Washington at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, John Harney

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.(Bloomberg) -- Googles workforce employed fewer white, male employees in 2018 compared with 2017, as the Asian workforce grew and women and people of color showed less obvious improvement.

Gains were reported in the number of women, black and Latino workers among new hires, and attrition rates for women and most under-represented groups declined, the Alphabet Inc. unit said in its annual diversity report. Still, black workers continued to have the highest attrition rates, according to the report, which cited race data for U.S. employees.

White workers remain in the majority, accounting for 54.4 percent of employees. Asian staff posted the biggest increase, rising 1.7 percentage points to make up 39.8 percent of Googlers.

Earlier this year, Google employees, along with shareholders, called on the company to make changes in areas including racial and gender diversity, and asked the board to consider tying these metrics to executive bonuses. Over the past year, employees have protested about worker rights, a military contract and the handling of sexual misconduct allegations.

The report showed women gained ground in technical jobs, although they still account for less than a quarter of those roles globally compared with almost half of non-technical positions. Women made up 26 percent of U.S. leadership, from 25.3 percent in 2018.

For the first time, the company also asked workers to identify themselves in other ways. Google found that 8.5 percent identify as LGBTQ, 7.5 percent identified as having a disability, and less than 1 percent identified their gender as non-binary.

The over-representation of Asian workers and under-representation of women relative to the broader U.S. population is common in the tech industry. Last month recruiter Stellares released an analysis of 13,000 tech companies that identified a compounding factor: The initial profile of the founders tends to set the pattern for the company, even as it matures.

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For example, companies with all-male founding teams, about 14 percent of leadership positions are held by women. At those started by all-female teams, the split is about even, the study found.

(Adds data on founder gender and race trends in penultimate paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Jodi Schneider, Robert Fenner

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.Helen Mirren with director Bill Condon (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

CinemaCon is happening right now in Las Vegas, the annual convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

And aside from special movie screening and trailer reveals, exhibitors, filmmakers and actors are heading to Nevada to discuss the fate of cinemas, the notable topic once again being the continued proliferation of streaming services.

But Helen Mirren has a pretty clear message.

Read more: Zac Efron in chilling new trailer for Ted Bundy movie

Taking to the stage at the convention, while promoting her new movie The Good Liar, she explained: I love Netflix. But f**k Netflix.

The remark, of course, received thunderous applause from the assemble exhibitors, according to reports, as she continued: There is nothing like sitting in the cinema.

Mirrens comments come as increasing fissures in the movie industry form, with some filmmakers embracing the new medium, while others are fiercely kicking back against it.

Read more: First footage from It: Chapter Two terrifies audience at CinemaCon

Yesterday, the US Justice Department warned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body behind the Oscars, against changing rules which would limit the eligibilty of Netflix for awards, saying that it could violate competition law.

In the event that the Academy  an association that includes multiple competitors in its membership  establishes certain eligibility requirements for the Oscars that eliminate competition without procompetitive justification, such conduct may raise antitrust concerns, the DOJs Makan Delrahim wrote in a letter to Academy head Dawn Hudson.

Steven Spielberg has been among those who have voiced concerns over streaming studio movies being eligible for awards, if movies are only given a limited token release at cinemas in order to qualify.

However, the Indiana Jones director was quickly criticised after he appeared as one of the endorsees of the new Apple streaming service just weeks later.

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At the last Oscars, Alfonso Cuarons Roma, which was distributed by Netflix, won Best Film, and Best Director for Cuaron.



(Bloomberg) -- Hellobike, a bicycle-sharing startup backed by Ant Financial, plans to raise at least $500 million in funding as it fights for customers in a brutal Chinese market, people familiar with the matter said.

The startup could seek as much as $1 billion as it gauges interest from both existing investors and new backers, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private. While the Shanghai-based companys valuation wasnt clear, in June it said it was worth $2.3 billion.

Just a few years after Chinese startups built dockless bike-sharing into a global business, the sector is floundering as pioneer Ofo flirts with bankruptcy and Mobike shows no signs of ending losses. Hellobike, a relative late-comer, emerged as a strong contender with the backing of Ant Financial, which is leveraging the platform to win mobile payments business.

Though the funding may look surprising given the financial tumult, Hellobike is part of a proxy war in China. Ant Financial is the finance affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which is locked in brutal fight for e-commerce customers with Meituan Dianping, the owner of Mobike.

Hellobike and Ant Financial, formally known as Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co., declined to comment in separate emailed statements.

While Hellobike has managed to remain a standalone entity and now has 200 million registered users, its done so by repeatedly raising new capital.

Hellobike tapped investors at least twice last year, completing a 4 billion yuan ($596 million) round as recently as December, according to Chinese news publication Jiemian. Co-founder Li Kaizhu said in a January interview that the company would seek a future initial public offering without specifying a time-frame.

Meituans $3.4 billion purchase of Mobike is proving problematic with Hellobikes heavy investment in the sector. Since the deal, Meituan has announced plans to pull out of most overseas markets and reduce the number of bikes it has on the streets as it tries to turn a profit.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at ychen447@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 annual general meeting of Hexagon Composites ASA will be held on Wednesday 24 April 2019 at 12:30 (CEST), at the Company`s office in Korsegata 4B, Aalesund, Norway.

The board of directors does not propose a dividend for 2018.

The notice, including agenda for the General Meeting is attached. The notice will be sent to shareholders on 3 April 2019.

All documents regarding the Annual General Meeting are available at https://www.hexagongroup.com/investors/annual-general-meeting

For more information:

David Bandele, CFO, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: +47 920 91 483 | david.bandele@hexagongroup.com

Solveig D Saether, Communication Manager, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: +47 906 34 977 | solveig.saether@hexagongroup.com

About Hexagon Composites ASA

Hexagon delivers safe and innovative solutions for a cleaner energy future. Our solutions enable storage, transportation and conversion to clean energy in a wide range of mobility, industrial and consumer applications.

For more information, please visit www.hexagongroup.com

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. HEX_AGM Notice ENG

HEX_AGM Notice NOR







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: Hexagon Composites ASA via GlobeNewswire

HUG#2240570

AMD EPYC 7281 and EPYC 7401P processors reliable and powerful hardware supports internet solutions and services for HOSTKEY customers

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, AMD (AMD) and HOSTKEY , a leading cloud solutions company representing clients across Europe, Russia and North America, have announced the release of AMD EPYCTM processor-based servers across HOSTKEYs infrastructure. This new deployment of AMD EPYC CPUs offers differentiated features, core-count, connectivity and memory bandwidth to HOSTKEY customers running virtualized environments and high-performance computing workloads.



The new HOSTKEY platform uses the 16-core AMD EPYC 7281 and 24-core EPYC 7401P processors delivered on Gigabyte platforms, which have support for up to 8-channels of RDIMM/LRDIMM DDR4 memory and 128 lanes of ultra-fast PCIe Gen3 x4 connections to support increased user demand.

AMD EPYC processors in single or dual-socket configurations enable HOSTKEY to provide a greater variety of services to our customers, expanding upon the available options for their processing needs, said Anton Malina, Head of the Netherlands Datacenter Infrastructure. As a leading provider of services in the regions we support, we are excited to work with a leader in the datacenter industry, AMD, to make the performance of AMD EPYC available.

We are excited to work with HOSTKEY and provide their customers with access to the AMD EPYC 7281 and EPYC 7401P processors. These AMD EPYC powered servers give HOSTKEY customers a new choice for running their virtualized, HPC or parallel processing workloads, while still experiencing the great service and support expected from HOSTKEY, said Daniel Bounds, senior director, Datacenter Solutions, AMD.

How to Access AMD Servers on HOSTKEY

AMD EPYC based servers are now available in the Netherlands. Customers can order their server with a configuration of choice on the HOSTKEY company site . The basic AMD EPYC 7281 processor-powered Servers, with 32GB RAM and 2x240GB SSDs, are available from 119/month. All HOSTKEY servers come with protection from DDoS-attack .

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Additional Resources

Learn more about AMD EPYC at AMD.com

Follow AMD datacenter developments on Twitter @AMDServer

About AMD

For more than 45 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics and visualization technologies  the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms and the datacenter. Hundreds of millions of consumers, leading Fortune 500 businesses and cutting-edge scientific research facilities around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work and play. AMD employees around the world are focused on building great products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (AMD) website , blog , Facebook and Twitter pages.

About HOSTKEY

HOSTKEY provides dedicated and cloud infrastructure hosting services based in ultra-modern data centers to corporate as well as private clients. Our infrastructure is applicable to dedicated and hybrid solutions. HOSTKEY is available in Amsterdam, Moscow and New York. Our partners include such companies as Microsoft, NGINX, cPanel, RETN, Huawei, AMS-IX, Serverius, DataPro and many others. The experience and professionalism of our employees ensure high quality and prompt rendering of services requested, from installation to administering and full support of a client`s IT system.

AMD, the AMD logo, EPYC, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Gary Silcott

AMD Communications

+1 (512) 602-0889

Gary.Silcott@amd.com



Laura Graves

AMD Investor Relations

Laura.Graves@amd.com

+1 (408) 749-5467IBM artificial intelligence can predict with 95% accuracy which workers are about to quit their jobs

IBM artificial intelligence can predict which employees will leave a job with 95 percent accuracy.

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty says methods used in the traditional human resources model are failing American workers and need assistance from machine learning.

AI, which has replaced 30 percent of IBM's HR staff, can help employees identify new skills training, education, job promotions and raises.

IBM receives more than 8,000 resumes a day, making it No. 1 on job-search site Glassdoor for Gen Z applicants, claimed IBM CEO Ginni Rometty at CNBC's @ Work Talent + HR Summit on Tuesday in New York City.

But that's not the only way the technology giant, which employs roughly 350,000 workers, knows who in the workforce is currently searching for a new position. IBM artificial intelligence technology is now 95 percent accurate in predicting workers who are planning to leave their jobs, said Rometty.

During Rometty's seven-year tenure as CEO, IBM IBM has been improving its AI work devoted to the retention of its employees.

"The best time to get to an employee is before they go," she said.

IBM HR has a patent for its "predictive attrition program" which was developed with Watson to predict employee flight risk and prescribe actions for managers to engage employees. Rometty would not explain "the secret sauce" that allowed the AI to work so effectively in identifying workers about to jump (officially, IBM said the predictions are now in the 95 percent accuracy "range"). Rometty would only say that its success comes through analyzing many data points.

"It took time to convince company management it was accurate," Rometty said, but the AI has so far saved IBM nearly $300 million in retention costs, she claimed. At present, the retention tool is only offered internally.

AI analysis of employees is part of IBM's plan to sell a suite of products that will upend the traditional approach to human resources management. Rometty described the classic human resources model as needing an overhaul, and said it is one of the professions where humans need AI to improve the work.

Story continues

Rometty said that since IBM implemented technology more widely including cloud services and other modernization, the tech giant has reduced the size of its global human resources department by 30 percent. But she added that the remaining positions are higher pay and able to perform higher-value work.

"You have to put AI through everything you do," she said.

A clearer career path is needed for many

Among the tasks that HR departments and corporate managers have not always proved effective at, and where AI will play a bigger role in the future, is keeping employees on a clear career path and identifying their skills.

Rometty said being transparent with individual employees about their career path is an issue in which many companies still fail. And it is going to become more critical. "I expect AI will change 100 percent of jobs in the next five to 10 years ," the IBM CEO said.

Being transparent with employees means being honest about the skills that are needed, especially when the workers don't possess them. IBM managers talk to employees about market skills that are scarce or abundant.

"If you have a skill that is not needed for the future and is abundant in the market and does not fit a strategy my company needs, you are not in a good square to stay inside of," Rometty said. "I really believe in being transparent about where skills are."

By better understanding data patterns and adjacent skills, IBM AI can zero in on an individual's strengths. In turn, this can enable a manager to direct an employee to future opportunities they may not have seen using traditional methods. "We found manager surveys were not accurate," Rometty said, referring to formal skills assessments. "Managers are subjective in ratings. We can infer and be more accurate from data."

IBM technology can view the tasks employees are completing, the educational courses they have taken and any rankings they have earned. Through these data points, the AI skills inference and HR managers can gain a greater understanding of an employee's skill set than they would by assessing the feedback from manager surveys.

IBM also abandoned another staple of classic HR: the annual performance review, a move Rometty said she resisted at first, but persistent HR leaders proved to her was necessary. The company assesses employees on their skills growth as part of their quarterly feedback check-ins with management.

AI is getting better at providing career feedback to employees. IBM's MYCA (My Career Advisor) AI virtual assistant uses Watson to help employees identify where they need to increase their skills. Its companion, Blue Match technology, serves up job openings to employees based on their AI-inferred skills data (employees opt into the service). Rometty said some of the 27 percent of IBM workers who received a new job or promotion in 2018 were assisted by Blue Match.

"AI will change all jobs once it is in the workflow, and that is the most meaningful kind of AI. Yes, some jobs will be replaced, but that is a red herring," Rometty contends. "It is about getting people to work at the intersection of this."

She added: "This is all a game about skill and having people with the right skills, and everyone's job is changing."

Getting rid of the current HR system

Traditional human resource departments, where Rometty said companies typically "underinvest," has been divided between a self-service system, where employees are forced to be their own career managers, and a defensive system to deal with poor performers.

"We need to bring AI everywhere and get rid of the [existing] self-service system," Rometty said. IBM employees no longer need to decipher which programs will help them upskill; its AI suggests to each employee what they should be learning in order to get ahead in their career.

Poor performers, meanwhile, will not be a "problem" that is dealt with only by managers, HR, legal and finance, but by solutions groups  IBM is using "pop-up" solutions centers to assist managers in seeking better performance from their employees. She said many companies have relied on centers of excellence  specialized groups or collaborative entities created to focus on areas where there is a knowledge or skills gap within an organization or community. "We have to move away from centers of excellence to solutions centers."

IBM's bet is that the future of work is one in which a machine understands the individual better than the HR individual can alone. The new era of AI-centered human resources will improve upon something many human-led HR teams can't handle as effectively as a machine that can crunch millions of data points and learn in new ways. Recognizing the true resource potential of individuals and serving as growth engines for companies.

"It is at the individual level. You have to know the individual. Skills are your renewable asset, and you need to treat them like that," Rometty said.





More From CNBC

* Hindu groups backing Modi tone down religious fervour

* Consensus reached to keep temple issue out of campaign

* Groups close to Modi to revive temple agitation after polls

* Modi's BJP seeks to partly switch focus to issues with Pakistan

By Mayank Bhardwaj, Neha Dasgupta and Rupam Jain

NEW DELHI, April 3 (Reuters) - Millions of Hindus will wake up at the crack of dawn this Saturday, five days before the start of India's general election, and march to nearby temples to chant a sacred hymn and renew a pledge to build a temple on the ruins of a 16th-century mosque.

Hardline Hindu allies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) say they will mobilise more than 10 million people on April 6 - the start of the Hindu New Year - to shore up support for the contentious plan to build a temple in the northern town of Ayodhya.

But while the event will keep the focus on a core demand of India's Hindu nationalists, it will not overtly be part of the BJP's election campaign, signalling a softer approach by the ruling party, multiple sources familiar with discussions said.

The commitment to construct a grand temple in Ayodhya to the Hindu god-king Ram has been part of the BJP's election manifesto since the 1990s and has helped the party garner Hindu votes in state and federal elections since then.

However, the BJP and its allies are concerned that focusing on the temple issue could be too hot to handle, especially since it is now the party in power. It could worsen communal tensions and trigger religious riots in the country, said a senior BJP leader.

"We cannot underestimate the power of Hindu fringe groups, and it's best not to ignite these issues," said a BJP leader who is overseeing the party's election strategy.

The BJP leader and two other senior party members, two federal ministers and four members of hardline Hindu groups, who didn't wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, said they reached a consensus to fold the temple issue into a broader religious and cultural discourse, without being too vocal about it.

Story continues

Following a meeting between senior religious leaders and BJP politicians in January, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or the World Hindu Council, which is leading the movement for building the Ayodhya temple, put its agitation on hold in February.

Details of the meeting have not been published previously.

The VHP, which shares ideological ties with the BJP, would renew its demand only after the general election, its leaders said.

"While we remain committed to the cause that is so close to the hearts of Hindus, we're unanimous in our view that it's not the right time to amplify the temple issue," said Alok Kumar, international working president of the VHP. "Politicization leads to controversies."

HINDU-MUSLIM RIOTS

The VHP has distributed pamphlets and issued appeals on social media to participate in a chanting ceremony aimed at renewing the pledge to build the temple on the spot where many Hindus believe Ram was born, where the mosque stood.

Sanjay Mayukh, a BJP spokesman in New Delhi, declined comment on the April 6 event being organised by the VHP.

"We wish them (VHP) a success and we will celebrate the Hindu New Year too," said Mayukh.

A militant Hindu mob tore down the mosque in 1992, sparking riots that killed about 2,000 people in one of the worst instances of sectarian violence in India since independence in 1947.

The mosque, built by a Muslim ruler in 1528, has been one of the prime causes of conflict between India's majority Hindus and minority Muslims, who constitute 14 percent of the countrys 1.3 billion people.

India's Supreme Court is now in control of the site in Uttar Pradesh state and has been weighing petitions from both communities on what should be built there.

In March, the country's top court appointed an arbitration panel to mediate in the dispute. It's verdict is yet to come.

BJP election candidates confirmed they are avoiding the temple issue in their campaigns.

Former government minister and BJP lawmaker Sanjeev Baliyan, who is contesting the election from a constituency in Uttar Pradesh, said he has instructed supporters to "refrain from using the Ayodhya issue in any political rally."

At least 65 people were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Baliyan's constituency in 2013.

"The danger of any religious tension spilling out of our control would change the election mood. Best to keep religious issues away from politics for now," he told Reuters.

Instead, Baliyan said, his campaign would focus on the BJP's achievements during its last five years in power and national security issues.

Most pollsters expect the BJP to emerge to win the highest number of seats in the election after recent military exchanges between India and arch enemy Pakistan led to a wave of nationalist fervour that has helped Modi.

But the pollsters say the BJP is unlikely to repeat its sweeping victory of 2014 because of the government's inability to provide jobs to the millions of youngsters coming into the job market each year and depressed rural incomes.

The BJP is also under fire from small business owners, traditional supporters of the party, who say they have suffered because of a rocky start to the Goods and Services Tax, Indias biggest tax reform, and Modi's shock move to ban high-value banknotes in 2016.

The big question may be whether the BJP gets enough seats in the 544-member lower house of parliament to govern without having to form a coalition with other parties.

India begins voting on April 11 and the staggered election is scheduled to end on May 19. Results will be declared on May 23.

Ambuj Nigam, the leader of the Vishwa Hindu Dal, a Hindu hardline Hindu group that came into existence in 2018, said the demand for a temple would again gain momentum after the general election.

"We have put all our controversial works on hold," said Nigam. "But as soon as election results are out, we will bring Hindu nationalism back to the forefront." (Additional reporting Zeba Siddiqui, Editing by Martin Howell and Raju Gopalakrishnan)Construction cranes in Dublin. Photo: PA

Expecting Brexit to cause a sharp increase in demand for customs staff, Ireland on Wednesday relaxed its employment rules to allow up to 300 such workers to come from outside the European Union.

Workers in the transport and distribution sector, including freight forwarders and cargo agents, will now be entitled to a standard employment permit in the country.

While there are currently no labour shortages in this field, the evidence suggests that in the event of Brexit, managed or otherwise, there will be a sharp increase in demand for these skills, Heather Humphries, Irelands business minister, said.

Humphries also announced the addition of several new occupations to the countrys critical skills list.

Civil engineers, quantity surveyors, construction project managers, and certain types of mechanical and electrical engineers from non-EU countries will now qualify for a special class of employment permits.

While Irelands construction sector is booming, it is also suffering from an acute skills shortage.

The Irish economy crashed during the financial crisis when the countrys huge real estate bubble burst. Skilled workers in the construction sector promptly left Ireland for elsewhere.

During the recent economic downturn, it suffered more than most and many skilled workers left Ireland to find opportunities abroad, Humphries said.

I am aware that the sector is actively seeking to encourage many of these workers back to take up jobs in Ireland but despite those efforts, there is still a significant supply gap and companies are experiencing real skills shortages.

Several types of occupations  including sheet metal workers, pipe fitters, crane drivers, and career guidance teachers  will also be entitled to a standard employment permit when they had previously been ineligible.

The changes will come into effect later this month. The rules for non-EU workers are reviewed twice a year.By Francesca Landini and Giuseppe Fonte

MILAN/ROME (Reuters) - The company spearheading the search for partners to rescue airline Alitalia has asked the Italian government to postpone the deadline for binding offers by two months, two sources close to the matter said on Tuesday

Ferrovie dello Stato, the state-owned operator of Italy's railways, has been in talks with Delta Air Lines over the rescue of Alitalia but last week said it needed more time to iron out a business plan for Italian flag carrier.

Alitalia was placed under special administration in 2017 after workers rejected the latest in a long line of rescue plans, and Ferrovie has been struggling to find partners ready to inject fresh funds and revamp the airline.

An end of March deadline expired as Ferrovie and its advisers were looking for investors.

"Several potential partners have pulled out ... every option is on the table," one of the sources said.

British budget airline easyJet withdrew from talks last month, with state-controlled Poste Italiane and Leonardo also stating that they are not interested in a deal.

"If the government gives Ferrovie more time it will be a widely agreed political decision to ensure that the solution found is solid and durable, with the best partners for the mission," the second source said.

The special commissioners running Alitalia are due to give their opinion on a postponement soon, but it is up to the industry ministry to take a final decision on a new deadline.

A response by the ministry could arrive in a few days, a third source said.

Last week one of the special commissioners said they could not agree on a deadline that was more than three or four weeks away, warning that the airline could be in danger of falling into liquidation.

The government has granted Alitalia a 900 million euro (769 million pounds) bridging loan that will expire at the end of June.

(Editing by David Goodman)(Bloomberg) -- Liquid Group Inc., a Tokyo-based crypto-currency trading platform, put out a press release Wednesday that it had raised venture funds at a valuation in excess of $1 billion, making it one of the rare so-called unicorns in Japan.

The startup has secured funding from investors including venture fund IDG Capital and crypto mining giant Bitmain Technologies Ltd., it said in the statement, but in a somewhat unusual step didnt disclose how much money it had taken in. Liquid has commitments for about $50 million, according to a person familiar with the matter, a relatively small amount for such a lofty valuation. Startup valuations are viewed skeptically if the amount of capital raised is less than 10 percent.

Thats not to take away from Liquids progress in building its business, including securing a coveted crypto-exchange license from Japans financial watchdog and handling more than $50 billion in cumulative trading volume. IDG is also a marquee investor, having funded crypto startups such as Coinbase Inc. and Bitmain.

Crypto startups have a history of pushing aggressive valuations. In June, Circle Internet Financial Ltd. raised $110 million, valuing the mobile payments and crypto trading platform at $3 billion. Coinbase raised $100 million in 2017 at a valuation of $1.6 billion. Non-crypto startups tend to raise more money in their unicorn rounds.

Liquid, founded in 2014 and previously known as Quoine, raised the latest funds as part of its on-going Series C round. Co-founders Mike Kayamori and Mario Gomez Lozada had raised more than $20 million in prior rounds from investors including Jafco Co. Separately, they raised $100 million through an initial coin offering in 2017.

The new funding will be used for global expansion and comes amid rising optimism that last years brutal correction for crypto assets is coming to an end. Bitcoin has jumped more than 20 percent this week to its highest in five months.

Japan has few startups that reach a $1 billion valuation before their initial public offerings, as loose listing rules make it easy for founders to go public sooner than in other countries. The nation was home to just one unicorn as of January -- artificial intelligence developer Preferred Networks Inc. -- compared with 165 in the U.S. and 90 in China, according to the latest data from research firm CB Insights.

Story continues

(Updates with data on number of unicorns in last paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Yuji Nakamura in Tokyo at ynakamura56@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Robert Fenner

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.KBR, Inc. KBR has received a contract from Pieridae Energy Limited for an engineering review of costs for a two train 10 MMTPA LNG facility at Goldboro, Nova Scotia.



Under this Technical Verification and Open Book Estimate (OBE) engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract, KBR will examine changes to initial plans for Pieridae Energys C$10-billion ($7.5 billion) Goldboro LNG project, which is capable of exporting up to 1.4 billion cubic feet per day. Pieridae expects to start construction on this facility in East Canada sometime in 2019.



Being active in the LNG industry for more than four decades, KBR remains committed to boost global LNG production for environmental reasons and has delivered about one third of the world's current LNG production capacity.



The company enjoys a robust track record of developing LNG projects in Canada. In the markets served by the company, it has significant opportunities that include Magnolia, Cheniere Midscale, Nigeria LNG, Woodfibre and others. Given the encouraging scenario, the company plans on reaching the final investment decision on the project in 2019. With this latest contract, it will continue to foray into the Canadian LNG market through Hydrocarbons Services business.



The company foresees decent opportunities in downstream petrochemical and ethylene projects, along with various emerging small-scale LNG projects in North America that are expected to boost the segments overall performance. KBR anticipates persistent growth in the segment, with margins likely to come in the mid-20s in the near future.



Recently, KBR received a pre-Front End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) contract from Mexico Pacific Limited for a midscale LNG liquefaction project in Puerto Libertad on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Per the contract, the company will provide Pre-FEED services and cost estimate for the project.



Hydrocarbon Services backlog has remained steady over the last five quarters. Of the total backlog, 75% represents service businesses that include high-end technical consultancy, pre-FEED, FEED, PMC, and sustaining capital construction services and maintenance.



Share Price Performance



Over the past three months, KBRs shares have gained 27.9%, outperforming its industrys rally of 23.8%. The price performance is backed by an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in seven of the trailing eight quarters. In fact, fourth-quarter 2018 marked the companys 8th consecutive quarter of strong revenues, earnings and cash flow; impressive year-over-year backlog growth; and the successful integration of SGT and Aspire. Markedly, earnings estimates for 2019 have moved 4.4% upward over the past 60 days, reflecting analysts confidence in the companys bottom-line growth potential.

Story continues



Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks



Currently, KBR carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



Other top-ranked stocks in the Zacks Construction sector include Quanta Services, Inc. PWR, Apergy Corporation APY and Armstrong World Industries, Inc. AWI. While Quanta Services and Apergy sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Armstrong World carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Quanta Services earnings for the current year are expected to increase 25.3%.



Apergy has a solid three-five year expected EPS growth rate of 22.5%.



Armstrong Worlds earnings for 2019 are anticipated to grow 21.9%.



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchCLEVELAND, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., (the Company) (LECO) announced today that it will release its first quarter 2019 results on Monday, April 22, 2019 prior to market open. An investor conference call and webcast will take place at 10:00 a.m. (ET) later that day.



The conference call will be webcast live on the Company's Investor Relations home page at https://ir.lincolnelectric.com. Listeners should go to the web site prior to the call to register and download and install any necessary audio software. Investors who are unable to access the webcast may listen to the conference call live via telephone by dialing (877) 344-3899 (domestic) or (315) 625-3087 (international) and should use confirmation code 6491686. Telephone participants are asked to dial in 10 to 15 minutes prior to the start of the conference call.

A replay of the earnings call will be available via webcast on the Company's website.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has 60 manufacturing locations, including operations and joint ventures in 19 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. For more information about Lincoln Electric and its products and services, visit the Company's website at www.lincolnelectric.com.

Contact

Amanda Butler

Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications

Tel: (216) 383-2534

Email: Amanda_Butler@lincolnelectric.comBy Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts gaming regulators on Tuesday released an investigative report concluding that former executives of Wynn Resorts Ltd concealed sexual misconduct allegations against the casino operator's billionaire founder, Steve Wynn.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission released the report at the start of a three-day hearing focussed on whether Wynn Resorts remains suitable to retain a licence needed to run a $2.6 billion (1.99 billion pounds) casino just outside Boston it plans to open in June.

Wynn has called the sexual misconduct accusations "preposterous." His lawyer had no immediate comment on Tuesday.

The report by the commission's investigations and enforcement bureau followed a January 2018 article by The Wall Street Journal detailing allegations that the billionaire had engaged in a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct.

His subsequent exit as the company's chief executive and sale of his 11.8-percent stake in the company made him one of the most prominent corporate executives to lose his job amid the #MeToo movement, which has highlighted longstanding patterns of sexual harassment and abuse in major U.S. institutions.

Wynn Resorts said in a Tuesday statement it arranged for Wynn to leave without severance, cooperated with the Massachusetts inquiry and has parted ways with any employee who did not investigate or report allegations against Wynn.

Wynn Resorts shares were up 1.9 percent at $131.85.

Massachusetts investigators concluded that over several years, a limited group of executives and employees disregarded company policies when it came to allegations of sexual misconduct against Wynn involving other employees.

The 199-page report said certain executives, with the help of outside lawyers, also took steps after learning about allegations against Wynn to conceal them.

"Their efforts at secrecy made it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for gaming regulators to detect this potentially derogatory information through typical regulatory means," the report said.

Story continues

The report said the actions of those now-former executives "appear to have contributed to a culture where employees were reluctant to report allegations against Mr. Wynn to management."

The Las Vegas-based company received its Massachusetts licence in 2013, allowing it to move forward with building the 671-room "Encore Boston Harbor" in Everett, Massachusetts.

The five-member commission is not expected to issue a decision for several weeks. It can impose conditions on the Las Vegas-based company's licence or revoke it entirely.

Nevada casino regulators, following a similar investigation into its response to allegations against Wynn, in February fined the company $20 million.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Nick Zieminski)(Adds statement from Wynn's lawyer, details from report, comment from Wynn Resorts CEO)

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, April 2 (Reuters) - Massachusetts gaming regulators on Tuesday released an investigative report concluding that former executives of Wynn Resorts Ltd concealed sexual misconduct allegations against the casino operator's billionaire founder, Steve Wynn.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission released the report at the start of a three-day hearing focused on whether Wynn Resorts should retain a license needed to run a $2.6 billion casino built outside of Boston expected to open in June.

Brian Kelly, Steve Wynn's lawyer, said his client "denies all allegations of non-consensual sex and nothing in this report changes that."

The report by the commission's investigations and enforcement bureau followed a January 2018 article by The Wall Street Journal detailing allegations that the billionaire had engaged in a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct.

His subsequent exit as the company's chief executive and sale of his stake in Wynn Resorts made him one of the most prominent executives to lose his job amid the #MeToo movement, which has highlighted longstanding patterns of sexual harassment and abuse in major U.S. institutions.

The report recommended commissioners consider recent reforms Wynn Resorts has adopted. The company said it has improved its human resources functions, arranged for Wynn to leave without severance and parted ways with anyone who did not investigate or report allegations against him.

Wynn Resorts Chief Executive Matt Maddox said he was "deeply remorseful" for what happened.

Wynn Resorts shares were up 4.29 percent at $134.89. Union Gaming analyst John DeCree in a report said he expected the company will keep its license but be forced to pay a fine and face additional oversight.

The Las Vegas-based company received its Massachusetts license in 2013, allowing it to move forward with building the 671-room "Encore Boston Harbor" in Everett, Massachusetts.

Story continues

The Massachusetts investigators concluded that over several years, some executives and employees disregarded company policies when it came to sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn involving other employees.

The 199-page report said certain executives also took steps to conceal allegations involving Wynn, leading in one case to a confidential $7.5 million settlement in 2005 with a manicurist.

The report said those actions "appear to have contributed to a culture where employees were reluctant to report allegations against Mr. Wynn to management."

The commission is not expected to issue a decision for several days or weeks. Nevada casino regulators, following a similar investigation, in February fined the company $20 million.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond Editing by Scott Malone and Nick Zieminski)Morgan Stanley on Tuesday highlighted Rocket Lab as a disruptive front runner among 117 possible competitors.

The company is among "the best positioned to take advantage of the smaller private satellite launch market," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said.

Rocket Lab manufactures and operates the 56-foot tall Electron rocket, priced at about $5.7 million a launch.

Small, privately built rockets are a burgeoning sector within the space industry, and out of more than 100 competitors, Morgan Stanley says Rocket Lab stands out as a disruptive front-runner.

Though the New Zealand and California-based company lacks the backing of billionaires like SpaceX's Elon Musk, Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos or Virgin Galactic's and Virgin Orbit's Richard Branson, it makes up for that with a history of successful launches and an "outlook for profitability," analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday.

Rocket Lab last raised $140 million, led by Australia's sovereign wealth fund. With nearly $290 million raised, it is one of a few space companies to reach the coveted tech unicorn status, with a private valuation of more than $1.2 billion.

The company makes and operates the 56-foot tall Electron rocket, which costs about $5.7 million a launch. Electron can send spacecraft about the size of refrigerator into orbit, far smaller than the payloads of bigger rockets.

But small rockets are a key part of the growing space industry. Previously, small satellite makers would have to hitchhike on larger rockets in "rideshare arrangements," Jonas said. Smaller rockets allow these companies to send their satellites to space more quickly.

Rocket Lab is among "the best positioned to take advantage of the smaller private satellite launch market," Jonas said, citing the convenience, low cost and sustainable approach of its rocket business.

The note is the latest in Morgan Stanley's "Space Disruptor Series," which features commentary on 90 companies by Morgan Stanley's "Space Team," which is led by Jonas .

Story continues

Rocket Lab completed its first launch of 2019 on Thursday, with the successful R3D2 mission for the Pentagon's research division DARPA. That was Rocket Lab's fourth launch to orbit and the 25th satellite the company has put in space.

Ahead of the DARPA mission, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told CNBC he estimates there are 117 other companies seeking to build small rockets. Despite heavy investment in the technology in recent years, Beck expects there to be a narrow window for these companies to reach orbit and begin competing with Rocket Lab.

In addition to Beck, Jonas profiled Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice and senior vice president Lars Hoffman. The former has 20 years of finance experience, especially in the semiconductor industry, while the latter led government sales at SpaceX, on top of 30 years in national security and aerospace sales.

Beck told CNBC last year that, after only a few launches, the company will "be cash flow neutral," a fact Jonas highlighted. Rocket Lab has an 18-month backlog of rocket launches scheduled. Additionally, it is "tracking around a $3 billion pipeline" in future launches, Beck said in November.

Beck was hesitant in a recent interview to declare his company the winner of the private small rocket race. With the caveat that it "depends on your definition of won," Beck did not shy away from noting the company's first mover advantage.

"We're the only ones putting s--- on orbit," Beck said.





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SALT LAKE CITY, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (MYGN), a global leader in personalized medicine, today announced that its Myriad Womens Health business unit will present results from two important studies at the 2019 American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting that highlight the performance of its prenatal tests. The key findings are that the Foresight Carrier Screen identifies 45 percent more couples at risk for having a child with cystic fibrosis than current guideline-based testing, and that the Prequel Prenatal Screen provides reliable results to 99.9 percent of patients spanning the entire spectrum of fetal-fraction levels.

Our studies demonstrate the outstanding clinical performance of our tests in a general population of patients undergoing carrier and prenatal screening, said James Goldberg, M.D., board certified maternal fetal medicine specialist, medical geneticist and chief medical officer, Myriad Womens Health. We believe these data will help inform medical guideline updates, support decision making and lead to better outcomes for couples.

The key data are summarized below. Please visit Myriad Womens Health at booth #1218 to learn more about our leading portfolio of womens health products. Follow Myriad on Twitter via @myriadgenetics and @MyrWomensHealth and keep up to date with meeting news and updates by using the hashtag #ACMGMtg19.

Foresight Carrier Screen

Title: Sequencing as a First-Line Methodology for Cystic Fibrosis Carrier Screening

Presenter: Dale Muzzey, Ph.D., Myriad Womens Health.

Date: Friday, April 5, 2019, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Location: Poster 880

This study evaluated the performance of sequencing-based cystic fibrosis (CF) screening using the Foresight Carrier Screen compared to genotyping. Three carrier screening strategies were evaluated: 1. Genotyping 23 guideline-recommended genetic variants (CF23); 2. Sequencing all coding bases in the CFTR gene (NGS) using Foresight; and 3. Sequencing plus large copy-number variant identification (NGS+CNV) also using Foresight. The results show that among the 13,080 couples screened, 58 were determined to be couples at risk for a pregnancy affected by CF: 40 were detected by CF23-only screening, 17 additional couples by NGS, and one couple by NGS+CNV. Importantly, these findings demonstrate that using Foresight would increase the detection of at-risk couples by 45 percent relative to current guideline-based testing. Of the couples at risk for CF who were identified, 89 percent said they planned or pursued actions to reduce the risk of having a pregnancy affected by CF, which underscores the clinical utility of the Foresight Carrier Screen to provide actionable information to prospective parents.

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Current medical guidelines for cystic fibrosis recommend carrier screening via targeted genotyping of 23 frequent variants but that approach may miss many couples at risk, said Goldberg. Our findings suggest the CF guidelines should be updated to allow for modern NGS and variant interpretation that will enable more effective screening and better detection of at-risk couples.

Prequel Prenatal Screen

Title: Avoiding Unnecessary Trade-Offs: Clinical Experience for a Noninvasive Prenatal Screen with Both Low Test Failure Rate and High Accuracy

Presenter: Susan Hancock, CGC, Myriad Womens Health.

Date: Thursday, April 4, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location: Poster 911

This study retrospectively analyzed data from 58,105 women screened with the Prequel Prenatal Screen, which uses a whole genome sequencing approach to noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS). Importantly, while Prequel measures fetal fraction, samples are not routinely failed due to fetal fraction being below a predetermined threshold. The results demonstrate that Prequel provided a test result for 99.9 percent of patients, meaning that only one in 1,000 received no result. In the cohort, a total of 572 cases tested positive for an aneuploidy or suspected aneuploidy and the clinical sensitivity and specificity levels were comparable to those observed for NIPS offerings with much higher failure rates. Critically, the study shows that performance would not be improved with the use of a fetal-fraction threshold. Rather, applying such a threshold to Prequel would serve only to cause thousands of women to receive a test failure and would unnecessarily delay the identification of a number of affected pregnancies.



What this data demonstrates is the high accuracy of the Prequel test below a fetal fraction of four percent, meaning more patients receive reliable results the first time, said Goldberg. We believe the ability of the Prequel test to perform at any fetal-fraction level is unprecedented and makes it the most effective noninvasive prenatal screening test for aneuploidy available to clinicians today.

About Foresight Carrier Screen

The Myriad Foresight Carrier Screen is designed to maximize detection of at-risk couples for serious, prevalent, and clinically-actionable conditions. Foresight has a rigorous disease selection that focuses on 175+ conditions that provides meaningful information to patients. Additionally, Foresight offers superior technology with unmatched detection rates for the vast majority of genes on the panel (>99% across ethnicities) which means patients can trust both positive and negative results.

About Prequel TM Prenatal Screen

The Myriad Prequel Prenatal Screen is a noninvasive prenatal screen that uses cell-free DNA (cfDNA) to determine if a pregnancy is at an increased risk for chromosome abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. Prequel has been shown to be superior to screening methods that use maternal age, ultrasound and serum screening. Additionally, Prequel has a lower false-positive rate and false-negative rate than these other methods. The Prequel Prenatal Screen can be ordered with the Foresight Carrier Screen and offered to all women, including those with high body mass index, and ovum donor or a twin pregnancy.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics Inc., is a leading personalized medicine company dedicated to being a trusted advisor transforming patient lives worldwide with pioneering molecular diagnostics. Myriad discovers and commercializes molecular diagnostic tests that: determine the risk of developing disease, accurately diagnose disease, assess the risk of disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across six major medical specialties where molecular diagnostics can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. Myriad is focused on five strategic imperatives: build upon a solid hereditary cancer foundation, growing new product volume, expanding reimbursement coverage for new products, increasing RNA kit revenue internationally and improving profitability with Elevate 2020. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: www.myriad.com .



Myriad, the Myriad logo, BART, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, myPath, myRisk, Myriad myRisk, myRisk Hereditary Cancer, myChoice, myPlan, BRACAnalysis CDx, Tumor BRACAnalysis CDx, myChoice HRD, EndoPredict, Vectra, GeneSight, riskScore, Prolaris, Foresight and Prequel are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-F, MYGN-G.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to the Companys presentation of new data for its expanded carrier and noninvasive prenatal screens being featured at the 2019 Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting April 2-6, 2019 in Seattle; the studies demonstrating the outstanding clinical performance of our tests in a general population of patients undergoing carrier and prenatal screening; the Companys belief that this data will help inform medical guideline updates, support decision making and lead to better outcomes for couples; the possibility that current medical guidelines for cystic fibrosis recommending carrier screening via targeted genotyping of 23 frequent variants may miss many couples at risk; the suggestion that CF guidelines should be updated to allow for modern NGS and variant interpretation that to enable more effective screening and better detection of at-risk couples; this data demonstrating the high accuracy of the Prequel test below a fetal fraction of four percent, meaning more patients receive reliable results the first time; the Companys belief that the ability of the Prequel test to perform at any fetal-fraction level is unprecedented and makes it the most effective noninvasive prenatal screening test for aneuploidy available to clinicians today; and the Company's strategic directives under the caption "About Myriad Genetics." These "forward-looking statements" are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services may decline; risks related to our ability to transition from our existing product portfolio to our new tests, including unexpected costs and delays; risks related to decisions or changes in governmental or private insurers reimbursement levels for our tests or our ability to obtain reimbursement for our new tests at comparable levels to our existing tests; risks related to increased competition and the development of new competing tests and services; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services, including our ability to successfully generate revenue outside the United States; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and any future tests and services are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with operating our laboratory testing facilities and our healthcare clinic; risks related to public concern over genetic testing in general or our tests in particular; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of the healthcare system or healthcare payment systems; risks related to our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations or licenses and acquire new technologies or businesses on satisfactory terms, if at all; risks related to our ability to successfully integrate and derive benefits from any technologies or businesses that we license or acquire; risks related to our projections about our business, results of operations and financial condition; risks related to the potential market opportunity for our products and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect or that third parties will infringe the proprietary technologies underlying our tests; the risk of patent-infringement claims or challenges to the validity of our patents or other intellectual property; risks related to changes in intellectual property laws covering our molecular diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical and clinical services and patents or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries, such as the Supreme Court decision in the lawsuit brought against us by the Association for Molecular Pathology et al; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; the risk that we may be unable to comply with financial operating covenants under our credit or lending agreements; the risk that we will be unable to pay, when due, amounts due under our credit or lending agreements; and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.City of Spearman Represented At Panhandle Days in Austin

Spearman City Manager Suzanne Bellsnyder and Senator Kel Seliger

Bellsnyder said, "During the two day event in Austin, I had the opportunity to meet with Panhandle Representatives Ken King, Four Price and John Smithee."



The delegation included: Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson, Borger Mayor Bubba Dickenson, several area city council members and representatives from Xcel Energy.



The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce coordinates the effort.



One of the Amarillo Chamber of Commerces most important roles is to continuously examine legislation that impacts business owners and residents in the Panhandle.



Every two years representatives travel to Austin with business and community leaders to meet with legislators to discuss important legislative issues that affect the 26 counties located in the Texas Panhandle.



The purpose of Panhandle Days (in odd calendar years) or DC Days (in even calendar years) is to deliver a unified message to legislators on important issues, such as the agriculture, arts, education, energy, healthcare, and workforce development.



The US Department of Justice (DOJ) came to Netflixs NFLX rescue as it expressed concerns about the proposed changes to the rules for Oscar nominations, per Variety.



Reportedly, a group of Academy members led by Steven Spielberg was looking to bring a rule change that will require any film to have a theatrical window of at least four weeks to qualify for Oscars.



Netflix, which faced criticism and pressure for keeping its theatrical window too short for Roma, may finally stop worrying about having a large theatrical window period if DOJ concerns are taken into consideration.



Netflix, Inc. Revenue (TTM)

Netflix, Inc. Revenue (TTM) | Netflix, Inc. Quote



Issue in Detail



In a letter addressed to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) CEO Dawn Hudson, Makan Delrahim, DOJ Antitrust Divisions chief, stated that the suggested rules by the Academy members may restrict competition and elevate antitrust concerns.



He also stated that agreements among competitors to eliminate competition without procompetitive justification is in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.



Notably, the meeting to discuss change in rules for the awards will be held on Apr 23, 2019.



Streaming companies, especially Netflix, would have been the most affected if the rule came into effect. A case in point could be the loss of Netflixs Roma to Universal Pictures Green Book in the best picture category after a close fight in the recent Academy Awards. Universal Pictures is owned by Comcast CMCSA.



This may be because some members of the academy arent really ready for a streaming service to win best picture per Erik Davis from Fandango.com. However, Roma won the award for best foreign-language film and the films director, Alfonso Cuaron, won the best director award for the movie at the recent Academy Awards.



Additionally, the company had to pull out of Cannes film festival after Cannes insisted that the title should have theatrical release in France.



Lower Non-Content Costs May Ease Netflixs Burden



Netflix can lower its marketing and distribution costs if it is not required to release movies in theaters to be eligible for Oscar nominations. This may reduce its cost burden at a time when the company is investing billions in producing original content.



Notably, Netflix is expected to spend $15 billion in 2019, 85% of which will be spent for original content, per Variety.



Investments in premium content will not only help Netflix win new subscribers and retain existing ones but fight competition from upcoming streaming services from Disney DIS and Apple AAPL.



Disney with its content strength and Apple with its huge cash reserves are pulling out all stops to foray into the space.



Reduction in non-content costs may ease Netflixs burden a little. Moreover, if the company can increase its monetization opportunities and reduce costs per subscribers it may soon reduce its cash burn.



Netflix currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



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Zacks Investment ResearchIt was a week where oil prices settled above $60 per barrel for the first time this year, while natural gas futures continued to tumble.

On the news front, Canadian midstream players TransCanada Corporation TRP and Enbridge Inc. ENB received positive news on their ambitious Keystone XL and Line 3 pipeline projects, respectively.

Overall, it was a mixed week for the sector. While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 1.9% to close at $60.14 per barrel, natural gas prices lost 3.3% to $2.662 per million Btu (MMBtu). (See the last Oil & Gas Stock Roundup here: Denbury-Penn Virginia Deal is Off, Murphy Sells Malaysian Assets)

The U.S. crude benchmark rallied to the highest in almost five months, underpinned mainly by production cuts from the OPEC-led group of exporters, and drop in supply from Venezuela and Iran. The so-called OPEC+ deal (an alliance of OPEC, Russia and other non-member countries) is withholding output by around 1.2 million barrels per day until the end of June. U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and Iran also continue to tighten the commoditys fundamentals.

Further to this, hefty draws in product inventories (gasoline and distillate) boosted bullish sentiment in the energy market. Data showing drillers in the United States removing oil rigs  an indicator of lower future output in North America  also contributed to the gains.

However, natural gas prices slipped further on smaller-than-average decrease in supplies and continued strength in production. 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.

Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories

1. Bringing in pleasant news for TransCanada, Donald Trump issued a new presidential permit in an attempt to kick-start the much-delayed Keystone XL project. While the decision was criticized by environmentalists, the industry players have lauded the move of permitting this significant pipeline project amid infrastructural woes in Canada and the United States.

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The $8-billion Keystone XL pipeline, with a capacity of 830,000 barrels, was designed by Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) TransCanada to improve oil extraction from Albertas oil sands and the Bakken region. The initial phase of the pipeline project was completed in 2011. A proposal was made to add another 1179 miles to the 2100-mile-long pipeline. The proposed extension was strongly opposed by environmentalists and politicians, owing to the risk of emitting greenhouse gases in transporting bitumen and crude to the United States.

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

While Trumps clearance should have eliminated all the uncertainties associated with the Keystone project, the green-campaigners are still very much against the pipelines construction, and have vowed to continue the legal fights and prospects. Although the presidential permit seeks to bring the 10-year environment review to closure, we believe that the project is still likely to face hurdles. (Read more Will TransCanada's Keystone Pipeline See the Light of Day?)

2. Enbridge has finally received the green signal from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for its proposed C$9-billion Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement project. The regulatory authority unanimously rejected the pending petitions of reconsideration of the pipelines future. One of the petitions was from the state Commerce Department, which had teamed up with tribal and environmental groups to oppose the pipelines approvals.

In February, the Minnesota Court of Appeals sent back the case to the regulatory authority for further proceedings. Notably, the approval came a few weeks after Enbridge said that it expected the project to be delayed by one year due to regulatory approval issues. Hence, the recent consent from the PUC is expected to cheer up investors as well as producers, wholl use the pipeline to ship their products from Canada to the United States.

The aging 1,660-kilometre Line 3, operating since 1968, connects Canadian producers to the U.S. refineries. Currently, the pipeline operates at half of its capacity. Once the replacement project is completed, the pipeline with a 36-inch diameter will operate at its daily approved capacity of 760,000 barrels. (Read more Enbridge's Line 3 Wins Final Approval From Minnesota PUC)

3. Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A recently shipped its first NGL cargo from the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project in Australia. Notably, the flagship project is a joint venture among Shell, Inpex Corporation, Korea Gas Corporation and Taiwans CPC Corporation, with Shell being the chief operator, owning a 67.5% stake in the project.

Prelude will handle the production, liquefaction, storage and transfer of LNG at sea, and processing, exporting and condensation of liquefied petroleum gas. The facility has a production capacity of around 5.3 million tons per annum (mtpa) of liquids, with LNG accounting for 3.6 mtpa or 68% of the total capacity.

In another development, the energy supermajor, which acquired U.K. power supplier First Utility to lower its carbon footprint, now plans to rebrand the latter as Shell Energy Retail. Additionally, Shell declared that entire electricity supplied by First Utility will now come from renewable sources. This implies powering more than 700,000 U.K. homes with 100% renewable energy. (Read more Shell Ships 1st NGL From Prelude, to Rebrand First Utility)

4. Noble Energy Corporation NBL announced that it has acquired a 40% interest in Royal Dutch Shells two offshore blocks in Colombia. The company will also operate the blocks, per the agreement. The financial details of the transaction are not yet disclosed. Courtesy of this purchase, Noble Energy will operate Caribbean COL-3 and GUA OFF-3 blocks, which cover more than 880,000 hectares.

Although Shell will retain the majority interest in these offshore blocks, Noble Energy has been entrusted with the authority to operate the oil-rich offshore blocks. At present, Noble Energy operates offshore assets in West Africa and Eastern Mediterranean. The companys existing expertise and knowledge to operate offshore oil and gas assets will definitely help it to manage the offshore South American assets.

Both the companies are expected to invest nearly $100 million for the exploration and development of the offshore Columbian blocks. The exploration of these offshore assets will support Columbias goal of increasing its existing reserves to a level that will cover at least 10 years of Columbian oil consumption. (Read more Noble Energy Buys Stake in Shell's Offshore Colombia Assets)

5. Tullow Oil plc TUWOY, along with its partners in the Orinduik oil and gas field that is located offshore Guyana, recently chose the location for a second well in the field, as part of its 2019 drilling program. The company has approved the drilling budget for the prospect named Joe.

Tullow is the operator of the Orinduik Block and holds 60% stake in it. The company has TOTAL S.A. (TOT - Free Report) and Eco Atlantic as partners in the block, with 25% and 15% interest, respectively. Eco Atlantic will bear net cost of around $3 million in the Joe prospect for its working interests.

Tullow Oil and its partners in the block expect the two wells to hold a total of 370 million barrels of Gross Prospective Resources. The company has huge plans of operation in the Orinduik Blocks Jethro prospect in second-quarter 2019. It has a Tertiary target of more than 100 million barrels of oil in the block at 1,350 meters of water depth. Total net well cost to the company is expected at around $30 million. The company intends to focus on the Kanuku blocks Carapa prospect in the third quarter. At a net well cost of $20 million, it has a Cretaceous target of more than 200 million barrels of oil at a water depth of 70 meters. (Read more Tullow Oil Finds 2nd Well Site in Orinduik Offshore Guyana)

Price Performance

The following table shows the price movement of some the major oil and gas players over the past week and during the last 6 months.

Company Last Week Last 6 Months XOM +0.4% -5.5% CVX +0.1% -0.3% COP +1% -15.6% OXY +1.5% -19.2% SLB +2.6% -29% RIG -2.6% -35.3% VLO +0.2% -29.6% MPC -2.4% -30.6%

In keeping with the weeks positive oil market sentiment, the Energy Select Sector SPDR  a popular way to track energy companies  generated a +1% return last week. The best performer was oilfield service biggie Schlumberger SLB whose stock gained 2.6%.

But longer-term, over six months, the sector tracker is down 14.1%. Offshore driller Transocean Ltd. RIG was the major loser during this period, experiencing a 35.3% price decline.

Whats Next in the Energy World?

As usual, market participants will be closely tracking the regular releases i.e. the U.S. government statistics on oil and natural gas - one of the few solid indicators that comes out regularly. Energy traders will also be focusing on the Baker Hughes data on rig count.

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Zacks Investment ResearchThe Pakistani Central Bank has announced it will launch a native digital currency by 2025. Image from Shutterstock.

According to the Dawn, a local media outlet, Pakistans central bank has announced plans to have a digital currency by 2025.

Digital Version of the Pakistani Rupee

Speaking about the regulation of Electronic Money Institutions, non-bank entities that will be allowed to issue e-money for digital payments, Pakistans State Bank Deputy Governor Jameel Ahmad told the audience that digital currency is more efficient. He also called on the government to ensure that cybersecurity was a top priority moving forward so that Pakistanis can fully take advantage of recent innovations.

While the Pakistani government has given itself a long window to create an e-rupee, private entities will be able to build digital solutions in the meantime. Ahmad said:

It is our governments policy to encourage the use of e-commerce amongst public through awareness campaigns to promote a culture of e-commerce, which supports electronic business transactions at national, regional and international levels.

From Branchless Banking to Blockchain Remittances to a Fiat Blockchain Token

Pakistans last great financial innovation, according to the Dawn, was the legalization of web banks or branchless banking. The next step is allowing non-banks to participate in the facilitation of payments, which provides a framework for blockchain companies to apply for regulatory approval. The central bank intends to launch its digital version of the countrys Rupee, but not many more details have emerged regarding that. The entire world is moving towards a cashless state. Ahmad spoke to the success of branchless banking:

Over the past few years, branchless banking providers have evolved well and are now offering financial services to a large segment of our population.

In some ways, Pakistan was ahead of many other countries in terms of mobile banking solutions and even received praise from the World Bank some years back.

Read the full story on CCN.com.The State Bank of Pakistan has shared its plans to start issuing a digital currency by 2025 in an effort to promote financial inclusion and reduce inefficiency and corruption, the country's flagship English-language newspaper Dawn reports.The post Pakistan state bank considering issuing digital currency by 2025 appeared first on The Block.

The State Bank of Pakistan has shared its plans to start issuing a digital currency by 2025 in an effort to promote financial inclusion and reduce inefficiency and corruption, the country's flagship English-language newspaper Dawn reports.

It is also proposing to introduce full digitalisation of the central bank by 2030 to promote transparency, according to Finance Minister Asad Umar. It is our governments policy to encourage the use of e-commerce, he added.Filipino Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the country has never defaulted on its loans, amid worries over the Southeast Asian nation's ability to repay its debt to China, local press reported.

There are concerns that the country cannot generate enough cash to pay the interest on its loans to China and falling into a "debt-trap."

Philippines ' finance secretary said his country has never failed to repay its loan payments, local press reported. His comments come amid concerns over the Southeast Asia nation's ability to repay its mounting debt to China and other countries.

"The Philippines has never, never defaulted on its loans. The Philippines has not done it even in the worst time, and the worst time was right after Marcos," Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a statement on Tuesday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported. He was referring to the two-decade long reign of the late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

"Even when the Philippines was cash-strapped, it had never defaulted on any of its loans," said Dominguez.

The Philippines has borrowed money from China and other nations to fund its massive infrastructure projects, under President Rodrigo Duterte's signature "Build, Build, Build" program.

"I don't know why people are saying, 'there might be a default.' That means to say those people have no faith in their own country," Dominguez said.

Like in many developing countries, there are concerns that the Southeast Asian nation cannot generate enough cash to repay the interest on China's loans.

Observers worry that Beijing may seek economic or political concessions as compensation as was the case with Sri Lanka, which had to hand over a strategic port to Beijing in 2017 when it couldn't pay off its debt to Chinese companies.

The phenomenon has been dubbed debt-trap diplomacy , which Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration has denied engaging in.

Story continues

Read Carlos G. Dominguez III's comments about The Philippines' loans from China.





More From CNBC

San Francisco, California, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Simlatus Corporation (OTC PINK:SIML) (Simlatus or the Company), the company announces that its Cannabis Division, Proscere Bioscience, has signed a 5-year distribution agreement with Brand House Ventures in value of $75M to sell its Cold-Water Cannabis/Hemp Extraction Systems in the USA.



On March 29, 2019, the Board of Directors approved the Company and its subsidiary, Proscere Bioscience Inc., to enter into an Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Brand House Ventures Inc. allowing the rights to sell the Cold-Water Cannabis/Hemp Extraction Systems within all of the United States. The term of the agreement is for five years with guaranteed minimal purchase orders of $15,000,000 per year and/or $75,000,000 over a five year period. Mike Mulder is the President of Brand House Ventures Inc., and the company was formed in 2010 as a sole proprietorship, and in 2014 was formed as a California S-Corporation. Today Brand House is a Holding Company for the distribution of a variety of products and technologies.

Proscere Bioscience manufactures and distributes commercial Cold-Water Cannabis/Hemp Extraction Systems. This advanced method and technology is highly effective in producing medical-grade product used to help people suffering with a wide range of ailments; from treating pain, inflammation, infections, sleep issues and mood disorders. The CBD is also proven to support the immune system, protects the brain and fights cancer. Proscere Biosciences commercial Cold-Water Cannabis/Hemp Extraction Systems are expected to yield $225M over the next 5 years, based upon expected growth and application.

Richard Hylen, Chairman and CEO, stated, We are finalizing Europe and Canada for distribution of our Cold-Water Cannabis/Hemp Extraction Systems. We anticipate revenues in this quarter from our subsidiary, Proscere Bioscience, while continuing our revenues from Satel Group and Simlatus.

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Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements which are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Companys future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as believes, anticipates, expects, estimates, may, could, would, will, or plan. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet managements expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to changes in general economic and financial market conditions. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Contact:



Richard Hylen, CEO



Tel: (530) 205-3437Per the latest report by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, which represents the U.S. wireless communications industry, both the United States and China are currently on equal footing for 5G readiness. This represents a marked improvement from the last year when the United States was trailing way behind China and South Korea.



This was made possible through continued investments from the industry and a prod from the top policymakers to update networks faster. With a holistic top-down approach, the United States was able to expedite the process to set up the required infrastructure and back it up with testing and launching of early networks in key locations.



Whats the Fuss About 5G?



5G is billed as the technology of the future with faster download speed and seamless transfer of data. Leveraging state-of-the-art communication network architectures, 5G is touted to be the primary catalyst for next-generation IoT services. These include connected cars coupled with augmented reality and virtual reality platform, smart cities and connected devices that revolutionize key industry verticals.



Moreover, 5G is likely to augment the scalability, security and universal mobility of the telecommunications industry, which is expected to propel the wide proliferation of IoT. The telecom firms are facilitating its customers to move away from an economy-of-scale network operating model to demand-driven operations and seamlessly migrate to 5G by offering easy programmability and flexible automation. Rollouts of next-generation 5G networks are anticipated to improve market conditions significantly in 2019 and beyond.



Meredith Attwell Baker, CEO and president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association observed, "5G is the platform for tomorrow's economy. It's going to transform everything from education to AI to medicine, and the industry is so competitive because of that." According to data from research firm IHS Markit, 5G is expected to result in $12.3 trillion of global economic output by 2035. Hence, it is obvious that both the United States and China would like to gain a greater pie in this market to have a political, economical and technological advantage.



How Will 5G Change Our Daily Lives?



5G is likely to form the basis of numerous intelligent technologies that will redefine our daily lives. A few of these developments are:



 Smart Homes: Smart Homes help remote monitoring and management of Internet-connected appliances and systems, such as lighting and heating. This provides homeowners security, comfort, convenience and energy efficiency by allowing them to control smart devices through a smartphone app or other networked device on a real-time basis. As the entire process require large bandwidth hitherto unavailable in existing 4G networks, 5G has emerged as the perfect option to achieve the desired results with its super fast data transfer speed.

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 Self-Driving Cars: The growing autonomous vehicle fleet is a testament to the fact that driverless vehicles are getting closer to being a common feature on public roads. This requires seamless data connectivity and AI to control vehicle speed according to road traffic and sensitive areas to prevent any road casualties.

 Smart Cities: Improving the quality of life for residents of the city, reducing environmental impact and increasing operational efficiency are three prime factors that have led to the evolution of Smart Cities. The essence of a Smart City is connectivity, where embedded telecom infrastructure works as a mesh in which data flows seamlessly and enables tasks with the least human intervention in the smartest possible way.

 Smart Farming: The farming industry is using remote sensors and drones as key tools to test and collate data for the latest farming technologies. Drones with 5G capabilities have been used to boost potato production in the Netherlands through precision agriculture tests. 5G sensors, artificial intelligence and cloud computing methods are also being adopted in Japan to monitor water temperature and salt concentration in oyster farms. (Read More: 5G Likely to Spearhead Innovations in Global Farming Industry)



How are Telecom Firms Pitching in?



As the 5G race appears to head for a photo finish, leading telecom firms across the country are working tirelessly to contribute in their own possible ways to make sure that the United States does not cede its leadership position. Verizon Communications Inc. VZ aims to launch the 5G Ultra Wideband network in Chicago and Minneapolis on Apr 11, while gearing up to increase the tally of 5G Ultra Wideband mobility cities to 30 in 2019.



Sprint Corporation S is planning to launch commercial 5G services spanning more than 1,000 square miles across nine U.S. cities in May. In addition to 5G deployments in select markets, Sprint is field-testing standards-based 5G services in Los Angeles with Nokia Corporation NOK and in Atlanta with Ericsson ERIC.



AT&T Inc. T has introduced mobile 5G networks in parts of 12 cities and is further planning to bring mobile 5G in certain areas of seven more cities in the first half of 2019. In order to have a seamless transition among Wi-Fi, LTE and 5G services, AT&T intends to deploy a standards-based nationwide mobile 5G network in early 2020.



Road Ahead



As the battle for 5G supremacy intensifies, various countries are increasingly devising newer avenues to outsmart rivals. These include out-of-the-box ideas for innovative product concepts to redefining strategies within a framework in accordance with the changing demands of customers. It remains to be seen which country achieves the coveted technological dominance in this race.



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Zacks Investment ResearchOnfido's latest round of funding was led by Salesforce's venture capital arm and Japanese financial group SBI.

The start-up will use the money to invest in its technology and strengthen its presence in the U.S.

Former Salesforce Vice Chairman Frank van Veenendaal will join the start-up's board following the deal.

Identity verification start-up Onfido says it's raised $50 million from investors including Salesforce CRM and Microsoft MSFT .

The firm's software validates a person's identity by taking their selfie and applying a mix of machine learning and human fraud experts to match their face with a government-issued ID.

Its latest round of funding, announced Wednesday, was led by Salesforce's venture capital arm and Japanese financial group SBI 8473.T-JP , with additional backing from Microsoft's venture unit and others.

Husayn Kassai, co-founder and CEO of Onfido, told CNBC that the company would use the fresh capital to "continue to invest in the technology and in the AI (artificial intelligence) component."

Onfido's AI is used to analyze people's faces to make sure they are who they say they are and reduce fraud. Its customers include crowdfunding site Indiegogo and remittances app Remitly.

Though headquartered in London, Kassai said Onfido actually gets most of its business now from the U.S., and is looking to strengthen its presence there.

Founded in 2012 by three Oxford University graduates, the company has been in expansion mode, increasing activity across the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia.

The latest investment brings Onfido's total funding to more than $100 million. Frank van Veenendaal, former vice chairman of Salesforce, will join the start-up's board following the deal.

Kassai, who is originally from Iran, says he came up with the idea for the business based on his own personal frustrations with how long it took for his parents to apply for bank accounts and other services when they moved to the U.K.

Story continues

"It basically took them months to be able to open a bank account and rent in their own name  and it's all because they weren't registered on the credit bureau," he said.

He says he felt credit agencies "exclude half the world's population" because so many people lack traditional access to financial services. According to the World Bank, 1.7 billion adults globally don't have access to banking.

Going forward, Onfido's boss said he sees people being able to use their selfies to check themselves into a hotel, order prescription drugs for home delivery and even voting.

Some of its competitors include U.S.-based Jumio and Canadian firm Trulioo . Onfido says it's different because it openly invites companies to trial its product and it's "good at doing machine learning properly."

According to industry consultancy group Smithers Pira, the global market for personal ID credentials was worth $9.5 billion last year and is set to grow to nearly $10.7 billion in 2023.





More From CNBC

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, wants to change the way capital gains are taxed by imposing an annual levy on investments.How it would work: While Wyden said details would come at a future date, the general idea is that investors would pay a tax based on valuations of their holdings each year, with all annual gains treated like income  even gains that have not been realized. This mark-to-market approach would tax all capital gains at a maximum rate of 37 percent.How it works now: Currently, capital gains are taxed only when an asset is sold. Year-to-year increases in value are not taxed, as long as an investor continues to own a given asset, and in some cases, assets can pass to descendants without ever being taxed. When gains are realized, they are taxed at a special, lower rate that tops out at 23.8 percent.Who would be affected: Capital gains are concentrated in high-income households. According to the Tax Policy Center, In 2016, capital gains were 46.4% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for those with AGI over $10 million, compared to 0.7% for those with AGI under $100,000.Why the change? In a statement Tuesday, Wyden framed the proposal as a way to reduce wealth inequality: There are two tax codes in America. The first is for nurses, police officers and factory workersthose who earn wages and pay taxes with every paycheck. The second is for millionaires and billionairesthose who use their wealth to build more wealth, paying what they want, when they want.Everyone needs to pay their fair share and the best approach to achieving that goal is a mark-to-market system that would require the wealthy to pay taxes on their gains every year at the same rates all other income is taxed. This eliminates serious loopholes that allow some to pay a lower rate than wage earners, to delay their taxes indefinitely, and in some cases, to avoid paying tax at all.What the critics are saying: Most agree that the proposal has little chance of passing any time soon, but it clearly would represent a significant change for the way wealth is taxed in the U.S. Lily Batchelder of NYU Law School tweeted, Wow, this is a game changer that would raise a huge amount of revenue from the wealthy. Her colleague David Kamin agreed, saying the proposal has potential to raise significant $$ and make it much harder for those at the top to avoid taxes. But he also pointed to important, potentially thorny issues, such as how annual volatility would be treated and how non-liquid assets would be valued.David Miller, a tax lawyer, told Bloomberg that in his estimate, a mark-to-market capital gains tax on the wealthiest households could raise hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue over 10 years.But the opposition to such a system would no doubt be intense. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) dismissed the proposal as a breathtakingly terrible idea, and said it would go nowhere as long as Republicans were in a position to stop it. Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, wants to change the way capital gains are taxed by imposing an annual levy on investments.

How it would work: While Wyden said details would come at a future date, the general idea is that investors would pay a tax based on valuations of their holdings each year, with all annual gains treated like income  even gains that have not been realized. This mark-to-market approach would tax all capital gains at a maximum rate of 37 percent.

How it works now: Currently, capital gains are taxed only when an asset is sold. Year-to-year increases in value are not taxed, as long as an investor continues to own a given asset, and in some cases, assets can pass to descendants without ever being taxed. When gains are realized, they are taxed at a special, lower rate that tops out at 23.8 percent.

Who would be affected: Capital gains are concentrated in high-income households. According to the Tax Policy Center, In 2016, capital gains were 46.4% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for those with AGI over $10 million, compared to 0.7% for those with AGI under $100,000.

Why the change? In a statement Tuesday, Wyden framed the proposal as a way to reduce wealth inequality:

There are two tax codes in America. The first is for nurses, police officers and factory workersthose who earn wages and pay taxes with every paycheck. The second is for millionaires and billionairesthose who use their wealth to build more wealth, paying what they want, when they want.

Everyone needs to pay their fair share and the best approach to achieving that goal is a mark-to-market system that would require the wealthy to pay taxes on their gains every year at the same rates all other income is taxed. This eliminates serious loopholes that allow some to pay a lower rate than wage earners, to delay their taxes indefinitely, and in some cases, to avoid paying tax at all.

What the critics are saying: Most agree that the proposal has little chance of passing any time soon, but it clearly would represent a significant change for the way wealth is taxed in the U.S. Lily Batchelder of NYU Law School tweeted, Wow, this is a game changer that would raise a huge amount of revenue from the wealthy. Her colleague David Kamin agreed, saying the proposal has potential to raise significant $$ and make it much harder for those at the top to avoid taxes. But he also pointed to important, potentially thorny issues, such as how annual volatility would be treated and how non-liquid assets would be valued.

Story continues

David Miller, a tax lawyer, told Bloomberg that in his estimate, a mark-to-market capital gains tax on the wealthiest households could raise hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue over 10 years.

But the opposition to such a system would no doubt be intense. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) dismissed the proposal as a breathtakingly terrible idea, and said it would go nowhere as long as Republicans were in a position to stop it.

Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.Ever since the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, when the correlation of all risky assets rose toward 1, investors have been hearing that because of globalization, the world has become flat and the benefits of diversification are gone.

The explanation is generally that the world market has become more integrated and financial markets more globalized. This has led some investors to draw the wrong conclusions about the benefits of international diversification.

With that in mind, well take a deep dive into the issue of how much an allocation to international stocks you should have.

Recent Research From Vanguard

Well begin with a look at the February 2019 paper by Vanguards research team, Global Equity Investing: The Benefits of Diversification and Sizing Your Allocation. The authors, Brian Scott, Kimberly Stockton and Scott Donaldson, began my noting that, as of September 2018, U.S. stocks accounted for 55.1% of the global equity marketsalmost twice the low of 29% it reached in the 1980s. Thus, regardless of residence, investors who focus solely, or mostly, on domestic stocks exclude a large portion of the global equity market.

Scott, Stockton and Donaldson note: The rationale for diversification is cleardomestic equities tend to be more exposed to the narrower economic and market forces of their home market while stocks outside an investors home market tend to offer exposure to a wider array of economic and market forces. Despite the benefits, in a 2017 study, Vanguard found that in each case they examined, investors exhibited a strong home country bias.

When they examined returns over the period beginning in 1970, Scott, Stockton and Donaldson found that While the United States had the lowest volatility of any individual country examined, its volatility was slightly higher than that of the global market index.

When they performed a forward-looking 10-year minimum variance analysis, they found that, in each market, the marginal benefit to international diversification declines as allocations to international equity increase, with portfolio volatility beginning to rise with allocations of greater than 40-50% to international equities.

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The authors also examined the issue of currency risk. They first note: Long term, currency has no intrinsic returnthere is no yield, no coupon, no earnings growth. Therefore, long term, currency exposure affects only return volatility.

In terms of volatility, they found that, in all regions, currency risk had very little impact on long-term performance, whether or not it was hedged. Sometimes hedging reduced volatility; in others, it led to an increase.

Scott, Stockton and Donaldson concluded that a good starting point for investors is the global market-capitalization weight. This raises the question of why investors all over the globe exhibit a strong home country bias. The field of behavioral finance provides some likely answers. The first is the tendency to confuse the familiar with the safe.

Familiarity Breeds Investment

With the breakup of AT&T (Ma Bell), shareholders were given shares in each of what were called the Baby Bells. A study done a short time later found that the residents of each region held a disproportionate number of shares of their local regional Bell. Each group of regional investors was confident their regional Baby Bell would outperform the others. How else can you explain each investor having most of their eggs in one baby basket?

Investors tend to view domestic stocks as safer and better investments than their international counterparts. For example, a study by Ken French and James Poterba, Investor Diversification and International Equity Markets, found that the expected real return to U.S. equities was 5.5% in the eyes of U.S. investors, but only 3.1% and 4.4% in the eyes of Japanese and British investors, respectively.

Similarly, the expected return on Japanese equities was 6.6% in the eyes of Japanese investors, but only 3.2% and 3.8% in the eyes of U.S. and British investors, respectively. Familiarity breeds overconfidence (or an illusion of safety), and lack of familiarity breeds a perception of high risk.

Many investors avoid adding international investments to their portfolios because they believe international investing is too risky. Is this perception accurate? Debra Glassman and Leigh Riddick, authors of the study What Causes Home Asset Bias and How Should It Be Measured? found that portfolio allocations to foreign and domestic securities by U.S. investors are consistent with the belief by investors that the standard deviations of foreign securities are higher by a factor of 1.5 to 3.5 than their historical value.

The evidence demonstrates investors tend to make mistakes due to biases they are likely unaware of. You no longer have that excuse. And theres another bias that U.S. investors have to deal withrecency.

Recency

Recency is the tendency to overweight recent events/trends and ignore long-term evidence. This leads investors to buy after periods of strong performancewhen valuations are higher and expected returns are lowerand sell after periods of poor performancewhen prices are lower and expected returns are higher. This results in the opposite of what a disciplined investor should be doing: rebalancing to maintain their portfolios asset allocation.

Recency bias becomes an even greater problem in combination with familiarity bias. The table below examines the returns over the past 10 calendar years from 2009 through 2018.

Looking at these results, its easy to understand why U.S. investors might be questioning the benefits of international diversification. However, to address questions about where the benefits can be found, we dont have to look too far back in time.

The problem is that investors memories can be short, often much shorter than is required to be a successful investor. The period well examine is the five years from 2003 through 2007, the period just before the Great Financial Crisis.

As you can see, results from 2003 through 2007 were the reverse of what they were from 2009 through 2018, with international stocks far outperforming U.S. stocks. As Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously warned, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. In general, dramatic outperformance (underperformance) is accompanied by rising (falling) valuations, which generally lead to reversion in returnshigher valuations predict lower future returns and vice versa. Given the last 10 years returns, it should not be a surprise that U.S. valuations are now much higher than international and emerging market valuations (the best predictor we have of future returns). The table below shows the current forward-looking P/E ratios for three of Vanguards ETFs. Data is from Morningstar as of January 31, 2019.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): 16.1

Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA): 12.6

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO): 11.5

As you can see, valuations are considerably lower for international stocks. While that suggests they have higher expected returns, its important to understand the lower valuations dont mean theyre better investments. The lower valuations reflect the greater risk investors perceive.

Well now address the issue of international diversification failing when it was needed most, during the financial crisis.

Take The Long View

While international diversification doesnt necessarily work in the short term, it does eventually. This point was the focus of a paper by Clifford Asness, Roni Israelov and John Liew, International Diversification Works (Eventually). They explained that those who focus on the fact that globally diversified portfolios dont protect investors from short systematic crashes miss the greater point that investors whose planning horizon is long term (and it should be, or you shouldnt be invested in stocks to begin with) should care more about long-drawn-out bear markets, which can be significantly more damaging to their wealth.

In their study, which covered the period 1950-2008 and 22 developed-market countries, the authors examined the benefit of diversification over long-term holding periods. They found that, over the long run, markets dont exhibit the same tendency to suffer or crash together. Thus, investors shouldnt allow short-term failures to blind them to long-term benefits.

To demonstrate this point, they decomposed returns into two pieces: (1) a component due to multiple expansion (or contraction); and (2) a component due to economic performance. They found that while short-term stock returns tend to be dominated by: (1), long-term stock returns tend to be dominated by (2). They explained that these results are consistent with the idea that a sharp decrease in investors risk appetite (i.e., a panic) can explain markets crashing at the same time. However, these risk aversion shocks seem to be a short-lived phenomenon. Over the long-run, economic performance drives returns.

They further showed that Countries exhibit significant idiosyncratic variation in long-run economic performance. Thus, country specific (not global) long-run economic performance is the most important determinant of long-run returns.

For example, in terms of worst-case performances, they found that, at a one-month holding period, there is very little difference in performance between home-country portfolios and global portfolios. However, as the horizon lengthens, the gap widensthe worst cases for the global portfolios are significantly better (the losses are much smaller) than the worst cases for the local portfolios. And the longer the horizon, the wider the gap favoring the global portfolios.

Demonstrating the point that long-term returns are more about a countrys economic performance and that long-term economic performance is quite variable across countries, they found that Country specific economic performance dominates long-term performance, going from explaining about 1% of quarterly returns to 39% of 15-year returns and rising quite linearly in time.

The next issue well discuss relates to the question of whether owning U.S. multinationals is the way to gain international diversification.

Effective International Diversification

Cormac Mullen and Jenny Berrill contribute to the literature on the benefits of international diversification with their study Mononationals: The Diversification Benefits of Investing in Companies with No Foreign Sales, which was published in the Second Quarter 2017 issue of Financial Analysts Journal.

Mullen and Berrill showed that one way to recover international diversification benefits is to decrease the internationalization in investors portfolios by lowering exposure to the stocks of foreign multinationals and focusing on what they call mononationals.

They concluded: Despite the decrease in international diversification benefits documented in recent papersand a research focus in recent years on the benefits of stocks from emerging and frontier marketswe found that there is still international diversification potential in developed-market equities. We suggest that a portfolio of international stocks classified solely as domestic offers the potential for more international diversification benefits than a portfolio of more-internationalized stocks.

Their conclusion has the benefit of being intuitive. That said, theres really nothing new here. Multinationals are more likely to be large companies, and mononationals are more likely to be smaller companies. Its long been known that the benefits of international diversification are greatest when investing in smaller companies.

For example, Rex Sinquefields study Where Are the Gains from International Diversification?, which appeared in the January-February 1996 issue of the Financial Analysts Journal, showed that international small stocks diversified U.S. portfolios more than did the large stocks of the EAFE Index.

While foreign large companies have exposure to their domestic economies, their earnings are more likely to be impacted by global conditions than those of smaller companies, which tend to be more dependent on the conditions of their local economies. Thus, the returns of smaller companies are driven more by local idiosyncratic factors. This makes them more effective diversifiers than international large stocks.

As an example, the performance of two giant global pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Roche is likely to be more highly correlatedbecause their products are sold all around the globethan the performance of two small-cap domestic restaurant chains whose products are sold only in their home countries.

Small Stocks Offer Greater Diversification

When designing a portfolio, all else equal, we would prefer to add asset classes that have lower correlations. With that in mind, to see which international asset classes provide the greatest diversification benefits, well look at the correlation data for both large and small stocks. The table below shows the annual correlations for the last 20 calendar years, January 1999-December 2018.

As you can see, the benefits of international diversification are greater when investing in small stocks versus large stocks. For example, the correlation of the S&P 500 Index to the EAFE Index was 0.86 versus 0.76 for the EAFE Small Cap Index. We see the same result when looking at the correlation of the S&P 500 Index to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. For large stocks, it was 0.76 versus 0.70 for small stocks.

Because of their lower correlation and the higher expected returns of international small stocks (and even higher for small value stocks), you should consider including an allocation to them when constructing your portfolio. For example, using Dimensional indices, from 1990 through 2018, while the EAFE Index returned 4.4%, the Dimensional EAFE Small Cap Index returned 6.1% and the Dimensional EAFE Small Value Index returned 7.4%. Too many investors only include an allocation to the EAFE and Emerging Markets Indices.

The bottom line is that if you want to improve the diversification benefits of your international stocks, increase your exposure to small and/or small value stocks, both in developed and emerging markets. That will not only provide the benefits of reduced correlations, but greater exposure to the size and value premiums, which have been just as persistent and pervasive internationally as they have been in the U.S.

You can see the evidence on their returns in Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing. Their higher expected returns also allow you to hold less equity risk overall, which historically has reduced the risk of drawdowns. For those interested in how using factor premiums can reduce tail risk, I recommend Reducing the Risk of Black Swans, 2018 edition.

We have one more point to cover. When thinking about the benefits of diversification, its important to understand that correlations are not the only thing that matters. As long as theres a dispersion of returns (which there has been every year since 2008), there are diversification benefits.

Dispersion Of Returns

In 2009, we saw wide dispersion of returns. For example, while the S&P 500 was up almost 27%, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 79%. And emerging market small-cap and value stocks produced even higher returns.

In addition, international large value and small value stocks as well as international real estate investment trusts (REITs) outperformed their domestic counterparts by wide margins. Note that while the correlations were positive, as all equity asset classes produced above-average returns, the world didnt look flat in 2009.

In 2010, even though the S&P 500 returned about 15%, emerging market stocks outperformed by about 4 percentage points. On the other hand, U.S. large, large value, small, small value and REIT funds outperformed their foreign counterparts by significant margins.

In 2011, while the S&P 500 returned just greater than 2%, international stocks generally provided negative returns. For example, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost more than 18%.

In 2012, the relative performance of U.S. and international funds reversed: International funds outperformed their U.S. counterparts in all asset classes, although the return differences were relatively small.

In 2013, U.S. stocks outperformed international equity by wide a margin. For example, the S&P 500 Index, which returned 32.4%, outperformed the MSCI EAFE Index by about 10 percentage points and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by approximately 35 percentage points. The world didnt look very flat in 2013, either.

In 2014, domestic stocks generally far outperformed international stocks, as U.S. stocks rose and developed non-U.S. markets generally fell. Again, the world didnt look flat.

In 2015, returns were all over the place. For instance, U.S. large stocks and developed non-U.S. stocks produced similar returns, both close to zero. On the other hand, the MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index rose about 10%, while the MSCI EAFE Small Value Index rose roughly 5%. Their U.S. counterparts lost 4% and 5%, respectively. At the same time, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost almost 15%. Once again, the world didnt look flat.

In 2016, the world wasnt totally flat. While the S&P 500 returned 12.0%, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned an almost identical 11.6%. However, the MSCI EAFE Index returned just 1.5%. Heres another example: While the MSCI US Small Value Index returned 27.6%, the MSCI EAFE Small Value Index returned just 6.4%.

In 2017, we saw again that the world isnt flat. For example, while the S&P 500 Index returned 21.8%, the MSCI EAFE Index returned 25.6% and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index returned 37.8%. As another example, while MSCI US Small Value Index returned 9.2%, the MSCI EAFE Small Value Index returned 30.9%almost a complete reversal of the prior years returns.

2018 was no different. While the S&P 500 Index lost 4.4%, the MSCI EAFE Index lost 13.4% and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost 14.2%.

These examples demonstrate that correlations dont tell the true story about the benefits of international diversification. To see the benefits, you have to also look at the dispersion in returns. The bottom line is that, despite markets becoming more integrated and correlations rising somewhat, there is still wide dispersion of returnsshowing the benefits of diversification even in a flatter world.

Summary

The evidence presented here demonstrates that, even though the benefits of a global equity allocation may have been reduced by market integration, they have not disappeared.

The conclusion that Asness, Israelov and Liew drew in their study International Diversification Works (Eventually), and the one you should draw, is that while global diversification can disappoint over the short term, over the long term, which is far more relevant, It is the free (and hearty!) lunch that theory and common sense says it should be.

If you need a specific example of the wisdom of this advice, look to Japan. Clearly, Japanese investors have benefited from global diversification. The poor returns Japan experienced since 1990 (from 1990 through 2018, the MSCI Japan Index returned 0.18%) werent a result of systemic global risks. They happened because of Japans idiosyncratic problems.

Before you make the mistake of confusing the familiar with the safe, you cannot know which country or countries will experience a prolonged period of underperformance. That uncertainty is what international diversification protects you against.

Broad global diversification is still the prudent strategy. As Vanguard recommended, a good starting point for deciding how much to allocate to international markets is the global market capitalization. That said, there are some valid reasons for a U.S. investor to have a small home country bias.

When investing internationally, implementation costs can be higher in terms of expense ratios of funds, trading costs and taxes. Thus, while the global market capitalization is a good starting point for allocating capital, the higher costs of investing internationally might lead to a slightly higher allocation to U.S. stocks.

On the other hand, if you are still employed, your labor capital is likely to be more exposed to the idiosyncratic risks of the U.S. economy. Thus, if your labor capital is highly correlated to the U.S. economy, you might consider an even higher allocation to international stocks.

Hopefully, the evidence presented here demonstrates that, even though the benefits of a global equity allocation may have been reduced by market integration, they have not disappeared. Broad global diversification is still the prudent strategy.

Larry Swedroe is the director of research for The BAM Alliance, a community of more than 130 independent registered investment advisors throughout the country.

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Permalink |  Copyright 2019 ETF.com. All rights reservedEthanol-Based Product Is Now a True Waste-to-Energy Solution

TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / Taronis Technologies, Inc. ("Taronis" or "the Company") (TRNX), a leading clean technology company in the renewable resources and environmental conservation industry, today announced that the Company has entered into a supply agreement with Catalent, a global leader in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The supply agreement is for the procurement of medical grade waste ethanol, which will be used as the feedstock to produce Taronis' patented synthetic gas product, MagneGas.

Taronis has spent the past 18 months conducting extensive research on the viability of producing a synthetic gas from ethanol-based waste streams. With successful results to date, the Company has now entered into a true waste-to-energy business model. Catalent has 35 locations around the world, including 14 softgel production facilities that generate medical grade waste ethanol that can be readily converted to a synthetic gas. For more information on Catalent, please see the following link:

http://www.catalent.com/index.php/about-us

"This is a major accomplishment for our research and production team," commented Scott Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of Taronis Technologies. "We have worked closely with Catalent for the past 18 months to evaluate our ability to take one of their most prolific waste streams and convert it into our 4th generation MagneGas metal cutting fuel product."

Mr. Mahoney continued, "With this new feedstock, we project to reduce our production costs by almost 20%. This is a key milestone in our goals to reduce our production costs by up to 50% per cubic foot of gas produced in 2019. With this key pricing competitive advantage, we anticipate being able to gain significant inroads with our roughly 30,000 existing customers across the US as we accelerate our new marketing efforts."

About Taronis Technologies, Inc.

Taronis Technologies, Inc. (TRNX) owns a patented plasma arc technology that enables two primary end use applications for fuel generation and water decontamination.

Story continues

The Company's fuel technology enables a wide use of hydrocarbon feedstocks to be readily converted to fossil fuel substitutes. The Company is developing a wide range of end market uses for these fuels, including replacement products for propane, compressed natural gas and liquid natural gas. The Company currently markets a proprietary metal cutting fuel that is highly competitive with acetylene. The Company distributes its proprietary metal cutting fuel through Independent Distributors in the U.S and through its wholly owned distributors: ESSI, Green Arc Supply, Paris Oxygen, Latex Welding Supplies, Tyler Welders Supply, United Welding Supplies, Trico Welding Supply and Complete Welding of San Diego. The Company operates 17 locations across California, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.

The Company's technology can also be implemented for the decontamination of waste water, including sterilizing water, eradicating all pathogens. The technology is being tested to determine if it can completely eliminate pharmaceutical contaminants such as antibiotics, hormones and other soluble drugs suspended in contaminated water. Lastly, the technology process is capable of reducing or eliminating other contaminants, such as harmful metals, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels that trigger toxic algae blooms. The technology has prospective commercial applications in the agricultural, pharmaceutical, and municipal waste markets. For more information on Taronis, please visit the Company's website at http://www.TaronisTech.com .

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements relate to future events, including our ability to raise capital, or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our public filings with the SEC are available from commercial document retrieval services and at the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

Investor Contacts:

Andrew Gibson

Edison Group

taronis@edisongroup.com

SOURCE: Taronis Technologies, Inc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/540795/Taronis-Launches-4th-Generation-Metal-Cutting-Fuel



Investments demonstrate TELUS commitment to supporting innovative technologies that enable the delivery of the right care to the right patient at the right time



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TELUS Ventures, one of Canadas most active Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) funds, announced today that it has completed investments in three of Canadas leading precision medicine and diagnostics-focused startups: Acorn Biolabs, GenXys Health Systems and Vital Biosciences. These companies join TELUS Ventures more than 30 other active investment companies and build on the more than 70 transactions made since 2001 to deliver on a commitment to help develop exciting, new health technologies with the potential to improve the health outcomes of patients across Canada and worldwide through the delivery of customized and timely patient care.

Customers across our healthcare provider, pharmacy, insurance, employer and executive health channels are increasingly united in their desire to adopt next generation precision medicine and diagnostic tools in order to improve the patient journey, reduce costs and deliver better patient outcomes, said Rich Osborn, managing partner, TELUS Ventures. Our investments in these startups and their innovative management teams keep us close to budding new technologies and will allow us to be more responsive to our customers needs as these technologies become mainstream.

Toronto-based Acorn Biolabs has developed an at-home collection kit that allows patients to collect and preserve live hair follicle cells for future use, providing them with the opportunity for full genome banking and the potential to access medical insights and therapies leveraging their own cells. Younger cells have higher success rates in many emerging medical therapies and therefore by storing cells today, Acorns services allow customers to maximize their chances to take advantage yet to be discovered, potentially lifesaving medical advancements. The company recently closed a $3.3M seed financing with a syndicate including TELUS Ventures, Real Ventures and Epic Capital Management.

Story continues

Vancouver-based GenXys offers precision prescribing software and pharmacogenetics testing to personalize drug selection to increase treatment effectiveness. GenXys software integrates into the healthcare clinicians workflow allowing for the seamless delivery of genome-optimized prescriptions preventing adverse drug reactions and ultimately helping to improve patient outcomes. TELUS participated in GenXys $1.8M seed financing alongside leading healthcare-focused angel investors and is partnering with GenXys in the Digital Technology Supercluster to improve the integration of precision prescribing into the clinicians workflow.

Vital Biosciences remains in stealth mode, quietly operating with a focus on the business, building products that combine cutting-edge science, advanced engineering and intuitive design in ways that make monitoring health and managing disease accessible to all. The company is well supported by TELUS and a number of leading early stage North American and international venture funds and angels.

The market for precision medicine and diagnostics is poised for significant growth as patient-centered, value-based care gains traction in Canada and the acceleration of technological innovation helps to drive down costs. These three early stage companies are positioned to become leaders in their specific areas of focus each tackling a unique problem within this growing market, and backed by both strong management teams and quality investors.

These investments demonstrate TELUS Ventures continued leadership within the Canadian health IT ecosystem and follows other recent health investments including: Akira, League, MindBeacon and MedStack Inc.

About TELUS Ventures

As the strategic investment arm of TELUS Corporation (TSX: T, NYSE: TU), TELUS Ventures was founded in 2001 and is one of Canadas most active corporate venture capital funds. TELUS Ventures has invested in over 70 companies since inception with a focus on innovative technologies such as Health Tech, IoT, AI and Security. TELUS Ventures is an active investment partner and supports its portfolio companies through mentoring; exposure to TELUS extensive network of business and co-investment partners; access to TELUS technologies and broadband networks; and by actively driving new solutions across the TELUS ecosystem.

For more information please visit: ventures.telus.com.

For media inquiries please contact:

Jill Yetman

TELUS PR Team

Jill.yetman@telus.com

416-992-2639The busy spring travel season is right around the corner, and Canadians pay a lot for things like travel costs, insurance, and withdrawing cash during their trip.

Ratehub looked at how Canadas five biggest banks compare when it comes to fees, charges, and exchange rates for foreign cash withdrawals.

In its scenario, the study compared how much it would cost a Canadian to take out $100 USD and 100 euros from an ATM.

If you bank with Scotiabank (BNS.TO), your cost will be the lowest. You can expect to save between $3 and $5 CAD on each cash withdrawal in the U.S. and Europe. Thats because Scotiabank is a member of the Global ATM alliance  a network which allows members clients to withdraw cash from other bank ATMs without a fee.

For example, in the U.S, Scotiabank customers have access to over 15,000 Bank of America ATMs. In Europe, they can use BNP Paribas or Deutsche Bank ATMs, depending on the country. In the U.K., they can use Barclays ATMS.

The best Canadian banks for international travel (Ratehub)

CIBC (CM.TO) comes in second place because its clients can use a CIBC Visa Debit card to get to an ATM in the Plus Network.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) is next because it has a similar arrangement with Mastercard.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) has an agreement through the Visa Plus network, but its higher fees put it in fourth place.

If you bank with TD Bank (TD.TO), you pay the most because of its above-average foreign exchange administration fee. TD charges 3.5 per cent during a foreign currency withdrawal, while other financial institutions charge 2.5 per cent.

Sign up now

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.* Steel workers want guarantees until 2026

* Keeping Steel Europe would be credit positive-Jefferies

* Tata Steel remains committed to joint venture (Adds comments from Thyssenkrupp steel workers, context)

By Tom Kackenhoff and Promit Mukherjee

DUISBURG, Germany/MUMBAI, April 3 (Reuters) - Steel workers at Thyssenkrupp expect substantial guarantees for jobs and plants even if a planned joint venture with India's Tata Steel falls apart, the head of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe's works council said on Wednesday.

The two companies last year agreed to combine their European steel activities, a move that would create the continent's second-largest steelmaker but still needs European Commission approval.

Powerful steel workers at Thyssenkrupp, who have long been critical of the deal, last year gave their consent in exchange for far-reaching guarantees, including job and plant protection until 2026.

On Wednesday, they said that these guarantees should remain in place even if the joint venture fails, a real risk as it is unclear whether Brussels will agree to a list of remedies the two groups submitted earlier this week to gain approval.

"Should a joint venture - in theory - not happen we demand the same protection for our employees and our plants," Tekin Nasikkol, head of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe's works council, said. "Nine months after the signing there is still no clarity - that creates great uncertainty among employees."

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday that the companies saw limited scope in improving their remedy offer should the Commission, which has set a June 5 deadline to make a decision, deem it insufficient.

Thyssenkrupp Chief Executive Guido Kerkhoff, who is currently pursuing a plan to break up the elevators-to-submarines conglomerate, said in February that if the joint venture falls apart "it won't kill us".

Analysts at Jefferies have previously said that keeping Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe would be better for its parent from a credit rating perspective.

Story continues

Nasikkol said he did not think that Thyssenkrupp's management was less committed to implementing the joint venture or the break-up: "They are working flat out on it."

A spokesman for Tata Steel said it too continued to support the logic behind the planned venture.

"We're committed to working closely with all relevant regulators and remain confident of the benefits of the joint venture to all our stakeholders," he said in an e-mail. (Writing by Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Alexander Smith)IRVINE, Calif., April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TRI Pointe Group, Inc. (TPH) announced today that it will release its financial results for the first quarter of 2019 before the market opens on Thursday, April 25, 2019. The Company will host a conference call on the same day to discuss the results at 7:00 AM Pacific (10:00 AM Eastern). The call will be hosted by Doug Bauer, Chief Executive Officer, Tom Mitchell, Chief Operating Officer and Mike Grubbs, Chief Financial Officer.



Those interested in participating in the call can dial-in toll free at (877) 407-3982, or (201) 493-6780 for international participants. A webcast of the event will also be available under the Events & Presentations heading in the Investors section of the Companys website at www.TriPointeGroup.com.

A replay of the event will be available for two weeks following the call toll free at (844) 512-2921 or (412) 317-6671 using the reference #13689424. An archive of the webcast will also be available on the Companys website for a limited time.

About TRI Pointe Group, Inc.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, TRI Pointe Group, Inc. (TPH) is one of the top ten largest public homebuilders by equity market capitalization in the United States. The Company designs, constructs and sells premium single-family homes through its portfolio of six quality brands across eight states, including Maracay Homes in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California and Colorado; and Winchester Homes in Maryland and Virginia. Additional information is available at www.TriPointeGroup.com.

Investor Relations Contacts:

Chris Martin, TRI Pointe Group

Drew Mackintosh, Mackintosh Investor Relations

InvestorRelations@TriPointeGroup.com, 949-478-8696(Adds Trump remarks, DHS appointment)

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump took a step back on Tuesday from his threat to close the U.S. southern border to fight illegal immigration, as pressure mounted from companies worried that a shutdown would cause chaos to supply chains.

Trump threatened on Friday to close the border this week unless Mexico acted. He repeated that threat on Tuesday but said he had not made a decision yet: "We're going to see what happens over the next few days."

Closing the border could disrupt millions of legal crossings and billions of dollars in trade. Auto companies have been warning the White House privately that it would lead to the idling of U.S. plants within days because they rely on prompt deliveries of components made in Mexico.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying group, has been in contact with the White House to discuss the "very negative economic consequences that would occur across the country," said Neil Bradley, the group's top lobbyist, on a call with reporters.

Trump praised efforts by Mexico to hinder illegal immigration from Central America at its own southern border. On Monday, the Mexican government said it would help regulate the flow of migrants.

I really wanted to close it, Trump said on Tuesday night at a fundraiser for congressional Republicans.

The Mexican government has not published apprehension statistics, but a senior White House official said it had provided daily updates to the Trump administration, including specific apprehension numbers.

"They say they're going to stop them. Let's see. They have the power to stop them, they have the laws to stop them," Trump said earlier on Tuesday.

PUSH BACK

Trump has made fighting illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America a key part of his agenda, but shutting down one of the world's most used borders might be a step too far, even for many of his fellow Republicans.

Story continues

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in warning Trump against such a move.

"Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," McConnell told reporters on Tuesday.

A group representing General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said in a statement that "any action that stops commerce at the border would be harmful to the U.S. economy, and in particular, the auto industry."

Dozens of U.S. vehicle, engine, transmission and other auto parts plants could close because of a lack of components in the days after a border shutdown. It would also prevent thousands of vehicles built in Mexico from landing in U.S. dealer showrooms.

Automakers exported nearly 2.6 million Mexican-made vehicles to the United States in 2018, accounting for 15 percent of all vehicles sold in the country. Some, like the Chevrolet Blazer SUV, are only made in Mexico.

Retailers are also raising alarm bells, according to officials with two groups that represent hundreds of U.S. retail firms.

"It will be unprecedented self-inflicted pain," said David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. "We are still nervous about this and we have been talking to some of our companies about maybe ramping up direct pressure on the White House by getting CEOs to call."

SLOWER BORDER

Senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said on Tuesday a recent redeployment of some 750 officers on the border to deal with a surge in migrants - mostly Central American families turning themselves in to border agents - had already led to a slowing of legal crossings and commerce at ports of entry.

"Wait times in Brownsville (Texas) were around 180 minutes, which were two times the peaks of last year," said a senior DHS official on a call with reporters. "We ended the day yesterday at Otay Mesa (California) with a backup of 150 trucks that hadn't been processed," the official said.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday that backups were delaying commercial traffic at the U.S.-Mexico border at several crossings. He said the government had not drastically changed its migration strategy following the shutdown threats.

DHS officials said border facilities had been overwhelmed by families seeking asylum, fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Manuel Padilla, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol, would now serve as the agency's coordinator on the border response.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimated that some 100,000 migrants were apprehended or encountered at the border in March, the highest level in a decade. "The system is on fire," a DHS official said.

Because of limits on how long children are legally allowed to be held in detention, many of the families are released to await U.S. immigration court hearings, a process that can take years because of ballooning backlogs.

To try to address the problem, the Trump administration in January started sending some migrants to wait out their U.S. court dates in Mexican border cities. On Monday, DHS said it would dramatically ramp up that program, despite court challenges.

The biggest priority for Nielsen is to seek action from Congress to change the immigration laws, said a DHS official. She sent a letter to Congress last week repeating many of the Trump administration's demands, including a request to quickly deport Central American minors that cross the border alone.

Under current law, minors who are not from the contiguous countries of Canada and Mexico are placed in the care of sponsors in the United States, which Nielsen called a "dangerous 'pull' factor" for migrants. Migrant advocates and some Democrats in Congress oppose the proposed legislative changes, saying they would send vulnerable children back to dangerous situations in their home countries.

Trump said he had spoken with "a few" Democrats on Tuesday about the administration's proposals and added: "They're changing their minds." (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Steve Holland and David Shepardson in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper, Nandita Bose and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Writing by Ginger Gibson and David Alexander; Editing by Alistair Bell, Rosalba O'Brien and Peter Cooney)(Adds quote, background)

ANKARA/ISTANBUL, April 3 (Reuters) - Turkey has proposed to the United States that they form a working group to determine that Russian S-400 missile defense systems do not pose a threat to U.S. or NATO military equipment, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

The United States and Turkey have been at loggerheads over Ankara's decision to purchase the S-400s, which are not compatible with NATO systems, from Russia. Washington has warned that proceeding with the deal could result in U.S. sanctions and the exclusion of Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program.

"It will not be integrated into the NATO system...therefore we propose the United States to establish a technical working group to make sure that this system will not be a threat - neither to (U.S.) F-35s nor the NATO systems," Cavusoglu told a panel in the United States.

He said it was "not our aim" to integrate the S400 system into that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because "it's for our own use." Turkey and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump need to explain to the U.S. Congress why Ankara had to go through with the purchase from the Russians, Cavusoglu said.

Turkey says it needs the S-400s, to be delivered in July, to defend against potential security threats and President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said he would not back down from the "done deal." Cavusoglu, in Washington for a NATO summit, said he would "definitely" repeat this to U.S. counterparts during his visit.

Seeking to apply pressure, the United States halted delivery of equipment related to the stealthy F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey, its first concrete step to block delivery of the jets due to Ankara's planned purchase of the S-400s.

A U.S. official on Tuesday said that the purchase risked triggering sanctions. Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said that he expected the dispute to be resolved.

In a broader move to stop the delivery of the fighter jets, four U.S. senators introduced a bipartisan bill last week to prohibit the transfer of F-35 aircraft until Washington can certify Turkey will not take the delivery of the S-400s. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Sarah Dadouch; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Dominic Evans and Jonathan Spicer)(Adds delivery impact on training in paragraph 19)

By Mike Stone and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - The United States has halted delivery of equipment related to the stealthy F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey, marking the first concrete U.S. step to block delivery of the jet to the NATO ally in light of Ankara's planned purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

U.S. officials told their Turkish counterparts they will not receive further shipments of F-35 related equipment needed to prepare for the arrival of the stealthy jet, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Monday.

The Pentagon confirmed the Reuters report that the equipment delivery had been stopped.

"Pending an unequivocal Turkish decision to forgo delivery of the S-400, deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability have been suspended," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a Defense Department spokesman, said in a statement.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has refused to back down from Ankara's planned purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defense system that the United States has said would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft.

The disagreement over the F-35 is the latest of a series of diplomatic disputes between the United States and Turkey including Turkish demands that the United States extradite Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, differences over Middle East policy and the war in Syria, and sanctions on Iran.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the next shipment of training equipment, and all subsequent shipments of F-35 related material, had been canceled. The aircraft is built by Lockheed Martin Corp.

A Pentagon official had told Reuters in March that the United States had a number of items it could withhold in order to send Turkey a signal that the United States was serious about Ankara dropping its ambition to own the S-400.

Turkish officials in Ankara were not immediately available for comment. Turkey has said it will take delivery of the S-400s in July.

Story continues

NATO SUMMIT

The U.S. decision on the F-35s was expected to complicate Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's visit to Washington this week for a NATO summit. On Sunday, Erdogan suffered one of his biggest electoral losses in decades in local elections.

"Certain Russian weapon systems are seen as inherently threatening to the United States regardless of who is operating them and for what purpose," Andrew Hunter, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.

"Because Turkey is not just an F-35 purchaser, but an industrial partner, blocking delivery of these systems represents a major escalation by the United States as it threatens to impose serious costs on both sides," Hunter said.

Reuters reported last week that Washington was exploring whether it could remove Turkey from production of the F-35. Turkey makes parts of the fuselage, landing gear and cockpit displays. Sources familiar with the F-35's intricate worldwide production process and U.S. thinking on the issue last week said Turkey's role can be replaced.

The United States and other NATO allies that own F-35s fear the radar on the Russian S-400 missile system will learn how to spot and track the jet, making it less able to evade Russian weapons.

In an attempt to persuade Turkey to drop its plans to buy the S-400, the United States offered the pricier American-made Patriot anti-missile system in a discounted deal that expired at the end of March. Turkey has shown interest in the Patriot system, but not at the expense of abandoning the S-400.

Turkey has engaged with U.S. negotiators in recent days about buying the Patriot system, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The system is made by Raytheon Co.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in March said that despite some issues, Turkish pilots were continuing their training at an air base in Arizona on the F-35, each of which costs $90 million, and that Ankara was expecting the aircraft to arrive in Turkey in November.

By halting jet deliveries, the Pentagon could subsequently delay training of Turkish pilots. Two additional jets are scheduled to arrive in Arizona in April and a significant delay could impact Turkey's November target date for operations.

U.S. lawmakers also have expressed alarm over Turkey's planned purchase of the Russian system. Four U.S. senators last week introduced a bipartisan bill that would 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.

Following news of the halt, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, one of the bill sponsors, said she was glad to hear the administration was "to delay the transfer of F-35 equipment to Turkey to help ensure U.S. military technology and capabilities cannot fall into the hands of the Kremlin."

(Reporting by Mike Stone and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; editing by Will Dunham, Howard Goller and Lisa Shumaker)* U.S. producers sign deals on Brent and JKM basis

* Record LNG supply growth expected globally this year

* Banks getting more supportive of JKM-linked pricing-Tellurian

By Jessica Jaganathan and Meng Meng

SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are wooing buyers with offers to sell gas priced against benchmarks other than U.S. domestic prices, ahead of an expected flood of supplies on global markets this year.

The United States, the world's fastest growing gas exporter thanks to surging output from shale fields, is set to become the world's third-largest LNG exporter this year, taking on more established suppliers such as Qatar and Australia.

U.S. producers only began exporting LNG in early 2016 and typically price their sales against U.S. domestic benchmarks such as Henry Hub.

To stand out, at least two developers of new U.S. terminals have signed binding and non-binding deals using alternative pricing, executives said on the sidelines of the LNG2019 conference in Shanghai this week.

On Wednesday, Tellurian Inc and French oil and gas major Total SA signed a deal that includes both companies entering into a binding agreement for 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Tellurian, which is developing the Driftwood LNG project in Louisiana.

The price was based on Platts Japan Korea Marker (JKM), which is a fast-developing Asian benchmark for LNG though mainly for spot cargoes. Most LNG contracts in Asia are still priced off Brent crude.

Tellurian and commodities trader Vitol have also signed a memorandum of understanding for long-term LNG supply priced off JKM.

"I believe LNG is moving (towards) a gas index," said Total's chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.

"Gas linked to oil is old world and we have seen in the past two years the JKM-linked market is growing," he added.

Banks are also getting more supportive of JKM-linked pricing for the sale of LNG cargoes, said Tellurian's chief executive Meg Gentle.

Story continues

NextDecade Corp, which is developing the Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas, said on Tuesday it has signed a 20-year binding sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with Royal Dutch Shell for two million tonnes a year of LNG, which it said was first U.S. long-term contract indexed to Brent.

Three quarters of the LNG will be indexed to Brent crude oil prices and the remaining volumes will be indexed to domestic U.S. gas price markers, including Henry Hub, the company said.

NextDecade is also offering its potential buyers LNG priced on other U.S. gas indexes such as Agua Dulce and Waha.

"U.S. gas producers may be willing to take exposure to oil linked LNG netback pricing compared with the depressed U.S. gas prices seen lately," said Saul Kavonic, a Credit Suisse analyst.

Next-day natural gas prices at the Waha hub in West Texas plunged to negative levels in late March, but have recovered slightly since. (NG-WAH-WTX-SNL) (Reporting by Meng Meng and David Stanway in SHANGHAI and Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE; editing by Richard Pullin)(Bloomberg) -- Ola, Uber Technologies Inc.s biggest rival in India, said it will take on the ride-hailing giant in London before the end of the year after launching in five smaller U.K. cities.

The Bangalore-based startup commenced operations in Liverpool last month, having established its first European business in Cardiff in August and later added Bath, Bristol and Exeter. Reading and Birmingham will follow this month, along with Manchester in May.

U.K. Managing Director Ben Legg said the step-by-step approach should help Ola crack the London market. No date for entering the capital has been set, but plans are being developed and the launch will come before November and the start of the pre-Christmas rush.

London is the most complex in terms of regulation and its got more competition for drivers, Legg said in an interview. Thats why we wanted to work our way up, adding a little bit more scale and complexity with each city instead of doing London first.

Ola, owned by ANI Technologies Pvt, raised $300 million from Hyundai Motor Group in March, giving the ride-hailing startup a valuation of about $6 billion. Founded in 2011, it now has 1.3 million drivers on its platform and users across 125 cities in India, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.

To contact the reporter on this story: Irene Garcia Perez in London at igarciaperez@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper, Giles Turner

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.ATLANTA, GA, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

The UPS Foundation is coordinating with United Nations partners to speed food and supplies to impacted communities in Mozambique and Malawi

Efforts continue in collaboration with relief organizations to provide safe shelter, food and relief supplies to victims of the recent tornados and floods in the U.S. Midwest

UPS (UPS) today announced relief efforts are underway to bring critical supplies and food to victims of the recent cyclone that slammed into East Africa and the tornadoes and floods that devastated parts of the U.S. Midwest. Collaborations between The UPS Foundation and leading humanitarian relief organizations are bringing urgent relief by land, sea and air.

The number of people impacted by Cyclone Idai has climbed to more than 3 million people, with 500 people reported dead, a number thats been projected to increase. As flood waters slowly recede, UPS and The UPS Foundation continue to engage in close collaborations with the UN Logistics Cluster and relief organizations including The World Food Programme, UNICEF, UNHCR, CARE and MedShare.



The situation is heartwrenching, and the need for help is urgent said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation and UPS chief diversity and inclusion officer. The collaboration with our United Nations and disaster relief network partners is allowing us to address immediate needs for food and shelter, and to bring supplies that will be critical during the recovery period.

The multi-modal relief strategy includes:

Coordination with United Nations partners on four flights landing on the east coast of Africa to bring food and supplies.

Two flight rotations into Beira, Mozambique on behalf of UNICEF to bring ready-to-eat meals that will provide essential nutrition to more than 7,000 people.

Collaboration with The World Food Programme on the airlift of two amphibious transport vehicles called SHERPs from the Ukraine to Beira, Mozambique, to deliver food and supplies to isolated communities where roads are impassible or no longer exist.

Coordination with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to transport more than 190,000 lbs. of core relief items, including tarps, buckets, solar lamps, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, food preparation equipment and blankets, to Lilongua, Malawi.

Transport of 168,000 water purification sachets to Malawi, in addition to the activation of $25,000 of the advanced relief funding provided to CARE by The UPS Foundation. The funds will be used to purchase tarps and blankets which are being transported to Beira via ocean transport.

In collaboration with MedShare, UPS is preparing to transport an ocean container of medical supplies that will help more than 12,000 people in Malawi.

In collaboration with the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), UPS has also transported 15 pallets of cholera and typhoid treatment kits which will help prevent the outbreak of water-borne illnesses in Mozambique, an increasing threat as waters recede.

Story continues

Recent flooding in the U.S. is now threatening the safety of more than a million private water wells. The National Ground Water Association estimates that people living more than 300 counties across 10 states are at risk of groundwater contamination from flood waters. The states include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The UPS Foundation continues to collaborate with relief partners across the U.S.:

The UPS Foundation delivered a $500,000 grant last week to support the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program, enabling the Red Cross to immediately open shelters in impacted communities across America to support the hundreds of people sleeping in Midwest shelters each night.

UPS is collaborating with The Salvation Army to transport two truckloads of flood kits to Nebraska being coordinated by Coyote Logistics, a UPS company.

In collaboration with Feed the Children, on behalf of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), UPS has transported four truckloads of water and two truckloads of food supplies and hygiene items to Grand Island, Nebraska where the majority of the town is still underwater.

UPS continues to provide in-kind transportation of technical equipment for the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC) as they expand to new areas to provide power and connectivity to assist multiple relief organizations responding to the disaster.

UPS is working with Toolbank USA to prepare the Toolbank Disaster Services Trailer for deployment to Nebraska to support volunteers cleaning homes and removing debris in neighborhoods where water has receded.

The relief efforts and collaborations in the U.S. and Africa are just the latest in UPSs history of supporting communities in times of need. In 2018, UPS and The UPS Foundation responded to 29 major world disasters and invested $16 million in funding, in-kind, and technical support for community safety initiatives that included disaster preparedness and urgent response, recovery and public health system strengthening. Relief spanned 71 countries across continents around the globe.

About The UPS Foundation

UPS (UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Since its founding in 1907, UPS has built a legacy as a caring and responsible corporate citizen, supporting programs that provide long-term solutions to community needs. Founded in 1951, The UPS Foundation leads its global citizenship programs and is responsible for facilitating community involvement to local, national, and global communities. In 2018, UPS and its employees, active and retired, invested more than $114.9 million in charitable giving around the world. The UPS Foundation can be found on the web at UPS.com/Foundation and @UPS_Foundation on Twitter. To get UPS news direct, follow @UPS_News on Twitter.

June Holder

404-828-4805

jholder@ups.com

A media tour through Huawei Technologies Co.s sprawling campus in Shenzhen, China begins in the opulent executive hall, where prospective customers and foreign executives are brought to discuss exactly what services the telecommunications giant can offer.

Huawei Technologies Co., a historically closed-off Chinese telecommunications giant with notoriously reclusive executives, has tried to change its tone in recent months and wants the world to know that its just like any other successful company in the West.

If Huawei was born in the West, I think our story would be no different from the growth stories of Microsoft, Google and Facebook, Huaweis rotating chairman Eric Xu told four Canadian journalists gathered at the companys sprawling and immaculate headquarters in Shenzhen, China last week.

There is no difference between Huawei and other Western global companies. We call ourselves a company that brings together the wisdom of the East and the professional management systems of the West We are no different from Western companies, in terms of professionalism and process-based operations.

The notion that Huawei is different from other companies, operating under a different set of rules  perhaps even at the behest of the Chinese government  is something the company outright dismisses and is trying to dispel in part by opening its doors to foreign journalists and making its executives available for interviews.

But proving that Huawei is just like any North American company may be a daunting task, given the criminal charges the company currently faces in the United States, an ongoing effort by U.S. officials to convince other countries to join it in banning the use of Huawei technology because of security concerns, and the deteriorating relationship between Canada and China following the arrest of Huaweis chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

Huawei Technologies Co Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou arrives back at home after her court appearance in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Ben Nelms

Huawei has repeatedly denied accusations that it has close ties to Chinas ruling Communist Party, or that its technology provides a potential backdoor for espionage. During last weeks roundtable discussion with Canadian journalists, when asked about what Huawei would do in response to a hypothetical request from Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese government, Xu pointed to statements previously made by company founder Ren Zhengfei.

As to whether Huawei would do that, our founder has made Huaweis position clear on a number of occasions. We definitely wont do it, Xu said. As he puts it, if Huawei were compelled to do so, he would rather shut the company down.

Story continues

Xu also said the company would not violate laws and regulations in the countries in which it operates, which includes Canada.

Scores of journalists have been shuffled through Huaweis headquarters in Shenzhen, a modern and technological city that, in the 1970s, was a small fishing village home to 30,000 people. Then, in 1980, it was designated a special economic zone that allowed foreign investment. Growth exploded and the city now has a population of 12 million.

Huaweis welcoming of journalists marks a drastic shift for the company, which for years shunned media attention and kept executives away from any spotlight.

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A book about the company that can be spotted on the shelves outside the roundtable meeting called Huawei: Leadership, Culture and Connectivity. It reiterates just how much of a culture shift such media tours are for Huawei. Handed out to journalists during the visit, the book is written by a member of the Huawei International Advisory Council, and it is reflective of the story the company wants the world to know.

Like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand

Huaweis chance of success would be cut in half were the media allowed to meddle in the process. Fortunately, Huawei was able to remain level-headed and shy away from the media for nearly a decade, the book says.

Huaweis estrangement from the media began in 1998, according to the book, when the companys sales first hit the highest among the four Chinese telecommunication firms and it began to learn the most from Western companies by establishing partnerships with telecom operators around the world.

Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping, center, speaks in front of other executives during a press conference in Shenzhen, China's Guangdong province, Thursday, March 7, 2019. Chinese tech giant Huawei is launching a U.S. court challenge to a law that labels the company a security risk and would limit its access to the American market for telecom equipment. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

At that moment, Ren Zhengfei and his company were not thrilled or proud; instead, they felt more lonely, anxious, lost and terrified than they ever had before, the book says.

Since then, Huawei had opted for silence, shunning interviews and forums and dodging awards like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand.

Today, the strategy has clearly shifted. As it fights the U.S. charges and accusations of espionage and insists its technology does not pose a security threat, the company has decided to fight back in a way that it hadnt bothered with before  public relations.

Outlets from all over the world have seen similar, structured tours that include the opulent and impressive executive hall, the European-style campus in nearby Dongguan (an expansive campus that will soon hold 25,000 employees, literally modelled after several European cities), followed often by the main event: A formal interview with an executive. In between, journalists are taken through campus, shown the cafeterias where employees eat, the mats near desks so naps can be taken mid-day and the labs where artists design phone backgrounds and engineers age-proof 5G infrastructure.

Huawei's campus in Dongguan, China, about 50-minutes from its current Shenzhen campus.

Theres also a casual pit stop at the cafe where employees can get coffee in paper cups showing a lighthouse in front of a bright orange sunset and the words: The lighthouse is waiting. Wanzhou please come home.

The paper cup for Meng Wanzhou available at a cafe at Huawei's Shenzhen campus in China.

The public relations blitz is also an attempt to show a side of the company it believes the media and the public  particularly in North America and Europe  have failed to grasp.

The image of Huawei in the minds of Canadian people is not clear. To a certain extent, they often equate Huawei to China on the grounds that we are a company based in China, Xu said. He at one point compares Huaweis troubles to those currently facing Boeing, adding that perhaps two years from now, people will trust the plane maker again.

I think that is the same case for Huawei, Xu said. A lot of suspicions and accusations around Huawei are not built on evidence. A lot of them are based on assumptions, or Huaweis identity as a Chinese company.

A Huawei spokesperson, who tours journalists around headquarters a day earlier providing background information and history of the company while also not permitting use of his name for attribution, puts it a little more bluntly.

Most of the media is somewhat biased. They create their own messages and their own stories, says the no-name spokesperson.

Storytelling has never been Huaweis strength Having good people who are able to craft a story is a relatively new skill to us. Thats what makes this challenge that were in politically so difficult, because the company is literally not structured to be able to respond to it with a coherent message across the organization.

Canada, China, Huawei all victims of this

But as Huawei hosted Canadian reporters, relations between China and Canada appeared to further deteriorate in light of the December arrest of Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei company founder Ren Zhengfei. China has decided to ban $2 billion worth of Canadian canola exports, a move largely seen as retaliation for Canadas arrest of Meng Wanzhou. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Canada should take practical measures to correct the mistakes it made earlier in dealing with the overall relationship.

At the same time, two Canadians  Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig  have been detained in China since December. Canadian officials have complained that the two are being held in response to the arrest of Meng.

In Shenzhen, Xu acknowledged that Mengs arrest has led to some misunderstandings between the two countries, but reiterated that Canada, China, and Huawei are all victims of this.

The Canadian government is studying the security implications of highly-anticipated 5G networks and is expected to issue a decision as to whether Huawei technology will be banned in the coming months. Both Telus and Bell used Huawei equipment in portions of their 3G and 4G wireless networks and both have partnered with the company for the deployment of their respective 5G networks.

Xu points to the companys work alongside Telus, Bell and the Communication Security Establishment (CSE) and Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) and a mechanism in place that he says will manage and mitigate any potential risks and concerns around security.

We understand concerns around cyber security and we think these are legitimate concerns, he said.

Huawei's Cyber Security Lab located at its campus in Shenzhen, China.

During the tour, media are brought to the companys Independent Cyber Security Laboratory, where 137 people work testing all of Huaweis technology. Cyber Security lab director Martin Wang explains that employees who work here have to have extensive expertise and are required to take exams.

He also says that the lab ensures security is prioritized over commercialization of products by providing John Suffolk, the companys Global Cyber Security and Privacy Officer, with veto power that prevents releases due to security concerns.

With its cyber security lab, as well as its partnerships around the world, the company hopes it bolsters trust people have in the Huawei brand.

As we say, singling out Huawei will not address cyber security concerns, Xu said.

Cyber security will remain an issue that people should be working on for a long time. It required collective efforts from all stakeholders, including the industry, to address it from a legal, regulatory and technical perspective.

Still, that trust may be difficult to earn.

In the middle of the roundtable, Xu is asked why  given the slew of charges against company and its executives in the United States  Huawei should be trusted. He reiterated that trust must be based on evidence and facts, not suspicions, assumptions or simply where a company comes from.

Then, he provided a unique analogy  one where he, as an example, accused the reporter of one day committing a murder.

I would say you probably will kill someone. Do you believe it? I would say I have a suspicion that you might commit a crime or kill someone someday. That is a suspicion that you could never prove negative, Xu said.

You can only explain I havent killed anyone in the past and I can guarantee I would never kill anyone in the future, because of my legacy, because of my heritage, et cetera, he continued.

Thats also true for Huawei. Thats also what we can do moving forward.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.(Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. is joining rivals including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in adopting tap-to-pay technology for its credit and debit cards.

Starting this week, all new Wells Fargo credit cards will be issued with the contactless technology, which allows users to tap their cards at the point of sale instead of swiping or inserting them, the San Francisco-based bank said in a statement. It will add the technology to its debit cards beginning this summer.

Banks stand to boost earnings by $2.4 billion and cut expenses by $22.2 billion by transitioning to contactless-card technology, researchers at A.T. Kearney said in a report based on data provided by Visa Inc. Thats because contactless card transactions often replace cash, which remains the most common payment method in the nation, representing 30 percent of all transactions, according to the Federal Reserve.

We believe customers will adopt this as an alternative to cash that is both simple and secure, Ed Kadletz, head of Wells Fargos deposit products group, said in the statement. We are excited to offer our customers -- who use their Wells Fargo debit card more than 8.8 billion times per year -- a new payment option that they can use at a growing number of merchants.

Banks are equipping their credit and debit card portfolios with the tap-to-pay technology as transit systems around the country prepare to accept such cards. Starting this year, New Yorks Metropolitan Transit Authority will begin transitioning away from MetroCards as it introduces a new payment system that allows riders to tap their credit or debit card at turnstiles.

Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest U.S. bank, launched an external search for a new chief executive officer after Tim Sloan abruptly stepped down last week. Hell be replaced on an interim basis by the firms general counsel, C. Allen Parker.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jenny Surane in New York at jsurane4@bloomberg.net

Story continues

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub, Steve Dickson

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2019 Bloomberg L.P.The Massachusetts Gaming Commission details how Wynn Resorts handled accusations of rape and sexual misconduct against founder and former CEO Steve Wynn.

The commission is holding a hearing this week to determine if Wynn Resorts will be able to keep its Massachusetts gaming license, which it won in 2013.

The company has been working to open the Encore Boston Harbor Resort in Everett, Massachusetts. If the hearing results a lose of its gaming license, it will seriously hurt the $2.6 billion project on the Mystic River.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission released a report Tuesday detailing how Wynn Resorts WYNN handled accusations of rape and sexual misconduct against founder and former CEO Steve Wynn, and said the company hid the allegations from regulators.

The report said that "over the course of years, a limited group of executives and employees in positions of authority at the Company, including in the legal division, were aware of certain allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr. Wynn involving employees, but they disregarded Company policies when it came to handling those allegations."

It added: "The investigation also shows that in some instances particular Company executives, with the assistance of outside counsel, were part of affirmative efforts to conceal allegations against Mr. Wynn that came to their attention."

In response, Wynn Resorts said the company has cooperated fully with the Massachusetts commission's investigation and review in the past year, "providing thousands of pages of documentation, and allowing full access to company executives and answering every question."

The report did confirm remedial measures the company has taken in the wake of the allegations. Among them: that Steve Wynn had completely separated from the company within weeks of the allegations coming to light and that the board of directors established a special committee that conducted an in-depth review of the allegations.

Story continues

It also said "the company has implemented enhanced training and human resources policies, operations and structural changes, and new internal controls, including controls related to Company use of outside attorneys."

The 199-page report says that the changes don't erase the company's corporate failures.

The commission is holding a hearing this week to determine if Wynn Resorts will be able to keep its Massachusetts gaming license, which it won in 2013.

The Nevada Gaming Commission also recently reviewed Wynn Resorts, assessing a record $20 million fine but allowing it to keep its casino license.

The company has been working to open Encore Boston Harbor Resort in Everett, Massachusetts. If this week's hearing results a lose of its gaming license, it will seriously hurt the $2.6 billion project on the Mystic River. The resort is expected to open in June.

Wynn Resorts' name was removed from the project to distance it from the allegations.

The allegations surfaced after a January 2018 article in The Wall Street Journal, which said several women claimed Wynn had harassed or assaulted them. Wynn has denied the allegations. He stepped down as chairman in early 2018 and was replaced as CEO by Matt Maddox. Wynn sold his entire stake in the company by March 2018.

Wynn Resort's stock price was up 2.5 percent Tuesday.

 CNBC's Contessa Brewer contributed to this report.





More From CNBC

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL April 3, 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: Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO, T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS, CenturyLink, Inc. CTL and United States Cellular Corp. USM.

Here are highlights from Tuesdays Analyst Blog:

5G Likely to Spearhead Innovations in Global Farming

With the telecom industry on the cusp of 5G boom, various technological firms are aiming to stretch the boundaries of 5G to reap its immense benefits across diverse industries. The farming industry is the latest to be bitten by the 5G bug as it aims to automate production and scale up farm outputs for future population explosion.

Why 5G?

5G is billed as the technology of the future with faster download speed and seamless transfer of data. Leveraging state-of-the-art communication network architectures, 5G is touted to be the primary catalyst for next-generation Internet of Things (IoT) services. These include connected cars coupled with augmented reality and virtual reality platform, smart cities and connected devices that revolutionize key industry verticals. Moreover, 5G is likely to augment the scalability, security and universal mobility of the telecommunications industry, which is expected to lead to the wide proliferation of IoT.

Leveraging such technological advancements, the farming industry is using remote sensors and drones as key tools to test and collate data for the latest farming technologies. Drones with 5G capabilities have been used to boost potato production in the Netherlands through precision agriculture tests. The test involved capturing accurate images of the field through a camera drone and sent to an agricultural machine through 5G mobile connection on real-time basis. This has helped to set the precise dose for proper protection of the crop from pests to boost farm productivity. As the entire process required large bandwidth hitherto unavailable in existing 4G networks, 5G emerged as the perfect option to achieve the desired results. Moreover, it saved time for farmers to physically scan the entire field to detect the quantum of pesticide required for the crops.

Story continues

Other 5G Innovations in Farming

5G sensors, artificial intelligence and cloud computing methods are increasingly being adopted in Japan to monitor water temperature and salt concentration in oyster farms. Drones with 5G capabilities are used to capture images of fish as they swim in large tanks in farmed fishing. These images are then analyzed to calculate the timing and volume of seafood required according to the weight of the fish. These efficient farming operations are vital to sustain the growing industry that is crippled with shrinking workforce and aging population. Moreover, it helps to reduce seafood wastages to a large extent and improves farm productivity.

A U.K. government initiative with support from tech firm Cisco Systems, Inc. has launched a smartphone app called Me+Moo to track "connected" cows. The project involves 5G-connected collars that send daily updates on the cows health and behavioral patterns for accurate data. Veterinarians and nutritionists can then monitor this data for proper feeds and medicines that would have been otherwise been impossible for farmers to do on an individual basis on large farmlands.

Road Ahead

Such technological innovations seem to be the call of the hour to bridge the gap between the soaring global population and the food produce required to feed it. Per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the world will need to grow 70% more food in 2050 than it did in 2009. No wonder that leading technological firms are pitching in their contribution to spearhead innovations in the farming industry. At the same time, firms like T-Mobile US, Inc., CenturyLink, Inc. and United States Cellular Corp. are working tirelessly for rural broadband expansion to benefit the overall industry.

With such a holistic growth model, 5G is poised to be the next game changer in the farming industry.

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Zacks Investment ResearchCalls to national helpline for women are growing, but it is accessible to only a few

Every ten minutes, a woman somewhere in Nepal dials 1145, the helpline operated by the National Women Commission, seeking assistance. Majority of these calls are made by survivors of domestic violence who are either looking to report incidents of abuse or calling to inquire about the support services offered by the group.ASADABAD, Afghanistan -- In a rare move, scores of civilians in Afghanistans eastern province of Kunar are protesting against the Taliban and Islamic State (IS) for fomenting insecurity in their mountainous homeland.

Yar Bacha, a protest leader, says residents of the Manogay district are tired of suffering amid growing clashes between the Taliban and IS in neighboring Chapa Dara district in recent weeks.

We are facing a catastrophe, he told Radio Free Afghanistan on April 3. Every day more houses are ruined, forcing more people to flee. We have not seen this kind of devastation since the war against the Soviet occupation [in the 1980s].

Since late March, dozens of civilians and militants have been killed after clashes erupted between the Taliban and IS in Chapa Dara.

The fighting is concentrated some 50 kilometers away from the [administrative] center of Chapa Dara, said Gul Muhammad Bedad, Kunars acting governor. The fighting is happening in remote forested valleys where civilians are suffering the most.

Manogay or Pech Dara is one of Kunars 14 districts. The geographical spread of Taliban and IS strongholds and hideouts means that clashes could soon morph into a large-scale battle engulfing mountainous Kunar.

Bacha said civilian losses and fears that the fighting will soon spread to other districts in Kunar and the neighboring province of Nuristan have prompted people to speak out.

We are calling on all parties involved in the fighting to immediately cease hostilities, he said. Be they Daesh, the Taliban, or even the government, we want them all to end fighting. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for IS.

Protester Habib Gul said they cannot simply stand by and watch the suffering of some 3,000 families displaced by fighting.

We have witnessed a lot of suffering endured by the Muslims here because of the fighting in Chapa Dara, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. Our sisters and mothers have suffered because of the inhuman actions by Daesh and the Islamic Emirate, he added, calling the Taliban by its formal name.

The Afghan authorities are providing limited aid and health care to the displaced residents of Chapa Dara.

The recent fighting there has rung alarm bells across Kunar. On April 2, a protest in the provincial capital, Asadabad, called on the Taliban and IS to resolve their differences through a dialogue with the government.

Abdullah Sirat, a local leader, called on the government to confront the two groups. Our women, children, lives, and property are not immune from the terrorist attacks Daesh and the Taliban are launching against one another, he said.

It was not immediately possible to reach the Taliban and IS for comment in Kunar. While IS usually refrains from talking to the media, the Taliban often send statements to journalists. However, they are largely silent over the clashes in Kunar.

Mir Wais Safi oversees the Afghan military operation against militants in Manogay. He told Radio Free Afghanistan that their aim is to cleanse Chapa Dara of insurgents but that they first want to isolate the militants by allowing civilians to leave the region.

We are determined to rid our people of these evil forces, he said.

Abubakar Siddique wrote this story based on Rohullah Anwaris reporting from Asadabad, Afghanistan.

Correction: The photo posted alongside this story has been changed. The earlier file photo wrongly identified the protest in Kunar while it actually depicted a protest in Khost. We regret this mistake.Yes, I found a better job

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View ResultsThe Rev. Ella Mae Gothard-Bransom was a crusader for those in southern Colorado who suffer from sickle cell disease.

Gothard-Bransom was an ordained minister, journalist, member of the Capital Press Club in Washington, D.C., where she lived for 40 years, and a delegate to the Republican National Convention. She died in 2007 at age 98. According to her obituary, published in The Gazette, she received personal correspondence from four presidents. Her prize possession was the gift of the No. 7 pen that President Lyndon B. Johnson used to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which sought to lift barriers that blocked blacks from voting.

IF YOU GO EllaFest, 3 p.m. Sunday (doors open at 2 p.m.), Stargazers Theatre & Event Center, 10 S. Parkside Drive. VIP tables available. Advance tickets: $12.50-$62.50; day of show: $15-$65; 476-2200, stargazerstheatre.com

The Palmer High School graduate established the Colorado Springs-based organization that now bears her name, the Ella Mae Bransom Sickle Cell Association, to help those in the Pikes Peak region who have the rare form of anemia that causes a lack of healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen through the body.

EllaFest is the associations annual fundraiser. Open to the public, the celebration will be held Sunday beginning at 3 p.m. at Stargazers Theatre & Event Center. Paralympic silver medalist John Register will emcee the event, which will feature music performances by Ron Ivory, Linda Styles, Cassondra Collins, Jenny B and the Moses Jones Quartet.

Our goal is to make a difference in the lives of people in southern Colorado with sickle cell disease in a positive way. Sickle cell disease affects mainly minorities; therefore it has been under-recognized, under-funded and under-cared about, said Kathy Winder, who has served on the associations board since 2001. Ellafest proceeds support not only our clients, but a portion is given to the Colorado University Health Science Center Sickle Cell Research Department.

According to the Mayo Clinic, theres no cure for most people with sickle cell disease, but there are treatments that can relieve chronic pain and fatigue related to it. Treatments include bone-marrow transplants and blood transfusions. Patients from southern Colorado typically travel to Aurora  to University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus or Childrens Hospital Colorado  for treatment. EllaFest helps fund the travel costs and a support group for about 40 local clients and their families.

I get a heart for the clients, said Winder, a registered nurse. This event is to brighten their day, so they can have an evening to just sit back and enjoy.Medicines of nine Indian pharma companies found non-compliant to good manufacturing practices

The department can recall, prohibit the supply and suspend the products of these companies until its inspectors conduct another risk assessment audit and draw a compliance report.Fewer Colorado Springs-area homes are being built so far in 2019 than during the same time last year, but one housing industry official says the local economy remains healthy and he doesnt expect a construction downturn.

During the first quarter, the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department issued 705 permits for construction of single-family homes in El Paso County, a 27.3 percent decline from the same period last year, the agency reported. In March, the department issued 274 permits, down by a nearly identical percentage.

Its certainly not a red flag, the sky is falling kind of position by anybody I talk to among the top builders, said Todd Anderson, board president of the Housing & Building Association of Colorado Springs and owner of a building industry and leadership development consulting firm.

Anderson said one reason for the reduced construction might be that builders pulled extra numbers of permits in late 2018 to avoid paperwork requirements and higher costs related to energy-efficiency building codes that took effect Dec. 1.

In effect, builders borrowed from the permits they would have pulled in early 2019, he said.

Other builders might have waited before launching their next round of construction until they sold off their inventory of speculative homes  those built with the expectation that buyers will come along later, Anderson said. Once builders give the green light to resume construction, it might take several weeks to get going on new homes, he said.

But Anderson said hes confident single-family permits will total about 3,000 this year, which he says is a solid and sustainable figure for the area, based on historical averages.

Were still very bullish and positive, he said.

Among factors working in favor of builders: Employers continued to add jobs in 2018, albeit at a slower pace than a year earlier, figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

Long-term mortgage rates have been falling and averaged 4.06 percent nationally last week, down from 4.28 percent a week earlier, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. And the Pikes Peak regions population is growing.

Local homebuilders also are benefiting from Denver-area residents who buy homes in northern Colorado Springs and northern El Paso County and commute to their jobs up north, Anderson said.

Were continuing to see a pretty decent influx of people that work in the (Denver) Tech Center and all around Denver that cant afford and cant qualify for a home anywhere near Denver, and Castle Rock is almost as expensive now, he said.

Theyre buying down here in El Paso County because its $100,000 to $150,000 less for the same size house.

Homebuilding continues to be a significant part of the Pikes Peak regions economy, so its tracked closely by economists, business people and local governments.

The industry employs thousands of drywallers, plumbers, electricians and others in the trades. And tax revenues collected on the sales of building materials generate millions of dollars for local governments, which use the money to pay for basic services.DURANGO  Crews have started clearing the tracks of a famous tourist railroad in southwest Colorado following the winter's onslaught of snow and avalanches.

The Durango Herald reported Monday that the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is scheduled to begin operation May 4, taking passengers through the rugged terrain along the Animas River.

Railroad general manager Jeff Johnson says digging out the tracks is a laborious task each spring, but it's more daunting this year because of the amount of snowfall.

The railroad uses a helicopter each year to survey if avalanches should be triggered with dynamite to avoid potential risk. Crews recently triggered one avalanche that covered the river below.

Johnson says crews began work about three weeks ago on the task that's expected to take up six weeks.Social crimes are rising across the country, says police

A total of 3,069 criminal cases have been recorded across the country between February 13 to March 14 this year, as per the monthly bulletin published by the Nepal Police, on Tuesday.Lobbying the state for more transportation money, improving Colorado Springs roads and public transit and investing in the citys southeast side are fresh on the mind of Mayor John Suthers.

Suthers clinched his second term Tuesday in a landslide victory in the citys municipal election. Hell take another oath of office this month, but already hes getting to work.

You dont have too much time to celebrate, Suthers said Wednesday morning.

One high-profile item on the docket, Suthers said, is to lobby state representatives and senators for more cash to improve the citys highways. U.S. 24 and U.S. 87 (Nevada Avenue), Colorado 94 and Colorado 21 (Powers Boulevard) all need work, he said.

Other city roads also need attention, Suthers said. And city staff will develop a transportation master plan over the next two years to outline priorities and projects.

Encouraging residents to use public transportation is a challenge, Suthers acknowledged. Mountain Metropolitan Transit needs additional investment, but thats only one aspect causing low ridership, he said.

Its too cheap to park downtown, he said. I think our city employees pay $30 a month to park downtown. Other businesses down here can park in a city garage for $30 (per month). In Denver, its $350 a month to park downtown. Thats a real incentive to get on a train or a bus.

Roads and other infrastructure on the citys southeast side will receive special focus with an expected $45 million investment between by 2021, Suthers said.

Thats a reconstruction of South Academy Boulevard, maybe some realignment down there, he said. Were  doing a total redo of Panorama Park.  I think were putting $1.3 million into Panorama Park.

But thats not all, Suthers said, noting that he cant be much more specific.

He was hinting, it appears, at the plans the online giant Amazon has for the city, including the conversion of a temporary facility into a permanent one and a lease that allows the behemoth to use a site at the Colorado Springs Airport for a delivery center.

I think were going to be announcing in the next year or so, a lot of new jobs in the southeast quadrant, he said. Primarily at the airport. And these will be high-paying, hourly jobs. You wont have to be a college graduate, but $15 an hour and up jobs.

In addition, the citys Urban Renewal Authority might have a part to play in the revitalization of Colorado Springs long-neglected neighborhoods in the coming years, Suthers said.A voter drops off a ballot for the April City Municipal Election outside the City Administration Building.Some might wonder what to make of Denver restaurants making their presence known in our fair city. My attitude is: Bring it on. And thats exactly what the capital city-based Fat Sullys NY Pizza does.

Clearly, restaurateurs in the Mile High City recognize that Colorado Springs has a thriving dining scene, so it only makes sense to want to be a part of it. Fat Sullys is doing this by dishing out New York-style pizza.

Zas are available by the slice, but the 26-inch house pie is just right for a crowd or anyone who wants to eat leftovers for a few days. The red and white sauces are made in-house, as are the Italian sausage, meatballs and dough. Based on our servers rave review of the white sauce, described as a cheesier version of Alfredo, we opted for that with half devoted to each meat. To add some color and flavor, we opted for sauteed onions and tomatoes.

A 26-inch pie is massive. Its clear why the menu lists it as Big-Ass Pizza. It practically covered our table. Neither can the single slices be described as undersized. They nearly cover the flimsy paper plates on which theyre served. The thin crust makes them easy to fold, which is exactly how we ate them.

The white sauce was, indeed, creamy. These meatballs are worthy of a Sunday sauce thats simmered all day and served over fresh-made pasta. Theyre crumbled over the top with red pepper flecks visible in each bite.

The pizza makers were far more generous with the meatballs than with the flavorful, slightly spicy sausage. The onions were lost in the mix, and the finely diced tomatoes provided much-needed color as well as a healthy component.

Nonpizza options include garlic knots ($5.95), which are like a smaller version of a pizza thats been fried instead of baked. This is for garlic lovers only, with garlic butter, Parmesan cheese, red sauce for dipping and, did I mention, a lot of garlic.

You also can get a Caesar salad ($8.95) or a house salad served family style ($3.75 per person). Mixed greens, mushrooms, banana peppers, feta cheese, tomatoes and croutons make for an impressive opener combination. House-made dressings are served on the side, so you and your dining companions need not agree on only one. I enjoyed the tart and sweet raspberry vinaigrette.

Two other entrees are on the menu, though neither appears on the online options. Chicken Parmesan and lasagna (each $19.95) are served family style. Our server said the chicken Parm was her go-to choice and noted that its served with free refills of pasta. That and the blending of house-made mozzarella, the red sauce and fresh basil over chicken suggest another meal intended for hearty appetites. I want to give it a try.

The lasagna  a mishmash of pork, beef and pancetta between layers of pasta, mozzarella and fresh basil  sounds equally tempting.

But when pizza is part of an establishments name, its a good idea to begin a culinary relationship with at least a slice.

Fat Sullys is part of the Atomic Provisions Restaurant Group. Its fun and loud. The two-story restaurant, with a bar as the centerpiece on the first floor and another on the second, changes its identity between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends to the Denver Biscuit Co.

Fat Sullys NY Pizza

Address: 528 S. Tejon St.

Contact: 208-4470; atomiccowboy.net

Restaurant character: Fun but noisy pizzeria

Rating total: 4 of 5 forks

Food: 4 of 5 forks

Ambiance: 4 of 5 forks

Service: 4 of 5 forks

Hours: 11 to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday

Entrees: $3.50 (per slice) to $19.95; basic cheese pizza with red sauce is $18.95; basic white is $19.95. Many toppings available for an upcharge: $2.74 each for regular and $3.50 each for premium toppings.

Alcohol: Yes

Credit cards: Yes

Vegan options: Yes

Outdoor dining: Yes

Gluten-free options: Yes

Wi-Fi: Yes

Whats online as of March 21:

 No votes on Foursquare

 4.5 of 5 stars based on 2 reviews on TripAdvisor

 No votes on Zomato

 4 of 5 stars based on 28 reviews on Yelp

 Active on Facebook

Excellent rating on Oct. 16, 2018, by El Paso County Public Health.Three of Nepals largest public libraries were badly damaged in the 2015 earthquake. Only one has risen from the debris.

The Kaiser Library, one of Kathmandus few public libraries, is part of the larger Keshar Mahal palace complex and a work of art. Built in 1907 by Chandra Shumsher for his son, Kaiser (Keshar) Shumsher, the library holds over 50,000 books25,000 of them donated to the Nepal government by Kaisers wife after his death in 1965.Northeast Notes: We get by with a little help from our friendsGrand Old Partisan salutes George Curry, born in Louisiana this day of 1861. A flood destroyed the family farm, sending the twelve year-old on his own. He wandered through Kansas and Texas before settling in New Mexico.

Age twenty-three, Curry won election to a Democrat territorial convention. While in the cattle business, he was county treasurer, county clerk, county assessor and territorial senator. His saloon at Lincoln remains a popular tourist attraction.

After serving in the Rough Riders during war with Spain, Curry was named provost marshal and judge in the Philippines. He moved up to governor of three provinces and police chief of Manila.

In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him Governor of New Mexico territory. As a Republican, Curry pressed for statehood. He was elected the state's first U.S. Representative. Declining renomination, he managed a hotel and served on a border commission during the Harding and Coolidge administrations.

Curry County is named for him.

Here is a Video Version of this article on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5b7VYNKffhg

Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement.

Each day, Michael Zak's grandoldpartisan YouTube channel and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than sixteen decades of Republican heritage. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states so far.

He also wrote the 2005 Republican Freedom Calendar.

Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision.

Buy the book at Amazon

"This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!"

"Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before."

and

"one of the best books I ever read"A simulated artwork, not real ATM label. Republic of China (Taiwan) All the following listed ATM machines still on service, with their machi...Blog Archive December (1) November (2) October (2) September (2) August (3) July (3) June (3) May (2) April (2) March (3) February (2) January (2) December (2) November (2) October (2) September (3) August (3) July (4) June (4) May (5) April (4) March (4) February (4) January (4) December (4) November (6) October (2) September (3) August (2) July (10) June (3) May (2) April (8) March (5) February (3) January (4) December (4) November (5) October (5) September (4) August (7) June (4) May (4) April (2) March (5) February (2) January (4) December (3) November (4) October (4) September (3) August (4) July (4) June (5) May (3) April (3) March (4) February (5) January (5) December (2) November (3) October (4) September (4) August (4) July (4) June (5) May (4) April (4) March (5) February (4) January (4) December (5) November (4) October (4) September (4) August (4) July (4) June (4) May (3) April (4) March (3) February (4) January (2) December (5) November (5) October (8) September (7) August (7) July (8) June (8) May (5) April (7) March (6) February (2) January (4) December (3) November (7) October (3) September (3) August (4) July (5) June (8) May (7) April (7) March (5) February (6) January (8) December (6) November (5) October (7) September (4) August (7) July (7) June (6) May (8) April (10) March (12) February (3) January (8) December (9) November (7) October (7) September (8) August (9) July (5) June (7) May (4) April (4) March (5) February (8) January (6) December (5) November (5) October (5) September (2) August (2) July (3) June (2) May (5) April (1) March (3) February (4) January (1) December (3) November (3) October (3) September (2) August (2) July (2) June (4) May (4) April (4) March (4) February (4) January (3) December (5) November (5) October (4)A recently built bridge has been declared risky but vehicles continue to ply on it

The newly constructed bridge over the Bishnumati river connecting Teku and Kalimati came into operation about nine months ago. But the bridge was immediately declared risky for failing to meet the required standard. When the Post visited the area on Sunday and Tuesday, vehicles were freely crossing the bridge.This San Francisco purveyor of graffiti has it right.When times are bleak -- when country and planet sink under the barely restrained sway of greed, raw power, and fear -- it's time to restate what matters. I write here to preserve and kindle hope for a national and global turn toward multi-racial, economically egalitarian, gender non-constricting, woman affirming, and peace choosing democracy that preserves the habitability of earth for all. There's a big order -- but what else is there to do but struggle for this? Not much.Topics range from the minuscule to the transcendent to the global, from dire to delightful. I am not an optimist, but I refuse to allow myself to wallow within the easy bias that everything is going to always be awful. Good also happens; love lives too.I've been yammering here about activism, politics, history, racism and other occasional horrors and pleasures since 2005.I intend to continue as long as the opportunity exists. In this time, that means activism and chronicling resistance. Perhaps it always has, one way and another.My other internet project: 596 Precincts-Walking San FranciscoIn Case You Missed It: Here are the top five stories of the day

Take a quick look at some of the top stories you may have missed today.Who are you if all your personal possessions disappeared? Think about it.

I am a husband, father, and a friend every day  24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. No matter what I have or what I lose, I know exactly who I am and what my purpose is.

In the last decade, many things have changed, including a few new additions to the family. I have been blessed with three little ones who call me dad and look up to me to guide them every day. Right now, the most important thing to them is when they get to play with dad, ride in the back of the truck with dad, or drive a tractor with dad, and I love it.

Material items are a blessing that do not define who you are but what you have and what you do.

A year ago, I started a social media page called Dairy Dad, where I not only advocate for the dairy industry with information and humor but also share a bit of my life as a dad in the dairy community. I love working with cows and all the people in the dairy circle, but I found myself taking more pictures of my family than anything else.

This got me thinking. People normally take pictures of the things they treasure and of moments they do not want to forget. My camera roll is full of my family.

I found myself wanting to take more pictures of cows when my kids were involved. I took more pictures of tractors when my kids were driving, and I found myself showcasing what dairy really is more often when my kids were in the focus. What I really found, though, is who I am. I am a dad.

While we are in the shadow of so many heartbreaking tragedies and unfortunate events, may we all dig deep and remember who we really are.

And please remember, if things are getting tough and it feels like its getting hard to breathe, please reach out to others. The dairy community is a tight knit group ready to help, ready to listen, and ready to support. Please, do not feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask for advice or a caring ear. It has been done many times before with great success.

May this find you well,

Dairy Dad

Tyler Ribeiro is a fourth-generation dairy farmer born and raised in California. He is currently partners with his father at Rib-Arrow Dairy in Tulare where they proudly ship their milk to Land OLakes. Tyler is actively involved in the dairy industry, holding leadership roles in various organizations locally and across the United States.

Joins us on April 8, 2019, for our webinar: "Milking evaluation reveals costly problems"

presented by Michigan State University Extension's Phil Durst and Stan Moore

Milking is so routine that we sometimes fail to adequately analyze it. Using milk vacuum recorders, researchers found two common problems: biphasic milking and overmilking. The presentation will discuss the causes and impacts of these issues.The word chandelier comes from the French word for candle. Electricity was not discovered until the end of the 19th century, so chandeliers of the 1860s used other power sources. By the first decade of the next century, most fashionable and upscale homes had electricity, which called for a retrofitting of these antique lighting fixtures.

Power Sources During the 1860s, chandeliers primarily graced the homes of the wealthy -- those in high society. They also were found in theaters and even in the White House. The first chandeliers used candles for illumination, but by the mid-to-late 19th century, upscale homes with chandeliers were retrofitted to work with gas, and then wired to work with electricity when it became available. Chandeliers equipped with candles sported catch basins beneath each candle to capture the dripping wax. Chandeliers were typically reserved for special occasions and were not meant for everyday use, except in theaters where they provided overhead lighting.

Fabrication Materials Many chandeliers during the 1860s were made of brass, bronze or gilded bronze. Those who could not afford the more expensive fixtures often opted for chandeliers fashioned from pewter, copper or iron. Some of the artisans of the day used the lost-wax casting method to create the delicate forms and scrollwork found on these chandeliers. After making a clay or wax model, the artisan poured plaster into the model to form an exact negative of the model, which created the mold for future castings.

Chandelier Styles During the 1860s -- the height of the Victorian Age -- chandeliers were made following the styles of different periods. Styles and periods included the French Antique style or Rocco Revival period, noted for ornate and extravagant cornucopias, elements of nature and irregular scrollwork. Styles based on the Italian and French Renaissance periods typically depicted human faces, animals and other natural themes. Italianate-style chandeliers, named after the reign of Napoleon II, typically contained ornate and decorative brackets and crystals. A signed chandelier by the maker is a rare find and an exception, not the rule, as the individual elements of the chandelier help to identify the craftsman. To identify the authenticity of a 1860s chandelier generally requires the services of an appraiser or collector.The differences between a futon mattress and a Japanese futon mattress may seem confusing at first, especially if you've never been to Japan. While both are flexible mattresses designed for sleeping, a Japanese futon mattress does not require a bed or frame and is much thinner than the mattress cushions found on futon sofas or beds.

Japanese Futon Fundamentals

A Japanese futon is a set of materials used in place of a Western-style bed. An optional bottom material is a thin, cushy, quilt-like spread that goes between the mattress and floor. Next comes the futon mattress, which is long, narrow and thin compared to a Western futon mattress. There are no springs inside this type of futon mattress; it's typically stuffed with cotton, although luxury versions are filled with silk. A sheet covers the futon mattress, followed by a quilt in a quilt cover. The basic Japanese shiki mattress is 2-to-4 inches thick and designed to be folded after use, compared to the 6 or more inches of thickness for Western-style futon mattresses.The Amish have their own ways of doing things without the use of complicated machinery, which includes making fabulous homemade quilts. If you are searching for an authentic Amish quilt, several identifying features can help you determine whether the quilt is genuine or a fake. A counterfeit piece is easy to spot when you educate yourself on the typical characteristics -- colors, fabric, theme and edging -- found in a real Amish quilt.

Pinpoint the Price and Location A signed quilt with a low asking price is typically an indication of a quilt claiming Amish authenticity is more than likely a mass-produced counterfeit. Legitimate Amish quilts often come with high price tags and are seldom initialed by the quilter. When you buy a quilt in person from an Amish quilt maker, you have no doubt as to whether the piece is genuine. Quilts ordered from Amish quilters in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Holmes County in Ohio are more than likely the real deal.

Color and Fabric Clues Take a good look at a quilt for identifying fabric and color clues that are found in real Amish quilts. An authentic Amish quilt is often created with materials featuring solid, bold and saturated colors, with black used only on the borders. The striking black contrast against the intense hues creates a vibrant, exceptional quilt. Very few Amish quilts were made before 1870, with the first pieces featuring the whole-cloth style of quilting, which incorporated only one large piece of fabric, rather than piecing together multiple sections of fabric. Amish quilters nowadays use both whole-cloth and multiple-piecing construction methods when making quilts.

Revealing Stitches Carefully inspect the stitches that create the attractive patterns on a quilt -- they are hand-stitched with six to 10 stitches per inch if it is indeed a genuine Amish quilt. Even though many Amish quilts are sewn together with a treadle sewing sewing machine worked by foot power, the intricate quilting patterns --- people, feathers, animals, ships, floral designs and buildings -- on the top are typically completed by hand. Solid-colored fabrics of Amish quilts deliver an ideal background to showcase the quilt maker's artistic hand-stitching skills.

Divulging Designs Several specific quilt designs are associated directly with the Amish, such as the Diamond in Square, Lone Star and Sunshine-and-Shady patterns. The medallion quilt style was adopted by Amish quilters as a pattern to which they could easily incorporate their original designs. Because the focal point of a medallion quilt is always the centered design, the rest of the the quilt is constructed with borders made from rectangular fabric pieces to showcase and complement the center design.Judicial Council decision to pick judges draws flak from a section of legal fraternity

Judicial Councils decision to recommend five Supreme Court justices and 18 High Court judges have come under fire from many senior advocates questioning the competence of a number of appointees, with lawyers demanding discussions over justices selection criteria.Victorian furniture falls under an umbrella that encompasses multiple revival styles. Like our own era, in which overseas production provides a plethora of inexpensive style knock-offs, an expansion of native manufacturing in the Victorian era produced a wide range of affordable furniture choices in styles including Egyptian Revival, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, Eastlake and Rococo. Each furniture style evokes different facets of the European decorative arts, including architectural motifs, and Victorian homes often displayed an eclectic mixture of furniture from different style categories.

Egyptian and Greek Revival Egyptian Revival-style furniture evokes ancient forms such as the Klismos chair, which features simple, outward-curving legs. Harkening back to archeological finds from Napoleon's stay in Egypt, chairs and tables display carved and incised motifs from ancient Greece, and Egyptian Revival-style designs overlap with the Greek Revival style. Popular at mid-19th century, Greek Revival-style furniture is heavier and made of walnut or satinwood, and motifs such as lyres and caryatids are frequently present. Look for simpler lines and an upholstery palette with muted reds.

Gothic Revival Emerging around 1845, and inspired by Andrew Jackson Downing's book "The Architecture of Country Houses," the Victorian Gothic Revival style includes dark furniture with motifs from Gothic cathedrals. Carved in oak or walnut, Medieval-style detailing features trefoils and quatrefoils, and you may find these motifs in pierced tracery on tall, straight-backed chairs in walnut upholstered in muted greens or reds. The spires of Gothic cathedrals are evoked in relief-work and pointed arch patterns on tabletop sides, cabinet panels, headboards and even cribs.

Renaissance Revival Around 1860, a boxier and larger scale furniture style appeared. Labeled Renaissance Revival, the style coincides with the Gothic Revival, but the detailing is more ornate, especially on carved finials and heavily turned legs. Fluted legs are also present, and upholstery patterns sometimes feature muted reds. Relief-work displays coats of arms and other heraldic symbols, and dark tables or consoles with light marble tops provide ways for you to establish tonal contrast. Additional furniture detailing includes marquetry and incised outlines in gold.

Eastlake Appearing around 1870, Eastlake furniture displays flat, geometric detailing with a linear quality, akin to the Stick style of Victorian architecture. Charles Eastlake, a Victorian-era designer, wrote a popular home design tutorial, unleashing an array of decorative hardware designs, which correspond with the furniture line named after him. Also present is the Aesthetic Movement's focus on design, fine materials and an upholstery palette of greens, grays and soft reds. Opt for beds and chairs that display simple, incised carving with toothlike patterns and interlocking, geometric shapes.What Kind of Furniture Does a Mulberry Tree Make? Home Guides

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The mulberry tree is valued for its leaves, the main food of silkworms, and its berries, a treat for small children on summer afternoons. In its native Japan, its wood has been used for centuries in the production of small furniture pieces. Since its importation into the United Kingdom and the United States, the mulberry's wood has found similar uses after some early experimentation. Not widely known among furniture makers in the United States in the past, mulberry wood is now finding favor in upscale markets.

Species The timber of the white mulberry, Morus alba, is used most often in Japan. In the United Kingdom and the United States, both it and red mulberry, Morus rubra, are used for furniture. These species hybridize easily, and most trees today are crosses between them. White mulberry was the variety chosen for veneers in the 17th and 18th centuries because of its pale yellow color. Red mulberry wood is often a pale orange when freshly cut. Both tend to darken and turn brown after cutting.

European and American Items Mulberry can grow large enough to produce boards for furniture making. There are records, pictures and existing examples of drop-leaf tables, chairs and benches. It is a hard and durable wood comparable to elm, but sometimes tends to warp and change its color unexpectedly without the addition of any stains or finishes. This unpredictability may also account for its infrequent use by cabinetmakers. There is some disagreement about its ability to be worked, with some recommending it for its ease of use and others considering it difficult. Its attractive grain is valued for interior finish work, built-in furniture and custom cabinets in finer homes.

Japanese Items Mulberry was used for furniture in Japan since at least the 19th century. Domestic trees, the source of leaves fed to silkworms, were drastically pruned and never reached an adequate size for timber. However, wild mulberry varieties attained sufficient size and were harvested. Relatively small furniture pieces such as mirror frames, tea chests and clothes racks were produced. In Japan, the wood was especially valued for its grain and for its ability to take a high polish.The dream of owning a home can quickly turn to a nightmare when foreclosure becomes a real possibility. If your home is foreclosed your ownership will be terminated and you'll eventually have to move out. States such as California even provide for an expedited foreclosure process when lenders choose to foreclose nonjudicially, or without the courts.

California Foreclosure Time Frames California allows for judicial or court-ordered foreclosures, though they're very rare. Judicial foreclosures in California may take many months or even a year or more to complete, and they're also expensive for lenders. Most California residential foreclosures are nonjudicial, and they can occur quickly once lenders formally notify their borrowers of loan default. In a California nonjudicial mortgage foreclosure you may have as few as 120 days in your home from the time you're formally notified of your loan default.

California Nonjudicial Foreclosure Process California nonjudicial foreclosure rules require lenders to personally contact their delinquent borrowers 30 days before recording notices of default against them.

California homeowners also have 90 days after being notified of mortgage loan default before their lenders can move to a foreclosure sale. Lenders nonjudicially foreclosing homeowners in California must also wait at least another 20 days once notification of foreclosure sale is given to actually conduct one. Once your home is sold at a nonjudicial foreclosure sale, though, your ownership is terminated.

California Anti-Deficiency Rule California doesn't allow for a right of redemption after a nonjudicial foreclosure. Basically, you won't be given the opportunity to redeem your California home by repaying your mortgage once it's sold at foreclosure, but a California nonjudicial foreclosure comes with a potentially significant benefit in the form of its anti-deficiency rule. Lenders nonjudicially foreclosing first or primary mortgages in California are prohibited from recovering loan deficiencies or negative loan balances owed by their foreclosed borrowers.

California Foreclosure and Eviction Once a California home is foreclosed, its new owners become responsible for evicting any occupants. California requires new owners of foreclosed homes to first give occupants a three-day notice to quit or leave, and then to file an eviction lawsuit if the occupants refuse to do so. An eviction lawsuit in California usually takes from 30 to 60 days, including occupant appeals, to complete. In some cases, new owners of foreclosed homes have simply offered occupants cash payments if they agree to quickly vacate.Palm trees with more than one trunk have a variety of uses in the landscape. These palms can be used as feature trees, for shade, as screens or as hedges. All of the palms with clumping trunks will grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 and higher and are drought-tolerant.

Mediterranean or European Fan Palm Mediterranean or European fan palm (Chamerops humilus) grows to a height of 15 feet and spreads to 15 feet. This palm grows in clumps or may have multiple dark brown or light green trunks, up to 5 feet in diameter. The leaves grow in a fan pattern and are 2-3 feet in diameter. The leaflets are stiff and the petioles have sharp spines. Most often, the fan palm is used for screens and hedges in the landscape and grows slowly.

Date Palm The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) grows to a height of 60 feet with a spread of 25 feet. This palm may have single trunks or clumping trunks of 12 inches in diameter. The feather-style leaflets cause this palm to often be described as a tall feather duster. The date palm grows slowly, and female trees produce edible orange or red fruit in 4-foot inflorescences. For fruit production, male trees are required for pollination. However, they are considered highly allergenic.

Senegal Date Palm The Senegal date palm (Phoenix reclinata) grows to 40 feet with a 30-foot spread. The trunks are clumping and the leaves are feather-style. Like the date palm, the female trees produce edible fruit in large inflorescences. The edible fruit produced by this variety are bright orange. This tree is often used as an accent plant in a large landscape. The suggested use is to surround the tree with groundcovers or low shrubs.My Periwinkles Are Dying Home Guides

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Periwinkle refers to the three types of vinca plants. Two related perennials are greater periwinkle (Vinca major) and lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor). While the former is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 9, the latter has a wider range of adaptability, doing well in USDA zones 4 through 8. Dont confuse these with Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), also called annual vinca, which is hardy in USDA zones 10 and 11.

Periwinkle Identification Periwinkles are cheerful groundcovers with flowers in a variety of hues, depending on species. While lesser periwinkle grows to a height of only 6 inches and has blooms of purple, blue or white, greater periwinkle grows taller, sometimes 18 inches tall, and is also limited to white or purple flowers. Madagascar periwinkle, on the other hand, has a wide range of hues, from white to pink to mauve to deep red. Generally, bloom petals and throats are a different color.

Improper Climate While all periwinkles are quite hardy, and can withstand both heat and cold, the perennial vincas do not do well with excesses of heat or sunlight. In very hot areas, periwinkles should be grown in partial sun. If you must grow them in full light, be sure they are not exposed to western sun, which will only increase drought problems and burn the plants. Madagascar periwinkle does better under these conditions, can withstand full sunlight easily, and likes heat and humidity.

Rots and Blights For the most part, the perennial periwinkles are disease free, though they sometimes suffer from dieback, when they die to the ground, or cankers, which exhibit brown spots. Avoid these by reducing overhead watering, and instead providing moisture beneath the leaves. Madagascar periwinkle has a few diseases of its own, the biggest being phytophthora stem blight and root rot. Since it is quite drought tolerant, provide limited amounts of water, once or twice a week at most, and be sure soil drains well. Any time you see infection on any periwinkle, remove infected leaves or whole plants, if necessary.It is documented that the Navajo initially learned how to weave from the neighboring Pueblo in their settlements in what are now New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. The Navajo women, who became the region's weavers, expanded the range of patterns beyond striped bands of color and turned the designs into todays widely recognized patterns. Navajo rug designs are identified by and named for the territory they originated from or particular influences on the culture.

Crystal Rugs The borderless crystal classification of Navajo rugs was first made in an area north of Window Rock, Arizona. Its horizontal bands of natural wool with vegetable-dyed colors and designs distinguish this particular style. Many times, these stripes incorporate additional patterns, such as arrows, stars, crosses, triangles and diamonds.

Teec Nos Pos Meaning circle of cottonwoods, Teec Nos Pos is a settlement in northeast Arizona. Characterized by a wide border with elaborate repeating geometric designs, this particular type of Navajo rug displays vibrant colors. The patterns established in these rugs show Persian influences and often feature a decorative center that is enhanced with feathers, arrows and angular designs.

Two Grey Hills Originating from the Two Grey Hills Trading Post, these Navajo rugs are celebrated for their high quality and intricate patterns. Two Grey Hills rugs are woven of natural, handspun wool in neutral colors that have not been dyed. Accented with "spirit lines," the borders of the rugs are said to be symbolic of the weaver's desire to release creative energies back into the universe."Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"If I hear not allowed much oftener, said Sam, Im going to get angry. -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings



IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them.





They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country.





However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia.





"Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination.





Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia.





They should be lovingly helped.





Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948.





To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts:





While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 :

Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell.

The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites.



A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught.



The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers.



Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites."



Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers.









There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks.





This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work.





It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter.





In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam.













In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir.





" The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life."





An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir .





In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance).





Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed).





Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance).









Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam.





It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way.





A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah.





Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs).









Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life".





Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology.





Islam is a supremacist ideology.





Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism.





Islam is a civilization.

Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization.





Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life.

It has a say about every conceivable human act .





Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam.

























The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic.





Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111).





A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44)





Muhammad himself said:

I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30)









Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad.



Reconstruction of Nuwakot Durbar delayed; locals worried about identity loss

Locals have demanded the immediate reconstruction of the historic Sat Tale Durbar (seven-storey palace) and its surrounding artefacts in Nuwakot.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Slicing the Madhesi pie

Rauts Janmat Party is elbowing its way into an already crowded political landscapeTransitional justice Act amendment, appointment of officials to go together

The government is preparing to take the amendment process of the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, 2014, and the selection of new office-bearers for the two transitional justice bodies simultaneously.This has been the way of the mullahs since 1979; you should not be fooled by those who are trying to sell you the idea of Iran as a democracy or as capable of any meaningful reform. It is not. Even the press are too easily swayed by the hardliner versus moderate divide that the mullahs promote as a way to convince the world that there are reasonable people at the top branches of the Regime. There isnt.

In no case is this more obvious than that of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, 55, who was arrested last year for defending those protesting against Irans anti-forced hijab law. She has been sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. She was first jailed in 2010, but despite the threats and humiliation shes endured, she continued to fight for human rights in Iran.

Yet the EU, a bloc known for defending human rights, is failing to call for her immediate and unconditional release. Something that human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have done with a petition signed by over 600,000.

Sotoudeh was awarded the Ludovic Trarieux international human rights prize last September, a coveted prize that Nelson Mandela received in 1985 whilst in prison. She was also awarded the Sakharov Prize in 2012 and was invited by Emmanuel Macron to join a G7 gender equality council. This indicates that the EU is aware of her plight, but are failing to do anything about it because they dont want to anger the Iranian Regime. Indeed, EU foreign minister Federica Mogherini even supports Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who denies there are human rights abuses in Iran.

Human rights are also something that President Barack Obama failed to pay close attention to when negotiating the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  there were no caveats for the Regime to abide by human rights laws  and in the 2009 protests against the rigged election  where he failed to call out the undemocratic way in which these elections were run and the abuse of protesters.

These actions by the EU and US showcase that they are trying to pretend that human rights abuses in Iran do not exist. The only real option to solve the crisis in Iran is to remove the mullahs from power and deep down the world knows that.Iran has since exploited arguably vague phrasing to continue carrying out ballistic missile activities in the open, arguing that the weapons are defensive in nature and that the relevant provision of Resolution 2231 is optional in any event.

The ongoing development, manufacture, and testing of ballistic missiles was one of the main issues cited by US President Donald Trump to justify withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May of last year. According to his administrations, these activities constitute a violation of the spirit of the deal.

But the European signatories  the United Kingdom, France, and Germany  have remained committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action while taking for granted the reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency which indicate that the Islamic Republic is living up to its basic obligations.

However, this has not stopped the so-called E3 from loudly protesting Irans blatant disregard for international will, as it concerns missile proliferation and other Iranian activities with global implications.

It was these three nations that jointly authored the recent letter, which called upon the UN to prepare a thorough report on Irans ballistic missile activity by June. According to Agence France-Presse, the E3 specified that such a report was a necessary step toward addressing a trend of increased activity that is inconsistent with Resolution 2231 and includes the unveiling of two new and supposedly advanced ballistic missiles in February.

The AFP report points out that the US made a similar appeal to the UN about a month earlier. And these international efforts are likely to continue for as long as Iran maintains its defiant posture. Whats more, the perceived importance of addressing Iranian missile activities may increase as more emphasis is placed upon the potential impact of those activities beyond Irans borders.

These effects are not limited to the prospective deployment of the weapons in any of the regional conflicts where Iran is a direct participant, although the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps did fire a ballistic missile at a purported ISIL position in Iraq last year. Rather, they include the danger of Iranian missiles being delivered into the hands of foreign allies, including non-state actors like Hezbollah. In recent years, Iran has sought to exploit its involvement in the Syrian Civil War to traffic weapons through that war zone to the Lebanese paramilitary group, but those efforts have largely been halted by Israeli strikes on Iranian convoys.

However, the Media Line reported on Tuesday that Tehran merely adjusted its strategy in response, initially by flying weapons directly into Lebanon on cargo planes and later by facilitating the construction of underground missile facilities. The report indicates that a new factory of this kind has just been completed in a populated area of Beirut.

Production at this and other facilities can be expected to reflect the influence of Irans own recent missile development, and the Media Line reports that Tehran has actively been trying to transfer to [Hezbollah] advanced technology that can transform rudimentary projectiles into precision-guided missiles.

Reports such as this, together with previous public complaints by European governments, may help the US to more effectively justify its strategy of maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic, in spite of the European Unions persistent commitment to the nuclear deal. That additional justification could prove important at a time when progress toward such maximum pressure is evident.

It was announced on Tuesday that the US may impose still more sanctions in May, around the anniversary of Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA. According to Reuters, these sanctions would add new sectors of the Iranian economy to those that have already been targeted. This would potentially add to the pressure on that economy more quickly, as the US takes incremental steps toward the promised global isolation of the Iranian oil industry.

Secondary sanctions on buyers of Iranian oil came back into effect last November, but the US provided waivers to the eight largest importers, contingent upon significant reductions in their loadings of the sanctioned resource. Those waivers are set to expire in May, though it has been reported that at least four of them are likely to be renewed for the sake of minimizing the risk of a sharp increase in global petroleum prices. According to Platts, the renewals would also be contingent upon further reductions, by as much as 20 percent.

However, Reuters quoted one senior Trump administration official as saying that the US might take a more aggressive tack by allowing all eight waivers to expire without renewal. That, I think, is where were headed, the unnamed person stated. The actual viability of such a proposal may depend, to a significant degree, on the extent of the international communitys willingness to comply with the administrations maximum pressure strategy. And that compliance may be encouraged by the recurring European objections to Irans ballistic missile work.

Furthermore, even tacit European endorsement of the US sanctions could have knock-on effects upon some of Irans economic partners and allies. So far, the risk of elevated oil prices has been kept in place by an agreement among the nations of OPEC and other petroleum exporting countries, to hold production down and buttress prices in the presence of a fully active market. But an end to that agreement would allow the market to absorb the loss of Iranian oil. And in another sense, it would facilitate the US effort to cut Iran out.

On Monday, Irans Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh met with his Russian counterpart and then insisted to reporters that there would be no difficulty extending the cooperation. The renewal of the OPEC+ agreement depends in large part on Iranian ally Russia, but also on Irans chief regional rival, Saudi Arabia. According to Bloomberg, both countries have recently undermined Zanganehs claim, agreeing that more time is needed before a decision is made on the future of the deal.

This wait-and-see approach arguably gives the United States additional time to make the case for large-scale sanctions as a means of containing not only Irans nuclear ambitions but also its dangerous ballistic missile activities and arms smuggling. And if the international community ultimately accepts the Trump administrations argument, it may in turn convince OPEC and its partners of the need to increase output and compensate for the imminent collapse of Iranian oil.The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the two largest economies in the Arabian Gulf. According to a report released by California-based cyber-security technology company Crowd Strike, their government and defense sectors will be Irans main targets, as it seeks geopolitical prominence.

Rawad Sarieddine, regional head of Crowd Strike in Dubai said, Governments and businesses need to be aware of the threat and be prepared to deal with that. He added, Our report has found that Iran, along with other actors, continues to be a destructive threat, not only within the Middle East but also to companies based in western countries that may do business or maintain infrastructure in the region.

Crowd Strikes report reviewed incidents of both eCrime, which is any type of criminal activity that takes place over the internet or through mobile devices, as well as state-sponsored cyberattacks across the world. The company is also hosting a cybersecurity session at Global Information Security Expo and Conference (GISEC) that began in Dubai on Monday.

In Davos, a survey was released in January by the World Economic Forum about the top risks for businesses in the next 10 years. Executives in the UAE focused on technology-related concerns including cyber-attacks, data fraud, and the misuse of technology.

According to cyber-espionage analysts, an Iranian group called APT39, which was mainly targeting the telecoms industry in the Middle East, has been exposed by the US-based cyber-security firm FireEye. Benjamin Read, a senior manager of cyber espionage analysis at FireEye explained that APT39 differs from other Iranian cyber espionage groups, in that, APT39s focus on personal information likely supports the planning, monitoring and tracking of intelligence operations that serve Irans national priorities.

Last month, tech giant Microsoft published a report linking Iranian hackers to cyber-attacks that targeted more than 200 companies, including some in Saudi Arabia. Microsoft said it seized 99 websites used by Iranian hackers to steal sensitive information and launch other cyberattacks.

The New York Times reports that Iranian hackers have significantly stepped up their game: harder to track down and more effective. And, according to a report by McAfee, makers of the industry standard software for computer security, and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, cybercrime costs reached about $600 billion (Dh2.2 trillion) globally in 2017, or 0.8 per cent of the worlds gross domestic product.About Me William Kelly I am a freelance writer, journalist and historian whose major interests are music and history, with a special emphasis on the assassination of President Kennedy. View my complete profile

Blog ArchiveAs politicians promise money, survivors say theyve heard it all before

Survivors of the disaster who spent their first night under the open sky say they are desperately in need of relief, not announcements and promises of help from politicians.Krishana Prasain is a business reporter for The Kathmandu Post covering markets. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2018, she spent 3 years in New Business Age magazine covering business.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Takashi Shiki (Castillo)

Source: Facebook

A Japanese man named Takashi Shiki (Castillo) decided to dedicate his life to uplifting the lives of Filipinos suffering from poverty after falling in love with the Philippines and its people.

According to his website Miraxma.com, Takashi first went to the Philippines in order to improve his English proficiency. He felt that this was important for him to achieve since he dreamt of becoming a teacher.

Takashi Shiki (Castillo)

Source: Instagram

Seeing firsthand the suffering of poor Filipinos

After getting immersed in the lives of ordinary Filipinos, especially those who suffer from poverty, he decided to assist them by improving the economic situation of the country.

He wrote on his website that he aims to achieve this goal by resolving the different issues faced on a regular basis by many Filipinos.

Takashi Shiki (Castillo)

Source: Instagram

Takashi Shiki (Castillo)

Source: Facebook

Mirai Research Activity

Takashi established the Mirai Research Activity in order to utilize the Philippines vegetation and unique climate for the purpose of creating an environment that fosters economic development.

As a social activist, I want to target one of the most pressing issues in the Philippines, the stimulation of the economy, by calling for a policy that helps the homeless become financially independent.

At the same time, in hopes of joining the ranks amongst other advanced countries by 2030, I aim to help create a breakthrough in solving many of the issues the Philippines faces, such as air pollution, illegal dumping, traffic congestion, telecommunication malfunctions, plumbing/water infrastructure and electricity theft, he explained.

Xander Castillo

Source: Facebook

Xander Castillo, a little boy from Cebu who changed Takashis life

Takashi now uses Castillo as his surname on Facebook, a surname he adopted from a Filipino toddler named Xander Castillo, who he met in Cebu.

According to him, Xander played a big role in his life today as a social activist.

He brought out the human side in me, due to the affection that he gave me and the love that I felt. It was a hidden part in me and he gave me the real sense of life and to be a better person.

If I had not met him then, I probably wouldnt have been interested in people and would not have enjoyed my student life in the Philippines. Clearly, this baby made me the person that I am now.

Hopefully, Takashi and his Mirai Research Activity will succeed in helping poor Filipinos like Xander attain a better quality of life.

Learn more and support Mirai Research Activity by the link.

Source: Kami.com.ph- Senator Ping Lacson commented about the relationship of Philippines and China

- He said that if PH cant go to war against China, then they should occupy our territory instead

- The senator also called out President Rodrigo Duterte

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Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson shared his opinion about the relationship between the Philippines and China. KAMI learned that Lacson said if the country cannot go to war against China, then they might as well occupy our territory.

In an interview of Sen. Lacson in CNN Philippines The Source, the lawmaker said that President Rodrigo Duterte should not advertise our country's weaknesses against China.

Sasabihin natin hindi naman tayo pwedeng makipagiyera sa China, isang missile lang tapos na tayo. So kung ganun rin lang, pasakop na tayo, 'di ba?" he said.

Alam mo nang mahina ka, 'wag mo nang ipagsigawan na mahina ka kasi lalo kang ibu-bully," Lacson added.

PAY ATTENTION: 20 Funny Wedding Memes That Describe Almost Any Wedding

When asked about what the Senate is doing with the multiple issues that Chinese vessels are occupying the territory of the Philippines and shooing away local fishermen, the senator said that for now, they could only file for a diplomatic protest.

Lacson also added that they call out from time to time if they see lapses or omissions.

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As previously reported by KAMI, an alleged Chinese vessel was found in Lobo, Batangas. The residents were alarmed by the foreign ship, and the Palace said that they are still verifying the presence of the vessel in our territory.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Jake Cuenca Talks About His Experience Of Working With Bea Alonzo! Jake Cuenca discusses what it was like working with Bea Alonzo and Ms. Charo Santos during the shooting of their horror movie "Eerie". Check out all of our exciting videos  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph- A former news and weather anchor in TV5 passed away at the young age of 34

- He was found lifeless inside a hotel in Bonifacio Global City

- His recent Instagram posts allegedly served as the premonition

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A former broadcast journalist in TV5 was found breathless inside a room in Shangri-La Hotel in Bonifacio Global City on April 1.

KAMI learned that it was Joseph Seph Ubalde, a weather anchor and newspaper columnist, who died at the age of 34.

According to the police report, the TV5 anchor was lying inside the bathroom when the authorities found his dead body.

They got the information after a security personnel received a call from an unidentified person, saying that Joseph was not answering his phone anymore.

As of the time of writing, the cause of death is still not released.

PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data!

Meanwhile, some netizens claimed that the latest Instagram post of the said news anchor was already a premonition.

Seph captioned his post with Freedom on the same day when his body was found lifeless.

Joseph Ubalde was a news and weather anchor in Aksyon TV and TV5. He started his television career as the Senior News Producer of GMA-7.

He was a graduate of Journalism at the University of the Philippines.

PAY ATTENTION: 15 Super Expensive Celebrity Weddings That Ended In A Divorce

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

We received a lot of stories from our female viewers about the stressful experience of being disrespected in public over their choice of clothes. We decided to make this re-enactment to show a very common situation, unfortunately.  on HumanMeter!

Source: Kami.com.phWorking the fields of Californias Central Valley by day and staring up at the stars by night, young Jose M. Hernandez had an impossible dream: to become an astronaut. Even though the U.S.-born migrant farmworker didnt speak English until he was 12, Jose swore he would realize that dream. With his Mexican parents support, he followed his fathers recipe for success: Identify my goal, determine how long it would take me to achieve it and create a plan to reach it. His mother added that he should strive for excellence in school, and Jose contributed his own special ingredient: never ever give up! After earning degrees in electrical engineering, he applied to NASA and was rejected11 times. In order to better his chances of entering the program, he became a pilot, was certified as a scuba diver, and learned Russian. NASA finally accepted his 12th application, and in 2009 he blasted into space. Hernandez descriptive narrative flows effortlessly in both English and Baeza Venturas Spanish translation and is easily accessible. Petruccios colorful and detailed paintings bring this amazing adventure to life, hazy backgrounds giving the scenes a pleasing dreamlike quality. Hernandez closes his account with a heartfelt exhortation to readers to pursue their own dreams, asking them Which stars do you want to touch? This outstanding bilingual autobiography encapsulates the life -changing power of having a goal and the will to achieve it.Kirkus Reviews, (Starred Review)Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

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More than a year after recreational marijuana sales became legal in California, cannabis businesses that are following state rules are struggling to compete with a black market that's still thriving.

Now, legal shop owners are backing a new state assembly bill that would stop websites from hosting ads for unlicensed weed businesses.

Assembly Bill 1417 would require online review sites like Weedmaps (think Yelp, but for weed) to include state license numbers on all of their digital pot shop ads. The aim: to get rid of ads for illegal shops that currently dominate search results in cities like Los Angeles. Each violation would cost websites up to $2,500 per day.

"Our goal is to hold a level of accountability for these technology platforms that claim to just be a directory," said Jerred Kiloh, president of the industry group United Cannabis Business Association, which is backing the bill, and owner of a Sherman Oaks dispensary.

"They're not taking any responsibility that they are emboldening an illicit market," he said.

(Screenshot / Weedmaps App)

WHY ARE WEED ENTREPRENEURS FIGHTING WITH WEEDMAPS?

Legal shop owners in Southern California say they're getting crushed on Weedmaps. Unlicensed shops can advertise much lower prices on these platforms, because they're not paying taxes or following costly regulations.

Daniel Sosa, owner of the LA dispensary La Brea Collective, thinks Weedmaps is funneling customers away from licensed shops like his.

"They advertise prices we can't realistically do," Sosa said. "These platforms are driving money and consumers away from the legal market."

COULD WEEDMAPS BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THIRD PARTY ADS?

Weedmaps did not respond to LAist's requests for comment. But so far, the Irvine-based company has resisted efforts to take down ads for unlicensed shops in California.

Last year, the state's Bureau of Cannabis Control sent Weedmaps a cease and desist letter. But the company said it does not hold a state cannabis business license, so it's not subject to the agency's purview.

Santa Clara University School of Law professor Eric Goldman said any law that would punish sites like Weedmaps for third party advertisements would violate part of the federal Communications Decency Act called Section 230 -- making it subject to legal challenges

"It says that websites aren't liable for third party content or ads," Goldman said.

Put simply, the same provision that protects sites like Facebook and Yelp from being sued over user posts or customer reviews should apply to Weedmaps in this case, Goldman said.

"The bill is not a good idea because even if it passes, it still won't work," Goldman said.

But licensed shop owners don't think Weedmaps is acting like a neutral platform.

"When they started, they were kind of the heroes of the cannabis industry. Because no one else was willing to take the lead for the cannabis industry to grow," said Jerred Kiloh. "And now they've turned into the scourge of our industry."

TAKING ENFORCEMENT ONLINE

But so far, efforts to shut down unlicensed shops one-by-one have had limited success.

The City of Los Angeles has brought misdemeanor charges against hundreds of individuals allegedly involved with illegal pot shops. LA's City Council has even approved plans to disconnect water and power to problem businesses.

Some licensed shop owners think lawmakers are open to new approaches now that state tax revenue is coming in a lot lower than expected after the first year of legalization.

Daniel Sosa supports the bill. "If they really want to capture real tax revenue, I think it's necessary," he said.Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

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Editor's note: On Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would not take up the Martin v. City of Boise case, meaning an apellate court's ruling that homeless people can't be punished for sleeping in public spaces if shelter options are not "practically available" will stand.

Below is our explainer from April on the court case and what it means for Los Angeles:

If you're a homeless person with nowhere to go but a city sidewalk, park or other public space, can authorities force you off the street?

This week, federal judges again said: "No."

That answer -- the same given by three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals back in September -- came after yet another review of a case that's been making its way through the courts for a decade.

It wasn't a unanimous decision -- but a majority of judges rejected Boise's request that the full 9th Circuit reconsider the case. More on what the dissenters said later.

Here's what the majority opinion in Martin v. City of Boise held:

As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter... A municipality cannot criminalize such behavior consistently with the Eighth Amendment when no sleeping space is practically available in any shelter.

Bottom line: Criminalizing "life-sustaining" activities on the street -- like sleeping or camping -- is cruel and unusual punishment, and violates the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

That language is now binding precedent in the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction -- including California and Los Angeles -- and it has wide ranging implications for how cities treat their homeless residents.

HOW'D WE GET HERE?

This case originated in 2009 when six people who were then or had been at one point homeless in Boise sued the city after they were cited for violating two city rules: a ban on camping on public streets, and a "disorderly conduct" ordinance that said sleeping in public was disorderly conduct.

The core of the Martin case was about how laws created to combat homelessness -- at least in the eyes of the lawmakers -- were effectively discriminating against people for a circumstance beyond their control. Martin specifically called out Boise's ordinances because it affected what the court called a "life-sustaining" activity required by homeless and housed people alike: sleep.

As the majority opinion in Martin cites:

Resisting the need to eat, sleep or engage in other life-sustaining activities is impossible. Avoiding public places when engaging in this otherwise innocent conduct is also impossible. As long as the homeless plaintiffs do not have a single place where they can lawfully be, the challenged ordinances, as applied to them, effectively punish them for something for which they may not be convicted under the [E]ighth [A]mendment -- sleeping, eating and other innocent conduct.

That is, a city has to make available enough shelter for its houseless residents to legally and practically reside in before it can enforce rules that target "life-sustaining" behavior by houseless people. The basis for that reasoning? Otherwise they have nowhere else but public space to do these things.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LA?

Los Angeles County falls far short of having sufficient shelter beds to house all its homeless. In 2018, there was a total (counted) homeless population of 52,765 people in the county but only 14,970 year-round shelter beds available. Of those, 31,285 people were homeless in the city of Los Angeles, which had 11,081 shelter beds.

L.A.'s chronic and highly visible homeless crisis is even cited in the dissenting opinion released Monday, which argued the September ruling was already "wreaking havoc on local governments" throughout the West. And the dissenters took issue with the characterization of the decision as narrow and not dictating that cites must shelter all homeless people.

An image of a street in L.A.'s Skid Row is even included in the dissent.

The majority opinion criticized the inclusion of the image and argued it actually illustrated why such laws had failed.

ENFORCEMENT RULES ARE COMMON

Rules like the one challenged in the Martin case are commonplace in California cities. A 2016 analysis conducted by the UC Berkeley School of Law found that, on average, California's largest cities had 10 laws that unduly target homeless residents.

That analysis broke down the laws into four general categories: those targeting standing, sitting or resting on public property; those barring sleeping or camping in public; anti-panhandling laws; and anti-food sharing laws.

In the City of Los Angeles in 2018, at least 1,424 people experiencing homelessness were cited for sitting on the sidewalk, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. 213 of those citations were issued in the 4th quarter of 2018, after the 9th Circuit issued its initial opinion on Martin in September.

WHAT'S NEXT?

A cyclist passes the row of tents and tarps along the Santa Ana riverbed near Angel Stadium in September 2017. The massive encampment in Anaheim was cleared out in early 2018. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

The question looking forward is how cities will respond to the Martin precedent. Julia Devanthery, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, thinks it may nudge cities to reconsider how they address homelessness -- a shift from criminalization to social work.

"Cities will have to seriously rethink their ordinances and police practices to make sure they are interacting with homeless folks in a way that's consistent with this decision," said Devanthery. "The bottom line is the Martin decision is the law, and unless the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in and decides otherwise, it will continue to be the law in the 9th Circuit."

Since the ruling last September, San Francisco, Sacramento and Portland, Oregon have stopped enforcing rules affecting sleeping or sitting in public.

Martin was also cited by U.S. District Judge David Carter, whose 2018 rulings are compelling cities in north Orange County to shelter their homeless residents before enforcing anti-camping ordinances. Another lawsuit was filed against south Orange County cities in February.

At the same time, cities could ignore the decision and brace for more litigation.

This is what Boise said it intended to do in a statement made Monday to the city's CBS affiliate television station:

"[Monday's] ruling does not mean the city ordinances are (unconstitutional). It simply has the effect of forcing the matter to be litigated further. Therefore, the city's camping and disorderly conduct ordinances remain in effect until further clarification can be obtained from the courts; the ruling will not cause us to change our procedures."Blog Archive Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (3) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (5) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 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(10) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (7) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (6) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (7) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (7) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (9) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (10) Feb 02 (9) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (9) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (7) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (5) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (5) Jan 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(5) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (7) Oct 05 (8) Oct 04 (6) Oct 03 (8) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (10) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (10) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (5) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (6) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (10) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (6) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (6) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (9) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (9) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (6) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (9) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (6) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (7) Aug 02 (8) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (8) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (9) Jul 25 (9) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (9) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (7) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (8) 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(4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (10) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (5) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (9) Mar 25 (11) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (6) Mar 22 (8) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (8) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (9) Feb 23 (12) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (9) Feb 16 (10) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (9) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (6) Jan 31 (10) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (8) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (10) Jan 19 (8) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (7) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) 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Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (2) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (2) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (1) May 22 (2) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (3) May 18 (2) May 17 (2) May 16 (2) May 15 (3) May 14 (2) May 13 (2) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (2) May 08 (3) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (2) May 04 (2) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (2) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (2) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (4) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (2) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (2) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (2) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (2) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (2) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (2) Mar 22 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (2) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (2) Mar 14 (2) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (2) Mar 07 (1) Mar 06 (2) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (2) Mar 01 (1) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (2) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (2) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (2) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (5) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (1) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (6) Dec 14 (4) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (5) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (6) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (2) Aug 06 (2) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 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Jul 13 (3) Jul 10 (1) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 03 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (2) Jun 11 (1) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (3) May 30 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (2) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (1) May 15 (1) May 09 (1) May 07 (2) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (2) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1)By Ritah Kemigisa

The opposition Forum for Democratic change party has been asked to fight for its visibility if it is to remain relevant.

The challenge comes one of its own party member, Robert Centenary who is the Kasese municipality Member of Parliament.

Centenary says the FDC party is being swallowed up by the peoples government, splinter group founded by the former presidential candidate Dr Kiiza Besigye.

However Buhweju County MP Francis Mwijukye also a party member and junior minister in the people government says FDC is still strong and relevant to todays national politics.

Besigye has since given some of the FDC members positions in his Peoples Government cabinet among them; Semujju Nganda as the Deputy Prime minister and Nandala Mafbi as finance minister.December

Mon 13: Jazz in the Afternoon @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Mon 13: 6th Street Swing w Calvert & the Old Fools @ St Thomas Aquinas Church, Darlington. 7:00pm. 5.00. Swing dance (social dancing) night.

Mon 13: Stuart Fowler Quintet plays Art Blakeys album Moanin + jam session @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. 5.00.

Tue 14: Harry Keeble & Friends @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm. Keeble (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (keyboards); Paul Grainger (bass); John Bradford (drums).

Wed 15: Vieux Carre Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Wed 15: Paul Skerritt @ Stack, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. From 5:00pm.

Wed 15: Four @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00-9:30pm. In the bar.

Wed 15: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 16: Vieux Carre Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. 22.00. Xmas lunch. Tel: 0191 691 7090. SOLD OUT!

Thu 16: Maine Street Jazzmen @ Sunniside Social Club, Gateshead. 8:30pm.

Thu 16: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 17: Vieux Carre Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. 22.00. Xmas lunch. Tel: 0191 691 7090.

Fri 17: Paul Edis & Matt Anderson @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!

Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. Xmas party.

Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.

Fri 17: Strictly Smokin Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 1st night. SOLD OUT!

Fri 17: Mick Shoulder Quartet @ Traveller's Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Fri 17: Baghdaddies @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xmas Blowout!

Fri 17: King Bees @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 8:00pm. Chicago blues.

Sat 18: Calvert & the Old Fools @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon.

Sat 18: Boys of Brass @ Anarchy Brew Co., Benfield Road, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 18: Smoove & Turrell Xmas Party w. Voices of Virtue Gospel Choir + King Bee @ Boiler Shop, Newcastle. 7:00pm.

Sat 18: Jambone + CAT @ Sage Gateshead. 7:15pm. Free but ticketed. A YMP Live! event.

Sat 18: Strictly Smokin Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 2nd night. SOLD OUT!

Sat 18: Backyard Rhythm Orchestra @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Sun 19 Vieux Carre Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon.

Sun 19: Foundry Jazz Ensemble @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.

Sun 19: String Edition @ The Quakerhouse, Darlington. 5:00pm.

Sun 19: Vieux Carre Jazzmen @ The Holystone, North Tyneside. 7:00pm.

Sun 19: Jazz Co-op Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free admission.

Mon 20: Jazz in the Afternoon @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Mon 20: Swing Manouche @ Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. Blaydon Jazz Club.WATCH: House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings Checks Rep. Jim Jordan

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Tuesday authorized Chairman Elijah Cummings to issue a subpoena for White House Personnel Security Director Carl Kline. The 22-to-15 party-line vote enables the committee to summon Kline to testify about its probe into the Trump administrations security clearance process. The subpoena was authorized along with those for Attorney General William Barr, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Gore, who are summoned to testify on the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

ADVERTISEMENTWednesday, April 3, 2019

On NPR, Rachel Martin talks to Jeh Johnson, former Homeland Security secretary, about the surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. from the border with Mexico. NPR's Joel Rose comments on the topic.

One telling passage of the interview:

MARTIN: In 2014, when you were heading up the Department of Homeland Security, total apprehensions at the border topped 68,000. Now we are up around those same levels. What are the mistakes the federal government keeps making?

JOHNSON: Well, first of all, lesson learned for me in three years owning this problem is you have to address illegal migration, spikes in illegal migration, at the source. The push factors, the poverty and violence in Central America, simply overwhelms the system. And we can do things on our southern border to deter illegal migration. But as long as the underlying conditions exist, the poverty and violence - and this is the most violent region of the world - as long as those conditions exist, families are making the very basic human calculation to flee a burning building. (emphasis added).

KJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2019/04/former-dhs-secretary-central-american-migration-must-be-addressed-at-the-source.htmlAmerican Richard Bean, Sr., died with a secret. He was a war hero, but nobody knew about it for years.

Bean and four other Alaska Natives were recently honored in their home state for saving the lives of many soldiers during World War II.

As young men, Bean and the others served in the United States military. During the war, they made good use of their mother tongue, the Tlingit language. As children, they could not speak Tlingit at schools in their southeast Alaska villages. But in the U.S. military, their officers asked them to use their native language to help the military. When they spoke in a code that used Tlingit, the Japanese could not understand them. They did the same thing as other, more famous American soldiers: the Navajo Code Talkers.

Rosita Worl is president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, a nonprofit group set up to protect and strengthen the cultures of Alaska's Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes.

Worl told the Associated Press that, when the Tlingit soldiers were children, teachers and religious workers suppressed their language. Punishments for students who spoke their language included having their mouths washed out with soap and their hands struck by sticks, she said.

Until recent years, however, most people did not know what the Alaska Natives had done. The U.S. military for a time kept the unbroken codes secret in case they were needed in future wars.

"Their orders were not to talk about it," said Ozzie Sheakley, a Tlingit leader who once served in the U.S. Army. "They took those orders seriously."

Their families had no idea that the five men were heroes. All of them were from small towns on Alaska's Panhandle: soldiers Richard Bean, Sr. of Hoonah, and Robert "Jeff" David, Sr. of Haines; Sitka brothers and Navy men Mark Jacobs, Jr. and Harvey Jacobs; and George Lewis Jr., who was also from Sitka and is believed to have served in the Army.

Ron Williams never knew either, even though he and Richard Bean were extremely close. Bean was his uncle.

Williams said there was only one small piece of evidence. His uncle told him a platoon commander heard him speaking Tlingit with fellow Code Talker Jeff David while the two were fighting in the Philippines together. The commander asked if the men would like to work on communications, then gave each a small radio. But that was the end of Bean's story, and Williams never asked for more, because it seemed his uncle did not want to talk about it. Richard Bean died in 1985.

"Even the guys that knew him all his life, you know, they didn't know what he did either because he never said anything about it," Williams said.

David never said anything about it to his son, Jeff David, Jr., either.

"He just said he was in special services, and that was as far as he put it," the son said. "And he was stationed in the Philippines for a while."

The military released information about the Navajo Code Talker program in 1968. But it would be many more years before the U.S. government recognized the work of Tlingit servicemen.

In 2013, Congress recognized the Code Talkers from 33 tribes, including the Tlingit men, who were awarded silver medals after their deaths.

Thinking of the national honors, former Alaska state representative and Tlingit military veteran Bill Thomas decided it was time for state recognition. Alaska lawmakers agreed when Thomas pushed for the idea along with the help of the Sealaska Heritage Institute. In March, legislators passed an official order honoring the Tlingit Code Talkers.

Learning about the important part these men played in history was a big surprise for the family of George Lewis Jr.

His son, Ray Lewis, was born after the war and never even knew his father was in the military. There are no military records in the family to even tell what part of the military his father served in, he said.

It was a great honor to learn his father was part of such important work.

Im very proud of it, Ray Lewis said. My father was instrumental in saving a lot of lives out there.

Im Jill Robbins.

Rachel D'Oro reported on this story for the Associated Press. Dr. Jill Robbins adapted this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Does your town have a war hero? Tell us about her or him. Write to us in the comments section.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

tongue  n. a spoken language

code  n. a system of signals for communication

soap  n. a cleansing agent

panhandle - n. a part of a land area that is narrow and sticks out from a larger area

uncle  n. the brother of ones father or mother

platoon - n. a group or team of soldiers

proud  adj. very pleasedBy Shamim Nateebwa

The Mulago hospital Executive director Dr. Byarugaba Baterana has asked Ugandans to support the construction of Lubowa hospital project saying it is highly needed in Uganda.

Byarugaba notes that by 2020 cases of Non Communicable Diseases are expected to rise so such plans are timely and are expected to provide early interventions in disease management.

He adds that Lubowa hospital is needed since it will create competition in ensuring medical service delivery which will in the end improve Ugandas ailing health care system.

Byarugaba meanwhile says the hospital will also attract more tourists in Uganda because they will be assured of getting world class treatment when in Uganda.

Early last month parliament approved assurance of about 1.4 trillion shillings for construction of an international specialized hospital in Lubowa, drawing outrage from the civil society, MPs and the Uganda Medical Association, asking government to instead first refurbish the existing facilities.Sun bears are the smallest of the worlds eight bear species. They usually live alone and are happy to spend most of their time by themselves when not looking for a mate. They spend their days in search of fruit, nuts, birds and insects in Southeast Asias tropical forests.

Although sun bears mostly live alone, scientists recently discovered they have developed a surprising social skill. They mimic, or copy, other bears facial expressions as a form of communication.

Researchers studied 22 sun bears during natural social play at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center in Malaysia. The bears live in outdoor forest cages big enough to let the animals decide whether to play together or stay away from each other most of the day.

The bears mimicked not only the kind of expression, but also exact muscular movements the other bear made such as raising or wrinkling their noses.

The ability to mimic facial expressions is found in humans, gorillas, orangutans, some monkeys and even domesticated dogs. But until now, only humans and gorillas showed the ability to exactly copy complex faces.

The study found that sun bears, however, are just as good at facial mimicry as humans and gorillas. This surprised researchers; not only are sun bears usually solitary, they also are not closely related to humans.

Derry Taylor is a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Portsmouth in England. He is one of the writers of the study, which was published in Scientific Reports.

Taylor said, It seems that some forms of communication are much more widely shared amongst mammalian species than we previously thought.

Sun bears have a black coat and a white or golden color on their mid-section. They live in trees and eat both plants and animals. They can grow to be up to 1.4 meters in height and 65 kilograms in weight.

Although they live alone in the wild, the bears in the study often played gently with each other. Sometimes they played with faster actions and behaviors such as hitting and biting.

It remains uncertain what messages the bears were sending to one another. But the facial copying might be a signal that they are ready to move from gentle to rougher play, Taylor suggested.

Im Jill Robbins.

Will Dunham reported on this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Have you ever noticed your dog or other pet copying facial expressions? How about other animals you see? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

mimic  v. to copy (someone or someone's behavior or speech)

wrinkle v. to cause (something) to develop wrinkles

domesticate  v. to breed or train (an animal) to need and accept the care of human beings

solitary  adj. tending to live or spend time alone

mammal  n. a type of animal that feeds milk to its young and that usually has hair or fur covering most of its skinA new report says the shortage of skilled teachers in the United States is a bigger problem than people may think.

The not-for-profit, Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, or EPI, published the report last week. It was the first in a six-part series that aims to examine the causes of -- and solutions for -- the national teacher shortage in U.S. public schools.

Education experts have long been concerned about rising teacher shortages. The issue has grown more severe in recent years.

EPIs report notes that less than 10 years ago, many teachers were looking for jobs. Then, in 2012, public schools were looking for teachers. That year, the country faced a shortage of 20,000 school teachers.

By the 2017-2018 school year, the country was estimated to have a shortage of over 110,000 teachers. Those numbers come from the Learning Policy Institute.

However, EPI researchers Emma Garcia and Elaine Weiss argue that such estimates are still far too low. They say the estimates do not consider that many current teachers lack necessary training, experience and official approval to teach.

Garcia and Weiss found that, nationwide, one-third of teachers do not have an education background in the main subject that they teach. And, more than 20 percent have less than five years of teaching experience. About nine percent are teaching without the usual state certification.

The study found those numbers to be even greater in high-poverty schools  where more than half of students receive free or reduced-cost meals. In such schools, almost 40 percent of teachers do not have previous education in the main subjects they teach. And about one-quarter have little classroom experience.

Why is there a teacher shortage?

More and more, qualified educators are either quitting or deciding not to enter the teaching field at all, the EPI report says. Many leave the field because of poor working conditions. They also object to low pay. The average yearly pay for public school teachers has fallen in recent years, even as the cost of living and other expenses continue to rise.

In a statement, Garcia said the shortages of skilled teachers threaten students ability to learn and reduce teachers effectiveness. And she noted the high number of teachers who leave their jobs takes economic resources that could be better used somewhere else.

A recent study by Gallup found that finding and keeping skilled teachers is the number-one concern among public school officials. Sixty-one percent of the superintendents questioned strongly agreed that recruiting and retaining good teachers would be a big problem for the schools they oversee in the coming year.

Gallup noted it was the first time this concern made its list of top issues facing public schools. Usual top concerns include decreasing state budgets for schools and the effects of poverty on student classroom performance.

What are some solutions?

Some states and school districts are trying new methods for finding qualified teachers. This week, lawmakers in South Carolina are considering a proposal that would permit retired teachers to return to their jobs. They would be able to do so while being paid more than the states usual maximum earnings for working retirees.

And, more American high schools have begun offering classes to prepare their students for a career in teaching. The classes are part of a program called Educators Rising, which aims to ensure new teachers enter the profession with necessary skills and knowledge to succeed. School districts hope the classes can one day help reduce the teacher shortage in their states.

Researchers Garcia and Weiss say they hope the EPIs special series will bring attention to the many factors that have led to the national teacher shortage. Future reports in the series will center on low teacher pay, difficult school environments, a lack of early-career training and schools struggle to retain good teachers.

The sixth and final report will offer solutions to address the shortage.

Im Ashley Thompson.Last weekend, the Islamist group Hamas marked the one year anniversary of violent, weekly protests in the Gaza Strip. The unrest has failed to end Israels blockade of the territory.

The Associated Press reports that Israel used airstrikes to answer rocket attacks from Gaza. In addition, some Gazans demonstrated against the increasingly unpopular rule of Hamas militants.

Even with the protests, Hamas control over Gaza appears to be strong.

The militants rule has been strengthened by an unlikely overlap of interests with Israels government. Neither side wants to see an independent state established in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem as a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. And Hamas refusal to give up power is seen to support Israels policy of keeping a separation between the West Bank and Gaza.

Hamas has long stated that Israel must be destroyed. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and clashed many other times along Gazas border. Yet the two sides are once again meeting with Egyptian negotiators.

Under a possible deal, Hamas would halt rocket fire and keep border protests peaceful. In exchange, Israel would ease its border blockade and let the territory receive as much as $30 million a month in Qatari aid.

For Gaza residents, open-ended Hamas rule is not a hopeful sign.

Gazas two million people have faced rising poverty and unemployment since 2007, when Hamas took control of the territory. Israel and Egypt closed Gazas borders soon after.

In recent weeks, hundreds of Gazans demonstrated against Hamas and its policies, such as new tax increases. Many were jailed and beaten.

Twenty-seven-year old Amer Balousha says he was among the protesters and claims to have been mistreated in Hamas detention. Balousha completed law school, but is currently unemployed.

If the situation does not improve, the protests will continue, he said.

Israel's elections

Israeli legislative elections will take place on April 9th. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking another term in office. Netanyahus political opponents say his Gaza policy exposes Israel to blackmail by Hamas.

Last month, Netanyahu reportedly said that Israelis who oppose Palestinian statehood should back his policy of permitting the flow of Qatari aid to Gaza. This policy helps to continue the separation between the two Palestinian governments: Hamas in Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Tareq Baconi is with the International Crisis Group. He notes that there is a great confluence of interests between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu prefers to deal with Hamas because clear dynamics have been established and Hamas will not seek a final resolution (of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) from Israel, Baconi said.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has given up on making peace with Hamas after years of failed efforts. He has increased financial pressure on Gaza by cutting the wages for tens of thousands of former government workers who live in Gaza.

Such cutbacks worsened Gazas economic health. But instead of inciting a popular uprising against Hamas, anger turned toward Abbas.

The Palestinian leader is also suspicious of Gaza development projects proposed by Qatar and the United Nations. The proposals have Israeli and United States government support. He fears it is part of a plot to turn Gaza into a Palestinian mini-state and undercut Palestinian political claims to the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The International Crisis Groups Baconi said that Abbas policies are counterproductive, even if his concerns are understandable. Putting more economic actions on Gaza or trying to break the Hamas government will further entrench the division, he said.

I'm Jill Robbins.

And I'm John Russell.

Karin Laub and Fares Akram reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

overlap  v. to happen at the same time as something else (noun  overlap)

expose  v. to make known

blackmail  n. the use of threats to demand money or something else of value

confluence  n. somewhat formal a situation in which two things come together or happen at the same time  usually + of

prefer  v. to like better than someone or something else

dynamic  n. a force that leads to change or progress

counterproductive  adj. having the opposite of the desired effect

entrench  v. to establishWalking miles on the golden sand with musical rhymes of crystal clear waves, spells the magic of rejuvenation and serenity. Just when you are lured to submerge yourself in seaside tranquility, lush green landscape invites you to become one with nature and wear the veil of quietude and peace. Imagining where to explore such an exhilarating experience? Blue Ocean Resort & Spa (BORS) is the destination in the affirmation that transforms bustling living into rejuvenating luxury and opens the doorway to an exotic panorama. Set in the idyllic landscape of Ganpatipule with Sahyadri Hills on its east and the Arabian Sea in the west, BORS is a paradise in itself igniting the sense of eco-tourism and heavenly ecstasy through its verdant green belt.The brainchild of Sunil Rane (Managing Director), 2009-founded BORS is a Pacific resort spread in over 100 acres land, and soaks body, mind, and soul in a hospitable, relaxed and fun-loving ambiance. Sharing neighborhood with rich flora decked with mangroves, coconut palms, jackfruit, mangoes, cashews and coastal food, the contemporary resort hosts 55 Portuguese style villas that never lose sight of mesmerizing tropical landscaping. Each villa is a symbol of traditional designs intertwined with luxurious comfort and equipped with A-class facilities. At BORS, experience golden sunsets cuddling with oceanic splashes while health and wellness revivifies under the shade of hospitality, tranquility and recreation. No wonder, the resort is listed as one of the best destinations on the Western Ghats of India!Decked with archaic furnishings and traditional designs, BORS provisional list is a well-canvassed catalogue of amenities. The search for infinity swimming pool offering panoramic ocean view and light refreshments delighting moods ends at this resort. It restores the elements of luxury, leisure and ambiance making the resort an ideal destination for leisurely escapism. On the flip side, BORS specially crafted water park  Kidszone, opens the bundle of joy for little kiddiewinks. Just when you get back from pool activities, all tired and weary, divine therapies at Siam Thai Spa extends an invitation to guests to dive into the relaxation mode and enjoy various revitalization therapies. TIDES, an open deck restaurant, surprise guests with culinary delights while in-house multi-cuisine restaurant brings on table special savories that open new frontiers of taste.What adds the colors of divinity to the aesthetic destination is the ever-famous Atharva Ganesha temple, a prime attraction in perfect harmony with nature. Keeping intact Ratnagiri districts ecological sensitivity, BORS considers responsible tourism as the standards of ecological tourism. Committed to preserve and protect the environment as an ECOTEL resort, it follows eco-friendly measures such as waste-water recycling, solid-waste treatment, energy conservation and wind mill & solar system to maintain serene balance between human needs and natural offerings. Blue Ocean Resort and Spa offers you a little kingdom of unexpected treasures, a never

before experience of fun, excitement and restful recreation. Our vision is to create a premier tourist destination  reckoned among the finest, not only in India but in the entire world, avers Sunil.



"Decked with archaic furnishings and traditional designs, BORS provisional list is a well-canvassed catalogue of amenities"



The Brain behind Social Affability

An active and dynamic entrepreneur, Sunil stepped in the hospitality sector with Atharva Group of Institutes, back in 1998. Instead of pursuing stable corporate career, he chose to chase his dreams and transform challenges into opportunities. Observing the exponential growth behaviour of tourism in national boundaries, Sunil realized that the foundation of hospitality industry is dependent on the pillars of availability of leisure time, disposable income and, most importantly, skilled workforce. With the vision of creating world-class, educational environment for students to evolve into industry-ready managers and chefs of tomorrow, he established Atharva College of Hotel Management & Catering Technology (ACHMCT) in 2005. Etched with the credo of imparting quality and skilled based education, ACHMCT is ranked among Mumbai's leading institutes for higher education in Maharashtra region.



Sunil has always believed in providing excellence in education and Atharva is a prime exemplar of his vision into action. He explicates The idea was to conceive an institution that would be Build by Excellence, Live by Excellence and Grow by Excellence. At Atharva, we foster a balanced program of academic excellence and practical orientation through effective teaching/learning process. Today, the man is a symbol of new-age Indian leader and a role model for millions who aspire to chase success they dream of.



Edifying the Future of Hospitality

Standing tall amidst Atharva Education Complex in Malad, ACHMCT is the name to reckon with for innovative hospitality education delivery. While Atharva Group collectively offers graduate and postgraduate programs in Engineering, IT, Hospitality, Fashion and Business Management fields, ACHMCT specifically caters to hotel management and catering technology courses. Pedagogically, the institute pivots on enhanced and quality learning approach to not only help students progress towards success through professional abilities but also foster a strong sense of responsibility and ethics.



When the scholars are ready with conceptual knowledge in hand, ACHMCT introduces a live learning environment where Atharviets get to immediately apply what they have learned in classrooms. With star category hotel rooms and suites well-accoutered with Jacuzzi, spa, live bar, grill, fine dine restaurants and housekeeping facilities within the campus, students gain hands-on training via application, observation and experience on live setups, thus realizing the vision  excellence in education. Also at this stage, interaction with highly qualified industry experts and the alumni adds to the students practical learning experiences. Being the first-of-its-kind college in hospitality having an innovative food, cheese & wine restaurant and resort & spa management adds the veneer of merit to ACHMCTs excellence. While the institutes spacious infrastructure is a blend of contemporary and traditional architecture, it hosts virtual classroom conference facility, digital library, extracurricular amenities and is a fully Wi-Fi-enabled campus.Katherine Macfarlane has posted Introduction: Terry v. Ohio at 50: The Past, Present, & Future of Stop and Frisk (Idaho Law Review, Vol. 54, 2018) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

The 2018 Idaho Law Review symposium examined a case decided in 1968, exactly fifty years ago. As the symposium articles and presentations demonstrated,Terry v. Ohios impact still resonates, both in Idaho and across the country. Terry held that a police officer may stop an individual for a brief investigatory detention if that officer reasonably suspects criminal activity. Next, that same officer may, pursuant to Terry, frisk the individual for weapons if the officer reasonably believes the individual is armed and presently dangerous to the officer or to others. Though Terry held that a stop is a seizure and a frisk is a search, it nevertheless reasoned that both required something less than probable cause.That holding made stops, and the frisks that often follow the stops, easy to justify. Terrys progeny has expanded the circumstances in which probable cause is not required. For example, the Supreme Court has relied on Terry to justify border stops based on no more than reasonable suspicion and used Terry to hold that presence in a high-crime area . . . combined with headlong flight from the police gives rise to a reasonable suspicion inference. Terry has been criticized as a case that facilitates racial profiling, because to the extent that reasonable suspicion is an easy evidentiary standard to meet, police officers can base their decision to stop and frisk suspects on stereotypes about criminality and dangerousness and offer race-neutral justification after the fact.



In addition to its impact on criminal procedure cases, Terry pushed the police practice known as stop-and-frisk into popular culture, and stop-and-frisk is, to most, a familiar concept. There are images that come to mind when the phrase is invoked. Perhaps you hear stop-and-frisk and conjure an image of young men, often young men of color, lined up against a wall with their arms up. Perhaps that image makes you uncomfortable, and perhaps the image makes you wonder, as I do, why so many young men of color were stopped.



That suspicion has proven reasonable. Data presented in cases tried in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) showed that not only were NYPD stops and frisks ineffective in discovering criminality or illegal weapons, they disproportionately targeted Latino and Black men. Still, despite the revolutionary SDNY settlements reached between the City of New York and individuals who were repeatedly stopped and frisked by the NYPD, stop-and-frisk remains constitutional. Terry has not been overruled. As a result, stop-and-frisk remains a topic that presidential candidates debate and academics revisit.



The Symposium took the Terry discussion in exciting new directions, for example, introducing new approaches to understanding Terrys frisk standard in light of expanded Second Amendment rights, and applying the lessons of the #MeToo movement and consent to the violation that a stop and frisk may create.The 7th Art Basel Hong Kong has ended with 242 galleries presenting works by renowned and up-to-date artists from around the world.

The five-day fair, which ended on Sunday, attracted a record 88,000 visitors.

Collectors from 70 countries and regions and representatives from more than 130 top international art galleries and institutions attended the fair. Collectors, mainly from China, South Korea and the United States, recorded strong sales at all levels of the market.

Our sales record is impressive, with Asian and Western collectors keen on gallery artists. The art market has continued to lean towards Asia in recent years, and we have met a number of new collectors and sold a range of works to local organizations, said Alex Logsdail, the international director of Leeson Gallery.

At this years exhibition, the East and West art galleries are working side by side, presenting high-quality works and excellent projects. Eight Asian art galleries made their debuts at the exhibition. Five of them participated in the main exhibition areas, including Beijing Art Now Gallery, Galerie du Monde from Chinas Hong Kong, Tang Contemporary Art, and so on.

I am impressed by the outstanding performance of the Asian galleries, which enables visitors to learn about the rich historical heritage of the region. The exhibition is a unique opportunity to explore the world of art in depth, thanks to the work of leading artists from all over Asia, Director Asia for Art Basels show in Hong Kong Adeline Ooi also said.

Almine Rech Gallery has been involved since the first Hong Kong exhibition. Almine Rech, owner of this gallery, said he was delighted to see the show evolve both in terms of the quality of the work and the diversity of the collectors.

At the same time, Hong Kong hosted a number of cultural events such as Art Central, Asia Contemporary Art Show and Spring Auction held by some auction houses. The booming art market in Hong Kong has become an international focus for some time.

Hong Kongs cultural activities are on the rise and many museums and foundations have organized first-class exhibitions to give visitors a rich artistic experience. Sadie Coles, owner of the Sadie Coles HQ Gallery, said on Saturday.

Art Basel was founded in 1970 in Basel, Switzerland, and landed in Hong Kong in 2013. It is held annually in Basel, Miami and Hong Kong. DB/XinhuaThe Australian lawmaker who had an egg cracked on his head by a teenage boy for his comments about last months New Zealand mosque shootings faced a stinging attack yesterday in the first sitting of Australias Parliament since the attacks.

Independent Sen. Fraser Anning was the target of widespread condemnation after the Christchurch shootings, in which 50 people died, when he blamed the massacre on immigration policies that he said allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant has been charged with murder in the shootings.

After his comments, Anning faced more criticism for physically striking the teenager who cracked an egg on his head at a Melbourne public appearance  17-year-old Will Connolly, who became known around the world as Egg Boy.

Anning will face an official censure motion in Parliament today for the comments, which caused more than a million people to sign an online petition calling for his removal from the national legislature.

But when Parliament resumed in Canberra following a monthlong break, one senior fellow lawmaker took the opportunity to lash out at Anning.

Echoing Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrisons comment that Anning should be charged for striking Connolly, acting government Senate leader Simon Birmingham attacked Anning for his lack of humanity after the shootings.

The lack of compassion you have shown demonstrates, frankly, a basic lack of basic humanity, Birmingham told Anning, adding that his conduct betrays the rights you have to freedom of speech.

Birmingham said Anning acted in a way that would potentially fuel more acts of terrorism and violence.

You have failed the test of character I would expect of anybody who is elected to this place, he said.

Birminghams outburst came after Anning arrived at Parliament saying he had no remorse over his comments. Anning then used the Senates question time to bring up the egging incident. He quizzed the government about its response to the episode, asking whether it believed politically motivated violence was acceptable in some circumstances.

Birmingham accused Anning of drawing a comparison between his comments about the Christchurch massacre and the egging incident, and said it was an appalling comparison.

Todays censure motion against Anning has support from both sides of Parliament.

After New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously called Annings comments on the shootings a disgrace, her deputy Winston Peters called Anning a jingoistic moron.

I would call him a four-flushing, jingoistic moron, but you already know that in Australia, Peters said in a television interview with Australias Sky News.

Immediately after Annings response to the massacre last month, Morrison said the comments were appalling and theyre ugly and they have no place in Australia.

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. Trevor Marshallsea, Sydney, APChina has named a new chairman for its USD941 billion sovereign wealth fund, people with knowledge of the matter said, ending a two-year stretch without a top leader.

Peng Chun, the chairman of Bank of Communications Co., was tapped to lead Beijing-based China Investment Corp., the people said. The 57-year-old replaces Ding Xuedong, who left in February 2017 for the State Council. Ju Weimin was named general manager, replacing Tu Guangshao, whos retiring, the people said, asking not to be named as the appointments arent public yet.

Pengs appointment may put an end to a period of uncertainty at CIC during which several senior executives departed. Besides replacing those managers, a key task for Peng and Ju is tweaking an investment approach that has at times been vulnerable to swings in public markets.

The appointments were announced to a small group of CIC executives yesterday, two of the people said. An email sent to CICs press office didnt receive an immediate response.

CIC has been under pressure to diversify investments and reduce its exposure to volatile public markets. Created in 2007 to pursue higher returns on Chinas then surging foreign-exchange reserves (a stockpile that has shrunk 23 percent from its 2014 peak), the fund hasnt received any further capital injections from the government since 2012.

To that end, CIC plans to boost alternative and direct investments to 45 percent or more of its overseas portfolio in three years to seek more stable returns, Tu said a year ago. While the fund reported its best annual return on overseas investments in 2017, last years performance was certainly worse because of global market fluctuations, Tu said in an interview at Chinas annual legislative meetings in Beijing last month.

Some of CICs senior departures have included Zhang Qing, the executive vice president at direct investment arm CIC Capital, and Winston Ma Wenyan, the former head of CICs North America office.

Peng, who has a masters degree in economics from a school that was run by the central bank, served as vice president of CIC for more than three years before being appointed president of BoCom in October 2013. He became chairman of the Shanghai-based lender in February 2018. BoCom boosted its profit by 4.6 percent in 2018, the fastest pace in four years.

His appointment adds to a string of recent management changes at Chinas top banks and financial regulators. In the latest example, China Construction Bank Corp. named Liu Guiping to replace retiring President Wang Zuji last month. BloombergMacau Polytechnic Institute (IPM) is offering a masters program in Portuguese translation in the coming academic year, said IPM President Marcus Im following a language summit yesterday. The Institute is aiming to open the program in the hope of training talented individuals proficient in both Chinese and Portuguese, and is expecting a 10 percent increase in the number of masters students. The Language Big Data Alliance Summit yesterday was about challenges faced by the language industry in the era of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

5,400 measles shots arrive in Macau

The spread of measles has slowed recently but lines of citizens are still waiting for vaccines, said Health Bureau chief Lei Chin-ion. According to Lei, a batch of 5,400 shots arrived in Macau yesterday evening. He believes it is sufficient to vaccinate the high-risk population, adding that the entire staff cohort at the two hospitals are immune. Previous tests showed that above 95 percent of citizens are immune to measles, even though the Bureau has ordered another batch of 10,000 shots with an uncertain arrival time.

Macau Customs to trial sign language interpretation

The Macau Customs commenced a trial provision of sign language interpretation services through live video yesterday to enhance communications with the hearing and speaking impaired communities. Collaborating with the Macau Deaf Association, the service was first launched at the Customs Headquarters. When the need arises and with the consent of the help-seekers, interpretation can be conducted through live video by duty staff at the Deaf Association so that Customs staff can better understand help-seekers needs. The service is available from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Mondays to Saturdays.Analysts predict Macau gross gaming revenue will fare poorly this month, declining at a rate of between 2 and 8 percent. The prediction comes as March revenue came in much higher than market expectations, causing stocks of Macau casino operators to climb.

March recorded the strongest revenue posting of the year to date at MOP25.84 billion, according to information released Monday by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, declining 0.4 percent year-on-year but up 1.85 percent from February. The result rounds out the first quarter with a 0.5 percent year-on-year contraction.

However, gaming analysts remain cautious on April, citing concerns about the irregularity of year-on-year comparison periods, in part due to the worsening of China-U.S. trade tensions starting from the second half of last year.

Japanese brokerage Nomura said that it expects a decline of between 3 to 8 percent in April against a tough comp[arison] period a year earlier.

Gross gaming revenue in April 2018 soared 27.6 percent year-on-year to reach MOP25.72 billion, but that was mostly attributed to an exceptionally weak first quarter in 2017. The average monthly take in 2018 stood at about MOP25.2 billion, while it is tracking at an average of MOP25.5 billion per month this year.

Union Gamings Grant Govertsen is forecasting gross gaming revenue for April to hold at the MOP25 billion level, slightly lower than last month. On that basis, he forecasts a 2.8 percent year-on-year decline by month-end.

Also citing difficult comparison periods, JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) is betting on a 5 to 7 percent decrease, while Sanford C. Bernstein expects a contraction of between 2 and 4 percent year-on-year. Bernstein analysts suggested that although March showed signs of a rebound, it remains unclear how sustainable that would be in the coming months.

Prospects for the summer are mixed, partly because of traditionally weak June, which was the second-poorest month of both 2018 and 2017, and the lowest earner in 2016.

The consensus view suggests that the coming months will see a slight contraction or zero growth at best, while gross gaming revenues will likely pick up in the closing quarter of the year. For the analysts, a repeat of last years 14 percent growth is probably off the table for 2019, but moderate single-digit growth is attainable.The murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns estranged half brother at an airport in Malaysia was brazen, intricately orchestrated and, thanks to scores of security cameras, witnessed by millions around the world.

The real masterminds behind the killing, however, may never be brought to justice.

The murder charge was dropped against an Indonesian woman, who was freed last month. Her co-defendant, a Vietnamese woman who is the only suspect in custody, pleaded guilty  not to murder, but to the lesser charge of using a deadly weapon to cause injury  and will be freed as early as next month.

Her guilty plea and sentencing on Monday concluded more than two years of legal proceedings. But it cleared up none of the mystery.

Heres a look back at the crime, the missing masterminds and the ending.

THE CRIME

On Feb. 13, 2017, when Kim Jong Nam appeared at a check- in counter at a Kuala Lumpur airport terminal, he was jumped by two women who smeared something on his face. He soon began to feel ill, found his way to a medical station and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. He was dead within a matter of hours.

The women  Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam  were arrested soon afterward.

Huong was seen on security video wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with LOL across the chest. The video, and video of the chubby, blue jean-clad victim staggering around before his death, went viral.

From the start, this was obviously no ordinary crime.

Aisyah and Huong were accused of using VX nerve agent, a poison developed for military use, and the victim was the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and half brother of current leader Kim Jong Un.

For a time, Kim Jong Nam had been seen, at least by outside experts, as a potential heir to the countrys leadership. But he was caught, and humiliated, trying to enter Japan in 1998 to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He ended up in de facto exile, spending most of his time in Macau, a Chinese territory famous for its casinos.

By the time of his death, he wasnt part of the North Korean political scene. But his freedom to reside in Macau indicated he had some Chinese support. Its possible he was seen by some as a viable replacement if Kim Jong Un were ever to be removed from power.

Soon after Kin Jong Nams murder, his son, Kim Han Sol, appeared in a YouTube video in which he claimed he, his mother and sister were under the protective care of a group calling itself Cheollima Civil Defense.

The same group is believed to be behind an attack on the North Korean Embassy in Madrid last month in which 10 people allegedly shackled and gagged embassy staff before escaping with computers, hard drives and documents.

THE MISSING MASTERMINDS

Malaysian officials have never officially accused North Korea of involvement in Kims death. North Korea has denied any involvement.

But prosecutors made it clear throughout the trial they suspected a North Korean connection.

Four North Korean suspects were seen on airport security video discarding their belongings and changing their clothing after the attack. The North Korean Embassy has also been implicated, with an embassy official helping obtain flights out of Malaysia for the four men, and using the name of one of its citizens to buy a car that took the suspects to the airport.

At Malaysias request, Interpol issued a red notice for the four North Koreans wanted in connection with the killing.

Investigators said the North Korean suspects met the women at the airport and were believed to have provided them with the VX nerve agent used in the murder.

The North Koreans are suspected of scouting and training the women, who say they thought they were taking part in a candid camera-style prank show for television. Malaysian police believe the North Korean suspects flew out of the country the day of the killing and returned to Pyongyang.

Investigations into Kims death led to a diplomatic spat between Malaysia and North Korea. Malaysia scrapped visa-free entry for North Koreans and expelled North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol after he rejected Malaysias investigation and insisted the victim was an ordinary citizen who died of a heart attack. Kang Chol also accused Kuala Lumpur of colluding with outside forces to defame North Korea.

North Korea then banned Malaysians in its country from leaving, entrapping three diplomats and six of their family members. The nine Malaysians were only allowed to fly back after Malaysia released Kims body to North Korea and allowed the North Koreans to leave, including an embassy official and a North Korean Air Koryo employee wanted by police for questioning over Kims death.

Following last years summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore, Malaysias government has said it may re-establish ties with North Korea and reopen its embassy in Pyongyang.

THE ENDING

With the North Korean suspects missing, the two women were left to face the charges.

After some high-level lobbying by Indonesias government, the Malaysian attorney general decided to drop the murder case against Aisyah on March 11.

Aisyah, 26, cried and hugged her Vietnamese co-defendant before leaving the courtroom. She was driven away in an Indonesian Embassy car and then flown back to Jakarta, where she thanked the president and other officials for their help.

I feel happy, very happy that I cannot express in words, she told reporters at Jakartas airport. After this I just want to gather with my family.

Huong, 30, also sought to be released after Aisyah was freed, but prosecutors rejected her request.

Both had faced a murder charge that carried the death penalty if they were convicted. Prosecutors on Monday said they were offering Huong a reduced charge, and High Court judge Azmi Ariffin sentenced her to three years and four months from the day she was arrested, telling her she was very, very lucky and wishing her all the best.

Vietnamese officials in the courtroom cheered when the decision was announced.

Her lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said she is expected to be freed by the first week of May, after a one-third reduction in her sentence for good behavior. He said four North Korean suspects still at large were the real assassins.

As she was being escorted out of the court building, Huong shouted to reporters: Its very good. I love you. She told reporters earlier that she wants to sing and act when she returns to Vietnam. Eileen Ng & Eric Talmadge, Kuala Lumpur, APThe SAR government is set to hold the second National Security Education Exhibition with a focus this year set on four key themes: the road to national rejuvenation, staying alert to the challenges ahead, safety and development, and our responsibilities.

According to a statement issued by the government, the exhibition will help the community to better understand the importance of national security.

National security education has been addressed by Chinese president Xi Jinping, who stressed the importance of the topic and urging for enhanced community awareness.

Xi noted that national security promotion involves co-opting the civilian population to fulfill their patriotic duty and be on the lookout for anything that could undermine the countrys stability.

The president previously outlined that national security is of paramount importance for the people to live and work in peace and for realizing the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.

In the SAR, the Chief Executive  head of Macaus National Security Committee  emphasized that the citys education in national security should be strengthened via different types of publicity and educational campaigns in the community and in schools.

In particular, awareness about the legal aspects of national security should be promoted to the wider community, with all relevant departments taking proactive measures to prevent and combat different types of illegal activities that may harm national security or social stability.

The committees goal was to better implement the National Security Law, upholding President Xi Jinpings major principle of comprehensive national security.

In April 2018, the government cooperated with the Liaison Office to organize the first National Security Education Exhibition in the region, where the late director Zheng Xiaoson urged the region improve its legal system to ensure a more effective enforcement of the local national security law.

The local government is currently working on new legislation to cover the proper etiquette for handling the countrys flag, emblem and anthem.

Among many other provisions, the proposal suggests that fines may be issued when national symbols are used for commercial purposes or for undue ends, such as private funerals, or when the national flag is deliberately altered, damaged, stepped on or set alight. Intentionally changing the lyrics or music of the anthem in a public place will constitute an offence, as will other forms of obvious disrespect.

Having already been discussed by the 1st Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly, it is due to be submitted to the general legislature later this year for further consideration.

The National Security Education Exhibition will be held at the exhibition hall of the Handover Gifts Museum of Macau between April 15 and May 15. LVTheres no escape from the long arm of the law in Sweden. Not even sitting naked in a sauna.

Police spokewoman Carina Skagerlind says an off-duty police officer found himself sitting in the same sauna in Rinkeby, a Stockholm suburb, as a fugitive who had dodged a jail sentence for aggravated assault, among other offenses.

Skagerlind says after recognizing each other, the naked police officer calmly told the man that he should consider himself arrested.

She said Tuesday the officer called colleagues to pick up the fugitive, adding the arrest was undramatic and the wanted man didnt try to flee.

The officer was praised for the March 29 arrest and police warned fugitives on Facebook: We are everywhere. Even if you do not see us, we are there.European Commission President Jean- Claude Juncker stepped up his criticism of Chinese trade practices just days after President Xi Jinping sought to soothe European concerns in Paris.

At the March 26 meeting, held together with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the EU side explained that it cant stay like this, that Chinese companies have free access to our markets in Europe, but we dont to the markets in China, Juncker told lawmakers in the German state of Saarland on Monday.

He also said Chinese investments in the continent can make it harder in the EU to agree on foreign policy. One country isnt able to condemn Chinese human rights policy because Chinese investors are involved in one of their ports, Juncker said. It cant work like this.

Europe has become more vocal in its criticism of China as of late, calling the country a partner as well as an economic competitor and a systemic rival on governance. Concerns are mounting over Chinas growing influence, predatory investments and possible hacking of 5G data networks.

The EU has also been divided over Chinas Belt and Road infrastructure project, which some see as a threat to sovereignty. Italys populist government last month signed on to the initiative, brushing off the concerns.

Juncker said hes not against the project as long as the conditions are right. If European companies can profit from it and if you dont only meet Chinese workers on these construction sites but also European workers, then this is all feasible, he said.

On a trip to Europe last month, Xi sought to lay to rest suspicions about his global plans.

We cannot let mutual suspicion get the better of us, Xi said at a joint news conference with Juncker, Macron and Merkel. We must not always be guarded against each other and worry that they may do something behind our back. That is very important. That is something we need to avoid. Alexander Weber, BloombergMarinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco said the Philippines needs to ramp up investments for cleaner energy sources if it wants to power up the homes of close to three million Filipino households, particularly those in geographically isolated areas, who still have no access to electricity.A young girl fetches water at a camp for displaced survivors of cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Tuesday, April, 2, 2019. Mozambican and international health workers raced Monday to contain a cholera outbreak in the cyclone-hit city of Beira and surrounding areas, where the number of cases has jumped to more than 1,000. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

A cholera vaccination campaign is kicking off to reach nearly 900,000 cyclone survivors in Mozambique as officials rush to contain an outbreak of the disease.

Vaccinations are beginning on Wednesday morning in the hard-hit city of Beira, where most of the more than 1,400 cases have been reported since the outbreak was declared a week ago.

Mozambican authorities have reported two deaths so far from the acute diarrheal disease, which can kill within hours if not properly treated.

Cases also have been confirmed in some outlying communities and vaccinations will begin there on Thursday.

Overall the campaign aims to vaccinate some 884,000 people in Beira, Dondo, Nhamatanda and Buzi.

More than 100,000 survivors of Cyclone Idai are still living in displacement camps with little access to clean water or sanitation, and the World Health Organization has warned of a "second disaster" if waterborne diseases such as cholera and malaria spread.

Already the number of cholera cases is more than double the 500 beds set up for patients in Beira, a port city of a half-million people that has become the center of relief efforts for central Mozambique.

Cholera was first reported in one of the city's poorest and most crowded neighborhoods, Munhava. As authorities hurried to repair the city's damaged water system, aid organizations reported that some people had resorted to drinking stagnant water or from contaminated wells.

Health worker Mercy Porigadhi, right, explains the use of water purification medication during a vaccine and hygiene promotion targeting survivors of cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Tuesday, April, 2, 2019. Mozambican and international health workers raced Monday to contain a cholera outbreak in the cyclone-hit city of Beira and surrounding areas, where the number of cases has jumped to more than 1,000. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Large areas of standing water remain in the low-lying region, which continues to drain after the cyclone swept in on March 14 and caused massive flooding.

Cholera is spread by contaminated food and water and is endemic in the region. Health officials have warned that once it emerges it can spread swiftly, especially in crowded urban areas.

The disease is easily treated with oral rehydration solution or intravenous fluids in severe cases, but health workers say the sooner a person receives treatment, the better.

Announcing the start of the vaccination campaign, Mozambique's government said the oral vaccine begins to take effect a week after it is administered. A second round of the vaccine would be needed after several weeks' time for stronger protection, according to the medical charity Doctors Without Borders.

A woman covers her face at a camp for displaced survivors of cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, Tuesday, April, 2, 2019. Mozambican and international health workers raced Monday to contain a cholera outbreak in the cyclone-hit city of Beira and surrounding areas, where the number of cases has jumped to more than 1,000. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

The overall death toll from the cyclone is now 598 in Mozambique, with more than 300 deaths in neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Officials have warned that the death toll is preliminary and the real figure may never be known as some bodies were buried quickly or swept away by the floodwaters.

Explore further Mozambique says cholera cases up to 271 in cyclone-hit city

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.When Kira Ryskina works in Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, she usually sees her patients every day.

When it comes time for them to leave, some are too sick to go directly home or need rehabilitation in a nursing home. She tells them that another doctor will see them there.

But Ryskina, an internist and health policy researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, began to wonder how true that was. Her own experience working in nursing homes, plus feedback from patients and their families, told her that patients might not see doctors as quickly as many would expect.

Her curiosity led to a study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs that supported her theory that nursing home patients can't be sure of seeing a doctor. Her team's analysis of records for 2.4 million Medicare patients discharged from hospitals to nursing homes from January 2012 to October 2014 found that 10.4 percent never saw a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant. Nearly 72 percent of patients were examined by a doctor or advanced practitioner within four days, but there was considerable variability among nursing homes. Smaller and rural nursing homes were the slowest. Ryskina saw little evidence that nursing homes were doing a good job of triaging patients to assure that the sickest ones were seen the most quickly.

Of the group that never saw a doctor, 28 percent were readmitted to a hospital and 14 percent died within 30 days of admission to the nursing home. Among patients who saw a doctor at least once, 14.3 percent were readmitted to a hospital and 7.2 percent died within that time period.

From a policy standpoint, these numbers are important because some modern payment systems, including Medicare's, hold hospitals accountable for what happens after their patients leave. There can be penalties if patients need to return to the hospital too quickly.

From a patient perspective, quick readmissions and excess deaths can be a sign that patients weren't ready to leave the hospital or needed more attentive care.

Ryskina said there is no official guideline for how quickly newly admitted patients should see a doctor, but she'd start by suggesting 48 hours. "I think we need some empirical data to support this," she said. Medicare's current rules specify that patients be seen within 30 days of admission, likely a holdover from days when many nursing home residents received "custodial" care, she said. The patients in her study were not long-term nursing home residents.

Physicians are rarely on site at nursing homes every day. Ensuring quicker assessments would be challenging for the facilities, Ryskina said. "I think reimbursement is a big barrier," she said.

About 20 percent of hospital patients are discharged to nursing homes for further medical care. The rest go home or to hospice. Ryskina said it is often the most vulnerable patients who go to nursing homes, where they can receive physical therapy for joint replacements, intravenous antibiotics or skilled wound care.

While she assumes that 100 percent of nursing home patients should be seen by a doctor, Ryskina said it is possible that some patients arrived on a weekend and were readmitted to the hospital so quickly that a doctor didn't have a chance to examine them. However, the patients in the group that never saw a doctor had a median stay of 11 days. "I think it's concerning," she said.

Patients in rural nursing homes waited the longest on average to see a doctor: 8.1 days compared with 3.2 in other facilities.

Geographically, doctors saw patients the fastest2.2 daysin nursing homes in the Northeast. The average wait was 5.3 days in the Midwest. Patients in large facilities saw doctors faster than those in small ones.

Ryskina said growing numbers of doctors are specializing in nursing home care or in the needs of complex patients at risk for further hospitalization. Telemedicine could also improve access to physicians.

She said the University of Chicago is testing a model where the same physicians treat high-risk patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings. David Meltzer, a physician who is leading that effort, said the Comprehensive Care Program originally included following patients to nursing homes, but that was not "sustainable" because patients went to so many different facilities. Volumes were too small at any one place. His health system has considered developing closer relationships with specific post-acute facilities. "I do think such closer relationships of hospitals with post-acute facilities could potentially be quite valuable," he said.

Explore further Patients discharged to home care vs. nursing facilities have higher rates of hospital readmissions

2019 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Bringing a baby into the world involves many firstsmothers and fathers are discovering their new roles, babies are learning what it means to live outside the womb, and the family is forging a relationship and bonding. What happens when this time of uncertainty is complicated by medical issues?

Many infants born premature or with other complications often forego their first weeks or months at home for a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. The NICU is designed to deliver critical medical care to babies in need but can be traumatic for infants and their families, alike. In the Early Childhood Mental Health Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, clinical psychologists Marian Williams, Ph.D., Patricia Lakatos, Ph.D., and a team of infant-family mental health specialists work towards greater mental health awareness in the NICU.

Infants may not be the first age group called to mind in discussions of mental health. Yet, for babies in critical medical condition, Dr. Lakatos says an "infant mental health-informed perspective" could reduce stress and improve bonding with parents. This means not only focusing on the physical needs of the child but also the emotional and mental needs, not an easy task for newborn infants who cannot make their voices heard.

In an article published in Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, Dr. Lakatos, Dr. Williams, and co-authors Tamara Matic, MD, and Melissa Carson, MD, advocate for a third component of the NICU familythe relationship between baby and parents. "A lot of mental health work in NICUs currently focus on either the mental health of parents or on the baby's development," says Dr. Williams, who is also the Director of the Stein Tikun Olam Infant-Family Mental Health Initiative at CHLA. "We also want to focus on the relationship between babies and their parents."

Many parents of children in intensive care units experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress, which can threaten bonding with a newborn baby. In order to support the developing relationship between parents and their new baby, the CHLA infant mental health team turned to a model of intervention that has demonstrated success in families who have undergone trauma. Child-Parent Psychotherapyor CPPaddresses the parent-child relationship directly, nurturing and advocating for it in its own right.

With funding from the Stein Tikun Olam Infant-Family Health Initiative, Drs. Williams and Lakatos, and the team were able to adapt CPP to the NICU setting at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Their publication describes how the established, evidence-based CPP model can be used to nurture developing infant-parent relationships in the NICU. While it has been implemented in other settings, CPP is not commonly integrated into NICU patient care.

CPP is a flexible model that has multiple levels of intervention, depending upon individual family needs. Sessions with trained CPP providers can vary in number or duration, with the aim of restoring a developmental trajectory for parent and child. CPP providers advocate for mental health needs of parents and babies, working alongside their medical and social work colleagues. "When babies are in the hospital, we need to think about them, their parents, and their relationships," says Dr. Lakatos.

Appropriately, NICU medical staff focus on the acute physical needs of the child. Dr. Williams sees clinical psychologists in a necessary, complementary role. "These babies are eventually going home," she says. "They are missing out on their bonding time, but there is great potential for resilience. Being mindful of the stressors these families are facing helps them feel understood and can set them on a positive trajectory."

Explore further Resiliency in NICU parents may be linked to lower depression and anxiety

More information: Patricia P. Lakatos et al, ChildParent Psychotherapy with Infants Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings (2019). Patricia P. Lakatos et al, ChildParent Psychotherapy with Infants Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,(2019). DOI: 10.1007/s10880-019-09614-6Applied mathematician Dr Mainul Haque, left, and Royal Navy intensive care consultant, Surgeon Commander Timothy Scott. Credit: University of Portsmouth

An applied mathematician and a military doctor have developed the first simulator to test treatments for patients with blast lung injury caused by explosions.

Dr. Mainul Haque, in the University of Portsmouth's School of Mathematics and Physics, and Royal Navy Intensive Care consultant, Surgeon Commander Timothy Scott, have created the first computerised or "in-silico" simulator of primary blast lung injury to enable faster and easier research into its treatment.

They hope that the computational simulator model would be an inexpensive tool for doctors to find improved therapeutic strategies to treat patients at home and on the battlefield.

Primary blast lung injury happens when someone close to an explosion is exposed to the supersonic shock wave radiating away from it. As this wave of intense energy travels through the body, it can cause serious damage to the heart, lungs and other internal organs, while leaving little external sign of injury.

The research was funded by the Ministry of Defence and its results to date are published in the Journal of Royal Army Medical Corps.

Dr. Haque said: "A bomb blast greatly increases the air pressure nearby, resulting in a wave of highly pressured air radiating outwards from ground zero. Depending on the size and power of the explosion, the resulting shockwaves energise and damage material close by and, in people, the damage is concentrated mostly in the lungs."

No clothing or other means of protection has yet been found to prevent damage to internal organs from this type of injury.

Hospital treatments for the vast majority of medical conditions or injuries are painstakingly researched, tried and tested before being used on patients, but until now, this has not been possible for blast lung injuries.

Severe blast lung injury patients will always need treatment in an intensive care unit with support from a breathing machine while they recover. However, medics have no established therapeutic model for deciding what type of mechanical ventilation or drug treatment will best help a person with these injuries recover. They have had to rely on the results of research on animals, which is difficult, expensive and slow  this is where applied/computational mathematics comes in.

Dr. Haque said: "Mathematical modelling and computer simulation is a vital tool in medicine when studies on living people are expensive, difficult, time consuming and in this case, not possible. It gives us an opportunity to make progress quickly in 'virtual' patient trials, and is completely reproducible  we can reconfigure our model to fit any given individual in terms of their weight, age, severity of injury and so on, to test for the optimum treatment strategies or combination of treatments for them."

Surgeon Commander Timothy Scott explains: "A computerised model allows us to run as many treatment trials as we need to for any type of scenario quickly and easily without the need for live animal research."

The simulator can simulate the full range of body systems, including how the body handles the excess tissue fluid that collects following injury or inflammation, a particular problem following blast lungs injuries. The research has already helped to develop national guidelines and the researchers are confident that this is just the start of an exciting development in military medical research.

The simulator is validated against the Joint Theatre Trauma Registry, or JTTR (the casualty database from the Afghanistan war), and human and animal data sets.

Explore further Computer simulators show how to reduce damage to lungs of children in intensive care

More information: Mainul Haque et al. Primary blast lung injury simulator: a new computerised model, Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps (2018). Mainul Haque et al. Primary blast lung injury simulator: a new computerised model,(2018). DOI: 10.1136/jramc-2018-000989Credit: University of Liverpool

New research published in Obesity has found that people with obesity are not only stigmatised, but are blatantly dehumanised.

Obesity is now very common in most of developed countries. Around one third of US adults and one quarter of UK adults are now medically defined as having obesity. However, obesity is a complex medical condition driven by genetic, environmental and social factors.

Previous research has suggested that people often hold stigmatising and prejudiced views about obesity.

This new research conducted at the University of Liverpool, led by Dr. Inge Kersbergen and Dr. Eric Robinson examined whether stigmatising views about obesity may be more extreme than previously shown. The research examined whether people believe that individuals with obesity are less evolved and human than those without obesity.

Methods used

As part of a recognised research approach employed in a number of other studies, more than 1500 participants, made up of people from the UK, USA and India, completed online surveys to indicate how evolved they consider different groups of people to be on a scale from 0-100.

The researchers also recorded the BMI of those completing the survey to find out whether blatant dehumanisation of obesity was more common among thinner people and investigated whether blatant dehumanisation predicted support for health policies that discriminate against people because of their body weight.

Results

Participants on average rated people with obesity as 'less evolved' and human than people without obesity. On average, participants placed people with obesity approximately 10 points below people without obesity. Blatant dehumanisation was most common among thinner participants, but was also observed among participants who would be medically classed as being 'overweight' or 'obese'.

People who blatantly dehumanised those with obesity were more likely to support health policies that discriminate against people because of their weight.

Eric Robinson, a Reader at the University of Liverpool, said: "This is some of the first evidence that people with obesity are blatantly dehumanised. This tendency to consider people with obesity as 'less human' reveals the level of obesity stigma.

"It's too common for society to present and talk about obesity in dehumanising ways, using animalistic words to describe problems with food (e.g. 'pigging out') or using images that remove the dignity of people living with obesity. Obesity is a complex problem driven by poverty and with significant genetic, psychological and environmental components. Blatant or subtle dehumanisation of any group is morally wrong and in the context of obesity, what we also know is that the stigma surrounding obesity is actually a barrier to making long-term healthy lifestyle changes."

Inge Kersbergen, now a research fellow at the University of Sheffield, said: "Our results expand on previous literature on obesity stigma by showing that people with obesity are not only disliked and stigmatised, but are explicitly considered to be less human than those without obesity. The fact that levels of dehumanisation were predictive of support for policies that discriminate against people with obesity suggests that dehumanisation may be facilitating further prejudice."

Explore further Changes to WIC food program tied to reversal in obesity trends

More information: Inge Kersbergen et al. Blatant Dehumanization of People with Obesity, Obesity (2019). Journal information: Obesity Inge Kersbergen et al. Blatant Dehumanization of People with Obesity,(2019). DOI: 10.1002/oby.22460Electron micrograph of a negatively stained human papilloma virus (HPV) which occurs in human warts. Credit: public domain

Routine vaccination of girls aged 12 or 13 years with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Scotland has led to a dramatic reduction in cervical disease in later life, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

Unvaccinated women also showed a reduction in disease, possibly due to herd protection, say the researchers.

HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections and many countries, including the UK, offer vaccination to girls to protect them against cervical cancer, and other related cancers, in later life.

Previous studies suggest that vaccination protects against the most carcinogenic HPV types 16 and 18, which are responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases globally, but population data on the effect of routine vaccination on disease are lacking.

Scotland has an established national cervical screening programme and in 2008 introduced a national HPV immunisation programme for girls aged 12 and 13, with a catch-up programme up to age 18.

So a team led by Tim Palmer at the University of Edinburgh decided to use this data to measure the impact of routine vaccination of girls with the bivalent HPV vaccine (which targets HPV types 16 and 18) on levels of abnormal cells and cervical lesions (known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or CIN).

CIN is divided into grades; CIN1, 2+ or 3+. The higher the number, the higher the risk is of developing invasive cancer.

They analysed vaccination and screening records for 138,692 women born between 1988 and 1996 who had a screening test result recorded at age 20 (the age of invitation to first cervical screening in Scotland until mid 2016, when the starting age was raised to 25 years).

Data included unvaccinated women (born 1988-90; first screened 2008-10), women eligible for catch-up vaccination at age 14-17 (born 1991-94; first screened 2011-14), and women routinely vaccinated at age 12-13 (born 1995-96; first screened 2015-16).

After taking account of other factors that might be important, they found that compared with unvaccinated women born in 1988, vaccinated women born in 1995 and 1996 showed an 89% reduction in CIN grade 3 or worse, an 88% reduction in CIN grade 2 or worse, and a 79% reduction in CIN grade 1.

Younger age at vaccination was associated with increasing vaccine effectiveness (86% for CIN grade 3 or worse for women vaccinated at age 12-13 compared with 51% for women vaccinated at age 17).

Unvaccinated women also showed a reduction in disease, suggesting that interruption of HPV transmission in Scotland has created substantial herd protection.

The researchers point to some limitations. For example, the analysis was confined to women who attended cervical screening at age 20 (51% for vaccinated women and 23% for unvaccinated women), possibly leading to over-estimation of vaccine effectiveness.

However, the high uptake of vaccination, similarity in distribution of HPV type in attenders and non-attenders, and the appearance of herd protection "give reassurance that the observations can be extrapolated to the general population," they write.

They say this study demonstrates that routine immunisation with the bivalent HPV vaccine is highly effective against high grade cervical disease, and they call for reappraisal of screening and referral services to reflect this evidence.

"The findings emphasise the credibility of using high risk HPV infection as an early marker of the effectiveness and success of the vaccine and underpin the recent call for global action on cervical cancer from the World Health Organization," they conclude.

In a linked editorial, Julia Brotherton, Medical Director at VCS Foundation in Australia, says the findings are "dramatic and document a considerable reduction in high grade cervical disease over time." This study also highlights the value of integrated registries "that can systematically collect and use high-quality data from screening and vaccination programmes," she adds.

We must work towards a world in which all girls and their families are offered, and the majority accept, HPV vaccination, wherever they live," she writes. "We must also actively develop, resource, and scale-up more effective, feasible and culturally acceptable strategies for cervical screening, such as self-collection of specimens, if we are ever to effectively reduce the global burden of cervical cancer."

Explore further HPV vaccine reduced cervical abnormalities in young women

More information: Prevalence of cervical disease at age 20 after immunisation with bivalent HPV vaccine at age 12-13 in Scotland: retrospective population study, Prevalence of cervical disease at age 20 after immunisation with bivalent HPV vaccine at age 12-13 in Scotland: retrospective population study, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.l1161Comparison between collagenase-treated and burned rabbit corneas. Credit: Newcastle University

New research led by scientists at Newcastle University, UK reveals a potential revolutionary way to treat eye injuries and prevent blindnessby softening the tissue hosting the stem cells which then helps repair wounds, inside the body.

The team discovered that the simple application of a tissue-softening enzyme, collagenase, prevents the loss of corneal stem cells following an injury and could prevent patients from losing their sight. It offers hope to almost 500,000 people a year who lose their sight due to chemical burns including acid attacks.

The study, published today in Nature Communications and funded by the Medical Research Council shows that keeping corneal stem cells in a soft environment is fundamental for their reproduction, self-renewal, and ability to heal damaged tissue.

Imaging

This discovery was made possible by the development of a sophisticated microscopy technique which enables imaging the physical properties of biological tissues at very high resolutions. Using this technology in collaboration with experts in Photonics from Imperial College London, the team was able to determine that the corneal stem cell nichethe area of tissue in the cornea where stem cells liveis a much softer environment than the rest of the tissue.

The scientists also discovered that stiffening the niche causes stem cells to mature and lose their self-renewing and wound healing properties.

Dr. Ricardo Gouveia, Research Fellow at Newcastle University and first author of the paper said: "This study demonstrates a potential new way to treat injuries by changing the stiffness of the natural environment which we have shown changes the behaviour of the adult stem cells. Our imaging approach provides a valuable tool to analyse live cells within the cornea, as well as to further explore new therapies for restoring or even improving their function."

A new look at the cornea

As the outermost layer of the human eye, the cornea has an important role in focusing vision yet many of the processes keeping it transparent and resistant to damage are not well understood. Like skin, the cornea is covered by a multi-layered epithelium forming a barrier to physical harm and invading microorganisms. But unlike the skin, when injury occurs the corneal epithelium is repaired by stem cells clustered in the tissue's periphery, first by quickly dividing in great numbers and then by migrating towards the damaged site as matured epithelial cells in order to seal the wound.

Short explanatory animation - Biomechanical Modulation Therapy. Credit: Newcastle University

However, this healing process can be compromised when injuries reach the stem cell niche. The research now published has important implications for developing new ways to heal this type of damage.

The director of this study and leader of the Tissue Engineering Lab at Newcastle University, Professor Che Connon, explained: "We can now prove that the cornea becomes stiffer when exposed to injuries such as those caused by what are commonly known as acid attacks, and demonstrate that wound healing is impaired due to stem cells differentiating in response to the stiffening of their otherwise soft niche, and not because they are killed during injury, as previously thought.

"This is an exciting development in the field of corneal biology, and allows us to better understand how vision works. But even more important, it provides us with a new set of strategies to treat eye conditions which were until now inoperable. We call these less invasive strategies Biomechanical Modulation Therapies."

From lab bench to bedside

In the work, the researchers from Newcastle, collaborating with scientists at the University of Missouri, USA, also developed a proof-of-concept therapy to help restore corneal stem cell function and improve tissue regeneration following chemical eye burns.

Using live corneal tissues as a model system, the team recreated the effects of chemical burns. After treating the wounded, stiffened areas of the cornea using small and localised doses of collagenase, a tissue-softening enzyme to restore the stem cell niche, it once again became pliable and able to support stem cells and promote healing. This collagenase formulation has already been approved for related therapeutic applications by both the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicine Agency.

Dr. Gouveia added: "We show that the topical application of collagenase is safe and effective in restoring the normal stiffness of the cornea and helps tissue regeneration by preventing the differentiation and loss of adult stem cells after such injuries. We were further surprised to discover that the ability for a wound to heal was not directly caused by a lack of stem cells, but instead due to the environment these cells are exposed to. This really makes our therapy revolutionary."

The scientists believe the same technique could be applied to help alleviate the lack of corneas available for transplantation by the almost 5 million people suffering from total blindness due to corneal scarring caused by burns, lacerations, abrasion or disease. In addition, ten million people worldwide are estimated to require surgery for preventing corneal blindness as a result of diseases such as trachoma, an infectious eye disorder affecting many people in developing countries. There is a real and pressing need for new therapies to treat these diseases which are both simple and cheap.

The scientists intend to further expand the research, working with health partners to further test the potential of this study. Professor Connon explained: "Our research shows that corneal stem cells grow better in softer environments. We now want to build on that knowledge and test this method in patients, using biomechanical modulation therapy to re-create suitable environments for corneal stem cells to thrive within the body whenever their original niche is compromised by injury or disease.

"We also think our study is relevant to other scientific and medical fields beyond corneal research, and can help the study, diagnostics, and treatment of diseases such as cancer, where tumour stiffening is a known marker of aggressive cancer cell behaviour and of metastasis."

Explore further Stem cells may help improve corneal wound healing

More information: Assessment of corneal substrate biomechanics and its effect on epithelial stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09331-6 Journal information: Nature Communications Assessment of corneal substrate biomechanics and its effect on epithelial stem cell maintenance and differentiation.A study by researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute, Western University and Brescia University College has found evidence of a strong association between exposure to sulfur dioxide during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes.

"This is the first study in Southwestern Ontario to investigate the association between air pollution and adverse outcomes, while also considering the other determinants of health, including socioeconomic, medical, psychosocial and behavioural-related factors that are also associated with birth outcomes," explains Dr. Jason Gilliland, scientist at Children's Health Research Institute, a program of Lawson, and professor at Western. He is also the Director for Western's Human Environments Analysis Laboratory and the Urban Development Program.

The objective of the study was to test the relative influence of these factors on low birthweight and preterm birth in this region. The final sample consisted of over 25,000 live births at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) between February 2009 and February 2014.

"We were able to take advantage of a large neonatal and perinatal database from LHSC. Through geographical mapping of maternal postal codes by our HEALab at Western, we tested the relative influence of the various factors," says Dr. Jamie Seabrook, scientist at Children's Health Research Institute, a program of Lawson, associate professor at Brescia University College, and adjunct professor at Western. Dr. Seabrook is also the lead author of the study.

Pregnant women in Southwestern Ontario were 3.4 times more likely to have a low birthweight baby and two times more likely to have a preterm birth for every 1-parts per billion increase in sulfur dioxide, adjusting for all other variables in the model. This translates to a 30 per cent increase in low birthweight and 20 per cent increase in preterm birth when comparing a typical high exposure to sulfur dioxide to a typical low exposure to sulfur dioxide.

"Our findings are in keeping with other research, and evidence is accumulating that toxic air travels through pregnant women's lungs and are found in their placentas," notes Dr. Gilliland. "There is definitely a major concern for pregnant women who live in areas with high exposure to sulfur dioxide."

About 67 per cent of sulfur dioxide emissions come from smelters and utilities, and 25 per cent from other industrial sources. Sulfur dioxide is also present in motor vehicle emissions. The research team found that the best predictor of both adverse birth outcomes was previous preterm birth. Sulfur dioxide was the only physical environment variable highly associated with low birth weight and preterm birth.

Their next step will be to identify geographical clusters or 'hotspots' of sulfur dioxide exposure and adverse birth outcomes in Southwestern Ontario. The identification of these clusters will provide knowledge on where health promotion interventions need to be focused in the future.

"While many factors contribute to a healthy pregnancy, the takeaway message is that the quality of air women breathe is also important," remarks Dr. Seabrook. "If health care providers could be informed of the hazards of air pollution to developing fetuses, they could make recommendations to pregnant patients about limiting exposure when air quality is poor."

Such recommendations could include more time spent indoors with windows closed, particularly during commute rush hours, or taking other means to limit exposure when local air quality is poor. This information could also be incorporated when making public health warnings related to air quality. Other measures are sticking to indoor exercise when pollution levels are high and keeping windows closed when travelling by car.

The study, "Geospatial analyses of adverse birth outcomes in Southwestern Ontario: examining the impact of environmental factors," has been published in Environmental Research.

Explore further Study shows link between maternal marijuana use and low birth weight

More information: Jamie A. Seabrook et al, Geospatial analyses of adverse birth outcomes in Southwestern Ontario: Examining the impact of environmental factors, Environmental Research (2018). Journal information: Environmental Research Jamie A. Seabrook et al, Geospatial analyses of adverse birth outcomes in Southwestern Ontario: Examining the impact of environmental factors,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.12.068Iban Ubarretxena. Credit: University of the Basque Country

Iban Ubarretxena, an Ikerbasque researcher and director of the Biofisika Institute (CSIC-UPV/EHU), participated in a study that identified new inhibitors that could be used to develop drugs to combat Parkinson's. The research has been published in Cell Research.

Parkinson's is the most common, chronic neurodegenerative movement disorder affecting 1 percent of the global population over 70 years of age. Right now, there is no cure for this disease, and the available treatments focus on addressing its symptoms but not its progression.

Although most cases of Parkinson's are sporadic, the inheritable variants of the disease are mainly associated with mutations of the gene that encodes the LRRK2 enzyme. In 2004, an international research team established the link between one of the mutations in this enzyme and patients diagnosed with the disease.

The LRRK2 enzyme, also called "Dardarina," the Basque word meaning "tremor," has become one of the most attractive therapeutic targets for developing new drugs to combat inheritable Parkinson's. Neurotoxicity and the pathogenic effects as a whole associated with LRRK2 are mainly due to the fact that pathogenic mutations increase its kinase activity, which has prompted an international race to develop inhibitors. Right now, specific, powerful inhibitors of the kinase activity of LRRK2 do, in fact, exist. Yet many of them cause undesirable side effects or produce very unclear clinical results.

This research, conducted by Iban Ubarretxena, together with an international research team, has revealed that AdoCbl, one of the active forms of vitamin B12, acts as an inhibitor of the kinase activity of LRRK2 in cultured cells and brain tissue. It also significantly prevents the neurotoxicity of the LRRK2 variants associated with Parkinson's in cultured cells of primary rodents, as well as in various genetically modified models used to study this disease.

According to the study, vitamin B12 comprises a new class of modulator of the kinase activity of LRRK2. Iban Ubarretxena says, "This constitutes a huge step forward because it is a neuroprotective vitamin in animal models and has a mechanism unlike that of currently existing inhibitors. So it could be used as a basis to develop new therapies to combat hereditary Parkinson's associated with pathogenic variants of the LRRK2 enzyme."

Explore further Newly described process in Parkinson's protein as a potential new therapy route

More information: Adam Schaffner et al. Vitamin B12 modulates Parkinson's disease LRRK2 kinase activity through allosteric regulation and confers neuroprotection, Cell Research (2019). Journal information: Cell Research Adam Schaffner et al. Vitamin B12 modulates Parkinson's disease LRRK2 kinase activity through allosteric regulation and confers neuroprotection,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41422-019-0153-8Public health surveys used in as many as 90 countries may be missing the number of recent diarrhea episodes among children by asking parents and caregivers to recall events two weeks versus one week out, suggests a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The researchers, whose findings were published March 25 in the International Journal of Epidemiology, compared the responses to two large public health surveys that were worded almost identically, and concluded that the survey with a two-week recall period, which has been the standard in the field, is less accurate than the survey with a one-week recall period.

"People asked to recall events over a two-week period may remember significantly less than they would if the recall period were just one week," says study principal investigator Natalie G. Exum, Ph.D., an assistant scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Bloomberg School. "Understanding the global burden of diarrheal diseases in young children is critical to identifying tools to treat and prevent diarrhea in this vulnerable population."

Diarrhea is a significant global health concern because there are between 1 and 2 billion cases of it every year among children under 5, including about 500,000 fatal cases. In many low- and middle-income countries diarrheal illness is a leading cause of death among young children.

Researchers commonly estimate the burden of diarrheal illness in countries where it is endemic using large-scale, house-to-house surveys of mothers and other caregivers. The most widely used set of surveys, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development, ask respondents to recall cases among children in their care in the previous two weeks. The number of recalled cases in this period, as a proportion of the sampled population, is an estimate of "two-week prevalence:" a snapshot of the overall diarrhea burden that researchers can compare to similar two-week snapshots taken at other times or in other populations.

Human recall is subject to error, however, and prior, smaller studies have hinted that a two-week recall period for diarrhea prevalence surveys may yield less accurate results than shorter recall periods.

A newer set of public health surveys, conducted under the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) project, are almost identical to DHS surveys but use a one-week recall period instead. Launched in 2013, PMA2020 is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with direction and support provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and the Johns Hopkins University Water Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

For this study, Exum and her colleagues compared results from PMA2020 and DHS surveys of similar communities in the same five African countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda) from 2013 to 2016. The PMA2020 surveys covered 14,603 households and the DHS surveys 66,717 households.

On average, there should be more diarrhea cases in any two-week period compared to any one-week period. Thus the two-week prevalencethe percentage of the sampled population that had a bout of diarrhea in the two weeks prior to the surveyshould be greater than the one-week prevalence. Yet the researchers found that the DHS surveys yielded a two-week diarrhea prevalence estimate of 16.0 percent, whereas the PMA2020 surveys yielded a one-week diarrhea prevalence estimate that was higher, at 21.4 percent. Moreover, the PMA2020 surveys consistently yielded higher estimates than DHS when compared on a country-by-country basis.

The scales of the surveys and the similarities of their questions and covered populations were such that the difference in outcome was unlikely due to statistical "noise," the researchers note.

The authors are recommending that future versions of the DHS use a one-week recall period instead of the traditional two-week period.

"Comparison of 1-week and 2-week recall periods for caregiver-reported diarrhoeal illness in children, using nationally representative household surveys" was written by Katie Overbey, Kellogg Schwab and Natalie Exum.

Explore further Pregnant women, young children most likely to use bed nets to prevent malariaThe face of a well-known Cuban restaurant chain in Miami is running for one the countrys highest profile congressional seats.

Irina Vilarino, co-owner of Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine restaurants, announced Wednesday that shes launching a campaign for Floridas 26th congressional district, a bellwether seat representing south Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys. The seat is currently occupied by Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who beat Republican Carlos Curbelo this November in a race that was viewed nationally as a referendum on the Republican Party.

Vilarino, 43, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On her website, she frames her candidacy as a backlash against the leftward movement of the Democratic Party.

I am deeply concerned about the extreme leftward shift in our political discourse, said Vilarino, who came to Miami with her family at the age of 4 during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift after her father was released from a Cuban prison. Young people today are being sold a lie by the liberal media and the Democrat Party leadership who are promising them that they can have everything for nothing. This is the promise of every socialist movement, and it ultimately ends in unfulfilled expectations and tyranny.

Vilarino is mostly known for her work on behalf of her familys restaurants. The first Las Vegas restaurant opened in 1984 in Hollywood after her family fled Cuba, and at least a dozen locations are now spread around South Florida. She listed the familys downtown Doral restaurant as her campaign address.

But Vilarino is hardly a political neophyte.

Read more here.By Susan Meikle, news and communications. Part four of a four-part series on new grants for the new microbiology physiology research cluster.

Xin Wang

Xin Wang, assistant professor of microbiology, is passionate about cell metabolism and "creating bugs (microbes)" to benefit human life.

He is an expert in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology and the metabolism of microbes. His research focuses on creating microbes for applications in energy production, medicine and environmental protection.

With new state-of-the-art equipment in his lab and the resources of Miami's Center for Structural Biology and Metabonomics, he can assess bacterial metabolic changes under various conditions by looking at protein development.

This method helps determine which enzymes are required at different stages of cell metabolism and can be used to probe microbial responses to environmental stimuli.

Wang, who joined Miami in 2017, has been using this technique in research collaborations with Rachael Morgan-Kiss and D.J. Ferguson, associate professors of microbiology.

Both projects provided pilot data for grant proposals that were successfully funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

He is co-principal investigator on research projects:

With Morgan-Kiss , funded by a $750,000 grant from the DOE to research how Antarctic algae use an alternative pathway during photosynthesis to survive different environmental conditions such as light stress, high salinity and low temperatures.

, funded by a $750,000 grant from the DOE to research how Antarctic algae use an alternative pathway during photosynthesis to survive different environmental conditions such as light stress, high salinity and low temperatures. With Ferguson, funded by a $343,030 Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) grant from the NSF to study microorganisms that produce methane from different environments.

Another research project involves a strain of blue-green algae that he engineered to convert carbon dioxide directly to limonene in high levels.

Top: Xin Wang (right) and his lab group (left to right) Xiaohui Zhang, visiting research student from China; master's student Sonali Singapuri; doctoral student Shrameeta Shinde and sophomore Justin Klatt. Above: Singapuri with limonene-producing blue-green algae (photos by Scott Kissell).

Limonene is a terpene, a group of metabolites produced by plants that have diverse applications as pharmaceuticals, solvents and biofuels.

Ultimately Wangs research aims to increase limonene production from his engineered cyanobacteria for eventual use as a third generation biofuel.

Wang joined Miami University in fall 2017 after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Texas A&M University. He received his doctorate from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2013.

He is adviser for doctoral student Shrameeta Shinde and masters student Sonali Singapuri and co-advises masters student Austin Grant with Annette Bollmann.

He currently mentors undergraduate researchers Justin Klatt and Kaya Mernitz, both sophomore microbiology majors and premedical studies co-majors, and Brendan Chetty, sophomore biology major.

Follow him on Twitter @WangXLab.Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog.South Africa: Fake news condemned in attacks on foreigners

Government has condemned the spreading of fake news and acts of criminality, which have resulted in the displacement of foreign nationals in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, government said such acts should be strongly condemned by all peace loving South Africans.

This is certainly not how we should be viewed as a country, as these incidents are criminal in nature and have been hijacked by people who fuelled the tensions through fake news on social media, a statement issued by Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) reads.

The Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster is working around the clock to address the issue of attacks on foreign nationals.

To this end, three people have been arrested for their part in the criminal incidents and law enforcement agencies remain steadfast in bringing the perpetrators responsible for these crimes to book, the GCIS said.

Government cautioned that the spread of misinformation, fake pictures and videos on social media and fake websites may be fuelling tensions in communities between South Africans and foreign nationals.

While government is concerned about the reported incidents of alleged attacks on foreign nationals, we would like to caution South Africans not to be duped into believe everything they read or see on social media that is purported to be about attacks on foreign nationals.

Certain images and videos that appear on social media are old and unrelated to any of the reported incidents of alleged attacks on foreign nationals over the past few days.

The GCIS cited a message being circulated about foreign nationals burning South African owned trucks in Limpopo. It slammed the message as untrue.

Government has consistently condemned fake news websites masquerading as authentic news websites. However, the recent spate of the fake online stories, which are fuelling tensions between South Africans and foreign nationals, calls for greater efforts to raise awareness in society about fake news and fake social media posts, the statement read.

Government warned that the fake videos and images on social media as well as websites do not subscribe to any codes of conduct of media and their agendas are directed at ruining the image of South Africa and our relation with our neighbouring countries and the continent.

Government respects the right of freedom of the press and freedom of expression but fake news stories are a slanderous attempt against the brand of South Africa with no interest in respecting the Constitution of South Africa.

We urge South African citizens to be vigilant and not spread fake information and images that may give and implication to be attacks on foreign nationals.

South Africa, the statement reads, remains committed to the development of the continent hence it continues to support South African companies to invest in Africa.

Equally, South Africa views the presence of foreign nationals that are legally registered in the country as part of the respective contribution in growing our economy. The South African government is committed to decisively dealing with criminal elements within our communities.

South Africa is a constitutional democracy governed by laws and as such we expect everyone working and living in the country to be doing so legally and obey South Africas laws in their totality.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/" " How'd you like to be a professional mermaid? International Mermaid Swimming Instructors Association

If you're fascinated by mythological creatures, love to swim and know the entire score to "The Little Mermaid," your time has officially come. Mermaiding is an honest-to-goodness thing, and it's poised to explode at a mermaid school or birthday party near you. All you need is a tail (more on that in a minute)!

While it might seem like this is popping up out of nowhere, mermaids (and mermen) have actually been at it for years now. "Mermaiding has been around for 20+ years and I think it will only continue to grow in popularity." says Shelia Kieser, lead mermaid instructor at AquaMermaid in Austin, Texas in an email interview. "We teach ages 7-80 and they all have different reasons for wanting to come and experience being a mermaid or merman."

Amy Gardner recently took her first mermaid class at the Austin AquaMermaid location. She got interested when her daughter went to a mermaid party and the kids' mothers decided to try it as well. "My favorite skill that I learned that day was the dolphin movement, where I only used my hips/core to swim and go back and forth," she recalls via email. "I was baffled not to use my legs  it just seemed like something you would do. Your legs, or now 'mer-legs' just follow behind you in a wave-like motion."

Yes, the typical mermaid school has classes for both adults and children. And AquaMermaid, which currently has 12 locations worldwide, offers some very popular bachelorette parties.

"Mermaids have always been fairly popular but I think it's really popular now because mermaid tails are more accessible now than ever before. I also think it plays nicely into the unicorn trend as well," emails Brianne Bell, manager of the Toronto AquaMermaid location. "There are tons of mermaids on social media and even YouTube so that definitely helps people learn about mermaiding as well."

Kayla Marrama is a mermaid instructor (and professional belly dancer) in the Northern Virginia area. "I personally have loved mermaids since I was young and I have also loved the water," she says via email. "For children, when they have the chance to meet a 'real' mermaid and learn from one, they often are very excited to do so. Adults that are interested [in mermaiding] tend to do so for a few different reasons  to live out a childhood fantasy [or] to do something different and interesting." But, she notes, "It's a lot harder than it sounds!"

Advertisement

Going to Mermaid Class

Indeed, mermaiding is definitely best done by confident swimmers. "We know that swimming in any capacity can be a tough workout. So, one must be a strong swimmer before putting on a tail, as a tail adds a new level of difficulty," Marrama explains. Tails may weigh between 15 and 35 pounds (6.8 and 15.9 kilograms).

Many mermaid schools require participants to be able to pass basic swim tests. "The minimum requirement to join the class is to be at least 7 years old and able to independently swim at least 25 meters [82 feet], tread water for one minute, and float on front and back," says Bell.

" " These kids attend a mermaid class at AquaMermaid in South Florida. AquaMermaid

In class, you'll learn some pretty cool tricks, like how to swim with a tail, the mermaid "high five," and how to do handstands, which soon translate into synchronized mermaid swimming skills. (Some classes also teach kids about caring for the oceans.)

Indeed, mermaid swimming is a killer way to get or stay in shape. Kieser of AquaMermaid Austin reports that a single hour of mermaid swimming can burn up to 600 calories. "It offers a total-body workout from toning your glutes, quads and abs, combined with great cardio exercises working on breath control underwater," emails co-head mermaid Rachael Rodeck with AquaMermaid Chicago.

Mermaiding is also ideal for people as they age. "AquaMermaid is a low impact sport that benefits from the buoyant effect of the water that takes pressure off joints, alleviating pain and discomfort," Rodeck explains.

At your first class, you usually just need to wear a swimsuit. The school will normally supply the monofin and the tailskin. The monofin is a piece of equipment with foot pockets that allows you to propel forward in the water. "Mermaid swimmers start by putting the monofin on both feet and the tailskin is pulled up to the waist," says Rodeck. "Then, the fabric of the tailskin is pulled over the monofin at the end to make a complete mermaid tail."

Oh yes, the tail! If you plan to stick with this, you may want to buy your own. AquaMermaid sells tails in a variety of waist sizes for $105 each. But professional mermaids spend a lot more. "Most realistic mermaid tails range from $500 to $3000," Kieser says.

Advertisement

Mermaid Careers

Wait, you say, you can be a professional mermaid? You bet. Although some people take the classes just for fun and exercise, there's a growing contingent of professional mermaids around the world. Iryna Auchynnikava, co-head mermaid at AquaMermaid Chicago estimates that there are about 1,000 professional mermaids currently working in the U.S.

There's presently no standard certification program that all mer-people must pass, according to Marrama, who is a professional mermaid as well as an instructor. However there are area-specific programs and curriculum. "Also, there are several international mermaid conferences every year which attract 300 mermaid enthusiasts or more," Auchynnikava notes.

So how do you pursue a mer-career? Many pros become mermaid swim instructors, mermaid entertainers (at birthday parties and the like), "mermaid influencers" on social media and even custom mermaid tail makers. There are also mermaid modeling opportunities to be had. "This would be doing swimming or dry land events where you're there mainly for people to look at," Bell says. "You might be swimming in a pool or tank during a corporate event, or posing for a photoshoot, etc." Most professionals do a variety of these occupations.

Much like any career, there's some investment required on the front end to become a professional mer-person. First, a potential pro must have be strong swimmer and have a background teaching swimming or synchronized swimming, if he or she plans to be an instructor. "Early childhood education courses would be useful if you plan on doing kids' birthday parties and working with kids a lot," adds Bell. "Business courses such as marketing also come in handy if you plan on running your own business."

Getting paid to mermaid? Sounds like a real splash!

Now That's Cool Want to be a mermaid, but strapped for cash? Try your hand at making your own tail using materials like spandex, lycra, neoprene and more! Check out these tutorials for step-by-step instructions, or just to marvel at the resourcefulness some people have.Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has revealed Eskoms plan to fight load-shedding in South Africa.

Gordhan said Eskoms goal is to ensure there will be no load-shedding from today  but admitted there is a lot of hard work ahead for the company.

An important culture change needs to happen in Eskom, including more accountability and consequence management, said Gordhan about the work ahead.

If there is load-shedding going forward, however, the aim is that it will only be stage 1 load-shedding, he said.

Eskoms goals

Gordhan said that despite Eskom having a better understanding of what the organisations problems are, he appealed to the public and businesses to reduce their electricity usage where possible.

To achieve its no load-shedding goals, Eskom has plans for the short-term and the long-term, said Gordhan.

He also stated that a task team of engineers who have strong knowledge of power plants  and are in a good position to speak objectively to the Eskom board and its management  are analysing where there are problems and how they can be fixed.

Gordhan went on to say that Eskom has a winter plan in place which will ensure there is enough electricity during the cold season in South Africa. Eskom considers winter to start from 1 May, and May is used to plan what must happen between June and August, he said.

This includes planning for how much energy is required and how to ensure power demands are met.

Objectives

Gordhan stated that Eskom has further committed to meeting certain objectives it has set out for itself.

These include:

Being transparent and frank with the public.

Ensure energy security in South Africa.

Impact positively on the economy.

It was added that there are no plans to privatise Eskom.Huawei has launched an official ecommerce platform in South Africa alongside its latest flagship smartphones.

Speaking at the companys local launch for its P30 devices, Huawei South Africa CTO Akhram Mohamed detailed the officially-licensed Huawei Store.

The Huawei Store offers a wide selection of Huawei hardware, allowing smartphone owners to buy devices, cases, headphones, wearables, and more directly from the online storefront.

This will be especially helpful for customers who would like to buy accessories unique to the new Huawei P30, such as a wireless charging case and wireless charger.

Mohamed said that all Huawei hardware available in South Africa will be listed for purchase on the store, provided it is in stock and not end-of-life.

Huawei noted that this ecommerce platform is a licensed reseller in partnership with Mustek Limited, and is not operated directly by Huawei South Africa.

However, the after-sales support for purchases made through this platform is provided by the device manufacturer.

There will also be various special promotions and unique offers available exclusively on the Huawei store.

Pricing for the new P30 devices on the Huawei store is as follows:

Huawei P30 Pro  R18,999

Huawei P30  R13,999

Huawei P30 Lite  R5,999

Mohamed noted that this is the recommended retail pricing for the devices and that most retailers should offer the devices in line with the official prices.

South African investment

The launch of a licensed ecommerce distributor in South Africa is another step Huawei has taken to grow its presence in South Africa.

Speaking at the recent international launch of the companys new smartphones, CEO Richard Yu told MyBroadband that South Africa was a key market for the Chinese smartphone manufacturer.

The South African market is very important for Huawei and we have seen strong growth in South Africa, especially in the middle-to-high tier, Yu said.

Huawei has also opened a dedicated warehouse for the local market as well as a local branch of the Huawei Cloud platform for enterprise customers.

These infrastructure deployments allow for increased customer support, software functionality, and better launch windows for mainstream products.

The company has also stated that Huawei Pay will be coming to South Africa by the middle of 2019, offering a competitive payment platform.We are ready for December, everything ...We are finalizing dates in June for our second social media workshop which will be free to all our members! This workshop will focus on Instagram, Instagram stories and social media digital advertising techniques. Check Sthelena.com for more details to come soon.

As part of our destination-marketing contract with the City, the Chamber has been working extensively on marketing and promoting our city we all love. In early May, we will be filming 10 destination-marketing videos to promote St. Helena. Those videos will be pushed out on social media and our new website  featuring some of the citys most beautiful wineries, hotels, dining, and of course Main Street.

Mark your calendars for June 15. The Chamber is working with well-known blogger and influencer @nocrumbsleft to hold another social media meet-up on Main Street at the Cameo Cinema and St. Helena Welcome Center. Fans of the blogger will register in advance to meet the social media celebrity at the Cameo for a short Q&A. After the meet-up, they will head next door to the St. Helena Welcome Center for her book signing and some complementary wine tasting. We are expecting around 140 people. So, if youre a fan (or just inquisitive), be sure to register early! Sign up through Evenbrite.com or call the Chamber.

A friendly reminder that St. Helenas sidewalk sale kicks off on a Friday for the first weekend in May. Shop Main Street, stroll and enjoy our annual sale on May 3-5. This is the perfect time to pick up items that youve been eyeing from some of your favorite local businesses, for a fraction of the price!

St. Helenas Summer Concert Series kicks off on June 13 at Lyman Park. Weve been celebrating 31 years of live music in the citys quaint park. We will announce the bands playing soon. This year we are hoping to have farmers market vendors and much more at the musical series. Stay tuned.

Aprils lineup for Sip and Swirl Saturdays is already in motion! Come sip some complimentary vino at the St. Helena Welcome Center. This month, for our Sip and Swirl Saturdays, we are featuring two great wineries. April 13, Beringer will be swirling some of their delicious wines from noon to 4 p.m. for you. Then on April 27, Brasswood will be pouring complimentary wines for you to sample. After you stop in and enjoy a glass of wine at the St. Helena Welcome Center, we encourage you to swirl into downtown and shop Main Street. Cheers!

Amy Carabba Salazar is the CEO & President for the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce. You can reach her at amy@sthelena.com.The St. Helena City Council passed their Rent Stabilization Ordinance to protect affordable housing for seniors. All mobile home parks in Calistoga and Napa have such an ordinance or agreement. One hundred and 10 communities and counties throughout California have legally put in place RSOs for such protection. Also, St. Helena spent millions of dollars to have the flood control wall built to protect the park, which provided a significant increase in the value of the property for the corporate landowners.

A Rent Stabilization Ordinance (not Rent Control) is a choice made by the resident homeowner, such as choosing to have flood or fire insurance. Currently, there will be no direct fees to the homeowner or the landowners. The difference is that the homeowner who chooses to have the RSO has a year-by-year lease while those who do not choose the RSO can still sign a longer lease, just as they always have done. The corporate landowners receive a 3 percent annual increase in the land rent from both scenarios. However, if the landowner decides to sell the property, the new landowners could increase the monthly rent on those units without RSO as high as they choose (when their lease terminates), while those with an RSO would continue to pay only the 3 percent increase annually.

Two mobile home parks were recently sold to investors offering extremely generous sums for the parks: The Calistoga Ranch on Silverado Trail, and The Carneros Inn Resort on Highway 121 in Napa. When the sales were completed, the new owners raised the monthly rents prohibitively, and the residents who could not afford the increase moved out, or were bought out. Two luxury resorts replaced them (while maintaining zoning status as mobilehome parks).

Do we really need another luxury resort, hotel and spa in St. Helena and the displacement of 200-plus seniors without providing an alternate solution in town? Or is secure housing for seniors a more reasonable goal? Vote yes on Measure F!

Tony & Betsy Holzhauer

Vineyard Valley residentsA note of gratitude from all of us on the RV to Paradise team to all of you who contributed with such heart and generosity to our project.

We will be delivering three RVs (each able to accommodate at least a family of four and able to sleep more if necessary) and at least three vehicles to the Chabad Center in Chico where they will be matched with recipients.

As Rabbi Mendy Zweibel said, "If we had 800 cars, each would go to another survivor in great need ... pregnant women who can't get to their appointments, parents of children with special needs who can't easily get to school; people for whom a car would be the nearest thing to a sense of stability they will feel since the wildfire.

And with more than 18,000 buildings burned, Rabbi Zweibel continued, "Residents are still camped out in motels ... or lead itinerant lives couch-surfing at the homes of friends and family."

Thanks to the compassion of our town, at least six families will begin to find both mobility and the stability to carry on with hope for the future.

Our team is proud to represent our wonderful community through this project. Thank you!

Anne Carr

St. HelenaJennifer King and the Theater Arts Department at Napa Valley College have brought to life Robert Louis Stevensons tale, Treasure Island in a new production that would make Stevenson proud.

With an innovative set filled with trap doors and hidden closets, a pitch-perfect cast of 24, including three brilliant musicians, and lighting design that is as much a character as any of the actors, the production is two hours of dramatic, adventurous fun.

The play begins in Black Cove, a town in England where Jim Hawkins, a girl dressed like a boy, played by a lovable Stephanie Terrado, tends a tavern with her grandmother, a wiry Ginna Berry. When the salty, barrel-chested and foul mouthed Billy Bones, played by Matthew Cowell, comes in looking to stash Captain Flints treasure chest, he is soon followed by Chad Yarishs Black Dog, a pirate from the ship Walrus, who is after Captain Flints treasure. When Billy Bones refuses to give up the treasure chest, a great fight ensues, and Billy Bones dies, but Black Dog and his crewmates must head back to the Walrus before the authorities come to arrest them.

That is when Jim and her grandmother figure out how to open the locked chest. When they do, they find nothing of value, until Jim notices a false bottom, pulls it back and finds a treasure map! Jim tells the hapless and effete Squire Trewlawney, played by Michael Waterson with a perfect aristocratic British accent, to recruit a merry band of sailors to go find the island and recover the buried treasure. What ensues is a story filled with sword fights, narrow escapes and a roiling journey on the high seas with Jim at the center of it all.

While Jim is a young man in Stevensons original story, Bryony Lavery, the playwright who adapted Treasure Island for the stage, chose to make Jim a girl, though she is called Jim throughout the play. It can be a little misleading, and unlikely given the 17th century context of the original story, that a girl would set sail to do battle with ruthless pirates, but the perfectly cast Terrado plays Jim with such pluck and glorious enthusiasm, the choice becomes not a playwrights feminist implant, but a great detail that shows, in this age, women can do anything.

There may be no more famous fictional pirate than Long John Silver, played by a young, dashing Aaron Wilton. Silver, in disguise as a cook, convinces Squire Trewlawney to let him board the Hispaniola and set sail with the crew. Little do they know that he is the infamous pirate who eventually takes over the ship by force along with Black Dog and Jefferson Sbrissas imposing, Spanish-speaking, Israel Hands.

Wilton is a charming, confident Long John Silver who starts out very caring toward Jim. There is a touching scene halfway through the first act, where Silver teaches Jim about celestial navigation  how a sailor, before the advent of GPS, can measure latitude based on his location in relationship with the stars. Its a beautiful moment, where the lights go dim, the moon rises and stars shimmer in the background against a deep blue sky. Here, Wiltons Long John Silver wraps his arm around Jim and gestures toward the sky, evoking all the possibilities that the open seas possess. Jim twinkles as she identifies Cassiopeia and Polaris, and the moment is heartwarming. But that doesnt last long. By the end of that first act, when he finds out she has the treasure map, Silvers avuncular facade melts, leading him to at shoot her as she runs away.

Peter Cromptons set is a versatile wonder, and belies a budget that is much smaller than you might expect. It may look expensive but that is the power of great design and theater artisans on our staff and of course our students. Its amazing what we are able to do with cardboard, King said after the performance.

The set is composed of several staggered platforms, painted in muted yellow and green tones. In the foreground is a closet, that when open, is a hearth in which Grandma Hawkins decides to burn Captain Flints less important papers, and when closed, provides a wide space for the action to take place. Framing the stage are tall, soaring beams, wrapped with sailors rope and with horizontal beams on which hang, burnished, brittle canvas sails that look as if theyve been exposed to salty gales for ages.

It was particularly impressive when the mast, mainsail and stern  which has three lit lanterns  descended from the fly tower to rest on the highest platform, transforming the set into the Hispaniola, complete with a huge flywheel. And for that you have to thank Matthew Cowell NVCs resident carpenter, who also starred as Billy Bones, for perfectly executing Cromptons plans.

The costumes were by Skipper Skeoch and just as spot-on as the acting. In the book, Long John Silver only has one leg, so they concocted a black leather splint that prevented Wilton from bending his left knee, which made him limp as this pirate should. Trewlawney wore a waistcoat with a lace collar and a wig, which gave him the authentic feel of an English nobleman, contrasting markedly with the dirty black, grey and brown costumes of the pirates.

The story of Treasure Island, since it was first published in 1883, has proven so universal that it has been adapted countless times in the ensuing 136 years, including a 1996 production by the Muppets. Stevenson said after he published the book that he wanted to write something unpretentious, made for boys who want a tale of adventure, without any literary weight. Kings production gets this just right. The play is a perfectly executed rendition of the adventure story, whose actors deliver spot-on performances of characters so well known they have practically become archetypes.

While the play is a good old-fashioned adventure story, the message behind it is that the pursuit of riches rarely brings happiness  the pirates who ruthlessly kill and fight for the treasure arent exactly paragons of contentment. It is in Jims return home to her warm and loving grandmother at the end of the play where we see what our priorities in life should be.

I love the moral of the story searching for treasure will not bring you happiness, King said. It can often bring out the worst in us and with this lesson learned we are able to return home  to ourselves.

Treasure Island runs through April 7 at the Performing Arts Center at Napa Valley College. Tickets are available at napavalleytheater.org.

John Henry Martin is always on the lookout for other kinds of treasure. If you know of any, tell him about it at jxxhxxm@gmail.com.Napa fifth grader Arabella Gerosa is headed to Belize next week but shes not going on the usual spring break kind of vacation.

Arabella, 10, and her father, Phil Gerosa, will travel to the Central American country to spend five days on a humanitarian mission to build a center for disadvantaged women, one that will also serve as a residence for girls who are rescued from sex trafficking.

The father/daughter team decided to donate their time and efforts after going on a similar mission trip to Panama in 2016.

It was a real adventure, said Arabella. I like that we helped people, she said.

I felt a calling to my heart to do this, Phil Gerosa said. The right thing to do is help people, in whatever way.

Spending time together is important to any family but even more so for the Gerosas.

Arabellas mother, Aine Kelly, died of an aneurysm on Fathers Day in 2014. Arabella was just 6-years-old at the time.

It was tough, said Phil Gerosa. Today, Im doing the best I can to be a dad and a mom.

Its hard to be both, he admitted, but when you dont have a choice, you click into gear.

Gerosa, who is a general contractor, said he wants to be a good example to his daughter. I think as a dad, our job is to teach our children, to be giving and selfless, he said.

How amazing to have this opportunity to learn some incredible compassion skills, he said.

After her Panama trip, I felt really thankful that we could help people out, said Arabella.

So when asked about going on the Belize mission, her reaction was I would love to do that.

Arabella said shes never been to Belize. She attends Veritas Christian Academy in Napa, but the trip is organized by a nonprofit called DBR ministries based in Sanford, North Carolina. Gerosa said another Napa resident, Shilah Salmon, will also join the mission in Belize.

Asked what she thinks Belize will be like, Arabella said I think its going to be different because its a different culture.

They will be working in what Gerosa described as a ghetto area. The houses will likely be a lot different from her Napa home, Arabella said.

From her Panama trip, Arabella knows that shell likely see all kinds of new things in Belize.

For example, one time before we were leaving Panama, I saw a big ginormous tarantula in her bed.

But shes not afraid to go on this trip because I know the Lord will not let me get hurt and the Lord will keep my dad and everyone safe.

A lot of people said why dont you go on vacation and sit on a beach and chill, but these people have nothing, Phil Gerosa said. We want to make a difference.

Gerosa and Arabellas mother were divorced when she died. But he said if Kelly was alive today, shed support their mission trip.

Shed be proud of their daughter for being a very kind person, he said.

Arabella said her mom would tell her, Keep doing what youre doing and dont give up.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.For many college students, academics are an afterthought.

And its not because theyre bent on partying or other socializing.

Its all about survival.

According to several recent surveys, around one in five  or about 400,000  California community college students has experienced homelessness in the last year. Thousands more are at risk of becoming homeless.

Calling that number shocking, alarming and tragic, Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, on Tuesday outlined a new bill  AB 302  that would force community colleges to allow homeless students to sleep inside their vehicles in campus parking lots overnight.

Shame on us if we turn our backs on these students and choose to ignore them, Berman told reporters in Sacramento.

While acknowledging the states long-term need for more affordable housing, the assemblyman said homeless students need help right now. In 2016, the state passed a law requiring the colleges to give homeless students access to campus shower facilities.

This bill is the next logical step, Berman said. We should do everything we can to make their situation a little better.

Thats welcome news for Foothill College student Matthew Bodo, whose experience inspired Berman to draft the bill.

For two years, Bodo said, he was homeless on and off  sometimes sleeping in his car and sometimes couch surfing.

I did attempt to sleep in my car on campus and was asked to leave several times by campus police, said Bodo, who worked full time but couldnt swing the areas expensive rents.

After being pushed out of the surrounding neighborhood by angry residents, he found himself parking farther and farther from the resources the school has to offer  a food pantry, showers and a health center.

Many of these students are attending college to try to escape from poverty and homelessness, Bodo said.

Its unclear how many colleges will support the idea.

Although many view college as a path to a better life, low-income students can be forced to make choices that limit their ability to succeed in school  between food and books, for instance. Students of color, first-generation students, students with children and former foster children are among those most likely to become homeless, and those who do are more likely to fail a class or quit school. They also are more likely to suffer from stress and mental health challenges than their peers with a stable place to sleep.

And while Pell Grants  federal aid given to low-income students  can be used to cover living expenses, they arent typically large enough to make ends meet.

In places with high living costs, like the Bay Area, the percentage of housing insecure and homeless students is even higher. A spring 2017 survey found that an astounding 84 percent of students at the Peralta Community College District in Alameda County experienced housing insecurity, and 30 percent had been homeless within the previous year.

No person actively pursuing a college degree should be homeless, said Iiyshaa Youngblood, the president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges. This bill will give homeless students sleeping in their cars a semblance of relief.

Under the proposal, which the state Assemblys higher education committee was scheduled to discuss Tuesday, colleges would have to provide students in good standing with overnight access to campus parking lots by July 1, 2020. The schools could set rules  banning alcohol and drugs, for instance  and hours of operation,and would be required to connect students with available resources, such as food pantries.

Anthony White, a student at Palomar College north of San Diego, worked full time and attended class in the evenings after leaving the Marine Corps but found himself sleeping out of his truck for eight months when he couldnt find stable affordable housing.

After I left class each night, the biggest challenge was where am I going to go, White said.

These students are working, theyre just not making a living wage, said Shahera Hyatt, the director of the California Homeless Youth Project. College costs are so much more than tuition.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.In September 1991, I was a nervous freshman at the University of Michigan, sitting on a friend's dorm room floor, when a guy ran in from down the hall, saying, "You've got to hear this." He fed a cassette tape into the stereo, and I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana for the first time. It's hard to capture how radical that song and that moment felt. Cobain and his bandmates were suddenly ubiquitous, an explosion of insolent Pacific Northwest cool into my deeply uncool, and fundamentally conservative, Midwestern world. (A few months later, Nirvana's "Nevermind" supplanted Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" atop the Billboard charts.) Hearing his music was like receiving a dispatch from another spiritual plane, one that offered irrefutable evidence that there were other ways of living - and maybe other ways of loving, too.

I don't speak of love idly. Cobain is the Gen X icon who popularized alternative music and culture, but on the 25th anniversary of his death this week, I cherish another aspect of his legacy much more: his consistent and vocal support of gay rights. Something began to change in me the moment "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came on in that Ann Arbor dorm room, and it wasn't just my grungy new approach to fashion. Cobain's "oh well, whatever, never mind" attitude about sexual identity, expressed in lyrics and interviews, changed the course of my life.

Though Cobain might not be the first name you think of when it comes to gay rights, his band was never shy about its politics, especially where LGBTQ issues were concerned. In 1992, Nirvana played a "No on #9" benefit concert and issued a public statement opposing Measure 9, a statewide anti-gay citizen ballot initiative in Oregon that would have required "all governments" in the state to treat homosexuality as "abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse." And in the liner notes of their album "Insecticide," released that December, they warned:"If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us - leave us the f--- alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records." The liner notes to their next album, "In Utero," echoed that admonition: "If you're a sexist, racist, homophobe or basically an a--hole, don't buy this CD. I don't care if you like me, I hate you."

Cobain himself repeatedly and publicly affirmed his pro-gay stance. In a 1993 interview with the Advocate, which I remember reading breathlessly in a Borders bookstore with the cover folded over so no one could tell what I was holding, Cobain called himself "gay in spirit" and revealed that as a teenager, he often questioned his sexuality and sprayed "God is gay " graffiti in the small town of Aberdeen, Washington, where he grew up. (The line "God is gay" later popped up in the Nirvana song "Stay Away.") During the end credits of a "Saturday Night Live" episode in 1992, he made out with bandmate Krist Novoselic. And in 1993, Cobain appeared on the cover of the music magazine the Face wearing a dainty flower print dress and red nail polish.

All this played out in the early '90s, when AIDS jokes and the word "fag" were common, ideas about allowing gays to openly serve in the military were considered radical, and politicians were waging culture wars over "family values." Sure, there were rumors about the complicated sexuality of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, but Nirvana's pro-gay gestures and its iconoclastic sound were remarkable for any popular music act. Guitar-smashing rock bands on MTV and mainstream music stations (Warrant, Poison) were generally uber-macho hair-metal acts, and even Husker Du's Bob Mould was in the closet at the time - not to mention wholly off my radar. The idea that you could make music that was aggressive, hard and loud and be an ally to the gay community seemed revolutionary, especially for me, a closeted prep school graduate from Detroit's suburbs.

When "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came out, I was conservative in terms of both my politics and my lifestyle. I grew up in a family of Republicans who believed in tax cuts and traditional family structures. Just before going off to college, I attended a school assembly, during which we were warned to resist the dangers of the "P.C." movement. I remember pledging to myself that I would follow this advice.

I wanted to pursue writing in college, and when I first arrived at the University of Michigan, I went to a meeting to learn about joining the Michigan Review, the newspaper for conservative students. It was a publication that had characterized gay people as sad and pathetic, but I still volunteered at a bake sale to raise money for the Review. I remember sitting next to a young woman that day who observed how cute our editor in chief was. I agreed and wished I could say so openly, but didn't dare.

I might have stayed with the Review, but something dislodged in me in my dorm room one night, listening to "Teen Spirit." Maybe it was the explosive opening, all driving drumbeats and furious metal. Or maybe it was what came next: Cobain's signature cracked yelp of a voice, which could hold a sarcastic yowl for several strained seconds that felt like ages, giving them a mysterious, eerie emphasis. I didn't always know what he was saying, but I didn't need the words to know what he was feeling, a mix of turbulent and conflicting emotions I too had felt but couldn't always name.

By the time Cobain killed himself at the end of my junior year of college, I was coming out to my friends and family. Having found my own confidence in his unapologetic approach to life, I didn't fully appreciate just how insecure Cobain was until more than 20 years later, while researching a novel that pays tribute to his influence. The rock star I idolized was just one aspect of a real human being who created great art but also suffered great pain, both physical and emotional. And yet, during his relatively short life and career, he spoke with a clarity that inspired me to do the same, creating a kind of role model for me to follow.

- - -

Hamburger is the author of the novel "Nirvana Is Here."

Author Information:

Aaron Hamburger is the author of the novel "Nirvana Is Here." He wrote this for The Washington Post.Napa Valley Republican Women Federated, chartered in 1947, was the first Republican Womens Club in Napa County. We are affiliated with the National Federation of Republican Women, one of the largest grassroots political organizations in the country with thousands of active members in local clubs across the nation. We are members of the largest state federation: the California Federation of Republican Women.

Napa Valley Republican Women Federated takes pride in having informative guest speakers at our monthly meetings.

We are proud to welcome Arik Housley as our featured guest speaker for April 11 at the Silverado Resort & Spa. Arik was born and raised in Napa and attended Vintage High School. After graduating, he was accepted to Pepperdine University and earned Bachelors degrees in Political Science and Telecommunications. Since 1996, he has owned and operated the family grocery store, Ranch Market, in both Napa and Yountville.

On Nov. 7, 2018, Arik and his familys lives changed dramatically when his daughter, Alaina Housley, was murdered in Thousand Oaks at the Borderline Bar and Grill during their College Country Night, which welcomed young students from Pepperdine. Alaina had graduated from Vintage High School with honors and was attending Pepperdine Universitythe same college both her father and mother graduated.

Through this tragedy, Housley and his wife Hannah have started Alainas Voice Foundation to help raise awareness for mental health in our society, as well as to help prevent senseless acts of violence. Arik says, This is not about guns, its about hate! And its about ignorance.

Please join us April 11 at the Silverado Resort & Spa for this anticipated guest speaker. Registration will be 11-11:30 a.m. and lunch will start at noon. For reservations call Crystal at 707-255-5613 or email rsvprepwomen@gmail.com. Please make reservations by Monday, April 8.

Learn how we can help spread the message for Alainas Voice Foundation.

Gaylon Kastner

Napa Valley Republican Women FederatedOn March 25, the legislative subcommittee of the Napa County Board of Supervisors was kind enough to listen to comments about a bill introduced by Congressman John Garamendi.

HR 864 is proposed legislation regarding wildlife conservation and anti-trafficking, which is self-sustaining a adds no expense to taxpayers.

I learned about it from Jason Kishineff, who is running for the House of Representatives against Mike Thompson. Jason expressed his support for this bill, which is not surprising, given his championing of environmental and social causes. He differentiated himself from his more conservative opponent in this instance, stating that Thompson has supported trophy  hunting. Jason pursues a progressive agenda and refuses big money, although he welcomes small donations, volunteers and votes.

There are other familiar faces at the meetings. James Hinton, who was most recently a candidate for Napa City Council, serves as Napas gadfly, ruffling feathers to provoke thought and implement change. I always appreciate his interesting and well-informed slant on the issues.

Amy Martenson, who served on the Napa Valley College Board, was instrumental in getting the city of Napa to ban glyphosates (Monsantos Roundup) due to the growing evidence linking it to cancer. It has been found in our wines, which increases the likelihood that it is also in our water and food. Monsanto has already created a new threat called Dicamba that must be addressed.

As Californians, we generally appreciate the fact that we live in an interdependent ecosystem that must be safeguarded from the greedy predators that place profit above life. I am truly grateful to the familiar faces, but we could use some new ones. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Get involved locally and nationally. Share your passions and concerns. Together, we can make a better world.

Donna Laba

NapaAustralia and South Korea sign $680,000,000-dollar defense deal

US, North Korea, South Korea and China agree to end Korean War

Turkish FM: Armenia and Turkey will designate special envoys to discuss normalization of relations

Why did the police summon Armenia ex-MP Ruben Hakobyan?

Yerevan Municipality spokesperson: Director of city's bus operating company resigns

Lukashenko thanks Erdogan for Turkey's principled stance on Belarus

Russian and Iranian FMs discuss JCPOA situation

NATO Secretary General to meet with Aliyev

Turkish man arrested for throwing Erdogan's portrait on the ground

Tractor that remained in Karabakh's Amaras after Azerbaijani shootings removed through Russian mediation

Georgia MFA is discontent with showing of Georgian national flag at '3+3' regional format meeting in Moscow

Armenia PM's Chief of Staff, France Ambassador discuss strengthening of trade-economic relations

Iran, Turkmenistan stress measures to strengthen transit ties

Iran's and Saudi Arabia's representatives hold security meeting in Amman

NEWS.am daily digest: 13.12.21

Armenia Constitutional Court president receives France Ambassador

55-year-old Yerevan pedestrian run over by 21-year-old with moped, hospitalized

Armenia education, science, culture and sport minister has new deputy

Armenia Prosecutor General attending Conference of States Parties to UN Convention against Corruption

Armenia President receives head of Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine

Joining up for Green Future: British Embassy and HSBC Bank Armenia promoting sustainability in Armenia (PHOTOS)

Armenia ruling force MP: Opposition demand for parliament speakers resignation is attempt to collect dividends

Armenian Zartonk political party issues statement on apprehension of 3 members

Dollar falls after long rise in Armenia

Charles Michel to hold trilateral meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan Presidents in Brussels on Dec. 14

Opposition 'Armenia' faction MP: Armenian parliamentary speaker elections were unlawful

Tovmasyan Foundation: Christmas fair is held

Ruling party MP: Armenian POWs' issue is an exclusively speculative one for opposition 'Armenia' Faction

Armenia Armavir Province deputy governor sacked

Armenia Parliament Speaker receives German MFA official Matthias Luttenberg

Armenia representative at ECHR considers International Court of Justice decision on December 7 a victory

Armenia Supreme Judicial Council examining issue of subjecting Yerevan judge to disciplinary liability

Ambassador to Armenia on Russia peacekeepers indefinite presence in Artsakh: Life will show

'With Honor' Faction MP: We will definitely vote in favor of draft for Armenia Parliament Speaker's resignation

Armenia ex-police chief Vladimir Gasparyan's health condition is stable

Armenia PM attends reopening of high school in Vagharshapat

Armenia representative at ECHR: Work on captives return from Azerbaijan continues

Armenia opposition MP: It is necessary to urgently solve issue of opening of aid station in Shurnukh

Opposition 'Armenia' Faction MP: Parliamentary speaker is making statements that pose danger to foreign policy

Russia envoy to Armenia: 3+3 format should have positive impact on relations between regional countries

Armenia ambassador presents her letter of credence to Cuba President

Armenia parliament opposition plans to nominate candidate for new speaker of legislature

Biden announces natural disaster in Kentucky

Armenia President, France ambassador discuss agenda of bilateral relations

Russia diplomat: Armenia is one of important countries in New Generation program

Armenia official, France envoy outline priority domains of economic cooperation between 2 countries in 2022

Iran puts 20 US citizens on sanctions list for human rights violations

Armenia PM visiting Etchmiadzin, police carrying out intensified service

Yerevan holding New Generation 2021 forum

66 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Russia military doctors provide medical assistance to Karabakh remote village residents

World gold prices rising moderately

International Studies expert: Armenia authorities refuse any anti-Turkish process

Yerevan public transport bus drivers staging protest

World oil prices going up

One of 4 injured dies in Yerevan road accident

New Shepard rocket makes suborbital flight with tourists

Researchers determine how Covid pandemic will develop in case of Omicron variant

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The visit of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's wife Anna Hakobyan to the US has kicked off.

Anna Hakobyan made a speech during the special event in the US Congress, Voice of America reported.

During her speech, Anna Hakobyan sayd that Armenia's achievements are on the path of full democracy and real economic growth.

Congressman Jackie Speier of Armenian origin noted that the Congress would do its best for the US to provide worthy support to Armenia both economically and politically.

The Armenian velvet revolution also impressed one of the most influential US congressmen, Adam Schiff, who had come to the event to get acquainted with Anna Hakobyan personally.

According to him, they need to raise US-Armenia partnership to a new level in order to help our wonderful government succeed.

Anna Hakobyans trip kicked off on Tuesday with her visit to the Congress and Library of Congress, where Armenian samples of Armenian literature were presented.

During her speech, Anna Hakobyan noted that after the velvet revolution, everything is even better than expected in Armenia.

Anna Hakobyan will also have a meeting at the Carnegie Foundation on the sidelines of the Women for Peace campaign and will participate in the event dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Consulate General of Armenia in Los Angeles.

During the visit, Anna Hakobyan will also take part in several charity dinners and have bilateral meetings during which she will present the programs and activities of the two charitable foundations. Anna Hakobyan will also visit the St. Jude Hospital in Memphis where a memorandum will be signed between the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, the Childrens Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia and the City of Smile Charitable Foundation.Armenia has always stood out by its strong intellectual school, the executive director of the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises Nikolay Komlev told reporters on Wednesday.

According to him, the development of the IT sphere is promoted by the business itself, which is investing in the industry through non-return investments.

Touching upon the IT Summit to be held in Yerevan on April 4-5, Komlev noted that the Association has been holding conferences since 2003, mainly in Russia, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine. The conference is held in Armenia for the second time. About 200 people will take part in it, including the participation of the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies of Armenia.

The aim of the conference is to discuss the prospects of IT business, increase the effectiveness of Armenian and Russian measures to support the industry, exchange experiences, while the prospects for the interpenetration will be discussed, he concluded.

As reported earlier, Yerevan will host on April 4-5 a summit with the participation of world leaders in the IT industry - Intel Corporation, Skolkovo Foundation, Marvel Distribution, Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, ABBYY, IBM, Kaspersky Lab , Yandex, etc.Armenias Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan submitted to the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia the 2018 Report, which also addresses second President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.

The Report particularly states that the Human Rights Defender visited Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary Institution of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and met Kocharyan right after Robert Kocharyan was remanded.

The Human Rights Defender was always consistent to make sure this process was implemented in strict observance of the priority of human rights and rule of law. One of the reasons why the investigation of the criminal cases under consideration clearly raised a new wave of public interest was because the second President of the Republic of Armenia, former President of the Republic of Artsakh was involved in the case as an accused-on-trial and was later remanded.

Right after Robert Kocharyan was remanded, the Human Rights Defender visited him at Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary Institution of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, examined the conditions and other issues related to the jurisdiction of the Defender.

During consideration of protection of the rights of Robert Kocharyan that the Defender initiated, the Staff of the Human Rights Defender was always in touch and also cooperated with Kocharyan.

Robert Kocharyan didnt complain about the attitude of the officers of the penitentiary institution when he was remanded the first time and the second time, the Report states.

In addition, during private talks with the Defender, the second President of the Republic of Armenia raised several issues that were addressed to the relevant state bodies within the scope of competence reserved to the Defender by constitutional law.

The ban on visits and phone conversations set for close relatives, including family members was considered. The Human Rights Defender stated several times that the legislation of the Republic of Armenia and practice related to the ban on visits and phone conversations with family members are problematic in terms of system and are not in line with the international standards of human rights protection.

The Defender initiated a thorough study related to these issues, and recommendations for the elimination of those bans have been submitted to the Ministry of Justice and Special Investigation Service along with legal analyses.

Through the intervention of the Defender, Robert Kocharyan was provided with a computer without access to the Internet in his cell. The body implementing proceedings eliminated the ban on visits and phone conversations with close relatives. The ban was only kept for one of the close relatives, who has the procedural status of a witness in the criminal case.

The custody on the pension account of Robert Kocharyan was also eliminated, the Report states.From 4 to 5 April, at the invitation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia, the delegation led by President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Andreas Vokuhle will be on an official visit to Armenia. The delegation comprises Vice-President of the Federal Constitutional Court and President of the first Senate of the Court Stephan Harbarth, judges of the Court and the chief of staff of the Court.

The aim of the visit is to further strengthen legal cooperation and exchange experiences in the implementation of constitutional justice. The delegates are scheduled to have official and working meetings during the visit.

For mass media outlets wishing to receive more information about protocol coverage and the visit, please, contact the Staff of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia in advance by calling at 011-58-81-81 (180).Transitional justice cant be a tool for vendetta. This is what Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan told journalists.

According to him, the term transitional justice, that is, seizure of assets without a verdict, can be misleading. However, substantively speaking, this concerns the seizure of illegally obtained assets. Armenia has joined international treaties, and this is part of the countrys commitments. Moreover, Armenia joined the treaties during one of the terms of the previous governments, the minister recalled.

Zeynalyan stated that there is a group developing a law and that the issue of transitional justice is at the level of the National Assembly. The Ministry of Justice has conducted a study. The literature and materials have been delivered to the National Assembly. There are different models and approaches for different situations. There are no universal solutions, Zeynalyan said, adding that transitional justice cant be a tool for vendetta. According to him, it is a measure for reconciliation. He also stated that Armenia is open for cooperation with European experts.On 2 April, at the invitation of Tianjin Normal University, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the Peoples Republic of China Sergey Manasaryan delivered an open lecture titled Armenia and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Before the lecture, Ambassador Manasaryan had a meeting with President of Tianjin Normal University Zhong Yingua and discussed the opportunities for cooperation with Armenias universities. The parties reached na agreement on direct cooperation between the Armenian State Pedagogical University and Tianjin Normal University.

The lecture was devoted to the history of Armenia, the Armenian Genocide, Armenian-Chinese relations and Armenias participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and was followed by a question-and-answer session. Among the attendees were students and professors of Tianjin Normal University and other universities of Tianjin.It is very important to clarify the concepts of course and future course of the 4 days of April 2016. This is what Spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan told Tert.am, touching upon the question on how many casualties the Armenian army suffered during the Four-Day Artsakh War in April 2016.

When stating the number of casualties, it is necessary to focus on the first four days because the serious battles took place during those days. If we start counting the casualties after those four days, we can count the casualties all year long. Throughout the past three years, there have been sabotages, and the number of casualties has increased and decreased. This is why when we say the casualties of the Four-Day Artsakh War, it would be right to focus on the first 4 days, and there were 75 casualties (61 military servicemen). I would like to attach importance to the fact that half of them were officers, 12 were militia and 2 were from the reserve.

Artsrun Hovhannisyan called on people to be a little modest when talking about human lives and casualties.

When asked if those wounded during the first 4 days and those who died later are also among the 75 casualties, Hovhannisyan said the following: Fortunately, there were not that many wounded and deceased people. I cant answer the question since there were people who died later.

When told that people perhaps state the number of people who were wounded and later died when stating that there were 100 casualties, Hovhannisyan said: Even if they count all the incidents, there are 102 casualties and 4 deceased civilians. If they say 106 people, I will understand that, but they say hundreds of people died.

Artsrun Hovhannisyan also touched upon the photo being posted on social media websites and showing that Armenia suffered 140 casualties in April 2016. Perhaps the photo is being circulated intentionally. If we count all the casualties of 2016, why dont we count the casualties of 2015 and show their photos? he concluded.The US administration and Turkey should explain to the US Congress why Ankara had to buy the Russian S-400 missile system, stated Turksih Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Reuters reported.

According to him, Turkey acquired S-400, as it is an urgent need for the country.NATO is not capable enough to cover our airspace yet."

We need to work together and on Syria and other files we have been working together, Cavusoglu said. Turkey is supporting the dual track policy of NATO toward Russia, deterrence and dialogue."

He noted that Turkey has proposed to the US that they form a working group to determine that Russian S-400 missile defense systems do not pose a threat to U.S. or NATO military equipment.

It will not be integrated into the NATO system...therefore we propose the United States to establish a technical working group to make sure that this system will not be a threat - neither to (U.S.) F-35s nor the NATO systems, Cavusoglu told a panel in the United States.

According to him, Ankara should not choose between Russia and other countries, Anadolu reported.

"We are not choosing between Russia and any other allies," Cavusoglu said at a NATO event in Washington hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank.

"We don't see our relations with Russia as an alternative to our relations with others. And nobody, neither West nor Russia, should or can ask us to choose between."

"Trump himself admitted on the phone that U.S. made the mistake not to sell Patriots to Turkey and he promised Erdogan that he will take care of this issue," Cavusoglu said.

Earlier it was reported that the US has halted supply of equipment related to the stealthy F-35 fighter jet to Turkey. US officials told their Turkish counterparts they will not receive further shipments of F-35 related equipment needed to prepare for the arrival of the stealthy jet. Turkey produces some parts for the fighter. In Turkey, produced some parts for the fighter: parts of the fuselage, chassis and cockpit displays.

Washington took this step because of the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. The United States and other NATO allies fear the radar on S-400 would enable Russia to learn how to spot and track stealth jet.

On March 28, US senators introduced a bipartisan bill to prohibit the transfer of F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey until the US government certifies that Ankara will not take delivery of a Russian S-400 air defense system.

F-35 is the fifth-generation combat aircraft. The F-35 first flew on 15 December 2006.President of Iran Hassan Rouhani has criticized the US for blocking global financial channels through which it is trying to provide assistance to people devastated by floods and referred to it as an unprecedented crime, reports Mehr.

Talking about the devastating floods that took place in Iran over the past two weeks, Rouhani stated that foreign citizens and Iranian citizens living abroad arent able to transfer funds through the Iranian Red Crescent since the US governments illegal sanctions dont let organizations receive their amounts.

According to him, the US and those trying to benefit from the situation to achieve their goals, have committed an unprecedented crime. Rouhani emphasized that the Iranian people have proved that they will never retreat and wont give way to the evil conspiracies.Cebu Pacific flying to Narita from Clark

posted April 03, 2019 at 07:05 pm by Darwin G. Amojelar April 03, 2019 at 07:05 pm

Cebu Pacific said it is set to fly to Narita in Japan from Clark International Airport starting August 9 this year. The airline owned by industrialist John Gokongwei said the new international route aimed to harness the potential market of leisure travelers from Central and North Luzon. There is so much untapped potential in Clark, and we are committed to expanding our Clark hub to expand tourism, trade and investment opportunities, said Candice Iyog, vice president for marketing and distribution of Cebu Pacific. This will open up the areas around Clark to more investors and entrepreneurs, she added.Cebu Pacific earlier announced it would begin direct flights between its hubs in Clark and Iloilo, as well as between Clark and Bacolod on August 9, 2019 and daily flights between Clark and Puerto Princesa in Palawan by October 9, 2019. The four new routes will boost the airlines total capacity in Clark by 40 percent in 2019.

COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section.On 3 April, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with residents of the Arshaluys village of Armavir Province. The Prime Minister was heading towards Baghramyan Military School, and the residents had gathered near the road leading to the village and were waiting for Nikol Pashinyan.

The residents complained that upon suspension of the powers of village head Zarzand Grigoryan, his deputy Karen Simonyan was appointed acting village head. We dont want Zarzand Grigoryan or his deputy to serve as village head, the villagers complained.

It is important to understand what percentage of the population wants what because we cant provide a solution and then find out that most of the people dont want that solution, especially since this is not within the scope of activities of the government, Nikol Pashinyan said.

The residents claimed that they are against deputy village head Karen Simonyan and wont open the village council until a new acting village head is appointed. Pashinyan had a phone conversation and explained to the residents that the law doesnt allow appointing an acting village head.

The Prime Minister stated that the government will be making amendments to the Law On local self-governance that will allow making the voices of the village residents heard. We have to be guided by law, but the upcoming legislative amendments will allow you to make your voices heard, the Prime Minister said.

Since last summer, the residents of Arshaluys village have been demanding the resignation of village head Zarzand Grigoryan, who is the nephew of General Manvel Grigoryan. After a criminal case was instituted against Zarzand Grigoryan and his powers were suspended, the villagers came out to the street to protest against the deputy village head. The villagers have been keeping the village council closed for the past two months now.IS' West Africa Province Claims Killing Spies in Niger and Nigeria, Attack on "Crusader" in Lake Chad Area(Adds investor comment, market details)

By Jamie McGeever and Marcela Ayres

BRASILIA, April 2 (Reuters) - Senior Brazilian officials charged with steering pension reform through Congress insisted on Tuesday that they had ended recent political finger-pointing that threw the government's key reform bill into doubt, but some U.S. big banks were not convinced.

Brazilian stocks hit a nearly three-month low and the real fell to a six-month low last week on growing signs of political infighting and skepticism that President Jair Bolsonaro was fully committed to the political consensus-building needed to get lawmakers to pass his pension reform bill.

The message on Tuesday, however, from Vice President Hamilton Mourao, Labor and Pensions Secretary Rogerio Marinho and the government's leader in the lower house, Vitor Hugo, was that Bolsonaro is listening and ready to work with Congress.

"A page had been turned," Hugo said.

But it will take more than rallying cries of unity in Brasilia to convince some of Wall Street's biggest beasts that their clients should put any more of their money into Brazil.

Strategists at Morgan Stanley and Citi this week issued notes recommending caution, warning that although last week's slide makes Brazilian assets more attractive, it is still too early to load up on them.

"Brazil is entering crunch time in its pension reform process, with a corresponding increase in volatility," Citi's emerging market credit team wrote in a note. Both sovereign and corporate Brazilian high-yield bonds are the most vulnerable across the emerging market fixed-income universe, they added.

Markets have since recovered from last week's slide, but some investors argue they are still not seeing enough compensation for the risks involved.

"Risk premia across (Brazilian) assets remains relatively low compared to past episodes of stress, which make us reluctant to add risk at current levels," wrote Morgan Stanley strategists on Tuesday, adding that they will only consider adding exposure to Brazil if the real falls to 4.20 per dollar.

Story continues

The real closed on Tuesday at around 3.8550 per dollar, pulling back from last week's slide past 4 per dollar.

The government's plan targets over 1 trillion reais ($260 billion) in savings over the next decade from a radical overhaul of the social security system to shore up the public finances, revive the economy and boost investor confidence in Brazil.

But the proposal is likely to be watered down as lawmakers extract concessions and exemptions.

A survey run by transparency group Atlas Politico on Tuesday showed that the government currently has the support of 171 of the 308 lawmakers needed for the bill's passage in the lower house, which would send the proposal to the Senate. (Reporting by Jamie McGeever and Marcela Ayres in Brasilia Additional reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro Writing by Jamie McGeever; editing by Diane Craft and Susan Thomas)(Adds details on Governor's letter to company)

NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - PG&E Corp is expected to name Bill Johnson as chief executive of the bankrupt California energy company facing $30 billion in wildfire liabilities, as soon as Wednesday, a source familiar with the private negotiations said on Tuesday.

Johnson, who has been the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority since 2013 and is retiring on Friday, would not comment on the PG&E rumors.

A group of investors, including Knighthead Capital Management, Redwood Capital Management and Abrams Capital Management, have been pushing for Johnson to be hired.

Before joining TVA, Johnson was the chairman, president and CEO of Progress Energy from 2007-2012 before it merged with North Carolina rival Duke Energy Corp.

Another hedge fund, BlueMountain Capital Management, announced a slate of 13 directors.

Last week California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote to PG&E's interim chief executive officer expressing concern about the company's plans. He wrote, in a letter seen by Reuters, that he is "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."

BlueMountain said last week that it has already proposed a slate of nominees with relevant safety, utility and clean energy expertise, as well as significant experience in the state of California. Its slate includes hedge fund manager Jeff Ubben, who is based in California, and former California Treasurer Phil Angelides.

PG&E faces crushing liabilities related to deadly wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes.

A U.S. judge on Tuesday ordered PG&E not to pay shareholders dividends and instead use the money to fund its plan for cutting down trees to reduce the risk its equipment will spark more destructive wildfires in wooded areas of California.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Diane Craft)(Adds nuclear regulators not responding to senator's question about the approvals on information sharing with Saudi Arabia, last two paragraphs)

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. senators from both parties on Tuesday asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry for details about recent approvals for companies to share nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia, with the lawmakers expressing concern about possible development of atomic weapons.

Saudi Arabia has engaged in "many deeply troubling actions and statements that have provoked alarm in Congress," Senators Bob Menendez, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, told Perry in a letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

The senators said Congress was beginning to reevaluate the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and they believe Washington should not be providing nuclear technology or information to Saudi Arabia now.

The Trump administration has been quietly negotiating a deal that would potentially help Saudi Arabia build two reactors.

Last week news reports revealed that since November 2017, Perry has authorized so-called Part 810 approvals allowing U.S. companies to share sensitive nuclear information with the kingdom. The approvals were kept from the public and from Congress.

The senators asked Perry to provide them by April 10 with the names of the companies that got the 810 approvals, what was in the authorizations, and why the companies asked that the approvals be kept secret. U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat, also asked the Energy Department in a separate letter what was in the approvals.

While 810 agreements are routine, the Obama administration made them available for the public to read at Energy Department headquarters. Lawmakers say the department is legally required to inform Congress about the approvals.

Perry approved the seven recent authorizations as the administration has tried to hash out nonproliferation standards with Saudi Arabia. Such a pact, known as a 123 agreement, would have to be agreed before U.S. companies can share physical exports of materials and equipment to build reactors.

Story continues

The kingdom has resisted standards on reprocessing spent fuel and enriching uranium, two potential paths to making nuclear weapons.

The United States has been competing with South Korea, France, Russia and China on a potential deal to help build reactors in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is expected to announce the winner this year.

Lawmakers from both parties have been concerned about Saudi Arabia's bombing campaigns in Yemen, which is on the brink of famine, and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Concern in Congress grew last year after the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS that "Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible."

Perry has said the 810 approvals were kept from the public for corporate proprietary reasons.

He has also said that if Saudi Arabia relies on China or Russia for building nuclear reactors those two countries don't give a "tinker's damn" about non-proliferation.

Many non-proliferation experts dispute the notion that a deal with China or Russia would be riskier. These people say the United States has many other levers it can pull to influence nuclear behavior.

At another Senate hearing, the five members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including Chairman Kristine Svinicki, would not say whether the NRC raised any concerns over the 810 approvals in a required consultation with the Energy Department. Svinicki said the NRC's consulting role on the approvals is narrow and delegated to staff.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who asked the question of the NRC at the hearing, told Reuters in an interview that the commissioners' lack of knowledge about the approvals was "stunning."

"It's kind of scary because we do rely on them to provide input into this process and not a single commissioner knew anything about what input they may or may not have provided." (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by David Gregorio and James Dalgleish)(Updates with Guaido quote, comment from constitutional lawyer)

By Angus Berwick and Vivian Sequera

CARACAS, April 2 (Reuters) - Venezuela's Constituent Assembly, an all-powerful legislature controlled by the ruling Socialist Party, on Tuesday approved a measure allowing for a trial of opposition leader Juan Guaido, in what appeared to be step toward having him arrested.

Guaido, leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, in January invoked the country's constitution to assume the interim presidency after declaring President Nicolas Maduro's 2018 re-election a fraud.

He has been recognized by the United States and most other Western nations as Venezuela's legitimate leader, and has said he does not recognize decisions emanating from the Maduro government.

The Constituent Assembly's decree is necessary for the Supreme Court to move ahead with a trial of Guaido because as a legislator he has parliamentary immunity that makes it more difficult for him to be tried than the average citizen.

"This formally authorizes the continuation of the trial (of Guaido)," said Constituent Assembly Chief Diosdado Cabello, who is also the Vice President of the Socialist Party.

The Supreme Court on Monday had reiterated a previous measure blocking Guaido from leaving the country, an order which he openly violated in February when he embarked on a tour of Latin American nations to bolster support for his campaign to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor's office has opened an investigation of Guaido, into alleged links to "incidents of violence" in January, but has not ordered his detention or officially charged him with any crime.

"We are not going to evade our responsibility," Guaido told reporters in eastern Caracas after the announcement. "They thought this would be easy. But it won't be. If they want to move forward, they will have to assume the consequences."

Story continues

Constitutional lawyer Jose Vicente Haro called the decision a "constitutional fraud" that stripped Guaido of parliamentary immunity without the approval of the legislature, which under the constitution must approve such a decision.

The legislature is currently control by the opposition.

"It also violated due process, because he should have had a hearing to defend himself," said Haro in a telephone interview.

Maduro has said Guaido should "face justice" and calls him a coup-mongering puppet for the United States - but he has stopped short of calling for his arrest.

Guaido's international backers, chiefly the Trump administration, have warned Venezuelan authorities not to touch him and threatened ever harsher sanctions against the Maduro administration to further cut it off from foreign financing.

(Reporting by Angus Berwick and Vivian Sequera; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Michael Perry)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. HOW MANY WAYS YOU CAN MEASURE 1ST QUARTER OF YEAR

For Democratic presidential candidates, it is 300-plus events, 24 states and hundreds of voter questions  and that's 10 months out from the Iowa caucus.

2. LAPD IDENTIFIES SUSPECT IN NIPSEY HUSSLE SLAYING

Police are searching for 29-year-old Eric Holder, who they believe shot and killed the rapper outside his clothing store where he was trying to remake his South Los Angeles community.

3. EU CHIEF NEGOTIATOR PESSIMISTIC OF DEAL

Michel Barnier says that Britain's disorderly exit from the bloc without a deal is becoming more likely by the day, though he still hopes to avoid it.

4. CHICAGO ABOUT TO MAKE MAYORAL HISTORY

When they meet in a runoff election, either Lori Lightfoot or Toni Preckwinkle will be the first African American woman to lead the nation's third largest city.

5. WHAT MAY NEVER BE SOLVED

The real masterminds behind the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half brother may never be brought to justice.

6. POPE: WOMEN HAVE 'LEGITIMATE CLAIMS' FOR JUSTICE, EQUALITY

But Francis stops short of endorsing more sweeping calls from his own bishops to give women decision-making roles in the Catholic Church.

7. AMSTERDAM SEX WORKERS SEE RED OVER TOUR BAN

The sex workers' union questions whether banning red light district tours will reduce tourists and argues that guides educate visitors and teach respect.

8. NEW ZEALAND PASSES NEW GUN CONTROL MEASURE

Lawmakers overwhelmingly back a bill that would ban the types of weapons a gunman used last month to kill 50 people at two mosques.

9. WHO'S RUNNING FOR OFFICE

Michael Brown's mother could soon have oversight over the police department connected to her son's death, if voters in Ferguson, Missouri, elect her to the City Council.

10. 'COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER' TURNING 87

Loretta Lynn is honored like country music royalty by country and rock stars alike with gifts of flowers and songs during a concert celebrating her upcoming birthday.New SSS head eyes stronger pension fund

posted April 03, 2019 at 07:10 pm by Julito G. Rada April 03, 2019 at 07:10 pm

Newly-appointed Social Security System president and chief executive Aurora Ignacio is eyeing a stronger pension fund and better service delivery under her leadership. She was officially appointed on March 28, 2019, succeeding Emmanuel Dooc. I am grateful to President Duterte for the opportunity to serve his administration in another capacity. Rest assured that the welfare of SSS members and pensioners will always be my priority, said Ignacio in a statement Wednesday.Ignacio, 62, has been overseeing the pension fund as officer-in-charge after the resignation of former SSS chief Emmanuel Dooc in early March. Ignacio, as the new head of the SSS, will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agency as it journeys towards a strong and viable pension fund that will ensure social security protection coverage for all working Filipinos here and abroad. She has set her sights on increasing revenue and improving service delivery for the agencys clients.

COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section.Tokyo (AFP) - When the 85-year-old Japanese Emperor Akihito steps down on April 30, it will be the latest in a string of historic abdications that have included the pope and several monarchs.

As medical technology improves and lifespans grow, the concept of a lifetime of duty is gradually being eroded and abdications are becoming increasingly acceptable and frequent.

Here are some other recent abdications.

- Non habemus papam -

On February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world with an announcement that he was stepping down due to ill health, the first pontiff to abdicate for medical reasons in 700 years.

In a speech in Latin at the Vatican, the 85-year-old German-born Benedict told cardinals that "due to an advanced age" his strength was "no longer suited to an adequate exercise" of his post.

Benedict, who suffered from arthritis and had a stroke while he was still a cardinal, eventually stepped aside on February 28, sparking an outpouring of emotion from the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

The only previous pope to step down because he considered himself unable to continue was Celestine V, a simple hermit elected against his will in 1294.

His decision to back out sparked derision and Italian poet Dante Alighieri famously condemned him in "The Divine Comedy" to spend eternity in hell's antechamber for his "cowardice" in making "the great refusal".

- King of the Belgians -

In July 2013, the "King of the Belgians" Albert II announced to his divided country that he would be stepping down, saying he felt too ill and frail to continue.

"I am at an age never attained by predecessors. My age and my health do not allow me to exercise my duties as I would like," said the then 79-year-old, after 20 years on the throne of the small European country.

It was the first voluntary abdication in the history of Belgium, which gained independence from the Netherlands in 1831.

Story continues

The Belgian monarch plays a crucial role in fostering national unity in a country which is sharply divided between French-speaking Wallonia and Flemish-speaking Flanders.

- 'Trix': Queen of the Dutch' -

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands also stepped down in the abdication-heavy year of 2013, but the energetic and popular monarch did not abdicate due to ill health but rather because she wanted to pass the torch to her son Willem Alexander.

The then 74-year-old told the nation: "I'm not standing down because public service is too heavy for me, but because of the belief that responsibility for our country should be in the hands of a new generation."

Thousands of Dutch party-goers wearing orange suits, wigs and sunglasses, flooded the streets of Amsterdam to celebrate the handover of power to their first king in more than 120 years.

- Carlos's reign in Spain -

In June 2014, King Juan Carlos of Spain stepped down in favour of his son, bringing to a close a 39-year reign that won praise for guiding the country to democracy after the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975 but also had its share of scandals.

Carlos walked with a cane after several hip operations but, like Queen Beatrix, justified his abdication by saying that "a younger generation deserves to step into the front line".

His reign was marred by a corruption scandal implicating the king's youngest daughter Cristina and her husband, and he outraged Spaniards in 2012 by going on a luxurious African elephant-hunting safari during a recession.

- A rare Arab abdication in Qatar -

Also in 2013, the emir of gas-rich Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, abdicated after 18 years on the throne -- a rarity in the Arab world.

The emir, then 61, suffered from kidney problems but officials insisted his motivation for stepping down was not health-related but rather a determination to bring a younger leadership to the fore.

His son Sheikh Tamim, then 33, took over.WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump eased up Tuesday on his threats to shut the southern border this week as officials across his administration explored half-measures that might satisfy the president's urge for action, like stopping only foot traffic at certain crossings.

Facing a surge of Central American migrants trying to enter the U.S., Trump last week threatened to seal the border this week if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the U.S., a move that would have enormous economic consequences on both sides of the border.

While Trump on Tuesday did not back off the idea completely, he said he was pleased with steps Mexico had taken in recent days and renewed his calls for Congress to make changes he contends would solve the problem.

"Let's see if they keep it done," he said of Mexico. "Now, if they don't, or if we don't make a deal with Congress, the border's going to be closed, 100%." He also said that he might only close "large sections of the border" and "not all of it." He added that his posturing was "the only way we're getting a response."

Later Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen held an emergency call with Cabinet members and White House aides, saying, "We are going to treat it as if we have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane," according to a person on the call. The person was not authorized to discuss the call publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Nielsen was creating an emergency operations center and named U.S. Border Patrol official Manny Padilla as an operational crisis coordinator to manage the response from within the different immigration agencies at the Department of Homeland Security. Padilla is a 30-year Border Patrol veteran and was recently the head of the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas.

His job will be different from that of the immigration or "border czar" that Trump is considering, the official said.

Story continues

Closing the border completely would disrupt manufacturing supply lines and the flow of goods ranging from avocados to cars, making for a "potentially catastrophic economic impact," in the words of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.

Some inside the administration also worry it would only exacerbate illegal immigration.

Meantime, administration officials grappled with how they might minimize the impact of a shutdown or implement less sweeping actions.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, for example, told CNBC he's been looking at potentially keeping truck lanes open.

"We are looking at different options, particularly if you can keep those freight lanes, the truck lanes, open," he said. As for the hundreds of thousands of tourists and workers who cross the border legally, Kudlow said, "that may be difficult."

Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had told reporters that, while, "Eventually, it may be that it's the best decision that we close the border," the president was "not working on a specific timeline" and all options remained on the table. The Council of Economic Advisers, she said, was conducting a number of studies on the impact, and "working with the president to give him those options."

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in an appearance on MSNBC that closing only certain entry ports, or parts of all of them, could be among the steps short of closing the entire border.

It was a shift from Trump's threat late last week to seal the whole border, and quickly. "I am not kidding around," he said then, exasperated by the swelling numbers of migrants, thousands of whom were being released into the U.S. because border officials had no space for them. Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, a 12-year high. More than half of those are families with children, who require extra care.

With southern border facilities near a breaking point, U.S. officials are busing many migrants hundreds of miles inland and dropping them off at bus stations and churches. Trump has mocked and vowed to end that "catch and release" practice but overwhelmed authorities saw no choice.

Responding to Trump's threats, Nielsen rushed home late Monday night from Europe, where she was attending G7 security meetings and intended to fly to the border mid-week to assess the impact of changes already made, including reassigning some 2,000 border officers assigned to check vehicles to deal with migrant crowds and new efforts to return more asylum seekers to Mexico as they wait out their case.

Officials were hoping to have as many as 300 asylum seekers returned to Mexico per day by the end of the week near Calexico and El Paso in Texas and San Ysidro in California. Right now, only 60 a day are returned.

Nielsen has also requested volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department and sent a letter to Congress seeking more money and detention space and broader authority to deport families faster. The request was met with disdain by Democrats.

Even absent the extraordinary step of sealing a national border, delays at border stations have been mounting due to the personnel reassignments, Homeland Security officials said. When the Otay Mesa, California, entry port closed for the night Monday, 150 trucks were still waiting to get into the U.S.

Shutting certain border stations or parts of them would not be unprecedented. Over the Thanksgiving holiday last year, Trump claimed he'd already "closed the border" after officials briefly closed the northbound lanes at San Ysidro, California, for several hours in the early morning to bolster security because of concerns about a potential influx of migrant caravan members.

Mexican officials announced Monday they'd pulled 338 Central American migrants 181 adults and 157 children off five passenger buses in a southern state that borders Guatemala, and said they had detained 15 possible smugglers on immigration law violations. But that was not unusual for Mexico, which has for years been cracking down on migration.

In 2014 then-President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a program that was described as ensuring orderly migration but in practice resulted in making it much more difficult for Central Americans to transit.

___

Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey and Darlene Superville in Washington and Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

___

Follow Colvin and Long on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj and https://twitter.com/ctlong1WASHINGTON  When it went shopping for new Afghan army uniforms, the Pentagon ending up outfitting soldiers in the most expensive and one of the least effective camouflage designs.

In a new report the U.S. military has sought to keep quiet, American taxpayers footed the $28 million bill for the poor choice of 430,000 uniforms.

Id hate to be an Afghan soldier wearing that uniform," said John Sopko, the U.S. Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. "Its like having shoot me written on the back.

The report backs the finding in 2017 of the Inspector General that determined the Pentagon had wasted as much as $28 million buying uniforms with woodland camouflage pattern appropriate for about 2% of mostly arid Afghanistan.

The first three patterns, from the left, were determined to be the least detectable and least expensive of all seven. However, the pattern selected for 430,000 uniform sets for the Afghan military was the Hyperstealth Spec4cd Forest, far right, which with the BDU Woodland design was the most detectable. And Hyperstealth was the most expensive.

With U.S. military consent, the Afghan defense minister chose the proprietary camouflage pattern that required paying licensing fees despite having more effective patterns owned by the Pentagon. The pattern had not been tested for its suitability in Afghanistan until Congress required a new study in 2018.

That report, which was labeled, For Official Use Only, was obtained by USA TODAY.

The Afghan uniform "is the most expensive of seven patterns tested and, along with BDU Woodland Forest, is the most detectable," according to the findings of the new report. The pattern known as Spec4ce Forest, is the only one of the seven that requires the Pentagon to pay licensing fees.

Then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was outraged by the wasteful spending. He warned the Pentagon bureaucracy in a memo that such "cavalier or casually acquiescent decisions to spend taxpayer dollars in an ineffective and wasteful manner are not to recur."

The inspector general determined that the Pentagon could save as much as $71 million over the next 10 years by switching to a new camouflage scheme. As of 2017, the Pentagon had spent $93 million to buy 1.3 million uniforms in the forest camouflage pattern for the Afghan army.

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Since the war began, there have been 2,400 U.S. troops killed in action.

The new study noted that Congress has required the Pentagon to determine if there is a more effective alternative uniform. The Pentagon commissioned a study by a West Point professor of cognitive science to examine the uniform best suited to Afghanistan.

A choice of the Spec4ce Forest design could hardly have been worse, when cheaper, more effective alternatives were available, the report concluded.

"Uniforms that used the three patterns determined to be the least detectable would be the least expensive to procure," according to the report.

Findings in the study were revealed Wednesday at a House Oversight committee hearing on reconstruction in Afghanistan. Since 2002, the U.S. has spent $132 billion to train and equip Afghan security forces, support its government, protect women's rights and improve health and education, according to the inspector general.

Those investments have failed to stabilize the country, which continues to struggle with Taliban insurgents, corruption and poverty. A recent report by Sopko noted that negotiations that result in peace present challenges if the Taliban fail to reintegrate into Afghan society.

Sopko, in testimony Wednesday, said he assumed that the poor choice of uniforms is due to bribery. In the end, Afghan soldiers pay the highest price, he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Afghan army picked the camo pattern most likely to get its troops shot and we paid for itBy Ross Kerber and Suzanne Barlyn

(Reuters) - Insurer American International Group Inc said on Tuesday it paid Chief Executive Officer Brian Duperreault $20.9 million in 2018 while also outlining a series of reforms to its pay practices in the face of shareholder criticism.

The pay, for Duperreault's first full year at the helm of the insurer, was less than half the $43.1 million he received in 2017, which included a $12 million cash bonus and other one-time awards.

At its annual meeting in 2018, only 62 percent of shareholder votes backed the pay, an unusually low number compared with the roughly 95 percent support that major U.S. companies typically receive in such votes. So-called say-on-pay votes are nonbinding but low results often spur directors into action to guard against losing their own seats.

AIG now hopes to win over some of the skeptical investors at this years annual meeting, set for May 21 in New York. Potentially making the task harder will be that shares of the company declined 34 percent in 2018.

Duperreault, known in the insurance industry as a turnaround expert, took charge of AIG in May 2017.

In its proxy, filed on Tuesday, AIG listed a number of steps it has taken in response to shareholder concerns, including tying executive pay more directly to share performance.

For instance, the company said that although Duperreault could have achieved a short-term incentive award of $3.456 million, the board reduced that to $3.04 million in order to reflect shared accountability for overall company performance.

Other changes include an initiative to increase diversity among board members and ensuring that board member nominees who are also chief executive officers and up for election this year serve on only one outside board.

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Matthew Lewis)By Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to six weeks of largely peaceful mass protests driven by youth and pressure from the powerful army against his 20-year rule.

Hundreds took to the streets of the capital after the announcement of the 82-year-old's departure, capping protests which called for the removal of an elite seen by many as out of touch with ordinary people and presiding over an economy riven by cronyism.

Earlier in the day, army chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah demanded the veteran ruler, who has been long in poor health, be declared immediately unfit for office.

State TV later showed a frail-looking Bouteflika, dressed in a traditional winter robe, handing his resignation letter to the head of a constitutional council. Also present was Abdelkader Bensalah, chairman of the upper house of parliament, who will run the country for 90 days until elections are held.

"I have taken this step because I am keen to put an end to the current bickering," Bouteflika said in a letter released on state media, using his main means of communication since suffering a stroke in 2013 and largely disappearing from public view.

Western powers, some of which had demanded a peaceful solution, will be relieved that Bouteflika has quit, valuing stability in the OPEC oil producer, which is also a key gas supplier for Europe and partner to fight militants.

Analysts say it was unclear whether the demonstrations will end, however. They were started initially to protest Bouteflika's plan to seek a fifth mandate but then widened to include calls from some youth and lawyers for wider reforms.

As Bouteflika's grip on power started to loosen over recent days, some protesters began shifting their focus to rejecting a caretaker government appointed on Sunday.

The lineup included respected technocrats but was headed by Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, who the opposition said was too close to the ruling elite dominated by business tycoons and veteran fighters of the 1954-62 independence war with France.

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"What is important to us is that we do not accept the (caretaker) government," Mustapha Bouchachi, a lawyer and protest leader, told Reuters before Bouteflika quit. "Peaceful protests will continue."

Hundreds of students marched early on Tuesday through the capital Algiers, calling for a new system in a country where more than one in four Algerians under the age of 30 - some 70 percent of the population - are unemployed.

Bouteflika's supporters had sought to stop the dissent by evoking the 1990s when some 200,000 were killed in civil war with Islamists, warning even of a scenario like Syria, embroiled in an eight-year-long conflict.

But only around one person was confirmed to have died during the protests, a man believed to be around 60 years old who suffered a heart attack, with most rallies peaceful and protesters cleaning up the streets before going home.

In Egypt, more than 800 people were killed in the 2011 uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak.

CHANGES

Algeria has transformed during the protests, with people losing fear of criticizing the government and state media first ignoring and then, after a mutiny of reporters, covering the dissent.

Supporters in the ruling FLN party and business people gradually abandoned Bouteflika. The military at first stayed in the barracks but step by step increased pressure, first only indirectly in an army magazine editorial saying the military shared the same vision as the people.

Then chief of staff Salah proposed last week to invoke a constitutional clause to remove Bouteflika on health grounds.

In another sign the end was approaching, several oligarchs close to his camp had been banned from travelling abroad in the past few days.

Tuesday started like any other weekday since the protests began, with some students protesting and others going to work after joining a mass rally on Friday, Algeria's weekend.

With many at home or in restaurants at dinner time, TV stations flashed a blitz of comments from Salah that Bouteflika's removal should happen immediately.

"There is no more room to waste time ... We decided clearly ... to stand with the people so all their demands get fulfilled," Salah said after a meeting with senior officers, state news agency APS said.

A veteran of Algeria's war for independence and the only leader many Algerians have known, Bouteflika was first elected president in 1999 and established himself by ending the civil war.

He had only on Monday said he would quit before the end of his term on April 28 without giving a date. He had also vowed to undertake unspecified measures for the sake of stability, making many wonder what would happen next.

An hour later, he announced he was standing down in a statement posted by APS on Twitter.

Hundreds took to the streets in the city centre, where the Feb. 22 mass protests first broke out, waving Algerian flags.

"The army and the people are one" and "Game over", banners read.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Elsherif and Dalia Nehme; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by John Stonestreet and Sonya Hepinstall)United Nations (United States) (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said he looks forward to a peaceful and democratic transition in Algeria following the resignation of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The 82-year-old ailing leader, who had been in power in Algiers for two decades, stepped down after weeks of street protests against his rule.

Guterres "salutes the mature and calm nature in which the Algerian people have been expressing their desire for change," said a UN statement.

"He looks forward to a peaceful and democratic transition process that reflects the wishes of the Algerian people."Algiers (AFP) - Flag-waving Algerians have celebrated the resignation of veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but vowed Wednesday to keep protesting to demand sweeping change to the country's political system.

The 82-year-old's departure, announced on state media late Tuesday, followed weeks of massive demonstrations that have shaken the North African nation.

Car horns sounded on the streets before jubilant crowds converged in the centre of the capital Algiers to cheer his departure.

Many Algerians have never known any president other than Bouteflika, who held power for two decades but was rarely seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.

Protesters in Algiers welcomed his departure but said they were determined to continue demonstrating, rejecting any transition that leaves power in the hands of the "system".

"I want my daughter to remember this historic day. Bouteflika's gone, but it's far from over," said 35-year-old Amal, who wore a T-shirt with the slogan "I am against the system" and vowed to march again on Friday.

For 44-year-old engineer Hamid Boumaza, Bouteflika's resignation was "too little, too late".

"Bouteflika's departure is no longer enough. We want them all to go. We want full freedom and we will march for as long as necessary."

- 'Appeasement of hearts' -

Algeria's Constitutional Council said Wednesday it had accepted Bouteflika's resignation and informed parliament that his post was officially vacant.

Some 20 Algerian civil society groups said they would refuse a transition of power that kept the same structure in place, calling for protests Friday for "democratic change".

"Bouteflika's resignation... is a first victory... but it is not enough," they said in a joint statement.

Algeria's constitution says that the speaker of the upper house of parliament, currently 77-year-old Abdelkader Bensalah, should now act as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organised.

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Algeria has largely avoided the turmoil unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings that brought down rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Libya.

But discontent, particularly among the young, turned to anger after Bouteflika announced in February that he would seek a fifth term in office in an election that had been scheduled for this month.

He dropped his bid in the face of the mass protests but also postponed the vote, angering Algerians who saw the move as a ploy to stay in power.

Pressure mounted Tuesday when armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah called for the president's impeachment, insisting the military's "sole ambition" was to "protect the people".

Soon after, state television announced that Bouteflika had submitted his resignation to the Constitutional Council.

The decision aimed "to contribute to the appeasement of the hearts and minds of my compatriots, to allow them to take Algeria towards a better future to which they legitimately aspire," his resignation letter read.

Footage showed Bouteflika, dressed in a beige North African tunic and sitting in his wheelchair, handing the letter to the council's head, Tayeb Belaiz.

In another letter published Wednesday by state news agency APS, he offered his apologies to the Algerian people for "every shortcoming", but said he was "proud" of his contribution to the country.

"I leave the political stage without sadness or fear for the future of our country," he wrote.

"God is witness to my sincerity and my loyalty."

Although credited with helping foster peace after Algeria's decade-long civil war, Bouteflika has faced criticism for perceived authoritarianism.

Former prime minister-turned-rival Ali Benflis said his departure was the "woeful epilogue" to the past two decades and praised the protest movement as "a peaceful people's revolution".

- Calls for 'democratic transition' -

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised "the mature and calm nature in which the Algerian people have been expressing their desire for change," said a UN statement.

"He looks forward to a peaceful and democratic transition process that reflects the wishes of the Algerian people," it added.

The United States said the future of the country "is for the Algerian people to decide".

Long-time ally Russia called for a transition without foreign "interference".

The foreign minister of former colonial power France, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said he was confident Algeria's "democratic transition" could continue "in the same spirit of calm and responsibility" seen in recent weeks.

Algerian business tycoon and long-time Bouteflika backer Ali Haddad was placed in detention Wednesday, days after being arrested while trying to cross into Tunisia with undeclared currency and two passports.

Haddad, described by Forbes as one of Algeria's wealthiest entrepreneurs, was widely seen as a political tool of Bouteflika.

The judiciary has launched graft investigations and, local media report, banned a dozen Bouteflika-linked businessmen from leaving the country.Jesus, Michael and Annette Martinez participated in American Airlines' "It's Cool to Fly" program for children with autism. (Photo Courtesy of Annette Martinez)

A family in California is expressing their gratitude for American Airlines after they were able to participate in the airlines Its Cool to Fly program, which allowed 50 local children with autism take part in a mock flight to prepare them for air travel.

The Autism Society of San Diego told Yahoo Lifestyle that it was contacted to take part in the airlines fifth annual event, which is held at at different airports across the country during April, which is National Autism Awareness Month. On Saturday, one of those simulated flights happened at San Diego International Airport, where families with children on the autism spectrum had the opportunity to get extra assurance that their child could handle the experience.

Annette and Jesus Martinez are parents to 8-year-old Michael Edward Martinez, whose form of autism places him just between those who are higher and lower functioning. Annette told Yahoo Lifestyle that flying is something that would likely make her son fairly anxious, but the mock flight experience came at the right time for the family.

Getting used to something new, changes and everything are really difficult, and him not being in control, she explained. Weve always driven because we didnt know how Michael would do with flying, so when I got this email from the Autism Society of San Diego informing us that there was going to be this event, I told my husband that it was the perfect thing for Michael to do.

The family, who lives in Calexico, Calif., has two older sons who live on military bases  one in Tampa Bay, Fla., and another in Seattle, Wash. and the visits to see them have proven to be difficult journeys to make by car. But on April 20, the family will be taking their first flight out to Florida with Michael. Michael has his own calendar marking April 20, which has allowed him to get excited about the trip, and even made Saturdays experience more valuable, his parents said. Although Jesus said that theyve had to do work at home to ensure that Michael knew that they would just be taxing on the tarmac on Saturday, and not actually flying.

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Jesus sat alongside his son, Michael, as they taxied around the tarmac. (Photo Courtesy of Annette Martinez)

Hes been saying, Dad I wanna fly, I wanna go on a trip, Jesus said. So we actually had to let him know like a week ahead that were gonna go practice on Saturday, fly out April 20, practice on Saturday. Otherwise, he probably was gonna think that we were gonna fly out and he wouldve probably gotten very disappointed.

Annette added that they spent additional time with Michaels specialized therapist to prepare him for the mock experience, and couldnt have imagined that it would go so well.

We did everything exactly like we were actually leaving, so we were so surprised how the airport was packed, people were getting off the planes, we had to let him know that we wait for people to get off the planes and then were gonna board, she said. So [the airline] didnt do anything different so that when our kids actually go on a flight they dont say, We didnt do this.

The children and their families even went through security and dealt directly with TSA, who took extra time to explain the process to those going through their metal detectors for the first time. American Airlines employees then took the children toward the windows by their gate to look at the plane that they were going to board. Once they were all onboard, the captain and flight attendants went through regular protocol prior to taxing around the tarmac. Then passengers went through preparation for landing before getting off the plane.

Michael and an American Airlines employee look out at the plane on the tarmac. (Photo Courtesy of Annette Martinez)

Now, the family is not only feeling more comfortable for their upcoming trip, but also thankful for the support of those who were involved in the experience  including the American Airlines volunteers as well as the other families who were on the mock flight.

Not only did we have this experience, but we got to become friends with families, Annette shares. American Airlines, the crew, the airport, it was just amazing. I told my husband they couldnt have done a better job, were very grateful for what they did for our children.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.A Japanese steel company will bring the latest technology to the Philippines to produce gear parts for industrial robots and specialty steel products for the domestic and foreign markets. Taiyo Subic Philippines Corp., a subsidiary of integrated special steel trading firm Taiyo Shoji Co. Ltd., leased a 6,200-square-meter facility at the Subic Techno Park in Subic Bay Freeport Zone. Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman and administrator Wilma Eisma said Taiyo Subic initially sub-leased a property with Nidec Subic Philippine Corp., another Japanese company which manufactures spindle motors for hard disk drives. But Taiyo Subic has committed to construct its own factory here within this year at the cost of P142.5 million. This only goes to show the continuing confidence among Japanese investor-companies in Subic, she said. She said the initial investments of Taiyo Subic could reach P392.5 million. The new company established its presence in Subic to import and export special steel materials and manufacture parts for use in the automobile industry, industrial and plant machinery and information technology. Taiyo Subic will import materials from Taiyo Japan and Daido Steel Co. which are considered among the worlds largest specialty steel manufacturers. It will refine the metal and supply precision materials and gear parts to companies here and abroad.Taiyo Subic plans to supply Nidec Subic with 100,000 units of speed reducers per month by March 2020. Eisma said the entry of another Japanese manufacturer heralded the resurgence of Japanese investments in Subic Bay. Nidec Shimpo, a sister company of Nidec Subic, launched in January an entirely new product line for super-silent speed reducers that are not manufactured elsewhere in the world. This was followed in March by the opening of a research and product development facility by Sanyo Denki Philippines Inc. also at Subic Techno Park. Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda, who graced the Nidec Shimpo inauguration, said the new projects showed the continuing Japanese investor confidence in the Philippines business potential.A massive search-and-rescue effort was underway Wednesday in Uganda after an American tourist and a local guide were ambushed and kidnapped by four armed men demanding a $500,000 ransom, Ugandan police said.

The attack took place Tuesday in the Queen Elizabeth National Park, a sprawling wildlife refuge more than 200 miles west of the capital Kampala.

The American was identified by police as Kimberley Sue Endecdott, 35, from California, who was taken along with her Ugandan driver, Jean, Paul, when their vehicle was ambushed by the gunmen, Reuters reported.

The kidnappers, using the victims phone, demanded the ransom. "We strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind the kidnap," the statement said.

The police statement said Endecott had entered Uganda on March 29 and flew to the park the following day.

An elderly couple who was also at the scene were not taken. They contacted the camp manager, who rescued them, according to police police spokesperson Polly Namaye. The BBC reports that a second couple with the group was also unharmed.

The U.S. Embassy in Kampala was informed, Namaye said. A State Department spokeswoman said only that U.S. officials were aware of the kidnapping report and the response by Ugandan security forces.

Namaye said authorities set up roadblocks and cut off the border between Uganda and the Congo in the area. Ugandan security forces, police and game wildlife officers collaborated in the manhunt.

"We strongly believe the perpetrators and victims could still be trapped within our search area," the statement said. "We are hopeful that our efforts will lead to their successful recovery."

The park, in western Uganda, is about 750 square miles of savanna and tropical forest. It sits between two lakes at the base of the Rwenzori Mountains and is home to buffalo, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, elephants, leopards, lions and chimpanzees.

"We want to further reassure the public that this is the first incident of this kind," the statement said. "Those planning to visit the National Park and its surroundings should not be discouraged. Strengthened safety measures have been put in place for both the local residents and visitors."

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In 1994, eight tourists, including an American couple, were hacked or bludgeoned to death in the Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest by a band of rebels armed with rifles, machetes and spears, according to The New York Times. Four Ugandan park employees were also slain in the campsites.

The killers were were ethnic Hutu rebels, according to the State Department and survivors.

Uganda is a landlocked, economically challenged nation of 43 million people. The CIA "Factbook" for Uganda credits Yoweri Museveni, president since 1986, with bringing relative political stability and economic growth.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: American woman kidnapped in Uganda; $500K ransom demandedKAMPALA, April 3 (Reuters) - An American woman and her Ugandan driver have been kidnapped from Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwest Uganda by gunmen demanding a ransom of $500,000, police said on Wednesday.

Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, and Ugandan driver Jean Paul were on a game drive when their vehicle was ambushed by four gunmen on Tuesday evening, a police statement said.

An elderly couple who were also at the scene were not taken, and they raised the alarm, the police said.

RELATED: High-profile kidnapping cases

The identity of the kidnappers was unclear. The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab has carried out attacks in Uganda in the past, but has never kidnapped anyone for ransom there.

The park, Uganda's most visited, is located about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the capital Kampala, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home to many fragmented rebel groups.

Police said initial indications were that the kidnapping was financially motivated, since the group had quickly made a demand using Endecott's cellphone.

"We strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind this kidnap," they said. "The Joint Security teams have cut off all exit areas on the border between Uganda and the DRC in search of the victims."

The police believe the group may still be in the park, their statement said.

The U.S. embassy in Kampala said it would be issuing a statement later.

In 1999, an American couple, four Britons and two New Zealanders were killed along with four Ugandan guides when their group was ambushed by gunmen in Uganda's Bwidi Impenetrable Forest. Survivors said the killers appeared to be Hutu rebels based in Congo.

Bwidi Forest begins about 20 km (12 miles) south of Queen Elizabeth National Park. (Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Kevin Liffey)Paris (AFP) - France this week kicks off meetings under its presidency of the club for the world's seven most developed nations as questions mount over the relevance of the group at a time of tension between Europe and the United States.

President Emmanuel Macron has laid out an ambitious set of goals for his country's Group of Seven (G7) presidency, which will culminate with a summit in the resort of Biarritz in August as the young leader seeks to burnish his credentials as a world statesman despite unrest at home.

But the French presidency is already shadowed by the fiasco of the last G7 summit in Canada, which ended in acrimony when US President Donald Trump refused to sign the final communique in a bitter spat over trade.

Trump's foreign policy, meanwhile, has prompted divisions with European allies unprecedented since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, in particular over his pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

- 'Relevance of the G7' -

Foreign ministers from the G7 -- the United States, Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Britain and Japan -- are to meet on Friday and Saturday in the northern French resort of Dinard. The talks are preceded by a gathering of interior ministers in Paris on Wednesday and Thursday.

But in an early troubling sign of Washington's enthusiasm, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo won't be attending the Dinard meeting, with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan representing Washington instead.

The snub is all the more bruising given that the United States is due to assume the G7 presidency in 2020.

"It is quite complicated. And this is not just with Europe but also the other non-US actors" in the G7, said Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, senior policy fellow and head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"The French presidency does not just come after the Canadian one. It comes before the US one. The feeling in many circles is that this could be very important for the relevance of the G7 as a forum," he told AFP.

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Benjamin Haddad, director of the Future Europe initiative at the Atlantic Council, said the previous "G7s have not been very successful" and Trump did not favour multilateralism.

But he added "there will always be eagerness to work on areas of cooperation," for example on dealing with China, as European capitals begin to indicate a tougher stance on Beijing.

- 'Macron very involved' -

Questions about the relevance of the G7 had intensified after the founding in 1999 of the G20 group of the 20 most developed nations, including China and fellow developing economic giant India, which are not in the G7.

The G7 dates back to a first meeting hosted outside Paris by French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1975 of six states, which later grew to seven with the addition of Canada.

Russia joined in the late 1990s but was ejected in 2014 following Vladimir Putin's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

"The aim is to build a consensus on the issues," said a French diplomatic source, who asked not to be identified, ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers.

Recalling the acrimony during the Canadian presidency, the source added: "One of the challenges of the French presidency will be to manage all that. The president is very involved himself and we are in constant dialogue with our American counterparts."

- 'Room for convergence' -

Macron has made the fight against inequality as globalisation intensifies the priority of the French G7 presidency, a goal aimed to resonate strongly at home with his government still facing the ire of "yellow vest" protesters on the streets of Paris.

France particularly wants to fight against inequality caused by environmental damage and the growing use of artificial intelligence, sending a message that while globalisation is to be welcomed, those who miss out must be helped.

"It is striking to see Macron promoting a bold and ambitious agenda," Lafont Rapnouil said.

He said it was possible to find common ground on issues less divisive than trade, such as the fight against terrorism and cybercrime, but the question would always remain if leaders could agree to texts drafted by their officials.

"In Canada it flew and then Trump decided it was not for him. It will be interesting to see if there is room for convergence."Sarah Palin called it a "gut punch" to be "publicly disinvited" to Sen. John McCain's funeral last year.

Palin, the former Alaska governor, was McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election and was the first woman nominated by the Republican Party to be vice president.

In a television interview on "Good Morning Britain" on Monday, Palin said she was surprised to find she was on the list of people who had been close with McCain who didn't get an invite to the funeral.

"They didn't have to embarrass me and embarrass others," she said. "And it wasn't just me, it was other good people in our campaign back in 2008 who were very, very loyal to Senator McCain."

Cindy McCain: Late senator's wife tweets aggressive message she received about husband, Meghan McCain

McCain-Trump feud: What's driving the feud? War record, Obamacare among the themes

In "The Restless Wave," his final memoir, out in April 2018, McCain, R-Ariz., said he regretted choosing Palin as his running mate. He said he wished he had gone with his friend former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.

But in the same book, McCain defended Palin.

"She stumbled in some interviews, and had a few misjudgments in the glare of the ceaseless spotlight and unblinking cameras," McCain wrote. "Those missteps, too, are on me. She didn't put herself on the ticket. I did. I asked her to go through an experience that was wearing me down, that wears every candidate down. I made mistakes and misjudgments, too."

Palin attributes the ridicule she faced during and after the 2008 race to a poorly run presidential campaign. The GOP ticket lost to Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

"They were looking for someone to blame for the really crappy type of campaign they ran," she said. "And I was a scapegoat. So that's just in the past, though. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, and I certainly learned through that."

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Palin said she and the six-term senator had "a perfectly fine relationship," and their families got along. She said she corresponded with Meghan McCain, McCain's daughter, expressing her condolences about McCain's illness, a deadly form of brain cancer. McCain died Aug. 25.

"I heard it from the media  I didn't hear it from him  that he was disappointed," Palin said.

While he was alive, McCain was always complimentary of Palin in his public remarks. "Sarah and I have maintained a very close and warm relationship," he told The Arizona Republic in 2014.

Follow Alexis Egeland on Twitter @alexis_egeland.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Gut punch': Sarah Palin embarrassed she wasn't invited to John McCain's funeralWASHINGTON  President Donald Trump mocked freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during an event with Republican lawmakers on Tuesday, telling the crowd that Democrats appear to be "petrified of her."

In his speech to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, Trump blasted Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal proposal to address climate change as "the craziest thing." He cautioned Republicans against continuing their ridicule of the proposal, explaining it could help them in 2020.

"Im only afraid that were going to be too hard on the Green New Deal and theyre not going to do it because I want them to do it," Trump said. "We dont want to have them knock it out before we run against it, so lets take it easy."

Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox

Trump continued by mocking the bill, which was defeated last week in the Senate, sarcastically calling it "a wonderful thing."

"The Green New Deal, done by a young bartender, 29 years old," Trump said, referring to the New York Democrat who worked as a bartender before winning election to Congress last year. "A young bartender, wonderful young woman."

Tucker Carlson: Fox News host says AOC is a 'moron' who 'never even raised children'

'3 Mexican countries': Ocasio-Cortez joins criticism of Fox News after '3 Mexican countries' gaffe

He continued, claiming other Democrats are afraid of Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive ideas.

"You have senators who are professionals that you guys know that have been there for a long time, white hair, everything perfect, and theyre standing behind her and theyre shaking, theyre petrified of her," Trump told the crowd.

He ended by telling Republican lawmakers that "If they beat me with the Green New Deal, I deserve to lose."

Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., unveiled the Green New Deal in February after a government report warning of the drastic consequences of climate change.

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'They have health care right now': Trump tells Republican lawmakers they'll get 'clobbered' if they don't overhaul Obamacare

Trump rally: 'AOC sucks!' chant breaks out at Trump's Michigan rally against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

The proposal 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 prescribes a broad platform supporting free housing, medical coverage and higher education for all Americans.

GOP senators ridiculed the plan because the Green New Deal's original talking points called for even further-reaching goals: a build-out of high-speed rail that would make carbon-emitting airplane travel obsolete; an end to dependence of nuclear power as well as fossil fuels; and the creation of "a sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free, food system" that would no longer rely on "farting cows."

New allegations: As Biden faces 2 more accusations of improper conduct, Trump jokes, 'You having a good time, Joe?'

More: 'That's unacceptable': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stops person who insulted Republican

A self-described Democratic socialist, Ocasio-Cortez has become a target of Republicans, who have propped her up as a leader within the Democratic Party and a symbol of the party's future.

During a rally last week for Trump, "AOC sucks!" chants broke out when the president's eldest son, Don Jr., mentioned Ocasio-Cortez and the Green New Deal.

Contributing: Ledyard King, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Theyre petrified of her': Trump mocks Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New DealWASHINGTON  Arguing that a high share of products sold on platforms such as Amazon and eBay are counterfeit, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Wednesday intended to pressure online marketplaces to better police their products.

"This president has decided that it's time to clean up this Wild West of counterfeiting and trafficking," said Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. "This can be a pair of running shoes that will fall apart on you. This can be an electronic device that can catch on fire."

Trump has had a long-running feud with Amazon, one of the world's largest companies, and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post. In tweets and public statements, Trump refers to the newspaper as the "Amazon Washington Post," and he often criticizes the company's arrangement with the Postal Service to ship packages.

Navarro cited a 2018 Government Accountability Office report that found 20 of 47 items it purchased from third-party sellers on consumer websites were counterfeit, or 43 percent. The report studied not only Amazon and eBay, but also websites for Walmart, Sears and the popular computer site Newegg.

The report did not break down the share of counterfeit products on each site.

A spokesman for eBay said the company enforces its rules on counterfeiting, and welcomes "enhanced collaboration" with law enforcement and outside groups.

"Counterfeits are not welcome on eBay and were committed to combating their sale," said spokesman Ryan Moore. "Using a combination of technology, enforcement and strong relationships, eBay has consistently been an industry leader in working to stop the online sale of counterfeit goods, which is a global issue  both online and offline."

Seattle-based Amazon "strictly prohibits the sale of counterfeit products," according to a company statement.

Trump's memorandum carries no specific policy prescriptions and instead requires members of his administration to submit a report on the issue later this year.

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President Donald Trump speaks at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner in Washington, April 2, 2019.

Navarro dismissed a question about whether Trump's move was related to his longstanding criticism of Bezos.

"I'm just going to stop you there," he told a reporter. "The answer is zero. Next question."

Contributing: David Jackson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Wild West of counterfeiting': Trump takes shot at Amazon, eBay over fake goodsQuito (AFP) - Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno said Julian Assange has "repeatedly violated" the conditions of his asylum at the country's embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has lived for more than six years.

Assange sought refuge there in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that prosecutors in Stockholm have since abandoned.

In an interview broadcast by several Ecuadoran radio stations, Moreno said: "Assange has too often repeatedly violated the agreement we have with him and his legal team," without saying whether Ecuador would withdraw asylum.

"It is not that he cannot speak freely, it is not that he cannot express himself freely, but he cannot lie, let alone hack into accounts or intercept private telephone calls" under the terms of his asylum agreement, Moreno said.

Assange has refused to leave the embassy to avoid extradition to the United States to face charges over his website publishing huge caches of hacked State Department and Pentagon files in 2010.

The Australian denies the rape claims, and said he feared Sweden would pass him on to US authorities if he was extradited. The Swedish chief prosecutor dropped proceedings against him in 2017 because going ahead and serving notice of charges would necessitate Assange's presence in court.

Moreno's comments come after the Ecuadoran government filed a formal complaint to the UN special rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci, accusing WikiLeaks of spreading private information linked to Moreno.

Photos, videos and private conversations appeared on portals such as Twitter and Facebook.

Moreno was also forced to deny allegations of corruption which surfaced on the website inapapers.org, with the president claiming he knew who was responsible for the accusations.

Relations between Assange and his embassy hosts have been deteriorating for months.

In October, Assange sued Ecuador for violating his "fundamental rights" by limiting his access to the outside world after his internet and mobile phone access were blocked back in March.

Quito accused him of breaking "a written commitment" not to interfere in Ecuador's foreign policies.

Moreno reiterated Tuesday that the government continues "to seek a solution" to Assange's situation.New Zealand lawmakers on Tuesday advanced legislation that would ban the military-style semi-automatic weapons used in the recent Christchurch mosque shootings, with the support of all but one member of the 120-person parliament.

The ban, which applies to semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that can be equipped with detachable magazines capable of holding more than five rounds, must pass two more parliamentary votes before it is signed into law.

Police Minister Stuart Nash praised lawmakers Tuesday for restricting their constituents access to weapons that endanger public safety and pointed out that unlike in the U.S., gun ownership in New Zealand is a privilege rather than a right.

We are also driven by the memory of 50 men, women, and children who were taken from their loved ones on the 15th of March, Nash said Tuesday. Their memory is our responsibility. We dont ever want to see an attack like this in our country again. We are compelled to act quickly.

Conservative lawmaker David Seymour, who cast the lone vote against the bill, cited the speed with which it was moving forward to justify his opposition.

Doing it in nine days before politicians go on their Easter break is starting to look more like political theater than public safety, Seymour said.

While it has not yet been codified as part of New Zealand law, the ban went into effect on March 21 after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern used her executive authority to immediately halt all sales of the banned weapons to prevent stockpiling.

On 15 March, our history changed forever. Now, our laws will, too, Ardern said when announcing the ban. We are announcing action today on behalf of all New Zealanders to strengthen our gun laws and make our country a safer place.

Arderns announcement came just six days after a 28-year-old Australian man used a semi-automatic rifle to murder 50 people worshipping in two mosques in Christchurch, in the deadliest spree shooting in the countrys history. The second attack, at the Linwood mosque, was interrupted after one congregant retrieved his firearm from his house and returned to confront the shooter.

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A number of American politicians, including Senators Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, praised Arderns use of executive authority and suggested the U.S. should follow suit.

This is what real action to stop gun violence looks like. We must follow New Zealand's lead, take on the NRA and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States. https://t.co/lSAisDG9Ur  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 21, 2019

More from National ReviewSydney (Reuters) - Australia's Senate censured an independent right-wing lawmaker on Wednesday for his comments that New Zealand's mosques shooting massacre which left 50 people dead was a result of letting "Muslim fanatics" migrate to the country. Senator Fraser Anning has been widely condemned for his comments made shortly after a lone gunman attacked two mosques in Christchurch on March 15. "There is no room for racism in Australia. Sadly, what Senator Anning said after the Christchurch massacre, however shocking isn't out of character," Australian Muslim Senator Mehreen Faruqi told the Senate. "Just a week before I joined this place, he gave a speech calling for a ban on people like me coming to this country." Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, has been charged with one murder following the attack and was remanded without a plea. He is due back in court on April 5, when police said he was likely to face more charges. Sitting for the first time since the attack, Australia's upper house overwhelmingly passed a censure motion against Anning - the first such public rebuke of a lawmaker in four years. A censure motion has no direct legal consequences but acts as an expression of the Senate's disapproval. Senator Anning denied he had blamed the victims, insisting the censure was an attack on his civil liberties. "This censure motion against me is a blatant attack on free speech," Anning told Reuters via email. Leaders of the major parties in the Senate condemned Anning's comments, with opposition Labor Senator Penny Wong rejecting his "free speech" defense. "There is a difference between freedom of speech and hate speech. The former is a feature of our democracy. The latter is an attack on democracy," Wong said. "This motion makes it clear he doesnt speak for us. He doesnt speak for the Senate. He doesnt speak for this nation. He doesnt represent Australian values." Anning's comments gained international attention after footage of a teenager smashing an egg on the head of the right-wing senator was widely shared on social media. (Reporting by Alison Bevege; Writing by Colin Packham; Editing by Michael Perry)Vienna (AFP) - Austria on Wednesday proposed taxing internet giants such as Google and Facebook five percent of their digital advertising revenue, a higher rate than France and other EU countries are seeking.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the tax aimed to stop the "unfairness" of internet giants who have until now routed their sales through subsidiaries in low-tax EU members.

The government hopes that the new tax, which still has to be approved by parliament, will bring in 200 million euros ($225 million) per year from 2020.

It targets businesses with an annual worldwide revenue of at least 750 million euros, of which at least 25 million euros is made in Austria.

In other plans announced on Wednesday, Austria will seek to make registration mandatory for online booking platforms, including home-sharing giant Airbnb.

The current VAT exemption for articles sold online for less than 22 euros will also be abolished as part of the changes.

Early last month, France introduced a bill for a three percent "GAFA tax" -- using an acronym for US giants Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon -- on digital advertising, websites and the resale of private data.

Finance Minister Hartwig Loeger said Austria wanted a higher tax rate than that in order to make up for all the years that internet giants avoided taxes.

Some of the additional money flowing to government coffers will be used to support the digitalisation of Austrian media, he said.

In France, the tax is to be applied retroactively on revenue from January 1, 2019, bringing in 400 million euros to the public purse this year, and 650 million by 2022.

Other countries including Britain, Spain, Japan, Singapore and India are also working on similar schemes.

After an earlier failure to reach consensus at the European Union level, France says it is now seeking "common ground" on the issue with fellow members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in order to reach a worldwide accord by next year.National Grid Corp. of the Philippines is seeking an extension of the deadline for its initial public offering plan amid the threats made by state-run National Transmission Corp. against its concession. NGCP said in a position paper delivered to the Senate by spokesman Cynthia Albanza the concession agreement was publicly threatened by TransCo. Albanza said conducting the IPO in this scenario would be disadvantageous to the government. It, thus, makes no sense and would be downright irresponsible for NGCP to proceed with the IPO and ask the public to invest in a business the basic concession of which has been publicly threatened by the government. NGCP cannot perpetrate a fraud against the investors, the company said. NGCP said it was not asking for an exemption to comply with the requirement to list its shares, but was only seeking an extension. But it wants to do so with the same honesty and transparency with which it has conducted its business. It asks that it to be allowed to do so only when it is safe for the investing public to put in their money, when there is no more threat to the concession, and when the ERC issues the definitive final determination to enable the public to invest intelligently and with confidence and thereby maximize the optimum share price and funds raised from the IPO, NGCP said. As everything goes back to the government at the end of the concession period, it is to the governments interest as well, much as it is to NGCP and the investing publics interest, that the extension is granted and the IPO is undertaken only when it is safe to do so and when share values are optimal, the company said. NGCP said while it would still comply with the requirement of listing its shares, it was asking for a reasonable extension of the period as expressly allowed under Section 8 of its franchise (Republic Act No. 9511) on the ground that the market condition was not suitable for such listing. NGCP has a pending petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission for extension of the listing of the shares.It said current market condition was not suitable for the listing and public offering in the absence of the final determination of price control arrangements from the ERC for the 4th Regulatory Period (2016-2020). NGCP said that the absence of the final determination was preventing the company from having definitive base case financial projections for an IPO. NGCP said it also has pending disputes with TransCo and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. which are now in arbitration. Due to uncertainty in NGCPs expected future earnings as well as the lack of an approved capital expenditure budget for the 4th Regulatory Period, NGCP at present cannot meet the basic components for an IPO listing and provide the optimum price for its shares. Investor confidence in NGCPs maiden entry into the capital market has to be established by ensuring sound and reliable and definitive financial information to the investing public, the company said. NGCP said it had spent the massive capital investments required of it under the concession agreement and its franchise. It said that since 2009, it had completed numerous projects nationwide amounting P151 billion. By the end of this year, NGCP will complete up to P188 billion worth of projects.Washington (AFP) - Picture an economic shockwave: Thousands of workers laid off and supermarket shelves made barren. Auto plants darkened overnight.

Precious supplies of avocados, so dear to American hearts, wiped out, while other fresh fruits and vegetables also rot in trucks, with supplies exhausted in as little as 48 hours.

Fuming over migration, President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated his threat to close the US-Mexico border -- among the busiest in the world, across which $1.7 billion in goods and hundreds of thousands of people travel in both directions every day.

This has drawn a collective gasp from economists, Congress and industry, who fear a catastrophe that could tip the world's largest economy into recession as ties with Mexico, its third-largest trading partner, grind to a halt.

"It comes close to being unthinkable," Daniel Griswold, director of the trade and immigration project at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, told AFP.

He spoke of waves of joblessness, lost business and deepened suffering among farmers who have already been hurt during Trump's multi-front trade wars with China, Europe, Canada and Mexico.

"It would be like erecting a wall in the middle of the factory floor. It would be a complete disruption and it wouldn't be immediately undone if the borders re-opened."

"The losses would be huge and grinding," he added.

Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday US officials were working to minimize the economic impact from any closure of the border -- including keeping truck lanes open.

On average, more than 17,000 trucks cross into the United States from Mexico every day, according to US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, hauling the lion's share of the $612 billion in two-way trade recorded last year.

US officials say the port of San Ysidro, which lies between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico, is the busiest land port in the Western Hemisphere, processing 70,000 northbound vehicles and 20,000 northbound pedestrians every day.

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In 2018, the largest US imports were Mexican-made autos and auto parts, which together totaled $114 billion, according to Commerce Department figures, while just in petroleum and coal products, industrial chemicals and machinery, the United States sent back more than $70 billion.

- No seatbelts? No cars -

The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement -- which Trump is seeking to replace with a revamped version -- allowed manufacturers and farmers to exploit continent-wide supply chains, taking advantage of low-cost labor in some regions and high-tech capacities in others.

Auto manufacturers have therefore interwoven their supply chains across North America, with parts produced in one country added in others, meaning motor vehicles may cross borders repeatedly before they are completed.

And halting this trade would do nothing short of drive the US economy into recession, according to Kristin Dziczek, vice president of the Center for Automotive Research.

"We see all production halting within a week," she told AFP, adding that this would result in immediate layoffs.

Just-in-time supply chains mean there are no reserves to fall back on in case of a border closure, according to Dziczek.

"As soon as they don't have one part, production stops," she said.

Mexico provides about 70 percent of all the wiring harnesses used to transmit power within US-manufactured vehicles and 60 percent of the seatbelts, meaning American auto plants would be crippled without the Mexican-made goods, she said.

"Want to buy a car without a seatbelt?" she asked, noting that it was illegal in the United States to sell incompletely assembled vehicles.

- Agricultural imports -

For each US auto assembly worker, there are seven to nine other jobs in industries directly dependant on auto production and marketing: shipping, rail, accounting, engineering, advertising, she added.

Meanwhile, Mexico is also the largest source of US agricultural imports, sending more than 6 billion pounds (2.7 million metric tons) of produce northward annually -- feeding much of America in the colder months when fresh fruits and vegetables are out of season.

Perishable tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers, mangoes and avocados do not languish in warehouses, according to Allison Moore, vice president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, Arizona.

"We're not in the storage business," Moore told AFP. "You're gonna see us run out of product in two days, max."

Research produced with the University of Arizona, a US state that sits atop a fertile corridor of farmland south of the Mexican border, shows that nationwide about 30,000 US jobs are tied just to importing Mexican tomatoes, she said.

"When there's no work at local warehouses, there are gonna be layoffs," said Moore.NEW YORK  Beto ORourke made a pitch to black voters Wednesday with a speech to African-American activists and church leaders in which he decried systemic racial injustices and praised the civil rights movement.

While critics have accused the former House member from Texas of lacking substance, ORourke offered some specific policy proposals aimed at black Americans, including support for reparations, police reform and a new iteration of the Voting Rights Act.

ORourke began his speech before the annual convention of the Rev. Al Sharptons National Action Network in Manhattan by sharing stories of individuals who fought for civil rights in his hometown of El Paso, Texas. While praising their efforts, ORourke also decried the lack of progress in the past 50 years.

I have thought for a long time that that is the history of change and civil rights and the path forward, a courage, a perseverance that leads to success, ORourke said. But when I look at the facts and I listen to those whom I wish to serve as president  I see something different, something foundationally, systematically wrong in this country.

While the subject matter was not new for ORourke, the prominence of Sharpton and his organization in the black community drew a crush of media attention.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Texas congressman Beto ORourke speaks during the National Action Network Convention in Manhattan on Wednesday. (Photo: Seth Wenig/AP)

ORourke went on to rattle off a series of issues to illustrate his point that racial equity in America remained an elusive goal.

We have an infant mortality discrepancy between white and black America that is worse today than it was in 1850, 15 years before the abolition of slavery. We have a maternal mortality crisis in this country that is three times as deadly for women of color, the presidential candidate said.

ORourke then turned to criminal justice reform.

We put more of our people behind bars per capita than any other country on the face of the planet, disproportionately black and brown, he said. Now, we are arresting people for possession of a substance that is legal in more than half the states of the country.

Story continues

ORourke also pointed out that marijuana convictions can prevent people from obtaining employment as well as from receiving financial aid for their education.

This schoolhouse to jailhouse pipeline and this problem of mass incarceration is much deeper than our police and our courts. It is our country, and we absolutely must face it, ORourke said.

ORourke then addressed the issue of voting rights, a major concern of civil rights activists. He framed the issue by criticizing voter ID laws, gerrymandering and dark money as an effort by some to aggregate power. Democracy, ORourke continued, was the only response to this concentration of wealth, and power, and privilege in the country.

Not only must we sign into law a new Voting Rights Act so that every single Americans vote counts and they count equally, not only must we end gerrymandering and big unaccountable money in our politics, we must make sure that we have same-day and automatic voter registration in every single county and every single state throughout the United States of America, ORourke said.

ORourke addressed two questions posed by the Rev. Al Sharpton during the National Action Network Convention in New York on Wednesday. (Photo: Seth Wenig/AP)

ORourke wrapped up his remarks after about 11 minutes, but before he left, Sharpton pressed him with a pair of policy questions that seemed to be a nod to ORourkes reputation for generalities.

Before he leaves  and I think he was specific  I want to ask one or two questions, Sharpton said.

The reverend noted that earlier this year, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, introduced legislation to establish a commission that would consider reparations proposals for African-Americans to mitigate the impact of slavery and segregation. Sharpton asked ORourke if, as president, he would sign that bill if it passed.

Yes, ORourke said, prompting cheers from the packed hotel ballroom.

ORourke pointed toward someone who yelled at him from the crowd and said, I appreciate the woman who asked me to say yes or no.

Noting his groups work on cases of police violence, Sharpton then pointed to President Trumps decision to cut the use of consent decrees between the Justice Department and police departments. These agreements allowed the federal government to push for court-enforced changes in local police departments that were found to have persistent civil rights issues. Sharpton asked ORourke if he would bring back the practice.

The answer to this one is also yes, said ORourke.

ORourke stressed support for police officers and sheriffs deputies and their incredibly difficult job, but emphasized the need for accountability for the enforcement of law.

There must be accountability for use of force, ORourke said. Federal funds to local police departments and sheriffs departments must be tied to accountability, fully transparent reporting for use of force, and justice for those who use force illegally.

ORourke is one of 12 Democratic candidates who are scheduled to speak at the National Action Network convention this week. Before ORourke spoke, Sharpton noted his organization has played a role in the Democratic primary since 2000.

People running for office come. Were not here to heckle them. Were here to hear them. Well heckle them at the polls if weve got to, but they need to all respect us  to come and address us. Anybody that does not address us does not respect us, Sharpton said.

In his introduction, Sharpton referenced the widespread attention ORourke received during his unsuccessful campaign for Senate in Texas last year. Sharpton said ORourke emerged as a rock star during that race. ORourke earned his attention, Sharpton said, by speaking out in support of athletes right to kneel during the national anthem.

That was not a politically expedient statement, Sharpton said, adding, Then I caught him talking about white privilege, and I had never seen a major white candidate for president talk about white privilege.

Despite saying ORourke had caught his eye, Sharpton expressed skepticism about the candidate.

Im suspicious of rock stars, Sharpton said. You know James Brown raised me.  I know the difference between whats live and Memorex.

After ORourkes speech, he had clearly earned some fans in the room. One woman in the audience shouted Yes! Some in the crowd broke out into a chant of Run, Beto! Run! Sharpton acknowledged the reaction.

You didnt hear the rest of the candidates yet! Sharpton said to his audience before turning to ORourke.

Beto, you done come in here and wiped out my board! Sharpton said.

Read more from Yahoo News:Good morning.

No industry holds greater potential for the application of A.I. than health care. It generates massive of amounts of data that, if properly analyzed, could have enormous implications for health costs, health outcomes and human longevity.

And yet in no industry is the gap between potential and present reality greater.

How do we close that gap? That was the conversation at a small, off-the-record lunch I moderated yesterday before the start of Fortunes annual Brainstorm Health event. The participants included CEOs of some well-known health care companies and top executives from Intel. Their consensus: technology is not the problem here. Data security, data privacy, siloed data, dirty data, and cultural opposition to A.I. all pose bigger obstacles. Fixing those problems in order to unlock the potential of A.I. will not be done in two or three years. It will be a decades-long project.

Still, speakers on the conference main stage were optimistic about A.I.s ability to transform health care. We have made a lot of progress, said IBMs John Kelly, and there is much more to come. Health care A.I. may turn out to be the ultimate example of Amaras law: We tend to overstate the effects of technology in the short run and underestimate the effects in the long run.

By the way, Kelly expressed the view of many in the group that A.I. isnt going to replace the judgment of medical professionals. It is always going to be human plus machines making the decisions.

You can read more from Brainstorm Health here. More news below.

Alan Murray @alansmurray alan.murray@fortune.comBRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said "there is no doubt" that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum. Bolsonaro's remarks directly contradicted information on the museum's website saying Germany's Nazi movement rose out of right-wing radical groups responding to the rise of communism. In Tuesday's televised comments, the Brazilian president echoed previous remarks by his country's foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, also claiming the Nazis were leftists. Asked by reporters if he agreed with Araujo, Bolsonaro said, "There is no doubt, right?" He went on to say that the Nazi party's name was the National Socialist Party of Germany, which includes the word "socialist." The official name was the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Despite their name, the Nazis followed a fascist and anti-Semitic - rather than a socialist - ideology. Bolsonaro leaves Israel on Wednesday to return to Brazil. His four-day visit came just one week before Israel's election in which right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking re-election. The visit had initially been seen as potentially boosting Netanyahu's election prospects but fell short of the Israeli prime minister's expressed hope that Brazil would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Bolsonaro suggested soon after his inauguration in January that he would move the embassy, but his government later walked back the comments. Brazilian officials instead announced during his Israel visit that the country would open a trade office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu has said he hopes the trade office is a step toward moving the embassy there as well. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who Bolsonaro regards as an ally, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017 and ordered the American Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which took place last May. Israelis and Arabs dispute the status of Jerusalem, which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Israel regards the city as its "eternal and indivisible" capital but that is not recognized internationally. Palestinians want Jerusalem to be the capital of an eventual Palestinian state. Jerusalem is home to Yad Vashem, which documents the Holocaust and is a memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during World War Two. (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei) (AFP) - Brunei on Wednesday introduced harsh new sharia laws, including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, despite a storm of global criticism from politicians, celebrities and rights groups.

The tough penal code in the tiny country on tropical Borneo island -- ruled by the all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah -- fully came into force following years of delays.

The laws, which also include amputation of hands and feet for thieves, make Brunei the first place in East or Southeast Asia to have a sharia penal code at the national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Rape and robbery are also punishable by death under the code and many of the new laws, such as capital punishment for insulting the Prophet Mohammed, apply to non-Muslims as well as Muslims.

The decision to push ahead with the punishments has sparked alarm around the world, with the United Nations labelling them a "clear violation" of human rights and celebrities, led by actor George Clooney and pop star Elton John, calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted.

In a public address to mark a special date in the Muslim calendar, the sultan called for stronger Islamic teachings but did not mention the new penal code.

"I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger," he said in the nationally televised speech at a convention centre near the capital Bandar Seri Begawan.

The sultan, who has been on the throne for over five decades, also insisted that Brunei was a "fair" country and the environment for visitors was "safe and harmonious".

Government officials later confirmed the laws had entered into force.

- 'Barbaric to the core' -

The sharia laws have triggered worldwide condemnation, and Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, described the code as "barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldn't even be crimes".

Story continues

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said via his spokesman that human rights should be upheld everywhere, and Brunei's new legislation "is in clear violation with the principles expressed".

The European Union said in a statement that some of the new punishments "amount to torture, acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".

They are particularly upsetting for the country's small lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

Sex between men was already illegal in Brunei and punishable with up to 10 years in jail.

But the new code stipulates death by stoning as a punishment for sex between men, while women convicted of having sexual relations with other women face up to 40 strokes of the cane or a maximum 10-year jail term.

A 33-year-old gay Bruneian man, who spoke anonymously, said the new laws were "unfair, cruel and should not happen".

"It really takes away my happiness and freedom to express myself, and depresses me so much," he told AFP.

Zulhelmi bin Mohamad, a transgender woman who fled Brunei last year and is seeking asylum in Canada, told AFP that the environment will be more terrifying for the country's LGBT community, who were already leading "very secretive" lives.

"Some worry a lot and would like to escape the country before they are found out," the 19-year-old said.

- Global storm of criticism -

Confirming the new penal code was now in force, a religious affairs ministry official told AFP: "The statement from the prime minister's office last weekend on (the code's) implementation prevails, hence (April 3) marks the date of its implementation."

A second government official, speaking anonymously, confirmed it had entered into force.

The sultan -- who is one of the world's wealthiest men and lives in a vast, golden-domed palace -- announced plans for the code in 2013.

The first section was introduced in 2014 and included less stringent penalties, such as fines or jail terms for offences including indecent behaviour or skipping Friday prayers.

Clooney's call to boycott nine Brunei-owned hotels in Europe and the United States last week catapulted the issue into the international headlines.

Since then, a series of well-known figures have lined up to add their names to the chorus of condemnation.

The sultan, who is the world's second-longest reigning monarch, first called for the penal code in the late 1990s and it appears to enjoy broad support in the former British protectorate of about 400,000 people.

Analysts say he is seeking to burnish his Islamic credentials and shore up support among the country's conservatives due to the waning fortunes of the oil-dependent economy, which has been ravaged by recession in recent years.

It is also unclear whether death by stoning will actually be implemented, as a high burden of proof is needed to hand down the punishment and Brunei has not executed anyone for decades.The Energy Regulatory Commission has lost its bid in the Court of Appeals to disallow the increase in power prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market during the shutdown of the Malampaya gas facility in 2013. In a 20-page resolution dated March 29, the CAs 15th Division through Associate Justice Marlene GonzalesSison dismissed the appeal of the ERC on its earlier decision that affirmed the power price increase in WESM, the countrys trading floor for electricity. The appellate court instead affirmed its November 2017 decision that nullified four assailed orders of ERC which voided the power price hike. This ruling leaves to the Manila Electric Co. the burden of shouldering the increase in power generation costs, which the power distributor was supposed to pass to consumers through its record rate hike of P4.15 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) that was stopped by the Supreme Court through a temporary restraining order issued in December 2013. The CA also denied the separate motions for reconsideration filed by Meralco in this case. It sustained its ruling that the ERC had no authority to control the market prices through its orders dated March 3, March 27, May 4 and Oct. 15, 2014 under both the Constitution and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. The absence of delegated authority empowering the ERC to impose agency rates as an exercise of police power ordinarily moots any need to determine the concurrence of a lawful subject and lawful means to justify the powers exercise. It also reveals that when the ERC issued the nullified Orders, believing that it had been empowered by the EPIRA, it had performed quasi-judicial functions, the CA said. The appellate court explained that the ERCs rate-fixing authority was limited to specific situations that do not include WESM prices.The CA said the ERC orders were an invalid exercise of police power and also invalid performance of its quasi-judicial functions. An administrative agencys discharge of quasi-judicial functions must be coupled with notice and hearing on the parties affected. This necessarily requires a finding that after such notice and hearing, there is factual basis for the exercise of the power. However, no such basis appears here, as the ERCs investigations were still ongoing when the ERC issued the challenged Orders. The inevitable conclusion is that the parties were not heard, it stressed. With this, the court bought the argument of power producers in their petitions that their right to due process was violated because the investigation was still ongoing when the ERC voided the November-December 2013 market prices. The CA added that ERCs intervention into the market operations violated he WESM Rules, which require existence of emergency, threat to the system or a force majeure event for the regulators intervention on market prices. Associate Justices Mariflor Punzalan - Castillo and Rafael Antonio Santos concurred in this ruling. The CA issued the ruling upon petitions by generating companies and power suppliers San Miguel Energy Corporation, South Premiere Power Corporation, Strategic Power Development Corporation, SMC Powergen, Inc., Petron Corporation, SN Aboitiz Power-Magat, Inc. and SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet, Inc., while eight other petitions were separately filed by 1590 Energy Corporation, AP Renewables, Inc., Team (Phils.) Energy Corp., SEM-Calaca Power Corp., Masinloc Power Partners Company, Ltd., Therma Luzon, Inc., Therma Mobile Inc., and Northwind Power Development Corp.SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  In a story April 1 about $21 million jury verdict against Chevron, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a tire factory where two men worked with the solvent benzene was owned by Unocal, later purchased by Chevron. Unocal did not own the tire factory.

A corrected version of the story is below:

California jury orders Chevron to pay $21M for cancer claims

A Northern California jury ordered Chevron Corp. to pay the families of two brothers who died of cancer a combined $21.4 million after concluding the company failed to properly warn the men about the dangers of the company's toxic solvent they worked with at a tire factory.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A Northern California jury ordered Chevron Corp. to pay the families of two brothers who died of cancer a combined $21.4 million after concluding the company failed to properly warn the men about the dangers of the company's toxic solvent they worked with at a tire factory.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Contra Costa County jury's verdict Friday came after three days of deliberations and four weeks of trial.

The jury concluded that the solvent benzene caused the cancers that killed brothers Gary Eaves and Randy Eaves. The brothers worked at a tire manufacturer in Arkansas that used the solvent benzene made by Unocal for decades. San Ramon, California-based Chevron purchased Unocal in 2005. Both brothers at times worked as a "spray booth operator" responsible for spraying the solvent on tires. Gary also hauled tires coated in benzene.

Gary died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2015 at age 61. Randy died of leukemia in 2018, also at age 61.

The families' lawyer Mary Alexander argued that none of the plant workers wore respirators or protective clothing while working with the solvent. Alexander also argued that workers were never advised to handle benzene inside of a ventilation booth.

The families of the men filed their wrongful death lawsuit in the San Francisco suburb of Contra Costa County where Chevron is based.

Chevron said it is mulling its next legal step.

"We do not believe that Unocal had any role in the claimed injuries and we are evaluating the jury's decision and the court's rulings in this matter," the company said in a statement.By Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday moved to end the worst crisis of his tenure, expelling two former cabinet members whom he said had undermined the ruling Liberal Party.

Trudeau announced that former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former treasury board minister Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal legislators.

The Liberals have been in turmoil since Wilson-Raybould said in February that officials had inappropriately pressured her to ensure construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc escaped a corruption trial when she was justice minister last year.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Trudeau told an emergency meeting of caucus.

"Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided. We can't afford to make that mistake  Canadians are counting on us," said Trudeau, who came into office in November 2015 and faces a re-election contest this year.

Wilson-Raybould was demoted in January and resigned the next month. Philpott quit shortly afterwards, saying she had lost confidence in how Trudeau was handling the matter.

The move represents a retreat by Trudeau who as recently as last week had said the Liberals needed strong legislators with differing points of view.

But increasingly angry parliamentarians had demanded both women be removed from caucus on the grounds they were undermining party unity.

Polls show the crisis has cut public support for the Liberals to such an extent that they could lose an October election to the official opposition Conservatives.

Trudeau has denied any wrongdoing. The scandal is starting to hit his fortunes in the populous province of Quebec, where the Liberals say they need to pick up seats in October to remain in power.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeau's decision to expel the two politicians from the Liberal Party sent a message that "if you tell the truth, there is no room for you in the Liberal Party".

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Wilson-Raybould said on Twitter that Trudeau had also told her she could not run for the Liberals in the October election.

Philpott said on Facebook that she "did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister".

(Reporting by Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren; editing by Grant McCool)Ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn plans to hold an April 11 press conference, according to a tweet Wednesday from a verified account in his name.

It was not immediately possible to confirm whether Ghosn was behind the newly-created account, which emerged Wednesday in Japan and appeared to include his son Anthony among its followers.

"I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening. Press conference on Thursday, April 11," the tweet sent early Wednesday afternoon said.

The account quickly acquired the blue checkmark that Twitter gives to "verified" accounts, but it was not immediately clear what information had led to the verification.

The office of Ghosn's lead lawyer in Tokyo said it had no information, and a spokesman for the auto tycoon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If confirmed, the press conference would be the first time Ghosn has addressed the media since his surprise release on bail on March 6.

Ghosn faces three charges of financial misconduct related to allegations he under-reported his compensation and tried to shift losses to Nissan's books.

He spent more than 100 days in detention after his shock arrest at a Tokyo airport on November 19, and has denied the charges against him.CHICAGO  The nations third-largest city made history with the election of Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot, making the city of 2.7 million the nations largest ever to tap a black woman and openly gay mayor.

But in the end, Lightfoots race, gender and sexual orientation mattered little to most voters in this city thats exhausted by political corruption, rampant gun violence and a widening chasm between the rich and poor.

In the Garfield Park neighborhood  an area devastated by violence and deep poverty  65-year-old truck driver Charles Hill said he voted for Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor and corporate lawyer, out of frustration with the establishment politicians who have dominated Chicago.

I hope things get better, but Im not going to hold my breath, said Hill, after casting his ballot at a polling site at a neighborhood school where only 14% of students met or exceeded state benchmarks for math.

Hill appeared hardly alone in expressing his disgust with old-style Chicago politics. Lightfoot managed to trounce her opponent, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Lori Lightfoot speaks at her Election Night party April 2, 2019, in Chicago.

Preckwinkle, who has been on the Chicago political scene for nearly three decades and was widely viewed as the front-runner when she entered the race in September, didnt manage to win even one of the citys 50 wards. Lightfoot won nearly 75% of the vote what she declared a mandate to change politics as usual in the city.

I think what it signals is that people across the city want a break from the broken political past, Lightfoot told reporters Wednesday morning. Im excited about the prospects. We ran hard, unequivocally on ending corruption in city government, on making sure that we had a government that was far more responsive and transparent and accountable to the people.

More: Chicago elects Lori Lightfoot as first gay and first black female mayor in citys history

Lightfoot was consistent with that message when she entered the race nearly 11 months ago  a moment when she appeared to be a long-shot candidate. When the current mayor, Rahm Emanuel, made the bombshell announcement in September that he would not seek a third term, he said that he didnt think that Chicagos next mayor had yet entered the race.

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With Emanuels departure, better-known  and better-funded  politicians entered the race, such as Preckwinkle, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza and former Chicago school board President Gery Chico.

But all four of those top contenders saw their fortunes take a tumble when federal prosecutors in January charged Alderman Ed Burke, a 50-year veteran of the Chicago city council, with attempted extortion of officials from a company that operates Burger King franchises in Illinois.

The four, all longtime creatures of the Chicago political scene, had, to varying degrees, deep ties to Burke and became dirtied by the scandal.

Preckwinkle received $116,000 in campaign contributions raised at a fundraiser at Burkes home. She received $10,000 from one of the franchise operators, money she said she returned.

Mendoza was married at Burkes home in a ceremony officiated by the aldermans wife, Illinois supreme court justice Anne Burke. Chico had received Burke's endorsement.

Bill Daleys family  hes the son of late mayor Richard J. Daley and younger brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and Cook County Commissioner John Daley  received about $30,000 in political donations from Burke over the years.

More: As Chicago readies to elect first black female mayor, campaign rhetoric gets ugly

Ironically, Burke, who ran for re-election as he awaits trial, managed in February to win another four-year term to represent his Southwest Side ward. He won a majority of the vote in the first round of voting and avoided a runoff.

But with the shadow of the scandal, Lightfoots message of rooting out corruption resonated with voters in the mayors race. Despite ranking sixth in fundraising among 14 candidates in Februarys first round of voting, she finished first in voting among the crowded field and advanced to Tuesdays runoff against Preckwinkle.

I wanted somebody that was going to do more than collect their money, said voter Anita Williams, a resident on the citys West Side, who cast her vote for Lightfoot.

Lightfoot will be sworn in next month and will immediately face some thorny issues.

The current contract for the Chicago Public Teachers Union, which represents about 25,000 teachers, expires at the end June. Shell also need to quickly come up with a budget for 2020 that requires the city dole out an extra $276 million for the citys pensions funds. Currently, the city has $28 billion in unmet pension obligations.

In her victory speech, Lightfoot said that she and other leaders must quickly stanch an exodus of residents.

A shrinking city, which is where we are right now, just will not do, Lightfoot said. To thrive, Chicago must grow. It simply must.

Alex Chavez, 25, a software engineer who lives on the Northwest Side, said he worries about whether Chicago will remain an affordable place where he and his extended family can stay.

Chavez is not alone in his anxiety about Chicagos future. About 36% of Chicagoans ages 18 to 29 said they planned to leave Chicago, according to a study published last month by the group GenForward. The respondents expressed concerns about the citys politics, access to good schools and discrimination by police in neighborhoods that are black and Latino.

More: Chicago votes: Who are the two women looking to make history as first black female mayor?

While some impoverished neighborhoods on the South and West Sides have lost tens of thousands of black residents over the last decade, other areas of the city  including once working-class neighborhoods like the one where Chavez lives  are becoming less affordable.

I have a pretty good job and its still tough, Chavez said. How are people who dont have good jobs managing?

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago's mayor election made history. But in a city weary of guns, poverty and corruption, does it matter?Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card!

By buying an index fund, investors can approximate the average market return. But if you buy good businesses at attractive prices, your portfolio returns could exceed the average market return. For example, the China Youzan Limited (HKG:8083) share price is up 83% in the last three years, clearly besting than the market return of around 32% (not including dividends). On the other hand, the returns haven't been quite so good recently, with shareholders up just 29%.

See our latest analysis for China Youzan

China Youzan isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

In the last 3 years China Youzan saw its revenue grow at 81% per year. That's much better than most loss-making companies. While the compound gain of 22% per year over three years is pretty good, you might argue it doesn't fully reflect the strong revenue growth. So now might be the perfect time to put China Youzan on your radar. If the company is trending towards profitability then it could be very interesting.

You can see how revenue and earnings have changed over time in the image below, (click on the chart to see cashflow).

SEHK:8083 Income Statement, April 3rd 2019

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that China Youzan shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 29% over the last year. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 7.1% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. Investors who like to make money usually check up on insider purchases, such as the price paid, and total amount bought. You can find out about the insider purchases of China Youzan by clicking this link.

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If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.



If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.By Mark Hosenball (Reuters) - A Chinese woman who passed security checkpoints at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida carrying a thumb drive coded with "malicious" software was arrested on Saturday for entering a restricted property and making false statements to officials, according to a court filing. Documents filed by the Secret Service on Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida say that shortly after noon on Saturday, Yujing Zhang approached a Secret Service agent screening visitors to Mar-a-Lago seeking entrance to the club. Zhang produced two Chinese passports displaying her photo and said she wanted to go to the pool. Secret Service officers could not initially find her name on an access list for the property, according to the Secret Service affidavit filed with the court. A club manager said that a man named Zhang was a club member, and even though Yujing Zhang did not give a clear answer as to whether the man was her father, the Secret Service affidavit says resort officials allowed her on the property on the assumption she was related to a member. Resort personnel became suspicious after Zhang appeared to have trouble explaining why she was visiting Mar-a-Lago, according to the affidavit. Zhang initially said she was there for an event staged by a group called the United Nations Chinese American Association. But resort staff found no such event was scheduled, according to the court filing. A receptionist then contacted Secret Service personnel who questioned Zhang and concluded she did not have "any legitimate documentation" authorizing her entry to Mar-a-Lago, according to the filing. After detaining her, investigators found in Zhang's possession four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive device and a thumb drive, the Secret Service court filing says. Initial examination of the thumb drive determined it contained "malicious malware," the Secret Service said. "While the Secret Service does not determine who is permitted to enter the club, our agents and officers conduct physical screenings to ensure no prohibited items are allowed onto the property," the Secret Service said in a statement. Responding to a question on the case, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday: "I have no understanding of the situation you mention." In a court filing on Tuesday, a public defender representing Zhang said she was invoking her right to remain silent. A Justice Department spokeswoman had no comment on the arrest. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball; additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Washington and Cate Cadell in Beijing; Editing by Leslie Adler)WASHINGTON  Izzy Moffroid, 19, is a freshman at George Washington University in the nation's capital. A month ago, she and two friends called a ride via Uber, a popular ride-share app, after going out for breakfast.

"My friend just opened the door and got in," Moffroid said.

The driver greeted the group as if he were their Uber driver. But, before getting into the car herself, Moffroid checked the license plate number on her app for the car that was supposed to pick up the group. She realized this wasn't the right car, even though the driver had said hello as if he was there for them.

"I told my friend 'That's not our Uber,'" Moffroid said. "I don't think it was an Uber at all."

Moffroid and her friends were spooked, especially after hearing about the death of Samantha Josephson, 21, just weeks later. Josephson, a student at the University of South Carolina, was murdered on March 29 after she got in a car she mistook for an Uber.

"He scooted away immediately," Moffroid said. "It just shows you've got to be alert and aware."

For college students across the country, using rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft has become a way of life. But, in the wake of Josephson's death, many are thinking twice about using them to get home from a party or to venture off campus.

Related: Hundreds gather for funeral of Samantha Josephson, student killed after getting into wrong car

'It can happen very easily'

Seeran Enayet, 20, a sophomore at George Washington University studying anthropology, international affairs and Arabic, said the news about Josephson's death was scary because he has friends who get into Ubers without checking the driver's name or license plate "all the time."

"What really struck me is that things with ride-sharing seem very unsafe now, especially when I think of my female friends who go alone at night back to their dorms," Enayet said.

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Across the city at Georgetown University, students also worried about their own ride-share habits and how to keep themselves safe.

Anastasia Nesterova, 18, a sophomore studying computer science and French, said she was now afraid to take Ubers by herself. She admits she has forgotten to match a car's license plate to her app or to check the driver's name on prior trips.

"It was really scary and made me a lot more nervous about taking Ubers by myself than I had been before," Nesterova said. "I don't really take many precautions, so I don't know what could have happened."

Also: Hundreds gather in NJ for funeral of Samantha Josephson, college student killed in SC

Another concern among students is leaving bars, concerts or parties. When everyone is leaving at once, students often scramble to quickly get into a car they think is right to get out of a crowded area, according to Cira Mancuso, 20, a sophomore in Georgetown's School of Foreign Service studying international politics.

"It is just very scary because it can happen very easily," Mancuso said. "Especially in D.C., you're just trying to find the car as quickly as you can and get out of the traffic."

How can you keep yourself safe?

Common-sense tips for staying safe are a critical part of using ride-share apps, according to Molly Fergus, General Manager of TripSavvy. She advised riders to always matching the license plate number on a car to the license plate number on your Uber, Lyft or other app. Making sure someone else, like a friend or parent, always knows where you are going and how you are getting there can keep you safe, she said.

"People joke about accidentally getting into the wrong car, but there are safety tips everyone needs to follow," Fergus said. "This is the kind of stuff your mom taught you."

Fergus also recommended researching local legislation and studies to understand whether a taxi or ride-share is safer. Different areas also have different background-check requirements for drivers.

"The world isn't perfect," Fergus said. "We need to make sure we're taking the right steps."

If you are calling a ride-share from a crowded location, such as when people are leaving a concert venue, Harry Campbell, founder of The Rideshare Guy and author of "The Rideshare Guide," advises stepping a few doors down to make sure you can see which car is coming to pick you up and have the space to check its license plate.

"There are precautions you can take to ensure maximum safety," Campbell said. "It's always a good idea to take a little extra precaution."

Another approach was initiated by South Carolina State Reps. Seth Rose, a Democrat, and Republican Micah Caskey. They introduced legislation Tuesday to ensure that all ride-sharing services have illuminated signs on their cars visible to riders.

"Helping riders avoid psychos is a no-brainer," Caskey said in a Twitter post. "Im hopeful we can get this bipartisanship bill through the legislature quickly."

Any steps toward making college students more aware of their own safety could be "helpful," Moffroid said.

"It's not that hard, but you do have to make that extra effort," Moffroid said. "I think that would really help the situation."

Uber said it will be implementing multiple steps in the coming weeks to address safety concerns, including a "Check Your Ride" awareness campaign on social media, purchasing ads in college newspapers with public service announcements, promoting their in-app safety center and sending push notifications during pickups with safety tips.

Since 2017, weve been working with local law enforcement to educate the public about how to avoid fake rideshare drivers. Everyone at Uber is devastated to hear about this unspeakable crime, and our hearts are with Samantha Josephsons family and loved ones," an Uber spokesperson said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How college students are rethinking using Uber, Lyft after tragic death of Samantha JosephsonBERLIN (Reuters) - Commerzbank's executive board is due to decide on April 9 whether to intensify merger talks with Deutsche Bank or back away from a deal, German business weekly Wirtschaftswoche said on Wednesday.

The magazine said Commerzbank's management is scheduled to discuss how to proceed in the merger talks during its next regular session, Wirtschaftswoche added, citing company sources and an internal memo.

Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Upon initiating formal talks with Deutsche Bank on March 17, Commerzbank chief executive officer Martin Zielke told bankers that management aimed for a decision on whether to go forward with a merger in the next two to three weeks, two sources with knowledge of the matter said at the time.

In a memo to employees days later, Zielke wrote: "I can promise you that we will strive to keep this period of uncertainty as short as possible and we will work hard to ensure that a decision is reached soon."

Deutsche Bank supervisory board chairman Paul Achleitner said that the banks aim to announce more concrete steps on the merger by late April.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; additional reporting by Andreas Framke and Tom Sims in Frankfurt; editing by Thomas Seythal and Michelle Martin)Police in Sultan Kudarat said a loud explosion on Wednesday rocked a chicken restaurant a few minutes after 3 p.m. in Barangay Kalawag 2 in Isulan town, leaving several people injured. A local disaster office said at least 18 people were wounded, including six minors and a pregnant woman. But according to Isulan Mayor Maritess Pallasigue, her office did not receive any threat prior to the blast. No,threat,report.text messages, she said. (No, nothing. We received nothing, no threat, no report. Not even text messages to us.) Generally our place is peaceful. I dont know what happened, why this is happening in our place, she added. Due to the explosion, the mayor said she had ordered tighter security measures to be enforced in the area.Meanwhile, supporters of two candidates running for mayor of Salvador town in Lanao del Norte engaged in a scuffle during a sortie on Wednesday. The warring groups exchanged gunshots, which left four persons hurt. Police Major Glyndo Pujanes said the motorcade of mayoralty candidate Bebot Umpa was passing along the municipal hall, where supporters of rival bet Farhanie Tawan Tawan were present. The rival camps reportedly engaged in a shouting match that led to a commotion. Shots were also fired from both groups. Authorities said they are now investigating the incident.Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, unveils the Fire Phone at an event in 2014. (Photo: Mike Kane/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  When Jeff Bezoss personal security consultant Gavin De Becker published what amounted to a startling indictment of the National Enquirer on Saturday, alleging that the tabloid publication may have worked with Saudi Arabia to expose the Amazon CEOs affair, there was one thing missing: any evidence for the claim.

Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos phone, and gained private information, De Becker wrote in an op-ed in the Daily Beast, adding that it was unclear if the Saudis had actually worked with the Enquirer, which first published details of the affair.

De Beckers lack of details on the alleged hack may be because he doesnt want to tip his hand in advance of an FBI investigation or any potential court proceedings. However, the notable lack of technical detail has led multiple cybersecurity experts to call for further details before speculating on the events, Saudi capabilities or the potential consequences of that behavior.

If the Gulf states are going hog-wild on U.S. persons, that would be big news, said Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. But its also a claim that requires evidence.

Dave Venable, a former intelligence officer at the National Security Agency who advises on information-security issues, agreed. While it wouldnt be surprising if Jeff Bezos claims of Saudi Arabias involvement in the hack turn out to be true, any claim of this magnitude needs to be backed up with strong forensic evidence, he told Yahoo News.

In the last decade, technology used to spy on people and monitor or steal personal information from inside digital devices has proliferated across the Middle East and North Africa, where governments have different views of civil liberties and privacy  as well as what might constitute a crime. Companies like NSO Group in Israel and Hacking Team in Italy have sold tools and capabilities to governments, particularly in the oil-rich Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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However, De Beckers op-ed does not indicate that the investigative team had obtained forensic evidence of an intrusion into any of Bezoss devices, nor does it suggest that evidence, if it exists, has been reviewed by outside peers, as has been done with other notable hacking cases.

Its possible that the well-resourced team within Amazon did its own forensics, or that De Becker obtained intelligence from another source. However, there are independent organizations with a strong track record on similar issues, like Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, which relies on multiple forensic experts who track Middle Eastern spyware, particularly on mobile devices.

Citizen Lab experts have published extensively on companies including NSO Group, which markets and sells advanced hacking tools to governments around the world, including Saudi Arabia. If NSO or another regional company was involved, Citizen Lab would likely be familiar with the type of forensic evidence Amazons team may have been analyzing.

NSO Group denied that its tools were used to hack Bezos.

Independent security experts and former intelligence officials suggested that Saudi digital capabilities remain nascent; the oil-rich kingdom still heavily relies on outsourcing hacking tools from companies like NSO and, before that, Hacking Team.

If the purchased tool is sophisticated, it might be designed to leave no evidence, said Timo Steffens, an author focused on researching targeted cyberattacks and attribution online. However, he continued, unless there is forensic evidence, anything mentioned in that article is rather weak in front of a court.

De Beckers new claims follow what has been a whirlwind story of power, wealth and celebrity. In January, Bezos and his wife announced they were divorcing, just before the National Enquirer published an investigation, which included leaked intimate texts, revealing that the Amazon founder had been having an affair with a former TV host, Lauren Sanchez. In February, Bezos revealed some of the backstory on Medium, including details of how David Pecker, CEO of the Enquirers parent company, AMI, was allegedly blackmailing him with racy photographs documenting the affair. Bezos also suggested there might be Saudi involvement in obtaining his private data.

Since then, Michael Sanchez, Laurens brother, came forward as the source of the leaked material. The Enquirer, which has acknowledged Sanchez as a source, has denied any cooperation with Saudi Arabia on the Bezos story.

The FBI declined to comment on whether it had opened an investigation or received evidence from De Becker.

Saudi Arabia has begun dipping its toes in the waters of creating its own domestic private capabilities  but largely remains dependent on outside entities. One company inside Saudi Arabia, according to a security expert from the region, is called Haboob.

That company also appears to be an industry novice. According to Joseph Cox, a digital-security journalist at Motherboard, an official from Haboob reached out to him to try and purchase hacking tools  not realizing that Cox is a journalist.

Read more from Yahoo News:By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic-led congressional committee voted on Tuesday to subpoena a former White House security clearance chief over whistleblower allegations that the Trump administration inappropriately reversed career officials' decisions to deny security clearances to some of the president's advisers. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, led the push to subpoena Carl Kline, who was White House personnel security chief for the first two years of Trump's presidency and now works for the Department of Defense. The committee voted to approve the subpoena for Kline, with 22 Democrats voting in favor and 15 Republicans against. In a letter sent to White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Monday, Cummings said Kline had not responded to the committee's requests that he testify voluntarily. Cummings said the White House and Kline's lawyer on Monday responded he would voluntarily testify but would not answer questions about specific security clearance cases or violations. Cummings said on Tuesday these conditions were unacceptable. Tricia Newbold, a career security official at the White House for 18 years, has said the Trump administration overruled security experts to give questionable security clearances to more than two dozen people, who congressional sources said included Republican President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner. In a letter to the White House on Monday, Cummings said Newbold detailed the cases of three anonymous "senior White House officials" whose clearances career officials recommended should be denied, though the White House went ahead and granted clearances to two of the three unnamed individuals. Two sources familiar with the congressional investigation said that two of the senior officials whose clearances Newbold said were initially denied were Ivanka Trump and Kushner. The White House on Tuesday shot back at Democratic moves to issue a subpoena for Kline. "These requests are absolutely ridiculous, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in an interview on MSNBC, adding that the White House would not cooperate with Cummings demands on security clearances. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball; editing by Jonathan Oatis)WASHINGTON  When Joe Biden attended a function at South Carolina state Sen. Dick Harpootlian's house a few years ago, Biden reached down and rubbed noses with Harpootlian's 92-year-old mother.

"These are gestures that weve all seen before," Harpootlian said of Biden, who has been accused by women of unwanted, inappropriate behavior. "Hes hugged my mother, my brother, my sister, my wife, my daughter. I think he just petted the family dog but he may have hugged the dog too."

Calling the recent allegations a tempest in a teapot, Harpootilan, a former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman, said Tuesday that he's still expecting Biden to enter the 2020 presidential race  and still hopes he does.

"All of us that support the vice president understand the intent behind those gestures," Harpootlian. "None of us are concerned about it. I dont think it will impede anybody in writing a check, voicing support."

More: Alyssa Milano, Meghan McCain defend Joe Biden as Trevor Noah calls him 'super creepy'

In a statement issued Sunday, Biden denied any wrongdoing but promised to "listen respectfully" to such claims.

The New York Times on Tuesday night published accounts from two additional women who said Biden's close contact made them feel uncomfortable.

The former vice president, who leads the large field of Democratic presidential hopefuls in early polls, could announce this month whether he is getting in. The women's descriptions of their reactions to interactions with Biden could cause some backers to think twice before committing to Biden.

But Neil Levesque, director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm's College, does not expect to see a dramatic change in Biden's standing when the institute's pollsters go back into the field this week.

"Many voters are saying this is kind of minor compared to what we've seen in the past with candidates and accusations," Levesque said Tuesday.

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In a first-person account for New York Magazine, former Democratic Nevada state representative Lucy Flores, 39, said that Biden placed his hands on her shoulders at a 2014 rally during her unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor.

"I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified," she wrote. "He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused."

On Monday, the Hartford Courant reported that Connecticut woman Amy Lappos, 43, said Biden grabbed the back of her neck, pulled her close and rubbed noses with her at an October 2009 Democratic fundraiser.

"It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head," Lappos told the newspaper. "He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Tuesday that the stories are not "disqualifying" for Biden.

She said Biden, who has long been known to be physically affectionate toward his male and female friends, needs to improve his understanding of the importance of people's personal space.

"He has to understand that in the world we're in now that people's space is important to them," Pelosi said.

None of Biden's potential 2020 Democratic primary opponents has said the allegations should keep him out of the race, but none has rushed to his defense either.

Jerry Crawford, a longtime Democratic operative in Iowa, said the reaction among Iowa Democrats is likely to fall along generational lines. Those over 50 will think it's much ado about nothing. But it could hurt Biden with millennial voters.

"The #MeToo movement has made an increasing amount of conduct viewed as unacceptable  even though historically it wouldn't have been," he said.

The movement began nearly a decade ago and went viral in 2017 as women in Hollywood and across the country began sharing stories of sexual harassment and assault. Its led to the resignation or downfall of more than 100 entertainers, executives and politicians, including Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer and Kevin Spacey. Former Minnesota Democrat Sen. Al Franken announced his resignation in 2017 following accusations of sexual misconduct. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., also stepped down, along with Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who resigned amid reports he discussed with female staffers the possibility they could be surrogates for his and his wife's baby.

More than a dozen women have accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct over the years, including eight women who have accused him of forcibly kissing them. Trump has denied the allegations. In an Access Hollywood tape that surfaced during the final weeks of the presidential campaign in 2016, Trump was heard making lewd comments and bragging about groping women. The president has said that was "locker-room banter."

Crawford, who hasn't decided on a 2020 nominee, isn't likely to back Biden if the former vice president joins the race. But the recent allegations are not the reason why.

"I don't believe this is the tip of the iceberg and more is going to come," he said."I would say, the vice president is learning a lesson about the differences from when he started in this business and today in terms of the attitudes about men and women."

Steve Schale, who ran the Obama-Biden campaign in Florida in 2008 and was a senior adviser to the 2012 re-election effort in the Sunshine State, said Tuesday that he has not seen any wavering of support for Biden.

Schale has seen Biden interact with voters and backers at numerous campaign events for more than a decade. What he witnessed was someone who treated people with a level of respect and affection as if they were family, he said.

"Honestly, its that personal connection that the vice president has with everyday people around the country, which is frankly what drives so many of us to be willing to go fight for him if he runs," Schale said "It is the fact that he is so approachable, that he is very real, that his life experiences are not uncommon to so many people.

Biden's team is circulating statements from women supportive of him.

"In my experience, he is warm and affectionate among women (and men)," Susan Rice, former national-security adviser to President Barack Obama, tweeted Monday. "But never have I found his actions inappropriate or uncomfortable."

More: I was with Joe Biden when no one was looking, and he was always a champion for women

Harpootlian, whom Biden backed in his 2018 state Senate race, did not support Biden in the 2008 Democratic primary. And he backed Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But Harpootlian said Biden remains his top choice for 2020 because he thinks Biden has the best chance of beating Donald Trump.

"Overriding all that," Harpootlian said, "he's the most decent human being I have met in 40 years of politics."

Contributing: Ledyard King and William Cummings.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Democrats in early primary states view allegations against Joe BidenWASHINGTON (AP)  A career official in the White House security office says dozens of people in President Donald Trump's administration were granted security clearances despite "disqualifying issues" in their backgrounds, including concerns about foreign influence, drug use and criminal conduct.

Tricia Newbold, an 18-year government employee who oversaw the issuance of clearances for some senior White House aides, says she compiled a list of at least 25 officials who were initially denied security clearances last year, but senior officials overruled those denials.

The allegations were detailed in a letter and memo released Monday by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. The documents, which are based on Newbold's March 23 private committee interview, don't identify the officials on the list but say they include "two current senior White House officials, as well as contractors and individuals" in different parts of the Executive Office of the President.

"According to Ms. Newbold, these individuals had a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use and criminal conduct," the memo says.

The release of the documents sets up another fight between the White House and the Democratic-controlled House, and it immediately drew criticism from House Republicans who called the allegations overblown and "cherry-picked."

Cummings' panel has been investigating security clearances issued to senior officials including Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former White House aide Rob Porter. That probe has picked up steam after The New York Times reported that Trump ordered officials to grant Kushner a clearance over the objections of national security officials, and after Newbold spoke out to NBC News and other news outlets about her concerns.

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On Monday, Cummings said he will move this week to authorize his first subpoena in the probe. The subpoena will be for the deposition of Carl Kline, who served as the White House personnel security director and supervised Newbold. He has since left the White House for the Defense Department.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Fox News on Tuesday that she could not talk about individual security clearances, but asserted that Democrats were "acting in bad faith" because they are asking for personal, confidential information "they know they have absolutely no right to see."

"Let's not forget 3 million Americans have security clearances that work for the government. By exploiting one, you're exploiting all of their personal information," Sanders said.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee's ranking Republican, said in a statement that Cummings' probe is a "partisan attack" and an "excuse to go fishing" through personnel files. He also said that one person on Newbold's list is a GSA custodian.

Also, in a response memo circulated to Republican members, Jordan's staff cast Newbold as a disgruntled employee who had only limited knowledge of the reasons security clearances were granted. The Republican document also suggests Newbold's concerns were "overblown," saying that four or five of the clearance denials for "very serious reasons" were a small fraction of about 5,000 employees who work in the Executive Office of the President.

According to Democrat Cummings' memo, though, Newbold considered the decisions to be part of a "systematic" problem within her office where the decisions of security clearance reviewers were "continuously" overridden.

Newbold said she raised her concerns up the chain of command in the White House to no avail. Instead, she said, the White House retaliated, suspending her in January for 14 days without pay for not following a new policy requiring that documents be scanned as separate PDF files rather than one single PDF file.

Newbold said that when she returned to work in February, she was cut out of the security clearance process. The office also announced a plan to "restructure" that would remove her from a supervisory role, she said.

In response to Newbold's interview, Cummings is asking the White House to turn over the list she created as well as documents related to the handling of security clearances for several senior officials including Flynn, Kushner and Porter.

Flynn maintained his clearance even after the White House learned that he lied to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's ambassador and that he was under investigation by the Justice Department for his previous foreign work.

Kushner failed to initially disclose numerous foreign meetings on security clearance forms, and, according to the Times, career officials recommended against granting him a clearance before Trump personally overruled them.

Porter had high-level access with an interim security clearance even though the FBI repeatedly told the White House of past allegations of domestic violence lodged against him by two ex-wives.

Porter resigned after the allegations becoming public.

___

Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

___

Read the documents: http://apne.ws/NuF4iSJRiyadh (AFP) - A Saudi court hearing in the high-profile trial of detained women activists ended Wednesday without bail for eight of them, campaigners said, following the provisional release of three remaining detainees last week.

Eleven women, some of whom allegedly faced torture and sexual abuse during nearly a year in detention, are on trial in Riyadh's criminal court on charges that include contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups.

Three of them -- blogger Eman al-Nafjan, retired university lecturer Aziza al-Youssef and preacher Rokaya al-Mohareb -- were seen hugging one another as they entered the courthouse after being granted temporary release last Thursday.

Their release had raised expectations that the other women would also be freed, but there was no decision from the three-judge panel on Wednesday.

"The third trial session for the Saudi women activists has ended with NO VERDICTS against any of them, and with no temporary release to any of them," Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners, said on Twitter.

There was no immediate comment from the court, but the development was corroborated by multiple other activists and people with access to the trial.

Prisoners of Conscience added that the next hearing in the trial, which foreign media and diplomats are barred from attending, was scheduled for April 17.

London-based rights group ALQST said some verdicts were expected on that day.

Most of the activists were detained last summer in a wide-ranging crackdown against women campaigners just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female motorists.

The siblings of one of the prominent detainees, activist Loujain al-Hathloul, said they were being pressured by people close to the Saudi state to stay silent over her treatment in detention.

"Pressure from all sides to remain silent," her sister Alia al-Hathloul said on Twitter, without naming anyone.

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"We were silent and the worst kinds of torture happened while we were silent. I can shut up but only when Loujain is with us and those who tortured her are put on trial."

At an emotionally charged hearing last week, some women broke down as they accused interrogators of subjecting them to electric shocks, flogging and groping in detention, two people with access to the trial told AFP.

A Saudi prosecutor roundly rejected the accusations in court on Wednesday, witnesses said, reiterating the government's stance.

- 'Buckling to pressure' -

The women were initially expected to appear in a court set up to handle terrorism-related cases, but trial was shifted to the criminal court at the last minute, without any explanation.

That prompted speculation the trial could pave the way for the women's release after the crackdown sparked international criticism against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler.

Some detainees, including Loujain, were recently made to sign letters in prison requesting a royal pardon from King Salman.

But people close to the Saudi establishment have warned that public criticism by family members could prolong their detention.

"One of the issues I believe Saudi is grappling with... is not to be seen to be buckling to Western pressure," Ali Shihabi, founder of pro-Saudi think tank Arabia Foundation, said on Twitter last week.

"(It) can only delay their release."

Before their provisional release, the three freed women and their bail guarantors were made to sign a pledge that they will stay away from the media, according to multiple people with access to the trial.

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.

The trial has intensified criticism of the kingdom over human rights following global outrage over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder by Saudi agents last October at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.By Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A major disaster relief bill stalled on Monday in the U.S. Congress amid a political debate over aid for Puerto Rico, with President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans resisting Democrats' insistence the island receive additional assistance. The Republican-controlled Senate took two procedural votes on Monday that both failed. The first was on a Republican bill offering $13.5 billion in disaster relief for states that included $600 million in nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico. The second was on a $14.2 billion bill, with additional assistance for the U.S. island territory, passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in January, before severe flooding hit the U.S. Midwest. The failure of both bills sends lawmakers back to the negotiating table as the Trump administration's response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, receives increased scrutiny, including from more than a dozen Democrats vying to take on the president in the 2020 elections. Republicans are poised to attack those Democratic candidates for holding up emergency aid to flood-hit states, including Iowa, which is the first state to hold its presidential nominating contest every four years. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, a Democrat, said over the weekend that while the nutrition assistance in the Senate bill would be "vital to the well being of our citizens," it still "falls short" of what is needed on the island of more than 3 million that has struggled to rebuild after the hurricane. Trump has repeatedly accused Puerto Rico and its leaders, including Rossello and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, a vocal Trump critic, of mismanaging recovery funds and said the island should not receive additional assistance. "Puerto Rico has been taken care of better by Donald Trump than by any living human being," Trump told reporters last week. "They don't know how to spend the money and they're not spending it wisely." Rossello has insisted the island is only asking for the same help given to U.S. states and repeatedly sought a meeting with the president, but his efforts have been rebuffed. Rossello said in a recent CNN interview that Puerto Rico had struggled to obtain billions of dollars in assistance from the Trump administration that was already approved by Congress. The island is navigating the largest government bankruptcy in U.S. history, with $120 billion of combined bond and pension debt when it declared bankruptcy in May 2017 after more than a decade of recession. 'PETTY GRUDGES' Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who has authored an alternative disaster assistance bill, accused the president of picking "winners and losers." "Instead of standing with our neighbors, our fellow Americans, the president has chosen to hold petty grudges that are way beneath the office of the presidency," Leahy said on the Senate floor. The topic of Puerto Rico and its recovery from Hurricane Maria surfaced repeatedly at a Monday forum of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates organized by labor unions and other liberal groups. Although Puerto Rico nationals are U.S. citizens and send a non-voting resident commissioner to the House, they are prohibited from voting in general presidential elections. But they can cast ballots in the nominating contests starting early next year. Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor, told the forum of his decision to kick off his campaign by visiting the island: "The reason I did that was to highlight the total failure of this administration but also to tell the people of the island you're Americans and we're thinking of you too." Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who are also vying for the White House, have both visited Puerto Rico as well. Yulin Cruz is a co-chair of Sanders' campaign. (Reporting by Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Susan Cornwell and Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney)The Office of the Solicitor General on Wednesday justified the decision of the government to decline the settlement agreement that will allow the distribution of $20-million seized assets of the Marcoses in the United States to martial law victims. In a statement yesterday, the OSG confirmed that the government has decided to instead pursue its claim to all of the recovered properties of the Marcoses in the cases pending before the Sandiganbayan. However, the chief state counsel clarified that the decision was approved by the Department of Justice and the Presidential Commission on Good Government and not based on authorization by the governments legal counsel alone. The OSG said that all three agencies met to review the said settlement agreement upon order from the Palace. In fact, the OSG said a case conference was held last March 11 by lawyers from DOJ, PCGG and OSG where the three agencies unanimously agreed that, in the best interest of the Republic, it will no longer enter into the settlement agreement. PCGG was tasked to inform the New York District Court of the matter through a letter dated March 16, 2019, the OSG statement said. The review of the agreement came after the Office of the Executive Secretary issued a memorandum last January 8 approving the request of the PCGG for authority to enter into a settlement agreement of the interpleader case pending at the New York District Court presided by Judge Katherine Failla. However, the said Memorandum required that before the PCGG can enter into the settlement agreement, both the OSG and DOJ shall approve its terms, the OSG said. In compliance with the requirement, the OSG said it reviewed the terms of the proposed settlement agreement.Unfortunately, the terms were found to be grossly disadvantageous to the government and not in accord with existing Philippine laws and jurisprudence. Pursuant to its mandate to protect the interest of the Republic of the Philippines, the OSG issued its disapproval in a letter dated January 23, 2019. Meanwhile, the OSG awaited the position of the DOJ concerning the matter, the statement explained. The OSG issued the clarification after it was reported that it did not authorize the settlement agreement. Acting PCGG chairman Reynold Munsayac said they informed New York district court Judge Katherine Polk Failla that the court failed to secure the authority of the OSG that would allow implementation of the settlement agreement, which would divide the proceeds from the sale of paintings recovered from an aide of former first lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos. It turned out that the PCGG also opposed the said agreement. The PCGG earlier entered into negotiations with the camp of the martial law victims, represented by Swift, that won the $2-billion class action suit filed in Hawaii in 1995. The negotiations involved some $20 million worth of assets seized from former Marcos aide Vilma Bautista in New York, including high value paintings. In the draft agreement, the government was set to receive $4 million while the victims in the class action would get $13.75 million. A third party, the Golden Buddha Corp. and the estate of Roger Roxas that allegedly discovered the Yamashita treasure, would also get a portion of the proceeds from the sale of some of the paintings.A gauge of Mexican avocado prices surged the most in almost a decade as buyers weighed the latest rhetoric from Donald Trump on his threat to close the border with Mexico, the biggest supplier of the fruit.

The Hass price from Michoacan, the heartland of Mexicos avocado production, jumped 34% on Tuesday. Thats the biggest one-day gain since April 13, 2009. Prices will keep rising if Trump makes good on his threat, said Roland Fumasi, vice president and senior analyst at Rabobank.

Avocado prices could easily double or triple if we shut down the border, Fumasi said by telephone.

The U.S. is more reliant on Mexico for avocados this year due to a California heatwave that delayed harvest. (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images) | MARK RALSTON AFP/Getty Images

Prices probably spiked as importers boosted purchases ahead of any potential border issues, Fumasi said. Additionally, a heatwave last year in California delayed the harvest, making the U.S. even more reliant on Mexican supplies. Because California is late and its a small crop, Mexico is accounting for nearly all of our avocados, he said.

Mexican avocados make up 75% to 80% of U.S. consumption, and California for about 16%, according to data from the Haas Avocado Board. Chile and Peru supply most of the rest.

Once mainly confined to dips and salads, avocado is now seen as a super-food thanks to its nutritional characteristics and smooth texture. Some people even eat their pits roasted.By Colin Packham CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's embattled government amended its annual budget on Wednesday, 12 hours after it was unveiled, extending an energy rebate to the unemployed after criticism it's pre-election budget failed to adequately help those without a job. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative government on Tuesday unveiled a 2019-20 budget ahead of an expected May election it is forecast to lose, promising a voter sweetener of $158 billion worth of tax cuts over the next 10 years. The budget also contained a one-off cash rebate for pensioners of A$75 for an individual and A$125 for couples to assist with rising energy costs, but those on unemployment benefits were excluded. "Being told you arent eligible for the same help with bills as others receiving income support is outrageous and must be remedied immediately," Ian Yates, chief of the Council on the Ageing, said in a statement on Tuesday. Opinion polls suggest the government is facing a heavy defeat at the election, due in May but not yet called, and it is banking on the budget and tax cuts to woo voters. In announcing the extension of the energy rebate, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the move would cost about A$80 million. "Last night, the prime minister, the finance minister and myself discussed the issue and we thought it was appropriate to extend it," Frydenberg said in a National Press Club speech on Wednesday. Frydenberg did not specify why the rebate was extended. Haydon Manning, a professor of political science at Flinders University in South Australia, said the move was aimed at deflecting criticism of the budget which will be a major campaign platform. "The government needs clear air, particularly this week when voter attention is on them. They are so far behind in the polls, they can not afford to be seen as confused," said Manning. An election must be held next month and there is speculation that Morrison could call it after parliament rises this week. Morrison said in a television interview on Wednesday that he had yet to decide on a date, but he could choose from May 11, 18 and 25. ($1 = $1.0000) (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Michael Perry)Tallinn (AFP) - Estonia's president will on Friday task liberal Reform party leader Kaja Kallas with forming a new government, a month after an inconclusive general election made tricky coalition building inevitable.

Kallas's party won the March 3 vote -- in which five parties entered parliament -- but she failed to forge a majority coalition with the outgoing premier's runner-up mainstream Centre party.

This left both Kallas, a 41-year-old lawyer and former MEP, and outgoing centre-left prime minister Juri Ratas free to seek other partners to govern with.

"On Friday... President Kersti Kaljulaid will meet the Reform Party chairwoman Kaja Kallas and task her with forming the government," the president's spokeswoman Mailin Aasmae told reporters Wednesday.

If Kallas accepts, she will have two weeks to present the parliament with her proposed government.

If the bid fails, the centrist president will have to choose a new candidate for prime minister.

Kallas said last month that she would opt for talks with the Social Democrats party, which placed fifth in the election.

Ratas for his part has been holding talks with the far-right anti-EU EKRE and the conservative Isamaa party, which placed third and fourth respectively.

Analyst Rein Toomla believes "it is unlikely that Kaja Kallas could form a majority government... The hope to form a minority government is also slim."

"A Centre-Isamaa-EKRE coalition now seems more certain," the Tartu University lecturer told AFP.

He added, however, that Estonian ruling coalitions generally do not last longer than some two years.

That being the case, "Kallas can expect a new coalition led by her to be formed -- albeit slightly further down the road."

Bread-and-butter issues such as taxation and public spending dominated the election in the ex-Soviet state of 1.3 million people known for its IT savvy.

Joblessness hovers at just under five percent in the EU and NATO member country, while economic growth is expected to slow to 2.7 percent this year from 3.9 percent in 2018.New York (AFP) - Ethiopian officials on Thursday are expected to release preliminary conclusions in the probe of last month's crash of a Boeing 737 that killed 157 people, two sources told AFP on Wednesday.

The report on the March 10 crash on the Ethiopian Airlines plane could be published late Thursday morning in Ethiopia, which would be in the middle of the night in the continental United States, said the sources close to the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

News of the report's impending release came as the Federal Aviation Administration announced a new review of the 737 MAX and as the head of Boeing joined a test flight designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the company's proposed fix.

Aviation regulators around the world grounded Boeing's 737 MAX last month following the Ethiopian Airways crash, which came less than five months after an October Lion Air crash that killed 189 people.

Scrutiny has centered on an anti-stall system developed specifically for the latest versions of the planes that has given pilots problems.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that pilots on the doomed Ethiopian plane initially followed emergency steps outlined by Boeing but still could not regain control.

The pilots shut off the anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, but switched it back on because they could not regain control, The Journal reported, citing people briefed on the preliminary findings.

- Boeing's CEO personally tests fix -

The FAA announced it was establishing a new interagency team to review the certification of the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX.

The group "will evaluate aspects of the 737 MAX automated flight control system, including its design and pilots' interaction with the system, to determine its compliance with all applicable regulations and to identify future enhancements that might be needed," said a spokesman for the FAA, which faced tough questioning at a Senate hearing last week over its relationship with and oversight of Boeing.

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The initiative will be chaired by former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Chris Hall and include experts from the FAA, NASA and international aviation authorities.

Meanwhile Boeing, seeking to win back public confidence in the planes, released photographs of its chief executive, who joined a test flight of a 737 MAX with the company's updated anti-stall system.

The FAA said Monday that Boeing needed to undertake more work on the proposed fix before it could be submitted for review.

Boeing distributed a cockpit photo of Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg wearing earphones and seated behind two pilots.

A second shot showed the Boeing chief exiting the aircraft at Boeing Field in Washington state.

"The flight crew performed different scenarios that exercised various aspects of the software changes to test failure conditions," the company said. "The software update worked as designed and the pilots landed safely at Boeing Field."

Boeing said it planned to submit its proposal to the FAA in the coming weeks following "a thorough and disciplined approach to the development and testing" of the enhancements.Brussels (AFP) - The EU on Wednesday launched fresh action against Poland over its controversial judicial reforms, saying a new disciplinary regime for judges would have a "chilling effect" on legal freedoms.

And it fired off a warning to Romania's government over controversial proposed judicial reforms there.

In the latest round of the bitter tussle between Brussels and the right-wing government in Warsaw, the EU said that under the new system judges would be punished simply for doing their jobs independently.

Poland has been at loggerheads with the bloc over the sweeping reforms its government insists are needed to tackle corruption and overhaul a judicial system still haunted by the communist era.

The EU has already launched unprecedented proceedings against Poland over "systemic threats" to the rule of law that could see its EU voting rights suspended.

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said a new infringement procedure had been set in motion over disciplinary rules for judges.

"The main objective of this disciplinary regime is -- as with the rest of the judicial reform -- to systematically subject judges to the political control of the executive," Timmermans said.

Polish judges who have taken part in public debates or commented on the reforms have been targeted by disciplinary officers, Timmermans said, along with those asking for rulings from the European Court of Justice.

"All this has an obvious chilling effect on the activities of judges, and this is incompatible with the requirements of judicial independence as detailed by the European Court of Justice," he told reporters.

"The position of individual judges is at risk, with the careers and means of living being endangered for the mere fact of trying to do their jobs independently."

- Romania also warned -

The commission, the bloc's executive arm, will write to the Polish authorities and expect a reply within two months, Timmermans said. The procedure could end up with Poland being hit with financial penalties.

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Warsaw is already facing two similar procedures, one launched in July 2017 over reforms to lower courts and one from July 2018 relating to Supreme Court changes. Both of them have been referred to the ECJ.

These procedures are parallel to but separate from the more serious rule of law proceedings which the commission began in December 2017.

Timmermans also fired a stern warning at Romania over its own judicial reforms.

The commission would "act swiftly" if Bucharest took any more steps to give "de facto impunity" to high officials sentenced for corruption, he said.

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila voiced surprise at Timmermans' statement, saying it was "not based on the actual reality" and pledging to seek talks with him to resolve the issue.

Separately 12 countries calling themselves "major partners" of Romania -- Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States -- issued a statement expressing deep concerns about Bucharest's reforms.Brussels (AFP) - European Union lawmakers approved a law Wednesday that will allow Britons visa-free visits even after a "no deal" Brexit, despite a furious dispute over the status of Gibraltar.

The European Parliament's justice committee approved the text of the law that already had the backing of member states and should now be formally confirmed.

Britain is due to leave the European Union, perhaps as early as next week, but the law allows British visitors 90-day trips to the Schengen passport-free zone.

Implementation will depend on Britain according EU citizens reciprocal rights, but it has said it will do so and the principle of the law has broad support.

Nevertheless, the text itself triggered a bitter row in Brussels, after member states -- at Spain's urging -- referred in a footnote to the draft to Gibraltar as a "colony of the British crown".

The United Nations does legally list Gibraltar as a "non-self-governing territory", but Britain insists it is part of "the UK family" and that its citizens freely voted to remain British.

Britain's decision to leave the EU has revived controversy over Spain's long-standing claim on the territory, against the backdrop of Spanish elections.

But with Brexit day looming, and lawmakers rushing to complete preparations, EU leaders acted to elbow aside the British MEP at the head of the justice committee.

- 'April 12 is coming' -

This allowed a Bulgarian colleague to nod through the text under protest, and lawmakers approved the law by 38 votes to eight, all but ensuring its passage.

On Monday, the law's "rapporteur", British MEP Claude Moraes, was forced to step aside after EU leaders concluded that he had a conflict of interest.

Members protested this amounted to an attack on parliament's prerogatives, but Moraes' Bulgarian colleague Sergei Stanishev nevertheless steered the law through, arguing that "April 12 is coming".

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"If the EU plans to continually take Spain's side on Gibraltar, against the will of the people of the Rock then it could poison the future trade talks before they have even begun," said Daniel Dalton, a British Conservative MEP and member of the committee.

"It would also fatally undermine Europe's standing as a union which defends democracy and human rights across the worlda

But a leading Spanish MEP, Esteban Gonzalez Pons, seized upon the law as a diplomatic victory for Madrid.

"Spain has obtained fundamental support from the European institutions in the dispute over Gibraltar by considering this territory a colony," he argued.

"The mention of Gibraltar as a colony will be fundamental in attempting to resolve the dispute over this territory in a post-Brexit scenario."

The chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, denounced the text as "disgraceful", noting the law would not even be needed if Britain approves a Brexit withdrawal agreement.

"In this case it is obvious that extreme pressure exerted by Spain and the bullying tactics of Spanish MEPs, on purely nationalistic grounds," he complained.

Brexit itself will not change the status of Gibraltar, but Madrid has been keen to establish that it will retain a veto over any future agreement between Britain and the EU that touches on the territory.Amid a period of turmoil at J. Crew, brand Madewell is the companys shining star. And in a sign of its skyrocketing growth, Madewell has named its first-ever chief executive. Brand president Libby Wadle is taking on the CEO role as Madewell tracks toward becoming a billion-dollar brand, Madewell told Fortune.

The complexity of the business is changing, Wadle says. Its a pivotal point for us in terms of growth.

Madewell opened its first store in 2006 after incubating within J. Crew; Wadle was on the Madewell team from the beginning, although shes spent some time on the J. Crew side since then. In the past half-decadeand especially the past two yearsMadewell, known namely for its denim, has seen growth surge, Wadle says.

Madewell reached over $500 million in total revenue in 2018. We are more than halfway there, Wadle says of the path to the billion-dollar mark. That milestone arrived as J. Crew saw executive turnover, near-constant 40%- and 50%-off sales (compared to Madewells full-price denim bar) and growing worries about its debt.

The relationship is one some might compare to the brands under the Gap Inc. umbrella. Gap recently announced it would spin off Old Navyfounded by none other than longtime J. Crew executive Mickey Drexlerinto a standalone company. Madewell, however, isnt anywhere close to Old Navys $8 billion a year in revenueits actually closer in size to Gaps Athleta brandbut its clear that both Madewell and Old Navy are navigating the brutal retail market while their companies flagship brands flounder.

Even with the loose parallels, Wadle says shes laser-focused on Madewell. She talked to Fortune about her new CEO job and the big question: what is Madewell doing right?

Fortune: Whats changing about the scope of your job as you move from president to CEO?

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Wadle: As the Madewell business is really growing, we have our eyes set on becoming a billion-dollar brand in short order. The complexity of the business is changing. I incubated the brand, and after being part of the growing pains and the phases of growth, its exciting, this new chapter. Its a pivotal point for us in terms of growth.

Denim is really at the core of everything we do. Building on becoming a bigger denim brand, thats really getting more people into our jeans. As you grow the business, you need to grow your customer base. The complexity is really based in trying to keep laser-focused on the things that we want to be focused on, which are denim and community, and shutting out the distraction and the noise that can happen as you start to grow into a bigger brand.

Sign up: Click here to subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortunes daily newsletter on the worlds most powerful women.

You say you have your eyes set on becoming a billion-dollar brand. Where is Madewell is on that path right now?

We are more than halfway there. Its really over the course of the past five years, and then especially the past two years, that weve seen really strong growth.

Around five years ago, we really put a stake in the ground around our value preposition, which is offering premium quality jeans at a non-premium price. It was a real white space in the market. And thats when our business really started to pivot. We always say, Were about denim and everything she wants to wear with jeans, which is a great focus because there are a lot of ways to wear jeans and denim, so weve been able to build our product assortment around that.

What is Madewell doing right? What is keeping the Madewell brand strong while there have been challenges over at J. Crew?

Were very excited about our growth and were excited about just continuing to build that denim business. That really is our focus. Its very tempting to be distracted by other opportunities as youre growing. Its more important to stay focused on the things that youre doing well and building them.

[At] Madewell, were on a very individual path of growth right now. Were focused on that billion-dollar goal we have and were really driven to get there.

How does the situation at the top of J. Crew affect your day-to-day right now? When youre headed into work, is that altering whats on your plate?

Im honestly mildly obsessed with focusing on Madewell at all times. Im super focused on that growth. We have aggressive plans for ourselves. I think everyone benefits from my leadership reflecting that focus and not getting distracted.

You becoming CEOis that a move towards independence for Madewell? Is that a sign that maybe Madewell could be spun off at some point in the future?

Were part of the group, were part of the whole. The business is becoming bigger. We just need to make sure that we have leadership thats really laser focused on those goals and plans.

Its been a big month for denim with Levis re-entering the public market. Whats your current take on the state of competition in denim?

Denim is a big business. As long as we continue to focus on getting our fit and our fabric and our technology right, well be great and do well and continue to see growth.

Our healthiest business has been in denim. When you are in the pants business or the jeans business, you get your most loyal customer when you sell them a pair of jeans. Because they trust that the fit is right, they trust what theyre going to buy next will fit well.

What about your leadership strategy changes now that youre CEO?

I have a pretty collaborative leadership style. And that doesnt mean that theres no accountability. We have a lot of accountability and a very collaborative spirit. We dont have a very siloed approach at all to the business. We love bouncing ideas off of each other, and at the end of the day, I am accountable and on the hook, but I really, really believe in having a very, very strong team of people who love to be part of that collaborative approach to running the business.

How are you thinking about store selection right now? Are malls still a major part of Madewells strategy, and how does that fit in with your online business?

We dont necessarily look at real estate like malls, we just look at where people want to go shopping. And theres a lot of interesting things happening in the retail space today. A lot of landlords are doing great things around creating lifestyle centers that have multi-use features. You can go get great jeans, you can also work out, you can grab a cup of coffee.

On that path toward becoming a billion dollar brand, what does Madewell need to do to make it to that point, to build up the back half of that growth?

We need to build our community of customers. Building our customer base is obviously a hugely important part of building the brand and getting to that milestone of a billion dollars. Building our denim business is a crucial piece of that. I know it sounds like really beating that drum. But I am really beating that drum because it is the most important piece of our business.

This interview has been edited and condensed.Tokyo (AFP) - For the Emperor's abdication on April 30, Japanese workers will enjoy an unprecedented 10-day holiday as a rash of special days off combine with the traditional "Golden Week" in May.

But not everyone is popping the champagne corks in famously workaholic Japan.

"To be honest, I don't know how to spend the time when we are suddenly given 10 days of holidays," said 31-year-old finance worker Seishu Sato.

"If you want to go travelling, it's going to be crowded everywhere and tour costs have surged... I might end up staying at my parents' place," he said.

A survey by the Asahi Shimbun daily showed 45 percent of Japanese "felt unhappy" about the long vacation, with only 35 percent saying they "felt happy".

"I won't be able to take days off. On the contrary, we'll be super-busy," said Takeru Jo, a 46-year-old pizzeria worker.

Others who have to work over the period complain about childcare.

"For parents in the service sector, the 10 days of holiday is a headache. After-school care, nurseries -- everything is closed," tweeted one disgruntled parent.

Many expect Tokyo and other large cities to empty as Japanese seize the rare opportunity for an overseas trip.

"Most of our tours for the holiday period were sold out last year," said Hideki Wakamatsu, a spokesman for Nippon Travel Agency, adding that many others were on the waiting list.

- 'Love marriage' -

Still, if people are curiously indifferent to the idea of extra holidays as a result of the emperor, the imperial family remains as popular as ever.

A poll by public broadcaster NHK found almost no one would admit to a "feeling of antipathy" towards the emperor with the vast majority saying they had a "positive feeling" or "respect." Only 22 percent voiced indifference.

This positive sentiment has risen every year since 2003, according to the NHK poll.

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Takeshi Hara, politics professor at the Open University of Japan, said much of this stemmed from the imperial couple's "welfare-related activities".

"Their attention to the elderly, the disabled and the victims of natural disasters -- those ignored by politicians in the past three decades -- has earned public support," Hara told AFP.

The fact that Emperor Akihito married his sweetheart Michiko "for love" -- the first love marriage in imperial history -- has also boosted his standing, said Hara.

But Hideto Tsuboi, from the Kyoto-based International Research Center for Japanese Studies, said one of the main reasons for Akihito's popularity lay in the fact that he was "conscious of the responsibility of the post-war generation" to reflect on Japan's wartime atrocities.

On the 73rd anniversary of the end of World War II last year, Akihito reiterated "deep remorse" over the war and his continued wishes for peace.

Unlike in many constitutional monarchies, there is almost no republican movement to speak of and criticism of the emperor is anathema -- a phenomenon known as the Chrysanthemum taboo, after the throne.

Hara said that while tabloids are beginning to dig deeper into the royals' private lives, memories of right-wing atrocities against imperial opponents "means there is pressure not to criticise the emperor in public".

In 1961, a right-winger invaded the house of a publishing company's president and stabbed his housekeeper to death over a novel perceived to be critical of the imperial family.

More recently, in 1990, the then-mayor of Nagasaki was shot and injured after he remarked that Akihito's father Hirohito was partially responsible for World War II.

- 'Highly religious nature' -

While criticism of the emperor is virtually non-existent, there has been some opposition to the financing of some of the ceremonies surrounding the abdication and enthronement.

More than 200 Japanese citizens have filed a lawsuit against the government for planning to use taxpayer money to fund the ceremonies.

They say the ceremonies are religious in nature and funding them from the public purse breaks the constitutional principle separating religion and state.

They received unexpected backing from a member of the imperial household, Prince Akishino, the emperor's youngest son, who will become Crown Prince when his brother Naruhito ascends the throne.

Noting that one of the rituals "has a highly religious nature", Akishino mused: "I wonder if it is appropriate to finance this highly religious thing with state funds."The House of Representatives has approved a bill which calls for the construction of a second runway at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport with its concomitant Access Taxiways and Rapid Exit Taxiways (RET), Runway Lighting Systems, and Navigational/Landing Equipment. House Bill 149 of Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar provides for the construction and establishment, under the supervision of the Department of Transportation, through the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, a second aerodrome runway of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, located in the City of Lapu-Lapu, in the province of Cebu. The bill was approved on second reading and will be passed on third and final reading when Congress resumes session in May. Under the bill, the DOTr, in coordination with the MCIAA, shall finance and conduct the feasibility studies and the formulation of the detailed engineering designs, standards, and specifications of the proposed runway as well as the concomitant access taxiways and rapid exit taxiways (RET), runway lighting systems, navigational/landing equipment, and other appurtenances as may be necessary for the effective implementation of the Act. Del Mar said in his bill that the Secretary of Transportation shall include in the DOTrs programs the procurement, construction, operationalization and maintenance of the second runway at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the funding of which shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. The Mactan (Cebu) International Airport is located in Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu City. The airport is about 600 kilometers away from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and serves as the southern hub of the air transportation system of the country. It is a vital international gateway to the countrys economic prosperity.It started operations in the mid-1960s as the replacement of the Lahug Airport, which was situated within Cebu City and had no more room for expansion due to safety and physical constraints. Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) was created through Republic Act 6958, enacted on July 31, 1990. The MCIAA, a government-owned and controlled corporation, is an attached agency of the DOTr. The MCIAA shall principally undertake the economic, efficient and effective control, management and supervision of the Mactan (Cebu) International Airport, and other airports that may be established in the future. MCIA has gone a long way since the time the MCIAA was created in 1990 up to the present. In 1991, the airport handled a total of 1,459,669 passenger movements and 23,281 aircraft movements. In 2012, the passenger movements throughout reached 6,771,318 with 58,888 aircraft movements. As of October 2010, MCIA has 419 departing domestic flights per week and 69 departing international flights per week, up to 140 aircraft movements per day.Brunei on Wednesday introduced harsh new sharia laws -- including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex -- despite a storm of global criticism from rights groups.

Although most Muslim nations incorporate elements of sharia law in their legal systems, very few carry out the harsher punishments -- known as hudud -- which even Muslim scholars disagree on.

Here are some facts about sharia law and how it is interpreted around the world:

-- What is sharia law? --

Sharia is a religious law forming part of the Islamic faith derived from the Koran and the hadiths -- the words or actions of the prophet Mohammed.

The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between conservative and liberal Muslims, and it remains a contested topic around the world.

Some aspects have been widely accepted -- such as how it applies to banking -- with even Western companies introducing Islamic finance products to attract Muslim customers.

Hudud, which means "boundaries" in Arabic, is the punishment meted out for sins such as adultery, rape, homosexuality, theft and murder.

Extreme punishments are rarely carried out as many offences must be proved by a confession or by having been witnessed by several adult Muslim males.

Countries which follow extreme sharia law include:

-- Saudi Arabia --

Sharia is the basis for all Saudi law and until fairly recently extreme hudud punishments carried out in public were common.

Homosexual acts are not only illegal but punishable by execution -- although the usual penalty has been limited to flogging and imprisonment.

Beheadings and amputations by sword were usually carried out on Fridays, before midday prayers. In extreme cases, such as the rape of a child, the condemned man is sometimes ordered crucified after execution.

The law also allows for literal eye-for-an-eye punishment, known as "qisas", in cases of personal injury.

The family of a murder victim can pardon a condemned person -- often in exchange for blood money.

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-- Afghanistan --

Afghanistan's constitution is based on Islamic law but how that is interpreted has a complex history influenced by local custom and tribal traditions.

The Taliban followed a brutal interpretation of Sharia law during their rule from 1996-2001.

For instance, they confined women to their homes, only allowing them outside with a male escort and hidden beneath a burqa.

Hudud punishments were widely practiced all over the country.

The militants now control more territory in Afghanistan than any time since 2001, and again are imposing their strict interpretation of Sharia, although they have also recently indicated they could loosen some of their strictest interpretations if they return to power.

-- Indonesia --

Indonesias conservative Aceh is the only province in the worlds biggest Muslim-majority country that imposes Islamic law.

Public flogging is common for a range of offenses in the region at the tip of Sumatra island, including gambling, drinking alcohol, adultery and having gay sex.

Despite calls for it to end, the practice has wide support among Aceh's mostly Muslim population.

Aceh adopted religious law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

While Indonesia has the death penalty, the government last year warned that Aceh's plan to usher in beheading as a punishment for murder was banned under existing national laws.

-- Sudan --

Sudan adopted sharia law in 1983 but since then has implemented it randomly, activists say.

Death by stoning remains a judicial punishment but has not been implemented in decades -- although activists claim that hundreds of women are flogged every year for immoral behavior under the criminal code.

In recent weeks several women protesters were sentenced to flogging for participating in protests against President Omar al-Bashirs rule, but an appeals court overturned the sentence.

-- Pakistan --

In 1979, military dictator Zia ul Haq introduced the widely-criticised Hudood Ordinances, part of a sweeping Islamisation of Pakistan.

Sharia courts implementing the laws ran parallel to the mainstream British-influenced Pakistan Penal Code, and covered adultery, false accusations in court, property crimes and prohibition of drugs and alcohol.

Women were not allowed to testify in the most severe cases, involving stonings or amputations, and the laws on rape or adultery required four adult Muslim males of good character to testify to the act.

In 2006, MPs overwhelmingly approved the Women Protection Law, voting that rape and adultery cases should no longer be heard under the harsh religious system, but in the mainstream courts.

Rulings in sharia courts can also now be appealed in the mainstream courts.

-- Nigeria --

Some 12 of Nigerias 36 states have extended Sharia to criminal matters and courts can order amputations -- although few have been carried out.

The rest of Nigeria has a mixed legal system of English common and traditional law.

-- Qatar --

Flogging is still used in Qatar as a punishment for alcohol consumption by Muslims or illicit sexual relations. The punishment for adultery is 100 lashes.

Adultery is punishable by death when a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man are involved.

-- The Islamic State --

Although not a country, under its "caliphate", declared vanquished on March 23, the Islamic State group ran its own courts and implemented its brutal interpretation of Islam in areas it controlled in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

It punished alleged crimes including theft, alcohol consumption, adultery, and homosexuality. The extremist group carried out beheadings, stonings and amputation, and threw men suspected of being homosexual off buildings.At least 35 people reported seizures after using electronic cigarettes over the past decade, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency is investigating the incidents, which primarily involved youth and young adults and were discovered in its "adverse event" reporting system.

Seizures or convulsions are known to be possible side effects of nicotine poisoning. They have reportedly occurred after users swallow vaping liquid containing nicotine.

More: With vaping under fire, tobacco-free snuff latest alternative to help smokers quit

Gottlieb said FDA doesn't know yet whether e-cigarettes are definitely causing the seizures. But he added, "as a public health agency, its our job to communicate about potential safety concerns associated with the products we regulate."

He also urged people to report any problems with e-cigarettes to the federal "safety reporting portal."

Gottlieb has been a vocal critic of electronic cigarette makers for not doing enough to keep the devices out of the hands of young people. E-cigarette use was up 78% among high school students and 48% among middle-school students from 2017 to 2018, according to federal data.

He announced in early April that he planned to resign. His last day is Friday. Vaping supporters have pressured the White House to block Gottlieb's proposal in order to sharply restrict sales of sweet-flavored electronic cigarette liquid at convenience stores.

Many of the reports announced Wednesday don't have enough information for FDA to narrow down whether there are problems with particular brands or ways of using the devices, according to a statement by Gottlieb and Principal Deputy Commissioner Amy Abernethy.

Seizures were reported for both first time vapers and regular users. A few cases showed seizures occurred in people who were also using marijuana or amphetamines.

Read more:

FDA surprise: Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, aggressive regulator against vaping, resigns

Story continues

FDA proposes ban on menthol cigarettes, restricts sales of sweet e-cigarettes

Depression, anxiety, nicotine withdrawal: Trying to quit vaping 'was hell'

"The FDA is committed to monitoring this issue closely and taking additional steps as necessary to protect the public, especially our nations youth, from the dangers of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products," Gottlieb and Abernethy said. "We will continue to provide updates as more is learned."

If you are interested in connecting with people online who have overcome or are struggling with issues mentioned in this story, join USA TODAYs "I Survived It" Facebook support group.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FDA: Dozens of seizures reported after vaping, mostly by young peopleBy Elias Ntungwe Ngalame

MBALMAYO, Cameroon, April 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Lucy Muke, a farmer in Mbalmayo in south-central Cameroon, pointed happily to the pile of processed and bottled liquid pepper, ginger and garlic in front of her door, which she planned to supply to supermarkets in the capital Yaounde.

The mother of three, aged 36, belongs to a group for rural women farmers who have benefited from a government-run support scheme called AGROPOLE.

It provides training and funds for farmers to process and market spices and other forest-grown plants, to boost incomes and jobs, while conserving trees and limiting climate change.

Muke said the project, introduced in her region in 2015, had enabled her to make more money, with which she can send her children to school and feed the family.

This season she harvested and processed a dozen 10kg (22lb) bags of pepper that sold for 600,000 Central African francs ($975).

A bag of fresh pepper fetches 20,000 francs, but when processed into a liquid and bottled, farmers get as much as 50,000 francs for the same weight.

In the past, Muke and her peers lost much of their fresh produce through spoilage due to hot tropical conditions.

But processing and packaging a range of spices is becoming more popular here and in other parts of Cameroon, as it helps small-scale farmers beat the heat.

Now we can preserve our harvest for weeks and months without any damage, said Martin Nkili, another Mbalmayo farmer.

AGROPOLE, a government program to promote small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in rural areas, was launched in 2014.

Its national coordinator, Adrian Ngo'o Bitomo, said it had helped more than 400 farmer groups in the last five years, four-fifths of them in forest communities, distributing about 22 billion francs ($35.7 million) in grants.

The program tackles food security, forest conservation and climate change, as well as the connection between agriculture, forestry and local economies, Bitomo said.

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The support it provides includes a proportion of farmers' inputs, processing equipment and start-up funding, he added.

The development of a market information system is also helping to balance supply and demand by providing a channel for buyers and sellers to communicate on prices.

Each group of at least 10 members gets start-up financial support of 10 million francs or more, inputs for planting, training, a grinding machine and a digital weighing scale.

RICH RESOURCES

In February, some 10 forest community groups showed off an assortment of their processed and packaged products in Yaounde at a week-long international trade exhibition, the country's largest that takes place every two years.

"The government support has made us see the rich resources in our forest," said Helen Ojong, coordinator of Mas Provence Spice Enterprise, a group of more than 60 women producers based in Mamfe, southwest Cameroon.

Others have specialized in making herbal remedies, and selling leaves and flowers for decoration, she added.

Forestry officials said the project had improved livelihoods for those communities, especially women and young people, and helped them understand the need to care for their environment.

"Indigenous forest people are better-placed to protect their forest, not just because they love trees and other resources therein, but because it is very important for poverty reduction, said Bruno Mfou'ou Mfou'ou, director of forests at the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife.

The new skills they have acquired in processing herbs and spices mean they no longer have to rely on the charcoal or bush-meat trade to make a living, he added.

This approach of strengthening rural livelihoods with alternative sources of income is part of the government's efforts to protect forests and biodiversity, he noted.

Once communities understand the value of their forest, they become its "voluntary guardians," helping the state to curb illegal activities such as logging, he said.

That, in turn, curbs climate change by keeping trees standing as stores of planet-warming carbon.

LIMITED LAND

Locally produced spices now fill shelves in supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and schools in Cameroon and neighboring countries because of their original quality, officials said.

By consuming locally processed spices and other food items, we help promote our agriculture and empower our farmers financially, said Delor Magellan Kamseu Kamgaing, president of the Cameroon League of Consumers.

Ministry of trade statistics show a 20 percent increase in selling prices, and a rise in sales volume of more than 50 percent for non-wood forest products between 2014 and 2018.

A 2018 report by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership said such products had long been an important part of how forest-dwelling people in Cameroon make their living.

The report said the AGROPOLE program was fostering a more environmentally benign use of forests, leading to greater interest in collecting natural spices and herbs, and marketing them, with about 283,000 people now involved in processing.

The report estimated the annual value of 16 key products at 32 billion francs, with processing adding 6.4 billion francs, representing a combined total of 0.2 percent of GDP.

Bitomo, the program coordinator, said training farmers had not been easy, with many lagging behind due to high illiteracy.

"Lots of patience and longer time is needed to help them catch up," he said.

The farmers also face challenges in expanding their output because of limited cultivable land - most have only one or two hectares - in addition to a lack of finance.

Bernard Njonga, coordinator of the Cameroon-based Support Service for Local Development Initiatives, which aids rural communities, blamed the barriers holding farmers back on a lack of opportunity for them to shape agricultural policy.

Any measure aimed at addressing agricultural challenges must involve farmers to achieve maximum success, he said. ($1 = 615.6900 Central African CFA franc) (Reporting by Elias Ntungwe Ngalame; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)Over the last few decades, companies have developed many different tools to help women prevent pregnancies. But there hasnt been nearly as much innovationand investmentin technologies that help women get pregnant.

Thats starting to change. On Wednesday at Fortunes fourth annual Brainstorm Health conference in San Diego, a trio of entrepreneurs shared the ways in which their respective startups are tackling different aspects of womens fertility and maternal health.

So much of fertility today is reactive, and were trying to make the conversations more proactive, says Carly Leahy, founder and chief executive officer of Modern Fertility, a San Francisco-based company that sells an at-home fertility hormone test. Modern Fertility also provides educational services like consultations with nurses and a weekly webinar (which they call an Egginar).

Another company, Kindbody, offers a broader range of services, including IVF, donor support, and egg and embryo freezing. The New York-based startup sells both to patients and employers, who are increasingly offering such benefits to employees. Historically, egg freezing and IVF was for the 1%, says Gina Bartasi, founder and CEO of Kindbody.

Bartasi says her company is trying to bring down the cost of such procedures partly by acquiring its own electronic medical record and billing system, and by leaning on employers to take on more of the cost of fertility services, especially with more and more women putting off childbearing until later in their careers. The employers are leading in this field, says Bartasi. (To be sure, plenty of corporations still dont provide adequate benefits for women who are trying to conceive.)

Kate Ryder, founder and CEO of Maven, a virtual clinic for women and families, also sells directly to employers. Through Maven, corporations can offer their employees access to vetted healthcare professionals, IVF and adoption services, return-to-work support following the birth of a child and even a breastmilk-shipping perk for lactating moms who travel for work.

Theres a reason an increasing number of employers are turning to such benefit offerings. Forty-three percent of new moms are dropping out of the workforce, says Ryder.

Investors are also taking note: Maven recently raised a $27 million series B round of funding from Sequoia Capital, Oak HC/FT, Female Founders Fund and other investors. And you can expect to see more companies like Modern Fertility, Kindbody and Maven, both getting funding and gaining traction with corporate customers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about ten in 100 women in the United States ages 5 to 44 have difficulty becoming or staying pregnant. With more women waiting longer to conceive, those numbers will likely increase.Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) generates most of its revenue from China, but the tech giant's dependence on overseas markets is rising. One of its key growth markets is Southeast Asia, home to over 600 million consumers.

A joint report from Alphabet's Google and Temasek claims that the region's e-commerce market will grow from $5.5 billion in 2015 to $87.8 billion by 2025, fueled by higher incomes and internet penetration rates.

A young woman makes a purchase on her smartphone.

Image source: Getty Images.

That's why it wasn't surprising when Alibaba took control of Lazada, the region's largest e-commerce player, in 2016. That investment didn't move the needle for Alibaba at first, but its importance is growing. Baird analyst Craig Sebastian expects Lazada to generate $13 billion in GMV (gross merchandise volume), or the value of all goods sold on its platforms, this year, and add 5% to 10% to Alibaba's enterprise value.

Pivoting away from China

$13 billion is a drop in the bucket compared to Alibaba's GMV of 4.82 trillion RMB ($768 billion) in 2018. However, Alibaba's GMV growth at its core Tmall marketplace decelerated throughout the first three quarters of 2019, mostly due to the slowdown in the Chinese economy, which was exacerbated by trade tensions with the US.

Metric Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Tmall GMV 34% 30% 29%

Year-over-year growth. Source: Alibaba quarterly reports.

To offset that slowdown, Alibaba expanded into overseas markets like Russia, Mexico, India, and Southeast Asia. As a result, its international e-commerce retail revenue rose 23% annually last quarter and accounted for 5% of its top line. Its international wholesale revenue grew 31% and accounted for 2% of its sales.

How big is Lazada?

Alibaba doesn't disclose its exact sales for each international platform, so it's unclear how much of that revenue comes from Lazada. Lazada disclosed that it generated $154 million in revenue in 2014, and Owler estimates that it currently generates about $200 million in annual revenue -- which would equal less than 1% of Alibaba's 2018 revenue. That's a tiny percentage, but it could climb quickly if e-commerce adoption rates rise as quickly as market estimates suggest.

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Yet Lazada is still unprofitable. It disclosed an adjusted operating loss of $153 million in 2014, and Alibaba reported a combined loss of 8.22 billion RMB ($1.23 billion) from Lazada, its local consumer services, its new retail and direct import unit, and its Cainiao logistics division last quarter.

Tiny parcels in a miniature shopping cart on a laptop keyboard.

Image source: Getty Images.

Alibaba didn't disclose how much of that loss came from Lazada, but it's clearly still running the platform at a loss to compete against its primary rival, Sea's (NYSE: SE) Shopee marketplace. Sea is also running Shopee at a loss, which gives Lazada very little room to grow its margins.

Alibaba's main strategy for narrowing Lazada's losses is to reduce its direct sales (which require higher logistics and fulfillment expenses) and increase its reliance on third-party marketplace retailers. That move caused Lazada's total revenue growth to decelerate last quarter -- but Alibaba stated that Lazada's third-party marketplace generated "robust" GMV growth, and that the shift better positions the platform for "sustainable and scalable long-term growth."

A top investment priority

Alibaba isn't worried about making Lazada profitable anytime soon. During last quarter's conference call, CFO Maggie Wu stated that Alibaba would continue reinvesting its cash into "four strategic areas" in order of priority: local consumer service, Lazada, retail and Tmall direct imports, and Cainiao.

Wu acknowledged that Alibaba was still taking losses on all four businesses, but that it was already starting to see "efficiency gains and greater synergies" from those businesses that should deliver better returns over the long term.

Wu also suggested that the strength of Alibaba's core Chinese marketplaces (Tmall and Taobao) would offset those losses. Even after factoring in those losses, Alibaba's core commerce EBITDA still grew 20% to 46.1 billion RMB ($6.7 billion).

Short-term pain, long-term gains

Investors shouldn't expect Lazada to move the needle for Alibaba anytime soon. Its GMV will remain a sliver of Alibaba's total GMV, and its losses will weigh down its earnings. But over the long term, Alibaba's investments in Lazada could pay off as the Southeast Asian e-commerce market matures.

More From The Motley Fool

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Sea Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.When the topic of gender discrimination in the workplace comes up, most people think of the wage gap or the fact that women hold fewer leadership positions on average than men. However, discrimination against pregnant employees also affects workplace dynamicsthough its not often discussed. Variety reports that on April 2nd, former Netflix executive Tania Zarak filed a suit against the company alleging that she faced discrimination for being pregnant, and that she was even fired because of it.

In the suit, Zarak reportedly states that she began working for Netflix in 2018 as a manager in the companys international originals department. She notified the company that she was pregnant in November that year. After the announcement, she claims that her supervisor, Francisco Ramos (who is named as a defendant in the suit) began excluding her from meetings, removed her from a show she was working on, and made derogatory comments about her appearance. She also noted that Ramos became visibly annoyed when she informed him she planned to take maternity leave. After she complained to human resources in December about Ramoss behavior, she says she was fired.

According to Deadline, Zarak is suing for wrongful termination, and the suit claims that she suffered and continues to suffer humiliation, emotional distress, and mental and physical pain and anguish as a result of the incident. Per Variety, the suit also alleges that Netflix secretly retaliates against employees who take advantage of the companys year-long parental leave policy.

Netflix Sued By Ex-Employee Who Claims She Was Fired Over Pregnancy https://t.co/xNeWL7Ng5y pic.twitter.com/mKe3Jl1haO  Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) April 3, 2019

Companies have parental leave plans for a reason, and employees should feel like they can use that leave without being penalized. Because women and families deserve better, and Netflix should do better.Bordeaux (AFP) - A 72-year-old Frenchman floating across the Atlantic in a custom-made barrel says he is in high spirits as he approaches the end of his journey, after nearly 100 days alone at sea enjoying "magnificent sunrises and sunsets."

"The days are going by too fast," Jean-Jacques Savin told AFP by satellite phone this week. "I'm not bored at all."

The former French paratrooper and avid triathlete embarked on his trans-Atlantic test on December 26 from the Canary islands just west of Africa, aiming to reach the Caribbean in about three months just by drifting in ocean currents.

Capricious trade winds slowed his progress -- not that it dented Savin's enthusiasm for "experiencing this feeling of freedom, and admiring the richness of the ocean's wildlife."

Measuring three metres (10 feet) long and 2.10 metres across, his barrel is made from resin-coated plywood, heavily reinforced to resist waves and potential attacks by orca whales.

Inside the capsule, which weighs 450 kilograms (990 pounds) when empty, is a six-square-metre living space which includes a kitchen, sleeping bunk and storage.

A porthole in the floor allows Savin to look at passing fish.

Having already travelled some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles), he estimates he has about 1,000 more to go. "I think I'll arrive around April 20, I'm not sure where, maybe the Dominican Republic," he said.

- Close calls -

His days have mainly gone smoothly, though there have been a few close calls. I've only had eight difficult nights, and one that was extremely difficult," he said.

In late February, he nearly got rammed by a cargo ship that wasn't responding to his radio calls.

"Luckily I shot up a flare. It was like being trapped on a railroad track and I was watching the oncoming train," he said.

But the most perilous moment came on March 28, when his barrel was being pummelled by huge waves that were threatening to turn the vessel completely upside-down.

Story continues

Tying himself to a safety rope, Savin crawled out to try to reattach a vertical stabiliser, only to find himself thrown off and dangling from his armpits, sometimes being dunked completely under the water.

It took half an hour of scrambling to pull himself back up, and Savin later posted pictures of his heavily bruised body on his Facebook page.

So far Savin has lost four kilos on his trip, eating freshly caught bream alongside freeze-dried food.

His stocks were replenished during a visit from the Ronald H. Brown, a US oceanography vessel based in Charleston, South Carolina.

"They spoiled me. I got mail, T-shirts, and lots of chocolate," he said.

He's now focussed on figuring out which coast to wash up on, though he added that "I will be sad to arrive."

"I'd like to end up in Martinique or Guadaloupe," he said, since it would be easier to get his ship back home since they are French overseas territories.

Afterwards he plans to write a book, and requests for speaking appearances have been pouring in.

But already Savin has another challenge in sight: swimming alone across the English Channel.Attorney General William Barr says the redacted report from the special counsel investigation will be publicly available by mid-April, but thats not enough for the House Judiciary Committee. Democratic leadership voted Wednesday to authorize subpoenas for special counsel Robert Muellers full, unredacted report.

As I have made clear, Congress requires the full and complete Special Counsel report, without redactions, as well as access to the underlying evidence, committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said in a statement Monday.

He encouraged Barr to release the unredacted report to Congress so that we can work together to ensure the maximum transparency of this important report to both Congress and the American people.

Whether or not lawmakers will see the full report, the public will only be able to read whats left after the redactions. According to Barrs March 29 letter to Congress, there are four categories of information that must not be made public: grand jury matters, compromising intelligence, ongoing investigations, and the privacy and reputation of third parties.

While much of this information is typical for redactions, Barr will have to balance removing the necessary information with maintaining the publics trust. If he redacts a significant amount, those suspicious of President Donald Trump might believe Barr is trying to hide potentially damaging information.

I dont think you could possibly compare anything ever in the history of American jurisprudence to this in terms of what the guidelines are for what should be redacted and what shouldnt be, said criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Chabrowe, formerly a prosecutor at the Manhattan District Attorneys Office.

The grand jury information must remain secret under the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), which places restrictions on the disclosure of matters occurring before a grand jury. Congress, while itself not an exception to the rule, can still obtain the documents in select situations for legislative purposes. The public, however, is not privy to this information.

Story continues

Barrs second category of confidential informationmaterial the intelligence community identifies as potentially compromising sensitive sources and methodsis more vague. Without seeing the Mueller report, its difficult to glean what kind of information this could entail. Being that Mueller was investigating the Russian interference in the 2016 election, however, its possible there are elements to the report the intelligence community would want kept secret.

The ongoing investigations could be the largest category leading to redactions, said Chabrowe. As Mueller wrapped up his probe, he referred countless investigations to other offices: the United States Attorneys Offices for the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Columbia have each taken over various investigations or sentencing.

In terms of redacting this information, it becomes more beneficial for them to acknowledge that there are many more ongoing investigations, argued Chabrowe.

The more so they acknowledge that, the more so that they can redact certain things as being pertinent to an ongoing investigation, he continued. If its heavily redacted and thats whats going to be published, then Trump is in a good position to be like, See, theres nothing here.'

Chabrowe added that there may be investigations the public doesnt even know about, which will likely be the most heavily redacted. Regardless, he says, Barr will be given a lot of leeway in this area: if anyone later accuses him of over-redacting to protect the president, Barr can justifiably argue he was attempting to protect ongoing investigations.

Barrs final category for redaction is information that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties. This could refer to names and identifying attributes of players who were a part of the investigation in some way, but were not themselves involved with any crimes.

Barrs brief summary of the investigation for Congress says Mueller issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed almost 500 search warrants, and interviewed about 500 witnesses. The report itself is nearly 400 pages long, and according to Barr, it lays out Muellers findings, his analysis, and the reasons for his conclusions.

Whatever he eventually releases to the public, Chabrowe said, It has to be something intelligible where when youre reading it, you can actually read it from beginning to end. He referenced a time he received a redacted document that was practically 10 black pieces of paper.

Congress wants the full report, and the public wants as much as possible. According to a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 75% of Americans want the full Mueller report releasedincluding 54% of Republicans.

Mueller may have some input on the redactions, but as attorney general, Barr has the final say.Jerusalem (AFP) - Former military chief Benny Gantz has mounted a serious challenge to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of April 9 polls by maintaining a tough-guy aura with only vague policy ideas.

When he declared in December as an electoral rival to Netanyahu, the 59-year-old ex-paratrooper who rose to become a respected military chief of staff had no political experience.

But since then, polls show his Blue and White alliance becoming a threat to four-time premier Netanyahu as he emerges as a security hawk but centrist on social issues such as religion and state.

The alliance is co-led by former finance minister Yair Lapid and includes two other ex-military chiefs.

Gantz has presented himself as someone who can heal divisions in Israeli society he says Netanyahu has exacerbated.

He has also pledged to improve public services and show "zero tolerance" for corruption -- a reference to graft allegations facing Netanyahu.

Israel's attorney general has announced that he intends to charge Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust pending a hearing.

Netanyahu denies all the allegations.

Gantz's campaign is unrolling with military precision with the aim of placing him at the heart of the Israeli consensus, espousing what one opponent called "a supermarket" of policies.

The goal, commentators say, is aimed at taking votes from Netanyahu's right-wing coalition without alienating the centre.

- Parents survived Holocaust -

He was born on June 9, 1959, in Kfar Ahim, a southern Israeli village that his immigrant parents, both Holocaust survivors, helped to establish.

"In many ways my life began before I was born. It began at the moment my mother Malka walked out of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp," he said in a February speech at the Munich Security Conference.

"The Jewish people and the Jewish state will never again put their fate in the hands of others. We will protect ourselves by ourselves and guarantee the future of our people."

Story continues

Gantz joined the army in 1977, completing the tough selection course for the paratroopers.

He went on to command Shaldag, an air force special operations unit. In 1994, he returned to the army to command a brigade and then a division in the occupied West Bank.

According to his official army biography, he was Israel's military attache to the United States from 2005 until 2009.

He was military chief of staff from 2011 to 2015, when he retired, and has boasted in video clips of the number of Palestinian militants killed and targets destroyed under his command in the 2014 war with Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers.

In another video he stresses the need to try to make Arab-Israeli peace.

The Blue and White election manifesto speaks of wanting to separate from the Palestinians, but does not specifically mention a two-state solution.

It pledges to keep the strategic Jordan Valley area of the West Bank under Israeli security control and all of the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Both are unacceptable to the Palestinian leadership.

It also states that the strategic Golan Heights, seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed by Israel, are "an inseparable part of the state of Israel, this issue is non-negotiable."

- 'I have no idea' -

In a February 6 interview with the top-selling Israeli paper Yediot Aharonot he hinted that he could consider removing at least some settlers from the West Bank and spoke positively of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

The Gaza withdrawal had been "approved by the Israeli government and implemented by the army and settlers in a painful but good way", he told the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

"(One should) learn from it and apply it to other places."

In a campaign video six days later, however, he lambasted Netanyahu for initially supporting the 2005 withdrawal.

"Netanyahu forcefully evicted Jews," said the Hebrew-language clip.

Netanyahu, who was finance minister at the time in Ariel Sharon's centre-right coalition government, resigned in protest after the cabinet gave final approval for the pullout in August 2005.

Haaretz newspaper recently interviewed Gantz's elder sister, Shoshi Inbar, who said even she didn't know her brother's political views.

"I have no idea," she said. "He was a soldier his whole life. I kept telling him: 'At least tell me whom you voted for'" but he never replied, she said.

Gantz has a BA in history from Tel Aviv University, a master's degree in political science from Haifa University and a master's in national resource management from the National Defence University in the United States.

He is married and a father of four.READ: Defense chief denies China scare tactics

While the military warned of Chinese militia vessels near Pag- asa Island , President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday defended his administrations ties with China, saying Beijing only wants to be friends with the Philippines. READ: GMA: China partner in development not threat In a speech during the campaign sortie of the ruling PDP-Laban in Malabon City, the President said China provides military assistance to the Philippine government without asking for any of the countrys territories in return. You know, China just wants to be friends with us. They gave us arms, ammunition. I went there because America failed to deliver what we ordered, Duterte said. Even until now they are not asking for anything. They do not even ask for a territory. The fight there I dont think we can do it, he added. The President also said he did not campaign to boost the countrys infrastructure when he ran for president because he was unsure if China would back his endeavor. There were so many things I never mentioned, including the Build, Build, Build program because I was not sure if China would deal with me when I become president, he said. It was only when I went there and talked with them and Russia, while the Americans doubted, he added. The President said the Philippines cannot square up to China, noting the country is no match for Beijings military might. If I go to war, my Navy will be crushed in a matter of minutes. If I wage a war with China, in seven minutes their missile will reach Manila, he said. Why would I quarrel with them? Why would I waste my police and soldiers? Life is at stake, he added. The Presidents remarks came in the wake of the military commands admission that Chinese militiamen have established a presence in the disputed waters near Pag-asa Island. READ: Ex-PH execs hit out at Chinese actions On Monday, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said there are 275 Chinese fishing vessels near Pag-asa Island, one of the Philippine-claimed territories in the West Philippine Sea. He said an earlier report claiming 600 vessels was exaggerated. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua then said that while Panelos figures have yet to be verified, the Chinese vessels are manned only by fishermen, adding the Chinese government is in constant connection with its Philippine counterparts to verify if there is any truth to that kind of report. The top Chinese envoy assured the Filipino people that they do not have to worry about the supposed deployment of militiamen in the disputed areas. But Panelo said he was inclined to believe military reports that Chinese militia, and not fishermen, were in the boats. The military command says from their point of view, its militiamen. So, who do I believe? The military, of course, Panelo said in a Palace press briefing Tuesday.The Palace official has already said that a diplomatic protest over Chinas supposed presence near Pag-asa island was on the way to Beijing to thresh out the issue. Panelo twitted critics who did not believe the administration has filed a protest. They are just finding things to criticize. They should take the word of the public officialsits already been sent to them [China], Panelo said in a radio interview with dwFM on Wednesday morning. Panelo said the Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines had informed him that they recommended a diplomatic protest, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. also assured him that a note verbale was already sent to China to address the issue. READ: DFA fires off salvo of diplomatic notes vs China boats in WPS We have already made our position very clear. Youre not welcome there, leave the area because youre encroaching on our territory. Thats how simple it is, Panelo said. Senator Panfilo Lacson, however, said the Philippines has become so friendly and accommodating to China that it might as well let Beijing occupy its territory. The fact that there are  Chinese militia vessels, not even fishermen, what does this indicate? Then we will say that we cant go to war with China and that it would only take one missile to finish us. So if thats the case, then lets just allow them to occupy our territory, right? he said in Filipino on CNN Philippines. Lacson said Manila is better off refraining from repeatedly stating that it is too weak to fight Beijing. You already know that you are weak, dont tell everyone that youre weak because you would only be bullied further, he said. But he conceded that the only thing the Philippines can do for now is to file a diplomatic protest. An Armed Forces spokesman said Wednesday that naval and air units regularly conduct maritime domain awareness patrols off Pag-asa Island. Our Navy vessel there is not stationary because, as you know, we respond to different missions. But what we can assure you is regularly we have Navy ships there and those are what we use in our daily missions and operations, AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said in an interview or radio dzMM Tuesday. The military official was responding to a question on whether the Navy has deployed assets to the area following reports claiming that hundreds of Chinese vessels of various types were swarming Pag-asa Island. Arevalo also said that these naval patrols are augmented by Air Force aircraft. He clarified that the military has yet to receive reports of Filipino fishermen being harassed or subjected to any act of aggression by these Chinese vessels.Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card!

When we invest, we're generally looking for stocks that outperform the market average. And while active stock picking involves risks (and requires diversification) it can also provide excess returns. For example, long term Geneva Finance Limited (NZSE:GFL) shareholders have enjoyed a 95% share price rise over the last half decade, well in excess of the market return of around 51% (not including dividends). On the other hand, the more recent gains haven't been so impressive, with shareholders gaining just 3.9%, including dividends.

View our latest analysis for Geneva Finance

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Over half a decade, Geneva Finance managed to grow its earnings per share at 98% a year. The EPS growth is more impressive than the yearly share price gain of 14% over the same period. Therefore, it seems the market has become relatively pessimistic about the company. The reasonably low P/E ratio of 8.23 also suggests market apprehension.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

NZSE:GFL Past and Future Earnings, April 3rd 2019

This free interactive report on Geneva Finance's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Geneva Finance, it has a TSR of 154% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

Geneva Finance shareholders are up 3.9% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. It's probably a good sign that the company has an even better long term track record, having provided shareholders with an annual TSR of 21% over five years. It's quite possible the business continues to execute with prowess, even as the share price gains are slowing. Before forming an opinion on Geneva Finance you might want to consider the cold hard cash it pays as a dividend. This free chart tracks its dividend over time.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on NZ exchanges.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.



If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.Rome (AFP) - A German charity rescue ship has picked up 64 migrants, including women and children, stranded off Libya while trying to cross the Mediterranean and enter Europe.

The Watch the Med association said it received a call for help from the stricken inflatable at around 0830 GMT on Wednesday.

"The authorities were unreachable," Watch the Med said of the Libyan coastguard charged with search and rescue operations in the zone off Zouara.

Charities frequently accuse the Libyan authorities of failing to rescue migrants, while rights groups say migrants face abuses in Libya.

Instead, German charity Sea-Watch's Alan Kurdi rescue vessel, named after a Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015, went to rescue the migrants.

"They're all safe and sound on board our vessel," Sea-Eye said.

"The Libyan coastguard is not answering or rescuing."

Italy's far right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini made his oft-stated hardline position on immigration crystal clear Wednesday evening.

"A German-registered vessel, a German NGO, a German ship owner and a skipper from Hamburg -- best it heads for Hamburg," said Salvini.

Italy's tough line on the issue has seen many boats that pick up migrants making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean increasingly return them to chaos-wracked Libya.

But there they face trafficking, kidnap, torture and rape, according to the United Nations and aid groups.

Watch the Med said it had received distress calls from two other vessels which had left Libya in recent days with a total 91 people aboard.

The Italian coastguard said Tuesday they had information on the second of the two and had passed on the information to their Libyan counterparts.

But according to the International Migration Organisation (OIM) there was "still no news" of either, despite the Alan Kurdi vessel spending several days searching the zone.

"Sadly, that confirms the search and rescue capacities in the Mediterranean have dropped and must be ratcheted up," OIM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo said.DUBLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet residents who live along the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland during a visit to Dublin on Thursday to discuss Brexit to learn what impact any return of frontier checks would have on their lives. Ireland's 500 km (350 mile) border with British-governed Northern Ireland will be the United Kingdom's only EU land frontier after Brexit, and the question of how to retain seamless trade across it has been a major hurdle in efforts to ensure the UK quits the bloc in an orderly fashion. That becomes an even more difficult task if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal as Dublin has pledged to maintain the integrity of the European Union's single market, where goods move freely around the bloc without the need for checks. Britain, Ireland and the EU fear the installation of physical customs infrastructure on the border could reignite largely dormant sectarian tensions and prove a tempting target for militants seeking a united Ireland and those who oppose it. Merkel will use her trip to meet Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to consider the border situation and how to prevent a no-deal "hard Brexit", she said on Wednesday. The leaders will participate in a roundtable discussion in Dublin with people from Northern Ireland and the border area ahead of their meeting, the Irish government said. "These are people for whom the border is a very real issue  people from communities along the border, from business, and with direct personal experience of conflict before the Good Friday Agreement," the government said in a statement, referring to the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of violence. "It is important to hear their voices as we work together to deal with the challenges that Brexit presents." Ireland has for months refused to countenance any no-deal contingency plans for the border but recently began discussions with the European Commission over how it might be managed if its nearest neighbor crashes out of the bloc. No plan has been agreed as a result of those ongoing talks, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Tuesday. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams)Tokyo prosecutors are considering pressing a fresh charge on former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, local media said Wednesday, which would be the latest twist in the auto tycoon's dramatic downfall.

Investigators are eyeing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least $32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman, according to local news agency Jiji Press.

Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a luxury boat allegedly used by Ghosn and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.

If Tokyo prosecutors were to move forward with the case, it would be the fourth criminal charge against the 65-year-old former high-flying auto executive, who denies all allegations.

Ghosn already faces three charges of financial misconduct over allegations he under-reported his compensation and sought to transfer personal losses to Nissan's books.

Tokyo district prosecutors are discussing the case with more senior colleagues before deciding whether to proceed, Japanese media said.

If prosecutors were to file new charges, it would not necessarily mean Ghosn returns to the detention centre where he spent more than three months before winning bail on March 6, according to a local lawyer.

"The prosecutor can hit Ghosn with new charges without sending him back to prison. Prosecutors would need to again justify a detention by saying he was a flight risk and could destroy evidence and the chances seem fairly slim," said the lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous.

The news came after it emerged that lawyers for Renault -- Nissan's parent company that Ghosn also led -- have handed over documents to prosecutors showing "millions of euros" in payments to the firm's distributors in Oman.

An internal probe by Nissan, which is cooperating with prosecutors, has found Ghosn had approved over $30 million in payments to a distributor in Oman, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP.

Story continues

Some of this money ended up in personal accounts, or used for purchases and investments by Ghosn -- mainly to buy a yacht and make investments via his son's firm -- according to this person.

In a bolt from the blue that rocked Japan and the business world, Ghosn was arrested on November 19 after prosecutors stormed his private jet at a Tokyo airport and took him into custody.

He spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on bail of nearly $9 million.

Nissan swiftly removed him as chairman and is also expected to remove him from the board at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting slated for Monday.The Brexit saga just took a gigantic twist with Theresa Mays decision to actually seek some sort of compromise with the opposition. The prime minister on Wednesday began talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to see if they can agree on a proposal that stands a chance of getting through Parliament.

The 2016 Brexit referendum, it should never be forgotten, was conceived by former prime minister David Cameron as a way of settling a decades-old rift within the Conservative Party regarding the U.K.s membership of the European Union. But the rift never went away. Look at the charts that represent how lawmakers recently voted on the various Brexit options before them, and it is clear that Mays Conservatives remain as divided as ever, if not more so, while Labour sings mostly with one voice.

The path forward plainly does not lie in the fantasy of Tory unity. And so, with nine days to go before a no-deal Brexit strikes by default, May has finally given up trying to keep her party together, instead turning her attention to the small issue of the national interest.

Belated bipartisanship

Yes, its time to try bipartisanship. If May can strike a deal with Corbynwhich would probably involve the U.K. retaining close economic ties with the EU; a so-called soft Brexitthen theres a reasonable chance of Parliament finally saying yes rather than no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. If not, then May will go with whatever Parliament decides.

Its not quite time to pop the champagne corks yet, of course. Corbyn is himself not known as the worlds most flexible politician and, if the talks break down, theres no evidence as yet to suggest Parliament is capable of agreeing on anything Brexit-related.

Whatever the outcome, May will have to deal with the consequences within her party of her decision to talk to Corbyn. One junior minister, Nigel Adams, has already resigned in protest at her collaborating with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first. Arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg is also on the warpath over Corbyn being a known Marxist, as though the Labour leader had been caught out as a closet socialist. Corbyn, like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the U.S., has long identified as a democratic socialist.

Story continues

Corbyn will also have to tread carefully, as, although most of Labours party base favors remaining in the EU, many do not. And emotions are running high. A month ago Corbyn was egged by a Brexiteer, who was subsequently jailed for assault. On Wednesday, footage emerged of British soldiers in Afghanistan using a picture of Corbyn for target practice.

Then theres the fact that many Labour supporters suspect Mays bipartisan move is in fact a trap.

Trust problem

There are two trap theories in circulation. One holds that May simply wants to drag Corbyn down with heronce he enters talks, he shares the blame for whatever happens afterwards, thus losing his ability to pin the Brexit fiasco on the Tories once the next national election rolls around.

The other theory is incredibly convoluted, but it boils down to the idea that Maywho wants another short extension to the Brexit deadline in order to hold her talks with Corbynis trying to drag the U.K. past the point where it would be able to seek a long extension that would allow a second Brexit referendum to take place. This is not actually possible.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker rejected the idea of a short extension on Wednesday, saying: April 12 is the ultimate deadline for approval of the Withdrawal Agreement by [the British Parliament.] If it has not done so by then, no further short extension will be possible.

Junckers point was that, by April 12, if the U.K. still isnt sure what its plan is, any extension would have to involve the country fielding candidates for the European Parliament elections on May 23. This is a legal requirement if the European Parliament is to retain its legitimacythere must be no risk of the U.K. remaining an EU member state without representation in the European Parliament. After April 12, its too late for the U.K. to organize candidates or polling stations.

So May can only really ask for a long extension, or none at all. And if she does ask for a long extension, she will have to give the EU a good reason: namely, a fresh U.K. election or a second Brexit referendum. Corbyn would probably be fine with either of those options.

Labour should make it a pre-condition of talks that all necessary measures immediately put in place to ensure UK can participate in EP elections so that no deal really is taken off the table. https://t.co/UL4K3WolLf  Simon Nixon (@Simon_Nixon) April 3, 2019

In short, everything now comes down to trust: is May being genuine in her belated bipartisan move, or is this all some sort of cunning ruse? That the question is being asked is not simply due to Mays own track record of bulldozing and bribing her way through the Brexit crisis; its also a function of the U.K.s highly adversarial political system, which is not designed for compromise.

But U.K. politicians need to find some sort of way through the Brexit mess that doesnt involve crashing out in nine days time, and bipartisanship finally being on the table meansbelieve it or notthat progress is being made. Even if trust is at an all-time low, both sides need to hold their noses and do their best to save the countrys economy.The schoolgirl says she was sexually assaulted on the number 33 bus travelling from Pheasey (Wikipedia/stock photo)

A schoolgirl says she was sexually assaulted by a group of men in their early 20s while she travelled on a bus with friends to Birmingham city centre.

The 12-year-old told her mother that the men approached the group as the number 33 bus was on Finchley Road in Kingstanding.

The girls friends ran down to the bottom deck after they were assaulted, leaving her alone with the men, who the girl said then sexually assaulted her.

The victims mother said after the alleged incident: No words can describe how I felt when she phoned me.

The 12-year-old was travelling to Birmingham city centre with three friends (Geograph)

I felt useless as I wasnt there when she needed me the most.

She was really shaken up.

She added the gang got off the bus in the city centre.

Read more from Yahoo News UK:

Slip-and-trip fraudster claimed thousands in cartons scam

Sellafield fined after worker contaminated with plutonium

US student stabs classmate while re-enacting movie scene

The girls were on the top deck of the bus  which runs from Pheasey to Birmingham  on Saturday, March 16.

West Midlands Police said: Police are investigating reports a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on a bus in Finchley Road, Kingstanding, just before 3pm on 16 March.

Anyone with information is urged to contact West Midlands Police.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKMost fresh fruit and vegetables imported during the winter months could disappear from grocery store shelves across the U.S. within a matter of days. The produce left behind would skyrocket in price by at least 20% to 40%. Cucumbers, eggplants, bell peppers, squash, cherry tomatoes, watermelons and other warm-weather fruits and vegetables Americans enjoy during cold months would become scarce. And you can all but forget about avocados.

Thats the stark warning from experts and industry advocates if President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to close the southern border if Mexico does not stop the flow of undocumented Central American migrants into the United States. Its something that would impact almost anyone in America who buys fruits and vegetables, says Lance Jungmeyer, the president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, a trade group.

Shelves will start looking half-empty within a few days, and within a week, they really are half-empty, he says.

The President has flipped between pulling back on his warning to Mexico and doubling down on his efforts. During a speech at the National Republican Congressional Committees annual spring dinner Tuesday evening, Trump claimed Mexico was cooperating in apprehending migrants at the border. I really wanted to close it. But now Mexico is saying, No, no, no. First time in decades, he said.

By Wednesday, Trump had seemed to have changed his mind, tweeting that without action by Congress, the border, or large sections of Border, will close.

Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the Border! If no action, Border, or large sections of Border, will close. This is a National Emergency!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2019

Trumps continued threats have highlighted how intertwined the $557 billion trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico is, particularly when it comes to the food supply. About 50% of vegetables and 40% of fruit imported to the U.S. are grown in Mexico, according to U.S Department of Agriculture data.

Story continues

U.S. consumers accustomed to year-round access to fresh fruits and vegetables are reliant on Mexicos produce supply. Much of the produce normally available to American buyers in the off-season would disappear if the border closes, according to Jungmeyer. While southeastern states like Florida and Georgia could grow many of the warm weather vegetables during the winter months, they are not able to grow enough to feed the entire country  largely due to the threat of frosts, freezes and hurricanes. Plus, it would take domestic farms six to eight weeks, or longer, to ramp up production of their crops, from planting to the first harvest. While existing crops could be added to the food supply in the wake of a border shutdown, they would not come anywhere close to meeting the gap in demand, Jungmeyer says.

Not having access to produce from Mexico would also cause fresh fruit and vegetable prices to jump anywhere between 20% and 40%, according to Jason Grant, an agricultural economist at Virginia Tech. He bases his estimate on past price increases during events that shut down borders to certain products, such as beef and pork. But fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico are so integral that closing the border would have unprecedented consequences for the U.S., he says.

This would be significant, says Grant. I have not seen anything like this in terms of the importance Mexico has to the fruit and vegetable market.

The trading relationship between the U.S. and Mexico is so intricate that many grocers supplement their U.S. produce with imports from Mexico throughout the year, depending on consumer demand, says Richard Owen, a vice president at Produce Marketing Association, which represents companies that supply fresh produce and flowers. Furthermore, many U.S.-based agriculture companies, such as Driscolls or Mission Produce, grow their products in multiple countries, including Mexico  and a shutdown could hurt their stateside operations.

This disruption may be perceived as impacting just Mexican growers, but these are U.S. companies, Owen says. The ripple effect is directly to U.S. businesses that employ people and supply product into the U.S. marketplace.

Grocery retailers across the country are already preparing for a scenario in which they cannot get fruit and vegetables from Mexico, Owen adds.

Jungmeyer, who works near the border in Nogales, Az., says more than half of the local economic output is related to fresh produce flowing between Mexico and the U.S.

Our economies are so intertwined, people would understand within a week or so how this is impacting everybody, he says.House Democrats ask IRS for Trump's tax returns originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

House Democrats have sent their long-anticipated request for six years of President Donald Trump's tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service, the opening salvo in what could prove an explosive battle between Democrats and the Trump administration over the presidents personal finances that is expected to wind up in the courts.

In a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., requested six years of Trumps personal and business tax information from 2013-2018, including individual tax returns and returns from eight businesses linked to Trump. He also asked whether any of them are or have been under audit - and for all the information to be delivered to Capitol Hill within a week.

"This request is about policy, not politics; my preparations were made on my own track and timeline, entirely independent of other activities in Congress and the Administration," Neal said in a statement.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks at an event focused on infrastructure at the Edgar Hoover Dike on Lake Okeechobee in Florida, March 29, 2019. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

Neal said that the decision to request the returns was in the interest of ensuring "the accountability of our government and elected officials. To maintain trust in our democracy, the American people must be assured that their government is operating properly, as laws intend.

Democrats have said they would use Trumps tax returns to inform their investigations into allegations of corruption and wrongdoing in the administration and the presidents family business.

(MORE: In pursuit of Trump's tax returns, Democrats face legal, political hurdles)

The IRS declined to comment.

Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump signaled opposition to Democrats' request.

Until such time until Im not under audit I would not be inclined to do that," he said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers last month that the Treasury will follow the law and review any request. Trump, who has long considered any examination of his personal finances a red line for investigators, is expected to aggressively challenge Democrats request in court.

Story continues

Trump broke with modern precedent as a White House candidate in 2016 when he refused to release his returns, and has continued to do so while in office. Most presidents since Richard Nixon have voluntarily released their tax returns over the past 40 years, which is not required by law.

(MORE: Treasury Secretary Mnuchin on turning over Trump's tax returns: 'We will follow the law')

Trump has said he continues to be under audit from the Internal Revenue Service, which the agency will not confirm or deny.

Trumps attorney Jay Sekulow, who worked at the IRS shortly after law school, argued that Democrats would have to demonstrate a legitimate legislative purpose for obtaining the presidents returns, and predicted the request probably gets litigated in an interview with ABC News podcast The Investigation.

(MORE: Trump lawyer talks potential presidential pardons, tax returns and NY probes)

Democrats requested Trumps personal tax returns under a 1924 provision of the tax code requiring the Treasury secretary to furnish any individuals tax return information to the chairs of three congressional committees upon written request.

Republicans have accused Democrats of weaponizing the tax code to target Trump, and said the move would set a dangerous precedent.

House Democrats have unsuccessfully tried to pass a measure requiring presidential and vice presidential candidates to release ten years of personal tax returns as part of a larger government reform package, which has stalled in the Senate.

Rep. Richard Neal Letter to... by on ScribdBy David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional Democrats on Wednesday authorized a powerful committee chairman to subpoena Special Counsel Robert Mueller's full report on Russia's role in the 2016 election, moving closer to a legal clash with President Donald Trump's administration.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to enable its chairman, Jerrold Nadler, to subpoena the Justice Department to obtain Mueller's unredacted report and all underlying evidence as well as documents and testimony from five former Trump aides including political strategist Steve Bannon.

Nadler has not yet exercised that authority, with the timing of any such move uncertain. The committee vote was 24-17 along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Trump's fellow Republicans opposed.

Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee, issued a four-page summary of Mueller's main conclusions last month including that the special counsel did not establish that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia during the election.

Barr has pledged to release the nearly 400-page report by mid-April with certain portions blacked out for reasons such as protecting secret grand jury information and intelligence-gathering sources and methods.

In addition to Bannon, the committee authorized subpoenas for former White House Counsel Donald McGahn, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks and former White House deputy counsel Ann Donaldson.

They are among 81 people, agencies and entities the panel has sought documents from as part of its obstruction and corruption investigation into Trump and his associates.

Nadler's panel shifted its focus to subpoenas to obtain the Mueller report when it became clear Barr would ignore a Democratic demand turn it over unredacted by a Tuesday deadline. Democrats have expressed concern Barr could use redactions to suppress evidence of potential misconduct by Trump and his campaign.

Story continues

Nadler said he would work with Barr "for a short period of time in the hope that he will reveal to us the entire Mueller report and all the underlying materials" and will go to court to get permission to obtain the grand jury material.

"But if that doesn't work out in a very short order, we will issue the subpoenas," Nadler added. "... The committee must see everything."

The potential battle between the executive and legislative branches over the subpoenas could end up being resolved by the federal government's third branch - the judiciary.

Representative Doug Collins, the committee's top Republican, said Democrats are "desperate for dirt on this president."

"This is reckless. It's irresponsible. And it's disingenuous," Collins said. "It's also confusing since the attorney general is doing exactly what he said he would be doing: making as much of the report public as possible under federal law and departmental policy."

It was not clear how likely the Justice Department would be to hand over subpoenaed documents. It could ignore a subpoena, running the risk of being held in contempt of Congress, and prepare for a potentially lengthy court battle.

INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE ACTION

In another development, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee, led by Trump critic Adam Schiff, is seeking an interview with and documents from a top organizer on Trump's inaugural committee.

Citing people familiar with the request, the Journal reported that the effort signaled that Congress is expanding its probe of how the inaugural committee raised and spent more than $100 million. The report could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters.

Barr's March 24 letter to lawmakers explaining Mueller's "principal conclusions" said the special counsel did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice. Barr himself subsequently concluded that Mueller's inquiry had not found sufficient evidence to warrant criminal obstruction charges against Trump.

Trump has denied collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice. Moscow denied election interference. Mueller and U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia used a campaign of hacking and propaganda to harm Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boost Trump.

Democrats have pledged to fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to enforce a subpoena and obtain the full report.

"If the department still refuses, then it should be up to a judge - not the president or his political appointee - to decide whether it is appropriate for the committee to review the complete record," Nadler said.

Trump ally Lindsey Graham, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote on Twitter that the House panel's demand for classified information and grand jury testimony was "dangerous and ridiculous."

The Justice Department declined comment. Priebus declined to comment. A lawyer for Priebus, Bannon and McGahn, as well as a Bannon spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Justice Department regulations give the attorney general wide latitude on how much to release from special counsel inquiries. Nadler told reporters he would also seek a judge's permission to get access to Mueller's grand jury material, which is protected under federal law. Nadler said Barr has not been willing to seek a court order to release the data so far.

Republican Representative Jim Sensenbrenner said he would be willing to join legal action to obtain the grand jury material and predicted other Republicans would as well, noting that the House voted overwhelmingly last month for the full report's release to Congress.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld, Sarah N. Lynch, Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Alistair Bell and Will Dunham)Produced by Gabriel Noble and Kate Murphy

Dear Men is a weekly show hosted by Jason Rosario, creator of media lifestyle company, The Lives of Men. Dear Men explores how men are navigating the evolution of manhood. You can watch the current week's full episode of Dear Men every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Roku.

Actor Matt McGorry, known for his outspoken embrace of feminism, has some advice for men who need help navigating the #MeToo era: Seek affirmative, enthusiastic consent.

In a new interview, the How to Get Away with Murder star told the Yahoo News show Dear Men that most men were not taught consent in a valuable way.

A lot of it is were not taught anything except by our peers and by my industry  by film and television, he said. What does the cool guy look like? He knows about sex, he takes what he wants, oftentimes we see the guy in the middle of the conversation and grabs and kisses her. And what if she didnt want to kiss him? [What] were taught about consent is just keep going. Just keep going until you get a no.

He said it should be just the opposite for men.

Every step of the way, you ask, he explained. And, unless someone seems excited to go to the next step, move forward, if they dont, stop.

Its no surprise that McGorry, who also had a recurring role in Orange Is the New Black, is speaking out on consent and other issues important to women. Hes known for his gender equality activism, especially on social media, and has received some backlash from both men and women over his online proclamations.

In the future, consider not rolling out a male feminist project or whatever on the one day that's about women. @MattMcGorry @Ivanna_Ritalot  Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) March 9, 2016

I asked McGorry, a single white male in Hollywood, why hes an advocate for women when he doesnt necessarily have to be.

Story continues

Its not my place to be the voice of Black Lives Matter, its not my place to be the voice of feminism. It is my place to be the voice of white anti-racism, or to be the voice that is encouraging men to embrace feminism, McGorry said. Being much more specific and intentional about who Im talking to rather than just speaking out I think is really important because that is our work as allies is really to engage men.

So, how do we engage men in these conversations? It starts with having honest dialogue about the meaning of consent and what is acceptable behavior and what is not. We have heightened responsibility to be clear with our partners about whether or not they chose to participate in sexual contact.

A seemingly never-ending series of prominent men have faced a wide array of sexual misconduct scandals in recent years, including titans in Hollywood, broadcast journalism and business.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading potential 2020 presidential candidate, has been caught up in a consent-related controversy of his own, as two women have come forward saying he violated their space in past years and were left feeling deeply uncomfortable.

But its not just celebrities and politicians who grapple with the gray area. We asked men whats on their minds as they navigate the #MeToo era, and we got some honest answers.

I think with the #MeToo movement you think about all the interactions you've had at work, when you're out partying with colleagues, said Tony Newman. I think if you're not reflecting on that in this period then you got your head in the sand.

I dont find that I caused the problem, but I recognize that it is my responsibility to say something to that a**hole on the train thats kind of rude to a young girl, said Mike Bunton.

I remember Im in college and Im a male and theres alcohol. I saw men behaving in ways that  was equivalent to rape, said Doug Davis. I wish that I had known what I know now, or had more balls or something, but stepped up.

But are we going too far? Is romance becoming too transactional? In my opinion, if it helps avoid confusion and discomfort, Im all for slowing down and taking the time to check in with your partner. If it leads to healthier, more fulfilling relationships, then we are all the better for it.Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa, whose news website is critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the first of a series of criminal charges she says are government attacks. Ressa has been arrested twice in six weeks by Philippine authorities, prompting international criticism and allegations she is being targeted for her work. She entered her plea in a Manila court to four tax-evasion charges stemming from a 2015 bond sale that raised money from a US-based investor for Rappler, the news site she co-founded. If found guilty she could face up to 10 years behind bars on each charge. The site has taken a tough stance on Dutertes signature narcotics crackdown that has killed thousands of alleged drug dealers and users, but also cast a critical eye on his leadership and controversial public statements. Im hoping for justice, Ressa told reporters after the court hearing. I still say all of these cases are politically motivated. Ressa was arrested in her Manila office in mid-February on an online libel charge and was released on bail the next day.She was again taken into custody on Friday, this time for allegedly violating the Philippines strict rules prohibiting foreign ownership of media with a 2015 investment from eBay founder Pierre Omidyars Omidyar Network. The Philippines corporate regulator revoked Rapplers business license last year over the investment, but the site continued operating as it appealed the case in the courts. After her second arrest the United States urged the Philippines to quickly resolve the case against Ressa, who holds Filipino and US passports, and allow her and Rappler to operate freely. The freedom of expression is a cornerstone of any truly democratic society and a fundamental freedom recognized by both the United States and the Philippines, a State Department spokesman said. Duterte has in speeches lashed out at Rappler and other critical media outfits, including the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper and broadcaster ABS-CBN. He threatened to go after their owners over alleged unpaid taxes or block the networks franchise renewal application.Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (SBUX) says his successor Kevin Johnson deserves all the credit in the world for the coffee giants recent success.

He is doing extraordinary. I mean, I'm so proud of him, Schultz told Yahoo Finance in a wide-ranging interview.

Johnson, a former technology executive, joined the Starbucks board a decade ago. He took over as CEO in April 2017. While at the helm of Starbucks, hes focused on streamlining the company, as well as emphasizing the customer experience, the digital relationship with customers, and beverage innovation. The stock is also trading at an all-time high under his leadership.

He is bringing a level of innovation and transformation to the company. He's doing it his way. I have no engagement, no involvement, operationally, in the company whatsoever. That's the way it should be, Schultz said.

Schultz, 65, stepped down as CEO in April 2017. Just over a year later, he gave up his role as chairman in June.

I've removed myself from the board of directors, not only because I was considering running for president, because I didn't think it was fair to Kevin [Johnson] to have a shadow in the room. Because he needs to be his own man, he said.

He went on to describe Johnson as a true servant leader who is admired and trusted.

I take great pride in his success. I'm cheering him on every day. Starbuckss best days are ahead of them. And mainly because of the leadership team, because of Kevin. And I love what I'm seeing.

Howard Schultz, left, hands over the door key of the Pike Place Market Starbucks' store to Kevin Johnson at the company's annual shareholders meeting, Wednesday, March 22, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Schultz is the architect behind the Starbucks as we know it today. He joined Starbucks in 1982, which at the time was a small seller of whole bean coffee with just four stores in Seattle. It was in 1983 when a 30-year-old Schultz took a business trip to Milan where he became enamored by the romance and theater of Italian espresso. The young Schultz saw the potential in translating the Italian espresso bar to Starbucks, but his idea was turned down by the initial founders. Soon after, Schultz left to set up his first coffee bar Il Giornale, named after a daily newspaper published in Milan.

Story continues

Starbucks ultimately encountered some financial trouble, and the founder approached Schultz to buy the company in 1987.

Today, Starbucks operates 30,000 stores in over 70 countries serving more than 100 million people each week. Starbucks opens a store every 15 hours in China, one of the most important markets for the company's growth.

Schultz is currently seriously considering running for president as a centrist Independent.

He told Yahoo Finance that if he were elected he would sell all of his Starbucks stock, about 33 million shares, a position valued at around $2.7 billion.

During his time at Starbucks, Schultz was celebrated as a visionary leader who offered all employees, both part-time and full-time, comprehensive health benefits and equity in the form of stock options even before the company went public. More recent initiatives under Schultzs leadership include college tuition and efforts around hiring military veterans and their families and opportunity youth.

I'm not worried about my legacy. I'm concerned about the country, Schultz said. I'm concerned about the American people. I don't want to repeat myself, but I want to restore faith and confidence in the country and institutions. In terms of being a spoiler, you know, that came out so early. It seemed like it was very organized against me. My love of the country would not allow me, on any level, to be a spoiler. No one wants to see Donald Trump leave the Oval Office more than me. But my love of the country is compelling me to pursue this right now.



Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card!

We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Class Limited (ASX:CL1), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.'

Check out our latest analysis for Class

Class Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Non-Executive Director Nicolette Rubinsztein bought AU$175k worth of shares at a price of AU$1.62 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. We generally consider it a positive if insiders have been buying on market, even if the share price has increased a bit since then.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 172.86k shares worth AU$311k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Class insiders. The average buy price was around AU$1.80. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices (around AU$1.68). You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Story continues

ASX:CL1 Recent Insider Trading, April 3rd 2019

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Class Insiders Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Class insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. Nicolette Rubinsztein spent AU$175k on stock, and there wasn't any selling. That shows some optimism about the company's future.

Insider Ownership of Class

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Class insiders own 11% of the company, worth about AU$22m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Class Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Class we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Class, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.



If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.By Scott DiSavino

April 2 (Reuters) - The chief executive of the Tennessee Valley Authority said on Tuesday the U.S.-owned power generator expects to get more than 60 percent of its energy from non-carbon-emitting sources by 2020, compared with over 50 percent in 2018.

Bill Johnson, who turned 65 in January, announced his retirement as CEO at TVA in November. His last day is Friday.

He is expected to be named as the new CEO of California energy company PG&E Corp, which sought bankruptcy protection in January amid potentially staggering liabilities related to wildfires, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Johnson would not comment on the PG&E rumors.

Since Johnson became CEO of TVA in 2013, the company has spent about $15 billion to modernize its generating fleet, reduced carbon emissions by retiring coal units and cut debt by $3.5 billion, all while keeping consumer electric prices basically flat.

"Our generating fleet is now very diverse and clean," Johnson said, noting the changes were driven by the mandate in the TVA Act "to produce energy at the lowest feasible rate."

TVA's energy mix is now about 40 percent nuclear, 20 percent natural gas, a little over 20 percent coal, 11-13 percent hydro and the rest renewables and energy efficiency.

That compares with 60 percent coal, little gas, 30 percent nuclear and the rest hydro in 2005.

TVA shut several coal-fired units over the past few years despite efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to prop up the coal industry.

In February, TVA's board voted to shut two more coal plants - Bull Run in Tennessee by 2020 and Paradise in Kentucky by 2023 - for economic reasons despite strong opposition from the Trump administration.

When those plants shut, Johnson said coal will only represent about 17 percent of TVA's energy mix.

"I expect the fleet to look pretty similar for the next decade," Johnson said, noting there is "the potential to add a significant amount of solar if customers demand it."

Story continues

TVA signed agreements for about 700 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity for specific customers, including Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc. On Monday, the company issued a request for proposals to add 200 MW of solar power.

"It would not surprise me to see solar get into the thousands of megawatts," Johnson said, noting more solar could require more gas-fired capacity to balance the renewable energy source when the sun stops shining.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by James Dalgleish)Tehran (AFP) - The death toll from major floods swamping much of Iran over the past 15 days has risen to 62, the head of the Iranian Legal Medicine Organisation told local media Wednesday.

Ahmad Shojaee told the semi-official Fars news agency the southern province of Fars has been hit the hardest with 21 dead.

The western province of Lorestan and the northern province of Golestan followed with 14 and 8 dead respectively, he said.

Flood-related deaths have been reported in 11 out of Iran's 31 provinces, Shojaee added.

The semi-official ISNA news agency said the current toll was a tally of the victims whose bodies have been transferred to coroner offices across the country -- indicating the count could still rise.

Iran has been hit by flooding across most of the country since March.

The country's northeast was swamped on March 19 before the west and southwest of the country were inundated on March 25, killing a total 45 people.

Flooding in the west and southwest continued on April 1 when heavy rains returned to the area.

"Seventy-eight intercity roads have been blocked, as many as 2,199 rural roads and 84 bridges have been washed away," said Behnam Saeedi, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Organisation.

"Across 15 provinces, 141 rivers burst their banks and around 400 land slides were reported," he told state TV.

The government said the flooding had damaged nearly 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles) of roads, or 36 percent of the country's entire street network.Tehran (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Wednesday European powers were incapable of bypassing sanctions imposed on Tehran by the US after it withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran and six world powers agreed on a deal in 2015 that severely restricted Tehran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief and economic incentives.

However President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the deal -- technically called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- last May, reimposing punishing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The other parties to the nuclear deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia along with the European Union -- however insist they remain committed to making the deal work.

"The Europeans at first viewed the JCPOA (nuclear deal) as an achievement, but maybe they were not prepared to, and certainly they were not capable of standing up against U.S sanctions," Zarif said in an interview with Khamenei.ir, the official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We will continue pressing the Europeans to implement their commitments. Europe must know that they cannot shy away from their responsibilities with a few statements and some unaccomplished plans," he added.

Zarif, who was his country's chief negotiator in the negotiations leading to the deal, said that Iran would continue to pressure the Europeans to act on their obligations within the deal but added that "we never had any hopes" in them.

Instead of the western powers the Islamic republic has turned to its traditional partners such as Russia and China, Zarif said, adding "the future of our foreign policy lies in that way."Jose Dominguez (AHLOT)

For professional cannabis connoisseur Jose Dominguez, a day at work often begins with a draw from his vaporizer. Then maybe a joint. Then he might go fishing, or take a relaxing walk outside.

If I test indica, I like to be at home and in a more relaxed environment. Sativa would get me more active and imaginative, Dominguez told Yahoo Finance Canada. I always try to increase the experience.

The award-winning pot farmer from Sherbrooke, Que. is settling into his new $50-per-hour gig working for Toronto-based AHLOT. Hes lending his expert lungs to help the company come up with new curated cannabis collections to guide consumers through the vast array of newly-legal products and exotic-sounding strains.

Hes one of eight successful applicants to AHLOTs cannabis curation committee. Its a diverse team of men and women chosen from about 25,000 applicants from across Canada after the company announced plans to hire a team of paid pot aficionados last fall.

The eight committee members can earn a maximum of $1,000 each per month during the year-long contract. Dominguez is also the director of a cannabis consulting business called CannaCopeia.

His new job involves consuming pot and scoring strains in much the same way judges would at the High Times Cannabis Cup. AHLOT will use the data to gauge the smells, sensations and flavours.

Its quite a disciplined process, AHLOT chief creative officer Martin Strazovec told Yahoo Finance Canada. The core role is to evaluate strains for inclusion in future theme packs.

The company currently sells its Discovery Series Vol. 1 online in Ontario through the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store, where the five-pack of purple jars, each containing one gram of different types of pot from a different licensed producer, is currently out of stock. The same five-pack is available through the BC Cannabis Stores website, as well as brick-and-mortar retail locations in that province.

Subscribe today

Just like wine

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When Dominguez gets a new strain, he starts with a vaporizer hit to get a feel for the aroma and flavours. A joint is usually next to see how it burns. He said the process is about pinpointing the overall effect more than simply testing the strength.

Ill be writing down the dominant flavours. Then the under-flavours. You will have different after tastes, just like in wine, Dominguez said. Great cannabis starts with a great look, to a great smell, to a great experience.

A medical cannabis user for several years with a cultivation background and expertise in plant genetics, AHLOT is counting on Dominguezs reviews to differ from his seven peers.

Amanda Bladon, who also won a coveted spot on the committee, uses cannabis to boost creativity and help with anxiety. She may have a different take than Dominguez, for example.

Strazovec is betting that nuanced product assessments from eight trusted sources will be key to helping consumers get their hands on the cannabis they like best.

We're the only company in Canada doing that. We curated that first pack to discover some of the broad categories in terms of cannabis strains, he said. Because of the branding and promotional restrictions, the average customer is somewhat lost in the market right now.

Dominguez notes that pot preferences can vary significantly among men or women, casual or heavy users, and even certain regions. That, he said, presents an opportunity to present the product in infinite ways through curated, theme-based offerings.

To pass on my experience and be able to say, 'Hey, this is the cannabis that made it to the best of the best,' I think it is an incredible opportunity, Dominguez said. It's a dream job.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.By Diane Bartz and Barbara Lewis

WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which investigates allegations of deceptive advertising, has sent warning letters to eight companies to insist they distinguish in advertisements between diamonds from mines and those made in laboratories, it said on Tuesday.

The FTC said it had found instances where the eight companies advertised diamond jewelry "without clearly and conspicuously disclosing that the diamonds are laboratory-created," according to the letter.

The agency declined to identify the recipients of the letters. An unredacted version of one of the letters seen by Reuters identified that recipient as Diamond Foundry, a California company that makes laboratory diamonds.

Diamond Foundry declined to discuss whether the letter would lead to changes in its marketing. "We pride ourselves on being a lab-grown diamond producer and this point of differentiation is what our success is built on," CEO Martin Roscheisen said in an emailed statement.

Analysts say increased production of laboratory-grown diamonds has lowered their price.

The Diamond Producers Association (DPA), which represents mining companies including De Beers, Rio Tinto and Alrosa, welcomed the FTC insistence that companies distinguish between mined diamonds and those made in laboratories.

"The DPA has for several months expressed serious concerns about misleading marketing communication and unsubstantiated eco claims coming from many laboratory grown diamond marketers," said DPA Chief Executive Jean-Marc Lieberherr.

Alrosa, the world's biggest diamond producer in carat terms said it welcomed "FTC initiatives that protect consumers from unfair or deceptive marketing practices".

"Diamonds and synthetic diamonds are aiming for different consumers and can co-exist as two different products," it said in an email.

The world's biggest diamond producer by value De Beers, part of Anglo American, said it was pleased by the move, adding the two kinds of diamonds were "distinct product categories."

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De Beers has responded to pressure from laboratory-grown diamonds by tearing up its decades-old policy of only selling natural diamonds in jewelry and beginning to sell synthetic stones.

It sells the lab-made diamonds for less than rivals to emphasize the difference between what it sees as fun, fashion jewelry and natural diamonds created in the earth and with a high re-sale value.

The FTC, in its letters, also asked the companies to review the use of "eco-friendly" or similar terms to describe diamonds made in a laboratory. "It is highly unlikely that they can substantiate all reasonable interpretations of these claims," the FTC said in its release.

The first lab-made diamond was produced in 1955 and larger crystals were made in 1970, but the first synthetic diamonds for purchase were not made until 1970s, Dr. James Shigley, research fellow at the Gemological Institute of America, said.

"These lab-grown diamonds are diamonds. They have the same physical and chemical properties. We're not talking about an imitation," he said, noting that many diamonds are sold for grinding or other industrial purposes.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Sandra Maler and Louise Heavens)Former Vice President Joe Biden. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

At the start of our societal reckoning over the bad behavior of men, the red lines were clear. The bad guys were easy to identify, the toxic behavior obvious. The question was never whether Harvey Weinsteins actions were wrong, but why people who might have stopped him did nothing.

But as with any broad social movement, things quickly became more complicated. It is simple to condemn things that even the perpetrator knew were wrong when he did them. Trading movie roles for sex? Wrong. Installing remote-controlled locks on office doors? Drugging unwitting sex partners? Sexual relationships with minors? Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Less clear is how to hold men to account for things that raise eyebrows today but might not have even a few years ago. Sexist jokes? Tone-deaf passes? Hugging everyone within arms reach at fundraising dinners?

Which brings us to Joe Biden.

The 76-year-old former vice president and prospective presidential candidate is embroiled in controversy after two women came forward in the past few days accusing him of being too handsy and affectionate. Neither Nevada legislator Lucy Flores nor former political aide Amy Lappos says that Bidens behavior toward her was threatening or overtly sexual, but both say it made them decidedly uncomfortable.

It was demeaning and disrespectful, said Flores of the time in 2014 when, she says, Biden put his hands on her shoulders, inhaled my hair and plant[ed] a big slow kiss on the back of my head.

It wasnt sexual, but he did grab me by the head. He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me, Lappos said of the 2009 incident at a Connecticut fundraiser. Its an incredibly uncomfortable situation and not at all acceptable.

The conversation in the days since has essentially been about the spectrum from Weinstein to Biden. Does it matter that Biden did what he did  these two incidents and the countless other times he hugged and touched people  openly, often in front of cameras, exhibiting a public persona more like an exuberant puppy than a predator?

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The stories of Biden being Biden go back years. In 2014 NPR referred to his trademark embraces when describing how he enthusiastically kissed and hugged a 102-year-old woman who had come to see him during a visit to a job-training program. After a kiss that barely missed her mouth, he said, I need a hug and leaned on in for one, wrote reporter Tamara Keith.

In fact, all this touching and feeling has long been part of Bidens appeal. As he has said of himself, I am a tactile politician.

Biden hugs Sally Steffen during a campaign stop on Sept. 18, 2012, in Ottumwa, Iowa. (Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP)

After his son Beau died three years ago, social media was filled with stories of the support Biden had given people when they were grieving. And over the past few days others have stepped forward to describe how his literal and virtual hugs were welcome in their lives.

Joe Biden is one of the truly decent and compassionate men in all of American politics, wrote Meghan McCain on Twitter. He has helped me through my fathers diagnosis, treatment and ultimate passing more than anyone of my fathers friends combined. I wish there was more empathy from our politicians not less.

And in an essay on Medium, Stephanie Carter, the wife of former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, defended Biden against commenters who called a photo of Biden with his hands on her shoulders during her husbands swearing-in creepy.

The Joe Biden in my picture is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which I will always be grateful, she wrote. She had taken a spill on some ice in front of cameras earlier in the day, she explained, and was still feeling uncharacteristically nervous ... as Ash was giving remarks. That was when Biden leaned in to tell me thank you for letting him do this and kept his hands on my shoulders as a means of offering his support.

The fact that the latest Biden accusations have traction, however, shows that there is more than one way to view that image. And like a 1980s hairstyle, something that looked normal and even flattering in one era comes to look completely different with time.

And that  the passage of time, the fact that this is a new moment  is far more likely the takeaway of this current Biden brouhaha.

Biden has to understand that in the world we are in now, peoples space is important to them and whats important is how they receive it, not necessarily how you intended it, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who, while three years older than Biden, has avoided coming across as a throwback to an earlier era.

She even had some stage instructions.

Join the straight-arm club, Pelosi said, advising her fellow Democrat to stick to arms-length handshakes with men and women alike. Just pretend you have a cold and I have a cold.

Biden himself stopped short of apologizing, but in a statement he did suggest that he knew times had changed and he had to change with them. In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort, he said in a statement. And not once  never  did I believe I acted inappropriately. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.

Still, even if Biden can and does change, the allegations themselves contain a reminder to voters that at this stage of the reckoning  the part near the end where hairs are being split as well as sniffed  the way to end the chapter might be to simply move on to leaders who did not appear as characters in that chapter at all. In fact, that seems to be much of the point of bringing this up now.

Lappos hinted at this when she made her original allegation on Sunday, on a Facebook page for Connecticut Women in Politics that was picked up by the Hartford Courant.

If Biden truly supports women and gender equality he would step aside and support one of the many talented and qualified women running, she wrote. The same goes for the other men who have thrown their hat in the ring. Women are 52 percent of the population. We are not a minority, we are the majority. It is time we are represented as such. After 45 male presidents it is time we elect a woman.

The women already in the race have more than hinted at the same.

If we spend our whole time talking about what men had done and what they didnt do, we are never going to talk about what women can do, said presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar when asked about the allegations about Biden in a television interview.

In short, Biden proudly, but also problematically, represents an old era at a time when many voters want a new one. If these allegations dent his prospective candidacy, it will not be because they show the man to be different than anyone thought he was, but because it is time for the country to be different than it used to be.

As New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote yesterday: Hes the product of his time, and his time is up.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:Politicians who will use violence through armed goons to intimidate voters in their areas could face an Army battalion sent by President Rodrigo Duterte himself. This was the Presidents warning on Tuesday night at a campaign rally for administration bets in Malabon City, as he reminded the police and the military to remain non-partisan ahead of the May 13 midterm elections. In other poll-related developments:  The Commission on Elections on Wednesday urged Filipinos working or living abroad to participate in the overseas absentee voting (OAV) for the May elections. The poll body reminded Filipinos overseas that the OAV period will start on April 13. Wherever you are in the world, you can vote and participate in the elections, Comelec said on its Twitter account.  Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, campaign manager of the administration slate Hugpong ng Pagbabago, skipped the regional partys campaign sortie in Tangub, Misamis Occidental on Wednesday, with her staff saying something came up for the Presidents daughter. This was the second time in the 90-day campaign period that Duterte-Carpio skipped a sortie. She was supposed to pitch for administration candidates until noon Wednesday, but she and her staff left Sindang, Zamboanga del Norte on her motorcycle around 6:30 a.m., her staff said. The last time Inday Sara skipped a campaign sortie, HNP candidates barnstormed the Bicol Region a few weeks back.  Opposition Otso Diretso senatorial bets believe there is a deliberate effort to use social media to distort their image as the campaign for the midterm elections intensifies. Senatorial aspirants Jose Manuel Chel Diokno and Florin Hilbay noted how their slate has been barraged online by criticism, including jokes about their physical appearance and supposed errors on Facebook and Twitter, but they have not faced such harsh attacks in the streets. Dont make the mistake of using those goons, because I will send an Army battalion against you, for real. I will order the Armed Forces to go to Malabon and arrest everyone with firearms, Duterte said at the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Malabon City.To government forces, he added: Be neutral or I will remove you. You must be in the middle. I will not allow the police or the military to be used by anybodywhether partymates or political opponents. Their job is to maintain law and order without fear or favor. That is what the Constitution mandates, that is what we will follow, he added. Meanwhile, voters overseas will be participating in the national polls as they will only elect 12 senators and one party-list group. There are a total of 1,822,173 overseas absentee voters, according to the data from the Comelec- Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV). Of the number, most of them are land-based workers numbering to 1,779,140 while the rest are sea-based workers at 43,033. The Middle East and African Region has the highest number of registered voters with 887,744; followed by the Asia Pacific Region with 401,390; North and Latin American Region with 345,415; and European Region with 187,624. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez noted that there are various modes in casting their votes under the OAV, automated voting using the vote counting machines (VCMs), manual voting through posting and personal voting. It depends on the area where one is casting his/her vote, he said on his Twitter account. As for sea-based workers, the Comelec official added that they will be able to cast their votes wherever they may be. A total of 41 out of the 83 countries/posts will be using the VCM and 42 countries/posts will be utilizing the manual system of voting, including 29 postal voting and 13 personal voting.London (AFP) - A heroic campaigner for openness, or an enemy of the US state trying to avoid justice: after a decade in the limelight, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains an evasive and polarising figure.

The 47-year-old Australian is again in the headlines after Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno said he had "repeatedly violated" the conditions of his asylum at the country's embassy in London.

Assange, who won fame as the frontman of the whistleblowing website as it exposed government secrets worldwide, has lived in the embassy since seeking refuge there in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden.

He was applauded by transparency and anti-war campaigners for revealing the death of civilians, torture and clandestine military operations with the release of 500,000 US documents on the Iraq and Afghan wars.

But the United States and its allies accused him of risking lives by revealing information on sources, intelligence techniques and key infrastructure sites, with internal documents showing the US military considered him an "enemy".

Human rights groups and newspapers that once worked with Assange to edit and publish the war logs were also horrified when WikiLeaks dumped the documents unredacted online, including the names of informants.

He was arrested in Britain in December 2010 on allegations of sexual assault and rape in Sweden, claims he strongly denied, saying they were politically motivated.

Before the claims were dropped in 2017, Assange expressed fears that any extradition to Sweden could see his eventual transfer to the United States to face trial for the leaks.

He took political refuge in Ecuador's embassy in London in 2012, but his hosts have grown increasingly irritated by his interventions on foreign affairs.

The Ecuadoran government eventually suspended his internet access last year, saying he had breached "a written commitment... not to issue messages that might interfere with other states".

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There are also questions about his relationship with Russia, with WikiLeaks identified in Robert Mueller's probe into interference in the 2016 US election.

According to US Attorney General William Barr's summary of his report, Mueller found that Russian government actors hacked Hillary Clinton's campaign "and publicly disseminated those materials through various intermediaries, including WikiLeaks".

- Exposing 'truth' of war -

Born in Townsville, Queensland, in 1971, Assange has described a nomadic childhood and claims to have attended 37 schools before settling in Melbourne.

As a teenager he discovered a talent for computer hacking, and while has pled guilty to 25 such offences, he has only ever walked away with fines.

He created WikiLeaks in 2006 with a group of like-minded activists and IT experts, to provide a secure way for whistleblowers to leak information.

A confident speaker, he became its figurehead -- and a lightning rod for criticism.

The most damaging leaks emerged in 2010, beginning with a video showing a US military Apache helicopter firing on and killing two journalists and several Iraqi civilians on a Baghdad street in 2007.

It was followed by more than 90,000 classified US military files from the Afghan war, 400,000 from Iraq, and in November that year, around 250,000 US diplomatic cables covering almost every country in the world.

- Facing justice -

Although the sexual assault claims against him in Sweden were dropped, Assange still faces arrest by British police for having jumped bail, so has stayed in Ecuador's embassy near Harrods.

He has described it as like living in a space station -- he exercises on a treadmill and uses a sun lamp to make up for the lack of natural light.

In 2016 a UN panel declared that he had been detained arbitrarily, but critics have said his concerns of extradition to the US are unfounded. They say he is simply hiding from justice.

"WikiLeaks was founded on exposing those who ignored the rule of law. Surely its editor-in-chief should recognise his duty to see it upheld," The Guardian newspaper, which once worked with him to publish the leaks, wrote in 2016.

Assange did, however, find growing support among previous critics on the right wing and online supporters of Donald Trump. That happened when the US government institutions with which he has been locked in battle also began to investigate the US president.

"He is well aware that I thought he was waging war on the United States," said Fox News anchor and Trump favourite Sean Hannity.

"My opinion of it has evolved largely because of what I have seen that he has done in 10 years."The US Department of Agriculture has stopped killing cats as part of a research programme (Getty/stock photo)

A research programme that resulted in cats and kittens being killed after they were tested on has been shut down following a wave of criticism.

The animals were being used to research a potentially deadly parasitic illness caught from cats or tainted food known as toxoplasmosis.

Research saw the cats fed infected meat, with the parasites eggs harvested for use in other experiments.

The animals were euthanised after research had been completed (Pexels/stock photo)

Once the research was completed, the animals were euthanised  an act that provoked public fury.

Now, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has said that it will end the practice after veterinary groups said the cats, who could have been treated for toxoplasmosis, should have been adopted.

The department said in a statement that toxoplasmosis research has been redirected and the use of cats has been discontinued and will not be reinstated.

Read more from Yahoo News UK:

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Over 3,000 kittens have been killed since the 17m research programme was first launched in 1982.

A bill known as the Kitten Act was introduced in Congress in March, that described the programme as taxpayer-funded kitten slaughter.

Following the USDAs announcement, Democrat Representative Jimmy Panetta, who backed the bill, said: I commend the USDA for their decision to end this type of testing on kittens.

Democratic Representative Jimmy Panetta praised the decision to end the killings (Twitter)

They listened to the people and responded appropriately to our concerns. This is how our institutions, our government, and our democracy should and must work.

The remaining 14 cats on the programme will be adopted by USDA employees.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKSouth Korean police apologised for the first time Wednesday over massacres that killed 10,000 people decades ago and the military expressed deep regret as President Moon Jae-in seeks to re-examine history.

On April 3, 1948 members of the communist Workers' Party of Southern Korea -- an ally of the organisation that still rules the North -- launched an armed uprising on the southern island of Jeju, attacking a dozen police stations.

At the time the division of the peninsula had yet to be formalised and the Korean War was still two years away, but the US-supported South was ideologically split following the end of World War II and Japanese colonial rule.

The revolt was quickly put down, but while sporadic clashes continued more than 10,000 civilians were killed by South Korean security forces over the next six years, including beyond the end of the Korean War.

"We apologise to the innocent people whose lives were sacrificed," said Min Gap-ryong, the commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, at a commemoration of the uprising's 71st anniversary.

"We promise to be an organisation that only thinks about and works for Korean citizens so that a tragedy like this will never repeat in our future."

The country's defence ministry also expressed "deep regret" to the victims, while stopping short of a full apology.

The Jeju Incident, as the events are known, remains a highly politicised issue in South Korea, as do some other aspects of the country's post-war history.

Some Jeju-based research and NGOs have claimed it was "Jeju people's resistance against national division and 'American Imperialism'".

The police apology and ministry's expression of regret come after left-leaning South Korean President Moon Jae-in has repeatedly spoken on the importance of "setting our history right".

Moon, who brokered talks between Washington and Pyongyang, has stressed the independence struggle against Japan's colonial rule is at the heart of national identity in both Koreas, while framing the South's right-wing -- who say the victims of Jeju were all communist rebels -- as descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators.

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Last year, Moon became the first South Korean president in more than a decade to attend the annual memorial ceremony on Jeju.

At the event he said: "Young people who were falsely accused of being communists during the April 3 Incident defended their country in the face of death. Ideology was nothing more than a cause that justified the massacre."

In 2003 the then South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun -- whom Moon served as chief of staff -- offered an apology to the victims of the Jeju incident.Benghazi (Libya) (AFP) - Forces loyal to Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar are preparing to advance on the country's west, including the capital Tripoli, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Dozens of militias have fought for control of the North African country since a NATO-backed uprising toppled long-time ruler Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

But Haftar's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army has emerged as a key player, opposing a United Nations-backed unity government in Tripoli and backing a parallel administration in the east.

He launched an offensive into oil-rich southern Libya in January ostensibly aimed at wiping out "terrorists" and criminal groups.

Haftar has repeatedly expressed his intention to march on Tripoli.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mesmari said at a press conference Wednesday that "preparations are on the point of being completed... to purge the west of terrorists and mercenaries".

The force's press office said on Facebook earlier that "several units had headed "to the western region to cleanse it of the remaining terrorist groups".

An accompanying video showed a column of dozens of armed vehicles moving along a road, but it was not immediately possible to identify their location or destination.

Unity government chief Fayez al-Sarraj called the move an "escalation" and urged Haftar's forces to "stop using the language of threats".

He said he had ordered pro-government forces to prepare to "face all threats... whether from terrorist groups, criminals, outlaws and all who threaten the security of every Libyan city".

Haftar's advance into southern Libya has been helped by some local support.

His forces have been able take certain locations, notably the southern city of Sebha and a key oil field, without a fight.

But analysts say the LNA will face a much tougher challenge in the west, where groups such as the powerful Misrata militias bitterly oppose him.

Sarraj pointed out that Wednesday's announcement came ahead of a UN-backed conference in mid-April aimed at laying out a roadmap to stabilise the country.

"Libyans see (the conference) as a glimmer of hope and a way out of the crisis," he said, adding that his opponents were aiming to undermine the process.Brussels (AFP) - Long queues, piles of paperwork and no more pork pies: the consequences of a no-deal Brexit will be immediate on the movement of goods and people between the EU and Britain.

The European Commission on Wednesday warned that if Britain should crash out of the EU as early as April 12, that businesses -- as well as holidaymakers -- should prepare for major hassle at customs.

"I want to make it clear here that if the United Kingdom were to leave the EU without an agreement, it would become a third country overnight," Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters on Wednesday.

"This would be an instant, radical and very substantial legal change for the United Kingdom, our Member States and our companies," he added.

- Goods -

Lorry-loads of merchandise flow freely between Britain and continental Europe but without a Brexit deal, these will become subject to cumbersome customs controls at the EU's borders.

The task will be daunting: seven of the UK's top 10 economic partners in the world belong to the EU and more than four million vehicles travel each year by ferry or train between Dover and Calais alone, or more than 11,000 vehicles a day.

While not all British goods will of course be checked, "queues at the exit of the Eurotunnel (linking France and Britain) and in ports are to be expected," warned Moscovici.

"I prefer strict controls and a few lines of trucks to a health crisis or illegal trafficking," he added.

- Red tape -

European companies trading with Britain will be required to complete reams of customs formalities in the case of no deal.

According to Moscovici, some Member States estimate that the number of export and import declarations will increase between 40 and 50 percent.

"The level of readiness is fundamental and unfortunately this is still a cause of concern," the Frenchman stressed.

"The fluidity of trade flows will depend largely on whether they have prepared the right documentation," he added.

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- People -

Travellers from Britain will also be subject to customs screening, with bans on transporting certain products to the continent, particularly animal-based ones, such as cheese or meat, which are a risk for health reasons.

This would mean that holidaymakers would no longer be able to take their favourite British foods with them to the continent, though a senior European official indicated that imports by retailers would be safe.

"But it only concerns travellers," the official said.

"We are in the process of allowing the United Kingdom to be included in countries that can export these products as part of a trade relationship: imports of British pork pies from 'Marks & Spencer' will be possible," she added, referring to the iconic British supermarket.

- Customs duties -

Overnight, Britain will be subject to tariffs set by WTO rules, like any country with which the EU does not have a specific trade agreement, often known as third countries.

This will have immediate cash-flow consequences for European companies importing British products, which will have to pay these duties.

These customs duties average 1.5 percent, which is still quite low. But they can be higher in some sectors such as the crucial automotive sector where they are 10 percent.

- Ireland -

Britain's only land border with the EU is the jagged frontier line that divides bloc-member Ireland from British-ruled Northern Ireland and it is Brexit's most sensitive issue.

Even without a deal, London and Brussels have committed to avoid the return of a physical border to the Irish island, all while finding a way to carry out controls.

These will therefore have to be put in place "in the least disruptive way and as far as possible, away from the border", a cautious Moscovici said Thursday, refusing to discuss any details.Malaysia's disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as he went on trial Wednesday over a multi-billion-dollar fraud, almost a year after his shock election loss.

The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation.

The former premier and his cronies are accused of plundering billions of dollars from the fund and spending it on everything from high-end real estate to artworks and a luxury yacht.

He had been tipped to win another term in office easily last year and extend his coalition's six-decade stranglehold on power, only to be soundly defeated by his former boss, Mahathir Mohamad, who rode a wave of public anger over 1MDB to the premiership.

In the months that followed, once-dormant investigations into the controversy were relaunched and Najib was hit with dozens of corruption charges linked to the plundering of the fund.

A small crowd of supporters was waiting for Najib as he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur court ahead of his trial, and he prayed with them for a few minutes before entering the building to shouts of "Long Live Najib".

- 'Near absolute power' -

Looking relaxed in the dock, he denied seven corruption and money-laundering charges related to the alleged theft of 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. It is just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars that he allegedly stole.

Opening the prosecution, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas told the High Court it was the "first trial in our courts against a former prime minister, who for nearly a decade occupied the most powerful office in the land and wielded near absolute power.

"Such privilege carries with it enormous responsibility.

"The accused is not above the law," he added.

After the first witness, an official from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, gave largely technical evidence related to corporate records, the trial was adjourned.

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The judge set the next hearing for April 15, and trial dates until May 10. Najib left without commenting, to cheers from his supporters waiting outside court.

Far from being considered a pariah, the ex-leader has gained a following among members of the country's Muslim majority as some are worried their long-held privileges are being eroded under the new government.

He has become an unlikely social media phenomenon by attacking the new administration's policies online.

- Billions plundered -

He was initially due to stand trial in February, but appeals by his defence team over procedural matters saw his case put on hold until a judge last week ruled the trial should finally proceed.

It was a relief for the government, as there had been mounting public anger about the delay in bringing Najib to justice.

Najib's mentor-turned-nemesis Mahathir, now 93 and in his second stint in office, has pledged to bring the younger man to justice and recoup the huge sums of cash stolen from 1MDB.

The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the controversy as money was allegedly laundered through the American financial system, believes $4.5 billion in total was looted from 1MDB.

Malaysia has also charged Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs over the scandal, alleging the bank and its former employees stole billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Goldman units and two ex-bankers are accused of misappropriating $2.7 billion, bribing officials and giving false statements in relation to bond issues they arranged for the fund. The bank has vowed to fight the charges.

While many of Najib's suspected accomplices have been caught and charged in Malaysian courts, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, playboy financier Jho Low, is still at large.

On Wednesday the Malaysian government said a luxury yacht allegedly bought by Low with $250 million of stolen 1MDB money will be sold for around half that price. The yacht was returned to Malaysia after being seized last year in Indonesia.KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia will sell a superyacht allegedly bought with stolen funds from state fund 1MDB to casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd for $126 million, in the first major asset sale by Kuala Lumpur to recover billions lost from the fund. The superyacht Equanimity is among assets allegedly bought by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his associates with money taken from the fund, U.S. and Malaysian investigators have said. Jho Low, as he is known, allegedly paid $250 million for the 300-ft (91-m) yacht, which has an interior clad in marble and gold leaf, a spa and sauna, a 20-metre swimming pool, a movie theatre and helipad. Malaysia set a minimum price tag of $130 million when it put the yacht up for sale in October, but had struggled to find a buyer. "Many offers were received...and a few were over $100 million," Attorney General Tommy Thomas said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that Genting would pay the $126 million by the end of April. The government would save $4.4 million in agent's commission since it negotiated directly with Genting Malaysia, he added. A spokesman for Low called the sale "a failed PR stunt", saying Malaysia had accepted a "bargain basement sale price". In a statement, Genting said the acquisition would give it "a unique and competitive edge for its premium customers business." The purchase will not affect 2019 earnings, it said. 1MDB, founded by former prime minister Najib Razak, is being investigated by at least six countries for money laundering and corruption. The U.S. Department of Justice has said about $4.5 billion siphoned from 1MDB was used by Low and his associates to buy the yacht, a private jet, as well as Picasso paintings, jewellery, and real estate. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, after his stunning victory in last year's election, has vowed to recover the money allegedly stolen from 1MDB. Malaysian police have issued an arrest warrant and filed criminal charges against Low, but his whereabouts are unknown. Low has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Sam Holmes and Clarence Fernandez)KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Shi'ite Muslim activist and a Christian pastor who have been missing in Malaysia for more than two years were probably abducted by the police intelligence unit, the country's human rights commission said on Wednesday. Amri Che Mat, who worked with the poor, disappeared in November 2016 in the northern state of Perlis, his family has said. Pastor Raymond Koh, who ran a charity that helped the underprivileged, including Muslims, was kidnapped by masked men in February 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, according to his family and CCTV footage of the abduction. The two cases were investigated by the National Human Rights Commission, which delivered its findings on Wednesday. "The direct and circumstantial evidence in Amri's case proves, on a balance of probabilities, that he was abducted by state agents, namely the Special Branch," the panel said. It also concluded that Koh had been abducted by agents of Special Branch, the intelligence arm of the police. Police in the past have denied any involvement in the disappearances. A police spokeswoman directed Reuters to media reports citing police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun who said he would respond after reviewing the panel's report. The rights panel has little legal authority and its burden of proof is less than that required in Malaysian courts. The abductions bore "uncanny similarities" and both men were targeted by religious authorities and police over allegations that "they were involved in matters against Islam in Malaysia," the panel said. Malaysia is a majority Muslim country with large Christian, Hindu and Buddhist communities. Apostasy is generally considered a sin or a crime by Islamic authorities and proselytizing Muslims is outlawed in most states. Shi'ites are also persecuted by religious authorities, human rights groups say. "The panel also found there was direct surveillance on the activities by both pastor Koh and Amri in their respective organizations before their disappearances," the commission said. The families of the missing men on Wednesday urged the government to set up an impartial and independent taskforce to look into the abductions, media said. (Reporting by Tom Allard in Jakarta, Emily Chow and Rozanna Latiff in Kuala Lumpur, Editing by A. Ananthalakshmi and Darren Schuettler)A man was surprised to discover that he had the entire plane to himself [Photo: AP]

A Lithuanian man had a once in a lifetime experience when he boarded a recent flight to discover that he was the only passenger.

Skirmantas Strimaitis flew from the capital of Vilnius, Lithuania to Bergamo in northern Italy on March 16 and when he turned up, was surprised to learn that he had the entire plane  a Boeing 737-800 which seats up to 188 people  all to himself.

The only people to join him were the two pilots and five crew members.

READ MORE: The most inappropriate airline videos of all time

According to Novaturas travel agency, it had charted the plane to fly a group home from Italy and to avoid flying empy, only one-way tickets were sold. Unfortunately, only one person purchased one.

But for Strimaitis, the two-hour flight turned out to be a a once in the lifetime experience.

Though its not the first time its happened, as one woman had a similar experience after accidentally booking a flight for cabin crew only.

There were surely no complaints when it came to leg room [Photo: Getty]

Beth took to Reddit to share a photograph of herself on the empty aircraft alongside the caption: I got a whole plane to myself when I was accidentally booked on a flight just meant for moving crew.

The traveller was due to fly from Rochester, New York to Washington at 5pm but the flight was cancelled.

READ MORE: Qantas Airways responds sweetly to 10-year-old boys letter

When my flight was cancelled about eight hours earlier a confused agent gave me and half the passengers a seat for the plane in the pic before another agent realised everyone could go on an earlier flight, she told The Independent.

They made an announcement on the speaker but Id already left to go back to my parents house nearby to wait for the next few hours. I was never contacted about the flight change.

So when Beth arrived for her flight, she was surprised to discover there were only three other people on board  two pilots and one member of cabin crew.

Watch the latest videos from YahooBandar Seri BegawanBrunei on Wednesday introduced harsh new sharia laws, including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, despite a storm of global criticism from politicians, celebrities and rights groups. The tough penal code in the tiny country on tropical Borneo islandruled by the all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiahfully came into force following years of delays. The laws, which also include amputation of hands and feet for thieves, make Brunei the first place in East or Southeast Asia to have a sharia penal code at the national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia. Rape and robbery are also punishable by death under the code and many of the new laws, such as capital punishment for insulting the Prophet Mohammed, apply to non-Muslims as well as Muslims. The decision to push ahead with the punishments has sparked alarm around the world, with the United Nations labeling them cruel and inhumane and celebrities, led by actor George Clooney and pop star Elton John, calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted. In a public address to mark a special date in the Muslim calendar, the sultan called for stronger Islamic teachings but did not mention the new penal code. I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger, he said in the nationally televised speech at a convention centre near the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The sultan, who has been on the throne for over five decades, also insisted that Brunei was a fair country and the environment for visitors was safe and harmonious. Government officials later confirmed the laws had entered into force. The sharia laws have triggered worldwide condemnation, and Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, described the code as barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes. The European Union said in a statement that some of the new punishments amount to torture, acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They are particularly upsetting for the countrys small lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Before the new laws, sex between men was already illegal in Brunei and punishable with up to 10 years in jail. But the new code stipulates death by stoning as a punishment for sex between men, while women convicted of having sexual relations with other women face up to 40 strokes of the cane or a maximum 10-year jail term. A 33-year-old gay Bruneian man, who spoke anonymously, said the new laws were unfair, cruel and should not happen.It really takes away my happiness and freedom to express myself, and depresses me so much, he told AFP. Zulhelmi bin Mohamad, a transgender woman who fled Brunei last year and is seeking asylum in Canada, told AFP that the environment will be more terrifying for the countrys LGBT community, who were already leading very secretive lives. Some worry a lot and would like to escape the country before they are found out not to be... heterosexual, the 19-year-old said. Confirming the new penal code was now in force, a religious affairs ministry official told AFP: The statement from the prime ministers office last weekend on (the codes) implementation prevails, hence (April 3) marks the date of its implementation. A second government official, speaking anonymously, confirmed it had entered into force. The sultan-who is one of the worlds wealthiest men and lives in a vast, golden-domed palaceannounced plans for the code in 2013. The first section was introduced in 2014 and included less stringent penalties, such as fines or jail terms for offenses including indecent behavior or skipping Friday prayers. Clooneys call to boycott nine Brunei-owned hotels in Europe and the United States last week catapulted the issue into the international headlines. Since then, a series of well-known figures have lined up to add their names to the chorus of condemnation. The sultan, who is the worlds second-longest reigning monarch, first called for the penal code in the late 1990s and it appears to enjoy broad support in the former British protectorate of about 400,000 people. Analysts say he is seeking to burnish his Islamic credentials and shore up support among the countrys conservatives due to the waning fortunes of the oil-dependent economy, which has been ravaged by recession in recent years. It is also unclear whether death by stoning will actually be implemented, as a high burden of proof is needed to hand down the punishment and Brunei has not executed anyone for decades.Kampala (AFP) - Ugandan security forces are hunting gunmen who abducted an American tourist and her driver inside a national park close to the border with Democratic Republic of Congo, police said Wednesday.

Four kidnappers stopped a group of tourists at gunpoint around dusk on Tuesday as they drove through the Queen Elizabeth National Park to see wild animals.

Police identified the American as a 35-year-old woman, and said the kidnappers had later used her mobile telephone to demand a ransom of $500,000 (445,000 euros) for the release of the pair. The driver is a 48-year old safari guide with years of experience.

"The kidnappers, using the victim's phone, have demanded $500,000," police spokeswoman Polly Namaye said a statement. "We strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind the kidnap."

Two other tourists, whom police described as an "elderly couple", were present when the gunmen attacked, but were not abducted or physically harmed. They managed to raise the alarm from the lodge where they were staying.

The attack took place between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm (1500-1600GMT) on Tuesday, police said.

A day later, soldiers have fanned out along the porous border with DR Congo, but as night fell, police said they believe the pair remain in the country.

"A joint operation by the Uganda police, Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and Uganda Wildlife Authority game wardens is under way to locate and rescue them," government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said.

"The priority at this point is to locate, rescue and bring them back to safety."

- Elite squad deployed -

Uganda police's tourist protection force has also deployed a special response unit.

"The police have despatched an elite squad from the tourism police to reinforce the security teams at Queen Elizabeth National Park, to actively pursue a group of four unknown gunmen," Namaye said.

"Joint security teams have cut off all exit areas on the border between Uganda and the DRC in search for the victims," she added.

Story continues

Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the East African nation's most famous wildlife reserves, runs along the frontier with conflict-wracked regions of DR Congo, bordering its famous Virunga national park, the oldest in Africa.

Numerous militia groups and armed gangs roam eastern DR Congo. Virunga suspended all tourism activities last year after a ranger was killed and two British tourists kidnapped. The Britons and their driver were freed two days after the attack. The park reopened in February.

The Ugandan park straddles the equator, covering 1,978 square kilometres (764 square miles) in the country's south west.

It is also about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, famous among tourists for gorilla trekking. Uganda is home to over half of the worlds endangered mountain gorillas.

In 1999, Rwandan rebels killed eight foreign tourists there, inflicting an enormous blow to Uganda's tourist industry. The rebels were part of a militia group that was involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide before fleeing to the jungles of DR Congo.

Tourism is a key industry for Uganda, as a major earner of foreign currency. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit each year.

Army spokesman, Brigadier Richard Karemire, insisted the kidnapping was "an isolated incident" and that Uganda remains safe for tourists.

"The security agencies, including the military, are working together to ensure the tourist and the driver are freed unharmed," Karemire said.Facebooks relationship with the media might be shifting once again, after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the social-media giant is looking at funding high-quality news that would be prominently displayed on its massive platform.

Zuckerberg, in an interview posted to his Facebook page on Monday, told Axel Springer chief Mathias Dopfner that the social network could potentially have a direct relationship with publishers to make sure that their content is available, if its really high-quality content. He added that Facebook is exploring building a dedicated tab to feature select news stories, something that sounds familiar to Googles news tab.

Would this be a good move, not only for Facebook, but for publishers  many of whom that are clinging to the ropes like a punch-drunk boxer  as well?

Also Read: Inside Facebook, YouTube and Twitter's Struggle to Purge Video of the New Zealand Mosque Attacks

The idea of bringing high-quality news to Facebook is a great one. I think we can all agree there needs to be more high-quality news circulating on Facebook. As with any situation, the devil is in the details, Susan McGregor, assistant director for the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, said.

The question is really how is high-quality news going to be determined, how are publishers going to be compensated, and would such a model prove sustainable to the creation of high-quality news in the long run.

Those questions are worth further examination. First, if this sounds familiar, thats because it is. Facebook has experimented with paying publishers before, shelling out millions of dollars for BuzzFeed to broadcast on Facebook Live a few years ago, before signing deals with several publishers, including Vox Media, to provide video news in 2017. But those attempts failed to gain much traction with Facebooks audience  now at 2.2 billion users around the world  and suggested it may have trouble determining what constitutes high-quality; signing well-known publishers simply wasnt enough.

Story continues

The real question is if Zuckerberg has come to a new understanding of quality, David Cohn, senior director at Advanced Digital, said. You cant fake it until you make it. You just need to pay for it.

Also Read: Fox News, Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire Dominate Facebook's Most Popular Stories of 2019

What Facebook determines to be high-quality content remains to be seen, but the experts agree paying for strong news would be a welcome change for the company. Less than a year ago, Zuckerberg said while he thinks news is incredibly important to society and democracy, he wasnt convinced that Facebook should pay outlets a licensing fee for their work. Im not sure that makes sense, Zuckerberg said.

For years, Facebooks main selling point to publishers has been: Our firehose pushes a stream of eyeballs your way that you otherwise wouldnt have. In turn, Facebook has continued to gobble up an increasingly larger share of online ad revenue  with the company taking in more than $55 billion last year. At the same time, the media industry has been decimated, with layoffs hitting a 10-year peak. Theres a bit of cruel irony at play here: Zuckerberg said hes willing to pay for quality content at a time when readers are trained to expect their news for free.

If [Facebook is] willing to pay for content, thats a good thing, Dan Hicks, former NBC reporter and current University of Miami journalism professor, said. But as we know, the price of that content is continuing to go down, because consumers and subscribers dont necessarily see the value in traditional news output.

This was made evident last week, when Apple launched its News+ magazine subscription service which grabs 50 percent of the revenue from its partners  and none of its readership data. Publishers  with a select few outliers, like The New York Times and The Washington Post  dont have enough juice to negotiate with Silicon Valley.

Also Read: Is Facebook Stuck in a No-Win Position When It Comes to Moderating Content?

But that creates an opportunity for Facebook to separate itself a bit here, McGregor argued, by offering not just appropriate financial compensation but also providing appropriate data feedback. Data is just as vital as the money being paid to outlets, McGregor said, because an external platform is never going to offer sufficient revenue to fully sustain a news organization.

Providing readership data would foster high-quality news and let Zuckerberg put his money where his mouth is by giving publishers a look at what content is truly resonating. This two-pronged approach could be the foundation for a healthier relationship between tech giants and the media, after years of outlets investing time, money and resources into partnerships with social media companies that can change at any time, McGregor said.

This arrangement wouldnt be a mere act of benevolence on Zuckerbergs part, either. There are strong business and public relations cases to be made for Facebook funding high-quality news. The company has been roundly criticized for allowing Russian trolls to spread misinformation during the 2016 U.S. election  something its taken several steps towards weeding out in the last two years. Still, fake news continues to thrive on Facebook.

Between January and March, the sites fifth-most commented post was an erroneous story, with more than 450,000 comments, proclaiming Henry Winkler Dead at 77  A Huge Trump Supporter and Lifelong Gun Lover from ConservativeTears.com. A news tab featuring high-end journalism would combat misinformation and help millions of users that get their news directly from Facebook.

As for whether users should get 1984 vibes from Facebook picking and choosing what news is worth highlighting, the experts felt those concerns are unwarranted. Cohn pointed out Facebooks algorithm already prioritizes what users see, and Hicks said it wouldnt stop users from finding stories they want online elsewhere.

What Facebook and Google have become is newsstands, where users can pickup a copy of a newspaper or magazine. Thats it. Theyre not acting as a gateway for what kind of information people can have, Hicks said. The fact [Facebook is] willing to pay to have magazines and newspapers on the newsstand is healthy for the publishers, because that does need to happen. There does need to be a new model where people pay for the media they consume.

Read original story Mark Zuckerberg Says Facebook Could Pay for High-Quality News  Should It? At TheWrapFerguson said that he wanted to do something nice. SWNS.

A married council worker posed as a British Airways pilot when he met a woman on a dating app, who he went on to sexually assault, a court has heard.

Peter Ferguson, 43, allegedly pretended to be a pilot while talking to a woman on the app and then posed as a masseur to sexually assault her.

Ferguson of Great Horkesley, Essex, reportedly created a fake profile where he pretended to be a British Airways pilot based out of Heathrow called Matt.

Ferguson appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex on Tuesday, April 2 charged with two counts of sexual assault, which he has denied.

The court heard, after two weeks of talking to the woman on the phone, he arranged for a masseuse to come to her home in Colchester, Essex as she was feeling tired after the gym.

The trial continues at Chelmsford Crown Court. (Flickr)

However Ferguson himself arrived at the womans home, saying his name was Steve, to do the massage.

During the massage, he allegedly inappropriately groped her.

When she challenged him as to what he was doing, Ferguson told her it was an extra service Matt had paid for.

After confiding in friends about what had happened, she reported the incident to the police.

She said: I Googled Steve and the number he had text on and it came up that he worked for Colchester Council.

Then I suddenly felt sick  that was him and it wasnt Steve at all.

I now believe Matt is Steve and Steve is Matt.

Ferguson pretended to be a British Airways pilot. (AP)

Ferguson was arrested shortly afterwards.

Opening the case yesterday, Richard Burrington said: He called himself Matt and pretended he was a British Airways pilot based out of Heathrow.

During one conversation she said she had aches and pains from the gym and Matt suggested a masseur and offered to arrange and pay for one.

At this point the assaults are said to have happened.

The court heard, Ferguson began using dating sites last year after difficulties in his family and work life.

Giving evidence Ferguson said he invented another character called Steve to give the massage because he didnt want his wife to know but denied he went to the house intent on anything sexual happening.

Story continues

Ferguson said: I didnt want to engineer anything, I just wanted to help her out.

I didnt want to seize on the moment  I thought I could do something nice.

Ferguson said he had no intention of cheating on his wife.

The trial continues.London (AFP) - Prime Minister Theresa May was to meet on Wednesday with the leader of Britain's main opposition party in a bid to thrash out a Brexit compromise just days before a deadline to leave the EU.

The British premier was to hold talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn the day after announcing she would ask Brussels for another "short" delay to Brexit to avoid crashing out next week.

The move, which followed a long cabinet meeting on Tuesday, angered Brexit hardliners in her party as it opens the possibility of Britain aiming for closer economic ties with the European Union after leaving.

The Labour Party has consistently called for Britain to remain in a customs union with the EU while the government has so far ruled this out saying Britain should have an independent trade policy after Brexit.

A junior government member, Nigel Adams, resigned in protest on Wednesday, telling the prime minister in a letter that she was making "a grave error".

"It is clear we will now end up in the customs union. This is not the Brexit my constituents were promised," he wrote.

May and Corbyn were to face off at the weekly Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons ahead of a likely meeting in parliament during the afternoon.

The EU's response was expected to come Wednesday in the form of a speech by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.

- 'Let us be patient' -

May must come up with a viable plan to end Britain's 46 years of EU membership ahead of a summit next Wednesday, when she will ask European leaders for another Brexit delay.

Last month they approved postponing the original March 29 departure date, setting a new April 12 deadline.

Bloc leaders have warned they will not delay indefinitely but with time now running perilously short EU council president Donald Tusk cautiously welcomed May's statement.

"Even if, after today, we don't know what the end result will be, let us be patient," he said on Twitter.

Story continues

The prime minister's new strategy follows months of political gridlock over Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.

The country voted by 52 to 48 percent to leave the bloc in a divisive 2016 referendum.

However, the exit process has only exacerbated divisions among the public and politicians, including May's cabinet.

MPs have rejected three times her divorce deal negotiated with the EU, but after seizing control of the process, have been unable to come up with their own plan.

On Wednesday cross-party lawmakers will try to rush a law through the House of Commons to prevent Britain leaving the bloc without a deal.

- 'We should leave on April 12' -

After previously opposing parliament's attempts to find a majority for an alternative plan, May hinted Tuesday that she would now be willing to work with MPs.

The prime minister outlined that if her government and Labour agree on a plan, she would request a delay that was "as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal" through parliament.

However if no agreement is found, she vowed to allow lawmakers to direct what she does.

May is hoping that under that scenario Britain could still leave with a deal before May 22, so it did not have to take part in European Parliament elections.

"The government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House," she said.

British newspapers reported numerous Brexiteers in her cabinet opposed the Labour outreach and instead favour pursing a no-deal departure -- though several publicly backed May's new stance.

"It's undesirable but it is the remorseless logic of the numbers in the House of Commons," Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told the BBC.

However, hardline eurosceptic Conservative MPs reacted furiously to the move.

"The process has now been taken control of entirely by people who backed Remain," influential lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg also told the BBC.

"We should leave on April 12 without a deal."WASHINGTON  In the chaotic hours after President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, U.S. officials took an extraordinary step that would be considered only a handful of times in the decades that followed: They sealed the U.S.-Mexico border.

As a newly sworn in President Lyndon Johnson departed Dallas for Washington, thousands of Americans and Mexicans were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic at border crossings near El Paso, according to news reports at the time. Hours later, U.S. citizens were permitted to cross from Juarez back into Texas.

The decades-old episode underscores the immense logistical and legal challenges President Donald Trump would face if he follows through on a threat to "close the border" with Mexico, experts said. The move could disrupt more than $1.5 billion in goods and hundreds of thousands of people who cross the border legally every day.

"We'd be shooting ourselves in the foot by closing the border," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell University law professor who specializes in immigration. "Its like stopping funding for cancer research on the theory that we'll get fewer cancers."

Trump has a wide range of options available to him, such as removing inspectors from ports to slow traffic, increasing inspections and sealing the border entirely. Any of those actions could have a major impact on wait times at the border for everything from U.S.-made products to students heading to Mexico for their spring break.

Nov. 22, 1963: The border was closed as El Pasoans learned of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

But Trump, who is set to visit the border Friday, is also hemmed in by competing laws and the potential economic impact of closing the border, which White House aides have acknowledged would be sizable. Several administration officials said the White House was considering less dramatic measures than a complete closure.

"Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the Border!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. "If no action, Border, or large sections of Border, will close. This is a National Emergency!"

Story continues

President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. on March 28, 2019.

Slowing border traffic

Customs and Border Protection officials have already begun removing inspectors from some ports of entry to help with processing migrants. The administration justifies those transfers by pointing to the influx of Central American families claiming asylum. The port workers are required to help screen those new arrivals.

But the redistribution of border agents is already having an impact, according to an administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary data. Vehicles entering the United States at Brownsville, Texas, on Monday waited about three hours, twice the normal peak wait time, the official said.

About 150 trucks, meanwhile, were backed up on Monday, waiting at an inspection facility near San Diego, the official said.

Those delays alone may be intended to send a message to Mexican officials, immigration experts said, that the country must do more to stem the flow of Central Americans crossing its own southern border. Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said this week that he would "act with prudence" regarding Trump's threats.

"Theres two audiences here, one of them is Mexico  to get some more cooperation  and the other one is Congress," said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration. "You just wonder at what point will Congress take seriously at all this border situation."

Limited closings

Experts point to several other instances in which a president slowed traffic at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border  often to send a message to Mexico  though those examples appear to have been something less than what Trump is threatening.

Following the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush grounded inbound international flights and imposed more stringent inspections on vehicles entering the country from Mexico and Canada. Administration officials moved the country to a higher security alert level, prohibiting agents from waving through vehicles without ID checks and more rigorous inspections.

"They started doing these vehicle-by-vehicle inspections and within hours you had queues of 10 to 15 hours at the border," said Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who wrote a book on the U.S. response to the attacks.

There were also almost immediate economic consequences, Alden said. U.S. auto makers  within days of the tighter restrictions  began begging the administration and leaning on lawmakers to ease up on the inspections or assign more staff to ports so car parts made in Mexico and Canada could get through.

"Companies in the United States and Mexico and Canada depend on a reasonably effective border for the integrity of their operations," Alden said.

The most restrictive changes, he said, were lifted in about a week.

President Ronald Reagan closed nine border crossings and increased inspections at the rest in 1985, a response to the abduction and murder of Drug Enforcement Agency agent Enrique Camarena.

President Richard Nixon approved Operation Intercept during his first year in office, increasing inspections at U.S.-Mexico border crossings to stem the flow of drugs.

Andrew Art Arthur, a top immigration attorney in the Bush and Clinton administrations, said Trump's options include closing commercial traffic lanes at ports of entry, closing everything but commercial lanes, or closing certain ports altogether to funnel all traffic toward a more limited number of ports.

"Even the threat of doing it is probably going to be sufficient to encourage the Mexican government to do a better job of enforcing its southern border," said Arthur, now a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for lower levels of legal and illegal immigration.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC this week that the administration has been "looking for ways to allow the freight passage ... which would ameliorate the breakdown in supply chains."

Nov. 22, 1963: The border was closed as El Pasoans learned of President John F. Kennedy's death.

Closing border vs. travel ban

Federal law gives a president power to deny entry to "all aliens or any class of aliens, which is the same provision Trump used early in his presidency to justify a travel ban on predominately Muslim nations. Though Trump was ultimately successful in that effort, the White House had to revise the order three times to fend off legal challenges.

Experts say closing the border for an extended period could run up against similar legal hurdles that initially blocked the travel ban  namely, competing provisions of the law. The Refugee Act of 1980 allows anyone to claim asylum in the U.S. once they are "physically present" in the country or at a "land border or port of entry."

"The main problem with closing the entire southern border or even large stretches of it is that it would make it impossible for most people to file asylum claims at the border, a specific right that Congress has provided," said Stephen Legomsky, a law professor at Washington University.

Contributing: David Jackson and Michael Collins

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mexico border closing: Trump and US face logistical nightmare if he follows through with threatsThe Army has confirmed it is investigating an unacceptable video of servicemen appearing to use Jeremy Corbyn as target practice.

Footage captured in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows personnel from 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment using an image of the Islington North MP for target practice on a Simunition range.

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practice what is called the guardian angel drill  a force protection tactic.

Snapchat video showed British Army servicemen taking aim at the Labour leader. (SWNS)

Labour MP, Luke Pollard, said that the actions of the soldiers is disgusting and wrong and that he hopes the Ministry of Defence takes action swiftly.

The armed forces need to be outside of party politics. They serve the Government of the day  whoever that may be  and rightly so, he added.

Jeremy Corbyn said on Tuesday he would be very happy to meet with the PM to discuss plans on exiting the EU. Source: PA

The behaviour of soldiers who used an image of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as target practice is alarming and unacceptable, a party spokesman has said.

Within hours of the footage appearing on social media, it was condemned by Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood.

He tweeted: If authentic, this is unacceptable. Am looking into it.

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has been Defence Minister since 2017. Source: PA

An Army spokesperson said: We are aware of a video circulating on social media, this behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the army expects.

A full investigation has been launched.

Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds North West, tweeted that he submitted a parliamentary question to the Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson about the incident.

Ive submitted this Parliamentary Question to @GavinWilliamson To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to investigate a video circulating on social media that depicts British soldiers using a picture of the Leader of the Opposition as target practice. https://t.co/mSV6FyGbip  (((Alex Sobel MP))) (@alexsobel) April 3, 2019

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Nancy Pelosi  widely seen as the most powerful woman in Washington  has some advice for Joe Biden: keep your hands to yourself.

As Biden, the former vice-president, scrambles to contain any political damage over his past behavior with women, the House speaker said at an event in Washington that her fellow Democrat and other male politicians should keep their distance during encounters with women and restrain from being touchy-feely.

Join the straight-arm club with me, Pelosi, who is the first female speaker, said of Biden during a live interview with Politico on Tuesday. Hes an affectionate person, to children, to senior citizens, to everyone, but thats just not the way.

Over the past week, Biden  who has long been expected to launch a bid to be the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2020 any time now  has been the subject of damaging news reports after two women accused him of inappropriate behavior towards them.

Pelosi said the two allegations of unwelcome contact should not keep Biden from running for the presidency in 2020.

I dont think its disqualifying, she told the event on Tuesday. But she added that Biden has to understand that in the world we are in now, peoples space is important to them and whats important is how they receive it, not necessarily how you intended it.

The former Nevada lawmaker Lucy Flores described in an essay for the Cut her discomfort when Biden kissed her on the head during a campaign event in 2014. She has since said the episode is disqualifying and that he should not run.

Amy Lappos, from Connecticut, also detailed an unwanted exchange with the former vice-president, describing how he grabbed her head and they rubbed noses during a 2009 fundraiser. She said she was prompted to recount the allegation publicly after watching the treatment of Flores.

Biden issued a statement on Sunday saying he does not believe he has acted inappropriately during his long public life. The former vice-president said in that statement: We have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.

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Related: Joe Biden's very bad week: has his White House run failed before it begins?

In a statement on Monday, a Biden spokesman, Bill Russo, blasted rightwing trolls from the dark recesses of the internet for conflating images of Biden embracing acquaintances, colleagues and friends in his official capacity during swearing-in ceremonies with uninvited touching.

Biden hasnt made a final decision on whether to run for the White House. But the developments underscored some challenges he will face if he does run.

Following historic wins in the 2018 midterms, Democratic politics is dominated by energy from women. The allegations could leave the 76-year-old Biden, long known for his tactile mannerisms, appearing out of touch with the party as the Democratic presidential primary begins.

Asked on Monday about the accusations against Biden, Pelosi said: I dont think that this disqualifies him from running for president, not at all.

But Bidens potential Democratic rivals havent rushed to back him up. Over the weekend, the presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand came closest to calling out the former vice-president. Warren, a Massachusetts senator, said Biden needs to give an answer about what occurred. Gillibrand, a New York senator, said, If vice-president Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic hell have to engage on further.

Ultraviolet, a womens advocacy group, tweeted: Joe Biden cannot paint himself as a champion of women and then refuse to listen and learn from a woman who says his actions demeaned her. Good intentions dont matter if the actions are inappropriate. Do better, Joe. And thank you @LucyFlores for coming forward.

On Tuesday, Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, strongly denied any suggestion that anyone from the senators team or his allies encouraged Lucy Flores to publish her account of an unwelcome interaction with Biden.

Neither the Bernie Sanders campaign nor anyone involved in it, planted, planned, persuaded, cajoled or otherwise urged Lucy Flores or anyone else to tell their story. Full stop, period, end of sentence. I dont want to hear it. We didnt play a role, he said.

Flores, the former Nevada lawmaker, supported Sanders during the 2016 election and was on the board of his group Our Revolution.

The Associated Press contributed to this reportFor United States President Donald Trump, its 22 untrue things a day. In his first 802 days in office, Mr. Trump has made 9,451 false or misleading claims, according to the Washington Post Fact Checker. The number has steadily climbed from just under six lies a day in his first year in office. This is hardly cause for celebration, especially as Tuesday this week was dubbed as International Fact-Checking Day. CNNs editor-at-large Chris Cilliza says lies are features, rather than bugs, in the Trump presidency. But Trump himself has taken the phrase fake news and fashioned it for his own purposes, using it to shoot down any item that is unfavorable to him.

Then again, Trump is not a rare animal. Theres plenty of the likes of him in many countries, even in our part of the world. How many of our public officials, current and aspiring, can we say have absolute reverence for truth and honesty? What we hear instead are unverified information and misleading statements that seek to capitalize on Filipinos accepting, non-critical mind.After all, it appears that we simply want leaders who convey some sense of empathy with our plight and a desire to make our lives betternever mind if its an act theyre putting on. Alas, we are too poor at telling when people are lying to our face. If they are nice, or good looking, or have mass appeal, or have a prominent last name, we readily forgive them, too. Fact-checking is an exercise that should not be there in the first place. Why cant people trust the things that are being said to or shown them at face value, especially by those who purport to know better? Alas, weve gone so low that fact-checking has become an actual profession. Would it not be nice indeed if we can have a similar independent lie-counter here in the Philippines especially at this crucial time? Then again, even if we were faced with the numbers, would that even make a difference? Telling the truth no matter how unsavory always trumps a feel-good lie. It gets worse when the lies in themselves are nonsensical, or designed to advance an interest. Whats worse than lying? Knowing you are being lied to, and then applauding like a fool, anyway.India shot down a satellite with an anti-satellite missile and joins a group of world powers with such capability.

Now NASA says the test was a threat to the International Space Station.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of using activities in space as political stunts.

NASA has sharply criticized India's missile destruction of a satellite in space, suggesting the test could have damaged the International Space Station.

Indian space research has accelerated in recent years and in 2014 became the fourth country in the world to enter the orbit of Mars. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India had now become the fourth country to successfully use military firepower in space by destroying a satellite.

But speaking to staff Monday, NASA space agency chief Jim Bridenstine said that the risk of debris colliding with the ISS had risen sharply since the test.

"I'm talking about small debris impacts to the International Space Station, the risk went up 44 percent over a period of 10 days," Bridenstine said. "The good thing is, it's low enough in Earth orbit that over time, this will all dissipate."

Bridenstine said the anti-satellite weapon created at least 400 pieces of debris, including 60 fragments that are four inches across or larger. He said 24 of those fragments had ended up in orbits with high points above the 255-mile altitude of the space station.

The Nasa boss, while speaking to the staff as part of a townhall meeting, which was livestreamed by NASA TV, said while the International Space Station was still safe, the test was a "terrible, terrible thing," adding it was "not compatible with the future of human spaceflight."

Last week Shambhu Hakki, a spokesperson for the Indian Embassy in Washington, wrote in an email to CNBC that test was done in the lower atmosphere to mitigate space debris and that any space junk generated will "decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks."

Story continues

India's test, dubbed "Mission Shakti," was carried out by the Defense Research and Development Organization, or DRDO. "India has no intention of entering into an arms race in outer space. We have always maintained that space must be used only for peaceful purposes," Hakki added.

While the test established India as a space power, Modi has been criticized by political parties across the country for using this as a political stunt ahead of general elections set to take place later this month.

CNBC's Michael Sheetz and Amanda Macias contributed to this report.

Now watch: Senator Ted Cruz talk about America's goals in space exploration.





More From CNBC



By Patricia Zengerle and Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization warned the U.S. Congress on Wednesday of the threat posed by "a more assertive Russia," including a massive military buildup, threats to sovereign states, the use of nerve agents and cyberattacks.

"We must overcome our differences now because we will need our alliance even more in the future. We face unprecedented challenges - challenges no one nation can face alone," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Saying "time is running out," Stoltenberg also called on Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which U.S. President Donald Trump plans to withdraw the United States this summer.

"NATO has no intention of deploying land-based nuclear missiles in Europe," Stoltenberg said. "But NATO will always take the necessary steps to provide credible and effective deterrence."

In an interview later with Reuters, Stoltenberg did not elaborate on what those steps would be, saying NATO was looking into a wide range of options including arms control initiatives.

Stoltenberg delivered an impassioned defense of the partnership he called "the most successful alliance in history," which has often been derided by Trump since he took office in 2017.

Members of Congress, who greeted Stoltenberg with repeated cheers and standing ovations, said they viewed his address to the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate as a chance to reaffirm the American commitment to the NATO alliance despite Trumps mixed signals.

Congress' invitation to Stoltenberg to speak as the alliance celebrates its 70th anniversary in Washington was widely seen as a message to Trump about strong bipartisan support for NATO.

'GOOD FOR THE UNITED STATES'

The U.S. president has ruffled feathers among European allies by repeatedly saying NATO nations need to spend more on their militaries and ease the burden on the United States.

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Earlier this year, before inviting Stoltenberg to Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation of her fellow Democrats to Brussels, where they sought to reassure European allies that differences over Trump's policies were mere "family squabbles" and that transatlantic ties remained strong.

Members of Congress have also introduced legislation expressing support for NATO or seeking to keep any president from withdrawing from the alliance without lawmakers' approval.

Later on Wednesday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence singled out Germany as not paying enough into NATO and criticized its decision to proceed with building the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

"We cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence said at a NATO event in Washington.

He also criticized Turkey's pursuit of a Russian missile system that Washington sees as a threat to U.S. and NATO military security.

Stoltenberg met on Tuesday with Trump, who said NATO members had made progress on sharing the cost burden but suggested the allies may need to boost their budgets even more.

Stoltenberg said NATO member countries are adding billions to their defense spending - $41 billion in the last two years. He expects that figure to rise to $100 billion next year.

"This is making NATO stronger," he said. "This is good for Europe, and it is good for America."

Stoltenberg, the first leader of an international organization to be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress, said NATO has been good for both Europe and the United States.

"The strength of a nation is not only measured by the size of its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends," he said. "And through NATO the United States has more friends and allies than any other power. This has made the United States stronger, safer and more secure."

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by James Dalgleish)The measles outbreaks in the USA this year  the 387 reported cases in 15 states is the second-largest figure in two decades  highlight the importance of fighting off the disease through immunization.

The urgency to address the issue has been far from uniform, however. Affected states are more likely to take legislative steps once theyve encountered a crisis. That has left others in a reactive position as a disease once considered eradicated vies for a comeback.

I think most of the momentum, unfortunately, is just in the states that have had problems, said Health Commissioner Mark Levine of Vermont, which has pending legislation that would disallow the religious exemption to vaccines after doing away with the philosophical dispensation in 2016. Theres no problem framing the problem. But not everyone buys into that until they have the problem themselves.

Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox

Take the case of Washington, one of 17 states that allows personal-belief or philosophical exemptions from vaccinations, in addition to the medical one permitted by all states and the religious dispensation thats in effect in all but California, Mississippi and West Virginia.

A severe measles outbreak linked to a traveler from Eastern Europe erupted in Clark County, on the southern edge of the state, north of Portland, Oregon, in early January, prompting Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency.

Of the 74 cases reported in Washington, 73 have been identified as stemming from Clark County, where the vaccination rate for kindergartners dwindled from 91.4% in 2005 to 76.5%  far below whats required for herd immunity  last year. Sixty of those who contracted the illness were unvaccinated; the immunization status of most of the rest could not be verified.

Vaccinations in the county nearly quintupled for minors and multiplied exponentially for adults in the weeks after the outbreak, but by then, the highly contagious and potentially fatal disease had taken a devastating health toll.

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Sarah Myriam of New Jersey holds her daughter Aliyah, 2, as they join activists opposed to vaccinations outside a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the safety of vaccines on March 5, 2019.

The outbreak has cost state and local health departments more than $1.6 million, which could have paid for immunizing 40,000 people with a vaccine that costs $20 a shot and requires two doses for 97% effectiveness.

Prevention works, and it saves community resources, said Michele Roberts, director of Washingtons Office of Immunization and Child Profile.

More: Large study adds to proof that measles vaccine doesnt cause autism

Two legislators from Clark County introduced bills that would have eliminated personal-belief exemptions for school-age children, one applying to all vaccines and the other one only to the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) immunization.

The first one was defeated, but the latter one, House Bill 1638, made it out of that chamber and is in the state Senate.

In an address March 5 to a congressional committee, Washington Secretary of Health John Weisman said, Public health systems at every level are struggling due to chronic underfunding, increasing population size and the emergence of new threats. We find ourselves constantly reacting to crises, rather than working to prevent them.

'A moral law'

That was the case with California, too.

In 2015, after experiencing a measles outbreak linked to Disneyland that sickened nearly 160 people, California removed the personal and religious exemptions. The state legislature is considering whether to tighten rules around medical exemptions after the number of children entering kindergarten with them tripled since the law passed in 2015.

According to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, other states pondering getting rid of the personal exemption include Arizona, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon. Four of those seven  Arizona, New Jersey, New York and Oregon  have had measles cases this year.

On the other hand, several states are debating bills to expand or protect exemptions, illustrating the issues complexity and the strong feelings on both sides of it.

Hundreds of Washingtonians protested HB 1638 in front of the state Capitol in February, and public health practitioners such as Levine fear their voices are getting drowned out by a cacophony of misinformed  or ill-intentioned  vaccine opponents using social media and even bots to spread their message.

Breach in protection: Anti-vaxxers open door for measles, mumps, other old-time diseases back from near extinction

The long-debunked myth that vaccines are linked to autism continues to be disseminated, as does the notion that theyre dangerous even when studies prove otherwise and agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vouch for their safety.

Adverse reactions do occur, experts say, but theyre rare and usually mild, like a rash or fever.

Still, organizations such as the National Vaccine Information Center can give the impression that parents risk their kids lives by getting them vaccinated.

President Barbara Loe Fisher said the NVIC, which she co-founded in 1982 under the name Dissatisfied Parents Together, merely advocates informed consent and does not make recommendations related to immunizations.

Asked about the governments duty to protect its citizens through public health policy, Fisher said, Are you saying that a public health law that requires a certain minority of individuals to risk their lives, sacrifice their lives, for the rest is a moral law when theyre not given the choice of whether or not theyre going to participate in that sacrifice? Thats not a moral public health law.

More: Growing up unvaccinated: My anti-vax mother made me a health risk for the whole community

By the numbers

The precise number of deaths linked to immunizations in the USA is hard to pin down, but the CDC said life-threatening allergic reactions to a substance in a vaccine occur about once every million doses.

There have been 1,295 claims filed for death since the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was established in 1986 as a no-fault option to litigation. About 54% of those claims were for the DTP vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), which was replaced in the 1990s by the safer DTaP.

That leaves 599 death claims for other vaccines, 55% of which were dismissed, leaving about 270 of the death claims to have possibly been the result of vaccines. That comes out to about nine a year since 1986, considerably lower than the number of annual deaths due to peanut allergy (75 to 125) or stings by bees, wasps or hornets (89 in 2017).

Fisher pointed out that more than $4 billion has been paid out by the compensation program. According to CDC figures, 3.4 billion doses of covered vaccines were distributed in the USA from 2006 to 2017, and 4,250 compensated claims were adjudicated. That comes out to 1.25 paid claims for every million doses.

Nevertheless, Fisher said the anti-vaccine movement will continue to grow, and she sees it as part of a fight for civil liberties.

Today, everybody knows somebody who was healthy, got vaccinated and was never healthy again, she said, and thats the reason this issue is not going to go away no matter what kind of laws and no matter what kind of censorship is applied.

Nate Smith, director of the Arkansas Department of Health, is among the NVICs many critics, calling it an anti-vaccination group." Part of what makes such organizations dangerous, he said, is that they can appear to provide legitimate information.

Sometimes, they present things in ways that are very reasonable, but then other times, they make statements that are patently false, Smith said. So its very difficult for someone who doesnt have a background in vaccination science or in public health to discern.

State of emergency: Measles outbreak: How Rockland County became ground zero  then hit the 'third rails' with emergency declaration

Like other health officials, Smith acknowledged vaccines are not 100% safe or effective. They come with minor risks, he said, which are minimized by administering the shots in settings where a reaction can be managed quickly, such as a medical facility.

Moreover, inoculation certainly beats the alternative.

Before the measles vaccine program was introduced in 1963, 3 million to 4 million Americans contracted the illness every year, and about 400 to 500 died. The MMR vaccine reduced the diseases rate by 99%, and measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

The impact of vaccines

Measles is still a scourge in other parts of the globe, killing 110,000 in 2017, mostly children under 5, the World Health Organization said.

The disease is transmitted through droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of an infected person, and the virus can linger in the air or surfaces for up to two hours, spreading to 90% of people who are not immune and are exposed to someone with measles.

Vaccines have made a major dent, preventing about 21.1 million deaths from 2000 to 2017, according to the WHO, which pointed to an increase in child inoculation rates from 72% to 85% as the reason.

Thats why medical practitioners are so adamant about the importance of the MMR shot, despite the possible side effects.

Sudden surge: Measles cases hit second-highest level since elimination in 2000

Allergic reactions can occur to any medication, any food, any substance the body comes in contact with, Smith said. Obviously, if we tried to avoid any possibility of an allergic reaction, we would stop using any medication and stop eating any food, and we wouldnt go outside because we could get in contact with an insect."

Smith said he recognizes the political climate in every state  vaccine policy is not determined at the federal level  plays a significant role in what laws are enacted regarding inoculations.

There have been no reported cases of measles in Arkansas this year, he said, so momentum has not built to remove the states philosophical and religious exemptions.

Surveying the national landscape, Smith, Levine and their colleagues expressed concern that its not just infected travelers coming into the country who present a danger but also the growing communities of unvaccinated people who helped breach the wall of protection immunization provided.

What would happen if states opted to make vaccines voluntary instead of mandatory?

I think the answer to that has revealed itself already with this epidemic of measles," Levine said. If you allow populations to get below the level required for herd immunity and you allow them to get to low enough levels of vaccine, then because the rest of the world still has plenty of active measles, any case can come in and take over in a population."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: There are nearly 400 reported cases of measles in the USA. What are states doing about it?Lagos (AFP) - Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer said on Wednesday it has signed a $2.1 billion deal to deliver 10 jets to Nigerian carrier Air Peace.

"The order was announced today, during the Embraer's Africa Airline Business Seminar, in Mauritius. With this order, Air Peace will become the first E-Jets E2 operator in Africa," the company said in a statement sent to AFP.

"The contract includes purchase rights for a further 20 E195-E2. With all purchase rights being exercised, the contract has a value of USD 2.12 billion, based on current list prices," it said.

The company said the order would be included in Embraer's 2019 second-quarter backlog.

Air Peace chief Allen Onyema was quoted as saying the deal would make the airline the first E2 operator in Africa.

"We already have the ERJ145s in our fleet, so we understand the high standards of Embraer products," he added.

Established in 2013, Air Peace is Nigeria's largest commercial operator with 23 planes.

The airline is also active in West Africa, operating daily flights to Accra, Dakar, Banjul and Freetown.

In February, Embraer announced it was selling 12 light attack aircraft to Nigeria's air force, which is fighting Boko Haram jihadists in the northeast.How should America manage personal health data? Look to Estonia, says Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute. Topol notes every citizen in the Baltic republic owns their own medical data, which in a government-supported effort, is stored on a blockchain and easily (but securely) shared.

Topol, speaking Tuesday at Fortunes Brainstorm Health conference in San Diego, noted that that gold standard in health data ownership and security feels a long way off in the U.S. What we see now is a worst case scenario where data is sold, stolen and hacked, he said, adding that valuable, personal medical datawhich sells for five times the price of non-health data on the dark webis currently scattered across health systems and stored on massive servers in the U.S., making it particularly vulnerable. (Indeed, cyberattacks on hospitals, where medical data is taken hostage, have become frighteningly common.)

Data would be safer, he says, in patients handswhere it would be stored in the smallest possible unit size. He also argues this makes sense from a civil rights perspective: patientsnot their providers nor the technology companies that store the datashould own it. Ultimately, that is the only solution, Topol said. If countries would agree and cooperate in emulating the Estonia model, he argued, we could collectively solve global health information problems.

Jessica Mega, the chief medical officer of Verily, the life sciences arm of Google parent Alphabet, agreed that data related to an individuals health belongs to that individual. She said Verily has long subscribed to that point of viewand beyond ownership, it tries to bestow on patients the added value and insights from that can be generated from their health data.

Eric Lefkofsky, the founder and CEO of Tempus, a healthcare startup focused on cleaning and structuring medical data, said that while he agrees that patients should own their data, there are issues yet to be resolved. For one, its unclear what a patient can do with his or her data. Medical data is not currently transferable between healthcare systems, he said. The underlying infrastructure is broken.

For more coverage of Fortunes Brainstorm Health conference, click here. For news delivered daily to your inbox, subscribe to Fortunes Brainstorm Health Daily newsletter.Nablus (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday before being shot dead, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli army said a Palestinian tried to carry out a stabbing attack near a military checkpoint close to Nablus in the northern West Bank, after which "a civilian fired and neutralised the assailant".

The Palestinian health ministry later confirmed he had died.

Palestinian official news agency WAFA said the man who fired the shot was a settler, though the army declined to confirm or deny this.

WAFA named the Palestinian man as 23-year-old Mohammed Abdel Fattah.

Another Palestinian was hit in the hip by the gunfire while working in a nearby garage and was in stable condition.

"I don't know exactly what happened and I didn't have any link to it," 26-year old Khaled Rawajba told AFP from a hospital in Nablus, adding he had been making tea at the time.

A series of Palestinian lone wolf attacks broke out in the West Bank in late 2015.

The situation has since calmed, but sporadic attacks continue.RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)  A West Bank medical official said Tuesday a Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces when clashes erupted during an arrest raid near Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said in a statement that troops arrested 12 Palestinians in the West Bank wanted for "involvement in terror activity and violent disturbances." The military added that it was investigating an incident north of Jerusalem in which troops used live fire after coming under attack.

Israeli forces also arrested a senior Hamas official, Hasan Yousif, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Ramallah hospital chief Ahmad Betawi said that the body of a 23-year-old Palestinian, identified as Mohammad Edwan who was shot by Israeli troops, was brought to the hospital, along with three Palestinians wounded in violent clashes in the Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem.

Meanwhile in Gaza, health officials reported that a Palestinian died from wounds inflicted by Israeli gunfire during a weekend demonstration on the Israel-Gaza frontier.

Gaza's health ministry said that Fares Abu Hajras, 26, had been shot in the stomach by Israeli troops. He passed away in a Gaza hospital Tuesday, bringing the death toll of the rally marking the first anniversary of Gaza's border demonstrations up to five, including three teenagers. Another youth was shot dead before the protests commenced that day.

Hamas launched the marches to protest against a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza. Around 200 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have been killed in the demonstrations over the past year.

Under an emerging Egyptian-brokered deal, Israel has pledged economic incentives to Gaza in exchange for calm on the border.PayPal  one of the worlds biggest payment processors  has made its first investment in blockchain technology.

Cambridge Blockchain is a digital identity enterprise software provider. The start-up announced in a press release this week that industry giant PayPal has now joined its Series A funding round.

The investment will see both companies exploring potential collaborations to leverage blockchain technology.

Cambridge Blockchains solutions harness the potential of blockchain to deliver strong digital identities at a global scale and meet the increasingly stringent data privacy obligations across the world.

Previously, Coin Rivet has discussed how blockchain technology can help improve authenticity when it comes to digital identity and record keeping while simultaneously eliminating bureaucracy and fraud.

Cambridge Blockchain has specific experience in designing software systems to share identity data across European financial institutions.

It combines blockchain technology with an off-chain personal data service which lets it create an independent source of validation through the network effects of trusted parties, natural persons, legal entities, and devices.

Identity data is reliably and flexibly managed and secured which leads to seamless transactions, operational efficiency, and strong privacy.

Cambridge Blockchains Series A funding round already includes investments from Omidyar Network and fintech firm Flourish as well as Foxconns HCM Capital, Partech Partners, Future/Perfect Ventures, and Digital Currency Group.

Matthew Commons, CEO of Cambridge Blockchain, commented: Our service helps streamline digital identity compliance while giving customers control over their identity data.

We are honoured by PayPals vote of confidence, and we look forward to their support and guidance.

It remains to be seen how PayPals investment will aid Cambridge Blockchain in developing technology that could help improve identity management and data privacy.

Interested in reading more PayPal-related news? Discover how MercadoLibre green-lit a crypto ban following a huge $750 million investment from PayPal.

The post PayPal has made its first investment in blockchain with start-up Cambridge Blockchain appeared first on Coin Rivet.Washington (AFP) - US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday strongly criticized Germany at NATO's 70th anniversary gathering, saying the ally's level of defense spending and work with Russia on a gas pipeline were "simply unacceptable."

"Germany must do more. And we cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence told a forum as part of two days of alliance events in Washington.

"It is simply unacceptable for Europe's largest economy to continue to ignore the threat of Russian aggression and neglect its own self-defense and our common defense," Pence said.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced annoyance that Germany is not on track to meet a goal set by NATO in 2014 of each member spending two percent of GDP on defense.Washington (AFP) - US Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Tuesday he was confident that Turkey would drop its plan to purchase the Russian S-400 missile defense system and buy the US Patriot system instead.

A day after Washington put a freeze on its joint F-35 fighter jet program with Turkey in protest to the S-400 deal, Shanahan said he expects Ankara to opt for the Patriot missiles.

That would then allow the F-35 program to continue, he confirmed.

"I've had a number of conversations with Defense Minister (Hulusi) Akar and I really think we'll resolve this situation with our strategic partners," he said.

"I am very confident in the Patriot proposal that we've delivered to Turkey, its availability, its pricing, and very importantly, the industrial participation that comes along with the Patriot system."

Asked if that meant he expects Turkey will buy the Patriot system, Shanahan replied: "I expect we'll solve the problem so that they have the right defense equipment in terms of Patriots and F-35s."

As for the F-35s planned for Turkey, he said: "I expect them to be delivered."

On Monday, the Pentagon said it was halting all deliveries and joint work with Turkey on the F-35 if Ankara insisted on buying the S-400 system from Russia, a move which has alarmed Turkey's NATO allies.

The tough step came after months of warnings from Washington that Turkey's adoption of Russian missile technology alongside US fighter jets would pose a threat to the F-35 technology and endanger Western defenses.

"Pending an unequivocal Turkish decision to forgo delivery of the S-400, deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability have been suspended while our dialogue on this important matter continues with Turkey," the Pentagon said in a statement.

- 'Incompatible systems' -

Later, Marine Corps General Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reiterated that the US had made Turkey a "very good offer" on the Patriot system.

Story continues

"The S-400 and the F-35, we've made it very clear those are incompatible systems," Dunford said. "But we're still working our way through this. And I hope we can come up with an arrangement with Turkey."

"So we haven't given up yet is the bottom line."

The purchase of a Russian system is highly unusual for a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Western alliance forged to counter the Soviet Union.

But Dunford maintained that the US-Turkey relationship is solid.

"I have every confidence and I spent a lot of time, as you know, with our Turkish allies, and I have every confidence that our areas of convergence are far more than any areas of divergence in the Turkish relationship," he said.

The US suspension announcement came two days before foreign ministers from NATO's 29 members were due in Washington to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the alliance.

Last week, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met in Turkey with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and insisted that the S-400 purchase would go ahead.LIMA, April 2 (Reuters) - An indigenous community in Peru that has blocked roads to Chinese miner MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine has decided not to negotiate with the government further until the community's jailed lawyers are freed, the head of the community, Gregorio Rojas, said on Tuesday on local TV channel Canal N.

The government of President Martin Vizcarra held a meeting with Rojas in the capital Lima on Sunday and offered to end emergency measures authorizing the use of force in the region in exchange for an end to the road blockades. (Reporting by Mitra Taj Editing by James Dalgleish)NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - PG&E Corp is expected to name Bill Johnson as chief executive of the bankrupt California energy company facing $30 billion in wildfire liabilities, as soon as Wednesday, a source familiar with the private negotiations said on Tuesday.

Johnson, who has been the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority since 2013 and is retiring on Friday, would not comment on the PG&E rumors.

A group of investors, including Knighthead Capital Management, Redwood Capital Management and Abrams Capital Management, have been pushing for Johnson to be hired.

Before joining TVA, Johnson was the chairman, president and CEO of Progress Energy from 2007-2012 before it merged with North Carolina rival Duke Energy Corp.

Another hedge fund, BlueMountain Capital Management, announced a slate of 13 directors including hedge fund manager Jeff Ubben and former California treasurer Phil Angelides.

PG&E faces crushing liabilities related to deadly wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes.

A U.S. judge on Tuesday ordered PG&E not to pay shareholders dividends and instead use the money to fund its plan for cutting down trees to reduce the risk its equipment will spark more destructive wildfires in wooded areas of California.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)PITTSBURGH (AP)  The Pittsburgh City Council gave final approval Tuesday to gun restrictions proposed after last year's synagogue massacre, inviting a legal challenge by gun-rights activists who have long tangled with the city over firearms.

After taking an initial vote last week, the all-Democratic council voted 6-3 to send the legislation to the desk of Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto, who is expected to sign the bills into law.

A handful of pro-gun rights activists jeered and booed the vote, while two dozen supporters gave council a standing ovation.

"We're happy to take a stand," Councilman Corey O'Connor, who spearheaded the effort, said afterward. "It's going to be a difficult battle, but we are willing to fight it. . People are starting to change their minds and be more open to some sort of gun control."

The legislation places restrictions on military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 rifle that authorities say was used in the Oct. 27 rampage at Tree of Life Synagogue that killed 11 and wounded seven. It also bans most uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, and allows the temporary seizure of guns from people who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others.

Pennsylvania state law forbids municipalities from regulating guns, and pro-gun advocates say they'll sue to block the laws from taking effect  and file private criminal complaints against council and Peduto over allegations of abuse of office and official repression.

Mary Konieczny, a nurse who addressed the council, called the legislation "a distraction and an overreach of authority" and accused council members Tuesday of trying "to fearmonger people that by taking guns away from legal gun owners, people will be safe."

Dennis Jordan, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident and gun collector wearing a black T-shirt supporting the Second Amendment, also spoke out against the bills.

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"My guns are not hurting anybody. I have no intent of hurting anybody," he told the council. "I am not going to be allowed to own my guns because of this ordinance. I am ready to move out of this place. You just want to control people. You want to take away my right to protect people."

The three-bill package  proposed not long after the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history  was weakened ahead of the vote in an effort to make it more likely to survive a court challenge.

State law has long prohibited municipalities from regulating the ownership or possession of guns or ammunition. While one of the Pittsburgh bills originally included an outright ban on assault weapons, the revised measure bars the "use" of assault weapons in public places.

A full ban on possession would take effect only if state lawmakers or the state Supreme Court give municipalities the right to regulate guns, which is seen as unlikely in a state where legislative majorities are fiercely protective of gun rights.

Jenna Paulat, wearing a Moms Demand Action T-shirt, said she supported "sensible gun laws." She praised council members for their "bold actions."

"They can't sit around and wait for the state and federal legislators to take action," she said.

Pittsburgh tried enforcing an assault-weapons ban in 1993, but the state Legislature quickly took action to invalidate the measure, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that city officials had overstepped.Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Wednesday of "devastating" results if Turkey strikes Syria as he met in Washington with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"Secretary Pompeo expressed support for ongoing negotiations regarding northeast Syria, while warning of the potentially devastating consequences of unilateral Turkish military action in the region," the State Department said in a statement after their talks.

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to hit the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, who joined Western forces in battling the Islamic State group but which Ankara links to the separatist PKK movement at home.

Fears for the safety of the fighters has led the United States to delay President Donald Trump's decision to remove US troops from Syria.

Cavusoglu was visiting Washington as part of 70th anniversary celebrations for the NATO alliance.

Speaking at a forum earlier in the day, Cavusoglu said bluntly when asked if he thought the United States had a clear policy in Syria: "No, and this is the problem."

The State Department Pompeo pressed him about Turkey's plans to buy the S-400 missile defense system from Russia.

The United States on Monday suspended Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter-jet program over the deal with Russia.

Pompeo also voiced concerns over Turkey's detention of US consulate employees and US citizen Serkan Golge, a joint national jailed on terror charges amid a sweeping national crackdown.By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will host the divided leaders of South Sudan at the Vatican next week to help them solidify a faltering peace agreement ending the civil war in the world's youngest country. The meeting, which a Vatican statement on Wednesday called a "spiritual retreat", could increase the chances of a visit by the pope to the South Sudanese capital, Juba. The leaders will include President Salva Kiir, First Vice President and former rebel leader Riek Machar and the other four vice presidents and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, told reporters. "We know the pope wants to go there and we know that the situation has improved a little, especially after the agreement was signed, and also because of the good will of the people who are involved the situation," Parolin said. Oil-producing South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, descended into civil war in December 2013 when a dispute between Kiir and Machar -- who was vice president then -- sparked fighting, often along ethnic lines. In September the two sides signed a power-sharing deal calling on the main rival factions to assemble, screen and train their respective forces and unify them into a national army before the formation of a unity government next month. That has not happened. The government, which has faced frequent international criticism over corruption and rights abuses, blames a lack of funding from donors. "It will be a moment of spirituality and above all, it will help make them aware of the responsibility that politicians and authorities have," Parolin said on the sidelines of a conference on religious freedom at the U.S. embassy to the Vatican. All six of the leaders are Christian, as is more than half the population of South Sudan. Sudan is predominantly Muslim. About 400,000 people have been killed and more than a third of the country's 12 million people uprooted by the civil war - a conflict punctuated by multiple rounds of mediation followed by renewed bloodshed. The conflict sparked Africa's worst refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide and plunged parts of the country into famine. More than 875,000 refugees have fled into neighboring Uganda since the war broke out. Parolin said the pope, who met Kiir at the Vatican on March 16, would attend at least part of the retreat. Last month, the Vatican said the pope had asked aides to resume planning for a visit that was scrapped in 2017 because of security concerns. A Church source said the retreat would be held on April 10-11. (Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld in Nairobi)Global stock markets rose Wednesday on optimism over US-China trade talks, while the pound gained on the dollar amid hopes that British Prime Minister Theresa May's new political gamble could avert a messy "no deal" Brexit.

Market watchers cited rising hopes that Washington and Beijing were close to finally sealing a trade agreement that averts higher tariffs.

"The momentum certainly seems to be continue to be on the upside," said Bill Lynch of Hinsdale Associates. "There's more positive sentiment with respect to a possible deal between the US and China."

Analysts pointed to a report in The Financial Times that said the United States and China had resolved most issues and that trade talks resuming Wednesday in Washington could be "potentially climactic."

"Clearly, the stock market continues to look at those negotiations with a glass-is-half-full mentality," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Leading bourses in Asia gained more than one percent, while Frankfurt and Paris also posted solid gains.

The advance was more modest in London and Wall Street, with the latter affected by lackluster reports on services sector activity and private-sector hiring.

- Pound steadies -

Sterling won a boost after Conservative leader May declared late Tuesday she would look for another Brexit delay and softened her position ahead of Britain's scheduled departure from the European Union next week.

After her deal and many other options failed to win the British parliament's approval, May changed tack by meeting with Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to find a compromise on Wednesday

"The announcement was win-win for the pound," Oanda analyst Craig Erlam told AFP.

"Not only did May re-affirm her opposition to no deal, she's technically opened the door to a softer Brexit. I say technically because a lot now has to happen for that to be delivered, including the Conservatives and Labour working together towards an uncharacteristic compromise."

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However, he added: "If this fails, I struggle to see how she recovers; it very much feels like a last-ditch, desperate gamble."

Representatives for May and Corbyn both described a meeting on Wednesday between the two sides as "constructive."

May's divorce deal with the other 27 EU nations has been rejected three times by parliament and patience is wearing thin in Brussels as an April 12 deadline to end Britain's 46-year membership nears with no agreement in sight.

- Key figures around 2040 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 26,218.13 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 2,873.40 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.6 percent at 7,895.55 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 at 7,418.28 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.7 percent at 11,954.40 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 5,468.91 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.2 percent at 3,435.56 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent at 21,713.21 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.2 percent at 29,986.39 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.2 percent at 3,216.30 (close)

Oil - Brent Crude: DOWN 6 cents at $69.31 per barrel

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 12 cents at $62.46 per barrel

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3157 from $1.3128 at 2100 GMT on Tuesday

Euro/pound: UP at 85.38 pence from 85.31 pence

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1234 from $1.1204

Dollar/yen: UP at 111.48 yen from 111.32 yen

burs-jmb/dgAlgerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will resign before his mandate ends on April 28, state news agency APS said on Monday.

The announcement comes a day after protest-hit Algerian president named a new government headed by recently appointed Noureddine Bedoui.

Ailing Bouteflika, who has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke, has come under mounting pressure to quit power since his decision to seek a fifth term sparked huge demonstrations.

According to APS, Bouteflika, who is 82, would take important decisions to ensure continuity of the states institutions before stepping down. The agency did not spell out a date for his departure or give more details immediately.

Last month, Bouteflika dropped plans to run for a fifth term. But he gave no timetable for his exit, advocating a national conference on reforms to address the outpouring of discontent over corruption, nepotism, economic mismanagement and the protracted grip on power of veterans of the 1954-62 liberation war.

Faced with persistent public anger, a succession of veteran Bouteflika loyalists have deserted the president in recent days.

A fighter in the 1954-1962 war to end French colonial rule, Bouteflika championed post-colonial states, challenged what he saw as the hegemony of the United States and helped turn his country into a seedbed of 1960s idealism.

He was first elected president in 1999 and negotiated a truce to end the fighting with Islamist militants, which killed an estimated 200,000 people in the country during the black bloody decade.Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan's new president discussed Wednesday boosting political and military cooperation as the two leaders met after the shock resignation of strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Kazakhstan's new president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid his first foreign visit to Russia, describing the trip as a sign of "continuity" in the two countries' close cooperation.

"I will continue the strategic course to strengthen comprehensive dialogue between our countries," Tokayev told Putin.

Kazakhstan's veteran leader Nazarbayev, who had ruled the energy-rich Central Asian nation since before it gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, announced his sudden resignation last month.

Nazarbayev, 78, has been known for careful diplomacy that privileges key partners Russia and China while maintaining cordial ties with the West.

"We propose moving to new forms of cooperation," Putin told reporters after the talks.

"I mean first and foremost building a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan using Russian technologies," he added.

Kazakhstan, the world's biggest uranium producer, has been discussing the construction of its first nuclear power plant with foreign powers including Russia.

Last year, Russia started building a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan, the Central Asian country's first.

Putin said the two countries' military cooperation was growing, adding that Russia trained Kazakh military experts.

The 65-year-old Tokayev said the two leaders discussed assembling civil helicopters and establishing maintenance centres to repair military equipment.

Nazarbayev has the constitutional status of "Leader of the Nation" as well as a lifetime position as chief of the security council and will retain a decisive role in decision-making.

Tokayev was previously the leader of the senate, where he was succeeded by Nazarbayev's daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, triggering talk of an eventual dynastic succession.

or-vvl-cr-as/oc/gdJerusalem (AFP) - Israel announced Wednesday that the remains of a soldier missing since the 1982 Lebanon war had been returned to the country, bringing to a close a highly sensitive case for Israelis.

Sergeant First Class Zachary Baumel had been missing since what is known as the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, said Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus.

"It is one of the most moving moments in all my years at the head of the country," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address from his Jerusalem office.

"This operation is the result of major diplomatic efforts that we will speak about one day."

Israel's military declined to provide details on how the remains were retrieved, including where they were found.

Baumel was born in the United States in 1960, but immigrated to Israel.

Conricus called the recovery, labelled "Operation Bittersweet Song", a "special and moving moment".

"His body is in Israel. The body has been identified," he said, adding that DNA evidence had been used in the identification and that personal belongings were also found.

Israeli soldiers fought with Syrian forces in the battle on June 10-11, 1982 in the Lebanese village of Sultan Yacoub, near the Syrian border.

Some 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in the battle.

Baumel and two other soldiers, Zvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz, have been listed as missing and presumed killed since. The other two remain missing.

The families of all three have been notified, said Conricus.

They were part of an armoured battalion and were in two separate tanks. Baumel was a tank driver.

The military quoted from Baumel's last postcard to his family in Israel, which read: "Don't worry, everything is okay, but it looks like I won't be home for a while."

- 'Locate the body' -

It was not clear if Baumel had been killed in battle or after being captured, said Conricus, saying an investigation was underway to try to determine that.

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His body has been in Israel "for a few days", delivered on an El Al plane, Conricus said.

"Over the years the (military) has undertaken significant intelligence and operational efforts in order to find the locations and to bring back the remains of those missing in action," he said.

"Over the last year there were significant developments and the opportunity arose to locate the body."

Israel is still technically at war with Lebanon and Syria.

Netanyahu is in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with Syria, where Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets.

Russia and Israel have set up a hotline to avoid accidental clashes in Syria, where Moscow has been supporting President Bashar al-Assad's regime in his country's civil war.

Netanyahu is due to travel to Moscow to meet Putin on Thursday, just five days ahead of Israeli elections.

The military did not indicate whether Russia was involved in the diplomatic efforts to return the remains.

In 2016, Russia returned a tank to Israel from the same battle.

The return of the remains of soldiers missing in action is a highly important issue in Israel, which has fought repeated wars with its Arab neighbours since its 1948 founding.

Both the military and Netanyahu pledged efforts to bring home four soldiers still missing in action as well as the remains of dozens of others declared dead.

The four missing include Feldman and Katz, as well as Ron Arad, taken prisoner after a dogfight over Lebanon in 1986, and Guy Hever, who disappeared in the Golan Heights in 1997.

In one high-profile case, the families of two soldiers killed in Israel's 2014 war in the Gaza Strip have pressed the government to bring back their remains, believed to be held by Hamas.These tributes to the 13 victims of the American Civic Association shooting were first published in the Press & Sun-Bulletin on April 6, 2009. Due to the passing of time since the shooting, some of the stories were edited for timeliness and clarity.

Some were young and full of hope for the future. Some were in the prime of their lives, happy to be living here and enjoying the fruits of their labors.

Some came here in search of knowledge, some in search of a safer, saner place to settle down and raise their families.

And some, who had called this place home for much of their lives, were there at the American Civic Association in Binghamton on Friday morning to make a difference by reaching out to the newcomers who were striving to better themselves.

Whatever drew them to this place, they died together that morning. Here, we pay tribute to each of them by telling their stories.

Parveen Ali: mother and backbone of her family

From Binghamton and Pakistan; age 26

Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial, located on Front and Clinton streets in Binghamton.

Other young women might sit and chat at gatherings, but 26-year-old Parveen Ali would be helping, said Ehtisham Siddiquie, president of the Islamic Organization of the Southern Tier.

Soft-spoken, gentle, yet a go-getter and the backbone of her family, Parveen Alis death has left her family bereft.

In their homeland of Pakistan, they spoke only Pashto, a seldom-used dialect.

Her mother, Sirag Bibi, relied on Parveen as her liaison to the world.

Her mother is in pain, said friend Sameena Sethi. Oh, my God, she is in pain.

Parveen used to babysit the three Sethi children and visited the family often with her mother.

Parveen is remembered in the community as a soft-spoken, upbeat person quick to offer help to anyone in need.

She especially catered to her mother, while her brothers, Usman and Nader, worked and studied. The father of the family, Nosher Van, did not live in Binghamton.

She was beautiful, said friend Semra Morina, a Bosnian refugee who worked with Parveen at Johnson Outdoors. She was young, and she had hope.

Story continues

 Valerie Zehl

Almir Olimpio Alves: visiting scholar in Binghamton Universitys math department

Brazil; age 43

Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial, located on Front and Clinton streets in Binghamton.

The friendship began in a Chinese restaurant across the street from Almir O. Alves apartment and next door to Bob Larnerds church.

The man from Maine and the mathematician from Brazil found an immediate connection.

They shared a love of motorcycles and once visited the Harley Davidson store on Upper Front Street together.

He seemed glad to have a friend, Larnerd said of Alves.

Larnerd invited Alves to the Sunday service at Main Street Baptist Church in Binghamton.

Alves showed up.

I was so happy to see him, Larnerd said.

The men occasionally met for dinner and talked about their lives.

Alves, 43, was a visiting scholar in Binghamton Universitys math department who arrived in September. He was set to return to Brazil in the summer, where he was a faculty member at the Universidade de Pernambuco.

Larnerd enjoyed hearing about Alves life in Brazil and looking at pictures of his home.

He was impressed by Alves determination. The son of sugar cane field workers, Alves grew up poor, but continued on in school at his fathers encouragement. He received scholarships to pay for his education.

Alves continued showing up for services at Main Street Baptist Church. He helped clean and repair the church on Saturdays.

Parishioners enjoyed getting to know Alves, a humble and happy man, and he enjoyed meeting them. At a Palm Sunday service two days after Alves death, church members talked about Gods mysterious ways.

Alves was survived by his wife and a 16-year-old son.

It was just a blow, said Larnerd. (It was) a wonderful time getting to know him.

 Vanessa Ebbeling

Marc Henry and Marie Sonia Bernard: a couple from Haiti who worked hard for a better life

From Endicott and Haiti; Maria, age 46; Marc, age 44

Marie Sonia Bernard and Marc Henry Bernard during an apple-picking trip with the American Civic Association's English-speaking class. The couple, originally from Haiti, were killed in the 2009 mass shooting at the ACA in Binghamton.

Maria Sonia Bernard, 46, was known as a hard worker who occasionally exchanged French words with a co-worker at McDonalds on East Main Street in Endicott.

Her husband, Marc Henry Bernard, 44, had just been hired at the same restaurant after losing his job when the company he worked for closed.

They were nice people who just wanted a better life, basically, said Sarah Beckwith, assistant manager at the McDonalds.

Marc Henry Bernard, Haiti. "The Son of God never dies, they just move on to a new life." Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the memorial, which is located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

The couple, who were natives of Haiti, took English classes when they werent working.

They left behind two children, ages 6 and 12, who were students in the Union-Endicott School District.

The couple and their children moved to the Endicott Terrace apartment building, said Leroy Jackson, manager. They had relatives in the area and had apparently moved here from Georgia because their car had Georgia license plates, he said.

They were the nicest people in the world, Jackson said.

Even though neither spoke English that well, they were always quick to exchange a wave or smile, he said.

Marie Sonia Bernard, Haiti. "The Daughters of God never die, they just move on to a new life." Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the memorial, which is located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

Marc Bernard had worked for a local manufacturing company until the company closed, the apartment building manager said. He didnt remember the companys name.

Everybody here is devastated, Jackson said.

The couple often walked with their children and played ball with them.

These are the people you want in this country, Jackson said.

Maria Bernard always met the school bus when her 6-year-old daughter came home, said Marilyn Blake, a spokeswoman for the U-E district.

When she wasnt there the day of the shooting, the bus driver called Michelle Robinson, principal at Charles F. Johnson Elementary School, where the girl was a student. Robinson went to the apartment building, Blake said.

Ann Marie Foley, principal at the Jennie F. Snapp Middle School, went to the apartment building as well. The couples 12-year-old son was a student at the middle school.

The two principals stayed with the two children until a family member came to pick them up, Blake said.

 George Basler

Li Guo: educational administrator in continuing education at Shenzhen University

From Binghamton and China; age 47

Li Guo, originally from China, was killed in the 2009 mass shooting at the American Civic Association in Binghamton.

Li Guo never missed her English classes at the American Civic Association.

She looked forward to them, said Thomas Sinclair, Guos colleague in the public administration department at Binghamton University. Some of her best friends were in that class with her.

Guo, 47, from Shenzhen University in China, arrived in the Binghamton area to begin a year-long stint as a visiting research scholar at BU. Guo was an educational administrator in continuing education at Shenzhen University.

During her stay in Binghamton, she was developing a scholarship arrangement that would have allowed BU students and faculty to travel to Shenzhen University, and students and faculty from Shenzhen to travel here.

Guos English had improved greatly during her time here, and she was excited to speak more freely with colleagues and friends, Sinclair said. He and his family shared dinners with Guo and went apple-picking at Green Brothers Apple Hills.

Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial Park, located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

What struck me most was that she loved the area, said Debra Morello, an adjunct professor who met Guo when the scholar visited her ethics class.

Morello recalled Guos enthusiasm and attentive note-taking during the visit.

This area with its hills reminded her of the Shenzhen area, Sinclair said.

Shenzhen is north of Hong Kong.

Guos stay at BU would have ended June 30, 2009.

Her family offered thanks to the people and groups that have reached out to them through Julie Wang, head of the Southern Tier Chinese Culture Association.

She was just a really neat person, excited about being here and working with us, Sinclair said. My family and my colleagues and I are really going to miss her.

 Vanessa Ebbeling

Lan Ho: mother of two who died in her husband's arms

From Binghamton and Vietnam; age 39

Lan Ho during an apple-picking trip with the American Civic Association's English-speaking class. A native of Vietnam, Lan Ho was one of the 13 victims killed in the 2009 shooting at the American Civic Association in Binghamton.

Long Huynh wrapped his arms around his wife, Lan Ho, to keep her safe, but a bullet passed through his elbow and struck her.

He knew she had died immediately.

She died in his arms because he covered her up, said Minh Nguyen, a friend of Lan Ho and Long Huynh.

After he and his wife were shot, Huynh stayed quiet, fearing the gunman, Jiverly Wong, 41, would shoot him again.

Lan Ho was killed in the attack despite her husbands attempt to shield her body.

Huynh was shot three times and suffered wounds to his face and arm.

He cried, but he cried inside, Nguyen said. He don't let the killer know he was still alive.

Lan Ho left behind an 11-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter.

Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial, located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

The couple came to the United States from Vietnam about two years ago, first arriving in New Mexico, where Huynhs father lives, and then traveling to Binghamton because they were having trouble finding work. Huynhs sister begged them to stay.

Nguyen hired Lan Ho at his nail salon, Nail Trix in the Oakdale Mall, and he was training her to become a nail technician, he said. She had worked there only 10 days.

Shes a very good mother, Nguyen said. She and her husband, they're very, very kind and very good.

 Vanessa Ebbeling

Layla Khalil: mother who died before meeting her new granddaughter

From Binghamton and Iraq; age 57

Layla Khalil, originally from Iraq, was killed in the shooting at the American Civic Association.

Layla Khalil, 57, was looking forward to meeting her new grand-daughter, to watching her son graduate, to being there when her daughter became a bride.

But it was not to be.

Before she came to America seven months before the shooting, she had attained a degree from well-respected Al Mustansiriya University and worked as a librarian. Her husband, Samir, had been living in Jordan, but he was in Binghamton on April 3. Eldest son Firas, 33, who lives in France, was unable to obtain a visa so he could attend his beloved mothers funeral.

Their other son, Mustafa, 17, and daughter Bon, 29, accepted condolences from those mourning with them.

Mrs. Khalil eased the familys distress through decades of turmoil, violence and privation, said Bon, a Fulbright scholar.

Layla Khalil, Iraq "To live in our hearts and forever." Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the memorial, which is located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

During the 1991 Gulf War, when much of Baghdad was in ruins and electricity was sporadic, her mother would get up during the night to do laundry for the family.

She was a devoted mother who put her own life and needs a distant second to those of her children, Bon said.

She was like a candle that burns to light the life of other people  especially her children.

 Valerie Zehl

Roberta King: teacher at ACA who died doing what she loved

Roberta 'Bobbie' King, Binghamton, age 72

Roberta "Bobbie" King, a teacher and mother of 10, was killed during the 2009 mass shooting at the American Civic Association.

Roberta "Bobbie" King, 72, was teaching English to adult immigrants  something she loved to do  when she was killed by a deranged gunman at the American Civic Association.

"I believe that Bobbie had more genuine friends than anybody I know," said Brenda Margolis, one of Mrs. King's friends.

Mrs. King was the mother of 10 children and the grandmother of 17. She had two more grandchildren on the way when she died, family members said.

A dedicated teacher, Mrs. King substituted as a teacher at the American Civic Association and at local public schools.

She was a passionate collector of dolls and dollhouses, which filled her South Side Binghamton home. She loved historic architecture and was involved with Temple Concord's Hanukkah House, the Roberson Museum and Science Center, and the Phelps Mansion.

Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the memorial, which is located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

However, it was the quality of her character, her kindness and gentleness that drew people to her, her family and friends said.

 Nancy Dooling

Jiang Ling

From Endicott and China; age 22

Each of the 13 victims killed in the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial Park, located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

Jiang Ling, 22, lived in Endicott.

Julie Wang, the head of the Southern Tier Chinese Culture Association, said that she is in contact with the family, offering her services to them ever since learning of the rampage.

She said the family is mourning in private at the moment, and although they appreciate press coverage, they did not want to speak publicly yet.

Theyre emotionally and physically exhausted, she said.

Due to our current situation, they cant deal with the media right now.

The family, however, offered their thanks to the many people and organizations that reached out to them, including grief counselors and businesses that donated goods.

Theres a lot of people who called and offered to help, Wang said.

 Hoa Nguyen

Mao Hong Xiu: wife who died before celebrating her first wedding anniversary

From Greene and China; age 35

Mao Hong Xiu, born in China, was one of the 13 shooting victims inside the American Civic Association in Binghamton.

Hong Xiu (Mao) Marsland never got the opportunity to celebrate her first wedding anniversary with her husband, David Marsland.

Hong Xiu, 35, and Marsland were married July 26, 2008, at the Pal Yul Retreat Center in McDonough.

Introduced before their courtship by a mutual friend, they lived in Greene after they married.

Mrs. Marsland, a native of China, was deeply loved by all who knew her, family members said in a written statement.

She was intelligent, beautiful, hard-working, funny and full of enthusiasm, said David Marsland.

Mrs. Marsland, like most of the other victims, was taking English language classes at the Civic Association. She worked at a nail salon on Washington Avenue in Endicott. She chose the American name Amy.

Born in Nan Lin, Guanxi province, in China, Mrs. Marsland grew up on a farm and later worked in a factory, sold appliances and ran her own delicatessen in China.

Each of the 13 victims killed in the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial Park, located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

She came to the United States in October 2004 and lived in Flushing, where she worked as a waitress and as a nail technician.

Besides her husband, Mrs. Marsland was survived by her parents, Zhiyi Mao and Simei Mo; her mother-in-law, Amy Marsland of Greene; two brothers; and her former husband, Qin Haibin of New York City.

 Nancy Dooling

Dolores 'Doris' Cabonilas Yigal: woman who moved to the US as part of her lifelong dream

From Binghamton and Phillippines; age 53

Dolores "Doris" Yigal, born in the Philippines. Dolores was killed in the shooting at the American Civic Association.

Dolores Doris Yigal grew up in Cebu, Philippines.

She and Omri Yigal, who was born in Alabama and grew up in Tennessee, met online, marrying in the Philippines on Sept. 18, 2006. The couple lived in the Philippines until Doris Yigal obtained a visa that allowed her to move to the United States, fulfilling a lifelong dream, Omri Yigal said.

In addition to her husband, Doris Yigal was survived by her mother in the Philippines; a sister, Carmen in California; and a cousin in Canada.

She also has a 23-year-old adopted daughter, whom she had raised as her own ever since the biological mother left the 1-week-old infant in her care and never returned, Omri Yigal said.

Early Sunday morning, Omri Yigal had a phone cradled to his ear, making arrangements with the medical examiner and fielding press inquiries. The 53-year-old Binghamton resident said he was doing his best to cope with the news that his wife, also 53, was among the fatalities at the American Civic Association.

Each of the 13 victims killed in the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial Park, located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

The standard answer is Im fine, he said during a phone interview with a reporter from the Philippines. The truth of the matter is, I had a terrible loss. Doris represented my everything, my universe, and so I lost my universe and Im in a state of trying to move forward.

So that is the truth of how Im doing.

On the night after the shooting, police came to his house to tell him his wife had been among those killed during the shooting spree. It was news he had been expecting since learning that a gunman opened fire at the building where his wife was taking English classes.

The medical examiner told him that his wife suffered gunshot wounds to the head and hands, as if she were trying to protect herself, Yigal said.

Apparently, her wounds hadnt been as bad as those of other victims, Yigal said authorities told him.

Many of those wounds left the body unrecognizable and too gross for the families to view, he said, adding the medical examiner told him he could go visit his wifes body.

Doris Yigal had been taking lessons at the American Civic Association in the hopes of being able to use the language skills to find a job, her husband said.

Before leaving for her class April 3, she likely would have planted a kiss on her husbands head, something she normally did every morning, although Omri Yigal said he doesnt specifically remember it.

I was sort of groggy because I hadnt had much sleep, he said.

A few hours later, he learned a gunman had opened fire.

When I heard there was a shooting at the civic (association), I took off running, Yigal

said.

 Hoa Nguyen

Haihong Zhong: outgoing woman who brought energy to her neighborhood

From Endwell and China; age 54

Hai H. Zhong was an industrious and outgoing person who was a hub of energy in her neighborhood on Kentucky Avenue in Endwell.

The 54-year-old Chinese immigrant owned a meticulously kept white duplex on the north end of the street. Included in the rent was weekly cleaning of the apartment, said Rick Cicciarelli, a tenant of the small apartment at 2 Kentucky Ave.

When something went wrong or plumbing needed a fix, she did it herself and she did it promptly.

Each of the 13 victims killed in the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial Park, located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

She was a really good person, said Cicciarelli, who had known Zhong for three years since he moved into the apartment. If you needed anything, she would help you with it.

Once she gave him a ride to work when his car broke down.

Often, she would shovel the walkway for an elderly couple across the street.

She was also outgoing and eager to improve her English.

She was taking classes at the American Civic Association to do just that when she was gunned down during the massacre.

Extended family members own the North Side Motor Lodge at Kentucky Avenue and North Street. They were trying to cope with the tragedy, a friend said, and were unavailable to talk to reporters.

 Tom Wilber

Maria 'Mima' Zobniw: ACA caseworker who was the heart and soul of her family

From Binghamton, age 60

Maria Zobniw, born in Ukraine and a longtime Binghamton resident, one of the 13 victims killed in the 2009 shooting at the American Civic Association in Binghamton.

Maria Zobniw was the heart and soul of her family, and a bedrock in the local Ukrainian community, friends and family said.

The 60-year-old woman cared deeply about her heritage and wanted to share it, her daughter Zoriana Zobniw Nehrebeckyj said.

For four decades, she was president of the Binghamton Chapter of Ukrainian Women's League and secretary of the local branch of Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. In that capacity, she organized education booths for the Ethnic Festival, helped raise the flag on Ukrainian Independence Days and gave presentations at area schools about Ukrainian Easter eggs, embroidery and arts.

"She was always willing to help and never asked for anything in return," said Iryna Tkhoryk, who came to the United States a decade ago and was one of the many Ukrainian immigrants helped by Zobniw over the years.

"She was a big sister for me and a mother for my daughter," Tkhoryk said.

Her desire to help other immigrants led Zobniw to become a part-time caseworker at the American Civic Association about four years ago.

Victims of the 2009 American Civic Association shooting are remembered at the ACA Memorial, located on Front and Clinton Streets in Binghamton.

"She's Ukrainian, and she knew how difficult it is for people to get adjusted and she knew several languages," her husband of 37 years, Lubomyr Zobniw, said. "She saw it as her mission to help."

Maria wasn't supposed to be working April 3, her husband said. She usually had Fridays off. But she was asked to come to work, and she agreed even though she and her husband were due to leave Saturday to visit a daughter in Silver Spring, Md., and to see the cherry blossoms in bloom in Washington, D.C.

"Right now at this time we were supposed to be walking around the cherry blossoms, not planning her funeral," Nehrebeckyj said.

Zobniw was born in a displaced person's camp after World War II. Her family came to Binghamton when she was 4 years old, and she grew up in a Ukrainian section of Binghamton's First Ward. She was a lifelong member of the Sacred Heart Ukrainian Catholic Church and a member of the first graduating class at Seton Catholic Central High School in Binghamton. She also graduated from Harpur College (now Binghamton University).

"We were raised in a traditional Ukrainian Catholic home where God, Ukraine and the importance of education were the things that were stressed," Nehrebeckyj said.

Zobniw's four grown children  ages 36, 32, 28 and 21  lived out of the area. They rushed to Binghamton to be with their father and kept hoping for a miracle until they received the official news at 4 p.m. the day after the shooting that their mother was dead.

"Within the family, she was able to hold the nucleus of the family together," her husband said.

Mayors of Binghamton came and went, but her mother was there every year helping to raise Ukraine's flag, daughter Oresta Zobniw Lisowsky said.

"If there was a festival, we were there," she added with a laugh.

The family, some 20 strong, still gathers every year on Christmas and Easter at the Dickinson home. They were planning another Easter celebration in 2009.

"My mother had a wonderful way of communicating with people even if there was a language barrier," Nehrebeckyj said. "She made other people feel better about themselves."

 George Basler

ACA Memorial

What: American Civic Association Memorial Vigil Day

When: Wednesday, April 3: Approximately 10:30 a.m. observance at the memorial at the intersection of Clinton and Front streets, Survivors Tribute at 5:30 p.m. and a Vigil Service at 6:30 p.m.

Where: American Civic Association, 131 Front St., Binghamton

More information: Visit americancivic.com

Help the Press & Sun-Bulletin continue to provide in-depth reporting like this. Find our latest subscription options and special offers here.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Remembering the victims of the ACA shooting in BinghamtonFollowing is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Chicago votes to choose between two black women for mayor

Chicago voters went to the polls on Tuesday to choose between two African-American women running for mayor, with the winner of the historic vote inheriting a city steeped in violent crime and wracked by fiscal woes. Lori Lightfoot, 56, the former president of independent civilian body the Chicago Police Board and a political outsider, faces Toni Preckwinkle, 72, a long-time local politician, in a runoff to become the 56th mayor of the third-largest U.S. city.

U.S. Air Force again halts deliveries of Boeing KC-46 tanker aircraft

The U.S. Air Force said on Tuesday that it again stopped accepting deliveries of Boeing Co's KC-46 tanker aircraft after finding foreign object debris in the planes. Back in February, deliveries of the aircraft were halted by the U.S. Air Force because of the same issue in one of the aircraft. Deliveries resumed in March after Boeing ramped up the inspection process.

North Carolina Republican Party chairman charged in bribery case

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it had charged the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, Robert "Robin" Hayes, and a major political donor in a corruption scheme that targeted a state official. According to an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, Hayes worked with business executive Greg Lindberg to bribe state insurance commissioner Mike Causey. Causey reported the effort to law enforcement officials and cooperated in the investigation, authorities say.

Chinese woman arrested by Secret Service at Trump's Mar-a-Lago

A Chinese woman who got through security checkpoints at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida carrying a thumb drive coded with "malicious" software was arrested on Saturday for entering a restricted property and making false statements to officials, according to a court filing. Documents filed by the Secret Service on Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida say that shortly after noon on Saturday, Yujing Zhang approached a Secret Service agent screening visitors to Mar-a-Lago seeking entrance to the club.

Story continues

U.S. disaster aid won't cover crops drowned by Midwest floods

The Black Hawk military helicopter flew over Iowa, giving a senior U.S. agriculture official and U.S. senator an eyeful of the flood damage below, where yellow corn from ruptured metal silos spilled out into the muddy water. And there's nothing the U.S. government can do about the millions of bushels of damaged crops here under current laws or disaster-aid programs, U.S. Agriculture Under Secretary Bill Northey told a Reuters reporter who joined the flight.

Texas chemical plant fire kills one, injures two

A blast and fire at a chemical plant near Houston killed one person on Tuesday and injured two others, in an incident involving a highly flammable gas, officials said, less than a month after a similar fire in the region that burned for days. The fire at a plant operated by KMCO LLC in Crosby, Texas, northeast of Houston, led officials to temporarily order residents and schoolchildren within a mile of the plant to stay inside.

Pittsburgh votes to restrict 'assault weapons,' challenge likely

Pittsburgh's city council on Tuesday approved restrictions on the use of some "assault weapons" and ammunition, passing bills introduced following a 2018 synagogue shooting, in a move gun-rights activists vowed to challenge. The all-Democratic council voted 6-3 to restrict the use of certain semi-automatic weapons, such as the Colt AR-15 rifle, which a lone gunman used in the October shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue which killed 11 people.

Purdue's Sackler family fights 'inflammatory' Massachusetts opioid case

Members of the Sackler family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have asked a judge to toss a lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney general that claims they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic, arguing it contains "misleading and inflammatory allegations." The wealthy family in a motion on Monday argued that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's lawsuit mischaracterized internal records to create the "false impression" they personally directed privately-held Purdue's marketing of painkillers.

Former intelligence officials sue to end pre-publication review of writings

Two civil liberties groups on Tuesday sued three U.S. intelligence chiefs and the acting defense secretary, seeking to have declared unconstitutional their agencies' pre-publication reviews of former officials' writings and speeches. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute brought the lawsuit on behalf of five former intelligence and military officials. They argued the reviews as currently practiced breach the Constitution's First Amendment prohibition on government abridgement of freedom of speech.

Mourners injured in stampede chaos at vigil for slain rapper

At least two people were critically injured and 10 others hurt after hundreds of fans stampeded during a vigil for slain, grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles late Monday, officials and media reports said. There were initial reports of shots fired in a crowd gathered outside Hussle's clothing store in south Los Angeles, where the musician was shot and killed on Sunday, police and media reports said.Caracas (AFP) - Crippling power blackouts are subjecting Venezuelans to a second phase of deprivation -- massive water shortages that make no distinction in income or social class, forcing rich and poor alike to wait in long lines for drinking water, while some hoist it from sewers to be able to flush their toilets.

On the hill in the Caracas neighborhood of Petare -- the country's largest slum home to more than half a million people -- hundreds of people line up day and night behind two wells.

They carry anything that can hold water -- drums, cans, bottles, buckets. When their turn comes, they take as much as they can.

The water is not drinkable, but it will allow them some dignity, to bathe or wash clothes.

For the past month, repeated massive blackouts have plunged the country into darkness and disarray. As a result, electric water pumps have shut down, forcing a cut in water supplies.

- 'No water' -

"We have no water, no electricity, the power cuts are terrible. Food is going bad," says 78-year-old Ernestine Velasco as she recites a litany of deprivation in her modest house, located on an unpaved street in the March 24 district.

"We are having a bad time. There is no transport, there's nothing."

Lack of water is a chronic problem in this teeming corner of Caracas. Though the cost is minimal, the service is non-existent, Velasco says.

"Thank God, we have this," she adds, pointing to the two wells nearby, though "it's chaos, it makes you want to run away."

Locals are waiting for the state water company to restore supplies. Even then, they expect it will only be for a few hours.

"We are dry. We don't have a single drop," said Carmen Moncada, tipping over an empty drum.

A little further on, in the district of El Valle, a crowd formed around a manhole, drawing up water for their toilets.

President Nicolas Maduro has ordered electricity rationing for the next month in a bid to buy his engineers time to fix the problem, which he blames on opposition sabotage designed "to drive the country crazy."

Story continues

The working day has officially been shortened to ease the strain on the grid and allow people to get home before dark. Schools that have been shut since March 26 are expected to reopen on Wednesday, however.

- Prohibitive price -

In a Caracas park where a water tanker is dispensing supplies, a lawyer from the upscale northern neighborhood of La Castellana arrives to buy the whole tanker-full for his apartment building.

The driver of the 1969-era truck, which holds 2,100 gallons (8,000 liters) is quick to name his price: "For La Castellana, it's $200."

Despite the prohibitive price -- Venezuela's minimum wage is just over $5 -- the lawyer doesn't argue.

"This is the price we have to pay to stay in Venezuela," said the 42-year-old lawyer, who declined to give his name.

He said he would have to collect the money from his remaining neighbors, a third of whom have joined the exodus of 2.7 million Venezuelans the United Nations say have have left the country since the economic crisis began in 2015.

One possible solution for the lawyer and his neighbors was to sink a well to tap the aquifer at nearby El Avila hill, but that would cost $20,000. Right now, the cheaper solution is the tanker.

Every day, people fill up from streams running from the hill.

William the driver gets his water at a spring in the city's Eastern Park -- with government approval -- forming a line with other tanker drivers.

In return, they must make three free trips on the government's behalf to distribute water in various parts of the capital. The army enforces the agreement.

But in poor areas like March 24, the trucks are slow to arrive, playing on the nerves of locals like Carmen Veliz. She says that in other areas nearby, there has been no water "for months."

Such exasperation drove hundreds of people onto the streets Sunday to beat pots and pans in a display of outrage in different parts of the capital.

At least three people were injured in clashes with police and pro-government armed "colectivos" sent to tamp down the protests.

"What is the government doing? Neither one thing nor the other," says one woman.

Referring equally to Maduro's rival Guaido, she adds: "No one comes to help us...they are all useless."By Stephen Kalin RIYADH (Reuters) - Nearly a dozen prominent Saudi women activists returned to court on Wednesday to face charges related to contacts with foreign journalists, diplomats and human rights groups, in a case that has intensified Western criticism of a major Mideast ally. Three of the women - blogger Eman al-Nafjan, academic Aziza al-Yousef and conservative preacher Ruqayya al-Mohareb - were temporarily released last week on condition they attend future hearings. They were seen entering Riyadh's criminal courthouse on Wednesday, and sources familiar with the proceedings told Reuters the three-judge panel adjourned their hearings until after the holy month of Ramadan, which ends in early June. The court had been expected to rule on release requests for the other women, but the sources said no decision was announced and their next hearing was set for April 17. The reason for the separate dates was unclear. In court on Wednesday, the public prosecutor replied to defenses the women had presented previously, the sources said. Few charges have been made public, but the brother of defendant Loujain al-Hathloul has said those against her include communicating with journalists, applying for a job at the United Nations, and attending digital privacy training. Western diplomats and media, including Reuters, have been denied entry to the trial, which has drawn attention to a rights record already in the spotlight after the murder last year of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate. Three dozen countries, including all 28 EU members, Canada and Australia, have called on Riyadh to free the activists. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the issue during recent visits. WESTERN SCRUTINY The temporary releases and the case's transfer from a high-security terrorism court at the last minute without explanation may signal a more lenient handling after months of lobbying by Western governments. Yet it remains to be seen if Riyadh will bend to international pressure or pursue harsh sentences in a case critics say has revealed the limits of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's promises to modernize Saudi Arabia. Hathloul's siblings said on Twitter that the prosecution on Wednesday repeated its denials of the torture allegations made by some defendants during last week's hearing. Rights groups have documented mistreatment in detention including electric shocks, flogging and sexual assault. Hathloul's brother has publicly appealed to members of the U.S. Congress to intervene, and her sister wrote an op-ed in the New York Times detailing the allegations. They both live abroad but say they have been pressured to keep quiet. "We were silent and the most terrible forms of torture happened," the sister tweeted on Wednesday. "I will be silent when Loujain is back with us and those who tortured her are put on trial and she is compensated for what happened." Most of the women on trial were arrested weeks before a ban on women driving cars in the conservative kingdom was lifted last June. At least five men were detained in the same sweep, though none of them are currently on trial. Rights groups say two of them have been released, but the status of the others is unclear. Dozens of other activists, intellectuals and clerics have been arrested separately in the past two years in an apparent bid to stamp out opposition to the government. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Andrew Cawthorne and Tom Brown)The killer has been jailed for at least 20 years after he was found guilty of his fifth murder at the Old Bailey. (PA)

A serial murderer dubbed Scarface who went on a two-year killing spree across Europe has been jailed for at least 20 years in the UK for his fifth murder.

Mane Driza, also known as Tony Montana after Al Pacinos infamous on-screen drug lord, killed fellow Albanian Stefan Bedar Mone, 23, in north London in June 1999.

A jury found the 41-year-old guilty at the Old Bailey after two and a half hours of deliberations.

Scarface went on a violent two-year killing spree across Europe. (PA)

Driza, 41, used a pick axe, lock knife and cheese knife to inflict more than 120 wounds on his victim.

Mr Mones girlfriend, Zoe Blay, found his body the following day and was only able to identify him by his belt buckle.

Mr Mones girlfriend earlier told the court in a victim impact statement: I cannot put into words or begin to explain that day I found Stefans body, it has traumatised me to this day, I suffer with flashbacks and nightmares. No one would want to see their loved one laying there like that.

The body of Scarfaces fifth victim was barely recognisable after the attack.(PA)

I was extremely scared after that; I moved from the city I had called home my whole life to a city where I only knew two people just to feel safe.

Jurors were told that Driza had become angry that his flatmate Mr Mone had taken his wedding ring and given it to his partner.

Drizas attack on Mr Mone came two years after he killed a father and son and fled to the UK under the false name of Sokol Drenova.

After killing his third victim, Mr Mone, he took a flight to Italy where he shot and killed two men at a bar in Sicily two months later.

The court heard he had already been found guilty of four fatal shootings and an attempted murder in Albania and Italy as well as making threats to kill.

Judge Sarah Munro QC sentenced Driza to life with a minimum term of 20 years. She said: This is a very unusual, if not unique case.

The sentence will not start until 2026 at the conclusion of his 30-year sentence in Italy.WASHINGTON  A second woman is accusing former Vice President Joe Biden of unwanted, inappropriate behavior, the Hartford Courant reported Monday.

Amy Lappos of Connecticut said Biden, a potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, touched her and rubbed his nose on hers during a 2009 political fundraiser in Greenwich, the Courant reported.

"It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head," Lappos told the newspaper. "He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth."

Opinion: I was with Joe Biden when no one was looking, and he was always a champion for women

The accusation comes days after Lucy Flores, a former member of the Nevada Legislature, accused Biden of "demeaning and disrespectful" behavior when he allegedly kissed the back of her head.

A spokeswoman for Biden declined to respond to the allegations by Lappos, referring instead to the statement Biden issued Sunday about the Flores accusation, according to the newspaper.

In that statement, Biden denied any wrongdoing regarding Flores but promised to "listen respectfully" to such claims.

More: How the 2020 presidential candidates responded to misconduct allegation against Joe Biden

"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort," Biden said. "And not once  never  did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."

Biden said he might not recall moments in the same way that the accuser does.

"But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention," he said in the statement. "And I will."

The allegations against Biden come amid #MeToo, a movement started nearly a decade ago that went viral in 2017 as women in Hollywood and across the country began sharing stories of sexual harassment and assault. Its led to the resignation or downfall of more than 100 entertainers, executives and politicians, including Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer and Kevin Spacey. Former Minnesota Democrat Sen. Al Franken announced his resignation in 2017 following accusations of sexual misconduct. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., also stepped down, along with Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who resigned amid reports he discussed with female staffers the possibility they could be surrogates for his and his wife's baby.

More than a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct over the years, including eight women who have accused him of forcibly kissing them. Trump has denied the allegations. In an Access Hollywood tape that surfaced during the final weeks of the presidential campaign in 2016, Trump was heard making lewd comments and bragging about groping women. The president has said that was "locker-room banter."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Second woman accuses Joe Biden of inappropriate behavior: 'I thought he was going to kiss me'Labour rights under pressure across Europe, including Georgia

By Levan Abramishvili

Countries across Europe are struggling to comply with their international legal obligations concerning rights for workers, according to the latest annual conclusions from the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR).ECSR is a legally-binding Council of Europe treaty, launched in 1961, which safeguards economic and social rights in areas such as housing, health, education, employment, and social protection.The European Committee of Social Rights is a body composed of 15 independent and impartial experts which assess the extent to which national laws and practices comply with the charter.The ECSR published 580 conclusions assessing compliance with the European Social Charter on issues including the right to reasonable working hours, fair pay and protection against harassment in 35 countries and territories between 2013 and 2016.In total, the committee adopted 276 conclusions of conformity (47.6%) and 206 findings of violations (35.5%). It was unable to assess the situation in 98 cases (16.9%) due to lack of information.The conclusions finding the highest proportion of violations concerned the right of all workers to a reasonable period of notice for termination of employment (95.8%), the right of workers and employers to collective action, including the right to strike (73.3%), and rules limiting the scope for deductions from wages (64.3%).The ECSR also found that most of the states concerned failed to ensure that the lowest net wages paid met the minimum threshold to give workers and their families a decent standard of living (defined as 60% of the net average wage).The conclusions also highlighted a series of positive developments in the application of the European Social Charter concerning labor rights in many countries.Georgia ratified the Revised European Social Charter 22/08/2005, accepting 63 of the Revised Charters 98 paragraphs. The Government has not yet ratified the Additional Protocol providing for a system of Collective Complaints.The report concerns the following provisions of the thematic group "Labour Rights": right to just conditions of work (Article 2), right to a fair remuneration (Article 4), right to organize (Article 5), right to bargain collectively (Article 6), right to information and consultation (Article 21), right to take part in the determination and improvement of the working conditions and working environment (Article 22), right to dignity at work (Article 26), a right of workers representatives to protection in the undertaking and facilities to be accorded to them (Article 28), right to information and consultation in collective redundancy procedures (Article 29).Georgia has accepted all provisions from the above-mentioned group except Articles 23, 24, 26, 41, 45, 21, 22 and 28.The reference period was 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2016.The conclusions relating to Georgia concern 15 situations and are as follows: 1 conclusion of conformity: Article 63, 13 conclusions of non-conformity: Articles 21, 22, 25, 27, 43, 44, 5, 61, 62, 64, 261, 262 and 29.In respect of the situation related to Article 42, the Committee needs further information in order to examine the situation.Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia are the only three countries that are not in conformity with the Article 61 (promotion of joint consultation between workers and employers).Azerbaijan and Georgia are the only two countries from the list that are not in conformity with Article 29 (The right to information and consultation in collective redundancy procedures).Out of 63 paragraphs that Georgia accepted in 2005, it only confirms to one of them - article 63 - promotion by the State Parties of the establishment and use of appropriate machinery for conciliation and voluntary arbitration for the settlement of labor disputes.Between 35 countries and territories, Austria leads the way with 14 conclusions of conformity an only 1 conclusion of non-conformity. While Georgia comes second to last  Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has no conclusions of conformity.Majority of the job market in Georgia is unregulated, according to a study published by the International Monetary Fund last year, Georgia has the largest shadow economy in the world with 64.9%. Even where the regulations are in effect, it still lacks the proper realization of workers rights and considerably stays behind European nations.Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A recently announced that it intends to leave the U.S. refining lobby, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), citing disagreement on climate policies. The energy mammoth stated that AFPM does not give the targets of the Paris climate agreement as much importance as these deserve. As such, after conducting a thorough review, the company decided to let its membership in the AFPM lobby lapse in 2020.

AFPM has approximately 300 members from the United States and abroad. Per its annual report of 2018, these members operate 110 refineries and 229 petrochemical plants. Chevron Corporation CVX, Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM, BP p.l.c. BP and TOTAL are some of its other members.

Review & Findings

The company summarized its relationship with 19 major industry groups on climate change policies. It considered four parameters for the review, namely:

Supporting the Paris Agreement targets on climate change



Following the carbon pricing mechanisms led by the government



Advocating low-carbon technologies



Considering natural gas as the cleanest hydrocarbon resource

Findings & Moves: Delving into the four climate-related policy positions, Shell reached the conclusion that it has some misalignment with nine of the 19 key associations, including American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. However, the company intends to engage further with these associations to find out better solutions for emission-related problems. Shell also found material misalignment with AFPM, which is beyond repairment, and thus wants to withdraw from the body next year.

Implications

The review marks Shells drive to boost corporate transparency and assure investors regarding its stance on climate change issues. The company fully supports 2015 Paris Agreement goals, which focus on restricting global warming through lowering carbon emissions to a net zero by the second half of this century.

Story continues

This move from Shell further recognizes the pressure on energy companies from investors with regard to climate changes. The growing concern regarding climate change is currently driving the decision-making mechanism in most of the energy companies all over the world. In a move with similar goals, last year, Shell decided to link remunerations of its executives with targets for carbon-reduction initiatives. Notably, fixing high-level employees compensations is the first ever move by any energy company to combat climate change. Shell is of the opinion that it is leading the movement against emissions.

Similar Moves From Big Companies

The largest publicly-traded energy company, ExxonMobil made a similar move last year and severed its ties with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)  a U.S. non-profit organization that drafts and shares model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments  due to its conservative climate change moves. A few years back, Shell and British energy major BP had also withdrawn their membership from ALEC, citing similar reasons.

Price Performance & Zacks Rank

Headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, Shells stock has gained 2% in the past month compared with 1.6% collective growth of the industry it belongs to. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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Zacks Investment ResearchTories have continued to vent their intense anger at Theresa May over her decision to meet with Jeremy Corbyn for talks over the Brexit deadlock.

Two ministers quit in protest today with a host of Tory MPs also speaking out. One, Caroline Johnson, highlighted what she called the risk of letting down the country and ushering in a Marxist, anti-Semite-led government.

Mrs May said on Tuesday that she would seek an extension beyond next week to allow negotiations with the Labour leader aimed at getting a Brexit deal through Parliament.

Mr Corbyn said he would be very happy to meet the Prime Minister in a bid to offer certainty and security to the British people  but Tory Brexiteers have reacted with anger.

Mr Corbyn said his demands in Brexit talks would be a customs union with the EU and access to markets, as well as protecting consumer and environmental standards and workers rights and guaranteeing the Good Friday Agreement.

However, he stopped short of demanding a second referendum, despite huge pressure from MPs in his own party.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay admitted today that another Brexit vote is an option on the table in the talks between two leaders.

Mrs May met Mr Corbyn on Wednesday afternoon before holding talks with Nicola Sturgeon, who warned that she wasnt entirely clear where the PM was prepared to compromise.

Theresa Mays latest Brexit statement has not gone down well with Brexiteers (Getty)

Mr Corbyn has agreed to Brexit talks with the Prime Minister (PA)

Brexiteer backlash

Eurosceptic Tories said that the PM has f***** us for seeking a softer Brexit with the Labour leader.

Two members of the Brexit-backing European Research Group (ERG) told Sky News: This is serious stuff. She has f***** our party. She is f***ing Brexit. She is f***ing the country.

They added: She is getting this through off the back of opposition votes. What is the point of being the government?

This is all about her rotten legacy and she doesnt care what she screws in the process, including the public interest and party she goes on so much about.

Following yesterdays cabinet, this morning Ive been to Downing Street & resigned my position as UK Govt Minister for Wales & Govt Whip. Im grateful to the PM for the opportunity to serve as a Minister since 2017 & will continue to serve my constituents from the backbenches. pic.twitter.com/W15xS4cOBP  Nigel Adams MP (@nadams) April 3, 2019

Nigel Adams, the minister for Wales and the Government Whip this morning resigned in what he fears will be a failure to deliver Brexit.

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He said that a deal cooked up with a Marxist was now seen as better than no deal.

Junior Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris also resigned over Theresa Mays handling of Brexit, setting out his support for a no-deal Brexit.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he backed the talks with Labour because he wants to leave the EU (Getty)

Coming to Mays defence

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he backed the talks with Labour because he wants to leave the EU.

He told BBC Twos Newsnight: One of my concerns has been that there are people within the House of Commons who want to frustrate that referendum mandate  there are people who want to do everything possible to prevent us leaving  and I wanted to ensure that minds are concentrated so that we do leave.

Read more:

Theresa May asks for further extension of Article 50

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Jacob Rees-Mogg accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with a known Marxist (Getty)

An utter disaster

Prominent Brexiteers lined up to lash out at the PM for choosing to extend Brexit yet again and seeking talks with the Labour leader.

Jacob Rees-Mogg described the offer to Mr Corbyn as deeply unsatisfactory and accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with a known Marxist.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said: It is very disappointing that the Cabinet has decided to entrust the final handling of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

As it is, we now face the ridiculous possibility of being forced to contest the European elections more than three years after leaving the EU and having to agree to exit terms that in no way resemble what the people were promised when they voted to leave  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 2, 2019

Iain Duncan Smith said the plan was an utter disaster, adding: We are just about to legitimise Corbyn. Its appalling.

Others were equally as scathing  and hinted they would even go as far as voting against her in a confidence vote.

Tory Brexiteer MP Andrea Jenkyns told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Would I vote against her in a no confidence? That takes a lot of thinking about.

Mrs May said she wanted talks with Jeremy Corbyn over a way forward (PA)

I dont want Jeremy Corbyn to get into Number 10.

I firmly believe Jeremy Corbyn is unlikely to work with the Prime Minister because he just wants chaos and he wants to get into Number 10 so its not to his benefit to work with the Prime Minister.

The DUP said it remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily.

The Labour leader will meet Mrs May in an attempt to break the logjam (PA)

EUs reaction

European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt welcomed Mrs Mays offer of talks with Mr Corbyn.

He tweeted: Good that PM @theresa_may is looking for a cross-party compromise. Better late than never.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would accept an extension to May 22 if the UK had approved Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement by a viable majority before April 12.

But speaking in Brussels, he said a no-deal Brexit at the end of next week was becoming more and more likely, adding: April 12 is the final date for possible approval. If the House of Commons does not adopt a stance before that date no short-term extension will be possible.

If the European Council proposes an extension beyond May 22, it is understood that it would be possible for the UK to take the steps necessary to prepare for European Parliament elections on May 23, but then cancel them at the last minute if the withdrawal deal was ratified.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKBy Charlotte Greenfield and Tom Westbrook CHRISTCHURCH (Reuters) - "Almost every person we spoke to was in some stage of grief, trauma or shock," says Charlotte Greenfield, the first Reuters correspondent to reach Christchurch, New Zealand, on the night a gunman opened fire in two mosques and killed 50 people. "My first priority was to not traumatize anyone again, my second was to gather the information I needed to tell the story accurately and as deeply as possible." The challenge for any journalist covering the massacre was the struggle to remain dispassionate when the country was in shock and people being interviewed had suffered such sudden tragedy. Reuters had a team of nine reporters, photographers and TV journalists in Christchurch to report on the massacre. Greenfield had the added challenge of being a New Zealander. She felt personally closer to events than many other journalists. When she flew into Christchurch that night from Wellington, on one of the last planes to land before flights were stopped for security reasons, Greenfield saw heavily armed policemen at the airport, and heard ambulances wailing and the sound of low-flying helicopters. "The only other place I had heard that sound at that intensity was in Kabul, where I had been working in January. That first night, I woke up often, thinking I was back in Afghanistan," says Greenfield, who has also worked in Indonesia, where she covered a 2014 plane crash that killed all 162 on board. She said she struggled the next day to remain calm when interviewing people who had lost loved ones. "The way that seemed to work best to speak to people was to always start first by asking how they were and trying to express compassion for their loss," Greenfield says. She would converse, she said, "if they felt like talking." "It was really the subject I was interviewing who taught me that, from the man I walked beside in the park who told me of his dramatic escape from the mosque, to the woman who wanted to show me photos of her husband who had died after running back to the mosque after initially getting out. "Very often, and still now, a few tears came to my eyes. So far as I can tell, the people I spoke to didn't seem to mind." Sydney correspondent Tom Westbrook, who arrived in Christchurch the next day, says he was struck by the silence in the city. The man suspected to be the gunman had been apprehended and Christchurch was dealing with its grief. "For the next five days, I barely heard a conversation above a murmur," Westbrook says. "It was a city in shock. At makeshift shrines to the victims, people gathered in silence, tears rolling down their faces. "The loudest sounds were of buzzing cicadas, rustling oak trees and humming generators set up by television networks to power the satellite dishes they were using to transmit their broadcasts." "HORRIFIED SOUL-SEARCHING" Westbrook is based in Sydney, Australia, where he mainly reports on company news: profits, losses, stock prices up or down. He said he had many difficult conversations with the bereaved. "One of hardest discussions was with Farid Ahmed, whose wife Husna was gunned down, while he survived. As he spoke for over two hours, with a television camera rolling, I was close to tears." As a journalist, though, he had to set the emotion aside to make sure he was reporting the story right, Westbrook said. "We had to check a lot of things with him: where were you, exactly, in the mosque, which way did you get out, what is the name of Husna's school? It is not easy to check all these things with someone who is very emotional and maybe not thinking clearly themselves, and to raise them in a way that is delicate." Greenfield says as a New Zealander of European descent, covering the massacre by a suspected white supremacist also brought up "horrified soul-searching". "I had not quite felt so personally wrapped up in such harrowing questions in the midst of a story before," she says. "The Friday a week after the attacks, came a moment of catharsis interwoven with sorrow. "After the call to prayer, the country came to a standstill for two minutes. School children stopped their lessons and sat cross legged and eyes closed, tradesmen put down their tools, immigration staff stopped processing people at the border, most air traffic radios went silent, and around the country thousands stood outside mosques, leaving a long passage for those entering to pray. "For a moment, the only story was silence." (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A South Korean ship is being held at a domestic port over suspicions that it illegally provided oil to heavily sanctioned North Korea, officials said Wednesday.

The revelation comes amid growing concerns over wide-ranging efforts by North Korea to evade U.N. Security Council sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missiles program.

A South Korean coast guard official said the 5,160-ton P-PIONEER has been prevented from leaving Busan port since October over allegations that it was used to supply diesel to North Korea through two ship-to-ship transfers in September 2017 in international waters in the East China Sea. He did not confirm how much was supplied.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited unnamed sources to report that the North Korean vessels on the receiving end were the Kum Un San and the Yu Son. The Kum Un San is believed to be one of North Korea's most active vessels involved in ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products. The U.N. Security Council said in a report last month that an unnamed member state said that North Korea has been using approximately 23 of its tankers for the prohibited transfers, and that six tankers, including the Kum Un San, accounted for half of the transfers.

An official from Seoul's Foreign Ministry said it was the first time a South Korean ship was detained over allegations of violating U.N. sanctions against North Korea. South Korea is detaining three foreign vessels for illegally providing oil to North Korea or transporting North Korea-produced coal.

The Korea Coast Guard has sent the case to state prosecutors, who are now examining whether to indict the ship's captain and management company for violating laws governing maritime transport and exchanges with North Korea, the coast guard official said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department rules preventing them from speaking to the press.

In its March report, the U.N. Security Council said North Korea was continuing to defy its resolutions through a "massive" increase in ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products and coal. The report quoted one unnamed member state as saying North Korea obtained more than the cap of 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum products in 2018, but said another unnamed country questioned the figure.

Story continues

U.N. sanctions against North Korea have strengthened significantly since 2016 as Pyongyang stepped up its weapons tests and now includes strict import restrictions on petroleum products and crude oil and export bans on coal and other minerals that had been key sources of foreign currency for the North.

South Korean prosecutors in December charged four people with illegally importing North Korean coal, saying they used falsified documents and transshipments at Russian ports to disguise the coal as Russian.

Following successful tests of long-range missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland in 2017, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shifted to a diplomatic mode in 2018 and held summits with leaders of South Korea and the United States in an effort to leverage his nuclear arsenal for economic and security benefits. But Kim's second summit with President Donald Trump in February collapsed over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament.A so-called slip-and-trip scammer has been given a suspended prison sentence after she pretended to fall over a crate of juice cartons in a supermarket to claim insurance money.

Farida Ashraf, 41, tried to claim thousands for her injuries in the Bradford supermarket, according to lawyers acting for insurance giant Aviva.

Former law student Ashraf, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was given a 21-month suspended sentence at Bradford Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud, according to law firm Clyde & Co, which said it was the first private prosecution in the UK by an insurance company against a slip-and-trip fraudster.

Farida Ashraf appears to trip over the pallet of cartons allegedly placed by the two other women (PA)

Ashfraf passes one of the women who allegedly placed the pallet of cartons in her way of Ashraf (PA)

The cartons before the incident  which shows the floor was clear (PA)

This photo shows two women interfering with the stack of cartons (PA)

The firm said Ashrafs plan was deliberate and premeditated.

Aviva pursued the case after Ashrafs original claim was thrown out of court in 2016, when CCTV footage revealed two female accomplices placing a pallet of orange juice cartons on the floor of Al-Halal supermarket so the defendant could pretend to stumble over it.

Ashraf waited eight months before making the claim in the hope that the CCTV footage would have been erased.

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The firm said she sent a letter to the supermarket claiming for injuries that would have cost Aviva up to 60,000.

It said her claim included for injuries to her right wrist even though the video showed her falling on to her left wrist.

Damian Rourke, partner with Clyde & Co, who acted for Aviva, said: Figures clearly show a significant increase in so-called slip-and-trip fraud. Its important that businesses and the public know that insurers like Aviva will take proactive steps to deter and punish criminals who harm businesses and ultimately can cost staff their jobs.

A pallet of the cartons is pictured on the floor, which was previously unobstructed when the two women entered (PA)

One of the women who allegedly placed the pallet in the way of Ashraf was seen sending a text or taking a photograph of the pallet (PA)

There is a perception that nobody is doing anything about fraud  and I think its important that business know that insurers like Aviva are standing up for them.

Story continues

Richard Hiscocks, Avivas director of casualty claims, said: This staged accident is a clear example of a fraudster trying to claim some easy cash  and she now has a criminal conviction to show for it.

Aviva takes a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and well do everything we can to defend our customers against such claims.

A spokesman for Clyde & Co said the two women who appear to place the pallet on the floor have yet to be identified and Aviva is keen to hear from anyone that can identify them.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKBratislava (AFP) - Slovakia's outgoing president Andrej Kiska announced plans Wednesday to launch a new political party once his term ends in June, in an apparent bid to challenge the country's populist government.

The move comes days after anti-corruption campaigner Zuzana Caputova, a fellow liberal and vocal government critic, won the weekend's elections to become Slovakia's first female president.

Kiska, whose progressive values are at odds with the populist government, backed the presidential campaign of Caputova, a liberal community lawyer and political novice.

"We've won these elections," Kiska said in a video posted on his Facebook page Wednesday. "We have to win the parliamentary elections as well.

"That's why I'm going to set up a political party," said Kiska, a self-made millionaire who earned his fortune in the US before taking office in 2014.

"I want to unite decent and willing people and change our country for the better," added Kiska, who a recent poll rated as Slovakia's most popular politician.

In the March 30 presidential run-off, Caputova won 58.4 percent of the vote, beating the government-backed contender, EU commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who scored 41.6 percent.

Kiska refused to disclose further details about his new party before mid-June, insisting that he must remain non-partisan until the end of his term.

Like Caputova, Kiska owed his own presidential victory to his image as an untainted political newcomer able to capitalise on voter dissatisfaction over perceived corruption in government.

- 'Voter volatility' -

Despite Kiska's personal popularity however, analysts in Bratislava were cautious Wednesday about the his new party's prospects.

"Given the relatively high volatility of the Slovak voters, it's hard to foresee the effect of this new party on preferences," political analyst Aneta Vilagi told AFP.

Robert Fico, a former prime minister and leader of the governing Smer-SD, ranks as Slovakia's least trusted politician.

Story continues

He has often clashed with Kiska, most recently in the political crisis triggered by the February 2018 murder of Jan Kuciak, an investigative journalist probing high-level corruption in this eurozone country of 5.4 million people.

Kuciak was gunned down as he was about to publish an explosive report on alleged contacts between top Slovak politicians and Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia.

Weekly mass protests triggered by his murder brought down Fico's government in March 2018.

But the new government retains most members of Fico's previous administration and, as party leader, he is widely seen as still pulling the strings.

Although Smer-SD, winner of the 2016 general election, has reached historic lows in popularity of around 20 percent in various polls, it remains Slovakia's most popular party.

Behind it is a coalition of centrist non-parliamentary parties including Progressive Slovakia, which Caputova left before the presidential run-off.After a snow-filled weekend in Ontario and Quebec, Atlantic Canada will continue to see snowy streets in the first week of April.

According to Brett Anderson, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, some parts of central and northern New Brunswick may end up with 15-30 cm of snow by Wednesday evening.

Its probably more like a storm you see in early March instead of early April, Anderson told Yahoo Canada News. Its not super huge in size but its going to be pretty intense and its probably going to be moving right up across Nova Scotia later in the day on Wednesday.

The system is expected to bring mostly heavy rain and strong winds to the Nova Scotia area, with the snow mostly centered across New Brunswick.

Ontario and Quebec

Despite the active pattern in the Maritimes, Ontario and Quebec should be fairly quiet for the rest of the week, but the region will still feel a chill.

Its going to be cold certainly across Quebec into Atlantic Canada for most of the rest of this week, temperatures below normal there, Anderson said. In southern Ontario, I do expect mostly dry conditions here through Thursday, we may see a brief shower here tomorrow afternoon.

Southern Ontario should see another small system come into the area on Friday, which may bring a brief period of rain, possibly mixed with sleet or freezing rain, but that is expected to disappear for the weekend.

It looks like a dry weekend shaping up, chilly start but then it gets milder as we get into Sunday, Anderson said.

Prairies

Unlike Eastern Canada, the Prairies should see dry conditions for the foreseeable future, while range is temperatures across the region is particularly interesting.

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According to Anderson, Manitoba should be around 3 C for a high, while southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta will see temperatures around 15 C.

A pretty good warm up across the western Prairies, still chilly though through midweek across the eastern Prairies, Anderson said. Then weve got general cooling across most of the Prairies as we get into Friday but nothing too significant at this point.

British Columbia

A more wet pattern will be coming through B.C., with rain expected to hit Vancouver by the end of the work week.

Weve got a weak little system coming in tomorrow across southern British Columbia,...that moves out for Thursday and then a bigger storm comes in for Friday into Saturday with more rain, especially across Vancouver, Anderson said.

This storm might also have a fair amount of wind with it across Vancouver Island into Vancouver for Friday and Saturday.

While the city manages the rain, the ski areas in B.C. are expected to see some snow during that time.

Typical April temperatures on the horizon

Moving into the second week of the month, weather patterns are looking fairly mild across B.C. and up towards the Yukon, with temperatures expected to get above normal.

Despite the fact that crews with the BC Wildfire Service have already been used to manage a 15-hectare wildfire roughly 17 kilometres up the Squamish Valley, Anderson says its a bit too early to determine the exact extent of the wildfire risks in B.C. this season.

March was unseasonably mild, not much snow and mild, so you get rid of that snow pack earlier than usual and things start drying out, Anderson explained. Were going to get two rounds of pretty good precipitation around that area now...I think we need a little more time to tell.

While much of Western Canada sees more mild temperatures, the coldest air relative to normal is going to be from northern Ontario to central Quebec up through Atlantic Canada as we move into mid-April.

I think in general, much of southern Ontario to the southern Prairies were looking at fairly typical April temperatures at this point, Anderson said.Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas delivers a statement at the 52nd CPD session

02-04-2019

The 52nd session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD) was opened at the UN headquarters in New York. Belarus is a member of the CPD.

This years session of the CPD is devoted to review and appraisal of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and its contribution to the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Belarusian delegation at the session is headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas.

In his statement at the general discussion, the Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry briefed the sessions participants on the main demographic trends in Belarus, including declining birth rates and population aging and outlined key areas of national policy and programs to address these issues.

In particular, A.Dapkiunas noted the tremendous efforts that are being made in the country to motivate families to have children, including substantial monetary assistance at birth and allowances for their upbringing, as well as three years of social leave for childcare.

The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus noted the direct dependence of the effectiveness of national strategies and programs in the field of sustainable development on topical information on the size and characteristics of the population, the main and reliable source of which are official population censuses. A.Dapkiunas informed the session participants about the next population census scheduled for October, this year in Belarus.

The Deputy Minister stressed that the sustainable development of any state is impossible without addressing global problems associated with demographic changes. A.Dapkiunas noted the special importance of new and emerging technologies in solving modern demographic problems, which is reflected in the 2030 Agenda, in which advanced technologies are fairly recognized as a catalyst for achieving the SDGs.

The CPD session will continue its work at the UN Headquarters in New York until April 5, this year.

print version(Note: Print or Digital Use Allowed. Please credit Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts. For downloadable graphics, please visit www.pewtrusts.org/stateline)

By Sophie Quinton

April 3(Stateline) - Governors helped the U.S. Treasury Department choose nearly 9,000 economically distressed opportunity zones where people can get a tax break for investing in certain businesses and properties.

But the 2017 federal tax law that created the zones doesnt allow governors or state lawmakers to steer investors money into certain projects.

Theyre trying to influence the market anyway.

This year 17 state legislatures have considered opportunity zone bills, including proposals for additional tax breaks to lure investors or encourage certain projects, such as affordable housing or solar energy development, according to Novogradac & Co. LLC, an accounting and consulting firm that is keeping track.

The federal government is expected to announce a second round of proposed opportunity zone regulations any day now, which would give many investors confidence to start striking deals.

Through the added incentives, states can encourage the type of development they want to see in opportunity zones, said Michael Novogradac, managing partner of Novogradac & Company.

Novogradac cautioned, however, that ultimately cities and counties may have more power over what gets built in a zone than states do. Last year, for example, the City Council in Boulder, Colorado, halted some development in its zone, citing the need for more planning.

I do think they can bend the curve to be sure, Novogradac said of states. But at the end of the day it really depends on local government and local policies.

Much of the early investment in opportunity zones is flowing into real estate. Sales of undeveloped land, previously developed but vacant land, and properties ripe for demolition and redevelopment surged in zones last year, according to a December report from Real Capital Analytics, a company that tracks real estate markets.

Story continues

New York City, Los Angeles and Phoenix may be the hottest markets for opportunity zone funds, the report said.

Some state lawmakers want to tip the scales in favor of projects their constituents need but may be riskier or less lucrative than a new hotel or apartment building in a big city.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has proposed a state tax break like the federal one, though it would apply only to green technology and affordable housing projects.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, wants to lure businesses into zones with additional tax breaks for creating jobs, expanded workforce training assistance, and more funding for affordable housing development and small-business loans, among other incentives.

Washington state Rep. Mike Chapman also is interested in offering state tax credits to opportunity zone investors who can create jobs in economically depressed rural areas.

We dont have a lack of construction work in this state, so its not like we need to build more buildings, the Democrat said. We need jobs in rural counties that are living wage jobs where people can consistently receive a paycheck.

A Windfall to Investors

To get the federal tax break, people must invest earnings from selling stocks, bonds or property in a fund that, in turn, invests in businesses or property in an opportunity zone.

Investors who put money into such a fund can defer paying taxes on their gains right away and earn a 15 percent tax cut on the gains after holding their shares for seven years.

Investors who hold their shares for 10 years dont have to pay capital gains taxes on money they make from those shares.

Most states have adopted a similar tax break. Nine states have not aligned with the federal tax break because they dont tax incomes.

Lawmakers in eight states have either declined to offer the same incentive or havent acted yet, according to Novogradac. But its not clear that creating a state version of the federal opportunity zone tax break will make much of a difference to investors.

Federal tax law typically influences peoples choices more than state tax law, the California Legislative Analysts Office, a nonpartisan adviser to the legislature, said of Newsoms plan in a recent report.

Any state tax benefit provided would be a windfall to investors because they likely would have made the investment even without the state benefit, the report said.

Some progressive advocacy groups say the state tax breaks are a waste of money.

Its going to be going to the investor class, which is not a piece of our society that we need to help, said Jody Wiser, executive director of Tax Fairness Oregon, a nonprofit pushing to eliminate Oregons version of the opportunity zone tax break.

Most of the money will be spent where money was going to be spent anyway, she said.

She pointed to zones in downtown Portland that already are filling up with office buildings and trendy restaurants.

Piling on Tax Breaks

Lawmakers are looking for other ways to use the state tax code to spur investment, particularly in businesses.

Encouraging investors to put money into businesses under current opportunity zone rules could be a challenge. State economic development officials have called for clarifying some of the criteria, such as the requirement that eligible businesses must derive half their income within a zone.

That requirement could disqualify most e-commerce companies, manufacturers, and other businesses with the potential to create significant numbers of new jobs and wealth for their communities, officials from Rhode Island, Utah and Louisiana wrote in a recent op-ed in The Hill.

West Virginia Del. Joshua Higginbotham, a Republican, has proposed giving investors in zone businesses a 10-year reprieve from state income and business taxes.

What we wanted to do in West Virginia, he said, is make sure that our 55 opportunity zones are the most competitive of any opportunity zones in the country.

Last week West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice vetoed Higginbothams proposal, but the legislator said he plans to push his bill again during an upcoming special session without the amendments Justice opposed.

Washingtons Chapman wants his state to offer $60 million in business tax credits to investors in opportunity zone funds focused on rural, economically depressed counties.

Funds would need permission from the state Department of Commerce to pass on the credits, and if they were to misuse the taxpayer dollars, theyd have to pay the state back.

The Senate has amended the bill to conduct a study on rural economic development programs, including tax credits, before the state makes any investments.

In Maryland, Hogan has proposed both new tax credits and expanding existing economic development programs  such as one that pays for the demolition of derelict buildings  to advance projects in opportunity zones.

Were really tying together everything that we were already doing and trying to use it to bolster the opportunity zone investment, said Sara Luell, director of communications for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

The additional state assistance would be available to any business or real estate project in a zone, she said, even those not receiving money from an opportunity zone fund.

Hogan recently toured a real estate project that will turn 40 acres of parking lots near a light-rail station into a hotel, office space for health care company Kaiser Permanente, apartments, a parking garage, and shops and restaurants.

An opportunity zone fund will help finance the apartment buildings, said Scott Nordheimer, a partner at Urban Atlantic, the company behind the project.

But the project also relies on a long list of other incentives, he said, including state income tax credits and Prince Georges Countys multimillion-dollar investment in streets, utilities and other infrastructure on the site.

Without county help, the development would still be a parking lot.

You could not privately finance the infrastructure, Nordheimer said. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/04/03/opportunity-zones-spur-new-state-tax-incentivesGay sex is now punishable by death in Brunei under strict new Islamic laws (Wikipedia)

Gay sex is now punishable by death in Brunei after the introduction of strict New Islamic criminal laws.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Bruneis Shariah Penal Code, which was introduced by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people  two-thirds of whom are Muslim.

Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years.

The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays.

But under the new laws  which apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim  those found guilty of gay sex could be stoned to death or whipped.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted Bruneis Shariah Penal Code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam (Getty)

Adulterers also risk death by stoning, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second.

A 23-year-old member of the LGBTQ community who wanted to be identified only as Kun, said of the new laws: Living in Brunei, we already knew that our sexual identity is taboo and should not be expressed.

We already felt belittled before the law came to place. Now with it, we feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they want.

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The new laws triggered a wave of condemnation from the international community.

On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans.

Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Bruneis government to stop the entry into force of this Draconian new penal code.

Homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years before 2014 (Wikipedia)

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called on the sultan to immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments.

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Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei researcher at Amnesty International, decried the vicious laws and asked the international community to condemn them.

There has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties in Brunei, where the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority.

Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of special guidance from God and would be part of the great history of Brunei.Lucerne (Switzerland) (AFP) - Switzerland, where gun culture has deep roots, has managed to avoid the charged national debates over firearm ownership that have consumed other countries.

But in a state where compulsory military service means many are comfortable around weapons, voters might, in a May referendum, push back against gun reforms demanded by the European Union.

And there is evidence that the Swiss broadly support a citizen's right to own weapons -- and are acquiring guns at an accelerated pace.

In the eastern city of Lucerne last week, at one of the country's largest arms trade fairs, vendors boasted of surging sales including a fresh appetite for weapons among the elderly.

This apparent pro-gun outlook may partly be driven by the lack of horrific mass shootings such as last month's massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand. Lawmakers there are well on the way to restricting access to military-style semi-automatic weapons.

But Switzerland -- which has the world's 16th highest rate of gun ownership according to a 2017 report by the Small Arms Survey -- is now being forced to confront tensions between its traditions and a demand from the EU to toughen its gun laws.

While the country is not a member of the EU, it belongs to the visa-free Schengen travel region and must therefore comply with various rules applied by the bloc.

Brussels called on the Swiss government to amend its gun laws to make them compatible with EU restrictions tightened following the 2015 Paris attacks.

Swiss lawmakers approved reforms that the EU has deemed sufficient.

But that prompted a fierce pushback by members of the rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP), which has gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the measures next month.

- 'Old people' arming -

At the Lucerne fair 56-year-old Barbara Kottler, browsing the rows of weapons on offer, dismissed the notion that legal gun sales posed a public security threat.

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"People who shoot for sport are very peaceful," she told AFP. "Those who cause problems are people who acquire the weapons illegally."

Legally buying a weapon in Switzerland is not particularly complicated.

All citizens without a criminal record can own a firearm, a right that also applies to most foreign nationals living in the country.

Policeman Josef Rust, who heads the weapons registration office in Lucerne, told AFP that heightened demand for gun permits was "massive all across Switzerland".

Until 2006, he said, Lucerne canton issued about 500 licenses annually. Now, the annual average is above 2,000.

"We have requests from very old people who want to protect themselves. They connect it with immigration, with the terrorist danger or growing crime," Rust said.

"It is certainly not a positive evolution that very old people equip themselves with weapons, but we cannot prevent it: if someone wishes to do so and meets the criteria, we must grant the license."

Jean-Paul Schild, owner of Schild Waffen gun shop, said he had seen rising purchases among women, who are not content to just own a weapon but also want to "master it".

Five years ago, Schild Waffen offered shooting classes twice a month. Now, he said, they have them every week, with increased demand partly driven by more female clients.

- Brussels vs tradition -

One reason why the EU-mandated reforms have touched a nerve is because Swiss gun culture is tied to strong traditions of national defence service.

Most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service, consisting of three weeks of service each year between the ages of 18 and 30. They are allowed to keep their assigned weapon when they are done.

Markus Thommen, a weapons collector from Zurich, told AFP that his "first contact" with a weapon was at home with his father, who showed him how to clean it.

"We knew that guns were not used to attack, but to defend the country, or maybe the family," the 61-year-old said.

The EU laws, aimed at fighting terrorism, restrict certain types of guns, such as semi-automatic weapons and firearms with high-capacity magazines.

The Swiss government has said that after securing compromises from Brussels it adopted a reform package that both addresses EU concerns and safeguards national traditions.

But, in keeping with the party tradition, the SVP has mounted an emotive campaign to defeat the reforms next month.

"The EU directive amounts to disarming Swiss households," SVP lawmaker Werner Salzmann was quoted as saying by public broadcaster RTS.

The government has countered that if voters reject the measures, Switzerland risks being booted out of the Schengen region, a potentially disastrous outcome for travel and tourism.One of technologys biggest potential impacts on health care is providing patients with better preventive care so that some medical emergencies like heart attacks can be averted.

Bruce Broussard, CEO of health insurer Humana, explained Tuesday at Fortunes Brainstorm Health conference in San Diego, that he believes technology will help patients receive help during medical crises.

For instance, he cited the growth of Internet-connected devicessmartwatches among themthat can track heart rates as potentially revolutionary because they allow for monitoring of vital signs in daily life. By getting up-to-date patient data, medical companies would be better equipped to understand a 360 degree view of the patient.

Broussard also pointed to the importance of telemedicine technologies, like video conferencing that let doctors virtually visit patients in their homes. He cited a hypothetical scenario of a patient who lives in a rural area taking a virtual meeting with a specialist doctor thats complemented by an in-person visit from a nurse. This combination of virtual doctors and physical nurses could let health care providers do all the things you could do in a physical office, in a home.

This extends the healthcare system, Broussard said.

Despite the rise of telemedicine, Paul Jacobs, the former CEO of Qualcomm and now the CEO of wireless tech company XCOM, argued for medical professionals visiting their patients homes.

Sign up for Brainstorm Health Daily for news and analysis on the groundbreaking advances in health care and biopharma.

Jacobs recalled the case of a telemedicine patient who mistakenly believed that he or she had a migraine and wanted a prescription for a specific medication. Eventually, a doctor visited the patients house and discovered black mold. After the mold was removed, the migraines went away, Jacobs said, concluding I think it is important, but we feel strongly that the personal touch, the human touch is still really important.JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  During Republican Mike Dunleavy's successful run for governor last year, he offered few specifics for his vision of limited government but was clear that Alaska residents should get a full payout from the state's oil-wealth fund.

Lawmakers and Dunleavy's predecessor capped the annual checks at $1,600 or less the past few years as they struggled to address a budget deficit that has persisted amid low to middling oil prices and is now estimated at $1.6 billion.

Dunleavy's call for paying the full amount this year, around $3,000 each, plus what they missed out on the past three years, was a centerpiece of his campaign.

But now that he's governor, residents are learning what it will take to pay a full dividend, and many don't like their options.

Dunleavy has proposed sweeping cuts, including potentially selling a state museum; idling Alaska's ferry fleet while the future of that service, critical to many coastal communities, is debated; slashing health and social service programs; shifting costs to local governments; and cutting the University of Alaska system budget by an amount nearly equivalent to the cost of running two of its three flagship campuses.

Some see this as a manufactured crisis that doesn't consider potential new or increased taxes and too highly prizes the annual checks over education and other government services.

The formula for calculating the amount residents receive from Alaska Permanent Fund earnings is set in state law, based on an average of the fund's income over five years. Starting in 2016, former Gov. Bill Walker and the lawmakers capped the yearly dividend, at $1,022, $1,100 and $1,600. A full dividend this year would be roughly $2,900 to $3,100.

Alaska has no personal income or state sales tax.

Frank Kelty, the mayor of Unalaska, a community of about 4,300 along the far-flung Aleutian Islands that is home to one of the nation's busiest fishing ports, likens Dunleavy's quest to pay a full dividend to President Donald Trump's push for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

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"The governor's looking at any kind of pool of money he can try and grab, and it's all going into this dividend promise that he made," Kelty said. "I don't think that's right."

Dunleavy argues the state must live within its means. He says spending is the problem, not the dividend, and sees revenue that would come from new or increased taxes as a pathway to more spending. Dunleavy is seeking constitutional changes that include a spending cap, giving voters a say on tax or dividend changes approved by lawmakers and giving the Legislature a say on tax-related voter initiatives. Key senators have begun kicking around the idea of a change in the dividend calculation.

He hasn't said if he would accept a smaller dividend, or how heavily he'll wield his veto power. He said he's willing to use "every tool available to make sure we have our fiscal house in order."

Lawmakers in recent years blew through billions of dollars in savings as they struggled to address the deficit. With savings dwindling and disagreement over taxes and continued cuts, they began tapping permanent fund earnings, typically used to pay dividends and fortify the nest-egg fund, to help pay for government last year. This created tension, with the decades-old dividend, widely considered an entitlement, seen as competing against other programs for funding.

A new law that seeks to limit what can be taken from fund earnings calls for a withdrawal of $2.9 billion for the coming budget year for both dividends and government expenses. Paying a full dividend for 2019 alone would take $1.9 billion. That doesn't include any back-payment.

The dividend provides a financial boost more critical for residents with lower incomes and those in high-cost rural areas. Checks have ranged from about $331 a person in the program's early years to $2,072 in 2015, the year before it was capped.

Roger Stone, a Dunleavy supporter from Ketchikan, doesn't agree with everything Dunleavy proposed but sees his budget as a wake-up call that something's got to give.

"I think that they need to take a hard look at what's really necessary in state government," Stone said of lawmakers. Once that happens, he said he's willing to have a lower dividend, seeing that as preferable to a sales or income tax.

Former state Sen. Rick Halford unsuccessfully sued Walker for roughly halving the amount available for dividends in 2016 and agrees with Dunleavy's effort to pay a full dividend. But he said it isn't a full debate when options such as taxes on oil and other resources aren't being considered.

"Nothing should be off the table," he said.

Jan MacClarence said she and her husband, who are in their 70s, are moving from a state-owned elder-care facility in Anchorage after 3 years and into an apartment to avoid the budget stress. State officials have proposed rate increases of between 40% and nearly 140% for Pioneer Home residents to reflect costs of care, though they have said no one would be evicted or barred entry based on their ability to pay.

MacClarence said being on their own and using food delivery and personal care services as needed is better than worrying every year about what lawmakers might do.

As lawmakers have held hearings around the state on Dunleavy's budget proposals, the governor has begun traveling to make his case.

He's faced criticism for participating in what some see as friendly venues, including events hosted by the limited government group Americans for Prosperity-Alaska, which asked people to register in advance and reserved the right to kick out anyone who was disruptive. Some of the gatherings drew protesters; police alleged one woman yelled at the governor in Nome and resisted their commands, but the prosecutor there declined to pursue charges.

Community meetings and some budget hearings held by lawmakers have drawn big crowds. Hundreds spoke against cuts to the ferry system, a thoroughfare for coastal communities not connected to the mainland road system.

The state wants to hire a consultant to recommend "reshaping" the system and reducing its costs. Dunleavy has expressed openness to keeping some runs going while that process plays out, but no boats are currently set to sail past Oct. 1.

Many residents of small southeast Alaska communities travel by ferry with their cars to the bigger city of Juneau to buy supplies at places like Costco, or fly there and take the ferry home. Walt Weller, the mayor of Pelican, a town of about 70 people 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Juneau, called the ferry a lifeline.

"When you're out here at the end of everything  I mean no roads, float planes only  100% weather-dependent, we're pretty doggone dependent on that ferry," Weller said. He acknowledges people choose to live there but said the ferries  even with limited runs  have helped make that possible.

"To have people claim that they're going to give everybody giant (dividend) checks and then rip our road out from underneath us is fairly upsetting," he said.By Lesley Wroughton and David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three of eight importers granted waivers by Washington to buy oil from Iran have now cut their shipments to zero, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, adding that improved global oil market conditions would help reduce Iranian crude exports further. The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran after President Donald Trump last May withdrew the country from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers, accusing it of supporting terrorism and conflicts in Syria and Yemen. While the United States has set a goal of completely halting Iran's oil exports, it granted temporary import waivers to China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to ensure low oil prices and no disruption to the global oil market. The Trump administration is currently in consultations with the importers ahead of a May 2 deadline when the waivers expire. "In November, we granted eight oil waivers to avoid a spike in the price of oil. I can confirm today three of those importers are now at zero," Brian Hook, the special U.S. envoy for Iran, told reporters. Hook did not identify the three. "There are better market conditions for us to accelerate our path to zero," Hook said. "We are not looking to grant any waivers or exceptions to our sanctions regime." Hook said U.S. oil sanctions against Iran had removed about 1.5 million barrels of Iranian oil exports from the market since May 2018. "This has denied the regime access to well over $10 billion in (oil) revenue - a loss of at least $30 million a day," he said. Oil prices on Tuesday hit their highest level so far in 2019, with Brent crude approaching $70 a barrel on the prospect that more sanctions against Iran and Venezuelan disruptions could deepen an OPEC-led supply cut. Analysts believe the administration is likely to extend the waivers to the remaining five importers to placate top buyers China and India and to decrease the chance of higher oil prices. China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey are likely to be given waivers that could cap Iran's crude oil exports at about 1.1 million barrels per day, U.S.-based analysts at Eurasia Group said in January. That would remove Italy, Greece and Taiwan from the waivers list. Hook said a decision on whether to extend the waivers would be made "in due course." A total of 23 importers that once took Iranian oil had cut imports to zero, he added. "With oil prices actually lower than they were when we announced our sanctions and global production stable, we are on the fast track to zeroing out all purchases of Iranian crude," Hook said. A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Monday that the U.S. government was considering additional sanctions against Iran that would target areas of its economy that have not been hit before. Hook said more than 26 rounds of U.S. sanctions against Iran had restricted the country's cash flow and constrained its ability to operate in the region. Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran's government of mismanagement that has led to devastating flooding across the country. At least 47 people have been killed in the past two weeks from flash floods. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and David Brunnstrom; editing by Tom Brown and Rosalba O'Brien)Washington (AFP) - A top Democrat formally requested Wednesday that the US tax agency provide Congress with President Donald Trump's tax returns, setting up a likely legal battle with the White House.

Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which writes tax law, wrote the Internal Revenue Service seeking six years of Trump's returns, saying he was using his oversight authority to learn the extent to which the IRS audits and enforces tax laws on a sitting president.

"Under the Internal Revenue Manual, individual income tax returns of a president are subject to mandatory examination, but this practice is IRS policy and not codified in the Federal tax laws," Neal wrote.

He told IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to deliver the president's individual income tax returns, as well as those from eight entities connected to Trump, by April 10.

The president signaled he would not want his returns provided to Congress.

"We are under audit despite what people say," Trump told reporters, repeating his 2016 campaign excuse for refusing to release his returns.

"Until such time as I am not under audit I would not be inclined" to release them, he added.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last month he would "follow the law" if Congress requested Trump's tax returns.

Trump, a self-declared billionaire, released a less detailed financial disclosure in 2017 but has kept his tax returns private, fueling speculation about his revenue sources and net worth.

Trump is the first president since Richard Nixon to refuse to release his returns.

Congressman Dan Kildee, a Ways and Means Committee Democrat, said there was "no question" the panel has legal authority to gain access to Trump's records.

"We expect the IRS commissioner to comply with the law and provide those returns," Kildee told CNN.

In a statement, the committee said that under IRS guidelines, a president's tax returns are subject to "mandatory examination."

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Kildee stressed that the request had nothing to do with the timing of the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 US election, and the report recently submitted by special counsel Robert Mueller.

"This has nothing to do with the Mueller report," Kildee said.

"Obviously there are very serious other public interests that would be served by having access, but principally this is about the policy question."

The panel's top Republican Kevin Brady rushed to Trump's defense, writing Mnuchin to warn of Democrats' "misguided rush to impeach" Trump.

"Weaponizing our nation's tax code by targeting political foes sets a dangerous precedent and weakens Americans privacy right," he wrote.

The committee said in its statement that Neal insisted the request "is not about impeachment," but legitimate oversight issues.

Eileen Burbidge MBE is one of the most prominent women on the UK tech scene.

Burbidge swapped a career in Silicon Valley for one in London and has worked at companies including Apple, Skype, and Yahoo. She now juggles several roles: partner at early-stage venture firm Passion Capital; chair of Tech Nation, the UKs network for entrepreneurs; and non-executive director at UK retailer Dixons Carphone.

Speaking on Yahoo Finance UKs new premium video show, Global Change Agents with Lianna Brinded, Burbidge discussed her storied career and how shes working to improve diversity in the world of tech startups. She also shared her optimism for Londons position as a fintech capital post-Brexit.

Burbidge, who has also served as a tech advisor to the UK government, said she owed a lot of her career success to serendipity and luck.

Eileen Burbidge talks to Lianna Brinded, head of Yahoo Finance UK, on the Global Change Agents show. Photo: Yahoo Finance UK

I think that its always useful to have a plan and to have a  roadmap for where youd like to see things go, Burbidge said. But I think its maybe equally important  if not even more important  to actually be able to be flexible.

Burbidge on diversity in tech

Burbidge said there had been a step change in awareness around diversity issues over the course of her career. There is now much more understanding about the material difference it makes to commercial viability and success if there is diversity on the team and diversity of thought in decision making, she said.

In terms of Passion Capitals own portfolio companies, Burbidge said the firm aims to bake in diversity from the very beginning of a startup. Issues can occur when companies grow from a team of 10 or fewer people to dozens of homogenous people, she added.

Its going to be really difficult to bring in any diversity at that point because if you interview someone and you invite them to the office and they walk in and its a room full of people that theres no ability to relate or similarity, youre not going to be able to hire different people, Burbidge said. So thats a problem.

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Eileen Burbidge speaks during the International Fintech Conference in London on 12 April, 2017. Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Burbidge also offered advice to startups that are pitching for funding: Be on your best behaviour at all times, even when youre not in front of the investors themselves.

Well ask the rest of the office or the team that might have interacted with them: How was the interaction? Well ask the receptionist how were they when they checked in: Were they rude? Were they polite? How was it?,' she said.

We might not get a chance to ask that for every single team, but we certainly pay attention if the receptionist comes up to us and says, Who was that you met with earlier because they were a little bit off  Or they were just really a bit short.

Thats a non-starter  Done. We wont even entertain that.

Burbidge on Londons fintech scene post-Brexit

Some of Passion Capitals biggest success stories have been in the fintech space, including mobile-only bank Monzo and payments service GoCardless.

Former UK prime minister David Cameron talks with Eileen Burbidge during a Business Advisory Board meeting at Downing Street on 22 September, 2015 in London. Photo: Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images

Burbidge explained that Londons position as a global leader in fintech wasnt an overnight success, but was decades in the making, thanks to the UKs strong research and development centres and universities.

For that reason, Burbidge doesnt think the UK is likely to lose its fintech leadership attributes overnight once the country leaves the European Union.

I dont think youll see London lose its fintech edge or fintech crown in the next year or even two years, Burbidge said. It might be a  four- or five-year problem.

Still, she added, It has been, I think, a real shame. Brexit is clearly not a boost for the economy. It is not a draw for talent. It does not help the conversation around why people should be coming to the UK.

Global Change Agents with Lianna Brinded is a new premium video series from Yahoo Finance UK. The show explores the stories of some of the most inspirational women across business, tech, and academia. Catch up on all the latest episodes here.Business tycoon Jimi Wanjigi is a happy man after High court on Tuesday quashed all charges pressed against him at the Nyeri Law court.

Justice Pauline Nyamweya ruled that the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) acted in abuse of the court process and in bad faith by preferring charges against Jimi Wanjigi away from where the crime had been allegedly committed.

The judge said the case was instituted out of sinister motives and that the DPP and IG were motivated by extraneous factors in the decision to charge and summon Wanjigi.

While defending their case, the DPP and the IG explained to the court that they opted to charge Wanjigi in Nyeri as it was his rural home.

Wanjigi argued that he had not been to his village in Nyeri for over a year and it would beat logic to leave courts in Nairobi for the remote court (in Nyeri).

While agreeing with the businessman, the Judge stated that the DPP and IGs actions were not only abetting illegality but were unfair to him as it entailed additional expenses and inconveniences.

By charging the applicant in Nyeri Chief Magistrates Court, they violated the applicants legitimate expectation that the respondents would follow the correct legal process as set by the law.

The judge also quashed summons requiring Wanjigi to appear before the chief magistrate court at Nyeri on March 1, 2018 to take plea in criminal case.

The procedure therefore employed by the first respondent (IG) to serve the applicant with the said summons was not only unwarranted, and the use of excessive force during the process was also an abuse of the due process and of their powers, ruled Justice Nyamweya.

She observed that Wanjigi was arrested and charged despite obtaining orders from the High Court barring the State from taking any action against him.

Wanjigi was charged on March 1, 2018 with 11 counts among them being in possession of seven prohibited firearms which were seized from his home in Muthaiga, Nairobi.Huw Merriman says he has lost four inches from his waistline because of the stress of Brexit (Wikipedia)

A Tory MP who voted for a second referendum has said that the stresses of Brexit have taken its toll on his weight.

Huw Merriman, who represents Bexhill and Battle and is the parliamentary private secretary to Philip Hammond, also cited abuse from his constituents as one of the causes of losing four inches from his waistline.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: Ive lost a lot of weight. Ive gone from over a 34 to almost under a 30 now, and thats purely down to whats going on.

Mr Merriman said he was called the tea-lady of Chancellor Phillip Hammond (pictured) (Getty)

Mr Merriman, who backed a confirmatory referendum on the Prime Ministers Brexit deal in indicative votes on Monday night, said he was getting abuse for the way he voted.

He said: Im betraying Brexit, Im the Chancellors tea-lady according to Leave.EU who are trying to get me deselected.

And you try your best for your constituents and then you get this vile abuse.

Read more from Yahoo News UK:

Twelve-year-old schoolgirl sexually assaulted on bus to Birmingham

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And someone off the back of the tea-lady shout was talking about (how) those involved in treason used to be taken outside and lined up and shot, now theyre just paid vast salaries So it does have an impact on us.

Mr Merriman said he had started seeing a counsellor because he realised he needed to get proper control in my life.

Mr Merriman backed a confirmatory referendum on the Prime Ministers Brexit deal (Getty)

He added: If I can recognise it and try and do something about it, then hopefully other people listening can do so where they think oh no Im just a pull-yourself-together merchant because thats always how Ive been.

So Ive decided that I need to make sure that Im properly looked after and that we look after our mental health.By Naomi Tajitsu TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toyota Motor Corp will offer free access to its hybrid-vehicle patents through 2030, it said on Wednesday, seeking to expand use of the lower-emission technology even as the global industry shifts toward fully electric cars. The pledge by one of the world's biggest automakers to share its closely guarded patents, the second time it has opened up a technology, is aimed at driving industry uptake of hybrids and fending off the challenge of all-battery electric vehicles(EVs). Toyota said it would grant licenses on nearly 24,000 patents on technologies used in its Prius, the world's first mass-produced "green" car, and offer to supply competitors with components including motors, power converters and batteries used in its lower-emissions vehicles. "We want to look beyond producing finished vehicles," Toyota Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi told reporters. "We want to contribute to an increase in take up (of electric cars) by offering not just our technology but our existing parts and systems to other vehicle makers." The Nikkei Asian Review first reported Toyota's plans to give royalty-free access to hybrid-vehicle patents. Terashi said that the access excluded patents on its lithium-ion battery technology. UNLOCKING KEY TECHNOLOGY Toyota's move to unlock its patents underlines its belief that hybrids are an effective alternative to all-battery EVs, given a fuel efficiency roughly double that of gasoline cars, lower cost and that they do not need charging infrastructure. Toyota vehicles account for more than 80 percent of the global hybrid vehicle market. "Toyota has realized that they made a mistake by protecting their hybrid technology for years. This prevented diffusion" said Janet Lewis, head of Asia transportation research at Macquarie Securities. "Toyota on its own can't get key technology accepted, but if other companies use it, that offers the best chance of expansion," she added. Since pioneering the Prius in 1997, Toyota has sold more than 13 million hybrids, which twin a conventional gasoline engine and electric motor, saving fuel by capturing energy during coasting and breaking and using it to power the motor. Hybrid vehicles account for around 3 percent of all vehicles sold globally, eclipsing the roughly 1.5 percent share of all-battery EVs, according to LMC Automotive. Global automakers have pledged to electrify their offerings as a growing number of countries slash vehicle emissions by as much as half by 2030, but many say that shifting to fully electric cars will take time given high cost of batteries. Lewis at Macquarie said automakers in China and Europe could be keen to access Toyota's hybrid-vehicle patents as they look for lower-emission cars to sell in lower-tier cities where costly battery EVs are out of reach for many drivers. Toyota is also betting on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) as the ultimate zero-emissions vehicle, and as a result, has lagged many of its rivals in marketing all-battery EVs. In 2015, it said it would allow access to its FCV-related patents through 2020. (Additional reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in BENGALURU; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Himani Sarkar)By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations atomic watchdog said on Tuesday that if a deal was reached with North Korea to give up its nuclear program then it would be ready to send in inspectors within weeks - if asked - to verify and monitor denuclearization. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Yukiya Amano told the U.N. Security Council that the IAEA was the only international organization equipped to carry out the job "in an impartial, independent and objective manner." "Subject to the approval of our Board of Governors, we could respond within weeks to any request to send inspectors back to the DPRK," he told the 15-member council during a meeting on the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The official name of North Korea is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have met twice in the past year to discuss denuclearization. North Korea is under tough U.N. Security Council sanctions that have been steadily tightened since 2006 to choke off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Trump and Kim last met in Vietnam in February, but the summit was cut short after they failed to reach a deal on the extent of economic sanctions relief for North Korea in exchange for steps to give up its nuclear program. On the day that their talks in Hanoi collapsed, Trump handed Kim a piece of paper that included a blunt call for the transfer of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States, according to the document seen by Reuters. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has not had access to North Korea since Pyongyang expelled its inspectors in 2009, and it now monitors the country's nuclear activities mainly through satellite imagery. Amano said that sending in IAEA inspectors "would help to make the implementation of any agreement sustainable." "It would also contribute to the denuclearization of the DPRK in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, as required by numerous resolutions of the Security Council," he said. The IAEA already monitors the implementation of a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers to curb its nuclear program. Trump withdrew the United States from the deal with Iran in May 2018. "Our inspectors have had access to all the sites and locations in Iran which they needed to visit," Amano said. Separately, the South Korean defense minister told reporters in Washington that it was too early to tell whether activity near the Dongchang-ri site in North Korea was preparation for an actual missile launch or was just to "add another card" in Pyongyang's negotiation strategy. Last month, South Korean intelligence agencies said they had detected signs that North Korea was restoring part of the Dongchang-ri missile launch site it tore down. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ousted from his Liberal Party on Tuesday two former ministers whose accusations of political meddling in a prosecution jeopardized his re-election bid.

The announcement came at the end of an emergency caucus meeting to consider expelling former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould after her release of a secret recording last week that reignited the simmering scandal.

Former budget minister Jane Philpott, who had quit in protest over Trudeau's handling of the controversy, was also removed.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Trudeau said.

"Whether it's taping conversations without consent or repeatedly expressing a lack of confidence in our government and in me personally as leader, it's become clear that (both) can no longer remain part of our Liberal team."

Since February, Trudeau's government has been rocked by accusations that his inner circle sought to shield engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from a corruption trial.

The Montreal-based firm was charged in 2015 for allegedly paying bribes to secure contracts in Libya.

Wilson-Raybould refused to ask prosecutors to settle the case, and the trial is set to proceed.

After resigning, she testified to lawmakers that she'd experienced "consistent and sustained" political pressure to interfere in the case, including "veiled threats."

Trudeau has steadfastly denied the claims, which also led to the resignations of two other senior officials, and plunged his Liberals behind the opposition Tories in opinion polls just months before elections.

On Friday, the House of Commons justice committee looking into the allegations released messages and a secret recording by Wilson-Raybould of a call with Canada's top bureaucrat, Chief of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, to back her claims.

- 'Unconscionable?' -

"If a politician secretly records a conversation with anyone," Trudeau said, "it's wrong."

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He labeled as "unconscionable" the one-time attorney general's secret recording of the clerk of the Privy Council.

The scandal, Trudeau added, has sidelined his government's progressive agenda and created divisions within the party.

"Civil wars within parties are incredibly damaging because they signal to Canadians that we care more about ourselves than we do about them," he said.

"Our political opponents win when the Liberals are divided."

Opposition Tory leader Andrew Scheer blasted Trudeau's actions, saying: "Elected officials are supposed to protect individuals who blow the whistle on government misconduct and corruption, not punish them."

In a statement, Philpott protested that neither she nor Wilson-Raybould "initiated the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister."

"Rather than acknowledge the obvious -- that a range of individuals had inappropriately attempted to pressure the former attorney general in relation to a prosecutorial decision -- and apologize for what occurred, a decision was made to attempt to deny the obvious -- to attack Jody Wilson-Raybould's credibility and attempt to blame her," Philpott said.

Earlier in the day, Wilson-Raybould had expressed her desire to remain in the party and run as a Liberal in the October election.

She later tweeted, "I can look myself in the mirror knowing I did what I was required to do and what needed to be done based on principles and values that must always transcend party."

"I have no regrets," she added. "I spoke the truth as I will continue to do."Donald Trump could still face impeachment proceedings as the House Judiciary Committee prepares to demand attorney general William Barr release the full Mueller report into the president's ties to Russia, as the latter looked set to miss the 2 April deadline for its publication.

Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat, will ask his team to vote on a resolution to issue subpoenas on Wednesday, as reports emerge the Trump administration defied official advice in giving high-level security clearances to the presidents daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

President Trump has meanwhile raged on Twitter against the amount of aid given to Puerto Rico since it was hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017, attacking the islands incompetent and corrupt politicians and declaring, the place is a mess  nothing works. He is also pushing forward once again with an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is more commonly known as Obamacare.

Mr Barr has said that he plans on delivering the Mueller report to Congress by mid-April, but has signalled that the document could be heavily redacted in spite of his promise to be transparent with the report.

And, anticipating that Mr Barr would not deliver the report on Tuesday, activists groups are preparing protests for later in the week to try and set focus on the attorney general's handling of the report.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, testimony got fiery in Congress over Mr Kushner's security clearance, with representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez comparing giving the Trump family security clearances to transmitting America's nuclear codes via Instagram direct messages.

Please allow a moment for our liveblog to loadPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at Puerto Ricos local lawmakers as grossly incompetent and singled out one of his favourite targets, Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, as crazed and incompetent.

Trumps latest invective towards the local leaders of an island devastated by a hurricane in September 2017 came in a torrent of tweets, which began on Monday night and spilled into Tuesday morning.

Trump was reacting after the Senate blocked billions of dollars in disaster aid for Midwestern states on Monday, in part because Democrats said a proposed $600 million (455 million) in nutritional assistance to Puerto Rico fell short of its needs.

Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their government cant do anything right, the place is a mess  nothing works, Trump wrote on Twitter.

He also stated, incorrectly, that Puerto Rico had received $91 billion (69 billion) in aid from the federal government.

In fact, FEMA and other agencies have so far distributed $11.2 billion (8.5 billion) in aid to Puerto Rico, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

Some $41 billion (31 billion) in aid has been allocated, while $91 billion (69 billion) is the budget offices estimate of how much the island could receive over the next two decades.

Gov. Ricardo A. Rossello of Puerto Rico, a Democrat, responded to Trump in a tweet of his own Tuesday.

Mr. President, once again, we are not your adversaries, we are your citizens, Rossello wrote.

Trump has long been sensitive when it comes to the subject of Puerto Rico, where the US governments response to Hurricane Maria was widely criticised as too slow.

Aides and allies said Trump had vented privately that Puerto Ricans had complained too much, and he had also noted privately that Hurricane Maria, which killed 2,975 people as a result of the storm and its effects, was not as bad as Hurricane Katrina, in which fewer people  1,833  were killed.

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Trump has long hit back at Cruz, who during the disaster became the most outspoken critic of the federal response.

On Tuesday, Trump seemed to imply in his tweets that Puerto Rico was not part of the United States, noting that local elected officials only take from USA.

Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, seemed to underscore the view in the White House that Puerto Ricans were not Americans when he twice referred to the island as that country during an appearance on MSNBC.

Trumps apparent disdain for the islands leadership has led to a breakdown of communication between local officials and the White House.

For weeks, Rossello has asked the White House for a private meeting with Trump to lay out the islands case for why it desperately needs federal funds for rebuilding after Hurricane Maria.

But his request has gone unanswered, and he has tried instead to communicate with the president publicly, saying in cable news interviews, in official appearances and on Twitter that he fears Trump has been misled about Puerto Ricos needs.

Rossellos fight may be an uphill battle with a president who has made it clear that he views more federal aid to Puerto Rico as throwing money away.

His advisers also view the pleas from local officials as part of a campaign to shift the blame for what they view as severe mismanagement of the supplies and money sent after the storm.

People familiar with Trumps thinking said he was sceptical that additional aid would not be used to pay down Puerto Ricos debt.

The acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, who has made it clear that he believes Puerto Rico will need to find its own way out of the debt crisis, is believed to be encouraging the presidents negative view of the island.

In Puerto Rico, however, Trumps stance is being viewed through the lens of race.

In an interview on Tuesday, Rossello mentioned, unprompted, that Puerto Ricos population was almost entirely Latino and said that historically, there have been ethnic undertones to the treatment of Puerto Ricans by Washington.

We dont want special treatment, he said. We just want equal treatment.

The governor also has bigger issues to deal with at home: the resignations of two power players in his Cabinet became public late Monday.

Julia Keleher, the education secretary, and Hector M. Pesquera, the public safety secretary, had been among the least popular members of Rossellos government.

Their departures dominated the headlines in the local news media, which made little reference to what is widely seen here as yet another episode of presidential bluster.

That is not to say Puerto Ricans necessarily disagree with Trumps criticism of the commonwealths leaders, even if many locals dislike the president himself, or the disdainful way he sometimes refers to the island.

We have a political caste that is opportunistic and extremely corrupt, said Eduardo Lalo, a well-known local novelist, humanities professor and opinion columnist who supports Puerto Rican independence.

What the president says, of course its clumsy and tremendously vulgar, and he says it for reasons of his own that are not substantive. But its also objective.

The truth is, he said, Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States, and therefore its hands are completely tied.

At a bakery in the comfortable San Juan neighbourhood of Ocean Park on Tuesday, the morning crowd was hardly abuzz about Trumps comments, though people had noticed them.

One patron, Miguel Rodriguez, 54, pulled out his cellphone to show how, moments earlier, a friend had posted on Facebook that she agreed with the president for the first time in praising Puerto Ricans but labelling their leaders corrupt.

Rodriguez, the owner of a company that installs security systems, scrolled down to the comment he left under his friends post: We do not lack resources, we have too many thieves.

The government wants to keep demanding money from the government of the United States, Rodriguez said. But much of that help doesnt reach the people.

Politically, Rossello is in an unenviable position experienced by all of his predecessors: Puerto Rico cannot get funding even for its food stamp program without approval from Congress, but it has no congressional representation to make its case in Washington - Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, a Republican, has no vote in the House.

None of the previous governors, however, had to deal with the dire consequences of a devastating hurricane in the middle of a government bankruptcy.

Neither Trump nor any president of the United States nor any official in the United States has assumed the responsibility it has with Puerto Rico, Lalo said.

The great tragedy of the Puerto Rican people is that for 120 years, it calls Washington, and no one picks up the phone.

Rossello, who is up for re-election next year, has faced intense criticism on the island for trying to work cooperatively with Trump even as the president was repeatedly deriding Puerto Rican leaders.

Last week, the governor amped up his language against Trump, appearing to refer to him as a bully in an interview with CNN.

If the bully gets close, Ill punch the bully in the mouth, he said. It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage.

He later characterised his comments as a metaphor.

Trump has refrained from going after Rossello by name, preferring to focus his attention on Cruz, his political nemesis since her outspoken comments criticising the Trump administrations failure to provide swift and meaningful help in the weeks after Hurricane Maria.

After Trump called Cruz crazed and incompetent on Twitter on Monday, she fired back, calling him unhinged.

He can huff & puff all he wants, but he cannot escape the death of 3,000 on his watch, she wrote. SHAME ON YOU!

New York TimesDonald Trump repeatedly struggled to say the word origin during a White House meeting with the Nato secretary general in which the US president made a number of false claims.

Taking questions from reporters while sat alongside Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office, Mr Trump railed against Democrats in congress providing oversight of him and called for an investigation into why the special counsels probe into Trump campaign ties with Russia was launched.

I hope they now go and take a look at the oranges, the oranges of the investigation, the beginnings of that investigation, Mr Trump said. You look at the origin of the investigation, where it started, how it started, who started it, whether its McCabe or Comey or a lot of them.

Where does it go, how high up in the White House did it go? You will all get Pulitzer Prizes, ok? Youll all get Pulitzer Prizes. You should have looked at it a long time ago and thats the only thing thats disappointing to me about the Mueller report.

The Mueller report I wished covered the oranges, how it started, the beginnings of the investigation, how it started. It didnt cover that, and for some reason none of that was discussed.

Special counsel Robert Muellers report, which has yet to be made public, cleared the president of conspiracy of Russia, but did not rule on whether he obstructed justice. Mr Trump wrongly claimed it cleared him of both.

The president has repeatedly claimed he was the subject of an illegal witch hunt invented by senior government officials and even former president Barack Obama. He has never provided evidence to back his claims.

In a freewheeling press conference, Mr Trump also railed against immigration across the southern border, said he had to get rid of judges who deal with asylum cases, and falsely claimed only two per cent of immigrants detained by border agents under so-called catch and release attend court for their application hearing.

The true figure is at least 60 per cent, according to Justice Department figures.

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Mr Trump also threatened to close large sections of the border  admitting it would impact trade but that security was more important  and said, without providing evidence, that Central American countries arrange these caravans the president has repeatedly cited as evidence of an emergency situation at the border.

Asked about Germanys contributions to Nato, Mr Trump accused Berlin of not paying their fair share before wrongly claiming his father was born in Germany.

My father is German, right? Was German, and born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany, he said. His father was in fact born in the US.

Later on Tuesday evening, at a National Republican Congressional Committee event, Mr Trump ventured into new territory when he untruthfully claimed wind turbines cause cancer.

If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 per cent in value, Mr Trump told his audience. And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, OK? Rerrrr rerrrr!

There is no evidence the noise from windmills or turbines causes cancer.

He also revealed he had called authoritarian Chinese president Xi Jinping a king during a visit to Beijing in 2017.

He said, But I am not king, I am president. I said, No, youre president for life, and therefore youre king, Mr Trump said to laughter. He said, huh. He liked that. I get along with him great.By Steve Holland and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his pressure on NATO nations to pay more for their defense is leading to tens of billions of dollars more in contributions, but the allies may need to boost their budgets even more. Trump used a well-worn script about burden-sharing with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in talks at the White House. The meeting came a day before NATO foreign ministers sit down in Washington for what is expected to be a session dominated by concerns about Russia. Trump, who has ruffled feathers among European allies by repeatedly saying that NATO nations needed to pay more and ease the burden on the United States, said his tactics have paid off. "Since I came to office it's a rocket ship up. We've picked up over $140 billion in additional money, and we look like we're going to have at least another $100 billion in spending by the nations...by 2020," he said. The U.S. president said he would like to see NATO members pay more than 2 percent of their gross domestic product for defense. Trump told NATO leaders last year to increase defense spending to 4 percent of GDP. He said the United States pays 4.3 percent of its GDP to NATO. Trump singled out Germany for not doing enough, while praising German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Germany honestly is not paying their fair share," he said. "They're not paying what they should be paying. They're paying close to 1 percent." The White House, in a statement, said that Trump met with Stoltenberg to mark NATO's 70th anniversary and reaffirm U.S. support for the alliance. The White House said the two leaders "reviewed NATO's unprecedented progress to increase burden-sharing" and also discussed "ongoing efforts to fight terrorism (and) check Russian aggression." "WE'LL GET ALONG WITH RUSSIA" Trump said a stronger NATO provides a bulwark against Russia, but that he believed relations with Moscow will be fine. As has been his norm, Trump was reluctant to criticize Russia. I hope we have a good relationship with Russia," he said. "But I think well get along with Russia. Stoltenberg, who is to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, singled out Russia for "violating the INF treaty," the Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty. Trump in February announced plans to withdraw the United States from the INF treaty this summer, saying Russia was in violation of it. Russia is sowing discord in the alliance by selling to NATO member Turkey the S-400 air defense system. The United States has halted delivery of equipment related to its F-35 fighter jets to Turkey over its S-400 plans. "We have very serious concerns about its stated plans to proceed with the acquisition of the S-400 missile defense system and there will be potential consequences, within sanctions law and the F-35 program if they continue," said a senior State Department official who briefed reporters. The United States says that Turkey's purchase of the Russian air defense system would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft, which is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, said the gathering would discuss all elements of the military threat posed by Russia, including in the Black Sea, as well as the Afghan peace process and members' budget contributions to the alliance. The official said the NATO allies would seek to agree on a package of measures to bolster NATO's military presence in the Black Sea, which has become a flashpoint with Moscow over its seizure of Ukrainian ships last year. "The focus is on the defense and deterrence posture of the alliance in the Black Sea region," said the official, adding that a plenary session on Thursday would focus on Russia, including what Washington sees as Moscow's breach of the INF treaty. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Lesley Wroughton; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)Comedian JB Masanduku is wasting no time as he prepares to make an honest woman out of his girlfriend of one year, Jackie Karanja.

The two met less than a year ago at Mist Club in Nairobi where Jackie was hosting Karaoke. According to JB Masanduku, it was a classic case of love at first sight.

It was love at first sight because when I looked at her, I knew she was the one and definitely she is a nice lady, JB said.

The comedian has since met Ms Karanjas parents and is expected to complete paying the dowry in August this year.

I have already done the first part of the dowry payment to her parents, in Kikuyu called Kuhada Ithigi, which happened on January 5th this year at Jackies home in Wangige, JB said, adding that a white wedding will come before the end of the year.

We have dated for eight months and in January this year we made it known officially to both our families.

On claims that his soon-to-be wife is already expectant, JB Masanduku said, I dont know where they got the information from because shes not pregnant.

He added: Though we are working on it.

Some photos of the first part of the dowry ceremony.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Wednesday said the Trump administration would soon issue an executive order that would open the door for more natural gas pipelines and exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The administration, which is pushing a policy it calls energy dominance, has been considering an order that would push back against states, including New York, that have blocked interstate natural gas pipelines. Kudlow said the executive order would open the way for pipelines and LNG at an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor news outlet. New York has blocked pipelines that would take natural gas from Pennsylvania to New England, which means the region sometimes needs imports of LNG. Early last year, a tanker carrying LNG from a project in Russia's Arctic arrived in Boston Harbor to satisfy demand during a cold snap. It was unclear how the order would overrule the authority of states to rule on pipelines. Several politicians in New York, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, have said they want energy companies to focus more on renewable power sources and energy efficiency, instead of building more gas and other fossil fuel-fired power plants and infrastructure. New York State in recent years blocked the construction of several pipelines that would transport fracked natural gas from the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania to New England, including Williams Cos Inc's Constitution and Northeast Supply Enhancement and National Fuel Gas Co's (NFG) Northern Access. In those cases, New York regulators denied the pipelines on environmental grounds. Trump has attempted to use an executive order to jumpstart TransCanada Inc's long-delayed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, signing an order just two days after assuming office in 2017. But that did not save the pipeline from getting bogged down in the courts and last week he issued another order seeking to breathe life into the project. Meanwhile an independent federal agency has taken some steps that could help gas pipelines in New York. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) determined last year that New York regulators waived their right to decide on a water quality certification for NFG's Northern Access project because the state waited too long. FERC this week denied New York's request to rehear that decision. Williams has made a similar argument about the Constitution pipeline. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York; editing by Franklin Paul, Jonathan Oatis and Susan Thomas)By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump took a step back on Tuesday from his threat to close the U.S. southern border to fight illegal immigration, as pressure mounted from companies worried that a shutdown would cause chaos to supply chains. Trump threatened on Friday to close the border this week unless Mexico acted. He repeated that threat on Tuesday but said he had not made a decision yet: "We're going to see what happens over the next few days." Closing the border could disrupt millions of legal crossings and billions of dollars in trade. Auto companies have been warning the White House privately that it would lead to the idling of U.S. plants within days because they rely on prompt deliveries of components made in Mexico. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying group, has been in contact with the White House to discuss the "very negative economic consequences that would occur across the country," said Neil Bradley, the group's top lobbyist, on a call with reporters. Trump praised efforts by Mexico to hinder illegal immigration from Central America at its own southern border. On Monday, the Mexican government said it would help regulate the flow of migrants. I really wanted to close it, Trump said on Tuesday night at a fundraiser for congressional Republicans. The Mexican government has not published apprehension statistics, but a senior White House official said it had provided daily updates to the Trump administration, including specific apprehension numbers. "They say they're going to stop them. Let's see. They have the power to stop them, they have the laws to stop them," Trump said earlier on Tuesday. PUSH BACK Trump has made fighting illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America a key part of his agenda, but shutting down one of the world's most used borders might be a step too far, even for many of his fellow Republicans. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in warning Trump against such a move. "Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. A group representing General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said in a statement that "any action that stops commerce at the border would be harmful to the U.S. economy, and in particular, the auto industry." Dozens of U.S. vehicle, engine, transmission and other auto parts plants could close because of a lack of components in the days after a border shutdown. It would also prevent thousands of vehicles built in Mexico from landing in U.S. dealer showrooms. Automakers exported nearly 2.6 million Mexican-made vehicles to the United States in 2018, accounting for 15 percent of all vehicles sold in the country. Some, like the Chevrolet Blazer SUV, are only made in Mexico. Retailers are also raising alarm bells, according to officials with two groups that represent hundreds of U.S. retail firms. "It will be unprecedented self-inflicted pain," said David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. "We are still nervous about this and we have been talking to some of our companies about maybe ramping up direct pressure on the White House by getting CEOs to call." SLOWER BORDER Senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said on Tuesday a recent redeployment of some 750 officers on the border to deal with a surge in migrants - mostly Central American families turning themselves in to border agents - had already led to a slowing of legal crossings and commerce at ports of entry. "Wait times in Brownsville (Texas) were around 180 minutes, which were two times the peaks of last year," said a senior DHS official on a call with reporters. "We ended the day yesterday at Otay Mesa (California) with a backup of 150 trucks that hadn't been processed," the official said. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday that backups were delaying commercial traffic at the U.S.-Mexico border at several crossings. He said the government had not drastically changed its migration strategy following the shutdown threats. DHS officials said border facilities had been overwhelmed by families seeking asylum, fleeing poverty and violence in Central America. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Manuel Padilla, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol, would now serve as the agency's coordinator on the border response. U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimated that some 100,000 migrants were apprehended or encountered at the border in March, the highest level in a decade. "The system is on fire," a DHS official said. Because of limits on how long children are legally allowed to be held in detention, many of the families are released to await U.S. immigration court hearings, a process that can take years because of ballooning backlogs. To try to address the problem, the Trump administration in January started sending some migrants to wait out their U.S. court dates in Mexican border cities. On Monday, DHS said it would dramatically ramp up that program, despite court challenges. The biggest priority for Nielsen is to seek action from Congress to change the immigration laws, said a DHS official. She sent a letter to Congress last week repeating many of the Trump administration's demands, including a request to quickly deport Central American minors that cross the border alone. Under current law, minors who are not from the contiguous countries of Canada and Mexico are placed in the care of sponsors in the United States, which Nielsen called a "dangerous 'pull' factor" for migrants. Migrant advocates and some Democrats in Congress oppose the proposed legislative changes, saying they would send vulnerable children back to dangerous situations in their home countries. Trump said he had spoken with "a few" Democrats on Tuesday about the administration's proposals and added: "They're changing their minds." (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Steve Holland and David Shepardson in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper, Nandita Bose and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Writing by Ginger Gibson and David Alexander; Editing by Alistair Bell, Rosalba O'Brien and Peter Cooney)WASHINGTON (AP)  In the first address to Congress by a NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance and called for bigger defense budgets to cope with global challenges such as Russian assertiveness, the core reason NATO was created in Washington 70 years ago this week.

"We have to be frank," Stoltenberg said before a joint meeting of Congress. "Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences."

The NATO secretary general credited President Donald Trump with compelling allies to spend more on defense, without noting that Trump also has questioned the value of the alliance and suggested that some members are freeloaders.

Trump's criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington to be its leader. Stoltenberg's speech provided a diplomatic counterpoint to Trump's sometimes derisive rhetoric, and the enthusiastic reception he received from both parties in the House was testament to an enduring pro-NATO consensus in Congress.

"The secretary general delivered to Congress a powerful affirmation of the value of the NATO alliance," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was NATO's top commander from 2009 to 2013, called the Stoltenberg address a high point in recent U.S.-European relations.

"Given the president's evident and frequently vocalized skepticism of the alliance, it is clear that Congress  on a bipartisan basis  wants to put the full weight of the legislative branch behind NATO," Stavridis said. "We will never find a better pool of allies in the world than the Europeans, and this address underscores the importance of the trans-Atlantic bridge, which has been creaking a bit lately."

Trump's criticisms are not NATO's only source of friction. The alliance also is at odds with long-time member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defense system that is not compatible with the allied air defenses. The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest U.S. fighter jet, the F-35, if the Turks go through with their plan to buy Russia's advanced S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

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Escalating that fight, Vice President Mike Pence scolded Turkey at a NATO 70th anniversary event following Stoltenberg's speech. He said the Russian S-400 system "poses great danger to NATO," and suggested that Turkey needs to decide between NATO and Russia.

"Turkey must choose," he said. "Does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?"

Stoltenberg made a point of highlighting the benefits to the United States of having NATO allies. He noted, for example, that in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 of its founding charter to come to the aid of a member under attack. He said allies also provide the U.S. with valuable military support in peacetime, from tracking submarines in the Arctic to providing bases in Europe from which the U.S. can project power.

"Our alliance has not lasted for 70 years out of a sense of nostalgia or of sentiment," he said. "NATO lasts because it is in the national interest of each and every one of our countries."

Stoltenberg on Thursday will lead a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to mark 70 years since the alliance's founding charter, the North Atlantic Treaty. The alliance has grown from its original 12 members to 29, with the Republic of North Macedonia about to become the 30th member country.

Stoltenberg, a two-time former prime minister of Norway, is the first head of NATO to address a joint meeting of Congress. He touted the alliance's long record of partnership but also noted it has a history of coping with internal divisions, including strong opposition by France, Germany and other members to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

"Open discussions and different views is not a sign of weakness," he said. "It is a sign of strength. So we should not be surprised when we see differences between our countries. Today there are disagreements on issues such as trade, energy, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. These are serious issues with serious disagreements."

Trump has sharply criticized other NATO members, including Germany, for not meeting spending targets. On Tuesday, he praised the generally upward trend among the European allies, but hounded them to pay even more because he believes America still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

In a meeting at the White House, Trump and Stoltenberg had kind words for each other. But in the past, Trump has called NATO "obsolete" and suggested he might pull the U.S. out of the alliance if member nations didn't significantly boost defense spending.

"We've worked together on getting some of our allies to pay their fair share," Trump told reporters. "At some point, it's going to have to go higher."

Trump took credit for the increased spending. However, spending by NATO countries, which dropped after the end of the Cold War, has actually been rising since 2014, before Trump took office .

After Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, member countries agreed to boost defense budgets and "move toward" spending 2% of their gross domestic products on defense by 2024. The U.S. spends about 3.4% of its GDP on defense.

Since Trump took office, European allies and Canada have added $41 billion to their defense budgets. By the end of next year, this is scheduled to reach $100 billion, Stoltenberg said. Germany remains the main target of Trump's ire because it plans to spend 1.5%, below the 2% guideline, by 2024.

Stoltenberg has said the 2% guideline was not invented by the United States and was a target the 29 allies set in 2014.

"The allies are really stepping up," Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Associated Press.

___

Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Susannah George in Washington and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.A spokesperson for the White House referred to Puerto Rico as that country during a live television interview  twice  while providing false facts about the administrations response to Hurricane Maria.

Hogan Gidley joined MSNBCs Hallie Jackson on Tuesday and slammed Puerto Ricos systematic mismanagement of the goods and services we sent them after the hurricane spurred a natural disaster across the island, with nearly 3,000 people having died in its aftermath.

Echoing Donald Trumps claims from earlier this week, Mr Gidley also falsely claimed the island received more money than any state or territory in history, to which Ms Jackson corrected him by pointing out the fact that Louisiana received more recovery funding after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

They have now come to $91bn [69bn] with all weve done in that country, Mr Gidley said on Tuesday.

The White House spokesperson continued attacking Puerto Ricos leadership, saying the governor was casting blame on others for not having a good grid and not having a good system in that country.

He also dodged questions from Ms Jackson as to whether or not the president considered Puerto Ricans just as American as citizens living in states like Texas and Louisiana.

Youre rolling your eyes and I dont know why youre rolling your eyes, the host said to him.

The president launched a series of attacks against Puerto Rico on Twitter earlier on Tuesday morning, writing, all their politicians do is complain [and] ask for more money.

The pols are grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from USA, he continued. The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump. So many wonderful people, but with such bad Island leadership and with so much money wasted.

....The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump. So many wonderful people, but with such bad Island leadership and with so much money wasted. Cannot continue to hurt our Farmers and States with these massive payments, and so little appreciation!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019

Mr Trump added, "Cannot continue to hurt our Farmers and States with these massive payments, and so little appreciation!"

Story continues

Ms Jackson pressed Mr Gidley for clarity on Mr Trumps false claims about his administrations response to the disaster, fact-checking him in real-time on the morning news show.

These are things that not trust, she said, referring to the White Houses claims about Puerto Rico disaster relief funding. Just from a factual basis, she added.Washington (AFP) - Turkey will not turn back from a major arms deal with Russia despite the US suspension of Ankara from the F-35 fighter-jet program, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday.

"The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this," he told a think-tank forum in Washington, where he is taking part in 70th anniversary celebrations of NATO.

The United States said Monday that it was halting shipment of F-35 parts of Turkey as well as joint manufacturing work due to Ankara's purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia.

Cavusoglu said Turkey turned to Russia as it could not buy US Patriot missiles and quoted President Donald Trump as saying in an unspecified phone call that his predecessor Barack Obama had made a "mistake" not to sell the system to Ankara.

However, the Trump administration has since made clear that it is ready to sell Patriot missiles to Turkey -- if it drops the S-400 system.

The Turkish foreign minister said the S-400 deal did not signal a warming toward Russia.

"We disagree with Russia on many issues," Cavusoglu said, pointing to Moscow's "aggression" in the Black Sea and pledging never to recognize Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

"We have been working with Russia," he said.

"But it doesn't mean that we are undermining the alliance and we agree with Russia on everything. There is no shift on our foreign policy."

US policymakers worry that Russia will obtain data from the F-35s to hone the ability of the S-400 to shoot down Western planes.

Cavusoglu said the S-400 system would be separate from NATO infrastructure in Turkey with no linkages to the F-35s.BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Twelve Western nations urged Romania on Wednesday to scrap two planned emergency decrees altering judicial legislation, in a rare joint intervention that underlined U.S. and EU alarm over the threat to the rule of law in the former communist nation. The embassies' joint statement coincided with a warning from the European Commission in Brussels saying it would take swift action against Romania if it failed to address its concerns over the independence of the judiciary. Romania's ruling Social Democrats want to reduce the statute of limitations covering several offences, a move which would automatically shut down a number of ongoing corruption cases. They have also backed a second decree that would allow politicians and others convicted of graft since 2014 to retroactively challenge the verdicts handed down by the supreme court. "The expected changes carry the risk of breaching common values," the embassies of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States said in their joint statement. "Furthermore, they might have a lasting negative effect on the countrys economic development." The decrees "apparently under discussion have the potential to impact on the independence of Romania's judiciary, which would undermine Romanians' and partners' trust in the justice system, and in Romania's government as well", they said. The decrees would benefit several high-level politicians, including Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea, who was unable to become prime minister due to a 2015 suspended jail term imposed in a vote-rigging case. His appeal against a second conviction for inciting others to commit abuse of office in a separate case is nearing an end, with the next court date scheduled for April 15. The decrees would be a culmination of a series of legislative and personnel changes the Social Democrats have made since they took power two years ago that are seen as threats to judicial independence and could further heighten EU concerns about democratic values in some of its eastern states. Responding to the ambassadors' appeal, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said: "I would like to remind [them] that I have a direct dialogue with my counterparts. Ambassadors don't make the prime minister's agenda in ... any state." Transparency International ranks Romania among the European Union's most corrupt states and Brussels, which keeps its justice system under special monitoring, has praised magistrates for their efforts to curb graft. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Gareth Jones)A hand cart puller based in Nairobi will spend six months behind bars for stealing a mobile phone belonging to a police officer.

The accused, 32-year-old Mohamed Ali Hassan, pleaded guilty to snatching the phone belonging to a police officer attached to Kariokor Chiefs camp.

The Court heard that on 23rd March, the accused snatched the mobile phone valued at Sh15,000 from the Administration Police officer who was walking along Race Course Road.

The officer, who was making a call at the time, gave chase but could not catch up with Mr Hassan. He then mobilized motorbike riders to help him trace the suspect.

When he was finally arrested, the phone could not be traced. It is said that Mr Hassan dumped the phone in the Nairobi River in an attempt to conceal the evidence.

The magistrate ruled; It is sad that one cannot confidently communicate with a phone without worrying of it being stolen, I then sentence you to six months imprisonment and one thief on the street will be out.The U.K. is now very likely to crash out of the European Union without a deal, the E.U.s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said Tuesday morning, hours after the countrys parliament voted down every available option for moving forward with Brexit.

Speaking to European lawmakers in Brussels, Barnier said a no-deal Brexit, in which the U.K. leaves with no agreements in place over its relationship with the bloc, was becoming day after day, more likely, as lawmakers fail to agree on an alternative to the deal negotiated by British Prime Minister Theresa May, which they have now rejected three times.

On Monday night parliament voted down four options proposed by lawmakers for how to move forward, ranging from the idea of retaining key elements of E.U. membership, to holding a new referendum. One of the options failed by just three votes.

This is a serious crisis and no-one can be pleased with what is happening in the U.K. currently, Barnier said.

Last month the E.U. granted the U.K. an extension on its original March 29 leaving date, postponing Brexit until April 12. If no deal is reached by then, or no new extension is granted, the U.K. will automatically leave with no deal.

Economists say a no-deal Brexit would have disastrous effects for the British economy, potentially causing more damage than the 2008 financial crisis. It could also lead to shortages of goods including food and medicine.

Barnier said the only ways British lawmakers can avoid a no-deal Brexit are by approving Mays deal or a variant of it that is acceptable to the E.U.  in which case the U.K. would leave on May 22  or by offering a strong justification for a longer extension.

The E.U. negotiator suggested the only possible justification for granting a longer extension would be if the U.K. wanted to hold a new referendum on Brexit, or to hold snap elections to replace May, noting that the extension would not be a chance to return to negotiations with the E.U. To be clear, during any long extension there will be no renegotiation of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, no, never, he said.(Reuters) - U.S. private employers added 129,000 jobs in March, below economists' expectations and the lowest since September 2017, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 170,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from 140,000 to 261,000.

Private payroll gains in the month earlier were revised up to 197,000 from an originally reported 183,000 increase.

The report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.

The ADP figures come ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which includes both public and private-sector employment.

Economists polled by Reuters are looking for U.S. private payroll employment to have grown by 170,000 jobs in March, up from 25,000 the month before. Total non-farm employment is expected to have changed by 180,000.

The unemployment rate is forecast to stay steady at the 3.8 percent recorded a month earlier.

(Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)By Stanley Carvalho and Allison Lampert ABU DHABI/MONTREAL (Reuters) - A United Arab Emirates female pilot running to head the U.N. aviation agency's governing council said she is capable of playing a "bridging role" in trying to resolve an air dispute between several Gulf states and Qatar. In 2017, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt cut political, economic and transport ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the accusations. Last year, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) tried to facilitate talks between Qatar and its neighbors to defuse tensions over alleged airspace violations. The dispute is now before the International Court of Justice. Aysha al Hamili, the UAE's first female pilot and its representative at the ICAO, also said on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi that any president of the 36-member council should recuse himself or herself from a dispute if there were a hint of bias. "I will always try to play this bridging role and hope this dispute will end in the near future," she said of Qatar. Montreal-based ICAO cannot impose binding rules on governments, but wields clout through its safety and security standards which are approved by its 192 member states. Al Hamili's candidacy to become ICAOs first female council president has raised questions among some members on how a leader from the UAE would broker strained relations between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors, including her own country, a source familiar with the matter said. She is running against Salvatore Sciacchitano, the head of delegation for Italy at ICAO, a member of the agency's Italian mission in Montreal said. If elected president of the 36-member council during ICAO's assembly from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4, al Hamili said she would maintain neutrality with Qatar. "I expect a neutral president and as a council member If I see a bias I will right away ask the president to recuse himself," she said. "We should focus that whoever is in that seat, is a neutral person." Qatar's ICAO representative Essa Almalki said by email he welcomed al Hamili's comments, adding that Doha hopes "to find a quick solution" with the four countries and remove restrictions on Qatar-registered aircraft. However, Almalki added that Qatar has not "seen the slightest inclination" on the part of the UAE as represented by al Hamili toward resolving the dispute, "so we would be surprised if her election to the presidency of the ICAO Council would or could have a positive impact on the removal of the prohibitions." (Reporting by Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi and Allison Lampert in Montreal; editing by David Gregorio and Sandra Maler)ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates will make its own checks on any fixes for the Boeing 737 MAX before permitting the grounded jet to resume flying in its airspace, a senior aviation regulatory official said on Wednesday.

The MAX has been grounded globally since last month following two fatal crashes in five months involving the same aircraft type, killing 346 people.

Boeing has said a software update to prevent erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system, which is under scrutiny after the deadly nose-down crashes, would be submitted in the coming weeks.

"Based on their corrective action plan we will validate that plan independently and maybe cooperate with other entities in Europe and based on that if we feel comfortable we will decide [if we lift the grounding]," General Civil Aviation Authority Director General Saif Mohammed al-Suwaidi told Reuters at an industry conference in Abu Dhabi.

UAE carrier flydubai is a MAX operator.

(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho, writing by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Keith Weir)By Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan and William James LONDON (Reuters) - Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Theresa May had not moved far enough in a first round of crisis talks aimed at breaking the domestic deadlock over Britain's exit from the European Union. The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the EU last Friday but, nearly three years after it voted by 52 percent to 48 for Brexit in a referendum, it is still unclear how, when or even whether it will quit the bloc it joined in 1973. After her EU withdrawal deal was rejected three times by lawmakers, the Conservative prime minister invited Corbyn, a veteran socialist, to talks in parliament to try to plot a way out of the crisis. "There hasn't been as much change as I expected," Corbyn, 69, said. "The meeting was useful but inconclusive." Asked if May had accepted his preference for a post-Brexit customs union with the EU, he said: "We did have a discussion about all of that." Corbyn is under pressure from some in his party not to agree a Brexit deal without ensuring that it can be confirmed or rejected in a new referendum that also offers the option to stay in the EU. He himself has said such a vote should be restricted to specific circumstances. "I said: 'Look, this is a policy of our party that we would want to pursue the option of a public vote to prevent crashing out or prevent leaving on a bad deal,'" he said. "There was no agreement reached on that." Talks will continue on Thursday. "CONSTRUCTIVE MEETING" A Downing Street spokesman said the meeting, which lasted an hour and 40 minutes, had been "constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close". "We have agreed a program of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security," he added. May's overture to Corbyn, whose party has 245 out of 650 lawmakers, offers a possible way for her to secure a majority for an exit deal as she seeks a second short delay to Brexit. But some in the Labour Party have cast her gambit as a trap aimed at scaring her own lawmakers into backing the thrice-defeated deal, or as a way to extend responsibility for the difficulties of Brexit to the Labour Party. May said on Tuesday she would seek a delay that is "as short as possible" to the current Brexit date of April 12, having repeatedly said she did not want Britain to have to take part in European Parliament elections on May 23. But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in Brussels that Britain would not get any further short delays unless its parliament ratified a deal by April 12 - the date set by EU leaders as the effective cut-off for avoiding the European Parliament elections. To secure a longer extension, the leaders have told May that she must present a credible way forward, and also sign up to those elections, something she is adamantly opposed to. But Britain could ask the EU for a long Brexit delay that gives the option to leave as soon as a divorce deal is approved by parliament, finance minister Philip Hammond indicated. If the talks with Labour fail, May will put different Brexit options for the future relationship to a vote in parliament, in the hope of finding a plan viable enough to present in Brussels. CONSERVATIVE ANGER May's last-ditch approach to Corbyn, who is loathed by many of her Conservatives and mocked by May herself as unfit to govern, provoked anger in her febrile party. Two junior ministers quit on Wednesday - one of them from the Brexit department. "It now seems that you and your cabinet have decided that a deal - cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first - is better than 'no- deal'," Nigel Adams said as he resigned as a minister for Wales. May turned to Labour after a hard core of Brexit supporters among her own Conservatives repeatedly rejected her divorce deal, saying it would leave Britain a 'vassal state'. Using a nickname that plays on May's reputed robotic inflexibility, one Brexit-supporting Conservative lawmaker told Reuters: "The Maybot has gone haywire - we've got to find the 'off' switch." Corbyn, who voted against EU membership in a 1975 referendum, told May he wanted a customs union with the EU, access to its single market, and a guarantee of continued observance of European regulations - as a minimum on the environment, and consumer and workers rights. Many supporters want the party to throw its weight behind a second referendum. But some Labour lawmakers who represent areas that voted strongly to leave the EU not only reject this but also fear that such a 'soft' Brexit would be seen as a betrayal. Brexit minister Stephen Barclay said the government would accept a soft Brexit if parliament voted for it. Britain could one day review its membership of a possible post-Brexit customs union with the European Union, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told the BBC. "If we decided, in some considerable years time that we wanted to review our membership of any such customs union if we signed it - and I'm not saying we will - that's a matter for negotiation and discussion," Cox said. (Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill, Kate Holton, Paul Sandle, Alistair Smout, Costas Pitas, Andy Bruce and Stephen Addison, Elisabeth O'Leary and David Milliken; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Kevin Liffey)A growing number of parents are seeking baby name inspiration from Disney [Photo: Getty]

Its no longer unusual for parents to seek baby name inspiration from the silver screen and it seems a growing number are looking to Disney for help.

According to research conducted by website Play Like Mum, over 17,000 children across the UK have been named after the fairytale giant since 1996 and the trend is only continuing to flourish.

Over a 12-year period, the number of children named after Disney has risen from 188 to 1,775 in 2017 with more girls being given regal titles than boys.

READ MORE: You can now buy a Disney princess inspired engagement ring

Elsa stole the top spot thanks to childrens hit Frozen with Tiana (inspired by The Princess and The Frog) and Aurora (the leading princess in Sleeping Beauty) followed closely behind.

Would you name your child after a Disney classic? [Photo: Getty]

So what about the boys?

Woody is the most popular Disney-inspired name with 1,154 boys across the UK given the moniker thanks to 1995 film, Toy Story.

While the name Olaf has also risen in popularity with Frozen still played on loop across the nation.

READ MORE: Is it ever ok to steal someones baby name?

Interestingly, a number of names peaked in popularity during the years after the film was released with Giselle peaking in 2008  a year after Enchanted was released.

A full list of the UKs most popular Disney-inspired baby names [Photo: Play Like Mum]

While some parents are likely to have named their children after films they grew up watching with Nala garnering popularity in 2011  a grand total of 17 years after The Lion King was released.

Ariel also proves this theory with The Little Mermaid fans seeking inspiration 17 years after its debut.

So if any soon-to-be parents out there are stuck for name inspiration, maybe its worth digging through your old video collection.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKWashington (AFP) - The US is prepared to pump dollars into Venezuela to fortify its economy if President Nicolas Maduro leaves, the top White House economic advisor said Wednesday, as American senators introduced legislation to authorize $400 million in humanitarian aid.

Larry Kudlow told reporters that Washington is already working with banks and the International Monetary Fund on a rebuilding plan to revitalize the country's crushed economy and said that, when the time comes, "we will be moving as fast as we can."

"We call it Day Two," he said at a briefing arranged by The Christian Science Monitor newspaper.

"It would be a rescue plan, it would be a restructuring plan, it would be a plan to put cash into the country."

Venezuela's oil economy has crumbled under a collapse of crude exports and international sanctions against Maduro, whom Washington and its allies view as illegitimate.

The United States has been pressuring for Maduro to step down or be overthrown, but he has clung to power with the support of Venezuela's military.

"The timeline is to get rid of Maduro. I have no idea when that is going to be," said Kudlow.

Once Maduro leaves, economic assistance would be immediate, beginning with pushing the US currency in to reignite economic activity, moving it via "banks, iPhones, apps," said Kudlow, who is director of the National Economic Council.

"The cash will not be bolivares, it will be dollars, at least at the beginning," he said.

"There is no demand for bolivares. Dollars are the answer."

- More aid for Venezuela -

On Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of US senators introduced legislation to authorize $400 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuela.

The funds are part of a package of measures aimed at re-establishing democracy and supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Since 2017, Washington has allocated more than $195 million for humanitarian aid for Latin American nations that are taking in Venezuelan migrants and refugees. In January, the US Agency for International Development said that it could kick in an additional $20 million.

Story continues

The bipartisan senate initiative, known as the "Venezuela Emergency Relief, Democracy Assistance, and Development Act" -- acronym VERDAD, or truth in Spanish -- was proposed by New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez and Florida Republican Marco Rubio.

More than 50 countries including the United States support Guaido, the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly legislature, as Venezuela's interim president. Russia and China back Maduro.

Malnutrition and disease are on the rise as living conditions plummet in Venezuela, which is spiraling ever deeper into economic chaos during the protracted political crisis.CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  Maduro loyalists stripped Venezuela's Juan Guaido of immunity Tuesday, paving the way for the opposition leader's prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker following the Constituent Assembly's decision remains unclear. Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president's socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages .

He declared himself Venezuela's interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader.

A defiant Guaido spoke publicly moments after the vote, saying he's undeterred, while knowing he runs the risk of being "kidnapped" by the Maduro government.

"We are aware of that," Guaido said. "But we will not change our path."

He cited low wages driving millions abroad and the spate of blackouts that have crippled the nation's public transportation, water services and communications.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio  who has Trump's ear on Venezuela policy  said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaido as his country's legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduro's government to "abduct" him as a coup.

"And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly," Rubio said on Twitter.

However, the vote against Guaido was unanimous, and Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

Story continues

"They don't care about the deaths," Cabello said. "They don't have the slightest idea ??what the consequences of war are for a country."

The Constituent Assembly, which is made up entirely of Maduro loyalists, met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered it to strip Guaido's immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general. The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence through street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

The Constitution guarantees immunity for elected officials, and says that in order to withdraw immunity the accused lawmaker must be given a preliminary hearing before the Supreme Court. The action must be approved by the National Assembly  steps that weren't taken in Guaido's case.

The Constitutional Assembly was created two years ago, when Maduro became frustrated by the democratically elected and opposition-dominated National Assembly rejected the president's policies. Its creation essentially replaced the National Assembly, rendering it powerless.

Guaido has dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate, and continued his calls for Maduro to step down.

Guaido has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and Tuesday night's vote was but the latest instance of that. Officials have jailed his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, and accused him of involvement in a "terrorist" scheme to overthrow the government. Maduro's government also barred Guaido from holding public office for 15 years for allegedly hiding or falsifying data in his sworn statement of assets.

The opposition leader, however, has drawn masses of Venezuelans into the streets and garnered broad international support, demanding Maduro give up rule of the crisis-wracked nation.

Defying the court order, Guaido left the country in late February for a ten-day tour of South America, meeting with foreign leaders who support the Venezuelan opposition and who reject Maduro's election last year for a second six-year term.

Maduro blames Washington of attempting a coup to overthrow him and install Guaido's puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the Maduro government may be assessing its strength amid the global community.

"This seems like an attempt to test the waters, weighing how the international community would react to detaining Guaido," Ramsey said. "The government is reasserting its authority while also sending a clear signal to the opposition: we are in control."

___

Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda and Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this story.Riddle me this; whats better than a bouquet of roses? Youre right, its a bouquet of roses wrapped in cash money.

Thats exactly what the self-proclaimed boss-lady Zari Hassan has received as her new and monied man continues to pull out all the stops to make her happy, albeit materially.

Zaris new mystery man, who she fondly refers to as King Bae or Papichulo, has been spoiling the mom of five silly that she couldnt help but be petty by thanking her ex, Tanzanian Bongo star Diamond Platnumz, for cheating on her.

Thank you for playing me ex. Couldnt have seen better, Zari wrote on social media after King Bae gifted her with a red Ferrari.

In addition to littering Zaris compound in South Africa with a collection of high-end vehicles, another of King Baes signature romantic gesture has been sending bouquets of flowers to his damsel; one would be forgiven to think the South African man is a horticulturist who grows his own roses as a hobby.

Either way, Zari doesnt seem to mind as long as she gets to rub it on the faces of naysayers who claimed that she had bought herself flowers on Valentines Day.

About a fortnight ago, Zari flaunted another bouquet of roses and wrote; He said, when he does, he goes big. Didnt know he meant this big??.

Well, what Zari didnt know then is that King Bae can go even bigger. He has now sent red roses arranged in a heart-shaped bouquet, with each flower wrapped in a 200-Rand note (KSh1,400).

Even Zari was struggling to understand what she did to deserve all this.

Posting a snap of the monied red roses on her Insta, Zari gushed; What did I do to deserve all this? My heart is so thankful & full my Love. Love is a precious thing and am blessed to love and have the love from a great man like yourself. I love you Bae?

Check it out below. I think its safe to say that haters will Tetema.Juan Guaido, recognised by more than 50 nations as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela, was stripped of his parliamentary immunity on Tuesday - REUTERS

The Venezuelan government has stripped president Nicolas Maduro's rival Juan Guaido of his parliamentary immunity, opening the door for his possible arrest and prosecution.

Mr Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled national assembly, declared himself president on January 23 and has been recognised as Venezuelas legitimate leader by more than 50 countries.

Until now, Mr Maduro has given Mr Guaido a remarkably free rein, unwilling to risk antagonising supporters of the 35 year old  including the United States and neighbouring Colombia and Brazil.

On Tuesday, however, the constituent assembly  a pro-Maduro rival parliament to the national assembly  voted unanimously to strip Mr Guaido of his immunity, on the recommendation of the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Mr Maduros allies argued that Mr Guaido should be prosecuted for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general. He is also accused of inciting violence through street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

Venezuelas foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, on a visit to drum up support for Mr Maduro in Beirut and then Syria, warned on Wednesday that Mr Guaido was in breach of the constitution and the judiciary had to "take care" of it.

Mr Guaido, however, brushed off the threat.

The regime believes that by attacking me, they will stop us, he told supporters outside his house on Tuesday night. Theres no way back in this process.

He said that he knows he now runs the risk of being kidnapped by Mr Maduros allies. His chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, was snatched from his home at 2am on March 21, and is being held on terrorism charges.

Mr Maduro has so far stopped short of detaining Mr Guaido himself, but the youthful politician said he knew it was a possibility.

"We are aware of that," he said. "But we will not change our path."

Juan Guaido's wife Fabiana Rosales, at the White House on March 27

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Mr Guaido is harmed, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio - who has Mr Trump's ear on Venezuela policy - said nations should take any attempt by Mr Maduro's government to "abduct" him as a coup.

Story continues

"And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter and dealt with accordingly," said Mr Rubio.

However, Diosdado Cabello, the head of the constituent assembly and one of the most powerful men in Venezuela, accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

"They don't care about the deaths," said Mr Cabello. "They don't have the slightest idea what the consequences of war are for a country."

Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the Maduro government may be assessing its strength within the global community.

"This seems like an attempt to test the waters, weighing how the international community would react to detaining Guaido," he said.

"The government is reasserting its authority while also sending a clear signal to the opposition: we are in control."Handout/Reuters

Nearly four years after nine men died and another 20 were injured in a brutal melee at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas, the local district attorney announced Tuesday that he will dismiss the remaining 24 cases involved in the shootingeffectively closing the criminal matter that began on May 17, 2015.

On that hot and bloody Sunday, a gun battle broke out between members of the Bandidos and Cossacks motorcycle clubs at a quiet outdoor shopping mall.

In the aftermath of the shootout, officials said they found more than 300 weapons in the kitchen areas, between sacks of flour and in bags of tortilla chips, inside vehicles, and even down the toilets of the restaurant, which has since shuttered.

Outside, blood pooled and bodies were draped between hundreds of motorcycles as men and women were lined up to be handcuffed.

More than 200 people were shuttled on city buses to the citys convention center to be detained, most were transferred to the McLennan County Jail where 177 were held on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity in lieu of $1 million bonds. Motorcyclists and others were heavily critical of the mass arrests.

A grand jury chose to indict 155 of those people, but only one man, Bandidos Dallas County chapter president Jacob Carrizal, was tried by former District Attorney Abel Reyna. That case ended in a mistrial in November 2017, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Carrizals case is among those that are to be dismissed, the Tribune-Herald reports.

McLennan County District Attorney Barry Johnson, who won against Reyna in the most recent election, was heavily critical of the former district attorney in his press statement. Johnson reportedly took over the case in January when he assumed office.

Following the indictments, the prior district attorney had the time and opportunity to review and assess the admissible evidence to determine the full range of charges that could be brought against each individual who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl, and to charge only those offenses where the admissible evidence would support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Johnson said in a press statement.

Story continues

In my opinion, had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences against many of those who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl, he continued.

Over the next three years the prior district attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day, Johnson added.

Clint Broden, who represented five criminal defendants involved in the case, said in a statement on Tuesday: We are, of course, pleased with the actions of the new District Attorney Barry Johnson and applaud him for his efforts. On the other hand, the fact that this case is going on four years is a true miscarriage of justice. Many lives of those falsely accused were irreparably damaged by former District Attorney Abel Reyna not to mention the victims and their families who were denied justice from those actually responsible.

In the end, my clients are certainly relieved but the anger from the false arrests will never go away, he added.

Dallas attorney Don Tittle, who represents about 120 of the bikers in their civil lawsuits, told the Tribune-Heralds Tommy Witherspoon that things would have gone differently if law enforcement had stuck with the original plan to focus on individuals who might have been involved in the violence and let the rest of the motorcyclists go after being interviewed.

He added, Its hard to imagine that turning the operation into a dragnet wasnt a major distraction for the investigation, not to mention a public that grew increasingly skeptical as this thing played out. All this for an ill-advised attempt to prove an imaginary conspiracy theory, which to this day theres not a shred of evidence to support.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereWashington (AFP) - Some 25 White House officials including top advisors of President Donald Trump were given security clearances despite staff recommendations against it, a whistleblower has told Congress.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said in a letter Monday that White House security official Tricia Newbold detailed to his panel "grave breaches of national security at the highest levels of the Trump Administration."

None of the 25 were named, but in his letter, addressed to White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Cummings requested information relating to clearances for National Security Advisor John Bolton, former national security advisor Michael Flynn, Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and several other top security officials.

He also said he would subpoena Carl Kline, Newbold's former superior at the White House Personnel Security Office, to testify to the committee on the clearances, along with other officials.

Newbold told the committee that the Personnel Security Office recommended against security clearances -- which allow access to top secret materials -- for the 25, Cummings said.

Two of them were top-level officials in national security.

Newbold told the committee that the recommendations for denial were for serious questions involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, personal conduct issues, financial problems, drug use, and criminal acts.

But the 18-year veteran of the White House said they were pressured to change their recommendations and overruled by Kline and higher-ups.

And when she pressed the issues, Kline and others retaliated against her, she said, including suspending her without pay for two weeks in early February.

"I would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security," Newbold told the committee.

"I want it known that this is a systematic... issue," she said.

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- Interim clearances questioned -

Questions about security clearances have been raised ever since Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

Flynn was forced out of the White House within weeks after questions were raised about his private discussions with Russia's US ambassador, as well as other foreign business dealings.

Kushner, who with his wife were made top presidential advisors, also raised warning lights due to his overseas business ties and a looming debt problem that was a potential conflict of interest.

Asked about the clearance issue on Fox's "The Ingraham Angle" on Monday night, Kushner declined to "comment for the White House's process."

"But what I can say is that over the last few years that I've been here, I've been accused of all different types of things, and all of those things have turned out to be false," he said.

"I disclosed all of my holdings for the Office of Government Ethics, and what I did with them is they told me what to divest, what to keep, what rules to follow. We followed all that," Kushner said.

Last year the White House was also questioned about the security clearance granted to Trump aide Rob Porter despite domestic abuse allegations from two ex-wives.

In testimony to the committee, Newbold described the Trump White House as far more lax on security issues that previous presidents she had worked for.

An abnormally large number of staffers had interim security clearances for long periods, including several for the highest level of secrecy classification that granted them access to "sensitive compartmented information," or SCI.

Other government agencies, she said, questioned why the White House had so many individuals with interim SCI clearances.

A number of those individuals, she told the committee, eventually were denied permanent clearances, including two high-level officials. But in the meantime they had gained access to some of the most restricted intelligence the government has.Want to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card!

One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. To keep the lesson grounded in practicality, we'll use ROE to better understand Greene King plc (LON:GNK).

Over the last twelve months Greene King has recorded a ROE of 7.3%. Another way to think of that is that for every 1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn 0.073.

View our latest analysis for Greene King

How Do I Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit  Shareholders' Equity

Or for Greene King:

7.3% = UK156m  UK2.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to October 2018.)

It's easy to understand the 'net profit' part of that equation, but 'shareholders' equity' requires further explanation. It is all the money paid into the company from shareholders, plus any earnings retained. The easiest way to calculate shareholders' equity is to subtract the company's total liabilities from the total assets.

What Does Return On Equity Signify?

Return on Equity measures a company's profitability against the profit it has kept for the business (plus any capital injections). The 'return' is the yearly profit. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, all else equal, investors should like a high ROE. Clearly, then, one can use ROE to compare different companies.

Does Greene King Have A Good ROE?

Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. If you look at the image below, you can see Greene King has a lower ROE than the average (9.4%) in the Hospitality industry classification.

Story continues

LSE:GNK Past Revenue and Net Income, April 3rd 2019

That certainly isn't ideal. We'd prefer see an ROE above the industry average, but it might not matter if the company is undervalued. Nonetheless, it could be useful to double-check if insiders have sold shares recently.

How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?

Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first and second cases, the ROE will reflect this use of cash for investment in the business. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used.

Combining Greene King's Debt And Its 7.3% Return On Equity

Greene King clearly uses a significant amount debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.10. Its ROE isn't too bad, but it would probably be very disappointing if the company had to stop using debt. Debt increases risk and reduces options for the company in the future, so you generally want to see some good returns from using it.

In Summary

Return on equity is one way we can compare the business quality of different companies. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE.

But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So I think it may be worth checking this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

But note: Greene King may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.



If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.A New York woman says she was fired last week from her job as a middle school math teacher after a student came into possession of an old topless photo of her without her consent.

Lauren Miranda's firing amounted to sex discrimination, attorney John Ray said in a press release announcing a lawsuit against Suffolk County's South Country School District.

"Lauren Miranda was an excellent math teacher by all accounts," Ray said in a written statement. "Long ago, she sent her topless unremarkable selfie to her companion, never to anyone else. By unknown means, a student obtained it. The school district took possession of it, excoriated her, and fired her because her breasts were displayed. This would never have happened to a male teacher."

Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox

Ray's law firm has released the selfie to the media and provided court documents claiming that the Long Island district had objectified women in its handling of the situation. The district claimed Miranda was not a good role model because of the photo, the documents say.

The photo surfaced in January, and Miranda was terminated last week after she had been placed on administrative leave, the law firm claims.

My career has been ruined, my reputation has been tarnished, I have been stigmatized, The Washington Post quotes Miranda. Everything I have worked so hard for since I was 18 years old has been stolen from me because of one innocuous selfie.

Superintendent Joseph Giani told USA TODAY that the district would not comment on active litigation.

Miranda, 25, took the photo in 2016 and sent it to a romantic partner who also worked at the school, New York City TV station Pix11 reported. She said she does not know how a student came into possession of the photo.

Miranda is seeking $3 million in damages from the school district, documents from Ray, Mitev & Associates, LLP show.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York teacher, fired for a years-old topless selfie, claims sex discrimination in $3M lawsuitWant to participate in a research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and earn a $60 gift card!

One of the best investments we can make is in our own knowledge and skill set. With that in mind, this article will work through how we can use Return On Equity (ROE) to better understand a business. We'll use ROE to examine Zhi Sheng Group Holdings Limited (HKG:8370), by way of a worked example.

Zhi Sheng Group Holdings has a ROE of 3.2%, based on the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every HK$1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn HK$0.032.

View our latest analysis for Zhi Sheng Group Holdings

How Do I Calculate Return On Equity?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit  Shareholders' Equity

Or for Zhi Sheng Group Holdings:

3.2% = CN5.0m  CN158m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.)

It's easy to understand the 'net profit' part of that equation, but 'shareholders' equity' requires further explanation. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. You can calculate shareholders' equity by subtracting the company's total liabilities from its total assets.

What Does Return On Equity Signify?

ROE measures a company's profitability against the profit it retains, and any outside investments. The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that the higher the ROE, the more profitable the company is. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. Clearly, then, one can use ROE to compare different companies.

Does Zhi Sheng Group Holdings Have A Good Return On Equity?

One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, Zhi Sheng Group Holdings has a lower ROE than the average (11%) in the Commercial Services industry.

Story continues

SEHK:8370 Past Revenue and Net Income, April 3rd 2019

That certainly isn't ideal. We prefer it when the ROE of a company is above the industry average, but it's not the be-all and end-all if it is lower. Nonetheless, it might be wise to check if insiders have been selling.

The Importance Of Debt To Return On Equity

Companies usually need to invest money to grow their profits. The cash for investment can come from prior year profits (retained earnings), issuing new shares, or borrowing. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt required for growth will boost returns, but will not impact the shareholders' equity. In this manner the use of debt will boost ROE, even though the core economics of the business stay the same.

Combining Zhi Sheng Group Holdings's Debt And Its 3.2% Return On Equity

One positive for shareholders is that Zhi Sheng Group Holdings does not have any net debt! It's hard to argue its ROE is much good, but the fact that no debt was used is some comfort. At the end of the day, when a company has zero debt, it is in a better position to take future growth opportunities.

In Summary

Return on equity is a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. Companies that can achieve high returns on equity without too much debt are generally of good quality. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt.

But when a business is high quality, the market often bids it up to a price that reflects this. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. So I think it may be worth checking this free this detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow .

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.



If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.A court martial sitting in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, has convicted Martins Owerem of the Nigerian air force (NAF), of raping a 14-year old internally displaced person (IDP).

Owerem was said to have defiled the girl when he was officer in charge of the special force battalion, near Bakassi IDP camp, in 2018.

Thereafter, the convict was charged with defilement, assault and disobedient to standing order.

Earlier, Aminu Mairuwa, prosecution counsel, told the court that the convict on September 29, 2018, while on patrol duty at Kawon Jiya community in the outskirts of Maiduguri, arrested some girls who were collecting firewood, on the pretext that they crossed into a restricted area.

The court martial

Mairuwa said the convict took one of the girls into the bush and raped her.

However, Abbas Abba, defense counsel, sought for leniency for the convict in view of his selfless service and contributions in the counter insurgency campaign.

In his ruling, Yakubu Auta, president of the court, held that the court found Owerem guilty on the two count charges of rape and assault.

He added that the court also found the officer guilty on the first and second-count charge, while it discharged and acquitted him on the third-count charge.

Auta held that the prosecution, through five witnesses and four exhibits, have proved their case beyond reasonable doubts.

The judge, therefore, ordered dismissal of the convict from service on the first count charge.

KINDLY DROP A COMMENT BELOWHome | News | General | Senator Omo-Agege moves to succeed Ekweremadu as deputy senate president

- Senator Omo-Agege has indicated his interest to serve as the deputy senate president for the 9th Assembly

- The senator is currently participating in a two-week induction programme being organised by the National Assembly management for members and senators- elect

- Omo-Agege said he will soon declare for the office of the deputy senate president following calls and support from colleagues to vie for the position

The senator representing Delta central senatorial district, Ovie Omo-Agege, has said that he is the most qualified candidate for the office of the deputy senate president at the 9th Senate.

Omo-Agege who is currently participating in a two-week induction programme being organised by the National Assembly management for members and senators- elect at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja said he will soon declare for the office of the deputy senate president following calls and support from colleagues for the position.

The Senator said bearing in mind that the position for the DSP has been zoned to the south south by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) which controls majority in the Senate, he would want to use he opportunity to restore the greatness of the Nigerian government.

READ ALSO: INEC halts collation of Rivers election results, to continue on April 3

Senator Omo-Agege has indicated his interest to serve as the deputy senate president for the 9th Assembly.

Source: UGC

Omo-Agege who is also visibly seen lobbying colleagues at the event said with his position, he will fairly ensure that all Nigerians irrespective of where they come from partake of the envisaged change.

Information obtained by Legit.ng from the secrretariat of the Omo-Agege's campaign oragnisation showed that the Senator believes that with a larger majority of APC members in the upper chamber, the Senate can partner with the executive to speedily move Nigeria to the "next level" and deliver the people.

He said: "There is no doubt that our nation faces huge problems of insecurity, unemployment, infrastructural deficit and corruption."

"The men and women of the 9th Senate are up to this challenge provided, we remain committed to working for the good of the people," Omo-Agege said.

READ ALSO: Breaking: JAMB releases results of 2019 mock UTME

Adding that he is prepared to work with everyone in the 9th Senate as a confidant and partner, Omo-Agege said the upper chamber will serve the people better in the discharge of its duties in check and balances without antagonising with the executive while maintaining its independence.

The senator is currently participating in a two-week induction programme being organised by the National Assembly management for members and senators- elect

Source: UGC

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Omo-Agege had restated that his re-election victory in the February 23 National Assembly poll remains valid and legitimate.

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Omo-Agege said this on Saturday, March 30 in a statement by Godwin Anaughe, his senior special assistant, communications and strategy, in Abuja.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

No lawmaker is in the House of Assembly for the people - on Legit TV

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Senator Dino Melaye gifts photographer brand new Honda Accord car in Abuja (photos)

- Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye has gifted his official photographer a brand new car

- The senator who recently won his re-election bid rewarded his personal photographer, John Samuel with a car for his loyalty and dedication

Senator Dino Melaye has made sure to bless those around him following his successful re-election bid as a lawmaker in the 9th assembly. Reports reveal that the senator recently gifted his personal photographer a brand new car.

A Facebook user identified as Prince Yemi Itodo shared photos from the official car presentation which was done by a Mr Samuel Mayowa on behalf of the generous senator.

It was gathered that John Samuel is the last of the workers of the senator to receive such magnificent gift as Melaye is fond of coming through for his workers and uplifting them.

READ ALSO: Yoruba movie actress dies 10 days after giving birth

Read post below:

READ ALSO: 15 Rare But Remarkable Images Of The Royal Family

John Samuel known as Sam J Noni on Instagram has worked with the senator since his first term and has paid his dues as far as the senator is concerned.

It was out of generosity and appreciation for his hard work that Melaye decided to butter the bread of Sam who before now has been jumping cabs all around Abuja.

PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group

Meanwhile, following the conclusion of the recently conducted 2019 Nigerian polls, several elected leaders have not held back in celebrating their wins on social media.

Dino Melaye, who had taken to social media with a video to celebrate his Kogi west re-election bid. fell to his knees in the video, while he raised his voice heavily in praise to the most high, for making him emerge as the winner.

A few weeks after that incident, the senator took to Instagram to share a photo showing his customized senatorial seat.

Did you know? NAIJ.com (naija.ng) is now-> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

Nigeria News: Dino Melaye and 2019 Criminal Conspiracy on Legit TV:

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | FG condemns robbery by 5 Nigerians in Dubai

- The federal government condemned the robbery of a store in Dubia by five Nigerians

- Abike Dabiri said the actions of the Nigerians was not a reflection of the country

- The five Nigerians were arrested by security operatives

The Federal Government has condemned the action of five Nigerians arrested for alleged robbery of Dh 2.3 million Dinars in Sharjah area of Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE).

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa said this in a statement by her media aide Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun on Tuesday in Abuja.

READ ALSO: Buhari, Obasanjo meet for the first time since presidential election (photos)

The five Nigerians had on Sunday allegedly stormed a money exchange centre in Sharjah and fled with 2.3 million Dinars before they were arrested by the Dubai Police.

The five suspects who were on visitors visas to Dubai include Chimuanya Ozoh, Benjamin Ajah, Kingsley Ngoka, Tochukwu Alisi and Chile Ndunagu.

According to the police, the men barged into the exchange and smashed the glass barrier between the customers and the staff, stole the money in multiple currencies and fled.

The presidential aide said the action of the five Nigerians is condemnable.

She described the action of the Nigerians in a foreign land as despicable and shameful as it is not in accordance with good character of Nigerians.

Dabiri-Erewa, however, warned Nigerians living abroad to be good ambassadors of the country and desist from tarnishing the good image of Nigeria.

She also advised embassies to screen applicants for visa and ensure that they are of good character.

Legit.ng had reported that Abike Dabiri who is the chairman of the National Diaspora Commission has said that eight Nigerians have been executed by the Saudi Arabian government over drug-related offences.

Daily Trust reports that Dabiri revealed this on Tuesday, April 2 at the State House while also speaking about the execution of a Nigerian woman in the same country for drug trafficking.

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NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

BUSTED: Police CP seizes, burns N450m worth of hard drugs| Legit TV.

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralSupreme Court judge Jackton Boma Ojwang has been suspended with immediate effect.

In a Special Gazette notice dated March 29, 2019, President Kenyatta also nominated Justice Alnasir Visram to chair a seven-member tribunal tasked with investigating the conduct of the embattled Judge.

In the meantime, Jackton Boma Ojwang, Judge of the Supreme Court of Kenya stands suspended from exercising the functions of his office with immediate effect according to Article 168 (5) of the Constitution, read part of the notice.

Other members of the tribunal include: Justice (Rtd.) Festus Azangalala, Ambrose Weda, Andrew Bahati Mwamuye, Lucy Kambuni, Sylvia Wanjiku Muchiri and Amina Abdalla.

Uhuru also appointed Paul Nyamodi (Lead Assisting Counsel) and Stella Munyi (Assisting Counsel), as Counsel to assist the Tribunal appointed to probe Justice Ojwang.

The Head of State said Peter Kariuki and Josiah Musili will serve as Joint Secretaries to the Tribunal.

In the discharge of its functions, the Tribunal shall prepare and submit a report and its recommendations thereon to me expeditiously and exercise all the powers conferred upon it by Law for the proper execution of its mandate, Uhuru said.

President Uhuru said the decision was necessitated by allegations contained in a petition by the Judicial Service Commission of Kenya filed by Nelson Oduor Onyango and eight others presented to him regarding the conduct of the judge.

In its decision to recommend formation of a tribunal, JSC said: The commission found that the petition disclosed sufficient ground to warrant a recommendation to the President to set up a tribunal for the removal of Justice Ojwang and accordingly adopted it.

JSC, in its petition, accused Jackton Ojwang of gross misconduct, impropriety, conflict of interest and breach of the judicial code of conduct.

Justice Ojwang is alleged to have issued a favourable ruling in a Sony Sugar belt case that Governor Okoth Obado supposedly had interests in. In exchange, Obado tarmacked a road leading to the judges rural home.Home | News | General | PDP leads in 13 out of 15 LGAs so far collated in Rivers governorship election

- INEC has resumed collation of the elections in Rivers state

- The PDP is leading in 13 out of 15 local government areas in which results have been collated so far

- The PDP has so far polled 426,279 votes while the AAC got 129,855 votes

- The collation process has been halted and will continue on Wednesday, April 3, according to INEC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is currently leading in 13 out of 15 local government areas in which results of the Rivers rescheduled governorship elections have been collated.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had suspended the process on March 10, including the state assembly elections.

The commission, which cited alleged disruption of the process by some persons in military uniform as reason for the suspension, had set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the matter.

READ ALSO: Buhari, Obasanjo meet for the first time since presidential election (photos)

The INEC later issued a statement, announcing that resumed collation and announcement of the results would hold between April 2 and 5 for 17 local government areas.

From the collations and results released so far, the PDP has won in areas including Port Harcourt City, Ikwere, Andoni, Eleme, Opobo-Nkoro, and Bonny local government areas.

The party also won in Okirika and Omuma, Tai, Ahoada East, Emoha, Etche and Ogba/Egbema/Onelga local government areas.

Meanwhile, the African Alliance Congress (AAC) won in Akuku-Toru and Oyibo local government areas.

According to the results released, the PDP has so far polled 426,279 votes while the AAC got 129,855 votes.

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Meanwhile, INEC has reportedly halted the collation process. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Obo Effanga, announced this on Tuesday, April 2, at the collation centre in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

According to her, the electoral body will continue with the exercise at 10am on Wednesday, April 3.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

Suspected political thugs hijack ballot materials in Rivers state | Legit TV

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Kidnappings: Kaduna government orders intensive security patrols on Abuja, Birnin Gwari highways

- The Kaduna state security council has ordered intensive security patrols on Abuja, Birnin Gwari highways

- Also, the state government said more robust security measures would be adopted to secure all parts of the state

- Meanwhile, the government has urged residents to use the following security helplines in case of emergencies: 09034000060 and 08170189999

Following repeated attacks and kidnappings of motorists plying Kaduna-Abuja and Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highways, the Kaduna state security council has resolved to intensify patrols along the routes to minimise the attacks.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that incidences of kidnappings and armed robbery have become common along the routes, with the latest occurring on Sunday.

Reports on the latest abductions indicated that about 30 were whisked away along Kaduna-Abuja highway and 12 on Birnin Gwari road between Sunday and Monday.

READ ALSO: INEC halts collation of Rivers election results, to continue on Wednesday

Although the police have disputed the figures, a statement by its spokesman in the state, DSP Yakubu Sabo, confirmed that only three, a man and two women, travelling in a Hilux vehicle at the time were abducted.

In response to the growing insecurity, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who was away in Senegal, on Tuesday discussed the issue with the security council via teleconference, and agreed to tackle the problem head on.

According to a statement by the governors media aide, Samuel Aruwan, apart from intensive patrols, more robust security measures would be adopted to secure all parts of the state.

The government assured residents that it would continue to partner with security agencies for effective protection of their lives and properties.

The statement urged residents to use the following security helplines in case of emergencies: 09034000060 and 08170189999.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update

Present at the meeting were Brig.-Gen. OJ. Akpor, garrison commander I division, air commodore I. Sani, NAF base commander, ACP AT Abdullahi, director DSS, Ahmed Koya, and Modu Bunu, commandant NSCDC.

Others were the secretary to the state government, Balarabe Abbas-Lawal, DIG Murtala Abbas, special adviser on internal security, Adamu Mansur, permanent secretary, cabinet affairs and special services, and Aruwan.

Recall that Legit.ng had reported that the police command in Kaduna state said that report on alleged kidnap of 30 people along Abuja-Kaduna expressway was fake news and should not be believed.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have updated to serve you better

Police parade gang leader of Badoo Cult group in Lagos | Legit TV

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralThe National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says 12,974 Nigerians have voluntarily returned from Libya in two years.

The agency said the returnees were assisted back from the volatile North African country by the European Union (EU) and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Voluntary Assisted Returnees Programme which began in April 2017.

The coordinator, NEMA Lagos Territorial Office, Alhaji Idris Muhammed, made this known while receiving a fresh batch of 132 Nigerians from Libya on Tuesday night.

The Nigerians arrived the Cargo Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos aboard a chartered Buraq Air aircraft with registration number 5A-DMG at about 7.30p.m.

They arrived barely 24 hours after another batch of 180 of their compatriots returned to Nigeria from the same country.

Muhammed said they comprised of 58 female adults, two female children and four female infants as well as 59 male adults, five male children and six male infants.

According to him, the returnees came back from four major cities in Libya  Alkrarim, Misursta, Benghazi and Ghanfoda, where they had been stranded en route Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.

Muhammed thanked IOM and EU for facilitating the return of the Nigerians and assured them that the Federal Government was ready to work with development partners to create a conducive environment for young Nigerians.

He noted that this would help to curb the scourge of irregular migrations and the desperation of young people to fend for themselves.

Muhammed said the support and cooperation towards the programme by all levels of government in the country showed that all hands were on the desk to find a lasting solution to the issue.

Also speaking, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Ketil Karlsen, who witnessed the 65th flight since the programme started, said migration should be an aspiration but not desperation.

Karlsen said:  Migration, mobility and curiosity to know new places are as old as humankind itself and are natural.

What is not natural is the kind of irregular migrations that leads to wrong purposes and put peoples lives at risk.

The ambassador commended all the national and international partners who had been participating in the success story of the exercise.

He lauded the excellent tasks of IOM in the process of identifying, locating mobilising and convincing the stranded Nigerians to voluntarily return home.

Karlsen further praised the UN Migration Agency for initiating the reintegration attractions like the start-up capitals, vocational training and psychological services that had added value to the returnees.

The envoy, however, observed that the root causes of irregular migrations must be addressed.

KINDLY DROP A COMMENT BELOWHome | News | General | Khashoggi's children to get property, millions of dollars as compensation for father's killing

- Jamal Khashoggi's children have received property that are worth millions of dollars as compensation for their father's death

- In addition to the one-time compensation payment, they would also keep receiving monthly allowances, a source said.

- The children also has the power to grant clemency to the suspected killers of their father murder if they are found guilty

The children of Jamal Khashoggi have received property worth millions of dollars as a one-time compensation and huge monthly allowances for the killing of the Saudi journalist, a source has said.

The family of the murdered Saudi journalist stands to receive in total more than $70 million and assets, CNN reports.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

The source familiar with the matter also said that though the Saudi government would argue that the payments are meant to make amends, they would still not condemn the royal family over the killing.

It was also gathered that all Khashoggis four children have each been gifted homes worth as much $4 million, with the eldest son having a large home in Jeddah, while the other children were given houses in different places.

In addition to the property, Khashoggi's four children each received a one-time payment of 1 million riyals ($267,000) and will each receive a monthly stipend of $10,000 to $15,000, which would not stop coming in, the source also confirmed.

The houses, one-off payments and monthly allowances were all approved by Saudi King Salman, the source said.

It should also be noted that the prosecutors are seeking the death penalty of five of the 11 operatives that were involved in the killing of the journalist at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, October 2.

The family of the deceased journalist could also grant clemency to the killers if convicted as the Saudi justice system allows it.

Blood money paid to relatives of victims is a legal action under Sharia law where an accused pays to avoid a death penalty.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news updates

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that following the brutal killing of Saudi Arabian journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, death penalty was sought by Saudi against five suspects that were accused of murdering the journalist in the country's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.

It was reported that Saudi's public prosecutor, Saud Al-Mojeb, announced charges against six other people allegedly involved in the killing.

The prosecutor said Saudi believes that Khashoggi was given a lethal injection inside the country's consulate on October 2.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) --> Legit.ng: We have upgraded to serve you better.

Anytime anybody is against this government, something bad happens to him | Legit TV

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | We will present certificates of return to 40 members-elect of Lagos Assembly on Friday, April 5 - INEC

- The Independent National Electoral Commission in Lagos state says certificates of return will be presented to the 40 members-elect of the state House of Assembly on Friday

- INEC public relations officer, Femi Akinbiyi, says the event will take place at the INEC Lagos office in Sabo Yaba

- According to Akinbiyi, 640 candidates contested the March 9 House of Assembly election and 40 of them were elected

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos state has said it will present certificates of return to the 40 members-elect of the state House of Assembly on Friday, April 5.

The INEC public relations officer, Femi Akinbiyi, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Legit.ng notes that Akinbiyi said: The event will take place at the INEC Lagos office Sabo Yaba at 10 a. m.

READ ALSO: Ex-VP Namadi Sambo commends Buhari-led govt for improving business environment

The members were elected among the 640 candidates that contested the March 9th House of Assembly elections."

The 40 seats in the Assembly were won by candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the March 9 governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections.

INEC had on March 29 presented certificates of return to the Lagos state governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, at the commissions office in Sabo, Yaba.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state, emerged winner of the governorship election in the state, beating Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 533,304 votes.

For Agbaje, the margin of loss was higher than what he recorded in 2015 when he lost to outgoing governor, Akinwunmi Ambode. He polled 659,738 votes to Ambodes 812,394 in 2015.

Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University and state returning officer for Lagos governorship election, said that Sanwo-olu polled 739,445 votes to defeat Agbaje who scored 206,141 votes.

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The local government areas returning officers presented the results one after the other as they arrived at the collation centre before they were accepted by Ogunbodede.

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Election not a do or die affair - Sanwo-Olu| Legit TV

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Guedes nets opener as Valencia hand Real Madrid first defeat since Zidane's return as boss

Valencia defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in a tough La Liga clash on Wednesday, April 3, at Mestalla Stadium as Zinedine Zidane suffered his first defeat since returning as manager.

The encounter saw both sides ready to claim the three maximum points from the commencement of hostilities.

But after 35 minutes of action Goncalo Guedes netted the opener for the home side.

READ ALSO: Maurizio Sarri claims Europa League victory will make Chelsea fans forget boos

And despite other scoring opportunities from both teams Valencia held on to go into the first half break with a-goal lead.

In the second stanza, it was a tougher contest as the Los Blancos went in search of the equalizer, but the Los Murcielagos equal to the task thanks to the speed of Rodrigo and Guedes to counter Real Madrid.

Zinedine Zidane brought in Gareth Bale for Marco Asensio as he tried to change tactics to get the needed goal.

Isco also replaced Toni Kroos as Los Blancos went for the break

But Valencia defended nicely with their fans cheering from the stands

In the 76th minute Zidane made his final substitution after Mariano came in for Lucas Vazquez.

And six minutes later Ezequiel Garay doubled Valencia lead after Real Madrid failed to clear their lines off a corner from Dani Parejo.

On the dot of 90 minute Karim Benzema nodded home net a consolatory goal for Real Madrid.

Moments later, Los Blancos had a penalty appeal, but after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviewed the incident Sergio Ramos was ruled offside.

At the blast of the final whistle the scoreboard read Valencia 2-1 Real Madrid.

The result sees Real Madrid suffer a ninth defeat in La Liga and first since Zinedine Zidane return.

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Lionel Messi is a game changer and can destroy - Moses Simon | Legit TV

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Drama in Adamawa Assembly as speaker reportedly escapes chamber with mace in bid to prevent governor's impeachment

- The mace of the Adamawa state House of Assembly was reportedly smuggled out by the speaker on Tuesday, April 3 to avert impeachment proceedings against Gov Bindow

- The lawmakers had accused Bindow of trying to abscond from office because of some malfeasance

- The speaker managed to exit the chamber with the mace after being accused of over-protecting the governor

In order to avert impeachment proceedings against the outgoing governor of Adamawa, Mohammed Umaru Jibrilla Bindow, and the speaker of the states House of Assembly, the mace of the Assembly was hurriedly smuggled out of the Assemblys complex on Tuesday, April 3.

According to The Independent, after about a months recess, the Assembly reconvened on Tuesday to consider the executive letter from the governor, that he was proceeding on two weeks leave.

READ ALSO: Rivers guber: Your victory was hard earned - Atiku congratulates Wike

Legit.ng gathers that the proceeding, however, turned sour when several members questioned the proprietary of Bindow going on leave at such a crucial period.

They said the governor ought to stay in office to explain so many crucial issues and decisions that he took in the last four years.

The lawmakers also accused Bindow of trying to abscond from office because of some malfeasance; leading to raised tension in the Assembly.

The situation reportedly degenerated when the speaker, Kabiru Mijinyawa, was accused by the member representing Hong, Hassan Barguma, of over-protecting the governor.

Barguma requested that the speaker step in order to allow appropriate action to be taken on the governor.

Mijinyawa, however, quickly exited the chamber with the mace, with the assistance of the sergeant-at-arms.

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Legit.ng previously reported that the outgoing governor of Adamawa state, Jibrilla Bindow, conceded defeat and congratulated Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, the winner of the states governorship supplementary election which held on Thursday, March 28.

Bindow congratulated the governor-elect and further wished him a successful term of office in a state broadcast on Friday, March 29.

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The truth about Ambode's impeachment plan - on Legit TV:

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Wikes victory is a defeat of evil by good - PDP

- The PDP expressed gratitude to Rivers state people for the victory of Wike in the governorship election

- The party said the victory was a defeat of evil by good

- The PDP claimed the party had to battle the combined force of the AAC and the APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the victory of Nyesom Wike in the Rivers state governorship election as a defeat of evil by good.

The incumbent governor was declared winner of the election on Wednesday, April 4.

In a statement by the PDP, the party said Wike had to battle anti-people forces of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the African Action Congress (AAC).

READ ALSO: Governor Wike declared winner of Rivers governorship election

The party said Wikes victory was also a victory to the people against what it described as evil.

The statement reads:

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describes Governor Nyesom Wikes victory at the Rivers Governorship election as victory for the people of Rivers State and the triumph of good over evil.

The party says Governor Wikes record 700,000 votes margin of victory over the disgraced combined anti-people forces of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the African Action Congress (AAC) and compromised security agencies speaks volume of the resilience of the people of Rivers State in the face of intimidations, harassment and manipulations by oppressive forces.

The victory reinforces the confidence of the people in the resoluteness of asserting their democratic choice of leadership as well as standing in defence of their mandate to the end.

It also demonstrates that the will of the people will always prevail against every form of suppression as were eminently manifested in the desperation by the APC leaders, particularly, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to forcefully and violently take over control of the state against the wish of the people.

The party salutes and venerates all compatriots who were killed by agents of the oppressors during the election. These compatriots did not die in vain and those who shed their innocent blood will surely be brought to book.

The PDP commends Governor Wike, the people of Rivers State and all lovers of democracy across the board for standing firm until the very end to hand this disgraceful defeat to the enemies of the people.

The PDP congratulates all our candidates, who won their elections at all levels across the country and assures those pursuing their stolen mandates at the tribunals that the party is fully behind them, given that they all have water tight cases at the courts.

Recall that Wike called on elected senators of the state to work towards promoting the interest of Rivers people because they were elected on the premise of the Supreme Sacrifice of the people.

In a statement by his special assistant on electronic media Wike said people of the state sacrificed their lives for the victory of the PDP during the 2019 general elections, noting that on no account should they be relegated to the background.

He made this known on Tuesday, April 3, when the state PDP agents presented the official INEC results east and west senatorial districts to the party at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

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Suspected political thugs hijack ballot materials in Rivers state | Legit TV:

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Rivers guber: Your victory was hard earned, Nigeria needs men like you - Atiku congratulates Wike

- Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has congratulated Governor Nyesom Wike on his victory in the gubernatorial election in Rivers state

- The former vice president said the PDP is blessed to have a political gladiator like Wike on its side

- Atiku said Nigeria needs men like Wike, who has proven that he has character under trial

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections has congratulated Governor Nyesom Wike on his victory in the states gubernatorial election.

In a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday, April 4, the former vice president said Wike overcame anti-democratic forces and described the governors victory as hard-earned, Tribune reports.

READ ALSO: 9th Assembly: S/East wont beg for Senate presidency, House speakership - Iwuanyanwu

Legit.ng gathers that Atiku said the PDP is blessed to have a political gladiator like Wike.

He said: My hearty congratulations to Governor Nyesom Wike on your hard earned re-election. It gives me much pleasure to see a political force for good, such as yourself, overcome the anti-democratic forces of dictatorship and oppression.

The Peoples Democratic Party is blessed to have a political gladiator, such as yourself, on our side. The citizens of Rivers state are fortunate to have a genuine progressive return to extend the frontiers of progress and development for them.

And I am favoured to count you, Governor Wike, as my friend and brother, and Rivers state as my second home.

As your victory is savoured by men of goodwill all over Nigeria, I am sure you will continue the pattern of good works for which you have become known.

Nigeria needs men like you. Men who can remain firm, unbowed and resolute in the face of trying times. You have proved that you have character under trial, and not just when the going is good.

Such refinement will stand you in good stead as, by the grace of God, you finish the good work you have started in Rivers state.

Congratulations once again and may God bless Rivers state and her people and may God bless Nigeria and Nigerians.

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Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that Nyesom Wike of the PDP was declared winner of the Rivers state governorship election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the result of the election on Wednesday at the collation centre in Port Harcourt.

The incumbent governor scored 886,264 votes to defeat Biokpomabo Awara of the African Action Congress (AAC) who polled 173, 859 votes.

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Suspected political thugs hijack ballot materials in Rivers state - on Legit TV:

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Corruption: President Buhari sends message to finance ministry on what to do with recovered asset

- President Muhammadu Buhari directed that all recovered assets be sold

- This is expected to affect politicians and some government officials

- Some assets were dozen in the fight against corruption

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the ministry of finance to sell all recovered and liability-free assets in six months.

According to The Cable, this was revealed on Wednesday, April 4 by Udoma Udo Udoma, the minister of budget and national planning, while briefing the House of Representatives joint committee on finance, appropriation, planning and economic development.

READ ALSO: Governor Wike declared winner of Rivers governorship election

This development is likely to affect politicians and former government officials as President Buharis anti-corruption fight has resulted in the confiscation of some assets.

He said: The Ministry of Finance, working with all the relevant authorities, has been authorized to take action to liquidate all recovered, unencumbered assets within six months.

The Department of Petroleum Resources has been directed to, within three months, complete the collection of past-due oil license and royalty charges, including those due from Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) (a subsidiary of NNPC), which it had agreed to pay since 2017.

Udoma told the lawmakers that the president has directed that work should be concluded on the deployment of the National Trade Window to enhance customs collections efficiency from the current 64% to up to 90% over the next few years.

He said the non-implementation of some one-off items led to the governments inability to meet its revenue target in 2018.

Mr. President has directed the NNPC to take all possible measures to achieve the targeted oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day.

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Meanwhile, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), the lead defence counsel for Fred Ajudua, a former Lagos socialite and alleged serial conman has alleged that the 8.4 million dollars Lt-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, a former Chief of Army Staff gave his client was initially to be used to bribe Lagos state judges and judicial officers.

Ojo made the allegation while cross-examining Bamaiyi on Wednesday, April 3, at an Ikeja high court at the ongoing trial of Ajudua over the alleged fraud, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The EFCC stage a walk against corruption | Legit TV

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CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHillary Mutyambai is well on his way to becoming the next Inspector General of the National Police Service after his nomination was approved by the National Assembly and the Senate.

The administration and national security committees of both houses on Tuesday tabled their report before Parliament commending Hillary Mutyambai.

The vetting committee said he demonstrated vast experience in policing, security, intelligence and investigation.

The nominee informed the Committee that he will fast-track the full operationalization of the forensic laboratory at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters, for effective and efficient investigations of cases of crime, reads part of the report.

The committee further noted that Mutyambai had not been charged in a court of law previously and has no potential conflict of interest.

The report adds that The nominee was cleared by the Credit Reference Bureau, the Higher Education Loans Board, Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Kenya Revenue Authority and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, therefore making him fit to hold public office.

The 55-year-old, who has 27 years of investigative and law enforcement experience, is the current Deputy Director Counter-Terrorism at the National Intelligence Service.

The nominee also informed the Committees that he will serve the people of Kenya diligently irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds and that he will adhere to the provisions of Article 10 of the Constitution on national values and principles of good governance, the reports reads.

The nominee informed the Committees that he has experience and capacity to identify criminal elements and handle the emergence of criminal gangs.

The tabled report is expected to be debated today, Wednesday 3.

President Uhuru nominated Mr Hillary Mutyambai following the retirement of Joseph Boinnet who was appointed the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife  in an Executive Order dated March 13, 2019.

Born in 1964 in Machakos, Mutyambai 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.Home | World | Africa | IMF team in Zimbabwe for second staff-monitored programme talks

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is in Zimbabwe for a second staff-monitored programme (SMP) that seeks to consider possibilities of opening new credit lines.

Following years of global isolation and the refusal to offer credit lines to the country by the Bretton Woods institutions, the re-engagement exercise is beginning to yield the desired results.

While the IMF has restored technical expertise to the country, it is the resumption of credit lines which is under the spotlight.

According to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube, the IMF team is in the country for discussions with the government on key developmental issues.

"They (IMF) are in the country and we anticipate that the talks will go a long way towards increasing confidence and paving way for new avenues of growth," said Professor Ncube.

He said the reengagement process with the IMF is being made when the government is also forging ahead with fiscal and monetary reforms.

"We have introduced the interbank market and other forces of economic systems that we anticipate will go a long way in the revival of this economy and shape the destiny of the future," he added.

The IMF recommendations or outcome of its visit to Zimbabwe are expected to be released by end of this week.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: AfricaHome | World | Africa | Govt renovates Matapi Flats

Residents of Matapi flats in Mbare have expressed their profound gratitude to government and the City of Harare for the work being done in renovating the flats and making the place habitable.

At the mention of Matapi, Matererini, Magaba and Chishawasha flats in Mbare what comes to mind is a dirty place, but that is now a thing of the past.

Located in one of Harare's oldest suburbs, the place had become an eyesore.

Following President Emmerson Mnangagwa's tour last year after Matapi Block 4 was gutted by fire, an investor FGC approached government and partnered the City of Harare to renovate the flats.

"We want to transform this place and after we are done it will be a completely new place which the residents will be proud of, we will also work on the ablution facilities," said Mr Etherton of FCG.

The flats have been painted outside as well as the inside corridors, and window panes are being replaced.

After assessing the progress, the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Honourable Jennifer Mhlanga praised the work being done.

"Government is really impressed by the work being done here, the place has totally transformed as you can see," said Mhlanga.

Some residents who spoke to ZBC News appreciated the work being done pledging to maintain the place in a hygienic manner.

"Tinotenda zvikuru, musha wedu wanaka and tichauchengetedza, hopefully zvirwere zvichaitawo zvishoma. (We are very grateful, our home is now habitable and we will maintain it, we hope there will be a reduction in the spread of diseases),," said one of the residents.

The residents are happy and the partners say after they are done Mbare will be completely transformed.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: AfricaHome | World | Africa | UZ students snub Zupco, complain over kombi fare hikes

Kombi fares for University of Zimbabwe students were hiked to $1,50 from $1, causing an uproar amongst students not resident at the institution.

However, the university has said the students have themselves to blame after rejecting cheaper transport offered to them by Zupco.

Despite the college authorities making some efforts previously for the provision of the bus, the students are appealing again for the reintroduction of the bus programme.

Dean of students Munyaradzi Madambi said they had negotiated with the ZUPCO authorities to provide a bus for students.

"We negotiated with ZUPCO several times to cater for the transportation of students and the bus came but the students preferred the kombis saying there were faster, reliable and convenient.

"We are trying as much as possible to negotiate with the authorities responsible for transport but unfortunately we have no control over price hikes.

"When the students demonstrated last year due to kombi hikes, we engaged the authorities responsible for transport and a reasonable price was put in place, that is 1 $RTGS to and from the Central Business District," he said.

Madambi said the institution was working on a shuttle system so as to make sure that students have affordable transport.

"We are working on the shuttle system whereby students will get free transport to and from town and this will help our students but it is still work in progress.

"The university provides transport for students if they are going for trips or training," said Madambi.

Some students have hailed the Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Advocate Fortunate Chasi over the provision of the Zupco transport for students as a way to assist in transport challenges. Some took it to social media appealing to the authorities for affordable transport.

Here are some of the Twitter comments:

little champion8@ComfortMaoneke:Dear Hon @fortunechasi Words cannot express how grateful we are for your help. You were there for us when we needed it the most. Thank you for everything that you've done to help us on ZUPCO issue. Dear Uz students I hope muchakwira bhazi racho ravapo pana Rezende.

Leroy Madhosi@LeroyMadhosi @fortunechasi: As the income-less UZ students we need help. We are being charged up to 2.50 for bus fares and we need the Zupco programme.

Shingy Makwembere@Ropa5284125: Action is needed ASAP, how can a 35 mins journey from Budiriro to town cost $1 whilst an eight minutes journey from town to UZ Campus cost $1.50? We are still students please.

 @tah_fah10: Advocate tipeiwo Zupco pa UZ tafa nema $1.50

Alexander Rusero @AlexanderRusero@fortunechasi : Are you aware that UZ students are walking to Second Street in search of private lifts. They cannot afford the recent kombi hike of between $1.50 and $2. A ZUPCO initiative at UZ will surely help!

Adv Beaven Bizah@Beaven_Bizah @fortunechasi: Morning Advocate Chibabest, on behalf of UZ students we are kindly asking for your assistance to have a ZUPCO operating from Rezende to campus, kombis have hiked fares again.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: AfricaA STRIP dancer with Harare based dance group, Nice and Exotic has been arrested for reportedly 'raping' a mentally unstable man in Chinhoyi.

The dancer identified as Evernice is suspected to have been enticed by the size of the man's privates before she lured him into a private room.

Whilst in the room, she allegedly had sex with the victim.

The incident occurred on Friday around 5pm where Evernice had gone to perform along with her fellow dancers.

She remained in Chinhoyi and she has been charged.

Mashonaland West provincial police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara confirmed the arrest but said he is yet to be furnished with more details.

"I was trying to look for the facts and I haven't received them but get in touch with me on Monday morning (today).

"The incident occurred at Alaska Township Mine in Chinhoyi," he said.

Dancers Association of Zimbabwe (DAZ), President Harpers Mapimhidze, confirmed the incident and blasted the dancer for tarnishing the name of the association.

"We condemn and don't tolerate such behaviour by a dancer and we don't expect this in the future.

"She took advantage of the man's condition to quench her appetite," said Mapimhidze.

A close source to the incident said:

"It was on Friday last week around 5pm when the man was making some funny moves.

"He was exposing his privates and he has a big private organ which Evernice got attracted to and she then got interested to get close to the victim.

"She wanted to see kuti munhu wacho anogona kuchishandisa here chinhu chake.

"She then took him to a room where she slept with him."

Added the source:

"After she finished indulging in sex with him, mukomana wacho akabva atanga kunyara nyara, before he told people that he had had sex with the accused.

"A counsellor was quickly called before police also came to the scene and took her to the cells.

"She was on stage, and she was advised to run away since she had committed an offence by sleeping with a person who is not well.

"She refused to run away saying that he was the one who had slept with her," said the source.

Another source said:

"She took him inside the room at around 5pm and came out around to 6pm and we are not sure if she used protection in indulging in sex with him.

"She took advantage of the mentally unstable man and had sex with him."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: AfricaHome | World | Africa | Opposition leader who wanted to arrest Mnangagwa freed

The High Court on Wednesday ended the three-week detention of Tinashe Jonas, leader of Ideal Zimbabwe party.

Jonas who was represented by members of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights was freed by the High Court after granting him $500 bail.

Jonas had been in prison since 12 March after he was detained for undermining the authority of or insulting President Mnangagwa

It is alleged that he made the following statements regarding President Mnangagwa, "Mnangagwa has killed thirty thousand people. Why would people defend that maybe he could not kill maybe one or two people? It's on record. Mnangagwa cancan open a police case and then I can face him in court and prove to him that he is a killer.

"If he can cheat his advisor Christopher Mutsvangwa. Mnangagwa can have a child with his advisor's wife, that Monica Mutsvangwa, is in a five-star hotel. Mnangagwa is bankrolling his girlfriend who is the wife of his adviser.

"I want to warn Emmerson Mnangagwa and say I give you six months to resign and you and this bleaching moron Chiwenga should also resign in the next six months."

Jonas has invited President Mnangagwa to come and defend himself against the allegations.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: AfricaHome | World | Africa | MDC Vanguard leader arrested, accused of shooting Zanu-PF activist with AK47

MDC youth assembly leader Shakespeare Mukoyi was arrested on Monday accused of shooting a Zanu-PF activist two days after a nationwide strike over fuel prices in January, his lawyer said.

Mukoyi is accused of shooting the unnamed Zanu-PF supporter in the thigh with an AK47 while dressed in military uniform, which he refutes.

The incident allegedly happened on January 16, two days after widespread protests in response to a 168 percent fuel price increase decreed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mukoyi spent the greater part of Monday, April 1, being questioned by detectives at Harare Central Police Station before being released into the custody of his lawyer. He will appear in court soon facing charges of attempted murder.

Obey Shava, of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, said the charges were baseless.

"The allegations are without foundation and we will be fighting them vigorously. If they were genuine, surely the police would have been ready for court by now, considering that it allegedly happened in January 2019," the lawyer said.

The January 14 protests were crushed by the military, which is accused of killing at least 18 people, while over 80 others were left nursing gunshot wounds.

Opposition leaders and labour activists are among over a thousand people rounded up after the protests and accused of a range of crimes, including plotting the overthrow of the government.

Human rights groups have called for justice for the over 400 people allegedly brutalised by the military, including victims of rape and murder, in the nationwide crackdown that followed.

The military denies committing any atrocities in the campaign, blaming it on rogue opposition elements who allegedly stole army uniforms.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: AfricaPresident Trump announced Friday that he is cutting aid to three Central American countries in response to a surge in the number of migrants headed north toward the U.S. in recent days.Im not playing games. I've ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras and to El Salvador, Trump said Friday. No more money is going there anymore. We were giving them $500 million. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and were not paying them anymore because they havent done a thing for us. They set up these caravans.Trump also threatened to close the border with Mexico in a series of tweets on Friday and Saturday.Heres what you need to know about the Trump administrations latest moves on immigration:Why aid is being cut: Trump has accused the governments of the three Central American countries of being complicit in the flow of migrants northward, and cutting aid is apparently intended to punish those governments. The president has repeatedly referred to foreign countries sending migrants to the U.S., most famously during the 2016 campaign, when he said: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. And Trump recently mocked the idea that Latin American migrants coming to the U.S. are fleeing violence and in need of asylum. Its a big fat con job, folks, Trump said at a rally in Michigan.How much money is involved: Current estimates put the aid figure at roughly $700 million. The State Department said Saturday that the money was appropriated in the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, and that the department would be be engaging Congress as part of this process of cutting off the aid.The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a group of retired diplomats, military leaders and lawmakers, said that U.S. assistance to Central America is just 0.00035% of entire U.S. federal budget and has decreased by 20% in last two years.Will it work? Trumps acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, defended the presidents move over the weekend, dismissing the views of career staffers at the State Department while arguing that continued flowed of immigrants Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador proves that the current U.S. strategy isnt working. But administration officials were hard-pressed to explain how, exactly, cutting off aid would improve the situation.Critics were quick to point out that U.S. aid is intended to help stabilize the Central American countries and eliminating it could lead to more violence and more emigration. You are shooting yourself in the foot. Its an irresponsible policy that undermines efforts to help address the drivers of migration, said Adriana Beltran of the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-profit advocacy group, on Sunday. Instead of helping stabilize the situation, it makes it worse by gutting programs that had a positive impact.Anita Isaacs and Anne Preston of Haverford College wrote in The New York Times that Trump is half right because paltry U.S. aid isnt doing much good, although they do credit a violence-prevention program in El Salvador with reducing homicide and possibly migration to the U.S. as a result.At the same time, eliminating aid altogether is no solution, Isaacs and Preston said. Cutting off foreign assistance is unlikely to persuade Central American governments to take actions that reduce the migratory flow, they wrote. If the Trump administration is serious about forcing the hand of Central American governments, it cant just cut off aid  an alternative policy approach is urgently required. Rather than turn a blind eye to creeping authoritarianism, it should pressure governments to become more democratic and less beholden to corrupt elites and criminal networks.Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.

President Trump announced Friday that he is cutting aid to three Central American countries in response to a surge in the number of migrants headed north toward the U.S. in recent days.

Im not playing games. I've ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras and to El Salvador, Trump said Friday. No more money is going there anymore. We were giving them $500 million. We were paying them tremendous amounts of money, and were not paying them anymore because they havent done a thing for us. They set up these caravans.

Trump also threatened to close the border with Mexico in a series of tweets on Friday and Saturday.

Heres what you need to know about the Trump administrations latest moves on immigration:

Why aid is being cut: Trump has accused the governments of the three Central American countries of being complicit in the flow of migrants northward, and cutting aid is apparently intended to punish those governments. The president has repeatedly referred to foreign countries sending migrants to the U.S., most famously during the 2016 campaign, when he said: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. And Trump recently mocked the idea that Latin American migrants coming to the U.S. are fleeing violence and in need of asylum. Its a big fat con job, folks, Trump said at a rally in Michigan.

How much money is involved: Current estimates put the aid figure at roughly $700 million. The State Department said Saturday that the money was appropriated in the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, and that the department would be be engaging Congress as part of this process of cutting off the aid.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a group of retired diplomats, military leaders and lawmakers, said that U.S. assistance to Central America is just 0.00035% of entire U.S. federal budget and has decreased by 20% in last two years.

Will it work? Trumps acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, defended the presidents move over the weekend, dismissing the views of career staffers at the State Department while arguing that continued flowed of immigrants Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador proves that the current U.S. strategy isnt working. But administration officials were hard-pressed to explain how, exactly, cutting off aid would improve the situation.

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Critics were quick to point out that U.S. aid is intended to help stabilize the Central American countries and eliminating it could lead to more violence and more emigration. You are shooting yourself in the foot. Its an irresponsible policy that undermines efforts to help address the drivers of migration, said Adriana Beltran of the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-profit advocacy group, on Sunday. Instead of helping stabilize the situation, it makes it worse by gutting programs that had a positive impact.

Anita Isaacs and Anne Preston of Haverford College wrote in The New York Times that Trump is half right because paltry U.S. aid isnt doing much good, although they do credit a violence-prevention program in El Salvador with reducing homicide and possibly migration to the U.S. as a result.

At the same time, eliminating aid altogether is no solution, Isaacs and Preston said. Cutting off foreign assistance is unlikely to persuade Central American governments to take actions that reduce the migratory flow, they wrote. If the Trump administration is serious about forcing the hand of Central American governments, it cant just cut off aid  an alternative policy approach is urgently required. Rather than turn a blind eye to creeping authoritarianism, it should pressure governments to become more democratic and less beholden to corrupt elites and criminal networks.

Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.When Angelina Jolie first approached UNHCR over 18 years ago, it was to learn about the world firsthand, to meet the people who were the innocent victims of war in an effort to understand their plight and hopefully one day, be a part of finding solutions.

Only 24 at the time, she was already a Hollywood superstar  an Oscar-winner who had just completed a major blockbuster, Tomb Raider. Stirred to action by what she saw and the people she met, Jolie signed up to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the worlds largest refugee agency, and from 2001-2012, when she was named Special Envoy, she took over 60 trips to war-torn locations.

From those early trips, her activism has both broadened and deepened, and last Friday, she addressed the U.N. Peacekeeping Ministeriala gathering of the worlds Defense Ministersfor the 3rd time.

In her speech, Jolie asked that the member nations consider expanding the role of female peacekeepers in their troops, and, just as crucial, that as peace negotiations in places like Afghanistan begin, that women be allowed at the table.

Angelina Jolie addresses a meeting at the United Nations | Timoth A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war, Jolie said. Women are at the absolute epicenter of modern conflict, in the worst possible sense. But more often than not they are still on the outside looking in when it comes to politics and decisions about their future 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.

Jolies U.N. speech was really a culmination of 18 years of experience and immersion in foreign policy.

Today, her work is really focused on four big projects:

1. The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI)

2. UNHCR

3. Women, Peace and Security Masters program at the London School of Economics

4. A global current affairs childrens program in partnership with the BBC

RELATED: Angelina Jolies Youngest Children Join Her on the Red Carpet for the Premiere of Dumbo

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Jolie co-founded PSVI in 2012 with former U.K. Foreign Minister William Hague, and in less than seven years, 156 nations have pledged support.

There is now a lot more awareness and discussion and many more countries have made commitments, says Jolie. For example, 156 countries have pledged not to include amnesties for rape when they are negotiating peace agreements. It is hard to believe, but peace treaties routinely grant immunity to people whove carried out the most disgusting violent crimes against civilians. So we have to make sure all those countries live up to that commitment.

In November, Jolie and Hague plan to reconvene the member nations for a conference (the first was in 2012) to continue to come up with concrete solutions to combat sexual violence in war zones.

While progress is being made, Jolie says it isnt time for anyone to rest on their laurels.

Angelina Jolie (L) shakes hands with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following her visit in Dhaka | STR/AFP/Getty Images

If you look across the world there are far too many women and girls who are not only not seeing progress, their rights are slipping away from them, she says. We have to change laws that treat women as second-class citizens. But we also have to enforce them. So one of the things we are putting forward now is a proposal for a permanent international body to investigate war crimes, including mass rape and other sexual and gender-based violence.

She adds, Unless you immediately gather evidence and testimony that can stand up in court, there is no chance of having successful prosecutions. At the moment it takes months and even years to start proper investigations when there has been mass rape carried out against a civilian population. We want to create a permanent body of experts, lawyers and investigators who can do this immediately.

In addition to Jolies work on PSVI, she is a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, where she is expected to return for more lectures later this year.

RELATED: Angelina Jolie Gets Blessing as She Visits Peru to Meet Brave Displaced Venezuelan Refugees

Since January 2018, she has been working with NATO as the organization works to fight against sexual violence in combat zones, and to better care for victims.

Later this year, Jolie inspired by her children: Maddox, 17, Pax, 15, Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 12, and Knox and Vivienne, 10 partners with BBC to produce a childrens English language television program that will focus on current affairs.

We enjoy reading the kids pull out of the New York Times and look at National Geographic, she says. But as a parent, I felt there wasnt that one vetted and reliable internationally-minded news program tailored for children that we could sit down and watch together each week. That is what I hope this will be for our family and other families.

Jolie will also be making a much-anticipated return onscreen, when Maleficent: Mistress of Evil hits theaters Oct. 18. The follow-up to the 2014 hit, which raked in $750 million, also stars a returning Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora and Michelle Pfeiffer as a new character.

RELATED VIDEO: Angelina Jolie (and Some of the Kids!) Make a Surprise Appearance at the Survivor Finale

I love my horns, says Jolie. It is such a pleasure to play her and I hope the audience enjoy her as much as I do. It was wonderful to work again with Elle and to have a chance to work with Michelle.

Jolie is also producing an adaptation of the Newberry Award-winning childrens book The One and Only Ivan, about a gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage in the mall.

For that, Jolie tapped pal (and Survivor contestant) Mike White to write the script. The starry cast includes Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell and Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston.

It was Shis favorite book a few years ago, says Jolie. I love its hopeful message about the environment and conservation.

Angelina Jolie with her kids Knox, Zahara, Vivienne, and Shiloh at the premiere of Disney's

Meanwhile, Jolie will always be a strong advocate for UNHCR. In February she traveled to Bangladesh to meet with Rohingya refugees who have been persecuted in Myanmar. And this June, she will once again participate in World Refugee Day, as she has for nearly two decades.

The organization changed her life in many ways, including providing her a lifelong circle of friends.

The second UN mission I went on, to Cambodia, I met two women from England and France who were working with UNHCR, Jolie recalls. Loung (Ung, the author ofFirst They Killed My Mother, the book Jolie adapted into a film in 2017) was there as well.

She adds, Most of my friends are women I have met and worked within the field. Over 18 years our lives have taken many turns. Good and bad. We have grown older, most of us mothers now, still committed to shared goals. feel very blessed in my work to have the opportunity to meet so many extraordinary people who spend their lives dedicated to others.Tensions soared Wednesday between the United States and two of its NATO partners, Germany and Turkey, marring a 70th birthday celebration for the alliance aimed at showing a united front against a resurgent Russia. Hours before foreign ministers from the 29-member Western alliance opened talks in Washington with a leisurely reception, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a stinging rebuke both to Germany over its level of defense spending and to Turkey for buying a major arms system from Russia. "Germany must do more. And we cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence told a think-tank forum on the NATO anniversary. "It is simply unacceptable for Europe's largest economy to continue to ignore the threat of Russian aggression and neglect its own self-defense and our common defense," Pence said. President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced annoyance that few allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are meeting a goal set by the alliance in 2014 to devote two percent of GDP to defense. Germany last month announced that defense spending would slip to 1.25 percent in 2023. Hungry for energy, Germany has also forged ahead with Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that will double the amount of gas it can import from Russia. "If Germany persists in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as President Trump said, it could turn Germany's economy into literally a captive of Russia," Pence told the event, held incongruously in a hip new music venue. Pence, however, promised that the United States "is now and will always be Europe's greatest ally" -- a tonal shift from Trump, who has loudly wondered whether it is worth defending smaller NATO members such as Montenegro. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said afterward that burden-sharing was about more than expenditure and that NATO was foremost "an alliance of values." Noting that Germany's history made military spending controversial, Maas pointed out that Berlin is the second largest troop contributor to Afghanistan and is constructing a new NATO command center in the city of Ulm. "We in Europe know that we cannot take our security for granted. We have to shoulder responsibility in order to continue safeguarding it, in our own interest," he said. - 'Turkey must choose' - Western powers have also increasingly clashed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government, which has cracked down on dissent at home and threatened to strike US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria. On Monday, the United States said it was suspending Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter-jet program due to Ankara's plans to buy Russia's S-400 missile defense system, raising fears that Moscow could gain data to hone its hardware and shoot down Western aircraft. "Turkey must choose -- does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out a change of heart, saying: "The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this." Cavusoglu said Turkey still backed NATO on core concerns and would never recognize Moscow's 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine. "We have been working with Russia," he said. "But it doesn't mean that we are undermining the alliance and we agree with Russia on everything. There is no shift on our foreign policy." He later met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned him of "potentially devastating consequences" if Turkey goes ahead with threats to strike Kurdish fighters in Syria. - No 'new Cold War' - The 70th anniversary comes amid rising concern over Russia, which has supported separatists in Ukraine and Georgia, sought to sway the 2016 US election and was suspected in a poisoning attack in England. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an address to the US Congress, said the alliance wanted better relations with Russia -- but needed to prepare a strong defense. "We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naive," Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg appeared to soothe Trump during a White House meeting on Tuesday, crediting the US leader's tough rhetoric with pushing the Europeans and Canada to bolster their defense budgets by $100 billion between 2016 and 2020. Lawmakers repeatedly rose to standing ovations as Stoltenberg hailed the value of the alliance. "NATO has been good for Europe, but NATO has also been good for the United States," he said. "The strength of a nation is not only measured by its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends. And through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other power." US Vice President Mike Pence harshly criticized Germany and Turkey on NATO's 70th anniversary Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says that NATO commitments are about more than defense spending Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says there is no turning back from buying a missile defense system from Russia The United States has suspended work with Turkey on the F-35 fighter-jet -- a version of which is seen here being used by the Royal Australian Air Force NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg enjoys applause as he makes the case for the alliance in an address to the US Congress Map of the NATO member statesChris Lawrence  #SiegfriedAndRoy's animal handler and a figure central to the tragic mauling in 2003  is now speaking for the first time about what really happened on stage that night https://t.co/XKZgC8vPp0  Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 28, 2019

 Animal trainer Chris Lawrence granted an interview to The Hollywood Reporter about his time with Siegfried & Roy, including the night Roy Horn was almost fatally attacked by one of his tigers, Mantacore While the official story from Siegfried & Roy is that Mantacore was trying to help Roy after he suffered an onstage stroke, Lawrence - who was waiting in the wings during the attack, and actually wrestled the animal onstage and backstage while he dragged Roy - blames human error. Lawrence says Roy decreased bonding time spent with the animals, and immediately before the attack, made a mistake in correcting Mantacore's position onstage (reaching over him and pulling him close, instead of leading the cat in a circle; reaching over put Roy's torso directly in front of Mantacore's face which, per Lawrence, caused confusion) The attack caused Roy to have a stroke which has permanently disabled him and put an end to Siegfried & Roy's show career. Lawrence was forced to abandon his career with animals after he developed PTSD and says he struggles with guilt because he was the one who suggested Roy use Mantacore on that night to celebrate Roy's 59th birthday; Roy had wanted to use a new cub but Lawrence talked him into using Mantacore because the cat was so beautiful & would impress Roy's friends in the audience Lawrence says his testimony was not included in the USDA report of the incident, and he believes he was deliberately kept away from USDA officials by show officials. He also says he was worried he'd be scapegoated after a show official called him to ask if he'd been drinking during the show. He says he doubts Roy has seen video of the attack and that the official story is maintained, in part, to protect Roy from confronting the truth Mantacore died at age 17 in 2014Meanwhile her white contemporaries are living in Malibu. So sad

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This woman is a legend and I'm glad that so many people have given generously to her GoFundMe. She in her 70s now and still radiant.

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its an indictment on our country that anyone has to use a gofundme to pay for their medical expenses, but it always irks the shit out of me when you see that these celebrities have donated so little. 150k is nothing to them, they could have covered the entire thing no sweat. and yup i'm definitely telling rich ppl what to do with their money, cause in most cases they didn't work harder to get it and they won't be able to spend it in their lifetimes.

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This has nothing to do with the US's healthcare system...



her Medicare won't cover treatment outside of the US



She has insurance, government provided insurance. This same thing that would happen if you were a Canadian citizen living outside of the country. This is what happens when you become seriously ill in another country and you don't have supplementary travel insurance to help cover emergency medical costs.

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if you read my comment carefully you'll see that it was a general statement about the use of gofundme to cover medical expenses.

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Exactly. This has really made me think differently about getting travel insurance when going overseas.

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Does it depend on the country? I ask because my sister did not incur any medical costs in Belfast - the NHS paid for dental work she needed, when she was living there for a few months teaching.

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They're too busy spending $500k+ to get their kids into schools

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Its horrific

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I do not understand why the US government refuses to get serious about health care reform. People should not need to rely on gofundme for medical care.

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Cause the insurance industry pours millions of dollars into congressmans pockets to keep their for profit industry going. Its disgusting.

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yup. it's all about the $$$ these vultures make while we literally die because we can't afford preventable care + life saving treatments.

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I feel like it's only going to get worse. It makes me nauseous to see companies like Amazon get involved in healthcare.



Edited at 2019-04-03 12:55 am (UTC)

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yup... we should choose ~100 ONTD members to run for congress in red states (not that democrats aren't corrupt, but still) and then we should all move there and vote for them and fix this mess we're in :)... sorry, just daydreaming...

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Our healthcare system is so fucked!



I hope she gets the funds she needs.



Makes me think of the thousands of others who also have nowhere to go for the help. Live a little longer in debt which in turn becomes your family's or die suffering.



Edited at 2019-04-02 11:58 pm (UTC)

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this is really sad.

I also think it is weird how connected she is that some people have given like $100, people who appear to be wealthy on instagram

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People appear to be a lot of things on instagram

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From what I understand she does have insurance but it doesn't cover her outside the U.S. and she got ill and had to have the emergency surgery in France. It really makes me think differently about getting trip insurance on overseas trips, because you never know when yoou will need it. :(

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I always spring a little extra for trips, but it really depends on the insurance you have at home. I've noticed I get better overseas coverage from our new private insurance (as in like, any coverage at all) than when I was on freakin' Medicaid. Guess they figured if i cn afford to travel overseas for the first time in years I can afford insurance or something.

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Fun fact! My 'worldwide' insurance doesnt cover the US, including them would double my monthly rate

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this country sucks so fucking bad. the leading health insurance company is essentially gofundme. i wish pat good health and that she can get through this. nobody should have to fucking worry about how they're going to pay for treatment.

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Best of luck to her. I hate the state of healthcare. We keep having to change insurance (partner keeps changing jobs due to varying circumstances) which means we have to completely overhaul our doctors every few months and start shit like diagnosises all over again because OF COURSE nobody takes the same insurance as anyone else! Fuck, I've been trying to get my shitty teeth fixed for THREE YEARS NOW and is2g if they kill me fore I get a (admittedly traumatizing, wee) surgery I will personally haunt every major healthcare provider in this shithole.



Pat at least has her connections and name recognition on her side, which will greatly help her getting the money she clearly needs. I think about all the people who never make their goals because they just don't have the network + everyone has to fucking crowdsource these days. My partner attempted to crowdsource her gallbladder surgery copay (3000 dollars) a year and a half ago and got a whopping 50 bucks because, surprise, we don't know a lot of people and they're all broke af like us :( Now my partner has collections after her because, surprise again, she can't afford the bill.

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Did you get that insurance through the airline or another source?

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i cannot believe this and i hope she recovers. i just assumed that someone who's been a top model for so long would be wealthy until her husband explained things.

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this is why you get travel insurance

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healthcare in the US is fucking horrible, i went to urgent care and they didn't take my insurance so it was pay per service and they tried to do like three different tests on me. it ended up being 144 dollars just for a prescription for antibiotics. i could've told them that -____- i'm lucky i could pay that but imagine if i couldn't? i would have had to wait 2 days for an appointment with my PCP and it would not have gone well for me. i told the nurse my fever was way better and going down and she was like really? cus it's 100 right now. i can't even imagine what it was a few days ago when it was worse

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It is disgusting how much medical care costs in this country. The fact that most go fund mes are just people trying not to die because their medicine is overpriced is so sad. My father has a heart condition and his heart medicine is $749 a month. He can never retire or he wouldnt be able to afford it.

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I'm sure you've already investigated, but just in case, does the mfg. have a patient assistance plan to help with the drug costs? Your medicine is still under a patent and not generic yet, yes? A doctor put me on a newer drug that was like $1000! dollars a month and since I had bad reactions to the alternatives, I took it for a while. Before I changed my insurance so my prescription costs weren't so godawful, I was still paying an outrageous amount for 30 pills even with the patient assistance plan from the manufacturer that my doctor told me about before I met the yearly deductible for that particular insurance plan (I can't remember if my med insurance chipped in some, too).



I don't know if all the patient assistance programs show up in GoodRx. I noticed that the one I participated in is listed under Manufacturer coupon, but it was really an ongoing monthly discount, not a "one month free" coupon (although I think they offered that, too).



I am no longer taking the drug - it was messing with my cholesterol, weight, etc., and surprise! my doctor *finally* found an older alternative that has fewer side-effects (that she "forgot about") after she like, did her job and stopped just listening to the drug reps hawk their new drug ware$$$ and started reading more in her field. I must've have not been the only patient complaining about how crappy (and expensive) the new class of drugs that haven't gone generic yet to get her to start digging more.



Otherwise, do you have other possible options on how you pay for prescriptions with your health plan that you could play around with? I had gold, silver, bronze options and I think all of them did different things with prescriptions - one put it towards the overall medical deductible, one had this nebulous thing for prescriptions that went into a pot that didn't count, one had a flat fee for specialty drugs (think this was bronze) - it was a higher deductible, of course, but if you're paying more out-of-pocket than the deductible, it might be worth it to go with the "worse" plan if your main medical cost is your prescription and you can swing it. Can't hurt to crunch the numbers if you haven't already and have some plan flexibility.



Sorry if you've already gone through all of this and the $600/mo. *is* the cheap price. I've been there - it ABSOLUTELY sucks. DEFINITELY mention it to your doctor EVERY time you see them. Ask for samples! Sometimes they'll even have the name-brand drug as samples even if your prescription has gone generic. And perhaps there's some "forgotten" older drug out there that might work for you, too.

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Im with your dad in a way. I have a med that expensive and all together my meds want to run close to 3 grand which is why they dont get filled all the time. Its why they are on rotation and there is no getting them cheaper including after going straight to the drug companies and saying hello, Im a poor

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Ugh. My monthly prescription retails for $2k. My insurance covers it but every time time I pick it up and remember the manufacturer still gets that money, I get irate.

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just thought I'd pass it along in case some of it might help your father. I used to have a prescription that was around $1000/mo. cash price. I left this comment https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/114371765.html?thread=19375076789#t19375076789 just thought I'd pass it along in case some of it might help your father. I used to have a prescription that was around $1000/mo. cash price.

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I remember seeing a story about Toby Price (Australian off-road and enduro motorcycle racer). He got injured in a race in the US and broke his neck. His insurance didn't cover the surgery and they wanted $500,000 for it which he couldn't afford. They then kicked him out of the hospital and he spent 2 days in a halo brace in a hotel room and had to risk taking a 14 hour commercial flight back to Australia for surgery. He basically arrived 7AM and was in surgery by 1PM the same day. Everything was covered by public health care here.



It's crazy that he almost became a paraplegic because the hospital is like, "Oh you no have $500,000? Off you go".

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LinkGoldstein mentions that Aquaman was the second biggest film in WBs history. That aint hay, considering their long history. #CinemaCon  JoBlo.com (@joblocom) April 2, 2019

The first footage of Birds of Prey (and the emancipation of one Harley Quinn) shows how Margot Robbies Quinn is not an official member of Birds of Prey but Harley Quinn stirs the pot for the Birds; were not pulling any punches, they declare. February 2020 #CinemaCon  Fandango (@Fandango) April 2, 2019

Helen Mirren saying fuck Netflix at the WB presentation got the most enthusiastic reaction Ive heard at #CinemaCon so far  Angie J. Han (@ajhan) April 2, 2019

Melissa McCarthy takes the stage, doing a bit where they confuse CinemaCon with Comic Con to promote Superintelligence. #CinemaCon pic.twitter.com/STlPvbc1aU  JoBlo.com (@joblocom) April 2, 2019

Cast and Crew of #BlindedByTheLight take the stage and talk about getting Bruce Springsteens support and the great early reviews. The movie screens tonight at #CinemaCon and you can read our Sundance review here https://t.co/KGyd2Clv6v  JoBlo.com (@joblocom) April 3, 2019

Warner Animation teases upcoming films like Tim Storys #TomandJerry, #SpaceJam2, #DCSuperPets and a new Scooby Doo movie, #Scoob, starring Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Zac Efron (as Fred!) and more. #CinemaCon  Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) April 3, 2019

"The Kitchen," which features Tiffany Haddish and Melissa McCarthy, is not a comedy. It's a crime drama. That seems like a bad idea, but the trailer makes it look like a pretty compelling mafia movie #CinemaCon.  Brent Lang (@BrentALang) April 3, 2019

The entire Losers Club is here at #CinemaCon for #ItChapter2, both young and old versions. The only one missing is Jaeden Martell.



James McAvoy: "He's too talented and he threatens me, so I made him disappear."  Devan Coggan (@devancoggan) April 3, 2019

Following up the STX post , Warner Brothers also had it's grand showing today.Speaking of the DCEU, Emmerich calls the Suicide Squad sequel "Suicide Squad 2" instead of "The Suicide Squad" so who knows at this point.Also, Birds of Prey (& WW1984) is killing it in a sizzle reel;& JOKER first look drops, "Creepy", "I'd say this is a tragedy" - Todd Phillips. "Full" teaser tomorrow, so I left the description vague. If you want more details, go to Twitter.Get the people on your side; This happened while Helen Mirren presented the trailer for THE GOOD LIAR;Woman who can afford to go and makes money on if people go proclaims the theater is the best place for movies. Do you think she has some investment in the process? *Think emoji*Do you care about SUPERINTELLIGENCE? Ya, me neither, but here's Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone pretending that she thought it was Comic-Con.BLINDED BY THE LIGHT;Warner Animation stops beating The Lego Franchise into the ground and talks about other things.Melissa is back with Tiffany Haddish to talk about THE KITCHENIT CHAPTER 2I was guessing a trailer was to come out fairly soon, but maybe next week, as JOKER is tomorrow.Also mentioned: Shaft footage (Great), A short Detective Pikachu clip, random shots from Doctor Sleep, King of The Monsters footage, The Goldfinch (Awardbait), Motherless Brooklyn.SourceI really hope she comes to New Zealand at some point, but I doubt it.



Edited at 2019-04-03 05:08 am (UTC)

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I got tickets for her show at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.



Im currently debating if I should splurge on tickets for her Anaheim show at The House of Blues too. Probably will have to get those on StubHub though.

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Scuse you, I did. I pre-ordered the album to get the pre-sale code. I support talent. Did you pre-order waffle? Huh, did ya? 

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i LOVE HER!!!!



in second year i had her cousin as my TA in a biology lab. he was really nice & told us during our very first lab that she's his younger cousin LOL

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I got tickets for her NY show, though apparently theyre adding extra dates now because it sold out in pre-sale. I will be bummed if the new dates are better (aka not a Wednesday).

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ughh why did I buy for that day LOL

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Same. And its for Thursday aha

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Wow, for real? I didn't know shows were allowed to sell out in pre-sale, I always assumed they'd hold some for general on-sale. RIP me for not pre-ordering

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oop yeah, Spotify presale is giving me first balcony tickets but the GA floor are ~Official Platinum~ tickets at $130 jfc

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the new york gays came out in force.

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sold out already, whew. talent won

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idk her music, but she's qt.



have yall ever worn latex? what's it like? It looks very uncomfy

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sticky and sweaty but freeing?

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you need the "Emotion"album in your life, stat.

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It is, lol! But fun for a minute. Id recommend water based lube to get into it.

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Yay, she's playing the same venue as last time when she came to Dallas! It was such an intimate show but I hope I can get balcony seats this time. I feel like I've surpassed my time in GA crowds lol

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charitable queen! cant wait to do I really like You at karaoke.

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might see her show in Florida!

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might



If you got money for an annual pass to go hug Mickey Mouse, you got money to support gay rights (aka see Carly live).

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lmaoo tell ha!

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LMAO

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she better have multiple shows in vancouver!

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those pre-sale tickets sold out FAST so my crazy self bought 2 tickets (!!) at resale. they were wild expensive but it'll be wortthhh itt

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I have to pay 80 for the festival she's attending, but lizzo will be there as well so I think I'm just going to make it a birthday present.

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Best Kept Secret?

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Aww, Queen Carly! 

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She seems like such a sweetheart. I always kick myself for not enjoying her music, sometimes I'm like what's not clicking, what's not clicking?? Since everyone here loves her and I think my ears are broken or smth.

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I pre-ordered the album after 5pm yesterday so no pre-sale code for me smh, but its ok I still support legends

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closest she's playing to me is grona fucking lund

i am an adult, i refuse to go to a gig in an amusement park

i will sing along to "i really really really really really really like you" in a gig venue like the mature individual i am or not at all

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LinkI assume they both know nothing will come of this.

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Shes living her best life tbh

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she's full of herself. she's enjoying the attention.

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I think so too.

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that dumb chick recording herself...

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lawd pls, you'd save so much money by paying off my loans instead of trying to get your dumbass kids in college

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There are rumors of tons more guilty people and celebs. Any rumors who? Any idea if more charges are coming?

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I hope Polanski

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there is speculation that Faith hill / tim mcgraw's daughter might be one. My mom is also worried for Bono, being the only person left on the planet who still likes u2. He was apparently rly good friends with the dude who did all of this :/ they ran an "ethical investing" company which means it's nagl

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omg lol @ethical

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Lol my oldest sister is obsessed with U2, so that makes two ppl.

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I liked u2 with songs of innocence a great album but once i saw bono befriending mike pence he wasdead to me

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there is speculation that Faith hill / tim mcgraw's daughter might be one.



aww i hope not. i remember reading that their oldest daughter majors in climate science at stanford and is really focused on her research.

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i hope all the tr*mps

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lmao

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lmao

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They aint going to prison. None of them are. Oh you might have one or two do a tiny bit of time a few months at club fed but nah. I will believe it when I see it

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They probably will if the prosecutors don't make a deal. There's like a 95% conviction rate in federal court. Federal prosecutors don't charge people until they're very sure they'll win.

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I remember when Paris Hilton spent a night in jail and it was a huge deal

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I was so pissed when she got out.

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When they were like SIKE!! and sent her back in....i'll never forget that. Happier times...

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I remember those pics of her crying in the backseat of a car, I think when they made her go back

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I think they will make deals and get huge fines and community service.

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Feds don't go to trial unless they know they can get jail time. If they're smart, they'll take a deal if offered.

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lol mte.

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I can never quite wrap my mind around people taking time out of their day to attend things like this; standing around for hours probably, and making signs, no less. They don't have anything better to do?

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lol irl

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lmao I always do have better shit to do but I'm here because I'm a lazy homebody - I'll be messy at home but who is leaving the crib to be this messy girl!

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no shade to anyone else here I love you all but I'm drunk and I'm speaking my truth

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looool

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They do movie premieres down the street from my office and people sit around all day waiting for them. Its so weird.

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people will camp outside of a bestbuy for an entire week for a video game sis

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the fuck is this comment. name one thing better than trolling a celeb, in person, as they walk into federal court.

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This is embarrassing.

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And after all of this is over children of rich and/or famous and/or powerful families will still get into schools with 'donations' 'legacies' and favors.

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I cant imagine them spending more than a couple days in jail. Ill be shocked if it happens.

Also, I cant at Lori trying to be all cute walking into court smh

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god it be so amusing to see Aunty Becky go to jail.

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They won't go to jail but I actually hope they do. Also fucked up how Felicity is taking all the heat when her husband is basically getting off from the scandal.

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Yeah I really wonder whats up w that. Are they saying he didnt know?

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he might of known but wasn't part of it? idk

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He didnt know or act for the oldest child who they paid for.



He did fo the younger child who they decided not to pay for.

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this with all the men! fuck!

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LinkIts not often that corporate executives make confessions that could jeopardize both its corporate standing and perhaps even their jobs. Yet, last week a top Volkswagen group executive said that the group alone is responsible for around 2 percent of global carbon emissions, about the same amount that Germany emits.

It's almost one percent for cars and one percent for trucks. Germany, in comparison, accounts for nearly 2.2 percent of C02 emissions, the equivalent of 800 million tonnes, and was ranked sixth globally, according to 2017 figures from the Global Carbon Project. Herbert Diess, head of the Volkswagen group, told employees two weeks ago that the figure is 1 percent for the million cars the group has produced which are in circulation. "This percentage, we want to reduce to zero by 2050," he said at company headquarters in Wolfsburg.

Trying to restore its image

This disclosure comes as Volkswagen battles on several fronts trying to restore its image since the so-called diesel-gate scandal in 2015 when the storied-auto brand admitted to fitting 11 million vehicles worldwide with a device aimed at cheating pollution tests. The German automaker used a defeat device or software intended to pass regulatory lab tests, but in real-world driving, the emissions were several times the permissible limits.

The scandal has thus far sent a senior executive on a seven-year prison term, cost former CEO Martin Winterkorn his job and led to suspensions of several top Volkswagen executives. Now, in the face of stringent limits for C02 emissions from 2020, Volkswagen has vowed to introduce 70 electric models by 2028. Volkswagen, however, still cant seem to shake off its scandal tarnished reputation, even as it has cost the company more than $30 billion in fines, penalties, restitution and settlement of lawsuits since September 2015. Related: Building The Worlds Largest Solar Storage System

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission two weeks ago said it was suing Volkswagen and its former chief executive, accusing them of defrauding investors by making deceptive claims about the environmental impact of its cars. The regulator said that from 2007 until 2015, Volkswagen carried out a massive fraud when selling securities and half a million cars it described as clean diesel when executives knew about the extent of the cheating, the SEC alleges. The cars emitted 40 times more harmful nitrogen oxides than allowed under U.S. rules.

The investors did not know that Volkswagen was lying to consumers to fool them into buying its clean diesel cars and lying to government authorities in order to sell cars in the U.S. that did not comply with U.S. emission standards, the SEC claims. Volkswagen, countered, saying the SEC complaint is legally and factually flawed and the company will contest it vigorously. It accused the Commission of piling on to try to extract more from the company more than two years after settlements with the U.S. Justice Department.

The SEC has brought an unprecedented complaint over securities sold only to sophisticated investors who were not harmed and received all payments of interest and principal in full and on time, Volkswagen spokesman Christopher Hauss said in an emailed statement.

The German auto industry is late in shifting towards electric cars, the Wirtschaftswoche report added. The Volkswagen group, which includes 12 brands, plans to sell 22 million electric cars in the next 10 years to escape heavy European fines and drastically reduce the carbon footprint of its factories.

By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Some of the most secretive, highly-anticipated details about the Saudi oil industry have just been released.

Saudi Aramco is preparing to launch a major bond issuance to purchase the Saudi petrochemical company Sabic, a process that required a detailed prospectus on the company. As part of that review, Aramco released on Monday some closely-guarded state secrets that have been kept under wraps for decades and have been the subject of endless and wild speculation.

With little fanfare, Aramco released some details and they are somewhat damning. For instance, the Ghawar oil field, which has at times held an almost mythical status both because of its massive size and also because of the complete opaqueness on its inner workings, cant produce as much as previously thought. Ghawar is the core of Aramcos oil production, and is of vital national security importance to the Saudi state.

The prospectus says that the Ghawar field can only produce 3.8 million barrels per day (mb/d), not the widely thought 5 mb/d that has floated around for years as a rough estimate. As Saudis largest field, a surprisingly low production capacity figure from Ghawar is the stand-out of the report, said Virendra Chauhan, head of upstream at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd., according to Bloomberg.

There was little other detail offered on that figure, why it declined, or whether it would continue to decline. But it is a very significant downward revision.

Nevertheless, the Aramco prospectus confirmed some more impressive figures that have also been the subject of speculation. The document says the company can produce 12 mb/d, a rate of output that has been criticized and questioned. With current production at about 10 mb/d, that implies a current 2 mb/d of spare capacity, which is a comfortable buffer that could plug some hypothetical supply gaps. In addition, there is about 500,000 bpd lying dormant in the Neutral Zone on the border with Kuwait. Related: Alberta Oil Inventories Rise Despite Production Cuts

The country is also sitting on 226 billion barrels of oil reserves, or about 52 years worth of supply at maximum production rates of 12 mb/d.

Aramco is also the worlds most profitable company, earning $111 billion last year, which is several multiples of the oil majors and significantly higher than tech giants such as Google and Apple. And its reserves are incredibly cheap to produce  Aramco can produce oil, including capex, at as low as $7.50 per barrel before tax. Liam Denning of Bloomberg Opinion points out that the low cost of production and enormous output levels means that return on capital employed vastly exceeds its competitors.

But the profits are sorely needed to prop up the entire Saudi state, which makes Aramco entirely different from the oil majors. Saudi Aramcos rating is constrained by that of Saudi Arabia (A+/Stable), Fitch said when explaining its decision to rate the companys credit below that of, say, Shell or Exxon, despite much larger profits and lower debt. This reflects the influence the state exerts on the company through taxation and dividends, as well as regulating the level of production in line with its OPEC commitments. Also, its valuation could be only half of the $2 trillion that Saudi officials repeatedly trumpeted.

More broadly, some of the largest unanswered questions revolve around Aramcos future. While the company has some of the largest and cheapest oil reserves in the world, the longevity of the oil market in general is up for debate. Peak oil demand looms. Aramco argues that it will be well-positioned for the peak, with low-cost output that can survive in a dwindling market. High-cost producers will be forced out long before Aramco will be.

Also, Aramco is aggressively pivoting into petrochemicals, refining, natural gas and other avenues that could shield it a bit from a future of peak demand. But the shift is still relatively modest given the size of its crude business. Its going to be very difficult for them to ever diversify away from oil, Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix told the FT.

In that sense, Aramco, while seemingly impenetrable with sky-high profits and vast reserves that are some of the cheapest in the world to produce, is also dangerously vulnerable to the unfolding energy transition.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:For a decade, Aramco has operated as a quiet economic advisory office for the royal family: It is regularly sent details of non-oil deals for analysis by highly trained staff. Those sane economists and analysts, together with their bosses, fear Prince Mohammed will sink huge amounts of the new funds into investments that

Aramco executives opposed the deal because it didnt make economic sense, especially at the high valuation it was ordered to accept - but the fears run even deeper.

Despite the best efforts of Aramcos top brass to subvert Mohammed bin Salmans cash grab from its long-siloed balance sheet, the young prince has emerged victorious. The deal will essentially see almost $70 billion transferred from Aramco to the Public Investment Fund (PIF - the Saudi sovereign wealth fund), which Prince Mohammed controls completely.

Inside the corridors of Saudi Aramco, there is panic. While media report on the brilliant $69-billion takeover of SABIC petrochemical company by Aramco - particularly emphasizing alleged cost savings for both--the truth of the matter is that this is a disaster for the Saudi oil giant. As we speak to our sources inside Aramco in the wake of the SABIC deal and the $10-billion bond sale, the mood is one of defeat.

Sources

- Aramco insider (current high-level Aramco staff)

- Former Aramco executive

- Turkish investigative journalists in Ankara and Istanbul

Every Reason to Be Alarmed About Aramco

Inside the corridors of Saudi Aramco, there is panic. While media report on the brilliant $69-billion takeover of SABIC petrochemical company by Aramco - particularly emphasizing alleged cost savings for both--the truth of the matter is that this is a disaster for the Saudi oil giant. As we speak to our sources inside Aramco in the wake of the SABIC deal and the $10-billion bond sale, the mood is one of defeat.

Despite the best efforts of Aramcos top brass to subvert Mohammed bin Salmans cash grab from its long-siloed balance sheet, the young prince has emerged victorious. The deal will essentially see almost $70 billion transferred from Aramco to the Public Investment Fund (PIF - the Saudi sovereign wealth fund), which Prince Mohammed controls completely.

Aramco executives opposed the deal because it didnt make economic sense, especially at the high valuation it was ordered to accept - but the fears run even deeper.

For a decade, Aramco has operated as a quiet economic advisory office for the royal family: It is regularly sent details of non-oil deals for analysis by highly trained staff. Those sane economists and analysts, together with their bosses, fear Prince Mohammed will sink huge amounts of the new funds into investments that are highly unlikely to address the countrys pressing economic reform needs.

One example is the massive NEOM real estate project that is proving to be a grandiose megaproject in the tradition of similar efforts by King Abdullah and Hosni Mubarak. Another example would be investments similar to the $40 billion sent to the Vision Fund. In fact, Softbank is raising a new fund and PIF could again be a major contributor.

In the best case, such investments would bring a modest return and even that might be farfetched considering the depth of talent on the funds staff. Even so, this will not likely move the dial on the 2030 plan to kick the countrys addiction to oil revenues and high subsidies. Alarm bells are ringing at Aramco - not for its own future, but for the future of the country as a whole.

And in the meantime, Aramco has had to divulge one of its best-kept secrets: The exact size of its Ghawar oilfield, the largest conventional oilfield in the world. The cat was let out of the bag on Monday when Aramco had to publicly report its profit for the first time in its history. Investors had been foaming at the mouth over this field for years, speculating that it topped 5 million bpd. But now everyone knows it doesnt - instead, its officially 3.8 million bpd. That makes Aramcos future valuation even more tenuous. However you look at it, MBS is killing Aramco, and Aramco feels the dilution keenly.

What Erdogans Local Election Loss Really Means

Cracks are showing in Erdogans power base in Turkey. In local elections held on Sunday, Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appears to be losing popular support. But it is important to put this into perspective. Based on the election results, the AKP has just over 40% of popular support. But they can combine this with their nationalist allies, the MHP, to maintain the majority. Despite Erdogans victory speech on March 31, the reality is that the AKP lost almost all the provinces along Turkeys western and southern coasts, and much of the heartland, including the capital province of Ankara. The AKP even lost Istanbul, the most important mayoral seat, though the margin was slim and Erdogan is claiming irregularities and vowing to contest it.

The bigger picture is that the elections show that the economy remains the most important factor for voters. Opposition parties took advantage of the ongoing economic downturn and the devaluation of the Turkish lira by forming clever provincial alliances that ultimately led to the AKPs major setback. This is a massive achievement considering that Erdogan completely controls the media. Right now, Erdogan is worried, but he also has time on his side. There wont be any more elections until 2023 and he will carefully deal with these losses until then.

Game Over for Algerian Strongman

Over the past couple of weeks we have stressed the pending climax of seething political unrest in Algeria, which has officially reached its peak with the resignation on Tuesday of President Bouteflika. The military kingmakers gave him no choice in the matter. But from an investor standpoint, a phase of high-level political uncertainty now begins for the gas-rich country, and deals will continue to be put on hold. On Wednesday (3 April), Algerias Constitutional Council will convene and the president of the upper house of parliament will become the interim leader for up to 90 days while elections are organized. But this in itself could be highly contentious as the interim leader, based on the constitution, is a Bouteflika ally. Investor concerns are not to be taken lightly, either: This is a dangerous venue to have such a massive political vacuum. It borders Libya and the Sahel, and one can be sure that Islamist radicals are already plotting how they can take advantage of the destabilization. Destabilization in 1988 led to massive riots, unrest and a civil war against radical Islamist forces who are still circling and preparing to strike. In 2013, they attacked and took control of a natural gas facility and took its workers hostage in an incident that the oil and gas world will not likely soon forget.

On the sanctions front ...

Japanese refiners last week put a halt to further imports of Iranian crude, with Japan having failed to obtain a waiver extension from Washington. Japanese refiners are concerned about concluding all insurance-related and financial transactions on the 15 million barrels of Iranian crude cargo they have already loaded before the waiver expires in May. This early cut-off benefits the Middle East and Russia, which will be filling the gap left by Iranian crude. There is considerable infighting right now in Washington over sanction waivers; while this round appears to have been won by the Bolton-crew, which has been pushing for an end to waivers and a harder line on Iran, detractors have been concerned about giving key allies extensions. However, a statement coming out of the White House on Friday suggested that the waiver period is over - until Trump feels that sufficient leverage has been gained for another extension.

In the meantime, the sanctions regime against Venezuela is attempting to tighten the noose, with Washington up in arms over traders and refiners who continue to deal with what is still the Maduro regimes crude oil. While the Venezuelan oil industry is under sanctions already, traders and refiners in Russia, India and Europe continue to supply Venezuela with fuel. Where this gets complicated is that not all of these transactions are in violation of sanctions already implemented. So, essentially, Washington is now threatening traders with new sanctions if they continue to deal with fuel going into Venezuela even if it is not in explicit violation. There is absolutely no legal precedent for Washingtons demand in this case. Traders are not violating sanctions if they are not using the US financial system for trades or barters, so this is quite simply a squeeze that is not backed by law.

Production

- Irans giant South Pars natural gas field has increased production by 12 percent over last year, according to official data. South Pars has 14 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 19 billion barrels of gas condensate--a figure that represents half of the country's overall reserves (8% of the worlds total reserves).

- While Alberta has continued to reduce production via government mandate, Albertas crude inventories rose again in February thanks to rail shipment bottlenecks that have rendered it uneconomical. According to official data, by the end of February, Alberta had 72 million barrels of oil in its inventory--up by 3.9 million barrels from a month prior.

- For March, OPEC production was at its lowest level in four years, with combined OPEC production at 30.4 million bpd--280,000 bpd lower than February.

- French oil giant Total has now commenced crude production at the second half of its Angola Kaombo project, doubling overall capacity to 230,000 bpd at the floating production storage and offloading facility. This is a significant achievement that effectively represents 15% of the countrys entire oil production.

The deal book

- US private-equity firm Carlyle Group LP has secured a 50-year lease in a Texas land deal for its $1-billion Corpus Christi oil export terminal project. The 200-acre plot will be the site of the terminal and docks designed to load US crude for global markets. That is the second piece of good news for Carlyle in as many weeks: Last week, a Texas court lifted a temporary injunction preventing Corpus Christi officials from entering into the contract.

- There have been some interesting LNG developments in Equatorial Guinea this week, with new deals related to Noble Energy and Marathon Oil Corp. Offshore in this venue, Noble Energy has natural gas Blocks, while Marathon Oil has the PUnta Europa LNG plant. The government has agreed to a deal for the Alen Unit JV project which will construct a 950-million-cubic-feet-capacity pipeline from the Noble Energy platform to Marathons LNG plant, where it will be processed for export. This is a massive 70-kilometer pipeline and first gas is slated to start flowing in Q1 2021.

- Also on the LNG scene, Sempra Energys Mexican subsidiary (Energia Costa Azul, ECA) has received two LNG authorizations from the US DOE for exporting natural gas produced in the US to Mexico, and for re-exporting LNG to non-FTA countries. Sempra is keen to let investors know that the timing here is significant as it is scheduled to meet with customers and partners in Shanghai this week.

- A major merger between Japans Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. on Monday has effectively led to the creation of a new national oil giant that will dominate Japans wholesale petroleum scene. Idemitsu is the second-largest oil wholesaler in Japan, and Showa Shell is the fourth-ranked in the country.

- The $1.7-billion merger between Denbury Resources and Penn Virginia Corp. is now defunct. Both sides have agreed to terminate Denburys acquisition of Penn, citing opposition from Penn shareholders along with difficult market conditions. For Denbury, the acquisition of Penn was about gaining a strong foothold in the Eagle Ford.

ConocoPhillips in focus ...

ConocoPhillips is our chosen company in focus this week due to a number of developments and upcoming events. First, there have been indications this week that there is specific interest in the companys North Sea assets (mature fields) coming from Chrysaor Holdings Ltd. After an earlier failed attempt to divest these assets for $3 billion failed, Conoco relaunched bidding again in January. Overall, the company is trying to divest all assets that are not related to US shale exploration, but has hit hurdles. Chrysaor, while it has not officially confirmed its interest, is rumored to be considering the Conoco North Sea assets. Cutting a deal on this sale would be good timing for Conoco. The company will be announcing its quarterly earnings on April 25, and analyst forecast consensus estimates are at about $0.78 per share. Also weighing in on shares will be a recent victory (even it was following a major defeat) when an arbitral tribunal awarded it $8.7 billion in compensation for the expropriation of its Venezuelan assets.

The politics of permitting

There have been two major developments this week on the US regulatory front that should be high on investor radar. First, Trump has signed a presidential permit for the highly controversial construction of TransCanadas Keystone XL pipeline. The permit runs the full spectrum for TransCanada, approved construction, connection, operation and maintenance of the US-Canada pipeline. In November the original March 2017 permit for the pipeline was invalidated by the federal judge in Montana. From a legal perspective, it is still possible that even with this presidential permit, another environmental review will still need to be conducted and approved by a court, though the White House is clearly hoping to bypass this process.

The second development concerns Alaska drilling: While we saw an April 2017 executive order from Trump reverse an Obama-era ban on Arctic and Atlantic drilling, an Alaska judge has now blocked Trump on both fronts, saying that the president had exceeded his authority in April. The April 2017 executive order has now been restored. It can still be revoked by Congress, and the federal judges ruling can also be sent to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. But we caution that this is really a red herring for investors. Buried evidence about a much-talked-about oil well drilled in the Alaskan Arctic four decades ago suggests there was nothing much to write home about. This move is largely political and not economic.With Iran sanctions waivers set to expire in a few weeks, the Trump administration faces a difficult task.

Oil prices are once again on the rise, just as they were six months ago ahead of the original sanctions deadline. Back in October, the Trump administration buckled under the pressure of high oil prices  Brent was trading in the mid-$80s  and issued a series of waivers to eight countries, allowing them to continue to import oil from Iran.

After oil prices crashed, there appeared to be more room and more time for the U.S. government to tighten the screws. But with the May deadline fast approaching, the oil market is tightening again, a rerun for Trump officials who had hoped to get Irans oil exports to zero.

The Trump team has made their job on Iran a lot harder because of their bellicose approach to Venezuela. The attempt at regime change, which has consisted of harsh sanctions on PDVSA and Venezuelan oil exports, has knocked a significant volume of supply offline.

Oil prices have posted their best start to the year on record. Now comes the hard part. Eight countries received waivers on Iranian oil from the U.S. government, and three of them have since cut their purchases to zero, according to Brian Hook, Trumps point man on Iran. In November, we granted eight oil waivers to avoid a spike in the price of oil. I can confirm today three of those importers are now at zero, Hook told reporters, without identifying which three. There are better market conditions for us to accelerate our path to zeroWe are not looking to grant any waivers or exceptions to our sanctions regime.

Hook boasted that U.S. sanctions have slashed Irans oil exports by 1.5 million barrels per day (mb/d), more than half of the volumes that were being shipped prior to sanctions. While Hook did not identify which countries cut imports to zero, he was likely referring to Italy, Greece and Taiwan, analysts say. Related: Oil Falls On Large Crude Inventory Build

The bullish momentum behind crude prices likely means that the Trump team will extend waivers for the remaining five countries  China, India, South Korea, Japan and Turkey. Trump himself recently tweeted that it was Very important that OPEC increase the flow of Oil. World Markets are fragile, price of Oil getting too high. Thank you!

When push comes to shove, Trump has made his desire for low gasoline prices clear. In our view, there is also a growing recognition in the Administration that the Saudis are unlikely to come to the rescue with more production to offset prices - absent some supply crisis, Joseph McMonigle of Hedgeye Energy Policy wrote in a note. Because the market is already assuming the waivers are a given, anything other than an extension would shock the market, McMonigle wrote.

We believe waiver renewals are already priced into the market, and therefore any change in policy would be a surprise to the market and only help to overheat already rising oil prices. Therefore, we have a high degree of confidence that waivers will be extended for at least for the five countries utilizing them now: China, India, Turkey, Japan and South Korea, he said. Related: Trump Battles For Key Oil & Gas Projects

Still, Irans exports could continue to post losses. Hedgeye says exports could fall from 1 mb/d to 800,000 bpd. By November 2019, when the next six-month waiver period expires, the Trump team may actually aim for zero exports.

The one thing working in Trumps favor is that Venezuela appears to have stabilized output. President Maduro has managed to fend off regime change efforts, and opposition leader Juan Gauido is on the backfoot. Oil exports dipped to 980,355 bpd in March, according to Reuters, down only slightly from February levels. This has prevented the Trump administration from achieving its goal of overthrowing Maduro, but, conversely, it gives the U.S. more leverage in its efforts vis-a-vis Iran.

However, with Brent nearing $70 per barrel, and U.S. gasoline prices approaching $3 per gallon nationally, Trump will likely hold off on taking a hard line.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Chinese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) could rise to around 80 million tons by 2025 from 54 million tons in 2018, according to Ling Xiao, a senior official with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

The coal-to-natural gas switch and the rise of the share of gas in Chinas energy mix will be the key drivers of growth, Reuters quoted Ling as saying at the LNG2019 conference in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Chinas breakneck demand surge of the past two years is expected to slow down this year as Beijing is determined to avoid severe shortages by boosting pipeline connectivity, building more storage and import terminals, and raising domestic natural gas production.

Economic slowdown, a more considered approach on coal-to-gas switching and increased domestic infrastructure availability will mean LNG demand will slow in 2019, from the 40-45% growth we have seen in 2017 and 2018, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in its 2019 LNG outlook in early January.

But China will still grow at around 20%, by far the largest source of LNG demand growth in the global market, according to WoodMac.

The pace of Chinese import growth will also depend on LNG prices and contracts, because they will have to compete with pipeline gas, according to Ling of CNPC, whose gas imports represent some 60 percent of all of Chinas gas imports.

Russias giant Gazprom will begin natural gas deliveries to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline ahead of schedule, as early as December 1, 2019, Alexey Miller, Chairman of Gazproms Management Committee, said earlier this year.

LNG import prices are not competitive with pipeline gas now, and the opening of the Russia pipeline will pose further threat to LNG imports, CNPCs Ling said, as carried by Reuters.

Shorter and cheaper LNG contracts are the only way in which LNG can be really competitive to pipeline gas, according to the official.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:U.S. Congress should debate whether to reduce the emergency crude oil stored in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), because Americas oil production boom has diminished its reliance on imports, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

Do we need that big of a reserve, particularly with the growth of the pipeline infrastructure we have and the growth in that infrastructure thats going to occur over the next decade? Reuters quoted Secretary Perry as saying at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a U.S. Government complex of four sites with deep underground storage caverns created in salt domes along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts.

As of March 29, 2019, the SPR held a total of 649.1 million barrels of crude oil, including 254.6 million barrels of sweet crude and 394.5 million barrels of sour crude oil.

The current storage capacity of the SPR is 713.5 million barrels.

The SPR was set up in the 1970s when the Arab oil embargo created a fuel crisis in the United States.

According to Secretary Perry, the world has changed a lot since the emergency reserve was created, with the U.S. now the worlds top oil producer. Therefore, Congress should consider what the proper size of the reserve should be and whether the administration should rent part of the storage capacity to private companies, Secretary Perry said.

In February, the U.S. Department of Energy said that it planned to sell up to 6 million barrels of crude oil from the SPR, with deliveries taking place in April and May.

Although the sale does not appear to be aimed at easing possible supply concerns, deliveries will be taking place around the time in which the U.S. waivers for Irans oil customers to continue importing Iranian oil will expire in early May. Venezuelas oil exports are also likely to have further dropped by that time due to the U.S. sanctions on its oil industry.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Three major Iran oil importers have stopped buying from the sanctioned country ahead of the expiry sanction waivers granted to eight such countries, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, said as quoted by Reuters.

In November, we granted eight oil waivers to avoid a spike in the price of oil. I can confirm today three of those importers are now at zero, Hook told media without naming the three countries.

Two of the three are most likely Japan and South Korea, which both suspended their purchases of Iranian oil well ahead of the reimposition of the U.S. sanctions in November in anticipation of the waivers they scored with Washington. These waivers, however, did not restart imports of Iranian crude immediately. Eventually, Japan and South Korea restarted imports of Iranian crude in January, for a couple of months.

Japan is currently negotiating an extension of the November waiver and so is South Korea. India is also trying to secure permissions from Washington to continue buying Iranian crude. China has indicated it has no plans to stop importing oil from Iran.

There have been reports the U.S. will extend the waivers to at least four of the eight original countries granted exemptions from the sanctions in order to avoid a price shock that would ultimately hurt the Trump administrations popularity at home. Hook, however, reiterated the path to zero goal.

There are better market conditions for us to accelerate our path to zero, he said. We are not looking to grant any waivers or exceptions to our sanctions regime.

This has denied the regime access to well over $10 billion in (oil) revenue - a loss of at least $30 million a day. The official added the sanctions had reduced Iranian oil exports by as much as 1.5 million bpd since May last year.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Thanks for visiting !

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We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here.

Thank you for your support!By Odunewu Segun

The $1.1bn aircraft acquisition deal for the supply of 10 new B737 MAX aircraft entered into by Nigerias Air Peace with Boeing is being threatened by the decision of the federal government to ban 737 Max airplanes from flying into Nigerias airspace following a fatal crash in Ethiopia over the weekend.

Air Peace had signed the multi-million dollar pact with the US aircraft manufacturer, The Boeing Company, to buy 10 new B737 Max aircraft in 2018.

The agreement was signed at the United States Consulate in Lagos by the Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Mr Allen Onyema and Boeing Sales Director for West and Central Africa, Mr Larry Tolliver.

Although, National Daily could not ascertained how much has exchanged hands, but it gathered that a unit cost of the aircraft is $113m (N40bn).

On Tuesday, Air Peace had insisted it has no plan to cancel its order for 10 737-MAX 800 planes in spite of the uproar against the brand over recent crashes.

The airline Corporate Communications Manager, Mr Chris Iwarah, said any decision about cancelling the order would be premature.

At this moment, it is premature to begin to talk about things and conclusions that have not been put in the public domain. Investigations into the crashes involving B737Max 800 are ongoing so it will not be fair at this time to begin to make definite comments on those issues, he said.

The Air Peace spokesperson said the airline had not yet taken delivery of the ordered aircraft, adding that before that time, issues surrounding its safety must have been identified by global aviation experts.

Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all B-737-800 MAX aircraft in its fleet following Sundays crash of its Flight ET302, which killed all 157 persons on board.

The aircraft en route Nairobi from Addis Ababa, crashed six minutes after take-off around Bishoftu, 60km south-east of the Ethiopian capital.

The crash was the second involving the B737 MAX 800 aircraft in the past four months following October 2018 one involving a Lion Air plane, which plunged into the sea off Jakarta, in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

Other carriers, including China have grounded the B737 MAX 800 aircraft in their fleets due to safety concerns.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, whose mandate it is to issue advisory, has already issued advisory that nobody should fly into Nigeria or out of Nigeria using Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9, pending the determination of the actual cause of the crash in Ethiopia and also pending the outcome of the response of the manufacturer, which is Messers Boeing.

According to the NCAA, regardless of the enormous safety records of the plane 737, it has caused concern in the world of aviation. Whatever affects one affects the other because aircraft will be flying in and out. So, we have issued directive that no operator with Boeing 737 Max 8 or Max 9 should operate into and outside our airports and this is being carried out.Ten students have been killed and several others injured in a cult war at the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State.

The killings by rival cults on vengeance mission have been on in the last one week.

Victims were either shot or clubbed to death before being decapitated by the cultists.

It was gathered that the clash between two rival cults, the Ayes and Baggers confraternities, had lasted over two weeks.

Residents have fled their homes for fear of being attacked.

Academic activities have been grounded at the polytechnic. Students have deserted their hostels.

The management of the institution, The Nation learnt, had restricted movement in and out of the school after 6pm.

One of the students, who preferred anonymity, said: We are under attack by cultists. Please help us to inform the police because our lives are in danger. Since 10 days now, there have been clashes between two rival cults. They said it is a supremacy war. No fewer than 10 persons have been shot dead.

The visibly scared student added: Since I gained admission into this polytechnic, I have never witnessed this kind of violence. The gunshots are frightening. Please dont mention my name.

An indigene of one of the host communities, who also does not want his name in print, said since the deadly cult clash started, they had been locking themselves inside their rooms.

Police spokesman Orlando Ikeokwu said officers had been deployed in the polytechnic and other troubled areas, adding that suspects had been arrested.

The Rector, Martin Aligbe, in a phone chat said: We have not confirmed any of the victims to be our student. The cult clashes are happening in the villages, they are not occurring on our campus. But we are worried because some of our students live in these villages. We have reached out to the police to tighten security.No fewer than 46 houses and a monarchs palace were destroyed by a rainstorm in Are Ekiti, a town in Ifelodun/Irepodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident, which followed three days of downpour, has thrown the community into a state of apprehension as many victims have been displaced.

The Alare of Are Ekiti, Boluade Adebiyi, who confirmed the incident on Wednesday, told NAN that the property of his subjects, including a section of the palace, were affected.

He appealed to both the state and the federal governments to come to the aid of the community.

As you can see, part of the palace roof has been blown off, but that is not my immediate problem now.

My concern now is how to take care of my people that have become homeless by this disaster.

Immediately after the rainstorm, I sent some of my chiefs to inform the state government.

I also contacted the officials of the National Emergency Management Agency and I spoke with their quick response team, He said.

One of the victims of the rainstorm, Ayodele Anisulowo, lamented that the roof of his family house was blown off while members of the family had been rendered homeless.

Another victim and octogenarian, Jibiye Adeleye, said she had been forced to relocate to her fathers house pending the time her children would repair the house.

I thank God that I am a native of Are Ekiti, I have a place to keep my head for now. But it is not convenient at all.

I have been married for almost 60 years and since I left for my husbands house, I have not slept a night here in my fathers house, the victim, who is also a widow, said.

When contacted, the General Manager of Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency, Buruji Olajide, also confirmed the incident.

He said Are Ekiti was not the only community affected by the rainstorm.

According to him, Ado Ekiti, the state capital, and some other communities such as Afao and Igbemo were equally affected.

Other towns affected, he said, included Governor Kayode Fayemis hometown of Isan Ekiti and Iludun in Oye Local Government Area.

The State Emergency Management Agency and NEMA have jointly visited some of the affected areas for an on the spot assessment of the damage, he said.

He also said more than 30 houses were destroyed in each of Isan and Iludun while 40 roofs were blown off in former Governor Ayo Fayoses hometown of Afao Ekiti.

Among the properties destroyed in Afao was the newly completed Gifted Academy, a government owned institution for gifted children in the town

We have visited some of the affected communities to assess the level damage. We have been able to establish that more than 70 houses were affected

We thank God that no casualty was recorded, but we are still compiling our report and when it is ready, we shall state the total number of the victims, he said.

(NAN)OYO State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Mr. Adebayo Adelabu has approached the Election Petitions Tribunal to challenge the victory of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Mr. Seyi Makinde.

Adelabu is praying the tribunal to overturn Makindes victory.

He filed the suit alongside his party, whose state chairman, Chief Akin Oke, had after the result of the election, said the APC was considering approaching the election tribunal to upturn Makindes triumph.

Makinde was on March 10 declared the winner of the governorship election by the state Returning Officer, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, having polled 515,621 votes to defeat Adelabu, who scored 357,982 votes.

The results indicated that Makinde defeated Adelabu with 157,639 votes.

Oke said: I want to repeat what I said concerning the outcome of the last governorship election. First, I want to greet all the people who genuinely voted for us. But where there is a genuine case of fraud, of course why not go to court?

Do you want us to continue to support fraud? I repeat we will go to court once there are enough grounds to do so.

Yesterday, the APC made real its threat as it was listed as the second petitioner.

The petition has Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as first respondent. Makinde and PDP are second and third respondents.

But, in a reaction, the state secretary of PDP, Mr. Wasiu Adeleke, said there was no cause for alarm because it was glaring from the results across the five geopolitical zones that Engr. Seyi Makinde won overwhelmingly and polled the highest number of votes and was subsequently declared as winner.Little Bear Schwarz had the fear that she would never get married because of her beard. But after she took to Facebook to write about her fears, a man reached out to her and asked her out.

Back in June 2017, Little Bear posted about her fears on Facebook  then a man named Tobias Bradick, 45, reached out to her.

Now, the pair have married in a Christian-Satanist ceremony to celebrate both their religions, near Little Bears home in Tacoma, Washington, USA.

The pair first met through an online polyamory group in 2014 but it wasnt until the Facebook post in 2017 that they started to see each other as more than friends.

Little Bear, 36, has polycystic ovary syndrome since she was 14  a condition affecting fertility and often causing weight gain and excessive body hair, including on her face  and she was worried that she would never meet someone who would see beyond her beard.

Little Bear said:

Id had relationships in the past, but they all fell apart, so I was feeling pretty low. I was worried that Id never be able to find a person who could see past my beard. So I wrote a post on Facebook and then an hour later I got a message from Tobias saying that he hoped it didnt come across as too opportunistic, but he would love to take me out.

Quickly falling in love, a year later the couple were engaged and on February 24 this year they tied the knot in front of 40 friends and family at a special venue for ex-military personnel.

She continued,

Tobias is a Satanist whereas I am a Christian, which might sound like we are at odds with one another. But really, we have the same ethical codes  we just express them through different means.

But their relationship is far from conventional  they are polyamorous, meaning they can have relationships with other people, but they are also very much devoted to each other.

Little Bear said:A Nigerian woman who was convicted of drug trafficking by the Saudi Arabian government has been executed alongside two Pakistani men and one Yemeni man. Their executions in Mecca bring the total number of people killed this year to 53. In the last three years, eight Nigerians have been executed in the kingdom. Meanwhile, the [] MoreSays project wont be abandoned if he leaves as minister

By Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja

The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, yesterday, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari, would take a presidential ride on the LagosIbadan rail line by the end of May, 2019.

Amaechi made the disclosure at Ibadan, during the month end meeting of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway Project Monitoring Steering Committee/ Inspection tour of the rail line.

This was as he assured Nigerians that the Lagos-Ibadan railway project would never be abandoned by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration, having been voted back to power for another four years in the last general elections.

The Minister noted that, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) handling the project, would do track laying on the rail line up to kilometer 98 while completion of track laying to Ibadan would be achieved by the end of May, to pave way for the proposed presidential ride.

His words: in one week time, they will lay the tracks up to kilometer 98. The Presidential ride will take place by the end of May. But it is not just a ride; we are saying that by the end of May they should have finished laying the double tracks, which means that you can take a trip from Lagos to Ibadan station. Then what will be faced is the construction of stations and communication system.

Thank God that we have won the election, and having won the election, it means that the same government that started the project will finish the project. So, the project will not be abandoned. Even if you change the Minister, it is the same government.

Amaechi, who was accompanied on the monitoring exercise by the Ghanaian Minister of Railways Development, Mr. Joe Ghartey and his team and the members of the Senate Committee on Land Transport, explained that Ghana would start similar railway project soon, and therefore, sent the Minister and others to come and see how the project was being done in Nigeria.

He said: the Minister of Railways Development, Ghana, Mr. Joe Ghartey and his team are on this inspection team to see how we are going about it because in two to three months time they want to start their own project; and they want to see how we are supervising them so that they know what to do.

This is because it is the same contractor, the CCECC, which is handling our own project that is going to handle their own. It is the same consulting engineer that supervises what they do.

On the Lagos-Calabar rail project, Amaechi hinted that it was awarded by President Goodluck Jonathan but noted that lack of fund had not allowed the present administration to start it, saying that as soon as fund was secured for the project, it would take off.

He said that, as an indigene of Niger Delta region, he was emotionally attached to the rail project, pointing out that President Buhari had directed the Ministry of Transport to interconnect the whole country by rail.

Lagos-Calabar rail project has been awarded but we are looking for money. I tell people that I come from the South South and I am emotionally attached to that project. It is unfortunate that we have not gotten money to start that project which was awarded under President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Lagos-Ibadan was awarded under President Obasanjo. The directive of President Muhammadu Buhari is that we should do everything possible to get the inter-connectivity of the entire country.

Those who are criticizing President Buhari today should know that there was a time we had money in this country and we were all enjoying the money by way of corruption. So, its a little difficult but we are trying to meet the challenges we are facing according to the directive of Mr. President but Nigerians should know that these challenges are only resolved by funds and these funds are not readily available, he said.

Earlier, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, commended the efforts of the Minister and the government in general, saying that the rail project had generated about ten thousand jobs for Nigerians as well as increased commercial activities along Lagos-Ibadan axis.

The rail project has facilitated increase in commercial activities. It has also brought about huge employments for Nigerians. The partnering contractor and the Nigerian Railway Corporation have employed close to 10,000 Nigerians. So, employment has risen and unemployment has come down, he said.

Also speaking, the Minister of Railways Development, Ghana, Mr. Ghartey, commended Amaechi for the commitment given to the rail project, describing it as impressive, and boasting that he was going to surpass Amaechi in the proposed rail project in Ghana.Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State is close to victory for a second term; the result of the governor election declared so far indicate the governors closeness to second term in office

On the resumption of collation and announcement of results on Tuesday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), results from 15 local government areas shows that Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, had a total of 426,369 votes against Biokpomabo Awara of the African Action Congress (AAC) who has 129,855 votes showing a difference of 296,514 votes.

As collation continued on Wednesday, the lead was extended. In Degema Local Government, Wike had 12,133 votes to Awaras 5,071 votes.

In the 12 wards of Asari-Toru Local Government, the governor had 32,172 votes to Awaras 18,945; while in the 12 wards of Ogo/Bolo Local Government, he had 11,855 votes to Awaras 814.

In the 17 wards of Obio/Akpor Local Government, the governor had 281,164 votes to Awaras 7,495.

The total of the results showed that Wike has got 763,603 votes while Awara has 162,180, a difference of 601,423 votes.

The collation on Wednesday was temporarily suspended but resumed at 3.00pm with only four local governments left to be announced.If You Enjoy My Articles, Please Consider Supporting My Writing By Giving A Donation Of Any Amount. Thank you!Of course. You would have to be be barking mad to want to bring this rabble to NZ. But then socialists are mad by definition. It's not as if we don't have...We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription." " You see someone commit a crime and there's not a policeman in sight. Would you step in, try to stop the offender and make a citizen's arrest? It's definitely a situational call, but usually not a great idea. Image Source/Getty Images

On Aug. 19, 2018, three people clad in hooded sweatshirts allegedly entered an Apple Store in Thousand Oaks, California, grabbed iPhones and computers valued at $18,000 and then ran out of the store, according to a Ventura County Sheriff's Office press release. But two of the suspects didn't get very far. Instead, other customers in the area tackled the two and detained them until police could arrive.

A Sheriff's Department spokesman said he was happy that the bystanders got involved. "These items are relatively small and very expensive so if they get away with a few things in their hands these are very easy to transfer into cash," Capt. Garo Kuredjian told local TV news station KCAL.

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It's not the first time that ordinary people who weren't law enforcement officers have captured crime suspects. One of the most celebrated cases is the capture of serial killer Richard "Night Stalker" Ramirez in 1985 by a group of East Los Angeles residents. After Ramirez tried to steal two cars and assaulted a woman, they chased him down and forced him to sit on the curb until police arrived, according to a 2013 Los Angeles Times retrospective.

The custom of citizen's arrest dates back to medieval England, according to a 2016 article on the subject by American University law school professor Ira P. Robbins in the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy. The Statute of Winchester in 1285 not only gave ordinary people the right to arrest others who committed crimes, but actually obligated them to help in the apprehension if a constable or another citizen raised the hue and cry that a suspect was escaping. And people making a citizen's arrest in those days had broad authority. They didn't need proof that a crime actually had been committed, and the statute exempted them from being punished for making a mistaken arrest.

English Common Law Origins

The concept of citizen's arrest became enshrined in English common law, and eventually was accepted throughout the U.S. as well. The practice has survived out of tradition, as "a reminder of earlier times when law enforcement was a private rather than a public duty," says retired UCLA law school professor Paul Bergman, who has written on the subject for Nolo.com, via email.

But, as Robbins points out, the statutes and case law regarding citizen's arrest vary from state to state. In Arkansas, for example, a citizen can arrest someone if he or she suspects them of having committed a felony without being legally liable for making a mistake, as long as the citizen had reasonable grounds for believing that the person was a criminal. In New York, in contrast, citizens get no such leeway. If it turns out that the person detained didn't commit a felony, the citizen is liable for false arrest, even if his or her intervention seemed justifiable at the time.

The potential for ending up in such trouble leads a lot of legal experts to caution people against trying to make citizen's arrests. "I think the main risk from a legal perspective stems from the possibility that your arrest might not be legitimate," explains Jay Anthony, a South Carolina attorney who wrote this blog post on citizen's arrest, in an email. "The types of offenses which warrant a citizen's arrest and those which do not are sometimes hard to distinguish. And since you're stopping someone by force, there's the potential for injury and so forth. While I think most officers and jurors would have more sympathy for a person stopping someone and making an arrest than for the criminal, there's potential liability and physical harm nonetheless."

Additionally, smartphone cameras make it possible for video of a citizen's arrest to go viral on the Internet, before law enforcement authorities have a chance to investigate and determine whether it was legally justifiable.

"Citizen's arrest is always dangerous," Bergman says. "Publicizing private arrests via social media may produce much higher private civil liability for mistakes."

While citizen's arrest often was and still is a spontaneous phenomenon, at times it's also been an act performed by organized groups. This 2006 Congressional Research Service report details the activities of citizen groups who patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to stop illegal immigration, and noted that "the extent to which a civilian may use a state's citizen's arrest authority to apprehend, detain, and arrest an illegal alien is not clear."

Bergman sees a danger in such activism. "The citizen's arrest tradition is a policy that recognizes that since police officers cannot be everywhere it makes sense to allow one-off arrests by particular victims. Citizen's arrests should not replace policing policies and duties with armed forces."

Is a citizen's arrest something people should avoid doing at all costs, or are there any situations where it might be advisable, compared to the alternative of allowing a suspected lawbreaker to escape?

"This answer probably depends on whether you're asking me from a legal or practical perspective," Anthony says. "From a legal perspective, from a pure cost-benefit perspective, there are probably few instances where a citizen's arrest makes sense. That's particularly true given that our emergency responders are much more responsive than they were in the old days. If you have to wait a few days for a marshal to come to town, then a citizen's arrest is probably more appealing."

"Now, from a practical perspective  I'm a good Southern boy and if I can stop someone from committing a crime, whether it's a crime against me or someone else, I'm probably going to step in," Anthony adds. "That's particularly true if the 'bad guy' might get away altogether."

Now That's Interesting Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), famously made a citizen's arrest of deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) for making an illegal U-turn in a hilarious 1963 episode of "The Andy Griffith Show."" " Sen. Ed Markey speaks alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Congressional Democrats during a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 7, 2019 as they unveil their Green New Deal resolution. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Green New Deal is nothing if not wildly, proudly, unapologetically ambitious. It's a bodacious cards-on-the-table challenge to everyone who doubts the seriousness of climate change and to everyone who lacks the sense of urgency  or the guts  to act on it.

So to think, after the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted in late March to quash the Green New Deal (though technically was a non-binding resolution, meaning in no way would it have become law; the Senate shot down even talking about it), that this pie-in-a-clean-sky idea has gone belly-up for good is not giving it nearly enough credit. The Green New Deal, in oft-changing but always-bold forms, isn't going anywhere.

"I think the Beltway mentality that, 'Well, the resolution didn't pass, so this goes away'... most people aren't necessarily following what happens in Congress," Nicole Ghio, the fossil fuels manager for the environmental group Friends of the Earth, says. "What [people] demand is not based on a vote  a very cynical vote  that happened in the Senate. What we're going to see is people continue to mobilize around the country for meaningful action on climate. That already has changed the debate and will continue to change the debate."

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What Is the Green New Deal?

The Green New Deal, as many know it today, is a resolution that was sponsored in the Senate by veteran Democrat congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts and, in the House, by freshman Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. It calls for the creation of a new federal program, a Green New Deal, that would combat climate change and do nothing less than recast the nation's economy, addressing a huge number of national ills  from income inequality to social and racial injustice to health care to a living wage  in doing so.

It takes on more, too. Way, way more. The Green New Deal is crazy ambitious, and in that way not unlike its namesake, Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" of the 1930s, designed to lift America out of the Great Depression.

"In the past, when we've confronted this type of stagnation and this type of systemic threat as a country ... the answer has been an ambitious and directed mobilization of the American economy to direct and solve our biggest problems," Ocasio-Cortez told a town hall-type meeting on MSNBC. "To get us out of this situation, to revamp our economy, to create dignified jobs for working Americans, to guarantee health care, and elevate our educational opportunities and attainment, we will have to mobilize our entire economy around saving ourselves and taking care of this planet."

The Green New Deal is, to its many critics, naively impractical and prohibitively expensive. It calls for a completely clean-energy future for America, carbon-neutral, by 2030. That means goodbye coal, goodbye fossil fuels, goodbye nuclear, goodbye anything that runs on "dirty" energy (including, notably, the economy as we now know it).

The devil of the Green New Deal is, of course, in the details. But the resolution, simply and admittedly, doesn't sport many of those. To be fair again, it's just a resolution, not legislation. It is considered by many to be a starting point.

Still, the Green New Deal is clear in its goals, which include:

Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming

Creating millions of good jobs

Investing in infrastructure

Securing clean air, water, healthy food, a sustainable environment, access to nature and "climate and community resiliency"

Promoting justice for people of "frontline and vulnerable communities"

" " The Green New Deal would mean an end to all fossil fuels, including the coal mined from places like the Savage Energy Terminal in Price, Utah seen here. George Frey/Getty Images

It should be pointed out that this current Green New Deal is just the latest, hottest incarnation of a Green New Deal. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman may have coined the term in 2007. President Barack Obama put the idea on his platform, without much ado, in 2008. Green Party candidate Jill Stein ran for president with a Green New Deal in the 2016 election. The Sunrise Movement pushed for a Green New Deal in a protest in the offices of Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the 2018 midterm election.

This in-the-news version has its defining characteristics, but it's much like others, past and present, in that it would require a huge, unprecedented economic investment. Or, as Friedman put it back in 2007:

"We will only green the world when we change the very nature of the electricity grid  moving it away from dirty coal or oil to clean coal and renewables. And that is a huge industrial project  much bigger than anyone has told you. Finally, like the New Deal, if we undertake the green version, it has the potential to create a whole new clean power industry to spur our economy into the 21st century."

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What Happened with This Green New Deal?

On March 26, 2019, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed for a vote on the Markey Green New Deal resolution, attempting to get senators on the record on a plan that some have ridiculed in outrageous fashion. (Republican Sen. Rob Bishop of Utah, ate a hamburger on camera before, as he said, the GND outlaws cows! Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, said the Green New Deal aims to end air travel! The Green New Deal says neither.)

In an only-in-politics show of solidarity  and with the realization that, in the Republican-majority Senate, the resolution would be defeated (again, before it was even considered or assigned to committees or debated or any of that)  Democrats (most of whom backed the resolution) instead voted "present" when McConnell forced the vote. The resolution, of course, died anyway.

In the House, the Ocasio-Cortez companion resolution still lives on, though its future is uncertain. For her part, Ocasio-Cortez is not backing down. She assailed lawmakers who ridiculed the Green New Deal, calling them "fools," and in floor speech warned that the costs of a Green New Deal are nothing compared to what lies ahead without one.

"We're going to pay for this whether we pass a Green New Deal or not," she said on the House floor. "Because as towns and cities go underwater, as wildfires ravage our communities, we are going to pay. And we're either gonna decide if we're going to pay to react, or if we're going to pay to be proactive."

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What Next, Then?

"I think a lot of that is political posturing," Nathaniel Keohane, the senior vice president of climate for the Environmental Defense Fund, says in regard to the Senate vote. "What I think is most striking there is the kind of thinking behind that is already out of date, in the sense that there is overwhelming and increasing popular support for climate action."

A March 2019 Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans, for the first time since 2001, are what Gallup calls "concerned believers;" that is, they are "highly worried about global warming, think it will pose a serious threat in their lifetime, believe it's the result of human activity, and think news reports about it are accurate or underestimate the problem."

More than 60 percent of Americans told Gallup pollsters in 2018 that the government is doing too little to protect the environment. That's a 12-year high on that topic.

That kind of grassroots sentiment, Friends of Earth's Ghio says, is beginning to trickle up. Politicians, despite what happened in the Senate, are starting to get the message. Virtually every Democrat who is running for president in 2020 has backed the idea of a Green New Deal, if not the current congressional resolution. House Republicans have introduced at least one resolution that addresses climate change.

"I think what we're seeing happen is that people across the country are engaging and they're demanding action. They're demanding action because they've been fired up about the ideas represented in a Green New Deal, but they're also demanding action because Americans are seeing, first-hand, the damage in climate change, whether it's in drought or floods or increased storms," Ghio says. "They realize we need action now."

Many groups are working on blueprints to provide details on a new GND, including what the latest congressional resolution did perhaps better than any previous version  linking a clean-energy future to jobs and a new economy that would ease many of society's problems.

The trick, now that the idea is picking up steam, is to come up with plans that are acceptable to a majority of Americans ... and then convince politicians to enact them.

"Right now, we think we are at a time where getting more voices into the discussion and more ideas on the table is critical," Keohane says. "I think the Green New Deal has done an amazing job of energizing the conversation in a way that it hasn't been in a decade. I think that can only be a good thing for the cause of climate policy."

For real change to be affected, though, it will take more than conversation. It will take those ideas, Keohane says, from all corners of the economy, ideas that result in designed policies that provide economic incentives for individuals and companies.

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Time Is of the Essence

A wrinkle: There may be little time to waste. In November 2018, a multi-agency government report that warned of the dangers of climate change included this line: "Without more significant global greenhouse gas mitigation and regional adaptation efforts, climate change is expected to cause substantial losses to infrastructure and property and impede the rate of economic growth over this century."

Yet President Donald Trump reacted this way: "One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence, but we're not necessarily such believers."

That's the kind of thinking that those supporting a Green New Deal  the one just presented in Congress or any other versions of it  are still fighting. At least for the time being.

"I don't want to rule out anything in terms of how fast this could move, given the trends in public opinion, given the enthusiasm behind the Green New Deal, given the fact that we're starting to get bipartisan voices," Keohane says. "But if you look at an effort like this, to pass major new legislation, it often does take presidential leadership, and I don't think that's something we're seeing with this administration.

"I think that's where we need to be going, in terms of the national discussion ... what are going to be the priorities for the next president, whoever that is."

NOW THAT'S SCARY The fourth National Climate Assessment, that sobering government report released in November 2018, has a wealth of information on our warming planet. One must-see highlight: an interactive chart of the "Indicators of Change," showing alarming moves in things like the Western U.S. snowpack (way down), an almost ninefold increase in U.S. ocean level in the past century and a tenfold increase over the past 10 years in acres lost to U.S. wildfires.As Parliament and the cabinet remain deadlocked on how best to deliver the so-called 'will of the people' and take us out of the EU, it is becoming apparent that the threat of us leaving without a deal, is no longer a negotiating tactic by Theresa May, but a real possibility.Unfortunately for May, nobody took her threat seriously, reckoning that if faced with the possibility of us crashing over the cliff, deal-less and friendless, she would bottle it and seek an extension to the deadline she herself set down in legislation. Events have proved those doubters correct, as May did indeed ask for extra time, and is now about to do so again.Our problem is that public opinion is hardening. Whereas a clear majority have become so fed up with the whole affair that they would rather forget we were even asked our opinion, and prefer to stay in the EU, those who continue to agitate for us to leave are now becoming convinced that no deal is the only way to achieve this. They may be right.It is worth noting the words of Britain's most senior civil servant, therefore. He has privately warned cabinet ministers of the dire consequences of a no-deal Brexit. As the Independent reports , Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, has told ministers that leaving the EU without an agreement will result in food prices rising by ten per cent, the police being unable to protect people and the economy suffering the worst recession in a decade.He told ministers that direct rule would have to be restored in Northern Ireland for the first time since 2007 and the government would come under pressure to bail out companies that had gone bust:Those advocating a no deal Brexit as a way out of this mess really need to be careful what they wish for.China has no intention of dividing the European Union  nor the capability to do so  a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday, as Beijing strengthens its cooperation with a number of countries in central and eastern Europe while it remains locked in a protracted trade war with the US.

Wang Chao, Chinas vice-minister of foreign affairs, was speaking at a press conference in Beijing to preview Chinese Premier Li Keqiangs official visit to Europe next week to attend the China-EU leaders meeting in Brussels on April 9.

Lis trip follows a visit last month by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Italy, Monaco and France which included meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

A centrepiece of Xis visit was the signing up of Italy to Beijings Belt and Road Initiative  a move which raised eyebrows among EU leaders, including Juncker who has expressed concerns over Chinas trade practices.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week also said that he was saddened about Italys signing up to the belt and road plan and warned that countries joining the scheme would ultimately lose.

But Wang dismissed the criticisms, saying China has no intention, nor do we have the ability, to divide Europe.

Beijing has engaged with 16 central and eastern European countries, including 11 EU member states and five Western Balkan countries in a grouping referred to as 16+1.

The 16+1 is a platform that is based on equal and mutually beneficial cooperation  and will bring real benefits to China and Central European countries, Wang said.

Following his Brussels engagement, Li will pay an official visit to Croatia where he will also attend a 16+1 leaders meeting on April 12, when agreements on infrastructure, trade, finance, education and people-to-people exchange cooperation are expected to be signed.

Wang said the visits to Europe by Li and Xi underscored the importance attached by China to its relations with the region.

Story continues

The European Union is currently rethinking its China strategy, with the European Commission last month labelling China a systemic rival and economic competitor in a policy paper.

When asked about Chinas response to the European policy paper, Wang said competition was normal.

The EU policy paper and the related discussions show the importance Europe attaches to its relations with China. China also values its relations with Europe, he said.

Due to the differences in history, culture and our respective systems and stages of development, its inevitable that there will be differences. And, as we deepen our cooperation, there will be competition and we think its normal to have competition.

We think that moderate and healthy market competition can contribute to our respective development  but cooperation is still the mainstay.

The European bloc is struggling to present a united front in response to Beijings expanding influence in the region, in particular with issues such as the belt and road plan, and security concerns in dealing with Chinas telecommunications giant Huawei.

Wang said Beijing was currently in talks with many countries in relation to the belt and road plan, and hoped European countries would create a good environment for cooperation instead of targeting certain companies  an indirect reference to Huawei.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article China will not divide Europe, senior diplomat says first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019.THE National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has removed over 650,000 campaign materials all over Metro Manila.NCRPO Director Major General Guillermo Eleazar urged the candidates to also do their

REPRESENTATIVE Jonas Cortes turned down an invitation for a debate with Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing, prompting the latter to say his rival has chickened out.

The challenge for a debate started after the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter organized a debate for the candidates for mayor and vice mayor in Cebu City.

Ria Espina, who heads the IBP Cebu Chapter and the Young Lawyers Association of Cebu (YLAC), made a post on her Facebook account challenging the candidates for mayor and vice mayor in Mandaue City to a debate of their own.

Mayor Quisumbing and his running mate Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna readily accepted the challenge, but Cortes and his running mate Glenn Bercede turned it down.

Lawyer Jamaal Calipayan, the chief of staff of Cortes, explained in his own Facebook post their reasons for turning down the invitation of the IBP Cebu and YLAC, saying Cortes has nothing left to prove to the voters of Mandaue City.

I believe that debates are only necessary when there are pertinent issues to be resolved and in this case there are none; our camp has nothing to prove, especially to the Mandaue Voters who intimately know our plans and programs of action, Calipayan said.

However, lawyer Elaine Bathan, the chief of staff of Quisumbing, said a debate is the perfect venue to help voters discern the stand of the candidates regarding issues on governance.

Bathan also said a candidates debate is also the perfect venue for the competing camps to raise issues against each other since they will have an opportunity to defend themselves. Bathan said it is much better than the slinging of mud through social media.

A debate is an intellectual discourse and an exchange of ideas on topics put to front for discussion. It allows one to freely express and speak his/her heart out on a given topic. In a candidates debate, it allows the voting public to freely discern on who among those who are running for office have a better platform of government and whether or not their stand on relevant issues aligns with the governance they are seeking for in a leader. It is not an argument per se. Even if it is, what is there to fear? Rather than resorting to rants, trash talk, mudslinging, slashing down of election materials and black propaganda on irrelevant issues, the candidates debate brings the election campaign to a higher level, Bathan said.

Story continues

Calipayan also denied Quisumbings accusation of their camp chickening out from the debate, saying they dont need additional publicity. He also said Cortes prefers to campaign in the barangays rather than join a debate.

However, Bathan said Cortess refusal to join the debate is a disservice to the voters of Mandaue.

The people of Mandaue deserve a decent and academic symposium, which is the centerpiece of this democratic process called elections. Apparently, some cower on the idea of a face-off by guising the debates as a circus and thirst for publicity. They prefer to dance rather than sit down on stage and engage in a scholarly forum, Bathan said. (FMD of SunStar SuperBalita Cebu)Malaysia will sell a luxury yacht linked to the 1MDB financial scandal for $126 million to a local company, authorities said Wednesday, as the country's toppled leader went on trial over the controversy. The Equanimity -- equipped with a pool, helicopter landing pad and cinema -- was originally bought by playboy financier Low Taek Jho with $250 million allegedly stolen from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. It was seized by Indonesia last year and sent to Malaysia in August after the long-ruling government of Najib Razak was unexpectedly ejected from office in a historic election. Malaysia's new government, led by veteran politician Mahathir Mohamad, has been seeking to claw back looted funds, and has for months been seeking buyers for the vessel. Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said the 300-foot (90 metre), Cayman Islands-registered yacht was being sold to Genting Malaysia, which operates hotels, resorts and the country's only legal casino. "The government of Malaysia is pleased to announce that the superyacht Equanimity is to be sold to Genting Malaysia...at the price of $126 million," he said in a statement, adding the purchase would be completed by the end of April. Thomas said the offer was the best Malaysia got since the vessel was put up for sale five months ago, and the government had received many offers, including a few over $100 million. Before it was seized off the Indonesian tourist island of Bali in February last year, the yacht was believed to have been used by Low -- better known as Jho Low -- to sail around Asia, as he sought to evade arrest over the 1MDB scandal. Low, allegedly a mastermind in the looting of 1MDB, is still at large although he has been charged in absentia in Malaysia over the scandal. Known for partying with A-list celebrities and flaunting his wealth, Low was a close associate of Najib, who now faces 42 charges of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering over his role in the 1MDB saga. Najib's first trial over the corruption scandal began in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to seven charges of corruption and money laundering. The 1MDB saga, which allegedly saw billions of dollars stolen by Najib and his cronies, played a huge part in the election loss of Najib. He has denied any wrongdoing.Tensions soared Wednesday between the United States and two of its NATO partners, Germany and Turkey, marring a 70th birthday celebration for the alliance aimed at showing a united front against a resurgent Russia. Hours before foreign ministers from the 29-member Western alliance opened talks in Washington with a leisurely reception, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a stinging rebuke both to Germany over its level of defense spending and to Turkey for buying a major arms system from Russia. "Germany must do more. And we cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence told a think-tank forum on the NATO anniversary. "It is simply unacceptable for Europe's largest economy to continue to ignore the threat of Russian aggression and neglect its own self-defense and our common defense," Pence said. President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced annoyance that few allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are meeting a goal set by the alliance in 2014 to devote two percent of GDP to defense. Germany last month announced that defense spending would slip to 1.25 percent in 2023. Hungry for energy, Germany has also forged ahead with Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that will double the amount of gas it can import from Russia. "If Germany persists in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as President Trump said, it could turn Germany's economy into literally a captive of Russia," Pence told the event, held incongruously in a hip new music venue. Pence, however, promised that the United States "is now and will always be Europe's greatest ally" -- a tonal shift from Trump, who has loudly wondered whether it is worth defending smaller NATO members such as Montenegro. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said afterward that burden-sharing was about more than expenditure and that NATO was foremost "an alliance of values." Noting that Germany's history made military spending controversial, Maas pointed out that Berlin is the second largest troop contributor to Afghanistan and is constructing a new NATO command center in the city of Ulm. "We in Europe know that we cannot take our security for granted. We have to shoulder responsibility in order to continue safeguarding it, in our own interest," he said. - 'Turkey must choose' - Western powers have also increasingly clashed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government, which has cracked down on dissent at home and threatened to strike US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria. On Monday, the United States said it was suspending Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter-jet program due to Ankara's plans to buy Russia's S-400 missile defense system, raising fears that Moscow could gain data to hone its hardware and shoot down Western aircraft. "Turkey must choose -- does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out a change of heart, saying: "The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this." Cavusoglu said Turkey still backed NATO on core concerns and would never recognize Moscow's 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine. "We have been working with Russia," he said. "But it doesn't mean that we are undermining the alliance and we agree with Russia on everything. There is no shift on our foreign policy." He later met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned him of "potentially devastating consequences" if Turkey goes ahead with threats to strike Kurdish fighters in Syria. - No 'new Cold War' - The 70th anniversary comes amid rising concern over Russia, which has supported separatists in Ukraine and Georgia, sought to sway the 2016 US election and was suspected in a poisoning attack in England. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an address to the US Congress, said the alliance wanted better relations with Russia -- but needed to prepare a strong defense. "We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naive," Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg appeared to soothe Trump during a White House meeting on Tuesday, crediting the US leader's tough rhetoric with pushing the Europeans and Canada to bolster their defense budgets by $100 billion between 2016 and 2020. Lawmakers repeatedly rose to standing ovations as Stoltenberg hailed the value of the alliance. "NATO has been good for Europe, but NATO has also been good for the United States," he said. "The strength of a nation is not only measured by its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends. And through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other power."Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Amazon will provide $4 million in scholarships for 100 high school students as part of its new program to support computer science education.

The company began its Amazon Future Engineer program last fall, part of what it described as a $50 million commitment to education focused on science, math, engineering and other disciplines in high demand from technology companies, not least Amazon.

The scholarships of $10,000 a year for four years, managed by a Minnesota nonprofit called Scholarship America, are one part of the program. Other parts provide workshops, camps and online courses to younger students; introductory and advanced placement computer science classes at more than 2,000 high schools; and paid internships at Amazon for scholarship recipients following their first year of college.

Amazon said students in 32 states, including three in Washington, were awarded scholarships based on academics, leadership, activities, work experience, goals, diversity and financial need. The company said more than half of the scholarship winners come from groups that are underrepresented in computer science.

The company said it will begin accepting applications for the next round of scholarships in November.

2019 The Seattle Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Researchers from EPFL and the University of Zurich have developed a model that uses data from sensors worn by meerkats to gain a more detailed picture of how animals behave in the wild.

Advancement in sensor technologies has meant that field biologists are now collecting a growing mass of ever more precise data on animal behaviour. Yet there is currently no standardized method for determining exactly how to interpret these signals. Take meerkats, for instance. A signal that the animal is active could mean that it is moving; alternatively, it could indicate that it is digging in search of its favorite prey, scorpions. Likewise, an immobile meerkat could be resting  or keeping watch.

In an effort to answer these questions, researchers from EPFL's School of Engineering Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Measurement (LMAM) teamed up with colleagues from the University of Zurich's Population Ecology Research Group to develop a behavior recognition model. The research was conducted in affiliation with the Kalahari Research Centre.

Assessing human impact on wildlife

"Human activity is having ever greater and more frequent impact on animal behavior," says Pritish Chakravarty, a Ph.D. student at the LMAM. "Once we understand how animal behaviour changes in response to external stimuli, we can better shape our conservation efforts." Chakravarty explains, for instance, that authorities can designate known feeding and hunting grounds as protected areas. "But that can only happen if we know with high accuracy which signals mean the animal is searching for food, changing location or engaged in a static activity."

A new biomechanical approach

The new model draws on general biomechanical principles such as posture, movement intensity and frequency. It allows researchers to precisely determine what an animal is doing  resting, keeping watch, running, or searching for food  using input from a wearable accelerometer. The device, which is compatible with a variety of species, has been repurposed by the LMAM research team to capture data such as body inclination, acceleration, vibrations and impacts.

First, the model distinguishes between two broad categories of behavior  dynamic (running, searching for food) and static (resting, keeping watch)  by analysing movement and posture intensity. If the animal is still, the researchers can tell whether it is resting or keeping watch by looking at the inclination of its torso. And when the animal is on the move, they can use movement intensity and frequency to determine whether it is running or searching for food.

Field data

The fieldwork was carried out by specially trained long-term volunteers at the Kalahari Research Centre. The team fitted sensor collars to 10 meerkats, then recorded data and filmed the animals going about their business for three hours. After analysing the recordings to identify different types of activity, the researchers developed a hybrid model, using biomechanical principles and the data collected in the field to train a machine-learning algorithm to recognise different patterns of behavior.

The researchers' work marks the first step towards a standardized method for analysing animal behavior from wearable accelerometer signals. The model could be refined to produce more accurate and detailed information about specific behaviors in future studies. "The model could be used, for instance, to provide an estimate of how much energy an animal expends searching for food," says Chakravarty. "That would tell us how much time and effort it takes for a meerkat to find something to eat, and whether a particular spot is of particular interest for the group."

Explore further Fate of meerkats tied to seasonal climate effects

More information: Pritish Chakravarty et al. A novel biomechanical approach for animal behaviour recognition using accelerometers, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (2019). Journal information: Methods in Ecology and Evolution Pritish Chakravarty et al. A novel biomechanical approach for animal behaviour recognition using accelerometers,(2019). DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.13172Legal Levers Model for Health Equity in Housing. Credit: Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research

A new article published in the Northeastern University Law Review outlines 23 legal mechanisms that may impact health equity in housing in the United States, and reviews the evidence base evaluating each lever.

These levers include the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, nuisance property ordinances, inclusionary zoning laws, rent control, fair housing protections, and the minimum wage, among others.

But the evidence base regarding the impact of these levers, the authors find, is minimal, and the number of quality, rigorous scientific studies is even smaller.

"Unfortunately, in reviewing the literature in depth, we find that there is a lack of evidence as to whether many of the individual levers actually do the specific things they intend to do, let alone whether they operate in synergy with the other levers and have an impact on the broader goal of promoting housing equity," said author Katie Moran-McCabe, JD, special projects manager at the Center for Public Health Law Research.

This is problematic, Moran-McCabe and her co-authors caution, because this ignorance of the law's effects can foster and support the belief that problems that have been addressed in law have been solved, or are in the process of being solved, when in fact the solutions may not really be solutions at all.

The article introduces a model that divides the levers among five core domains intended to promote greater health equity in housing:

Increasing the Supply of New Affordable Housing Maintaining Existing Housing as Affordable, Stable and Safe Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Protecting and Enhancing Economic Choice for the Poor, and Governance and Planning



"Since housing-related problems are a reflection of a complex system, tackling them as if they were separate or discreet issues isn't a practical or effective way of approaching the overall problem," said Moran-McCabe. "Our goal is to create a tool to help people interested in a systematic approach think about the ways in which these legal levers interact, and to identify areas for evaluation needed to support the development of strategies to use these levers to promote housing equity."

This article is the first product in a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Policies for Action program. A future series of reports will expand the list of legal levers and evidence presented in this article, and offer a research and action roadmap for policymakers, advocates and others to support health equity in housing.

Explore further Study demonstrates LEED-ND rating system falls short on affordable housing

More information: Gutman, Abraham and Moran-McCabe, Katie and Burris, Scott C., Health, Housing and the Law (February 23, 2019). Northeastern University Law Review, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2019. Available at SSRN: Gutman, Abraham and Moran-McCabe, Katie and Burris, Scott C., Health, Housing and the Law (February 23, 2019). Northeastern University Law Review, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2019. Available at SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=3340655 The Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University's Beasley School of Law supports the widespread adoption of scientific tools and methods for mapping and evaluating the impact of law on health. Learn more at PHLR.orgCredit: Fauna & Flora International

Imagine you are standing in a beautiful mosaic of meadow and forest habitats  buzzing bees flying from flower to flower. You are in the Zarand landscape corridor in Romania. As well as having rich floral diversity, this landscape corridor provides an element of wilderness through which brown bears, grey wolves and Eurasian lynx can move between the Western and Southern Carpathian Mountains.

However, the Zarand landscape is under increasing threat from new developments and a shift away from small-scale agriculture. This puts local biodiversity and people's cultural heritage at risk of being lost. Together with Zarand Association, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is working with local communities to protect their environment and promote sustainable agricultural practices and other rural business enterprises.

One way we are doing this is by promoting beekeeping, which encourages communities to value and preserve wildflower meadows and sustainably managed forests. This is because beekeepers rely on these habitats for bees to pollinate and produce honey from wild flowers and trees such as lime and acacia.

Beekeeping is already a traditional farming practice in the area with up to 60 beekeepers, but is in decline as young people are increasingly moving away from rural villages to earn higher incomes elsewhere. However, by coming together, beekeepers can strengthen their bargaining power and achieve better prices for their honey collectively than they could as individuals. FFI supports the sale of their honey at a fair price so that farmers can earn an income based on the Fairtrade principle  which seeks to provide local farmers with more favourable prices and improved access to markets for sustainable agricultural products.

The Zarand landscape corridor is a beautiful mosaic of meadow and forest habitats. Credit: Olivia Bailey/FFI

Alongside this, we have supported the creation of a unique Zarand brand, which farmers can use to differentiate their products. By marketing with this distinctive brand, farmers can showcase their pure and premium honey derived from the Zarand landscape, and sell their products at a higher price directly to shops and at fairs. This also helps consumers recognise that they are buying a traditionally produced, natural honey of a higher quality than many other products on sale.

The honey is produced in line with EU food safety standards, so while it is currently only on sale in Romania, we are planning to expand into other EU countries in the future. As the Zarand brand grows, we are hopeful that more farmers will join the initiative and therefore have a greater incentive to continue to manage the land in ways that also preserve the beautiful Zarand landscape corridor.

Community Facilitator for the project, Anca Barbu, said: "One of Zarand locals went to Arad and he saw the honey on a store shelf. He said that he knew about the plans of selling honey but he never believed that he will see the honey on a shelf store from Arad. Seeing the honey on that shelf made him believe that the natural beekeeping in the area has a chance to prosper."

We are supporting local communities to market and sell traditional products under the distinct Zarand brand. Credit: Anca Barbu/Asociatia Zarand

Bee-burners to beekeepers

Across the globe on the island of Principe, in the Gulf of Guinea, we are supporting a local beekeeping cooperative with our partner Fundacao Principe.

In Principe, honey is traditionally collected from wild colonies using a destructive method that involves burning the nest, and therefore killing most of the bees. This method also carries the risk of uncontrolled fires spreading through the forest. The traditional collectors are known as "queima vunvu"  which literally means "bee-burners" in the local forro dialect. Due to this destructive practice, wild bee colonies are reportedly harder to find and the honey collected is usually poor quality.

To address this problem, FFI and Fundacao Principe are raising awareness of the importance of bees as pollinators and providing training to beekeepers for an alternative model of honey production that does not involve bee-burning in the forest.

FFIs Principe project manager, Laura Benitez. Credit: Estrela Matilde/FP

Since 2017, thanks to government support, it has become illegal to burn bees to extract honey, and increasing regulations relating to the sale of honey are helping to prevent illegally extracted honey from entering the market.

FFI's Principe project manager, Laura Benitez, said: "This is an ambitious and exciting project based on three pillars  communities, beekeeping and forest conservation  each with its own challenges. The biggest challenge is to offer a sustainable alternative to honey production, changing people's mindsets and creating the technical skills to do so, to prove that it is possible to manage the forest in a way beneficial to both humans and bees.

"In the end what we are trying to achieve is nothing more than imitating the work of bees: using the forest as a resource in the most intelligent and productive way possible, feeding and providing our community and, through our work, returning some benefit to the planet. For bees the result of all this work is honey; for us the sweet result is a healthy environment with engaged communities having sustainable livelihoods."

Beekeeper Jaynilsa Vaz Lourenco said: "The project was very important to teach us how to do beekeeping and show that bees are important to make our honey and also our food. If we do not have bees, we will have no fruit. We depend on the bees."The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible as cherry blossom trees bloom on the West Lawn, Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Washington. Peak bloom is expected April 1, according to the National Park Service. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

News publishers would gain greater power to negotiate terms with Facebook and Google under terms of a bill filed Wednesday in the House of Representatives.

The proposal aims to give newspaper and digital publishers who have been struggling financially the right to bargain collectively with the tech giants. The publishing group says revenue has plummeted by $31 billion since 2006, due primarily to the disappearance of advertising.

Publishers are more optimistic about the legislation, which has failed in the past, because it now has bipartisan support.

The bill is being sponsored by Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, a Democrat, and Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, a Republican who is ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.In this February 2019 photo made available by NASA and Boeing, Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson helps NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, left, and Mike Fincke, right, train for a spacewalk inside the International Space Station Airlock Mockup at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The three are assigned to Boeing's Crew Flight Test, Starliner's first flight with crew as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner capsule, supposed to make its debut in April 2019, was pushed back until August. (NASA/Boeing via AP)

Boeing's new space capsule for astronauts faces more launch delays.

The Starliner capsule was supposed to make its debut this month, after a series of postponements. But the first test flight is now off until August. And the second test flight, with astronauts, won't occur until late in the year.

NASA announced the revised lineup Wednesday. At the same time, officials said the first Starliner crew will remain at the International Space Station longer than the few weeks originally anticipated. The mission length will be decided later.

SpaceX, NASA's other commercial crew provider, successfully flew its new Dragon capsule without a crew to the International Space Station last month. The first flight with astronauts could be as early as this summer, but the schedule is under review.

Boeing said the last major milestones have been cleared and the capsule is almost finished. But scheduling conflicts with an early summer Air Force launch helped push the Starliner's debut into August.

The Starliner will fly on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket, the same kind of rocket needed for the Air Force's critical mission in late June, from the same pad.

This undated photo made available by NASA on Aug. 3, 2018 shows mockups of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsules with crew members, from left, Sunita Williams, Josh Cassada, Eric Boe, Nicole Mann, Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Robert Behnken, Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover at the Johnson Space Center in Texas. Boe, pulled for unspecified medical reasons in January 2019, was replaced by Mike Fincke. The Starliner capsule, supposed to make its debut in April 2019, was pushed back until August. SpaceX's Dragon capsule could fly with a test crew in the summer of 2019, but the schedule is under review. (NASA via AP)

While the first SpaceX astronauts will visit the space station for a few weeks at most, the Starliner's three-person crew will move into the orbiting complex for an extended period. The typical station stay is about six months.

NASA wants to reduce its reliance on expensive Russian Soyuz capsules as soon as possible, and so the Boeing test flight will double as a taxi mission for station residents. NASA astronauts have been stuck riding Russian rockets since the end of the space shuttle program.

SpaceX Dragons and Boeing Starliners will return human launches to Florida, following the eight-year hiatus. NASA contracted with the two companies to handle space station ferry flights, so it could focus on getting astronauts to the moon and, eventually, Mars.

Explore further NASA replaces astronaut on Boeing's 1st crew launch

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.In "Conspicuous Plumage Does Not Increase Predation Risk: A Continent-Wide Test Using Model Songbirds," published in the American Naturalist, Kristal E. Cain examines the factors that drive the predation levels of Australia's fairy wrens. After measuring attack rates on both conspicuously and dull colored 3-D fairy wren models in various habitats, Cain found that bright or "conspicuous" plumage is not associated with an increase in predation.

"These findings do not support the long-standing hypothesis that conspicuous plumage, in isolation, is costly due to increased attraction from predators," Cain writes. "Our results indicate that conspicuousness interacts with other factors in driving the evolution of plumage coloration."

The forces shaping plumage color of female birdswho are sometimes brightly colored like their male counterparts and other times much more dullis a long-debated topic of evolutionary biology that remains unresolved. Fairy wrens, who vary greatly in both female coloration and the habitats in which they live, are an excellent group for investigating the evolutionary forces shaping female plumage, Cain writes.

Cain and her co-authors produced 60 3-D fairy wren models at the University of Melbourne School of Engineering. The models had three types: conspicuously-colored male purple-backed fairy wren, dull-colored female purple-backed fairy wren, and conspicuously-colored female lovely fairy wren. Field experiments took place at eight different fairy wren habitats across Australia that ranged from open savannah to dense forest. Mimicking actual fairy wrens' foraging habits, models were placed approximately 5 meters apart on bare ground or in short vegetation, attached to metal stakes with magnets. Cameras were used at some locations to determine that the models were knocked off their perches by attack or by accident, and in the case of attacks, to identify the predator.

Cain found that, contrary to their predictions, there was not a significant difference between attack rates on the conspicuous models and the dull models. Attack rates did vary, however, depending on habitat and latitude: predator pressure was stronger at sites that were open savannahs, as well as at sites that were further from the equator. These increases in predation in open habitats occurred more dramatically for female models, both dull and conspicuous, than for the conspicuous male models. Females also saw a greater decrease in predation pressure in habitats that fell on the opposite end of the spectrum: dense forest habitats or habitats closer to the equator.

"Our data suggest that adult birds living in open Australian habitats experience higher predation pressure than those in closed habitats, though it is unclear whether this pattern is due to differences in detectability, predator density, or both," Cain writes.

The lack of differences between attack rates between conspicuous and dull models imply that coloration alone doesn't predict how often a bird will be attacked. This doesn't mean, however, that conspicuousness is not an important factor, Cain writes. For instance, it is possible that a combination of predator behavior, sex differences in behavior, and conspicuousness against particular backgrounds may all play a role in the evolution of plumage colors.

As for the female models experiencing a wider range of predation across sites, Cain writes that this finding joins a substantial body of empirical evidence suggesting that predators may avoid male birds, or that they preferentially attack females or cryptic bird species. There are many theories as for why this may be the case, including some studies that have found that birds that are conspicuously colored, male, or both, are more vigilant against predators.

Further research is needed to determine the mechanisms that are at play with fairy-wrens, Cain writes. "These conflicting patterns suggest that this relationship may be less straightforward than is often assumed and that explicit tests of the relationship between color and predation risk are required. "

More information: Kristal E. Cain et al, Conspicuous Plumage Does Not Increase Predation Risk: A Continent-Wide Test Using Model Songbirds, The American Naturalist (2019). Journal information: American Naturalist Kristal E. Cain et al, Conspicuous Plumage Does Not Increase Predation Risk: A Continent-Wide Test Using Model Songbirds,(2019). DOI: 10.1086/701632This image of the International Space Station was taken on 4 October 2018 by Expedition 55 crew as the Soyuz spacecraft started the journey back to Earth. In order to get the best view, the Soyuz diverted its initial descent parameters. Credit: Roscosmos/NASA

Look again at that space station. That's there. That's home for a crew of six astronauts. That's us, too. On board, astronauts perform science and maintain the spacecraft with the support of a whole team on Earth.

This week ESA is highlighting the role of the European teams that make a space mission possible  from preparations to launch, from continuous research to testing new equipment.

Read on for our bi-weekly update on the joint efforts between ground staff and our ambassadors in space to keep the orbital laboratory running.

Space upgrades

Two spacewalks (also called extra-vehicular activity, or EVA) took place just one week apart, on 22 and 29 March, shortly after the arrival of three new astronauts to arrive at the space station. The full crew of six worked together to upgrade the International Space Station's power storage capacity.

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet was the European link to the first spacewalk to replace old nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries.

On Station, Thomas says preparation begins around two weeks ahead, with a set of procedures called the "Road to EVA."

"Preparing for a spacewalk will take up two to three hours of your schedule every day. Many people have been involved in the preparation, and the risks are so much higher when you are outside the space station," he explains.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, in the centre of the image, assists fellow astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain in their spacesuits shortly before they begin the first spacewalk of their careers. Hague and McClain worked outside, in the vacuum of space, for six hours and 39 minutes on March 22, 2019, to upgrade the International Space Station's power storage capacity. Credit: NASA

Another element outside the space station also got an upgrade. The AtmosphereSpace Interactions Monitor that monitors thunderstorms and lightning phenomena from a vantage point at Europe's Columbus laboratory received better software.

It took two days for the European teams at the Belgian User Support and Operations Centre to reset the system and equip the space-based storm hunter with higher accuracy to continue its observations of sprites, blue jets and elves in the upper atmosphere.

The science teams welcomed software upgrade that came a week after the release of a paper about the payload by a prestigious research publication.

And some downgrades too

Space takes its toll on an astronaut's body. In weightlessness, muscles lose functionality and mass, and astronauts exercise for about two hours a day to prevent muscle wasting away. The Myotones experiment focuses on resting muscle tone.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch used a non-invasive, smart-phone-sized device to measure the health of several muscles and tendons in her body, some of them known to be affected by atrophy and loss in strength during extended inactivity periods. Results could lead to the development of alternative rehabilitation treatments on Earth.

ASIM on Columbus. Credit: NASA

Bone loss and its recovery is another major concern not only for astronauts, but also for people affected by ageing and immobilisation. Studying what happens during long periods in space offers a good insight into osteoporosis. Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin drew a blood sample for the EDOS-2 experiment to monitor how his body copes with bone renewal in orbit.

The way astronauts sense the passing of time seems to be altered in space. Nick Hague carried out his first session of the Time Perception experiment wearing a virtual reality headset and headphones hooked up to a computer. During this experiment, astronauts are asked to estimate the amount of time elapsed between two events, react to stimuli and judge the length of a minute.

Automated science

There are experiments on the space station running on their own, too. Besides punctual human interventions and remote teleoperations, the following research continued producing science onboard: Compacted Granulars, ICE Cubes and Matiss.Natural Atlantic salmon typically reach maturity after 30 months while the GM version can be fully grown in just over half that time

Canada's first commercial farm for genetically-modified salmon received environmental approval on Tuesdaythe final hurdle in a decades-long push to bring the fast-growing fish to market, amid strong opposition.

US-based biotech firm AquaBounty said it would begin stocking its Rollo Bay facility in the eastern province of Prince Edward Island, capable of producing up to 250 metric tons (550,000 pounds) of fish a year, "as soon as possible."

The first commercial harvest, it said, is expected at the end of 2020, around the same time as another at the company's facility in Albany, Indiana.

The genetically-modified salmon has a gene that enables it to grow more rapidly than conventional salmon, and can reach adult size in 16 to 18 months, compared with 30 months for natural Atlantic salmon.

The company will be raising them in contained, land-based hatcheries.

The US and Canada found in 2015 and 2016, respectively, that the fish was safe to eat, clearing the way for it to become the first transgenic animal destined for North American dinner tables.

Environmentalists and consumer groups, however, continue to raise concerns that it could be dangerous to human health and may pose risks to wild fish if it were to escape into the environment.

"This decision means more Canadians will be eating GM salmon without knowing," said Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, citing a lack of mandatory labeling of genetically-modified foods in Canada.

Argentina, Brazil and China have also granted environmental approvals for genetically-modified fish farming trials, the company said.

Explore further Sale of genetically modified salmon in Canada alarms environmentalists

 2019 AFPProject Oceanology class retrieves a bottom trawl at the mouth of the Thames River. Credit: Anna Sawin, CC BY-SA

In the summer of 1973, Joe Hage was in the seventh grade. Together with his peers, he boarded the old Boston Whaler from Project Oceanology just as dawn began to shimmer from behind the trees of Bluff Point. He remembers how instructors led the crowd into knee-deep waters, the velvety green marsh, eel grass tickling their mud-stuck legs, the crabs and snails and fish that flailed around in a beach seine.

To Joe, this was heaven. He was hooked for life.

More than 45 years later, the nonprofit Project Oceanology continues its mission to teach schoolchildren about the ocean. The organization shows students how to measure temperature, pH and oxygen, and lets them sift through trawl catches of fish and crabs. Next year, Project Oceanology will welcome the millionth student on board its bright blue boats.

The project did more than teach students about the ocean: It routinely collected data for more than four decades. On every boat trip, on every excursion, students scribbled their measurements onto protocol sheets. These records went into steel cabinets, which obliviously guarded a growing treasure, waiting to be lifted.

My master's student Jacob Snyder and I decided to do just that. We painstakingly entered every recording from every data sheet we found in those cabinets. To us, it felt a bit like historians piecing together an ancient manuscript, anxious for the time when the data would finally speak. And then they did.

Coldwater species such as American lobster are becoming more scarce. Credit: Breck P. Kent/shutterstock.com

Our study, published on March 21, shows how rapidly temperatures in eastern Long Island Sound have increased over the past four decades. At 0.45 degrees Celsius per decade, the sound is warming four times faster than the global ocean.

This warming trend is true for the larger Northwest Atlantic shelf, of which Long Island Sound is a part, where some areas have warmed faster than 99 percent of all ocean waters on Earth. The reasons for the extraordinary warming of the Northwest Atlantic shelf are not fully understood. Scientists believe that the warm Gulf Stream is pushing farther north and onto the shelf. Polar regions are warming more than low latitudes.

Another symptom of marine climate change is ocean acidification, measured as a slow pH decline in the ocean as the water swallows the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from human emissions. In coastal waters, pollution with nutrients like nitrogen and phosphate can come from sewers, wastewater treatment plants and fertilizer runoff, making acidification even worse.

The Project Oceanology data revealed that pH declined much more rapidly in Long Island Sound than globally, which could imply worsening conditions for shellfish farmers.

Credit: The Conversation

But there also seemed to be some good news. Around the year 2000, pH levels began to stabilize and even slightly rise again. This fits the timing of efforts by New York and Connecticut to curb nutrient pollution in Long Island Sound. However, rapid warming and acidification in Long Island Sound have had serious consequences for this ecosystem.

Here, our trawl data were particularly telling, showing that coldwater species such as American lobster, rock crab and winter flounder became less frequent over time. This is exactly what long-time instructors at Project Oceanology said they had noticed, too. Lobsters once supported a proud fishery in Long Island Sound, but warmer, more acidic waters, shell disease and overfishing have now decimated them to nearly complete absence.

However, a winner of dubious qualities emerged, too. Over the past decades, spider crabs have moved into Long Island Sound from the south and are now the dominant crab species in the trawls. But spider crabs are no equivalent to lobsters, neither for humans who do not like to eat them nor for the ecosystem, as spider crabs eat much more plant-based food than lobsters.

Long Island Sound has been rapidly changing, and the data collected by generations of middle and high school students just confirmed this again. Other data from Norwalk Harbor and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection have shown similar trends.

Credit: The Conversation

These changes are likely to continue. Lobsters are not likely to come back, because the waters are too warm now. Other species from the south, like black sea bass, will likely continue to establish populations in Long Island Sound.

Collectively, the data clearly show that marine climate change is happening right now in Long Island Sound. To better understand and anticipate the future of Long Island Sound, I feel that it is important that Project Oceanology and other groups continue their measurements.

Explore further Researcher unveils tool for a cleaner long island sound

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.DESI first light image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51. This image was obtained the first night of observing with the DESI Commissioning Instrument on the Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona; an r-band filter was used to capture the red light from the galaxy. Credit: DESI Collaboration

On April 1, the dome of the Mayall Telescope near Tucson, Arizona, opened to the night sky, and starlight poured through the assembly of six large lenses that were carefully packaged and aligned for a new instrument that will launch later this year.

Just hours later, scientists produced the first focused images with these precision lenses  the largest is 1.1 meters in diameter  during this early test spin, marking an important "first light" milestone for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI. This first batch of images homed in on the Whirlpool Galaxy to demonstrate the quality of the new lenses.

"It was an incredible moment to see those first images on the control room monitors," said Connie Rockosi, who is leading this early commissioning of the DESI lenses. "A whole lot of people have worked really hard on this, and it's really exciting to show how much has come together already."

This phase of the project will continue for about six weeks and will require the efforts of several onsite scientists and remote observers, noted Rockosi, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.

When completed later this year, DESI will see and measure the sky's light in a far different way than this assembly of lenses. It is designed to take in thousands of points of light instead of a single, large picture.

The finished DESI will measure the light of tens of millions of galaxies reaching back 12 billion light-years across the universe. It is expected to provide the most precise measurement of the expansion of the universe and provide new insight into dark energy, which scientists explain is causing this expansion to accelerate.

DESI's array of 5,000 independently swiveling robotic positioners (see a related video: 5,000 Robots Merge to Map the Universe in 3-D), each carrying a thin fiber-optic cable, will automatically move into preset positions with accuracy to within several microns (millionths of a meter). Each positioner is programmed to point its fiber-optic cable at an object to gather its light.

That light will be channeled through the cables to a series of 10 devices known as spectrographs that will separate the light into thousands of colors. The light measurements, known as spectra, will provide detailed information about objects' distance and the rate at which they are moving away from us, providing fresh insight about dark energy.

DESI's lenses are housed in a barrel-shaped device known as a corrector that is attached above the telescope's primary mirror, and the corrector is moved and focused by a surrounding device known as a hexapod.

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) researchers led the design, construction, and initial testing of the corrector barrel, hexapod and supporting structures that hold the lenses in alignment.

A view of the lenses in DESIs corrector. The largest lens measures over a meter across. Credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

"Our entire team is pleased to see this instrument achieve first light," said Gaston Gutierrez, the Fermilab scientist who managed this part of the project. "It was a great challenge building such large devices to within the precision of a hair. We're happy to see these systems come together."

The giant corrector barrel and hexapod, which together weigh about 5 tons, must maintain alignment with the telescope's large reflector mirror that is 12 meters below, all while compensating for the movement of the telescope's assemblage of massive components as it swings across the sky.

"This is a big step up. It's a leap into the future for the Mayall Telescope that will enable exciting new scientific discoveries," said Michael Levi, DESI's director and a physicist at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), which is the lead institution in the international DESI collaboration. "The team has been working on the new corrector for the past five years, so it was quite an experience seeing $10 million of optics lifted by the crane during installation."

The new set of lenses (see a related video: The Life of a Lens) expands the telescope's viewing window by about 16 times, enabling DESI to map about one-third of the visible sky several times during its five-year mission.

Peter Doel, a professor at University College London, led the team that designed the new optical system. "We had a half-dozen vendors involved with making and polishing the glass. One mistake would have spoiled everything. It's thrilling to know that they survived the journey and work so well."

DESIs cylindrical commissioning instrument, top left, sits just above the corrector barrel (middle) on the Mayall Telescope. The commissioning instrument is designed to test the performance of DESIs lenses, which are stacked inside the corrector barrel, using a set of five precisely positioned digital cameras. Credit: Bill McCollam and Paul Demmer/KPNO, NOAO/AURA/NSF

"This was kind of the moment of truth," said David Schlegel, a DESI project scientist. "We have been biting our nails."

David Sprayberry, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) site director at Kitt Peak, said, "We have an amazing, multitalented team to make sure that everything is working properly," including engineers, astronomers, and telescope operators working in shifts. NOAO operates the Mayall Telescope and its Kitt Peak National Observatory site.

He noted the challenge in updating the sturdy, decades-old telescope, which started up in 1973, with high-precision equipment. "Ultimately we must make sure DESI can target to within 5-micron accuracy  not much larger than a human hair," he said. That's a big thing for something so heavy and big." The entire moving weight of the Mayall Telescope is 375 tons.

Rockosi said there was intensive pre-planning for the corrector's early testing, and many of the tasks during this testing stage are focused on gathering data from evening observations. While DESI scientists have created automated controls to help position, focus, and align all of the equipment, this testing run allows the team to fine-tune these automated tools.

"We'll look at bright stars and test how well we can keep the telescope targeted in the same place, and measure image quality," Rockosi said. "We will test that we can repeatedly and reliably keep those lenses in the best possible alignment."

Paul Martini, an astronomy professor at Ohio State University, inspects DESIs commissioning instrument before it is installed on the 4-meter Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Credit: NOAO/AURA/NSF

The precision testing of the corrector is made possible by an instrument  now mounted atop the telescope  that was designed and built by Ohio State University researchers. This 1-ton device, which features five digital cameras and measuring tools supplied by Yale University, and electronics supplied by the University of Michigan, is known as the commissioning instrument.

This temporary instrument was built at the same weight and installed at the same spot where DESI's focal plane will be installed once it is fully assembled. The focal plane will carry DESI's robotic positioners. The commissioning instrument simulates how the telescope will perform when carrying the full complement of DESI components, and is verifying the quality of DESI's lenses.

"One of the biggest challenges with the commissioning instrument was aligning all five cameras with the corrector's curved focal surface," said Paul Martini, an astronomy professor at Ohio State University who led the R&D and installation of the commissioning instrument and is now overseeing its use. "Another was measuring their positions to a few millionths of a meter, which is far more precise than most astronomical instruments." This positioning will ensure truer measurements of the lenses' performance.

He said he is looking forward to the installation of DESI's focal plane later this year. That will pave the way for DESI's official "first light" of its robotic positioners and the start of its galaxy measurements.

"What got me excited about this field in the first place was going to telescopes and taking data, so it will be fun to have this next step," he said.

Explore further Key components of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument are installed atop the Mayall TelescopeThe Red Sea's unique coral reefs are threatened by ocean plastic

Egypt's Red Sea Governorate is to introduce a ban on single-use plastics that are destroying marine life, the province's top official said Wednesday.

The ban, set to take effect in June, covers items including disposable plastic bags, cutlery and cups, and aims to protect the area's unique sea life, governor Ahmed Abdallah said.

"We want to limit this phenomenon to preserve our maritime environment," he told AFP.

The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastic annually, and scientists estimate there are at least five trillion pieces of the stuff floating in our oceans.

Egypt's Red Sea province depends heavily on income from tourists, many of whom come to snorkel and scuba dive among its spectacular reefs.

The vulnerable shallow-water ecosystems are under threat by both global warming and plastic pollution.

Abdallah said businesses and families in the province will be required to replace plastic with paper and reusable bags.

Heba Shawky, head of the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association which campaigned for the ban, said it was "a huge step forward, because plastic bags cause a lot of damage."

The Egyptian decision comes after countries agreed at a UN conference in March to "significantly reduce" use of single-use plastics, but failed to agree on a full ban, disappointing environmental campaigners.

Sources close to the talks said rich nations, led by the US, were influential in watering down the pledge.

Egypt's Red Sea province had mulled a ban of single-use plastics prior to the 2011 revolt that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak, but the ensuing political turmoil put those plans on hold.

The country's crucial tourism industry, hit hard by the uprising, has bounced back in recent years with tourist arrivals reaching 8.3 million in 2017, according to government figures.

That falls far short of the figure in 2010, when Egypt welcomed 14.7 million tourists.

Explore further Nations set to agree 'significant' plastic cuts

 2019 AFPWhen Epic Games, the maker of the popular "Fortnite" video game, raised $1.25 billion from investors last year, it made the Cary, N.C.-based company one of the most valuable private companies in the United States.

We now know that sum, which values the company at $15 billion, was also the single largest venture fundraising in the entire country last yearas well as the single biggest raise in North Carolina history, according to a report from the Durham-based Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED).

Epic's success was part of a banner year for North Carolina startups. Companies based in the state raised a record amount of venture funding last year, bringing in $2.7 billion in total, a 144 percent increase from 2017.

But the standout was by far Epic, whose marquee video game now attracts hundreds of millions to play. According to the startup data firm Pitchbook, Epic is the ninth-most valuable private tech company in the U.S., only trailing companies like Uber, SpaceX, WeWork and Juul.

However, even if you removed Epic's numbers from CED's analysis, North Carolina firms raised $1.5 billion last year, which would be the most since before the dot-com bubble preceding 2000, CED reported.

Following Epic, the next biggest deals were done by two Durham-based companies: biotech company Humacyte (raising $225 million) and gene-editing company Precision BioSciences ($110 million).

Ravila Gupta, the CEO of CED, said those huge sums of money brings a lot of attention to the state. In fact, 75 percent of the investment companies that poured money into the state this year were from outside of the Southeast regionwith California investors leading the way.

"Having large, noteworthy fundraisings such as those completed by Epic Games, Precision Biosciences, and Humacyte certainly spotlights the region as a great place to start and grow a high-tech business," Gupta said in a statement. "Entrepreneurs continue to be a great source of economic growth for our state and these large investments in local companies help fuel that momentum."

2019 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Weather Alert

...HIGH WIND WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Southwest winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 65 mph possible. * WHERE...Portions of east central, northeast and southeast Nebraska and southwest and west central Iowa. * WHEN...From Wednesday morning through Wednesday evening. * IMPACTS...Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are possible. Travel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for updates on this situation. Fasten loose objects or shelter objects in a safe location prior to the onset of winds. &&White-throated sparrows that were part of a large University of Michigan-led study of nighttime building collisions in the Midwest. These birds died after colliding with buildings in Chicago and were collected by researchers at the Field Museum. Credit: Roger Hart/University of Michigan Photography.

Birds that produce faint chirps called flight calls during nighttime migration collide with illuminated buildings much more often than closely related species that don't produce such calls, according to a new analysis of a 40-year record of thousands of building collisions in the Midwest.

The new analysis of more than 70,000 nighttime songbird collisions in Chicago and Cleveland suggests that birds disoriented by artificial light from illuminated buildings at night send out flight calls that may lure other nearby birds to their death.

The study is scheduled for online publication April 2 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Nocturnal flight calls likely evolved to facilitate collective decision-making among birds during navigation, but this same social behavior may now exacerbate vulnerability to a widespread anthropogenic disturbance: artificial light from buildings," said University of Michigan evolutionary biologist Benjamin Winger, first author of the study.

The study relies on bird-collision data collected in Chicago by Field Museum researchers starting in 1978 and, more recently, by volunteer groups in Chicago and Cleveland.

Although the collision-monitoring efforts cited in this study have led directly to reductions in light pollution in Chicago in recent years, the new findings show that more needs to be done, according to the paper's authors.

"Our results underscore the critical importance for bird conservation of reducing artificial light at night from buildings and other structures during migratory periods," they wrote.

In addition to conducting a broad regional analysis of collision frequencies, the researchers analyzed data from Chicago's lakefront convention center, which is known to be a hazard to migratory birds. They found that when more lights were left on at night during migration, more birds collided with the convention center and died.

"Although the convention center remains one of the most dangerous buildings in Chicago for night-migrating birds, changes in its light regime have resulted in a 75-percent reduction in bird fatalities since I started monitoring in 1978," said study co-author David Willard, a retired Field Museum ornithologist who led the data collection in Chicago. "Our new analysis shows that implementing further reductions in light here and elsewhere in Chicago will help greatly to reduce bird fatalities."

Long-distance bird migration is one of the most impressive feats in the animal kingdom. But many bird species migrate at night, which makes direct observation of migrating individuals difficult. Many aspects of these arduous seasonal treks remain shrouded in mystery.

When flying at night, many migratory bird species produce short vocalizations known as flight calls. Scientists suspect that these faint, high-frequency calls are signals that help the group with orientation, navigation and other collective decisions.

To investigate the importance of flight calls as social cues for collective decision-making, Winger and his colleagues examined the relationship between flight calling and responses to a highly disruptive stimulus: artificial light at night.

Birds and many other types of organisms are drawn toward light sources, a response called a phototaxis. Subsequent nighttime collisions with lighted structures are a major cause of avian mortality.

Scientists suspect the glare disorients migrating birds. Birds navigate during migration in part by sensing the Earth's magnetic field, and some scientists have speculated that artificial light may disrupt a light-sensitive internal magnetic compass.

Previous studies have demonstrated that rates of nocturnal flight calls increase when migratory groups fly over brightly lighted cities, as compared to unlit areas, suggesting that the birds react to the light stimulus by vocalizing.

In the new study, Winger and his colleagues used existing collision-monitoring data from Chicago and Cleveland to test the influence of flight-calling behavior on nighttime building collision rates.

The Chicago collision dataset includes nearly 70,000 records from 93 species, all of them small-bodied songbirds that migrate predominantly at night. These species all breed north of Chicago during the summer and migrate through the region in high numbers.

Willard started the monitoring project in 1978. In 2002, the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, a volunteer network, began collecting collision data throughout downtown Chicago. Collision monitoring began in 2017 in downtown Cleveland, and that dataset is much smaller.

"Our paper provides some of the strongest published evidence on the effect of artificial light on bird collisions in urban areas, though this relationship has been known anecdotally for a long time," said Winger, an assistant professor in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an assistant curator at the Museum of Zoology.

Several species of sparrow, warbler and thrush make up the majority of the Chicago collision dataset, with thousands of individuals of each species documented as lethal collisions. These species are known informally to scientists as "super collider" species because of their high collision rates.

The collision records were compared with data from the eBird database on the local abundance of various migrating songbird species in Chicago and Cleveland during the spring and fall. Co-author Andrew Farnsworth of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has studied flight calls for decades and provided expert knowledge on which species produce flight calls and which don't.

Both Chicago and Cleveland are situated along a major north-south migratory bird flyway. A recent study using satellite data found that illuminated buildings in Chicago collectively expose migrating birds to more artificial light than any other U.S. city.

"We hypothesized that if flight calls are important social cues for decision-making during nocturnal migration, individuals from species that make flight calls may attract one another vocally when disoriented by artificial light," the authors of the new study wrote.

"This relationship may spawn a vicious cycle of increased mortality rates if disoriented individuals lead other migrating individuals to sources of artificial light."

Winger and his colleagues found that all species that were overrepresented in the collision datasetsthe super collidersuse flight calls, while all species that do not use flight calls were underrepresented in the collision datasets. They concluded that flight-calling behavior is a significant predictor of collision frequency.

The Chicago convention center dataset also showed that, among night-calling migratory bird species, the number of collisions on a given night correlated positively with the amount of artificial light originating from the building. Bird species that do not use flight calls collided less frequently overall, and nighttime light levels at the convention center had no significant effect on their collision counts.

"To date, we have not mined the potential information that flight calls could provide to advance our understanding of how nocturnally migrating birds make decisions and orient in difficult situations," said co-author Farnsworth. "This work heralds a new direction in the integration of data on collisions, species distributions and behavior ecology for understanding nocturnal bird migration."

The work reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B is one of the first comparative studies of avian social behavior during nocturnal migration.

Explore further Chicago tops list of most dangerous cities for migrating birds

More information: Nocturnal flight-calling behaviour predicts vulnerability to artificial light in migratory birds, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or  .1098/rspb.2019.0364 Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Nocturnal flight-calling behaviour predicts vulnerability to artificial light in migratory birds,Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Flies could provide a fast and cheap way to screen animal venom on a large scale for chemicals that can be used in drugs.

Peptides are small chains of amino acids that perform many functions. They are used in products ranging from the whey powders taken by bodybuilders to the insulin used for treating diabetes. Meanwhile, venomous animals use toxic peptides to help them defend themselves or catch prey. These peptides have specific and highly potent biological effects, such as incapacitating the prey nervous system. Venom glands are therefore a place to look for peptides that could be used as pharmaceuticals, in particular those for the major modern ailments, like diabetes, cancer and pain.

In recent years, a plethora of peptides have been extracted from venom, but studying the physiological functions of even one can be a daunting task. For example, while a single family of sea snails (cone snails) boasts a million venom peptides, fewer than two per cent have been characterized. Just one drug has already been developed from a cone snail peptideand is currently used to treat pain in HIV and cancer patientsbut there could be many more just waiting in the wings.

Adam Claridge-Chang, and his team from the A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, have been studying the behavior of vinegar flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Optogenetics is an important experimental method that uses genes to express light-sensitive proteins to manipulate brain cells. "Optogenetics is a great tool," says Claridge-Chang, "but there is no clear path to go from optogenetics to therapeutics. It seems likely that future drugs will influence brain function through specific neurons that contain specific molecules. One promising class of molecules that could achieve this is venom peptides, which have evolved to target the nervous system."

To do this, Claridge-Chang collaborated with Mande Holford's group at Hunter College in the US. Holford previously worked on cone snails, but had noticed that another group of venomous sea snails, the terebrids, had attracted much less attention. Terebrid snails, identifiable by their elongated cone shells, are an untapped resource of potentially medicinal molecules. The researchers selected two peptides, Tv1 and Tsu1.1, from Terebra variegata and Terebra subulata venoms respectively, to investigate their physiological effects. Tv1 was the first terebrid peptide to be structurally characterized, yet its function remained unclear. However, a previous study in cells had suggested that Tv1 might play a role in pain moderation. "We were interested to see whether Tv1 affected pain perception in a whole animal model", says Holford, adding that Tsu1.1a distinctly different molecule to Tv1was chosen as a control peptide.

The researchers injected the peptides into vinegar flies and observed them in behavioral tests commonly used for modelling pain perception and obesity. "To our surprise, both Tv1 and Tsu1.1 showed bioactivity," says Holford, "and their activity was distinct". Injections of Tv1 made flies less likely to avoid dangerously high temperatures, suggesting their pain threshold was increased, and Tsu1.1 made flies eat more meals.

Several thousand flies were used during this study, and the results suggest that flies could be used to study the physiological effects of venom peptides on a large scale. "Screening in this way would not be possible using mice, which are much more expensive" says Claridge-Chang.

Venom-inspired drugs are already commercially available. "The biggest success story is exenatide, which is used to treat diabetes," says Claridge-Chang. "We expect that peptides, including venom peptides, will become a major biological drug category." The researchers hope that their technique will speed up the discovery of other potentially bioactive peptides that are hidden in the vaults of animal venom.

Explore further Ants surrender their venomous secrets

More information: Anders Eriksson et al. Using Drosophila behavioral assays to characterize terebrid venom-peptide bioactivity, Scientific Reports (2018). Journal information: Scientific Reports Anders Eriksson et al. Using Drosophila behavioral assays to characterize terebrid venom-peptide bioactivity,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33215-2A normal edited gene has a 50 percent chance of being inherited. Because most changes reduce the organism's ability to reproduce in its ancestral habitat, our default expectation is that the change will be eliminated. A daisy drive can efficiently introduce a change to a local population by conferring a transient inheritance advantage, which only lasts until it runs out of daisy-chain links and stops. In contrast, a standard self-propagating gene drive is predicted to spread to all populations connected by gene flow, likely precluding safe field trials and potentially sparking international disputes. Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Genetic engineering tools that spread genes within a target species have the potential to humanely control harmful pests as well as eradicate parasitic diseases such as malaria.

The tools, known as gene drives, ensure that engineered organisms transmit desired genetic variants to their offspring. These variants could ensure, for example, that the organisms only produce male offspring, or sterile females.

In this way, gene drives could be used to exterminate insects such as mosquitoes that carry pathogens, and that can spread malaria, dengue, and the Zika virus. Gene drives could also be used to control invasive species such as rodents that can threaten the survival of native animals.

However, previously described versions of gene drives based on the CRISPR genome editing system have the potential to spread far wider than their intended local populationto affect an entire species. The affects could also spread across international boundaries, potentially leading to disputes between countries where no prior agreement had been made.

These types of concerns could significantly delay, if not altogether prevent, the safe testing and introduction of the technology.

Now, in a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at MIT and Harvard University describe a gene drive system with in-built controls.

The CRISPR-based drive consists of a series of genetic elements arranged in a so-called daisy chain, according to Kevin Esvelt, an assistant professor of media arts and sciences and head of the Sculpting Evolution research group at the MIT Media Lab who co-led the research.

One link within the daisy-drive system encodes the CRISPR gene editing system itself, while each of the other links encode guide RNA sequences. These guide sequences tell the CRISPR system to cut and copy the next link in the chain, Esvelt says.

Adding more links allows the daisy drive system to spread for additional generations within the population.

"Imagine you have a chain of daisies, and at each generation you remove the one on the end. When you run out, the daisy chain drive stops," Esvelt explains.

In this way, a small number of genetically-engineered organisms could be released into the wild to spread the daisy-drive within the local population, and then stop when programmed to.

"We're programming the organism to do CRISPR genome editing on its own, within its reproductive cells, in each generation," Esvelt says.

Unlike a self-propagating gene drive, a daisy drive system is predicted to be capable of editing a single population of wild organisms without spreading to all connected populations. Credit: K. Esvelt/MIT Media Lab

A daisy drive might be used to suppress populations by ensuring the preferential inheritance of a male-determining element. Because it eventually runs out of daisy links and stops, it will only affect local populations. Credit: K. Esvelt/MIT Media Lab

A standard CRISPR-based gene-drive system cuts the wild-type chromosome in the reproductive cells of each generation, causing its own DNA to be copied and ensuring that it will be inherited. Because it has everything it needs to favor itself, it can spread indefinitely through all connected populations. In contrast, a daisy-chain drive system has several components linked such that each copies the next in the chain. The one on the end has no inheritance advantage and can be lost; once gone, the next loses its advantage, and so on until all copies are gone and the drive stops. Credit: K. Esvelt/MIT Media Lab

Esvelt developed the system in collaboration with George Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, visiting professor at the Media Lab, and a senior associate member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Co-first authors Charleston Noble and John Min, both graduate students at Harvard Medical School, led the modelling and the molecular biology experiments designed to ensure the system is evolutionarily stable, respectively.

"If the world is to benefit from new gene-drive technologies, we need to be very confident that we can reverse it and contain it, both theoretically and via controlled tests," Church says.

"Many of the applications of gene drives involve islands and other geographical isolations, at least for initial tests, including invasive species and Lyme disease," he noted. "It would be great if these highly motivated local governments can do tests that do not automatically affect adjacent islands or mainlands. The daisy-chain drives offer this."

The research suggests that for every 100 wild counterpart, releasing just one engineered organism with a weak 3-link daisy-drive system, once per generation, should be enough to edit the entire population in about two generationsroughly a year in a fast-reproducing insect. That compares with existing systems that must release at least as many organisms as are already present in a local population, and sometimes 10 or 100 times as many.

The process could take several years in species that reproduce more slowly, such as mice, but would be more humane than the existing use of rodenticides, which can also harm people and predator species, Esvelt says.

In 2014, Esvelt and his colleagues first suggested that CRISPR-Cas9 could be used in gene-drive systems, and he has felt a moral responsibility to develop an alternative to self-propagating systems, he says. "Ideally, localization will let each community make decisions about its own environment, without forcing those decsions on others.

By editing local populations of wild organisms, daisy drives could benefit human health, help save endangered species, replace toxic chemicals used in agriculture, and greatly reduce animal suffering. Keeping the effects localized could enable safe field trials and allow each community to make decisions about their own shared environment, avoiding international disputes. Credit: K. Esvelt/MIT Media Lab

According to Professor Luke Alphey, head of arthropod genetics at The Pirbright Institute in the UK, self-propagating drive systems can spread rapidly through target populations. However, such drive systems are also thought likely to spread to all connected populations of the target specieswhich is desirable if you want to modify the entire species, undesirable if you do not, he says.

"Daisy-drives potentially provide a means to get much of the benefit of this type of gene drive, while constraining spread and also limiting persistence of the gene drive even in the target population," Alphey says. "That is likely to be highly desirable when one wants to affect one population but not another of the same species, perhaps affecting an invasive pest population but not populations of the same species in its native range."

Alphey was not involved in the initial daisy-drive research, but is now collaborating with Esvelt, including work on the use of daisy-drives in mosquitoes.

Esvelt and the Sculpting Evolution group are also beginning to explore the possible use of this technology to heritably immunize white-footed mice, the primary reservoir of the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease in North America. They are also setting up a research collaboration to explore the use of daisy-drives in Cochliomyia, also known as the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly that produces larvae that eat the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, causing considerable suffering.

In addtition, the researchers are also investigating this technology for use in nematode worms, microscopic creatures that reproduce every three days. This will allow them to carry out laboratory-based evolutionary studies of the daisy-drive engineered organisms, with the goal of ensuring the systems cannot become self-propagating.

Explore further Gene drive technologies for ecosystem conservation: Use with care

More information: Charleston Noble et al. Daisy-chain gene drives for the alteration of local populations, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Charleston Noble et al. Daisy-chain gene drives for the alteration of local populations,(2019). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1716358116

This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.In this May 21, 2008 file photo, honey bees sit on a honeycomb in Germany. The German state of Bavaria is set to accept in large part a plan by environmentalists to save bees and protect biodiversity, averting a referendum on the issue. Leaders of Bavaria's two governing partiesboth traditional allies of farmers, who have criticized the proposalsaid on Wednesday. April 3, 2019, that they would back the plan in the state legislature. (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper, File)

The German state of Bavaria is set to accept in large part a plan by environmentalists to save bees and protect biodiversity, averting a referendum on the issue.

In February, backers of the plan collected nearly 1.75 million signatures, over 18% of the region's electorate and enough to force a vote. It would set aside more space to protect imperiled insects and banish many pesticides from a third of Bavaria's agricultural land.

Leaders of Bavaria's two governing partiesboth traditional allies of farmers, who have criticized the proposalsaid Wednesday that they would back the plan in the state legislature. But news agency dpa reported that they said some aspects would be clarified and there would be payments to farmers to cushion the impact.

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Brazil nut fruit and tree in the background. Credit: Victor L. Caetano Andrade

In a new paper published in PLOS ONE, an international team of scientists reports the combined use of dendrochronology and historical survey to investigate the effects of societal and demographic changes on forest disturbances and growth dynamics in a neotropical tree species, the Brazil nut tree. The study, led by scientists from the National Institute for Amazonian Research, alongside colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, shows the influence of human populations and their management practices on the domestication of rainforest landscapes. The researchers used non-destructive sampling, in which small samples are removed from the bark to the center of the trees, and compared tree-ring data from cores of 67 trees. This is the first study of human influence on the growth of trees that extends as far back as 400 years, to pre-colonial times in that region of Brazil. This work also reinforces that pre-colonial populations left important imprints in the Amazon, contributing to changing forest structure and resources through time.

Domesticated Amazonia

Until recently, forests in the Amazon Basin have often been argued to be "pristine" or the site of only small-scale human occupation and use prior to the arrival of European explorers in the 16th century. However, recent archaeobotanical, archaeological, palaeoenvironmental, and ecological research has highlighted extensive and diverse evidence for plant domestication, plant dispersal, forest management, and landscape alteration by pre-Columbian societies.

Nevertheless, human management of tropical forests has undergone a number of drastic changes with the rise of global industrialized societies. Many economically important trees dominate modern Amazonian forests, some of which have undergone domestication processes. Therefore, understanding the changes in forest management witnessed by Amazonian forests over the course of the last centuries has significant implications for ongoing human interaction with these threatened ecosystems.

"The results of this study demonstrate that Brazil nut tree growth reflects human occupation intensity and management. This is one more step to understanding the crucial interactions that led the Amazon forest to be the dynamic, humanized landscape it is today", says Victor Caetano Andrade, lead author of the study, of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Brazil nut tree close to a house on the lakeshore. Credit: Victor L. Caetano Andrade

A history recorded in rings

Recently, dendroecological studies have emerged as a promising avenue for the investigation of changes in the environment in tropical forests. These studies evaluate the rings formed annually in some tree species to obtain information on their age and annual growth, as is the case with the Brazil nut tree. Patterns of establishment and abrupt changes in tree growth, which are visible in a tree's rings, provide insights into past local environmental conditions. In the current study, the researchers worked in an area of Central Amazonia near Manaus with high Brazil nut tree density, known locally as castanhais. Through non-destructive sampling, in which small samples are removed from the bark to the center of the trees, they compared tree-ring data from cores of 67 trees with the available historical information on the political, economic, and human demographic changes in the region over the last 400 years.

Indigenous and colonial: a change in the way of living with the forest

Based on their interpretation of the tree rings, the researchers were able to construct a picture of the life-histories of these nut trees and how they correlate with pre- and post-colonial human forest management. The management of trees in Amazon forest often involves practices that include the clearance of the understory, opening of the forest canopy, cutting down woody vining plants, and active protection of individuals. The researchers undertook the study hoping to find evidence of these practices in tree rings.

Measuring the diameter of a Brazil nut tree trunk. Credit: Victor L. Caetano Andrade

The researchers gathered historical information about the Mura indigenous people, who inhabited the region before the establishment of the Portuguese colonial administration and witnessed their own population decline from the 18th century onwards, followed by the emergence of a new post-colonial society. During the transition between Indigenous population decline and the expansion of a post-colonial political center (the city of Manaus), human population was low, coinciding with a period during which no new trees were established in the region.

This gap in the establishment of new trees suggests that there was an interruption of indigenous management practices likely due to population collapse, as in many other pre-Columbian societies. A later period of renewed tree establishment, also associated with changes in growth rates of existing trees, aligns with a shift to modern exploitation of the forest in the late 19th and 20th century.

Understanding how forest management has changed following the arrival of European colonists and the rise of industrial powers over the course of the past centuries has implications for the future of sustainable forestry and conservation in Amazonia. "Our findings shed light on how past histories of human-forest interactions can be revealed by the growth rings of trees in Amazonia," explains Caetano Andrade. "Future interdisciplinary analysis of these trees, including the use of genetics and isotopes, should enable more detailed investigations into how human forest management has changed in this part of the world, through pre-colonial, colonial, and industrial periods of human activity, with potential implications for conservation."

Explore further New tree ring analysis method may open insights to past climateCredit: ESAM. Cowan

Unlike traditional satellite dishes used to pick up television signals, this antenna has to work in space itself. Rather than being clamped to an apartment balcony, it will be installed on the exterior of Europe's Columbus laboratory, becoming part of the International Space Station.

What it does have in common is the direction it will face. Like almost all other satellite dishes, this antenna will point skyward to send and receive data. Although the International Space Station orbits Earth at 400 km altitude, the European Data Relay System communication satellites that it will link up with are orbiting our planet at more than 35 000 km higher still.

Called ColKa for Columbus Ka-band antenna, the system promises speeds of up to 50 mbit/s. This will allow astronauts and researchers to benefit from a direct link with Europe at home broadband speeds  delivering a whole family's worth of high data volume downlink and video streaming for science and communications.

But, before astronauts and scientists can enjoy such direct connection speeds, the hardware must be tested at ESA's technical heart in The Netherlands. Pictured here in the Hertz test chamber, ColKa's radio signals are being recorded. The blue spikes isolate the room from electromagnetic interference, recreating the radio frequencies of space.

This first step on its road to space enabled the recording of its initial working performance. From Hertz, the antenna was moved an ESTEC shaker facility where it endured the vibrations of a rocket launch. Suitably shaken, ColKa returned to the Hertz chamber for follow-up testing, ensuring it still receives and emits radio waves as designed.

There is more to space than radio waves however, so ColKa's journey through the ESTEC Test Centre is far from over. in few days the hardware will be placed in a thermal vacuum chamber for a whole week. This will ensure it still works in vacuum as it is subjected to the same repeated temperature changes it will experience when bolted outside the Space Station.

Once it passes all the tests and is launched into space, ColKa will require a spacewalk to be installed on the Columbus laboratory. Astronauts will mount it on the Columbus MDPS (meteoroids protection panel) and connect wires between to the unit before it can be switched on. ColKa's high-speed radio link will transmit scientific data to researchers all over Europe and the world who are eager to get the latest results from their experiments. The European Data Relay System will transmit the data to a ground station at Harwell, UK, near ESA's European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, and from there the data will be transferred to the Columbus Control Centre and user centres across Europe.

The know-how gained from designing, building and running ColKa could potentially be used in exploring farther from Earth in the Gateway around the Moon. ESA aims to supply the ESPRIT module for communications, scientific experiments, and refuelling for the international lunar outpost and will propose this at the agency's next Ministerial at Council level called Space19+.

Developed with Artes funding for some units, this fridge-sized telecom system was designed and built by UK and Italian companies as prime contractors, using products from Norway, Belgium, France, Canada and Germany.

Explore further ICE Cubes space research service open for businessA 3-D rendering of the overall architecture of the TFIIH complex. Credit: Basil Greber/Berkeley Lab

Inside every cell in your body are molecular machines that help package, read, and repair DNA. These protein assemblies are essential to survival, yet we know little about how they function because, until recently, it was impossible to accurately describe their structure.

Too small to see with a light microscope and too intricate and scarce to image using traditional X-ray-based methods, molecules of this nature are finally being mapped out at the atomic level thanks to next-generation cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). As reported in the journal eLife, a team of scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley used an advanced cryo-EM facility to construct the first complete atomic blueprint of an intriguing, multi-part machine called human transcription initiation factor IIH, or TFIIH.

Mutations in TFIIH are the cause of several inherited diseases that are characterized by premature aging and predisposition to cancer. Past research has also demonstrated that the TFIIH assembly could be a target for anti-cancer drug treatments.

The new work has already resolved several long-standing questions about how TFIIH works and is expected to advance research into how abnormal activity can lead to disease. TFIIH has been a subject of keen scientific interest since it was discovered in the late 80s.

This video shows an animated structural model of TFIIH, a large protein assembly that helps repair and read our genome. Berkeley Lab scientists used an advanced cryo-electron microscope to generate the first-ever atomic map of TFIIHs structure. Credit: Basil Greber/Berkeley Lab

"When we solve these complex structures, we not only improve our understanding of how they work, but we critically update the way we think about them and are able to pose new questions and design future experiments," said Basil Greber, a researcher in Berkeley Lab's Molecular Biophysics and Integrative Bioimaging (MBIB) Division, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, and first author on the study.

"Seeing which regions of the assembly, sometimes at the single amino acid level, are involved in different aspects of its function allows us to generate testable hypotheses about what happens to the molecules when something goes wrong, such as in the case of illness-causing mutations."

The TFIIH molecular assembly is integral to the initiation of DNA repair and transcription  the process of copying DNA sequences into RNA, which is the first step of gene expression  in humans and all other complex life forms. To perform these tasks, the proteins must unwind the DNA double helix in a specific region and create a bubble of space where repair and transcription enzymes can interact with one of the strands. By examining cryo-EM maps, Greber and study leader Eva Nogales discovered new details about how eight of the ten proteins in the assembly physically support and regulate each other during these processes.

First author Basil Greber (left) and study leader Eva Nogales (right) stand in front of their Titan Krios G2 cryo-electron microscope, one of the most powerful cryo-EM instruments currently available, at the Bay Area Cryo-EM (BACEM) facility in Berkeley, California. Credit: Basil Greber

"Our detailed description of the human TFIIH structure now allows us to start to understand the functional consequences of these mutations," said Nogales, a researcher in MBIB and head of the Bay Area Cryo-EM Facility (BACEM). "Getting here was a technical tour de force, as the assembly is very hard to purify from cells, it is hard to handle, and is highly flexible. This is the type of challenge my lab thrives on!"

Ever since the first 3D atomic map of a molecule was generated 29 years ago, cryo-EM technology has been a revolutionary tool for the fields of structural biology and biochemistry. Scientists based at Berkeley Lab contributed significantly to each stage of cryo-EM's development, from helping establish the necessary early fundamentals of the technology in the 1970s, to enabling previously unprecedented resolution with the creation and subsequent commercial introduction of direct electron "counting" cameras in 2004. The BACEM microscope is equipped with the latest version of a detector camera.

Explore further Scientists map key DNA protein complex at near-atomic resolution

More information: Basil J Greber et al. The complete structure of the human TFIIH core complex, eLife (2019). Journal information: eLife Basil J Greber et al. The complete structure of the human TFIIH core complex,(2019). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.44771Escherichia coli bacteria are Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that normally inhabit the intestines of humans and other animals. They can also produce 'natural-identical' compounds, unlike synthetic and chemical production methods. Credit: RBO VEISLAND, MI&I/Science Photo Library

metabolically engineered organisms could sustainably produce ingredients for natural foods, flavors and fragrances

Is that floral scented, natural shampoo from the health foods store good for the planet? Demand for organic food and fragrance is growing, but harvesting the ingredients used in natural products is putting a strain on limited environmental resources. One solution is to turn to microscopic organisms that produce 'natural' ingredients in vats of low-value fermented feedstock.

Microbes produce 'nature-identical' compounds. While synthetics are a mixture of isomers, which have a similar structure to naturally occurring compounds, they aren't quite the same, explains A*STAR microbiologist Nic Lindley. In addition, a few tweaks to the metabolisms of the right microscopic organisms can power industrial-level production that often outperforms chemical synthesis or extraction in terms of production rates and cost-effectiveness.

Sharp output increases from yeast and bacteria are already being recorded at the BioTransformation Innovation Platform (BioTrans), the part of A*STAR's Food, Nutrition and Consumer Care (FNCC) cluster focused on compounds for the health, seasonings and personal care sectors.

Lindley moved to Singapore from France two years ago to lead the platform. Since its launch in 2016, BioTrans has focused on five goals for the future of food and fragrance, says Lindley. These aims are to:

Maximize product yields through its Microbial Metabolism Platform;

Accelerate product development to get products to market faster via its Fermentation and Downstream Platform

Discover new compounds, biosynthetic pathways and microbial strains by trawling A*STAR's vast Natural Product Library

Advance the development of healthier sweet, savoury and other flavorings as part of the BioTrans Taste Receptor Platform

Investigate flavors, fragrances, and metabolites by combining mass spectrometry with organoleptics (the study of sensory perception) to strengthen its Analytical Platform

The sweet smell of success

Improvements in microbe production rates have steadily emerged from the BioTrans Microbial Metabolism Platform. In 2017, after increasing the output of a lycopene-overproducing E. coli strain, researchers reported unprecedented yields of two high-demand natural aroma compoundsalpha-ionone, known for its sweet, violet-like aroma, and beta-ionone, which produces a scent often associated with violet or raspberry. On the upper end, BioTrans researchers beat a yeast's proven beta-ionone production rate, improving output 80-fold using E. coli.

A light micrograph of the resting, or cyst, phase of Haematococcus pluvialis chlorophytes, a type of green algae. They contain the pigment astaxanthin (red), an antioxidant and important cosmetics ingredient that is currently expensive to produce. BioTrans researchers used E. coli to improve on the production rate of algae by a factor of 16. Credit: WIM VAN EGMOND/Science Photo Library

The two ionones are used in everything from perfumes and oils to ice cream and maraschino cherries. Lycopene, the carotenoid pigment that makes tomatoes red, is one of the main precursors of these types of apocarotenoids. Carotenoids have global market worth that is expected to reach USD 1.53 billion dollars by 2021.

The complex metabolic characteristics of apocarotenids have been a challenge to produce in the laboratory. In their quest to optimize output, the BioTrans team divided E. coli's apocarotenoid producing biosynthetic pathway into four sections, or 'modules', and optimized enzymatic steps in each through genetic and enzyme engineering.

The group describe their method as a 'plug-and-play' system, meaning that "the platform is capable of producing various apocarotenoids simply by changing one or two genes, without perturbing the whole strains," says lead author Simon Congqiang Zhang, a BioTrans research fellow, who supervises several translational research projects. This system has been shown to also work on a number of similar substances, including lycopene, beta-carotene, phytoene and retinol (vitamin A), an ingredient that will be familiar to those who use wrinkle creams or acne treatments (see our recent story on acne).

Patenting the system is the next step, and Zhang reports that there are "quite a few companies in discussions with us to co-develop the bioprocess for commercialisation". Meanwhile, BioTrans scientists are also examining whether product range development can be pursued internally, with a view to spinning out their own commercial venture.

Accelerated antioxidants

In 2018, Zhang led another study building on his apocarotenoid work. The group used E. coli to produce a 1600 per cent improvement on current methods for producing the antioxidant, astaxanthin, another type of carotenoid, and the red pigment that makes salmon and shrimp pink.

Astaxanthin exhibits strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer activity, and Zhang points out that its biological activities and benefits are supported by more than 50 human clinical trials and more than 1,000 papers published in leading journals. As a result, it is widely used in food, feed, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and medicine. The global astaxanthin market is predicted to reach USD 2.57 billion by 2025.

Most of the astaxanthin produced commercially is derived from algae such as Haematococcus pluvialis. This freshwater, unicellular green microalga transforms into red cysts under stress conditions, including nutrient deficiency, salinity, and high temperatures, in combination with high irradiance.

A light micrograph of a thinly sliced section of carrot rich in the chemical beta-carotene, which the body converts into retinol (vitamin A). Natural retinol is usually produced using plants that contain beta-carotene, a red-orange pigment. But beta-carotene can also be produced by E. coli, and this production is being tweaked for possible commercial applications by BioTrans researchers. Credit: Eye of Science/Science Photo Library

But the algae is slow growing and usually produced in closed clear tubes (photobioreactors) to reduce cross-contamination from microorganisms such as microalgae, fungal parasites, and zooplankton predators. As a result, producing astaxanthin requires a relatively large amount of land, and costs more than USD 7,000 per kilogram.

By building on the same modular approach used for apocarotenoids, the team from BioTrans and the National University of Singapore, developed a complex self-learning system, known as a multidimensional heuristic process (MHP), capable of balancing the enzymatic activity within and among different modules simultaneously.

Using this approach, in Nature Communications, the team reported a nature-identical astaxanthin production rate that was 16 times higher than the algae-based production rate, with an enantiomeric excess (a measure of purity) of 100 percent.

"The main advantage of the MHP is it enables the systematic, but rapid optimization of biological systems, to achieve high yield production of metabolites [such as astaxanthin]," Zhang explains.

This system is now on the cusp of commercialization. "Our current technology is able to produce astaxanthin at high concentrations and low cost on a small scale," says Zhang. "The next challenge is to scale up our process in large fermenters, with a capacity of up to ten cubic metres, and purify the compounds effectively."

Zhang also points out that the team's MHP has been used to optimize many different metabolic pathways and molecules. Used with mathematical models, it could improve the performance of many microbes, he says. It has already been applied to produce of nerolidol, well known for its fresh, woody scent and frequently used in shampoos, body lotions and soaps, and linalool, a compound with citrus tones used in many cleansing lotions, aftershaves and hair care products. With the MHP, E. coli produced linalool at 680 times the rate of a previously engineered yeast strain.

Searching a trove of tastes

BioTrans researchers are also on the hunt for new food ingredients. Over at the BioTrans Taste Receptor Platform, senior research fellow Ann Koay and her colleagues mine A*STAR's rich resources for molecules that refine taste sensationswork that might provide people with more options so that they can make healthier choices.

BioTrans researchers use cell systems that mimic the human tongue to quickly assess the qualities of flavour molecules. Credit: BioTransformation Innovation Platform

To find these molecules, Koay trawls A*STAR's Natural Product Library (NPL), one of the world's largest resources for the study of biotechnologically useful microorganisms, genes, enzymes and other bioactive compounds. Established in 2013, the NPL houses more than 37,500 plant samples, 123,000 microbial strains, and 270,000 extracts derived from these specimens, collected from more than 100 countries. According to researchers at A*STAR's Bioinformatics Institute, who manage the NPL, the collection represents "57 percent of all known cultured fungal genera, 67 percent of the world's plant families, and 70 percent of filamentous bacterial genera." Genome sequence data for more than 150 microbial strains at NPL have already been uncovered, with potentially thousands more in the pipeline, and plans are underway to develop a digital database that will enable researchers to probe microbial genomes in even greater detail.

To make use of this huge resource, BioTrans researchers have developed cell systems that mimic human taste responses to sweet and bitter tastes, enabling researchers to quickly evaluate thousands of molecules for their taste-modulating properties. Cell systems are faster and cheaper than human sensory panels (groups of people who give feedback on taste and sensation). By further improving these high-throughput screening approaches, Koay hopes to accelerate discoveries of novel molecules, adding to the pipeline of molecules that are safe, healthy, and effective for use in the food industry.

Of particular interest are molecules to help address increasing rates of diabetes. Half of Singapore's population will have type 2 diabetes by 2050, according to a multi-institutional study published in 2014. To combat this disease, an increasing number of food companies are focusing on sugar reduction or replacing sugar in their products with sugar alternatives and sweet taste enhancers. The latter are molecules that increase the sweet taste sensation but do not taste sweet themselves. Even small amounts of such molecules can potentially replace or reduce the large amounts of table sugar currently added to processed foods, says Koay.

Koay and her colleagues are also looking at the other side of the coin, setting up a screening panel of bitter taste tests to search the library for bitterness blockers. These can enhance naturally sweet flavors by blocking the interaction between bitter compounds and human taste receptors.

Sensations such as cooling, warming, and tingling are also important to consumers says Koay. People perceive quality and effectiveness of products from these sensations, so the researchers want to examine "sensates" molecules that correspond. These can send important underlying signals to consumers, who associate coolness with cleanliness for example, or hotness with active ingredients. New and more potent ingredientscooling agents for examplecan be utilized to improve products for the consumer care industry, Koay explains.

Researchers at the BioTrans Analytical Platform are already using mass spectrometry with organoleptics (the study of sensory perception) to look at the chemical compositions that affect the sensory aspects of flavors, fragrances and metabolites. Koay and researchers at the Taste Receptor Platform want to expand their repertoire of cell system tests to examine sensates for thermoreception and chemical sensitivity.

Once useful molecules are found and demonstrated to be safe and scalable, Koay says, then commercial level production can be assessed by colleagues, such as Zhang.

Credit: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore

Microbe engine for industry

While synthesis is still the main source of chemicals for the food and fragrance industries, Zhang firmly believes that in the future, "biosynthesis will be on par with chemical synthesis". Meanwhile, he will continue to focus on three main areas: the discovery of new enzymes and novel metabolites, such as terpenoids (the aromatics used in many scents); enzyme engineering for improved activity, stability and selectivity; and building on fundamental understandings of biosynthesis.

Lindley agrees that there are big changes ahead. He says that even capability-building projects, such as their work on lycopene, always aim for twin outcomes: "to expand our knowledge base and technological toolbox, and also to search for molecules applications that we believe will have industrial potential."

But the biggest challenge has moved quickly to implementation. The conditions used in industrial processes are often far from the evolutionary pressure that has guided microbial evolution over millions of years, says Lindley. The platform will be carefully evaluating "how robust our metabolically engineered microbes will be when we transfer them into industrial-scale fermentation strategies." It means the hard science at BioTrans must be supported by practical industrial considerations, he says, including rational projections and responsive development strategies. The team will also seek to use industrial side-streams by converting by-products and wastes into other, value-added products.

BioTrans, says Lindley, already has an edge in understanding and being able to exploit areas in which few laboratories have experience. "BioTrans was conceived as an industry-facing initiative, able to interact directly and resolve company problem statements efficiently and rapidly," he says. "This gives us a clear competitive edge when we are discussing, with companies, their ambitious plans to put novel molecules on the market."

Singapore, he notes, is also ideally placed "to position itself as the hub for R&D aimed at the Asian consumer, and offers the opportunity to develop new molecules that may not be part of plans in the US or Europe." As a result, a new wave of Singapore-made, microbe-aided products are likely to hit the shelves in the near future.

"We have most of the world's leading food and cosmetics ingredients producers within a few minutes' drive from the lab and an equally rich diversity of nearby final end-user brand names," notes Lindley. Most, he says, are positioning themselves to service a growing middle class both in Asia and around the world, populations increasingly able to access information about the impacts of the ingredients they use, and willing to invest in healthy, sustainable and natural products.

Explore further A new innovation platform tackles market gaps in the food and personal care sectors

More information: Congqiang Zhang et al. A "plug-n-play" modular metabolic system for the production of apocarotenoids, Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2017). Congqiang Zhang et al. A "plug-n-play" modular metabolic system for the production of apocarotenoids,(2017). DOI: 10.1002/bit.26462 Congqiang Zhang et al. Multidimensional heuristic process for high-yield production of astaxanthin and fragrance molecules in Escherichia coli, Nature Communications (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04211-x Journal information: Nature Communications , Biotechnology and BioengineeringBriefly applying electricity to a lead pipe enables a safe coating to quickly form inside the pipe. Credit: Gabriel Lobo

Lead leaching from pipes into the water supply is a serious public health concern. And if water sources or treatment regimens are changed, the new chemistry can cause water distribution systems that were previously safe to begin releasing toxic lead, as the crisis in Flint, Michigan, demonstrated a few years ago. Today, scientists will describe a cost-effective and quick method that could overcome these problems and make lead pipes safe for carrying drinking water.

The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition.

"More than 18 million people in the U.S. are currently at risk of developing health problems from lead leaching from pipes in their water distribution systems," says Gabriel Lobo, a doctoral student who is presenting the work at the meeting. Lead poisoning in young children can cause a broad range of symptoms, including brain damage, learning difficulties, and slowed growth and development. Adult exposure can cause high blood pressure, memory difficulties, miscarriages and other conditions.

Historically, many municipalities installed iron water mains that were connected to individual buildings by lead water pipes. In a typical lead pipe, chemicals in the water cause the inside wall of the pipe to corrode, releasing lead ions into the water, Lobo explains. To address this problem, municipalities add corrosion inhibitors to the water. Over time, these added phosphates react with the lead ions to create compounds that deposit on the inside of the pipe. This coating, or "scale," blocks other lead ions from leaching from the pipe into the water, making the pipe safe for water distribution. However, in Flint, the drinking water source was changed to a source that had different water quality, and concurrently, the city of Flint stopped using corrosion control measures. The protective scale dissolved, and toxic lead ions leached into the water.

Lobo became involved in this issue when his adviser, Ashok Gadgil, Ph.D., began to focus on finding a solution for the lead problems in Flint. Gadgil's team is at the University of California, Berkeley, and Gadgil is also affiliated with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

After a few months of intense effort, Gadgil and his team came up with an electrochemical approach to the problem. They applied a small external voltage to a sample of pipe to speed up corrosion. As usual, the freed lead ions then reacted with phosphates in the water to form scale. The process took just a few hours, compared with a couple of years for the usual scaling method. Lobo hopes this process could quickly restore the protective coating in the pipes in Flint, where scale has still not recoated the pipes.

The researchers have tested their process in the laboratory but caution that they haven't yet conducted any trials on lead pipes in the ground. For real-world applications, Gadgil envisions attaching external connectors to a homeowner's pipe at the water meter and at other junctions in the pipes, and then threading another wire through the pipes to complete the circuit. "The idea is that we wouldn't have to dig the whole pipe out, so we could keep the cost low," Gadgil explains. "Replacing all the plumbing in one house would cost several thousand dollars, whereas our process would cost less than one tenth of that."

Currently, the group is working with experts from a local water utility in California to determine the practical parameters for a test under real-world conditions. They are also planning to conduct a test later this year at an Oakland school where normal scale buildup isn't happening in the pipes.

Explore further The chemistry behind Flint's water crisis

More information: In situ electrochemical passivation of lead pipes in water distribution systems, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Probing unsolved crimes from years or decades ago is a challenge for any police officer. But the task is made even more difficult because the very term "cold case" puts a dampener on expectations of success, according to a university criminologist whose latest book calls for a new investigative mindset in detectives who are assigned to re-open case files.

"Put bluntly, if you believe a case to be unsolvable before you've actually looked at it, then it most certainly is," writes Dr. Jason Roach, who is Director of the Applied Criminology and Policing Centre at the University of Huddersfield.

In tandem with ex-Metropolitan Police detective Mark Roycroft, Dr. Roach has jointly edited Decision Making in Police Enquiries and Critical Incidents: What Really Works? and co-written two chapters, including The Retrospective Detective: Cognitive Bias and Cold Case Investigation.

Dr. Roach outlines many of the challenges facing detectives who review unsolved cases.

"The cold case investigator has little more to work with beyond that provided by previous investigators and investigations. They cannot turn back the clock and begin the investigation afresh," he writes.

There might have been a recent breakthrough in the shape of new forensic evidence or criminal intelligence. But if not, "the frame for cold case homicides by definition is that they are difficult if not impossible to solve" and the "psychological effect on an officer(s) charged with investigating a cold case is likely to be one of pessimism, with the common psychological frame adopted by detectives for cold cases likely to be a far more negative one".

Dr. Roacha psychologist and criminologist whose career has included crime analysis for the Home Officeuses psychological theory to analyse the attitude of detectives to cold cases. This includes so-called System 1 thinking, which is more emotional and intuitive than its more rational System 2 equivalent. He argues that the term "cold case" is more likely to trigger a System 1 response.

The Retrospective Detective chapter includes a sequence of recommendations, including the need for research into the cognitive biases that influence the investigation of cold cases.

Dr. Roach also seeks to to identify "whether a difference exists in the way that investigators think about and approach cold cases that are simply undetected and those cold cases that previously led to a miscarriage of justice". The chapter cites the murder of Lesley Molseed, when the innocent Stefan Kiszko was imprisoned for sixteen years until eventually being found not guilty by the Supreme Court.

Dr. Roach believes there are several reasons that the investigation of cold cases is important, including the correction of miscarriages of justice and the fact that undetected murderers could still be at large. He also sees cold cases as valuable learning opportunities and he has researched ten cases in which offenders were identified up to 25 years after the crime.

The new book, Decision Making in Police Enquiries and Critical Incidents, came about because there was a gap to be filled in the literature of criminology and forensic psychology.

"Most of it focusses on how offenders make decisions. But there is very little on how the police make decisions. This book is how do they do it in criminal investigations and in critical incidents such as terrorist incidents or the Grenfell fire," said Dr. Roach.

The book has nine chapters from seven authors, most of whom have been serving police officers in the UK and overseas. Topics include the operation of a major incident room and a European perspective, comparing decision-making in Norway and the UK.

Dr. Roach has recently returned from Oslo, Norway, where he presented a series of lectures on self-selection policing and police decision-making to detectives at the Norwegian National Police University College.

Explore further New study opens case on emotional stress of senior police investigators who have been involved in child homicideVaccines hidden in dog food could help curb the spread of rabies in countries with large populations of stray dogs, research suggests.

Experts say the approach could help to vaccinate millions of street dogs around the world that are often responsible for spreading the disease to people.

Three times as many dogs could be vaccinated each day when the new process is combined with existing injectable techniques.

Experts from Mission Rabies, the Worldwide Veterinary Service and the University of Edinburgh assessed the feasibility of the approach in Goa, India.

The oral rabies vaccine is not yet licensed for use in India so the team embedded empty capsules in dog food to test the concept.

Working with the Government of Goa Animal Husbandry Department, teams on mopeds searched for free-roaming dogs, delivering capsules in an attractive bait.

Each member of the team reached 35 dogs each day, compared with just nine using current vaccination methods.

They accessed 80 per cent of the dogs they spotted, compared with 63 per cent when only using the catch-vaccinate-release method.

As well as being more efficient, the researchers estimate that the combined vaccination approach could be cheaper, helping to further maximise limited resources.

There are an estimated 100 million stray dogs in India. Experts say that the combination of an injectable and oral vaccination approach could help them reach the minimum 70 per cent vaccine threshold needed to minimise risk of the disease being passed to people.

Rabies is a serious brain infection that is usually caught from the bite or scratch of an infected animal, often a dog. The disease has been eliminated from many countries but remains challenging in countries where dogs are allowed to roam freely.

Around 59,000 people die each year from the infection with a further 29 million people needing costly treatments after being bitten by dogs in areas where the disease is rife.

Researchers hope the study will provide evidence to support the introduction of the oral rabies vaccine in India as an extra tool in efforts to eradicate the disease.

The study, published in Vaccine X, also received funding from Dogs Trust Worldwide and donations of vaccines from MSD Animal Health.

Dr. Luke Gamble, Founder of Mission Rabies, said: "Rabies has a massive impact on societies, not only from the disease, but also from the fear that results. In many parts of the world, reaction to rabies cases fuels inhumane mass culls of dogs, which does nothing to combat the virus. We are showing that there is another way that benefits dogs, people and nations."

Professor Mark Bronsvoort, of the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, said: "This kind of operational research is crucial in pushing the boundaries and finding a solution to the age-old problem of rabies. Dog populations vary, so it is essential that methods are evaluated methodically. We are excited that this approach could have far-reaching benefits."

Explore further Vaccine study shapes plan to wipe out rabies in free-roaming dogsIn this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, photo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology facial recognition researcher Joy Buolamwini takes questions from reporters at the school, in Cambridge, Mass. Buolamwini's research has uncovered racial and gender bias in facial analysis tools sold by companies such as Amazon that have a hard time recognizing certain faces, especially darker-skinned women. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Facial recognition technology was already seeping into everyday lifefrom your photos on Facebook to police scans of mugshotswhen Joy Buolamwini noticed a serious glitch: Some of the software couldn't detect dark-skinned faces like hers.

That revelation sparked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher to launch a project that's having an outsize influence on the debate over how artificial intelligence should be deployed in the real world.

Her tests on software created by brand-name tech firms such as Amazon uncovered much higher error rates in classifying the gender of darker-skinned women than for lighter-skinned men.

Along the way, Buolamwini has spurred Microsoft and IBM to improve their systems and irked Amazon, which publicly attacked her research methods. On Wednesday, a group of AI scholars, including a winner of computer science's top prize, launched a spirited defense of her work and called on Amazon to stop selling its facial recognition software to police.

Her work has also caught the attention of political leaders in statehouses and Congress and led some to seek limits on the use of computer vision tools to analyze human faces.

"There needs to be a choice," said Buolamwini, a graduate student and researcher at MIT's Media Lab. "Right now, what's happening is these technologies are being deployed widely without oversight, oftentimes covertly, so that by the time we wake up, it's almost too late."

In this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, photo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology facial recognition researcher Joy Buolamwini stands for a portrait at the school, in Cambridge, Mass. Buolamwini's research has uncovered racial and gender bias in facial analysis tools sold by companies such as Amazon that have a hard time recognizing certain faces, especially darker-skinned women. Buolamwini holds a white mask she had to use so that software could detect her face. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Buolamwini is hardly alone in expressing caution about the fast-moving adoption of facial recognition by police, government agencies and businesses from stores to apartment complexes. Many other researchers have shown how AI systems, which look for patterns in huge troves of data, will mimic the institutional biases embedded in the data they are learning from. For instance, if AI systems are developed using images of mostly white men, the systems will work best in recognizing white men.

Those disparities can sometimes be a matter of life or death: One recent study of the computer vision systems that enable self-driving cars to "see" the road shows they have a harder time detecting pedestrians with darker skin tones.

What's struck a chord about Boulamwini's work is her method of testing the systems created by well-known companies. She applies such systems to a skin-tone scale used by dermatologists, then names and shames those that show racial and gender bias. Buolamwini, who's also founded a coalition of scholars, activists and others called the Algorithmic Justice League, has blended her scholarly investigations with activism.

"It adds to a growing body of evidence that facial recognition affects different groups differently," said Shankar Narayan, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington state, where the group has sought restrictions on the technology. "Joy's work has been part of building that awareness."

Amazon, whose CEO, Jeff Bezos, she emailed directly last summer, has responded by aggressively taking aim at her research methods.

A Buolamwini-led study published just over a year ago found disparities in how facial-analysis systems built by IBM, Microsoft and the Chinese company Face Plus Plus classified people by gender. Darker-skinned women were the most misclassified group, with error rates of up to 34.7%. By contrast, the maximum error rate for lighter-skinned males was less than 1%.

In this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, photo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology facial recognition researcher Joy Buolamwini stands for a portrait at the school, in Cambridge, Mass. Buolamwini's research has uncovered racial and gender bias in facial analysis tools sold by companies such as Amazon that have a hard time recognizing certain faces, especially darker-skinned women. Buolamwini holds a white mask she had to use so that software could detect her face. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The study called for "urgent attention" to address the bias.

"I responded pretty much right away," said Ruchir Puri, chief scientist of IBM Research, describing an email he received from Buolamwini last year.

Since then, he said, "it's been a very fruitful relationship" that informed IBM's unveiling this year of a new 1 million-image database for better analyzing the diversity of human faces. Previous systems have been overly reliant on what Buolamwini calls "pale male" image repositories.

Microsoft, which had the lowest error rates, declined comment. Messages left with Megvii, which owns Face Plus Plus, weren't immediately returned.

Months after her first study, when Buolamwini worked with University of Toronto researcher Inioluwa Deborah Raji on a follow-up test, all three companies showed major improvements.

But this time they also added Amazon, which has sold the system it calls Rekognition to law enforcement agencies. The results, published in late January, showed Amazon badly misidentifying darker-hued women.

In this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, photo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology facial recognition researcher Joy Buolamwini stands for a portrait behind a mask at the school, in Cambridge, Mass. Buolamwini's research has uncovered racial and gender bias in facial analysis tools sold by companies such as Amazon that have a hard time recognizing certain faces, especially darker-skinned women. Buolamwini holds a white mask she had to use so that software could detect her face. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

"We were surprised to see that Amazon was where their competitors were a year ago," Buolamwini said.

Amazon dismissed what it called Buolamwini's "erroneous claims" and said the study confused facial analysis with facial recognition, improperly measuring the former with techniques for evaluating the latter.

"The answer to anxieties over new technology is not to run 'tests' inconsistent with how the service is designed to be used, and to amplify the test's false and misleading conclusions through the news media," Matt Wood, general manager of artificial intelligence for Amazon's cloud-computing division, wrote in a January blog post. Amazon declined requests for an interview.

"I didn't know their reaction would be quite so hostile," Buolamwini said recently in an interview at her MIT lab.

Coming to her defense Wednesday was a coalition of researchers, including AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio , recent winner of the Turing Award, considered the tech field's version of the Nobel Prize.

They criticized Amazon's response, especially its distinction between facial recognition and analysis.

In this Feb. 22, 2019, photo, Washington County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jeff Talbot demonstrates how his agency used facial recognition software to help solve a crime at their headquarters in Hillsboro, Ore. The image on the left shows a man whose face was captured on a surveillance camera and investigators used the software to scan their database of past mug shots to match that facial image with an identity. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

"In contrast to Dr. Wood's claims, bias found in one system is cause for concern in the other, particularly in use cases that could severely impact people's lives, such as law enforcement applications," they wrote.

Its few publicly known clients have defended Amazon's system.

Chris Adzima, senior information systems analyst for the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Oregon, said the agency uses Amazon's Rekognition to identify the most likely matches among its collection of roughly 350,000 mug shots. But because a human makes the final decision, "the bias of that computer system is not transferred over into any results or any action taken," Adzima said.

But increasingly, regulators and legislators are having their doubts. A bipartisan bill in Congress seeks limits on facial recognition. Legislatures in Washington and Massachusetts are considering laws of their own.

Buolamwini said a major message of her research is that AI systems need to be carefully reviewed and consistently monitored if they're going to be used on the public. Not just to audit for accuracy, she said, but to ensure face recognition isn't abused to violate privacy or cause other harms.

"We can't just leave it to companies alone to do these kinds of checks," she said.

Explore further Researchers say Amazon face-detection technology shows bias

 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The University of Huddersfield's combined electron microscope and ion beam accelerator is a world-class facility responsible for a large and growing global network of research collaborations. One of the latest is a partnership with Brazil's leading university and the scientific significance of this link and how it could help ensure the safety of nuclear power is described in an article that appears in its journal.

The Huddersfield facility is named MIAMI  standing for Microscopes and Ion Accelerators for Materials Investigations. One of its key roles is to test the ability of materials to withstand radiation damage in nuclear reactors.

Physicist Matheus Tunes is completing his doctoral studies at Huddersfield, supervised by MIAMI's Professor Stephen Donnelly and Dr. Jonathan Hinks, having previously graduated from the University of Sao Paulo (USP)  the major institution of higher learning and research in Brazil. This has helped establish a burgeoning connection between the UK and Brazilian universities.

An article (originally in Portuguese) headed "How to test radiation resistance without using a nuclear reactor" is the lead item in the latest edition of the Journal of the University of Sao Paulo (Jornal da USP). It tells how scientists, including the USP's Professor Claudio Geraldo Schon, are engaged on a quest to find materials that can ensure disasters such as the 2011 accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station will not recur.

One candidate was titanium nitride and this was tested at the MIAMI facility by Matheus Tunes, Osmane Camara, Dr. Graeme Greaves and Sao Paulo doctoral researcher Felipe Carneiro, who is supervised by Professor Schon. The USP journal article describes how the facilities at Huddersfield enabled the radiation resistance of titanium nitride to be tested in a transmission electron microscope coupled to a particle accelerator.

Professor Schon explains the advantages of using an ion beam accelerator: "Radiation is simulated by xenon ions, which, in colliding with the particles of the tested material, simulate the damage caused by neutron radiation from nuclear fuel. If this was done in a nuclear reactor, besides the higher cost and the difficulty of controlling the reaction, all the material would potentially become radioactive, which is not the case with this technique."

The tests at MIAMI showed that titanium nitride is not a suitable material for coating nuclear fuel. But the new article tells how doctoral researcher Matheus Tunes is using the transmission electron microscopy facilities at Huddersfield to analyse other materials that have promise in the field of radiation damage protection. These include high entropy alloys and MAX phases (metals with carbon and silicon).

Professor Schon's comment is that: "These combinations would allow alloys with a very high melting temperature, which would make it difficult to change the structure of the material, increasing its stability. The less the alloy changes, the greater the ability to withstand radiation."

More information: Matheus A. Tunes et al. Energetic particle irradiation study of TiN coatings: are these films appropriate for accident tolerant fuels?, Journal of Nuclear Materials (2018). Matheus A. Tunes et al. Energetic particle irradiation study of TiN coatings: are these films appropriate for accident tolerant fuels?,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.10.013The exploding popularity of e-scooters could reshape mobility in our cities. Regulators need to adapt their approaches to handle the innovation rather than ban it altogether. Credit: Ivan Marc/Shutterstock

E-scooter mania is sweeping cities around the world. Fun, accessible and cheap to rent, shared electric scooters are one of the biggest technology stories this year.

Their main appeal is that they are so easy to ride. A flood of startups offer on-demand services. Simply download an app, scan the barcode, ride and drop at your destination.

While this is a simple idea, it has caused a few problems.

When they reach their destinations, riders leave them and walk away. The scooters, like dockless share bikes before them, end up cluttering pavements, cause friction with pedestrians and provoke controversy and debate.

E-scooters are the future of city transport and will reduce private car use, say the enthusiasts. They will ease congestion and help cities achieve their environmental and road safety targets, according to the optimists.

But for every supporter of these e-boosted contraptions, a dissenting voice says they are annoying and dangerous. Critics argue that e-scooters litter our footpaths, menace pedestrians and cause crashes and injuries. One group in San Diego has even filed a law suit claiming that scooters discriminate against people with disabilities.

Some cities have banned e-scooters. In Australia, Brisbane City Council, while extending a trial of e-scooters operated by Lime, has warned safety must be improved before a permanent permit is granted.

Tiny vehicles, big impacts

The emergence of "tiny vehicles" includes not only e-scooters, but also e-bikes and other electric, low-speed, micromobility solutions.

If we take them seriously, these could be a huge deal for our cities. These emerging modes of transport can be quite effective for "first and last kilometre" travel (e.g. between home and your nearest train station). They can also help with short commuting distances less than 10 kilometres. An estimated 20% of trips from home to work in capital cities are 5-10km long.

E-scooters could be "disruptive" in that they would cut the number of short trips taken by private vehicles today.

In Sydney, around 67% of these short commuting trips (on average) involve private vehicles. The proportions are even higher in Melbourne (76%), Brisbane and Darwin (both 80%), Canberra and Perth (both 83%), and Adelaide and Hobart (both 84%). Across the nation, more than 85% of drivers who commute by private car don't share with other commuters.

Shifting even a small percentage of these trips would help reduce reliance on cars, ease congestion and improve amenity.

Most commuters do not carry much on their journey to work  a purse, a backpack or similar. That makes tiny vehicles more appealing for the short commute because they do just the one thing: provide personal mobility from A to B. Leather seats and posh interiors are not an option!

Clearly, we are nowhere near mass adoption. That would require more variety of tiny vehicles to suit all types of people, trips and weather conditions.

Nevertheless, there is no shortage of ideas to solve these challenges. Many solutions will undoubtedly be imagined. Some might actually work!

A regulatory sandbox approach

Regulation remains a major hurdle. Policymakers recognise that micromobility could be a driving force of change for our cities, but safety cannot be an afterthought. Instead of banning the emerging technology, many cities are adapting their approaches to handle it.

Rather than making up new rules without evidence, policymakers are using a regulatory sandbox approach. Borrowed from fintech regulation, this approach allows startups to test new technologies for a specified period.

Startups are working on a variety of tiny vehicle solutions for different uses.

Businesses can learn quickly and respond to problems as they arise. Regulators can collect data to make informed decisions and prioritise interventions.

We already have examples of these partnerships.

Companies are offering to pay cities a fee per scooter to build protected scooter and bike infrastructure. Others have committed to providing financial incentives to encourage riders to park scooters properly. One company is offering a free ride to customers who park their scooters well ten times in a row.

To keep footpaths safe, businesses are also working with local governments to test ideas such as retractable locks, solar-powered parking, designated on-street drop-off zones  even a "dock for dockless" solution!

What's next for the e-scooter market?

These products are not toys and investors know it. Venture capitalists are riding a wave of public acceptance and adoption.

Conceptual design of a vehicle parking bay as a designated drop-off zone for tiny vehicles. Credit: Lyft

E-scooter growth, in particular, has exceeded first-year adoption rates for similar services such as bike-sharing and ride-hailing. In Sacramento, where the same company offers both bike and car services, the use of shared e-bikes exceeded ride-hailing rentals by a 53-47% margin.

Businesses are betting that shared e-scooters will do to short-distance travel what ride-hailing did to the taxi industry. Globally, investors have poured more than US$5.7 billion into micromobility startups since 2015. New business models are emerging, with some companies considering annual memberships that include free ride time per day.

As with other fast-moving innovations, policymakers need to adapt their approaches. They also need to rethink bans and regulations that undermine the viability of e-scooters.

Tech companies need to prioritise rider safety over growth. They need to work with governments to preserve the sanctity of the footpath as a safe public space.

Without this, our cities will miss out on the potential of tiny vehicles and the opportunities they offer to reduce private car use.

Explore further Madrid orders removal of electric scooters

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.A golden lion tamarin with their offspring. Credit: Kyoto University/Andreia Martins

Why would male and female animals choose different reproductive strategies? For golden lion tamarins in the Brazilian rain forest, the answer may offer clues to help save this neotropical primate.

For conservationists, gaining an understanding of the ecology and behaviors of an animal population is vital for creating an optimal preservation strategy. But there are still many unexplored motives affecting the ways of life of a particular animal.

One major question researchers ask regards the dispersal patterns and social drivers of 'natal emigration': leaving a birthplace or group. Population dispersal is a crucial behavioral trait in animal societies, helping maintain the viability of each species.

To investigate, a research team from Japan and Brazil analyzed the dispersal patterns of the endangered golden lion tamarin, or GLT. Their study appears in the American Journal of Primatology.

First author Valeria Romano of Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute explains that GLTs live in small family groups, each averaging seven individuals. There is a reproductive pair at the center, and older offspring help care for younger siblings. However, this system leaves subordinate members with only limited options for reproduction: waiting for a breeding opportunity within the group, or 'emigrating' out to search for potential mates.

Emigration can increase reproductive opportunities, but also entails risks, such as predators and starvation. The team analyzed data on the social habits of 68 groups collected over seven years by an international conservation program, which revealed that while both male and female GLTs emigrate to maximize their dispersal success, their tactics differ. Successful males immigrate into other groups, whereas females form entirely new ones.

Males and females were also found to leave their natal groups because of attraction to external breeding opportunities. Additionally, weak social integration with other group members was found to add to male emigration. The researchers hope that further investigation of the underlying mechanisms of natal emigration will assist in the design of management strategies for the conservation of other threatened species.

Explore further Flight delays: Study finds out why some African birds stay home longer

More information: Valeria Romano et al, Unraveling the dispersal patterns and the social drivers of natal emigration of a cooperative breeding mammal, the golden lion tamarin, American Journal of Primatology (2019). Journal information: American Journal of Primatology Valeria Romano et al, Unraveling the dispersal patterns and the social drivers of natal emigration of a cooperative breeding mammal, the golden lion tamarin,(2019). DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22959Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute

The dramatic loss of ice in the Arctic is influencing sea-ice transport across the Arctic Ocean. As experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research report in a new study, today only 20 percent of the sea ice that forms in the shallow Russian marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean actually reaches the Central Arctic, where it joins the transpolar drift; the remaining 80 percent of the young ice melts before it has a chance to leave its "nursery." Before 2000, that number was only 50 percent.

According to the researchers, this development not only takes the planet one step closer to an ice-free summer in the Arctic; as the sea ice dwindles, the Arctic Ocean stands to lose an important means of transporting nutrients, algae and sediments. The new study will be released as a freely accessible Open Access article in the online journal Scientific Reports on 2 April 2019.

The shallow Russian shelf or marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean are broadly considered to be the "nursery" of Arctic sea ice: In winter, the Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea constantly produce new sea ice. This is due to extremely low air temperatures down to minus 40 degrees Celsius, and a strong offshore wind that drives the young ice out to the open sea. In the course of the winter, the sea ice is eventually caught up in the transpolar drift, one of the two main currents in the Arctic Ocean. In two to three years' time, it transports the ice floes from the Siberian part of the Arctic Ocean across the Central Arctic, and into the Fram Strait, where it finally melts. Two decades ago, roughly half the ice from Russia's shelf seas made this transarctic journey. Today, only 20 percent does; the other 80 percent of the young ice melts before it can become a year old and reach the Central Arctic.

Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) came to this troubling conclusion after monitoring and analysing the sea ice's movements with the aid of satellite data from 1998 to 2017.

"Our study shows extreme changes in the Arctic: the melting of sea ice in the Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea is now so rapid and widespread that we're seeing a lasting reduction in the amount of new ice for the transpolar drift. Now, most of the ice that still reaches the Fram Strait isn't formed in the marginal seas, but comes from the Central Arctic. What we're witnessing is a major transport current faltering, which is bringing the world one major step closer to a sea-ice-free summer in the Arctic," says first author Dr. Thomas Krumpen, a sea-ice physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute.

This trend has been confirmed by the outcomes of sea-ice thickness measurements taken in the Fram Strait, which the AWI sea-ice physicists gather on a regular basis. "The ice now leaving the Arctic through the Fram Strait is, on average, 30 percent thinner than it was 15 years ago. The reasons: on the one hand, rising winter temperatures in the Arctic and a melting season that now begins much earlier; on the other, this ice is no longer formed in the shelf seas, but much farther north. As a result, it has far less time to drift through the Arctic and grow into thicker pack ice," Thomas Krumpen explains.

Those ice floes that the transpolar drift still carries to the Fram Strait are for the most part formed in the open sea, i.e., in regions of the Arctic Oceans far from the coasts. Consequently, compared to ice from the shelf seas, they contain significantly fewer particles like algae, sediments and nutrientsbecause waves, wind and tides stir up far more particles from the seafloor in shallow coastal zones than on the high seas. In addition, rivers like the Lena and the Yenisei carry major quantities of minerals and sediments to coastal areas; when the water freezes, they become trapped in the ice.

Whereas in the past, sea ice from the shelf seas transported this mineral load to the Fram Strait, today the melting floes release it on their way to the Central Arctic; what reaches the Fram Strait is less material, and with a different composition. This finding is a result e.g. of analysis of samples obtained by means of sediment traps that AWI biologists have been conducting in the Fram Strait for about two decades. "Instead of Siberian minerals, we're now finding more remains of dead algae and microorganisms in our sediment traps," says co-author Eva-Maria Nothig. In the long term, this altered sea-ice-based particle transport is likely to produce lasting changes in the biogeochemical cycles and ecological processes of the central Arctic Ocean.

The evolution of sea ice and the ecological processes in the Arctic Ocean are also key research questions that will be addressed during the MOSAiC expedition, which will begin this September. The German research icebreaker Polarstern will journey to the Arctic and drift with the transpolar drift through the Arctic Ocean for an entire year, intentionally trapped in the ice. 600 people from 17 countries will take part in the expedition, which will be regularly resupplied by aircraft and other icebreakers; moreover, many times that number of experts will use the resulting data to take climate and ecosystem research to a new level. MOSAiC, the greatest Arctic research expedition in history, will be spearheaded by the Alfred Wegener Institute.

Explore further Wandering greenhouse gas

More information: Thomas Krumpen et al, Arctic warming interrupts the Transpolar Drift and affects long-range transport of sea ice and ice-rafted matter, Scientific Reports (2019). Journal information: Scientific Reports Thomas Krumpen et al, Arctic warming interrupts the Transpolar Drift and affects long-range transport of sea ice and ice-rafted matter,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41456-yImmediately after the announcement of the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerians took to the street to celebrate the move. express their joy after the. Thousands of Algerians flocked to Audin Square in Algiers to express their joy. The same celebration took place downtown all other major cities of the country.

The departure of the president had become one of the main demands of the protesters for more than a month.

Bouteflikas resignation comes just hours after the last warning of the National Peoples Army (ANP) that met Tuesday in the afternoon.

Actually, Lieutenant General, Deputy Minister of National Defense and Chief of Staff of the ANP, Ahmed Gaid Salah, harshly asked for the immediate application of Articles 102, 7 and 8 of the Constitution to put Bouteflika out of business.

Bouteflika finally accepted to resign to avoid being deposed by the Army, in which case he and his brothers would have been subjected to investigations and maybe brought before a court.The European bank for reconstruction and development (EBRD) has awarded trophies to 16 Moroccan projects, which made energy savings of 82 GWh/year and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 23,700 tons of CO2, equivalent to more than 1 million trees planted.

The awarded energy efficiency and renewable energy projects were carried out under the Morocco Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (MorSEFF), an EBRD program that supports investments by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporates through extending loans to local partner banks for on-lending. Around 80 per cent of the beneficiaries under MorSEFF were SMEs.

The 110 million program was developed in cooperation with Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the German Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW).

The Moroccan projects, which won EBRD awards, adopted state-of-the art technical solutions and made energy efficiency investments in agricultural, hospitality, manufacturing and other private sectors.

Four participating financial institutions received special MorSEFF awards for an excellent engagement in the program. Key Moroccan and international government and non-government institutions that provided support in the program implementation were also recognized.

Speaking at the prizes awarding ceremony held Tuesday in Casablanca, Marie-Alexandra Veilleux-Laborie, EBRD Director for Morocco, said: these awards recognize outstanding commercial decisions to improve the resilience and competitiveness of Moroccan businesses.

Together with partner banks, we have demonstrated the business case for investing in higher performing technologies that also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, helping over 230 enterprises to date to reduce energy consumption, cut their costs and improve their competitiveness, added the banks official.

For his part, Alessio Cappellani, Deputy Head of European Delegation to Morocco, said the EU is pleased to provide financial support to the MorSEFF program, which has also opened up new opportunities for local banks that have been able to innovate in supporting green projects.

All this contributes to the convergence of Moroccos political vision and the European long-term strategy (2050) for a prosperous, competitive and environmentally neutral global economy, stressed Mr. Cappellani.US President Donald Trump has picked former ambassador to Ukraine and Uzbekistan, Richard Norland, as the new US envoy to Libya.

Richard Norland, trained at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the National War College, had served as the foreign policy adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2016, The Hill reported.

Norland was US top diplomat in Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

The US does not currently have an ambassador in the North African country. Peter Bodde, who served as the Charge dAffaires to the Libya External Office in Tunis, was the last US envoy to Libya until end of 2017.

Libya has been part of US strategic spots. Washington has been supporting the weak UN-endorsed Government of National Accord (GNA). Late last month, the Trump administration pledged $500,000 in form of financial assistance destined to improve security in the oil-rich country that has descended into lawlessness since the collapse of the Kaddafi regime in 2011.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Moroccos permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, Omar Hilale, and the Apostolic Nuncio, have transmitted on Tuesday to the UN Secretary-General the Al-Quds Call, signed in Rabat last Saturday (March 30) by King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, and Pope Francis.

The Al-Quds Call, signed during the Popes historic visit to Morocco, recognizes the uniqueness and sacredness of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif, and calls for the city to be preserved as a common heritage of humanity and especially for the faithful of the three monotheistic religions, as a meeting place and symbol of peaceful coexistence, where mutual respect and dialogue are cultivated.

Through the Al-Quds Call, the Moroccan King and Pope Francis, highlighted the spiritual significance and particular vocation of Jerusalem as a city of Peace, and gave strong and unwavering support to Al-Quds at a very delicate juncture when the Palestinian issue is going through difficult times and is in urgent need of strong backing.

Relatedly, the UN Secretary-Generals spokesman hailed the Al-Quds Appeal as it is in line with the position of the UN Secretary General regarding the status of the Holy City.

The content of the Al Quds Appeal is in line with what the Secretary-General has repeatedly reiterated, namely, that Jerusalem is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, and that this character should be preserved, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN chief, Monday, during his daily briefing at the United Nations in New York.

The Spokesman stressed the extreme importance and great symbolism of the Popes visit to Morocco, a land of tolerance and coexistence between all religions. Any initiative likely to contribute to more understanding and tolerance between religions is welcome, the Spokesman said.

Ambassador Hilale and the Apostolic Nuncio also transmitted the Al-Quds Call to the chairman of the Committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, who is to hold a meeting on Palestine Wednesday, with the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, as well as with representatives of all Permanent Missions and observers in New York.

The Group of Arab Ambassadors, which held a meeting on Tuesday, under the chairmanship of ambassador Omar Hilale, commended the enlightened vision of King Mohammed VI and praised the signing by the Sovereign and Pope Francis of the Al-Quds Call. The Arab diplomats underlined that the Call is in line with international law and the fundamental principles of the Arab and Islamic Ummah. The Call also translates the undeniable support for the Palestinian peoples right to establish their State on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, a state iving side by side with Israel.

Pope Francis who was on two-day apostolic visit to Morocco March 30-31 told reporters on the papal flight that was bringing him back to Rome last Sunday, the Jerusalem Call he co-signed in Rabat with King Mohammed VI, the chairman of Al Quds Committee, this appeal was a step forward made not by an authority of Morocco and by an authority of the Vatican, but by brother believers who suffer to see that this city of hope is still not as universal as we all want it to be: Jews, Muslims and Christians.

We are all citizens of Jerusalem, all believers the Pope insisted.

Recent political events  like the Trump administrations moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and the Israeli governments continuous squeezing of the citys Palestinian residents  have renewed the spotlight on the city of Jerusalem.Pope Francis who devoted the General Audience Wednesday to his weekend visit to Morocco said he had reiterated along with King Mohammed VI the essential role of religions in defending human dignity and promoting peace.

HM King Mohammed and I reiterated the essential role religions have in defending human dignity, promoting peace and justice, and in caring for creation, our common home, Pope Francis said Wednesday during his General Audience in St Peters Square, reported Vatican News website.

The Pope seized the opportunity of the General Audience to give thanks for his Apostolic visit to Morocco last weekend. In particular, he expressed his gratitude to King Mohammed VI for his warm welcome. He expressed gratefulness to God for allowing him to take another step along the road of dialogue and encounter with our Muslim brothers and sisters, as a Servant of hope in todays world. With Muslims, we are descendants of the same father, Abraham, he said.

To serve hope in our day is to build bridges between cultures, and it was a joy and honor for me to be able to do this in the noble Kingdom of Morocco, meeting both its people and its political leaders, he added.

Another theme of great importance, brought up during the visit to Morocco, was the question of migration, the Pope said, recalling that the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was ratified in Marrakech, Morocco, last December.

As the Holy See, we have offered our contribution which is summarized in four verbs: welcome migrants, protect migrants, promote migrants and integrate migrants. It is not a matter of dropping welfare programs from on high, but of making a path together through these four actions, to build cities and countries that, while preserving their respective cultural and religious identities, are open to differences and know how to value them in a sign of human brotherhood, the Pope commented.The UN Secretary General reported to the UN Security Council the repeated protests taking place in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps in Algeria, with the participation of hundreds of people living in these camps and the continuous violations by the separatist front of the Military Agreements and the Security Council Resolutions as well as its hampering the freedom of movement of MINURSO military observers.

In the advanced copy of his latest report to the Security Council on the Moroccan Sahara, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres revealed that several demonstrations have been staged against the Polisario leadership, including demonstrations calling for clarifications of the case of Khalil Ahmed, who disappeared in Algeria in 2009.

For several months, hundreds of people have been protesting in the Tindouf camps in Algeria against the leaders of the Polisario, asking them to reveal the whole truth about the case of Ahmed Khalil, who disappeared in unknown circumstances, when he was about to disclose the serious human rights violations committed by the Polisario in Tindouf, with the blessing of Algerian officials.

During these protests, which were severely repressed by the Polisario armed militias, hundreds of people also denounced the unfair measures imposed by the Polisario on the camps populations, while advantages exclusively benefit a handful of separatist leaders and their families.

The UN Secretary-General also sounded the alarm about the deplorable humanitarian situation in the Tindouf camps.

The absence of a census, demanded by the Security Council since 2011, and the embezzlement of humanitarian aid, denounced by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and other UN and independent organizations, perpetuate this alarming and worrying situation for a population that has been deprived of its most basic rights for over four decades.

The UN Secretary-General also reported to the Security Council on the repeated violations by the Polisario of the Military Agreements and Security Council Resolutions and how the separatists hamper the freedom of movement of MINURSO military observers.

The Secretary-Generals report slammed the Polisario, in particular for its constructions to the east of the security structure, which are considered a violation of Military Agreement No. 1 and Security Council Resolutions 2414 and 2440.

These resolutions, adopted in April and October 2018 respectively, had called on the Polisario to immediately leave the buffer zone of Guergerat and not to build or transfer any buildings or structures to the east of the security structure of the Moroccan Sahara.

In addition, the Secretary-General informed the members of the Security Council, for the first time, that satellite imagery provided to the United Nations by Morocco has enabled MINURSO to identify and confirm new violations, including the construction of various buildings in the east of the security structure, in clear violation of Resolutions 2414 and 2440.

Guterres warned the Polisario against the major risk of tensions in the region, caused by military exercises by separatists in the demilitarized area.

The UN Chief on the other hand urged the Polisario to receive MINURSO officials in Rabouni, Algeria, and not east of the Moroccan Sahara security structure.

Guterres noted that meetings between the Polisario and MINURSO have not resumed in Rabouni, in accordance with established practice since the establishment of MINURSO in 1991.

The Secretary-General deplored the fact that his previous request to this effect has still not been respected by the separatist front.

By adopting this clear, firm and unambiguous position, the UN Secretary-General is challenging the Polisarios misleading allegations about its supposed control in the demilitarized zone to the east of the security structure.If you're feeling generous and just can't pass up the opportunity to get me a present, some suggestions are listed hereThe animal spirits are on the prowl once again, and world financial markets are on a rampage. Forecasts of doom and gloom rippled through the markets late last year and set a decidedly negative tone for the current year. Financial markets, however, have been having none of it.

Driven by the fear of missing out on a historic bull run that could be on its last legs, investors keep bidding the markets to new highs and fueling an impressive rebound from last years lows. Indeed, almost all asset classes and regions appear to be in the pink of health as the second quarter of the year kicks off.

The MSCI All-Country World Index (MSCI ACWI) is up 13.2 percent since the beginning of the year as most volatility measures plummet.

Chinese stocks have been on a tear, with the large-cap-tracking iShares China Large Cap ETF boasting returns of 15.1 percent even as the latest economic data from the country came in significantly better-than-feared.

The MSCI Europe Index has racked up YTD gains of 11.2 percent, defying the surreal, game-theoretical political divorce that is Brexit. UK is by far the indexs biggest component with a weight of 28.4 percent.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has been on the mend, managing gains of 10.8 percent after crashing 20 percent last year.

Related: Chinas $13-Trillion Bond Market Joins Global Index

Meanwhile, back in the US, the S&P 500 has tacked on gains of 14.4 percent in the year-to-date. The Index has been able to retrace about 90 percent of the September-December downmove, making a return to the September all-time high more likely than a re-test of the December low.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: MSCI

(Click to enlarge)

Source: CNN Money

Climbing a wall of worry



U.S. stocks seem to have quickly stabilized following a scare a few weeks ago after the long-term Treasury yields dipped below short-term ones aka yield curve inversion.

Meanwhile, whereas theres no shortage of drama in Washington, some of the most important political risks lie on the other side of the Atlantic. Brexit snafu seems to get worse at every turn and theres a real danger that the UK might exit the bloc without a deal after lawmakers not only rejected Mays third proposal but also turned down all four alternatives.

The economic reality of Brexit is likely to be bad news for the markets no matter how you slice and dice it. The UK government has estimated that the countrys economy will shrink 3.9 percent over the next 15 years after it exits the EU. A hard Brexit and you are looking at a 9.3 percent contraction over the timeframe. Thats certainly terrible news for Britain, and that could rapidly spillover to the region and eventually the world. It could potentially get even worse than that.

As SEC chairman Jay Clayton has warned:

The potential adverse effects of Brexit are not well understood and, in the areas where they are understood, are underestimated.

In other words, the reality of Brexit might only fully hit home after the event.

Related: How Will New Basel Banking Regulations Impact Gold?

Nevertheless, the markets remain largely upbeat for one big reason: theres an increased likelihood that the US and China will finally be able to strike a trade deal that will stabilize world economies and boost corporate earnings.

James Paulsen, the chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group, has put it succinctly, saying new highs remain ahead since a wall of worry has so far prevented excessive optimism from ruling the markets.

It is, however, imperative for investors to still hedge their bets appropriately.

Indeed, Moodys Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi has warned theres a high likelihood the global economy will sink into a recession if the Washington and Beijing fail to strike a deal over the next few months. Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, has advised not to put all your investment into stocks and/or bonds but to have some cash ready. He has also said to be ready to be more agile than you probably have been in the past.

A good place to look for signs of trouble is the transportation sector. These stocks are economically sensitive than most and can be used as a leading indicator to predict where the stock market could be headed.

By Alex Kimani for Safehaven.comSanta Ynez Valley Jewish Community has named Oren Postrel as its new rabbi after the death of Rabbi Lawrence Raphael on March 17, a leader who members say brought a lifetime of teaching and wisdom to the community. Though the Jewish Community has been unable to maintain a full-time rabbi due its smaller sized congregation, they have arranged for the rabbi to visit one weekend a month to lead Sabbath services, teach adult education, and preside over other pastoral duties.Parliamentary vote for a long-awaited for law on education reform has stalled once again as the majority Islamist party refuses to vote in favor of some of the provisions of the new text notably the introduction of French as a language of teaching scientific subjects.

The education Minister Said Amzazi insists on using French as a language of instruction for scientific subjects and has already issued directives in that direction.

Amzazi faces criticism from PJD MPs as well as some civil society associations promoting Arabic.

On the ground, the use of French is dictated by Moroccos economic context that requires good command of French.

For advocates, the return of French as a language of instruction of scientific subjects would give consistency to the educational system, fight drop out at the university and help students continue their scientific studies instead of being intimidated by French.

Besides the controversial debate on language, labor unions decry that the framework law stipulates that rich families should pay for higher education.

Meanwhile, locally hired teachers on permanent contracts have extended their strike for a fourth week as the ministry threatens to sack those who do not return to the classroom.

Morocco has increased its education budget by 4 billion dirhams this year to 67 billion dirhams as it aims at improving access and quality.Our friends at Blood Window in Argentina are once again preparing to roll into the coastal town of Pinamar, a little south of Buenos Aires, for the sophomore run of The Fantasy and Horror Film Festival Blood Window Pinamar.

Lee Cronins Christopher (The Hole in the Ground) will open the festival, the story of a mother and her son, whose strange behavior may be linked to a sinkhole in the forest. A couple of titles that have obviously come by way of our friends at Yellow Veil Pictures, I Trapped The Devil and Harpoon, will play at the fest. And Joe Cornishs The Kid Who Would Be King is coming to the festival as well. Other international titles playing at the festival include In Fabric, Mandy and The Evil Within.

Speaking of forests, Blood Window Pinamar will host outdoor screenings of horror and fantastic classic on inflatable screens at two locations around the Pinamar pines. Attendees can look forward to a complete festival atmosphere as well. Embracing the full meaning of festival there will also be live shows, theme parties, cosplay contests and makeup tents.

Back to film, local Argentine titles playing at the festival include giallo flick Abrakadabra from my friend Nico Onetti and his brother Luciano, the post apocalyptic flick Soy toxico (I Am Toxic) from Pablo Pares and Muere, monstruo, muere, by Alejandro Fadel, the only title of those three I do not believe I have seen yet.

Finally, a very cool experience for giallo and horror fans awaits them at the festival. Sergio Stivaletti, filmmaker and special effects artist who worked with Argento (Opera and Phenomena) Bava (Demoni and Demoni 2) and Soavi (Dellamorte Dellamore) will attend the festival and speak with fans about his work in fantastic cinema. What a treat.

The full press release and festival trailer is below. "Ghastly Signs and Tokens: A Constitutional Challenge to Solitary Confinement" | Main | Following SCOTUS ruling requiring equal access, Texas bans all religious officials from execution chamber 

Van Jones and Jessica Jackson have this effective new CNN piece under the headline "Why we're celebrating a three-month-old law." I recommend the piece in full (and many of its links) for anyone seeking a quick primer not only on why the FIRST STEP Act is already an historic achievement and but also on the critical work ahead for those eager to see this legislation achieve all it is capable of achieving. Here are excerpts to whet appetites for the full commentary:

By way of review, the First Step Act was the big bipartisan success story of 2018. Liberals like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Dick Durbin joined with conservatives like Rep. Doug Collins and Sen. Chuck Grassley. We both got personally involved as advocates through cut50.org, a bipartisan reform group that we co-founded during the Obama administration.... And in a move that surprised many, President Donald Trump endorsed the legislation and signed it into law. In doing so, we witnessed a real evolution of the President's views on crime and punishment. The same President whose inaugural address included a line about stopping "American carnage" came to publicly decry harsh prison sentences.

While passing the First Step Act represented real progress, the true measure of any law should be its impact on people's lives. As the first quarter of the First Step Act comes to a close, there are at least five things we should be celebrating.... But there is still a long way to go before the First Step Act has been fully implemented and fulfilled its promise. This is what needs to happen now....

We named this legislation the First Step Act for a reason. We know there is much more to be done, as our critics often point out. However, there can be no second, third, or fourth step without a first.

We were in attendance at the Trump administration's 2019 Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act Celebration to both celebrate the good work that has been done and continue to push for more. We were joined by lawmakers from across the country, faith leaders, business executives, cultural figures and the advocates who helped shape and pass the legislation. We also brought with us a half-dozen people who have recently been released from federal prison because of this legislation and have traveled to Washington to share their stories.

They had much to be thankful for -- and the President gave them all an opportunity to speak. Yvonne Fountain had 10 years remaining on her prison sentence when she heard from her lawyer that his motion for her immediate release had been granted. April Johnson was ordered by a judge to be released from prison to return home and care for her terminally ill daughter and two young grandchildren. Catherine Toney, Troy Powell, and Gregory Allen have all come home within the last 30 days hoping to contribute to society by being good employees and citizens.

They have all experienced significant challenges, too, and talked candidly about them with staffers on Capitol Hill and White House officials. As more people hear their voices, see their faces and listen to their stories, more hearts will open and more progress will be possible. After all, the stories and voices of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people have already pushed Trump to do much more than most people ever thought he would....

When the President signed the First Step Act into law just days before Christmas, he gave Topeka K. Sam and Shon Hopwood, who had both served time in federal prison, an opportunity to share their stories before cameras in the Oval Office. At his 2019 State of the Union Address, President Trump, in front of millions of viewers and the bicameral assembly, highlighted Alice Johnson alongside another case of unjust incarceration, Matthew Charles. Neither of us will forget the President during the 2019 State of the Union address, saying "Welcome home, Matthew."

This time last year, practically no one believed that a bipartisan breakthrough of this scale and magnitude was even possible. For those of us who continue to believe and fight for a victory on what was once considered to be a lost cause, celebrating the First Step Act is something we experience with a great deal of pride. Effective accounting of FIRST STEP achievements and work still to do | Main | "Limiting Identity in Criminal Law" 

As reported in this local article, "Texas has banned all prison chaplains from its execution chamber, days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state was violating an inmate's rights by not allowing a Buddhist chaplain into the death chamber with him." Here is more:

The high court last week halted the execution of Patrick Murphy, a member of the infamous "Texas Seven," because the department did not allow him to have a Buddhist chaplain in the room with him at the time of his scheduled death. The state only allows prison employees in the death chamber, and only Christian and Muslim clerics are employed with the state. During executions, a chaplain will often stand at the feet of the prisoner and rest a hand on his leg mouthing silent prayers.

The court halted Murphys execution hours after it was scheduled to begin, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh issued an opinion declaring that the exclusion of a Buddhist adviser was religious discrimination. The ruling came less than two months after the same court ruled against stopping the execution of a black prisoner in Alabama who requested a Muslim imam at his execution. In his opinion, Kavanaugh proposed two alternatives for the Texas prison system: Dont allow any chaplains into the execution chambers, or allow chaplains of all religions.

Texas has chosen the former option. New execution procedures signed Tuesday say that chaplains and ministers may "observe the execution only from the witness rooms." Currently, friends and family of the murder victims and prisoners, as well as media, are allowed to watch executions through a glass window in small rooms adjacent to the death chamber.

A spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said the policy change is effective immediately. "TDCJ Chaplain(s) will continue to be available to an offender until they are transferred to the execution chamber. The chaplain will also be present in the viewing room if requested," said the spokesman, Jeremy Desel. Under the policy, prisoners will still be able to meet with a TDCJ chaplain or a spiritual adviser who has the appropriate credentials on the day of execution.Head of Moroccos BMCE Bank, the third largest bank in the country, criticized the sale of Saham insurance business to South Africas Sanlam as detrimental to Moroccos interest.

Speaking at a press conference, head of BMCE Othmane Benjeloun deplored the sale worth $1.1 billion on grounds that South Africa supports the Polisario separatists.

We end up with a South African investor, owning a company that was Moroccan, on our own territory, Benjelloun said.

We will applaud the fact that Saham stays South African when Pretoria changes track regarding the Sahara, he said. Until they do, they are not getting our support.

Saham Finances SA is seeking more acquisitions to cement its position as the continents largest financial-services firm outside of banking, Bloomberg reports.

South Africas support for the Polisario has disrupted relations between the two countries. Pretoria last month accepted the accreditation of Moroccos new ambassador. The kingdom recalled its ambassador in 2004 after South Africa officially recognized the Front Polisario.HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 3 April 2019 - TheHong Kong fur industry has been internationally acclaimed for its impeccablecraftsmanship and unparalleled creativity. To identify and nurture local designtalents, theYoung Executive Committee (YEC) of Hong Kong Fur Federation presented the annual "Hong Kong FurDesign Competition" that aims to encourage local young designers to flex theircreative muscles and provide an exchange platform for the industry players andfur enthusiasts to further explore new and exciting possibilities of furdesign.













The "Hong KongFur Design Competition 2019" was held at Felix, The Peninsula. The contestreceived enthusiastic responses this year with over 240 submissions from 120students with the participation of 5 local design institutes. Theoutstanding designs of 25 students were shortlisted in the 1stand 2nd phases. And then 10 finalists' 20 entries were shortlisted bythe judge panels to vie for four honours at the award presentation ceremony,including the "Commercial Award". "Merit Award" were paid tribute to the 6remaining finalists. Aiming to provide a stage for aspiring young designers to shine andflaunt their creativity, all winners were rewarded with cash prizes.





Echoing thetheme "Amazing Nature", the design of participantswas inspired by various natural elements from auroras and whale. Notable forthe exceptional creativity, students ingeniously applied plenty of colors andforms ranging from the natural and lifestyle. With the magnificent lighting andharmonious music, the sensational show culminated in presentation of the 20glamourous fur pieces, offering the audiences a glimpse into the beauty ofnature. Perfectly blended nature with modern elements, the show drew all eyesto the endless possibilities of fur and the amazing nature.





The winner of "HongKong Fur Design Competition 2019" was Mr Au Chi Yip, Wesker, thestudent of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Institute of Textiles &Clothing, BA (Hons) in Fashion and Textile. His fur was produced by Ace FurManufacturing Limited. The 1st runner up was Miss ChungLai Yau, the student of Hong Kong Design Institute- Higher Diploma in Fashion& Image Design. Her design was produced by East China Fur Limited. The 2ndrunner up was Mr Ng Leong Yin, the student of Hong Kong Design Institute-Higher Diploma in Fashion & Image Design. His fur was produced by RisingSun Fur Manufacturing Limited. While the Winner and 1st Runner-up will be enrolled in a short term furdesign course in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the 2nd Runner-up will beenrolled in a short term fur design course in Toronto, Canada, in order tobroaden their horizons and sharpen their skills.

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Miss Ho Wing, the student of Hong Kong DesignInstitute- Higher Diploma in Fashion & Image Design, got the prize of "CommercialAward". Her design was produced by Season Trading Company Limited.





Ms. Haze Wong, Chairlady ofYoung Executive Committee of Hong Kong Fur Federation, thanked variousindustries representatives and guests joining the event and supporting local youngtalents. Shewas pleasedto see that the competition continues to garner wide attention this year andthe guestsspoke highly of students' designs in extraordinary practicability and colorcreativity.





She stated that "Fur is anenvironmentally friendly and sustainable material. With no doubt, designers andconsumers choosing to work with fur and wearing fur, appreciate the uniquenessof such natural materials. We are proud that Hong Kong has a legendary history in fur industry andhas made superior achievements ininternational market. We take pride to see our heritage of arts and craftsmanshipgiving a new dimension to fur, enabling fur to keep sparkling on the runway asa fashionable item."





This year's judging panel comprised Mrs. JohannaManni, Deputy Consul-General of the Consulate General of Finland, HKSAR, Mr. Wilson Chiu,Chairman of Hong Kong Fur Federation, Mr. Stephen Liang, Assistant ExecutiveDirector of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Ms. Chris Cui, President ofKopenhagen Fur (China), Ms. Daria McWilliams, NAFA Brand Manager andManaging Director of Studio NAFA, Ms. Hidy Ng, renowned fashion designer,and Mr. Mountain Yam, famous fashion designer. Winners were recognized for the originality and creativity,commercial value and marketability, workmanship, use of fur materials, andoverall design concept of their collections.





For download pictures:

https://share.weiyun.com/5YSoBc4





The Hong Kong Fur Federation wasestablished in 1979 to coordinate Hong Kong fur trade activities and to promoteits development. The vast majority offurs used by Hong Kong fur manufacturers are sourced from fur farms in the USAand Scandinavia. All wild furs used by the trade are obtained according to therules of responsible conservation, and strict government controls ensure thatno endangered species are ever used.



Reuters

A Colorado judge on Monday reluctantly sentenced a Texas truck driver to 110 years in prison following his conviction for vehicular homicide when his semi-trailer crashed into stopped traffic and killed four motorists along a mountain interstate. Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was found guilty in October by a jury in Jefferson County, Colorado, of four homicide charges along with multiple counts of assault and reckless driving stemming from the April 2019 fiery crash. Jefferson County District Judge Bruce Jones said Colorado law required he impose the mandatory minimum sentences to all the counts Aguilera-Mederos was convicted of, but that he had "no desire" to send him to prison for life.SINGAPORE (April 3): Equanimity, the multi-million dollar superyacht that once belonged to the alleged mastermind of Malaysias 1MDB scandal Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), has been sold for a very satisfactory sale price of US$126 million ($170.6 million) to KLSE-listed Genting Berhad.

The sale price is nearly half of the US$250 million which Low supposedly paid for the yacht in 2014, and under superyacht specialist Winterbothams guide price of US$130 million.

To recap, Equanimity was seized in Feb last year at Bali, Indonesia, as part of more than US$1.7 billion in assets which the US Department of Justice (DoJ) claims were acquired by Low with money allegedly siphoned from 1MDB.

Auctions for the Equanimity commenced in Oct 2018 after it was returned to Malaysia via Port Klang in Aug, with the price tag originally estimated by a 1MDB lawyer to range from RM100 million ($32.88 million) to just below the RM1 billion mark.

The 300-foot luxury vessel boasts a gym, pool, gallery, beauty salon and helipad.

It is due to be delivered to Genting by end-April this year.

In a media release issued on Wednesday, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said the sale of Equanimity ranks as the highest recovery to date for the countrys 1MDB scandal, highlighting that the deal with Genting was reached within a mere eight months from the commencement of its auction.

Genting's offer of US$126 million was the highest received over the last five months when the yacht was first put up for sale.

As the offer was negotiated directly between Genting and Malaysias government, the latter estimates agency commission savings of about US$4.4 million.

Many offers were received in this period, and few were over US$100 million. It was Genting, however, that offered the highest price, that was today approved by Court for acceptance, says Tomas, who attributes the arrival at the very satisfactory sale price of US$126 million to the legal team representing Malaysias government.

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Although the Winterbothams market price evaluation of the Equanimity at US$130 million was not reached, the net returns to the Government of Malaysia is as good, if not more, than envisaged, he adds.

Aside from lauding the Malaysian Navy for affording space in Langkawi for docking the Equanimity over the last five months at no charge, the Attorney-General also thanked the Malaysian Police force for escorting the superyacht even during sea trials by prospective buyers.

Both authorities have helped tremendously in keeping down the costs of maintaining the Equanimity under arrest, he says.

A further statement will be issued once the Malaysian government receives the money for the sale in full  complete with a breakdown of expenses incurred, and the net amount to be credited into a newly-opened 1MDB asset recovery account.

The Government of Malaysia is appreciative of the offer by Genting. That the Equanimity is purchased at the market value of US$126 million by the Genting Group, which owns a shipyard that builds superyachts and operates a luxury yacht charting division, is significant, Thomas concludes.SINGAPORE (April 1): Over the last 20 years, Ivan Chee Yew Fei has been involved in various industries as founder and CEO of Webcon, a privately held diversified company in Malaysia. He led the company to expand into engineering and construction, property development, mining, trading of heavy machinery and investment holding. Now, as iron ore prices remain firm, Chee intends to grow the mining business under newly incorporated Fortress Minerals  by listing the latter on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange.

Fortress Minerals is a high-grade iron ore concentrate producer based in Terengganu, Malaysia. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fortress Mining (previously known as Webcon Mining), the company operates an open pit mine at Bukit Besi, near Kemaman Port.

The Bukit Besi mine contains iron ore concentrate with a total iron grade of 65% and above. This enables the iron ore to fetch a relatively higher price on the market. The company sells most of the iron ore to trading companies and steel mills in Malaysia and China for the production of iron ore pellets and sinter.

Fortress Minerals was listed on Singapores Catalist on March 27. Under an all placement issue, the company sold 75 million new shares at 20 cents apiece, of which 51.25 million shares were taken up by cornerstone investors. They include property developer First Grand Investment, general contracting and metal scaffolding works company Teambuild Construction and several unrelated individuals.

With this listing, Fortress Minerals raised net proceeds of about $12.5 million. Of this, $7 million will be used for further development of the Bukit Besi mine, including continuing and future exploration and geology work, as well as expansion of iron ore processing capacity. Meanwhile, $2 million will be used for acquisitions, joint ventures and/or development of new mines. The remainder $3.5 million will be used as general working capital. The sponsor, issue manager and placement agent for the IPO is PrimePartners Corporate Finance.

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On March 27, shares of Fortress Minerals started trading at 22 cents before ending the day at 21.5 cents. More than 2.5 million shares changed hands on the first two days of trading.

In an interview with The Edge Singapore ahead of the listing, Chee, who is also executive director and CEO of Fortress Minerals, says a listing on SGX will improve the companys visibility for international growth ahead. We believe our business will grow regionally beyond Malaysia. The listing will provide us with new opportunities, he says.

From bauxite to iron ore

The principal mining business of Fortress Minerals is parked under Fortress Mining. The latter used to be involved in bauxite mining and prospecting. It took advantage of a bauxite rush after top producer Indonesia slapped an export ban on the mineral in 2014, says Chee.

As a result of the ban, prices of bauxite skyrocketed in that year. Other bauxite-producing countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Australia became unexpected beneficiaries. In particular, bauxite production in Malaysia more than quadrupled to 962,799 tonnes in 2014 from the year before, according to the countrys Minerals and Geoscience Department.

However, the increased bauxite mining in Malaysia  mainly in Kuantan  resulted in rampant pollution. This led the Malaysian government to impose a three-year nationwide ban on bauxite mining in January 2016. All bauxite mining activity, including Fortress Minings, ceased.

Fortress Mining took the opportunity to pivot towards iron ore mining. This was the result of Chees involvement in an iron ore mining project, which helped him forge ties with Lembaga Tabung Amanah Warisan Negeri Terengganu (LTAWNT), a stateowned enterprise and holder of the states mining leases.

As he explains it, one of Webcons subsidiaries was appointed as a subcontractor to construct a processing plant for Treasure Mining. The latter was appointed as the main contractor to extract, process and sell minerals at an iron ore mine in Malaysia. Chee says the Webcon subsidiary, despite a tough operating environment, completed the job with flying colours and created a good impression on LTAWNT.

Subsequently, LTAWNT invited Chee and other interested parties to tender for a mining lease for several tenements at the Bukit Besi mine. He did so because most of the other mining players had ceased operations there. Owing to its good track record, Fortress Mining was granted the lease to mine, extract, process and sell iron ore at the Bukit Besi mine.

Historic mine

Fortress Minerals, as a company, is new, but the Bukit Besi mine is not. The mine was first identified by Japanese explorers in 1916. The then Nippon Mining Co (today, part of JXTG Holdings) obtained a 50year mining lease for 1,271 acres and built the relevant mining infrastructure. By 1930, mining operations had commenced, and the company had 130 Japanese staff and a local labour force of 1,500, which quickly expanded to 3,000 as activity picked up. Following Japans surrender to the Allied forces in World War II, all Japanese-owned property in West Malaya, including the Bukit Besi mine, was held by the Custodian of Enemy Property.

In 1948, the Bukit Besi property rights, stockpiles and equipment were acquired by Eastern Mining and Metals Co, a US company. Subsequently, during the height of the Communist insurgency in the 1970s, EMMCO abandoned the mine, citing the prevailing economic downturn and depleting resources. As a result of the mine closure, the refineries were abandoned and remain as ruins in the Bukit Besi township area.

In 2009, the Terengganu state government announced that it had approved the appointment of several companies to revive mining at Bukit Besi. Exploration in the wider area recommenced. Fortress Mining was awarded the mining rights in 2017 and the company constructed an onsite processing plant. The lease will expire in early 2033.

Today, Fortress Minerals has a steady state actual production rate of 40,000 tonnes a month. It has sold a total of about 224,507 tonnes of processed iron ore concentrate since it began operations in April 2018.

For 1HFY2019 ended Aug 31, Fortress Minerals recorded earnings of US$2 million ($2.7 million) on the back of revenue of US$6.6 million. It had a net debt position of US$8.3 million as at Aug 31, 2018. In 1HFY2018, the company recorded a loss of US$546,000, as it did not register any revenue since it had not begun mining operations. Fortress Minerals mined and sold a total of about 873,000 tonnes of bauxite from January 2015 to January 2016 before operations were discontinued. It recorded revenue of about US$20 million.

While the moratorium on bauxite mining is expected to be lifted in April, according to Malaysian media reports, Chee says Fortress Minerals will not return to bauxite mining, as prices of the mineral are low compared with two years ago. Malaysias Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar reportedly said that the countrys Cabinet had agreed to a new standard operating procedure covering mining and exports of bauxite.

Instead, Chee says, he sees bright prospects in iron ore mining for the company. This is because production could be ramped up as there is considerable exploration upside potential at the Bukit Besi mine. Currently, the company has explored a surface area of 61.3 acres within the East, Valley and West Deposits. These collectively represent about 4.71% of the 1,300.3 acres of total land area. Our area is big, says Chee. Only less than 5% of the land area has been explored. We have also proven that we can get 5.4 million tonnes of iron ore in deposit.

Moreover, demand for high-grade iron ore is expected to hold steady. Ng Mun Fey, chief operating officer at Fortress Minerals, says in recent years, China had closed many inefficient steel mills to reduce pollution. With lower production, prices have increased.

Ng says steel mills are demanding highgrade iron ore to increase their production yield. The higher the quality of ore mineral, the more iron content is produced, he says. Because of that, we get so much demand from China clients as well as Malaysian steel producers. They keep asking for more.

This story appears in The Edge Singapore (Issue 875, week of Apr 1) which is on sale now. Subscribe hereA South Korean ship has been detained for more than six months on suspicion of violating UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed North, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday. Pyongyang is sanctioned over its weapons programme under multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which include curbs on shipments of oil and fuel to the isolated regime. But the North has been seeking to get around the measures, with a recent UN report saying that Pyongyang was securing deliveries of fuel through ship-to-ship transfers in international waters. Seoul's foreign ministry said a South Korean ship and three others had been detained in the country, suspected of undermining the economic measures against the North. "This is the first time a South Korean vessel has been detained for allegedly violating UN sanctions," a ministry official told AFP. The Korea Coast Guard identified the vessel to AFP as the 5,160-tonne "P Pioneer" and said it had twice transferred diesel "illicitly" in the East China Sea during September 2017. Both the ship -- first detained last September and now held in the southern port of Busan -- and its operator have been referred to prosecutors, and Yonhap news agency said 4,320 tonnes of diesel fuel were involved. The foreign ministry official did not explain the delay in the authorities making public the South Korean ship's detention. The holding of the other three vessels -- registered in Hong Kong, Panama and Togo -- had previously been announced. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has sought to engage the North to bring it to the negotiating table, dangling economic carrots before it in the form of inter-Korean projects -- many of which would violate the current sanctions rules if implemented. Questions were also raised over whether it had undermined the measures by providing supplies to set up an inter-Korean liaison office north of the border. Last year three South Korean firms were caught importing millions of dollars worth of coal and iron from the North in 2017. Immediate sanctions relief was a key demand of the cash-strapped North when leader Kim Jong Un met with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February for a second summit that ultimately broke down. The US has since imposed sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies for doing business with North Korea, urging the maritime industry to do more to end Pyongyang's "illicit shipping practices". A UN report issued last month highlighted the North's sanctions-evading tactics at sea and recommended member countries keep a closer watch over vessels in their own waters.Flag-waving Algerians celebrated the resignation of ailing leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika after two decades in power, but vowed to keep protesting to demand sweeping change to the country's whole political system. The 82-year-old president ceded power in the face of massive street demonstrations that have shaken the North African nation, with state media announcing late Tuesday he had submitted his resignation with immediate effect. Car horns sounded on the streets before jubilant crowds converged in the centre of the capital Algiers to cheer the departure of the veteran leader, who has rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. At the same time, many people said they were determined to continue demonstrating, rejecting any transition that leaves power in the hands of the "system". "I want my daughter to remember this historic day. Bouteflika's gone, but it's far from over," said 35-year-old Amal, who wore a T-shirt with the slogan "I am against the system" and vowed to march again on Friday. For 44-year-old engineer Hamid Boumaza, Bouteflika's resignation was "too little, too late". "Bouteflika's departure is no longer enough. We want them all to go. We want full freedom and we will march for as long as necessary." Others paid tribute to the longtime leader, but regretted that he had clung to power for so long. "Bouteflika worked. I voted for him at first, but he didn't know how to leave with his head held high," said Bilan Brahim, 40. - 'Appeasement of hearts' - Algeria has largely avoided the turmoil unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings that brought down rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Libya. But discontent, particularly among the young, turned to anger after Bouteflika announced in February that he would seek a fifth term in office in an election that had been scheduled for this month. He dropped his bid in the face of the mass protests but also postponed the vote, angering Algerians who saw the move as a ploy to stay in power. On Monday, his office said he would resign before his mandate expires at the end of the month. And as pressure mounted, state television announced late Tuesday that Bouteflika "officially advised the Constitutional Council of the end of his term of office as President of the Republic". "This decision which I take in my soul and conscience is destined to contribute to the appeasement of the hearts and minds of my compatriots, to allow them to take Algeria towards a better future to which they legitimately aspire," his resignation letter said. Footage showed Bouteflika, dressed in a beige North African tunic and sitting in his wheelchair, handing the resignation letter to the head of the Constitutional Council, Tayeb Belaiz. The United States said the future of Algeria was now up to its people. "Questions about how to navigate this transition in Algeria, that is for the Algerian people to decide," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters. Russian, a longtime ally of Algeria, called for a transition without foreign "interference". French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Bouteflika's decision to step down marked the turning of "an important page in the history of Algeria". "We are confident in the ability of all Algerians to continue this democratic transition in the same spirit of calm and responsibility" that has prevailed in recent weeks, Le Drian added. Algeria's constitution says that once the president officially resigns, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, 77-year-old Abdelkader Bensalah, acts as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organised. The resignation came shortly after the military demanded impeachment proceedings be launched against Bouteflika. Armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah said the army's "sole ambition" was to "protect the people from a handful of (other) people who have unduly taken over the wealth of the Algerian people". A long-time Bouteflika ally, the general last week called on the president to resign or be declared unfit to rule, becoming one of the first of his longtime supporters to abandon him. Bouteflika had named a new government on Sunday, made up mainly of technocrats under recently appointed premier Noureddine Bedoui. The administration -- supposed to steer the country towards transition -- included General Gaid Salah remaining in his position as deputy defence minister. Among the other key Bouteflika backers is his younger brother and special adviser Said, who was frequently cited in the past as a likely successor to the president. Discreet and rarely seen in public, Said Bouteflika has exerted increasing influence behind the scenes as his brother's health worsened, but the president's resignation could take away much of his power.By Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to six weeks of largely peaceful mass protests driven by youth and pressure from the powerful army against his 20-year rule.

Hundreds took to the streets of the capital after state media announced the 82-year-old's departure, capping a wave of protests demanding the removal of an aging elite seen by many as out of touch with ordinary people and presiding over an economy riven by cronyism.

Bouteflika's supporters had sought to stop the dissent by telling Algerians not to return to the dark days in the 90s when some 200,000 were killed in civil war, warning even of a scenario like in Syria, embroiled in an eight-year-long conflict.

The protests stand in stark contrast to Algeria's neighbour Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising that took much of 2011 and sent the country into chaos.

Only one person was confirmed to have died during the protests, a man around 60 years old who suffered a heart attack, with most rallies peaceful and with protesters cleaning up the streets before going home.

Bouteflika announced he was standing down in a one-sentence statement carried by state news agency APS, followed by a letter - his primary means of communication since suffering a stroke in 2013 and disappearing from public view.

"I have taken this step because I am keen to put an end to the current bickering," Bouteflika said in the letter. "I have taken the suitable measures needed for the continuity of the nation's institutions during the interim period."

His departure came after the army chief of staff had dramatically ratcheted up the pressure, demanding immediate action to declare him unfit for office under the constitution.

The military had stayed in their barracks during the protests but step by step increased pressure on Bouteflika's camp, first only indirectly in an army magazine saying the military shared the same vision as the people. Then chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah proposed last week to invoke a constitutional clause to remove him.

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Bouteflika on Monday had said he would quit before the end of his term on April 28 without giving a date. He had also vowed to undertake unspecified measures for the sake of stability, triggering new protests by students demanding a new political system.

Salah eventually said it was time to go for the only leader many Algerians have known, some 70 percent of whom are under 30 years old.

"There is no more room to waste time ... We decided clearly ... to stand with the people so all their demands get fulfilled," Salah said after a meeting with senior officers, APS said.

Hundreds took to the streets in the evening, waving Algerian flags or driving in convoys through the city centre, where on Feb. 22 mass protests broke out.

"The army and the people are one" and "Game over", banners read.

Pressure had been building during the day with opposition groups demanding Bouteflika go immediately, while hundreds of students marched through the capital Algiers to demand the replacement of a political system widely seen as incapable of significant reform.

"Bouteflika's decision (to resign by the end of his term) will change nothing," Mustapha Bouchachi, a lawyer and protest leader, told Reuters earlier on Tuesday.

Bouteflika's resignation will put Abdelkader Bensalah, chairman of the upper house of parliament, in charge as caretaker president for 90 days until elections are held.

Bouchachi had suggested Bouteflika's nomination of a caretaker government was a move to perpetuate the current political system.

"What is important to us is that we do not accept the (new caretaker) government. Peaceful protests will continue."

A veteran of Algeria's war for independence, Bouteflika was first elected president in 1999 and established himself by ending a civil war with Islamist militants that killed an estimated 200,000 people.

But the country remains mired in corruption and, in a sign that the end for Bouteflika's rule had been approaching, several oligarchs close to his camp were banned from travelling abroad in the past few days, part of a crackdown against his allies.

"The gang has made big money illegally taking advantage of its closeness with decision-makers," Salah said, according to APS.

The protests have been driven by the country's youth and lawyers demanding the removal of a ruling elite seen by many as out of touch with ordinary Algerians.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Elsherif and Dalia Nehme; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by John Stonestreet and James Dalgleish)Top NATO officials in Afghanistan on Wednesday heralded key gains from more than 17 years of war, even as the United States seeks to end the grinding conflict that President Donald Trump this week called "ridiculous". Despite hundreds of thousands of troops from NATO having served in Afghanistan since the September 11, 2001 attacks, last year was the bloodiest on record and the Taliban have made gains across the country. The Islamist extremists now control more Afghan territory than any time since they were ousted in the US-led invasion of 2001, and once again are imposing their strict interpretation of Sharia law. Trump is fed up with the war, which has killed more than 2,300 American troops and cost the US taxpayer more than $1 trillion. The Afghanistan war is "unfortunate, it's ridiculous," Trump said Tuesday in Washington. In December, he told advisors he wanted to pull about half of America's 14,000 troops out of Afghanistan, a decision apparently made without consulting NATO allies. But in a ceremony marking at NATO's 70th anniversary at their intensely fortified compound in Kabul on Wednesday, dignitaries sought to put a positive spin on things. Afghanistan "is a modern and vibrant emerging democracy", said Nicholas Kay, NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan. "We all salute the improvements in women's rights, for millions of children and notably girls enrolled in schools, the free press and notable advancements in health care," he added. That narrative is under increasing pressure, however, with the Taliban growing ever stronger and Afghanistan's security forces dealing with horrendous losses. Last year, a United Nations agency documented 3,804 civilian deaths in Afghanistan, with another 7,819 people injured in the war. - Tough love - Kay was joined by Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and NATO's Afghanistan commander General Scott Miller, who championed the alliance's enduring "cohesion". "We all remain committed to this nation," he said. Trump, however, has frequently hammered NATO -- accusing longstanding allies of being freeloaders who do not pull their weight on military spending. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has embraced Trump's tough-love approach and credited him with a big increase in member state defence spending. As for the Afghan gains, many fear America's desire to withdraw from Afghanistan will ultimately see the Taliban back in power. US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is in Afghanistan this week as part of an ongoing drive to find a way out. He has met with various Afghan politicians and stakeholders, including women representatives, ahead of an expected new round of peace talks with the Taliban in Doha. Kay insisted NATO is determined to stay in Afghanistan to protect hard-won gains for Afghans. "We will remain here to assist Afghans until the conditions are right for a change in our posture," he said.Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno (right) and his signature (left)

MANILA, Philippines  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno disclosed on Sunday (March 31) that the initial batch of Philippine banknotes bearing his signature will soon be in circulation some time in June this year.

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Diokno as head the BSP shortly after former BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. succumbed to cancer in February 23.

It was in December 2017 when the BSP released banknotes bearing Espenillas signature, just five months after he assumed office in July 2017.

Banknotes bearing the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte were released by the BSP in December 2016, six months after he took office.

Though Diokno admits that the style of his signature could be easily forged, he is confident of the added security features that the BSP applied to the Philippine banknotes.

He said he used to have a more complicated signature but due to the loads of school papers when he was still a professor in the University of the Philippines, he got tired of using it.

He said he has no plans at all of changing his distinctive autograph.

This is not a shortcut version, mukang lang talagang tatlong bulate (it just happened to look like three worms), he quipped.  Marje Pelayo

The post Banknotes with Dioknos worm looking signature out by June appeared first on UNTV News.The abdication of ailing President Bouteflika has been met with celebrations on the streets of Algiers but his downfall only confirms the power-grab of the military over the Algerian political scene.

The six weeks of protests that have rocked Algeria demanding the stepping down of the ailing President and the oligarchs in power were conducive for the army chief to strengthen his foothold as kingmaker in Algeria, dealing blow after blow to his former ally the Presidents brother Said Bouteflika and his entourage.

Wednesday, the Constitutional Council held a meeting and approved the vacancy of the presidency. According to the constitution, the president of the council of the nation (the upper house of parliament), Abdelkader Bensalah, a long-time Bouteflika loyalist, must now hold the fort until a new leader is elected.

The upcoming 90 days before the next elections will be decisive in Algerias history. Popular protests who were so far peaceful but massive should continue to put Algeria on track of democracy.

Several associations and trade unions have already rejected any transition based on clans and have called for massive demonstrations next Friday.

Protests have taken the vying clans within the Algerian regime by surprise unveiling their fierce rivalries. Abdelkader Bensalah, a senior establishment figure, often stood in for the ailing president at official functions and supported his aborted attempt to seek a fifth term.

If Bensalah seeks to be President on a permanent basis, it will infuriate those intent on root-and-branch reform.

Another member of lancien regime, Liamine Zeroual, Algerias president from 1994 to 1999, claimed to have been asked to lead the transitional government. Meanwhile, ministers appointed on Sunday as part of a last-minute attempt by Bouteflikas inner circle to keep power remain in office and are insisting on continuity.

In the meantime, the Algerian armys priority was to stem the momentum of the street unrest. It is unlikely that Gaid Salah who has gained more powers now will tolerate open calls for a genuine reform of the aging ruling elite.

If the army tries to capitalize on its gains by imposing a President as it has always done, this would lead to more protests that may derail from the current peaceful character. Young people made their mind in advocating real change breaking away with the old elites.

More than one in four of Algerians under 30 are unemployed, a large number given that about 70% of Algerias population is under that age. Many of them will have scant memory of the civil war that cost about 100,000 lives in the 1990s after the army overturned a 1991 election victory by an Islamist party.Brunei on Wednesday introduced harsh new sharia laws, including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, despite a storm of global criticism from politicians, celebrities and rights groups. The tough penal code in the tiny country on tropical Borneo island -- ruled by the all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah -- fully came into force following years of delays. The laws, which also include amputation of hands and feet for thieves, make Brunei the first place in East or Southeast Asia to have a sharia penal code at the national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia. Rape and robbery are also punishable by death under the code and many of the new laws, such as capital punishment for insulting the Prophet Mohammed, apply to non-Muslims as well as Muslims. The decision to push ahead with the punishments has sparked alarm around the world, with the United Nations labelling them a "clear violation" of human rights and celebrities, led by actor George Clooney and pop star Elton John, calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted. In a public address to mark a special date in the Muslim calendar, the sultan called for stronger Islamic teachings but did not mention the new penal code. "I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger," he said in the nationally televised speech at a convention centre near the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The sultan, who has been on the throne for over five decades, also insisted that Brunei was a "fair" country and the environment for visitors was "safe and harmonious". Government officials later confirmed the laws had entered into force. - 'Barbaric to the core' - The sharia laws have triggered worldwide condemnation, and Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, described the code as "barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldn't even be crimes". At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said via his spokesman that human rights should be upheld everywhere, and Brunei's new legislation "is in clear violation with the principles expressed". The European Union said in a statement that some of the new punishments "amount to torture, acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment". They are particularly upsetting for the country's small lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Sex between men was already illegal in Brunei and punishable with up to 10 years in jail. But the new code stipulates death by stoning as a punishment for sex between men, while women convicted of having sexual relations with other women face up to 40 strokes of the cane or a maximum 10-year jail term. A 33-year-old gay Bruneian man, who spoke anonymously, said the new laws were "unfair, cruel and should not happen". "It really takes away my happiness and freedom to express myself, and depresses me so much," he told AFP. Zulhelmi bin Mohamad, a transgender woman who fled Brunei last year and is seeking asylum in Canada, told AFP that the environment will be more terrifying for the country's LGBT community, who were already leading "very secretive" lives. "Some worry a lot and would like to escape the country before they are found out," the 19-year-old said. - Global storm of criticism - Confirming the new penal code was now in force, a religious affairs ministry official told AFP: "The statement from the prime minister's office last weekend on (the code's) implementation prevails, hence (April 3) marks the date of its implementation." A second government official, speaking anonymously, confirmed it had entered into force. The sultan -- who is one of the world's wealthiest men and lives in a vast, golden-domed palace -- announced plans for the code in 2013. The first section was introduced in 2014 and included less stringent penalties, such as fines or jail terms for offences including indecent behaviour or skipping Friday prayers. Clooney's call to boycott nine Brunei-owned hotels in Europe and the United States last week catapulted the issue into the international headlines. Since then, a series of well-known figures have lined up to add their names to the chorus of condemnation. The sultan, who is the world's second-longest reigning monarch, first called for the penal code in the late 1990s and it appears to enjoy broad support in the former British protectorate of about 400,000 people. Analysts say he is seeking to burnish his Islamic credentials and shore up support among the country's conservatives due to the waning fortunes of the oil-dependent economy, which has been ravaged by recession in recent years. It is also unclear whether death by stoning will actually be implemented, as a high burden of proof is needed to hand down the punishment and Brunei has not executed anyone for decades.Canada's province of Nova Scotia has proposed a law that would presume all citizens consent to being organ donors unless they opt out, breaking new ground in North America. Unveiled Tuesday and assured of passage by the province's ruling Liberals, the bill would flip the current practice in Nova Scotia of requiring signed consent before a person's organs can be harvested after death. Under the proposed law, consent would be assumed unless a person has actively opted out. The province already has one of the highest organ donation rates in the country, but officials said it is still not enough to meet demand. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil "was concerned that people on wait lists for these life-saving transplants had passed away, and this seemed like a reasonable step to try to address this issue," spokesman David Jackson told AFP. It is expected to take 18 months to work its way through the legislative process and go into effect. As early as next week, locals will be given an opportunity to comment on the proposed law at legislative committee hearings, while the province steps up public awareness and medical training over the coming year "to increase capacity in the system," he said. "It'll be a significant push to increase transplants." Cindy Ryan, who received two liver transplants since 2013 after a virus attacked her own, was on hand for the bill's unveiling. She told local media the life-saving transplants allowed her to see her children graduate school and start careers, marry her current husband and celebrate her 50th birthday. "So many changes in my life, so many things to be grateful for every day, and all because someone I'll never have the honor to meet gave me the most generous gift of all -- the gift of organ donation, the gift of life," she told public broadcaster CBC. "Recyle yourself, together we live on," reads a tattoo on her arm. Currently in Nova Scotia, prospective donors carry wallet card identifying themselves as such so hospitals can know they can harvest their organs when they die. Other countries including Belgium, France and Spain saw their respective donations rise after adopting systems like the one being proposed for Nova Scotia. On Monday, Germany, which has about 10,000 patients awaiting organ transplants, became the latest EU nation to consider adopting the principle of presumed consent. Critics warned that the practice amounts to turning patients into spare parts. Juveniles and persons unable to consent for themselves would be excluded from the Nova Scotia law.Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, whose news website is critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the first of a series of criminal charges she says are government attacks. Ressa has been arrested twice in six weeks by Philippine authorities, prompting international criticism and allegations she is being targeted for her work. She entered her plea in a Manila court to four tax evasion charges stemming from a 2015 bond sale that raised money from a US-based investor for the news site she co-founded, Rappler. If found guilty she could face up to 10 years behind bars on each charge. The site has taken a tough stance on Duterte's signature narcotics crackdown that has killed thousands of alleged drug dealers and users, but also cast a critical eye on his leadership and controversial public statements. "I'm hoping for justice," Ressa told reporters after the court hearing. "I still say all of these cases are politically motivated." Ressa was arrested in her Manila office in mid-February on an online libel charge and was released on bail the next day. She was again taken into custody on Friday, this time for allegedly violating the Philippines' strict rules prohibiting foreign ownership of media with a 2015 investment from eBay founder Pierre Omidyars Omidyar Network. The Philippines' corporate regulator revoked Rappler's business licence last year over the investment, but the site continued operating as it appealed the case in the courts. After her second arrest the United States urged the Philippines to quickly resolve the case against Ressa, who holds Filipino and US passports, and allow her and Rappler to "operate freely". "The freedom of expression is a cornerstone of any truly democratic society and a fundamental freedom recognized by both the United States and the Philippines," a State Department spokesperson said. Duterte has in speeches lashed out at Rappler and other critical media outfits, including the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper and broadcaster ABS-CBN. He threatened to go after their owners over alleged unpaid taxes or block the network's franchise renewal application.Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong speaking at the Truth and Lies: Trust in Times of Information Disorder forum held at the Singapore Management University on 3 April, 2019. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore)

Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong said on Wednesday (3 April) that he disagreed with the view that there will be a chilling effect on political discussions in Singapore when a sweeping bill to tackle the spread of online falsehoods is passed.

Speaking at a talk held at the Singapore Management University (SMU)s Li Ka Shing library, Tong explained that there are clear distinctions in the bill between stating falsehoods versus voicing an opinion or criticism.

He was part of a three-member panel discussion on free speech and falsehoods at the Truth and Lies: Trust in Times of Information Disorder forum and was addressing a question by Eugene Tan, the panels moderator and an associate professor of law at the SMU.

If I say: I think the governments policies on the CPF are terrible,  thats not a fact, that is a criticism, said Tong to an audience of about 160 people. If I say: The CPF account is bankrupt  the money is not there, and I published it and causes a panic amongst people. Thats a (false) statement of fact.

However, he noted that some, potentially those less educated, might initially struggle to understand the differences. As such, it is necessary for the government to undertake efforts to help the public better understand the law, he added.

From left to right: SMU Assistant Professor of Sociology Michel Genkin, Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong and SMU Associate Professor of Law and panel moderator Eugene Tan. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore)

Tabled in Parliament on Monday, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill will grant the government powers to act against online falsehoods  defined as false or misleading statement of facts  created by malicious actors, so as to protect public interest.

It does not cover criticism, opinions, satire, and parody.

The proposed bill has attracted criticisms that it will infringe on human rights, particularly freedom of speech and media freedom. But Tong argued that it is not the case during his introduction at the panel.

One such criticism touched on the perceived broad definitions of the proposed bill, which may leave maximum regulatory discretion to the government officers skewed to view as misleading or false the sorts of news that challenge Singapores preferred political narratives, said Human Rights Watchs deputy Asia director Phil Robertson in a report published on its website.

Story continues

Singapore is currently ranked 151 among 180 countries rated in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders, below the likes of Russia and Myanmar.

Tong explained, If we wanted to block the site, or remove the publishers licence and so on, that can already be done today. No additional laws will be needed to achieve the outcome.

Under the proposed law, the primary remedy  barring those going viral quickly and of a serious offensive nature that it must be removed immediately  will be a correction to be tagged on the online publishers original article containing the supposed falsehoods, he added.

Many of the other 40-odd countries looking at this bill dont have this kind of nuanced remedy. We decided to have this because it first ultimately makes for a more discerning public  you see the materials andyou judge for yourself, said Tong, echoing comments that Law Minister K Shanmugam shared with reporters on Monday.

If an online site had published three falsehoods that were against the public interest over the previous six months, its ability to profit will be cut off, without shutting it down.

Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong speaking about the proposed bill at the Truth and Lies: Trust in Times of Information Disorder forum held at the Singapore Management University on 3 April, 2019. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore)

Citing a 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, Tong said that falsehoods are found to have a reach of up to 100,000 people while true statements rarely reach more than 1,000. Falsehoods are also 70 per cent more likely to be retweeted, the study found.

But legislation is certainly far from the silver bullet and other measures such as boosting resources for media literacy and strengthening online fact-checking are necessary, added Tong, who cited a REACH survey indicating widespread support for tighter measures against falsehoods.

The survey, conducted in February last year, found that 90 per cent of 887 respondents agree that there should be more effective laws requiring those who publish online falsehoods to remove or correct them.

Responding to a question by a member of the public on the consequences for the government if it were an agent of disinformation, Tong replied that it would be subjected to same oversight and standards that publishers face.

Obviously over time, if this keeps happening, then trust in the government will also be undermined, said Tong. The government is not the one that stands outside of the system, without any (judicial) oversight.

Those convicted of violating the fake news law can face criminal sanctions including a fine of up to $1 million or be jailed up to 10 years or both, according to the proposed bill.

Tong compared eliminating online falsehoods that affect public interest in Singapore to correcting a physical safety, such as shutting down the public works of a contractor due to safety lapses.

Similarly, the responsibility falls on the government to make the first call to combat falsehoods, he added.

Five out of 41 questions submitted were answered during the forums panel on facts, falsehoods and free speech on 3 April, 2019. (SCREENSHOT: pigeonhole.at)

The Marine Parade GRC Member of Parliament (MP) also noted that gossip can quickly accelerate online and press on the faultlines of society, including issues like race and religion.

A member of the public also asked Tong about the aid that people who challenge the governments stance on whether something is false or an opinion can receive.

Those of us who need financial help, support or legal advice, systems are available in place to assist themWe are not talking about going to court on a complicated two-week trial or hearing that requires a lot of time and expense to deal with, Tong replied.

According to a media invite issued last Friday, Philip Chua, Head of Governments and Elections at Twitter, and a Google representative were originally scheduled to speak at the forums second panel on efforts in advocacy and education in building trust. Both subsequently dropped out of participating in the event.

Related stories:

Shanmugam apologises to veteran journalist Bertha Henson for erroneous reference in statement on hate speech

Offensive speech more insidious than hate speech, can lead to dehumanisation: Shanmugam

Hate speech debate: Untrue that songs with offensive lyrics will be banned, says Shanmugam

Singapore cannot count on social media platforms to protect it from fake news: Edwin TongEgypt's Red Sea Governorate is to introduce a ban on single-use plastics that are destroying marine life, the province's top official said Wednesday. The ban, set to take effect in June, covers items including disposable plastic bags, cutlery and cups, and aims to protect the area's unique sea life, governor Ahmed Abdallah said. "We want to limit this phenomenon to preserve our maritime environment," he told AFP. The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastic annually, and scientists estimate there are at least five trillion pieces of the stuff floating in our oceans. Egypt's Red Sea province depends heavily on income from tourists, many of whom come to snorkel and scuba dive among its spectacular reefs. The vulnerable shallow-water ecosystems are under threat by both global warming and plastic pollution. Abdallah said businesses and families in the province will be required to replace plastic with paper and reusable bags. Heba Shawky, head of the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association which campaigned for the ban, said it was "a huge step forward, because plastic bags cause a lot of damage." The Egyptian decision comes after countries agreed at a UN conference in March to "significantly reduce" use of single-use plastics, but failed to agree on a full ban, disappointing environmental campaigners. Sources close to the talks said rich nations, led by the US, were influential in watering down the pledge. Egypt's Red Sea province had mulled a ban of single-use plastics prior to the 2011 revolt that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak, but the ensuing political turmoil put those plans on hold. The country's crucial tourism industry, hit hard by the uprising, has bounced back in recent years with tourist arrivals reaching 8.3 million in 2017, according to government figures. That falls far short of the figure in 2010, when Egypt welcomed 14.7 million tourists.Japanese prosecutors Thursday re-arrested Carlos Ghosn on fresh allegations of financial misconduct, as the former auto tycoon slammed an "outrageous and arbitrary" detention and vowed he would "not be broken." In the early hours, officials raided a central Tokyo apartment the 65-year-old Ghosn has called home since winning bail last month after more than 100 days in detention. It was the latest twist in a rollercoaster drama that has gripped Japan and the rest of the world since his shock arrest at a Tokyo airport on November 19. Prosecutors said Ghosn had been detained over transfers of Nissan funds totalling $15 million between late 2015 and the middle of 2018. They suspect Ghosn used $5 million of that for personal expenditure. "The suspect... was responsible for overseeing the whole of Nissan's operations and performing his duty loyally so as not to cause losses to Nissan, but he betrayed that duty in order to benefit himself," they said in a statement. Ghosn released a statement through his representatives attacking what he called the "outrageous and arbitrary" detention. "Why arrest me except to try to break me? I will not be broken," said the former high-flying executive. He has denied any wrongdoing and took to Twitter for the first time Wednesday to announce plans to "tell the truth" at an April 11 news conference that now looks unlikely. Prosecutors can hold Ghosn for up to 22 days while they investigate the new claims and may re-arrest him again or seek to hold him in pre-trial detention. Deputy chief prosecutor Shin Kukimoto justified the arrest by saying they judged there was a "risk of destruction of evidence". But Ghosn's lawyer Junichiro Hironaka, known as the "Razor" for his mental sharpness, told reporters the fresh arrest was "against the spirit of the law" and "should not be tolerated in a civilised nation." He added his client had expected prosecutors would re-arrest him and had therefore prepared a video, without specifying the contents or exactly when it would be released. Visibly angry, he vowed to fight likely attempts by the prosecutor to extend the detention, claiming the arrest was "not necessary" and designed merely to pile pressure on Ghosn. He added prosecutors had confiscated not only diaries and documents belonging to Ghosn, but also the passport and phone of his wife Carole. She was questioned "without her attorney present, even though she is not targeted in this investigation," the family's French lawyer, Jessica Finelle, told French network BFMTV. - 'I have names' - Ghosn already faces three separate charges. The first two relate to the alleged deferring of around $80 million in income and concealing this in official documents to shareholders. The third, more complex, charge is that he attempted to transfer personal losses to Nissan and paid a Saudi contact who provided collateral from the company funds. In an interview with French broadcasters TF1 and LCI, Ghosn reiterated he was "combative and innocent" but acknowledged "it's hard." Ghosn, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese nationalities, appealed to the French government to "defend" him and his "rights as a citizen." Asked if he would provide evidence that could clear his name, Ghosn said: "Everything needs to be put on the table. Of course, I have names." But he admitted his lawyers have "doubts about how this trial is going to play out." Thursday's arrest came after French car firm Renault, which Ghosn also once headed, handed French prosecutors documents showing the auto tycoon had authorised suspicious transfers worth millions of euros. A Nissan spokesman said the firm's own internal probe had uncovered "substantial evidence of blatantly unethical conduct" and that their focus was on "addressing weaknesses in governance that enabled this misconduct." - 'Tell the truth' - Ghosn had maintained his silence since paying around $9 million to win bail on March 6 when he walked out of his detention centre dressed in a workman's uniform in a bizarre attempt to evade the world's media. When reports emerged early Wednesday that prosecutors were considering further charges against him, Ghosn suddenly popped up on Twitter to announce he would "tell the truth" about his case. His tweet, which his representatives confirmed was authentic, sparked questions about his bail conditions, which were thought to include a ban on internet use. However, Hironaka insisted his client was acting within his rights, and Kukimoto said the arrest had nothing to do with the tweet. Ghosn was largely credited with saving Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy by tying its fortunes to Mitsubishi Motors and Renault. He has frequently denounced his downfall as a "plot" by Nissan insiders worried he planned to push them into a full partnership with the French firm. "I pushed hard to make this alliance successful, but never by doing anything illegal," he told French TV.Germany's Bavaria state said Wednesday it will pass into law a popular "save the bees" petition that promises drastic changes in farming practises. The landmark move comes amid increasingly alarming warnings from scientists that nearly half of all insect species are in rapid decline -- a third of the crucial pollinators threatened with extinction. A petition launched in February to seek better protection of plant and animal species had become the most successful in the southern German region's history, garnering 1.75 million signatures. The proposal in the state best known for its Oktoberfest and lederhosen set a target for 20 percent of agricultural land to meet organic farming standards by 2025, before reaching 30 percent by 2030. Ten percent of green spaces in Bavaria would have to be turned into flowering meadows, and rivers and streams better protected from pesticides and fertilisers. Rather than putting the petition to a referendum, Bavaria's state premier Markus Soeder announced it would simply be written into law, passing through parliament. "We are taking the text of the referendum word for word," said Soeder, leader of the conservative CSU party which governs the state in a coalition majority. The farming industry, which had sometimes felt marginalised in the environmental debate, would have to be given support to carry out the transformation, he added. Scientists in Germany and worldwide have sounded the alarm about massive insect losses in terms of species diversity and total biomass, with dire consequences for the animals that feed on them and for plants that require them for pollination. The recent bug decline is seen by experts as part of a gathering "mass extinction" of species, only the sixth in the last half-billion years. "Unless we change our way of producing food, insects as a whole will go down the path of extinction in a few decades," concluded a peer-reviewed study by Francisco Sanchez-Bayo of the University of Sydney and Kris Wyckhuys of the University of Queensland in Australia. A 2016 study found that about 1.4 billion jobs and three-quarters of all crops depend on pollinators, mainly bees, which provide free plant fertilisation services worth billions of dollars.(Adds quotes and background throughout)

By Greg Torode and Jessie Pang

HONG KONG, April 3 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's leaders launched laws on Wednesday to change extradition rules to allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial, standing fast against growing opposition to a move many fear could further erode the city's legal protections.

Thousands took to Hong Kong streets to protest against the laws at the weekend, joining an unusually broad chorus of concern from international business elites to rights' groups and even some pro-establishment figures.

However, Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam said her government would make no further amendments before introducing the laws to the city's parliament.

Small groups of protesters supporting the government's bill briefly faced off against opponents outside the Legislative Council but later dispersed without incident.

Opponents of the changes fear further erosion of freedoms and legal protections in the free-wheeling financial hub - rights that were guaranteed under the city's handover from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

According to the laws presented to the council on Wednesday, the chief executive would have the right to order the extradition of wanted offenders to China, Macau and Taiwan as well as other countries not covered by Hong Kong's existing extradition treaties.

As a safeguard, such orders could be challenged and appealed against through the city's courts.

Government officials have said no one at risk of the death penalty or torture or facing a political charge could be sent from Hong Kong. They earlier exempted nine commercial crimes from the new provisions after pressure from business groups.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng said outside the council Hong Kong's courts would play an essential role.

"It is absolutely not the case that a single person or organisation can complete the whole process," Cheng said.

The laws will be debated by a council committee and are expected to be passed later this year.

Story continues

The government has justified the swift introduction of the changes by saying they are needed so that a young Hong Kong man suspected of murdering his girlfriend in Taiwan can be extradited.

'NO TRUST'

Former Democratic Party leader Emily Lau said that, even with the promised safeguards, ordinary Hong Kongers would still find extradition to mainland China unacceptable.

"Many Hong Kong people have no trust or confidence in the Chinese judicial system," she told the government-funded radio station RTHK. Fair trials were not possible on the mainland, she said.

Hong Kong's Bar Association said on Tuesday the government's watering down of the changes did nothing to ease fundamental unease over differences with the Chinese system.

Under the Basic Law, which enshrines Hong Kong's separate system until 2047, Hong Kong is allowed to continue a British-style legal system that remains part of the common law.

Fugitive property tycoon Joseph Lau launched legal action in a Hong Kong court on Monday challenging the retroactive nature of the bill. Lau is seeking to avoid extradition to neighbouring Macau, where he was sentenced in 2014 to more than five years on corruption and money laundering charges.

Chen Zhimin, a former deputy minister of public security, told reporters in Beijing last month mainland authorities already had a list of more than 300 fugitives who are in Hong Kong.

He dismissed fears that political activists would be sought under the pretext of other crimes. (Reporting by Greg Torode and Jessie Pang Additional reporting by Noah Sin Editing by Michael Perry)Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump in the summer of 2016. Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

New York Times reporters Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg spent six months on three continents, interviewing more than 150 people for their blockbuster three-part article on Rupert Murdoch, the infighting among his family, and their unfathomably powerful media company, which has roiled global politics in recent years.

The article is long, but essential, tracing Murdochs rise to power, from his birth in 1931 to a near-death experience on a yacht in the Caribbean last year. Read the whole thing if you want the history, the context, and the vivid reporting. But if you just want the juiciest little tidbits, here they are:

The Murdochs have been hiding Ruperts falls.

The 86-year-old has taken a few spills in recent years that his family has managed to keep quiet. But they couldnt do much to hide his fall on his son Lachlans yacht in January of 2018. After he was airlifted to a hospital in L.A., his family thought he might die.

The doctors quickly spotted broken vertebrae, which required immediate surgery, as well as a spinal hematoma, increasing the risk of paralysis or even death. Hall called his adult children in a panic, urging them to come to California prepared to make peace with their father.

The Murdochs have gone to a family therapy session with a therapist who specialized in working with dynastic families.

If that sounds like a scene from Succession, its because it was.

Rupert Murdochs father, Keith, had some questionable opinions of his own.

He was a member of the Eugenics Society of Victoria and in an editorial once wrote that the great question facing Britain was will she, if needs be, fight  for a White Australia?

Murdochs family was suspicious of Wendi Deng, Ruperts third wife, whom he divorced in 2013.

James and at least one other company executive had heard from senior foreign officials that they believed she was a Chinese intelligence asset. And family members felt that she treated their father terribly, calling him old and stupid.

Murdoch wasnt so sure about Trump, at first.

Murdoch recognized Trumps appeal as a tabloid character and ratings driver, but he did not see him as a serious person, let alone a credible candidate for president. Hes a [expletive] idiot, Murdoch would say when asked about Trump, three people close to him told us (Through a spokeswoman, Murdoch denied that he ever used this phrase to describe Trump.).

Murdoch thought Hillary was going to win.

As the early returns came in on election night, Kathryn received a text message from her father-in-law, who was in the Fox newsroom: Looks like your girls going to win.

Sean Hannity was advising the Trump campaign.

The Fox host had effectively been a member of his campaign team, for instance pressing Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to be on the lookout for former girlfriends and employees who might make trouble for the candidate ahead of the election, two people familiar with the interactions told us.

Lachlan Murdoch personally reached out to Tucker Carlson when he was enduring criticism for his racist rhetoric.

When Tucker Carlson came under fire for his increasingly pointed attacks on immigration  We have a moral obligation to admit the worlds poor, they tell us, even if it makes our country poorer and dirtier and more divided  he received personal text messages of support from Lachlan, according to two people familiar with the texts.

Three of the Murdoch kids tried to orchestrate their exit from the family business, but the deal fell through when the fourth, who would be the only Murdoch scion left in the company, got cold feet.

James saw only one solution. He would sell his stock to Lachlan and his father, and maybe his sisters would join him. What was once a complex family dynasty would become a simple hereditary monarchy. Elisabeth and Prudence enthusiastically agreed. Murdoch, too, was excited about the idea, seeing it as an opportunity to rid the company of an in-house critic. He urged Lachlan to do it: The two of them, father and son, would own the company together. The documents were drawn up, but in late 2018, given the chance to have the company to himself, Lachlan balked.

Long queues, piles of paperwork and no more pork pies: the consequences of a no-deal Brexit will be immediate on the movement of goods and people between the EU and Britain. The European Commission on Wednesday warned that if Britain should crash out of the EU as early as April 12, that businesses -- as well as holidaymakers -- should prepare for major hassle at customs. "I want to make it clear here that if the United Kingdom were to leave the EU without an agreement, it would become a third country overnight," Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters on Wednesday. "This would be an instant, radical and very substantial legal change for the United Kingdom, our Member States and our companies," he added. - Goods - Lorry-loads of merchandise flow freely between Britain and continental Europe but without a Brexit deal, these will become subject to cumbersome customs controls at the EU's borders. The task will be daunting: seven of the UK's top 10 economic partners in the world belong to the EU and more than four million vehicles travel each year by ferry or train between Dover and Calais alone, or more than 11,000 vehicles a day. While not all British goods will of course be checked, "queues at the exit of the Eurotunnel (linking France and Britain) and in ports are to be expected," warned Moscovici. "I prefer strict controls and a few lines of trucks to a health crisis or illegal trafficking," he added. - Red tape - European companies trading with Britain will be required to complete reams of customs formalities in the case of no deal. According to Moscovici, some Member States estimate that the number of export and import declarations will increase between 40 and 50 percent. "The level of readiness is fundamental and unfortunately this is still a cause of concern," the Frenchman stressed. "The fluidity of trade flows will depend largely on whether they have prepared the right documentation," he added. - People - Travellers from Britain will also be subject to customs screening, with bans on transporting certain products to the continent, particularly animal-based ones, such as cheese or meat, which are a risk for health reasons. This would mean that holidaymakers would no longer be able to take their favourite British foods with them to the continent, though a senior European official indicated that imports by retailers would be safe. "But it only concerns travellers," the official said. "We are in the process of allowing the United Kingdom to be included in countries that can export these products as part of a trade relationship: imports of British pork pies from 'Marks & Spencer' will be possible," she added, referring to the iconic British supermarket. - Customs duties - Overnight, Britain will be subject to tariffs set by WTO rules, like any country with which the EU does not have a specific trade agreement, often known as third countries. This will have immediate cash-flow consequences for European companies importing British products, which will have to pay these duties. These customs duties average 1.5 percent, which is still quite low. But they can be higher in some sectors such as the crucial automotive sector where they are 10 percent. - Ireland - Britain's only land border with the EU is the jagged frontier line that divides bloc-member Ireland from British-ruled Northern Ireland and it is Brexit's most sensitive issue. Even without a deal, London and Brussels have committed to avoid the return of a physical border to the Irish island, all while finding a way to carry out controls. These will therefore have to be put in place "in the least disruptive way and as far as possible, away from the border", a cautious Moscovici said Thursday, refusing to discuss any details.(L-R) Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol and Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Waldo Carpio

QUEZON CITY, Philippines  Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol shared his thoughts on the issue linking one of his officials to illegal drugs.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Waldo Carpio is being implicated in a controversy along with presidential son former Davao City Mayor Paulo Duterte.

Carpio is the brother of Atty. Mans Carpio, the husband of Paulos sister, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Pinol said he has no complaints against Usec. Carpio being the DAs head for Special Concerns, the office managing the agencys programs with international partners.

Okay naman (ang performance niya), the DA chief said.

Carpio was assigned as Assistant Secretary to the DA in September 2017 and was promoted to the position of undersecretary just two months later.

Pinol said he is not convinced by the claims of the whistleblower in a recent viral video linking Usec. Carpio to illegal drug trade.

Thats pure canard. Maski si Pulong di ako maniwala dyan, Pinol said.

The man in the video known as alias Bikoy alleged that Paulo Duterte is receiving drug money from illegal drugs operations in Southern Luzon and the Visayas region.

Allegedly, a monthly remittance of P30 million drug money had been transmitted to dummy accounts named under Usec. Carpio.

In an unconfirmed social media account named under Waldo Reyes Carpio, the Undersecretary was seen in photos of campaign sorties of then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.

He is a nephew of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales.

President Duterte was among the principal sponsors in Usec. Carpios wedding.

The UNTV News Team has sought for Carpios comment but the undersecretary is currently on an official trip abroad.

He is expected to return to the country next week.  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rey Pelayo)

The post Pinol defends Usec. Carpio amid drug allegations appeared first on UNTV News.QUEZON CITY, Philippines  A waste of time. This is how the Philippine National Police (PNP) considered the allegations of alias Bikoy in a viral video implicating former Davao City Vice Mayor Paulo Duterte and Agriculture Undersecretary Waldo Carpio in illegal drugs.

PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde agrees with the Palace that the video is just an act of propaganda since it is now election period.

Albayalde maintained that the PNP will not act on the matter unless a formal complaint is filed against the presidential son and brother-in-law.

Kung may lalapit sa amin na hihingi ng tulong para ma-identify ang lumabas na iyon at kung talagang paiimbestigahan sa atin. Pero as of this time, kung papatulan po natin lahat iyang lumabas at lalabas pa na mga video na ganyan baka maubos po ang oras natin dyan, the PNP Chief noted.

(If someone will ask for our help in identifying that person and if we were ordered to investigate, [we would investigate]. But at this point, it is just a waste of time to pay attention to that guy.)

Albayalde said he was skeptical of alias Bikoys claim that Paulo Duterte was receiving drug money through Usec. Waldo.

It is very unlikely na kung ikaw ay magbibigay ng tara na sinasabi na nasa isang formal report form. Usually in previous years, gaya ng nakukuhang mga blue book ng jueteng at sugal ay nasa isang maliit na notebook lang iyan, hindi formal letter na ganoon, Albayalde note.

(It is very unlikely that one will hand a tara written in a formal report form. Usually in previous years, it is a small notebook like the blue book in jueteng and other gambling operations, not a formal letter like that.)

Questionable po ang motive noon and we dont want to glorify that video, he noted.



(His motive is questionable and we dont want to glorify that video.)

The PNP Chief expects similar videos to come out throughout the election period thats why he is appealing to the public to verify the videos content first before sharing them to their social media accounts.

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He also calls on all election candidates to be civil at all times.

Akoy nananawagan sa ating mga kumakandidato, sa mga incumbents natin na sana magkaroon tayo ng isang civilized way na election. Ipakita natin sa taong bayan at sa international community na capable po tayo na mag-conduct ng halalan, he said.



(I am calling on all election candidates and incumbents. Let us have a civilized election. Let us show the people and the international community that we are capable of conducting a [peaceful] election.)

The PNP Chief maintained that Paulo Duterte and Usec. Carpio are not included in the governments narcolist .

Ang sinasabi ay 2015. Hindi pa po presidente ang ating pangulo noon. Ang tanong ay how can he have a clout na such as big as that na sinasabi when in fact ang tatay mo is only a mayor then? Medyo questionable po iyon, Albayalde argued.

(He mentioned 2015. [President Duterte] was not yet in office that time. My question is how can he [Paulo] have a clout as big as that when his father was just a city mayor back then? Thats a questionable argument.)

When asked about his comment on Paulos dragon tattoo, Albayalde said he is not in the position to speak about it as the matter is something personal.

Alias Bikoy is the whistleblower in a recent viral video alleging the former vice mayor and his uncle of illegal drug links.

He claimed to be a former member of a drug syndicate operating in Southern Luzon and Visayas region.

In his video, alias Bikoy tagged Paulo Duterte as the big-time drug lord and principal recipient of drug money from the alleged illegal trade.  Marje Pelayo (with details from Lea Ylagan)

The post PNP: No probe unless a formal complaint is filed vs. Paulo Duterte, Usec. Carpio appeared first on UNTV News.A bomb blast outside a restaurant on Wednesday wounded at least 13 people, including children, in the insurgency-plagued southern Philippines, authorities said. The explosion shattered a window at the front of the eatery, striking family members gathered for an event in the town of Isulan on Mindanao island, Mayor Marites Pallasigue told AFP. The southern Philippines is plagued by multiple armed groups ranging from communist insurgents to Islamic State-aligned jihadists, which leave the area mired in poverty and violence. Police cordoned off the area outside the shattered facade of the restaurant as a probe began into who was responsible. "The bomb was placed at the back of the air conditioner," said Pallasigue, putting the number of wounded at 13. "Most the victims are related to each other," she added. Police confirmed the explosion but said the number of wounded could be as high as 18. No deaths have been reported. On a neighbouring island to the south of Mindanao, an IS-claimed attack in January on a cathedral during Sunday mass killed 21 and wounded about a hundred others. The bombing cast a shadow over a vote less than a week earlier to give Muslims in the south of the Catholic majority Philippines greater resources and control over their affairs. The explosion Wednesday in Isulan happened just a few meters from the site of a deadly blast which occurred last year and was believed to have been carried out by Islamist militants.The telegenic leader of a Thai political party who rode to prominence during last month's election on a wave of millennial support stands accused of inciting unrest, he said Wednesday, calling his latest legal woes "politically motivated" by the junta. Billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit heads up the youth-oriented Future Forward Party, which came out of nowhere to amass more than six million votes in the March 24 vote, the first since a 2014 coup. Future Forward has joined an anti-junta coalition with six other parties claiming the right to form a government in the aftermath of the disputed vote whose full results will not be ratified until May 9. But the tycoon said on Facebook he has now been summoned to appear at a Bangkok police station on Saturday to hear incitement charges against him that carry a maximum sentence of seven years. He wrote on the Facebook page, where he posted the summons, the move was "an old political game" that he expected to intensify after the party's strong election showing. Speaking to reporters later Wednesday, Thanathorn hit back at the junta government, which filed the complaint. "It is not the Future Forward Party which causes divisiveness of the people but the military who wants to hold on to power," he said. "I am calling for a restoration of democracy in Thailand... these cases are politically motivated." Police investigator Charoensit Jongitthi said there were two charges in total that related to Thanathorn's actions in 2015, though he would not elaborate. "That is what I can say for now," he told AFP. Thanathorn is already being investigated under Thailand's Computer Crimes Act for allegedly spreading false information when he criticised the junta in a Facebook Live discussion last year. Future Forward is a key member of the anti-junta political coalition led by Pheu Thai, the party linked to self-exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The so-called "democratic front" says it has more than a majority of seats in the lower house, but the junta-backed Phalang Pracharat Party won the popular vote. Inconsistent counting, inaccurate figures and more than two million invalidated ballots have fuelled doubt over the poll. The party aligned with the junta put forward 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha as its candidate for prime minister. The former army chief is heavily favoured to secure the post thanks to a junta-scripted charter that creates an upper house of 250 appointed senators -- selected by the military -- who vote for the prime minister.Lorena Gonzalez, author of legislation requiring notification of California independents of their presidential primary options. Photo: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images

One of the election-system issues that Bernie Sanders supporters complained about most loudly in 2016 involved Californias complicated rules governing self-identified independents. The root problem is this: The courts have decreed that the states top-two blanket primary, in which anyone can participate and all candidates from every party are listed, cannot be imposed on party presidential primaries, which are (most years, anyway) held at the same time as state and local primaries. So voters are presented with separate ballots.

Registered independents (in California, they are termed No Party Preference voters) get a state and local ballot with all candidates on it, just like everybody else. But they only get a presidential primary ballot (a) if the party holding the primary has chosen to let them participate (in 2016, Democrats said yes, Republicans said no), and (b) they affirmatively ask for one. A lot of voters dont know that until they arrive at the polls, or never figure it out. Its even more complicated for the majority of voters who choose to vote by mail, and have to request the right ballot at the right time. Hence the argument that the system is rigged, based on the fact that Bernie Sanders was very popular among independent voters participating in Democratic primaries everywhere, including California.

Relief for confused California indies may be on the way via legislation being offered by rising-star California assembly member Lorena Gonzalez, according to the Los Angeles Times:

Gonzalezs proposal, Assembly Bill 681, would require county elections officials to deliver three separate notices to voters in the three months before the presidential primary next March. Each notice would clearly state the voters party affiliation on record, the presidential ballot that would be mailed to the voter and instructions on how to change ones affiliation if desired 

Gonzalez said the only way to avoid a repeat [of the 2016 complaints] in next years primary is to ensure voters know that they themselves  and not elections officials  have to be the ones to take action.

We just want to make sure people understand that they have to make an affirmative step in order to vote in a presidential primary if theyre not registered as a partisan voter, she said.

The notice requirements will also perhaps ameliorate a different problem that got a lot of attention in 2016: the fact that a lot of self-identified California independents have been registering as members of the American Independent Party, the right-wing sect founded by George Wallace in 1968 as a vehicle for his presidential run. Its a zombie party that keeps its ballot status precisely because of this sort of misunderstanding. No, election officials cant come out and ask: Are you sure you really are a racist? But letting independents know theyre not actually registered as members of no political party might help clear it all up.

Perhaps Gonzalezs bill is a step toward a quieter post-primary conversation in 2020. And it probably wont hurt her own already announced candidacy for secretary of State in 2022 (incumbent Alex Padilla will be term-limited out).A US proposal to send more NATO ships to the Black Sea to ensure safe passage for Ukrainian vessels and deter Russia is viewed "negatively" in Moscow, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Washington has been working on a package to boost surveillance and deploy more NATO vessels to the Black Sea after a naval confrontation between Moscow and Kiev last year, the US ambassador to NATO said. The measure was expected to be discussed during talks by NATO foreign ministers in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin viewed such a proposal "negatively". "We do not understand what they mean by this. The situation with the Kerch Straight and navigation there is well known," he told reporters. Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko told Russian news agencies the plan would only lead to "increased military risks" in the region. "If additional military and technical measures are needed from our side, we will adopt them," Interfax news agency quoted Grushko as saying. Most alliance members share concerns about Russia which backs separatists in a smouldering conflict in eastern Ukraine that has so far claimed some 13,000 lives. In November, Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels, capturing two dozen sailors near the Kerch Strait, as they tried to pass from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea. It was the first open military clash between Kiev and Moscow since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and a pro-Russian insurgency erupted in eastern Ukraine. "We are going to make sure that we have the capability to deter a very aggressive Russia," US ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison told reporters on Tuesday. She said the US package was designed "to assure that there is a safe passage for Ukrainian vessels through the Kerch Strait." Observers say that an increased NATO presence in the region is one of Russia's worst nightmares. Putin has openly said that Moscow's decision to take over Crimea was partly motivated by NATO's expansion into Eastern Europe. Peskov did not say Wednesday whether Russia would in fact allow NATO ships to pass through the Azov Sea. "A decision will be made when there is such a request," the Kremlin spokesman said. The West has accused Moscow of illegally blocking access to the Sea of Azov, used by both Russia and Ukraine. A NATO spokesman declined to comment on the US ambassador's remarks but pointed to comments by Stoltenberg on Monday when he outlined plans to increase the alliance presence in the Black Sea. Stoltenberg said NATO would step up port visits as well as exercises and training with Ukraine and Georgia. But while he urged Russia to respect international law and the law of the sea, Stoltenberg made no mention of assuring freedom of navigation.Singapores got it good when it comes to travel. Not only does the island nation have the worlds best airport and one of the most powerful passports on the globe, its also home to the top airline on the planet  at least according to TripAdvisor. Pretty impressive for a city-state thats just a blip on the map.

Announcing its 2019 Travelers Choice Awards yesterday, TripAdvisor named Singapore Airlines the best in the world. Thats a win for Singapores national carrier for the second year in a row, on a list thats only in its third edition.

Dominating the top ten were Asian and Middle Eastern airlines, with Qatar Airways as runner-up and Eva Air coming in third. Emirates took fourth spot, followed by Japan Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Azul, Air New Zealand, Jet2.com, and ANA (All Nippon Airways).

Singapore Airlines also nabbed the award for Best Economy, while Emirates took Best First Class, Qatar Airways was named Best Business Class, and Air New Zealand had the Best Premium Economy.

As always, the winners were ranked using an algorithm that scrutinized the quantity and quality of airline reviews and ratings from travelers around the world over a 12-month period on TripAdvisor Flights.

This article, Singapore Airlines is the worlds best, says TripAdvisor, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!SINGAPORE (April 2): Singapores authorities say they will continue their investigation into Midas Holdings former directors and officers in the event that the insolvent company winds up.

This comes amid a year-long investigation into Midas Holdings as the companys former directors and officers by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Singapores regulatory unit SGX RegCo is also reviewing potential listing rule breaches by former directors and executive officers of Midas.

To recap, Midas on Monday warned its shareholders of its likely liquidation, citing failure to find a rescuer and a lack of funding to contest legal action by its creditors.

In response, Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapores regulatory unit SGX RegCo issued a joint statement on Monday saying their investigations will continue regardless of the application to wind up Midas.

The three authorities add that they will work with Midass liquidators, should their assistance be required for the investigations.

Shares in Midas, which last traded at 19 cents, have been suspended since Feb 2018 after several litigations, enforcement orders and court documents involving its China-based associates and subsidiaries were uncovered.

See: CAD launches investigations into Midas

See: Midas CEO says shares and money in China subsidiaries and associates frozen by courtsPhilippine authorities said Wednesday they cracked open a gift-wrapped package shipped from Poland to discover 757 tarantulas crammed into plastic containers. The illicit payload found at a mail facility near Manila's airport was the latest seizure in a nation that is a major source and transit point of wildlife trafficking. Customs thought the package suspicious and after opening it found boxes for cookies, oatmeal and tea. Yet the cartons contained dozens of plastic containers packed with arachnids. The seized tarantulas -- priced at about $5,700 -- are frequently sold to hobbyists as pets, Arnel Matreo, chief of the Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit of the environment ministry, told AFP. Matreo said two people who tried to claim the package were detained on charges of violating wildlife protection and customs laws. Customs officials turned over the tarantulas to the environment ministry's rescue centre, which will take charge of the animals and identify its species. The seizure comes about a month after authorities said they had seized about 1,500 exotic turtles, some of which were restrained with duct tape, crammed into a passenger's bag at Manila airport.Hong Kong's flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways, has failed to make the worlds top 10 airlines list for the second consecutive year in an online poll organised by the worlds largest travel website.

In the TripAdvisor's Travellers Choice awards for Airlines, which identifies passengers favourite carriers around the globe, Singapore Airlines is once again the number one airline. It is the second consecutive year that Singapore Airlines has won the top honour. The company also won the title of the world's best economy-class airline.

We are very pleased to be a back-to-back winner of the Best Airline in the World accolade in these prestigious awards, says Goh Choon Phong, CEO of Singapore Airlines. We wish to thank our customers for their ongoing support, as well as our staff from all around the world who go the extra mile every day to deliver the best travel experience to our customers.

Although Cathay Pacific missed out on a placing, the global top 10 is dominated by Asian airlines, with Taiwan's EVA Air, and Japan's JAL and ANA all featuring.

TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Top 10 Airlines in the World

1. Singapore Airlines

2. Qatar Airways

3. EVA Air

4. Emirates

5. Japan Airlines (JAL)

6. Southwest Airlines

7. Azul

8. Air New Zealand

9. Jet2.com

10. ANA (All Nippon Airways)

The only substantial change compared to the Travellers Choice Awards 2018 is that ANA has replaced Korean Air, which dropped out of the global Top 10. Air New Zealand also tumbled to eighth place from second position in 2018, white Qatar Airlines did the opposite, rising to second place.

The Asia-specific awards for major airlines saw China represented by China Airlines and Hainan Airlines, with Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air and Thai Airways all ranked.

TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Major Airlines: Asia

1. Singapore Airlines

2. ANA (All Nippon Airways)

3. China Airlines

4. EVA Air

5. Garuda Indonesia

6. Hainan Airlines

7. Japan Airlines (JAL)

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8. Korean Air

9. Thai Airways

Indonesia's IndiGo won best low cost airline, while India's Vistara won best regional airline, and there was vindication for Kazakhstan's Air Astana. It was named least desired carrier in a 2018 survey by Graphic Springs of passengers brand perception of the top airlines, but Air Astana came second in the TripAdvisor Best Regional Airline section, and also topped the rankings for passenger comfort in Asia.

TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Regional Airlines: Asia

1. Vistara

2. Air Astana

3. Bangkok Airways

4. Royal Brunei Airlines

5. THAI Smile Airways

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the TripAdvisor rankings is the airlines that are not included; an airline's brand and the reality of flying with it don't necessarily tally. For example, the two airlines with the most brand recognition worldwide, according to Graphic Springs  Lufthansa and British Airways  failed to make it into TripAdvisor's top ranks of global airlines. Similarly, the most desired airline brands are Etihad, Qatar Airways and Lufthansa, but of the three, only Qatar Airways made the 'Top 10 Airlines list in TripAdvisors rankings.

In separate 'Class of Service awards, there were more surprises. Although Singapore Airlines grabbed the best economy Asia award, EVA Air had success in both best premium economy and best business class, and Japan Airlines won the title of best first class Asia. Last month, JAL was named by FlightStats as best on-time Asia-Pacific airline for its domestic and international flights operated in 2018.

TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Class of Service: Global

Best First Class: Emirates

Best Business Class: Qatar Airways

Best Premium Economy: Air New Zealand

Best Economy: Singapore Airlines

TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Class of Service: Asia

Best First Class Asia: Japan Airlines

Best Economy Asia: Singapore Airlines

Best Premium Economy: EVA Air

Best Regional Business Class: Garuda Indonesia

Best Business Class: EVA Air

The airline industry continues to focus on improving the overall flying experience, and these award-winning carriers are at the forefront, says Bryan Salzberg, president, TripAdvisor Flights, Cruise & Car, congratulating the 57 airlines that featured in the awards. Airlines worldwide recognise this Travellers Choice award as a huge testament to consumer recognition.

The Travellers Choice award winners were determined by an algorithm based on the quality and quantity of flier reviews and ratings for airlines on TripAdvisor, gathered over a 12-month period between January and December 2018. TripAdvisor claims it generated 730 million user reviews and opinions in 2018.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article Singapore Airlines best in world in TripAdvisor rankings again; Cathay Pacific misses top 10 first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2019.By Stanley Carvalho and Allison Lampert

ABU DHABI/MONTREAL (Reuters) - A United Arab Emirates female pilot running to head the U.N. aviation agency's governing council said she is capable of playing a "bridging role" in trying to resolve an air dispute between several Gulf states and Qatar.

In 2017, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt cut political, economic and transport ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the accusations.

Last year, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) tried to facilitate talks between Qatar and its neighbours to defuse tensions over alleged airspace violations. The dispute is now before the International Court of Justice.

Aysha al Hamili, the UAE's first female pilot and its representative at the ICAO, also said on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi that any president of the 36-member council should recuse himself or herself from a dispute if there were a hint of bias.

"I will always try to play this bridging role and hope this dispute will end in the near future," she said of Qatar.

Montreal-based ICAO cannot impose binding rules on governments, but wields clout through its safety and security standards which are approved by its 192 member states.

Al Hamili's candidacy to become ICAOs first female council president has raised questions among some members on how a leader from the UAE would broker strained relations between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, including her own country, a source familiar with the matter said.

She is running against Salvatore Sciacchitano, the head of delegation for Italy at ICAO, a member of the agency's Italian mission in Montreal said.

If elected president of the 36-member council during ICAO's assembly from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4, al Hamili said she would maintain neutrality with Qatar.

"I expect a neutral president and as a council member If I see a bias I will right away ask the president to recuse himself," she said. "We should focus that whoever is in that seat, is a neutral person."

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Qatar's ICAO representative Essa Almalki said by email he welcomed al Hamili's comments, adding that Doha hopes "to find a quick solution" with the four countries and remove restrictions on Qatar-registered aircraft.

However, Almalki added that Qatar has not "seen the slightest inclination" on the part of the UAE as represented by al Hamili towards resolving the dispute, "so we would be surprised if her election to the presidency of the ICAO Council would or could have a positive impact on the removal of the prohibitions."

(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi and Allison Lampert in Montreal; editing by David Gregorio and Sandra Maler)Britain is due to leave the European Union, perhaps as early as next week, but a law will allow British visitors 90-day trips to the Schengen passport-free zone

European Union lawmakers approved a law Wednesday that will allow Britons visa-free visits even after a "no deal" Brexit, despite a furious dispute over the status of Gibraltar.

The European Parliament's justice committee approved the text of the law that already had the backing of member states and should now be formally confirmed.

Britain is due to leave the European Union, perhaps as early as next week, but the law allows British visitors 90-day trips to the Schengen passport-free zone.

Implementation will depend on Britain according EU citizens reciprocal rights, but it has said it will do so and the principle of the law has broad support.

Nevertheless, the text itself triggered a bitter row in Brussels, after member states -- at Spain's urging -- referred in a footnote to the draft to Gibraltar as a "colony of the British crown".

The United Nations does legally list Gibraltar as a "non-self-governing territory", but Britain insists it is part of "the UK family" and that its citizens freely voted to remain British.

Britain's decision to leave the EU has revived controversy over Spain's long-standing claim on the territory, against the backdrop of Spanish elections.

But with Brexit day looming, and lawmakers rushing to complete preparations, EU leaders acted to elbow aside the British MEP at the head of the justice committee.

- 'April 12 is coming' -

This allowed a Bulgarian colleague to nod through the text under protest, and lawmakers approved the law by 38 votes to eight, all but ensuring its passage.

On Monday, the law's "rapporteur", British MEP Claude Moraes, was forced to step aside after EU leaders concluded that he had a conflict of interest.

Members protested this amounted to an attack on parliament's prerogatives, but Moraes' Bulgarian colleague Sergei Stanishev nevertheless steered the law through, arguing that "April 12 is coming".

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"If the EU plans to continually take Spain's side on Gibraltar, against the will of the people of the Rock then it could poison the future trade talks before they have even begun," said Daniel Dalton, a British Conservative MEP and member of the committee.

"It would also fatally undermine Europe's standing as a union which defends democracy and human rights across the world"

But a leading Spanish MEP, Esteban Gonzalez Pons, seized upon the law as a diplomatic victory for Madrid.

"Spain has obtained fundamental support from the European institutions in the dispute over Gibraltar by considering this territory a colony," he argued.

"The mention of Gibraltar as a colony will be fundamental in attempting to resolve the dispute over this territory in a post-Brexit scenario."

The chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, denounced the text as "disgraceful", noting the law would not even be needed if Britain approves a Brexit withdrawal agreement.

"In this case it is obvious that extreme pressure exerted by Spain and the bullying tactics of Spanish MEPs, on purely nationalistic grounds," he complained.

Brexit itself will not change the status of Gibraltar, but Madrid has been keen to establish that it will retain a veto over any future agreement between Britain and the EU that touches on the territory.Representative Justin Amash at the U.S. Capitol on September 29, 2015. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

Immediately after Donald Trumps hostile takeover of the Republican Party in 2016, it was possible to imagine significant elements of the GOP resisting any enduring Trumpian captivity. And not long before that, there was talk of the Republican Party entering a libertarian moment led by presidential candidate Rand Paul and drawing on the systemic anti-government passions of the tea-party movement.

Both these hopeful streams of resistance to the populist nationalism represented by Trump seem to have petered out. One of the very few consistent dissenters to the presidents will in the ranks of congressional Republicans is thinking about following his own libertarian instincts right out of the GOP, as Roll Call reports:

The Libertarian Party has urged Rep. Justin Amash to consider mounting a third-party challenge to President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election 

When asked about the possibility of a presidential run over the last several weeks, Amash has repeated his desire to see a candidate challenge the dominance of Democrats and Republicans in politics, which he has described as a two-party duopoly.

And when asked in January at a Libertarian convention to describe the ideal third-party presidential candidate, Amash referred to himself.

The Michigander has been the rare heretic in the House GOP caucus:

The staunch libertarian and co-founder of the Freedom Caucus  while aligned with his party on priorities like repealing the protections of the Affordable Care Act  has diverged from leadership to oppose the sale of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia and, more recently, President Donald Trumps national emergency declaration.

Amashs devotion to his principles has grated Republicans. Not long after the 2012 election, the GOP Steering Committee voted to remove Amash from the Budget Committee, while also punishing three other lawmakers in a similar fashion.

Amash was also the only Republican on the House Oversight Committee who refused to join in wild partisan attacks when Trump apostate and accuser Michael Cohen testified in February, as the Detroit Metro News observed:

One Republican rose above his partys desperate and cheap tactics to discredit and smear President Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen during Wednesdays House oversight committee.

Three hours into the partisan circus, Rep. Justin Amash, of Michigan, broke ranks with fellow Republicans to ask a meaningful question of Trumps attorney and fixer of 10 years.

What is the truth that you know President Trump fears the most? Amash, who has been critical of Trump in the past, asked.

He seems to think he has little to lose in bucking the new dispensation of his party, because the old dispensation has all but died:

Amash has been clear-eyed that his party has transformed since the libertarian wave of 2010, which helped bring him into office.

The tea party is largely gone. It was replaced with nationalism and protectionism and the general philosophy of the party now under Trump, Amash said to MLive.

Whether or not he leaves his party, Amash clearly believes his party has left him. But if hes not alone, hes very lonely.KFC Singapores The Tank open-concept kitchen at its new Tampines Mall restaurant. (Photo: Teng Yong Ping/Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore)

In order that you may know exactly how your finger lickin good fried chicken is prepared at KFC, the fast food chain plans to bring guests on insider tours of its previously highly guarded kitchens. To underscore its commitment to transparency and food safety, KFC Singapore has also opened its first open-kitchen concept restaurant at Tampines Mall, where patrons can see the cooks at work inside the kitchen through glass panels.

KFCs new Tampines Mall outlet, which opened on Tuesday (2 April), is the first Southeast Asian outlet to feature such an open kitchen. KFCs Open Kitchen programme has already been rolled out in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Japan. KFC calls its glass-panelled kitchen The Tank.



KFC Singapores general manager, Lynette Lee, said at the outlets launch, With the rollout of the The Tank at KFC Tampines Mall and the KFC Open Kitchen programme, I hope to proudly share KFCs heritage and Colonel Sanders obsessive passion in cooking the best-tasting chicken. Were very proud of this heritage and were so happy to share that with all Singaporeans.

KFCs custom-made stainless steel clamshell basket for frying chicken. (Photo: Teng Yong Ping/Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore)

Customers will be able to see KFCs chefs perform all the steps involved in preparing and cooking its famous fried chicken, from breading all the way to frying. (Of course, they are still not revealing the top-secret ingredients which contain 11 different herbs and spices  although a reporter claimed to have found the secret recipe in an old family scrapbook belonging to Colonel Sanders nephew.)

Colonel Sanders planned layout for arranging chicken pieces before theyre fried in KFCs clamshell baskets in the pressure cooker. (Photo: Teng Yong Ping/Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore)

KFC fried chicken is apparently still prepared using the techniques created by founder Colonel Harlan Sanders. The chicken pieces are breaded with a 7-10-7 technique: theyre rolled seven times after being cleaned to remove excess moisture, tossed in the breading flour 10 times, then pressed into the breading flour seven times to ensure the ideal flour-to-chicken coating ratio. The chicken is then arranged in KFCs special stainless steel clamshell baskets according to Colonel Sanders exact layout  designed to prevent overlapping of the chicken pieces  before being pressure-cooked.

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Beginning 8 April, guided 35-minute tour sessions of KFC kitchens at selected outlets will be available for booking at KFC Singapores website. These include outlets in Kallang, Waterway Point, Toa Payoh Lorong 6, Jurong Point and Northpoint City. The tours are not free though  each admission costs $15, but it comes with a two-piece KFC chicken meal and a goodie bag. On these tours, you will get to see the kitchens storage area, the chicken breading and preparation stations, and the service counter area where food is served.

Follow Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore on Facebook.

Related stories:

KFC is finally revealing its secret recipe

Two more Jollibee restaurants to open soon in Singapore heartlands

Man claims hes uncovered KFCs top-secret recipeMore than just your average Poke bowl. For those not in the know, poke (pronounced poh-kay) originates from Hawaii and this dish traditionally comprises of marinated raw fish, tossed with sesame seeds, sweet onions and scallions served over rice.

Being the first to introduce this Hawaiian specialty in 2015, Aloha Poke has garnered fans for its deliciously fresh seasoned fish and an array of high-quality ingredients to top on the bowl. With up to 8 locations island wide, you can always get a poke bowl to satisfy your cravings.

Aloha Poke serves up Hawaiian inspired bar bite and hearty mains

Feast on Hawaiian inspired bar bite and hearty mains with Hawaiian craft beers

Located in the bustling CBD area, their flagship outlet at Amoy Street is not only the perfect place to get your poke fix in the day but is also a gathering spot to dine and chill over a refreshing draft of Hawaiian beer at night. Serving up Hawaiian inspired bar bites such as Stuffed Potato Skins, Fried Spam



Fries and Aloha Wings as well as hearty mains such as Kona Beer Mussels, Ohana Pork Ribs, Loco Moco and Mentaiko Pasta.

! The oven baked SpamTM Fries is hard to resist and goes great with the spicy mayo sauce

Irresistible oven baked Spam Fries



($13)

The Fried Spam



Fries is a great way to kick start the appetite! The oven baked Spam



Fries is hard to resist and goes great with the spicy mayo sauce.

Baked potatoes stuffed with chicken, king oyster mushroom and covered with melted mozzarella cheese

Deliciously comforting Stuffed Potato Skins ($12)

We highly recommend the Stuffed Potato Skins which is deliciously comforting to have after a long day of work. The potatoes are baked and stuffed with chicken, king oyster mushroom and covered with melted mozzarella cheese.

Oven baked spicy chicken mid-wings with Aloha's homemade BB

Crispy Oven Baked Aloha Wings (6pcs) $8 / (12pcs) $15

The Aloha Wings is definitely a crowd pleaser and goes great with the Kona Brewery Craft Beer. Dunk the oven baked spicy chicken mid-wings with Aloha's homemade BBQ and enjoy the tingly spice with every bite!

Try ordering a variety of mains to share which they name as Luau big plates, also known as traditional Hawaiian party feast dishes. It's our way of trying more dishes!

Delicious Wagyu beef patty topped with a red wine reduction sauce served with white or brown rice and topped off with an egg sunny side up

For beef lovers, try the Loco Moco! The delicious wagyu beef patty is doused with a red wine reduction sauce served with white or brown rice and topped off with an egg sunny side up.

Story continues

Huge cuts of juicy, tender pork ribs basted with homemade BBQ sauce and served with a grilled tomato

Juicy and tender Ohana Pork Ribs $20

If you've got a carnivorous appetite, order the Ohana Pork Ribs. Huge cuts of juicy, tender pork ribs basted with homemade BBQ sauce and served with a grilled tomato. You wouldn't need a knife for this dish as the meat falls right off the bones!

Fresh green mussels slow cooked with onion, celery and Kona Beer

Fresh and succulent Kona Beer Mussels $20

Craving for mussels? You'll be surprised by the portion of the Kona Beer Mussels! Fresh green mussels slow cooked with onion, celery and Kona Beer. Dip the toasted brioche and savour the umami flavour of the sauce.

Mentaiko spaghetti served with original salmon poke, spicy shrimp and topped off with Hokkaido Ikura

Mentaiko Pasta (half) $15 / (full) $25

Lastly, our must-try dish is Mentaiko Pasta! Chilled Mentaiko spaghetti served with original salmon poke, spicy shrimp and topped off with Hokkaido Ikura. This is one dish that's so hard to share as one can easily finish on their own!

Well, it's always a good time for some great food and drinks! Take your mind off work and head over to Aloha Poke. Enjoy the peaceful ambience, great Hawaiian inspired food and Hawaiian craft beers!

Dont forget to like and subscribe to Share Food Singapore!

The post Serving more than just your average Poke bowl appeared first on Share Food Singapore.It hasnt been her day, her month, or even her year. Photo: Jack Taylor/AFP/Getty Images

In recent weeks, almost every day has seemed to provide a fresh answer to the question, How much more dysfunctional can the United Kingdom get? Nearly three years after voting to leave the European Union, there is still no answer on how  or even if  the U.K. will complete its divorce, with one deadline to leave already blown and another looming on April 12. After Prime Minister Theresa Mays painstakingly negotiated soft Brexit plan failed to get through Parliament three times, the body took control of the process itself  then proceeded to hit the same brick wall May had. (The latest development, which took place after this interview was conducted: May is seeking another extension from the E.U.)

The whole thing is bewildering to experts, much less to civilians. To try to make sense of whats happening, Intelligencer spoke with Ian Dunt, the editor of the website politics.co.uk and author of the book Brexit: What the Hell Happens Now? about the disaster that is Brexit, the hollowness of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, and the similarities between the Trump presidency and the crisis in Britain.

From the vantage point of someone who isnt paying full attention, it seems like the Brexit process right now consists of a hugely important vote in Parliament that fails, and then a few days later, another hugely important vote in Parliament that also fails. How would you sum up the madness of whats going on?

Well, thats not an easy question to start off with. The government is trying to do something, which is solving the impossible in an undeliverable time table, and it has tried to do so in a manner that is completely inflexible and very opaque. In response  but too late  Parliament has slowly risen up, and decided that it is so fed up with the government that its going to try and take control of matters for itself. Essentially, Parliament is trying to turn itself into the government. But it is not having much more luck than the government is, in the short period of time that its been doing it. So we have now found ourselves in a swamp of constitutional and diplomatic disaster. And we seem to be completely unable to leverage ourselves out of it.

You called Mondays scene in Parliament, which resulted in yet another series of no votes, a circular firing squad and compared it to the final scene of Reservoir Dogs. You also said, on Twitter, that it was an absolute shitting disaster of a day. Is it fair to say youre not optimistic?

I think it was particularly depressing because the guys who were behaving in this way were the people that I usually quite admire. If there is a solution to this, it will come through them.

Brexit is two things, right? First of all, its an outcome. But its also a process. And the outcome that Brexit takes is a fundamentally right-wing, populist culture war. Its about putting up walls, trying to stop people coming, trying to cut yourself off to new ideas, trying to separate out your governing structure from many of the kind of international institutions that have been part of global politics since the end of the Second World War. And in that respect, from an American perspective, I would say it is like Trumps proposed wall in sort of technocratic, grandiose form. Its like if you made the entirety of your national politics all about building metaphorical walls.

But its also a way of looking at politics. Its a protest. And the protest is essentially to say: There can be no compromise. So for the Brexiteers, compromise is treachery, really. Theres an idea of politics as a sort of Biblical-level event about national identity and personal identity. And so compromise is just treason. You know, Jacob Rees-Mogg is a very prominent Brexiteer. When he opposed Theresa Mays deal, he said it would turn Britain into a slave state. That is a deal, by the way, that hes now supporting. But in his language, he never showed any moderation or nuance or subtlety at all. Everything is either a disaster, or it is the great victory of the nation, blah blah. Theres never anything about working together on moderate compromise proposals. What was depressing about Monday was that the opponents of Brexit, who wanted a different outcome  theyre liberal, theyre internationalist, theyre rationalist, evidence-based. The manner in which they seem to be behaving seems to me to be exactly the same way that the Brexiteers are acting, which is allowing the best to be the enemy of the good. Theyll only tolerate their ideal outcome.

So the soft Brexiteers, who are basically engaged in damage limitation, rather than reversal of Brexit, refuse to support the people who are trying to reverse the result. The Peoples Vote guys were engaged in reversal, rather than damage limitation, and refused to support soft Brexiteers. Now, those positions are complementary. You can, and I do, support them both. And yet they were unable to work together, because they seem to have started to behave in the same kind of puritanical manner of their political opponents.

The lack of compromise, the demonization  this is all pretty familiar territory for American politics in recent decades.

Were in just as bad a position as you guys, but we seem to have suddenly gotten there over the last three years. We caught up.

Its nice to have someone else feel our pain. I know predictions are a fools game with Brexit, but the deadline is ticking downward to April 12th, which is the current date when the U.K. is supposed to leave. It seems like a no-deal Brexit is likelier than its ever been. Do you think thats the path were headed toward?

Nobody knows. I still think the most likely outcome is either Mays deal passing or a longer extension of Article 50, probably to the end of the year or to March of next year  the two sort of fudge-y, extension-y, less dramatic options. The more dramatic ones, though, are no deal, as you say, or revocation of Article 50. Revocation, to me, is just as likely as no deal.

The E.U. has made it clear for about the 20th time that the only deal theyll approve is the one that May negotiated. And now theres another vote scheduled on that deal later this week, even though it has failed three times before. Is there any chance this time will be different?

Theres always a possibility. I mean, the deadlines been close before  remember, we already extended it. We should have left already. So, theres always a chance. Im not entirely sure how Mays gonna get the thing in front of the Commons, cause theres added complication. The speaker, John Bercow, basically said, You cant just keep on putting the same thing down here without making any changes to it. Thats against the rules. So, shes having to find ways of changing it each time. She must have something up her sleeve, but its not immediately clear what it is right now.

Perhaps shell poison John Bercow?

Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah. Shes just gonna go old-school, Henry VIII style.

I think some Americans are confused that even though this has clearly been an unmitigated disaster for the Tories and Theresa May, somehow, Jeremy Corbyn is even less popular than her after all this. Has he actually handled this whole crisis even worse?

I dont know. I dont know how to make that comparison, I mean, theyve both been really, really bad. And they share a lot of qualities, actually. Theyre kind of inscrutable  you cant really get any sense of their internal life.

They sort of feel like very hollow politicians, without much going on inside. But certainly neither of them seems to have the capacity for flexibility or for compromise, or actually for self-questioning. Actually, I would go further, and this sounds quite harsh, but  even self-awareness. Theyre both very tin-eared and not really capable of imagining what someone else would be thinking if theyre someone who disagrees with them. So, were really stuck with these two leaders who are two of the worst leaders that any parties have had, certainly in my lifetime.

What is the mood like in England right now on the street? Is this all people are talking about all the time?

Well, Im not in a great place to answer that, because Im a political journalist and I live in North London, so I have a very skewed perspective of what it is that the normal person on the street is talking about. My impression is actually that people are mostly trying to avoid talking about it. Again, the Trump comparison. The thing is, when Trump does things, the average newspaper reader is capable, without too much effort, of understanding what it is thats happening. If you say, Im going to build a wall on the border with Mexico, everybody understands what that entails. You can have different opinions, but you know what it is. When people start talking about, are you gonna stay in a customs union? and then, are you going to be able to vary your tariffs in a future free trade agreement with a third party, any emotionally normal person stops listening. Its just incredibly boring. And people had mostly done that quite early on, with Brexit. Most of the Brexit supporters hate complexity and even allowing for the existence of complexity in the way that politics is conducted. And most of the people that oppose Brexit stop listening because theyre so aghast and horrified by the direction the country is taking.

The other problem is that so many families were divided by Brexit. For a lot of them to function, you know  were coming into Easter now, when people will go back home and spend Easter Sunday with their family. And for a lot of these families to have a decent weekend, it is really important that nobody talks about Brexit. Because, overwhelmingly, younger people are coming from the cities and voted to remain, and their parents stayed on and voted to leave. And they fell out hard in 2016. I had friends who it took years before they even really started talking to their parents again. I think it reflects the kind of division we saw with Trump in the U.S.

Yeah, I was gonna say, Thanksgiving here instead of Easter dinner. But its similar.

Yeah, yeah. You just try to stay away from that stuff, really. You know, if you go into a pub in North London, youll hear people complaining about Brexit. I presume that if you go into the pubs in Sunderland, youll hear people complaining about it from a different perspective. Funnily enough, most people  Remain or Leave  are united on the idea that the government is screwing the whole thing up. Its not entirely fair  anyone would have screwed it up. Its a fantastically complicated, difficult thing to do. But nevertheless, that is the one bit of community that everybody shares.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.President Trump meets with Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO on April, 2, 2019. Photo: Bill OLeary/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Seventy years is a long time for an alliance to survive. Most of historys examples didnt make it half that. So the planners at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization  which has bound Europes formerly fractious Western powers to each other, Washington, and their smaller neighbors since the aftermath of World War II  did their best to make sure this weeks anniversary celebration would survive President Pay Me My Money Trump.

Unlike its gaudy celebrations on anniversaries past, the meeting on April 3 and 4 in Washington was downgraded to only involve foreign ministers from NATOs 29 member countries. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Washington knowing, as former State Department official Jeremy Shapiro has noted, that the secret to getting Trump to stop bothering you is not to beg or change your behavior. It is to give him credit for something he can claim as a win in U.S. domestic politics.

Stoltenberg went to the White House on Tuesday with every intention of crediting Washington with the foresight to found, support, and sustain NATO, the most successful alliance in the history of the world. And it half-worked  the president did not repeat his arguments that NATO is obsolete, or embarrass Stoltenberg or other NATO leaders with personal feuds. However, Trump reverted quickly to complaining about Europeans needing to pay more for their defense, rather than promoting a story about Americas success, leadership, or commitment to peace.

And, as an odd bonus, Trump repeated his false claim that his father was born in Germany (Fred Trump was, in fact, born in the Bronx.) Does he do this because he thinks it elevates his fathers social status? Because he thinks it gives him credibility to berate Europeans? Or just to make European diplomats concentrate on keeping straight faces instead of responding effectively to what hes saying?

So NATOs party did not get off to the best possible start, though it could have been worse. NATOs success probably wont get much cable news coverage this week, but there wont be stories about Trump renewing his attacks on the alliance either.

In fairness, though, Trump was neither the first nor only skunk at this party. The United Kingdom  Washingtons closest ally and one of only a handful of allies that do meet the 2 percent of GDP goal for defense spending adopted under President Obama  wasnt able to send its foreign minister to D.C., as he had to stay in Parliament to participate in what appears to be the slow process of a great democracy disemboweling itself over Brexit.

The government of Turkey  the alliances second-largest military power and soon its second-most populous nation  embarrassed itself last week by trying and failing to manipulate elections. It is also moving ahead, despite NATO opposition, with plans to buy Russian anti-aircraft missiles. Theyll come with Russian technicians and technology that can pick up information on sensitive U.S. and NATO equipment Turkey has or might buy. Then theres Hungary, whose governing party is so far right that its fellow conservatives in the European Union have suspended it. This is not the Europe whole and free that George H.W. Bush promised us with an expanded NATO at the end of the Cold War.

On the other hand, an alliance that can muster 50,000 service members for exercises and develop shared responses to challenges ranging from the Russian poisoning of a defector on British soil to drowning migrants in the Mediterranean to the 9/11 attacks is not ready for the ash heap of history just yet. Most important, neither Europe nor Washington has anything to replace the concept that democracies owe each other solidarity and benefit from working together. Thats an idea that everyone from Bernie Sanders to Lindsey Graham, not to mention an awful lot of smart people in between, agrees on.

The challenge for NATO leaders in Washington over the next two days  and even more for NATO supporters after the party is over  is to resist the temptation to look backward and focus on defending what NATO was five, ten, or 20 years ago. Instead, its time to start really challenging conversations about what we on both sides of the Atlantic need NATO to be going forward. Is it more important, for example, for NATO to defend democracy, even if that means sanctioning or suspending its own members, or more important to keep major security actors like Turkey inside the alliance? Is it in Washingtons interest that the alliance sustain active pressure on Russia, and what are realistic goals for that when governments like Italy (and, er, others) take pro-Putin stances? Much discussion focuses, rightly, on whether our allies still believe NATOs core guarantee that an attack on one is an attack on all. Coming to a new understanding of what that means is going to be nerve-racking for governments who much preferred to cloak actual commitments in wreaths of World War II rhetoric. But if we want an alliance that is more likely to prevent than precipitate World War III, clarity on that count is going to be key.

So its a very good step that the secretary general added a Wednesday appearance before Congress to his itinerary, at Speaker Pelosis invitation. He and the new generation of House members, both Democrats and Republicans, should be sure to meet  because they are the ones who will need to shape a future that looks worth celebrating.The teaser for Joker debuted at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday, giving attendees a first look at Warner Bros. latest take on the venerable Batman villain, which will star Joaquin Phoenix. The teaser will be on the internet tomorrowtheres not even a teaser for the teaser!but reactions have begun rolling in on social media from people who saw it. According to Jason Guerrasio of Business Insider, the new film has a very TAXI DRIVER vibe to it, but def a lot more twisted:

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JOKER looks fucking insane!!! Has a very TAXI DRIVER vibe to it, but def a lot more twisted. Youll see the footage we just saw tomorrow. #CinemaCon  Jason Guerrasio (@JasonGuerrasio) April 2, 2019

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Scott Wampler at Birth, Movies, Death compared the film to a different Scorsese classic, plus Darren Aronofskys grim Hubert Selby Jr. adaptation Requiem for a Dream:

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Shots in the JOKER trailer evoke REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, KING OF COMEDY, much more. Very weird, very well cut, you do get to hear Phoenixs Joker laugh. I fucking loved it.  Scott Wampler (@ScottWamplerBMD) April 2, 2019

Joker was directed by Todd Phillips from a screenplay by Phillips and 8 Mile writer Scott Silver. Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, and Requiem for a Dream all have some connection to Joker: Silver got a special thanks in the credits for Requiem for a Dream for some reason or another, and Scorsese was attached to produce Joker before dropping out last summer. While were all anxiously awaiting the teasers debut, we can try to reverse engineer it from the non-superhero-related movies it evokes. First, heres the original trailer for Taxi Driver, a 1976 drama about a Vietnam vet who goes on a bloody rampage after Batman allows him to fall into a vat of chemicals that dye his hair green:

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It is easy to forget just how scuzzy something has to look before a Taxi Driver comparison is apt. The King of Comedy is a more attainable goal, scuzz-wise, so heres how they sold that back in the day. Robert De Niro plays Rupert Pupkin, a would-be standup who goes on a bloody rampage after Batman allows him to fall into a vat of chemicals that dye his hair green:

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The shot in the trailer of De Niro in front of his cutout audience is one of the defining images of the 20th century, and since Joaquin Phoenixs Joker is reported to be a failed stand-up, its a natural thing for Phillips to quote from. De Niro reportedly appears in the new trailer as a talk show host, presumably a riff on Jerry Lewis role in the original film, in which he played Batman. Then theres the odd man out, Requiem for a Dream. If you havent seen it recently, and have forgotten how frenetic movies of the early aughts tended to be, revisit the trailer for this Suicide Squad prequel, in which a young Jared Leto goes on a bloody rampage after Batman allows him to fall into a vat of chemicals that dye his hair green:

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Its not really clear where the stylistic overlap between this film and classic Scorsese films might be, but as Mike Hindes legendary Toy Story 2 trailer shows, you can improve just about anything by sprinkling it liberally with Requiem for a Dream:

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Joker comes out October 4. While we dont know for sure exactly what kind of movie these influences are going to add up to, one things for certain: Things are going to get  twisted.For a story about the forced expulsion of an entire ethnic group, Hans Karl Breslauer and Ida Jenbachs The City Without Jews is oddly good-natured. Adapted from Hugo Bettauers novel, the 1924 satire is not dissimilar from other light silent films of the era. The scenario was topical, but intended as ludicrous, a be-careful-what-you-wish-for fable whose moral argues for tolerance, if of a somewhat backhanded kind.

Just 14 years later the Nuremberg Laws were passed in Austria and the Central Agency for Jewish Emigration was established in Vienna, with Adolf Eichmann at its head. By 1942, there were only 800 Viennese Jews left in hiding, down from more than 200,000 when Bettauer wrote his book 20 years earlier. Once home to Freud, Schnitzler, and Schonberg, Vienna really had become a city without Jews.

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The City Without Jews was a successful book, as was most of Bettauers output at the time. A novelist and newspaperman, Bettauer was known for capturing Viennas zeitgeist and getting it onto paper quickly. (The City Without Jews was one of five books he published in 1922.) The film wasnt as big of a sensation, with critics or with audiences, but it was still a success, selling out enormous theaters in Vienna. In Berlin and elsewhere, it caused something of a stir, prompting hisses, derisive laughter, and demands for ticket refunds. In suburban Wiener Neustadt, a group of early Nazis threw stink bombs to disrupt a screening. (It played in New York City in 1928 but got only a fleeting mention in the New York Times.)

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The film was thought lost for decades, until an incomplete version was found in an Amsterdam archive in 1991. In 2016, a collector discovered a complete copy at a Paris flea market. With the aid of crowdsourcing, the Austrian Film Archive debuted a clean, full version last year. It continues to tour at festivals, cinematheques, and museums worldwide, and will screen on Thursday with musical accompaniment at the Leo Baeck Institute, one of the five principal organizations that form, like Voltron, the Center for Jewish History in New York.

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I hate to bring up the old cliche of the frog in slowly boiling water not realizing its in danger, but, well, Ill bring it up anyway, because its apt, Leo Baecks executive director William Weitzer says. Looking at the speed with which institutionalized anti-Semitism grew from a speculative topic into violent law is something he cautions we cant be inured from. He is eager to showcase the film with an eye toward the striking, recent rise of anti-Semitism in Europe; the spike in Jewish emigration, particularly in France; and the success of far-right parties around the world. A reflection of Trumpist repercussions in the United States was less of an inspirationthough maybe give it enough time, he darkly jokes.

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In the movie, the city of Utopia is in economic disarray. Its people are poor and angry. Some blame the Jews. (So far, none of this is fiction except for the name of the city; the novel was explicitly set in Vienna and featured characters who were clear stand-ins for politicians of the day.) Some politicians think kicking the Jews out of town will solve all their problems. There are three councilors, one of whom is virulently anti-Semitic, even though his daughter is married to Jew. Another is more lenient. (His daughter is dating a Jew, too.) A third has anti-Semitism perpetually on the brain. At the end of the movie, he falls into a delusional haze and sees Jewish stars floating around his head. The doctors declare him a Zionist. (This is intended as comedy.)

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The chancellor is convinced to pass an edict. The archdiocese mutters something about us all being flesh and blood but doesnt push back too hard. The Jews must go (unless they are second-generation half-Jews), but they are allowed to bring their fortunes with them. (Naturally theyll have to pay a heavy tax, which was very much the case for Jews who tried to leave Vienna later.) The Jews exit, mostly by train, in an eerily bloodless foreshadowing of Holocaust cinema to come. Then Utopia falls further apart. The banks are a mess, no other nations will trade with them, their theaters have turned bland, women are buying frumpy dresses, and even the prostitutes in the beer hall cry that they have nothing without my Cohn!

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We check in with some of the Jews weve met (one comic relief character is having a rough time fitting in in Palestine) and the lost boyfriend returns with a Guy Incognitoesque mustache, pretending to be French. With Utopias back against the wall, the chancellor begrudgingly lets the Jews return.

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The message is positive but still worrying. Jews shuttle back and forth, less like people and more like an idea. The film, looked at now, has a bit of an extreme philo-Semitism that can then lead to anti-Semitism, Leo Baecks Weitzer comments. Hes hit upon something key. The City Without Jews renounces any top-down edict to expel Jews. But not really because it is immoral; mostly because Jews are good with money.

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If one wants to get even more sinister, one could interpret the film as saying that one city alone cant drive out its Jews. For this solution to be final, all of Europe must unite on the idea and become Judenrein. The City Without Jews never became one, but this pro-tolerance work, with just a little bit of tweaking, could have mutated into an inadvertent anti-Semitic tract.

Noah Isenberg, who wrote the catalog essay on The City Without Jews for the Austrian Film Archives and will be presenting it at the Leo Baeck Institute, points out that the topics of passing, intermarriage, and who gets dubbed an outsider are central to the story, and enhanced in the film version. (Much of the background for this piece was gleaned from a manuscript of Isenbergs catalog essay A Cinematic Salvo From Interwar Austria: Hans Karl Breslauers Die Stadt Ohne Juden [The City Without Jews, 1924] soon to be published in German by the Austrian Film Archive.) Although Bettauer was born Jewish and converted at the age of 18, Isenberg warns not to read too much into Bettauers change of faith. It was very much the norm he says. There is no contemporary analogy. He was just as Jewish after his conversion; this was just a ticket into European culture.

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The reemergence of the film from the fog of history has extra resonance considering the fate of its key creators. Less than a year after the films release, in March 1925, a Nazi named Otto Rothstock shot and killed Hugo Bettauer. It was the first political murder by a Nazi in Austria. Rothstocks defense was that he was trying to protect German culture from a degenerate Jewish influence. He was found guilty but sent to a mental asylum. He was released a year later and lived until at least 1977, when he gave an unrepentant interview to Austrias ORF broadcasting company.

Hans Karl Breslauer left the film industry and began writing light newspaper columns under a pen name, eventually joining the Nazi Party. After the war, he was an unsuccessful fiction writer. Noah Isenberg says there isnt enough evidence to suggest whether Breslauer, who worked closely with Jews his whole career, was a true believer or, like Bettauer years earlier, this was a conversion merely to stay afloat.

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Less lucky was the films co-screenwriter Ida Jenbach, a Jew, who was deported to the Minsk ghetto. Her time and place of death after the deportation remain unknown.

Bettauer tells an anecdote that he was inspired to write the book by seeing placards littering Vienna, decrying miscegenation, in 1920, Isenberg says. There were these folkish, nationalist political campaigns about Jews defiling gentile women, Isenberg tells me. (Its worth noting that the two inter-religious relationships in the film are between Jewish men and non-Jewish women.) Its a crazy parallel to the rhetoric of miscegenation today. This film is not the stuff of sci-fi. The timeliness has not gone away, regrettably.In recent days, two women have told two stories about Joe Biden with strikingly similar details. Former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores wrote in the Cut that the thenvice president had grasped her shoulders, nuzzled her hair, and planted a big slow kiss on the back of her head while the two politicians were waiting in the wings of a 2014 campaign rally stage. Two days later, Stephanie Carter, wife of Obama-era Defense Secretary Ash Carter, published a piece disputing the widespread notion that a viral photo of Biden grasping her shoulders and nuzzling her hair during her husbands 2015 swearing-in depicted a violation of personal space.

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I absolutely support her right to speak her truth, Carter wrote of Flores. She should be, like all women, believed. But her story is not mine. The Joe Biden in my picture is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which I will always be grateful. Biden issued his own response to Flores story: In my many years on the campaign trial and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support, and comfort, he said in a statement. And not onceneverdid I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested that I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.

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Both Carter and Flores were braving high-pressure, high-visibility events when Biden came up behind them to deliver an unsolicited, intimate touchCarter in the national spotlight for the biggest day of her husbands career, Flores at a rally supporting her own lieutenant governor campaign, three days out from Election Day. Both were subjected to Bidens hands on their shoulders and his nose in their hair.

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But Bidens alleged actions had completely different effects on the women. Flores wrote that the incident left her mortified, uneasy, powerless, and gross. She characterized his touching as demeaning and disrespectful, leading to feelings of anger andresentment that grew over time. Carter, in contrast, found Bidens touch soothing and kind, even generous, during a difficult day.

This discrepancy in reception underscores an immobile fact that makes cases like Biden so difficult to talk about: the subjectivity inherent in assessments of sexual harassment. The legal definition of sexual harassment requires that a harassing behavior be unwelcome and unwanted. If the person on the receiving end of an action welcomes or wants it, its not harassment. It doesnt matter what the harasser wanted to do or thought he was doing; nor does it matter, within the broad categories of sexual remarks and physical contact, exactly what he did. He could touch two women the same exact way, and if one welcomed it while the other did not, hes only harassed one of them.

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The subjectivity of harassment has been at the heart of many disagreements about the transformative potential of the #MeToo movement. #MeToo skeptics worried that discouraging men from harassing women could scare them off completely or make every romantic interaction stilted, precluding most consensual flirtation and sexual advances. #MeToo supporters contended that the line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior, especially workplace behavior, is clearer than harassment apologists make it out to be. Meanwhile, in the first few months of #MeToo, unwanted kisses became a particular bugbear for some critics. Shouldnt people be allowed to kiss other people, they wondered, without asking permission and getting an affirmative response?

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Like many other feminist writers, I argued at the time that it was perfectly reasonable to ask would-be kissers to pay attention to (and heed!) verbal and nonverbal cues that demonstrate a desire to be kissed or notand that however awkward asking for consent may feel to some, its a lot better than subjecting anyone to unwelcome intimate contact. Reading Flores and Carters Biden stories last weekend, I was reminded of that early-#MeToo-era conversation about relatively low-level sexual harassment: the unwanted kisses, squeezes, pats, and sniffs. Ive heard the argument that Biden couldnt have known one womans reassuring grasp would be anothers nauseating violation. If many women welcomed Bidens kisses, nose rubs, and up-close whispers, some believe, he should be forgiven for assuming the others would, too.

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But to give Biden a pass for extrapolating one womans comfort onto every other woman is to ascribe to him all the social intelligence of a tree stump. Biden is a career politician and an extraordinarily charismatic one at that. His lifes work has been built on his ability to read individual people, gain their trust, make them feel comfortable, and modulate his emotions to mirror theirs. Even those of us with a less preternatural knack for schmoozing would surely be able to guess that a new acquaintance, a young woman trying to earn political power with an imminent speech, might not appreciate an unsolicited back-of-the-head kiss. Biden has also spent the past several years alternately denying and apologizing for his role in failing Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation in 1991an event widely credited as a turning point for American awareness of sexual harassment. If he wants voters to believe hes spent the past few decades thinking over that travesty of a hearing, he cant really turn around and claim hes been forgivably absent from the cultural conversations it helped catalyze about inappropriate workplace behavior.

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To give Biden a pass for extrapolating one womans comfort onto every other woman is to ascribe to him all the social intelligence of a tree stump.

Because Bidens actions as described in the current set of allegations dont rise to the level of sexual assault, the question facing Democratic voters assessing Bidens feminist bona fides isnt so much whether women have been touched and made uncomfortable by himhe hasnt disputed Flores story, and his statement in response all but said he expects other stories to follow. (I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear, he said, making Flores single moment plural.) The question is whether he knew, or should have known, that what he did was wrong.

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In a lukewarm statement of support for Biden on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, He has to understand in the world that were in now that peoples space is important to them, and whats important is how they receive it and not necessarily how you intended it. Here, she gives Biden the out that so many men spotlighted by the #MeToo movement have taken: Low-level harassment and gendered invasions of personal space were fine a few decades ago, so we cant expect older men to respect womens bodies to the extent required by current expectations. In this narrative, men of a certain age are like rickety gas-guzzling cars that dont meet todays fuel-efficiency standards. Sure, they wouldnt be acceptable as newly manufactured models. But they cant change now, so reasonable people should grandfather them in.

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The good news for the Bidens of the world, and those whod prefer not to be nuzzled by them, is that its easier to change a person than an outdated machine. The parallel Biden narratives that Flores and Carter have presentedsame actions, different effectssuggest that men like Biden dont necessarily need to unlearn specific behaviors. They just need to learn to empathize with women, which means erring on the side of not touching someone (nobody ever died for lack of an uninvited hair sniff!) when they arent sure beyond a reasonable doubt that she would welcome it.

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Most men have already proved themselves capable of empathizing in this wayonly with other men. Would Biden have smooched Beto ORourkes head backstage at a rally? Would he have grabbed an unsuspecting mans face and rubbed noses with him, as he allegedly did to a congressional aide in 2009? Maybe! Biden did have a habit of whispering sweet nothings into Obamas ear. But his famously touchy demeanor usually manifests as bro-y back slaps and bear hugs with men; with women, its a patronizing set of hands on the shoulders, an unsettlingly close lean, a kiss on the head. He knows enough about body language and personal comfort to touch people differently based on their gender. A politician concerned with gender equity might have given some thought to why that is.

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Its telling that Biden has constructed his defense around the claim that he never had the intention of causing women discomfort. Hes placed the burden of reckoning on the recipients of his actions, the women who mistook his friendly gestures as invasive and unsettling. But good intentions that forge ahead, time after time, with no regard for the unique circumstances of each situation are no longer goodtheyre careless. Any leader might occasionally offend women or step out of line in physical interactions with them. But hed do so in spite of his sincere best efforts, not because he seemingly didnt care enough to try.As a millennial, I often find myself reading the news to find out what my generation is killing. Sex. Homeownership. NAPKINS. This week, it seems the people born between 1981 and 1996 are now contemplating slowly killing off  drinking.

Writing in the Atlantic, Amanda Mull makes the case that our generation is growing weary of cocktails and beer and all the rest. Were still continuing to drink, but were doing it a bit less. Her evidence? She heard from over a hundred twenty- and thirtysomethings who are either cutting back on booze, or considering ways to back on it. Her sources got in touch after she put out a request on Twitter, she told me via email. I said I was kinda tired of drinking lately and if anyone wanted to talk about their attitudes toward drinking for a story, they should email me, she told me. The scale of response was incrediblefar swifter and more enthusiastic than any other time Ive requested potential sources contact me in that way.

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While 100 people is certainly a lot, and Twitter is a valid means of finding sources who have experienced something specific, the piece hangs on what amounts to a pile of anecdotal evidence about cutting back on drinking (or just considering cutting back on drinking!) to make a broad case about millennials writ large. As Mull herself writes in her piece: there isnt any great statistical evidence yet that young adults have altered their drinking habits on a grand scale.

If there isnt currently robust evidence, why frame this as a piece about millennials? Because Mull is, in turn, reacting to a flurry of trend stories about Millennials [] getting sober. Since the stats, she notes, dont bear that out, she decided to try to put a finer point on whats actually happening and theorize that maybe, were on the cusp of quitting booze, but just havent done so yet.

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The confusing thing is why this has to be about millennials at all. Such framing buys into the false premise that we millennials are a lumbering group of like-minded people operating in concert with each other. Thats not trueas David Costanza, an associate professor of organizational sciences at George Washington University, wrote in Slate last year, its really tempting to lump people together by the years they were born. But theres almost always more variation within a group as big as millennials than there is uniformity. The science says that, despite their popularity, generations simply arent a thing, Costanza wrote.

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Here are some alternative theories for what is going on with booze right now (if anything is): It could be that Americans at large are considering cutting down on alcohol, leading to a rise in spendy non-alcoholic beverages, which Mull also points to as evidence of her thesis. (Based on Mulls own reporting on celery juice spawned from un-credentialed health gurus on Instagram, though, Im just as inclined to believe that that is its own separate phenomenon.) It could be that some youngish folks are considering scaling back, and those are the ones who are eager to respond to Mulls call-out, while those continuing to indulge in their usual number of after-work glasses of wine simply didnt feel strongly enough to reply. It could be that if you talked to twenty- and thirtysomethings in America at any given moment in time, no matter the year or generation, youd find that many are rethinking their relationship with substances as they enter middle adulthood. In other words, if millennials are doing anything together, its aging.

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As I read the piece, I did find myself nodding along with many of the sources she followed up with by phoneits easy to identify with them, which makes the article feel so good to read. As I type, its the most-read piece on the Atlantics website. But I still found myself wishing, as I did with Anne Helen Petersons mega-viral article on millennial burnout, that this had been written as a reported personal essay, or even a trend piece, untethered to a generation, exploring a very real corner of some peoples lives, rather than a tome on what kids these days are doing. It might just be that people have mixed feelings about alcohol, and its nice to commiserate. Anyone want to do that over a drink?Today in Brexit is a daily feature that will attempt to keep track of the chaotic mess playing out in the U.K. If youre just tuning in, heres a brief explainer on what youve been missing.

Since 2016, Prime Minister Theresa May has attempted to forge a Brexit deal thats palatable to hard-line Brexiteers in her own party and to her coalition partners, Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party. But neither were willing to back the deal she negotiated with Brussels. So, Tuesday she announced she was taking a new approach: seeking cross-party support by sitting down with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to come up with a deal they both can back, effectively putting Labour in the drivers seat. In many ways, this is admirable. May is finally putting what she sees as the countrys interestsavoiding a risky no-deal Brexitover her party. On the other hand, her new strategy still may not work and may very well tear the Conservative Party apart. Lets get into it.

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Todays meeting: Corbyn and May held talks Wednesday that both sides described as constructive. Its not clear whether the two will be able to come to an agreement on a Brexit model they both support, or whether they will be able to cobble together enough votes from both parties to pass it if they do. But Corbyn will almost certainly demand that the agreement include a permanent customs union between Britain and the EU, to harmonize trade and avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This was previously a red line for May, but she probably wouldnt have sat down with Corbyn at all if she wasnt willing to give ground on it.

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This new phase will be a trickier one for Corbyn, who has spent the past three years criticizing Mays handling of Brexit from the sidelines. He is under heavy pressure from Labour supporters of a peoples vote not to agree to any Brexit model that doesnt involve a new public referendum. Five smaller parties in Parliament jointly called for a new vote Wednesday. Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, the third largest in parliament, warned against accepting a bad compromise.

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Today in Tory grumbling: May got an earful from members of her party at Prime Ministers Questions. Last week in this chamber, the prime minister said the biggest threat to our standing in the world, to our defense and to our economy is the leader of the opposition. In her judgment, what now qualifies him for involvement in Brexit? asked Conservative MP Lee Rowley. Others referred to media reports that in Tuesdays meetings, 14 of the 23 members of Mays Cabinet had opposed negotiation with Labour and advocated the U.K. leaving the EU next week without a deal. May denied those reports.

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Two Conservative ministers resigned from Mays Cabinet on Wednesday. Brexit department undersecretary Chris Heaton-Harris, a hard-line Brexiteer, quit, saying he couldnt agree to a further delay. Nigel Adams, an undersecretary for Wales, accused May of trying to cook up a deal with a Marxist.

Today in Brussels: None of this should indicate that a no-deal Brexit is off the table. In fact, its more likely than ever, according to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

In a speech Wednesday to the European Parliament, Juncker said, I believe that a no deal at midnight on the 12 April is now a very likely scenario. May announced Tuesday that she plans to ask the EU for another extension of the Brexit deadlinecurrently April 12but doesnt want to go past May 22, which would require Britain to take part in EU elections.

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Juncker said that the EU would agree to a May 22 extension only if Parliament passes Mays withdrawal agreement by the end of next week. Otherwise, the only choices would be a hard Brexit or a longer delay.

EU leaders are meeting on Wednesday to consider their options.

Todays votes: The House of Commons saw its first tied vote in 39 years, when MPs voted 310310 on a motion to hold a new round of indicative votes on alternative Brexit models. House Speaker John Bercow broke the tie by voting no. Parliament has already held two rounds of these indicative votes, and no option has been able to win a majority. Because this is Brexit, theres still a decent chance the indicative votes could happen next week.

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Parliament did pass a motion to start debate on a bill that seeks to prevent a no-deal Brexit by requiring the prime minister, by law, to ask the EU for an extension of Article 50 if theres no deal in place by April 12.

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Of course, the EU would still need to agree to that even if the bill passes. The bill could pass Wednesday night and could go to the House of Lords later this week where the Guardian reports it may face a filibuster from Brexiteers.

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Today in sabotage: Police found two malicious obstructions on train tracks in Nottinghamshire and Cambridgeshire, which appear to be a serious and deliberate attempt by someone to cause significant sabotage and disruption to Britains rail network. A note was attached to the short-circuiting devices reading, We will bring this country to its knees if we dont leave. This follows an incident Friday, the day Britain was originally supposed to leave the EU, in which a Brexit supporter waving an English St. Georges flag climbed onto the roof of Londons St. Pancras Station, disrupting service on Eurostar trains. The man said he was angry at politicians for having fucked up Brexit.

In another sign of just how raw the countrys politics are getting, the British military is investigating a video of soldiers in Afghanistan using a photo of Corbyn for target practice.

Days left until next deadline: 9Officials at a Tennessee social justice center known for training Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and over civil rights leaders said in a statement Tuesday that a white power symbol was found after its main office was destroyed in a fire last week.

On Friday, the Highlander Research and Education Center, which played a key role in organizing boycotts in Montgomery, Alabama, and founding the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, lost one of the 10 buildings on its rural property in New Market, Tennessee, to a fire. Local law enforcement officers are working with the state bomb and arson agents to investigate the possibility of a targeted attack, according to NBC News. No one was harmed in Fridays fire.

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While we do not know the names of the culprits, we know that the white power movement has been increasing and consolidating power across the South, across this nation, and globally, the center said in the statement. Because of our history we are not surprised that this space, one where marginalized people working across sectors, geographies and identities show up consistently, has been repeatedly targeted over our 87 years of existence.

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A spokeswoman for Highlander told CBS News that the symbol, which was spray-painted on the parking lot outside the building that burned, looks like a tic-tac-toe board and is connected to a well-known white power movement.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Coffey told the Knoxville News Sentinel that his office asked another law enforcement agency to help identify the symbol and verify its meaning. Its not a traditional, throw-it-in-your-face symbol that you would immediately recognize, he said. But it has been used by individuals in the past.

Highlander acknowledged that its location likely meant a process that takes more time in a rural geography with limited public resources. According to the center, Fridays fire destroyed decades worth of documents, speeches, memorabilia, and other artifacts from the civil rights movement.Joe Biden is not yet an official candidate for president, but he is already on the defensive. Two Democratic women, Lucy Flores and Amy Lappos, came forward in the past week with accounts of how the former vice president made them feel uncomfortable by touching them and invading their personal space. Neither woman claimed Bidens actions were criminal or sexual, but their accounts took a yearslong concern about the ex-veep from the hypothetical to the concrete. The question is no longer whether Biden has made women feel uncomfortable in the past; it is how voters will react now that they know he has.

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I dont think these two stories by themselves should disqualify Biden from running for presidentand to be clear, I havent seen any Democratic powerbroker actually suggest a political death sentence for Biden. But I do believe that his behavior in the past, and his justification of it in the present, neatly illustrates the larger case against his bid to become his partys nominee. As my former colleague Michelle Goldberg put in in the New York Times: Biden is a product of his time, but that time is up.

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Still, I doubt Bidens fans are going to desert him over these types of offenses.

For starters, Bidens penchant for physical contact, particularly with women, was no secret. As Katherine Miller put in BuzzFeed, Everybody already knows what they think about Joe Biden putting his hands on people, because weve all seen this happen in public. And yet despite all the photos of Biden getting uncomfortably close to others, no one in the potential Democratic 2020 field has a higher approval rating than Uncle Joe, even when you account for his national profile. More tellingly, many Democrats who dont name Biden as their first choice appear just fine with the idea of him as the eventual nominee. In a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll last month, a combined 73 percent of Democrats said theyre either enthusiastic (33 percent) or comfortable (40 percent) with Biden as a candidate, while just 25 percent said they either had some reservations (19 percent) or were very uncomfortable (6 percent) with him. Biden has a history of doing and saying cringe-worthy things but, for whatever reason, most Democratic voters arent yet cringing.

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Flores and Lappos stories and the clamor theyve ignited are unlikely to change that. Biden has already faced serious questions about a host of his past positions that look downright conservative by todays standards, including his mishandling of the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings, something hes expressed regret over but has nonetheless not actually apologized directly for to Hill. And yet hes been the polling leader for the 2020 nomination pretty much since Hillary Clinton lost in 2016.

While some voters will now rethink things, its hard to imagine that those most likely to sour on him were on the Biden train to begin with. Bidens base is oldmuch older than the other septuagenarian in the race, as CNN data analyst Henry Enten documented:

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Last 3 live interviewer national primary polls: Biden overall - 28%, 31%, 29%. Under age 45 (or 50 in last case): 19, 19, 22. Biden age 45+ (or 50+ in last case): 36, 41, 37. Attached is Sanders/Biden support by generation. Age so far is the KEY breakdown of this primary season pic.twitter.com/MoLCVxWi2N  (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) April 2, 2019

The available polling suggests that older voters are less receptive than younger ones to taking these kinds of charges seriously. Older voters are more likely to express doubts about the #MeToo movement and whether the past actions of men should be disqualifying in the present. A Pew Research Center poll from last spring suggests that the older people are, the more likely they are to believe that the increased attention on sexual harassment has made navigating workplace interactions more difficult for men. A BuzzFeed/Ipsos poll from this past fall found a stark age gap when it comes to believing victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault: 65 percent of adults under 35 said they should be believed no matter what, compared to just 38 percent of people older than 54 who said the same thing. An NPR/Ipsos poll from last fall found that roughly half of voters 35 or older said they were still unclear on what crosses the line in terms of sexual misconduct. And a Vox/Morning Consult survey from last month found that women 35 or older were about half as likely as women under 35 to say its acceptable for some men to lose their jobs over allegations of sexual misconduct. If older voters have doubts about sexual misconduct, it stands to reason theyll be even more skeptical of the gray area Biden finds himself in now.

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And then theres the backlash to consider, whereby some voters actually rally to Bidens defense. Consider, for instance, the response from Theda Skocpol, a 71-year-old Harvard political scientist, who made it clear she has no interest in a circular firing squad with Donald Trump in the White House. Is this the kind of society we want to live inwhere right-wingers can do any vicious thing they want to anyone and shrug it off, while people on the center-left are supposed to expel from public life anyone who says a single wrong word or has done something benignly intended in the past that now does not fit changed norms? she wrote in a letter to the Times. Not me, that is not the kind of America I want to live in. That is not the kind of Democratic primary I want to participate in.

None of this is to say that Biden will emerge from this storm unscathed. At the very least, its put him on the defensive at a time when hed prefer to be building momentum ahead of his planned launch. But as much as I hope Flores and Lappos stories motivate voters to more fully reckon with what Bidens worldview would mean for his candidacy and potential presidency, Ive yet to find reason to believe that will happen.Photo: AFP Contributor/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump has long despised wind power. He has repeatedly blamed wind turbines for killing birds (which they do at a lower rate than other energy sources) and for allegedly causing electrical power to halt when the wind stops blowing (in fact, electricity grids using mixed power sources and battery storage have solved this problem). In a speech tonight to House Republicans, Trump claimed that wind turbines cause cancer.

They say the noise causes cancer, the president of the United States asserted.

Wind turbines do not cause cancer. Some people blame the noise for causing a variety of other health ailments, but these charges have zero scientific validity. Cancer is not caused by noises of any kind.

A power source that does cause many health problems, including cancer, is coal, an extremely dirty fuel Trump loves and has attempted to bolster, with almost no success. Aside from costing more to produce than other sources of power, and in addition to enormous air pollution side effects, coal also emits greenhouse gases in large amounts. Though this, of course, is another aspect of science Trump rejects.

In the same speech, Trump urged his fellow Republicans, Hey, you gotta be a little bit more paranoid than you are. We have to be a little bit careful, because I dont like the way the votes are being tallied. Trump subscribes to wild fears over systematic Democratic voter fraud, a belief  like climate-science skepticism  that is extremely common inside his party.

The Republican affinity for kook pseudoscientific claims helps explain why his allies didnt run screaming from the room in existential terror when they heard the most powerful person in the world assert that the noise from wind turbines causes cancer. Wind turbine noise causes cancer, the assembled members of Congress immediately intuited; it is simply another completely insane notion that Republicans are now expected either to promote or to quietly tolerate.

Someones gonna leak this whole damn speech to the media, Trump worried aloud. It was a valid fear, given that reporters were in the room and C-SPAN cameras were covering the speech live.Donald Trump is now hoping that his kryptonitethe courtswill save his presidency. The president is not banking on a long-shot legal win, as he did when the Supreme Court upheld his travel ban last summer. No, he has taken a position against Obamacare in court that he apparently expects to lose, so he can blame someone else for his failure to repeal and replace the health care law. This is some next level cognitive jujitsu.

For all his bluster, when it comes to the courts, Trump is the losingest president in the history of presidenting. Last month, the Washington Post published the definitive guide to 63 cases this administration has lost in the federal courts, a pattern that includes a staggering 90 percent loss rate in his various deregulation lawsuits. Just last week, the administration was dealt massive blows in two signature efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. The bulk of the losses, according to the Post, are a function of slipshod and sloppy rule changes. But as Dylan Scott pointed out in Vox, courts are also increasingly tagging the administration for violating existing federal law. Which brings us to the Affordable Care Act.

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In 2010, the ACA was signed into law. Republicans in the House attempted unsuccessfully to repeal it 70 times thereafter. The Supreme Court twice rebuffed efforts to kill it. When Donald Trump took office in 2017 with majorities in both houses of Congress, he pledged to repeal and replace it with something else. But the big repeal attempt failed when Sen. John McCain voted against it. Nevertheless, in 2017, Congress did away with the ACAs tax penalty for those who didnt have health insurance. Then, in February of 2018, Texas and 19 other states filed suit, claiming that the individual mandate was now unconstitutional, since the tax penalty had been zeroed out by Congress. At this point, the Trump administration took the unusual position of refusing to defend significant portions of the law. This was so astonishing that a veteran Department of Justice lawyer quit the department rather than take part in the Trump administrations refusal to defend the ACA. Then this past December, a federal district court judge in Texas ruled that Congress, in repealing the mandate, had rendered the entire law unconstitutional. Scholars and court watchers across the ideological spectrum deemed that ruling absurd and indefensible. The consensus was almost universally that the Supreme Court would never side with the Texas claims, if the case even were to get that far.

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The whole thing proved a massive unforced error.

But then, in a shocking new two-sentence legal filing last week, Trumps Justice Department announced a change in its position. It would now support the Texas lawsuits effort to repeal the entire 2010 law, abruptly reversing from its earlier posture that only the preexisting condition and other consumer protections should be struck down.

Reporting last week from the New York Times revealed that the decision to support the legal fight for a wholesale repeal came at the urging of Trumps acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and over the objections of Attorney General William Barr and White House counsel Pat Cipollone, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

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The whole thing proved a massive unforced error. Never mind that nobody seemed to want to contemplate the catastrophic national consequences if the Texas lawsuit prevails and 20 million people lose coverage. Republicans quickly flew into a full-blown political panic about the reversal. Sen. Susan Collins, one of the GOPs most vulnerable 2020 Senate candidates and never one to refuse to express strongly worded concerns about things, sent a strongly worded letter of concern to Barr. Fearing that an Obamacare repeal could decide their fate in the 2020 election, Republicans across the board were dismayed and distressed at the prospect of Trump attacking Obamacare in court. Last week, they balked at Trumps order to cough up a replacement program, well aware that the failed efforts to do away with preexisting condition protections in 2017 helped lead to devastating losses in the 2018 midterm elections. Further, the Post notes, House Republicans privately worry [the efforts] will cripple their attempts to reclaim the chamber and could even cost them additional seats in 2020, though few will admit so publicly because they fear Trumps ire. That means that Republican lawmakers are now secretly hoping that the federal courts will uphold Obamacare so they dont have to run for election with a dead health care law at their feet.

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This all led on Monday night to Trump tweeting that he is backing off the whole ACA replacement plan until after the 2020 election, at which time he will present us all with a really great health care plan built of the stuff that made Trump Steaks and Trump University so very great. Further, at least according to Axios, Trump was telling people behind closed doors that he believed the Texas suit would fail. It seems he wanted to back the failing lawsuit because it would be good branding for him to oppose Obamacare as part of his 2020 reelection bid. So, Trumps plan, it seems, is that either the ACA is struck down by the federal courts, making the total breakdown of Americas health care system the courts fault, or that it is upheld by the courts, so he could blame the judiciary for his own failure to fulfill his promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. Either way, Trump, personally, would be off the hook.

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It is axiomatic that Donald Trump has a gift for turning his losses into wins simply by blaming the agent of the loss for thwarting the will of the people. But in flipping the DOJs position in the ACA litigation, he appears to be affirmatively courting losses in a way that transcends even the most cynical Trumpian worldview. Its entirely possible that the reason this president has the highest loss rate in the courts is because he actually banks on losing. Perhaps, its good for him. The question is why?

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Surely Trump enjoys that he canwith each and every losscontinue to attack the independent judiciary, one of his favorite in-between-nap activities. Its also true that if your entire brand is fomenting crisis, the sudden loss of access to health care for millions of Americans might be considered a big win. On the flip side, the ability to deflect blame to the courts for his own political failures on health care could also result in more claims of winning if things go the other way.

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Its not just that Trumps principal brand is chaos, though. Its that his principal claim is I alone can fix it. He has shown, time and again, a willingness to blame even putative allies if it serves to position him as the sole saviorbread and butter stuff if youre an authoritarian who hates institutions. When the Framers crafted the three-way system of checks and balances, they assumed that any two branches could promote stability by checking the third if it went off the rails. Donald Trump has managed to invert that tripartite structure, happily spreading the blame for government dysfunction among the other two branches, instead of his own. The rule of three as the most stable structure can be subverted to afford you double the scapegoats. That is his current play on the ACA, betting on the opportunity to use decisions of the courts and the Congress as excuses for his failure to perform on a central campaign promise. This will always be his play so long as allocating blame is more valuable to him than achieving any policy outcomes. Cruelty itself is still emphatically the purpose of this presidents decision-making, but evading responsibility is the prime method.Greetings, Future Tensers,

Over the past two years, the European Parliament has debated a directive that stands to impose dramatic changes to EU copyright law. Opponents have menacingly dubbed it a censorship machine. They say imposing new rules on sharing certain protected content on platforms amounts to a death knell for memes and GIFs, a killing of free speech, and a general internet doomsday. But, as intellectual property law professor Eleonora Rosati explains, this isnt the end of the internet as we know it. Though these new copyright laws arent perfect, she argues that they arent the disaster critics are claiming they will be.

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In between fretting about the future of memes, we at Future Tense have been examining other big debates about censorship on the internet. Robert Morgus and Justin Sherman examine the steps that the Kremlin is taking to further isolate the Russian internet from the rest of the world. And Tamara Evdokimova asks whether the countrys really going to follow through with a promised exercise that will (briefly) disconnect the nation from the internet on or before April 1.

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Other things we read between pondering Facebooks (accidental) most shared story of 2019:

The missing link: Elizabeth Joh writes about FamilyTreeDNAs alarming marketing pivot: asking users to share their DNA test data in the name of solving crimes.

Beaming: An examination of humanitys long quest to develop a death ray.

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Unemployment benefits: Nir Eisikovits and Dan Feldman argue that theres no such thing as robot-proofing professions.

Retro: Two new video games are offering up complicated nostalgia for Geocities-era internet culture.

Blanket ban: G. Owen Schaefer makes the case against a moratorium on gene editing.

Out of stock: In the fallout from NASAs cancellation of the all-women spacewalk, Shannon Palus reports on how science gear and equipment often doesnt fit women on Earth either.

Event:

How will climate change transform American democracy? Join Future Tense on Wednesday, April 10, in Washington for a happy hour conversation on how we can work to prevent and mitigate the worst of climate changes effects. Well be joined by David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, and the Atlantics Vann Newkirk. RSVP or stream online here.

To the internet signoffs of yesteryear,

Anthony Nguyen

For Future Tense

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.Under the sweltering desert sun, a man painstakingly scrapes away at ancient stone. A weathered fedora offers what passes for shade in these harsh conditions. With each carefully controlled scratch, a lost world comes into viewa time of monsters never before seen, the strata seeming to glow with potential.

This isnt a scene from the next Indiana Jones film; its the kind of breathless prose novelist Douglas Preston employs in his latest New Yorker feature hyping a controversial fossil site that slammed onto social media last week like the asteroid that closed the Cretaceous. It also happens to be exactly the kind of scruffy, macho, lone-scientist stereotype legend that needs to go extinct.

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Prestons account is about as bloated as a brontosaur, but the basic story goes like this: In 2012, a fossil collector introduced paleontology graduate student Robert DePalma to what looked like a so-so fossil site in the roughly 66-million-year-old strata of North Dakota. The delicate fish found there seemed ho-hum at first. But, Preston writes, as DePalma dug in, he kept finding more. In addition to the fish, there were downed trees, remains of marine organisms where there shouldnt have been, dinosaur bones, dinosaur eggs, and dinosaur feathers. DePalma theorized that the site was created when the massive asteroid struck whats now the Yucatan Peninsula, sending debris into the air that later rained down on this site as seismic waves sloshed in a local body of water, killing the areas inhabitants before burial. This supposedly happened in the minutes and hours after impact, recording death in the closing moments of the Cretaceous to a degree not seen elsewhere. DePalma named the site Tanis as a nod to the lost Egyptian citys plot point appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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The wild claims in this story came as a surprise, especially as word spread that there was a paper said to detail what had been uncovered at Tanis, North Dakota. Press offices scrambled to fire off notices to journalists Friday about the initial scientific description of the site, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences lifted its embargo early, though the paper itself was not made available to all researchers until Monday. Who had the paper, who didnt, why the leak happened, and whether the study supported what the bombastic article promised kept paleontologists busy on social media for days. For my own part, it was hard to contain my incredulousness at a story that seemed to keep getting stranger and stranger.

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As one paleontologist commented, theres something about the story for everyone in this field to loathe. Given the embargo break, science Twitter was frenetic with questions, criticisms, defenses, and hot takes on hot takes. Now that the papers finally been publisheda sedimentological study from a dozen authors in which the only dinosaur bone revealed is a weathered fragment of a hipquestions still remain about the fantastic claims of the New Yorker piece, from the ethics of how the collected fossils may only be technically on loan to museums from DePalma to whether the more brow-raising claims of the New Yorker piece are true.

Science is a discussion of theories, not a library of papers.

In all the back-and-forth, there is one particular point that really rankles me. Readers were instantly fascinated with the New Yorker story. And why wouldnt they be? Its a tale of desert adventure about a plucky scientist who wants to outline what happened on one of the most infamous days in all of Earths history. Why the non-avian dinosaurs and so many other forms of life disappeared 66 million years ago is of almost universal interest, particularly as the worlds next mass extinction seems well underway. Which means that this was an opportunity to highlight the best of the field, to tell a rich story that brings all the diverse voices and perspectives working on paleontology in the 21st century to bear. We did not get that story. Instead, we got the same sexist schtick about one guy at one fossil site whos going to figure it all out.

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Dont get me wrong. Theres nothing wrong with a little Indiana Jones cosplayI can tell you from my own years doing fieldwork in the Southwest that paleontologists arent dusty old fossils. They have funny bones too. But theres something else running beneath the pulp-novel depiction of DePalma as the scrappy young man fighting the stodgy academic system, flexing shirtless beneath the North Dakota sun to wrap plaster bandages around the bones of extinct titans. Not only does this perpetuate the lone genius trope thats demonstrably false, but it underscores paleontologys deeply rooted problem with male privilege.

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The search and study of extinct life has persistently been depicted as a mans science. The contributions of pioneering paleontologists such as the Philpot sisters and Mary Anning are often overshadowed in historical accounts by figures like grumpy British anatomist Richard Owen; the cantankerous, warring Bone Wars experts E.D. Cope and O.C. Marsh of the late 19th century; and, perhaps the first prototype of the modern fieldwork macho man for his exploits in Mongolia, Roy Chapman Andrews. The Dinomania wave of the 1980s and 1990s that many young paleontologists and fossil fans grew up with only doubled down on the imagery, with documentaries repeatedly featuring bearded, plaid-clad experts like Jack Horner and Bob Bakker setting an image that was further underscored by the fictional Alan Grant of the Jurassic Park franchise. The image of who a paleontologist is has long been definitively male, pale, and dust-coated, never without his trusty broad-brimmed hat, a trend thats now perpetuated by the New Yorkers stab at fieldwork fan fic. Prestons story revels in the mythology. As he himself acknowledges, DePalmas story sounded to him like a real-life version of his novel Tyrannosaur Canyon, in which a hero scientist has to defend the dinosaur find of the century against conspiratorial forces of the sort more often seen in a Tom Clancy novel. The tropes were already there to be reinvigorated.

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Itd be one thing if the rogue-heroic-scientist-makes-amazing-discovery storyline was one of many types of tales of how we make progress in this field. But its the only one we ever seem to get with paleontology, and in this case, the hype just doesnt match the published results. The claims that made the New Yorker story so popular and shareable are not all included in the paper out this weekDePalmas team said it cut some of them to get the first paper to publication more quickly. DePalma has asserted that researchers should only be talking about whats in the paper, as if a mass dinosaur graveyard had not been mentioned at all. Yet how could anyone not talk about what was purported to be a dinosaur boneyard full of fossils from almost every species, down to their eggs and plumage?

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Prestons bombastic piece was a sloppy and sensational rollout, getting to the public first before the scientific results could be published, discussed, and questioned. Possibilities and uncertainties were recast as facts that the rest of the scientific community would simply have to deal with. This shouldnt be how science, or science journalism, works.

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The reason embargos exist is to give journalists and the researchers they talk to some time to look at fresh findings and determine what the story is, whether its worth telling, and if theres anything suspicious about whats presented. Thats standard practice for science news, whether were talking about dinosaurs or questionable news about health and psychology that are part of sciences replication crisis. Science is a discussion of theories, not a library of papers.

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More lead time would have allowed a more careful story to be told, perhaps one that could have involved some of the more diverse voices in the field that will undoubtedly now go about investigating and testing the fantastic claims Preston and DePalma have made. That work is largely going to go on behind the scenes, in labs, journals, and conferences, tearing off the tattered tropes to get at the underlying reality. But this isnt a narrative of scientists trying to keep a young maverick down, as Prestons story suggests. Paleontologists want to be excited about such a find. But they also want to see research done right. Its like the old math class admonitionshow your work.Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at a Hamas/CAIR event where he defended Hamas and called for a suppression of free speech.

This month, the Katie & The Wolff Tour sweeps Texas and elsewhere as Briton Katie Hopkins and Austrian Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff share their experiences as targets of their respective governments surrender to Islam/sharia with American audiences who are mostly unaware of how close Europe is to being overtaken by jihadis.In the wake of the wrongful and contrived arrest/imprisonment of Englands Tommy Robinson to silence his loud and powerful voice speaking truth about the danger of Islam, these two brave women believe the best place to sound the alarm is in the United States.As a well-known British media figure and businesswoman, Katie Hopkins speaks openly about the threat of Islam to liberty in Europe. In Europe today, however, any speech which offends muslims is not welcome and not legal.For her truthful discussions about Islam, Hopkins was fired from her TV and radio shows, let go from her writing gigs at newspapers and other publications, and was directly threatened by jihadis trying to kill her.While all of this unfolded, a play opened in Wales entitled, The Assassination of Katie Hopkins with no condemnation from the British government.Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is the daughter of an Austrian diplomat who lived in Iran before, during, and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and who found herself in Libya on 9/11/01.Wolff began giving public presentations about the basics of Islam in her home country of Austria, including stating that Islams prophet Mohammad married Aisha when she was six years old, which conforms with doctrinal Islamic teaching.In 2009, Sabaditsch-Wolff was convicted in an Austrian court for denigration of religious beliefs of a legally recognized religion, in violation of Section 188 of the Austrian Criminal Code.The conviction was upheld by an Austrian appellate court in 2011.The Austrian courts ruled Sabaditsch-Wolffs comments are an abusive attack on the Prophet of Islam which could stir up prejudice and threaten religious peace, which, by the way, is not consistent with centuries of Western law and a reasoned understanding of justice.The court ordered Sabaditsch-Wolff to pay a fine of 480 ($625) or an alternative sentence of 60 days in prison.In October 2018, a seven-judge panel of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded the Austrian courts carefully balanced the applicants right to freedom of expression with the rights of others to have their.In other words, the Austrian courts, as well as the European Court of Human Rights, are imposing the Islamic Law of Slander upon Europeans.In sharia, Slander is legally defined as saying/communicating anything about Islam a muslim would dislike, and it is a capital crime.For more about sharia, get a copy of UTTs 2-DVD set Its All About Sharia by clicking HERE The European Court has adopted the Islamic legal definition of Human Rights as defined by the Islamic world under the banner of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation). The OIC approved and served the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam to the United Nations in 1993. In it, the entire muslim world at the Head of State and King level defines human rights as theThe leaders of Europe are doing the jihadis bidding for them by imposing Islamic Law (sharia) on Europeans. This is what the Muslim Brotherhood calls civilization jihad by their hands.This past week, leaders in Fort Worth, Texas held a prayer vigil with Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood leaders at the Islamic Association of Tarrant County, exemplifying the ease at which jihadis are able to get U.S. leaders to submit to them just as leaders are submitting to suit-wearing jihadis in Europe.Most notably, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota supported and defended  or more accurately aided and abetted  Hamas terrorists doing business as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), by speaking at a CAIR event in Minnesota several days ago.Governor Walz called for an end to Islamophobia, a word created by the Muslim Brotherhoods International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) to be used to impose the Islamic Law of Slander on the non-muslim community.Right now American leaders  with their co-conspirators in the media  are imposing sharia and condemning free speech on U.S. citizens.America stands at the precipice of U.S. judges, courts, and leaders putting Americans in jail for speaking truth about Islams barbaric law called sharia.The war for liberty is happening NOW.Every time a mayor, police chief, congressman, senator, pastor, rabbi, or National Security Advisor, panders to the Islamic community, and gives in to their demands for religious accommodation, they are, in fact, surrendering one more foot of ground to sharia  a system that stands in direct opposition to liberty, Americas founding principles, and U.S. federal and state laws.Want to get in the fight? Join UTT! UnderstandingtheThreat.comPassengers can now travel from the eastern regional capital to London.

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Ryanair's first flight to London took off from Kosice on April 2,2019. (Source: Kosice airport)

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The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has added Kosice to its 237 destinations after launching its first flight at the international airport in this eastern Slovak city on April 2.

"Ryanair is pleased to officially launch our first ever Kosice route to London Southend, which will operate three times weekly as part of our summer 2019 schedule," said Denis Barabas, Ryanair's deputy manager for central Europe and Balkans, as quoted in a press release.

Read also:

Read also: Where to fly from Bratislava in summer 2019 Read more

The company will operate flights to London three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. London Southend, located at the coastline of Essex, is considered one of the fastest growing regional airports in Britain.

In addition, customers will reach London's Liverpool Street station by train within 50 minutes.

Gateway to Kosice Region

"The new flight route is good news for our region in terms of the development of businesses and tourism," said Rastislav Trnka, governor of the Kosice Region, as quoted in the press release.

He hopes the latest cooperation will attract foreign investors, too.

Read also:

Read also: Ryanair to fly from Kosice to London Read more

Ryanair is already the seventh airline to offer its services in Kosice, hoping to deliver more than 50,000 passengers through the city in 2019. So far, Austrian Airlines, Czech Airlines, Eurowings, LOT, Turkish Airlines and Wizzair have operated flights from Kosice.

"We are glad to play an important role in the development of Kosice city and region," added Michael Tmej, chairman of the board of the Kosice airport, as quoted in the press release.

Kosice airport is the second largest in Slovakia, enjoying a good location with no international airports nearby. In 2018, more than 500,000 passengers flew from the airport.A special era in the Ontario Standardbred breeding industry came to a close last summer when Jackie and Larry Drysdale decided to call it a career. Although the husband and wife duo have shifted gears, that doesnt mean they are out of the picture.

Jackie and Larry Drysdale, the husband and wife team that managed Winbak Farm of Canada for many years, may have celebrated their retirement last August. However, the saying once harness racing gets into your blood, you're in it for life has been proven to be more than just a catchphrase  it's no different with this husband/wife team.

Soon after their retirement, the Drysdale's headed on an eight-week Australian trip. They toured the top breeding farms the country had to offer during their getaway. "It was really an experience," Larry said. "Both countries are so great."

After returning from Down Under, the duo headed to Florida to visit Jackie's mother, but also managed to visit some training centres to converse with owners and trainers. "It never gets out of your blood," Larry admitted.

Larry's harness racing story began at, coincidentally, a major breeding farm. "I started with Armstrong Brothers here in Canada as a kid working with the yearlings," said the native of Acton, Ont. "Then I moved to California to work for Joe O'Brien, where I spent four years." Drysdale returned to Canada in 1974 to work with Jack Kopas. After that, Larry returned to Armstrong Brothers to assist with their breeding operations, where he was to spend the next 25 years until Winbak Farm took over the operation.

Drysdale met Winbak owner Joe Thomson at the Harrisburg sale, and shortly afterward was flown down to Maryland for an interview with Joe and his wife, JoAnn. They hired Larry, along with his wife Jackie, to run Winbak Farm of Canada in 2005. Jackie was hired as an office manager, while Larry headed the breeding operation. The duo spent 13 years fronting the operation before their retirement in 2018.

Jackie, a native of Pittsburgh, PA, got her start in Kentucky looking after Thoroughbreds. "I started working with them at Keeneland, before my trainer relocated to Florida," Jackie said. "I didn't want to go." Shortly afterwards, Jackie got a job with Clear Creek Farm, where she took Standardbred yearlings to the sales. This is when she met Joe O'Brien. "I asked Joe if he needed any help in California and he said yes, and that's where I met Larry." The rest, as they say, is history.

Eventually, Jackie moved with Larry to Canada, where they ended up at Winbak Farm. "I worked with the yearlings in the morning before I tended to my office work," Jackie said. As far as her duties at the office, Jackie processed breeding orders, took them to the lab, extend the semen, and shipped the orders out. "I was a Jackie of all trades," she quipped.

Shortly after their retirement, the Drysdales received an award from the Standardbred Ontario Breeders named after Chris Van Bussell, who was a driving force behind Seelster Farms and a Hall of Famer. "Chris was such a kind man with the highest of integrity. It was an honour to win an award named after him," Jackie said. Larry echoed those words. "That was very emotional, especially with my wife," Larry said. "We personally knew Chris (Van Bussell) and he was a good friend of ours. It really meant a lot."

As far as what's ahead for Larry and Jackie, it will be a little of everything. "We plan on doing more travelling and spending time with our grandchildren," Jackie said. You can safely wager, despite retirement, that harness racing will remain a part of their lives forever. "Of course, I was at Winbak Farm this morning," joked Larry.

(With files from Post Time with Mike and Mike)Trot Insider has been informed that well known Standardbred breeder/owner/horseman James Jim Hill has passed away at the age of 78.

Jim was born on September 21, 1940 in Frontier, Saskatchewan to parents Van and Marie Hill.

Jim lived most of his life just outside of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba with his wife, Carol. Their farm was called Haven Acres. Over the years, Haven Acres was home to many broodmares, weanlings, yearlings and racehorses. Cheri Flame, Jo Ste Lo, Charm Adios, Lady The Great and all of their offspring are just a few that come to mind.

For many years, Jims brother, Leonard Hill, stabled his racehorses at the farm to race at Assiniboia Downs, the Manitoba Great Western circuit or to rest them up before heading to St. Louis for the winter. Later in life, Jim served as a judge on the Manitoba Great Western fair circuit.

Through the years, Jim made many close friends in the harness racing community.

When Carol and Jim retired they sold the farm and moved to an acreage near Boissevain and continued to share their love for animals.

If wealth is measured in happiness, Jim was a very wealthy man! He surrounded himself with animals and would always look forward to the spring after a Manitoba winter. Jim was a great storyteller, loved to write and would put pen to paper often. He wrote Staying on Stride Part 1 and 2, Myrtle and Jenny, Baby, and The Five Seasons, to name a few.

Jim was born with a disease called Treacher Collins Syndrome, which was depicted in the movie Wonder. The syndrome was never a handicap to Jim. He would even do public speaking at schools where children had the rare disease. At assemblies he would explain to the student body what the disease was and help kids who had the disease learn to live with it.

In recent years, Alzheimers had taken the man that the harness racing industry knew; but Jim was well aware that the people who remained around him loved him  there was never a doubt (there was love in his eye).

Jim is survived by his daughter Cheri (Allan), grandsons Jason (Christie), Jamie (Teri), Kevin (Steph) and their families. Nephews Brent Hill, Chris Hill, and nieces Shelley Walline and Deniene Hout and families and brother John Hill.

Jim was predeceased by his wife Carol in 2007 and his brother Leonard in 2017.

The world lost a great man and a great friend, but he now rests in peace.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Jim Hill.Former vice-president Joe Biden on March 16, 2019. Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

In the last week, a total of four women have accused former vice-president Joe Biden of inappropriate contact. The first allegation was made last Friday by former Nevada lieutenant governor nominee Lucy Flores, who wrote in the Cut that Biden kissed her head at an event for her 2014 campaign: He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head. My brain couldnt process what was happening. I was embarrassed. I was shocked. I was confused.

Three days later, Amy Lappos told the Hartford Courant that in October 2009, while volunteering at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut, for Representative Jim Himes, Biden also touched her inappropriately. It wasnt sexual, but he did grab me by the head, Lappos told the Courant. He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.

Today, the New York Times published the accounts of two young women who allege that Joe Biden touched them in an inappropriate manner:

Caitlyn Caruso, a former college student and sexual assault survivor, said Mr. Biden rested his hand on her thigh  even as she squirmed in her seat to show her discomfort  and hugged her just a little bit too long at an event on sexual assault at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. She was 19. Ms. Caruso, now 22, said she chalked up the encounter at the time to how men act, and did not say anything publicly. But she said it was particularly uncomfortable because she had just shared her own story of sexual assault and had expected Mr. Biden  an architect of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act  to understand the importance of physical boundaries. It doesnt even really cross your mind that such a person would dare perpetuate harm like that, she said. These are supposed to be people you can trust.

The Times also published the account of D.J. Hill, a writer who met Biden in 2012 at a fundraising event in Minneapolis:

When she and her husband, Robert, stepped up to take their photograph with the vice president, he put his hand on her shoulder and then started dropping it down her back, which made her very uncomfortable. Her husband, seeing the movement, put his hand on Mr. Bidens shoulder and interrupted with a joke. Ms. Hill did not say anything at the time and acknowledged that she does not know what Mr. Bidens intention was or whether he was aware of her discomfit. Only he knows his intent, she said. But norms are changing now, she said, and if something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able to say it.

At this point, prominent Democrats have attempted to stay fairly neutral on the matter. I dont think its disqualifying, Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with Politico. He has to understand in the world that were in now that peoples space is important to them, and whats important is how they receive it and not necessarily how you intended it. And on Sunday, prior to the second allegation by Amy Lappos, Bernie Sanders said he had no reason to doubt Lucy Floress allegation, and that he was not sure that one incident alone disqualifies anybody. (According to Axios, some of Bidens advisers believe Sanders is at least partly behind the anti-Biden campaign.)

Kirsten Gillibrand weighed in with a little more force, although she stopped short of calling the Flores allegation disqualifying: Lucy Flores felt demeaned and thats never okay. And if vice-president Biden decides to run for president this is something hes going to have to address directly with the American people. Other Democratic senators, like Dianne Feinstein and Joe Manchin, defended the former VP. Feinstein called Biden a warm, tactile person. He reaches out and he touches and its like this and that. Its hardly sexy. Feinstein claimed its a new thing that people have been affronted by it. Over 25 years Ive never seen that before.

Its unclear how the additional allegations will change senators responses to Bidens behavior, or how it will affect Bidens own response. On Sunday, responding to Flores, Biden said in a statement: In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once  never  did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.China has casually created another crisis over who controls Pagasa Island. The Chinese have put a record number of ships around the island, most of them Chinese fishing boats pretending to be fishing but in reality members of the Chinese naval militia which is being used in unprecedented numbers. China insists it has not ordered its naval militia fishing boats to physically block Filipino commercial or military ship from getting to Pagasa. As a result of this it has become more difficult for Filipino fishing boats to operate in areas they had long worked. China has been threatening to cut off access to Pagasa since 2014 but has never followed through, possibly because the Philippines has often stationed a warship off Pagasa. China claims ownership, despite Pagasa being closer to the Philippines than China and long occupied by Filipinos. Also called Thitu Island, Pagasa is the second-largest (37.2 hectares/93 acres) of the Spratly Islands and is inhabited by 200 Filipinos civilians and a few military personnel. Filipinos have lived on the island since 1956 and there has been a Filipino military presence there since 1970. China has been increasingly belligerent about its claims to Pagasa and threatens to take it back by force. After 2014 Chinese military and civilian ships were showing up near Pagasa with increasing frequency and sometimes the Chinese vessels tried (by getting in the way) to prevent non-Chinese vessels from getting too close to the island. The Philippines often has a coast guard boat off the island (which is 480 kilometers from the nearest Filipino territory China does not claim) and that provides the possibility of a violent military encounter. On days that supplies are being delivered to Pagasa China often has more than 80 ships in the area. The Filipino coast guard has a lot of other areas to watch and cannot really afford to maintain a major presence off Pagasa and the Chinese know it.

Many Chinese fishing ships are part of an unofficial but organized and paid naval militia. The Chinese maintain this force with subsidies (for building new fishing boats) and assurances that the Navy will assist Chinese fishermen in gaining access to foreign fishing areas and exclusive use of fishing grounds in international waters. The fishing boats are the most numerous and aggressive component of this militia. Overall the militia appears to consist of several hundred fishing and coastal cargo vessels. There are a hundred or so larger civilian ships, mostly ocean-going fishing trawlers, as well. The naval militia openly functions as a government supported organization and has headquarters in southern China. Any foreign criticism of the Chinese naval militia elicits only denials from the Chinese government.

President Duterte continues supporting the China wants to be a friend angle because he has not got the military resources to oppose Chinese aggression with any degree of success. Filipino legislators are complaining that their government seems unable to do anything about the Chinese aggression. Filipino and American diplomatic officials are still trying to decide what constitutes an attack that would trigger the mutual defense treaty. China is well aware of that and as is their custom the Chinese are avoiding any direct violence. This is a potentially dangerous game but so far the Chinese have been successful at it. Until the Americans agree that the Chinese aggression has triggered the mutual defense treaty the Philippines has no option other than trying to be friendly with China while documenting the growing acts of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

NPA Fades

In the north (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces) 45 members of the NPA (the illegal armed wing of the local Communist Party) have surrendered and accepted amnesty. Nineteen of those who gave up were women. The NPA depends on extortion, theft and other criminal activity to survive. This is causing much anger and protest in areas where the NPA still operates for the good of the people. Yet the NPA can no longer do much political work when their very survival is at risk. The government is trying, without much success, to negotiate a peace deal with the NPA. The leadership, as well as the commanders of various armed factions, are split on a peace agreement and most are continuing to operate (fighting and stealing). The NPA, to most Filipinos, have become bandits with a veneer of communist ideology to justify their crimes. The banditry option is not working well enough to assure the long-term survival of the organization. This can also be seen when factions run short of money. Those factions begin to suffer from desertions. The army will grant amnesty to NPA members who surrender, especially if they bring their weapons and some useful information with them. Information on the locations of NPA camps or weapons storage sites is useful. The fact that more NPA camps are being attacked and weapons storage sites seized indicates that NPA is losing secrets as well as people and popular support. Some NPA leaders feel this is all a temporary setback and that a peace deal would enable a revitalized Philippines Communist Party to become a major political power. These delusions make negotiating a peace deal more difficult. Meanwhile, the NPA has become a major source of criminal (as opposed to Islamic terrorist) activity in the country. Most of the NPA senior leadership live in Europe and are considered somewhat out of touch with the reality of what the NPA has become in the Philippines.

Drug Data

The National Police reported that since the war on drugs began three years ago nearly 1.5 million drug addicts have turned themselves in and the crime rate has declined 30 percent. Nearly 70 percent of Filipinos approve of the anti-drug effort mainly because their villages or neighborhoods are either free of drug activity or that such activity is much reduced. The illegal drug trade still exists but the ability to obtain so much information on drug operations over such a short period of time has provided previously unknown insights into the operations and extent of the illegal drug trade. Interviews of the drug users plus the enormous quantity of drug distribution documents seized, along with unprecedented quantities of illegal drugs themselves have revealed that the drug trade was much more extensive and entrenched than realized. It also became clear that the Philippines had such a large drug problem because it is an island nation or, rather, a nation of many islands. This makes it easier for drug smugglers to get their illegal product into the country. For that reason the coast guard and coastal security in general, are receiving more attention.

April 2, 2019: The government has sent a diplomatic protest to China over the more than 200 Chinese vessels surrounding Pagasa Island in an effort to prevent Filipino fishing boats, of Filipino ships of any sort, from operating there.

March 31, 2019: In the south (Negros Oriental), troops and police encountered resistance when they sought to use several search warrants to seek illegal weapon and ammo believed hidden in homes of NPA members or sympathizers. The searches recovered 51 firearms or explosive devices. Fourteen suspects were arrested and 14 were killed in gun battles.

March 29, 2019: In the north (Mountain province), police clashed with armed NPA rebels. One policeman was killed and one wounded.

March 28, 2019: The government reported that, so far this year, over 600 different Chinese ships (mainly navy, coast guard or naval militia) have been spotted off Pagasa Island, some of them showing up more than once. Currently, there are over 200 of these ships anchored or slowly moving around Pegasa.

March 25, 2019: In the south (Sulu province), marines clashed with a group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen and in a series of clashes over the last 24 hours three of the Islamic terrorists were killed. The marines were searching for hostages Abu Sayyaf was believed to be holding in the area.

March 21, 2019: A group of Filipino fishing boat operators, backed by some former government officials, are preparing a lawsuit to put before the ICC (International Criminal Court), which the Philippines no longer recognizes. President Duterte announced in March 2018 that the Philippines was withdrawing from the ICC, a process that takes a year to become final and as of March 17th the process was complete. This is in response to UN members persuading the ICC to investigate the Philippines for its war on drugs and what some UN members are calling crimes against humanity. Filipino critics of the war on drugs back the continued ICC investigation and possible prosecution of senior government officials, including Duterte. Therefore the current ICC complaint against China is being pursued by Filipino citizens and not the Filipino government. All this is more about publicity and obtaining more foreign support against China. In response to that China has been using cash, threats and other incentives to gain international support for its South China Sea operation. So far that is working for China.

March 19, 2019: In the south (Sulu province), soldiers killed two veteran Abu Sayyaf members, one of them a notorious organizer of kidnapping operations. During the clash several other Abu Sayyaf gunmen escaped.

March 17, 2019: In the south (Maguindanao province), soldiers seized two more BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) camps in remote areas. While these camps were taken at least three Islamic terrorists were killed and some of those who fled were wounded. One camp contained several powerful bombs that had been recently assembled. BIFF has been under constant attack since September 2018. This is an effort to eliminate BIFF presence in Mindanao (where most BIFF members are). Over a hundred BIFF men have died so far and many others died of wounds or deserted. Along the way, the army had found many BIFF camps including one with a bomb workshop and several others with evidence that bomb-building had taken place. Also found were ammo and weapons supplies as well as military equipment and documents. What was not found by early 2019 was much evidence of BIFF members. When the army planned this offensive they believed there were as many as 400 BIFF members in the area of operations and had set no end date on the eradication campaign. The object was to destroy BIFF presence on Mindanao Island (including Maguindanao province) and captured documents and prisoner interrogations indicated that this was a possibility. But the reality is the BIFF are hardcore and consider themselves a branch of ISIL. BIFF has become a magnet for many Filipino Moslems who are unhappy with the Bangsamoro Moslem autonomy agreement and believe it does not go far enough (ISIL believes that all Filipinos should be Moslems). The BIFF camps captured since March 9th showed evidence of at least foreign Islamic terrorists still operating with BIFF. Captured BIFF members confirm that the foreign Islamic terrorists are still around and some of them are described as Arabs. So far this month over twenty BIFF men have been killed or captured.

March 11, 2019: In the south (Lanao del Sur province), troops clashed with about 20 ISIL gunmen and killed most of them while losing four soldiers. One of the dead may be Abu Dar, the local ISIL leader. DNA is being checked to confirm this. If the dead man is Abu Dar it is very bad news for ISIL. The local ISIL franchise consists of personnel from the Maute Group, BIFF and Abu Sayyaf. This Filipino branch is still trying to recruit and replace heavy losses it took during 2017 when ISIL forces sought to take the city of Marawi. That led to a major ISIL defeat and the loss of most of the senior leadership of all three factions. These three groups did manage to steal a lot of cash from banks in Marawi and that is being used, without much success, to entice new recruits. What discourages new recruits is the fact that most of the ISIL men who went off to capture Marawi in 2017 died there. In addition, the army is still very active in the areas where ISIL is seeking recruits. The clash today was the result of tips from local civilians. Many of the ISIL dead were in pieces because the army called in airstrikes to hit the fleeing Islamic terrorists.

March 10, 2019: In the south (Lanao del Sur province), police killed a local ISIL member who was also active as a drug dealer. Apparently, many of the local drug dealers were Islamic terrorists seeking ways to raise money to finance more terror attacks.Question:

How long did the Battle of Franklin last?

John Bell Hood:

John Bell Hood was born in Kentucky, and despite his father's desires, he went to West Point, graduating near the last of his class. As a calvary officer, he was sent to Texas to fight the Native Americans, and when Texas seceded from the Union, he resigned his Union commission and joined the Confederate Army in Texas. He rose quickly through the ranks because of his aggressive behavior on the field, and he was wounded at Gettysburg and Chickamauga.

Answer and Explanation:Yale University

At Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, students can enroll in the MFA program and pursue photography as their selected study area. This program requires the completion of a total of 60 credit hours, of which 42 must be completed within the student's selected concentration. These 42 credits consist of studio and critique courses, as well courses that cover topics like issues in contemporary photography. Of the remaining 18 credits, students must take 6 credits from departments outside the art school. According to the 2016 rankings of U.S. News and World Report Best Photography Schools, the Yale program ranked first.

University of New Mexico

Another solid option for students is the MFA program in fine arts offered at the University of New Mexico, in which students can specialize in the area of photography. In this program, which takes a total of three years, students will complete 60 total credit hours. Of these hours, 18 are elective credits and 24 are studio courses in the student's chosen specialty. The remaining hours are completed through art history courses and the final dissertation project. This project requires that students give a public talk and take a final examination, as monitored by their advising committee.

School of Art Institute Chicago

Another highly-regarded MFA program in photography is offered by the School of Art Institute Chicago and requires that students complete a total of 60 credit hours. Twelve of these credits are completed through art history courses and nine are completed through elective courses. Students spend the majority of the program taking studio courses within their chosen discipline. Additionally, students must participate in four graduate critiques, which take place over a week-long period during each of the four semesters of the program.

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester Institute of Technology offers a top-ranking photography MFA program in the state of New York. Students in this program will complete a total of 60 credit hours over the span of the two-year program. During the first year, students will take studio courses to refine their photography skills, in addition to courses that cover the history of photography as well student-chosen electives. The second year is more research-oriented and culminates in the completion of a master's thesis, which entails an exhibition and artistic statement that explains the thesis project. Students who are accepted to this program also may be granted graduate assistantships, and all students in the program receive some sort of scholarship assistance.

University of California Los Angeles

In the MFA program that offers a specialization in photography at the University of California Los Angeles, students must complete a total of 72 quarter-credits in order to fulfill the requirements. Of these, students will complete at least 24 credits in photography-specific courses if they choose this specialization. Students also complete required coursework in topics like art history, art critiques, and art seminars. As part of the comprehensive exam, students take part in a final exhibition of photographic works.The legendary composer Richard Wagner's grandson, painter and visual artist Antoine Wagner is in Yerevan.

On April 6, the well-known artist will display his works within Are Performing Arts Festival in the Armenian National Gallery, inspired by the Vardges Sureniants' painting Ara the Beautiful. The artist on Wednesday told reporters about his works, as well as responded to NEWS.am STYLE's questions.

German Ambassador to Armenia Matthias Kiesler was also present at the press conference, and expressed his gratitude for involving German artists in the Armenian festival. "The German side is very happy and aware that this year Germany is the center of the festival. Within the festival, events will be held till June. We are glad that German artists will also take part in them. One of them is Antoine Wagner, the envoy said.

"It is a great honor for me to present my works at the National Gallery of Armenia. I focused on Vardges Sureniants Ara the Beautiful painting. This painting will be presented through various combinations of techniques and art, including voice, video, etc, he said.

The artist told NEWS.am STYLE that this is his second visit to Armenia. "Six weeks ago I received a suggestion to visit Armenia and present my art. Because I attach great importance to nature, views, it's a special theme for me, he said expressing hope that he will have time to travel around in Armenia, and see the well-known Lake Sevan and other beautiful scenes.

Asked to comment how much he was influenced by Richard Wagners works, he said: "It's a very good question, but it's hard for me to answer it. I also create through the opera and I think the view developed by Richard Wagner that complete art is an ongoing concept of continuous movement is also felt in my works, the artist concluded.

Syune Arakelyan

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and InstagramMembership with the Damascus Chamber of Commerce has fallen nearly 50 percent since last year, which has affected the Chamber's revenues writes Al-Watan.

The director of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, Amer Kharboutli, announced that the number of members and payers of their annual fees in the chamber had decreased from 9,789 traders in the period from 8/1/2018 to 28/2/2018 to 5,232 during the same period in the current yearthat is, a decrease of 46.55 percent, meaning that 4,557 traders had not renewed their membership. As a result, its revenues dropped to 36 million Syrian pounds this year, from 121.7 million pounds last year.

Kharboutli said that the decision, which stipulated that traders register with the chamber before they gained a commercial registry was a very positive decision and that it had created a significant boost to the chambers revenues at one point, but that today there was a notable decline. He added that it may be possible to avoid this decline to some extent by offering new services, including training, activities and certificates of origin, in an attempt to fix this decline and for the chamber to remain representative of the majority of traders of various segments, levels and activities.

According to the Trade Law in Syria, and as part of instructions from the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection, everyone who practices commercial activities whether they are wholesale, retail, import, export, tenders or general trading, and even industry and services that fall within the concept of commercial activity, needs a commercial registry, and to have a commercial registry, they need to register with the Chamber of Commerce.

Kharboutli said that there were some traders who had not obtained a commercial registry and they were subject to the penalty of law because of the violation. He said that the necessary measures for the commercial registry were not difficult, nor was registry in social insurance. But without, it could make it difficult for individual business, such as shops and retailers, to have an employee or worker.

He said that the number of members had increased last March compared with January and February, which resulted in the chambers revenues continuing to rise. This was due to the ability of many traders to register their workers for insurance and to obtain the necessary documents. The other reason was the one-stop service and followup office by chamber employees who go to the social insurance to register the traders workers without additional costs. He said that there was a process to facilitate registering employees and workers for social insurance, and that at the start of the year there were difficulties due to the surprise factor for traders of needing to register for social insurance to enable them to obtain the commercial registry.

Kharboutli said that the number of members in the chamber was not expected to reach the same numbers as last year by the end of this year, and that a loss of between 30-40 percent was anticipated.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.The Head of the Czech Parliamentary Group for Friendship with Syria, has accused France and Belgium of collaborating with Jabhat al-Nusra reports SANA.

Head of the Czech Parliamentary Group for Friendship with Syria, Stanislav Grospic, condemned the collusion of the French and Belgian secret services with the terrorist groups and the White Helmets to stage a new provocative chemical attack in Idleb.

Grospic, in a statement to SANAs correspondent in Prague on Tuesday, said that the intelligence services of these two states had previously organized such provocations in cooperation and coordination with the terrorist groups Jabhat al-Nusra and Hurras Eddin, which is totally unacceptable.

He affirmed that such collusion is the latest evidence of the real intentions of the European states, and called on others to condemn the continued cooperation with terrorist organisations and the attempts to create fake situations that work against the Syrian Government.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.March proved to be a bloody month for civilians in Syria, with hundreds dying in attacks committed by all parties of the conflict writes the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented the deaths of at least 334 civilians in the country during March, most of them at the hands of the regime and its allies.

The civilians who were killed include 85 children and 63 women, as well as two media staff members, and two Civil Defense members, who were documented to have been killed by the main parties to the conflict.

Regarding the groups implicated in these operations, the report said that: 78 civilians were killed by regime forces, including 24 children and 13 women, while Russian forces killed 76 civilians, including 13 children and eight women.

International Coalition bombardments killed nine civilians, including one child and one woman. The report said 119 civilians, including 36 children and 40 women were killed by other parties.

It said that the, victims included two Civil Defense members, one of whom was killed during a regime artillery bombardment, while the other was killed by Russian bombardment.

The victims included, two media staff, one of them killed by regime forces, while another was killed during Russian airstrikes.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.The al-Omar and al-Tank oil fields are pumping up huge amounts of oil on a daily basis, which is then sold or smuggled across the country writes The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned from several reliable sources that on a daily basis, the al-Omar and al-Tank oil fields are pumping a total of 20,000 barrels from five wells named after families and people who used to control them after the regime lost the control of the area. The wells have been named: Abou Loqman, Abou Shawarib, Abou Naylunah, al-Bashar and Abou Jamrah. The sources confirmed that some of the barrels or tankers, known as al-Hout (the whale), can hold 100 barrels, while others, known as al-Dudah (the worm), can hold more than 200 barrels.

The value of the barrel is about 7,000 Syrian pounds. Reliable sources have confirmed that some of the oil is sold by the oil refiners, who operate east of the Euphrates and in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Some of the oil is sold to areas controlled by the regime forces and to regime refineries, where tankers that operate under the name al-Qaterji (run by MP Muhammad al-Qaterji, who is on the US sanctions), transports hundred of thousands of barrels per day.

Civilians have also invested in the oil fields, especially the elders from Deir ez-Zor province and east of the Euphrates. Here the investment process works for 24 hours, in exchange for a fixed amount of around three million Syrian pounds, sometimes more, depending on the well and its activity.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also learned from reliable sources that the pumping operations at the al-Tank and al-Omar well are automated, without the need for tools and equipment as happens in other fields such as the al-Meleh Field and the al-Azraq Field which contains 14 wells.

There are fears that fraud is being committed during the filling process. Tankers are now weighed when they are empty, and again when they are filled, to ensure accuracy. Sources have also confirmed that the SDF are tightening their guard on the fields and wells, and impose a fine of up to 2,000 dollars on anyone caught stealing oil.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has seen a video of the processes of smuggling crude oil and its derivatives, from the areas controlled by the SDF, east of the Euphrates, towards the regime controlled areas, and it being bought by a businessmen who is loyal to the regime and its supporters and who is under European sanctions.

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 likely new justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Brian Hagedorn, left, believes that homosexual intercourse and bestiality are legally indistinguishable. Photo: John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP

In Wisconsins gubernatorial race last year, Democrat Tony Evers defeated Scott Walker by one percent statewide  but won a majority of votes in only 36 of the states 99 Assembly districts. That same night, Democratic candidates won 53 percent of all ballots cast for the state Assembly, even as Republicans won a 27-seat majority in that body.

How gerrymandering worked in Wisconsin in 2018. Via @maddow. pic.twitter.com/vZmc6kjZed  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 4, 2018

In other words: The 2018 midterms confirmed that the GOP has gerrymandered Wisconsins electoral maps so aggressively, it will be essentially impossible for the Democratic Party to gain control of that (purple) states legislature until its maps are redrawn.

This point was not lost on the Wisconsin GOP. Immediately following Everss victory, Republicans convened a special legislative session to transfer powers from the popularly elected branch of government that Democrats had just won to the undemocratically elected branch that the GOP couldnt lose.

These developments forced Wisconsin Democrats to confront a harrowing possibility: that their triumph in the governors race would not stop the GOP from locking up the state legislature for another decade. In 2021, Wisconsin will redraw all its electoral maps to comport with the new census. And Evers will have the power to veto any gerrymander the legislature enacts. But Republicans could reject that veto, and bring a lawsuit claiming that the legislature has authority over redistricting. And if the conservative majority on Wisconsins Supreme Court buys that argument  just as it bought the GOPs case for the constitutionality of voter-ID laws and union-busting measures (that likely cost Democrats the Badger State in 2016)  then it will be game over. And Democrats will be all but incapable of governing Wisconsin before 2030.

But there was one way out of this maddening impasse. In 2019 and 2020, Wisconsin would hold Supreme Court elections. And if liberal judges could win both those contests  which would be settled by the good old-fashioned popular vote  then Democrats would ensure their influence over redistricting. And not only that: A liberal State Supreme Court could also roll back the GOP legislatures power grab, its various voter-suppression efforts, and perhaps even its assault on collective-bargaining rights.

Whats more, liberals were in prime position to win the 2020 Supreme Court election, as it would be held the same day as the states presidential primaries  when Democrats are expected to turn out in far larger numbers than Republicans, since their partys nomination will be hotly contested, while Donald Trump is all but certain to win renomination in a cakewalk.

So, to liberate Wisconsin from anti-democratic rule, all Democrats really had to worry about was winning this years Supreme Court election. And in a rare stroke of luck, Wisconsin conservatives managed to rally behind a reactionary judge so extreme, two of the GOPs most reliable donors  the states Chamber of Commerce and Realtors Association  could not bring themselves to support him. Specifically, Judge Brian Hagedorn had written that the NAACP was a disgrace to America, and that homosexual intercourse should be a criminal offense because the idea that homosexual behavior is different than bestiality as a constitutional matter is unjustifiable. The judge had also recently cofounded a K-8 Christian school in the Milwaukee suburbs that does not allow LGBT teachers, students, or parents on its campus.

His liberal counterpart, Wisconsin Court of Appeals chief justice Lisa Neubauer, had no similar baggage. And she had a commanding advantage in fundraising for most the race. Some conservative groups resigned themselves to her victory weeks before Tuesdays election.

So, a lot of Wisconsin Democrats are suffering from a bad case of 2016 deja vu this morning:

The Wisconsin Supreme Court race that liberals needed to win to have a shot at taking majority control of the court next year appeared headed for a recount, with the conservative candidate declaring victory while holding a narrow lead following Tuesdays election.

 Conservative Brian Hagedorn, who was Walkers chief legal counsel for five years, led liberal-backed Lisa Neubauer by 5,911 votes out of 1.2 million cast, based on unofficial results. That is a difference of about 0.49 percentage point, close enough for Neubauer to request a recount but she would have to pay for it.

Hagedorn declared victory early Wednesday morning.

Its conceivable that a recount could throw the election to Neubauer (so conceivable, Republicans are already laying the groundwork for delegitimizing such a result). But, for the moment, it appears that, while we were all debating a presidential primary thats still ten months away, many progressives slept through an immensely consequential  and, by most accounts, easily winnable  election against a reactionary bigot in Wisconsin (again).A less expensive option that will also give you Twiggy-esque bottom lashes is this mascara from M.A.C Cosmetics. Makeup artist Jill Powell calls it the best mascara for bottom lashes because of its very small brush, which allows you to get tiny lashes with ease. She adds that its also smudgeproof, so you dont have to worry about having raccoon eyes by the end of the day.

For Lori Leib, who now works as the creative director of Bodyography, this mascara is another option for those lucky folks with long lashes, since a long-wear and dry formula works best, as it will stop mascara transfer from lashes to the under eyes and brow bone. She also points out its small brush as well that will get to the root of lashes. DeBen likes this mascara for its ability to separate lashes and keep them from clumping together. I use this for a natural look and brush the lashes after I apply it for the illusion of a makeup-free face, she says.Researchers in MIT's Open Agriculture Initiative grow basil under controlled environmental conditions to study how taste and other features are affected. Credit: Melanie Gonick

What goes into making plants taste good? For scientists in MIT's Media Lab, it takes a combination of botany, machine-learning algorithms, and some good old-fashioned chemistry.

Using all of the above, researchers in the Media Lab's Open Agriculture Initiative report that they have created basil plants that are likely more delicious than any you have ever tasted. No genetic modification is involved: The researchers used computer algorithms to determine the optimal growing conditions to maximize the concentration of flavorful molecules known as volatile compounds.

But that is just the beginning for the new field of "cyber agriculture," says Caleb Harper, a principal research scientist in MIT's Media Lab and director of the OpenAg group. His group is now working on enhancing the human disease-fighting properties of herbs, and they also hope to help growers adapt to changing climates by studying how crops grow under different conditions.

"Our goal is to design open-source technology at the intersection of data acquisition, sensing, and machine learning, and apply it to agricultural research in a way that hasn't been done before," Harper says. "We're really interested in building networked tools that can take a plant's experience, its phenotype, the set of stresses it encounters, and its genetics, and digitize that to allow us to understand the plant-environment interaction."

In their study of basil plants, which appears in the April 3 issue of PLOS ONE, the researchers found, to their surprise, that exposing plants to light 24 hours a day generated the best flavor. Traditional agricultural techniques would never have yielded that insight, says John de la Parra, the research lead for the OpenAg group and an author of the study.

"You couldn't have discovered this any other way. Unless you're in Antarctica, there isn't a 24-hour photoperiod to test in the real world," he says. "You had to have artificial circumstances in order to discover that."

Harper and Risto Miikkulainen, a professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, are the senior authors of the paper. Arielle Johnson, a director's fellow at the Media Lab, and Elliot Meyerson of Cognizant Technology Solutions are the lead authors, and Timothy Savas, a special projects assistant at the Open Agriculture Initiative, is also an author.

Maximizing flavor

Located in a warehouse in Middleton, Massachusetts, the OpenAg plants are grown in shipping containers that have been retrofitted so that environmental conditions, including light, temperature, and humidity, can be carefully controlled.

This kind of agriculture has many namescontrolled environmental agriculture, vertical farming, urban farmingand is still a niche market, but is growing fast, Harper says. In Japan, one such "plant factory" produces hundreds of thousands of heads of lettuce every week. However, there have also been many failed efforts, and there is very little sharing of information between companies working to develop these types of facilities.

One goal of the MIT initiative is to overcome that kind of secrecy, by making all of the OpenAg hardware, software, and data freely available.

"There is a big problem right now in the agricultural space in terms of lack of publicly available data, lack of standards in data collection, and lack of data sharing," Harper says. "So while machine learning and artificial intelligence and advanced algorithm design have moved so fast, the collection of well-tagged, meaningful agricultural data is way behind. Our tools being open-source, hopefully they will get spread faster and create the ability to do networked science together."

MIT Open Agriculture research lead John de la Parra, left, and director Caleb Harper, right. Credit: Melanie Gonick

In the PLOS ONE study, the MIT team set out to demonstrate the feasibility of their approach, which involves growing plants under different sets of conditions in hydroponic containers that they call "food computers." This setup allowed them to vary the light duration and the duration of exposure to ultraviolet light. Once the plants were full-grown, the researchers evaluated the taste of the basil by measuring the concentration of volatile compounds found in the leaves, using traditional analytical chemistry techniques such as gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. These molecules include valuable nutrients and antioxidants, so enhancing flavor can also offer health benefits.

All of the information from the plant experiments was then fed into machine-learning algorithms that the MIT and Cognizant (formerly Sentient Technologies) teams developed. The algorithms evaluated millions of possible combinations of light and UV duration, and generated sets of conditions that would maximize flavor, including the 24-hour daylight regime.

Moving beyond flavor, the researchers are now working on developing basil plants with higher levels of compounds that could help to combat diseases such as diabetes. Basil and other plants are known to contain compounds that help control blood sugar, and in previous work, de la Parra has shown that these compounds can be boosted by varying environmental conditions.

The researchers are now studying the effects of tuning other environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, and the color of light, as well as the effects of adding plant hormones or nutrients. In one study, they are exposing plants to chitosan, a polymer found in insect shells, which makes the plant produce different chemical compounds to ward off the insect attack.

They are also interested in using their approach to increase yields of medicinal plants such as the Madagascar periwinkle, which is the only source of the anticancer compounds vincristine and vinblastine.

"You can see this paper as the opening shot for many different things that can be applied, and it's an exhibition of the power of the tools that we've built so far," de la Parra says. "This was the archetype for what we can now do on a bigger scale."

Climate adaptation

Another important application for cyber agriculture, the researchers say, is adaptation to climate change. While it usually takes years or decades to study how different conditions will affect crops, in a controlled agricultural environment, many experiments can be done in a short period of time.

"When you grow things in a field, you have to rely on the weather and other factors to cooperate, and you have to wait for the next growing season," de la Parra says. "With systems like ours, we can vastly increase the amount of knowledge that can be gained much more quickly."

The OpenAg team is currently performing one such study on hazelnut trees for candy manufacturer Ferrero, which consumes about 25 percent of the world's hazelnuts.

As part of their educational mission, the researchers have also developed small "personal food computers"boxes that can be used to grow plants under controlled conditions and send data back to the MIT team. These are now used by many high school and middle school students in the United States, among a network of diverse users spread across 65 countries, who can share their ideas and results via an online forum.

"For us, each box is a point of data which we're very interested in getting, but it's also a platform of experimentation for teaching environmental science, coding, chemistry, and math in a new way," Harper says.

Explore further First steps to understanding biochemistry of how plants detect odorsThe OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress.

Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions.

Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs.9 hours ago

How Much Higher Can Broadcom Go?

Double-Digit Gains In Store For Broadcom With shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) up sharply in the wake of the Q4 earnings and Q1 guidance investors and traders alike are surely wondering how much higher can the stock go? Based on our assessment of the report, the market fundamentals, and the chart we think this stock could go a lot higher.

Read ArticleIndian Army built the longest suspension bridge over Indus river in Leh in just 40 days, making a record of its own. Named Maitri Bridge, the construction of the bridge was undertaken by the combat engineers of 'Sahas aur Yogyata' regiment of 'Fire and Fury Corps' of the Indian Army. The bridge is built using around 500 tonnes of bridge equipment and construction material.

The 260-feet long bridge is likely to give a major boost to connectivity in remote areas in Ladakh. The cable suspension bridge that has been opened for the public was constructed to help the residents of Choglamsar, Stok and Chuchot villages, which are the largest villages in the Ladakh region, according to a report in Financial Express.

The bridge was inaugurated on Monday in the presence of senior war veterans from Ladakh region along with Lt Gen YK Joshi, AVSM, VrC, SM and General Officer Commanding 'Fire and Fury Corps', reported the daily.

The central government had emphasised on building an all-weather road connectivity in the region. An all-weather road was built from Manali to Ladakh via Zanskar in Kargil last year. Similarly, the work for the Zojila tunnel, which is Asia's longest, has also been started. These projects were part of the Rs 25,000 crore projects allocated by the Centre for the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Last year, in June 2018, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened a vital 35-meter bridge in the Ladakh region to ease vehicular movement to the base camp of Siachen Glacier, which is the world's highest battlefield.

(Edited by: Nehal Solanki)

Also read: Construction of her statues in UP represent "will of the people", Mayawati tells SC

Also read: India, Ukraine discuss ways to boost bilateral trade, investmentsWe've talked before about prosopagnosia, the condition also known as face blindness. People who have it lack the normal human ability to recognize other people visually. The example I always think of is Oliver Sacks, the late great writer on neurology. When Dr. Sacks would go to a restaurant to meet his assistant of ten years for lunch, she had to raise her hand so he'd know which table she was athe couldn't recognize her.

Turns out there's an opposite conditiona small number of people are so-called "super recognizers," sometimes used by police departments to identify faces in difficult conditions. They have the ability to recognize abnormally large numbers of people from clues and levels of familiarity too subtle for most of us. Even with the burgeoning use of face-detection technology for many uses (some legitimate, some worrying), "you always need someone at the end to confirm it," said Kenny Long, a former super recognizer with the London Metropolitan Police, as quoted in this article at c|net.

Back in photo-land, many Sony cameras (and maybe other brands, I don't know) have also become "super recognizers" of a sort. The feature first called Face Detection and more recently known as Eye Autofocus (Eye AF), has developed to a remarkable degree in recent models such as the super-speedy Sony A9. Here's a Sony page giving instructions for using eye autofocus in many Sony cameras. I saw a video that "tested" or demonstrated eye AF with the Sony A7rIII that impressed me a lotin one situation, Stuart James was able to shoot a model through foliage and the camera zeroed right in on the model's eyes, where most cameras' AF would have been fooled. I'd think it would be a feature of great interest to dedicated portraitists and fashion photographers.

Dr. Sacks' book that includes his reflections on seeing and visual perception, and in which he discusses his prosopagnosia, is called Mind's Eye. Dr. Sacks was portrayed by Robin Williams in the remarkable movie Awakenings with Robert De Niro.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(Not) everything must fade away

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)

Featured Comments from:

Joe Holmes: "My son apparently has mild prosopagnosiato this day he rarely greets anyone by name, thanks to the odds that he's wrong or simply doesn't know if he's ever met them before. But it seems that the genes he lacks all accumulated in my daughter, who may be a super-recognizer. She'll spot a minor actor from a film she saw one time years earlier, and she's always right. It's like perfect pitch in a way."

(A regular reader and commenter): "I did an online test a few years ago that strongly suggested I am a super-recogniser. It's something I've always known I am significantly better than average at, and it has occasionally led to almost a precognitive experience where I know I am going to bump into someone in a few moments because, in fact, I've already seen them subconsciously in a crowd or at a distance out of the corner of my eye.

"But for me at least there appears to be something of a downside.

"I know of people who say they can, perhaps in times of stress when they need something to think about, imagine the face of a parent or friend and focus on it, hold it in their mind's eye, etc. I can't really do that. It's as if I am seeing stars at night but they disappear as soon as I look directly at them instead of out of the corner of my eye, or I am trying to hold too many marbles at once: I can't assemble the whole face in a way that is really stable, before it is lost. I know what they look like, and I can probably describe them bit by bit, but I cannot hold a still picture at all.

"I can visualise little parts of that facea smile, or eyesfor much longer periods of time, and as a result I seem to have learned a way to visualise people through their likely reaction to some news or a joke, and I remember interactions and emotions (in conjunction with my own). So I have to evoke little mental vignettes; I have strong emotional memories and I often describe people that way.

"As an aside, I'm also almost totally unable to remember someone's younger face if I know them as an older person. I'm not sure how uncommon that is.

"I'm not sure if this form of 'aphantasia' and super-recognising go together, or indeed whether my ability to imagine a face is really abnormally bad, but I do know which ability I'd prefer to have!"

Mike replies: That's very interesting. I might be something like the opposite of you. I'd say I'm on the low side of average when it comes to recognizing people. I even embarrassed myself with a neighbor for that reason a few years agoI met him about four times and each time asked him who he was. He took offense. But on the other hand I have a very stable memory for faces of people I know. In fact, a few years back I started to have age-related trouble with names (extremely common) and I started to fret about my memory (also very common in people of late middle age). But then I realized that when I thought of someone, the image of their face comes into my mind immediately. So it isn't my memory that's faulty, because my memory of faces of people I know is still instantaneous. It's just that the verbal name component is getting more difficult to collate with that visual memory.

Joshua Hawkins: "I've read a few posts just this morning about the new Sony 5.0 update and how it's helping sports photographers. It's huge for them. Shooting through nets, rackets and random objects between the camera and subject is just the norm for sports. This technology is really wonderful, if still young. I also really like face tracking, and especially the eye tracking, for doing editorial style work with 1.4 glass. It's really improving my hit rate on in focus shots. (I don't use Sony, but it's all the same idea between different manufacturers.)"

Tommy Williams: "I discovered that I have a well-above average ability to recognize faces when I worked at Microsoft, on the main campus, where there were more than 25,000 people present each day. I would greet people in hallways, cafeterias, and walking between buildings and many of them had no idea who I was. Rather than making people uncomfortable, I stopped greeting anyone who I suspected wouldn't recognize me."

Xf Mj: "Well okay, these made for a fun late afternoon: TestMyBrain: Super Recognizers and Face Memory Test. I always wondered...I do recall being remarkably bad at the color (shade? hue?) recognition thing you once posted."

Mike replies: Thanks for that, that was fun. I scored 61 out of 72 on the TestMyBrain one, average being 58.5 and average for my age cohort being 56.4. I'm a little surprised...I would have guessed that I was below average. It occurred to me that I might have done better if I had quickly assigned names to the six faces!If you want to use any photos on this blog please see this linkEver heard of Republic of Kiribati and Federated States of Micronesia? The two tiny countries in the Oceania region and the Central African Republic (CAR) have one thing in common. They are the only three members of the United Nations where an Indian ministerial contingent has not set its foot in the last five years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The prime minister himself visited 59 countries, some of them multiple times (for instance, he made five visits each to the US and China). If we include these multiple visits, the total come to 93. His predecessor, Manmohan Singh, had visited these many countries in 1o years.

Just after taking over as the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj launched the Brihad Sampark Yojana to connect with all UN member countries (192). Apart from trade ties, India looked forward to strategic engagement with many of these nations. Officials in the MEA told Business Today that irrespective of their size-geographically or economically-they have one vote at the United Nations. "India can't think of becoming a global player or power without reaching out to these countries," says the official.

Interestingly, Indian ministers did visit three sovereign nations-Palau, Nauru and Marshall Islands-among five that the region of Micronesia in Oceania encompasses. In January 2017, Telugu Desam Party's Y.S. Chowdhary, then MoS for Science and Technology, led the Indian contingent to be part of the oath-taking ceremony of President Remengesau. In 2018, the MoS Defence, Subhash Bhamre, went to Nauru as chief guest of the 50th anniversary of their Constitution Day celebrations. Later, in July and May same year, the then MoS at the HRD Ministry and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party MP Upendra Khuswaha visited Marshall Islands.

The war-torn and politically unstable CAR is still a work in progress. India started diplomatic conversation with this Francophone country in 2010; there have been four ministerial level visits from the CAR since then. India has interests in their uranium reserves, but officials say the visit couldn't be arranged largely because of the political instability.

MEA officials said absence of a ministerial visit to these nations does not mean India is not engaging with them. Both these countries-Kiribati and Micronesia-are part of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation.

In India, Ministry of Commerce as well as EXIM Bank are working out a strategy to look for trade opportunities in most of the new territories Indian ministers have started visiting. This includes countries in Africa, Latin and South America and the island nations in the Oceania region.

Also Read: Money for NYAY scheme will come from pockets of 'chor' businessmen, says Rahul Gandhi

Also Read: Jet Airways' international flights may get barred as fleet size reduces to less than 15Malka Leifer is facing possible extradition on 74 counts of suspected sexual abuse. She was the headmistress of an ultra-Orthodox girls school in Melbourne and fled to Israel in 2008

'There's a Hole in the System. Israel Became a Haven for Suspected Jewish Sex Offenders' The case of Malka Leifer, one of 65 suspected sexual offenders allegedly seeking refuge in Israel, has highlighted how Israeli law and the insular world of the ultra-Orthodox can at times shield them from justice, activists and prison officials tell Haaretz

Y. grew up the 13th of 14 children in a Hasidic family where money and parental attention were in short supply. He says that when he was 12, a rabbi who taught at his New York state yeshiva sexually abused him.





The trauma he still lives with began with the teacher buying him ice cream and later invitations home for lunch  seeming kindnesses that, Y. alleges, morphed into sexual abuse.





Years passed, but when he was 27, Y. (Haaretz is in possession of his real name) says he saw his alleged abuser again when he came to Y.s fathers shivah. Something snapped inside. Y., now 38, recalls feeling a surge of rage and approaching the rabbi. If I did not forget, you still remember, he recalls telling him.





When Y. then started making his allegations known within the community, he says the rabbi moved to Israel. Activists say the man eventually got a job in Jerusalem, again teaching boys, until they made the accusations against him public.





Also in New York state, A., 29, alleges that an older cousin started abusing him when he was 6 and the cousin was also a minor. The two were part of the Chabad community and in 2013, A. won a U.S. lawsuit against his cousin, who was ordered to pay him $3.5 million in damages. But A. says his alleged abuser immigrated to Israel after the decision, aided by some of their joint relatives and some members of the community, and the damages were never paid.





More than half of my life has included dealing with the fallout from what this person did to me, A. tells Haaretz. He never had to answer to anyone for the harm he inflicted on me and was protected by our community and even by members of my own immediate family. Despite this, and despite the pressure that has been placed on me to just move on, I took every step possible to get justice and Im proud of that decision  despite the steep price I paid for it."

One of Israels foundational laws is the Law of Return, which gives Jews the right to immigrate to Israel and become citizens  unless they are deemed a danger to Israeli society, security or the Jewish people. Israeli law, however, does not define what that means.





According to advocates for victims of child sex abuse, it is the exploitation of this law that has potentially made the country an unintentional haven for Jewish alleged sex offenders who flee here.





This issue of Israel becoming a haven, for those seeking citizenship or those who already have it, has taken center stage with the high-profile case of Malka Leifer . The headmistress of an ultra-Orthodox girls school in Melbourne fled to Israel in 2008 after allegations surfaced of her sexually abusing several of her female students. Leifer is facing possible extradition to Australia on 74 counts of suspected sexual abuse, including indecent assault of a minor and rape.

Malka Leifer is brought to a courtroom in Jerusalem

The Law of Return is basically why its so easy for people to come here, says Shana Aaronson, the chief operating officer of Jewish Community Watch  an advocacy group for victims of child sexual abuse everywhere in the Jewish world, with offices in the United States and Israel.





There is certainly more focus on whether or not the person is Jewish than there is on a possible criminal record, she charges, alleging that criminal background checks run on individuals looking to immigrate are not as thorough as they should be.





Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad tells Haaretz that, in order to act, Israel is reliant on information tipping it off about a potentially dangerous applicant for immigration, such as an alert by an international crime-fighting organization.





And if a convicted sex offender manages to immigrate to Israel, officials say there is no legal way for Israel to impose supervision  which would often be mandatory if they were still living in their home country  unless they are convicted of reoffending in Israel.





A hole in the system





Jewish Community Watch says Leifer and Y.s alleged abuser are among 65 people in the last decade, most of them either ultra-Orthodox or Orthodox Jews , who they know fled to Israel. They were either already Israeli citizens, began the immigration process here, or came and stayed here on tourist visas. Though they say it is impossible to be precise about the number of convicted or alleged child sex offenders seeking refuge in Israel, they believe about half of those 65 faced criminal charges concerning sexual abuse of children or have seen proceedings started against them in their home countries. The other half have been accused by alleged victims but not prosecuted.





However, the Jewish Agency, which helps facilitate the aliyah process for many potential immigrants, counters that its staff conducts what it calls extensive background research on applicants. Every year, it says, cases are found where some of the applicants have lied and their applications rejected, although it could not say precisely how many were found to be lying in any specific year.





The Israeli police do not keep data on such alleged child sex offenders, making it nearly impossible to verify their number.





Aaronson says that of those alleged offenders who have faced criminal proceedings, some have served time and others took plea deals that included parole time in their home country or state  where they were supposed to be monitored by local police under the terms of their probation.

It is illegal for those on parole to leave their country of residence. Others, as a condition of their release or plea deal, may have been ordered to be registered on a sex offenders list. However, according to Aaronson, as long as registered sex offenders provide a forwarding address, they are legally allowed to move.





The problem is the forwarding address given in Israel in such cases is never accurate, in my experience, she says. And the U.S. Registry is powerless to enforce that in Israel, because its beyond its jurisdiction.





When any such individual is in Israel, the Israel Prison Service (which oversees parolees) says there is no monitoring unless the person is convicted of a crime in the Jewish state. If the individual was never a prisoner in our system, there is no supervision, prison service spokesman Assaf Librati tells Haaretz. Its a hole in the system  and its truly problematic.









READ MUCH MORE:

AJK cabinet approved to compensate victims from Indian shelling at LoC

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) cabinet on Tuesday granted approval to amendments in a law to ensure enhanced compensation for loss of lives and moveable and immovable properties in Indian shelling from across the Line of Control (LoC).



The amendments to the AJK Ceasefire Line Incidents Relief Act were approved in the light of the recommendations made by a committee headed by Minister for Communication and Works Chaudhry Mohammad Aziz and comprising Minister for Revenue Sardar Farooq Sikandar and senior member of Board of Revenue Fayyaz Ali Abbasi.



The cabinet meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, decided that Rs1 million would be given to the family of each martyr at the LoC, against Rs300,000 being currently given.



Similarly, Rs800,000 would be given for permanent disability, Rs300,000 for grievous injury, Rs40,000 for simple injury, Rs50,000 for tenants business goods, Rs90,000 for loss of camel, Rs50,000 for loss of buffalo, cow or horse, Rs40,000 for loss of mule or donkey, Rs15,000 for loss of sheep or goat and Rs50,000 for loss of household accessories.The top sale this week on Sedo was AppleGreen.com for 50,000 Euros or $56,005.

The domain still points to Sedo parking page but when I checked the whois on DomainIQ all the info is redacted for GDPR except for the country and that shows IE, (Ireland). There is a website at applegreen.ie.

Well that leads me to believe that the Irish company that brought a UDRP against the domain owner back in 2013 had to pay up.

Back in 2013 Petrogas Group Ltd brought a udrp against a South Korean registrant who registered the domain 12 years before there was a trademark. The complaint was denied and looks like they had to pay 50,000 Euros to get the name 6 years later.

The company seemed to have a problem with the domain investor owning several domain names.

Complainant further provides evidence that Respondent has registered a substantial number of domain names, and asks why anyone would require so many domain names other than to sell them at a price in excess of out-of-pocket expenses.

Why? Because domaining is a legitimate business know matter how much you dislike it.

Petrogas Group Ltd v. Kim Sooyong  (Arisu Tech)

Case No. D2013-0749

1. The Parties

Complainant is Petrogas Group Ltd of Dublin, Ireland, represented by in-house counsel.

Respondent is Kim Sooyong  (Arisu Tech) of Seoul, Republic of Korea, represented by DongSuh Law Offices, Republic of Korea.

2. The Domain Name and Registrar

The disputed domain name <applegreen.com> is registered with Tucows Inc. (the Registrar).

3. Procedural History

The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the Center) on April 25, 2013. On April 25, 2013, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On April 25, 2013, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact.

The Center verified that the Complaint satisfied the formal requirements of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the Policy or UDRP), the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the Rules), and the WIPO Supplemental Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the Supplemental Rules).

In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2(a) and 4(a), the Center formally notified Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on May 8, 2013. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5(a), the due date for Response was May 28, 2013. The Response was filed with the Center on May 27, 2013. On May 28, 2013, the Center received a Complainants supplemental filing. On May 29, 2013, the Center sent a communication to the parties informing the parties that the supplemental filing request would be forwarded to the Panel for determination pursuant to its discretion.

The Center appointed Frederick M. Abbott as the sole panelist in this matter on June 6, 2013. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7.

By email dated May 28, 2013, Complainant transmitted a supplemental filing to the Center. That supplemental filing noted that certain information in the annexes to the Response was in the Korean language, and in view of the fact that the proceedings are to be conducted in English, requested that Respondent submit the annexes in English. Complainant also provided certain information regarding the ownership-in-fact of certain business names incorporating its claimed trademark. The Panel has taken note of the information in Complainants supplemental filing. In view of the facts directly relevant to the Panels determination in this proceeding, it does not consider it necessary to seek additional information from either party.

4. Factual Background

Complainant is the owner of a Community Trade Mark (CTM) registration for the word trademark APPLEGREEN on the register of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) of the European Union, registration number 010321933, registration dated March 8, 2012, in international classes (ICs) 1, 29 and 43, covering, inter alia, fuel additives, food products and services for providing food and drink. The date of application for the aforesaid registration is October 7, 2011. Complainant is the owner of the registration for the word trademark APPLEGREEN on the Register of Trade Marks of Ireland, registration number 247026, registration dated April 19, 2011, in IC 43. Complainant is also the owner of a CTM registration for a figurative trademark consisting (in colors green and white) of a circle with a triangular cutaway into which a tapered oblong shape is inserted. There is a lowercase letter a in the bottom right side of the circle. According to the OHIM trademark data printout, this registration number 006223085, registration dated July 9, 2008, in ICs 4, 16, 29, 30, 32, 35, 37 and 43, has the trademark name a.

In its Complaint, Complainant does not indicate the date on which it initiated use of the trademark APPLEGREEN. Complainant states that it is currently Irelands largest independent forecourt retailer, and that it sells motor fuels, oil and lubricants, and various household consumable goods, as well as providing retail services, including maintenance and repair of vehicles and restaurant services, all under the APPLEGREEN brand name. Complainant indicates that it has an annual turnover of EUR 586.6 million.

Complainant has provided evidence of an award as NACS International Convenience Retailer of the Year 2010, and similar awards for subsequent years.

Respondent has provided a copy of Complainants Annual Review and Financial Statements 2008 that states:

A large number of our stations operate under our Applegreen brand. Applegreen has proven remarkably successful since its launch in 2005. (At page 2)

Complainant has provided printouts of several business name registrations filed with the Companies Registration Office in Ireland. The earliest of these, showing the name Applegreen Monkstown, has the effective date April 25, 2001.

According to the Registrars verification, Respondent is registrant of the disputed domain name. According to that verification, the record of registration for the disputed domain name was created on October 26, 2000. The Registrar did not indicate the date on which the current registrant registered the disputed domain name. Respondent has indicated that it was the initial registrant of the disputed domain name, and there is no evidence on the record of this proceeding to suggest otherwise.

Respondent indicates that it operates a business that constructs or runs websites with domain names comprised of generic terms. Respondent indicates that the disputed domain name has been parked with the Sedo parking service which operates with the purpose of Internet keyword advertisement, generating revenue from sponsored links that vary from country to country.

Complainant has provided evidence that the disputed domain name has been offered for sale through Sedo. Complainant claims to provide evidence that the disputed domain name was for sale as early as 2001, but the Wayback Machine archive webpage link furnished by Complainant is inconclusive. Complainants recent evidence from Sedo shows the last bid for the disputed domain name at EUR 10,000 with status The other party has canceled the negotiation.

The registration agreement in effect between Respondent and the Registrar subjects Respondent to dispute settlement under the Policy. The Policy requires that domain name registrants submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding conducted by an approved dispute resolution service provider, of which the Center is one, regarding allegations of abusive domain name registration and use. (Policy, paragraph 4(a)).

5. Parties Contentions

A. Complainant

Complainant contends that it owns rights in the trademark APPLEGREEN. Complainant has not specifically alleged that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to its trademark, but has stated that it was the first to use the name Applegreen in commerce, and feels it can lay claim to the domain name Applegreen.com.

Complainant alleges that Respondent has no rights or no interest in the disputed domain name and that Respondent is cybersquatting on the domain, with the long-term aim of profiting from the sale of the domain. Complainant states that it has never had any relationship with Respondent, nor has it licensed or permitted Respondent to use its trademark.

Complainant argues that Respondent registered the disputed domain name primarily for the purpose of selling it to Complainant or another party with a similar trading name. Complainant contends that Respondent has not demonstrated any legitimate purpose for registering the disputed domain name. Complainant further provides evidence that Respondent has registered a substantial number of domain names, and asks why anyone would require so many domain names other than to sell them at a price in excess of out-of-pocket expenses.

Complainant requests the Panel to direct the Registrar to transfer the disputed domain name to Respondent.

B. Respondent

Respondent indicates that it registered the disputed domain name on October 26, 2000.

Respondent alleges that Complainant registered its word CTM APPLEGREEN on March 8, 2012, and its Irish trademark on April 19, 2011, and those word trademarks shall not be deemed trademarks entitling to claim any rights to the disputed domain name registered on October 26, 2000.

Respondent argues that Complainant has not provided satisfactory evidence of an association between itself and business names incorporating Applegreen registered in Ireland. Respondent refers to Complainants annual report of 2008 stating that it has used the APPLEGREEN brand since 2005. Respondent further argues that the earliest business name registration provided by Complainant is dated April 10, 2001, so that it is crystal clear that the registration date for the disputed domain name by Respondent had come earlier than the foregoing earliest registration date.

Respondent alleges that the disputed domain name incorporates a generic term, and that its use of the generic term in the disputed domain name is not in bad faith. Respondent argues that only if a generic term is well known as a trademark in the world, or at least in Respondents jurisdiction, at the time of registration of the disputed domain name could such registration be in bad faith.

Respondent indicates that Complainants www.applegreen.ie website was first launched on November 29, 2007, and became fully operational as of April 16, 2010. Respondent registered the disputed domain name substantially before those dates.

Respondent argues that it has rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name because it is using a generic term in connection with keyword advertisements to generate sponsored links which differ from country to country. Respondent contends that it is not taking unfair advantage of Complainants trademark rights.

Respondent contends that it is well-established by precedent under the Policy that it is not possible to register a domain name in bad faith prior to the acquisition by the complaining party of trademark rights. Respondent further contends that it is based in the Republic of Korea, and that it would be very difficult to have knowledge of a trademark used primarily in Ireland. In order to prevail in this proceeding, Complainant would need to demonstrate that Respondent would have known of Complainants trademark rights in the Republic of Korea in 2000, which is not in any case possible since the APPLEGREEN brand was not launched in Ireland until 2005, by Complainants own account.

Respondent indicates that it could not have registered the disputed domain name for the purpose of selling it to Complainant since Complainant had not established any trademark rights when the disputed domain name was registered. Respondent indicates that by offering the domain name through Sedo it is available to any party for purchase. Respondent states that it is irrelevant how many domain names it has registered. Respondent indicates that it has prevailed in several previous proceedings under the Policy based on its registration of generic terms. Respondent contends that there are many second-level domain names incorporating the term applegreen that are not registered by Complainant, but rather by third parties.

Respondent requests the Panel to reject Complainants request for an order of transfer of the disputed domain name.

6. Discussion proceedings under the Policies and Findings

The Policy is addressed to resolving disputes concerning allegations of abusive domain name registration and use. The Panel will confine itself to making determinations necessary to resolve this administrative proceeding.

It is essential to the Policy proceedings that fundamental due process requirements be met. Such requirements include that a respondent have notice of proceedings that may substantially affect its rights. The Policy and the Rules establish procedures intended to ensure that respondents are given adequate notice of proceedings commenced against them, and a reasonable opportunity to respond (see, e.g., Rules, paragraph 2(a)).

The Center notified the Complaint to Respondent and Respondent filed its Response in a timely manner. The Panel is satisfied that Respondent was notified of the Complaint and was afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond.

Paragraph 4(a) of the Policy sets forth three elements that must be established by a complainant to merit a finding that a respondent has engaged in abusive domain name registration and use, and to obtain relief.

These elements are that:

(i) the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which complainant has rights; and

(ii) respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name; and

(iii) the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

Each of the aforesaid three elements must be proved by a complainant to warrant relief.

A. Identical or Confusingly Similar

Complainant has provided evidence of registration of the word trademark APPLEGREEN at the Trade Mark Office of Ireland, and registered as a word CTM at OHIM. Complainant has provided evidence of use of the APPLEGREEN trademark in commerce in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Respondent has not disputed that Complainant has trademark rights in the EU and Ireland based on the aforesaid registrations. The Panel determines that Respondent owns rights in the trademark APPLEGREEN as evidenced by registration in Ireland and as a CTM.

Complainant has further alleged rights in the business name Applegreen. Complainant has not asserted a specific date or dates on which trademark rights may have arisen out of business usage, nor has it asserted a legal basis for such rights. The Panel notes, however, that Complainants own formal company report states a launch date of the Applegreen brand in 2005. While there is a single record of a business name registration incorporating the term applegreen dating back to 2001, there is no evidence that the term was used in commerce or ripened into a trademark at that early date. On no assessment of the facts in evidence were those rights established prior to Respondents registration of the disputed domain name. The Panel need not identify a precise date on which Complainant may have established rights in the trademark APPLEGREEN.

In circumstances such as those present here, the disputed domain name is identical to Complainants APPLEGREEN trademark from the standpoint of the Policy.

Complainant has established that it has rights in the trademark APPLEGREEN and that the disputed domain name is identical to that trademark.

B. Rights or Legitimate Interests

Because Complainant does not succeed in establishing bad faith registration and use by Respondent, the Panel does not consider it necessary to assess the issue of rights or legitimate interests.

C. Registered and Used in Bad Faith

In order to be found to have engaged in abusive domain name registration and use, Respondent must have registered and used the disputed domain name to take unfair advantage of a Complainants rights in its trademark. Respondents bad faith intention could be evidenced in a number of ways as illustrated in paragraph 4(b) of the Policy, which provides a non-exhaustive list of bad faith conduct.1

As a matter of general principle under the Policy, Respondent could not have acted to take unfair advantage of Complainants rights in a trademark before those rights arose. A finding that Respondent registered and used the disputed domain name in bad faith presupposes that Complainant had trademark rights that could be unfairly exploited at the time of the domain name registration. See, e.g., Mariposa Ltd. v. Stonecutter, Don at Case No. D2010-0200; Super-Krete International, Inc. v. Concrete Solutions, Inc., WIPO Case No. D2008-1333; Foundation Source Philanthropic Services, Inc. v. Arlene B Gibson/Foundations That Make a Difference/Domain Discreet, WIPO Case No. D2007-0875; Symbility Solutions, Inc. v. Darren Ritchie / Symbility, WIPO Case No. D2007-0471; John Ode d/ba ODE and ODE  Optimum Digital Enterprises v. Intership Limited, WIPO Case No. D2001-0074.2

Respondent registered the disputed domain name substantially prior to Complainant securing rights in its trademark. Respondent could not have registered the disputed domain name as a means to take unfair advantage of Complainants rights in a trademark because such rights did not exist. There are no exceptional circumstances that might compel a different conclusion.

Complainant has failed to establish that Respondent registered the disputed domain name in bad faith within the meaning of paragraph 4(b) of the Policy. As a consequence, it does not succeed in this proceeding.

7. Decision

For the foregoing reasons, the Complaint is denied.

Frederick M. Abbott

Sole Panelist

Date: June 12, 2013

Addendum to Administrative Panel Decision

Subsequent to notification of the decision in this matter, Complainant contacted the Center twice by emails dated June 25, 2013. The Panel addresses two factual issues raised by Complainant that are not material to the outcome of the proceeding.

First, the Panel found that disputed domain name is identical to Complainants trademark. However, in the Panels summary of the Complaint, the Panel stated Complainant has not specifically alleged that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to its trademark. Complainant has pointed to a place in the Complaint where such language is used, and the Panel so notes.

Second, Complainant takes issue with the Panels characterization as inconclusive of an item of evidence regarding an initial offer for sale of the disputed domain name in 2001. Complainant submitted a webpage printout from the Wayback Machine archive that did not display or refer to any specific domain name. This was a standard form Adomains.com parking page stating domain for sale, and requesting email offers requiring the Internet user to specify the domain name being sought. Based on the generic nature of the solicitation, the Panel referred to this particular item of evidence as inconclusive. This generic solicitation page was addressed by the disputed domain name. This item of evidence could be understood to represent an offer for sale by Respondent in 2001.

The Panel reaffirms its decision.

1 Paragraph 4(b) of the Policy establishes the required demonstration of bad faith, providing:

b. Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith. For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(iii), the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith:

(i) circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or

(ii) you have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or

(iii) you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or

(iv) by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainants mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.

2 There are certain limited situations in which an exception to this general principle may be found, see, e.g. Intelligen LLC v. Converg Media LLC, WIPO Case No. D2010-0246, but those are not in evidence here.At the end of April, the government will present a number of measures in the fight against speeding on Luxembourg's roads.

Yesterday, our colleagues at RTL.lu decided to make their April Fool's prank speed camera-orientated. They reported that speed cameras in Luxembourg had software issues, and asked those who had received fines to call a hotline (which naturally went to the RTL studios). You can read more about that here, but it is in Luxembourgish.

On the topic of speed cameras, the government is planning on introducing a host of measures throughout the year. Luxembourg will soon have 25 permanent speed cameras alongside mobile speed cameras used for traffic checks.

A new addition to Luxembourg's radars has been a speed camera on a trailer based on the A4 motorway. The speed camera was put into place due to roadworks on the section of the road near Pontpierre. The Ministry of Mobility and Public Works has since confirmed that it has ordered a second trailer speed camera.

Last year, the ministry confirmed that it would be introducing average speed cameras as part of a pilot project. The way these will work is that a first speed camera will record the time of a vehicle passing and its number plates. Several kilometres down the road, a second speed camera will record the same data and will calculate an average speed. If you arrive too early at the second speed camera, then you were likely speeding.

Once the pilot project is completed, the ministry is likely to roll out more average speed cameras, most likely in tunnels.

A further measure that the ministry revealed is the plan to introduce cameras at traffic lights in order to catch drivers who run red lights. An increasing number of drivers tend to ignore red lights, which is why the ministry will crack down on this behaviour.

The larger crackdown on speeding comes as a result of the startling statistics on Luxembourg's speeding. In 2018, 250,000 vehicles were caught by speed cameras, of which 140,000 had Luxembourgish number plates. In this year alone, 35,000 drivers have already been caught by the cameras. In the last three years, speed cameras have recorded a staggering 800,000 infractions.The first Benelux agreement was signed 75 years ago in London, creating the politico-economic union of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

The Benelux summit took place on Tuesday at the Mudam (Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art). Luxembourg's prime minister Xavier Bettel invited his Belgian and Dutch counterparts Charles Michel and Mark Rutte.

At the summit, Bettel pointed to the Benelux union as an example of the tangible benefits citizens receive from the cooperation and political agreement between the three countries.

The three prime ministers met to discuss the priorities of Benelux cooperation for the foreseeable future. In 2019, Luxembourg is taking over the presidency of Benelux for the year. Bettel explained that the Grand Duchy hopes to emphasise the single market, digitalisation, and the fight against climate change.

The Benelux summit included a number of guests, including the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet. Laschet's presence was notable as the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been working together with the Benelux countries since 2008. At the summit, the parties renewed the collaboration with a political declaration.

The summit also included discussions on Brexit. Bettel stressed that the European elections in all 27 countries must not be put in doubt, which could happen if the United Kingdom remains a member of the EU past 26 May without fielding candidates.Argentina's historic claim on the Falkland Islands is "legitimate and irrevocable," President Mauricio Macri said Tuesday at a ceremony marking the 37th anniversary of the 1982 war with Britain.

Commemorative events were being held throughout Argentina to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the war, when Argentina's then-ruling military dictatorship sent troops to the South Atlantic archipelago, known to Argentina as the Malvinas, occupied by Britain since 1833.

"The claim to the sovereignty of the Malvinas islands is a legitimate and irrevocable claim, which unites all Argentines beyond our differences," Macri said in a speech to veterans in Buenos Aires.

The center-right president, who has forged an more moderate approach to Britain than his predecessors, said Argentina intended to push its claim by using "the tools of dialogue, confidence building and trust and respect for international law."

The 74-day conflict claimed the lives of 649 Argentine troops and 255 British forces. It ended with Argentina's surrender on June 14, 1982.

Some 500 Argentine ex-combatants have committed suicide in the years since, according to a support group, the Malvinas Combatants Association for Human Rights.

Among the events in Argentina, a "Malvinas Vigil" was held in Rio Grande, a strategic staging center for Argentine forces, 1,740 miles (2,800 kilometers) south of Buenos Aires and 360 miles west of the Falklands.

Racing Club players observe a minute's silence to honor Argentine soldiers who died in the Falklands (Malvinas) war with Britain, before their match against Tigre in Victoria, Buenos Aires province, on March 31, 2019 /  AFP

Players in Argentina's Superliga held a minute's silence before their matches at the weekend.

On Tuesday, relatives placed a commemorative plaque at the war memorial in Saint Martin Square in Buenos Aires, that read: "Argentine soldier known only to God".

The plaque was taken from the Darwin war cemetery on the islands, which had been replaced by one with the name of the fallen soldier.

The gesture follows a mission by the International Committee of the Red Cross which exhumed the remains of 121 Argentine soldiers buried in unmarked graves.

Using modern identification methods, 112 have so far been identified by an Argentine forensic team, and a planeload of relatives of the soldiers visited the graves for the first time in 2018 and again last month.Govt may announce new amnesty scheme: Asad Umer

Finance Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday said that the government was considering launching a new tax amnesty scheme, which he said would allow assets within Pakistan as well as abroad to be declared.



Its possible that we announce the new amnesty scheme before the new budget, said the finance minister in a brief chat with media personnel in Islamabad. The scheme has not been finalised yet. We are still seeking advice on the matter.



Umar also shared his views on the political future of fellow PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, who stands disqualified from holding a public office but as Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi recently objected, still attends cabinet meetings.



The Supreme Court has not barred Jahangir Tareen from breathing, Umar said as he took a contrasting stance to that of Qureshis. The prime minister can call whomsoever he wishes to cabinet meetings. Jahangir Tareen only sits in the meetings with the prime ministers permission.



Moreover, the finance minister distanced his ministry from the recent hike in the prices of petroleum products, saying that price determination is the prerogative of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA). A tax of Rs23.30 is being charged on petrol. The base price of petrol is Rs75.57 and the people are being charged Rs98.89. The prices are determined by OGRA, he said.Imran Khan invited Shehbaz Sharif for consultation on ECP members

Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif for consultation on the appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), seeking his response in writing.



In a four-page letter written to Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister rejected objections and allegations hurled by the former that the government was violating constitution by delaying the finalisation of the names of the ECP members from Balochistan and Sindh.



Written consultation is surely preferred, writes PM Khan in the letter. I again stress your good self to participate in the consultative process by giving your views in writing. In case you do not participate in the consultative process, the people of Pakistan and I shall have no other option but to presume that you are evading the legal process, in which event further rights shall be reserved, writes the premier, without further elaboration.



Earlier, the PML-N president, in his letter to PM Khan, had opposed the premiers way of consultation over the appointment of ECP members through nominees and accused his government of violating constitution by impeding the process. Shehbaz had also highlighted the apparent reluctance of the prime minister to hold a direct consultation with him as a major factor behind the delay.



The prime minister has suggested the names of Amanullah Baloch, ex-district and sessions judge, Quetta; Munir Kakar, a lawyer; and Mir Naveed Jan Baloch, a businessman and a former caretaker minister in the provincial government, for their nomination as a member of the ECP from Balochistan.



The prime minister has proposed the names of Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui, a lawyer, retired Justice Farrukh Zia Sheikh, a former judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC), and Iqbal Mehmood, retired inspector general Sindh, for their nomination as a member of the ECP from Sindh.



Khan has claimed in the letter that there is nothing in Article 213(2-A) of the Constitution to suggest as to from which of the two persons specified in the said sub-article, the consultation process has to be imitated, stating that you took no steps to initiate any process of consultations.



Referring to Shehbazs reservation about change in nominations, the prime minister clarified that the ethos of any consultative process necessarily implies that names of candidates could be altered during consultation.



There is no embargo on the person, who is to be consulted, to substitute the names forwarded by him previously with fresh names that he may subsequently consider to be more appropriate, the letter read.



The entire idea of sending you the letter and the present one is to enter into an effective, meaningful, purposive and consensus-oriented process of consultation, leaving no room of complaint of arbitrariness or unfair play, PM Khan said in the letter.



Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday barred senior party leaders Jahangir Tareen and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi from issuing statements against each other.Several supermarkets in Vietnam have replaced plastic packaging with banana leaves in an effort to reduce plastic waste.

After the Rimping supermarket in Chiangmai, Thailand made headlines last month for ditching plastic packaging for the natural materials, many Vietnamese supermarkets have decided to follow suit.

Shoppers have been surprised to see green onions, okra and other vegetables wrapped in banana leaves at Lotte Mart in Ho Chi Minh Citys District 7 these days.

Other supermarket chains also joined the South Korean hypermarket in experimenting with using the leaves to wrap veggies in their outlets as part of a plan to increase the use of environmentally friendly products.

Particularly, Saigon Co.op is step by step ditching their biodegradable wraps for banana leaves in its system consisting of Co.opmart supermarkets, Co.op Xtra hypermarkets, Co.op Food stores and Co.op Smiles convenient stores.

Bunches of veggies are wrapped in banana leaves at a supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: N.T / Tuoi Tre

According to a Saigon Co.ops media representative, the group has realized the environmentally-friendly advantage of banana leaves over its existing packaging methods.

The Big C supermarket chain has also started using banana leaves to wrap veggies in its locations in Hanoi since Monday, and in the central and southern Vietnamese localities starting from today, April 3.

The move has so far gained much support from local shoppers.

Its cute to see okras wrapped in banana leaves, said Luong Thi Minh Phuong, a District 7 resident, in a Facebook post after she went shopping at the Lotte Mart in the same district.

If every supermarket applies this method of packaging, a lot of plastic waste will be reduced.

Banana leaf wrapping, like some other initiatives such as edible straws made from rice flour, has emerged after several reports highlighting Vietnam as one of the worlds biggest plastic poluuters.

The country disposes of about 2,500 metric tons of plastic waste a day, according to official figures.

Bunches of veggies are wrapped in banana leaves at a supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: N.T / Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Read what is in the news today, April 3!

Politics

-- Vietnam regards France as a partner of priority in its cooperation with Europe, said Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, chairwoman of Vietnams lawmaking National Assembly during a meeting with President of the Senate of France Gerand Larcher in Paris on Tuesday.

-- A ceremony to repatriate remains of U.S. servicemen who died during the war in Vietnam was held at Da Nang International Airport in the central city of Da Nang on Tuesday, attended by representatives from the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Personnel, the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam and the U.S. MIA Office in Hanoi.

Society

-- Underdeveloped transportation infrastructure has prevented 13 provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam from unleashing their full potentials as they struggle to attract investors, local experts and officials have told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in separate interviews.

-- The Airports Corporation of Vietnam has proposed a new plan that would scrap tolls on cars entering Vietnamese airports to pick up or drop off passengers, only collecting parking fees from vehicles that overstay a given grace period.

-- Vietnams Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information on Tuesday said it had sent an official request to video-sharing site YouTube to remove videos published by Kha Banh, a Vietnamese man who has become an Internet sensation after posting videos that chronicle his thug life with excessive violence and infringement of the law.

-- Police officers in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City are investigating a reported case of elevator sexual attack at a local apartment building after CCTV footage circulated online showing a middle-aged man grabbing and kissing a little girl inside a lift on Monday.

-- A project to build Ho Chi Minh Citys largest-ever zoo, Saigon Safari, in the rural district of Cu Chi has not made any progress over the past 15 years as residents whose houses were cleared for the project still struggle to find a new home.

Business

-- A proposed decree by the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment seeks to ban imports of scrap plastics for use in manufacturing intermediate products such as plastic resins from 2025, while limiting the maximum level of imported scrap content in a domestically-manufactured product to 70 percent.

-- Vietnamese brewer Sabeco announced on Tuesday it had withdrawn a term in its labor contracts that requires employees to enter a probationary period when renewing their contract, after the controversial term raised eyebrows on its legality.

-- Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are among Vietnamese localities ranked worst in terms of corruption control, according the 2018 Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index released on Tuesday.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Pak Army determine to fully implement NAP: ISPR

Pakistan Army has once again expressed its determination to help fully implement the National Action Plan (NAP). The resolve came during the 220th Corps Commanders Conference held at the General Headquarters on Tuesday.



Forum expressed its resolve to support government and all stakeholders in implementation of the National Action Plan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement issued after the military huddle.



The forum, the militarys media wing said, reiterated to continue its efforts for bringing enduring peace in the country while supporting all initiatives towards regional peace.It reviewed geo-strategic environment and ongoing situation along the Eastern border.



Forum expressed strong will, resolve and determination to defend the motherland against any misadventure or aggression, it said.



Having achieved stability against terrorism, Pakistan is on positive trajectory of becoming a state where prerogative of use of weapons rests with the state alone and socio-economic development is taking pre-eminence, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa was quoted as saying.Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are among Vietnamese localities ranked worst in terms of control of corruption, according the 2018 Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) report released on Tuesday.

Although the report shows that fewer citizens had to pay bribes for state employment, public healthcare, primary education, or construction permits in 2018 as compared to previous years, less than 50 percent of those interviewed agreed that corruption at the national level had decreased in the past three years.

Corruption was one of the top three issues of greatest concern in 2018, with nearly 7.4 percent of respondents citing it as their top concern, the report shows.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were among the worst ranked localities in terms of corruption control alongside Dak Lak, Hai Phong, Ha Nam and Hoa Binh.

PAPI, published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), assesses citizen experiences with national and local government performance in governance, public administration, and public service delivery.

The 2018 PAPI report was compiled from interview answers by over 14,300 Vietnamese citizens randomly selected from all 63 provinces and cities.

Overall, Vietnamese citizens had greater satisfaction with most basic public services thanks to the substantial improvements in provincial and local government performance, the report revealed.

Positive progress was observed by all provinces in administering public services, although there is still room for improvement, the report noted.

Results show several positive trends in citizens political participation at the local level in 2018, as transparency in local decision-making also saw significant improvements.

Poverty was again the most important issue for citizens in 2018, with about 25 percent of respondents cited poverty as their top concern, the report shows.

A bar graph illustrating the top issues of concern for Vietnamese citizens according to the 2018 PAPI report.

Findings from the survey show that a majority of voters have no preference for either male or female candidates when electing people into leadership positions.

The 2018 PAPI findings highlight an important opportunity for more women to be elected to political positions, while also suggesting that efforts are needed to end societal stigma against women in elected positions, especially among female voters, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Craig Chittick was quoted by Vietnam News Agency as saying at the reports launch event in Hanoi on Tuesday.

This years report marks a decade since the first PAPI research began in 2009.

Over the past decade, more than 117,000 Vietnamese citizens from all parts of the country have been interviewed for the annual report, which provides objective, up-to-date data on local government performance.

Speaking at the reports launch event in Hanoi on Tuesday, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen noted that PAPI continues to serve as a powerful instrument to promote good governance in Vietnam after ten years.

The heart of PAPI is very close to UNDPs mission  putting people at the center of development, Wiesen was quoted as saying by Vietnam News Agency.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Multiple cracks have been discovered along a VND77 billion (US$3.3 million) road and bridge project in the north-central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh, only four months after the infrastructure was put into operation.

The project consists of Vinh Bridge, which cost more than VND30 billion ($1.29 million) and 4.6 kilometers of road, which is worth approximately VND47 billion ($2 million), in Ky Tho Commune, Ky Anh District.

The construction was aimed at providing proper traffic infrastructure for people in the flood-stricken locality.

Developed by authorities in Ky Anh District, the project was initiated in August 2017 and complete in December 2018.

According to the observation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, many fractures can be spotted along the road section near Vinh Bridge.

Some cracks are up to three meters long, while the most serious fractures could be seen at the junction point between the road and one end of the bridge.

A serious crack is spotted along the infrastructure. Photo: Van Dinh / Tuoi Tre

Vo Xuan Thanh, deputy head of the projects management board, confirmed that a team of personnel has been tasked with inspecting the cracks.

The management board is working with relevant units to determine a solution to the problem.

A nearby lake is currently used for aquaculture, which may affect geological features in the area, Thanh said, adding it could be the reason behind the cracks.

An official from the provincial Department of Construction stated that the agency would also join hands to examine the infrastructure and figure out the exact cause.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Police in Ho Chi Minh City are investigating a case where a man allegedly molested a little girl inside an elevator of a local apartment building.

The incident happened at the Galaxy 9 Apartment Complex in District 4 at around 9:10 pm on Monday.

The man was identified as Nguyen Huu Linh, 61, who resides in Hai Chau District in the central city of Da Nang.

The alleged sexual harassment was caught on CCTV installed inside an elevator of the apartment building, with the footage going viral on social media on Tuesday, before officers were aware of the case.

According to the video, the young girl first walked into the lift, followed by Linh, who was wearing a blue shirt and holding a smartphone.

A security guard then helped the girl select her floor before exiting the lift.

As soon as the door closed, Linh approached the kid, laid his arm around her neck, and kissed her.

As he stopped, the girl walked away from him toward the door. Linh grabbed her once again and only let her go when the door opened.

The child, who was apparently terrified, ran out as fast as she could.

A security guard helps the girl pick her floor, while Linh is using his phone insdie the elevator. Photo: Facebook

According to Colonel Nguyen Sy Quang, chief of staff of the Ho Chi Minh City police department, Linh was visiting a family member living inside the apartment building that day.

He has already returned to his home in Da Nang, Col Quang added.

Officers have asked Linh to come to the southern metropolis again to assist the investigation. If he fails to cooperate, police will take him by force.

Tran Ngoc Nu, a Ho Chi Minh City-based lawyer, told VnExpress online newspaper that the mans action can be considered as molesting an under 16-year-old person, which is punishable by six months to three years in prison in accordance with the Vietnamese law.

Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper said the girl is a second grader who lives in the tenth floor of the apartment. Other domestic media sources said the girl is only five to six years old.

In early March, a man was caught on camera forcefully hugging and kissing a 20-year-old girl inside an elevator at an apartment building in Hanoi.

He was required to make a public apology to the victim but failed to do so.

The man was eventually slapped with a VND200,000 (US$8.6) fine for having offensive words and actions toward another person.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!YouTube has terminated a popular channel that chronicles the thug life of a Vietnamese man through videos that display excessive violence and law infringement after its owner was arrested on a gambling charge.

The Google-owned platform took action on Wednesday after receiving a formal request from Vietnams Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI) the earlier day.

YouTube cannot allow this channel to continue to exist or it would risk promoting the unhealthy behaviors and lifestyle of a man who has violated Vietnamese laws, said ABEI director Nguyen Thanh Lam.

The channel, which goes by the name of Kha BanH (Handsome Kha), had a verified badge and garnered over two million subscribers and nearly 400 million views on its hundreds of videos before the shutdown.

It was run by Nguyen Van Kha, 26, a resident in Bac Ninh Province in northern Vietnam.

Kha became an Internet sensation idolized by many Vietnamese youths, even though his videos do not document anything other than himself gambling, engaging in gang fights, destroying properties, and breaking traffic laws.

His channel has been awarded the YouTube Gold Play Button for topping one million subscribers.

According to Kha, in his best months he could make nearly US$20,000 a month in YouTube payment for displaying ads on his videos.

A screen grab of Ngo Ba Kha's YouTube channel before it was shut down on April 3, 2019.

In one of his videos, Kha could be seen surrounded by students in the northern province of Yen Bai as he taught them how to do his iconic hand fan dance to the amusement of the young audience.

Kha was arrested in Bac Ninh on Monday for the allegedly organizing gambling.

At the time of his arrest, Kha also tested positive to narcotics use, said Ngo Cong Khoi, head of the criminal division of Bac Ninh Police.

Weapons including machetes, batons and knives as well as evidence of his gambling ring were also confiscated during a search of Khas residence, Khoi said.

Ngo Ba Kha bursts into tears during a police interrogation after his arrest in Bac Ninh Province on April 1, 2019 in this still photo taken from footage uploaded online.

Officers also found documents that suggest Kha is involved in some kind of loan shark activities, the police chief added.

Nguyen Van Long, police chief of Bac Ninh, said officers are expanding the investigation and collecting more evidence to prosecute Kha and associates for their crimes.

Kha has a history of criminal activities and was in 2017 arrested for inflicting injuries and disrupting public order, Long said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!"(CNN) - India's anti-satellite missile test created at least 400 pieces of orbital debris, the head of NASA says -- placing the International Space Station (ISS) and its astronauts at risk. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said Monday that just 60 pieces of debris were large enough to track. Of those, 24 went above the apogee of the ISS, the point of the space station's orbit farthest from the Earth.

"That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris at an apogee that goes above the International Space Station," Bridenstine said in a live-streamed NASA town hall meeting "That kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight." He added: "It is not acceptable for us to allow people to create orbital debris fields that put at risk our people."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on March 27 that the country had achieved a "historic feat" by shooting down its own low-orbit satellite with a ground-to-space missile. Only three other countries -- the US, Russia and China -- have anti-satellite missile capabilities." (CNN)



What did we think was going to happen? When our Space Force, Russias Aerospace Force and/or what ever China is calling their military space capability come to blows, this is whats going to happen. Now throw India and Lord knows who else into the mix. We will be blowing each others satellites out of orbit and launching replacement satellites as fast as we can. The process will then repeat itself until no ones satellites will survive in low Earth orbit... for a long, long time. It should cause our military and space leaders to contemplate a space MAD situation.

We have agreed to keep nuclear weapons out of space. The ABM treaty limited anti-satellite weapons in space, but that was shot to hell long ago. There are no other limitations on blowing each others satellites out of orbit including nothing in the laws of war.

I suggest that this is a fertile field for a grand international agreement. Let Trump lead such an effort. Obviously the negotiations will be long and technical, but I think Trump is the ideal person to push such an idea. Let him make space safe for international exploration or even a peaceful space race.

TTG

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/india/nasa-india-anti-missile-test-intl/index.htmlEssential Media Group has opened a production base in New Zealand, as it announces its second travel series fronted by Griff Rhys Jones.

Griffs Kiwi Adventures has been commissioned by Prime in New Zealand and will be produced by Essential Media Group NZ, a Wellington-based joint venture with Libertine Pictures.

It follows from railway series Griff Off the Rails: Down Under being produced for ABC.

In the 4 part series he explores modern day New Zealand: discovering what it means to be a New Zealander today, by meeting the locals, experiencing the epic landscapes and witnessing first-hand the impact and relevance of traditional Maori heritage. The journey starts in the Bay of Islands at the top of the North Island and travels all the way to Fiordland at the base of the South Island.

Essential Medias General Manager for ANZ, Brendan Dahill said: Essential Media has enjoyed a long and successful track record of producing top quality shows for the New Zealand market  and this has provided us with a platform to formalise our commitment to production in New Zealand.

We are thrilled to be building on our relationship with Griff Rhys Jones to create two very distinctive series that will offer viewers around the world an entertaining outsiders perspective on life Down Under.

Libertine Pictures Managing Director, Richard Fletcher said: Libertine Pictures is delighted to be joining forces with Essential Media to share expertise and build a new and exciting New Zealand production company. It is fitting to kick off the new venture with such an entertaining and distinctive take on New Zealand. We are looking forward to working with a partner with the depth of experience of Essential Media and such a recognised talent as Griff Rhys Jones.Upcoming Foxtel drama Lambs of God has just had its World Premiere at Series Mania festival in Lille, France, and drawn plenty of praise from audiences and critics alike.

The Lingo Pictures drama was one of just 10 dramas screening in competition, selected from a pool of some 400 entries.

Producer Jason Stephens attended with writer Sarah Lambert and director Jeffrey Walker.

In television you dont often get to watch with an audience, so thats always a joy. We had the cast & crew screening the weekend before in Sydney. When we showed it in France with subtitles it was interesting to see the laughs and thrills, Stephens tells TV Tonight.

People were saying How do I see the rest of it now?'

The series stars Essie Davis, Ann Dowd and Jessica Barden as three eccentric, secluded nuns living on a remote island, forgotten by time and the Church  until a priest (Sam Reid) unwittingly happens upon them.

2 of the 4 episodes were screened at Series Mania. While UK drama The Virtues took top prize, the Aussies still attracted glowing reviews:

..this is the brat of the official competition, the kind of series that divides but wakes the most jaded festival-goers when they planned to dip a nap in the room of the New Century of Lille. ..

Lambs of God has kept all the promises of its tantalizing pitch

If a potential French buyer reads us, please take out your chequebook

the best series of the official competition

Lambs of God is ultimately totally different from what is expected and much more enjoyable.

It talks about the adaptation of faith to the modern world, the secularity of the Church, the rapacity of power structures  without, however, denying humor and lightness.

The credit goes to the more than solid trio of actresses sharing the spotlight

Le Parisien even suggested Essie David, Ann Dowd and Jessica Barden for a joint Best Actress Award:

For us, this award of interpretation deserves to reward the trio of actresses of Lambs Of God. Australias Essie Davis (Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries), American Ann Dowd (The Leftovers, The Handmaids Tale) and Briton Jessica Barden (The End Of The F *** ing World) are competing talent in their incarnation of reclusive nuns living as in the Middle Ages. The hallucinatory scenario offers them a pleasurable partition between scenes of sacrifice and unexpected violence. Love also for the French Marina Hands, a mother who invents cancer in Mytho series for Arte.

Jeffrey Walker, Sarah Lambert, Jason Stephens

Stephens says audiences reacted to the mix of genres in the story.

Its dark but with comic moments. Thats the thing people were surprised by. The book it is adapted from is very similar. They were really leaning forward, which was great to see.

People thought Am I supposed to laugh even though Im quite scared?

Review quotes and the prestige of a festival will help for both marketing and selling the series in a crowded drama landscape.

Given there is so much content these days you need to make the most of your moment. Series Mania as an international event, and with MIP TV next week, was perfect timing.

The critiques will go into MIPTV where Sky Vision is selling it. So its just momentum.

Once your drama is finished thats one part of the process. But the second part is getting it out to the rest of the world.

Lingo is also in post-production on Upright for Foxtel and set to begin filming 6 part thriller The Secrets She Keeps in Sydney for 10.

Lambs of God is due to premiere on Foxtel in winter.UNGA adopted resolution condemning violence,terrorism against religious minorities

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution moved by Turkey and co-sponsored by Pakistan strongly condemning violence and terrorism targeting individuals belonging to religious minorities.



Introducing the resolution, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, told the 193-member assembly that the international community must stand up against the spiral of hate. Sending condolences to the families of the Muslims who were killed in the Christchurch terror attacks, he said that Islamophobia and racism go hand in hand.



Rejecting the actions of reckless politicians who often use distorted historical narratives and conspiracy theories to equate Islam with terrorism, he quoted the poet Rumi who said, "Listen with ears of tolerance, see with eyes of compassion, speak the language of love."



The UNGA through the resolution, titled 'Combating terrorism and other acts of violence based on religion or belief', condemned the heinous, cowardly terrorist attack targeting Muslims praying in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March, and offered its deepest condolences to the families of the victims.



The assembly urged states to protect and promote freedom of religion and belief and to foster a domestic environment of religious tolerance, peace and respect.



After passage of the resolution, Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi highlighted the rise of extreme nationalist and populist ideologies in the West and also in Pakistan's neighbourhood.



"Pervasive Islamophobia is a global phenomenon," she said, calling for a collaborative, coherent and committed global response in this regard.



"The adoption of the resolution today is a strong manifestation of our shared commitment to stand united against racial and religious hatred."



In her speech, Ambassador Lodhi, pointing out that nine victims of the Christchurch attack hailed from Pakistan, said that profiling and stigmatising people from one country could have drastic consequences.



The Christchurch terrorist, she said, was only the latest manifestation of a growing phenomenon rooted in hate, bigotry, racism, and the extremist ideology of racial and white supremacy.



"The rise of extreme nationalist and populist ideologies in liberal Western democracies and elsewhere, including in our region, are fanning the flames of bigotry, intolerance, anti-Muslim hatred and xenophobia," the Pakistani envoy added.



The growing prejudice against Islam was "evident in policies aimed at creating walls and barriers against displaced populations, as much as in attempts to denigrate Islamic beliefs and our sacred personalities on the pretext of freedom of expression".



"The political falsehood of equating people of different religions with violent extremism, in order to garner political support for the forces of hate lies at the heart of this phenomenon," Lodhi asserted.



Freedom of expression, she said, was often used as an excuse to enable such vile expression to prosper and for hate speech to enter the mainstream.



The Christchurch tragedy also exposed social media's radicalising role, she noted. "It is time that we evolve ways to ensure that social media companies are held accountable for their content that incites violence or spreads hatred," she said, adding that Islamophobia posed a grave threat to global peace and security.



"We must strengthen efforts to foster a global dialogue on the promotion of a culture of tolerance, dialogue and peace at all levels," she said, while emphasising respect for human rights and diversity as well as space for diverse voices, religions, worldviews and faith traditions.



Pakistan, she said, was committed to continuing its efforts to build bridges of understanding and challenge and resist those who seek to construct walls of bigotry and hatred.



"We look towards all those who believe in humanity's common future, to help in evolving a consensus for action to combat the forces of Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism."After two devices, intended to disrupt signals, were planted on railway lines on 21 and 27 March, police are investigating the pro-Brexit attempt at sabotage. One of the malicious obstructions was found on a track close to Yaxley in Cambridgeshire, while the second was discovered at Netherfield, Nottinghamshire.

As reported by the Daily Mail, one of the devices bore a printed slogan relating to "Government betrayal" followed by the popular Leaver slogan, "Leave means leave. The second threatened to bring the country to its knees if Britain didnt leave the EU.

Both slogans were printed, and not handwritten.

Serious attempt to disrupt rail network

Neither device was explosive or would cause any loss of life or permanent damage. However, police say both were intended to cause disruption to the rail service. Fortunately, both were found before any services were disrupted and police are seeking the offenders before they try anything else, or possibly injure themselves.

Two devices found on UK railway in suspected 'pro-Brexit' sabotage https://t.co/rqvBtgCPkC pic.twitter.com/fq2EjUscaf  Marcio M. Silva (@marciojmsilva) April 3, 2019

British Transport Police Assistant chief constable Sean OCallaghan said in a statement that the devices were placed in a serious and deliberate attempt to cause disruption to the rail network and was significant sabotage.

The Guardian quotes OCallaghan as saying police are urgently investigating the two incidents and are working very closely with the rail industry and other national partners.

He stressed that these acts were only intended to delay services and not to cause any damage and on both occasions, their attempts failed. OCallaghan pointed out that the railway has several safeguards in place in order to detect and prevent this kind of sabotage and police are tirelessly working to identify the culprits.

Culprits put lives at risk to place devices on train tracks

OCallaghan went on to say they are keeping an open mind as to why anyone would want to put their lives at risk placing devices on a live railway line. Their early assessment leads police to believe the incidents relate to Brexit [VIDEO]. Police are continuing to monitor the situation and have shared advice on the incidents with rail operators and Network Rail and senior detectives are investigating.

Forensic officers are examining the devices for clues as to who placed them.

Two devices left on railways in 'Brexit-related bid to cause major disruption'https://t.co/4F37xAnLWg pic.twitter.com/XA6vQio2iH  David Frazer-lewis (@DavidFrazerlew3) April 2, 2019

Reportedly whoever planted the devices knew about the rail system and how to disrupt the circuitry on the tracks. Police believe the culprits could be involved in the rail industry in some way. If not discovered in time and if the rail system was affected, the devices would have required a manual search on the railway tracks which potentially could have led to many hours of delay to both freight and passengers. The Daily Mail notes the devices were planted shortly before the pro-Brexit protests were held.

The Guardian reports that senior police and those in law enforcement are worried about the potential disorder when Britain does leave the EU. While those in the government involved in the Brexit process were immediately informed of the discovery, the news didnt get to the public until journalists, who had seen photos of the devices on social media, contacted the police.On the day we were due to leave the European Union, 29 March 2019, Vote Leave (VL) quietly withdrew their appeal against the case brought against them by the Electoral Commission claiming they broke UK electoral laws for overspending and failing to produce accurate accounts of their campaign costs.

The allegations against Vote Leave, who won the rights to be the official leave campaigners for the 2016 EU referendum, caused the Electoral Commission to open investigations into the campaign in November 2017 following evidence indicating payments made by Vote Leave to Aggregate IQ just 10 days before the 2016 referendum.

This, alongside other evidence, caused the Commission to investigate whether VL had worked under a common plan with other campaign groups to manipulate their permitted spending allowances and break UK laws regarding how campaigns may conduct themselves to ensure elections and referendums are undertaken fairly and appropriately.

Although VL have withdrawn their appeal against the findings that they did indeed act illegally, they insist this isnt an admission of guilt but that their party simply do not have the financial resources to carry forward this appeal, even though we are confident that we would have prevailed on the facts in court.

In a statement released by the Electoral Commission on 29 March, they declared Vote Leave broke the electoral rules set out by parliament to ensure fairness, confidence and legitimacy at an electoral event, as such, they have been fined 61,000, which they have agreed to pay, and the case will be referred to the police for further investigations.

The German's are running out of patience. We have reached a state where one has to conclude that the British parliamentarians are not fully doing justice to their responsibility anymore, a whip for Germany's CDU said https://t.co/vXzEIpCkU7  Bloomberg Brexit (@Brexit) April 2, 2019

The case against Vote Leave

The evidence used in the Electoral Commissions investigation found VL donated over 675,000 to smaller campaign group BeLeave, which was run by then-22-year-old Darren Grimes.

This money was spent hiring social media marketing firm, Aggregate IQ, who run highly targeted Facebook adverts.

This marketing firm was highly scrutinised in the Channel 4 drama, Brexit: An Uncivil War, whilst the VL campaign director, Dominic Cummings, has been quoted giving a lot of credit to Aggregate IQ for their victory, stating we couldnt have done it without them, on a quote which has now been removed from the Aggregate IQ website.

According to UK electoral law, official campaigns are permitted a 7 million spending limit. This donation to BeLeave would bring VL almost 500,000 over this spending limit.

Further to this, BeLeave, as a non-registered campaigner, had an imposed budget of 10,000 which they were permitted to spend on their campaign. The money spent by Mr Grimes on behalf of the BeLeave campaign was recorded at 675,000, which is massively over the allocated budget and as such Mr Grimes has been fined 20,000 (the maximum fine permitted).

Misleading Reports

Further to this, the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) states it is the responsibility of all campaigners to ensure accurate and complete spending returns for the campaigns are completed and submitted to the Electoral Commission by the statutory deadline.

Investigations showed Vote Leave returned an incomplete spending report with just under 234,501 of spending incorrectly reported and 12,849.99 worth of missing invoices. With regards to BeLeave, it was found Mr Grimes wrongly reported the overspending of the campaign as his own in an attempt to trick the spending limits imposed on the non-registered campaign.

Common Plan

Although campaigns are able to work together towards a common goal under UK electoral laws, there are limits on spending money on campaign activities and rules about how this spending must be reported.

If two or more campaigns are working together under a common plan, this must be reported as a joint campaign and remain within their allocated spending limits.

Where there is a lead campaigner, all spending through the joint campaign must be recorded through this entity.

In the case of Vote Leave, it was found 675,000 was filtered through pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave, who were a non-registered campaign with a spending limit of 10,000, and through Veterans for Britain. This money was spent on marketing firm Aggregate IQ who were quoted as being instrumental to the overall Leave result in the 2016 referendum.

It was found that the reporting of monetary donations received by BeLeave and Veterans for Britain were inaccurately reported by the smaller campaigns.

Although there was no evidence of joint working between Vote Leave and Veterans for Britain, they were fined for inaccurately reporting the donation they received from the official leave campaigners.

Results

Although Vote Leave claimed their spending towards BeLeave was authorised by the Electoral Commission and that the allegations were politically motivated, their lack of cooperation in the investigation and evidence supporting the claims allowed the investigation to continue.

Speaking about the case brought against VL, a spokesman in July 2018 claimed the report contains a number of false accusations [that] do not stand up to scrutiny, he further stated it is astonishing that nobody from Vote Leave has been interviewed

In their findings however, the Electoral Commission stated The individuals and the campaign groups investigated by us were all invited to be interviewed and to provide us with evidence.

Vote Leave declined to be interviewed.

Their results showed evidence received from a variety of individuals and sources, including VL and Mr Grimes, clearly showing a breach of electoral law due to spending which should have been declared, plus false declarations of campaign spending undertaken by both VL and Mr Grimes.

Fines

As a result of these findings, Vote Leave have been fined 61,000, Mr Grimes has been fined 20,000 on behalf of BeLeave, and Veterans for Britain received a fine of 250 for false spending reporting.

Although Vote Leave officials have decided to withdraw their appeal of this decision, Mr Grimes has taken to Twitter to declare his intention to fight the findings against him until my last f***ing penny.

The Electoral Commission went further, highlighting the fine against Mr Grimes was restricted by a maximum individual fine limit of 20,000 which they consider inadequate for serious offences of electoral or referendum law.

Since the findings were announced, the Electoral Commission have referred Mr David Halsall (the person responsible for Vote Leave) and Mr Grimes to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation into their declarations of campaign spending.The company that creates the "Dragon Ball Super" anime, Toei Animation, has honoured one of the shows iconic Japanse voice actors. Hiromi Tsuru voiced Bulma, a fan favourite character and one of the shows longest running heroes.

Dragon Ball and Hiromi Tsuru

Tsuru voiced Bulma for over 31 years before she passed on 16th November 2017, first taking up the role back in the original Dragon Ball anime in 1986. Toei Animation took to Twitter to pay their respects to this legend of the anime industry on her birthday and remember Tsuru and Bulma's stories.

The tweet received almost 30,000 likes and plenty of comments with fans sharing their favourite Bulma moments. Throughout all of her years voicing Bulma, Tsuru appeared in many of Dragon Ball's over 300 episodes. As well as featuring alongside everyone's favourite Saiyans, Tsuru also voiced iconic roles in Trigun as Meryl Strifle, Metal Gear as Naomi Hunter and Ranma 1/2 as Ukyo Kuonji.

While Tsuru past in 2017, she has clearly not been forgotten by both fans and Toei Animation. Her passing was the first to truly affect the Dragon Ball franchise. This has led to her successor being named as Aya Hisakawa who voiced Bulma in the "Dragon Ball Super: Broly" movie and all future "Dragon Ball Super" projects, including any anime and video games.

Dragon Ball and Bulma

Bulma has been an integral part of Dragon Ball ever since the first episode and manga chapter. Without her meeting with Goku at the very beginning of the series, it is likely none of the events that followed would have happened. She was with Goku all the way through the original series and even went to Namek in the Frieza Saga of "Dragon Ball Z." From there, she went on to mary Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans and play in integral role in the Android Saga.

The same Saga where she would have her first child, Trunks who's future self would become another fan favourite character. Her son, Trunks would later return in Super where Bulma would have her second child, Bulla. While GT isn't canon, Bulma would still play a major role going as far as unlocking the potential for Super Saiyan 4 for Vegeta.

Bulma has been a part of the show and manga from the start and Tsuru's voice will be missed by many.

One of many iconic Bulma moments happens while she is on Planet Namek, and how she deals with the frog form of Captain Ginyu. While she is for a time body swapped with Captain Ginyu and becomes a frog herself, in the ensuing events she manages to find her way back to her own body and ensure Captain Ginyu is once again trapped in the body of a frog.

Do you have a favourite Bulma and Tsuru moment? Let us know.Launches mobile app to enhance patients experience

JAKARTA,INDONESIA - Media OutReach -2 April 2019 - Columbia Asia Hospital, one of the largest and fastest-growinghealthcare companies in Asia, has outlined key trends impacting the healthcare industryin these times of digital living and convenience. Being a leading healthcareprovider in the region with patients base of over three million across fourmarkets, puts Columbia Asia Hospital in a good position to observe patients'behavior and implement solutions catering to their evolving needs.





Dr.Kelvin Loh, Group Chief Executive Officer, Columbia Asia commented about existing healthcare trends,"The key trends observed by us clearly highlight that modern patients aredemanding for personalized, quick and seamless healthcare delivery. This makes dealingwith the healthcare system much more convenient for them, something that hasn'tbeen typical of healthcare delivery systems in the past. Our studies have also shown that technologyadvancements in healthcare have the potential of closing the communication andinformation gap between patients and providers. As a company that is continuouslylooking for better ways to enhance services to our patients, we will try tobring in newer systems and processes that will be in line with demands of thetimes."





Key healthcare trends 2019 -- Columbia AsiaHospital :

Patients arelooking for the best consultation with efficient services: Patientstoday are expecting a lot in terms of the service that they receive. Theseexpectations range from well-maintained hospitals, helpful doctors, nurses andstaff, shorter waiting time for appointments, quick access to health records etal.

The future ofhealthcare lies in efficiency: For primary and secondary care, patientsprefer to rely on neighborhood / small-sized hospitals that provide easieraccess to quality healthcare services. In addition, smaller hospitals provide focused treatmentoptions and shorter in-patient stays enabling them to keep costs low forpatients. Leveraging digital technologies on a smaller scale further permits costeffective delivery of specialist care.

Tapping intothe realm of mobile healthcare: More and more healthcare organizations arerelying on patient interface through mobile apps. Apps often feature theability to schedule appointments, access patient's medical history and testresults, send reminders and provide option of cashless payment for acquiredservices.

Social mediaspace is the new word-of-mouth. Consumers today have the option of checkingreviews before making most purchase decisions -- hospital choices are alsoincreasingly getting dependent on reviews found in the online space. Otherfactors such as presence on social media platforms and its responsiveness havean influence on patients' hospital preference.





Story continues

In line with the highlighted trends,Columbia Asia has launched its official mobile app aimed to enhance theirservice offerings to patients. Keeping up with emerging healthcare trends thatare shaping the industry globally further drives the needs for hospitaloperators to continuously make patients' experience at hospitals hassle-freeand less time consuming.













The patient-centric application allows for servicessuch as booking and managing of appointments, payment, hospital-related queries,along with retrieving of corporate information and promotions to be moreseamless and efficient. (Payment functionwill be ready in Malaysia and Indonesia soon)





"The launch of our official mobile app is yetanother initiative in our digital transformation journey, as more and morepeople, particularly the millennials are opting for healthcare providers thatoffer treatment with added convenience. Aside from better serving the needs ofour patients, the mobile application gives us a cost-effective solution toreduce time in operational manpower," added Dr Loh.





During the trial period of the mobile appdeployment, Columbia Asia witnessed encouraging results including 16 percentcut down in out-patient journey time and an overall improved staff efficiency of8 to 9 percent, subsequently adding to increased time for staff-patientengagement.





Available on both iOS andAndroid platforms, Columbia Asia is looking at the enhancement of several servicesin the future such as exclusive medical package offerings and more. Pilot programhas also been launched with an app for physicians as part of its efforts toimprove connectivity to the IT platform to aid in better patient engagement.





Download Links





Apple App Store: http://bit.ly/cah_ios

Google Play Store: http://bit.ly/cah_android





About Columbia Asia

Columbia Asia is an international private healthcare company founded byan American entrepreneur, Mr. Daniel Baty in 1996. From the outset, ColumbiaAsia envisioned to provide quality, affordable healthcare services easilyaccessed by people wherever they live - driven by our vision statement, apassion for making people better. It is owned by an investment fund, InternationalColumbia US, LLC (ICU). In 2016, Mitsui & Co., a Japanese conglomerate withdeep operating experience in Asia joined as a shareholder in ICU.





Today, Columbia Asia is one of the largest and fastest growing hospitalgroups in Asia. It currently has 12 hospitals in Malaysia, 11 in India, 2 inVietnam and 3 in Indonesia.

With no more than 200 beds per hospital, it leverages modern technologyto provide efficient specialist care and to reduce length of hospital stayswhich results in more cost-effective care. The hospitals of Columbia Asiaprovide a wide array of specialist services such as General Surgery,Pediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Orthopedics, Internal Medicine,Oncology, Cardiology, Neurosurgery, Bariatric surgery and more. These are appropriately supported byancillary services that include an Intensive Care Unit, Neonatal Care Unit,Physiotherapy, Laboratory, Pharmacy and Imaging. At Columbia Asia, strict clinical governance, ethics and excellence aredemanded.



Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika submitted his resignation on Tuesday, shortly after the country's powerful army chief of staff demanded that he be declared unfit and leave office "immediately". Follow our live blog for all the latest. * Algeria's longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika submitted his resignation on Tuesday, shortly after the country's powerful army chief of staff, Gaid Salah, demanded that he be declared unfit and leave office "immediately". * Protests erupted in mid-February after the ailing Bouteflika announced he would seek a fifth term in office. The 82-year-old president has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. * As the demonstrations gained momentum and became weekly Friday protests, Bouteflika sought to quell the anger on March 11 by announcing he was dropping his bid for another term and that April elections would be postponed. The move failed to appease protesters, however, who saw them as a ploy to extend his two decades in power by other means. * Bouteflika went a step further on Monday, saying he would leave the presidency on April 28, at the end of his current mandate. * But students took to the streets in central Algiers once again on Tuesday, decrying Bouteflikas offer to resign as a political ploy.USA to play its role in resumption of dialogue between Pakistan,India: Shah Mehmood

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood has asked the United States to play its due role in resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India. The demand was made during a telephonic conversation between Qureshi and his US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Tuesday. Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals are tense since the attack in occupied Kashmir which killed over 40 Indian paramilitaries.



The foreign minister briefed Pompeo on the de-escalatory measures taken by Pakistan, including the handing over of captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. Both the leaders exchanged views on the current situation in the region, as well as discussed bilateral issues.



Qureshi said bilateral relations between Pakistan and the US carried special significance for peace and stability in the region. The US role for de-escalation in the region was laudable, he added. The continuing Afghan peace process was also discussed during the telephonic conversation. The two leaders agreed to continue cooperation on the matter. They discussed Pakistans facilitating role and agreed that the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzads forthcoming visit to Islamabad would provide an opportunity to further build on the gains made so far, the statement said.



Separately, Qureshi said Kartarpur Corridor would be inaugurated this year on the birthday of Baba Guru Nanak Opening of Kartarpur Corridor will not only help improving relations with India but also provide the Sikh community an opportunity of spiritual tourism, he said while addressing a conference in Islamabad. Qureshi said a number of steps have been taken to promote tourism the country.The Australian prime minister has been criticised online after impersonating comedy character Borat during Question Time in Parliament.

Responding to a question about a lack of new environmental commitments in the recent budget, Scott Morrison described the opposition's

Borat was a controversial 2006 film starring Sacha Baron Cohen as the titular character, a Kazakh journalist travelling around the US recording real-life interactions with everyday Americans.

Baron Cohen has said Borat was intended to highlight Western attitudes to foreigners, although the film was criticised for its characterisation of Kazakhstan as backward and anti-Semitic.

"Even Sacha Baron Cohen has stopped doing Borat impressions," tweeted Jordan Raskopoulos.

Even Sacha Baron Cohen has stopped doing Borat impressions. - Jordan Raskopoulos (@JordanRasko) April 3, 2019

The comment came as the Australian Labor Party suggested an environmental policy which would allow companies to buy carbon credits, used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, from other countries.

One such country could be Kazakhstan, Mr Morrison said, leading him to label the proposal the "Borat tax" and echo one of the character's catchphrases.

Australian Labor MP Tim Watts tweeted: "Well we've finally reached the nadir. The Prime Minister doing Borat impressions in Parliament."

Well we've finally reached the nadir. The Prime Minister doing Borat impersonations in Parliament. #qt - Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) April 3, 2019

Columnist Myriam Robin said: "I was at school when Borat came out and all the guys in class kept quoting it and they wouldn't stop and it was a very dark time in my life. Please no more talk of the bad movie."

Story continues

Journalist Josh Butler discovered that Borat had been mentioned in Parliament six times in the past, "most recently Ed Husic in 2018, when he said 'We have Borat broadband in this country. Kazakhstan is beating Australia... How did we get to the spot where Borat beats us on broadband?'"

a search of the hansard shows me that the word 'Borat' has been mentioned six times before  most recently Ed Husic in 2018, when he said "We have Borat broadband in this country. Kazakhstan is beating Australia... How did we get to the spot where Borat beats us on broadband?" pic.twitter.com/JPrBZoOUyM - Josh Butler (@JoshButler) April 3, 2019

Tim Beshara, federal policy director for environmental organisation Wilderness Society, highlighted the seriousness of the question he was asked before referring to Mr Morrison as "the child Prime Minister" for his response.

This was the question that drew the Borat pre-planned joke from the child Prime Minister. pic.twitter.com/YCABLIDcHs - Tim Beshara (@Tim_Beshara) April 3, 2019

Asked later on Australian radio whether he often quotes Borat in the Federal Parliament, Mr Morrison laughed and said: "Not very often but I thought it was very appropriate."

Australia is expected to hold an election by the end of November 2019.Barely a third of the public in Great Britain hope Northern Ireland would vote to remain in the UK, new research showed.

A fifth said they would prefer it left and joined the Republic of Ireland following any future referendum on removing the Irish border, pollsters revealed.

One in three (34%) thought Brexit will make it more likely that Northern Ireland will join the Republic over the next decade.

More of those who voted Remain in the referendum than of those who voted Leave think Brexit will make a united Ireland more likely.

The research was published by market research organisation Ipsos MORI for Kings College London.

The research suggests those who voted for Britain to Remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum are more likely to want Northern Ireland to leave the Union and join the Republic than those who voted Leave (Niall Carson/PA)

Roger Mortimore, professor of public opinion and political analysis at Kings College London, said: When Scotland voted on whether to become independent in 2014, there was a clear majority among the public in the rest of the UK that hoped it would choose to stay.

But many fewer Britons, it seems, would mind if Northern Ireland decided to leave the Union.

Most have never been there, and most have no clear view on how it will be affected by Brexit.

Conservatives are most likely to hope that Northern Ireland would vote to stay in the UK: 49% of those who would currently vote Conservative say they would prefer Northern Ireland to vote to stay, compared to 34% of Labour supporters and 27% of Liberal Democrats.

Those who voted for Britain to Remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum are more likely (23%) to want Northern Ireland to leave the Union and join the Republic than those who voted Leave (15%).

Three in four adults who live in Great Britain have never visited Northern Ireland, and a further 17% have visited only once or twice. Just 3% have lived or worked there, and 5% have visited many times.Most Brits would not mind if Northern Ireland was not part of the UK (Getty)

A shock new survey has found that most people in Britain would not mind if Northern Ireland was no longer a part of the UK.

Barely a third of the public in Great Britain hope Northern Ireland would vote to remain in the UK, while one in six people said they would prefer it left and joined the Republic of Ireland following any future referendum on removing the Irish border.

The rest would not mind either way or have no opinion, according to pollsters Ipsos MORI.

The poll found barely a third of people would hope Northern Ireland would vote to remain in the UK (Ipsos MORI)

One in three (34%) thought Brexit will make it more likely that Northern Ireland will join the Republic over the next decade.

More of those who voted Remain in the referendum than of those who voted Leave think Brexit will make a united Ireland more likely.

Roger Mortimore, professor of public opinion and political analysis at Kings College London, said: When Scotland voted on whether to become independent in 2014, there was a clear majority among the public in the rest of the UK that hoped it would choose to stay.

Read more from Yahoo News UK:

Scarface five-time serial killer jailed for 20 years

Kitten slaughterhouse is closed after public outcry

Brunei makes gay sex punishable by death

But many fewer Britons, it seems, would mind if Northern Ireland decided to leave the Union.

Most have never been there, and most have no clear view on how it will be affected by Brexit.

Conservatives are most likely to hope that Northern Ireland would vote to stay in the UK: 49% of those who would currently vote Conservative say they would prefer Northern Ireland to vote to stay, compared to 34% of Labour supporters and 27% of Liberal Democrats.

A fifth of respondents said they would prefer it left and joined the Republic of Ireland following any future referendum on removing the Irish border (PA)

Those who voted for Britain to Remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum are more likely (23%) to want Northern Ireland to leave the Union and join the Republic than those who voted Leave (15%).

The survey also found that three in four adults who live in Great Britain have never visited Northern Ireland, and a further 17% have visited only once or twice.

Story continues

Just 3% have lived or worked there, and 5% have visited many times.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKWhat happened?

Footage emerged this morning of British servicemen shooting at a poster of Jeremy Corbyn as target practice. The video, thought to have been taken in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows soldiers from 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment firing at an image of the Labour leader on a Simunition range. The range is designed for practicing a drill called the guardian angel  a force protection tactic. It is understood the shooters used a non-lethal hardened wax substance instead of metal bullets.

What is being done about it?

The Army confirmed it is investigating the footage, which is thought to have been filmed in the last few days, branding the actions unacceptable. A spokesperson said: We are aware of a video circulating on social media, this behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects. A full investigation has been launched.

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood condemned the footage soon after it emerged. He tweeted: If authentic, this is unacceptable. Am looking into it. Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith called the video disgraceful and wrote to Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, calling on him to respond as soon as possible. In a letter posted on Twitter, she added the appalling footage comes at a time when members of Parliament face an unprecedented level of threat to their personal safety.

The Army is meant to be an apolitical organisation.

Army investigates video of soldiers shooting Corbyn poster (Yahoo News UK)

Labour alarmed by soldiers using Corbyn image for target practice (PA)

MoD criticises troops over Corbyn picture (Sky News)

People who call Corbyn a terrorist sympathiser are to blame for this (Independent)





Tories have vented their fury at Theresa May over her decision to meet with Jeremy Corbyn for talks over the Brexit deadlock. Mrs May said on Tuesday that she would seek an extension beyond next week to allow negotiations with the Labour leader aimed at getting a Brexit deal through Parliament. Mr Corbyn said he would be very happy to meet the Prime Minister in a bid to offer certainty and security to the British people  but Tory Brexiteers have reacted with anger. Who do you believe is most to blame for the Brexit logjam?

Story continues

Parts of UK hit by snow as icy snap grips country

Snow and sleet hit parts of the UK today as an icy start to spring spread across the country. A surprise snowstorm fell in London, accompanied by a massive thunderclap. The Met Office issued a yellow severe weather warning for an area of northern England and southern Scotland, and snow flurries were seen down in the Midlands in the early hours of Wednesday. Temperatures dipped below freezing across the board overnight and have remained low throughout the day. Read the full story here (Telegraph)

Group of six men sexually assault schoolgirl on bus

A schoolgirl says she was sexually assaulted by a group of men while she travelled on a bus to Birmingham city centre. The 12-year-old told her mother the men, in their early 20s, approached the girl and her group of friends before assaulting them. The girl says her friends ran downstairs leaving her alone with the men, who the girl says then sexually assaulted her. Anyone with information is urged to contact West Midlands Police.

Read the full story here (Provider here)

Arturo the Brazilian tapir seriously enjoys a good scratch. This video, shared by Zoos Victoria on April 2, shows the homely fellow grinning big during a scratch from a keeper at Melbourne Zoo. Literally no better use for a rake at the zoo, the zoo wrote on Facebook.

226,000

Googles UK staff numbers jumped by almost 400 to 3,658 last year, according to the companys latest financial filings. The tech giants 829m wage and salary bill for the year to 30 June was a 26% increase from 2017 and meant the companys staff in the UK earned an average of 226,000 each. Read the full story here. (The Guardian)Many Democrats have already entered the race to be the partys 2020 presidential nominee but some are faring better than others in the all important task of raising the money needed to fund a campaign.

The totals for the first quarter, which ran through to March 31, are the first measure of how candidates are performing.

Details for the entire field will not be known until candidates file their required disclosures with the Federal Election Commission by April 15.

Bernie Sanders is once again proving to be a formidable fundraiser (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Bernie Sanders, with former vice-president Joe Biden, is faring well in the polls but with Mr Biden yet to formally launch a White House bid, Mr Sanders is the early trailblazer in terms of campaign donations.

The senator from Vermont, who showed surprising fundraising ability in his challenge to eventual Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago, raised more than 18 million US dollars in the 41 days between his official campaign launch and March 31, giving him 28 million dollars cash to hand.

Those totals are expected to lead the Democratic field, putting pressure on other heavyweights, including Mr Biden, who is still deciding whether to run and who is navigating accusations that he has acted inappropriately toward women.

As promised, heres a more complete breakdown our Q1 fundraising metrics, including number of donors (158,550), average donation ($36.35), and the percent of our total raised that came in through contributions under $200 (64%)  second half of video to follow. #PeteforAmerica pic.twitter.com/41gedmRiNW  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 2, 2019

Besides Mr Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris of California put up an impressive 12 million dollar haul.

Story continues

Former US Representative Beto ORourke of Texas did not offer a fundraising total, but aides said he raised more than one million dollars over the weekend and previously said he raised more than six million dollars in his first 24 hours as a candidate.

Mr Sanders haul shows that his base is just as enthusiastic as it was four years ago.

Over the last two months, the response to our campaign has been inspiring:  $12 million raised  218,000 individual contributions 99% of donors can give again No corporate PACs. No federal lobbyists. A real, grassroots campaign  by the people and for the people.  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 2, 2019

In fact, it may be growing.

The senators campaign noted that of his 525,000 unique donors, about 20% are new, about 100,000 are registered independents and about 20,000 are registered Republicans.

As impressive as Mr Sanders fundraising has been, it is not as large as previous presidential contenders who were more reliant on big donors.

In her first quarter as a candidate ahead of 2016, Mrs Clinton topped 45 million dollars.

In 2007, when then-senator Barack Obama and Mrs Clinton were beginning their long battle for the 2008 nomination, the favourite Mrs Clinton opened with an initial fundraising quarter of 36 million dollars, while the underdog Mr Obama pulled in 26 million dollars.

Air Force One takes off from Prestwick Airport (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Mr Sanders fundraising haul set the curve for all candidates and will give pause to some of the other perceived heavyweights in the field, particularly his fellow senators Ms Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Ms Harris is the only candidate of that group to release her fundraising totals.

But the biggest winner may be Pete Buttigieg, an unlikely headline-grabber even among a group of lesser-known candidates that includes governors and members of Congress.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised seven million US dollars, calling it a great look for our first quarter.

That might be an understatement.

Its the last day of the quarter and we need you to be like Reilys mom. Give $1 now to support a strong woman in the White House. https://t.co/iVg91M9DTq https://t.co/Lbxtz4YcUk  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) April 1, 2019

Such a sum ensures Mr Buttigieg can finance a legitimate campaign operation for months as long as he is not a profligate spender.

Mr Buttigieg said he has almost 160,000 unique donors, a mark that meets the new grassroots fundraising thresholds that the Democratic National Committee has set for candidates to qualify for the initial summer debates.

The eventual Democrat nominee will take on President Donald Trump in 2020.Fake news has flourished online in France in recent years, influencing information about the Yellow Vest movement, terror attacks, Roma people, vaccinations and more. Kevin Razy, a comedian and television show host who is also active on YouTube, hosts a late night programme inspired by American political satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.Adept at following current affairs and commenting on them on his programme and on YouTube, he has also witnessed the rise of fake news in France with the development of online platforms.For several years, French people have been placing less trust in traditional media, he says in his office at the Canal Plus television station.They say its all the same, that its manipulated by the powerful. They prefer the Internet, but its important to know how to read what youre seeing, because a lot on the Internet is manipulated, too.Explaining how fake news worksOver the years, satire has at times been taken so seriously as to shift opinion during election campaigns, which led to Razy publishing his book, whose title translates as "Fake News: How to Avoid the Trap".The idea of the book is to equip young readers with the critical thinking skills to tell the difference between parody, propaganda, conspiracy theories and the falsification of information that has come to be known as fake news.It makes you want to believe it, which makes you share it, without even reading the article, Razy says.The problem is that people will see the fake news but not the refutation. Fake news spreads very quickly. But correcting it is ten times harder, because the correction does not spread so easily.Part of the premise is that readers can verify for themselves, according to information they can find on the web, whether information is designed to inform them or to manipulate them.One of first things to do is to read the article and not just the headline, because often they have nothing to do with each other, Razy explains.Then, you go to a search engine and see if other, more reputable media are talking about it. If its hard to find sources, thats a warning that it may be wrong.Conspiracy theories from Roma to measles to Yellow VestsWhile the book takes fake news as a global phenomenon  US President Donald Trump, who has popularised the term by using it to attack critics, makes multiple appearances  it also comes at a time when falsification affects French topics.The dynamics of fake news were on display last week as French officials scrambled to contain false rumours spreading on the web and on social media about alleged kidnappings of children by Roma people.Despite the lack of evidence, the rumours triggered vigilante attacks on Roma settlements in the Paris region. On Tuesday, a 19-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for assaulting two Roma people.Elsewhere, the World Health Organization has linked a rise in measles cases to a growing anti-vaccination movement on social media, and a French couple who had not vaccinated their child was blamed for reintroducing the disease to Costa Rica last month.And conspiracy theories have been present throughout the Yellow Vest movement, notably around a shooting attack in Strasbourg in December.Teenagers 'question pretty much everything'A study published last year found four out of five people in France believed some form of conspiracy theory and that youth were generally more susceptible to believing false information.Razy, though, does not believe fake news is a problem restricted to teenagers.The book is for 13- to 18-year-olds, but its relevant to adults, too, Razy says. My mother sees things on Facebook and believes theyre true, because they look true. But theyre not.The emphasis rather is on developing critical skills at an age when people begin questioning the world and, through digital technology, become more exposed to information in many forms.Teenagers often ask good questions, and they question pretty much everything, but they dont always go and find the right answers, Razy says.Thats why the book gives them a way to find the right answers.

Fake news has flourished online in France in recent years, influencing information about the Yellow Vest movement, terror attacks, Roma people, vaccinations and more.

Kevin Razy, a comedian and television show host who is also active on YouTube, hosts a late night programme inspired by American political satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

Adept at following current affairs and commenting on them on his programme and on YouTube, he has also witnessed the rise of fake news in France with the development of online platforms.

For several years, French people have been placing less trust in traditional media, he says in his office at the Canal Plus television station.

They say its all the same, that its manipulated by the powerful. They prefer the Internet, but its important to know how to read what youre seeing, because a lot on the Internet is manipulated, too.

Explaining how fake news works

Over the years, satire has at times been taken so seriously as to shift opinion during election campaigns, which led to Razy publishing his book, whose title translates as "Fake News: How to Avoid the Trap".

The idea of the book is to equip young readers with the critical thinking skills to tell the difference between parody, propaganda, conspiracy theories and the falsification of information that has come to be known as fake news.

It makes you want to believe it, which makes you share it, without even reading the article, Razy says.

The problem is that people will see the fake news but not the refutation. Fake news spreads very quickly. But correcting it is ten times harder, because the correction does not spread so easily.

Part of the premise is that readers can verify for themselves, according to information they can find on the web, whether information is designed to inform them or to manipulate them.

One of first things to do is to read the article and not just the headline, because often they have nothing to do with each other, Razy explains.

Story continues

Then, you go to a search engine and see if other, more reputable media are talking about it. If its hard to find sources, thats a warning that it may be wrong.

Conspiracy theories from Roma to measles to Yellow Vests

While the book takes fake news as a global phenomenon  US President Donald Trump, who has popularised the term by using it to attack critics, makes multiple appearances  it also comes at a time when falsification affects French topics.

The dynamics of fake news were on display last week as French officials scrambled to contain false rumours spreading on the web and on social media about alleged kidnappings of children by Roma people.

Despite the lack of evidence, the rumours triggered vigilante attacks on Roma settlements in the Paris region. On Tuesday, a 19-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for assaulting two Roma people.

Elsewhere, the World Health Organization has linked a rise in measles cases to a growing anti-vaccination movement on social media, and a French couple who had not vaccinated their child was blamed for reintroducing the disease to Costa Rica last month.

And conspiracy theories have been present throughout the Yellow Vest movement, notably around a shooting attack in Strasbourg in December.

Teenagers 'question pretty much everything'

A study published last year found four out of five people in France believed some form of conspiracy theory and that youth were generally more susceptible to believing false information.

Razy, though, does not believe fake news is a problem restricted to teenagers.

The book is for 13- to 18-year-olds, but its relevant to adults, too, Razy says. My mother sees things on Facebook and believes theyre true, because they look true. But theyre not.

The emphasis rather is on developing critical skills at an age when people begin questioning the world and, through digital technology, become more exposed to information in many forms.

Teenagers often ask good questions, and they question pretty much everything, but they dont always go and find the right answers, Razy says.

Thats why the book gives them a way to find the right answers.Members of Bruneis LGBTQ community have expressed their fears as new Islamic criminal laws took effect on Wednesday.

The new measures, which include punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death, have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nations shores.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Bruneis Shariah Penal Code.

UN Human Right Chief @mbachelet urges #Brunei to stop new penal code that seriously breach international human law  incl. death by stoning. Brunei retains death penalty in law but has been abolitionist in practice since 1957. Learn more: https://t.co/BgWjo1o5Fb pic.twitter.com/Jx8J5bTPzK  UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 1, 2019

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim.

Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years.

The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays.

But under the new laws, which also apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim, those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped.

Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second.

Living in Brunei, we already knew that our sexual identity is taboo and should not be expressed.

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We already felt belittled before the law came to place, said a 23-year-old member of the LGBTQ community who wanted to be identified only as Kun out of fear of reprisal from the authorities.

Now with it, we feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they want, he said.

#Bruneis decision to implement Phases Two & Three of the Sharia Penal Code & associated penalties runs counter to its international human rights obligations. The U.S. strongly opposes violence, criminalization & discrimination targeting vulnerable groups including LGBTI persons. pic.twitter.com/AfVkCUWrR0  Robert Palladino (@StateDeputySPOX) April 3, 2019

Celebrities including George Clooney, Sir Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boycott of nine hotels in the US and Europe with ties to Hassanal, who is still sultan.

Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? Clooney wrote on Thursday on Deadline Hollywood.

Clooney said that while you cant shame murderous regimes, you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them.

Customers at two prestigious Paris hotels owned by the sultan expressed their support for a boycott.

Outside the Le Meurice hotel, Philippe Menager said he was no longer comfortable going to the spa after being a regular customer for 15 years.

Bruneis Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (Vincent Thian/AP)

I cant continue to be a frequent visitor of the hotels of this savage to preserve the jobs of the people who work at Le Meurice  who are very nice and I like them, he said.

A tourist from Norway, Anja Anderson, said she would have stayed at a hotel other than the Plaza Athenee had she heard about the boycott before making her reservation.

There has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties in Brunei, where the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority.

Public criticism of his policies is extremely rare in the country.

Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of special guidance from God and would be part of the great history of Brunei.

On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans.

The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalisation and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

Bruneis Southeast Asian neighbours, some of whom have laws banning sex between men, were silent.

But LGBTQ citizens of other nearby Muslim-majority countries were concerned about the broad penalties.

I am very worried that Indonesia or Malaysia may follow the lead, said a 24-year-old man from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysias capital, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Ludwig.

George Clooney and his human rights lawyer wife Amal (Andrew Milligan/PA)

I think people nowadays, especially the younger generation, are quite OK with LGBT, but those who are not make the loudest noise and they are the reason why it seems like everyone is against it.

Nearly two-thirds of Malaysias 32 million people are Muslim.

They are governed by Islamic courts in family, marriage and personal issues. Last year, two Malaysian Muslim women were convicted under Islamic laws and caned for attempting to have sex with each other.

Cruel and inhuman punishments such as death by stoning for same-sex sexual acts and amputation for robbery will come into effect in Brunei Darussalam next week. The changes would allow stoning and amputation as punishments  including for children. https://t.co/dfQab55aF4  Amnesty International (@amnestyusa) March 28, 2019

Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Bruneis government to stop the entry into force of this Draconian new penal code.

Any religion-based legislation must not violate human rights, including the rights of those belonging to the majority religion as well as of religious minorities and non-believers, she said in a statement on Monday.

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called on the sultan to immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments.

Bruneis new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes, Robertson said in a statement Wednesday.

Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei researcher at Amnesty International, decried the vicious laws and asked the international community to condemn them.Jens Stoltenberg has acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance and called for bigger defence budgets to cope with global challenges, such as Russian assertiveness.

In the first address to Congress by a Nato head, he said: Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences.

The Nato secretary general credited President Donald Trump with compelling allies to spend more on defence. But he did not mention that Trump has also questioned the value of the alliance and suggested that some members are freeloaders.

Trumps criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington as its leader.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Stoltenbergs speech provided a diplomatic counterpoint to Trumps sometimes derisive rhetoric, and the enthusiastic reception he received from both parties in the House was testament to an enduring pro-Nato consensus in Congress.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was Natos top commander from 2009 to 2013, called the Stoltenberg address a high point in recent US-European relations.

Given the presidents evident and frequently vocalised scepticism of the alliance, it is clear that Congress  on a bipartisan basis  wants to put the full weight of the legislative branch behind Nato, Stavridis said.

We will never find a better pool of allies in the world than the Europeans, and this address underscores the importance of the trans-Atlantic bridge, which has been creaking a bit lately.

Trumps criticisms are not Natos only source of friction.

Honoured to address the joint meeting of Congress to thank the US for its enduring support since #NATO was founded 70 years ago. Through NATO, the US has more friends & allies than any other power. Together we are stronger & safer: https://t.co/uULiFwKOSJ pic.twitter.com/3t3hKPQxWB  Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) April 3, 2019

The alliance also is at odds with long-time member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defence system that is not compatible with the allied air defenses.

Story continues

The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest US fighter jet, the F-35, if the Turks go through with their plan to buy Russias advanced S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

Stoltenberg made a point of highlighting the benefits to the United States of having Nato allies.

Our alliance has not lasted for 70 years out of a sense of nostalgia or of sentiment, he said. Nato lasts because it is in the national interest of each and every one of our countries.

Stoltenberg on Thursday will lead a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to mark 70 years since the alliances founding charter, the North Atlantic Treaty.

The alliance has grown from its original 12 members to 29, with the Republic of North Macedonia about to become the 30th member country.

General Robert Neller, left, speaks with Jens Stoltenberg after the address (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Stoltenberg, a two-time former prime minister of Norway, is the first head of Nato to address a joint meeting of Congress.

He touted the alliances long record of partnership but also noted it has a history of coping with internal divisions, including strong opposition by France, Germany and other members to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

Open discussions and different views is not a sign of weakness, he said. It is a sign of strength. So we should not be surprised when we see differences between our countries.

Today there are disagreements on issues such as trade, energy, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. These are serious issues with serious disagreements.

Trump has sharply criticised other Natomembers, including Germany, for not meeting spending targets. On Tuesday, he praised the generally upward trend among the European allies, but hounded them to pay even more because he believes America still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

In a meeting at the White House, Trump and Stoltenberg had kind words for each other. But in the past, Trump has called Natoobsolete and suggested he might pull the US out of the alliance if member nations didnt significantly boost defence spending.Legal troubles are piling up for Carlos Ghosn after French carmaker Renault said it had flagged to judicial authorities serious problems with his expenses during his time as chairman of the company.

Renaults statement suggests the company is toughening its approach to Ghosn, who it had long refrained from criticising after he was arrested in November in Japan on charges of understating his income at Japanese carmaker Nissan, which he was chairman of too.

Renault said after a special board meeting that it had informed French authorities of potential issues concerning payments made to one of Renaults distributors in the Middle East.

I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening. Press conference on Thursday, April 11.  Carlos Ghosn  (@carlosghosn) April 3, 2019

That echoed media reports that Ghosn had also benefited from payments made to a Renault-Nissan distributor in Oman that exposed him to further charges.

Ghosn has denied wrongdoing and on Wednesday went on Twitter, posting on his new verified account, to say he will hold a news conference on April 11: Im getting ready to tell the truth about whats happening.

Renault had previously alerted French authorities that Ghosn had benefited to the tune of 50,000 euros from a philanthropic deal the company had struck with the chateau of Versailles.

Ghosn had reportedly held a lavish wedding at the royal estate.

A Renault logo (David Cheskin/PA)

On Wednesday, Renault also said that an internal investigation at the joint venture between Renault and Nissan, called RNBV, suggest serious deficiencies in terms of financial transparency and expenditure control procedures.

It said the expenses amount to several million euros since 2010.

The Renault board said it would not pay Ghosn the variable part of his pay packet for 2018, which comes on top of his fixed salary of one million euros for the year.

Story continues

It also stripped him of part of his pension benefits scheme.

Ghosns lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters he has petitioned a Tokyo court to allow him to be tried separately from Nissan Motor Co, a co-defendant in the case in Japan.

Concerns have been raised over an event at Versailles (Chris Radburn/PA)

Ghosns arrests and charges are a sharp fall for an executive who dominated the industry.

He has won global accolades for turning around Renault and then its alliance partner Nissan over the past two decades.

He had wanted to merge the two companies, which together with a third alliance partner, Mitsubishi, are the biggest maker of passenger cars in the world.

Ghosn bet early on that emissions crackdowns would eventually bring an end to the era of petrol and diesel engines, so he has championed bringing electric and autonomous cars to the masses, fighting resistance within both companies.Footage captured in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows soldiers using a picture of the Islington North MP for target practice on a Simunition range.

A decision by soldiers to shoot at an image of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a serious error of judgment, a senior military commander has said.

Footage captured in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows personnel from 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment using a picture of the Islington North MP for target practice on a Simunition range.

Brigadier Nick Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said the Army is conducting a full investigation and wants to get to the bottom of what happened.

This is a serious error of judgment, Brig Perry said. Let me be clear  the Army is, and always will be, an apolitical organisation.

We have 400 soldiers from the Brigade conducting force protection in Afghanistan, and working closely with both Nato and Afghan partners. These soldiers are doing an outstanding job out there.

A Labour Party spokesman described the conduct of the soldiers in the clip as alarming and unacceptable, adding that they have confidence in the Ministry of Defence to investigate and act on the incident.

I commend the prompt and clear leadership shown by the army in investigating this troubling video. https://t.co/JBYbGotkCq  Gavin Williamson MP (@GavinWilliamson) April 3, 2019

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said he commends the prompt and clear leadership shown by the Army in investigating this troubling video.

An Army spokesman said they are aware of the clip circulating on social media.

This behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the army expects, a full investigation has been launched, he added.

The video shows a number of soldiers taking aim down the range and firing their weapons  the camera then focuses on the target and zooms in on an image of Mr Corbyn.

Story continues

With a graphic of happy with that across the screen throughout, a number of marks can be seen peppered across Mr Corbyns face.

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practise what is called the guardian angel drill  a force protection tactic.

Theresa Mays official spokesman said the incident was clearly unacceptable, and that the Prime Minister was aware of the videos content but had not seen it.

Commons speaker John Bercow also condemned the footage and said he would be horrified if service personnel behaved in such a way towards an MP.

Shameful and utterly unacceptable. This goes against the values and standards of @BritishArmy. I welcome the @DefenceHQ investigation into this video and trust it will be resolved quickly. https://t.co/kDBTG0UgDx  Dan Jarvis (@DanJarvisMP) April 3, 2019

Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith has written to her Tory counterpart, Mr Williamson, asking him to condemn this footage immediately and commit to ensuring that the investigation is thorough and carried out in a timely manner.

In the letter posted on Twitter, she added that the appalling footage comes at a time when members of Parliament face an unprecedented level of threat to their personal safety.

Former soldier and Tory MP Johnny Mercer tweeted that every organisation has good people who make serious misjudgements.

He added: Its how it polices itself that matters, and an inability to do that correctly has caused so many problems of late (IHAT). I look forward to a robust response.

Labour MP Dan Jarvis, who is also a former Paratrooper, said the incident is shameful and utterly unacceptable.

This goes against the values and standards of the British Army. I welcome the Ministry of Defence investigation into this video and trust it will be resolved quickly, he added.

The incident was also branded as deeply worrying by Labour MP Paul Sweeney who served as an Army reserve soldier for 12 years.

I was horrified to see the footage apparently showing soldiers firing at an image of @jeremycorbyn. This disgraceful behaviour is deeply troubling and has no place in the Army. I have written to @GavinWilliamson about the investigation that is underway. pic.twitter.com/WcELyHLDPE  Nia Griffith MP (@NiaGriffithMP) April 3, 2019

He said what the soldiers in the video have done is a shameful act which destroys the reputation of the British Army, and is at odds which what is expected of them.

They need to be held to account for that action, but it demonstrates a more worrying trend in our society, where were prepared to see that kind of behaviour enacted against a key part of our democracy, he told the Press Association.

Whether you like him or not, Jeremy Corbyn is the Leader of Her Majestys Official Opposition in Parliament, and Parliament is the supreme democratic body in this country.

It comes after far-right activist Tommy Robinson posted a photograph of himself surrounded by grinning soldiers in October  prompting another Army probe.

The former English Defence League leader also shared a video featuring Army personnel who cheered and shouted his name.

At the time, the Army said it was aware of the image and footage and was investigating the circumstances, adding that a far-right ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the armed forces.Park Jung-ho, CEO of SK Telecom, attends a launching ceremony for its 5G service, in Seoul Park Jung-ho, CEO of SK Telecom, attends a launching ceremony for its 5G service, in Seoul, South Korea, April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will become one of the first countries to commercially launch fifth-generation (5G) services as it rolls out on Friday the latest wireless technology with Samsung Electronics' new 5G-enabled smartphone Galaxy S10.

With one of the world's top smartphone penetration rates, South Korea is in a race with China, the United States and Japan to market 5G, hoping the technology will spur breakthrough in fields such as smart cities and autonomous cars, and drive up its economic growth that slowed to a six-year low in 2018.

"It is meaningful that South Korean telecom companies are providing services and networks meeting South Korean customers' high standard in speed and picture quality," Ryu Young-sang, executive vice president at the country's top mobile carrier SK Telecom, said on Wednesday.

A few hours after the announcement, U.S. telecoms company Verizon Communications Inc said it was launching Wednesday its 5G service on mobile phones in two cities, moving up its schedule by a week.

"For the first time ever, customers can access a commercial 5G network with the worlds first commercially available 5G-enabled smartphone," Verizon said in a statement on Wednesday.

U.S. carriers have launched 5G services in limited areas and not on all devices as early as last year. "We launched the first mobile 5G network several months ago and weve followed that up with other firsts, including 1 Gig speeds last week with more cities to come soon," said an AT&T spokesman, disputing South Korea's first in 5G claim.

Telecoms and media company AT&T Inc has said it was the first to launch a "commercial and standards-based" 5G network in December 2018. The service was made available to mobile hotspot devices but not yet on phones on Dec. 21 in 12 cities.

5G will change the landscape of the gaming industry as it allows games streamed with minimal delay to be played on smartphones, SK Telecom's Ryu said.

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The technology can offer 20-times faster data speeds than 4G long-term evolution (LTE) networks and better support for artificial intelligence and virtual reality with low latency.

Sometimes it can offer 100-times faster speeds.

South Korean carriers have spent billions on campaigns marketing 5G and, on Wednesday, SK Telecom showed off K-pop stars and an Olympic gold medallist as its first 5G customers.

SK Telecom is working with its memory-chip making affiliate SK Hynix to build a highly digitised and connected factory powered by 5G technology, Ryu said.

The operator expects about 1 million 5G customers by end-2019. It has a total of 27 million users.

Smaller rival KT Corp is set to offer cheaper plans than its LTE service, with unlimited data and four-year instalments to buy 5G devices.

Samsung was the first to unwrap a 5G phone in February when it unveiled the Galaxy S10 5G and a nearly $2,000 (1,520) folding smartphone, putting the world's top smartphone maker by volume in pole position in the 5G race, some analysts say.

Smaller local rival LG Electronics Inc plans to release its 5G smartphone in South Korea later this month.

SECURITY CONCERNS

While security concerns over 5G networks using telecom equipment made by China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd have marred the buildup to the release of these services, South Korean telcos have tried to shrug them off.

"I don't think we have a security issue in South Korea," Park Jin-hyo, head of SK Telecom's information and communication tech research centre, told reporters.

He added that the company uses advanced technology to block eavesdropping or hacking into 5G networks.

Among South Korea's top three telecom operators, SK Telecom and KT Corp do not use Huawei equipment for 5G. Smaller carrier LG Uplus Corp uses Huawei gear.

But SK Telecom officials said it was likely there will be an open auction for network equipment makers including Huawei if South Korea needs more base stations for higher frequencies.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh, Himani Sarkar, Lisa Shumaker and Diane Craft)Martin Kabrhel Wins 2019 WSOP International Circuit Rozvadov Main Event

April 03 2019 Shirley Ang

Martin Kabrhel has been crowned as the WSOP International Circuit Rozvadov 1,700 Main Event Champion. For his efforts over the past days, Kabrhel walked away with 190,000, a World Series of Poker Europe Main Event ticket, and his fifth WSOP Circuit Ring. The Main Event attracted a total of 650 entries, falling just short of the 1,103,500 guarantee.

Kabrhels previous four rings and two bracelets were all won at the Kings Resort in Rozvadov, the Czech Republic. This victory is his second biggest in what can be called his home town casino. This cash will take him over $8 million in live tournament cashes, according to the Hendon Mob, of which more than half has been won in WSOP events.

WSOPC Rozvadov Final Table Results

Position Player Country Prize (EUR) Prize (USD) 1 Martin Kabrhel Czech Republic  190,000* $213,349 2 Harry Ross United Kingdom  110,000* $123,518 3 Jakub Oliva Czech Republic  80,000* $89,831 4 Andreas Heider Germany  64,500* $72,426 5 Robert Skopalik Czech Republic  50,780* $57,020 6 Martin Mulsow Germany  39,777* $44,665 7 Daniel Smiljkovic Germany  29,951* $33,632 8 Raz Alon Israel  20,881* $23,447

* plus a WSOPE Main Event Ticket worth 10,350

WSOPC Rozvadov Final Day Action

At 2 PM local time, 23 players returned to the felt, and the action was jam-packed from the start. As there were quite a few short stacks coming into the day, the all-in and calls kept coming in. After some big pots and massive showdowns, the unofficial final table started with an average of 36 big blinds, but only three players had more than that.

Oliva and Kabrhel both had more than double average after claiming most of the eliminations to their belt. Less than fifteen minutes after all remaining players were moved to the feature table, Philipp Luetkemeier was sent away in a three-way all-in pot. Robert Skopalik came out victorious with his pocket aces against the ace-queen of Luetkemeier and the tens of Oliva and the final table was set.

The WSOPC Final Table

WSOPC Rozvadov Final Table Action

With eight players left, Alon busted with pocket nines against the tens of Kabrhel. After that, it went quiet for a while, also thanks to the 30-minute dinner break in between. Almost two hours after Alon had busted, Smiljkovic couldnt win against Kabrhel either with his pocket kings. Kabrhels ace-deuce found a deuce on the flop and an ace on the turn to deal the final blow to the German player.

Mulsow got his last four big blinds in with queen-jack and Andreas Heider held pocket eights, and they stayed ahead throughout the board. Kabrhel kept putting pressure on the table, and Skopalik called Kabrhels shove with queen-trey for his last three big blinds. Kabrhel rivered a pair of tens to eliminate Skopalik in fifth place.

Oliva doubled up three times before Heider failed to win his last all-in with king-nine while Kabrhel held ace-eight. Oliva then found his Waterloo when he was almost forced all-in on the big blind and called Kabrhels bet on the river with his last remaining chips with two pair. Kabrhels flush was good, and Oliva exited.

The heads-up affair between Ross and Kabrhel didnt last long. Ross first doubled up to about three big blinds but a few hands later, it was over for Ross. Kabrhel limped in with ten-seven, and Ross checked with six-five. On the eight-nine-four flop, Ross moved inf for his last big blind and Kabrhel called with the open-ended straight draw. The turn gave Ross a straight draw too, but a jack on the river gave Kabrhel the nut-straight to close out the tournament for his fifth ring. Kabrhel and Ross hugged it out, posed for pictures with everyone who wanted to, and then went on their way.

Martin Kabrhel beats Harry Ross heads up to win the WSOPC Main EventMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez and other students at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington in 2018 (Photo: AFP Photo/JIM WATSON )

In the past few years, weve heard some incredibly powerful female voices, many of whom are still pre-teens and teens. These female youth activists arent afraid to speak out about all of the injustices in the world  or to confront adults about their culpability in everything from climate issues to gun violence.

Read on for some incredibly inspiring female youth activists who make us realise that you dont need to be a grown-up to change the world. #Girlgoals.

Swedish 16-year-old Greta Thunberg has inspired a wave of climate protests by schoolchildren around the world after delivering a fiery speech at the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland last month. (Photo: Fabrice Cofferini/AFP/Getty Images)

Greta Thunberg

A 16-year-old Swedish female youth activist who has inspired legions of children around the world to strike for climate change, Thunberg was the first climate-change striker when she sat outside Swedish Parliament and demanded they agree to reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement in August 2018. Thunberg truly practices what she preaches  shes made her family go vegan and stop flying to reduce their carbon footprint. In the past year, Thunberg has become a household name, speaking at numerous global conferences from the European Economic and Social Committee to Davos, and has just been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

We must change almost everything in our current societies. The bigger your carbon footprint, the bigger your moral duty. The bigger your platform, the bigger your responsibility. Adults keep saying: We owe it to the young people to give them hope. But I dont want your hope. I dont want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is, Thunberg said in her impassioned Davos speech in January 2019.

READ MORE: Right on feminist Instagrammers to give you daily inspo

Emma Gonzalez, March for Our Lives, speaks during the Celebration of the Life of Robert F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, June 2018. (Photo: AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Emma Gonzalez

Gonzalez has been one of the leaders of the charge when it comes to calling for gun law reform in the United States. Just days after the mass shooting in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018 killed 17 of her peers and injured numerous others, Gonzalez gave a powerful, grief-stricken and rousing speech at a gun control rally in Florida. She declared: We are going to be the last mass shooting, as well as repeating her infinitely quotable message to President Trump: We call BS. She continues to actively campaign against current gun laws, organising and advocating as part of March For Our Lives. She recently helped the group to set up an art activation outside of the Capitol building in D.C., with towering letters spelling out: Your Complacency Kills Us.

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Actress Millie Bobby Brown holds a sign for UNICEFs World Childrens Day as she attends a ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building in New York. (Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Millie Bobby Brown

Not only does she play our favourite character on Stranger Things, but Millie Bobby Brown, 15, is also UNICEFs youngest-ever Goodwill ambassador and TIME magazines youngest Most Influential Person of 2018. Since she rose to fame, she has been using her social platforms to prevent bullying and cyber-bullying and raise awareness of childrens rights and issues, from education to violence. This female youth activist wears her activism on her sleeve: when she picked up a Teen Choice Award in 2018, she paid homage to the March For Our Lives organisers with a custom Calvin Klein denim outfit featuring the names of all 17 lives lost in the tragic Parkland school shooting.

READ MORE: 5 times Jameela Jamil was the hero we all needed

Its the next generation of leaders like 20-year-old Sonita Alizadeh that keep us hopeful about the future. (Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Sonita Alizadeh

An Afghan rapper and activist, Sonita Alizadeh made waves with her 2014 song, Daughters for Sale, which drew attention to the devastating experience of child brides. She has been a vocal advocate against child marriage  a fate she narrowly escaped  which sees 12 million girls a year married before the age of 18. Sonita received a grant from The Strongheart Group which helped her relocate to the US to get an education. She continues to campaign, calling herself a rap-tivist and young girls everywhere will know all about her  shes featured in the bestselling book, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

In a new series titled Rise Up: Celebrating Young Leader Activists, Yahoo News profiles five up-and-coming leaders from the Gen Z and millennial generations including 13-year-old Marley Dias of West Orange, NJ. (Photo: Yahoo News)

Marley Dias

At 11, voracious reader Marley Dias launched a campaign to channel her frustration at only reading books about white boys and dogs into an inspiring activist movement to raise awareness of books with black girl protagonists, by collecting and donating books through #1000BlackGirlBooks. The viral social media campaign  shes amassed over 12,000 books since she started  led to her writing one of her own: Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! Shes also created the Marley Mag zine for ELLE.com and is a regular speaker at summits, where she discusses the need for diverse representation in popular culture.

Naomi Wadler, 11, a student at George Mason Elementary School, who organised a school walkout at her school in Alexandria, Va., after the school shooting in Parkland, Fa., speaks during the March for Our Lives rally in support of gun control in Washington, 2018. (Photo: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Naomi Wadler

The 12-year-old female youth activist rose to prominence after her impassioned speech at 2018s March For Our Lives gun control rally, when she urged the United States not to forget the African-American girls whose stories dont make the front page of every national newspaper. She now hosts the DiversiTEA podcast on EllenTube, where she interviews inspiring game-changers like Serena Williams and Jameela Jamil, covering everything from gun violence to female representation in the media.

Avery Jackson is the first transgender person to grace the cover of National Geographic when she was nine years old. (Photo: National Geographic)

Avery Jackson

Jackson made history as the first transgender person to grace the cover of National Geographic when she was nine years old, with the quote: The best thing about being a girl is, now I dont have to pretend to be a boy. She campaigned with Planting Peace to paint the local Equality House in the colours of the transgender flag  blue, white and pink  to help encourage acceptance in her community, and has written a childrens book based on her experience of being transgender, called Its Okay to Sparkle.Meghan and Harry leaving New Zealand House in London, where they signed the book of condolence for the victims of the Christchurch terror attack [Photo: PA]

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made an unannounced visit to New Zealand House in London today, to pay tribute to Christchurch terror attack victims.

The visit was arranged on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen as the newlyweds were the last royals to visit New Zealand.

The couple arrived carrying flowers, which they proceeded to lay with other bouquets at the buildings entrance. During their visit, the couple signed a book of condolence and spoke to staff.

The Duchess of Sussex arrives at New Zealand House in London [Photo: Getty]

Meghan wrote: Our deepest condolences. We are with you.

Harry signed his name with Arohanui, Maori for with deep affection.

READ MORE: The Queen and Kate are all smiles at joint engagement

Following the attack on two mosques on Friday, numerous members of the Royal Family voiced their support for the victims and their families.

The Queen was the first member of the monarchy to offer condolences, saying: I have been deeply saddened by the appalling events in Christchurch today. Prince Philip and I send our condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives.

The duchess gives the hongi, a traditional maori greeting as she arrives at New Zealand House [Photo: Getty]

I also pay tribute to the emergency services and volunteers who are providing support to those who have been injured.

At this tragic time, my thoughts and prayers are with all the New Zealanders.

The Sussexes and the Cambridges sent a joint message, saying: Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the people who lost their lives in the devastating attack in Christchurch.

We have all been fortunate to spend time in Christchurch and have felt the warm, open-hearted and generous spirit that is core to its remarkable people.

READ MORE: Meghan Markles maternity wardrobe: 76 outfits and a combined cost of almost 500,000

Meghan, who is due to give birth to the couples first child next month, currently has no more scheduled public engagements until the baby arrives.

Tomorrow, Harry will join schoolchildren as they take part in a tree planting project in support of The Queens Commonwealth Canopy initiative, together with the Woodland Trust.Despite following protocol and acting with respect and dignity at all times, the royals are also known for having a sharp sense of humour - especially when it comes to teasing each other. The Queen and her family have kept fans amused with hilarious comments and witty one-liners for years. In fact many of them come from the Queens famously gaffe-prone husband, Prince Philip. As her grandson Prince Harry once said: "They are very funny together. My family is the same as any other family when it comes to humor behind closed doors." It looks like the whole family have inherited this fondness for being funny - so let's take a look at some of the royals' funniest one-liners about one another

READ: Prince Louis' 1st birthday - see the Queen, Prince William and other royals aged one

Prince Harry teasing wife Meghan

Poking fun at the global excitement over his wife Duchess Meghan's pregnancy, Prince Harry teased a well-wisher while on tour in Morocco earlier this year. He replied by turning to his wife and asking: "Wait, you're pregnant?" Meghan then joined in on the fun, adding: "Surprise!"

Kate Middleton teasing Prince William

The Duchess of Cambridge met a baby during a walkabout in Ireland earlier this year, saying: "He's gorgeous. It makes me feel broody." She then immediately quipped: "I think William might be slightly worried."

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Prince Charles makes Prince William blush

Prince Charles was left bemused during a 2014 engagement when he was told he looked 'buff' in a shirtless photograph taken in the 1970s. He had to ask his son Prince William what the word meant, before making a speech, saying: "I know my eldest will now demonstrate his buff credentials."

Prince William talks the Queen

In an interview ahead of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Prince hinted that he'd got into trouble with her in his younger years, revealing: "As I learned from growing up, you don't mess with your grandmother."

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Prince Philip on the Queen

A man introduced himself to Philip, saying: "My wife is a doctor of philosophy and much more important than I am." The Queen's husband replied: "Ah yes, we have that trouble in our family, too!"

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READ: Why signs suggest Prince Harry and Meghan's royal baby will be a girl called Diana

Prince Harry jokes about the Queen

The Prince joked that he still panics when he bumps into his grandmother the Queen (or, at least, we think he was joking). Speaking with visitors at Buckingham Palace last year, he said: "Have you bumped into the Queen yet? If you suddenly bump into her in the corridor, don't panic. I know you will. We all do!"

Prince William pokes fun at himself

Following the birth of Prince George in 2013, William poked fun at himself while introducing his first son in the cutest say possible, saying: "He's got way more hair than me, thank God."

Prince Charles on the Queen and Prince Philip

Referring to his parents the Queen and Prince Philip, Charles joked about how his family is just like any other, saying: "I learned the way a monkey learns  by watching its parents!"

WATCH: Royals breaking protocol

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The Queen jokes about Meghan, Euegenie, Kate and Louis

Her Majesty seemed to make a joke about how busy her growing family had kept her throughout 2018 in her Christmas speech. The monarch - who had celebrated "two weddings and two babies, and another child expected soon" - then wittily remarked: "It helps to keep a grandmother well occupied."

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Kate on William's hair

Prince William has been on the receiving end of many jokes about his hair over the years - and even his wife Kate has joined in with the teasing. After being handed a tuft of alpaca wool after watching a shearing demonstration, Kate turned to William and said: "You need it more than me!"

Prince William on Kate's cooking

During a gala dinner in 2016, Kate admitted that she is a terrible cook, revealing: "William has to put up with my cooking most of the time." Her husband then, replied, perhaps a little too quickly: "It's the reason I'm so skinny."

Camilla on Charles' age

Asked if he was going to slow down his pace of life on his 70th birthday, Prince Charles replied: "I don't know, you may see it soon, I'm sure." Unconvinced by her husband's answer, Camilla couldn't resist cheekily shouting out: "I doubt it!"

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Prince Harry jokes about Charles

During a visit to Ireland last year, Prince Harry thanked the Irish prime minister for taking his dad Charles on a tour of Dublin just a couple of weeks earlier. He then sharply added: "And also very nice to know he didnt bore you senseless." Ouch!

Kate gets the last laugh on William

During their engagement interview, Kate was asked if she had posters of William on her bedroom walls when she was younger. William interjected: "It wasnt just one, it was like ten, twenty." But Kate got the last laugh, saying: "He wishes...No, I had the Levi's guy on my bedroom wall, not a picture of William. Sorry."

Make sure you never miss a ROYAL story! Sign up to our newsletter to get all of our celebrity, royal and lifestyle news delivered directly to your inbox.Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen traveled to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on Thursday (March 28) to meet with Guatemalan Minister of Government, Enrique Degenhart, Honduran Security Minister, Julian Pacheco, and Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Public Security, Mauricio Landaverde, to discuss security issues. The meeting was a continuation of months of diplomatic negotiations.

The discussion was centered around the uncommon flood of migration from the Northern Triangle countries and how to approach the problem in a humane and secure way. President Trump also plans to cut off aid for those three countries.

I gathered information from Fox News to present this opinion piece on the situation.

Signing of pact

Secretary Nielsen signed a multilateral pact. It is to strengthen border security. It is also an agreement to address the emergence of human trafficking and smuggling, as well as allowing the sharing of intelligence and focusing on fighting the problem of transnational gangs. Representatives from each country will form a working group to meet several times throughout the year to oversee the above issues. Nielsen also met with officials from Mexico to address the prevention of the ongoing flood of migration.

Congress denies emergency truth

On March 29, Secretary Nielsen issued a statement about the crisis on the border stating that "the volume of vulnerable populations arriving is without precedent." Nielsen spoke about how agents and officers are overwhelmed by the influx of families and unaccompanied children attempting to enter illegally and how facilities are becoming overcrowded.

The call is out for assistance from department volunteers. In another effort to get action from Congress, since they do not know a crisis when they see one, Secretary Nielsen sent a letter of urgency, pointing out the severity of the situation. It is her hope that they will take action on this ever-growing emergency so that law and order will be restored on the border.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

DHS pulls out stops on action taken

On April 1, the secretary informed US CBP Commissioner, Kevin McAleenan, that new steps need to be undertaken to address the ongoing security crisis on the southern border of the United States. Since Congress refuses to see the crisis and take any true action, Nielsen ordered Commissioner McAleenan to reassign personnel and resources to the Border Patrol Sectors. She also ordered an expansion of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) by increasing the number of migrants per day that are returned back to Mexico to wait for their court review.Slovakia: The second round of voting in the Slovak presidential election has concluded. History has been made as a woman has been elected to the office for the first time. The result can also be noted as a continuing trend of political outsiders finding success around the world.

It perhaps should not be surprising that the people of Slovakia have chosen to go in a new political direction. The country's politics have been plagued by scandal and corruption. A tragic turn of events that shook the nation may have been what led to such a change.

Zuzana Caputova geta elected

Former environmentalist, Zuzana Caputova has emerged victorious in the final round of voting. Caputova received notoriety in Slovakia for successfully stopping the creation of a controversial landfill in her hometown. Some have compared her to the famed American lawyer Erin Brockovich, as CNBC reports. Not surprisingly, Caputova's campaign focused on issues such as the environment. She also touted her reliance on traditional Christian values to the immensely Roman Catholic electorate.

The first round of voting featured 15 candidates. Caputova finished in first place, but she did not reach an outright majority of votes cast. As such, a run-off between herself and the second-highest recipients of votes went ahead.

Maros Sefcovic was the other candidate to advance to the second round. Sefcovic is a long-time member of the European Commission. Though Sefcovic officially ran as an Independent, he received the backing the left-wing party Smer. He has also historically been linked with communism.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

A 2018 tragedy likely changed the trajectory of the election

Jan Kuciak was an investigative journalist in Slovakia. He had been investigating corruption among the country's top politicians, including connections to organized crime. In 2018, he and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, were murdered.

Shock and outrage spread throughout the country.

The widespread belief has been that the murders were connected to Kuciak's investigations. Protests quickly erupted against Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Cabinet. Tensions were further inflamed by a televised address by incumbent President Andrej Kiska, an Independent. Kiska called for a new parliamentary election or for drastic changes to be made to the Cabinet. In turn, Fico accused Kiska conspiring to plan a coup d'etat.

Ultimately, the pressure became too much for Fico. He and his entire Cabinet would resign and Peter Pellegrini became the new prime minister.

Though Kiska was largely supported by the Slovak public, he chose not to run for re-election afterward. Polls indicated that he would've won, but he indicated that a fresh start might be best. This would clear the path for Caputova's meteoric rise. According to NPR, she immediately visited a memorial for Kuciak and Kusnirova after learning of her victory.Ive been an oil and energy analyst for decades, and one of the biggest lies I have had to endure is the never-ending, endless oil reserves of the Saudi Kingdom. It was hogwash two decades ago; now its an inescapable truth.

By James DiGeorgia

The lies about the size and amount of Saudi Arabia oil reserves have rested on the Royal family claim that the actual reserves are a state secret. As a result, if you examine OPEC estimates on Saudis reserved the last five decades youve noticed that the reserves claimed by the Saudis have rarely fluctuated.

Ghawar, measures 174 miles long  just about the distance from New York to Baltimore  and is the Saudis richest oil field and has accounted for more than half of the total cumulative crude oil production in the kingdom. The country has been pumping since the discovery of the Dammam No. 7 well in 1938.

However, now oil market analysts finally know: Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest conventional oil field, has a great deal less oil than almost anyone believed.

Saudi Arabias national oil company Aramco published its first-ever profit figures since its nationalization nearly 40 years ago, and as a result, it lifted the veil of secrecy around its oil field reserves. Aramco is attempting to sell bonds and perhaps even open its self to foreign investment via the worlds equity markets. The Aramco bond prospectus revealed the Ghawar oil field could only pump at most 3.8 million barrels a day -- well below the more than 5 million that the Kingdom has led the market to believe for the past 20 years.

Virendra Chauhan, head of upstream at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. in Singapore...

As Saudis largest field, a surprisingly low production capacity figure from Ghawar is the stand-out of the report.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration provides statistical information and often is used as a benchmark by the oil market. It listed Ghawars production capacity at 5.8 million barrels a day in 2017. Thats 2 million barrels less than believed and represented. It is especially egregious because during a presentation by Aramco, in Washington in 2004 when it tried to debunk the peak oil supply theories of the late U.S. oil banker Matt Simmons, the state-owned Aramco claimed it was pumping more than 5 million barrels a day and had been doing so since at least the previous decade. A complete sham!

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In his book oil analyst Matthew Simmons Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy argued that Saudi Arabia would struggle to boost production due to the imminent depletion of Ghawar. He pointed out that

Field-by-field production reports disappeared behind a wall of secrecy over two decades ago.

Simmons warnings that Saudi Arabia was intentionally lying about the size, and capacity of oil production but he did miss the accelerating changes in technology that have allowed Saudi Arabia -- and, more importantly, U.S. shale producers -- to boost output significantly that has proven that global oil production has yet to peak.

The idea that Ghawar production is already in decline was proven by the Aramco prospectus that admitted that this vital oil field could only produce today three-quarters of oil it did 15 years ago -- a significant reduction for any oil field.

The report also ignores the obvious question as to whether capacity would continue to decline at a similar rate in the future. Although the omission of this information is very likely a sign, Ghawar is amidst a steady decline in production.

The declining production of Ghawar means that the Permian Basin in the U.S., which pumped 4.1 million barrels a day last month according to government data, is now literally the most significant oil production basin in the world. It's important to note that the comparison isnt exact -- the Saudi field is a conventional reservoir, while the Permian is an unconventional shale formation, but the shift in resources shows the shifting of power in the oil market.

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The State-owned oil company Aramco operates 101 oil fields. Beyond Ghawar, Saudi Arabia relies heavily on two other mega-fields: Khurais, which was discovered in 1957 and can pump 1.45 million barrels a day, and Safaniyah, found in 1951 and still today the worlds largest offshore oil field with a capacity of 1.3 million barrels a day. According to Aramcos 470-page bond prospectus and can pump up to 12 million barrels a day confirming at least this claim made by the Kingdom for several years.

The Saudi kingdom according to Aramcos prospectus has access to another 500,000 barrels a day of output capacity in the so-called neutral zone shared with Kuwait. That area isnt producing anything now due to a political dispute with its neighbor.

All of this means that Saudi Arabia has only briefly pumped a record of slightly more than 11 million barrels a day in late 2018. Not the 12-13 million barrels it claimed at the time.

Aramco also revealed in its Bond prospectus the reserves at its top-five fields, revealing that some of them have much shorter lifespans than previously claimed.

Ghawar, for example, has 48.2 billion barrels of oil left, which could last another 34 years at the maximum rate of production. The Saudi kingdom has 226 billion barrels of reserves, enough for another 52 years of production at a maximum of 12 million barrels a day.

The Saudis also told the world that their fields are aging better than expected, with low depletion rates of 1 percent to 2 percent per year, slower than the 5 percent decline, many analysts will question this claim. The Saudis have pumped about a fifth of their entire oil reserves over nearly a century of operation. That means more than 40% of all of the countrys oil reserves have already been extracted.



Kathmandu, Nepal, April 3, 2019:

Bollywood Actor Irrfan Khan has returned in the industries after recovery from the deadly decease- cancer.

His return has been eagerly awaited by his fans and friends from Bollywood. The actor, who was undergoing treatment for cancer in London had stalled all his projects and had virtually disappeared from the social scene.

Unlike Sonali Bendre who has also been undergoing treatment for cancer in the US, Irrfan had not shared too many details of the stages of his treatment or his looks. It was only through his friends and associates that one got to hear about his progress.

However, in news that will no doubt, make his fans happy, the actor is back in town and appears to be fit as fiddle. Irrfan was spotted at the Mumbai airport, reportedly back from London. Dressed in a bright pink T-shirt, denims and a floral shirt thrown casually over his shoulders and a hat, the actor was seen looking fit and handsome.

He seems to have regained his weight and his energy levels. For once, Irrfan did not mind getting photographed, unlike a few months ago when he clearly appeared uncomfortable with the paps around.HUNT VALLEY, Md.  The 2019 Sacred Space Conference opened at the Hunt Valley Inn on March 21, 2019. Sacred Space is an annual Pagan and magical conference on the East Coast that is specifically for intermediate and advanced practitioners, said Gwendolyn Reece, board member, and president of the Sacred Space Foundation. We consider ourselves to be a part of the emerging infrastructure for Pagans and magical practitioners of all traditions.

Reece explained that the foundations mission is four-fold; offering educational opportunities for more advanced practitioners (though the conference is open to practitioners of any level), acceptance of ritualswhich must be open to any attendeemeant for serious practitioners, working to build networks of advanced practitioners across traditions while encouraging the development of communities of practice, and strengthening the corps of teachers who are able to teach advanced material.

Each year, the conference offers programming that includes a variety of workshops and rituals, led by teachers from across the spectrum of the Pagan community, many of whom are based in the Mid-Atlantic region. Teachers and presenters from other parts of the country are also regularly featured at the conference; this year from as far away as Massachusetts, Texas, and California.

The 2019 Featured Presenters were Andras Corban-Arthen, John Beckett, and H. Byron Ballard.

Corban-Arthen is an elder and spiritual director of the Earth Spirit Community, president of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of the Worlds Religions, and an advisory board member of the Ecospirituality Foundation.

Beckett, a Druid in the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids and is a member of Ar nDraiocht Fein, is well-known for his blog, Under the Ancient Oaks, and is the author of, The Path of Paganism: An Experience-Based Guide to Modern Pagan Practice.

Ballard, senior priestess and co-founder of Asheville, NCs Mother Grove Goddess Temple and the Coalition of Earth Religions, is a prolific author and sought-after speaker who has taught at conferences and festivals throughout the United States and in England.

Workshops

The workshops were excellent. These three, in particular, struck a strong chord with TWH correspondents who were able to attend the event

Corban-Arthen presented a fascinating workshop, Lessons from the European Pagan Survivals where he outlined critical issues we currently face as a community:

Having a connection with the natural world, growing our own foodbe it farming, raising livestock, or huntinghaving self-reliance, and that rural peoples understand nature since they must in order to survive. Securing land for use, whether to cultivate or just to use for ritualsowning not the land, but owning the commitment to the land.

Defining Pagan culture that centers around sustainability and not allowing the default to be that of mainstream culture which is colonization. Exploring the meaning of the Mysteries the path through our human life ends at becoming, ourselves, a Mystery.

Establishing and maintaining small and interdependent communities.

Incorporating the sacred into every day life in a way that is seamless integration.

Taking pilgrimages to sacred spaces and reconnecting with our ancestors.

Hecate Demetersdatter offered interesting insights on the current political state of things with her workshop, The Magical Battle for America. Since the 2016 election, Hecate Demetersdatter has offered a weekly action on her blog, hecatedemeter, much like Dion Fortune did during WWII. Her workshop dove deep into the history of women, resistance, and politics and was brilliantly presented, providing plenty of food for thought, as well as action for the politically-minded practitioner. It was also the perfect opening act for the workshop that followed.

Michael M. Hughes Witches Fight Back: Magic as Resistance dovetailed perfected with Hecate Demetersdatters workshop. Hughes began doing a monthly dark moon binding ritual in February of 2017, which eventually inspired him to write a book, Magic for Resistance: Rituals and Spells for Change. His workshop provided even more history of magical practices being used in times of political crisis, and detailed his personal experiences in the binding work he continues each month. It was fascinating, inspiring, and even hopeful.

Rituals

Rituals are an important part of the programming at Sacred Space. Choosing which rituals to put on the schedule at the conference can be challenging.

Reece explained that Each board member has the rubric of criteria which includes the appropriate (target) audience, originality of content or approach, and logistic alignment. That last part is vital, given the setting. Weve outright rejected bonfire rituals because we are in a hotel, Reece added.

Decisions about content, however, can be more subjective. Though the boards goal is to schedule at least one ritual per class time slot, Reece underscored that quality is more important than quantity. We would rather have fewer rituals than rituals that we dont think will be appropriate for our audience, she said. While there are usually some devotional rituals, I would say that rituals that include a transformative or a specific magical purpose are likely to receive more votes.

The rituals chosen for the 2019 conference were led by practitioners from an impressive variety of paths. The deities invoked hail from all over the globe, from Hephaestus and Hecate to the Morrigan, Gwydion, and Bridgid. The opening and closing rituals called to Athena and Thoth.

Several of the rituals involved connecting with and honoring ancestors, and many of them centered around the idea of self-healing.

Though it often felt like there was an inter-connectedness at work, Reece explained that the board does not set out to establish a unifying theme, however, one often emerges based on what people submit. In fact, several themes emerged when planning the conference. When that happens, I believe it is arising from need.

Raven Grimassi Memorial Tribute

In addition to participating in the workshops and rituals, many individuals attended a memorial service to honor the life of Raven Grimassi, founder of the Ash, Birch, and Willow tradition of Witchcraft, and a prolific author. Grimassi, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on March 10, 2019.

His memorial service in Springfield, Massachusetts was also held on Saturday, March 23, the same day as the memorial tribute at the Sacred Space Conference. Grimassis career spanned five decades and touched the lives of countless individuals through his books, classes and workshops, and his many appearances at Pagan events all over the United States. Grimassi, with his wife, Stephanie Taylor, have been Featured Presenters at Sacred Space in past years, most recently in 2018.

Raven and Stephanie were featured teachers at my very first Sacred Space, said Reece. Many, many of us have been touched by their teachings, in person and in print. Many of us have been touched by their grace, and some by personal friendship. Reece went on to describe the effect Grimassi and Taylor have had on the Sacred Space community, as well as the larger Pagan community.

We do specific magical and personal work as a board and as a community to put Sacred Space under the protection of the laws of sacred hospitality (theoxenia and philoxenia), she said. We hold the focus on the work and try, very intentionally, to not have it be about personality. We try to create structures to minimize drama, because it is a distraction to the work. There are a number of our Pagan Elders who embody this kind of commitment and, through their holy service, are models. Raven is one of them. His grace and graciousness as a teacher inspires me and I know he is an inspiration for many in the Sacred Space community.

Between the Worlds in 2020

In 2020, the Sacred Space Foundation will be partnering with the Delaware-based Assembly of the Sacred Wheel to offer a combined conference. Between the Worlds is an event, hosted by the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, that functions as a fundraiser for the New Alexandrian Library, and is held at certain astrological times to magically address certain needs, said Reece. The intended audience is intermediate to advanced practitioners and it is in the same region [as Sacred Space].

The Assembly of the Sacred wheel is a recognized Wiccan non-profit religious organization currently comprised of thirteen Mid-Atlantic-area covens. This will be the second time we will offer a joint conference with Between the Worlds, said Reece. What we realized, in 2015, is that we would much rather work together and strengthen each other than to hold two separate conferences and weaken each other. It was a great partnership and we look forward to working with Between the Worlds again.

The Sacred Space/Between the Worlds Conference will be held at the Hunt Valley Inn in Hunt Valley, MD, from April 9 through April 12, 2020.

Star Bustamonte contributed to the reporting on this article, and provided some of the images used.past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) 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(1)For the first time in Nebraska, students with autism and other disabilities will have the opportunity to take college courses.

Nebraska Transition College is offering the classes.

Classes will be held at Southeast Community College, but will have special Transition College teachers.

One of the students in the new program tells 10/11 NOW, he's thrilled just to have the opportunity.

Jake Dwinell graduated from Lincoln East in 2016, but on Thursday he will have another first day of school.

This time at Transition College.

"Growing up with this stuff, I never thought this would be possible, said student, Jake Dwinell.

Dwinell has autism, something he says has created many challenges over the years.

But through this new program he hopes to show people just how much people with disabilities can do.

"What are we going to do about it, has always been my question. So we finally have something we can do, and I think that's a huge step, said Dwinell.

The zero-credit class will meet for nine weeks.

The goal is to prepare those students with social, living, and work-ready skills.

"This has the potential to go from nothing to something and eventually, independence, said Executive Director, Dr. Stuart Stofferahn.

Dr. Stofferahn says while graduating high school is exciting for most students, it can be a hard time for those with disabilities.

"Those options, don't exist in the same way. And a lot of them don't exist at all. So what's supposed to be a celebratory event for a lot of these students, ends up being a time of mourning, said Dr. Stofferahn.

He says with the program they hope to help students like Jake, putting them on the path to success and preparing them for more opportunities.

Dwinell says with the support of his family, he's excited to see what the future hold for him.

"I hope I can find something that I can do for a long time that makes me happy, said Dwinell.

The Executive Director says classes cost about $150 per student.Soyuz rocket launches fifth O3b quartet Within hours after the launch of a Soyuz-2-1a rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on April 4, 2019, on the opposite side of the Earth, an identical vehicle lifted off from the Atlantic coast of South America with four O3b satellites heading into a 800-kilometer orbit to provide low-cost Internet access around the world. The European Arianespace consortium, which operates commercial Soyuz launches from the South-American facility, designated the mission as VS22, which denoted the 22nd launch of the Russian-built rocket from French Guiana. Previous chapter: 4th Soyuz mission with O3b satellites Soyuz VS22 mission at a glance: Spacecraft designation O3b (four satellites: FM17, FM18, FM19, FM20) Spacecraft developer Thales Alenia Space Spacecraft operator Societe Europeenne des Satellites, SES (Luxembourg) Total mission payload mass 3,177 kilograms Single spacecraft liftoff mass 700 kilograms (2,800 kilograms for four satellites) Launch vehicle Soyuz-ST-B No. N15000-017 / Fregat-MT No. 133-17 / ST payload fairing Launch site Kourou, ELS Launch date 2019 April 4, 2:03:37 p.m. French Guiana Time (actual); 1:30:37 p.m. (planned) Orbital insertion duration 2 hours 22 minutes 51 seconds Target orbit 7,830 kilometers, inclination 0.04 degrees (Medium Earth Orbit, MEO) From the publisher: Please help to keep this site open and current! The pace of our development depends primarily on the level of support from our readers. Preparing fifth O3b launch The fifth Soyuz launch with a quartet of O3b satellites is intended to expand the orbital Internet constellation from 16 to 20 spacecraft. According to SES Networks, which operates the system, the addition of the latest group will improve connectivity capabilities, increase performance, and serve to seamlessly scale the existing O3b constellation. It will also enhance coverage while providing greater service availability and reliability to cater for the increasing demand for bandwidth in government and in the telecommunication, cloud, maritime and energy markets, SES said. The VS22 launch campaign officially started in December 2018, with the integration of the first, second and third stage boosters of the Soyuz rocket at the rocket assembly building of the ELS facility in French Guiana. All four satellites for the VS22 mission were delivered to French Guiana from the Thales Alenia Space facility in the Rome, Italy, on February 2, 2019, and four days later, the pre-launch processing of the Fregat upper stage was initiated in Guiana. Due to the domino effect from the delay of the first OneWeb launch in February, the O3b mission had to be postponed from March 26 to March 29, 2019. Then, at the beginning of March, due to a delay of the Vega rocket mission from the ELA-1 facility in Kourou from March 14 to 21, the o3b launch was postponed from March 29 to April 4, 2019. According to Arianespace, from February 23 to 27, three O3b satellites were attached to their dispenser inside S5 building in Kourou and the fourth spacecraft joined them on March 13. In the meantime, the Fregat was undergoing fueling with its hypergolic propellant and pressurized gas inside the FCube building from February 28 to March 18 and in parallel, the boosters stages of the Soyuz rocket went through pneumatic and propulsion tests. Their electric tests were performed between March 15 and 20. On March 25, the payload dispenser with the four satellites was delivered to the S3B processing building where it was mounted onto the Fregat and covered with the payload fairing during a period from March 26 to 29. The three booster stages of the Soyuz rocket were rolled out to the launch pad, installed in vertical position and enclosed by the mobile service tower on April 1. On the same day, the payload section was also brought to the pad and hoisted to the top of the rocket with the crane of the service tower, completing the integration of the vehicle. The next day and on April 3, final integrated tests and launch simulations were conducted on the pad, clearing the booster stages for fueling and for the final countdown of the mission. Originally planned countdown milestones for the VS22 mission on April 4, 2019:* PRE-LAUNCH EVENTS Time (h:min:sec) Local time (h:min:sec) Beginning of the State Commission meeting for launcher fueling authorization (BTR) -05:00:00 08:37:06 Beginning of Launch Vehicle fueling with propellant components -04:30:00 09:07:06 Launch Vehicle is fueled with all propellant components -01:35:00 12:02:06 Mobile gantry withdrawal -01:10:00 12:27:06 "Key-to-launch" command (beginning of Soyuz synchronized sequence) -00:05:09 13:31:56 Fregat transfer to onboard power supply -00:05:00 13:32:06 Upper Composite umbilical drop off command -00:02:25 13:34:41 Ground-board power transfer -00:00:40 13:36:26 Lower stage mast retraction -00:00:28 13:36:38 Ignition -00:00:16 13:36:50 Preliminary thrust level -00:00:14 13:36:52 Full thrust level -00:00:01

13:37:05

Liftoff 00:00:00 13:37:06 *Launch was postponed for 33 minutes within an hour from the original liftoff time. Launch and orbital deployment Initial powered flight profile during the fourth launch of O3b satellites on April 9, 2019. A Soyuz-ST-B rocket carrying a quartet of O3b satellites from the Soyuz launch facility near Kourou, French Guiana was scheduled to lift off at 1:30:37 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. EDT, 16:30 UTC, 19:30 Moscow Time) on April 4, 2019. However within an hour from the originally scheduled liftoff time, it was postponed for 33 minutes. Arianespace did not specify the reason for the delay, but the official Russian TASS news agency then quoted an anonimous Russian source blaiming a failure of the European ground station and stressing that there had been no problem with the rocket. The new liftoff time was set for 17:03:37 UTC and, this time, the rocket lifted off as planned. Following the liftoff, the four boosters of the first stage separated from the still operating second (core) stage nearly two minutes into the flight and a minute later, the payload fairing protecting the payload from the aerodynamic loads split into two halves and fell away, safely above the atmosphere. The core stage continued firing and then separated four minutes and 47 seconds into the flight, just moments after the ignition of the third stage. The third stage continued its burn until nine minutes and 23 seconds into the flight and separated from the Fregat shortly before the vehicle would reach the orbital velocity. Like all preceding components of the booster, the third stage fell into the sea. In the meantime, the Fregat upper stage, carrying the satellites, initiated its first firing of the main engine over the Atlantic lasting around five minutes, to reach an initial parking orbit. Fregat then flew passively for a few minutes before firing its main engine for the second time over Africa. The 8-minute, 36-second maneuver stretched the circular orbit into an ellipse with its apogee (highest point) located 7,869 kilometers above the Earth, which is close to the target altitude of the mission. The stage and its payloads then climbed passively along the egg-shaped trajectory for one hour and 21 minutes. Near the apogee of the transfer orbit, Fregat fired its main engine for the third time. The maneuver, lasting five minutes and six seconds, circularized the orbit at the new altitude. The four satellites were released in pairs one after another at an altitude of 7,830 kilometers and an inclination of 0.04 degrees toward the Equator. According to NPO Lavochkin, the release of the satellite pairs took place at 22:04 and 22:26 Moscow Time on April 4, 2019. In the intervening period lasting around 20 minutes, Fregat performed a small maneuver with its attitude control thrusters to provide a safe distance between the two pairs of satellites. Satellites were programmed to be released slightly below their operational altitude and were designed to use their own propulsion system to reach their operational orbits. After releasing the satellites, the Fregat will maneuver into an orbit underneath that of the O3b constellation. Mission timeline for the Soyuz-ST-B rocket with Fregat-MT upper stage and four O3b satellites on April 4, 2019: Event Elapsed time (h:min:sec) Liftoff 00:00:00 Separation between Stage I and Stage II 00:01:58 Payload fairing separation 00:03:55 Core stage separation 00:04:47 Separation of the tail section of the third stage 00:04:48 Stage III engine cutoff 00:09:19 Separation between Stage III and a payload section (Fregat upper stage and four satellites) 00:09:23 First burn of Fregat upper stage starts to form initial parking orbit 00:10:23 First burn of Fregat upper stage ends 00:14:23 Second burn of Fregat upper stage starts to form a transfer orbit 00:22:50 Second burn of Fregat upper stage ends 00:31:26 Third burn of Fregat upper stage starts to form release orbit for the first O3b pair 01:52:45 Third burn of Fregat upper stage ends 01:57:51 Separation of first two O3b spacecraft 02:01:11 Fregat upper stage begins attitude control thruster burn to form release orbit for the second O3b pair 02:16:11 Fregat completes burn with attitude control thruster 02:16:28 Separation of the second O3b spacecraft pair 02:22:51 Fregat begins attitude control thruster burn to enter a disposal orbit 04:46:00 End of mission 04:57:08 Mission scenario for the fifth O3b mission on April 4, 2019. Credit: Arianespace.

Payload section of the Soyuz-ST-B rocket with O3b satellites. Credit: Alenia O3b satellites are attached to a payload dispenser. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES / Arianespace Fifth quartet of O3b satellite is being integrated with the Fregat upper stage. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES / Arianespace Payload section with the fifth quartet of O3b satellite. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES / Arianespace Booster stages of the Soyuz rocket for the fifth mission with O3b satellites roll out to the launch pad in French Guiana. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES / Arianespace Booster stages of the Soyuz rocket are being erected on the launch pad for the fifth launch of O3b satellites. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES / Arianespace A Soyuz ST-B rocket is ready for the fifth launch of O3b satellites on April 4, 2019. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES / Arianespace A Soyuz ST-B rocket lifts off with O3b satellites on April 4, 2019. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES / Arianespace Artist rendering of O3b satellites launch during the second-stage phase of the mission. Credit: CNES / Arianespace Artist rendering of O3b satellites separating from Fregat upper stage. Credit: CNES / ArianespaceAmber ALee Frost at The Baffler:

I had recently been forced to break off a collaboration with another writer over her Russiagate sympathies. Though she was smart and talented, I didnt feel I could work with someone who considered Russian interference in the 2016 election to be a politically significant topic or a major compromise to what passes for American democracy these days. I consider the recent obsession with Russia a sort of liberal hysteria that feeds off of resentment over losing the election to Trumpthe nadir of elite entitlement and a pathological state of denial over the fact that their candidate was a dud, and that the electorate rightly holds the Democratic Party in contempt. Its the bitter delusion of an asshole who lost his girl to a different kind of asshole, and responds with incredulity and conspiratorial rage. Whats more, its clearly an attempt to conjure up a totally anachronistic paranoia over the late Soviet Union, a country that hasnt even existed for nearly thirty years.

Nonetheless, Americas recently reinvigorated Russophobia doesnt seem a large or lucrative enough phenomenon for the unnamed American entrepreneur funding the KGB museum to eke out a profit (if youre in the market for a Chelsea flat above a KGB Spy Museum, you can get a one-bedroom for just shy of $1.9 million).

more here.Stacy Schiff in The New York Times:

Amid frantic, last-minute negotiations, under a spray of machine-gun fire, Vladimir Nabokov fled Russia 100 years ago this week. His family had sought refuge from the Bolsheviks in the Crimean peninsula; those forces now made a vicious descent from the north. The chaos on the pier at Sebastopol could not match the scene that met the last of the Russian imperial family, evacuated the same week: In Yalta, terrified families mobbed a quay littered with abandoned cars. Nor were the Nabokovs accommodations as good. The Romanovs made their escape on a British man-of-war. The Nabokovs crowded into a filthy Greek cargo ship. Overrun by refugees, Constantinople turned them away. For several days they lurched about on a rough sea, subsisting on dog biscuits, sleeping on benches. Only the family jewelry traveled comfortably, nestled in a tin of talcum powder. On his 20th birthday, Nabokov disembarked finally in Athens. He would never again set eyes on Russia.

At the time of the evacuation he had spent 16 quiet months in the Crimea, the last speck of Russia in White hands. Already the Bolsheviks had murdered any number of harmless people; Nabokovs jurist father, as his son would later note, was anything but harmless. In February 1917 riots had delivered a revolution. The czar abdicated, replaced by a liberal government, swept into power on a tide of popular support. Nabokovs father, Vladimir Dmitrievich, played a prominent role in that administration. Months afterward Lenin returned from exile, disembarking at St. Petersburgs Finland Station. Within the year, what had begun as an idealistic, progressive uprising would end  like Irans, like Egypts  in totalitarianism. With Lenin arrived another 20th-century staple: a one-party system in which hacks and henchmen replaced the competent and qualified.

The terror began immediately.

More here.It's officially springtime for a fresh face and new look.

May we recommend a fling with Grayson's washed cotton shirts, the best pair of pants you ever had courtesy of RedThread, and bath and body care inspired by ancient rituals. Your closet and beauty routine will be seriously stoked.

Grayson perfects the button-down shirt. (Courtesy of Grayson) Time to get your shirt together. It's only fitting that the singular button-up shirt from new L.A. clothing label Grayson is called The Hero. With a face-framing portrait collar, impeccably draped hem, and signature cape-like pleat in the back, it has its very own superpower: the ability to flatter women of various shapes, ages, and styles. This is no fluke: Founder Audrey McLoghlin is a longtime luxury shirting maven, as the creator of the beloved Frank & Eileen brand known for fine Italian shirtsand famous fans like Meghan Markle and Oprah. McLoghlin's mission for Grayson was to make F&E's sky-high standards accessible to more women with a more accessible price. (The shirts retail for $128-$138). Thanks to an amazing Italian family factory in Mexico and a year-long process of patternmakers working with 30 fit models, The Hero is ready for action. The debut collection includes 15 colors and prints in effortless washed cotton and tumbled linen. (We're smitten with Eleanor.) Every month, a new capsule of custom prints and ridiculously yummy fabrics will be released. The shirts are available online and in select Anthropologie and Nordstrom stores, including Walnut Creek, Palo Alto and San Jose. // grayson.com



Euro bath and body brand Rituals opens in Palo Alto. (Courtesy of Rituals) Chillax and shop at Palo Alto's newest den of Zen. With its newest store opening at Stanford Shopping Center, Europe's top bath and body retailer, Rituals, is poised to help Silicon Valley tech bros, girlbosses, and regular-Jane overachievers to slow down and take a breath. ICYMI: Rituals, inspired by the wisdom and ancient traditions of Eastern cultures, serves up a range of skincare products, cosmetics, and home fragrance designed to spark moments of calm and mindfulness. Two of our favorite collections include The Ritual of Ayurveda (a balancing collection inspired by Indian wisdom) and The Ritual of Happy Buddha (an energizing collection that inspires positivity, a la the Laughing Buddha from ancient Chinese history). So what are you waiting for? Find the ritual that speaks to you. // 660 Stanford Shopping Center (Palo Alto), rituals.comIndeed, the groups' backgrounds are as varied as their locations -- the Alaska Power Association, Alabama Farmers Federation, American Dairy Coalition, Cooperative Network, Idaho Grain Producers Association, Michigan Bean Shippers, National Black Growers Council, National Grange and Water Well Trust, to name just a handful.

Missing from the list of coalition partners -- before the AAFP's decision to join -- was the name of a single physician organization.

"It's time for the AAFP to step outside its normal sphere and learn from other individuals who share our passion for the future well-being of families who call America's rural and sometimes remote towns home," said Wood.

It should be noted that the National Rural Health Association is also a member of the coalition.

Rebuild Rural Background

Mark Hayes is vice president of external communications for the Farm Credit Council in Washington, D.C. He also serves as the press contact for the Rebuild Rural Coalition.

In an interview with AAFP News, Hayes explained that the collation was founded early in 2017 when the Trump administration was having conversations about an infrastructure package. His organization, along with several others, began talking about the host of past proposals that strongly favored urban areas.

"We wanted to create a coalition that could raise the voice of rural communities to make sure that some of that funding, in a dedicated way, was set aside for rural communities and their infrastructure," said Hayes.

He ticked off the eight specific topic areas the coalition embraces:

agricultural research,



health care,



broadband internet,



housing,



energy,



transportation,



financing and



water.

"It's everything that makes rural communities viable and that will encourage the next generation to want to live there," said Hayes.

He noted that local, state and national groups have come together to make sure the Trump administration and Congress understand that rural communities have unique needs.

Hayes also pointed out that America's rural population is declining -- and that means fewer members of Congress who represent rural areas.

"We felt it was really important to make sure lawmakers and policymakers understand the need out there, and the best way to do that is to create a critical mass -- and so, with more than 240 organizations, we have a lot of the country covered," he said.

And just how can the AAFP help in this effort?

"A huge advantage the AAFP has is that its members represent the boots on the ground. As physicians, they know the health care situation intimately; they know that 102 hospital have closed since 2010 and that 700 more are vulnerable to closure," said Hayes.

Physicians also know that when people have to drive 30, 60 or 100 miles to get to a doctor, "that poses a lot of challenges."

Family physicians working in these communities understand the economic benefit that health care facilities bring -- not only in well-paying jobs, but in sustainability for the entire area, said Hayes.

"We're excited to have AAFP members bring their voices to this debate as we educate and influence lawmakers about the importance of setting aside funding for rural communities -- particularly when it comes to health care," said Hayes.

Letter to Congress

Early in 2019, before the AAFP joined its ranks, Rebuild Rural called on the leaders of the 116th Congress for assistance.

In a Feb. 5 letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the coalition came quickly to the point.

"As you set the strategic goals for the new Congress, the Rebuild Rural Coalition strongly encourages you to move quickly to pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen our nation's infrastructure, including specific provisions focused on the unique needs of rural communities and agriculture," the letter urged.

"We live and work every day in rural America and deeply understand the realities these communities face in order to remain prosperous and vibrant. We also understand that rural communities' needs are unique, oftentimes differing greatly from the realities of our urban counterparts," the letter continued.

The coalition pointed out the important role that rural communities play in the American economy -- providing "food and fiber for our country and the world, creating jobs for millions of Americans."

The coalition called on the federal government to continue to not only provide -- but to increase -- infrastructure funding in rural communities.

Lastly, the letter pledged the coalition's support in looking for creative solutions that include federal, state and local investments, as well as private sources of capital.

"We stand ready to work with you  to help identify and implement these vital rural infrastructure improvements," said coalition members.Progress MS-11 completes ISS mission

Russia launched a Soyuz-2-1a rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, successfully sending the Progress MS-11 cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station, ISS, on April 4, 2019. The liftoff took place as scheduled at 14:01 Moscow Time, 7:01 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft then began a two-orbit rendezvous profile, which resulted in docking with the station in three hours 22 minutes after liftoff, which was the shortest trip for the ISS program to date, though not a record-breaking docking mission in the history of space flight.

Previous mission: Progress MS-10

Progress MS-11 mission at a glance:

Spacecraft designation(s) Progress MS-11 (No. 441) ISS mission 72P Launch vehicle Soyuz-2-1a No. Ya 15000-036 Launch site Baikonur, Site 1, Pad 5 Mission Cargo delivery to the ISS Spacecraft mass Approximately 7,400 kilograms Launch date and time 2019 April 4, 14:01:34.264 Moscow Time (actual); 14:01:35 (planned) Docking date and time 2019 April 4, 17:22:26 Moscow Time (actual); 17:25 Moscow Time (planned) Destination Russian Segment, SO1 Pirs Docking Compartment, nadir port Mission duration ~116 days End of mission 2019 July 29

From the publisher: Pace of our development depends primarily on the level of support from our readers!

According to information released by Roskosmos on the day of the launch, the cargo totaling more than 2.5 tons aboard Progress MS-11 included 1.4 tons of dry cargo, 900 kilograms of fuel, 420 kilograms of water in the Rodnik system and 47 kilograms of compressed air. Payloads carried on Progress MS-11 included equipment for several life science experiments, including Bioplenka, Konstanta-2, Produtsent, Mikrovir, Struktura, Biodegradatsiya and Kristallizator.

The spacecraft also carried the Faza vessel for growing water plants and the associated lighting system for the Ryaska educational experiment. According to RKK Energia, it will be the first attempt to demonstrate reaction of gravitational and photo-sensitive organs of the plants to the changing external conditions. The daily photo-imaging conducted during the experiment will be used to prepare educational materials for biology classes at college and school level.

Among non-standard cargo, GKNPTs Khrunichev announced in November 2018 the planned delivery of four low-noise air fans with dust collectors, along with 48 spare dust filters. The new device, intended for installation inside the FGB Zarya module built at GKNPTs Khrunichev, promised to reduce noise and improve air quality aboard the station. According to the company, it was a part of a wider upgrade work recommended by the international working group looking for ways to reduce noise aboard the station. At the time, a total of eight air fans with specially profiled blades were expected to be delivered to the ISS to replace all old fans aboard the FGB Zarya module.

Also, the official TASS news agency broke the story that Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko working aboard the ISS since December 2018 would also get his late New Year's gifts with Progress MS-11 to replace a bag of his favorite candy, which was destroyed during the aborted launch of the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft in October 2018, probably because it had been stored in the expendable Habitation Module. Why Kononenko's presents were not sent to him before the New Year with Progress MS-10 or Soyuz MS-12, remained unexplained.

In March 2019, RIA Novosti quoted a food expert at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of Space flight, IMBP, in Moscow, who listed oatmeal porridge, garlic and cottage cheese with fruits and peanuts among exotic food items in the ship's cargo.

Preparing the mission

Progress MS-11 is being installed inside its test ring on March 22, 2019, after the completion of fueling operations.

As of 2014, the launch of Progress MS-11 was scheduled for April 16, 2018, but the mission was eventually postponed to February 8, 2019.

In the meantime, the assembly of the spacecraft at RKK Energia's plant, ZEM, in Korolev near Moscow was completed in September 2018. After its delivery to Baikonur, Progress MS-11 was unloaded from its rail container and installed in its test rig for initial checks on September 12, 2018.

In the wake of the air leak incident aboard the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft in orbit in August 2018, Progress MS-11 underwent an additional inspection. The cargo ship was then put in storage until the start of its launch campaign in November 2018. In the fall of 2018, the mission was rescheduled from February 7 to February 8, 2019. The launch vehicle for the mission arrived at Baikonur around the middle of October 2018 and the spacecraft itself was shipped to the launch site in the middle of December 2018.

In November 2018, delays with the launch of the EgyptSat-A spacecraft created a schedule conflict at Site 31 in Baikonur and required the postponement of the launch of Progress MS-11 to March 28, 2019, the Kommersant newspaper reported. At the beginning of January 2019, RIA Novosti reported that the launch had been pushed from March 28 to April 4, for an unexplained reason.

On March 19, the technical management of the mission gave the green light to the loading of Progress MS-11 with propellant components and pressurized gases. The fueling operations were conducted from March 21 to 22 and on March 22, the spacecraft was delivered back to its processing facility at Site 254 for closeout operations.

On March 28, specialists from RKK Energia completed the installation of the cargo ship on its launch vehicle adapter, the company announced. Next day, the team conducted the final visual inspection of the spacecraft and then rolled the vehicle inside of its payload fairing, which will protect it during the ascent.

On March 30, the payload section was transported to the launch vehicle assembly building at Site 31 and the next day, it was integrated with its Soyuz-2-1a rocket. The meeting of the technical management then reviewed the readiness for flight and approved the rollout of the rocket to the launch pad.

The Soyuz-2-1a launch vehicle with Progress MS-11 arrived at the launch pad at Site 31 on the morning of April 1.

Progress MS-11 mission profile

A Soyuz-2-1a rocket rocket carrying the Progress MS-11 cargo ship lifted off from Site 31 in Baikonur toward the International Space Station, ISS, on April 4, 2019, near scheduled time at 14:01:34.264 Moscow Time (7:01 a.m. EDT, 11:01 UTC).

Progress MS-11 was expected to follow a record-breaking two-orbit rendezvous profile with the station and berth at the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port on the SO1 Pirs Docking Compartment, a part of the Russian Segment of the ISS, at 17:25 Moscow Time (10:25 a.m. EDT), or just 3 hours 24 minutes after liftoff from Baikonur.

The first maneuver with the cargo ship's main engine was scheduled around 28 minutes after reaching orbit, according to NASA.

According to the Russian mission control, the rendezvous was planned along the following timeline:

Start of the autonomous rendezvous 15:04:44 Moscow Time Activation of the rendezvous equipment on the Zvezda Service Module 15:53:26 Moscow Time Activation of the rendezvous equipment on the cargo ship 15:54:26 Moscow Time Flyaround and station-keeping period starts 17:04 Moscow Time Flyaround and station-keeping period ends 17:14 Moscow Time Final approach and berthing starts 17:14 Moscow Time Contact 17:25:00 Moscow Time Docking process begins 17:25 Moscow Time Docking process ends 17:42 Moscow Time

During all the maneuvers of rendezvous and docking, the spacecraft used the fully automated Kurs rendezvous system, but during the final approach, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Aleksei Ovchinin were at the controls of the remotely operated system, TORU, inside the Zvezda Service Module, SM, which allows manually guiding the spacecraft in case of any problem with Kurs.

However, the automated systems worked as planned and the cargo ship reached the station around 2.5 minutes ahead of schedule, making physical contact with the Pirs Docking Compartment at 17:22:26 Moscow Time (10:22 a.m. EDT) and the mechanical capture confirmed a second later on April 4, 2019. At the time, the two spacecraft were overflying Central China on the night side of the planet.

It was the shortest trip from Earth to an orbital docking in the flight history of the ISS program, paving the way to employing the same rendezvous profile during future Soyuz-MS flights to the ISS with crews onboard.

Progress MS-11 is scheduled to remain docked at the station for 116 days and will depart at the end of July 2019 for a destructive plunge in the Earth's atmosphere.

Progress MS-11 completes its mission

After a nearly four-month mission, Progress MS-11 left the International Space Station on July 29, 2019. According to Roskosmos, a command to undock the cargo ship from the Pirs Docking Compartment, SO1, a part of the Russian Segment, was issued at 13:43 Moscow Time (6:43 a.m. EDT) and the physical separation between the two vehicles took place a minute later.

The spacecraft initiated braking maneuver at 16:50 Moscow Time (7:50 a.m. EDT) resulting in the destructive plunge into the Earth's dense atmosphere at 17:23 Moscow Time, Roskosmos said. Any surviving debris of the vehicle were projected to fall in the Southern Pacific at 17:32 Moscow Time (10:32 a.m. EDT).

The departure of the Progress MS-11 freed the docking port aboard the ISS for the arrival of the fresh cargo ship scheduled for July 31, 2019.Central grad George Amundson made college football history 50 years ago

Local columnist John Papendick looks back at the football career of George Amundson, who made college football history half a century ago.SANTA FE  A Santa Fe County jury found a Santa Fe County man guilty of murdering one of his companions during a night of partying after an argument that prosecutors say started with a joke.

Christopher Owens, 32, was convicted of one count of second-degree murder in the June 2017 shooting death of Tim Baca on Tuesday.

The jury began deliberating Monday morning after a nearly-two week trial and reached its verdicts around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Owens was also found guilty of one count of cocaine possession and found not guilty of tampering with evidence.

District Attorney Marco Serna said he will be asking for the maximum sentence of 19.5 years. The jury had the option of convicting Owens of first-degree murder.

This was the second trial for Owens after a brief proceeding in January was declared a mistrial shortly after opening arguments.

Owens was accused of shooting Baca, who was 30 years old, in the chest on Viento Drive in the early-morning hours of June 17, 2017, after a night out celebrating Bacas wifes birthday.

According to prosecutors, Baca and his wife, Lapearl Baca, were at the now-closed Skylight nightclub in downtown Santa Fe with a friend of Lapearl. There, they met up with Juan Elias Torres, who had a romantic relationship with Lapearls friend. Torres was friends with Owens and introduced him to the group.

The group left Skylight and went to Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino in Torres Camaro. Owens and Torres started singing a song together in the car on the way back to Santa Fe from the casino, and Baca made the joke that Torres and Owens practice singing the song together at night, prosecutor Blake Nichols said in opening arguments.

The joke enraged Owens, who then threatened to shoot everyone in the car and started calling Lapearl names and kicking the back of her car seat.

Torres pulled over on Viento Drive, on the north end of Santa Fe just off St. Francis Drive, and an altercation between Baca and Owens ensued. Owens fired a round from a .38 caliber handgun into Bacas chest and fled the scene. The murder weapon was never recovered.

Baca was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Owens dropped several individual baggies with crack cocaine as he fled. He was arrested at his home on West Gutierrez Street in Pojoaque the following day.

Owens went on trial in January, but Judge T. Glenn Ellington declared a mistrial after Bacas stepfather told a police officer after opening arguments that he had a gun that he dreamed was the murder weapon. The gun was later ruled out.Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  As part of a bill-signing flurry, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday made New Mexico the third state in the nation to ban coyote-killing contests.

Critics have long described the contests  also called coyote-calling contests  as cruel and immoral, and have pushed for years for legislation making it a crime to organize or take part in such an event.

The bill, Senate Bill 76, narrowly passed both the House and Senate during the 60-day session that ended March 16, and Lujan Grisham signed it into law Tuesday.

When it takes effect July 1, New Mexico will join California and Vermont as states with active bans on coyote-killing contests.

This law makes New Mexico a leader in following sound science in its treatment of wild carnivores, said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity in Silver City. We celebrate for coyotes, for endangered wolves that might have been mistakenly killed and for our children learning that humane values are New Mexico values.

Wildlife advocates say 20 to 30 coyote-killing derbies are typically organized across New Mexico every year, with participants using calling devices to lure coyotes onto the killing grounds. Such contests often award prize money or new firearms for the most coyotes killed or the biggest coyote killed.

Defenders of the contests have argued the ban would make it difficult for rural New Mexicans to control coyote populations, saying the contests are a form of predator control that benefit farmers and ranchers.

It wont work for my area, Sen. Gregg Fulfer, R-Jal, said during the Senate floor debate on the bill in February. Think about how these bills are changing New Mexicos culture.

The first-term Democratic governor also signed measures creating an outdoor recreation division within state government and officially scrubbing Columbus Day from state law  and renaming the holiday Indigenous Peoples Day.

Lujan Grisham also signed a bill aimed at guaranteeing medical coverage for firefighters who endure post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by their work.

The measure, House Bill 324, adds PTSD to the list of conditions presumed to have been caused by their jobs as firefighters and requiring employers to provide medical treatment for it. A variety of cancers, for example, are among the conditions already covered.

Lujan Grisham joined Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and other elected officials to sign the bill in front of firefighters at the citys West Side fire academy.

The governor spoke about receiving quick help decades ago from a firefighter trained as a paramedic when her 2-year-old daughter stopped breathing. Its one example, she said, of the kinds of life-and-death work firefighters handle routinely on the job.

These kinds of stresses are real, Lujan Grisham said.

Another bill Lujan Grisham signed into law will prohibit health insurance plans from refusing to cover autism services for adults.

The governor approved that measure during a ceremony outside the University of New Mexico Center for Development and Disability in Albuquerque, alongside Rep. Elizabeth Thomson and Sen. Linda Lopez, both of whom are Albuquerque Democrats who have sons with autism.

Lujan Grisham said that as a child she saw her own parents fight for disability services for her sister, underscoring the importance of the new law.

Thomson said Tuesday that the legislation, House Bill 322, will make it clear that Medicaid and other health plans cant limit autism services to children. Some families have had trouble getting services after their children became adults, she said.

Autism doesnt go away at 19, Thomson said.

The legislation prohibits insurance companies and health plans from denying treatment for autism spectrum disorder on the basis of the persons age.

Other measures signed Tuesday included:

 Senate Bill 278  Streamlining the approval process for applicants who want the less stringent option offered under New Mexicos two-tiered drivers license system. The second option is now called a driving authorization card but will be renamed the standard drivers license under the legislation.

 Senate Bill 264  Creating a state endowment fund to help rural libraries.

 House Bill 256  Adding e-cigarettes to the Clean Indoor Air Act, prohibiting their use in most workplaces and other areas where smoking is banned.

In all, Lujan Grisham signed 60 bills into law Tuesday. She still has 133 bills to act on before a Friday deadline for bills passed during the final days of this years legislative session.Court documents have identified an airman who struck and killed a woman in a horrific crash outside Kirtland Air Force Base last month.

Calvin Cooper was driving his Subaru Impreza at a high rate of speed on March 23 when he hit 39-year-old Angelica Baca as she stood in the middle turning lane of Louisiana north of Gibson, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in state District Court in Albuquerque. Baca was killed instantly, and Cooper, along with two other airmen in the car, were taken to a hospital.

Base officials have been tight-lipped since Albuquerque police handed over the case to them. Base spokesman Jim Fisher said it is now in the hands of its Office of Special Investigations.

Theyre not going to say anything about it until its concluded, he said.

Fisher confirmed there were four airmen, including the driver, in the car at the time of the crash, but he would not name them.

According to court records, the crash occurred around 7:30 p.m. as Cooper headed north on Louisiana from Gibson.

According to witnesses, the Subaru was traveling at a high rate of speed and used the center median to pass a vehicle, an Albuquerque Police Department officer wrote.

Police say Cooper struck Baca as she stood in the middle turning lane, instantly killing her. The car then crashed into the Rising Phoenix Apartment Complex.

We are requesting the search warrant for any factual evidence that would indicate the vehicles speed at the time of the crash, the officer wrote.

At first, police reported that the crash was possibly a result of street racing between two cars. Fisher said KAFB would not speculate on what led to the crash, but that APDs investigative reports did not indicate racing.

First couple of days after the accident, there was a lot of speculation, he said. This other car that supposedly drove away, or didnt stop, doesnt appear to ever have actually existed.

Fisher said the Air Force assists local authorities, in this case APD, but aims to maximize jurisdiction wherever possible.

As a matter of course, we ask for jurisdiction in almost every case, he said.

Fisher said that is done so military members can be dealt with in the context of the military justice system, which has the advantage of a smaller caseload and more resources that lead to favorable conditions over other authorities.

Were a little more expeditious, were able to be more efficient, he said.

Fisher said that once the investigation is complete, the Office of Special Investigations will turn over its findings to a staff judge advocate, who will decide how to go forward. That could mean a dismissal, a hearing or an indictment, which could lead to a court martial.Add Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Sernas name to the list of people considering running for the congressional seat being vacated by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who on Monday announced he would seek the U.S. Senate seat being ceded by Sen. Tom Udall.

Serna, a Democrat, said in a statement: I will be meeting with family, supporters, and constituents this week about the potential of running for U.S. Congress, and will update northern New Mexicans about our decision.

The son of well-known northern New Mexico political figure Eric Serna, Marco Serna, 36, was elected district attorney in 2016.

Also, rancher Michael Lucero of the Jemez Springs area, who got 5.8 percent of the vote as the Libertarian candidate for state land commissioner last year, posted on Face book that he has made a preliminary decision to run for Lujans 3rd Congressional District seat, again as a Libertarian.

His post said northern New Mexico needs an independent voice that wont just play red vs blue politics.

On Monday, District 40 state Rep. Joseph Sanchez, of Alcalde, and Mark McDonald, of Raton, a business developer for a medical helicopter company who ran for a state House seat last year both Democrats announced they would run for the 3rd District seat. Several others have said they may jump into the race.

State Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said Tuesday, in response to Journal questions, that he wont be running for the congressional seat.A large chunk of University of New Mexico students could pay extra tuition next school year under a budget proposal heading to the universitys Board of Regents.

The boards Finance and Facilities subcommittee, which consists of three of the seven regents, unanimously approved several budget recommendations at a meeting on Tuesday. Regents are scheduled to vote on the entire universitys roughly $3 billion budget next week.

One recommendation is to add differential tuition to the tab of students with a major in the College of Arts and Sciences, a broad field of studies with departments that include chemistry, anthropology, English, American Studies, economics and others.

About 8,000 students, roughly 40 percent of the undergraduate student body, have a major within that college, said Richard Wood, the interim provost.

The proposed differential tuition for Arts and Sciences is $10 per credit hour for all students who have declared a major within that college. That would amount to about $300 per student per year and is expected to generate about $1.7 million per year.

The proposed Arts and Sciences tuition increase has been in the works for some time. Mark Peceny, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said college officials have been meeting with students who would have to pay the differential tuition and collecting student surveys and feedback on how best to spend the money for two years. He said the money raised from the tuition increase will be used for faculty retention and hiring and 20 percent will go to financial aid.

The students are on board with it because we are using the money for student-support initiatives, Wood said. Thats critical. This isnt going to administration. Its all going to advising, student support, financial aide and all that stuff.

Differential tuition is extra tuition for students with certain majors, such as those in the engineering and business schools, which already pay a differential. It is intended to help those colleges compete with other institutions, use laboratories, maintain a low student-faculty ratio or do other things, according to the universitys website. The extra tuition has to be requested by departments or programs and approved by university officials, from college deans to the president and ultimately the regents.

The extra tuition for the Arts and Sciences is just one of the recommendations that have been proposed by a budget leadership teamwhich is comprised of university officials and representatives from faculty and students on campus..

The team has worked to craft a budget recommendation for the university president that doesnt increase the base tuition for students at the university, according to university documents. There are likely to be some cost increases though, which will come by way of fee increases and extra tuition tacked onto students depending on their field of study and how advanced they are in their studies. Extra fees tend to increase for the more advanced classes.

We think its important for UNM to be as competitive as possible at the early stages  freshmen and sophomores, said Craig White, the interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration. Theres a lot of places where a student could (go) and we want them to be able to be here and get in the door and be working toward their degree at UNM.On March 14, the New Mexico Legislature passed HB 370, allowing individuals falsely arrested to have the arrest expunged. The governor must sign the bill within 20 days of the Legislatures adjournment, or a pocket veto kills the bill. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham should sign HB 370. Let me tell you why.

On August 30, 2017, at 2:26 p.m., my daughters kindergarten teacher at Calvary Christian Academy called the Child Abuse Hotline claiming that my daughter accused her seven-year-old brother and I of sexually molesting her. The information was passed to CYFD Senior Investigator Maria Morales at 2:48 p.m. She called the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office at 3:10 p.m. Deputies Catherine Smalls, Brian Thornton and Martin Lozano arrived at my home at 3:50 p.m.

I was leaving my office on Kirtland Air Force Base and on the phone with my wife at the time. I could hear the fear in her voice as deputies demanded entry into our home without a warrant and repeatedly threatened to arrest her. After racing home, I was detained in the back of a police car and under arrest by 5:33 p.m.

By Sept. 2, BCSO provided press releases containing false information to media outlets. For example, Detective Jacob Woottons Aug. 31, 2017, criminal complaint contained a number of misleading statements.

The media was told by Deputy Felicia Maggard and Sgt. Amy Dudewicz that I had failed a polygraph, which was untrue. In fact, the District Attorneys own independent polygrapher analyzed my two polygraphs  taken Aug. 31 and Sept. 17  and reported, My grand total scores for the Lucero test (polygrapher) after five charts was a +8, indicative of a 96.7% probability of truthfulness.

BCSO also consistently misinterpreted the physical exam of my daughter and falsely claimed there was evidence of physical abuse, which the examining physician, Dr. Shalon Nienow, said was incorrect.

On Nov. 7, after discovering that Judge William Parnall intended to return custody of my children to my wife, Jacob Wootton arrested my wife in court to stop the judge. The arrest was premised on a second false allegation by (the teacher). The DAs office immediately declined to prosecute my wife.

That same day, (the teacher) made a third false allegation when she filed an affidavit with former Assistant District Attorney Brianne Bigej in which (she) claimed my daughter told her that I was attending church with my family. Both the social worker who transported and attended church with my children and my court-mandated ankle monitor proved that affidavit was false.

It was not until we filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Sept. 14, 2018, that District Attorney Raul Torrez reviewed the case and, on Oct. 18, to his credit, issued a three-page declination letter in which some of the myriad problems with the case were described. Since I was never indicted by a grand jury, there were no charges to dismiss.

Sadly, I did not see my kids for six months or my wife for four months. My children were hostages of the state for over 10 weeks. My wife and I spent more than $250,000 on legal bills. My Air Force career was destroyed. We received many death threats. My reputation was destroyed by an unquestioning media. The pain we have suffered and continue to suffer will never go away. No amount of money can take back what happened, only accountability.

Our lives were destroyed because the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office and CYFD unquestioningly believed the false allegations.  Gov. Lujan Grisham, please do the right thing. Sign HB 370. Do it for my family and do it for the victims of corrupt and incompetent law enforcement.LONDON  Last Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May told her party that she would agree to resign and make way for another leader if it voted to approve her plan for Britains withdrawal from the European Union. As more than one wag noted, it was a rather long-winded way of saying, Im not going to resign anytime soon.

Earlier in the week, Parliament had seized control of the Brexit process  a nearly unprecedented move in a system in which the government sets the agenda and then Parliament votes on it. But the government seemed frozen, unable to pass its Brexit deal and unwilling to either call a halt to the process or crash out of the EU with no deal at all. The House of Commons voted itself the power to hold indicative votes that would not be binding but would show the government where the majority lay. Many of the indicative votes involved matters that remained to be negotiated with the EU, a process that cant start until Britain leaves; the rest were the fond hopes of one faction or another, none of which had any hope of majority support.

Nonetheless, on Wednesday the House of Commons settled down to the exciting business of charting a path for the nation. Eight indicative votes later, members had voted down every alternative on offer. Mays Brexit process has been an unbelievable shambles; the parliamentary Brexit process turned out to be the same shambles, but noisier. How has one of the worlds oldest democracies come to this pass?

Mostly by accident. In 2014, the Labour Party changed the way it selects leaders, having previously given most of that power to Labour members of Parliament and the partys affiliated trade unions. The result was an influx of young leftists who elected an unreconstructed 1970s radical named Jeremy Corbyn to head the party. In addition to the predictable foreign-policy dovishness and socialist leanings, Corbyn seems to have a wee problem with anti-Semitism. He terrifies many of the moderate members of Parliament in his own party, making for a less than fully effective opposition.

Conservatives, meanwhile, are hamstrung by their own accidents. First came the Brexit referendum itself, which was supposed to quiet the partys Brexit faction by handing it a public loss but instead handed it the keys to the kingdom. Then-Prime Minister David Cameron went into exile, and May, his replacement, soon called an early election, seeking a bigger majority heading into Brexit negotiations.

Instead, Conservatives lost so much ground that May was left dependent on Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party, which is adamantly opposed to either rehardening the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, or treating Northern Ireland as in any way separate from the rest of Britain. Since one of those two things must happen if Britain leaves  the Republic of Ireland wont tolerate the customs barriers to the rest of Europe that would be necessary to keep its border with the north open  this is a bit of a pickle.

In ordinary times, a vote of no confidence would have been called and won by the opposition. Britain would be headed for a general election and, very probably, a Labour government. But with Corbyn atop the party, victory is uncertain, and Labour moderates are loath to empower him anyway.

Which is what has kept the shambles endlessly dragging on: Everyone is afraid that their negotiating position could worsen if anything changes, and no one is confident it would improve. The hard Brexiteers dont want to shake things up too much because they fear a soft Brexit that isnt really Brexit, or, worse, that their opponents will find a way to dash the thing entirely. Moderates fear bringing down May, lest they hand the reins over to Corbyn; May cant go back on Brexit for fear of splitting her party. And Labour supporters worry that a general election might result in slightly more conservative and Eurosceptic parliament than todays.

That stalemate reflects an equally bitter and irreconcilable division in the country. While there are some midway points between hard Brexit and full EU. membership, no one voted for Norway plus; they voted Leave or Remain. The country obviously cannot be simultaneously all-out and all-in. Just as obviously, theres no majority for anything in between.

The result is stasis in the face of crisis. But the stasis field is failing: On April 12, Britain must either formally exit the EU or start preparing for European elections in May. Britain is shambling toward something, and quickly.

Twitter, @asymmetricinfo.  2019, Washington Post Writers Group.An estimated one in 14 American children is growing up with a parent in prison.

Its this statistic that piqued the interest of New Mexico filmmaker Denali Tiller.

So, she set out to tell the story of the affected children and their parents.

After four years of working on the documentary  Tre Maison Dasan  it is going to air on PBS as part of the Independent Lens series. It will air at 10 p.m. Saturday, April 6, on New Mexico PBS channel 5.1.

I started the project when I met a woman who was formerly incarcerated and heard about the story about her children, Tiller says. She started a program in the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. I began the film about her and her story and the program.

Then she met Tre, Maison and Dasan, who had parents that were locked up.

And that is the story she wanted to tell.

I realized that these are kids that are going through this right now, she says. We really bonded right away. I wanted them to have their own voice.

Tre is a charismatic but troubled 13-year-old who hides his emotions behind a mask of tough talk and hard edges.

Maison is a funny, charming, hyper-articulate 11-year-old whose Autism Spectrum Disorder presents itself through his ever-active mind and deep love for those around him.

Dasan, the youngest of the boys, is a shy and sensitive six-year-old full of curiosity and empathy.

Although their parents are incarcerated for serious crimes, their strong and caring relationships with their children shatter stereotypes about those behind bars and remind us of the plight of the over 1.7 million American children growing up with an incarcerated parent.

As Tre, Maison and Dasan taught me about their worlds, I recognized that there was a need for a film that allowed children to speak for themselves, to elevate their voices in a way that fully represented their lives as they experience them, Tiller says. Through this participatory process, the audience is led through the ups and downs of life itself  an experience that is both riveting and personal, hilarious and heartbreaking, and values the complexity and nuance of these boys different realities.

To do this, Tiller found herself being flexible as a filmmaker.

At times, the children wanted to take charge and filmed some footage. Other times, Tiller sat in the background and soaked in the stories.

Tiller ended up with over 350 hours of footage when production was over.

It was a painstaking process to get the film down to the broadcast time of less than an hour.

It was a collaborative process, she says. We were able to get the pivotal moments documented in the film.

Creating art was always something that Tiller enjoyed.

She was born and raised in Albuquerque and is a graduate of Albuquerque Academy.

She left Albuquerque to attend Rhode Island School of Design and thats where the film started more than four years ago.

I recently came back for the Santa Fe Film Festival, she says. I love being from New Mexico and my whole family is really supportive of my work.

Tiller says the documentary was inspired by American writing icon Audre Lordes quote, There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.

Maybe it starts with an issue and allowing people to show me, tell me and lead me through their stories, she says. I was honored to be given the time to spend time with the boys and their families.Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  When he was a 12-year-old altar boy, John Doe #8 told his mother he was being molested by the Rev. Arthur Perrault, and she didnt believe him. In June 1992, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe denied the boy had been sexually abused but settled his civil claim out of court, promising Perrault would get therapy to prevent another boy from being harmed.

On Tuesday, the now 60-year-old John Doe #8 told a federal court jury, sometimes through his tears, how he was seduced and eventually molested by Perrault some 48 years ago.

He recalled that the first assault occurred while Perrault was driving him to the mountains northwest of Albuquerque, telling his parents they had church business to do.

Perrault began groping him 30 minutes into the trip, he testified, then pulled off the road, stopped the car and finished the assault.

Their trip ended at a building complex John Doe #8 now believes was the Servants of the Paraclete center in Jemez Springs, where pedophile priests from around the country were sent for rehabilitation.

Once they arrived there, he testified, they lit candles, knelt down and prayed the rosary.

I remember him saying that he cared about me and that I was now a man, said John Doe #8, one of four men who were called as prosecution witnesses Tuesday to show Perraults alleged propensity for molesting boys in Albuquerque.

Perrault, 81, has pleaded not guilty to seven federal sexual misconduct charges involving another former altar boy.

That boy was allegedly sexually assaulted repeatedly by Perrault more than 20 years after John Doe #8 first tried to tell his mother he no longer wanted to be an altar boy and used a derogatory Spanish term to describe Perraults sexual tendencies.

My mother told me to never talk about a Catholic priest like that. She didnt believe me. I thought my life was over. I didnt know what to do, he testified.

All four men, some showing little emotion, testified how they lost their innocence  and some lost their religion  because of Perrault.

John Doe #8 testified that he wanted to die after the experience.

I know its ruined my life, he testified, Im embarrassed to say I wished to God he would have taken my life.

John Doe #8 now cares for a son who is quadriplegic. While wiping tears from his face, he testified that he still sometimes thinks about dying. I couldnt do that to him. But I think about it, he said.

Perrault spent 28 years working as a priest and teacher in the Albuquerque area after being released from the Servants of the Paraclete in the mid-1960s. Catholic officials in East Hartford, Conn., had sent him there for treatment less than two years after he was ordained a priest.

His last assignment in New Mexico was at St. Bernadettes parish. He served as pastor there for seven years until allegations of his sexual misconduct came to light publicly in the fall of 1992 and he abruptly left the country.

A federal grand jury issued a sealed indictment in 2017, and last September the FBI brought Perrault back from Tangier, Morocco, where he had been teaching at an American school.

In the opening day of testimony Tuesday, John Doe #8 recounted for the jury that his family attended Our Lady of Guadalupe church on Griegos NW. Perrault told him he was head altar boy.

He made me feel very special, said the man, who recalled how Perrault took him to the theater and the officers club at Kirtland Air Force Base, where they dined on shrimp and the boy learned shrimp were called prawns.

He estimated Perrault touched him inappropriately at least 100 times during up to three years. As an adult and father of three children, he had uncontrollable anger.

John Doe #8 signed a settlement agreement with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe with a provision that Perrault receive treatment. But some years back, John Doe #8 saw a newspaper article showing another alleged victim holding a photo of Perrault. I broke down crying realizing Perraults alleged sexual abuse of boys had continued despite the settlement.

John Doe #8 said he contacted the man and apologized to him that I wasnt able to stop his abuse. The U.S. Attorneys Office is prosecuting Perrault for sexual abuse of that man in 1991 and 1992.

Testimony continues today.SANTA FE  Roughly 9 million acres of New Mexico state trust land wont actually remain on daylight saving time year round.

State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard raised a few eyebrows Monday when she issued an executive order putting an end to the twice-yearly time changes on the state land under her authority.

But not everyone caught on that it was an April Fools Day joke  there was a disclaimer at the bottom of the order  that poked fun at a long-running legislative debate.

Angie Poss, a spokeswoman for the State Land Office, said some social media users thought the executive order was real, but she said that the overall response to the joke was positive and that most people found it humorous after recent legislative debate on the issue.

The House and Senate passed different proposals this year dealing with time change  the House version called for New Mexico to be exempted from daylight saving time, while the Senate version would have kept the state on daylight saving time year-round.

But neither of those bills ultimately passed both legislative chambers, a necessary step for legislation to reach the governors desk.

GUN LAW REPEAL: A top state House Republican is not giving up in his effort to have voters decide whether New Mexicos new background check law for gun sales should be repealed.

House Minority Leader James Townsend of Artesia on Tuesday resubmitted a draft petition to Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Olivers office that seeks to put in motion a rarely used referendum process.

Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, last month rejected the initial petition submitted by Townsend and other House Republican leaders.

Among the reasons cited by Toulouse Oliver was a state constitutional prohibition on petitions for the repeal of laws providing for the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.

But Townsend said in a Tuesday letter that he does not believe the secretary of state  or the Attorney Generals Office  has the authority to determine whether a bill meets that definition. Only the courts can make such a decision, he said.

He also addressed several technical issues Toulouse Oliver had highlighted in the initial petition.

At issue is a bill expanding New Mexicos background check requirement for gun sales that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law last month. Once the new law takes effect in July, the state will require background checks before nearly any firearm sale in the state, including transactions between private individuals.

No law has been repealed by referendum in New Mexico since 1930, according to legislative staff.

Dan Boyd: dboyd@abqjournal.comEditor:

The following is a copy of the official certified notice sent to Michelle Lujan Grisham, governor of New Mexico; as well as to Maggie Toulouse Oliver, secretary of state for New Mexico:

We, being lawful citizens of the United States of America, as well as of New Mexico, are communicating this letter to you today as notice of our intent to petition and demand a recall election concerning yourself, the governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan-Grisham, this being the only remaining recourse for the citizens of New Mexico to protect themselves and their country from yourself.

Yourself, the governor, have usurped the authority of the President of the United States by recalling our troops from the border, leaving us open to continued invasion without the safeguards provided by our national defense.

Yourself, the governor, are also in the process of removing the ability of the citizens of New Mexico to adequately protect themselves, by disallowing the sale of privately owned guns, as well as encouraging and applauding House Bill 83, violating our Second Amendment rights.

Without our national defense protecting our state, our country and our citizens, in addition to limiting our ability to defend ourselves, a recall election of yourself is the only course of action left available to the residents of New Mexico.

Recall of elected officials in the state of New Mexico is provided for by Article X of the New Mexico Constitution, and though it includes no specific clause regarding the position of governor, it does not disallow this provision. This action is also provided for and sanctioned in over one-third of the states of the United States of America.

Nineteen states have specifically adopted this terminology into their constitutions; we claim the right to this recall, and an emergency special election, based on the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution of the United States of America, the precedent set forth by our fellow American citizens, as well as Article X of New Mexicos Constitution.

The undersigned do support this petition concerning yourself and a recall election and do declare that we are registered voters of the state of New Mexico.

The required number of signatures needed to begin the process of this recall election has been achieved; to complete the process successfully, 231,921 signatures are needed in all, or 33.3 percent of all who voted in the 2018 New Mexico governors race (see electionresults.sos.state.nm.us/resultsSW.aspx?type=SW&map=CTY).

To sign your name, as a registered voter in the state of New Mexico, please visit change.org. All comments are welcome on Facebook at facebook.com/NM-Patriots-United, as well as on Twitter @United Nm.

Joy Ambrosia

Bosque FarmsCopyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexicos public education system is in line for some big changes, after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Wednesday bills increasing starting teacher pay levels, extending school years and revising the formula that directs money to the states 89 school districts.

The measures, which rely on a hefty funding increase included in a separate $7 billion budget bill, are aimed at bringing the state into compliance with a landmark court ruling that found New Mexico is failing to provide a sufficient education to all students.

Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who took office in January, said the legislation would give more options to districts with high numbers of low-income students. She also said it marked the end of an effort to vilify teachers under the administration of former Gov. Susana Martinez.

The most significant investment we can make is in educators and our schools, the governor said.

The ceremonial bill signing took place at a Santa Fe elementary school that Lujan Grishams sister, Kimberly, attended for part of her childhood. Kimberly Lujan was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 2 years old and died at age 21, but the school made an effort to provide her with necessary resources, the governor said.

I was born in the right ZIP code  and I had parents as advocates, Lujan Grisham told reporters after Wednesdays bill signing. Not all students have that, and we are now trying to level the playing field.

The bills signed into law, House Bill 5 and Senate Bill 1, will increase New Mexico starting teacher pay to $40,000 a year  up from $36,000 annually. It will also raise the minimum pay levels for more experienced teachers under the states three-tier licensure system  to $50,000 and $60,000 per year.

Teachers and school administrators would also get a 6 percent salary increase for the coming school year under the budget bill, which Lujan Grisham is expected to sign into law by Friday.

We are thankful that our teachers will have the salaries they deserve and will be seen as professionals in the state of New Mexico, said House Majority Leader Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, who was one of the sponsors of the House education bill.

In addition, the measures signed Wednesday call for an expansion of funding for a voluntary K-5 Plus program that would add five weeks to the school year for students in low-income districts.

They also include more money flowing through the states funding formula for districts with a high number of at-risk students, defined as those from low-income families, English-language learners or those who change schools frequently.

Although some legislators say even more funding should be targeted at such students, other lawmakers described the changes as the opening act of a multiyear effort.

This is a first step  this is not our last step, said Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, who also played a key role in crafting the legislation.

Court ruling

Overall, state spending on public schools is set to increase by roughly $447 million  or 16 percent  over current levels in the coming year.

Legislators say that spending infusion, along with other bills, could address deficiencies highlighted by District Judge Sarah Singleton in her landmark ruling last summer and bring the state into compliance.

I think there is a comfort level that we as a Legislature, and with this administration, have stepped up, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, told reporters after Wednesdays news conference.

The judge gave legislators and the governor a deadline of this month to come up with a plan in response to the ruling. No hearing has been scheduled yet, according to court records.

Lujan Grisham has said she will not appeal the ruling but told the Journal last month that her administration will litigate aggressively in an attempt to avoid long-term court oversight of the states public schools.

What came to be known as the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit was actually a merging of two different lawsuits, both arguing the state has been breaking its constitutional obligation to provide a sufficient education to all children.

A lengthy bench trial took place in 2017, and closing arguments wrapped up in early 2018. The judge released her ruling last July, saying the state did violate the constitutional rights of students, especially at-risk students.

Amendments

Although both bills signed Wednesday passed the House and Senate by overwhelming margins during this years session, they prompted hearty debate.

For instance, a provision that would set the school age limit at 21 generated opposition and impassioned pleas from students in an Albuquerque charter school that helps inmates get high school diplomas.

Before voting to approve the bills, both the Senate and House added amendments that would maintain funding  for at least one year  for schools affected by the age limit. As of the 2016-17 school year, there were 766 students ages 22 or older enrolled in public schools statewide, according to a fiscal analysis of the bill.

The measure will also phase out  over five years  a small-school funding adjustment that has helped charter schools in urban areas. But the schools will benefit from other parts of the legislation, lawmakers say.

Money to pay for the education measures comes from unprecedented state revenue growth, due largely to an oil drilling boom in southeastern New Mexico, and Lujan Grisham said Wednesday that the state must diversify its economy in case that funding source eventually runs dry.

We have to have the revenue streams in our state to make sure we can sustain this for the long term, she said.

The governor also said her administration will ensure that most of the money appropriated is spent in classrooms, not on administrative expenses.

Because the two bills signed into law are identical, the one signed later  in this case the House bill  is the one that will technically become law.PHOENIX  Indian Country Today, an online publication billed as the largest news site covering tribes and indigenous people across North America, announced Wednesday it is relocating its operation to Arizona State University.

The outlet, which started out as a weekly newspaper in 1981, said in a news release it will move this summer from Washington, D.C., to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix. A digital team, however, will remain in Washington.

The change in setting also will allow the site to create a national TV news program specifically for Native Americans using Native American talent.

Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan praised the move. Callahan said the school wants to bolster coverage of Native communities as well as the number of Native journalism students. Stories about tribal issues sometimes are ignored or reported without proper understanding, he said.

We are delighted that Indian Country Today, the iconic and influential news site, will be coming to Cronkite, he said in a statement.

In addition, Cronkite also is searching for someone to serve a first-ever professorship on Native Americans and the news media.

Indian Country Today was on the brink of shutting down before the National Congress of American Indians took it over in February 2018. The news site was relaunched under the leadership of Mark Trahant, who called the partnership with Cronkite game-changing.

The partnership is the latest of several initiatives at Cronkite. The school also is expanding coverage of the U.S.-Mexico border. Last month, PBS NewsHour announced plans for a western news bureau inside the journalism school.

The nightly news broadcast will tape a program to cater to West Coast audiences. The show will have a six-person team, including a correspondent serving as an anchor.WASHINGTON  The House Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas Wednesday for special counsel Robert Muellers full Russia report as Democrats pressure the Justice Department to release the document without redactions.

The committee voted 24-17 to give Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., permission to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for the final report, its exhibits and any underlying evidence or materials prepared for Muellers investigation. Nadler has not yet said if hell send the subpoenas, which would be the first step in a potentially long fight with the Justice Department over the materials.

The Judiciary panel also voted Wednesday to authorize subpoenas related to five of President Donald Trumps former top advisers, stepping up a separate, wide-ranging investigation into Trump and his personal and political dealings.

On the Mueller report, House Democrats had given Attorney General William Barr until Tuesday to provide an unredacted verson to Congress, along with underlying materials. The Justice Department ignored that deadline, with Barr telling committee chairmen in a letter last week that he was in the process of redacting portions of the almost 400-page report and it would be released by mid-April, if not sooner.

The vote further escalates the Democrats battle with the Justice Department over how much of the report they will be able to see, a fight that could eventually head to court if the two sides cant settle their differences through negotiation. Democrats have said they will not accept redactions and want to see the evidence unfiltered by Barr.

In the letter last week, Barr said he is scrubbing the report to avoid disclosing any grand jury information or classified material, in addition to portions of the report that pertain to ongoing investigations or that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.

Democrats say they want access to all of that information, even if some of it cant be disclosed to the public. Nadler said he will give Barr time to change his mind on redactions, but if they cannot reach an agreement they will issue the subpoenas in very short order. He also said he is prepared to go to court to get the grand jury information.

This committee requires the full report and the underlying materials because it is our job, not the attorney generals, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office, Nadler said.

The five former Trump advisers who could receive subpoenas are strategist Steve Bannon, communications director Hope Hicks, chief of staff Reince Priebus, White House counsel Donald McGahn and counsel Ann Donaldson. Donaldson served as McGahns chief of staff before both left the administration.

The five were key witnesses in Muellers probe of possible obstruction of justice and were sent document requests by the Judiciary panel last month, along with dozens of other people connected to Trump. Nadler said he is concerned about reports that documents relevant to Muellers investigation were sent outside the White House, meaning the committee should have access to them because they may not be covered by executive privilege.

The top Republican on the Judiciary panel, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, said at the vote that the five subpoenas are misguided because two of the individuals have already provided 3,000 documents to the committee and that the other three have indicated a willingness to cooperate.

Collins said the authorization for all of the subpoenas is reckless and that Democrats shouldnt be asking for documents that the Justice Department cant legally disclose to the public. The committee rejected a GOP amendment that would have blocked the subpoenas from applying to grand jury information.

We have a pre-emptive chairman who has gone out with pre-emptive subpoenas today on a report that has already been promised him, Collins said. This is nothing but political theater.

Trump himself has largely deferred to Barr on the reports release while also saying he wouldnt mind if the full version was made public. Still, he has criticized Democrats for seeking the unredacted information. He tweeted Tuesday that there is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Nadler or House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, who has also called for the full release.

Mueller notified Barr that he had completed the investigation March 22 and sent him the report. In a four-page summary of that report released two days later, Barr wrote that the special counsel did not find that Trumps campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election. He also said Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed the federal investigation, instead setting out evidence on both sides of the question.

Barr himself went further than Mueller in his summary letter, declaring that Muellers evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe. Democrats criticized Barrs assessment, saying they instead want to see what Mueller wrote.Former salesforce.com executive Mark Chavez is moving his local startup, Lens, to Austin, where the company is preparing to close on a $1.5 million seed round.

Chavez launched Lens in Albuquerque last year to build a cloud-free privacy platform that gives users control over all their personal information. Chavez said he wanted to develop the company in his native New Mexico, where the startup economy is creating new opportunities.

But Chavez now says he cant find the early-stage capital he needs here, forcing him to move where financing is more plentiful.

Local investors say funding is available, but Chavez wants highly favorable terms that are unusual for startup investments.

Chavez said he knocked on most funding doors here, including ones that received backing from the Catalyst Fund, set up by the State Investment Council to pump more seed-level private equity into the local economy.

Ive been shaking the trees everywhere I can, but I havent been successful, Chavez said. I wanted to make this work so badly here, but as a business person, I need to go where I can be successful.

Some investors said the problem is hes seeking debt equity, or a seed-round based on convertible notes where the investors stake is converted to shares in later funding stages as the company value grows. But most venture funds dont do that with initial investments, said David Blivin, managing partner for Cottonwood Technology Funds.

Rather, they immediately set a value on the company and directly invest in shares at that initial price level. Those shares then give the investors a larger stake in the company with better returns as the startups value grows.

With convertible notes, the investors debt equity is instead converted to shares after the company value rises, diluting their investment as the pie grows bigger.

We never do convertible notes as a way to get into a company, Blivin said. Sure, the company wants to defer setting a value as long as it can, but if you convert the notes later at a higher company value, the investors are not getting sufficiently compensated for the risk they took.

Chavez said the investment ecosystem here must mature more, arguing that such debt-equity options are standard in venture hot spots like Austin and the Silicon Valley.

Local investors dispute that. But Chavez is now in final negotiations with two large venture funds in Austin for $1.5 million based on convertible notes. Hes moving business operations there this week, although the technical team will temporarily remain in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexicos Lobo Rainforest building Downtown.

UNMs co-investment fund committed $100,000 to Lens last year, said Lisa Kuuttila, head of the Science and Technology Corp., UNMs tech-transfer office.

Im incredibly disappointed we were not able to keep them here, Kuuttila said.Copyright  2019 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  A package of bills signed into law Wednesday will reshape parts of New Mexicos criminal justice system  allowing people to seek expungement of their criminal records, limiting the use of solitary confinement and promoting the sharing of data among law enforcement agencies.

The burst of action by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also included approval of ban-the-box legislation that prohibits employers from asking job-seekers about their criminal history on an initial application.

She also signed a host of bills touching on other topics  including approval to add New Mexico to a compact of states planning to award their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, faces a Friday deadline to act on bills passed in the final days of the 2019 legislative session, which ended March 16. She has about 80 bills left to sign or veto.

Lujan Grisham said Wednesdays approvals included several smart criminal justice reform initiatives that are good for New Mexico.

We will never, ever weaken our resolve to be tough on the worst offenders, she said in a written statement. But we will responsibly take steps to assist our friends and neighbors who deserve a second chance to contribute to our society.

Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas  an Albuquerque Democrat and co-sponsor of bills on expungement and solitary confinement  said the new laws will help reduce crime.

Its a tremendous leap into the future for crime fighting here in New Mexico, he said in an interview. Weve focused so much on penalties as a deterrent that it took us longer than most other states to realize that lowering crime means reducing recidivism and integrating folks back into the community.

Approval of the expungement legislation drew criticism from open-government advocates.

House Bill 370 will allow people to seek court approval to wipe an arrest or conviction from their records, in certain circumstances.

The bill violates the most basic principle of the publics right to know by erasing what is and has historically been a public record, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said in a written statement. It would let the courts wipe away the public record of arrests and convictions as though they never occurred. This would set a very dangerous precedent.

Heres a look at some of the other bills approved by Lujan Grisham on Wednesday:

 House Bill 55, agreeing to elect the president by national popular vote, if enough other states also sign the compact to form a majority in the Electoral College.

 House Bill 267, calling on the New Mexico sentencing commission to create a data-sharing network aimed at making it easier for police, prosecutors and other agencies to track offenders who use aliases or commit crimes in different communities throughout the state.

 House Bill 364, prohibiting the use of solitary confinement for inmates who are under 18 or pregnant. There would also be limits on solitary confinement for inmates with a serious mental disability.

 House Bill 546, outlining new rules concerning violations by oil and gas operators and management of produced, or brackish, water.

 Senate Bill 96, prohibiting employers from asking about criminal history on an initial application. They could still ask applicants about their history of arrests or convictions later in the hiring process. Employers could also make clear in an advertisement that they will conduct a background check or that a conviction could disqualify them from employment.

 House Bill 447, requiring the Children, Youth and Families and Public Education departments to create a tracking system for students who move among districts and CYFD services, to ensure they dont fall through the cracks.

 House Bill 342, allowing for an expansion of a pre-prosecution diversion program for nonviolent offenders to help unclog the court system.

 Senate Bill 323, reducing penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana. There will be a $50 fine for people caught with up to a half an ounce of marijuana.WeConnectNM, a group that bills itself as a small business economic development think tank, held its inaugural summit Wednesday in Downtown Albuquerque.

At the summit, Board Chairman Chris Schroeder introduced a free application aimed at matching New Mexico small businesses with procurement opportunities from various in-state organizations. It can be accessed at buylocalnm.com, and is accessible via both desktop and mobile.

Its meant to connect small businesses with big opportunities, said Schroeder, who is also COO and lead designer at software company Real Time Solutions. Its not Tinder, but its like Tinder for business.

Like the dating application, users fill out a profile page and the system generates matches. Users input basic information about their company, indicate what services it provides and check off categories of items and services the company purchases each quarter. The categories are meant to encompass everything from construction services to buying burritos for a weekly staff meeting.

Also like the dating application Tinder, users can swipe right to connect with another business or left to reject the match. Or the user can provide a thumbs up or down, if preferred. A match takes the user to the profile of the matched organization with instructions on how to move forward in the procurement process.

Organizations can also post their own procurement opportunities, which are sent out to up to five businesses each day.

WeConnectNM is funded by Public Service Company of New Mexico, DaVita Medical Group, the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico.

The organization also announced that it is in discussions with two government agencies to create a study on procurement throughout New Mexico. The study would identify opportunities for both governmental entities and major businesses to keep their money within the state by employing local organizations.

According to Schroeder, there are over 150,000 business in New Mexico, about 99 percent of them small businesses. Those small businesses employ more than half of all New Mexican workers.

Other speakers included Jason Harrington of HB Construction, Greg Levenson of Southwest Capital Bank and Tony Trujillo of Holmans, among others.CHICO, Calif. - The Chico Police Department released numbers on arrests and citations given out in the city during Cesar Chavez Weekend.

The Chico Police Department added extra staffing starting on Friday, March 29 and continued through Monday, April 1.

In total. authorities issued 63 arrests and 196 citations over the weekend.

The weekend was managed with the help of the Butte County Sheriffs Department, University Police Department, Chico Fire Department and the California Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control.

The following chart includes the statistics on citations and arrests issued by day.During a meeting with President of the Senate of France Gerand Larcher in Paris on April 2, NA Chairwoman Ngan said there are 200 French businesses operating in Vietnam, and France is the fourth largest European trade partner of the country.Vietnam wants France to raise its position among countries and territories investing in the country, she said.The legislator said that she and the Vietnamese NA delegation had held a working session with the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group and 15 major French businesses, adding that there will also be activities between the two countries enterprises during her visit to the city of Toulouse.According to Ngan, via exchanges and working sessions with French companies, she found that the companies feel secure investing in Vietnam. A number of firms have been operating in Vietnam for over two decades and are seeking opportunities in diverse areas, which is the reason why the two countries need to reinforce political-diplomatic ties in order to pave the way for economic links, she said.The guest hoped that with its position and role in Europe, France and its Senate will support the strengthening of ties between Vietnam and the European Union (EU), including the signing and ratification of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).Larcher, for his part, reiterated two important milestones in France-Vietnam ties, which are the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1973 and strategic partnership in 2013. Together with growing bilateral political and diplomatic ties, economic partnership has seen good progress and was a focal point under discussion at the cooperation conference between Vietnamese and French localities held in Toulouse city the same day.Lauding Vietnams geopolitical importance and recalling Vietnams successful hosting of the second DPRK-USA summit, Larcher said Vietnam plays a significant role in coordinating political activities in the region.He thanked the Vietnamese top legislator for inviting him to visit Vietnam, saying that it will afford the two legislatures a chance to strengthen their ties, thereby bolstering future joint work between the two nations, especially in economy.With regards to the EVFTA, he affirmed the Senates support for Vietnam. He stressed that France has taken the lead in realising the EUs policy of multilateralisation and diversification of diplomatic ties and trade.The host also pledged to do his best to push forward the EFFTA signing and approval.On cultural and language cooperation, Vietnam has opened bilingual classrooms since 1995, serving as an important bridge for bilateral relations. Larcher said the improvement of bilingual education will contribute to raising the quality of bilateral ties.On the East Sea issue, Ngan hailed Frances stance on the maintenance of maritime freedom and order in line with international law. She urged France to raise its voice on the issue at multilateral forums and bilateral talks with partners in Asia-Pacific.The host said the freedom of travelling at sea is important and France is concerned about the issue.He added that peaceful methods are the choice for addressing disputes and conflicts, which is also what countries are looking toward.

VNASACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California's attorney general says high-capacity magazines of ammunition are likely to start flowing into the state for the first time in nearly two decades because of a federal court order tossing out a statewide ban.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Tuesday that he's asked a federal judge to delay the ruling while he appeals it to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez on Friday declared unconstitutional a law that bans possessing, buying or selling any magazines holding more than 10 bullets.

California has prohibited buying or selling such magazines since 2000. Those who had them before then were allowed to keep them.

With the ban lifted, even temporarily, Becerra and a lawyer for gun owners say there is evidence sales have begun.CALIFORNIA - New tax rates could drive up online prices in California.

Starting this monthhigher sales-tax rates will be placed on items from online sellerseven if the sellers are out of state.

Several 2011 laws had the tax provision, but out-of-state transactions were never affected. Some small business owners said this will encourage people to shop locally.

Its leveling the playing field," said Terry Shuchat, a business owner. Finally the state has recognized the amount of business they were losing and how its affected small retail. I mean retail is disappearing.

The new tax enforcement is expected to pump $500 million of revenue into the state every year.UPDATE 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - A tornado warning has expired in Butte and Glenn Counties.

Stay with Action News Now for the latest updates as they become available.

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BUTTE AND GLENN COUNTIES, Calif. - The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Butte County west central Butte County and eastern Glenn County.

The warning is in place until 5:45 p.m.

The National Weather Service recorded a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Nord, or 8 miles west of Chico, moving northeast at 5 miles per hour.Havaianas, the iconic, durable and comfortable slipper, launched in Brazil in 1962, continues its international expansion with its arrival in India. Alpargatas S.A. and Shoezone Lifestyle LLP have formed a joint venture partnership, to bring in the worlds most famous slipper. Under this JV the company plans to invest more than US$ 20 Million behind Havaianas in the next 5 years to conquer the Indian consumers. Havaianas plans on aggressively focusing on 10 top cities to speed up the distribution and achieve its full potential.

The first locations chosen for the mono-brand stores include the most relevant and trend-oriented cities in India: Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Chennai, Pune and Cochin. This will be accompanied by intensive cross-platform marketing and PR campaigns. Havaianas will be available in the most relevant distribution channels for the local consumers: shoe specialist, department stores and e-commerce platforms.

The project to bring Havaianas to India is being led by a JV between Alpargatas S.A. and Shoezone Lifestyle LLP (Alpargatas India Fashions Private Ltd) : combining the high product quality, diverse product portfolio and strong brand equity of Havaianas, with the solid retail, market know-how, consumer understanding and proven execution capabilities, of Shoezone Lifestyle LLP.

Both partners are fully committed to ensuring the same success story of other international markets, where Havaianas introduces consumers to a whole new concept in slippers: not just functional slippers, but in fact the perfect combination of comfort and style to be adopted as a true fashion accessory.

Speaking about the recently formed JV, Roberto Funari, CEO, Alpargatas S.A., said, This is going to be a radical change in the way Indian consumers perceive and wear slippers today. We believe Havaianas will become a love brand  as it is in so many markets, and our product portfolio will offer consumers the possibility of being aligned with the latest fashion trends with extreme comfort.

The iconic brand, available in a variety of shapes, colors and prints are already the preferred slipper in many markets like Italy, UK, France, Australia and, of course, Brazil. Havaianas now brings the fun, energy, color and holiday spirit to the Indian consumers. With its warmer (slipper-friendly) climate and a very well-developed usage habit, Havaianas is bound to be a hit with consumers.

A diverse portfolio of more than 120 styles and 350 colours will be available to wow consumers from all genders and ages, including international consumers favorites such as Havaianas St Tropez, Havaianas Slim Metal Logo, Havaianas You, Havaianas Urban and some of the many licensed styles such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man and Mario designs.

Havaianas, which releases a collection every year is currently selling the 2019 range and will soon release its 2020 collection.Fair and Handsome Fairness Cream, one of the power brands of Emami Limited, has once again come on top when the Honble Delhi High Court ruled against the appalling claims of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) against Fair and Handsomes latest TVC starring Vidyut Jammwal. In a significant ruling, The Delhi High Court in its judgement dated 27.3.2019 has upheld the right of Fair and Handsome to run the advertisement that shows how womens fairness creams are not designed for use on mens tough skin. The Court rejected HULs plea who claimed Fair and Handsomes TV Commercial to be disparaging to its own brand  Fair & Lovely.

This is a third consecutive win by Fair and Handsome against HUL in the last one year on unfair disparagement.

HUL moved to Delhi High Court against Fair and Handsomes latest commercial with its brand endorser, Vidyut Jammwal, who says the line, Ab to Ladkiyon ki cream chhodo. HUL pleaded that the said commercial is claiming their product, Fair & Lovely is rubbish and inefficacious and restricted to use only by women. The ad also showed a tube that was white and pink in colour, which HUL had claimed to be a distinctive feature of their Brand, Fair & Lovely.

Honble Justice Jayant Nath commented, In view of the literature that has been posted on its own website by the plaintiff [HUL], it also cannot be said that prima facie the statements made in the advertisement regarding using of womens cream by men is false.

On the disparagement case, the Honble Court questioned, Can it be said that this advertisement on account of the said dialogue stated is false or misleading or unfair or deceptive? Does it amount to generic disparagement? The answer is in the negative.

An Emami spokesperson said, The ruling by the Honble Delhi High Court reinforces the fact that Fair and Handsome is built on a foundation of truth and trust. We thank the Honble High Court for upholding the truth and the right to free speech. Fair and Handsome has earned immense consumer trust and is among Indias Top 50 Most Trusted Health and Personal Care brands (Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands 2019 study). We take this consumer trust with humility and acknowledge the brands huge responsibility to our consumers. We are not surprised by the consistent strategy adopted by HUL to target Fair and Handsome on frivolous grounds across forums. We will endeavor to do everything in our realm to safeguard the best interests of consumers, by empowering them with the right information.

EARLIER WINS: It may be noted that in June 2018, HUL had aired a television commercial for Mens Fair & Lovely, showing Fair and Handsome, claiming their own product to be the original one thus causing direct disparagement to Fair and Handsome. The Honble Court provided an injunction in favour of Fair and Handsome, restraining HUL from circulating and displaying the commercial.

In July 2018, HUL had gone on appeal to Calcutta High Court on similar grounds, which rejected: Even on prima facie consideration of the timeframe of launching the respective products, the product of the petitioner, Mens Fair and Lovely, is much younger on point of commencement.

HUL has also been targeting Fair and Handsome in many other forums such as ASCI. In 2017, HUL had contested against Fair and Handsome Instant Fairness Face Wash and 100% Oil Clear Face Wash. Reviewing the clinical study reports, consumer evidence and research studies, the Independent Review Committee (IRC) of ASCI, chaired by Justice Mohit Shah, Retired Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, summarily dismissed the complaints, leading to dismissal of all 18 objections on both products.Creating immersive and personalised experiences for consumers has become the primary objective for marketers. A mass, carpet-bombing-kind of marketing strategy will no longer work as consumers seek to have a relevant connect with brands.

An eminent panel of leading marketing experts discussed at length the changing role of marketing in the consumer journey at the first-ever Digi Media Summit organized by Adgully on March 29, 2019 in Delhi. The speakers included Gauri Awasthi, Head - Digital Marketing & Social Advocacy, FabIndia; Nishant Radia, Founder & Head of Marketing, Vidooly; Rajiv Dubey, Head of Marketing & Media, Dabur India; Sai Narayan, Associate Director & Head of Marketing, Paisabazaar.com & Policybazaar.com; and Sameer Saxena, Director - Strategy & Marketing, Legrand. Digital & New Media Consultant Sanjay Trehan moderated the panel.

At the outset, Sanjay Trehan noted that the traditional marketing paradigm of push-based selling has now moved to traction-based selling, which is pull-based selling, and added that at the heart of brand experiences is the consumer mindset. He then posed the question to the panellists regarding how they would create brand experiences for their consumers.

Answering his question, Gauri Awasthi said, We leverage User Generated Content and making a brand come through. Thus, we aim to turn the customer into brand custodians.

Trehan then turned the attention to the insurance sector, where it is a matter of solicitation. He sought to know how Paisabazaar and Policybazaar took the customer through this journey to achieve delight. To this, Sai Narayan responded by saying that, No one wakes up in the morning thinking about insurance. When it comes to brand experience, our category is not in the mindset of consumers. Insurance is a push-based product and direct sales is more effective than marketing.

Citing from his own experience Narayan said that when he entered the insurance sector it was seen in a very negative light. According to him, Listening to consumers more should be an imperative for brands rather than communicating to them. We get more customer complaints than the service sector and I believe every complaint is a great product innovation opportunity.

Giving the B2B industry perspective, Sameer Saxena said, Our product is not in-your-face. We ventured into branded content, which helped us break through the clutter and stand out. The challenge in the B2B side is building a differentiated content portfolio to help consumers distinguish your array of products.

Trehan here noted that looking at the complete purchasing cycle, usually CMOs would approach this with their gut feeling. Now analytics is changing this and all decisions are based upon data. How has analytics helped shape brand experiences? he asked.

Nishant Radia elucidated, We were taught that brand experiences are an ecosystem and brand is at the center of the ecosystem surrounded by components. Where we are headed to is that all the components are the brand itself. Thus, a customer experience with customer service is as vital as their experience with the product itself. Video consumption is growing and that is where the audience is. Brands need to invest more in understanding this audience. Today, consumers are frustrated with the disjointed experience from brands. Brands need to stop looking at digital mediums from a reach point of view.

While the money spent on digital advertising is increasing, there will be demand for RoI. Thats where the data side comes in and the measurement piece is leading to.

Trehan noted, You cannot have a superficial brand experience. At the heart of it needs to be sticky; it needs to be immersive. He asked the panelists how they were looking to create immersive brand experiences.

Gauri Awasthi opined, We can divide consumers into several buckets. Resonating with different kinds of consumer buckets becomes a great challenge. FabIndia has deployed experience zones in its stores, including a childrens zone, so that customers can shop tension free. The brands promise of delivering great products has induced FabIndia to become a no discount brand to stay true to the brand philosophy. Before our new collections are launched, we spend time with the clusters to ensure their needs are being met, she added.

Seeking the views from an FMCG company, Trehan noted that an FMCG brand would be inclined towards doing tactical sales. He asked, What is the importance of doing immersive brand communication in this environment to you?

Daburs Rajiv Dubey replied, Every day you have to do some sales and reach you target. But over the long term, you need to build your brand. Our business is a repeat order business, so our relationship with our customers is very important.

While it is easy to talk about creating compelling brand experience, selling a product that is a matter of solicitation is a different ballgame.

As Sai Narayan pointed out, Brand experience is a great term, but unless and until a consumer actually experiences the communication you do, it has no impact. I believe the communication you do and the experience of the consumer should be seamless. Our focus is on helping the consumer get the right experience with the help of technology. At times when you are not able to do it with technology, how can you help them get that same experience offline? Also, bearing the lack of a physical product convincing consumers to buy our product is very difficult.

On being asked how his brand continues to be pivotal to a consumers brand journey even when not creating fashionable brand experiences, Sameer Saxena replied, One of our biggest challengers is the road to the market. The consumer experience from an end user perspective has to be consistent and long term. We need to understand how we can leverage what we have done earlier.

Speaking on the challenge of measurability, Nishant Radia noted that it was really about unified measurement. He also felt that the industry is not close to finding a solution to this in the near future as it is difficult to get all the stakeholders in one place from the platform side of things. However, what we can do is create benchmarks across different platforms and then identify the same users to see how they are behaving on different platforms. Then we can create multiple cohorts and do a surrogate way to do measurement, he added.

Trehan here turned the focus towards the qualities that a new age CMO needs to possess.

Gauri Awasthi affirmed, We need to marry the consumer and the brand. The best way to do that would be through brand storytelling enriched by data and insights. She further said that in future there would be no CMOs, but CXO  that is, Chief Experience Officers.

In a lighter vein, Nishant Radia quipped, Tattoos, long hair and piercings! He quickly added, One thing that I would really focus on is technological know-how and understanding the platform to the fullest.

For Rajiv Dubey, the biggest quality is to have the risk-taking ability. You may never know what will work or not, but you need to take the risk. That can only be done if you love the brand and believe in the brand, he maintained.

Sai Narayan stressed on the CMOs ability to be a great listener, understand exactly what the customer wants and be able to deliver that.

Sameer Saxena added here, We need to be able to unlearn very fast because the consumer keeps changing, and to tackle new problems you need to have a blank canvas.WPP has opened its new Amsterdam campus as it continues the roll-out of its global co-location strategy. The renovated Amsteldok building brings together 15 WPP agencies into a single location.

Refurbished by WPPs architectural and design consultancy BDG, the previously derelict Rivierstaete building has been transformed into a 19,000m2 modern working environment that will act as both an innovative workplace and community space for its 1,500 people in the city. VBAT, an international WPP design studio based in Amsterdam, worked with the agencies housed in Amsteldok to name the campus and develop the co-locations new branding.

Each WPP campus is designed to provide world-class spaces that bring together its people and agencies into one location, encouraging greater collaboration and giving clients easier access to all of WPPs talent and expertise.

Amsteldok, which was Europes largest office building when it was completed in 1973 by renowned architect Huig Aart Maaskant, will be home to 15 WPP agency brands that previously operated from 11 different locations. Located on the river Amstel, the striking, box-stacked structure will be a new centre of creativity in the heart of Amsterdam, boasting impressive new and renovated roof terraces, restaurants, a rooftop bar, a business lounge and an event space.

At the official opening, Mark Read, CEO, WPP, said, Im delighted to open WPPs Amsterdam campus, which demonstrates our continued investment in our people and commitment to the Dutch market, which is one of the most dynamic and forward-looking in the world. WPP campuses help us deliver a simpler, more integrated offer to clients by bringing great agency brands together under one roof and providing easier access to our collective talent. Giving our people modern, world-class working environment allows them to do their best creative work, it encourages closer collaboration and its an important part of building an open and optimistic culture at WPP.

To coincide with the opening of Amsteldok, Hogarth (WPPs global creative production network that combines technological skills and creative craftmanship) announced the creation of Hogarth Netherlands. As part of its renewed offer to clients in the region, and operating from Amsteldok, it will deliver end-to-end solutions using the very latest innovations in content production.

Eric Kramer, Country Manager, WPP Netherlands, said, Im incredibly proud of the regeneration of Amsteldok into both a fantastic new home for our people and a new creative and social hub for the city. We have an innovative and collaborative culture in Amsterdam, and WPPs market offering, further bolstered by the creation of Hogarth Netherlands, is stronger than ever as we bring our brands together.

Redeveloping existing structures instead of constructing new buildings avoids the emission of thousands of tonnes of embodied carbon  equivalent to over 30 per cent of the buildings lifetime carbon emissions. The new WPP campus has been developed with sustainability at its heart and is aiming for a BREEAM (the worlds leading authority in this area) rating of Very Good or higher.Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on April 3, 2019

2019/04/03

At the invitation of the Russian government, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Arken Imirbaki will attend the fifth International Arctic Forum in Russia from April 8 to 12.

Q: First question, on Monday, US federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit against Zhang Yujing, a Chinese woman whom they allege attempted to enter Mar-a-Lago last Saturday. Can you give us more details? Has she requested consular assistance from the Chinese Consulate General? And second question, it is said that there are Chinese PLA military advisers assisting the Maduro administration in Venezuela. Do you have any comment?

A: Regarding your first question, I'm not aware of that.

As for the second question, I don't know where you got this information or for what purpose was it produced, but I can tell you this: what you said is simply not true.

The Chinese government's position on the Venezuela issue is consistent and clear-cut. We firmly uphold international law and the basic norms governing international relations, object external interference in Venezuela's internal affairs, and believe the country's government and opposition need to seek a political solution through peaceful dialogue. Following the principle of equality, win-win cooperation and common development, we will continue to advance China-Venezuela relations and cooperation in various fields.

Q: According to Japanese media, the Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua will leave office next month, and he is said to be succeeded by China's Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou. Can you confirm that?

A: I have nothing specific to tell you at the moment. The appointment and assumption of office of Chinese ambassadors need to go through due procedures.

Q: The US said it will not send a high-level delegation to China to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) this month. What's your comment on that and do you have any understanding as to why?

A: I have noted relevant reports from the media. If this is the decision of the US, they are better suited to answering your question.

The Belt and Road Initiative is an open, inclusive and transparent initiative for economic cooperation. Following the principle of consultation and contribution for shared benefits, we welcome like-minded countries to participate in the BRI for win-win outcomes.

Preparations for the second BRF are well underway. So far, representatives from over 100 countries including nearly 40 foreign leaders have confirmed their attendance. As the host, China has every confidence of the success of this event. We will work with all parties for more concrete outcomes of the BRI cooperation that benefit people of all countries.

Q: The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday that the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) established pursuant to the UNGA resolution 72/250 held discussions on the substantial elements of an international legally binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space in Geneva in mid-to-late March, during which experts from 25 countries including Russia, China and Brazil tried to work out a consensus-based report. But the US blocked the adoption of the GGE's final report and gave no explicit explanation. I wonder what's your comment on that?

A: Prevention of an arms race in outer space is a shared aspiration that has long been pursued by the international community. Considering the importance and urgency of this issue and following the advice of China, Russia and other countries, the UN established the Group of Governmental Experts with members from 25 countries, aiming to consider and make recommendations on the substantial elements of the relevant international legal instrument. Thanks to the GGE's hard work during the two meeting sessions, a consensus was almost reached for the adoption of a final report that would hopefully make important contributions to outer space security. However, blocked by a certain country, the GGE failed to adopt such a report. China deeply regrets that.

China stands for the peaceful use of outer space and opposes an arms race in and the weaponization of outer space. We hope relevant parties will look at this issue objectively for the common security of all countries, actively participate in the international outer space arms control process, and earnestly safeguard the lasting peace and security in outer space.

Q: On April 2, the Supreme Court in Comoros officially released the country's presidential election result and confirmed incumbent President Azali Assoumani's winning with 59.05 percent of the vote. I wonder if you have any comment on it?

A: We have noted the election result announced by the Supreme Court of Comoros and would like to congratulate Mr. Azali Assoumani on his reelection as the President of Comoros.

China and Comoros enjoy traditional friendship. As China attaches high importance to the bilateral ties, we stand ready to work with the Comoran government led by President Azali Assoumani in his new term to strengthen friendly cooperation through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum and elevate China-Comoros friendly and cooperative ties to a higher level.

Q: Yesterday President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria declared his resignation after months of demonstrations. Do you have any comment?

A: We have noted relevant reports. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is a veteran leader of Algeria who has made significant contributions to China-Algeria relations. We believe the Algerian people have the capability to ensure a smooth process of political transition and maintain national security and stability.

Q: According to Hindustan Times, the US State Department said "while we strongly prefer the UN Security Council designation take place through the committee process, the US and its allies and partners will utilize all available resources to ensure Masood, leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, is held accountable." It also confirmed that the draft resolution moved by the US last week is supported by France and Britain. I wonder what is your comment on that?

A: Last Friday, members of the UN Security Council exchanged views on the draft resolution circulated by the US. The majority of them agreed that the listing issue should be resolved through dialogue and consultation under the 1267 Committee instead of by pushing for a vote on the draft resolution.

Recently China has been working on all parties and achieved positive results. The US is aware of that. However, it still prompted the draft resolution to be adopted at the Security Council, which makes no sense at all. What the US did has set a bad precedent as it is not in line with the Security Council rules and customary practices. It will only complicate matters and will do no good to peace and stability in South Asia.

China will continue to engage in the discussion and review of the relevant listing issue in a responsible and constructive manner. We hope it will be properly resolved in the end.

Q: So far no solid proof has come out about the involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed in the Pulwama attack. But on the other hand, a retired Indian general, who served as corps commander in Indian-held Kashmir, speaking at a seminar in London, said that the Pulwama incident was inevitable because of the Indian government's policies in the region. What is your comment?

A: China has already made clear its attitude on the attack that recently took place in Indian-controlled Kashmir. We hope to see peace and stability in South Asia and that India and Pakistan will resolve the relevant issue through dialogue and consultation.

Regarding the listing issue, as I said earlier, China will continue to engage in the discussion and review of the relevant issue in a responsible and constructive manner. We hope and believe it will be properly resolved in the end.Note: Uh oh, someone hit publish at HuffPo... what happened? This is a terrific article.



###



https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lets-start-honoring-people-with-autism-by-stopping_us_58dbf66ee4b0487a198a5686?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003



By A. Elizabeth Washington



World Autism Awareness Day hits me like a ton of bricks every year. As the mother of a child with autism, there isnt another day I loathe like April 2nd. Autism Speaks proudly proclaims on their website: Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events. How will you celebrate?

Awareness is one thing, but I recoil at the assumption that my son and I will be celebrating the immense suffering he has endured since autism came into our lives. Each year, I mark the day by cringing as I drive past blue porch lights and pulling my blinds closed as neighborhood kids hop off the school bus in blue shirts. I know one thing for sure: the celebratory tone of April 2nd directly contrasts the reality of day-to-day life for many with autism. It doesnt feel like a day that supports my son and those like him. It feels like a kick in the face.

A small sliver of the autism spectrum works happily in Silicon Valley, comfortable in their own skin, able to overcome their challenges and function successfully in the world. Some have genius IQs and special talents. They celebrate their abilities. I celebrate them too. Those at this end of the autism spectrum however, are not reflective of the entire autism community by any stretch of the imagination.Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

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Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.The State of Florida believes it has its man. And this time, the state hopes to keep him behind bars for an extended stay.

Cedric Leon Maynor, 48, a native of Fort Pierce, has been indicted for the 2017 murder of local gay businessman Michael (Mycal) Miccio. Maynor, who has an extensive criminal record and multiple aliases, is being held without bond in Broward County jail. His next hearing before Judge Thomas Coleman is May 31, according to case documents. No trial date has been set. Maynor has pleaded not guilty.

Miccio, who owned Lauderhill cabinet business Dynamic Design and Wood, was found dead in his Fort Lauderdale apartment in September 2017, less than two miles from his workshop, according to reports.

The indictment revealed the cause of death to be asphyxiation. Detective Edward McCormack of the Lauderhill Homicide Division would not release any other details on the case.

"We have no further comment at this time," he said. A request has been made with Lauderhill Records Supervisor Stephanie Moliere for the case file.

The district attorney has been speaking with the Miccio family and keeping them up to date on the case, Miccio's brother-in-law, Joseph Ianaconi, said in a phone call to SFGN.

"She has been very helpful. We have kept things tight. We are now waiting to see what happens," he said. For instance, Miccio's 92-year-old mother has never been told her son was murdered. The family had papers made up to say he died of natural causes, Ianaconi said.

Miccio, from New York, a custom cabinet maker for more than four decades, was the fifth of 10 children. Ianaconi, who delivered his eulogy, is married to Miccio's sister. Miccio would become his best friend. When they came for a visit, or he visited them on the Jersey Shore, they'd all go out dancing.

"He was a disco king!" Ianaconi excitedly recalled.

Miccio was out to his family, who were very accepting of him and any of his friends he brought for a visit. "We all supported his choices and lifestyle.

Ianaconi assisted in cleaning the crime scene. The only pictures in the apartment were pictures of family. "That meant a lot to everyone," Ianaconi said.

As far as motive, Ianaconi offered some information, but didn't want to delve too deeply into the details. He did say the suspect, Maynor, had a female relative living in the same complex as Miccio. The woman confided in Miccio that Maynor, who came to stay with her after Hurricane Irma hit South Florida, was trouble. But Miccio offered to help as needed. "Typical of him," Ianaconi said. Michael was a flashy jewelry type of guy, "and Maynor could have seen him as an easy target," Ianaconi said.

Ianaconi added that there was clearly a struggle in the apartment, and in addition to his wallet being gone, all of Miccio's jewelry was also missing. Police may be holding that as evidence, Ianaconi suspects.

Maynor was arrested and charged with Miccio's murder on July 12, 2018, in St. Lucie County. He was later extradited to Broward County.

Just two months before Miccio was killed, Maynor was being held in St. Lucie County jail, where he ran into additional trouble, according to reports in TCPalm. Maynor was accused of punching his cellmate, who complained Maynor was snoring too loudly. Maynor, who knocked out his cellmate's tooth, was charged with battery and pleaded self-defense, the news story stated. He was later released from jail, according to reports.

And only one month after Miccio was murdered, Maynor was taken into custody again in St. Lucie, this time on a drug charge, according to public records.

"Cedrik Leon Maynor"

Ianaconi, his wife, and one of Miccio's brothers, will be in Fort Lauderdale for the trial. Ianaconi says the trial is being delayed as the judge awaits fingerprint certification.

The family has Miccio's remains at home. They won't do anything with them until the trial is over.

"There's a special place he loved, a place where his friend who died of AIDS is," Ianaconi said. "We are glad Michael hasn't been forgotten. We are thankful the community hasn't forgotten him."Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas resignation on April 2 came as a surprise to no one. A mass protest movement, unparalleled within much of the countrys history, has maintained relentless pressure on the ailing 82-year-old president, driving fissures between him, much of the countrys historically closeted political establishment and the bulwark of Algerias political power base: the army.

News of Bouteflikas departure was greeted with celebrations throughout the country. Following a rare appearance on state television where a clearly weakened Bouteflika relinquished power, crowds filled the streets of the capital, with individuals brandishing the Algerian flag and passing cars sounding their horns.

However, amid the tumult was the keen awareness that the campaign to overthrow Algerias entrenched power base  the "pouvoir"  had only been partly won, with further demonstrations planned for April 5 to continue the popular advance against Algerias ingrained power structures.

The popular movement did many things to keep up the pressure and force the government to leave for the first time! Khalil Che, a protester, told Al-Monitor.

But the battle remains far from over as many of the key players within the pouvoir remain in position; there is also suspicion that Bouteflikas resignation could simply be a further plot to buy time to gain ground. We are not happy because we just started the revolution, Che continued, adding, The solution for us is for this popular movement to become the opposing power.

With Bouteflika gone, power will now fall to the speaker of Algerias upper house of parliament, 77-year-old Abdelkader Bensalah, who will serve as interim leader for a 90-day period while fresh elections are organized. Under the terms of the Algerian Constitution, no major reshuffle or replacement of ministers is allowed during this time, in effect granting much of Algerias political establishment the chance of a much-needed respite from the popular forces opposing them.

The people can breathe a little, the protest group known as No to the Fifth Term  named in opposition to Bouteflikas initial aim to seek another term  told Al-Monitor, adding, It is a grand battle we have won, but not yet the war.

Anys Mezzaour, a 22-year-old Algerian author, cautioned that many dangers still lay ahead on the countrys road to democracy. The people already sent the message that any transition organized by the pouvoir will be rejected, and if there is to be one, it would be decided and managed by the people via their real representatives, he said.

In the face of the unwavering popular opposition that has built up throughout the country, much of the circle surrounding the infirm president has shrunk away, revealing the incumbent as an increasingly isolated and frail figure.

The coup de grace was likely delivered with the defection of the armys loyalties to those of the protesters, with Chief of Staff Gen. Ahmed Gaed Salah on March 26 calling for the president to step down.

Even prior to the armys switch to the street were the desertions of many members of Bouteflikas own National Liberation Front as well as the influential Democratic National Rally, which all went to pains to be seen as allying with the popular will.

However, without underestimating the scale of the victory secured by the millions of peaceful protesters within Algeria, the response of observers was equally qualified. The military and wider ruling elite certainly hope that Bouteflika's removal will be enough to satisfy the street, professor Jonathan Hill of Kings College told Al-Monitor.

He added, The cohesion of this elite [like that of all elites] is based in large measure on mutual reliance. Now that Bouteflika is damaged goods, the pouvoir is prepared to sacrifice him to save themselves and their interests.

Hill continued, What I think will determine whether the street is satisfied is what happens next. If the regime sets out an orderly, seemingly open and democratic succession plan that is realistic and timely, then that might placate the protesters. If, though, it simply tries to shoehorn an unknown or unpopular person into the presidency or pays little heed to the democratic process, then it might not.

With the memory of the countrys devastating civil war of the 1990s still a vivid memory for both many of the protesters and the security services, allusions to chess and other games of grand strategy are frequent. "I think that both the protesters and the pouvoir are being cautious, Hill said, adding, While I still think that the security apparatus would be willing to use sustained and heavy force, it knows what the consequences of that could be. Similarly, the protesters know what the security apparatus is capable of.

With further protests planned for April 5, it is becoming increasingly clear that Bouteflikas resignation is unlikely to mark a neat conclusion to this tumultuous period in Algerias history. Clearly the protesters can claim a victory here, Sarah Feuer, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Al-Monitor. But they are not likely to consider Bouteflika's resignation enough as long as the system he represented for so long remains more or less in place. Just what they can replace this system with remains unclear, Feuer added.GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The Hamas movement is carrying on with its efforts to repair ties with the Syria-Iran-Hezbollah axis, which deteriorated during the Syrian civil war. Hamas had opted for an impartial stance in the Syrian internal conflict and its leaders left Damascus in 2012, though they had been present in Syria since 2001.

After electing a new leadership in May 2017, Hamas managed to restore ties with Lebanons Hezbollah. Senior Hamas leaders, including Saleh al-Arouri, settled in Beirut's southern suburbs, Hezbollah's stronghold. Hamas also succeeded in repairing relations with Iran as Hamas leaders visited Tehran in 2017 and 2018, when Iran resumed financial support for the movement after minimizing it in 2012.

Yet Hamas faces multiple obstacles to resuming ties with the Syrian government. The latter is still angry at Hamas over its public support for Syrian protesters, exemplified in a 2012 incident in which Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas political bureau, raised the Syrian revolutions banner during a Hamas rally in the Gaza Strip. Syria also accuses Hamas of providing the Syrian rebels with arms. Hamas, however, has repeatedly denied these accusations.

The new Hamas leadership repeatedly tried to pave the way for the resumption of ties with Damascus. Most recently, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in late March that he rejects US President Donald Trumps decision recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967.

The Golan will remain an integral part of the Syrian territory, Haniyeh said March 25. We stand by Syria in the face of the US arrogance that does not abide by international norms, covenants and laws."

An Iranian official who declined to be named told Al-Monitor that Iran has been mediating between the Syrian regime and Hamas since early 2017. He noted that several meetings brought together Iranian and Hamas leaders toward this end.

The source indicated, however, that the Syrian government continues to perceive Hamas leaders' exit from Damascus in 2012, their settling in Qatar and Turkey, and the pro-revolution remarks of some Hamas leaders to be a stab in the back. However, he went on to say that the Iranian mediation, and Hezbollahs mediation, have eased Damscus' stance toward Hamas.

The source stressed that it is too early for a meeting to take place between the two sides, and anticipates that Trumps Golan decision, the continuation of Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory and Hamas new leadership will help restore their ties.

Since the Hamas leadership was elected and the Iranian mediation kicked off, the Syrian regime eased media attacks against Hamas.

Ali Baraka, a member of Hamas political and Arab relations bureau, told Al-Monitor that Hamas condemnation of the US Golan decision is a matter of principle that applies to any Arab land subjected to aggression.

Baraka refused to speak of the Hezbollah and Iranian efforts to repair the relations between Hamas and Damascus. Yet he affirmed there is high-level coordination among the parties in the resistance axis to counter US actions against the Arab region.

Rai al-Youm newspaper reported March 17 that Hezbollah's mediation resulted in a preliminary pact under which Damascus agreed to allow Arouri, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, to serve as a liaison between Hamas and the Syrian regime and meet with Syrian officials in Damascus, away from media coverage.

Multiple Syrian officials refused to comment on Hamas stance toward the US decision on the Golan.

Abdel Sattar Qassem, a political science professor at An-Najah National University in Nablus, told Al-Monitor that Hezbollah continues to work to restore Syrian-Hamas relations. He noted that reconciliation between the two sides is imminent, in light of their need for each other, given the US moves against Syria and the Palestinians.

When their relations were still good, Syrian officers came to the Gaza Strip before the Syrian conflict was ignited and provided members of Hamas and the [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad [PIJ] with military training," Qassem said. "The regime also provided Hamas with anti-tank guided missiles."

The Palestinian cause is also a central cause for the Syrian government, he said, and Hamas and the PIJ  the largest armed Palestinian factions  are the only Palestinian parties Damascus would deal with in resisting Israel, he said. In 2017, Hamas disengaged from the Muslim Brotherhood, which helped ease the Syrian government's stance toward Hamas, given the regime's lack of trust in the Brotherhood.

Sharhabil al-Gharib, a political analyst close to Hamas, expects Hamas' stance regarding the Golan Heights will help bring about a convergence of views with Damascus, and noted that the matter depends on whether the latter will respond to the signs that Hamas wants to resume ties.

Gharib told Al-Monitor that Hamas has a very limited number of allies in the Arab region, which is why the movement wants to rekindle relations with Damascus. Hamas is betting that with time, the interests of Syria and the Palestinians will come together to challenge the US administration's still-unseen peace plan for the Middle East. It is also betting that more common interests will develop following the Israeli elections and formation of a new government in April.The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously recommended today that retired Gen. John Abizaid serve as ambassador to Saudi Arabia while voting 13-2 to advance Matthew Tueller as ambassador to Iraq, paving the way for their confirmation in the coming days.

While the Abizaid nomination proved noncontroversial, Tueller took heat not for his views on Iraq, but rather for his current role as ambassador to Yemen.

We got a window into the ineffectiveness of our policy in Yemen when he testified before our committee [on March 6] that it was his belief that Saudi Arabia bore 0% of the responsibility for the civilian deaths that have occurred on the ground inside Yemen, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said ahead of the committee vote. He did clarify that response in written questions for the record, but our policy in Yemen has been a disaster.

Murphy voted to advance Tuellers nomination, but Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against him.

Why it matters: The United States still lacks diplomats in key posts throughout the region. And Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the vacancies.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the committees top Democrat, noted that President Donald Trump has yet to nominate ambassadors to critical countries like Egypt, Pakistan and our close ally Jordan.

Committee Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, countered that while Trump has submitted 225 nominees, the committee has only cleared 65% of them.

President [Bill] Clinton in his first two years sent 274 [nominees] to this committee, 96.3% were confirmed, said Risch. [President Barack] Obama in the first two years submitted 247 [nominees] to this committee, 89% were confirmed.

Menendez in turn noted that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had falsely accused Democrats of holding up the Abizaid nomination on the Senate floor earlier this month.

Im glad were going to vote on Gen. Abizaid today, but it took 23 months before the Trump administration bothered to nominate him, Menendez said ahead of the vote. It took even longer  two years  before the Trump administration nominated a candidate to be US ambassador to Turkey.

No Middle East chief: David Satterfield was picked to serve as ambassador to Turkey in February, but he remains in place as acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs while Trumps nominee for the post remains blocked in the Senate. The committee once again failed today to advance David Schenker to the position because of a hold from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who insists that the Trump administration first submit a legal justification for its 2017 strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces.

Whats next? Trump is slowly but surely nominating candidates to fill the diplomatic void in the region. Just today he nominated career foreign service officer Richard Norland to serve as ambassador to Libya. In the meantime, the full Senate must confirm Abizaid and Tueller before they assume their posts.

Know more: Learn more about Abizaids track record of pushing for engagement with Iran in Pentagon correspondent Jack Detschs must-read profile of the former Central Command chief. And be sure to read Congressional correspondent Bryant Harris overview of Kaines hold on Schenker.

-Bryant HarrisAs non-stop heavy downpours continued to wreak havoc upon Iran, the country's supreme leader expressed gratitude to the nation for Iranians' "mobilized efforts" and "spirit of solidarity" in their cooperation with the government-led relief process.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was addressing Iran's political elite as well as ambassadors from Muslim countries in the capital Tehran March 3, in a traditional speech for the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammads first revelation. "There is still a lot more to be done to alleviate the pains of the flood-stricken," Khamenei told his audience, adding, "I have stressed to the authorities that the main task is reconstruction.  The damage must be compensated for."

A day earlier, Khamenei told top political and military officials that lessons must be learned from the devastating floods, saying, The damage should have been predicted in advance and pre-emptive measure should have been taken. He added that the floods should be seen as a lesson so that all different aspects will be taken into consideration in various future projects such as the construction of dams, roads and railways as well as urban development. Of note, the past few days saw a clash between President Hassan Rouhani and IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari over the latters blowing up of some roads in northern Iran to aid the removal of floodwaters.

Meanwhile, the devastation in affected areas continues, especially the two towns of Ma'moulan and Poldokhtar in the western Lorestan province, where dramatic scenes of houses being completely washed away have become commonplace.

According to Ma'moulan's Friday prayer leader, there is no word on the fate of at least 60 villages. "Some have had no food for 72 hours. There were promises of a makeshift hospital, but nothing has been done. There is no sign of relief workers," he said.

In nearby Poldokhtar, the situation is equally alarming. The town's representative in the Iranian Parliament says 20 local villages have been annihilated. Some 700 houses have been buried entirely by mudslides, food delivery has been sluggish and the only open bakery can't meet the overwhelming demand. A total of 15,000 people are reported to have been displaced, many of them seeking shelter in the mountains.

Public fury at the slow and impeded relief work has been expressed in many ways. Videos of emotional outbursts have gone viral in which some vent their anger at officials. Mohsen Rezaee, the secretary of Iran's powerful Expediency Council who hails from a subgroup of the Lors, was escorted by several body guards as he visited an affected village in Lorestan. He was not a welcome guest. "What are you looking for? Are you here for photos? Get out," shouted one villager.

Relief operations have been plagued by blame, denial and political rivalry between moderates and hard-liners. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has accused the Rouhani government of failing the flood-stricken, a charge the president's cultural adviser has dismissed. The IRGC itself has faced accusations of using violence in forcibly evacuating villages. The military organization denied the allegation.

But not all criticism has been directed toward domestic players. Iran's foreign minister once again took to Twitter to lash out at the US government for allegedly slowing down the delivery of much-needed aid and waging "economic terrorism" against Iranians. Mohammad Javad Zarif was responding to his US counterpart Mike Pompeo, who claimed earlier that Washington was ready to assist the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which would serve as an intermediary for aid to the Iranian Red Crescent.As Iran returns to business after the Nowruz holidays, lawmakers are resuming discussions on a controversial draft motion that has the potential to alter parliamentary politics.

The proposed bill, which was first brought to the floor by 120 parliamentarians last November, calls for parliamentary elections to be held at provincial levels. At present, constituencies commonly cover towns and cities. The draft motion proposes that individuals who run for parliament must first obtain 15-20% of votes in their town or city. They then must again run at the provincial level, where they need to receive the highest number of votes to gain entry to the legislature. Another article of the motion stipulates that apart from individual candidates running for office, political parties can also publish and promote lists of candidates.

The proposal has so far drawn varied reactions from both ends of the Iranian political spectrum.

Hassan Lotfi, a parliamentarian representing the small town of Razan in the northwestern province of Hamedan, has listed soaring campaign costs as well as the increasing role of dirty money in politics as among the likely disadvantages of the proposed legislation. Meanwhile, Mohammad-Reza Mansouri, a lawmaker from the town of Saveh in Markazi province, has also opposed the draft legislation, saying that the proposed method of elections would sideline towns and small cities, deprive locals in these regions of having a say in the countrys overall affairs and fuel the sense of disappointment among them. Parliamentarian Jalal Mahmoudzadeh from Mahabad, a city that is home to many Iranian Kurds and Azeris, warned against security matters that the proposal would activate across ethnic, religious and tribal fault lines.

On the other side of the spectrum, Mohammad Kazemi, a Reformist parliamentarian from the city of Malayer in Hamedan province, said, Voting at provincial levels would have advantages that include boosting the power of political parties and allowing them to play a more significant role in domestic politics. Lawmaker Bahram Parsaei from the pro-government List of Hope has stated that elections at provincial levels would stop acts of populism and prevent donors from spending hefty money in elections. Parsaei, who ran on the Reformist ticket in the 2016 parliamentary elections, also listed an increased role of political parties as another advantage.

Al-Monitor spoke with Mohammad Amin Mirzaee, the head of parliamentary coverage at the semi-official Fars News Agency. According to Mirzaee, the architects of the bill hope to increase transparency and oversight before, during and after general elections are held. He argued that proponents of the bill believe that the elites in other provinces are not influential enough in choosing provincial representatives and thus plan to grant the elites more power in that process.

Mirzaee also dismissed the idea that stances on the legislation are based along political lines, saying, The proposed motion is actually non-partisan and has strong opponents and proponents among both Reformists and conservatives. However, he told Al-Monitor, Reformists are a bit more eager to ratify the bill because they have the experience of obtaining peoples vote via a [joint] list," as witnessed in the 2016 legislative elections when the List of Hope won all parliamentary seats in Tehran.

The idea of holding parliamentary polls at the provincial level is not new. Rather, this is the fourth time parliament has discussed the concept. The proposal was put forward in 1999, 2002 and 2007. The Guardian Council rejected the motion outright in 2007 by arguing that it would lead to local, ethnic and tribal frictions and discrimination, reduce voter turnout and increase electoral costs.

Al-Monitor asked Mirzaee whether he thinks the Guardian Council will change its stance this time around. If parliament ratifies the proposal with the threshold of 15% [of ballots necessary to pass] for the first round of local elections, the council would raise previous arguments and the proposed legislation would have the fate of the attempts rejected before, unless big changes are exerted in the current draft, he said.

Mirzaee elaborated, This motion would not promote the status of parties in the Islamic Republic because the political parties in Iran  always escape both responsibility and accountability. He added that the motion in its current form would only give the upper hand to powerful groups and factions without holding them accountable for their policies or political mistakes.

As a journalist who has spent many hours in the corridors of parliament, Mirzaee said that the proposed legislation, if ratified, could resolve some problems, but overall it would not institute big changes in the dynamics of the parliament. Holding elections at provincial levels would make the lawmakers constituency bigger geographically but would fail to attract people to the local elites as the writers of this bill hope," he said. "It instead would give a big share to money, relations and horse trading in politics, which in turn would form a network of regional-provincial oligarchs.

Mirzaee continued, Moreover, the ratification of the bill would put distance between parliamentarians and their constituents. The current legislation and the threshold of 15% of votes would not change anything while we should caution people, give them enough information and more choices to elect the best people as their representatives.

On March 3, several news agencies reported that parliamentarians have approved the proposition to stage parliamentary elections at the provincial level. However, on March 21, the Guardian Council denied the news, elaborating, The proposal is still under debate in parliament and has yet to be sent to the council.

There are other dimensions to the story to consider, too. Some believe that even if both parliament and the Guardian Council approve the proposed motion, it would not be implemented in time for the next parliamentary elections in the spring of 2020.

Mirzaee told Al-Monitor, Iran has the needed electoral infrastructure to hold general elections in accordance with the new law, and the Interior Ministry has already expressed its readiness to execute it. Although it is a bit complicated, the country could still see the next parliamentary elections being held at provincial levels.Late last month as tensions surrounding Gaza escalated, the chairman of the New Right, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, launched a scathing media attack on March 25 against what he called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus submissive policies toward Hamas. Bennett, a member of the Security Cabinet, even appealed to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit to order Netanyahu to convene the Security Cabinet on the issue. He went on to accuse the prime minister of excluding the other ministers from the decision-making process and taking action on his own. Yet, the real reason behind Bennett's assault was to inject some life into his partys election campaign, which has failed to take off.

Bennett's partner in the New Rights leadership, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, a member of the Security Cabinet as well, played an active role in the campaign against Netanyahu. She gave numerous interviews and tweeted incessantly, with messages along the lines of Enough of this disgrace. Bennett for Defense and Shaked will defeat the Supreme Court, and Bennett will defeat Hamas. The New Right depicted Netanyahu as having failed to deal with Hamas from a security perspective throughout his tenure.

The meticulously targeted attacks were launched in the hope that voters on the right, who support a heavy-handed policy toward Hamas, would be convinced that the New Right is the solution. The strategy, however, failed to improve the New Rights standing in the polls. It was a lot like Shakeds fascist fragrance video. It may have attracted global attention, but it didnt win the New Right any new votes.

According to a Channel 13 poll released April 2, the New Right will win just five seats. This is a poor showing for a party that believed it could be the hit of the 2019 elections when its two leaders surprised everyone by leaving HaBayit HaYehudi in December. At the press conference to announce the new party, Bennett and Shaked explained that it would be a home for religious and secular Jews and that they had reached the end of their road in a party controlled by the rabbis of the religious Zionist movement.

Both Bennett and Shaked foresee running for the premiership one day as representatives of the right, so their maneuvering seemed like a wise move at the time. They had gained their independence, having broken free of the yoke imposed on them by the rabbis. They did this based on the assumption that once the Netanyahu era finally came to a close, they would be well positioned to skip over the Likud and conquer the highest office in the land.

In January, polls had predicted that they would win seven or eight seats, which wouldn't be a bad showing for a new party. In contrast, HaBayit HaYehudi was expected to collapse. Bennett and Shaked felt free at last. They spoke about how the rabbis were a burden, and how they were sure they would surprise everyone. Bennett even spoke of potentially winning 15 seats, though he believed that they would actually win 10.

The concept behind the New Right was a smart idea. It envisioned a party seeking common ground, acceptable to secular and religious Jews alike regardless of whether they lived in the settlements or in the heart of Tel Aviv. It received an initial boost of support because of Shaked's popularity as justice minister and her position in the party leadership alongside Bennett, but since then everything has more or less fallen apart.

Bennett and Shaked did not anticipate the rise of Zehut, the party headed by Moshe Feiglin, a right-wing extremist who is religious yet has managed to foster a reputation as a libertarian, mainly because of his support for legalizing marijuana. Feiglin had been flying under the radar for a long time, only to rise a few short weeks ago. Since then, all the polls show that he will definitely pass the electoral threshold, with a Channel 13 poll projecting him to win six seats.

Feiglin's electorate consists primarily of the same young right-wing voters from the religious-Zionism stream on which Bennett and Shaked rely. Furthermore, there was a certain schizophrenia in the way in which Bennett and Shaked viciously attacked Netanyahu but in the same breath announced that they would recommend him to the president to form the next government. Voters find that confusing.

The sense of frustration within the New Right is tangible. Shaked may have been one of the most popular ministers in the current Cabinet, but her magic touch has not thus far been of help. This even holds true in regard to her campaign announcing that as justice minister she plans to complete her revolution to reduce the power of the Supreme Court. All of this explains why, over the past few days, she has directed her fire at Feiglin, calling him a danger to the right-wing bloc.

While the New Right is having problems taking off, and Zehut soars, the colleagues that Bennett and Shaked abandoned in HaBayit HaYehudi are all smiles. At first, it appeared that they would not even pass the electoral threshold, but the Union of Rightwing Parties, of which they are now a part, has saved them from oblivion. A Channel 13 poll has the union winning seven seats.

While the polls show the New Right passing the electoral threshold of four Knesset seats, it is not by much. Their estimated five seats will not get them the defense and justice portfolios or even one of them. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is watching the New Right with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he would be delighted if Bennett and Shaked suddenly disappeared from his life, but on the other hand, if they fail to pass the electoral threshold, his chance of retaining the premiership diminishes. A right-wing party failing to pass the vote threshold means fewer people to recommend him to the president to form the next government. At this stage, many of the polls show Avigdor Libermans Yisrael Beitenu failing to pass the threshold and Moshe Kahlons Kulanu teetering on the verge of passing.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu is in a neck-and-neck race against the Blue and White party of Benny Gantz. He wants to win more votes than Gantz, but he also realizes that if the Likud wins more seats than currently predicted, they will come at the expense of the other right-wing parties and therefore be damaging to him. Bennett and Shaked are concerned that in the final days leading up to the election, Netanyahu will gobble up their seats if need be. Actually, the possibility terrifies them, because that is exactly what happened to them in the 2015 election.

At that time Netanyahu needed seats, so he warned right-wing voters, The government of the right is in jeopardy. If they did not vote for the Likud, he said, the left would take power. It worked. HaBayit HaYehudi lost four seats, but that was not the end of it. Netanyahu later tried to keep them out of his government, only bringing them in when he had no other choice. Both Bennett and Shaked have been squabbling with Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, as far back as the days when Netanyahu was chairman of the opposition, and they served as his advisers.

Luckily for Bennett and Shaked, Netanyahu needs them again if he is going to be reelected. That is why he will do what he can to ensure that they do not get too big, but he will not deliver the deathblow either. Feiglin is doing that for him anyway.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pass up no opportunity for political points as the April 9 elections approach. Today, April 4, he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, their second meeting in about six weeks. The last one took place on Feb. 27, after a long disconnect between the two leaders. This one comes only a few days before the political electoral verdict that will also decide Netanyahus personal fate. During this meeting, Netanyahu will also thank Putin. The Arab media reported that Russia was a third country that helped Israel to return the body of soldier Zacharia Baumel, who had been missing for 37 years. After he milked the March 25 celebration with President Donald Trump in the White House, Netanyahu is looking toward Putin, who is still venerated by many former Soviet Union citizens who moved to Israel. In this last-minute trip, Netanyahu is again trying to convey that no one can replace him in terms of international status.

Behind political considerations lies a complex security drama that is not entirely new. According to a report on Channel 13, on his last visit to Israel on March 20, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo received sensitive intelligence regarding continued Iranian efforts to establish itself militarily in Syria and Lebanon. Pompeo received new details that evidently included the exact placement and aerial photos of a production plant for precision missiles that Iran is secretly building in Lebanon to serve Hezbollah. Netanyahu asked Pompeo to relay the information directly to Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who Pompeo met after he left Israel.

The Lebanese got the hint from the Americans that if the Lebanese government wont halt the construction of the plant, then Israel will be forced to destroy it. A mysterious airstrike hit an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base near Aleppo in Syria March 28, reportedly killing at least seven people. Intelligence Affairs Minister Israel Katz acknowledged Israel's role publicly, contrary to standard government policy. It seems clear at this stage that everyone in the Middle East, especially the Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah alliance, along with the Lebanese government, knows that Israel is serious about preventing Iranian consolidation in the area.

These developments have put the Lebanese government and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Qasem Soleimani, who is in charge of Iran's consolidation efforts in Syria and Lebanon, in an extremely delicate and explosive situation. Israel has a long history of attacking Syrian territory. But operations in Lebanon are another story. Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces higher-ups are well aware that an airstrike in Lebanon would be tantamount to declaring war on Hezbollah or even the entire Hezbollah-Syria-Iran front. The question is: How far will Netanyahu go, considering his longstanding aversion to major military operations?

Likud sources who recently talked to Netanyahu feel that the prime minister is dead serious. As Netanyahus political demise rapidly approaches, the once-vacillating prime minister has become much more adamant. He may be striving for confrontation, even with hundreds of thousands of rockets and missiles that can be launched at strategic targets in Israel at the murderous pace of 2,000 per day. Such a barrage could knock out the workings of the Iron Dome, Israels missile interception system.

According to a high-ranking Israeli military source who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, A precision-guided rocket and missile manufacturing plant on Lebanon territory, serving Hezbollah, constitutes a threat that is almost on the level of a nuclear program. The source told Al-Monitor, This is a strategic event with dramatic influence on our future battlefield. Anyone who transforms hundreds of thousands of [Hezbollah Secretary-General] Hassan Nasrallahs 'dumb' rockets into precision missiles would make the next war a security challenge that Israel has never yet faced.

With such a large number of precise missiles, Nasrallah could knock out Israeli military bases, strike urban zones and concentrations of troops and damage intelligence-gathering processes, important roads and civil infrastructure. We made a mistake last time, the source said. We let Hezbollah collect an astronomical number of rockets and waited for them to rust. But rockets placed on the table in the first round will be fired at you in the third round. That was already proven in the Second Lebanon War. The Israeli Cabinet decided that it wouldnt happen again.

But this explosive security drama involves intricate political considerations. Netanyahus tete-a-tete with Putin, his second one in less than two months and only five days before the elections, is also designed to harm a dangerous colleague of the prime minister, Avigdor Liberman. The former defense minister and Yisrael Beitenu head has been hovering around the Knesset threshold since the beginning of the campaign. Liberman will fight for every vote to earn a position to make the next prime ministers life miserable. Netanyahu is trying to use Putin to attract the votes of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who share a birthplace with Liberman and make up a major constituency for him and his party.

But at the moment, this is the least of Netanyahus problems. He will cross that bridge if or when he gets to it. Netanyahu has not yet decided whether to cannibalize the parties on his right (Yisrael Beitenu, the New Right, Shas and the Union of Right-Wing Parties). He has yet to choose wether to make a last-ditch effort to attract all their voters, as he did in the 2015 elections, or let them keep their constituencies. If he swallows all the right-wing votes, Netanyahu may win a Pyrrhic victory and find himself without a coalition. If the small right-wing parties fail to pass the Knesset threshold, Netanyahu might not have enough support to form a majority coalition. Netanyahu will have to make his final decision over the weekend, three days before the elections. At the moment, the only non-aggression understanding between Netanyahu and the right is with the radical Union of Right-Wing Parties headed by Bezalel Smotrich. Netanyahu hates New Right leaders Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked on a personal level. On the other hand, if he brings them to their knees, Netanyahu may well find himself in the same position.ANKARA, Turkey  The candidate who came in first in the initial results of the Istanbul municipal elections has appealed to electoral authorities to confirm him as the citys mayor, warning that the extended recount, now in its third day, could lead to unrest.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the opposition alliance, was ahead of the ruling partys Binali Yildirim by 23,000 votes in Sundays election when the Supreme Electoral Council announced that all ballots had been counted on Tuesday morning. The result dealt a severe blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he is a former mayor of Istanbul and had campaigned heavily in what is the biggest city in Turkey.

Yildirim promptly applied to the electoral council for a recount, pointing out that the number of invalidated votes, 319,000, was more than 10 times the winning margin.

But Imamoglu said the invalidated votes were normal for a total vote of 8.9 million, and that in the previous local election there had been more than 400,000 invalidated votes.

The electoral council ordered a recount of the votes in 18 districts, with council Chairman Sadi Guven saying they would focus on invalidated votes.

By Wednesday, the recount had raised the total number of votes for both candidates, but had narrowed the gap to 21,500.

Opposition supporters, pining for a change of administration after 25 years of rule by Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its predecessors, were clicking on to election websites every few hours to see whether the figures had changed.

Imamoglu called a press conference and urged the electoral council to recognize his victory without further delay. He also appealed to the president to contribute to the process to prevent the results in Istanbul, which are being watched by the whole world, from dragging [Turkey] into worrisome atmospheres, The Associated Press reported.

In a surprising gesture, Imamoglu produced a photograph of a celebratory party when Erdogan was elected Istanbul mayor in 1994. The picture showed an Erdogan rival in that election attending the party. Imamoglu asked the president to demonstrate similar goodwill now.

Yildirim responded by telling the press that Imamoglu should respect the recount process.

Istanbul's citizens have decided by themselves [on a mayor] and this decision will be announced by the Supreme Electoral Council," he said, adding he expected the outcome within a few days.

In the meantime, "I will safeguard these votes," Yildirim added.

His statement suggested he was using his influence as a person who was prime minister until June of last year and who has Erdogans ear. Technically, the votes are the property of the electoral council; they are not in the custody of either candidate.

On Sunday night, election-watchers sat on the edges of their seats as TV screens refreshed the Istanbul results every 10 to 15 minutes. With less than 3% of the ballot boxes to be counted, Yildirim was leading, but Imamoglu was closing the gap with every batch of new results.

Then, at 11:15 p.m., with 98.8% of ballot boxes counted, and Yildirim leading by only 4,443 votes or 0.06%, the former prime minister appeared at AKP offices in Istanbul. He told the press he had won and thanked the citys residents for placing their confidence in him.

It was a breathtaking move. Imamoglu went directly to the media and condemned Yildirim for announcing the result before the count had finished. Yildirim was trying to manipulate the electoral process, Imamoglu said.

The upshot was that TV screens stopped refreshing the results for Istanbul. Yildirim appeared to have tremendous influence because the Istanbul result froze for the next 12 hours.

Late Monday morning, Guven announced that Imamoglu had taken the lead with 48.8% of the vote to Yildirims 48.5%. The difference was just under 29,000 votes and there were 84 ballot boxes still to be counted. Guven said the delay in finishing the Istanbul count was due to the large number of objections.

He spoke as AKP workers plastered the citys billboards with posters bearing the faces of Yildirim and Erdogan and the words Thank you, Istanbul.

Two days on and residents of Turkeys largest metropolis, home to 19% of the population, still do not know definitively who is their mayor.

A cause for concern is that none of the opposition parties in parliament recognize the electoral council as being politically neutral. Imamoglu is the joint candidate of the leading opposition party, the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), and its ally the Good Party (Iyi). The head of election security for Iyi, Hasan Seymen, told Al-Monitor before the elections that the electoral council should be fair and independent, but in recent years it has been acting like a branch of the government.

A cause for hope is the character of Imamoglu himself. Before the elections, he was a little-known but successful mayor of Beylikduzu district in Istanbul. But he won the hearts of many with his unusual style. He speaks the language of ordinary Turks, alternating between pure Turkish and Arabic words. This is contrary to the preference of CHP members for pure Turkish words, a vocabulary that is seen as elitist.

During the row over the count and recount, Imamoglu has appeared tired, sometimes disheveled, but he has never been angry or threatened. And he makes himself available to the press, giving several press conferences a day. Yildirim has given only one press conference a day.

A remark Imamoglu has made more than once to the press this week is, I can neither be unjust to anyone nor will I allow them to treat me unjustly.

His appeal was highlighted when he flew to Ankara on Tuesday to meet the CHP leadership. TV channels reported he would lay a wreath at Ataturks tomb in the afternoon.

At least 3,000 Ankaralilar, as the citys residents are known, went to meet him. Imamoglu arrived with his wife and children and a few CHP colleagues, and quickly found himself being mobbed by the crowd.

The people wanted to touch Imamoglu or shake his hand. The soldiers on duty at Anitkabir tried to keep the people away so the wreath-laying ceremony could proceed, but they were overwhelmed.

People found new hope in this man, a press photographer who was at Anitkabir told Al-Monitor.

Imamoglu began the campaign by paying a call on Erdogan, during which he asked the president to vote for him. He also went to a mosque on a Friday and recited the Yasin-i Sharif prayer. As Serkan Demirtas of Hurriyet Daily News wrote, he has the ability to reach out to all.NASA is ready to launch a new space instrument that will use the vantage point of the International Space Station to monitor Earth's carbon cycle.

A follow-on to the still-active OCO-2 mission, OCO-3 will bring not only a new vantage point but new techniques and new technologies to NASA's carbon dioxide observations. Why are we launching a new carbon observatory? Read on.



Why carbon dioxide?



Carbon dioxide (CO2) naturally cycles into and out of the air from plants and animals, the ocean, and land, with the cycle staying in balance over the long term. CO2 added into the atmosphere by human activities over the last 250 years has increased the amount of the gas that stays in the atmosphere. This extra gas traps heat through the greenhouse effect, resulting in a warming of the climate. NASA and other scientific institutions keep a close eye on this and other atmospheric changes and the ways Earth is responding to them, continually seeking to improve our observations. OCO-3 is the latest addition to the global space-based fleet observing this critical greenhouse gas. OCO-3 was built by adapting a duplicate version of OCO-2, originally built as a "flight spare" -- an exact copy that a mission builds in case there's a problem with the original instrument. Thus OCO-3 will extend and enhance a data set that has already proven its value.



Why the space station?



The space station circles Earth between 52 degrees north to 52 degrees south latitudes -- about the latitudes of London and Patagonia. The vast majority of Earth's cities and agricultural lands, responsible for most of our planet's carbon absorption and emissions, fall within this zone. Where OCO-2's polar orbit takes it over each location at exactly the same time of day, the space station's orbit will put OCO-3 over each location at a slightly different time on every orbit. Mounted externally on the underside of the space station, OCO-3 will collect the first dawn-to-dusk observations of variations in carbon dioxide from space over tropical and mid-latitude regions, giving a better view of emission and absorption processes. For example, the vast carbon stores of the rapidly changing Amazon rainforest are a critical part of Earth's carbon cycle, but when OCO-2 flies over the forest at about 1:30 p.m., afternoon clouds have usually built up, hiding the region from the instrument's view. OCO-3 will pass the Amazon at all times of day, capturing far more cloud-free data.



What kind of instrument is OCO-3?



It's a spectrometer -- in fact, three spectrometers sharing one telescope. Like radios tuned to different stations, the spectrometers are "tuned" to observe different sets of wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. Every atmospheric gas absorbs sunlight at a specific set of wavelengths, and carbon dioxide is no exception. Two of OCO-3's spectrometers record two sets of wavelengths where carbon dioxide absorption is strong; the third records wavelengths with strong absorption of oxygen, which researchers need in order to calculate the total number of molecules in the part of the atmosphere where the measurement was made. Combining the data from the three spectrometers allows researchers to obtain a measurement of CO2 so accurate that it records the difference between, for example, 405 and 406 molecules of the gas in every 1 million molecules of air.



Can OCO-3 see anything besides carbon?



OCO-3 observes a very faint glow that plants emit during photosynthesis, called solar-induced fluorescence (SIF). This light is far too dim for humans to notice under normal circumstances, but it is the most accurate indicator of photosynthesis that can be measured from space. As Earth's climate changes, rainfall and temperature are changing plant growth around the globe in ways that may affect world food security. Understanding exactly when photosynthesis happens -- how its seasonal startup and shutdown are changing in remote locations around the globe -- can help us prepare for the challenges of the future. OCO-3's SIF measurement will have the same high resolution as OCO-2's, and the new instrument will add an ability to rapidly swivel and point its sensors at towers on the ground where SIF is monitored locally, collecting data on almost the same spatial scale as these towers so that its measurements can be validated. Because photosynthesis is an important part of the global carbon cycle, the SIF data complement OCO-3's carbon dioxide measurements.



What else is new?



OCO-3 will demonstrate a new technique to measure urban carbon emissions, volcanic eruptions and other local carbon sources from space. The origins of carbon dioxide can be hard to discern by satellite because the gas mixes rapidly and uniformly into the air. For example, we know from global emissions data that more than 70 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities come from cities. OCO-2's orbit produces a long swath of measurements that slice through a few cities, but it is still a challenge to gather satellite data in enough detail to differentiate between a city's own output and CO2 that drifted into the city on air currents, which may have been released months ago on the other side of the globe. OCO-3's new feature is called "snapshot mode." This scanning technique, enabled by the instrument's ability to swivel and point rapidly, produces a tightly woven blanket of measurements over an area of about 50 by 50 miles (80 by 80 kilometers) -- about the size of the Los Angeles Basin.



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Four Palestinians were killed and 300 wounded during the "million-man return march" held March 30 in Gaza, yet even with those statistics, the event was considered relatively calm, against all odds and expectations.

Tens of thousands of people participated in the event marking the first anniversary of the start of the Great Return March, which was called for by the Higher National Commission for the Great Return March and Breaking of the Siege. According to Israeli estimates, more than 40,000 demonstrators took part in the march.

The relative calm came after a delegation of Egyptian negotiators stressed March 29 to Hamas the need to maintain calm during the march, amid Israeli pledges not to shoot at demonstrators and to ease the siege on the Gaza Strip based on a specific timetable.

The commission had instructed participants in the march not to resort to violence or approach the border fence.

Meanwhile, Israel ordered an increase in the number of snipers on the border and called for additional reserve forces to protect against any possible incursions.

Also, on March 28, the Israeli army had begun setting the stage for an organized evacuation of residents of the Karam Abu Salem crossing area, a first since 2014, amid concerns that some demonstrators might cross the border.

Alaa Salameh, who took part in the march, told Al-Monitor that the masses came from across Gaza despite the cold and rainy weather as they sought to defend their right to live in dignity and to claim the refugees right to return to their homes. Salameh said her parents were expelled from Jaffa in 1948. She said the march was peaceful, as people read poems and gave speeches.

Women also prepared traditional folk dishes during the march and distributed food to protesters to the rhythm of folk songs and the staccato of slogans calling for the right of return and for lifting the siege.

It was like a national Palestinian wedding that brought together Palestinian families of all spectra, Salameh said.

Nour Ahmed, who was with Salameh, took part in the protest to call for lifting the siege and to convey a message of defiance to Israel, which she said tried to discourage Palestinians from taking part in the protest by hacking the commissions Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups.

According to Ahmed, Israel threw hundreds of gas bombs to intimidate demonstrators: Gas was all over the place and everything seemed foggy."

She explained that the security services in the Gaza government tried to control the situation by beefing up their presence and preventing young rebels from approaching the border fence and risking their lives.

We are entitled to peaceful protests by international law, and Israel can neither deprive us of such a right nor disperse us, she said.

Ashraf Ramadan, another protester, told Al-Monitor that although the Israeli army used gas bombs and rubber and live bullets, the protest was calm and the least violent compared with previous marches.

Asked what prompted him to take part in the protest, Ramadan stressed that most demonstrators are calling for a dignified life and for the lifting of the Israeli siege. He pointed out that the activities were calm across Gaza and included poems and slogans calling for the right of return.

Issam Hammad, the vice president of the Great Return March International Coordinating Committee, told Al-Monitor that the participation of tens of thousands of people from Gaza in the march, one year into its launch, proves that Palestinians still believe the marches are a strategic option to resist Israel and claim their just rights.

Asked about the instructions of appeasement issued by the commission, he said, Violent [tactics] are not part of the commissions principles. They were resorted to by the young Gazan revolutionaries to claim their rights. They were used by young unemployed people who had nothing to lose.

Calls not to use such [tactics] were aimed at protecting the lives of demonstrators, especially considering that on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba [the mass exodus of Palestinians from their homes during the 1948 war] held May 14 [last year], dozens of martyrs were killed and thousands were injured, he added.

He pointed out that demonstrators abided by the commission's instructions because they felt optimistic about the Egyptian delegation's commitment to have Israel ease the siege.

We don't have authority over the youth, but protesters tend to show responsiveness whenever they feel optimistic, Hammad said.

He stressed that the commission usually condemns violations committed by Israel against demonstrators and resorts to the Human Rights Council and the international courts in such cases. He pointed out that a military response to such violations can only be generated by the resistance factions, not the commission.

Hammad added that the marches will continue until all objectives have been achieved. He said the march coordinating committee will work on developing and improving the peaceful activities. The marches, he said, will gather momentum in the spring and summer as they seek to mobilize people around the world, not only in Gaza.

Talal Abu Zarifa, a member of the Higher National Commission for the Great Return March, told Al-Monitor that protesters have expressed unprecedentedly strong support for the marches, which have been going on for a year now. This conveys to Israel that they wont compromise their human rights at any political price.

Violence was avoided by Palestinians this time, he said, to prevent the Israeli army from targeting demonstrators under the pretext that improper means were used. He called for an urgent investigation into Israels targeting of demonstrators.

On March 31, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that four citizens had been killed and more than 300 wounded during the march.

Talal Awkal, a political analyst and writer for Palestinian daily al-Ayyam, told Al-Monitor the Egyptian delegation stipulated that demonstrators must remain calm. The massive march, he said, was like a test for Palestinians, which they passed, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced March 31 that Israel was reopening the crossings and expanding the fishing zone in Gaza.

Awkal pointed out that, though people were killed, the understandings concluded between Hamas and Israel remained unaffected. He acknowledged some Palestinian demonstrators had tried to cross the fence despite the beefed-up security.

Through the return marches, Hamas is engaged in a war of attrition with Israel, and it will cling to such marches until all Palestinian rights have been restored, he said.

Maamoun Abu Amer, a Palestinian journalist focusing on Israeli affairs, told Al-Monitor that Israel understands that its failure to alleviate the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip could lead to war.

He said Israel deployed its army on the border to reassure the Israeli people that the army would protect them against incursions, and also to show off Israel's equipment and machinery. Also, he concluded, it might have been motivated by concerns over the demonstrators potential non-compliance with the truce and by suspicions that Hamas wouldn't be able to control the large number of demonstrators.The results of the local Turkish elections held on March 31 are stunning, not only for those pessimists who expected nothing interesting out of the vote, but even for the optimists who thought the elections would serve as a lesson for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It was Erdogan who transformed the municipal elections into a referendum of sorts, one that would renew and enhance his executive presidency, by employing a frenzied election campaign. And he lost this referendum.

It is true that his party is still, mathematically, the leading force in Turkey, garnering 44.3% of the vote with an 83% voter turnout. It is also true that the sum of the total votes of the nationalist alliance Erdogan forged with his ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), led by Devlet Bahceli, stands at 51.6%, a figure similar to that which gave him the victory in the first round of the presidential election in June 2018.

Yet Erdogan is the loser of the local elections when viewed as a referendum on the president himself. This is because these elections were  more than anything else  of symbolic importance on whether he could retain his party's control of Istanbul and Ankara, Turkeys commercial hub and capital, respectively.

Erdogans advent to power started in 1994, almost a quarter of a century ago, when he was unexpectedly and narrowly elected mayor of Istanbul with 25% of the vote. In those elections, Ankara was won by the Islamist Welfare Party, of which Erdogan was the chairman of its Istanbul branch and the rising star of the party.

Losing Istanbul and Ankara could send a signal that it is the beginning of the end for Erdogans power, notwithstanding how long it may continue. A popular Turkish saying goes, You rise from where you fall, and this is apt for what happened March 31.

Losing Ankara, the capital of political power in Turkey, would be traumatic enough for Erdogan. Yet his was a likely outcome given the opinion polls revealed before the elections. However, the consensus was that Erodgan would do everything in his power not to let Istanbul fall, a prospect that seemed unlikely.

Now, Erdogan not only lost Ankara, but cannot retrieve Istanbul, a city lost on that long Sunday night, when the data flow from the vote count stopped around 11:20 p.m., the moment it became apparent he would lose the crown jewel of Turkey.

Erdogan rushed to Ankara to make his traditional victory speech from the balcony of the ruling partys headquarters around 3 a.m. Yet he could not declare victory in Istanbul.

Only a few hours later, the chairman of the High Election Council, an Erdogan loyalist, announced that the opposition candidate for Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, was safely ahead, and the remaining 100 uncounted ballot boxes would not alter the shocking outcome.

Adding to the catastrophic losses of Istanbul and Ankara, the ruling party also lost Antalya, Turkeys tourism capital; Adana, the sixth largest city and an important industrial hub, which had not been won by an opposition party since 1989; and Mersin, the largest port on the Mediterranean Sea.

The engines of Turkish economic life and social change are no longer under Erdogans control. All of those urban centers that generated money and economic power, which Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) greatly relied upon, have passed to the hands of the opposition.

All in all, the perception that Erdogan is invincible was smashed Sunday.

Although in his statements the president signaled satisfaction at the results in Turkeys Kurdish southeast, he lost there as well. The pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), which was demonized as a terrorist and traitor party by Erdogan during the campaigning period, proved to be the leading political player in the region. It managed to do so at a time when some 10,000 HDP activists and officials are either in jail or detained. The HDP won in the political and spiritual center of Diyarbakir, the second largest metropolitan center in the region, as well as in Van, Mardin and Batman.

Nevertheless, it is a psychological blow for Erdogan, who put the mayors of all those HDP-run cities in jail and had appointed trustees from Ankara. The Kurds rejected these appointees through their votes.

The only seemingly important loss in the region is the town of Sirnak. This HDP stronghold was lost to the AKP, which secured an amazing 60% of votes. However, some facts cannot be ignored: 70% of Sirnak was devastated in the events of 2015-2016, and the 40% of its population who left the town have not come back. The town has been transformed into a garrison, with 16,000 police and military personnel registered as voters.

The primary role of the pro-Kurdish HDP was decisive, to the chagrin of Erdogan. The HDP ran its candidates in the Kurdish southeast but refrained from doing so in the west, calling its supporters to vote for opposition candidates. The electoral victories of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Istanbul, Antalya, Adana and Mersin, cities with sizable Kurdish inhabitants, were mostly due to the HDPs electoral base, which tipped the balance against Erdogans men. In Istanbul, for instance, the HDP had 11% support. Its jailed leader Selahattin Demirtas sent a message day before the election from his prison cell, calling on his supporters to vote for the opposition.

In summary, March 31 is the day Erdogan's fortunes were upended. It is true that, as he emphasized, he will enjoy executive power for over four years, with no elections until August 2023, but his term will no longer be a smooth ride.

The Washington Post editorial expressed it accurately and eloquently: Erdogans own position is unaffected: His term in the powerful presidential post has four more years to run, and his coalition still has a majority in the national parliament. But the defeat of his hand-picked nominees in the big cities, driven by a massive turnout of voters, sent an unmistakable message that Turks are tiring of his strongman style  and that the countrys democracy, while on life support, still breathes.

Erdogan has to grapple with the economic and financial crisis Turkey is facing.

According to a source who is close to Erdogan, he has two options in the aftermath of the elections. The source said everything will be about the economy from now on.

Erdogan has to bring back the International Monetary Fund and implement the fund's reform program. If he does so, he could repair the damage and save the country from the crisis. But that comes with a price, as it means he certainly will lose the elections in 2023. Or, the source said, he will sell as many assets as he can to preserve the status quo of his power, and that will lead to economic collapse after a year or so.

The election results could also propel Erdogan to be more repressive, particularly against the Kurds, and steer Turkey toward a disaster. Turkey, after these milestone local elections, will be a place that deserves to be followed and observed. As it used to be said, there is never a dull moment in Turkey  and it seems there never will be.Auburn University and NASA are teaming up to use 3-D printing techniques to improve liquid rocket engines for long-duration space flights.

The school has announced that NASA has awarded its Samuel Ginn College of Engineering a $5.2 million, three-year contract, which will fund work by Auburns National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence.

The contract is the latest in a series of moves between NASA and Auburn. Last year, the two partnered with ASTM International, a Pennsylvania-based global technical standards organization, to create two new research centers focused on 3-D printing.

Additive manufacturing uses 3-D printing to fabricate metal, plastic and other material parts using a 3-D computer-aided design model. The technology allows waste control and efficiency in designing complex parts without the use of dies, molds or heavy material. Its uses extend from industry to the medical field.

In 2017, Auburn was named as one of only eight universities in the world by General Electric for its additive education program. This came a year after Auburn created a Center for Industrialized Additive Manufacturing.

Christopher B. Roberts, dean of the college of engineering, said the new collaboration with NASA "will play a major role in developing advanced rocket engines that will drive long-duration spaceflight, helping our nation achieve its bold vision for the future of space exploration.

The research and development covered under the new contract is part of NASAs Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology, or RAMPT, project. RAMPT focuses on developing light-weight, large-scale novel and additive manufacturing techniques for certain kinds of liquid rocket engines.

Paul McConnaughey, deputy director of Marshall Space Flight Center, said the technology has implications beyond space flight.

The technologies developed by this team will be made available widely to the private sector, offering more companies the opportunity to use these advanced manufacturing techniques," he said.

Project manager Mike Ogles, director of NASA programs in the college of engineering, said the contract is a giant leap towards making Alabama the go to state for additive manufacturing.A Birmingham financial services firm has acquired a Dallas-based advisory company.

Everett Advisory Partners will combine with Birminghams Workplace Advisors, the company founded by Lisa Narrell-Mead. She will serve as CEO of the firm, which will continue under the Everett Advisory Partners name.

Stephen Curry founded Everett, a consulting firm specializing in the banking and financial services sector, in 2009.

The combined company will have more than 20 strategic advisors assisting the community and regional banking segment. The focus of the company will be assisting financial institutions in the fluid climate of the banking industry, Narrell-Mead said.

I am honored to have the opportunity to continue the strong legacy that Stephen has built at Everett over the last decade, Narrell-Mead said. The combined experience of professional advisors at both Everett and Workplace will offer substantial value to our banking clients."

Curry, now CEO of Gateway Mortgage Group, said Narrell-Mead "will build on the Everett track record and further deepen talent and services in strategic planning, risk assessments, regulatory compliance, operational effectiveness, information technology and product strategies.Molly Felder knows what children want.

They want to race around with their friends, swing on the playground, and walk all over their neighborhood. She wanted that, too, but her physical disability wouldnt let her. Cerebral palsy meant that she had to be in a wheelchair or use mobility aids for her growing up years.

When she left her home in north Alabama to go to New York University for her B.A. and M.A. degrees, there was a brief time when she was able to use crutches, but not for long. She still remembers the heady feeling, though, of walking around the city and being more mobile than ever before, feeling independent from the chair.

The Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU offered courses in writing childrens stories, and she took them, majoring in creative writing. Her thesis examined disabled characters in literature, like Dickens Tiny Tim. Eventually, she wrote about a disabled child who goes through his school day, falling down once, being made fun of once, but mostly being a regular boy. A boy named Henry.

Felders book, Henry the Boy, was just published by Penny Candy Books, a mainstream press out of Oklahoma and Savannah. This picture book, whimsically illustrated by a mother and son team, is about friendship and self-confidence as well as life as a disabled child.

Felder gives some credit for the books publication to her beloved assistance dog, Patterson, who came to her through CCI, Canine Companions for Independence. Patterson helps her open doors, turn on lights, remove socks, fetch water, and much more. Theyve been together for four years.

When I first got Patterson, she says, I expected him to help me by retrieving dropped items, but I didnt know hed change my world view. I can now get on a plane with my canine partner and go to a writing workshop. I can get out more. Id felt isolated and confined to the house before, but not now.

Felder and Patterson recently flew to Pennsylvania to attend a book revision retreat sponsored by the Highlights Foundation. She has plans for other books and hopes to attend other workshops with Patterson at her side.

When shes not writing childrens books, Felder teaches English to young Chinese children online. Because of the time difference, the classes start at midnight and often go on until 8 a.m.

Its like Skype and video conferencing, she says. I love it when the children say,  I love you, teacher!

Henry the Boy is dedicated to Felders father, Jim Felder. She was always Molly the girl to him, she says. When Felder has book signings in a few months, she hopes to have a meet the authors dog table right next to her own.

He deserves it, she says.Leaders from Jefferson County announced an economic development pact this morning, in a first-of-its kind cooperative agreement.

The pact means the 22 cities involved agree: No poaching businesses from other cities.

Awaiting an announcement from several area mayors in the county government building pic.twitter.com/wktwtmBXOn  Anna Beahm (@_AnnaBeahm) April 3, 2019

Involved cities are Argo, Bessemer, Birmingham, Brighton, Center Point, Clay, Fairfield, Graysville, Homewood, Hoover, Pleasant Grove, Lipscomb, Midfield, Mountain Brook, Mulga, Sylvan Springs, Tarrant, Trafford, Trussville, Vestavia Hills, Warrior and West Jefferson.

The agreement is dubbed the Good Neighbor Pledge. The 22 mayors who signed the agreement promised they will not lure business away from other cities or provide incentives for businesses relocating from one city to another.

This is a historic achievement, said Center Point Mayor Tom Henderson, who served on the committee that drafted the pledge. Moving forward, we really believe this pact will lay a better foundation for the future of our county, each of our cities and our children and grandchildren.

The agreement says cities will not offer tax relief incentives, free or discounted land, a lease below market value or abatements or incentives sought through the Industrial Development Board and Downtown Redevelopment Authority, to relocating businesses. Cities involved also agree not to ask businesses to move from their current location in Jefferson County to another. These forbidden efforts include cold calls, visits, mail solicitations or marketing directed at the business.

The agreement marks Jefferson County mayors first attempt at creating shared standards of conduct regarding business relocation and recruitment in the county.

Henderson, who is the president of the Jefferson County Mayors Association, said the agreement was born from conversations had between mayors in the association. It was modeled after other cities non-poaching agreements. The committee that drafted the pledge studied six other areas that have seen growth from adopting a non-poaching agreement. Those areas include: Cuyahoga County, Ohio, San Diego, Northeast Indiana (Fort Wayne), Milwaulkee M7, Dayton, Ohio and Denver, Colorado.

The agreement provides an advisory council that follows a process for any disputes on the agreement. That council will offer guidance and work to resolve those conflicts.

Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch said the Good Neighbor Pledge represents a complete paradigm shift for the Birmingham-Jefferson County area. He said, in the future, the involved mayors want to be able to showcase what each city in Jefferson County has to offer to incoming businesses.

In the past, our cities tended to compete rather than cooperate, said Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato. Today, economic development favors metro areas that work together better as a region. While businesses can still chose to relocate in our county, this group of mayors has committed that we wont try to initiate those moves, and we will focus on more a comprehensive strategy for growth.

Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat compared the agreement to the Golden Rule." This pledge is a commitment to treat our neighbors the way we want to be treated and to accomplish what we all want--to build good communities where people can live and work and raise their family.

David Sher, who runs comebacktown.com and writes about regional cooperation in Birmingham was present at Wednesdays announcement.

Pinch me. It almost takes my breath away, this step theyve taken, Sher said. This is something you hope for, but have to remain skeptical about if it could happen. The Birmingham area is generally very territorial, and its an act of self-preservation. Theyre struggling. But 22 unselfish mayors decided if we work together, we will all be better off.

Sher said he expects other cities in Jefferson County will join the agreement soon.

This story will be updated with more information from the announcement and details.

Birmingham's fragmentation Visitors to Birmingham's bars and downtown eateries probably think the city is doing just fine. Here's why they may be struggling to recruit major business announcements like Huntsville's Toyota Mazda win. Posted by Reckon by AL.com on Thursday, January 11, 2018

Read the pledge below:Much has happened in the year since 49-year-old Jeffrey Parker was killed by a Huntsville police officer.

The officer, William Ben Darby, was indicted on a murder charge, assigned to desk duty and the city has spent more than $70,000 of taxpayer dollars on Darbys legal defense.

Local officials have offered competing and conflicting narratives about what happened on April 3, 2018 inside Parkers north Huntsville home  leaving the public mostly in the dark about the facts of the case.

But thats expected to change today as Darby asks a judge to grant him immunity in the case. Evidence  including body camera videos  that previously has been kept from the public is expected to be presented in open court when the immunity hearing begins at 9 a.m. Several police officers and law enforcement experts are among those expected to testify. Darby could even take the stand.

Update: Cop testifies against fellow officer charged with murder

Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate will be tasked with deciding whether to dismiss the indictment and bar the Madison County District Attorneys office from pursing the murder case against Darby, a 25-year-old officer, who joined the police force about two years before the shooting.

The judge has two options: grant or deny Darbys request for immunity.

To rule in Darbys favor the judge would have to determine Darbys actions were more than likely justified  that more than 50 percent of the evidence favors the officers immunity claim.

The defense carries the burden of proof  preponderance of the evidence  at the immunity hearing. This burden is much lower than the beyond a reasonable doubt burden that prosecutors would have to reach if the case were to go to trial.

[Read Darbys immunity motion here]

Martin Weinberg, an attorney representing Parkers family, said he is optimistic the judge will allow the case to continue to trial.

We just want to see justice for the family through the prosecution moving forward, Weinberg told AL.com on Tuesday.

The judge has issued a gag order that prohibits Darby and other parties of the criminal proceedings from speaking publicly about the case.

From vindicated to indicted

It was just before 4:30 p.m. when Parker called 911 one year ago today from his home on Deramus Avenue, which is just east of Bridge Street Town Center across Alabama 255. Parker was suicidal and told police he had a gun.

Darby was one of at least three officers on the scene that day, according to police. After several commands for Parker to drop his gun, Darby fatally shot him, a police department spokesman said.

Per policy, three officers were put on leave pending an internal investigation of the shooting and surrounding circumstances, according to the department.

About two months after the deadly shooting, a police department review board determined that Darby and the other officers acted in accordance with the police departments policies, procedures and training. The officers were cleared for usual duties.

The board includes representatives from the district attorneys office, the Huntsville city attorneys office and the police departments citizen advisory council  though only three police captains have a vote on whether to clear an officer.

In August, about three months after Darby was cleared by the review board, a Madison County grand jury indicted him on a murder charge. An indictment is far from a conviction. To issue an indictment, grand jurors have to decide there's probable cause to believe a crime was committed. For a conviction, prosecutors have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

District Attorney Rob Broussard said his office took the case to a grand jury because of grave concerns about whether the shooting was justified. Those concerns began at the review board hearing, Broussard said shortly after the indictment was issued.

Desk duty

After he was indicted in August, Darby was booked into the Madison County jail and released on $20,000 bail. Since then, hes remained a police department employee assigned to desk duty.

In the eight months following his indictment, the city paid Darby about $27,568 for his work in the police department, according to records obtained by AL.com through a public records request.

Additionally, the city spent $70,802 on Darbys legal bills as of March 1, records from the city attorneys office show. Of that money $54,600 was billed by Tuten, Darbys defense attorney, and $16,202 was paid to a local private investigator, according to documentation provided by the city attorneys office.

[See the legal bill records here]

The Huntsville City Council  at the urging of Mayor Tommy Battle  voted to pay Darbys legal bills shortly after the indictment was issued. Earlier this year, the council voted to provide additional funding and cap the citys contributions to Darbys defense at $125,000.

The city has never before paid for the criminal defense of a police officer.

Battle and police Chief Mark McMurray have defended Darby, saying he isnt a murderer.

The case is being prosecuted by Madison County prosecutors Tim Gann and Tim Douthit.

Note: The immunity hearing is expected to last all day. This story will be updated.Updated at 7:30 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks responded to the criticism from the Alabama Holocaust Commission in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon.

I am astonished and saddened that the Alabama Holocaust Commission, by its letter, refuses to learn from history and fails to condemn the Big Lie Propaganda Tactic regardless of where, when or how it is used," Brooks said in the statement. "Too much is at stake to do otherwise.

Has humanity learned nothing from history? The Alabama Holocaust Commission could and should be better.

The Alabama Holocaust Commissions bizarre and history-ignoring letter prompts one to wonder how many of the Commissions members joined Americas Socialist Democrats in undermining the legitimacy of the 2016 presidential election by also spreading the Big Lie, without credible evidence, that President Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 presidential race.

Original story: A week after U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks compared Democrats and the media to Hitler, the Alabama Holocaust Commission condemned the comments.

The AHC issued a statement Wednesday responding to the Huntsville Republican's comments made during a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on March 25.

"Adolf Hitler and the Nazis identified, imprisoned, and murdered those considered political threats to the regime," the AHC statement said. "They initiated a global war that killed tens of millions of people, including the systematic murder of more than six million men, women, and children whose only crime was being Jewish.

"The sufferings of those affected by this violence deserve unique remembrance, and the words of those who conducted and orchestrated this genocide in Hitlers name do not deserve to be recognized, much less reiterated in the halls of Congress."

Brooks made the comparison to emphasize the opposition President Trump faces from Democrats and the media, according to the congressman. Brooks made the speech in the aftermath of the Mueller report concluding that Trump was not involved in collusion with Russia to sway the outcome of the 2016 election.

"For more than two years, Socialist Democrats and their fake news media allies -- CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, Washington Post, and countless others -- have perpetrated the biggest political lie, con, scam and fraud in American history," Brooks said in the speech.

"Attorney General (William) Barrs executive summary of Muellers Report has publicly confirmed what many of us have known for a long time. The accusations of collusion between President Trump and Russia in the 2016 elections are nothing but a Big Lie!"

Brooks then expounded on the "big lie" that Hitler wrote about in "Mein Kampf."

In the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.

It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation."

The Holocaust commission said society should be wary of repeating the mistakes of the past.

"Such facile comparisons, used in order to demean opponents and gain political capital, should be actively avoided," the statement said. "Using such rhetoric not only trivializes our past, as well as the victims of this genocide, but also cheapens our current political discourse and maintains a divisive rhetoric all too common at the present time.

"It is the hope of the Alabama Holocaust Commission and all that sign this letter of protest that our political leaders, whatever their party or political persuasion, should refrain from using Hitler, the Nazis, and the tragedy of the Holocaust in an effort to strengthen their public statements. Should such a strategy become the norm, then we as a society have learned nothing from the ills of the past and open the doors to the possibilities of repetition."

The letter was signed by AHC chair Dan Puckett as well as three dozen others.

Updated today, April 3, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. with response from Brooks.Education groups in Alabama think they have one way to turn around the states teacher shortage: better retirement benefits.

Alabama offered attractive retirement benefits to teachers until seven years ago when lawmakers made changes after concerns about the state's ability to pay for retirement benefits in the future.

Those changes, which amounted to a 20 percent cut in benefits according to the Retirement Systems of Alabama, are now being discussed as a possible overcorrection.

"It's killing our recruitment of teachers," Ryan Hollingsworth, director of the School Superintendents of Alabama, told the House education budget committee today during a public hearing on the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act.

Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, told committee members he filed the bill to improve retirement benefits and allow teachers in K-12 schools, community colleges and four-year universities to count unused sick days toward retirement, something lawmakers did away with in 2012.

Baker said that change was needed at that time, but now it may be time to make adjustments given the growing problem of finding enough teachers for K-12 classrooms in parts of Alabama.

Baker said the changes he's proposed are not a "silver bullet," but said his bill is "a step in the right direction."

As it stands now, teachers hired after Jan. 1, 2013, are required to work until age 62, with at least 10 years of service, before receiving retirement benefits.

The changes would mean that teachers would contribute more to their own retirement, but they would be able to retire after 30 years even if they had not reached 62 years old.

The state's K-12 education organizations, including the Alabama Association of School Boards, Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools, and the Alabama Education Association agreed with Hollingsworth, saying the changes are needed because the teaching profession is not seen by college students as a lucrative career path.

School board association director Sally Smith called the proposed changes a "sweet spot between two competing state interests." Those competing interests, she said, are a need to be able to fully fund retirement benefits and the need for a strong teacher workforce.

Ashley McLain, AEA's policy director, said this is a "first step" in addressing Alabama's teacher shortage. The AEA has been vocal in asking for a raise for teachers, and Gov. Kay Ivey has proposed a 4 percent pay increase in next year's budget.

Baker said the state's "use it or lose it" way of giving teachers sick days has also resulted in schools having a problem with teacher absenteeism. His bill would revert to the pre-2012 method of allowing teachers to bank those sick days and let them count as service toward retirement.

The changes would convert teachers currently working under the 2012 retirement benefit structure, called Tier II, to the newly-created Tier III, but teachers could elect to stay on Tier II under the current proposal. Hires before 2012 remain under the previous rules, now called Tier I.

All new hires after October 1, 2020, would be eligible only under the new Tier III.

The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act, proposed by Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, would create a new tier of retirement benefits, shown as Tier III here, for education employees in Alabama.

Chairman Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, said the bill represents a significant change, and he wants more information before the committee takes a vote.

Poole said he wants to see more concrete data on what Tier III will cost the state versus what Tier II costs, projected out 20 years to 30 years.

"What does this cost over the long-term run," Poole asked, "versus the benefits over the long-term run and who's contributing how much towards these proposed changes?"

Poole asked for a comparison of surrounding states' member contribution rates, retirement factors, and ages to receive benefits.

Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools Director Vic Wilson told committee members, "You did an excellent job of dealing with the issue with the data you had in hand [in 2012]. Now it's seven years later."

This is one piece of the puzzle to help us with teacher recruitment and retention.A bill introduced in the Alabama Senate will make the states decades-old sex education law more medically accurate and will erase any discriminatory and stigmatizing language from the law, a nonprofit supporting comprehensive sex education said.

Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, introduced SB140 on March 19. The bill made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning and revises portions of Alabama Code 16-40-A2, which details the content, course materials and instruction used to teach K-12 students about sex education.

This is the second time in a row Whatley has created legislation to revise the way the state teaches sex education. The senator proposed the same legislation last year, but the bill died. If the current bill passes through both chambers of the Legislature and gets Gov. Kay Ivey's approval, it will become effective the first day of the third month following its passage.

Whatley has not returned phone calls for comment as of Wednesday morning.

The Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy has been paying close attention to the bill. Executive Director Christina Clark Okarmus said the bill will benefit all students who take sex education by clearing up medical inaccuracies in Alabama's law and removing any stigmatizing language.

"What we want to do is destigmatize all of the law so that young people are empowered and take charge of their health," Okarmus said.

The first modification the bill makes is using the term sexually transmitted infections instead of sexually transmitted diseases. It also replaces references of AIDs to HIV since an infected person is first diagnosed with HIV. HIV can become AIDs if left untreated.

These are not minor language changes, Okarmus said. Using the word "disease" instead of "infection" can cause students to think that certain STI's, such as syphilis and chlamydia, cannot be cured and may prevent them from seeking treatment.

"There's a lot less stigma around 'infection' than 'disease,'" Okarmus said. "Young people who are ashamed or stigmatized might not reach out for the care that they need from a health professional. They also may be fearful in reaching out to an adult who can help them."

Alabama doesn't require sex education in schools. Schools systems that do teach it are required to emphasize abstinence, but can include information about different methods of contraception. Despite the state's abstinence-emphasized curriculum, Alabama has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STI rates in the country.

The current law stresses that instruction and course materials used for sexual health education must be age-appropriate. The bill expands that requirement to include "medically accurate and culturally appropriate" materials and instruction.

Okarmus said she has heard many stories of schools using crude examples to enforce abstinence in teens. Those who had sex before marriage were illustrated as chewed gum or a glass of murky water. In one class, Okarmus said students were asked to pick petals off a rose as it was passed around class. The picked-apart rose was supposed to represent a "used" person, she said.

Using these examples during sex education class not only traumatizes students who have been sexually assaulted or raped, but it also harms students who are taking care of their sexual health by using condoms or other methods of contraception and getting tested for STIs, Okarmus said

"Telling these students that they are 'damaged' to their future spouse is so harmful to their mental and emotional health," Okarmus said.

Okarmus said the bill also aligns the law with Alabama parents values. The Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (ACPTP) and the University of South Alabama surveyed 434 parents in every county to measure parents attitudes regarding sex education in public school.

Although 74 percent of parents said it was "very important" to "talk about what sexual orientation means", the current sex education law still requires educators to say 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."

Whatleys bill erases the homophobic language from the law, which is a move celebrated by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama.

Folks who are learning sex ed deserve the most medically accurate and the most current information about their sexual health, Lucia Hermo, ACLU public advocacy director, said. Its also important that LGBTQ youth not be given the incredibly harmful and inaccurate information that homosexuality is against the law. Its very harmful for LGBTQ youth to hear that in their school setting.

Okarmus said the campaign believes abstinence is a good option for young people, but it also believes teens should have access to information about the different ways they can protect their sexual health which includes learning about contraception and how to negotiate in healthy relationships.

There isnt any medical evidence suggesting that if you wait until youre married to have sex, you have less risk of an unintended pregnancies or an STI or HIV, Okarmus said Whether or not you wait until youre married, if you go out into the world without information about how to protect yourself from the world, youre at risk regardless. You can wait until your wedding night (to have sex) but if your spouse didnt wait until their wedding night, youre at risk. If you dont know how to prevent a pregnancy, you are at risk.

Story updated at 3:53 p.m. to include a statement from ACLU of Alabama.After a year off, organizers say they are set to have the "best show ever."A girl who received the transplanted heart of a slain infant has met the boys mother in an emotional encounter at Walt Disney World.

Alicia Erchul, whose 4-month-old son Gabriel was killed by her then-husband in 2014, met 4-year-old Morgan Price and her family last month. After Gabriel died from brain swelling from trauma in Jacksonville, a grieving Erchul decided to donate his heart and liver.

The Orlando Sentinel reports Morgan showed Erchul the scar over her chest that the she calls "my zipper."

Morgan was born in Birmingham, Alabama, weeks apart from Gabriel. Her enlarged heart didn't pump enough blood, requiring a transplant.

Erchul said meeting Morgan "brought a sense of peace that I didn't realize I was missing."

Erchuls ex-husband is serving a 40-year prison sentence.The U.S. Department of Justice announced today there is reasonable cause to believe conditions in Alabama prisons violate the Constitution in a report that includes jolting accounts of violence and death inside the crowded and dangerously understaffed facilities.

The DOJs Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorneys Offices for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Alabama released the results of a statewide investigation launched two and a half years ago.

The DOJ concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions in mens prisons violate the Eighth Amendment because of a failure to protect prisoners from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, and a failure to provide prisoners with safe conditions. The report said Alabama prisons have the highest homicide rate in the nation and that violence has increased dramatically in the last five and a half years.

The violations are severe, systemic, and exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing and supervision; overcrowding; ineffective housing and classification protocols; inadequate incident reporting; inability to control the flow of contraband into and within the prisons, including illegal drugs and weapons; ineffective prison management and training; insufficient maintenance and cleaning of facilities; the use of segregation and solitary confinement to both punish and protect victims of violence and/or sexual abuse; and a high level of violence that is too common, cruel, of an unusual nature, and pervasive, the report says.

Alabama prisons have about one-third the number of authorized correctional officers and several prisons have fewer than 20 percent of authorized staff, the report said.

Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, who has led criminal justice reform efforts in the Legislature, said the state has 49 days to provide a response to the findings. Ward said he expects the Legislatures prison oversight committee to be the forum to work on the issues and expects meetings to begin as early as next week. Ward said DOJ officials met with him and other state officials on Tuesday and showed them the report. He said it was not surprising but added new urgency to the need to improve state prisons.

The governor, the attorney general, the leadership in the House and the Senate, we were all in one room when were presented with this, Ward said. So, were all on the same page in trying to get it fixed.

The report says the U.S. attorney general may initiate a lawsuit in 49 days to correct deficiencies if state officials have not adequately addressed them.

The federal agency had announced in October 2016 that it would investigate the issues.

The investigation was conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, CRIPA. The DOJ said CRIPA investigations of other correctional systems have led to reforms through settlement agreements with those systems.

The DOJ said it has given the state written notice of the facts supporting the allegations the minimum steps needed to address them.

The Constitution guarantees all prisoners the right to be housed in safe conditions and not be subjected to violence and sexual abuse, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division said in the press release. Our investigation found reasonable cause to believe that Alabama fails to provide constitutionally adequate conditions and that prisoners experience serious harm, including deadly harm, as a result. The Justice Department hopes to work with Alabama to resolve the Departments concerns.

U.S. Attorney Richard Moore of the Southern District of Alabama said in a statement the findings indicate a flagrant disregard for the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishments.

The failure to respect the rule of law by providing humane treatment for inmates in Alabama prisons is a poor reflection on those of us who live and work in Alabama," Moore said. "We are better than this. We do not need to tarry very long assessing blame, but rather commit to righting this wrong and spare our State further embarrassment."

Northern District U.S. Attorney Jay Town said: This massive undertaking alleges constitutional troubles in the Alabama Department of Corrections which are serious, systemic, and in need of fundamental and comprehensive change. That being said, I have great confidence in the State of Alabamas resolve to correct the prison systems problems. The commitment by Governor Ivey, Commissioner Dunn, and so many others in the States leadership to affirmatively address these inherited issues offers great promise of our development of a meaningful remedy.

Middle District U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr., said: An extraordinary amount of time and effort was expended to investigate this matter. Although the results of this investigation are disturbing, I look at this as an opportunity to acknowledge that the problems are real and need to be addressed immediately. We are committed to working with State officials to ensure that the Department of Corrections abides by its constitutional obligations.

As evidence of the dangers inside Alabama prisons, the report recounts incidents during a single week in September 2017.

In a dorm at Bibb Correctional Facility known as the Hot Bay, with limited supervision and no programming, two inmates stood guard watching for correctional staff while other inmates stabbed a prisoner who bled to death.

At St. Clair Correctional Facility, a prisoner in the honor dorm was beaten by two other inmates with a sock filled with metal locks. At Staton prison, an inmate threatened an officer with a seven-inch knife. At Fountain, an inmate set anothers blanket on fire while he was sleeping. At Easterling, a prisoner was forced at knife point to perform oral sex on two others. And a prisoner at Bullock died from an overdose of a synthetic cannabinoid.

Those were just some of the incidents found in ADOC records from that single week that were described in the report.

For years, Alabama prisons have housed far more inmates than they were built for and employed too few correctional officers. Alabama Department of Corrections officials said the crowding and understaffing contribute to rising violence in prisons.

A spike in inmate suicides is one of the issues that has surfaced in a federal lawsuit over health care for inmates. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled in 2017 that mental health care for inmates was horrendously inadequate. The ADOC is under court orders to increase mental health staff and security staff.

Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement this morning in response to the DOJs findings.

We appreciate the U.S. Department of Justices efforts to ensure open lines of communication with the State of Alabama. DOJ has identified many of the same areas of concern that we have discussed publicly for some time, Ivey said. Over the coming months, my Administration will be working closely with DOJ to ensure that our mutual concerns are addressed and that we remain steadfast in our commitment to public safety, making certain that this Alabama problem has an Alabama solution.

The governors office said the Alabama Department of Corrections already acknowledged many of the issues in the DOJs findings letter and has been working to address them.

The Legislature has increased funding for prisons, partly in response to Thompsons ruling. Ivey has asked the Legislature for a $40 million increase next year, with much of that money intended to help recruit 500 correctional officers. The court has ordered the ADOC to add about 2,000 correctional officers over the next few years, a number taken from an ADOC analysis of staffing needs.

Todays DOJ report says the warden at Holman Correctional Facility told investigators she had probably 11 security staff per shift at the prison, which has about 800 inmates.

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, called the DOJ findings "deeply disturbing."

No human being should be made to live in conditions that are both inhumane and outright unconstitutional, Sewell said in a statement. "I urge Gov. Ivey and the state legislature to work with federal authorities to make substantial changes to address the reports findings and foster an environment of rehabilitation, rather than one that perpetuates a cycle of trauma and violence.

Over about the last five years, sentencing guidelines and criminal justice reforms enacted by the Legislature have reduced the prison population but it is still about 160 percent of the number prisons were built to hold.

The DOJ report says that occupancy in the states 13 major prisons is about 182 percent of capacity excluding work release and other facilities. In November 2018, Kilby Correctional Facility had 1,407 inmates in a facility designed for 440, and occupancy rate of 320 percent.

In February, Ivey announced her administration planned to seek proposals from companies to build three mens prisons and close most of the existing facilities. ADOC officials say it would cost too much to fix the states aging prisons and that consolidating most of the prison operations in modern facilities will be cost effective, make prisons safer and allow for better rehabilitation, education and health care for inmates. An initial estimate placed the cost of new prisons at about $900 million.

In 2014, the Justice Department found conditions at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women were unconstitutional because of a failure to protect inmates from sexual abuse and harassment by male staff.

The Justice Department and the ADOC reached a settlement in 2015 intended to address the problems at Tutwiler. ADOC officials said conditions at the prison have improved.

Todays notification, which is about mens prisons, concerned two of three areas covered by the investigation, whether prisoners were protected from violence and sexual abuse by other inmates and whether conditions were safe. A third remains pending, the DOJ said -- whether prisoners are adequately protected from excessive use of force by prison staff and sexual abuse by prison staff.

The report says the investigation included site visits to four prisons -- Donaldson, Bibb, Draper and Holman -- and interviews with prisoners at several others. It says investigators interviewed hundreds of prisoners and about 55 ADOC staffers.

Investigators received hundreds of emails from prisoners and family members to an email account set up for the investigation.

The report says the ADOC publicly reported 24 inmate homicides between January 2015 and June 2018. It says investigators identified three additional homicides that were not reported as homicides.

These unreported homicides provide reasonable cause to believe that ADOCs homicide rate is higher than what ADOC has publicly reported," the report says. There are numerous instances where ADOC incident reports classified deaths as due to natural causes when, in actuality, the deaths were likely caused by prisoner-on-prisoner violence. This is especially concerning given that these incident reports are used for public statistical reporting as required by law.

The report cites incidents that investigators said indicate prison officials cannot protect inmates even when they have warning. It says an inmate at Bullock was killed by blunt force head trauma in February 2018 one day after warning the prisons shift commander that he had been threatened over the loss of a cell phone. The same month, an inmate at St. Clair was killed in a knife fight with another inmate who had three previous prison incidents involving knives.

In March 2018, an inmate at Donaldson was hospitalized and had emergency surgery after a broomstick was inserted into his rectum, the report says.

This incident is just one of hundreds of similar incidents that are documented by ADOC throughout Alabamas prisons," the report says. "Prisoner-on-prisoner violence is systemic and life-threatening. ADOC is failing to adequately protect its prisoners from harm, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

The report says extortion of prisoners and family members is common. The mother of a prisoner at Ventress reported that her son was beaten and threatened with rape for failure to pay an alleged $600 debt to another prisoner. The mother later reported that a prisoner at Ventress texted her photos of a prisoners genitals from a cell phone and threatened to chop her son into pieces and rape him if she did not send him $800.

Dangerous and illegal drugs are prevalent in Alabama prisons, the report says. ADOC employees are not screened for contraband, the report says.

The report concludes with a list of remedial measures.

One is to add 500 correctional officers within six months. Another is to commission a study within six months to determine the feasibility of transferring prisoners to non-ADOC facilities in sufficient numbers that remaining prisoners will be adequately supervised.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lane Woodke, Jason Cheek, and Carla Ward from the Northern District of Alabama Civil Division helped to lead the statewide investigation.The patient who was allegedly sexually abused by a Decatur doctor was incapacitated or disabled during the incident, according to an indictment in the case made public Tuesday.

Dr. Michael Dick, who was also accused of sexually inappropriate behavior by 10 other patients, was arrested Friday during a hearing over his medical license in Montgomery and will answer the charges in Morgan County. Dick, a rheumatologist, is free after posting $50,000 bond Saturday.

The grand jury indictment against Dick said he subjected sexual contact to the victim who was incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated, according to court records. It was unclear whether the alleged victim was disabled, handicapped or temporarily incapacitated.

Dick, who used to treat patients at Alabama Medicine and Rheumatology in Decatur, had his medical license suspended in October after he pleaded guilty to two charges of harassment and was found guilty of an additional harassment charge in Decatur Municipal Court in September.

Besides the criminal charges, Dick is being sued by 10 former patients who accuse him of sexually inappropriate behavior.A father and son from Georgia and Florida were two of the four victims of Mondays fiery, fatal crash on I-10 in Baldwin County that stemmed from a police chase, authorities said Tuesday.

Joseph L. Andrews, 81, of St. Simons Island, Georgia, was driving his 2018 Ford Escape with his son, Kevin J. Andrews, 54, of Miami Florida, as a passenger when the car was hit by a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu driving the wrong way on I-10 westbound near the Baldwin Beach Express exit in Baldwin County, authorities said.

Joseph Andrews was airlifted to University Hospital in Mobile with severe injuries while Kevin Andrews died at the scene of the crash. The father, who was the lone survivor of the incident, and his son were wearing seat belts.

The crash stemmed from a police chase of a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu that refused to yield during a traffic stop by a Baldwin County sheriffs deputy on I-10 eastbound near Loxley. The Malibu made a U-torn and drove the wrong way on I-10 westbound when it collided with the Escape.

All of the occupants of the Malibu -- a driver and two passengers -- died. Their names were not released late Tuesday afternoon pending positive identification.A federal judge has denied in part a motion to dismiss a voting rights lawsuit that claims the city of Pleasant Groves at-large elections discriminate against black voters and candidates.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of two black Pleasant Grove residents by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in December 2018, challenges the citys use of at-large voting and asks the court to prohibit the city from using at-large elections in the future.

In an order filed in federal court today, Judge Scott Coogler ruled the plaintiffs allegations of discriminatory intent behind the use of at-large elections are sufficient for the lawsuit to continue, thus denying citys motion to dismiss that claim.

Coogler also ruled the plaintiffs have met the requirements to claim a violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in a recognized language minority group.

The court found the lawsuit plausibly alleged that Pleasant Groves Black voters have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.

At-large methods of election are known to discriminate against Black voters, Zachery Morris, Fried Frank Fellow at LDF said in a statement. Federal courts have found this to be true time and time again. The City has a responsibility to make sure all of Pleasant Groves voters are heard, and they have failed. LDF remains open to working together with Pleasant Grove to adopt an electoral system that is fair for all voters before a federal court forces the City to do so.

Coogler also dismissed certain claims made in the lawsuit. His order dismissed the lawsuits Fifteenth Amendment claim that Pleasant Groves at-large election cause a vote dilution. The Supreme Court has recognized that the Fifteenth Amendment protects the right to register and to vote, but it has never held or even suggested that vote dilution violates the Fifteenth Amendment, the order said.

The judge also dismissed individual claims against the mayor and city council members, who were sued in their official capacities along with the city. There no longer exists a need to bring official-capacity actions against local government officials, because local government units can be sued directly.

Pleasant Grove has 10 days to respond.

Read the full order below:For generations of African-Americans, the gravestone of the last African slave to have lived in the United States has long stood on Alabamas Gulf Coast as a remarkable symbol of hope and change.

Tucked away in a corner of Mobile County, within a large industrial corridor of the City of Mobile, the tall gravestone of Cudjoe Lewis is still in the Africatown Cemetery and was thought to be the very last and most recent remnant of slaves brought to the U.S. from Africa.

Lewis died in 1935 well in to his 90s.

Here, two survivors of the Clotilda trip stand in their yard in Africatown. (Courtesy of the Mobile Library)

And while Lewis, also known as Kazoola in his native Togo, will continue to be a significant part of history, new research coming out of the United Kingdom has suggested that he was not the last living African slave in American history.

Dr. Hannah Durkin, a British academic at Newcastle University, has found evidence of a former slave who lived in Selma, before dying at the age of about 89 or 90 in 1937.

Sally Smith, who was also named Redoshi, was kidnapped at 12 years old from an area of Benin, West Africa, in about 1860, according to Durkins research that was published in the Journal of Slavery and Abolition in late March.

Redoshi and Kazoola not only lived during the same era, but Durkins research suggests they both arrived on the slave ship Clotilda somewhere in the Mobile Delta in Alabama. The ship was ultimately set on fire in an attempt to avoid prosecution for breaking federal anti-slavery laws.

Since then the Clotilda has largely thought to have been lost somewhere in the Delta, but a renewed search for the wreckage of the ship in recent years has shed new light on Kazoolas life and raised debate about the legacy of the slavers who brought him to the United States.

Redoshi is thought to have lived on a plantation in Selma for more than 70 years after being bought by Alabama plantation owner Washington Smith. She was given his name and become Sally Smith.

While slavery had been abolished five years before Redoshi arrived in the U.S., she was kept on the plantation for her entire life, where she lived with her daughter and husband, known as Uncle Billy or Yawith.

Parts of Redoshis story was recorded in the early days of the Civil Rights era by author Zora Neale Hurston, according to Durkin. Using census and public records, she was able to piece together a fuller version of Redoshis story.

Durkin also came across a Department of Agriculture film featuring Redoshi, which was released one year after her death. Durkin believes she may be the only woman Clotilda survivor who was ever filmed.

After being taken from what Durkin described as a peaceful life in Benin, Redoshi was subject to vicious beatings and whippings throughout her time on the plantation.

Despite spending a vast majority of her life in Selma, Redoshi was able to pass on some of her language and culture to her daughter, according to Durkin.

Its only one voice but this gives us a semblance of a voice for those who were otherwise lost, said Durkin in an interview.Police in Franklin, Tennessee have upped the reward for information on a man accused of attacking a 16-year-old girl whose vehicle had a flat tire on Interstate 65.

The reward has been increased to $5,000, police announced. According to law enforcement officials, the girl was outside her vehicle waiting for her father around 8:20 p.m. on March 24 when the suspect grabbed her from behind, pulled her down a hill and into a ditch. The girl escaped and the suspect fled on foot.

The incident occurred south of Nashville between Cool Springs Boulevard and McEwen Drive.

The man is described as white, about 6 feet tall in his late 30s or 40s with a medium build, a blonde beard and discolored teeth. He was wearing a black t-shirt at the time of the attack.

The victim was treated for minor injuries.

Anyone with information should contact 615-794-2513. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can do so by calling Crime Stoppers at 615-794-4000 or clicking here to submit an anonymous eTip.Questions over the ownership of the Democrat-Reporter in Linden  the Alabama newspaper that published an editorial calling for the return of the KKK  have surfaced in the latest chapter of the small town weekly.

In a March 28 front page article, newspaper owner Goodloe Sutton, who penned the controversial editorial, said the Democrat-Reporter had been sold to C.T. Harless and Sabrina McMahan. The new owners pledged to report community news as well as investigative in-depth reporting.

Harless, the story noted, would run day-to-day operations as publisher, while McMahan would handle marketing and distribution.

Shortly after the story was published, Alabama Political Reporter wrote that Harless potentially had ties to the KKK. When confronted by the APR, Harless denied being involved with the Klan-affiliated American White Knights and said he did not own the newspaper but instead worked for an unnamed LLC that had purchased the Democrat-Reporter. No proof of purchase was available.

Harless initially denied the KKK connection but later told APR it was his brother - who he said also goes by C.T. - that was affiliated with the organization.

You can read the complete APR story here.

Harless did not return AL.coms messages left on the voice mail for the Democrat-Reporter.

Someone did answer the phone at the Democrat-Reporter, but the person didnt confirm their name. I just sweep the floor, the man said.

Sutton attracted national criticism in February over his editorial calling for the return of the white supremacist group because Democrats in the Republican Party and Democrats are plotting to raise taxes in Alabama.

After calls for Suttons resignation, he announced an African-American woman was taking over as the newspapers leader but Elecia Dexter later said she was stepping down due to editorial interference.

A deal was later reached to sell the newspaper, the AP reported, though the name of the potential owner wasnt announced. The newspaper reportedly owes the city more than $800 to cover three years of business licenses.The last time Laverne Cox came to Boston was in October, when the television star urged Massachusetts voters to uphold the states transgender anti-discrimination law.

Voters did uphold the law, but the obstacles facing transgender people are apparent as ever, Cox said, pointing to the new transgender military ban by President Donald J. Trump that will go into effect on April 12.

We are in a very contested space now with, as trans people become more visible, theres a backlash happening, Cox, an Emmy-nominated actress best known for her role in Orange is the New Black Netflix series, said at the Simmons Leadership Conference in the Boston Seaport on Tuesday.

Trans people have existed throughout time, Cox said while answering a question from a woman who said her relatives have been unsupportive to a family member who is preparing to medically transition genders. "We have a right to exist and flourish in the world too, Cox added.

The actress spoke to the Boston crowd of about 3,500 professionals -- mostly women -- on her own upbringing in Mobile, Alabama, where she felt shame and fear for feeling like a woman and being attracted to men.

Cox said she was sent to therapy in third grade after a teacher told her mother, 'Your son is going to end up in New Orleans in a dress if we dont get him into therapy right away,' according to Cox.

Cox went to the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Mobile with her family every Sunday growing up, which she said also caused her to internalize a lot of shame.

The shame prompted Cox, as a sixth grader, to swallow a bottle of pills in an attempt to kill herself, the actress said. When she survived, Cox said she convinced herself she would push away any thoughts of being attracted to men.

It was not until she attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts in high school, where she studied dancing, writing and acting, that the actress was able to discover her preferences for make up and womens clothing (she called her style Salvation Army couture, or Salvation Armani).

Later on, Cox said a move to New York City sparked a magical time in her life, where she met other transgender people, which inspired her to start her own medical transition in 1998.

Cox opened up about her years of therapy, which has helped her unpack years of trauma and shame caused by bullying and an initial lack of acceptance by her loved ones. She said she believes transgender people are specially anointed, and are here for something beautiful and divine.

A lot of trans people have experienced being turned out of their homes, being discriminated against in the work place, disowned by family, Cox said.

She added, A lot of us have experienced that, and in the face of all that, we find a way to survive.

Correction: A previous version of this article said Laverne Cox attended the AMZ Zion Church as a child in Alabama. This article has been reflected to update that she attended the African Methodist Episcopal Church.A change is coming to your change.

The U.S. Mint is releasing a limited amount of America the Beautiful quarters with the W mint mark into circulation, a first for the Mint in 227 years. The W notation is for West Point, where the coins will be produced.

The majority of minted coins in the U.S. carry a D for Denver or P for Philadelphia. While West Point has produced quarters in the past, they didnt carry their own mint mark and were indistinguishable from the Philadelphia quarters, the mint said.

The West Point Mint will strike 10 million quarters that will be mixed into bulk bags at the Philadelphia and Denver mints. Those coins will be sent to banks and financial institutions and will likely appear in circulation within four to six weeks and be available through the rest of the year.

The W coins are part of an effort to encourage increased interest in coin collecting, according to United States Mint Director David Ryder.

We want to encourage Americans to consider coin collecting by making the W mint mark quarters only available in general circulation, Ryder said, adding the release comes at the same time as the American Numismatic Associations National Coin Week. Were fortunate to be able to feature the W mint mark quarters at the same time dealers around the nation are mounting a similar effort to celebrate and promote the hobby of numismatics.

The America the Beautiful Quarters to be released this year will honor Lowell National Historic Park (Massachusetts), American Memorial Park (Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands), War in the Pacific National Historic Park (Guam), San Antonio Mission National Historical Park (Texas), and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (Idaho).BlueParrott, a playet in wireless headset technology (part of GN Audio, also owns Jabra), announced its entry in India market with the launch of their Enterprise Business segment, engineered to provide superior call quality in high-noise business environments. BlueParrott has been producing superior quality sound solutions for almost 30 years, serving professionals with the highest levels of noise cancellation, comfort and durability.

BlueParrott delivers industry-leading audio to teams no matter how demanding the environment  from very high-noise to high- (or low) temperature environments, offering employees the chance to talk on the floor, in store or with dispatch when on the job for hands-free communications with greater productivity.

The BlueParrott product portfolio comprises of B550-XT, B450-XT, C300-XT, C400-XT and S450-XT headsets, that are engineered to deliver smooth communication in high-noise environment by blocking background noise. Each headset comes with the built in Parrott Button that can be programmed with the BlueParrott application allowing users to add features as per their needs. VoiceControl for hands-free access and Multipoint Pairing to connect with 2 devices simultaneously, ensure increased productivity and uninterrupted communications. The headset features IP54-rated design and comes with 24 hours of talk time along with 1-year warranty against damage from water and dust.

Peter Jayaseelan, Managing Director, GN Audio India & SAARC said Not every professional work setting requiring a headset is an open office. The BlueParrott products has been specially designed for people operating in challenging high-noise workplaces, such as on-site specialists in loud factories, event managers in busy exhibition spaces, data centres, inventory pickers in noisy warehouses, or those working on noisy construction sites.

B550-XT

The B550-XT is a 100% voice-controlled over-the-head headset that blocks out 96% of background noise. The headset offers a truly hands-free Bluetooth user experience, providing easy access to Google Assistant and Siri without touching a single button. It was created for all-day comfort and 24-hours of talk time (400 hours standby). The B550-XT offers industry-leading noise cancellation (96%) and IP54-rating to ensure water and dust resistance. The voice activated B550-XT lets users control calls, speed dial, mute, access voice assistants, and control apps, music and GPS directions. The headset can connect with two devices simultaneously and switch between two connected devices, ensuring productivity and uninterrupted communications.

C300-XT

The C300-XT delivers 80% noise cancellation ensuring teams can efficiently communicate, no matter how demanding the environment. The headset is IP54 rated for water and dust resistance and is engineered for wear indoors and outdoors  in temperatures hot or cold. With more than 10 hours of talk time, up to 5 days of standby, and three different wearing styles, the headset is an all-day solution for todays mobile workforce. The C300-XT also features VoiceControl for hands-free operation allowing teams to talk safely unhindered. As with all BlueParrott models, the C300-XT is customizable with the Parrott Button.

C400-XT

The in-ear C400-XT delivers incredible noise cancellation (96%), combining Xtreme Noise Suppression microphone technology with wideband HD Voice and audio. With a choice of over-the-head and behind-the-neck styles users can personalize how to wear the headset, and with the advanced Parrott Button they can customize C400-XT features as per their like. The device is IP54 rated for water & dust resistance, and offers more than 24 hours talk time and Micro-USB charging.

Pricing and Availability

The BlueParrott B550-XT, C300-XT, C400-XT, S450-XT and B450-XT are available for INR 21,579, INR 15,584, INR 16,783, INR 21,579 and INR 17,982 respectively at Jabra authorized resellers from Apr 1, 2019.

Features B550-XT C300-XT C400-XT Operating range Wireless range of up to 100 meters (300ft) Wireless range of up to 100 meters (300ft) Wireless range of up to 100 meters (300ft) Connectivity Multi-connect (2 devices) Multi-connect (2 devices) Multi-connect (2 devices) Talk time 24+ hours Up to 10 hours 24+ hours Voice Control TM Yes Yes Yes Wearing Style Over the head Convertible Convertible Price INR 21, 579 INR 15,584 INR 16,783

*As of July 6, 2018. See facts onA west Alabama man has been sentenced to nine life sentences for the years-long sexual abuse of two teen family members.

Tony Carver Simmons, 49, was sentenced Tuesday in Perry County, said District Attorney Michael Jackson. He was convicted in November 2018 on nine of the 17 sex crimes with which he was initially arrested in 2014 - one count of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy and four counts of first-degree sex abuse.

Simmons abused two family members for four years while they were between the ages of 14 and 18. He told them he loved them, Jackson said, but added he would kill them if they told anybody. Court records state the abuse included sexual intercourse.

Perry County Circuit Judge Collins Pettway Jr. sentenced Simmons to nine life sentences to run concurrent. I am glad this sexual predator is going to spend the rest of his life in prison, Jackson said. He has destroyed these kids childhood. There is no excuse for his criminal behavior.A Birmingham woman has been arrested after authorities say she followed and photographed a juror who served in her brothers federal trial.

Veranda Renee Harris, 59, was taken into custody Tuesday, according to a joint announcement Wednesday by U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr., and U.S. Marshal Marty Kelley. Harris is charged federally with obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal law enforcement.

An indictment was issued against Harris on March 28. Authorities said the charges stem from an incident that happened Oct. 29, 2018 following a guilty verdict against Harris brother, Derrick Dolomite Derrick Johnson on drug charges.

Authorities said Harris followed and photographed a juror in the employee break room at the jurors workplace. The location of the workplace, and how Harris found the jurors location, was not disclosed in federal records.

Following the incident, Harris was interviewed by representatives of the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service about her contact with the juror. During the interview, Harris continued to deny the jurors allegations, despite being confronted with evidence from audio and video recordings.

The maximum penalty for obstruction of justice is 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. The maximum penalty for making false statements to federal law enforcement is five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Federal authorities do not release mugshots.

Jury service is one of the most important duties of a United States citizen, and trial by jury is one of the most important concepts of our government, Town said. We take very seriously those who try to impede, influence, or intimidate jurors, whether before, during, or after trials.For several years Mobiles Capital Improvement Plan has been the tide that has lifted all political boats. On Tuesday, Mayor Sandy Stimpson opened a discussion on making major changes to it.

Top administration officials and the seven members of the Mobile City Council gathered for a presentation from John Guilfoyle, who has worked on the execution of the plan for four years. Guilfoyle formerly worked directly for Stantec, the company that serves as project manager for the CIP and now works for a Stantec sub-consulting firm.

His core message was that the CIP is to some extent a victim of its own success. Now in its fourth year, it steers $21 million a year to capital needs, spread evenly across the seven council districts. It has allowed council members show constituents that a fair share of city money is going to improve streets, sidewalks, parks and drainage in their districts.

But the sheer volume of work has been such that every year the city staff slips a little further behind on executing contracts and delivering the results. Those delivery challenges dont meant projects that have been approved and funded wont get done, but it means the waits will get longer and longer.

Guilfoyle said he and the administration were proposing ways "to do things a little differently" and were hoping council members would buy in to the concept. Initial reaction was mixed, with council members professing they were open to speeding up the process but clearly worried about losing the ability to be responsive to constituent concerns.

Stimpson and Guilfoyle said that adding new personnel to the city planning staff likely would be a possibility, and so would increased use of outside contract management firms. But they said a big part also would be combining smaller projects into larger contracts, to reduce the overall number of contracts.

Guilfoyle and others said that core principles -- such as even spending from district to district, and council members have a big say in setting priorities -- would remain. But they also said there would have to be "a balance" between fine-grained control and economies of scale.

"Everyone in this room, the mayor included, may have to be a little less hands-on," said Guilfoyle.

Councilman John Williams said the administration's proposed timetable, which suggests the council consider and adopt the idea in fairly short order, may be a big ask.

"You've got a long way to go," said Williams, expressing that the council would need more time to fully understand the proposal and come to a consensus. "Optimistic would be an understatement."

Council Vice President Levon Manzie likewise expressed some concerns while saying he would keep an open mind. "These are good issues to have," he said.

Tuesdays presentation wasnt part of an official council meeting and the proposal presented was not intended for a direct vote. Instead Stimpson and Guilfoyle offered a roadmap that calls for a couple of rounds of discussion with council members, who will then consider approval of the 2020 CIP plan in May.Mobile city officials, in an effort to address a rash of recent gun violence, could be looking at supporting a proposed constitutional amendment that would give judges the authority to deny bail to someone viewed as a risk to reoffend.

Council members are looking at HB282, sponsored by state Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile. The proposal, if endorsed by the Legislature this session, would require a vote during the 2020 general election.

If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment would give more flexibility for judges to detain someone in jail who is viewed as a public safety risk.

Alabamas 118-year-old Constitution allows everyone who is arrested, and not convicted of a crime, the opportunity for bail unless the person is charged with a capital offense and the presumption of guilt is great.

We are seeing violent offenders taken to jail released only to reoffend, said James Barber, the city of Mobiles executive director of public safety. It goes back to the Alabama Constitution where everyone has a right to pre-trial bail except in capital offenses. When the evidence is sufficient to support a conviction and the likelihood that the person is going to reoffend, we are asking the judges to then hold them without bail so we can have a cooling off period.

Support for the measure was discussed during a Mobile City Council public safety committee meeting in which council members, Barber and Police Chief Lawrence Battiste discussed concerns about gun violence.

One week ago, City Councilman C.J. Small suggested the city consider supporting a resolution in support of reasonable regulations to prevent gun thefts from unlocked vehicles. But the measure likely would face a political roadblock in Montgomery, gun rights groups hold strong influence among a supermajority Republican Legislature.

An effort to curtail gun thefts in vehicles wasnt discussed much during Tuesdays committee hearing, though Barber acknowledged the problem. He has reported that 1,200 guns were stolen from unlocked cars in Mobile in 2018, including one that was used in the Jan. 20 killing of Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder.

The latest consideration that is backed by Barber was offered up by Councilman John Williams as potential state legislation he believes would be supported by lawmakers.

Lets encourage our state Legislature to pass that law and it will make a difference, said Williams.

Barber said the constitutional amendment could reduce the cycle of violence, or recidivism.

We have a 1901 Constitution, Barber said. But we are dealing with 21st century issues.

Small, though, said he hopes authorities can find more immediate solutions to a problem affecting parts of the district he represents.

Small recounted letters hes received and conversations hes had in his district with concerned residents who told him about incidences in which stray bullets from gunfire hit their homes.

We have to do something, Small said to Barber and Battiste. We are losing too many lives. I know you all have a lot on your plate. Its April now. After Easter, its going to be hot. When it gets hotter, things get worse.

Barber and Battiste, using illustrations showing so-called hot spot crime areas in the city, pointed out that 90 percent of the shootings are occurring in predominately black neighborhoods.

Barber criticized traffic checkpoints  a controversial policing practice of pulling over vehicles in a search for guns  as inefficient. He said the practice often pulls police officers outside of the crime hot spots, and that the vehicles pulled over and search often does not produce stolen firearms.

We end up with thousands of tickets and few guns, he said.

Barber and Battiste requested the council provide them resources to attack crime in areas that need addressing.

Battiste declined to go into details about their strategy, but said, the primary goal is weve talked about gun violence, and we know we have to be more aggressive to remove guns from the street and have an aggressive campaign to remove guns from the streets.Authorities are trying to identify a man who sexually assaulted a Dothan bridal shop employee during an armed robbery.

The holdup happened about 12:30 p.m. Monday at Andrews Bridal Shop on Montgomery Highway. The employee told police a black male wearing a dark shirt and dark pants, as well as a ball cap, entered the business and inquired about a tuxedo.

During the interaction, he hit her on the side of the head with his fist and she began to struggle with him. He then pulled a gun, pointed it at her head and took an undisclosed amount of money from the register.

Next, police said, the assailant forced her to the back of store and ordered her to the ground. He removed some of her clothing and began to touch her inappropriately.

At that point, customers began showing up to the store and the male exited through the stores rear door. He was seen by witnesses getting into a small maroon SUV and leaving the scene.

The victim was taken to Southeast Health for treatment with non-life-threatening injuries.

The suspect is described as being between 25 to 30 years old, between 5-feet, 5-inches and 5-feet, 9-inches tall and weighing between 170 and 180 pounds.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys forensics artists made a sketch of the suspect. Anyone with information about the crime or the suspects is asked call Dothan police at 334-615-3000 or through Crime Stoppers at 334-793-7000.With just days until millions go to the polls, NDTV figureheads deconstruct the psyche of the Indian voter.

Madurai, India  Indian journalist Prannoy Roy, cofounder of the NDTV group, and Dorab R. Sopariwala, its editorial adviser, have spent four decades studying Indian elections.

Their book, The Verdict: Decoding Indias Elections, published this year by Penguin Random House India, crunches data and qualitative studies to explain what makes democracy in India tick.

Only days ahead of the general election, to be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19, the authors tell Al Jazeera about the psyche of the Indian voter.

Al Jazeera: In your book, you divide independent India into three time periods, each defined by the voters state of mind. How has the Indian voter transitioned over the years?

Prannoy Roy: There are three basic phases through which an Indian voter evolved. In any fledgling democracy, in the years following independence, 80 percent of elected governments are voted back to power. We refer to this phase as pro-incumbency and the data shows that it lasts for about 25 years. It was a period that was full of hope. People respected their leaders for the heroism that they showed during the independence struggle.

Around 1977 however, the pro-incumbency period came to an end in India and this marked a turning point. Disillusionment over the lack of development in the first 25 years began to grow, and the voter turned angry.

Prannoy Roy, left, and Dorab R Sopariwala, right, have spent years analysing the intricacies of Indian elections [Courtesy: Roy and Sopariwala]

Dorab R Sopariwala: For the next 25 years, we saw the emergence of what we call the angry voter. Voters threw out more than 70 percent of governments during this anti-incumbency phase.

But by 2002, the Indian voter had become far more discerning  entering into what we call the fifty-fifty era. They threw out governments that did nothing for them and voted back those who focussed on bringing about change.

This was very different from the previous anti-incumbency era in which all governments in power were thrown out, regardless of whether they deserved to be in power or not. The fifty-fifty era motivated politicians to deliver.

Al Jazeera: How quickly were politicians able to adapt to these changes and how did this evolution contribute to Indias growth story?

Roy: It took a while for politicians to realise the changing needs of the Indian voter. Once they did understand that voters were becoming wiser, many of the politicians began to visit their constituencies regularly.

This is the most heartwarming factor of the Indian elections: the fact that women are now turning out in large numbers and that their vote is not influenced by family members. Prannoy Roy, journalist and TV executive

The fact that politicians were now being forced by voters to provide results has been responsible for Indias rising gross domestic product and high annual growth rates, climbing steadily over the last 25 years.

Sopariwala: Voters were pushing for reforms, but they werent necessarily focussing on overall economic growth. It was micro-growth that mattered to them. This is growth at a personal level  in their day-to-day lives and in their neighbourhoods. They were living difficult lives, and heres where they needed to see change the most. Issues like electricity, housing, good roads and access to water became key areas of interest.

Al Jazeera: In your book, you speak about the contradictions that exist between the rural and the urban voter

Roy: It is true that theres often a contradiction in the needs of the rural and urban voter. Many things that can benefit a farmer could possibly hurt the urban consumer. Take for instance the high price of food grains. This can drive a farmers income higher, but rising costs will affect the urban consumer. This is an issue we see all over the world. It is a factor that politicians and economists are forced to contend with, especially during election times. These contradictions can be managed with subsidies and greater support [for rural farmers].

Sopariwala: There are challenges here that are unique to India as well. We must consider the fact that in countries like America, only two percent of the population is directly employed in agriculture. In such a small population, you can afford to subsidise. In India, our agricultural population is very high. If you were to give such a huge subsidy, it would end up affecting the fiscal deficit. So in terms of getting their needs met, farmers do end up having a much more difficult time when compared to urban voters. Thats why youll find that they are often more discerning about who forms the government and what its policies are.

Al Jazeera: Who are elected representatives most likely to pay attention to?

Roy: I can tell you who they should be paying heed to and thats the woman voter  particularly the rural woman voter. Already, in assembly elections [to choose the governments at a state level across India], were witnessing a startling transformation. Woman voters used to lag behind men by 20 percent in assembly elections in the 1960s. But in the last few elections, womens turnout has exceeded [that of] the men.

In the national Lok Sabha elections, the female turnout is catching up to the male turnout. Were expecting them to overtake the men in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. And for me, this is the most heartwarming factor of the Indian elections: the fact that women are now turning out in large numbers and that their vote is not influenced by family members. Weve spoken to many rural women and our qualitative studies have proven that they clearly know their own minds.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, centre, a leader of Indias main opposition Congress party and sister of the party president Rahul Gandhi, gestures as she speaks with women during an election campaign meeting in Ayodhya, India, March 29, 2019 [Pawan Kumar/Reuters]

Al Jazeera: Despite this high turnout, in your book you reveal that there are many Indian women voters missing from the electoral rolls.

Roy: India is currently missing 21 million women voters. We arrived at this estimate based on the numbers of women recorded in the last census and the numbers who are registered to vote. This is a conservative estimate. By our other estimates, it could be as high as 28 million women. Significantly, all the missing women voters are in North India. In South India, this isnt a problem. We havent analysed why this is the case yet, and there needs to be more research into this, but its shocking that this adds up to over 30,000 women voters in every constituency in North India.

The worst affected state is Uttar Pradesh where there are 6.8 million women missing on its electoral roles  that averages a potentially game-changing 85,000 women voters in each constituency. We dont have any evidence that this is deliberate voter suppression. We need to analyse how much this is due to systemic failure to register votes.

Its also significant that the numbers of these missing women having been rising dramatically over the last 25 years. On an average, in the first 25 years, three million women were missing from the rolls. In the second phase (1997-2002), six million were missing, and in the third phase (2002-2014), there were 19 million women on average unregistered.

Sopariwala: This is an issue that just isnt acceptable today, given the technology we have. The Election Commission of India needs to address this issue.

Most of these women are likely to belong to the most vulnerable sections of society  the poorest and the most disadvantaged communities.

Al Jazeera: What other changing trends became evident as you researched the book?

Roy: Regional parties (political parties that have a strong presence at a state government level in India) will play a larger role in these elections than ever before. Earlier, their presence at a national level was just five percent. This figure steadily rose to 35 percent in the last election and now we estimate it to be at 40 percent.

This is significant, because the issues that affect every state in India are different, and now these issues will have representation.

Sopariwala: There are only three large states in which the two major national political parties in India will face each other head-on as main contenders. In all the others, they will face stiff competition from regional parties.

Al Jazeera: Do coalitions between political parties gain importance in this scenario?

Sopariwala: Yes, and there is the trend in recent years where regional parties tend to unite to form a formidable opposition to the national parties.

When they face this kind of opposition, the vote share of national parties is bound to decrease.

Roy: In earlier years, a high number of seats, over 65 percent, were won only as a result of a popular vote. But now, many of these seats  nearly 50 percent  are won purely because of a united opposition. Many seats change hands because of these alliances. And weve seen that if your political presence is concentrated in one region, even you were a small party, it could translate this into a significant number of seats and presence in the Lok Sabha.

In this way, smaller parties are getting their due in terms of power at a national level.

This is purely an Indian innovation of the British electoral system  we call it the Jugaar-First-Past-the-Post system: pure Indian ingenuity. It tends to work better for a bigger country, and makes the process much fairer.Peace, once seen as an impossible prospect, has now become part of the national discourse in Afghanistan. Last month, for example, around 3,500 women from all ethnic and linguistic groups in the country issued a joint communique calling for a peace in which Afghan women would not be subjected to the horrors of the Taliban era once again.

The Afghan government is also committed to peace, but just like the women of Afghanistan, it is not ready to settle for any peace deal. It wants a peace that would reinforce the values of the republic and the fundamental rights and liberties of the Afghan people, not one that would inevitably lead to the collapse of the state and reversal of the gains of the past 18 years.

Today, as a result of increased US pressure on Pakistan and the Taliban, as well as the Afghan governments relentless efforts to solve the countrys deep-rooted problems, there is renewed hope for a peaceful, sustainable settlement to Afghanistans decades-old conflict.

190313155343638

Undoubtedly, this moment has not come without a cost. Thousands of Afghans (and their international partners) sacrificed their lives and resources to get us here. But even these immense sacrifices have not been enough to bring sustainable peace to a country that has been torn apart by conflict for over four decades. Afghanistan now needs a well-rounded strategy and pragmatic leadership to tackle the last few hurdles on its long and treacherous path to peace.

Thankfully, Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani devised a comprehensive and practical four-phase strategy to achieve sustainable peace in the country:

First, the president insists, Pakistan should be convinced to end hostilities towards Afghanistan. The Taliban and their affiliates who engage in violence in Afghanistan have been doing so with the blessing and encouragement of Islamabad. A peace settlement can only be agreed on if and when Pakistan learns to respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan and gives up its ambition to forcefully bring its neighbour under its sphere of influence.

Pakistan most recently made its opposition to a sovereign, united and fully independent Afghanistan apparent when Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called the Kabul government a hurdle to peace talks and suggested setting up an interim government in the country. An interim government means going back to square one, scrapping the constitution and reversing the gains of the past 18 years. The people of Afghanistan, who fought long and hard for their independence, have no intention of agreeing to any peace process that would deprive the country of its sovereignty. Ghani is aware of this and believes the peace process can only move forward after consensus is reached between the neighbours.

Second, Ghani asserts, Afghanistan should work towards gaining the trust of the international community and demonstrating that it is ready to tackle the challenges of the post-conflict era independently. The president believes sustainable peace can only be achieved by ending Afghanistans reliance on foreign aid. Alongside his efforts to achieve economic self-sufficiency, Ghani is also embarking on diplomatic engagements to restore the international communitys trust in the Afghan government. So far, his engagement with the US resulted in the Trump administrations Afghanistan-focused South Asia strategy and put increased pressure on Pakistan to end its support for the Taliban. Meanwhile, his engagement with Islamic nations resulted in the endorsement of his peace efforts by Saudi Arabia and the Indonesian Ulema Council. Moreover, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation officially described the Afghan war as a conflict contrary to the principles and formal teachings of Islam. This statement stripped the war of its religious justifications, bringing Afghanistan one step closer to peace.

Third, the president believes a successful peace process should involve all segments of Afghan society. Past experiences in 1992 and 2001 clearly demonstrate that peace efforts which focus on reconciliation with one group while undermining others result in renewed conflicts. President Ghani is aware of this, and he has already met and engaged in intensive discussions with thousands of citizens including womens rights activists, civil society representatives and a diverse selection of political leaders and religious scholars. He has given every stratum a stake at peacemaking. To make the process even more inclusive, the government is convening a Consultative Loya Jirga on April 28 where the representatives of all demographics will come together to define the governments direction on peace. Ghani believes what Afghanistan needs is a people-centred peace, not an elite-led one, and he is working hard to deliver this.

Fourth, Ghani believes the peace process should be owned and led by the people and government of Afghanistan. In 1989, the United Nations brokered a peace deal between the Pakistan-based Afghan mujahideen and the government of Mohammad Najibullah. However, this peace deal failed, leading to renewed conflict and more bloodshed. The failure of the deal was mainly caused by the exclusion of Afghans from the process and the lack of mechanisms for accountability. Today, Ghani insists on an Afghan-led peace process because he does not want to repeat past mistakes or agree to a process that could leave the country in the middle of yet another bloody conflict in the near future.

As the peace process intensifies and some elements both within and outside Afghanistan advocate for an interim government, hundreds of civil society activists gathered in Kabul and issued a communique on the kind of peace they want. One of their main demands was for the Afghan constitution and the core values of the republic to be upheld. The Afghan Constitution assigns the power to declare war and peace to the president.

190206095855091

In short, Ghanis vision for sustainable peace is based on the elimination of hostile outside influences, long-term economic planning, diplomatic engagements and, most importantly, inclusivity. He is guarding our constitutional values to ensure succession of power continues through elections  one of the main tenets of Afghan constitution. He has a plan that will lead the country not to a negative peace in which merely violence is absent, but to a positive one, which would guarantee the presence of justice, equality and development in addition to absence of violence.

Ghanis efforts played an important role in making peace in Afghanistan a real prospect. Now that we are at the point where direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban could begin any moment, the presidents vision for peace and well-thought-out plans for the post-conflict era is guaranteed to lead Afghanistan to a prosperous future.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.On February 10, Algerias President Abdelaziz Bouteflika  or those who have been speaking for him over the past six years  announced that he was running for a fifth mandate as head of state. It seemed that the incapacitated president was going to prevail once again, despite widespread popular discontent.

By April 2, everything had changed. After seven rounds of mass demonstrations, along with the daily mobilisation of students, workers, activists and concerned citizens, Bouteflika has officially resigned. He will not finish his fourth mandate. It would be false and unfair to proclaim, as has the New York Times, that Bouteflika resigned under army pressure. The people are responsible, not the military. A peaceful popular mobilisation has put an end to the routine of government mediocrity, political absurdity and petty corruption.

The ruling coalition that controlled the state has slowly crumbled over the past couple of months. They failed as they used to govern: in a disorderly fashion, attached to their vested interests and without ever convincing the population with their mea culpa. Members of the so-called Revolutionary Family, ruling parties, business owner associations, and trade unions progressively abandoned the president. Their compromised leaders couldnt cope with the discontent coming from within their ranks. Officers in the army, led by the chief of staff, Ahmed Gaid Salah, eventually joined the movement at the end of March.

190312082928684

Yet, protesters are demanding much more. Bouteflika was the symbolic head of the ruling coalition, but the current movement seeks to uproot all of it. Yetanahaw gaa, an already legendary meme and one of the most iconic catchphrases of the past few months, means they should all get taken away. This is nothing short of a revolution. After a decade-long civil war and twenty years of increasingly grotesque politics, the Algerian people want to renovate their republic. This implies a profound yet peaceful renewal of the political and socio-economic fabric of the country.

Conversely, the events of past few days (the appointment of a new technocratic government, Salahs public calls for Bouteflikas dismissal, France supporting the continuation of democratic transition) all display the same logic. They aim to channel popular impulses and attenuate the effects of this revolution to ensure the continuity of the state.

Protesters aim to save the state from those who endangered it with their mismanagement. Yet, ensuring the continuity of the state has also been a way for factions of the crumbling ruling coalition to preserve their interests. Among other tricks, this resulted in Machiavellian negotiations conducted by the presidency and former members of the secret services in order to convince former President Liamine Zeroual to lead the transition. As usual, and despite the civil yet firm injunction of the population, members of the ruling elite tried to neutralise the effects of political change.

Counter-revolutionary forces are still far from being defeated. This is notably the case with the army, which is now the most powerful institution in the country. By hastening Bouteflikas resignation, the armys staff did not only echo popular demands. They also eliminated the last competing pole of power in the regime since the restructuring of the countrys intelligence services in 2015. As it stands, the army chief is the most influential man in the country, and he will defend his interests and those of other high-ranking officers. Their interference in the unfolding crisis is inevitable. While Gaid Salah is largely compromised, the army still has a genuine political legitimacy.

Other fragments of the ruling coalition are also still relevant. Because political parties and other peripheral organisations are in disarray, the technocracy is more than ever in charge of the daily management of the country. The new government led by Noureddine Bedoui is an assemblage of high-level public servants and technicians. These technocrats have remained pillars of the regime and navigated successive crises since the late 1980s.

As for the two figures in charge of ensuring the transition after Bouteflikas resignation, they are both compromised members of the establishment. The current head of the constitutional council, Tayeb Belaiz, occupied key ministries (employment, justice, interior). His name surfaced during the Khalifa Bank corruption scandal, without juridical consequences. He was appointed by the presidency on February 11 2019, just a day after the announcement of Bouteflikas candidacy. The head of the Council of the Nation, Abdelkader Bensalah, is supposed to become head of state during a ninety days interim period. He has remained until the end a devoted supporter of Bouteflika, which is unlikely to appease the protesters.

190305111758425

While counter-revolutionary elements are still in control of the Algerian state, a couple of key issues will affect the outcome of the revolution. It remains to be seen whether political opposition forces will support popular mobilisation by proposing a coherent alternative to the bureaucratic-military apparatus. For the first time since the 1992 military coup, these opponents are in a position to seize power. After suffering from pervasive fragmentation and discredit, they have the difficult task of proving that Algerian politicians can be responsible and respectful of their constituents.

The second sensitive issue is the economic side of the revolution. As the judicial apparatus has turned its wrath against crony capitalists associated with the presidency, it seems that the systematic embezzlement and corruption that have undermined the country might finally be addressed. Yet, these structural problems will not be solved by punishing a handful of businessmen, as powerful as they might be. These flaws are inherent to the Algerian state apparatus, and thus to those who are still in charge  namely, technocrats and high-ranking officers. Moreover, economic justice cannot be limited to a mere struggle against corruption. The promise of redistribution and collective well-being inherited from decolonisation still has to be fulfilled.

In conclusion, the situation in Algeria is full of uncertainty. Peaceful revolutionaries face a well-entrenched bureaucratic-military apparatus, which has been channelling and derailing transitions for more than 30 years. Yet, contrary to the catastrophising and paternalistic narrative characteristic of Western media, there are some reasons to be optimistic.

First, both sides have demonstrated their rejection of violence and their refusal to do anything that would lead to a repetition of the civil war. While there was no reason to doubt the pacifism of the population, it is important to notice that even members of the army have been reluctant to militarise the crisis.

Second, the patriotism of the movement is deeply rooted in the national political culture. The Algerian people, as sanctified when associated with the war of independence, have slowly resurfaced over the last decade. Political opponents of various stripes have shown their awareness of this evolution and have tried to overcome their divisions, beyond the fractures of the Dark Decade. In a platform released on March 19, they rejected any direct intervention of the army and expressed their attachment to a radical and peaceful change.

Finally, and most importantly, the Algerian people, and especially the youth, have proven to be politicised, organised and conscious of the stakes of the current crisis. They have regained their dignity by themselves, without the help of any foreign power or the mediation of any representative. Such an exemplary political performance will compel the future leaders of the country, whoever they might be, to meet the standards of their own people.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Like Trump, Andrew Scheer is looking to the far right to help him win a tight race.

It is said that you can take the measure of a man by the company he keeps.

By that objective calculus, the toxic company that Canadas Conservative leader, Andrew Scheer, stubbornly keeps ought to disabuse anyone of the silly notion that Canada is an antidote to the pestilence of white nationalism infecting other, Western liberal democracies.

Scheer has a long history of courting white nationalists by appealing unabashedly and overtly to their ugly, nativist, xenophobic and racist temperaments (to describe them as ideas is antithetical to the word).

Serious attention should be drawn to Scheers relationship with Canadas extreme right wing since, if accurate, a recent spate of public opinion polls suggest that the Conservative chief may well become prime minister come the next federal election scheduled for October.

Of course, Scheer is a faithful disciple of former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper who besmirched himself and, perhaps more importantly, the country he served by championing racism-infused policies as a means to mine the support of Canadian bigots who would be attracted to such malevolent policies at election time.

Harpers sorry, signature gambit in this regard was the unveiling  stripped of its government-sanctioned rhetorical embroidery  of a snitch line, where Canadians were encouraged to report other Canadians guilty of culturally barbaric practices deemed incompatible with old stock Canadian values.

190203090107218

Harpers legion of apologists insisted that his snitch line and use of the benign descriptorold stock Canadians werent Exhibit A and B of how to practise sectarian wedge politics. So, stop hyperventilating you perennial politically correct types, the apologists cried.

Today, the same cavalier defence is being employed by the same band of apologists to dismiss as inconsequential Scheers undeniable associations with notorious white nationalists that should, if decency had any currency in politics, be disqualifying.

On February 19, Scheer spoke at an event on Parliament Hill organised reportedly by disgruntled pipeline workers who had travelled from Western Canada by picayune convoy to Ottawa to have their voices heard. He was joined by several members of his Conservative caucus who took dutiful turns praising the protesters and pledging fidelity to their amorphous cause.

We are fighting for you. We are standing with you, Scheer told the small, yellow-vested gathering. One Conservative senator was less trite, urging the assembly to roll over every Liberal left in the country. His invitation to violence was predictably greeted with hoots and cheers.

The rumble-ready United We Roll contingent that Scheer and company welcomed, encouraged and applauded, included attendees who  anti-hate groups detail  celebrate their white nationalist, white-supremacist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim credentials online.

Still, for the doubters, the protesters' convictions surely became apparent when Faith Goldy was also asked to speak at the rally as their marquee guest.

Goldy has, for years, flaunted her white nationalism on a variety of media platforms. Among her other noxious beliefs is the theory that the white race is facing genocide and is on the precipice of extinction.

In December 2017, Canadas racist-in-residence, who also thinks launching another Crusade to retake the Holy Land is a laudable geopolitical strategy, recited, with little prompting and with evident glee on a racist podcast the white supremacist clarion call, The Fourteen Words: We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.

A few months earlier, Goldy displayed her white nationalist bona fides again by appearing on a podcast affiliated with [neo-Nazi website] the Daily Stormer while in Virginia.

Goldy described her tete-a-tete with Nazis as a poor decision.

Scheer knew all this and more when he chose to attend the same event, organised by the same people who thought it appropriate and right to invite Goldy, who told Indigenous peoples who assailed her presence on Parliament Hill: If you dont like our country, leave it.

Rather than say no, Scheer and his caucus colleagues opted to stand  figuratively speaking  rancid shoulder to rancid shoulder with a racist in the rank pursuit of parochial, political self-interest. And with that, the nexus of traditional conservatism and the wretched right wing was fashioned  married by two speeches in one place, at one time, separated by just a few metres.

Scheer and Goldy have shared more intimate moments. Before she was fired over her poor decision to enjoy a convivial chat on a Nazi podcast, the telegenic Goldy was a host on a network featuring a cavalcade of frothing, perpetually indignant, anti-establishment personalities called Rebel Media.

In early 2017, then-Conservative leadership candidate Scheer was Goldys chummy, featured guest on her defunct programme On the Hunt  for what precisely remains a mystery.

In any event, the hot topic du jour was a non-binding, symbolic motion introduced by a Liberal MP to condemn Islamophobia and all religious discrimination in the aftermath of the Quebec city terrorist who murdered six Muslim men praying in a mosque.

Scheer told Goldy he would emphatically vote against the motion because, like his effervescent TV pal, he was concerned that denouncing the hatred that fuelled the butchery of Muslim worshippers by way of a parliamentary motion would inevitably morph into an attack on free speech. Absolutely, Goldy said, approvingly.

Fast forward to the horror in New Zealand, when another racist who referenced white genocide and The Fourteen Words in his manifesto slaughtered 50 Muslim children, women and men and grievously injured scores of other innocents because of where they prayed and who they prayed to.

Scheers response? Not surprisingly: muted platitudes on Twitter. Freedom has come under attack in New Zealand as peaceful worshippers are targeted in a despicable act of evil. All people must be able to practice their faith freely and without fear, he wrote without naming the faith of the massacred or the sites of their massacres. You see, freedom, not Muslims, was attacked.

That vapid, perfunctory tweet was consistent with Scheers reluctance to offend the odious likes of Goldy et al for fear of alienating a potential well of votes during a likely close election. Donald Trump has proven that racist overtures  blatant or cloaked  can afford a winning edge in a tight race.

Only later, after a torrent of criticism, did Scheer issue a second statement on Facebook, daring to mention Muslims and mosques. By then, it was too late. His initial response indeed reflected the measure of the man and the company he keeps.

Despite claiming now to shun the decaying network, Scheer holds other Rebel Media alumni close to his bosom. His 2019 campaign manager was a founding director of Rebel Media.

Like his mentor Stephen Harper, Scheer is intent on, it appears, leading Canada down a dangerous, sinister slope.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.1MDB was set up as a state fund to drive new investment in Malaysia, but investigators say the money went elsewhere.

Malaysia is awaiting the verdict in the first of a series of cases charging former prime minister Najib Razak with corruption over his alleged involvement in the scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund that Najib founded to drive new development in the country.

The funds business is under investigation in at least six countries over allegations that billions of dollars were siphoned off to buy luxury property, designer jewellery and art, and to fund the Hollywood movie Wolf of Wall Street.

Najib, the son of the countrys second prime minister, is the first Malaysian leader ever to go on trial for corruption in the country.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Jho Low, the elusive Malaysian financier at the centre of the 1MDB allegations, as well as for others believed to have been involved.

Here is a timeline of some major developments in the scandal.

July 2009

Then prime minister and finance minister Najib launches 1MDB, a strategic development company driving new ideas and new sources of growth. The fund is wholly owned by the government of Malaysia and Najib is chairman of its board of advisers.

September 2009

1MDB signs a deal with PetroSaudi International to set up a joint venture company and invests $1bn cash for a 40 percent stake. PetroSaudi, backed by oil and gas assets said to be worth $1.5bn, takes 60 percent in the business.

Xavier Justo, PetroSaudi Internationals director-turned-whistleblower, gave evidence to Malaysias Anti-Corruption Commission last May [Lai Seng Sin/Reuters]

March 2012

Najib launches the Tun Razak Exchange, built by 1MDB as a new financial district for Kuala Lumpur. Najib tells invited guests the first phase of the development will bring in RM3.5b ($856.8m) in direct foreign investments.

May and October 2012

US investment bank Goldman Sachs helps 1MDB sell bonds worth $3.5bn to raise money to buy power assets.

March 2013

Goldman Sachs helps 1MDB raise a further $3bn in an additional bond sale, this time to cover new strategic economic initiatives between Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.

December 2013

The Wolf of Wall Street, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role, is released in the United States. The $100m film was produced by Red Granite Pictures, a newcomer co-founded by Najibs stepson Riza Aziz. The end credits included a thank you to Jho Low, a young Malaysian financier.

Riza Aziz, left, Najibs stepson and a coproducer of The Wolf of Wall Street on the red carpet in London with the films leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie [Paul Hackett/Reuters]

January 2015

1MDB misses a loan payment of about $550m.

March 2015

Under pressure, Malaysias government sets up a special taskforce to investigate 1MDB.

July 2015

The Wall Street Journal and Sarawak Report say nearly $700m suspected to have originated with 1MDB was deposited into Najibs personal bank account.

Najib sacks the attorney general who was leading the Malaysian investigation and reshuffles his cabinet, removing key critics, including deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin. The ruling party politician leading the parliamentary inquiry into 1MDB is made a deputy minister.

The changes effectively shut down the domestic investigation.

January 2016

The new attorney general clears Najib of any wrongdoing, saying the $681m was a donation from a prince in Saudi Arabia and $620m was returned.

Malaysians took to the streets in November 2016 protesting against 1MDB and calling for Najibs resignation [Edgar Su/Reuters]

July 2016

The United States Department of Justice files a civil suit to seize assets it alleges were bought with funds stolen from 1MDB. The suit says $681m found its way into the personal account of Malaysian Official 1, later identified as Najib by both the US and a Malaysian minister.

June 2017

The justice department announces it believes more than $4.5bn was siphoned from 1MDB by senior officials and their associates.

August 2017

The justice department says a criminal investigation into the fund is underway. The attorney general later describes the scandal as kleptocracy at its worst.

May 2018

Najib is defeated in Malaysias general election amid deepening anger over 1MDB and the rising cost of living, and his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) finds itself out of power for the first time since independence. Two days later, Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, are barred from leaving the country.

US officials reveal the US was seeking the forfeiture and recovery of more than $1bn in assets misappropriated from 1MDB in Washington in July 2016 [James Lawler Duggan/Reuters]

June 2018

Malaysian police raid Kuala Lumpur properties connected to Najib, seizing jewellery, designer handbags, luxury watches and cash valued at around $275m.

July 2018

The first charges are laid against Najib in relation to 1MDB.

October 2018

Rosmah also finds herself in court where she is charged with money laundering and tax evasion.

December 2018

Malaysia files criminal charges against Goldman Sachs in relation to the 1MDB bond sale.

April 2019

Najib appears in the Kuala Lumpur High Court on April 3 to face seven charges in relating to SRC International, a unit of 1MDB, in the first of a series of trials relating to the failed fund.

May 2019

Malaysia announces it has completed the sale of Equanimity, the $250 million superyacht allegedly bought with money diverted from 1MDB.

August 2019

Najib goes on trial in Kuala Lumpur in the biggest of his five 1MDB-linked trials. The lead prosecutor told the court that Najib had carried out an elaborate charade that was acted out in four phases. His objective was to enrich himself, Gopal Sri Ram said.





December 2019

After being told to enter his defence in the SRC trial, Najib takes to the witness box in his own defence, reading from a prepared statement.

March 2020

A power grab within the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition triggers the resignation of Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister. After a week of uncertainty, the king names Muhyiddin Yassin to the top job saying he has a majority in parliament. The manoeuvring returns UMNO, where Najib remains influential, to government.

May 2020

Malaysian prosecutors agree a $107.3 million settlement with Riza Aziz, and drop money laundering charges against the former prime ministers stepson.

July 2020

Malaysia reaches a $3.9bn settlement with US investment bank Goldman Sachs, agreeing to drop its criminal investigation into the banks role in the 1MDB scandal.The Myanmar government has tightened a law on so-called vacant, fallow and virgin land, and farmers are at risk.

Yangon, Myanmar  Han Win Naung is besieged on his own land.

Last September, local administrators in Myanmars southern Tanintharyi region put up a sign at the edge of his 5.7-hectare farm that read Under Management Ownership  Do Not Trespass.

They felled the trees and started building a drug rehabilitation facility and an agriculture training school on opposite ends of his plot.

He was eventually informed that the administrators were challenging his claim to the land and had filed charges against him under a controversial law that could see him jailed for three years.

I didnt know what this law was, the 37-year-old farmer told Al Jazeera. I didnt understand what was happening to us. They also asked us to move. We dont have anywhere else to go.

Han Win Naung is accused of violating the Vacant, Fellow and Virgin (VFV) Lands Management Law which requires anyone living on land categorised as vacant, fallow, and virgin to apply for a permit to continue using it for the next 30 years.

According to estimates based on government data, this category totals more than 20 million hectares or 30 percent of Myanmars land area. Three-quarters of it is home to the countrys ethnic minorities.

The law has sparked outrage among land-rights activists, who say it criminalises millions of farmers who do not have permits and lays the ground for unchecked land seizures by the government, the military and private companies.

Han Win Naungs farm was seized by the Myanmar authorities under a new land law and his crops are now untended [Han Win Naung/Al Jazeera]

Struggle to survive

The more people learn about this law, the more they will use it against farmers who cannot afford lawyers, said a lawyer who is representing Han Win Naung. She asked to be identified only as a member of Tanintharyi Friends, a group that represents several farmers who have been sued under this law.

Now Han Win Naungs farm is in disrepair. Because of the lawsuit, he has been unable to tend to the mango, banana and cashew trees that have sustained his family since his father set up the farm 28 years ago.

We havent been able to do anything on the farm since September  We are facing a lot of trouble getting food on the table, he said.

The VFV law is modelled on a British colonial policy in which land occupied by indigenous people was labelled wasteland in order to justify seizing it and extracting its revenue. After independence, Myanmars military rulers adopted the strategy as a way to ensure they could feed their ranks.

In 2012, the nominally civilian government under former general Thein Sein enshrined the strategy into law, referring to the targeted land as vacant, fallow, and virgin instead of wasteland.

Last year, despite coming to power on a platform of protecting the land rights of smallholder farmers and promising to reverse all military land grabs within a single year, the government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) made the VFV law stricter.

With the NLDs endorsement, arrests and evictions of farmers like Han Win Naung are accelerating.

In September 2018, Myanmars parliament, which is controlled by the NLD, passed an amendment that imposed a two-year prison sentence on anyone found living on vacant, fallow, and virgin land without a permit after March 11.

This gave millions of farmers, many of them illiterate or unable to speak Burmese, just six months to complete a Kafkaesque process of claiming land they already consider their own.

According to a survey conducted by the Mekong Region Land Governance Project, in the month before the deadline, 95 percent of people living on so-called VFV land had no knowledge of the law.

Han Win Naungs family outside their home in Myanmars southern Tanintharyi region [Han Win Naung/Al Jazeera]

Torn up

As the deadline approached, local land-rights activists jumped into action, sending petitions to the government demanding that the law be repealed.

In November, 300 civil society organisations signed an open letter denouncing the law as an effort to grab the land of ethnic peoples across the country, especially land belonging to hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people who have no ability to apply for permits.

In December, the Karen National Union (KNU), a powerful ethnic armed organisation that had recently withdrawn from the national peace process, called for the VFV law to be torn up, raising the spectre of future conflict.

But these petitions fell on deaf ears, and as the deadline expired, millions of people, many of whose families had been on the same land for generations, became trespassers.

Saw Alex Htoo, deputy director of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN), blames the NLDs pursuit of foreign investment for the policy.

The NLD is pushing for investment to come into the country without really looking at whats happening on the ground, he said. Thats the only way they could support this VFV law, which is inviting conflict and will displace millions of farmers across the country.

When asked why the party would pass an amendment that could harm so many people, NLD spokesperson Myo Nyunt said that while land disputes might arise, the purpose of the law was not mass dispossession.

A sign on what was Han Win Naungs family farms warns against trespassing, while a drug rehab facility and agricultural training facility are being built there [Han Win Naung/Al Jazeera]

The purpose of the law is to promote the rule of law, he said.

When we implement the new law, those affected have the responsibility to understand and follow it. If they have grievances, they can report them to the relevant committee addressing land grabs. There will be some people who are affected negatively by this law, but that is not the intention of this law.

The government is working to improve the livelihood and quality of life in Myanmar and the rule of law.

Ye Lin Myint, national coordinator for the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA), said enforcement of the VFV law actually calls the rule of law into question because it contradicts several earlier government commitments, including the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) between the government and eight ethnic armed organizations.

The NCA clearly states that during the peace process, there should be no land seizures, he said. This law will start a domino effect of ethnic conflict.

Conflict over the VFV law has already begun. At least one activist has been arrested for protesting against it and observers say the NLDs role in generating conflict risks a backlash in next years election.

The ruling National League for Democracy party are really shooting themselves in the foot with the VFV law, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. This will be a human rights disaster that goes to the doorstep of millions of farmers across the nation, and its a fair bet they will punish those they consider responsible in the next election.

Han Win Naung attests to this. Since he was sued, his 80-year-old father has stopped eating and cannot sleep. His children, nieces, and nephews are embarrassed to go to school.

People like us have been suffering since this government came to power, he said. We dont think we will be voting for the NLD in 2020.Bouteflikas resignation prompts jubilation in Algiers but many say they will continue to protest against government.

Algiers, Algeria  I am super happy and excited. We have won a battle. This will be a sleepless night, Bilal, a 27-year-old carpenter, told Al Jazeera in downtown Algiers as he and thousands of other Algerians celebrated President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas resignation.

The ailing 82-year-old leader announced he was stepping down with immediate effect in a letter published by state-run APS news agency on Tuesday, just hours after the army chief demanded action to remove him from office.

My intention  is to contribute to calming down the souls and minds of the citizens so that they can collectively take Algeria to the better future they aspire to, Bouteflika said in the letter to the president of the Constitutional Council.

I have made this decision to avoid and prevent the arguments which distort, unfortunately, the current situation, and avoid its turning into serious skirmishes, to ensure the protection of persons and property, he added.

Under the capitals Tunnel des Facultes that leads to Maurice Audin square, a jubilant group of protesters, some draped in the national flag, jumped up and down with excitement while singing the country is ours and well do what we want. Others set off fireworks at the entrance of the tunnel.

People celebrated on the streets after Bouteflika submitted his resignation [Ramzi Boudina/Reuters]

Standing near a plaque dedicated to Audin, a French anti-colonial activist during Algerias Liberation war, Youcef, a 26-year-old video editor, said he believed that Bouteflikas dismissal marked the beginning of a new era in the North African country.

It is the first day of a new life for the Algerian people. April 2 will be a red-letter day in Algerias history, like July 5, Youcef told Al Jazeera, referring to the countrys Independence Day.

Farida, a 23-year-old mathematics student, who was heading to central Algiers with her 3-year-old daughter, agreed.

This feels new. We are experiencing an exciting and historic moment. My generation has grown up only knowing one president our whole life.

Weve had enough. We were desperately waiting for a change, said Farida, adding that she had been involved in the protest movement since it broke out on February 22.

Similarly, Brahim, a 36-year-old law professor, believed that Algeria had reached a turning point, comparing the end of President Bouteflikas 20-year rule, the longest in the countrys history, to Frances defeat in the War of Independence in 1962.

This looks like Algerias second Independence Day. We will liberate our country of a mafia that has been ruling it over the past two decades like our elders stood against the French colonial system during the 1960s, Brahim told Al Jazeera as convoys of cars drove alongside Algiers busy Didouche Mourad street.

Like many of those celebrating, Badis, a 35-year-old entrepreneur, described Bouteflikas departure as a great victory for the Algerian people.

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We can be proud of ourselves, what we achieved is incredible, Badis said, adding that, while cautious, he still feels optimistic.

It is not over yet. We need more, we need to launch a transition process, he added.

Bilal, the carpenter, agreed. The peoples uprising has borne fruit. We did not take the street five weeks in a row for nothing, he said while waving his Algerian flag.

Nearby, a group of young Algerians climbed on top of their stationary cars roofs, chanting La Casa Del Mouradia, a song written by Ouled El Bahdja, which has become the most popular anthem of the protest movement against Bouteflikas administration.

Close by, another group of young people made V signs to indicate victory.

Complete leadership overhaul

Meriem, a 63-year-old designer, who went to La Grande Poste, Algiers central post office with her family to celebrate Bouteflikas resignation, appeared to be less enthusiastic.

It is a combination of emotions. I am happy and sad at the same time. It is a miserable ending for Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He is going out through the side door, Meriem told Al Jazeera.

She watched footage on her phone showing Bouteflika, dressed in a beige North African tunic, sitting in his wheelchair while handing his resignation letter to the head of the constitutional council, Tayeb Belaiz.

He should have left after the end of second term in 2009. We would have been grateful for what he accomplished. Now we feel nothing other than pity for him, Meriem added.

Like many of those celebrating, Meriem said that she would demonstrate again next Friday to demand a real change.

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We want a complete overhaul of the leadership, which has clung to power over the past two decades. We will continue to put pressure on the authorities until Bouteflikas clique leave power, she said.

For Farida, the resignation of Bouteflika was not enough.

His removal is only the first step. We will keep marching until we have fair, transparent elections and a new government because the cabinet led by Noureddine Bedoui does not represent us.

We dont want the old guard to interfere in the transition process, she said, while calling for the enforcement of Article 7 of the Constitution that stipulates that the people is the source of power.

Anning suggested a link existed between Muslim immigration and violence following mosque attack that killed 50 people.

The parliament in Australia has overwhelmingly voted to censure an independent far-right senator, Fraser Anning, for his inflammatory and divisive comments about the Christchurch mosque attacks.

In a bipartisan motion, the Senate voted on Wednesday to censure Anning, saying his comments were seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion and does not reflect the opinions of the Senate or of Australians.

Last month, a self-confessed Australian white supremacist killed 50 people in a terror attack on two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand.

Following the attack, which was live streamed on Facebook, Anning suggested a link existed between Muslim immigration and violence.

He later denounced the attack in New Zealand but insisted it represented what he called the growing

fear  of increasing Muslim presence.

Fraser Anning does not deserve to be in parliament. I have no doubt the community will make sure he is not re-elected in May and I will be doing everything in my power to consign his awful views to the history books where they are so clearly from and where they truly belong. pic.twitter.com/CUrTNx6wFY  Mehreen Faruqi (@MehreenFaruqi) April 3, 2019

It is very important that the Parliament is unified in its condemnation of these appalling comments that have been made, Senator Mathias Cormann of the Liberal party said.

These comments were appalling and sadly made worse given Senator Annings position in this Parliament and the platform he enjoys as a senator.

Labors Penny Wong said the senator blamed the victims [when] families, friends, communities of those lost were still reeling from the shock, accusing Anning of embracing hate speech.





While those injured were being treated, this senator sought to further fan the flames of division. How pathetic. Shameful and pathetic attempt by a bloke who has never been elected to get attention by exploiting diversity as a fault line for political advantage, said Wong.

A teenager struck Anning on the head with an egg after his comments and the politician hit him twice in the face in response.

An online petition calling for Annings removal from the Senate has gained more than 1.4 million signatures, which has gone on parliaments permanent record. However, the Senate cannot remove a senator unless they are convicted of a crime or ruled ineligible.

The gunman, Brenton Tarrant, will reappear in court this Friday.Ex-leader seeks forgiveness for any failing towards Algerian people as civil society groups call for more protests.

Algerias former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has apologised to his compatriots in a public farewell letter a day after he stepped down following weeks of mass protests and loss of support from the army.

In the letter released by the APS news agency on Wednesday, the ailing 82-year-old said he was proud of his contribution to the country, and urged the Algerian people to stay united.

I ask your forgiveness for any failing towards you, he wrote, adding: I am leaving the political scene without sadness or fear, for the future of our country.

The move came as Algerias Constitutional Council said it had accepted Bouteflikas resignation and informed parliament that his post was officially vacant.

Some 20 Algerian civil society groups said they would refuse a transition of power that kept the same structure in place, calling for protests on Friday for democratic change.

Bouteflikas resignation  is a first victory  but it is not enough, they said in a joint statement.

Algerias constitution says that the speaker of the upper house of parliament, currently 77-year-old Abdelkader Bensalah, should now act as interim leader for up to 90 days during which a presidential election must be organised.

A one-time journalist and former ambassador, Bensalah has held senior political positions for the past 25 years but has kept a low profile, rarely giving interviews or appearing at public events.

He has led the countrys upper house for most of Bouteflikas 20-year rule.





Ali Benflis, a former head of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) party, said other leading figures should also quit, naming Bensalah, interim Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui and constitutional council head Tayeb Belai.

The Algerian people have just closed one of the darkest chapters in the history of our country, he said in a statement, calling the protest a peaceful popular revolution.

Protesters, who celebrated Bouteflikas departure with songs and flag waving in the capital, Algiers on Tuesday night, also made quickly clear that they would not accept a new president from the entrenched elite.

I want my daughter to remember this historic day. Bouteflikas gone, but its far from over, said 35-year-old Amal, who wore a T-shirt with the slogan I am against the system.

She vowed to march again on Friday.

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For 44-year-old engineer Hamid Boumaza, Bouteflikas resignation was too little, too late.

Bouteflikas departure is no longer enough. We want them all to go. We want full freedom and we will march for as long as necessary.

Meanwhile, Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, praised the mature and calm nature in which the Algerian people have been expressing their desire for change.

A UN statement said Guterres looks forward to a peaceful and democratic transition process that reflects the wishes of the Algerian people.

The United States said the future of the country is for the Algerian people to decide, while Russia called for a transition without foreign interference.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, the foreign minister of former colonial power France, said he was confident Algerias democratic transition could continue in the same spirit of calm and responsibility seen in recent weeks.Reports that China may buy soy from the US has farmers in Brazil worried about losing a vital client.

Soybean farmers in Brazil fear the eventual end of the trade war between the United States and China could have major implications for their exports.

The soybean provides livelihoods for many in western Brazil.

News that China might be about to buy soy from the US has farmers in Brazil worried about their future.

Daniel Schweimler went to the western state of Mato Grosso, Brazil to find out more.Brunei is enacting a strict new penal code that imposes death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, as well as amputations as punishment for theft, despite widespread criticism.

An absolute monarchy, ruled for 51 years by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, oil-rich Brunei first announced the new penal code in 2013, but full implementation has been delayed.

Bolkiah, 72, is the worlds second-longest reigning monarch and ranks as one of the worlds wealthiest people.

The new law mostly applies to Muslims, though some aspects will also apply to non-Muslims. It stipulates the death penalty for a number of offences, including rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery and insulting or defaming the Prophet Muhammad.

It also introduces public flogging as punishment for abortion as well as amputation for theft and criminalises exposing Muslim children to the beliefs and practices of any religion other than Islam.

The sultan first announced plans for the code in 2013.

The small Muslim-majority country, sandwiched between two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, had introduced penalties in stages, all of which come into force on Wednesday.

The laws will make Brunei the first country in East or Southeast Asia to impose the new penal code at the national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia.

Barbaric to the core

The decision to push ahead with the implementation of the laws come after a long line of politicians, rights groups and celebrities, including actor George Clooney and musician Elton John, condemned the new laws.

Clooney and John are among those calling for a boycott of hotels owned by the sultanate, which include the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Dorchester in London and the Plaza Athenee in Paris.

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Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for the Human Rights Watch, said the code was barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes.

Robertson also said there was no place in the 21st century for this kind of penal code.

Comprehensive @hrw release on #Brunei's new penal code, and horrific, medieval punishments for vulnerable women, children, #LGBT & others. No place in the 21st century for this kind of law! https://t.co/x0IMB9YQ8u pic.twitter.com/XsOprlXRYr  Phil Robertson (@Reaproy) April 3, 2019

Governments have also weighed in with the United States saying the punishments run counter to Bruneis international human rights obligations.

The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalisation and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, said deputy State Department Spokesman Roberto Palladino.

France and Australia also called on Brunei to renounce the measures, with both governments expressing concern.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticised the move.

Guterres believes that human rights are to be upheld in relations to every person everywhere without any kind of discrimination, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The legislation approved is in clear violation with the principles expressed.

The UN chief stands clearly against any form of cruel punishment, said Dujarric.

He stands very much for the protection of rights of all people to be able to be with who they want to be and love who they want to love.

#Brunei

We are very concerned by the entry in force of a new criminal code on April 3, which provides for corporal punishment and the death penalty for crimes including homosexuality, apostasy, blasphemy, and adultery.https://t.co/jO87CJj4ER pic.twitter.com/yuS2vc040Y  France Diplomacy (@francediplo_EN) April 2, 2019

Australia has raised our concerns with the Brunei government on the introduction of the full Syariah Penal Code today. We absolutely oppose the death penalty & are committed to the rights of LGBTI people. We will continue to advocate for human rights in the region & beyond. @dfat  Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) April 3, 2019

In a public address to mark a special date in the Islamic calendar, the sultan called for stronger Islamic teachings but did not mention the new penal code.

I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger, he said in the nationally televised speech at a convention centre near the capital Bandar Seri Begawan.

I would like to emphasize that the country of Brunei is a  country that always devotes its worship to Allah.

He said that he wanted the Muslim call to prayer to ring out in all public places, not just in mosques, to remind people of their Islamic duties.

The sultan, who has been on the throne for over five decades, also insisted that Brunei was a fair and happy country.

Anyone who comes to visit this country will have a sweet experience, and enjoy the safe and harmonious environment, he said.British Prime Minister Theresa Mays meeting with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has infuriated some of her party.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has met opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to break the impasse over Brexit.

During the two-hour session on Wednesday, the political rivals agreed to a programme of cross-party talks to seek a mutually acceptable agreement on the UKs withdrawal from the European Union.

Corbyn described the meeting as useful but inconclusive, saying in a TV interview that there had not been as much change as he expected in Mays stance and that she would have to come up with something to make her deal palatable to MPs.

According to Corbyn, future customs arrangements, trade agreements and regulatory alignment on issues including employment and the environment were all discussed during the meeting.

The two sides have agreed to continue the dialogue, with Corbyn saying more talks will happen on Thursday.

Mays spokesman said that both sides had shown flexibility during discussions and that the commitment to continue talks would ensure the parties deliver for the British people, as well as protect jobs and security.

Labour Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer also attended the meeting, along with the partys business spokeswoman Rebecca Long-Bailey and Labour chief whip Nick Brown.

For the Conservatives, Mays de-facto deputy David Lidington, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and Conservative chief whip Julian Smith were also present.

In my meeting with Theresa May I put forward Labour's alternative plan and raised the option of a public vote to prevent No Deal or leaving on a bad deal. There wasnt as much change in her position as I expected but we'll have further discussions tomorrow.  Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 3, 2019

Wednesdays meeting comes amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding the UKs departure from the EU.

The UK is due to leave the bloc on April 12, but so far, Parliament has not agreed on a withdrawal plan.

After her divorce deal suffered three defeats in parliament, May on Tuesday offered to sit down with the Labour Party leader to try and settle a deal they could both agree on.

Conservative rift

Al Jazeeras Neave Barker, reporting from outside the UK Parliament in London, said Mays offer to Corbyn has inflamed divisions in her own party.

There are members of her own party, hardline Brexiteers, who view the fact that shes having talks at all with Jeremy Corbyn as a form of Brexit betrayal, he said.

Conservative MPs fear the meeting with Corbyn will lead to a watered-down version of Brexit as the Labour Party has been pushing for a much softer departure from the EU.

Boris Johnson, a vocal pro-Brexit Conservative MP and former foreign minister, said Brexit was becoming soft to the point of disintegration.

Speaking to Sky News after Mays announcement on Tuesday evening, Johnson said it was very disappointing that the Brexit process has now been entrusted to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

Following yesterdays cabinet, this morning Ive been to Downing Street & resigned my position as UK Govt Minister for Wales & Govt Whip. Im grateful to the PM for the opportunity to serve as a Minister since 2017 & will continue to serve my constituents from the backbenches. pic.twitter.com/W15xS4cOBP  Nigel Adams (@nadams) April 3, 2019

Nigel Adams, minister for Wales resigned following the announcement, calling Jeremy Corbyn a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first in his resignation letter.

Junior Brexit Minister Christ Heaton-Harris said on Wednesday that he had also quit Mays government.

Labour has called for the UK to remain closely aligned to the blocs customs union and has committed to putting the results of any final deal to a public vote.

These are all red lines that Theresa May in the past said she wasnt willing to cross and it has now enraged hardline Brexiteers, Barker said.

In the interview following the meeting, Corbyn said he had raised the issue of a second referendum but no agreement had been reached.

Seeking unity

May also met the first ministers of Scotland and Wales on Wednesday in her attempt to secure broad national support for her deal.

Speaking after her meeting with May, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the two had a good, open conversation but warned against seeking a compromise at any cost.

In the rush to reach some compromise  a bad compromise will be reached, she said.

Sturgeon, whose Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) continues to rigorously campaign against Brexit, also cautioned that Mays promise to resign once a deal is passed opens the door for her successor to unpick the deal.

Mays offer for talks with Corbyn came as the prime minister announced on Tuesday that she would seek a further delay to Brexit, which was initially scheduled for March 29.

The move came just hours after a cross-party group of 12 MPs revealed that they would try to pass a law that would force May to seek a delay to the UKs departure from the EU.

In a vote on Wednesday, MPs approved the motion, which is being debated in parliament, with a vote to follow later in the evening.

Regardless of whether this law is passed, or the outcome of Mays talks with Corbyn and the first ministers, all 27 EU member states will need to approve of any extension to the UKs April 12 Brexit deadline.

Europe watches and waits

At a European Council summit on April 10, May will seek an extension to delay the departure until May 22, the day before the European Parliament elections begin.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said the UK will not get any short-term extensions for Brexit unless its parliament backs Mays deal.

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A no-deal at midnight on the 12 of April is now a very likely scenario, Juncker told the European Parliament on Wednesday.

[The] UK will be affected more than the EU because there is no such thing as a managed or negotiated no-deal and there is no such thing as a no-deal transition, Juncker said.

Frances new European Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin said that, while May and Corbyns meeting was a positive step, it offered no guarantee of a way out of the crisis.

Theresas Mays call yesterday evening for national unity is very positive, but we have no certainty on what will be the outcome, De Montchalin, who was appointed this week, told French politicians.

There were mixed messages from other EU member states, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowing to fight till the last hour to avoid a no deal Brexit, but others felt lukewarm about granting another extension.

Irelands Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Ireland would support a delay to the UKs departure, but Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said there was currently no reason to agree to an extension.

Meanwhile, the United States weighed in on Wednesday, with White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow saying that a so-called clean Brexit could help spur US trade talks with the UK.Hundreds of of Achi Mayan people displaced by Chixoy dam demand govt comply with agreement to pay reparations.

Guatemala City  Hundreds of indigenous Achi Mayan survivors, forced to leave their homes by the construction of Chixoy hydroelectric dam in the 1980s, mobilised outside the Guatemalan presidential palace on Wednesday to demand that the government comply with a 2014 agreement to pay reparations for their displacement.

After spending Tuesday night on the street in front of the presidential palace, the survivors blocked the main roads in the historic centre of Guatemala City demanding a meeting with President Jimmy Morales.

The Guatemalan state has not complied with the promises made, Bernarda Lajuj told Al Jazeera.

If the government does not respond to us, then we are not going to leave until they give us a response, Lajuj, 40, said. We are fighting for our rights.

The construction of the World Bank and IMF-backed hydroelectric project displaced more than 3,000 families in 33 communities between 1977 and 1983 in the Guatemalan departments of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz and Quiche. The families were left without land and in poverty.

We were left without the means to give our children a better life because of the construction of the Chixoy dam, said Antonio Vasquez, the 52-year-old coordinator of the 33 communities affected by the construction of the dam.

They took our lands, he told Al Jazeera. They left without a place to plant our maize. They took all our resources.

Achi Mayan women listen to a speech by Antonio Vasquez demanding a dialogue with the Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera]

Residents were left without avenues to demand their rights until years after the signing of the peace accords in 1996 that ended the 36-years of war. In 2004, the communities began to organise to demand reparations for their suffering.

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A plan was developed and signed by former President Otto Perez Molina in 2014 to provide $154.5m in reparations to the victims of the construction of the dam. The plan included paving roads, building health centres and schools, along with other projects.

The agreement was made after pressure by the United States, which suspended military aid to the country after progress on the planned stalled.

The survivors argue that the Morales administration has failed to advance on the plan. Residents continue to live in poverty and lack basic services, including electricity.

After hours of protest, a small group of survivors was permitted to meet Vice President Jafeth Cabrera.

According to Lajuj, Cabrera agreed to respond to the groups demands and pursue the application of the original agreement. The secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency did not immediately respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment.

Massacres

The construction of the Chixoy dam took place during the most brutal years of Guatemalas 36-year-long internal armed conflict between the government and leftist rebel groups. More than 200,000 people were killed and another 45,000 disappeared. The majority of the victims were from indigenous communities.

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More than 600 massacres were carried out during the war. According to the United Nations-backed Historical Clarification Commission, the Guatemalan military was responsible for 93 percent of these atrocities.

Among those was the massacre of the village of Rio Negro where state forces killed 450 people who refused to leave their village to make way for the dam.

Lajuj was only four years old when the Guatemalan military and Civilian Patrols arrived at her village of Rio Negro in 1982 and massacred the residents. Among those killed were her mother and sisters.

They took all the women and children and killed them on a hill, Lajuj told Al Jazeera, holding back tears.

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She survived because her mother had left her hidden in the familys home when the military took them away. A surviving neighbour took her to her father who had hidden in the mountains. Lajujs father was later executed by the military.

We did not want to leave. We had everything we needed there, she said. But now we are suffering. We have to buy everything, but there is no work. Why does the government not comply with the agreement for the damage done to us?Tuesdays move by Constituent Assembly paves way for opposition leader to be prosecuted and arrested.

Venezuelan legislators have stripped Juan Guaido of immunity, paving way for the opposition leaders prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

[Guaidos prosecution] is officially authorised, Diosdado Cabello, head of the Constituent Assembly said following an assembly vote on Tuesday.

But whether President Nicolas Maduros government will take action against the 35-year-old legislators remains unclear.

Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple Maduros administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.





He declared himself Venezuelas interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of US President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognise as Venezuelas legitimate leader.

Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and inciting a civil war.

They dont care about the deaths, said Cabello. They dont have the slightest idea of what the consequences of war are for a country.

The Constituent Assembly met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered the legislative body to strip Guaidos immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general.

The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence linked to street protests and receiving illicit funds from abroad.

The Constitution guarantees immunity for elected officials and says that in order to withdraw immunity the accused legislator must be given a preliminary hearing before the Supreme Court. The action must be approved by the National Assembly  steps that werent taken in Guaidos case.

Maduro blames Washington of attempting to overthrow him and install Guaidos puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuelas vast oil reserves.Matteo Salvini tells charity ship to take 64 refugees and migrants rescued off Libyan coast to Germanys Hamburg.

A previous version of this article misstated the name of the German charity involved in the refugee rescues. It is Sea Eye, not Sea Watch.

Italys far-right interior minister has refused a request to take in 64 refugees and asylum seekers rescued off the coast of Libya by a German charity ship.

Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday the rescue ship, like others before it, was not welcome in Italy.

A ship with a German flag, German NGO, German ship owner, captain from Hamburg. It responded in Libyan waters and asks for a safe port. Good, go to Hamburg, he said.

Sea Eye, the German charity, said its vessel, Alan Kurdi, carried out the rescue off the coast of Zuwarah in Libya after authorities failed to answer a call for help from the stricken rubber boat on Wednesday morning.

The people brought to safety included 10 women, five children and a newborn baby, the group said.

Theyre all safe and sound on board our vessel  The Libyan coastguard is not answering or rescuing.

Sea Eye also said 50 more people it had been searching for since Monday remained missing.

In a Twitter post, the group urged Maltas Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to send a search and rescue aircraft to help its vessel, Alan Kurdi, locate the missing people, because the Libyan coastguard does not send ships.

In a Twitter post in German, it added: 50 people are still missing. We searched for them all night.

 50 Menschen werden noch immer vermisst. Wir haben die ganze Nacht nach ihnen gesucht. Die LCG sendet keine Schiffe. Es gibt kein Suchflugzeug. Wer erklart der LCG, was SAR (#SEARCH & #RESCUE) bedeutet? Mr. @JosephMuscat_JM: please send an (SAR) Aircraft to #AlanKurdi pic.twitter.com/ULuOlz4jYv  sea-eye (@seaeyeorg) April 3, 2019

Both Italy and Malta have refused to accept rescue ships operated by humanitarian groups in the Mediterranean, leading to numerous delays in getting rescued people to land.

Italy had been taking in most refugees and migrants picked up from unsafe and overcrowded boats off the coast of Libya, but a populist government that took over last year shut the countrys ports, saying those rescued must be distributed among European Union member states.

In January, 47 people, including 15 minors, were forced to remain on another German rescue ship for nearly two weeks when Italy refused to let them disembark.

Rome ended the standoff when seven other European countries offered to take in the rescued people.

Italys tough line on the issue has seen many boats that pick up refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean Sea return them to Libya, where the United Nations says they face trafficking, kidnap, rape and torture.

On Saturday, Maltese authorities charged three teenagers with committing an act of terrorism for their suspected role in hijacking a merchant ship that rescued them off the Libyan coast.

The tankers captain, Nader el-Hiblu, said some of the refugees revolted when they realised the ship was heading to Libya, and forced its crew to turn north to Europe.

In recent months, boatloads of rescued refugees and migrants have refused to disembark in Libya, prompting local authorities to use force.

In 2018, 2,262 people died at sea while trying to reach Europe, the UN said.

The perilous journey has killed 311 people so far this year, according to the Missing Migrants Project, an NGO that tracks the deaths of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers along international migration routes.The chief executive can order extradition of wanted offenders to China, Macau and Taiwan as well as other countries.

Hong Kongs leaders have launched laws to change extradition rules to allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial, standing fast against growing opposition to a move that many fear could further erode the citys legal protections.

According to the laws presented to the Legislative Council on Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam would have the right to order the extradition of wanted offenders to China, Macau and Taiwan as well as other countries not covered by Hong Kongs existing extradition treaties.

The bill was introduced following a case last year when a local man allegedly killed his pregnant girlfriend while on holiday in Taiwan, but could not be extradited as Taipei and Hong Kong do not share an extradition agreement.

The bill, however, has become a diplomatic quagmire as Hong Kong and Beijing both consider Taiwan, a self-ruling island, to be part of greater China.

Taiwanese officials have spoken out against the agreement, which some fear could be used to coerce it into acknowledging Beijings sovereignty, DPA news agency reported citing the South China Morning Post.

It's clear the assurances given so far by Hong Kong government that political cases won't be pursued are just not believed by reporters, lawyers and business community, who have remained critical of the proposed law  Jerome Taylor (@JeromeTaylor) April 3, 2019

Within Hong Kong, the law has raised concerns from the business community and human rights groups.

Former Democratic Party leader Emily Lau said that, even with the promised safeguards, ordinary people in Hong Kong would still find extradition to mainland China unacceptable.

Many Hong Kong people have no trust or confidence in the Chinese judicial system, she told the government-funded radio station RTHK. Fair trials were not possible on the mainland, she said.

Hong Kongs Bar Association took issue with multiple aspects of the revised bill, maintaining that it did not support the bill despite revisions.





This restriction against any surrender arrangements with the rest of [China], whether under a long-term formal arrangement or case-based arrangements, is not a loophole, as repeatedly, and in our view, misleadingly, asserted by the senior government officials on various occasions and now in the LegCo Brief, a statement by the body read.

Over the weekend, thousands took to the streets to protest the laws, joining an unusually broad chorus of concern from international business elites to rights groups and even some pro-establishment figures.

But Hong Kongs Chief Executive Lam had said her government would make no further amendments before introducing the laws to the citys parliament.

Just now: Replying to lawmaker @ChuHoiDick, Chief Exec. Carrie Lam says it is "nonsense" to suggest #HongKong does not have an independent judiciary, as she defends the #China extradition law plan. Democrats shout out, as lawmaker Ted Hui walks out. pic.twitter.com/uU231ru28v  Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) April 3, 2019

Small groups of protesters, supporting the governments bill, briefly faced off against opponents outside the Council but later dispersed without incident.

Opponents of the changes fear further erosion of freedoms and legal protections in the free-wheeling financial hub  rights which were guaranteed under the citys handover from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.Washington, DC  The United States House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to authorise subpoenas to the attorney general for Special Counsel Robert Muellers full report on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, setting up a constitutional showdown between the US Congress and the administration of President Donald Trump.

US Attorney General William Barr has issued a four-page summary of the primary findings of Muellers investigation. In the summary, Barr said there was no evidence of a conspiracy involving Trump.

Barr further concluded there was insufficient cause to find that Trump obstructed justice in the case by firing former FBI Director James Comey, among other things. However, Barrs letter also said Muellers report does not exonerate Trump.

Democrats demanded to see the entire report, underlying evidence and materials. Republicans argued the committee should wait to see a partial release of the report expected from Barr later in April.

On multiple occasions, I have asked Attorney General Barr to work with us to go to the court and obtain access to materials, said Representative Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

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He has so far refused, he added. I will give him time to change his mind. If we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials.

The Judiciary Committee also authorised subpoenas for five former White House employees: chief counsel Don McGahn, political adviser Steve Bannon, communications director Hope Hicks, chief of staff Reince Priebus and deputy counsel Ann Donaldson.

We believe that these individuals may have received documents from the White House in preparation for their interviews with the special counsel. We also believe that these individuals may have turned this information over to their private attorneys, Nadler said.

Republicans push back

Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, who have been defending Trump throughout the Mueller investigation, decried the Democrat majoritys actions as perpetuating fabricated claims designed to undermine Trump and his presidency.

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Bob Mueller has provided his findings to the attorney general, who has accurately summarised those. And with respect to Trump-Russia collusion, Bob Mueller has said there are no witches, said Representative John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican, referring to Trumps repeated labelling of the Mueller investigation as a witch-hunt.

The letter from the attorney general referencing the special counsels report said no new indictments, no sealed indictments, no collusion and did not find obstruction, said Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican.

On the question of collusion, he was very clear. He said there were multiple opportunities for people associated with the Trump campaign to collude, and they didnt. So multiple times where the forbidden fruit was placed in front of them, they didnt bite, Jordan added.

Democrats cite as precedent the 1998 release to Congress of the full 445-page report by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, which included 17 boxes of documents and followed the investigation of former President Bill Clintons dealings with the Whitewater land development project while he as governor of Arkansas. The investigation expanded to include his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The law requiring Starr to submit a report directly to Congress was allowed by politicians to lapse after Republicans in the House pursued impeachment over whether Clinton lied to investigators about his relationship with Lewinsky.Why affordable housing in the US is not just a problem in big cities.

More and more Americans are struggling to pay their rent  and the problem is not just limited to major cities.

Politicians met on Tuesday to discuss the growing housing crisis in rural areas which leaves millions without a decent place to live.

Al Jazeeras Andy Gallacher has this report from rural Florida.Video Duration 02 minutes 23 seconds 02:23

ICC investigates massacre in central Mali An attack on villagers in Mali is being investigated for crimes against humanity.

Read moreMoshe Feiglin, who has seen a surge in polls, is a member of one of the countrys smaller but controversial parties vying for power as Benjamin Netanyahu battles to keep top post.

With six days to go before Israels general election, attention is focused on the battle for re-election by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu needs the help of smaller parties to defeat his main challenger, former army chief Benny Gantz.

Meanwhile, the country is also seeing a rise of other far-right candidates. The Zehut partys Moshe Feiglin wants to annex the occupied West Bank and Gaza and dispatch hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to other countries.

Al Jazeeras Harry Fawcett reports from occupied East Jerusalem.Ex-Prime Minister Najib on trial in first of a series of prosecutions related to alleged theft of billions of dollars.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak went on trial in a Kuala Lumpur court on Wednesday in the first of a series of prosecutions related to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB.

The case centres on the 1MDB unit, SRC International, where Najib faces seven charges including abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving 42 million Malaysian ringgit ($10.3m) that allegedly made its way into his personal bank accounts. The former prime minister pleaded not guilty when he was charged last July.

In his opening statement, Attorney General and lead prosecutor Tommy Thomas told the court that Najib had wielded near absolute power during his years as Malaysias prime minister; a period when he was simultaneously the countrys finance minister. Holding both positions ensured him both political power and control of the countrys finances, Thomas said.

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In holding the office of prime minister, and thus the nations highest elected public officer and head of government, the highest trust was reposed by our people in the accused, Thomas said, before going on to sketch out some of the evidence that would be presented to show how Najib had abused that position.

Najib pleaded not guilty on all charges at the start of the trial.

Election defeat

The son of Malaysias second prime minister, Najib took the top job in Malaysia in 2009 vowing to reform the economy and the countrys authoritarian politics. But reform soon slowed, and the finances of 1MDB, a state investment fund, began to draw suspicion.

In May last year, with allegations of thievery mounting and public anger growing, Najib was defeated in the general election, the first time his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) had lost power in six decades.

The Najib trial(s) are more important than ever as they represent the front line in the fight against abuse of power and corruption, Bridget Welsh, a Malaysia expert at John Cabot University in Rome, told Al Jazeera.

They not only are important to address these issues at home, but also to restore Malaysias reputation abroad.

Najib faces more than 40 corruption charges in relation to 1MDB, mostly money laundering but also abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and audit tampering [Lai Seng Sin/Reuters]

Ten years to the day that he was named prime minister, Najib stood in the dock on the fifth floor of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to hear the seven charges against him. Najib, who remains the member of parliament for Pekan on Malaysias east coast and is free on bail, nodded as the clerk read each charge.

Dressed in a pinstriped navy blue suit, Najib was accompanied to court by about eight people including his son, supporters and an aide carrying a yellow cushion to support his back while sitting on the docks wooden bench.





The night before the trial, Ashman Najib posted words of support on Instagram, illustrated by a picture of his father with Saudi Arabias King Salman. The former prime minister claims the money that ended up in his private bank accounts was a donation from a Saudi royal and most of it was returned.

Tomorrow will mark the start of an excruciatingly difficult period for you daddy, Ashman wrote.

You have already shown tremendous strength and resolve in the face of adversity. With the right attitude, even the most trying of situations can be a blessing from Allah.

Appeals and delays

Thomas told the court that evidence would be produced to show significant sums of money made their way from SRC into the former prime ministers personal bank accounts and that 10.8 million Malaysian Ringgit ($2.65m) was later paid out through 15 cheques, to pay not only for home renovations but also to provide funding for component parties of the then-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

The prosecution would also reveal how some $130,000 that was charged to Najibs credit card at the boutique of French fashion brand Chanel in Hawaii in December 2014 was also the proceeds of unlawful activity, the attorney general said.

A number of defence applications and appeals delayed the start of the SRC trial, which was supposed to have begun in February, including an attempt to secure a gag order against the media.

Even on Wednesday, with the prosecution stressing they were ready to proceed, the defence was revealed to have filed a challenge against the charges. After a 40-minute discussion, Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali told the court he saw no reason for the trial not to proceed.

1MDB is now under investigation in at least six countries around the world including the United States, where assets including luxury properties, artwork, and designer jewellery have been seized.

Najib himself faces more than 40 corruption charges in relation to 1MDB, mostly money laundering but also abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and audit tampering. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, is also set to stand trial.

Landmark case

The prosecution noted that Najib was not only prime minister and finance minister, but also chairman of 1MDBs board of advisers and adviser emeritus to SRC.

A common feature of both companies was that the true power in directing and managing their affairs did not lie with the Board of Directors, as is required by law and is the universal practice wherever companies carry on business, but in the person of the accused by virtue of his holding these positions, Thomas said.

Ibrahim Suffian, executive director of the Merdeka Center, described the case as a landmark. Najib is the first Malaysian prime minister to go on trial for corruption committed while in office.

It is also a test of the new governments commitment to carry out, uphold the rule of law, he said.

I think all eyes in Malaysia and perhaps the rest of the region are going to look at how the new Malaysian government handles this case  whether the courts truly are independent, or whether it is able to handle this case without undue political interference.

Ibrahim said the strength of the evidence, as well as the prosecutions conduct of the case, would also influence Malaysian perceptions of the former prime minister who has been attempting to reinvent himself as a man of the people over the past few months. He has also claimed that the trial is politically-motivated.

Although the sums involved at SRC are relatively small, Thomass opening statement indicated that the prosecution planned to detail the lavish spending of Najib and his wife.

The prosecutions first witness was an officer with Malaysias Companies Commission.

Najib sat largely impassively in the dock throughout the proceedings, sipping occasionally from a bottle of water, and checking his mobile phone.

The trial will continue on April 15.The Christian pastor and Shia Muslim, who were kidnapped by masked men more than two years ago, are yet to be found.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  A Malaysian human rights commission inquiry into the abduction of two people more than two years ago has found that the pair was probably disappeared by the intelligence branch of the countrys police.

The three-member panel, which began investigating the cases in October 2017, called on the government to open a new and independent investigation and criticised parts of the official investigation into one of the cases as an affront to common sense and logic.

The families need some closure and answers can only be provided by the state, Mah Weng Kwai, a retired Court of Appeal judge who headed the panel of inquiry, said on Wednesday.

It is believed that those who have been put in charge so far are withholding the answers to these questions or are refusing to undertake a diligent exercise to discover them. Hence, a new and separate task force needs to be set up.

Social activist and Christian Pastor Raymond Koh, 62, was kidnapped by masked men as he drove along a suburban Kuala Lumpur street on the morning of February 13, 2017.

The abduction, captured on CCTV cameras, shocked the country. Kohs disappearance led to the revelation that Amri Che Mat, a Shia Muslim who, like Koh, worked with the poor and underprivileged, had been kidnapped in the northern state of Perlis in November 2016.

A week later, Joshua Hilmy, a pastor, and his Indonesian wife Ruth Sitepu also disappeared in unusual circumstances after leaving their house in Kuala Lumpur. The inquiry also planned to investigate their disappearances but was not able to in the time allotted.

The human rights commission read out its decision in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday [Kate Mayberry/Al Jazeera]

At the inquiry, Amris wife Norhayati Mohd Ariffin, wept as Mah offered the human rights commissions apologies for the grief, anxiety and sadness that she and her children suffered.

We would like to see the perpetrators, the ones responsible and involved in this, to be brought to book, said Kohs wife Susanna Liew, after the commission announced its findings.

We want to see justice and we want the truth to be revealed. We still dont know what happened to our husbands, she added, showing the frustration on the families part with the lack of progress made by the police.

Police questioning in the immediate aftermath of Kohs disappearance focussed on allegations that he was trying to convert young Muslims to Christianity, Liew and her children told the inquiry.

Norhayati, meanwhile, found herself being asked whether Amri was attempting to spread Shia teachings.

Islam is Malaysias official religion but other faiths can be practised in peace and harmony. About 61 percent of the population is Muslim, and attempting to convert someone out of Islam is a criminal offence. Shia teachings have been labelled deviant by the religious authorities.

Four is not just a number, said Mohammad Faizal Musa, an academic at Malaysias National University, referring to the four missing people.

It represents significant religious minorities. There are Christians and there are Shia [Muslims]. It goes back to the Malaysia-Saudi Arabia relationship, to Malaysias failure to recognise minorities any more and to investment. It is a serious matter.

Raymond Koh, far right, receives a plaque from Malaysians affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in recognition of his work to help them [Photo courtesy Koh family]

Liew said the families would consider legal action if the government did not act on the commissions findings within six months.

The inquiry took place over 45 days and heard testimony from 40 witnesses, including a lawyer who witnessed Kohs abduction, the police officers in charge of the investigation, Special Branch officers, family members, friends and the now-retired inspector general of police, Khalid Abu Bakar.

Between 1980 and 2016, the UNs Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances were informed of only two cases of enforced disappearance from Malaysia.

Koh and Amris disappearances highlighted an ugly spectre in Malaysian life, the lawyers for the families wrote in their final submission to the inquiry.

The evidence points to circumstances suggesting that the organs of the state either orchestrated the abduction, or supported it; or, at a minimum, had knowledge of the act and stood by to allow the act to occur or continue, the lawyers concluded.

The commissioners were also told how both men were threatened before their disappearances.

After a 2011 fund-raising dinner was broken up by Islamic religious authorities and the police, Koh was sent two bullets in the post. His wife was mailed an envelope, filled with white powder, with the words We want to kill you written in Malay.

Freedom of religion

The commissioners noted that both men were monitored because of their beliefs and called on the authorities, including the police and Islamic authorities, to respect the fundamental right to freedom of religion spelled out in Malaysias constitution.

The states mufti visited Amri after he had come to the attention of the religious authorities in Perlis. Norhayati detailed in her police statement that her husband had been monitored by the Special Branch, the intelligence arm of the police, and taken by them without the knowledge of the regular force.

The police did not attend the panel findings, despite being invited, although officers had attended earlier sessions.

During the inquiry, police witnesses often said they could not remember what happened or that they could not reveal details because of the Official Secrets Act.

In their written submissions to the inquiry, which was obtained by Al Jazeera, it said there was no evidence of police involvement, investigations were continuing and any new leads would be followed up.

After the CCTV footage of Kohs abduction was played to the commissioners, showing seven vehicles and 15 men kidnapping the pastor, most of the men wearing black balaclavas, former police chief Khalid dismissed the evidence.

These are all learned from the movies, he said to the amazement of those present. They try to emulate that.

One of the first police officers to investigate the disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh explains what happened to the human rights commissioners investigating the case as a forced disappearance [Kate Mayberry/Al Jazeera]

Affront

Khalid set up a special taskforce to investigate the kidnappings, and the police suggested that a drug-smuggling gang involved in a fatal shoot-out in northern Malaysia had taken Koh, saying they had found photos of the pastor while searching the groups house.

During the inquiry, the families lawyers pointed out inconsistencies in the police account of the incident and the discovery of the photos.

Mah dismissed the police account as full of inconsistencies and material contradictions and an affront to common sense and logic.

The families lawyers also revealed that a car seen parked outside Amris house prior to his disappearance was also present at Kohs kidnapping.

The vehicle was traced to a police officer who had worked for the force for 18 years but when the human rights commission sought to interview him, the police said the officer was no longer serving and could not be located.

Questions were also raised about the polices sudden decision to charge an Uber driver, Lam Chang Nam, for Kohs kidnapping, even though he had earlier been ruled out as a suspect  a decision which forced the suspension of the inquiry.

Lams trial is yet to begin; he is due in court on April 17.

The inquirys term ended before it could investigate the other two disappearances.The transaction is the first major asset sale by Malaysia to recover billions stolen from state fund 1MDB.

Malaysia will sell a luxury yacht allegedly bought with money stolen from state fund 1MDB for $126m, authorities have said, a move that marks the first major asset sale by Kuala Lumpur to recover billions lost from the fund.

The announcement on Wednesday came as Malaysias former leader, Najib Razak, went on trial for corruption charges linked to the 1MDB controversy.

Tommy Thomas, the attorney general, said the Admiralty Court approved the sale of the Equanimity, which has lavish amenities including a helicopter landing pad, plunge pool, gymnasium and a cinema, to casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd.

US and Malaysian investigators say the $250m yacht was bought with funds diverted from the 1MDB fund by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, believed to be a key figure in the theft and international laundering of $4.5bn from 1MDB.

Malaysia set a minimum price tag of $130m when it put the 91-metre yacht up for sale in October, but had struggled to find a buyer.

Many offers were received  and a few were over $100m, Thomas said in a statement, adding that Genting would pay end of April, making it the highest recovery to date for the government from the scandal.





A spokesman for Low called the sale a failed PR stunt, saying Malaysia had accepted a bargain basement sale price.

Malaysian police have issued an arrest warrant and filed criminal charges against Low, but his whereabouts are unknown.

He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

1MDB, founded by Najib in 2009, is being investigated by at least six countries for money laundering and corruption.

The multibillion-dollar fraud at the fund led to Najibs shocking electoral defeat last May and ushered in the countrys first change of power since independence from Britain in 1957.

Within two months of the vote, the deposed leader was barred from leaving Malaysia and arrested.

On Wednesday, Najib faced the first of several trials over the alleged looting of 1MDB.

The 65-year-old pleaded not guilty to the three counts each of criminal breach of trust and money laundering, and one count of abuse of power. They relate to suspected transfers totalling 42 million ringgit ($10.3m) to his bank account from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit.Cholera kills at least three people as health officials begin campaign to immunise 900,000 cyclone survivors.

Beira, Mozambique  The Mozambican health ministry has launched a vaccination campaign in cyclone-ravaged Beira city in a bid to contain an outbreak of cholera that has killed at least three people.

Kate Alberti, a cholera expert at the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Wednesday the six-day drive will inoculate some 900,000 people in the four districts affected by cyclone Idai.

The powerful storm made landfall in Mozambique on March 14 and triggered widespread flooding that submerged entire villages. At least 598 people were killed, more than 600,000 were displaced and officials have said they expect the death toll to rise.

As floodwaters began to recede, health officials warned of a second disaster from cholera and other diseases.

Transmitted by drinking contaminated water and food, cholera is endemic in Mozambique.

Alberti said that the cyclone had caused damage to infrastructure, while reducing access to water and sanitation.

Now, we have vaccines to prevent cholera in the communities and stop this outbreak, she said at the Ifapa camp in hard-hit Beira city





Children, who are at the highest risk of dying from cholera, will get priority, according to officials.

More than 1700 people have been infected since the outbreak was declared on March 27.

Health officials reported 200 new cases each day in Beira, a port city of half a million people.

The vaccination campaign will also cover the districts of Buzi, Nhamatanda and Dondo.

No option but to stay here

Hundreds of people lined up on Wednesday to receive the oral vaccine doses at the Ifapa camp, where some 1,700 people displaced by the cyclone and flooding have taken shelter in 160 tarpaulin tents provided by aid agencies.

There were only 10 toilets for the camps residents, whose only source of clean water was a pump at the entrance to the camp.

Many were not happy about the poor quality of food and hygiene measures at Ifapa.

Look at this cereal, is this nutritious? asked Machel, holding up a small bowl of cornmeal. He only gave one name.

We deserve better food. I know they are trying but the food quality needs to improve, he said.

Teresa Jose, mother of three children, said: The sanitary conditions of the camp are not very good for me and my children. The tents are not properly covered. It gets very hot during the day and cold at night.

She added: We have no option than to stay here for now but the conditions need to improve to ensure we dont fall ill.

Maria Jorge, mother of two, said she was worried about her childrens safety amid cholera outbreak [Fidelis Mbah/Al Jazeera]

Health workers at the camp trained residents on hygiene and safe preparation of food, said 23-year-old Maria Jorge.

The mother of two said she was concerned about the safety of her young children, aged one and three.

I dont want to go through the trauma of being infected with cholera, so I have to take extra care of myself and my children, Jorge said.

The United Nations has called cyclone Idai the worst weather-related catastrophes in the history of Africa.

The cyclone and flood killed more than 300 people in neighbouring Zimbabwe and Malawi.The military alliance marks its 70th anniversary this week. What is the group and how has it changed?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) marks its 70th anniversary this week.

Foreign ministers from NATO countries are meeting in the United Statess capital, Washington, DC, for the occasion, determined to show a united front in the midst of a long military stalemate in Afghanistan and tensions with Russia returning to Cold War-era levels.

But as NATO deploys thousands of troops and equipment to deter Russia and seeks solutions to fast-evolving new threats such as cyberattacks and hybrid warfare, its biggest challenge arguably lies within.

Here is what you need to know about NATO:

What is Nato?

NATO is a 70-year-old political and military alliance that joins the US and Canada with allies in Europe. The alliance grew largely out of Cold War fears of Soviet aggression and expansionism.

The US, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom signed the initial treaty on April 4, 1949.

A key provision of the treaty, the so-called Article 5, states that if one member of the alliance is attacked in Europe or North America, it is to be considered an attack on all members. That effectively put Western Europe under the nuclear umbrella of the US.

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According to NATO, the alliance plays an important role in fighting terrorism.

It has contributed more than 13,000 NATO troops for the training of local forces in Afghanistan. NATO is also a full member of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group.

The head of the alliance is always a civilian secretary-general. Currently the NATO chief is former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. NATO is led militarily by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, who is also the commanding general of the Stuttgart-based US European Command, currently General Curtis Scaparrotti.

National liaison representatives to the then-SACLANT, NATOs Supreme Atlantic Command for the Atlantic, discuss the world situation and defence of the Atlantic in the event of war, at their weekly meeting in SACLANT headquarters, Norfolk, Virginia on September 30, 1954 [File: Bill Allen/AP Photo]

Who are the members?

NATO has grown from the original 12 countries to an alliance of 29. Several other nations are in membership negotiations.

Current member countries and the year they joined NATO: Albania (2009), Belgium (1949), Bulgaria (2004), Canada (1949), Croatia (2009), Czech Republic (1999), Denmark (1949), Estonia (2004), France (1949), Germany (1955), Greece (1952), Hungary (1999), Iceland (1949), Italy (1949), Latvia (2004), Lithuania (2004), Luxembourg (1949), Montenegro (2017), Netherlands (1949), Norway (1949), Poland (1999), Portugal (1949), Romania (2004), Slovakia (2004), Slovenia (2004), Spain (1982), Turkey (1952), UK (1949) and US (1949).

Why did NATO start? How has it changed?

NATO started as a largely political alliance, which changed quickly after the Soviets tested an atomic bomb in 1949, as well as after the Korean War broke out in 1950. General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed that year as the first supreme allied commander. Lord Ismay was the first secretary-general of NATO and appointed vice chairman of the North Atlantic Council in 1952.

The events prompted members to establish a centralised headquarters, commit joint-military resources and commit to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.

NATO has only once invoked Article 5, on September 12, 2001 following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in the US.

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In its response to the attacks, the alliance activated Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) reconnaissance flights over the US for months, operations that included 830 crew members from 13 NATO countries. It also launched maritime operations in the Mediterranean, and participated in US-led efforts in Afghanistan, where it has led the mission since 2003.

NATO has survived formidable challenges over the decades, including the Cuban missile crisis and the missile race in Europe. Its also remained intact after internal divisions over the Suez Canal, the Iraq war and Frances departure from the alliances command structure. Officials say they are confident NATO will endure now even while there are spats over trade, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal.

All NATO allies agreed to move towards spending two percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence by 2024, but last month Berlin announced that its own figure was set to fall in the coming years, from 1.37 percent in 2020 to just 1.25 percent in 2023. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had earlier pledged to spend 1.5 percent by 2024.

The news infuriated Washington, and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Berlin must live up to commitments it had signed up to at a summit in 2014.

In 2018, only seven of NATOs 29 member states hit the two-percent target.

Brigadier General Earl Johann Adolf von Kielmansegg inspects April 5, 1956 the four German airforce soldiers who were stationed at the NATO Headquarters in Paris, France [Str/AP Photo]

NATO versus Trump

US President Donald Trump made a memorable impression on leaders from Canada and European nations during his first NATO summit in May 2017. During a speech outside NATOs new Brussels headquarters, he publicly humiliated them by pointing out their spending shortfalls and calling them out for owing massive amounts from previous years. Trump also cast doubt on whether they could count on Washington to fulfil NATOs collective defence clause.

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Trump has repeatedly accused NATO allies  and economic powerhouse Germany in particular  of freeloading on USs military muscle and reportedly threatened to go it alone if Europe did not step up. Several times over the course of 2018 Trump privately told his advisers he wanted to withdraw from NATO, the New York Times reported.

A big source of the internal strain is Trumps recurrent demand that countries devote an amount equal to at least two percent of GDP to defence spending  although that metric takes no account of how well the money is spent  as well as the US presidents reluctance to criticise strongmen such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump, they said, is seen by allies as NATOs most urgent, and often most difficult, problem.

In a warning to Trump to not to try to withdraw the US from the NATO military alliance, the US House of Representatives in January approved legislation aimed at preventing such a move. The NATO Support Act has now moved to the Senate.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks while meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House [Joshua Roberts/Reuters]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also invited Stoltenberg to address a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday. The invitation was backed by US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and followed votes earlier this year in which Republicans voiced opposition to Trumps plans to draw down US troops in Syria and Afghanistan.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Stoltenbergs predecessor as NATOs top civilian official, cautioned in an email exchange with The Associated Press news agency that the US retreat would leave a vacuum that would be filled by autocrats and dictators.

On Monday as Trump met Stoltenberg at the White House, he said his pressure on NATO nations to pay more for their defence is leading to tens of billions of dollars more in contributions, but the allies may need to boost their budgets even more.

Since I came to office its a rocket ship up. Weve picked up over $140bn in additional money, and we look like were going to have at least another $100bn in spending by the nations  by 2020, he said, while also singling out Germany for not hitting the two percent target.

What does Russia say about NATO?

The Kremlin has said NATO is a security threat in Eastern Europe and regards it as a hostile military bloc.

Last year Russian President Vladimir Putin warned NATO against cultivating closer ties with Ukraine and Georgia  which share a border with Russia  saying such a policy was irresponsible and would have unspecified consequences for the alliance.

Wrong-footed by Moscow with Russias seizure of Crimea in 2014 and its intervention in Syrias war in 2015, the US is distrustful of the Kremlins public message and wants to be ready for any eventuality.

Trump said a stronger NATO provides a bulwark against Russia, but that he believed relations with Moscow would be fine. As has been his norm, Trump was reluctant to criticise Russia on Tuesday.

Russia is sowing discord in the NATO alliance by selling to NATO member Turkey the S-400 air defence system. The US has halted delivery of equipment related to its F-35 fighter jets to Turkey over its S-400 plans.

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The US has said that Turkeys purchase of the Russian air defence system would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft, which is built by Lockheed Martin Corp.

But acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said on Tuesday that he expected to resolve a dispute with Turkey over its purchase of Russias S-400 air defence system.

Shanahan expressed optimism that the US and Turkey would find a way out of the crisis by persuading Turkey to buy the Patriot defence system, instead of S-400s.

I expect well solve the problem so that they have the right defence equipment in terms of Patriots and F-35s, Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon.

Shanahan added that he expected the US to ultimately carry out the delivery of F-35s currently at Luke Air Force base to Turkey, after resolving the dispute.In the first address to Congress by a NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg acknowledges serious divisions within the alliance.

The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) warned on Wednesday of the threat posed by a more assertive Russia, including a massive military buildup, threats to sovereign states, the use of nerve agents and cyberattacks.

We must overcome our differences now because we will need our alliance even more in the future. We face unprecedented challenges  challenges no one nation can face alone, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a speech to a joint meeting of the US Congress.

Saying time is running out, Stoltenberg also called on Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which US President Donald Trump plans to withdraw the US this summer.

NATO has no intention of deploying land-based nuclear missiles in Europe, Stoltenberg said. But NATO will always take the necessary steps to provide credible and effective deterrence.

Stoltenberg used his speech to give an impassioned defence of the 70-year-old Western alliance, a partnership he called the most successful alliance in history, which has often been derided by Trump since he took office in 2017.

Members of Congress, who greeted Stoltenberg with repeated cheers and standing ovations, said they viewed his address to the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate as a chance to reaffirm the US commitment to the NATO alliance.

Message to Trump

Stoltenberg was the first leader of an international organisation and the first Norwegian to be accorded the rare honour of such an address.

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NATO has been good for Europe, but NATO has also been good for the United States, Stoltenberg said. The invitation to Stoltenberg to speak as the alliance celebrates its 70th anniversary in Washington was widely seen as a way to send a message to Trump about strong bipartisan support for NATO.

The strength of a nation is not only measured by the size of its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends, Stoltenberg added. And through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other power. This has made the United States stronger, safer and more secure.

Trump has ruffled feathers among European allies by repeatedly saying NATO nations need to pay more for their militaries and ease the burden on the US.

Earlier this year, before inviting Stoltenberg to Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation of her fellow Democrats to Brussels, where they sought to reassure European allies that differences over Trumps policies were mere family squabbles and that transatlantic ties remained strong.

Members of Congress have also introduced legislation expressing support for NATO or seeking to keep any president from withdrawing from the alliance without legislators approval.

Spending pressure

Stoltenberg met Trump on Tuesday. The US president said his pressure on NATO nations to pay more for their defence is leading to tens of billions of dollars more in contributions, but the allies may need to boost their budgets even more.

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Stoltenberg said NATO member countries are adding billions to their defence spending  $41bn in the last two years. He expects that figure to rise to $100bn next year.

This is making NATO stronger, he said. This is good for Europe, and it is good for America.

Trumps NATO criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington to be its leader.

Trumps criticisms are not NATOs only source of friction. The alliance also is at odds with long-time member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defence system that is not compatible with the allied air defences.

The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest US fighter jet, the F-35, if Ankara goes through with its plan to buy Russias S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

On Thursday, Stoltenberg will lead a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to mark 70 years since the alliances founding charter, the North Atlantic Treaty.

The alliance has grown from its original 12 members to 29, with North Macedonia about to become the 30th member country.Country echoes concerns of NASA that debris from test could damage the International Space Station.

Islamabad, Pakistan  Pakistan has expressed grave concern over Indias test last week of an anti-satellite weapon and its potential impact on existing space installations such as the International Space Station (ISS), according to a foreign ministry statement.

On March 27, India announced it had successfully undertaken an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test, destroying one of its own satellites in low-orbit around Earth using a modified ballistic missile.

This [anti-satellite weapon] test should be a matter of grave concern for the international community, not only in terms of generation of space debris but also because of its ramifications for long-term sustainability of peaceful space activities, the Pakistani foreign ministry statement released on Tuesday said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who heads into a general election later this month, hailed the test as a sign of Indias arrival as a space power.

#MissionShakti is special for 2 reasons:

(1) India is only the 4th country to acquire such a specialised & modern capability.

(2) 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.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 27, 2019

On Monday, however, the administrator for US space agency NASA, Jim Bridenstine, said the test created 400 pieces of orbital debris that could damage the ISS and other satellites.

That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris in an apogee that goes above the International Space Station, Bridenstine said at a town hall event, referring to the highest point the debris reached in orbit.

And that kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human space flight that we need to see happen.

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NASA has calculated that the debris from Indias ASAT test has increased the probability of debris hitting the ISS by at least 44 percent over 10 days, with 24 of the 60 pieces it is tracking currently travelling above the apogee of the ISS.

India says the debris is harmless and will not affect any other satellites or the ISS.

The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris, said an Indian foreign ministry statement. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks.

No intention of entering arms race

Pakistan said Indias test was detrimental to the cause of space remaining peaceful.

Pakistan remains a strong proponent of non-militarisation of outer space, its statement said. We will continue to work with like-minded countries to address gaps in the international legal regime governing the exploration and use of outer space with a view to ensuring that no one threatens peaceful activities and applications of space technologies for socio-economic development.

Currently, there are no binding international agreements on the use of weapons in space. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which India and Pakistan are signatories, prohibits the use of weapons of mass destruction in space but does not restrict the use of conventional weapons.

Indias government, meanwhile, hailed the test as a proclamation of the countrys scientific and military prowess. So far, the US, Russia and China are the only other countries to conduct ASAT missile tests successfully.

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India stands tall as a space power! It will make India stronger, even more secure and will further peace and harmony, Modi tweeted shortly after the test.

An Indian foreign ministry statement said the test was not directed against any country.

India has no intention of entering into an arms race in outer space, said the statement. We have always maintained that space must be used only for peaceful purposes.

Shortly after the test, however, Indian PM Modi tweeted: Our scientists have given India the capability to smash those forces who threaten our peace and harmony.

Indeed, a proud moment for the whole nation. Just like you smash the bad deliveries out of the park, our scientists have given India the capability to smash those forces who threaten our peace and harmony. #MissionShakti https://t.co/U4mpQiH9Fn  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 27, 2019

The tweet was a possible allusion to Pakistan, with whom tensions have been high in recent weeks following a suicide attack in the Indian-administered Kashmir town of Pulwama in February.

India responded to the suicide attack, which its military and political leadership blamed on Pakistan, by launching airstrikes on Pakistani territory. Pakistan responded with airstrikes of its own, with both countrys fighter jets engaged in an aerial dogfight that resulted in at least one Indian Air Force jet shot down on February 27.

Tensions remain high with frequent shelling across the Line of Control  the de facto border  that separates Indian and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. On Tuesday, at least three Pakistani soldiers were killed in shelling in the disputed territory.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim.Mohammad Abdul-Fattah was shot by an Israeli from the illegal settlement of Elon Moreh in the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian man on Wednesday after an alleged stabbing attack near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Israeli army.

Medical sources said the Palestinian, identified as Mohammad Abdul-Fattah, a resident from the northern West Bank district of Salfit, was in critical condition. He was taken to an Israeli hospital east of Tel Aviv, where he was pronounced dead, according to Maan news agency.

A Nablus hospital said another Palestinian, 22-year-old Khaled Rawajbeh, was moderately wounded in Wednesdays shooting, which took place near a checkpoint.

There were conflicting accounts from witnesses as to how the second Palestinian was wounded. One account attributed it to occupation forces while Maan reported it was stray fire from the first shooting.

No Israelis were wounded.

Witnesses refuted the Israeli militarys statement and denied a stabbing attempt had taken place, local media reported.

According to Maan, Abdul-Fattah, a truck driver, had left his vehicle after the settler blocked the road with his car. The settler prevented him from driving on despite holding an Israeli license plate, and shortly after he opened fire towards the two Palestinian men.

Israeli media identified the settler as Joshua Sherman from the illegal settlement of Elon Moreh east of Nablus.





Sherman told local media that the Palestinian jumped on the car with a knife and tried to open the door.

Elon Moreh is home to nearly 2,000 Jewish settlers who live among several other illegal outposts and settlements that form a ring around Nablus, heavily restricting Palestinian movement in the area, according to Israeli rights group BTselem.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law and are a major sticking point for peace efforts between Israel and Palestinian leaders.

In January, Israeli settlers shot and killed Hamdi Naasan, a 38-year-old Palestinian, when they attacked the Palestinian village of al-Mugheir in the West Bank.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the average number of violent incidents instigated by settlers every month increased by 57 percent in 2018 compared with 2017, and by 175 percent compared with 2016.

Since 2015, Israeli forces have killed over 260 Palestinians, while Palestinians have killed over 50 Israelis in West Bank in sporadic attacks during the same period.

Palestinians say the attacks stem from anger over decades of Israeli occupation in territory they claim for their state. Israel blames the violence on incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders.

A number of local and international human rights groups have raised concerns that Israeli forces have used excessive force when confronting Palestinians who had carried out attacks or been suspected of doing so.Red Cross President Peter Maurer wants children living without parents in al-Hol camp to be able to go home.

Hundreds of unaccompanied children are living in a camp in northeast Syria, overwhelmed with people who fled the last battlefields of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.

The children are living without their parents at the al-Hol camp in the Hasakah province, which houses between 80,000 and 100,000 people.

Our top priority at the present moment is to identify the unaccompanied children, to notify the governments that we have found children without parents, and to see whether somewhere from China to Argentina there is family of unaccompanied children to which we can send the kids back, ICRC President Peter Maurer, who visited the overcrowded camp last month, told reporters on Tuesday.

Asked how many unaccompanied children were in al-Hol and several smaller camps, Maurer replied: Certainly hundreds, maybe more.

Overwhelmed

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Maurer explained that Kurdish local authorities who control the area separate out fleeing ISIL fighters and boys between the ages of 12 and 18, whom they believe were most likely fighters, and put them in detention.

Women and children are sent to al-Hol, which is roughly two-thirds children and one-third mothers, he said.

It is estimated that about 35,000 people in al-Hol are Syrians, around 35,000 to 40,000 are Iraqis, and the rest, probably around 10,000, are from 30 to 40 nationalities worldwide, Maurer said.

Given the numbers, the Kurdish authorities and International Committee of the Red Cross are just overwhelmed in terms of registering and finding out who is coming, he said.

To complicate things further, he said that during the last few days we have seen in those camps there are not only families of foreign fighters but we see also victims of Islamic State aggressions in the past.

We found Yazidi women who have been abducted by Islamic State into Baghouz, who have been enslaved in Baghouz, who managed to get out of Baghouz, the last ISIL stronghold.

Because they cant prove who they are they are, basically put in detention-like facility in camps, he said.

According to a statement by the ICRC chief last month, dozens of children have also died because of the cold and conditions in al-Hol in recent weeks.

Complex situation

US-backed forces declared military victory over ISIL last month, ending a four-year battle against the armed group that once held territory spanning a third of Syria and Iraq.

With the collapse of the eastern town of Baghouz, the last ISIL bastion in Syria, several governments have been grappling with the problem of what to do with captured fighters from their country, the women who married them and their children.

The ICRC president complained that governments were showing little interest in tackling the problem of foreign nationals linked to ISIL, limiting their response to offering emergency assistance.





Thats not really the big issue, said Maurer. The big issue will be: how do we find a system which deals with the different categories of people, which tries to identify who is a victim, to look at individual cases, he said.

He said some countries will accept them, and will even accept fighters who are put into either detention or reintegration and deradicalisation programmes.

But some countries object to taking their people back, he said, referring to Britain, Europe overall, and others.

We are just looking at a pretty stark picture of a highly complex situation in which we see that nobody is particularly interested to put structures, processors in place, to deal with the issue beyond emergency assistance, Maurer said.

Last month, France took in five orphans, but it has a case-by-case approach to the return of the children.

At its height, ISIL carried out massacres, beheaded foreign journalists and aid workers, and captured thousands of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority forcing them into sex slavery.

Many remain missing to this day.The trials of 11 Saudi womens rights activists, most of them imprisoned, are expected to continue for two more weeks.

Nearly a dozen Saudi womens rights activists, most of them imprisoned, attended their third court session on Wednesday and were told their trials will continue for at least two more weeks.

The 11 women, some of whom allegedly faced torture and sexual abuse during nearly a year in detention, are on trial in Riyadhs criminal court on charges that include contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups.

Three of them  blogger Eman al-Nafjan, retired university lecturer Aziza al-Youssef and preacher Rokaya al-Mohareb  were seen entering the court after they were provisionally freed last Thursday.

The others were subsequently expected to be temporarily freed, but there was no decision from the three-judge panel.

The third trial session for the Saudi women activists has ended with NO VERDICTS against any of them, and with no temporary release to any of them, Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners, said on Twitter.

The ALQST rights group said some verdicts could be issued on April 17, when the eight women who remain imprisoned are due back for their fourth court appearance. The court is also expected to hold more bail hearings in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the three women who were granted temporary release last week were told their next court date would take place after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in early June this year. The king traditionally issues pardons after Ramadan, however, they do not typically include political detainees.

The siblings of one of the prominent detainees, activist Loujain al-Hathloul, said they were being pressured by people close to the Saudi state to remain silent over her treatment in detention.

Pressure from all sides to remain silent, her sister Alia al-Hathloul said on Twitter, without naming anyone.

We were silent and the worst kinds of torture happened while we were silent. I can shut up but only when Loujain is with us and those who tortured her are put on trial.

At an emotionally charged hearing last week, some of the women broke down while testifying that they faced torture and sexual harassment in detention, two people with access to the trial told the AFP news agency.

The women told the court they had been caned on their backs and thighs, electrocuted, groped and waterboarded by masked men who did not identify themselves.

The women say the abuse took place during interrogations last year in the Red Sea city of Jeddah before they were moved to Riyadh, where they are being tried.

At least one of the detained women tried to commit suicide following her mistreatment, a close relative said.

Journalists working for foreign media, diplomats and other independent observers have not been allowed to attend the hearings.

The Saudi government denies the women were tortured or harassed.

The trial has intensified criticism of the kingdom over human rights following global outrage over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents last October at the kingdoms consulate in Istanbul.If you have recipes or tips to share, or a request, send to Conversations with Gin, P.O. Box 334, Clute TX 77531 or email ginscolumn@hotmail.com.Wilson-Raybould and Philpott, former cabinet members, quit their posts earlier this year.

Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled two former cabinet members whom he said had undermined the ruling Liberal Party as he moves to end the worst crisis of his tenure.

Trudeau announced on Tuesday that former Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board minister Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal legislators.

The Liberals have been in turmoil since Wilson-Raybould said in February that officials had inappropriately pressured her to ensure construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc escaped a corruption trial when she was justice minister last year.

The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken, Trudeau told an emergency meeting of a caucus.

Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided. We cant afford to make that mistake. Canadians are counting on us, added Trudeau, who came into office in November 2015 and faces a re-election contest this year.

Reflecting on what PM has done, my thoughts are w/ my constituents in #VanGran, my dedicated staff & volunteers, my family & friends & all Canadians who believed in a new way of doing politics. I will take the time to reflect & talk to my supporters about what happens next. (1/2)  Jody Wilson-Raybould  Vancouver Granville (@Puglaas) April 2, 2019

Trudeau cited repeated questioning of his leadership as well as the fact that Wilson-Raybould publicised a secretly recorded conversation she had with Michael Wernick, Canadas top civil servant.

He called that unconscionable.

Wilson-Raybould was demoted in January and resigned the next month. Philpott quit shortly afterwards, saying she had lost confidence in how Trudeau was handling the matter.

Tuesdays move represents a retreat by Trudeau who, as recently as last week, said the Liberals needed strong legislators with differing points of view.

But increasingly angry parliamentarians demanded both women be removed from the caucus on the grounds they were undermining party unity.





Polls show the crisis has cut public support for the Liberals to such an extent that they could lose an October election to the official opposition Conservatives.

The scandal led to multiple resignations, including Gerry Butts, Trudeaus top aide and best friend. Trudeau has denied any wrongdoing.

It is also starting to hit his fortunes in the populous province of Quebec, where the Liberals say they need to pick up seats in October to remain in power.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeaus decision to expel the two politicians from the Liberal Party sent a message that if you tell the truth, there is no room for you in the Liberal Party.

Wilson-Raybould said on Twitter that Trudeau had also told her she could not run for the Liberals in the October election.

Philpott said on Facebook that she did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister.Trump gets pushback over threat, with critics, including Republicans, warning of catastrophic impact of closing border

President Donald Trump again threatened on Wednesday to close the United States border with Mexico, this time calling on Congress to take action.

Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the border! Trump tweeted. If no action, border, or large sections of border, will close. This is a national emergency!

Trump has repeatedly threatened to close the US southern border, despite pressure from companies worried that a shutdown would hurt supply chains and $1.7bn in daily trade.

Last week, he said that closure could come as early as this week unless Mexico stopped people from crossing the border irregularly. He appeared to walk back on that threat, however, saying he was pleased with steps Mexico has taken in recent days.

Trump is facing pushback from rights groups, business owners, Democrats and those within his own party, who say closing the border would have devastating effects in the United States and Mexico.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told NBC News that closing the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact.

He added that although he agrees with Trump that there is a border crisis, he would hope that the US would not close the border.

Border delays

A transfer of US border agents to immigration duties has slowed commercial traffic at three crossings, with gridlock in El Paso extending for hours.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Tuesday it would suspend cargo operations every Saturday at one of its crossing points in El Paso until it has enough staff to operate fully, Mexican media reported.

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On Wednesday, some, but not all, lanes were open to commercial traffic at El Paso, Laredo and Otay Mesa. The longest wait stretched up to three hours at a section of the El Paso crossing, according to CBP. In Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, lines of trucks were longer than usual, according to a Reuters witness.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday there were no serious problems at the US-Mexico border after commercial traffic slowed at several crossings.

Mexicos Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard is in constant communication with US authorities to avoid conflict and to keep the border open, Lopez Obrador told reporters at his regular morning news conference.

Its not in anyones interest to close the border, he said.

Drivers and commuters wait in line to cross to El Paso, Texas, on the international border crossing bridge Paso del Norte, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]

Trump declared a national emergency in February to circumvent Congress in obtaining billions of dollars to build his promised wall on the US-Mexico border.

Congress passed a bill to revoke the order, but Trump vetoed the measure. The emergency is also being challenged in the courts.

Thousands of people fleeing Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and elsewhere have made their way to the border in recent months with the hopes of applying for asylum.

Dozens have told Al Jazeera they are fleeing political persecution, violence and extreme poverty.

Last week, US government officials said March was on track to have the highest number of monthly border crossings in over a decade, with more than 100,000 apprehensions and encounters of people deemed inadmissible at US ports of entry. They added there has been a surge in the number of family units crossing the border.

Treated like animals

Hundreds of migrants are being bussed further inland and dropped off at bus stations and churches. Trump has mocked and vowed to end that so-called catch and release practice in the past.

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But Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials have been releasing asylum-seeking families so quickly that they dont even have time to make travel arrangements. Families are given court dates, a head of household is often fitted with an ankle monitor, and they are dropped off at a charity-run shelter or bus station.

San Antonio received part of that surge in recent days, forcing the city to open a help centre with food for migrants.

In El Paso, where shelters and churches are at capacity and seats on buses headed out of the city are getting harder to find, authorities briefly resorted to holding migrants in a pen lined with concertina wire under the shade of a bridge that connects the American city to Juarez, Mexico. They closed the makeshift holding area over the weekend and moved the migrants to a place with more shelter.

They treated us like animals, said Herling Jerlyn, a teenager from Guatemala.

A Central American immigrant seeking asylum rests on a cot at Travis Park Church, which is serving as a makeshift shelter in downtown San Antonio [Eric Gay/AP Photo]

About 22,000 immigrants have been released in Arizona in the past three months. In the Phoenix area, the nonprofit organisations and churches taking them in have a capacity of only 700 a week, said Connie Phillips, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services in the Southwest.

That means immigration authorities have to drop off families by the busload at places not designed to take them in, such as the Greyhound station in Phoenix.

US authorities have also ramped up the controversial policy of returning migrants back to Mexico while they wait out their asylum claims. Rights groups have said the practice violates human rights. The policy is being challenged in the courts.Drills to take place the same week that China complained about a US aircraft carrier group sailing through the waters.The Original Amateur Hour was an American radio and television program in the 1940s that had similarities to the Democrat Primary. It was a popular show as its copycat television shows such as American Idol have been in recent years. Most of the Amateur Hours nascent contestants went down in flames and deservingly so , but a few of the winners went on to have success such as Gladys Knight and Pat Boone.

Its amateur hour in the 2020 election cycle with many of the Democrat candidates having disqualified themselves by their personal lives (lack of character) or insane, inane, and inept political positions they have espoused.

Former Texas Congressman Robert ORourke, known as Beto did diddlysquat in Congress and lost his recent senatorial race to Senator Ted Cruz. ORourke was arrested for burglary and leaving the scene of an accident in the 1990s. He is known for writing erotic verses about cows, and eating dirt after his loss to Ted Cruz. (I would have eaten crow or humble pie, but not dirt.) Beto fed his wife feces telling her it was avocado. That says much about him and his wife.

Evidently, Beto thinks of himself as a wit and he may be half right. He supports abolishing the Electoral College, packing the Supreme Court, and will consider reparations. He has apologized for many zany and dumb statements, even for being born.

Joe Biden, considered the frontrunner, is almost sure he will run in 2020 but Joe has decades of heavy baggage from plagiarism to historical incompetence to aggressive dealings with girls and women. Joe is known as Handsy and Creepy Uncle Joe. The Gawker website published photos of what it called, groping moments. The leftist media usually does not call him to account but instead Joe is said to be adorable and a classic Irish politician.

Joe is also careless with his unscripted remarks telling an Indian-American man, "You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking." Joe has apologized for some of his dumb statements and for being a male but not for being born, as Beto did.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is a front runner, although at his age, he will be limited how fast and how far he will run. However, everyone knows he will continue running to the left. Bernie told his supporters via email, "Our campaign is about transforming our country, but thats what scares me. He would abolish ICE. He wants a free America transformed into a socialist state such as Laos, Venezuela, or Cuba. Bernie does not admit that a socialist is a Communist without a gun.

Senator Cory Corker is a first term unmarried senator from New Jersey adamantly trying to convince his critics that he is not gay. He proves it by dating a high-profile beauty. Booker supports Medicare For All, the Green New Deal, abortion, LGBTQ rights, gun control, and would pack the Supreme Court.

Senator Kamala Harris was Attorney General of California and has the reputation of sleeping her way to the top of the heap. She was openly the mistress of Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco. Kamala lied about smoking weed in college while listening to the music of Snoop Dogg and Tupac. It was untrue because Harris graduated college many years before their albums were released. She would pack the Supreme Court and consider reparations.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (born and reared in Oklahoma) entered the presidential race and released her tax records, challenging President Trump to do likewise. She supports universal childcare, relief for student loan debt, universal health care by way of Medicare for All, free public college, and a wealth tax. Warren has plans to abolish the Electoral College, abolish ICE, pack the Supreme Court, and she supports reparations. The senator lied about being an American Indian to gain a position at Harvard. I wonder if Warren will denounce tenure as she did her Indian heritage. Warren no longer claims Native American heritage although she is often called, Pocahontas by a very famous person.

Most of the Democrat candidates support reparations which is paying Blacks who may or may not have a slave history for the period of American slavery. Would recent black immigrants receive payments, and would recent Asian and European immigrants be forced to pay their share? What about payments to black millionaires? The candidates are as silent as a graveyard.

The Green New Deal, brain child of Congressperson Alexandria Cortez, has been backed by all the candidates except John Delaney of Maryland. Cortez is a lightweight completely over her head when discussing any subject, with the exception of bartending, her previous job. I literally cringe whenever Cortez speaks about anything. The Green New Deal would include guaranteed jobs, a push for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, and a super ambiguous promise of access to nature.

Candidates like Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and others maintain strong pro-choice voting records, but they dont speak of abortion; its always reproductive rights, pro-choice, etc. Not one of the 2020 candidates attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), this year. AIPAC is a major lobbying group that advocates for Israel and hosted major leaders such as Vice President Pence and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Democrat candidates, while not supporting Israel, do support the Palestinians, whose television station called last week for Muslims to "Scatter the enemies' body parts, make the skulls fly in the sky." Hamas was launching missiles into Israels cities at the time of the telecast.

While the GOP in 2016 had some losers in their ranks, the Democrats are a gaggle of losers. I considered listing the primary candidates in order of their chances to win on their merits. But since the candidates have so few merits, it is impossible to list all of them in last place.

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Had Hillary Clinton done what she was supposed to do and won the 2016 presidential election, the American people would never have known about the "dossier," the FISA court, Christopher Steele, or Carter Page.

Hillary and Hillary alone had to win, but she didn't, and so a true conspiracy to overthrow a duly elected President of The United States commenced. By deciding to take part in the coup attempt, senior members in the FBI and DoJ risked going to prison for up to 20 years according to 18 U.S. Code  2385 -- advocating the overthrow of government. But not even a deep hatred for Trump would have been enough incentive for them to consider such a thing.

The stakes had to be nosebleed high to present to the FISA court a stack of paper filled with unverified stories and salacious hit pieces that would have eliminated it as serious evidence by any legitimate district attorney. It was given the exotic name "dossier" but in reality, all it amounted to was 35 pages of obvious fiction accepted by the FISA court not once but four times based on FBI approvals.

So why was it so imperative that Hillary had to be the next president that the DNC threw fellow Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders under the bus? That the FBI would admit that she committed several crimes with her private server but chose not to indict her? And that a two-year-long careless investigation hoax and worldwide embarrassment was allowed to happen?

It wasn't about who Trump was -- it was all about what Trump promised. It was about the survivability of the swamp.

From the very start, the Obama presidency focused on crushing conservative thought and detaching the country from the Constitution. Undermining the 2nd Amendment with Fast and Furious, forcing Americans to purchase a product they didn't want with ObamaCare and preventing conservatives from forming support networks by unleashing the power of the IRS against them. His policies greatly increased the number of Americans on food stamps and doubled the national debt to $20 trillion. And for this, the propaganda media labeled him the greatest president ever because, in their anti-American world, he was. So it was no surprise that Obama sided with America's sworn enemies by brokering the disastrous one-sided Iran Deal and assisting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

The swamp had to make sure the American people never found out about the little and big names behind the hundreds of crimes committed in order to advance Obama's and the media's anti-American agenda.

And as president, Hillary would do just that. She would make sure the changes made by the Obama administration in dismantling American values would continue, and the illegal tactics used would remain buried. For this accommodation, Hillary would now be able to accelerate the unabated flow of cash from all corners of the globe into the Clinton Foundation coffers.

It was a sweet deal, but it all ended the moment when Trump hit 270 electoral votes. And as we know, Hell froze over, pigs began to fly, and Trump entered the Oval Office, and for the first time in their political careers, Obama, Clinton, and members of the swamp contemplated the real possibility of prosecution.

And since that reality could never be allowed to happen, it was all hands on deck and the start of the unthinkable -- an actual political coup attempt against the President of The United States that included the most massive hoax investigation ever perpetrated on the American people.

The fly in the ointment, and the one factor not considered by the swamp intelligentsia, was the makeup of the person of Trump. For one, the conspirators never imagined a person could withstand a two-year barrage of 24/7 fake negative news coverage along with a slew of "America be damned," political obstructions via Congress. They never figured that a person like Trump existed. A man with the stamina of someone 40 years younger, who brought to Washington the assets he acquired as a businessman in the rough and tumble city of New York as well as the command of the TV audience he gained by his many years as a television host.

On March 22, 2019, the bottom fell out of the last vestiges of the coverup as Mueller handed his report absent any proof of Trump/Russian collusion to new Attorney General William Barr. But only part of the most insidious abuse of power in Americas' history had been dealt with.

History shows us that what goes unpunished becomes emboldened and multiplies. If this country truly wants to recover, to gain some semblance of normalcy and reclaim the rule of law, then it is imperative that all the conspirators involved in this shocking and despicable grab for power must be held accountable. President Trump stated, "This must never happen to another President." the only way to ensure that hope is to seek prosecution. To punish those involved.

This time the coup attempt was non-violent -- the next time it might be very different.My car, which has a Trump/Pence bumper sticker, was keyed. While pumping gas, a motorist seemed impressed by my courage to have a Trump bumper sticker. People have told me they are afraid to wear a MAGA cap or have a Trump sign on their lawn.

Having to feel so afraid to express our political views is outrageous. Democrats and fake news media have so twisted the meaning of MAGA and generated such hatred for Trump that citizens are afraid to publicly support the president of the United States. This is still America. Thugs who physically attack us for expressing our First Amendment right to free speech must be prosecuted.

Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and other Democrat domestic terrorists routinely beat up Trump supporters. Meanwhile, fake news media promotes their lie that the Tea Party is the violent movement. The Tea Party is totally nonviolent. Brothers and sisters, it requires courage to stand with Trump in his quest to bring America back from Democrats' destruction. I am grateful that God is on our side.

In the Clint Eastwood movie, Pale Rider, an evil businessman with an army of thugs tried to force small landowners to sell him their land. If the landowners did not sell, the businessman threatened to kill them and take their land. The small landowners voted to stay and fight for their land. They asked Preacher (Eastwood) to lead them. Preacher said, If I lead you, some of you will die. In other words, Preacher was saying freedom ain't free.

As we join Trump in the battle to restore America's greatness and recover our freedoms, MAGA cap wearers will be beaten, cars will be keyed. Freedom ain't free.

Ronald Reagan said, Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Shockingly, it appears freedom in America is only one election away from extinction. We have a generation of dumbed-down youths who are eager to surrender their constitutional freedoms for government freebies. Most of the Democrat presidential candidates are anti-freedom and anti-American socialist/communists. If Trump is not reelected, it could end America as we know it; if not forever, at least for decades.

Illegals are invading our country via the Mexican border at its highest since 2006, averaging 3500 per day. If Democrats win the White House, they will totally ignore immigration laws. Opening the floodgates to illegals will devastatingly transform America.

Sharia Law will spread like wildfire across America if Democrats win the White House. Rashida Tlaib and bold anti-Semitic Ilhan Omar are the first two Muslim women elected to congress. They are Phase 3 (Infiltration) of a master plan for Sharia law to rule America. Tlaib and Omar's mission is to support pro-Muslim candidates, spread pro-Muslim propaganda, and file lawsuits against anything they deem Islamophobia.

Meanwhile, Democrats have intensified their war on Christianity, seeking to ban the Bible and make biblical teachings illegal.

I f Democrats win the White House, the murder of innocent babies will dramatically increase. Shockingly, 19 states support infanticide, leaving babies who survive failed abortions to die. Democrats are hellbent on passing new laws to murder babies after they are born for any reason. Over 60 million babies have been murdered since Roe v Wade in 1973.

Decades of allowing leftist educators to dumb down students has a disturbingly high number of American youths favoring socialism over capitalism. Youths want government to be their daddy, providing their every need and desire for free. These youths absurdly believe the way we live in the United States will cause the earth to be uninhabitable in 12 years. Consequently, these duped youths will vote for Democrats' insane economy-crushing environmental laws.

If Democrats win the White House, they will reinstate and increase the mountain of oppressive regulations dismantled by Trump. Trump eliminated over 800 Obama regulations, saving businesses $4 billion. Only Democrats and deadbeat idiots hate all business owners. Small businesses have generated 65% of the new jobs since 1995. Fifty percent of the working population works in small businesses.

Given the billions of dollars spent, the deep state's corrupt schemes, fake news media's 24/7 lie-filled reporting, and over 500,000 articles purposed to destroy him, it is beyond extraordinary that Trump has survived with a 40% approval rating. Clearly, God has a hedge of protection surrounding this remarkable man. My fellow Christians please continue praying for our president and our homeland.

Defending freedom, D-Day on the beaches of Normandy required a huge sacrifice of 29,000 American lives. I thought about our young troop's thoughts the night before they landed, knowing that the next day many of them would probably die. Freedom ain't free, folks. Freedom ain't free.

While I believe Trump will emerge victorious in 2020, we still must rally behind and publicly express our support. We must refuse to be intimidated into the shadows by the Democrats' henchmen.

I have received my red Trump 2020 cap in the mail.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

Help Lloyd spread the TruthIn his Early Life, published in 1930, Winston Churchill declared, Dont take no for an answer. This aphorism may have inspired the young ambitious British politician destined to fame but it is also pertinent for those readers of Special Counsel Robert S. Muellers report who are perplexed that the 22-month 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 presidential election. Still in search of the illusory collusion between Trump and unnamed Russian officials, some members of the Democratic Party, particularly Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Cal) vow to continue investigations of the President and the 400-page Mueller report hoping to uncover any attempts to obstruct justice. They have got no under their skin, deep in the heart, and are not ready to wake up to reality.

The no-believers appear to follow the convention of classic Greek tragedy, deus ex machina, according to which some device will solve a seemingly unresolvable problem to bring about the desired conclusion. Though it has not yet been fully revealed, the Mueller Report has not played that role in U.S. politics. Similarly, those in Britain refusing to take no over Brexit search for a device, revoking Article 50, indicative votes, in Parliament, a second referendum, marches through the streets near the House of Commons, change of prime minister, general election, to end the political deadlock as a minimum.

Refusal of politicians in both the U.S. and UK to accept no has to be set in the context of political and intellectual change and issues becoming salient, after years of stasis and adherence to misconceptions or deliberate misrepresentation of reality.

Are they misguided or cynically hypocritical? On March 6, 2019 British Prince Harry spoke in London to a crowd of 12,000 young people on the issue of climate change: I know you dont sit back and wait for solutions. You take action and create them. Yet, two days earlier, he travelled the 125 miles from London to Birmingham by private helicopter, a flight that cost 6,000 as compared to first-class train trip that costs 34 and produces 90% less carbon emissions. His wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, flew in February by private jet to New York for a baby shower party, the event estimated to cost $500,000, and one that appears to be incompatible with saving the planet.

The same question, hypocrisy or animosity, can be asked of prominent members of the U.S. Democratic Party, particularly at least eight presidential candidates, who refused to attend the annual AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) conference in Washington in March 24-27, 2019. To call these absences Jexodus by the Democratic party may be excessive, since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer did attend and speak, but the absence of most of the Democratic presidential contenders for 2020, including Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Kamala Harris (D-Cal), Beto ORourke (D-Tex), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) was conspicuous. The implication is that they approve of the view of Move On that AIPAC is a partisan lobby group that has undermined diplomatic efforts for peace in the Middle East, even if they not approve of the use of anti-Semitic tropes by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn).

It is heartening to witness three new attempts, one in the UK, the other two in France, to overcome the biased noers like current students at Brown University who in March 2019 voted to separate Brown from companies that do business with Israel and its citizens, and others who approve of BDS, and the refusal of a number of members of the U.S. House of Representatives to deal directly with legislation to outlaw anti-Semitic hate speech and antisemitic tropes.

In Britain, a major independent inquiry into institutional anti-Semitism, in the Labour Party is be held by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to examine how the LP deals with anti-Semitism. Among other matters, it will examine the behavior of the leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the allegations of anti-Semitism against him. The new inquiry will question the findings of a previous inquiry, the Chakrabarti report of 2016, that many regard as insufficiently critical of the LP. The new inquiry may result in new guidelines for the LP on the issue of anti-Semitism of some of its members and its leaders.

In France, the government is dealing with the effects of the Holocaust concerning Jews in France during World War II. First, the French government is providing $402,000 to each of 49 Holocaust survivors in reparations for the French trains that deported them to Nazi concentration camps. This is one result of a 2014 U.S.-French agreement in which France offered $60 million in reparations for the deportations of Jews. In return the U.S. courts will dismiss any lawsuits against the SNCF, the French railroad system, and the French government. By the agreement France acknowledges that the Vichy wartime government and French companies were not nosayers, but were responsible for their participation in the Holocaust.

Secondly, the French government is creating a task force dedicated to returning artwork now in national collections that were stolen from Jews by Nazi Germany. The country has about 2,000 artworks in its possession stolen or sold under duress during World War II. Restitution of the art will no longer be by the Ministry of Culture, but by a commission that will advise the prime minister on action.

The task is formidable. Estimates are that about 100,000 art objects, paintings, drawings, and sculptures were stolen by the Nazis or sold under duress. After the war, about 61,000 were returned to France, and 70 per cent were recovered by their rightful owners. The problem arises that the French state has 2,143 objects and has held them because of their artistic quality. The Louvre alone is responsible for about 800 paintings, 500 of which are dispersed in museums in France. Those museums are encouraged to display the looted art and their provenance details.

In both cases in France those in power are not taking no for an answer. The issue is forthright. It is not simply one of financial compensation and reparations for Holocaust actions, which is important in itself, but about positive acknowledge of those actions and adherence to the principle of justice. Will members of Congress learn this lesson?The entire Trump collusion debacle was played out to the max even though everyone in the media, every Democratic politician, everyone in Hollywood, and even Robert Mueller knew there was no evidence at all indicating any connection between Trump and Russia. But the lie was carried forward for over two years in the hope that somehow, some way, some random shard of lethal evidence could be found to discredit Trump and lead to his being tossed out of office. The rabidity of TDS is relentless, to the point that some of its zealots are turning on Mueller for not providing the desired outcome, and subsequent schemes for Trumps destruction are already being aggressively pursued.

The only collusion was by government officials and the media in a coordinated coup to bring down the President of the United States solely because they resented and disliked him for beating Hillary. To repeat: it was not an investigation for collusion  it was an attempted coup, carried out right here in our country. The weapons? The press and most media embedded with the Democrats and Muellers entire team composed of Hillary supporting, Trump hating Democratic lawyers. Everyone was salivating at the thought of destroying this presidency. A few on the other side quietly wonder: if Mueller knew pretty much from the beginning that Trump did not collude, why did it take two years for the investigation to wrap up? Is March, 2019 a safe enough distance from the 2018 November elections to avoid suspicion?

Almost as frightening as the Lefts overt attack on our democracy and its traditions is everyone elses seeming aversion to seeking revenge or even accountability. Memories are short; the Left knows this. Thus, this complacency helps stoke the furnace that powers the Left to continue to grow more and more blatant, believing -- not incorrectly -- that they can pretty much foster any scam with no need for doing it with any semblance of a clandestine manner.

The key word here is blatant, and that is scary on many levels. The left has no fear, thus it doesnt need to operate in the dark, because it knows those who are not with them do not have the same focus. The Left knows that negative impacts and even shock at their blatancy is diluted for those rubes on the other side who are more focused with living their lives, caring for their families, and keeping their heads above water. Those others dont have time to spend their lives plotting and scheming and obsessing over how to undermine and overthrow those who do not agree with them politically. That stuff takes time. Thus negative impacts are quickly diminished by personal responsibility; theres just no time for reverse-activism. The Left is very much aware that limited outcries and aversion to retaliation will amount to zero consequences.

The Left is neither shy nor inhibited nor possessed of a conscience. Knowing down deep inside that getting Trump on collusion was not quite a sure bet, the Lefts storm troopers figured that if the charge was levied continually, the misinformed would at least hop on the bandwagon and at worst vote against any and all Republicans. At first glance, a line from Phil Ochs Crucifixion comes to mind: Truth becomes a tragedy limping from the light. But thats not accurate here; today its scarier: In present-day America, truth is mortally wounded in full light by the Lefts quest for power, while blatant lies contemptuously take the stage, infect, and mislead (via the media) a huge number of the citizenry. The result is damage to the country on many fronts apart from just the political.

Owing to the short memories of those not on the Left, a highlight reel:

Go back to Michael Brown travesty: Hands up  dont shoot. An obvious lie perpetuated by the left-wing media resulting in horrible looting and riots, property destruction and injured police. No apologies, no consequences.

Has there ever been an election where Republicans claim there were uncounted or misplaced votes that favor their candidates, as seems to happen with almost laughable regularity on the other side whenever they lose?

Hillary Clinton sold 20% of our uranium to Russia. Hello?

We had the caravan of illegals attempting to storm our borders, but the Left said it wasnt so and sang their usual the border is fine song.

Brett Kavanaugh was crucified at his hearing because of the accusations of a dippy, so-called professor who repeatedly tripped over her own statements but was ardently declared credible by the Left.

Brett Kavanaugh was crucified at his hearing because of the accusations of a dippy, so-called professor who repeatedly tripped over her own statements but was ardently declared credible by the Left. Conservatives on college campuses must hide their opinions rather than face consequences in the form of hateful backlash, social exile, academic penalty, or even violence.

At random events across the country, or on a regular basis in Portland, masked Antifa is permitted to harass and attack any and all whom they consider enemies, damage buildings, and burn cars, while the police are told to stand down.

A group of Catholic high school students were branded racists basically for not being intimidated by and running away from a wacko fringe group who was cursing and taunting them.

Michael Savage has been pretty much, if not entirely ejected from his very popular podium as a radio talk show host because the powers on the Left couldnt bear his no-holds-barred, unfiltered questioning and revelations of their anti-American endeavors.

Janine Pirro was suspended from her popular Saturday night show for pointing out that an obviously sharia-compliant congresswoman is sharia compliant.

The governor of Virginia, a doctor himself, is actually okay with killing babies once they are born if thats what the mother wants to do. But humanist that he is, he does want the babies to be made comfortable before they are killed.

Sanctuary cities routinely release brutal criminals into the public, and while the dire statistics are irrefutable, nothing is acknowledged and nothing is done to alter the present pattern.

And then we come to the Smollet case. The grand jury indicted him on 16 counts after the police spent thousands of hours proving that his claim was an idiotic hoax. Result: all charges suddenly dropped, record cleared and sealed away, police ordered to not speak of it. His punishment consisted of filling some envelopes for Jesse Jackson and a small fine. His other friends? The Obamas. Hmmm.

The actions of the Left are reminiscent of the Middle Ages and most dictators: use the ignorance or lethargy of the masses to keep them inert and diminish any threat they might offer. Today, the Left uses or manipulates the civility and personal responsibility of those not with them to insure their own invincibility while its own well-armed miscreants blatantly and indomitably strut their stuff in full view, fully aware that they can pretty much do as they wish. and woe to those who warrant their ire or oppose them in any way.This article in the American Thinker, regarding a man being prosecuted for assault because he had a BB gun, stunned me.

I am not a lawyer. I had always thought "assault" involved actual physical contact. That is not the legal definition. From the Cornell online legal dictionary:

The definition of assault varies by jurisdiction, but is generally defined as intentionally putting another person in reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact. Physical injury is not required.

It is worth visiting the hyperlink in order to also look at the definition of "reasonable," especially as this definition is just as vague and slippery as the 'assault' definition itself.

Which of these is reasonable? Will the answer to that change in the next year?

Joe Biden is assaulting women when he comes up behind them and grabs their shoulders, since it is reasonable for them to assume he is able and ready to commit the offensive act of hair-sniffing or hair-kissing. (Exceptions for those women who do not find his behavior offensive.)

Jussie Smollett assaulted every white person in the country, especially Trump-supporters, through his actions in alleging that a hate crime was committed against him. I had considered that his fake alleged hate crime constituted a real actual hate crime against Trump-supporters, but this is different. Now, every time I see his face, I feel an apprehension that he's going to disparage Trump, Trump-supporters, conservatives, and white people. I consider that disparagement an offensive (harmful) act, especially since I am a white Trump-supporter.

Hillary Clinton calls Trump-supporters deplorable. I find that offensive, and it's on my mind whenever she opens her mouth. Ditto for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bill Maher, and Stephen Colbert. I find them all offensive, though (full disclosure) I avoid watching or listening to any of them, so technically, I don't think I can claim to be assaulted by them.

Do all weapons now become "assault weapons"? If your neighbor sees you carrying a range bag with your handgun in it (and recognizes it as a range bag), or glimpses the mostly concealed .380 in your IWB holster, can he claim assault on the grounds that he is frightened by the sight of a gun (or thinking it is present), even when not pointed at him? What about if he and you are about as friendly as Rand Paul and the neighbor who broke his ribs? Does it then become reasonable for him to claim assault?

Some people claim to be more afraid when they see someone in a MAGA hat. Will we have to recognize legal standing for "assault hats" as well as other "assault" weapons?

I'm an engineer  I could go on. "Reasonable" for a liberal lefty and "reasonable" for a conservative are different. Leftists are more easily frightened, and we are all vulnerable to being accused of assault. On the bright side, we can exaggerate our fears to take them to court as well.

The concept of assault has no meaning if it can mean whatever someone wants it to.

Sam can be contacted at syounnokis@gmail.com. Please keep article comments here at AT, where others can read them.Democrats are doubling down on identity politics as the top focus for their 2020 elections strategy after polls claim that President Trump got no positive bounce from the end of the special counsel investigation.

The FiveThirtyEight polling aggregation site, named after the number of electors in the United States electoral college, is breathlessly crowing that President Donald Trump got no net approval bounce from the end of the "Russiagate" probe.

With an average of 52.8 percent disapproval and 42 percent approval after 803 days in office, FiveThirtyEight claims that Trump is more unpopular than every president since Harry Truman in 1947, with the exception of Ronald Reagan, whom Trump beats by 0.8 percent.

In an article titled, "Why Identity Politics Could Be Good Politics for Democrats In 2020," the site argues there is plenty of data and political science research "for Democrats to talk a lot about equality and identity issues" in order to turn out a winning plurality of nonwhite voters and white people with college degrees.

The polling site's editor and chief data geek Nate Silver does admit that his models in 2016 gave Hillary Clinton a 7-to-3 chance of winning, and he expected her to swamp Trump in the Electoral College. Although Silver admits that Hillary Clinton's "invoking terms like the 'privilege' of white Americans and embracing the Black Lives Matter movement" "might have exacerbated the shift of racially conservative white voters away from the Democratic Party," he blamed her shocking loss on traditional media that over-reported on thenFBI director James Comey's letter and the WikiLeaks hack of Democratic emails.

FiveThirtyEight polling suggests that the Democrats' success in the 2018 House races was getting Midwestern white voters without college degrees to be "thinking about economic issues and not cultural or racial ones." Their polling attribute Democrats' attacks on the GOP push to repeal Obamacare to have been highly effective on a local level in 2018.

Democrats talking more about pocketbook issues may incrementally help their 2020 presidential nominee, but FiveThirtyEight's data research suggests that the Democrat must "talk a lot about equality and identity issues to win in 2020."

Black voters were 25 percent of the Democrat electorate in 2016, and capturing almost 80 percent of the black vote was the key to Clinton winning the Democrat nomination.

But a 2016 election postmortem analysis by the leftist Center for American Progress blamed Democrats losing Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida on 2 million fewer African-Americans voting in 2016 versus 2012, and Clinton capturing only 88 percent of the black vote, 6 percent less than Obama in 2012.

Democrats presidential hopefuls are getting lots of press from the adoring media, but it is President Trump's 2020 re-election campaign that has cranked up its data machine and has $32 million of campaign cash in the bank. Trump has held 59 political rallies (none paid for by the White House) and has never been more popular with his base.

But Trump is also focused on breaking the Democrats' hammerlock on African-American voters. His economic programs have driven the unemployment rates for black Americans to the lowest levels in four decades and an all-time low for black teenagers.

After four decades of partisan battles over criminal justice reform that would disproportionately help black Americans, President Trump signed "The First Step Act" in December that reduces mandatory minimum sentences in some cases and expands "good time served credits" for shorter sentences for the well behaved prisoners. The act also instructed the Justice Department to provide new guidance on inmate "housing, grouping, and program assignments."

Despite sneers and bad-mouthing by the many black celebrities and the entire Congressional Black Caucus, a Rasmussen poll last August found that Trump's job approval ratings among African-Americans at 36 percent. Even if the number in 2020 is only 20 percent, it would crush every Democrat nominee's entire presidential election strategy.The Washington Post published back-to-back half-page reports on Gaza, the area controlled by Hamas. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization, not only by Israel and the United States, but also by Egypt, the European Union, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. The terror group is also banned by Jordan. These powers condemn Hamas because its charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews (not just Israelis).

But that didn't prevent The Washington Post from sympathizing with the evil regime and the fanatics who voted it into power: "For Gazans, a costly year of protests" (3/30/19) and "Thousands gather in Gaza to mark anniversary of bloody border protests" (3/31/19).

The premise of both articles is to reiterate that the Gazans' "struggle" is a resistance to Israeli oppression. The reports dwelled in depth on many examples of Palestinians injured or killed during this so-called "resistance." According to the first article, "the protests have become a tool to pressure Israel into softening restrictions on the enclave, with limited success." The Post adds, "Desperate to deliver better living conditions and deflect mounting frustrations, Hamas has again tried to ramp up pressure on Israel[.]" In the second article, the Post writes of "demonstrations aimed at Israel's blockade." Also according to the Post, the protests aimed to "draw attention to the [alleged] Palestinian 'right of return' to homes lost in the 1948 war and now inside Israel, but Hamas has also used the demonstrations to urge Israel to loosen restrictions[.]"

The Post likes to portray Israel as the cause of Gaza's misery. The misery, according to the Post, is "caused by more than a decade of tight Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods in and out of the territory." The Post adds that "Israel tightened restrictions and, among other things, drastically reduced permits for businesspeople to enter and leave Gaza." The Post freely quotes Basim Naim, head of the Hamas international relations office, as if he were the beacon of truth. The article continues, "So when young activists began to rally around the idea of demonstrations at the fence, Hamas ran with it. Naim said young people needed to be reminded of the root of their problems: Israel." How the Post can credibly explain the motives of young Gazan activists without a shred of evidence is a mystery.

The Post has a nearly fifteen-year perfect record of getting this story all wrong. There were no Israeli restrictions after Israel evacuated Gaza. It was the rockets and mortars fired by Hamas into Israel that caused the restrictions. The Post has reversed cause and effect. It is obvious to any fair-minded observer. Case in point: Egypt shares a border with Gaza. With all the blame heaped on Israel, why does the Post narrative barely mention Egypt? Can't the Gazans import goods through Egypt? Can't they exit through Egypt?

If Hamas and its supporters in Gaza really are looking for freedom of movement and goods, why don't they fire rockets, mortars, burning kites, and bomb-carrying balloons into Egypt? The Post won't go there because that would force it to admit that it has been wrong about Israel and Gaza for at least 15 years in dozens of articles.

Hamas's complaint about Israel is stated expressly in the Hamas Charter. Its raison d'etre is the destruction of Israel  not the building of a homeland. The Post has a hard time disclosing that a weak, impoverished people is trying to overthrow a strong, well-to-do country. Consequently, the Post will never get the story right.

To the Post's credit, it does mention that "in recent weeks, protests have broken out on the streets, this time against Hamas." According to the Post, Hamas "has brutally suppressed demonstrators, using live ammunition and beating them with batons. Rights groups estimate that about 150 people have been injured, and detainees number in the hundreds." We shouldn't hold our breath waiting for the Post to print back-to-back half-page articles on that! Those truths are typically buried in the last half of articles, as the Post does here. That is because the newspaper doesn't care about the real story  to the detriment of both sides of the conflict.Karma has come calling at CNN and MSNBC, the avid broadcast-promoters of the Russia hoax. Viewers who deserted the conspiracy theorists after it turned out that Mueller reported no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia are staying away and  even worse!  migrating to Fox News.

Mike Brest writes at the Daily Caller:

BC primetime host Rachel Maddow brought in her worst weekly ratings of the year last week, following the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. News broke of Robert Mueller submitting his conclusion to Attorney General William Barr shortly before the close of business on Friday, March 22. Last week's television ratings were the first full week of coverage since the conclusion of the investigation into whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russian officials. Throughout the week, Maddow averaged 2,458,000 viewers with 392,000 people in the key age demographic 25-54, both of which mark yearly lows for the liberal television host, according to Nielsen Media Research. The week before she averaged 2,716,000 viewers with 479,000 in the demo.

What makes this especially painful for Maddow, who rode the hoax to become the top-rated host in all of cable news at times, is that the ratings decline actually got worse after the exposure of the hoax first broke:

Further, Maddow lost half a million viewers from the Monday before the report was concluded to the Monday after (last Monday). Her ratings proceeded to drop another 200,000 viewers the next day

Meanwhile, things are, if anything, even worse at CNN. Ryan Saavedra reports the abject humiliation of the cable news pioneer at the Daily Wire:

Fox News' Tucker Carlson absolutely dominated CNN last week, beating their entire prime time line up combined in total viewers by over 1,000,000 viewers  and CNN is not handling the news well. CNN's entire prime time line up garnered 2,474,000 total viewers compared to Carlson's 3,475,000 total viewers. Ratings from Nielsen Media Research for 03/25-03/29:  FOX News Tucker Carlson: 3,475,000 total viewers; 625,000 viewers in the 25-54 age demographic  CNN Cooper: 810,000 total viewers; 203,000 viewers in the 25-54 age demographic  CNN Cuomo: 875,000 total viewers; 217,000 viewers in the 25-54 age demographic  CNN Lemon: 789,000 total viewers; 228,000 viewers in the 25-54 age demographic

There is nobody, other than President Trump, whom CNN and MSNBC hate more than Tucker. He relentlessly mocks them, and last week, he exposed CNN's slavish obedience to the DNC.

The culpability of these two cable news networks in promoting a hoax, employing former intelligence officials  John Brennan at CNN and James Clapper at MSNBC  to pretend to offer inside intelligence data convicting President Trump of treason, is serious. Lee Smith, in a long and thoughtful article at Tablet Magazine, calls it "an extinction level event." If they were independent businesses, it might be, but both are owned by huge, wealthy conglomerates that have many other business lines to generate cash and can use the influence ownership of a cable news network provides to protect and enhance those other businesses. Neither is likely to go the way of the dinosaurs, much though they deserve that fate.Less than two weeks ago, Russia shifted the balance of power in Venezuela, sending in 100 crack troops, ostensibly to repair Russian-made military aircraft damaged in Venezuela's massive blackout.

According to the Washington Post:

Two planeloads of roughly 100 Russian military personnel landed in Venezuela. The stated reason for their arrival was to help service Venezuelas Russian-purchased S-300 air defense systems, which may have been damaged amid the countrys increasingly frequent blackouts. The news followed earlier reports of Russian mercenaries or private military contractors already operating as security for the embattled regime.

Venezuela's neighbors, including the U.S., and Venezuela's own people expressed deep dismay, because it appeared that Russia would be propping up Venezuela's brutal failed socialist regime to ensure that Venezuela's democrats could never dislodge dictator Nicolas Maduro. The gambit appeared to be part of a replay of what the Putin regime did in Syria to prop up its ally, dictator Bashar al-Assad, as this strong piece by Annika Hernroth-Tothstein at the Daily Beast argued. Russia nevertheless downplayed the the whole thing, and National Security Advisor John Bolton's warning, calling Russia's dispatch of troops to Venezuela "a direct threat to international peace and security in the region" came and went without much notice.

Well, now we get the truth about Russia's real mission. One of Russia's ambassadors passed on a letter from Russia's equivalent of the Senate to Colombia's Senate, warning the neighbor to not dare violate Venezuelan airspace, or there would be hell to pay. If you can read Spanish, here is El Tiempo of Bogota's report. Here is a Google translation of what the Russians said:

The communication, signed by the Russian ambassador in Bogota, Sergei Koshkin, and dated March 28, explicitly states that any type of incursion into Venezuela, which is supported by the countries that have supported the opposition to the regime of Nicolas Maduro -As is the case of Colombia- will be interpreted by Moscow as a threat to peace and international security. "The illegitimate use of military force against Venezuela by other states that support the opposition will be interpreted by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation only as an act of aggression against a sovereign State and a threat to international peace and security, "reads the communication signed by the ambassador.

Colombia read that as the unprovoked threat it was, according to El Tiempo

For [Colombia's legislative president, Alejandro] Chacon, the communication is "extremely serious and important", since the Constitution provides (in its articles 173 and 212) that it is the Senate that must approve the passage of foreign troops and any declaration of war that Colombia makes. "It is a warning to Congress, because finally we are the ones who allow the government whether or not any kind of military intervention is made in foreign territory, clearly a direct threat to the State of Colombia, that is why we are confirming why direct to the Capitol and not through diplomatic channels, "Chacon told EL TIEMPO.

Is it a threat? Yes, the way 'nice house you have there, be a shame if anything should happen to it' is. It came out of the blue, for one. What's more, as the Colombian legislator said, it targeted the right people, meaning, they are watching how things work closely. Most important, it was completely unprovoked. There has been zero rhetoric out of Colombia about militarily intervening in Venezuela (in fact, there's pretty much the opposite kinds of statements coming out), despite the fact that more than a million refugees from Venezuela have poured into that country. The latest news is that starving Venezuelans are now breaking down the Maduro dictatorship's border barriers intended to pen them in, and flooding into Colombia, a crisis that all by itself is for Colombia a casus belli.

The other casus belli is that Russian military jets have lately been violating Colombia's airspace, the latest instance happening last December, which makes Russia's threat even more of a doozy.

It did seem, as Colombia Reports's Adriaan Anselma notes, to have some brutally opportunistic timing, too, apparently a bid to drive a deeper wedge with Colombia's top ally, the U.S.

Days after US President Donald Trump publicly humiliated his Colombian counterpart, President Ivan Duque on Tuesday was forced to defend his government against Russian claims he sought to provoke civil war in Venezuela.

(I've argued that President Trump dropped the ball on that one, Colombia's alliance in this Venezuelan crisis is very important and the country's conservative leader should not be publicly humiliated.)

What's more, this isn't all Russia has done. It seems to have the propaganda machinery out, too, seeking to take down opponents of Venezuela's democrats through Twitter. This one stuck out for me - note the writer's ties to the Russian propaganda press and lockstep adherence to the party line and she falsely (and pretty ineffectually) tries to smear Ricardo Hausmann, a top official with democratic President Juan Guaido's interim government.

They've also wheeled out the propaganda directed at us, to reduce support for Venezuela's democrats, as I noted in this piece here. Some of their handiwork may be here, too. What leaps out about all of this is how blitzkrieg-swift they are being. They move fast, the way nations at war do.

Their mission? Propping up Maduro. And with this vile and unprovoked letter threatening Colombia, they are playing for keeps.For a century, the socialist movement has been content to advance their ideology through the cover of darkness and deceit  reforming education, infiltrating Hollywood and the news media, and stretching their tentacles throughout state and federal government agencies.

As Norman Thomas famously stated:

The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.

Today, socialists seem confident enough in their reach to come out from the cover of darkness to proudly proclaim the virtuousness of their ideology. Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and a whole host of other far-left loons are touting the virtues of "free stuff" to the mass of ill informed rubes.

The benefit (for us) of them moving into the light is that it begins to expose the endgame. Socialism is a great system, for a few. The socialist sales pitch is that everyone will be granted a myriad of free things, provided for by his benevolent government masters. Free health care, free education, free housing, free transportation, and a universal basic income.

Sandy O's Green New Deal offers to provide "economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work."

Where do I sign? Or, more particularly, whom do I need to vote for, to have all my needs taken care of, so that I might lead a productive life of leisure? Of course, as most thinking people know, there are two classes of person who have all their needs covered: children and slaves.

Recent events have begun to expose the winners and losers of our utopian socialist future. The winners are the cultural-political elite and leadership ranks of the social activists. The losers are the rubes, who think they're part of the elite class.

Socialism, apart from being an economic theory, is about the consolidation of power: those who have it and those who don't. The college bribery scandal, the bum rush of our southern border, and the Jussie Smollett affair, if nothing else, expose a set of rules for those who work within the system, and another for those who lord over it. A free society is premised on the rule of law and a societal agreement by the people to abide by said rule of law.

Socialism is premised on connections: the political elite in Washington, lobbying firms, union leadership, and the social-cultural elite in Hollywood, in newsrooms, on college campuses, and within the leadership ranks of the myriad intersectional activist groups established to advance specific grievances. In this vein, the few in leadership will benefit from the consolidation of power, as they will have the ear of those who wield the sword. The myriad activist groups will benefit, as they'll be the ones called upon to wield the sword.

This brings us to the rubes. The rubes (or stooges) are the much larger segment of the populace who are being convinced that socialism will be the great leveler  that the current system is systemically unfair to those looking to advance, and that by voting into power those who seek to grant them an "equal share" of the redistributed pie, they will be able to live their lives as the elites do.

Historically, the elites remain elites, as long as they toe the party line. The rubes will remain the rubes, only with less power and demonstrably less personal liberty than they had when they were free.

Our challenge, then, is to explain to the rubes (daily) that they're better off free, within a system that provides them an opportunity to advance, than a system that guarantees their bondage.

As Emiliano Zapata famously stated: "I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees."Medicare for all sounds like a nightmare to me. I don't know if you have ever dealt with Medicare on a tough issue, but I have, and it was a disgusting and enlightening experience.

My 91-year-old mom fell and broke her back in the summer of 2017. I took her to the hospital in severe pain, and they were shooting her up with fentanyl and morphine, but they said she would have to go home. You see, if they admitted her and she was able to stay for three days, Medicare would be liable for the first twenty days in a nursing home facility and possibly liable for 80% of an additional eighty days. The doctors said a broken back and severe pain were not a good enough reason to justify admittance for Medicare. It took around twelve hours, but I was able to get her admitted, because we were "lucky" enough that she also had a urinary tract infection.

Democrats, through Obamacare, rewarded hospitals with bonuses if they didn't readmit patients who were sick; they appeared to be punished if they dared let them stay three days in the first place. As a consequence of these bonuses, I am sure more have died.

After nine days in the hospital, they sent her to a nursing home. After forty days there, Medicare, all of a sudden, cut her off, saying she was good enough to go home. Mom had lost 15 pounds, from 129 to 114 pounds, was aspirating her food, couldn't eat, bathe, walk, dress, or medicate herself, but according to Medicare, she was good enough to go home. The nursing home wouldn't fight this (my guess is, they would be punished if they dared argue), but I did. I was told they had no idea that she was in that condition, so they allowed her to stay. Then, in a few more days, they cut her off again, and a few days after that, she died.

I thought, what the heck would the poor, the less educated, and the elderly do if they didn't have an advocate, like me, fighting against the bureaucracy? They would just give up and take whatever the government forced on them.

For 240 years, the U.S. life expectancy went up without Obamacare, and most people were happy with their health care. After a few years of Obamacare, where freedom of choice was taken away, life expectancy unexpectedly dropped for three straight years despite massive premium and out-of-pocket costs. And now Democrats want more government. They always want more government.

Politicians are willing to destroy millions of jobs related to health insurance along with hundreds of billions in stock values and real estate values. How much would states, cities, and pension funds lose if these millions of jobs were destroyed to give government more power and control of our lives? Revenues from sales taxes, income taxes, and property taxes would go down substantially. Democrats seem to want more people to be dependent on government, and single-payer health care would certainly contribute to that.

Think of how much federal government employees make in salaries and benefits compared to the private sector, yet replacing private sector employees with federal bureaucrats is what is being proposed. What would the government costs look like for Medicare for all if they had to reflect the cost of future pensions, along with accrued sick and vacation leave? What if the agencies had to reflect the interest expense along with depreciation costs in their budgets? There would be no incentive for government to hold down costs, and they would just continue to jack up income or payroll taxes for the shortfall. Think of what happened to college costs when government started throwing money at colleges.

I have never seen a government program that reduces costs or comes in even close to expectations, and single-payer health care would dwarf all others.

Democrats rail against private-sector monopolies, but they love government monopolies, which are much more dangerous to our freedom and prosperity. I would much rather negotiate with a large private-sector company which has competition than with government bureaucrats with no competition and no incentive to give good customer service. If we want to lower costs get rid of mandates and give people more choice, not less choice.

Democrats say they want health care for all, but they vote to withhold health care for newborn babies if they are unwanted. Why would we trust them not to cut off health care from the elderly or disabled if they were unwanted?

Image credit: Juhan Sonin.The terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand has left the world in shock. The shooter hated Muslims and Islam, and because of his hatred, he murdered 50 innocent people. His victims included a three-year-old boy.

After a terrorist attack, people want to know not only what happened, but also why. Terrorists don't kill people without a reason. They do so because of their beliefs. The shooter's hatred of Muslims and Islam is rooted in the toxic ideologies of white supremacy and white nationalism.

In identifying what ideology motivates terrorists, there is a double standard on the political left. When Barack Obama was president, he refused to condemn "radical Islamic terrorists" because he didn't want Americans to believe that Islam has anything to do with terrorism. Instead, he called them "violent extremists."

The FBI defines violent extremism as "encouraging, condoning, justifying, or supporting the commission of a violent act to achieve political, ideological, religious, social, or economic goals." "Violent extremist" is a politically correct term for an Islamic terrorist. When a politician uses the term, the public is left in the dark as to why a terrorist attack was carried out.

Fast-forward to 2019, and no one is calling the Christchurch shooter a violent extremist. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison called him an "extremist, right-wing" terrorist.

Unlike Islamic terrorists, the Christchurch shooter's motivations are not being concealed from the public. In fact, many people on the Left are outraged if a politician fails to state what motivated him.

In Canada, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has been criticized for not denouncing Islamophobia in his public statements following the terrorist attack. Although Scheer should have mentioned the Muslim victims in his first tweet, he was right not to include the word "Islamophobia."

Oxford defines Islamophobia as "dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force." The word suggests that it is not only wrong to dislike Islam, but also irrational. (Islamophobia sounds like a mental illness because a phobia is a mental disorder.)

As Pascal Bruckerner aptly states, "the word 'Islamophobia' amalgamates two very different concepts: the persecution of believers, which is a crime; and the critique of religion, which is a right." The word makes people believe that disliking Islam and disliking Muslims are both wrong.

There is all the difference in the world between disliking Islam and hating Muslims and wanting to kill them. Hatred of Muslims is always wrong, but it is not wrong to be opposed to Islam as a political force in society. Political Islam  through the implementation of sharia law  is incompatible with Western values and freedoms.

Sharia law comes from the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the rulings of Islamic scholars. It is a vital aspect of both spiritual and political Islam, and it is highly oppressive to women and minorities.

Here are three present-day examples: in Iran, men are executed for engaging in sexual activity with other men. In Pakistan, people have been sentenced to death for insulting the prophet Muhammad. In Brunei, the punishment for adultery is death by stoning.

In many countries, a majority of Muslims want an Islamic government based on sharia law. If Muslim immigrants want to implement sharia law in a Western nation, other citizens have the right to oppose them.

However, people who criticize Islam or Muslims (for any reason) are often accused of Islamophobia. As a case in point, Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat in the U.S. Congress, has accused both Republicans and Democrats of Islamophobia for being critical of Ilhan Omar. Omar is a Muslim member of Congress who has made controversial statements about Israel.

Publicly shaming someone (by accusing him of Islamophobia) is a means of controlling what people can and cannot say. When people are stigmatized for criticizing Islam or Muslims, it is a warning to others to remain silent.

Politicians should stop using the word "Islamophobia" because it puts good and bad people in the same box. In its place, a better alternative would be the word "Muslimphobia," which is similar to anti-Semitism. Both words stigmatize hate speech toward a group of people.

The First Amendment protects hate speech, but in a society that values virtue, hate speech should not be tolerated. Nevertheless, no one should be accused of hating Muslims because he is critical of Islam. Islam is not a race; it is a religion.

Freedom of speech includes the right to criticize any religious belief or practice you disagree with. When I went to university, professors frequently criticized Christianity. However, no professor was ever accused of Christophobia, and neither should he be.

When someone speaks out against Islamophobia, two important questions must be asked: is he trying to protect Muslims from hatred and violence? Or is he trying to shield Muslims and Islam from criticism?

No religion should be immune from criticism. If Islam cannot be criticized, there is no way to determine if its teachings and practices are true. The only way the truth about anything can be determined is by allowing everyone to express his point of view.

Christopher Lindsay is the author of Letters from a Madman, available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/chrislindsay70.That voice in your GPS navigator, the virtual assistant in your smartphone, and the automated responses you get when you dial a company helpline number are not real voices. In other words, there is no big database of spoken words that the computer picks up and strings them together to create a sentence. They are generated on the fly by the computer, yet they sound so natural, so human, that more often than not they are completely indistinguishable from that of a real person.

Human voices are much more complicated, acoustically, compared to, say, the barking of a dog or the crash of a cymbal. The variety itself is staggering. Like human faces, no two voices sound exactly similar. Add to that the various inflections and emotions, the stresses on the syllables, the accents. Replicating the nuances of speech is anything but easy. It is quite an achievement that we are able to synthesize human voice at all, and with such precision.

One of the earliest efforts to produce synthetic speech was made over two hundred years ago, in 1779, by Russian Professor Christian Kratzenstein. Kratzenstein built an apparatus consisting of a number of vibrating reeds that were acoustically similar to the human vocal tract. His device could produce the five long vowels artificially.

Wheatstone's reconstruction of von Kempelen's speaking machine

A few years later, in 1791, an inventor in Vienna named Wolfgang von Kempelen built a more detailed machine modeled after the various human organs that make speech possible. The machine had a pair of bellows to simulate the lungs, a vibrating reed to act as vocal cords, a leather tube for the vocal tract, two nostrils, leather tongues and lips. By manipulating the shape of the leather tube and the position of the tongues and lips, von Kempelen was able to produce consonants as well as vowels. Nearly half a century later, Charles Wheatstone constructed an improved version of von Kempelen's speaking machine that could pronounce most of the consonant sounds and even a couple of full words.

The first device to be considered a true speech synthesizer was the VODER (Voice Operating Demonstrator) developed by Homer Dudley of Bell Labs in the 1930s. It was a rather complicated machine with fourteen piano-like keys, a bar controlled by the wrist, and a foot pedal which the operator could manipulate and cause the machine to speak. It sounded very robotic, like an alien speaking under water as Lisa Guernsey of the New York Times described it.

In fact, the robotic voice that we often hear in old science fiction movies and television drama possibly originated from VODER. Once the true voice of the machine had entered the public consciousness, its place and form in fictional portrayal would never be the same, writes Ben Fino-Radin of Rhizome. After that day in 1939, we knew specifically how inhuman machined speech should sound.

The website whatisthevoder.com, describes how the VODER worked:

An operator would select one of two basic sounds by using the wrist bar: a buzz tone and a hissing sound. The buzz tone was the building block for vowel sounds and nasal type sounds. The hissing sound was the building block for those sounds associated with consonants. These sounds were then passed through a bank of filters that were selected by the user by selecting the appropriate keys on the keyboard. These sounds were combined and sent through a loudspeaker. For sounds not replicable by the buzzing or hissing noises, such as p, d, j, and ch, additional filters were selectable. Different words could be combined into different sentences based on the manipulation of keys and sounds. You could even add in different expressions and pitches (controlled by the foot pedal) based on the type of question that is being asked.

Mrs. Helen Harper, who was the central operator of the VODER during its demonstration at the 1939 New York Worlds Fair, gives us an idea of how difficult it was to master the beast.

For example, we hear Mrs. Harper speaking in a video, in producing the word concentration on the VODER, I have to form thirteen different sounds in succession and make five up and down movements of the wrist bar and vary the position of the foot pedal from three to five times according to what expression I want the VODER to give the word. And of course, all this must be done with exactly the correct timing.

It took Harper a year of constant practice before she was learned to operate the machine with precision. As many as three hundred girls underwent training to become an operator, but less than thirty got the skills right.

A skilled operator such as Mrs. Harper can make VODER speak any language, moo like a cow or grunt like a pig. She can even make it sing, as demonstrated in the following video.

Checkout whatisthevoder.com for more demonstration of the VODERs speech capabilities.

The Voder keyboard.

Voder demonstration by Bell Labs on 1939 New York World's Fair.George Davis has left semiconductor company Qualcomm earlier this week to become Intels new finance chief, according to a CNBC report. Davis was Qualcomms CFO for six years since he joined the company in March 2013, and following his leave, Qualcomm has appointed David Wise as interim finance chief until it finds a replacement.

Likewise, Intel has been searching for a CFO since January after Bob Swan left the position to become Intels new CEO. Interestingly, Davis and Swan have prior experience working together at Applied Materials Inc. where Bob Swan was a board member until 2016 and Davis served as CFO and Executive Vice President for nearly seven years until 2013.

In a recent statement, Intels CEO recognized George Davis abilities by claiming he is a world-class CFO, leader and team-builder while adding that Intels owners can expect a continued disciplined approach to capital allocation and a relentless focus on creating stockholder value.

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On April 2 Qualcomms price per share was $58.09 but dipped to $57.70 earlier today, while Intels share has a value of $54.36 as of this writing. As for market share, Qualcomms semiconductors accounted for 5.5-percent of the market in 2013 and by the end of 2014, the company managed to secure an additional 0.2-percent. However, Qualcomm has been losing ground year-on-year since 2014, recording a market share of 4.8-percent in 2015 and continuing to decline to 3.2-percent in 2018.

Rivalry continues

Following George Davis recent departure from Qualcomm, the rivalry between the two semiconductor giants will likely continue as usual, on the market space and otherwise. For many years semiconductor companies have been locked in a race to design chipsets at increasingly lower scales, but its worth noting that although Intel has its own manufacturing lines, Qualcomm does not and the chipmaker relied mostly on TSMCs foundries to manufacture its own chip designs.

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A large portion of Qualcomms profits come from patent licensing agreements, and in recent months the chipmaker has been locked in a legal dispute with Apple on account of the latter company allegedly stealing trade secrets from Qualcomm pertaining to modem technologies and providing them to Intel.

Qualcomm filed the lawsuit against Apple in multiple countries including the United States, China, and Germany. As reported by the media earlier this year, Germany concluded that Apple infringed on Qualcomms intellectual property resulting in a ban that disallowed the Cupertino-based giant to sell the iPhone 7, 8, and iPhone X in the country. Apple worked around this issue by re-equipping the banned iPhone variants with Qualcomm modems while abandoning Intels solution and reselling the devices.

In the meantime, Intel is still having some difficulties with its 10nm chipsets production but the company did introduce the Agilex FPGA series this week which was built on its own 10nm nodes. As for solutions geared more towards the average consumer, Intel unveiled its new Ice Lake microarchitecture in December built on 10nm+ technology, and the company expects Ice Lake to replace Coffee Lake, Cannon Lake, Kaby Lake, and Whiskey Lake throughout 2019 and 2020. Ice Lake will then be replaced by Tiger Lake as an incremental upgrade based on the 10nm node.Following months of rumors surrounding Googles upcoming replacement to its Pixel 3 flagship lineup, the Google Pixel 4 has finally earned its first mention in the Android Open Source Project Gerrit. There arent necessarily any major details to be found at the code review since the commit in question primarily centers around a problem noted on the Pixel 3.

The fix in question addresses a problem in the KernelAddressSanitizer (KASAN) that produce false positives. The KASAN is a solution intended to seek out use-after-free and out-of-bounds bugs in the Linux kernel. The commit is meant to stop false-positives from appearing. That fix will apparently be applied to the Pixel 4 too, alleviating possible concerns that Google may have abandoned hardware and confirming that the gadget is, at very least, in the works.

No cause for alarm

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KASAN is a solution intended to seek out use-after-free and out-of-bounds bugs in the Linux kernel. The fix being applied here isnt necessarily a major problem in terms of acting as a vulnerability so it shouldnt be the cause of too much alarm. While it may or may not relate to prominent memory issues with the gadget itself, the commit is simply meant to stop false-positives from appearing. So it should stop the system from pointing out and reacting to errors that just arent there.

As noted above, the appearance of the Google Pixel 4 in AOSP does address at least one more serious concern that might have presented itself over the past couple of months though. In mid-March, reports began to surface indicating that Google was making cuts to key employees working in select hardware branches of its business.

Although apparently aimed almost exclusively at hardware associated with laptops and tablets, the cuts set off plenty of warning bells for the industry, leading to some speculation about Googles viability as a hardware manufacturer overall. The recently spotted commit to the AOSP indicates that hardware  at least on the Android side of things  remains a priority for the search giant.

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Still no official details

Lack of any official reference to Googles Pixel 4 has not stopped leaks, rumors, and guesses from cropping up in the meantime. Thats particularly true since Google received FCC approval for no fewer than six models of a smartphone as recently as February. The understanding of those filings is that they could easily represent new models of Pixel 3 handset, including pulled back Lite versions of the current Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.

There havent been too many details revealed in other suspected leaks either but those have been less vague. Among those was at least one benchmark noticed in January that hinted that Pixel 4 may be internally known by the codename coral. That also indicated it might ship with Qualcomms latest processor on board, the Snapdragon 855, coupled with at least 6GB RAM and unsurprisingly driving Android Q.

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All of that is still highly speculative but the timing here is right too. The Pixel device appearing in the Android code review at right around the same time as the Pixel 3 last year and the recent launch of Googles official beta for Android Q line up well with the historical Google hardware timeline. That should mean that more realistic information about the gadget and its XL counterpart wont be far behind.Viacom today announced it has now reached an agreement with T-Mobile for its channels to be included in the carriers upcoming mobile TV service.

As part of the announcement, Viacom confirmed Comedy Central, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount and more will be included. In fact, the announcement picks up on how these channels will play a key role for the new service when it launches.

This follows on from what appeared to be a less favorable stance on Viacom taken by AT&T.

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Previously, Viacom channels were readily available through AT&Ts video platforms although that did change in recent weeks. Most notably, when AT&T launched its new DIRECTV NOW plans it completely removed Viacoms presence from the pay-as-you-go streaming service.

Even more recently, the two companies seemed to hit a brick wall when it came to carriage agreements and this led to the initial expectation that a Viacom blackout was about to happen which would have seen access to many channels rescinded on both DIRECTV and U-verse platforms.

The blackout was narrowly missed and in response to consumer demand Viacom channels are returning to DIRECTV NOW, but not quite in the same capacity as before.

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During the public spat between AT&T and Viacom, AT&T suggested one of the reasons it was dropping Viacom channels was because of how unpopular some of them are.

Presumably, the un-carrier disagrees with this as the current announcement marks one of the first real confirmations of some of the third-party content that will be available via T-Mobiles solution.

According to the announcement, the deal means T-Mobile mobile TV customers will gain access to live linear feeds of Viacom channels as well as a broad range of on-demand content.

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T-Mobiles upcoming service is one thats highly anticipated by the market as the un-carrier is claiming to do for TV what it has done for mobile. In spite of this, T-Mobile has seemingly found it harder to deliver on that promise than originally expected.

The new TV service was initially meant to arrive late last year but reports then started to surface suggesting it had been delayed until early 2019. One of the reasons suggested for the delay was the lack of firm agreements with providers.

The announcing of this agreement today would seem to support that notion as T-Mobile is currently still in the negotiating phase with third-party content owners.

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Based on very recent comments provided by company execs, T-Mobile hopes to differentiate its service from the others by focusing more on delivering an a la carte service.

For example, T-Mobile is expected to offer consumers the option to put-together their own streaming bundle based on the channels and networks they want  and only having to pay for those channels and networks.

Although this is similar to the approach taken by Amazon with its Channels service and even more recently by The Roku Channel, this is not an approach that tallies well with how Viacom content is usually distributed. Therefore, it remains to be seen how much dependence T-Mobile will place on the pick and mix solution or whether the company has now decided to go with more of a typical skinny bundle solution.The Ulefone Armor 6 is one of Ulefones most popular smartphones at the moment, and the company has just released a new promo video for the device. This time around Ulefone is promoting Armor 6s NFC-enabled payment abilities.

The company has released a promo video for Google Pay, essentially, a video that has a duration of 30 seconds, and essentially shows how you can make a payment using your smartphone via Google Pay, utilizing an NFC chip on the inside of the device. Ulefone is clearly hinting that this is a faster way of paying for something than using your credit card. You can check out the aforementioned video below this article.

The Ulefone Armor 6 had been introduced a while back, and it has been available for quite some time as well. This is the companys mid-range smartphone, and its also a rugged phone, if you were not aware of that. The Ulefone Armor 6 comes with a reinforced body that can handle drops, and the phone is also both water and dust resistant, thanks toIP68 and MIL-STD-810G certifications.

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The phones frame is made out of metal, while the device includes a rather wide notch on the front. The phones display features rounded corners, while there are two cameras included on the back of this phone. Those two cameras are vertically-aligned, and a fingerprint scanner sits right below them, as does a dual-LED flash.

The Ulefone Armor 6s specs are nothing to scoff at, the phone features a 6.2-inch fullHD+ (2246 x 1080) display, while it also packs in 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The device is fueled by the Helio P60 64-bit octa-core processor, while it includes a 5,000mAh battery on the inside. That battery is also one of the phones main selling points, and surprisingly enough, the Ulefone Armor 6 supports wireless charging as well, 10W wireless charging. It is compatible with pretty much any Qi charger out there.

The phone features facial scanning feature as well, while Android 8.1 Oreo comes pre-installed on the device. On the back of the phone, you will be able to find 21 and 13-megapixel cameras, while a single 5-megapixel camera is included on its front side. The Ulefone Armor 6 can be purchased from Banggood for $319.98 as we speak, and the purchase link is included down below.

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If you find this phone to be too expensive and are still looking for a solid rugged option with a large battery, well, the Ulefone Power 3L may fit the bill. This handset includes a huge 6,350mAh battery, while it comes with a 6-inch HD+ display, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The Power 3L is priced at $89.99, and it is also available from Banggood.

Buy the Ulefone Armor 6 (Banggood)

Buy the Ulefone Power 3LThe United States is preparing for a major change in cybersecurity strategy and supporting policies after it became clear that many of its allies arent willing to blindly follow its warnings against Huawei and rule out the very possibility of using the Chinese firms solutions as part of their efforts to deploy the fifth generation of mobile networks.

Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Susan M. Gordon, officially confirmed Washington is now exploring technological protections against the risk of being anywhere near Huawei-made hardware and accompanying software. While the U.S. has zero intentions of allowing a single transistor that passed through one of Huaweis factories be installed into any stateside wireless network, public or private, a future wherein its allies rely on 5G enabled by the Shenzen-based firm is a scenario thats still causing many headaches at the Pentagon and many other government departments.

That state of affairs is what prompted a number of agencies to start exploring alternatives, faced with the imminent risk of failing in their efforts to limit the reach of Huaweis wireless business in more elegant ways.

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The Trump administration has been arguing its case against Huaweis network gear for about a year now, having done so the world over. And while Australia was quick to take its message to heart last year, presumably because it previously came to distrust Huawei all on its own, the ban wave that some industry watchers have been predicting failed to arrive, with Huawei hence still being very much in the 5G game with more than a fair chance at retaining its position of the worlds largest manufacturer of telecom equipment.

Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea appear to be somewhat close to going with Washingtons idea of an outright ban on Huawei solutions, yet none of them are actually expected to pull the trigger on the decision anytime soon. Germany also looked at the Chinese conglomerate in recent months, concluding the subject of Huawei is suitable for settling differences with the Trump administration and its polarizing approach to diplomacy, at least as far as the Old Continent is concerned.

The move to 5G will see every aspect of a modern society become more dependent on the World Wide Web, albeit with great benefits to doing so such as cutting-edge self-driving vehicles, remote surgery, live-streamed mixed-reality experiences, and similar state-of-the-art solutions. A next-generation network built and maintained by Huawei would also be one that Huawei would likely be able to spy on undetected, not to mention shut down without a moments notice if its pressured to do so; say, in a scenario wherein a military conflict might be on the horizon and Beijings communist government wants to cripple a given warring partys communications beforehand.

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Whats happening right now is a coordinated effort on the part of the U.S. to lock down its communications down to the very last supplier so as to ensure none of the tech it uses in the mobile space moving forward is in any way associated with Huawei. The main potential issue is that in doing so, Washington may introduce new technical difficulties into its communications with about two-thirds of NATO members who will be using Huawei gear precisely because they want to save costs on costly deployments and not invest countless sums into proprietary solutions that will keep Washingtons mind at ease.

Huawei is unsurprisingly still denying it ever spied or was even asked to spy on its customers on behalf of China, a notion that most industry watchers find frivolous.The Motorola Moto Z3 offered by Verizon in the U.S. is officially making the jump to Android 9 Pie with a recent OTA update pushing the software version to PDX29.84-30. This is effectively the same firmware update which was released by Motorola for the unlocked Moto Z3 last January and as a result, it includes compatibility with the 5G Moto Mod which has yet to hit the shelves. The modules added compatibility is unmentioned in the changelog published on Verizons website but as noted by Droid Life, these details are included in the changelog accompanying the software over-the-air  screenshot below.

Verizons Moto Z3 gets 5G! Sort of

Motorolas answer as to how it should join the emerging 5G market early on is very unusual compared to other OEMs. Other manufacturers are preparing 5G-enabled versions of their 2019 flagship phones, but so far Motorola has taken a different route by developing a Mod which snaps to the back of the Moto Z3 and enhances it with 5G networking capabilities.

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The caveat is that, while the 5G Moto Mod was announced months ago, the product is not yet available for purchase and once again the Android 9 Pie firmware update adds 5G support preventively for when the Mod will hit the shelves.

As of this writing, the 5G Moto Mod is available for pre-order through Verizon Wireless for the price of $199. The carrier doesnt provide any availability details on the pre-order page but reminds prospective buyers that, even with the 5G Mod, they would be limited to having 5G Ultra Wideband access only in Chicago and Minneapolis.

Its not all about 5G

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The latest update pushes Verizons Moto Z3s firmware from Android 8.1 Oreo to Android 9 Pie so there are a lot of new features to enjoy beyond 5G Moto Mod compatibility. In fact, this part of the update might represent only a minor benefit for many Moto Z3 users on Verizons network given that the product is not yet available, and this could also be the reason why the carrier skipped this bit of information from the changelog.

Android 9 Pie pushes the security patch level to March 1 and includes a large number of new features, sometimes reflected in changes to the user interface. The list includes a redesigned Settings app and quick settings toggles, improved screenshots and audio controls, changes to the notification shade and the way users can interact with notifications, as well as 157 new emojis to name a few.

Adaptive Battery aims to improve battery life by restricting least used apps and prioritizing most used ones, and Adaptive Brightness leverages on machine learning to improve upon itself and adjust the screen brightness according to the users habits. Likewise, additional improvements to App Standby, Doze, and Background Limits work together to deliver higher battery autonomy.

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Applications will require less memory in Android 9 Pie and this should improve performance, while security has been further enhanced with new privacy restrictions limiting app access to certain sensors including the camera and microphone. Furthermore, the new firmware introduces client-side data encryption/decryption, and forces applications built for Android Pie to communicate via HTTPS by default.

Moto Z3 owners and Verizon customers can update their phones automatically by tapping the update notification or by opening the Settings app and accessing About phone > System updates.With Bishop Carlos Matsinhe, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba is visiting areas of the Diocese of Lebombo hit by Cyclone Idai. Transport is being provided by a helicopter of the South African National Defence Force, which is helping Mozambican authorities with relief efforts. Also in the party were the SANDF Chaplain General, the Revd Brigadier General Monwabisi Jamangile, and Matlotly Mototjane of the PEOs office, formerly a senior disaster management official in Lesotho. The Archbishop continues his blog:

Tuesday April 2: We started the day with breakfast together and said a shortened Morning Prayer, reading from Jeremiah 17:19-27. The dining hall was full of all sorts of NGOs reps and rescue people.

We drove to the airport, where we were received by a Mozambican official responsible for justice, the constitution and religious matters, who appreciated the role of the church in the crisis after Cyclone Idai. The airport is a veritable marketplace for journalists, NGOs and choppers.

Col I H Zurich of the South African Air Force and the SA Defence Attache, Col P Nkambule, welcomed us and Col Zurich briefed us on the day ahead. We flew to Gwaragwara and Busi, seeing from the SANDF helicopter the after-effects of the cyclone  water as far as the eye can see.

Water is sacred, as I always say, and in this context it is too  but too much of it is destroying the fields and displacing people, as we saw in transit camps. Medical teams are confirming that the waterborne disease, cholera, is now emerging in an area which also has lots of malaria.

Returning to our base at Beira, we held a service for the South African team helping the Mozambicans and connected with the South African charity, Gift of the Givers, who are also helping here. Then we were taken through a camp helping displaced people and saw its medical facilities  one of the helicopter pilots was feeling ill and was admitted there.

We returned to St Georges in Beira, this time in daylight, and were able to see how their new church building had been destroyed. We visited Archdeacon Narciso Langa of Pungue and his family, who operate a school at the rectory there.

After lunch we drove more than 50km west to Dondo, on a road which was intact but where electricity lines were down, roofs were blown off and trees blown over. In this region, 11 churches are damaged to varying extents, and a health centre and 13 diocesan schools have been affected.

In Dondo, we hit the hidden and the forgotten, a deeply rural area where houses are flattened and roads full of holes (and our backs are sore). As we arrived at St Marys, Mutua, the singing of the welcoming congregation soothed us. Two classes with scheduled school times have 400 children, and only classes are affected.

In the rebuilding and rehabilitation phase that must now follow, the archdeacons work becomes critically urgent. He used to travel on public transport but Bishop Carlos agrees that he now needs a vehicle and estimates that this will cost the Diocese about 8,000 US dollars [approximately 6,000 GBP]. They will also need seed to plant, and bricks, mortar and zinc to rebuild damaged churches, schools and a health centre which serve whole communities.

On the way back to Beira, we stopped at a village after a long journey, after which the back of the van accompanying us is filled with more than 20 children. We are guided on an alternative route to that usually taken by the priest, which is now flooded. We leave the tarred road and hit gravel.

In the midst of all this, the water lilies are blooming purple and white, saying all will be well. People are attempting to return to normality and schoolchildren are back to school and playing. Hope AFRICA and Green Anglicans continue to share useful information on the situation, as is Matlotly who is with us.

We headed back to Beira having given people some hope, but not food and shelter. Bishop Carlos says we can go on and on as we are, but experiencing the same pain and suffering. Matlotly says there is no proper sanitation and is worried about the resulting illnesses, especially among the many children. The Chaplain General remarks on how people have nothing and depend on providence.

After the long trip back from St Marys, we return to our accommodation. The refrain from the Chaplain General and all of us is that we must feed the people of Mutua sooner rather than later. We arranged resources and agreed on what I should purchase  hampers for 31 families will cost R22,000 [South African Rands, approximately 1,200 GBP]. We agree that is the way to go and will arrange this before I leave Beira. We will also arrange with Team South Africa to turn their eyes to this area.Marysville, CA (95901)

Today

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 42F. SSE winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 42F. SSE winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.Pablo Casado, the PPs candidate for prime minister in the upcoming Spanish general election, continues to reveal details of his plans for Catalonia. Not surprisingly, these are all similar in their intent; in other words, they are aimed at trimming, eroding and diluting self-government. His two most recent proposals, moreover, are somewhat degrading. The first is to make the Catalan police, the Mossos dEsquadra, subservient to the Spanish National Police and Guardia Civil. According to the proposal, the Catalan police would be reduced to a mere auxiliary force reporting to the security forces of the state, lacking in autonomy and permanently subject to supervision.

The second, even more serious proposal, is to allow the Delegation of the Spanish government to suspend the Catalan governments powers at its own discretion, whenever it detects "a lack of loyalty". Aside from being an initiative which is unlikely to adhere to the Constitution, it is clear that Casado and indeed all three of the trio of right-wing parties are already exploring ways to slip article 155* in via the back door without it being put to a vote in the Senate, which may well have a left-wing majority after the polls.

The message is clear: vote for me because I will find the way to suspend Catalonias home rule whenever I want via the executive, even if the PSOE blocks article 155 in the Senate. In reality, it is a means to establish emergency rule in Catalonia until its government is of the political complexion which Casado and his partners wish to see. At least Vox speaks its mind and openly declares that all autonomous governments ought to be scrapped and that there ought to be only one Parliament and one government for the whole of Spain. If the Partido Populars leader wishes to go down this path, he ought to propose changes to the Constitution, since the regions right to autonomy is enshrined within it.

Casados' problem is that he is not making these proposals with Catalonia and the welfare and concord of the Catalans in mind, but instead with the intention of wooing voters in the rest of Spain by appealing to their thirst for revenge due to their wounded pride. This also explains why his choice to head the PPs Barcelona slate is not a candidate from the Catalan PP but instead someone like Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo, who has been parachuted directly in from Aznar's FAES [Fundacion para el Analisis y los Estudios Sociales or "Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies", a right-wing think tank with strong ties to the PP]. What must the dozens of local activists who have spent years toiling away in a territory which is difficult for the PP think about Casados unilateral decision? Are any of them thinking of raising their voices or asking the PPs headquarters in Madrid for some respect?

The PP and Ciudadanos are keen to make Catalonia take centre stage in the public debate in Spain, as if there were no other issues worthy of interest which directly affect the Spaniards lives. Without Catalonia, they would effectively have nothing to say or have any means to spearhead their campaign. Nevertheless, when it comes to winning an election, not anything goes. The right has been devoted to disturbing coexistence and stirring up hatred against the Catalans for many years (by starting a petition against the Catalan Statute, organising campaigns opposing language immersion and so on) in order to serve its own electoral interests. And then, when a sizeable part of Catalan society disconnects from the Spain they represent, they have but one answer: more repression and more attacks on self-government.

________

Translators note:

*Article 155 of the Constitution allows the Spanish government to take control over an autonomous government. It was triggered in Catalonia following the events of October 2017. The extent to which the state takes control, thanks to the ambiguous manner in which the article was written, is the subject of much debate.Mohammed Al Katheeri, SVP Strategy and Communications at Abu Dhabi Airports received the certificate during the ACI Asia-Pacific World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition which took place in Hong Kong, on April 3, and was attended by senior executives from the international airport industry.

Al Katheeri said: I am delighted to have the opportunity to represent Abu Dhabi Airports and receive this certificate from the ACI. We are committed to operating our airports sustainably and in a way that mitigates our impact on climate change.



Abu Dhabi Airports is continuously working to reduce its carbon emissions and this certificate recognises our efforts to enhance the sustainability of our operations. Environmental responsibility is something we take very seriously and Abu Dhabi International Airport has a history of leading the region in this regard, added Al Katheeri.



The ACIs Airport Carbon Accreditation program provides a unique common framework and tools for active carbon management at airports, covering operational activities that contribute most to carbon emissions.



In 2011, AUH was the first airport in the Middle East and North Africa region to be ACI Airport Carbon Accredited in the mapping level, and the achievement of an accreditation level of reduction recognises Abu Dhabi Airports continued commitment to helping fight climate change through the management of its carbon dioxide emissions.Mohammed Al Katheeri, SVP Strategy and Communications at Abu Dhabi Airports, received the ACI Asia-Pacific Green Airports Gold Recognition trophy in a ceremony held during the ACI Asia-Pacific World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition which took place in Hong Kong, China on 3 April.

Al Bateen Executive Airports Al Bateen VVIP project was one of the best among 19 submissions, under this years theme Green Airport Infrastructure. Al Bateen VVIP is an environmental project that aims to minimize the impact of aviation on the environment.

Al Katheeri said: We are proud to be recognised for our environmental efforts and achievements. Abu Dhabi International Airport first received an accreditation level of reduction from the ACIs Airport Carbon Accreditation program, and now we are delighted to see Al Bateen Executive Airport receive ACIs Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2019.

"Sustainability is one of our core corporate values and we are committed to following the best environmental practices to minimize our carbon footprint, as part of our mission to being the worlds leading airport group across all levels, Al Katheeri added.Vertex Global Aerospace, or VGA, was formed January 1, 2019, to globally offer Vertexs complete solution for aftermarket aerospace services for government and commercial clients. The leadership of the newly established VGA business line held a soft opening February 16, 2019, at its Abu Dhabi location and attended the citys International Defence Exhibition and Conference in the same week.

Steve Suttles, senior director of VGAs Middle East and Africa business operations, said the company is pleased to open its first regional office in the UAE.



Abu Dhabi is modern, business friendly, and perfectly positioned within the region for easy access to over 75 countries, said Suttles. We believe the security, stability, and economy in the UAE are strong and we are happy to support strategies and policies that promote the region.



We currently have contracts in Kuwait and plan to expand our presence in the Middle East and African regions, Suttles said. This makes the UAE strategically the optimal location to establish our first global footprint with trusted partners.



New York-based private equity firm American Industrial Partners purchased the Company in June 2018 to operate as a standalone company. Don Davis, VGAs senior vice president, said Vertex now has the capability to provide full-spectrum aerospace support worldwide and has grown its annual revenue to over $1.2B.



Our recent addition of the Aircraft Integration and Sustainment business line and our international expansion has helped us redefine the mid-level aerospace market with our agility, rapid deployment capability, and customized quality, said Davis.



Vertex Aerospace began its business as a product support division of Beechcraft in 1975. Over the past 43 years, the Company has been owned by divisions of Raytheon, L-3 Technologies, and private equity companies.



Performance excellence and customer satisfaction has always been our primary goal, and as a result, we have gained the reputation of being a best in value competitor in the aerospace services and sustainment market space, Davis said.Two years ago the National Arts Centre decided to add a company devoted to indigenous theatre to its french and english theatres. But the Canadian government has turned down a $3.5 million funding request and the plan is now in jeopardy.  Toronto StarAbhishek Majumdar has written a trilogy of dramas about the decades-long cycle of violence in Kashmir, another about Hindu nationalism, and one about the 2008 riots in Tibets capital. That last is the one that got him the death threat, and Londons Royal Court Theatre cancelled a production of it last year under apparent pressure from the Chinese government. (The Royal Court was shamed into reversing that decision, and the play is about to open there.)  The GuardianIn my Friday post about those said to have acquired the $450.3-million Leonardo da Vinci, I suggested that the convoluted Salvator Mundi story was still developing and hard to predict.

Sure enough, a mere two hours after my post appeared, Kelly Crow and Summer Said of the Wall Street Journal added a new twist:

The Leonardo da Vinci painting acquired for $450.3 million by Saudi Arabias crown prince [Mohammed bin Salman] will be displayed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi museuma gift from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates [emphasis added] said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Really?!? Nice gift!

But there were more twists still to come. For those keeping score, heres a play-by-play of the action so far:

Are you still with me, art-lings?

These varying accounts seem to suggest that if the crown prince had, in fact, bought the Leonardo, he might have had second thoughts about taking credit: The Times wrote that making such an extravagant purchase might be awkward, in light of his recent sweeping crackdown on corruption and self-enrichment by the elite of the kingdom. The possibility of offending Muslim sensibilities was also raised by both the Times and WSJ, implying that it might be a dicey gambit for the crown prince to lavish an unheard-of amount of money on the image of Jesus as the worlds savior.

Puzzling to me was the WSJs attribution of its information to sources with knowledge of U.S. intelligence. Im not surprised that U.S. authorities might be tracking big shifts of assets by key international players, but I wonder why intelligence sources would have leaked such information (if, in fact, thats what they did).

Im too removed from the intrigues of international maneuverings to unravel this tangled tale. In a comment at the end of my last post (which was quoted by Bloombergs Katya Kazakina), I observed that this is not your standard art-market story. You may need to have possession of this [Salvator Mundis] crystal ball to be able to predict what happens next.

You may also need to have access to sources in the C.I.A., not just the artworld. That said, I had hoped artworld sources could have helped me with one simple question that no one seems yet to have answered:

When will visitors to the Louvre Abu Dhabi be able to see Salvator Mundi?

The Louvres press office referred me to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, whose press office had failed to reply to my emails inquiring about various Mundi conundrums. The museums website provides scant information about what artworks are currently on view, astonishingly says nothing about the Leonardo, and appears to have no search function for those seeking specific information.

Because Kirkpatricks NY Times scoop (linked above) reported that the buyer would pay for the painting in six monthly installments, I wondered if Christies was holding on to it until its fully paid for. To answer this, I turned to someone I knew and respected:

Heres what I asked Erin McAndrew:

Has the painting been released to the buyer (whoever that is), or does it remain in Christies custody until the full amount is paid? Do you have any insight into how long it will be until Salvator Mundi is put on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi? Will that not happen until the full price is paid?

I ended by asking her to please keep me in the loop if there is any further information you can provide in what still seems to be a developing story.

To which Erin replied:

We have no information to share on these. Happy to keep you in the loop where we can.

Is there anyone who can keep me in the loop on this loopy story?I was surprised on Sunday when the NY Times ran a long front-page article about the status (or lack thereof) of the $450.3-million Leonardo da Vinci that has unaccountably fallen off the publics radar screen. The Times piece was merely a detailed summary of all the reporting that has preceded it (including numerous posts that appeared on CultureGrrl), even though it was posted from Abu Dhabi, where the painting was thought to have been destined for display.

I assume that Times reporter David Kirkpatricks hope of getting something new from officials of the Louvre Abu Dhabi (where the painting was supposed to have been displayed, but still hasnt appeared), or from officials of Abu Dhabis Department of Culture and Tourism didnt bear fruit.

I was even more surprised when I got a call from BBC Radio 5, which wanted to interview me about the paintings stale trail on its live news show for insomniacsUp All Night with Rhod Sharp.

BBC Radio 5 journalist Rhod Sharp

Go to 24:00 of the audio for tonights broadcast (labeled: 3/4/2019Brit-speak for Apr. 3, 2019), to hear my 9 minutes of BBC fame as I tried to provide some new commentary for an old story.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post gave the wrong time for the audio. (1:24 a.m., London time, was when it aired, but now that its concluded, the time on the audio is given as 24:00 (24 minutes into the programs audio), as corrected above. Thanks to all of you who alerted me to this and expressed frustration at not having the benefit of my wisdom (?!?).

In the interest of accuracy, let me warn you about two flubs: In his introduction, Rhod said that the winning Leonardo bid was placed by Christies head of old masters. It was actually done by Alex Rotter, the auction houses chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art. Counterintuitively (but successfully), the Leonardo was included in the Contemporary Art sale: Thats where the money is.

I goofed too: Admitting to uncertainty, I answered Sharps question about the previous art auction record (before the Leonardo) by suggesting it might have been Munchs The Scream. It was actually this $179.37-million Picasso. (Wheres Bloombergs Katya Kazakina when I really need her? It was her tweet that might have tipped off Sharp to contact me.)

As far as I can determine, there is no embed code that would allow me to put this audio on my blog, and it will self-destruct in a month, so go here (at 24:00-33:00) and listen while you (and I) still can.

At the end, youll hear me talk about what could be regarded as a modest consolation prize for the Leonardo-deprived Louvre Abu Dhabi. This oil sketch of Jesus cost a mere 9.48 million last December at Sothebys, London. Its now in the permanent collection of the museum, which describes it as the first work by Rembrandt known to have been acquired for a public collection in the Gulf region:

Rembrandt, Study of the Head and Clasped Hands of a Young Man as Christ in Prayerby

In the current issue the quarterly review Raritan, I write that Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Charles Ivess Symphony No. 2 are twin American cultural landmarks, comparable in method and achievement. They both transform a hallowed Old World genre  the novel, the symphony  through recourse to New World vernacular speech.

To read the whole piece, click here.

It bears mentioning that Ives and Mark Twain knew one another via the Reverend Joseph Twitchell. Twitchell was for forty years Samuel Clemenss closest friend. His daughter Harmony married Charlie Ives in 1908.

Crucially, both Twains novel and Ivess symphony deal with the inescapable American self-affliction: slavery. At the heart of Hucks story is his moral epiphany on the raft with Jim: Hucks precocious early manhood is confirmed by a dawning realization that laws of the heart trump human laws such as those dictating that black men may be enslaved, and that slaves who escape be returned to their masters.

As for Ives: we know from a 1943 letter to the conductor Artur Rodzinski that he linked his symphony with the fret and storm and stress of liberty of the Civil War. Its movement two sonata form adapts for its main theme an Abolitionist song: Wake Nicodemus. Where the marches and dances of the finale abate for a plaintive horn tune citing Stephen Fosters Old Black Joe, Ives (as he told Rodzinski) finds inspiration in Fosters sadness for the slaves. The passage in question is the symphonys lyric pinnacle.

Like Mark Twains America, Ivess America embraced the tragedy and turmoil of slavery and race.What now after COP26? With the frenetic weeks of COP26 over and disputes over its actual achievements still in full spate, here are a few developments that may help put the United Nations climate conference into perspective.During 2017-18, the overseas shipments grew by about 10 per cent to USD 303 billion.

New Delhi: India's exports are expected to reach USD 32.38 billion in March, the highest in any month so far, on account of healthy growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu said Wednesday.

He said that exports would cross USD 331 billion mark in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

"We will at least have USD 331 billion (in 2018-19) and in the month of March, we will have USD 32.38 billion, the highest ever in any month," he told PTI in an interview. He said that for the "first time", India has crossed USD 19 billion figure in pharma exports this fiscal.

The commerce ministry will release the trade data on April 15. Prabhu said that the country's exports were declining for long time but now "this year, we would have record exports".

The figures in 2018-19 would be the highest ever at a time when there is a worst scenario in the world trade front, he said. The outbound shipments are growing because of concerted efforts by the ministry in the last one year, the minister said.

"We created a matrix between every product and every geography. Secondly, we had done series of road shows," Prabhu said adding export potential was tapped in regions such as Africa and Latin America.

The ministry also held several meetings with then line ministries including food, agri, pharma and IT ministry to resolve issues hindering exports.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) yesterday stated that the global trade will continue to face strong headwinds this year and in 2020 after growing slower-than-expected in 2018, due to rising trade tensions and increased economic uncertainty.

The minister said that India is recording a healthy growth in exports despite the fact that countries are putting barriers and following protectionist measures.

Imposition of high customs duties by the US on certain steel and aluminium products have triggered a trade war kind of situation. India's exports grew by 8.85 per cent to USD 298.47 billion during April-February 2018-19.

Since 2011-12, India's exports have been hovering at around USD 300 billion. During 2017-18, the overseas shipments grew by about 10 per cent to USD 303 billion.The controversial law, which gives sweeping powers to the security forces, will, however, still be in force in the areas bordering Myanmar.

Under the AFSPA, the security forces can arrest anyone or carry out searches in any premises. (Photo: Representational/PTI)

New Delhi: Nearly three decades after the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was imposed in Arunachal Pradesh, it has now been partially removed from three of the states nine districts. The controversial law, which gives sweeping powers to the security forces, will, however, still be in force in the areas bordering Myanmar.

The Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy Committee had earlier recommended scrapping of the AFSPA from the entire state. Under the AFSPA, the security forces can arrest anyone or carry out searches in any premises.

A Union home ministry notification said four police station areas in Arunachal Pradesh, which were earlier declared as disturbed areas under AFSPA, will now no longer be under the purview of the special law. These four police stations are Balemu and Bhalukpong in West Kameng district, Seijosa police station in East Kameng district and Balijan police station in Papumpare district.

The notification said AFSPA will remain in force in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts and the areas under the jurisdiction of Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district, Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district and Sunpura in Lohit district for six more months till September 30.

MHA officials claimed that the disturbed area tag was withdrawn from the four police station areas as there was an improvement in the law and order situation there, and it will continue in other areas in view of the continuing activities of the banned northeastern insurgent groups. A review of the law and order situation in the states six districts was undertaken before the March 31 deadline for the validity of the disturbed area designation under AFSPA. Banned militant outfits like NSCN, Ulfa and NDFB have a presence in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier, in March last year, AFSPA had been removed completely from Meghalaya after the situation there had somewhat improved.

The AFSPA is normally imposed in areas where the armed forces operate to assist the civil authorities. In order to impose AFSPA, the area needs to be declared disturbed either by the Centre or the state government.Isro and the IAF will sign an agreement shortly on the process of selection and training of these crew members for Gaganyaan.

The training schedule (two phases) would be worked out by the IAFs Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) in Bengaluru while the last phase would be conducted in collaboration with Russian or French space agencies.

BENGALURU: In the first baby step of the giant leap of Indians voyage into space, the selection and training of crew members will commence soon.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) will sign an agreement shortly on the process of selection and training of these crew members for Gaganyaan, the countrys first human space flight programme.

It (agreement) could happen next week, and then the course of selection and training will begin. In about a year-and-a-half or two years, six crew members will be selected from about 100 prospective astronaut candidates. Those six members, of whom three will make it to the first flight and the remaining three will be on standby, will be the toppers in a three-phase selection and training programme. Of course, we want a woman to be part of the first crew but it depends on the procedures of selection and training, Dr K. Sivan, chairman, Isro, told this newspaper.

He said those who make the final cut would join the space agency as its staff in order to get familiar with the first mission to space, the experiments to be carried out during the seven-day outing in space, and get hands-on experience of technologies involved in Gaganyaan.

The training schedule (two phases) would be worked out by the IAFs Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) in Bengaluru while the last phase would be conducted in collaboration with Russian or French space agencies.

Three of our people (Isro) have visited aerospace medicine facilities in France but we have not signed any agreement with CNES (French space agency) as other countries like Russia have also offered to help us during the last phase of training, he added.

Expressing confidence that Isro would be able to accomplish the mission in December 2021, six months ahead of the date announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Sivan said a number of reviews, including one at the national level by renowned experts, the IAF, academia and DRDO labs, have been completed on the crew module and the launch vehicle.The BJP chief asked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to clarify his stand on the issue raised by his electoral ally.

Srinagar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Wednesday said that no power on earth can snatch Jammu and Kashmir from India nor will his party allow the dream of having a separate Prime Minister for the state come true.

Today Im declaring it from the soil of Jammu and Kashmir and you should listen it with open ears that BJP wont allow anybody to snatch Jammu & Kashmir from India...you are talking about a separate Prime Minister for the state and I say your dream will never come true, he said while addressing an election rally in Udhampur.

Slamming former chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah for raising such a demand, Mr Shah said Do you think you will make one more Prime Minister (within the country) and we will sit idle and do nothing. Listen, we will risk our own lives to save Jammu and Kashmir. He added that the BJP, whether in power or in opposition, would never let such a demand get fulfilled.

The BJP chief asked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to clarify his stand on the issue raised by his electoral ally. He said, I want to ask the Congress president to clarify to the nation whether or not he agrees with his allys demand.

He also said, Omar Abdullah who inherited everything says dont touch Article 35A and that there should be a separate Prime Minister in Jammu and Kashmir...his associates are chanting pro-Pakistan slogans and Congress is silent.

Mr Shah said that it were Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Pandit Prem Nath Dogra who kept J&K with India and that BJP as a party whichfollows their ideals will ensure the State remains an inseparable part of the country and hence would not let anything that dilutes this relationship happen till its last breath.

He came down heavily on Congress also over its stand on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and said that nobody can dilute the AFSPA as the BJP will be standing like a rock in support of security forces who are protecting our borders.

He said that the Congress and its leadership should feel ashamed of what the opposition party has announced in its manifesto  to dilute AFSPA. On its promise to omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code that defines the offence of sedition on the premise that it has been misused and become redundant because of subsequent laws, the BJP chief asked Who do you want to protect...the people who chanted anti-India slogans like bharat tere tukde honge in JNU?

Referring to the Balakot airstrikes, he said, The entire country was enraged over the Pulwama terror attack in which we lost 41 CRPF jawans. We retaliated by striking deep inside Pakistan to target the terrorist training facility and if anyone was saddened it were Pakistan, National Conference, PDP and Rajiv Gandhi. I dont know if those who were killed in airstrikes were yours cousins. He also warned Pakistan, saying agar wahan se goli aati hai, yahaan se gola jaye ga (if a bullet comes from there, a shell will go from here).Jaitley said the Congress much-hyped Nyay scheme was a bluff as the party itself had no clarity on how it would be implemented.

New Delhi: Tearing into the Congress election manifesto for 2019, the BJP on Tuesday said some of the promises made in it were positively dangerous and are ideas for the Balkanisation of the country and asserted that with such ideas, the Opposition party does not deserve even a single vote. The BJP claimed the manifesto was drafted by Congress president Rahul Gandhis friends in the tukde tukde gang.

To Congress president Rahul Gandhis remark that South India feels hostility from Narendra Modi, the BJP said the region might neglect Mr Gandhi himself. Lashing at the Congress for not even mentioning how the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri pandits was the example of failed secularism in free India in the entire chapter on the state in its manifesto, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the Congress should make its ally National Conferences demand for a pre-1953 status in the state as its main poll plank, whose dangerous consequences are frightening. He said the country would never fogive the Nehru-Gandhi family for its historical mistake over Kashmir.

Terming the Congress manifesto a Charter to Weaken India, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley focused his partys attack mainly on its promises on reviewing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and omitting Indian Penal Codes Section 124A, which defines sedition, and the Nyay scheme, which he called a bluff, and said its like the idea that comes when the person knows that he will never get a chance to implement it. On the Congress poll promise of a loan waiver, healthcare and education, Mr Jaitley said it was a promise made out of ignorance and the Congress has a legacy of duping the poor with slogans.

Reminding the Congress that ingratitude is the biggest sin that a political party can commit, Mr Jaitley hit out at the Congress for its promise to review AFSPA and omit Section 124A. The BJP leader said though there was a drafting committee that came out with the Congress poll document, it appears that some of the important points have been drafted by the Congress presidents friends in the tukde tukde gang when the document deals with Jammu and Kashmir and national security.

The manifetso contains a solemn statement of the Congress that when its president makes a promise he never breaks it, but when out of ignorance he makes unimplementable and dangerous promises, I am sure the country will not be in a mood to oblige him for implementing the kind of promises mentioned in the manifesto  as some of the ideas are positively dangerous... they are the ideas for the Balkanisation of India, said Mr Jaitley.

Mr Jaitley said the Congress was trying to redefine and dilute the idea of national security, and said that while transparency is a very good word, there are notable exceptions to that and the country comes first.

Reminding the Congress that its own state governments had opposed it when the then UPA home minister had tried to dilute AFSPA, Mr Jaitley asked those people who lay down their lives for the country... you want them to be prosecuted at the behest of terrorists or their friends or their relatives. He said the UPA put in place a robust mechanism to deal with complaints against officers in AFSPA areas, and every complaint was dealt out firmly.

The senior BJP leader said the Congress wants bail is the rule and jail is the exception, which he said would mean stone-pelters will be on the streets and terrorists will be saved. He said the Congress wants a dialogue with separatists, and added that India will not agree to the rule of insurgents and terrorists.

Mr Jaitley said the Congress much-hyped Nyay scheme was a bluff as the party itself had no clarity on how it would be implemented. Truth leaks itself out, said the senior leader, pointing out that the Congress had been changing its stand on how exactly the scheme would be implemented.

Taking a dig at the Congress promise on jobs, Mr Jaitley said: Rahul Gandhi said we will fill 28 lakh jobs. The next sentence of the Congress manifesto says 20 lakh jobs are in state governments. He must at least read what he is saying.The party also promises to ensure that no citizen of India is denied inclusion in the final National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Guwahati: The Congress manifesto has dedicated a sizable space to Northeast with specific assurance to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, which rocked the region.

The Congress in the manifesto affirmed that the north-eastern states are a unique and valued part of India that bring into the nation many diverse and rich cultures, languages, traditions and bio-diversity. The Congress stated that the party is committed to defend and protect the interests of the region and their people and to ensuring the rapid economic development of the region.

Announcing that Congress will bring in separate industrial policy for Northeastern states, the Congress party in its manifesto also promised to restore the Special Category status to the northeastern states. The party also promises to ensure that no citizen of India is denied inclusion in the final National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The party promises to address the issue of illegal immigration through consultation with all the north-eastern states and evolve a consensus on the legislative measures that will secure the identity of the indigenous communities, the manifesto stated.Modi further cornered the BJD government over chit fund and mining scams.

BHAWANIPATNA: A day after BJP national president Amit Shah tried all possible ways to woo voters in Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in the state and fired on all cylinders targeting the ruling Biju Janata Dal and the Congress

The PM, without taking names, criticised the BJD and Congress alleging that both the parties had conspired to keep the poor of the state poor during their leadership.

The two parties have used the poor and farmers in the state as votebank and later betrayed them after coming to power. Large numbers of people are migrating to other states in search of work, he stated.

Mr Modi further cornered the BJD government over chit fund and mining scams. He alleged that the Odisha government, during its 19 years of rule, had only given patronage to fraudsters, chit fund and mining Mafias.

The states natural resources which could have been utilised to enrich the lives of poor people here have been given to chit fund and mining mafias. Thousands of people have been looted by chit fund firms who got direct patronage of the local government, he added.

Speaking in the same vein, Mr Modi questioned the people, Do you need a chit fund mafia or a Chowkidar? Do you need a mining mafia or a Chowkidar?The Congress would also request state governments to fill nearly 20 lakh vacancies in their departments.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh and former Union minister P. Chidambaram release the partys manifesto for the upcoming general elections in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: G.N. JHA)

New Delhi: Keeping Nyay or the minimum income guarantee promise of Rs 72,000 per household per annum as the mainstay of its Lok Sabha poll manifesto, the Congress on Tuesday promised a slew of other welfare measures including a separate budget for farmers, filling up 24 lakh government vacancies, free education, improved healthcare and fixing a single moderate GST rate.

Releasing the a 55-page document titled Congress Will Deliver, party president Rahul Gandhi gave a new slogan based on the Nyay scheme, Garibi pe war, bahatar hazar, and said that on winning the parliamentary polls the party will come out with a separate budget for farmers, fill up 24 lakh government vacancies, allocate 6 per cent of GDP to education, ensure 50 more days of guaranteed jobs from current 100 days under the Mnrega, boost healthcare infrastructure and enhance safety of women.

Our manifesto process reflects our commitment to a higher vision, that of listening to the jan awaaz. It is not the mann ki baat of one individual but the collective voice of lakhs of people, he said, in a preface of the manifesto, taking a dig at the ruling BJP which he said had spread hate across the country.

While the income guarantee scheme, Nyay, has been touted as a political game changer, the Congress manifesto has also fallen back on old style welfare economics to woo voters ahead of the general elections.

With this manifesto, Mr Gandhi said the Congress has offered to people the only national alternative  a distinct alternative  that is unwavering in its commitment to truth, freedom, dignity, self-respect and prosperity for our people.

The manifesto also promised to investigate procurement of Rafale fighter jets and several other deals under the BJP government and said, if voted to power, the party will enforce anti-corruption laws without discrimination.

Apart from raising defence spending, the Congress vowed to make the office of National Security Advisor as well as the National Security Council accountable to Parliament, and define their powers under the law.

The party also promised to revitalise institutions like Reserve Bank of India, Election Commission, CBI, CIC, saying the Congress will restore their dignity, authority and autonomy while making them accountable to Parliament.

The party also promised to decriminalise defamation and sedition, amend laws that allow detention without trial, pass prevention of torture bill and amend Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) to balance the requirements of security and the protection of human rights.

On Jammu and Kashmir, it said that nothing will be done or allowed to change the constitutional position on Kashmir and that enforcement of the AFSPA in the state will be reviewed.

Flanked by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former finance minister P. Chidambaram, the Congress president reached out to farmers and promised to waive off farm loans in all states like his partys governments have done in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The Congress promised to put farmers on the path from karz maafi (loan waiver), to karz mukti (freedom from loans).

He also promised a separate budget for farmers, making farmers debt a civil rather than a criminal case that may entail imprisonment and setting up of a National Commission on Agricultural Development and Planning.

The highest priority was, however, reserved for jobs. The document promised to create a new ministry of industry, services and employment. All the four lakh vacancies in Central government, Central public sector enterprises, judiciary and Parliament would be filled before the end of March 2020.

The Congress would also request state governments to fill nearly 20 lakh vacancies in their departments.

Mr Gandhi said that the Congress will allocate 6 per cent of GDP to education and strengthen government hospitals. The Congress promised that school education from Class I to Class XII in public schools shall be compulsory and free.

The party also promised to enact the Right to Healthcare Act and guarantee every citizen free diagnostics, out-patient care, free medicines and hospitalisation, through a network of public hospitals and enlisted private hospitals.

To woo women voters, the Congress promised a reservation of 33 per cent of seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies, besides a separate investigative agency to investigate heinous crimes against women and children.

On the economic front, the party said it will provide a fillip to private sector by incentivising businesses for jobs creation and employing more women. On GST tax, the Congress said it will radically simplify the GST regime with a single moderate rate of tax, zero rating of exports, and exemption for essential goods and services.

On defence, the Congress manifesto promised that it will reverse the trend of declining defence spending under the NDA government, and increase it to meet the requirements of the armed forces.We will expedite all modernisation programmes of the armed forces in a transparent manner. We will improve social security, education and health facilities for our paramilitary corces and families, the party said.

The party said that if voted to power, it will pass a new law in the first session of the next Lok Sabha to prevent and punish hate crimes such as mob-engineered lynching, stripping and burning if voted to power.

Alleging that sections of the media have abused or surrendered their freedom in recent times, the party pitched for omitting Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code and making defamation a civil offence.Security restored after Digvijay says action improper.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh governments decision to withdraw security cover at the state RSS headquarters here on Tuesday stirred a row with Opposition BJP taking strong exception to the move.

Interestingly, the issue has brought to fore differences between Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

Hours after security was withdrawn at the state RSS headquarters here, Mr Singh, known as diehard critic of the Sangh, early on Tuesday morning made an appeal to the chief minister to review the matter.

It is improper to withdraw security at RSS office. I request chief minister Kamal Nath ji to order reinstatement of security there urgently, Mr Singh posted his appeal in Twitter at 8.18 am.

The tweet by Mr Singh has landed the chief minister in embarrassment, prompting him to order restoration of security at RSS office.

The temporary security set up established at the RSS office here was dismantled late on Monday night following an order to this effect by the state government.

The decision to rob RSS office of security had drawn criticism from BJP which saw it a design to attack the Sangh office during Lok Sabha elections, scheduled to be held in Madhya Pradesh in four phases in April 29- May 19.

The security has been withdrawn with a plan to engineer attack on RSS during the elections, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition (LOP) in MP assembly Gopal Bhargav Tweeted.

Interestingly, BJP media chief here Lokendra Parasar took a swipe at Mr Singh for being unduly sympathetic to RSS by pleading to restore security at RSS office.

Why are you worried about security of RSS? Nationalist forces very well know your attitude towards them. You are the person who linked Hindus to terrorism by coining saffron terror. You are now showing concern for RSS owing to nearing elections.

The Sangh does not need security of any kind, he tweeted.

Mr Singh has been fielded by Congress in Bhopal seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to wrest the constituency from BJP.Gandhi is scheduled to file his nomination from Wayanad on Wednesday, accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi.

United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi after the release of the partys manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Claiming that people in South of India feel hostility from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said he had decided to contest from Wayanad in Kerala to send out a positive message to people there.

Mr Gandhi is scheduled to file his nomination from Wayanad on Wednesday, accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi. On Sunday, the Congress had announced that party Mr Gandhi will contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

There is a feeling in South India, a very strong feeling in South India, that they are not being carried (along) by the current government. South India feels hostility from Mr Narendra Modi, they feel that they are not being included in the decisions of the country, Mr Gandhi said releasing his party's manifesto here.

The Congress' announcement that the party chief will contest from Wayanad had evoked sharp reactions from the Left and Right of the political spectrum.

While the CPI(M) and CPI had questioned his judgement saying the move signalled the Congress wanted to take on the Left which would work towards defeating him in the elections from Wayanad, BJP chief Amit Shah reacted to the development saying Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him.

Further, addressing a rally in Wardha, Maharashtra, on Monday, the Prime Minister said the Congress is scared to field its leaders from constituencies where the majority dominates in terms of voter-base.The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.The Trinamul Congress supremo earlier decided to kickstart her campaign of 100 rallies from April 4 in Cooch Behar in North Bengal.

Kolkata: Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to address his two back-to-back grand rallies in Siliguri in North Bengal and Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata for the BJPs Lok Sabha election campaign on Wednesday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has swiftly advanced her campaign plans. She will now retaliate over his high-voltage attack on her rule the same day.

The Trinamul Congress supremo earlier decided to kickstart her campaign of 100 rallies from April 4 in Cooch Behar in North Bengal. On April 4, I will leave for Cooch Behar to attend a rally there. Next day I will be in Assam to address a rally there.., she had said on Sunday. Ms Banerjee, however, changed her itinerary overnight in a desperate bid to give no room to Mr Modi even for a day, Trinamul insiders have indicated.

She brought forward the date of starting the campaign to Wednesday when Mr Modi is also due to start his day-long state-tour from Siliguri in North Bengal, where he will address his first rally at an Indian Railways ground close to New Jalp-aiguri railway station for the first phase of the polls in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar on April 11.

The PM will then fly to Kolkata and will address his second rally in the afternoon at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground, where Ms Banerjee had convened her United India rally in January with most of the top Opposition leaders in attendance.

Sources said the chief minister will reach Cooch Behar on Wednesday morning, but she will address her rally only after Mr Modis second rally in Kolkata is expected to be over. Her change in itinerary earned her potshots from the BJP on Tuesday.

BJP national secretary and Kolkata North candidate Rahul Sinha claimed: Ms Banerjees rally was scheduled to take place a day after Mr Modis rally. As soon as Mr Modis itinerary was confirmed, she rescheduled her rally because she wants to reply. What does that mean? It implies that the people would be mesmerised by Mr Modis speech. And Ms Banerjee has realised it.

He added: That is why she will address her rally soon after the PMs rallies to remove the impression about him from the public mind by spreading some lies. But her effort will not succeed.Clothes are everything as they shape a persons personality, says fashion diva Ritu Beri.

While dress-shopping is one of the greatest stress reliever for any girl, thats not the only role clothes play in our lives.

Fashion is more about being well dressed and trendy all the time, feels fashion czarina Ritu Beri, who has recently been appointed as the cultural and tourism ambassador of Uzbekistan in India.

She feels with the exposure to international fashion brands in India, the consumer has become more aware and open to daily dressing. They also realise the effort that goes into designer clothes, and are willing to pay the price for it, she says. According to her Indian fashion industry has evolved over last two decades, going through tremendous transformation. Back then fashion was viewed as only a diversion for the small group of elites, where it was more to do with ritual dressing like dressing up for weddings, festivals, receptions etc.

While dress-shopping is one of the greatest stress reliever for any girl, thats not the only role clothes play in our lives.

Ritu opines, Clothes are everything. They shape a persons personality. I like it when people dress according to their body type and not wear anything just because its trending.

Her recognition as the brand ambassador of Uzbekistan is backed by her stellar contribution towards bringing two countries together by way of her fusing cultures in her clothes line. She is the first Indian to be appointed to this position.

Ritu says she is delighted and honoured to present the glory of Uzbekistan and create a connecting story between the two countries. It would be my endeavour to deepen the cultural and social ties between the two countries, she says.

Farhod Arziev, Ambassador of Uzbekistan says, Though she had already been doing lot of work at her personal level, now there is official recognition of her work. Her work would lead to start of movement which brings greater closeness between the two countries, adding this collaboration aims at bringing both the countries closer.

The international icon shares how she thinks fashion industry can contribute towards various social causes in our country. She says, Fashion in many ways is empowering and liberating at the same time, if approached with the right intention. It is an education in itself. There has been much more awareness and responsiveness to womens issues in the recent past and like all other industries, fashion too contributed to it in many ways.

She believes things are changing, especially girls are becoming much more conscious of their rights as education plays a very important role in society to fight any issue.

Ritu launched her label in 1990 when India was still awakening to the couture era. She forayed into France, and as a protege of embroidery maestro Francois Lesage she became the first Indian fashion ambassador to show on the catwalks of Paris. Her presentations gave the French fashion connoisseurs a glimpse of mystical India. She then traveled the globe showing her creations to critical acclaim. She is the recipient of the prestigious French honor, Chevaliere des art et des Lettres award. Former US President Mr. Bill Clinton, Hollywood celebrities like Nicole Kidnam, Ivana Trump, Supermodels, famous Parisian Socialites, to the Prima Donna of Indian Movies and a bevy of many others have worn the Ritu Beri label.

Spending time with family is the fashionistas favourite leisure time.

For an international diva like her tackling a low phase in life can be a huge inspiration for budding fashion enthusiasts. Her simple solution to all such depressive situations is, When the going gets tough, the tough gets going and my motto is #HappyIrrespective.The Opposition parties have attacked the saffron governments policies through the ad campaign.

Malik said that the aim of the campaign is to inform the citizens about whether or not the promises made by the government five years ago have been achieved. (Photo: Debasish Dey)

Mumbai: The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have jointly launched an ad campaign for the Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra with the slogan Laj vatat nahi? (Are you not ashamed?). The parties have planned to put up a series of hoardings, print advertisements and television ads in the upcoming weeks. However, the ad campaign is yet to receive permission from the Election Commission of India (EC).

The Opposition parties have attacked the saffron governments policies through the ad campaign. The campaign also targets the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ram Kadam, who had made some controversial statements and education minister Vinod Tawde.

Addressing a joint press conference held at the Congress Gandhi Bhavan office in South Mumbai, Congress leader Husain Dalwai and NCP leader Nawab Malik said that both parties have planned the campaign voluntarily.

Mr Malik said that the aim of the campaign is to inform the citizens about whether or not the promises made by the government five years ago have been achieved. The BJP, be it at the Centre or in the state, is not informing everyone about its achievements. Instead, it is questioning the previous government, he said.

Mr Malik further added, Through the ad campaign, we have tried to portray the peoples thought about the current dispensation.

The NCP leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that his party supremo Sharad Pawar had got out hit-wicket by his nephew. But our leader is neither going to get out hit-wicket nor run out; he will clean bowl (his opponents), he said.

Pawar saheb has been entrusted with the responsibility of uniting Opposition parties across the country. As per the current political situation in the country, the BJP wont get 150 seats. The National Democratic Alliance also wont be able to bag 200 seats this time, Mr Malik claimed.NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that during Mr Modis regime, over three lakh farmers committed suicide across the country.

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday raised a question over Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Wardha as the latter had failed to visit the hailstorm-hit areas in Vidarbha.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that during Mr Modis regime, over three lakh farmers committed suicide across the country.

Mr Modi, while launching his poll campaign in Wardha on Monday, had targeted NCP chief Sharad Pawar on multiple fronts, including farmers suicides. He said, We did not expect the PM to visit affected farmers, as not a single minister of the state had visited them, either.

He also pointed out that Mr Modi used to speak about farmers for 18 minutes in 2014, while in the current election, he does not even speak for two minutes about them.

The PM has given a slogan Mar Jawan, Mar Kisan. This government has been unable to fulfill the promises and are blaming the previous government for the current state of farmers, Mr Malik said.

Armed with the in-house magazine Rashtrawadis December 2011 edition, the NCP spokesperson said that when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, he had wholeheartedly praised the then Union agriculture minister Mr Pawar for the agriculture growth in Gujarat.Advocate Girish Kulkarni on behalf of Sathak on Wednesday claimed that in his statement recorded by ED Sathak has already given entire money trail.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has opposed his bail plea saying he failed to come clean and is unable to answer many questions on revenue generation from Peace TV on which Mr Naiks speeches were broadcasted.

Mumbai: The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Wednesday reserved order on the bail application filed by controversial televangelist Dr Zakir Naiks aide Abdul Kadir Najmuddin Sathak.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has opposed his bail plea saying he failed to come clean and is unable to answer many questions on revenue generation from Peace TV on which Mr Naiks speeches were broadcasted.

Advocate Hiten Venegaokar on behalf of ED contended before the special PMLA court judge MS Azmi that there is no substance in Sathaks claim that he took the route of Nepal to enter India because he wanted to hire labours and take them with him to UAE for his company.

Advocate Venegaokar argued that Sathak wanted to go to Nepal from Delhi airport but he was not aware that for going to Nepal also he would be required to undergo immigration process where it was found that probe agency was after him and hence he was detained. Had he knew this he would have used the same route to go back to UAE which he used to enter India.

Advocate Girish Kulkarni on behalf of Sathak on Wednesday claimed that in his statement recorded by ED Sathak has already given entire money trail.

He pointed out from his statement in which Sathak has stated that crown prince of UAE and his family members and others donated funds for Peace TV and hence there is no connection of Dr Zakir Naik with this money and hence it cannot be said that the applicant helped Naik launder money or Naiks money was involved in his company.

The judge would pass an order on this plea on Thursday.Patralekha Chatterjee focuses on development issues in India and emerging economies. She can be reached at patralekha.chatterjee@gmail.com

The questions swirl around, as 900 million voters across the country get ready to vote in the forthcoming general election.

Lets face it. Everyone in this country of 1.3 billion doesnt speak with an equally loud voice. Whose voices matter? Whose voices will get drowned in the din? Whose concerns will be centrestaged?

The questions swirl around, as 900 million voters across the country get ready to vote in the forthcoming general election. Campaign time in India is also the peak season of punditry.

Going by political pundits, and the chatter in the social media, the BJP will continue to harp on national security as the big issue, positioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the supreme leader who can take care of the country, allay Hindu fears, avenge historical wrongs, put Pakistan in its place, make India a space leader and just about everything else that one can imagine. The ruling party and its supporters will also continue to unapologetically raise the spectre of Hindu anger.

In the wake of the February 14 terrorist strike in Pulwama, and Indias retaliatory attack on Balakot in Pakistan, the conventional narrative has tended to predict a second innings for Mr Modi.

The Congress manifesto, released earlier this week, seeks to counter this narrative with promises of a kinder and gentler nation with a Right to Health Care Act, an expanded safety net and a lot more.

Then, there are the powerful regional parties who are coming together and who resonate strongly in many parts of India.

Anyone who follows current affairs will not be really surprised by any of this. We are now in the middle of the battle of the hashtags in the social media.

In this fluid and fast-changing scenario, can one definitively predict poll outcomes? Is there really any one issue that unites voters in the north, south, east and west in this vast and diverse country?

Travelling around a little in the neighbourhood past week, my sense is that for very many Indians, the big issue is the still the daily struggle to put food on the table, and the quest for basic amenities, amid agrarian distress.

On National Highway 1, near Panipat, I met two people who were studies in contrast.

Uday Vir, an agarbatti seller, was an avid supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. and thrilled that the government had taken revenge on Pakistan. He was also convinced that Pakistan is now frightened and will not dare to hit back.

A few feet away from Uday Vir, stood a sceptical Saroj Devi, who sold rajma-chawal and parathas on a cycle cart.

Saroj, who was listening to our conversation, waded in. Was Pakistan pressured into submission after Indias 2016 surgical strike? I also watch news.

Ever since her husband died, Saroj has been the sole breadwinner of her family. Every day, she stands in the blazing sun for nearly eight hours, hawking her wares to passers-by like me. Saroj, who hails from Panipats Siwah village, is trying her best to support her 17-year-old son who wishes to appear for the civil services examination.

Saroj said she had not yet benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which provides free LPG connections to all poor households.

She had heard of the Congress proposed minimum income scheme, Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay). She had a cryptic response.

A scheme is good only if it benefits me. Otherwise, why do I need to care? I have to work for a living. Neither the Congress nor the BJP is going to feed me.

It is not that development has not happened but benefits of many of the Modi governments much-publicised welfare schemes have not percolated down to all those in need.

Take Nuh, also in Haryana, and earlier called Mewat. Nuh has a new-look bus stand. It was inaugurated in 2016. It has a night shelter and a toilet complex run by the non-profit Sulabh Shauchalaya. The caretaker was a fan of Prime Minister Modi and said everything around was just fine; those who complained had only themselves to blame.

Nuhs bus stand is impressive but villages in the interior are still dotted with dirt tracks and cow-dung patties; they tell another story. Here, one of the biggest issues is the severe scarcity of drinking water.

In 2018, Nuh was identified by the Niti Aayog as the most backward district in India on many parameters. Glitzy Gurgaon is barely 60 km away. It is hard to believe that the millennial city of multinationals and multiplexes and Nuh are part of the same parliamentary constituency.

In Nuhs Adbar village, Aaisa, a Class 10 student in a government school, was keen to talk. Her father was a labourer. Her mother, a home maker, was out collecting firewood. Aaisa said her family had not yet benefited from the government's Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and was keen to know if I could help. The family had spent their own money constructing a toilet in the house.

Aaisas family does not have any access to piped water like many in Adbar village. Aaisa is good in studies and is spared the chore of fetching water from wells afar. Her teenaged sister, Saina, is not so lucky. Saina walks long distances with a matka on her head to fetch water. She dropped out of school.

In Nuh town, I met two young Muslim women who worked part-time. One of them rode a scooter. Both were first-time voters; both had fought social barriers to study, and take up work. One young woman, Hanifa, a college student, told me the little money that she earned was helping to educate her two younger brothers.

Hanifa is enrolled in a correspondence course in social work at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) in New Delhi and determined to bust stereotypes about Mewats Muslim women. She covers her head with a scarf and smiles insouciantly as I take a photo of her, riding her scooter.

One of Indias 15 million first-time voters, she believes that education should be the top political priority, and education alone can equip one to make informed choices.

The voices I heard were disparate, diverse. Like India itself. Whose voices will matter eventually? The jury is out.The PPPs main challenge at the moment is its growing irrelevance in Punjab.

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari seems to be the man of the moment, these days. With the PTI in power and the Sharif family in a mood for quiet reconciliation, only BBZ seems to be within reach of the coveted spot of man of the Opposition. Indeed, there is no one else who can compete with him to fill the space once dominated by Imran Khan.

He is there to speak eloquently in Parliament (and outperforms the leader of the Opposition whose speaking skills are not much to write home about after all these years in politics); he sounds convincing in his interviews to foreign journalists; and his political legacy is enough for many to vouch for a rosy future for him.

And above all, his recent fiery incarnation which culminated in his train march from Karachi to Larkana seems to lend more credence to this idea. For many, he has already become an eloquent anti-establishment politician, following in the footsteps of his mother and grandfather.

But is Opposition politics simply about filling the airwaves at a time when no one else is? Isn't that what Imran Khan did after the 2013 elections? While this may be true, there is more to the matter, in the particular context of the PPP. And as the head and heir of the party, Bilawal needs to pay attention to the challenges facing him.

The PPPs main challenge at the moment is its growing irrelevance in Punjab. Once a party which forced the military establishment to put together an alliance to stop it from sweeping the province in 1988, today the PPP has been reduced to a force which cannot even ensure the third place for itself in many electoral contests in Punjab. The party may claim this is because of the uneven playing field and the rigging  which, of course, has been the excuse for any and every party's perceived or real defeat. But there is also the largely prevailing perception that the party is corrupt and doesnt deliver. In comparison to the PML-N, which is seen to do so  Shahbaz Sharif's slogan of kaam ko izzat do resonates with its voters - the PPP is not seen to be a party that is capable of traditional governance. For example, for Punjab, it is the party which gifted the province long, harsh hours of load-shedding, while the PML-N reduced the long hours to shorter, bearable ones.

And this perception has simply worsened since Asif Ali Zardari took over the party. He is simply not acceptable to the voter in the land of the five rivers. Many around BBZ realised this  and not just the ones from Punjab, as many assumed.

For why else were there leaks (deliberate or otherwise) in the earlier years about BBZ and Zardari not getting along. In 2013 came the story that the son left the country after arguing about tickets with his dad. Some years later, he missed his mother's death anniversary, and it was reported once again that it was because he had fought with his father over party matters (this is around the time Zardari called him immature publicly). And during the father's absence from the country, PPP leaders spoke (exasperatedly) of how the aunt kept a close eye on BBZ (implying that she did so at the behest of the father, who apparently was not entirely sure of his son).

In addition, an effort was also made to keep the father away when rallies were held to shore up support, especially during election time.

(That this was of utmost importance in Punjab was also obvious from the PPP leadership in the province, which was more vocal than their counterparts in Sindh that Zardari should abdicate in favour of BBZ.)

In other words, Bilawal faced two challenges  to emerge as a leader, but also one who was completely different from his father.

But the fake accounts case has shattered this hope of the two being two different brands. The case threatens not just Asif Ali Zardari, but also the government of Sindh. The trail from the accounts allegedly leads to government officials, right up to the chief minister of Sindh. And a jittery PPP has brought out its only blazing gun  BBZ.

He sits next to his chief ministers (past and present) to attack the accountability process and make cracks about militants being given an NRO. He threatens (or did he only hint) to bring down the government with a long march and he snipes at the selected Prime Minister. And all of these issues were highlighted more than once during the train march.

He may have exercised the Bhutto charisma and shown his mettle at public speaking  but in the process, his attacks on accountability and the fake accounts case are simply bringing him closer to his father in the public perception. In recent days, no one has been able to argue that Benazir Bhuttos son and Asif Ali Zardari are two different people with a different view and style of politics.

Perhaps, he feels he has no choice left. The PPP has little in its basket apart from Sindh and the cases now pose a threat to this. Perhaps Bilawal now has no choice but to defend the party, its government and his father.

This perhaps may not mean much in Sindh, where observers point out BBZ has always been seen as someone closely involved with the running of the province. But in Punjab, this can and will have implications in the long run.

The revival of the party, which was not easy to begin with, will be even more difficult because BBZ is now defending the party against corruption. The voter in Punjab will find it that much harder to believe in BBZ as a harbinger of change. Did those who are pushing the accountability campaign ever realise that this could be a major fallout of the fake accounts case? Perhaps we will never know.

By arrangement with DawnThere is no need for Gandhi or the Congress to feel apologetic for choosing Wayanad.

Days before it was made official that Congress president Rahul Gandhi would fight from Wayanad in Kerala as well as from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and there was a strong buzz that he would choose a second constituency, a worker in the Varanasi area office of the BJP, Amarnath Awasthe, declared triumphantly: We have won Amethi. The message, whether it was intended to be so or not, was that Mr Gandhi was not too confident about his victory in Amethi. The BJP leaders and workers can rightfully claim that they succeeded in pushing Mr Gandhi out of his comfort zone. He cannot take Amethi, his familys pocket borough for decades, for granted any longer.

According to Congress insiders, there was a strong suspicion that the BJP would indulge in foul play to defeat Mr Gandhi in Amethi because the party was in power in Lucknow as well as in New Delhi. There was little doubt that the BJP was hell-bent on defeating Rahul Gandhi. For five years after her defeat in 2014, the BJPs losing candidate in Amethi, Smriti Irani, visited the constituency regularly and got many things done for the people, no doubt by virtue of her position as a prominent minister at the Centre. The streak of viciousness to electorally humiliate Mr Gandhi is unmistakable, though it cannot be faulted. That is how politics is played. Neither the BJP nor Ms Irani have any special attachment to or concern for Amethi or its people. But the election remains to be fought, and there is a possibility that Ms Irani might lose yet again, though the mind games that the BJP is playing there seem to give her an advantage.

It makes perfect sense for the Congress strategists to throw a ring of protection around their president, Mr Gandhi, and find a safe seat for him. Any other reason that the party leaders would want to offer would be mere rationalisation. And it makes political sense as well. Indira Gandhi fought the byelection from Chikmagalur in 1978 after she tasted defeat from Rae Bareli in the historic 1977 post-Emergency Lok Sabha election. In the 1980 Lok Sabha election, she fought from Medak as well as Rae Bareli. In the wake of the office of profit controversy, Mrs Sonia Gandhi had fought from Bellary in Karnataka as well as from Amethi in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections. There is no need for Mr Gandhi or the Congress to feel apologetic for choosing Wayanad.

The fight between the BJP and Congress over Mr Gandhi is a simple one. The BJP believes that if Mr Gandhi is defeated in Amethi, then the defeat of the Congress would be complete. It is the antiquated military strategy that once the commander of the enemy side is defeated, then the enemy army would collapse. The BJPs thinking is rooted in antiquated norms, and it is out of sync with democratic politics. Even if it is assumed that Mr Gandhi loses in Amethi as did Indira Gandhi in Rae Bareli in 1977, then the party can find ways of bringing back the leader. The BJPs intention of electorally decapitating the Congress by defeating Mr Gandhi in Amethi is puerile thinking at best.

The question however remains: Would it have been honest on the part of Mr Gandhi and the Congress to fight the good fight in Amethi despite the potential foul play that the BJP could have indulged there, and only then look for another constituency? It is not for outsiders, including political observers, to say what Mr Gandhi and the Congress should do nor not do, or what the BJP and Ms Irani should in fact do in Amethi. It is a judgment call to be taken by the two parties themselves.

But Mr Gandhis Wayanad move has left the two Communist parties and the ardent anti-BJP folk red in the face. They appear to be outraged that Mr Gandhi, instead of fighting against the BJP, is now pitting himself against the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala. The burst of anger against Mr Gandhi in the anti-BJP circles is understandable, because the anti-BJP folk assume that it is the duty of all non-BJP parties to defeat the BJP and save the secular fabric of Indian democracy. It is a laudable ideal, but there is a contradiction in the position. The anti-BJP group of parties will have to decide whether they need the Congress in the first place. If they feel that the Congress has lost its political footprint in large parts of the country, then the non-Congress anti-BJP parties should leave out the Congress altogether. But if they believe that the Congress has a crucial role to play because it could win more seats than all the rest of the anti-BJP parties put together, then they cannot ask the Congress to play second fiddle. If the Communist parties feel that defeating the BJP with its toxic communal and nationalist agenda is of the highest national priority, and if it feels that the Congress has a role to play, then the LDF candidate should be withdrawn from Wayanad. It would send a clear signal to the BJP that its bid to demolish the Congress would not succeed. The anti-BJP parties have as much obligation to provide a safe constituency to Mr Gandhi as the Congress itself.

It would be much better for the Congress to explain its stand with regard to the decision to choose a second constituency for Mr Gandhi. It should have openly declared that it does not expect the BJP to fight a fair election in Amethi, and that it suspects that the BJP would misuse its position of being the party in power in the state as well as the Centre to lure and to intimidate the people of Amethi from voting in favour of Mr Gandhi. It would be a fair apprehension but then the Congress must voice its suspicion and its fears in a bold and honest manner.Powered by, extended intelligence, NLP and human insights, the news aggregator offers in-depth analysis.

, Logically believes that, media and technology firms should do more to combat the issue, especially when many people are cautious about government intervention.

Logically, a leading global tech start-up with a mission to foster social change, today announced the launch of its intuitive, human-centric platform powered by Extended Intelligence (EI) machine learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and human oversight to empower citizens to combat fake news and misinformation on any topic, available to everyone on Android, and the web.

Conceived by 22-year old Cambridge and MIT graduate Lyric Jain, Logically has been developed by a diverse team of data scientists, coders, designers and journalists. Adding a layer of credibility to the internet to battle misinformation, the Logically platform acts as a real-time, user-friendly filter ensuring users can quickly consume information that is fair, authentic, credible and trusted (FACT).

According to a recent survey by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), while a majority of the population do not blindly trust opinionated propaganda or social platforms, over four in ten Indians havent heard of fact-checking as a solution to ascertain facts. "Because of this, Logically is simultaneously announcing its Indian fact-checking initiative as well as the launch of its news aggregation platform. Though the fact-checking operation is a distinct part of Logically's output, users will be able to use the Logically app to send claims to the fact-checking team who will respond to you directly once they have concluded their investigations."

With rising concern over misinformation, Logically believes that media and technology firms should do more to combat the issue, especially when many people are cautious about government intervention. This is where Logicallys EI news aggregator comes in handy; offering a broad, in-depth overview of the news. Users can read through a brief, AI-generated synopsis of each story, see different perspectives, and get contextual information on the key people, places, and institutions involved. Logically also plots the sentiment of news articles towards entities from specific publishers and the media as a whole  curating a timeline of how the stories have evolved while filtering hateful, offensive rhetoric.

A technical response to the structural challenges of the digital age and unregulated platforms, Logically, uses complex algorithms designed to identify the accuracy and credibility of any piece of content. It uses text analytics, metadata and editorial insights to determine the quality, reputation and authority of the source while monitoring network behaviour and the proliferation of content to discover suspicious patterns.

Stimulating informed social conversation, this novel platform empowers citizens to fact-check the accuracy of any article they come across - ensuring that they only share trusted news with their network. With notifications and updates on favourite stories, topics and entities, users are in control of the news, of the stories they want, as and when they happen as a single, simple, streamlined Newsfeed.

Logically taps deep learning algorithms and web graphs of millions of web sites from top publishers around the world to identify top-quality sources for trending, quality news, per category, query, or article. The intent is to provide a broader context for impactful stories, from politics to business and everything in between as the narrative evolves over a period of weeks or months. Significantly, this enables users to contrast and compare the slant on articles from journalists and publishers across the political spectrum, burst their filter bubbles, break down echo chambers, and draw their own conclusions from a multitude of diverse perspectives.

With a strong commitment to purge the world of fake news, Logically is scouting for partnerships with publishers, fact checkers and platforms to monitor and provide analysis around fake news and content likely to incite violence. The fusion of AI and human intelligence helps Logically organize news from diverse sources around the web and deliver an enriching experience to keep citizens fully informed about a story.How To Choose A Home Beer Tap System

How To Choose The Right Beer Tap System For Your Next Kegger

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Home brewing surged several years ago when average joes realized they could make really, truly good craft beer the way they wanted to. Though the home brewing industry has been waning over the past few years due to the rise of craft beer by legit brewing companies, there are still hordes of home brewers who enjoy the art of brewing, the learning curve of technique and technology, the bragging rights, and the oftentimes delectable results of making their own beer within the confines of their homes.

But even if you dont make your own beer and just buy kegs to keep in your home bar, youll need a good beer tap system to dispense the goods. Its actually not as difficult as it might seem, and a home system can deliver glass after glass of tasty brew if you buy the right equipment and perform a clean and careful setup.

How Does A Beer Tap System Work?

No, were not talking about a Neanderthal, pump-with-your-own-muscle college keg system thats about as sophisticated as a rock for a personal defense weapon. Were talking about a beer tap system thats almost restaurant-worthy, one that can serve the most discriminating of beer-drinking friends and one that wont over-carbonate your beer or make it taste flat at the end of the evening. Here are the components of a bona fide beer tap system and how that system actually delivers fresh, tasty brew to your parched lips.

There are six main components to any basic tap system that goes beyond a keg pump system, in order of flow: cooler, keg, coupler, gas, tubing and faucet. Without any one of these, the system fails.

Cooler: EdgeStar Full Size Kegerator Conversion

Without this, youre drinking some painfully warm brew, and thats no good for the vast majority of us. The cooler ensures that your beer is served up cold each and every time. Though you may not have the luxury of having a dedicated walk-in cooler like a brew pub does, a kegerator or beer cooler will work just fine at home because it serves multiple functions: chilling the keg and also providing a central location for the gas, coupler and faucet.

$489.00 at Amazon.com

Keg: Kegco 15.5 Gallon Commercial Keg

These are just like the ones you saw at your frat party. Kegs come in all shapes and sizes, but theyre all typically made out of tough stainless steel. Standard ones in America come in three sizes: 5-gallon, 7.75-gallon and the big boy 15.5-gallon version. CO2 gas must enter the keg, and beer must flow beautifully out of it, so theres a hole for gas entry and beer exit. Gas is applied to the beer at the top of the keg, and beer is pushed up from the bottom through the metal tube that runs the full length of the keg and out of the valve at the top.

$155.11 at Amazon.com

Coupler: Kegco Beer Keg Coupler D System

The coupler is imperative in that it connects the two tubes, the one that provides the gas to the keg and the other one that emits the beer. The coupler connects to the top of the keg, and the coupler handle opens the valve to send gas into the keg.

$25.57 at Amazon.com

Gas: Kegco 5 lb. Aluminum Co2 Tank

No inefficient, inaccurate and arm-busting keg pump here, folks. A legit gas system uses CO2 and nitrogen canisters and a regulator that controls the gas pressure.

$61.99 at Amazon.com

Tubing: Draft Warehouse Beer Line Assembly

Tubing is vital not just for the outflow of beer but also for its inert properties that should not affect the purity of the beers taste. The right tubing is made from vinyl or polyethylene thats flexible and doesnt impart flavors.

$8.25 at Amazon.com

Faucet: Kegco Polished Single Faucet Draft Beer Tower

The faucet is exactly what you think it is. Pull the handle of the tap/faucet all the way forward for maximum flow in order to properly dispense the beer. Next step? Ogle the beautiful head and let the drinking begin.

$71.52 at Amazon.com

How to set up your beer tap system

Before you get too excited, you have to set up your system. Most all-in-one Kegerator kits do a fine job of providing nearly all of the components necessary for a home dispensing system, but you still have to put all the parts together and make sure they fit.

Find a location. Some beer coolers require ample ventilation, as well as space (especially if youre going with a full-sized ( barrel) version that also needs to include an external gas tank and tubing. Locating the cooler/kegerator under your bar counter is a great idea, but make sure it wont get too hot under there, or your system will fail. If you are modifying a beer cooler to accommodate the draft tower and faucet, which will not be included with a standalone cooler, you will have to carefully drill a hole through the top that will both fit the tower and avoid any cooler componentry. Make sure your gas line is at least three feet in length to handle the gas pressure required, and also measure your beer tubing to at least five feet in length to keep the beers foam in check. Prior to assembling all of the components, you must first make sure your equipment is sterilized including faucet, coupler, and tubing. Any foreign contaminants will affect the taste of the beer. When attaching the tubing to the coupler, faucet and gas tank, use worm clamps to ensure that theres no room for leaks. Attach the gas line (5/16) to the outlet side of your regulator, and then connect the other end of the gas line to the gas inlet on the coupler. Make sure your gas tank is filled and then completely shut off  ditto your regulator, which should be set to zero before connecting it to the tank. Release pressure from the full beer keg using the pressure relief valve. Under no circumstances should you connect the coupler to a pressurized keg. Once the system is fully assembled and in use, continue to check all connections regularly for gas or beer leaks. Also, depending on your frequency of use, make sure to clean all components on a regular basis to remove mold, bacteria, yeast and other contaminants that can ruin your beer. Cleaning the system in its entirety every 2-6 weeks is strongly recommended. Enjoy your cold beer (inviting friends is totally optional).

Criteria For Choosing The Right Beer Tap System

Choosing the best system for you depends on your beer drinking needs. Some brewers swear that the simplest equipment works the best, while others insist on paying for only the premium goods for their home systems.

Time: If you want things relatively quick and easy, you can purchase all-in-one beer tap kits that provide everything you need to set up a full system. If you are very particular about getting the best, youll want to purchase separate components and make sure all the connections for the parts match.

If you want things relatively quick and easy, you can purchase all-in-one beer tap kits that provide everything you need to set up a full system. If you are very particular about getting the best, youll want to purchase separate components and make sure all the connections for the parts match. Quantity: You can tap a single beer keg or as many as ten in the confines of your home (though your wife/girlfriend might think having ten kegs in the house is a bit of overkill). Keep in mind that if you tap more than one, youve got to keep both of them cool and provide equipment for each keg. If your kegs are small enough, you can sometimes fit more than one keg in a cooler/kegerator.

You can tap a single beer keg or as many as ten in the confines of your home (though your wife/girlfriend might think having ten kegs in the house is a bit of overkill). Keep in mind that if you tap more than one, youve got to keep both of them cool and provide equipment for each keg. If your kegs are small enough, you can sometimes fit more than one keg in a cooler/kegerator. Materials: Choose equipment that utilizes copper, brass or aluminum, which works very well for beer tapping since it develops an oxide layer that protects the metal and can be cleaned easily. Stainless steel is less preferable due to its tendency to lose coating when its bleached, scrubbed with a wire brush or heated, and it can rust, eventually resulting in equipment failure.

Kegerators and Conversion Kits

EdgeStar Full Size Kegerator

Think of this as an entry-level kegerator, for those just dipping their toes in the water. It's versatile enough to meet your basic needs, and can be converted back into a basic mini-fridge, in case you decide you want to ditch the keg for cans or bottles.

$399.00 at Amazon.com

Keggermeister Kegerator

The Kegerator from Keggermeister will accomadate a full-sized keg or two 5-gallon kegs with ease, and keep your suds cool for up to three months. One key feature  not found on many budget models  is the ability to control the interior temperature, but note that it cannot drop below 35 degrees, so if you like your brew extra-cold, you might want to look elsewhere.

$399.99 at Amazon.com

Midea Kegerator

The polished stainless steel & chrome brush of this model adds to its premium look, but it's got more than good looks working in its favor: this sleek unit can chill your beer to near-30 degrees. But Coors fans, take note: the included tap will not fit most Coors kegs.

$432.07 at Amazon.com

Kegco Ultimate Keg Party Kit

If you're on a budget, or just want to relive your college days, this "party kit" from Kegco contains everything you need to throw a fun party: Co2 tank, gauge regulator, tubing and, of course, a tap. Don't be intimidated by the setup; the included instructions will walk you, step by step, through the process.

$189.95 at Amazon.com

HomeBrewStuff Double Draft Beer Tower Kegerator Conversion Kit

If you're not afraid of a little assembly, or are looking for a more permanent home kegerator setup than a mini-fridge lookalike, this HomeBrewStuff Conversion Kit might be just what you're looking for. It will require some extra work on your part, but the finished product will look more professional, too.

$236.84 at Amazon.com

Beers You Can Buy In Draft/Kegs

Though some choose to regularly brew their own beer, theres no shame in buying kegs to tap into via your home system. There are numerous brands that offer kegs in varying sizes. Aim for 5-gallon kegs if you have a full-sized home kegerator/cooler. Some brands, like Coors, dont fit home systems, so be mindful that the kegs match your coupler. Here are just some of the brands that will sell you a keg if its available in your neck of the woods:

Budweiser

Miller

Amstel

Abbey

Leffe

Blue Moon

Heineken

Guinness

Capital

Lagunitas

Anchor

Dark Horse

Smuttynose

Smithwicks

Angry Orchard

Berghoff

Ayinger

Bells

Harp

Dos Equis

Two Brothers

Becks

Chimay

Sapporo

Boddingtons

Firestone Walker

Leinenkugels

Dogfish Head

Breckenridge

Goose Island

Newcastle

Surly

Peroni

New Belgium

Victory

Founders

New Glarus

Stella Artois

Pabst

Woodchuck

Samuel Adams

Corona

Sierra Nevada

Unibroue

Great Lakes

Deschutes

Hofbrau

New Holland

Ale Asylum

Angry Orchard

Call to Arms

Dragons Head

Factotum

AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.What Makes Tennessee Whiskey Unique?

Heres What Makes Tennessee Whiskey Unique, According to Science

When it comes to Tennessee whiskey, its all about the Lincoln County Process, aka LCP. Basically, wood from sugar maple trees is chopped, stacked in piles, and burned to create charcoal. Freshly distilled whiskey is then filtered through the charcoal, imparting the mysterious flavor that makes Tennessee whiskey, well, Tennessee whiskey.

RELATED: Best Affordable Whiskey

But whats really going on here? Researchers from the University of Tennessee believe they have found out and presented their findings at the American Chemical Society Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. Its the first time someone has systematically studied the effects of the LCP process.

Although Tennessee whiskey and traditional bourbon both have to be made from 51 percent corn and aged in charred oak barrels, the distinction is really this filtration step, Trenton Kerley, graduate student and key member of the research team, said in a news release.

The Science in the Art

Leading the research was John Munafo, Ph.D., from the University of Tennessee. Munafo and Kerley wanted to probe the fundamental chemistry behind LCP, but to do that, theyd need a distilling partner. Enter the Sugarlands Distilling Co. (from Gatlinburg, Tennessee) and its Roaming Man Tennessee whiskey.

Researchers took some unfiltered Roaming Man and began by identifying all of the aroma-active molecules (odorants) in the spirit using a technique where scientists can basically smell the individual components as they separate them out of a sample. They then determined the flavor importance of each of these compounds by diluting them until their odor could no longer be detected. Finally, they determined the quantity of the key odorants using a technique called stable isotope dilution.

The researchers then chucked the whiskey in with sugar maple charcoal, provided by Sugarlands, and left various batches to soak for one to five days. Afterward, the team spiked the batches with the previously identified odorants to determine how much of each had been removed by the LCP step.

Kerley mentions in the news release that it wasnt the fact that the whiskey underwent a change in chemical composition that surprised him, but the degree of change. I was expecting [the charcoal] to have an effect, but I wasn't expecting as large of an effect as we saw in some of the compounds  levels of some compounds declined by up to 30 percent after LCP, he said.

With this understanding, Munafo and Kerley now want to fiddle with the parameters of the filtration process, varying the contact time between the whiskey and the charcoal, and the whiskey-to-charcoal ratio. They also want to look at the sensory impact of different compound combinations.

RELATED: Best Rye Whiskeys

There are some strong flavor compounds present in low concentrations, but then there are weaker aroma-active compounds such as branched alcohols that are present at high concentrations, Munafo said in the news release. Even though they might not be potent aroma-active compounds, they could have an effect like a perception of burning that our senses pick up.

Whats the Point?

You might be wondering if all this science is really any use. Does it have the capacity to improve whiskey? Munafo believes it does, saying he and Kerley are trying to provide distillers the tools to produce better and more unique whiskey. We want to give them levers to pull so they are not blindly trying to get the flavor target they want, he said in the news release.

We can all drink to that.

You Might Also Dig: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.A team from Clifford Chance has advised Bank of China (Hong Kong) on a new virtual bank in Hong Kong.

The virtual bank, Livi VB Limited, is a joint venture between BOC Hong Kong, and subsidiaries of JD Digits and Jardines and the banking licence granted to the JV is one of the first three licences granted by the HKMA for conducting virtual banking business in Hong Kong.

Partner Virginia Lee led on the deal with support from senior associates Queenie Tong, Ryan Wong, and associates Winnie Poon and Vicky Xiang. Partners Yong Bai and Ling Ho also provided support on the project.The manhunt for a Georgia driver who hit a 9-year-old girl as she was playing outside in her front yard and then fled the scene, is over. A man is in police custody after he turned himself in  with an incredibly tall story for an excuse for his actions.

38 photosSUV

"Wasn't the Ford Puma a nimble little coupe?" we hear you asking. Well, the introduction of the small crossover puts an end to the rumors about Ford reviving the subcompact coupe that was the original Puma (this came about in the late 90s), at least as far as this nameplate is concerned.Then again, Ford's European arm used to bet on MPVs (call them minivans, if you will) during the early days of the crossover rise, so the company is now throwing all its assets into the mix to make sure it makes up for that time. Keep in mind there's also a Mustang-inspired Electriccoming, which is called Mach 1 for the moment (this obviously won't be an Euro-only offering).Returning to the 2020 Ford Puma, this will rival the likes of the Mazda CX-3 (this could be the closest competitor), Renault Captur, Hyundai Kona and Kia Stonic.The newcomer is scheduled to enter production at the end of the current year and will be brought to the world via Ford's Craiova Assembly Plant in Romania. And while earlier speculation talked about the newcomer replacing the EcoSport (this is also producer at Craiova), it looks like the latter will remain on sale as a budget offering, whereas the newcomer lands as a more refined proposal.The fresh Puma was (partially) revealed at the Go Further event in Amsterdam, but the company has only offered a teaser image of the crossover, along with a bit of info on the tech side. As such, we've added an Instagram video at the bottom of the page (lens tip to AutoRAI.nl), which allows us to get a more complete view on the new car's design.As expected, the current ground clearance revolution at Ford is matched with serious electrification plans. Thus, the company talks about the Puma delivering up to 155 hp, mentioning there's a mild-hybrid version that mixes a 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine with an belt-driven starter-generator. The latter recovers braking energy, storing it into a 48V lithium-ion air-cooled battery pack, while also assisting the turbocharged gasoline engine.So, will the new Ford Puma (we still wish the name would've been saved for a potential coupe) deliver a more dynamic driving experience compared to some of its rivals? Guess we'll have to wait and find out.Palmdale, CA (93550)

Today

Showers early, then becoming windy with a steady rain overnight. Low 46F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Showers early, then becoming windy with a steady rain overnight. Low 46F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will host a town hall with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on April 15 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with a focus on the economy and jobs.

Why it matters: Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee barred Fox News from hosting any of its primary debates, after a New Yorker investigation shed light on the extent of the network's ties to the Trump administration. Sanders and Hillary Clinton appeared together in one Fox News town hall during the 2016 election.

Go deeper: Everything you need to know about 2020 candidate Bernie SandersNew research published in Scientific American shows that when local newspapers shutter, citizens increasingly turn to national news sources for political information  which the report says "emphasize competition and conflict between the parties."

Why it matters: The findings underscore the roughly $1 billion being donated by philanthropists, corporate backers and tech companies to save local news, and puts more pressure on society to address the issue ahead of the 2020 election.

Details: The study focused on split-ticket voting, a practice in which voters cast their ballot in favor of a presidential candidate from one party and a senatorial candidate from another.

It found that communities that experienced a newspaper closure split their tickets less frequently than those that didn't during the presidential and senatorial elections between 2009-2012.

In the absence of a strong local news source, the study points to new research that shows that people will consider partisanship a central part of their identity and put effort into expressing it.

To that end, the study notes that some partisans actually sort themselves into the religious affiliation (for example, Evangelical Christians and Republicans) that matches their politics.

The big picture: The study's findings are notable because they show a direct link between the rise of partisanship and local attrition.

Previous reports have showed that the loss of local news can be devastating on a community  impacting everything from government operational costs to voter turnout  but have not drawn a direct correlation.

Be smart: Americans are largely unaware of how bad the local news problem has gotten, according to another study from Pew Research Center. More than 70% of Americans think their local news outlets are doing very or somewhat well financially.

There are dozens of efforts and lots of money being invested to find better business model solutions to support local news in America.

For example, the Knight Foundation, one of the largest news non-profits in the country, announced Sunday that it's investing $6 million in 3 organizations that will focus specifically on bolstering local news business models.

What's next: Until something is done, the burden is carried by most of society's major institutions.

"We need to think about journalism the same way we think about supporting the arts. There's been a complete and total market failure for local news and so until the business problem is addressed, everyone  from philanthropic groups, to civic and corporate leaders, tech companies, and community leaders need to come together to address this crisis."

 Jennifer Preston, Knight Foundation vice president for journalism.Brazil's former President Michel Temer was indicted on Tuesday  less than 3 months after he left office  on corruption charges, including an alleged bribery scheme involving a nuclear power plant complex near Rio de Janeiro, Reuters reports.

The backdrop: The case is part of Operation Car Wash, the nation's biggest corruption investigation, which has found politicians and business people guilty since 2014. Allegations presently suggest Temer received or arranged more than $462.5 million in bribes. Meanwhile, the 78-year-old also is up against charges in another corruption case, in which he has been accused of using a middleman to obtain a cash-filled suitcase from meat-packing firm JBS SA, for which he was arrested on March 21 and released only 4 days later. Temer denies all allegations.Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday expelled his former attorney general and another ex-minister from the Liberal Party, as a corruption scandal continued to swirl months ahead of a federal election.

The trust that previously existed between these 2 individuals and our team has been broken."

 Justin Trudeau

Details: Former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott had previously resigned from the cabinet, citing concerns over a corruption case against engineering and construction giant SNC-Lavalin. Wilson-Raybould said she felt "inappropriate" pressure to settle the case against SNC.

Why it matters: The controversy has left Trudeaus popularity slumping ahead of his October re-election bid. He suggested last month the controversy was the result of an "erosion of trust" that developed, unbeknownst to him, between his office and the former attorney general.

The latest: The former ministers will no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal lawmakers and they are banned from running for the party in the election. Candada's Conservative opposition leader said Andrew Scheer said Trudeau had betrayed justice by removing two whistleblowers.

Philpott issued a lengthy statement on Facebook in which she said she was expelled without being given a chance to speak to the national caucus.

Go deeper: Canada and Justin Trudeau are in troubleIn a Tuesday interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, former FBI Director James Comey conceded that his decision to announce in October 2016 that the FBI was reopening an investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server may have helped Trump win the election, but defended it as "the least terrible option."

Amanpour: "Do you ever think that you might be responsible for the election of President Trump? Does that keep you up at night?"

Comey: "Sure. And I hope someday somebody proves that we were irrelevant. ... I hope we had no impact. I hope it's proven that it was irrelevant. But all it does is increase the pain. It doesn't change how I think about the decision. My view and the view of my team was: I cannot conceal from the American people that the investigation we told them, and fought to tell them, is done, is done, is done  is not done, and the result could change."

What else: Comey also said Attorney General William Barr "deserves the benefit of the doubt" with respect to redacting certain parts of the Mueller report before releasing it. "Give him a chance to show us what he feels like he can't show us," Comey said during the interview.

Last week, Comey pushed back against Barr's decision not to pursue obstruction charges against Trump. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has indicated that he plans to question Comey in a new probe of the FBI's decision to open an investigation into Trump.

Go deeper: Comey calls Mueller's position on Trump obstruction charges "confusing"Today Jens Stoltenberg became the first NATO Secretary General to address a joint session of Congress, where he touted the alliance's success and emphasized the continuing need for unity.

The big picture: NATO has much to celebrate, having emerged successfully from the Cold War and engaged in numerous operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and the Mediterranean. Yet questions about the U.S. commitment to the alliance, Europe's willingness to shoulder more of the burden, and other sources of division hang over this week's 70th anniversary festivities.

Where it stands: Doubts continue to swirl as foreign ministers from NATO's 29 member states visit Washington, with events planned at the White House, Congress, the State Department and elsewhere. As Stoltenberg cautioned, "Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership."

Europeans wonder about President Trump's commitment to the mutual defense pact, and whether the United States would rush to their aid in a crisis.

As the Trump administration has stressed the need for allies to boost their defense spending, the number moving toward the pledged 2% of GDP has increased  a product of both Trump's rhetoric and worries about Russia. Most still haven't hit the target, however, and Germany's percentage appears set to decrease.

Creeping illiberalism in Turkey, Hungary and Poland threatens the democratic values that underpin NATO. Although the alliance has endured nondemocratic governments in its membership before, including Portugal and Greece, differences over such essential matters are presenting a new challenge to cohesion.

Between the lines: Nevertheless, NATO is likely to survive, and if anything to become even more relevant than in recent years.

The United States and Europe must deter and defend against not only Russian conventional threats but also Moscow's attempts to interfere in key democracies.

The allies are beginning to discuss the shared challenge of Chinese economic competition and the political influence that goes along with it.

Threats on Europe's periphery  from North Africa to the Middle East  will provide fodder for common action. The migration crisis has had a profound effect on European politics and points to the dangers posed by failed states like Syria and Libya.

The bottom line: It is shared interests, and not just democratic values, that glue NATO's allies together. Interests tend to endure. So too will the alliance.

Richard Fontaine is CEO of the Center for a New American Security.Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams said Wednesday that she had not conceded to Gov. Brian Kemp, who she also called an "architect of voter suppression," at civil rights leader Al Sharpton's 2019 National Action Network convention.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

Details: Abrams honed in on a variety of topics from mass incarceration to the 2020 census.

What she's saying:

"Voter suppression is as old as America. It is baked into our DNA, but so is our ability to fight back."

"If your children are in overcrowded schools it's because they didnt count your children," Abrams said in reference to the importance of the 2020 census.

Abrams also linked the 2020 Census to voter suppression, economic deprivation and gerrymandering

"[Abram's grandmother] did not live to see me take an oath of office, but I dont know which oath is coming up next."

Abrams' speech:

"We transformed the electorate because we let everyone know that they were seen and they were heard and they showed up. But Im [going] to tell yall a secret. I am not the governor of Georgia. Remember I told you about my opponent. You, see not only was he Secretary of State but he was also an architect of voter suppression. Because we can work as hard as we want, we can fight right, but if you are fighting against a system designed to oppress you, sometimes youve got to fight a little bit longer than you planned. So on November 6, I said at the podium we were not going to declare anything till every vote was counted. And on November 16, I decided to acknowledge the states of the election but I refused to concede. Because heres the thing, concession means to say something is right and true and proper. I am a good lawyer, and I understand that the law of the land said that Brian Kemp became the governor that day. And I acknowledge that, but you cant trick me into saying it was right. And you cant shame me into saying what happened shouldve happened because in the state of Georgia black people faced hours long lines of up to four hours waiting to cast their ballots. 53,000 people were held hostage by a system that a federal judge said was racially discriminatory. 53,000 people. 90% of whom were people of color and 70% of whom were black. I live in a state where 1.5 million people got purged including 600,000 right before my opponent threw his name into the ring. They closed 214 polling places. They rejected absentee ballots at an unheard of rate. They said if your signature didnt match then your vote doesnt count. Well my signature doesnt match from Kroger to CVS, but my citizenship doesnt change. And so in response to what I believe was a stolen election, and Im not saying they stole it from me. They stole it from the voters of Georgia. I cannot prove empirically that I wouldve won, but we will never know. And so what I demanded on November 16 was a fair fight because you see voter suppression is as old as America. It is baked into our DNA, but so is our ability to fight back. That is also who we are. We are a nation constructed of people who understand our rights have to be fought for every generation and sometimes when we fight we think we won. We just got a pause, and weve got to come back efforts redoubled because those that who want us to be silenced wont stop till we shut so we have to shout louder and longer and stronger than theyve ever expected. But we can do that when we have a fair fight so on November 16 I launched Fair Fight Action. Heres the thing, voter suppression didnt just happen in Georgia. We know in Indiana they moved a polling place to the outskirts of town because nobody had a car. We know in Texas they told students at Prairie Valley and A&M that they couldnt vote on their campus early vote like all the other folks. And we know when we fight we win because Prairie got their polling places and Indiana got some polling places, but theyre not going to stop. They wont stop so we cant stop. We have to fight harder this year than we ever have before because they see us coming. We know we are on our way and so do they. They will not stop so we cannot stop but we have to understand that we are in this together. I may have run to be the governor of Georgia but I am one of you. I am an American, and my citizenship is just as real as anyone elses. My humanity is just as strong. And my commitment to our democracy will not be eroded by a stolen election because I believe in our country. You see I am the granddaughter of a veteran. I am the daughter of civil rights fighters. A father who went to jail at the age of 16 for registering people to vote in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. My mom was doing the same work she was just smart enough not to get caught. I am the sister of doctors and lawyers and judges and a young man who struggles with drug addiction and incarceration. And if I believe we can solve our problems, I cannot rest until they are solved. So I am asking you to join me in two efforts. First is we have to demand a fair fight in the United States beginning in the state of Georgia Not only did I launch Fair Fight Action, Ive also launched Fair Count. Because in 2010, not only did they not count all of Georgia. In fact they undercounted so severely that they were able to draw a supermajority in the Senate and they tried it in the House. We stopped it, but we can stop it from happening if we get counted in the census. And lets be clear about this. The census, its true if they dont count you, you dont count. If your children are in overcrowded schools, its because they didnt count your children. If your roads arent paved or they dont pick up your trash, its because they dont know you live there or they dont have to care. If you dont get the resources you need, its because they havent paid attention. We arent talking about a little bit of money. We are talking about $800 billion a year. I want my money. You should want your money. You should want your taxes dollar spent in your communities, and that requires the census. So we have launched Fair Count because there will be a Fair Count in the state of Georgia, so help me God. See, yall arent clapping for the right things. We gotta get excited about the census because they are working hard to stop us. Because when we yolk together, voter suppression and the census, thats the recipe for victory. Because when we are registered and we should up and we get the resources we need, that is when violence end in our communities. Thats when women can control their bodies because we can elect people who see us as full human. Thats when mass incarceration ends, and thats when opportunity begins but we have to be in control of our own destiny. So Reverend Al Sharpton, thank you for this opportunity to address this convening, but I will say this the road is long and we are going to get tired a lot. Im 45 years old and I thought I was doing something but I just buried my grandmother, who was 92. She lived thought the days when she couldnt cast a vote. She lived to see her daughter to become the first African American woman nominated for governor. She did not live to see me take an oath of office. Now, I dont know oath is coming up next but I know that my grandmother Bill and my grandfather Jim are looking down on me. I know my parents Reverend Robert and Reverend Carolyn Abrams are looking out for me. And I know that if we stand together as a nation united willing to take action, networking our opportunities and our dreams and our ambitions, that we will transform this nation and they will never ever ever make us stop. Thank you so much."Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkeys purchase of an advanced Russian S-400 missile defense system is a "done deal," despite vocal U.S. objections and fears that the U.S.-Turkey alliance is disintegrating.

Between the lines: The U.S. says deploying the S-400 could compromise the security of the NATO alliance, of which Turkey is a member. Earlier this week, the Pentagon took the dramatic step of blocking Turkey from purchasing F-35 fighter jets until it backs out of the deal with Russia. Speaking at a conference in Washington tied to NATOs 70th anniversary, and ahead of meetings with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, Cavusoglu said Turkey would not allow itself to be forced to choose between the U.S. and Russia.

Cavusoglu told CBS News' Margaret Brennan that Turkey was forced to buy the S-400 because it had been blocked from buying comparable U.S. systems  and said President Trump had recently "admitted" as much in a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "He promised that he will do his best to resolve this issue," Cavusoglu said.

Cavusoglu said Turkey had proposed a "technical working group" to resolve issues over the S-400. He said that if the U.S. does block access to the F-35, which Turkey helps to build, "it will have a definitely very negative impact in our bilateral relations."

We are not choosing between Russia and any other allies, Cavusoglu added, claiming that Ukraine had been forced to choose between Russia and the West, and it is now paying the consequences.

Why it matters: Turkey is among the most powerful NATO members, and a central purpose of the alliance is to protect Europe from Russia. Erdogan, however, wants Turkey to be a power player independently of its membership in NATO, and he is making a point of showing he doesnt need U.S. approval for anything. Thats putting the U.S.-Turkey alliance in doubt.

Worth noting: On Syria, Cavusoglu said the U.S. has no clear strategy. He said his understanding is that 200 U.S. troops will remain in the country, but that Turkeys position is that all foreign powers should withdraw. He insisted that the Kurdish YPG militia, which is backed by the U.S., is a terrorist organization that poses a direct threat to Turkey.

Go deeper: Humbling election results for Turkey's strongmanAnother 2 women have come forward with accusations of inappropriate touching against Joe Biden according to the New York Times in a report Tuesday evening, intensifying the scrutiny against the former vice president as he edges closer to announcing a 2020 presidential run.

Details: Like the Lucy Flores and Amy Lappos, who leveled accusations of inappropriate physical contact, the Times reports that none of the women have accused Biden of sexual harassment or assault. Biden had denied the accusations in a statement Sunday, saying: "Not once  never  did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."

What they're saying:

Caitlyn Caruso , who the Times described as a sexual assault survivor, told the outlet that Biden put his hand on her thigh and hugged her just a little bit too long during an event at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Caruso was 19 years old at the time, and she "squirmed in her seat to show her discomfort," per the Times.

, who the Times described as a sexual assault survivor, told the outlet that Biden put his hand on her thigh and hugged her just a little bit too long during an event at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Caruso was 19 years old at the time, and she "squirmed in her seat to show her discomfort," per the Times. D. J. Hill, 59, reportedly said Biden put his hand on her shoulder and then started to drop it down her back, when she and her husband asked him for a photo at a fundraising event in Minneapolis in 2012. She said Biden made her "very uncomfortable." Per the Times: "Her husband, seeing the movement, put his hand on Mr. Bidens shoulder and interrupted with a joke."

The backdrop: Following the 2 first accusations, Democrats  including those who worked with Biden in the Obama administration  have been coming to his defense, describing him as a warm, grandfatherly figure who would never be intentionally malicious.

But Flores and Lappos had said Democrats cannot condone his behavior while condemning President Trump's treatment of women.

Go deeper: Biden spokesman condemns mischaracterizations of former VP's behaviorPrime Minister Nikol Pashinian gave evidence on Wednesday at the trial of a man accused of assaulting his supporters two years ago.

Activists of the now defunct Yelk alliance, of which Pashinian was one of the leaders, claimed to have been attacked by several other men as they campaigned in Yerevan two days before Armenias April 2017 parliamentary elections.

One of those men, Artur Ayvazian, was detained and charged with assault. Ayvazian, who reportedly has a criminal record, denied the accusation and claimed that he himself was hit by the opposition activists.

Pashinian rushed to the scene of the incident at the time. Investigators subsequently questioned him as a witness in the case.

His written testimony was submitted to a district court in Yerevan where Ayvazian is now standing trial. The defendants lawyer, Hayk Alumian, demanded that Pashinian also give testify in the court. The former Yelk leader accepted the demand.

Moments after taking the witness stand, Pashinian dismissed prosecutors objections to some of the questions asked by Alumian. I have nothing to hide from the court, he said.

In particular, Alumian challenged the prime minister to clarify his relationship with the chief investigator in the case, Suren Navoyan. Pashinian denied having personal ties to the latter.

But he did say that Navoyan was one of the law-enforcement officials who supported last springs velvet revolution which brought Pashinian to power. The premier also said that he once telephoned Navoyan to inquire about the status of the inquiry into the 2017 incident.

Pashinian downplayed his court appearance, extremely rare for a serving Armenian leader, when he left the courtroom afterwards. I think that every citizen of Armenia they must report [for cross-examination in court] when they are notified by an investigator or a court, he told RFE/RLs Armenian service.By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 22 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said April 3, Trend reports.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Combating human trafficking and assisting its victims were the focus of a recent workshop hosted on by the US Embassy in Baku, and involving experts from the US and Azerbaijani governments.

After opening remarks from Deputy Chief of Mission William Gill, Special Agent Rachel Simon from the Embassys Diplomatic Security office spoke about current methodologies for identifying and assisting victims of human trafficking.

Marija Nikolovska, Migrant Protection Assistance Coordinator for the International Organization for Migration, presented information on the current human trafficking situation in Azerbaijan. Special Agent Simon also conducted training on recognizing fraudulent travel documents that are often used by traffickers.

The workshop was attended by Azerbaijani officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Justice, as well as the State Border and Migration Services.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Leman Mammadova

Female entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan and Russia held discussions related to the implementation of joint business ventures.

The negotiations are being held as part of the upcoming project, which envisages the creation of manufacturing enterprises, Sakina Babayeva, the head of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan, told Trend.

"We are planning to establish a joint venture in Azerbaijan to produce food with our partners from Derbent. At present, we are conducting a detailed discussion of issues regarding the varieties of Azerbaijani food products that are in the greatest demand at the Russian market," she said.

Azerbaijan is one of the main economic partners of Russia among the CIS countries and Russia remains one of Azerbaijans main foreign trade partners. Russia ranks first in terms of export of non-oil products from Azerbaijan.

The trade turnover volume between the two countries reached $170 million in January 2019, which is four percent more than in January 2018.

According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to $2.55 billion in 2018, including export of Azerbaijani products worth $665.74 million to Russia.

Azerbaijan Women Entrepreneurs Association was established with the support of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs in October 2017, primarily aimed at strengthening the role of women in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as the dynamic development of small and medium-sized businesses in Azerbaijan.

For a short period of work, the Association has concluded memorandums of cooperation with the associations of women entrepreneurs of Russia, Georgia,Latvia, and plans to expand the cooperation with similar organizations in various states in the territory of the former Soviet Union.

Over 143,000 women are engaged in business in Azerbaijan, according to statistics.

Today, development of small and medium-sized businesses and improvement of womens role in entrepreneurship are considered important directions of Azerbaijani economic policy.

Every day, the role of women in entrepreneurship and their number grows in the world. According to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan, the share of women among entrepreneurs is 21.5 percent.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Khachmaz seed processing plant will be put into operation for the harvest season this year, Chairman of the State Seed Fund under the Ministry of Agriculture Emin Aliyev told Report.

In the near future, we plan to meet with farmers in the northern zone of Khachmaz, who will be informed about the capabilities of the plant. Farmers will be offered methods to produce better quality seeds, Aliyev said.

He also added that, thanks to modern equipment, the cost of services offered would be lower than market prices, and the quality would be better.

At the same time, assembly work is currently underway at the Sheki seed processing plant.

Production capacity of each of the enterprises is 5 tons per hour, storage capacity - 3,000 tons. Azerbaijans annual demand for seeds is 120,000 tons. Enterprises will meet 5 percent of demand.

It is noteworthy that there is huge work is being done on a way to develop seed processing in Azerbaijan.

Seed Exchange project will help country's agriculture sphere to enter new development stage. Currently, preparations are underway in Azerbaijan to establish a seed exchange and, mainly the West European experience will be studied in the creation of the Seed Exchange.

Seed Exchange is an online project that will be a single tool and using this Internet application, farmers, producers and seed companies will be able to choose seeds, carry freight, insure, review resumes and select consultants for agrotechnical consulting, and later even apply for trade financing or lending. It will play the role of a single platform for producers and importers of seeds, individuals and legal entities engaged in seed production.

The State Seed Fund was established due to the country's increased need for new high-yielding and drought-resistant types of seeds, and in order to strengthen food security and state support for agricultural development of Azerbaijan in general.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

British Petroleum CEO Robert Dudley said on the sidelines of the LNG summit that BP is ready to consider the purchase of Exxon and Chevron shares in the Azerbaijan's development project of block of oil and gas deposits Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG), Interfax-Azerbaijan reports on April 3.

"We like our participation in the ACG. I think that if it becomes possible to increase our share, it will be a natural choice for us, but everything will depend on the price," he said, noting that so far Exxon and Chevron are evaluating their packages and have not started tender for the sale.

The 19th International Conference & Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG2019) is presented by the International Gas Union (IGU), Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) - the only LNG event conducted by the industry, for the industry.

Supported by the Shanghai Government and hosted by China LNG, China Gas Society, The Chinese Association of Refrigeration and China Gas Association, it is the biggest LNG event ever held in China.

LNG 2019 features the largest number and highest level of LNG industry leaders starting from April 1. 2019 Shanghai hosts over 11,000 attendees and 350 exhibitors representing 550 companies from more than 80 countries and Conference & Exhibition on LNG will end on April 5.

ACG is the largest oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, covering more than 432 square kilometers. A contract for the development of ACG block of oil and gas fields was signed in 1994 for 30 years.

Proven oil reserves of ACG block of oil and gas fields are estimated at 1.2 billion tons, while gas reserves make 350 billion cubic meters.

On September 14, 2017, a modified and re-developed agreement was signed on joint development and shared distribution of production from the Azeri, Chirag fields and the deepwater part of the Gunashli field (ACG). The new agreement provides for the development of the field until 2050.

The ACG participating interests are as follows: BP - 30.37 percent; AzACG (SOCAR) - 25 percent; Chevron - 9.57 percent; INPEX - 9.31 percent; Statoil - 7.27 percent; ExxonMobil - 6.79 percent; TP - 5.73 percent; ITOCHU - 3.65 percent; ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) - 2.31 percent. The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) received $ 138.2 billion as part of a project to develop the ACG block of oil and gas fields.

Azerbaijan has a large number of oil and gas fields and promising structures in the Caspian Sea.

The overwhelming part of oil produced in Azerbaijan falls on ACG block. Almost all oil from the block is exported by the BakuTbilisiCeyhan (BTC) pipeline.

The share of BP in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (project operator) is 30.37 percent, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan SOCAR - 25 percent, Chevron and ExxonMobil - 9.57 percent and 6.79 percent respectively, ONGC - 2.31 percent, Inpex Corp. and Itochu Oil - 9.31 percent and 3.65 percent respectively, Statoil - 7.27 percent, TPAO - 5.73 percent.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Leman Mammadova

Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov will visit Baku on April 4.

Azerbaijan-Russia business forum will be held in Baku on April 4 in the framework of this visit and the businessmen of the two countries will participate in this event.

Along with the minister, the representatives of more than 60 Russian companies operating in various sectors of economy, including agriculture, ICT, automotive engineering, chemical industry and others, will visit Baku.

Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council Samad Gurbanov, Acting President of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) Yusif Abdullayev, Director of the Russian Export Center Andrey Slepnev will attend the event.

The participants of the event will discuss the issues of cooperation and further steps to strengthen the ties.

A number of cooperation agreements between the two countries will be signed during the delegations visit.

An agreement on cooperation and organization of relations between KZ Rostselmash and Sumgayit Technological Park, memorandum of cooperation between Transmashholding and Sumgayit Technological Park, memorandum of understanding on implementation of fencing system between AzOkso and Service Invest, agreement between AzOkso and Azerbaijan State Motor Road Agency are expected to be signed.

Azerbaijan is one of the main economic partners of Russia among the CIS countries and Russia remains one of Azerbaijans main foreign trade partners. Interregional cooperation plays an important role in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations and the increase in trade turnover. Russia ranks first in terms of export of non-oil products from Azerbaijan.

So far, Azerbaijan invested more than $1 billion in the Russian economy, and Russia invested more than $4.2 billion in Azerbaijans economy. About 760 companies with Russian capital operate in Azerbaijan.

The trade turnover between the two countries for the year increased by 20 percent, reaching $2.55 billion. Azerbaijani exports to Russia amounted to $665.74 million.

According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia reached $170 million in January 2019, which is four percent more than in January 2018.

Recently, the 17th session of the State Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia.

Russia is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan. The legal framework between the countries includes over 180 documents, including about 50 in the economic sphere.

---

Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's entry at Junior Eurovision 2018 Fidan Huseynova took part in the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia.

Fidan Huseynova participated in the show of Vitusevich brand, whose trademark is exclusive denim clothing lines, Trend Life reported.

At the Fashion Week, brand Vitusevich presented a collection of exclusive denim clothing Deja-vu for children and young people.

As part of the show, Fidan Huseynova performed the song "I Wanna Be Like You" which she sang at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

Fidan Huseynova became the first at the Testene Art Baku International Art Festival in the vocal category among performers 9-12 years old in 2017. Last year, Fidan participated in several projects, including the song "Say Hallelujah" in a duet with Elnur Huseynov.

She gained popularity after the Baku concert of Lara Fabian, the girl entered the stage of the Heydar Aliyev Palace and sang the legendary song Je t'aime with her.

Fidan was awarded a scholarship, and her name was added to the Golden Book of Young Talents by order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in 2016. She also performed abroad in 2018: she travelled to Vienna and Italy. In Vienna, she performed at the concert Creating the Bridge via songs, and in Italy, Fidan performed at the Festival in San Remo, where she took 3rd place.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzDubai, United Arab Emirates, 2nd April 2019: Top-level representatives from over 140 countries from Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Asia will gather in Dubai next week to take part in this years edition of the worlds leading foreign direct investment (FDI) platform, the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM).

Set to take place from 8th to 10th of April 2019 under the theme Mapping the Future of FDI: Enriching World Economies through Digital Globalization, the global event, an initiative of the UAE Ministry of Economy, will host tens of thousands of exhibitors and visitors who will network and exchange expertise with each other and promote a myriad of investment opportunities in their respective states.

Apart from high-profile conferences and forums, the event will also feature an exhibition to provide governments and private organizations alike with an opportunity to present their relevant programs and projects with the greatest socio-economic impact to a vastly diverse international audience. The interactive exhibition will offer participants as well a rare chance to connect with visitors and conference delegates such as regional and global industry leaders and key stakeholders, said Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO of Annual Investment Organizing Committee.

Exhibitors from more than 25 countries will showcase their respective mega developments, significant expansion activities in key economic sectors, and prevailing business climate and regulatory environment. The exhibiting countries include Saudi Arabia, Algeria, China, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ghana, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, the United States, the UAE, India, Ukraine, Seychelles, Somalia, Egypt, Cameroon, Cyprus, Poland, Somaliland, Swaziland, Indonesia, and DR Congo, among others.

Additionally, AIM 2019 will enable participants to showcase the potentials of their respective local sectors to a diverse global audience. This year, several countries including UAE, South Africa, China, Georgia, Italy, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Botswana, and Indonesia will present at the forum. The presentations will be highly informative emphasizing important economic features and conditions as well as investment data including fascinating details about the investment environment in these countries.

While Sierra Leone's USD 7.96-billion Medium Term National Development Plan will spur immense investment opportunities in key sectors of agriculture, fisheries and marine, education, tourism, and mining over the next five years (2019-2023), Italy will also demonstrate markets opportunities for Capital Raising, Investment and Digital Transformation. It will also present to the audience investment opportunities in Emilia Romagna. The country will also bring to light the largest food park in the world and agrifood logistics in Bologna and shed light on the importance of investing Italy now.

This edition of AIM will also witness the presence of a delegation of 200 officials, investors and businessmen from Libya who will highlight how Libya is evolving as a market for expanded socio-economic opportunity, offering a load of benefits for foreign investors.

AIM is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. It is considered the largest global investment gathering of corporate leaders, policy makers, businessmen, regional and international investors, entrepreneurs, leading academics, and experts.By Trend





Tourists spent over $2 billion in Azerbaijan in 2018, spokesman for the Azerbaijani State Tourism Agency Kanan Guluzade told Trend on April 3.

More than 2,280,000 tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2018, he said. Over 360,000 tourists have already visited Azerbaijan this year.

"Most of the tourists arrived from Russia and Georgia, Guluzade said. Moreover, a lot of tourists have been recently arriving from the Middle Eastern countries. According to the data of the last two months of this year, many tourists from the South Asian region arrived in Azerbaijan.

He added that the main goal is to double the number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan till 2023.

Guluzade stressed that Azerbaijans tourist potential will be showcased at almost 20 international exhibitions soon.By Trend

The April battles proved once again that Azerbaijan will not yield a single inch of its historical lands, Azerbaijani MP Khanlar Fatiyev told Trend.

The MP said that Azerbaijan has managed to achieve great success in the military sphere over the past 15 years, as in all other areas. Today, Azerbaijan has an army equipped with modern weapons and equipment, and the process of building an army is not limited to material and technical support. The level of combat training and the moral and psychological state of the personnel  the officers and soldiers of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces  are at a high level.

"During the April 2016 battles, the Azerbaijani army proved to the world that it is capable of liberating the occupied lands in a short amount of time by the order of the Commander-in-chief. The leadership of the invading state is also well aware of it. The economic strength and potential of Azerbaijan, the high prestige of the head of state among the world leaders forced the Armenian leadership to sit down again at the negotiating table for substantive negotiations," Fatiyev said.

Fatiyev also touched upon the meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia March 29 and noted that President Ilham Aliyev during the meeting in Vienna once again demonstrated the unshakable will of Azerbaijan.

The head of state said that the format of the negotiations will remain unchanged, and negotiations can only be held between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Fatiyev added. I believe that this meeting interrupted the pause observed for a long time during the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He also noted that the decisive position and successful policy by President Ilham Aliyev will result in Azerbaijans victory.

The UN Security Council, having adopted resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 854 (1993) and 884 (1993) in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, condemned the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories, confirmed the territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of Azerbaijans borders and demanded the immediate, full and unconditional withdrawal of the invading forces from our territories, Fatiyev said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Recent statements and actions by the leadership of Armenia, including the introduction of the new formulation new war for new territories, are absolutely unacceptable, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

We believe that such actions dont correspond to the Vienna meeting at the level of the leaders of the two countries, and the joint statement adopted on its basis, the ministry said. We repeat that such provocations call into question the multi-year negotiation process and the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We would like to emphasize that namely Armenia is fully responsible for all possible negative consequences of such dangerous rhetoric.

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met on March 29 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 statement issued on the results of the meeting reads that 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, said 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.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Over 10 seedling of various tree species were distributed to the population in the Nasimi, Binagadi and Yasamal districts of Baku, Head of the Press Service of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Irada Ibrahimova said, Trend reports on April 2.

She recalled that for the first time a campaign on planting trees was organized during autumn, which was met with great enthusiasm of population so it was decided to continue this campaign.

Ibrahimova added that in general, in the framework of the spring planting of trees it is planned to distribute over 50,000 seedlings.

It is gratifying that these events have gained scope and mass character, she said.

Preservation of the nature and biological diversity is one of the basic priorities of the state policy in Azerbaijan, and large-scale state programs directed to the improvement of the ecological situation have been implemented during the past decade.

Azerbaijan is preparing the National Forestry Program that is foreseen for a 10-year period covering the years 2020-2030. The program will be implemented in two stages, each in 5 years.

As a result of the implementation of the National Forest Program, it is planned to assist in the creation of appropriate institutional capacity and mechanisms for forest management, to develop and improve strategies for the protection and sustainable management of the forests of our country.

At the same time, it is also part of the program to reinforce the recovery of forest resources and to manage their functional use, as well as to increase the livelihoods of the rural population dependent on forest resources, and to contribute to the enhancement of national and international financial support for forestry activities.

Over the past few years, the forest area in the country increased from 11.4 to 11.8 percent.

However, occupation of the 20 percent of Azerbaijans territory by Armenian military forces caused a significant damage to the forests, especially those located in the mountainous areas.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

More than 60 representatives of diplomatic missions operating in Azerbaijan will visit the countrys Ganja, Samukh and Goygol regions on April 2-3, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on April 2.

The trip has been organized by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry to review the development of the country's districts, to obtain information about the economic and social projects being implemented in the regions and the development of the tourism sector.

The diplomats will review the Heydar Aliyev Park Complex in Ganja, the Nizami Ganjavi mausoleum, the Imamzade religious complex and the Ganja Automobile Plant.

The diplomats will review the Agroenergy complex and Agro Diary LLC in Samukh while the German Cultural Heritage, the Goygol National Park and the Goygol Winery in Goygol.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on simplifying visa procedures for foreigners and stateless persons who will arrive in Azerbaijan to participate in the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

In accordance with the order, foreigners and stateless persons who will arrive in Azerbaijan to participate in the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and who will submit an official invitation letter from UNESCO and a document confirming their accreditation in line with the relevant rules of this organization will be able to get a visa in Azerbaijans international airports June 20-July 10, 2019.

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry has been instructed to inform UNESCO and the relevant authorities of foreign countries about the simplification of the visa procedure for people arriving in Azerbaijan to participate in the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, as well as about the possibility of obtaining an electronic visa through ASAN Viza system by foreigners and stateless persons according to the list approved in line with clause 4.2 of the Presidential Decree dated June 1, 2016.

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry has also been instructed to ensure that information on the simplification of the visa procedure for people arriving in Azerbaijan to participate in the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, as well as about the possibility of obtaining an electronic visa through ASAN Viza system by foreigners and stateless persons, is available on the webpages of the ministry, as well as the embassies and consulates of Azerbaijan in foreign countries.

Azerbaijans State Migration Service has been instructed to inform the airline companies flying to Azerbaijan about the simplification of the visa procedure for people arriving in Azerbaijan to participate in the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

On April 2, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani presidential press-service.

President Aliyev and President Putin discussed the results of the first official meeting between President Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held in Vienna on March 29 under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, as well as the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The presidents stressed the importance of intensifying the negotiation process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The sides expressed confidence that cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia will continue to develop successfully in various areas.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The Azerbaijani delegation led by Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will take part in the next meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in Moscow on April 5, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov will visit Baku on April 4, the Azerbaijani government told Trend on April 3.

Along with the minister, the representatives of more than 60 Russian companies operating in various sectors of economy, including agriculture, ICT, automotive engineering, chemical industry and others, will visit Baku.

An event will be held during the ministers visit to Azerbaijan and the businessmen of the two countries will participate in this event.

Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council Samad Gurbanov, Acting President of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) Yusif Abdullayev, Director of the Russian Export Center Andrey Slepnev will attend the event.

The participants of the event will discuss the issues of cooperation and further steps to strengthen the ties. A number of cooperation agreements between the two countries will be signed during the delegations visit.

According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia reached $2.55 billion in 2018. Moreover, the Azerbaijani goods worth $665.74 million were exported to Russia.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Head of Azerbaijans State Committee for Work with the Diaspora Fuad Muradov met with Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze, Trend reports with reference to the state committee on April 3.

Bakhtadze noted that he has a very positive attitude towards the projects of the State Committee for Work with the Diaspora, implemented in connection with the Azerbaijanis living in Georgia, and highly appreciates this work.

He instructed Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the state minister for reconciliation and civic equality in Georgia, who was present at the meeting, to intensify ties with the State Committee and to carry out more joint projects.

The meeting was also attended by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Georgia Dursun Hasanov and Deputy Chairman of the State Committee Faig Guliyev.

On the same day, Fuad Muradov met with deputy chairman of the Georgian Parliament, Chairman of the Georgia-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Zviad Dzidziguri, who noted that Azerbaijan and Georgia are strategic allies, the Georgian and Azerbaijani peoples are friends and brothers, and also stressed the importance of further intensifying bilateral ties.

The meeting was attended by Chair of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee of the Georgian Parliament Beka Odisharia, Azerbaijani members of the Georgian Parliament Mahir Darziev and Azer Suleymanov. The Azerbaijani side was represented by Ambassador Dursun Hasanov, representatives of the State Committee and other officials.

Muradov noted that, as the head of the State Committee, he paid a visit to Georgia for the first time last summer and studied the problems of Azerbaijanis living in Georgia. He stressed that projects are being prepared in the field of education, and on April 3, the opening ceremony of the Integration Center of Georgian Azerbaijanis will take place, and this will become the contribution of the Azerbaijani state in terms of the integration of Georgian Azerbaijanis into the local society.

He added that quotas were allocated in Azerbaijan for receiving pedagogical and religious education for Azerbaijanis of Georgia in 2019-2020.

Muradov also touched upon the issue of opening a monument to the Armenian separatist in Georgia, stressing that this doesnt correspond to the current level of bilateral relations.

Deputy chairman of the Georgian Parliament, Chairman of the Georgia-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Zviad Dzidziguri noted that the visit by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili to Azerbaijan was held at a high level, adding that the Armenian media published articles against this visit.

Azerbaijani MPs of the Parliament of Georgia Azer Suleymanov and Mahir Darziev delivered speech at the meeting.

They noted that the erection of a monument to Armenian separatist in Georgia casts a shadow on bilateral relations. It was also emphasized that in Azerbaijan it is important to adopt the Law on Compatriots, and that it is necessary to promote Azerbaijani culture in Georgia, and Georgian culture in Azerbaijan.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The April battles showed to the whole world that the Azerbaijani army possesses the highest qualities and can complete any task at any time, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said.

He made the remarks April 2 at the meeting with servicemen of a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry.

Familiarization with the military unit today made a pleasant impression on me, he said.

In recent years, the military unit has been overhauled and all necessary conditions have been created for the educational process, he noted. This shows again that the Azerbaijani army is successfully developing today. The process of army building is proceeding rapidly, our military units are being refurbished and rebuilt, and the army is fitted with the most sophisticated equipment. This is natural, because we are at war. The war is not over yet  only the first stage of it is. Today, the Azerbaijani army is one of the strongest armies on a global scale.

Three years have passed since the April fights, he added.

The April battles are a glorious page of our history, Ilham Aliyev said. During the battles we sustained losses. May Allah rest the souls of all our martyrs in peace. The state made every effort to provide for the treatment and rehabilitation of our wounded soldiers. All our soldiers who were injured have fortunately returned to normal life. All measures were taken for their treatment, rehabilitation and return to active life.

The April battles are a great historic victory for us, one of the most successful military operations in our modern history, he added. You are well aware that prior to the fighting, the armed forces of Armenia constantly fired at our settlements and military positions from occupied territories. The Azerbaijani army carried out a very successful operation to thwart Armenian provocations and liberated a part of Agdara, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts which were seized earlier. Thousands of hectares of land were freed from the invaders and an area of tens of thousands of hectares passed under our control. The Azerbaijani flag now flies on the once occupied lands. During the battles, our soldiers displayed true professionalism and heroism. They once again demonstrated that Azerbaijani soldiers and officers are professional, they are attached to their homeland and are ready to fulfill their duty at any time.

The April battles were a very successful operation in military terms, because our military personnel liberated important strategic heights from the invaders from unfavorable positions, he noted.

At the same time, these battles are of great importance from a moral and psychological point of view, as Armenian propaganda had been spreading the myth for years that they are superior to us militarily, he said. The April battles showed to the whole world that the Azerbaijani army possesses the highest qualities and can complete any task at any time. The myth created by Armenia has been smashed to smithereens.

Our civilians also showed heroism during the fights, he noted. Several civilians died as a result of Armenian provocation. Hundreds of houses became uninhabitable and were burned out. We restored all these houses in a short time. In meetings with residents of the villages close to the contact line which I visited shortly after the fights, I was convinced of how high the national spirit of these people is, how fearless they are, as they did not abandon their homes and their villages even under shelling.

As a result of the fights, the village of Jojug Marjanli gained a new life, Ilham Aliyev said.

It was reconstructed in a short time, 150 houses, a school, a kindergarten, a medical center, a mosque, which is an analogue of the Shusha mosque, were built, and jobs were created, he noted. In other words, life returned to Jojug Marjanli. This shows yet again that the Azerbaijani people will never put up with this situation. It shows once again that all citizens of Azerbaijan live with one dream  the soonest liberation of our occupied lands and restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Unfortunately, our lands fell under occupation in the first years of independence, he said. The reason for this is that the forces that were in power at that time allowed Armenia to seize our lands by their unsatisfactory activity. As a result of the treacherous activities of the PFPA-Musavat tandem, the Armenian armed forces entrenched in the occupied lands and a direct communication was established between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, which allowed the enemy to continue its aggressive policy. But after the return of great leader Heydar Aliyev to power, the situation changed, a successful Horadiz operation was carried out. As a result of that operation, more than 20 settlements were freed from occupation.

Today, the city of Horadiz and those very villages are flourishing and reviving, the Azerbaijani president added. Work is carried out at the highest level there, he said.

The army building process was started, he noted. Today, Azerbaijan is one of the most powerful countries in the world in terms of army building. As I have already noted, according to the latest ratings, the Azerbaijani army is ranked in 52nd place in terms of its potential on a global scale. The two military parades held last year demonstrated our military might. The most modern weapons and equipment are purchased for our army and its combat capability is increasing. The April battles are a good example of this. We are doing and will continue to do everything necessary for our army. Last year, a successful Nakhchivan operation was carried out. As a result of this operation, we have seized strategic heights. These heights allow us the opportunity to control a vast territory. The successful Nakhchivan operation showed that our army is professional and its combat capability is at a high level.

All this is a reality, Ilham Aliyev said.

Today, every citizen of Azerbaijan can be justly proud of the Azerbaijani army, and we are proud of our soldiers and officers, he noted. The Azerbaijani army is the main factor playing a role in the protection of the territorial integrity of our state.

Day-to-day problems of our military personnel are being addressed, he added. Great attention is being paid to that as well. At the end of last year, more than 300 servicemen were provided with new apartments. To date, the state has provided hundreds of military personnel with apartments. This process continues. At the same time, the process of reconstructing military units has gained momentum. In recent years, I have participated in the opening of many military units and camps. I observe a high level and excellent conditions everywhere, including this military unit. Here I was shown photographs showing the situation in previous years. Of course, the situation was very difficult.

However, on the basis of my special instruction, the military unit was reconstructed in a short time and good conditions have been created here, he said. Excellent conditions have been created for those who work here, and for those who stay in hostels. I should also note that civil affairs in our military units are dealt with by civilians, and this is also an innovation. Thus, we have enabled servicemen and their activity to focus on the main service duty. At the same time, about 20,000 civilians have been provided with jobs.

As for the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, there is no change in our position here, Ilham Aliyev added. This conflict must be resolved only within the territorial integrity of our country. Nagorno-Karabakh is our ancestral and historical land. Our people have lived, created and built on these lands for centuries. Today, the whole world recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. All influential international organizations have adopted relevant decisions and resolutions. This is a historical and legal basis. No country has recognized and, I am sure, never will recognize the self-styled Nagorno-Karabakh republic.

Therefore, the goal of continuing the negotiations is to liberate the occupied lands, he said. As you know, the new leadership of Armenia wanted to change the format of negotiations. Some of their statements are also known to the public. However, the unequivocal position of Azerbaijan did not allow that to happen. The conflict is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied our lands. Eighty percent of soldiers on the occupied lands on the other side are Armenian citizens. Therefore, the negotiations must be conducted between the two countries. The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format. Both the talks between the foreign ministers and the meeting between the leaders show again that this is an Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Whenever we talk about a conflict, we call it like this: the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Justice and historical truth are on our side, Ilham Aliyev noted.

Economic and military strength is also on our side, he said. The work done in recent years, the reforms carried out in the military sphere, the buildup of our military power, the victories both in the political arena and on the battlefield inspire us even more and strengthen us.

You, the people serving here, know and understand your duty perfectly well, he added. You have participated in the most difficult battles and showed heroism and courage. The state appreciates your activity. I congratulate you on the successes achieved, I wish you and our army continued success and new victories.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend





The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format of negotiations on resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said.

He made the remarks April 2 at the meeting with servicemen of a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry.

Today, the whole world recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan, he said. All influential international organizations have adopted relevant decisions and resolutions. This is a historical and legal basis. No country has recognized and, I am sure, never will recognize the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic.

Therefore, the goal of continuing the negotiations is to liberate the occupied lands, he noted. As you know, the new leadership of Armenia wanted to change the format of negotiations. Some of their statements are also known to the public. However, the unequivocal position of Azerbaijan did not allow that to happen. The conflict is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied our lands. Eighty percent of soldiers on the occupied lands on the other side are Armenian citizens. Therefore, the negotiations must be conducted between the two countries."

"The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format. Both the talks between the foreign ministers and the meeting between the leaders show again that this is an Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Whenever we talk about a conflict, we call it like this: the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.By Trend

The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format of negotiations on resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said.

He made the remarks April 2 at the meeting with servicemen of a military unit of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry.

Today, the whole world recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan, he said. All influential international organizations have adopted relevant decisions and resolutions. This is a historical and legal basis. No country has recognized and, I am sure, never will recognize the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic.

Therefore, the goal of continuing the negotiations is to liberate the occupied lands, he noted. As you know, the new leadership of Armenia wanted to change the format of negotiations. Some of their statements are also known to the public. However, the unequivocal position of Azerbaijan did not allow that to happen. The conflict is between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied our lands. Eighty percent of soldiers on the occupied lands on the other side are Armenian citizens. Therefore, the negotiations must be conducted between the two countries."

"The last Vienna meeting was important also because it reaffirmed the existing format. Both the talks between the foreign ministers and the meeting between the leaders show again that this is an Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Whenever we talk about a conflict, we call it like this: the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Leman Mammadova

The work are uninterruptedly underway to bring Azerbaijani gas to Balkan countries as soon as possible.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is working on interconnection project to receive Azerbaijani gas, Federal Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nermin Dzindic told Trend.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the company BH-GAS d.o.o. Sarajevo which is in charge of development projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is working on realization of the Southern interconnection of B&H with Croatia project, which would create conditions for future expected connection to Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)," said the minister.

He pointed out that the Southern interconnection of B&H and Croatia is a project of interconnection of gas systems of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

"The main objective of the project is to secure a new route of natural gas supply for B&H by which a reliable and secure natural gas supply would be secured for Bosnia and Herzegovina," noted Dzindic.

IAP is a proposed natural gas pipeline in Southeastern Europe (SEE) that will stretch from Albania through Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Split in Croatia.The capacity of the pipeline will amount to five billion cubic meters of gas per year.

IAP pipeline in the Albanian city of Fier is planned to be connected to the TAP, which is intended for the supply of Azerbaijani gas to Europe. The IAP will ensure the supply of Azerbaijani gas to a number of countries in South-Eastern Europe.

In 2013, a mutual memorandum of understanding on construction of Trans-Adriatic and Ion-Adriatic gas lines were signed among Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a memorandum of understanding on South Gas Corridor and South-East European Corridor projects were signed among Azerbaijan, Albania, Croatia and Montenegro.

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).

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.

TAP envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz-2 gas field to Greece and southern Italy across the Adriatic Sea through Greece and Albania, and involves designing, construction and operation of the natural gas pipeline.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on the TAP project was signed by Albania, Italy and Greece in February 2013. The 878-kilometer-long TAP pipeline (Greece 550 kilometers, Albania 215 kilometers, Adriatic Sea 105 kilometers, and Italy 8 kilometers) having connected to the TANAP on the Turkish-Greek border, will run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italys south.

In November, TAP and TANAP successfully completed their connection on the banks of the Merich River on the Turkish-Greek border.

The initial capacity of TAP will be 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year with the possibility of doubling it. About 82.4 percent of TAP pipeline construction works were implemented.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

The TAP project is one of the strategic objectives of the EU in the energy security and diversification of energy sources, chosen as the shortest and direct way to export natural gas from Azerbaijan to the European markets.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Iran's Health Deputy Minister Alireza Raeisi has announced that any genetic attempt to change agricultural products is prohibited by the Health Ministry and the organization.

"The Health Ministry would resist any plan to implement genetic changes in agricultural products and the ministry would not allow the production of GMO's in the country," Trend reports citing Fars News Agency.

Referring to recent plan for GMO production in the country that was signed by members of Department of Environment he said that the Health Ministry would confirm the plan after reforms implementation in its context and if it's not harmful for health.

The genetically modified organism (GMO) products have been hot topic during past two years in Iran, despite growing opposition against GMO imports and consumption there have been some efforts to circulate these products in the country.

It is expected that Agriculture and Health Ministries decide over GMO's production in the country. While the Department of Environment has approved the plan, the Health Ministry has called on reforms in it and the Agriculture Ministry is waiting for the result.

Iran annually imports $5.5 billion worth of GMO's while some are being consumed without identification tag.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The Russian group of ChTPZ (Chelyabinsk Pipe-Rolling Plant) won the tender of the Turkmengas State Concern for the supply of pipes for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline under construction, Trend reports with reference to the Russian media.

The company will supply pipes for the construction of the linear part of the pipeline with a length of 214 kilometers. The deal amounted to $219 million.

Russias Sberbank, a state-owned Russian banking and financial services company, confirmed the letter of credit of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan for this amount under the reimbursement obligation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in favor of ChTPZ.

Construction of the Turkmen section of the TAPI, with an annual capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas, was launched Dec. 13, 2015.

The IDB issued a loan for Turkmenistan in 2016 to finance the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.

An agreement worth $700 million was signed with the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan supplies gas to China and Iran. The ChTPZ group at one time shipped large-diameter pipes for the construction of the third stage of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Abdul Kerimkhanov

Trade and economic cooperation is the main indicator of the level of close relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In this area, the two countries have created a solid legal and contractual base, with more than 50 interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents.

Kazakhstan has ratified a framework agreement with Uzbekistan on some issues of cooperation in the energy sector, including in the area of oil and gas supplies.

Uzbekistan will supply up to 2 million tons of oil from Kazakhstan. This is stipulated by the law on some issues of cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, which was signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on April 2, Kazakh media reported.

President Tokayev signed the law on ratification of the relevant agreement concluded by the two governments in 2017, the press service of the head of state said.

The agreement implementation will facilitate the supply of crude oil to Uzbekistan for refining at oil refineries and addressing the issue of uninterrupted supply of natural gas from Uzbekistan in the autumn-winter period of southern Kazakhstan, explained Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev.

As Makhambet Dosmukhambetov, Acting Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan, said, the country in the future is ready to supply Uzbekistan with oil from its resources. By transshipment to rail tank cars at Shagyr station, oil will be delivered via the Kenkiyak-Kumkol pipeline. The tariff for one ton in this direction is about $ 25.

The agreement provides for the creation of a coordination council on all issues of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.

The Uzbek side guarantees the timely completion of the construction of the oil transportation and refining infrastructure on its territory to ensure the receipt of the planned volumes of oil.

Dosmukhambetov said that the Russian side is considering the issue of oil supplies to Uzbekistan in the amount of up to 1 million tons. In this regard, Kazakhstan is considered as a transit party between the two countries.

In general, Uzbekistan plans to purchase up to five million tons per year. Of these, two million from Kazakhstan and three million tons from Russia. For a stable supply to Uzbekistan of up to five million tons of oil, significant investments in transport infrastructure are needed.

In order to meet the needs of Uzbekistan for oil, Kazakhstan delivered more than 260,000 tons of oil in 2018.

Diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were established on November 23, 1992.

The trade turnover of Kazakhstan with Uzbekistan amounted to more than $ 2 billion in January-October 2018, which is higher by 30.9 percent than the same period of the previous year. Over 200 companies with Kazakh capital currently operate in Uzbekistan.

Earlier this year, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan agreed to take further measures to ensure the growth of trade turnover to $ 3 billion in 2018 and $ 5 billion by 2020. The countries also intend to increase the number of rail, bus and air communication between two states.

Kazakhstan exports to Uzbekistan petroleum and their products, the milling industry, grains, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, products of inorganic chemistry, food products.

Uzbekistan exports to Kazakhstan energy sources (gas), cotton fiber, chemical products and plastics, fertilizers, fruits and vegetables and other types of goods.

Uzbek investments in Kazakhstan for the past 10 years amounted to $ 31.3 million, half of which falls for 2016. Kazakh investments in Uzbekistan totalled $ 114.4 million in the past decade.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Leman Mammadova

The growing influence of Azerbaijan in the global tourism market promotes the flow of revenues to the country as well as facilitates job openings.

Tourists spent over $2 billion in Azerbaijan in 2018, spokesman for the Azerbaijani State Tourism Agency Kanan Guluzade told Trend.

More than 2,280,000 tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2018, he said. Over 360,000 tourists have already visited Azerbaijan this year.

"Most of the tourists arrived from Russia and Georgia, Guluzade said. Moreover, a lot of tourists have been recently arriving from the Middle Eastern countries. According to the data of the last two months of this year, many tourists from the South Asian region arrived in Azerbaijan. In general, 70 percent growth is observed, specifically in the South Asian region compared with the same period last year - 30 percent increase in the number of tourists. In general, an increase in the number of tourists in 15 tourist markets is recorded.

He added that the main goal is to double the number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan till 2023.

Guluzade stressed that Azerbaijans tourist potential will be showcased at almost 20 international exhibitions soon.

Regarding the Iranian tourists, Guluzade noted that 33 percent decrease was observed in the number of Iranian tourists arriving in Azerbaijan in 2018.

"The reason for this decrease was the new taxes applied in Iran, he said. Earlier, incoming Iranian tourists in Azerbaijan ranked third after Russian and Georgian tourists. In general, the number of Iranians traveling to other countries decreased by 50 percent."

He stressed that this year, a three-percent increase in the number of foreign tourists is observed in Azerbaijan, that is facilitated by the arrival of foreigners from new countries.

The spokesman of the Agency noted that Georgian tourists hit the record in January-February of the current year.

This year, the number of tourists from Georgia exceeded the number of Russians for the first time. In addition, work is underway to attract more Chinese tourists. In accordance with the signed memorandum, 200,000 tourists from China are expected to arrive in Azerbaijan, he said.

Guluzade stressed that there was a decrease in the number of Arab tourists by seven percent during the first two months of 2019.

However, this is temporary, as the period January-February is considered a weak tourist season. On the other hand, direct flights from Arab countries to Azerbaijan have decreased. Some changes have been made in the procedures for issuing visas to Iraqi tourists. All this influenced the number of foreign tourists. However, the situation may stabilize due to the fact that two new Arab airlines will launch flights to Azerbaijan. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the Middle East is a politically unstable region, and problems arise in connection with leaving the country. Therefore, such problems may occur from time to time, he added.

Touching upon the Azerbaijans tourism representative offices abroad, Kanan Guluzade said that the State Tourism Agency wants to open offices in four more countries. He noted that two of these countries are already known. This is the UK and South Korea.

It should be noted that the official representative offices of Azerbaijan have been operating in six countries since December of last year. Tourism offices aim to introduce Azerbaijan's tourism opportunities, conduct propaganda and campaigning.

In addition, Guluzade noted that the Agency intends to take part in about 20 exhibitions this year in order to promote the tourism potential of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is among the fastest-growing destinations for tourists.

The beautiful nature of Azerbaijan, hospitality of its people, the country's capital with its super modern and ancient buildings draws the attention of all tourists visiting this South Caucasian country.

It is noteworthy that in 2018, as many as 2,849,600 tourists from 196 countries arrived in Azerbaijan, showing a 5.7 percent increase compared to 2017.

However, some 364,200 foreigners and stateless persons from 152 countries came to Azerbaijan in January-February 2019.

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.

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.

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.

---

Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzSouth Africa: SA profiles capabilities at defence and security exhibition

Local companies are keen to profile South Africas industrial capabilities at the 12th Latin American Defence and Security Exhibition (LAAD), which is currently underway in Brazil.

South African companies are participating in the fair through the Department of Trade and Industrys (dti) Export Market Investment Assistance Scheme (EMIA). The scheme aims to increase exports of South African manufactured products.

LAAD. which started in the capital of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, is a leading Latin America Defence and Security event.

The exhibition gathers international and national companies that provide technologies, equipment and services for armed forces, special forces, police, homeland security and security managers from large companies, service concessionaires and critical infrastructure.

South Africas offerings comprise textiles, body armour manufacturers, radar and communication systems, search and rescue boats and small to medium range arms.

South African Consul General in Brazil Malose Mogale commended the efforts undertaken by the dti in bringing the diverse crop of companies into the South American region and emphasised the strategic importance of Brazil to South Africa.

Brazil remains a strategic partner for us in this region and the LAAD platforms offers us potential opportunities not only in this country, but within The Mercado Comun del Sur or the Southern Common Market economic and commercial group, which Brazil is a member of, said Mogale.

He said companies looking to explore Brazil should not neglect the important aspect of conducting due diligence on companies that they are looking to explore partnerships or transactions with.

As the mission our primary aim is to urge South African companies to guard against compromising their intellectual property. We have noticed that this is one aspect of conducting business that is generally neglected and we request that they approach the mission to confirm the authenticity of companies they are engaging with as we have a database of companies that we update regularly, he said.

The Consul-General urged local companies to ensure that certain aspect of their production should remain local as that will be beneficial to job creation and growing the economy of the country.

The exhibition will conclude on Friday.

Meanwhile, the South African chapter of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Business Council will host the groups mid-term meeting in Johannesburg that gets underway on Wednesday.

The meeting will also mark the handing over of the rotating chair of the Council to Brazil.

The two-day meeting will be held under the theme BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.By Trend





Illegal activities in occupied territories of Azerbaijan will be discussed in Strasburg, France, during the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Trend reports citing Permanent Representation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe.

A side event hosted by Samad Seyidov, the chairman of the Azerbaijani parliamentary committee on international and inter-parliamentary relations, on April 9, during PACE spring session will address the theme of Illegal activities in and with regard to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan: implications for the commitments taken before the Council of Europe, reads a message from the Permanent Representation.

PACE spring session will take place in Strasburg on April 8-12.

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.By Trend





Iran's Kermanshah Province is one of the focal points in Iran-Iraq economic ties, said First Vice-President of iran Eshaq Jahangiri,

"We seek to develop ties with Iraq and create proper conditions for Iran's exports to Iraq. Kermashah province can play a leading role in exports," Trend reports citing IRNA.

The official insisted on developing Iran-Iraq ties specially in economic sector during a meeting in Kermanshah province, "Borders are an opportunity and advantage to develop the province."

Referring to reopening of the Khosravi border he said Iran would like to reopen the border and there is no problem from Iranian side."I have discussed it with former and current Iraqi presidents."

He noted that the security of Iranian pilgrims is a major concern for Iraqis, "Iraq is responsible for pilgrims' safety."

Jahangiri arrived in Kermanshah province on March 31 alongside with ministers of agriculture, health, sport, roads and urban development. The first VP also visited Qarasu River.

Kermanshah Province has 371 kilometers joint border with Iraq that includes six official border terminals and markets that transfer Iran's non-oil exports to Iraq.Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Partly cloudy and windy this evening followed by increasing clouds and periods of rain after midnight. Low 48F. Winds SE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy and windy this evening followed by increasing clouds and periods of rain after midnight. Low 48F. Winds SE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.By Azernews





By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Over 10 seedling of various tree species were distributed to the population in the Nasimi, Binagadi and Yasamal districts of Baku, Head of the Press Service of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Irada Ibrahimova said, Trend reports on April 2.

She recalled that for the first time a campaign on planting trees was organized during autumn, which was met with great enthusiasm of population so it was decided to continue this campaign.

Ibrahimova added that in general, in the framework of the spring planting of trees it is planned to distribute over 50,000 seedlings.

It is gratifying that these events have gained scope and mass character, she said.

Preservation of the nature and biological diversity is one of the basic priorities of the state policy in Azerbaijan, and large-scale state programs directed to the improvement of the ecological situation have been implemented during the past decade.

Azerbaijan is preparing the National Forestry Program that is foreseen for a 10-year period covering the years 2020-2030. The program will be implemented in two stages, each in 5 years.

As a result of the implementation of the National Forest Program, it is planned to assist in the creation of appropriate institutional capacity and mechanisms for forest management, to develop and improve strategies for the protection and sustainable management of the forests of our country.

At the same time, it is also part of the program to reinforce the recovery of forest resources and to manage their functional use, as well as to increase the livelihoods of the rural population dependent on forest resources, and to contribute to the enhancement of national and international financial support for forestry activities.

Over the past few years, the forest area in the country increased from 11.4 to 11.8 percent.

However, occupation of the 20 percent of Azerbaijans territory by Armenian military forces caused a significant damage to the forests, especially those located in the mountainous areas.McLaren Automotive, the British creator of luxury sportscars and supercars, has announced plans for a new brand centre in Bahrain.

The McLaren Bahrain Tower is situated by the entrance to the Bahrain International Circuit and with a floor area of approximately 8,000 sq m across eight floors, it is set to become the brands third largest global facility after McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) and McLaren Production Centre (MPC).

Phase I of the development is scheduled to complete by the end of the year and will see the relocation of a regional office for McLaren Automotive s Middle East, Africa and Latin America division. The entire facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020.

Once completed, the development will strengthen the brands presence in the Middle East and serve as its new regional headquarter with the potential to accommodate future business requirements in line with growth plans outlined in the Track25 business plan.

We are honoured to conclude the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend with the announcement of the McLaren Bahrain Tower. This impressive Brand Centre will allow us to explore a number of exciting opportunities whilst enhancing our operations across the Middle East, Africa and Latin America region, said Brett Soso, managing director, Middle East, Africa and Latin America for McLaren Automotive.

McLaren Automotives Middle East, Africa and Latin American region comprises 13 retail locations in 11 markets. Globally, McLaren Automotive has consistently increased its sales since formation in 2010 with a record 4,806 vehicles sold throughout 2018. As part of the companys Track25 business plan, it will invest 1.2 billion in research and development to deliver 18 new cars or derivatives between 2018-2025, the company said.  TradeArabia News ServiceOregon Coast Whale Sightings Stellar, Including Stunning Orca Encounter

Published 04/01/2019 at 8:53 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast)  Whale sightings continue to be a bit bonkers along all of the Oregon coast, with outstanding reports coming over the last week. The highlight was a killer whale spotted on April 1 in Tillamook Bay. (Above: Orca sighting from a previous year, courtesy Whale's Tail charters).

It is still the great migration northward for gray whales so there continue to be plenty of those. Both the Central Oregon Coast Cetacean Watch and the Clatsop & Pacific County Whale Sightings groups on Facebook are coming up with astounding appearances.

Early on April 1, the crew from Kellys Brighton Marina near Rockaway Beach caught a magnificent moment with an Orca in Tillamook Bay. That group has had some astounding encounters in the past with its Nehalem Bay facility. One was documented in this YouTube video back in 2014; another incident made the regional media in 2008.

Its believed Orcas are showing up on the north Oregon coast because theyre either chasing salmon or they are the mysterious pod of transient Orcas that maraud up and down the west coast chasing baby gray whales and large groups of sea lions.

Indeed, the north coast has had the most vocal reports in recent days, with quite the run in the last few days of March, with numerous sightings around Hammond, Cape Disappointment on the Washington coast and at Cannon Beachs Silver Point.

Also on April 1, photographer Sam Clark caught some amazing shots of gray whales breaching in the Newport area. Clark reports the whale breached three times, close enough to get a photo, then moved on. That can be seen on the central coast group site.

Other reports came in from Fort Stevens on March 31. Silver Point seemed to be the hotspot for awhile on March 28. See the links to those Facebook whale groups to see the photos and videos.

As long as weather cooperates, it should remain ideal conditions for spotting whales around the Oregon coast. Gray whales are still migrating in heavy numbers, though it starts to taper off over the next two months. Orcas, in the meantime, often show up about now looking for the baby gray whales, and its only a matter of time before that pod starts making appearances that can be confirmed.

For more on Oregon coast whales. Tips for spotting Oregon coast whales.

Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More whale photos below:



























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All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permittedMotiva Enterprises is in negotiations to purchase two historic downtown buildings in Port Arthur and at least one area official says they're looking for more.

The company plans to buy the Adams Building, 440 Austin Ave., and the Federal Building, 500 Austin Ave., in downtown Port Arthur, Jefferson County Commissioner Michael Sinegal said Wednesday.

Motiva External Communications and Digital Experience Manager Angela Goodwin said the company will begin developing a rehabilitation plan on the two buildings. However it will not have a timeline for the plan until the purchase is completed and the redevelopment plan is approved.

"Once renovated, these two buildings will provide much needed office space for Port Arthur Refinery employees/contractors who are not directly involved in refinery-specific maintenance or site operations," Goodwin said.

Sinegal said with this investment, he's singing Motiva's praises.

"We've been waiting on something like this for Port Arthur for a long time," he said.

Port Arthur Assistant City Manager Rebecca Underhill said the city is optimistic that the investment will bring more retail and other money into downtown Port Arthur, leading the revitalization.

"This is part of a dream for revitalization for downtown, and the idea that Motiva is going to invest in the downtown and in the classic buildings of downtown Port Arthur, we're just thrilled to work with them in any way that we can to assist with this project," she said.

Underhill said Motiva expects to have about 500 people working in the two buildings.The death of a loved one can be the most trying part of someones life. Though inevitable, such a loss can take years to recover from, particularly without some form of support.

A funeral home in Southeast Texas has teamed with hospice to help in the grieving process of those left behind and struggling.

Claybar Funeral Homes has introduced a bereavement support group called Pathways that meets three times a month in three different locations.

Stephanie Roberts, with the funeral home and one of the facilitators of the program, said the idea first came to her as she discovered the funeral home used to offer a group counseling service but didnt anymore.

The Lord placed the idea on my heart and I saw a need for it in the community, she said. I saw people come into the home and they were grieving. They needed somewhere to go and do it comfortably, so I took it upon myself to help fill that need.

Roberts connected with Jeff Bell, a chaplain at the Southeast Texas Hospice in Orange.

The Lord connected us, Bell said. I truly believe that.

Once Roberts and Bell joined forces, the project was under way. They found three locations that seemed fitting for the region while trying to stay easily accessible to all cities in the area.

The group holds meetings at Collier Park on the first Tuesday of every month, at the Southeast Texas Hospice in Orange on the third Thursday of every month and at Bonne Vie in Port Arthur on the fourth Tuesday of every month. All meetings are held at 10 a.m.

When Sue Landry, of Hardin County, lost her mother in July of last year, she began searching for a place she could grieve and heal with others.

I couldnt find any that were close enough to me at a time I could go, until I found this one this year, Landry said. It was a great meeting. We all just lean on each other and it feels good that I can heal and help others heal, too.

Roberts said each meeting is different and it just depends on who shows up. She said on average about eight people will show up to each meeting.

At the meetings, people are encouraged to share their feelings and thoughts, ask questions and share experiences they treasure from their time with the person they lost.

Usually we get it started and then those who are there will sort of just take over, sharing photos and stories of their loved ones, Roberts said.

Landry said to many a group like this may sound sad but that she actually leaves the meetings feeling upbeat.

I would encourage anyone who has lost someone and is grieving to go to one of these. You get to share experiences and laugh and cry and even if weve all lost different people, it is nice to be in a place where you can connect with others who are going through the same thing, she said.

erica.apodaca@beaumontenterprise.comEra Projects, a leading real estate and project management company in Bahrain, has signed a deal with Diyar Al Muharraq to acquire a parcel of land to develop a residential community within its integrated modern city.



This comes in line with Diyar Al Muharraqs aim to enrich the project with major developers.



One of the leading urban developers in Bahrain, Diyar Al Muharraq is setting up a unique master planned city for the people of Bahrain.



The Diyar Al Muharraq development offers a range of housing options and quality lifestyle providing a cohesive mix of residential and commercial properties.



"This partnership with one of the most prominent real estate developers in the kingdom will uplift Diyar Al Muharraq by adding a vibrant residential community," remarked CEO Dr Maher Al Shaer, after signing the deal with Era Projects CEO Abdulhussain Khudhur.



Diyar Al Muharraq has a strong line-up of projects aimed at creating a long-term and sophisticated township. A first-of-its-kind integrated modern city, it aims to offer occupants a safe haven for an ideal lifestyle.



"We look forward to adding a luxury project under Diyar Al Muharraqs umbrella, and look forward to this fruitful partnership," he stated.



On the partnership, Khudhur said: "Diyar Al Muharraq was one of the largest developments in the kingdom with attractive residential, touristic and leisure elements and we are pleased to announce our partnership, which allows us to develop freehold units within the largest urban housing development in the Bahrain."



The residential community comprises luxury units in line with Diyar Al Muharraqs distinctive offerings, he stated.



"The freeholder properties will be launched in the second half of 2019 for potential customers who are looking to explore a modern lifestyle in an integrated city," he added.-TradeArabia News ServiceA man whose body was found in a Port Arthur alley Monday may have been killed in an act of retaliation after a recent shooting that crippled a man, according to police.

Javier Palacios body was recovered from the 1000 block of Delaware Drive on Monday around 4:04 p.m.

Port Arthur Police Detective Sadie Guidry said there were several injuries to the body, which may have included gunshot wounds. However, the official cause of death is pending autopsy results.

> > DATA: These are the 20 most dangerous cities in Texas

There are several things we are trying to figure out right now, Guidry said. We are trying to find out if Palacios died in the area where he was found or if his body was dragged to the location and left. We are also trying to figure out if it was gang affiliated.

Guidry said Palacios self-identified with Surenos 13s, a gang that had been fairly quiet recently after an increase in arrests and non-violent deaths among members. But Palacios, Guidry said, seemed to be out of control and highly active in the weeks leading up to his death.

About two weeks ago, police put out public information looking for Palacios whereabouts because of warrants on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, evading detention with a motor vehicle and felony possession of a firearm. He was also a suspect in several deadly conduct cases and one aggravated assault case, Guidry said.

But Palacios safety was also a factor in the push for his arrest, said Detective Mike Hebert.

Police say he may have been involved in a March 23 shooting in the 1200 block of Delaware Drive, when a man was shot several times in the legs with a semi-automatic weapon. The victim has since lost one leg and could lose the other but declined to file charges.

Hebert said PAPD does not anticipate retaliatory actions for Palacios death.

erica.apodaca@beaumontenterprise.comNetherlands-based FrieslandCampina, one of the worlds leading and largest dairy cooperatives, has launched a new national headquarters in Saudi Arabia, as part of its plans for further expansion in the kingdom.



Following 60 years of success in the kingdom, the new site represents further growth for FrieslandCampina in the country and the evolution of its operational structure to deliver effective, more consumer-centric services across the kingdom, said a statement.



Specifically, the new headquarters will enable FrieslandCampina to expand the reach of its product distribution network in the kingdom, giving loyal and new consumers simpler access to its leading range of nutritious dairy products, it said.



The site launch will also see FrieslandCampina place a sharper focus on sales and marketing, to serve the Saudi market with the most desirable products from its broad product range.



Since launching its range of Rainbow evaporated milk products in the kingdom in 1955  which marked the arrival of one of the first multi-national brand in the Arab region, FrieslandCampina products have become much-loved in Saudi Arabia.



Rainbow Milk has now been a part of local consumers lives for generations and continues to be one of the first choice for dairy needs for its creamy, delicious taste and nutritious ingredients.



The new office was unveiled at a dedicated launch event in Jeddah, attended by the Netherlands Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Joost Reintjes, industry leaders, and senior FrieslandCampina members who celebrated another milestone for the company and the kingdoms food industry. Along with VIP government representatives and business partners



Since FrieslandCampina first entered the GCC market, Saudi Arabia has played an important role in its success in the region to date. Consumers in the country have been served by products such as Rainbow Milk for over six decades, with FrieslandCampinas products becoming a staple of household and professional kitchens across generations.



Keen to continue this success, the kingdom is fundamental to FrieslandCampinas future growth strategy as it represents the highest consumer of dairy items among all GCC states.



Our growth in Saudi Arabia is simply a reflection of our philosophy to bring nutritious dairy products to families around the world, commented Sumeet Mathur, chairman of FrieslandCampina Saudi Arabia.



The kingdom is one of our most valued regional markets, and with demand growing here, we made it a priority to step closer to the consumer, which the new office allows us to do, he added.



Sami Aboukhashaba, general manager of FrieslandCampina Saudi Arabia, said: Saudi Arabia has always been at the core of the companys strategy, so it is essential that we make steady progress here in order to maintain our presence.



The launch of our new entity in the Kingdom is the latest example of our progress in the kingdom, but also an important step in supporting the Saudi governments Saudisation efforts for the private sector, Aboukhashaba said.



The companys latest venture in the region reinforces our commitment towards its loyal consumer base. The move also reaffirms our pledge to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) to support the organisations vision of greater nutritional options for the kingdoms consumers. This vision reflects a wider trend across the Middle Easts food industry for healthier products, driven by increasing consumer awareness around health and wellness, Aboukhashaba added.



FrieslandCampinas recent expansion falls in line with Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 plan, which strives to increase non-oil industry trading. The Netherlands-born companys new local office also reiterates its culture of co-operation, commitment and pragmatism towards serving customers, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceMoreau, N.Y., and Queensbury, N.Y. town supervisors took steps to publicly support Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based Saratoga Hospital, The Post Star reports.

What you should know:

1. Saratoga Hospital is seeking state approval for an ASC in Malta, N.Y. The hospital is building the ASC as a joint venture with Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center and local orthopedic surgeons.

2. Moreau's Town Board wrote and signed a letter supporting the proposal.

3. The Queensbury Town Board took steps toward selling a town-owned parking lot to Saratoga Hospital for a planned urgent care and medical office building.

4. Saratoga Hospital hasn't revealed the full scope of the second development yet.Israeli cybersecurity experts created malware that can alter CT scans to indicate a healthy patient has cancer and a sick patient is healthy, according to The Washington Post.

Researcher at the University Cyber Security Research Center said they created the malware to highlight the vulnerabilities in critical medical imaging equipment and the networks that transmit those images to cyberattacks.

One of the researchers, Yisroel Mirsky, told the Post that hospitals are vulnerable to the attacks because they tend to be more concerned about protecting data shared between hospitals and with other doctors, ignoring "what happens within the hospital system itself."

To prevent malware from altering CT and MRI scans, hospitals need to install end-to-end encryption across its picture archiving and communication system network. Hospitals also must digitally sign all images, according to the Post.

Studies have proven malware-attacked CT scans are an immediate threat. In one blind study that involved real CT lung scans, 70 of them were altered by malware. Three skilled radiologists were tricked into misdiagnoses nearly every time, the Post reported.

After radiologists were told scans were fabricated by malware and given a second set of scans, they were still tricked 60 percent of the time. In scans that removed cancerous nodules, radiologists failed to diagnose actual sick patients 87 percent of the time.

Although these studies focused on lung cancer scans, the malware can attack CT scans for brain tumors, heart disease, blood clots, spinal injuries, bone fractures, ligament injuries and arthritis.The Federation of American Hospitals, American Hospital Association and American Medical Association are coming out against bundled billing as a solution to protect patients from unexpected out-of-pocket costs.

The groups penned a letter to several congressional committees April 2, saying it supports a federal surprise-billing solution that limits patients' cost-sharing obligations to the in-network amount and bans balance billing when there is a process for insurers and providers to agree on a fair payment rate.

But they do not support hospital bundled billing.

The groups argue that bundled payments "are not appropriate for emergency care and have not been sufficiently tested for widespread adoption for other types of care."

"This concept may seem simple and straightforward in theory; in reality, however, this approach would be administratively complex, fundamentally change the relationship between hospitals and their physician partners, and alone, does nothing to protect patients from surprise bills. We strongly oppose such a model," the groups wrote.

The letter was sent to leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Ways and Means Committee and Education and Labor Committee, as well as the Senate Finance and HELP committees.

Read the full letter here.

More articles on healthcare finance:

Americans borrowed $88B last year to pay for healthcare, survey finds

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For-profit hospital stock report: Week of March 25-29Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk, Va., announced two executive retirements and one resignation, according to a Suffolk News-Herald report.

Eight takeaways:

1. Sentara Obici Hospital President Steve Julian, MD, is retiring in early May after six years in the role.

2. Dr. Julian, a cardiothoracic surgeon, was previously the hospital's vice president of medical affairs.

3. During his tenure, Dr. Julian oversaw consolidation of community-based services on the hospital's campus as well as expansion of Suffolk-based Sentara BelleHarbour and Carrollton, Va.-based Sentara St. Luke's outpatient campuses.

4. Additionally, the hospital's Vice President of Medical Affairs Lora Herman, MD is resigning and Nurse Executive Phyllis Stoneburner is retiring in April.

5. Dr. Herman, a pathologist, played a key role in establishing the Sentara Peer Review Chairs Forum. The report did not note her career plans.

6. Ms. Stoneburner has worked at Sentara Obici for 16 years.

7. Ms. Stoneburner helped launch the hospital's Patient-Family Advisory Council and the Sentara Senior Health Services Transition of Care Clinic.

8. Amy Black, COO of Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, will serve as interim president for Sentara Obici, while Donna Wilmoth, nurse executive at Sentara Williamsburg (Va.) Regional Medical Center, will become interim nurse executive at Sentara Obici. Jessica Lowder, vice president of operations at Sentara Obici, will also take on more responsibilities.Kaiser Permanente paid Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh about $114,000 for about 20,000 copies of her self-published children's books while the healthcare organization was seeking a lucrative contract from a spending board controlled by the mayor, The Baltimore Sun reported this week.

Kaiser, a healthcare provider and insurer based in Oakland, Calif., is the second healthcare organization to be embroiled in the controversial book sales.

Seven notes:

1. The Baltimore mayor is facing criticism over the profit she made from selling a children's book series to businesses linked to city government.

2. In March, news broke that the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore was a major buyer of Ms. Pugh's "Healthy Holly" children's books. The medical system paid Ms. Pugh $500,000 for 100,000 books.

3. Ms. Pugh sat on the board at the medical system. She resigned shortly after the payments were made public. She faces scrutiny for failing to disclose the deal with the medical system.

4. On April 1, The Baltimore Sun reported that Kaiser also had paid the mayor for her children's books.

5. In September 2017, the city's spending board awarded Kaiser Foundation Health Plan a $48 million contract to provide health insurance to city employees from 2018 to 2020. Ms. Pugh is chair of the Baltimore spending board. She did not sit out the vote despite the potential conflict of interest, according to the report.

6. Kaiser told The Baltimore Sun that payments for the books were not connected to the health insurance contract. Kaiser said its business with the city started in 1986, when it was selected as one of Baltimore's health plan providers.

"Our purchase of the 'Healthy Holly' books nearly 30 years after being selected as one of the health plan providers for the city employees has no connection with our commitment to continue offering our care to Baltimore city government employees," Kaiser told The Baltimore Sun. "We purchased 'Healthy Holly' books because we believe residents would be inspired by a book about health and wellness authored by a member of the Baltimore community."

7. On Monday, Ms. Pugh announced an "indefinite" leave of absence as mayor.

Read the full report here.

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3 board members resign from U of Maryland Medical System, 4 others on leave of absence: 5 things to know

Wisconsin hospital lays off CEO amid affiliation

50 Northwestern Memorial Hospital employees fired for accessing Jussie Smollett's recordsGalesburg (Ill.) Cottage Hospital will suspend inpatient labor, delivery and urology services starting May 2, according to WQAD, a Tribune Broadcasting affiliate.

With fewer than 860 annual deliveries in Galesburg, the hospital says the community cannot sustain two competing obstetrics programs. Hospital officials also say demand for urology services declined by 35 percent in the last three years.

"The decision was impacted by declining market demand for these services and the significant negative impact of the Medicaid supplemental payment program," said Eileen Innes, director of public relations for Galesburg Cottage Hospital.

While it will no longer offering labor and delivery services, the hospital and Cottage Women's Health Clinic will continue to offer inpatient and outpatient gynecological services.Here are five articles recently published by Becker's Hospital Review on national and state news concerning Medicaid:

1. Missouri hospitals to Medicaid officials: Address rising child suicide risk since managed care switch

The percentage of children in Missouri who reported thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide doubled after private insurers began managing the state's Medicaid program.

2. CMS bypasses Medicaid ruling, approves Utah's work requirements

CMS gave Utah the OK to implement work requirements less than two days after a federal judge struck down the policy in Arkansas and Kentucky.

3. UnitedHealthcare denies quality payments spurred Iowa Medicaid split

A UnitedHealthcare executive disagreed with statements from Iowa officials that the health insurer is departing the program because it didn't want to comply with pay-for-performance measures.

4. Judge strikes down Medicaid work requirements: 5 things to know

A judge struck down policies backed by the Trump administration that required Medicaid beneficiaries to work in Kentucky and Arkansas to maintain benefits.

5. Medicaid work requirements aren't increasing number of job seekers, analysis finds

New state data suggests Medicaid beneficiaries who face work requirements haven't found jobs and likely don't have health insurance.Batelco Groups Jordanian subsidiary Umniah, and the Jordan Electric Power Company (Jepco), have partnered to set up a new company to create the infrastructure for a large-scale fiber optic network servicing the areas operated by Jepco.



This will deliver wholesale high-bandwidth internet services to telecom companies and service providers, eventually reaching more than 1.4 million homes and businesses.



The agreement was signed by Umniahs CEO Ziad Shatara and Jepco chairman Isam Bdeir. Under this partnership, a new company co-owned by Jepco and Umniah will be established and  once all necessary permits and certifications are acquired  will roll out a new fiber optic network covering all areas in which Jepco operates. This in turn will serve subscribers of both companies in addition to offering wholesale services to other service providers.



The new fiber optic network will help countless communities gain access to reliable broadband internet and to experience the full potential of the modern digital age.



Ihab Hinnawi, the CEO of Batelco Group commended the efforts of Umniah to revolutionize the Jordanian telecommunications landscape, and to support the efforts of the government to create a digital economy.



He further underscored Batelco Groups confidence in Jordans economic and investment potential, noting that this agreement will help broaden the scope of investments made by Batelco in the Kingdom.



Hinnawi added: This strategic partnership demonstrates the effect of Batelcos innovation, efforts, unique offerings as well as its highly effective organizational culture, which are all inspired by a firm conviction that our commitment to the communities in which we operate makes our strategy more sustainable while entrenching our uniqueness and decreasing the cost on our clients.



The strategic partnership has enjoyed strong support from Umniahs shareholders due to its high impact in strengthening the telecoms local and regional positioning and providing customers with the best services while simultaneously supporting the countrys developmental efforts and satisfying the Jordanian governments requirements.



Isam Bdeir highlighted the importance of this partnership with Umniah, which he noted will yield considerable returns to its investors, partners and the overall economy by implementing a forward-thinking business model that integrates the energy and telecommunications sectors.



He added that the new company and the planned fiber optic network will revolutionize the delivery, billing and communications operations for Jepco, thus helping to bring Jordans electrical grid into the twenty-first century.



Umniahs CEO Ziad Shatara expressed his gratitude to Jepco for choosing Umniah as a partner in this large-scale project. This partnership is yet another milestone in Umniahs ever-growing legacy, one of which we are all proud. Our primary objective is to accelerate internet and digital penetration nationwide and to redefine the way Jordanians perceive and interact with technology, he said.



More importantly, this partnership will help propel the local economy by creating an environment that is conducive to business development and growth. This will help create additional job opportunities, all the while providing existing businesses with the tools and infrastructure needed to expand their operations, he added.



In 2018, Umniah and Jepco had completed one of the largest infrastructural projects in the Kingdom by establishing an over-ground fiber optic network running in parallel to the electrical grids operated by Jepco.



This network aided in connecting and automating a number of power substations and in the installation of smart counters throughout various areas in Amman. Moreover, the network has also allowed Jepco to remotely manage electrical grids in various areas. The partnership is also facilitating the delivery of cutting-edge internet services to various areas, with more areas set to receive coverage in 2019.  TradeArabia News ServiceMartin Shkreli was placed in solitary confinement after a report surfaced that the infamous "pharma bro" was using a contraband cellphone to run his pharmaceutical company from prison, according to Forbes.

Mr. Shkreli gained notoriety for inflating the price of a lifesaving anti-infection drug more than fiftyfold. He is serving a seven-year prison sentence for defrauding investors.

The Wall Street Journal reported in March that even from behind bars, Mr. Shkreli continued to call the shots at Phoenixus AG, the rebranded name of his pharmaceutical company.

While incarcerated, Mr. Shkreli reportedly called his handpicked chief executive to fire him, phoned in advice to company officials and tried to buy shares from shareholders.

One source close to Mr. Shkreli's legal team said he was taken to the special housing unit about a week and a half after the article was published. A second source, fellow inmate Justin Liverman, said Mr. Shkreli was moved to solitary confinement.

The Bureau of Prisons told Forbes it would not release information about "an individual inmate's conditions of confinement," but it confirmed that allegations against Mr. Shkreli were being investigated.

Read the full report here.A federal judge in New York has ruled that Novartis must face trial in a case accusing the drugmaker of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to physicians to boost prescription rates, according to Reuters.

The 8-year-old case began in 2011 as a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Novartis sales representative. In 2013, the U.S. government and New York intervened in the case and accused the drugmaker of violating kickback laws.

The lawsuit accuses Novartis of paying physicians speaking fees for "sham" educational events and treating them to lavish meals. In one case, a physician was treated to a $9,750 dinner at a Japanese restaurant, the lawsuit claims.

As a result of the kickbacks, physicians prescribed Novartis' drugs more often, leading to false claims being submitted to Medicare and Medicaid, according to Reuters.

In the April 1 ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe said that the government had offered evidence of a "companywide kickback scheme."

The judge dismissed a bid by Novartis to keep key government evidence from being used in the case.

"We are disappointed in today's decision and look forward to presenting our case at trial," Eric Althoff, a spokesperson for the Swiss drugmaker, told Reuters. "We continue to believe that the government has insufficient evidence to support its claims."

Unless Novartis settles, a trial is scheduled for May 20.The American Medical Association is calling on Americans to get vaccinated against measles amid a major spike in cases this year.

The medical group is also urging physicians to talk to their patients about the health risks associated with not getting vaccinated. Physicians should "make a strong recommendation for vaccinations, unless medically inadvisable," the AMA said in a press release.

The AMA's call comes two days after the CDC reported more measles cases in the first three months of 2019 than all of last year.

"As evident from the measles outbreaks currently impacting communities in several states, when individuals are not immunized as a matter of personal preference or misinformation, they put themselves and others at risk of disease," the AMA said.

More articles on clinical leadership & infection control:

Safety issues spur Pennsylvania hospital to create new exec position

Unvaccinated child exposes terminally ill boy to measles at UC Davis Medical Center

Hospitals, nursing homes team up to tackle antibiotic-resistant infectionsHospitals and nursing homes in Illinois and California are bathing patients in the antibacterial soap chlorhexidine as part of two CDC-funded studies to decrease antibiotic-resistant infections, reports NPR.

Three things to know:

1. The research is based on the principle that infections can spread quickly through healthcare networks.

"No healthcare facility is an island. We all are in this complicated network," John Jernigan, MD, director of the CDC's office on healthcare-associated infections, told NPR.

2. The Illinois research project focuses on 14 nursing homes and long-term acute care hospitals in Chicago. Researchers are working with staff members to screen new patients for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and bathe them with chlorhexidine daily.The initiative also features a hand hygiene campaign and efforts to improve interhospital communications about patients with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The study ends in September, so results are still pending.

3. In California, 36 hospitals and nursing homes in Orange County are using chlorhexidine daily on patients, along with an iodine-based nose swab. The goal is to prevent patients from getting antibiotic-resistant bacteria and stop those with the bacteria from developing infections. The project ends in May, and initial results look promising, according to NPR. After 18 months, researchers found a 25 percent drop in drug-resistant organisms among nursing home residents.

To view the full article, click here.

More articles on clinical leadership & infection control:

9 tips for young nurses seeking leadership positions

Safety issues spur Pennsylvania hospital to create new exec position

Unvaccinated child exposes terminally ill boy to measles at UC Davis Medical CenterA former nurse at Independence (Iowa) Mental Health Institute claims she was fired for taking too long to recover from a workplace injury, reports KGAN CBS 2.

Tina Suckow, a licensed practical nurse, says she suffered injuries to her head, knee and shoulder when trying to calm an aggravated patient at the state-run facility in October 2018.

Ms. Suckow spent five months visiting physicians and undergoing tests. After learning she'd need surgery on both her knee and shoulder, Ms. Suckow said she asked her supervisors for additional time off in early March.

"I tried to get the doctors to do both surgeries at the same time. Because in my mind if I hurry up and heal, I can go back to work," Ms. Suckow told KGAN CBS 2.

Instead of receiving more time off, Ms. Suckow was fired March 15. She worked at the Independence Mental Health Institute for about four years.

Employers can legally terminate employees after they use up all of their vacation days and designated time off through the Family and Medical Leave Act, according to Sara Riley, a lawyer with the Tom Riley Law Firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to the Iowa Department of Human Services, which operates Independence Mental Health Institute, for comment and will update the article as more information becomes available.Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital created a new executive position to oversee clinical operations after a patient left the hospital wearing staff scrubs and was found wandering across town last fall, according to LancasterOnline.

The patient, who has cognitive impairments, left the hospital the night of Oct. 12, 2018, without staff members' knowledge. The individual was found about a mile away at UPMC Pinnacle Lancaster and safely returned to the hospital, Lancaster General spokesperson John Lines told LancasterOnline.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health cited the hospital over the safety event Feb. 15, which marked Lancaster General's third citation in one year. The hospital was first cited in February 2018 for failing to administer hundreds of respiratory treatments to patients due to staff and medication shortages. It received a second citation in November 2018 for failing to adequately investigate and report abuse allegations. The health department accepted the hospital's plan of correction in both circumstances.

As part of its correction plan for the third citation, Lancaster General created the position of chief operating and integration officer to oversee all clinical operations at the hospital, reports PennLive. Lancaster General is currently conducting a national search to fill this position. The hospital has also implemented other policies and precautions under the health department's guidance to prevent other patients from wandering off.

"We deeply regret that our patient care fell short of the standards for excellence our staff fulfill each day," Jan Bergen, president and CEO of Lancaster General Health, said in an April 1 statement to LancasterOnline. "We fully accept the Department of Health's findings and, with its guidance, developed a corrective action plan that includes educational and procedural policies into our daily operations."

More articles on clinical leadership & infection control:

26 states still report high flu activity: 6 things to know

NIH researchers call for more research into rare, polio-like illness

9 tips for young nurses seeking leadership positionsA study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology shows that increasing the amount of time spent on terminal cleaning of patient rooms may not have a significant effect on disinfecting high-touch surfaces.

Researchers conducted the study at an acute care Veterans Affairs hospital in Temple, Texas. They included single-occupancy rooms previously occupied for at least 48 hours before discharge. They collected pre-and post-cleaning samples from five high-touch surfaces, including the bedrail and call button, and they sampled all the rooms for aerobic bacterial colony counts.

Researchers placed cleaning time data into three categories:

 Limited arm, wherein terminal cleaning was restricted to 25 minutes

 Unrestricted-moderate arm, wherein cleaning took less than 45 minutes

 Unrestricted-high arm, wherein cleaning took 45 minutes or more

Researchers studied 225 samples from the limited arm category; 55 samples from the unrestricted-moderate arm; and 170 from the unrestricted-high arm. They found that terminal cleaning beyond 25 minutes did not affect disinfection on high-touch surfaces as measured by aerobic bacterial colony counts.An Ohio lawmaker has introduced legislation that would prohibit mandatory overtime for nurses, according to a Dayton Daily News report.

The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Don Manning, would ban a hospital from requiring a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse to work overtime as a condition of continued employment.

The Ohio Nurses Association supports the measure, arguing that mandatory overtime can result in nurse fatigue and burnout.

"Nurses are professionals who are ethically bound to assess their ability to care for their patients. If a nurse is too fatigued to provide the safe care his/her patient deserves, the nurse should have the right to refuse overtime without fear of discipline or even being fired," Brian Burger, president of the union, said in a news release.

"Prioritizing safe nurse staffing benefits everyone: nurses, patients and healthcare facilities. Research points to dissatisfied patients, increased errors and higher patient readmissions when nurses are not safely staffed.

"Furthermore, nurse burnout increases with regular extended shifts, leading to costly nurse turnover for healthcare facilities," Mr. Burger added.

The Ohio Hospital Association is evaluating the proposed bill and advocated for staffing flexibility.

"Hospitals need flexibility to respond to the dynamic state of patient needs and must focus on a variety of factors when determining staffing levels, while keeping patient safety at the core of those decisions," said association spokesperson John Palmer.

More articles on workforce:

Illinois lawmakers introduce bill requiring mandatory nurse staffing ratios in hospitals

HCA supports Nashville's workforce program

Physicians generally happy at work but still face stresses, study showsArthrex expanded its partnership with Clemson (S.C.) University to provide 10 students scholarships.

What you should know:

1. Arthrex developed the pilot program with the device industry in mind. The company will provide scholarships to students in Clemson's bioengineering, marketing and health sciences departments.

2. Arthrex is providing the university with case studies to incorporate into their lessons. Business professor Yan Mullins said the case studies will help his students understand how a device goes, "from marketable idea to surgeon or physician adoption."

3. The students who receive the scholarship will complete an internship with Arthrex in the summer.

4. Clemson President James Clements said, "This partnership is another example of Clemson's ongoing commitment to the state of South Carolina, and I am grateful to Arthrex for its generous gift, which will enable our students to work with a world-class company to develop skills that are vital to the surgical device industry."Dubais Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) reported record growth in overnight visitors from Japan, crossing the 100,000-mark for the first time at the end of 2018.



Reflecting a 15.3 per cent year-on-year increase, the emirate welcomed 104,843 overnight visitors, with the robust growth underscoring efforts to further showcase the breadth of the citys ever-expanding tourism proposition, cementing Dubais ongoing commitment to the Japanese market.



Adopting a custom market specific approach, Dubai Tourism continued to expand its reach across Japan, targeting segmented demographics through strategic activations, always-on marketing campaigns and ongoing trade and business partnerships with key industry players.



In order to drive awareness and consideration around Dubai as a holiday destination among Japans target market, the department identified women and senior citizens as key drivers in the travel and tourism space. Furthermore, building on the citys commitment to ensure ease of accessibility, Japanese visitors benefit from daily flights from Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda and Kansai International Airport in Osaka.



Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubais Corporation of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) said: 2018 saw sustained growth from the Japanese market as we welcomed more than 100,000 overnight visitors a year for the very first time. This milestone is testament to the market specific approach weve taken and the appeal of Dubais variety of attractions and experiences. With the market enthusiastic to learn more about the city, we will continue to work to enhance our holistic marketing efforts and strengthen our ongoing strategic partnerships with key industry leaders across multiple touch points, elevating the citys position as the destination of choice for Japanese travellers.



Dubai continues to be a key trending destination amongst young Japanese females, with the emirate witnessing an increase of 21 per cent to 7.4 million mentions on social media from 2016 to 2018. Building on this growing interest, Dubai Tourism led a campaign to showcase the city as a safe and exciting destination specifically targeting young female travellers. The campaign leveraged user videos and image posts, as well as inviting users to participate in ongoing competitions throughout the year to showcase Dubais attractions to a broader audience. This campaign achieved 91.6 million impressions across a three month period, driving deeper engagement and encouraging wider conversations around Dubai.



Working to deliver an enhanced travel experience for Japanese visitors to the emirate, Dubai Tourism has partnered with H.I.S. CO., LTD, a market leading travel agency in Japan to provide easy access to Dubais travel products and information though sales and retail promotions across major Japanese cities. Furthermore, the department conducted a number of highly targeted marketing activations to highlight the citys varied offerings to diverse audiences across Japan, including key broadcast projects that explored the citys innovation in culture, sustainability and technology, as well as ongoing familiarisation trips and media events to highlight the citys distinctive elements.



Working in conjunction with the departments comprehensive digital presence across multiple platforms in Japan, the city will continue to engage its target demographic with tailored experiences as well as showcasing the destination as a dynamic place to visit for a range of audiences. This includes leveraging locally relevant content creators from Japan to provide an avenue for authentic storytelling, presenting unique perspectives of Dubai and bringing the city to life through a highly personalised and engaging narrative. - TradeArabia News ServiceMoy Park has blamed "challenging market conditions" for a decision to temporarily halt some production at one of its Northern Ireland factories, with a trade union voicing concerns the decision could lead to mass job losses.

The company said it will cease processing of live birds at the Ballymena plant which will have a knock-on effect on its nearby hatchery. Other production processes will continue at the plant.

Around 1,700 people are employed at the site, however it understood no job losses are being considered with staff moved to other sites, or to other roles until production fully resumes.

Trade union Unite, however, has said they are concerned the decision could result in the loss of up to 400 jobs.

A Moy Park spokesman said: "Moy Park is proposing to temporarily cease processing live birds at Ballymena due to challenging market conditions, with the view that we will re-open the line in January 2020.

"In line with this it is proposed the North Antrim Hatchery will temporarily cease hatching until November 2019. We will continue to cut, further process and pack at Ballymena, including retail production of our BBQ products.

We are currently working with our colleagues and their representatives doing our utmost to minimise the impact of this proposal on our excellent workforce, including offering temporary transfers to other shifts and roles.

We will also be working closely with our farming partners throughout the process to manage this temporary reduction in poultry requirement.

Sean McKeever, regional officer for the trade union Unite, said they are "highly concerned" that the closure may result in job losses.

"Our members on the shop floor are reporting that they have been told that this will result in up to four hundred job losses although the company are telling the media that there will be no job losses and that redundancies can be avoided through redeployment elsewhere," he said.

"While Unite does not hold recognition rights for this workforce, Unite is the only trade union on the ground in north Antrim and we do not accept the need or case for any job losses in Ballymena or anywhere else in Northern Ireland."

Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan said he has request a meeting with the senior management at Moy Park to discuss the "very worrying situation".

I obviously welcome that the company has said there will be no job losses but there are still very real concerns as to how this halt will impact on the local workforce and economy," he said.

Given the loss of the Michelin and JTI plants in Ballymena, this announcement is another major worry for workers and the wider community.

Moy Park is one of Northern Ireland's biggest employers and is a huge buyer of poultry on both sides of the border.

Based in Craigavon, Co Armagh, it employs 6,300 people across Northern Ireland and 12,000 more at operations in the Republic and elsewhere in Europe.

Founded in 1943 it was bought by JBS from Marfig for 1.2bn in 2015 before being sold on to the Pilgrim's Pride Corporation in September 2017, a subsidiary of JBS. That purchase is currently subject of legal proceedings in the US by shareholders to determine if the purchase was fair.

Last year it was reported the company had a record turnover of 1.5bn with pre-tax profits of 64milion.Wrightbus chairman and chief executive Mark Nodder is stepping down from the business after a total of 21 years.

The Ballymena bus maker has not yet announced a replacement for Mr Nodder (63), who is retiring after leading the company since 2006. He joined in 1998.

The business has made high-profile deals during Mr Nodder's tenure, most famously a contract to supply up to 1,000 Routemaster double-decker buses to Transport for London.

Company co-founder Sir William Wright praised Mr Nodder for his "long and dedicated service". "The regard in which he is held in the bus industry speaks for itself and his wider services to the Northern Irish economy were rightly recognised in 2015 when he received an OBE," he said.

It's understood Sir William's son Jeff Wright will help lead the company in the absence of Mr Nodder and until a successor is officially appointed.

The company said a new chief executive would be announced "in the very near future".

Stephen Kelly, the chief executive of Manufacturing NI, said news of Mr Nodder's retirement was "very sad".

"He is one of life's gentlemen. Mark has proven himself to be an extraordinary leader, not just in the Northern Ireland business community but globally in terms of his impact on Wrightbus," he said.

"He's taken it from a successful and important business into a really global leader in bus technology that passengers have been able to enjoy in cities right across the globe."

Mr Nodder was first appointed to Wrights Group in 1998 to the role of head of aftersales service to customers.

The appointment was made following a search by recruitment company Clarendon Executive.

Its managing partner Ciaran Sheehan said: "It is fair to say that Mark is widely recognised as having been a great champion for Wrights Group and also been a great ambassador for Northern Ireland businesses on an international stage.

"While he will be a hard act to follow, should Wrights Group seek to make an external appointment, I have no doubt this role and the opportunity to lead Wrights Group through the next phase of its development will have considerable appeal to candidates both within Northern Ireland and across the world who may be seeking to return."

Mr Nodder, who was born in Blackpool, was named Businessperson of the Year at the 2014 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards.

He trained as a lawyer before embarking on a career in industry which has also taken him to planemaker Bombardier and Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence.Multi-generational businesses across Northern Ireland have been urged to enter the Energia Family Business Awards.

The awards, which will culminate in a ceremony in Dublin's Mansion House on May 24, are open to businesses across the island.

According to a recent study from business advisory firm Deloitte, family businesses in Ireland tend to be more agile than their peers, and are also more likely to innovate.

And further research by PwC found that 70% of family businesses on the island had grown during 2018, highlighting the importance of family firms to the economy.

Key local family-run companies include retail and wholesale firm Henderson Group, shipfitting company MJM Marine and hospitality giant Beannchor.

Judges of the awards include Glyn Roberts, chief executive of Retail NI; JJ O'Connell, national director and co-chair of Family Business Ireland, and Mark Christal of Enterprise Ireland.

Katherine O'Riordan, event director for the Family Business Awards, said: "We encourage generational businesses from all across Northern Ireland to enter this year's prestigious awards.

"We would like to acknowledge and highlight the amount of family businesses that continue to operate in Ireland, in trying times.

"This is the first year the awards have been held and I would encourage businesses old and new to show us all they have achieved."

Categories include Energia Sustainable Family Business of the Year, sponsored by Energia; Food and Drink Producer of the Year, sponsored by Baker Tilly; International Family Business of the Year, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland; Manufacturing/Engineering Family Business of the Year, sponsored by Intertrade Ireland; Tech Family Business of the Year; Family Business Longevity Award, sponsored by Matheson; Hospitality Family Business of the Year, sponsored by Elavon; and Family Business CSR Award.

The Awards feature Irish businesses with two or more family members, from brother to married partners to multi-generational family businesses.

To enter the awards visit http://familybusinessawards.ie/.

The deadline for entries is this Sunday.The chairman of Paddy Power Betfair has said he's offering odds-on for a long extension to Article 50.

Speaking in front of an audience of business figures in Belfast yesterday, Gary McGann said the betting franchise had nothing to gain from a no-deal Brexit.

"There's no money to be made in Paddy Power Betfair or any other companies in a hard Brexit," he said.

However, the Irish accountant, who also chairs Swiss food giant Aryzta, was sharp in his criticism of the EU, describing some of the comments emanating from Brussels as "beyond belief".

"They should be dealing with the big issues, and they haven't dealt with the big issues," he claimed.

He criticised Brussels' approach to migration, stating: "We have the most porous borders probably of any state or set of states in the world."

Mr McGann predicted that there would be no winners from Brexit.

"I think the south will lose, clearly Northern Ireland will lose, Britain will lose, but Europe will lose a huge value from Britain exiting the European Union," he said.

The comments came during a lengthy discussion with broadcaster Wendy Austin in front of an event organised by Women in Business at the headquarters of Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

As well as chairing the boards of Paddy Power Betfair and Arytza, Mr McGann previously held the position of chief executive of Smurfit Kappa and Aer Lingus.

He was a non-executive director of Anglo Irish Bank from 2004 until its nationalisation in 2009 in the wake of the banking crisis.

In a discussion that explored the issue of gender balance and diversity in the workplace, Mr McGann described the "unbelievable" attitudes that still exist at senior levels in some companies.

He recounted a recent interview process he was directly involved in for a company chief financial officer. He revealed how another director remarked that Mr McGann's preferred candidate, a woman, was of child-bearing age.

Asked about whether companies should introduce gender quotas, the 68-year-old said he preferred to describe them as targets.

"I'm actually in favour of targets," he said. "Without targets we won't get there.

"In three of the five companies I'm involved with now we have annual targets for diversity built into the business rounds. It's for a significant amount of money, not just a token."Tech companies have "only shifted superficially" in their approach to privacy since the start of the fake news inquiry, a committee chairman has said.

The "ongoing" threats to democracy will be combated by a government sub-committee on disinformation which will be headed up by Conservative MP Damian Collins.

Mr Collins said the lack of action was "unacceptable" and vowed that the body, set up by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS), would continue to apply pressure.

It will also build on knowledge gained from the inquiry, which began in September 2017 and culminated in a final report released in February.

As the announcement was being made in London, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was in Dublin to assure politicians he will work with governments to establish new policies in a bid to regulate social media.

The Facebook boss met with Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless and Eamon Ryan - three members of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News - at a hotel to discuss plans on how to regulate the internet.

The firm's founder told the Irish politicians that issues around child protection and age verification are of "huge concern" to him.

He also visited Facebook's offices in Dublin, the tech giant's European headquarters, as part of his visit to the Republic.

Mr Zuckerberg refused to answer questions from the media about online child safety as he left the Merrion Hotel.

Ms Naughton later described the meeting as being "positive and constructive".Rob and Rachel Coffey, his co-star in his new play The Painted Lady

An emerging Belfast playwright has drawn on his own experience of alcoholism to bring his first major piece of work to the stage in Belfast.

In what is set to be a powerful production, Rob Hollway draws parallels with his own life in The Painted Lady, opening at Accidental Theatre this week.

Rob (45) will also be making his acting debut in the play alongside veteran actress Debra Hill. He is thrilled that Rachel Coffey, founder of Chaos Theory Theatre Company, is directing it.

A picturesque butterfly observation site in the Irish countryside sets the scene.

Drawing from his own experiences, Rob portrays a journey with alcoholism through protagonist Dan, a fortysomething recluse in recovery who hides away from the world studying butterfly migration.

That is until party girl Kimberley (played by Hill) ends up in his field hungover after a night out.

Kimberley is struggling to come to terms with being in an abusive relationship.

When the two characters begin to share their stories their chance meeting becomes less of a coincidence, giving power to the old saying "everything happens for a reason".

For Rob too, fate intervened to provide him with a support network of new friends who have been crucial to his recovery. He says: "Even though Dan is a fictional character I certainly used the clay of my own life to create him.

"When I hit my own rock bottom a number of strangers crossed my path at the right time to lead or guide me towards sobriety.

"I see this play as one of those signpost moments where two people meet and they have a chance to take the right paths to change their lives."

The 45-year-old father-of-two, who works in finance for a power supply company, has been writing since he was 18 but it was only when he became sober nine years ago that he focused on bringing his work to stage.

He got a taste for how his writing could come alive on stage when he had a short play performed in the Lyric Theatre as part of the Fast And Loose Festival a couple of years ago. After that he was determined to get a full length theatre script into production and is thrilled that one of three nights of The Painted Lady is already sold out.

Rob adds: "It is very exciting and I can't wait. I have such a passion for this. My ambition for it is that it will be put on in a bigger theatre after next month and I have already done the first draft of the sequel, so it's not going to be the end."

Rob speaks candidly about his alcoholism and is convinced that his recovery saved his life.

He says: "If I hadn't got sober I would be dead now. I don't think I had one more drink in me."

He describes alcoholism as "the thinking disease" and found that after he took his first drink at the age of 15 that it very quickly took hold.

For many years he thought drink was making him feel better when in fact it was slowly destroying his life.

His inability to talk to anyone about his feelings is what he believes drove him to drink.

He says: "I was a worrier even before I took my first drink at 15. It to me was the answer, as it took away the worry and gave me comfort.

"I thought it was the solution to how I was feeling but it was the problem and I chased that feeling for the next 20 years.

"It was the 'thinking disease' as I never, ever told anybody how I was feeling. I would drink for oblivion. Towards the end I was drinking very heavily.

"Mentally, it was a very sad life I was leading.

"When I wasn't drinking I was sad and very down.

"It ended up taking me down the route of being in a psychiatric hospital.

"My head was like a pressure cooker because I wouldn't talk to anyone about how I was feeling.

"Alcohol was my only outlet. Inevitably my head was going to blow and I ended up in hospital."

Rob was 36 and he spent a week in hospital. Around that time a number of people came into his life who were recovering alcoholics.

For the first time he felt he could share his feelings and soon found that talking was his way to heal.

He says: "It taught me a very important lesson that when I have things on my mind or my mind starts racing that I have to share it with another person as soon as possible.

"Talking is amazing as a medicine for mental health. It is one of the main tools I have. I have this group of people who came onto my path from nowhere and who had travelled the same journey and who had found long-term sobriety. That was the turning point for me and it was the first time I had experienced unconditional love from people who wanted to help me with no gain on their part.

"I had hit my rock bottom and was sick of being sick and tired of being tired.

"One of these friends talked to me about how they were able to achieve long-term sobriety and I decided to grab that lifeline and I haven't had a drink since that night.

"I feel lucky to have good friends around me who keep me sober."

Recovery, however, wasn't easy and Rob decided the only way to get through it was to take it one day at a time and not to look too far ahead. He still maintains that approach.

It wasn't long before he was enjoying the benefits and he has rebuilt his life and his relationships, learning to live as he always wanted and following his passion for writing.

He says: "I started to get glimpses of peace of mind very early on and good things started to happen in my life. I was feeling better and life started to fall into place gradually.

"I became a better father, brother, son and friend. I was now adding to people's lives rather than taking away from them. I had put my family through a lot of heartache.

"I had married but that fell apart and it wasn't helped by my drinking, but my ex-wife and I are good friends.

"Life is not easy at times but I have so much peace of mind now. I've a full life without any thought of drink and two beautiful kids and I'm a big part of their lives.

"I'm not looking for out and out happiness, I just want contentment and to live a normal life and that's what I've got and I am very thankful for it."

The play means the world to Rob, especially as he has been writing for over 20 years.

He started with film scripts and then was encouraged to write plays.

It is only since he stopped drinking that he has decided to focus all his energies on getting his writing to the stage.

He explains: "I've always had a full-time job to pay the bills but writing is my passion and I always had the ambition to do it full time but I am realistic enough to know very few people get to do that.

"I had a public reading of The Painted Lady two years ago with an invited audience and I took their feedback on what they thought worked and didn't work.

"Eight months ago I decided to get it on stage and I would do it all myself." Rob approached Richard Lavery, artistic director of the Accidental Theatre Company, who immediately agreed to stage the play.

Positive feedback encouraged Rob and he created his own artwork for the posters.

He advertised for a director and after Rachel was appointed they held auditions.

He says: "I'm delighted to have Rachel on board.

"She sent me a heartfelt email and she really got my vision of what I was trying to portray.

"After Debra was cast we held auditions for the part of Dan.

"We saw a lot of actors and they were good but there was just something they weren't getting and although it was never on my radar to act the part, I knew the character inside out and I knew how he thinks and so I decided to give it a go and I think now it was just meant to be."

Rachel Coffey says of the play: "While on the surface it appears dark, there's a lot of comedy in there too, and it's a raw, gritty and crucial piece of Irish theatre."

Rob adds: "I am really excited. It has been a long time coming. I believe things happen at the right time and I am thrilled we are already sold out for one night."

The Painted Lady is showing at Accidental Theatre Belfast from April 4-6 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available online at www.accidentaltheatre.co.ukBoth conservationists and photographers, Jonathan and Angela Scott have spent their lives campaigning and raising awareness for the struggles facing Africa's big cat populations.

Since arriving in Kenya's Masai Mara in 1977, the remarkable couple have documented the lives of the Marsh Pride lions through television programmes, books and images.

Currently screening on Animal Planet, their latest series, Big Cat Tales, catches up with the Mara's famous predators, and looks at the challenges posed by changing climate, an increasing human population and the illegal exotic pet trade.

By all accounts, cheetahs, lions and leopards are under threat. These are a few of the reasons why...

Climate change

Jonathan Scott: "A change in climate is affecting the whole of Africa and the rest of the world. We've seen drier conditions and more unpredictable weather patterns. The landscape in the northern Mara, where Big Cat Tales was filmed, has become much more of an open landscape, which isn't good for the lions, leopards and cheetahs, because they need cover for their cubs - especially during their first few months.

"One of the most significant changes is the drop in the volume of the Mara River. There is now a worrying uptake of water for agriculture, from higher up the river, and there's talk about a dam being put in. The Mara is the major artery in the (Masai Mara) Reserve and hugely important in the dry season, when wildebeest and zebra come up. It used to regularly flood its banks, which would have been about 18ft high; now there are many times in the year you can drive across."

Uncontrolled tourism

Angela Scott: "Increased tourism combined with a lack of habitat means some cars are getting too close to predators. As a result, the animals are feeling threatened and often moving their cubs to less safe places."

Jonathan Scott: "A recent study by the Mara Predator Conservation Programme showed that in high-density tourism areas, cheetahs raised less cubs.

"We really believe the tourism industry needs to take control of the situation and better brief their visitors. Guides are under a lot of pressure from guests to deliver close-up pictures of big cats, but they need to brief their clients.

"If these animals have cubs, let's be quiet and not jump around in the vehicle. If they move with cubs, don't block them - and don't prevent cheetahs hunting in daytime by getting too close."

The exotic pet trade

Jonathan Scott: "There are probably no more than 7,000 cheetahs left in Africa. Sadly, many are taken and trafficked out of the Horn of Africa through to Yemen, and then to the Middle East, where they're sold for around US$10,000. An alarming 70% do not survive."

Angela Scott: "I believe one of the solutions is education - if you engage children really early to be more connected to wildlife, wild places and nature, then they will naturally take the right course."

Jonathan Scott: "We need to remind people that we owe it to nature to understand it. Forget history and geography, if people don't understand how the world works from a natural history point then they really don't understand where we come from."

Big Cat Tales is on Animal Planet on SundaysThe Pump House is currently owned by the Northern Ireland Science Park - but this could change

A First World War ship, a 12th century castle and a social housing project are among local buildings shortlisted for a prestigious architecture prize.

The Royal Society of Ulster Architects hand picked eight of the best new designs out of 23 hopefuls.

Success could mean the chance to win the Liam McCormick Prize - Northern Irelands building of the year.

The winner will then be considered for a UK-wide RIBA Nationa Award for architectural excellence, to be announced in June.

The contenders include Killyleagh castle which has been extensively repaired in line with conservation principles.

The restoration of HMS Caroline, Thompson Dock Pumphouse and Alexandra Dock is another contender with a historical theme.

Dating back to 1914, HMS Caroline was the last surviving ship of the Battle of Jutland and has been restored as a floating museum.

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Looking to contemporary transport, the Colin Town Centre Transport Hub is the west Belfast terminus for the new Glider service.

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Business life is respresented by City Quays 2, the new home to UTV is the second speculative commercial office building that forms part of a wider development of Belfast Harbour around Clarendon docks.

On Divis Street, the new facility for Raidio Failte serves the Gaelic speaking community across Ulster and beyond.

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In Co Down, country living is represented in modern Barn style house built for a semi-retired couple.

In south Belfast, a social housing project of 15 apartments has been turning heads on Fitzroy Avenue.

Closeby in the south of the city, an ambitious refurbishment of an existing house and extension to create a five-bedroom paradise.

Judges will visit the shortlisted properties throughout April, with this years RSUA Design Awards to be announced in the Ulster Museum on May 17.

Ciaran Fox, Director of RSUA, said: This years shortlist is brilliantly diverse with no two projects alike.

From a distinctive local transport hub to the restoration of a ship from the first world war, there is much to celebrate.The DUP has denied its influence in Parliament has diminished as Theresa May looks to the Labour Party to get support for her Brexit deal.

MP Jeffrey Donaldson said the party was "un-persuadable" and will stand firm on its Brexit red lines.

It comes as the prime minister is expected to meet Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday in a bid to broker agreement on finding a resolution to the impasse that has put a stranglehold on parliament.

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Mrs May said on Tuesday that she would seek an extension beyond next week to allow negotiations with the Labour leader aimed at ensuring the UK leaves the European Union "in a timely and orderly way".

However, she ruled out ditching the hated backstop saying "any plan would have to agree the current withdrawal agreement".

Good that PM @theresa_may is looking for a cross-party compromise. Better late than never. #brexit https://t.co/mreauKV3Wu  Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) April 2, 2019

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said Theresa May's decision to reach out to Labour would likely cause further division in Jeremy Corbyn's party.

He said the DUP could not support anything that separated Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

"It would be economically disastrous if we were to have a trade border in the Irish Sea."

He told the BBC: "Certainly when it comes to undermining the Union and Northern Ireland's place in the UK we are un-persuadable.

"We are a unionist party we will not support anything that separates us from the rest of Great Britain, from our most important market."

Sir Jeffrey said his party was not arguing for a no-deal Brexit but pushing for the prime minister to get a deal by addressing the issue of the backstop. He again reiterated his party's believe the Brady amendment was the way to get a deal approved by MPs. That amendment - which was passed in the Commons - dispensed with the backstop in favour of looking for "alternative arrangements".

He continued: "They are not just our concerns, they are concerns of many MPs across the House of Commons ... we need at the very least a time limit on that backstop.

Asked on the DUP's position as the government's minor partners in government and their influence, the Lagan Valley MP responded: "This is a movable feast. I wouldn't be predicting that anyone is being isolated. The DUP continues to be in a very influential position.

"Remember the government is now down to a working majority of four seats and that includes the 10 DUP seats.

"We will continue to look after the interests of Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole.. and that is why we are opposed to the backstop."

Mr Corbyn said he would be "very happy" to meet the Prime Minister in a bid to offer "certainty and security" to the British people, but Tory Brexiteers reacted with anger.

Jacob Rees-Mogg described the offer as "deeply unsatisfactory" and accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with "a known Marxist".

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said: "It is very disappointing that the Cabinet has decided to entrust the final handling of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party."

Conservative MP Henry Smith said Mrs May represents a "monumental failure of British leadership, a betrayal of the majority who voted to leave the EU and Conservative Party membership", and added that he could not "countenance her Corbyn/Brexit process".

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the European Union will hold the first of a series of briefings on Brexit preparedness, while European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will speak about the UK's withdrawal in Brussels.

European Parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt, who had said he thought a no-deal Brexit was "nearly inevitable", welcomed Mrs May's offer of talks with Mr Corbyn.

"Good that PM @theresa_may is looking for a cross-party compromise. Better late than never," he tweeted.

If the European Council proposes an extension beyond May 22, it is understood that it would be possible for the UK to take the steps necessary to prepare for European Parliament elections on May 23, but then cancel them at the last minute if the withdrawal deal was ratified.

Following the mammoth Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, one source said ministers were split 14-10 against asking for a long extension to the Brexit process.

But a second Cabinet source said ministers spoke 17-4 in favour of the limited extension sought by the Prime Minister, with just Gavin Williamson, Penny Mordaunt, Chris Grayling and Liz Truss opposed to the measure.A fire at a city centre apartment which forced 80 residents from their homes in the early hours of Wednesday morning was accidental, the fire service has said.

The apartment block in Great Victoria Street was evacuated after the fire began in the first floor at around 2am. Two people were taken to hospital.

Eight fire appliances and 55 firefighters attended the incident.

A Fire Service spokesman said: "All 80 occupants were safely evacuated following extensive smoke spread. NIFRS worked alongside Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Belfast City Council to relocate occupants to nearby community centre until the incident was dealt with".

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said the two people taken to hospital were suffering from smoke inhalation.

The rescue operation involved a search of six floors amid thick smoke.

In an update on Wednesday, the Fire Service said it was accidental, although did not elaborate further.An investigation has been launched after a flight out of Belfast International Airport was grounded when the aircraft was damaged on the taxiway.

Passengers were taken off the easyJet flight from Belfast to Malaga on Wednesday afternoon after one of the engines was hit by an airport vehicle, it is understood.

A easyJet spokeswoman said: "easyJet can confirm that flight EZY6755 from Belfast to Malaga has been delayed as a result of damage sustained from a pushback tug.

"All passengers disembarked normally. They have been provided with refreshment vouchers and support from our ground staff in Belfast Airport.

"A replacement crew will operate the flight to Malaga on a replacement aircraft shortly. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.

"The safety of our passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority and we have launched an urgent investigation with our ground handling provider at Belfast Airport.

A spokesperson for Belfast International Airport said the airport remains open as usual.

We can confirm we are dealing with a ground incident involving an aircraft, passengers disembarked as normal and have returned to the departure lounge," they said.

"The airport remains open and operational.

The incident was dealt with by 7.30pm and passengers continued on their journey to Malaga.Police are investigating the circumstances of a man's death after his remains were recovered from the sea off the Co Antrim coast

Police are investigating the circumstances of a man's death after his remains were recovered from the sea off the Co Antrim coast.

The body was found near the lighthouse at Blackhead Path in Whitehead yesterday afternoon.

The popular path was closed last August after engineers reported it was on the brink of collapse.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it was called at 12.08pm.

The Coastguard, Fire Service, PSNI and the Air Ambulance were also dispatched to the scene.

The Fire Service said specialist rescue team appliances were dispatched from Belfast, Whitehead, Carrickfergus and Larne.

Ulster Unionist councillor Mark McKinty said he was shocked by the death.

"I spoke to a few people at the promenade when it all kicked off and they were quite stunned to see the scale of the operation," he said.

"I would use that area a lot with my family and for walking my dog.

"I don't know exactly where it took place, but I know part of the area is closed off by the council for repairs, which would make it more dangerous than usual.

"I was actually speaking to a lady who did a fundraiser for the Air Ambulance last week.

"She was completely taken aback it was on her front doorstep so soon after."

He added: "I would pass on my condolences to the man's family circle.

"The wider community are also in shock today and awaiting further details on what actually happened."

Belfast Coastguard said Bangor and Larne lifeboats as well as Larne Coastguard and Prestwick rescue helicopters all attended.

In February Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said that a tendering process for repairs to Blackhead Path was under way with the successful company expected to be appointed this month.

It added: "We would urge the public to pay attention to the safety signs in place due to continued rock fall. Plans of the upcoming works will be given to local businesses and residents in the coming weeks to keep them all informed."

The path moved by almost a foot over the course of 2018.

But it was reported in December that people were ignoring warning signs and barriers to stay away from the path, potentially putting themselves in danger.The event was to take place at the Guildhall in Londonderry

A youth club event involving the police has been cancelled after a political party representing dissident republicans threatened to protest.

The Long Tower Youth Club in Londonderry was planning on holding a conference in the city's Guildhall for young people on Wednesday, however the political party Saoradh said it would hold a protest at the presence of the PSNI, reports the BBC.

Management at the youth club said it had attempted to "engage in a dialogue" with Saoradh, which was refused, and therefore had "no option" but to cancel the event.

PSNI Superintendent Alan Hutton said: "This event was a fantastic opportunity for young people to express their views on issues that matter to them to a range of partners and it is unfortunate that the whole day had to be cancelled.

"Our young people's voices need to be heard."

Saoradh, the Irish word for 'liberation', was formed in 2016.

The PSNI say the group is closely aligned to the self-styled New IRA terror gang that planted a car bomb at a Londonderry courthouse earlier this year.

Youth work is about providing the platform for young people to engage directly with those who they have issues with.... Posted by Long Tower YC on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Saoradh spokesman Paddy Gallagher said youth clubs "should be a neutral environment for children to flourish, develop and associate with their peers.

"Not to be used as a political mechanism to adopt a broader acceptance of so called policing and normalisation within the Six Counties."

In a post on social media, Long Tower Youth Club said the event was to allow young people to express their views on stop and search procedures, house raids and policing in the community.

They added: "This was never about going into a room and the police talking down to young people, it was about having the hard conversations and meaningful dialogue so that our members can take the journey of developing a community where they can develop a deeper understanding of each other and the roles they play within the community.

"The management of Long Tower have tried to engage in dialogue with the particular organisation who have a issue with this event as they have vowed to stage a protest, this request for engagement has been refused. Therefore we have no option but to cancel this event."

Foyle DUP MLA Gary Middleton said the news was "very worrying" and called on leadership from nationalists in Londonderry.

"We are continually told about micro-groups who have no support yet we now see an event scheduled for the main civic building of our city cancelled due to threats of protest," he said.

"Those who claim to speak on behalf of the overwhelming majority of nationalists and republicans in Londonderry need to step forward and demonstrate the leadership they are so ready to demand from others.

"The Chief Constable has previously talked about the need for nationalism to take another step in terms of policing. The cancellation of this event demonstrates the need for leadership is greater than ever."Families of the people who were killed during a disputed series of shootings in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast in August 1971 hold images of their loved ones (Liam McBurney/PA)

Father Hugh Mullan. Shot at Moyard Park. 9/8/1971 THE FUNERAL HEARSE CARRYING THE BODY OF FATHER HUGH MULLAN TRAVELS ALONG THE ROAD IN BALLYMURPHY ESTATE. 12/8/1971

A former soldier has been challenged over evidence he gave to an inquest into the 1971 shooting of 10 people in Belfast.

The man, who has been granted anonymity and is referred to as C4, told the inquest he saw Paratroopers shooting civilians on the evening of August 9 1971, when Father Hugh Mullan and Francis Quinn were killed.

C4 was then a 24-year-old serving member of the Royal Corps of Signals who was originally from England, and had married a woman from the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast.

He was in the area on leave during the shootings.

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C4 said an Army major asked him not to testify at the original inquest in 1972.

He also said an Army captain threatened his life, that he was called a traitor, and members of the Parachute Regiment raided his home and assaulted him.

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C4 said he was told courts martial had taken place over the matter.

He told the inquest on Wednesday that he spoke out about what happened at Ballymurphy because he regarded it as murder, and wanted to support the families of the victims to get justice.

A lawyer for the Ministry of Defence challenged C4 on his evidence, telling him it was a serious allegation to say a captain had threatened his life, and asked him for more details about the courts martial.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Riots : Belfast. January 1971. Soldiers frisking passengers and driver of a car on the Springfield Road, near Ballymurphy. (14/01/1971) Riots: Belfast. August 1970. Soldiers shelter behind their riot shields during rioting at Ballymurphy. (04/08/70) Riots : Belfast. August 1970. The common sight in the Roman Catholic estate at Ballymurphy, Belfast, as young rioters attack the army with missiles during the troubles. (04/08/70) Ballymurphy: troops stand by at the junction of Springfield and Whiterock Roads (20/09/1970) Riots : Belfast. January 1971. Catholic housing estate, Ballymurphy. (15/01/1971) Mourners file past the coffin of Father Hugh Mullan, one of the 10 people killed (PA Archive) PA Archive/PA Images Father Hugh Mullan. Shot at Moyard Park. 9/8/1971 THE FUNERAL HEARSE CARRYING THE BODY OF FATHER HUGH MULLAN TRAVELS ALONG THE ROAD IN BALLYMURPHY ESTATE. 12/8/1971 Joseph Murphy was one of 10 people shot dead by British soldiers in West Belfast in 1971 Pacemaker Press 17/6/10 John McKerr who is one of the 11 people died in the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 in West Belfast Pacemaker Press 17/6/10 Fr Hugh Mullan who is one of the 11 people died in the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 in West Belfast Pacemaker Press 17/6/10 Joseph Corr who is one of the 11 people died in the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 in West Belfast Pacemaker Press 17/6/10 Danny Teggart who is one of the 11 people died in the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 in West Belfast Pacemaker Press 17/6/10 Danny Teggart who is one of the 11 people died in the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 in West Belfast Pacemaker Press 17/6/10 Danny Teggart who is one of the 11 people died in the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 in West Belfast Press Eye Ltd Northern Ireland - 25th January 2012 Mandatory Credit - Photo-Jonathan Porter/Presseye. Ballymurphy massacre relatives call for a meeting with the Prime Minister, David Cameron. 10 people were shot dead by soldiers in west Belfast in August 1971. The victims, which included a priest and a mother-of-eight, were killed over the course of three days in August 1971 by members of the Parachute Regiment during Operation Demetrius, when people suspected of paramilitary activity were interned. Relatives Rita Bonner, John Teggart and Briege Voyle pictured at the top of the Whiterock Road in west Belfast beside a mural depicting the shootings. / Facebook

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C4 responded saying he had made a complaint to the then Army base at Henry Taggart Memorial Hall, and had been told action would be taken.

Later on Wednesday, the inquest heard from a former Paratrooper who recalled being sent out to search for casualties and bodies following a later shooting incident on August 9.

The man, who has been granted anonymity and is referred to as M282, was a private in the Parachute Regiment in 1971.

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He took part in Operation Demetrius from the early hours of August 9 1971, when the British Army moved into republican strongholds to arrest IRA suspects in the wake of the introduction by the Stormont administration of the controversial policy of internment without trial.

The mass arrests sparked rioting across Northern Ireland, including in the Ballymurphy area where over the course of three days 10 people were shot dead in disputed circumstances.

It was dark on the wasteland and I was scared I would be shot at.Former paratrooper M282

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M282 said he did not fire his weapon.

Following a shooting incident on waste ground in front of the then Army base at the Henry Taggart Memorial Hall, M282 was ordered along with another soldier to look for casualties and bodies to brief what he termed a retrieval team.

Four people died after being shot on the waste ground: Joan Connolly, 50; Daniel Teggart, 44; Noel Phillips, 20; and Joseph Murphy, 41.

M282 told an inquest into the shootings: We crawled out through a hole in a fence and scurried across the road we crawled over the rough ground on our bellies.

I located two bodies, one man and one woman. The woman was definitely dead, she was stone cold to the touch.

I cannot remember too much about the man, it was dark, I believed he was also dead.

It was dark on the wasteland and I was scared I would be shot at.

The inquest continues.Flybe has blamed pilot shortages and the Easter holidays in its apology for flight disruption on Tuesday.

Hundreds of passengers were affected as Belfast City Airport flights to and from the East Midlands, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and Aberdeen were cancelled.

Flybe blamed "operational reasons" advising customers to either rebook or seek a refund.

In a statement, the airline added: "Flybe sincerely apologises to all our customers and partners affected by the current flight cancellations. Whilst 95% of Flybe flights are operating as per normal, we do recognize the impact of todays cancellations.

"We are doing our best to mitigate the impact of the current situation that has arisen due to a combination of factors including seasonality, pilots end of leave year, Easter holidays, base restructuring and the shortage of pilots across the industry that Flybe has highlighted over recent months.

"We have already identified several mitigation actions and will be issuing further updates throughout the day. All those affected have been emailed and advised they can re-book for travel on an alternative flight or apply for a full refund.

"Customers are advised to regularly check our website for more details."

Flybe flies 8.5 million passengers each year to 170 European destinations.

In February the airline was bought by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic following poor financial results.

Connect Airways, which consists of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital, paid 2.8 million for Flybe's assets and operations.Lord Tebbit was pulled out of the rubble after the 1984 Brighton bomb, which left his wife paralysed

Frankie Boyle has caused a stir over a joke on his show about the IRA

Tory peer Lord Tebbit has called on the BBC to ban comedian Frankie Boyle after a controversial joke about the IRA.

On his BBC Two programme last week the Scottish comedian said it might be a relief for Theresa May to resign after having spent a weekend at Chequers with leading Brexiteer Conservative politicians. "Where the f*** are the IRA when you need them?" he joked.

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Lord Tebbit last night told the Belfast Telegraph: "The man should be banned from broadcasting on the BBC. What he said was highly offensive. IRA terrorist attacks are no laughing matter and the BBC shouldn't have him on television."

Lord Tebbit was pulled out of the rubble after the 1984 Brighton bomb, which left his wife paralysed.

Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said Mr Boyle's joke insulted victims and went "well beyond bad taste".

DUP MP Gregory Campbell described it as a "stupid, puerile pathetic so-called joke" and said broadcasting the material raised serious questions for the BBC.

He said it was important to remember that the IRA had tried to kill Prime Minister John Major and his Cabinet in a mortar attack on Downing Street in February 1991.

On Frankie Boyle's New World Order on BBC Two last week, the comic said: "Theresa May has offered to resign if she can get her deal through... it's probably a relief for her.

"I mean, she spent the weekend at Chequers with her worst enemies - like Boris Johnson, Jacob Reese Mogg, Michael Gove, Iain Duncan Smith, all in one place.

"Where the f*** are the IRA when you need them? All these groups that keep getting back together. What about the guys that would really help us?"

The BBC defended the programme. It said: "Frankie Boyle's New World Order was shown after 10pm on BBC Two and its content is within audience expectations for a post-watershed, topical, satirical programme from a comedian whose style and tone are well-established.

"Within the same programme Frankie clearly acknowledges the brutality of the IRA's activities."

Later in the programme the comedian referred to the security dangers that might follow a hard border.

He said it would a "horrible thing" to think that the Troubles might kick off again.

He added he couldn't imagine a British soldier wanting to stand in the rain waiting to get his legs blown off by "a local butcher".

The DUP questioned the BBC's decision to broadcast a "joke which wasn't funny" about the IRA killing politicians.

Mr Campbell said: "In 1991 the IRA tried to wipe out the cabinet in a mortar attack on Downing Street. Thankfully, they failed. Seven years earlier five people were killed in the Brighton bomb attack during the Conservative Party conference.

"Given the IRA's record of murdering and maiming politicians, Frankie Boyle's words are deeply insensitive. This is not humour. It raises serious questions that the BBC broadcast such distasteful material."

Me Beattie said: "If killing politicians is funny, perhaps Boyle's next joke will seek to find humour in the brutal murder of Jo Cox?

"Or if terrorist murders in general are a source of mirth, will he seek to mock the innocent people murdered by a terrorist fanatic in the two mosques in New Zealand the other week?

"Perhaps he thinks the IRA's murder of two young boys in Warrington in 1993 is a source of humour."

He insisted the joke went "well beyond bad taste".

He added: "It reflects a time when the IRA murdered political representatives in an attempt to press their will through force on others.

"That is called fascism. In making light of it, Boyle belittles the IRA's murders and steps beyond the satirical comedy used during the Troubles that never attacked victims.

"Humour has always been part and parcel of how we have dealt with our troubled past.

"We have laughed at ourselves during some of the worst atrocities imaginable, but in doing so we never allowed that humour to focus on the victims.

"Frankie Boyle's attempt at humour missed the mark spectacularly.

"Personally, I have more respect for the memory of people like Airey Neave, Robert Bradford, Sir Norman Stronge, Sir Anthony Berry, Ian Gow and Edgar Graham, just some of the politicians who were murdered by Irish republican terrorists."

Four years ago there were calls for Feile an Phobail to drop Mr Boyle over jokes he made about children with Down's syndrome.

The organisers refused to do so, leading to protests outside their offices.The Trump administration has halted its sale of F-35 fighter jets to ally Turkey until the country agrees to cancel its purchase of an anti-aircraft missile system from Russia, according to reports. Newsweek   TRUMP TO CANCEL FIGHTER JET DEAL WITH TURKEY IF IT BUYS RUSSIAN MISSILE SYSTEM that the decision was made days after a group of Senators introduced a bipartisan bill to delay delivery of the aircraft to Turkey in order to prevent Russia from gaining access to U.S. military technology.

Im glad the administration is heeding the bipartisan call in Congress to delay the transfer of F-35 equipment to Turkey to help ensure U.S. military technology and capabilities cannot fall into the hands of the Kremlin, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, from New Hampshire and member of the Senate foreign relations committee, said in an emailed statement. Though Turkey is an important U.S. ally, their close relationship with Putin and persistent efforts to acquire the Russian S-400 air defense system could seriously compromise our national security.

Turkeys pledge to purchase an S-400 missile system from Russia has become a point of contention between the country and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies over the past several years. Questions have been raised about whether the U.S. may eventually sanction Turkey over the purchase.

Leaders of the Western military alliance have repeatedly warned Turkey that the Russian system is incompatible with NATO weaponry and could pose security risks. The missile system can allegedly protect against stealth aircraft and other advanced weapons used by NATO like the F-35. But Turkey has brushed off the warnings and promised to move ahead with the controversial purchase.

In July 2018, on the sidelines of a NATO conference, Turkeys Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed that his country planned to buy the missile system from Russia because he could not obtain a similar system from Western allies.

I wanted to buy from the U.S. for the last 10 years, it didnt work. I couldnt buy from NATO allies, so Russia gave me the best proposal and now Im buying from Russia, he said. But the U.S. reportedly offered to sell Turkey a $3.5 billion patriot missile system to incentivize canceling the purchase from Russia.

Meanwhile, in September 2018, the Trump administration sanctioned Chinas Equipment Development Department (EDD) for purchasing weapons from Russia. The sanctions were issued under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which Congress signed into law in 2017. The law includes a blacklist of Russian people and entities that others will be sanctioned for doing business with. Chinas EDD, for example, was sanctioned for purchasing a missile defense system from Russias state arms export company, which is on the CAATSA blacklist.

Some analysts at the time pointed out that Turkey could face similar consequences if it moves ahead with the purchase of the S-400.A hit-and-run driver who killed a teenage jogger is to have his nine-year sentence reduced by a year, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Senior judges held that the original term imposed on Nathan Finn for causing the death of Lesley-Ann McCarragher in Armagh three years ago did not give credit for his lack of previous convictions and genuine remorse.

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The ruling, which also took into account decisions reached in previous cases, means Finn, 20, will now serve four years in jail and the same period on licence.

Lord Justice Deeny acknowledged the offender's "appalling driving" had led to the 19-year-old student's death in April 2016.

He said: "No sentence imposed by the courts on the applicant can bring her back, or lessen her absence for her grieving family and friends.

"It is the duty of the court to dispassionately consider the justice of the sentence for the offences committed in the light of all the circumstances and the previous decision of this court."

Expand Close Lesley-Ann McCarragher (19), who died when she was struck by a car driven by Nathan Finn as she was jogging / Facebook

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Whatsapp Lesley-Ann McCarragher (19), who died when she was struck by a car driven by Nathan Finn as she was jogging

Relatives of the victim appeared shocked, with some in tears following the verdict.

Miss McCarragher was jogging along the Monaghan Road when Finn's Saab car stuck her and then failed to stop.

Despite being airlifted to hospital she died from her injuries.

Finn, of Keady Road in Armagh, initially denied all charges against him, but later accepted causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance.

A man who was behind the wheel of another car pleaded guilty to dangerous driving in connection with the same incident.

The pair were racing when Finn, then aged 17, drove aggressively onto the hard shoulder in an undertake manoeuvre, striking Ms McCarragher and throwing her into the air, according to a witness.

Following the fatal collision other motorists stopped to lend assistance, the court heard, with some of the approaching the window of Finn's vehicle and shouting at him.

Panicking over having no licence, he drove off and headed to a nearby address where he hid the car in a shed.

Later that day Finn denied owning the Saab or driving, telling police that he had sold the car on.

It took almost two weeks before he admitted being behind the wheel and said he was sorry for what he had done.

Appealing the original nine-year term handed down, defence lawyers accepted it had been a sustained and prolonged episode of bad driving in the category of the most serious culpability.

However, they argued that the sentence was manifestly excessive.

Counsel for Finn contended that the mitigating factors of his previous good character and genuine remorse were not recognised.

The prosecution countered that Finn had been deliberately racing another motorist and determined "not to be beaten".

A Crown lawyer told the court: "Young men must appreciate that driving at this atrocious, appalling level, that has to stop."

Delivering judgment in the appeal, Lord Justice Deeny held that the sentence was "out of kilter" with prison terms imposed in other fatal driving cases.

He also backed defence submissions on the failure to give credit for significant mitigating factors.

Confirming the new sentence of eight years, the judge said: "Half is to be served in custody, the maximum allowed by legislation, and half on licence."Irish premier Leo Varadkar is concerned about the growing frustration among a number of EU countries over Brexit (Michelle Devane/PA)

Irish premier Leo Varadkar said he hopes Jeremy Corbyn will show leadership and come up with a compromised Brexit plan with Theresa May.

The Taoiseach said that Prime Ministers offer to engage with the Labour leader on Brexit was timely.

Speaking in the Irish parliament, Mr Varadkar said: I dont know if Mr Corbyn will rise to the occasion, whether he will show leadership and be able to come up with a compromised plan with Prime Minister May.

I hope he does, but we will see if that happens in the next couple of days.

Mrs May was meeting the Labour leader in her Commons office in the hope of agreeing a position which can win a majority within the next few days, allowing her to request a short delay to Brexit at next weeks summit.

Mr Varadkar also said that the growing frustration among a number of EU countries over Brexit is worrying.

He added: There is a real concern that if the UK stays in the EU beyond the date of the European elections and doesnt hold the European elections then there is a risk parliament will not be properly constituted.

Therefore any decisions made by the European Parliament, whether on legislation, on budgets, on the appointment of a new Commission and Commission President, may not actually be valid.

Theres a lot of frustration among the majority of countries that arent going to be adversely affected by Brexit, that the concentration on Brexit is taking us away from other important issues and other important matters.

That is worrying for us.

Speaking about his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday, Mr Varadkar added: I have to say I am really heartened by the enormous support that France continues to demonstrate towards Ireland and, as (Mr Macron) said himself, that Ireland would never be abandoned by France or by the EU.

Good to return to the Elysee Palace today to meet @EmmanuelMacron for discussions on #Brexit and the #futureofeurope pic.twitter.com/nUAqfdA05c  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 2, 2019

Whatever issues arise, if there is no deal, they are very much seen as shared problems, ones that Ireland will try to resolve with our partners in France and the European Commission.

Its not a questions of a big stick or us being put under undue pressure, but there are reasonable questions being asked as to how we will protect the integrity of the single market and the single union.

Mr Varadkar is to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dublin on Thursday.

The Taoiseach also said that the backstop will ensure the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is tariff free, friction-fee, quota-free and bureaucracy-free.

I dont know for certain that its possible to come up with an alternative that does that other than the UK remaining in the EU or staying in the single market and customs union, but we will do everything we possibly can to avoid the emergence of a hard border he added.

We know that some things can be done remotely, like the collection of tariffs and customs duties.

All we can do now is explore options without knowing what is going to happen and that is what we are doing.A man on trial for raping two women in his Belfast flat claimed that the pair were looking for a "sex party".

Orhan Kibar - a Turkish national who has been living in Northern Ireland since 2005 - denies three counts of rape and one count of false imprisonment.

He claimed that not only was any sexual activity consensual, but also instigated by them.

The Belfast Crown Court jury has already heard evidence from both women, aged 18 and 19 at the time, who claim they went back to his flat, where they were both raped in separate incidents.

It's the Crown's case that, as the friends left Queen's Students Union at around 1.30am on November 24, 2017, they were approached by "complete stranger" Kibar, who invited them to a party.

After walking a short distance with Kibar to his Russell Court apartment on Claremont Street, the 18-year-old was offered a drink and a smoke, while the 19-year-old fell asleep.

The younger girl said she was attacked and raped in the bathroom, where she bit Kibar's hand and managed to flee, while her friend said she woke in the flat with Kibar naked on top of her, raping her.

The 19-year-old also claimed she was raped again in the bathroom and sustained a broken little finger during the incident.

Kibar was called to the witness box and, after swearing on the Koran via a translator, he denied raping the women.

Kibar (43) was asked by his barrister Ken McMahon what he was doing on the street at the time. He replied: "I was bored at home. I just wanted to go out and have some fresh air."

Asked how he met the two women, Kibar said: "I was listening to music and smoking outside the bar, then somebody tapped my shoulder."

Kibar said one of the women asked for a cigarette and he gave her one. "Then she asked me if we can have a sex party in my house. She asked me if I had cocaine, drugs or alcohol or money," he said.

Kibar was asked what happened at his flat. He said that while one of the women fell asleep, the other "started dancing ... she was showing off her female bits ... she was showing the upper part of her body."

Kibar said after asking for cannabis, which he did not have, the woman went to the bathroom. "When she was going to the bathroom, she was making a waving gesture to me, and she also winked one eye at me," Kibar said.

He said he finished his cigarette and followed her. "The bathroom door was half ajar, so I walked into the bathroom."

Kibar said the woman "started hugging and kissing me", then claimed she instigated sex.

Asked about a bite to his left hand, which the woman said she inflicted in a bid to escape as she tried to avoid being raped, Kibar said: "I thought maybe this was kind of a rough sex thing."

Denying he forced the woman to have sex, or using aggression, Kibar said: "Everything that happened was along her wishes."

He also claimed "she was smiling, she was looking in my eyes, she was kissing me and I responded to that".

Kibar claimed that, after consensual intercourse in the bathroom, they had an argument in the living room and she left after asking for money and cannabis.

Kibar said after around 15 minutes, he went into his bedroom and that the other woman was in his bed, awake and in her underwear. Asked what happened then, Kibar said: "When I went near her, she started hugging me and kissing me. I was a bit hesitant but when I saw her desire ... she wanted it, I responded."

Kibar said that after she instigated sexual activity, they had intercourse then she left.

He denied that the woman asked him to stop, that she was crying, that there was a struggle, or that he hurt her finger. Asked if he followed her to the bathroom where he raped her a second time, Kibar said this was not true. He also denied stopping her from leaving the bathroom.

Asked if he believed either of the woman had not consented to sex, the accused replied: "I believed they were consenting.

"It was consensual sex because they wanted to come to my flat and have a sex party."

The trial continues.Adams was bailed to return to court at a later date.

The first man to be prosecuted in Northern Ireland for having a prescription medication linked to more than 30 deaths took it for pain relief, a court heard on Wednesday.

Brian Adams, 32, was detained in Belfast on Tuesday for the alleged possession of Pregabalin.

His arrest came just 24 hours after the anti-epileptic medication, also known by the brand name Lyrica or street slang 'bud', was classified as a Class C drug.

The move followed a recommendation by the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs, in a letter to ministers which cited warnings of significant misuse, in January 2016.

Pregabalin has been linked to 33 deaths in Northern Ireland.

Adams, of Mervue Court in the city, appeared before Belfast Magistrates' Court charged with possession of the drug.

Defence lawyer Niall O'Neill, of O'Neill Solicitors, mounted a successful bail application during the hearing.

Mr O'Neill submitted that his client had Pregabalin for the purposes of pain relief.

Deputy District Judge Trevor Browne granted bail for Adams to return to court later this month.A Northern Ireland man has spoken of his disbelief after he tried to return a cheque for 1,200 mistakenly sent to him by the Health Service and was instead told to bank the money.

Enniskillen man Neil - who asked not to be fully identified - said "out of the blue" he received a cheque in his name in the post from the Department of Health's Business Services Organisation back in January.

After a number of calls staff were unable to explain what the money was for, only that apparently he had paid them and was due a refund.

After contacting the BBC Stephen Nolan show to tell of his experience, someone eventually was able to get in touch with him on Tuesday to explain the money was intended for someone else and sent to him in error.

They were unable to explain how they had got his address given he said he had "no connection at all" with the department concerned. The Department of Health has begun a review into the matter.

"I was told to just bank the money and if it came up on their system it was missing they would be back asking for it," Neil told the Belfast Telegraph.

He rang around the health service but was unable to get answers. He tried his bank and even contacted the police who interviewed him about it. He thought the letter itself could be an attempted scam.

"I was not putting it in my account," he added, "I was could not have lived with that over me. I was for throwing it in the bin."

The 51-year-old painter said to him it was a big deal of money and didn't think the health service could "throw money about".

"Plus there might have been someone out there who was waiting on that money."

It was only after contacting the BBC's Stephen Nolan that someone got in touch to apologise and partially explain what happened.

"I don't understand why - after ringing around so many people - it took Stephen Nolan to get answers. You have to wonder how many people this has happened to."

In a statement the Department of Heath said: "The Business Service Organisation (BSO) has been in direct contact with the person concerned to offer an apology for any inconvenience caused and to acknowledge and thank him for the efforts he personally made to bring this to the attention of the relevant organisation.

"The Business Service Organisation has also commissioned a review of its current protocols.A man accused of the killing of a retired teacher was yesterday ordered to stand trial for murder.

By way of a preliminary investigation, lawyers for 34-year-old Michael Owens had contested that he had a case to answer but having heard evidence from a number of witnesses at Antrim Magistrates Court, District Judge Nigel Broderick ruled there was a Prima Facile case against the alleged killer.

With Owens appearing in the dock rather than by video link, a brother and supporters of his alleged victim Robert Flowerday sat in silence in the public gallery to hear the judges ruling which commits the alleged killer to the senior Crown Court.

Owens, from the Lisburn Road in Glenavy, is in custody charged with the murder of popular former Antrim Grammar School teacher Robert Flowerday on a date unknown between January 27-30 last year and burglary with intent to steal on the same dates.

He is further accused of burglary of Mr Flowerday's home on December 6, 2017.

The body of the 64-year-old retired maths teacher, was found at his home on the Mill Road in Crumlin on Sunday, January 28.

Owens was afforded the opportunity to comment on the charges or call evidence but he declined. Remanding him back into custody, the judge returned the case to Antrim Crown Court and ordered Owens to appear before the higher court for his arraignment on a date to be fixed.Dozens of flights were affected by the disruption (Flybe/PA)

Flybe has said no flight cancellations are expected on Thursday, following a day of disruption that saw hundreds of passengers' flights grounded.

Scores of passengers were affected on Wednesday after Belfast City Airport flights to and from the East Midlands, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and Aberdeen were cancelled.

The airline apologised and blamed "operational reasons" for the disruption, including pilot shortages and the Easter holidays.

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"Whilst 95% of Flybe flights are operating as per normal, we do recognize the impact of todays cancellations," Flybe said in a statement.

"We are doing our best to mitigate the impact of the current situation that has arisen due to a combination of factors including seasonality, pilots end of leave year, Easter holidays, base restructuring and the shortage of pilots across the industry that Flybe has highlighted over recent months."

On Wednesday evening, the airline issued a further apology and said plans had been put in place to prevent future disruption.

"We have now put in place a number of contingency plans to minimise future disruptions and to manage any repeat of the level of cancellations made today. No cancellations are expected tomorrow," they said.

"The future situation remains under review and we will be doing everything possible to avoid any further undue inconvenience to passengers.

"Customers are advised to monitor flybe.com and our social sites for up to date information."

Flybe carries 8.5 million passengers each year to 170 European destinations.A doctor who was allowed to "circumvent" the system to become a consultant in a hospital in Northern Ireland "almost overnight" admitted at a patient's inquest he may not even have read the man's notes before wrongly diagnosing him.

Dr Mohammod Asaduzzeman (44) wept in Armagh Courthouse as he addressed the family of Lurgan businessman Denis Doran (57), who died of a heart attack around two months after being told his chest pains were due to a hiatus hernia condition.

Yesterday the Bangladeshi-born doctor admitted failing to identify textbook symptoms of a cardiac problem while working as a locum consultant in Craigavon Hospital on August 29, 2016. The married father-of-two, known as Danny, died on November 19, 2016.

The inquest also heard:

how a junior doctor believed Danny's problem was heart related - but felt they couldn't challenge a more senior medic she thought was better qualified;

the coroner express concerns over how locum consultants not deemed suitable for permanent positions are being appointed if they have been trained outside the UK - even if that experience isn't up to NHS standards;

that locum consultants are being appointed without interview to fill gaps due to staff shortages; and

how it is "down to luck" whether patients see a locum consultant who may not have the required experience to be a NHS consultant, or one who has been undergone the proper training.

"I'm sorry," the doctor told the businessman's widow and two children. "I know I made a mistake but it was not my intention. I cannot change what happened. I did it, but I have learned from it.

"I've done my best to go through the process to make sure it never happens again."

The inquest was adjourned for a short time when Mr Doran's widow, who broke down and sobbed, asked to speak with Dr Asaduzzeman - who was referred to in court as Dr Asad - in private.

Junior doctors had believed Mr Doran's symptoms were heart related. But when Dr Asad was asked four times if he had failed to read his patient's medical notes, he replied: "Anything is possible."

"I should have considered cardiac causes," he said. "I cannot say why I didn't."

Dr Katherine McMillen, who was a trainee at the time, said she believed the symptoms to be cardiac related. But she told the inquest that she lacked the confidence to correct a superior whom she falsely believed to be a cardiologist by background.

"I knew he'd been in England and the Middle East," she said. "It was a conversation in passing. I didn't see his qualifications."

Dr Asad, an acute medical consultant who graduated from medical school in Bangladesh in 2000 before going on to complete some cardiology training in Saudi Arabia, worked in a number of UK hospitals before being recruited as a locum consultant by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust. But Patrick Mullarkey, the solicitor representing Mr Doran's family, expressed serious concerns that Dr Asad had not held any "substantial NHS post" prior to taking up the role.

"You went from a locum registrar to a locum consultant almost overnight," he said as he addressed the witness.

The revelation prompted Coroner Patrick McGurgan to express his "alarm" over recruitment practices in all five health trusts.

"Unlike UK medical students who can take longer than seven years to specialise and are subjected to rigorous competency testing, locums can circumvent all that by training elsewhere and sending in a CV," he said.

"That, quite frankly, is appalling."

The coroner said he was not satisfied that Dr Asad was formally interviewed after it emerged such a process is uncommon during the recruitment of locum consultants.

Dr Michael Moore told the inquest that there is currently only one locum cardiologist consultant working in Craigavon Hospital and that he was "checked out" before being appointed based on his CV - although he was never properly interviewed. The consultant chair of the Southern Trust said the practice is widespread across hospitals here, and blamed the need to "fill holes" on staff shortages and the absence of government at Stormont. "I apologise to Mr Doran's family - it is clear the Trust has failed them," Dr Moore added.

Mr McGurgan indicated he is planning to write to the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, regarding the issue.

"What concerns me is that Dr Asad would not be deemed suitable to be employed as a standard consultant but is [deemed suitable] to be a locum consultant."

Dr Moore confirmed that medics in both categories see patients from the same cohort and conceded it is "down to luck" which one they encounter in a hospital.

It came after Dr Asad said he was "not aware" of the existence of the Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic in Craigavon Hospital at the time Mr Doran presented with chest pains "up to his throat".

"There was no formal orientation process because I was a locum - that's what happens," he added. However Dr Moore revealed that two week waiting targets for the clinic were being missed and when Mr Doran was eventually referred, he was told he had to wait 11 weeks. He died before his appointment.

Dr Moore described the situation as "disappointing" and conceded there was a risk to public safety as a result. The medic claimed waiting times are currently around five weeks, despite an additional Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic being set up to tackle delays.

Consultant cardiologist Dr McGlinchy told the inquest that if Mr Doran's chest pains were recognised as "classic symptoms of angina" he would probably still be alive. "If a cardiologist had been aware of him he would have gone for treatment within one or two days," he said.

He said the "very successful" treatment would have involved stents being inserted into Mr Doran's heart to prevent the narrowing of his arteries.

The Doran family's solicitor claimed the deceased was given a false assurance as a result of the diagnosis which stemmed from Dr Asad's erroneous interpretation of an abnormal ECG as normal which is why he did not present to hospital on the night he suffered the heart attack. Mr Mullarkey said Mr Doran was instead at home with his wife "stretching his arms" to relieve hernia symptoms.

Dr Asad, who became a father for the first time last year, told the inquest he has taken training courses and read articles including "heart attack or heartburn" since the death of his former patient.Snow and ice could cause problems

The road has been closed.

Follow the latest updates from our travel feed below

The Dobbin Road in Armagh has been reopend folowing an earlier crash.

Diversions are in place and traffic is being diverted onto the Vicarage Road, delays are expected.

Our live updates from across Northern Ireland are compiled by @TrafficwatchNI, @BBCNITravel and @PSNITraffic.The U.S. government is considering additional sanctions against Iran that would target areas of its economy that have not been hit before, a senior Trump administration official told reporters. Reuters reports in its article U.S. considering additional Iran sanctions, perhaps in May: official that the official said the administration aimed to follow through with new sanctions around the first anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers, which President Donald Trump announced last May.

We just want a continued chilling effect, the official said. We want businesses to continue to think doing business with Iran is a terrible idea at this point.

Trump announced last May that the United States would pull out of a 2015 international agreement designed to deny Tehran the ability to make nuclear weapons and he ordered sanctions be imposed again on the country.

The deal, agreed by the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China and Iran, sought to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb in return for the removal of sanctions that had crippled its economy.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration hoped to take the additional measures in the coming weeks.

The more we can do around the anniversary, the better, the official said, while adding that it takes time to put such sanctions together and that the U.S. Treasury Department was working on them.

One of the tools the United States has employed includes sanctions on oil imports from Iran. Washington has granted waivers to eight Iranian oil buyers, but could change that.

The official said the United States had the ability not to give those waivers at all. That, I think, is where were headed, the official said.

Reducing the number of waivers would limit oil exports from Iran, the fourth-largest producer in OPEC. The United States set an earlier target of driving Iranian oil exports to zero, and the official said that goal had not changed.

U.S. domestic oil production would help offset such a change, the official said.

China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey are likely to be given waivers after they expire in May that could cap Irans crude oil exports at about 1.1 million barrels per day, U.S.-based analysts at Eurasia Group said earlier this year. That would remove Italy, Greece and Taiwan from the current waivers list.The distraught sister of missing Co Down shop assistant Lisa Dorrian has said that no one can imagine what it feels like not knowing where she is.

Joanne Dorrian broke down in tears as police carried out a fresh search operation at the site where her sibling was last seen alive 14 years ago.

The search is being conducted at a disused airfield beside the caravan park in Ballyhalbert where new technology is being used to examine underground areas that might not have previously been able to be explored.

Ms Dorrian, who was 25, vanished from the caravan park after a party on February 28, 2005.

Police believe the Bangor woman was murdered and are using new information and new techniques to comb the area.

Joanne told of her family's ongoing despair at not knowing what happened to Lisa, as well as the trauma of revisiting the place where she disappeared, apparently without trace.

"Just coming back to Ballyhalbert has been really, really difficult," she said.

"When Lisa first went missing we walked these fields, in the days after she went missing we thought we were just looking for her because she had ran out in the night, and that she'd fallen and maybe just passed away in the cold.

"Obviously, we then knew police were looking at a murder investigation. People can't imagine what this feels like, they can't imagine what it feels like not knowing where she is."

Urging anyone with information that could help find her sister after all this time to come forward, Joanne said none of her family "have been the same ever since this happened".

"My mum passed away a few years ago, she never got the answers that she needed, it ruined her life and it has ruined our lives," she said.

She added: "To think that Lisa could be here where we are today, it's just so hard to imagine."

Joanne, who was there yesterday with her father John and her sisters Michelle and Ciara, also spoke directly to those who know what happened on that Sunday morning 14 years ago.

Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Joanne Dorrian at the site Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Sisters Michelle and Ciara Photopress Belfast police conduct searches Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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"This is for Lisa, this is not for us," she said.

"The people who know where Lisa is knew Lisa; they knew the kind of person that she was, they knew the funny person that she was, and I just ask them to remember that.

"If they can come forward and please just help us to get some sort of peace, that's all that we can ask for."

Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, who is leading the investigation, said the determination of the PSNI to bring those who killed Lisa to justice is as strong now as it ever was.

He believes she knew her killers and he said "a small number of individuals were involved in both her death and her disappearance".

But he admitted that detectives have come up against "a wall of silence" because "those small number of individuals feel bonded together in what they know, and in effect if one tells they're all in serious trouble".

"People know what went on," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"I've appealed to their conscience previously and it hasn't developed to anything. I need important people to contact me.

"That's what today is about.

"First of all, it's about progressing the investigation, but secondly, it's about encouraging those who have got information to come and talk to us."

Mr Murphy said police had received "new information", but yesterday he declined to elaborate on what that was.

He also said the new searches were taking place after months of planning involving the PSNI and National Crime Agency.

Yesterday's hunt involving 40 specialist search officers took place in the disused airfield, but there will be further searches of the caravan park beside it over the coming days.

Mr Murphy said there was nothing to suggest that Ms Dorrian's murder had been pre-planned, nor that the disposal of her body had been pre-planned.

He added that police therefore believe that her body is still in Ballyhalbert.

"To date more than 400 searches have been conducted across Northern Ireland," he said.

"The fact that those searches have not found Lisa's body have caused me to refocus our efforts more locally to the Ballyhalbert area."

Referring to the ongoing search - using technology that he said has only been in existence for five years - the officer stressed that it wasn't a case of "going over old ground" but "about looking at areas that weren't previously searched, either because we were unable to search them because of technology or because those were areas that were not considered to be important at that stage".

Mr Murphy said the searches being conducted "over the next few days on this site specifically relate to voids under the ground".

He added: "As a result of this being a disused airfield from 1945 there may be voids under the ground into which Lisa's body may have been deposited which couldn't previously have been found because the technology didn't exist."

Asked about a possible UVF link, he said: "There's been speculation about paramilitary involvement but I'm not going to limit myself to that line of investigation."Police have issued a fresh appeal into the circumstances surrounding the death of 17-year-old Tara Wright.

Ms Wright was found dead in a car outside Belfast City Hospital on March 24.

Her death is believed to be connected to a single-vehicle crash on the Ballygowan Road in Castlereagh in the early hours of that morning.

PSNI Inspector Nigel Henry said police have revisited the scene of the crash as part of their investigation and are focusing on the events leading up to Tara Wright's death.

"We believe that the silver Mercedes car Tara was travelling in was in the area of Gourley's Bar near the roundabout in Ballygowan around 1.25am on Sunday, March 24," he said.

"We would like to hear from anyone who noticed this car between 11pm on Saturday, March 23 and 1.30am on Sunday, March 24.

"I would also like to thank all of those who have come forward with information already and ask again for anyone who witnessed a grey coloured MG car between Ballygowan Road and the Belfast City Hospital during the early hours of Sunday, March 24 to contact us.

"If you have dash cam footage which you believe is relevant to this investigation, you can contact us on 101, quoting reference number 227 of 24/03/19."

Four men aged 20, 21, 28 and 30 arrested in the wake of the incident have since been released on bail and continue to assist police with their enquiries.

In a statement released last week by Tara's family they told of their devastation and said she would be "missed immeasurably".

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They said: "As parents we are devastated by the heartbreaking passing of our beautiful daughter Tara.

"Tara was a kind, funny, charismatic bright young girl with her whole life ahead of her and we can't believe that we now have to say goodbye to her.

"Tara will be remembered as she lived, a fun-loving, energetic and vibrant soul with a zest for life that could bring joy to all around her."A medical cannabis company has saved the life of a severely epileptic girl by giving her free access to treatment not provided to her by the NHS, according to her father.

Jorja Emerson, three, reportedly became the first UK child to be prescribed medical cannabis in December after the drug was rescheduled.

The prescription was written by a private doctor and since it was issued Jorjas father Robin Emerson claims to have had to pay around 1,000 per month to get the treatment.

The drugs have helped reduce the number of daily seizures Jorja suffers from around 30 to just three or four, Mr Emerson said.

Expand Close Jorja Emerson will be given the treatment free of charge by Canadian medical cannabis producer Aphria. (Robin Emerson/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jorja Emerson will be given the treatment free of charge by Canadian medical cannabis producer Aphria. (Robin Emerson/PA)

The NHS has refused to pay for Jorjas treatment despite rules on prescribing the drug being relaxed last year, he added.

With the family struggling to meet the costs, Canadian medical cannabis producer Aphria has agreed to provide Jorja with treatment free of charge.

Mr Emerson said he honestly does not know what he would have done had the company not agreed to provide the treatment for Jorja, who is from Dundonald in Co Down, Northern Ireland.

Mr Emerson said he has had to travel to London from Northern Ireland to get the treatment.

He added: Until this is sorted, families will have to continue travelling abroad to obtain medicine for their children illegally, or like me, go private to get help for our children.

Expand Close Jorja Emersons family were having to pay around 1,000 per month (Robin Emerson/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook

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Aphria have done what the NHS should have done and put Jorja first.

The team in Canada are full of emotion knowing that they have saved my daughters life.

Children are dying and suffering in the UK because of poor access to medical cannabis treatment, he added.

Mr Emerson said Jorjas care has cost around 30,000 since she was diagnosed with the condition in 2017, with family, friends and well-wishers helping to pay her medical bills.

Expand Close Jorja Emerson will be given the treatment free of charge by Canadian medical cannabis producer Aphria (Robin Emerson/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jorja Emerson will be given the treatment free of charge by Canadian medical cannabis producer Aphria (Robin Emerson/PA)

Medical cannabis was rescheduled in November to allow doctors to prescribe the products to patients in the UK.

However the medicines can only prescribed by a specialist doctor  not a GP  on a case-by-case basis once other treatment options have been exhausted.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: We sympathise with those families dealing so courageously with distressing conditions and the government has changed the law so specialist doctors prescribe cannabis based medical products where there is a clinical evidence of benefit.

As Mr Emerson and his daughter reside in Northern Ireland, the decision to prescribe and fund on-going treatment on the NHS will be the responsibility of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.Roger Clarke with some of his prized alpacas

A Co Tyrone couple's obsession with alpacas has taken them to the top of the breeding chain after one of their herd landed a major prize.

Roger and Elaine Clarke, both 40 and from Clogher, got their first three animals in 2006 not long after getting married.

Since then their stock has risen - in numbers and quality.

They provide a home for more than 60 of the South American beats on their Amberly Alpacas estate, and they can now boast the best alpaca around after one landed the Supreme Champion award at the biggest show in the UK.

Nineteen-month-old Popham Gabine - better known as 'Diva' - claimed the top prize at the the British Alpaca National last week.

The two-day show in Telford, Shropshire, attracted the top breeders from across the UK, with over 600 animals competing.

Native to Peru, Chile and Bolivia, there are two breeds: Huacaya, with their teddy bear looks, and Suri, with their long, shiny locks.

And while the Clarkes keep both, their champion is an Huacaya.

"We knew she was special when we got her at six months old," Elaine explained.

"This is what we have been aiming for, to breed the best quality in the UK or Ireland.

"My husband has been obsessed with alpacas since we first brought one home to live with us.

"The aim now is to keep on improving in quality."

And it seems Roger's obsession with the animals knows no bounds.

Last October the couple made the long trek to Peru, where they visited the annual Alpaca Fiesta to see the animals in their home environment.

Principal of Carntall Primary School, Roger is even in the final stages of training to be a judge, which would see him travel around the country to all the major shows.

"I guess obsession is the word!" added Elaine, who has helped turn that love of all things alpaca into a small, thriving business, not only in breeding the animals, but also selling a range of alpaca fleece clothing, including socks, shawls and soft furnishings.

"It's all about reinvesting to produce the best quality," said Elaine, who works as a chiropractor.

"With Diva we can now hopefully take that to another level."

Diva, despite being owned by the couple, has yet to set foot on these shores.

"She lives in the south of England," Elaine explained.

"There seemed little point in bringing her to Co Tyrone to live with us as we knew she was going to be aiming for shows.

"There's only one show in Northern Ireland every year, and though there are quite a few in the south of Ireland, we're not eligible to compete as we live in the north.

"You need to be in England. That's where all the major breeders and all the main shows are - and she's now won the biggest of the lot and we're thrilled."

It has taken a lot of scientific study and careful selection of quality to get the couple to the top of the alpaca breeding game.

Elaine explained: "When we started this we had around two acres of land and were thinking about what to do with it. Alpacas looked great and we decided to get some back in 2006. It's grown from there.

"We have over 60 of them now, but the numbers are changing all the time.

"We sell on quite a lot of them across Ireland, the UK and Europe.

"They're wonderful creatures, great trekking animals, but we're in this for breeding show quality now.

"And their fleeces can be used for anything from insulating attics to making carpets and rugs. They're known for the highest quality fine garments, they're so much more than just a cuddly face.

"You do need to be serious if you want to keep one as a pet, though.

"They need the usual shelter, hay and vaccinations. You need to be dedicated if you want to keep one properly.

"But they're fantastic creatures, friendly and inquisitive. They'll always come over to see what's going on and you can let them eat out of your hand.

"We run basic courses in how to look after them, progressing to breeding them."

The couple are hoping for even bigger things in the future - and the first step to that is finding Diva the best quality boyfriend.

"That's our next aim," said Elaine. "We need to get her the right man and take it from there.

"Her father won the same title four years ago so we've definitely got family history on our side.

"Hopefully winning the crown means we improve even more."The Eurosceptic press in Britain has played a large role in the negative perception of the EU as a remote and soulless technocracy, a special adviser to the EU Commission president has said.

Catherine Day, a special adviser to Jean Claude Juncker, told an Irish parliamentary committee that the outlook of the European Union would become more continental post-Brexit as member states would no longer have to contend with the reluctance of the UK.

Ms Day was before the EU Affairs Committee in Dublin on Wednesday to discuss alliance building within the EU.

She told TDs and senators that she was well placed to know how badly the EU has suffered from a bad press as a remote and soulless technocracy.

France and Germany will obviously play a bigger role in shaping future direction of the EU.Catherine Day

The British Eurosceptic press has had a lot to do with that, Ms Day said.

Theyve used ridicule to really try to undermine what is very solid and praiseworthy progress in a lot of areas.

Ms Day said Irish people had a strong desire to understand and be part of what was happening in the EU, but she warned that it would be hard to maintain that level of interest post-Brexit.

Weve seen now with Brexit what can happen when people feel alienated from that process, she said.

While we may be enjoying at the moment a Brexit dividend in terms of Irish support for the EU, I think we know that its very hard to maintain that intensity of interest and level of focus in more normal times.

Discussing the future of the EU, Ms Day said the outlook of the union would inevitably become more continental once the UK exits.

France and Germany will obviously play a bigger role in shaping future direction of the EU, she said.

They will no longer have to contend with the questioning and the reluctant attitude of the UK.

But she said Ireland would miss the role the UK played as a buffer between France and Germany in terms of organising a different debate, as it had never known the EU without the UK.

On a positive note, Ms Day said the EU was likely to develop stronger social policies without the opposition of the UK.

This will certainly be needed to address the challenge of populism, she said.

The EU does need to be able to show that it cares about all its citizens and that stronger economic policies will be accompanied by social policies that deliver.

Ms Day told the committee that Ireland had enjoyed huge solidarity from the other EU members states and EU institutions throughout the Brexit process, which she attributed to the mobilisation of politicians and diplomats.

Were going to need to keep up that effort in future, she said.

We have to reach out beyond the English speaking world to our continental partners. That means travelling to them and it means keeping in touch on a regular basis not just when we have a problem.

She added: The good news is that all small members states are coming to the same conclusion. They all see what we see  the need to work together permanently to ensure that the voice of the small member states is heard.Leo Varadkar was accused of being in denial (Brian Lawless/PA)

The leader of Irelands main opposition party has accused the Health Minister of not being upfront over claims he was advised against offering a free cervical smear test.

It comes after the former clinical director of CervicalCheck, Dr Grainne Flannelly, said she raised concerns about the out-of-cycle smear tests with senior officials.

It emerged on Tuesday that Dr Flannelly said she warned that repeat smear tests would fundamentally undermine the screening programme before the Health Minister Simon Harris announced the free tests in April last year.

I think your approach to the National Screening Service, notwithstanding the crisis last year, lacks character and I think the minister's response lacks characterFianna Fail leader Micheal Martin

Speaking in the Dail, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said: You (Taoiseach Leo Varadkar) and the minister (Mr Harris) have been in denial and the minister has not been upfront with this House and he needs to correct the record.

Are you denying this sequence of events as outlined by Dr Grainne Flannelly?

I think your approach to the National Screening Service, notwithstanding the crisis last year, lacks character and I think the ministers response lacks character.

Speaking during leaders questions, Mr Varadkar said: The reality was that the situation at the time was there was a lot of women who were really concerned about the accuracy of their smear tests.

They were attending their GPs looking for repeat smear tests, they were contacting the helpline looking for repeat smear tests.

There were some doctors calling for repeat smear tests to be allowed.

When it was done it was welcomed by the opposition and it was agreed by the INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation).

This just wasnt a decision made by the Minister for Health.

The whole decision reeked of incompetence, of panic and had no public health criteria to justify it and no advice from anyone. It was the wrong decisionFianna Fail leader Micheal Martin

Mr Martin said the decision by the minister to offer free smear tests has damaged the programme and put it under enormous strain.

The whole decision reeked of incompetence, of panic and had no public health criteria to justify it and no advice from anyone. It was the wrong decision, he added.

Dr Flannelly immediately advised against it.

This contradicts the assertions to this House by the minister, who has said that neither I nor my officials were advised in advance of this decision.

We now know that 79,500 women are waiting for results and the backlog is getting worse as a result of that decision.

There are tens of thousands of women who are waiting far too long to hear the result of their smear test and that's causing anxiety and worryLeo Varadkar

The introduction of the new HPV test, which would be far more precise, has been indefinitely delayed.

There are two element to this  the programme has been damaged and its an illustration of a very poor decision that can be damaging to the public. The truth needs to be told and questions needs to be answered comprehensively.

The Taoiseach said that while the backlog in smear test results was significant, the clinical risk was minimal.

There are tens of thousands of women who are waiting far too long to hear the result of their smear test and thats causing anxiety and worry.

Its a big problem and one we need to get on top of.

Roughly 100,00 more smear tests were carried out last year than in the previous year and that was down to two factors  the fact that an out-of-cycle test was offered but as well as that there was an increase in the uptake of women of cervical screening.

So it wasnt solely down to the out-of-cycle smear test.

Speaking outside the chamber, Health Minister Simon Harris stood by his position that he was not advised against offering repeat smear tests.

I never received any contrary advice in relation to the provision of free repeat smear tests so Im very happy to reiterate that point, he told reporters.

Mr Harris added: It is clear that after the decision was made that some in the cervical check programme did express some concerns in relation to the operationalising of it.A garda spokeswoman said investigations into the incident were ongoing (Nick Potts/PA)

An investigation is under way after shots were fired outside a school in Dublin.

The incident happened at about 3.40pm on Tuesday afternoon in the Corduff area.

Gardai said a lone gunman appeared to target a man in his twenties who was waiting outside Riversdale Community School on Blanchardstown Road North.

A garda spokesman said nobody was injured in the attack and the gunman ran off in the direction of Corduff Grove.

A number of people were arrested at the scene, but they were released following searches.

Superintendent William Carolan, of Blanchardstown garda station, condemned the attack which he described as reckless.

He said it had taken place in broad daylight at a time when school was just about to finish and students would have been exiting to be collected by parents.

He appealed to anyone with any information to contact them.

Gardai carried out a number of searches in the vicinity on Tuesday evening, with the assistance of the emergency response unit and armed support units.

No further arrests were made.

Local TD Jack Chambers said: There has been a recent escalation in violent crime in the West Dublin area as of late, but the fact that someone could consciously attempt to cause grave harm by firing gun shots outside a school in broad daylight marks a very alarming precedent.

This latest incident will have proven traumatic for parents and students who were in the immediate vicinity. There is no doubt that innocent people felt frightened.

Another shocking incident of pure violence in West Dublin. We need law and order with the urgent deployment of national units for the safety of local residents to support local Gardai. https://t.co/bBXBVUixmQ  Jack Chambers TD (@jackfchambers) April 2, 2019

The Fianna Fail politician said local gardai were doing their best to increase their visibility, but he said additional resources were needed.

For such an incident to occur in a residential area within yards of a school in the middle of a weekday afternoon is not normal and should not be treated as a normal part of everyday life, he added.

Labour TD for Dublin West Joan Burton called on the Government to respond urgently to the shooting by increasing the resources for community policing, and clamping down on the spate of recent incidents locally.

That someone could act with such impunity where children are being taught is deeply troubling, she said.

Ms Burton added: We need more community policing urgently This type of shooting cannot be allowed become the norm.President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Sergeyev, discussed cooperation between the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- Alexander Mikhailovich, what should we expect from cooperation between the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) in the near future?

- Over the past few days we've been discussing the RAS delegation's visit to Baku, it's scheduled for May 20th and will be dedicated to preparation and signing of a formal agreement between our Academies. We're also discussing initiative on intensification of work of the five Caspian countries, since leaders of these countries discussed issues related to development of science only briefly during their meeting in Aktau. We believe that there are a lot of joint scientific topics that are interesting for all five countries, including issues related to mineral and biological resources of the Caspian Sea, climate, monitoring of ecology of the Caspian Sea, history of the movement of peoples around the Caspian Sea and their interaction.

Following our trip to Baku, we will decide on joint initiative to hold scientific forum of the Caspian countries. We really hope that our Azerbaijani colleagues will support these initiatives and will be one of the main driving forces in implementation of cooperation projects in the Caspian region.

- What do you think about scientific ties between Russia and Azerbaijan?

- Current level is not as high as it could be. During Soviet times, there were much more scientific contacts, and in the 1990s our countries decided to focus on cooperation in science with Europe and the United States and weakened contacts with each other. Now we once again understand that we must restart our relationship. It's in our joint interests to support and further develop this area. It's clear that these issues related to the Caspian Sea are important, and I hope that the Caspian initiative, which I mentioned above, will allow us to restore the level of relations in science and education that existed before. There are obviously certain prospects, and most importantly, there's an understanding between all sides.

- What are the current scientific projects of the RAS in the North Caucasus?

- Caucasus is traditionally interesting when it comes to astrophysics. Many facilities that help with space research and are in demand of scientists from many countries are located in the mountains and foothills of the Caucasus. If we talk about other areas, Caucasus has one of the four republican academies of sciences in Chechnya, Chechen colleagues attend our meetings and presidiums. It would be very interesting for me to get acquainted with the work of the Chechen Academy, I hope this year I will be able to visit Grozny. It's clear that Chechen scientists are focused primarily on their own regional projects, the republic is developing a significant number of humanitarian projects related to the region.

Overall, Caucasus has not only scientific projects, in which most countries of the world are interested, but also science projects related to needs of the region. All of this must be supported, of course.Female doctors have reported their colleagues at the British Medical Association (BMA) for sexisit behaviour (Anthony Devlin/PA)

The British Medical Association (BMA) has launched an investigation after senior female GPs accused colleagues of sexism.

Medics have reported being belittled, having their thighs and buttocks fondled, being propositioned and having senior male colleagues trying to guess bra sizes.

In an article for GP online, two senior doctors demanded an end to incessant nudge-nudge, wink-wink more suitably placed within a 1970s Monty Python sketch.

Katie Bramall-Stainer  who co-chaired the BMAs UK local medical committees (LMCs) conference  wrote the article with colleague Zoe Norris, who has held the role of chairwoman of the sessional GP subcommittee.

Dr Bramall-Stainer previously said that just before walking on to stage to lead the LMCs conference she had been called a naughty girl and a little girl by a very senior member of conference.

This has been extremely difficult to write. In my 12 years of GPC I have never been openly critical. No one can argue that Ive not tried to change from within first. My role now is to serve the LMC UK Conference. Id like to thank @dr_zo for being such a strong leader. #metoo https://t.co/yEY3uT5HCh  Katie Bramall-Stainer (@doctor_katie) April 1, 2019

Dr Norris responded by saying: Sadly at the same event also told I had been naughty as feedback from my conference speech from a senior male GPC (general practice committee) member.

In the GP online article, they wrote: Both of us have held prominent GPC roles; we wont in the future, largely because of the experiences we have had at the hands of some colleagues in those roles.

Zoe is stepping down. Katies role is now representing LMC conference.

The women said they had received a huge amount of support and heard many reports of similar experiences.

Some verbal; many physical. All unwelcome. All damaging. We are not isolated cases, they wrote. These too, need and deserve a voice and a chance to be heard.

And the experiences of colleagues makes for a heartbreaking read https://t.co/fHqwxct0B4  Dr Zoe Norris (@dr_zo) April 1, 2019

They said senior male colleagues tried to guess the bra size of a female colleague, and how a female LMC chief executive was sexually explicitly propositioned after presenting a keynote speech.

They added: There must be a wholesale culture shift away from drinking and dinners, taps on the shoulder to take on roles, under-the-breath comments, factions and back-stabbing.

We have to make sure those who represent the profession reflect the profession, and embrace diversity by offering all GPs the same opportunities.

Most importantly, there must be a genuine objective process for challenging and addressing such behaviours.

In a statement to GP online, Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA, said: I am appalled to hear of the treatment my colleagues describe and of similarly unacceptable behaviours.

I want to say Im sorry to them, and offer my heartfelt apologies on behalf of the whole association.

Abusive behaviour has no place in the BMA and I recognise the courage that it takes to come forward with such allegations and so I thank them for that.

Let me be clear  sexist, disrespectful, discriminatory and abusive behaviour will not be tolerated in this association and must be stamped out.

It is vital that we take decisive action to make positive changes. Which is why we will be launching an urgent investigation in response to todays allegations, and we are reaching out to affected members to invite them to be an integral part of this.

We would also ask any member who feels they have experienced discriminatory or abusive behaviour to contact us.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is also rolling out a pilot training programme to raise awareness about poor behaviour.

The GMC said it would give doctors training in tackling unprofessional behaviours from colleagues which can affect patient safety and outcomes.

A GMC survey of more than 1,000 doctors found that 40% felt other doctors undermined respect and prevented effective collaboration.Aidan James is accused of helping fuel the violence in Syria by joining Kurdish militants fighting Islamic State (CPS/PA)

A British man wrote of his joy at fighting against Islamic State, describing the group as the biggest threat the world has seen since Hitler, a court has heard.

Aidan James, 28, from Formby, Merseyside, had no previous military knowledge when he allegedly set out to join the bloody war in 2017 on behalf of the Kurdish people.

The father-of-one is accused of receiving training from the Marxist group PKK, before going on to fight with Kurdish YPG units  or Peoples Protection Units  in Syria.

On the second day of his Old Bailey trial, the jury was shown a series of Facebook pictures of James posing with YPG insignia wearing military garb.

In a December 2017 diary entry, he allegedly described the worsening situation.

He allegedly wrote: The situation with Turkey continues to worsen the war is long from over but I am playing my part in this war and feel good to be a part of history and with the revolutionary force of YPG.

Daesh is the biggest threat the world has seen since Hitler so anything I can do in these operations is good.

Expand Close An image posted to Facebook by Aidan James in August 2017 of himself (Crown Prosecution Service/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp An image posted to Facebook by Aidan James in August 2017 of himself (Crown Prosecution Service/PA)

In an earlier handwritten entry, James allegedly wrote that he was waiting for Daesh to give me the opertunity (sic) to fire.

He described his groups quest to vanquish Daesh from this place and send the rechid (sic) souls straight to hell.

He told how he got a kill that day and was very happy to get rid of another rat, the court heard.

Jurors were also shown a photograph of a black Islamic State flag with the caption: This is the evil flag of the worlds enemy ISIS, Daesh. IS flag (took) from a window in Deir Ezzor by me. F*** Daesh!!

Expand Close Facebook post of Aidan James in August 2017 of himself holding plane tickets (CPS/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Facebook post of Aidan James in August 2017 of himself holding plane tickets (CPS/PA)

On Christmas Eve, James allegedly posted a new profile picture on Facebook in which he referred to a region in Syria in a Christmas greetings message.

It stated: Merry Christmas friends and family back home in the UK. Lots of love from us here in Rojava xxxx

The court heard how a police negotiator was in email contact with James, promising to support him and discuss his return to Liverpool.

As he made moves to go home, James wrote in his diary of the amazing time he had fighting on the front line numerous times, killing Islamic State soldiers, being shot at and even chilled with a donkey.

The court heard he finally returned to Liverpool John Lennon airport on February 14 last year on flights via Baghdad, Amman and Amsterdam.

In a written statement, Jamess mother told how her son had twice tried to join the British army and twice been turned down.

Tracey OConnor said he was 19 years old when he first applied.

She thought it was a good idea to provide stability and hopefully keep him on the straight and narrow.

But James was rejected because of his health and when he reapplied received the same outcome, the court heard.

James denies engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and two charges of attending a place used for terrorist training.Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that there is a lot more the social network can do to regulate social media content that is harmful to children.

Mr Zuckerberg denied that his recent call for governments to take a more active role in regulating the internet was an effort by the company to absolve itself of responsibility.

The firms founder and chief executive was in Dublin on Tuesday to visit the technology giants offices.

Facebooks European headquarters is in the Irish capital.

We'd a constructive meeting with Mark Zuckerberg. I made the case for independent regulation & the need for a change in social media business models, so we can support local content creators & give citizens real control over their own personal data. #DigitalRights @europeangreens pic.twitter.com/YDeas0l4LT  Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) April 2, 2019

Either way were going to have responsivity for making sure that we can police harmful content and gets it off our services, Mr Zuckerberg told RTE News.

I think these days a lot of people dont want tech companies or any private companies to be making so many decisions about what speech is acceptable and what this harmful content that needs to be gets taken down.

So I think there is a role for a broader public debate here and I think some of these things would benefit from a more democratic process and a more active government role.

The Facebook boss said he could not guarantee that the social media giant would be able to stop its platforms being used by malicious actors trying to influence the outcome of the European Elections.

Weve certainly made a lot of progress in building defences to protect the integrity of elections, he said.

But no, I dont think anyone can guarantee in a world where you have nation states [that] are trying to interfere in elections there is no single thing that we can do, and say okay, we have now solved the issue.

This is an ongoing arms race.

Mark Zuckerberg has said he cannot give a guarantee that Facebook will be able to stop its platforms being used by malicious actors trying to influence the outcome of the European Elections. | https://t.co/19SBgASq5C pic.twitter.com/2Wf92vYrO0  RTE News (@rtenews) April 2, 2019

Mr Zuckerberg met with senior Irish politicians during his visit to the Republic and assured them that he would work with governments to establish new policies in a bid to regulate social media.

He discussed his plans to regulate the internet with Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless and Eamon Ryan  three members of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News  at a hotel in Dublin.

Mr Zuckerberg told the politicians that issues around child protection and age verification are of huge concern to him.

He refused to answer questions from the media about online child safety as he left the Merrion Hotel.

Ms Naughton described the meeting as positive and constructive.

We went through a number of issues including child protection and the need for a robust age verification system, she said.

He said it was an area of huge concern to him and that he is looking forward to working with law enforcement agencies and legislators in relation to that. We have to balance the state of privacy of users as well as safety.

He stated he had a lot more work to do.

Our committee is working on a number of pieces of legislation including an online safety commissioner as well as looking at and protecting democracy.

I mentioned the importance around age verification because you have right now paedophiles online lying about their age and preying on young children and grooming them.

This is something he acknowledged, he knew it was a problem and he stated that he wanted to work with law enforcement agencies and policy makers to make more robust laws.

The International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News is made up of international parliamentarians and investigates issues like data privacy, safety, security and sharing.

The three TDs, who are also members of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, have been vocal in demanding the regulation of social media platforms in recent years.

Irelands Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has a number of inquiries ongoing into Facebook and associated organisations.

The TDs, who described Mr Zuckerberg as quiet, unassuming, pleasant and smart, held an hour-long meeting with him days after he called for increased government oversight of the internet in areas like harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.

Mr Lawless said: Our focus was also on electoral integrity and what has been happening around the world on the rules in managing election campaigns.

He agreed legislation is needed, he is working on those internationally to be able to see who is running campaigns, who is paying for campaigns and who is being targeted.

It shouldnt be about the private companies dictating what goes online when it comes to democracy and child protection and safety, we as legislators have responsibilities to put in place rules that we think should be followed and dictating to companies about how behaviours are conducted online.

Mr Ryan said: I pressed him about the article he wrote on regulation and I made the point that it cant be self-regulation it has to be European regulation and that has to include funding journalism and having a courts procedure rather than a self-appointed board to look at difficult decisions.Environmental and human rights campaigners have claimed a fantastic victory after leading judges ruled that an injunction granted to energy giant Ineos was too wide and insufficiently clear.

The Court of Appeal on Wednesday discharged parts of an order which opponents argued was having a very serious chilling effect on lawful and legitimate protest activities.

The injunction, which was granted by the High Court in November 2017, prevented persons unknown from trespassing on or obstructing access to the companys shale gas sites.

It also prevented people from interfering with public rights of way, for example by blocking the highway, and also from combining together to commit unlawful acts with the intention of damaging Ineos or any other companies in its supply chain.

Giving judgment in London, senior judges overturned the injunction as it related to interfering with public rights of way and combining together with the intention of damaging Ineos.

Lord Justice Longmore, sitting with Lord Justice David Richards and Lord Justice Leggatt, ruled that the judge who granted the initial injunction had attempted to do the impossible and made an order which was too wide and too uncertain.

The court maintained the injunction relating to trespass and obstructing access to Ineos sites, pending reconsideration of the orders by the High Court in relation to the right to freedom of expression.

But Lord Justice Longmore found that the lack of a time limit on those orders was unsatisfactory.

The citizen's right to protest is not to be diminished by advance fear of committal except in the clearest of cases, of which trespass is perhaps the best exampleLord Justice Longmore

The judge said in his ruling that it is only when events have happened which can in retrospect be seen to have been illegal that the wide-ranging injunctions preventing interference with rights of way or combining together should be granted.

He added: The citizens right to protest is not to be diminished by advance fear of committal except in the clearest of cases, of which trespass is perhaps the best example.

In a statement after the judgment, Joe Corre, one of the two campaigners who challenged the injunction, said: This is a fantastic result and has restored my confidence in the British legal system.

Mr Corre added: Our fight will continue until this treacherous fracking industry is eradicated from Britain once and for all.

BREAKING NEWS 

*Massive* legal win for @friends_earth, @realjoecorre, @josephboyd73 ...and democracy!



Fracking company INEOS defeated as right to free speech and peaceful protest upheld by Court of Appeal. #INEOSVTHEPEOPLE #injunctioninjustice pic.twitter.com/nAD9gGVE0d  Friends of the Earth (@friends_earth) April 3, 2019

Dave Timms, head of political affairs at Friends of the Earth, which intervened in the case, said: This is a humiliating defeat for Ineos and a victory for campaigners and human rights.

We believe that these injunctions are a sinister attempt to use the law to stop peaceful protest against the fracking industry.

The ruling today confirms our view that Ineos injunction was wrongly granted and unlawfully stifled protest.

He added: Following this judgment, we will be writing to other firms granted similar anti-protest injunctions informing them that they should withdraw or substantially amend them or face possible legal action.

Tom Pickering, Ineos chief operations officer, said: We welcome the Court of Appeals decision to uphold our injunctions protecting people on and around our sites.

We only secured these injunctions because we are determined to protect our people and suppliers, as well as the communities we work in.

We are talking with our legal team about our next steps, because we believe it is essential that the forces of law and order prevail.

Mr Pickering added: We will always do all we can to protect our colleagues, suppliers and peaceful, law-abiding local people.

We respect peaceful protest, but we must stand up to the militants who game the legal system with intimidation and mob rule.

We stand for jobs and opportunity. They stand for anarchy in the UK.Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says Egyptian government ministers have been asked to help find a 12-year-old British girl who went missing more than seven years ago and is thought to be living in Cairo.

He told a judge overseeing family court litigation that an official at the British Embassy in Cairo has discussed Elsa Salamas case with a member of the Egyptian government.

Mr Justice Mostyn on Wednesday made public a letter he had received from Mr Hunt, outlining steps taken at the Foreign Office, as he examined latest developments in the case at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The judge had asked Mr Hunt for help earlier this year. He said he appreciated the ministers response to his request.

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Elsa is at the centre of a battle between her divorced parents.

Egyptian former teacher Tamer Salama took his daughter, then aged four, from her mother Naomi Button in December 2011 while all three were visiting his relatives in Egypt.

Ms Button, 45, a leadership consultant from Leeds, was forced to return to England alone and has not since seen Elsa, who she thinks is living with Salamas mother in Cairo.

Ms Button launched family court litigation after arriving back in the hope of getting Elsa home and is continuing that fight.

Salama, who subsequently returned to England without Elsa, was jailed in January 2012 for breaching judges orders to arrange his daughters return to England or to reveal where she was.

But a judge ordered his release in December 2013 after deciding that continuing to keep him in prison was no longer proportionate or justifiable.

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Mr Hunt told Mr Justice Mostyn in his letter that a number of actions had been taken.

He said a minister had already met Ms Button and the case had been raised with the Egyptian justice ministry.

Mr Hunt said he had written to his Egyptian counterpart, foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, and added: I have requested his assistance to underline the priority that we attach to this case and have requested that the Egyptians explore any additional avenues that have not yet been tried.

He said a British Embassy official had also met Yasser Hashem, the assistant minister of consular affairs.

Mr Hashem said that he would look into the case and see if there was anything that could be done to resolve it, Mr Hunt went on.

I will continue to keep the court updated and officials in my department will continue to remain in contact with Ms Button.

Mr Justice Mostyn ordered Salama to assist Egyptian authorities by providing detail of relatives in Egypt.Jeremy Corbyn said he would be very happy to meet Theresa May for talks (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Theresa May is expected to meet Jeremy Corbyn for talks in an attempt to break the logjam over Brexit, prompting fury among Eurosceptic Tories.

Mrs May said on Tuesday that she would seek an extension beyond next week to allow negotiations with the Labour leader aimed at ensuring the UK leaves the European Union in a timely and orderly way.

Mr Corbyn said he would be very happy to meet the Prime Minister in a bid to offer certainty and security to the British people, but Tory Brexiteers reacted with anger.

Jacob Rees-Mogg described the offer as deeply unsatisfactory and accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with a known Marxist.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said: It is very disappointing that the Cabinet has decided to entrust the final handling of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

Conservative MP Henry Smith said Mrs May represents a monumental failure of British leadership, a betrayal of the majority who voted to leave the EU and Conservative Party membership, and added that he could not countenance her Corbyn/Brexit process.

The DUP said it remains to be seen if subcontracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily.

But Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he backed the talks with Labour because he wants to leave the EU.

He told BBC Twos Newsnight: One of my concerns has been that there are people within the House of Commons who want to frustrate that referendum mandate  there are people who want to do everything possible to prevent us leaving  and I wanted to ensure that minds are concentrated so that we do leave.

The leaders meeting is expected to take place as a cross-party group of senior MPs launches a separate attempt to force the PM to stop a no-deal Brexit by tabling legislation requiring her to delay Britains withdrawal beyond April 12.

A group of MPs  including Conservative grandee Sir Oliver Letwin and Labours Yvette Cooper  aim to fully pass a Bill through the Commons on Wednesday to stop the UK crashing out of the EU.

It follows the rejection of her Withdrawal Agreement three times in the Commons and failure of MPs to back any of the alternative proposals considered so far.

Good that Theresa May is looking for a cross-party compromise. Better late than neverGuy Verhofstadt

Instead of initiating a third round of indicative votes on Wednesday, when Parliament once more has control over the Commons timetable, Sir Oliver will table a paving motion to allow debate and votes on Ms Coopers Bill. An amendment to his motion would set aside April 8 for indicative votes.

The single-clause Cooper Bill requires the Prime Minister to table her own motion seeking MPs approval for an extension to the Article 50 process of Brexit talks to a date of her choosing.

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The group behind the Bill, which also includes former Tory chairwoman Dame Caroline Spelman, Commons Brexit Committee chairman Hilary Benn, former attorney general Dominic Grieve and Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb, hopes once it has passed the Commons it could be approved by the House of Lords and granted royal assent in time for the emergency EU summit on April 10.

Parliament will be debating today our cross-party bill to avert No Deal on 12 April & ensure transparent process for PM decisions - for sake of manufacturing, jobs, NHS, families & national security  Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) April 3, 2019

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the European Union will hold the first of a series of briefings on Brexit preparedness, while European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will speak about the UKs withdrawal in Brussels.

European Parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt, who had said he thought a no-deal Brexit was nearly inevitable, welcomed Mrs Mays offer of talks with Mr Corbyn.



Good that PM @theresa_may is looking for a cross-party compromise. Better late than never, he tweeted.

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If the European Council proposes an extension beyond May 22, it is understood that it would be possible for the UK to take the steps necessary to prepare for European Parliament elections on May 23, but then cancel them at the last minute if the withdrawal deal was ratified.

Following the mammoth Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, one source said ministers were split 14-10 against asking for a long extension to the Brexit process.

But a second Cabinet source said ministers spoke 17-4 in favour of the limited extension sought by the Prime Minister, with just Gavin Williamson, Penny Mordaunt, Chris Grayling and Liz Truss opposed to the measure.Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said it is not entirely clear where Theresa May is willing to compromise on Brexit.

Ms Sturgeon, who held good and open talks in Westminster with the Prime Minister and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday afternoon, said Mrs May did not say where her red lines might be moved.

She told reporters outside Parliament following the talks: Its still to be frank not entirely clear to me where the Prime Minister is prepared to compromise  she seems to know where others might want to compromise but is not being particularly open about where her red lines might be moved or where she sees the room for compromise on her part is.

I suppose overall my concern is that in the rush to reach some compromise with the clock ticking, what will happen over the next few days, if anything will happen over the next few days, is that a bad compromise will be reached.

Ms Sturgeon warned: People will probably heave a sigh of relief that some agreement has been reached but then very quickly realise that it is not in the interests of the UK, it will satisfy no-one and of course will be open to be being unpicked by a prime minister that is not Theresa May, perhaps somebody like Boris Johnson

I made the point pretty forcibly to her that if you want to get into a discussion about compromise it has to be a two-way discussion.Nicola Sturgeon

If I was in Jeremy Corbyns shoes I would be very wary about signing up to anything that may not be able to be delivered and in fact may not be enough in the first place.

She said she got the impression Mr Corbyn would drive a hard bargain in negotiations with the PM, and that she really hopes Labour does not sell out for a bad deal.

Ms Sturgeon said Mrs May was more interested in where I wanted to compromise but wasnt very open about the detail of how she could move.

I made the point pretty forcibly to her that if you want to get into a discussion about compromise it has to be a two-way discussion  it cant simply be in one direction.

She added: Its frustrating when you dont feel youre getting any sense from her exactly where her boundaries are  I was trying to be as open as possible about where my boundaries were but I felt I wasnt exactly getting the same in return.Theresa May and her husband Philip after attending a church service (Steve Parsons/PA)

Philip May has been a tower of strength to the Prime Minister during the Brexit process, her constituency Conservative Association chairman has said.

Richard Kellaway, chairman of the Maidenhead Association, said Mr May was a thinking mans Denis Thatcher and a very solid sort of chap.

Mr Kellaway sees the Prime Minister and her husband about twice a month to campaign in Maidenhead, where she has a majority of 26,000.

He said that while Mrs May does not discuss internal Cabinet rifts with her local association, Mr May had a strong influence on her decision-making.

I have little discussions with Philip May occasionally, to get his thoughts and ideas, Mr Kellaway said.

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Hes a very solid sort of chap. Hes got a lot of political nous. At Oxford, he was president of the Union and she didnt do anything.

He is a tower of strength really. Hes a thinking mans Denis Thatcher.

Philips a bit more involved than Denis Thatcher would have been in the politics.

Mr Kellaway said if Theresa May managed to pass a deal in Parliament, she would likely stand down.

A replacement leader should take a harder stance on Brexit, he said.

Her thinking was that if she gets any deal through, she would step away and let someone else lead the Conservative Party, he said.

I suppose the logic is that it should be a sterner Brexiteer to do it.

We dont discuss this with her, she wont discuss it with us.

She was out canvassing on Saturday but we dont have earnest discussions on the pavement.Campaigners and politicians should watch their language to avoid inflaming the incredibly febrile atmosphere around Brexit, one of the countrys most senior police officers has warned.

Martin Hewitt, who this week became chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council, said that public figures should be wary of consequences that werent intended when speaking about the issue.

Addressing journalists during a briefing at the National Police Co-ordination Centre, he said: This is highly emotive as an issue as we all know and clearly everyone will have their opinions.

But I think there is a responsibility on those individuals that have a platform and have a voice, to communicate in a way that is temperate and is not in any way going to inflame peoples views.

The political situation over Brexit has already seen heated protests on both sides, and a number of MPs have requested beefed-up security in the past six months.

Police have also seen an increase in abuse aimed at politicians, Commander Adrian Usher, who leads parliamentary policing, said.

Mr Hewitt went on: We are in an incredibly febrile atmosphere as a result of the whole EU exit scenario.

We know and we can see that people are expressing themselves, were seeing a degree of protest, a degree of demonstration, there is a lot of angry talk that you can pick up if you look across social media.

In any scenario like that where there are a range of outcomes its incumbent on anybody in a position of responsibility, and who has a voice, to just think carefully about the way that they express their views and their opinions, so that what theyre not doing is inciting behaviour or causing anybody to behave in a way that we wouldnt want them to behave.

He added: We are in a febrile atmosphere and if you are in a position where you know you are going to be listened to, you need to think very carefully about the language that you are using so that it doesnt end up with consequences that werent intended.

The number of crimes linked to Brexit, although small, has more than doubled in a fortnight, with 26 last week and 11 the week before.

About half were malicious communications, while the remainder included verbal abuse, harassment and protest activity.

One protester admitted climbing on to a station roof and causing widespread disruption to Eurostar services, while British Transport Police are looking for another who planted devices aimed at bringing trains to a halt in Cambridgeshire and Nottinghamshire.

In general terms, levels of hate crime in England and Wales have not yet fallen back to the levels recorded before the 2016 Brexit referendum.

In 2017/18, 94,098 of these offences were recorded, a rise of 17% on the previous year, thought also to be fuelled by the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.

Chief Constable Charlie Hall, the NPCC lead for operations, said that the police have pushed back on other authorities to make sure that officers are only used if absolutely necessary.

This includes issues such as queuing at ports and maintaining the supply chains of food, fuel and medicine.

He said: Weve been very clear that policing support should only really be called on if absolutely necessary in dealing with the wider civil contingencies.

Mr Hall added: Our push has been back to those sectors, those parts of government, the private sector, to say its your responsibility to look at your individual supply chains and you should not be looking to police to come in to supplement and keep your supply chain running.

Local resilience forums, which include representatives from councils and the police, have carried out training exercises to deal with shortages, and police training has included dealing with disorder including looting.

Under existing national contingency plans, every police force is expected to make a certain number of officers available to be deployed wherever they are required.

More than 10,000 riot-trained officers can be deployed within 24 hours if needed, with 1,000 available in the first hour. This is more than were mobilised during the 2011 riots.

There are also specialist teams such as dog handlers, armed police and search-trained officers which can be called upon.

Currently 1,000 have received extra training so that they can be deployed to Northern Ireland if needed. The police there use armoured Land Rovers and water cannon, unlike their mainland counterparts.

So far 15 forces have placed restrictions on annual leave, and two have officially asked for mutual aid  Kent, which covers the port of Dover, and Hampshire, which covers Portsmouth.

Forces are expected to cut down on peripheral police activity like crime prevention work and to cancel training if needed.

Mr Hall said special constables, volunteer police officers, could also be used if required.The Prince of Wales is heading to the North West (Chris Jackson/PA)

The Prince of Wales will visit Muslims in Manchester and the makers of Uncle Joes Mint Balls in Wigan during a day-long royal visit to the region.

Charles first engagement will be at the British Muslim Heritage Centre in Whalley Range, Manchester, to meet members of the Muslim community and learn about the centres programme of education and community initiatives.

Charles has worked for many years to encourage inter-faith dialogue and greater understanding of different religions, both in Britain and abroad.

Next he will travel to Wigan, visiting The Old Courts in the town centre, to learn about the buildings restoration into a community arts centre.

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While there, he will meet participants from a variety of local arts projects before the tour moves to the Toffee Works to celebrate 100 years of family-run William Santus & Co Ltds factory operating on the site, where it makes its most famous product, Uncle Joes Mint Balls.

Charles final visit will be to Wigan Little Theatre, where he will watch a short variety performance, before meeting the performers.One of the key figures of the Russian oil and gas industry, chairman of the Board of the Union of Oil and Gas Producers of Russia, chairman of the Supreme Mining Council Yuri Shafranik told Vestnik Kavkaza about the Caspian-Caucasus direction of Russia's energy projects.

- Yuri Konstantinovich, what is the significance of signing the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea for the oil and gas cooperation of the five Caspian littoral states?

- The signing of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea is a huge step forward in the cooperation of our states. It's not just a certain change, but a whole new era in the life of the Caspian region. The Convention creates the basis for any further progress and recovers countries and their projects from the uncertain condition of previous years. First of all, it concerns Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. Not much has changed over the past few months, but the atmosphere of our cooperation has become completely different, which is the most important thing.

- How do you assess Russia-Azerbaijan oil and gas relations?

- As in the past, I think they are extremely positive. It is a pity that Russia had not so many projects in Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, but it was a problem of the time as a whole. Azerbaijan proposed and promoted the development of cooperation with Russia, but at that time our country had to deal with its own economy, since the general decline in the industry in the 1990s had prevented it from investing actively in international projects. But now I think we have just a great relationship.

- We also want to know your opinion on the North Caucasus - what were the developments in the fuel and energy industry in this region?

- The colossal success and tremendous achievement of the last years was gasification and electrification of the North Caucasus, including its mountain villages. The Soviet legacy has not just been restored, but many steps forward were taken in this direction. Today, the NCFD is provided with all energy industry indicators.

In the future, it will be necessary to develop Russia's shelf of the Caspian Sea, from Dagestan to the border with Kazakhstan. We still need to approach this issue, as it is associated with big risks and requires huge investments. I personally studied the issue many times and saw that the project can be realized, but it requires significant and risky money, so it's a plan for the future.

The Black Sea shelf, which stretches from the coast of Georgia and Abkhazia to the Krasnodar Territory, is also quite promising and also requires a special approach and money.Nicola Stocker leaving the High Court during her libel trial in 2016 (Anthony Devlin/PA)

The UKs highest court is set to rule on the case of a woman who lost a libel battle over Facebook posts about her ex-husband.

Nicola Stocker said businessman Ronald Stocker had tried to strangle her, during an online exchange with his new partner, Deborah Bligh, in December 2012.

Mr Stocker, 68, won a court battle against his ex-wife at Londons High Court after Mr Justice Mitting found that those reading the comments would think she meant he had tried to kill her.

After the Court of Appeal upheld that ruling, Mrs Stocker, 51, of Longwick, Buckinghamshire, took her case to the Supreme Court  where a panel of five judges will give their ruling on Wednesday.

Outlining Mrs Stockers case at a hearing in January, her barrister David Price QC said the appeal raises issues of general importance for defamation claims.

He told the Supreme Court: The appellant is an individual with no interest in the law of defamation other than the ultimate outcome of this claim and the hope that it might assist others who find themselves in a similar position.

Mr Price added: The phrase tried to strangle is a common way of describing an assault involving a constriction of the neck or throat where the victim is alive.

The phrase does not convey an intent to kill in ordinary language or in relevant criminal offences.

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Lawyers for Mr Stocker, of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, argued that Mr Justice Mitting reached the right conclusion and urged the judges to dismiss the appeal.

During the High Court trial in 2016, the court heard that the allegations were published to 21 individuals who had authorised access to the page.

They were also visible to 110 of Ms Blighs friends and to their Facebook friends.

Ruling in favour of Mr Stocker, Mr Justice Mitting had said a comment on Facebook was the same as a comment posted on an office noticeboard and Mrs Stocker had no right to assume it was private.

The judge found that Mr Stocker did in temper attempt to silence his ex-wife, but was not satisfied he had threatened to kill her and therefore her comments had a defamatory meaning.

He said the libel was not trivial, and assessed the appropriate compensation at 5,000  though Mr Stocker did not want any money.

Mrs Stocker previously challenged the judges ruling at the Court of Appeal.

But she was left facing a hefty legal bill after her case was rejected by three senior judges in February last year.Algerian demonstrators have demonstrated for weeks against Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his regime (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul)

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has stepped down after 20 years in office and weeks of massive nationwide protests aimed at pushing him out of power.

The announcement followed a call from the powerful army chief for the ailing president, 82, to immediately take up his proposal to bow out while respecting the constitution.

The official APS news agency said that Bouteflika had notified the Constitutional Council of his decision to end his mandate.

There was no immediate word on who would take over.

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Under the constitution, the president of the upper house, the Council of Nations, steps in as interim leader for a maximum of 90 days so that elections can be organised.

Army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah had earlier in the day convened a meeting of the top military hierarchy, making clear that the call for Bouteflika to step down had the backing of the military.

The Defence Ministry communique referred to Bouteflikas entourage as a gang and said it had made fraud, embezzlement and duplicity its vocation.

He has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke. His resignation caps six weeks of peaceful protest marches calling for him to make an exit.

It was preceded by calls for him to submit to Article 102 of the Constitution that would declare him unfit for office.

The Defence Ministry statement Tuesday appeared to be a final warning.

Bouteflika came to the presidency after its darkest period, the 1990s Islamic insurgency. After taking power in 1999, he managed to bring back stability to a country devastated by killings and distrust.

As president, age and illness took its toll, and corruption scandals dogged him and associates.

Bouteflika is accused of failing to create an economy that could offer enough jobs, despite the nations vast oil and gas wealth.

In a country where secrecy surrounds the leadership, it has never been clear whether Bouteflika was fully in charge or whether the powerful army was pulling the strings.The US House Judiciary Committee has approved subpoenas for special counsel Robert Muellers full Russia report as Democrats pressure the Justice Department to release the document without redactions.

The committee voted 24-17 to give judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler permission to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for the final report, its exhibits and any underlying evidence or materials prepared for Mr Muellers investigation.

Mr Nadler has not yet said if he will send the subpoenas.

House Democrats had given US attorney general William Barr until Tuesday to provide the full report to Congress.

The Justice Department ignored that deadline, with Mr Barr telling committee chairmen in a letter last week that a redacted version of the almost 400-page report would be released by mid-April, if not sooner.

The vote further escalates the Democrats battle with the Justice Department over how much of the report they will be able to see, a fight that could eventually end up in court if the two sides cannot settle their differences through negotiation.

Democrats have said they will not accept redactions and want to see the evidence unfiltered by Mr Barr.

In the letter last week, Mr Barr said he is scrubbing the report to avoid disclosing any grand jury information or classified material, in addition to portions of the report that pertain to ongoing investigations or that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.

Democrats say they want access to all of that information, even if some of it cannot be disclosed to the public.

Mr Nadler said he will give Mr Barr time to change his mind on redactions, but if they cannot reach an agreement they will issue the subpoenas in very short order.

He also said he is prepared to go to court to get the grand jury information.

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This committee requires the full report and the underlying materials because it is our job, not the attorney generals, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office, Mr Nadler said.

The judiciary panel also voted Wednesday to authorise subpoenas related to five of President Donald Trumps former top advisers, including strategist Steve Bannon, communications director Hope Hicks, chief of staff Reince Priebus, White House counsel Donald McGahn and counsel Ann Donaldson.

Ms Donaldson served as Mr McGahns chief of staff before both left the administration.

The five were key witnesses in Mr Muellers probe of possible obstruction of justice and were sent document requests by the judiciary panel last month, along with dozens of other people connected to Trump.

Mr Nadler said he is concerned about reports that documents relevant to Mr Muellers investigation were sent outside the White House, meaning the committee should have access to them because they may not be covered by executive privilege.

Mr Trump himself has largely deferred to Barr on the reports release while also saying he would not mind if the full version was made public.

Still, he has criticised Democrats for seeking the unredacted information.

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He tweeted on Tuesday that there is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Mr Nadler or House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, who has also called for the full release.

In a four-page summary of Mr Muellers report on March 24, Mr Barr wrote that the special counsel did not find that Mr Trumps campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election.

He also said Mr Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Mr Trump obstructed the federal investigation, instead setting out evidence on both sides of the question.

Mr Barr himself went further than Mr Mueller in his summary letter, declaring that Mr Muellers evidence was insufficient to prove in court that Mr Trump had committed obstruction of justice to hamper the probe.Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, one of the landmarks of Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei (Vincent Thian/AP)

Members of Bruneis LGBTQ community have expressed their fears as new Islamic criminal laws took effect on Wednesday.

The new measures, which include punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death, have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nations shores.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Bruneis Shariah Penal Code.

UN Human Right Chief @mbachelet urges #Brunei to stop new penal code that seriously breach international human law  incl. death by stoning. Brunei retains death penalty in law but has been abolitionist in practice since 1957.



Learn more: https://t.co/BgWjo1o5Fb pic.twitter.com/Jx8J5bTPzK  UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 1, 2019

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim.

Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years.

The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays.

But under the new laws, which also apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim, those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped.

We feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they wantKun, a member of Brunei's LGBTQ community

Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second.

Living in Brunei, we already knew that our sexual identity is taboo and should not be expressed.

We already felt belittled before the law came to place, said a 23-year-old member of the LGBTQ community who wanted to be identified only as Kun out of fear of reprisal from the authorities.

Now with it, we feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they want, he said.

#Bruneis decision to implement Phases Two & Three of the Sharia Penal Code & associated penalties runs counter to its international human rights obligations. The U.S. strongly opposes violence, criminalization & discrimination targeting vulnerable groups including LGBTI persons. pic.twitter.com/AfVkCUWrR0  Jalina Porter (@StateDeputySpox) April 3, 2019

Celebrities including George Clooney, Sir Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boycott of nine hotels in the US and Europe with ties to Hassanal, who is still sultan.

Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? Clooney wrote on Thursday on Deadline Hollywood.

Clooney said that while you cant shame murderous regimes, you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them.

Customers at two prestigious Paris hotels owned by the sultan expressed their support for a boycott.

Outside the Le Meurice hotel, Philippe Menager said he was no longer comfortable going to the spa after being a regular customer for 15 years.

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I cant continue to be a frequent visitor of the hotels of this savage to preserve the jobs of the people who work at Le Meurice  who are very nice and I like them, he said.

A tourist from Norway, Anja Anderson, said she would have stayed at a hotel other than the Plaza Athenee had she heard about the boycott before making her reservation.

There has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties in Brunei, where the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority.

Public criticism of his policies is extremely rare in the country.

Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of special guidance from God and would be part of the great history of Brunei.

On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans.

The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalisation and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

Bruneis Southeast Asian neighbours, some of whom have laws banning sex between men, were silent.

But LGBTQ citizens of other nearby Muslim-majority countries were concerned about the broad penalties.

I am very worried that Indonesia or Malaysia may follow the lead, said a 24-year-old man from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysias capital, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Ludwig.

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I think people nowadays, especially the younger generation, are quite OK with LGBT, but those who are not make the loudest noise and they are the reason why it seems like everyone is against it.

Nearly two-thirds of Malaysias 32 million people are Muslim.

They are governed by Islamic courts in family, marriage and personal issues. Last year, two Malaysian Muslim women were convicted under Islamic laws and caned for attempting to have sex with each other.

Cruel and inhuman punishments such as death by stoning for same-sex sexual acts and amputation for robbery will come into effect in Brunei Darussalam next week.



The changes would allow stoning and amputation as punishments  including for children. https://t.co/dfQab55aF4  Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) March 28, 2019

Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Bruneis government to stop the entry into force of this Draconian new penal code.

Any religion-based legislation must not violate human rights, including the rights of those belonging to the majority religion as well as of religious minorities and non-believers, she said in a statement on Monday.

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called on the sultan to immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments.

Bruneis new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes, Robertson said in a statement Wednesday.

Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei researcher at Amnesty International, decried the vicious laws and asked the international community to condemn them.Germanys Foreign Ministry has said it has protested against Bruneis plans to implement Islamic criminal laws that punish gay sex by stoning offenders to death.

German diplomats expressed concern at the introduction of Sharia law penalties and appealed to Bruneis ambassador to abide by existing international human rights obligations, the ministry.

The legal change in the tiny, oil-rich monarchy, which also includes amputation for theft, is due to come into force on Wednesday.

Human rights group Amnesty International has slammed the punishments as vicious.

American actor George Clooney, who is married to prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, called recently for a boycott of luxury hotels in Europe and the United States linked to Bruneis Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

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The sultan holds Germanys Federal Order of Merit, a distinction bestowed on him in an exchange of honours during a state visit in 1998. Frank Mueller-Rosentritt, an MP with the opposition Free Democrats, suggested that he could be stripped of the award.

The German presidents office said that orders awarded during state visits cannot be revoked, but stressed President Frank-Walter Steinmeiers rejection of the death penalty and stance that threatening gay people with cruel punishments violates elementary human rights.Nicolas Maduro loyalists have stripped Venezuelas Juan Guaido of immunity, paving the way for the opposition leaders prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether the government of President Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old following the Constituent Assemblys decision remains unclear.

Mr Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the presidents socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.

He declared himself Venezuelas interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Mr Maduro.

A defiant Mr Guaido spoke publicly moments after the vote, saying he was undeterred while knowing he runs the risk of being kidnapped by the Maduro government.

We are aware of that, Mr Guaido said. But we will not change our path.

He cited low wages driving millions abroad and the spate of blackouts that have crippled the nations public transportation, water services and communications.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Mr Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio  who has Mr Trumps ear on Venezuela policy  said before the vote that nations recognising Mr Guaido as his countrys legitimate leader should take any attempt by Mr Maduros government to abduct him as a coup.

And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly, Mr Rubio said on Twitter.

Any effort to abduct @jguaido should be considered a coup d etat by every nation that has recognized him as the legitimate Interim President of #Venezuela. And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly.  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 2, 2019

Tuesday nights vote was unanimous. Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

They dont care about the deaths, Mr Cabello said. They dont have the slightest idea of what the consequences of war are for a country.

The Constituent Assembly met a day after Mr Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered the legislative body to strip Mr Guaidos immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general.

The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence linked to street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

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The Constitution guarantees immunity for elected officials, and says that in order to withdraw immunity the accused must be given a preliminary hearing before the Supreme Court.

The action must be approved by the National Assembly  steps that were not taken in Mr Guaidos case.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Guaido dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate, and continued his calls for Mr Maduro to step down.

Mr Guaido has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks.

Officials jailed his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, accused of involvement in a terrorist scheme to overthrow the government.

Mr Maduros government also barred Mr Guaido from holding public office for 15 years for allegedly hiding or falsifying data in his sworn statement of assets.

The opposition leader has drawn masses of Venezuelans into the streets and garnered broad international support, demanding Mr Maduro give up rule of the crisis-wracked nation.

Defying the court order, Mr Guaido left the country in late February for a 10-day tour of South America, meeting with foreign leaders who support the Venezuelan opposition and who reject Mr Maduros election last year for a second six-year term.Jens Stoltenbergs address was the first to Congress by a NATO head (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Jens Stoltenberg has acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance and called for bigger defence budgets to cope with global challenges, such as Russian assertiveness.

In the first address to Congress by a Nato head, he said: Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences.

The Nato secretary general credited President Donald Trump with compelling allies to spend more on defence. But he did not mention that Trump has also questioned the value of the alliance and suggested that some members are freeloaders.

Trumps criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington as its leader.

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Stoltenbergs speech provided a diplomatic counterpoint to Trumps sometimes derisive rhetoric, and the enthusiastic reception he received from both parties in the House was testament to an enduring pro-Nato consensus in Congress.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was Natos top commander from 2009 to 2013, called the Stoltenberg address a high point in recent US-European relations.

Given the presidents evident and frequently vocalised scepticism of the alliance, it is clear that Congress  on a bipartisan basis  wants to put the full weight of the legislative branch behind Nato, Stavridis said.

We will never find a better pool of allies in the world than the Europeans, and this address underscores the importance of the trans-Atlantic bridge, which has been creaking a bit lately.

Trumps criticisms are not Natos only source of friction.

Honoured to address the joint meeting of Congress to thank the US for its enduring support since #NATO was founded 70 years ago. Through NATO, the US has more friends & allies than any other power. Together we are stronger & safer: https://t.co/uULiFwKOSJ pic.twitter.com/3t3hKPQxWB  Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) April 3, 2019

The alliance also is at odds with long-time member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defence system that is not compatible with the allied air defenses.

The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest US fighter jet, the F-35, if the Turks go through with their plan to buy Russias advanced S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

Stoltenberg made a point of highlighting the benefits to the United States of having Nato allies.

Our alliance has not lasted for 70 years out of a sense of nostalgia or of sentiment, he said. Nato lasts because it is in the national interest of each and every one of our countries.

Stoltenberg on Thursday will lead a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to mark 70 years since the alliances founding charter, the North Atlantic Treaty.

The alliance has grown from its original 12 members to 29, with the Republic of North Macedonia about to become the 30th member country.

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Stoltenberg, a two-time former prime minister of Norway, is the first head of Nato to address a joint meeting of Congress.

He touted the alliances long record of partnership but also noted it has a history of coping with internal divisions, including strong opposition by France, Germany and other members to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

Open discussions and different views is not a sign of weakness, he said. It is a sign of strength. So we should not be surprised when we see differences between our countries.

Today there are disagreements on issues such as trade, energy, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. These are serious issues with serious disagreements.

Trump has sharply criticised other Natomembers, including Germany, for not meeting spending targets. On Tuesday, he praised the generally upward trend among the European allies, but hounded them to pay even more because he believes America still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

In a meeting at the White House, Trump and Stoltenberg had kind words for each other. But in the past, Trump has called Natoobsolete and suggested he might pull the US out of the alliance if member nations didnt significantly boost defence spending.Many Democrats have already entered the race to be the partys 2020 presidential nominee but some are faring better than others in the all important task of raising the money needed to fund a campaign.

The totals for the first quarter, which ran through to March 31, are the first measure of how candidates are performing.

Details for the entire field will not be known until candidates file their required disclosures with the Federal Election Commission by April 15.

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Bernie Sanders, with former vice-president Joe Biden, is faring well in the polls but with Mr Biden yet to formally launch a White House bid, Mr Sanders is the early trailblazer in terms of campaign donations.

The senator from Vermont, who showed surprising fundraising ability in his challenge to eventual Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago, raised more than 18 million US dollars in the 41 days between his official campaign launch and March 31, giving him 28 million dollars cash to hand.

Those totals are expected to lead the Democratic field, putting pressure on other heavyweights, including Mr Biden, who is still deciding whether to run and who is navigating accusations that he has acted inappropriately toward women.

As promised, heres a more complete breakdown our Q1 fundraising metrics, including number of donors (158,550), average donation ($36.35), and the percent of our total raised that came in through contributions under $200 (64%) -- second half of video to follow. #PeteforAmerica pic.twitter.com/41gedmRiNW  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 2, 2019

Besides Mr Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris of California put up an impressive 12 million dollar haul.

Former US Representative Beto ORourke of Texas did not offer a fundraising total, but aides said he raised more than one million dollars over the weekend and previously said he raised more than six million dollars in his first 24 hours as a candidate.

Mr Sanders haul shows that his base is just as enthusiastic as it was four years ago.

Over the last two months, the response to our campaign has been inspiring:



- $12 million raised

- 218,000 individual contributions

- 99% of donors can give again



No corporate PACs. No federal lobbyists. A real, grassroots campaign  by the people and for the people.  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 2, 2019

In fact, it may be growing.

The senators campaign noted that of his 525,000 unique donors, about 20% are new, about 100,000 are registered independents and about 20,000 are registered Republicans.

As impressive as Mr Sanders fundraising has been, it is not as large as previous presidential contenders who were more reliant on big donors.

In her first quarter as a candidate ahead of 2016, Mrs Clinton topped 45 million dollars.

In 2007, when then-senator Barack Obama and Mrs Clinton were beginning their long battle for the 2008 nomination, the favourite Mrs Clinton opened with an initial fundraising quarter of 36 million dollars, while the underdog Mr Obama pulled in 26 million dollars.

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Mr Sanders fundraising haul set the curve for all candidates and will give pause to some of the other perceived heavyweights in the field, particularly his fellow senators Ms Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Ms Harris is the only candidate of that group to release her fundraising totals.

But the biggest winner may be Pete Buttigieg, an unlikely headline-grabber even among a group of lesser-known candidates that includes governors and members of Congress.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised seven million US dollars, calling it a great look for our first quarter.

That might be an understatement.

Its the last day of the quarter and we need you to be like Reilys mom. Give $1 now to support a strong woman in the White House. https://t.co/iVg91M9DTq https://t.co/Lbxtz4YcUk  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) April 1, 2019

Such a sum ensures Mr Buttigieg can finance a legitimate campaign operation for months as long as he is not a profligate spender.

Mr Buttigieg said he has almost 160,000 unique donors, a mark that meets the new grassroots fundraising thresholds that the Democratic National Committee has set for candidates to qualify for the initial summer debates.

The eventual Democrat nominee will take on President Donald Trump in 2020.Sir Edward Carson, reflecting on the struggle against Home Rule and the partitioning of Ireland, ruefully stated: "I was only a puppet, and so was Ulster, and so was Ireland, in the political game that was to get the Conservative Party into power."

Carson's words of regret should be emblazoned on the door of the DUP's headquarters as a warning to them, and other unionists, to beware aligning themselves with the Conservative Party.

It is like a struggling debtor trusting a vulture fund to show mercy and not sell his home.

Such is the nature of the Conservative Party that it has no loyalty, even to those, like the DUP, who have saved their skins and kept them in power over the past three years.

The DUP foolishly aligned themselves with a group of Tory hardliners, the European Research Group (ERG), who are intent on seizing power within their own party and have no commitment to Northern Ireland, the Union or the DUP.

The issue of Brexit is an unscrupulous power-play by Boris Johnson and his supporters to make him Prime Minister. The DUP have fallen into the same trap that Carson regretted at the end of his political life.

Therefore, it should have come as no great surprise when the bulk of the Eurosceptic Tories welched on their "principled" opposition to Theresa May's deal, including the much-hated backstop, and, in a spectacular somersault, voted for it in parliament last Friday afternoon.

You could not disagree with their own reasoning, which was that the withdrawal deal was the least-worst option. The other options were either a much softer Brexit, or, alternatively, a new referendum, which could risk reversing the Brexit result of June 2016.

For the hardline Tory Brexiteers, in their huge flip-flop to support Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, it was a naked act of political expediency that saw little value in clinging to their much-vaunted principled opposition to the withdrawal deal.

In a monumental climbdown, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chair of the ERG, admitted that May's deal was the least-worst option and, therefore, supported it in the parliamentary vote. He encouraged the DUP to do likewise or to abstain.

The DUP, unmoved by this display of realpolitik by the ERG, stuck to their benighted principles and voted against May's deal, which was defeated for the third time.

Nigel Dodds, now the real leader of the DUP, said in response on the BBC's Newsnight programme: "I would rather stay in the EU and remain, rather than risk Northern Ireland's position."

This was an extraordinary statement of reversal by a party that has mistakenly placed its trust in a dubious group of political opportunists.

But the DUP have only themselves to blame, as they are blind to the reality of their own counterproductive strategy in supporting Brexit over the past three years.

Did they not realise from the very outset that Brexit, in itself, could threaten the position of Northern Ireland within the UK?

Brexit inevitably saw the reintroduction of the border as a live political issue (having been put to bed by the Good Friday Agreement).

Brexit seriously challenges the unionist position, as it has reawakened the sleeping giant of militant Irish nationalism and also revived the weakened independence movement in Scotland, thus threatening the political unity of the United Kingdom.

Continued membership of the EU could be a tie-breaker in a hotly contested referendum on Scottish independence that is now inevitable, given all that has happened at Westminster over Brexit.

Could the DUP leadership not see the political insanity of supporting Brexit from the very beginning? What value was there, from a unionist viewpoint, in the rekindling of the border as a potent issue?

But alas, the DUP went on an emotional roller coaster by demanding a hard Brexit and opposing the Prime Minister's middle position.

In doing so, they wittingly, or unwittingly, upset the political calibration of the Good Friday Agreement.

In addition, the DUP foolishly elevated the backstop into a constitutional issue, which it is not. The backstop is a practical measure to protect the agreement, which, in itself, protects the unionist position.

And, as our anxious local business leaders have pointed out, the proposed backstop protects our economy and gives our businesses the best of both worlds, with one foot in the European Union and the other in the United Kingdom. Economically, this makes sense and will protect jobs and attract much-needed investment.

Being different to other UK regions has been a disadvantage in the past, but with the backstop, we could have a wonderful advantage that we can benefit from.

Now, Nigel Dodds, reconstituted as a born-again Remainer, might see the sense of the backstop too.Frankie Boyle has caused a stir over a joke on his show about the IRA

It can hardly be a shock to anyone that Frankie Boyle made a sick, offensive joke in his latest BBC comedy show.

I mean, it's Frankie Boyle - sick, offensive jokes are what the Scottish comedian does, in the same way that we all know what bears do in the woods.

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He's already sneered at kids with Down's syndrome, at Katie Price's disabled son Harvey, and made a really repulsive quip concerning Madeleine McCann and Jimmy Savile. So why would we be surprised that he's now having a laugh about the IRA blowing up British Tories?

In his new BBC2 show, Frankie Boyle's New World Order, in which he supposedly tries to make sense of the chaos of Brexit, he pretended to sympathise with Theresa May over her protracted discussions at Chequers with the likes of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

Cue Frankie: "Where the f*** are the IRA when you need them?"

A few of Boyle's chortling fan-boys - some of whom are apt to turn fairly bitter and nasty when their wee Scottish hero gets criticised for his cruelty - may be too young to remember the bombing of the Conservative Party conference in 1984, in which five people died and 34 were injured.

Or else they did in fact get the reference and just enjoyed the idea of exploded Tories.

What a laugh, eh?

Anyone who doesn't find it funny must clearly be a humourless, Tory-loving fascist.

Maybe if they - or Boyle - had grown up in a country where people were regularly blown to bits they'd be less inclined to indulge themselves with a cosy, self-congratulatory titter.

But my big question is: why did the impeccably politically-correct BBC decide it was acceptable to broadcast this particular joke?

Would it allow a crack about the Isis-inspired London Bridge attack in 2017?

Or is that kind of terrorism not so side-splittingly funny?

Look, Boyle is going to be Boyle, and what he says at one of his own comedy gigs is entirely up to him.

We live in a free country, thank God, and the price of that is tolerating people's right to spout offensive stuff. If you don't like his particular brand of heartless, wilfully twisted humour, don't pay to go to his shows.

It's different, however, when a joke like this is broadcast by the BBC. This is our publicly-funded national broadcaster, which is supposed to uphold values of respect, integrity and fairness.

Did any of the Tristrams from Oxbridge who gave the thumbs-up to the inclusion of this quip stop to think of the ongoing pain of IRA victims?

Where is the respect or fairness for them?

Boyle was supposed to make a comeback in 2015 on a BBC radio show but, according to the comedian himself, the show was dropped because it included a joke about the IRA assassination of Lord Mountbatten.

Four years later it seems the BBC has decided that it's now OK to make a cheap gag out of the slaughter of innocent people.The Russian Export Center (REC) will hold a business mission in Baku on April 4. Director General of the Russian Export Center Andrey Slepnev, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev, Acting President of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) Yusif Abdullayev will participate in the events.

Along with the minister, the representatives of more than 60 Russian companies operating in various sectors of economy, including agriculture, ICT, automotive engineering, chemical industry and others, will visit Baku. The participants of the event will discuss the issues of cooperation and further steps to strengthen the ties. A number of cooperation agreements between the two countries will be signed during the delegations visit.

"Azerbaijan is a modern, fast-paced country. That attracts Russian companies to implement joint economic projects. Over 750 joint companies run operations on Azerbaijans market, of which around 300 have 100% Russian capital and more than 450 are in joint-venture format," TASS cited Slepnev as saying.

He noted that persistent efforts are made towards economic diversification and development of joint productions. The establishment of the GAZ car assembly plant in Azerbaijan has become one of the results. The foundation stone laying was held this February for a new manufacture facility to produce commercial freight vehicles and special-purpose machinery.The sight of a young woman crying at the site where police were searching for the body of her missing sister will have moved many people in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately that number is unlikely to include those who were involved in the murder or the disposal of the body or who know the perpetrators.

It is 14 years since Lisa Dorrian disappeared after attending a party at a caravan park near Ballyhalbert in Co Down. Now police are searching a former airfield near the caravan park in the hope of finding her body. New technology which can identify underground voids is being used for the first time.

Her sister Joanne spoke emotionally to the media as the search continued. She was right when she said that few people could imagine what the family has undergone in the past 14 years as hope of finding the body has flared intermittently only to be extinguished almost immediately.

Her description of the family walking those same fields years ago in the hope of finding Lisa was very moving and reminiscent of how the family of Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson must have similarly hoped to find her after her disappearance in 1994.

She too is presumed dead and the chief suspect in the crime, Robert Howard, died in prison in 2015.

Three other families - whose missing sons were murdered and secretly buried by the IRA and became known as the Disappeared - have also spent decades wondering about their loved ones' last hours and where their bodies now lie.

In Lisa's case her mother who campaigned tirelessly to find evidence of where she is buried died brokenhearted without ever finding out what happened to her daughter or being able to give her a Christian burial.

As time passes that becomes the overwhelming desire of those families whose children have disappeared. While the PSNI remains determined to find out the killers of Lisa, the family desperately wants her body recovered so they have a grave to visit. That is a natural desire and one which any civilised human being shares.

It must be nearly impossible for the Dorrian family to revisit the scene of Lisa's killing and to realise that there are people living not far away who know exactly what happened that night but refuse to give police the exact information they need to find the body and bring the killers to justice.

Could the tears of her sister not stir a little humanity?The scene following an IRA car bomb blast in Hyde Park, London, which killed four Royal Household Cavalrymen and seven horses (PA)

On Monday of this week, Eamon Delaneys opinion on how to address the escalating legacy crisis in Northern Ireland was published in the Belfast Telegraph.

Out of the traps, Mr Delaney cited Brexit; asserting that the current chaos and crisis in Westminster is the reason for the collapse of the Stormont House Agreement and the ensuing legacy crisis.

Any claim that Brexit is responsible for the legacy crisis is false; indeed, any attempt to hitch the Brexit horse to the wagon of the Troubles is misplaced, dangerous and succour to extremists on both sides seeking to topple Northern Irelands fragile peace.

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The more mundane fact is this: the Stormont House Agreement is on hold because, in 2017, the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed with the resignation of Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister following the cash for ash scandal.

To be clear, this article isnt concerned with why the Stormont House Agreement collapsed; it certainly isnt interested in Brexit, and never the twain need meet.

So, why the pedantry? Because these are the facts and, in this Trumpian era of post-truth, safeguarding and preserving facts is more important than ever. Politics and politicians mustnt be allowed to disappear the truth, just so that the remaining void can be filled with alternative facts more amenable to their agenda.

Returning to the legacy crisis, Mr Delaney asks: Why should the killers of the 1990s go free, but those from much earlier get arrested? His conclusion is: because the peace process required difficult compromises and releasing the paramilitaries was one of them. It was about moving on.

Assuming Mr Delaney is referring to the terrorist On-the-Runs (OTRs), who were given a de facto amnesty by the Blair government, lets be clear: those paramilitaries who were released under the Good Friday Agreement were tried, convicted and served a minimum of two years in prison.

Consequently, their victims were, at the least, granted a modicum of justice in the form of a judicial ruling and record of truth identifying the perpetrators and the facts of what occurred, as well as the perpetrators receiving a custodial sentence.

In contrast, the OTRs spent years avoiding facing up to their alleged crimes in a cowardly way; whether hiding out overseas, or denying membership of that organisation whose cause was so important, they had once proudly killed for it. In the end, their previously professed high principles werent as important as saving their own skin.

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In the meantime, their alleged victims were left to suffer the secondary trauma of being denied justice and, worse, the truth of what happened to their murdered loved ones.

The enforced disappearance of persons is properly recognised as a crime against humanity and a terrorist tool. This is because of the uncertainty and fear it generates, as well as its denial of fundamental human rights, including the right to a fair trial.

While there are, of course, distinctions with the Disappeared, not knowing who was responsible for, and the truth about, a murder of a loved one, even when the body is located and identified, while watching the alleged perpetrator walk free, is arguably just as harmful to the individual and society in general.

The point is this: releases under the Good Friday Agreement and the Blair governments secret deal with the IRA to give OTRs get-out-of-jail-free cards are two very different things.

The former was a considered, transparent and necessary (albeit imperfect) compromise in the interests of peace; the latter was a violation of the human rights of the victims and survivors of the Troubles; a crass back-room deal done for the sake of political expediency. These are the facts. And theyre important. The difference between those released under the Good Friday Agreement and the OTRs is that the latter have never had to answer for their actions.

This is a stain on the peace process and, rather than tarnishing it further, moving now to ensure the OTRs are held to account and that stain is removed is an essential step to ensure and preserve its integrity.

Full disclosure: I am a solicitor whose firm acts for the families of those murdered by the IRA in the bombing of Hyde Park in 1982; murders for which John Downey is the chief suspect.

Last year, Downey was detained, pending extradition to Northern Ireland to face prosecution for two other terrorist murders, those of Alfred Johnston (32) and James Eames (33) in 1972.

Mr Delaney says that, in seeking to extradite and prosecute Downey and others, the British Government is being rather pedantic and even vengeful. Again, this ignores the facts, as well as the rights of the victims.

While the Public Prosecution Service and the Police Service of Northern Ireland deserve praise for seeking to hold Downey to account, it is only as a result of the tireless campaigning for justice of the families of his alleged victims who have brought this to pass.

Contrary to what Mr Delaney believes, I can confidently say the British Government, rather than being of any help, put every possible obstacle in the families way  a frustration felt not just by the families, but also, no doubt, by the police services.

Its very easy to politicise and, by doing so, complicate such matters, when the Government is held out to be responsible, but the reality is, it is the victims who are calling for justice  not the politicians. And it is the victims whom we should care about; not the politics.

Dont tell the victims to move on. Tell those in Government to do their job and to stop looking for the easy way out.

This truth is something that is being disappeared by the legacy process in Northern Ireland and it is this failure that has resulted in the shameful imbalance in the application of justice and a rewriting of history for which future generations will suffer.

Its simple: if you commit murder, whether you are a terrorist or an agent of the state, then you must answer for your crimes. Not for reasons of vengeance, but because justice is a human right.

A properly executed and balanced peace process can accommodate this and to withhold it from the victims is no less than a crime against humanity.

Matthew Jury is managing partner of London law firm McCue & Partners LLPPhilippine National Police Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde inspects guns, explosives and Islamic State group-style black flags during a news conference in Manila after the arrest of two suspected Muslim militants, April 1, 2019.

An improvised bomb exploded at a packed restaurant in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, wounding at least 18 people, police and military officials said.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomb went off outside Carlito's Restaurant in Isulan, a city in Sultan Kudarat province, about 1,441 km (900 miles) south of Manila, regional army spokesman Col. Gerry Besana said.

All military checkpoints were ordered to implement strict measures to lock down the town and arrest possible perpetrators, Besana said, adding that military tanks and armored personnel carriers had been dispatched to the area.

Two pregnant women and two children were among victims who were rushed to a nearby hospital, according to a list of the wounded provided by local officials.

Additional security had been quickly deployed to Isulan, a mixed Christian-Muslim town that was the site of two bombings that left five dead and scores wounded last year, officials said.

Wednesdays blast was the latest to hit the volatile region where security has been tense during the past two years after the government placed the southern region under martial law when pro-Islamic State (IS) militants took over the city of Marawi in May 2017.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Marawi, a once scenic predominantly Islamic city now partly abandoned after the deadly five-month siege. The government has said that some militants have escaped from Marawi and were recruiting for another attack.

In January, two bombs ripped through a Catholic Church on Jolo island, killing 23 people and wounding dozens. Military officials put the blame on the Abu Sayyaf, the smallest but most brutal of Philippine militant groups in the south. The IS claimed that a pair of its suicide bombers had carried out the blasts.

The Marawi siege was also launched by militants loyal to Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf leader who became the IS regional leader.

Last year, a bomb-laden van also exploded at a security checkpoint on the island of Basilan, killing 11 people. The IS also claimed responsibility for that attack, saying that an operative of German citizenship but of Moroccan roots executed the audacious strike.

The latest attack occurred as soldiers clashed with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), in the towns of Shariff Aguak and Datu Saudi Ampatuan elsewhere in the south. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the latest clashes Wednesday.

The BIFF is a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), once the countrys largest insurgent force that signed a peace pact with Manila and now control an autonomous region in the south.

We are not discounting the possibility of this groups involvement in the blast to divert authorities attention, local army spokesman, Capt. Army Encinas said, referring to the BIFF.Swiss lawyer Gregoire Mangeat met with the daughter of Uzbekistan's first president Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova, in the Uzbek womens prison colony.

"Just arrived at Zangiota womens prison colony Nr. 21. Trying to obtain acceptable conditions for our clients meeting," Mangeat wrote on his Twitter page.

The General Prosecutor's Office of Uzbekistan said Karimova was transferred to a prison after breaking conditions of house arrest, AKIpress reported.

Karimova was sentenced to 10 years in prison initially, but her prison term was then shortened to 5 years and Gulnara was placed under house arrest. She was required not to use Internet and pay the caused damage.Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, my take on the first leg of the Trump-O'Reilly History Tour.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesFor Immediate Release, April 3, 2019 Contact: Hannah Connor, (202) 681-1676, hconnor@biologicaldiversity.org Lawsuit Seeks Records on Trump Administration's OK of Bee-killing Pesticides, GE Crops on National Wildlife Refuges WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for public records on the Trump administrations decision to allow bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides and genetically engineered crops on national wildlife refuges. Todays lawsuit follows an August 2018 decision by the Trump administration to reverse a refuge-protection measure that prohibited the use of neonicotinoid pesticides and genetically engineered crops that trigger greater pesticide use. Pesticide-intensive farming has no place on Americas national wildlife refuges, said Hannah Connor, a senior attorney at the Center. The public has a right to know where and when these dangerous practices are being allowed to poison our refuges. These incredibly precious places were set up to protect wildlife, not industrial-scale commercial agriculture.



Between September and November 2018, the Center submitted multiple Freedom of Information Act requests to the Fish and Wildlife Service seeking public records on its 2018 decision to allow neonicotinoid pesticides and genetically engineered crops on national wildlife refuges. Todays lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, comes after the administration failed to respond to those public-record requests. First the Trump administration reversed a sensible ban on risky agricultural practices on wildlife refuges, and now its hiding key details about pesticide use in specific refuges, said Connor. The American public deserves to know how this administration is putting its toxic agenda above the interests of our public lands and imperiled wildlife. Under the Trump administration, the Service has been widely criticized and repeatedly sued for refusing to release records lawfully requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Background

The United States 562 national wildlife refuges are the world's largest collection of lands set aside specifically for the preservation of imperiled fish and wildlife. These forests, wetlands and waterways are vital to the survival of thousands of species, including more than 280 protected under the Endangered Species Act.



But industrial-scale farming of crops like corn and soybeans has become common on the refuges. According to a 2018 Center report, No Refuge, in 2016 alone an estimated 490,000 pounds of harmful pesticides were dumped on commodity crops grown throughout the refuge system. That pesticide use is expected to grow following the Trump administrations 2018 decision to allow pesticide-intensive, genetically engineered crops and bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides on these lands. The extensive use of pesticides by private, commercial farms on refuges threatens sensitive habitats and the very purpose of the refuge system. Neonicotinoid pesticides are a leading cause of large-scale pollinator declines. They are also highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and pose a substantial threat to birds. The European Union has banned these pesticides for outdoor uses in agriculture. The use of genetically engineered crops on wildlife refuges will spur an increased use of toxic pesticides like dicamba and glyphosate. That will ramp up harm to pollinators, as well as birds, aquatic animals, other wildlife and public health. Glyphosate use on genetically engineered crops has contributed to the significant decline of monarch butterflies over the past two decades because the pesticide kills milkweed, the monarch caterpillars only food. The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety launched a lawsuit challenging the Services 2018 reversal immediately after it was announced. That suit challenges the agencys failure to consider the risks of increased pesticide use to imperiled species that rely on national wildlife refuges for food, habitat and protection.For Immediate Release, April 3, 2019 Contact: J.P. Rose, Center for Biological Diversity, (408) 497-7675, jrose@biologicaldiversity.org

Nick Jensen, California Native Plant Society, (530) 368-7839, njensen@cnps.org Conservation Manager for Centennial Development Facing Financial Problems L.A. County Urged to Reconsider Project, Require Independent Management of Conservation Lands LOS ANGELES Conservation groups today urged the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to reconsider its tentative approval of the Centennial development because the organization charged with managing conservation lands for the massive project is in severe financial trouble. As todays letter to supervisors notes, the Tejon Ranch Conservancy recently announced that it will lose approximately half its staff because of a lack of funding. That will include the president and CEO, stewardship manager, public access manager and conservation communications manager. The environmental review for Centennial relies on the Conservancy to manage conservation lands set aside as mitigation for the proposed 12,000-acre Centennial development. The county cant expect an organization facing serious financial problems to manage thousands of acres of open space for conservation and public access, said J.P. Rose, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. These lands need to be managed by an independent and adequately funded state agency to protect their beauty and immense ecological value.



The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, an independent state agency, and county planning commissioner Laura Shell also have requested that these lands be managed by an independent public entity, but Tejon Ranch Company has refused. County supervisors have not required independent management despite having authority to do so. The Tejon Ranch Conservancy was created as part of a 2008 settlement agreement between Tejon Ranch Company and a group of environmental organizations. The agreement transfers all costs and liabilities relating to conservation activities and public access from Tejon Ranch Company to the Conservancy. Despite shifting costs to the Conservancy, Tejon Ranch Company retains control over who can access conservation lands. The company recently banned scientists and community members. Tejon Ranch Company received $15.8 million from California taxpayers for conservation easements on 62,000 acres of the conservation lands. The company shouldnt be able to have it both ways by taking money from the public and then banning the public from accessing these lands, said Nick Jensen, a Southern California conservation analyst at the California Native Plant Society. And L.A. County shouldnt condone the companys plan to shift mitigation costs onto a nearly insolvent conservancy while the company and its Wall Street investors make millions. The 12,000-acre Centennial development is one of the largest ever proposed in L.A. County and would destroy thousands of acres of rare wildflower fields and native grasslands. It would also add 75,000 new long-distance vehicle trips on the South Coasts crowded freeways. The conservation groups separately sent a letter to the Board indicating that Tejon Ranch Companys public representations regarding Centennial are inconsistent with documents released by County staff.For Immediate Release, April 3, 2019 Contacts: Julie Teel Simmonds, Center for Biological Diversity, (619) 990-2999, JTeelSimmonds@biologicaldiversity.org

Kurt Beardslee, Wild Fish Conservancy, (425) 788-1167, kurt@wildfishconservancy.org Lawsuit Aims to Protect West Coast Salmon for Starving Orcas Southern Resident Population Drops to 75 as Trump Administration Ignores Fisheries' Impact SEATTLE The Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Fish Conservancy sued the Trump administration today for mismanaging West Coast salmon fisheries and harming critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, a violation of the Endangered Species Act. That orca population has dropped to just 75 individuals, mostly because declining salmon runs have left them without enough to eat. Todays lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Western District of Washington. It seeks to compel the National Marine Fisheries Service to assess and reduce the threat to the endangered orcas from salmon fishing off Washington, Oregon and California. Southern Residents are also threatened by pollution and disturbance from vessel traffic. While orcas starve to death, the Trump administration is refusing to protect salmon populations crucial to their survival, said Julie Teel Simmonds, a Center attorney. Salmon and the killer whales that rely on them are both in trouble, and this fishery must be better managed to promote their recovery. If federal officials dont act now, well lose our chance to pull these beloved animals back from the edge of extinction. The Southern Resident population reached a 34-year low in 2018 after the loss of a newborn calf and a young female. Researchers have been closely watching two other ailing orcas that appear to be malnourished. Starving orcas show signs of peanut head  a condition in which an individual has lost so much body fat that a depression appears behind its blowhole. In January 2019 scientists confirmed the birth of a baby orca named Lucky. The first calf to survive past birth since 2015, Lucky underscores the urgent need to improve feeding opportunities for Southern Resident killer whales. The young orca and its pod were sighted this week in Californias Monterey Bay, highlighting the expansive range of the Southern Resident killer whales (which feed in the summer in Washingtons Puget Sound) and the importance of protecting the salmon they eat throughout their range. The Trump administration can no longer ignore the scientific evidence that clearly demonstrates the link between reduced size and abundance of Chinook and the reduced reproductive success of Southern Resident killer whales, said Kurt Beardslee, executive director of the Wild Fish Conservancy. Its time for federal fishery managers to acknowledge that starving killer whales and smaller and less abundant Chinook are merely symptoms of the problems created by harvest management that is fundamentally broken." In August 2018 the Center sued the Trump administration for failing to protect the Southern Residents full West Coast habitat. The Center launched another lawsuit in August 2018 to establish a whale protection zone to shield orcas from boat noise and disturbance in the heart of their Puget Sound habitat. Todays suit focuses on the administrations obligation under the Endangered Species Act to ensure that the Pacific Coast salmon fisheries do not jeopardize the Southern Resident killer whales. That includes a requirement to use the best available science on orcas to manage the salmon fishery. Trump officials relied on decade-old science to maintain the status quo in the Pacific salmon fisheries while these orcas are starving. Its not right, and its not what the Endangered Species Act calls for, Simmonds said. West Coast orcas cant afford another year without bold federal action based on sound science to reverse their decline.U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison said that the United States would like Turkey to remain a NATO member but without Russian-made S-400 air defense systems on its territory.

During a briefing ahead of the April 3-4 meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Washington, Hutchison evaded a direct answer to a question whether Turkey will be excluded from NATO if it buys Russian-made missile systems.

The U.S. diplomat noted that Turkey is a very important ally. "So we want Turkey to stay in the alliance," TASS cited her as saying.

"We want them not to have a Russian missile defense system in the middle of their country that cannot be interoperable with NATO," the envoy stressed.

"The United States is very concerned about Turkey having our F-35s in proximity to an S-400 Russian system because there could be a transfer of information, communications, or even an interruption of that," Hutchison added.The Report of The Committee of High Trade Margins in the Sale of Drugs suggests that profit margin should be the difference between the Price to Trade

The Delhi Government is working on a proposal to limit the mark-up on drugs and medical devices like consumables and implants to up to 50% over and above the procurement price for hospitals.

Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) in a statement said Delhi Governments plan to curb prices of drugs and medical devices in hospitals will be effective if an equitable base is fixed to reach the acceptable margin of 50%.

Pavan Choudary, MTaI Chairman and Director General said, We appreciate the intention to curb profiteering in healthcare space. We support the mark-up of 50% over and above the procurement cost. The proposal should be implemented in compliance with the recommendations mentioned in the Report of The Committee of High Trade Margins in the Sale of Drugs, 2016 to create a level-playing field for all stakeholders including the medical device companies.



Pavan Choudary added, We support undiluted implementation of the recommendations as that would provide for far greater affordability without compromising the industrys ability to invest in innovation and training of healthcare professionals.

The Report of The Committee of High Trade Margins in the Sale of Drugs suggests that profit margin should be the difference between the Price to Trade (the price at which the manufacturer or marketing company sells the drug to the distributor or stockist) and the MRP. The report adds that the government should consider capping the overall trade margins, thus, giving a level playing field to every trade channel.New Protocol Creator Software Brings Treatments to Market Faster

Cognizant has introduced Cognizant Protocol Creator, a SaaS collaboration product that automates the development of clinical trial protocol documentation.

A first for the life sciences industry, Protocol Creator enables clinical teams to create and review protocol documentation in a purpose-built collaborative environment. The software simplifies the production of protocol documents saving time and ensuring quality through the adherence to industry standards and best practices.

Taking a design-thinking approach to the development of Protocol Creator, Cognizant embedded itself with medical writing and clinical trial teams to learn about and address their challenges. With a goal of getting a protocol to submission faster, Protocol Creator generates clinical trial documentation as a structured document. It helps teams collaborate, manage review cycles and deadlines, and enables the final protocol to be published as a traditional document or in machine-readable formats that lay the foundation for downstream automation.

Patricia Belissa-Mathiot, Director Center of Excellence Clinical Operations at Servier, an international and independent pharmaceutical company, governed by a non-profit foundation, headquartered in France said, The development of the protocol document is a long standing target for driving efficiency in our clinical trial processes. Cognizant understands the challenges involved in the creation of a protocol and has created a product that addresses most of the processes pain points, improve the ways of working and offers some future opportunities for downstream activities. It has been exciting to be part of the journey that has led to the launch of Protocol Creator.

Bhaskar Sambasivan, Senior Vice President & Global Head, Life Sciences, Cognizant said, Bringing a single new treatment to market today costs more than a billion dollars. Every extra day spent before a protocol is approved is costly for the company and, more importantly, causes a delay in alleviating the condition of a patient who needs that treatment. Cognizant Protocol Creator redesigns the entire submission process to be digital first as opposed to one built around antiquated systems that were never intended for writing clinical protocols. Not only does it shorten the time to create the protocol and improve its quality, it lays a foundation for a fully digital lab & clinical eco-system that uses automation and artificial intelligence to improve clinical outcomes.

Todd Paoletti, Vice President and General Manager, Cognizant Accelerator said, We are firmly focused on delivering transformational products that adopt digital technologies to drive efficiencies throughout an organization. Cognizant Protocol Creator demonstrates this focus, as it plugs a gap in the clinical trial lifecycle that has been, to date, ignored by most technology vendors. With Protocol Creator, were underscoring our commitment to the life sciences industry as a service and product provider.

Cognizant Protocol Creator is the latest Life Sciences product conceived, validated and developed by Cognizant Accelerator to reach general availability. Cognizant Accelerator, the companys product and platform incubator and venture investing division, worked with Cognizant Life Sciences to bring Protocol Creator to the market.International trends spotter Marian Salzman joined trend analyst and culture strategist Nicola Cooper and trend spotter Khumo Theko to talk about the evolution of women in pop culture and innovation in 2019 at an event held at Inner City Ideas Cartel in Cape Town earlier this month. Here follows my coverage of Theko's part of the talk.

Khumo Theko, trend spotter at Flux Trends.

The femtreneurs

The Wing is a good example of this. "As it stands right now it's a co-working space but they also do functions that cater to women and entrepreneurs and different forms of funding."

From an African perspective, you have an organisation called She Leads Africa. "This movement caters to women on the continent and providing them with different forms of coaching and training to help them to start their own businesses."

From a South African perspective, we have a fund that specifically caters to funding SMEs lead by women called Angel Fund.

System changes

It's not necessarily just about rattling the cage but it's about that element of representation. We are living in a digital community and what is happening in one country or on one continent does have an impact on the other and that form of representation is what we strongly need.

Woke businesses

Femvertising

Theko started her talk by saying that she was glad that she was closing off because what the two previous speakers highlighted was that we are currently moving into a space where we are all interacting on various platforms but also where we are looking at representation, and that taps on diversity. What's happening now is that we are going to move and progress into a space where it's all about inclusivity.Recently Flux Trends, the agency where Theko works, released a presentation and trend briefing that highlighted new urban tribes and she said that they titled it 'Consciously Diverse' - essentially awakening businesses to the understanding that just because you have identified a millennial, they don't necessarily fit into a box.There are various cohorts that are connected, that are socially motivated and globally connected but we all stand for something different. So to close the topic Theko said that she was going to introduce us to just a few of these tribes.Since Donald Trump has been in the White House, we've seen global movements that have come forth and one of them is your neo-feminists. Theko said from this we're also starting to see that there is this rally and conversation around the representation of women but also essentially creating safe spaces where women can come together to support each other.Another tribe is called system changes. "Ironically, we are in 2019 but we're still in a place where women are not represented. We are still in a space where the LGBTQIA community is not represented and people with disabilities are not represented. Not just in terms of where you work but in terms of politics and that plays a very big role when you're talking to millennials and Generation Z," Theko said.Then you have campaigns such as the "Not Too Young To Run" campaign in Nigeria and in Africa as well that are pushing younger people to get into politics. You have the 50/50 women campaign in Sweden that is pushing for more women to have a voice in politics. "We're also seeing in America where we have the likes of Ilhan Omar who was a refugee and is now a Muslim woman who is in Congress in America in this day and age," she added.So now we are starting to see a lot more trailblazers who are going to come into spaces and rattle the cage.2016 moving into 2017 the notion of identity, mainly looked at gender, culture and race. We saw it with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the #MeToo movement but essentially what we're getting to is brands progressing from brand activism to morality marketing."So, as a brand you're taking a stand at what it is that you believe in. Not necessarily waiting for an event to happen, such as the #BlackLivesMatter to say that we support this but putting a fork in the stand and saying, 'This is what we stand for.' We saw that with Nike and we're starting to see that with other brands as well."Locally we saw with Black Label where they had the #NotEnough campaign and what they are doing is calling out men to say, "We as a brand that sells alcohol understand that we contribute to men using alcohol and using that as an excuse for domestic violence but we don't condone it and it is not something that we accept."Whether or not they get backlash from it is neither here or there, but it is essentially communicating to their consumer.We're also moving into the concept of "femvertising", which has been around for a while. But now also we're seeing local brands moving into it as well. But it's not necessarily just highlighting social-cultural issues but also tapping on issues that haven't been brought to the forefront.Take for example Libresse who sells pads who has started a campaign called #BloodNormal. Through this campaign, they are questioning and challenging advertisers to show that women actually bleed red blood. In most of the advertisements, blood is always represented by a blue liquid but with the concept of femvertising it sheds light on and encourages brands to change stereotypes but also to bring forth more positive messaging with regards to communicating with your female consumer.Aside from that, with regards to moving beyond the notion of diversity, we're now moving into a space of inclusive diversity. So it's about not just having smarties in a room saying that we're a diverse company or brand, it's about having diverse people sitting at the table. It's your females, it's about people identifying with various genders or sexuality and it is also counting in people with disabilities.Gallo/Getty Images has also released a collection of images whereby they highlight people with disabilities in the workplace and you don't necessarily think about it in that light because we can only see trends from our perspective because we're not necessarily in that person's shoes. But there are only 2% of images publically available that show a positive light to people with disabilities.That is moving beyond the conversation about diversity and considering what it is that the people that are in the room actually do and how much influence they have. Maybe we'll stop seeing brands like H&M and Pepsi getting it wrong.For sure! Follow Theko on the following social media platforms: FacebookWhen someone wants to research a company, their first port of call will be to do a Google search on them. You - as a business owner - want to make sure that what they find is positive. Managing your online reputation will not only help you acquire new customers but will also help you keep your existing ones.

The internet is no longer passive. Users are encouraged to interact with websites and social media. As most people have access to the internet at work or home, interacting with brands online has become a lot easier than going to a mall. So if they cannot find you, there are hundreds of other choices out there which will fulfill customers needs. This means that you need to be online as well and have a sterling brand reputation. A brand management course will help you figure out how to do this.The experience you provide customers online will heavily influence their opinion of you. Give them a good experience and they will have a favourable opinion. Conversely, give them a bad online experience and their view of your company will be negative.The opinions that people post about you online is your online reputation. Whether these are good or bad, you need to manage this reputation so that people can see you care about their opinions and are actively making sure that you tailor make your service to respond to their needs. You are showing the customer that they matter.If a customer leaves you a great review, accept it humbly and thank them. Do not comment that the great service is just as a result of your company being incredible. This type of arrogance will quickly turn your existing and potential customers away.Another tip for great comments and reviews  especially on social media  is to contact the poster privately and ask them if you can use their review on your website, says Lisa Schneider: managing director of the Digital School of Marketing . Having this great feedback on your website is extremely valuable as here your brand message is not diluted. This is opposed to social media where you are competing with others for exposure.Customers see social media  especially Twitter  as a way of complaining about a company. This is because they see it as an avenue to communicate directly with the company and get an almost instantaneous response.If you are faced with an unhappy customers negative Tweet or Facebook Post, do not message them and ask if you can take the conversation offline. Address their problem publicly. If you do so privately, the public will assume that you have something to hide. Always be polite and  if the case warrants  apologise and offer to refund the customer or replace their defective item.This will go a long way to making sure that the customer stays your customer. Acknowledging their feelings will tell them that their opinions matter and that you value their business, concludes Schneider.The Digital School of Marketing is an online provider of accredited social media courses and digital marketing education. To find out more, visit our website on www.digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za . call us on 0861 428 710 or e-mail: az.oc.gnitekramfoloohcslatigid@ofni . Join the conversations:If you ever wondered when the right time to promote yourself as a freelancer would be... the time is now!

Ra-ees Moerat

The side hustle

Being able to produce various income streams, can have a generous impact on your money matters. A mere R5,000 extra income each month could go a long way in minimising debt or increasing small investments that you may have.We often hear our family members and peers talking about the importance of diversifying our investments as a means of secondary income, but diversifying your income streams should be the primary objective, especially during this difficult economic climate in which we find ourselves.Along with that, we have seen a clear boom surrounding the freelance industry in South Africa. Many of us allude to the idea that, because its a struggle to find permanent employment in this country, people are forced to venture into freelancing. But, what if you were told that more and more South Africans are choosing the freelance lifestyle on their own accord? Managing your own time, being your own boss and being in control of your own schedule, sounds like a very attractive way of life - and people are doing it!Freelancers are usually experts/skilled professionals in a niche area. You can find them in every area of expertise, from HR managers and lawyers to creatives like graphic designers, photographers, PR and social media specialists, to copywriters and bloggers/influencers/brand ambassadors or journalists.Other freelancers are referred to as side-hustlers, a term which is self-explanatory; people who run side hustles, apart from their full-time job as a secondary income stream. Some of which you would never believe could, in fact, be lucrative such as, dog walkers, karate instructors, babysitters and piano tuners, to name a few.Online recruiters are starting to pick up on this trend and big tech companies like JobVine, have even developed a complete department purely dedicated to freelancers and side-hustlers, called JobVine Freelance.Just like securing permanent employment is not easy, getting a freelance contract can be even harder. That is why it is important to seek out platforms on which you can promote yourself as a freelancer - and where you know employers and recruiters will visit, specifically to seek freelance talent.According to a PWC report titled '[[https://www.pwc.com/co/es/publicaciones/assets/millennials-at-work.pdf Millennials At Work]', by 2020, only 50% of millennials will make up the formal global workforce. Instead, theyll choose the life of a freelancer, because this lifestyle allows them to have multiple income streams/secondary income, within a culture that theyve created for themselves...to put that into perspective, it's next year!And even though millennials prefer to make a decent amount of money, best believe they will leave their full-time jobs if theyre unhappy with the company culture and start promoting themselves as freelancers. It is time that employers jump on this.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued a decree dismissing his staff member Alexander Mkhitaryan as person in charge of the PMs protocol.

Pashinyan also signed another decree dismissing Margarit Azaryan as chief of his human resource division.

Arthur Sargsyan, the head of the prime ministers staff, was dismissed as well, ARKA reported.Head of Russias space corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin praised the relations with NASA as "great."

"I am a fierce proponent of international cooperation, including with Americans, because their country is big and technologically advanced, and they can make good partners," he said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

"Especially since personal and professional relations between Roscosmos and NASA at the working level are great," TASS cited Rogozin as saying.

The Roscosmos chief added that people "who professionally engage in space activities are perfectly aware that they need each other."

Prior to the Soyuz MS-12 manned spacecraft launch on march 14, Rogozin met with NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William H. Gerstenmaier to discuss further cooperation in space between the two nations, including the future of the International Space Station (ISS). Later, Rogozin said that Russia and US would continue cooperation in missions to the ISS. NASA astronauts and Roscosmos cosmonauts will use both Russian and US spacecraft for journey to the ISS, he said.Man With 'World's Biggest Penis' Reveals Secrets About His Life Life oi-Syeda Farah Noor

Size matters a lot to many when it is all about sex life, but there are those who believe that size is just a number when compared to experiences.

Here are the details of a the life of Jonah Falcon the man who is believed to have the longest penis in the world.

Check out the details of his sex life and the hurdles he faces.

His Size It is reported that his penis is nine inches long when flaccid and it is 13.5 inches long when it is erect. He revealed that his penis is thicker than his wrist size. He claims that even though the size of his penis has destroyed his career, he has been successful in bedding some of the biggest Hollywood stars. He Claims Celebrities Seek Him Out For Sex Even though he has not done any major roles in Hollywood, he revealed that his 'massive manhood' has destroyed his acting career, but at the same time helped him bed Oscar-winning celebrities. He does not reveal the details about the stars and even insists on not letting us know about the sex of the celebs since he is openly bisexual. He Needs To Modify His Positions Jonah further revealed that he has to modify his sex positions to prevent a penile fracture. He Had A Competition... After Jonah was labelled as the man with the biggest penis size, he had a competition from Roberto Esquivel Cabrera who claimed to have a 19 inches long penis. But his claims were denied by the medics as Roberto had foreskin and just the regular 6 inches penis.

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 12:38 [IST]Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy criticized U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino's call to accept the March 31 election results.

"No country has the right to intervene in the election results of another country in a way that is far from law and democracy and to see itself as a source of legitimacy of the results," Hurriyet daily cited the Turkish diplomat as saying.

"It is essential that the will of the voter is fully reflected in the ballot box results, and everyone should respect the legal and democratic struggle shown in this regard," he said, stressing that Turkey is a state of democratic law and weekend local polls were carried out in a democratic and transparent environment.

"Anti-democratic approaches and habits can no way overshadow Turkey's democratic maturity," Aksoy stressed.Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan will pay a working visit to Moscow today. During her visit, she is going to hold bilateral meetings with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin.

According to the Turkish Trade Ministry, the visit is held ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Russia on April 8 to co-chair a Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council meeting.

Cooperation opportunities in various sectors including energy, transportation, agriculture, tourism, customs and trade in local currencies along with trade and investment potentials between the two countries will be discussed during the visit, Anadolu Agency reported.

Pekcan and her counterparts will organize the preliminary preparations for the 16th Joint Economic Commission meeting, which will be held in Turkey in addition to the INNOPROM Industrial Trade Fair scheduled to take place July 8-11 in Yekaterinburg. Turkey will participate in the industry expo as a partner country.Two militants, linked to the ISIS terror group (outlawed in Russia), were killed in Russia's Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria after putting up armed resistance to police, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.

Overnight to Wednesday, police attempted to stop a car on a Blagoveschinsk-Prokhladnoye road, and two individuals, who had been inside, attacked the officers. In response to the demand to stop, the militants opened fire from automatic rifles and tried to flee the scene.

"During a brief armed clash, two gunmen, who had been inside the car, were fatally wounded," a spokesman for the anti-terror agency said. Their bodies have been identified. "They were linked to the ISIS international terrorist organization," TASS cited him as saying.France a priority partner: NA Chairwoman Updated: 09:44 - 03/04/2019

Natitonal Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (right) had a meeting with President of the Senate of France Gerand Larcher in Paris on April 2__Photo: VNA

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National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has stated that Vietnam attached importance to cooperation with Europe, with France as a priority partner.During a meeting with President of the Senate of France Gerand Larcher in Paris on April 2, Ngan said there were 200 French businesses operating in Vietnam, while France was the countrys fourth largest European trade partner.Vietnam wanted France to raise its position among the countries and territories investing in the country, she said.The legislator said that she and the Vietnamese NA delegation had held a working session with the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group and 15 major French businesses, adding that there would also be activities between the two countries enterprises during her visit to the city of Toulouse.According to Ngan, French companies felt secure investing in Vietnam.A number of firms had been operating in Vietnam for over two decades and were seeking opportunities in diverse areas, which was the reason why the two countries needed to reinforce political-diplomatic ties in order to pave the way for economic links, she said.The guest hoped that with its position and role in Europe, France and its Senate would support the strengthening of ties between Vietnam and the European Union (EU), including the signing and ratification of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).The French Senate leader reiterated two important milestones in France-Vietnam ties, which were the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1973 and a strategic partnership in 2013. Together with growing bilateral political and diplomatic ties, economic partnership had seen good progress and was a focal point under discussion at the cooperation conference between Vietnamese and French localities held in Toulouse the same day.Lauding Vietnams geopolitical importance and recalling Vietnams successful hosting of the second DPRK-USA summit, Larcher said Vietnam played a significant role in coordinating political activities in the region.He thanked the Vietnamese leader for inviting him to visit Vietnam, saying it would afford the two legislatures a chance to strengthen ties, thereby bolstering future joint work between the two nations, especially in economics.With regards to the EVFTA, he affirmed the Senates support for Vietnam. He stressed that France had taken the lead in realizing the EUs policy of multilateralization and diversification of diplomatic ties and trade.The host also pledged to do his best to push forward the EVFTAs signing and approval.On cultural and language cooperation, Vietnam opened its first bilingual classrooms in 1995, serving as an important bridge for bilateral relations. Larcher said the improvement of bilingual education would contribute to raising the quality of bilateral ties.On the East Sea issue, Ngan hailed Frances stance on the maintenance of maritime freedom and order in line with international law. She urged France to raise its voice on the issue at multilateral forums and bilateral talks with partners in Asia-Pacific.The host said the freedom of travelling at sea was important and France was concerned about the issue.He added that peaceful methods were the only way to address disputes and conflicts.-Scality announced the official launch of the company's new Cloud Service Provider (CSP) solutions group, created specifically to solve the most complex mission-critical cloud storage problems for the service providers on which the world relies.



The new unit is led by industry veteran, Erik Julin, who has been focused on the Service Provider Industry since working with AOL in 1996. Julin knows that what matters most to SP's is real-world operational stability, reliability and service continuity to their customers-their building blocks to success. The establishment of this business unit proves-out Scality's commitment to bring the best solution to the most significant and challenging problems faced by industry leaders.

Designed to build on the success of the company's acclaimed RING object storage solution as well as its Zenko multi-cloud controller, CSP's mission is to support multi-petabyte storage across the entirety of a company's cloud services businesses. Having recently been awarded the first and second highest scores in each of the five use cases in the annual Gartner Critical Capabilities for Object Storage report for 2019, Scality's solutions create a platform on which CSPs build businesses.

Scality has a "who's who" list of customers in the CSP space, including the company's first (and ever-growing) customer in 2009, Telenet (Mechelen, Belgium), as well as Comcast (Philadelphia), Rackspace (Windcrest, TX), SMX (Auckland, New Zealand) and Open-Xchange (Nuremberg, Germany), all of which rely on Scality's always-on availability to power their customer-critical services.

Rackspace has publicly commented that "We had to separate our processing scaling from our storage scaling. We needed an SDS provider with performance, operability and survivability - a solution that could scale to 10s of petabytes." Thanks to Scality, Rackspace has now saved more than $12M in attendant costs.

"SMX has been a proud Scality customer for years, and we are very excited to be one of their marquee customers in the APAC region for their CSP business unit," said Ian McDonald, CEO of SMX. "Scality RING is an integral component powering our email platform for millions of users, and our 99.999% uptime is a critical necessity for them and for us - Scality delivers where it counts most."

"Customers in this space require 24/7/365 access for their millions of customers' hundreds of billions of objects in order to meet their SLAs. We get them there - Scality is more than a vendor for them; we are a true partner in their businesses," said Erik Julin, VP, Cloud Service Providers at Scality.

"In the Scality CSP business unit, we have built a vertically-focused global solution team to further focus our success in the very specific use-cases relevant to large cloud-scale service providers. Our team leverages key ISV, OEM and channel partners to enhance value-added solutions that help our clients grow and reduce costs in so many new ways. As our typical CSP customers serve client bases of more than one million users -many over 10 million- our focus on excellence is business-critical to the biggest players in the industry."WINNIPEG - A woman convicted of hiding the remains of six babies in a U-haul storage locker has had her prison term reduced to three years.

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This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Company security staff walk past storage lockers in Winnipeg on October 21, 2014. A woman convicted of hiding the remains of six babies in a U-haul storage locker has had her sentence reduced to three years. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG - A woman convicted of hiding the remains of six babies in a U-haul storage locker has had her prison term reduced to three years.

Andrea Giesbrecht was sentenced last year to 8 1/2 years on charges of concealing the remains of infants.

In a lengthy written decision from the Manitoba Court of Appeals released Wednesday, Justice Christopher Mainella called the case deeply disturbing.

"We will never know why these six little lights went dark due to the accused's appalling dishonesty," Mainella wrote.

However, the judge said last year's sentence was too harsh because it assumed certain culpable actions of which Giesbrecht was never tried or convicted, such as violence or neglect.

"Just as the mighty are not above the law, the unpopular are not outside of its protections, even on facts as troubling as here."

Giesbrecht was convicted under a section of the Criminal Code that forbids the disposal of a child's dead body with intent to conceal the birth whether the child died before, during or after.

Her sentence was reduced by six months for each of the six counts.

Giesbrecht's lawyer, Greg Brodsky, had appealed both the conviction and the sentence, saying Giesbrecht was not hiding or disposing of the remains but saving them.

The remains were found by U-haul workers in 2014 after Giesbrecht fell behind on her rental payments. She had previously stored at least some of the remains at another Winnipeg facility before moving them to the U-haul location.

Giesbrecht, 45, never testified and the trial never heard a motive for her actions. The remains were also too decomposed to determine how the babies died.

Crown attorney Jennifer Mann told court that Giesbrecht made "extensive efforts" to hide the remains and cover up any smell of decomposition.TORONTO - A group representing doctors and other health-care workers pushing for stronger gun laws held rallies across the country Wednesday, calling for a national ban on private ownership of handguns and assault rifles.

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This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Doctors and other health-care workers pushing for stronger gun laws take part in a march Wednesday, April 3, 2019 in Montreal. Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns is calling for a national ban on private ownership of handguns and assault rifles.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

TORONTO - A group representing doctors and other health-care workers pushing for stronger gun laws held rallies across the country Wednesday, calling for a national ban on private ownership of handguns and assault rifles.

Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns held events in cities that included Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and St. John's, and also planned discussion forums and information sessions in other communities  all as part of a national day of action.

The group has said it considers gun control a public health issue, and that physicians have a duty to speak out on issues that affect people's safety.

Dr. Suzanne Beno, a pediatric emergency specialist and co-director of the trauma program at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, said firearms legislation currently before the Senate  Bill C-71  is a step in the right direction, but more action is needed.

"Bill C-71 is kind of an initial step. It certainly helps around tighter regulations," Beno said. "But it's really weapons that don't really need to be in the hands of civilians that are out there. When you think about public health ... one direct way to reduce this burden is simply to reduce the vector, and reduce the number of firearms that are in circulation."

Shortly after noon in Toronto on Wednesday, a group of protesters gathered outside a downtown church, some of them in white lab coats, others carrying signs that read "Yes to C-71" and "We Can Do Better."

Beno, who was set to speak at the rally, said she has seen firsthand how gun violence affects children and families, as well as the "ripple effects" it has on wider communities.

"I strongly believe that firearm injuries in Canada are on the rise, particularly in Toronto," she said. "And I believe that it is a public health issue that we definitely need to tackle a little bit more aggressively."

In Montreal, physicians and medical students carried protest signs in the street after speaking to the media at the Montreal General Hospital.

Tarek Razek, chief of trauma services at the hospital, said gun violence is an increasing part of Canadian reality. "It's just unfortunately part of our regular everyday professional life," he said. "We're a trauma centre in the second-biggest city in the country."

He said Canada should take inspiration from New Zealand, where the government moved quickly to ban assault rifles following last month's mass killings at two Christchurch mosques.

"This is not about being against guns. I'm not against guns," Razek said. "Canada has a lot of rural communities where guns are actually quite necessary, especially long guns. I have nothing against that, nor against any gun owners, for that matter. We're against gunshot wounds in humans."

The Senate committee on national security and defence was set to hold its final day of testimony Wednesday on Bill C-71. Among other changes, the legislation would eliminate a five-year limit on background checks for people applying for a gun licence.

In Ottawa, Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair said he finds the physicians' testimony compelling.

"They actually have been dealing with people who have experienced the trauma of injury as a result of firearms, so they've seen it firsthand," Blair said. But he was not prepared to accelerate the process of restricting firearms, as New Zealand lawmakers did.

"I think it's important to listen to the very diverse opinions on this issue that Canadians have and to find the most effective and best way forward that will work to keep all Canadians safe," he said.

 With files from Ugo GiguereOTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is linking the lifting of "absurd" U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel to the ratification of the new North American free-trade deal.

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Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Netherlands, Stef Blok, hold joint media availability at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is linking the lifting of "absurd" U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel to the ratification of the new North American free-trade deal.

Dealing with the tariffs  imposed by President Donald Trump under a controversial national-security provision of U.S. law  is a key part of the ratification process, Freeland said Wednesday.

Freeland says she's heartened by the recent comments of American lawmakers who say the new trilateral trade agreement can't be ratified with the "Section 232" tariffs in place.

"I am very glad to be hearing both in private meetings and in public statements from a number of U.S. senators, members of Congress, that they share Canada's view that the 232 tariffs should be lifted," the minister said in Ottawa before departing for a NATO summit in Washington where she was expected to press the issue further.

"And that very much needs to be a part of the NAFTA ratification process."

In a Twitter posting early this week, an influential Republican senator from Iowa called for an end to the sanctions.

"I'm calling on the Administration  specifically, President Trump  to promptly remove Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico. This will help clear the path for the U.S.M.C.A. agreement," wrote Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, who was using the American acronym for the new agreement.

Section 232 of the United States's Trade Expansion Act lets the president impose duties on imported goods if the imports threaten U.S. national security. Trump asserted that the U.S. needs a domestic metals industry for national-security reasons, so imports of steel and aluminum are a danger.

Freeland's remarks indicate an evolution in Canada's position on the sanctions and the acrimonious three-country renegotiation of NAFTA. She has previously said that two were separate issues that could not be linked, even though Trump's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the tariffs were actually imposed because of what the Americans viewed as the slow pace of the talks last spring.

Canada has imposed more than $16 billion in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, a list that Freeland said is constantly being examined so that they will have "the greatest impact" on American consumers. She said Canada has been consulting on retaliation strategies with Mexico and the European Union, which was also hit by the 232 tariffs.

"Our government feels very strongly  and indeed I think all Canadians feel very strongly  that the 232 steel and aluminum tariffs were illegal, unjustified and frankly absurd in the first place," said Freeland.

"Now that we have actually concluded our negotiations on a modernized NAFTA there is all the more reason for those tariffs to be lifted."

Freeland travelled to Washington later Wednesday for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers to mark the 70th anniversary of the transatlantic military alliance. Her first meeting was with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and senior officials said she intended to press for the lifting of the tariffs in that meeting.

With the clock ticking in Canada's Parliament towards a June ratification deadline, before a summer break that probably won't end until after the election due in October, Freeland remained non-committal Wednesday about moving forward on the necessary legislation with the tariffs still in place.

Some leading U.S. Democrats in Congress say they won't approve the new trade agreement unless it is strengthened to force Mexico to adhere to tougher labour standards that elevate the rights of workers and their unions.

Mexico says it will introduce labour-reform legislation in its Congress before it rises on April 30.

Freeland wouldn't say whether that would be enough for the Canadian government to move ahead with ratification in Parliament.

Canada is watching the ratification process in both countries and Canada wants to "move forward in a co-ordinated way when it comes to the NAFTA ratification," she said.WINNIPEG - Manitoba has joined a list of conservative-led provinces challenging the federal government's backstop carbon tax in court.

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Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister speaks to media following the delivery of Manitoba's 2019 budget, at the Legislative Building in Winnipeg, Thursday, March 7, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski

WINNIPEG - Manitoba has joined a list of conservative-led provinces challenging the federal government's backstop carbon tax in court.

Premier Brian Pallister says his government will ask a federal court to rule Ottawa has overstepped its bounds.

"Ottawa cannot impose a carbon tax on a province that has a credible greenhouse-gas reduction plan of its own, and we do," Pallister said Wednesday.

He also said Manitoba's court action is separate from those filed earlier in Saskatchewan and Ontario.

"We'll observe other provinces' cases with interest and learn from them, but their cases are not the same as the one we would make."

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick refused federal instructions to enact their own carbon levies. That prompted Ottawa to impose its own tax, which started Monday.

The initial rate of $20 per tonne, which works out to 4.4 cents on each litre of gasoline and drives up other fuel costs, is to increase every year until it reaches $50 per tonne in 2022.

Saskatchewan challenged the constitutional authority of the federal government to impose the levy in a court case earlier this year. A ruling is expected in the coming weeks.

Ontario's Progressive Conservative government has a court hearing later this month.

Pallister said Manitoba's challenge will be different because the province had planned to bring in a carbon tax of its own, but at a lower $25 per tonne rate that would not rise each year. The premier dropped that plan when the federal government said it was not good enough.

Liberal MP Terry Duguid, who represents Winnipeg South, said Pallister is taking the wrong approach.

"Carbon pollution shouldn't be a partisan issue. If some Conservative politicians choose to not do what's right for our climate and our kids, we will," Duguid said in a written statement provided by the office of Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna.

"Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars in court fighting climate action, we would have hoped to see the premier fight climate change."

Manitoba NDP Opposition Leader Wab Kinew called Pallister's court challenge frivolous.

"We know that a court challenge will do nothing to fight climate change in Manitoba, and our children demand better," Kinew said in the legislature.

Two years ago, Pallister obtained a legal opinion from constitutional expert Bryan Schwartz. It said the federal government generally has the right to impose a carbon tax, but could be rebuffed if a province developed its own plan that would be equally effective in reducing emissions.

Pallister said Manitoba's challenge could take two years or more before it is heard, and may not be necessary if the Saskatchewan or Ontario governments win their cases.

He also pointed to the federal election set for October. Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has promised to revoke the carbon tax if he becomes prime minister.

Pallister would not say whether he will revive the $25 carbon tax he originally planned if the federal levy is struck down.

"We would not need to do that but, at the same time, I don't want to prejudice the legitimacy of our court case by getting into hypotheticals."HALIFAX - A subsidiary of Japan's giant Mitsubishi Corporation has unveiled an ambitious proposal to build salmon farms in Nova Scotia.

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This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. A subsidiary of Japan's giant Mitsubushi Corporation has ambitious plans to build salmon farms in Nova Scotia. THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward

HALIFAX - A subsidiary of Japan's giant Mitsubishi Corporation has unveiled an ambitious proposal to build salmon farms in Nova Scotia.

The provincial government has granted Cermaq Canada four options to lease sites in the Chedabucto Bay region along the eastern shore, and in the St. Mary's region south of Digby.

The British Columbia-based company said Wednesday it will now conduct feasibility studies as well as extensive public consultations in Nova Scotia.

A Cermaq website says the company hopes to obtain about 20 salmon farm licences, with two hatcheries and a processing plant.

It says more than 300 jobs could be created, and suggests the farms would contribute $500 million to the local economy.

David Kiemele, managing director of Cermaq Canada, says the company will need the support of the Mi'kmaq to proceed.

"We are coming to listen, to learn and to ask questions," he said in a statement. "As excited as we are, we know that we need to have community, stakeholder and Mi'kmaq support to proceed, and we look forward to those discussions."

Keith Colwell, the provincial minister of fisheries and aquaculture, said Wednesday the company hopes to net 20,000 tonnes of salmon a year.

He said Cermaq's spending on the project would be substantial: "This investment is, I'm guessing, it's a guesstimate, around $400- to $500-million."

The company expects the project would create up to 1,200 indirect jobs, he said.

Colwell said he approved the options late last month, and praised the company's approach.

"They're very oriented toward communities, to people, the environment, all those things we'd be looking for in a company."

Linda Sams, Cermaq Canada's sustainable development director, said they will now open an office in Guysborough, N.S., investigate sites and collect data.

"We are coming to Nova Scotia with open minds, hearts and ears; looking for guidance, local knowledge and history. We admit that we don't know what we don't know as the saying goes," she said in a statement.

"We want to learn about what communities value, what is important to each unique region, and develop an idea of how Cermaq could potentially fit into that picture. We also want to share some of the good things we have to offer."

Cermaq says it has about 4,500 employees, with farms off Vancouver Island as well as in northern Norway and Chile.

Colwell said Nova Scotia has the strongest fish farm regulations in the world, and that aquaculture firms are drawn to the province because of its "pristine" waters.

"There's a huge market in the world for protein. And as we can't catch any more wild fish, and its going to be to the point that we're going to have a lot more aquaculture in the world," he said.Police in Ontario say they've busted an international cocaine smuggling operation with links to Mexico and the United States after a large drug seizure at the border.

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This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An Ontario Provincial Police officer guards 55 kilograms of cocaine and about $800,000 in Canadian currency during a press conference after making a huge coordinated seizure involving many different agencies including the United States, in Barrie, Ont., on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. The source of the drugs came from Mexico, traveling through the United States and ending in Ontario. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Police in Ontario say they've busted an international cocaine smuggling operation with links to Mexico and the United States after a large drug seizure at the border.

The investigation dubbed "Project Tattler" began in December 2017 and has led to the arrest of three Ontario men, the seizure of 55 kilograms of nearly pure cocaine and about $800,000 in cash, provincial police said Wednesday.

"Illicit drugs are still being pumped into our communities and the culprits are sharing profits in the millions of dollars," OPP deputy commissioner Rick Barnum told reporters at a news conference in Barrie, Ont. "We firmly believe this investigation has made a difference."

Police said the cocaine  90 to 96 per cent pure  came into the country on a transport truck from California, but investigators have linked money in the alleged smuggling operation to Mexico, where the drugs may have originated.

Barnum said the drugs eventually ended up in central and southwestern Ontario and in the Toronto area.

"The individuals involved in this effort were well organized, they were very sophisticated and they had devised a distribution network that spanned three entire countries," Barnum said.

Police did not say just where the cocaine crossed the U.S-Mexico border, which Mexican drug cartel was allegedly involved or whether the operation had ties to organized crime groups in Ontario.

The cocaine haul was discovered after Canadian Border Services Agency officers, acting on information from the OPP and with help from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, stopped the transport truck on Feb. 19 as it tried to enter the country through Windsor, Ont.

Inside the truck's cab, a drug-sniffing dog focused on a built-in speaker, authorities said.

There were two wires in the cab area of the truck that, when connected to a battery, opened a compartment hidden inside the speaker, said Det. Insp. Mark Loader.

Using a variety of tools and after an "extended examination," officers managed to open the compartment, said Rick Comerford, a regional director with the Canadian border guards.

"It was definitely a professionally modified compartment and not something that is normally found in a commercial motor vehicle," Comerford said.

Within that compartment, police said they found 55 one-kilogram bricks of cocaine.

Police have charged the alleged driver of the truck, Slobodan Poznic, 44 of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., with importation of drugs and various trafficking-related offences.

Investigators have also laid drug importation and trafficking charges against Michael Nagtzaam, 35, of Springwater Township, Ont., and Abrahan Brito, 32, of New Tecumseth, Ont.VANCOUVER - Supporters of Jody Wilson-Raybould in her Vancouver Granville riding say they're disappointed she was ejected from the Liberal caucus but they would back her in the federal election if she ran as an Independent.

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This article was published 3/4/2019 (985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould waits to speak after the Walk for Reconciliation in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday, September 24, 2017. Wilson-Raybould in her Vancouver Granville riding say they're disappointed by the decision of government MPs to eject her from the Liberal caucus but they would back her in the upcoming election if she ran as an Independent. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER - Supporters of Jody Wilson-Raybould in her Vancouver Granville riding say they're disappointed she was ejected from the Liberal caucus but they would back her in the federal election if she ran as an Independent.

Tracy Beshara, executive director of Marpole Oakridge Family Place in south Vancouver, said she has met Wilson-Raybould and she is a woman of "integrity and quality."

"All that is going on with her is a disappointment, and we support her fully," said Beshara. "She's honest. She's real and she can tell you both sides. She won't tell you what you want to hear. She'll tell you the way it is. Most politicians don't do that."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott were no longer in caucus on Tuesday, moments after Liberal MPs held an emergency meeting to determine their future. Trudeau said the trust that previously existed between the two MPs and his team had been broken.

Trudeau's government has been tormented for weeks by allegations that the Prime Minister's Office pressured Wilson-Raybould, the former attorney general, to intervene in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Last week, a fresh uproar erupted over a key phone call with former top bureaucrat Michael Wernick, which Wilson-Raybould secretly recorded.

Throughout it all, many supporters in Vancouver Granville have stood by their MP, who they describe as direct, honest and genuine. Beshara said she hadn't kept up with every news development but she would "absolutely" support Wilson-Raybould if she ran independently or for a different party.

"I don't really think it matters what party she's with, because she'll represent with integrity with whatever party she's with."

Walter Wells of the community group Vancouver Odd Fellows, which is based just around the corner from Wilson-Raybould's constituency office, said Tuesday afternoon he was sitting at his desk, looking at the news, and felt simply "astounded."

"I'm not sure what adjective to use," he said, adding he had never been particularly involved in politics before he met the MP.

"Because I had met her ... I started paying more attention and honestly what I see happening here  I listened to the tape and I read as much as I can on (the SNC-Lavalin scandal). I believe she was acting with integrity, with honour," he said.

Wells lives outside the riding, but said he still intends to volunteer for Wilson-Raybould's campaign, should she run as an Independent or for a different party. He also said he'll vote against the Liberals in the next election.

"I believe she is a very talented, very skilled, very knowledgeable person and they're making a big mistake in throwing her away," he said.

"She's seems to be continuing the path of truthfulness and embracing the Liberal principles and the rest of them seem to be doing whatever they have to do to stay in power, and that's typical politics.

"She is not engaging in typical politics. She's trying to do the right thing and she's being punished for it and it disgusts me."

Wilson-Raybould was a first-time federal candidate in 2015 when she won the newly created riding with 43 per cent of the vote. She had previously served in high-ranking roles in Indigenous organizations, including as regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.

The Vancouver Granville Liberal Riding Association, which had previously voiced support for Wilson-Raybould, did not immediately respond to requests for comment

Rev. Steven Epperson of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver said the decision to oust Wilson-Raybould was "unfortunate."

"I am really impressed with Jody and her dedication to serving Canada. I want to sort of underline that. I really think she has the best interests of the nation at heart," he said. "I think she is a person of integrity and honesty and I hope she has a future  she should  in politics in this country. I think we would be well-served by people like her."

Epperson said if Wilson-Raybould chose to run as an Independent, he'd volunteer for her campaign, as an individual and not as a representative of the church.

"Just after she was elected she reached out to me  I didn't reach out to her  recognizing we were an important constituency within her riding. She's an excellent retail politician and that's a compliment."WarbirdsNews has just received the March, 2019 report from Chuck Cravens concerning the restoration of the Dakota Territory Air Museums P-47D Thunderbolt 42-27609 at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. We thought our readers would be very interested to see how the project has progressed since our last article on this important project. So without further ado, here it goes!

Update

This month the restoration milestones include the tail wheel installation and the assembly of the firewall extension. Well check those out and incorporate the last installment of P-47 history.

Tail Wheel Installation

The Thunderbolts tail wheel had to be strong and reliable to ensure safe take offs and landings at weights as high as 17,000 pounds for the P-47D-23 and as much as 21,000 in later N models. The tail wheel locks straight ahead after taxi and is released from the locked position after landing to enable the Thunderbolts ability to turn on the ground.

Main Gear Wheels

Fuselage and Firewall Extension

P-47 History Part 4

The Thunderbolt is justifiably famous for ground attack missions in the European Theater of Operation.

But the P-47s ground pounding history didnt begin in Europe. While close air support of ground forces dates back to World War I, the air-to-ground communication of the time was very primitive during that conflict, which limited effectiveness.

However, the fighter-bombers of the Allied and Axis powers in the Second World War were far more effective. For the USAAF in World War Two, close air support of ground troops was pioneered in New Guinea during the summer of 1942.

Long an advocate for ground attack, Fifth Air Force commander Major General George C. Kenney had taught a class titled Attack Aviation Course in 1937, and wrote the textbook for it.

Kenney turned theory into practice when 5th Air Force A-20 Havoc light bombers strafed Japanese positions in support of Australian troops. The A-20s had been modified by Major Paul Pappy Gunn by adding four .50 caliber nose mounted guns that he salvaged from wrecked fighters.

General Kenney ordered his fighter groups to develop ground attack tactics after seeing the success of the A-20s. Early 5th AF ground support missions were carried out with P-39s, P-400s ( export version of the P-39) and P-40s.

When the formidably armed 8 gun P-47s arrived in the Southwest Pacific Theater in late 1943, they naturally were used in the ground support role as well as the air-to-air combat missions.

Close air support missions continued during Operation Torch in North Africa. In November 1942, Twelfth Air Force Commander, General James Doolittle, like Kenney, assigned the initial close air support role to A-20s. Later, fighters carried out ground support missions, mainly P-40s and P-38s. RAF pilots who had been flying CAS missions and developing tactics since 1940, shared their experiences and provided some close air support training to the Americans.

As the war progressed, the Twelfth Air Force moved on to Italy; Thunderbolts were used extensively for ground attack in that campaign.

The effectiveness of the Thunderbolts eight .50 caliber Brownings, and the aircrafts ability to carry a significant bomb load on dangerous ground support missions in Papua New Guinea, made it a natural choice for close support missions during the Normandy invasion and subsequent march across France into Germany. The P-47s fighter-bomber role or Jabo (short for the synonymous German word jagdbomber) is best known from the European Theaters extremely effective though perilous ground attack missions following the invasion.

While various sources list slightly different totals, Thunderbolts have been credited with the destruction of an estimated 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 9,000 locomotives, 86,000 railroad cars and other rolling stock, and 68,000 trucks during the war [Ref. Jerry Scutts, Republic P-47, The Operational Record, 1998, MBI Publishing Company LLC]. Of course, the number of enemy troops killed or wounded by P-47 fighter-bomber attacks will likely never be known accurately.

Besides the USAAF, P-47s were sold or supplied to Brazil, Free France, Mexico, the UK, and the USSR during WWII. Fifteen foreign countries and a few USAF reserve units flew the P-47 after the war.

And thats all for this month. We wish to thank AirCorps Aviation, Chuck Cravens (words) as well as John LaTourelle (images) for making this report possible! We look forwards to bringing more restoration reports on progress with this rare machine in the coming months.

Is the P-47 Thunderbolt your favorite airplane? Make sure to purchase issue #73 of Warbird Digest featuring the beautiful Dottie MaeA Fianna Fail TD is hitting out at the delays in providing guidance for tax reliefs for the film industry.

Niamh Smith says the stalling by the Government in bringing in Budget changes is causing widespread damage to the sector.

She says the review of draft regulations is taking too long and is putting projects at risk of being defunded.

The new draft regulations will extend section 481 tax relief until 2024.

Deputy Smith says it is not helping the good work being done in the industry.

"We've seen The Room, The Favourite, all of these wonderfully produced films reaching the heights of Los Angeles and London and everywhere else," said Ms Smith.

All of that good work and momentum is there but unfortunately that is being hampered by this government's inability to enact or to provide the guidance that is needed around the tax relief.

Deputy Smith said that the Department of Finance and Culture Minister Josepha Madigan need to say how it will work.

"They knew it was something that was coming down the tracks and between the preparation for the Budget and since the Budget, we're into April of 2019, that gives a total of nine months since Revenue started working on the issue and there has been no clarity on how the scheme will actually operate.

"So that causes a disincentive to the film industry when it is actually intended to be an incentive."Latest: Flybe has blamed a shortage of pilots as one of the reasons after it cancelled dozens of flights.

The regional airline said a combination of factors caused the disruption today.

Passengers travelling to and from Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, London Southend and Southampton were among those whose travel plans were thrown into disarray.

The Exeter-based carrier said in a statement: Flybe sincerely apologises to all our customers and partners affected by the current flight cancellations.

Whilst 95% of Flybe flights are operating as per normal, we do recognise the impact of todays cancellations.

We are doing our best to mitigate the impact of the current situation that has arisen due to a combination of factors including seasonality, pilots end of leave year, Easter holidays, base restructuring and the shortage of pilots across the industry that Flybe has highlighted over recent months.

Editor of Which? Travel magazine, Rory Boland, said: Thousands of people will understandably be frustrated to have their travel plans thrown into chaos by these last-minute cancellations.

The lack of clear information provided by Flybe was completely unacceptable.

All passengers affected by these cancellations are entitled to a full refund or to be rerouted on to another flight to their intended destination  and to over 200 compensation under European air travel rules.

Pilots union Balpa said it has learned that Flybe is to close its bases at Cardiff and Doncaster Sheffield, and scale back its operations at Exeter.

Flybe flies 8.5 million passengers each year to 170 European destinations.

In February the airline was bought by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic following poor financial results.

Connect Airways, which consists of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital, paid 3.3 million for Flybes assets and operations.- Press Association

Ten Flybe flights cancelled at Belfast City Airport as airline blames pilot shortage

Earlier: Ten Flybe flights in and out of Belfast City Airport have been cancelled.

An industry-wide shortage of pilots was partially blamed for today's disruption by the company.

Flights affected include services to Birmingham, and round trips to and from Leeds Bradford and Aberdeen.

A flight from East Midlands was also cancelled.

A statement by the airline said: "Flybe sincerely apologises to all our customers and partners affected by the current flight cancellations.

"Whilst 95% of Flybe flights are operating as per normal, we do recognise the impact of today's cancellations.

We are doing our best to mitigate the impact of the current situation that has arisen due to a combination of factors including seasonality, pilots' end of leave year, Easter holidays, base restructuring and the shortage of pilots across the industry that Flybe has highlighted over recent months.

"We have already identified several mitigation actions and will be issuing further updates throughout the day.

"All those affected have been emailed and advised they can re-book for travel on an alternative flight or apply for a full refund."

Passengers received texts and emails on Tuesday evening telling them of problems with their flights.

The disruption followed the launch of the airline's summer schedule.

Flybe was recently bought by the Connect Airways consortium, which includes Virgin Atlantic.

PAThe board of car manufacturer Renault is meeting to settle ex-chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn's final pay cheque and wrap up its investigation into possible financial wrongdoing under his leadership.

The meeting at Renault's headquarters in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt comes after new reports of suspicious payments to a Renault-Nissan distributor in Oman under Mr Ghosn's watch.Update 10.45am: Tanaiste Simon Coveney has said he believes it is unlikely that the UK will crash out of the EU, but he is still warning Irish businesses to plan for a no deal Brexit.

He welcomed the latest development of talks between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Weve been saying for some time that the way forward is for the two largest parties to work together, he told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show.

That doesnt mean that we should not be preparing for the consequences of a no deal Brexit. We would not be honest if we didnt encourage businesses to be ready.

He pointed out that 80,000 Irish businesses trade with the UK, but that to date only 46,000 have registered with the Revenue Commissioners for a Custom Number.

When asked about the Governments contingency plans for the border in the event of a no deal Brexit, Mr Coveney said that he cannot give details of a plan that does not exist yet.

We have plans for every other contingency.

However, he was adamant that there will not be a physical border. We will act with the European Commission on a plan that wont have a physical infrastructure, but there will still be a negative impact.

Mr Coveney added everyone is trying to find a way through this Brexit challenge.

DUP accuses Theresa May of sub-contracting future of Brexit to Corbyn

By Digital Desk staff

Update: The Democratic Unionists have accused Theresa May of sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to the Labour Party.

The party said Mrs May's lamentable handling of the Brexit negotiations was to blame for her failure to deliver a sensible Brexit deal.

The UK Prime Minister said she would seek an extension beyond the current April 12 Brexit day to allow talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn aimed at ensuring the UK leaves the European Union "in a timely and orderly way".

She said the offer to the Labour leader was an attempt to "break the logjam" after MPs rejected her Withdrawal Agreement three times, and failed to back any of the alternative proposals considered so far.

In a statement, the DUP said: "The Prime Minister's lamentable handling of the negotiations with the EU means she has failed to deliver a sensible Brexit deal that works for all parts of the United Kingdom. That is why she has not been able to get it through Parliament.

"Her announcement therefore tonight comes as little surprise. Though it remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily.

"We want the result of the referendum respected, and just as we joined the Common Market as one country we must leave the EU as one country.

"We will continue to use our position within Parliament and with the Government to argue strongly the case for Northern Ireland and the integrity of the United Kingdom.

"We remain consistent in judging all Brexit outcomes against our clear unionist principles."

Cabinet briefed on Irish preparedness for Brexit

Tanaiste Simon Coveney

The Cabinet met last night to discuss Brexit and the latest political developments in London.

Ministers received an update on the country's state of preparedness for the UK's departure from the EU.

In a statement after the meeting, the Government noted the continuing possibility of a no deal Brexit.

The cabinet agreed that preparations and communications with business and citizens should not lose pace.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said any type of Brexit is going to mean change.

He also urged businesses who have not obtained their customs number, to do so now.

Meanwhile, Theresa May has angered some of her own MPs by inviting Jeremy Corbyn to work with her on a solution to Brexit.

The British Prime Minister says she will ask the EU for another short delay to the UK's departure - while she holds talks with the Labour leader.

Mr Corbyn says he is happy to meet and will push the idea of a customs union.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson says Brexit risks becoming "soft to the point of disintegration".

The British Prime Minister said: "I'm taking action to break the logjam.

"I'm offering to sit down with the leader of the opposition and to try to agree on a plan that we would both stick to, to ensure that we leave the European Union and we do so with a deal."Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh has said he is open to the idea of writing to the schools who claimed this week that Christmas would be cancelled if their school was divested.

Department of Education officials have already rejected claims that pupils in Catholic schools where there is a change in patronage will be prevented from celebrating religious events such as Christmas.

It follows a row in north Dublin where the department has requested that one Catholic school out of eight in the Malahide-Portmarnock-Kinsealy area of the county divest its patronage.

The move is part of a wider plan to increase access to multidenominational schools for parents on the basis that 90% of primary schools remain under Catholic patronage.

However, a number of Catholic schools in the north Dublin area are resisting any attempt to divest their patronage.

The parents association of St Oliver Plunketts School in Malahide has warned that the loss of the schools religious ethos could lead to the cancellation of nativity plays and carol services.

Mr McHugh said that he is open to writing to the schools even though his Department is not involved formally at this stage.

Christmas has not been cancelled. I would encourage that information should be factual.

He said he had a very positive meeting with Bishops about the issue of divestment and he wants proper information getting out. Communities should take ownership of the model they want.

Im always open to change, but I am very concerned that the information getting out there is not factual. Schools still have the power to make decisions. We dont want to create fear.

People should not be afraid. People feel they are losing something, that Dia Duit will go, that will not happen.

Fear and inaccurate information is not helpful.

Mr McHugh said that the claim by a school in Artane that grandparents would not be allowed be involved in schools was inaccurate. Thats not the case. Grandparents are very much part of schools and its important that that continues.Concerns are mounting within the Gardai and the PSNI at the spate of ATM robberies on both sides of the border  amid fears that some of the money may be diverted to dissident republicans.

Garda bosses, led by commissioner Drew Harris, have previously highlighted the threat posed by dissidents and warned that Brexit, particularly a hard border, would be a rallying call for such groups.

Gardai are investigating if the spate of robberies is linked to some efforts by dissidents, such as the New IRA, to increase their resources in a bid to assist terrorist activities.

There have been 11 ATM robberies on both sides of the border in less than 12 months  seven of them in the north and four in the south, including the latest raid, which occurred in the early hours of this morning in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan.

Commenting afterwards, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said it was hard to know if dissidents were behind, or benefiting from, the raids.

But he said the PSNI, with the assistance of the Gardai, had to get on top of the robberies, which he said were happening on a regular basis.

Speaking on Today with Sean O'Rourke he said: It seems to be organised. It's obviously being run by gangs are that are organised.

This is something the PSNI need to get on top of. It's a real concern within communities on the border. Obviously, An Garda Siochana will be working very closely with the PSNI as well.

At 3am, a digger was used to rip out an ATM from the wall of AIB on Main Street in Castleblaney.

The gang had blocked off York Street, the road connecting the local garda station to Main Street, using a tractor and trailer.

When gardai arrived the digger was still running and officers received accounts that a 4x4 jeep and a trailer, with the cash machine on it, was seen driving in the direction of Co Armagh.

Garda sources said was the robbery was quite daring given the close proximity of the garda station.

The road between the garda station and the ATM was blocked off with a tractor and trailer, so it was well organised, a garda source said.

Just last Monday, a digger was used to remove an ATM from the wall of a shop in Ahoghill, Co Antrim.

After that, a senior PSNI officer raised the possibility that dissidents might be benefiting from the series of raids on both sides of the border.

Detective Chief Inspector David Henderson said they were looking at several gangs being involved in the crimes.

He said: We have no evidence that paramilitaries are involved, but all crime in Northern Ireland usually goes back to paramilitaries, whether committed by them or whether they tax the perpetrators of the crime and take some the criminal assets from them.

Gardai here have noted the specific reference to dissidents in the public comments of the senior PSNI officer. And garda sources are concerned at the possibility that the high number of raids may be feeding into some organised fundraising effort by dissidents.It has emerged yesterday's shooting outside a school in West Dublin follows weeks of tension in the area.

In the past two months, a number of assaults have taken place in Corduff Grove, and videos have been posted online of shots being fired by rival gangs.

Two men narrowly escaped injury when a gunman opened fire on a man in his 20s, but missed, just after 3pm yesterday afternoon.

A number of people were arrested but were later released.

Dublin school to reopen for classes following shooting

A West Dublin school that was the scene of a shooting yesterday will reopen for classes this morning.

Two men narrowly escaped injury in the shooting outside Riversdale Community College in Blanchardstown just after 3.30pm yesterday afternoon.

A gunman fired shots at a man in his 20s and a 17-year-old youth as they waited to collect a student.

Local Labour TD Joan Burton's calling on the Taoiseach to do more to tackle crime in his own constituency in West Dublin.

Gardai conducting searches in Corduff following shooting incident this afternoon. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Deputy Burton wants Leo Varadkar to bring in more community policing to protect children in the area.

She said: "Th teachers in both primary and secondary school are extremely concerned for the safety of young people.

"This is the Taoiseach's constituency. If we can't have adequate community gardai in a constituency that is represented by the Taoiseach...what community in Ireland can have adequate policing?"

Gardai are appealing for witnesses to contact Blanchardstown Garda Station.Efforts to repatriate so-called Isis brides could be fast-tracked, including former Defence Forces recruit Lisa Smith.

The former Defence Forces recruit is being held in a refugee camp in Northern Syria.

Kurdish fighters operating camps where Isil brides, sympathisers and fighters are being held want to see European-born sympathisers sent home in groups.

The Taoiseach and Tanaiste have indicated efforts are underway to get the Dundalk woman and her two-year-old daughter back home.

The Irish Independent reports that small groups could be sent to a third country, such as Jordan or Turkey to speed up the process and to ease pressure on swelling camp numbers.

The 37-year-old woman from Louth - who served in the Air Corps- moved to Isil controlled Syria shortly after converting to Islam.

Ireland is liaising with groups such as Red Cross and Red Crescent to facilitate the transfer of Ms Smith to a third country for onward repatriation.130 members of the Defence Forces are, for the second time in a year, unable to return home to their families tomorrow.

The troops are part of the UNDOF mission in the Golan Heights and were scheduled to fly out of Beirut and land in Dublin Airport at 9.40am tomorrow morning.

In the last hour, it has emerged that they will not be home as scheduled.

They have finished a six-month tour of duty and the soldiers to replace them have already arrived.

A spokesperson for the Department of Defence said: "The United Nations is responsible for organising the rotation flights to transport the current UNDOF contingent back to Ireland."

"We have been advised by the UN that the Lebanese Authorities have not yet granted approval of the landing clearance in Beirut for the aircraft scheduled to transport the 59th Infantry Group."

Defence Forces personnel on the ground are liaising with the local United Nations personnel, who are doing their utmost to resolve this situation.

"At the request of Minister Paul Kehoe, Ireland's Permanent Mission in New York is engaging directly at the highest levels with the UN in New York, with a view to resolving the situation as quickly as possible."

"Defence Forces personnel remain at their base at Camp Faoar in Syria pending resolution of the situation."

"Families have been informed of this delay by designated Family Liaison Officers, and further updates will continue to be provided as they become available," the spokesperson added.

One wife, who did not want her name used, said: Myself and the children are devastated, we have gone through a long arduous six months without him.

The kids were so excited about seeing their Dad in the morning and having to break the news to them was heartbreaking.

The troops of the Irish Defence Forces are treated with utter disdain by the Irish government once again.

I know we are in a lucky enough position living close to the airport but some families will have travelled from around the country today to be in Dublin to collect their husbands/dads/sons in the morning.

Im also aware of a number of troops who have travel plans this weekend with their families.

"This is just another example today of the appalling treatment of our troops by the Taoiseach, Minister Kehoe and the pen pushers in the Department of Defence, she added.

PDFORRA, which represents members of the Defence Forces, said it was "bitterly disappointed" to learn of the departure delay.

Mark Keane, President of PDFORRA said: Our thoughts and concerns are with the personnel involved and their families.

"These troops were due to depart the Golan today and arrive home to meet with their families tomorrow. For such a hold up to emerge with two successive units is quite remarkable - and all those people affected need an immediate explanation

Gerard Guinan, General Secretary of PDFORRA said: It is difficult to understand how such a problem can have emerged again; surely lessons must have been learned with the delayed return of the 58th Battalion last October.

"A mistake in planning has surely been made either by the UN or here at home and those affected must get an explanationTaoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris have been forced to deny CervicalCheck officials warned them that offering free smear test re-checks would severely damage the service - accusing critics of being involved in "revisionism".

Mr Varadkar and Mr Harris rejected the claims and accused others of causing the damage after CervicalCheck's ex-clinical director insisted she and her officials told the Department of Health of the risk hours before the plan was announced.

At the height of the cervical cancer tests crisis last year, the Government said any woman who believed she may have been given an incorrect test result would be able to receive a second test for free.

While the move was intended to address widespread national concern at the scale of the crisis and was broadly welcomed at the time, it has since been the subject of repeated claims the level of tests has severely damaged the existing service.

At the Oireachtas health committee ex-Cervical Check clinical director Dr Grainne Flannelly, who was forced to step down over the original tests scandal, said she told the Department of the dangers of the free tests roll-out.

Dr Flannelly specifically said she warned the Department that GPs would not be able to be paid, labs used by CervicalCheck would not have the capacity to cope with demand and that the free tests plan would "fundamentally" undermine the service.

However, despite Dr Flannelly's confirmation the Government was urged not to go ahead with the plan, Mr Varadkar and Mr Harris today rejected the fresh allegations.

At a media briefing in Dublin, Health Minister Simon Harris said "the facts don't change" and insisted he was never told not to go ahead with the free smear test re-checks scheme.

He said some individuals are taking part in "revisionism" to avoid any blame for what happened, before later clarifying he was referring to politicians and not Dr Flannelly or CervicalCheck officials.

He said:

"There's a lot of revisionism going, respectfully in the media and by politicians. Let's remember the time that this was. We had lost all confidence in the service. I've no interest in engaging in tit-for-tat. When we're talking about revisionism we're talking about politicians who called for repeat smear tests."

In the Dail, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin raised Dr Flannelly's committee comments, telling Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that his and Mr Harris's positions have been "undermined".

Mr Martin said the evidence shows "the decision by the Minister for Health to offer free tests has now clearly damaged the programme". He called on Mr Varadkar to order Mr Harris to appear before the Dail to answer more questions.

However, Mr Varadkar rejected the demand, saying: "The damage to the programme wasn't done by the Minister, but by the non-disclosure scandal. Those officials you quoted were at the centre of it... Remember what you said about these people on May 1, you said they were cold and calculating, may have been involved in a conspiracy."The sister of Ruth Maguire who tragically died three weeks ago during a hen party in Carlingford, Co Louth has spoken about the incident for the first time on TV.

Rachel Wilkinson appeared on Ireland AM this morning and spoke to Karen Koster about her late sister.

The alarm was raised when Ruth went missing on the hen night, sparking a major search before her body was found in the nearby lough.

Ruth Maguire.

Rachel, who is campaigning for safety barriers around water edges across the country, believes that had there been a hazard in place to let someone know not to walk any further, that her sister wouldn't have entered the water.

"I don't really get why Ruth would have walked across the water but had there been a barrier, I imagine she wouldn't have," she told Karen Koster.

She said that on the night of her sister's disappearance, people on the hen party night out began to realise she hadn't come back at around 12.30am.

"Her phone was off from about half 12 or before, we started ringing her phone about half 12 when we realised she hadn't come back.

"Someone said she mentioned she wanted to go home to Newcastle, which being Ruth and not really wanting to go on party nights you could see it could be something she could have done.

"The next morning when we realised she wasn't there, that's when the panic set in," she said.

The 30-year-old health assistant was due to marry her partner Jim in August and was buried in her wedding dress.

Rachel said that Jim has been so strong and that his "main focus is the kids".

"I think he's in shock, we're all in shock, so I don't think it has sunk in yet."

She said that the kids have been told that mammy is gone to heaven.

Ireland AM airs on Virgin Media One from Monday to Friday, 7am  10.30amA wife whose face was beaten black, blue and purple by her husband has told a court I know now I have no boss or no one beating me or torturing me for my money.

At Ennis District Court, the Gort woman outlined the history of domestic violence suffered at the hands of her 39 year old husband before Judge Patrick Durcan jailed the man for nine months for the assault causing harm of his wife on March 4th last year at Ballylennan, Gort in south Galway.

Judge Durcan said that the maximum sentence he could impose on the Gort man was 12 months and he had to take into account the guilty plea.

Judge Durcan said that the accused had carried out a horrible assault on his wife in front of their children.

Judge Durcan said that the man's treatment of his wife on the date was appalling.

Judge Durcan said that the couples little children will be scarred for life after what they saw and will require major intervention to get them back on board.

Judge Durcan said that he has seen photos of the victim after the assault and said that her face was left black, blue and purple.

The couple are members of the traveller community and Judge Durcan said that traveller representative groups needed to inculcate a different attitude within traveller society when it comes to respecting other people, relationships and women and children.

Judge Durcan imposed the prison term after he read out a victim impact statement from the wife - the accused pleaded guilty to the assault charge before the court but his solicitor, Daragh Hassett said that there were other allegations in the victim impact statement that his client didn't accept.

Recalling the assault, the mother of five said: He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me down and kept punching, punching, punching me.

Generic and unrelated image of domestic violence

She added: I could see the children screaming, but I couldnt hear them. This had happened uncountable times before, he is a very angry man.

This has been the way it was since I married him. The week leading up to the beating he stabbed me twice.

When I would fall down, he would beat me and beat me and it wouldnt stop. I had big lumps all over my head. He always beat me on the head.

I was afraid he could kill me. There were weapons. I had numbness in my head and confusion. This went on for a few weeks at a time, maybe a few months. No one should live a life with those beatings.

My youngest two children 2 and 4 and my oldest daughter were there that day. Children shouldnt have to see that. One daughter woke up a lot during the night with nightmares for months - even the baby said that I dont want to go back.

She added: When I was with him I was getting paid for all five children and he said that he had a bill for drugs and my childrens money was all used to pay his bill. If I didnt give him my money he would be torturing me.

She said: He would leave himself and the kids hungry to just get the drugs.

Since the assault, I am living in a refuge. I am happy to be away from the violence. I can never go back to Gort, never.

I have no home but I finally got away from him. I am very happy to be alive in the refuge and my children with me.

This man has caused a lot of chaos for the children. They are beautiful children that deserve life just like anyone else - Im so proud of my children and me - the children are very confused, they do no understand the situation.

She concluded: He will not stop. I am happy to be away from the violence. It will get better now.

Solicitor for the accused, Daragh Hassett said that his client has undertaken to stay away from his wife.

Mr Hassett said that his client has a short fuse and has undergone an anger management course to address this.A man in his 20s has been arrested in connection with a shooting outside a secondary school in west Dublin yesterday.

At around 3.40pm yesterday afternoon, a lone gunman appeared to target a man in his 20s who was waiting outside Riversdale Community College on Blanchardstown Road North.

No one was injured in the incident and the gunman fled the scene in the direction of Corduff Grove.

The attack took place in broad daylight at a time when school was about to finish and students would have been exiting the building and parents were arriving to collect their children.

Gardai arrested a number of people at the scene who were released following searches.

Two further searches were carried out in the Corduff area today during which the man was arrested.

He is currently detained at Blanchardstown Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, where he can be held for up to 72 hours.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses who may have been in the vicinity of the Community College between 3pm and 3.40pm yesterday to contact them at Blanchardstown Garda Station.

In particular, they are looking for anyone who was driving along Blanchardstown Road North or Corduff Grove and who may have dashcam footage.

Gardai are also appealing for anyone who observed any unusual activity near the Community College in recent days to make contact.

Local Fianna Fail TD Jack Chambers said yesterday that the incident "marks a very alarming precedent".

"This latest incident will have proven traumatic for parents and students who were in the immediate vicinity, there is no doubt that innocent people felt frightened," he said.

For such an incident to occur in a residential area within yards of a school in the middle of a weekday afternoon is not normal and should not be treated as a normal part of everyday life.Tipperary grandmother Marie Gleeson has spoken of her 24-hour ordeal lying on a trolley overnight in a corridor in University Hospital Limerick emergency department.

Her comments came as doctors and nurses continued to work in seriously cramped conditions at the hospital today as a record 92 patients languished on trolleys.

The 25m state of the art emergency department was opened in June 2017, but is continually overcrowded as it is the only 24-hour ED in a region with a catchment of nearly 400,000 across Limerick city and county, Clare, Tipperary and parts of North Cork.

People are looking for somewhere to sit down. Im in since 3pm yesterday. I got a trolley at 3am this morning, said Ms Gleeson, 68.

Praising the hospitals staff, she added:

Its a disgrace that theyre run off their feet in here, and theres not enough beds, and not enough facilities.

As individuals and citizens we are entitled to proper treatment, arent we? But were not getting it.

The staff are lovely and very experienced, but last night it was hectic. Ive been sitting on a trolley in a corridor in A&E, and its so uncomfortable, Ive pains in my back and shoulders.

She continued: People are on drips sitting on chairs. (Staff) are bringing trolleys from one area to another and theres no room to stand.

Only one family member per patient is being allowed into the ED as doctors and nurses tried desperately to offer the best care despite the conditions.

I feel frustrated, angry. Id nearly be better off at home; Id get more rest. Yet, I want to try and get it over and done with, because Im a carer, looking after elderly people, Ms Gleeson.

Another 87-year old man who presented with dizziness at 9am Tuesday, revealed how he had managed to get two hours sleep in the 30 hours he had spent on a trolley on a corridor.

Despite the ordeal, he said he had to defend staff who had taken the brunt of patients frustrations overnight: I told (the other patients) not to be getting angry or anxious with the doctors and nurses, because they are up all night watching us, and thats a tough job; thats what I told them.

Nurses and doctors administered treatment to patients with barely room for them to stand amongst the carpet of trolleys.

At 8am, 81 patients were on trolleys, in the ED and on wards.

Mary Forgarty, local Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) representative, said the true figure increased to 92 by midday.

Overcrowding is epidemic, I don't have words for it. Its demoralising, Ms Fogarty said.

Doctors are examining patients on corridors and nurses are trying to administer care on the corridors. Its dangerous.

Ms Forgarty claimed efforts by UHL, which opened 22 beds to offset 17 recent bed closures, was not good enough.

Yes theyve opened up some new services, but they need at least 160 beds in here. Its not working at all, she said.

Patients on trolleys at University Hospital, Limerick

Staff were concerned for patient safety as trolleys were blocking fire exists, she claimed.

I was on every ward today and (staff) are all raising fire safety issues, the safety of patients, the safety of staff, she added.

Professor Paul Burke, Clinical Director, UHL, rejected the claims.

Speaking to RTE Prof Burke he added: Its not a crisis, it is something we deal with all the time and we have to deal with.

Professor Burke urged the public that, unless it was absolutely necessary, they should avoid the ED and instead present at local injury units which are operating in the region.

Limerick Sinn Fein TD, Maurice Quinlivan described the overcrowding at UHL as complete chaos.

The Government has allocated 2m for enabling works for a proposed 19.5m temporary 60-bed inpatient block at UHL.

Management has also sought funding for a permanent 96-bed unit, however the Government has yet to sign off on the plan.

Nationally, 594 admitted patients were waiting for beds - of which 432 were waiting in emergency departments, while 162 are on wards.

The second worst hit hospital today is Cork University Hospital where there are 50 patients on trolleys, and thirdly, University Hospital Galway with 43 on trolleys.

Meanwhile, Mary Fogarty, Limerick INMO representative, said she was contacted by an exhausted nurse highlighting her frustrations of trying to care for patients on overcrowded wards at University Hospital Limerick.

Ms Fogarty said she received correspondence from the nurse after she was concerned about patient safety at the cramped hospital.

How can we provide safe nursing and dignified care to extra patients on our ward, on top of our already gruelling workload, with no facilities like oxygen, curtains, lack of pillows etc, the nurse asked.

Privacy is not an option! Any trolley is disgraceful, however when three trolleys are blocking pathways/exits surely this is a health and safety issue.

In response to the general overcrowding problem, a UHL spokesperson said there had been a surge of attendances at the hospital.

This had been above average, they said.

In the 24 hours up to midnight on Tuesday, that number was 236. At 8am on Wednesday, April 3rd, there were 39 admitted patients waiting for a bed, the spokesperson added.

Highlighting infection control procedures at the hospital, the spokesperson stated: In addition, there were a further 13 patients appropriately isolated in single rooms within the ED.

"A shortage of appropriate isolation facilities elsewhere in the hospital makes this the best solution for proper infection prevention and control and in the interests of all patients.

Patients requiring isolation facilities will also be transferred to a ward as soon as an appropriate room is available.

UHL has just over 450 inpatient beds; this is recognised as not being sufficient for the needs of the MidWest Region, the spokesperson said.

Despite highlighting improved privacy measures in the new ED, the spokesperson said it was acknowledged that there are not sufficient designated spaces to meet demand within the context of the overall bed capacity issues in the hospital and that patients do not always get the degree of privacy they rightly expect.

They urged the public to consider all their care options at this time and not to attend the Emergency Department unless necessary.

Injury Units are open in Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday and 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday at St. John's Hospital (Limerick).

Responding to a report by the journal.ie that the Minister for Health is to raise a significant discrepancy over figures of patients on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick, local INMO industrial relations officer Mary Fogarty said the union would welcome any investigation by the minister.

The official INMO trolley watch figures stated that at 8am this morning there were 81 patients on trolleys at UHL.

Ms Fogarty stated there were 92 patients on trolleys by midday.

In a statement this Wednesday evening a spokesperson for UHL said: At 8am on Wednesday, April 3rd, there were 39 admitted patients waiting for a bed. In addition, there were a further 13 patients appropriately isolated in single rooms within the ED.Netflix has announced that Danish post-apocalyptic series The Rain season 2 will premiere on May 17.

The Rain season 2 picks up where the first season left off and follows the group of young survivors, led by Simone, who have fled back into the Quarantine Zone.

Simone's brother Rasmus is ill and carries the highly contagious virus. Martin is wounded and Apollon is right on the heels of the group in their relentless attempt to capture Rasmus.

No one is safe. See you May 17, only on @Netflix. pic.twitter.com/Q1i7gVydmP  The Rain (@TheRainNetflix) April 3, 2019

There is division in the group, as they seek shelter in a hidden base where a team of scientists are hard at work trying to find a cure for the virus before Apollon.

It is a race against time, as Simone and the rest of the young group are desperate to save Rasmus, and ultimately themselves.

In order to do so they must help piece together the mystery surrounding the virus and try to figure out what Apollon's plans are.

In a world where nature is changing and the virus gradually becomes more and more dangerous, and where no one can be sure who can be trusted, loyalty among the group will be put to the ultimate test.

The series' second season is about love, coming of age, friendship, and sticking together through the most challenging of times.

The series, created by Jannik Tai Mosholt, Esben Toft Jacobsen and Christian Potalivo, first premiered on Netflix on May 4, 2018 and was soon after renewed for a second season on May 30 after positive reaction and reviews from critics and the public alike.

Season 2 will air on May 17. The countdown is on.There's nothing we love more than a good true crime documentary and even more so a true crime documentary that outs a criminal for the crimes he or she has committed.

So, new release, The Boyband Con: The Lou Pearlman Story is no different.

The documentary which is co-produced by Lance Bass details how several boybands in the 90s, including NYSNC and Backstreet Boys, were scammed by their manager, Lou Pearlman.

The film explores the career and legacy of record producer and convicted criminal Lou Pearlman, his remarkable successes and offences, and his tragic end while serving a 25-year prison sentence for multiple felony convictions.

The Lou Pearlman Project reveals the dark side of stardom and the music industry as members of multi-platinum-selling bands such as *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, O-Town and Take 5 tell all about working with Pearlman.

You think you know, but you have no idea. The incredible true crime story of Lou Pearlman: The Boyband Con drops today on @youtube  Trust me, you dont want to miss it #YouTubeOriginals #WhoWasLou @LanceBass @Pilgrim_Studios pic.twitter.com/9ADSYcYjTq  Ashley Parker Angel (@ParkerAngel) April 3, 2019

This is the first time the story has been told from the perspective of the people involved, from the Boy Band members themselves, to Ponzi scheme investors to Lous childhood friends.

Interviews with Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick from *NSYNC, AJ McLean from Backstreet Boys and Aaron Carter and Ashley Parker Angel from OTown are included in the documentary.

"I actually have forgiven him, and I don't think I would have gotten here without the film," @LanceBass talks new documentary detailing the hidden side of the 90s boy band craze and the allegations that Lou Pearlman took advantage of the artists he built. pic.twitter.com/AttUskSeHx  TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 3, 2019

The documentary is available to watch on YouTube Premium by following the link here.RTE has gone and revealed a new release on the new and improved player to make us all nostalgic.

On the very day that the final episode of ER aired back in 2009, RTE released the series on the player to mark the 10th anniversary of its conclusion.A former club official has been convicted over the Hillsborough disaster but match commander David Duckenfield is facing a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict.

Jurors were discharged on Wednesday, their eighth day of deliberations, at Preston Crown Court. The CPS has indicated it will seek a retrial for Duckenfield.

About 60 family members gathered at the Cunard building in Liverpool gasped as the jury foreman told the court they could not reach a verdict for Duckenfield on which they were all agreed.

There were cheers as the guilty verdict for Mackrell was announced.

The jury retired to consider their verdicts on Monday, March 25, after a 10 week trial and after a week of deliberations were given a majority direction, meaning verdicts on which at least 10 of them agreed would be accepted.

They had deliberated for 29 hours and six minutes.

Former chief superintendent David Duckenfield arrives at the Hillsborough Inquests in Warrington in 2015 (Peter Byrne/PA)

The prosecution in the case had alleged Duckenfield, 74, had the ultimate responsibility at the ground for the match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989.

Under the law at the time he was not charged over the death of the 96th victim Tony Bland, as he died more than a year and a day after the disaster.

The court heard he ordered the opening of exit gates at the Leppings Lane end of the ground at 2.52pm, eight minutes before kick off, after the area outside the turnstiles became dangerously overcrowded.

More than 2,000 fans entered through exit gate C once it was opened and many headed for the tunnel ahead of them, which led to the central pens where the crush happened.

Richard Matthews QC, prosecuting, told the court in his closing speech that Duckenfield, who was promoted to the role less than three weeks before the match, should have had the knowledge to make key lifesaving decisions on the day.

The 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster (PA)

Benjamin Myers QC, defending Duckenfield, told the jury those comments were made with the benefit of hindsight and some of the questioning did not take into account his memory of the day.

He argued the case was breathtakingly unfair and said Duckenfield had tried to do the right thing.

Duckenfields defence case lasted just 74 minutes and consisted of read evidence from Bernard Murray, the late superintendent who worked as ground commander and Duckenfields deputy on the day.

Mackrell, who was safety officer for the club at the time, was accused of failing to take reasonable care particularly in respect of ensuring there were enough turnstiles to prevent unduly large crowds building up.

The court heard there were seven turnstiles for the 10,100 Liverpool fans with standing tickets.

Mackrell did not give evidence either but Jason Beer QC, defending him, argued the build up outside was caused by other factors, including a lack of police cordons and the unusual arrival pattern of fans.

The case was adjourned at Preston Crown Court until 2pm.- Press AssociationJapanese prosecutors arrested ousted Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn for a fourth time on Thursday, broadcaster NHK said, after reports authorities were building a new case against him over payments made to a dealer in Oman.

Carlos Ghosn leaves his lawyer's office in Tokyo. Credit:Kyodo News

The re-arrest, which NHK described as a highly unusual move, marks the latest dramatic twist in the once-feted executive's fall from grace, and comes after fresh allegations about improper payments made by Nissan under his watch.

Prosecutors arrested Ghosn on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust, NHK said, after visiting his residence in Tokyo early on Thursday and asking him to submit to questioning. A silver van believed to be carrying Ghosn later left the residence, NHK said.

Footage of the vehicle leaving the residence showed that its windows were covered by curtains, making it impossible to see who was riding inside. More than a dozen officials from the prosecutors' office had arrived early on Thursday morning at the residence, NHK reported.The pilots of a Jetstar 787 passenger jet received "engine fail" and "engine thrust" warnings during their approach to land at Osaka's main international airport on Friday.

The details about the problems faced by the pilots with both of the Boeing 787's engines in the crucial minutes before they landed the plane at Kansai International Airport come as Japan's air-safety officials rated the incident as "serious".

Japan's Transport Safety Board has taken the lead in the investigation into Jetstar Flight JQ15's "abnormal engine behaviour" and will be supported by Australian investigators.

A Jetstar 787, similar to the one pictured, suffered engine problems while on descent into Osaka on Friday.

The Jetstar 787-8 Dreamliner, which is powered by two General Electric GEnx engines, was flying from Cairns to Japan's third largest city.Huggies nappies will no longer be made in Australia after American manufacturer Kimberly-Clark sacked up to 220 employees at its western Sydney factory.

The sackings prompted union calls for government intervention to save Australian jobs.

Kimberly-Clark Australia told workers at its Ingleburn Mill on Wednesday that it would close the factory in late July as part of global restructuring.

Huggies nappies. Credit:Facebook/Huggies

Doug Cunningham, managing director of Kimberly-Clark Australia and New Zealand, said the closure would impact "up to 220 roles".It's at 38,000 feet that Anne Edmonds, known to TV viewers from stints on the breakfast satire Get Krack!n and Hughesy, We Have a Problem, finds her best lines in a new show that takes aim at the narcissism inherent to modern life.

There is something about air travel that exposes the most idiosycratic and foul human traits, and many of them are deeply hilarious.

Loosely told through her dealings with a "racist, soggy [misogynist]" named Frank, whom Edmonds encounters at a Melbourne hospital while trying to visit her sick father, the three-time Barry Award nominee highlights the wry side of everything from mental health to audience latecomers.

There are some lines about mental health that fall flat (perhaps changing a reference to Bourke Street would reduce the awkward factor) but when a joke doesn't elicit the expected laughs, the charmingly self-deprecating Edmonds ("if I was an air hostess, I'd be on Rex") pokes fun at herself and moves on.

She's a master at reshaping the vernacular. Audiences will leave with a whole new list of abbreviations and shorthand notations, including the sounds of the bigoted unlocking their SUVs. It's great fun, designed to make you lose your "marbies" (marbles) for an hour.Who's the best on-screen Joker? The pop culture debate is raging again after Warner Bros released a first-glimpse of Joaquin Phoenix's upcoming take on the iconic DC character.

The trailer for Joker  starring Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian-turned-deranged criminal  has set the internet alight with its unexpected grittiness and intimate personal drama, a stunning shift from the usual CGI bombast of comics films.

To the ironic strains of Jimmy Durante's Smile, Phoenix's Fleck is seen enduring endless personal humiliation, culminating in his warped transformation to the Joker.At least 50 Australians aged as young as 18 were killed by lethal strokes after taking methamphetamines, MDMA or other psychostimulant drugs.

Almost one in five deadly strokes among 15-44 year-olds were linked to the drugs, found a detailed analysis of national coronial records between 2009 and 2016.

MDMA and other psychostimulant use is rising among young Australians Credit:Viki Yemettas

In the vast majority of the deaths (at least 37 people) had taken a psychostimulant immediately before their stroke, according to researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC).

Methamphetamine was overwhelmingly implicated, but less than half of meth-linked stroke deaths involved high concentrations of the drug, suggesting even low doses could trigger a deadly stroke.So the Federal Budget is out, the numbers have been crunched and election promises stacked but what's in it for you?

Tax cuts will see more in the pay packets for more than four million Australians and a one-off energy assistance payment will make its way to pensioners and low-income earners to help with their bills.

After years of major changes to superannuation, the budget has only brought some minor reforms, mostly for those nearing retirement.

Workers on up to $126,000 a year are promised a tax cut they can bank from July 1 when they file their tax return. This offset will deliver up to $1080 for a single-income family and up to $2160 for dual income families.A Canberra man was arrested on Tuesday after social media posts prompted a tip off to the National Security Hotline, leading to police raiding the man's home.

The 28-year-old Griffith man appeared briefly in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday before being taken away for mental health tests.

Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker refused to formally charge the man with any offences until he had been seen by mental health specialists.

He had been charged by police with possessing an object to be used to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, threatening to act with intent to cause public harm and using a carriage service to menace, threaten or offend.

Outside court, ACT Policing's detective superintendent Scott Moller said the charges related to social media and that police decided to act after receiving a tip off through the National Security Hotline.Harriet Wran, the daughter of former NSW premier Neville Wran, has pleaded guilty to possessing the drug ice, less than three years after she was released from prison.

The 30-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing drugs, goods in custody and not displaying P-plates with a court registrar early on Wednesday, before she was due to appear before a magistrate at Wyong Local Court.

Harriet Wran leaves Wyong Local Court on Wednesday. Credit:AAP

Wran was pulled over by police at a service station at North Wyong just after 1.30am on February 27.

A male passenger fled as officers approached the car and is yet to be found.More than 200 students had to be evacuated from two hostels at north Queensland's James Cook University after a fire broke out.

Emergency services were called to the campus in Douglas, a suburb of Townsville, just before 1am on Thursday after a blaze began at one of the accommodation blocks.

The fire was quickly extinguished and no one suffered serious injuries. Fourteen people were assessed for minor symptoms, mainly smoke inhalation, but none needed to go to hospital.

The blaze caused moderate damage to the building.

Police were working to set up an evacuation centre for about 220 students. Forensic officers would examine the scene at first light, with the cause of the fire unknown at this time.A teenager has been charged after an alleged bomb threat was left on a Gold Coast school's answering machine on Tuesday.

Police were called to Helensvale State School on Lindfield Road just after 8.30am with staff and students put into lockdown in response.

Helensvale State School on Queensland's Gold Coast. Credit:Nine News Queensland - Twitter

It wasn't until 90 minutes later that police concluded it was a hoax and gave the all-clear.

The 17-year-old boy has been charged with a bomb hoax, use a carriage service to make a threat and using carriage to menace, harass or cause offence. He will be dealt with by the Youth Justice System.Fresh allegations of historical sexual harassment have been made against disgraced former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle by a former female student of his at an elite Victorian college.

The woman, a former student at Geelong College, will request further police action on her allegation that Mr Doyle, then a teacher at the school, made unwanted sexual advances against her as a 15-year-old.

Former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle. Credit:Penny Stephens

The woman made her original statement to police in September, alleging that the assault occurred in 1978.

Whilst I was a student at the Geelong College, the ex-Melbourne mayor, Robert Doyle, sexually assaulted me, the signed police statement said.A son of former West Australian premier Colin Barnett has been found guilty of breaching a violence restraining order by deliberately approaching an ex- girlfriend in a shopping mall, with a magistrate rejecting his claim it was an accidental encounter.

Sam Barnett leaves the Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday Credit:AAP/Rebecca Le May

Sam Barnett did a U-turn when he spotted the 38-year-old at the up-market Claremont Quarter on September 1, then ran up behind her, coming within one metre of her despite the order prohibiting proximity closer than 20 metres.

Barnett was on Wednesday found guilty by Perth magistrate Geoff Lawrence, who said the explanation he gave in his one-hour police interview was a "clumsy attempt" to create a ruse, "without a scintilla of credibility".

AAPIn 2016, Mr Higgins was among the five justices of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea who unanimously ruled that the Manus Regional Processing Centre breached the PNG constitution's right to personal liberty, and was thus illegal. In a statement, Ms Burch said unless she received tripartisan support for the candidate, "it was determined that a vote would not be brought to the Assembly". Loading Pressed as to whether that meant the commission's start date could be pushed back, Ms Burch reiterated that she would not allow a vote to go ahead on a candidate until it was clear all three parties would endorse the appointment. "At this stage we are unable to provide a timeline for an announcement of the Integrity Commissioner. The process is ongoing," Ms Burch said.

This could be a problem, as candidates were told during the recruitment process that they had to be around in late April to early May to help establish the commission - which is due to start work on July 1 - and to hire staff. Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who supported the nomination, said the Liberals opposition had set back the process of appointing a commissioner. Loading I think it really is a question for the Opposition as to why theyve disregarded the legislative process and made the decision they have. It sounds very nasty and very personal, Mr Barr said. ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said he was "dismayed" at the Liberals' "hyperpolitical stance".

Former Chief Justice Higgins clearly meets the criteria set out in legislation. That includes that an appointee cannot have been a member of a political party in the past five years. As far as I can recall, no one proposed an amendment that would prevent the Commissioner from ever having been a member of a political party. If the Liberals are prepared to be this vindictive on appointments, it makes you wonder what would happen if they ever became the government. However Canberra Liberals leader Alistair Coe said it was paramount that the commissioner was beyond reproach. Loading Whether were dealing with actual, potential or perceived conflicts I think we have to get it right and I think we owe it to all Canberrans to have a commission that everybody in Canberra can feel comfortable and confident with, Mr Coe said.

You have [the two-step process] for these very purposes where somebody could technically comply but there may be other issues that warrant further consideration but I do want to stress that I really want to avoid any interpretation that Im reflecting on him rather than the process and the position. Mr Coe also said he would be prepared for the commissions start date to be delayed until a commissioner they could all endorse could be found. But Peter Conway - a friend of Mr Higgins', as well as a long-time Labor party member and former ACAT member - was outraged. "I sat on the ACAT bench with [former Liberal attorney-general] Bill Stefaniak and no one would have dared to suggest we couldn't do the job because of our past associations," Mr Conway said. The commission is set to investigate allegations of corruption involving public servants, politicians, and government contractors, with a focus on serious and systemic cases, and the most serious cases of misconduct.Malcolm never recovered. Turnbulls surprisingly poor performance in 2016 and Shortens unheralded star turn underline a weird truth about campaigning as leader: you never really know who is going to be good at it until the rubber hits the road, and personal popularity means little. Bill Shorten isn't popular, but he's a surprisingly effective campaigner. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Labor had generations of experience choosing leaders, and managed to convince itself in 2003 that it had a promising prospect in Mark Latham. Yeah, that Mark Latham, with that handshake and that meltdown on the 2004 campaign trail. See? Picking winners is tricky. Even when you find yourself a decent contender, there are no guarantees about what happens after you actually get over the line.

Abbott was a machine on the campaign trail in 2010 and 2013, despite his unpopularity. First he shredded Labors majority, falling agonisingly short of the grand prize, and then three years later he put the hapless Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years to an end with some relish. But Tony as prime minister? Less said the better. Likewise, Kevin Rudd was like a predator in 2007, relentlessly hunting down John Howards out-of-puff government like a lion going after a zebra in a wildlife doco. It felt like it was only ever going to end one way. But Rudds prime ministership imploded amid the realisation that he couldnt get everyone to like him absolutely all the time.

That wont be a problem for Morrison. He doesnt mind if some people dont like him as long as the right people vote for him. Its one of the reasons he looks like hell be a better campaigner than Turnbull. Where Turnbull sought something like consensus, Morrison is a ''50 per cent plus one'' man, not one to worry much about what about the other 49 per cent think. Morrisons political instincts are sharper than his predecessors and he knows how to keep it simple too, avoiding some of the overthinking that Turnbull was prone to . The Prime Minister's skills are honed; our best political interviewers struggle to lay a glove on him. He doesnt do gaffes or train wrecks and is almost certainly the best thing the Coalition has going for it heading into this campaign. But for a bloke who talks a lot, he often leaves the impression that he hasnt told you anything. What voters want from a prime minister is someone who closes the deal. When youve barely been in the role for seven months and considering how you got there, you could be seen as a bit of chancer if youre not careful.

Morrison can also be a touch shouty and argumentative, a little defensive when challenged. The interview with Waleed Aly on The Project last month, not Morrisons best work, should be replayed again and again in the PMs office as the people around him iron out those little kinks in their mans political persona. The Prime Ministers faith in his "personal brand" is said to be devout though. He thinks the ScoMo schtick is hot stuff. Time will tell if hes right. Shorten, too, has an ego on him, making life a little hard for his political minders sometimes. So weve got two blokes who fancy their chances, one who is known to have a personal popularity problem and the other whose appeal is yet unproven, but suspect. Dont expect inspiring times over the next few weeks. It all might just reflect the fact that people these days are more suspicious of politicians more generally, a sign of the times. If we look at comparable democracies around the world, its clear things could be much worse. Maybe Shorten and Morrison should look to Australias latest political hit shows for inspiration: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her Victorian counterpart, Daniel Andrews, and their terribly modern form of managerial politics.The Senate has overwhelmingly voted to censure senator Fraser Anning for his comments blaming the Christchurch terrorist attack on Muslim immigration - remarks that shocked communities in New Zealand and around the world.

No senator opposed the censure of Senator Anning - and so no formal vote was recorded - although One Nation abstained and its senator Peter Georgiou criticised the "political witch-hunt" against his former party colleague.

The rare bipartisan motion was brought by the government's leader in the Senate, Mathias Cormann, and his opposition counterpart Penny Wong, who jointly denounced Senator Anning's comments as "inflammatory and divisive".

The Queensland senator released a statement the day of the Christchurch massacre - an attack on Muslims allegedly perpetrated by a white supremacist Australian gunman - that argued the "real cause of [the] bloodshed" was Muslim immigration.The federal budget was less Back in Black and more Highway to Hell, according to Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey.

Mr Bailey was among the Labor state government ministers to line up to decry the federal coalition's budget as dudding Queensland.

In delivering his first budget speech on Tuesday night, federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declared the budget was "back in the black" and "back on track", with the surplus forecast to reach $7.1 billion next financial year.

However, Mr Bailey claimed the budget was a "last-minute vote-buying sales pitch, with an election only a month away".A congestion-busting initiative launched in Tuesday's budget by the federal government could tackle problems in Queensland despite some "unusual" decisions, the RACQ said on Wednesday.

The federal budget revealed a $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund which would be used to fund a wide range of local road and rail projects.

Lindum rail crossing near Wynnum, where a woman died in February, also received $85 million in federal government funding. Credit:Queensland Rail

Within that $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund is $500 million allocated to the Commuter Car Park Fund to fund park-and-ride spaces.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten announced a $300 million National Park and Ride Fund in July 2018.London: A quarter of the world's health facilities lack basic water services, impacting on two billion people, the United Nations says, warning that unhygienic conditions could fuel the global rise of deadly superbugs.

In the poorest countries, about half of facilities do not have basic water services- water delivered by pipes or boreholes that protect it from faeces.

Children wait to fill up a bucket in Mozambique, where millions of people have been affected by Cyclone Idai. Credit:AP

This put birthing mothers and newborns in particular danger, data showed.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said more than one million deaths a year were associated with unclean births and 15 per cent of all patients attending a health facility developed infections.Minneapolis: Six potential jurors have been excused from hearing the trial of a former Minneapolis policeman who fatally shot unarmed Australian Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who called emergency services to report a possible assault.

Mohamed Noor, left, former Minneapolis police officer, leaves the Hennepin County Government Centre in Minneapolis with attorney Peter Wold in March. Credit:AP

Mohamed Noor is charged with murder in the July 2017 death of Damond.

Lawyers and the judge on Tuesday said they've examined the questionnaires filled out by roughly half of the potential 75 jurors and excused six.

One excused juror wrote he or she has negative feelings toward Somalis and believed Noor was a fast-track police hire. Noor is Somali-American.Latest News Welcome to the future of digital media We preview the exciting new world of interactive digital content to feature in Australian Broker

Property market peak might not have been reached, say PEXA Report into property settlements in Australia suggests we are not quite at top of market

The federal budget passed down on Tuesday had very little to say concerning the housing market, an absence that did not pass unnoticed throughout the broking industry.

FBAA managing director Peter White expressed disappointment that the budget didnt provide for struggling homebuyers, especially given the declining home values evidenced throughout much of the country and the persistent global uncertainty.

The government and all major political parties must examine what they can do to stimulate the housing market, not suppress it  and that includes any change to negative gearing and capital gains tax, said White.

His comments came just after the Housing Industry Associations (HIA) most recent data which revealed that approvals for detached houses again declined in February.

Approvals fell by 3.7% for the month to be 11.1% lower than the same three month period last year, said HIAs chief economist Tim Reardon.

The market cooled in the second half of 2018 on the back of the credit squeeze as dwelling prices corrected, adversely impacting market confidence.

However, Reardon went on to say, These results are an encouraging sign that this downturn will remain modest relative to historical comparisons.

Other players in the industry have expressed cautious optimism concerning how the budget could indirectly assist the struggling housing market.

Tim Lawless of CoreLogic pointed out that state and local governments are arguably more able to address housing affordability through measures such as stamp duty payments, allocation of the first home buyers grant, land release, development charges and town planning."

Additionally, the significant spending on infrastructure  up 25% from last year  could stimulate specific regions and help compensate for the downturn in residential construction.

According to Lawless, the funding is an investment towards improving Australias cities and will likely benefit the housing market through easing congestion and making the affordable regions of major cities more accessible.

CEO of Mortgage Choice, Susan Mitchell, agreed that while the budget lacked any measures to directly aid the property market, improving infrastructure could have a positive long-term impact on affordability.

With the current softening in property prices this investment may have a positive double whammy effect for working families who can achieve a better work life balance and increase their chances at achieving the Australian dream of owning a house on a quarter acre block, said Mitchell.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

Call it attack of the drone.

An upstate New York man is facing a felony endangerment charge after a drone he allegedly flew over a crowded Borough Park funeral procession fell onto a police officers face Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect, a 36-year-old man from Monsey, was flying his drone over 54th Street near New Utrecht Avenue  which teemed with tens of thousands of people mourning the death of a famous rabbi  when the device lost power and plummeted onto a nearby officer, striking her face, according to police.

The injured cop was sent to Maimonides Hospital for treatment, while her colleagues nabbed the suspect on a felony reckless endangerment charge, in addition to two misdemeanor charges for assault and for flying the drone in violation of city ordinance, cops said.

Another officer was injured amid the massive funeral procession on 58th street near 14th Avenue, where a car struck and injured a patrolman, potentially breaking his ankle, according to Police Commissioner James ONeill, who addressed the injuries at a press conference Tuesday.

A department spokeswoman wasnt able to provide details regarding the car that struck the officer, but reports state the cop was hit by a vehicle carrying the deceased rabbi.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

He got the axe!

Council bigwigs booted a Midwood representative from their immigration committee after he refused to apologize for his social media comments in which he denied the existence of Palestine Monday.

The Councils leadership reached a broad consensus to kick City Councilman Kalman Yeger (D-Midwood) off the committee headed by fellow City Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D-Red Hook), according to a political source.

Council Speaker Corey Johnson denounced Yegers comments, calling them counter to the committees mission of welcoming immigrants to the five boroughs.

I found Council Member Yegers comments completely unacceptable, Johnson said in a statement. What he said is totally inappropriate, and sends the wrong message about our values. He is being removed from the Immigration Committee.

Yeger received widespread political condemnation from fellow pols for the tweet he published in response to Bklyn er.com journalist Zainab Iqbal, telling her that Palestine didnt exist and labeling U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar as an anti-Semite on March 27.

Palestine does not exist. There, I said it again. Also, Congresswoman [Ilhan] Omar is an anti-Semite. Said that too. Thanks for following me, read the March 27 tweet.

Yeger took to Twitter April 1 to respond to the Councils decision, decrying it as a limiting of his free speech.

I respect the Speakers right to run the Council as he sees fit. Its unfortunate that political correctness takes precedence over objective fact, Yeger tweeted, while linking to a Daily News editorial that denounced the Councils decision.

The councilman also hedged his controversial tweet by saying that while there was no Palestinian state, the Palestinian people do exist.

Of course, there are Palestinians. However, the fact remains there is no Palestinian state, Yeger said.

This contradicts previous statements he made when he called inhabitants of the Middle Eastern country so-called Palestinians.

The pol has been one of a handful of dissenting voices on the mostly progressive committee, voting no in a 2018 resolution by then Flatbush Councilman Jumaane Williams to halt the deportation of Brooklynite Ravi Ragbir by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

He also abstained from a resolution to urge Albany to allow undocumented immigrants from obtaining drivers licenses that year and voted against the committees resolution to call on U.S. Congress to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Tensions flared up when some 20 people gathered to protest against the councilmans statements outside his Borough Park district office on March 28 and were met with 200 counter-protesters, some of whom were sporting Make America Great Again paraphernalia and made Islamophobic remarks towards Muslim attendees.

One protester asked a young Palestinian girl if she had a bomb under her shirt, a comment which one of the counter-protests organizers and former Borough Park Assemblyman Dov Hikind condemned.

A spokesman for Yegers office did not return requests for comment by press time.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

Cops found a man dead in the water at the Navy Yard Tuesday afternoon.

The polices harbor unit recovered the 53-year-olds body from the water at 1:41 p.m. and brought him to Pier C, where paramedics pronounced him dead.

Police are withholding the mans identification until they can notify his family, according to the authorities.

The citys medical examiner has yet to determine a cause of death and we will update this story with more information as it becomes available.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

A Kings County hawk found poisoned in Prospect Park last week will survive thanks to the efforts of a Queens firefighter and his animal-loving wife, who look forward to releasing the downy hunter next week at a more hawk-friendly park.

We know theres poison out there, said Bobby Horvath, who runs the Wildlife in Need of Rescue group with his wife, Kathy Horvath. If this happens again, it may not be so lucky.

The on-the-mend hawk fell deathly ill last week after snacking on a mouse, or rat poisoned with Rodenticide, a deadly toxin commonly employed by city exterminators, and the big-hearted fire fighter swooped in for the rescue after Prospect Park Alliance Forestry, Wildlife, and Aquatic Technician Marty Woess spotted the bird unable to take flight near the parks Le Frak ice-skating rink on March 26.

It was touch and go for a few days as the Horvaths pumped the bird full of fluids and Vitman K, but the hawk managed to survive the weekend, and is now eating and ornery, according to Bobby Horvath, who said the birds combativeness is a sure sign of good health.

He doesnt want to be bothered, restrained, or medicated anymore, he said. Hes putting up much more of a fight than he did before.

The bird is a young male, and fortunately not part of a breeding pair, meaning it hasnt staked out a territory and can be released anywhere that isnt already occupied by other hawks.

And that, coupled with the fact that another hawk died under similar circumstances in 2017, means the animal rescuers probably wont return the predator to Prospect Park, and will likely seek out some other city greenspace, potentially outside of the borough.

This bird isnt married to that territory, it could be released anywhere, said Bobby Horvath.

The Parks Department suspended use of Rodenticide in Prospect Park following the 2017 hawk fatality, and currently utilizes snap traps and dry ice  which are not harmful to the meadows avian occupants  as the parks only anti-rat devices, according to spokeswoman Maeri Ferguson.

However, hawks can range far and wide in search of four-legged snacks, and poisoned mouse traps remain a common sight on the stoops of nearby row houses surrounding Brooklyns Backyard, according to Bobby Horvath.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

63rd Precinct

Marine ParkMill BasinFlatlandsBergen Beach

Catch me if you can

A fraudster used stolen credit card details of an Avenue T man to purchase an airplane ticket on March 6.

The victim, who never physically lost possession of the card, reported an unknown $669.03 charge to an airline, as well as two other mystery charges for $7.99. The victim reported the incident from his home on March 29, said cops.

Subsequent investigation showed the airline purchase was for a seat on a Miami-bound flight from Chile, according to police.

Credit card thief

A con artist stole banking information of an E. 65th Street to make numerous purchases throughout March.

The 62-year-old victim, who lives on between 56th and Nation drives, reported on March 31 several unknown charges to her bank card totalling $1,491, according to cops.

Lottery loser

A robber stole $4,501 worth of lottery tickets from an Avenue U convenience store on March 27.

The perp got into an argument with a clerk at the store near Hendrickson Street at 10 p.m. before pushing the lottery display over, grabbing the tickets, and fleeing, according to cops.

Car shopping

A burglar broke into a car parked on Utica Avenue on March 28 and stole $7,399 worth of property.

The victim told policehe parked near Flatlands Avenue at approximately 10 p.m. and entered a nearby electronics store. When the 33-year-old victim returned 30 minutes later, he found the passenger-side window broken, police reported.

The perp made off with a laptop, headphones, camera, and a backpack, according to cops.

 Aidan GrahamSign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

72nd Precinct

Sunset ParkWindsor Terrace

Jump start

Cops are hunting for the vandal who used a row of cars parked along 52nd Street as trampolines on March 30.

A witness told police he spotted the scamp jumping on the hoods of four cars parked between Fourth and Fifth avenues at 11:40 p.m.

The rascals antics caused a whopping $1,600 worth of damage across all four vehicles, cops said.

Socket to em

Police are searching for the reprobate who broke both of a mans eye sockets inside a 19th Street apartment building on March 30.

The victim told police he spotted the goon lingering in the vestibule of his building between Fourth and Fifth avenues at 5:30 a.m., and that the scoundrel attacked him following a dispute, pummeling him with his fists.

The man was able to transport himself to Maimonides Hospital following the assault, where doctors told him he would need surgery to correct breaks to both eye sockets, cops said.

Bike thief

A bandit made off with a mans motorcycle he parked on 52nd Street on March 27.

The victim told police he parked his Honda between Fourth and Fifth avenues at 11 p.m., and returned the next morning to find his $1,500 Japanese motor bike stolen.

High gravity

Cops arrested a woman on a felony weapons charge after catching her with an illegal blade on 49th Street on March 27.

The arresting officer claims he recognized the suspect from a prior arrest hanging out near Third Avenue at 8:20 p.m., and after the woman gave him a false name, the cop reached her and found she was in possession of gravity blade, and a crack pipe.

 Colin MixsonDear Reader,

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Digital EditorTata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys Technologies, the two largest in the country's information technology (IT) sector, have never yet announced their financial results the same day. This will change on April 12. Some see this as reflecting a new confidence at Infosys. The sector, overall, is expected to post good results for the March quarter, the final one for 2018-19.

In early heydays, Infosys was the first to announce its earnings, followed by TCS. Then TCS started doing so. This was around when TCS became the clear leader, the revenue gap between the two widening. In the ...India's Tata Steel/said on Wednesday that it supports the logic behind a joint venture with ThyssenKrupp, days after the companies submitted proposals to the European Commission to get a nod to the proposed partnership. "We continue to engage in a constructive dialogue with the European Commission and believe our proposals address their concerns, and still very much support the industrial logic of the joint venture," said a Tata Steel spokesman in an emailed statement to Reuters. Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp had proposed to combine their steel operations Europe, ...The Tata group has managed to turn around some of the poorly-performing businesses successfully and not give up on them, Ratan N Tata, chairman emeritus Tata Sons and head of Tata Trusts, said at an event in Mumbai. Even as a successful business creates a lot of excitement among stakeholders, one is often accused by the industry for hanging on to an under-performing one, he said. We have managed to turn them around.

Deep down inside it is very difficult to give up an enterprise and people. While many will not agree with my view, there are ways to make a business successful ...Since India does not have a face-off between leaders of major political parties about their manifesto promises, we can only debate how much of the promises contained in them are useful to swing voters. But if we assume that some of the manifesto promises do find their way into government policies, it is interesting to ask why has the Congress manifesto asked for a revival of Special Economic Zones in 2019, after it ceremoniously discarded the concept in 2009.

SEZ policy until then was its biggest agenda to revive the manufacturing sector. The manifesto released by INC President Rahul ...As Uttarakhand votes on April 11 for all five Lok Sabha constituencies, it again looks like a contest between national rivals the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, say experts. This time, the Samajwadi Party (SP)  which has never shied away from fielding candidates in the state despite not being a dominant party  has not fielded a single candidate.

The reason could be failing to find a suitable candidate for the lone Pauri seat, which it got under the seat-sharing arrangement with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state, said an expert. The BSP is contesting on ...Type address separated by commas

Your Email:The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday said it has entered into 18 Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) in March this year, including three bilateral APAs.

With the signing of these APAs, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT in the year 2018-19 stands at 52, which includes 11 bilateral APAs. The total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT as of now stands at 271, which inter alia includes 31 bilateral APAs, noted an official statement issued by the CBDT.

One bilateral APA each was signed with Australia, the Netherlands and the United States, pertaining to various sectors and sub-sectors of the economy like anti-friction bearings, risk management solutions platforms, BPO, IT/ITeS, ATMs, industrial and institutional cleaning and hygiene products, the CBDT said.

The international transactions covered in all these agreements, inter alia, include contract manufacturing, provision of software development services, back office engineering support service, provision of back office (ITeS) support services, provision of marketing support services, payment of royalty for use of technology and brand, trading and payment of interest, it added.

"The progress of the APA scheme strengthens the government's resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. The Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner," the CBDT mentioned.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As many as 53 people have died due to swine flu in Indore since the start of this year.

Among the patients who have died, 29 were residents of Indore, whereas 24 had come to Indore for treatment.

"From January till date, we have sent 774 samples for tests, out of which 183 people have been found positive in the swine flu test," Praveen Jadiya, chief medical and health officer, Indore told ANI.

Earlier, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had written a letter to incumbent Chief Minister Kamal Nath, for ensuring proper medical facilities to patients suffering from swine flu.

Swine flu is an infection caused by one of several swine influenza viruses (SIV), with the H1N1 strain being the most common across the country.

H1N1 virus spreads when an individual touches an infected person or breathes droplets of coughs and sneezes that are in the air.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has sought the support of the Congress party in realising Delhi's dream of full-statehood.

In a letter to Rahul Gandhi, AAP leader and Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said the Congress manifesto seemed to have incorporated the issue of statehood but without doing any "homework or research."

"Your manifesto states that Congress promises to amend the Government of Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 to make it clear that the Lieutenant Governor shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers except in matters concerning the three reserved subjects," writes Rai in the letter.

"This is factually incorrect. These four lines do not convey anything. Firstly, aid and advice have nothing to do with the GNCTD Act. It is extremely disappointing that after having promised statehood for Delhi for decades, your party has now gone back on its promise," reads the letter.

"It is time for a fresh Constitutional amendment to provide Delhi with full statehood," he said, adding that "Can you imagine that in the current set-up, the elected Delhi government has no powers to even transfer a peon?"

"From senior most to contractual staff, not a single employee reports to the elected government. According to the current scheme of things, the L-G can veto any proposal of the elected government. Can this be allowed to continue," asked Rai.

Rai also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government at the Centre, saying that "since 2014 onwards when Modi came to power, Delhi has witnessed its worst period, with the trampling of democracy and murder of federalism."

"Since 2015, when a new government was elected by the people of Delhi with a historic mandate, Modi government unleashed the worst kind of vendetta against it."

Rai also claimed that Delhi does not virtually get any Central financial assistance and earns on its own.

All seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi will go to polls in a single phase on May 12. 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.)The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till May 1 a plea of Malayalam actor Dileep seeking a copy of the digital evidence of the alleged assault on a noted south Indian actress, in which he is a key accused.

A Bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar adjourned the matter after the other party sought an adjournment.

The actress, who has also worked in Tamil and Telugu films besides Malayalam, was allegedly abducted and molested by a group of men in her car in February 2017, in a conspiracy, which the actress says was hatched by Dileep.

In March 2018, Dileep filed a review petition in the Kerala High Court seeking a copy of the memory card containing visuals of the purported crime.

The High Court dismissed the petition on the grounds that the video of the actress's assault is "too sensitive" to be let out.

After that, Dileep moved the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Kerala High Court.

The apex court had earlier said it will see if the memory card, which is part of a police report under Evidence Act, is a "material or document". The Bench had said it will also see the provisions under the Information and Technology (IT) Act.

The top court also agreed with the order of the Kerala High Court that the video of assault cannot be handed over to the accused.

The apex court had asked Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing on behalf of Dileep, whether the memory card of a mobile is a "document" under section 207 of CrPC and can be supplied to the actor.

During the hearing, Mukul Rohatgi stated that Dileep has no connection with the crime, pressing that the actor was not named in the original chargesheet, but was later framed by the actress.

He said that his client has a right to receive evidence relating to the case.

He claimed that the visuals of the video have been "doctored" to deliberately trap Dileep, while also contending that he needs the memory card to prove his innocence as he has right to a fair trial.

The actor has claimed that he was framed in the case due to personal enmity with the actress.

Dileep was arrested on July 10 in 2017 and was granted bail on October 3 the same year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ailing Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Tuesday stepped down from his post before his mandate ends on April 28, state media reported on Monday.

CNN confirmed the reports after citing a short statement published by the state-run Algeria Press Agency, which said, "President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika has officially notified president of the Constitutional Council of his decision to end his term as President of the Republic".

Tuesday's announcement comes after an earlier press statement issued by the Bouteflika's office said that the president will take steps to ensure "state institutions continue to function during the transition period", adding, his "resignation would occur before April 28, 2019".

The statement further noted that the 82-year old President would "take important measures to ensure the continuity of the functioning of the state institutions during the period of transition."

Bouteflika's resignation announcement also comes one week after the country's army chief called for Bouteflika to resign.

On April 1, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah reiterated his call for the application of a provision in the Algerian Constitution that could remove the president on account of his failing health.

Algeria has been witnessing protests since February against the President following his announcement that he will be contesting for a fifth term.

Bouteflika later gave in to protesters demands and abandoned his re-election bid but also delayed the presidential election indefinitely and said that he will only step down after a new Constitution is passed.

Bouteflika has rarely made public appearances since suffering a stroke in 2013.

Under Article 102 of the Algerian Constitution, the Constitutional Council could ask Parliament to declare a President to be unfit to rule the country if he or she is unable to fully exercise his functions due to ill-health.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Five persons of a gang who looted Rs 1.75 crore from a businessman by posing as task force officials were arrested here on Tuesday, said police.

The accused were identified as --Reddypalle Kishore, Nagaraju, Das, Harsha Bhavani Shankar and Amarchand. However, the main accused Ravindra is still absconding. So far police have recovered Rs 1.26 crore from them.

"We received a complaint from Hyderabad-based businessmen Abhinav Reddy that around Rs 1.75 crore cash belonging to him was robbed at the Two-Town police station. The robbers raided the businessman after posing as Combined Taks Force officials, stating that it was illegal to carry such amount of cash without income proof as it was the violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The five fled with the cash after beating him up," said City Police Commissioner Dwaraka Tirumala Rao.

As the entire money was unaccounted it is being suspected it was earned through illegal means. "The police are now suspecting that the money was a part of a hawala transaction for the elections as the entire money was unaccounted by Abhinav Reddy," Rao said.

The matter is now being investigated by the Enforcement Department and Income Tax Department for further investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)One thing at a time. A California federal judge ruled, on Tuesday, that Harvey Weinstein doesn't have to continue fighting the defamation lawsuit filed against him by American actor and political activist Ashley Judd, until after his criminal sexual assault trial.

In April 2018, the actor filed a lawsuit against the producer claiming he sexually harassed her and alleged that he had ruined her career by asking director Peter Jackson not to cast her in 'The Lord of the Rings' in 1998.

However, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, in September, dismissed Judd's sexual harassment accusation against the producer, finding that it would be unprecedented to apply the law or ruling to a prospective employer. However, he allowed her defamation claim to move forward.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in January, Weinstein asked Gutierrez to stay the suit, arguing that he needed to preserve his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the criminal matter and as a result couldn't effectively defend himself against the actor.

On Tuesday, the Judge granted the motion, stating that while the nature of Judd's suit and the criminal case are "quite different," there's a reason to suspect they may intersect.

The 50-year-old actor was one of the firsts to raise voice against Weinstein. She told the New York Times that the director had invited her to a hotel room in late 1996 or early 1997, and tried to massage her. He even asked her to watch him take a shower, but she refused to do so and walked out.

Judd had revealed that she wanted to work in 'The Lord of the Rings' but she did not get the opportunity. After the scandal, Peter Jackson had said in an interview that Weinstein's film company Miramax had discouraged him from casting Judd and another actor Mira Sorvino, describing them as a "nightmare to work with."

Judd had also revealed that she only had a two-day role in the 1995 Miramax film titled 'Smoke' which went positive and she had no interaction with Weinstein during that time, and that's why Weinstein's comments were defamatory and demeaning.

However, Weinstein's lawyers argued that the allegations did not rise to the level of sexual assault and that the entire suit against him should be thrown out due to the statute of limitations. They also added that the producer had tried casting Judd in other roles, proving that he did not want to harm her career.

More than 80 women, including the actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Rose McGowan have opened about similar stories against Weinstein. Some accused him of using physical force to compel them to have sex, while others said he tried to exchange parts in movies for sex or threatened to ruin their careers if they did not fulfill his demands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Seven bookies were arrested by the Rajasthan Police on Wednesday for allegedly betting on the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.

Around 40 mobile phones, two laptops, two LEDs, two set-up boxes, two mobile phones, two pen-drives, three registers containing the details of betting and Rs 40,000 cash have been recovered from the accused.

Those arrested have been identified as Rajendra, Pravin, Harshil, Anwar Khan, Abid Khan, Arif Mohammad, and Manohar Chwala.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Kota, Harsh Ratnu said that the police received information regarding betting activities.

"A team of police was keeping a watch on these activities. It subsequently gathered important information regarding the place, individuals involved in it," he said.

After gathering the required information, a special team consisting of commandos busted the gang which indulged in betting.

The accused individuals are being interrogated and their criminal records are also being traced.

A case has been registered in this regard. Further probe is on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student was shot at in front of his hostel inside the campus on Tuesday evening and he later succumbed to his injuries, police said.

Gaurav Singh, an MCA student who was shot at in front of Birla hostel.

"We have arrested four people in this matter. It was a case of personal enmity," said Anil Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Varanasi Cantt.

Gaurav's father Rakesh Singh is a worker at the BHU.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to "encash" the Pulwama terror attack, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday asserted that the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign will not help the BJP win elections.

"BJP cannot win despite the Chowkidari drama. Modi lead NDA rule has achieved nothing. The Prime Minister is trying to encash the Pulwama incident. No real development took place in Modi rule. The reservations are not properly being implemented. The situation with Muslims and other minorities is also very bad. Reservation for EWS is half baked decision," Mayawati said while addressing a rally along with JSP chief Pawan Kalyan.

She also accused the BJP and Congress of misusing central agencies for targeting opponents.

"BJP and Congress must be defeated nationally and in this state TDP and YSR Congress Party should be defeated. People are still suffering even today because of GST and Demonitisation. BJP, same as past Congress government, is misusing all institutions like CBI, ED, IT etc," said Mayawati.

She also asserted that manifesto is not important as she believes in speaking less and doing more.

"Congress made many promises in its manifesto. But it never bothered to fulfil them. Same is the case with BJP. Our government at state and centre will work with the motto 'Sarv Jan Hitaay, Sarv Jan Sukhai'. If we form government at the centre, we will definitely give special category status to Andhra Pradesh," she said.

Mayawati also expressed her desire to see Pawan Kalyan become the youngest Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

During his address, Pawan Kalyan called Mayawati a "mother figure" and said she and her party are an inspiration for him.

"Mayawati is like a mother to me. My relation with Mayawati is since a long time, even before my entry into Indian won't allow a layman to enter A person like me is also facing many troubles to establish myself in politics. But Mayawati became Chief Minister four times, that too for a big state like Uttar Pradesh. BSP has always been an inspiration to me and I came into politics with her inspiration only."

He also took a dig at TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu while expressing his desire to see Mayawati as Prime Minister.

"I want to see Mayawati take oath as Prime Minister. TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu is unable to control his own legislators who violate law and order. But Mayawati controlled law and order in Uttar Pradesh very well. She did not even spare her own party MLAs and punished them too when they violated laws", he said.

BSP is in alliance with JSP, CPI and CPM. All the four parties are jointly contesting the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Signalling all is not well in UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet, second Conservative minister Chris Heaton-Harris quit on Wednesday (local time) after May's decision to hold talks with the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Chris Heaton-Harris had served as an Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union since last year.

"After much contemplation, I have decided to leave Theresa May's Government. I'm grateful to the PM for giving me the opportunity to serve the UK and I will continue to represent my constituents as the MP for Daventry," tweeted Chris Heaton-Harris.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday engaged in "constructive" talks with Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to end the Brexit deadlock. The leaders are looking forward to further discussions in the coming days.

CNN quoted a Labour Party spokesperson as saying, "We have had constructive exploratory discussions about how to break the Brexit deadlock."

"We have agreed a programme of work between our teams to explore the scope for agreement," the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Corbyn hinted that the Prime Minister intends to table the Brexit deal once again in the Parliament for a vote next week.

Addressing the media after his meeting with May, Corbyn said: "If it goes beyond the 22nd of May then clearly it does involve European elections, which the government absolutely does not want to be involved in. They made that very, very clear ... and that is why she is very keen to get a vote through the House next week."

Corbyn further indicated towards the possibility of a referendum on the Brexit deal.

"It was raised by me at the beginning of the meeting. I said, 'Look, it is the policy of our party that we would want to pursue to option of a public vote to prevent crashing out or prevent leaving on a bad deal'," Corbyn said.

"There was no agreement reached on that, we just put it there as one of the issues that the Labour Party conference voted on last year," he added.

No resolution seems to be in sight for the UK as the British Parliament had earlier rejected a "no-deal Brexit" scenario.

The EU, on the other hand, has reiterated on multiple occasions that the previously negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, which has now been rejected thrice, is the best that can be put on offer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for giving information about self-styled godman Virendra Dixit, who has been accused of sexually assaulting women.

The announcement comes after Dixit allegedly failed to cooperate with the agency in its investigations.

The agency claimed that Dixit has been absconding after Delhi Police filed charge sheet against him.

The case was transferred to CBI from Delhi Police by Delhi High Court. CBI had constituted an SIT on December 20, 2017, to investigate the case.

Delhi Police had raided Dixit's ashram in Rohini area after receiving complaints of sexual exploitation of minor girls. Several girls who were being kept in inhumane conditions in the ashram were rescued by the police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Chinese woman has been charged with allegedly carrying a thumb drive loaded with malware to Mar-a-Lago resort, which is owned by US President Donald Trump.

According to Engadget, the woman, Yujing Zhang, has been charged with making false statements to a federal officer and entering the restricted property after she visited the resort on March 30 with the malware-ridden USB drive.

She initially said that she wanted to use the pool, but later claimed she was there to attend a non-existent UN Friendship Event and wanted to speak to a member of the President's family about China's economic relationship with the US.

In addition to the USB drive, she was also carrying four cellphones, a laptop, an external hard drive, and two Republic of China passports. It is not clear what her true intentions were as Trump was also staying at the resort at the time.

However, the malware and the pattern of behaviour including lying about her purpose of visit, the unusual gear, and timing of the visit raise concerns about it being an attempt to compromise systems.

If there was any malicious intent, Zhang could have swiped sensitive information. She was caught by the receptionist after she talked about attending the false event and wasn't on the property's access list either.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday termed the Congress party manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls as the "planning document of Pakistan's conspiracy."

Prime Minister Modi, who was addressing an election rally here, said: "The Congress party released its manifesto on Tuesday. That document is nothing but evidence of how they plan to play with the security. Their manifesto is the planning document of Pakistan's conspiracy. That document will break the morale of our army personnel."

Accusing the Congress of confusing the country, Prime Minister Modi said: "Do you remember surgical strike? The way in which we went to terrorists' house to kill them? Some people sitting in AC rooms in Delhi are saying that the country is forgetting what happened in Balakot."

"For us, it is always country first and the party next. However, it is true the country has functioned in the opposite direction for decades wherein terrorists were saved."

Sharpening his attack on Rahul Gandhi led party, Prime Minister Modi said: "It is the Congress party's tendency to either conquer everything or confuse everyone. Today they are confusing the nation as they know that Modi is working for the people's benefit, as a result, they are unable to get their cut."

The Prime Minister claimed that Maoism will soon come to an end if the 'Mahamilaavat' does not come to power.

"The days of Maoists can be counted now. But if the 'Mahamilavat' gets a small chance, Maoists and Naxals will get a chance. Their movements will get a pace. The Congress in its manifesto has also announced that those who speak against the country will not be charged with sedition as they plan to remove the sedition law itself," he added.

Hitting out at the NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is an ally of the Congress party in the state, he said: "I would like to ask Sharad Pawar, who has been the Defence Minister of the country if he is satisfied with the Congress manifesto? Is he okay with a manifesto which weakens the morale of our forces?"

Attacking the opposition further, Prime Minister Modi claimed that they are concerned more about his name, caste, family, etc but are not concerned about his work.

Accusing the opposition of calling him names, he said: "A Congress leader called me a 'Chowkidar' of toilets. One person from Sharad Pawar's party called me uncouth. Some person who is a part of the 'Mahamilavat' said that Modi does not know how to govern a country. When I was given 'Chowkidari' of this nation, the intention behind it was clear."

Urging the people to vote for the BJP in the General Elections, Prime Minister Modi said: "By 2022, when the country celebrates 75 years of independence, I have to fulfill two dreams -- the first one is to double the income of our farmers, and the second is to ensure that each family in India has a concrete house."

Maharashtra will go to polls in the first four phases, beginning April from 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.)Congress party is making grand plans to take its election manifesto to the common man, the party said on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the grand old party is planning to hold 22 press conferences by its senior party leaders to convey the message in its manifesto to the masses. The program is scheduled on April 4.

As per the official release by the party, Anand Sharma will be holding the press conference in Mumbai, Abhishek Manu Singhvi in Delhi and Priyanka Chaturvedi will be holding a press conference in Bhuneshwar.

Apart from that, the party will be deploying its veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad in Jammu and Meem Afzal in Srinagar.

The Congress manifesto released on Tuesday promised significant changes in the laws, like quashing of the Sedition law and amendment to the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

The manifesto proposed to decriminalise laws that are essentially directed against civil violations and can be subjected to civil penalties. The laws include the sedition law and defamation.

The Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be conducted in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. The 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.)Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Congress, stating its election manifesto promising to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) is 'anti- and separatist-friendly' and it will dilute the immunity of security forces.

Addressing a press conference here, Sitharaman said: "Is this right that the Congress party's manifesto promises amendments in the AFSPA? Their promise is anti- and separatist-friendly, which is an effort to weaken the armed forces. They are trying to dilute the immunity of our security forces."

"Armed forces of our country are putting their best foot forward to protect us. Why should one presume that the powers of security forces are against human rights? Such promises will destroy and finish the morale of armed forces and limit powers of a district magistrate. On one side, Congress said they want to bring the status of martyrs to all armed forces people but on the other, they promised changes in the AFSPA," she added.

Sitharaman advised Congress to first improve the law and order situation in Jammu & Kashmir before thinking of amending AFSPA. "Removal of AFSPA is possible if the law and order is at place. But they want to tweak it, only opening windows of little opportunities for those sitting and writing those complaints to put anything as torture or enforced disappearance and sexual violations. By exempting these, who are you helping? Instead, why don't you work to make the situation better when you can withdraw it in total?" she said.

"If you (Congress) want to remove the AFSPA, there is a system for it. The BJP has removed the AFSPA from Assam. It was the BJP who has shown it can be removed. But Congress manifesto on removing AFSPA will have a negative effect. It will be interpreted as being in favour of anti-nationals and separatists," she added.

Speaking on the sedition law, Sitharaman asserted and said "Congress manifesto is going in a direction which is dangerous for the country. They are talking about removing sedition laws. One must ask Congress if it is right to amend it and who are they trying to help?"

She also questioned why there was no mention of giving martyr status to jawans in the manifesto, after the ghastly Pulwama attack.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had said that the paramilitary personnel who are killed in the line of duty will be accorded with "martyr" status if his party comes into power.

"After the ghastly Pulwama attack, Congress had said they will give martyr status to the jawans, then why it is not in their manifesto?" she asked.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) engineer Anil Patil was on Wednesday arrested in connection with the CSMT bridge collapse here.

The accused has been sent to police custody till April 5 by Esplanade court.

Previously, BMC Assistant Engineer SF Kakulte, another accused in the case, was sent to police custody on Tuesday till April 5 by the Magistrate Court.

The court had already sent Neeraj Desai, the structural auditor of the CSMT Bridge, to judicial custody till April 10.

Six people were killed and over 30 injured after a portion of the overbridge near the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station collapsed on the evening of March 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister RK Singh hit out at the Congress party for its manifesto on Wednesday and said that the decision to dilute AFSPA would be in favour of terrorist.

Talking to ANI, he said: "Reviewing AFSPA is dangerous for the unity and integrity of the country. If you remove AFSPA, armed forces will be without any legal power. They want to reduce the protection of the armed forces."

"This will weaken and jeopardise the fight against terrorism. This is against the interest of the country and should never happen. The decision to dilute AFSPA will be in favour of terrorist," he said.

Accusing the party of preparing a manifesto which is apparently dominated by the views of 'Tukde-Tukde' gang, Singh said: "They want to remove sedition law. What will the government do if anyone calls for an armed rebellion against the country? This manifesto is prepared by 'Tukde-Tukde' gang. Congress should learn how to keep the interest of the country on top."

The Congress party released its manifesto on Tuesday.

Responding to allegations on him about an alleged statement pertaining to 'Hindu terror,' he said: "This is a false allegation. Either they are unaware of the facts or are lying. The statement regarding 'Hindu terror' was given by Sushil Kumar Shinde."

"I only said that some people accused of Malegaon blast have had links with the RSS in the past. It is the Congress party's old habit to tell lies and act innocent when caught," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take a decision on the alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct by Andhra Pradesh government.

A single-judge bench comprising Justice Yogesh Khanna was hearing a plea filed by Jana Chaitanya Vedika stating that the Andhra Pradesh government launched 'Pasupu Kumkuma' and 'Annadata Sukhibhav' schemes just before the Model Code of conduct came into force.

The petitioner made representations to the ECI on March 12 and 30, stating that the money transfer under the launched schemes shouldn't happen till polling comes to an end.

The court will next hear the case on April 5.

'Pasupu Kumkuma' scheme provides financial help to women registered with self-help groups, provides cash of Rs 10,000 and a smartphone too to applicants.

It intends to benefit 93 lakh women by transferring money in three installments within three months. Out of these, one installment is to be given a day before polls take place in Andhra Pradesh.

On the other hand, old age pension amount has been increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 and 'Annadata Sukhibhav' scheme intends to benefit farmers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn may face another criminal charge related to the alleged misuse of the automaker's money for personal use through a dealership in Oman.

Quoting sources, NHK reported that more than USD 34 million was paid to a Nissan dealership in Oman, which is run by one of Ghosn's acquaintances, for seven years until last year.

Japanese prosecutors suspect that some of this money went towards paying for a yacht for Ghosn through the Oman dealer executive's personal account.

Tokyo prosecutors' special investigation team will be consulting with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office whether to indict Ghosn for the additional charge. The 65-year-old has already been indicted for aggravated breach of trust and other offences.

Ghosn's associates have shot down the new allegations, saying that the money paid to the Oman dealership was "legitimate remuneration" paid for the establishment's many years of business. They have also claimed that the yacht's purchase has "nothing to do with Nissan".

The Renault boss was fired as the chairman of both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors following his arrest in December last year.

While Ghosn was granted bail by a Tokyo court in early March, he is not permitted to leave Japan. He spent 108 days in detention after his previous bail pleas were rejected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The hearing of actor Salman Khan's appeal against Rajasthan High Court's verdict in the blackbuck poaching case, which was scheduled for Wednesday, has now been postponed to July 4.

Judge Chandra Kumar Songara has asked the actor's team of lawyers to ensure that everyone is present in the next hearing in July.

The actor in his appeal had challenged the High Court's verdict against his five-year jail term for killing endangered species of blackbuck in Kankani near Jodhpur in 1998, during the shooting of his film Hum Saath Saath Hain.

The hearing which took place last year had actors Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre being acquitted of all the charges by the court. However, Salman Khan was found guilty and was sentenced to 5 years in jail. Khan was charged under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and others under Section 51 read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code.

In April 2018, when the Jodhpur Court found Khan guilty, he had even spent a night in jail but was soon released on bail.

Post this verdict, Salman challenged Rajasthan High Court's decision by appealing to the Sessions Court.

Last year when the punishment was announced, Salman Khan's lawyer Anand Desai said in a statement, "ln the present case the Hon'ble Court has acquitted all the 5 co-accused actors which would imply that Salman was out hunting alone in the middle of the night in a remote area outside Jodhpur. We have preferred an appeal to the Hon'ble Sessions Court and applied for an urgent hearing today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed interim hike in fees by private schools in the capital till April 8.

The decision by the two-judge bench comprising Justice S Murlidhar and Justice IS Mehta came on the plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, challenging the earlier order of the single judge bench of the High Court.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia expressed his happiness over the decision. In a series of tweets, Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister, said the AAP government was aware of the parents' concerns. "It will not allow private schools to collect fees arbitrarily," he said.

"Big relief for the parents! As per the request made by Delhi government, double bench of the High Court has stayed the order by single bench regarding fees. Private schools will not be able to collect the fees they increased recently," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

"In its audit, the Delhi government found that most of the schools wanting to increase their fees were actually already collecting more fees than their expense. That is why most of the schools were not allowed to increase their fees," Sisodia said in his tweet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amidst stalled denuclearisation talks, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano outlined the need for steadfast inspections in North Korea to advance the denuclearisation process.

Speaking to NHK World, the chief said that while summits between USA and North Korea are necessary, "promises without steadfast inspections have no meaning".

He added that "steadfast inspections" ensure that agreements last for long while referring to the current situation in North Korea. Yukiya also said that while countries like the USA should carry out inspections, agencies like IAEA should also undertake probes.

Speaking further on North Korea, the IAEA chief said that it is an "indisputable fact" that North Korea has expanded its nuclear activities in the past decade.

He also added that the IAEA would be ready to send its inspectors to North Korea within weeks of a deal being worked out with the nation.

South Korea's spy agency, National Intelligence Service, recently said that North Korea has almost completed the restoration of a key long-range rocket launch site in Dongchang-ri, adding to speculations that a missile or a satellite may be launched by the reclusive state to express its frustration over the deadlock on denuclearisation talks.

The second US-North Korea summit ended abruptly in Hanoi in February as the two countries failed to resolve their differences over sanctions relief. US President Donald Trump, however, has maintained that relations with North Korea continue to be good, going as far as cancelling new sanctions against Pyongyang, deeming them as unnecessary.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Irrfan Khan on Wednesday shared a heart touching message for his fans where he thanked everyone for the love, wishes and prayers that were bestowed on him.

Irrfan Khan took to his Twitter page and wrote, "Maybe somewhere in the pursuit of winning, we forget how much it means to be loved. In our vulnerability, we are reminded. As I leave my footprints onto these steps of my life, I want to pause to be grateful for receiving your immense love and support; it soothed me in my process of healing. So I travel back to you, thanking you from the bottom of my heart."

As soon as the Piku actor tweeted his message, the film fraternity too came out openly to congratulate the actor and to welcome him back to the industry. Actor Randeep Hooda and Ayushmann Khurrana were the first ones to reply on his tweet.

Last year, Irrfan Khan shared that he is diagnosed with a high-grade neuroendocrine tumour. For the same, he was undergoing treatment in London. Since then his fans and his friends and colleagues in the film industry have been praying for his speedy recovery. The actor returned to India last month and was spotted at the Mumbai airport and is hail and hearty now.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)There will be a "complete ban" on civilian traffic on most part of the 300-km long Highway on Sundays and Wednesdays from 4 AM to 5 PM.

These restrictions would remain in force till May 31, 2019, a press release issued by the state government said.

The state government said the decision has been taken in view of the possibility of terror attack on security forces' convoys during their movement for the Lok Sabha elections.

The prohibition on movement of civilian traffic on these two days of each week would be from Baramulla through Srinagar, Qazigund, Jawahar-Tunnel, Banihal and Ramban till Udhampur, the statement said.

In the event of any requirement for local traffic movement for any emergency or for other purpose, the local administration and police would evolve necessary procedures for this as is done during curfew days, the government said.

On February 14, a CRPF convoy, on its way from Jammu and Srinagar, was attacked by a suicide car bomber on the Highway in Pulwama district, killing 40 personnel.

Subsequently, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, during his visit to Kashmir, had announced that no civilian traffic movement would be allowed during the convoy days.

On March 30, there was a possible 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack on another security force convoy at Banihal when an attempt was made to trigger an explosive-laden vehicle.

"Keeping in view the large movement of security forces on the highway during the Parliamentary elections and associated possibility of any 'fidayeen' (suicide) terror attack on security forces' convoys, the state government has notified specified days in a week for the movement of security forces from Srinagar to Jammu," the state government statement said.

"During these days, to mitigate the inconvenience to the civilians by this move, the government has notified 2 dedicated days in a week i.e, Sunday & Wednesday exclusively for movement of security forces convoys," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In what could snowball into a controversy, BJP leader Jayakaran Gupta made a derogatory remark at an election rally here on Tuesday.

"The lady who used to wear skirts is now wearing saris and going to temples for worship. The ones who used to stay away from Gangajal are now consuming the holy water," said Gupta.

Recently Congress General Secretary for UP East, Priyanka Gandhi, during her Ganga Yatra from Prayagraj to Varanasi had offered prayers at temples and holy sites along the banks of River Ganga.

However, Gupta claimed that the remark was not aimed at Priyanka Gandhi. "That comment was not aimed at anyone in particular, BJP does not do politics to gain power. We want power to protect the culture of India and to make it corruption free. Under the able leadership of PM Modi, Nitin Gadkari ji carried out the cleaning of Ganga. Crores of people came from other countries as well for the Kumbh; those who used to wear skirts too came in saris," Gupta told ANI.

He went on to add: "Sitharaman ji, Sushma ji, Smriti ji all of them have added value to the Indian tradition of wearing saris. Crores of foreigners came to the Ganga and even went to temples. My comments, therefore, are not aimed at anyone directly."

Uttar Pradesh will see polling in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha 2019 elections beginning April 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Charging the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government with stalling central schemes for the uplift of the poor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the 'speed breaker' in the state's development.

Modi said he was waiting for the "speed breaker" to go to allow development to gather pace in West Bengal.

"There is a speed breaker in West Bengal whom you know by the name of 'Didi'. This 'Didi' is the speed-breaker in your development," the Prime Minister said while referring to Banerjee at his first rally in the state after the Lok Sabha polls were announced.

Claiming that Banerjee blocked programmes for the uplift of the poor, Modi said that the TMC supremo did not allow the people to benefit from the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

"I ensured speedy development took place across the country. But, the same did not happen here. Development at a fast pace here is difficult. I am waiting for this 'speed breaker' to go so that development can gather speed," the Prime Minister said.

Continuing his tirade against the TMC supremo, Modi asserted, "Didi is not at all concerned about the poor. If she wants to indulge in politics over the poor, then how can she fight to eliminate poverty? The same thing applies for Congress and the Communists. Didi has put a brake in the welfare of over 70 lakh farmers in West Bengal."

Taking on Congress over its poll promise to review the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Modi described the law as a "shield" for the security forces in their fight against terror, and accused the grand old party of giving a proposal to make them defenceless.

"The AFSPA is a shield for our country's armed forces. But, Congress wants to snatch away this shield. They want to break the morale of our forces. They want our forces to be defenceless...their hands and feet tied," he said.

The Prime Minister also accused Congress of sympathising with Pakistan after the air strikes in Balakot. "I gave full freedom to our armed forces to give a befitting reply to the terrorists. In Balakot, they did so. But after the strikes, some started crying here when people were to cry there."

While the "pain" was supposed to be felt in Pakistan, "more pain" was experienced in Kolkata, Modi said while taking a jibe at Banerjee for demanding proof of the air strikes.

Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal will be held in all the 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.)Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday hit out at the BJP saying the way the party blames former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru for all the wrong decisions the NDA government has taken is equivalent to the 'dog ate my homework alibi in school.'

Mufti tweeted, "BJP blaming Nehru for all the wrong decisions & policies NDA has undertaken is the equivalent of a child using the dog ate my homework alibi in school."

Reacting to Nirmala Sitharaman's remark on Congress manifesto pertaining to AFSPA, she tweeted, "Allure of power gives people selective amnesia. PDPs agenda of alliance agreed upon by BJP clearly stipulated a review & gradual withdraw of AFSPA from disturbed areas in J & K. Congress demanding it is treason but BJP wanting it to grab power is OK?"

Sitharaman earlier today had said, "Is this right? It is an effort to weaken the armed forces. They are trying to dilute the immunity of our security forces."

Mufti, in a subsequent tweet, wrote, "An excerpt from PDPs Agenda of Alliance which served as the foundation for our coalition with BJP. Repealing AFSPA from JK is anti- & demoralising for armed forces. Then why was it repealed in 3 districts in Arunachal by BJP? Why keep a different yardstick for Kashmir?"

The excerpt read, "While both parties have historically held a different view on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the need for it in the State at present, as part of the agenda for governance of this alliance, the coalition government will examine the need for de-notifying 'disturbed areas'. This, as a consequence, would enable the Union Government to take a final view on the continuation of AFSPA in these areas."

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Foreigners Division of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notice to the wife of Trinamool Congress leader and Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee for making false representation and concealing material facts while submitting documents before competent authorities to get her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

Abhishek's wife Rujira Naroola has been asked why she filled Form 49A without mentioning that she is a Thai holding an OCI card. As per MHA, Naroola was supposed to fill 49AA to get a PAN by declaring herself as a foreigner holding an OCI card. She has been asked to reply in 15 days as to why she had made false representations and concealed facts.

"The Central Government, has been further informed that on 14.11.2009 Ms. Rujira Naroola applied for PAN card by filling Form 49A without intimating her real status as a Thai holding OCI card and mentioning Shri Gursharan Singh Ahuja as her father. She was actually required to fill Form 49AA to get a PAN by declaring herself as a foreigner holding an OCI card. On the basis of information given in her application Form 49A, she has obtained the PAN card bearing no ****** under the name Ms. Rujira Naroola in the capacity of an Indian citizen," the MHA said in the notice.

The notice added, "Whereas the Central Government has examined the matter the discrepancies mentioned above and is prima facie of the opinion that the registration of Ms. Rujira Naroola as an OCI cardholder is liable for cancellation in the interest of general public under sub clause (a) & (e) of section 70D of the Citizenship Act, 1955."

"Ms Rujira Naroola, an OCI Cardholder, is hereby called upon to show cause as to why she has made false representation and concealed material facts while submitting documents before the Competent Authorities to get her OCI and PAN cards," it read.

The MHA in the letter also asserted that if no reply is received within 15 days from the date of issue of this notice then appropriate decision in the matter would be taken on merit on the basis of available records by the Central Government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made a scathing attack on Congress for "sympathising" with elements who disrespect the flag and chant 'Bharat tere tudke honge', after the grand old party's manifesto promised to scrap the sedition law if voted to power.

"They have formulated a programme to encourage violence and those who disrespect the flag, chant 'Bharat tere tudke honge', dance to the tunes of foreign powers, insult our legacy, and break idols of Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar. They have sympathy for such people," he said, addressing a rally in Pasighat in East Siang district.

Calling the Congress manifesto a "hypocritical document", the Prime Minister said, "They have promised to scrap the sedition law which is against those who don't believe in the Constitution. Should punishment not be awarded to those who commit treason?"

"If anti-nationals get a free hand, will you face problems or not? The country will also have to face it. Is this not an attempt to strengthen separatism... Is the 'hand' of Congress with the country or traitors?" he said, adding that he is acting strictly against those who are attacking 'mother India' inside the country or from across the border.

Modi also alleged that Congress never fulfilled the promises it made to the people.

"On the one hand there is an intentional government and on the other hand, there are 'naamdars' with false promises. Just like them, their manifesto is full of deception. It should be referred to as 'dhakosla patra' (hypocritical document) and not a 'ghoshna patra' (manifesto)," he said.

"In their 2004 manifesto, Congress had stated that every house would get electricity by 2009. They also announced a programme for this. However, until 2014 around 18,000 villages remained without electricity. In 2009, they again came up with something. They never answered what happened with their previous promises. The party's aides too did not question. In 2014, they reiterated the promise to provide electricity to 90 per cent villages. But they have never done anything." he added.

Underlining the BJP-led government's projects in Arunachal Pradesh, Modi said, "Be it roads in villages, highways, railways or airways, we have done a lot of work to increase connectivity. We have a strong commitment towards transformation through transport."

"We have a target to make Arunachal Pradesh and the northeast a gateway to East Asia. For a new Arunachal, BJP's mission is connectivity, resources, and respect," he added.

The Prime Minister also charged with Congress neglecting the state.

"This is an election contest between propriety and corruption. This election is between 'sampark' (connectivity) and 'saajish' (conspiracy), trust and corruption, those who work for Arunachal and the northeast and those who neglected them," Modi said.

"This election is between protectors of your cultural heritage, tradition, pride and clothes and those who ridicule your tradition and insult you, " the Prime Minister stressed.

Arunachal Pradesh, which has two Lok Sabha seats, will go to poll on April 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A junior Wales minister resigned on Tuesday (local time) after Prime Minister Theresa May decided to meet Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to break the Brexit deadlock.

Nigel Adams, in his resignation letter, accused the Prime Minister of "cooking up" a deal with Corbyn "who has never once in his political life put British interests first."

May is expected to meet Corbyn later Wednesday. This decision of talks was taken during seven hours of the cabinet meeting, reported Xinhua.

On this offer, Corbyn responded that he was "very happy" to meet May, adding that he recognised his "responsibility to represent the people that supported Labour in the last election and the people who didn't support Labour."

No resolution seems to be in sight for the UK as the British Parliament had earlier rejected a "no-deal Brexit" scenario.

The EU, on the other hand, has reiterated on multiple occasions that the previously negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, which has now been rejected thrice, is the best that can be put on offer.

In yet another blow for the British Prime Minister, British lawmakers on Monday voted against all four possible alternative plans proposed for the Withdrawal Agreement, which included plans to hold a second referendum, retaining much closer economic ties after leaving the EU, or stopping Brexit to prevent a no-deal departure.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NTT Communications launched "Nexcenter Lab", a program to promote open innovation in partnership with participating companies.

The program provides Proof of Concept (PoC) environment for the development and testing of new business and service focused on digital transformation, utilizing the latest service and next-generation technology of NTT Communication's IT partners.

"Nexcenter Lab" program is available at two of NTT Communications' data centers in Tokyo.

The program will provide participating companies with exclusive space for meeting, seminar and workshop along with the use of PoC environment.

Speaking at the event Masaaki Moribayash, NTT Communication official said: "We aim to realize digital transformation for our customers and society. And, we want to continue to support ICT "Information and Communication Technology" solution and service as "Enabler" to realize DX Digital transformation".

A key purpose of this program is to enable participants to test and verify their latest technology and service with the aim to take these offerings to market at an accelerated pace.

They will have access to ICT environment where extra-high-heat server such as GPU or Graphics Processing Unit can be used, as well as advanced service of NTT Communications and Partner Company, such as hybrid cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, which can be combined to verified technology.

"Our data center is the place where we provide the latest technology to end-user with support from a variety of partners. NTT Communications data center has also footprint in 20 countries and regions and end-user can expand further development in such places", said an official of NTT Communications, Kosuke Tsumura.

NTT Communications enriches the program through a partnership with the company from various industries as well as the existing partner in IT and other industry.

NTT Communications also plans to expand the program in the Osaka area of Japan as well as in Thailand globally.

"NTT Communications is developing a solution by data center and ICT Information and Communication Technology around the It is aiming to expand our activity not only in Japan here but also in Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America. Especially in Southeast Asia, the rapid of the demand for startup Company and ICT are very remarkable market. We would like to expand more market around Asia", said Tomoki Morita, an official from NTT Communications.

The strong effort of Japanese company through the high quality of service and technology expands the opportunity of unlimited future possibility and smarter technology skills globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Despite objections from the Opposition, Pakistan's former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Ijaz Shah, who aided Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, was sworn in as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday by President Arif Alvi here.

The move has put the Imran Khan-led government and the Opposition, especially the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), at odds as former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had alleged that Shah was among the people who had hatched a conspiracy to kill her, reports Dawn.

Shah, a confidant of former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf, has also been accused of harbouring terror outfit Al-Qaeda's founder-leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Laden was most wanted by the United States for perpetrating the gruesome 9/11 attacks.

In its report in 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald had quoted former ISI chief General Ziauddin Butt as saying that Shah had ordered to build the three-storied walled compound in Abbottabad where Laden was hunted down and terminated by the US Forces in 2011.

"I fully believe that Ijaz Shah had kept this man (Osama bin Laden, in Abbottabad) with the full knowledge of Pervez Musharraf," Butt had alleged. Shah has since dismissed the allegations.Shah served as Pakistan's IB Director General from 2004 to 2008. He was also elected as a Member of National Assembly (MNA) on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) ticket from NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-II).

Alleging that Pakistan Prime Minister has no respect for the Parliament, PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah told Dawn, "Ijaz Shah is being made the minister to make parliament redundant and to further degrade it." He added that Shah was made the minister to "provoke" the Opposition.

According to the PPP leader, Shah has been "brought to power as an alternative" to Musharraf, who currently lives in Dubai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan has summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia to express condemnation over the killing of one "innocent civilian" in "unprovoked ceasefire violence" by the Indian Army in Nezapir, Rakhchikri, Hotspring and Jandrot sectors along the Line of Control.

"The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation. The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws, " read a statement released by Pakistan's Foreign Office.

One civilian, identified as 18-year old Muhammad Attique of Jugal Pal village, was killed in the firing on April 2, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohamed Faisal said. Four civilians were injured in the firing on April 1 and three women wounded on April 2, he added.

Faisal alleged that Indian troops "intentionally targeted" civilians travelling in a city bus on April 2 in Bagsar Sector.

Faisal, who also serves as the Director General (South Asia & SAARC), urged the Indian side to "respect" the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate these and other incidents of ceasefire violations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A plea was filed in Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday seeking dismissal of the Governor Kalyan Singh from his post for making statements which allegedly violated the provisions of the Constitution of India.

"As a worker of BJP, I genuinely want BJP to win. We want that once again Narendra Modi should become the Prime Minister of India. It is important for nation and society that Narendra Modi should become Prime Minister again," Singh had said in Aligarh on March 25.

"More than a week has passed but the Governor, Kalyan Singh has not reacted that under what circumstances the aforesaid statement was given nor has he tendered an apology. Thus, he deserves to be removed from the office," said the complainant Poonam Chand Bhandari referring to the statement made by the Governor.

Bhandari accused the Governor of being more loyal to the BJP than the people of the state and violating the oath taken by him under Article 159 of the constitution.

The petitioner demanded that the Governor either be dismissed or the "respondents" be directed to send a recommendation to President of India to remove him.

The complainant has also requested Union Cabinet Secretary and the Election Commission of India to be made "respondents" in the case.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind over Singh allegedly violating the model code of conduct.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In view of the impending Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, the state police are leaving nothing unturned to ensure free and fair polling.

Krishna district Superintendent of Police (SP) Sarvashresth Tripathi accompanied by Nandigama DSP, Subhash Chandra Bose, did a field survey in the range of Kanchikacherla mandal.

They also visited the polling centres and inspected security arrangements being made for the polling. They also gave instructions to local authorities to be vigilant to ward off any untoward incident during the polling.

Andhra Pradesh has 25 Lok Sabha seats at stake. It has 175-member state Assembly. The election to all Lok Sabha and Assembly seats will be held on April 11, the first phase of seven-phase parliamentary elections.

The last phase of polling is scheduled for May 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.)Expressing optimism over US-led peace talks in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) said "positive things" are happening in Kabul, which is mired in "19 years of endless war."

"Well, thank you very much. And I will say -- you mentioned Afghanistan. I think we have made a lot of great strides recently in Afghanistan. It's -- we call it the "endless war," Tolo news quoted Trump as saying.

"Nineteen years. The real number is 19 years. It's unfortunate. It's ridiculous. And it's been a very interesting period of time. But we've made a lot of strides. A lot of things are happening in Afghanistan that is very positive. So we'll see how that all comes out. And I appreciate your help," Tolo news further quoted Trump as saying.

US President Trump made these remarks during a meeting with US Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House.

Stoltenberg said that the Taliban cannot win on the battlefields and they should negotiate with the Afghan government.

"No, I think it's the right thing to do is to talk to Taliban because that's the only way to find a peaceful negotiated solution. At the same time, it's a very close link between our military presence in Afghanistan and what's going on at the negotiating table because the support the NATO allies, the United States and other NATO allies, provide to the Afghan security forces, the Afghan army -- that sends a clear message to Taliban that they will not win on the battlefield, so they have to sit down at the negotiating table and agree to a political solution," Stoltenberg said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pune Rural Police arrested a person with explosives and detonators used to make bombs from Pimpalwadi village of Pune district, officials said on Wednesday.

Police have seized gun powder, explosives powder and 59 detonators from the accused.

"The accused Rajaram Abhang, who is sixty-year-old, was arrested on Tuesday from his house along with few explosive materials," police said.

According to police records, the accused was arrested in 2003 for planning a bomb blast at his village owing to personal reasons. In the blast, several villagers including his wife had sustained injuries. Following the incident, his wife left him.

Police have constituted a team to find out 'from where and for what purpose' the accused learnt to make bombs.

Further investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Launching a scathing attack at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked people to choose between the "lie" of BJP's promise of Rs 15 lakh in their bank accounts and "truth" of Congress party's assurance of providing Rs 3.6 lakh to 20 per cent poorest families in five years.

"On the one side, there is Chowkidar's lie of fifteen lakh rupees in all bank accounts. On the other hand, there is the truth of Congress to put 3.6 lakh rupees in five years in the bank accounts of 20 per cent poorest people of India. We guarantee to pay them this amount," Rahul said addressing a public rally here.

"Four years back Narendra Modi came and made different promises in all public meetings. Do you remember he promised 15 lakh rupees? Is there anyone in whose account Chowkidar has put any money?" he asked the crowd.

He also said that the NYAY scheme was formulated after Congress think tanks researched and held consultations for six months.

"I once heard the promise of putting 15 lakh in every account. This Chowkidar lies all the time throughout the day. So, I thought I should put out some truth in front of the people. I asked the think tank people to find out how much the Congress government if it comes to power, can put in the account of people who are the poorest in the country.

Rahul added that the think tank worked for six months, spoke to big economists and finally "(former Finance Minister) Chidambaram gave me this number of 3.6 lakh which translates to 72 thousand rupees per year".

He also promised that as soon as the Congress government is formed there would be a new planning commission, special status for the state and restoration of North East Industrial Policy.

Gandhi scion also levied strong charges against BJP president Amit Shah while claiming that BJP and RSS are attempting to divide the nation.

"BJP's murder accused president Amit Shah said that he will get the Citizenship Amendment Bill passed. I am telling you that Congress will not allow this attack on the North East and won't let the Bill pass. This fight is about ideology," said the Congress president.

He added, "On the one hand, BJP and RSS are trying to divide the country by spreading hatred everywhere, on the other hand, Congress is uniting the country".

Setting the narrative for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Congress party on Tuesday released its manifesto in which special focus has been on youth and farmer. Congress has promised the creation of jobs to filling up vacancies and providing a minimum support income of Rs 72,000 per year for the poor families.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A three-year-old girl was allegedly raped after being kidnapped from the railway station here, an official said on Tuesday.

Government Railway Police (GRP) officer Mukesh Sharma said, "A resident of Uttar Pradesh had got his son admitted in a hospital in Jaipur for treatment. He then decided to stay for the night at the railway station along with his daughter. When he woke up in the morning, he did not find the child and informed the police."

"The police acted swiftly and found the child crying in an abandoned factory behind the railway station. They found the girl in a critical condition. She was admitted in a hospital. After the medical examination, it was stated that she was raped," he told reporters.

The police are investigating the case and looking for the accused, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the idea of Sadar-e-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam is dangerous as it initiates separatist thought.

Responding to a question during a media briefing, Jaitley said: "The idea of Sadar-e-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam are dangerous as it gives birth to separatism. It was removed in 1935. It must have been a well-thought-out decision."

His remark comes after former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that he would like to bring back the posts of "President" and "Prime Minister" for the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah said, "Rest of the princely states merged with the country without condition but we had said that we will have our own identity, our own constitution. We had our own 'Sadar-e-Riyasat' (President) and 'Wazir-e-Azam' (Prime Minister) too. By God's grace, we will bring that back."

Reacting to the report that Lt General (Retd) DS Hooda had submitted to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday which was "a comprehensive and exhaustive" strategy document on the security, he said, "Lt. General D.S. Hooda submitted his report to the Congress president on March 31. I am sure he must have given good suggestions, but what I want to ask the Congress party is that how many of the suggestions that he has given been incorporated in their manifesto?"

The Congress party had roped in Lt General Hooda in February to prepare a comprehensive report on the security.

Hitting out at Congress, Union Minister Jaitley said, "I have analysed media reports on Rahul Gandhi. If you want to know how to lead a comfortable life without having any apparent and declared source of income, the leading answer is as Rahul Gandhi did through his 'Sweetheart Deals' with Fly-by-Night Operators."

Sharpening his attack, Jaitley added, "A media expose revealed that Indira Gandhi owned a farmhouse in South Delhi, which was then given to Rajiv Gandhi and is now owned by the brother and sister of the current generation of the family. Periodically, tenancies are created in favour of persons many of whom needed help when UPA was in power."

Substantiating his allegation, he said, "Amongst the names of the tenants, the critical person is Jignesh Shah of FTIL and the real estate developer Sanjay Chandra of M/s. Unitech builder. Who else would enter into such a 'sweetheart deals' except the 'fly-by-night' operators who needed State patronage? Besides the tenancies being an investment of 'political equity' by those entering into the 'sweetheart deals', what happened to Jignesh Shah? He had two companies - one with a large number of assets and the other which had ostensibly duped lakhs of investors."

Furthermore, he claimed that the duped investors requested the Central Government to amalgamate the two companies so that duped investors can get their money back but the same was not done till 2014.

"It is only when the NDA government under Narendra Modi was formed that the Department passed the amalgamation order," added the minister.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday commenced hearing on its own appeal whether the Chief Justice of India's office is covered under the purview of the transparency law -- Right to Information Act (RTI).

The issue that arose from an appeal filed by the Supreme Court against the January 2010 judgement of the Delhi High Court that declared the CJI's office a "public authority" within the meaning of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005.

Attorney General KK Venugopal, commencing his arguments on behalf of the Supreme Court, told the Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice NV Ramana, Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna that disclosure of information on Collegium deliberations may affect judicial independence.

If information concerning Collegium functioning is put in public domain, "great damage" will be done to the institution, Venugopal added.

At the outset, the Attorney General explained to the Bench that there are three issues in the case, one is relating to disclosure of correspondence between Collegium and Centre. Second is relating to disclosure of assets of judges and third is about to disclosure of letters exchanged in the matter of appointment of a Madras High Court judge.

Venugopal said that on grounds of fiduciary capacity, RTI application with respect to judges can be rejected.

On disclosure of assets by the judges, the Attorney General said some of the judges have disclosed their assets, but added that it is personal information and affects the privacy of judges.

"However, it is a matter best left Your Lordships on whether such information should be disclosed in the interest of greater public interest," he added.

In November 2007, an RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal filed an RTI in the Supreme Court seeking information on judges' assets but the information was denied.

Aggarwal then approached the Central Information Commission (CIC) which asked the apex court to disclose information on the ground that Chief Justice of India's office comes within the ambit of the Act.

In January 2009, the top court had moved the Delhi High Court against the CIC order contending that declaration of assets by its judges to the Chief Justice of India is "personal information" which cannot be revealed under the RTI act and "too much transparency can affect the independence of the judiciary."

The Single Bench of High Court on September 2, 2009, had upheld CIC's order and said that the Chief Justice of India's office comes within the ambit of RTI Act and judges' assets be made public under the RTI Act.

Meanwhile, in another full court meeting, the top court passed a resolution to declare their assets "voluntarily" in public by publishing it on the official website.

The top court thereafter also challenged the single judge order before a division bench and the High Court decided to constitute a special three-judge bench to decide the issue.

The three-judge bench in November 2009 had observed that the resolution passed by the Supreme Court judges in 1997 for declaring their assets to Chief Justice of India was binding on them and in January 2010 it held that the office of CJI comes within the ambit of the RTI Act.

The apex court then filed the appeal against the three-judge bench of the High Court in the top court which has been pending in the Supreme Court since 2010. The top court decided to send the matter to the five-judge Constitution Bench.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed-off petition of two Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders Roshan Giri and Bimal Gurung seeking interim protection for three weeks to allow them to participate in the campaigning for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

A bench of the apex court headed by Justice Arun Mishra asked the GJM leaders to approach the Calcutta High Court for interim relief within four days.

The Supreme Court also asked Calcutta HC to expeditiously dispose-off the matter, adding that "no coercive action should be taken till the matter is being heard by the Calcutta HC".

On Tuesday, a division bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising of Justice Navin Sinha had reserved the judgment in the matter for today.

During the course of hearing, former Attorney General (AG) and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the petitioners, had sought protection from arrest till election for Darjeeling seat, as they wanted to campaign for the ensuing polls.

Rohatgi had alleged that the other faction of GJM led by Binoy Tamang has aligned with Trinamool Congress and supporting their candidate. "There is no substantial case against my clients hence, they should be given interim relief," Rohatgi had said.

Countering the claims of the defence, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, had said, "No relief could be given to the duo as there are many criminal cases pending against them."

"Both of them are proclaimed absconded offender," Sibal had told the bench while handing over a phone recording of Gurung in a sealed envelope.

On March 21, the court had asked the accused persons to file their respective replies as to how many criminal cases are registered and dropped against them in the state of West Bengal.

According to the police, Gurung is allegedly involved in more than 30 criminal cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday restored security cover at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang (RSS) office in Bhopal.

The state government withdrew security from the RSS headquarters on Tuesday. Following which, the Kamal Nath government had come under a lot of criticism for allegedly taking away the security provided to the RSS office just two weeks ahead of the commencement of polling.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had said that he has given orders to provide security to the RSS office in Bhopal again. "We may have ideological differences with the RSS; they may have been at loggerheads with us, but I am not in support of the decision to withdraw security from their office. I am therefore giving orders to provide security to the RSS office again," he said.

Miffed over Madhya Pradesh Government's decision of withdrawing security from RSS headquarters, the Sangh Parivar had on Tuesday said that they were not informed in advance.

Speaking to ANI, RSS leader Kanti Lal said: "This incident happened late at night, I was inside the office at around 10 pm, engaged in meetings. When I came out of the office I saw that the security had been removed from and around the office. I was then approached by a reporter from the television who asked me why the security was removed. I told him that I had no idea why the security was removed from the office. We were not informed in advance about security being removed".

Expressing dismay, he went on to add: "We had never asked for security at the RSS office before, but now that they have removed it we are unable to find any reason for this sudden decision. This overnight decision by the government to remove security at 10 pm has bewildered us."

However, ASP Akhil Patel, while speaking to ANI, termed it a "routine activity" done before every election in order to mobilise forces needed for the safe conduct of polls. "We have not removed security from the RSS office, only the SAF guards have been removed. As elections are about to take place across the country, the SAF guards need to be sent to different areas. So we have removed them from six positions amongst which one is the RSS office," he said.

Polling for the 29 Lok Sabha seats at stake in Madhya Pradesh will be held in four phases - on April 29, May 6, 12 and 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.)BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday accused Congress party, Conference (NC), and People's Democratic Party (PDP) of meting out step-motherly treatment to Jammu and Ladakh regions while being in power.

Shah, while addressing an election rally here, said: "For 70 years, NC, PDP, and Congress had given step-motherly treatment to Jammu and Ladakh. We kept protesting but development never took off here."

"When Narendra Modi assumed power at the Centre as the Prime Minister, every day some new development initiatives take off here. Jammu has become an educational hub in the last five years. For the first time in 70 years, the people of Jammu have realised how development works are done," he said.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah said: "He fulfilled his promise of giving three per cent reservation to the people from mountainous regions."

Accusing the Congress party of being weak in tackling terrorism, he said: "The biggest issue this country is facing is security. People of Jammu and Kashmir have been facing this crisis since 1947. The Congress party was in power for most of the time from 1990-2014. Terrorists did not fear anyone," Shah said.

Calling former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as 'Mauni Baba,' the BJP president said: "No one can forget how Hemraj's head was chopped off when Mauni Baba (Manmohan Singh) government was in power."

Lauding Prime Minister Modi led BJP government for its counter-terror efforts, Shah said: "When terrorists attacked Army camp in Uri, we conducted surgical strikes but they (Pakistan) did not mend their ways."

"They carried out an attack in Pulwama in which 40 of our jawans were martyred. The entire country was enraged. Prime Minister Modi sent the Air Force, conducted air-strikes and flattened terrorist camps inside Pakistan."

The BJP president also criticised the opposition parties for their reaction to air-strikes.

"The entire country was delighted over air-strikes, but the people at two places were saddened. The one is Pakistan, which is obvious. The other ones were people from (Congress president) Rahul Baba's party, Conference and People's Democratic Party," he said.

"They were crying as if those killed (in air strikes) were their cousins," the BJP president said.

Shah credited Pandit Prem Nath Dogra's struggle for Jammu and Kashmir being linked to India.

"If today Jammu Kashmir is linked to India thanks to the struggle and movement of Pandit Prem Nath Dogra," he said, asserting that the people want the BJP to form the next government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

Jammu and Kashmir, which has six Lok Sabha seats at stake, will go to polls in five phases--April 11, April 18, May 6, Anantnag from April 23, 29, and May 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. The BJP had won three Lok Sabha seats in 2014 polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Wednesday accused the BJP of not allowing a "level playing field" during the Gujarat assembly elections in 2017 while citing a judgement given by the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday.

"The judgement from the Gujarat HC makes it clear that the senior employees of the Gujarat cadre and the centre had not allowed the elections to be held on a level playing field for all parties. The lack of a level playing field leads to a biased election process," Singhvi told reporters here on Wednesday.

The judgement of the Gujarat court came with respect to the elections for the Dholka assembly constituency in 2017. The court found discrepancies in the counting process and summoned the senior government employees who were on poll duty in the area. BJP's Bhupendrasinh Manubha Chudasama had won the elections for the second time in a row from Dholka.

Singhvi further said that this verdict should serve as a reminder to every person associated with the polling process in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"The point which we are raising here is a very serious one. It is almost a message from the judiciary to every officer, observer or returning officer engaged in the election process for the next five or six weeks to do his work sincerely," he added.

The general elections are scheduled to be held in seven phases across the country 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.)Troubles for 'PM Narendra Modi' don't seem to end as a Special Leave Petition (SLP) has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court's recent order in the PIL seeking stay on the release of the film.

The SLP challenges the Bombay HC order of April 1 which had disposed off the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed to stay the film's release. The SLP has sought a stay on the release of the movie owing to the upcoming elections.

According to the petitioner lawyer Tausif Sheikh, the matter will be mentioned in the court tomorrow for an urgent hearing as the film is scheduled to release on April 5.

The SLP demands an immediate stay on the release as an ad interim relief to the petitioners. The petition mentions that high court has not taken all the aspects of the petition into consideration before rejecting the plea.

It also states that the film may influence the voters to vote in favour of a certain individual and that is a violation of the model code of conduct.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court disposed of the PIL seeking a stay on the film's release.

The court noted that the Election Commission (EC) has already issued a notice to the makers of the film 'PM Narendra Modi' over allegations of breach of the Model Code of Conduct in view of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Court disposed of a PIL filed by Satish Gaikwad, a resident of Pune, who said the film if it is permitted to be released for public viewing, would violate the Model Code of Conduct imposed by the EC.

The plea also questioned the timing of the film's release and claimed that if released, it was likely to earn Prime Minister Modi electoral mileage.

The petitioner 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. EC's standing counsel is of the view that we have not got the notice up till now," the petitioner had said.

The EC, however, told the court that it had already sought replies from the makers.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the court, through its lawyer Advait Sethna, that it had already granted requisite certificates for the trailer on March 20.

The film depicts the journey of Modi from his humble beginnings to his years as a chief minister and finally his landmark election as the Prime Minister. Vivek Oberoi is essaying the role of Modi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday said she will ask for an extension to the long-pending process of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, commonly called 'Brexit'.

Addressing media outside Downing Street, following a meeting with the Cabinet ministers, CNN quoted May as saying, "I know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave with no deal next week, I've always been clear that we could make a success of no deal in the long term."

"But leaving with a deal is the best solution. So we will need a further extension of Article 50, one that is as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal," May added.

"And we need to be clear what such an extension is for, to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way. This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer. It is putting members of Parliament and everyone else under immense pressure and it is doing damage to our politics," she said.

The Prime Minister also said that she wants to meet Labour Party and Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to agree a plan on the future relationship with the EU.

"If we cannot agree on the single unified approach then we would instead agree a number of options for the future relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue," May said.

Crucially, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House, but to make this process work, the Opposition would need to agree to this too, UK's prime minister said.

"The Government would then bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement bill. We would want to agree a timetable for this Bill to ensure it is passed before the 22nd of May so that the United Kingdom need not take part in the European parliamentary elections," May said.

The Prime Minister further reiterated that the deal, signed under Article 50 -- a process triggered by any country leaving the EU bloc, has already been negotiated with the 27 other members and the EU has repeatedly said that it cannot and will not be reopened.

"What we need to focus on is our future relationship with the EU," she said.

"This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands and it requires national unity to deliver the national interest," May added.

No resolution seems to be in sight for the UK as the British Parliament had earlier rejected a "no-deal Brexit" scenario. The EU, on the other hand, has reiterated on multiple occasions that the previously negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, which has now been rejected thrice, is the best that can be put on offer.

In yet another blow for the British Prime Minister, British lawmakers on Monday voted against all four possible alternative plans proposed for the Withdrawal Agreement, which included plans to hold a second referendum, retaining much closer economic ties after leaving the EU, or stopping Brexit to prevent a no-deal departure.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said that those with sedition charges should be stopped from going to Parliament.

His statement came after the Election Commission issued him a notice.

"We have got a notice from EC. Our stand is clear, those who have sedition charges against them should be stopped from going to Parliament at any cost," Raut told ANI.

A recent editorial of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana has emphasised that it is BJP's responsibility to defeat its rival candidate Kanhaiya Kumar who is contesting from Begusarai constituency, even if it meant tampering of EVM.

In reference to the editorial, Mumbai District Election Officer Shivaji Jondhale has issued a notice to Raut and has been asked to give a clarification by April 3.

Raut said, "Hardik Patel has been stopped from contesting elections. But Kanhiya Kumar will contest. If the government has charged anyone with sedition, they must have done it after thinking."

"So our stand is very clear that irrespective of a person's identity, caste or religion, a person with sedition charge should not be allowed to be in Parliament," he added.

Former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students' union, Kanhaiya will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Begusarai constituency in Bihar as a CPI candidate.

"A person charged with sedition is contesting Lok Sabha election from Begusarai. He appealed for crowdfunding and got 5 lakhs rupees in 10 minutes, who are these people who are financing the anti- A person helping a terrorist is also a terrorist. BJP has fielded Giriraj Singh from there, it's BJP's responsibility to defeat Kanhaiya Kumar, even if an EVM scam is done in Begusarai," read the editorial of Saamana published on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Gairdner Foundation announced the 2019 Canada Gairdner Award laureates, recognising Goa and Boston-based Vikram Patel, Ph.D., F. Med.Sci., for his research career raising the global profile of mental health problems.

Prof Patel has been awarded 2019 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for his world-leading research in global mental health, generating knowledge on the burden and determinants of mental health problems in low-and-middle-income countries and pioneering approaches for the prevention and treatment of mental health in low-resource settings.

Each year seven Canada Gairdner Awards are presented to honour the world's most significant biomedical and global health researchers. The John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award recognizes a contribution to health in the developing world. Laureates receive a $100,000 cash honorarium and will be formally presented with their awards on October 24, 2019, at the annual Canada Gairdner Awards Gala in Toronto.

"This prize is a recognition of the tremendous effort of innovators in low resource settings to transform our understanding of mental health problems and to innovate ways in which we can address these problems in contexts where there are very few resources," said Prof Vikram Patel.

Prof Patel has dedicated his research career to raising the global profile of mental health problems through: epidemiological research demonstrating the burden of mental disorders in low and middle-income countries, their strong association with poverty and with other public health priorities, such as HIV and child growth and development; and intervention research in which he has applied a systematic approach to the design, delivery and evaluation of contextually appropriate psychosocial interventions provided by lay and community health providers.

This has included the primary care treatment of depression, anxiety and alcohol use disorders, the community-based care of people with schizophrenia and autism, and the prevention and treatment of adolescent mental health problems through school-based interventions.

Much of his work has been done in partnership with Sangath, an Indian NGO he Co-founded in 1996. Sangath is one of India's leading community-based research organizations which won the MacArthur Foundation International Prize for Creative & Effective Institutions in 2008 and the WHO Public Health Champion of India prize in 2016.

The Impact: As recently as 10 years ago, it was difficult to even imagine mental health problems being considered as a global health priority; today, the situation is radically different with considerable attention from a diverse range of global health stakeholders, backed by resources, being focused on mental health, particularly in disadvantaged and low resourced contexts.

Patel's work and leadership have played a critical role in making this happen. His research has challenged many of the myths surrounding mental health problems in the global context, demonstrating that these problems are universal forms of human suffering; that there is a vicious cycle of deprivation and poor mental health; that mental health problems profoundly affect the physical health and well-being of affected persons; that psychosocial interventions can be effectively delivered by widely available and affordable community-based providers; and that the human rights of people with mental health problems to access quality care and to a life with dignity are global concerns.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As "The Tashkent Files", a film on the mysterious death of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, is all set to hit the theatres, director Vivek Agnihotri said people need to know the truth behind Shastri's unexplained story.

"There hasn't been a more honest prime minister, such a humble gentleman yet a strong leader, and it is necessary that we know the truth," Agnihotri told ANI.

Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, passed away on January 11, 1966 in Tashkent, hours after signing the 'Tashkent Declaration', a peace agreement between India and Pakistan after the 1965 war that took place between the two countries.

When asked if by the end of the movie people will know what exactly happened with Shastri in Tashkent, the director said, "I am not a judge or police, I can only make them (the audience) stand in front of truth and then it is up to the citizens to decide."

Stating that this film is his homage to Shastri, the director said, "If this film manages to bring out the truth of Shastri's story, I would be very happy. That will be my homage to him."

After signing the treaty, Shastri mysteriously passed away in Tashkent. It was said that he passed away due to a heart attack. However, his family and followers suspected foul play.

Speaking about the plot of his film, Agnihotri said, "He gave us the slogan of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan', started the green revolution and the white revolution, established the nuclear energy programme. He was an economic reformer. This person went to Tashkent and circumstantially dies there. And when his dead body was brought back, it is swollen, covered with blood and had turned blue. His family, supporters and fans, all asked the higher authorities to send his body for a post-mortem, but that did not happen, instead, he was immediately cremated. It has been 53 years since then. Many iconic leaders including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia, raised questions about Shastri's death, but no answer. People should know the truth."

The murder mystery stars Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Shweta Basu, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Mandira Bedi and Pallavi Joshi in the lead roles.

The film is slated to hit the screens on April 12.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Vivek Oberoi, who is all set to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic 'PM Narendra Modi', said that the Congress party is afraid of "chowkidar ka danda" (security guard's wooden stick).

Ever since BJP kick-started its 'main bhi chowkidar' campaign ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, 'chowkidar' has become a part of political discussions. While many are constantly criticising the programme, there are people who support it. The latest one to appreciate the campaign is Vivek Oberoi.

"Why is the opposition afraid, what are they afraid of? I think they fear chowkidar ka danda (security guard's wooden stick)," Oberoi told ANI.

The film, which follows Prime Minister Modi from his humble beginnings to his years as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and finally his landmark victory catapulting him as the Prime Minister, recently came under the ECI scanner after Congress and Left parties complained to the poll body saying that it violates the Model Code of Conduct.

However, in a major relief to the makers of the biopic, the Bombay High Court on Monday disposed-off the PIL.

Commenting on the issue, Vivek said, "Such big lawyers like Abhishek Manu Singhvi is wasting so much of time on a small film. We are filmmakers, we are not used to these courts and like you have Freedom of Expression, we as filmmakers have the freedom to make films on any subject and release anytime."

The actor also asserted that the movie is not funded by any political party and is not part of any propaganda.

"This film is an inspirational story, it's not funded by anyone, proper documentation has been submitted. Allegations can be made on anyone, where is the proof?" Oberoi questioned.

"This is not a political film, it is a fascinating and inspirational story of a chai wala (tea vendor) in Vadnagar rising to such level without having the backing of a big family, English education and resources. This film shows what he went through. This biopic shows that anybody can become Prime Minister," the actor said emphatically.

Besides Vivek, the film also stars Suresh Oberoi, Barkha Sengupta, Prashant Narayanan, Darshan Kumar, Boman Irani, Zarina Wahab, Manoj Joshi, Anjan Shrivastav, Karan Patel and Akshat R Saluja.

'PM Narendra Modi' is scheduled to release on April 05.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP MP from Etah Rajveer Singh on Wednesday threw his weight behind his father and Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh for his remark where the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister batted for one more chance to Narendra Modi as the country's Prime Minister.

"My father did not say anything. Even if he did say something, he said at his home. Some people complained to the Election Commission about it," he said, adding that "I know the post of Governor is a Constitutional post."

"If he could give up the post of Chief Minister for the (Ram) temple, what is there in Governorship," he said, while addressing an election rally after BJP candidate Jaya Prada filed her nomination from the seat.

Jaya Prada, a former Samajwadi Party leader who joined the BJP only a few days back, urged the people of Rampur to support her in the Lok Sabha election.

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was also present on the occasion.

"As a worker of BJP, I genuinely want BJP to win. We want that once again Narendra Modi should become the Prime Minister of India. It is important for nation and society that Narendra Modi should become Prime Minister again," Kalyan Singh had said in Aligarh on March 25.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind over Singh for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct.

The Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, where 80 seats are at stake, will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 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.)BJP leader Tejasvi Surya on Tuesday slammed Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah for pitching for the revival of the posts of Prime Minister and President for Jammu and Kashmir. Surya said such a thing will never happen under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

"Omar Abdullah said he wants a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir. I want to make it clear that it is not Nehru government. It is Narendra Modi's government. It will never happen," Surya said while addressing the public during BJP president Amit Shah road show here.

On Monday, Abdullah had said that he would work for the restoration of the posts of "President" and "Prime Minister" for the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a public gathering in Kashmir's Bandipora, the NC leader said, "Rest of the princely states merged with the country without condition but we had said that we will have our own identity, our own Constitution. We had our own 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' (President) and 'Wazir-e-Azam' (Prime Minister) too. By God's grace, we will bring that back.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The decision of the party to field former Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal from Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat is welcomed and we will work for his victory, said Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu on Wednesday.

Sidhu, who was in the race for the party ticket from Chandigarh, the seat currently held by BJP's Kirron Kher, told ANI: "Pawan Kumar Bansal ji is a senior leader. I respect the party's decision and we will work towards his win. My vision was to work for the benefit of the youth in the area. The decision has been made and I welcome the decision of the party."

Sidhu, whose husband Navjot Singh Sidhu is a Cabinet Minister in Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh led Congress government in Punjab, also clarified that she was not interested in fighting either from Bhatinda or Sangrur Lok Sabha seat even if the party gives her a ticket from any of these two constituencies.

"My house is only in Amritsar and Chandigarh, and one in Patiala. I cannot have any more of them. I am not a flying leader. However, people have stopped accepting them. You have to be available from 9 am to 5 pm for the people," she said.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Bansal had lost to Kher by around 70,000 votes.

Chandigarh will go to polls on May 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.)Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath hit out at the Congress on Wednesday for promising to scrap the law of sedition, which the party mentioned in its recently released manifesto.

Speaking at an election rally, Yogi said: "It is shameful that the Congress in its manifesto has promised to scrap the provision on sedition, which is used against terrorists and those involved in terror activities, if the party comes to power."

He further said it seems that the Congress has been hijacked by urban naxals - a term referring to alleged naxal sympathisers living in cities.

Yogi also accused Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh of not supporting Hindus and instead standing by the rioters in Muzzaffarnagar.

"Where was Ajit Singh when two youth were killed in Muzzaffarnagar? Who had he supported then? He disgraced our entire heritage by supporting the rioters. If he cannot stand with us (Hindus) during our tough times, we should not support him when he is going through unpleasant times," he said speaking in the RLD stronghold.

The Congress in its manifesto has said that it would do away with Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code if voted to power. "Omit Section 124A of the IPC (that defines the offence of 'sedition') that has been misused and, in any event has become redundant because of subsequent laws", the manifesto says.

Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in all seven phases from April 11 to May 19. The counting of votes will be held on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Australian stock market closed higher for a seventh straight session on Wednesday, 03 April 2019, hitting a fresh six-month peak, in the wake of better-than-expected Australian retail sales and trade data in February and optimism on US-China trade talks. Barring energy sector, every ASX sectors inclined, with miners the biggest gainers. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index advanced 42.69 points, or 0.68%, at 6,285.05 points, while the broader All Ordinaries added 40.91 points, or 0.65%, at 6,368.73.

Investors are now looking for news on the progress of the U. S.-China trade negotiations that are set to continue in Washington today. As per reports, the U. S. and China have resolved most of the outstanding issues and are drawing closer to a final trade agreement. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow also said on Tuesday that the world's two largest economies "expect to make more headway" in trade talks this week.

Also helping sentiment was a better-than-forecast increase in a gauge of China's services industries, adding to readings on manufacturing that showed improvement earlier in the week.

Shares of materials sector was strong performer, with BHP up 2.3% to A$39.91, its highest level since 2011. Both Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals reached their highest levels since 2008, meanwhile, with Rio gaining 1.9% to A$100.32 and Fortescue up 1.8% to A$7.79.

Oil Search added 0.4% and Santos was up 0.1%, while Woodside Petroleum added 0.2%.

Growth stocks consumer discretionary companies moved higher, with lottery website operator Jumbo Interactive and kitchen appliance company Breville Group hit all-time highs, with Jumbo up 6% to A$16, and Breville gaining 4.3% to A$17.53. Domain Group rocketed 8.2% higher to A$2.91

The big four banks had a more subdued day, with NAB and ANZ down, 0.2 and 0.1%, respectively, while Westpac rose 0.1% and Commonwealth Bank gained 0.01%.

In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.8% on month at A$27.27 billion in February, following the 0.1% gain in January.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also said that Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$4.80 billion in February, up from A$4.55 billion in January. Exports were flat on month at A$39.83 billion, while imports fell 1.0% to A$35.03 billion.

Australia service sector remained in contraction in March with a Performance of Service Index score of 44.8, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group showed on Wednesday. That's up marginally from 44.5 in February, although it remains well beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. It's also well below the 12-monthg average of 52.3. Individually, sales, new orders, supplier deliveries, finished stocks and selling prices all were in contraction - while employment, capacity utilization, input prices and average wages all expanded.

CURRENCY: The Australian dollar was up against the U. S. dollar on Wednesday, amid positive signs for the local economy and optimism on US-China trade talks. The Australian dollar was quoted at 71.07 US cents, from 70.85 US cents on Tuesday.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka Bank rose 1.35% to Rs 135.50 at 09:25 IST on BSE after the bank entered into Memorandum of Understanding with Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company for distribution of latter's life insurance products.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2019.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 194.22 points, or 0.5% to 39,250.87

On the BSE, 33,000 shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 2.43 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 136.20 and a low of Rs 134.90 so far during the day.

Karnataka Bank entered into Memorandum of Understanding with Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company for distribution of latter's life insurance products. This is the third such tie-up by the Bank after PNB MetLife Life Insurance Co. and LIC of India, both of which continue to provide insurance solutions to the customers of Karnataka Bank.

Karnataka Bank will be able to provide wide choice of life insurance products to its customers across all its 836 branches, supported by the popular customer centric products of Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company.

Net profit of Karnataka Bank rose 60.69% to Rs 140.41 crore on 18.92% rise in total income to Rs 1815.79 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017.

Karnataka Bank is a scheduled commercial bank in India.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tata Motors Ltd is quoting at Rs 204.35, up 0.69% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 42.53% in last one year as compared to a 15.9% gain in NIFTY and a 23.73% gain in the Nifty Auto.

Tata Motors Ltd rose for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 204.35, up 0.69% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.22% on the day, quoting at 11739. The Sensex is at 39187.19, up 0.33%. Tata Motors Ltd has added around 5.31% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Auto index of which Tata Motors Ltd is a constituent, has added around 1.57% in last one month and is currently quoting at 8504.3, up 0.43% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 550 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 237.5 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark April futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 206.05, up 0.91% on the day. Tata Motors Ltd is down 42.53% in last one year as compared to a 15.9% gain in NIFTY and a 23.73% gain in the Nifty Auto index.

The PE of the stock is 24.03 based on TTM earnings ending December 18.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a Twitter war, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj has dared fellow party MLA Alka Lamba to join the Congress.

The Twitter war between the two started when Chandni Chowk MLA Lamba reacted to the manifesto of Congress released on Tuesday.

She tweeted in Hindi saying every party has its manifesto and the Congress in its manifesto promised full statehood for Puducherry but nothing on Delhi.

"This is clear that statehood for Delhi is not an issues for the Congress. On the other hand, the AAP making it the main issue. How will the alliance take place?" she asked.

The speculation of an alliance between the AAP and the Congress in Delhi is on since long. The AAP had launched all its candidates in Delhi and have announced that it will go ahead with its candidate and not wait for an alliance.

Responding to the tweet, Bhardwaj the Greater Kailash MLA, asked her what does she want, "full statehood or..?".

On that, she said it did not matter what she wanted, it was the public who would decide.

The discussion continued into a series of tweets, and Lamba accused Bhardwaj of "provoking" her.

"Am just a party worker and he is a party leader and spokesperson... Being a spokesperson what message he wants to give? This is not the first time that he is doing so on social media," she said.

Bhardwaj, responded daring her to show some courage and join the Congress.

"Show some courage, go to Congress tomorrow. Do you have the courage?" he said.

She retorted with "people have left the party, but she is not going so easily".

Lamba said she would hold a public meeting at Jama Masjid on Wednesday for a live survey.

Bhardwaj then tweeted a letter addressed to AAP convenor in which Lamba had resigned from the party.

"Ask the people should I join the Congress. If people agrees, just sign this and your brother will take care of everything. If the public says no, then stay in discipline," he said.

Lamba also invited Bhardwaj for the public meeting and survey.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday slammed the Congress for its election promise to amend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and accused the opposition party of supporting separatists and anti-national elements.

"Terrorist-friendly people will misuse AFSPA. It is an effort to weaken the armed forces and support the separatists and anti-national elements. They are trying to dilute the immunity of our security forces. Any dilution of AFSPA will remove immunity of forces," Sitharaman told a press conference.

She said the Congress' promise on AFSPA was only to sensationalise and demoralise the armed forces.

"There is a system of removing AFSPA. Both the Centre and state governments work on it together. Congress' sensationalism will impact the nation's security. Congress' promise is insidious," she said.

The BJP leader said the Congress' manifesto proves that the party wants to support traitors and separatists.

"Some aspects of the Congress' manifesto will restrict the armed forces action and stop them from functioning," she added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Congress for its silence on the National Conference chief Omar Abdullah's demand of a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir.

"Omar Abdullah says there should be a separate Prime Minister in Kashmir. His associates are raising pro-Pakistan slogans. But Congress is silent. I want to ask Congress President Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether you are supporting or opposing this demand," Shah said at an election rally in Uttarkashi town in the Tehri constituency of Uttarakhand which is going to the polls on April 11.

Shah, however, made it clear that the BJP would oppose the demand of a separate Prime Minister tooth and nail. "Till we are alive, we will never allow this demand to be fulfilled," he said.

In this context, he reminded the people of the "sacrifice" of the BJP leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who strongly opposed Article 370 that gives autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir state.

"We are following the path of Shyma Prasad Mukherjee and we will not allow such thing to happen," Shah said.

Referring to the manifesto of the Congress, Shah attacked the opposition party for seeking the scrapping of the sedition law.

"Who are you protecting? In JNU, they (students) called for dividing our country into thousand pieces. But you stood silent outside. Do you want to protect all those who are facing sedition charges," he asked.

He also claimed that the Congress wanted to repeal all laws that provide security to the armed forces. "You cannot simply do it. We are standing like rock with the armed forces," he said.

Referring to the Pulwama terrorist attack in February, he said only Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the stamina to retaliate against terrorists.

"When the Pulwama attack occurred, there was commotion and sadness all around the country. But our Prime Minister launched a big attack against terrorists. This attack occurred when there was no possibility of a surgical strike due to the heightened security on the borders by Pakistan. But we carried out airstikes and destroyed all terrorists," he said.

After the Balakot attack, he said a wave of happiness ran through the country and everybody looked happy.

"But our Rahul Gandhi and the Pakistan Prime Minister faces looked just the same," he said, adding that the country will never be secure under Congress rule.

"If you want to make India a powerful nation and global leader, only Prime Minister Modi can fulfill your aspirations," he said.

He also asked the people to vote for BJP in all the five seats in Uttarakhand to repeat the feat of 2014. "We are on the path of development. This development will continue," he said.

--IANS

str/bc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)"Badhaai Ho" director Amit Sharma, who has directed Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in an ad film, says he is looking forward to more collaborations with the couple.

Sharma helmed a television commercial for an electronic brand's campaign.

Sharing his experience, he said in a statement: "Me and my entire team of Chrome Pictures had a blast during the shoot. There were only positive vibes on the set as both Ranveer and Deepika are thorough professionals, and I think we churned a great final product together which you all can see. I hope we collaborate in the future soon."

The ad marked the first time that the two actors worked together as a couple after marriage, with Sharma. Previously the director had worked several times with them individually on various campaigns.

After bagging several awards for "Badhaai Ho", Sharma is currently gearing up for his new feature film with Ajay Devgn.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Australian Senate on Wednesday slammed a lawmaker for blaming Muslim immigration as the cause for the New Zealand mosque attacks that killed 50 people.

Senator Fraser Anning, a far-right independent, made his comments on the day of the shootings in Christchurch. The Upper House passed the censure motion against him without a single unfavourable vote, in what was a symbolic move that does not carry with it Anning's expulsion from the legislative body.

Lawmakers from across the political spectrum condemned his "inflammatory and divisive" remarks. In response, Anning said the censure was "an attack on free speech", the BBC reported.

The reprimand, the fifth to be passed by the Senate in the past decade, stated that Anning's remarks on the March 15 attack did not reflect the views of the Parliament or the Australian people.

"It's absolutely right to censure Senator Anning and anyone else within our community who seeks to use a horrific tragedy like this one as an opportunity to vilify and divide people based on their religious belief," said Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.

Following the Christchurch carnage -- the deadliest in New Zealand's history -- Anning had said that "the real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration programme that allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place".

The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, described Anning's anti-Muslim remarks as "pathetic" and "shameful", Efe news reported.

Wong said that "his inflammatory and divisive comments seek to attribute blame to the victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion".

Anning was not present in the Senate during the motion against him. The Queensland Senator had said before the motion that "my real crime is that I simply told the truth" when the media and the leaders did not want to hear it.

Anning, who in the past used a term linked to the Nazi plan for exterminating all Jewish people - "final solution" - by calling for it to be applied to immigrants in Australia, was also involved in an altercation with a teenager who cracked an egg on his forehead following his comments about the attack.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday wrote to Congress President Rahul Gandhi asking him to support full statehood for Delhi.

AAP Delhi Convenor Gopal Rai said the Congress in its manifesto, released on Tuesday, had made a U-turn.

"While you are talking about NYAY (justice) for the country, I would like to draw your attention towards Delhi, the national capital of India, and the residents of which have been subjected to decades of injustice, which crossed all limits during the last five years," Rai wrote.

He said the Congress didn't touch the issue in the manifesto.

"Under the topic titled, Federalism and Centre State Relations, your party has promised full statehood for Puducherry. For Delhi, however, your manifesto states: The Congress promises to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 to make it clear that the Lieutenant Governor shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except in matters concerning the three reserved subjects," he said.

Rai said, "It is extremely disappointing that after having promised full statehood for Delhi for decades, the Congress has now gone back on its promise."

Rai requested Gandhi to reconsider the stand taken by the Congress in the manifesto regarding Delhi and support the demand for full statehood, which will allow the people of Delhi to lead their lives with dignity.

--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 decision to annul the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) February 12 circular of last year on resolving bad debts is set to benefit several stressed companies which were staring at insolvency proceedings.

According to rating agency ICRA, as of September 2018, nearly 70 borrowers with bad debts worth over Rs 3.8 lakh crore, could have eventually being referred for insolvency proceedings as a result of provisions of RBI's February 12, 2018, circular.

While the court's order will have no impact on the classification of a stressed account as a non-performing asset (NPA or bad loan) or on provisions that banks need to set aside on this account, it will give more time and discretion to banks on finalising a res olution plan.

The RBI circular mandated lenders to initiate resolution or restructuring of loans of Rs 2,000 crore and above within six months from the date of default, on which the court found that the central bank had acted beyond its legal powers.

After the expiry of the 180 days, the defaulting borrowers, under the circular struck down by the apex court, had to mandatorily face proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Supreme Court order may be the financially troubled Jet Airways, which has a debt of around Rs 10,000 crore.

As part of the resolution plan, the State Bank of India (SBI)-led lenders consortium has taken over 50.5 per cent stake in the airline, with a view to selling the shares to a potential buyer in the coming months.

Under the nullified RBI circular, banks would have had to finalise a resolution plan for the airline by June if they wanted to avoid insolvency proceedings. With the Court's quashing of the circular, the bankers have now more time to seek a resolution.

Among the large power companies, which might have faced the heat, is the Lalitpur Power Generation Co, the Shishir Bajaj Group's 1,980 MW thermal power project in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh which had been struggling for several years.

Multiple efforts were made by the lenders to find a resolution for the account but no headway had bee made.

Similarly, the KSK Mahanadi Power Co, a former subsidiary of KSK Energy Ventures, has a total debt of Rs 15,702 crore. Delayed repayments from state-owned power distributors led to cash flow strains for the company and it could not purchase sufficient coal.

KSK Mahanadi operates a 3,600 MW thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh, which sells power to Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

Another such case is Jaiprakash Power Ventures, with an aggregate capacity of 2,220 MW comprising hydro (400 MW) and thermal (1,820 MW) across the country. It owes banks Rs 14,000 crore. Earlier last year, lenders tried to sell near 50 per cent stake in the company but there was a lack of interest among buyers.

Various experts have said that the February 12 circular had introduced a lot of rigidity. On the impact of the Supreme Court decision, they said it will not have significant impact on assets of the non-power sectors that are already under resolution.

--IANS

ravi/bc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win over 300 Lok Sabha seats to register a thumping victory, said Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar.

In an interview to IANS, the Minister said: "Our party will contest the coming elections on three parameters: First, who can make the nation secure, second, who can develop the country, and, third, who can be the best leader to guide the nation."

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes up as the only answer on all three issues, "we are sure to cross the 300-seat mark in these elections. This is possible as people have also become confident of his working style in the last five years".

Even opposition parties feel diffident and were aware that they can't beat the BJP alone. Hence they have decided to form a grand alliance, he said.

"But looking at the present conditions, it seems as if the grand alliance is still born."

In Bengal, the Trinamool and Congress were contesting separately, in Andhra Pradesh the TDP and Congress were fighting separately and in Uttar Pradesh the SP-BSP alliance had dumped the Congress, he pointed out.

"Things are not going great in Bihar too."

With no consensus on vision, leadership and mission, the grand alliance idea was a flop, said Javadekar. "In fact, the SP-BSP in UP have clearly shown the doors to Congress and have said that your strength is just two seats. This speaks volumes."

The Minister admitted that the BJP too was going for alliances but we are "opting for alliances with parties where our ideologies are the same".

According to him, people think differently in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Their preferences and choices also differ.

As the BJP lost the state Assembly elections in 2018 paving way for Congress to form the government in Rajasthan, Javadekar said: "Now, for Lok Sabha elections, people are rooting for growth, progress and security of the nation."

Asked about former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, he said: "Raje is now BJP's national Vice President. She has been campaigning in different states for the BJP. Also, she is all ready to avenge our defeat in Assembly elections."

Asked why no woman was given ticket by the BJP in Rajasthan, he said: "The complete list is yet to be released."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British lawmakers were tied 310-310 on Wednesday in a vote on an amendment to hold another round of "indicative votes" on Brexit options.

With the result, Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow voted against the amendment, saying that he will not vote to create a majority, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bercow said that he followed the parliamentary procedure by voting against the amendment.

"In accordance with precedent and on in the principle that important decisions should not be taken except by a majority, I cast my votes with the noes. So the noes have it," Bercow said.

In a later vote, MPs voted 312 to 311 to support the proposal to debate a bill to block a no-deal Brexit.

The Wednesday votes came as British Prime Minister Theresa May was meeting with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to find a way forward on leaving the European Union.

May defended her decision to meet Corbyn in response to criticism from her own Conservative MPs, saying that working with the Labour is the "only way" to deliver a smooth and orderly Brexit as she wrote to Tory MPs appealing for unity.

She said that her deal is "unlikely" to pass on votes of MPs from Conservative MPs and the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up May's government.

"With some colleagues unwilling to support the government in the division lobbies, this is the only way to deliver the smooth, orderly Brexit that we promised," she wrote.

Britain has until April 12, the latest Brexit date, to propose a plan to the European Union, which must be accepted by them, or it will leave the regional bloc without a deal.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A builder who cheated home buyers of about Rs 1.2 crore in Delhi by selling the same flats to many people has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.

Yogesh Kumar Bhati, 37, a resident of Sultanpur village, was taken into custody on Tuesday when the police raided his residence.

"During interrogation, Bhati admitted he sold the same property through sales deed to different persons and received Rs 30 lakh per flat from the buyers. He also took help of some accomplices who are at large," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar said.

"Bhati had been duping buyers for couple of years by using the same modus operandi. He took Rs 1.2 crore from people and sold them flats which had already been sold to others," he said.

Sanjeet Kumar, one such buyer, on March 8 filed a FIR of cheating and fraud against Bhati after he brought a flat which was later found to be sold to another person, the officer said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled two MPs from his party's caucus after they accused him of meddling in a criminal case involving an influential company.

Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott had already resigned from Trudeau's cabinet citing their concerns over the SNC-Lavalin affair, the BBC reported.

Now they have been expelled from Trudeau's Liberal Party, months before a general election.

The SNC-Lavalin controversy has cast a shadow over Trudeau's leadership.

Andrew Scheer, the leader of the opposition Conservatives, said on Tuesday that the Prime Minister had betrayed justice by removing two corruption whistleblowers.

Trudeau repeatedly spoke about the breakdown of trust between Wilson-Raybould and Philpott and members of his staff.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Trudeau told the media shortly after informing his caucus.

"If they can't honestly say they have confidence in this team... then they cannot be part of this team."

Philpott has been vocal about her concerns with the government, and gave an interview in a national magazine last month in which she said "there's much more to the story that needs to be told".

Trudeau said his decision was sparked by the revelation that Wilson-Raybould had secretly recorded a conversation she had with Canada's former top bureaucrat, which she released publicly on Friday.

Wilson-Raybould said the tapes backed up her claim that government officials inappropriately pressured her to shield SNC-Lavalin from prosecution.

The Canadian firm is accused of bribing officials in Libya to win contracts under Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

SNC-Lavalin has openly lobbied for an agreement that would allow it to avoid prosecution and instead face alternative penalties or measures, such as a fine.

Wilson-Raybould said members of Trudeau's inner circle pressured her to cut a deal, and when she did not, she was removed from her position as Justice Minister.

Trudeau has repeatedly denied that there was any wrongdoing by him or his officials.

The political controversy, which has been dragging on for weeks, has caused Trudeau's popularity drop sharply in opinion polls a few months before a general election.

He said he is expelling the women from the caucus to put an end to infighting, which he had vowed to stop when he was elected in 2014.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Delhi court on Wednesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, by three more days.

Gupta was presented before Special Judge Arvind Kumar on the expiry of his 4-day ED custody. He was arrested on March 26, a day after the court allowed Rajiv Saxena, a Dubai-based businessman and alleged middleman in the deal, to become approver.

The ED told the court Gupta would be confronted with Gautam Khaitan, another accused in the case, in Tihar Jail.

Saxena in his disclosure statement, submitted the ED had revealed that Interstellar Technologies, a company that received AgustaWestland kickbacks, was controlled by Khaitan and Gupta. It said Saxena had also presented two diaries, some loose sheets, and other documents and a pen drive, all related to Gupta.

Opposing the ED plea, Gupta's counsel said he was co-operating in the investigation.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) security agencies had picked up Saxena from his Dubai residence on January 30 and extradited him to India. He was granted bail on medical grounds last week. The ED did not oppose his bail application.

According to the ED, Saxena, in connivance with Khaitan, developed the global corporate structure that laundered money for payment to politicians, bureaucrats and Indian Air Force (IAF) officials to influence the contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers in favour of AgustaWestland, the Rome-based helicopter design and manufacturing company.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of a 'Cash For Vote Scandal', sharing a video of officials seizing Rs 1.8 crore from the convoy of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and state BJP President Tapir Gao ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in the state.

Speaking to the media, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the midnight raid on the convoy of Khandu, his deputy Chowna Mein and Gao "exposes the brazen corruption and poll violation."

He said "if the video is true, then where is the Election Commission? Are they sleeping? Where is the Enforcement Directorate?"

Videos surfaced on social media showing police officers counting the cash in the presence of the Election Commission's Expenditure Officer Samrita Kaur Gill.

The cash was being reportedly transported in certain vehicles parked at the Siang Guest House, Pasighat. Five vehicles were searched in the presence of the complainants who belonged to the Youth Congress, he said.

The search resulted in the seizure of Rs 1.80 crore in notes of Rs 500 denomination, Surjewala claimed.

The Congress has raised a number of questions, including if the cash was being transferred for the rally of Modi in Pasighat on Wednesday in the CM's convoy and through the state BJP President.

"Where did such a large amount come from? Gao has been a habitual offender. Before Manipur elections, he was stopped by the Income Tax department with a large amount of cash at Guwahati airport while he was coming from poll-bound Manipur," he said.

He also questioned if the cash was transferred for Modi's morning rally. "Is it not a clear cut case of 'Chowkidar' becoming 'Chor'?"

Surjewala demanded the cancellation of the candidature of Gao from the West Arunachal seat and the resignation of Khandu.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after the Congress released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday called the document a "show-off" and an "illusion".

She alleged that the Congress never fulfilled its promises and so people don't believe the party any more.

"The Congress manifesto is a show-off and an illusion like their earlier promises. It is the result of their non-delivery of promises that people lack trust in them. There is not much difference between the BJP and Congress," the Bahujan Samaj Party chief tweeted.

Lamenting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kept attacking the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the state, Mayawati said the BJP feared defeat vis-a-vis the alliance.

"BJP leaders are so afraid of being defeated by the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the state that they are making casteist and other remarks against the alliance and its leaders. We should not be provoked by this. They (BJP) should be given a befitting reply in the elections," she said.

The BSP, which did not win any seat in 2014, is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

The BSP is contesting on 38, the SP on 37 and the RLD on three out of 80 seats in the state. The Rae Bareli and Amethi seats have been left for the Congress.

The seven-phase elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled from April 11 to May 19.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Terming the Congress manifesto a "dhakosla patra" (document of lies), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress of failing to fulfil the aspirations of the people in the northeast in 60 long years.

But his own government was committed to making Arunachal Pradesh and Northeast India as the gateway to East Asia, Modi told a Lok Sabha election rally at the General Ground here in East Arunachal Pradesh district.

"One family has ruled the country for 55 years but still they cannot claim that they have done what is required to be done for Arunachal Pradesh and other northeastern states," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thundered.

"I am one person who is ready to take up challenges. I cannot claim that in five years I have done all that is required to be done but this 'chowkidar' is working non-stop to ensure development," said Modi.

"They have released their 'ghoshna patra'. But it should be called a 'dhakosla patra'. It's full of lies."

Citing an example, he said the Congress manifesto in 2004 had promised to provide electricity to all households of the country by 2009. However, they repeated the assurance again in 2009.

In 2014, they said that 100 per cent households in urban areas and 90 per cent in rural areas will be given electricity connection.

Still 18,000 villages were yet to be connected with electricity when our government came to power in 2014, he said.

But the BJP government connected all these 18,000 villages with electricity within 1,000 days, he said.

"Have you ever heard of me taking a vacation or leave? Have you ever seen me enjoying? Your love gives me energy to work continuously day and night. It is our commitment to make Arunachal Pradesh and other northeastern states the gateway of East Asia," he said.

He said the BJP stands for the protection of the culture, tradition and history of various communities.

"They (Congress) came to power for the sake of power but this 'chowkidar' is ever ready to fulfil the aspirations of the people. You have seen 60 years of Congress rule and 60 months of governance of our government. Can you tell me how many Prime Ministers came here during their rule?

"I have come to Arunachal Pradesh and northeast over 30 times during last five years," he said.

"The chowkidar is always awake and keeps people awake by shouting 'Jaagte Raho'. This chowkidar is here to awaken you against the false promises and lies of Congress."

The two Lok Sabha seats and the 60-member Assembly in Arunachal Pradesh will go to polls on April 11.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Terming the Congress' election manifesto as "anti-national", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday warned that it will result in destabilisation and disintegration of the country.

Accusing the Congress of "playing with national security", he said it will kill the morale of the armed forces and help Pakistan.

"The Congress' plans to knock off the provisions of treason against anti-national forces and Maoists, subversive urban Maoists, and other points, would serve to break the country. For this, the people must punish the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party," Modi exhorted.

He demanded whether NCP President Sharad Pawar -- who has been a former Defence Minister of India -- realises the implications of all this and if he supports the Congress conspiracy to weaken the nation and its armed forces in the manifesto.

Modi said for decades, the country was moving in the wrong directions vis-a-vis terrorists and divisive forces, but now it is in the "right direction and moving speedily".

"They (opposition) are conspiring to stop all this. The Congress' philosophy is to either capture (power) or create confusion and destabilize," he said, addressing an election rally here this evening.

Admitting that when they (Congress) could not do much in thier 70 years' rule, "what could I do in five years", Modi said he nevertheless made sincere efforts in different directions and when the works are completed, the results would be visible.

Terming the Gondiya rally this evening as one of the biggest he has ever witnessed, the PM said that it seems each rally addressed by him is breaking the records of attendance of the previous one.

"It appears the people of Maharashtra have made up their minds to uproot the 'Maha-milavat' (mega-hotchpoch, implying the opposition alliance) in these elections," Modi asserted.

He listed the achievements of the NDA government, saying he spent past five years only in filling up the holes of the past 70 years of (Congress) rule, but now the country would be catapulted on the highway to development.

"Your Chowkidar has taken major decisions in an attempt to change the country, ranging from constructing toilets to destroying satellites in space. I want your blessings again for five years to complete my dreams for the country and the pending works," urged Modi.

--IANS

qn/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress of conspiring to put the lives of soldiers at risk by promising to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

Modi said the Congress was planning to "tie the hands" of the Army in front of the terrorists and stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir and other terror prone areas in the country with its AFSPA promise listed in the Lok Sabha election manifesto.

The 2019 elections were a question of protecting the honour of the armed forces, he told an election rally here.

"Yesterday the Congress released a 'patra' (manifesto) where they have tried to break down the confidence of the armed forces. The Congress has said they will remove AFSPA from Kashmir and other places. They are conspiring to tie the hands of our armed forces in front of the terrorists and stone-pelters," Modi said.

"Thousands of people from Darjeeling and rest of West Bengal work to protect the country in such areas. AFSPA is like a shield for the armed forces so that they can combat the terrorists in a proper way. But these people do not have faith on our soldiers... That is why they are daring to make such promises," he said.

Terming the erstwhile UPA government a "remote controlled" one which did not act against terror, Modi claimed he was now standing like a "wall" between the terrorists and the people.

"All you have to do is to come together to stop the conspiracy of putting the lives of our soldiers at risk. Your votes are not just necessary for making the BJP win or re-electing Modi as Prime Minister but are also needed to protect the respect of our armed forces.

"It is clear what kind of government they want. When the UPA's remote controlled government was in power in Delhi, there had been a number of terrorist attacks but they never gave a free hand to our Army."

Criticizing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other leaders of the opposition who he said raised questions over the success of the Balakot air strike after the Pulwama terror attack, the Prime Minister said that these leaders appeared more hurt than Pakistan for giving the Indian Army a free hand.

"I gave a free hand to our Army. Do you agree with this decision? When our forces killed the terrorists in Balakot, did you feel happy or not? Did your heads go up in pride or not?" Modi asked, and the crowds responded with a thunderous 'yes'.

"But Didi did not like it and neither did her allies... All these grand (leaders) cried so much after the air strike that they became hero in Pakistan."

Taking a swipe at Banerjee for seeking proof regarding the number of terrorists killed in Balakot, Modi said it seemed the Bengal Chief Minister "felt more pain than those in Islamabad, Rawalpindi or Karachi".

--IANS

mgr/mr/pg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)No civilian traffic will be allowed on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Sundays and Wednesdays from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. to ensure the safety of convoys of security forces, the government announced on Wednesday.

"Keeping in view the large movement of security forces on the national highway during the parliamentary elections and associated possibility of any terror attack on security forces convoys, the state government has notified specified days in a week for the movement of security forces on the national highway," an official notification said.

During these days, no civilian traffic will be allowed on the highway.

There will be a complete ban on civilian traffic on Sundays and Wednesdays from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"This prohibition will be from Baramulla through Srinagar, Qazigund, Jawahar Tunnel, Banihal and Ramban till Udhampur.

"In the event of any requirement for local traffic movement for any emergency or for other purpose, the local administration and police would evolve necessary procedures for this as is done during curfew days," the notification said.

These restrictions would remain in force till May 31.

A suicide car bomber travelling on the highway killed 40 CRPF troopers at Pulwama in Kashmir in February. And on March 30, another car carrying a cooking gas cylinder exploded on the highway, slightly denting a CRPF vehicle.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two daughters from vastly different backgrounds have returned to the badlands of eastern Uttar Pradesh to reclaim the political legacy of their fathers.

Tanushree Tripathi has returned after completing her Masters' degree in international relations from London. She is all set to get married later this month but is nevertheless contesting elections from the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat.

Tanushree, 29, is the daughter of former Uttar Pradesh Minister Amar Mani Tripathi, who is serving a life term along with his wife Madhu Mani Tripathi in Gorakhpur jail for the murder of a poetess in Lucknow in 2003.

Tanushree's brother Aman Mani Tripathi is an independent MLA from Nautanwa Assembly segment in Maharajganj district. He is also an accused in the murder of his wife Sara Singh and the CBI is investigating the matter.

In 2017, when Aman Mani contested the Assembly elections from jail, it was Tanushree who campaigned for him along with her sister Alankrita.

Tanushree is contesting on the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) ticket and is banking on the sympathy of the people since, as she says, her parents and brother have been "wrongly framed in criminal cases".

"I am not a parachute candidate here. I know my village, my people, my constituency. The people know me and my family and we share a strong bond. The farmers have been suffering in this district that lies on the UP-Nepal border. Sugar mills in the region are lying closed. The BJP's Pankaj Chaudhary has been MP for five terms but has done no development here and people want a change," she said.

The other daughter who is making a bid to reclaim her father's legacy in Maharajganj is Supriya Srinetra, daughter of the late Harshvardhan Singh, a former MP.

Supriya quit her job as Executive Editor of an English news channel and has arrived in Maharajganj to contest the elections on a Congress ticket.

Supriya told reporters that the prevailing conditions in eastern Uttar Pradesh had made her take to "I am glad to have been fielded from Maharajganj where my father worked for four decades."

Her husband will also campaign for her.

Supriya refused to comment on her rival Tanushree or her tainted background. "I am here to campaign for myself and do not want to comment on anyone," she said.

This, incidentally, is the first time that women candidates have taken centre stage in Maharajganj which remains steeped in backwardness.

"It is a welcome change and these elections will hopefully pave the way for more women to step out of their homes and take to Women are supporting the two candidates in a big way. Till now, Maharajganj has been known for mafia candidates," said Rekha Singh, a first time voter and a young graduate.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission (EC) to decide a complaint alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by the Andhra Pradesh government.

The court was hearing a plea filed by an organisation Jana Chaitanya Vedika which alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government had violated the model code. The organisation made two representations to the EC on March 12 and March 30 seeking appropriate action against the state government to keep the transfer of amounts in abeyance till the date of polling.

Justice Yogesh Khanna asked the Commission to dispose of the two representations by passing a speaking order by Thursday evening.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on April 5.

Representing the Jana Chaitanya Vedika, Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran and lawyer Ashish Virmani told the court that the Andhra Pradesh government on January 25 launched a new scheme named "Pasupu Kumkuma", which was implemented in February. Under this scheme, financial help was provided to women registered with self-help groups to improve their lives and the state government was providing Rs 10,000 cash and a smartphone to every eligible applicant.

"According to the scheme, about 93 lakh women will benefit (from thew scheme) and the financial aid was to be paid in three instalments within three months. It may be noted that there was no budgetary allocation for the said scheme for the year 2018-19. In this respect, two instalments of Rs 6,000 have already been transferred to the accounts, and the last instalment of Rs 4,000 is likely to transferred on April 5, i.e. just before the polling on April 11," the counsel said.

Two more schemes were launched in January -- one was to enhance old age pension amount from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month, while the other AP Annadatha Sukhibhav scheme was for farmers.

The counsel has questioned the imminent disbursal of the amounts under the schemes to the public days before the state goes to polls.

The counsel said that the action of the AP government to transfer the funds under the garb of schemes just prior to the polling is ex-facie mala fide and a deliberate attempt to influence the voters using public money.

If the Andhra government is permitted to proceed with disbursal, it would amount to a serious violation of not only the Model Code of Conduct but also impede a clean and fair electoral process, which is a sine qua non for any democracy, the counsel said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Facebook, which has created a mini storm in Indian by revealing it removed fake Pages, Groups and accounts linked to the Congress, surreptitiously skipped mentioning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Downplaying the BJP bit is clear when you deeply scan the blog post by Nathaniel Gleicher who is Head of Cybersecurity Policy at Facebook.

He claimed that the company removed 687 Facebook Pages and accounts that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behaviour in India and were linked to individuals associated with an IT Cell of the Indian National Congress (INC).

"While the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our review found that it was connected to individuals associated with an INC IT Cell," said Gleicher.

Facebook's investigation also found that certain individuals associated with an Indian IT firm, Silver Touch, were involved in the coordinated inauthentic behaviour and removed 15 pages, groups and accounts linked to the firm.

In this case, Facebook did not investigate further to reveal that Ahmedabad-based Silver Touch is behind the pro-BJP page "The India Eye" that is followed by 2.6 million accounts, and is there for everyone to see but the social media giant.

"They posted about local news and political events, including topics like the Indian government, the upcoming elections, the BJP and alleged misconduct of political opponents including the INC," noted Gleicher.

In the case of the Congress, Facebook went the extra mile to find the link, but it did not think it necessary to investigate further to find the BJP link in the case of Silver Touch which ran the BJP-leaning Facebook Page and is also associated with creating the NaMo app.

Another point that Facebook downplayed was the amount of ad spend.

In the case of the Congress, 687 Pages and accounts (138 Pages and 549 Facebook accounts) spent a little over Rs 26 lakh but 15 accounts related to Silver Touch (1 Page, 12 Facebook accounts, 1 Group and 1 Instagram account) spent Rs 48 lakh.

In the case of Congress-linked accounts, the first ad ran in August 2014 and the most recent ad ran in March 2019. In the case of Silver Touch, the first ad ran in June 2014 and the most recent ad ran in February 2019.

It took five years for Facebook algorithms to spot these ads, before the social media giant realized these were involved in coordinated inauthentic behaviour, and took action 10 days before the first phase of voting begins on April 11.

Facebook also removed 227 Pages and 94 accounts in India for violating its policies against spam and misrepresentation.

"These Pages and accounts posted massive amounts of content across a network of Groups and Pages in order to drive traffic to websites they are affiliated with in order to make money," said Facebook.

We do not know yet who these Pages and accounts belong to.

The Congress said none of its official pages has been taken down and it was awaiting a response from Facebook to give it a list of pages/accounts that were removed.

The Congress has also questioned Facebook if the downplaying BJP was owing to the ad spend on its platform.

Of Rs 10 crore spent on political advertising on Facebook till last month, the BJP and its affiliates had spent over Rs 5 crore which is over 50 per cent of the total amount.

In this whole saga, there's definitely more to it than meets the eye.

(Nishant Arora can be reached on nishant.a@ians.in)

--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.)A DMK government in Tamil Nadu will order a probe into the death of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, DMK President M.K. Stalin announced on Wednesday.

Addressing a rally in Tiruppur, about 465 km from here, Stalin insisted that there will be a change of government in Tamil Nadu after the Modi government is defeated in the Lok Sabha elections.

"One thing is sure -- soon after a change of government at the Centre, there will be a change of government in the state. Then the problems of people will be sorted out."

The Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly said: "Once the DMK returns to power, a probe will be ordered into death of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa."

Jayalalithaa died in a hospital in December 2016 following a prolonged illness.

Stalin said waiver of gold loans, taken by landless farmers from cooperative and public sector banks, would be added to the party manifesto.

--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 (EC) has sought details of "Namo TV" from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on complaints filed by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), sources said on Wednesday.

Launched last week, the channel uses the (political) initials of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is devoted to coverage of his rallies and speeches. Both Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have promoted Namo TV on the social media.

In a tweet, soon after its launch, Modi shared a picture saying the channel will have a "real-time coverage of PM Modi's exciting election campaign and a lot more fascinating content".

The Congress on Monday moved the EC seeking strictures against Modi and the BJP for promoting "Namo TV" as "a political tool" when the model code of conduct (MCC) was in force, and using the government-owned Doordarshan for their election campaign.

It urged the EC to issue "urgent and necessary directions" to the I&B Ministry and DTH service providers to take action against the channel.

The AAP also filed a complaint with the EC stating if permission can be given to a party to have own TV channel when the poll code of conduct was in force.

--IANS

vv/rtp/pcj

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Myanmar Army is set to impose emergency in its Rakhine state to launch a big operation against insurgent group, the Arakan Army, intelligence sources said.

The move can be taken any time as the Arakan Army had set up several camps comprising of about 1,000 cadres in areas across Mizoram's Lawngtalai district. These areas cut across the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project and the insurgents posed a threat to it.

In view of Arakan Army's activities, the armies of India and Myanmar recently concluded a coordinated operation from February 17 to March 2.

Besides the Arakan Army, the operation targeted the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang, a northeastern insurgent group notorious for attacks against the Indian Army, and having hideouts in Myanmar.

According to a defence source, over 3,000 Arakan Army cadres, in last few months, have been trained by another Myanmar insurgent group, the Kachin Independence Army, in Myanmar's Kachin area which borders China's Yunan province. Both the groups are part of a coalition of insurgent groups called the Northern Alliance, which are believed to be supported by China.

The source said that the Arakan Army is specially being trained on setting up of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and that the group since 2017 has increased its movement towards south Myanmar despite having their bases mostly towards the north of the country.

It is belived that the group have setup over a dozen camps across the International Border with India in Myanmar last year. While Rakhine borders Bangaladesh, the Indian border in Mizoram is not far off.

As per the intelligence input, the Arakan Army has also been planning to infiltrate into India.

--IANS

rak/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may soon start consultations with each other for working out a revised mechanism on non-performing asset (NPA) resolution on sector specific lines, informed sources said.

However, it is not going to be an overnight process as was done under the February 12, 2018 RBI circular, the sources said, adding that the interim government may issue directions to the banks over sector specific NPA resolutions so that there is no lag in the NPA checking mechanism.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down as ultra vires the controversial February 12, 2018 RBI circular that mandated lenders to initiate resolution or restructuring of loans of Rs 2,000 crore and above within six months from the date of default.

After the expiry of 180 days, the defaulting borrowers, under the now struck down circular, had to mandatorily face proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

"The government does not want to get involved in actions which are under the realms of the lenders and the regulator. The banks have to take these decisions on loan recovery for NPA accounts.

"The Finance Ministry would like new and revised sector specific mechanisms for NPA recovery to be formulated by the RBI in consultation with the lenders and the industry so that the general rule for every sector is not brought upon which can prove disastrous as was seen in the power sector due to the February 12 RBI circular", the sources said.

But till a valid framework is chalked out, the Finance Ministry could explore ways such as issuing directions to the banks so that bad assets resolutions do not suffer, the sources said, adding that it will be the RBI, the lenders and the industry who will be the ecosystem.

On Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said as much at a press conference.

"The RBI will now decide with the present condition of the market as to what's to be done in the absence of the February 12 circular. We will read it and I am sure the RBI will also decide what is to be done with the various aspects contained in the circular," Jaitley had said.

Sources in the government are of the view that the central bank would take appropriate actions following Tuesday's apex court ruling. They also added that the new rules would be based out of consultations with the banks, the government and the industry.

Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NITI Aayog, said on Wednesday that with the Supreme Court striking down the February 12, 2018 RBI circular on NPAs as ultra vires, the issue needs to be relooked at by both the RBI and the government to arrive at a new regulation that will ensure financial discipline of the borrowers.

--IANS

ana/sn/arm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Police said on Wednesday they had busted a gang which burgled farm houses in Delhi, arresting its four members while they were loading robbed goods into a van here.

Narayan, 23, Arjun, 21, Satish, 19, and Deepak, 18, residents of a slum, were taken into custody on Tuesday night in Fatehpur Beri in south Delhi.

"Hearing noises in farm house, a security guard went to check what was going on and found the gang loading looted goods. Seeing the guard, the burglars tried to escape," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar said.

Police personnel later caught the criminals with the guard's help.

"The accused disclosed that they were involved in many such burglaries in farm houses," the officer added.

--IANS

sp/mr/pg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who arrived here on Wednesday, were greeted by hundreds of UDF supporters, who had been waiting three hours to see them.

Gandhi had sprung a surprise when the Congress announced that he will also contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, apart from the traditional Amethi that has been home to Gandhi family for long, in these elections.

Thursday is the last date for filing of nominations from Wayanad, with polling for all of Kerala's 20 Lok Sabha constituencies to be held on April 23.

Senior Congress leaders including Mukul Wasnik, K.C. Venugopal, Oommen Chandy, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and several others turned up at the airport, which was taken over by the police but found it tough to keep the crowd under check.

Rahul Gandhi spent some time at the VIP lounge with the leaders and he came out of the lounge and waved at the supporters before leaving through the VIP gate.

Reacting to the tumultuous response of the workers, Congress veteran Aryadan Mohammed told the media that in his long political career, he has contested 12 times but never seen such a response as what was witnessed at the Congress President's visit.

"He is going to win with a record margin, you just wait and see," said Mohammed.

"The UDF workers are on a high and it's going to be Gandhi wave, not just in Kerala, but in South India," said Chennithala.

From the airport, the Gandhis drove to Kozhikode to spend the night.

Around 9 a.m. on Thursday, both of them are expected to take a helicopter to Wayanad, even as Gandhi has expressed his desire to take the road route, but this was opposed by the SPG.

A final decision would be taken on Thursday morning, as according to present plans, he is expected to file the nomination papers before 12 noon.

--IANS

sg/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Airbus A330 passenger plane operated by Garuda Indonesia made an emergency landing at Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lankan capital Colombo due to lower cabin pressure, a spokesman of the airline said on Wednesday.

The flight was en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from Banda Aceh province of Indonesia when it made the emergency landing at the airport in Colombo, spokesman Ikhsan Rosan was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The aircraft landed safely at 9 a.m. (local time) with 338 people on board.

"For safety and comfort of the passengers, the pilot decided to land in Colombo and change the plane," Rosan said.

All the passengers and crew on board the flight landed unharmed. The airline sent technicians to check and make sure if the plane was eligible to resume flight, he added.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court decision voiding the RBI circular on resolution of loan default could push banks into resolving such cases on the basis of an inter-creditor agreement (ICA) reached by 35 banks last year, senior officials here said.

Under a framework named Project Sashakt, a bank-led resolution approach (BLRA) is adopted where the lead banker is given charge of finding a solution for a stressed account. If a resolution is not worked out within 180 days, the stressed assets then move to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Banking sources said Sashakt is similar to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) void February 12 RBI circular in approach, but is not forced upon all cases of stress and defaults. It follows the BLRA, where banks get to decide how to move forward and resolve accounts within a timeframe.

Banks used the Sashakt framework last year to resolve a few stressed power assets. In fact, out of the 34 power assets referred to them, about 8 were resolved using this approach.

However, the scheme could not proceed further as the RBI circular prevented application of any other scheme for defaults, which instructed banks to strictly follow its direction of resolving an account within 180 days of first default or refer the matter for resolution under the bankruptcy court.

"Project Sashakt can also become the basis of any amended guideline for resolution that RBI may think of post the Supreme Court order. The apex bank could amend the guideline post-consultation with the government that would be specific in nature and not a general rule," the official said.

According to the official, the central bank may also give credence to the ICA on any scheme of resolution, allowing the banks to decide on the most suited action necessary to resolve or restructure an account.

The ICA is a platform for banks and financial institutions to come together and take concerted efforts towards resolving non-performing assets (NPAs or bad loans) under Rs 500 crore.

Project Sashakt was proposed by a panel led by state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) Chairman Sunil Mehta in June last year. Under it, bad loans of up to Rs 50 crore are to be managed at the bank level, with a deadline of 90 days.

For bad loans of Rs 50-500 crore, banks will enter into an ICA, authorising the lead bank to implement a resolution plan in 180 days, or refer the asset to the NCLT. For loans above Rs 500 crore, the panel has recommended an independent asset management company (AMC), supported by institutional funding through Alternative Investment Funds (AIF).

(Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in)

--IANS

sn/bc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's civil aviation regulator on Wednesday said that passenger carrier Jet Airways now operates a fleet of 28 aircraft.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) clarification came after several media reports cited that the airline was operating 15 or less aircraft, which would have made it ineligible to operate international flights.

"As informed to the regulator (DGCA), the airline is operating a curtailed schedule with sufficient number of aircraft, and is compliant with the applicable guidelines," Jet Airways said in a statement.

The confusion regarding Jet's operational fleet arose after the airline on Tuesday informed the stock exchanges that it has grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment to lessors.

"Jet Airways continues to fly 28 aircraft as on date. The 15 aircraft reported has already been accounted for and was only informed to the stock exchange by Jet Airways yesterday," the DGCA said.

Industry sources have said that banks are expected to infuse the first tranche of Rs 1,500 crore into the cash-strapped airline within one or two days, which is expected to ease the current situation.

Last month, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola had said that nearly 80 per cent of Jet's fleet was likely to be back in operation by the end of April as it would re-induct 40 aircraft by April-end.

A total of 75 aircraft are envisaged by April-end which is around 80 per cent of the Jet's total aircraft previously, he had said.

On March 25, Jet Airways promoter and Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down from the board of the airline and ceded majority control to the State Bank of India-led consortium.

Under the plan, the lenders would inject up to Rs 1,500 crore working capital into the airline and convert their debt into equity, and try to revive Jet Airways and sell it by June.

The airline owes over Rs 8,000 crore to the lenders led by the SBI.

Under the lenders-initiated resolution plan, the airline will leverage the funding to partly clear pending dues towards the lessors, vendors, creditors and employees in a phased manner.

Jet Airways has been struggling with cash flows for the past six months because of rising fuel costs and intense competition. It has even delayed payment to lessors, airport operators and oil marketing companies besides a part of its workforce to keep the company running.

Around 50 of its aircraft were grounded due to inability to pay rentals. Its pilots and certain sections of the employees have been without pay for some months, leading to the pilots issuing an ultimatum to the erstwhile management on salary payment.

The SBI expects Jet to find a new financial investor by the first quarter of the current fiscal.

--IANS

rv/sn/arm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As Jet Airways on Wednesday informed employees that salaries for March will be delayed, the troubles for the beleaguered airline seem to be far from over.

"In the light of the current situation, please note that salaries for March 2019 will be deferred. We will provide you an update on the status of the payout by Tuesday, 9 April 2019," said Rahul Taneja, Chief People Officer, Jet Airways, in a communication to employees.

Salaries are pending since January.

While the airline, hard-pressed for funds, is yet to receive the first tranche of the Rs 1,500 crore, promised by banks as part of the debt resolution plan, its fleet size has depleted to 28, employees and lessors remain adamant on clearance of dues, and legal eagles feel the fate of resolution plan hangs in balance.

While industry sources said the first tranche of fund could be expected in a day or two, the situation has become precariously complicated following the Supreme Court's decision on Wednesday to annul a February 12, 2018 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular on bad debts.

The banks are expected to meet on Thursday to chart out the course of action.

Throughout Wednesday, speculations continued on the number of aircraft that the airline operated, after reports in a section of media that it was operating 15 or less aircraft, which would make it ineligible to operate international flights.

The speculations also stemmed from the airline's disclosure on Tuesday to the bourses that it had grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment to lessors. The disclosure also pulled the company's stocks down over 5 per cent to Rs 251.10 per share.

However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified that the carrier was operating a 28-aircraft fleet.

"Jet Airways continues to fly 28 aircraft as on date. The 15 aircraft reported have already been accounted for and this was only informed to the stock exchange by Jet Airways yesterday (Tuesday)," the DGCA said.

Last month, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said nearly 80 per cent (75 aircraft) of Jet's fleet was likely to be back in operation by the end of April as it would re-induct 40 aircraft by then.

On March 25, Jet Airways promoter and Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down from the board of the airline and ceded majority control to the State Bank of India-led consortium.

Under the debt resolution plan, the lenders would inject up to Rs 1,500 crore working capital into the airline and convert their debt into equity, to revive the airline and sell it by June.

The airline owes over Rs 8,000 crore to lenders, led by the State Bank of India (SBI).

Under the lenders'-initiated resolution plan, the airline will leverage the funding to partly clear pending dues towards the lessors, vendors, creditors and employees in a phased manner.

The SBI also expects the airline to find a new financial investor within the first quarter (April-June) of FY20.

"The management team has been working with lenders and other institutions to finalise a resolution plan, which will help us stabilise operations and build a sustainable future for the airline. However, given the complexities of such processes, it has taken us longer than expected," Taneja said in the communication to employees.

"But please be assured that we continue to strive and are in continuous deliberations with lenders and institutions to find a solution," he said.

--IANS

rv/sn/rtp/pcj

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Sri Lanka Army on Wednesday said it would hold the largest military exercise in July to coincide with 10 years of the end of the island nation's 30-year civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The army in a statement said the month-long military exercise will begin on July 1 with the participation of over 5,000 soldiers, Xinhua news agency reported.

The war game titled, "Exercise -- Western Shield," will provide the opportunity for army trainees to march through areas that are not usually accessible to others, except forest conservation authorities, the report said.

Army personnel would also be trained to stay well-attuned, refreshed and upgraded to meet with any future warfare threat, it added.

--IANS

soni/pcj

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Police said on Wednesday that the main accused in the looting of four rifles last year from the residence of a Congress legislator was arrested on Wednesday.

"An LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) militant who was the main accused in the looting from the official residence of the Congress leader here has been arrested," a police officer said.

Danish Haneef was taken into custody from a private hospital in Srinagar where he was being treated for injuries sustained during a gunbattle in Pulwama district, the officer said.

In December 2018, militants looted four rifles from the Jawahar Nagar residence of Muzaffar Ahmad Parray, the Congress MLA.

--IANS

sq/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress's former Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken on Wednesday expressed confidence that his party and the Aam Aadmi Party will form an alliance for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital to defeat the BJP.

"I am confident that a Congress-AAP alliance is finally possible. I am in favour of it," Maken told IANS.

His comments came a day after Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that the party was "open and flexible" on the issue of alliances.

Gandhi, asked about the uncertainty over an alliance with AAP in Delhi at the function to release the party manifesto on Tuesday, said that the Congress has been open on forging alliances and has done it across the country.

There is uncertainty over alliance with AAP amid differing views within the Delhi Congress. Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit is opposed to the alliance but has said she will abide by the decision of the party leadership.

Delhi Congress leaders who are in favour of alliance say the immediate priority is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party while those against the tie-up say that it is not in party's long-term interest and the party should aim to win the next assembly polls.

Maken is apparently keen to contest from New Delhi but has also expressed his reservations about contesting without a tie-up with AAP.

The AAP has already declared candidates on all seven seats. Sources said Delhi Congress has also finalised its recommendations for candidates.

--IANS

ss/ps/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Terming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a "speed-breaker" in the way of rapid development in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday said she was not interested in eliminating poverty as her brand of would then come to an end.

"I regret the speed with which we worked in other states, we could not achieve in Bengal," Modi said while addressing a rally in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.

"In West Bengal, there is a speed-breaker in the way of your development. People here know this speed-breaker as Didi (as Banerjee is affectionately called)," he said.

Going all out against Banerjee, he said acting as a "speed-breaker", she hindered a number of central welfare schemes in the state, like Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN, and Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

Alleging that Banerjee has no concern for the poor, Modi said she was proficient in playing the of the poor. "How can she work for ending poverty? If poverty is obliterated, Didi's will also come to an end," Modi said.

Attacking the Congress and the Communists, the Prime Minister said they share the same trait. "They need poverty. They need the poor. Their political gain is in keeping the people in poverty. This is the reason they have put brakes on development."

Modi said these parties have hatched a conspiracy to prevent the poor from benefiting from development.

Terming the Trinamool Congress, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Congress as "many sides of the same coin", Modi said those parties should know that their fight was against an honest "chowkidar".

Visibly happy at the huge turnout, Modi said Banerjee's boat had sunk. "Had I not seen the sea of humanity here, I couldn't have even fathomed that Didi's boat has sunk. Your warnings have reached Didi's ears. Your love and enthusiasm (for BJP) will give her sleepless nights," he said.

"I salute Bengal by bowing my head for giving me so much love," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the people of Bengal have lost their money in multiple chit fund scams and accused Trinamool MPs and ministers of looting the poor. "There have been chit fund scams in Bengal. Didi's ministers, MPs and aids looted the poor in the name of running chit fund and ran away."

He said despite stiff resistance from Banerjee, the central government was doing its best to spread development in the state, including education for tribal children, jobs for youth, toilets and LPG connections to every household.

--IANS

mgr/mag/pcj

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "fascist" after he criticised her for questioning the success of the IAF air strikes in Balakot.

"I will raise this question a thousand times? We are nationalists, not fascists. We do not need certificates of nationalism from anyone. We are followers of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Swami Vivekananda.

"Who murdered Mahatma Gandhi? You are the ones who follow violence. Today, you are preaching us love for the country as if you are the only friends of India and the rest of us are enemies. We are nationalists and sorry to say PM, you are a fascist," Banerjee said at a rally here in the Cooch Behar district.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister attacked the Opposition's Grand Alliance saying some Opposition leaders appeared more hurt than Pakistan after the air strikes in Balakot.

Addressing a rally in north Bengal's Siliguri, Modi said, "I gave a free hand to our army. Do you agree with this decision? When our forces killed the terrorists in Balakot, did you feel happy or not? Did your heads rise in pride or not? But Didi didn't like it. Neither did her allies. All these leaders cried so much after the air strikes that they became heroes in Pakistan."

Coming up with a sharp counter, Banerjee questioned, "Don't you have shame, you do in the name of jawans?" She accused the Central government of not taking precautionary measures despite intelligence input about a possible terror attack in Pulwama.

Banerjee also attacked the BJP leaders for referring to the army as "Modi Sena". "Today they are calling the Indian army 'Modi Sena'. Modi who only knows violence. But a jawan's respect is very high because he sacrifices his life for the country.

"The Election Commission rules state the army cannot be used for poll campaign. How are the BJP leaders talking about 'Modi Sena'? We will raise this with the EC," she said.

--IANS

bnd-bdc/ssp/rtp/pcj

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not attend a ministerial-level meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) later this week in France, the State Department has said.

US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan will instead lead the delegation to the G7 foreign affairs ministerial meeting slated for Friday and Saturday in France, a State Department statement said on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

The department did not give explanation about the top US diplomat's absence. When asked by reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday, the department's Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino only said that Pompeo "has full faith in" Sullivan and "his ability to advance America's national security interests" at the meeting.

Sullivan is expected to discuss the situation in Venezuela, Iran and the Korean Peninsula with other participants.

The G7 ministerial meeting on foreign affairs sets the stage for the G7 Leaders' Summit in August in the French seaside resort of Biarritz.

The last G7 summit in Canada ended up with US President Donald Trump rebuking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and retracting US support for a joint communique via a tweet.

Hours after leaving the G7 summit in Canada on June 9, Trump said on Air Force One that he had instructed US representatives not to endorse the joint communique released at the end of that G7 summit and called Trudeau "dishonest & weak" in his tweets.

G7 includes the seven leading industrialized countries of Britain, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, accusing it of running "dynastic rule under the disguise of democracy for 55 years since the country's Independence" and urged people to re-elect the BJP government that has made many "impossible possible" in the last five years.

Without naming the family, Modi said the dynasty practiced by them "strangulated the aspirations of the youth, destroyed the dreams of the poor and poisoned the atmosphere of brotherhood with communalism."

"Dynasty ruled the nation in the disguise of democracy. There was dynastic rule in India for 55 out of 72 years since its Independence. Democracy has prevailed for 15-16 years at most.

"It is a big question that why is this country not placed among the top nations in the world in spite of having no dearth of talent, innovation and hard work," Modi said while addressing a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground here on Wednesday.

"The dynastic rule of 55 years throttled the youth forces in the country. Corruption strangulated the hard work, it destroyed the dream of the poor by doing vote bank It polluted the atmosphere of brotherhood with the poison of communalism and diminished the valour of the army," he said.

Taking a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Modi said that Bengal, which once showed the way to the entire nation, was now suffering under the pressure of the dynastic rule of "aunt and nephew".

"Bengal is also suffering under the pressure of dynastic rule. Aunt and nephew are together looting the resources of Bengal and doing injustice to the people," the Prime Minister said.

Giving an account of the significant achievements of his government in the last five years, Modi said the current regime has proved that it has the will power to make all the "impossible possible".

"Starting from surgical strike, air strike or the strike on the space satellite, India is doing things that we only dreamt of five years ago. Did anybody ever think of getting income tax exemption on annual income of up to Rs 5 lakh or 10 per cent reservation for the poor," he asked.

"Did anyone think that corruption charges on the family that considers themselves to be the destiny makers of India could be probed? But now the whole family is on bail because impossible is now possible," Modi said, taking a veiled dig at the Gandhi family.

Ridiculing Mamata Banerjee's mega anti-BJP rally in Brigade on January 19 where leaders of 23 opposition parties came on one stage as a "function", Modi said people from different states came together with the agenda of ousting him.

"They all came here with one agenda -- Modi hatao (oust Modi). What crime have I committed? If providing homes, toilets, LPG connections, electricity and free treatment are crimes, then I have committed them," Modi said.

"The people of Bengal have made up their minds that neither extortion nor hooliganism will be allowed here anymore. Now me and you will together build such a Bengal which will be free from the hooliganism of the Left and the Trinamool Congress," the Prime Minister added.

--IANS

mgr/arm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minster Kamal Nath, is under the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) "close scanner" in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal as the "dragnet closes in", agency sources said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the ED informed a city court that Puri had been called for questioning and will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent arrested by the agency in March-end, in the money laundering case.

Puri is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hindustan Powerprojects, one of India's leading integrated power players in the energy sector.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed the agency to interrogate Gupta for three more days after the court was informed by the ED that he needed to be confronted with Puri who was summoned last week to join the investigation on Wednesday.

An ED official, requesting anonymity, told IANS that it was not clear if Puri had joined the probe on Wednesday but confirmed that he had been questioned several times in connection with the contract to supply 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force.

India on January 1, 2014 scrapped the deal with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland over an alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore for securing the deal.

"Ratul Puri was questioned on many occasions in AgustaWestland case for routing the kickbacks. This time, he will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta," said the official.

Asked whether Puri can be arrested, the official said: "We have evidences against him which are to be corroborated. Puri's arrest depends on what investigators find during his confrontation with Gupta. If things go against Puri, he may be arrested this week."

Puri's questioning along with Gupta, who was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), came after disclosures by lobbyist Rajiv Saxena.

Saxena has turned approver in the case after he was deported from the United Arab Emirates and arrested by the agency here.

Saxena has shared information about Puri with the ED which the agency wants to establish by confronting Gupta, who is suspected of possessing some payment details in the purchase of the choppers.

The ED is probing the case to establish suspected bribes allegedly paid to the "middlemen" when India agreed to purchase the VVIP helicopters.

In December last year, Dubai-based businessman Christian Michel, an alleged middleman in the deal, was extradited to India and lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged there was an estimated loss of euro 398.21 million (Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth euro 556.262 million.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, alleged that he received euro 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

"The money was nothing but kickbacks," the charge sheet said.

The ED investigation found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from AgustaWestland through "criminal activity" and corruption in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)

--IANS

rak/mr/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After plans to land American astronauts on the Moon by 2024, four years ahead of its previous schedule, NASA now proposes to put humans on Mars by 2033.

At a congressional hearing on NASA's budget in fiscal year 2020 on Tuesday, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine cited the goal of putting astronauts on Mars by 2033, as a reason why NASA need to accelerate its Moon landing plan, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bridenstine said NASA was preparing a request for additional funding to achieve the 2024 ambitious Moon landing goal.

Last month, US Vice President Mike Pence urged NASA to return American astronauts to the Moon within five years (by 2024) and warned that if NASA cannot do it, it is NASA, not the mission, that must change.

"The Moon is the proving ground," said Bridenstine. "We can move up the Mars landing by moving up the Moon landing."

However, NASA's delayed development of its new heavy-lift rocket the Space Launch System (SLS) may mean additional difficulties for realising these goals on time, the report said.

Also, SLS's replacement options or buying commercial rockets like Delta IV heavy rockets and Space X's Falcon Heavy are now technically challenged in terms of thrust capability, launchpad availability and docking ability, Bridenstine said while addressing a town hall on Monday.

Given the distance to Mars, spacecraft has to take at least six months to get there, making the 2033 schedule tighter.

In this year's budget request, NASA planned to devote more than half of its 21 billion US dollars budget to building the key components of the Exploration campaign that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond.

But the request was made with the original Moon landing plan by 2028 in mind.

Bridenstine said NASA would have an updated budget request by April 15, the report said.

--IANS

rt/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Film: "No Fathers in Kashmir"; Cast: Zara Webb, Shivam Raina, Anshuman Jha, Ashvin Kumar, Soni Razdan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda; Director: Ashvin Kumar; Rating: ****(4 stars)

Ashvin Kumar is no stranger to Kashmir. His films on militancy in the valley have created an uproar. He cares about the troubled valley.

"No Fathers in Kashmir" is a compromised work. It tries to say too many things at the same time and often loses its voice in a din of righteous indignation, which makes for a troubled film about an exceedingly troubled state where guns and distrust rule the roost.

Kumar bravely implants a love story into the narrative which literally goes to great heights of absurdity when a Londoner NRI girl Noor (Zara Webb) takes off into the densely forested mountains with a local Kashmiri boy Majid (Shivam Raina) in search of her missing father's grave.

The whole expedition, a misadventure shared by two children who deserve to be spanked and put under house arrest, lapses into the ludicrous when the boy, barely into his teens, gets into intimate kissing with the girl in the forest.

The entire episode, contrived and unconvincing, changes the core issue of the film into something much less political than militancy.

The whole idea of a foreign-returned girl roaming around the violent valley sneaking into the homes of militants and climbing up mountains filled with dangerous animals (both two and four legged) strikes me as utterly unpalatable.

I really felt the director had lost his plot by then. But then something happened. A sudden twist in the plot precipitates an impassioned debate on the troubled relationship between the Indian Armed Forces and the Kashmiris. The last 45 minutes of the film come to grips with the grim reality of the valley and why we Indians are unwilling to see the writing on the wall.

Kumar could have sifted the plot's various strands and better harnessed the main characters' central energy into a powerful treatise on what it means to go 'missing' in Kashmir.

Kumar has also cast himself in the film's most complex role, playing a tortured impotent jihadi whose motives are as suspect as his sneaky demeanour. The rest of the supporting cast including some very fine actors like Kulbhushan, Soni, Anshuman and Maya Sarao (playing Majid's distraught mother with nerve wracking intensity) are wasted, as the plot barely allows them to say their lines before they are rudely pushed out into the abyss.

But one look at the innocent articulate eyes of the two lead players, and you forgive the film's inability to tighten the screws around the edges. Zara and Shivam are prized finds. They seem to belong to the film's Kashmiri landscape.

"No Fathers in Kashmir" has its gaping flaws. These cannot take away from the film's disturbing truth about Kashmir that the rest of India is unwilling to face.

--IANS

skj/nn/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said his country will not step back from the deal to buy the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

"The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this," Cavusoglu said on Wednesday at a think-tank forum in Washington, where NATO foreign ministers gathered for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the security bloc, Xinhua reported.

The Pentagon said on Monday that it had halted delivery of F-35 related parts to Turkey because of the latter's purchase of the S-400 defence system from Russia.

"We don't see our relations with Russia as an alternative to our relations with others. And nobody, neither the West nor Russia, can ask us to choose between," Cavusoglu said.

Responding to the remarks that the S-400 cannot integrate into the NATO system, the Turkish minister said the US could establish a technical working group to ensure that the S-400 will not be a threat to F-35s or the other NATO systems.

In December 2017, Turkey finalised a deal with Russia over the purchase of the S-400 surface-to-air missile system. Russia will deliver the first batch of the defence batteries in late 2019.

Meanwhile, Turkey plans to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets from the US, and its pilots are training on the weapons platform at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona of the US.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Only a BJP government at the Centre can and will resolve the mining ban issue in Goa, Union Minister of state for AYUSH and BJP's candidate for the North Goa Lok Sabha seat Shripad Naik said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference here, Naik said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be addressing an election meeting at an indoor stadium near Panaji on April 10.

When asked if the Supreme Court-imposed ban on the mining industry would impact his chances of winning the North Goa seat for the fifth consecutive time, Naik said: "We are making active efforts to resolve the issue. The BJP alone will resolve the issue, as our leadership is committed to it, which is why they will vote for the BJP."

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led governments, both at the Centre and in the coastal state, have been on the backfoot for their inability to resolve the mining deadlock after the apex court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mining leases from March 2018.

A 2012 ban was earlier lifted by the apex court in 2014, but the court imposed fresh restrictions in 2018 after it found that the BJP-led coalition government in Goa had not followed due procedure in the lease renewal process.

A collective started by people who were earning a livelihood from the mining industry, the Goa Mining People's Front, has repeatedly slammed the BJP leadership for not doing enough to restart mining operations in the coastal state.

The industry is a significant contributor to the state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) along with the tourism sector.

Naik said that he had reached out to leaders of the Front as part of his poll campaign and assured them of every support to get the industry back on track.

"I have met them and explained to them the commitment of our leaders to resolve the issue."

"Several leaders including Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Smriti Irani will be campaigning in Goa. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is also expected to be part of the poll campaign in Goa," Naik said.

The four-term MP takes on state Congress President Girish Chodankar in what appears to be a one-on-one contest for the North Goa Lok Sabha seat on April 23.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)There may be some political and ideological compulsions among opposition parties but the consensus is to defeat Narendra Modi government, and "anybody can be a better Prime Minister than him", Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said.

Speaking to IANS after a grand rally here, Naidu said he is in for the last 40 years and has worked with the National Front, United Front, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Natioanal Democratic Alliance (NDA).

"Always there are some ideological compulsions. People are working. Now, there is a democratic compulsion also added to this. Narendra Modi is misusing all constitutional entities. It may be CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), ED (Enforcement Directorate), Income Tax and RBI (Reserve Bank of India).

"He is killing and destroying the leadership either it is the political leadership, corporate leadership or media leadership. That is why India is not progressing. We are slipping economically. We are slipping on employment. Agriculture is in distress. If you see all Prime Ministers earlier in coalition, single largest or minority government, they have done better than him," Naidu said.

Asked about the opposition's Prime Ministerial candidate in the backdrop of differences among them, Naidu said: "They (BJP leaders) are saying consciously who is alternative of Narendra Modi. But, anybody is alternative, better alternative compared to Narendra Modi."

Accusing Modi of running a single-man show, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief said he (Modi) is doing all negative things for the country.

"Now, country is bleeding, you are enjoying. You don't have any ethics, any values. One should be magnanimous. Prime Minister should be a statesman, not a narrow minded politician. That is where we are all differing with him. Even after election, nobody likes Narendra Modi. There will be 100 per cent change."

Replying to Prime Minister's 'U turn' politician remark against him in a public rally, Naidu asked: "Who has taken a 'U turn'? You (Narendra Modi) have taken 'U turn', not me. I am straight turned, right turn."

Naidu said that Modi betrayed Andhra Pradesh and him by not fulfilling his promise to give special status category to the state after bifurcation act provisions will implement.

The Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister had made the promise in Tirupati. "We will treat Andhra Pradesh a special state because of bifurcation. What has he given to me? Four years I waited. I visited 29 times to him and also all ministers.

"They ditched me. They have done injustice to Andhra Pradesh. It is very unfortunate for him to talk like that. He has taken 'U turn', not me," Naidu said.

Alerting Modi that he is not a "permanent" Prime Minister of the country, The TDP chief said "what you (Modi) have told, what you have promised, what you have done, that is very important for the state".

So, natuarally, Naidu said, I differed and fought with him (Modi). "We have moved no confidence motions. We want to achieve special status. That is our commitment. You cannot cheat people of Andhra Pradesh any more in a long manner."

Asked about his call for "Modi Hatao" in a public rally attended by his counterparts Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and Arvind Kejariwal in Delhi, he said once people are decided, it doesn't matter leaders.

"Those who will perform. Different state, different political parties who will fight against Modi or BJP they will vote. I have seen earlier also. There is a uniform wave across the country. From Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari same trend is continue," Naidu said.

Reiterating that there may be some political compulsions, Naidu said people are fighting.

But, the senior leader said, the people will prefer those who will defeat the BJP. "Last time, BJP lost in all four assembly elections. People never bother. They never thought Narendra Modi has to be there. What it indicates?."

"For the last five years, any by election they have won? On some places Samajwadi Party and BSP and other the TDP, the Trinamool Congress have won. Where is the local stand for them in south India? They are the hatred party today."

Naidu accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of using 290 helicopters.

"Nobody is having any helicoper. They are saying don't give to anybody except BJP. Is it right? We never witnessed this kind of in India. This is the reality, everbody has to understand this," he said.

Asked do you think that you will be able to form government without Congress because Rahul compares Mamata Banerjee with Modi and she says he is just against, Naidu again said there may be some political compulsions.

In 2004 elections, hesaid, Communist party and Congress fought against each other in three states and ultimately they supported Congress at national level.

"In 1995, we all fought against Congress. P.V. Narsimha Rao was the Prime Minister that time. Often that we formed the government at the Centre by taking Congress support from outside. So this is the reality," Naidu added.

On BJP president Amit Shah accusing him of doing "delusional politic", he said: "Who is Amit Shah? I do not want to say but please tell me where he was before 2014. Now he is very strong and great man. Please go through his past history. What else do you expect him to say? What else can one expect from people like Amit Shah and Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSR Congress chief)?."

Jagan has 31 cases, 24 times he came to the Assembly and 240 times he went to court, said Naidu.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.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.)Glimpses from a dance video on a song from the third instalment of superstar Salman Khan-starrer "Dabangg" got the social media world talking.

Salman is currently shooting for "Dabangg 3" in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. A video of the title track being shot made its way online and has gone viral, with some social media users commenting on Salman's dance style.

It features Salman shooting for the song on the banks of the Narmada river. He is seen wearing a blue shirt and a pair of jeans with his sunglasses in place for his avatar as the quirky Chulbul Pandey in the film.

The people in Indore are ecstatic about Salman shooting in the city. He has been attracting a huge crowd wherever he has been shooting.

"Back in our birthplace for 'Dabangg 3' shoot," Salman tweeted with a video in which he is seen with his brother Arbaaz Khan.

Surendra Singh Baghel, Cabinet Minister for Madhya Pradesh Tourism and Narmada Valley Development Authority, is elated to have both of them in the city.

"Thank you to the entire team of 'Dabanng 3' for showcasing two beautiful destinations of MP -- Mandleshwar and Maheshwar on the big screen. Extending my wishes for the movie to be a blockbuster," Baghel had tweeted.

"Dabangg 3" is being helmed by choreographer and filmmaker Prabhudheva. The first instalment of the movie series "Dabangg", which released in 2010, was directed by Anurag Kashyap while "Dabangg 2" was directed by Arbaaz Khan.

"Dabangg" tells the story of Chulbul Pandey, a police officer who has his own way of dealing with corruption.

The franchise also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Arbaaz and Mahie Gill in key roles.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Lawyer-turned-fashion model Sana Dua will be the brand ambassador for the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, it was announced on Wednesday.

The first runner-up of Femina Miss India 2017 contest, she had also participated in Miss United Continents 2017, and ended up among the top ten.

Officials said Sana has voluntarily offered her services to the state Election Department for educating, creating awareness and motivating the electorate to exercise their franchise to ensure greater participation in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

An advocate by profession and an enthusiastic social activist, Sana would encourage and motivate the eligible youth to register themselves as voters and use their voting rights during the poll process, they said.

Born in 1993 in Assam in a Sikh family, whose roots are in Jammu and Kashmir, she graduated in law and practised as a lawyer before entering the glamour world in 2015.

Recipient of various fashion awards, Sana has actively been engaged in promoting girl child education and "Save Water" campaign in the state.

In a video message, she expressed happiness to be part of this campaign, saying: "Despite belonging to different regions, religions and backgrounds, we all are united by our constitutional right to vote which puts all citizens of India on equal footing without any discrimination."

Reiterating the Election Commission's slogan "No Voter Should Be Left Behind", she appealed the general masses, especially the young voters to celebrate "Desh ka Maha Tyohar" and exercise their right of franchise in the ensuing elections.

Sana said that the youth must ensure their greater participation in these elections to strengthen the world's largest democracy by casting their votes.

Complimenting Sana for voluntarily associating herself with the election awareness campaign, J&K's Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar said that her role as Election Department's Brand Ambassador will give further boost to the electoral participation, especially the youth.

He hoped that the young celebrity shall be a great source of inspiration for the young voters to ensure massive participation in the elections.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Saudi Arabia has denied any involvement in the National Enquirer's reporting of Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' extra-marital affair.

A Saudi official told CNN late Tuesday that the kingdom "categorically rejects all allegations that it is involved in any fashion in the apparent dispute" between Bezos and American Media Incorporated (AMI), which publishes the tabloid National Enquirer.

The response came after a veteran security consultant at the tech giant wrote an op-ed over the weekend, claiming that the kingdom had access to the billionaire's phone and had "gained private information".

The monarchy was "intent on harming Jeff Bezos" over The Washington Post (owned by Bezos) coverage of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, wrote Gavin de Becker in a first-person account published in The Daily Beast on March 30.

"Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone, and gained private information," de Becker said.

The private phone messages of Bezos sent to his lover, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez, were published in The National Enquirer in October.

"As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI (the parent company of The National Enquirer) was aware of the details," added de Becker.

The Saudi official called the allegations "a transparent attempt to damage the kingdom's image and the reputation of its leadership", according to CNN.

AMI told CNN in a statement that it relied on one source, Sanchez's brother, Michael Sanchez, for its story about the romantic relationship.

There "was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever", AMI said.

However, De Becker argued that the first source was the Saudi Arabian government.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, was killed and dismembered in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October.

"In October, the Saudi government unleashed its cyber army on Bezos (and later me). Their multi-pronged campaign included public calls for boycotts against Amazon.com and its Saudi subsidiary, Souq.com," claimed the Bezos security chief.

In a post on blogging platform Medium in February, Bezos accused the publisher of National Enquirer of "blackmail" and "extortion".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)She is just a decade old in southern showbiz, but Rakul Preet Singh has managed to carve a niche for herself. The actress feels there has been a change in the Telugu film industry as it is no more patriarchal.

Rakul made her acting debut with the Kannada film "Gilli" in 2009. She subsequently made her Telugu debut with "Keratam", later she has starred in Telugu hits like "Venkatadri Express", "Current Theega", "Rough", "Loukyam", "Kick 2", "Sarrainodu", "Nannaku Prematho", "Dhruva", "Spyder" and "Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru".

Asked if she feels the Telugu film industry is hero-centric, Rakul told IANS: "Don't you think the world is male dominated? I would put it that way and I don't think that it is hero-centric anymore. Times are changing and there are good films. If you look at a 'Baahubali' which was such a big film, the whole thing is about Anushka Shetty's character being so strong."

Rakul then praised actresses Nayanthara, Trisha, Kangana Ranaut, Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for doing some "superb" work.

The 28-year-old said the entire Indian film industry is evolving.

"I think on the whole the film industries across India are changing and there are better roles for women. And I think even in the past there have been. But when you look at the world on the whole I feel largely it is a male-dominated world, but I think things are becoming better now," she said.

Rakul has also dabbled in Hindi films. She started off with "Yaariyan" as her first Bollywood venture in 2014, followed by "Aiyaary" and her next will be "De De Pyaar De".

The actress believes there are "good roles" written for girls and she hopes to "crack a few of those".

Over her journey in the industry, she has managed to work with southern superstars such as Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, Ravi Teja and Junior NTR.

She describes working with all of them as "amazing".

"They are amazing people. Charan, Bunny, Ravi Garo, they are all amazing people and each one excels. They are such amazing dancers. I always joke that they have no bones in their bodies and I think I am friends with all of them. They are very grounded and that's what gets them the stardom they have," said Rakul.

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.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.)Twitter will now allow users, suspended for violating its guidelines, appeal the decision directly within its platform.

Earlier, users whose accounts were frozen needed to fill an online form to appeal Twitter's decision and the response time varied from a few hours to over a week.

"We move quickly to enforce our rules but sometimes we don't have the full context and can make mistakes," the company tweeted late on Tuesday.

Twitter claimed the new in-app feature will cut down response time by 60 per cent.

"We added a way for people to appeal our decision in the app and have been able to get back to people 60 per cent faster than before," it said.

Twitter can suspend accounts for being fake, abusive, threatening or for spamming or impersonating someone.

Twitter is also considering to label tweets that violate its rules but which should remain on the platform because they're in the public interest.

In an interview with The Washington Post last week, Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's Head of Legal, Policy and Trust, said Twitter is working on how to label tweets that violate the company's abuse terms.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Ukrainian government on Wednesday banned chartered flights between Ukraine and Russia, but for those required by UN missions, the Red Cross and the Organisation for Security Cooperation of Europe (OSCE).

The decision was taken after Yuriy Boyko, a Ukrainian presidential candidate and founder of the "Opposition Platform - For Life" party, along with a party representative, visited Moscow last month, TASS news agency reported.

"We've analysed presidential candidate Boyko's flight to the aggressor state. He took advantage of a loophole in our legislation and flew from Kiev to Moscow for talks with the aggressor state's Prime Minister. Therefore, we propose a resolution to amend regulations on the use of the Ukrainian airspace," Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.

The resolution was submitted for consideration to protect state security by eliminating loopholes for irregular air services between Ukraine and Russia, reports said.

In 2015, Kiev barred all Russian airlines from flying to Ukraine, which was promptly retaliated by Moscow. Transit flights between the two ex-Soviet neighbours were also suspended.

Relations between Kiev and Moscow have been deteriorating since early 2014 over Crimea and eastern Ukraine issues.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Nicholas Koumjian of the US as head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said his press office.

Koumjian will be the first head of the Myanmar mechanism, which was established by the Human Rights Council on September 27, 2018 and welcomed by the General Assembly on December 22, 2018, the office said in a statement, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Koumjian brings to this position over 35 years of experience as prosecutor, including almost 20 years of experience in the field of international criminal justice.

Since November 2013, he has been serving as the International Co-Prosecutor for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Koumjian previously served as Trial Attorney at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as Deputy General Prosecutor for serious crimes in Timor-Leste, as International Prosecutor in the War Crimes Section of the Prosecutor's Office for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as Principal Trial Attorney and Senior Appeals Counsel in the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

In addition, he also worked as a prosecutor in the US and has professional experience in the fields of international human rights law and transitional justice.

Koumjian holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after NASA sharply crticised India's anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile test as a "terrible thing", the US State Department has played it down saying Washington has noted New Delhi's assertion that it took into account the space debris problem.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that while the issue of space debris "is an important concern" for the US, "we took note of the Indian government's statements that the test was designed to address space debris issues".

"We have a strong strategic partnership with India, and we will continue to pursue shared interests in space, in scientific and technical cooperation with India, and that includes collaboration on safety and security in space," he said.

India's External Affairs Ministry has given assurances that the Operation Shakti A-SAT test last week would not create a space debris problem.

It said: "The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks."

However, NASA head Jim Bridenstine on Monday at a staff meeting had said that of the 60 pieces of debris large enough to be tracked by the US, 24 were above the apogee -- or the highest point of the orbit -- of the International Space Station (ISS).

He asserted that it increased the risk to ISS and "that kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight".

At the same time he also said that "the International Space Station is still safe".

"If we need to manoeuvre it, we will" he added. "The probability of that, I think, is low."

Soon after Operation Shakti, Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan had also criticised it saying, "We cannot make it (space) unstable, we cannot create a debris problem that A-SAT tests create."

At his news briefing, Palladino was asked if the US was sending monitors to observe Indian elections that start next week. He replied, "I'm not aware of anything in that regard."

The US has not sent monitors to observe elections in India, where the polls are internationally recognised as fair.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress released its manifesto for the upcoming general election on Tuesday with the hope that it would convince voters to place their trust in the grand old party. But it is unclear if the promises in the manifesto are good enough, as the lofty goals are not backed by any credible understanding about the expenditure involved and where the money would come from.

Understandably, the manifesto makes all the right noises about touching all sections of society. On top of the list is, of course, the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), under which Rs 72,000 a year will be directly transferred to the ...More than 4.51 crore voters, including 10.06 lakh first-timers, are eligible to exercise their franchise across the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat that goes to the polls on April 23, a top official said Wednesday.

The figure, which saw a drop in third gender voters, was arrived at after revision of electoral rolls in the state.

Between September 1, 2018 and March 25, 2019, a total of 10.05 lakh voters were added to the existing list in the revision carried out in two phases, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Murali Krishna said.

The total number of eligible voters in Gujarat now stood at 4,51,25,680 -- 2,34,28,119 crore males, 2,16,96,571 crore females and 990 from the third gender, he said while addressing a press conference here.

The revision of electoral rolls involved addition, deletion, updating of details and change in address.

The number of third gender voters came down by 149 to 990 following the revision carried out between February 1, 2019 and March 25, 2019, Krishna said.

"It appears mistakes in marking might have been removed during modification, which is why the number went down," he said.

After the revision of electoral rolls, of the 26 Lok Sabha seats, Navsari has the highest number voters at 19.71 lakh, followed by Gandhinagar (19.45 lakh), Rajkot (18.83 lakh), Surendranagar (18.47 lakh), ands Bardoli (18.26 lakh).

The Bharuch parliamentary seat has the lowest number of voters at 15.64 lakh.

Krishna said a total of 127 candidates have filed their nomination forms till April 2. The last date for filing nominations is April 4.

He informed that Rs 3.37 crore in cash had been seized during operations carried out by the income tax department, flying squads and state surveillance teams after the model code of conduct came into effect on March 10.

Of this, Rs 1.63 crore was seized in Ahmedabad, Rs 93 crore in Valsad and Rs 44.70 lakh in Surat, he said.

Of the total 56,925 registered weapons in the state, 51,677 were deposited with government authorities after declaration of the election schedule on March 10, he said.

Also, 44,948 non-bailable warrants were issued and 1.90 lakh people detained under various CrPC sections since the model code of conduct came into force, Krishna said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Election Commission of India has taken initiative for 100 per cent webcasting of all polling booths in Tripura, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Taranikanti said on Wednesday.

"Video viewing and surveillance teams would be deployed across the state, which would monitor all poll activities inside the polling booths on the day of voting. Sufficient CCTV cameras and mobile teams would be deployed to maintain total security. We aim to maintain 100 per cent webcasting on the polling days," he told reporters.

The CEO said the concerned district magistrates would monitor everything from their offices, adding presiding officers would provide inputs to corroborate the videos.

"The areas, where internet coverage is poor, video recording would be done and the recorded clips would be submitted to the District Election Officers. Tripura is the only state in the country which will implement 100 per cent webcasting of Lok Sabha elections this year," he said.

Elections for the two Lok Sabha seats West Tripura and East Tripura would be held on April 11 and April 18 respectively.

"We have received 44 poll related complaints so far. The complaints are being verified ... " the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Apr 3, 2019 | By Thomas

Auburn Universitys Samuel Ginn College of Engineering announced that NASA has awarded a three-year, $5.2 million contract to its National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence, or NCAME, to develop additive manufacturing processes and techniques to boost liquid rocket engines performance. The contract is the latest expansion of a longstanding public-private partnership between Auburn and NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center.

For decades, Auburn engineers have been instrumental in helping the U.S. achieve its space exploration goals, said Christopher B. Roberts, dean of Auburns Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. This new collaboration between NASA and our additive manufacturing researchers will play a major role in developing advanced rocket engines that will drive long-duration spaceflight, helping our nation achieve its bold vision for the future of space exploration.

The research and development covered under the new contract is part of NASAs Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology, or RAMPT, project, which seeks t oexpand light-weight, large-scale additive manufacturing and novel processes to support the development and manufacturing of cooled thrust chamber assemblies for liquid rocket engines.

The technologies developed by this team will be made available widely to the private sector, offering more companies the opportunity to use these advanced manufacturing techniques, said Paul McConnaughey, deputy director of Marshall Space Flight Center.

Project participants will develop specialized production technologies and a domestic supply chain for government agencies, academic institutions and commercial space companies.

Auburn University and NASA established NCAME in 2017 to improve the performance of parts that are created using additive manufacturing, share research results with industry and government collaborators and respond to workforce development needs in the additive manufacturing industry.

This contract is a giant leap towards making Alabama the go to state for additive manufacturing, Ogles said. We look forward to growing our partnership with NASA, industry and academia as we support the development of our nations next rocket engines," said Christopher Roberts, dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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The Air Intelligence unit of Customs department Wednesday seized 278.83 grams of gold from two passengers at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here, customs official at the airport said.

The cost of the seized gold is an estimated Rs 9.08 lakh, said the officials who intercepted the two passengers following on spot intelligence.

The passengers hailed from West Bengal and Jharkhand.

They had arrived from Bangkok. On searching their luggage the officers found white gold rings of foreign origin having purity of 99.99 per cent concealed under buttons of garments and seized those, the official said.

The two persons were detained for questioning and investigation into the incident is underway, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A proclaimed offender ran out of luck on April Fool's Day when he unknowingly disclosed his identity to police in plain clothes when on a recce to loot an ATM in Uttam Nagar area here, officials said Wednesday.

Aslam, who hails from Karanda in Mewat and was presently residing in Loni in Ghaziabad, was arrested, police said.

He was charged with dismounting ATMs and stealing money from them using gas cutters along with other associates, they added.

"Aslam was arrested on April 1 from Uttam Nagar area where he had gone at about 9.00 pm to recce an ATM. He mistook police officials, dressed in lungi-kurta (Mewati attire), as members of a new gang and spoke to them, disclosing his name and address," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse.

After cross-checking Aslam's identity, the policemen handcuffed him, saying "April Fool Banaya" (made you an April Fool), he said.

In 2012, Aslam along with associates tried to loot an ATM in Mourya Enclave in Delhi, but the guard fired at them, killing one of his associates. Aslam was later arrested, the DCP said.

Aslam stopped attending court in 2017, following which he was declared a proclaimed offender.

Aslam used to make a list of ATMs after conducting a recce and then prepared plans with his associates to loot them, he said.

Several cases had been registered against Aslam, under different names.

He used to give different names whenever he was caught to escape with a light punishment, claiming it was his first offence, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Authorities have issued orders to book seven employees for dereliction of election duty here, officials said Wednesday.

"FIR is being registered against seven employees, engaged in election duty, for skipping training," Chief Development Officer Ram Newas said.

He said the erring employees failed to attend election training conducted from March 24 to 26 at BSA College, officials said.

The chief development officer said the erring officers have been served show cause notices.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Over 720 complaints have been received from people through the 'cVigil' app by the office of Chief Electoral Officer here and 72 per cent of those were found to be correct, the Delhi CEO said Wednesday.

The Election Commission last year had launched an Android-based app - 'cVigil', using which a person can send to it geo-tagged videos and photos of illegal money being distributed or a hate speech being made during polls.

The CEO office has received over 720 complains till date from citizens on poll code violation through the app, Delhi CEO Ranbir Singh said during an event here.

"Of the total complaints, 72 per cent have been found to be correct and have been disposed of while the rest are being looked into," he said.

He was speaking during an interactive session on 'Exercising Your Electoral Rights' hosted by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), the women business wing of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Till date Delhi has 1.41 crore registered voters which include 77.5 lakh male voters and 63.5 lakh female voters. The gender ratio of electors registered is about 812 women voters per 1000 of male voters, he said.

"The last date for getting registered as a voter in Delhi is April 13 and we expect more women voter to register in the national capital. New voters can register online as well as offline," Singh said.

"The Delhi election office is also concerned about low voter turnout on election day, especially in urban areas due to apathy. Same is the case with new registered young voters in the age group of 18-21," he was quoted as saying in a statement by FLO.

Those present on the occasion included Chairperson Biocon Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Rajya Sabha MP, T Subbarami Reddy, the statment said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Umesh Jadhav, a rebel Congress MLA who joined BJP, and former Karnataka chief minister S Bangarappas son Madhu Bangarappa of JDS are among over 80 candidates who filed their nominations on Wednesday for the 14 Lok Sabha seats that will go to elections in the second phase on April 23.

As many as 84 candidates filed 110 nominations, taking the total to 249 by 172 candidates, including five women, an election official said.

While 28 candidates are from national parties, among 172 filed nominations so far, 3 are from state parties, 49 from registered unrecognised parties, and 89 independents.

Jadhav, who resigned as MLA recently, held a road show along with state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa and filed his nomination from Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat, where he will take on Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge.

He had joined BJP at a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, two days after he quit the Karnataka Assembly membership.

Madhu Bangarappa, a former JD(S) MLA from Soraba, filed his nomination as party candidate from Shimogga Lok Sabha seat in the presence of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Water Resource Minister D K Shivakumar.

Madhu is pitted against another former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra, a sitting MP from BJP.

He had lost to Raghavendra in the by-polls held in November last year.

Among others who filed their nominations on Wednesday included BJP's sitting MPs Prahlad Joshi, Bhagavanth Khuba and Sanganna Karadi from Dharwad, Bidar and Koppal Lok Sabha seats respectively and D R Patil of Congress from Haveri.

Karnataka will go to polls in two phases with 14 constituencies each on April 18 and 23.

For the first phase of polls on April 18, a total of 241 candidates are in the fray.

For the second phase polls, 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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India has stressed on the need for nations to look beyond immediate relief and rehabilitation and focus on "build back better" after a natural catastrophe, emphasising that a "disaster resilient world" demands "disaster resilient infrastructure."



India's remarks came as Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi struggle to recover after the devastating Cyclone Idai. Cyclone Idai has killed more than 700 people and destroyed over 100,000 homes and half a million hectares of crops. It has also rendered thousands of schools and dozens of health facilities unusable.

"It is urgent and critical to anticipate, plan for and reduce disaster risk in order to more effectively protect persons, communities and countries, their livelihoods, health, cultural heritage, socioeconomic assets and ecosystems, and thus strengthen their resilience," India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Nagaraj Naidu said Tuesday.

Participating at an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting on the response to Cyclone Idai, Naidu said "going forward, we need to look beyond immediate relief and rehabilitation. We need to try and see can the challenges of this disaster be transformed into an opportunity for action."



He emphasized that there has been thinking that it's important to focus on affordable Climate Resilient Infrastructure. "While we should seek to make 'build to last' becoming the norm, we should try and build back better' after this disaster."Citing the recent devastating floods in Kerala, Naidu said the effort in the aftermath has been not simply to rehabilitate the areas devastated by floods but to build back better. ?"The way we build our infrastructure today will either build risk or resilience for future generations. The path of resilience is open to us if we so choose?," he said.

Naidu also cited former freedom fighter and first Education Minister of Mozambique Graca Machel's comments that 90% of the infrastructure of Port Beira in the southern African nation has been hit by Idai and the consequent flooding. Beira will go down in history as having been the first city to be completely devastated by climate change.

"It raises the issue of how can we disaster proof a world that lives under serious existential threat. A disaster resilient world demands disaster resilient infrastructure," Naidu said.

He pointed out that the Resilience and Adaptation track of the UN Secretary General's Climate Action Summit in September 2019 can try and see if they can set up a coalition of the willing to work on a concrete example of helping any or all of these States in building back better.

Naidu highlighted the widespread humanitarian assistance India provided to the three nations in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai.

In response to a request from Mozambique, the Indian Government late last month launched 'Operation Sahayata' or 'Operation Assistance', which diverted three Indian Naval ships namely, INS Sujata, INS Shardul and INS Sarathi to provide immediate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to the affected people ?in coordination with local authorities and the High Commission of India, Maputo.

The Indian Naval Crew rescued more than 204 people and medical assistance has been provided to 1381 people in medical camps set up by the Indian Navy. Indian Naval helicopter Chetak in coordination with disaster management officials of Mozambique took several sorties to facilitate aerial survey for evacuation of people and for air dropping food and water packets in cyclone affected areas. Indian Naval ships also provided fresh water in relief camps, undertook community service including clearing of debris and repairing damaged roads.

Naidu told the meeting that in view of the evolving crisis in Mozambique and to sustain Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, a fourth Indian Naval Ship Magar loaded with relief materials has been sent to Mozambique. In addition, 500 kg of epidemic related medicines from Apollo Group of Hospital and 250 tons of rice has also been loaded on the ship, which is expected to reach Beira next week.

The Indian Navy was the first responder in evolving humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of cyclone IDAI that hit Mozambique. The indomitable spirit, humane approach and professionalism of the Indian crew have received wide acknowledgement from the Government of Mozambique and the people of Mozambique as well as the international agencies including the UN staff involved in HADR operations in Mozambique, he said.

Malawi has declared a state of national disaster in 13 districts and has appealed for assistance in terms of emergency relief material including food supplies and medicines. India is in the process of expediting the supply of 1000 MTs of rice and medicines worth $2 Million to Malawi, Naidu said.

In response to request from Zimbabwe for medicines, the Indian Government is sending the first tranche of medicines, which is expected to reach its destination by mid April.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai Wednesday asked the Congress to support the demand of full statehood for Delhi so that the people of the national capital can lead their lives with dignity.

In a letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Rai said the grand old party should support the demand for full statehood to Delhi instead of proposing to amend GNCTD Act 1991.

In its manifesto released Tuesday, the Congress said it "promises to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, 1991 to make it clear that the Lieutenant Governor shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers except in matters concerning the three reserved subjects."



Rai said this was "extremely disappointing."



"This is factually incorrect and these four lines do not convey anything. Firstly, aid and advice has nothing to do with the GNCTD Act, and it is extremely disappointing that after having promised statehood for Delhi for decades, your party has now gone back on its promise," he said in the letter.

He further said that it appears that this issue has been hurriedly incorporated in the Congress manifesto "without any homework or research".

"For undoing the injustice to Delhi, it is time for a fresh constitutional amendment to provide it with full statehood.

"I request you to reconsider the stand taken by your party in the manifesto regarding Delhi and support the demand for full statehood, which will allow the people of Delhi to lead their lives with dignity," the letter said.

The letter also said that while the party was promising a NYAY scheme to ensure minimum income guarantee to the poor families, it needs to look at the "decades of injustice" on the people of Delhi.

"Can you imagine that in the current set-up, the elected Delhi government has no powers to even transfer a peon? From senior-most to contractual staff, not a single employee reports to the elected government," Rai said in the letter.

He said that currently, the Lieutenant Governor can veto any proposal of the elected government because of which Delhi government had no power.

"Can this be allowed to continue? A politically appointed LG can stall any welfare scheme of the elected government which it wants to launch out of its own budget. Delhi does not virtually get any Central financial assistance and is on its own," he said.

"I am confident that you will stand for justice with Delhi," the AAP Delhi Convenor said in his letter to Gandhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Wednesday alleged that the AAP is seeking votes from Delhiites by spreading "lies" on several issues and asserted that a party which does not have the expertise of running an administration nor dedication towards works, is resorting to lies.

The Union housing and urban affairs minister tweeted a purported campaign pamphlet of AAP's east Delhi candidate Atishi and said a bunch of lies has been prepared by her.

In the pamphlet, the party promises regularisation of unauthorised colonies once the national capital gets full statehood and also promises to stop the sealing drive in the city.

"Every citizen knows that the sealing drive had been carried out following the direction of the Supreme Court-appointed Bhure Lal committee, and neither the Centre nor any civic body had anything to do with it," Puri said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

No immediate reaction was available from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Puri alleged that it was the BJP-led central government which provided relief to people by making amendments in the Master Plan, but surprisingly, the AAP is not "ashamed of spreading lies".

The ruling AAP is currently running a campaign in support of its demand for granting full statehood to Delhi in run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

The Lok Sabha polls being conducted in seven phases will begin on April 11 and continue till May 19. Delhi will vote on May 12 and the overall results will be declared on May 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Global hospitality major Accor Wednesday said it is bringing its iconic 'Raffles' brand to India with signing of two new hotels as part of expanding presence in the luxury segment.

The two hotels under the brand will be in Jaipur and Udaipur, Accor said in a statement.

"It is with immense pride that we announce the arrival of the Raffles brand in India, a hallmark of luxury and sublime service in a country that is famous for delivering luxury at the highest level," Accor Chairman and CEO Sebastien Bazin said.

With the company's strategic partners, "we look forward to providing an oasis of calm and charm in two of the most incredible destinations in India," he added.

With 13 properties across 11 countries, each Raffles hotel represents a carefully curated experience in the most distinguished addresses in the world, the statement said.

"Since joining the Accor network in 2015, the brand has undergone a renaissance, with a strong pipeline that will see the portfolio double in the next few years," it added.

Accor, currently, has 4,800 hotels, resorts, and residences across 100 countries. Its portfolio of brands ranges from luxury to economy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Disgruntled AAP MLA Alka Lamba Wednesday asked the people outside Jama Masjid here whether she should resign from the Aam Aadmi Party as her "party people" were "repeatedly demanding" her resignation.

Her visit to Jama Masjid followed a bitter Twitter spat with party lawmaker Saurabh Bharadwaj, who had taunted her to resign from the party.

Addressing a large crowd that gathered around her, Chandni Chowk MLA said AAP was repeatedly demanding her resignation and sought to know from the people



"I am fighting against BJP but some people are fighting with me. My party people are repeatedly asking me to resign. I want to know what is my fault. Why should I resign? I want the people of my constituency Chandni Chowk to decide whether I should resign from AAP or not," Lamba said.

She also said that the only way to defeat the BJP is that AAP and Congress join hands.

Lamba said that this was the second time her party had asked her to resign after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought her resignation in December last year.

She said she was asked to resign as she had opposed the AAP's move to pass a resolution demanding the revocation of the Bharat Ratna honours, conferred to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"On one hand Kejriwal said he wants coalition with Congress to defeat BJP but on the other hand he makes such statements. What does he want?" she said.

Soon after the public outing, Lamba tweeted that if AAP and Congress come together the figures in Delhi would be AAP-2 seats, Congress-2 seats, BJP-3 seats but if there is no alliance, then it will be AAP-0, Congress-0 and BJP-7.

Earlier, Lamba and Bhardwaj got into a verbal spat on Tuesday after the Congress released its manifesto.

It all began when Lamba questioned the possibility of an alliance between the AAP and Congress after the latter released its manifesto without any mention of giving full statehood to Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Indian national has been sentenced to 16 months in jail in the US for his involvement in a sophisticated call centre scheme that victimised over 340 people, resulting in over USD 200,000 in losses, in the latest crackdown on India-based call centre frauds in America.

The Department of Justice said Mehboob Mansurali Charania took part in a sophisticated scheme organised in India, that included a network of call centres.

Call centre operators called US residents over the telephone and misled the potential victims into sending money utilising a number of different confidence scams, court documents showed.

Charania was convicted on January 17, after he pleaded guilty to engaging in an unlicensed money transfer business.

Charania, who moved to Tucker, Georgia in 2014, was sentenced to one year, four months in prison to be followed by three years supervised release, and ordered to pay a USD 100 special assessment, and pay restitution of USD 203,958.02 to victims of the scheme, the DoJ said in a press release.

"The phone scheme, Charania was a part of, used lies, intimidation, and fear to extort or outright steal from unsuspecting citizens," US Attorney Byung J 'BJay' Pak said.

According to Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, J Russell George, since October 2013, more than 15,000 victims have suffered over USD 75 million in losses to the perpetrators of telephone scammers who impersonate Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees.

US investigation has identified 140 scammers who, have or are, facing federal criminal proceedings, the DoJ said.

The scams included impersonation scams, where the callers pretended to be IRS employees and demanded payment of taxes and fees.

Other scams included grant scams, where callers directed victims to pay upfront fees for fictitious grants; student loan scams where callers threatened victims if they did not pay fictitious taxes and fees associated with student loans, and hacking scams, where callers would gain remote access to the victim's computer, lock the victim out of the computer, and deny access to the computer until the victim provided payment.

If the victims agreed to pay, the call centres would have the victims send the funds to the attention of fictitious names used by Charania through wire transfers, including through MoneyGram and Western Union.

Charania would also conduct hawala money transfers by transferring proceeds to bank accounts as directed by an individual in India.

Charania's sentencing came a day after another Indian national was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for his involvement in an India-based call centre scam.

Nishitkumar Patel, 31, who had pleaded guilty to the charges on January 9, has also been asked by a Florida court to pay USD 2,00,000, forfeit cash and a 2015 Land Rover that was seized in October 2018.

According to court documents, Patel connived with the US-based co-conspirators and the India-based call centres to extort money from American residents by impersonating IRS officers between 2014 and 2016.

The IRS is the revenue service of the United States federal government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief minister Chowna Mein on Wednesday alleged that the Congress was the "mastermind" behind the violent protests in the state over granting of Permanent Citizenship Certificate (PRC) to six non-tribal communities in Changlang and Namsai districts.

The state capital in February had witnessed large scale violence over the issue, resulting in the loss of three lives, besides causing damage to public and private property.

"The PRC is a social issue but the Congress politicised it to gain mileage which did not work.

The people of the state have now realised who was the mastermind behind creating the situation," Mein said while addressing an election rally here.

"When the properties of BJP leaders were damaged, why not a single property of any Congress leader was under attack during the violence?" Mein asked.

The deputy chief minister also alleged that the intention of the Congress was to "dislodge" the BJP government in the state and to come back to power through "evil designs" and by disturbing peace in the state.

"People will give a befitting reply to the party this time," Mein added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday hit out at the Congress alleging that the land-locked state remained underdeveloped in the last several decades due to "misrule" of the grand old party.

Addressing an election rally where the Prime Minister also spoke, the chief minister claimed that the development process in Arunachal Pradesh picked up only after the NDA came to power in 2014.

"Pasighat, the centurion town in East Siang district has been blessed with the visit of Prime Minister for the second time, the first being in 2014, to address an election rally and for the love of Modi to the people, the town had been selected under the Smart City Mission along with the state capital," Khandu said.

Lashing out at the Congress, the chief minister said that the BJP had weakened the base of the grand old party in the state, that fielded candidates in 46 assembly seats out of total 60.

With three BJP nominees - Kento Jini, Taba Tedir and Phurpa Tsering - emerging victorious without a contest from Aalo East, Yachuli and Dirang assembly seats respectively, it "clearly shows" that the people have "already rejected" the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh, he said.

"The BJP is all set to form the next government in the state. On May 23, a new sun will rise in the state heralding a new dawn of development to be headed by a government which will continue its crusade against corruption," Khandu said.

After the NDA came to power in 2014, central ministers visited the state for a record 130 times to oversee the ongoing projects while during Congress rule in over two decades, central ministers had visited the state only 50 times, the chief minister said.

"The NDA government under PM Modi has realised the potential and strategic importance of the state and fast-tracked several important projects including introduction of first commercial flight to Pasighat under the UDAAN scheme," Khandu added.

Polling for the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly and the two Lok Sabha seats in the state East and West



will be held simultaneously on April 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno said Julian Assange has "repeatedly violated" the conditions of his asylum at the country's embassy in London, where the WikiLeaks founder has lived for more than six years.

Assange sought refuge there in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that prosecutors in Stockholm have since abandoned.

In an interview broadcast by several Ecuadoran radio stations, Moreno said: "Assange has too often repeatedly violated the agreement we have with him and his legal team," without saying whether Ecuador would withdraw asylum.

"It is not that he cannot speak freely, it is not that he cannot express himself freely, but he cannot lie, let alone hack into accounts or intercept private telephone calls" under the terms of his asylum agreement, Moreno said.

Assange has refused to leave the embassy to avoid extradition to the United States to face charges over his website publishing huge caches of hacked State Department and Pentagon files in 2010.

The Australian denies the rape claims, and said he feared Sweden would pass him on to US authorities if he was extradited. The Swedish chief prosecutor dropped proceedings against him in 2017 because going ahead and serving notice of charges would necessitate Assange's presence in court.

Moreno's comments come after the Ecuadoran government filed a formal complaint to the UN special rapporteur on the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci, accusing WikiLeaks of spreading private information linked to Moreno.

Photos, videos and private conversations appeared on portals such as Twitter and Facebook.

Moreno was also forced to deny allegations of corruption which surfaced on the website inapapers.org, with the president claiming he knew who was responsible for the accusations.

Relations between Assange and his embassy hosts have been deteriorating for months.

In October, Assange sued Ecuador for violating his "fundamental rights" by limiting his access to the outside world after his internet and mobile phone access were blocked back in March.

Quito accused him of breaking "a written commitment" not to interfere in Ecuador's foreign policies.

Moreno reiterated Tuesday that the government continues "to seek a solution" to Assange's situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The sudden removal of veteran BJP leader B C Khanduri from the parliamentary committee on defence is "symptomatic" of the way the party's government at the Centre functions, his son Manish Khanduri, who makes his electoral debut as Congress's Pauri Lok Sabha seat candidate, said Wednesday.

BC Khanduri, a former Uttarakhand chief minister and retired army general, was removed as the panel's chairman last year.

Manish has made his father's "unceremonious" removal from the panel a major poll issue and said the action was "humiliation" for a leader who still serves the BJP.

"My father had made an objective evaluation of the country's defence preparedness and come up with suggestions which could improve the situation.

"However, the government did not just choose to ignore his suggestions but also removed him from the committee. This is symptomatic of the way this (BJP) government functions.The action shows its intolerance to critical appraisal," Manish told PTI in an interview.

Pauri along with the four other Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand goes to polls on April 11. The Congress has pitted Manish against BJP's Tirath Singh Rawat from the seat.

On his father never complaining about his removal from the panel, Manish said,"He (BC Khanduri) is an army man and a man from the hills. He will not say anything. He would just salute and go."



"But, being his son, I know how he had felt after his ouster from the committee," he said.

Manish is latching on to the emotive issue also at his election rallies in his constituency to dig into the loyal support base of his father, who is the sitting BJP MP from Pauri.

Khanduri along with several other veteran BJP leaders, including L K Advani, was dropped from their parliamentary seat this time by the party. It seemed that the BJP's decision had come as it wanted to ease out several of its old guards from electoral after keeping them out of government by introducing an age bar of 75 years.

"I have seen tears in his (Khanduri's) eyes only twice in my life. Once when his daughter left for her in-laws' place after marriage and the other time when he was removed from the parliamentary committee," Manish told a rally recently.

Manish, who was a journalist with a leading English daily for eight years before joining Facebook as the head of its partnerships in India, said this election was an "ideological fight" for him.

When asked whether his "disillusionment" with the BJP government's policies prompted him to join the Congress, Manish evaded a direct answer.

He said though his father was in the BJP, the Congress' philosophy of "inclusive development" always appealed to him.

On what motivated him to leave his cushy job and join the rough and tumble of he said, "I am not here to do I am here to work to make a difference."



"I have always felt that people from different walks of life should bring their experience to politics to serve people," Manish said.

If elected, Manish said he will work for creation of better educational facilities and employment avenues in his constituency, besides making an effort to stop migration from the hills.

"There is despair among the youth. There are no jobs. An institution like NIT had to shift out of the state due to the absence of basic infrastructure. Addressing problems like these obviously will be on top of my priority list," he said.

When told that his rival from BJP, Rawat, had claimed that he has his mentor BC Khanduri's blessings with him, the Congress debutante said people are free to make claims."Being his son I know I have his blessings," Manish said.

Rawat Tuesday claimed he was the true heir to the political legacy of veteran saffron party leader B C Khanduri and that the leader was his mentor.

With both son and disciple delving into BC Khanduri's loyal support base to outdo each other and the BJP veteran is maintaining an objective silence, with all attention is riveted on the seat to see which of the two will finally reap the advantage of his legacy.

Pauri also known as Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency was represented by BC Khanduri in the 16th Lok Sabha.

However, this time he expressed his unwillingness to contest prompting the party to field his political protege Rawat from the seat where BC Khanduri's son is trying his luck as a Congress nominee.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Banaras Hindu University student, who was shot at by unidentified assailants in front of a hostel in the campus, succumbed to injuries in a hospital, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when Gaurav Singh, pursuing his masters in the university and residing in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hostel on the campus was standing outside Birla Hostel, and talking to his friends.

Some unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire at him, said a police official.

Gaurav sustained bullet injuries in his stomach and was rushed to the trauma centre of the BHU's Institute of Medical Sciences where he succumbed to injuries late on Tuesday night, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former vice president Joe Biden, who is mulling a White House run, said Wednesday after coming under fire over his physical contact with women that he will be "more mindful" in the future about respecting personal space.

"Social norms are changing, I understand that, and I've heard what these women are saying," the 76-year-old Biden said in a message on his Twitter account.

" to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future," he said.

"That's my responsibility and I will meet it," said Biden, who is considering whether to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

Two women have gone public in the past week with claims that Biden inappropriately touched them years ago.

"It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head," Amy Lappos told Connecticut's Hartford Courant newspaper about an incident at a 2009 political fundraiser.

Former Nevada state lawmaker Lucy Flores said she was "mortified" when Biden planted a "big, slow kiss" on the back of her head as she waited to take the stage at a campaign rally five years ago.

Biden, in a video which accompanied his Twitter message, said that in his long political career he has "always tried to make a human connection.

"That's my responsibility, I think -- I shake hands, I hug people," he said.

"Whether they're women, men, young, old, it's the way I've always been, it's the way I've tried to show I care about them and I'm listening," he said.

Biden added that he "gets" that the "boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset." "I get it," he said. "I hear what they're saying. I understand it. And I'll be much more mindful.

"That's my responsibility and I'll meet it."



Biden has yet to declare his candidacy, but he is already the early favorite to win the Democratic nomination and challenge Donald Trump in next year's election.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP candidate from Anand Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, Mitesh Patel, has declared in his poll affidavit that he was an accused in a case related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Patel, 54, was earlier chosen by the BJP to fight against former Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki from the Anand Lok Sabha constituency of central Gujarat.

In his affidavit submitted to the election authorities on Tuesday, Patel mentioned that an FIR was registered against him at Vasad police station in Anand district in 2002 for engaging in arson, rioting, stone-pelting and theft, among other charges.

As per the affidavit, he was booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 147 (rioting) 149 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 436 (arson), 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant), 143 (unlawful assembly) and 380 (theft).

Patel also mentioned that the Anand sessions court acquitted him in September 2010.

The case is now pending before the Gujarat High Court as the state government filed an appeal in 2011 against his acquittal.

As per the high court records, the Gujarat government filed an appeal against the acquittal of around 50 people, including Patel, who were acquitted by lower court in 2010.

Patel, a prominent businessman from Anand district, is the chairman and managing director of Laxmi Protein Products Private Limited, makers of famous 'Laxmi' tur dal.

He also owns two other firms which process and supply pulses and dals.

As per his bio-data shared by the BJP, Patel is treasurer of the party's Anand unit and convener of 'Gujarat Dal Utpadak Mandal'.

Patel has declared that he and his wife have movable assets worth Rs 3.48 crore and immovable assets of Rs 4.22 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Dismissing the BJP allegation that the Congress manifesto for Lok Sabha polls was soft on terror, AICC in-charge of Congress affairs in Telangana R C Khuntia Wednesday said the ruling party should explain its record in handling security issues during the last five years.

"What are they doing? They should also explain....why terrorism is continuing? Why more forces are being killed? They should give the answer about five years," he told reporters here.

The BJP should first explain why there were allegedly more incidents, instead of asking another political party about its manifesto, he said.

"I think they don't have a right to say anything... they are in the government," Khuntia added.

He alleged the BJP wants to take credit (for good things) but does not want to take responsibility for anything wrong.

The Congress manifesto also dwells on national security, he said.

In significant proposals, the Congress, in its 54-page manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, on Tuesday promised to review the deployment of armed forces, move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely, reduce the presence of the Army and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the Valley and entrust more responsibility with the Jammu and Kashmir police for maintaining law and order.

Alleging that the BJP raised emotional issues in the election campaign, Khuntia asked why the party is not talking about economic issues, employment and poverty.

The unemployment figure was 3.8 crore in 2014 and it went up to 6.1 crore in 2018, he claimed.

He also said Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting from Kerala sent out a message that he is also close to the southern states.

"Nobody is asking why Modi is contesting from Benaras (Varanasi). He will be defeated from Gujarat that is why he is coming to Benaras?," he said.

Asked how many seats the Congress expected to win in Telangana, he said the party is working to win all seats in Telangana (total 17).

The ruling TRS must explain to people what it has brought from the Centre for Telangana by having 16 MPs on its side (including those who defected to TRS from other parties), he said.

TRS has been urging the people to make it victorious in 16 seats (leaving Hyderabad to AIMIM), Khuntia said adding "this is an election for forming the government at the Centre and KCR has no stake on that matter," he said.

Khuntia also explained the minimum income guarantee and other schemes in the Congress manifesto.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP Wednesday sought action against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for allegedly sending lakhs of letters to Delhi voters about the improved state of government schools without permission of the poll panel and violating the Model Code of Conduct.

No immediate reaction was available from Sisodia's office.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta filed the complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi accusing Sisodia of sending lakhs of letters to Delhi voters without the statutory permission as required under the Model Code of Conduct.

Gupta alleged that a large number of voters are receiving these letters through speed post.

Sisodia is misusing the government machinery, stationery and public funds for issuing these letters with intent to influence voters in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party, Gupta said.

It is a gross violation of Model Code of Conduct, he added.

Gupta said Sisodia is issuing letters containing "highly prejudiced political angle".

"In order to escape the eyes of the CEO, he is issuing these letters without dispatch number and date. They carry his official residence address. He has written that he has worked hard to improve schools despite persistent troubles from the central government," Gupta alleged.

Gupta claimed that most of these letters have been sent through the Lodhi Road Post Office to voters using postal addresses from various sources including courier service providers.

Last week, Gupta had lodged a complaint over Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's letters "aimed at winning voters highlighting the achievements of the Delhi Jal Board" addressed to consumers that were supposed to be sent along with water bills.

The DJB's office in Narela was raided by a team of the poll body and the room where the letters were kept was sealed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Market Update

Perth, April 3, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Board of Classic Minerals ( ASX:CLZ ) ("Classic" or the "Company") has developed a strategy that will see the company exploit its substantial gold assets in the Southern Forrestania Gold Belt.FinancingClassic have been working closely with a leading natural resources financier regarding a mandate to advise and execute a financing program to allow for the roll out of an exploration program designed to substantially increase the understanding and size of the high-grade gold Kat Gap project.Classic is in the process of divesting itself of non-core assets to concentrate all its attention on its Forrestania gold project ("FGP").Exploration of Forrestania Gold ProjectThe major focus for the proposed exploration programs at the FGP is the high-grade Kat Gap prospect.Kat GapClassic recently exercised its option to acquire 100% of Kat Gap.Drilling in 2018 by Classic delivered some of the best shallow/high grade gold results seen in this overlooked greenstone province.Results include:5m @ 14.10g/t Au from 17m in FKGRC00112m@ 7.52g/t Au from 39m in FKGRC0068m @ 19.05g/t Au from 32m in FKGRC0088m @ 7.14g/t Au from 82m in FKGRC01012m @ 5.39g/t Au from 30m in FKGRC0124m @ 9.53g/t Au from 70m in FKGRC01410m @ 30.78g/t Au from 28m in FKGRC01810m @ 4.18g/t Au from 26m in FKGRC0229m @ 8.08g/t Au from 95m in FKGRC0253m @ 8.33g/t Au from 22m in FKGRC0393m @14.10g/t Au from 10m in FKGRC0423m @9.64g/t Au from 20m in FKGRC043Classic CEO Dean Goodwin said:Drilling campaigns by Classic over the last 6 months at Kat Gap have shown the high-grade potential of this project. We have intersected some outstanding shallow zones of gold mineralisation over a 200m strike length with gold open at depth and along strike in both directions. I think we are onto something quite special but only time will tell.The next stage is to commence an RC drilling program extending the known mineralised zone north and south from our current 200m long drilling area. We plan to focus our attention on an 800m long section of the main granite-greenstone contact where existing historical drilling is on 100m spaced lines. Our current 200m long drilling area sits right in the middle of this 800m long section. We firmly believe that significant gold mineralisation is hiding between these old drill lines. This work will give us a pretty good idea of how good this system really is.Lady MagdaleneAs announced to the ASX 8th October 2018, recent drilling has confirmed the existence of significant gold bearing quartz veins between existing drill lines at Lady Magdalene. As with Lady Ada's high-grade sapphire shear zone, these veins are low angle reverse thrust faults that dip gently to the south.In upcoming drill campaigns, Classic will track the quartz veins to the east and south of existing drill lines to determine how many additional lodes are located within the Lady Magdalene resource footprint.The FGP also contains an existing Mineral Resource of 5.3 Mt at 1.39 g/t for 240,000 ounces of gold, classified and reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012), with a recent Scoping Study (see ASX Announcement released 2nd May 2017) suggesting both the technical and financial viability of the project.Board & ManagementIn order to maximise shareholder returns and build on the significant recent exploration results, Classic has embarked on a program to strengthen its board. The company has been approached and also reached out to a number of highly regarded corporate and gold mining executives to join the board and provide leadership and guidance to allow the Company to reach its full potential.The existing JORC gold resources and the high-grade Kat Gap project, together with the proposed refinancing and strengthening of the board present a compelling gold story in a region that is about to undergo a renaissance of its gold prospectivity.The Southern Forrestania goldfield is one of the few remaining undeveloped greenstone belts in WA and is less than 5 hour's drive from Perth.The region has substantial infrastructure access including sealed roads/water/power and nearby underutilised processing plants.About Classic Minerals Limited

Classic Minerals Limited (ASX:CLZ) is an exploration and development company focused on gold deposits in Western Australia's famous Goldfields region. In March 2017, Classic acquired the Forrestania Gold Project, with seven tenements stretching across 450km2. Strategically located in a very prospective region, the FGP is an underexplored package surrounded by multimillion ounce deposits such as Bounty (2Moz) and Yilgarn Star (1.5Moz).Boeing has delayed from April to August its test flight for its Starliner capsule, intended to carry American astronauts to the International Space Station.

The US space agency NASA blamed the delay on "limited launch opportunities" in April and May from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

It noted that the August launch target is a "working date and to be confirmed." The Starliner spacecraft, which is in the final phase of ground tests, is set to be launched into space atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

If the unmanned test goes well, the capsule's next flight will have three astronauts aboard -- NASA's Nicole Mann and Mike Fincke, along with Chris Ferguson of Boeing.

Ultimately, Starliner will be one of two American vehicles used to carry NASA astronauts to the ISS -- the other is SpaceX's Dragon capsule.

In March, SpaceX successfully completed a nearly weeklong test mission in space. The Dragon capsule successfully docked at the ISS before returning to Earth.

The first manned mission aboard the Dragon spacecraft is set to take place by the end of the year, with the date due to be confirmed "in the next couple weeks," according to NASA.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, a huge amount of bomb-making material, and some explosives and weapons have been seized from a house in Pune district of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

One person, identified as Rajaram Abhang (71), was arrested following the seizure, an official at the anti-terrorist cell of Pune rural police said.

"Acting on a tip-off, the police on Tuesday raided Abhang's hut located at a farm in Junnar tehsil where a large amount of bomb-making material, country-made pistols, pipe bombs, some detonators and gunpowder were seized," he said.

Besides, some sharp weapons, electronic equipment including batteries, an iron armour and a metal helmet were also recovered from the place, he said.

Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil said an investigation was on into the seizure.

A case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, the police said.

Another official said in 2003, Abhang man allegedly attempted to kill his wife as he suspected her character.

"He had placed a crude bomb on a motorcycle and in the explosion, his wife and three children were injured. Abhang was subsequently arrested," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bollywood's 'dream girl' Hema Malini had a dream run in the last Lok Sabha polls but her electoral rivals claim she neglected her constituency and wasn't approachable during her term and Brijwasis would reject her this time.

But Hema Malini is pinning her hopes on the work the Narendra Modi government has done in the past five years.

She is up against Narendra Singh of the RLD, which is part of the alliance with the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, and Congress's Mahesh Pathak.

The opposition is also billing it a 'Brijwasi vs outsider contest' claiming that Hema Malini was never approachable during her entire term.

The opinion of voters was somewhat divided. Some fell that the Balakot air strike and Mission Shakti could be electoral issues while for others, problems of farmers, unemployment and lack of development are major issues here.

"We don't know Hema Malini but we have full faith in Modi. Sometimes you have to forget own problems for the sake of the country," said a shopkeeper near the Krishna Janambhoomi temple.

"Hema Malini never came to our village. We did not see her after 2014. We prefer a local who is approachable," said a resident of Chhata.

Narendra Singh, who lost previous three assembly elections, accused her of neglecting the constituency, saying one cannot work for Mathura while sitting in Mumbai.

"I am a Brijwasi and know about the problems of locals. Last time, she won because of the Modi wave but after that she was not involved with her constituency. Forget about the people, her own party cadres are against her. Vikas (development) is missing in Mathura," he said.

"She did nothing for cleaning of the Yamuna, Chhata sugar mill and unemployment issues, monkey menace in Vrindavan etc.," he said.

He claimed this contest is a secular vs communal one in which secular forces will win.

But Hema Malini contested this and said people believe in Modi and will vote for him and her work.

"I have done a lot of work and a lot has to be done. For that I need another five years. I will revive the old heritage of Brij with modern facilities. I am contesting this election only for the development of Mathura and have spent all my MP fund for good causes," she told PTI.

In 2014, Hema Malini defeated Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate Jayant Chaudhary by a massive margin of 3,30,743 votes.

Analysts said if the opposition candidate could win if its manages to swing the Jat, OBC, Muslim and Thakur votes in its favour.

It may be mentioned here that Narendra Singh's elder brother and three-time former MP Manvendra Singh joined the BJP recently.

Congress candidate Mahesh Pathak is eyeing the upper caste votes.

The temple town has a total of 17,99,321 voters, 8,23,276 of them being women. Mathura has five assembly segments -- Chhata, Mant, Goverdhan, Mathura and Baldev. The BJP won this seat from 1991 to 2004, the Congress (Manvendra Singh) in 2004 and Jayant Chaudhary of RLD (2009).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The CBI has announced a reward of Rs five lakh to anyone who can provide any information leading to the arrest of self-styled preacher Virender Dev Dixit, who is wanted in cases of alleged rape of his disciples.

The agency has urged the citizens to share any information with the agency on phone 011-24368657, Fax 01124368662 and email spstfdel@cbi.gov.in, which can lead to his arrest, CBI spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said.

He said the identity of the person providing information will be kept secret.

The CBI had in March, 2018 informed the Delhi High Court that its efforts to locate 77-year-old Dixit, who had allegedly confined several women at his ashram, Adhyatmik Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya, in Rohini here, have not yielded results so far.

"The agency has informed that Dixit is absconding and has not joined investigation and efforts are being made to trace him in Nepal," a High Court bench had said.

The agency had issued two Look Out Circulars on January 22, 2018 and February 22, 2019 against him.

An interpol Blue notice to locate him has also been issued on the request of the CBI on March 26, 2018.

The Delhi High Court had on December 20, 2017 directed the CBI to investigate the alleged illegal confinement of girls and women in the ashram where they were kept in "animal-like" conditions behind metal doors in a "fortress" surrounded by barbed wire.

The CBI has taken over probe into the three FIRs registered by Delhi Police at Vijay Vihar police station in Rohini by re-registering them, CBI officials said.

The two cases are against Dixit for alleged rape and criminal intimidation, while one case is against unidentified people for allegedly obstructing the work of a high court-appointed committee which went to the ashram on December 19, 2017.

The court had asked the CBI to investigate the FIRs lodged in Delhi against the Rohini-based ashram and its founder-cum-spiritual head Dixit and the daily diary entries relating to complaints of missing girls, commission of sexual offences and even a case of suicide there.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The CBI Wednesday refused to take any stand on the pleas of former police officers D G Vanzara and N K Amin seeking to drop court proceedings against them in the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case.

The Gujarat government has refused sanction to prosecute them.

In his submission before special judge J K Pandya, CBI lawyer R C Kodekar said the court may pass "appropriate order in accordance with the law" on the pleas of Vanzara and Amin.

The court Wednesday also allowed the lawyer of Ishrat Jahan's mother Shamima Kauser to file a reply opposing applications of Vanzara and Amin, and argue on the matter on April 9.

The court said it will then decide the matter on merit.

The CBI had earlier informed the court that the Gujarat government had declined to grant it sanction to prosecute Vanzara and Amin under section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Vanzara is a former deputy inspector general of police, while Amin retired as a superintendent of police.

Under section 197, a government's sanction is necessary for the prosecution of a public servant.

After the government refused a sanction to prosecute them, Vanzara and Amin moved the court, praying that the proceedings against them in the case be dropped.

Kodekar had sought time to seek instructions from the CBI on the pleas filed by the two former police officers.

On August 7, 2018, the court had rejected discharge applications of Vanzara and Amin, and also sought to know from the CBI whether the agency had requested the government for a sanction to prosecute them, so that the court could frame charges against them and start with the trial.

Ishrat, a 19-year-old woman from Mumbra near Mumbai, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed by the Gujarat police in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The police claimed that they were terrorists and were planning to kill then chief minister Narendra Modi.

A Special Investigation Team set up by the Gujarat High Court later concluded that the encounter was fake, after which the HC transferred the case to the CBI.

In the first charge-sheet filed by the CBI in 2013, seven Gujarat police officers, including IPS officers P P Pandey, Vanzara and G L Singhal, were named as accused. The court later discharged Pandey.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Centre Wednesday opposed in the Supreme Court the concerns raised by the Election Commission on issuing electoral bonds and justified the changes in law saying it was "a pioneer step" to bring poll reforms "ensuring transparency" and "accountability" in political funding.

The government in its fresh affidavit said that the massive amount of political donations were earlier made in cash by individuals or corporates using "illicit means of funding" under the old system and unaccounted black money was pumped in for financing elections.

The Centre's stand is significant as the poll panel in its affidavit said that the changes made in several laws by the central government will have "serious repercussions" on transparency.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi Wednesday said it will hear the pleas challenging the validity of the Centre's decision on issuance of electoral bonds for political funding on April 5.

It told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the petitioners, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO, that the matter would be heard by an appropriate bench on Friday.

In its affidavit, the Centre has said the electoral bonds "attempt at bringing greater transparency, ensuring KYC compliance and keeping an audit trail in comparison to the earlier opaque system of cash donations.

"Accordingly, the concern of the Election Commission of India that electoral bonds will enable foreign companies to influence Indian policies is without any legal or factual merit," it said.

The government said there was unregulated flow of Black money under the old system and "the unaccounted-for monies received by political parties were also spent without being accounted for, thus creating/enabling a parallel economy, as it were, through the use of unaccounted for cash".

"It is submitted that contrary to the concerns raised by the Election Commission of India, the amendments in the respective legislatures have been made and the Electoral Bond Scheme has been introduced, as a pioneer step in bringing electoral reforms, to ensure that the spirit of transparency and accountability in political funding is maintained," it said.

The affidavit said that considering the need to impart greater accountability in funding of political parties as well as to maintain the anonymity of the donor, a mechanism of political funding by way of electoral bonds was introduced.

"Under the present system, electoral bonds can be issued only by an authorized bank, being the State Bank of India. All payments made for the issuance of the electoral bonds are accepted only by means of a demand draft, cheque or through the Electronic Clearing System or direct debit to the buyers' account. No Black money can, therefore, be used for the purchase of these bonds," it said.

The government said under the new system, the political party must now disclose the receipt of money through electoral bonds and must account for the same.

"The Electoral Bonds is a positive step in the right direction to ensure accountability and transparency in conducting elections. The need to bring about such a change was felt as the measures that existed on the book were either not enough or were proving to be ineffective/insufficient in dealing with the menace of corruption in Elections," it said.

The government said that it had notified the scheme after due consultations with concerned stakeholders and even the poll panel was also briefed on Electoral Bonds by the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in September of 2017.

The BJP-led NDA government had announced electoral bonds in the earlier budget, claiming that the scheme would clean up political funding. The government's move was resisted by opposition parties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Wednesday accused the ruling BJP of making India vulnerable to terrorist attacks by "sitting on" two key initiatives of the previous UPA government -- the anti-terror hub National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).

In a series of tweets, the former home and finance minister wondered whether the Narendra Modi government has not moved forward on the NCTC and the NATGRID because the two initiatives were conceived and started by the Manmohan Singh government.

"It is the BJP that has made India vulnerable to terrorist attacks by sitting on two vital initiatives for 5 years. Why has NATGRID not been operationalised in 5 years? Why has the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) been put on the back burner for 5 years?," he asked.

The idea behind setting up of the NCTC, as a single, unified counter-terrorism agency, was conceived by Chidambaram as the then Home minister soon after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, which claimed 166 lives.

However, the move was opposed by several chief ministers, including Narendra Modi as the then Gujarat chief minister, alleging that such a structure will interfere with the functioning of state security agencies and it would be a threat to the federal structure of the country.

Even though the central government made several efforts to evolve a consensus by initiating talks with state governments, it received no response.

A political consensus even on a watered-down proposal for NCTC did not get favourable response from any quarters prompting Chidambaram's successor in the Home Ministry Sushilkumar Shinde to say in 2013 that the anti-terror hub proposal seems to have gone into deep freeze.

The NATGRID, once fully operationalised, will connect data providing organisations and users, besides developing a legal structure through which information can be accessed by law enforcement agencies.

As per the plans, initially, 10 user agencies and 21 service providers will be connected. Later, about 1,950 additional organisations will be linked in the subsequent phases.

These data sources include records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and financial transactions and telecommunications. The agencies include the Intelligence Bureau, local police and revenue and customs departments.

While the clearance for the Rs 3,400 crore project from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) came in 2011, it is yet to be operationalised.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)informed a Delhi court Wednesday that it has summoned Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, for interrogation in a money laundering case related to the

ED told Special Judge Arvind Kumar that Puri, Chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd, was summoned for confronting him with Sushen Mohan Gupta, an arrested middleman in the case, whose custodial interrogation was today extended by three more days by the court.

Seeking the extension of Gupta's custody, ED told the court that he was required to be confronted with various people including Puri in the case pertaining to the now scrapped Rs 3,600 crore chopper deal.

Puri, who was summoned to join the probe on Wednesday, denied having "any connection or involvement of any kind in defence or the case".

In a statement, his company said: "He would by fully cooperating with the ED investigation and provide any clarification or information as may be required."

ALSO READ: AgustaWestland case accused Gautam Khaitan moves fresh bail plea in court

According to ED sources, Puri's name appeared in the statement recorded by middleman and Dubai-based businessman Rajeev Saxena, who recently turned approver in the case.

ED's special public prosecutors D P Singh and N K Matta also told the court that the agency wanted to identify one "RG", in whose name entries of over Rs 50 crore were made in Gupta's diaries.

"The custodial interrogation of Gupta is required as he is misguiding the probe by deliberately giving wrong explanation of abbreviations in his diaries wherein abbreviation 'RG' finds mention in many pages as well as pen drive data.

"More than Rs 50 crore shown to have been received from 'RG' between 2004 to 2016, whereas the 'RG' identified by Gupta, i.e., Rajat Gupta, had admitted to have cash transactions with Sushen from 2007 onwards and the same are being quantified," the agency told the court.

The agency submitted that Sushen said he only knew one 'RG' who was Rajat Gupta, whereas Rajat denied the transactions made in the name of RG and said he not the person being referred to.

ED told the court that Sushen was not coming out with true and correct fact or identifying who is the real RG mentioned in the entries.

ED's advocate Samvedna Verma sought extension of Sushen's custodial interrogation by six more days, saying that he was non-cooperative and evasive in his replies.

Gupta was arrested by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The probe agency had said Gupta's role in the case came to light on the basis of disclosures made by Saxena, who has turned approver in the case after he was deported from the UAE and arrested by the agency here.

It was suspected that Gupta has in his possession some payment details in the purchase of AgustaWestland VVIP choppers and the link is to be unravelled, ED said.European auto major Groupe PSA Wednesday formally announced entry of its Citroen brand in India and said it would roll out its flagship SUV model C5 Aircross in the country by the end of 2020.

The company said it is also planning to bring in a range of products after the C5 Aircross that would be made and launched in India before being introduced in other parts of the world.

Groupe PSA Chairman of the Managing Board Carlos Tavares said India is an important market for Groupe PSA to increase its international footprint and revenues.

"With the introduction of Citroen, our aim is to 'be Indian in India' and our association with the CK Birla Group will be important to become a major player in the Indian automotive market," Tavares told reporters while launching the brand here.

The group believes India is a strong opportunity for growth, he added.

Tavares said the group is targeting 50 per cent increase in sales outside Europe by 2021 and, therefore, it is entering different geographies globally.

Groupe PSA is Europe's second-largest carmaker after Volkswagen.

Terming the Indian market as dynamic with high potential, Citroen Brand CEO Linda Jackson said, "We believe we have the right positioning to meet the expectations of the Indian customers."



She further said, "In India, we will be inspired by the Indians... we will develop highly localised cars to meet customer expectations."



The company will launch one model each year starting 2021, Jackson said.

The company's products will be at the heart of market and would focus on unique design, comfort and launch of global brands here, she added.

When asked how the company's plans to utilise the Ambassador brand, Jackson said, "We are currently in the process of analysing how it can be used as it is an iconic brand we would not like to mean any disrespect to it."



Groupe PSA Executive Vice-President & Head of India-Pacific Emmanuel Delay said India is a tough automotive market but also the one which provides "loads of opportunity".

He added that powertrain manufacturing will start this year in Hosur and the company would also utilise the Indian facilities for exports, Delay said.

The company will start with an initial manufacturing capacity of 1 lakh units per annum at Thiruvallur plant and later depending upon the market conditions, scale it up, he added.

He said the company would like to have a market share of around 2 per cent over the next 4-5 years.

Asked why the company is targeting such a conservative market share, Tavares said: "We are not chasing market share. We believe this is not the right way to do so".

In 2017, PSA Groupe had announced a partnership with CK Birla Group to re-enter the Indian market and earmarked an initial investment of 100 million euros to set up a plant for vehicle and powertrain manufacturing in Tamil Nadu.

The tie-up entailed two joint venture (JV) agreements between the groups.

PSA Groupe, which sells three brands -- Peugeot, Citroen and DS -- is no stranger to India, having entered into a partnership with the erstwhile Premier family resulting in JV Peugeot PAL India. However, it pulled out from the JV in 2001.

The group had made repeated attempts to return to the Indian market. In 2009, it decided to go slow on plans to kick off operations in India due to a global economic slowdown. Later, in 2011, it announced plans to re-enter the Indian market with a mid-sized sedan, 10 years after it had exited the country. The plan, however, did not materialise.

The CK Birla Group is known for the now-discontinued iconic Ambassador car that was manufactured by group firm Hindustan Motors. It has a presence in technology and automotive, home and building, and the healthcare and education sectors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Wednesday took a jibe at NCP chief Sharad Pawar who recently announced that he would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, contrary to indications that he might enter the poll arena.

Addressing a rally at Gondia in east Maharashtra with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on dais, the chief minister, without taking name of Pawar, said the captain of the team against the BJP has already refused to play.

"The BJP is fighting such opponents in Bhandara-Gondiya (Lok Sabha constituency) whose captain has refused to play at the very beginning," he said.

Fadnavis was apparently referring to Pawar's decision to not contest the elections amidst speculations that he might enter the poll fray from Madha seat.

"Similarly, the so-called vice captain Praful Patel has also refused to play. (NCP) supporter Nana Patole is now contesting from Nagpur from where he is set to lose badly and forfeit his election deposit," he said.

Patole is facing Union minister and BJP heavyweight Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur constituency.

Patole had won the 2014 general elections from Bhandara-Gondiya seat on the BJP ticket by defeating NCP stalwart Patel.

However, he resigned later and joined the Congress. In the bypoll held in 2018, the NCP wrested the seat from the BJP.

The NCP has fielded Nana Panchbuddhe against the BJP's Sunil Mendhe from the seat which will vote on April 11.

In his address, Fadnavis also took swipe at the NCP over its election manifesto, which was released recently.

"The BJP tried to resolve various issues facing farmers and those pertaining to Nazul rights in Bhandara-Gondiya. The Congress-NCP had purchased paddy worth Rs 1300 crore in 15 years of their rule whereas the BJP bought paddy worth Rs 3500 crore in the last five years," he said.

The CM said the NCP's manifesto "welcomes Pakistani terrorists in India to kill people and soldiers".

"The NCP manifesto talks about a dialogue with Pakistan. Should we go and talk to Pakistan? Shame on those people who ask for a dialogue with Pakistan at a time when our soldiers are getting killed in terror attacks," he alleged.

He added, "This is Modi's India. If anyone tries to attack us, he will be killed by our soldiers in his own territory".

Speculations over Pawar's candidature grew when he said that party workers are asking him to contest.

However, days later Pawar, who had last contested Lok Sabha elections from Madha in 2009, clarified that he was not keen.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Kachi PFS to Unlock Top 10 Global Lithium Brine Resource

Brisbane, April 3, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - One of the Top 10 largest lithium brine resources globally is poised for development, with Lake Resources NL ( ASX:LKE ) announcing today the commencement of a pre-feasibility study (PFS) at its 100% owned Kachi Lithium Brine Project (Figure 2). It is located in a highly prospective area for lithium brine, being situated south of Livent/FMC's lithium production centre, which has been operating for over 20 years, and near Albemarle's Antofalla project in Catamarca Province. The region has been subject to significant corporate transactions recently involving lithium brine assets, implying an acquisition cost of US$50-$110 million per 1 million tonnes of LCE resources.- Pre-feasibility study (PFS) commences at Lake's Kachi Lithium Brine Project following securing of new investor support.- Kachi project ranked amongst top 10 global lithium brine resources, comprising a large lithium brine-bearing basin over 20km long, 15km wide, and 400m to 800m deep with an Indicated and Inferred Resource of 4.4 Mt LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent) (Indicated 1.0Mt and Inferred 3.4Mt).- Phase 1 engineering study has shown great potential for operating costs in the lowest cost quartile of US$2600/t LCE, using a direct extraction technique, which has shown 85-90% recoveries and lithium brine concentrations in excess of 25,000 mg/L lithium.Lake recently announced a maiden resource for Kachi of 4.4 million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) within an exploration target of 8-17 million tonnes LCE (refer ASX announcement 27 November 2018). This occurs within consolidated mining leases enlarged to cover 69,000 hectares and covers almost the entire salt lake. This places the Kachi resource amongst the top 10 lithium brine resources globally, at a time when there is an increasing demand for new lithium supply sources and constrained production from major producers.In the coming weeks, an international engineering company will be announced to be working with Lake at Kachi on the PFS. This study will examine the project's technical and economic viability, including both conventional processing and direct extraction methods, project engineering design, product specifications, optimisation of recovery, and operating and capital costs. It is expected that there will be significant cost reductions (projected to be within the lowest quartile cash costs) and superior recoveries for direct extraction compared to evaporation ponds. As part of the project development, an on-site pilot plant is being planned to further assess the ion exchange technology developed by Lilac Solutions (refer ASX announcement 10 December 2018).Lake is currently in discussions with a number of parties with respect to production development funding and partnership at its Kachi project that would assist with financing the feasibility study that is likely to follow on from the PFS. The Company has sufficient funds from Amvest for the PFS.Lake's Managing Director Steve Promnitz said: "Today's announcement is a significant milestone for Lake and for the Kachi project, the most advanced of Lake's four wholly owned lithium projects in Argentina. The Kachi project has the potential to become a globally significant lithium brine resource and a major lithium producer."Discussions will soon be completed with various technical providers of internationally acceptable PFS studies, so that the Company can demonstrate how Kachi can be taken into production using new direct extraction methods at a competitive cost. We are keenly aware of the opportunity at Kachi and are determined to advance its development into production, together with our Olaroz-Cauchari projects. Kachi is one of the largest wholly owned lithium brine basins in the 'Lithium Triangle', responsible for half the world's lithium output and at the lowest-cost."SummaryLake Resources' 100%-owned Kachi Lithium Brine Project in Catamarca province, NW Argentina, covers a consolidated package of 36 mining leases recently expanded to 69,000 hectares (170,000 acres), centred around a previously undrilled salt lake within a large lithium brine-bearing basin. Kachi is one of the few salt lakes in Argentina with substantial identified lithium brines fully controlled by a single owner, Lake.The Kachi project's maiden JORC Mineral Resource estimate released in late November 2018 is 4.4 million tonnes of contained Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) in Inferred and Indicated Categories extending to 400m below ground level in porous permeable sediments. This contains 1 Mt LCE as Indicated resources, and 3.4 Mt of LCE as Inferred resources, with a resource depth of 400m for both areas (see Table 1) at an average grade of 211 mg/L lithium and Mg/Li ratio of 4.7. In total, this comprises 1,092,500 tonnes of lithium metal (4.4 million tonnes of lithium carbonate), and 30 million tonnes of potassium chloride. This is within the top 10 lithium brine projects globally and a similar size to major lithium brine producers in Argentina and Chile. Brine-bearing sediments remain open at depth and laterally, with the opportunity for resource expansion through additional deeper drilling and extending the exploration footprint.The Phase 1 engineering study completed with technology partner Lilac Solutions showed the potential for lithium production costs to be US$2600/tonne (+/-30%), which is in the lowest quartile of the cash cost curve, using Lilac's direct extraction process on the Kachi brines. Lilac's extraction technology also offers the potential for a reduced environmental impact due to the removal of evaporation ponds, helping preserve an aqueous resource in an arid environment.High lithium recoveries of 85-90% were confirmed from multiple brine samples, with lithium concentrations greater than 25,000 mg/L produced from ~300 mg/L lithium brine. An on-site pilot plant is under discussion for 2019. The pre-feasibility study (PFS) is a precursor to full-scale commercial project offering rapid, low-cost production with low environmental impact. The planned approach is to produce a concentrate of purified lithium brine on site and then convert to lithium carbonate at a location with more established infrastructure and workforce. Most reagents are easily sourced locally, except for proprietary materials.To view figures, please visit:About Lake Resources NL

Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) is a clean lithium developer utilising clean, direct extraction technology for the development of sustainable, high purity lithium from its flagship Kachi Project, as well as three other lithium brine projects in Argentina. The projects are in a prime location within the Lithium Triangle, where 40% of the world's lithium is produced at the lowest cost.



This method will enable Lake Resources to be an efficient, responsibly-sourced, environmentally friendly and cost competitive supplier of high-purity lithium, which is readily scalable, and in demand from Tier 1 electric vehicle makers and battery makers.The Congress demanded on Wednesday that a case of treason be registered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP chief Amit Shah, and accused them of being "traitors" as they had removed AFSPA from parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said while on one hand, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was targeting the Congress over its manifesto promise of reviewing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, on the other, the government itself was removing the law from certain states.

"BJP leaders Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley are the biggest traitors as they themselves removed AFSPA from parts of Arunachal Pradesh only yesterday. What can be more double-speak than this," he told reporters after Jaitley's criticism of the Congress for promising to review AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir.

Surjewala said it was the same Narendra Modi, who had in 2018 removed AFSPA from Meghalaya, 27 years after it was imposed in the north-eastern state.

He said another display of an "act of treason" by Modi and Jaitley was the removal of AFSPA in 2015 from Tripura, 25 years after it was imposed in the north-eastern state by the Congress.

"So a case of treason should be registered first against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley for the display of their double-standards," Surjewala added.

He said the Congress had only stated that it would amend the AFSPA in accordance with Supreme Court directions and not repeal the Act, while the BJP was removing it from many states.

"They are accusing us of being traitors, while they themselves are indulging in such activities," Surjewala said.

"Will Jaitleyji and others register a case of treason against themselves after tendering their resignation?," he asked.

Keeping up the heat on the Congress over the issue of national security, the BJP has alleged that various provisions in the opposition party's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls pose a threat to the country as those favour separatists and terrorists, and demoralise the armed forces.

Defence Minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman alleged that the Congress's manifesto, which was released on Tuesday, was not in national interest and indirectly helped terrorists and others working against the country.

She cited the opposition party's promise to review the AFSPA and repeal section 124A (sedition law) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to attack it.

Sitharaman insisted that her party was not against withdrawing the AFSPA if the situation allowed it, but the Congress's promise to tweak its provisions, if voted to power, would allow terrorists and their friends to target the security personnel with manufactured allegations.

The AFSPA gives the armed forces certain protection from legal action in carrying out their operations in disturbed areas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress has fielded its MLA C J Chavda against BJP president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat.

The opposition party released a list of names late Tuesday night in which it mentioned four more candidates from the state, including Chavda.

With this, the Congress has so far declared 18 candidates in Gujarat, where the last date of filing of nomination papers is April 4.

Polling in all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held on April 23 and the results will be declared on May 23.

Chavda, a two-time MLA from Gandhinagar-North Assembly seat, said he will give a tough fight to Shah in the Lok Sabha polls.

Besides Chavda, the Congress has also given ticket to Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti convener Geeta Patel, a loyalist of Congress leader Hardik Patel, from Ahmedabad-East Lok Sabha seat.

The party has fielded its Limbdi MLA Soma Patel from Surendranagar seat to take on BJP's Mahendra Munjpara.

It has also given ticket to Murubhai Kandoriya from Jamnagar seat, from where party leader Hardik Patel earlier planned to contest, against BJP's Poonam Madam.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to accord urgent hearing to Hardik Patel's plea seeking stay on his conviction in the 2015 rioting case.

The denial virtually dashed his hopes of contesting the Lok Sabha poll from Jamnagar as the last date for filing nominations for seats in the state is on Thursday.

The Congress state unit is expecting announcement of candidates for the remaining seats by tonight.

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly Paresh Dhanani filed his nomination from Amreli Lok Sabha seat, though his name has not been officially declared so far.

Dhanani claimed he was asked by the party high command to file his nomination.

The BJP has so far announced 25 candidates and is yet to declare its nominee from Ahmedabad-East seat.

It won all the 26 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Taking a swipe at the Congress over its proposed NYAY scheme, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday said the party which has a "DNA of maximum corruption" is talking about giving minimum income to the poor.

Naqvi, addressing a public meeting in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, alleged that the Congress and the SP-BSP want to make a "coalition of crime" in Uttar Pradesh.

Canvassing for Jaya Prada, the BJP candidate from Rampur Lok Sabha seat, Naqvi said those who failed in the Congress-SP alliance in UP Assembly polls, are now undertaking the "acid test" through the SP-BSP alliance.

"But neither their chemistry nor their physics match," Naqvi was quoted as saying by a statement from his office.

This alliance will also fail disastrously, the minority affairs minister claimed.

Terming the Congress a "history-sheeter" in "making mockery of poverty", he said the party should realise that "mountain of slogans" cannot get votes for it.

Despite being in power for decades, the Congress did nothing for the poor, he alleged.

Naqvi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked for the welfare of the poor during the past five years.

The Modi government has worked with a commitment to economic empowerment of the poor, he said.

"The Congress, which has a DNA of maximum corruption, is now talking about minimum income," he said, slamming the opposition party.

On Tuesday, the Congress promised in its election manifesto to roll out a minimum income guarantee scheme called Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), under which Rs 72,000 crore would be deposited in the bank accounts of the poorest 20 per cent families in India, annually.

"The Congress, which considers the country's poverty as a political property will not allow the poor to come out of poverty," Naqvi alleged.

He claimed that the so-called mahagathbandhan wants a "contract prime minister", and not a "perfect prime minister like Modi.

They want a prime minister who can be "remote controlled", he alleged.

The people of the country don't want a prime minister on "rotation and contract" for 6 months and then another prime minister for next 6 months, he said.

The entire country knows Modi is the perfect prime minister for the progress, prosperity and safety of the country, Naqvi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Seeking to turn the heat on the Congress over its poll promise of reviewing the AFSPA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the assurance "toys with national security" and termed the opposition party's manifesto a "document of Pakistan's conspiracies".

Addressing a rally here ahead of next week's polling, he accused the Congress of hatching a conspiracy to destabilise the country and "demoralise" its soldiers.

Modi termed the coming together of opposition parties against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies "maha milavat" (grand adulteration) and said it would boost Naxal activities if they came to power as he blasted the Congress over its promise to scrap the sedition law.

The prime minister also asked Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, a former defence minister, if he agreed with the Congress's manifesto, particularly on the issue of reviewing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which gives sweeping powers to security forces in troubled areas.

Without naming anyone, Modi alleged that NCP leaders "were unable to sleep" as their "sleep was jailed in Delhi's Tihar".

He, however, did not elaborate.

"You can see the Congress hatching a conspiracy to destabilise the country. They have a habit, either they grab everything or create confusion," Modi told the rally.

"Their manifesto toys with national security. The Congress's manifesto is a document of Pakistan's conspiracies. It is a conspiracy to demoralise the soldiers.

"The Congress's manifesto is a document of conspiracy by those who gave the slogan of 'Bharat tere tukde honge' (calling for India's dismemberment)," he added.

Modi said the security forces were "relentlessly" combating Naxalism and the days of Maoists, who had spread violence in Maharashtra, were "numbered".

Naxalism would get a boost if those engaged in "maha milavat" came back to power, he warned.

The prime minister also said the Maharashtra government had acted against "Urban Naxals".

"But you have seen how the Congress and the NCP are standing with Naxals," he charged.

Referring to the Congress's poll assurance of repealing the sedition law, Modi said the opposition party had promised that "there will be no sedition case if any urban Naxalite is caught in anti-national activities".

"Tell me if the Congress and the NCP are doing the right thing. Should the sedition law go? Should those who want to disintegrate (the country) get a free licence?," he asked the crowd.

Attacking the NCP, Modi said its leaders were "unable to sleep these days".

"What's the reason? Because their sleep is there inside Delhi's Tihar Jail. They are afraid that the one who is inside may reveal something. They are worried. And that day is not far when everything will come out in the open," he said.

Though the prime minister did not name anyone, it is believed that he was referring to corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar's arrest earlier this year for his alleged involvement in several aviation deals.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi released his party's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday.

It promised to review the deployment of armed forces, AFSPA and the Disturbed Areas Act in Jammu and Kashmir and move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely.

The party also promised to scrap the sedition law if voted to power and said it would initiate a comprehensive review of all laws, rules and regulations and bring them in accordance with constitutional values and democracy.

Bhandara-Gondia is among the seven Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha that will vote in the first phase on April 11. The BJP has fielded Sunil Mendhe from the seat, where his main rival is the NCP's Nana Panchbuddhe.

This was Modi's second poll rally in Maharashtra ahead of this month's Lok Sabha polls. The first public meeting was at Wardha on April 1.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Intensifying its attack on the Congress over the issue of national security, the BJP Wednesday alleged that various provisions in the opposition party's Lok Sabha polls manifesto posed a threat to the country as those favoured separatists and terrorists, and demoralised the armed forces.

Defence Minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters that the Congress's manifesto, which was released on Tuesday, was not in national interest and indirectly helped terrorists and others working against the country.

She cited the opposition party's promise to review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and repeal section 124A (sedition law) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to attack it.

AFSPA gives the armed forces certain protection from legal action in carrying out their operations in disturbed areas.

"Are you writing the manifesto to help separatists?," Sitharaman asked at a press conference here.

Insisting that her party was not against withdrawing AFSPA if the situation allowed it, she said tweaking its provisions, as promised by the Congress if it was voted to power, would allow terrorists and their friends to target the security personnel with manufactured allegations of sexual violence, torture and enforced disappearance.

The Narendra Modi government, in tandem with the respective state governments, had withdrawn AFSPA from Meghalaya and Tripura and most parts of Assam, Sitharaman said, while asking the Congress from how many places it had removed the law when it was in power during 2004-14.

On the Congress's stand that the powers of the armed forces and human rights should be balanced, she said it should not be presumed that the former was against the latter.

"Why should it be presumed that the powers of the security forces go against human rights.... It does not portend well for the unity of the country and the morale of the armed forces," the defence minister said, claiming that such provisions were a threat to the country.

The same Congress did "nothing" after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008 and it showed the party's attitude on the issue of national security, she added.

To a question about the welfare measures contained in the Congress's manifesto, Sitharaman said it was not in the opposition party's character to honour its promises.

She also took a dig at the Congress over its manifesto provisions pertaining to the media, saying it was "thirsty" for controlling the press and was notorious for doing so.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP leader and formerExternal Affairs Minister S M Krishna Wednesday termed the Congress' promise to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in its election manifesto as "very dangerous."



Krishna, a former chief minister,said the talk about having a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir was "totally unacceptable", as he advocated a re-look into article 370 of the Constitution that gives special status to the State.

"That is going to be a very dangerous move, considering how the national security is poised today, how terrorists from outside and terrorists from within are trying to make an assault on our polity and our nation.

So it will be a very dangerous move," Krishna said in response to a question about Congress manifesto speaking about removing AFSPA and sedition laws.

The Congress party has said The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and the Disturbed Areas Act in J&K would be reviewed, adding that suitable changes would be made in the text of the laws to balance the needs of security and protection of human rights.

Responding to a question on having a separate Prime Minister for Kashmir, Krishna, who was the external affairs minister during the UPA rule, said "That's totally unacceptable.

There has to be only one Prime Ministerin the country, well we have that Prime Minister in NarendraModi."



Former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has said his party would not allow anyattacks on Jammu and Kashmir's special status and would work to get back what was "infringed upon", including the covetedposts of 'sadr-e-riyasat' (president) and prime minister for the State.

On the BJP looking at removing Article 370, Krishna said,"I have said that the call will have to be taken, once theelections are over, when Narendra Modi comes back to power."



Asked if he agreed with the idea, the former Governor of Maharashtra said, "well I think a re-look has becomeabsolutely necessary."



Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had recently advocated repeal of J and K's special status and said Article 35A, which restricts non-permanent residents to buy propertyin the State, was "constitutionally vulnerable" andalso hampering economic development of the state.

However, Jaitley's statement had elicited sharp reactions from several leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

Krishna was speaking at 'Meet the Press' programme organised by Bangalore Reporters' Guild and the Press Club of Bangalore here.

The octogenarian leader, who joined BJP in 2017, said, he quit the Congress as he was opposed to "heredity politics" andwas "attracted" by Narendra Modi and his leadership.

Alleging that Congress party has become a "property", he said, "..if one has the eligibility, I don't have problem even if it is heredity politics, I had seen that eligibility in Rajiv Gandhi...but recent changes in Congress,I did notlike those developments and felt I cannot continue."



Responding to a question on the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, Krishna said the final wordabout coalition government would be out once the Lok Sabha elections are over.

"Last ten months they (Congress-JDS) have been busy in getting their respective houses in order, so they have not found the time to devote for governance..I feel slightly disappointed," he said.

Krishna said a successful coalition government can function only when there is a pre-poll understanding with a common minimum programme.

None of that has happened because as the assembly election results were coming in, the Congress-JDS decided to form an alliance, he said.

"..I don't think that the government has really taken off. Maybe once the Lok Sabha elections are over, I think we will hear the final word about coalition government also," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Worried about dissidence within hampering prospects of the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress is going all out to find a 'via media' solution to differences between local leaders of the parties in old Mysuru region,especially Mandya.

The alliance is facing a backlash at several places, including Tumkur, Mandya and Hassan, where Congress workers are not actively participating in campaigning for JD(S) candidates, unhappy over the seat arrangements.

With a cold response from local leaders and workers, Congress is now worried about a similar response from JD(S) in constituencies like Mysore, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Bangalore North and Bangalore Rural, where its candidates are in the fray.

With transfer of votes between Congress and JD(S) crucial for them to outperform the BJP, there is now worry that this dissidence may affect their performance.

Following the recent diktat from the party high command, including its national President Rahul Gandhi, to ensure support of Congress workers to JD(S) candidates, the state leadership has now pitched into damage control mode.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao, along with CLP leader Siddaramaiah late on Tuesday night met party leaders from Mandya, where the dissidence between both parties is more visible and asked them to campaign for JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

According to Congress sources, party leaders in Mandya told Rao and Siddaramaiah about their difficulty in



supporting JD(S), which is their arch rival in the district.

Also citing Kumaraswamy himself not seeking their support as one of the reasons for staying away, theyhave also expressed strong opinion against certain recent statements by the Chief Minister on a section of Mandya Congress leaders.

However, Siddaramaiah pacified them and said Congress may have to face repercussions in constituencies like Mysore,where their candidates are in the fray and JD(S) has a strong presence, sources said.

Several Mandya Congress leaders like NCheluvarayaswamy, P M Narendraswamy and Ramesh Bandisidde Gowda among others, had not even attended Nikhil's nomination filing.

"I, along with our CLP leader, have discussed with our leaders in Mandya...we have discussed on how to manage things. I have confidence that that things will get resolved," Rao told reporters on Wednesday.

Asked if all former Congress MLAs and leaders would take part in campaigning for coalition candidate, hesaid "with CLP leader Siddarmaiah and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda jointly campaigning in Mysore, Mandya, Tumkur, Bengaluru soon, all our leaders will have to be present, so I'm confident that things will be resolved."



Also, stating that small differences in Mysore have been resolved with the Congress leadership speaking to district-in-charge minister G T Devegowda of JD(S), Rao said there is no problem now for JD(S) leaders to campaignfor the Congress candidate,In the days to come "you will getto know that things are positive.

"Whether it is Mysore or Mandya, both parties will support and strengthen each other in all constituencies of southern Karnataka to ensure the victory of coalition candidates," he said, adding that Rahul Gandhi has given clear orders that Congress workers should ensure JD(S)' victory inconstituencies where it is contesting.

G T Deve Gowda, who has the credit of defeating former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from Chamundeshwari in the assembly polls, did not campaign for Congress candidate Vijayashankar in Mysore, which has caused someworry among the party leadership about JD(S)' support in the polls.

"We will discuss with Kumaraswamy and resolve all the issues....they were all in the same party (JDS) earlier, so we have found a via media solution. There will be satisfactory developments in the days to come," he said.

Though Congress leaders in Mandya have remained silent during campaigning, according to reports several of them through their supporters are working in favour of independent candidate and multilingual actress Sumalatha Ambareesh. Sumalatha, wife of late actor-turned politician M H Ambareesh,decided to contest as an independentafter Congress, the party from which her husbandrepresented Mandya in the past, denied her the ticket, citing coalition compulsions.

Pointing out that Sumalatha is a BJP supported candidate, Rao said"....we will take necessary action (against party workers supporting her).

They can quit theparty and work for anyone, but being in the party no one goes against its decisions, it will not be tolerated."



According to the seat sharing arrangement Congress and JD(S) have decided to contest in 21 and seven Lok Sabha seats respectively.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the Congress at a poll rally here on Wednesday, saying its "dhakosla" (hypocritic) manifesto will expire on May 23 (the date of the Lok Sabha election results) and accused the opposition party of speaking the language of Pakistan as it sought to dilute AFSPA in terror-affected ares.

Accusing the Congress of repeatedly bowing its head before terrorism, Modi alleged that opposition leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi were insulting the country and its forces in their quest to demean him.

"Those who ruled India for 60 years are saying they will remove the armour of the defence forces. The Congress, in its dhakosla (hypocritic) manifesto, which is full of lies, has promised to remove the law (AFSPA) that protects our forces in terror-affected areas.

"Removing this will actually help Pakistan. The Congress has always bowed its head before terrorism," the prime minister told a rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds here.

Terming the Congress's manifesto a "dhakosla patra" (hypocritic document), he said it would expire on May 23, the date set by the Election Commission (EC) for counting of votes.

The opposition party had a history of going soft on terror, Modi said and cited the repealing of anti-terror laws such as TADA and POTA by Congress governments in the past.

"This chowkidar (Modi) of yours is standing as a great wall between national security and the Congress's ploys," he said and appealed to the people to re-elect the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for creating a "new India".

Congress president Rahul Gandhi released his party's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday assuring job creation, addressing the issue of farm distress, introducing a single, moderate GST rate and giving Rs 72,000 per annum to poor families as its key areas of focus.

It promised to review the deployment of armed forces, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed Areas Act in Jammu and Kashmir and move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely.

Modi also hit out at opposition leaders for using "anti-India" language and said it was due to the fear over their unsteady political ground.

He slammed both the Congress and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal for asking for proof of the Balakot airstrike.

"Some people have started insulting the country in their quest to demean Modi at a time when we are moving towards realising the dream of Swami Vivekananda," he said.

Soldiers had the ability to carry out airstrikes and surgical strikes and scientists had the ability to conduct ASAT tests, Modi said, adding, "What was lacking was intent and courage in the previous governments."



In a jibe at the dynastic of the Congress, he said "parivar tantra (dynastic rule) crushed prajatantra (democracy) during the over-55-year rule since independence".

The prime minister drew parallels between the Congress's dynastic and the "aunt-nephew" (Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee) government in West Bengal.

"The time has come to defeat this corrupt bua-bhatija (aunt-nephew) government of Bengal. People want freedom from the corruption and misrule of the TMC," he said.

Referring to Tripura, where the Left was in power for 25 years, Modi said the situation in the north-eastern state was the same as in West Bengal, but it was possible to throw out the Left in Tripura and form a BJP government. "Now it is on the path of development," he added.

Modi slammed the opposition parties for the "Modi hatao" (remove Modi) call they had given from the TMC's mega opposition rally here on January 19.

"Why remove Modi? What crime has Modi committed? Is it a crime to give homes, toilets, cooking gas, electricity and free healthcare to the poor? If it is, then I have committed all these crimes," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh Wednesday lashed out at the Congress and the TDP for "hurting" the morale of the armed forces by casting aspersions on the surgical strikes on the terror camps in Pakistan.

Addressing an election rally in support of the BJP at Avanigadda in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, he said the Indian Air Force stormed into Pakistan and conducted surgical strikes after the Phulwama terror attack in which over 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

The erstwhile Congress-led government never took any retaliatory action when terrorists struck. But, after the Phulwama terror attack, our Air Force went into Pakistani territory and eliminated terrorists in surgical strikes.

"But the Congress and the TDP have been critical of our surgical strikes, hurting the morale of our armed forces, the Home Minister said.

The BJP government would never allow terrorists or economic offenders to go scot free, he asserted.

Singh said non-performing assets touched Rs 3 lakh crore during the Congress 55-year rule.

People like Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya cheated banks and royally roamed in the country without any fear. Only after the BJP came to power, they fled the country. But we will not leave them, he added.

The Home Minister dubbed the minimum income scheme Nyay a fake promise of the Congress.

From Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi.. they raised the garibi hatao slogan but achieved nothing. Now, Rahul Gandhi is singing the same song. The Narendra Modi government took a slew of measures to eradicate poverty, Singh added.

The Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh was usurping the Central government schemes and branding them as its own, the Home Minister alleged.

State BJP president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, BJP national secretary Sunil Deodhar and other senior leaders attended.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A police constable has been arrested for allegedly raping his six-year-old daughter in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, an official said Wednesday.

As per the complaint filed by the 45-year-old accused's wife, he allegedly raped the child at their home in the city on March 29 and threatened her not to disclose it to anyone, the police official said.

The girl, however, later informed about the incident to her mother who approached the police on Monday, he said.

The accused, posted at Sarangarh police station in the district, was arrested on Tuesday, the official said.

He was booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation), and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused was later produced in a local court which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days, he said.

Following the incident, Raigarh Superintendent of Rajesh Agrawal suspended the accused with immediate effect, the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Scheme Update - Voting Intentions of Manikay Partners

Sydney, April 3, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MYOB Group Limited ( ASX:MYO ) (MYOB or Company) notes the receipt by the Company this afternoon of a letter from Manikay Partners in relation to the proposed scheme of arrangement (attached as an appendix).To view the release, please visit:About Myob Group Ltd

MYOB Group Ltd (ASX:MYO) is a leading provider of online business management solutions. It makes business life easier for approximately 1.2 million businesses and accountants across Australia and New Zealand by simplifying accounting, payroll, tax, practice management, CRM, job costing, inventory and more. MYOB operates across three core segments  Clients and Partners (business solutions to SMEs and Advisers); Enterprise Solutions (larger businesses) and Payment Solutions. It provides ongoing support through client service channels including a network of over 40,000 accountants, bookkeepers and other consultants. It is committed to ongoing innovation, particularly through its Connected Practice Strategy and through the development of the MYOB Platform. For more information, follow @MYOB on Twitter or visit http://investors.myob.com.au/InvestorsDefence-tech start-up Big Bang Boom Solutions (BBBS) Wednesday said it has bagged a Rs 1.5 crore grant for winning the 'See Through Armor' challenge by the Ministry of Defence under iDEX.

The win entitles the start-up to a chance to co-develop the solution along with the Indian Army, and a grant of Rs 1.5 crore, BBBS Chief Executive Officer Praveen Dwarakanath told PTI.

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) was launched by the central government in April last year to create an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in areas of defence and aerospace.

The programme aims to engage with micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), start-ups, individual innovators, research and development (R&D) institutes and academia, and provide them grant and other support to carry out R&D for solutions that have potential for future adoption.

Detailing out its entry at iDEX, Dwarakanath said the chosen solution can offer situational awareness to a soldier sitting in an armoured tank.

"When the soldier is in an armoured tank, they have visibility only about what's in front of them. Our solution gives the tank crew an ability to move naturally and almost feel that the armour around them is invisible," he said.

Dwarakanath said the solution leverages augmented reality and virtual reality technologies that have been co-developed with its partners.

The company works with researchers for developing these solutions, and the IP of the solution resides with the company.

The extension of the chosen solution will be into unmanned vehicles and other technologies of the future, Dwarakanath said.

He said the company would work with the defence ministry and is also open to engaging with defence agencies in other "India-friendly nations".

BBBS is working on several high-end technologies including new materials in armour, electronic warfare solutions, anti-drone technologies and armour piercing incendiary rounds. The company, Dwarakanath added, is also one of the finalists in the Illegal Usages of Drones Category of iDEX - the results of which are expected in a few weeks.

BBBS has also secured an undisclosed amount of funding in the form of convertible notes from strategic investors. The company will invest part of the proceeds into a hedge fund to generate higher returns, he said.

It will also be used for strengthening operations of the company and business development, he added.

"Our interest in defence stems from the fact that defence technology has always been critical to defining super powers of the world. Our ambition is complete independence for India from defence imports," Dwarakanath said.

BBBS intends to achieve this by creating indigenous tech, integrating tech from other start-ups in solutions, consulting to ramp up indigenous manufacturing, and facilitating tech transfer deals, among others, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Purvanchal Morcha workers of the Delhi unit of the BJP will hold interactions with the city park-goers telling them about Modi government's schemes for their benefit while "exposing" AAP government in Delhi.

The teams of Purvanchal Morcha will visit parks across the city, specially in areas dominated by people from Bihar and eastern UP (Purvanchalis) settled in Delhi, and explain to them how Modi government has worked for their welfare in the past five years, president of the Morcha, Manish Singh, said.

"The campaign will begin from Thursday with Purvanchal Morcha visiting 15-16 major parks in each of the 14 districts in the national capital to popularise schemes and work of the Modi government," Singh said.

The planning for the park visits by Morcha workers was discussed in a meeting on Wednesday, attended by Singh, vice president of the outfit Jagdamba, general secretary Rahul Ranjan, and district presidents.

"We will focus on those areas where Purvhanchali population is concentrated in the city," Singh said.

Singh claimed the community, comprising 44 per cent of the Delhi voters, is "disillusioned" by the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) which they "wholeheartedly" supported in the 2015 Assembly elections.

The Morcha has so far held over 1,200 meetings in different parts of the city having sizeable Purvanchali population. It has set a target to hold 2,000 such meetings by April 20 in the run-up to the general elections, he said.

"In most of these meetings, Purvanchalis expressed their disenchantment with (Chief Minister and AAP supremo) Arvind Kejriwal. We will expose how the AAP which formed government in Delhi has failed to meet the aspirations of the people including the Purvanchali community," Singh said.

The Morcha has also planned a state-level meet on Sunday to discuss way forward in campaigning for the party, he added.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections begin from April 11 and Delhi goes to polls in the sixth phase on May 12.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 37-year-old builder was arrested for allegedly cheating people to the tune of Rs 1.2 crore by selling already sold flats to them in south Delhi's Fatehpur Beri, police said Wednesday.

The accused identified as Yogesh Kumar Bhati, a resident of Sultanpur village was arrested on Tuesday, they said.

Bhati had sold the same property through sale deed to different persons and received 30 lakhs per flat from the buyers, police said.

Fatehpur Beri police station received multiple complaints against Bhati alleging him of selling already sold flats to different persons.

On March 8, a complainant, Sanjeet Kumar alleged that Bhati has cheated him of lakhs by re-selling a flat he had already sold to him.

According to Sanjeeth, he had booked a flat in Sultanpur village, by agreement to sale dated January 27, 2017 with Bhati, Vijay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) said.

Total value of the flat was Rs 28 lakhs and he paid the entire amount to Bhati in different transactions. He got the sale deed registration in the name of his wife dated August 29, 2018. Possession of the flat was handed over to him and he had put lock on his flat as some renovation work was to be carried out by Bhati, Sanjeet said.

But, on Januray 7, 2019, when Sanjeeth went to his flat, he found some persons inside his flat and learnt that they had also purchased the flat from Bhati, he added.

When questioned, Bhati agreed to return his money with damages. He handed over him two cheques of Rs 34 lakh and promised to pay remaining balance with damages after few days. He presented the cheque to his bank but cheques bounced with remarks of "Payments stopped", the DCP said.

Another complainant, Tanuj Kumar alleged that he purchased the third floor of a property at Sultanpur village from Bhati at Rs 60 lakhs. He paid the amount in different transactions through cheque and cash, he said.

Bhati told him that some renovation work had to be carried out. When complainant visited the said property, he noticed that three persons were occupying the three portions of third floor of the said property, the officer said.

Details of the bank account used by the accused persons to receive the money are being verified. Further investigation is underway, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Saudi court hearing in the high-profile trial of detained women ended Wednesday without bail for eight of them, campaigners said, following the provisional release of three detainees last week.

Eleven women, some of whom allegedly faced torture and sexual abuse during nearly a year in detention, are on trial in Riyadh's criminal court on charges that include contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups.

Three of them -- blogger Eman al-Nafjan, retired university lecturer Aziza al-Youssef and preacher Rokaya al-Mohareb -- were seen entering the court after they were provisionally freed last Thursday.

The others were subsequently expected to be freed, but there was no decision from the three-judge panel on Wednesday.

"The third trial session for the Saudi women activists has ended with NO VERDICTS against any of them, and with no temporary release to any of them," Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners, said on Twitter.

It added that the next court hearing was scheduled for April 17.

There was no immediate comment from the court, but the development was corroborated by multiple other activists and people with access to the trial.

Most of the activists were detained last summer in a wide-ranging crackdown against women campaigners just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female motorists.

At an emotionally charged hearing last week, some of the women broke down while testifying that they faced torture and sexual harassment in detention.

They accused interrogators of subjecting them to electric shocks, flogging and groping in detention, two people with access to the trial told AFP.

At least one of the detained women tried to commit suicide following her mistreatment, a close relative said.

The Saudi government, facing sharp global criticism over its human rights record, denies the women were tortured or harassed.

The trial has intensified criticism of the kingdom over human rights following global outrage over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder by Saudi agents last October at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland is in the process of developing a new modular platform on which it plans to roll out its future medium and heavy products from next year, a top company official said.

This will fuel the next round of growth in domestic and overseas markets, he added.

The company, which has earmarked a capex of Rs 1,500 crore for various projects during the current fiscal, is also working on a separate platform for light commercial vehicles (LCVs).

The new platforms are expected to come on stream next year, thus helping the company consolidate its presence, especially in the international markets.

"We are working on a modular business program. So in 2020 with the introduction of BS VI vehicles we will be coming out with a new platform," Ashok Leyland Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja told PTI in an interview here.

The new platform would help the Hinduja Group flagship firm cater to various customer demands in a cost effective manner, he added.

The new modular platfrom will give a major advantage as the company's export sales were limited for many years as it did not have a strong portfolio of left-hand drive vehicles, he added.

"As a result of this platform, we will be able to introduce virtually every product with left-hand drive version as well," Hinduja said.

The company has been working over the last 18 months on a new LCV platform which it intends to introduce in April 2020.

Even with the limited range currently, the company has been able to garner a market share of around 18 per cent in the domestic market, he added.

"So both domestic and international (markets), trucks buses, light vehicles, heavy vehicles we will have a new range of products starting from 2020," Hinduja said.

When asked about investments, Hinduja said, "This year it would be Rs 1,500 crore and it will carry on next year as well. This year will be most probably peak year of investment and then it will come down gradually."



The capex would also cover areas like electric vehicles range development, BS VI emission norms compliance among others, he added.

The new product range would give a thrust to the company in international markets, Hinduja said.

"Our traditional markets have been the Middle East, SAARC countries and some pockets in Africa. With the LCV and ICV (intermediate commercial vehicle) range (Boss and Guru) we will be able to enter ASEAN market as well," he said.

In some markets where volumes are promising, the company can also come up with some assembly plants, he added.

"But these would be in a very cost effective manner rather than putting up large manufacturing facilities. So we are working which countries it could be workable," Hinduja said.

Ashok Leyland currently has manufacturing operations across nine countries, including the UAE, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, the UK and Kenya.

The company is now among the top ten truck makers globally, besides being among the top five bus makers globally.

"We had a vision set eight years ago, that was to be global top ten in truck categorised over 8 tonnes and global top five in buses. So a few months ago we reached that target. When we started the journey we were at 19th position on the global basis," Hinduja said.

He further said: "Going ahead looking at the success we have achieved so far, we have infact now put together a more aggressive vision for the company...it is to make Ashok Leyland a leading global player."



In 2018-19, the company sold a total of 1,97,366 units, up 13 per cent from 1,74,873 units in 2017-18.

On introduction of BS VI emission norms compliant vehicles next year, Hinduja said, the company has already proven the engines in the test bed.

"We still have a year to go. Teams (working on it) are quite confident and comfortable...we will be ready. In all important initiatives we have never failed," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Disclosure of highly confidential information like deliberations of collegium in appointing or elevating judges under the transparency law would be "deleterious to functioning" of the judiciary, the Supreme Court was told by its registry on Wednesday.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi commenced hearing on three appeals filed in 2010 by Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Central Public Information officer of the apex court against the Delhi High Court order holding that the CJI's office comes under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, representing Supreme Court's Secretary General, referred to the high court orders and said that first case pertained to Central Information Commission's direction to reveal deliberations of collegium and its communications with the government on the issue of appointments of former judges H L Dattu, R M Lodha and A Ganguly in the top court in supersession of Justices A P Shah, A K Patnaik and V K Gupta.

The law officer said the second case pertained to CIC's direction on disclosure of personal assets by apex court judges.

The third one was related to direction to the CPIO of the apex court to disclose the information under RTI about alleged action of a Union minister who attempted to influence a Madras HC judge.

Venugopal opposed disclosure of information under RTI on collegium's deliberations. He also said though the details of assets of judges constituted personal information and are covered under right to privacy, they may be provided in "larger public interest".

He, however, supported the disclosure of information with regard to attempt of the minister to influence the Madras High Court judge.

"Disclosure of such highly confidential information will be deleterious to the functioning of the judiciary," Venugopal told the bench which also comprised Justices N V Ramana, D Y Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

Disclosure of deliberations of collegium in appointing or overlooking senior judges would open "pandora's box" and this would adversely affect the independence of judiciary, the Attorney General said.

"There is a possibility of people making frivolous complaints once a judge is sought to be elevated or a lawyer is considered for the appointment as a judge. Adverse remarks are invited just because he is sought to be elevated," he said.

He said what if an advocate, who has not applied, is being considered for appointment as a judge by collegium which later deicides not to appoint him. In that condition, if adverse findings against him were made public under the RTI, it would "ruin" his reputation, career and would result in ostracisation of his family.

He said that judges perform Constitutional function as collegium members and hold "free and frank" discussions on elevation and appointment of judges and their deliberations cannot be made public as it would breach their "privilege and fiduciary" position.

A High Court judge, who has been overlooked and superseded by others, would not be able function independently if the reasons for the non-elevation were made public to a third unconnected party, he said.

"At this point, he (the judge who has been overlooked) is humiliated. There will be a IB report against. How can this person discharge his functions with full independence. Therefore, independence of judiciary is affected...

"The public loses confidence in him, clients lose confidence with him. He is completely isolated if adverse reports of IB is put in public. That is why this should be kept in utmost confidence," he said.

Venugopal termed as "terrible" the plea for disclosure of deliberations of collegium. "There has to be total confidentiality, otherwise collegium will not be able to function independently."



The law officer extensively referred to the 1981 judgement of a seven judge bench in the judges transfer case, also known as S P Gupta case, and said that in today's changing times the verdict will have no application.

He said that only the judge concerned can seek such information from the collegium and such information cannot be given to a third party.

Venugopal also dealt with the term 'information' and said that it should must exist on records in clear sense and the information seekers cannot ask the authorities to compute and collate details and give them under RTI.

"Information should be existing in a physical form. Application should not call for fresh compilation of documents," he said.

Venugopal referred to the provisions of the RTI Act relating to the exemptions and the information which cannot be disclosed and said that personal information are protected.

He said the right to know is part of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 and this right has to be subject to reasonable restrictions.

The bench asked Venugopal to apprise it the position with regard to public disclosure of assets by the lawmakers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

At the fag end of the hearing, the CJI, on the lighter note, said judges, at the beginning of their careers, start as rich persons and become poor while doing judgeship and nobody was interested in knowing it.

"Then raise the salary," Venugopal said.

The bench would resume hearing on the pleas tomorrow when lawyer Prashant Bhushan would argue on behalf of RTI activist S C Agarwal on whose petitions HC verdicts had come.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The telecom ministry will seek approval from the Election Commission to move its Cabinet proposal offering VRS for MTNL and BSNL employees, an official source said Wednesday.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is preparing a Cabinet note recommending voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for BSNL and MTNL employees above 50 years of age.

"The DoT is preparing a Cabinet note for seeking its approval to grant VRS to BSNL and MTNL employees. The Department is going to immediately approach Election Commission for its nod to approach the Cabinet," a government official told reporters.

BSNL has 1.76 lakh employees across India and MTNL has 22,000. It is estimated that 16,000 MTNL employees and 50 per cent of BSNL staff will retire in the next 5-6 years.

The VRS for BSNL and MTNL could have a revenue impact of Rs 6,365 crore and Rs 2,120 crore, respectively.

The DoT plans to fund the VRS through issue of 10-year bond. The bonds would be paid back by lease revenue that they will get from land asset monetisation.

The revenue to wage ratio in case of MTNL has swelled to 90 per cent while in the case of BSNL it is around 60-70 per cent.

Both telecom firms have requested the government to grant VRS for employees on the Gujarat model.

Under the Gujarat model, an amount equivalent to 35 days of salary for each completed year of service, and 25 days of salary for each year of service left till retirement is offered.

When asked about the number of employees to be covered under the proposed VRS, the officer said it will cover all employees above 50 years of age.

The exact number cannot be determined as it is a voluntary scheme and cannot be forced on employees, the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Dutch lawmakers have voted in favour of a motion to petition Brussels to ringfence the rights of British and European Union citizens in case of a no-deal Brexit, a parliamentary official said Wednesday.

"The motion was accepted with a majority of 97 votes," in the 150-seat Lower House late Tuesday, Dutch parliamentary spokesman Leon van Schie told AFP.

The motion tabled by progressive D66 lawmaker Kees Verhoeven and the Christian Democrats' Pieter Omtzigt aims to lobby the European Union to separate the issue of rights of British and EU citizens in case of a hard Brexit, deadlined for April 12.

Currently British expatriates' rights are being dealt with on a country-by-country basis within the EU, including by the Netherlands, the lawmakers said.

At the same time, EU citizens' rights will be "at the mercy of the British authorities in case of a no-deal Brexit," they added in their motion.

As the spectre of a disorderly departure from the EU grew, the lawmakers said "we are of the opinion that the part that protects citizens' civil rights should be separated from the Brexit accord." This is despite the fact that the "Dutch government is taking serious steps to guarantee Britons' residence rights in the Netherlands," the motion said.

A "no deal" risked huge disruption on both sides of the Channel, affecting everything from flights, to trade and causing uncertainty to millions of expatriates.

The current non-deal contingency plan for British citizens in the EU "amounted to little more than calling on EU member states to be generous," said The3million, a group that fights for the rights of foreign nationals in Britain.

It hoped the Dutch decision "will be a catalyst for the European Council to declare support in turn," it told the Dutch expatriate site Dutchnews.nl.

"I prefer a European solution to a country-by-country solution," CDA lawmaker Omtzigt told AFP.

"So yes, I would expect (Prime Minister Mark) Rutte to bring this up on April 10, if a hard Brexit is then on the cards," he said.

The Dutch government has been praised for its handling of British expatriates living in the country after it said it would give them a 15-month grace period to apply to stay after a no-deal exit.

But Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in January that approximately 45,000 Britons and their relatives living in the Netherlands would no longer be able to claim residency as EU citizens if there was a no-deal Brexit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Election Commission has sought a clarification from a BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Maharashtra, after his purported remarks in a Hindi TV channel sting video about poll expenses.

Wardha district collector Vivek Bhimanwar, who is also the returning officer, sought the clarification over the TV sting from Ramdas Tadas, who is pitted against Charulata Tokas of Congress, an official said on Wednesday after the sting was aired on the TV channel.

The sting was done by the newly-launched Hindi channel 'TV9 Bharatvarsh' which recorded responses from 18 MPs, of whom 15 MPs, it claimed, allegedly admitted to using poll malpractices. The MPs from different states belonged to the BJP, Congress, AAP, LJP, SP, RJD, Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) and Jan Adhikar Party(JAP).

In Mumbai, Deputy Election Officer Shirish Mohod said the election authorities have taken cognisance of the sting operation and given necessary directives to the Wardha collector.

In the sting video, Tadas, a sitting MP, is shown purportedly saying that his poll expenditure this time is around Rs 25 crore, while it was around Rs 10 crore in 2014 polls and how cash can be brought to his house.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the Election Commission should investigate and remove Tadas from poll fray.

Undercover reporters of the channel, representing themselves as employees of a consultancy company, conducted sting operation, said a statement issued by the channel.

Fifteen MPs explicitly talked about use of black money, liquor and other illegal means during election campaign to "woo and buy votes", it alleged. Some of them were also ready to ask questions in Parliament in return for money, the channel claimed.

Some of the parties whose MPs figure in the sting said they will seek a report from the politicians concerned.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Election Commission is learnt to have sought details of Namo TV from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after the issue was flagged by the Congress and the Aam Admi Party which wanted to know whether political parties having own channels was violative of the model code of conduct.

The Commission, among other issues, is learnt to have asked about details of the launch of the channel.

The channel, also called 'Content TV', carries the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its logo. It was launched ahead of Lok Sabha polls beginning April 11. It is available on various DTH and cable TV platforms.

It shows speeches of the PM and interviews of BJP leaders.

The AAP had recently written to the EC complaining against 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 Modi's photograph on its logo and runs all his speeches.

"Can permission be granted to a party to have its own TV channel even after the model code is enforced? If no permission was given by the ECI, then what action has been taken?," the AAP said in its letter to the poll panel.

It had also asked if the Bharatiya Janata Party had approached the Media Certification Committee, established to certify content and cost of a telecast.

The Congress had also moved the poll panel over the channel, saying it was violative of the poll code and the Representation of the People Act.

The EC has also learnt to have written separately to Dordarshan for telecasting live the 'Main bhi chowkidar' programme of Modi on March 31 evening for one hour.

The Congress had written to EC against the BJP's alleged "misuse" of Doordarshan in broadcasting certain speeches by Prime Minister Modi.

The Congress has called for a level playing field for all parties in election campaigning.

The 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' programme of the prime minister was being broadcast live on DD and its YouTube channel, and the said programme was even being promoted on social media handles of DD News, the Congress memorandum said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)From 6 April, many people living in Scotland will be paying substantially more income tax than someone on equal earnings in the rest of the UK. In his October Budget, the UK Chancellor announced that from April, those earning up to 50k would not pay higher rate (40%) income tax. But as income tax bands and rates are devolved, this didnt apply to workers in Scotland and the Scottish Finance Secretary dashed hopes of an equivalent rise for Scots, leaving the higher rate tax threshold unchanged at 43,430, 6,570 lower than in the rest of the UK. This means people in Scotland start paying higher rate tax on earnings 6,570 sooner than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK. Many also pay income tax at higher percentage rates, which for earning above 43,430 in Scotland is 41%. Someone earning 50k in England, Wales or Northern Ireland would pay 7,500 in income tax from the 2019/20 tax year, while someone earning the same figure in Scotland would pay 9,044 which is 1,544 a year more or 128 a month extra. For many, this will look like a significant sum and many will be looking for the Scottish Government to demonstrate what extra services Scottish taxpayers are receiving for the difference. To add insult to injury, Scots face a double whammy because in line with the rest of the UK, they will pay National Insurance at a rate of 12% on earnings up to 50k, before this reduces to 2% on earnings above this level. So from next April, a Scottish resident earning 50k or above will pay an extra 340 per year in National Insurance. While this will also be the case across the UK, someone earning 50k in the rest of the UK, is saving 860 a year in income tax, giving them an overall boost to take-home pay of 520 a year from next April compared to currently. For Scots earning between 43,431 and 50,000, one perfectly legitimate or canny way of avoiding paying higher rate tax is through paying more into your pension. Contributions to pensions are granted tax relief at the individuals highest marginal income tax rate. This means someone in Scotland earning 50,000 will be entitled to up to 41% tax relief on their pension contributions, whereas someone earning the same in the rest of the UK would be entitled to only 20% tax relief. For this individual in Scotland, a pension contribution of 6,570 would avoid them paying higher rate tax entirely, giving a total income tax saving of 2693 a year. Some employers will also allow individuals to sacrifice part of their salary in return for a pension contributions being paid by your employer. This has the further benefit of meaning the individual doesnt pay NI on the amount sacrificed. Someone earning 50,000 paying pensions contributions through salary sacrifice could save not only 41% income tax but also 12% National Insurance. The NI saving by sacrificing 6,570 could amount to 788. If thinking of paying extra pension contributions or asking your employer to sacrifice part of your salary, we always recommend you first seek professional financial advice.

Drug firm Emcure Pharmaceuticals Wednesday said it has launched generic metastatic breast cancer treatment drug under the brand name 'Eribilin' in India.

The product is a generic version of Eisai Pharmaceutical's cancer drug sold under the brand name, Halaven, Emcure Pharmaceuticals said in a statement.

"Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer affecting women in India and its incidence is on the rise. Currently available treatment for triple negative breast cancer in India is out of reach of most patients due to its high cost," Emcure Pharmaceuticals Business Strategy & Specialty Business President Sainath Iyer said.

Emcure's Eribilin will change this scenario by offering the drug at a reasonable price to the patients in India, he added.

The company will manufacture the product at its plant at Hinjewadi in Pune and market it at a cost which will be approximately 40 per cent less than the innovator brand, Emcure Pharmaceuticals said.

"The drug would currently be marketed in India, however Emcure plans to register the brand in international markets as well, wherever the drug is about to go off-patent," the company said.

Emcure Pharmaceutials currently has presence in oncology, nephrology, antiretroviral, gynaecology, cardiac, anti-malarial and anti-infective therapies segments.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The European Union condemned Brunei's new laws Wednesday, saying some of the "cruel" punishments now permitted under a sharia penal code amount to torture and breach international human rights agreements.

The legislation introduced in the tiny sultanate, which includes death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, as well as amputation of hands and feet for thieves, has triggered a storm of global criticism from politicians, celebrities and rights groups.

"Some of the punishments foreseen in the criminal code amount to torture, acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," an EU spokesperson said in a statement.

The statement said the punishments breached the UN convention against torture, which Brunei signed up to in 2015.

"It is critical that the government of Brunei-Darussalam ensures that the implementation of the Penal Code Order does not infringe on human rights and is fully consistent with all international and regional human rights commitments and obligations undertaken by Brunei-Darussalam," the statement said, adding that the EU expected Brunei to maintain its de facto moratorium on executions.

The laws make Brunei the first place in East or Southeast Asia to have a sharia penal code at the national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.

The decision to push ahead with the punishments after years of delays has sparked alarm, with the UN labelling them "cruel and inhumane" and celebrities led by actor George Clooney and pop star Elton John calling for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)European Union (EU), Russia, and Costa Rica have expressed their interest to join consultations sought by Guatemala under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism against India's sugar subsidies.

Thailand, Brazil and Australia too have sought consultations from India under the dispute settlement mechanism, alleging that New Delhi's sugar subsidies to farmers are inconsistent with global trade rules.

The EU, Russia, and Costa Rica in separate communications to the WTO have said that they have substantial trade interest in these consultations as they are major players in the sector.

The EU stated that following the end of the sugar quotas, it became a net exporter of sugar in 2017-18 marketing year, with exports increasing by 70 per cent to more than 3 million tonnes per year.

"With exports to India of sugar increasing more than ten times in a single year in the 2017/2018 marketing year compared to the average of the two preceding marketing years, the EU has the potential to become a major supplier to India," the EU said in its communication to the WTO.

Similarly, Russia said that as it is one of the major exporters and consumers of sugar, India's application of the measures may have direct effect on its exports.

Costa Rica too stated that it has a substantial trade interest in these consultations as the country is a producer and exporter of sugar.

Seeking consultation is the first step of dispute settlement process. If the two nations are not able to reach a mutually agreed solution through consultation, India may request for a WTO dispute settlement panel to review the matter.

Guatemala has sought consultations with India under the rules and procedures governing the settlement of disputes of the Geneva-based 164-member WTO.

It has filed dispute last month under certain articles of WTO's Agreement on Agriculture, Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 with respect to domestic support measures maintained by India in favour of producers of sugarcane and sugar, and export subsidies for sugarcane and sugar.

The Central American country has said that India maintains various domestic support measures in favour of sugarcane and sugar producers, such as a system of administered prices for sugar cane which operates at the federal level through the Fair and Remunerative Price; a minimum selling price for sugar; and additional measures that provide financial assistance to sugarcane producers which include production subsidies to mills to offset sugarcane price arrears, and subsidies to maintain buffer stocks.

As per rules, these six countries would have to seek approval from India and Guatemala to join the consultation process.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Evan Peters has ruled out his return for the next season of anthology show "American Horror Story".

The 32-year-old actor has been with the FX show since its inception, making appearances in all of the eight previous seasons.

During the WonderCon event, the actor was asked whether he will be involved with the show's yet-untitled ninth season.

"No, I'm gonna sit a season out," Peters replied.

The actor is currently gearing up for "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" where he reprises his role of mutant Quicksilver.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Every third elderly person suffers misbehaviour or mistreatment in Delhi and neighbouring cities, according to a new study an NGO has claimed.

Agewell Foundation in a statement on Wednesday said, it conducted a national-level survey for the fifth session of Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWG) for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons which will be held on July 31 and August 1 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The OEWG is a UN working group that meets in New York. It was established by a resolution at the 2010 General Assembly.

"The survey sample respondents included 8,000 elderly people from Delhi-NCR and concluded that out of 2,743 affected elderly respondents, 985 persons ranked misbehaviour as the most common form of abuse of elders," the NGO said in the statement.

According to a study, this is the "most common" form of abuse of elders in the region.

"Population aging is a worldwide phenomenon, and India is no exception. Indian population has approximately tripled during the last 50 years, but the number of elderly Indians (above 60 years) has increased more than four-fold.

"The 2011 census has shown that the elderly population (60 years) of India accounted for 98.3 million, which was projected to cross the 100 million mark during the same year," it said.

Agewell Foundation is a not-for-profit NGO, working for the welfare and empowerment of older persons across the country since 1999.

Agewell has set up a two-tier network of over 7,500 primary and 80,000 secondary volunteers spread across 640 districts of India and interacts with over 25,000 older persons on daily basis through its volunteers' network, according to the NGO.

It has been granted Associate NGO status by Department of Public Information, United Nations (UN-DPI), it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Odisha DGP Prakash Chandra Mishra Wednesday filed his nomination papers from the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat as a BJP candidate.

Mishra, also a former Director General of CRPF, had joined the BJP last month.

The retired IPS officer would contest from Cuttack, a traditional BJD seat that had reposed faith on journalist- turned-politician Bhartruhari Mahatab for last five terms.

Apart from Mahatab, Mishra will also lock horns with another seasoned politician, Panchanan Kanungo of the Congress. Polling for the seat will take place on April 23.

Mahatab and Kanungo also filed their nominations papers on the day.

"There is a remarkable turnaround visible among the voters in the state, who are disgusted with the ruling BJD, and want a change," Mishra said.

Mishra said Cuttack district and particularly the Millennium City was always very close to his heart during his service period.

"I have spent more time in this district and even during my DG tenure, I was staying in the city whereas many of my predecessors were staying at Bhubaneswar. The city has many inherent problems and the present dispensation have consistently neglected it," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Algeria's Constitutional Council formalised President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's departure Wednesday from the office he held for two decades, as rattled international partners watched closely to see what's next for an energy-rich country that is a key player in fighting terrorism.

Bouteflika himself asked the Algerians people for forgiveness the day after he stepped down following weeks of protests and the loss of the army's support.

He urged citizens in a farewell letter "to stay united, and never divide yourselves."



Bouteflika himself asked for forgiveness from his compatriots after stepping down in the wake of mass protests, and urged them in a farewell letter "to stay united, and never divide yourselves."



Algerians faced a new and uncertain era, after the resignation of a man who had ruled Algeria for 20 years and had been a fixture in the Arab world's political landscape for decades.

A discreet, 77-year-old Bouteflika ally the president of the upper house of the Algerian Parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah is expected to take over as interim leader while Algeria plans elections. But that might further anger the protesters who drove Bouteflika from power, and who want to overhaul a political system seen as secretive, elitist and corrupt.

"Our session today is related to establishing the vacancy of the post of president of the republic, following the resignation of Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika yesterday," said Constitutional Council president Tayeb Belaiz at Wednesday's meeting.

The 12-member body then formally notified Parliament that Algeria no longer has a president. Both chambers of the national legislature are expected to meet to name the president of the upper house as interim leader for 90 days while elections are organized.

A much-diminished Bouteflika, 82, appeared on images shown on national television Tuesday night handing his resignation letter to the Constitutional Council president. Bouteflika, who hasn't spoken publicly to the nation since a 2013 stroke, appeared pale and weak and wore a traditional robe instead of his habitual suits.

In the public farewell letter released Wednesday by state agency APS, Bouteflika acknowledged that some of his actions as president were less than successful, writing: "I ask your forgiveness for any failing toward you."



But he also said, "I am leaving the political scene without sadness or fear, for the future of our country."



He said he hoped Algeria's new leaders take the nation to "horizons of progress and prosperity." Women and young people, who led the protest movement that pressured him out of office, are "the beating heart of our nation" and deserve special attention, Bouteflika wrote.

He notably praised those who fought alongside him for Algeria's independence from colonial France and urged Algerians to live up to their example and honor their sacrifices.

Algerian protesters celebrated his departure with songs and flag-waving in the capital Tuesday night.

New protests are already planned for Friday, after six straight Fridays of massive, peaceful gatherings that surprised the entrenched leadership by their strength and persistence.

Bensalah, the man expected to serve as interim leader, has led the upper house for most of Bouteflika's four terms. A one-time journalist and former ambassador, Bensalah has held senior political positions for the past 25 years but has kept a low profile, rarely giving interviews or appearing at public events.

He's known as a politician who works behind the scenes to strike compromises and solve problems, and who avoids controversial debates and is very much part of the political elite.

Demonstrators worry that those who would play a role in the political transition are too close to the distrusted power structure, including Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, accused of contributing to fraud in the last presidential election in 2014 and cracking down on past protests.

However, the protest movement doesn't have a single, unifying alternative to the current political system.

Another question is what the influential military and Bouteflika's entourage will do next. Military chief of staff Ahmed Gaid Salah appeared to trigger Bouteflika's departure by pushing to get him declared unfit for office.

Countries around the world are watching Algeria's political crisis, wondering whether a transfer of power could impact gas and oil deliveries to Europe, Cuba and around Africa or crucial security cooperation with Europe and the U.S.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against foreign interference in Algerian and said Wednesday that "we hope the internal processes in that country ... will by no means affect the friendly nature of our relations." Algeria's foreign minister recently visited Russia, and the countries have been economic and geopolitical allies since the Soviet era.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed hope that Algerians would "pursue this democratic transition in the same spirit of calm and responsibility" that has marked the protests that drove Bouteflika from office.

France, Algeria's former colonial ruler and a key trading partner, had come under fire for seeming to support Bouteflika earlier in the movement.

The U.S. State Department, which has expressed support for the peaceful protests, said it's now up to Algerians to decide the next steps. Since fighting an Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, Algeria has cooperated closely with the U.S. and Europe against terrorism.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)was already seeping into everyday life from your photos on Facebook to police scans of mugshots when Joy Buolamwini noticed a serious glitch: Some of the software couldn't detect dark-skinned faces like hers.

That revelation sparked the Massachusetts Institute of researcher to launch a project that's having an outsize influence on the debate over how should be deployed in the real world.

Her tests on software created by brand-name tech firms such as Amazon uncovered much higher error rates in classifying the gender of darker-skinned women than for lighter-skinned men.

Along the way, Buolamwini has spurred Microsoft and IBM to improve their systems and irked Amazon, which publicly attacked her research methods.

On Wednesday, a group of AI scholars, including a winner of computer science's top prize, launched a spirited defense of her work and called on Amazon to stop selling its software to police.

Her work has also caught the attention of political leaders in statehouses and Congress and led some to seek limits on the use of computer vision tools to analyze human faces.

"There needs to be a choice," said Buolamwini, a graduate student and researcher at MIT's Media Lab. "Right now, what's happening is these technologies are being deployed widely without oversight, oftentimes covertly, so that by the time we wake up, it's almost too late."



Buolamwini is hardly alone in expressing caution about the fast-moving adoption of by police, government agencies and businesses from stores to apartment complexes.

Many other researchers have shown how AI systems, which look for patterns in huge troves of data, will mimic the institutional biases embedded in the data they are learning from.

For instance, if AI systems are developed using images of mostly white men, the systems will work best in recognising white men.

Those disparities can sometimes be a matter of life or death: One recent study of the computer vision systems that enable self-driving cars to "see" the road shows they have a harder time detecting pedestrians with darker skin tones.

What's struck a chord about Boulamwini's work is her method of testing the systems created by well-known companies. She applies such systems to a skin-tone scale used by dermatologists, then names and shames those that show racial and

Buolamwini, who's also founded a coalition of scholars, activists and others called the Algorithmic Justice League, has blended her scholarly investigations with activism.

"It adds to a growing body of evidence that facial recognition affects different groups differently," said Shankar Narayan, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington state, where the group has sought restrictions on the

"Joy's work has been part of building that awareness." Amazon, whose CEO, Jeff Bezos, she emailed directly last summer, has responded by aggressively taking aim at her research methods.

A Buolamwini-led study published just over a year ago found disparities in how facial-analysis systems built by IBM, Microsoft and the Chinese company Face Plus Plus classified people by gender.

Darker-skinned women were the most misclassified group, with error rates of up to 34.7 per cent. By contrast, the maximum error rate for lighter-skinned males was less than 1 per cent.

The study called for "urgent attention" to address the bias.

"I responded pretty much right away," said Ruchir Puri, chief scientist of IBM Research, describing an email he received from Buolamwini last year.

Since then, he said, "it's been a very fruitful relationship" that informed IBM's unveiling this year of a new 1 million-image database for better analysing the diversity of human faces. Previous systems have been overly reliant on what Buolamwini calls "pale male" image repositories.

Microsoft, which had the lowest error rates, declined comment.

Messages left with Megvii, which owns Face Plus Plus, weren't immediately returned.

Months after her first study, when Buolamwini worked with University of Toronto researcher Inioluwa Deborah Raji on a follow-up test, all three companies showed major improvements.

But this time they also added Amazon, which has sold the system it calls Rekognition to law enforcement agencies. The results, published in late January, showed Amazon badly misidentifying darker-hued women.

"We were surprised to see that Amazon was where their competitors were a year ago," Buolamwini said.

Amazon dismissed what it called Buolamwini's "erroneous claims" and said the study confused facial analysis with facial recognition, improperly measuring the former with techniques for evaluating the latter.

"The answer to anxieties over new technology is not to run 'tests' inconsistent with how the service is designed to be used, and to amplify the test's false and misleading conclusions through the news media," Matt Wood, general manager of for Amazon's cloud-computing division, wrote in a January blog post.

Amazon declined requests for an interview.

"I didn't know their reaction would be quite so hostile," Buolamwini said recently in an interview at her MIT lab.

Coming to her defense Wednesday was a coalition of researchers, including AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio , recent winner of the Turing Award, considered the tech field's version of the Nobel Prize.Social media helped parents of a boy, who went missing from here in 2011, in tracing him to Punjab and reunite, city police said Wednesday.

The boy, whose Facebook profile came to the notice of his mother by chance, was found at Ranakala village in Amritsar district after Cyber Crime sleuths traced the internet protocol address of the network used by him, Rachakonda Police CommissionerMaheshM Bhagwat said.

He was missing since January 26, 2011 after he left his home without informing anyone. His mother had filed a police complaint then but the boy remained untraced.

Meanwhile, the woman in August, 2018 came across the Facebook profile under the name "Dinesh Jena Lima" with her son's photograph and lodged a fresh complaint.

The Cyber Crime sleuths investigated the matter, collected the IP address and traced the location of the missing boy to Amritsar district, Bhagwat said.

A police team went to Punjab and brought back the boy, who was under the guardianship of a landlord there, and reunited him with his parents, the Commissioner added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress Wednesday said it has complained to the Election Commission about the release of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's biopic ahead of the polls, saying it was an example of absolute desperation and is based on a "flop person" who has proved to be a "zero".

Questioning the timing of its release, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it should be ascertained whether black money was used for producing the film.

"We have said that the Election Commission should take note of the biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It is a bogus film of a flop hero, a flop producer and is made on a flop person who has proved to be a zero," he told reporters.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said, "What Vivek Oberoi is saying, he should go and tell the Election Commission which has already issued a notice to him on our representation."



"This is another example of absolute desperation. We have led three delegations to the Election Commission in one week," he said.

The Congress earlier complained to the poll panel against the BJP's alleged "misuse" of Doordarshan in broadcasting certain speeches of Modi.

The Congress has called for a level playing field for all parties in election campaigning.

It also complained to the Election Commission about Namo TV, which carries a picture of Modi in its logo.

The biopic of Modi, featuring Vivek Oberoi, is set to release on April 5, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Nitin Gadkari said Wednesday that he was "pained" by the remarks made by People's Republican Party (PRP) leader Jaideep Kawade against BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani.

Kawade is son of Maharashtra legislator Jogendra Kawade who heads PRP, a Congress ally.

Speaking to a channel, Gadkari, BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Nagpur, said, "It is very unfortunate, I have very good relations with Jogendra Kawade and his family. I felt very sad and pained that his son should make such a statement against a woman.

"I am personally very hurt," said Gadkari.

Jaideep allegedly made certain misogynistic remarks against Irani at an election rally here Monday.

Election authorities lodged a complaint against him and he was arrested Wednesday under IPC sections 295 (A) (acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 500 (defamation) and 294 (obscene acts) before being released on bail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chemical firms in Germany will urge their hundreds of thousands of employees to get out and vote in European Parliament elections next month, the powerful VCI industry federation said Wednesday.

The campaign would "highlight the advantages of a Europe that is united and capable of acting," said Hans Van Bylen, VCI president and chief executive of chemical heavyweight Henkel.

Like other sectors, the chemical industry fears the European Union could be weakened by a surge in support for far-right parties that question the entire project.

A European Parliament with stronger anti-establishment representation could hobble Brussels in trade confrontations with the United States and China, or hamstring attempts to deepen economic integration among the 27 member states set to remain after Brexit.

Hoping to fend off the political extremes, the VCI's 1,700 member firms will organise "European dialogue" meetings for workers and neighbours, including opportunities to meet their local MEPs.

Meanwhile the federation has launched an information website and plans media advertising to encourage employees to vote on May 26.

"Companies in this sector live European integration every day," Van Bylen said, pointing to tens of billions of euros in trade each year with Germany's EU neighbours.

The chemical industry is the country's third-largest sector after car and machine-tool manufacturing, employing 462,000 people at companies ranging from global players such as BASF, Bayer, Merck or Linde to tiny family businesses.

As a whole, it turned over around 204 billion euros ($229 billion) in 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP chief Amit Shah Wednesday lambasted Congress leaders over the party's promise of reviewing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and withdrawing the anti-sedition law, saying they should "drown" themselves in a pool of water, as he pledged his party's support to the forces and sanctity of the AFSPA.

Addressing a rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur, the BJP chief also slammed former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti for advocating a separate prime minister for the state and threatening secession of J&K from India.

Shah hit the campaign trail in J&K in support of party candidates -- Union Minister Jitendra Singh and sitting MP Jugal Kishore -- addressing rallies at Udhampur and Sunderbani in Rajouri districts.

Earlier in the day, he also addressed a gathering in Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, where all five constituencies will go to polls in a single phase on April 11.

"Congress and its leaders should be ashamed of it (announcing dilution of AFSPA and removing sedition act). Go drown yourself in a pool of water. They have said in manifesto they will dilute AFSPA. They should be day-dreaming," Shah said, alleging the Congress manifesto promotes the interest of terrorists and anti-India forces.

"This is Narendra Modi government, nobody can dilute the AFSPA as we are standing like a rock behind the security forces, protecting (our) border," Shah asserted.

In its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls released Tuesday, the Congress promised that if voted to power it will review the AFSAP, which provides special powers to the force, in Jammu and Kashmir. It also proposed to omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code that defines the offence of 'sedition', saying it has been "misused" and become "redundant because of subsequent laws".

The BJP chief said the party brought down its government in J&K when the pressure came on it to dilute the AFSPA. "We kicked the chair. We left the government on the AFSPA. The Congress and its leaders should be ashamed of what they have announced."



He asked the people to decide whether they want the Congress that supports dilution of the AFSPA, or the BJP that wants its protection.

On the anti-sedition law, Shah wondered who the Congress was trying to "protect".

"Who do you want to protect? When anti-India slogans like 'bharat tere tukde honge' (India will be disintegrated) were shouted in the JNU, you stood with them in the name of freedom of speech. Do you want to protect those booked under the anti-sedition law?" he questioned.

Asserting that the BJP and its government have no tolerance to forces out to break the country, Shah said those raising slogans like 'bharat tere tukde honge' should not be allowed to go scot free. "Their place is in jails."



"It is a commitment of the BJP government that we will never allow the country to be disintegrated. Nobody will be allowed to disintegrate Jammu and Kashmir from India," Shah said.

He also criticised Mehbooba Mufti for saying that the relation of J&K with India will end if the terms and conditions of the state's accession to the Union were changed.

Hitting out at Omar Abdullah for his demand of a separate PM for the state, Shah asserted the BJP, whether in power or opposition, would not let this happen.

"Let Omar listen to it clearly with open ears. Whether the BJP is in power or in opposition, nobody will be allowed to snatch J&K from India. We will protect the state on our lives", he added.

"You (Omar) will make PM and we will sit silently?"



The National Conference vice-president had Monday said his party would not allow any attacks on J&K's special status and seek restoration of terms of accession of the state, including the provision for 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' (president) and prime minister posts.

Shah castigated Omar, Mehbooba and Rahul Gandhi, saying their "dreams" will never get fulfilled till the BJP is there.

Warning Pakistan, he said if one bullet comes from there "we will send shells from here. We will give a befitting reply".

Describing the BJP as a party that follows the ideals of Syama Prasada Mukherjee who made the supreme sacrifice in Kashmir, Shah said it will not let anything of the sort happen "till its last breath".

Taking a dig over the Congress, NC and PDP, Shah claimed "sadness had gripped" these parties and Pakistan after air strikes at Balakot.

"A surgical strike was not possible as Pakistan had deployed tanks along the borders. The Narendra Modi government carried out air strike and demolished the terror targets inside Pakistan," he added.

"At a time when the entire country celebrated the counter terror offensive, there was grief in Pakistan and in the offices of Congress, NC, and PDP," Shah claimed.

In the Uttarkashi rally, Shah asked Gandhi to clarify his stand on the comments of his electoral ally Abdullah.

"The Congress is having an electoral alliance with the party. I want to ask the Congress president to clarify to the nation whether or not he agrees with his ally's demand."



He stressed securing the country's border was the biggest achievement of the Modi government.

"When the UPA was in power any Aliya, Maliya, Jamaliya (Tom, Dick or Harry) crossed over into our territory, beheaded our soldiers and went back. There was no retaliation from our side. There was neither the courage nor the will to do so," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress has fielded MLA C J Chavda against BJP president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat and declared nine other candidates in Gujarat.

The opposition party released a list of four names including Chavda late Tuesday night and announced another six candidates Wednesday night.

With this, the Congress has so far declared candidates for 24 out of 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat, where the last date of filing of nominations is April 4 and the date of polling is April 23.

Chavda, a two-time MLA from Gandhinagar-North Assembly seat, said he will give a tough fight to Shah.

The Congress has also given ticket to Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti convener Geeta Patel, a supporter of Congress leader Hardik Patel, from Ahmedabad-East.

The party has fielded its Limbdi MLA Soma Patel from Surendranagar to take on the BJP's Mahendra Munjpara.

It has given ticket to Murubhai Kandoriya from Jamnagar -- from where Hardik Patel had earlier planned to contest -- against BJP's Poonam Madam.

The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to grant urgent hearing to Hardik Patel's plea seeking a stay to his conviction in a 2015 rioting case, virtually dashing his hopes of contesting the election.

In the list released Wednesday night, the Congress named Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Paresh Dhanani as its candidate from Amreli.

Dhanani filed his nomination papers in the afternoon even before his name was announced. He claimed the party high command asked him to file his papers.

The party fielded Parthi Bhatol, former BJP leader, from Banaskantha; sitting MLA from Modasa Rajendra Thakor from Sabarkantha and Manahar Patel from Bhavnagar.

It has also given ticket to another BJP turncoat, Bimal Shah, from Kheda, and fielded Ashok Adhevada from Surat.

The state unit of the party is expecting announcement of candidates for the remaining two seats by Wednesday night.

The BJP has so far announced 25 candidates. It is yet to declare its nominee from Ahmedabad-East.

The saffron party had swept all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat in 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Gunmen in Uganda have abducted an American tourist and his driver inside a national park close to the border with Democratic Republic of Congo, government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said Wednesday.

Ugandan soldiers are hunting the gunmen, who abducted the pair around dusk on Tuesday.

"Four armed men, not yet identified, between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm, staged an ambush and kidnapped an American tourist with his Ugandan driver near Katoke Gate in the Queen Elizabeth National Park," Opondo said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Slamming the trial court, police and prosecution for various lapses in a rape-cum-murder case, the Madras High Court Wednesday acquitted all three accused sentenced to death and directed the police to find out if any attempt was made to shield the real culprits.

A bench of justices P N Prakash and B Pughalendi said there were blatant contradictions in the depositions of the witnesses and the post-mortem report and neither the trial court nor the defence counsel paid attention to them.

While the post-mortem report did not establish rape, the medical examination of the accused too did not reveal that they had raped the girl, the bench said recording its concern about non-availability of quality legal service to underprivileged like the accused in this case.

The judges ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay a compensation of Rs five lakh to the mother of the girl within three months.

It was passing orders on appeals by two of the accused and the referred lower court judgement for confirmation of death sentence on the three accused.

According to prosecution, the minor girl of a village in Theni district was kidnapped on December 1, 2014 from her house, raped and murdered.

In October last year, the trial court sentenced to death the three, arraigned as accused by the police.

In its order, the high court bench said the lapses on the part of the police were indubitably blame-worthy and not innocent.

The judges said they did not go through even the case diary and the original records available in the court were enough to ferret out a can of worms.

"We would have noticed a worm pit had we accessed the case diary," they said, strongly criticising the prosecution.

The bench directed the Theni district superintendent of police to conduct an inquiry into the lapses noticed by the court and find out if any attempt had been made to shield the real culprits.

The court also suggested departmental action against Inspector Rajaraman for the lapses.

Dwelling on non-availability of quality legal service to the under privileged, it said it was precisely the reason for third accused Kumaresan not filing an appeal against the death sentence though he was found to be impotent and yet charged with rape.

"While the rich were able to get the best legal brains and successful criminal lawyers with the ability to suborn witnesses or protract trial, the poor are left to fend for themselves with poor quality legal service, and eventually justice becomes the biggest casualty," the bench said.

This was a classic case where the accused, facing rape and murder charges were deprived of quality legal assistance, resulting in the trial court believing the prosecution.

"It is unfortunate that the defence lawyer did not even notice the destructive nature of the statement of the five witnesses, which were recorded, and did not even cross-examine the inspector," the bench said.

The court suggested it was time that the Bar Council of India bestowed attention on this grey area and take effective steps to address the malady.

The innocent accused had undergone trauma, it said and ordered them to be released immediately.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Veteran actor Helen Mirren has chosen a side in the battle between the streaming services and theatres, and she is going with the latter.

During the CinemaCon conference in Las Vegas, where she was promoting her film "The Good Liar", Mirren took a jab at streaming giant, Netflix.

"I love Netflix, but f**k Netflix," she said.

"There's nothing like sitting in the cinema and the lights go down. I would like to thank you guys for making that environment possible," she added.

The war between streaming services and those batting for the theatrical experience has picked up steam after Netflix's Spanish-language feature "Roma" bagged three awards at the 91st Academy Awards.

After the film's big win at the Oscars, there have been reports that veteran director Steven Spielberg will be speaking with the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to insist for a rule change that will make films made by streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, ineligible for the contest.

The legendary filmmaker, a known detractor of the streaming services, represents the Directors branch of the Academy on the Board.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the US Justice Department also has weighed in on the issue.

It warned the Academy that if potential rule changes hurt Netflix, they may violate laws meant to protect competition.

Makan Delrahim, head of the agency's antitrust division, sent a letter to Academy Chief Executive Officer Dawn Hudson on March 21, expressing concern about the way new award rules might be framed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The HRD ministry has sought the Election Commission's nod to start recruitment process in central universities while the model code of conduct is in effect.

However, the Delhi government has objected to the ministry's request, saying the EC should not grant permission.

In a letter to the poll panel, the ministry said, "In view of the UGC mandate to provide teaching and non-teaching faculty before start of new academic year in June, 2019, the Election Commission of India is requested to give its clearance/permission from Model Code of Conduct for starting/continuing the recruitment process for regular teaching and non-teaching vacant posts in central universities".

The appointments for teaching posts in central universities were put on hold in July last year in view of a judgement of the Allahabad High Court in April 2017.

The court quashed the provisions of UGC guidelines which prescribed that the cadre or unit for determining reservation roster points should be 'university/college' and not 'department', a letter by ministry to the EC said.

The letter was sent to the EC on April 1 and a reply is awaited.

Ministry officials said the EC has already given clearance to Indian Institutes of Science and Research (IISERs) and National Institutes of Technology to start recruitment process.

The HC order was later upheld by the Supreme Court in July and a review petition filed by the government was rejected.

The government promulgated the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Ordinance, 2019, to restore the earlier 200-point roster-based reservation system in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).

The new system will consider the university or college as one unit instead of treating department or subject as one unit.

Due to the matter being sub-judice, many teaching positions have been lying vacant for a long time.

"Out of total number of 17,425 sanctioned teaching posts in 40 central universities, 6,141 posts are lying vacant as on November 1, 2018.

"In order to improve the teaching standards of higher educational institutions and to ensure that studies of students are not affected, it is necessary to start the recruitment process immediately so that these vacant teaching positions are ?lled before start of the new academic session," the ministry said.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the AAP government does not agree to the proposal of MHRD for seeking permission to complete the recruitment process in the colleges of Delhi University in the midst of elections and when the poll code is in force.

"I once again reiterate that Election Commission should not grant permission to such requests," Sisodia said in the letter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Questioning a statement years back by then prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Wednesday said if Muslims have the first right over the country's resources what happens to the Scheduled Castes, Jats and Gujjars.

Adityanath recalled Singh's 2006 statement at a rally here in western Uttar Pradesh, a region where, some estimates say, about 25 per cent of the voters are Gujjars and Jats.

"Former prime minister Manmohan Singh had said that the first right over the resources of the country is of Muslims. If Muslims have the first right, where will the Scheduled Castes, Jats, Gujjars and other people go," Adityanath said.

Singh had made the remark while addressing a meeting of the National Development Council.

"We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources," Singh had said.

Adityanath also likened India's February 26 airstrikes at a Balakot terror camp in Pakistan to that of mythical 'Lanka dahan' by Lord Hanuman



"The recent valour of Indian Air Force reminds one of the 'Treta yug'. The IAF destroyed the terror camps in Pakistan just like Lord Hanuman burnt down Lanka," he said.

"This was possible only because of a strong and decisive government and the determination and willpower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Adityanath said.

He also said India has made remarkable progress both on the economic and military fronts under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

Hailing the people of the region for their participation in freedom movement, the UP chief minister said, "This is the land of revolution. The brave people of this land have contributed to the first freedom struggle of 1857."



"Now we have to fight again for the development of India and defeat the forces which are working to weaken India," he added.

Adityanath also paid tributes to the Kargil war martyr Rajinder Singh and remembered the 1857 revolution hero Dhyan Singh Gurjar.

The chief minister also attacked the Congress for its poll promise of amending Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, and accused it of trying to weaken India.

"In its election manifesto, the Congress has promised to revoke the special powers given to the Indian Army. It is a clear intent of supporting the people who want to break this country. The Congress is playing into the hands of anti-national forces," he alleged.

He added, "If the Congress manifesto is implemented, it will make our jawans helpless against our enemies. It seems the urban-naxals have taken over the Congress and they are conspiring to run the country through them.

"Their maniesto also promises to dilute the punishment awarded to people who shout anti-India slogans or talk about dividing the country."



Adityanath attacked the Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary, who is contesting from the Baghpat Lok Sabha seat.

"He knows noting about farming," he said.

The chief minister, however, paid tributes to former Prime Minister and farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh for his contributions in nation-building.

"He will always be remembered. He was the true leader of farmers, who forced governments to create policies to protect farmers," Adityanath said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An all-out trade war would severely damage the US and Chinese economies but could also be a boon to countries like Canada and Mexico, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

The world's top two economies themselves would be the biggest losers in the event of a 25 per cent hike in duties on all trade in goods, the IMF said in a report released ahead of next week's spring meetings, to be held jointly with the World Bank.

Bilateral US-China trade could fall by up to 30 per cent in the short-term as a result and by as much as 70 per cent later on -- taking sizable chunks out of both countries' economies.

The 2019 spring meetings fall just as US and Chinese officials say they are in the home-stretch of negotiations to resolve their eight-month trade war, in which Beijing has put tariffs on all its US merchandise imports while Washington has slapped duties on about half of its Chinese imports -- more than USD 360 billion in two-way goods trade.

Citing success in the talks, US President Donald Trump has suspended plans to raise duties on a USD 200 billion tranche of Chinese goods to 25 per cent, keeping them at the current 10 per cent.

According to a range of models cited by the report, the hypothesis showed annual growth in China could be 1.5 per cent lower, while such a scenario could shave as much as 0.6 per cent off growth in the US.

"The effect on China is typically larger across all models, as exports to the United States represent a larger share of the Chinese economy (than vice versa)," the report said.

Under the scenario explored by the IMF, Canada and Mexico could ultimately benefit as they export more to the United States, making up for the shortfall in US imports from China.

And according to one model, these shifting export relations among countries would mean that, while the US trade deficit with China would fall somewhat, there would be "no economically significant change" in either country's overall trade balance.

A separate statistical model showed China would ultimately cease to be "the number one exporter of electronics and machinery to the United States", as Canada, Mexico and other Asian countries picked up the slack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)PNB Housing Finance has been in "absolute compliance" with the circulars issued by regulator National Housing Bank in relation to disbursements of home loans to individual buyers, the company said in a statement.

The company has been making necessary modifications from time to time in its policy on home loan disbursements linked to the stage of construction of project, it said in a regulatory filing.

Referring to a PIL filed in the Delhi High Court, PNB Housing Finance Ltd (PNBHFL)said the allegations are "false" and that it would be filing a detailed response to the petition.

"The petition filed by Abhijit Mishra is at the instance of individual customers who have defaulted in repaying the home loan availed from PNBHFL and therefore has vested interest attached to it," the filing said.

It further said PNBHFL follows "high standards" of corporate governance.

The company's shares closed at Rs 915.70 a piece on BSE, down 0.45 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amidst allegations of jailed RJD president Lalu Prasad talking to his political associates over phone in violation of jail manual, authorities inspected his ward Tuesday, but said they did not find anything objectionable.

The search was carried out by a joint team of the Birsa Munda prison officials and the Ranchi District Police, a senior police official said Wednesday.

Prasad has been sentenced in four fodder scam cases by different special CBI courts in Ranchi and is in prison from December, 2017. However, the convicted RJD leader is admitted in the paying ward of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here for various ailments.

"The jail authorities and we (district police) carried out the inspection yesterday (Tuesday) and found nothing objectionable there," Deputy Superintend of Police (Sadar) Deepak Kumar Pandey said.

He said such checks are conducted routinely.

The inspection came hours after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused Prasad of being in touch with his associates over telephone in contravention of the rules applicable to those serving prison sentence.

Reacting sharply to Kumar's charge, RJD's Jharkhand unit spokesman Manoj Kumar said, "We condemn Nitish Kumar's accusations on our leader. When jail officials went and found nothing in the ward, how can Nitish Kumar level such unfounded charges sitting in Patna.

"Even the jail manual allows people to meet any prisoner once a week (Saturdays are fixed for Lalu Prasad to meet people)."



On January 2 and March 18, authorities conducted routine checks in the paying ward of Prasad.

Also media reports had on many occasions highlighted RJD supremo's alleged active role in seat-sharing talks among mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) allies -- which among others comprises Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress -- in Bihar as well Jharkhand.

Prasad is facing trial in a fifth fodder scam case in connection with alleged fraudulent withdrawal of money from Doranda Treasury in Ranchi in the early 1990s.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to draw crowds in the western Uttar Pradesh belt, but the same enthusiasm is missing for BJP candidates in fray from this part of the state.

"I am a Modi fan and I voted for BJP in the last election, but no work has been done here. The BJP candidate who won in the name of Modi from here is hardly seen. We cannot even complain," says a petrol pump worker Satbir Yadav from Saharanpur.

Similar sentiments were echoed by residents of Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Kairana and Ghaziabad which go to polls in the first phase of the seven-phased Lok Sabha polls. A total of eight Lok Sabha seats in the state will go to polls in the first phase on April 11.

The voters here praise Modi, but are not satisfied with the work of BJP candidates.

A BJP office-bearer from Muzaffarnagar, who wished to remain anonymous, lamented that the party under pressure from RSS re-nominated Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan this election. He said because of this, other sitting MPs in western UP also got re-nominated.

He said the decision to repeat the sitting MPs may cost the party dearly.

Balyan is one of the accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. He had won by more than 4 lakh votes riding on Modi wave in 2014.

Another cause of worry for the saffron party is Jat community's affinity to RLD chief Chaudhary Ajit Singh as well as the anger of sugarcane growers against the BJP-led state government.

Meanwhile, the SP-BSP-RLD opposition feels that the alliance will benefit from division of Jat votes this time, and that the Muslim, Dalits and backward sections will vote for them.

Supporting the RLD chief, Ravindra Ahlawat, who runs an eatery on the Delhi-Muzaffarnagar National Highway, said Jats have three main issues.

"Firstly, the Centre did not treat our leader (Chaudhary Ajit Singh) well. He was forced to vacate his official bungalow in Delhi. Secondly, the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh did not adequately compensate cane growers. And, third, the Jat reservation notified by the UPA-led central government was set aside by the Supreme court under the current BJP regime," he said.

The apex court had in 2015 set aside a 2014 notification of the then UPA government to include Jats in the central list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) in nine states for quota benefits.

"I want to see Modi as PM again, but Ajit Singh will win from here," Ahlawat said.

In Baghpat, the BJP has fielded Union minister Satyapal Singh against the RLD chief's son Jayant Choudhary. Congress has not fielded any candidate from the seat.

Here also 'Modi wave' is facing tough competition from



anti-incumbency against sitting MP and the joint front put up by the opposition, just like in Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad and Saharanpur.

Interestingly, people from diverse sections of the society



are in awe of Modi's work.

"My vote will go to Modi," says Haider Ali. He runs a small tea shop in Muzaffarnagar.

But, when one inquires deep about Modi's popularity among minorities, people said the 2013 violence between Jats and Muslims still haunted the region. They added that the weaker sections among the minorities are afraid to express their views against the ruling dispensation.

Akshay Kumar, working as a carpenter in Khatka Heri village, also said that he will vote for Modi. He, however, did not know the name of the BJP candidate from the region.

Kumar said the law and order situation of the state has improved after the BJP came to power.

If BJP workers are angry over repeating candidates in many seats, they are equally agitated over denying ticket to former BJP MP Hukum Singh's daughter Mriganka Singh from Kairana.

Mriganka is an influential Gujjar name in the area. She fought on a BJP ticket in the Kairana bypoll which was necessitated by the death of her father. She, however, lost to Opposition alliance candidate Tabassum Hasan.

The BJP has fielded another Gujjar leader and MLA Pradeep Chaudhary from the seat.

Local BJP leaders, however, feel that a section is disenchanted over denial of ticket to Mriganka.

In a bid to placate its support base among the Gujjars, the BJP welcomed community leader and SP MLC Chowdhary Virendra Singh into the party fold.

BJP analysts, however, maintain that reported discontent towards party candidates among the voters won't be an issue.

They say in the last polls, except Saharanpur, BJP candidates in all seven constituencies in this region defeated their rivals by more than 2 lakh votes. In Saharanpur, the BJP candidate won by 65,000 votes. Congress stood second here.

BJP strategists feel there may be a dip in BJP's vote margin this time, but the party can still reap benefits of 'Modi wave'.

Johny from Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan' village Chutmalpur said, "BJP can win this time only when Muslim votes get split. It is not possible in Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Kairana and Ghaziabad. And, it is very likely in Saharanpur and Bijnore. Though a section of Dalits support Modi, but a majority of the community will vote for Mayawati.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A reputed public policy institute has sought to raise the pitch on safe sanitation by asking political parties to include the goal in their manifestos for the April-May Lok Sabha elections.

Ahead of the polls, the city-based Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) has come out with several suggestions under 'Right to Safe Sanitation for All and At All Times,' stressing the need to take measures to ensure safe and total sanitation by 2024.

ASCI Director V Srinivas Chary said though India has made significant progress in enhancing access to toilets through provision of individual household latrines, public toilets and community toilets to make urban local bodies open defecation free, "sanitation is more than just building toilets."



"It is a system that addresses human waste from generation to its treatment for reuse or safe disposal. Urban areas in India are facing the burden of indiscriminate disposal of untreated septage (feacal sludge evacuated from pit latrines and septic tank periodically) by unregulated private operators causing unprecedented degradation of and harm to public health," he said.

Feacal waste is several times more polluting than sewage and hence need immediate attention to protect public health and water bodies, Chary said.

He pointed out that usage of toilets coupled with safe feacal sludge and sepage management are critical for better sanitation outcome and building liveable cities.

It was noted that ASCI is working with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India in developing and operationalising urban sanitation and faecal waste management policies and incentive schemes.

With the support of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ASCI has introduced Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants at Narsapur in West Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh and at Warangal in Telangana.

All political parties need to prioritise urban sanitation especially feacal waste management to salvage population from public health crisis, according to him.

"Flush and forget will no longer work in India cities.

The waste from toilets - feacal waste - needs to be safely managed to prevent massive disease outbreak. It will hit our children, directly.

Waste should be recycled and upcycled to prevent water crisis and land shortages in cities. This calls for deep political will and budgetary support," Professor Chary told PTI.

ASCI suggested that political parties in their manifestos pledge to enact the "Right to Safe Sanitation for All and At All Times", to ensure equitable sanitation, especially meeting the needs of women and girls, marginalised populations and the under-served living in slums and informal settlements.

Ensuring safe handling and treatment of human waste and waste water are among the suggestions by ASCI which urged political parties to prioritise safe sanitation-related issues in their manifestos.

ASCI further suggested that there should be provision of menstrual hygiene management facilities in all public institutions, government offices, public toilets and cinema halls, among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jawans of paramilitary forces like the CRPF and the BSF are likely to get tax exemption on ration money allowance and risk and hardship allowance, officials said on Wednesday.

The move, when implemented, is expected to benefit about nine lakh personnel of paramilitary forces -- CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB.

The finance ministry has given an assurance to the home ministry that it would consider the demand to exempt ration money allowance and risk and hardship allowance granted to paramilitary personnel from the purview of income tax, a home ministry official said.

In a recent letter to the home ministry, the finance ministry conveyed that the long-standing demand of forces would be examined during the ensuring budgetary exercise.

This was in response to a communication from the home ministry which raised the issue of tax exemption on ration money allowance given to paramilitary personnel on the basis of parity with other uniformed forces and Pay Commission recommendations.

Personnel of defence forces, Assam Rifles and NSG are given free ration while personnel of CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB are granted Ration Money Allowance (RMA).

Personnel of paramilitary forces up to non-gazetted ranks such as constable, head constable, assistant sub inspector, sub inspector and inspector are entitled to an RMA of Rs 3,000 per month.

The 7th Central Pay Commission in its report has recommended that looking into the unique service conditions of paramilitary personnel and since RMA is granted in lieu of free ration, it should be exempt from income tax.

"A strong case exists for exempting RMA of paramilitary forces from income tax," another official said.

In addition to the RMA, the home ministry in its letter to the finance ministry also raised the issue of exemption of risk and hardship allowance of paramilitary personnel from income tax, the official said.

The finance ministry has responded favourably to both the demands which would be examined in the next budget exercise, the official said.

Quantum of risk and hardship allowance varies from Rs 6,000 to Rs 25,000 per month per head, depending on various factors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India lost 1.1 crore jobs, including 90 lakh in the rural sector, in 2018 alone, claimed a "chargesheet" released on Wednesday by a group of civil society organisations on the NDA government's five-year tenure.

According to the document, released about a week before the general election starts, demonetisation in November 2016 has resulted in 35 lakh jobs being lost.

It claimed at least 75 people, including children, died of hunger across 10 states since 2015. The cause of death, it stated, was "prolonged hunger."



Also, nearly 42 of these people died because they were denied rations as their Aadhaar linkage did not function or they were not enrolled in the scheme, the chargesheet alleged. It, however, did not cite the source of its data.

Announcing People's Agenda or 'Jan Sarokar 2019' at a press conference here, representatives of various campaigns demanded accountability from political parties, emphasising the "days when political parties made empty promises is over".

They also presented a set of "must-do actions" for progressive and secular parties.

Various civil society groups will come together to raise their concern on April 6 at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, it was announced at the press conference. The political parties joining the Jan Sarokar programme on April 6 include Congress, CPI(M), CPI, DMK, RJD, TMC, AAP, TDP, NCP, JDS, CPI(ML), LJD and Swaraj India.

Their demands include enactment of the Women's Reservation Bill for 33 per cent quota in Parliament and state assemblies, implementation of Forest Rights Act in letter and spirit, universalisation of PDS and increase of public health expenditure.

The "chargesheet" also alleged that the NDA government has cut expenditure for Mid-Day Meals, which fell from Rs 10,523 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 9,949 crore in 2018-19, the document alleged.

The pendency of RTI requests jumped from 8.5 lakhs (2014-15) to 14.5 lakhs (in 2017-18), it claimed.

At the presser, Shankar Singh, a social activist with Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, alleged the "real issues" such as non-payment of NREGA wages have been "submerged" by religious polarisation, politicisation of the armed forces, and warmongering.

"Political parties must commit to the People's Agenda," he demanded.

Syeda Hameed, representing the Samruddha Bharat Foundation, said, "Women, Dalits, Muslims have been targeted by powers who believe in ruling by division and dissension."



Rahul Roy, of the 2017 campaign Not in My Name, said the 2019 general election is a critical moment. "It is the biggest challenge our democracy has ever faced from the regressive forces of hate. I hope reason and truth win.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The commerce ministry, after consulting various departments like IT and agriculture, has made an offer to the US to resolve trade issues between the two countries, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said Wednesday.

The US is demanding greater market access for its agricultural, dairy products and medical devices. Besides, they are seeking reduction in import duties on certain IT products and increasing their exports to bridge trade deficit with India.

Prabhu said that whatever the US is asking from India is concerned with different ministries, including IT and agriculture.

"We have consulted all the ministries and we have given them an offer," the commerce and industry minister told PTI when asked about the steps being taken to resolve trade issues with America.

However, he did not disclose the details of the offer.

Although officials of India and the US have been negotiating a trade package, America last month announced to withdraw benefits being provided by them to Indian exports under their Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

The US has decided to go ahead with its decision to scrap the preferential trade benefit under GSP scheme after 60 days, which is expected to impact India's exports to the US worth USD 5.6 billion under this programme.

Prabhu said that in the last one year, the US exports to India have increased by about 48 per cent and it does not include defence purchases made.

He also said that India would like to buy about 1,000 aircrafts from the world and the US could be one of the potential suppliers.

Defence purchases and this kind of procurement is going to change the things dramatically with regard to trade balance, he added.

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 the favour of India.

When asked about the government's plan to send an official delegation to the US for holding consultations, the minister said: "we have not yet decided".

Trade experts have stated that trade dialogue will 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.

Replying to a question about the reason behind extending the deadline again and again on imposing retaliatory tariffs on 29 US products, Prabhu said



the US has not yet stopped the GSP benefits to Indian exporters.

The government has extended the deadline to impose retaliatory customs duties on products, including almond, walnut and pulses, till May 2.

As part of the proposed trade package, 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 GSP, greater market access for its products from agriculture, automobile, automobile components and engineering sectors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India would continue to grow at a higher economic growth rate until 2021, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said Wednesday while citing the World Bank estimates.

While growth rates of developed economies and the entire world are expected to taper off, World Bank estimates suggest India would continue to grow at a high rate until 2021, Naidu said.

"India ... (in) 2019 (will grow at) 7.3 per cent, 7.5 per cent in 2020 and 7.5 per cent in 2021. That says that you (India) would move on. This is what experts have written today on World Bank estimates. So, there are opportunities," Naidu said while addressing the inaugural session of GRIDTECH 2019.

He pointed out that India has a demographic dividend as 65 per cent of the population is below 35 years of age.

The worldwide average economic growth rate will be 2.9 per cent in 2019 and 2.8 per cent in 2020 as well as 2021, according to the estimate released by the World Bank, Naidu mentioned.

For China, one of the powerful economies, the growth rate would be 6.2 per cent in 2019 as well as in 2020 and 6 per cent in 2021, he said.

Naidu highlighted that India is being respected on account of three factors -- culture, peace-loving nature and its economy.

"The third important reason for the world taking interest in India is economy. That is an important factor. People want to invest in India. They have seen huge success in PPP model here."



He was of the view that with increasing demand in the power sector with each passing day, India needs to fully tap the potential for sustainable and environmental-friendly energy.

Saying that promoting electric vehicles is a good idea, he pointed out that challenges are many and unprecedented. "It is prudent that, experts from the industry, academia and policy makers have gathered here to find sustainable solutions to these problems.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 58-year-old Indian-origin woman who posed as a doctor to dupe elderly people into engaging her services for a fee has been convicted of seven counts of fraud by false representation and three counts of supplying a prescription-only medicinal product by a UK court.

Kamlesh Bassi used different aliases to pretend to be a qualified medical doctor, a nurse, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, an osteopath and a chiropractor, Warwick Crown Court was told at a hearing last week.

She targeted elderly people and persuaded them to hire her as a medical professional, also offering services as a masseuse and household help.

"Bassi deliberately targeted vulnerable individuals. By lying about her credentials she abused their trust, gained access into their homes and potentially put their lives at risk by supplying Naproxen without knowing their medical history," said Hannah Sidaway, a Specialist Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in West Midlands.

The drug Naproxen, a pain relief medication supplied to three of the victims, were Bassi's own prescription tablets and the court was told about the dangerous consequences it could have had on the victims.

"Bassi acted selfishly for her own financial gain. She was a danger to the public and especially the most vulnerable individuals in our society. Her conviction serves as a reminder that those who fraudulently offer medical services will be robustly prosecuted by the CPS," Sidaway said.

Bassi, from the city of Coventry, targeted people across the West Midlands region of England. She has been remanded in custody after being found guilty last Friday and will be sentenced at a hearing on May 5.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Wednesday European powers were incapable of bypassing sanctions imposed on Tehran by the US after it withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran and six world powers agreed on a deal in 2015 that severely restricted Tehran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief and economic incentives.

However President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the deal -- technically called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- last May, reimposing punishing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The other parties to the nuclear deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia along with the European Union -- however insist they remain committed to making the deal work.

"The Europeans at first viewed the JCPOA (nuclear deal) as an achievement, but maybe they were not prepared to, and certainly they were not capable of standing up against U.S sanctions," Zarif said in an interview with Khamenei.ir, the official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We will continue pressing the Europeans to implement their commitments. Europe must know that they cannot shy away from their responsibilities with a few statements and some unaccomplished plans," he added.

Zarif, who was his country's chief negotiator in the negotiations leading to the deal, said that Iran would continue to pressure the Europeans to act on their obligations within the deal but added that "we never had any hopes" in them.

Instead of the western powers the Islamic republic has turned to its traditional partners such as Russia and China, Zarif said, adding "the future of our foreign policy lies in that way.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)







Weed, which is also known as cannabis, is a type of psychoactive drug derived from the Marijuana plant. The primary psychoactive compound is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is sourced and extracted from the flower of the plant.

Modern research into the effects of cannabis and cannabis products has found that many different illnesses could be improved or even cured through the use of medicinal cannabis. So why isnt it used more frequently in modern medicine?

Over half of the states in the US now accept cannabis as a medical treatment, but that still leaves the not so small minority who are hesitant to legalize it. Despite the fact that Marijuana has been used as a traditional medicine in herbal remedies for thousands of years, the criminalization of it in more recent years is making it a hard decision for the state governments to override.

The health benefits of cannabis and hemp based products are highly spoken of among those who use them. Claims have been made, according to the Baltimore Post-Examiner, that the use of cannabis and cannabinoids can be used to reduce inflammation and pain expression, as well as being an appetite-boosting herb for those receiving treatment for AIDs or cancer. The use of CBD oil is still uncommon, but as time is going by more and more people are discovering how this amazing but shamed plant could help in the many aspects of modern medicine.

As pointed out by MedicalNewsToday, a review of over 10,000 separate studies carried out in 2017 by the National Academies Of Sciences, Engineering And Medicine found that marijuanaor, at least, a selection of the cannabinoids that it contains, are highly effective for use as a painkiller. In fact, there have been a number of high profile cases recently when the only medicines that helped with chronic pain were those based on marijuana extracts. With chronic pain being cited as one of the top causes of US disability and inability to work, having an easily accessible cure for such ailments would allow many people (as many as 25 million adults) to get on with their lives, get a job, and properly contribute to the economy.

LifeHack goes on to explain further the origins of cannabis as a medicinal drug (or, as far back as we know, anyway). Ancient texts from 2737 BC by the Chinese Emperor of the time, Shen Nung, describe the plants power as a cure for numerous issues: as medication for rheumatism, as well as for gout, malaria andironically, considering the modern concerns surrounding the drugabsent-mindedness. The use of marijuana is known to have then spread across the continents over the centuries and millennia to come, reaching Europe by 500AD, with India and Africa having received word of its properties some time before this. Then, in the 1850 edition of the United States Pharmacopeia, it was mentioned that marijuana was effective as a cure for labor pains, rheumatism and general nausea.

It was only from 1850 in the United States that cannabis began to gain popularity as a recreational drug. Up until that point, all known references have cited it as a medicine. So, perhaps it is time to go back to the days of old and embrace the curative properties of this plant?Iranian media are reporting that the number of dead from recent flooding has risen to 62, up from 57 the day before.

A Wednesday report by the semi-official Fars agency quotes Ahmad Shojaei, head of the country's forensic medicine department, as saying the casualties were in various provinces that experienced flooding over the past two weeks.

Also on Wednesday, Iran President Hassan Rouhani called US sanctions that have allegedly blocked international relief assistance to needy people in flood-stricken areas an "unprecedented crime."



Iran has been facing major flooding that has struck hundreds of villages, towns and cities in the western half of the country, where authorities declared an emergency in some places.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS), a tribal outfit, said Wednesday that it would scrap its alliance with the Congress if the latter did not field JAYS' candidates from Khargone and Dhar Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.

JAYS national convener Hiralal Alawa, who won from Manawar Assembly constituency on Congress ticket last year, claimed the Congress fared well in tribal areas in assembly polls because of his party's help.

"We had supported the Congress in tribal-dominated areas and hence the party was able to return to power (in the state). But the Congress ignored our contribution. We were not given a share in power," he said.

"We had demanded that Congress field our leaders from four reserved seats (for scheduled tribes) -- Khargone, Dhar, Ratlam and Betul. But the Congress did not pay heed. They have already announced candidates from Ratlam and Betul.

"If the Congress does not field our leaders as its candidates from Khargone and Dhar, we will have to part ways with Congress and fight Lok Sabha elections on our own," the JAYS leader said.

The Congress has fielded former Union minister and sitting MP Kantilal Bhuria from Ratlam and Ramu Tekam from Betul.

When contacted, State Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said, "JAYS' top leaders are in touch with Chief Minister Kamal Nath. We hope the CM will find a solution.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A video appearing to show British soldiers firing shots at a poster of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for target practice has triggered a controversy, ahead of embattled Prime Minister Theresa May's crucial talks with the opposition leader to break the Brexit deadlock.

In the short clip, four paratroopers in uniform appear to use a large portrait of Corbyn for target practice, the BBC reported.

The Labour Party has called the behaviour alarming but said it has confidence in the Ministry of Defence to investigate.

It is not known when the footage was filmed.

It is believed the clip first circulated on Snapchat before being posted on Twitter, the report said.

Reacting to the video, an Army chief said it showed a serious error of judgment.

Brigadier Nick Perry said the Army was taking the matter "extremely seriously" and would fully investigate.

"The video shows totally unacceptable behaviour that falls far below the behaviour that we expect," he said.

Brig Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said there were currently 400 soldiers from his brigade working with Nato and Afghan partners in Afghanistan, where the footage is thought to have been filmed.

He said they were doing an "outstanding job in theatre" but this incident would be fully investigated.

He stressed the Army was and always would be an apolitical organisation.

The prime minister's official spokesperson said Theresa May was aware of the video but had not watched it, and had called it "clearly unacceptable".

The emergence of the video comes at a time of heightened alarm about the safety of MPs as tensions rise over Brexit.

Labour MP Jess Phillips tweeted: "This is absolutely hideous and irresponsible under this or any climate."



The video emerged as Prime Minister May came under criticism from her own MPs over talks with Corbyn by saying all MPs have a responsibility to deliver Brexit.

May has to find a way to find a majority in Parliament for Britain's exit from the European Union which was earlier scheduled to happen on March 29. British lawmakers have already rejected her Brexit plans thrice.

May said the public "expect us to reach across this House to find a way through this".

Corbyn said he welcomed the May's "willingness to compromise to resolve the Brexit deadlock".

The UK has until April 12 to propose a plan to the European Union - which must be accepted by the bloc - or it will leave without a deal on that date.

In a statement on Tuesday night, May announced she wanted to meet Corbyn to agree a way forward and put the plan to a vote in the Commons before April 10 - when the EU will hold an emergency summit on Brexit.

She insisted her withdrawal agreement - which was voted down last week - would remain part of the deal.

If there is no agreement between the two leaders, May said a number of options would be put to MPs "to determine which course to pursue".

In either event, May said she would ask the EU for a further short extension to hopefully get an agreement passed by Parliament before May 22, so the UK does not have to take part in European elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NCP's aggressive face and MLA Jitendra Awhad has been appointed as general secretary of the party in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections which his party is fighting in alliance with the Congress against the BJP-Shiv Sena combine.

The appointment comes into effect immediately, the NCP said in a statement Wednesday.

Awhad, who represents Mumbra-Kalwa assembly constituency in Thane district, is considered close to party chief Sharad Pawar.

As per the seat-sharing agreement for all the 48 seats in Maharashtra, the NCP is contesting from 19 constituencies and the Congress 25.

Voting for the first out of total four phases in Maharashtra will be held on April 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The war of words between the ruling AAP and the BJP over full statehood to the national capital is hotting up with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday charging that the opposition party was seeking votes in the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but doing nothing to "realise his dream".

The AAP has themed its campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls on its demand for full statehood to Delhi and accused the BJP of "betraying" Delhiites over the issue.

Kejriwal's attack on the BJP came in response to senior party leader and Union minister Vijay Goel's tweet taunting the AAP for seeking support on full statehood from leaders outside Delhi.

"Mamata Banejree neither raised the full statehood matter nor did she support the demand for full statehood to Delhi in 20 years. Kejriwal should first get those leaders support full statehood, alongwith whom he can be seen raising hands(in rallies)," Goel tweeted.

Kejriwal hit back reminding Goel that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had brought a bill in Parliament over the issue.

"The BJP is touring the country carrying ashes of Atal ji and seeking votes but does not want to realise his dream," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is campaigning in Delhi asking people to help it win the seven Lok Sabha seats, so that the party could push for full statehood in the Lok Sabha.

Party workers are reaching out to voters with pamphlets of Kejriwal's letter, explaining benefits of full statehood and how the BJP and the Congress have "betrayed" them over the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday hailed the Delhi High Court's order staying the interim hike in fees by private unaided schools in the city till April 8.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also welcomed the court's order.

"Delhi government, in it audit report of schools that were willing to increase their fees, found that they had excess money than they were spending. Delhi has an honest government which understands the pain of parents. Schools have a right to charge fees according to their expenditure but this government will not allow them to increase their arbitrarily," he posted on Twitter.

Kejriwal tweeted there was anger among parents due to the fee hike but the AAP government appealed in the High Court.

"I want to assure the parents that there is an honest government in Delhi which will protect the interests of people at any cost. I congratulate the parents on the stay order," he twitted.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday stayed till April 8 interim hike in fees by private unaided schools in the national capital on a plea of the AAP government challenging its single judge order allowing the same.

The Delhi government on Tuesday had challenged in the HC its single judge order allowing private unaided schools in the national capital to go ahead with the interim hike in fees to implement the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission on salaries of teachers and other employees.

The single judge on March 15 had permitted the interim fee hike by quashing a Delhi government circular of April 13 last year, which had prohibited private unaided schools functioning on government land from hiking tuition amounts without approval of the Directorate of (DoE).

The division bench on Wednesday said that till April 8, the next date of hearing, none of the 'land clause' schools will proceed to collect the interim hiked fee.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 21-year-old labourer suffered fatal injuries to his shoulder and chest Wednesday after shaft of a machine came crashing down on him at a factory in south Delhi's Asola, police said.

The deceased was identified as Madhu Ram, a resident of Ambikapur village in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district, they said.

Police said they were informed about the factory accident at about 1.17 pm.

The property was rented by one Manish Kumar Gupta who had employed some labourers for running the plastic bottle crushing machine, the operation of which also requires some manual handling, they said.

"Ram was working on the machine along with another labourer. As he leaned partly towards the machine to settle the crushed bottles, the shaft came down extensively cutting right side of his shoulder and chest. He died on the spot," Vijay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) said.

A case was registered at Maidan Garhi police station and Gupta has been arrested, he said.

The body has been preserved at the mortuary of Safdarjung Hospital, police said, adding that further probe is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Wednesday said it will offload its entire stake in L&T Kobelco Machinery Private Ltd for around Rs 43.5 crore.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Kobe Steel have signed an agreement to this effect.

L&T Kobelco Machinery Private Ltd (LTKM) is a joint venture between L&T and Kobe Steel, wherein Larsen & Toubro holds 51 per cent stake.

"L&T has entered into a definitive agreement with Kobe Steel Ltd, a company registered in Japan, on April 2, 2019, for the divestment of its entire stake in L&T Kobelco Machinery Private Limited," L&T said in a regulatory filing to the BSE.

Following the divestment of stake, LTKM will cease to be L&T's subsidiary.

LTKM's total income during the year 2017-18, was recorded at Rs 82.03 crore, constituting around 0.07 per cent of the consolidated total income of L&T for the financial year 2017-18, the company said.

LTKM had reported a net worth of Rs 40.13 crore as on March 31, 2018, of which L&T's 51 per cent share of was Rs 20.47 crore, the company added.

It said the sale of shares is expected to be completed before the end of this month.

L&T said the "consideration for sale" is Rs 43.5 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said the last five years of the BJP-led government were spent in "rectifying mistakes" of the UPA regime.

Addressing a poll rally here, Modi also said he never claimed to have completed all the works (promised in 2014) in five years, but added several important ones have been completed.

"I have come here to thank you for your trust and blessings in the last five years and to seek them for the next five years," Modi said.

Recalling the action against terror camps in Pakistan, Modi said, "People have not forgotten the Balakot air strike, despite many saying that they have as months have passed after the action".

Modi termed the Congress poll manifesto a "hypocrisy document" which was "full of lies".

Attacking Congress over its sedition law or Section 124A removal promise, Modi said, "Is Congress with country or traitors?"



"Will you give a chance to those who seek to scrap sedition law," Modi asked the crowd at the rally.

This was Modi's second poll rally in the state ahead of this month's Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra. The first one was at Wardha on April 1.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, the prime suspect in the looting of weapons from the residence of a Jammu and Kashmir legislator last year, has been arrested from a hospital here, police said Wednesday.

Danish Haneef was taken into custody from a private hospital in Rajbagh area of the city where he was undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during a gunbattle in Pulwama district few days ago, a police official said.

"The Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, believed to be the kingpin in looting of weapons in December 2018, has been arrested," the official said.

He said the militant was being questioned.

Four rifles were looted from the residence of Congress MLC Muhammad Muzaffar Parray at Jawahar Nagar here.

Danish went missing from his Natipora residence in the city on December 30 last after he left home for prayers in a nearby mosque. He had reportedly joined LeT as his gun-wielding pictures went viral on social media in January this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A delegation led by Israel's National Security Adviser lost classified documents related to weapons deals with India but in a stroke of luck they were recovered, thanks to a restaurant waiter's presence of mind, a media report said on Wednesday.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Meir Ben Shabbat travelled with several members of the National Security Council (NSC) to India in January this year when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

The Israeli NSA in those meetings also discussed about different weapons deals between the two countries, newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

Israel reportedly wishes to sell India several advanced weapons manufactured by defence industries, such as spy planes, unmanned aircraft, anti-tank missiles, cannons and radar systems.

An aide to Shabbath had printed several documents related to possible weapons deal with India ahead of the trip, which reportedly also included classified information.

The delegation dined at a restaurant prior to boarding the plane and the aide who had printed the papers reportedly left them there.

However, a waiter at the restaurant found the documents after the delegation had left and contacted a friend whose mother works for the Israeli Embassy in India.

The waiter's friend flew to India and gave her mother the documents which she then passed on to the security officer of the embassy.

A probe carried out by the NSC found that the loss of documents had not inflicted damage on Israel's security, the report said.

NSC Chair, Yoav Horowitz, issued directives to launch a probe into the incident which drew conclusions that "no dangerous entities" were exposed to the contents of the documents.

Shabbat's aide was accused of losing the documents and was placed under warning, the report said.

"The incident was taken care of immediately, a security investigation was carried out and lessons were learned," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office told the daily.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy Wednesday accused the Centre of creating scarcity of helicopters in the State to prevent the coalition ofCongress and the JD(S) from reaching out to people.

"The BJP government at the centre has created a scarcity of helicopters so that we cannot reach more people in the State. They have issued directions in this regard.

Such low level is being played out in the state," Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters in Hassan from where his nephew Prajwal Revanna is contesting the Lok Sabha election, Kumarswamy predicted that the 2019 polls would not be a cakewalk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"This is not going to be a cakewalk for Narendra Modi. There is tremendous difference between 2014 and 2019...

I won'tcomment on that but considering the developments in thecountry, I can say that it will be a tough election for Modi,"the chief minister said.

Kumaraswamy also hit out at the prime minister for reportedly calling the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) a 'Khichri.'



"He may call us Khichri parties but the National Democratic Alliance is a formation of 13 parties.

If at all he had done some positive works for the development of the country and its people, there was no need for him to stand at the door of regional parties," the chief minister said.

Kumaraswamy saw a bigger role for his father and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda at the national level post elections.

He said his father would get more weightage for his views.

In this regard, he appealed to the voters of Karnataka toreject the BJP and give all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State to the Congress-JD(S) coalition, so that they could get a government atthe centre that could solve the problems of Karnataka.

"It is a good opportunity for voters to throw out the BJP.

Today if you win us 28 seats in Karnataka, there will be a government at the Centre which will provide solutions to theproblems of Karnataka," Kumaraswamy said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maduro loyalists stripped Venezuela's Juan Guaid of immunity Tuesday, paving the way for the opposition leader's prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker remains unclear. Guaid has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president's socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.

He declared himself Venezuela's interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio who has Trump's ear on Venezuela policy said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaid as his country's legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduro's government to "abduct" him as a coup.

"And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly," Rubio said on Twitter.

However, the vote against Guaido was unanimous, and Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

"They don't care about the deaths," Cabello said. "They don't have the slightest idea ??what the consequences of war are for a country."



The Constituent Assembly, which is made up entirely of Maduro loyalists, met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered it to strip Guaid's immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general.

The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence through street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

The Constitution guarantees immunity for elected officials, and says that in order to withdraw immunity the accused lawmaker must be given a preliminary hearing before the Supreme Court. The action must be approved by the National Assembly steps that weren't taken in Guaid's case.

The Constitutional Assembly was created two years ago, when Maduro became frustrated by the democratically elected and opposition-dominated National Assembly rejected the president's policies. Its creation essentially replaced the National Assembly, rendering it powerless.

Before the vote, Guaid dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate, and continued his calls for Maduro to step down.

"This is not even persecution," Guaido said. "This is inquisition." Guaido has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and Tuesday night's vote was but the latest instance of that.

Officials have jailed his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, and accused him of involvement in a "terrorist" scheme to overthrow the government.

Maduro's government also barred Guaid from holding public office for 15 years for allegedly hiding or falsifying data in his sworn statement of assets.

The opposition leader, however, has drawn masses of Venezuelans into the streets and garnered broad international support, demanding Maduro give up rule of the crisis-wracked nation.

Defying the court order, Guaid left the country in late February for a ten-day tour of South America, meeting with foreign leaders who support the Venezuelan opposition and who reject Maduro's election last year for a second six-year term.

Maduro blames Washington of attempting a coup to overthrow him and install Guaid's puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Malaysia's disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as he went on trial Wednesday over a multi-billion-dollar fraud, almost a year after his shock election loss.

The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation.

The former premier and his cronies are accused of plundering billions of dollars from the fund and spending it on everything from high-end real estate to artworks and a luxury yacht.

He had been tipped to win another term in office easily last year and extend his coalition's six-decade stranglehold on power, only to be soundly defeated by his former boss, Mahathir Mohamad, who rode a wave of public anger over 1MDB to the premiership.

In the months that followed, once-dormant investigations into the controversy were relaunched and Najib was hit with dozens of corruption charges linked to the plundering of the fund.

A small crowd of supporters was waiting for Najib as he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur court ahead of his trial, and he prayed with them for a few minutes before entering the building to shouts of "Long Live Najib".

Looking relaxed in the dock, he denied seven corruption and money-laundering charges related to the alleged theft of 42 million ringgit (USD 10.3 million) from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. It is just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars that he allegedly stole.

Opening the prosecution, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas told the High Court it was the "first trial in our courts against a former prime minister, who for nearly a decade occupied the most powerful office in the land and wielded near absolute power.

"Such privilege carries with it enormous responsibility.

"The accused is not above the law," he added.

After the first witness, an official from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, gave largely technical evidence related to corporate records, the trial was adjourned.

The judge set the next hearing for April 15, and trial dates until May 10. Najib left without commenting, to cheers from his supporters waiting outside court.

Far from being considered a pariah, the ex-leader has gained a following among members of the country's Muslim majority as some are worried their long-held privileges are being eroded under the new government.

He has become an unlikely social media phenomenon by attacking the new administration's policies online.

He was initially due to stand trial in February, but appeals by his defence team over procedural matters saw his case put on hold until a judge last week ruled the trial should finally proceed.

It was a relief for the government, as there had been mounting public anger about the delay in bringing Najib to justice.

Najib's mentor-turned-nemesis Mahathir, now 93 and in his second stint in office, has pledged to bring the younger man to justice and recoup the huge sums of cash stolen from 1MDB.

The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the controversy as money was allegedly laundered through the American financial system, believes USD 4.5 billion in total was looted from 1MDB.

Malaysia has also charged Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs over the scandal, alleging the bank and its former employees stole billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Goldman units and two ex-bankers are accused of misappropriating USD 2.7 billion, bribing officials and giving false statements in relation to bond issues they arranged for the fund. The bank has vowed to fight the charges.

While many of Najib's suspected accomplices have been caught and charged in Malaysian courts, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, playboy financier Jho Low, is still at large.

On Wednesday the Malaysian government said a luxury yacht allegedly bought by Low with USD 250 million of stolen 1MDB money will be sold for around half that price. The yacht was returned to Malaysia after being seized last year in Indonesia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Theresa May held "constructive" talks Wednesday with Britain's opposition leader in a bid to forge a Brexit compromise that avoids a chaotic "no-deal" departure from the EU in nine days.

May tore up her steadfast strategy and sought Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's support in a surprise last-minute gesture that could determine the fate of the country and her government.

Her divorce deal with the other 27 EU nations has been rejected three times by parliament and patience is wearing thin in Brussels as an April 12 deadline to end Britain's 46-year membership nears with no agreement in sight.

The premier said Tuesday she would seek another "short" Brexit extension at an EU leaders' summit in Brussels on April 10.

She crucially added that she was now willing to bend her previous principles and listen to proposals for much closer post-Brexit trade relations with the bloc than most in her Conservative party were ready to accept.

Both sides described Wednesday's meeting as preliminary but constructive.

"Today's talks were constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close," a Downing Street spokesman said.

"We have agreed a programme of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security." A Labour spokesman said the two held "constructive exploratory discussions about how to break the Brexit deadlock".

The British premier's sudden change of tack was received with caution by EU leaders who wish to see the split resolved by the time European Parliament elections roll around at the end of May.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker delivered a nuanced address to the European Parliament in which he vowed to "personally do everything I can to prevent a disorderly Brexit".

"If the United Kingdom is in a position to approve the withdrawal agreement with a sustainable majority by 12 April, the European Union should be prepared to accept a delay until 22 May," Juncker said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel likewise vowed to "fight until the last hour" to avoid a no-deal outcome.

But May's decision to hear out Corbyn's demand to remain in a customs union with the bloc enraged the staunchly pro-Brexit wing of her Conservative party.

Junior minister Nigel Adams resigned in protest at her "grave error" in judgement. Fellow junior minister Chris Heaton-Harris also said he was quitting his Brexit department post because he thought Britain should have left on the original deadline date of March 29.

Yet the most prominent Brexit-backing ministers held their fire as all eyes turned on a flurry of meetings between government and Labour leaders are expected to hold over the coming days.

Scotland's First Minister Nicolas Sturgeon -- a pro-EU lawmakers who heads the much smaller opposition SNP party -- said she hoped "Labour doesn't sell out here for a bad deal".

"I would be very wary," Sturgeon said after her own talks with May.

May's government has previously rejected the customs union idea because it would keep Britain from striking its own trade agreements with giant nations such as China and the United States.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said failure by May and Corbyn to reach a compromise would prompt the two sides to try to come up with mutually-acceptable options that would be put up for a binding parliamentary vote.

May hopes to bring an approved deal with her to Brussels so that Britain can leave the bloc the day before the first nations hold their European Parliament votes on May 23.

The British pound has moved higher on expectations of the sides managing to avoid a messy breakup in the coming days.

But the Bank of England's governor stressed that these risks remained "alarming high" in view of no-deal being the default option that could "happen by accident" if the latest talks broke down.

Parliament was due to vote later Wednesday on a law that would force May to seek an extension should a no-deal seem imminent next week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hinting at her prime ministerial ambition, BSP chief Mayawati said Wednesday she would use the experience she has gained as UP chief minister to give the "best government" at the Centre "if we get an opportunity".

She said she has been Uttar Pradesh chief minister four times.

"I have a lot of experience. I will use that experience at the Centre and work for people's welfare," the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo said at a press conference here.

"If we get an opportunity at the Centre, we will adopt the UP pattern and give the best government in all aspects. At all levels, a good government," she asserted.

Asked if she would like to become the prime minister, Mayawati, however, said things would be clear when results of the general election are declared on May 23.

The BSP is contesting Lok Sabha and state assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh in alliance with the Jana Sena, the CPI and the CPI(M).

As part of the alliance, the BSP is contesting three Lok Sabha seats out of the 25 in the state and 21 assembly seats of the total 175.

Flanked by Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan at the presser, Mayawati said people "want a change" at the national level.

"They want a party in power that takes care of their welfare. They want our country safe," she said.

She pointed out that her party had garnered the third-largest vote share in the 2014 election, after the BJP and the Congress.

Asked if there's a need for a "Third Front", the BSP chief replied it would become clear when the election results come out.

"In the 2014 election, BJP promised big things. But it did not fulfil the promises in five years," she said, adding that the ruling party has diverted people's attention from those promises to "other issues".

On the Congress, she said people rejected the party that has remained in power for the longest time "because it failed to honour its promises" and the BJP "took advantage of it".

"Last time the BJP promised Rs 15-20 lakh for each poor family. Now the Congress is talking on the same lines. It is promising Rs 72,000 per year.

"The Congress should remember, when Indira Gandhi was in power she had started the 20-point programme in the name of Garibi Hatao. Kya garibi hati (Was poverty eradicated)?" Mayawati asked.

She said the BSP always talked less and believed in delivering more.

If BSP gets an opportunity at the Centre, it will work for the poor and the unemployed, irrespective of their caste. "We will give top priority to them. And farmers have multiple problems and we will try to get rid of them," she said.

Her government, if elected, would not be biased towards any state.

"If Congress is in power at the Centre, it supports some states and does not support others. BJP has its own equations. It will not happen with us," she said.

Claiming that the BJP's situation was "very bad", particularly vis-a-vis the BSP-SP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP chief said the ruling party was "worried."



"Wherever we have alliance, BJP will suffer," she said.

Mayawati also promised to grant the special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

"AP people are angry that both BJP and Congress did not deliver SCS. If we get a chance at the Centre, we will give SCS," she said.

The BSP chief hoped that the JSP-BSP-CPI(M)-CPI alliance would for the government in Andhra Pradesh and Pawan Kalyan would become the CM.

"People don't want to fall in the trap of regional parties of either Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSR Congress) or Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam Party). They want a new leadership, young blood who could lead the state well... They should give a chance to Pawan Kalyan...

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Around four months after 16 persons were trapped in an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said the state government will appeal to the Supreme Court to stop the operations to retrieve the bodies.

On January 28, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and the Meghalaya government to continue their multi-agency operations to rescue the miners.

"The Supreme Court has been very clear that we cannot stop the operations to retrieve the bodies. We are going to appeal in the Supreme Court," Conrad told PTI.

Multiple agencies are on the job to retrieve bodies of the miners trapped in the flooded mine, located at Ksan near Lytein river in East Jaintia Hills, since December 13 last.

During the operations, only two highly decomposed bodies of the 16 trapped miners were pulled out by the Navy's remotely operated vehicle on January 16 and February 28.

Though the outcome of the operations is not "as expected", rescue agencies are working "day and night" to ensure that more bodies are found, the chief minister said.

Conrad had earlier informed the Assembly that Rs 2.5 crore had been spent on the operation which began on December 13, the day 16 of the 22 miners, who went down the illegal mine were stuck when water gushed in from the Lytein river.

Last week, 50 Army personnel arrived at Ksan area to help the district administration set up girder platforms to place submersible pumps for pumping out water.

Dewatering exercise has been continuing from 10 to 15 abandoned coal mine shafts to help reduce the water level at the rat-hole coal mine.

The Army, the NDRF, some leading companies and the local administration are involved in the exercise.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged Wednesday to work "until the last hour" to prevent a no-deal Brexit and warned of the security impact on Ireland and Northern Ireland.

"I've always said I'm going to fight until the last hour... so we can see an orderly exit," she said on the eve of an Ireland visit, warning that avoiding a hard border was a matter of preserving the peace.

Speaking at a Berlin press conference, Merkel said that an orderly Brexit would be "in interest of Britain but also in our interest".

She said that -- because of the related issue of avoiding a new "hard border" between British Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland -- it would also affect "peace in Ireland".

Therefore it was "a question of violence or no violence and here we naturally want to make a contribution," Merkel said.

She stressed that ultimately "the solution has to be found by Great Britain itself" and expressed hope that Prime Minister Theresa May "will be successful".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Lawyer-turned-model Sana Dua would be the brand ambassador of the Jammu and Kashmir election department for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the state Shailendra Kumar said on Wednesday.

Dua, the first runner-up in the Femina Miss India 2017 contest, has also participated in the Miss United Continents 2017 and figured among the top 10 contestants.

"The celebrity has voluntarily offered her services for educating, creating awareness and motivating the electorate of Jammu and Kashmir for exercising their franchise to ensure greater participation in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election," Kumar told PTI.

A lawyer by profession and an enthusiastic social activist, Dua would encourage the eligible youth to register themselves as voters.

Born in 1993 in a Sikh family in Assam with roots in Jammu and Kashmir, Dua graduated in law and practised as a lawyer before entering the glamour world in 2015. Recipient of various awards in the glamour world, she has actively been engaged in promoting girl child education and the "Save Water" campaign in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a video message, Dua expressed happiness at being part of the campaign and said, "Despite belonging to different regions, religions and backgrounds, we all are united by our constitutional right to vote, which puts all citizens of India on equal footing without any discrimination.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Attacking both the BJP and the Congress, TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Wednesday claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also turned out to be an "utter flop" despite having a complete majority in the Lok Sabha.

People had seen the governments of Congress and BJP, but development had not taken place as it should have been, he charged, addressing an election meeting near Andole under Zaheerabad Lok Sabha constituency.

"Definitely, a good government needs to come if good is to happen in this country. We have seen both parties. We have seen Congress party and also BJP party. People had lot of hopes from Narendra Modi. But, he has also been an utter flop," Rao said.

"Modi ji has been Prime Minister for the last five years with complete majority and complete opportunity. But what (good) happened I am asking," he said,



He also said while Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged TRS was with Modi, the prime minister alleges it was with Congress.

But, TRS was not with anyone and was the agent for the people of Telangana, he said. "Telangana people are the bosses for TRS," he added.

Rao urged people to elect TRS candidates in 16 Lok Sabha seats in the state (leaving Hyderabad represented by AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi) in the elections to be held on April 11.

The chief minister said he would fight to the best of his ability "to change India's direction and speed and to get a new agenda, agenda of poor, farmers, people and an agenda to make a progressive India implemented".

Basic needs like education and health for all had not been fulfilled in the country, he alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday accused the Congress and the TMC of being sympathisers of Pakistan who wanted to "break the morale" of India's security forces and make them "helpless" in the fight against terror.

Kicking off his campaign for the Lok Sabha election in West Bengal with rallies in Siliguri and Kolkata, Modi also trained his guns on TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, calling her the "speedbreaker" in the path of the state's development who wanted poverty to stay so her " of poverty" can flourish.

Attacking the Congress, the prime minister said the actual age of democracy in India was barely 15-16 years as "family rule stifled talent and spread the poison of casteism" in society.

"I saw this sham manifesto (dhakosla patra) released by the Congress. It is meant to break the morale of our security forces.

"It promises removing AFSPA from disturbed areas like Kashmir. This is an attempt to render our brave soldiers helpless in the fight against terror, have their hands and feet tied," Modi told an election rally in the north Bengal town of Siliguri.

He accused the Congress of being "soft" on terror because of its "appeasement" politics, which was reflected in its governments scrapping tough anti-terror laws like TADA and POTA.

"We too scrapped over 1,400 obsolete laws from statute books. We have also withdrawn the AFSPA from some areas after peace returned there. The Congress's election promise will help those peddling terror from Pakistan," he said in Kolkata, accusing the Congress party of "playing with national security and trying to destabilise the country".

The prime minister said the manifesto showed that the Congress had no faith in the security forces and the law of the land.

"This chowkidar stands as a wall between the sham manifesto of the Congress and national security. This manifesto has come with an expiry date--May 23 (the day poll results will be announced). On May 23, both the Congress and its 'dhakosla patra' will be gone," he said.

At both the rallies, Modi slammed opposition parties for seeking proof of the damage done by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan's Balakot where terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's training camps were targeted to avenge the killing of 40 CRPF troopers in Kashmir's Pulwama.

"While your chest swelled with pride and you held your head high, some people began crying and shouting here," he said.

"When the wound has been inflicted there (in Pakistan), why do you (the opposition) feel the pain. The 'didi' sitting in Kolkata felt the pain more than it was felt in Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi," Modi said, taking a swipe at Banerjee, who had demanded proof of the extent of damage inflicted during the IAF raids in Balakot.

The prime minister asserted that India was taking rapid strides towards becoming a "super power".

"Be it the surgical strike, air strike or the satellite strike in space, India is rapidly marching towards becoming a super power and the world has realised this," he asserted and targeted the previous Congress governments over the "lack of political will" to execute these despite having the necessary capabilities.

He accused both the Congress and the TMC of "perpetuating family rule".

"In 55 years that a family ruled India, it stifled the talent of young people and spread the poison of casteism in society. It is being repeated in West Bengal where the aunt (Mamata Banerjee) and nephew (party MP Abhishek Banerjee) are looting people," he alleged.

The prime minister cautioned people against voting for the TMC which has "inherited the bomb and gun culture" from the Left.

Seeking to strike a chord with the electorate of north Bengal where illegal immigration is a sensitive and divisive issue, Modi said his government will act against infiltrators with the same toughness it had exhibited while tackling terrorists and naxalites.

"But I want to ensure you that bonafide refugees, who have suffered because of the faulty policies of the Congress, will get justice...This chowkidar will ensure it. None of our Gorkhas will be made to suffer," he asserted.

Calling Banerjee a "speedbreaker" in the way of West Begal's development, Modi said he was waiting for that to get out of the way so the state can march forward.

"I have not been able to ensure the development of Bengal with the same speed as the rest of the country. The reason for this is that in Bengal there is a speedbreaker, and this speedbreaker is known as Didi," Modi said, attacking the West Bengal chief minister.

He alleged that Banerjee put hurdles in the way of implementation of the Centre's welfare schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana, PM Kisan Samman Yojana and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act (RERA).

"Didi wants poverty to stay so her of poverty may flourish. I want to eradicate. But Didi, like the Congress and the Left, think if poverty is gone how will they run their politics," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court Wednesday rejected a plea seeking ban on the release of a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A division bench of justices S C Sharma and Sunil Kumar Awasthi rejected the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Congress Seva Dal's state unit president Yogesh Yadav.

The court said that since the Election Commission has taken cognisance of the matter, it would not interfere into it as of now, the petitioner's counsel Manish Yadav told reporters.

The movie starring Vikek Oberoi is scheduled to release on April 5.

In the PIL, Yadav alleged that the film "PM Narendra Modi" violated the model code of conduct.

The petition also said the screening of this movie would give unfair advantage to the BJP in the general election.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Election Commission has issued a notice seeking a report from the I&B Ministry on NaMo TV, launched just weeks ahead of the general elections, after opposition parties including the Congress asked the poll body to direct the ministry to suspend the channel as it was violative of the model code of conduct.

Sources said the Commission has issued the notice to the Information & Broadcasting Secretary on Tuesday evening giving time till Friday evening, as per the ministry request, to submit a report on the channel and its launch.

The EC will take a call on whether it violates the model code after going through the documents the ministry files, sources added.

Hours after the EC issued notice to I&B Ministry, the Congress accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of mocking and trampling upon democratic norms by "brazenly" running NaMo TV and asked the poll watchdog to put a stop at this "misuse" of media that seeks to disturb the level-playing field during elections.

The channel carries the picture of Modi as its logo. It was launched on March 31, nearly two weeks after the Model code of conduct came into effect and ahead of Lok Sabha polls beginning April 11.

The channel, available on various DTH and cable TV platforms, broadcast election rallies, speeches of the Prime Minister and interviews of BJP leaders.

Maintaining that "the contents are being broadcast in complete violation of the rules and regulations of cable televisions", the Congress, in its complaint said the Union ministry's list of permitted private satellite channels in the country did not mention NaMo TV, so either the channel "Content TV" is being broadcast as a "government-sponsored channel" or lacks official clearance from the ministry.

The AAP also complained to the EC, saying the BJP has launched the channel and though a party can have its own channel, it asked the EC if permission can be granted "even after the Model Code of Conduct is enforced".

Though BJP has maintained that it does not own the channel or the platform, its official twitter handle had urged people to watch it for the Prime Minister election campaign.

Union minister Piyush Goyal had also tweeted about the channel number while asking viewers to watch the Prime Minister events.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trampling upon democratic norms in India. By running brazenly and blatantly 'NaMo TV'. Isn't the Prime Minister mocking the Constitution as also every democratic norm," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked.

He said by running 'NaMo TV' as an affront to the rule of law, Modi and the BJP are mocking the powers of superintendence and control of election of the Election Commission under Article 324 of the Constitution.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had recently asked the EC if the BJP had sought approval for the launch of the channel, which has Prime Minister Modi's photograph on its logo and runs all his speeches.

"Can permission be granted to a party to have its own TV channel even after the model code is enforced? If no permission was given by the ECI, then what action has been taken?," the AAP said in its letter to the poll panel.

According to government sources, the ministry is likely to take a line that it is an advertisement channel which does not require a prior permission and it is run on certain DTH channels on payment made by the BJP.

However, when contacted, there was no immediate reaction from the BJP.

Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP also asked if the BJP had approached the Media Certification Committee, established to certify content and cost of a telecast.

The EC has also learnt to have written separately to Dordarshan for telecasting live the 'Main bhi chowkidar' programme of Modi on March 31 evening for one hour.

The Congress had written to EC against the BJP's alleged "misuse" of Doordarshan in broadcasting certain speeches by Prime Minister Modi.

The 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' programme of the prime minister was being broadcast live on DD and its YouTube channel, and the said programme was even being promoted on social media handles of DD News, the Congress memorandum said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In the first address to Congress by a NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance and called for bigger defense budgets to cope with global challenges such as Russian assertiveness, the core reason NATO was created in Washington 70 years ago this week.

"We have to be frank," Stoltenberg said before a joint meeting of Congress. "Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences."



The NATO secretary general credited President Donald Trump with compelling allies to spend more on defence, without noting that Trump also has questioned the value of the alliance and suggested that some members are freeloaders.

Trump's criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington to be its leader.

Stoltenberg's speech provided a diplomatic counterpoint to Trump's sometimes derisive rhetoric, and the enthusiastic reception he received from both parties in the House was testament to an enduring pro-NATO consensus in Congress.

"The secretary general delivered to Congress a powerful affirmation of the value of the NATO alliance," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was NATO's top commander from 2009 to 2013, called the Stoltenberg address a high point in recent US-European relations.

"Given the president's evident and frequently vocalized skepticism of the alliance, it is clear that Congress on a bipartisan basis wants to put the full weight of the legislative branch behind NATO," Stavridis said.

"We will never find a better pool of allies in the world than the Europeans, and this address underscores the importance of the trans-Atlantic bridge, which has been creaking a bit lately."



Stoltenberg made a point of highlighting the benefits to the United States of having NATO allies. He noted, for example, that in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 of its founding charter to come to the aid of a member under attack.

He said allies also provide the US with valuable military support in peacetime, from tracking submarines in the Arctic to providing bases in Europe from which the US can project power.

"Our alliance has not lasted for 70 years out of a sense of nostalgia or of sentiment," he said. "NATO lasts because it is in the national interest of each and every one of our countries."



Stoltenberg on Thursday will lead a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to mark 70 years since the alliance's founding charter, the North Atlantic Treaty. The alliance has grown from its original 12 members to 29, with the Republic of North Macedonia about to become the 30th member country.

Stoltenberg, a two-time former prime minister of Norway, is the first head of NATO to address a joint meeting of Congress. He touted the alliance's long record of partnership but also noted it has a history of coping with internal divisions, including strong opposition by France, Germany and other members to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

"Open discussions and different views is not a sign of weakness," he said. "It is a sign of strength. So we should not be surprised when we see differences between our countries. Today there are disagreements on issues such as trade, energy, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. These are serious issues with serious disagreements."



Trump's criticisms are not NATO's only source of friction. The alliance also is at odds with long-time member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defense system that is not compatible with the allied air defences.

The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest US fighter jet, the F-35, if the Turks go through with their plan to buy Russia's S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

Trump has sharply criticized other NATO members, including Germany, for not meeting spending targets. On Tuesday, he praised the generally upward trend among the European allies, but hounded them to pay even more because he believes America still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

In a meeting at the White House, Trump and Stoltenberg had kind words for each other. But in the past, Trump has called NATO "obsolete" and suggested he might pull the US out of the alliance if member nations didn't significantly boost defence spending.

"We've worked together on getting some of our allies to pay their fair share," Trump told reporters. "At some point, it's going to have to go higher."



Trump took credit for the increased spending. However, spending by NATO countries, which dropped after the end of the Cold War, has actually been rising since 2014, before Trump took office.

After Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, member countries agreed to boost defense budgets and "move toward" spending 2 per cent of their gross domestic products on defense by 2024. The US spends about 3.4 per cent of its GDP on defence.

Since Trump took office, European allies and Canada have added USD 41 billion to their defence budgets. By the end of next year, this is scheduled to reach USD 100 billion, Stoltenberg said. Germany remains the main target of Trump's ire because it plans to spend 1.5 per cent, below the 2 per cent guideline, by 2024.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): BSP chief Mayawati Wednesday asserted that the BJP-led NDA government would not return to power at the Centre as its 'naatakbaaji aur jumlebaaji' (drama and rhetoric) were not going to work in the April-May general elections.

"BJP and Co is not going to come to power.

Inka jumlas nahi chalega. Chowkidari ki naya naatakbaaji bhi inko nahi bachaa payegi" (their rhetoric will not work. Watchman's new drama will also be not able to save them) Mayawati said, addressing an election campaign meeting of the Jana Sena-led alliance of BSP, CPI and CPM here this evening.

Mayawati, who earlier in the day hinted at her Prime Ministerial ambitions, alleged that the BJP was desperately trying to rake up nationalist fervor for political gains, but warned it would not succeed.

The main reason for Narendra Modis loss would be his 'failure' to keep the promises he made ahead of the 2014 elections, she said.

"Modi made a lot of alluring promises in 2014 for various sections. But not even one-fourth of the promises fulfilled.

The promised Achche Din has never come," she remarked.

The BJP pursued RSS ideology, capitalist and 'hatred filled communal agenda,' which would surely make it lose power, Mayawati said.

The BSP supremo alleged that demonetisation and GST were implemented in haste, resulting in increased poverty and unemployment.

"The nation's economy has also been badly affected. Corruption increased at every step.Small and medium businesses are still facing troubles," she pointed out.

Modi's government could also not fully secure the country's borders because of which terrorist attacks continued to take place, leading to loss of several lives.

"So, for the past few days, Modi is again trying different tricks to deceive people. But no drama or trickery will work this time," the BSP leader added.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister alleged that Modi, as part of a conspiracy to cover his failures and keep the opposition silent, has been targeting important opposition leaders through agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department.

"There is gross misuse of ED, CBI and IT. Cases are being foisted on opposition leaders.

The Congress, when in power, also grossly misused these agencies for its political gains," she lashed out.

The BSP is contesting three Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh as part of the electoral alliance with the Jana Sena.

The CPI and CPI(M) are the other partners.

Since she is pally with Telugu Desam Party president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu whom the Jana Sena and the Left are directly fighting at the national level, the BSP leader indirectly hit out at him, saying "the ruling party in AP also may lose power" because of its faulty policies.

"The ruling party mostly failed in many aspects," she said, without taking names.

Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and others attended the campaign meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)/ -- The 4th Annual Meeting of the NDB Board of Governors (BoG) and the 18th Meeting of the NDB Board of Directors (BoD) were held in Cape Town, South Africa on 31 March and 1 April 2019 respectively. At the meetings, members of the Boards noted the achievements of the Bank, including expansion of its business, significant growth of loan portfolio as well as the ramp-up of the NDB's borrowings. The Board of Governors also provided guidance for the Bank's future work.

The 4th Annual Meeting of the NDB BoG was chaired by Mr. Tito Titus Mboweni, Governor of the NDB, and Minister of Finance of the Republic of South Africa.

Mr. Paulo Guedes, Governor of NDB, Minister of Economy of Brazil was elected as the next Chairman of the BoG, and will serve in this position until the end of the next BoG Annual Meeting. The next Annual Meeting of the Bank's BoG will be held in Brazil in 2020.

The Governors approved the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 and also approved the Condensed Unaudited Financial Statements for the NDB Project Preparation Fund for the year ended December 31, 2018.

The Governors appreciated that the Bank's loan portfolio had risen to approx. USD 8.1 billion in 2018. As a part of this commitment, the Bank's Board of Directors approved loans worth approx. USD 1.2 billion during their 18th Meeting on 31 March 2019. Five projects approved during the 18th BoD Meeting bring the total amount of the Bank's portfolio to over USD 9.2 billion.

The following projects were approved during the 18th BoD Meeting:



Zhejiang Green Urban Project - Shengzhou Urban and Rural Integrated Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Phase II)



The Bank will provide a RMB 825 million (approx. USD 123 million) project loan to the People's Republic of China for Zhejiang Green Urban Project - Shengzhou Urban and Rural Integrated Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Phase II). The project is aimed at upgrading the urban and rural water supply and sewage facilities and enhancing the economic efficiency of water resources and the effectiveness of water management system in Shengzhou, a municipality in Zhejiang Province in China. The Shengzhou municipality has been facing challenges in water supply and sanitation services. The components of the proposed project include (i) construction of water supply plants and pipelines; (ii) construction of sewage treatment plants and pipelines; (iii) smart digital center for water management; and (iv) capacity building and project management.

Guangxi Chongzuo Urban Water System Ecological Restoration Project



The Bank will provide a USD 300 million project loan to the People's Republic of China for Guangxi Chongzuo Urban Water System Ecological Restoration Project. The project is aimed at the improvement of urban water systems, restoration of the ecological balance and enhancing flood protection in Chongzuo, a city located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The contents of the proposed project include (i) restoration of the hydraulic circulation of lakes, rivers, wetlands, and channels; (ii) ecological restoration of water adjacent area; (iii) development of water ecological monitoring, control and management system; and (iv) capacity building.

Environmental Protection Project for Medupi Thermal Power Plant



In line with its focus on supporting clean energy in South Africa, the Bank will provide a USD 480 million project loan to Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. for Environmental Protection Project for Medupi Thermal Power Plant (TPP). The loan will be used to finance retrofitting flue-gas desulfurization equipment, to make Medupi TPP compliant with South Africa's environmental standards coming into force, thus preventing suspension of its operation. Medupi TPP is approaching the end of its construction, and with the planned capacity of 4,800 MW it will represent around 10% of the total generating capacity in South Africa. This would position Medupi TPP as a critical element of the solution to the problem with reliable electricity supplies.

Renewable Energy Sector Development Project



The proceeds of the Bank's ZAR 1.150 billion (approx. USD 80 million) loan will be on-lent by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa to renewable energy sub-projects contributing to the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, improvement of RSA's energy sector mix, as well as the increase of energy efficiency of the economy. The NDB loan provides IDC with attractive long-term financing for the IDC's program in renewables, focused on supporting private investors. It is planned that as an outcome of the project's implementation not less than 500 GWh of electricity will be generated annually from renewable sources leading to savings in CO2 emissions by around 480,000 tons annually.

Lesotho Highlands Water Project



The NDB will provide a project loan of ZAR 3.2 billion (approx. USD 220 million) to Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) for the implementation of Phase II of Lesotho Highlands Water Project and financing the construction of water transfer infrastructure to the benefit of South Africa. The project will augment the water supply in the Vaal River Basin, home to South Africa's most economically important province, Gauteng. Three other provinces (the North-West, Mpumalanga and Free State provinces) will also directly benefit from an increased water supply. The project will support economic growth and foster sustainable livelihoods of people by increasing the yield of the Vaal River System by almost 15% in the long run, thus reducing water usage restrictions.

The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, the NDB will support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. According to the NDB's General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank's operational strategy for 2017-2021. In August 2018, the Bank received AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nisar Ahmed Tantray, whose brother Noor Trali is believed to have helped revive the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit in Jammu and Kashmir, has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after being deported from the United Arab Emirates in connection with an attack on a CRPF camp in South Kashmir in 2017, officials said here.

Nisar had shifted to the UAE recently and was believed to have been in constant touch with Mudasir Ahmed Khan, one of the main handlers of the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, in which 40 personnel were killed.

Tantray was produced before a special court which remanded him in NIA custody.

He was arrested in connection with the attack on the CRPF camp at Lethpora in South Kashmir on December 30 night in 2017, in which five personnel were killed. Three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were killed during the 36-hour-long gunfight.

Jaish-e-Mohammed had sent two suicide attackers to the camp, including the 16-year-old son of a policeman who had joined the outfit a few months before the attack.

Earlier last month, the NIA had arrested Fayaz Ahmed Magray from Pulwama for allegedly being the "key conspirator" of the 2017 attack and accused him of providing logistical support such as shelter to the militants and conducting reconnaissance of the CRPF Group Centre, Lethpora before the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan Army Wednesday promoted 40 Brigadiers to the rank of Major General.

The approval for the promotions was given by Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at an army promotion board meeting held in Rawalpindi.

In a statement, the army said that the board "approved promotion of 40 Brigadiers to Major General".

It said that 11 of them were from Army Medical Corps.

These promotions are considered as a routine affair but they came amid tensions between Pakistan and India after the deadly Pulwama terror attack and subsequent Indian air strikes on terror camps in Balakot.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday before being shot dead, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli army said a Palestinian tried to carry out a stabbing attack near a military checkpoint close to Nablus in the northern West Bank, after which "a civilian fired and neutralised the assailant".

The Palestinian health ministry later confirmed he had died, though his identity was not released.

Palestinian official agency Wafa said the man who fired the shot was a settler, though the army declined to confirm or deny this.

Wafa quoted eyewitnesses as saying the Palestinian man was a truck driver.

A series of Palestinian lone wolf attacks broke out in the West Bank in late 2015.

The situation has since calmed, but sporadic attacks continue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bombay High Court Wednesday directed the Maharashtra government to pay Rs 15,000 per month as rent to people who were rendered homeless after their dwellings, located near a key water pipeline here, were demolished.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in compliance with a previous high court order, has been demolishing unauthorised buildings, including residential and commercial structures, along the Tansa water pipeline that runs across nine administrative wards of the city.

The government had decided to accommodate the displaced persons in Mahul village in the metropolis' suburbs, but some of them have refused to move there citing high air pollution levels due to oil refineries in nearby areas.

As many as 7,000 families have been affected by the ongoing demolition drive and only 225 of them have shifted to Mahul, an industrial area in the eastern part of Mumbai.

The affected people had relied on an observation made by the Mumbai bench of the National Green Tribunal about pollution levels in Mahul in a related matter.

A division bench of justices A S Oka and M S Sanklecha, in its Wednesday order, noted that the government cannot force any person to live in a polluted area.

"Article 21 of the Constitution of India says every citizen has the right to live in a pollution-free area. Project-affected persons have the right to say that they cannot be forced to reside in an area where air pollution is life-threatening," the court said.

"As these persons were evicted and if rehabilitation is not done in a correct spirit then it will affect their rights guaranteed under the Indian Constitution," it noted.

"As the state government has expressed inability to provide alternate tenements, the only option left is to direct the government to pay the project-affected persons monetary compensation to enable them to find their own accommodation," the judges observed.

The bench directed the state to initiate communication with all the eligible persons and find out if they would prefer staying in Mahul or take money from the government.

"The government shall pay each family Rs 15,000 per month along with Rs 45,000 refundable deposit by way of rent for those persons who choose to forfeit their right to a tenement in Mahul," the bench said.

The families will then have a month to vacate their structures after which the BMC shall resume demolition work, the judges said.

"A similar practice shall be initiated with those persons who have already started staying in Mahul. These persons shall be given the option to vacate the flats occupied by them and take the rent amount," the court said.

The court said the government shall deposit a sum of Rs 1.80 lakh (Rs 15,000 per month for a year) along with the Rs 45,000 deposit in the bank accounts of the project-affected persons (PAPs).

"After a year, a sum of Rs 15,000 shall be deposited in these persons' bank accounts before the fifth of each month," the court directed.

The bench asked the corporation to complete the demolition process by November 30.

In its order, the court said the government's failure to make available accommodation to the PAPs has resulted in thousands of illegal structures still encroaching upon the city's main water pipelines.

"The entire difficulty has arisen because of delay on part of the state government to rehabilitate the project- affected persons," it said.

The bench noted that such encroachments affect the entire population of Mumbai which gets their water supply from these pipelines.

Referring to previous court orders, the bench said, "The encroachments also increase risk and make the pipelines vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

The issue involves security of Mumbai which has experienced some of the worst terrorist attacks in the past, the judges noted.

"If not for the project-affected persons, but at least for the safety of the 1.80 crore population of Mumbai, the state government should come up with an alternate plan," the court said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tensions soared Wednesday between the United States and two of its NATO partners, Germany and Turkey, as the alliance opened a 70th birthday celebration aimed at showing a united front against a resurgent Russia.

Hours before foreign ministers from the 29-member Western alliance opened talks in Washington, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a stinging rebuke both to Germany over its level of defense spending and to Turkey for buying a major arms system from Russia.

"Germany must do more. And we cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on Russia," Pence told a think-tank forum on the NATO anniversary.

"It is simply unacceptable for Europe's largest economy to continue to ignore the threat of Russian aggression and neglect its own self-defense and our common defense," he said.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced annoyance that few allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are meeting a goal set by the alliance in 2014 for each member to devote two percent of GDP to defense.

Germany last month announced that defense spending would slip to 1.25 per cent in 2023.

Hungry for energy, Germany has also defied the United States and several Eastern European states by forging ahead with Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline with Russia that will double the capacity of the existing link.

"If Germany persists in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as President Trump said, it could turn Germany's economy into literally a captive of Russia," Pence said.

Pence, however, promised that the United States "is now and will always be Europe's greatest ally" -- a tonal shift from Trump, who has loudly wondered whether it is worth defending smaller NATO members such as Montenegro.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, speaking at Columbia University in New York before heading to Washington, denied Germany was dependent on Russia.

"Germany is very involved with different NATO missions and we will fulfill our commitments. Germany can be relied upon," he said.

Western powers have also increasingly clashed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government, which has cracked down on dissent at home and threatened to strike US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria.

On Monday, the United States said it was suspending Turkey's participation in the F-35 fighter-jet program due to Ankara's plans to buy Russia's S-400 missile defense system, raising fears that Moscow could gain data to hone its hardware and shoot down Western aircraft.

"Turkey must choose -- does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out a change of heart, saying: "The S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this," he said.

Cavusoglu said Turkey still backed NATO on core concerns with Russia and would never recognize Moscow's 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine. "We have been working with Russia," he said.

"But it doesn't mean that we are undermining the alliance and we agree with Russia on everything. There is no shift on our foreign policy."



The 70th anniversary comes amid rising concern over Russia, which has supported separatists in Ukraine and Georgia and sought to sway the 2016 US election.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an address to the US Congress, said the alliance wanted better relations with Russia -- but needed to prepare a strong defense.

"We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naive," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg appeared to soothe Trump during a White House meeting on Tuesday, crediting the US leader's tough rhetoric with pushing the Europeans and Canada to bolster their defense budgets by USD100 billion between 2016 and 2020.

Lawmakers repeatedly rose to standing ovations as Stoltenberg hailed the value of the alliance.

"NATO has been good for Europe, but NATO has also been good for the United States," he said.

"The strength of a nation is not only measured by its economy or the number of its soldiers, but also by the number of its friends. And through NATO, the United States has more friends and allies than any other power.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)More bad for US aviation giant Boeing: the US Air Force said Tuesday it had halted for a second time the acceptance of new KC-46 tankers due to ongoing quality issues.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson revealed the March 23 decision -- another setback in the already delayed air tanker program -- during a budget hearing in Congress.

"The Air Force again halted acceptance of new KC-46 tanker aircraft as we continue to work with Boeing to ensure that every aircraft delivered meets the highest quality and safety standards," Wilson told the panel.

She said that Air Force inspectors had discovered "foreign object debris" in the new planes that should not have been there as well as other areas "where Boeing did not meet quality standards." The problems were "unrelated to design or engineering specifications," she noted.

But it was the second time this year Boeing faced the same criticism. The Air Force took its first KC-46 in January, more than one year late.

Currently they have seven KC-46 aircraft in service.

The Air Force plans to buy 179 KC-46s over the course of the program. Based on the airframe of the Boeing 767, the aerial refueller is to replace the Air Force's aging line of KC-10 and KC-135 tankers, many of which were manufactured during the Cold War.

The Air Force chose Boeing to build the tanker over Airbus in 2011 after a furious battle between the two companies over the massive contract.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress manifesto drew fresh criticism from the BJP on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging it is a 'dhakosla patra'(sham manifesto) full of lies and the party chief Amit Shah and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying the promise to review AFSPA would pose a threat to the country.

The pledge to scrap the British-era sedition law that is reviled by activists was also slammed with Shah asking the Congress who was it trying to protect.

Sitharaman alleged that various provisions in the opposition party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls are a threat to the country as it favours separatists and terrorists and will demoralise the armed forces.

Another BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister S M Krishna termed the Congress' promise to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act(AFSPA) as "very dangerous."



The AFSPA gives the armed forces certain protection from legal action in carrying out their operations in disturbed areas.

BSP supremo Mayawati also termed the Congress manifesto as a "showoff" and an "illusion" and said there was no credibility of the promises made by the party due to its past.

Dismissing the BJP allegation that the party manifesto was soft on terror, AICC in-charge of Congress affairs in Telangana R C Khuntia said the ruling party should explain its record in handling security issues during the last five years.

"What are they doing? They should also explain....why terrorism is continuing? Why more forces are being killed? They should give the answer about five years," he told reporters in Hyderabad



The BJP should first explain why there were allegedly more incidents, instead of asking another political party about its manifesto, he said.

Addressing his second rally in Arunachal Pradesh within a week, Modi referred to the Congress manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and said it had promised that every house would have electricity by 2009.

"However, till 2014 around 18,000 villages in the country were still to be electrified... Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called 'dhakosla patra' (sham manifesto), not a manifesto," Modi said at the rally in Pasighat, 220 km from the state capital Itanagar.

Modi also brought up the Congress manifesto while launching his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal with rallies in Siliguri and Kolkata.

He accused the Congress and the ruling Trinamool Congress(TMC) of being sympathisers of Pakistan who wanted to "break the morale" of India's security forces and make them "helpless" in the fight against terror.

"I saw this 'dhakosla patra' released by the Congress. It is meant to break the morale of our security forces.

"It promises removing AFSPA from disturbed areas like Kashmir. This is an attempt to render our brave soldiers helpless in the fight against terror, have their hands and feet tied," Modi told the rally in the north Bengal town of Siliguri.

He accused the Congress of being "soft" on terror because of its "appeasement" politics, which was reflected in its governments scrapping tough anti-terror laws like TADA and POTA.

"We too scrapped over 1,400 obsolete laws from statute books. We have also withdrawn the AFSPA from some areas after peace returned there. The Congress' election promise will help those peddling terror from Pakistan," he said in Kolkata, accusing the Congress party of "playing with national security and trying to destabilise the country".

The prime minister said the manifesto showed that the Congress had no faith in the security forces and the law of the land.

"This chowkidar stands as a wall between the sham manifesto of the Congress and national security. This manifesto has come with an expiry date--May 23 (the day poll results will be announced). On May 23, both the Congress and its 'dhakosla patra' will be gone," he said.

Lashing out at the Congress for promising to remove the anti-sedition law from the CrPC in its manifesto, Shah asked, who was the Congress trying to protect.

"Who do you want to protect? When anti-India slogans like 'bharat tere tukde honge' were shouted in JNU you stood with them in the name of right to freedom of speech. Do you want to protect those booked under the anti-sedition law?" the BJP president asked at a rally in Dehradun.

Advising the Congress president not to "stoop so low for the of vote", Shah asked him to stop playing with the country's security.

He also slammed the Congress for promising to revoke the AFSPA which gives special powers to the armed forces saying the party was not bothered about the safety of the country's security personnel.

"Rahul baba, it is not within the powers of your party to revoke AFSPA which is for the security of our armed forces. BJP stands like a rock against your designs. We cannot risk the lives of our armed forces. We can't demoralise them," he said.

"The Narendra Modi government stands like a rock with the armed forces," Shah added.

Sitharaman told reporters in Delhi that the Congress manifesto is not in national interest and indirectly helps terrorists and others working against the country.

She insisted that her party was not against withdrawing the AFSPA, if situation permitted it, but the Congress' promise to tweak its provisions, if voted to power, will allow terrorists and their friends to target security personnel with manufactured allegations.

The Modi government in tandem with respective state governments has withdrawn AFSPA from Meghalaya and Tripura and most parts of Assam, she said, asking that from how many places did the Congress remove it when it was in power during 2004-14.

On the Congress' stand that powers of armed forces and human rights should be balanced, she said it should not be presumed that the former is against the latter.

"It does not portend well for unity of the country and the morale of armed forces," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A priest in northern Poland who led a public burning of books that included titles from the "Harry Potter" series and other items parishioners wanted destroyed has apologized, saying the ritual was not intended to condemn specific authors, religions or social groups.

The Rev. Rafal Jarosiewicz called the burning of objects thought to be connected to magic and the occult, and deemed by their owners to be an evil force, "unfortunate".

He published the apology late Tuesday on the Facebook page of a foundation he founded.

Jarosiewicz and other priests have drawn criticism for burning books, Buddhist figurines, an African mask, and other items Sunday outside a Catholic church in the city of Gdansk. They said they encouraged parishioners to bring in things that disturbed them so the priests could do away with bad influences.

Jarosiewicz was fined by city guards. An anti-smog group also contacted prosecutors about the illegal burning of waste in an open fire.

Images from the burning at the Parish of Our Lady Mother of the Church and St Catherine of Sweden were posted on the SMS z Nieba (SMS from Heaven) foundation, which uses unconventional means to carry out religious work across Poland.

In the pictures, flames are consuming an African wooden mask, a small Buddhist figure, figurines of elephants and books on personality, magic and from J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. Some Catholic faithful and priests think the "Harry Potter" books promote sorcery.

The book-burning attracted attention as Poland's influential Catholic Church is grappling with revelations about the scale of child sex abuse allegedly committed by pedophile priests.

Last month, the country's Catholic bishops' conference, the Episcopal Conference of Poland, said it had recorded cases of 382 clergymen who have abused 625 minors since 1990.

Prosecutors in the eastern town of Zamosc said Wednesday they plan to send an indictment to the regional court charging a priest in his 30s who is accused of recording video of girls and women while they were in public changing rooms and toilets.

Prosecutor Artur Szykula told The Associated Press the priest admitted wrongdoing. The priest was caught in August in Croatia while recording a girl in a changing room.

That case is to be heard by a court in Split, Croatia, Szykula said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India is not doing justice to the people of Kashmir but it cannot suppress them with its military might, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said Wednesday, asserting that the Centre will have to return the people's right guaranteed by the Constitution.

India is not doing justice with us. Had it done justice, we would not have seen the situation we are in. I want to tell (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, do justice with our people. We do not seek anything else than our rights. We do not seek what is yours, but what is our right, said Abdullah here, referring to the state's special status.

He was addressing workers' convention in Beerwah assembly segment.

The former Union minister said there was no other option for New Delhi than to return the rights of the people of Kashmir one day.

"We seek the rights of the people of the state which you have taken away. If you think you can suppress us with your Army, you have a misconception. We cannot be suppressed.

"You will have to return our rights one day. Whether I stay alive or not, a day will come when they (New Delhi) will have to give us our rights as there is no other option," he said.

Abdullah said peace will return to Jammu and Kashmir if the pre-1953 position was restored.

The NC's stand is that we have to return to the pre-1953 position because there will be no peace here till then. They (Centre) think they can suppress us. Many have come here to suppress us, but by the God's grace, they had to flee this place. If they do something to this (special status), God willing, they also will have to flee, he said.

Abdullah said when the country got independence, a Constitution was created in which certain provisions were kept by which the state's identity could be safeguarded.

It included Article 370 and Article 35A. Unfortunately, some of our leaders made Article 370 hollow for their personal gains, he said.

Cautioning people to be beware of those leaders, Abdullah said they will only make hollow promises.

But, if you want to save your dignity and the identity of the state, you should hold this flag (NC flag) and remember this plough (NC symbol). Till the time there is this plough, they will not be able to defeat you, he said.

The NC chief said as a representative of the people in the Parliament, he would stand in the way of the Centre and stop them from touching the state's special status.

This election is your test. Some party leaders rightly say that Farooq Abdullah will go there (Parliament) and challenge India.

"That I will tell India that your Constitution protects us fully and if you try to amend that Constitution, then Farooq Abdullah will stand in your way and I will see what you can do, he said.

Flaying BJP president Amit Shah for his remarks that Modi was walking on the path of former prime minister A B Vajpayee, Abdullah said Shah has a misconception.

No Amit Shah, you have a misconception. Vajpayee was ready to give us autonomy. Where is that 'insaaniyat' (humanity), where has that 'jamhooriyat' (democracy) gone and where is that Kashmiriyat about which he (Vajpayee) had said from the ramparts of Red Fort?



"We want that insaaniyat and jamhooriyat where every person can get his rights. This is our fight and, God willing, we will win it. If your support continues, we will win every fight, but you (the people) have to show the courage, he said.

Abdullah said the BJP-led Central government was destroying the state and attacking its identity.

Time has come that we have to build our future. There is such a government in India right now which is dividing people on religious lines, which is trying to pit Muslims against Hindus. Our fight today is against that and our fight is against those who are trying to create uncertainty in the country, he said.

Taking a dig at the Congress party over its promise in the manifesto for appointing interlocutors for Kashmir, the NC president said the Congress should rather present the reports of the interlocutors appointed till now in the Parliament.

The Congress has put few things in their manifesto. I want to tell them that you have already appointed three in the past. Rather than appointing new interlocutors, present the N N Vohra report, Justice Sagheer report and the report of three interlocutors (appointed during the UPA II regime) in the Parliament and you will come to know what we want, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four-time lawmaker and Congress's Chandigarh candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal Wednesday lashed out at his rival and sitting BJP MP Kirron Kher, alleging "nothing has been achieved" during her tenure, and said his priority would be to restore the "lost glory" of 'city beautiful'.

The Congress Tuesday fielded the former railway minister from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.

Commenting on the tenure of actor-turned-politician Kher, Bansal said, "It has been totally disappointing experience for people. Nothing has been achieved. Only superficial things have been done."



He lamented that the ranking of 'city beautiful', as Chandigarh is popularly known, plunged from the third spot to the 20th in the 'Swachh Survekshan' 2019. "The city has lagged behind in every segment."



"Massive efforts will be required for the city's development," said the 70-year-old leader, surrounded by supporters and friends who congratulated him on being fielded from Chandigarh.

Listing out his priorities, the former MP -- who won the Chandigarh seat in 1991, 1999, 2004 and 2009, but lost to Kher in the 2014 -- emphasized the need for putting in efforts for development of the city, generating employment and making the city crime-free.

"My priority will be to restore Chandigarh's glory lost during five years of the BJP," Bansal said, adding working for cleanliness will be his another priority.

"There is also a need for employment generation by focusing on tourism and services sectors. Making the city crime-free will also be my priority," he added.

Bansal also batted for metro train services in the city in order to address the issue of traffic jams. "Over 1.25 lakh vehicles come to the city from other states, causing traffic snarls and parking problem."



Though the Congress reposed faith in old warhorse Bansal, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the wife of Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, and former Union minister Manish Tewari, had also staked claims to the ticket from Chandigarh, considered a party stronghold.

Navjot Kaur Sidhu expressed her disappointed over the Congress's decision not to field her from the constituency, where she had already started holding public meetings in anticipation of a party nomination.

"I would have loved it if they had respected a lady trying to showcase her individual work," she told PTI Wednesday.

Bansal on his part expressed gratitude to the party for giving him the ticket. "I will make endeavour to take everybody along.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday gave his commitment to help resolve the decades-long Naga political problem if the party forms government at the Centre after the election.

It is a complex issue involving multiple stakeholders and talks would be held with all of them to find out a solution, Gandhi said addressing a poll meeting here.

"I will not give empty promises but will try to resolve the Naga political issue by working with all the stakeholders," he said.

The Centre signed a framework agreement with the NSCN(IM) in 2015 and six Naga nationalist political groups have joined the peace talks separately. But there has not been a breakthrough on the Naga problem.

Gandhi said the Congress believes that every single state in India has its own culture, history and belief but the BJP-led NDA government is trying to impose a single idea on the people of the country.

He asked, "Who do they think they are to dictate terms on how to live to the people of the North East?



Understanding the unique problems and geography of the region, the Congress-led UPA government had given special status category to the north eastern states, he said alleging that NDA government abolished all these provisions.

Gandhi assured the people that the Congress, after coming to power, will bring back the special category status and other provisions granted to the north eastern states.

Gandhi promised not to allow the Citizenship Amendment Bill to be passed stating that it is a threat to the people of the region.

The contentious Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant Indian nationality to non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India even if they don't possess proper document.

A largescale protest broke out in the Northeastern states as the indigenous people of the region were apprehending that if the bill was enacted, it would endanger their livelihood and identity.

The bill, being vehemently opposed in the region even by certain allies of the BJP, was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8. However, it is set to lapse on June 3, when the term of the present Lok Sabha ends, as it could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha.

BJP president Amit Shah had said the party would bring back the Bill if it was voted to power.

Polling will be held for the lone Mizoram Lok Sabha seat on April 11.

The opposition Naga People's Front (NPF) has not fielded any candidate for the seat and is supporting the Congress.

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-led alliance dethroned the NPF government of 15 years in the February 2018 state assembly polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)president Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in addition to his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will file his nomination by 11 am on Thursday, senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala said.

Gandhi might be accompanied by his sister and AICC in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, sources told PTI.

They said the chief will board a helicopter to Wayanad, about 90 km from here, to file his nomination.

"A roadshow will be held tomorrow, before the filing of nomination papers, in which thousands of party workers will take part," Chennithala told reporters here Wednesday.

Senior Congress leaders, including Mukul Wasnik, K C Venugopal, Mullappally Ramachandran, and Indian Union Muslim League leader K Kunhalikutty are in Kozhikode to make arrangements for the event.

Tight security is in place in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts in view of the high-profile visits.

A senior district police official told PTI that the Congress chief will arrive at 8.30 PM on Wednesday.

"He will stay at the guest house and will leave for Wayanad in the morning. Time and logistics are yet to be finalised," he said.

He said he cannot divulge the details due to security considerations.

The Congress announced on Sunday that Gandhi will contest from Wayanad constituency, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Gandhi has claimed people in South India "feel hostility" from Prime Minister and said he decided to contest from Wayanad to send out the message that he stands with them.Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in addition to his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will file his nomination by 11 AM on Thursday, senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala said.

Senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Mukul Wasnik said Gandhi's sister and AICC in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would accompany him to Wayanad.

Wasnik also claimed that the announcement of Gandhi's candidature had enthused the people of the constituency.

"The entire Congress party and the UDF had invited Rahul ji to contest in Kerala. Similar invitations were extended from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Finally taking into consideration, the feelings of the party members and the alliance partners, Rahulji decided to contest in Wayanad.

Since the time this announcement was made, we can see tremendous enthusiasm among the party members and the people," he told reporters here.

Wasnik also said Gandhi's candidature has made a major difference in other states,including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

"It will get reflected in the voting," he said.

"After Rahul Gandhi arrives today, he will meet office bearers from the congress party and the UDF partners and then his programme will be decided. Priyanka is also coming," Wasnik said.

Earlier, sources said the Congress chief would board a helicopter to Wayanad, about 90 km from here, to file his nomination.

"A roadshow will be held tomorrow, before the filing of nomination papers, in which thousands of party workers will take part," Chennithala told reporters here Wednesday.

Senior Congress leaders, including Wasnik, K C Venugopal, Mullappally Ramachandran and Indian Union Muslim League leader K Kunhalikutty are in Kozhikode to make arrangements for the event.

Tight security is in place in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts in view of the high-profile visits.

A senior district police official told PTI that the Congress chief will arrive at 8.30 PM on Wednesday.

"He will stay at the guest house and leave for Wayanad in the morning. The time and logistics are yet to be finalised," he said.

He said he cannot divulge the details due to security considerations.

The Congress announced on Sunday that Gandhi would contest from Wayanad constituency, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Gandhi has claimed that the people in South India "feel hostility" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he decided to contest from Wayanad to send out the message that he stands with them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in addition to his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will file his nomination around 11.30 AM on Thursday, senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala said.

Senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Mukul Wasnik said Gandhi's sister and AICC in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would accompany him to Wayanad.

Rahul Gandhi arrived here Wednesday night to a tumultuous welcome by hundreds of party workers.

Priyanka, who came separately, reached here shortly before her brother arrived.

A large number of young party workers holding Congress and ally Indian Union Muslim League flags were seen lustily cheering as Rahul Gandhi came out of the airport. He waved at them.

The Congress chief was received by Chennithala, Oommen Chandy, Mullappally Ramachandran, IUML leaders P K Kunhalikutty and E T Muhammed basheer and others.

Later he and Priyanka left for the guest house through a secure route from airport.

"Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka have already left for the guest house. Rahul might meet the senior leaders tonight. UDF workers are excited over his candidature," Chennithala said.

Chandy said Rahul's candidature in Wayanad will lead the UDF to a complete victory in the April 23 polls.

Rahul, who earlier in the day addressed a series of election meetings in Assam and Nagaland, reached Karipur Airport here around 9.30 PM.

After overnight stay at the guest house here, the two leaders will leave for Wayanad Thursday morning.

"The Congress chief will embark on a massive road show at around 9.30 AM before filing the nomination papers," Chennithala said.

Wasnik claimed the announcement of Gandhi's candidature in Wayanad has enthused the people of the constituency and made a major difference in other states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

"It will get reflected in the voting," he said.

Earlier, sources said the Congress chief would board a helicopter to Wayanad, about 90 km from here, to file his nomination.

Tight security is in place in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts in view of the high-profile visits.

The Congress announced on Sunday that Gandhi would contest from Wayanad constituency, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Gandhi has claimed that the people in South India "feel hostility" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he decided to contest from Wayanad to send out the message that he stands with them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Filmmaker Simon Kinberg says "X-Men: The Last Stand" could have given a more wholesome treatment to the story of telepathic and telekinetic mutant, Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix.

Kinberg, who served as the writer for the 2006 film, said they were unable to go "cosmic" with the subplot.

"I really felt that one of the mistakes we made with 'X-Men 3', which told, in a way, the Dark Phoenix story but it was the subplot of that film, one of the mistakes we made was that we didn't go cosmic with it, like the comics," the director told DigitalSpy on the sidelines of WonderCon.

Famke Janssen has starred as Jean Grey in four "X-Men" films and Sophie Turner took over the role in 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse" as the mutant's younger version.

The "Game of Thrones" star reprises the role in the upcoming "X-Men: Dark Phoenix", which marks Kinberg's directorial debut.

He added the new film is an "opportunity" to redo the story at a time when the comic book superhero genre is undergoing evolution.

"I think that was a time in superhero movies where that just wasn't being done, and now we live in a time with 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Thor: Ragnarok' and so many comic book movies are interstellar and cosmic that we felt like this was an opportunity to do our version of that," he said.

The director described "Dark Phoenix" as "a much more grounded, naturalistic and organic version" of the story.

"But nevertheless (it) has an alien character, a cosmic force and sequences in space," he teased of Jessica Chastain's character, who manipulates Jean Grey.

It marks Chastain's entry into Disney-Marvel's mutant superhero universe.

The film, also starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and Tye Sheridan, will release in the US on June 7.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)French carmaker Renault said Wednesday that a joint Renault-Nissan audit of their Dutch subsidiary RNBV had raised "serious questions" over millions of euros in expenses incurred by ousted CEO Carlos Ghosn.

"Certain expenses which have yet to be precisely quantified, but may amount to several million euros since 2010, raise serious questions as to their conformity with RNBV's corporate interest," Renault's board of directors said in a statement.

The statement said that "RNBV's internal organisation suggests serious deficiencies in terms of financial transparency and expenditure control procedures." The board had asked Renault's management to work with Renault's alliance partner Nissan "to jointly remedy these deficiencies as soon as possible," it added.

The statement came amid reports in Japan that prosecutors there were considering bringing further charges against Ghosn, who spent more than three months in custody on charges of financial misconduct involving both his pay and Nissan's accounts. He denies the charges.

The reports said that investigators were reportedly eyeing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least $32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman in transactions that reportedly involved Amsterdam-based RNBV.

Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a yacht allegedly used by Ghosn, 65, and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The claims are the latest in a deluge of accusations involving the former head of the world's biggest-selling auto alliance, which consists of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Ghosn, who is also being investigated over his extravagant wedding at Versailles Palace outside Paris in 2016, has called a press conference on April 11 to tell his side of the story.

The business world was stunned when Ghosn was arrested on November 19 as he stepped off his private jet at a Tokyo airport.

Nissan swiftly removed him as chairman and he was also later deposed as chairman and chief executive of Renault.

On Tuesday, Renault said some expenses incurred by Ghosn "involve questionable and concealed practices and violations of the Group's ethical principles".

These related particularly to "relationships with third parties, management of conflicts of interest, and protection of corporate assets."



Besides details relating to the Versailles wedding -- Ghosn obtained the use of the former royal palace thanks to a Renault sponsorship deal -- the company said it has also informed French authorities of "potential issues concerning payments made to one of Renault's distributors in the Middle East."



Ghosn spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on a bail of nearly USD 9 million last month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and some retired judges of the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court have written to the Centre, urging it to come out with rules for the welfare of hens which are kept in small battery cages.

Expressing concern over the condition of hens, the former judges wrote separate letters to the Secretary of the Environment Ministry, requesting that "sufficient space is provided for a hen to stand up, turn around, spread wings, nest in private, perch and dust-bathe without hindrance."



Besides CJI Misra, the letters have been written by former Supreme Court judge Justice (retired) Manmohan Singh, Justice (retired) A K Sikri and former Delhi High Court judges Kailash Gambhir and S N Dhingra.

The judges said that the rules regarding welfare of poultry hens recommended by the Law Commission must be notified by the government.

The Law Commission had recommended phasing out of battery cages which restrict the movement of hens.

Retired Justices Sikri and Dhingra in their separate letters to environment secretary C K Mishra said that the "battery cages" were being used by the poultry industry in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress on Wednesday alleged that a "cash for votes" scam was busted in Arunachal Pradesh with the recovery of Rs 1.8 crore in cash from Chief Minister Pema Khandu's convoy and asked the poll panel to register a case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as the chief minister and his deputy.

Accusing the BJP of using "money power" to woo voters in the northeast, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Rs 1.8 crore was allegedly recovered from the chief minister's convoy in Pasighat around midnight, hours before Modi was to address a rally there on Wednesday morning.

Khandu and his deputy Chowna Mein should be immediately sacked, he said and also sought the termination of the candidature of Tapir Gao, the BJP's Arunachal Pradesh president who has been fielded from the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency.

Surjewala showed two videos purportedly showing the cash being recovered in the presence of officials of the Election Commission, the local administration and the police.

The party did not vouch for the authenticity of the videos, saying they were available on social media. It also claimed the raid was conducted after Youth Congress workers complained to authorities in Pasighat.

There was no immediate comment available from the BJP or the EC on the recovery of the cash in a midnight operation.

Alleging a cash for votes scandal in Arunachal Pradesh, Surjewala said, "Facing imminent defeat, a desperate BJP is resorting to 'money power' in the northeast.

"A midnight raid on the convoy of BJP's Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, Deputy CM Chowna Mein and BJP Arunachal President Tapir Gao has found Rs 1.8 crore in stacks of hard cash that exposes the brazen corruption and poll violation, as PM Modi holds a rally in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh."



He said the party demands that a case be registered against the prime minister, the chief minister and the deputy chief minister.

"Why is the Election Commission sleeping and not taking action in the matter and not registered a case so far. Why is the case being hushed up?" he asked.

According to the Congress leader, the videos emerged on social media and showed the cash being counted by police officers in the presence of Election Commission's Expenditure Officer Samrita Kaur Gill. Pasighat Deputy Commissioner Kinny Singh is heard talking in the video and stacks of cash are visible, he said.

"Was Rs 1.8 crore of hard cash being transferred for the rally of PM Modi in Pasighat today, personally in the CM's convoy and in the safe hands of BJP president. Where did such a large amount come from?" Surjewala asked.

Surjewala also asked whether this cash was reportedly transferred for Modi's morning rally in Pasighat.

"Isn't concealing and hoarding cash during an election a 'corrupt practice' and a serious violation of law under Section 123(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 and Section 171B of the IPC and a solid ground for termination of candidature?" he sought to know.

Surjewala alleged the BJP is trying to hush up the matter and sought to know whether the prime minister knew about the stacks of cash being "transferred".

"If yes, an FIR should be immediately filed against PM Narendra Modi, Arunachal CM Prema Khandu and BJP's Arunachal Pradesh President Tapir Gao," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A South Korean ship has been detained for six months on suspicion of violating UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed North, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Pyongyang is sanctioned over its weapons programme under multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which include curbs on shipments of oil and fuel to the isolated regime.

But the North has been seeking to get around the measures, with a recent UN report saying that Pyongyang was securing deliveries of fuel through ship-to-ship transfers in international waters.

Seoul's foreign ministry said a South Korean ship and three others had been detained in the country, suspected of undermining the economic measures against the North.

"This is the first time a South Korean vessel has been detained for allegedly violating UN sanctions," a ministry official told AFP.

The ship -- held in the southern port of Busan since last October -- is suspected of carrying out an illicit ship-to-ship transfer of oil to a North Korean tanker, according to the Yonhap Agency.

If it is found to have made the transfer, the South Korean vessel would likely be blacklisted by the UN, Yonhap reported.

The foreign ministry official did not explain the delay in the authorities making the detention public.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has sought to engage the North to bring it to the negotiating table, dangling economic carrots before it in the form of inter-Korean projects -- many of which would violate the current sanctions rules if implemented.

Questions were also raised over whether it had undermined the measures by providing supplies to set up an inter-Korean liaison office north of the border.

Last year three South Korean firms were caught importing millions of dollars worth of coal and iron from the North in 2017.

Immediate sanctions relief was a key demand of the cash-strapped North when leader Kim Jong Un met with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February for a second summit that ultimately broke down.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court Wednesday asked GJM leaders Roshan Giri and Bimal Gurung, who are seeking protection to participate in campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, to approach Calcutta High Court within four days for the relief.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, M M Shantanagoudar and Navin Sinha said no coercive action be taken against the leaders till then.

The court said the Calcutta High Court will decide the matter expeditiously.

Giri had on Tuesday told the apex court that Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government was "vindictive" towards him and has implicated him in several "bogus cases".

However, the West Bengal government has strongly opposed his contentions and said Giri was an absconder and there were several incriminating materials against him which allegedly showed his complicity in various cases of heinous nature.

Giri and Gurung are among the accused in the 2010 Madan Tamang murder case. Besides this, several other cases are pending against them in West Bengal.

Police have claimed Tamang, who was the All India Gorkha League (AIGL) president, was hacked to death in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010 in broad daylight when he was overseeing preparations for a public meeting.

Giri has been charged with alleged "criminal conspiracy for murder", along with several other aides of him, in the murder case of Tamang.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)regulator Sebi Wednesday extended the timeline for the implementation of phase 1 of (UPI) as an alternative payment mechanism for buying shares in a public issue.

To ensure smooth transition to UPI in ASBA (Application Supported by Block Amount) and in the back drop of the representation received from various stakeholders, Sebi said, "it has been decided to extend the timeline for implementation of Phase I... by 3 months i.e. till June 30, 2019"



However, the timeline for implementing phase 2 and phase 3 shall remain unchanged from the date of completion of phase 1, Sebi said in a circular.

In November 2018, the regulator had said it would launch UPI as an alternative payment option for buying shares in a public issue in a phased manner from January 1, 2019, which will cut listing time for an to three days from existing six days.

It had further said the new mechanism would increase the efficiency of the existing system and curtail the need for manual intervention.

Currently, either invest in an initial public offering (IPO) through ASBA or through ASBA, where the does the bidding and hands over the application form to the investors'

With the UPI mechanism, the existing process of physical movement of forms from intermediaries to banks for blocking of funds will be discontinued.

UPI is an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of (NPCI). It allows instant transfer of money between any two persons' accounts using a payment address which uniquely identifies a person's bank account.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Shiv Sena on Wednesday accused the Congress of spreading the word "Hindu terror" during its rule, saying it encouraged terrorists from Pakistan to carry out their activities in India.

It also criticised former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah over their stand on Article 35-A of the Constitution, saying if such voices are not curbed, the border state will remain in the grip of unrest and instability.

The remarks of the Sena, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress, accusing it of insulting "peace-loving" Hindus by linking them to terrorism.

"The word 'saffron terror' or 'Hindu terror' was spread when the Congress was in power at the Centre. Besides allegations, false cases were also filed against Hindus in the Samjhauta train blast and Malegaon bomb blast cases," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It claimed that "gross injustice" was meted out to Swami Aseemanand (in the Samjhauta blast case), and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit (both accused in the Malegaon case).

"The spread of the term 'Hindu terror' encouraged terrorists from Pakistan. Pakistanis put the onus of terror strikes on Hindu extremists... now, a court has found Swami Assemanand not guilty," the Marathi daily said.

It noted that Modi, during his rally at Wardha in Maharashtra on Monday, slammed the Congress for insulting the Hindu religion worldwide and blotting the country's 5,000-year-old culture by linking Hindus to terrorism.

"Modi has aggressively played the Hindutva card in the 2019 battleground. Some say 40 per cent of the ground (at Wardha rally) was empty during Modi's speech. But, it is important that 60 per cent was filled with people in the extremely hot weather conditions," it said.

By raising a voice for it, Modi and the BJP have proved that "Hindutva cannot be separated from politics," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

Further slamming the Congress, it said the party earlier claimed that late ATS chief Hemant Karkare, IPS officer Ashok Kamte and senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar were not killed by terrorists during the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, but were victims of "Hindu terror".

"This was unfortunate for the country and brought disrepute to it. Pakistan's hand in the attack could be proven as terrorist Ajmal Kasab was captured alive...otherwise the Pakistan connection would have remained hidden...," it said.

The Sena also hit out at PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah over their stands on Articles 370 and 35-A of the Constitution.

Mufti recently warned that any tampering with Jammu and Kashmir's special status would "undermine and nullify" the state's accession to the Union, while Abdullah sought a separate Prime Minister for Kashmir.

The Sena said both the leaders have openly challenged the Constitution and the law of the land.

"If such worms are not crushed in time, then Kashmir will always remain unstable and in unrest. Only the roar of Hindutva can provide a shield for the country. However the issue should not be forgotten after elections," it said.

Petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of Articles 370 and 35-A, which grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir and special rights and privileges to its "permanent residents", respectively.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The "leaders of South Sudan" are to visit the Vatican next week, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Media reports said arch-rivals President Salva Kiir and rebel leader and former vice president Riek Machar were expected to be at the Vatican on April 9 and 10.

"I can affirm that scheduled next week in the Vatican is a spiritual retreat for the leaders of South Sudan," Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said.

South Sudan country was born in a blaze of optimism in 2011 after it gained independence from Sudan.

But rivalry between Kiir and Machar unleashed a civil war in 2013 characterised by brutal violence, rape and UN warnings about ethnic cleansing.

More than 380,000 people have died and four million people have fled their homes. In 2015, a peace deal brought Machar back as vice president, but it fell apart the following year and he fled the country.

Machar is planning to return next month under a peace agreement signed in Addis Ababa last September, but the process has been overshadowed by fears of insecurity and lack of preparation.

Pope Francis has repeatedly voiced concern for South Sudan.

He granted an audience to Kiir last month and afterwards said he hoped to visit the country to "encourage the peace process.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Union home minister and senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde, who is locked in a keen contest on his home turf Solapur in Maharashtra, Wednesday announced that the upcoming contest would be his final election and sought "blessings" of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Addressing workers of the Congress and the NCP in Solapur in western Maharashtra, Shinde said, "this is my last election. I want blessings of Pawar saheb. He has always extended his cooperation to me".

The former chief minister is squaring off against Lingayat seer Jaisiddeshwar Swami of the BJP and Dalit icon B R Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar.

Prakash Ambedkar is a nominee of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and the AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi.

In the 2014 general elections, Shinde had lost to Sharad Bansode of the BJP from his pocketborough.

Shinde's association with Pawar dates back to 1970s when the former was working as a police sub-inspector before he joined politics and contested assembly election from Karmala constituency in Solapur district in 1974.

Shinde then went on to become a junior minister in the government of the then chief minister Vasantrao Naik.

He won the Maharashtra Assembly elections four times in 1978, '80, '85 and '90. He had also served as Finance Minister and presented nine budgets under different chief ministers.

Shinde resigned from the Congress and joined the Progressive Democratic Front government led by Sharad Pawar in 1978. However, he later rejoined Congress after the PDF was dismissed in 1980.

He became chief minister in 2003. Later, he was sent to Andhra Pradesh as a governor after his position as CM was taken up by Vilasrao Deshmukh in 2004.

Shinde was appointed as Union Minister for Home Affairs in 2012.

The Congress heavyweight had caused a flutter in January 2014 when he described Pawar as his "political guru", and said he would be happy to see the NCP chief becoming prime minister.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Los Angeles police said they had arrested the man suspected of murdering rapper Nipsey Hussle, ending a two-day manhunt following the Grammy-nominated artist's shock death.

The LAPD Tuesday said the suspect, Eric Holder, was in police custody in connection with the fatal shooting, which authorities say was not gang-related.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who had blamed "senseless gun violence" for the death of 33-year-old Hussle, voiced hope for "justice that Nipsey's family and community deserve" as the arrest was announced.

The killing in broad daylight triggered an outpouring of grief in LA and among Hussle's superstar peers, who hailed both his musical talents and tireless community organising.

Earlier Tuesday, LA police chief Michel Moore said 29-year-old Holder had verbally sparred with Hussle in front of the rapper's clothing store in south Los Angeles on Sunday.

"Holder walked up on multiple occasions and engaged in conversations" with Hussle, the police chief told journalists.

The suspect then "came back armed with a handgun" and fired several times at close range, hitting Hussle in the head and body.

Two other men who were standing next to Hussle were also wounded. Moore said the shooting did not appear to be linked to any gang rivalry or feud.

"We believe this to be a dispute between Mr Hussle and Mr Holder," Moore said. "I'm not going to go into the conversations, but it appears to be a personal matter between the two of them."



A massive manhunt was launched after the shooting with police asking for the public's help in locating Holder and his getaway car driven by a woman.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the unidentified woman had surrendered to police on Tuesday and Holder was subsequently arrested.

Both Moore and Garcetti lamented a recent uptick in violence in south Los Angeles, with the police chief saying: "Nipsey Hussle represents the enormity of the lives we have lost." Authorities urged the community to come together and avoid any further violence.

"We have a reason to feel hopeful, even in the moments of our most extreme pain," Garcetti said. "And that's by turning to each other.

"The absolute worst way to pay back Nipsey's loss -- somebody we lost at the hands of violence -- is with more violence," he added.

Garcetti hailed Hussle's legacy of peace, urging the city to come together and continue the rapper's community building efforts.

"This is about young people of color being able to have opportunity in their lives," he said.

Late Monday, a candlelight vigil for Hussle outside of the clothing store where he was gunned down turned to mayhem when a stampede led to several injuries.

Moore said the event was peaceful until someone brandished a gun, prompting people to flee in panic.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said some 19 people were injured in the stampede, including two with critical injuries. One of those critically injured was reportedly hit by a car.

Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, has been praised by officials in Los Angeles and by his peers for transforming himself from being a gang member to a successful rapper and community organizer who fought for the black and Latino residents of Hyde Park, the south LA neighborhood where he grew up.

He was set to meet with local authorities on Monday to discuss ways to end gang violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Wednesday said those facing serious charges such as sedition should not be allowed to enter Parliament.

The Sena leader was served a notice by the Election Commission for his remark that Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Begusarai constituency in Bihar, should be defeated at any cost.

Speaking to PTI here, Raut said such serious charges are pressed only when there is enough incriminating material.

"Cases of serious nature such as sedition are levelled only when there is enough information to prove grave wrongdoing. When the government takes such a stand against somebody, the Election Commission and Supreme Court should take cognisance and not allow such persons to enter Parliament at all," the Rajya Sabha member said.

While Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel has been barred from contesting polls, why the same norm is not applied for Kanhaiya Kumar, he said.

Patel's hopes of contesting the Lok Sabha election are in jeopardy as the High Court has refused to stay his conviction in a rioting case. He is also facing sedition cases.

"Irrespective of person's caste, religion, ideology or party, if a sedition charge is levelled, they should not be allowed to enter Parliament," Raut said.

On Monday, Mumbai district election officer served a notice to Raut over alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct over his comments against Kumar.

Raut, executive editor of Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', had said in his weekly column that Kumar should be defeated even if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre has to "tamper with EVMs" to ensure it.

The CPI leader must not get into Parliament, he had said.

Asked about the notice, Raut said he will respond to it in due course, but Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and others who also have been served with notices should reply as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Police have detained three suspects linked to a chemical plant blast in China, which killed 78 people and left hundreds injured, local officials said Wednesday.

The explosion last month in Yancheng city, in eastern Jiangsu province, was one of the worst industrial accidents in the country in recent years.

Three employees from Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical, whose facility was involved in the blast, had "significant responsibility" for the accident, according to a statement on the Yancheng government's official Twitter-like Weibo account.

Officials said the suspects have been subjected to "criminal coercive measures" -- a vague term which indicates detention, arrest or being put under house arrest temporarily until police complete their investigations, according to an explanation on the Chinese parliament's website.

Yancheng police declined to offer details on the case when contacted by AFP.

The blast razed an industrial park and blew out the windows of surrounding homes.

The company, with 195 employees, was established in 2007 and mainly produces raw chemical materials including anisole, a highly flammable compound.

It 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 breaking rules on solid and water waste management. Deadly industrial accidents are common in China, where safety regulations are often poorly enforced.

In November, a gas leak at a plant in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou -- which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics -- killed 24 people and injured 21 others.

In 2015, China saw one of its worst industrial accidents when giant chemical blasts in the northern port city of Tianjin killed at least 165 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ousted from his Liberal Party on Tuesday two former ministers whose accusations of political meddling in a prosecution jeopardized his re-election bid.

The announcement came at the end of an emergency caucus meeting to consider expelling former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould after her release of a secret recording last week that reignited the simmering scandal.

Former budget minister Jane Philpott, who had quit in protest over Trudeau's handling of the controversy, was also removed.

"Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott will no longer be members of the Liberal caucus," Trudeau said.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," he said.

"Whether it's taping conversations without consent or repeatedly expressing a lack of confidence in our government and in me personally as leader, it's become clear that (both) can no longer remain part of our Liberal team."



Since February, Trudeau's government has been rocked by accusations that his inner circle sought to shield engineering giant SNC-Lavalin from a corruption trial.

The Montreal-based firm was charged in 2015 for allegedly paying bribes to secure contracts in Libya.

Wilson-Raybould refused to ask prosecutors to settle the case, and the trial is set to proceed.

After resigning, she testified to lawmakers that she'd experienced "consistent and sustained" political pressure to interfere in the case, including "veiled threats."



Trudeau has steadfastly denied the claims, which also led to the resignations of two other senior officials, and plunged his Liberals behind the opposition Tories in opinion polls just months before elections.

On Friday, the House of Commons justice committee looking into the allegations released messages and a secret recording by Wilson-Raybould of a call with Canada's top bureaucrat, Chief of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, to back her claims.

"If a politician secretly records a conversation with anyone," Trudeau said, "it's wrong." He labeled as "unconscionable" the one-time attorney general's secret recording of the clerk of the Privy Council.

The prime minister said the scandal has sidelined his government's progressive agenda and created divisions within the party.

"Our political opponents win when the Liberals are divided," he said. "We can't afford to make that mistake, Canadians are counting on us."



Earlier in the day, Wilson-Raybould had expressed her desire to remain in the party and run as a Liberal in the October election.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)said Tuesday he is "100 per cent" prepared to close down the US- border, warning and Central American governments to take action to stem the flow of migrants into the country.

Delays were already rising at several key border crossings as Trump ratcheted up pressure on Democrats in to toughen laws against illegal immigrants, threatening to hurt the economy in the name of border security.

"It is a national emergency on the border," Trump said.

If does not stop migrants from transiting across its territory, and if does not act, he said, "the border's going to be closed, 100 per cent."



"Sure it's going to have a negative impact on the economy," he said. "Security is more important to me than trade."



Trump said Democrats were blocking reforms for political reasons but could fix the problem "in 45 minutes." He was not specific, but Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has asked Congress to give border officials the power to forcibly repatriate Central American illegal immigrants, including children who arrived alone, back to their countries.

The threat to close the border, which handled some USD612 billion worth of trade in 2018, sent shivers through the economy, and drew warnings from allies of the

"Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country, and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," Senate Majority Leader said.

His call was backed by the Chamber of Commerce, which said in a statement that while it backed immigration reform, closing the border "would inflict severe economic harm on American families, workers, farmers and manufacturers across the "



Homeland Security officials said they were preparing for the possibility of a shutdown of at least some border entry points as they divert staff to deal with the flood of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, expected to hit nearly 100,000 a month.

Nielsen cut short an official trip to to return for meetings early Tuesday on the border crisis, and on Monday Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he would be meeting Nielsen and Secretary of State on the crisis.

Officials said facilities for handling the migrants -- who for the moment cannot be sent back after they cross the border and request asylum -- are overtaxed and understaffed, creating hazardous conditions.

"We are in a full blown emergency. The bottom line is all options are on the table right now," a senior Homeland Security official, who declined to be named, told journalists Tuesday.

"The volume of vulnerable populations that's arriving is unsustainable... The humanitarian situation cannot be ignored and the security situation cannot be ignored." Trump said Mexican officials had reacted to his threat to close the border last week by clamping down on the caravans of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in the three Central American countries.

"made a big step over the past two days," he said, adding that they would have to continue if they don't want the border closed.

He also defended his decision to cut off "hundreds of millions of dollars" in aid to the three countries, accusing them of arranging the caravans of migrants.

The three "don't do anything for us," he said.

On Monday, Nielsen ordered an "emergency surge" of personnel to deal with the situation, including moving 750 staff to areas of the border where the migrants arrive.

Many were being diverted from official ports, leading to slowdowns in processing arriving visitors and commercial vehicles.

Delays for incoming traffic were three hours at Brownsville, Texas, for the second straight day, and more than two hours in other areas.

On the Mexican side, Andres Morales Arreola, head of operations for border crossings in Chihuahua state, said the border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso had "collapsed" because so many US border officials have been reassigned to deal with the migrant influx.

Long lines have formed at the border since Thursday, with wait times of up to eight hours for those trying to cross.

Ciudad Juarez Mayor Armando Cabada Alvidrez called on the city's bustling to temporarily cut back shipments to the US in order to reduce the backup.

However, chief economist said they were working to minimize the economic impact from a closure of the border -- including keeping truck lanes open.

"The question is, can we deal with that and not have any economic damage?" he told CNBC television.

"I think the answer is we can and people are looking at different options, particularly if you can keep those freight lanes, those truck lanes open.US President Donald Trump said he called his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a "king" during his first state visit to Beijing in 2017 and that the top Communist Party leader appeared to appreciate the remark.

Addressing the National Republican Congressional Committee spring dinner in Washington on Tuesday, Trump said Xi had denied he was a king.

"He said, 'But I am not king, I am president.' I said 'No, you're president for life, and therefore you're king'," Trump told his audience, prompting laughter, CNN reported.

"He said, huh. He liked that. I get along with him great," it quoted the US President as saying.

Trump, 72, visited Beijing in November 2017, just months before China's rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress, dropped the two-term limit on the Chinese presidency in March.

The controversial move cleared the way for Xi, 65, to serve indefinitely as China's head of state, strengthening his grip on power.

China abolished monarchical rule in 1912 when the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, Pu Yi, was overthrown to establish the Republic of China.

Xi is also serving as General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

President Trump was accorded red-carpet treatment during his 2017 visit to Beijing, becoming the first foreign leader to dine in the Forbidden City since the founding of modern China.

Speaking from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing before their bilateral meeting, Trump said, "My feeling toward you (President Xi) is an incredibly warm one. As we said, there's great chemistry, and I think we're going to do tremendous things for both China and for the United States. And it is a very, very great honour to be with you. Thank you very much."



After their meeting, Trump told Xi, "I want to thank you again you're a very special man for your gracious hospitality."



Trump has also hosted Xi at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in April 2017.

Following Trump's trip to China the relationship between the two countries has grown rockier. Starting early in 2018, Trump began imposing tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of Chinese exports to narrow the trade deficit, sparking a trade war.

In his speech to the Republican committee, Trump said that had he not imposed the tariffs, the Chinese economy would have caught up with the United States within years.

"They would have caught us within a short period of time ... within two years, by the end of my term, if you had a normal president ... they would have caught us. But right now it's going to be a long time before they catch us," he claimed.

US and Chinese negotiators have been meeting in Beijing and Washington in recent weeks to hammer out a comprehensive trade deal between the world's top two economies.

Trump said his administration was standing up to China's "chronic trade abuses."



"They've taken advantage of our country and you know what, I respect them for it. I say it, we should have been doing that to them," he said.

To pressure China, the US imposed tariffs on USD 250 billion in Chinese goods. Beijing retaliated by taxing USD 110 billion in US imports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Trump administration on Wednesday will resume negotiations with China toward ending a trade war that has deepened uncertainty for businesses and investors and dimmed the outlook for the global economy.

The two sides are to meet for the ninth time, with analysts expressing optimism that the world's two biggest economies might be near some kind of agreement. Negotiators met in Beijing last week in talks that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin described as "constructive."



Now, Vice Premier Liu He, a close confidante of President Xi Jinping, is leading a Chinese team to Washington.

"We have been encouraged by the tone of the negotiations," Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told reporters Tuesday.

Brilliant estimated that the two sides are 90% of the way to an agreement but cautioned that "the last 10% is the hardest part, the trickiest part."



At the heart of the dispute are the Trump administration's allegations that China steals technology and coerces U.S. companies to hand over trade secrets all part of Beijing's zeal to overtake U.S. technological dominance.

To pressure China, the United States has imposed tariffs on USD250 billion in Chinese goods. The Chinese have counterpunched by taxing USD 110 billion in U.S. imports.

Forecasters at the World Bank and International Monetary, among others, have downgraded their outlook for the global economy, partly because the U.S.-China rift is damaging trade and causing businesses to slow their investment until they know how the dispute will end.

Tensions have eased somewhat since President Donald Trump met Xi in Buenos Aires late last year and the administration ended up suspending its plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion of the Chinese imports to buy time for negotiations "We're making headway," Larry Kudlow, Trump's top economic adviser, said Tuesday, describing the talks as "a larger, grander discussion than anything we've ever had in U.S.-China relations."



Analysts say two major sticking points, in particular, stand in the way of any agreement. First, Trump wants to preserve at least the 25% tariffs he has imposed on USD 50 billion in Chinese imports as a way to maintain leverage over Beijing. China wants those sanctions lifted.

Second, the two sides must develop a mechanism to ensure that China honors any commitments it makes in an agreement. The administration complains that China has repeatedly failed to keep promises it made in previous trade talks.

The Chinese are widely expected to agree to buy substantially more American products likely including soybeans and natural gas to help narrow the United States' trade deficit in goods and services with China, which hit a record USD 379 billion last year. America's trade deficit with China has been a chronic complaint of Trump, although many economists say a bilateral trade gap is relatively insignificant.

Congressional Democrats and others have warned Trump against reaching any agreement that settles for more U.S. exports to China without also requiring Beijing to adopt serious economic reforms.

"Stand firm" Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. "Skip the political photo op and make good on your promise to stand up for American businesses and workers when China takes advantage."



Christopher Adams, a former China specialist at the Treasury Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative who is a senior adviser at the Covington & Burling law firm, added: "There has to be something substantive on the structural issues. Otherwise, the criticism will be severe."



Whatever negotiators agree to, analysts say, they are unlikely to end the long-standing tensions between America's mostly open, capitalist economy and a Chinese economy in which the Communist Party and the central government command the dominant role.

Even with a deal, Adams said, "a lot of the underlying issues will still be with us unresolved because they're rooted in fundamental differences between the US and Chinese systems.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Donald Trump wants NATO members to continue increasing their financial contributions, offering allies his praise for stepping up those contributions in recent years but still complaining the US continues to carry more than its share of costs.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited the White House on Tuesday ahead of an address to Congress that's scheduled for Wednesday. His trip to the US comes as the alliance marks its 70th anniversary.

Trump took credit for the increased defense spending by NATO members even though the upswing began before Trump took office.

After Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, member countries agreed to boost defense budgets and "move toward" spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. The US spends about 3.4 per cent of its GDP on defense.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A knife-wielding man attacked primary school children in China's Hunan province on Wednesday, killing two students.

The incident occurred at 7.16am on Wednesday at Wanquan Elementary School in the town of Baijiaping, Ningyuan county. Two persons were also injured in the attack.

The suspect was arrested, state-run China Daily reported.

There has been a series of knife and axe attacks in China in recent years, many targeting children.

Such attacks are often blamed on people with mental illness or who have personal grievances. Knives are most commonly used, because gun controls are extremely strict in China.

Last month, seven people were killed when a disgruntled man ploughed his car through pedestrians in China's Zaoyang City.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two women were rescued from a septic tank where they fell Wednesday morning in suburban Chembur, said a civic official.

The women, rescued by fire brigade jawans, were later admitted to civic-run Sion Hospital where their condition is said to be stable, the official added.

Locals informed the fire brigade control room at 10.08 am that some persons had fallen into the underground sewage chamber at Vashi Naka near the Vinay English High School in Chembur, said the official from the Disaster Management Cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

"After getting the information, a team of fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and rescued the two women from inside the septic tank," he said.

The mishap occurred after a speeding truck ran over the septic tank and broke its cover made of concrete slab, the official said.

The police have been informed about the incident and the truck driver may be booked, he said.

The property belonged to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and its officials were informed about the incident, the official added.

Local corporator Anjali Naik said she will ensure both the victims get justice.

Naik said, "I have noticed that several works are going on in my area and they come under the jurisdiction of MMRDA which has failed to do its job properly.

"I will take a follow-up of the pending sewerage works and also ensure the victims get justice in form of compensation or whatever rules permit."



Congress leader and Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai South Central Eknath Gaikwad also visited the spot to take stock of the situation.

Terming the incident as unfortunate, Gaikwad demanded that the truck driver be booked.

"It is also unfortunate that no public representative from the Shiv Sena, which has its MP, MLA and corporator in the area, bothered to visit the spot," Gaikwad said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand are in for straight contests between arch rivals BJP and Congress, poll watchers feel, with the SP out of the electoral fray, the BSP drawing blanks in past general elections and other smaller parties having no "substantial base" in the state.

Polls for the state's five parliamentary seats will be held on April 11.

Since the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000, the BJP and the Congress have always emerged as the dominant parties in the state, except in 2004 when the Samajwadi Party (SP) won the Haridwar parliamentary seat, they said.

SP's Rajendra Singh 'Baudy' had won Haridwar by defeating Bahujan Samaj Party's Bhagwandass in 2004.

In 2009, the Congress won all the seats while the BJP wrested them from the grand old party in 2014.

"Barring the Congress and the BJP, none of the political parties in Uttarakhand have a substantial support base.

"So, the two national parties are almost invariably locked in straight contests in the state," noted poll watcher Avdhash Kaushal said.

The SP moving out of the poll scene even after entering into an alliance with the BSP in the state, has made it almost certain that the contest on all seats will be between the two national parties, the poll watchers said.

Explaining why most general elections in Uttarakhand are BJP versus Congress, an expert on the state's politics, Jaisingh Rawat, said, "Being a border state with a large number of its residents in the armed forces, nationalist feelings have always been dominant here. They have not allowed the growth of regional parties or a sectarian mindset."



"The biggest leaders from Uttarakhand, including Govind Ballabh Pant, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna or N D Tiwari, enjoyed a national stature. People here tend to think with a national perspective," he said.

The BSP, which has been drawing a blank in general elections in Uttarakhand since the formation of the state in 2000, has fielded candidates from four of the five seats in the hope of a better performance.

"We are contesting from four seats this time and hope to be successful," state BSP spokesman Rajendra Singh said.

The SP, too, has drawn blanks on all seats in the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The SP had got the Pauri seat to contest in Uttarakhand as per the seat sharing arrangement with its alliance partner BSP this time, but finally chose to stay out of the fray in the absence of a strong candidate, they said.

Political circles here were initially abuzz with speculation that SP president Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple, who was born in Uttarakhand, could contest from Pauri, but the party eventually did not field a candidate from there.

Most regional parties, including the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) which had spearheaded the agitation for statehood in the 1990s, could not hold out against the two national parties in any of the general elections in the state.

Rawat, a veteran journalist, said, "Sporadic efforts to evolve a third front consisting of regional parties in the past have failed with all of them finally merging with either the BJP or the Congress reducing electoral fights to straight contests between the two national parties."



Terming the SP's victory from Haridwar in 2004 as a "stand alone" thing, he said Rajendra Singh Baudy bagged the seat capitalising on the hills versus plains sentiment running high at the time since the state had been created out of Uttar Pradesh just a few years ago in 2000.

However, UKD president Diwakar Bhatt, who is considered a major leader of the Uttarakhand statehood movement, is optimistic about a better performance by the party in the Lok Sabha election this time.

Most of the UKD's nominees had lost their deposits in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Despite the odds, the regional outfit has fielded its candidates from all the five Lok Sabha seats in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Britain's Brexit secretary denied Wednesday that he was offering a "blank check" to the opposition Labour Party after Prime Minister Theresa May offered to meet with the party leader in hopes of ending the impasse over the U.K.'s departure from the European Union.

Steve Barclay told the BBC that some Labour proposals, such as a customs union, would be "very difficult" for the government to accept, but both sides need to sit down and work out an agreement to avoid a damaging no-deal Brexit. But he added that the "remorseless logic" of Parliament's failure to back the prime minister's withdrawal agreement with the EU is that Britain must move toward a softer form of Brexit "We're not setting pre-conditions, but nor is it a blank check," Barclay said.

With Britain dashing toward a disorderly exit from the EU within days, May pivoted away from the cliff edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. After failing repeatedly to win Parliament's backing for her Brexit blueprint, May said the country needs "national unity to deliver the national interest."



Following the defeat of the government's plan and a range of lawmaker-written alternatives, May said Britain would need a further delay to its EU departure, currently scheduled for April 12. She offered to hold talks with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find a compromise solution.

European Council President Donald Tusk gave a cautious welcome to May's change of course.

"Even if, after today, we don't know what the end result will be, let us be patient," he tweeted a suggestion the EU would wait for Britain to present a clear plan.

The leaders of the EU's 27 remaining countries have given the U.K. until April 12 to leave the bloc or to come up with a new plan, after British lawmakers three times rejected an agreement struck between the bloc and May late last year.

The House of Commons has also failed to find a majority for any alternative plan in two days of voting on multiple options.

Labour's business secretary suggested May's offer was long overdue, but that the opposition would enter talks with an open mind.

"We're not setting any red lines for these discussions with the prime minister," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Junior Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris became the second government member to resign on Wednesday after Prime Minister Theresa May said she would ask to delay Brexit again.

Heaton-Harris said in a letter to May that he would have wanted Britain to leave the European Union on the scheduled departure date of March 29, adding: "I simply cannot support any further extension."



Heaton-Harris, who was responsible for no-deal Brexit preparations, said Britain "would have swiftly overcome any immediate issues of leaving without a deal and gone on to thrive".

He said May's announcement showed she did not want to leave the EU without a negotiated deal.

"That obviously makes my job in government irrelevant," he said.

May held talks with Labour main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to forge a Brexit compromise, which has enraged the staunchly pro-Brexit wing of her Conservative Party.

Junior Wales minister Nigel Adams earlier resigned in protest at what he said was May's "grave error" in judgement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The is learnt to have issued a showcause notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for his 'Modi ji ki sena' remark made during a poll rally at Ghaziabad earlier this week.

Sources in the poll panel said, prima facie, Adityanath has violated the EC's advisory of keeping armed forces away from political campaign.

A functionary said Adityanath has been asked to reply by Friday evening.

The EC took the decision based on a video clip submitted by the Ghaziabad district magistrate which shows Adityanath making the remarks at the election rally there on Sunday.

Adityanath, who addressed election meetings in Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Sunday, had lashed out at the Congress for what he called was its "soft approach towards terrorism and terrorists".

"Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modiji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. (Congress leaders 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 (JeM chief) Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," Adityanath had said at the Ghaziabad election rally.

The leader was campaigning for sitting MP and Union minister V K Singh.

The had on March 19 asked political parties to "desist" from indulging in any propaganda involving actions taken by defence forces during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns.

The advisory was issued days after the poll panel asked parties and their candidates against using pictures of defence force personnel in their campaign material.

"...parties/candidates are advised that their campaigners/candidates should desist, as part of their election campaigning, from indulging in any political propaganda involving activities of defence forces," it had said.

Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas had Monday said he would approach the against Adityanath for his remarks and claimed that many veterans and those in service were upset over it.An Indian national, wanted in his home country on charges including attempted murder, extortion, theft and possession of illegal firearms, was removed from the US and turned over to Indian authorities, an official statement said Tuesday.

Ubaidullah Abdulrashid Radiowala, 46, also known as Obed Radiowala, is a key accused in the 2014 cases of alleged conspiracy to kill Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt and firing on film-maker Karim Morani.

An Interpol Red Corner notice was also issued on the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2015 after a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Radiowala.

"He was wanted in India on charges of attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, extortion, forgery, cheating, theft, abetment, use and possession of illegal firearms, and transmission of information by using the internet to form an organised crime syndicate," the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a press release.

Radiowala was arrested by the Newark's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in September 2017 from Iselin, New Jersey for illegally staying in the US.

He was later ordered removed to India by an immigration judge, the release said.

Radiowala was held in detention by the ERO Newark, until his removal and handing over to Indian authorities on Monday, following the dismissal of his appeal by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the release said.

"This individual's long list of criminal charges in his home country, including attempted murder, show that he was a danger to the community here in the US," ERO Newark field office director John Tsoukaris said.

A total of 256,085 aliens have been removed or returned in fiscal year 2018 by the ICE, the release said.

The proportion of FY18 removals resulting from ICE arrests increased by nearly 17 per cent over the previous fiscal year, and the number of ICE interior removals in FY18 increased by nearly 14,000 from FY17, it said.

The ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation's immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China on Wednesday hit out at the US for threatening to use "all available resources" to designate Pakistan-based JeM chief as a 'global terrorist', saying Washington's move is complicating the issue and not conducive to peace and stability in South Asia.

After China put a hold on a French proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council, the US on March 27 circulated a draft resolution to the powerful 15-nation Council to blacklist Azhar and subject him to a travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here that China is adopting a constructive and reasonable stand on the issue to resolve it properly.

He was responding to a question about State Department spokesman's assertions that the US will use all "available resources" to blacklist Azhar.

The US on Tuesday reportedly said it will utilise all available resources to ensure Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Azhar, was held accountable.

The State Department was responding to China criticising the US, France and the United Kingdom for moving a draft resolution at the as not a constructive move and that it set a bad example.

China, on Monday criticised the US for directly taking the issue of listing Azhar as global terrorists to after it had put a technical hold on the US, UK and French resolution earlier to declare him a global terrorist in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee dealing with counter-terrorism issues.

On Monday, Geng claimed "positive progress" has been made to resolve the vexed issue and accused the US of scuttling its efforts.

China has so far blocked the move to designate Azhar as a 'global terrorist' four times in recent years.

On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said vast majority of the members believe that efforts should be made under the 1267 Sanctions Committee to solve this designation through dialogue and consultation instead of pushing the draft resolution at the

Also China has been working hard with relevant sides and is making positive results. The US knows that very well. Under such circumstances the US still insists on pushing the draft resolution, doesn't make any sense," he reiterated.

ALSO READ: China refutes US allegation of protecting Islamic groups from sanctions

He said the US' action is not consistent with the UN rules and customary practice and sets a bad precedent.

It is only complicating the issue and not conducive to peace and stability in South Asia," he said.

China will continue to adopt constructive and responsible attitude to participate in discussions and deliberations on the designation issue," he said.

We hope this issue will finally be resolved properly, he said.

To another question that no evidence has come about the involvement of JeM in the terror attack in Pulwama and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Geng said, On the recent incident in Kashmir, China has stated its position. We hope South Asia could maintain peace and stability and we hope India and will engage in dialogue and through dialogue and consultation resolve outstanding issues."



India handed over a dossier to 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 has already said that it has not found any link between the JeM and the and demanded more information/evidence from India.Giving credit to the BJP-led NDA government for stopping Rohingyas from sneaking into the country, BJP president Amit Shah Wednesday said the Modi government would throw all infiltrators out the country before the end of the second term of the Modi government.

Shah made the claim, while dubbing illegal immigrants as "termites" for the country.

He also blamed former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and the Congress for including Article 370 in the Constitution which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir and for yielding a major area of the state to Pakistan.

"The biggest work done by the BJP government was ending infiltration of the Rohingyas into the country. The PDP welcomed Roghinyas (into the state). Tell me whether the infiltration of Rohingyas should stop or not," Shah asked an election rally in this border town, close to the Line of Control in Rajouri district.

The audience of the well-attended gathering responded with an emphatic "yes".

He said the Union government would come up with a National Register of Citizens when Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumes office for the second term.

The government "will pick up all illegal immigrants one by one and throw them out of the country before the completion of the next five years", he said.

"The infiltrators are eating up the country like termites and want to change the demography of the Jammu region. I promise you as long as the BJP government will be in the office, we will not allow any demographic change in Jammu," said Shah.

This was the second election rally of the BJP president in Jammu region. Earlier in the day, he addressed an election rally in Udhampur district in support of Union Minister Jitendra Singh who is seeking re-election from there.

Sunderbani is part of the Jammu parliamentary constituency where incumbent MP Jugal Kishore is locked in a multi-cornered contest.

He said "Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of India and nobody can touch it".

"The first BJP president Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life in the state. It is because of him and the sacrifices of our jawans that Jammu and Kashmir is the part of India," he said.

"The BJP has made Kashmir an issue of the party since 1950 and its activists are ready to sacrifice their lives to save Kashmir and will not allow the Congress to play with their sacrifices," he added.

Amid chants of 'jahan huwa balidan Mukherjee, woh Kashmir hamara hai', Shah asked people to raise the pitch of their voices to make it reach the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir behind the nearby hills here.

Shah said the wrong policies of Nehru and the Congress were to be blamed for the inclusion of Article 370 in the Constitution and a large area of the state turning into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The BJP president attacked Congress also for promising in its manifesto to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

"The Congress is talking about dilution of the AFSPA to allow infiltrators to sneak into the country from there," he said pointing towards PoK beyond the hills and said "we did not quit from the state government to allow the dilution of the Act."



Seeking people's support for the party candidates, Shah minced no words to attack the National Conference, PDP and Congress leadership and said "Jammu and Ladakh faced discrimination and step-motherly treatment during the 70-year-rule of these parties."



"Modi ensured development of Jammu. He ensured motherly treatment to different regions," he said, listing various projects undertaken in the state specially in Jammu and Ladakh regions besides the economic package announced for the PoK-displaced persons and west Pakistani refugees.

He said the Centre spent over Rs 2.74 lakh core for the development of Jammu and Kashmir over the last five years.

Praising the people residing in villages along the Line of Control and the International Border in the state, Shah said, "It is unfortunate that the wails of these people did not reach the deaf ears of the Congress over the years.

"We sanctioned construction of bunkers for the safety of the people and Prime Minister Modi is going to hand over these bunkers to the people in July after returning to the power," he added.

"You are the real sons of the country because you are holding your ground in the face of Pakistani shelling and firing from across the border," he said.

"The Pakistani shelling and firing claimed numerous lives but you did not abandoned your homes. I know the pain of the people living on the borders because I also come from the Gujarat where the shadow of Pakistan hovers over Kutch," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jammu and Kashmir government's decision to withdraw security of political activists of different parties, including the CPI(M), was arbitrary and unjustified, senior party leader M Y Tarigami said on Wednesday.

The decision has been taken at a time when election process is in full swing and it could endanger the lives of these leaders and activists, the Communist Party of India(Marxist) leader said.

"Political process in violence-hit Kashmir is itself a difficult task. The activists cutting across political lines are risking their lives and doing their bit to strengthen the process of peace. Administration should encourage them by protecting them," Tarigami said.

The least the administration can do is to provide them security, he asserted.

"However, unfortunately, security cover of activists, cutting across political spectrum, has been withdrawn," he said.

Security cover of three prominent leaders of CPI (M) namely Mohammad Afzal Parray, Sham Prasad Kesar and Mohammad Yousuf Lone has also been withdrawn.

"I have taken up the issue with Governor Satya Pal Malik appealing him to reconsider this decision and restore the security to the prominent functionaries of political parties so that they can carry out their activities freely," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 24-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan in southwest Delhi's Kishan Garh area, police said Wednesday.

The woman, who belongs to Uttar Pradesh, was preparing for competitive exams here and living at a rented house in Kishan Garh area, they said.

The incident occurred on Tuesday and police said they were informed about it around 10.30 pm by the house owner.

The woman left behind a suicide note stating that she was taking this extreme step by her wish and does not hold anyone responsible for the same, the senior police officer said.

The body was preserved in mortuary. It will be handed over to her family after post-mortem, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A woman allegedly hacked her drunkard son to death in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra, the police said Wednesday.

Hirkanabai Kawale, resident of Samudrawani village, was fed up with her son Ram Mahadev Kawale (35) who was an alcholic and used to harass her and other members of the family, a police official said.

His wife too had left him and was living with her parents with the couple's two children, the official said.

Around 1.30 am Tuesday, Hirkanabai allegedly hit her son with an axe when he was asleep, killing him on the spot.

Further probe is on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Aviation regulator DGCA may bar cash-strapped Jet Airways from flying international as the crisis-hit airline is operating with less than 15 aircraft. According to civil aviation policy, Indian carriers can fly international only after attaining a fleet of 20 aircraft.

"Currently, Jet Airways is operating less than 15 aircraft. The airline's eligibility to fly internationally needs to be examined," news agency PTI quoted Civil Aviation Secretary P S Kharola as saying.

Jet Airways on Tuesday said that an additional 15 aircraft have been grounded due to non-payment of amounts outstanding to lessors under their respective lease agreements.

Till March, the debt-laden airline had taken 54 planes out of operations due to non-payment of dues to lessors. After grounding 15 more aircraft on Tuesday, the current fleet "would be less than about 15," Kharola was quoted as saying. The active aircraft fleet of Jet Airways was 28 yesterday, he added.

Also Read: Crisis-hit Jet Airways grounds 15 more planes, taking total to 69

As per information available on Jet Airways website, the beleaguered airline had a total fleet of 119 planes.

The Mumbai-headquartered airline, in the exchange filing, said that it is actively engaged with all its aircraft lessors and regularly provides them with updates on the efforts undertaken by the company to improve its liquidity.

Last month, lenders to the struggling airline, led by State Bank of India, acquired a majority stake in the company and also announced a resolution plan to bring the airline out of its current mess. The lenders are trying to revive the airline by change in management as they feel collapse of the carrier would not be good for consumers as well as competition in the industry.

Also Read: Jet Airways defaults on $109 million loan repayment to HSBC Bank: report

Weighed down by the development, shares of crisis-hit airline declined as much as 5.21 per cent to close at Rs 251.10 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The scrip touched an intra-day high and low of 260.80 and 248, respectively.

Edited by Chitranjan KumarThe employees of loss-making Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) may have some good news on the 7th Pay Commission front. The workers have long been protesting over a salary hike and pension revision, among several other demands, under the banner of the All India Unions and Associations of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (AUAB). The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which has already forwarded these demands to the Ministry of Finance, may implement the recommendations of the pay panel in April 2019 itself, Jansatta reported.

Meanwhile, the state-owned telco will be holding a crucial board meeting tomorrow to discuss the last fiscal's financial results as well as chart out a roadmap for the year ahead. "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 (from Rs 4,300 crore currently) 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," a source told IANS.

Significantly, BSNL's board has two nominees from the DoT, who will be apprised of BSNL's plan of action for the current fiscal, covering the gamut from surviving challenges in the hyper-competitive sector to network expansion and likely expenditure. The department has already ensured a comfort letter for BSNL to avail Rs 3,500 crore working capital from banks for the maintenance of its networks.

BSNL, at the moment, has 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; the demand for allotment of 4G spectrum, which has been referred to TRAI, and 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.

(Edited by: Sushmita Choudhury)

Also read: The curious case of NaMo TV: Now, owner puts domain namotv.com up for saleThe Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought response from the I&B Ministry over the recently- launched 'NaMo TV' (earlier called Content TV) after complaint was filed by the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress. NaMo TV that has the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the logo, airs his election speeches every day, and propagates various policy initiatives taken by him. The channel is being hosted by all major DTH platforms.

Meanwhile, replying to the Election Commission, I&B Ministry said that BJP is incurring the cost of the advertisements and that it is not a licensed channel. India has roughly 350 unlicensed channels that come alive during elections.

Earlier on Tuesday, both Congress and AAP had filed a complaint against NaMo TV, which was launched on March 31, asking how the channel was launched after the model code of conduct came into force. Election Commission had also written to Doordarshan asking how it ran a live broadcast of PM Modi's public address 'Main bhi chowkidaar' on March 31.

In a letter to the EC, AAP said the channel went against the principle of creating a level playing field for all parties.

"But defying this cardinal principle Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a 24-hr channel NaMo TV", the letter from AAP's legal cell said to the Chief Election Commissioner.

"Who will monitor the contents of the telecast. Did BJP approach the Media Certification Committee established to certify the contents of the telecast and the cost?" the letter asked questioning why a show cause notice was not put out in the matter.

"If no permission sought by EC then what action has been taken in this regard?" it asked.

Congress too wrote to the EC stating that the channels was dedicated "solely to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP for promoting and advertising the achievements of the government, personal achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, political rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and broadcasting interviews of prominent BJP leaders."

This is not the first time the BJP has launched a news channel. In 2007, during state assembly election in Gujarat, the Modi led BJP had launched a channel called, Vande Gujarat. Again, in 2012, the state BJP unit had collaborated with five Gujarati channels to broadcast NaMo TV.

However, NaMo TV isn't the only one. Tiranga TV, backed by Congress leader Kapil Sibal, was also launched in January this year.

(Edited by: Udit Verma)

Also read: The curious case of NaMo TV: Now, owner puts domain namotv.com up for sale

Also read: Is Namo TV really a licensed TV channel?Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that funds for his party's ambitious NYAY scheme will come from pockets of "chor" businessmen favoured by "Chowkidar Narendra Modi".

Addressing a rally in Assam's Bokakhat, Gandhi said the Congress, if voted to power, promises to provide Rs 72,000 annually to 20 per cent families in poorest of the poor category under the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) or Minimum Income Support Programme (MISP) scheme.

"The money (for NYAY scheme) will come from the pockets of 'chor' (thieves) like Anil Ambani, to whom Chowkidar Narendra Modi has given money during the last four years... We will deposit it in the accounts of the poor, particularly women, irrespective of their caste, class or religion," the news agency ANI quoted Congress president as saying.

Taking a jibe at the BJP's promise to bring back black money, Gandhi reportedly said Modi had promised to deposit money in the accounts of people, but he has done it only in the case of some rich businessmen like the Ambanis.

Also Read: Congress Manifesto 2019 promises big bonanza to jobless youth

Congress President Rahul Gandhi announced the NYAY scheme on March 25 last month which aims to provide Rs 72,000 per year (Rs 6,000 per month) to the poorest 20 percent families (or 5 crore families) in India living Below the Poverty Line (BPL).

Congress party on Tuesday released its much anticipated manifesto titled 'Congress will deliver' for Lok Sabha elections 2019. The biggest takeaways from the manifesto were Congress's flagship scheme NYAY which promised to eliminate poverty by 2030 and also assured to fill 22 lakh job vacancies within the government in an effort to boost employment.

Unveiling the details of the rollout, the party in its manifesto said, "The estimated cost will be

Also Read: Congress Manifesto 2019 promises big bonanza to jobless youth

Congress' arch rival BJP and several experts have raised concerns over feasibility of NYAY scheme, saying that the government will have to cut its expenditure or raise its taxes to fund this minimum income support programme.

Edited by Chitranjan KumarShares of Amara Raja Batteries Ltd (ARBL) plunged nearly 7 per cent and were trading close to 52-week low in intra-day trade on Wednesday after the company terminated agreement between Galla Family Johnson Controls (Mauritius) and Johnson Controls Battery Group. As a result of this, the Gala family has taken control of the company.

"Amara Raja Batteries has informed the exchange regarding the termination of shareholders agreement between Galla Family and Johnson Controls (JC) and consequent termination of other agreements entered by the Company with JC," the company said in a statement.

Weighed down by the development, shares of auto ancillary company declined as much as 6.66 per cent to hit an intra-day low of Rs 672.10 apiece, close to its 52-week low value of Rs 670.65 touched on December 11, 2018.

According to data available with exchange, as much as 1.87 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE so far as compared to two-week average of 0.40 lakh shares.

In a similar trend, shares of the company were trading 6.05 per cent lower at Rs 677.15 on the National Stock Exchange.

Also Read: Jet Airways falls nearly 4 per cent as 15 more planes grounded

Amara Raja Batteries, the country's leading battery manufacturers, in a filing to exchange said that Johnson Controls International PLC had intended to sell its power solution business in November 2018. Consequently, JC and the Galla Family reached an agreement by which Galla Family would acquire 2 per cent equity shares of the company from JC and terminate the shareholders' agreement with effect from April 01, 2019.

"The company had an ongoing technical assistance agreement entered in the year 1997 and has fully absorbed all critical technologies over the years. Today the company manufactures a wide range of batteries utilizing most advanced product and process technologies to serve the customer requirements across various application segments," ARBL said.

The company added that JC will continue to provide technology assistance to ARBL for an additional period as mutually agreed. As such there is no impact on the company's operation on account of termination of the agreement.

Also Read: Share Market Live: Sensex off day's high, Nifty slips in red; Maruti Suzuki, HCL Tech up 2%

As a progressive organization the company would continue to invest into new technologies and nurture partnerships, it added.

Edited by Chitranjan KumarBookings for the 2019 Honda Africa Twin have begun in India at the authorised dealerships of the company. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has launched the all-terrain motorcycle in the Indian market at Rs 13.5 lakh (ex-showroom). The next generation Honda Africa Twin will be available for pre-registration at Honda's 22 Wing World dealerships across India. Honda, however, will bring only 50 units of the 2019 Africa Twin to India in the first lot. The deliveries are expected to begin next month.

The 2019 Honda Africa Twin will be available in a new Glint Wave Blue Metallic colour option, which will feature golden handle bar and wheel rims. Apart from the new colour scheme, not much has changed in the 2019 model in comparison to the outgoing version.

The new Honda Africa Twin is powered by a parallel twin 999.11cc engine with 87.7bhp of max power at 7,500rpm and 93.1Nm of max torque at 6,000rpm. The off-road motorcycle comes with six-speed Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) which allows automatic gear shifting. When in automatic mode, the rider can choose between D mode for easy cruising, or S mode for three dynamic sport settings. Moreover, the Incline Detection Technology of the new Africa Twin identifies whether the motorcycle is going up or down a slope, and selects gears appropriately.

ALSO READ: Yamaha MT-15 launched in India; Check out price, specifications

The new Honda Africa Twin comes with the Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC), the company's traction control system, with seven levels to choose from. The rider can select from three levels of power and engine braking presets, as well as four modifiable riding modes - Tour, Urban, Gravel and User - under the throttle by wire (TBW) system. ABS is standard issue in the adventure motorcycle.

"Since its Indian debut in 2017, the mighty Africa Twin has always seen high demand. The adventure seekers in India experienced the revolutionary DCT for the first time & were highly impressed with its unmatched performance. The 2019 Africa Twin takes the 'go anywhere' spirit one step ahead with its fresh new appearance. The proud Africa Twin tribe is growing and we are ready to welcome enthusiasts to the tribe," Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President - Sales and Marketing, HMSI.

ALSO READ: Eicher Motors announces Rs 700 crore capex plan for Royal Enfield in 2019-20The furore over Air India issuing boarding passes with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph on the reverse side - just days after his image appeared on railway tickets - shows no signs of abating even a week on. In a letter to Civil Aviation Secretary PS Kharola, the Election Commission yesterday expressed "serious displeasure" over Air India's failure to respond to its show cause notice. The latter was issued on March 26 for the above act, which prima facie violates the Model Code of Conduct.

"The commission expresses its serious displeasure over the non-compliance of the commission's lawful instructions and lackadaisical approach towards enforcing the Model Code of Conduct," the poll panel said in its letter dated April 2.

The Election Commission said that its displeasure should also be conveyed to Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani for "the lapse of the organisation" since the airline has failed to respond to its notice despite the deadline ending two days ago. "The commission has further directed that action taken against the officer in charge be reported to the commission within a week," the letter added.

The Model Code of Conduct came into force on March 10 when the poll body announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls beginning April 11. The poll panel referred to Clause VII of the Code, which states that "issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer ... regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided".

The issue came into the public eye with former Punjab DGP Shashi Kant posting a picture of the boarding pass with Modi's image on it last Monday. "At New Delhi airport today March 25th, 2019. My Air India Boarding Pass, prominently flashes Narendra Modi, "Vibrant Gujrat" & Vijay Rupani. Picture of boarding pass is below. Wonder why we are wasting public money on this Election Commission, which doesn't see, hear or speak...(sic)," he tweeted.

In response, Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar had said that the rolls "seem to be the ones left over from the boarding passes printed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit and the photos are third-party advertisements. It has nothing to do with Air India".

In a subsequent statement on March 29, after the airline was found to be using these boarding passes again, Air India said that it had already directed all domestic stations in the previous week to discontinue using these boarding passes 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.

Incidentally, the Election Commission is also going after the Indian Railways for similarly violating the Code. On March 20, tickets with photos of the prime minister were withdrawn by the railways after the Trinamool Congress complained to the Election Commission about them. The railways also claimed that it was a third-party ad and leftover from a pack of tickets printed a year earlier.

With PTI inputs

Also read: Air India requests "inactive" crew members to immediately join work

Also read: Lok Sabha election dates announced: What exactly is the Model Code of Conduct?The debate surrounding PUBG and its effect on young minds is refusing to die down. In a recent development, a 16 year old boy named Kallakuri Sambashiva committed suicide after he was scolded by his mother for playing PUBG and not studying for his exams. The incident was reported in Telangana's Medchal-Malkajgiri district on Monday.

"The mother scolded him for playing instead of preparing for his examinations. Angered, Kallakuri Sambashiva went inside the bedroom and committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan", Malkajgiri sub-inspector (SI) K Sanjeeva Reddy said.

The class 10 student of Gouthami High School, Kallakuri locked himself in a room after being scolded by his mother. When the parents knocked down the door of the room, the body of the boy was found hanging from the ceiling of the room.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) is often called 'addictive', 'harmful', and 'distracting'. Earlier, PUBG was banned on March 14, 2019 in different cities in Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Vadodara. Several arrests were made under section 188 of IPC.

PUBG was also banned in schools and some academic institutions had claimed that there is a direct correlation between violent games, like PUBG, and the mental health of kids. Even Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) had issued an advisory against games like PUBG and said that it has a harmful, negative and an adverse impact on the brain of the children.

Launched in March 2018 in India, PUBG Mobile has become the most downloaded game with over 200 million downloads as of December 2018, according to Tencent Games.

Edited by : Udit Verma

Also Read: WhatsApp announces big privacy feature! Now, no one can add you to a group if you don't want to join

Also Read: Vivo V15 with pop-up selfie camera on sale today via Amazon, Flipkart: Check out price, offers, specificationsChinas state planner announced tariffs for the first batch of Chinas advanced third generation nuclear reactors, with lower-than-expected prices reflecting the falling costs of generating electricity in the country.

China has long championed the development of nuclear power, seeing it as a more environmentally friendly energy source compared to highly-polluting coal power. The country is home to 46 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity, the third-highest in the world, but approvals for new plants have dried up in recent years, partly over concerns about high upfront investment costs.

Yet more certainty came for Chinas most advanced nuclear developers this week, after the National Development and Reform Commission announced tariffs for three third generation nuclear reactors. According to the new announcement, the three plants will receive guaranteed tariffs of between 0.4151 yuan ($0.06) per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and 0.4350 yuan/kWh, in a trial that will last until 2021.

The trial tariffs were lower than many in the industry expected, said Xu Yuming, the deputy director of the expert committee at the China Nuclear Energy Association, a government-affiliated industry group. He added that the lower prices are the product of negotiations across Chinas power system, and reflect expectations that Chinas nuclear generating costs will fall. The nuclear industry should not only consider development for its own sake, but its costs and economic impact, he added.

General electricity prices fell by around 10% last year, largely thanks to the easing of bottlenecks in power sales between provinces, together with efforts to introduce a more comprehensive mix of market mechanisms for electricity pricing. Electricity from renewables has also become more competitive thanks to the slackening of subsidies and the development of more efficient equipment. The government is also targeting a further 10% reduction in prices in 2019.

This means that nuclear power companies will have to improve their performance and pay more attention to market competitiveness than previously, said Rong Jian, the deputy director of the China Nuclear Power Development Center at the National Energy Administration. Higher prices for nuclear power generators would be unfair to other power generators, he said.

Yet the government remains committed to developing Chinas nuclear power generation, said Liu Hua, the vice minister for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and director-general of the China Nuclear Safety Administration, at an event earlier this week. He added that development of two nuclear power projects will begin in June.

The current batch of third generation nuclear projects was developed by three of Chinas state-owned energy giants. They are China National Nuclear Corp.s Sanmen plant in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, State Power Investment Corp.s Haiyang plant in East Chinas Shandong province, and China General Nuclear Power Groups Taishan nuclear plant in the southern province of Guangdong.

Contact reporter David Kirton (davidkirton@caixin.com)Nearly 18 months after taking office, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made her first trip to China. Though it was cut short in the aftermath of last months terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques, Arderns 25-hour visit put on display Beijings relatively positive standing with a Western power in an otherwise uncertain period of Sino-West relations.

After meeting with Ardern, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China-New Zealand relations have become one of the closest between China and Western developed countries. New Zealand has a track record of taking early positive steps with China. In April 2008, four years after officially recognizing China as a market economy, New Zealand became the first developed country to ink a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China, and was the first to initiate an upgrade of such an FTA a decade later.

In March 2017, China and New Zealand signed a memorandum of arrangement to strengthen cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative, and conversations on joint efforts have continued since. Trade Minister David Parker is expected to attend this months Belt and Road Forum in Beijing along with a business delegation.

Today, China is New Zealands largest trading partner in goods, largest export market and largest source of imports. In the decade since the FTA was signed, trade volume between the two countries has tripled  reaching $16.8 billion in 2018, an increase of 14% from the previous year, according to Chinese statistics. During peak season, there are 50 flights a week to and from major cities in the two countries.

But Ardern has also taken a firm political stance toward China. In February 2018, New Zealand launched the Pacific Reset, a plan to strengthen the countrys aid and links to South Pacific nations  perceived to be an effort to balance Chinas growing influence in the region. Late last year, New Zealands Foreign Minister visited the U.S. and called on Washington to increase its strategic commitment and security investment in the region. In New Zealands new Strategic Defence Policy Statement, China is specifically listed as a threat to the international community, a move that led Beijing to lodge stern representations on the wrong remarks it has made on China.

In November, New Zealand objected to local telecom operator Sparks proposed use of Huawei-produced equipment to develop its 5G mobile network, citing significant national security risks. This was one in a series of blows to the Chinese telecom giant, after Australia banned Huawei from 5G infrastructure-related projects, and the U.S. continued its campaign of warning allies about cooperating with the company.

In January, Ardern told a crowd at Davos that her country would treat Huawei fairly, and later said that New Zealands membership in the Western intelligence-sharing network known as the Five Eyes would not influence its decision on the 5G issue. She said New Zealand had asked Spark to propose a plan to resolve existing security concerns.

Ardern told Caixin that Huawei is not banned from New Zealand, and that the country was looking forward to seeing how it can work with China on Belt and Road projects and on climate change. She also described her eagerness to further upgrade the China-New Zealand FTA.

At 38, Ardern is the youngest female leader of any nation currently in office and the second to give birth in office. Since the mass shootings that rocked New Zealand last month, she has been praised around the world for her poise and message of solidarity with New Zealands Muslim community. Arderns affirmations of pluralistic values across ethnic divisions have been seen as a breath of fresh air amid the international rise of nationalist, anti-immigration sentiment.

Caixin: What were your main expectations for this one-day trip, and how have they been met?

Jacinda Ardern: The visit itself is incredibly important for New Zealand. You know that weve experienced in recent weeks a terrorist attack which altered the schedule that we had here. We had originally intended that it would be a three-city visit over multiple days and including a business delegation. The fact that we're still here, in Beijing, is an acknowledgment of the importance that we place on the relationship, and were very grateful that both the [Chinese] president and the premier were so understanding of the circumstances.

There were three outcomes from our meetings: one is tourism. Its the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism. I think that its an attractive, its a safe country to visit with a unique culture, and thats something that I believe will continue to grow, as our people-to-people links will generally.

Our free trade agreement: were in the middle of negotiating our FTA upgrade. That has included six rounds of negotiation, both in China and New Zealand. The meetings that weve had talked about our desire to hasten those negotiations and conclude them as soon as possible. It is, I think, a way of demonstrating that China and New Zealand both place huge value on rules-based trade. Our agreement is emblematic of that, and therefore the conclusion of our upgrade, I think, will be emblematic of that.

And finally, climate change. We signed a statement together. It is an area where China is demonstrating leadership and the importance of the global community addressing climate change. New Zealand is equally committed: so here you have a very significant economy and a much smaller  both sharing, I think, aspirations around what we need to achieve in this space. So those are three areas where I've been really encouraged by the talks.

Are those three things your priorities for China-New Zealand relations moving forward?

Certainly. Those are the three areas where weve certainly seen a particular focus this year. But also, weve got our Minister for Trade and Export Growth who will be attending the Belt and Road Forum in April. Thats an area where New Zealand already has a Memorandum of Arrangement, and were mutually looking for areas of cooperation that suit both New Zealands interests and values and also Chinas.

And what challenges should we be aware of?

I dont see any of our challenges as defining our relationship. It is just the nature of having a relationship that spans many years and where there are some different structures, culturally and politically. So I dont see any as insurmountable, and particularly given our focus on the rules-based order, when those challenges come up, its when we are following those expectations around defined international rule of law, around transparency. I think that we can maintain that mutual understanding.

You mentioned that there is a process that New Zealand should follow for dealing with Huawei. Should we interpret that to mean that Huawei is not banned in New Zealand?

Its absolutely  let it be clear  its not. Obviously, Huawei already operates in New Zealand, retails products in New Zealand, it is not banned. We have, however, specific legislation in New Zealand, which we refer to as the TICSA legislation [the Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Act], which dictates the process we go through when you have a significant proposal like, for instance, a New Zealand vendor Spark, who made an application around the use of the 5G network.

So under our legislation, they must go through a process. Our GCSB, our Government Communications and Security Bureau, they went back to the vendor with a set of security risks they were seeking to have mitigated. And thats now where the process is at. Were midway through that process, and thats a process Ive been very happy to speak openly about and be transparent about as well.

When can we expect a result?

Its actually for the New Zealand vendor to determine, and so the onus now sits with them as opposed to with us.

Bilateral relations may be affected by a lot of factors outside of the two countries. How do you weigh the influence from other countries?

Here I'm very clear: there is no influence on New Zealand when it comes to its foreign policy. Weve always been fiercely independent when it comes to the setting of our foreign policy. We do not pick sides. We simply maintain a position that is focused on New Zealand's best interests and our values, and that is a longstanding position and one that I'm very open about.

We extend our sincere condolences for the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch. How would you describe the social impact of that tragedy on New Zealand society as a whole, in the short term and in the long term?

There have been a number of things that weve moved on very quickly in the short term, and I thank you for your condolences. Whilst this was an attack that was brought to New Zealand from someone who was not a citizen of New Zealand, who chose New Zealand as a place to undertake this terrorist attack, it still exposed gaps in our legislation, for instance with our gun laws. And so weve moved very quickly on that. In fact, as we speak, new laws are being introduced into our parliament.

But you're right, there are longer-term issues. One of the things that we will focus on is ensuring that we do not lose our status as a country that is considered safe, that is considered inclusive and diverse. And I think if nothing else, this has only strengthened ourselves around maintaining those qualities as a nation.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Contact reporter Ren Qiuyu (qiuyuren@caixin.com)CAMEROUN :: LE MRC DENONCE UN PROCES KAFKAIEN :: CAMEROON

Le Mouvement pour la Renaissance du Cameroun(MRC) informe lopinion nationale et internationale que son president Maurice KAMTO et ses allies ont, de nouveau, comparu ce 2 avril 2019 devant le president de la Cour dAppel du Centre statuant en matiere de liberation immediate.

Le MRC exprime sa consternation et ses vives protestations quant a la maniere dont se deroulent les procedures dhabeas corpus du president elu Maurice KAMTO, nos allies, militants et sympathisants tant en instance quen appel.

En effet, la procedure dhabeas corpus, empruntee au Common Law, est exclusivement publique.

Par consequent, la defense a exige des audiences publiques que refuse le Pouvoir dans sa strategie de musellement de nos camarades et allies de peur quils ne revelent, a lopinion nationale et internationale, letendue des traitements inhumains et degradants subis lors de leur interpellation, garde a vue et mise en detention ; des atrocites dune epoque medievale ; des atteintes graves a la dignite humaine.

Cest dans ce contexte que se sont deroulees les audiences du 2 avril tenues, une fois encore, dans un bureau exigu, le public et la presse gardes a lecart par une escouade lourdement armee. Cela na pas empeche les juges de tenir ces audiences en labsence des avocats de la defense et des requerants constants dans leur demande daudiences publiques. Ainsi, la Cour dAppel, en labsence des avocats de la defense et des requerants dont seule la participation contradictoire est le gage dune justice equitable, a mis en delibere les procedures en appel au 9 avril 2019.

Le MRC rejette en bloc les decisions en instance et en appel qui, dans ce contexte, ne seront que le resultat dinstructions dictees a une Justice partiale et aux ordres en violation flagrante des lois nationales et des instruments internationaux pourtant dument ratifies par le Cameroun.

Le MRC releve, pour le regretter, la militarisation des Cours et Tribunaux avec pour consequence une justice rendue en catimini et sous les baionnettes.

En tout etat de cause, le MRC maintient son exigence de la liberation immediate et sans conditions de son leader, de ses allies et de tous ses militants et sympathisants constitues en prisonniers politiques par le regime au pouvoir.

Yaounde, le 2 avril 2019

Mamadou Mota

Premier vice-president national

* ---------

The Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) informs the national and international opinion that its president Maurice KAMTO and allies have again appeared on the 2nd April 2019 in front of the president of the Court of Appeal of the Centre Region ruling on immediate release.

The CRM expresses its consternation and strong protests over the way in which habeas corpus proceedings of President-elect Maurice KAMTO, our allies and supporters are carried out both in high court and in the court of appeal. Indeed, the habeas corpus proceeding, borrowed from Common Law, is exclusively public. Therefore, the defence has demanded public hearings that the Regime refuses in its strategy of shutting down our comrades and allies for fear that they will reveal to national and international opinion, the extent of inhuman and degrading treatment suffered during their arrest, custody and detention; atrocities of a medieval age; serious attacks on human dignity.

It is in this context that the hearings of the 2nd April took place, once again, in a cramped office, the public and the press kept at bay by a heavily armed squad. This did not prevent the judges from holding these hearings in the absence of the counsels and the applicants who keep requesting public hearings. Thus, the Court of Appeal, in the absence of the counsels and the applicants whose contradictory participation is the guarantee of a fair justice, adjourned the judgment for the 9th April 2019.

The CRM rejects all pending decisions in the high court and the Court of appeal which, in this context, will be only the result of instructions dictated to a biased and compliant judicial system openly violating national laws and international instruments duly ratified by Cameroon.

The CRM points out, to condemn it, the militarization of courts and tribunals resulting in a justice rendered in secret and under bayonets.

In any case, the CRM maintains its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of its leader, its allies and all its supporters and sympathizers detained as political prisoners by the regime in power.news, latest-news

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's first budget won't decide the vote of Queanbeyan's Greg Walton, but the builder said promised tax cuts and increased access to the instant asset write-off would help his family of three get ahead. Since returning to Australia after seven years living in the UK, Mr Walton and his wife Liz have focused on getting restarted while raising their three-year-old daughter. Mr Walton saw the federal budget as a pitch to low and middle-income voters, rather than the top end of town, and welcomed its promise to increase the instant asset write-off threshold from $25,000 to $30,000. A plan to cut the 32.5 per cent income tax rate to 30 per cent in 2024 would also help his family, he said. "Having a surplus and not increasing taxes, it's a good budget as far as budgets go." The Coalition's plan to ramp up roads and rail spending wouldn't directly benefit Mr Walton, who works in residential construction. However it would help his part of the building industry indirectly nonetheless, he said. While Mr Walton has long worked as a builder, he is planning for the next phase. "My body is still good but it won't be forever, so I'm looking to get into project management," he said. He also aims to upsize his family's home, and has an eye on the Yass Valley to buy an investment property soon and grow their wealth. Mrs Walton has a job as a massage therapist that brings the family "now money", and is also building her own business as a fertility coach. Her goals are simply to grow her business and get ahead enough financially to have the option of a family holiday. Mr Walton was pleased the government planned to spend while reaching a surplus. "That was the problem with Mr Howard, is he held onto it for too long. These guys actually are spending the surplus but not putting us back into the negative," Mr Walton said. "It's a very good budget for an upcoming election, that's for sure."

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ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry will call on a parliamentary committee to investigate the handling of violence in Canberra schools, after more than 600 people signed a petition demanding an expert inquiry. Following revelations in The Canberra Times about schoolyard attacks, Ms Berry had repeatedly resisted calls from the opposition and parents for an independent review into school violence. Instead, she set up her own ministerial advisory panel, headed by experts, with a remit to examine existing policies rather than investigate specific schools and then report back to her office. On Wednesday, Ms Berry said that, while she remained concerned a public inquiry could harm school communities, she also accepted her accountability to the ACT community through a transparent assembly process. "As minister, I need the advice from the advisory group [which will still operate concurrently] so that I can fix any shortfall and make any necessary changes to the system," she said. "Its also clear that the community want an appropriate forum to bring forward individual matters outside of the government." The Canberra Times has learnt of long-standing complaints about the handling of violence in at least eight schools in the ACT, with staff and students at times seemingly left in harms' way as procedures either failed or were not followed through. Children as young as five had been repeatedly strangled and beaten in the schoolyard, while others had sought ongoing psychological support for anxiety. This week, Ms Berry will call on the assembly's joint standing committee on education to investigate the "management and minimisation" of violence and bullying in both government and non-government schools. But the minister will also seek an agreement that any evidence gathered by the committee which could identify schools or individuals must be held on a confidential basis or recorded privately. "It is not fair or constructive for an inquiry process to be used to litigate individual matters," she said, noting people could be identified without their consent during evidence whether they were named or not. "This narrow requirement...will not prevent the committee from taking other evidence in public as normal," Ms Berry said. The minister cannot compel the committee to agree to the condition, which will be debated in the assembly on Thursday. The Australian Education Union has also warned against naming schools. Canberra Liberal Elizabeth Lee, who sits on the committee, said she would consider the proposal, but noted assembly committees already had provisions to protect vulnerable witnesses. "We need to find a balance because this issue has garnered a whole heaps of interest and concern within the wider community and generally our democratic system means we want to do everything out in the open," she said. While the committee inquiry was not the expert-led review she had been calling for, Ms Lee said she was pleased that the minister had shifted gear on the issue. Ms Berry said she had left the committee's remit deliberately broad, as much will be left to members. But she suggested they consider the societal context of violence and bullying as well as the government's existing work on both occupational violence and supporting students with challenging behaviours. The final report from the minister's advisory panel, due back in August, will also be put to the committee. In a formal response to the petition, Ms Berry said the government was committed to early support and prevention to reduce the impact of violence - a problem affecting communities across Australia. She acknowledged that legacy administration systems had significantly limited transparency about management of bullying and violence in schools, but were now being upgraded to begin capturing data on student violence. More than 50 of the ACT's 88 public schools had also begun implementing a positive behaviour model used across the border in NSW. The program takes up to five years to embed in schools, but has been recommended by more than one expert report to the government for its links to reduced rates of violence. The petition had already been referred to the committee for consideration. Multiple families have since stressed that their push for more accountability in schools was about keeping children safe, not demonising teachers, who they praised.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/fc31ff58-247b-4e1e-a3a8-cd0098eaac1f/r0_217_4256_2622_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, crime

Financial dependency and a hostile relationship were the motives behind the alleged murder of a family matriarch in Red Hill nearly four years ago, prosecutors have told a jury. At the start of her closing arguments on Wednesday, prosecutor Margaret Jones said the Crown would also rely on the artist Melissa Beowulf's tendency to become enraged at Katherine Panin's moves to restrict the artist's power of attorney over her affairs, as well as alleged lies about when they had left home the day she died. Ms Jones also referenced in her closing address the evidence the court had heard about Mrs Panin's own shortcomings and how she was difficult to live with. "This is not a popularity contest," she said. "It doesn't matter if the person is difficult to live with, that's not relevant." The portrait artist and Archibald Prize finalist Mrs Beowulf, 61, and two of her sons, Thorsten, 33, and Bjorn Beowulf, 31, have pleaded not guilty to murdering 82-year-old Mrs Panin. Mrs Panin was Mrs Beowulf's mother-in-law and the two men's grandmother. There was no love lost between the two women, Ms Jones said, with the prosecutor describing the relationship as hostile. She told the jury the Beowulfs had run out of money and needed the funds from the sale of a Woollahra house in Mrs Panin's name to pay bills. Mrs Panin had moved to Canberra to live with the family at their Red Hill home, a situation the court has heard caused a lot of tension. Living at the home was Mrs Panin and her son Thorhammer Beowulf before he died earlier in 2015, as well as Mrs Beowulf and their sons, and Mr Beowulf's live-in partner Dianne McGowan and their son. On the day she died on October 12, 2015, Mrs Panin was due to move into a retirement unit in Deakin, paid for with money from the sale of the Woollahra home. It was Mrs Beowulf who called emergency services, telling the operator she and her sons had come home to find Mrs Panin at the foot of the Red Hill home's back stairs and "completely dead". Police launched a murder investigation a month later, prompted by a phone call to Mrs Beowulf in November to clarify the timeline. The police investigation was not being fuelled by Dr McGowan, as the Beowulfs had believed, Ms Jones said. Ms Jones told the jury the accused had lied about the time they had left the home that day, originally telling police it was 10am. It was only later when called by the police in November that Mrs Beowulf said they had left at 2pm. The prosecutor also pointed to evidence that human contact with a computer at the home had ended at 12.41pm, and that Mrs Panin's last phone call was a few minutes earlier. She said that was consistent with there being an altercation with Mrs Panin about a phone call she had made to a friend about an appointment to change her will. She said Mrs Beowulf told police they had arrived home about 3.30pm, which was consistent with the phone evidence. Mrs Beowulf had told police she called out and got no response before finding Mrs Panin on the stairs. It was then about half-an-hour before Mrs Beowulf called triple zero at 3.55pm, Ms Jones said. The trial continues.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/8480802d-30b3-4c2f-a9e1-0f5c5ecf6287/r0_348_3264_2192_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgOur Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.Photo: Contributed

Ugandan security forces are searching for a U.S. citizen and a local driver who were abducted in a wildlife park and their kidnappers demanded a ransom, authorities said Wednesday.

The missing people were taken in an ambush by four gunmen on Tuesday in Queen Elizabeth National Park, a protected area near the porous border with Congo, according to Ugandan police and a government spokesman.

The kidnappers held up a group of foreign tourists at gunpoint, grabbed two of them and disappeared into the bush. Later the kidnappers, using the phone of one of their victims, demanded a ransom of $500,000, said a statement issued by police.

"We strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind the kidnap," the statement said. "Their vehicle was left parked and the kidnappers went away with the key."

The kidnapped American is a 35-year-old woman, police said.

The four other tourists were "left abandoned and unharmed" and later were taken to safety after reporting the incident to authorities, according to a separate statement from the Uganda Media Centre.

A rescue party of police, military and game rangers has been sent to find the abducted people, that statement said.

Kidnappings in Uganda's protected areas are rare. Queen Elizabeth National Park, in southwest Uganda, is a popular safari destination in this East African country.Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful will wrap up its Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup in Dayton, Tenn. as a final installment of the four-part cleanup campaign. The cleanup will take place on Sunday, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The four-week-long initiative is engaging hundreds of volunteers along more than 400 miles of the 652-mile Tennessee River.



The final cleanup serves a particularly significant purpose, as volunteers will clean the Tennessee Rivers Chickamauga Lake two days prior to the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour. The high-profile professional fishing tournament will run April 9-14 and will be televised on the Discovery Channel later this year.



KTNRB has partnered with Living Lands & Waters for the Grand Slam Cleanup to take volunteers out on 30-foot-long steel plate boats to remove trash from the water and shorelines. KTNRB will provide volunteers with t-shirts, stainless steel water bottles, and a free meal from Dayton Boat Dock & Grill. Volunteers may register at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/register.



Due to their tournament schedule, MLFs professional anglers are unable to join the April 7 clean-up. However, they have been so inspired by these conservation efforts, that they have pledged to come out and join the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) group cleanup site as they partake in the 30th annual Ijams River Rescue presented by TVA with the support of Lowes on Saturday, April 6. Ijams Nature Centers community-wide cleanup brings together hundreds of volunteers across several counties to clean up the river and its creek tributaries.



The Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup events are offering timely relief to the Tennessee Valley, which was hit with severe flooding this February  the wettest February ever recorded in the region. Keep America Beautiful awarded a $10,000 Community Restoration and Resiliency Fund grant to KTNRB to offer cleanup relief following Februarys floods.



Helen Lowman, president and CEO, Keep America Beautiful, helped to clean the river at the initial Grand Slam Cleanup events in Pickwick Lake, Miss. and The Shoals, Ala. in March. At the first two cleanups, 168 volunteers removed 9,000 pounds of trash. KTNRBs third stop in the tour will be in Knoxville, Tenn., to support the Saturday, April 6, Ijams River Rescue, and the campaign will end in Dayton, on Sunday.



This Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup is part of a nationwide effort known as the Great American Cleanup, the signature program of the Keep America Beautiful, the nations largest community improvement nonprofit organization. The full release can be found here.



The cleanup will also catalog the types of litter gathered after a 2017 study by German professor Dr. Andreas Fath found that the Tennessee River was one of the most plastic-littered rivers in the world.



For more information on Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and river cleanups, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department encourages all pet owners to get their animals vaccinated against rabies. This years low-cost rabies vaccination clinics will be held at 35 locations around Hamilton County from April 5-13. The price is $12 per pet (cash or a separate check for each pet). Rabies vaccinations are required by law for all dogs and cats.

Vaccinating our pets is the most important buffer between humans and the wild animal population where the rabies virus mostly lives, said Health Department Director of Environmental Health Services Bonnie Deakins. The rabies vaccine is not just protecting your pet, its protecting public health.

Since 2017, seven wild animals have tested positive for the rabies virus in Hamilton County. Four of these were raccoons: two in East Ridge, one in the East Lake area, and one near the base of Lookout Mountain. The other three positive animals were bats. This indicates how close the virus is to our human population. It is crucial that residents vaccinate their pets and take additional preventive measures such as:

 Never approach wild animals or attempt to feed them

 Do not leave pet food or water accessible to wild animals

 Seal up any access points into attics where bats may roost

 Report stray animals

 Report all bites to the health department, even if from pets.

Rabies is caused by a virus that affects the nervous system. The usual mode of transmission is by the introduction of saliva containing the rabies virus into a bite wound. Any mammal, especially raccoons, skunks, foxes, bats, dogs, and cats, can get and transmit rabies. Once the infected person or animal shows symptoms the disease is 100% fatal.



In 2018, the Health Department investigated 745 cases of animals biting humans in Hamilton County. Animal bites are required to be reported to the health department.

Last year, the low-cost vaccination clinics delivered 1,978 vaccines to local pets.

Partners this year include the Hamilton County Veterinary Medical Association, the Humane Educational Society, McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center, and the East Ridge Animal Control.

For more information about clinic locations, please visit the Health Departments website for the detailed scheduled or call (423) 209-8110.

To report stray, injured, abused, or neglected animals, contact the animal services in your jurisdiction. The Health Department does not provide animal removal services. All animal exposures (bites, scratches, open wounds) are required to be reported as soon as possible to the Health Department at (423) 209-8110.U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos recently visited with lawmakers and schools in Nashville. According to the Associated Press and various media outlets, the Secretary declared, School choice and education freedom is on the march The Secretary further elaborated that she was cheering the governor and all of the legislators on here, an indirect reference that points to two polarizing education bills that are advancing through the General Assembly at warp speed.

One would establish neo-vouchers, education savings accounts that will place taxpayer public funds on debit cards and allow them to be used at private and parochial schools as well as for unspecified educational related purposes. A second bill would preempt the authority of democratically elected local school boards by forming a state commission who would have the autonomy to circumvent local municipalities and approve charter school applications.

These actions pose an imminent threat to the welfare of our state, our schools and our students. Preemption, used as a political maneuver, will become an established precedent and will be painstakingly polarizing. Another negative consequence is that the legislature has failed to provide an overall fiscal analysis of the costs associated with these programs, particularly the voucher bill, as estimates have been given to the public that suggest that the program will costs upwards of $100 million, while the actual vouchers at a little over $7,000 would fail to cover tuition costs at most private and parochial schools. In addition, if a family of four can make nearly $100,000, double the free lunch limit which is 130 percent of poverty, how can this hardly be a program whose justification is being promoted as advancing the needs and necessities of students in poverty? Accountability has also failed to be firmly planted within this voucher plan, and as seen in Arizona, voucher funds could be spent on things such as beauty supplies, computer software, and any number of non-education related purposes.

If the officials who met with the Secretary wanted to advance the needs of all students, we would suggest fully funding the Special Olympics. We would suggest that the state concentrate on fixing a broken BEP formula whose inadequate funding mechanisms ranks 41st in the nation in per pupil spending. We would suggest one of the best ways to recruit and retain highly effective teachers would be to boost an average median salary that ranks 38th in the nation. We would suggest protecting the rights of students who have faced assault. We would say establish a special needs students Bill of Rights that works in concert with the American for Disabilities Act, IDEA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. We would suggest focusing on the non- discriminate administration of discipline by providing more data to the Civil Rights Data Collection and helping to eradicate a school to prison pipeline that disproportionately affects students and communities of color.

We also must ask, how will the legislature address the lack of African-American and minority teachers because at only 12 percent in any arena that would be viewed as a woeful and shameful number? Likewise, 40 of Tennessee's 95 counties have zero percent of African-American and minority teachers while Rep. Joe Towns is right to question why the words slavery and involuntary servitude still appear in the Tennessee State Constitution; how can we abide with such an egregious lack of urgency to address these ills? How will we ensure equal educational opportunity, equal access to resources and materials, and that a fully capable and qualified teacher is in every classroom? With reports across the state that have recently shown that disabled students have endured discriminatory treatment in discipline, how will we overcome this distressing element that is present? When will the state embrace a culturally relevant pedagogy that includes the type of culturally responsive teaching noted by Dr. Zaretta Hammond that focuses on collectivism, interdependency, building the learning capacity in students and leveraging their cultural identity and cognitive abilities that will help motivate them to reach the Zone of Proximal Development professed by Vygotsky amongst others.

Most importantly, as has been suggested by many scholars, when will we stop demeaning, debasing and disparaging the public schools. As Dr. Ivory Toldson asserts, we must come from a basis of strength-based assessments that addresses the deficits with our schools and students while simultaneously acknowledging their virtues such as their assets, creativity and resiliency. For this reason why can't we have have a statewide focus aimed at bringing to a halt labeling and branding schools as low- achieving, under-performing, failing and problematic and as a contrast begin to promote their virtues? As Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings has stated, we have moved way beyond the achievement and opportunity gaps and schools that need assistance in poverty stricken communities suffer from an often glossed over education debt that has been placed in that condition due to harmful policies that have become institutionalized and systemic, such as the closing of hundreds of African-American schools and firing more than 40,000 black teachers as a repudiation of the Brown v. Board decision, which effected things such as neighborhood schools, the hiring of minority teachers, and the exposing of students to programs and opportunities in the community and across the nation. Conversely, mass disinvestment in inner-city schools is still a rampant problem that persist in these schools and communities today.

Why can't we embrace proven methods and models? Dr. Pedro Noguera has developed a focus on the five essential ingredients that are needed for school improvement that in many ways is based on the University of Chicagos Consortium on Chicago School Research model. These five components include: (1) A coherent instructional guidance system; (2) Continuous development of the professional capacity of staff; (3) Parental involvement and participation acting in collaboration with strong community-school ties; (4) A student-centered learning environment; (5) Shared leadership to drive change.

A 2015 online article by Joanie Harmon recounts an appearance by Noguera at the UCLA produced Bruno Seros-Ulloa Lecture held in December 2014. He is quoted as saying,

What we should know by now is that there is no silver bullet...We have to increasingly remind our policymakers of that, because they will continue to fixate on some silver bullet solution, invest lots in it, and then wring their hands and blame the other leaders for not producing results.

It is worth noting that before there was a Little Rock Nine there was Tennessee's Clinton 12, who were the first students to integrate a high school in 1956. The current course on which this state is chartered echoes of an era of education unseen since the heroic actions undertaken by those students. To limit the use of ESAs to only those municipalities that coincidentally have the state's largest minority populations is insidious and discriminatory. To preempt local LEA's decision to approve or deny charter expansions dictated by evidence-based data is reminiscent to the repudiation witnessed in the aftermath of Brown v. Board. As it is currently constructed, the neo-voucher program is so ripe for failure because of the lack of transparency and accountability associated with it that it may well rival the best pyramid and Ponzi schemes. Furthermore, the state has done little to promote and progress true diversity in schools and real strategies that will be beneficial to improving the outcomes for impoverished communities, for no other than it excluded some of the most impoverished areas in the rural sectors of the state.

For these reasons, we stand adamantly opposed to the expansion of vouchers in the form of education savings accounts, reject the notion that poor students will be the greatest beneficiaries of them, will only support charter schools that can demonstrate that they are accountable to local municipalities and democratically elected school boards, and call for the protection and guarantee of a full, fair and appropriate public education for all students that is viewed as a right to all and not a privilege of the few.

Respectfully, Unity Group of Chattanooga

Sherman E Matthews Jr., Chairman

Eric Atkins, Corresponding Secretary, chief editor





According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, In the U.S., one in three women and one in six men experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime and professionals who work with clients and the body should have an idea of how trauma impacts the brain and the body.

An Understanding Trauma Informed workshop will be offered Thursday at 2 p.m. at 1800 McCallie Ave. This is one of several free events in conjunction with Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults as part of Aprils National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Trauma informed care means treating a whole person, taking into account past trauma and the resulting coping mechanisms when attempting to understand behaviors and treat the patient. With groundbreaking works such as The Body Keeps the Score, in addition to widespread adoption of research on Adverse Childhood Experiences in many governmental agencies, we now have trauma informed care in most hospitals, non-profits, and therapy practices, said officials.

Susan Dendtler, owner of Redbud Mental Wellness, a licensed professional counselor, mental health services provider and licensed yoga instructor will explain the latest research on Trauma Informed. I promise there will not be any power points, said Ms. Dendtler. I will guide a collaborative conversation about how to recognize trauma, how to screen and talk to clients about the role of trauma in their lives and their bodies, and how to help create a culture of trauma awareness and support in our workplaces."

This training is specifically for, but not limited to, the following professionals: Yoga, Barre, Pilates, Spin, Martial Arts Teachers, Personal Trainers, Crossfit Trainers, Gym Managers/Owners, Massage Therapists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturist and Physical Therapists.

For more information contact Mindy Kolin at mkolin@partnershipfca.com



Olivet Baptist, St. Paul AME and St. Pauls Episcopal are joining to challenge the question How We Do Life Together, including worship, praying, conversing and sharing together.

Officials say this is an opportunity to blur racial, denominational and economic lines or any other lines that may exist, and this is done over time. Building relationships flourish in contexts where there is shaped worship and prayer, common meals, informal conversations and a spirit of witnessing to the city.



This Life Group will meet five Tuesdays, April 30-May 28, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Olivet Baptist Church, 751 ML King Blvd. (across from the main location). This Life Group is open to the public.

April 30 - Bishop Kevin Adams, Olivet Baptist

It Doesnt Matter Whats Been Written So Far Its How We Fill Up the Rest of the Pages That Counts

Pastor Chris Sands, Olivet Baptist

Live: Take Off Tuesday

May 7 - Reverend Paul C. and Maxine Adkins, St. Paul AME

Everything We Need is Already In Us

May 14 - Reverend Joe Woodfin, St. Pauls Episcopal

The Power of Sharing Stories

May 21 - Reverend Kenneth Love, St. Paul AME

Every Breath We Draw Is Hallelujah

May 28 - Reverend Brad Whitaker, St. Pauls Episcopal

Let Us Break Bread Together

For more information contact Jane Bowen at janehamptonbowen@yahoo.com.





The City of Chattanooga is partnering with Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) to help families get re-enrolled in TennCare or CareKids after thousands found out their health care lapsed.

The Tennessean reported that more than 5,500 children in Hamilton County were dropped from their state health care programs between December 2016 and January 2019. Approximately 128,000 were cut statewide -- 1 out of every 8 children across the state.



When youre at the doctor with a sick child you shouldnt have to worry about if your health care insurance has lapsed, said Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke. We are going to do everything we can to work with these families to get them back on their plans.



On Thursday, at 10:30 a.m. EDT, Mayor Berke will host an informational call to discuss the issue and what this means for Hamilton County families. The call will also include information for Chattanoogans and area agencies interested in volunteering to help families in need navigate this appeal process.



To attend the informational call, register at https://cha.city/coverage and call the unique number given to you.

I believe in public education. I also know that there is no one size fits all strategy that will work in every school or district. This is a recurring premise among those of us who believe in local control of public education. A one size fits all solution is in effect no solution.

Public education is the only hope for many children across Tennessee. Too many politicians give the impression that our schools are failing. They are not. However, we must acknowledge that there are pockets in our state that are not doing as well as others. An end to social promotion and being focused on improved literacy, particularly by grade 3, would undeniably help. The vast majority of our schools are incredibly successful, as are the teachers who serve and students who attend them.

Legislators have put forth many policy ideas this legislative session: some good, some necessary, and some harmful to public education. The policy debate will occur among stakeholders and policymakers. Proposals regarding parent codes of conduct, limitations on school suspensions, union-controlled community schools, and education savings accounts are still being debated. There have been several attempts to address testing, but none have gained necessary lawmaker support - yet.

The high-stakes testing culture has killed the passion of many educators. Although we need testing to measure the progress of our students, we should recognize that these tests are often unreliable in evaluating teachers and schools. We should pursue reliable standardized tests that provide accurate feedback for educators, parents, and students. No single test should be a determinant of a students, teachers, or schools success. A true measurement of progress should instead consist of several benchmarks, not just testing.

In education debates, we need to keep the focus on what is important: everyone working together to improve public schools for the benefit of all children. And we must work with all stakeholders in public education, regardless of political party or perceived agenda. No person or group has all the answers. We should all roll up our sleeves as stakeholders and policymakers to work and make public education succeed for all of our children. Our shared future depends on it.

The late Justice Antonin Scalia, discussing his friendship with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "I attack ideas. I dont attack people. And some very good people have some very bad ideas. And if you cant separate the two, you gotta get another day job." We should heed that guidance in education debates as well.

Educators in the trenches are doing incredible work. Never before in history has more been demanded of our educators. Kay McSpadden, a high school English teacher, points out, Our middle-class and wealthy public-school children are thriving. Poor children are struggling, not because their schools are failing but because they come to school with all the well-documented handicaps that poverty imposes  poor prenatal care, developmental delays, hunger, illness, homelessness, emotional and mental illnesses, and so on.

Future legislative efforts must focus on breaking down the bureaucratic barriers that have kept educators and school districts from pursuing solutions to the unique challenges of their communities. As a candidate, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee promised to pilot innovative approaches that encourage our schools and their communities to work together and design solutions without bureaucratic hurdles. We fully embrace that strategy and will continue to support that approach at the Tennessee General Assembly.

We believe most public schools need fewer regulations and more freedom and flexibility - especially our higher achieving districts. By giving districts greater autonomy they could redirect time away from burdensome paperwork and focus more on students. Robin Lake, of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, points out, Schools must be nimble, responsive, equitable and innovative.

Education can open doors to incredible opportunities that would have never been possible were it not for the education that one received while in school. With inconsistent and changing economic times, it is more important than ever for our states children to receive high-quality education and training. Malala Yousafzai reminds us, "One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world."

Education policy must support children in developing the skills, the knowledge, and the integrity that will allow them to be responsible, contributing members of their community and ultimately gain employment with a sustainable living wage. Public education provides the best opportunity for most children to obtain success. We must all believe in public education.

JC Bowman

Executive Director of Professional Educators of TennesseeSouthern Lit Alliance announces the inaugural Barnett Prize for Local Distinguished Author. The Barnett Prize will be presented June 12 during a luncheon welcoming New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe to Chattanooga.

This is the first year for the Barnett Prize, which will be awarded annually to recognize an outstanding local author. The award is offered through the generosity of Warren Barnett, art philanthropist and president of Barnett & Company, a firm offering personalized investment council in Chattanooga for 35 years.

The winner will be chosen by a three-judge panel whose members have demonstrated knowledge and expertise in the field of creative and published writing. The winning author must demonstrate a successful track record of publication in the genre of fiction, non-fiction, short story or poetry.

This years judges are:

Mark Jones, director of strategic initiatives at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, has served as a writer and editor for newspapers, magazines and books during his 20-plus year career in publishing.

Dr. Nick Mansito, assistant professor of English at Chattanooga State Community College. Dr. Mansito has authored two poetry collections, 3rd & 7th and Miscellaneous Debris.

Dr. Thomas Balazs, associate professor of English, UTC. Dr. Balazs is the author of the short story collection Omicron Ceti III (Aqueous Books, 2012). His fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including The North American Review, The Southern Humanities Review, and The Robert Olen Butler Prize Anthology.



Nominations for the Barnett Prize will be accepted through May 1. Authors, or their nominating agent, should submit an application, curriculum vitae and three copies of a completed, published work by the deadline to: Southern Lit Alliance, 301 E. 11th Street, Suite 301, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403. Applications can be found at www.southernlitalliance.org.

Authors must reside in Hamilton County or the contiguous counties of Sequatchie, Marion, Rhea, Meigs, Bradley counties in Tennessee. Eligible Georgia authors must reside in Catoosa, Walker or Dade counties.

The winner will be announced as part of the FocusLit luncheon featuring Ms. Monroe on Wednesday, June 12, at 11:30 a.m. at Stratton Hall. Tickets are $40 and include the luncheon as well as a presentation with Ms. Monroe. VIP tickets are $80 and include tickets to the luncheon, a copy of Ms. Monroes new book The Summer Guest, guaranteed book signing by the author, and a champagne toast with Ms. Monroe.Many fans who have been following Jessica Simpsons pregnancy journey knows that shes had it pretty rough.

Now that Simpson just recently welcomed her third child, the fashion designer is opening up about her c-section recovery process.

Jessica Simpson | Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund

Since sharing her post, many have been praising Jessica Simpson for shining a light on what it truly means to be a mother.

Post delivery is not a walk in the park

Two weeks after giving birth to her baby girl via c-section, Jessica Simpson returned to social media to give fans an update on her recovery process.

Through her pregnancy, Simpson has kept fans in the loop about everything going on with her and her latest post was no different.

Recovering from a C-Section is no joke, Jessica Simpson reveals in the Instagram post that includes a photo of her two oldest children.

She continues, Im feeling thankful for these two older siblings looking over their new baby sister. I think we all get so carried away with the excitement of having a new baby that we forget that we are going in for major surgery. Then on top of that, we get home from the hospital, have to recover from the surgery, balance our new life as a parent to three kids and be a wife.

Jessica Simpson then goes into thanking fellow mothers for their support and being able to confide in those women who share the same post childbirth experiences as she currently is.

I have been chatting with other moms in my same situation and they have been answering my questions. It is so nice to be able to relate to a community of moms and moms-to-be who are going through the same things as me, Simpson concluded.

Fellow mom are now sharing their own childbirth stories

After sharing her post on Instagram, fellow moms began flooding the comment section applauding the fashion designer for bringing attention to post child birth.

As soon as the baby is born, moms have to balance taking care of the child, themselves and their families all at once.

It doesnt leave much time for a mother to fully recover and Jessica Simpson is one of the few celebrities moms who has gotten real about childbirth.

Fellow moms are currently praising Simpson for her honesty and are sharing their own experiences when it comes to post-childbirth.

One fan commented, Omg love you for this. Just had a c section too and its so frustrating that people forget you just had major major surgery while taking care of a newborn.

While someone else wrote, Preach. Mom of two c-section babies here. People actually said to me that I got off easy by having a c-section.

C section is def no joke! The pain afterwards is crazy. Thanks for always being so real, another fan shared.

When it comes to c-sections, there is this stigma that a woman who has one got the easy way out.

However, that is not the case.

A c-section is a major surgery that many mothers do not get the time to heal from .

Jessica Simpson has shown the world that she is just like every other mother out there whose main focus after giving birth is her baby.

The designer went through a lot during her entire pregnancy and now that she has finally given birth, Simpson now has an army of moms who will stand by her every step of the way!Madison Hildebrand from Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles has been through the wringer lately. The broker endured a painful surgery to correct a previous hand fracture, plus, he lost his sweet dog Maya.

Hildebrand spoke with The Cheat Sheet shortly after Maya passed away. He also provided an update about the complex surgery he went through over the past few months. Although hes been healing, Hildebrand has encountered a few setbacks. One issue has plunged the sunny agent back under the knife.

Madison Hildebrand | Photo by Nicole Wilder/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Why did he have surgery?

Hildebrand told The Cheat Sheet he broke his hand while simply cooking in the kitchen. I was cooking and chopping in the kitchen, he says. I went to turn, but didnt see that my dog Prince was laying right under my feet. The dog caught Hildebrand off balance so he fell, knife in hand. Of course I didnt want my dog to get cut with the knife so I fell down hard on my left hand.

Doctors insisted Hildebrands hand would heal and he tore some ligaments. But he continued to experience pain. Finally, a physician ordered a CT scan, which is when Hildebrand learned the news. His hand had been broken, did not heal properly and the bone essentially died. Without intervention, hed experience horrific arthritis.

In February, Hildebrand flew to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Doctors performed a complex surgery that is designed for a scaphoid non-union fracture, which is a wrist fracture that fails to heal, according to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Part of Hildebrands hip bone was used to help rebuild bone that was no longer viable too.

Recovery was painful

Even though Hildebrand remained optimistic, he was still in significant pain. He told The Cheat Sheet he continued to experience nerve pain and he also developed an infection.

Initially he was concerned hed have to go back under the knife. But Mayo Clinic physicians were able to treat the infection with antibiotics. During his second trip to Minnesota, his dog Maya fell ill. She died of heart disease shortly after he returned to be by her side.

As he dealt with the emotional loss, physical pain never seemed to wane. He posted to Instagram in late March that he was still dealing with physical issues. Im currently at the surgeons office in excruciating nerve pain and spent the day in the ER yesterday, he posted along with an adorable throwback photo. It is a minor setback, and its nearly testing my every whit, yet, I still try to find gratitude and I always remember things could be worse.

Hes going back under the knife

Unfortunately, things did indeed get worse. After what looked like a fun, sun-soaked weekend with friends, Hildebrand found he has to endure yet another surgery.

Im not excited to be sharing this, he posted to his Instagram story. But I have another surgery tomorrow. I will have to go under general anthestia in hopes of doing this nerve block in my arm. So the nerves in my hand will become numb. So I dont have the nerve pain thats shooting through my hand and my wrist.

He concludes by saying he just hopes this really works. Please, please, he says with a hopeful smile.

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Move over Kensington Royal, there is a new royal Instagram account in town and it belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

On Tuesday, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry opened their own Instagram account and fans of the couple are eating it up!

The account will be used for both work and personal photos, a source told People, which means we will probably be getting more behind the scenes pics of the couple than ever before.

The preparation for the new royal Instagram

Previously, Markle and Harry shared an Instagram account with Prince William and Kate Middleton and the rest of Kensington Palace under the @Kensingtonroyal handle. But serious followers of the account recently started to notice a distinct lack of photos of Harry and Markle.

The last picture of the couple before their new Instagram was created was on Mar. 19 when they visited New Zealand House in London after the horrific shooting on Mar. 15. Before that, the most recent p icture of them was posted on Mar. 11.

What is Harry and Markles Instagram handle?

Yesterday, the new Instagram handle was announced as @Sussexroyal.

The couple has already posted their first picture.

Welcome to our official Instagram; we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues, they captioned the photo. We thank you for your support, and welcome you to @sussexroyal.- Harry & Meghan.

The Kensington Royal Instagram page also posted about the new account and the split.

Welcome to Instagram, @SussexRoyal! the account captioned a photo of Markle and Harry. Follow @SussexRoyal for more on the work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Follow @KensingtonRoyal for more on the work of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Along with a picture of their initials, the couple shared several photos of them together on their new Instagram. The photos included some from their royal tour to Australia, a picture of Harry in the military, Markle with the Hubb Community Kitchen women, Markle engaging with the community, Harry working with elephants, and more.

Markle and Harrys account breaking records

Clearly, fans have been hoping that the royal couple would start their own account for a while as the new profile only took five hours and 45 minutes to garner a million followers.

Previously, the fastest person to get to a million followers was Korean pop star Kang Daniel, who did it in 11 hours and 36 minutes in January.

Guinness World Records tweeted the couple, congratulating them on their record breaking speed.

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, whose new @instagram account Sussexroyal reached one million followers in less than 6 hours, the account tweeted.

Markle and Harry currently have over 2.5 million followers.

What does the new account mean for Harry and Markle?

This Instagram account is the latest step in The Duke and Duchess of Sussex creating their new office. Now that they are splitting from William and Middleton, the pair can focus on their own causes and the work that they want to do.

This news comes after the announcement that Markle and Harry are also moving out of their current home and into Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor property where their new office will be located.

Read more: The Royals: Why are Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Moving Away from Prince William and Kate?

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!Meghan Markle is just getting her feet wet as a member of the British Royal Family. However, the Duchess of Sussex is already making waves. From solidifying her royal patronages to splitting her and Prince Harrys household from Prince William and Kate Middletons the duchess hasnt missed a beat when it comes to carving out space for herself in the royal family.

Still, despite all of Markles efforts to do royal her way shes had a ton of backlash about how shes navigated her role, how she presents herself, and everything in between. This is why shes being called disturbingly self-confident.

Why is Meghan Markle being called disturbingly self-confident?

Though she is just weeks away from giving birth to her first child Baby Sussex, Meghan Markle cant seem to catch a break. In addition to a rude nickname, Me-Gain, given to her by the British press Markle is also being called, disturbingly self-confident.

Lady Colin Campbell who was close friends with the late Princess Diana says that she sees many parallels between Markle and the Princess of Wales. She told the Independent, Meghan is much better educated and more academic. Meghan is almost disturbingly self-confident We must hope she realizes that her vision is not the only vision.

Though Lady Campbell hopes Markle will loosen the reigns of control, she also thinks that the Duchess of Sussexs confidence will help her steer clear of some of the pitfalls that Princess Diana fell in to. Since Markle isnt insecure, she wont take any of the negative press and rumors surrounding her to heart which will make for a much more positive and peaceful existence in the public eye.

Meghan Markle has also been called too independent

Though she was a famous actress who was used to the public spotlight, being a royal brings very different pressures. An insider told the Daily Mail, Even though [Meghan] was a famous actress, she could still do what she wanted in the way of getting around freely, But in her current role she cant go anywhere without her protection team, and thats a massive constraining force on an individual like her.

Duncan Larcombe, who covered the royal family for Londons The Sun explained, As an actress, Meghan expects perfection, But when youre in the royal family, you have to learn that its not about you, its about what you represent.

Will Meghan Markle tone down her independent personality ?

Lady Campbell and Princess Dianas former butler, Paul Burrell have suggested that Markle go a more traditional route if she wants things to last. However, we doubt Markle will heed their unsolicited advice. After all, Prince Harry fell in love with his wife due to her fiery personality. Also, since she gave up her career in acting, Markle wants to be sure she is making a significant difference in her role as s royalhelping women and underprivileged people across the globe.

Luckily, with a new baby on the way, reports about Markles self-confidence and independence will die down. Change can be extremely stressful, but the media will soon have Baby Sussex to focus on.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 2ND 2017  Several of the islands in the Eastern Caribbean whose airports were devastated in varying degrees by recent hurricanes Irma and Maria, have announced the reopening or possible reopening dates of their national airports.

Anguilla

The Government of Anguilla has announced that recovery from Hurricane Irma is proceeding at an extraordinary pace. Phone and internet communications have been restored to most parts of the island. Roads and beaches have been cleared, there are no longer queues at petrol stations, and grocery stores are well provisioned. Many local restaurants have reopened, along with a number of hotels that are housing relief workers and UK government officials.

Significant progress is also being made on the restoration of the electricity grid; power lines to many villages have been restored in the three weeks following Irma.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the terminal at Blowing Point will be demolished. Architectural plans have already been commissioned for the design and construction of the new facility. Construction is expected to begin shortly, at which point a more detailed timeline will be provided.

Seaborne Airlines has also announced the resumption of service between Anguilla and San Juan beginning 30 September, departing San Juan at 12:10 pm to arrive in Anguilla at 1:15 pm and departing Anguilla at 1:45 pm to arrive in San Juan at 2:50 pm

Seaborne Airlines also announced on its FaceBook page that it has resumed service on 30 September to Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, and to St Thomas on 2 October.

Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, Beef Island, BVI

British Virgin Islands

The British Virgin Islands Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport resumed commercial flight operations on Monday, October 2.

Managing Director of the BVI Airports Authority, Denniston Fraser said, the hours of operation will be from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00p.m. daily, adding that there will be no night operations as yet.

Following the impact of Hurricane Irma on September 6, operations at the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport was restricted to humanitarian, relief and evacuation flights only.

Mr. Fraser said the airport sustained severe damage and as result repair work had to be undertaken to rectify the issues and meet the standards of Air Safety Support International (ASSI) for commercial flight authorisation.

He explained that major concerns for ASSI were having competent staff in place, addressing issues with the fence, ensuring that equipment, control tower equipment and generators are in a reliable position so that the Airport can function properly.

The BVI Airports Authority Managing Director is advising the travelling public to arrive at the Airport at least three hours before the departure time as the check-in and security processes will be fully implemented.

Commercial flight operations at the Terrence B. International Airport were expected to resume in mid-September following Hurricane Irma. However, the passage of Hurricane Maria on September 19 resulted in further damage and delays to the planned resumption of commercial flights.

BVI ferry companies (Road Town Fast Ferry and Native Son) have resumed operations between the islands allowing BVI Islanders, residents and work permit holders to return to the country.

Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten

St. Maarten

Minister of aviation Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher told The Daily Herald last week that the management of Princess Juliana International Airport was still carrying out in-depth assessments of the internal and external facilities, the majority of which suffered heavy to severe damage. The minister estimated the airport would not be back at full operation capacity in all its glory for another 35 weeks, but would be able to function optimally much sooner than that.

The entire airport perimeter fencing was destroyed and all four jet bridges sustained substantial structural damage. The swing cabs were blown off all four bridges and all metal entrance doors attached between the bridges and the terminal building were blown in.

All runway and taxiway lights and precision approach path indicators were destroyed. The shoulders and a section of the runway were underwater.

The majority of the roof was destroyed in the terminal building exposing the terminal to outdoor elements with water found on all four levels of the terminal.

There is no official date for the resumption of commercial flights into St Maarten, according to the minister.

In the meantime, the Dutch St. Maarten regional air carrier Winair had repositioned its aircraft to St. Vincent prior to Hurricane Irma and until late last week the fleet was operating from St Kitts Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport as fuel and security for aircraft were not yet available in St Maarten.

Winair has performed in excess of 60 relief flights evacuating non nationals and providing transportation to legal residents of St. Maarten/St. Martin.

Winair suffered massive damage to its facilities and consequently basic telecommunications, internet, electricity and water were disrupted, making operations difficult.

The resilience of our employees who came to assist must be noted and is much appreciated by all, Winair said in a post-hurricane update.

Winair is currently in the process of rebuilding and reintroducing a limited schedule serving the following destinations: Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barth, Antigua and St. Kitts, once the authorization is given by the appropriate authorities.

We are optimistic that this will be granted by October 1, 2017, Winair said.

Tortola, Guadeloupe, Dominica and San Juan will be additional destinations once facilities and approvals are granted for resumption of service. Winair is working with appropriate authorities to introduce a frequency service St Maarten  Curacao  St. Maarten to allow the public to connect with carriers serving Curacao. In conjunction, Winair will resume service to Haiti as soon as possible.

Winair announced that it has secured office space in Philipsburg to provide sales and reservation services to the public, and the expected opening date is Wednesday, October 4.

Henry Rholsen International Airport, St. Croix, USVI

United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands Commissioner of Tourism said the USVI travel and tourism partners on the U.S. mainland have expended precious resources to help the people of the Virgin Islands get back on our feet and get our economy moving again.

These gestures go a long way in helping people and advancing our governments efforts to return the Territory to a degree of normalcy as we recover and rebuild, said Commissioner Nicholson-Doty, who reported that weekend discussions with Governor Kenneth E. Mapp, members of his Cabinet and the business community on St. Croix (similar to a meeting held last week in the St. Thomas/St. John district) were productive and focused on the phased re-opening of the Territory to land and cruise visitors.

She confirmed that the Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas is open, and the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix is scheduled to open for commercial flights later this week.

Cyril E. King International Airport, St. Thomas, USVIAfter months of dressing herself and her baby bump in gowns, and wearing heels Meghan Markle is finally getting a much-needed break. The Duchess of Sussex is due to give birth in just a few weeks, and shes finally cleared her calendar for her maternity leave. In the past few weeksMarkle has halted all of her scheduled public appearances so wed assumed she would be at home for the duration of her pregnancy, nesting with her feet up.

However, the duchess and Prince Harry were recently spotted at the wellness store  Ilapothecary in London. Instead of her usual heels and couture dresses, Markles attire was very different. She was dressed very casually in some of her husbands clothing.

Why has Meghan Markle started wearing Prince Harrys clothes?

During their casual Friday night out where they tried to avoid the cameras Meghan Markle was dressed in sneakers, skinny jeans, and a retro Sixteen Candles tee. However, fans noted that the duchess was also wearing Prince Harrys oversized khaki jacket. She also wore her adorable Mummy necklace, which was gifted to her at her New York City baby shower. The wellness store the couple visited provides women with the best all-natural, organic skincare products and offers a variety of treatments, including massages and energy healing.

Since Markle is in the final weeks of her pregnancy her causal outerwear probably doesnt fit over her baby bump anymore. Instead of purchasing a light maternity jacket that she wont need in a few weeks, it made more sense for the duchess to grab her husbands old clothes. This isnt the first time Markle has worn her hubbys clothes. In Nov. 2018 during a royal tour to the South Pacific, she wore the princes puffer coat during a stroll.

How much did Meghan Markle spend on her maternity wardrobe?

Now that shes on maternity leave, Markle seems happy to slip into some comfy clothes. With pieces from Stella McCartney, Victoria Beckham, Dior, and Givenchy Markle chose not to stick with maternity fashion brands during her pregnancy. Instead, she picked pieces that had a bit of stretch to accommodate her bump, or she may have just sized up. According to Love the Sales research, Markle has spent more than $500,000 on her maternity outfits alone which for just six months of clothing is a pretty astounding sum.

Why did Meghan Markle spend so much money on her maternity wardrobe?

The Duchess of Sussex did wear some affordable pieces here and there including a blush shift dress from H&M. However, building an expensive and stylish wardrobe also means that Markle can re-wear the pieces again.

Markles sister-in-law Kate Middleton is known to restyle her clothing both maternity and otherwise, and the Suits alum could merely be following in her footsteps. Markle and Prince Harry have hinted that they want more than one child which means that in a couple of years Markle might be pregnant again with Baby Sussexs sibling. If thats the case  she simply has to reach in her closet to pull out some of her past maternity looks.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!After allegedly cutting ties with two of their closest friends, Prince William and Kate Middleton have found themselves in the middle of a major royal scandal  one that accuses the Duke of Cambridge of cheating on his wife with her former best friend, Rose Hanbury.



Kate Middleton and Rose Hansburys feud



Rose Hanbury and Kate Middleton | Stephen Pond/Getty Images

Last week, The Sun reported on a falling out between Kate Middleton and Rose Hanbury, which left the Duchess of Cambridge asking Prince William to phase her and her husband, David Rocksavage, the Marquess of Cholmondeley out.



It is well known that Kate and Rose have had a terrible falling out. They used to be close but that is not the case any more [sic], a source revealed to the publication. William wants to place peacemaker so the two couples can remain friends, given they live so close to each other and share mutual friends. But Kate has been clear that she doesnt want to see them any more [sic] and wants William to phase them out, despite their social status, they added.



Did Prince William cheat on Kate Middleton with Rose Hanbury?



The cause of their falling out is not entirely known. However, some point the finger at William and Rose and suggest the two might have had an affair. According to reporter , Nicole Cliffe, Prince William and Kate Middleton allegedly flipped over The Suns reports and sent warnings to the publication. This reaction made for the perfect storm of rumors surrounding their private lives and the legitimacy of the reports.



Cliffe believes Prince William had an affair with Rose Hanbury and likely told his brother, Prince Harry about it. This is the actual reason that Wills and Harry have been frosty for the last several months, Its had NOTHING to do with Meghan, Cliffe tweeted. Wills would absolutely have told Harry about the affair, bc [sic] of how those two are, and I think that Harry was like this is exactly what ruined our childhoods, she continued.



Some believe that, if Prince William actually had an affair, we wouldnt know about it, given the royal familys highly capable communications team. However, examples of past royal affairs becoming public knowledge prove otherwise. Additionally, Kensington Palace has declined to comment on the matter, but they wont even give a statement about the never-ending Thomas Markle drama (which we know is true).



Royal fans seem to have mixed feelings about whether or not Prince William would actually do such a thing. Some believe he would never and others have been less supportive on social media. Somehow Im not surprised by any of this. Ive always thought William seems a bit entitled  and hes never really seemed to treat Kate all that well. And while Kate always looks like she worships him, Ive never gotten that feeling from him, even on their wedding day, one Twitter user remarked.



Did Rose spread the rumors?



The source for the story is widely supposed to be Rose running her mouth about it to her friends, which, I get, bc whats the fun in sleeping w a bald prince if you cant tell your friends?  Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) March 30, 2019

Its hard to say whether or not the rumors or true  and even harder to determine who is actually spreading them. That said, Cliffe believes Rose Hanbury might be behind the efforts (after all, she did allegedly get phased out by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge). The source for the story is widely supposed to be Rose running her mouth about it to her friends, which, I get, bc [sic] whats the fun in sleeping w [sic] a bald prince if you cant tell your friends? she wrote on Twitter.



That said, other reports claim the Rose (and Kate Middleton) is seeking legal action. Additionally, Richard Kays report in the Daily Mail, claims both women are ignoring the rumors surrounding their feud as one of the reports have been able to offer any evidence about what the so-called dispute is about.



Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!Baby no. 4 is almost here and Kim Kardashian West cannot contain her joy!

The reality star has been finalizing any last preparations to welcome her fourth child in the upcoming weeks.

Kim Kardashian attends the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer 2019 show as part of Paris Fashion Week Week on June 21, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot/WireImage)

Kim Kardashian West has been open about her experiences with surrogates and recently shared how close she has become with the woman carrying her son.

Kim established a good relationship with the woman

Kim Kardashian West has been very open when it comes to discussing her experiences using a surrogate a second time around.

The reality star recently spoke to ETs Keltie Knight about her new sunglass collection with Carolina Lemke eyewear and also shared how her experience with her second surrogate was different from the first.

According to Kardashian West, this surrogacy experience is not as stressful as the first since she now knows what to expect.

Its a different experience for sure, this situation is different, she tells ET.

Unlike her first surrogacy experience, Kim Kardashian has learned to be a lot more calm and is more aware of what to expect.

I love my surrogate, we have a really good relationship. I really trust her and I definitely see, like, the first time that I went through it, I was a little bit more anxious, and texting more and calling more, and I feel like my surrogate this time around, really is such a protecting person and I really trust that in her.

Though Kim Kardashian trusted her first surrogate, she feels as though having already go through with this process made it a little easier to establish a bond with th is woman.

Kim is more at ease this time around

Not only is this her second time using a surrogate, but it is also her fourth child. Kim Kardashian West now knows what to expect during this process and was more at ease going into this.

I feel really calm and at ease, Kim shared. I dont know if its a fourth kid thing or, weve been through the surrogacy before, you just get a little bit more calm as they go.

Though the process with Chicago went very well, that surrogate was apparently pregnant with her own child when it came time to Kim and Kanye wanting someone to carry their fourth child.

This could be her last surrogacy experience

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have said that theyve always wanted a big family.

However, after this baby is born, he could be their last child.

Though the reality star had amazing surrogacy experiences and is happy she was able to have more children, she and Kanye feel as though their family is now big enough.

Their first time with surrogacy went so well, they decided to do it again, the source said. The couple is excited to welcome such an incredible gift in 2019. Theyve also talked that after this child, they are most likely done having kids.

Maybe Kim and Kanye will change their minds in the future about having more kids, but we can guess they are happy just being a family of six!The birth of Baby Sussex is just around the corner and the anticipation is building! With recent rumors of a royal feud between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, many fans dont know exactly how close the sisters-in-law are. When we also take into consideration that Meghan and Prince Harry are planning to move away from London to their new home at Frogmore cottage, it leaves us wondering what sort of a relationship Kate will have with the new royal baby.

She is a great mom to her own three small children, and a wonderful aunt to Arthur, the son of her sister, Pippa Middleton Matthews. With the arrival of Baby Sussex growing closer each day, we are thinking carefully about what Kates relationship will be with the newest addition to the royal family.

Are Kate and Meghan close?

welcome to my new profile on twitter dedicated to these two wonderful women



I created this twitter to dedicate my love and loyalty to these inspiring women, I hope you like the profile. #KateMiddleton #MeghanMarkle pic.twitter.com/1I6Kiv1kKq  kate middleton & meghan markle updates (@royals_km) May 16, 2018

No one really knows for sure! For months, it was thought the reason Meghan and Harry decided to move 40 miles outside of London was because of the strained relationship between the two duchesses. When they were seen warmly greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek at Westminster Abbey, those rumors seemed to go by the wayside. Also, it is being said that Kate is hosting a second baby shower for Meghan, so perhaps the two are pretty close after all.

What about Kates relationship with Harry?

Kate and Harry have always been adorably close. Ever since the Duchess of Cambridge joined the royal family, she and her brother-in-law have often been photographed laughing and joking around, proving that they are the best of friends. It was even thought at one time that Harry tends to go to Kate when he needs to talk or needs advice about something in his life, and he thinks of her as the big sister he never had. How cute is that?

Is Meghan close with the Cambridge children?

While we havent seen many pictures of the Duchess of Sussex interacting with the kids of Prince William and Kate, that certainly does not mean she does not have an excellent relationship with them. Little Prince George and Princess Charlotte served as members of the bridal party for Meghan and Harrys wedding, and Meghan was seen attending the christening of Prince Louis looking genuinely happy. The public may not know whether or not the children call her Auntie Meghan, but it seems as if she adores them nonetheless!

What will Kate Middletons relationship be with Baby Sussex?

Chances are, Kate will have a wonderful relationship with the new royal baby. As the wife of a future king, she has always been somewhat reserved, so it only makes sense that she hasnt spoken publicly about her excitement. However, when Meghan and Harry announced their engagement, she did make a statement when asked regarding her happiness for the couple. Kate is great with children and has very strong family values, so we can expect that while she is calm on the outside, on the inside, she is bursting with excitement.

Will the Cambridge children be close with their new cousin?

They most certainly will! Prince Louis and Baby Sussex have the added advantage of being close in age, so they will be growing up and sharing quite a few experiences together. George and Charlotte will likely adore their new cousin, and spend as much time with him or her as possible. It is wonderful for the children of the royal family to have each other to grow up with and lean on for support and advice. We can expect that as the years go by, they will not only be cousins and playmates but close friends as well!Its almost too horrible to think about. Still, the recent rumors of a cheating scandal have royal family fans hoping the best but planning for the worst.

For now, the rumors are unproven, and some news outlets are hesitant to report on the alleged relationship between Prince William and Rose Hanbury, Kates former best friend. Kensington Palace declined to comment. The whole incident raised the simple question: what exactly would happen if Prince William and Kate Middleton got divorced, anyway?

Well, besides the millions of heartbroken people around the world, there are a few practical things that would transpire if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge parted ways. Find out exactly what would happen ahead.

Prince William and Kate Middleton | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Royal divorces happen all the time

Most people get married with the intention of staying together forever  though sadly, weve learned that it doesnt always work out that way. In the case of Prince William and Kate Middleton, they probably put more thought and reflection into their relationship than some other couples. Thats because they already knew Prince William would become king one day.

Still, even Prince Williams own father got divorced, along with several other prominent royal family members. Its certainly something that could happen  especially if Prince William really did cheat on his wife.

Kate Middleton would no longer be a member of the royal family

The Duchess of Cambridge might be allowed to keep her title in the wake of a divorce just like Princess Diana did. But that decision would be in the hands of the reigning monarch. For now, its Queen Elizabeth and eventually it will be Prince Charles.

However, title aside, Kate would no longer be a true member of the royal family if she and Prince William legally ended their marriage. Shed be free from all that pressure  but also stripped of all the perks of having HRH before her name.

Prince William and Kate Middleton | Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

She would get a settlement of money

Kate Middleton came from a well-off family to begin with, so its not like a royal divorce would leave her destitute. But still, shes grown accustomed to a different way of life since marrying into the uber-wealthy royal family. Would that all disappear if the couple broke up?

Like Princess Diana, Kate Middleton would be entitled to financial compensation if she split from Prince William. However, this amount is typically dictated by how long the couple has been married. Since shes only been wed to the future king since 2011, shell get less money than others who were married longer before divorcing.

Kate wont be left homeless

Just like she wont be left penniless, Kate Middleton wont be left homeless, either. The Duchess of Cambridge can expect to be gifted a home thats close to the royal enclave so shared custody wont be a hassle. Maybe even the family apartment at Kensington Palace.

Would she want to live so close to her ex-husband? That all depends on the reason for their separation and how each person handles it. But she wont be able to just escape since shell need to get permission from Prince William to bring their children anywhere outside of the United Kingdom.

Kensington Palace | Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The press wont leave her alone

Think Kate Middleton will finally get a break from the spotlight if she gets divorced? Think again. The paparazzi famously harassed Princess Diana even more post-divorce than they did while she and Prince Charles were still married. Its reasonable to assume that the same would hold true for Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Would Will and Kate really get divorced?

Prince William and Kate Middleton | Victoria Jones-Pool/Getty Images

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge broke up after dating for a while but say that their relationship after was stronger than ever. It seems very unlikely that theyd separate again  even with a scandal brewing.

Setting aside the fact that theres no proof of an affair between Prince William and Rose Hanbury, theres also no guarantee that Kate would leave him if he was unfaithful. Plenty of women have forgiven their partners for infidelity. Even if he did cheat  theres a lot at stake for the royal couple. Its possible shell stay with him anyway.

But if Prince William got into a long-term relationship with someone else while he was married  like Prince Charles did with Camilla Parker-Bowles  then it could prove too much for Kate to bear.

Only time will tell!In a country where just about anyone can throw their hat into a presidential election, one cant help but imagine which celebrity has what it takes. Since the current president has taken office, there have been several A-listers that have hinted interest in the Oval Office. A couple have gone far enough to say, publicly, that they will run against Donald Trump in 2020.

Thats why it doesnt surprise us that Ranker asked. Which celebrity would you vote for if they ran for President of the United States? What did surprise us was the celebrity people chose.

So, which celebrity does America want to see on the ballot in 2020? Tom Hanks, of course. With all the talk and rumors of a possible bid from Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, and Ellen DeGeneres, we were shocked to see them lower on the list. So, why would the US elect a celebrity and why does everyone want Tom Hanks to be President?

These celebrities are rumored to want to run in 2020

You might be wondering why these celebs would even consider the gig of Commander and Chief. Here is a quick rundown on the celebrities that might consider running for president.

Oprah Winfrey has been dodging rumors of a possible run since her speech at the Golden Globes when she said, I want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon, reports The Washington Post. This was also when Tom Hanks was first publicly mentioned as a possible candidate or running mate for Winfrey.

Kanye West has also shown some interest in being president. During a speech at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, West ended with, And yes, as you probably couldve guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president. Reported by Business Insider. Several interviews later, and West seems to still want the job.

Other notable mentions go to Katy Perry, Chris Rock, Dwayne Johnson, Will Smith, and the always funny, Alex Baldwin.

This is why everyone wants Tom Hanks to run for president

So, of all these beloved celebrities, why does everyone want Tom Hanks to be president? Well, to start it might have something to do with his kindness and relatability. Sure, he is a household name, a member of the 5-timers club on SNL, and an Oscar winner, but he is also very approachable.

Hanks isnt just a celebrity; he is a household name. We feel like we know him because he has been making us laugh, cry, and think for decades. And, not once have we heard anything negative about him.

He seems to be a real stand up guy. In fact, he was also voted the greatest male celebrity role model, according to Ranker as well. Hanks has been married to Rita Wilson for 30 years, showing that he is committed and he values family.

What makes Tom Hanks qualified for the presidency?

Okay, so what makes Tom Hanks qualified to be president? Hanks only needs to meet three constitutional requirements to run. He must be a natural born citizen. Check! He needs to be 35 years old or older. Check! He needs to have lived in the United States for at least 14 years. Check!

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. As written in the US Constitution.

Also, fun fact, Hanks is related to former president Abraham Lincoln. Biography reports that he is the fourth cousin, four times removed to the president that freed the slaves. So, maybe public service is in his blood.

One a final note about qualifications. Our current president was also seemingly unqualified for the position. Sure, he had the money to back up his run, but he never held public office before winning. He was a former reality show personality. Tom Hanks, is well loved and people trust him. Thats why the people want to see his name on the 2020 ballot.Group behind 'hate map' is 'morally bankrupt': Christian conservatives call out corruption, hypocrisy 03 April, 2019 by Leonardo Blair , |

Conservative groups that have suffered due to being tagged on the controversial "hate map" of the Southern Poverty Law Center say the organization has no moral authority to label others as it grapples with racial discrimination and sexual harassment allegations of its own.

"Today's SPLC is aggressively anti-Christian and morally bankrupt, both inside and out. It has long lost any claim as the moral arbiter of 'hate,'" Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel and vice president of U.S. advocacy for Alliance Defending Freedom told The Christian Post.

The ADF is an alliance-building legal organization based in Arizona that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith. The group unites attorneys, ministry leaders, pastors, and like-minded organizations in a common purpose  a shared commitment to defending religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage and family.

The SPLC was founded in 1971 to take on legal cases related to racial injustice, poverty and the death penalty. The organization, which began tracking the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1980s, has since broadened its field of threats to include conservative groups like the ADF whose ideology it does not agree with.

The vaunted civil rights organization currently lists the ADF as a hate group among 20 other organizations in Arizona because of their sexual politics.

In a report in The Washington Post Magazinelast November, the SPLC noted that the ADF filed an amicus brief in the 2003 landmark Supreme Court case that struck down a Texas law criminalizing gay sex.

Lawyers for the ADF wanted to uphold the state's right to decide whether "it is reasonable to believe that same-sex sodomy is a distinct public health problem," the brief noted, because "it clearly is."

"It's really bad that you want these people thrown in jail for consensual activity," Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project told The Washington Post. "It's literally barbaric in our opinion. And that was the thing that really pushed ADF over the top to us."

Earlier this month, the nation's wealthiest civil rights organization fired its co-founder, Morris Dees, and president, Richard Cohen, a week later, due to allegations of sexual harassment and racial bigotry.

Bob Moser, a former writer for the SPLC who is gay, wrote in the New Yorker on March 21 that the organization which has amassed an endowment of nearly half a billion dollars is a "scam." A part of that scam was to also use the widening scope of its "hate map," to raise funds.

"When the S.P.L.C. hired me as a writer, in 2001, I figured I knew what to expect: long hours working with humble resources and a highly diverse bunch of super-dedicated colleagues. I felt self-righteous about the work before I'd even begun it," Moser wrote.

He quickly lost faith in the organization after realizing that leadership did not practice what the organization preached when it comes to issues of race and gender.

Continue reading about the SPLC on The Christian Post.Testosterone being given to 8-y-o girls, age lowered from 13: Doctors CP Reporter | 03 April, 2019 by Brandon Showalter

Medical doctors and a mom of a trans-identifying child are urging the government to shut down medical operations that are harming children.

Their efforts to resist the medicalization of gender has led them to discover that government-funded research now allows wrong sex hormones such as testosterone to be given to girls as young as 8.

At a Thursday panel at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Dr. Michael Laidlaw addressed the medical harms of hormonal treatments and surgical interventions being performed on young people who believe they are the opposite sex. Doctors administering these treatments are advocating these harmful practices on increasingly younger children, he explained.

Today, medical scenarios such as girls as young as 13 and 14 undergoing double mastectomies and 17-year-old boys with penises of 9-year-olds, developmentally speaking, because of chemical puberty blockers, are now showing up, Laidlaw, a Rocklin, California-based endocrinologist, explained in his remarks.

Under the nebulous concept of "gender identity," children as young as 8 are receiving injections for gender transition treatment, he explained. The phrase was defined in a recent court case as a person's "core internal sense" of their own gender and that it was the "primary factor" in determining their sex, not biology. This is false, the endocrinologist said.

No blood test, genetic testing, or brain imaging scans can find a "gender identity," Laidlaw said, adding "there is no objective test to diagnose this, yet we are giving very harmful therapies on the basis of no objective diagnosis."

To date, hormone blockers such as Lupron, which is used to treat both prostate cancer patients and children with precocious puberty, has never been through an FDA-approval process for the purpose of blocking normal puberty, and is prescribed off-label. Laidlaw refers to puberty blockers as a form of "chemical conversion therapy" and noted that the largest professional association for endocrinologists, The Endocrine Society, now recommends delaying puberty in gender dysphoric youth at Tanner stage 2, which is soon after the pubertal signals in the brain begin to occur.

The reason that Jazz Jennings, transgender star of the TLC series "I am Jazz," has reportedly never had any sexual sensations or orgasms is because his natural puberty was halted at this stage and was not allowed to occur, the California doctor explained. These puberty-blocking drugs also disrupt normal brain and bone development, putting kids at future risk of osteoporosis, he said.

In England, Oxford professor Michael Biggs discovered through a freedom of information request that at the Tavistock gender clinic, children reported greater self-harm with these particular medications, and girls exhibited greater emotional problems and dissatisfaction with their bodies, Laidlaw noted.

"Now you'd think if you had these side effects of these medications, wouldn't you want to stop?" Laidlaw asked.

During his presentation, he played video clips of two doctors active in the medical transitioning of children, Ilana Sherer and Johanna Olson-Kennedy.

Sherer explained that puberty blockers are given to children at age 8 or 9, when they are in third and fourth grades. Olson-Kennedy is doing a 5-year study, for which she has received a $5.7 million National Institutes of Health research grant, and in one of her publications, it shows that mastectomies have been done on girls as young as 13. In the clip Laidlaw showed, Olson-Kennedy is seen on tape insisting adolescents have the capacity to make life-altering decisions, including to have their breasts removed.

"And here's the other thing about chest surgery: If you want breasts at a later point in your life, you can go and get them," she says in the video.

Laidlaw asked those in attendance: "Is that correct? Can you just get a new organ, mail-order it and have surgeons put it in? You cannot."

"This whole thing is an experiment on children. We are ignoring the voices of desisters and people who have come out of this and recognize their sex. And the NIH is allowing unethical research to be conducted on adolescents, in my opinion."

Laidlaw and his colleagues used FOIA requests to obtain more information about Olson-Kennedy's study at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and found that in 2017 they lowered the minimum age for cross-sex hormones from 13 to 8.

"Imagine giving 8-year-old girls testosterone," Laidlaw said. "They are in 3rd or 4th grade. This is unbelievable. But this is going on."

Marian Rutigliano, an internal medicine specialist from Baltimore, explained in her remarks how those who have dared to resist these untested gender treatments have been systematically smeared, bullied and silenced by trans-activists and noted how entrenched transgender ideology has become in the upper echelons of professional medical associations.

Read more from "Testosterone being given to 8-y-o girls, age lowered from 13: Doctors" on The Christian Post.Harvard Universitys Undergraduate Council has approved funding for the 2019 Israel Apartheid Week, which will feature programs from anti-Israel activists.

According to CBN News, the weeklong event is meant to raise support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

The council voted 21-13 to earmark $2,050 for the colleges Palestine Solidarity Committee.

Israel Apartheid Week started March 30 and ends April 4.

The event happens nationwide at college campuses. According to the events website, Israel holds illegal occupation and apartheid regime over Palestinians partly due to its arms sales and the military support it receives from governments across the world.

Council Rep. C Scott Courvoisier said the Palestine Solidarity Committee met the requirements to receive the funding.

"I think it's important in our vote that we completely divest our personal opinions and vote just based on policy," he said. "It seems to me that these people have met our requirements for getting the grant, and therefore, I think we should fund it."

Council member Michael Shadpour, however, voted against the funding.

"I don't think that the UC should start to approve or not approve different speakers based on their views, but I do think that that line is the incitement of violence," Currier Representative Michael A. Shadpour said. "I've heard uncontested that there are speakers [at IAW] that have advocated violence in the past."

One of the speakers for this years event is Omar Barghouti, who is one of the founders of the BDS movement and says he supports armed resistance against Israelis.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Jannis Werner(ANSA) - Rome, April 3 - The Senate on Wednesday gave definitive approval to a law expanding the scope for class-action lawsuits in Italy.

The legislation was approved by the Upper House with 206 votes in favour, 44 abstentions and just one vote against.

I was asked to deliver the invocation some years ago before a session of the Texas House of Representatives. As a Christian minister, I prayed to Jesus in the name of Jesus. Those present thanked me for my invocation, then my host gave me a tour of the Capitol.

That was then; this is now.

Stephanie Borowicz is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. When she was asked to deliver the invocation at a House session recently, she prayed to Jesus in the name of Jesus. She mentioned our Lords name more than twelve times and gave thanks that President Trump has stood beside Israel, unequivocally.

Her prayer has been roundly condemned. One critic claimed that during her invocation, prayer was weaponized. A Muslim lawmaker who was inducted into the House that day alleged that her prayer blatantly represented the Islamophobia that exists among some leaders. She called on the General Assembly to censure Borowicz.

Numerous media outlets are carrying the story and criticizing Borowicz for praying so overtly in the name of Jesus. However, few are reporting that a Muslim cleric followed her Christian prayer by praying in Arabic and quoting the Quran.

Can we be good without God?

The uniqueness of Jesus and the necessity of faith in him are prominent themes woven throughout the New Testament. However, in our culture that tolerates everything but perceived intolerance, such doctrines are anathema to many.

One of the most common rebuttals to the biblical proclamation that everyone needs Christ (cf. John 14:6; Acts 4:12) is the claim that we can be good without God.

This was a prominent declaration in the Washington Post commentary I discussed yesterday. The writer stated that he will not pass his parents Christian faith to his children, but he claims to be teaching their values. He believes that he learned far more about being a good person from my mom than from any of the priests, nuns or teachers I encountered during my time in Catholic school.

In his mind, he can be as good as his mother without being committed to her Christian faith.

The writer is by no means alone. According to Pew Research Center, 56 percent of Americans say it is not necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values.

In a society where hell ranks sixty-fourth on our list of fears and 85 percent of us believe well go to heaven (including, ironically, 77 percent of nonreligious people), it is clear that most of us dont think we need God to avoid hell.

If we dont need him to go to heaven or to be good, why do we need him at all?

Can we do good without God?

It seems Americans have settled the question Do we have to believe in God to be good? with a resounding no. But perhaps weve confused the issue.

I think were really answering the question Do we have to believe in God to do good?

The answer to this question is obvious.

A pagan Roman officer saved Paul from enemies planning to assassinate the apostle (Acts 23:16-33). Another Roman officer saved Paul from sailors planning to kill him when their shipwrecked (Acts 27:42-44). Without their intervention, we would not have Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, Titus, or 2 Timothy (in chronological order).

Stephen Hawking changed astrophysics; Alan Turing has been called the founder of computer science; Andrew Carnegie was one of the greatest philanthropists in history; Richard Feynman made crucial contributions to quantum physics. All were nonbelievers.

But do we have to have a personal relationship with God to be good?

Thats another question.

Nine fruits or one fruit?

The theological doctrine of total depravity states that every part of usthe mind, will, emotions, and physical bodyhas been corrupted by sin as a result of the Fall. Scripture teaches that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). David admitted, I was brought forth in iniquity (Psalm 51:5). Gods word is blunt: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

No amount of good works can compensate for our sins or purchase our place in Gods perfect paradise. This is why we need a personal relationship with Jesus. Only he can forgive our sins, save our souls, and give us eternal life as the children of God.

Those of us who have a personal relationship with Gods Son need an equally personal relationship with his Spirit.

And it is why those of us who have a personal relationship with Gods Son need an equally personal relationship with his Spirit.

If were seeking a consensual description of what it is to be good, this list of attributes might qualify: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:2223). But these are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). They are the result of the Spirits unhindered transformative work in our lives.

And note that they are a single fruit, not nine fruits. These are not attributes we are to work harder to attainthey are a multifaceted description of our lives when we are controlled by the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

My favorite witness in the New Testament

Heres the bottom line: you and I can do good without God, but we cannot be good unless his Son forgives our sins and his Spirit transforms our fallen natures into the character of Jesus (Romans 8:29).

This is bad news and good news. The bad news is that our secular, self-reliant culture vehemently disagrees with what Ive written today. The good news is that if the Holy Spirit is controlling and empowering us, others will be drawn to the change they see in us.

One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.  John 9:25

My favorite witness in the New Testament is the man born blind whose eyes were healed by Jesus. When asked to explain what had happened to him, the man said simply, One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see (John 9:25).

Can you say the same today?

For more from the Denison Forum, please visit www.denisonforum.org.

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Publication Date: April 3, 2019

Photo Courtesy: PixabayFour women have publicly accused Joe Biden, who is a top choice of Democrats for president in 2020, of inappropriately touching and kissing them.

Lucy Flores, a member of the Nevada State Assembly, was the first woman to accuse Biden in an opinion piece for The Cut. She claimed that while running for Lieutenant Governor in Nevada, Biden approached her from behind, placed his hands on her shoulders, inhaled her hair, and kissed her on the back of the head.

Amy Lappos, who helped Biden campaign in 2009, claimed Biden rubbed noses with her. It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head," Amy Lappos told The Courant. "He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.

Bob Natt, a Democratic contributor and who was in attendance at the fundraising event, did not see any questionable behavior.

The last two women, as reported by The New York Times, are Caitlyn Caruso and D.J. Hill. Caruso alleged that Biden rested his hand on her thigh and hugged just a little bit too long. Hill stated that Biden put his hand on her shoulder and started to drop it down her back. Only he knows his intent, she said. But norms are changing now, she said, and if something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able to say it.

Biden has responded quickly, hoping to address the concerns head-on. "In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately," Biden said. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.

President Trump took a jab at the former vice president, according to Politico. I was going to call him  I dont know him well. I was gonna say, Welcome to the world, Joe. Are you having a good time, Joe?

Biden is gearing up for a potential 2020 presidential run. People close to Biden say he and his team are taking seriously the experiences the women are sharing, and his aides are cognizant that the way Biden interacts with voters on the campaign trail will continue to be examined if he runs for president, CNN reports.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Win McNamee/StaffWhile Alyssa Milano initially came into fame through her roll on the 80s sitcom Whos the Boss, she is better known now for her commitment to liberal political causes. She has been in the news this past week for her advocacy against Georgias HB481, which outlies abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

Last week Milano posted a letter signed by 50 actors threatening to boycott Georgia if the bill passed. This came on the heels of a similar letter signed by the Writers Guild of America.

This week, Milano appealed to her faith and to Scripture to justify her support of unfettered access to abortion. On April 1st, she tweeted I love God. I believe in God. But I dont believe my personal beliefs of which we cant confirm should override scientific facts and what we can confirm. Then she included a quote from the fourth Gospel.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? John 3:12.

I love God. I believe in God.



But I dont believe my personal beliefs of which we cant confirm should override scientific facts and what we can confirm.



If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? John 3:12  Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 1, 2019

Live Action President Lila Rose responded to Milano. She said, You dont have to love God to acknowledge the irrefutable science that a unique individual human life begins at the moment of conception. But if you love God, then you also will love his children. Hes a father, and every single one of us are created in his image.

You dont have to love God to acknowledge the irrefutable science that a unique, individual human life begins at the moment of conception.



But if you love God, then you also will love His children. Hes a father, and every single one of us are created in His image. April 1, 2019

Both the Georgia House and Senate passed HB 481 last week. The bill now goes to the desk of Governor Bryan Kemp, who has indicated that he will sign it. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that I ran the last two years on these issues, and I got elected with the largest number of votes in the history of the state of Georgia, and Im doing what I told people I would do.

HB481 outlaws abortions after doctors detect a heartbeat, which usually takes place at about six weeks into the pregnancy. The law does make exceptions for incest, rape, and the mothers life being in danger.

Milano traveled to the Georgia capitol Tuesday with 30 film industry workers to protest the law and to call on Governor Kemp to veto it. She vowed to do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women if HB 481 becomes law.

Governor Kemp did not seem phased by the threats. He said, I cant govern because Im worried about what someone in Hollywood thinks about me.

Scott Slayton writes at One Degree to Another.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Jesse Grant/StringerYes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.Yes, its beginning to look a lot like Christmaswhich, for many of us, feels like a rush into chaos. Celebrating Advent during this season slows us down and helps our hearts and minds be reoriented around the coming of Christ.Hope Carpenter defends Pastor John Gray and wife Aventer, tells critics I cut people

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Pastor Hope Carpenter, co-founder of Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville, South Carolina, which was rebranded Relentless Church last year, defended pastors John and Aventer Gray from critics Sunday with a public threat to critics that I cut people.

I love you Pastor John and Pastor Aventer. I believe in you, Im praying for you, Im rooting for you. I cut people. Ive got a knife right in that pocket book, Carpenter declared after riling up the Relentless congregation with a message she said she got from God to hold fast.

Speaking at the 8:30 a.m. service where she was introduced by Aventer Gray as one of the greatest women of God that has ever graced the earth, Carpenter expressed her support for the couple, who succeeded Ron and Hope Carpenter.

The support comes in the wake of a slew of controversies concerning allegations of marital infidelity, the Relentless Church's purchase of a $1.8 million home for the Grays, and John Gray gifting his wife a $200K Lamborghini. The Christian Post, the Greenville News and other media have reported on different aspects of the controversies but on Sunday, Carpenter took aim at the local news source.

Greenville News, come on. We done went through this. Alright. Im still here and guess who else still gon be here? she said, pointing to the Grays.

See, if I did not know what God had brought me through back here and what God brought me through 10 years ago and what God brought me through five years ago, I would not have a deep intertwined root system that would help me to be able to hold on, Carpenter told the congregation.

In the nearly 30 years that Carpenter did ministry in Greenville with her husband, the couple faced controversies. It was in 2013 that Ron Carpenter revealed to their congregation that Hope had committed adultery multiple times over the previous 10 years and was under psychiatric observation.

"For the last 10 years, I have been masking a situation that has absolutely almost destroyed me. In 2004, the date we dedicated this facility, Easter Sunday 2004, I left here to find a very different woman than I had ever met," he told his church about the woman he courted in a sex-free relationship for three and a half years before they got married.

Describing his wifes behavior at the time as "erratic, reckless, nonsensical, [and] destructive," he told his flock that he "sat through two years of grueling therapy with her to no avail."

The Carpenters moved to San Jose, California, last year and were officially installed as the new pastors of the 14,000-member Jubilee Christian Center, now rebranded as Redemption. They passed on the reins of their South Carolina church, which they founded in 1991, to the Grays.

Hope Carpenter insisted in her message on Sunday at Relentless Church that she survived by holding fast to her confession of faith and encouraged the church to do the same.

This is what this word means, yall gon slap somebody. It is a word that describes a root system of algae in the bottom of the ocean that has been placed in muddy places. Its not just a root system. It is an intertwined deep root system. So when all hell comes against your house, when all hell comes against your church, when all hell comes against your mind, when all hell comes against your health, if you dont have a deep, intertwined root system, you will not be able to hold fast to your confession of faith, she said. Your confession will shift and change. Your confession will be what you feel, your confession will be what you think. Your confession will get all up in your emotions and your feelings but the Bible says to hold fast to ... your confession of [faith].

Pastor John Gray described the Carpenters as two angels and declared: Let me kill another devil right here. This church belongs to God and its been belonging to God before we got here.Megachurch pastor gives sermon while skydiving to illustrate second coming

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A Virginia pastor has done the unthinkable by becoming the first pastor ever to deliver a Sunday sermon while sky diving.

Just months after a Mississippi megachurch pastor ziplined from the ceiling of his church to illustrate the return of Christ, a retired Hollywood stunt double and former Navy fighter pilot turned megachurch pastor lifted the bar by jumping out of an airplane to wow his congregants.

Attendees at New Life Fellowship in Virginia Beach this Sunday were left in shock and disbelief after their pastor safely fell from the sky onto the churchyard in a videoed sermon posted online.

Although the Rev. Al LeShon landed safely, it was not without landing on and denting the $200,000 Maserati Gran Turismo he recently bought for his wife to apologize for repeatedly forgetting to put the toilet seat down.

We knew he was crazy, church member Regina George said as she left the service. Now, I guess we know that he's nuts too.

The 57-year-old LeShon, who founded the church in 2016 after seeing Jesus in a dream, has become solely focused on his ministry.

He has always been a man of strong faith  first growing up as a Lutheran then switching over to Rastafari in college and now a nondenominational charismatic evangelical.

But a career as a Navy Blue Angel and then opportunities to do firey death-defying vehicle stunts for actors like Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Paul Walker kept him from pursuing his real dream of ministry until just a few years ago.

Although the church he launched in his hometown is relatively new, its membership has grown rapidly in the last three years thanks to LeShons billboards along I-64 advertising himself as the Hollywood Stunt Pastor: Come see what he will do next!

LeShon is also working on launching a television ministry because Jesus told him in the dream: "If you build it, they will give you money for a jet.

In an effort to further increase membership at the 2,300-member church, LeShon launched a sermon series where he illustrates the Gospel in crazy ways. The series is called Crazy Faith. On Sunday, LeShon was slated to preach about Christs resurrection and His impending return.

Churchgoers were curious Sunday morning where their pastor was because they didnt see him before the start of the 9 a.m. service.

Their curiosity grew as the service began and the pastor was still nowhere to be found.

But after worship, the pastors face appeared on the jumbotron and was greeted with applause from the adoring congregation.

LeShon wasnt in a nice suit like he is on most Sundays. Instead, he was buckled into a parachute inside of his friends Beechcraft King Air 90 with a GoPro camera affixed to his helmet.

He began his sermon inside the aircraft and explained to his congregation why he was there. As he had promised weeks before, LeShon went into greater detail about what the Bible says about the second coming of Christ.

He quoted from Revelation, which paints the End Times as bringing a lot of pain and misery. But it states that Jesus will return to Earth with the armies of Heaven to save Earth from the Antichrist.

Now I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and makes war, the pastor quoted Scripture.

It was at that point that LeShon was pushed out of the airplane in a seemingly unexpected manner by someone else in the aircraft.

His cheeks flapped as the wind slammed against his face at the speed of gravity. After about a minute, LeShon pulled the strap and the parachute halted his momentum.

For the remaining minutes as he floated back down to Earth and guided himself to land on the church campus, LeShon continued his sermon.

Are you ready for the Lords return? the pastor asked the congregation. Whether you are ready or not, Christ will make His return in Lords time. Just like I was pushed out of the plane before I could complete my sermon, the Lord could soon return before you are ready. That day could come as early as tomorrow. I am ready. Are you?

As LeShon landed, people rushed to the window to see if LeShon was in fact outside. When they saw that he was, they applauded.

I think it went pretty well, LeShon said after the service, still visibly upset that he dented his wifes car. I think my flock got the message I was trying to send. It's the same urgency that Paul was trying to teach to the church in Corinth.

As videos of LeShons stunt circulate online, some have criticized it as being a waste of church money and distracting to the overall message he was trying to present.

LeShon responded to critics by saying: A haters gonna hate.

To read more about the church, click here.

Editor's note [April 2, 2019]: This story was published as an April Fools' Day joke.Sen. Tim Scott says TD Jakes program doing better job than govt in keeping people out of prison

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In a message on second chances Sunday at the T.D. Jakes-led Potters House in Dallas, Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott praised the work of the churchs Texas Offenders Reentry Initiative for doing a better job of keeping people out of prison than government efforts nationwide.

You see nationwide on the federal level, the recidivism rate, the percentage of people who get out [of prison] and go back in is 77 percent in five years. Let me say that a little slower. More than three out of four people who get out come back in, in just five years. But T.O.R.I., it tells a different story. T.O.R.I.s number is 11 percent. Not 30, not 40, not 50, but 11 percent. Thats unheard of, Scott said in his message that was broadcast on Facebook Live.

The 12-month T.O.R.I., founded by Jakes in 2005, gives returning citizens a second chance at life and provides them with solutions to the many barriers they face upon release from prison.

Statistics from the National Institute of Justice show that within three years of release, about 67.8 percent of released prisoners were rearrested. Within five years of release, the recidivism increases to 76.6 percent. Among rearrested persons, more than half were arrested by the end of their first year out of prison.

For most of the 23,000 graduates of Jakes T.O.R.I., however, the picture is much more promising.

Yall dont know how special this is. Bishop Jakes, the first lady and the Potters House have created a program that has brought the entire state together. To produce results that are the envy of other states. This is a national model. This aint playing church this is doing church. And doing church means walking out the doors and letting the people of God, the church, get to work, Scott said in the presence of the 2019 T.O.R.I. graduates.

Bishop alluded to this earlier but he didnt put the meat on the bones when he said, this program, the T.O.R.I. program, reduces recidivism. What he is saying is that there is a way to make our communities safer by doing criminal justice reform, Scott continued.

Can you imagine what would happen if we had enough investors, and judges, and sheriffs, and police chiefs, and DAs, and Bishop Jakes all around the country taking the 77 and bringing it to 11 [percent]? Thats how you make the community safer, Scott said to applause. And if we do that right, all of Gods people can say amen.

Scott said it was because of programs like the T.O.R.I. that he was excited about the First Step Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump last December.

The First Step Act expands job training and other programming aimed at reducing recidivism rates among federal prisoners. It also expands early-release programs and modifies sentencing laws, including mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, to more equitably punish drug offenders.

And thats why Im excited about the First Step Act, which is a federal legislation, to do what T.O.R.I. is doing here in Texas, in Dallas, in the Potters House. If we can do this everywhere, young people who come home, they dont reoffend. If they dont reoffend, theyre not committing crimes. If theyre not committing crimes, the communitys safer, he said, lifting his hands in a rising motion.

The returned citizen feels a sense of pride about contributing to the community. This is a blessing. Thank you, bishop, Scott said.

The Republican senator drove home his message to the audience at Potters House on Sunday, citing Scripture.

If youre like me, you might not have been physically incarcerated but youve done enough stuff in your life  where if God does not save you from yourself, you aint getting saved. That is why in Romans 7:24 God reminds us that we are able to do some wicked things. Jeremiah 17 says dont trust your heart, its full of wickedness. You see, we could have all been sitting in green (pointing to T.O.R.I. graduates in green gown and cap) had it not been. See we are you and that is why we celebrate you this day, he told the graduates.

When you roll in from 7:24 and it hits chapter 8, it reminds us, Romans, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For those who walk not after the flesh but we have found a way to get into the spirit. And with that transformation, we are made new and I thank God that His mercies are new every day cause I need Him every day. I need a living savior, who meets me in the morning and walks me through the day. And in the evening time, He is still there with me, he said.

In wrapping up his message to the T.O.R.I. graduates, Scott talked about a time when he struggled with direction in his life at one point and how his mother introduced him to a switch which he described as a southern apparatus of encouragement.

I thank God almighty that she whipped my behind and got me on the right path and told me in spite of myself, God was not finished with me yet, he said.

He then left them with three pieces of advice which he said he had to learn over and over again because he wasnt a very good student.

Failure is not fatal if you refuse to quit, he told the graduates about his first piece of advice.

Now John 10:10 says theres a thief that comes to kill, steal and destroy, but there is more to that verse. Theres more to that verse, right? Christ has come that you might have life and have it more abundantly, he said.

The second piece, according to Proverbs 31:8 [is] that we have to learn if we want to stand out in life, stand up for people who cannot stand up for themselves, we got to get up for those who cannot do for themselves. And number three is no matter how much Hades comes against you, youve got to hold on to your dreams.

Youve got to believe that God has got a purpose for your life in the same fashion as Jeremiah 1:5, in that Jeremiah, before he was born, when he was in his mamas womb, he was hardwired to be a prophet. I believe that each and every one in here but specifically to the T.O.R.I. graduating class of 2019, God has a purpose for your life. And the good news is, Hes just getting started, Scott added.Tithes, offerings dip 40 percent, membership down by 3,500 after scandal at Harvest Bible Chapel

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Officials at the multicampus Harvest Bible Chapel in greater Chicago urged faithful supporters to give to the ministry after reporting a drop in membership of 3,500 as well as a 40 percent dip in tithes and offering a month after the firing of founding Pastor James MacDonald.

If you call Harvest your church home, if this is where God is calling you to be, yet you have stopped giving your tithes, we are asking you to seek the Lord about restarting your giving, the Harvest 2020 team urged in a report to church members earlier this month.

MacDonalds Feb. 12 ouster from Harvest Bible Chapel was triggered by "highly inappropriate recorded comments" he made on a radio program as well as "other conduct."

He was recorded talking about planting child pornography on Christianity Today CEO's Harold Smith's computer, and making crude remarks about independent journalist Julie Roys  including joking that she had an affair with CT Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli  and a vulgar reference to Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.

He also exited the megachurch under a cloud of allegations of financial abuse.

In their message to members on March 10, church officials reviewing finances at the church admitted that there was a lack of financial control over MacDonalds office.

As our Harvest 2020 team is charged with reviewing all finances within the church, we have found that there was a lack of financial control and oversight as well as questionable spending practices made by the senior pastors office.

"In addition, we have identified there was a separate budget for the senior pastors office over which there was not sufficient controls and oversight, officials said.

Former HBC members like Scott and Marsha Thompson, who gave some $72,000 faithfully to the church over several years, are so livid about the revelations they have demanded their money back.

All this is coming out that millions of dollars potentially has been mishandled, Scott told CBS.

He explained that he began questioning MacDonalds spending in 2006, when he saw his home in Inverness featured in Chicago magazine.

We find out that the pastor is living in a $2 million house, said Scott, who walked away from HBC in 2013.

You drive over there, and sure enough theres the house thats in the picture from the magazine article. Yep, thats the house on a private lake, he said.

McDonald no longer owns the house and hasnt lived there in five years, CBS noted.

Church officials said they are doing a comprehensive review of HBCs finances and taking steps to ensure better financial accountability.

They noted that they would Begin the process of opening a new bank account to ensure every dollar of your tithes go toward existing ministry expenses, banking obligations, and staff salaries. All tithes will be isolated and treated solely for these purposes. Tithes will not be used toward anything related to the Senior Pastors office or his past budgets.

They also unveiled a plan to reduce weekly operating expenses (not including mortgages) from $409,000 to $308,000.

If necessary, we will reduce our costs further to live within our means, officials said.

We know trust is earned over time, and we are working diligently to take actions and to communicate in ways that begin restoring trust. We hope all that we have shared above shows a step in that direction. We also face the reality of our expenses and declined giving. Above all else though, we are trusting the Lord in all things, the officials said.

This rebuilding of trust, unity, and health as a Christ-honoring church is hard. We cannot do it alone. We need your prayers and your willingness to embrace this new journey together, they added.Black Pastor Explains Why He Decided to Become a Leader in a White Church

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A black pastor who dared to be different by challenging racially stereotypical church models to become a leader in a white church in Louisville, Kentucky, explained at The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention's leadership summit Friday that he did it in pursuit of the unity of the faith.

Kevin Smith, assistant professor of preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and who is also teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, explained at the summit themed, "The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation," that becoming a pastor in the predominantly white church was something he had to challenge himself to achieve and maintain because of the cultural differences between the white church culture he transitioned into and the black church culture in which he was raised.

"Blackness can be weighted and graded in a way that whiteness just isn't. You got the look, you got the look," he said of being white at the summit held in Nashville, Tennessee. "A matter of fact, it's so superficial at the look level that throughout American history, some people from other ethnicities have been able to pass. So it's not really about content it's just about the look."

"But blackness is judged on a few different things. Ideology, philosophy, solidarity, things like that, that are more than just the look. So you often get questions like, why in the world would you want to pastor in a white congregation?" said Smith.

"When I was making the transition, I had good well-intentioned godly brothers I love right now and I really value their input and they helped me in the decision-making process with more theological and biblical kind of questions," he explained.

Even these godly brothers couldn't understand why he was doing it. They said: "Hey brother, the black church needs strong expository preachers. You are an expositor you need to be in the black church," he added.

His motivation, explains Smith, was to step out of his comfort zone. He was also driven by his understanding of biblical Scripture preaching oneness and unity and his personal exposure to multiple ethnic and racial groups.

"You will respond to me differently when we are sitting across from one another versus when we are on Twitter or Facebook. I was motivated by Jesus' prayer, Paul's command that we endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit," he said of his decision.

"Why Highview? We, I thought we needed some models in Southern Baptist life that are different than some of our previous models," he said. "I wanted a model other than our church planting model and also I wanted a model [answering the question] what does it look like when people of other ethnicities submit to black leadership?"

"If you search the library, you can find books on the black pastor, the black preacher. Historically, black pastor, the black preacher has been something within the black community, than the white preacher has been in the white community," Smith explained.

"There ain't no books called the white preacher 'cause in a very real way the church was the only thing the black community had after emancipation. Not political power, not economic power, or not other things. In a real way the black preacher in a black setting, especially up until recent decades has been like 'The Man,'" he continued.

In the white church he explained the preacher's role and many other things are culturally different. One of the biggest challenges for multiethnic churches, he explained is simply the "hard language of worship."

"The churches I come from when the preacher is preaching the word and you agree with the word folks are like 'glory!', folks are like 'hallelujah!', folks are like moving. When Highview is shouting, this is what white folks do," he said motioning a hand clap as the audience laughed. "When brothers come I say look man the clap is the shout."

"I just love the magical moment of preaching the Gospel, exalting the Lord Jesus Christ and having some old white lady come up and say I grew up in a racist family, I grew up with all kinds of crazy thoughts, I've been to some wrong places but that Gospel is so good. You're my brother," he added.

"So why would a black pastor, pastor a white church? I'm only 47, 48, but I want to die trying to do what Jesus called us to do. You know, obeying the Scripture rather than die being comfortable" he ended.Chick-fil-A banned from another airport for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Salvation Army donations

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Chick-fil-A was once again banned from an airport concession project over the popular fast food chicken chains support for groups that hold conservative views on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

A plan to open a new Chick-fil-A at Buffalo Niagara International Airport was canceled following an outcry from individuals including New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan.

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority confirmed last Friday to local media that they had reversed course and that Chick-fil-A will not be part of the food court project any longer.

A publicly financed facility like the Buffalo Niagara International Airport is not the appropriate venue for a Chick-fil-A restaurant. I applaud the decision that has been made to remove Chick-fil-A from the plans for this project, stated Ryan last week, as reported by WGRZ.

We hope in the future the NFTA will make every effort to contract with businesses that adhere to anti-discriminatory 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.

In response to the news, the chicken sandwich company released a statement denouncing the inaccurate narrative being advanced about them.

We do not have a political or social agenda or discriminate against any group. More than 145,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand, stated Chick-fil-A, as reported by WGRZ.

We embrace all people, regardless of religion, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.

NFTAs decision about the Buffalo airport came days after city council for San Antonio, Texas, voted 6-4 to remove Chick-fil-A from a project at their airport.

As with the Buffalo airport, the key issue was Chick-fil-As connections to conservative Christian nonprofits and CEO Dan Cathys stated opposition to same-sex marriage.

Both decisions came after the liberal website Think Progress published an article on March 20 arguing that Chick-fil-A was donating money to anti-LGBT groups.

"Chick-fil-A has taken great pains to downplay its anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and giving, seven years into a national boycott by LGBTQ and allied diners," stated Think Progress.

"But contrary to the companys latest claims that it has no political or social agenda, newly released tax filings show that, in 2017, the Chick-fil-A Foundation gave more than $1.8 million to a trio of groups with a record of anti-LGBTQ discrimination."

Chick-fil-A released a statement the following day rejecting the claim, pointing out that their donations to groups like the Salvation Army, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and others were for charitable purposes.

"To suggest that our efforts in supporting these organizations was focused on suppressing a group of people is misleading and inaccurate," stated the company.

"It is well-known that our Founder S. Truett Cathy used biblical principles to guide our business in its formative stages, and that we still uphold those same principles today."

San Antonio Councilman Roberto Trevino celebrated the earlier vote in San Antonio as an example of the Texas city becoming a champion of equality and inclusion.

San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior, said Trevino, as reported by NBC News.

For his part, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has stated that he is investigating whether the San Antonio decision constituted discrimination and a violation of the First Amendment.

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, wrote Paxton in an official letter to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

I have directed my office to open an investigation into whether the Citys action violates state law. 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."(ANSA) - Rome, April 3 - The government is prepared for security risks linked to 5G, Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio told the parliamentary intelligence oversight body COPASIR on Wednesday.

"The government has crafted a strategy to face the risks linked to the development of 5G networks, which have not been underestimated," he said.

Di Maio's industry ministry has set up a centre of national verification and certification tasked with verifying the conditions of security of systems destined for strategic infrastructure, and golden power has also been made more robust to meet US concerns on Chinese firms, he said.

The US has voiced 5G concerns regarding Italy's joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) but the government has stressed that 5G will be excluded from its part in China's vast infrastructure project.

Churches unite Rwanda genocide victims and killers to empower communities

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RUGANGO, Rwanda  Farmer Habarurema Bosco did not feel like a human anymore after losing all of his family in the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi minority that saw the loss of about 1 million lives.

He and his family were hunted like animals by the Hutu ethnic majority, incited by the government and extremist propaganda spewed over the radio and through newspapers. Even religious leaders were utilized to spread the message of hate.

As the only survivor from a family of 40, he lost all hope for the future. At the time, he didn't have faith in Christ. He resorted to doing drugs and drinking alcohol to ease his pain and make him feel more human.

But thankfully, a man of God shared the Word of God with him and prayed for him and his salvation. As a result, Bosco joined a Pentecostal church. It was there he learned that all humans are made in the image of God.

Today, Bosco, whom God has blessed with a wife and six kids to keep his family line going, is helping his neighbors in Rwandas southern province to transform their hearts and forgive those who trespassed against them and their families.

"The first miracle that happened in my life is being transformed from that life to this kind of Christian life," Bosco told reporters from the United States who visited him and his friends in the village of Rugango. The press trip was sponsored by the evangelical humanitarian charity World Vision U.S.

Now I praise God that saved me and because I will be able to live in peace with other members. My heart now is free and God is living in me. As God has saved me, I want to share that love with others and I will teach them to pray because it is from praying that I lived again.

Although Bosco is Pentecostal, he is an integral part of a program run by the Catholic parish of Rugango that began in 2017 training and equipping genocide survivors and perpetrators of all Christian walks to put their pasts aside and work together in an attempt to create more economic empowerment for their impoverished farming community.

In August of that year, the church began months of training for 84 genocide survivors and perpetrators to truly forgive and be forgiven from the bottom on their hearts. But there is more to it than just forgiveness.

Every Sunday, the class gathered for four hours. It was led by a community reconciliation facilitator and the parish priest.

The key to this group, called "Peace Warriors," is for those participating to go beyond repenting and forgiving and be truly reconciled to create a new way to support themselves and their loved ones.

"From that mindset change is a genuine mindset change process," Mukankrange Vestine, the community facilitator for the program who herself lost 14 family members in the genocide, explained.

"Genocide victims, they have lost their [loved ones]. They do not have husband and they do not have children. So physically, they are not ready to work alone. They still need people to work with. Only people to work with are those neighbors who were against them during the genocide. So now what you are doing is calling on people to come support them and go on together for the rest of their lives."

In Rwanda, about 20 percent of the population is living in extreme poverty and 44 percent are living in moderate poverty. Malnutrition for children can reach up to 38 percent.

Thanks to the international evangelical humanitarian charity World Vision and church leaders, this community in Rugango is being taught the importance of not being dependent upon handouts.

This group of 84, which is the first of many groups that the Rugango parish plans to train and equip with the power of radical forgiveness, is now involved in a beekeeping enterprise that they hope will one day produce enough profit to help all families involved.

So far, the community is taking care of 39 beehives located in the woods on the parish property. After training, all 84 members of the group play some role in maintaining the hives. But since the hives are relatively new, the group has not yet been able to harvest the honey. But they are patiently and optimistically waiting to reap the reward.

A second group of about 86 Rugango genocide survivors and perpetrators, which has not yet been named, began its training and classes last year following the end of the first session. Although that group has not yet figured out what their economic empowerment endeavor will be, they are working with the country's largest humanitarian organization, World Vision Rwanda, to figure that out.

"Our motto is the mind, the heart and the pocket. We start with the mind, which changes the heart," said Aimable Nsengiyumva, the leader of World Visions efforts in the Southern Province. "When the mind is changed, the heart changes. When the heart is changed, [so should] the pocket. "Kevin DeYoung: The Heartbeat of Jesus ministry was not to transform social structures

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Christ Covenant Church Senior Pastor Kevin DeYoung warned attendees at an evangelical conference that the key point of Jesus earthly ministry was to proclaim the Good News and not to transform social structures.

The pastor and author gave a speech on Tuesday at The Gospel Coalitions 2019 National Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, the theme being Conversations with Jesus."

DeYoung preached about Luke 4:14-30, in which Jesus attends worship at a synagogue in his hometown and reads from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, specifically the passage that reads: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lords favor.

DeYoung noted that the passage was considered by many to be the very heartbeat of Jesus ministry and that many also argued that it meant social reform was a key part of His ministry.

Then I would often have people say to me that what we see here is Jesus ministry was one, to focus upon the poor and the oppressed and the downtrodden, to bring Gods creation back to Shalom, and to transform social structures, said DeYoung.

DeYoung explained that the passage was a key text for traditions like Liberation Theology, which argues that the Bible should be interpreted from the perspective of the poor and that the church is obligated to engage in socio-economic change.

While Liberation Theology is largely concentrated in Latin America, groups within the United States like the Red Letter Christians movement also stress this socio-economic focus.

Jesus calls us away from the consumerist values that dominate contemporary America. Instead, he calls us to meet the needs of the poor, notes RLCs website.

He also calls us to be merciful, which has strong implications in terms of war and capital punishment. After all, when Jesus tells us to love our enemies, he probably means we shouldnt kill them.

In his speech before the conference on Tuesday, DeYoung said that he believed the socio-economic justice focus is not the most careful way to exegete this passage.

In his critique, DeYoung pointed out that of the four verbs used in the Isaiah passage quoted by Jesus, all but one of them had to do with proclamation rather than works.

So yes, this is a key text for defining Jesus mission and the methods of His ministry, but what do we see here? We see that the Spirit has anointed Him chiefly to be a preacher. To proclaim a message of Good News, said DeYoung.

Regarding the fourth verb from the passage, which spoke of liberating captives, DeYoung noted that since the Gospels do not record Jesus literally freeing captives, it should be understood exclusively on a spiritual plane.

That the recovery of sight to the blind was spiritual sight for those blinded by sin. Those who would have demons cast out was ultimately a pointer to the spiritual freedom that we find only in Christ, he continued.

In other words, we see that the mission of Jesus was first and foremost to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of salvation for sinners.

While the Gospels show Jesus ministry centered on three things: preaching, casting out demons, and healing the sick, explained DeYoung, they were not treated as equally important by Jesus.

There is not a single example of Jesus going into a town with the purpose of healing or casting out demons. He never ventures out on a healing or an exorcism tour, said DeYoung. The reason He came out to public ministry was to preach.

DeYoung then quoted Luke 4:42-43 to further his point, noting that when the locals urged Jesus to stay upon healing many, Jesus replies: I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.

DeYoung concluded his speech by noting three lessons from the biblical passage. The first lesson was to note the importance of preaching the Gospel, the second was to note that the church should be prepared for all sorts of outsiders to come to faith, and finally, that people who proclaim the Good News should expect to be misunderstood.

You and I are not prepared to do ministry in this world, in this day unless we are prepared to be misunderstood, explained DeYoung.

Sometimes by people honestly trying to understand and sometimes by people willfully misunderstanding. Jesus was misunderstood."Would the discovery of alien life disprove Christianity and the Bible?

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BALTIMORE  As there is believed to be billions of planets in the universe, the theological implications that the discovery of intelligent alien life would have was overviewed at the recent BioLogos conference.

BioLogos Foundation President Deborah Haarsma, the former chair of Calvin Colleges physics and astronomy department, gave her thoughts Thursday on tough hypothetical questions related to what the potential discovery of intelligent life on other planets would have on biblical claims and teachings.

The BioLogos Foundation is an advocacy group that exists to help bridge biblical faith with modern scientific theories, which many in todays secular society believe must be at odds.

With a conference theme of beyond conflict, Haarsma outlined how the theology of incarnation wouldnt be disproven if alien life were to be discovered on other planets.

While online commentators and atheists argue that the discovery of intelligent alien life would be the end of organized religion," she shot down the notion that Christianity is parochial and something that is local with no cosmic significance.

Although the Bible is about events that took place on Earth, Haarsma pointed out that the Bible is even more narrow than that because it really focuses on Abraham and his descendants. In the New Testament, the Bible focuses on Jesus life and ministry.

She noted that the New Testament primarily takes place in the Middle East. Even in Jesus journeys, Christ did not travel too far of a distance from where He was born. Although the Bible is focused primarily on a certain geographical region, its message still applies to the entire Earth.

Gods revelation was very particular for a particular culture and a particular place. But yet, the claims of Scripture are cosmic, she said. In Colossians 1 it says that In Him, all things were created: things on Heaven, things on Earth, visible, invisible, thrones, powers, rulers, authorities. All those things were created through Him and for Him.

The biblical text from Colossians 1, Haarsma contended, suggests that claims of Christianity reach far beyond Earth and inhabit the whole cosmos.

[T]he Christ that was incarnate here on Earth was the same Christ of the whole universe, she added. Whether or not there are intelligent aliens, the Bibles claims are cosmic in scope and [and cant be] shoveled aside.

Some might ask whether the discovery of alien life reduces the significance of the human race.

Whether or not there are intelligent beings, we are significant in Gods eyes, Haarsma asserted. How do we know? Well, the incarnation is a huge clue. God came and lived here as one of us. Christ died for us. He sent His spirit to live with [us]. These are the things that make us significant in Gods eyes [like] our relationship with Him.

But would the discovery of intelligent alien life alter views on Christs incarnation? Haarsma explained that such a question is one where many Christians disagree. There are several theological possibilities, she pointed out.

One possibility is that Christs sacrifice on Earth redeemed the entire universe, while another possibility is that aliens might not need redemption because they might have made a different choice than humans when it comes to sin and the Fall.

Another option, she argued, was that God might have also been incarnated on alien planets to provide redemption in those worlds. The last possibility she mentioned is that aliens have their own way to God that is different from the paths humans have to God.

Haarsma noted that this idea of God being incarnated on other planets was suggested in the final novel of C.S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia series.

In Narnia, you have the idea of Aslan, God appearing in the form of a Lion in a different world, she explained. And by the time you get to the end of The Chronicles of Narnia in The Last Battle, you see him acknowledge that there are many worlds all pointing to one God. But God incarnates in different ways.

In Perelandra, part of Lewis The Space Trilogy, Haarsma noted that Lewis talks about how life that is born after the incarnation would still look like Christ. It is the notion that Gods incarnation on Earth has an effect on what intelligent life looks like elsewhere.

I dont know the right answer to this. There are multiple options here to consider, she admitted.

So I dont think this is a showstopper for Christianity. It is something that we need to wrestle with. Christians have multiple views on how God can be related to aliens. But we do know that Christ took on human form. So our understanding of the incarnation itself here on Earth is still robust.

Despite the different possibilities, Haarsma asserted that Gods character will remain the same.

It is the same character of love, the same desire to be sacrificial, the same desire to redeem people to Himself, she stressed. While Christians have multiple views on God related to aliens, we know that Christ died to redeem human sin.

Haarsma was joined by NASA astrophysicist Jennifer Wiseman and astrobiologist Stephen Freeland on Thursday. Wiseman discussed the proof that there is an abundance of exoplanets and stars that exist throughout the universe. Freeland focused on the origins and distribution of life on Earth.Can Christians get political without hurting the Gospel message?

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AUSTIN, Texas  Christians involved in politics today face three difficult trends, Michael Gerson argued.

Polarization, confirmation bias, and dehumanization present challenges for all Americans, and Christians should counter, rather than contribute to these problems, Gerson, a conservative Washington Post columnist, said in the Tuesday keynote address for Advocacy Day, a Baptist General Convention of Texas conference to educate Christian Texans on involvement in politics.

Gerson began by telling the audience that political advocacy, while important, is not the most important type of advocacy for a Christian.

"The most profoundly positive and powerful form of advocacy is advocacy for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against you," he said.

Polarization

"We live in a landslide country," Gerson explained, where most of us live in areas where either Republicans or Democrats easily win in landslide elections. In 2016, he noted, 80 percent of counties voted for either Trump or Clinton in a landslide. In the 1970s, that number was 25 percent for presidential elections.

This leads to many of us living in a bubble, where we interact little with people who vote differently.

"We live increasingly in homogenous political communities, in silos of the mind," he said.

Gerson pointed to a 2016 report by Pew Research Center.

In describing one of the findings of the report, Gerson quoted former Pew Vice President Paul Taylor, who wrote: "These days Democrats and Republicans no longer stop at disagreeing with each others ideas. Many in each party now deny the others facts, disapprove of each others lifestyles, avoid each others neighborhoods, impugn each others motives, doubt each others patriotism, cant stomach each others news sources, and bring different value systems to such core social institutions as religion, marriage and parenthood. Its as if they belong not to rival parties but alien tribes."

To resist this polarization, Gerson said, Christians "must start with an adjustment of attitude" by loving those on both sides of our polarized life.

This means Christians need to learn how to be doorkeepers and "to live on the edge of the inside," Gerson said, quoting Franciscan author Richard Rohr.

Rohr wrote: "To live on the edge of the inside is different than being an insider, a 'company man,' or a dues paying member. Yes, you have learned the rules and you understand and honor the system as far as it goes, but you do not need to protect it, defend it, or promote it. ... A doorkeeper must love both the inside and the outside of his or her group, and know how to move between these two loves."

Confirmation bias

One of the most "unsettling" findings in political science, Gerson continued, is "the more knowledge that political partisans have, the more stubborn they become in their ideological beliefs."

Those with little political knowledge aren't the biggest problem in American politics, Gerson contended, "it's people who use their brainpower to support the views of their tribe."

To counter this problem, Christians should to "be willing to call out your own side, to make a fair judgment no matter who it benefits ... it is different and powerful to police your own.

"Be an activist, be partisan, but show some intellectual honesty. It is has never been more important."

Additionally, Gerson said, Christians need to recognize and confront their own confirmation bias.

"It's sometimes difficult for me, to be honest, to praise good and important things accomplished by this administration," he admitted. "All of us have the tendency to see an enemy when we really need a mirror."

Dehumanization

The third challenge for Christians to confront in their political involvement is dehumanization.

"Dehumanization has become part of our public discourse, refugees have been referred to as animals, Mexican migrants have been called rapists, Muslims are treated as essential threats, Jews are tagged with ancient stereotypes," Gerson said.

And dehumanizing language from political leaders influences the beliefs of their constituents. Gerson cited a study from Hungary showing that after a right-wing populist government took control and used anti-immigrant rhetoric, the number of those who believed migrants were less human (on an evolution chart) increased.

To counter this problem, Gerson said, we need to practice empathy. "A failure of empathy is ultimately a moral and spiritual matter."

Evangelicals and Trump

Speaking of his own religious tradition, evangelicalism, Gerson pointed out where the Church is failing to meet these challenges, and has often contributed to the problems.

"Under legal and moral siege by the forces of secularism, now, in this view, [evangelicals] must find political allies and fight back before they are thrown to the lions," Gerson said, explaining why many evangelicals have supported President Donald Trump.

"This attitude is, perhaps, politically and psychologically understandable from any group that has lost cultural standing, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the Sermon on the Mount, nothing to do with any recognizable version of Christian ethics in 2,000 years of history. The very thing that should repel evangelicals, the dehumanization of others, is sometimes what seems to be what fascinates and attracts them, and that is the worst kind of discrediting hypocrisy."

By aligning evangelicalism with misogyny, bigotry and nativism, Gerson continued, evangelicals have undermined their pro-family, pro-religious freedom and pro-life messages.

"It's not the mission of the Christian church to be popular in the culture," he said, "and threats to religious liberty are very real in this country ... but identifying evangelicalism with ... one populist nativist party has serious dangers.

"Public influence ultimately depends on the persuasiveness of public arguments. Pro-life arguments are discredited by association with misogyny. Arguments for religious liberty are discredited when we say Muslims shouldn't have any religious rights. Arguments for family values are discredited by nativist disdain for migrant family structures.

"And the ultimate harm here is the reputation of faith itself. Civic engagement is, in some ways, one face of the Church to the world, and it is a grave matter when that face is a snarl or a sneer."

4 areas where Christians can make a difference

Our nation needs healing, truth and humanization to meet the challenges of polarization, confirmation bias and dehumanization, Gerson said, and there are four areas where Christians have the tools to make a difference.

First, Christians need a biblical understanding of human dignity.

Pastors shouldn't feel the need to weigh in on every political issue, Gerson says. Debates, for instance, on illegal immigration are mostly prudential, not moral. There is no Christian position on whether to build a wall. However, pastors "have a solid moral duty to oppose the dehumanization of migrants in any circumstance, something that violates the vision of human dignity and equality at the heart of the Christian faith."

Second, Christians should be committed to the common good.

Christianity is individualistic, Gerson said, but it's also communitarian, as illustrated by the Golden Rule.

Christians should advocate for a "set of social circumstances that allows everyone to flourish."

Third, Christians need a correct understanding of the Kingdom of God.

"The proper role of Christians in politics, Gerson said, is not to christianize America, it is to demonstrate Christian values in the public realm. ... This brings a kind of influence that does not depend on a welcome at the White House."

And fourth, Christians must "remember our history." By looking at the examples of previous Christians who faced similar challenges, we can gain a better perspective of our own place and time.

"We've had a taste of nihilism and chaos, looked into the abyss, and we know this cannot be our destination," Gerson concluded. "I'm confident in the long run that people will choose decency and shared progress ... or so I try to believe.

"When people, including modern cynical people, see the image of Jesus even partially reflected in another human being, it appeals across every distinction, every division, every boundary. It stirs the deepest longings of the human heart. And when the representatives of Christ act like Jesus, truth and influence returns."

Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, was in attendance and led a workshop on religious freedom. She praised Gerson's speech in and interview with The Christian Post.

"When I listen to [Gerson] I am both inspired and humbled. And I hope that we can engage his ideas on a broad scale because we want an America that we can be proud of for our children and grandchildren," she said.

Advocacy Day had about 200 attendees. The Texas Baptists, or the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is an affiliation of 5,300 churches in Texas from a broad spectrum of Baptist denominations.

On Wednesday, attendees visited offices in the Texas legislature to talk about their priorities, which included, according to a 26-page policy guide all attendees received, children and families, human trafficking, immigration, religious liberty, poverty, and life.Hate or Christian boldness? Lawmaker's prayer mentioning Jesus, Israel blasted as "Islamophobic'

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A Pennsylvania state legislator has garnered controversy for delivering an opening prayer that critics labeled "Islamophobic" for its multiple mentions of Jesus and support for Israel.

State Representative Stephanie Borowicz delivered a nearly two-minute long prayer to open up a legislative session Monday, wherein she mentioned Jesus by name several times, thanked God for President Donald Trumps support for Israel, and quoted from the Bible.

God forgive us, prayed Borowicz. Jesus, weve lost sight of You. Weve forgotten You, God in our country. And were asking You to forgive us, Jesus  Jesus, You are our only hope.

Borowicz posted the prayer on her Facebook page where it has gotten nearly a thousand angry reactions, a near equal number of likes, and 886 loves. It also has over 5,600 comments from opponents and supporters.

The invocation received criticism from many, including Movita Johnson-Harrell, who later that day became the first Muslim woman sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

In an interview with Pennlive.com on Tuesday, Johnson-Harrell labeled Borowiczs prayer a political radical statement masked as a prayer.

I think it was offensive to me and my family and my visitors that came down here for a joyous day, said Johnson-Harrell, adding that "everyone was offended" in the religiously diverse group she brought to watch her swearing-in.

On Tuesday, Muslim lawmaker, Rep. Jason Dawkins, D-Philadelphia, opened the session by reading from the Quran. But "his invocation was followed by applause," CBN News reported.

Bishop Dwayne Royster, a Philadelphia native who serves as national political director for the progressive group Faith in Action, denounced Borowicz's prayer mentioning Jesus and Israel as a display of weaponized faith at its worst.

Rep. Borowicz chose to use exclusive, incendiary language about faith and draw into the prayer a call to support Israel, said Royster in a statement on Thursday.

Faith is a means by which people should experience liberation and freedom. This prayer was sent as a message of hate and to intimidate the new representative, he further claimed.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, on the other hand, expressed his support for Borowicz in a post to his Facebook page on Thursday, declaring God bless her for her boldness and standing by her convictions.

She doesnt need to apologize. We dont change who we are or what we believe because someone who is present may believe differently than we believe, wrote Graham.

I know Stephanie Borowicz would appreciate your prayers and encouragement. I always appreciate anyone who has the guts to stand up for Jesus.

Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalf also defended Borowicz, explaining that he believed she was walking in the footsteps of our forefathers who would've prayed a prayer very similar.

That the newest member, who is a Muslim, would attack her and say that that was an example of Islamophobia, should be offensive to every Pennsylvanian, Metcalf told ABC News.

The lawmaker who control the daily invocation process, House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, "lost a federal court decision last summer that halted his policy of preventing nonbelievers from making the invocations. Turzai is appealing that ruling and currently has the invocations performed by state representatives themselves," CBN News reported.

In response to those attacking her prayer, Borowicz said: "If a lawmaker who is a Christian can no longer stand in a General Assembly in America ... and pray to Jesus without ridicule, then we are no longer free."NIH Director Francis Collins details his path to Christ after living as an atheist

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BALTIMORE  National Institutes of Health Director and world-renowned biologist Francis Collins shared the long process of how he was led to faith in Christ after an encounter with a terminally-ill patient left him pondering one of lifes great existential questions.

Collins, a 68-year-old evangelical geneticist who is credited with discovering genes associated with a number of diseases and is the founder of the Human Genome Project, took off his federal government hat this week to take part in a conference hosted by an organization he founded over a decade ago.

Collins spoke to over 300 pastors, scientists and scholars gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimores Inner Harbor for BioLogos 2019, a two-and-a-half day conference hosted by the BioLogos Foundation, which exists to show that faith and science are not in conflict through the advocacy of Evolutionary Creationism viewpoints on origins.

The conference celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the first BioLogos conference and the launch of the organizations website, which has served as an online resource for many pondering questions around the intersection of faith and science.

Shortly after launching BioLogos, Collins stepped away when he was asked by former President Barack Obama to serve as the head of the U.S. agency primarily responsible for biomedical and public health research.

On Wednesday evening, Collins gave a 20-minute speech detailing how he was led from a life of atheism to a walk with Christ by confirming Gods truths in the physical and scientific realities presented throughout the world.

While many Christian scientists wrestle with how they can bridge what they have learned in their fields with their faiths, Collins says that his faith has never come into conflict.

More than ever, the world needs to hear the synthesis of science and faith is possible, not just forcing it and saying, 'This will have to do, Collins explained. It is joyful. It is an opportunity for worship. I didn't always know that.

Collins then told the crowd that he couldnt believe that he was standing before them speaking at the BioLogos conference when reflecting back on who he was at the age of 21 or 22, as a graduate student in physical chemistry at Yale University.

At that point in Collins life, he had adopted a sense of metaphysical naturalism, what he called a reductionist attitude or the belief that nothing really matters except what can be measured through science.

Collins believed at the time that faith was basically a superstition left over from an earlier age that should be shrugged off to move forward.

He explained that this belief partly came from the fact that he was raised in a home where faith was not considered overly important.

[I]t was convenient to assume there was not a God, he said. By the time I was a graduate student, I was an atheist. It was not a particularly well-thought through position. But it was my position and it is not so different, I suspect, than many others around me at that time or ones that we would find today in a university undergraduate dormitory or graduate classroom.

Although he loved second-order differential equations, Collins eventually felt compelled to switch studies and apply to medical school in order to learn about the science of the human body. He was accepted at the University of North Carolina.

While at UNC, Collins said he maintained his atheism. However, he recalled that there were Christian medical students who would invite him to come sit with them at lunch. He explained that he tried to avoid them as much as he could because he thought they were weird.

But over the course of his time in medical school, the experiences he was having began to change. It was no longer just an intellectual exercise to think about life and death.

Because as a third-year medical student, one is then put into the clinical experiences of sitting at the bedside of people that have terrible diseases, most of which at that point we really didn't have answers or our answers were pretty incomplete, Collins said. That began to trouble me because I saw in their eyes what someday might be my circumstance.

Collins said he would wonder how he would handle the situation if it were him in the hospital bed with an incurable, fatal disease.

I watched how they handled it, these good North Carolina people, he said. Many of them seemed quite at peace. They talked about their faith. I thought, 'Why aren't you angry at God? Why don't you shake your fist at what God has done to you?' But that is not what happened. They were at peace. They felt like God had been good to them and they had been blessed and they look forward to what came after.

At the age of 26, Collins said there was one elderly female patient he looked after who suffered awful chest pains because of severe cardiac disease. During her episodes of chest pain, he said she would pray and seem at peace. Collins said she would share her faith with him regularly and that made him uncomfortable.

But one day, she made me really uncomfortable because she told me, 'Doctor, I have shared my faith with you and you seem to be somebody who cares for me. What do you believe doctor?' Collins shared. I don't think anybody in an honest, open way had really ever asked me that question. I realized I was utterly lacking a response.

Collins said he felt like he had neglected the most important question that any of us ever really asked: Is there a God and does that God care about me?

At that point, 26 years, I had managed to set that aside in the pursuit of other issues. And I was supposed to be a scientist, he said. It was interesting finding answers and collecting evidence to see what those answers should be. I had never spent more than five minutes thinking about this particular question or what the answer might be. That really bothered me.

Collins tried to sure up his atheism and figured it would be good to ask believers why they believe. As it turned out, some of his co-workers were Christian. He figured that they must have been brainwashed as children and never really quite able to get over it.

But when Collins spoke with them, he said that they actually made a fair amount of sense. However, he was still not fully understanding.

Collins then met with a Methodist pastor who lived on his street. After listening to Collins questions, the pastor gave Collins a book by C.S. Lewis and told him that Lewis had many of the same questions that he did.

[Lewis was an] Oxford scholar who had asked those questions, who had traveled the same path from atheism to belief, kicking and screaming the whole way, Collins said. As I turned the pages of that book, I realized my arguments against faith were those of a schoolboy. I realized I had a lot of work to do to try to come to grips with the answer to that question: Is there a God and does He care about me?

It still took Collins another two years before he came to have a relationship with Christ. He stressed that it was a struggle as he tried to make sense of other world religions to see which one made the most sense.

Ultimately, he said, it was through talking with Christians with a better depth of understanding and people of other faiths that he was able to come to faith.

But I also began to appreciate that even from the area of science that I was most comfortable in, there were a lot of pointers to God, Collins added. It was the fact that there is something instead of nothing.  The fact that the universe seems to be fine-tuned to make complexity possible and therefore life possible. That actually, nature follows these elegant mathematical rules of second-order differential equations that I had so loved. Why should that be? Why should nature be like this?

"It seems like there should be a mathematician and a physicist behind all this. Oh my gosh, that sounds like God.

Collins still had questions about who the Creator was and why the Creator would have such a deep love for human beings. Collins said he referred back to Lewis's book, Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe.

I had never really given that serious thought and suddenly, it struck me as profound, Collins said. All of us inherently, down through history in every culture, have this sense that it is good and it is evil and that we should strive to be good.

I know as a geneticist and somebody who studies evolution that there are times where we are called to do things that arent really good for our reproductive fitness yet we know that they are good, he continued. That seems to say that there is something deeper here than some evolutionary constraint. Did I come to the point be being convinced by scientific proof that God was real and that Jesus was the son of God? No. But I did realize for me that there was an incredible hunger for not just knowing that God was there but having a relationship.

Collins said he also knew that he couldnt come to a relationship with God on his own power because of his own sinfulness.

If there was any opportunity to have a relationship with God that had to be offered up by some kind of a bridge, and I finally understood what Jesus was all about and what the cross was all about, he said. It meant that I had heard those people say that Christ died for your sins. I had never gotten that and all of a sudden I did.

According to Collins, he finally gave his life to Christ during a hike on a dewy morning in the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest over 49 years ago.

I fell on my knees and I said, I get it. I am yours. I want to be your follower from now until eternity, Collins told the audience. That has never changed since that day.

The geneticist recalled that there were some doubters who told him after his conversion that his head is going to explode because he wont be able to reconcile Christian faith with science.

In all those 41 years, I have never encountered a conflict between what I know as someone who takes Scripture with the greatest seriousness and someone who will not accept your scientific data until you show me why it is right, Collins said. I think God calls us to do both of those things.

"And I think it is truly tragic that in our world, in particularly this country over the last 150 years, we have set up young people to believe there is a conflict there. I do not see that. God gives us an incredible opportunity as scientists to learn about Gods creation. And that can be a wonderful form of worship. You can meet God in a laboratory.

Collins is also the author of the 2006 book, The Language of God.

Collins came under scrutiny from Christians and pro-lifers who called for his resignation last December after he expressed support for fetal tissue research during an NIH Advisory Committee to the Director meeting. He reportedly suggested that fetal tissue research could be done with [an] ethical framework.

Although many Christians are grateful for BioLogos help in reconciling their faiths and scientific theories, BioLogos has also been criticized by conservative Christians and Young Earth Creationists as being an attempt to persuade evangelical Christians to embrace some form of evolutionary theory.Pastors daughter dies after surviving house fire that killed parents, sibling

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Darryn Keahey, 17, died Monday, a month after her father  a Texas pastor  mother and sister died in a suspicious house fire.

This morning at 6:30 a.m., Darryn joined her family in heaven. She was a strong young lady who fought until the end. This is a difficult time for the family and we ask that you will pray for us and give us PRIVACY as we prepare for the days ahead, the teenagers aunt, Janelle Stone-Williams, shared Monday in an update on a GoFundMe campaign seeking to raise funds to help the family.

As information becomes available, it will be shared. We are grateful for the overwhelming support in this season and seasons to come.

The announcement comes just 12 days after Stone-Williams shared that Darryn is doing amazingly well.

Darryn had been hospitalized since the Feb. 28 fire at her home that killed her father, Pastor Eugene Keahey who led Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Sandbranch, mother, Deanna Wilson-Keahey, and sister, Camryn Keahey.

Stone-Williams said she was rescued from the fire through a second story window by the Cedar Hill Police. The pastors older daughter, Lauryn, 20, was studying at Spelman College in Atlanta when the fire broke out, Stone-Williams said.

Police told NBCDFW that an investigation into the cause of the fire remains ongoing. Cedar Hill Police previously characterized the fire as suspicious and explained that they were investigating it as a criminal matter. They are currently working with the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office and the State Fire Marshal's office to determine the cause of death.

Facebook posts made by the pastor prior to the fire triggered concern by investigators. About three weeks before the fire, Keahey changed his cover photo to a picture with the words, "We all have secrets."

Shortly before the fire was reported, at 3:57 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, the pastor posted a cryptic message online referring to "this difficult time in my life" and ended with the phrase, "Good Night Y'all."

It was also reported that Keahey and his wife, who once taught elementary school, were going through financial difficulties prior to their deaths. The home in which they were found dead was sold at a foreclosure auction in January.

Ahead of a memorial service two weeks ago for the pastor and his deceased family members, he was fondly remembered by those who knew him.

"He had a lot of impact on Sandbranch," neighbor and church member Betty Bivens told WFAA. "He fought for running water in Sandbranch."

Pastor Keahey and Board members with Sandbranch Development and Water Supply Corporation fought to bring water to the impoverished Sandbranch neighborhood in 2016.

"He had all the world of impact down here, Ivory Hall told WFAA. Everybody loved him. He would walk these streets down here to see if you needed anything."

And according to Bivens, her pastor was a fighter.

"We lost a good fighter. We lost one of the best fighters in the world," she said.Spontaneous healing after prayer in Jesus' name featured in peer-reviewed medical journal

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A peer-reviewed medical journal published a documented case of spontaneous healing after prayer in Jesus' name. A young man who wasn't able to eat without a feeding tube for 16 years has been healed of gastroparesis.

The article, "Case Report of gastroparesis healing: 16 years of a chronic syndrome resolved after proximal intercessory prayer," was published in the April edition of the Complementary Therapies in Medicine.

The case report explains how at the age of two weeks, a male infant was hospitalized after forcefully vomiting and underwent a pyloromyotomy, a surgical procedure in which an incision is made in the longitudinal and circular muscles of the opening from the stomach into the small intestine.

After not improving with medical therapy, he was diagnosed with gastroparesis and required both a gastrostomy tube (g-tube) and a jejunostomy tube (j-tube) for feeding. It was many years later, as a teen, that he experienced healing.

"In November 2011, he experienced proximal-intercessory-prayer at a church and felt an electric shock starting from his shoulder and going through his stomach. After the prayer experience, he was unexpectedly able to tolerate oral feedings. The g- and j-tubes were removed four months later and he didn't require any further treatments for his condition as all symptoms had resolved. Over seven years later, he has been free from symptoms," the abstract explains.

The young man, who no longer has gastroparesis, is now 23. While his symptoms were severe during the 16 years he battled the disease, he was reportedly able to live a "normal" life.

His family members were Christians who believed that miracles occurred in the biblical era but no more, a view known as cessationism. When he was healed, they were attending a nondenominational church that held that view.

The service he and family attended in November 2011 was led by a healing evangelist at a Pentecostal church that believed miracles of healing occurred both in biblical times and in the present day, which is called continuationism.

Living with feeding tubes was a struggle, to say the least. Growing up being an active child, it was difficult to get the hydration and nutrition necessary with a drip feeding process," the patient is recorded as saying in the medical journal.

"During the prayer, I felt an electric shock that started from my right shoulder traveling down through my stomach. That was the moment that I knew I had been touched by the Holy Spirit. Since I have been healed of my illness, I have had more energy than ever before, and have thoroughly enjoyed the new adventure of trying all different types of foods. I have entered into the medical field in search to help the sick and needy, and to give back the great care I received as a patient.

The Complementary Therapies in Medicine article is not the first scholarly publication to document the miraculous.

As The Christian Post reported in 2016, Indiana University's Dr. Candy Gunther Brown traveled to Pemba, Mozambique, in pursuit of evidence for miraculous healings along with a team of researchers. They were there to test the effects of prayer on the deaf and blind.

Brown's team detected statistically significant improvements in hearing and vision in 24 Mozambicans after receiving healing prayer and the results were published in the September 2010 edition of the Southern Medical Journal.Wheaton scholars pen first 'Origins' college textbook bridging the Bible to mainline science

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BALTIMORE  Wheaton College professors have penned what is believed to be the first college-level textbook outlining mainstream scientific theories on origins of life and how they fit within a biblical framework, something they say has been lacking in Christian higher education for decades.

Based on over two decades of teaching origins at the historic Illinois evangelical higher education institution, the textbook, Understanding Scientific Theories of Origins, released last December, addresses many topics such as cosmic origins (Big Bang Theory), the geologic history of the Earth, the origin of life and diversity of life on Earth (evolution), the Genesis Flood, and Adam and Eve.

While highlighting various mainstream scientific theories and providing a biblical perspective, the book also takes a critical look at theories like Young Earth Creation. It examines the principles of biblical interpretation and features close readings of relevant Genesis texts.

We did feel that it's a unique product compared to all the other kinds of textbooks that are out there, said co-author John Walton, an Old Testament professor who also authored The Lost World series.

It's a Christian textbook that presents mainline science as legitimate science. Lots of times, Christian books are more or less using mainline science as a foil or as the enemy. Of course, we dont do that. We present the mainline science. At the same time, we present the limits of science in some of the ways that philosophy of science needs to understand.

The book was published by InterVarsity Press and funded by the BioLogos Foundation. Its release comes as many in todays secular culture think that scientific discoveries and Christian teachings must come into conflict. But the new book seeks to diffuse tensions by detailing how the sciences of origins fit into the story of Gods creative and redemptive action.

Chapters in the book were also authored by Professor of Philosophy and History of Science Robert Bishop, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry Larry Funck, Biology Professor Raymond Lewis, and Geology Professor Stephen Moshier.

All of those men join in on teaching Wheaton's 300-level general education elective course Theories of Origins, which has been taught there since the mid-1990s when a few different courses were merged together.

But until now, the professors have not had a textbook to teach the class. They have had to rely on various readings and books that dealt with faith and science issues but they were still lacking a good science text.

Moshier, Walton and Funck presented the book on Thursday during the BioLogos Conference that was attended by other scholars, professors, pastors and professors.

The BioLogos Foundation is an advocacy organization that promotes Evolutionary Creationism and was founded by National Institute of Health Director and evangelical geneticist Francis Collins to highlight the harmony between science and biblical faith. The conferences theme was Beyond Conflict.

It is not just a science textbook but it also talks about the philosophy and the limits of science, Walton said at the conference.

It's a book that is intended to be integrative in a number of different ways. Each of the chapters of the different sciences is integrative as they talk about their science. But we also have integrative chapters to deal with things like Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and the Genesis flood account. So we have biblical, theological chapters that are in there working the information that has been presented.

Walton explained that what he outlined as far as Genesis accounts in the new textbook is similar to what he has written about in his The Lost World series that includes titles on Genesis 1, Adam and Eve and the Genesis flood.

In that way, we are able to help students think about these big questions in science in connection with the big questions in Bible theology, particularly in Genesis, Walton added. We dont just present conclusions to our interpretations; we also deal with hermeneutics. That is the methods that should be used to think about the Bible and interpret Scripture. Just like we do methodological discussions for science, we do methodological discussions for Bible and theology.

The new book takes a different approach than the 2017 Zondervan title Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design. The Zondervan book featured contributions from Ken Ham (for Young Earth Creation), Hugh Ross (for Old Earth Creation), BioLogos President Deborah Haarsma (for Evolutionary Creation) and Stephen C. Meyer (for Intelligent Design).

Instead of looking at different theological views, the book focuses on the varying theories within the sciences. Different scientific and theological views are compared, but the book primarily presents mainstream scientific theories as a paradigm to be learned and understood through the workings of science.

Were looking at the consensus mainstream view. I would say that we are persuaded that there's validity to the mainstream scientific use of origins, Moshier told CP in an interview. And then that being the case, where is the potential conflict or harmonization with Scripture?

Moshier said that the book tries to bring the philosophy of science and theology together by looking at Gods two books.

God created nature, He also gave Scripture, he continued. So theology is really designed to look at the data of Scripture, right? And science is designed to listen to the data of nature. Well, nature and scriptures shouldn't conflict because theyre both from God.

Moshier explained that the book takes a historical approach and looks at leads that were present before the time of famed naturalist Charles Darwin, during Darwins day, and the ideas that have come along after Darwin's death.

We end up with a biblical and theological perspective relating evolution to a comprehensive doctrine of creation modeled by which the origin of species can be understood in the context of Christian faith, Moshier detailed, adding that the book also evaluates elements of Intelligent Design that are applied to that topic.

We distinguish the scientific theory of evolution from evolutionism. We want to make that distinction very clear. Part 6 on Human Origins is what set this book apart from anything we could have written 20 years ago in terms of what we know now  not just from the discovery of hominin species. Since we started writing this book, I think there were about five hominin species that have been discovered.

According to the geology professor, what has been discovered about hominin species in recent years are more than just some isolated bones. He said there are hundreds of specimen in labs and museums around the world.

There is a strong case to be made for these different creatures that have lived and God created them, he explained.

As far as Adam and Eve are concerned, the book presents five different possibilities that can help readers make sense of the Genesis account.

We dont try to say to any of the students that this is what you have to believe, Moshier assured. We give them the tools to read any variety of literature or claims about origins they may read and have a much higher level of understanding about what goes behind some of those claims. I think we succeeded in opening the world up to students and removing the stumbling blocks that can sometimes lead students to the frustration of having to choose between evolution and creation.

With the grant from BioLogos, the authors were able to hire illustrators to redraw and produce original graphics as well as secure illustration rights and photography used in the book.

Moshier told CP that he and his colleagues have not received any pushback from the Wheaton administration or donor base at Wheaton, an institution known for its evangelical identity and connection to former pupil Billy Graham. The book was approved through the school, which provided feedback in the form of wording suggestions.

I think that Wheaton is one of those places where there is an appreciation for different opinions on matters like this, Moshier said. We don't see these as foundational doctrinal kinds of [matters]. I think the only statement in our statement of faith that really would bear on this is a statement affirming the historicity of Adam and Eve. Almost any of those five patterns that I talked about in the class, you could fit into it. You have to nuance at times, but you could fit it into there.

Since the book was released just last December, it hasn't yet been adopted by courses at other institutions since teachers of spring courses need to have their book selections in the fall. But the authors are hopeful that professors from a wide range of courses at other schools will consider using it in their classes.

Moshier said that a good number of students who enter the SCI 311 class come from a Young Earth Creation background. While some of them alter their beliefs as a result of the class, some do not, Moshier explained.

Some [students] will have the same view that they came with but they will express and actually thank us for the opportunity, he explained. To me, it's not my job to change people's mind or indoctrinate people. My job is to educate students so that they can make up their own minds. And every student who comes to Wheaton or any other Christian school goes through a process of deciding, OK, is this my faith or parents' faith? Well, every young adult should go through that.Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Actress Alyssa Milano has now marshalled the Bible and science to support her pro-abortion position. Unfortunately, she is wrong on both accounts. The Bible and science, rightly understood, are totally pro-life.

Tweeting on April 1 (with no apparent irony intended), Milano said, I love God. I believe in God.

But I dont believe my personal beliefs of which we cant confirm should override scientific facts and what we can confirm.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? John 3:12

As for Milanos love for God and belief in God, that is between her and God. At least she is not denying His existence. Thats a step in the right direction.

As for her quoting the Bible, while the words are taken out of context and, in reality, work against her, Im glad that she feels that quoting the Bible is important. We agree!

Its just that she could not have chosen two worse witnesses to defend the right of abortion. To repeat: both the Bible and science, rightly understood, are pro-life.

Lets start with Scripture.

First, the Word teaches that God carefully and lovingly formed us in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16).

Second, it teaches the personhood of the baby in the womb (Luke 1:41-42).

Third, it teaches the potential destiny of each child in the womb (Genesis 25:23; Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15).

Fourth, it teaches the importance of caring for the least of these, the most vulnerable and hurting (Matthew 18:1-6, 10; 25:31-46).

Fifth, it teaches us to stand up for the innocent being led to slaughter (Proverbs 24:11-12).

Sixth, it teaches us that God hates the shedding of innocent blood, especially of babies (see, for example, Jeremiah 7:30-34; 17:1-6; Proverbs 6:17).

(For those who have had abortions or participated in abortions, I should add that Scripture also teaches that Jesus died for every sin we have committed  including the sin of abortion  and offers us forgiveness through the cross.)

As for science  or, in Milanos words, scientific facts  what exactly did she have in mind?

Does science teach that the baby in the womb is simply a clump of cells or a mass of tissue?

Does it teach that the unborn child is not human until it leaves the womb? That it does not have a beating heart? That it does not have unique DNA? That it cannot feel pain (at a certain point of development)? That it can be tossed aside for any and every reason?

What scientific facts support abortion? Can anyone name one?

Over at the Daily Wire, Amanda Prestigiacomo compiled some of the better responses to Milanos tweet, including So... When does a baby in utero become 'scientifically' human enough for you to protect their life? (Elisha Kraus) And, Who wants to tell her that the fact that human life begins at fertilization has been scientific consensus for almost a century? (Lauren Enriquez) And, If these babies aren't humans, someone should tell them to stop kicking the sh*t out of my bladder (Emily Zanotti).

But of course. The baby is human and science confirms that.

More importantly, God Himself, the giver of life, confirms that. And that little life is precious in His sight.

Can anyone truly look in the face of Jesus and see Him participating in an abortion? Can anyone see Him giving approval to a baby being sliced up or burned up or suctioned to death?

It is Alysa Milano who is misunderstanding both earthly things (here, science, but again, this is not the point Jesus was making in John 3:12). It is not surprising that she is also misunderstanding spiritual things.

At present, she now has over 100 actors who have signed her protest against Georgias strong pro-life bill. In effect, they have signed their names against life, against science, and against Gods Word.

They are truly on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of truth, the wrong side of compassion. May God turn their hearts and open their minds, as he did many other pro-abortion champions of the past.

For good reason, Ashley Bratcher has now challenged Milano, actress to actress and mother to mother. (Bratcher plays the role of pro-life activist  and former Planned Parenthood clinic director  Abby Johnson in the movie Unplanned.)

Would that Milano and her co-signers would take time to see the movie for themselves. It might just change their hearts and their minds.(ANSA) - Rome, April 3 - The German migrant rescue NGO ship Sea Eye on Wednesday rescued 64 migrants off Libya, the NGO said.

"They're all safe aboard our ship," it said.

The alert went out Wednesday morning when the migrants phoned the Alarm Phone service saying their boat was in trouble off Zuwarah.

The migrants reportedly include 10 women and six children.

Archaeological discovery: Small seal mentioning King Josiah court official mentioned in Bible found in Israel

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A tiny clay impression from the 8th century BC, which bears an inscription mentioning a member of the court of the biblical King Josiah, was recently located in the City of David in Jerusalem.

Excavations held at the Givati Parking Lot in the City of David uncovered a tiny clay impression, also known as a bulla, that included a reference to Nathan-Melech, who was identified as Servant of the King.

The biblical Nathan-Melech is mentioned in 2 Kings 23:11: He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

Dr. Anat Mendel-Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that it is likely a reference to the biblical figure.

Although it is not possible to determine with complete certainty that the Nathan-Melech who is mentioned in the Bible was in fact the owner of the stamp, it is impossible to ignore some of the details that link them together, explained Mendel-Geberovich to the Middle Eastern news outlet.

The recent find represented the first archaeological evidence for the biblical figure of Nathan-Melek, according to the Times of Israel.

Archaeologist Dr. Yiftah Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority explained to the Times that the two inscriptions on the bulla paint a much larger picture of the era in Jerusalem.

What is important is not just that they were found in Jerusalem, but [that they were found] inside their true archaeological context, explained Shalev.

It is not a coincidence that the seal and the seal impression are found here.

The bulla will be presented along with another artifact in the Israel Exploration Journal.May to meet Labour leader to try to break Brexit stalemate

British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday to thrash out a Brexit compromise, a gamble that could finally see a European Union divorce deal agreed but also tear her party apart.

After her EU withdrawal deal was rejected three times by lawmakers, with parliament and her Conservative Party hopelessly divided over Brexit, May said on Tuesday she would reach out to Corbyn in a bid to break the impasse.

The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the EU last Friday, but three years after Britons backed leaving the bloc in a referendum, it is still unclear how, when or even if it will do so.

May has been unable to persuade a hardcore eurosceptic group of own lawmakers to back the divorce agreement she struck with the EU because they argued it did not provide a decisive break with Europe.

Her decision to seek another short delay to the current Brexit date of April 12 and turn instead for support from Labour, which wants to stay in a customs union with the EU, may make a "soft" Brexit more likely - one that keeps Britain's economy closely aligned to the world's biggest trading bloc.

Sterling rose on Wednesday over hopes for a "softer" Brexit, hitting its highest level since March 28.

"I personally think a customs union is highly undesirable," Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told BBC radio.

"It is regrettable that what we have been saying for several months now is coming to pass, but that is the remorseless logic of not backing the prime minister's deal."

May's decision to approach Corbyn, a veteran socialist deeply disliked by many Conservatives and mocked by May herself as unfit to govern, still leaves many questions unanswered.

She did not spell out how long a delay to Brexit she wanted, merely saying it should be "as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal". She has repeatedly said she did not want an extension which would see Britain having to take part in elections to the European Parliament on May 23.

"I personally think a customs union is highly undesirable," Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told BBC radio.

"It is regrettable that what we have been saying for several months now is coming to pass, but that is the remorseless logic of not backing the prime minister's deal."

May's decision to approach Corbyn, a veteran socialist deeply disliked by many Conservatives and mocked by May herself as unfit to govern, still leaves many questions unanswered.

She did not spell out how long a delay to Brexit she wanted, merely saying it should be "as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal". She has repeatedly said she did not want an extension which would see Britain having to take part in elections to the European Parliament on May 23.

WHAT DOES LABOUR WANT?

Ahead of their talks, May and Corbyn said there would be no preconditions, but the leaders might well struggle to find a compromise position that can satisfy their own parties.

"This isn't a blank cheque," Barclay said.

The Conservatives have been divided over Europe for three decades, leading to the demise of three former prime ministers, David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.

But Labour is far from united itself. Corbyn, who voted against joining the bloc in 1975, has previously set out a series of demands he wanted May to agree to before he would back her deal.

"Labour has put forward our proposals to ensure there is a customs union with the EU, access to vital markets and protections of our standards of consumer, environmental and workers' rights," he said on Tuesday.

However, many Labour supporters want the party to throw its weight behind a second referendum, while some Labour lawmakers, who represent areas that voted strongly to leave the EU, are fearful that they will be viewed as betraying such traditional voters if they do not strongly back Brexit.

IT'S A TRAP

"I thought momentarily last night May's 'offer' might be genuine," said one pro-EU Labour lawmaker Bradshaw.

"Having heard Barclay...it is clearly a trap designed to try to get May's terrible deal through, which some people have fallen for, but Labour mustn't," he wrote on Twitter.

It is also unclear where May's last-ditch attempt to get a Brexit deal through will ultimately leave her minority government.

She had already promised to step down if her withdrawal agreement was passed by parliament, although that failed to persuade all her lawmakers to back her, and her overture to Corbyn has alienated some Conservatives still further.

"She needs to take a long look in the mirror and for the good of our country, our democracy and the Conservative Party she needs to go now," lawmaker Andrew Bridgen told Sky News.

The Democratic Unionist Party, the small Northern Irish party on whose support May relies on to govern, were also wary of her plans.

"It remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily," the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said in a statement following May's change of strategy.Scotland must become a zero carbon emission country by 2050, says Kirk

The Church of Scotland joined with climate change activists this week to put pressure on the Scottish Government to commit to ambitious new greenhouse gas reduction targets.

The Church, which is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, took part in a rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Monday as MSPs debated the first stage of a bill proposing cuts to emissions.

Activists came together to tell MSPs that the world and its leaders are running out of time to take action against the effects of climate change.

Over the weekend, bell ringers from churches across Edinburgh made a similar statement as they gathered outside St Giles Cathedral to mark Earth Hour by ringing hand bells. Earth Hour is an annual climate change awareness event in which the lights of major landmarks are turned off.

The Church said that "bold" emissions targets would bring climate justice one step closer to realisation.

Adrian Shaw, Climate Change Officer at the Church of Scotland, said: "We are profoundly concerned by the growing climate emergency.

"Our partner churches across the world tell us about the damage that climate change is doing to their countries and individual communities.

"We strongly support the idea of a just transition to a low carbon economy.

"On behalf of church congregations across Scotland, we call upon the Scottish Government to take action and make Scotland a net zero carbon emission country by 2050  at the latest."

We hope MSPs are listening!



The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in May 2018 in response to the 2015 Paris Agreement which committed country leaders to taking action to keep global warming to 1.5C.

The Bill proposes increasing Scotland's greenhouse gas reduction targets from the current 80 per cent to 90 per cent by 2050.

It received the unanimous backing of MSPs in Holyrood on Monday but the Scottish Government has said that it wants to wait for a new report from the UK Committee on Climate Change coming out in May before moving the legislation to stage 2.

The report in May is expected to address the warning issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released last year that a global warming increase of over 1.5C will have catastrophic consequences for the planet.What the Jordan Peterson scandal says about Cambridge University

Some years ago a pillar of the Jewish community was discussing the role of synagogues. 'Whatever their role', he said, 'one thing is for sure, you certainly don't go to synagogue to get a religious experience.'

I was shocked. But lately, I have come to the conclusion that other institutions may also be drifting from the role they were originally created for  at least in this country.

Take the recent Jordan Peterson fiasco with Cambridge University as an example. Back in Canada and the USA, Jordan teaches about the biblical books of Genesis and Exodus from the psychological perspective. He attracts massive audiences and was planning to do another lecture series on Exodus soon, hence the invitation extended to him (not that he requested, as some have reported) to conduct research into the book in Cambridge's Divinity School. All was going well before the offer was suddenly and very publicly rescinded. Why?

Because some people objected to him on the grounds of some of his views. Cambridge University isn't the only one to have got cold feet over Peterson. New Zealand's largest bookseller banned his bestselling book, '12 Rules for Life', in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings, all the while retaining Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. The bookseller later returned him to their shelves following outcry from Peterson's supporters.

Cambridge prides itself on being the best educational institution in the world but this unusual episode with Peterson gives rise to some questions about double standards.

Last year, in the same Cambridge divinity faculty that excluded Peterson, American novelist Marilynne Robinson was invited to give the prestigious Hulsean Lectures on Genesis and Exodus from a literary and theological point of view.

Neither she nor Peterson knows Hebrew particularly well, but surely this should be a prerequisite for even the most basic approach to the Bible. How much more so then for someone called in as an authority on a particular subject to address students and academics at an institution which prides itself on being 'the best'.

Jordan's lack of fluency in Hebrew is less objectionable because he was seeking a visiting fellowship to learn more about Exodus, he wasn't coming to Cambridge to speak or give a lecture to students. But it becomes more important when we consider the qualifications of Robinson to pontificate to students and academics about such an important book in the Bible.

Last year, former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks interviewed Peterson for a Radio 4 programme, 'Morality in the 21st Century', which I reviewed for this website - that programme has now been short-listed for an award. If Sacks can tolerate hearing the views of Peterson, it's a mystery why Cambridge University cannot manage it. Why should Robinson have been so honoured by the university to give a distinguished lecture and yet Peterson be dismissed for a simple request to do some research?

To some, the Hebrew Bible is just a book of mythology, of outdated laws and practices, racist land grabs, and ghastly sexism. But to observant Jews, it is our holy scripture, written in the holy language of G-d, and we mess with it or ignore it at our peril. By 'we' I mean people of faith and anyone wanting to engage with it seriously, including academics, scholars and novelists. At the level of international scholarship, simply knowing the Greek or Latin versions of the Old Testament is not good enough.

Incidentally, as a former guest of the divinity faculty myself, I've outlined my concerns in a letter to the Vice Chancellor, which I've yet to receive any reply to.

But all of this brings to mind a rather different story from my own life. Around the time I received my PhD in Jewish, Christian and Muslim approaches to Holy Scripture (i.e. the Hebrew Bible), I was introduced to visiting retired social anthropologist and icon, Mary Douglas, who happened to be the guest at a symposium in her honour that was based on the book of Leviticus.

To my complete surprise, she asked me to teach her Hebrew and to work collaboratively with her on her further research into the book of Leviticus, despite already being so famous for her scholarly work on this subject. She was well into her seventies at the time but she grasped the importance of understanding the language and all of its nuances, and was prepared to put time into learning it.

The same cannot be said for many others, even those in positions of authority, and the result of that is to have Bible passages misinterpreted or completely misrepresented.

Like we saw with dear old Boris Johnson, who has also been throwing his weight around lately, quoting the book of Exodus in a way that really demonstrated his ignorance of it. Last week, speaking on Brexit, he told his colleagues to "channel the spirit of Moses and Aaron in Exodus and say to the pharaohs of Brussels, 'let my people go.'"

While many would agree with him on both counts, especially in the run-up to Pesach and the story of the Exodus from Egypt coming up soon, here's the rub: does Boris know Hebrew at all? Because there are two parts to that famous phrase in Exodus 7:26 of the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 9:1 in the Christian Bible).

God actually instructs Moses to tell Pharoah: "Thus says the Lord, let My people go, that they may serve Me." Not you, Boris, but Him upstairs!

And it is not just the release from bondage that is imperative, but the consequences of that release. Boris would do well to remember that politicians are not to work for their own glory but for something which is greater than them, which we call G-d.

Which brings me to my final point: influential people should be applauded for seeking to learn more about G-d's word in an academic environment. If Cambridge won't have Peterson, he should consider researching Exodus in the greatest Bible centre in the world, i.e. the State of Israel. There he will have his pick of countless religious colleges and a number of great universities, such as Bar Ilan, Beer Sheva, Haifa, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

All over Israel there are currently innumerable study sessions on Exodus from dawn till dusk. And right now is the best time to go, at the build-up to the reenactment of the biblical Exodus from Egypt, culminating in the festival of Pesach which takes place in a couple of weeks.

And most of all, you will find in Israel the joyful argument which is missing elsewhere. You will find people who, while admiring you, will not be afraid to give as good as they get  because that is the nature of Judaism which has tragically been stymied in diaspora.

But what do I know. Maybe I should stick to knowing my place and carry on with cleaning for Pesach. As the country implodes into chaos and places of worship, universities and political institutions seem no longer fit for purpose, perhaps Cambridge University would benefit from a little house cleaning of its own.

Dr Irene Lancaster is a Jewish academic, author and translator who has established university courses on Jewish history, Jewish studies and the Hebrew Bible.WASHINGTON - Senior White House officials are exploring ways to exempt commercial trade from President Donald Trump's threat to shut down the U.S. border with Mexico, three people briefed on the discussions said, amid warnings that blocking the flow of goods between the two countries would have severe consequences for the U.S. economy.

In brief remarks, Trump on Tuesday again threatened to close the border but would not definitively say whether he would do so, and he has not divulged his plans even to some of his closest aides. But the White House is bracing for the possibility and internal planning has reached an advanced stage, according to the three people, who spoke on condition of anonimity because they were not authorized to disclose the deliberations.

Trump plans to visit the Mexico border Friday in California, where some aides are bracing for a possible announcement. Even though White House officials had begun deliberating, business groups expressed skepticism that any plan might work in a way that limited potential problems.

As Trump has escalated his threats to close the border in recent days, top aides have launched a two-pronged strategy in preparation for a decision.

One approach has been to study ways to minimize the economic impact of shutting the border with the United States' second-largest trading partner, in part by allowing trains and trucks to continue bringing goods across the border.

Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford.

The second prong has included a series of internal warnings to Trump about what might happen if the border is sealed, messages delivered by National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and Kevin Hassett, head of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers.

"We're watching it and looking for ways to allow the freight passage," Kudlow said in an interview with CNBC. "Some people call it truck roads. And there are ways you can do that, which would ameliorate the breakdown in supply chains."

A senior White House official said Trump has been bombarded with a number of advisers warning against closing the border and that the current plan is not to close it during his Friday visit.

"People are getting a plan in place so if he orders it done, it's not the end of the world," the official said.

Many U.S. manufacturers rely on the import of parts and equipment from Mexico in order to complete production and ship machinery, cars or other goods.

At the Brownsville, Texas, border crossing last year, nearly 800 trucks crossed the border each day, according to data from the Department of Transportation.

Senate Republicans have also begun sounding alarms about what might happen if Trump follows through on his threat, focusing on the economic impact because that often resonates with Trump.

"Closing down the border would have a potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country, and I would hope that we would not be doing that sort of thing," McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said shutting down the border could cost the U.S. economy $1 billion or $2 billion each day.

Trump's vow to close the border comes after several tense months in U.S.-Mexico relations. The Mexican government last year agreed to restructure the North American Free Trade Agreement after Trump threatened to rip up the 1994 deal. But the new agreement has bogged down in Congress, in part because Democrats want more assurances on how certain provisions will be enforced.

And Trump earlier this year declared the situation at the Mexico border to be a national emergency, a designation that he has said allows him to redirect taxpayer money to expedite the construction of a wall.

But the recent surge of families and other migrants trying to cross into the U.S. has led Trump to call for even more immediate steps, with his focus in recent days shifting to closing down the border.

The president said on Tuesday that he is more focused on security concerns than the impact closing the border would have on the U.S. economy.

"Sure it's going to have a negative impact on the economy," he told reporters, while saying it was possible that only certain sections of the border could be closed. "Security is more important to me than trade."

Trump has also been told by some advisers that it would be extremely difficult to operationally shut down the border, but he has told them to move forward with looking at ways to achieve the feat.

As of Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had not been instructed to prepare for the possibility of shutting down the border, according to a DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen cut short a trip to Europe this week and returned to Washington early Tuesday morning to manage the agency's response at the border, DHS officials said.

At least 545 blue-uniformed CBP officers have been redeployed to help Border Patrol agents detain and process Central Americans families arriving in record numbers. Diverting those officers and other resources away from U.S. ports of entry along the Mexico border is already leading to increased wait times and logjams for commercial trucks and vehicles entering the United States.

Wait times for vehicles trying to cross the border in Brownsville extended to three hours on Monday, a senior DHS official told reporters Tuesday. At the Otay Mesa crossing in San Diego, one of the border's busiest for cargo, 150 commercial trucks were stuck in line Monday, officials said.

Despite the logistical and economic concerns, White House aides have said this week that Trump is serious about closing the border even if the timing remains unclear.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders softened Trump's threat to close the southern border by the end of the week, saying that such a move was not the president's "first choice" and that he does not have a "specific timeline."

"Eventually it may be the best decision that we close the border," Sanders told reporters at the White House, adding that Mexico has taken some concrete steps to slow the flow of migrants coming into the United States, as Trump has demanded.

"He's hoping that Mexico will continue to step up, like we've seen them do over the last couple of weeks," Sanders said. "We hope that that continues, and that we can work with them so we don't have to (close the border)."

Trump has told advisers that he would close the ports of entry and reallocate the Border Patrol agents to other parts of the country. In Trump's mind, the closure is about leverage - forcing people to think he's about to do it, and just might do it, to get other concessions, current and former aides said.

Trump has used a similar approach before with trade negotiations and even in the run-up to the government shutdown last year. Sometimes he backs down at the last moment, and sometimes he follows through.

But the fact that White House officials are looking at ways to address the fallout of his latest threat shows how real the option has become, at least internally.

Completely shutting down the U.S. border with Mexico, as Trump has threatened, could halt all U.S. automotive manufacturing within a week, affecting at least 1 million jobs, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research. She said virtually all U.S. auto production relies on some key parts from Mexico or Central America, and these products are brought into the United States on trucks or trains.

"The building of vehicles requires 100 percent of the parts to be there," she said, adding that seat belts, engines, transmissions and wiring harnesses are all brought across the U.S. border.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce began raising alarms last week about Trump's threat to shut down the border, saying it could have a crippling effect on the U.S. economy. But Trump has so far refused to back down.

Mexico is the U.S.'s second-largest trading partner, meaning that any disruption at the U.S. border could have immediate consequences on the economy. U.S. companies imported $314.3 billion in goods from Mexico in 2017, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. And U.S. companies exported $243.3 billion in goods.

The top imports from Mexico are automobiles, electrical machinery, medical instruments and mineral fuels. The U.S. also imports more agricultural goods from Mexico compared with any other country, with $11.5 billion in fresh fruit and vegetables brought into the U.S. each year.

- - -

The Washington Post's John Wagner, Nick Miroff and Erica Werner contributed to this story.French energy major Total said it will invest more than $700 million in the Houston company Tellurian and its Driftwood liquefied natural gas export project in Louisiana.

The deal, which includes the additional purchase of more LNG by Total, increases Total's already sizable interest in Tellurian and the roughly $30 billion LNG export and gas pipelines project. The investment boosts Total's stake in Tellurian to about 25 percent.

Total also is a major investor in the Cameron LNG project in Louisiana. Cameron LNG, headquartered in Houston, is also backed by Sempra Energy of San Diego, Mitsui & Co. of Japan, and Japan LNG Investment.

Total is among the major oil companies that are making and increasing  big bets on natural gas and LNG, expected to be a bridge fuel while the world shifts to clean energy sources. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel and its replacement of coal in power generation has helped lower emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is a major contributor to global warming.

Many of those bets are being made on the Gulf Coast. Exxon Mobil is teaming up with Qatar Petroleum to build the Golden Pass LNG project on the Texas side of the Sabine Pass near Port Arthur. Just this week, Shell agreed to buy LNG for 20 years from the proposed Rio Grande LNG project by Brownsville that's led by The Woodlands company NextDecade. Shell also is pushing forward with the Lake Charles LNG project in Louisiana, which it is developing with the Dallas pipeline company Energy Transfer.

RELATED: LNG firm Tellurian proposes $7 billion in pipelines

Tellurian is developing an integrated gas project, which includes piping the gas from West Texas' booming Permian Basin, processing it in Louisiana and exporting it as LNG, especially to growing Asian markets.

"The cost to produce natural gas in the U.S. continues to fall, as the engine of American innovation finds more efficient ways to apply technology to producing its vast energy resources," said Patrick Pouyanne, Total's CEO. "The Tellurian team has an established track record of developing and constructing energy infrastructure on time and at the lowest cost."

Tellurian was co-founded by its chairman, Charif Souki, who earlier founded and led Houston LNG export Cheniere Energy until his ouster in late 2015. Cheniere, which began shipping LNG in early 2016, is the nation's leading LNG exporter.

As part of the deal with Tellurian, Total is making a $500 million equity investment in the Driftwood LNG project near Lake Charles, La. Total also will purchase about 20 million additional shares in Tellurian stock for $200 million.

Total also agreed to buy 2.5 million metric tons of additional LNG from Tellurian per year for 15 years, based on the Japan-Korean LNG price marker, a benchmark for LNG sales.

Tellurian expects to make a final investment decision and start construction on Driftwood LNG later this year. The goal is to start selling LNG in 2023 and fully complete the project by 2026.

Tellurian this year also hopes to start building the nearly $4 billion Permian Global Access Pipeline to stretch 625 miles, carrying natural gas from West Texas to Louisiana.Law enforcement and government officials came together at the Children's Assessment Center Tuesday morning to bring awareness to child abuse, commemorating April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

"We want to highlight the courage it takes our children to come forward and talk about their abuse," said CAC Executive Director Elaine Stolte, adding that their center receives about 5,000 cases of child sexual abuse each year.

Officials included Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, District Attorney Kim Ogg and Harris County Child Protective Services Regional Director C.J. Broussard-White.

Speakers highlighted how advanced Houston is compared to the nation as a whole when it comes to serving children who have been abused. The CAC was commended for the support system it provides the children, and the organized leadership it provides for law enforcement.

"We have a multidisciplinary support system through the CAC for child abuse victims," Ogg said. "This is light years from where I started 31 years ago."

Officials addressed the tragedy of child abuse and the services they provide to help the children recover and hold the abuser accountable. However, they stressed that the importance of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month is the prevention aspect.

"We have to report child abuse and train people on what to look for, signs and symptoms of abuse," Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen said.

Stolte said signs to look for include any small difference in a child's behavior, whether it be withdrawing socially or failing in school.

"Notice if they loved spending time with Uncle Bob, but now they're afraid to visit him," she said.

According to CAC statistics, 95% of child abuse victims know their abuser.

"We can prevent (child abuse) if we look at what it starts out looking like," Broussard-White said. "Not what it ends up being."Sarah Jessica Parker is bringing 5,000 shoes to Houston for a great cause.

The actress and entrepreneur who made single women everywhere fall in love with Manolos is hosting the ultimate shoe sale 9 a.m.-7 p.m. April 16 at the Bayou City Event Center, 9401 Knight Road, to benefit MD Anderson Cancer Center. Admission is free.

The sale features shoe styles and accessories from her SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker shoe brand, which launched in 2014.

SJP BEGINNINGS: Sarah Jessica Parker launches shoe collection

Parker has teamed up with her business partner George Malkemus, a San Antonio native who is CEO of Manolo Blahnik, for the sale. Malkemus' life partner and SPJ vice president Tony Yurgaitis is a prostate cancer survivor treated by MD Anderson Cancer Center.

"I love both of these gentlemen so George had this idea (for the sale) and I thought it was divine," Parker said by phone. "Any reason to come to Texas is fine by me. So we're going to jump on a plane, spend a few hours there and work the room like we do when we are in New York in our showroom. We'll be there to move things along and make sure people have what they need, to say, 'hello' and to be part of this special day."

This is the first time she and Malkemus have traveled to a city for a shoe sale to benefit a hospital. Some shoes will be donated to Prom Party Palooza at MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital for teen patients attending prom.

Given that heels were so key to her "Sex and The City" persona, I asked about her favorite stilettos: "I'm lousy at perfect, best and favorites," she said.

"I'm like many people. Your life and the day ahead dictates what you wear and why you wear it. You have an affair with things because they suit your fancy. Then you move on. I don't wear stilettos every day at all. I live in New York, and I'm on the train and side streets, so I don't wear them in my walking-around life and getting kids off to school."

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Carolina Herrera collection shows fall can be bright, cheery and just plain fun

Asked whether heels have done a number on her feet, like so many women have experienced, she said: "I was a ballet dancer and in pointe shoes for many years before I started 'Sex and the City' so I had already asked a lot of my feet. They have been extremely reliant and reliable. I favor them, and I feel really lucky that they have never betrayed me or let me down."

Parker has moved beyond the fashion world. Recently, she teamed up with Invivo & Co, a New Zealand-based winery which launched in 2008, to put her stamp on an exclusive collection of wines.

I had hoped to continue with a few more questions about her style, which women worldwide love, but Parker gracefully declined comment.

"I'm much more than fashion," she said.

Yes, she is.

STAY IN THE KNOW: Get caught up on what's going on around Houston. From sports to news and entertainment, check out the newsletters we're offering.(ANSA) - Doha, April 3 - Premier Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday he "trusted" that a measure compensating bilked bank savers would be in the growth decree the government is set to approve later this week.

He said the decree would probably be approved in a cabinet meeting Thursday.

"I trust that in the growth decree there will also be norms for the bilked (savers)," he said on a trip to Qatar.

"This is an initiative that is up to (Economy) Minister (Giovanni) Tria and I have already asked him to swiftly adopt a decree with the norms that will enable rapid compensation, that is a government commitment".

At the time, everyone thought George Strake was crazy for wanting to drill for oil southeast of Conroe.

It had been rumored since the early 1900s that there was oil existing under Montgomery County, but drilling seemed to concentrate on the western part of the county.

But he had studied the local sloughs and noticed an oil sheen. And hed talked to farmers and ranchers in the area. They all said the cattle wouldnt drink the water in the creeks because it was too brackish said his son George Strake Jr. in a special history series at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Monday.

And it was Strakes determination to pursue this area that changed the path of Conroe forever.

He struck oil on Dec. 13, 1931. This revelation and the oilfield that followed brought thousands from across the country in the Depression era to seek their fortunes in the sleepy country town. It also meant improvements in the city, such as paved streets, a new courthouse, new hospital and more during the 1930s.

And because Strake felt so blessed by his good fortune, a lifelong Catholic, he wanted to give back and he did by supporting various charities including the Catholic Church and even Sacred Heart Catholic Church here.

To further examine Strakes connection to the Catholic Church and to Conroes history, The Adult Faith Formation group at Sacred Heart Catholic Church is presenting a history mini-series.

The first session, which took place on Monday, focused on local historians and those who lived here in Conroes oilfield heyday.

In addition to Strake Jr., other speakers included Sara Bess Gray Crow whose father was a superintendent in the Conroe oilfield, Pat Houlihan, whose grandfather worked on the Hooper Lease in the Conroe oilfield, Pat Moran, grandson of W.T. Moran who was in business with Strake and Robin Montgomery, a local historian, author and professor.

Conroe to Rome history series What: Author of "The Fisherman's Tomb: The True Story of the Vatican's Secret Search" John O'Neill will speak about George Strake's connection to a secret Vatican dig which eventually lead to the discovery of St. Peter's tomb. Date: Monday, April 8 Time: 1 to 3 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Where: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 109 N. Frazier Conroe, in the sanctuary Admission: no admission will be charged See More Collapse

A second session on Monday, April 8, features author John ONeill who wrote The Fishermans Tomb: The True Story of the Vaticans Secret Search. There will be two sessions, from 1 to 3 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church Sanctuary. Both sessions are free of charge. Strake secretly funded a Vatican dig that lead to the discovery of St. Peters Tomb. ONeills book chronicles Strakes role in the dig.

In Strake Jr.s segment on Monday, he focused on his fathers remarkable life and told personal stories about his father.

Strake was born Nov. 9, 1894 in St. Louis, the 10th child of 10 children. He lost his parents and his sisters raised him.

He did not attend high school, but applied to St. Louis University and passed the entrance exam. They learned of his story and let him in on a full scholarship.

After college, he served in the United States Army Air Corps in World War I.

While he was assigned to a base in Florida, he fell in love with a lady. She had more money than he did and she told him she would not marry him. She told him, If I were young man, there are fortunes to be made in Mexico.

He moved to Tampico, Mexico and began working for Gulf Oil Company.

Strake worked in oil in Mexico from 1919 to 1925. He met and married his wife, Susan, there.

Then he had a failed attempt in the car business in Cuba.

As the couple returned to the U.S., they had plans to go to Oregon and become involved in the timber industry.

But in a twist of fate, Susan Strakes mother was ill in Houston so they came to Houston instead.

According to Strake Jr. during this time his father would go to the public library and study books on how to drill on oil well.

A lot of people thought he was crazy for wanting to drill in this particular spot, Strake Jr. said. Hed been turned down by seven or eight major oil companies.

Still he bought 8,500 acres southeast of Conroe.

Strake told his wife, Susan, that it would take all the money they had saved up to complete the well. He asked if shed stick with him.

She said Yes, under one condition. If you hit like you think youre going to hit, youll never complain about what I spend, Strake Jr. said.

And it was harrowing to even get the well established.

The rig was coming from East Texas and it had to go across a bridge with a 5,000-pound weight limit.

The rig had three boilers that were each about 30,000 pounds. Somehow, the truck he had hired got those boilers across that bridge at 2 a.m. one night, Strake Jr. said.

And there was another problem where the fire wasnt burning hot enough and fast enough to turn the rig due to some mandated filters over the fire. One of the workers told Strake he thought he could fix the problem if Strake would just go to town and come back a little later.

The worker was able to create more air holes by firing a shotgun at the filters, Strake Jr. told those gathered.

When the well did hit, Strake was attending Mass at Sacred Heart in Conroe.

One of the roustabounts came and found Strake.

He said, Ill be out there when Mass is over. Thats just the way he was, Strake Jr. said. God put all that oil and gas down there for all those years, he thought it could wait until after Mass.

Strake went on to find 11 new oil fields across Texas and was one of the wealthiest oilmen in Houston. But he was also one of the most benevolent businessmen as well giving back to the community in a variety of ways.

Just know that as you face life and have problems, dont give up, keep after it, Strake Jr. said.Almost 80 percent of insurance companies do not communicate effectively with the average consumer, eroding trust among those who seek to understand their services.

A study of the language used on the websites of 54 of the largest insurers in North America found that just two of the companies they reviewed use writing that is simpler to read than Herman Melville's 1851 classic novel "Moby-Dick."Toru Hanai/POOL

Vice President Mike Pence Tuesday demanded the release of six Citgo Petroleum Corp. executives detained by President Nicolas Maduros government in Venezuela as he met with members of their families Tuesday at the White House.

Theyre being held illegally, Pence said. This regime should release all political prisoners.Zillow, which began buying and selling Houston homes this February, announced Tuesday it would also provide financing for those homes.

The program, known as Zillow Home Loans, offers homebuyers loans provided directly from Zillow.

ZILLOW OFFERS: Zillow launches cash-for-homes operation in Houston

Direct mortgages are the latest development in the real estate startup world, which has been pushing for increased customer convenience. The practice of buying homes directly from homesellers -- known as iBuying -- has proliferated as companies recognize that a segment of the market prizes the ease and certainty of selling their home to an institution rather than the traditional process of negotiating with individual buyers.

Convenience is also the byword for iBuyers' move into mortgages.

"Getting a mortgage is often the hardest, most complicated part of buying a home," said Erin Lantz, vice president and general manager of mortgages at Zillow Group, in a press release. "With Zillow Home Loans we are taking an incredible step to deliver an integrated payments platform... that delivers a more seamless, on-demand real estate experience today's consumers expect."

Another iBuyer purchasing and selling homes in Houston, Opendoor, recently raised $300 million in new funding in order to expand its services. Part of that funding will go toward title and mortgage initiatives.

"Opendoor will be launching new products soon that will expand the home shopping and buying experience and integrate new services to help customers through all stages of the home buying, selling and owning journey," said Opendoor in an emailed statement. "We're focused on continued investment in providing an end-to-end experience for our customers home buying and selling journey at the lowest cost. This includes integrating a suite of services that make moving seamless like mortgage, title and escrow."

In fall of 2018, Zillow acquired the mortgage company Mortgage Lenders of America, which originated 4,400 mortgage loans in 2017. Zillow Home Loans is based out of the former home of Mortgage Lenders of America in Overland Park, Kan.Celine Dion is leaving Las Vegas. And coming to Houston.

She returns to the road as part of her Courage World Tour, which includes a Feb. 1 date at Toyota Center. (That's next year, folks.) Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. April 12.

Dion announced the tour and a new album during a Facebook Live Wednesday from Los Angeles. She answered audience questions and performed "I'm Alive," "My Heart Will Go On" and "Ashes."

This is Dion's first tour in ten years and will visit more than 50 cities. She was last here in 2009 at Toyota Center.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Guitarist working to rediscover Houstons Chicano music past

The "Courage" album is also due this year. It's her first English-language effort since 2013's "Loved Me Back to Life." Dion has sold almost 250 million albums across more than three decades.

STAY IN THE KNOW: Get caught up on what's going on around Houston. From sports to news and entertainment, check out the newsletters we're offering.3 1 of 3 Fort Bend County Sheriff Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 3 of 3





At least a pair of vehicle burglaries has led the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office to seek the public's help in locating a pair of suspects.

According to the Sheriff's Office, between 5:30 and 6 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at least two vehicles were "forcibly entered and purses were stolen at the Firethorne Community Center 28100 block of North Firethorne Road."The Sugar Land City Council approved a resolution on Tuesday supporting a bill that would allow Fort Bend County to own and operate the site where the remains of 95 African-Americans buried more than a century ago were discovered last year.

The partnership between Sugar Land, Fort Bend ISD and Fort Bend County would support legislative efforts to authorize the county to operate a cemetery on land owned by the school district, rebury remains on the site and memorialize 95 people lost to history.

"We're looking forward to partnering with Fort Bend County, the school district and the community to support efforts to honor the memory of these 95 people," said Sugar Land Assistant City Manager Doug Brinkley in a statement.

Brinkley added that Sugar Land remains committed to working with Fort Bend ISD "to build on educational and historic preservation efforts implemented by the city in the past."

The school district informed the city that human remains were found on a school construction site in February 2018. It was later determined that the bodies were former prisoners who were part of Texas' convict leasing program.

READ MORE: Fort Bend ISD may adopt resolution to help with 95 remains bill

Fort Bend County commissioners want to own and maintain the cemetery located on the construction site of the James Reese Career and Technical Center. However, the Texas Health and Safety Code currently limits ownership to counties with a population of 8,200 or fewer. State Rep. Rick Miller, who represents part of Fort Bend County, filed a bill earlier this month to change an applicable provision of the Texas Health and Safety Code.

The school district and county officials agreed in February to negotiate about the site. Fort Bend ISD also announced it would cancel their plans to build in the area where the remains were discovered.

State Rep. Ron Reynolds, who represents another part of the county, also recently introduced legislation seeking $95 million in reparations to the descendants of the people buried at the site. He also wants a plaque inside the state Capitol to honor the victims and a study to determine the legacy of the convict leasing-system.

Staff writer Brooke A. Lewis contributed reporting.

Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.comTwo beloved Meyerland eateries have a new co-owner.

The Bagel Shop & Bakery, and the adjacent New York Deli & Coffee said goodbye to co-founder Jay Kornhaber, who retired on Monday, the company announced in a press release.

Kornhaber and partner Ed Gavrila launched The Bagel Shop & Bakery (formerly known as New York Bagels & Coffee) in 1975 and the New York Deli & Coffee in 1981.

FOR HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM SUBSCRIBERS: Ruth Reichl recounts Gourmet's glory years in new memoir

Michael Saghian of Houston Catering Concepts now joins Garvila at the helm.

No stranger to the industry, Saghian started in the food business by working at his family's restaurant, Brisket BBQ in Bellaire.

Currently Saghian is an owner and operator at Houston Catering Concepts.

"Right now, we predominantly do corporate events. By partnering with Ed, we've added a New York deli component and residential catering," Saghian said. "We are already taking orders."

While you can still get your fill of the expected New York-style bagels and traditional Jewish deli at The Bagel Shop and New York Deli, you can also count on several new menu items and, eventually, more square footage added at both spaces, according to the release.

By late summer, The Bagel Shop will serve up a wider variety of baked goods, including rugelach and black and white cookies, while the New York Deli & Coffee will get a counter-style coffee bar with an espresso machine.

The Deli is already offering several new dishes including breakfast omelets.

"We have all the same items people have come to love over the last 40 years," Saghian said. "We're just getting more trendy. We want to increase the number of millennials coming in."

Saghian and Gavrila also hope to increase the deli's square footage as soon as possible in order to add more seating and shorten wait times in the often long line.

FLAVOR: Hungry for restaurant reviews and recipes? Get the free, weekly Flavor newsletter delivered to your email.

Counter service is here to stay, though. "A lot of the charm of the place is seeing your neighbors and friends in the line," Gavrila told Chron.com.

Gavrila said he couldn't be more thrilled to have Saghian on-board. Saghian echoed the same sentiments.

"I've have been eating here since before I can remember, and Ed is like family to me. To keep this going with him is exciting," he said.

"We've become a fabric of the community," said Gavrila, who noted that he has served four generations of customers over the years. "Partnering with Michael is a win for us, and for everyone."

Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter specializing in social media, the famous, and food. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messagecourtesy of the Montgomery County Jail

A Houston man allegedly shot his girlfriends estranged husband in the leg Sunday morning in Conroe following a dispute over a ownership of a truck.

Austin Kyle Lyon, 24, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. Following the dispute, Lyon grabbed a firearm from his vehicle and shot the other man in the 1300 block of Briar Cliff Street, according to a Montgomery County Sheriffs Office release.Conte inaugurates Italian embassy in Doha Salzano, Made in Italy is in city's heart with new location

(ANSAmed) - DOHA, APRIL 3 - Premier Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday inaugurated the new Italian embassy to Qatar during his visit to Doha. The embassy is in the Alfardan Tower complex downtown.



''Relations with Qatar are excellent and today we have certified this strategic relationship, Qatar's attention to Italy is also due to the work of our professionals'', Conte said during a meeting with embassy personnel and a group of Italian entrepreneurs in Doha.



''The embassy is not just a physical place but a location aggregating many professional'' groups. ''Our ambassador is also working to open an Italian school and cultural relations are a fundamental precondition for economic relations to be strategic'', stressed Conte before unveiling the inaugural plaque.



Ambassador Pasquale Salzano spoke before the premier. The new embassy is ''the result of team work of the whole Italian system'', he said. ''Entrepreneurs and sponsors have always believed in the project to bring to the heart of Dubai the heart of our Made in Italy - functionality, quality, sustainability'', explained Salzano. (ANSAmed).



Houston Police Department/Crime Stoppers

Houston Police are searching for an armed suspect disguised in a "Jason" mask seen on store surveillance video robbing The Chocolate Bar in Montrose.

Crime Stoppers and HPD posted a video of the robbery April 2. Store surveillance video shows the armed suspect wrapped an arm around a store employee and almost dragged the person to a back area of the building before fleeing with a box of cash in hand.The Woodlands College Park High School student Taylor Turner won big on Tuesday night when her 14-month-old steer, named Merle, was crowned Grand Champion at the Montgomery County Fair Livestock Show.

On Wednesday night, Merle will be auctioned off at the Montgomery County Fairs Junior Livestock Auction  along with 22 of the best livestock in the county.

For Taylor, the auction is the culmination of almost a year of raising and caring for Merle, getting him to market weight and competing on the countys biggest stage. The process, she said, is no easy feat.

I wake up every day thinking about what I have to do and how I can help my animals, Taylor said. There are no days off.

Merle is set to be the crown jewel of the Fairs biggest event, which raises money for the participants college careers both by returning revenue to them directly and the Montgomery County Fair Associations general scholarship fund, which receives 5 percent of the auctions net sales.

In 2018, the auction raised almost $860,000  livestock often go for anywhere from $25,000 to a record $60,000, said Glen Koy, the Fairs officer-in-charge of livestock.

This is college money, Koy said. If (students) do it all the way through (their) show career  and (theyre) successful  (they) can put away quite a bit of money.

Raising livestock is a family affair for the Turners  Taylor and her father bought Merle not long after last years county fair, but the 15-year-old has been raising steer since age 4 and showing cattle since she was 8 years old.

Its all about taking care of the animal, she said. Its getting up every morning to go to the barn and going to wash and feed them  you have to make sure theyre ok.

The judge, Koy said, was looking for the whole package in a Grand Champion contender  structurally sound, lots of muscle, balanced and pretty.

Where Merle goes from here is up in the air  the steers fate is in the hands of the buyer, Taylor said. But, she added, at this point, having raised as many cattle as she has, she knows the process.

It is sad because youve worked all year with them and you really do make a connection, Taylor said. It doesnt really make it any easier. Its hard every time.

mrincon@chron.comcourtesy of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office

The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office is looking to the public for help in locating a man who is being investigated in connection with offenses against children and is carrying a handgun.

Trenton, Fla. resident Douglas Glenn Sosa, 60, was last seen March 2 at the Executive Inn and Suites in Porter. Sosa is under investigation for felony crimes against children and is believed to be carrying a .357 handgun, according to the sheriffs office.When you hear "3D-printed home," you may envision a far-fetched, futuristic concept. Thanks to Icon, a construction company that uses 3D printing, and nonprofit New Story, though, the concept is quickly becoming a reality  and may be a major advancement in creating affordable homes for underserved communities.

According to Icon, the first permitted 3D-printed home is just 350 square feet, and located in Austin, Texas. The tiny home serves as "proof-of-concept for sustainable homebuilding that will allow for safer, more affordable homes for more families, faster than ever," per a press release.Steve Gonzales, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle

Houston students enrolled in career-and-technical education courses disproportionately are studying fields that employ relatively few workers in the region, according to a study by the Fordham Institute.

The study, published Wednesday, found that more than half of students in the greater Houston-area who are enrolled in CTE courses chose to pursue programs in information technology, healthcare, and arts and communications. Those fields, however, only account for about 9.2 percent of local jobs.A utility worker is dead after escorting an oversized load in far southeast Houston, police said.

The worker was raising power lines around 10:45 p.m. Monday to make way for cargo near Galveston Road and Clear Lake City Blvd.Italy-Qatar: Conte, foundation for future accords with emir Productive meeting, stronger friendship between two countries

(ANSAmed) - DOHA, APRIL 3 - Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday told reporters at the Italian embassy in Doha that talks with emir al-Thani during his ongoing visit to Qatar ''were not only cordial but very productive''. The meeting ''strengthens the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. There are excellent opportunities to boost economic and commercial exchanges''. ''With the emir we did not sign any agreement, today was a political day, of exchange between the leadership of the two countries in which we provided the foundation for future commercial agreements'', he explained.



Along with the interest shown by Italian companies for Qatar, ''the emir as well was interested in investments in Italy and this pleases us, foreign investors are welcome'', continued the premier. ''From Eni to Snam, from Fincantieri to Leonardo, we have leading companies worldwide for their technological know-how which are already working very productively in this country. From this productive dialogue'' between leaders from the two countries, said the prime minister, ''I expect our companies to vouch for Qatar's attention towards our country''.



Conte then met with Italian entrepreneurs in Doha.



Before going to the Italian embassy, Conte visited the Decc Center, the central station of Doha's new subway made by Salini Impregilo with the participation of other companies that subcontracted work like Costruzioni (for the stations' design) and iGuzzini (lighting). (ANSAmed).



For Marshall Kendrick, a 30-year incumbent on the Pasadena Independent School District board of trustees, the stability of the board is something that cannot be overlooked when it comes to examining why the district, the 19th largest in the nation, has been successful.

His challenger for Position 6, Al Bledsoe, touts his longtime experience as a paraprofessional in the district with regular education and special education students and says that as trustee, his goal would be to addressing their needs through partnerships with entities at the private and state level.

Of the seven board members, four have served the school district for more than 20 years: Kendrick, Nelda Sullivan, Vickie Morgan and Fred Roberts. Kendrick and Morgan are both up for re-election May 4.

Kendrick, 81, sees strength in continuity on the board. The district had an enrollment of 56,282 in the 2016-17 school year.

Weve adapted, weve changed, weve made advancements for our kids, and part of the reason were able to get so much accomplished is because were all on the same page, he said. Theres a lot of board stability in Pasadena. We have a tremendous community who trusts us and we trust each other as well. Im proud of the things that happen here  weve had a very solid, stable board for a number of years.

We have a wonderful administration, a phenomenal superintendent and a dedicated board, and thats because everyone involved is concerned about the success of our kids, and I want to continue to be a part of that, said Kendrick, who retired in 1999 as the vice president of a division of Bayer.

Bledsoe, 76, is a 14-year resident of Pasadena who serves on the West Branch subdivision board of directors. He said his work as a paraprofessional with regular and special education students puts him in close touch with the youths and the community.

I am in the schools everyday having the opportunity to see and hear the needs of the students, faculty, households and the community in general, Bledsoe said. As a PISD board member, I can make sure that these concerns are addressed effectively and considered in a timely manner.

Over the years, Kendrick said he has been particularly proud of the way the board and administration has handled programs, curriculum and training, ensuring that the kids who make up the majority of the districts demographics have access to tools that will help them be successful while theyre at Pasadena ISD and beyond, whether that means technical school, college or a trade.

When I started, the district was about 65 percent Anglo, he said. Now its about 7 percent Anglo. We had to adapt to make sure the Hispanic students in our district were getting the quality of instruction they needed to be successful. So, we did. We spent thousands of dollars training teachers, we revamped our (English as a second language) program, we brought in necessary and helpful technology. It really made a difference.

Kendrick said he is also proud of how the district has partnered with other entities to create opportunities for students.

We work very closely with San Jacinto College, he said. Through this partnership, kids can get college credit during high school, they can get trained to work right out of high school and they can, in some cases, have certifications for certain technical jobs once they graduate.

Said Bledsoe, My goal is to address and serve the community, in the area of advancing and elevating the quality of education in PISD. I am also willing to work with city leaders, business people, community organizations and my fellow school board members as well as legislators and Texas Education Commission. I would like to see more voter participation in the area of school board elections. So, I would like to continue to promote voting in the PISD community.

Kendrick said that if hes re-elected, he will to find the best, newest methods to ensure every child in Pasadena ISD has the opportunity to be successful.

Weve already seen a shift in the parents, he said. Theres a lot more parent involvement, we have a lot more families that come to events and ask us questions and it shows. Our graduation rate is 90 percent, which is high for a district this size that also has a number of schools which have quite a lot of students who are considered low socioeconomic status. I want to be able to keep working for them. I want to make sure they continue to have the best that we can offer.A proposed $40 million project to widen the section of Mykawa Road between Beltway 8 and FM 518 will be the topic at an April 23 public meting hosted by the Texas Department of Transportation in Pearland.

Set from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Virgil Gant Education Support Center, 1928 N. Main St., the meeting will cover long-awaited plans to widen Mykawa from a two-lane undivided roadway to four lanes with a 10-foot-wide path along the west side. The work would also add storm-water drainage and detention and landscaping and lighting.

Construction for this project is anticipated to begin in 2021, but that could change, TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez said.

Federal money will cover 80 percent of funding, with the rest coming from local funding, he said.

Mykawa is a notoriously bumpy route that runs along the eastern edge of Brookside Village. Pearland commuters to the Texas Medical Center and other parts of Houston use Mykawa to avoid congested Texas 288 during rush hour.

The work will require purchase of 25 acres for right of way, which may include displacement of four residences and two businesses, Perez said.

We cannot provide a final determination until the ultimate alignment has been determined, he said. This is still preliminary, and more work has to be done before we forward on this project.

The meeting will be an open-house format in which residents may come and go at their convenience, and TxDOT staff will be available to answer questions.

Comments must be received on or before Wednesday, May 8, to be a part of the official meeting record.

Click here for more information about the project and public hearing. Click here to send an eamil message with comments on the project.

tyler.johnson@chron.comTUNIS - The second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum took place in Tunis on April 1 and 2, on the heels of the Arab League Summit that took place in the Tunisian capital on Sunday.



Arab League Undersecretary General for Economic Affairs Hassan Ali said commercial trade between China and Arab countries is currently estimated at about 218 billion dollars per year, compared to 36 billion dollars in 2004.



"There's a desire to see this figure surpass 600 billion dollars in the coming years," Ali said.



Chinese delegates at the forum said they intend to focus on the New Silk Road to establish a strategic partnership between China and Arab countries.



China foresees an increase in trade with Tunisia and the Arab region through e-commerce as well.



Taher Bayahi, president of the Tunisian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said that the trade gap between Tunisian exports and Chinese imports has increased, reflecting a significant influx of Chinese goods into Tunisia.



The value of Chinese imports to Tunisia has reached five billion dinars, while Tunisian exports to China are under 100 million dinars, Bayahi said.



He said the Chinese market is broad and promising and offers significant employment opportunities, especially in the food sector, where he said Tunisian food products are attractive to the Chinese market.



Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed praised the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, which he said will improve the quality of Arab-Tunisian cooperation.



Chahed invited Tunisian businessmen to take advantage of the opportunities in Tunisian-Chinese economic relations.



"Tunisia is working to become a regional hub so that China can arrive in Europe and Africa," Chahed said.



Zied Laahari, Tunisian minister for development, investment, and international cooperation, recalled that Tunisia has signed accords with China that include various projects related to basic infrastructure, such as urban transport, development, and highways.



On July 10, 2018, Tunisia signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing to join the Belt and Road Initiative.(ANSAmed).Migrants: no news of missing boat - NGO Sea-Eye vessel last night searched for boat with 50 on board

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 3 - There has been so far no news of a missing vessel with an estimated 50 migrants on board that had requested to be rescued two days ago by calling the service Alarm Phone. The Alan Kurdi rescue vessel operated by the NGO Sea-Eye - the only humanitarian ship left in the central Mediterranean - looked for them all night.



''The Libyan coast guard is not sending vessels, there is no search plan'', Sea-Eye wrote on Twitter. ''Who can explain to the Libyan coast guard what search and rescue means?'', the organization tweeted, asking Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to send a plane to search for the migrants. (ANSAmed).



Over the federal government's 30-year effort to revive endangered red wolves in North Carolina, there have been many attempts by opponents to get rid of them. But to argue that the wolves engaged in so much sex with coyotes that the two species somehow became one? That was a novel approach.

It is a good argument if you can prove it. Red wolves are a rare and dying breed that actually went extinct in the wild before a few were set free again after being bred in zoos. Coyotes are plentiful, and unlike the larger wolves, they are ineligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Last year, North Carolina officials and landowners opposed to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduction program helped convince Congress to commission a study to determine if the wolves are more coyote than wolf. Opponents greeted it as a victory for those who want to run the animals out of the state.

On Thursday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released their findings nearly a year to the day after the study was ordered, settling a seesaw battle over the red wolf's taxonomy that had dragged on for decades.

Leading up to the study's release, the red wolf recovery program in and around the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was in a steep decline. The number of wolves has fallen from a high of 50 to about 35.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's southeast division, which manages the recovery, announced a plan to reduce the population by more than half, saying the program could only accommodate about a dozen animals.

The announcement was another indication of Fish and Wildlife's growing hostility to its own mission to save federally protected wolves, conservationists said. In a major reversal three years back, Fish and Wildlife issued permits allowing landowners to kill any red wolf that strayed onto their property. Within weeks, a female red wolf seeking food for her pups was shot dead.

A federal judge blasted Fish and Wildlife's decision to issue the permits in a ruling handed down seven months after the agency announced its effort to reduce the population. "Wildlife are not the property of landowners but belong to the public and are managed by state and federal governments for the public good," wrote the judge, Terrence Boyle.

"Notably . . . the red wolf population saw a drastic decrease from 2013 to 2015," with only 50 wolves remaining, Boyle wrote. The population's plummet coincides with Fish and Wildlife "making internal revisions to its guidelines and management policies in response at least in part to mounting public pressure against red wolf recovery efforts."

The state approved night hunts to reduce coyotes, but a judge shut it down after conservationists argued that hunters were mistakenly shooting red wolves to death - in broad daylight.

The irony is that there would probably be no coyotes in North Carolina if more red wolves were around. Red wolves once roamed the entire southeast and a portion of the southwest, assuring that coyotes, which they killed for encroaching on their territory, were pinned in the West.

But a century of state-sanctioned hunting all but wiped out red and gray wolves, as well as cougars, allowing coyotes to move in. Coyotes are amazing canids in one respect, wildlife biologists say. When confronted with stress such as hunting, they respond by producing more coyotes.

Before 1990, coyotes had not been established in North Carolina.

Red wolves and coyotes enjoy the same meals: an occasional deer, raccoons, rabbits and other small game. Those just happen to be the animals that some people in North Carolina like to hunt, and the money that hunters pay farmers to track animals on their land helps farmers get by between harvests.

Having lost most of their battles to relieve themselves of red wolves, the state and its allies turned to unsettled scientific theorizing that coyotes are the new red wolves.

When red wolves were going extinct in the late 1970s, they could no longer be choosy about mates. They were breeding with coyotes so often that Fish and Wildlife officials rushed in to Texas and Louisiana to grab the last pure red wolves, place them in zoos and attempt to resurrect the species through breeding.

It was a smash hit, scientifically. Two pairs of wolves were set free at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in 1987 and, by all accounts, flourished. Fish and Wildlife struck bargains with some supportive landowners whose property bordered the refuge and set more wolves free.

But after Republicans took control of the state government, North Carolina turned against the program, and landowners opposed to wolves started lobbying residents against them. They were upset that some of the wolves outside the refuge were meandering onto their land.

On the rare occasions that they spotted a stealthy wolf or came across one in a trap, some farmers thought they looked a lot like coyotes or a hybrid maybe.

Opponents of the program met with Fish and Wildlife regional officials in Atlanta and members of the state congressional delegation in Washington to push the idea that as a genetic hybrid, the wolves are not eligible for federal protection.

It fell to the academies to determine if red wolves are a distinct species worthy of a strong program to rescue them. And last week, the decision came down:

"The evidence . . . supports the classification of the contemporary red wolf as a distinct species," the 94-page report said.

Not only are they distinct from gray wolves and coyotes, current red wolves trace back to ancestors that lived more than 10,000 years, scientists who participated in the study said.

In other words, red wolves did not have so much sex with coyotes that they mated themselves out of existence.

After studying reams of the best available historic data and the genomes of numerous canids, the academies declared that, contrary to arguments that critics have made, red wolves are exactly what they are called.

They do note that "North American canid species are genetically very similar to each other and have substantial amounts of shared genetic variation." There's a bit of gray wolf and coyote in the DNA of red wolves.

Then again, they say, "the contemporary population of red wolves in North Carolina is morphologically distinguishable from coyotes and red wolf-coyote hybrids."

While red wolves are more genetically related to coyotes than gray wolves, "the red wolf has some degree of genetic ancestry not found in reference populations of western gray wolves or coyotes," the study said.

It goes on to challenge a key argument for not protecting red wolves. Red wolves "have a social organization and reproductive behavior that are more similar to those of gray wolves than to coyotes, and when mates are available red wolves exhibit assortative mating."

That is another way of saying when a red wolf has a choice between another red wolf and a coyote, the coyote does not cut it. The admixture premise can be rejected for three reasons, the study said: the "deep divergent DNA" in red wolves; there was not enough time for coyotes and red wolves to mix their way to a new subspecies of coyote; and red wolves have a gene linked to gray wolves on Galveston Island that coyotes lack.

Both the Fish and Wildlife Service and North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said they are reviewing the study.

"We have the utmost respect for the Academy, and we appreciate their efforts to better illuminate red wolf taxonomy," said Gordon Myers, director of the state wildlife commission.

Fish and Wildlife declined to comment on the cost of the study.

"The findings of the . . . report validate everything we've been doing to try to goad FWS into taking better care of the remaining wild red wolves in North Carolina," said Ron Sutherland, chief scientist for the Wildlands Network in Durham, North Carolina. "Now that the National Academy of Science experts have deemed the red wolf to be a valid species, it is time for FWS to stop looking for excuses and start revamping and revitalizing their stalled recovery efforts for the red wolf in the wild."

With about 35 red wolves left, "the onus is now on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the red wolf before it is driven to extinction," Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and chief executive of Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement. "The Service has faltered in that duty for years."ROME - The German migrant rescue NGO ship Sea Eye on Wednesday rescued 64 migrants off Libya, the NGO said.

''They're all safe aboard our ship,'' it said. The alert went out Wednesday morning when the migrants phoned the Alarm Phone service saying their boat was in trouble off Zuwarah.

The migrants reportedly include 10 women and six children.

The rescue operation was completed on Wednesday afternoon and the ONG posted to Facebook a brief video of the migrants, first on a rubber dinghy and then aboard the Alan Kurdi vessel. Some kneel down to give thanks while others are covered in blankets.

Several children can be seen in the video, including a baby.

''Alan Kurdi has successfully completed the operation, rescuing 64 people'', Alarm Phone said on Twitter. ''This case shows the importance of the civilian fleet's direct intervention'' off Libya After a phone call at 10 am, the phone service received a second call from the boat, in which migrants said they needed medical treatment.

''We received their GPS position'' but ''the authorities we called could not be reached'' the NGO also said. Indications on the dinghy's position - said Alarm Phone - were sent via email both to the Libyan coast guard and the Alan Kurdi, which was in the area searching for a boat with 50 people on board that is believed to have disappeared two days ago and has not been found yet. "Ship flying German flag, German NGO, German owner and captain from Hamburg. It intervened in Libyan waters and is asking for a safe port. Ok, let it go to Hamburg," said Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini.Bouteflika's resignation marks end of an era in Algeria President succumbed after weeks of protests

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, APRIL 3 - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been paralysed in a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2013, resigned as president on Tuesday night, just hours after the Algerian army called for a declaration that he was unfit for office. Bouteflika's resignation comes after six weeks of protests that began on February 22, calling for the resignation of the 82-year-old president in the face of his possible run for a fifth term in office despite his failing health.



"President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika has officially notified the Constitutional Council of his decision to end his term," said state news agency APS.



The announcement said Bouteflika's resignation will be effective by April 28 but that he reserves the right to approve "important measures" with which to set out "the transition".



Bouteflika's announcement came just hours after the Algerian Defence Ministry, led by armed forces chief of staff Ahmed Gaid Salah, called for the president to be "immediately" removed by applying a complex procedure included in Article 102 of the Algerian Constitution, a measure which Salah had invoked last week on March 26 and which protesters had continually urged.



"There's no more time to waste," Salah said.



Another statement, which denied a statement attributed to the president's office regarding the alleged resignation of Salah and the opening of a military investigation against him, reveals the drama behind the scenes in recent hours within the government palaces of Algiers.



Algerian media called the group of men issuing statements on Salah's behalf a "gang", another sign of what has now become a no-holds-barred clash.



The procedure of Article 102 gives interim institutional control, prior to elections, to Senate Speaker Abdelkader Bensalah, a 76-year-old politician with close ties to the now former president.



Support for Bouteflika, who had led the largest country in Africa since 1999, waned in recent weeks with resignations and distancing from within his own party, FLN.



That set off wavering within the entire "systeme", the Algerian power structure accused of corruption and mismanagement of the significant resources of Africa's top natural gas exporter.



In addition to Bensalah, however, General Salah is also an expression of this structure, so it remains to be seen how the situation will develop between the "systeme" and the grievances being put forth by young people above all, one in three of whom are affected by unemployment.



What is clear, however, is that this is the end of the era of Bouteflika, the president who, besides being the architect and arbiter of the "systeme", also did a praiseworthy job of leading the rebuilding of a country torn apart by a decade of religious civil war that claimed the lives of 200,000 people in the 1990s.



Conte inaugurates Italian embassy in Doha +RPT+ Salzano, Made in Italy is in city's heart with new location

(Refiling corrected) (ANSAmed) - DOHA, APRIL 3 - Premier Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday inaugurated the new Italian embassy to Qatar during his visit to Doha. The embassy is in the Alfardan Tower complex downtown.



''Relations with Qatar are excellent and today we have certified this strategic relationship, Qatar's attention to Italy is also due to the work of our professionals'', Conte said during a meeting with embassy personnel and a group of Italian entrepreneurs in Doha.



''The embassy is not just a physical place but a location aggregating many professional'' groups. ''Our ambassador is also working to open an Italian school and cultural relations are a fundamental precondition for economic relations to be strategic'', stressed Conte before unveiling the inaugural plaque.



Ambassador Pasquale Salzano spoke before the premier. The new embassy is ''the result of team work of the whole Italian system'', he said. ''Entrepreneurs and sponsors have always believed in the project to bring to the heart of Doha (RPT Doha) the heart of our Made in Italy - functionality, quality, sustainability'', explained Salzano. (ANSAmed).



Gantz to propose coalition with centre-right, far right To avoid political stall and block Netanyahu

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, APRIL 3 - Benny Gantz, leader of Israel's Blue and White party, intends to propose a government coalition with Moshe Kahlon's centre-right, with religious parties, and with Moshe Feiglin's far-right Zehut party, in the event that his party leads by at least four seats over Benjamin Netanyahu in April 9 legislative elections.



Sources in Gantz's party cited by the media said the manoeuvre would be complex but has a strong point in Gantz's and other parties' belief that a future government led by Netanyahu could only count on eight months until the prime minister, who is being pursued by attorney general Avichai Mandelblit, is convicted.(ANSAmed).



VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Wednesday said he prefers using the term ''migrant people'' rather than ''migrants'' because the latter is an adjective while people is a noun. Speaking at a General Audience on Wednesday, the pontiff criticized the ''culture of the adjective'': ''We use many adjectives and often forget nouns, or substance. An adjective should be associated to a noun, a person - not migrants but a migrant person'', noted the pontiff, urging for respect.

Talking about his recent trip to Morocco, Francis said he devoted particular attention to the migration issue, both while talking to authorities and at a meeting dedicated to migrants.

''Some of them - he said - spoke about how life changes when they migrate and returns human'' when they find a welcoming community, which is ''fundamental''.

The pontiff noted that last December the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was signed in Marrakech, Morocco - an important step for the international community to take responsibility.

He said the Holy See had offered its contribution, which can be summed up in four verbs - ''welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating''.

''He said the idea was not to provide assistance ''from above'' but to ''walk together'' through these four actions ''to build cities and countries which, while preserving their respective cultural and religious identities, are open to differences and know how to give them value in the sign of human brotherhood''. The Church in Morocco is working for migrants, he said, thanking it and encouraging the generosity of those who provide assistance by following the words of Jesus Christ: ''I was a stranger and you welcomed me''.A Dallas County man scheduled to die this month for a 1989 triple killing is now lobbing a last-minute appeal arguing that his trial lawyer relied on "racist ideology" to purposely boot black would-be jurors from the panel.

Mark Robertson, who was convicted of slaughtering a friend and his 81-year-old grandmother after a night of drugs and fishing, is slated to die on April 11. But on Tuesday, his legal team filed a motion arguing that then-attorney Michael Byck "engaged in purposeful discrimination" against potential black jurors based on the belief that they would be less sympathetic to a white defendant.

"In the end, Mr. Byck succeeded in his discriminatory plan - Mr. Robertson was tried by an all-white jury," defense attorney Lydia Brandt wrote in her motion this week. "At best, the State turned a blind eye towards Mr. Byck's discrimination; at worst, they were a willing co-conspirator."

DEATH ROW REACTION: Texas inmate's son arrested after outburst during father's execution

Before trial, Byck told prosecutors he "didn't want to have any blacks on the jury" unless they agreed to a life sentence and later claimed that they'd both agreed to "indulge each other" in their "prejudices."

The former Dallas attorney, who died last month according to defense counsel, "brazenly recounted" his racially slanted juror selection strategy during a 1997 hearing as part of the appeals process.

In court that year, Byck said that in an effort to save his client he would be "more than happy to violate anybody else's rights," according to transcripts of the hearing.

Citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision that prohibits using race as the sole reason to remove a juror, Robertson's current legal team denounced the former attorney's handling of jury selection and asked for stay.

"Mr. Robertson's trial attorney testified under oath that it was his 'conscious desire' to keep African Americans off the jury," attorney Jeremy Schepers told the Houston Chronicle. "And, through a variety of methods he succeeded in doing just that. By now there should be no confusion on this matter  racial discrimination in the administration of justice is intolerable. The courts should not hesitate to denounce this unacceptable behavior."

The appeal also raises concerns that a retired judge improperly considered - then denied - an earlier appeal, and that the state appeals court didn't get all of the earlier transcripts and exhibits to review.

The Dallas County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The crime that started it all took place in August of 1989, when Robertson went to his friend's house to do some crank and smoke some weed. Afterward, the then-21-year-old and his friend, Sean Hill, went fishing in the creek out back.

They caught seven catfish, and then Robertson pulled out a gun and shot Hill in the head.

"After I shot him, Sean fell in the water," Robertson wrote later in a confession. "I then ran in the house through Sean's bedroom and into the bathroom where I splashed some water over my face. I then walked into the den where (Edna Brau), Sean's grandmother, was watching TV and I shot her once."

There, he swiped her purse and Hill's drugs before driving off in the grandmother's Cadillac. The next day, he watched the evening news report about investigators finding the bodies, so he ran off to Las Vegas.

When police caught him later that month, he confessed in gruesome detail.

ART FOR ADVOCACY: "Open Letters" project tells stories of death row inmates

During his 1991 trial, the jury also heard about how he murdered a 19-year-old 7-Eleven clerk over $55 a week before the killing that landed him on death row. He was sentenced to death for the robbery and murder of Brau, and netted two life sentences for the killings of Hill and store clerk Jeffrey Saunders.

Early in the appeals process, his attorneys argued that he'd had an abusive childhood and suffered untreated mental illness, so he didn't deserve a death sentence. But the jury never heard about that, in part because his trial team allegedly failed to investigate their client's history.

"Mark spiraled out of control in the weeks immediately preceding, and culminated in, the murders of Saunders, Brau and Hill," his lawyers wrote in a 2014 appeal. "Had the jury known the real Mark Robertson, they would not have sentenced him to death."

In 2003, his then-attorney won him a last-minute stay based on claims of false testimony as to his future dangerousness behind bars. He later won the chance at a new punishment, based on bad jury instructions - but the retrial still ended in a death sentence.

A Dallas County judge last year signed off on this month's execution date. Robertson still has a clemency application in front of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and a pending appeal in the federal courts.

If his execution goes through as scheduled, he will be the third man put to death this year in Huntsville. Four more dates are on the calendar, including one for Houston-area killer Dexter Johnson.

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.Less than a week after a condemned prisoner won a last-minute stay from the U.S. Supreme Court because prison officials wouldn't let him have his Buddhist spiritual adviser in the execution chamber, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has retooled its execution policy to ban all chaplains from the room.

One of the last surviving members of the notorious "Texas 7" crew of prison escapees, Patrick Murphy was scheduled to die on Thursday. Just before the death date, his attorneys filed an appeal based on claims of religious discrimination - and the high court called off the execution.

Though a spokesman said it's "common" for prisoners to request chaplains in the room at the time of death, the new policy only allows them to watch from outside, a shift that sparked immediate pushback from the defense.

"I doubt I am the only person who finds it especially surprising when state officials from Texas exhibit such hostility to religion," said Murphy's Houston-based attorney David Dow, "even if those religious people happen to be on death row."

As a Buddhist convert, Murphy argued that he needed a spiritual adviser in the room to help him focus his thoughts on Buddha at the time of his death so that he could be reborn in the Pure Land. But prison policy only allowed department employees - which include Muslim clerics and Christian chaplain - in the execution chamber. Everyone else had to observe from outside.

LAST-MINUTE APPEAL: Dallas death row prisoner files appeal over trial attorneys racist ideology

So when Murphy asked to have a spiritual adviser of his choosing in the room, the prison system said no - and the condemned man took it to court, delaying the death protocol as the justices weighed their options late into the night. Two hours after he was to be executed, the high court ruled in his favor.

"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.

But the court victory didn't mean Murphy would be spared the ultimate punishment forever; it just meant that his religious discrimination claims could move ahead in court, unless the Texas prison system took steps to resolve the problem.

One choice would have been to allow other spiritual advisers in the room at the time of death, but instead the prison system chose to rewrite its protocol so that no spiritual advisers are in the room. Now, only prison security staff can be in the death chamber. Religious advisers are still allowed to observe from the witness rooms just outside, and can consult with the condemned in the hours before the scheduled lethal injection.

The change is effective immediately, officials said.

"Only TDCJ security personnel shall be permitted in the execution chamber," spokesman Jeremy Desel said in a statement. "TDCJ Chaplains and Ministers/Spiritual Advisors designated by the offender may observe the execution only from the witness rooms."

But Dow questioned whether the policy shift really comported with the court's decision.

"They did not read Justice Kavanaugh's opinion very carefully," he said. "He was not concerned just about Buddhists. He was concerned about the targeting of religious belief generally, and the new policy does not acknowledge that concern in the least."

He also raised concerns about whether shifting policies could open the door to more inequitable treatment, calling the protocol "arbitrary" and "unguided."

"The prison could now proceed to execute all the Buddhists, Muslims, and Jews, and then change the policy back to what it was before," he said, "and permit a Christian chaplain in the chamber, and then move forward executing Christians."

SIXTH TIME: Execution date set for convicted Montgomery County killer Larry Swearingen

The Dallas County man at the center of the issue was originally sentenced to die after a prison break and weekslong crime spree that ended in the slaying of a North Texas cop.

In December 2000, Murphy was already serving a 50-year sentence for sexual assault when he and a group of desperate prisoners broke out of the Connally Unit outside of San Antonio. They took civilian workers, guards, and fellow inmates hostage before taking control of maintenance, and then of a guard tower.

After loading up with stolen weapons and other goods, they drove out the gate in a prison truck. First they fled to Houston and pulled off two heists before driving north toward the Dallas area, where they decided to rob an Oshman's sporting goods store. Murphy played lookout, staying on the other side of the building and never firing a shot. But in the end, the escape crew killed Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, the first man to respond to the scene.

The seven prisoners fled to Colorado, where they posed as Christian missionaries until they were captured a month later. One killed himself rather than be captured, and the other six were sentenced to death. Aside from Murphy, only Randy Halprin is still alive in prison.

NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.A Houston teen standing trial in the deaths of his parents told 911 dispatchers after the shootings, "It's all my fault."

Antonio Armstrong Jr. called Bellaire police around 1:40 a.m. on July 29, 2016, saying he heard two gunshots downstairs in his parents' room.

He made the statement about fault once he was transferred to a Houston 911 number, although he did not offer the dispatcher any further explanation and his attorneys on Thursday said it was not an admission of guilt.

Shortly after, parents Dawn and Antonio Armstrong, Sr. were found with gunshot wounds to the head in their bedroom. They had pillows covering their faces, police said.

The audio of the call was played for jurors on Wednesday, the second day of testimony in the capital murder case.

TWIST EMERGES: Defense attorneys point to another possible suspect in murders

Defense attorneys and prosecutors are at odds over whether any intruders were in the the Armstrong townhome at the time of the deaths.

Defense attorney Rick DeToto said after the trial recessed for the day that his client felt bad about not stopping "intruders" in the home, which is why he made the statement to the dispatcher.

"The bottom line is, it's not a confession," he said.

Prosecutors said they won't be commenting to reporters during the trial.

Armstrong, now 19, has maintained his innocence. The audio of the 911 call presented by prosecutors captures a teen who was uncertain about what was happening and what to do.

A dispatcher transferred Armstrong, who was 16 at the time, to a Houston police 911 number. The family's home is just outside the Bellaire city limits. Once he was on the phone with Houston police and provided his address, he said, "Will you please hurry."

When the dispatcher asked what sort of gunshot he heard, Armstrong responded, "I'm not good with guns."

Armstrong said he knew his dad had a gun in the home.

"God, where does he keep his gun?" he whispered. "I think he keeps it in a drawer right next to his bed."

HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Mother preaches just days after her son and daughter-in-law are slain

As the dispatcher told Armstrong that the police were on their way, he mentioned that he was in his closet in his third-floor room. Armstrong asked what he needed to do and if he should get his 12-year-old sister, who was also inside the home..

Eventually, he was given the OK to come out of the residence. He woke up his sister, repeating her name over and over.

"Kayra, I need you to get up," he said on the recording. "I heard gunshots in mom and dad's room."

The call clocked in at about 12 minutes.

Nathan Gates, an investigator with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, said that prior to the trial he'd been presented with the audio as well as a series of captions accompanying it. He said that after careful listening, he was able to add or correct some captions where the audio was previously unintelligible.

DeToto asked Gates whether he might have misheard a captioned part of the audio that said, "How do you get into our house?"

The defense attorney wondered whether it should have been, "How do they get into our house?" referencing possible home intruders.

Gates said he didn't remember if that was a part of the audio that he added or corrected on the transcript.

DeToto later questioned a crime scene investigator who tagged evidence at the scene. He showed "textbook incompetence" in his evidence collection, DeToto said, because he didn't collect DNA samples from the keypad that provides access to the garage, for example.

The second day of trial also showed jurors the first glimpses of the crime scene. Prosecutors showed dozens of photos of evidence, including a note that was found next to a gun in the kitchen.

he message, "I have been watching," was scrawled on the note in nearly illegible handwriting. The gun was identified as the murder weapon and as owned by wa Antonio Armstrong Sr.

Prosecutor John Brewer brought several items from the home as evidence, including a pillow with a burn mark, shell casings and bloody pillows from the parents' bedroom.

The pictures depicted a violent scene, with possible blood stains located around parts of the first and second floor of the home. When Brewer showed a photo of Armstrong's mother, already deceased and lying on her bed, her son placed his head on a table in front of him and audibly broke down.

While leaving the courtroom for a lunch break, several family members hugged the teen. He cried a second time when prosecutors later played a video of his mother on the bed.

Armstrong is being tried as an adult. He faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. Because he was a juvenile at the time of the killing, he would not be eligible for the death penalty.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com

Because he was a juvenile at the time of the killing, he would not be eligible for the death penalty.

NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.A charge of murder was dropped Wednesday against a former Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy for her role in the strangling death of a man outside a Houston area Denny's restaurant.

The charge  stemming from a grand jury indictment  against former deputy Chauna Thompson was dismissed because Harris County District's Attorney's Office prosecutors were unable to "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that she committed a crime in the 2017 death of John Hernandez for which her husband was convicted, officials said.

Thompson was slated to begin her trial on April 26.

"Our action today is based on the lack of evidence to convict somebody and our ethical obligation not to go forward," First Assistant Tom Berg said in a statement. "To be clear, Ms. Thompson's former employment as a deputy sheriff played no role in our decision to dismiss, just as it played no role in our original decision to present the case to a grand jury."

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE: Felony assault charge against NFL's Michael Bennett dismissed

Thompson was off-duty when her husband, Terry, confronted 24-year-old Hernandez for urinating outside the Sheldon diner along the Crosby Freeway and in front of the couple's teenage daughter and her friends. Hernandez slugged Thompson's railroad worker husband in the eye, prompting him to tackle the victim and place him in a choke-hold.

Cell phone footage of the May 28, 2017, incident appeared to show Thompson by her husband's side, helping him restrain Hernandez. She then performed CPR on the unconscious man. The video sparked murder charges against the Thompsons and ignited protests in downtown Houston slamming racial inequality and the handling of the case.

Thompson was fired from the sheriff's office in July 2017.

Her husband went through two trials  the first of which was declared a mistrial. In the second last November, Terry Thompson was convicted in Hernandez's death . He is serving a 25-year prison sentence on a murder charge.

"We are pleased that after almost 2 years, the District Attorney was finally able to do the right thing in this case," Greg Cagle, Thompson's lawyer, said in an email. "No new facts have been discovered since the indictment in June 2017 and the dismissal is simply the confirmation that Deputy Thomson should never have been charged with a crime."

The prosecutors met with Hernandez's widow and parents before the decision to request the dismissal was made, according to district attorney's office statement.

"We hope that sparing the Hernandez family the ordeal of a third trial will help them move on with their lives, though we know this does not bring back their loved one," Berg said.

The family of Hernandez, including his parents Ignacio and Maria Hernandez, gathered Wednesday night in the parking lot where he was killed for a press conference in response to the dismissal.

"This is such a low blow," said Melissa Hernandez, Hernandez's cousin. "We were really hoping that the justice system was going to be on our side and get us the justice that John deserved."

The cousin wished the authorities had continued prosecuting the case.

"We feel like they should have continued to try," she said. "Someone like (Thompson) is supposed to protect and serve us should not have helped her husband."

The press conference was led by FIEL executive director Cesar Espinosa, who has acted as a spokesman to the family since the 2017 killing. To the supporters of the Hernandez family, he asked that they respect the decision.

"Its a hard pill to swallow but I ASK that we center on what the family wants which is to close this dark chapter in their lives," Espinosa wrote. "At the end Justice is subjective. The Hernandez Family will NEVER have true justice because this should have never (happened) to begin with. John should still be here... in the end whether on heaven or earth may there be."

And to members of law enforcement, Espinosa and Hernandez's family demanded that Thompson never work as a police officer again.

An appeal Thompson filed to get her job back is pending a review by the Civil Service Commission, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said in a statement addressing the dismissal.

Cagle offered no insight into whether Thompson would like to return to law enforcement.

"She was a good police officer and she had no issues at the sheriff's office," Cagle said. "She was well liked. If she wants to go back (to policing), that's something she should be able to do."

nicole.hensley@chron.comA Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy opened fire on a vehicle whose driver backed into a patrol car Tuesday night and fled during a traffic stop, according to authorities.

The vehicle was initially stopped in the 500 block of W. FM 1960 in north Houston around 8:30 p.m., Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted. The deputy who shot at the vehicle missed both people inside the car, he wrote.Houston police are investigating the cause of a wreck involving a motorcycle officer on the North Freeway at Shepherd Wednesday.

The officer suffered only minor injuries, police said. The driver of the other vehicle involved was taken to a hospital with back pain.A suspect who goes by the name "Iconic Facce" was arrested in Houston over the weekend in connection with a robbery charge out of Mississippi, according to police.

Facce, a 37-year-old Alabama resident, is accused of robbing the BancorpSouth Bank in Gulfport, Mississippi, on March 22, according to police there. Facce was was booked into the Harris County Jail on Saturday, but it's unclear whether she's been extradited to Mississippi since then.Turkey: Cavusoglu, purchase of Russian missiles completed US requests rejected despite halt in F-35 sales

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, APRIL 3 - ''The contract of acquisition'' by Turkey of the S-400 Russian anti-missile defense system ''has been completed'', Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said . The US had asked the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to go forward and suspended the sale of their F-35 jets, considering them in danger in case of coexistence with Moscow's missiles.



This is the first confirmation of the agreement with Moscow after the announcement of the preventive suspension of equipment for the American fighter jets. Over the past few months, Turkey had repeatedly ruled out pulling back from the agreement with Moscow, saying that the first group of S-400 would be sent in July.



''Turkey must not choose between Russia and the others, relations with Russia are not an alternative'', said Cavusoglu speaking from Washington, where he is attending a Nato summit.



He explained that the creation of a ''joint technical working group'' was proposed a reassurance that the Russian missiles posed no threat and that they will not be integrated with the ''Nato systems and the F-35''. The program of the F-35 is wide-ranging and ''Turkey is part of it'', said Cavusoglu.



''As far as the Patriot (missiles) are concerned, the United States made us a last offer but there is no guarantee for the deal'', he added. He claimed that President Donald Trump's administration acknowledged that the proposed sale made by the Obama administration was a bad deal for Ankara and that negotiations have been going on for too long, leading Turkey to buy the S-400. (ANSAmed).



Samuel Little continues to conjure up images of his victims after confessing to killing 90 people across the U.S. dating back to the 1970s.

Little, 78, is currently serving three consecutive life sentences in connection with three murders from 1987 to 1989. He was first arrested at a Kentucky homeless shelter in 2012, and a DNA match tied him to those killings, authorities said.A man convicted last week of raping a 7-year-old girl whose mother found video evidence of the assault will have to serve 140 years in prison before he is eligible for parole, according to the Bexar County District Attorneys Office.

Jose Trinidad Gonzalez, 36, received eight life sentences Friday after a jury in the 226th District Court found him guilty on all 11 charges he faced, a DAs news release said. Gonzalez was convicted on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child by contact, three counts of sexual performance of a child, three counts of possession of child pornography and one count of violation of sex offender registration, the release said.With his stock rising in some early polls and campaign money flowing to him, Beto ORourke is headed back to Iowa this week for a string of public events.

On Wednesday, ORourke begins a four-day run through Iowa that will include at least 10 cities and towns as he tries to build support in the critical early voting state.

It will be ORourkes second pass through Iowa. After announcing his candidacy on March 14, ORourke spent the better part of three days in eastern Iowa. His trip this week will be focused on central and western Iowa.

His poll numbers in the primary have climbed since his announcement. In a Quinnipiac University poll released late last week, ORourke was the choice of 12 percent of Democratic voters nationwide. Only former Vice President Joe Biden, who is not yet in the race, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders were ahead of him. Biden was the choice of 29 percent and Sanders was picked by 19 percent of the 1,358 people polled from March 21 to March 25. The poll had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points. Former San Antonio mayor and HUD secretary Julian Castro was the top choice of 1 percent of respondents.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

ORourke, a former El Paso congressman, is also surging financially. After raising $6.1 million on his first day in the race, ORourke says he finished March with another $1 million over 24 hours just before midnight on March 31.

Campaign records detailing how much he has raised since jumping in the race in mid-March have not been released publicly. Other candidates are also releasing fundraising numbers. Sanders announced hes raised $18.2 million since he jumped into the race in mid-February. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, announced she has raised over $12 million since she joined the race in late January.

Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who has been in the race since late February announced hes raised $7 million.

On Saturday, ORourke made a three-city stop in Texas, which included a stop in Houston.AUSTIN  Will Texas lawmakers guarantee teachers a pay raise this year? Thats one question members of the Texas House will attempt to answer Wednesday as they take up a mammoth education bill that promises to reform how the state funds education and offers property tax relief to homeowners.

Two-thirds of the House members have signed up to support the $9 billion bill, giving the proposal more than enough votes to pass. The bill does not promise pay raises for teachers, although several superintendents have testified that they would expect to give teachers a raise should the legislation pass. A competing measure passed by the Senate guarantees $5,000 across-the-board raises for teachers and school librarians.Turkey: Erdogan, Imamoglu is a 'lame duck' AKP keeps majority in Istanbul's city council

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, APRIL 3 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called the new mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the opposition, a 'lame duck', referring to the fact that his AKP party has maintained a majority in the city council despite its defeat. The ruling party has challenged the Chp candidate's narrow victory by less than 25,000 votes and asked for a partial recount, which has been granted by the Supreme Electoral Board.



The president was filmed while making the comment as he was talking to supporters on the sidelines of a prayer service last night at the grand mosque of Camlica on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The president has not undertaken any official visit since the night of the vote. (ANSAmed).



Less than two weeks remain for Seattleites to get their red panda cub fix at Woodland Park Zoo.

The last day to see the zoo's two 9-month-old red panda cubs in Seattle is April 14. After some time preparing for travel, twins Zeya and Ila will move to zoos where they can be introduced to males for future breeding.

"The twins are reaching the age of natural separation and are beginning to show signs of wanting to be separated from each other. To ensure their well-being, we follow their behavioral cues," Mark Myers, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo, said in a news release. "Separating them in a couple of weeks will allow us to adequately prepare them for the move to their new homes."

Where are they off to next? Zeya will go to Northeastern Wisconsin (NEW) Zoo & Adventure Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Ila is moving to Toronto Zoo in Ontario, Canada as part of a conservation breeding program called the Red Panda Species Survival Plan.

RELATED: Woodland Park Zoo welcomes 4 new river otter pups

The twins' parents, Hazel and Yukiko, were also united under this plan.

"We're now trying to breed Hazel and Yukiko again, so the goal is to have more red panda cubs this year," said Myers.

Zeya and Ila's birth last year represented a milestone. It was the first successful red panda birth at Woodland Park Zoo in 29 years. When they became strong enough climbers, they were moved into the public exhibit, where they were often seen leaping between branches or sleeping in the trees.

"It's been so special having the twins here at the zoo and watching them mature," keeper Jamie Delk, who helps take care of Zeya and Ila, said in the release. "It feels like just last week they were opening their eyes for the first timethey've grown so fast!"

RELATED: Woodland Park Zoo's oldest gorilla dies at 50

Ila and Zeya have a bit of a mischievous streak. A few months ago, the twin pandas got out of their enclosure after a tree branch they were climbing on broke and fell on the wrong side of the fence. With the help of food, keepers were able to safely return them to their exhibit. One keeper was scratched and suffered a small bite during the incident.

Red pandas naturally separate from their mother at around 10 months. Ila and Zeya were born on June 19, 2018, a little over nine months ago. Their mother Hazel was 2 years old at the time, and a first-time mom. Yukiko was 13 when the cubs were born.

The species typically reaches sexual maturity around 18 months and typically breed once per year.

Producer Natalie Guevara can be contacted at natalie.guevara@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter. Find more from Natalie on her author page.Tomer Frankfurter wanted an adventurous selfie photo as a keepsake of his Yosemite trip, so he ventured out on a ledge above 594-foot-high Nevada Fall.

Hikers shouted for him to come back, that it was too dangerous. But Frankfurter ignored the warnings.

The death of the 18-year-old Israeli man in a tragic fall last Sept. 4 made national headlines. But the details were not made public until the Denver Post obtained them through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Post gave this account of the accident:

 Frankfurter, a Jerusalem math student who was touring the U.S. before starting his compulsory military service, accompanied a group of young tourists up Yosemite's classic Mist Trail, which takes hikers 3.5 miles past Vernal and Nevada falls. The group had lunch above Nevada Fall and was preparing to head back when Frankfurter decided to take a selfie to mark the occasion.

 He took off his backpack and gave his phone to a woman in the group. Then, despite the warnings of others, he began climbing over the cliff. Soon, he was dangling off the edge.

 The designated camera woman begin snapping photos. Frankfurter seemed in control, but then he suddenly said, "I need help."

 As tourists screamed for help, three hikers ran to his aid. They lay on the rock and grabbed his arms and wrists, but couldn't pull him back over the ledge. By now Frankfurter was tiring, and his arms were coated with sweat. He slipped out of their grasp and fell nearly 600 feet onto the rocks below.

"The witnesses that attempted to render aid were heroic in their actions," Yosemite Ranger Jesse McGahey wrote in his report on the investigation into the death. "But once Frankfurter descended to hang from the edge of the cliff face, there was nothing they could have done to prevent his fall with the equipment available."

The Post reported that Yosemite officials have declined to comment on the case or release photos taken of Frankfurter by witnesses.

About a month after Frankfurter's death, a couple died in fall from Taft Point 3,500 feet above Yosemite Valley during an apparent attempt to take a selfie. A tripod was reportedly set up near one of the overlook's edges.

Last week at the Grand Canyon, a Hong Kong tourist died when he stumbled while taking a photo and fell 1,000 feet from a cliff at Eagle Point.

ALSO: How an expert skydiver happened to fall to her death near Lodi

Posting daredevil selfie photos has become so routine on Instagram, Facebook and other social media that people  mostly young adult males  are increasingly willing to put themselves in danger in order to snap a thrilling photo. According to the Journal of Family Medicine, at least 259 people died around the world while clicking selfies between 2011 and 2017.

The actual number may be much greater, the Journal noted, because many selfie-related deaths are not reported as such, but rather as generic fatal accidents.

--

Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at moffitt@sfgate.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.If you qualify for the H-1B, you may be well-positioned to pursue Canadian permanent residence

H-1B frustrations bring renewed U.S. media interest in Canadas immigration options If you qualify for the H-1B, you may be well-positioned to pursue Canadian permanent residence

H-1B frustrations bring renewed U.S. media interest in Canadas immigration options If you qualify for the H-1B, you may be well-positioned to pursue Canadian permanent residence

H-1B frustrations bring renewed U.S. media interest in Canadas immigration options If you qualify for the H-1B, you may be well-positioned to pursue Canadian permanent residence Stephen Smith Noah Turner Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

With the rejection rate for H-1B visa applications on the rise in the United States, highly skilled foreign workers who depend on them are turning to Canada in search of stability and new opportunities.

Numerous American media outlets have published stories in recent days about highly skilled foreign workers living in the U.S. who have already made the move to Canada or are looking into their Canadian immigration options given the increasingly grim prospects of obtaining one of the prized, three-year work visas in the current application period, which began April 1.

One H-1B candidate told Business Insider that hes been impressed with how advanced Canadas immigration system is compared to what hes experienced in the U.S.

It seems like it would be really favorable for someone like me. It seems like the way their systems designed has common sense, he said.

The H-1B program provides a pathway to permanent residence for highly specialized foreign workers in the U.S., many of whom work for large American tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook.

The number of applications filed each year reaches well into the hundreds of thousands and only 85,000 H-1B visas are awarded annually.

Since taking office, U.S. President Donald Trump has called for increased scrutiny of the program, which he has accused of displacing American workers and undercutting wages.

The approval rate for H-1B applications has declined as a result, dropping by more than 10 per cent between 2015 and 2018.

Express Entry

The skilled foreign workers like those who rely on the H-1B visa are highly prized by Canadas federal and provincial governments, which have tailored their immigration policies and programs in recent years to facilitate the entry of such workers.

Many Canadian immigration pathways select immigration candidates using points-based systems that reward education, English language proficiency and skilled work experience, among other factors, leaving many H-1B candidates well-positioned to pursue Canadian permanent residence as a result.

Canadas Express Entry system is a case in point. Introduced in 2015 to manage the federal pool of high-skilled immigration candidates, Express Entry awards points for factors including language, education, age and skilled work experience through its Comprehensive Ranking System, or CRS.

A job offer from a Canadian employer is not required in order to be eligible for Canadian permanent residence through Express Entry.

Candidates are ranked based on their CRS scores and a set number of the highest-ranked are invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence through invitation rounds that typically take place every two weeks.

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool

Residents of the United States ranked third in terms of invitations issued through the Express Entry system in 2017, receiving seven per cent of the total invitations issued that year.

Given the fact only two per cent of invitations went to U.S. citizens in 2017, it is fair to conclude that a majority of the 5,820 U.S. residents invited that year were citizens of countries other than the United States.

Citizens of India led with the most invitations in 2017, receiving 32,310  or 42 per cent  of total invitations issued that year.

Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs)

Canada also has a network of provincial nominee programs, or PNPs, each with a variety of streams that are tailored to local labour market priorities in its respective province or territory.

Many of PNP streams also employ points-based approaches to selecting immigration candidates that reward proficiency in English, education and skilled work experience.

Express Entry candidates with point totals lower than the cut-off scores in recent draws can improve their CRS scores dramatically with the 600 points that are awarded for a nomination for permanent residence from a Canadian province or territory.

Furthermore, many PNP streams also do not require a job offer in order to be eligible for a nomination for Canadian permanent residence.

Temporary Work Permits

There are also a number of temporary work permit options for skilled foreign workers with a job offer from a Canadian employer.

Canadas Global Talent Stream is one example of an increasingly popular work permit program that has been used to bring H-1B holders specializing in IT or STEM-related occupations to Canada on an expedited basis.

Canadian employers can obtain a work permit in as little as 10 days through the Global Talent Stream, which was introduced as a pilot program in 2017 and the Government of Canada is now moving to make permanent.

Discover your Canadian immigration options

 2019 CICNews All Rights ReservedI want my storybook ending. I grew up listening to the Disney happily-ever-after fairy tales, where the handsome prince rescues the fair maiden. I knew that good would trump over evil, true love would conquer all, and dreams will come true.

I believed there was a master plan for success, and all I needed to do was follow the rules. The path for career success began by working hard in school to get your dream job, where you worked hard and get promoted. I believed fame and fortune were only a step away. But were they really?

I was disappointed when my life experience did not match my expectations. I felt that other people had achieved their perfect lives. Looking back, the past appeared better than the present. But my recollections were skewed with memories that edited out the difficult patches, other-peoples lives were no more perfect than my own.

Now, I am learning to enjoy the journey and to live happily.

Fairy tales are stories intended for amusement

They should not become a roadmap for life. Stories are make-believe, showing a fantasy world. Disney sold the happy-ever-after ending to attract children and give voice to our dreams. The original fairy tales published by the Grimm Brothers in 1812 were not as uplifting. In Cinderella, the evil stepsisters cut off parts of their foot to fit into the glass slipper, and in some versions have their eyes pecked out. And in Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf eats the grandmother.

Disney made us believe in the magic of stories, where dreams could come true. While this was effective marketing, it is not a strategy for personal success.

You can achieve your personal storybook ending by distinguishing between fantasy and reality. Step one is recognizing there is no perfect life. Everyone faces challenges and each persons journey is unique. Moreover, what worked for your parents may not work for you. Finding your way requires making mistakes, taking risks and embracing the journey.

Like fairytales, many of our expectations for how to achieve happiness are simply myths.

Having more money does not make you happier

Researchers found that happiness increases ONLY until you make enough to live comfortably. Earning more money increases stress as people become driven to purchase more and climb socially.

Satisfaction is not guaranteed

The high-profile jobs we aspire to can be stress-producing, requiring long hours that take us away from our families and may rob us of our sense of self. Happiness in work increases for people who feel like they are making a difference like a salesperson or toll-collector who view their jobs as problem-solving. These employees expressed a higher job satisfaction than many other professionals.

Hard work will not guarantee a promotion or success at work, especially for women

People who keep their head to the grindstone are often overlooked. So, speak up, ask for the promotion you want, demonstrate your value by volunteering for stretch assignments and taking leadership roles.

Getting married does not guarantee happiness  it takes hard work

Even the storybook romance requires hard work, as your relationship shifts from passionate to becoming companions and life partners. And the long-term impacts of marriage differ by gender. Studies found that women who have never married have the longest life expectancy and are happiest, while married men live longer than single men and make more money. So, live the life which is right for you.

Ditto children

While having children can be rewarding, parenting comes with stress and responsibilities. Instead of being envious of others, think about what is right for you.

Because of these myths of what our idealized life should be, we tend to judge people who live life differently in a negative light. We want to believe that being driven, having a successful career makes us better people.

In actuality there is no one size fits all narrative, we each have different abilities and passions. Our success is measured on an internal barometer. Happiness is not a competition; it is an individual achievement.

So, search internally for what makes you happy. Remember that finding happily-ever-after comes after a struggle. Even in fairytales the characters have faced difficulties first, and then the story ends. In reality, we will be faced with many challenges to conquer, and our stories continue.

By keeping perspective and looking inwardly, you can find what makes you happy. Follow your heart to achieve your dreams.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When Donald J. Trump arrived in the White House, he brought with him a gift for shorthand that hed perfected over years spent in and out of the New York tabloids. Trump, like a headline writer for the New York Post, can be counted on for gimmicky, easy-to-digest parodies that reduce people to singular patches of their otherwise complex identities: Crooked Hillary, Lyin Ted Cruz, Crying Chuck Schumer. The press, while not exactly copying Trumps characterizations, has adopted the same tendency, especially when it comes to the growing Democratic candidate pool: Bernie Sanders is old, Amy Klobuchar is a bad boss, Betofirst name onlyis a quirky punk rocker.

The press has long engaged in political sportscastingincluding endless drivel on player potential in the hours before an electionbut the coverage we see now has morphed into something beyond the identity politics of the 2016 cycle. When the press, like Trump, discusses candidates in a way that strips them from their larger personal and political contexts, we engage in the very bad habit we criticize Trump for indulging ruinously. And the candidates policy ideas end up playing a supporting role to the personas that the press creates.

Days before Amy Klobuchar, a senator from Minnesota, announced her run for president, HuffPosts scoop about alleged mistreatment of her staff became the predominant narrativeand it continues to drive coverage of her. An opinion piece published on USA Today begins, Sen. Amy Klobuchar sounds like a strange and unpleasant boss. A headline from People magazine asks whether she is the Worlds Worst Boss or The Hard Worker America Needs. The Washington Post poses the question, Does It Matter if Amy Klobuchar is a Mean Boss? How she treats her employees is, of course, relevant to her candidacy, but even the nuanced assessments of her leadership dont show up in public recollection of Klobuchar.

ICYMI: Publishers return met with scorn

The controversy surrounding Senator Elizabeth Warrens attempts to leverage family rumors about Native ancestry as political cloutand her ill-advised use of DNA testing, a colonialist assessment that does not determine tribal membershipcannot be entirely blamed on the press. But journalists are guilty of printing Trumps mocking use of what amounts to a racial slur in news coverage. Instead of reporting that more aggressively seeks to hold Trump and Warren accountable to Native people, we write stories that offer credence to the controversial discussion of Native ancestry and, by extension, citizenry, in blood quantum termsagainst the advice of leaders from indigenous communities. In a story published by ABC News in October, for instance, word from the Bureau of Indian Affairs discouraging of the use of DNA testing to demonstrate Native ancestry appears at the bottom of the storyonly after the piece gives a play-by-play of Trump-Warren bickering. The uncomfortable task for the press is extrapolating the slivers of truth in a sentiment that Trump has distorted and repackaged to score points with his base; Warren deserves scrutiny for foolishly courting association with a marginalized community to whom she has no meaningful claim.

A slew of stories that obsess over the age of Vermont Senator Bernie Sandersand the subsequent pieces that declare them ageist or notoffer another easy example of how the press has borrowed a line from Trump. A Pacific Standard piece (the headline reads Is Bernie Sanders too old to be president?) that considers an age ceiling for presidential fitness, posits that Sanders may appear as vibrant and energized as ever, but the office of the presidency isnt always forgiving. The piece makes passing mention of the age of Warren, who is 69, and Joe Biden, who is 76 (and has not yet declared his candidacy for president), but focuses on Sanders, 77. If elected, hed be the oldest person ever to hold the office. But the press hasnt raised the same concern about Nancy Pelosi, 79, or Mitch McConnell, 77politicians who, it could be argued, have a more direct impact on the public. In Axios, the concern about age is translated into a dry regurgitation of numbers that teaches readers little of substance about the candidates. (The Sanders campaign, meanwhile, has aimed to recast him by reminding voters that hes the son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland; the press has started to pick this up, too.)

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In coverage of Beto ORourke, we can see the consequences of campaign cartooning. In Vanity Fairs cover story on him, Joe Hagan, the author, alley-oops a quote from ORourke in which he claims never to prepare his speeches when he describes his speaking engagements as near-mystical. Margaret Sullivan, in a recent column for The Washington Post, observes, The perfectly timed cover treatment was the full monty: Rugged-glam photo by the legendary Annie Leibovitz, the former Texas congressmans earnest Kennedy-esque gaze, and the ripe-for-parody headline including this immortal quote: Im just born to be in it. The press corps fell into line, spreading the image widely, especially on network news stations, she adds. Thus, ORourke becomes a sponge, ready to absorb whatever projection of him you fancy: a cool, Gen-X punk rocker dad, or a political heir, or the savior of the sensible left.

Its not that nobody is writing about candidates policy positions, or when they waver on them. But crucial context is often buried too deep in a story, or left out altogether; eager for access, reporters can be inclined to become too friendly to campaign communications teams, at the expense of rigorous journalism. When our headlines and cable news shows fail to critically report on candidates as whole beings, reverting instead to easily digested parts, we fail the public.

Were just under one year away from the Iowa caucus, when the first votes will be cast for the Democratic candidate who will challenge Trump for the White House. That voters and readers seek to understand political moments, candidates, and campaigns in narrative terms is not inherently troubling. But its simply too early for any one narrative to be settled. Consider what the average voter can recall when asked about the current, packed candidate pool. Pete Buttigieg? A gay mayor from Indiana. Cory Booker? Unmarried, and a friend to Silicon Valley. (Nevermind that his courting of Facebook in the name of school reform in Newark was, by many accounts, a flop.) Jay Inslee? John Hickenlooper? Tulsi Gabbard? Bueller? Its too soon for our commitments to do better next time to evaporate. Next time is now.

ICYMI: Despite backlash, BuzzFeed reporter stands by his story

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Alexandria Neason was CJRs staff writer and Senior Delacorte Fellow. Recently, she became an editor and producer at WNYCs Radiolab.Six months after the death of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident and Washington Post columnist killed at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul by agents of the Saudi government, there has been little information about what will become of Khashoggis killers. Last month, the US State Department called Khashoggis death a human rights violation in its annual human rights report, but stopped short of implicating Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Khashoggis death; the Trump administration has long resisted implicating Mohammed bin Salman, citing insufficient evidence, and Trump himself has declined to address the crown princes involvement in the assassination, focusing instead on the USs continued business relationship with Saudi Arabia and a mutual opposition to Iran.

Khashoggis death did not occur in a vacuum. Beginning in 2017, King Salman has cracked down on the press, demonstrating an increasingly intolerant attitude toward journalists under the guise of combating extremism and corruption in the already-heavily censored country hostile to reporters and political dissidents. This context makes a new report from The Guardian all the more unusual.

ICYMI: Flores, Biden, and deciding whats newsworthy

New leaked medical reports from Saudi Arabia confirm that political prisoners in Saudi Arabia, especially women, have been severely mistreated, despite denials of torture from the Saudi government. Notes from the medical reports, which were prepared for King Salman and leaked to The Guardian, detail records of malnutrition, wounds, bruising, burns, and cuts on political prisoners; in one case, a female prisoner lost half of her body weight. The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that four prisoners among those named in the report are journalists: Zuhair Kutbi, Hatoon al-Fassi,Fahd al-Sunaidi, and Adel Benaimah.

The rarity of the leaked reports given to and reported on by The Guardian cant be overstated. The state of repression within the kingdom does not lend itself to leaks, and The Guardians report confirms our worst fears about how the kingdom treats those who speak out against it. In recent years, the culture of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not only repressed dissent and journalism, but has also weaponized state channels that should be focused on terrorism to silence reporters instead. In 2018, columnist Saleh al-Shehi was sentenced to five years in prison after he insulted the royal court, ostensibly by commenting on allegations of corruption within the country in his writing and on television. He was sentenced by a specialized criminal court created with the intent of prosecuting cases pertaining to terrorism. Instead, that court is used to try journalists. Its not just [Crown Prince Salman], Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi exile and critic of the kingdom, told CPJ last year. The Saudi motto of operating is no private enterprise in politics is allowed. You cant come and pretend you have some role to play. We are the only ones who can say, do or act in terms of politics. Anyone who crosses that line would be arrested.

The medical reports, which The Guardian reports will be given to King Salman with recommendations to possibly pardon all the prisoners, or at least those who have serious health issues, come after claims that some female activists who have been jailed have been subjected to lashings and electric shocks while in custody. They represent the first documented evidence from inside the kingdom that political prisoners face severe physical abuse. While the government officially and consistently denies allegations of mistreatment and torture, the leaked medical reports paint another picture entirely.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

More about reporting in Saudi Arabia:

According to The Washington Post s Greg Miller, Jamal Khashoggis children have received homes worth millions and pay of $10,000 a month in Saudi Arabia as compensation for their fathers death.

In a Washington Post op-ed, Columbia University president Lee Bollinger outlines the ways in which US prosecution could, and should, be brought against Khashoggis killers.

Via CPJ, an in-depth look at the repressive environment for reporters and dissidents in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans new Saudi Arabia.

Other notable stories:

The City, a non-profit newsroom covering New York City, launches today. Led by editor in chief Jere Hester, a New York Daily News alum and former director of the NYCity News Service at CUNYs Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, The City seeks to reinvest in local coverage at a time when many New York-based publications have scaled back or closed outright.

YouTube rejected an internal proposal from employees to prioritize vetted news sources and minimize conspiracy-theory videos after the Parkland shooting, according to an investigation by Bloombergs Mark Bergen. Executives chose to prioritize engagement over changing the recommendation algorithm, per employees at Google and YouTube.

More than 200,000 people subscribed to Apple News+ in its first 48 hoursmore than magazine app Texture, which Apple bought a year ago, had at its peak, per a report in The New York Times .

Ahead of Indias upcoming election, Facebook says it removed over 800 Indian and Pakistani Pages, accounts, and Groups for spreading misinformation and propaganda. The company is also launching a tip line to help curb misinformation spread on WhatsApp in the country.

In the wake of the Christchurch shooting, a Motherboard investigation found that YouTube continued to host neo-Nazi propaganda and podcasts. After an inquiry, YouTube demonetized several videos, but did not delete them.

The latest version of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, sponsored by sponsored by Rep. David Cicilline, chairman of the House antitrust subcommittee, and Rep. Doug Collins, is expected to be introduced Wednesday. The legislation would effectively let publishers team up to negotiate together with platform giants Facebook and Google, the Wall Street Journal reports .

Once, during the Obama administration, a website called WorldNetDaily was prominent as a center for spreading the false Obama birther conspiracy theory. At that time, the website offered a glimpse into a future with far more far-right websites. Today, however, WorldNetDaily is struggling. The website faces shrinking readership, falling revenue, and unpaid bills, according to a Washington Post investigation.

ICYMI: You may hate metrics. But theyre making journalism better.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Maya Kosoff is a freelance reporter based in New York City. She's written for Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, Allure, and Business Insider.Last summer, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) hosted its annual conference in Detroit. Representatives of the citys mainstream media were there with recruitment booths. But as much as Detroits publications need the voices of Black people, who make up 80 percent of its population, its newspaperswhose staffs are 75-percent white, overalldidnt have openings.

Detroits 673,000 or so people deserve better representation, many journalists of color say. So do minorities in the citys increasingly diverse suburbs, in which reside the largest Arab-American population in the country. Editors are aware that they have a problem reflecting the citys diversity of residents in their coverage and their newsrooms, but say budget constraints prohibit more hires, even after many have lost journalists of color to buyouts, layoffs, career changes, relocation, and retirement.

READ: The stories left untold in Americas newsrooms

Sometimes editors post their jobs on platforms that they are familiar with instead of asking the people of color in the newsroom if theres another place to look, Vincent D. McCraw, who is president of Detroits NABJ chapter, and who recently took a buyout from The Detroit News, says. Journalism schools should not be the lone avenue for recruitment, he adds. Saying that there is a lack of talent is a common refrain that is frankly not acceptable. There are other avenues to recruit. Recruitment of journalists of color should be a priority for all newsrooms, he insists, even when budgets are tight.

Sarah Rahal, a breaking news reporter at The Detroit News who is Arab-American and fluent in Arabic, says that reporters are often sent to speak with the Arab-American community only in response to an immigration or deportation event, or in the event of a major world-news story involving Arab people. Theres plenty of stories that are yet to be uncovered in the Arab-American community, from ongoing community charities to the tension behind growing Arab adoption centers to the increasing astronomical rates it costs for locals to get Arabic channels, she says. More representation means more accurate, equal coverage.

Martina Guzman, a Race & Justice Journalism Fellow at the Damon Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State Universitys Law School in Detroit, says that legacy outlets often cover ongoing concerns as one-off stories. There are really pressing, critical environmental issues, says Guzman, who is Latina and who previously reported for WDET-FM. There are mass water shutoffs; thousands upon thousands of black families, mostly black women, are getting their homes foreclosed on. Most people in Detroit cannot afford insurance.

Guzman says journalists of color in Detroit are starting their own outlets. They have given up waiting for white editors to do the right thing.

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The bulk of metro Detroit gets its news from two daily newspapers and four local television stations. According to each papers response to a 2018 American Society of News Editors survey, employees of color make up 26 percent of full-time staff at The Detroit News, and 27 percent of the Detroit Free Press. But the current figures are worse, since this year has already brought buyouts.

In the latest downsizing, we lost four African-American professionals from the staff, which was painful, Peter Bhatia, the editor-in-chief of the Free Press, says. Bhatia, who is biracial and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association, acknowledges that the number of journalists of color in his newsroom is not sufficient. We are very aware of where we are and put a tremendous amount of emphasis on trying to make sure we provide authentic coverage of communities of color in the larger area, he says.

Recently, the Free Press reorganized to put more emphasis on urban coverage, with heavy focus on investigative, watchdog, and enterprising reporting, and a reduced focus on crime stories. I think the issues of poverty and race here are deeper and more complex, and require a level of reporting sophistication that is probably harder to find than in other markets, Bhatia says. Thats one of the reasons we have to continue to diversify our staff.

Gary Miles, managing editor of The Detroit News, expresses a similar desire to change his newsrooms numbers. Im not sure that Ive ever been in a newsroom that really adequately reflected the demographics of a region as rich in diversity as metro Detroit, and I certainly wouldnt say were there, says Miles, who is white. The biggest challenge we face, to be honest, is that the past decade has been a time of very low hiring throughout the industry.

Mike Murri is station manager of WXYZ-TV, where 11 out of 30 newscasters are journalists of color. What we try to do in order to be in-tune with the community is we listen, Murri, who is white, says. At the end of the day, that helps us do our job better. Weve been very deliberate about going into the communities and cities, doing informal town hall meetings throughout the year, and talking about topics that impact the neighborhoods without a real agenda other than us listening.

Newer efforts by Detroit journalists, in addition to publications such as the longstanding BLAC magazine, have achieved a diversity of perspectives that better reflect the city. Guzman says journalists of color in Detroit are starting their own outlets, and cites magazines such as Riverwise and Tostada. They have given up waiting for white editors to do the right thing, she says of local journalists of color. I think theres a fountain of incredible freelancers right now for this reason. The stories that they want arent being told, so they decided to start writing the stories that they want to know about. In 2017, the City of Detroits communications department formed The Neighborhoodsan all-Black, all Detroit-raised, six-person team that aims to paint a fuller picture of city news by gathering responses to developments regarding businesses, school opportunities, and affordable housing options from those people most likely to be affected by them.

Branden Hunter, a staff writer for the Michigan Chronicle, an all-Black weekly, grew up on Detroits east side. In order to tell the story of the city, a journalist has to be from the city, Hunter says. But it can be hard to funnel people into the pipeline of legacy media. In my neighborhood, nobody ever wanted to be anything because we didnt know that we could, Hunter says. The only time we were in the newspaper is if we played sports. Youre gonna have the haves and have-nots wherever you go, but you cant keep throwing that notion that there arent two Detroits, or that Detroit is back. Detroit wont be back until everybody is benefitting from it.

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Megan Frye is a writer and translator from Michigan living in Mexico City. She has a history of newsroom reporting and nonprofit administration. An independent journalist, her work has appeared in New York magazine, BBC, Devex, and The Guardian, among others.The billionaire family that owns Purdue Pharma LP says Massachusetts officials cant prove that it or other directors masterminded the alleged illegal marketing of the companys OxyContin painkiller.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healeys lawsuit, seeking to hold the Sacklers and other board members personally liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages tied to opioid abuse in the state, is full of stale allegations that are rife with mischaracterizations and factual inaccuracies and should be thrown out, according to a filing.

The complaint, originally filed last June, fails to specify how any director personally engaged in unlawful promotion of prescription opioids or instructed anyone else to do so, lawyers for family members and for other Purdue officials said in the filing, delivered to Healeys office Tuesday afternoon.

The eight members of the Sackler family named as defendants in the suit also want Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders to dismiss the claims against them on jurisdictional grounds, since none live in the state.

Wave of Litigation

Healey said in a statement that the suit makes clear the role that Purdues executives and directors played in creating and profiting from the opioid crisis and that their motions are an attempt to avoid accountability.

The Sacklers response comes as the family gears up to defend itself from a wave of government litigation taking aim at its wealth as a potential source of revenue to defray the costs of dealing with the nationwide opioid epidemic. The family, known for its philanthropy, has watched doors close on it as museums such as the Guggenheim in New York stopped accepting its donations.

The family is accused of reaping a fortune from abuse of OxyContin that Purdues marketing allegedly fueled. The Sacklers made more than $4 billion between 2008 and 2016, according to Healeys suit, which was unsealed in January. Family members have been sued individually in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Utah as well as Massachusetts. They deny wrongdoing.

Massachusetts accuses Richard Sackler, Purdues former chief executive officer, of personally overseeing illegal tactics it says the company used to increase sales of the highly addictive drug. Sackler denies he did so. In their response, the familys lawyers said Healey inaccurately painted Sackler as involved in the granular details of marketing efforts.

Not Too Bad

The suit mischaracterizes and selectively quotes from the hundreds of documents it cites to create the false impression individual directors micromanaged every aspect of Purdues marketing strategy, they said.

The suit also misconstrues Sacklers response to a 2001 New York Times article that said 59 deaths had been tied to OxyContin overdoses. When Sackler said it was not too bad, he was commenting on the article, which he said could have been far worse, and not on the number, according to the response.

Massachusetts is among three dozen states that have sued Purdue and other opioid makers and distributors for allegedly understating the risks of prescription opioids, overstating their benefits and failing to halt suspiciously large shipments to pharmacies. The companies also face suits from more than 1,500 U.S. cities and counties.

The case is Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Purdue Pharma LP, 1884-cv-01808, Suffolk County Superior Court (Boston).

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.About the photo: A plume of smoke rises in the air following a fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) petrochemical storage site in Deer Park, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 19.

An explosion and fire at a chemical plant northeast of Houston left one person dead and two battling for their lives, just two weeks after a blaze at an oil storage facility caused thousands of gallons of petrochemicals to flow into the citys shipping channel.

The blaze at a chemicals blending facility in Crosby, about 25 miles from central Houston, is now extinguished with no further casualties, Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for Harris County Fire Marshals Office, said by phone. It began at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday when a transfer line carrying isobutylene, a flammable gas, ignited and spread to a nearby warehouse. Firefighters are keeping the site cool to minimize the risk of it catching alight again.

Requests for residents and students at nearby schools to stay inside, known as shelter in place orders, were lifted in the late afternoon as the fire subsided.

Workers interviewed by news channel ABC13 Houston said they were told to evacuate after a chemical leak was discovered and a series of explosions occurred as they were leaving. One said he had to crawl under a fence to get out.

The disaster comes just two weeks after storage tanks owned by Mitsui & Co.s Intercontinental Terminal Co. burned for four days, causing thousands of gallons of gasoline products to pour into the Houston Ship Channel. As many as 1,000 people sought medical attention due to smoke and benzene levels in the air and the waterway was shuttered for days, starving refineries of feedstocks.

Todays incident in Crosby is the third chemical fire in recent weeks, highlighting the insidious nature of corporate pollution in the Houston area, Stephanie Thomas, community organizer at Public Citizen, which advocates for environmental protection, said in a statement. We no longer can accept a culture that places profits before people.

Brake Fluid

The plant in Crosby makes products used in brake fluid, antifreeze and in oil production and refining. Its operated by KMCO LLC, owned by Owner Resource Group LLC , a private equity firm based in Austin, Texas.

KMCOs sites in Crosby and Port Arthur have the capacity to produce more than 900 million pounds (410 million kilograms) a year of chemicals. The Crosby site has 28 reactors and more than 600 chemical storage tanks, according to KMCOs website.

KMCO apologized for the incident in a statement that was tweeted by the Harris Country fire marshals office.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mississippi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was linked to the Browns by many mock drafts early in the draft process. That was when the Browns had the No. 17 pick and before he tore his ACL.

That link might resurface now since Simmons showed via Instagram that the Browns hosted him for a predraft visit on Wednesday. Simmons posted a photo of himself with a Cleveland, Ohio geotag.

From Jeffery Simmons Instagram story.

He later posted a photo of the Browns practice fields.

From Jeffery Simmons Instagram story.

The Browns bought themselves some time if they choose to draft Simmons when they signed defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson to a three-year contract earlier this offseason. Richardsons presence would allow Simmons to essentially redshirt while he rehabs.

The Brownss highest selection is No. 49, midway through the second round. Even with the injury, it could require a move up to select Simmons.

Simmons brings other baggage with him into the draft process. He is seen on video repeatedly striking a woman in a parking lot while breaking up a fight between his sister and another woman. The incident happened while Simmons was in high school and he was still allowed to enroll at Mississippi State.

Browns GM John Dorsey has a history of taking on players with off-field baggage, including, most recently, running back Kareem Hunt, cut by the Chiefs after video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman in a downtown Cleveland hotel hallway.

Get Browns Insider texts in your phone from Mary Kay Cabot: Cut through the clutter of social media and communicate directly with the award-winning Browns reporter, just like you would with your friends. Its just $3.99 a month, which works out to about 13 cents a day. Learn more and sign up here.BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Theft, Royalton Road: On March 8, police were dispatched to The Boneyard after a waitress discovered that a customer had left without paying his bill, which totaled $46.42.

The employee said the man had bought two beers, three shots and wings. In fact, the man purchased shots for a couple. While the waitress didnt know the man, it turned out that another waitress went to high school with him.

Police called the mans last known address, but were unable to locate him. He was cited for theft.

Theft, Golden Lane: On March 6, police were dispatched to a Golden Lane residence regarding a theft report. An arriving officer talked to the homeowner, who said they recently had had contractors in the home fixing a basement bathroom.

They also have a camera in a basement bedroom to keep an eye on the womans mother, who suffers from dementia. That day, they observed one of the contractors going through several drawers.

When they confronted the worker, he denied taking anything. After the worker left the home, the owners discovered more than $8,000 worth of jewelry was missing. They called the contractor, who later returned with the box of jewelry.

The police charged the worker with theft.

Theft, Broadview Road: On March 25, police were dispatched to Bike Authority after an employee discovered that two customers had stolen a $6,799 bike.

The man said two women had entered the store. A short time later, one woman went to the back of the store to distract the employee while her partner-in-crime took a bike.

Surveillance video revealed the entire incident, including a man entering the store, looking around and quickly leaving. Police are investigating.STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- Fraud, Greenfield Place: On March 26, a Greenfield Place couple called police after realizing they had been the victims of fraud.

The father and mother told the officer that they received a call saying their son was in jail and they needed to send $9,950 via FedEx to a New York City address for his release.

After the couple sent the package full of money, they talked to their son on the phone and learned the call was a scam.

An arriving officer was able to talk to FedEx, which said the package was still at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The couple was able to get the package before it left for the Big Apple.

Shoplifting, SouthPark Center: On March 26, a mall employee observed a couple previously suspected of stealing merchandise go into a fitting room. When the man and woman left the room, the employee discovered empty hangers.

An arriving officer found the duo in the parking lot. The woman was arrested for shoplifting.

Rogue car seat, Pearl Road: On March 26, a concerned passerby called police about a childs car seat in the middle of Pearl Road.

An arriving officer located the seat, which by then had been put on the tree lawn with the hope the owner would come back searching for their lost property.

Robbery, Janette Drive: On March 26, a woman was selling an item to a man, who used a counterfeit $100 bill for the purchase.

When the woman refused to open her car door, the man through the open window began to hit her in the head. She then went to the police station to report the incident.

The driver refused medical treatment. Police are investigating.

Suspicious situation, Royalton Road: On March 26, an employee of a Royalton Road business witnessed two men steal license plates off a gold van.

The officer talked to the vans owner, who said he had just sold the vehicle and that the new owner would be driving it away from the parking lot later that day.

Suspicious situation, Whitney Road: On March 26, a Whitney Road resident called police after discovering that his girlfriend, who was recently released from a treatment facility, had ransacked his apartment.

The man told the officer that he contacted the leasing office to take her name off the apartment. As far as the ransacking is concerned, it was just clothes thrown around the apartment. There was no theft.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Theft, Warrensville Center Road: At 5:40 p.m. March 25, police were called to Macys, 2201 Warrensville Center Road, where loss prevention officers were engaged in a struggle with a man, 19. The man was subdued and arrested on a charge of grand theft.

With the man was a girl, 17. The girl was charged with theft and robbery.

Assault, Warrensville Center Road: At 11:25 p.m. March 26, a man, 21, reported that he had been assaulted at his home by his roommate.

Police arrested the roommate, a Pennsylvania man, 23, and charged him with assault.

Driving under suspension, Warrensville Center Road: At 11:50 p.m. March 27, police stopped for a traffic violation a car driven by a Wickliffe woman, 30. The woman was cited for driving with a suspended license. A small amount of marijuana found in her vehicle was seized.

Warrant arrest, Warrensville Center Road: At 1:25 a.m. March 28, police checked the registration of a car and made a traffic stop after it was found that the owner/operator had a suspended license.

The cars driver, a South Euclid woman, 37, was cited for driving under suspension and was arrested on a Highland Heights police warrant.

Hit-skip, Cedar Road: At 3:05 a.m. March 28, two off-duty South Euclid police officers working at the Cedar Road resurfacing construction site notified University Heights police that a car had been driven through the construction zone and had struck two workers.

The car then continued east on Cedar Road. Other police agencies were notified, and the suspects car was shortly after found on Cedar Road at Ohio 91, where it had struck a telephone pole in Gates Mills and ended up on the property of Gilmour Academy.

The two construction workers -- an Elyria man, 46, and a Rocky River man, 54 -- were hospitalized in critical condition.

The driver, a Richfield man, 64, was taken to Hillcrest Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

OVI, Warrensville Center Road: At 2:45 a.m. March 29, police arrested a Mentor man, 21, for driving a car while intoxicated. The man was also cited for driving an unsafe vehicle.

Runaways, Fairmount Boulevard: At 7:05 p.m. March 31, it was reported that a boy, 17, had run away from Bellefaire JCB, 22001 Fairmount Blvd.

At 7:20 p.m. the same day, Bellefaire JCB reported that a girl, 17, had also run away from the facility.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.LYNDHURST, Ohio -- Warrant arrest, Richmond Road: At 9:55 a.m. March 29, an officer checked the registration of a car and learned that its owner had a suspended license.

A traffic stop was made and the driver, a Cleveland Heights woman, 27, was cited for driving under suspension.

A friend of the drivers -- a South Euclid woman, 24 -- was called to the scene to drive home the car. It was subsequently learned that the South Euclid woman also had a suspended license and that she was wanted on a warrant by police in her home city.

The South Euclid woman was arrested on the warrant.

Theft, Cedar Road: At 2:35 p.m. March 30, a woman reported that, the night before, she had left her purse in the lobby of the Hyatt Place Hotel, 24665 Cedar Road.

She was able to recover the purse and the wallet inside, but found that $300 was missing. Police viewed video surveillance, but were unable to determine who took the money.

Domestic violence, Croyden Road: At 9 p.m. March 29, a woman, 28, reported that she had been choked by her boyfriend, 35. The woman further stated that the man had threatened to beat her if she called police.

The woman called police while upstairs with her children in her home, while the man was in the basement. Police arrested the man and charged him with domestic violence.

Theft, Cedar Road: At 5:25 p.m. March 28, police arrested a Cleveland woman, 24, who was an employee of Nordstrom Rack, 25149 Cedar Road at Legacy Village.

The woman is accused of stealing money from the store by making fraudulent sales and returns.

OVI, Brainard Road: At 8:55 p.m. March 27, police investigated a three-car crash and learned that one of the drivers, a Lyndhurst man, 27, was intoxicated. The man refused to take a breath test and was transported to Hillcrest Hospital for a blood draw.

The man was charged with OVI.

OVI, Richmond Road: At 2:35 a.m. March 27, an officer stopped a car that was seen weaving. It was subsequently learned that the driver, a Cleveland man, 29, was intoxicated.

The man was charged with OVI.

Theft, Cedar Road: At 9:20 p.m. March 26, a man reported that his wallet and personal items had been stolen from his gym bag while he was at LA Fitness, 25145 Cedar Road.

Domestic violence, Gordon Road: At 3:40 a.m. March 26, a man reported that a woman who lives next door was at his house stating that she had been involved in a physical altercation with her boyfriend, 31.

The woman, 26, said her boyfriend had had a few drinks earlier, but was not intoxicated. Police arrested the boyfriend and charged him with domestic violence.

If you would like to discuss the police blotter, please visit our crime and courts comments page.CLEVELAND, Ohio  A classical Catholic school sued the city of South Euclid on Wednesday, arguing an anti-discrimination law passed last year violates the schools religious rights by threatening penalties for its stances on issues such as gay marriage and gender identity.

The Lyceums lawsuit, filed in federal court in Cleveland, says it has not been accused of violating the ordinance but that its admissions and employment policies likely violate the ordinance due to its teachings and requirements of students and faculty.

The school teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman, that people should only have sex after marriage and that a persons gender is assigned at birth. It says it aligns these beliefs with the Catholic Churchs teachings and expects all students and staff to abide by them. Students who disagree with any of the schools teachings may be denied admission or kicked out, the lawsuit says.

South Euclids ordinance forbids the denial of rights, including employment, based upon sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, among other categories. It does not contain any exemption for religious beliefs, according to The Lyceums lawsuit.

A South Euclid official said the ordinance does not cover educational institutions and that religious discrimination is barred by federal law, which trumps any local or state law. But the citys community services director said language about educational institutions was removed from the law before it passed, and an attorney representing The Lyceum said South Euclid officials deleted a religious exemption from the ordinance before it passed.

The lawsuit says the ordinance is vague and unconstitutional. It asks a federal judge to block it from being enforced.

The Lyceum, which has 53 students in the current school year, operates out of a building owned by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish. The school, which caters toward students from sixth grade through high school, has been in operation since 2003, first founded on Murray Hill Road in Clevelands Little Italy neighborhood. It is independent of the Diocese of Cleveland.

A group of students held signs with slogans like Dont Put Our School in Detention" during a news conference Wednesday outside The Lyceum. The schools headmaster Luke Macik said South Euclids ordinance threatens to crush us.

The government must respect deeply-held religious beliefs about marriage and human sexuality that have been shared for centuries by Christians, Muslims, Jews and others, he said.

The Lyceum is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative Christian group. It has been involved in several cases that have made their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, most recently a case involving a baker in Colorado who refused to make a cake for a gay couples wedding.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Alliance Defending Freedom a hate group for its staunch anti-LGBT stance and its support for laws criminalizing sodomy. Despite that, the group has seen success at the nations high court.

South Euclid officials passed their ordinance in April 2018. It drew praise from LGBT groups such as Equality Ohio, which lobbied for its passage, but condemnation and worry from others who said their religious freedom would be infringed. Its passage came months before Cuyahoga County passed a similar law.

Macik was among those who spoke out against the South Euclid ordinance before it was passed.

South Euclids ordinance established a civil rights review board consisting of the mayor or the mayors designee, a council member and three residents. If someone believes they have been discriminated against, they can file a complaint with the board, which can take remedial action. Violations are considered a third-degree misdemeanor, the suit says.

The Lyceum has drafted a sexuality policy to explain what beliefs are expected of students and staff members, as well as an employment policy. The schools board of trustees has not formally adopted either, for fear that they will violate the citys laws, the suit says.

The law was horrifically drafted and is extremely vague, said Christiana Holcomb, an Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer representing The Lyceum. She later added that South Euclid lawmakers deleted a religious exemption from the law before it passed.

South Euclid Community Services Director Keith Benjamin said the city worked with residents and employers from all backgrounds to craft its ordinance and to account for concerns The Lyceum had. The response to those concerns resulted in language about educational institutions being removed from the ordinance before it passed, Benjamin said.

South Euclid is a diverse community and we have worked very hard to be a welcoming place and to protect the rights of all who call South Euclid home continue to work toward those goals," Benjamin said.

He added that the city has received no complaints of violating its ordinance since its passage last year.

Also in attendance at Wednesdays news conference were representatives of Equality Ohio. Gwen Stembridge, the organizations statewide civic engagement director, also said that part of the law says nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit a religious or denominational institution from preferring to employ an individual of a particular religion to perform work connected with the performance of religious activities by the institution.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge James Gwin.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Wednesdays crime and courts comments section.CLEVELAND, Ohio  The current head of Cleveland-Cliffs, a multi-billion-dollar mineral extraction company based in downtown Cleveland, was named in a 2005 sexual harassment lawsuit in Texas that cost his then-company more than $300,000 in a settlement, according to court documents.

A judge in 2006 sealed the records of the case, including the settlement agreement between Houston-based Metals USA and an employee who said then-chairman and CEO C. Lourenco Goncalves pulled her onto his lap, groped her and sucked on her ear inside his office suite.

But copies of several documents, including the employees complaint and a copy of the settlement agreement, are exhibits filed in a subsequent legal battle between Metals USA and its insurance company, which refused to cover the claim.

The case went largely unnoticed until earlier this year when a user uploaded images of several documents from the case on Cleveland-Cliffss Wikipedia page.

Goncalves has in recent years carved out an area in the public space as an expert in the natural resources industry, through numerous appearances on business news networks such as CNBC. The same time period has brought higher public scrutiny to current and past cases in which CEOs, artists and other public figures were accused of sexual impropriety in cases that settled out of court with terms that prevent the accuser of discussing the accusations publicly.

Goncalves, a native of Brazil and longtime titan in the metals industry, most recently made headlines in October when he publicly berated financial analysts on a conference call.

James Graham, Cleveland-Cliffs executive vice president and chief legal officer, said in a phone interview with cleveland.com that Goncalves declined to weigh in for this story because the 2005 settlement required both Goncalves and his accuser to refrain from making public comments about the lawsuit.

Cleveland-Cliffs executives had known of the allegations for several years prior to the Wikipedia posting, Graham said. He pointed to an internal investigation by Metals USA that turned up no evidence to corroborate the employees accusation.

Goncalves did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which Graham characterized as a nuisance value.

Lourencos been with our company for nearly five years. There have been no suggestions of any kind of improper conduct during that time, Graham said. We clearly take allegations of any kind of workplace misconduct seriously, but we dont really feel a 14-year-old story should tarnish all the good work Lourenco has done to turn Cliffs around.

Metals USA closed its Houston office and in 2013 merged with Reliance Steel & Aluminum. Representatives at that company could not be reached for comment.

What the employee says happened

The employee says in her complaint that she was working late on March 7, 2005, at Metals USAs office. She often stayed late and started early and worked her way from Goncalves assistant to a manager, according to the complaint. She no longer reported Goncalves, the complaint said.

Goncalves was also at the office that night, and he came down to the employees office while she was the phone, the complaint says. He beckoned her to come to his office, a suite separated from the rest of the office by a set of glass doors that were always closed, the complaint says.

The employee ended her conversation and went to his office. Goncalves at first talked business, but eventually his voice changed, and his comments turned sexual, the complaint says. Goncalves grabbed the employee by the wrist and pulled her to his body, then ran his arm and hand over her breasts and said ummm, feels good, the complaint says.

He pressed his face against her breasts and moaned, the complaint says. The employee pulled away from Goncalves and said she had to go because she was expecting a delivery person to come to the office, the complaint says. Goncalves told her she didnt have to go and pulled her back to him, the complaint says.

He continued to grope her and moved his hands beneath her sweater, the complaint says. She twice more tried to pull away from him, the complaint said. Goncalves pulled her onto his lap, said to be quiet because somebody will hear you and told her to lock the door, the complaint says.

She again mentioned the delivery person and tried to get up again. Goncalves again pulled her back onto his lap, and continued fondling her body, the complaint says.

She finally pulled away, stood up, said she was married and held up her finger to show Goncalves her wedding ring. Goncalves said he was under the impression it was over, and she turned to walk out of his office, according to the complaint.

Goncalves called out her name, but she didnt stop, the complaint says.

The employee reported the incident to her boss three days later. This triggered an internal investigation.

The lawsuit

The employee filed a lawsuit a little over a month later, before the internal investigation concluded. She accused Goncalves and Metals USA of sexual battery and assault. The complaint says that the company took no action against Goncalves over the incident, and that she suffered disgrace, shame, embarrassment and humiliation, as well as mental and physical anguish, over the attack.

The filing also sought punitive damages against Goncalves and the company to set an example for the community, the suit said.

Lawyers for Goncalves, the company and for the employee spent several months exchanging documents as part of discovery before reaching a settlement agreement, signed by both Goncalves and the employee on Nov. 12, 2005, in which Metals USA agreed to pay $300,000 to the employee and her lawyers, plus reimburse her for her attorneys fees up to $15,000 and pay for her monthly health benefits for 18 months or until she obtained insurance through another employer.

The employee accepted the settlement and resigned her position at the company, according to the agreement.

In exchange, she signed a non-disclosure agreement that barred her from discussing the existence, facts or terms of this agreement, the amounts reflected in this agreement, or the substance of the negotiations leading to this agreement to anyone other than her lawyers, accountants, tax preparers or medical professionals, and only if those people agree to keep the information confidential, the agreement says.

The employee also signed a non-disparagement clause that prevented her from saying anything about the lawsuit she filed or say anything negative about Metals USA or Goncalves, the agreement says.

If anyone asked her what the status of the lawsuit or her employment at Metals USA, the agreement ordered the employee to only say, The Company and I amicably resolved the litigation. I dismissed the lawsuit and resigned my position with the Company, the agreement says.

The agreement also limited Metals USA and Goncalves to making a nearly identical statement if asked about the lawsuit.

The employee also gave up her right to bring any further claims against Metals USA or Goncalves for any actions that occurred before the signing of the agreement.

Lawyers for both the employee and the company filed a joint motion in early 2006 asking the judge overseeing the case to seal the records containing details of the allegations against Goncalves, according to court records. The judge granted the motion and sealed the documents in an order dated May 30, 2006.

The insurance fight

By the time the judge ordered the records sealed, Metals USA had already filed a lawsuit against its insurers, National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh and AIG Domestic Claims, after agents at the insurance companies refused to cover the $300,000-plus payout.

AIG claims adjusters determined the employees lawsuit did not fall under a workplace sexual harassment claim, which would have been covered under the policy, because she accused Goncalves of committing sexual battery and assault, according to court records. The companys policy did not cover claims of bodily injury, so AIG denied the request for coverage, lawyers for National Union wrote in court filings.

Metals USA and the insurance companies couldnt agree, and Metals USA filed the lawsuit shortly after entering the settlement agreement with the employee.

Less than two months after a lawyer representing Metals USA had asked the judge to seal records of the complaint and the settlement agreement, a different lawyer representing the company in the insurance fight attached the same documents to a July 21, 2006, court filing in order to convince the judge the claims should have been covered.

Metals USA and the insurance companies settled out of court and the lawsuit was dismissed before the judge had a chance to rule on its merits, court records show.

The internal investigation

One of the documents sealed in the harassment case but publicly filed in the insurance fight was a report presented to the companys board of directors detailing the companys investigation of the womans claims.

The report was dated May 5, 2005, a little more than a week after the employee filed the lawsuit.

The companys then-human resources director interviewed the employee and other employees, including male and female employees. None said that Goncalves had ever acted inappropriately around them, the report said. The human resources director also interviewed Goncalves, who denied the employees allegations, the report said.

The company hired an outside lawyer to conduct an independent probe, and Goncalves was cooperative with her, the report said.

In the end, the investigation concluded that the incident was a classic she said-he said scenario.

The report also said that the company received a letter from an attorney representing the woman in which the lawyer demanded $4.25 million to resolve the issue, the report said. The company offered $200,000 and did not respond when the lawyer lowered the demand to $3 million, the report said.

The employee, the report stated, had confided to a co-worker that she had been the victim of sexual impropriety by men before. The reports author placed the word victim in quotation marks.

In short, there is no evidence of which the Company is aware to substantiate the Employees allegations, but there is evidence that she has a history of claiming to be a victim of men, the report said.

The board did not discipline Goncalves, the employees lawsuit says.

Goncalvess rise

The negotiations took place at a critical time for Goncalves and Metals USA.

After the companys stocks had declined between the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005, Metals USA announced that a New York-based private investment firm agreed to buy the companys stocks, the Houston Chronicle reported. Goncalves was a member of the group that bought the company and remained CEO under the deal, the paper reported.

The deal was worth $450 million, or $22 per share, the price before the recent down turn, according to the Chronicle.

The newspaper quoted an analyst praising Goncalves, who took the helm of the company in 2003 and helped catapult the fledgling maker of steel products to a $104 million profit in 2004 a nearly 14-fold increase over its profits the previous year.

Charles Bradford, a metal analyst at Soleil Securities, told the paper that Goncalves has been good at taking a previously mismanaged company and putting all the pieces together and organizing it, according to the Chronicle.

The company announced the deal had been finalized in a Nov. 30, 2005, news release, less than three weeks after it had agreed to the $300,000 payout.

We are extremely pleased to have delivered such great value to our existing stockholders while at the same time attracting a sophisticated investor such as Apollo Management, Goncalves said in the news release. This transaction is a clear endorsement of our business model and industry leadership.

Goncalves stayed on at Metals USA through 2011.

Goncalves re-emerges

CEO berates analysts on conference call: 'You are a disaster...they will have to commit suicide' https://t.co/6TN4cz7ixv pic.twitter.com/EeHFMBaIVs  CNBC (@CNBC) October 19, 2018

Goncalves in 2014 led a group of activist shareholders in a corporate take-over of Cleveland-Cliffs, which bills itself on its website as the largest iron ore producer of pellets in North America." The group gained control of the majority of the seats on the companys board of directors and voted to name Goncalves the new CEO and board chairman, the same position he held at Metals USA.

Goncalvess time in Cleveland has not been free of controversy.

He sued a financial analyst in 2017 after the analyst, Axioms Gordon Johnson, recommended that investors sell stock in Cleveland-Cliffs after Goncalves purchased 200,000 shares with his own money, a move Johnson said was a ploy to inflate the companys stock price.

The case settled out of court in August, and Axiom published a correction in which it admitted that it had omitted several other major stock purchases from its report.

Goncalves made national headlines in October when he berated several analysts on a quarterly conference call.

Goncalves said his company was looking at rewarding longtime shareholders with stock buybacks, which he said are going to screw this guy so badly that ... they will have to commit suicide, and told one analyst on the call who earlier recommended investors hold their stock on the company, you can run but you can't hide, CNBC reported.

Goncalves stood by his comments in an interview with CNBC later that day, saying he was calling out bad math.

In that interview, Goncalves called other CEOs "cookie-cutter people."

Im different. You like it great, you dont like it, great, he said.UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio  A Richfield man who spent 37 years in prison for a murder he didnt commit has been arrested and charged in a crash that killed one construction worker and injured another in University Heights.

Wiley Bridgeman, 64, is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and stopping after an accident in connection with the March 28 crash, police said Wednesday in a news release.

David Sollars, 54, of Rocky River, died of injuries caused by the crash, according to police and court records. A 46-year-old man from Elyria was also hurt.

Bridgeman was initially charged with vehicular assault and stopping after an accident when he was arrested Tuesday night. The aggravated vehicular homicide charge was added Wednesday, police said.

Bridgeman remains hospitalized at Hillcrest Hospital. His first court date has not yet been set.

Bridgeman is accused of driving recklessly when he struck the workers about 3 a.m. on Cedar Road near South Green Road in University Heights, court records say. The workers were part of a crew setting up a construction zone along the roadway.

Both construction workers were in critical condition when they were first taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.

Bridgeman kept driving until he struck a telephone pole at Cedar Road and Soms Center Road in Gates Mills, police said. He called 911 and told a dispatcher that he was driving too fast when he struck the telephone pole, according to a recording of the call.

Bridgeman was one of three men  along with Rickey Jackson and Kwame Ajamu  who were wrongfully convicted of a 1975 murder and spent 37 years in prison.

A jury convicted the trio in the death of Harold Franks, who was killed outside a convenience store on Clevelands East Side. They were also convicted of trying to kill store owner Anna Robinson.

A judge sentenced the three men to death, but their sentences were reduced to life in prison in 1978 when the state of Ohio enacted a moratorium on the death penalty.

Nearly 40 years later, Eddie Vernon  a key witness in the trial who was 12 years old at the time -- recanted his testimony. Vernon testified in 2014 that detectives pressured him to lie on the witness stand.

County judges subsequently cleared the three men of the charges. Bridgeman and Jackson were released in 2014 with the help of the Ohio Innocence Project. Ajamu was previously paroled in 2003.

To comment on this story, visit Wednesdays crime and courts comments page.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Washington Post has been keeping a count of President Trumps false and misleading statements since he took office. The total number of Trump lies is now over 9,400. Trump added to the total at his Michigan rally when he revealed his $300 million funding request for Great Lakes restoration with a great big lie.

"You ready? Can you handle it? Trump asked the wound up wolverines. 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 over 30 years. So we will get it done.

In fact, Trump has not always supported the Great Lakes. Up until this year what Orange Roughy Trump has always supported is cutting funding to Great Lakes cleanup.

His first year as Commodore-in-Chief, Trump sought to eliminate the G.L.Restoration program all together. The past two years, Trump only requested $30 million in his budget for the cleanup efforts. All three times, Congress overrode Trumps budget cuts and gave the program $300 million.

Trumps reversal is as welcomed as his reversal on Special Olympics. Trump said hes seeking the $300 million in honor of his friends. Who are his friends? Spongebob and the Little Mermaid?

If Mar-a-Lago was up at Put-in-Bay, Trump would ensure the Great Lakes were always pristine. And if Mexico was where Canada is, and the invading Asian Carp were called Mexican Carp, the Great Lakes Restoration project would be fully funded and include a giant wall, or two.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Vinyl Groove, a record shop that has established itself in downtown Bedford, is opening a second larger location in Slavic Village in late 2019 or early 2020.

Owner David Wolfe has purchased the building located at 5109 Fleet Ave. and begun the renovation process on the space.

Its been vacant for at least nine years, Wolfe said. Were renovating the building with the vision of restoring as much of it, as far as we can, to its original luster from when it was built.

That includes removing drop ceilings and restoring original tin ceilings, and tearing down three layers of siding over the buildings original siding, Wolfe said.

Wolfe has been working toward owning a second shop for years, following the success hes had with his Bedford location of The Vinyl Groove. But he found challenges in finding the right fit.

Wed been looking for a long time, Wolfe said. It was one pitfall after the next until this one came along.

He was offered to buy and operate a bar in Slavic Village in 2000, but declined at the time. Then, Wolfe purchased the same building in September of 2018 from Slavic Village Development for $2,000, according to Cuyahoga County records. Since then, hes been working on extensive renovations.

The new space, at about 2,000 square feet, is much larger than The Vinyl Grooves Bedford location. Wolfe hopes to host DJ nights and in-store band performances at the new spot.

Wolfe says the new store will offer the same mix of used and new vinyl that hes known for at his Bedford location. He hopes to add to the shops selection of 45s.

In the future if we ever do need to add on to the building, theres plenty of room there to do such, Wolfe said.

You can follow the Vinyl Groove on Facebook for more updates about the new storefront and upcoming events.

(This story has been updated to reflect that in 2000, Wolfe was offered to purchase the building when it operated as a bar, not to be a record store.)CLEVELAND, Ohio  Cuyahoga County Council is expected to vote next week on a one-year lease of the Euclid Jail after a committee on Tuesday shot down a five-year lease sought by County Executive Armond Budishs administration.

Read the full story here.

Council members opted for the one-year deal because they want time to study finances at the Euclid Jail before considering a longer lease. Committee Chair Michael Gallagher said the county was bleeding money on the facility, which costs the county about $2.4 million per year.

Gallagher also wants time to see how plans to rebuild or renovate the downtown Justice Center, which houses the main jail, may impact the countys use of satellite facilities such as Euclid.CLEVELAND, Ohio  FBI agents arrested four men Wednesday when they raided several homes in Greater Cleveland as part of an ongoing drug investigation, authorities said.

Court filings say the case is related to an ongoing investigation involving heroin and fentanyl trafficking and money laundering. Agents tapped phones as part of their case, according to a court filing by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Sweeney.

Further details of the investigation were not immediately known. FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said she could not discuss the case.

Three men were arrested, while a fourth man turned himself in, officials said. All four face federal charges of drug conspiracy and use of a communications facility to facilitate a felony drug offense.

Three of the men  Alquin Wells, Malcolm Collins and Ronelle Davis  made their initial appearances Wednesday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Parker. They are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, and preliminary and detention hearings are set for April 10.

The fourth man, Travon Gales, will make his initial appearance Thursday morning.

Parker ordered the affidavit FBI agent Todd Platt wrote to support the defendants arrests to be sealed. Parker also restricted the ability of the defendants and their attorneys to share the affidavit or whats in it.

Sweeney requested the affidavit be sealed to protect sources and information in the ongoing investigation. She wrote in a court filing that more people could be charged in the coming weeks.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The labels humans give one another -- straight, gay, Muslim, Christian, Republican, Democrat -- are standing in the way of a good conversation, advocate Irshad Manji says.

Author of Dont Label Me: An Incredible Conversation for Difficult Times, Manji wants people to look past the labels. Those who champion diversity, she told NBC News, must include different viewpoints, not just different religions or ethnicities.

Manji is no stranger to labels: she was born in Africa but moved to Canada as a child. She is Islamic and gay. Shes the author of two books about Islamic reform, advocating for Muslims to examine the religion and bring it forward with more progressive ideals.

She will speak about how to open up a conversation in a divided world on Friday at the City Club of Cleveland.

"Im not asking anybody to compromise or dilute their convictions by listening to people who disagree with them, not at all. What Im saying is you can both stand your ground and seek common ground so that you can be heard in a way that you wouldnt have otherwise, she told the Vancouver Sun.

The World Economic Forum selected Manji as a Young Global Leader" in 2004. Also among her accolades is the New York Society for Ethical Cultures Ethical Humanist Award in 2012.

Manji is also the founder of the Moral Courage Project, an educational nonprofit. The projects YouTube channel, which tells stories about people challenging the status quo or their personal fears, has more than 17,000 subscribers and 2 million views.

Watch Manjis speech live in the video player above at 12:30 p.m.WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Wednesday urged Republicans to take a more surgical approach to fixing the nations health care problems than eliminating the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.

What it boils down to is: What is the proper remedy? said Yost, who filed a legal brief on Monday in a Texas case that aims to overturn the 2010 legislation that overhauled parts of the nations health care system. If the patient has a tumor, you dont kill the patient. You cut the tumor out. That is what we think should happen here.

Yosts legal brief broke with many in his political party who say the law should be overturned. His predecessor as Ohio Attorney General, Gov. Mike DeWine, filed legal briefs in other cases that urged its elimination

Yost told an Axios conversation on the future of the Affordable Care Act that he agrees the part of the law that mandates coverage is unconstitutional, but said that insurance guarantees for roughly 1.9 million non-elderly Ohioans with pre-existing medical conditions could end if the law is eliminated. The laws elimination could also keep young adults in their early 20s from getting health insurance through their parents.

He predicted that a district court decision that struck down the entire Affordable Care Act is not likely to survive all the way to the Supreme Court.

I think the Supreme Court will find that you cut out the tumor, you dont kill the patient, said Yost.Nearly half the Ohio Houses 61 Republicans are sponsors or co-sponsors of a bill that seeks to end the training and permit requirements for those 21 or older, without disqualifying convictions, who want to legally carry a concealed weapon in Ohio. The proposal, House Bill 174, also would expand the definition of concealed weapons to include rifles and shotguns.

The bill, whose primary sponsors are GOP Reps. Ron Hood, of Ashville, south of Columbus, and Tom Brinkman, of the Cincinnati area, is as unnecessary as it is foolhardy.

Most of the 27 Republican co-sponsors are from southern and western Ohio, but three northern Ohioans also back the bill: Reps. Don Manning, of suburban Youngstown; Mark Romanchuk, of the Mansfield area; and Scott Wiggam, of Wooster.

How foolhardy is this bill?

Not all members of our editorial board necessarily agree with our editorial positions that the states steady loosening of gun restrictions represents dangerous and shortsighted political pandering to a rapacious gun lobby -- and that it has decreased public safety, instead of enhancing it.

But our board is unanimous in condemning the current drive to flat-out end the licensing and training requirements that have underpinned Ohios concealed-carry law since then-Gov. Bob Taft signed it into being more than 15 years ago, in January 2004.

If someone is going to carry a hidden firearm, that person should be required to go through a licensing process that includes firearms training. Period.

The usual constitutional issues about gun ownership and the debate how far those rights should extend shouldnt come into this. Abandoning sensible and merited limits on concealed weapons licensure and safety just doesnt make sense, and would create unacceptable new risks for police officers, among others.

Last year, the General Assembly refused to act on a gun-safety package proposed by then-Gov. John Kasich that, among other features, called for tightening background checks on gun buyers. That was, and remains, a sensible idea. In contrast, the Hood-Brinkman bill is anything but. The Ohio House should reject it.

About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.

* Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the Follow option at the top of the comments, & look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com.CLEVELAND, Ohio  Former Gov. John Kasich has formed a policy group to promote center-right political viewpoints with several prominent critics of Republican President Donald Trump.

Based in Dublin, the group is called Two Paths America, named for Kasichs 2017 publication, Two Paths. The groups website says it was formed to promote reasonable and proven solutions to Americas challenges.

Two Paths America is focused broadly on public policy that encourages a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution, the need for a strong national defense rooted in Americas international leadership, a forward-looking national energy plan that meets current needs economically while developing renewable energy resources for the future, and a renewal of a national sense of community and exemplary citizenship, reads a blurb about the group on its website. Specifically, Two Paths America will provide infrastructure to support this agenda, including staff, list management, social media, public relations and educational events.

Among those joining Kasich are former California Gov. and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman Jennifer Horn, former New Hampshire Republican Party chair. All are vocal critics of Trump.

Possibly the most notable board member, however, is Bill Kristol, the former editor of the Weekly Standard who has openly mused about backing a primary challenger to Trump. That includes reportedly courting Kasich for the task.

Kasich, who served two terms as Ohio governor before leaving office in 2019, has done little to quell the speculation that he might launch a third bid for the presidency. Now a CNN commentator, the formation of the political group will only add to that.

Especially since Kasichs Two Paths America is organized as a dark money group, meaning they arent required by the IRS to disclose their donors.

Though they are not allowed to directly advocate on behalf of a candidate, they can espouse a candidates positions  like Kasichs  and attack those they disagree with  like Trumps.

The news of Kasichs new group also comes a day after it was announced he would publish his fifth book in October, titled Its Up To Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change. Presidential candidates frequently publish books during their campaigns as a means of promotion.

Neither a spokesperson for Kasich nor the organization responded to a request for comment.COLUMBUS, OhioThe Ohio House on Wednesday almost unanimously passed legislation to help Pike County pay for the multi-million-dollar cost of prosecuting and defending four suspects accused of the largest mass murder in state history.

House Bill 85, which now heads to the Ohio Senate, would allow Pike County and other smaller counties to appeal to the state to help pay for large, expensive murder trials such as the upcoming trial of George Wagner, his wife and two sons for the 2016 execution-style slayings of eight members of the Rhoden family.

The cost of prosecuting and defending the four (each have court-appointed attorneys) is expected to exceed $4 million, according to Republican state Rep. Shane Wilkin, the Highland County Republican co-sponsoring House Bill 85.

As Pike Countys overall annual budget is about $10 million per year, having to shoulder that cost alone would cripple the countys ability to provide basic services, Wilkin said Wednesday on the House floor.

Justice is not reserved for wealthy individuals or for counties in strong financial positions, said Wilkin, whose district covers Pike County.

Under the bill, commissioners from any of Ohios 88 counties would be able to petition the attorney generals office and state public defenders office for financial help with capital murder trials that have multiple defendants and/or victims and are estimated to cost at least 5 percent of their countys annual budget.

The AGs office and state public defenders office would then seek Ohio Controlling Board approval to provide state funding to the county.

Attorney General Dave Yost, Ohio Public Defender Tim Young, the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, and the County Commissioners Association of Ohio have each expressed support for the legislation.

HB 85 passed the House 93-2 as an emergency measure -- meaning it would take effect as soon as Gov. Mike DeWine signs it instead of after the usual 90-day waiting period. The only two no votes were cast by Republican state Reps. Niraj Antani of the Dayton area and Tom Brinkman of Cincinnati.Rotunda Rumblings

Final numbers: The Ohio General Assembly finally passed the two-year transportation budget Tuesday evening, with a 10.5-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase and a 19-cent diesel increase, cleveland.coms Laura Hancock reports. The tax rates go up July 1, and new revenue will be shared by the state and local governments for roads and bridges.

Front plates going: Front license plates will no longer be required on vehicles, starting July 1, 2020, Hancock reports. However, vehicle owners can still request a front plate if they want it.

Not all hybrids created the same: Hancock also reports that the final version of the bill has fees for electric and hybrid vehicles, only plug-in hybrid owners would have to pay. Clean Fuels Ohio is criticizing the fees.

Book it: Former Gov. John Kasich is planning another book release for this October, cleveland.coms Seth Richardson reports. Titled Its Up To Us: Ten Little Ways We Can Bring About Big Change, the book is conveniently coming out in the run-up to the 2020 election.

Not a yes: Asked to comment on the K-12 school-funding formula unveiled by state lawmakers last week, DeWine responded that his administrations priority was his own proposal to spend $550 million over two years on wrap-around services for at-risk students. Asked whether he thought his plan and the legislatures plan  which calls for $720 million over two years  could both fit into the state budget, he said: I dont know that. I just dont know.

Slightly stronger heartbeat: The Ohio House Health Committee on Tuesday added new language to the heartbeat bill that would make its abortion restrictions a bit stricter. As cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer reports, the changes include allowing the Ohio State Medical Board to impose a $10,000 fine each time a doctor performs an abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

Opportunity knocking: A bill allowing state tax write-offs for investments in Opportunity Zones  designated economically distressed areas created through the recent federal tax overhaul  unanimously cleared the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday. There are 320 Opportunity Zones across the state, including 64 in Cuyahoga County and 43 and Franklin County.

Keeping the Great Lakes great: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, an Ohio native, says he backs the pledge President Donald Trump made at a rally last week to fund Great Lakes cleanup, cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton reports. I love the Great Lakes and I completely agree with President Trump, Wheeler told a congressional committee Tuesday. All three budgets Trump has submitted to Congress since taking office have called for drastic cuts to the lakes program.

Wright-Patt funding at risk: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton could lose $4 million in federal funding after the U.S. Senate on Monday failed to pass an emergency aid bill for disaster victims. As the Dayton Daily News Jack Torry explains, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson has said that if the Senate cant pass the relief bill, she is prepared to strip money from Wright-Patt and projects in 17 other states to pay for repairs to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, which was damaged by a hurricane and a tornado in the past year.

Gerrymandering in action? The Cincinnati Enquirers Scott Wartman dug into court documents involving Ohios federal gerrymandering lawsuit and found some interesting stories, including a Hamilton County man whose front yard and back yard are in different congressional districts, a GOP operative who dubbed Democratic areas dog meat voting territory, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur recounting how Kasich staffers laughed at her when she called in 2011 to complain about how her districts lines were being drawn.

Tale of the tape: The Enquirer has posted dashcam video of state Rep. Sedrick Densons traffic stop Friday morning that led to the Cincinnati Democrats arrest on charges of driving under the influence, felony drug possession (for an Adderall pill found in his vehicle) and driving on a suspended license. At one point, when a state trooper asked Denson whether he was carrying a pocketknife or a gun, Denson answered, Im an Ohio state representative with the Ohio House of Representatives. The trooper responded: OK. What does that have to do with you having a weapon?

Mind the gap: Ohio House Democrats marked Equal Pay Day on Tuesday by introducing legislation designed to close the gender pay gap, as well as bills to require 12 weeks of family and medical leave and allow workers to anonymously report wage discrimination. The Columbus Dispatchs Jim Siegel has more.

Deported to Ohio: A 113-year-old bronze statue of William McKinley has arrived in the ex-presidents native state of Ohio from Arcata, Calif., after the city council there voted to remove it from a plaza after residents objected to McKinleys imperialist actions and policies. Kelly Byer of the Canton Repository writes that the vandalized statute is currently being restored, but its still not clear exactly where its new home will be.

Five Questions

Kim Murnieks is the director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management.

1. Anything in particular with OBM that you would like to accomplish or see changed or feel needs to be emphasized?

People focus on the budget side of OBM, but we also have the internal audit function for the administration and cabinet agencies. And I am focused on how that group, as well as our shared services group -- which processes a lot of the payments for our statewide agencies -- to ensure that they are working together to make government more efficient.

2. What led you to get this job, out of all positions in state government?

My first real job out of graduate school was as an education analyst at the Office of Budget and Management. My background in budgeting and policy, and the fact that I worked for the last eight years with now-Gov. DeWine at the attorney generals office -- where I also oversaw the operations including budget and finance for him there -- I think being director of OBM is the perfect role for me, especially at this point in time and for this governor.

3. Having done the governors first budget rollout, how do you feel thats personally gone for you?

I feel very good about how we were able to incorporate the governors priorities into his executive budget and deliver it to the general assembly on time, because [we had] just 61 days to accomplish that. And I feel really good about what we were able to accomplish in that short time frame.

4. Is there anything surprising about the job that you didnt expect going in?

I was there [at OBM] during the transition from Govs. Voinovich to Taft, so I think that gave me kind of a leg up on the process. I knew what needed to happen when. I would say that the timeline and the process is challenging, but I wasnt exactly surprised by it.

5. Whats something about you that people might not know?

I am a lifetime member of Girl Scouts, and Im a troop leader and a national delegate for GSUSA. And Im also a certified canoeing instructor -- that was quite challenging for me personally to meet all of the requirements and get certified at an algae-filled lake in June of last year. Hoisting myself out of the canoe and doing all the requirements to pass that test was probably the hardest thing Ive done in the last year.

On The Move

C. Raphael Davis-Williams is the ACLU of Ohios first-ever director of equity and inclusion. Davis-Williams has been a Columbus civil rights attorney and before that, a television news reporter.

Deputy attorney general/ex-congressional candidate Carol OBrien has been appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission through September 2020.

Straight From The Source

"I think Ill think more about the gas tax and move on. Thank you!

- Gov. Mike DeWine, laughing after he was asked to comment on the lineup (and whether it featured any of his favorite artists) for the WonderBus music festival planned for Columbus this August. DeWine was a featured guest  and helped ceremonially unveil a festival lineup poster  at a Tuesday morning news conference thrown by the festivals organizers.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.* Fast Retailing adds 92 positive points to Nikkei

* Renewed optimism on U.S.-China trade talks lifts mood

TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei rose on Wednesday morning buoyed by optimism over U.S.-China trade talks, while index-heavyweight Fast Retailing soared after it reported a strong monthly same-store sales.

The Nikkei share average rose 0.7 percent to 21,647.13 in midmorning trade.

Ninety-two points of the Nikkei's advance came from Fast Retailing Co, which soared 4.8 percent after it said on Tuesday that same-store sales at its Uniqlo clothing outlets in Japan rose 4.5 percent in March from a year earlier.

Japanese media reports that the operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain will raise starting salaries for new hires in Japan by more than 20 percent from April next year also helped the share. (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190403t07/)

The Financial Times reported that top U.S. and Chinese officials have resolved most of the issues standing in the way of a deal to end their long-running trade dispute but are still haggling over how to implement and enforce the agreement, citing people briefed on the talks. (https://www.ft.com/content/d6ac5082-5582-11e9-91f9-b6515a54c5b1)

The report came on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump's that the trade talks with China were going very well.

"The market is supported by hopes that the both sides will land some kind of agreement," said Hiroyuki Ueno, a senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.

But he said that investors are reluctant to take positions aggressively this month as they want to wait to see Japanese companies' annual results which will start to come out in May.

Cyclical stocks such as machinery and shippers surged. Fanuc Corp advanced 2.8 percent, Komatsu Ltd rose 1.7 percent and Mitsui OSK Lines jumped 3.3 percent.

The broader Topix rose 0.5 percent to 1,618.60. (Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)-sources@ (Repeats item with no changes to text)

* Oil-purchase strategy blamed for record Q4 loss of $700 mln

* Unipec bought 4.2 mln bpd of crude for Sinopec in 2018

* Trader expected to be less active after loss, change of strategy

* Expected to trade more conservatively after Chen Bo departure

SINGAPORE, April 2 (Reuters) - China's Sinopec Corp has ended a five-year crude oil purchasing strategy to rein in the speculative derivatives activity of its trading arm Unipec after a record trading loss late last year, four people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Sinopec, Asia's largest crude oil buyer and its largest refiner, in January abandoned a buying formula used since 2014 to establish performance targets for Unipec and aimed at driving down its crude feedstock costs to a pre-set discount to global oil benchmarks.

Under the strategy, Unipec had raked in a total 16.6 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) in net profit between 2014 and 2017, including a record year in 2016 at 6.17 billion yuan, according to Sinopec's annual reports.

The formula-based cost target, though, was blamed by two of the sources for driving speculative trades that led to a nearly $700 million loss for Unipec in the final quarter of 2018.

"The headquarters believes that the purchasing scheme may be accountable for the trading debacle," said one of the sources, "They are struggling to find a better way to manage (Sinopec's) buying, but chose to drop it for now."

The changes are expected to make the state trader a less active player than in recent years in both physical and derivatives markets, the sources said, although it is not possible to quantify the exact impact on volumes.

Unipec cut back its over-the-counter (OTC) paper activities shortly after news of the fourth-quarter loss broke, said a trader active in derivatives.

"They used to be doing more OTC trades, like taking positions in forward curves for Brent and Dubai, but I don't see them doing that anymore," the trader said.

Ending the purchase strategy will see Unipec - which last year bought some 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil for Sinopec refineries - reduce its activities in both paper and physical markets, said the sources.

The sources declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter. Sinopec declined to comment on the change in purchasing strategy.

Adding in global oil products trading, crude oil for China's independent refiners and liquefied natural gas, Unipec handled more than 7.3 million bpd of oil equivalent last year, on par with top independent trader Vitol SA.

MORE CONSERVATIVE APPROACH

Over 2017 and 2018, Unipec was asked to buy crude at $1 a barrel below a weighted average of benchmark crudes U.S. West Texas Intermediate, North Sea Brent and Middle East Dubai, two of the sources said.

"That's an aggressive goal but it gave Unipec large scope to optimize purchasing cost through active paper and physical trades, and also the freedom to market their trading cargoes to refineries as they saw fit," said a trading executive familiar with Unipec's strategies.

But it also was a factor in the fourth-quarter loss, which occurred amid an unexpected plunge in global oil prices that caught many traders off-guard, and led to Unipec posting a net loss of 4 billion yuan for the whole of 2018 as reported by Sinopec last month.

The trading executive said the trader would likely now be less active and less aggressive in benchmark spot markets such as Dubai and curb its exposure in Brent-WTI spread trades.

Sinopec in January blamed "inappropriate trading strategies" in crude oil hedging for the record fourth-quarter loss, without giving further details.

With the departure of former president, Chen Bo, who was suspended in December for the loss, traders expected Unipec to err on the conservative side under new management.

Chen, a chemical engineer by training who joined Unipec around 1993 as a crude desk operator and worked his way up to the presidency in 2013, was known in the industry as an aggressive front-line crude oil trader.

The new acting president Chen Gang, a Unipec veteran, has spent most his career on the products desk and risk management.

($1 = 6.7096 yuan) (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Additional reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Tom Hogue)-report@ (Adds comment from spokesman for Tokyo prosecutors office)

TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Tokyo prosecutors are preparing to build a fresh case against ousted Nissan Motor Co Ltd chairman Carlos Ghosn over suspect payments the automaker made to a business partner in Oman, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Tokyo prosecutors are in discussions with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office and others and plan to make a decision soon on whether to prosecute Ghosn on further charges of aggravated breach of trust, the newspaper said, citing sources involved in the case.

A spokesman for the Tokyo prosecutors office said he was not aware of any new investigation when contacted by Reuters.

Ghosn's spokesman has previously said payments of $32 million made over nine years were rewards for the Oman firm being a top Nissan dealer. Such dealer incentives were not directed by Ghosn and the funds were not used to pay any personal debt, the spokesman said.

Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in November and faces charges of financial misconduct and aggravated breach of trust over allegedly failing to report around $82 million in salary and temporarily transferring personal financial losses onto Nissan's books during the financial crisis.

Ghosn, who previously headed the Renault-Nissan alliance, denies the charges. He was released on bail last month as he awaits trial.

Sources told Reuters earlier this week that Renault SA had alerted French prosecutors after uncovering suspect payments to a Renault-Nissan business partner in Oman while Ghosn was chief executive of the French automaker.

Nissan had previously established that its own regional subsidiary had made questionable payments of more than $30 million to the Oman distributor, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA).

Evidence sent to French prosecutors late last week showed that much of the cash was subsequently channelled to a Lebanese company controlled by Ghosn associates, the sources said.

Reuters has not been able to reach SBA for comment on the matter.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Kaori Kaneko and Tim Kelly; Editing by Christopher Cushing)(Adds comments from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mexico's customs agency, paragraphs 7-9)

CIUDAD JUAREZ, April 2 (Reuters) - Trucks delivering goods from Mexico to the United States are facing up to 12 hours of gridlock, drivers said, after a transfer of U.S. border agents to immigration duties slowed the flow of commercial traffic at several border crossings.

President Donald Trump took a step back on Tuesday from his threat to close the U.S. southern border to fight illegal immigration, amid pressure from companies worried that a shutdown would inflict chaos on supply chains and the $1.7 billion daily trade.

But the reshuffling of border agents, announced last week to process the record number of migrant families entering the United States from Mexico, prompted delays of up to 12 hours for trucks crossing from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas, truckers told Reuters.

"Industry is most affected by this situation, due to the millions in fines they have to pay when deliveries arrive late to clients," said Manuel Sotelo, head of the truckers union in Ciudad Juarez. He said the delays could even lead to the cancellation of contracts and layoffs.

Senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said on Tuesday the recent redeployment of some 750 officers on the border to deal with a surge in migrants - mostly Central American families turning themselves in to border agents - led to the slowing of legal crossings and commerce at ports of entry.

"The U.S. threat is being carried out and having an impact on factories, transportation companies and most directly on drivers," truck driver Jose Cota said.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that, as of Monday, the Otay Mesa commercial facility, one of the ports of entry at the San Diego-Tijuana crossing, would operate eight out of the 10 truck lanes for the inspection and processing of imports and conveyances from Mexico.

"The indefinite reduction of processing lanes at the Otay Mesa commercial facility is due to this deployment (of agents). As such, we will be unable to extend the hours of operation impacting our ability to provide services after our regular closing times," it said.

Mexico's customs agency said the Nuevo Laredo-Laredo crossing from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas into Texas was also affected and asked truck drivers to reschedule their deliveries considering that the port of entry would now close at 11:00 p.m. daily.

Trump said on Friday he would close the border this week unless Mexico acted to curb a surge of asylum seekers from countries in Central America. He backed off that on Tuesday, saying that Mexico had made progress in detaining migrant flows.

Long lines of trucks started forming at the border crossings from Friday, as the number of agents was cut, said Cota, who had been waiting since 6 a.m. to cross into El Paso.

"There is no danger ... this is just the United States government's way of pressuring and blackmailing," Cota said.

Mexico's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, also noted that commercial traffic at the U.S.-Mexico border had slowed at several crossings due to the transfer of U.S. border agents.

"They don't intend on shutting (the border) but they have this problem that they are reallocating personnel," Ebrard said. He said Mexico would be prepared for the possibility of a border shutdown if it were to happen. (Reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in Ciudad Juarez and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington Writing by Anthony Esposito Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Leslie Adler)Airline stocks have officially taken off.

High-profile names including American Airlines, United Continental and JetBlue Airways are rallying this week, with the NYSE Airline Index up about 2.5 percent since Monday. They moved higher again Tuesday after an upbeat earnings pre-announcement from Delta Air Lines, which told investors that healthy demand and lower costs would contribute to higher-than-expected first-quarter results.

Better yet, some market watchers see more runway ahead of most of these stocks.

"We really like the industry as a whole," Erin Gibbs, research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Tuesday. "Overall, the airlines actually have some of the strongest earnings growth within any industry within the . We're expecting about 20 percent profit growth for 2019."

Gibbs emphasized how outsized that prediction is to her 2.5 percent expectation for average profit growth for S&P 500 companies.

"One of the things that has happened within the industry as a whole is they've been able to reduce capacity, so airlines actually have a little pricing power. So we're starting to see increased revenue per passenger as well as increased ticket lines, and just a growing demand in the economy and growing airline demand," she said. "And ... it's not just one company."

Matt Maley, managing director and equity strategist at Miller Tabak, agreed, noting that while Delta's 6 percent stock move on Tuesday was a catalyst for the rest of the airline stocks, that particular name looks close to being near a top.

"It's maybe getting a little overbought," he said on "Trading Nation." "It looks good, it's broken out of a sideways range that it had been in for about two months, and it's broken back above its multiyear trend line. But it's getting overbought on a near-term basis, so even though it looks pretty good, it may need to take a bit of a breather."

Still, Maley maintained that the airline group was a good way to "play catch-up" to the rest of the stock market, steering investors to the stock of American Airlines, which has tested and held a key support level at $30 three times in the last four months.

"That's really good support," Maley said, "Now, ... we're getting close to its trend line going back to early 2018. So if it can follow that successful test of the support level and break out above that resistance level, that trend line, it's really going to gain a lot of momentum. So that could be a real good one for people who want to play catch-up with the rest of the market."U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped Andreas Gal, an Apple employee, at San Francisco International Airport in December and asked him to unlock his company-owned phone and laptop, the ACLU said on Tuesday.

Gal was threatened by officers after asking to speak to his employer and an attorney before deciding whether to comply with the search, according to the ACLU's complaint with the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Homeland Security.



The episode highlights the conflicts that arise when CBP officers use their broad powers to demand to search digital devices. In this case, Gal's phone and laptop were property of Apple and had corporate secrets stored on them.

"My phone and laptop are property of my employer and contain unreleased software and proprietary information. I've signed a non-disclosure agreement promising not to give anyone access," Gal wrote in a Medium post about the experience.

He continued: "Because I was uncertain about my legal responsibilities to my employer, I asked the agents if I could speak to my employer or an attorney before unlocking my devices. This request seemed to aggravate the customs officers."

Gal "is obligated to maintain careful possession and control of his Apple-issued development devices; to avoid the dissemination of information concerning these devices or the Apple projects to which they related; and to strictly limit access to those devices by other persons. Dr. Gal takes his obligations under these agreements very seriously," according to the ACLU complaint.

Gal was eventually allowed to leave with his Apple-owned laptop and phone, but officers revoked his Global Entry status that enables him to reduce waiting time during international travel, according to his account.

The ACLU complaint asks for an investigation into whether the incident may have violated the First and Fourth Amendments.

A CBP spokesperson declined to comment on the specific case, citing pending litigation.

"Keeping America safe and enforcing our nation's laws in an increasingly digital world depends on our ability to lawfully examine all materials entering the U.S.," a CBP representative said in a statement.

Apple declined to comment.

CBP's lawful ability to search the contents of personal electronics devices has caused several controversies in recent years. In a similar incident, in 2016, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal was detained at Los Angeles International Airport after taking a flight from Beirut, Lebanon. She declined to allow a search of the contents of her two cellphones to protect her journalistic sources. She was later released with both of her phones.

Gal was flying from Sweden, according to his post. He said that he has been a U.S. citizen for three years.

He was previously the chief technical officer at Mozilla, which makes the Firefox web browser, and he has publicly opposed mass surveillance and supported strong encryption as a technologist. He has worked at Apple since March 2018 after it bought his company, Silk Labs, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Gal said in his Medium post that CBP agents questioned him about his past work for Mozilla.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.Several Australian opposition politicians hit out at the ruling government for proposing a federal budget that, as they claim, focuses on winning an upcoming election instead of driving economic growth in the coming years.

The government on Tuesday offered 158 billion Australian dollars ($112.18 billion) in tax cuts over the next decade aimed primarily at middle-income earners. The proposal also included an increase in infrastructure spending targeted at rural areas, which are said to hold an important voter base for the ruling coalition. Despite those measures, the government is projecting a return to a budget surplus for the first time in 12 years.

"It doesn't deal with the cause of very weak consumption in the Australian economy, which is basically a lack of wage growth and insufficient investment, private and public, in the infrastructure of the nation," former Australian deputy prime minister, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

"And that's why the budget, I think, is a wasted opportunity. It's a short-term election spendathon rather than a medium- and long-term plan for the future of the country," added Swan, who's the national president of the Australian Labor Party, the country's main opposition party.

Australia's government is primarily made up of two conservative parties: the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia. The coalition, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, is trailing left-leaning Labor in opinion polls. An election is expected to be held in May.

The proposed budget will only be presented and put up for voting in Parliament if the conservative coalition wins the election.More than a year after recreational marijuana became legal in California, the state is waging war against unlicensed pot shops and redoubling efforts to stamp out illegal marijuana farms, using National Guard troops.

"We work with law enforcement to look at big grows on public lands that have the deleterious environmental effects and pose a safety risk to folks that might be wanting to enjoy the public lands, for hiking or otherwise," said Lt. Col. Tom Keegan, a spokesman for the California National Guard.

The crackdown comes as the state's regulated marijuana industry continues to struggle with competition from the black market. California has seen the underground market thrive since recreational marijuana was legalized, something that also happened in Colorado about six years ago.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, an early backer of recreational marijuana use in the state, is leading the fight to stamp out California's black market. Additionally, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti last week called for big increases in the city's next budget to boost enforcement of hundreds of marijuana businesses in the city.

California took in $345 million in excise and cultivation taxes during 2018, but that was below the $643 million former Gov. Jerry Brown had forecast California would generate. A bill is pending in the California Legislature that would give legal cannabis businesses a temporary tax break to better compete with the underground market.

Newsom announced in February he would "boost the National Guard's statewide Counterdrug Task Force by redeploying up north to go after illegal cannabis farms, many of which are run by cartels." He said the illegal crops "are devastating our pristine forests, and are increasingly becoming fire hazards themselves."

Some pro-cannabis groups believe many cultivators want to become part of the regulated marketplace but have been frustrated by barriers to entry from local and state rules. There have been complaints about exorbitant taxes on legal retailers and cultivators.

"The system of temporary permits and to annual permits is kind of in major disarray at this point," said Michael Katz, co-founder of Emerald Exchange, a marketplace promoting cannabis growers in Northern California. "Instead of putting on a show and taking out the National Guard, there's a lot of regulatory fixes that we think should be offered to help more cultivators enter the regulated space."

The National Guard has participated in a Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, program since the early 1980s and received significant financial support over the years from the federal government.

Some of the National Guard troops slated for counterdrug operations recently were focused on assisting in President Donald Trump's U.S. border request. In February, Newsom rebuked Trump's "manufactured crisis" at the border by announcing plans to pull more than 250 troops from the southern border.

The governor is requesting that the Pentagon help cover costs for an additional 150 soldiers and airmen from the National Guard for the expanded counterdrug operations. But as of Wednesday, the state still had not heard back on its original request from Feb. 11, according to the National Guard spokesman.

A Pentagon spokesperson said via email they would look into the matter.

The National Guard conducts aerial observation over public lands with local and state law enforcement to find illegal marijuana farms. The Guard demonstrated its aviation assets last week in the Oroville area for law enforcement as the state prepares to unleash more troops to help with counterdrug efforts.

Activity on illegal grow sites on public lands tends to pick up in the spring months, especially in California's Emerald Triangle  a Northern California region including Trinity, Mendocino and Humboldt counties. By some estimates, up to 60 percent of the nation's illicit pot is grown in Northern California.

"We still have an overwhelming, and what I would characterize as a, catastrophic illegal marijuana problem in Siskiyou County and really the region," said Sheriff Jon Lopey of Siskiyou County, which borders Trinity and Humboldt counties. "So the black market hasn't been curtailed, but it's probably been accelerated."

According to Lopey, a flood of illicit marijuana has meant prices of weed have "precipitously dropped, so that the value is half of what it was last year. Most of the marijuana in my county is going back East because they're not getting that much money for it here."

The sheriff added that illegal pot farms in the region are frequently using toxic chemicals that are contaminating the watersheds and endangering fish and wildlife. Now, he said the legalization of hemp has complicated the fight against the farms, "because it looks like marijuana and smells like marijuana and sometimes it can be used to shield illicit marijuana grows."Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a 2020 US Presidential hopeful, speaks during the 'We The People' Summit at the Warner Theatre April 1, 2019, in Washington, DC.

The bill, called the Corporate Executive Accountability Act, continues the presidential candidate's push to hold leaders more accountable for a firm's alleged abuses. Warren also reintroduced a plan Wednesday that would ramp up scrutiny of big bank executives.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., unveiled legislation Wednesday that would make it easier to criminally charge  and lock up  executives for a company's wrongdoing.

Warren's bill would widen criminal liability to include "negligent executives" of corporations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue that have reached certain terms related to alleged wrongdoing. It would cover company leaders who, according to a summary from Warren's office shared with CNBC:

"Are found guilty, plead guilty, or enter into a deferred or non-prosecution agreement for any crime."

"Are found liable or enter a settlement with any state or Federal regulator for the violation of any civil law if that violation affects the health, safety, finances, or personal data of 1% of the American population or 1% of the population of any state."

"Are found liable or guilty of a second civil or criminal violation for a different activity while operating under a civil or criminal judgment of any court, a deferred prosecution or non-prosecution agreement, or settlement with any state or Federal agency."

Executives could face up to a year in jail for a first violation, and up to three years for a second violation.

The legislation has little shot of getting through the GOP-held Senate and could face resistance in the business world. But it comes as Warren has emerged as one of the leading policy voices in a crowded 2020 Democratic presidential primary field that has put an emphasis on populism and working class issues.

It adds to a string of plans that Warren, a longtime Wall Street critic, has put forward to check companies accused of abusing consumers  and the executives who run them. In unveiling the new bill Wednesday, Warren's office in part cited the well-compensated retirements of CEOs from Wells Fargo and Equifax, companies wracked by a fake bank account scandal and a colossal data breach, respectively.

Warren has long lamented a lack of punishment for negligent executives at companies accused of misdeeds, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis. Her legislation aims to encourage better corporate behavior by making leaders more responsible for a firm's conduct.

"We all agree that any executive who intentionally breaks criminal laws and leaves a trail of smoking guns should face jail time," Warren wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday night. "But right now, they can escape the threat of prosecution so long as no one can prove exactly what they knew, even if they were willfully negligent."

"If top executives knew they would be hauled out in handcuffs for failing to reasonably oversee the companies they run, they would have a real incentive to better monitor their operations and snuff out any wrongdoing before it got out of hand," she continued.

The existing legislation Warren reintroduced Wednesday, called the Too Big to Jail Act, targets the financial industry more specifically. It would make a special inspector general within the Treasury Department permanent and widen its jurisdiction to include prosecuting financial crimes. The plan would also make executives at banks with $10 billion or more in assets report annually that they have found no criminal wrongdoing or civil fraud within the firm.The executive chair of the European banking giant Santander Group issued a rallying cry for a common services market in Europe.

While the European Union has made progress toward completing an internal European market, the services sector has remained largely protected from international competition. Cross-border differences in standards and certifications have been criticized for restricting the growth potential of companies across all sectors.

Ana Botin spoke to CNBC Wednesday, shortly after announcing the bank was seeking to cut 1.2 billion euros ($1.35 billion) in costs as part of a drive to hit previous profitability targets. Santander is mainlaind Europe's largest bank by market capitalization, according to Statista, and is estimated by Botin to be in the top three when measured by total assets.

Botin told CNBC's Karen Tso that despite the bank's size, it has only 2 percent of euro zone deposits, highlighting the difference between Europe and the U.S. She said the European Union needed to create a free and single market for services, which account for most of the economy.

"The big American banks, in an economy that is very similar to ours, have much bigger scale. So, the common services market has to happen because 80 percent of our economy is services," said Botin, before adding: "It is crucial that we have bigger companies, because scale matters."

European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos recently accused European banks of hurting their own profit margins with high costs and too much competition.

Botin said the ECB's efforts to prop up the euro zone should not go unnoticed but suggested that more could be done to help out European banks.

"There is no question that when (ECB President) Mario Draghi said in 2012, 'we'll do whatever it takes to save the euro,' he did save the euro. But now we have to think about growth, fair competition, fair regulation, fair taxes for everybody so we have more capital to invest in that transformation."Britain should be allowed to delay its official Brexit departure date again so it can think carefully about its future, the EU's competition chief told CNBC.

"I don't see a risk in prolonging the departure (from the European Union)," Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition said Tuesday in an exclusive interview in Brussels.

"If you need to reconsider how the Brexit referendum should be respected; what would be the preferred U.K. choices, I don't see a risk in a prolongation  I think it's never a risk to think twice and to sleep on it then sometimes you wake up and you reconsider," she said.

The process to take the U.K. officially out of the European Union began two years ago, but has yet to be finalized. U.K. parliamentarians have so far rejected the deal that Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the EU three times.

Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, said Tuesday that it's more and more likely by the day that the U.K. will leave in an abrupt way without any transition phase.

"This is a serious crisis and no-one can be pleased with what is happening in the U.K. currently," he said at an event in Brussels.

At the moment, the U.K. is scheduled to leave the EU on April 12 and will be the first country to leave the bloc. However, Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday she is going to ask for another short extension, until May 22, as she seeks to find a way forward with the country's opposition party.The EU aims to announce whether Amazon's data practices will be investigated further in the coming months, the institution's competition chief told CNBC.

In September, Margrethe Vestager, the head of competition policy in Europe, opened a preliminary probe into Amazon's use of data on its third-party merchants. The idea was to assess the dual role of the e-commerce giant, given that it hosts but also competes against these other merchants. There are concerns that Amazon could be using sensitive information about its competitors' products to its own advantage.

Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Vestager said that the investigation is now at an "advanced" stage. "A lot of businesses have taken time and effort to give us data to answer our questions. So, we very carefully go through this. But as I said we are advanced, and I hope that we can sort of conclude the first phase within this mandate," she said.Ron Kirk, a former U.S. trade representative in the Obama administration, told CNBC on Wednesday he agrees with the Trump administration that there should be "an enforceable mechanism that will hold China's feet to the fire" on any deal reached.

"One of the difficulties is, absent a formal trade agreement with China, which we don't have, historically we've had to rely on the [World Trade Organization] to enforce these," Kirk said on "Closing Bell." "But I think the administration in this case is correct to say, 'We want more than just a commitment. We want an enforceable mechanism that will hold China's feet to the fire and allow the United States to put in place punitive measures if they don't do that.'"

Then again, Kirk said, China may be unsure whether the Trump administration can be believed or not. For example, he said President Donald Trump's threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border and his previous threats on tearing up a trade deal with Mexico and Canada make it "difficult for our trading partners to know when to take him seriously."

On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer held a ninth round of negotiations with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He in Washington. It followed talks last week in Beijing between the two sides.

Kirk said he's seeing encouraging signs of progress in the high-level economic and trade talks between the world's two largest economies to resolve trade differences.

"Regrettably, this president has a penchant for making these grand pronouncements about success, only for us to later find out that the substance doesn't match the reality," said Kirk. "But I am encouraged that we've now had three successive levels of talks at a very high level."

Added Kirk: "Our experience, anytime the vice premier [of China] shows up, he has the authority to make a deal. And the fact that the two sides continue to talk  and if it is in fact true we are down to the level of making sure the language and the translation is in fact representative of what the parties have agreed on  we could be closer to a resolution than not."

The continued talks follow China posting its slowest growth last year in nearly 30 years. The Asian nation has been hurt by a slump in demand due to hefty tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Earlier Wednesday, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters at a D.C.-area event that numerous issues were still being discussed in the bilateral negotiations.

"We're covering issues that have never really been covered before," Kudlow said. "All on the table. All making good progress. All making good headway. But we're not there yet. We're not there yet, and we hope this week to get closer."Facebook just broke above a key level, and this could be a signal for more gains.

The tech giant's shares on Tuesday topped $172, which in recent months has been a key level of resistance. Each time the stock has reached that level since September it has subsequently retreated. But this time may be different, one chart watcher says.

"The chart looks pretty good," Miller Tabak's Matt Maley said Tuesday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "It's bumping up against that level [$172]. ... It needs a little bit more upside support follow-through, but if it can finally break away from that, it's going to be quite positive at least over the short to intermediate term because it will attract the kind of momentum money that it hasn't seen in more than six months," he said.

After examining the stock chart, Maley notes that the performance is forming an ascending triangle pattern, which is a bullish indicator.

Maley cautions about headline risk for the stock  particularly because of growing calls for regulation of social media and as the next presidential election approaches.

"I mean this whole thing with regulation has got me very concerned, and that will be a bigger one as we move into the second half of the year," he added.

Facebook has been caught in the political crosshair after a series of privacy scandals over the past year, and the company is currently under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, the SEC and several other domestic and international agencies. On Saturday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is in favor of tougher regulation, particularly when it comes to users' privacy.

Despite regulation uncertainty, Facebook shares have bounced back since the slide at the end of 2018 that hit the tech sector and broader market. The stock is up about 42 percent from its December low, although it's still about 20 percent from its July all-time high.

The stock rose more than 3 percent on Tuesday after Deutsche Bank released a note saying Facebook-owned Instagram "could add an incremental $10B of revenue in 2021." Analyst Lloyd Walmsley has a $200 target on the stock, which is about 15 percent higher than its Tuesday close.

S&P Global's Erin Gibbs likes Facebook here because she believes the company's acquisitions will continue to drive growth, but also because she thinks much of the headline risk is already priced into the stock.

"I think what we're really seeing is now more analysts are looking at some of their [Facebook's] acquisitions, particularly Instagram, [which] really is seeming to pick up the pace. This is the new area where we're seeing a lot of potential growth," she said on "Trading Nation."

While she agrees with Maley that the company is facing many headwinds, she argues that the risk is already priced into the stock since valuations remain "fairly depressed."

Facebook currently trades at 22 times forward earnings. By comparison, Netflix and Twitter trade at 78 times, and 37 times forward earnings, respectively.

"We're starting to see more positive momentum around the name, and we think it's a safe bet here given that most negative news is already priced in," she said.2020 Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on March 9, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa.

The money primary in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination is coming into focus, and Bernie Sanders is the early frontrunner.

Of the wide slate of Democrats running to take on President Donald Trump, eight presidential hopefuls so far have shared their first-quarter fundraising totals.

The results, which covered the period between Jan. 1 and March 31, are due to be filed by April 15, according to Federal Election Commission rules. But a trickle of Trump's would-be challengers are already posting their results publicly.

The eight candidates who have shared their recent campaign totals so far are just as diverse as the broader Democratic field.

Five of them  Sanders of Vermont, California's Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and New Jersey's Cory Booker  are currently U.S. senators. The others are former House member and Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and entrepreneur and free-money advocate Andrew Yang.

At the bottom end of the fundraising spectrum, Yang said his campaign has raised $1.7 million. Sanders, whose galvanizing 2016 campaign gave eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton an unexpected run for her money, led the pack with a whopping $18.2 million, according to his campaign.

But looks can be deceptive. Not all of the money came in the same time interval for each of the Democrats, nor did it arrive in a steady flow, according to various news outlets.

Buttigieg's $7 million appears to put him in close contention with O'Rourke for first-quarter fundraising, for instance, but the Indiana mayor also announced his exploratory committee weeks before O'Rourke officially entered the race.

The average daily totals for each candidate, calculated by a Washington Post reporter, tell a different story:

Viser TWEET To account for candidates entering the race at different stages in the first quarter, the daily haul for candidates so far: Beto O'Rourke: $522k Bernie Sanders: $444k Kamala Harris: $171k Pete Buttigieg $103k

Removing the candidates' first-day hauls, which are usually their highest-grossing fundraising periods, can perhaps provide a clearer view of how much money came into a campaign on a typical day.

While the Post reported that O'Rourke notched the highest daily average, NBC News showed that Sanders far outpaced him once the day-one figures were removed from the equation.

Kamisar TWEET Deeper dive than most of you care about: Excluding their first day hauls (O'Rourke $6.1 mil, Sanders $6 mil), Sanders raised $305,000 per day as a candidate while O'Rourke raised $194,117 per day as a candidate).Former FBI Director Robert Mueller at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on June 21, 2017.

It marked the strongest push yet on Capitol Hill to obtain the long-awaited report on the special counsel's probe of Russian election interference in the 2016 presidential election, as well as possible Trump-campaign collusion and obstruction of justice.

The vote on the resolution passed the Democrat-led panel on a 24-17 party line vote following an occasionally heated markup hearing Wednesday morning.

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to authorize a subpoena for an unredacted copy of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report, along with all of the evidence from the two-year investigation.

It also sets up a fight between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump, whose attorney general, William Barr, has committed to redacting some parts of the nearly 400-page report.

"We are dealing now, not with the president's private affairs, but with a sustained attack on the integrity of the republic by the president and his closest advisors," Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said in an opening statement at the hearing.

"This committee requires the full report and the underlying materials because it is our job, not the attorney general's, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office," Nadler said.

After the hearing, Nadler said he plans to work with Barr "for a short period of time" in hopes that he will comply with request to provide the full report and underlying materials to Congress.

"If that doesn't work out, we'll issue the subpoenas," Nadler added.

The resolution also authorized Nadler to issue subpoenas for documents and testimony from five former Trump associates: White House counsel Don McGahn, top strategist Steve Bannon, communications director Hope Hicks, chief of staff Reince Priebus and White House counsel Ann Donaldson.

Some Republicans have accused Democrats of attempting to compel Barr to act in violation of federal rules.

"The subpoena for the Mueller report and its underlying evidence commands the attorney general to do the unthinkable  break the law," ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., said at the hearing.

House committee leaders, including Nadler, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., had demanded that Barr hand over the "full and complete" report by Tuesday. Barr had told lawmakers that he expects a version of the report  with redactions  could be delivered by mid-April.

Those potentially blacked-out sections of the report include grand jury-related information, as well as information that could reveal U.S. sources and methods or confidential details about ongoing investigations, Barr wrote, citing the federal rules of procedure.

Democrats have pointed to past federal probes involving special investigators, such as those surrounding the Watergate and Monica Lewinsky scandals, in which grand jury information was released to Congress to bolster their request for the uncensored report.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, speaks during an event to call for the protection of affordable healthcare for those with preexisting conditions during a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 2, 2019.

The Democratic-held House voted Wednesday to condemn the Trump administration's support for a lawsuit that aims to toss out the Affordable Care Act.

The resolution will have little practical effect and likely will not get a vote in the GOP-held Senate. But by approving the measure, Democrats aim to put pressure on House Republicans ahead of a 2020 election that the party again wants to frame as a referendum on GOP attempts to scrap the health-care law.

It passed the House by a 240-186-1 vote, as one Republican member voted "present." Eight GOP lawmakers  many of whom could face tough reelection bids next year  supported the measure. Only one Democrat  Rep. Collin Peterson, an Obamacare skeptic whose Minnesota district overwhelmingly backed President Donald Trump in 2016  voted against the resolution.

Trump reignited sparring over the ACA, known as Obamacare, last week when his Justice Department backed a federal judge's ruling that the entire law is unconstitutional. After Republicans in Congress showed no appetite for reopening the politically perilous fight over reforming the health-care system, Trump said he would wait until after next year's election to push to replace the law.

Still, Democrats have tried to use the lawsuit against Trump, as it would toss out Obamacare and its popular protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. The party will likely target House Republicans who voted against the resolution, which freshman Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, introduced.

Allred was one of the Democrats who won a GOP-held seat in last year's midterms while running on health care as his primary issue. His party flipped 40 net Republican seats in November, in no small part because of GOP attempts to repeal the health-care law. It became more popular in 2017 as voters saw the various GOP proposals to replace it.

The Democratic resolution says the Justice Department's actions "are an unacceptable assault on the health care of the American people." It calls on the Trump administration to reverse its position and "protect individuals with pre-existing conditions, seniors struggling with high prescription drug costs and the millions of people in the United States who newly gained health insurance coverage since 2014." Obamacare's Medicaid expansion went into effect that year.

The House members who broke with their parties on the vote are listed below. All of the lawmakers are either considered among the more centrist members of their party or could face a difficult reelection bid next year.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.

Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y.

Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.

Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y.

Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.

Resistance to Obamacare repeal unites a Democratic caucus that has not coalesced around the best way to expand health-care coverage. Republicans have hammered Democrats over some members' support for a "Medicare for All" plan that would guarantee health insurance for every American and, depending on which version of the proposal, could eliminate private insurance entirely.

In criticizing Obamacare on Monday, Trump tweeted that "even the Dems want to replace it, but with Medicare for all, which would cause 180 million Americans to lose their beloved private health insurance."

Trump tweet: Everybody agrees that ObamaCare doesn't work. Premiums & deductibles are far too high - Really bad HealthCare! Even the Dems want to replace it, but with Medicare for all, which would cause 180 million Americans to lose their beloved private health insurance. The Republicans.....

The president claimed Wednesday that he "was never planning a vote prior to the 2020 election" on health care. In a tweet, he also claimed Republicans are "now developing" a "much better & less expensive" Obamacare alternative that "will be on full display" during the election. It is not clear that the GOP is developing any plan or whether it will actually lower prices or expand coverage.

Trump tweet: I was never planning a vote prior to the 2020 Election on the wonderful HealthCare package that some very talented people are now developing for me & the Republican Party. It will be on full display during the Election as a much better & less expensive alternative to ObamaCare...

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he told Trump the Senate would not revisit health-care reform before the 2020 election. He recently told Politico that he is "focusing on stopping the 'Democrats' Medicare for none' scheme."

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.IBM receives more than 8,000 resumes a day, making it No. 1 on job-search site Glassdoor for Gen Z applicants, said IBM CEO Ginni Rometty at CNBC's @ Work Talent + HR Summit on Tuesday in New York City. But that's not the only way the technology giant, which employs roughly 350,000 workers, knows who in the workforce is currently searching for a new position. IBM artificial intelligence technology is now 95 percent accurate in predicting workers who are planning to leave their jobs, said Rometty. During Rometty's seven-year tenure as CEO, IBM has been improving its AI work devoted to the retention of its employees. "The best time to get to an employee is before they go," she said. IBM HR has a patent for its "predictive attrition program" which was developed with Watson to predict employee flight risk and prescribe actions for managers to engage employees. Rometty would not explain "the secret sauce" that allowed the AI to work so effectively in identifying workers about to jump (officially, IBM said the predictions are now in the 95 percent accuracy "range"). Rometty would only say that its success comes through analyzing many data points. "It took time to convince company management it was accurate," Rometty said, but the AI has so far saved IBM nearly $300 million in retention costs, she claimed. The AI retention tool is part of a suite of IBM products that are designed to upend the traditional approach to human resources management. Rometty described the classic human resources model as needing an overhaul, and said it is one of the professions where humans need AI to improve the work. Rometty said that since IBM implemented technology more widely including cloud services and other modernization, the tech giant has reduced the size of its global human resources department by 30 percent. But she added that the remaining positions are higher pay and able to perform higher-value work. "You have to put AI through everything you do," she said.

A clearer career path is needed for many

Among the tasks that HR departments and corporate managers have not always proved effective at, and where AI will play a bigger role in the future, is keeping employees on a clear career path and identifying their skills. Rometty said being transparent with individual employees about their career path is an issue in which many companies still fail. And it is going to become more critical. "I expect AI will change 100 percent of jobs in the next five to 10 years," the IBM CEO said. Being transparent with employees means being honest about the skills that are needed, especially when the workers don't possess them. IBM managers talk to employees about market skills that are scarce or abundant.

"If you have a skill that is not needed for the future and is abundant in the market and does not fit a strategy my company needs, you are not in a good square to stay inside of," Rometty said. "I really believe in being transparent about where skills are." By better understanding data patterns and adjacent skills, IBM AI can zero in on an individual's strengths. In turn, this can enable a manager to direct an employee to future opportunities they may not have seen using traditional methods. "We found manager surveys were not accurate," Rometty said, referring to formal skills assessments. "Managers are subjective in ratings. We can infer and be more accurate from data." IBM technology can view the tasks employees are completing, the educational courses they have taken and any rankings they have earned. Through these data points, the AI skills inference and HR managers can gain a greater understanding of an employee's skill set than they would by assessing the feedback from manager surveys. IBM also abandoned another staple of classic HR: the annual performance review, a move Rometty said she resisted at first, but persistent HR leaders proved to her was necessary. The company assesses employees on their skills growth as part of their quarterly feedback check-ins with management.

You have to know the individual. Skills are your renewable asset, and you need to treat them like that. Ginni Rometty IBM CEO

AI is getting better at providing career feedback to employees. IBM's MYCA (My Career Advisor) AI virtual assistant uses Watson to help employees identify where they need to increase their skills. Its companion, Blue Match technology, serves up job openings to employees based on their AI-inferred skills data (employees opt into the service). Rometty said some of the 27 percent of IBM workers who received a new job or promotion in 2018 were assisted by Blue Match. "AI will change all jobs once it is in the workflow, and that is the most meaningful kind of AI. Yes, some jobs will be replaced, but that is a red herring," Rometty contends. "It is about getting people to work at the intersection of this." She added: "This is all a game about skill and having people with the right skills, and everyone's job is changing."

Getting rid of the current HR systemRatings agency Moody's said a new ruling from India's top court that voided guidelines about how lenders should resolve their bad debts is potentially bad news for Indian banks.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said India's central bank exceeded its authority when it tightened those guidelines last February. As a result, the top court declared the rules "to be of no effect in law."

The Supreme Court in its ruling struck down everything tied to the original Reserve Bank of India guidelines: "Consequently, all actions taken under the said circular, including actions by which the Insolvency Code has been triggered must fall along with the said circular."

In a Feb. 12, 2018 circular, the RBI had said lenders could no longer use loan restructuring schemes to delay recognizing bad debt. They were given 180 days to put resolution plans in place for defaulting assets worth over 20 billion rupees (about $291 million). If companies missed repayment even for one day, lenders were required to identify them as defaulters. If a resolution did not happen by the 180-day period, banks were required to file insolvency proceeding against those borrowers within 15 days.

Those rules were criticized by companies because of the strict timeline imposed on them to resolve their stressed assets. Indian power companies, in particular, had challenged the validity of the RBI guidelines in court and sought a stay on insolvency proceedings.

Tuesday's ruling meant that actions already taken against defaulting companies under that RBI circular could potentially become void. Now, banks can decide for themselves whether they want to start insolvency proceedings against defaulters.

"The circular had significantly tightened stressed loan recognition and resolution for large borrowers. But, with the voiding, this may now have to be watered down," Srikanth Vadlamani, vice president at Moody's Investors Service, said in a statement. "The resolution of stressed loans impacted by the circular will be further delayed as the process may have to be started afresh."

The RBI did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Over the last several years, a banking sector crisis in India had left many lenders hamstrung and impeded their ability to issue loans. Banks and financial institutions, a key source of funding for Indian companies, hold over $146 billion of bad debt, according to Reuters.

To tackle the problem, the government and RBI had introduced a series of measures to clean up struggling lenders. Those included asset quality reviews to make sure all bad debt was declared, recapitalizing the public-sector banks, consolidating smaller banks, and introducing reforms for many of their lending practices.China has acknowledged for the first time that the United States has legitimate gripes about IP theft, forced technology transfer and cyber hacking, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters Wednesday.

"They have for the first time acknowledged that we have a point. Several points," Kudlow told reporters at an event hosted by The Christian Science Monitor. Previously, he said, "they were in denial."

"And I think that has led to, you know, good negotiations," Kudlow added.

Kudlow said the acknowledgement came out of trade talks between China and the U.S. He said even China's leader, President Xi Jinping, has signaled a willingness to listen to the U.S.'s concerns at a dinner at the G20 summit in Argentina where he and U.S. President Donald Trump met.

"President Xi wasn't saying, 'no we didn't, no we didn't, no we didn't.' He was open to listening. And at the lower levels, we heard that. And that's great progress."

The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately return a request for comment.

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei did not come up during the talks, according to Kudlow. Huawei is facing charges from the U.S. Department of Justice over two cases alleging the theft of trade secrets and fraud.

"The Huawei stuff has generally not come up in the trade talks," Kudlow told reporters. "We looked at it as a legal matter so far."

Huawei claimed in a lawsuit filed last month that the U.S. law banning government agencies from buying Huawei phones is unconstitutional. U.S. security experts fear the Chinese government could use Huawei's devices to spy on U.S. government agents. Huawei has previously denied it would hand its data over to the Chinese government.

News of China's acknowledgement comes one day after court documents revealed that a Chinese national was charged with making false statements to the U.S. Secret Service. The woman allegedly entered Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida under false pretenses, bringing along a thumb drive with "malicious software," according to court documents.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

Watch: Huawei is suing the US government for constitutional violations. Here's what investors need to knowA digital menu board is displayed in the drive-thru of a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in Peru, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

Both deals are relatively small for the fast-food giant, which has a market value of $143.73 billion. The Dynamic Yield deal is valued at more than $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter, while McDonald's spent roughly $3.7 million on a 9.9 percent stake in Plexure.

The Chicago-based company announced on March 25 it is acquiring personalized data start-up Dynamic Yield, marking its largest acquisition in more than two decades and its first in a tech company. Just seven days later, it announced a second tech investment: a minority stake in mobile app vendor Plexure, which powers its mobile app in 48 countries outside of the U.S.

McDonald's took nearly 20 years to step back into mergers and acquisitions. But now it has returned to deal-making, as it looks to build on its tech-heavy strategy with calculated digital investments.

McDonald's dealmaking strategy follows a general trend across the broader retail and consumer industries. A recent report from A.T. Kearney predicts that smaller-scale, strategic deals will characterize most of the M&A activity across those industries this year.

"Broadly speaking, we see major restaurants and retailers focus on fortifying their portfolios with capabilities they are missing," A.T. Kearney partner Bahige El-Rayes, who co-authored the report, told CNBC. "Often those capabilities don't exist internally, and building them in-house will be expensive, timely and the outcome will be unknown."

But more than just following a trend, both investments  despite their lack of size  play an important role in McDonald's current strategy to use technology to bring back customers and get a leg up on the competition. The fast-food giant lost sales as its order accuracy and speed of service lagged behind the competition. It also fell behind other restaurant companies such as Subway and Starbucks when it came to launching an app and testing mobile ordering.

Now it's trying to make up for lost time.

For several years, the company has been renovating its U.S. stores with self-serve kiosks, digital menu boards and other tech-focused upgrades meant to improve convenience for the customer and speed up how fast their food gets made. This year, McDonald's is planning to spend nearly $1 billion to renovate 2,000 U.S. stores. It originally pursued an ambitious plan to remodel all U.S. locations by the end of 2020, but has since pushed the deadline back two years.

The company has also partnered with UberEats to deliver its food, but for now the bulk of the customer data belongs to the third-party delivery service, not McDonald's.

Both Dynamic Yield and Plexure present even more opportunities for the fast-food giant to build on those investments.

McDonald's is planning to implement Dynamic Yield's decision-making technology at the drive-thru, which accounts for roughly 70 percent of its transactions. That makes the company one of the few restaurants using machine learning to nudge its customers into spending more, according to Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy.

In addition to suggesting menu items that cost more, the drive-thru menus could also suggest food that does not take as long to make, speeding up drive-thru lines.

Dynamic Yield's personalization technology could also be a part of its self-serve kiosks or its mobile app  the more valuable long-term prospect in Hottovy's opinion.

McDonald's deal with Plexure not only gives it more access to the New Zealand-based company's technology to improve customer engagement with its mobile app but also restricts Plexure from working with others in the fast-food industry. That means that Yum Brands' Taco Bell and Restaurant Brands' Burger King will have to seek out other companies to keep up with the latest developments on McDonald's mobile app.

"Because everyone has seen them as the big giant, they think they can't move fast. But now they've shown that they can be nimble," Phil Kafarakis, industry veteran and president of the Specialty Food Industry, told CNBC.

 CNBC's Emma Newburger contributed to this report.Identity verification start-up Onfido says it's raised $50 million from investors including Salesforce and Microsoft.

The firm's software validates a person's identity by taking their selfie and applying a mix of machine learning and human fraud experts to match their face with a government-issued ID.

Its latest round of funding, announced Wednesday, was led by Salesforce's venture capital arm and Japanese financial group SBI, with additional backing from Microsoft's venture unit and others.

Husayn Kassai, co-founder and CEO of Onfido, told CNBC that the company would use the fresh capital to "continue to invest in the technology and in the AI (artificial intelligence) component."

Onfido's AI is used to analyze people's faces to make sure they are who they say they are and reduce fraud. Its customers include crowdfunding site Indiegogo and remittances app Remitly.

Though headquartered in London, Kassai said Onfido actually gets most of its business now from the U.S., and is looking to strengthen its presence there.

Founded in 2012 by three Oxford University graduates, the company has been in expansion mode, increasing activity across the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia.

The latest investment brings Onfido's total funding to more than $100 million. Frank van Veenendaal, former vice chairman of Salesforce, will join the start-up's board following the deal.Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and 2020 presidential candidate, pauses during the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, U.S., on Saturday, March 9, 2019. Callaghan O'Hare | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg in 2015 addressed two local police controversies in South Bend, Indiana, by saying in an official speech that "all lives matter," a comment that could land him in hot water with his party's increasingly energized progressive base. It could also bring new attention to his record on race as the city's mayor. Activists say that the phrase "all lives matter" misses the point of the Black Lives Matter movement or dismisses it. Buttigieg was apparently referencing his administration's refusal to hand over tape recordings of South Bend police officers that remain the subject of legal dispute, as well as the city council's request that a local police officer stop selling t-shirts that seemed to make light of the 2014 police killing of unarmed black man Eric Garner in New York.

"There is no contradiction between respecting the risks that police officers take every day in order to protect this community, and recognizing the need to overcome the biases implicit in a justice system that treats people from different backgrounds differently, even when they are accused of the same offenses," Buttigieg said at the time. "We need to take both those things seriously, for the simple and profound reason that all lives matter," he said. The comments came during Buttigieg's "State of the City" address at a local high school in March of that year. Buttigieg, a 37-year-old, openly gay veteran, has taken the Democratic field by storm since he launched his candidacy in late January. The liberal mayor is credited with the economic turnaround of a Midwestern city in a state that went to Trump by nearly 20 points in 2016, and where Vice President Mike Pence served as governor. But as voters begin to make sense of where Buttigieg stands on national issues, some progressives have begun to raise concerns about his ties to the controversial global consulting outfit McKinsey & Company and what some describe as a focus, at times colored by his gender, on his perceived intelligence, rather than his beliefs and proposals. "The Mayor's comment was in the context of discussing racial reconciliation in his 2015 State of the City speech," said Lis Smith, a spokesperson for Buttigieg, in a statement. "He believes black lives matter and that has been reflected in his actions as mayor of South Bend."

Buttigieg, police and race* Denmark and Sweden hit by money laundering scandal

* Denmark tightens rules ahead of elections

* Sweden considers break with liberal, trusting stance

STOCKHOLM/FRANKFURT, April 3 (Reuters) - Money laundering allegations involving Sweden and Denmark have shattered faith in the open Nordic business culture, prompting demands for tighter controls on the banks held responsible.

Ranked among the least corrupt countries by anti-graft campaign group Transparency International, Sweden and Denmark have been rocked by investigations into Danske Bank and Swedbank, knocking billions off their value.

Politicians, regulators and investors now want closer policing and more stringent penalties, unwinding a system where the state largely trusted banks to keep themselves in check.

"Openness is key in our society. This is a system built on trust and that trust has decreased quite substantially," Swedish financial markets minister Per Bolund told Reuters.

"It's not enough to fire one person," Bolund said of Swedbank's dismissal last week of Birgitte Bonnesen as chief executive, adding that an overhaul of its controls was needed, in a clear signal of future government action.

"That has to go all the way from the top to the bottom."

Sweden has yet to announce substantial reforms following the emergence of money laundering allegations against Swedbank which originated in Europe's Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia.

Latvia, a former Soviet state with a large Russian-speaking minority, had modelled itself as a financial bridge for Russians moving money to Europe. Similar profitable activity took place in Estonia, but has now become a reputational liability.

Danske Bank has been ejected from Estonia after admitting 200 billion euros ($225 billion) of suspicious money movements flowed through its branch there between 2007 and 2015. And it is also pulling out of neighbouring Baltic states.

Danish academic Gert Svendsen, author of 'Trust', says the scandals risk undermining a central tenet of Nordic culture.

"People become happier if you can do things based on trust. That explains why Swedes and Danes are quite happy," he said.

WIDER WAVES

The money laundering scandals, which have been growing week by week, are shaking politics as well as the boardroom.

In Denmark, which was first to be hit by Danske Bank, the scandal bolstered support for a left-wing opposition bloc that some polls suggest could oust the right-wing coalition in elections expected by June.

In response, the Danish government plans to create what one minister dubbed a "more aggressive financial regulator", doubling the officials fighting money laundering to 24, allowing it to fine banks for breaches or insert an observer on a board.

"In the case of Danske Bank, we've seen how authorities send letters back and forth for seven or eight years before it was stopped," Danish business minister Rasmus Jarlov said, announcing the shift towards U.S.-style controls.

Sweden may follow suit, with prime minister Stefan Lofven last week saying he could "strengthen legislation" following criticism that regulators have been too lax.

Last year the management of Sweden's financial watchdog went against its own experts' recommendations that it should sanction several of the major bank for insufficient money-laundering controls, opting instead to send warning letters.

The FSA also had to tighten rules requiring banks to set aside more funds for home loan losses after the central bank said it was being too generous.

And Joacim Olsson, head of the Swedish Shareholders' Association has criticised it for being tough on smaller banks but softer on large ones.

"We in Sweden as a whole, and other regulators, have done too little. That is the conclusion from Danske Bank," Swedish FSA head Erik Thedeen told reporters last month.

Louise Brown of Transparency International said Sweden needed to reform, adding: "We need to upgrade both regulatory execution and corporate governance".

REGULATORY RELATIONS

The Danske Bank and Swedbank scandals have also raised questions about often close relationships between regulators and the banks the oversee.

Former Danish FSA chairman Henrik Ramlau-Hansen, who had served as finance chief at Danske Bank for five years before joining the FSA in 2016, stepped down in May last year.

Denmark now prohibits the chairman and deputy chairman to have worked at financial institutions for five years prior.

Sweden's FSA boss Thedeen had in previous roles worked with Swedbank's board member Peter Norman, although there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by either.

The FSA has said that Thedeen earlier recused himself from the Swedbank investigation due to the conflict of interest, and that money laundering supervision, including the probe, were being handled by his deputy.

For some, such closeness is inevitable. "Sweden is quite a small country," said Torbjorn Hallo, an economist at the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. "Most people know each other."

And some investors say it is time for change.

"We have had some concerns about the Nordic model ... for some time. Often boards lack industry experience, and are instead pulled from a local pool," the head of corporate governance at one London fund manager said, adding that the management often goes unchallenged as a result. ($1 = 0.8892 euros) (Additional reporting by Teis Jensen in Copenhagen and Simon Jessop in London; Writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Alexander Smith)eases@

* Soybeans at 1-week high as U.S.-China trade talks progress

* Winter wheat down on crop-friendly weather in U.S. grain-belt

(Adds details, quote) SINGAPORE, April 3 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures gained for a third consecutive session on Wednesday, triggered and Beijing. Corn also edged higher, but winter wheat prices slid for a second session as improving weather in parts of the U.S. grain belt weighed on the market. The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) most-active soybean contract gained 0.2 percent at $9.01-1/2 a bushel by 0356 GMT, while corn added 0.3 percent to $3.62-1/2 a bushel. The United States and China "expect to make more headway" in trade talks this week, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday, as the top U.S. business lobbying group said differences over an enforcement mechanism and the removal of U.S. tariffs were still obstacles to a deal. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is in Washington just days after wrapping up trade talks last week in Beijing. He will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Private exporters have reported the sale of 828,000 tonnes of soybeans to China, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The winter wheat market is facing pressure from improved crop conditions in the United States. In its first crop condition report for this year, the USDA on Monday afternoon assessed 56 percent of U.S. winter wheat in good-to-excellent condition, up from 32 percent a year ago and topping trade expectations of 55 percent. "The winter crop is looking very good," said one Singapore-based trader. "The winter crop is at a discount to CBOT wheat and that is mainly due to the crop condition report. K.C. hard red winter wheat fell 0.1 percent to $4.32-1/4 a bushel while CBOT wheat rose 0.4 percent to $4.65-3/4 a bushel. Winter wheat is at it deepest discount to Chicago futures since early 2011. The weather outlook boosted expectations of strong harvest yields. Forecasts for improving weather in the northern Plains, where the spring wheat crop will be seeded in the coming weeks, eased some concerns about flooding in key production areas. Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT wheat, soybean, soyoil and soymeal contracts on Tuesday and net sellers of corn, traders said.

Grains prices at 0356 GMT

Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSICBOT wheat 465.75 1.75 +0.38% +1.75% 461.76 53CBOT corn 362.50 1.00 +0.28% +1.68% 372.09 37CBOT soy 901.50 1.50 +0.17% +1.95% 905.51 54CBOT rice 10.77 -$0.03 -0.23% -0.74% $10.77 42WTI crude 62.78 $0.20 +0.32% +4.39% $58.07

Currencies

Euro/dlr $1.122 $0.001 +0.08% +0.04%USD/AUD 0.7097 -0.001 -0.20% +0.04%

Most active contracts Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight RSI 14, exponential

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Richard Pullin)KAARST, Germany, April 3 (Reuters) - IKEA will expand tests to allow customers to rent desks and sofas rather than buy them as it shifts away from selling low-cost disposable furniture in response to growing environmental concerns.

The worlds biggest furniture group first said it was looking into furniture leasing in February. It fleshed out its plans on Wednesday at an event held at its first 'sustainable' store in Kaarst, western Germany, opened in 2017.

"Testing out opportunities for leasing offers is one of the ways we are challenging ourselves to deliver on our transformation strategy," said Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores.

"Climate change and unsustainable consumption are among the biggest challenges we face in society."

IKEA's move towards supporting a more circular economy comes as many young consumers say they want to minimize their impact on the environment, preferring to rent items ranging from clothing to cars.

Its business model has already come under pressure from the rise of online retail and a growing reluctance among younger shoppers to travel to its vast out-of-town stores, get the flat-pack furniture home and assemble it themselves.

Rent the Runway, which has previously only rented out designer apparel and accessories, said last month it will partner with Williams-Sonoma Inc's West Elm brand to allow subscribers to rent home decor.

IKEA, which had global sales of 39 billion euros ($44 billion) last year, said it wants to develop subscription-based leasing offers to encourage products to be reused as many times as possible before being recycled.

It had already committed to make all its products from renewable and recycled materials by 2030 and also to design all its products to be reused, repaired and recycled. In 2018 it handled 1 million orders for spare parts to repair products.

IKEA has already started testing different furniture rental projects in the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland, and aims to expand the tests to all its 30 markets next year.

In Sweden and Switzerland, it is looking into providing furniture to companies on a subscription model, while in the Netherlands it is testing a rental package for students in cooperation with a housing association.

($1 = 0.8933 euros) (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Jan Harvey)WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday faulted the Trump administration for failing so far to impose sanctions over Chinas alleged human rights abuses against its Muslim minority and called for punitive measures against a senior Communist Party official and Chinese companies.

A letter to President Donald Trumps top advisers signed by more than 40 lawmakers said Chinas actions in its western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity and urged tighter U.S. export controls to ensure that U.S. companies are not assisting the Chinese governments crackdown there, either directly or indirectly.

It also asked the United States to strengthen financial disclosure requirements to alert American investors about the presence in U.S. capital markets of Chinese companies that are complicit in human rights abuses. The letter specifically cited Hikvision and Dahua Technology, which produce audio-visual equipment that can be used for surveillance.

China faces growing condemnation from Western capitals and rights groups for setting up facilities that U.N. experts describe as mass detention centers holding more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims.

Beijing has said its measures in Xinjiang, which are also reported to include widespread surveillance of the population, are aimed at stemming the threat of Islamist militancy. The facilities or camps that have opened are vocational training centers, the government has said.

The letter, which was sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, urged them to swiftly slap sanctions on Xinjiang's Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo, a member of the Chinese leaderships powerful politburo, and other Chinese officials complicit in gross violations of human rights.

The Trump administration has been weighing sanctions against Chinese officials, including Chen, since late last year, and though it has ramped up criticism it has held off on imposing the measures. China has warned that it would retaliate "in proportion" against any U.S. sanctions.

We are disappointed with the administrations failure so far to impose any sanctions related to the ongoing systemic and egregious human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the lawmakers said. "While the strong rhetoric condemning the Chinese governments actions (in Xinjiang) from Vice President Pence and others is certainly welcomed, words alone are not enough."

The group of signatories was led by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and U.S. Representative Chris Smith on the Republican side and Senator Bob Menendez and Representative James McGovern on the Democratic side.

They called on the Trump administration to apply sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act. The federal law allows the U.S. government to target human rights violators around the world with freezes on any U.S. assets, U.S. travel bans and prohibitions on Americans doing business with them. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick Editing by Tom Brown)(Adds background, detail)

TALLINN, April 3 (Reuters) - Estonia's State Prosecutor has received a criminal complaint against Swedbank brought by investor Bill Browder, and will decide whether to begin an investigation into the money laundering allegations within the next 10 days, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors' office said on Wednesday.

Swedbank is embroiled in a money-laundering scandal involving Danske Bank, which revealed last year that its Estonian branch had been used to move 230 billion euros ($258 billion) of suspicious payments between 2007 and 2015.

Browder founded Hermitage Capital and was once the biggest foreign money manager in Russia. He has been instrumental in driving authorities to bring cases against Danske Bank.

"At the moment the prosecutor is analysing the data, and the decision on whether to start an investigation will be made within 10 days," said the spokeswoman, who declined to comment on the content of the filing.

Earlier this week Sweden's Economic Crime Authority (EBM) dropped a complaint by Browder saying the limited transfers involving Swedish accounts had occurred before tighter anti-money laundering legislation was introduced in 2014 and as a statute of limitations had expired in the case. (Reporting by Tarmo Virki, editing by Johannes Hellstrom and Louise Heavens)(Adds details from interviews with IKEA executives)

KAARST, Germany, April 3 (Reuters) - IKEA wants to roll out furniture rental to all its main markets in a bid to appeal to its increasingly environmentally conscious and transient customers.

The world's biggest furniture group, known for its low-cost disposable items, first said it was looking into leasing its desks, beds and sofas in February. It fleshed out its plans on Wednesday at an event held at its first 'sustainable' store in Kaarst, western Germany, opened in 2017.

The rental pilot was driven by a recognition that many consumers change homes more frequently but can't afford new furniture every time they move, Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores, told Reuters.

It is also motivated by environmentalism, with IKEA surveys showing that 90 percent of its customers are ready to change their behavior, even if most don't know how to do that.

"You should be able to have a lovely home, and a good conscience, and you should be able to afford it," Brodin said, noting that his three teenage children come home from school expressing fears about a looming environmental catastrophe.

Since taking over as CEO in 2017, Brodin has led efforts to overhaul the IKEA business model to respond to climate change, the rise in ecommerce and customers who no longer have the time or the cars to drive to its out-of-town stores.

Rental meets IKEA's three main strategic objectives: being more affordable, more convenient and looking after planet, said IKEA finance chief Juvencio Maeztu, noting that young people increasingly expect to rent anything from music to cars.

Rent the Runway, which has previously only rented out designer apparel and accessories, said last month it will partner with Williams-Sonoma Inc's West Elm brand to allow subscribers to rent home decor.

IKEA, which had global sales of 39 billion euros ($44 billion) last year, will test a range of subscription-based leasing offers in all 30 of its markets by 2020 so products are reused as often as possible before being recycled.

REPAIR, RECYCLE

It had already committed to make all its products from renewable and recycled materials by 2030 and also to design all its products to be reused, repaired and recycled. In 2018 it handled 1 million orders for spare parts to repair products.

The rental tests will give IKEA insights into the durability of its products that it will feed back to designers, who are already working to make furniture that is easier to dismantle and move, said Pia Heidenmark, IKEA sustainability chief.

In the Netherlands, IKEA is offering students the rental of a bed, desk, table and chairs for a monthly fee of up to 30 euros ($33.68), while in Sweden and Switzerland it is looking into providing office furniture to companies.

Brodin also highlighted another strategic shift, saying he wants to provide convenient, round-the-clock access to IKEA stores in the company's top 30 cities in the next five years.

IKEA has just opened a new store in Greenwich in south-east London and is about to add locations in central Paris and Moscow. It is finalising plans for many more, Maeztu said.

"In New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai, we will see more of these mid-sized stores in the future," Maeztu said. "In the next 20 years, more people will live in cities and own fewer cars and share more."

IKEA also plans to expand TaskRabbit, a U.S. online marketplace for odd jobs like furniture assembly it bought in 2017, to many more markets, and is looking for other similar acquisition or partnership opportunities, Maeztu said. ($1 = 0.8909 euros) (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Jan Harvey and Alexandra Hudson)(Adds details, quote)

LAGOS, April 3 (Reuters) - Nigerian oil company Oando aims to raise fresh capital over the next two years and repay debt used to acquire Conoco Phillips' Nigerian assets, its chief executive Adewale Tinubu told Reuters.

Oando has transformed itself in the past few years from a fuel retailer to oil producer and now competes with multinationals such as Shell and ExxonMobil, but its growth has been largely built on debt.

It bought Conoco Phillips' Nigerian assets for $1.5 billion in 2013, but high financing costs coupled with lower oil prices hit profit, leaving it unable to repay its debt. It has posted losses including a record $1.10 billion loss in 2014.

Tinubu said Oando has paid over 77 percent of the acquisition debt and plans to pay-off the rest in 12 months, which would allow it to resume dividend payments. He said Oando would be left with total debt of $300 million.

Oando's growth plan is to continue to pursue acquisitions as multinational oil companies sell assets, Tinubu said but added that he would take on new deals after paying down debt.

Exxon Mobil is weighing the sale of its Nigerian oil and gas fields for up to $3 billion to focus on new developments in U.S. shale and Guyana, industry and banking sources said.

"Our expectation is that over a four-year horizon we will no longer have long term debt," Tinubu told Reuters by email.

"GOING CONCERN"

In 2016, Nigeria's central bank gave lenders a deadline to reach a deal to resolve Oando's debt issue, leading to a 94.6 billion naira loan restructuring including asset sales.

Last week Oando's losses narrowed to 18.3 billion naira ($59.8 million) for 2018 while its auditor Ernst & Young questioned its "going concern" status, saying that its current liabilities were in excess of its current assets.

Oando said it would reclassify some current liabilities as long-term liabilities to remedy its working capital by June and swap 27.5 billion naira of debt into equity, it said in a note to its 2018 accounts.

It also plans to sell up to $200 million via a rights issue by October and cut its stake in its upstream unit to raise $275 million in 2020, Oando said in its accounts.

Tinubu said he was confident with the capital raising initiatives and that over the next 24 months Oando would raise funds as plans were far advanced.

Shares in Lagos-listed Oando, which are down 86 percent from their peak of 33.47 naira in 2014, rose 3.2 percent on Wednesday to value the company at 58.43 billion naira.

($1 = 305.90 naira) (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Susan Fenton and David Evans)(Adds Brazil export data to China)

SAO PAULO, April 3 (Reuters) - Brazil is in a position to step up pork exports to China where an African swine fever outbreak has become a "transformational event" for the global meat industry, Pedro Parente, chief executive of Brazilian food processor BRF SA, said on Wednesday.

The increase would depend on plants in Brazilian states other than Santa Catarina in the south getting certified, he said at a conference. BRF only has one unit in Brazil authorized to sell pork to China, he added.

As a group, Brazilian companies could sell an additional 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes of pork per year to China, he said.

The United States, once its trade dispute with Beijing is resolved, could also boost pork supplies to China by about 700,000 tonnes, he added.

But Parente said this only represents a small fraction of China's potential demand as a result of the outbreak, which was first reported in August 2018.

China produces about 54 million tonnes of pork and demands about 56 million tonnes in a given year, with the difference supplied by imports.

"If Chinese production were to fall by 10 percent, which is a conservative estimate, this would mean the country would need an additional 5.5 million tonnes to meet current demand for pork," Parente said.

"Nobody in the world is really prepared for this," he said regarding alternative suppliers for China.

Overall Brazilian pork exports to China totaled 154,500 tonnes last year, a 216 percent rise from 2017, according to data compiled by meat trade association ABPA. China is a key market with pork destined to that nation amounting to 24 percent of Brazil's total pork exports, the data shows.

Global trade in pork totals about 8 million tonnes, with China accounting for some 20 percent, according to Parente.

Parente noted BRF could benefit from the health crisis by selling more pork to China or by stepping up exports of other proteins to that country, especially chicken.

However, this is not an immediate opportunity because many Chinese producers are advancing slaughtering and increasing supply in the short term, Parente noted. ( Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Richard Chang and Susan Thomas)(recasts, adds quote, updates prices)

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Sterling held below $1.31 on Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May sought a Brexit compromise with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in a last-ditch effort to end a national crisis.

The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the EU last Friday, but it is still unclear how or even whether it will exit the bloc.

May is holding talks with the Labour Party which sterling investors see as a gamble that could help a European Union divorce deal finally clear parliament or tear her ruling Conservative party apart.

In a series of votes on Wednesday evening a cross-party group of lawmakers will attempt to push through legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit, the biggest downside risk for the pound.

"A surge in expectations that the UK could be headed for a soft Brexit means sterling has leapt higher, but there is still uncertainty linked both to Brexit and the shape of the UK government," said Jane Foley, a currencies strategist at Rabobank.

May turned to Labour after a hardcore eurosceptic group of Conservatives repeatedly rejected her divorce deal.

Labour wants to stay in a customs union with the EU, raising the likelihood of a "soft" Brexit option that keeps Britain's economy closely aligned to the world's biggest trading bloc.

Sterling jumped to $1.3196, its highest level since March 28 on hopes that Britain could end up with close ties to the European Union after Brexit.

By 1500 GMT it was trading around $1.3155, up 0.2 percent on the day and against the euro it held near its strongest level since March. 27 at 85.03 pence.

May's cross-party effort by no means lifts the fog of uncertainty over the pound but offers a glimmer of hope to investors who are worried Britain might crash out of the EU without a withdrawal deal on April. 12.

The currency largely overlooked a downbeat survey of purchasing managers in the services sector, with the headline reading for March dipping into contraction territory to its lowest level since July 2016.

It is up more than 1.3 percent from Tuesday's low of $1.3015 when lawmakers' failure on Monday to agree an alternative plan to May's withdrawal agreement.

Expectations for big swings in the pound remained high, with one-month implied volatility holding near three-month highs, contrasting with a similar gauge for the euro, which has plummeted to a 4-1/2 year low.

(Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe; Editing by Mark Potter, William Maclean)(Adds Pompeo-Cavusoglu meeting, meeting with lawmakers)

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned Turkey on Wednesday against buying a Russian S-400 anti-missile system, keeping up pressure on the NATO ally to abandon a purchase that Washington views as a threat to U.S. military equipment.

"Turkey must choose. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said in an address during a meeting of NATO ministers in Washington.

The United States and Turkey remain at loggerheads over Ankara's plan to buy the air defense system from Russia, which Washington believes would compromise the security of its F-35 fighter jets, made by Lockheed Martin Corp.

Turkey struck back promptly, with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay issuing his own admonition on Twitter: "The United States must choose. Does it want to remain Turkeys ally or risk our friendship by joining forces with terrorists to undermine its NATO allys defense against its enemies?"

Washington has warned that proceeding with the deal could result in U.S. sanctions and the exclusion of Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program. The United States this week halted delivery to Turkey of equipment related to the stealthy aircraft.

"Weve also made it clear that we will not stand idly by while NATO allies purchase weapons from our adversaries that threaten the cohesion of our alliance," Pence said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey has proposed to the United States that they form a working group to determine that Russian S-400 missile defense systems do not pose a threat to U.S. or NATO military equipment.

"It will not be integrated into the NATO system ... therefore we propose the United States to establish a technical working group to make sure that this system will not be a threat - neither to (U.S.) F-35s nor the NATO systems," Cavusoglu told a panel in Washington.

Ankara says it needs the S-400s, to be delivered in July, to defend itself, as Turkey faces threats from Kurdish and Islamist militants at home and conflicts in neighboring Syria and Iraq.

The United States hopes to find a way out of the dispute by convincing Turkey to purchase the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system, made by Raytheon. Turkey is also looking into a French-Italian system based on the SAMP-T missile systems.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed his concerns about the S-400 surface-to-air missile system with Cavusoglu in a meeting on Wednesday, the State Department said.

The leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, who can block military sales to Turkey, also told him that the S-400 purchase could jeopardize Turkey's future in NATO and risked sanctions as well as Turkey's participation in the F-35 program.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in Washington for the 70th anniversary of the Western alliance and a meeting of its foreign ministers, told Reuters in an interview he had spoken several times with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan about the S-400 issue and had discussed it in a meeting with Trump on Tuesday.

Asked about Turkey's working-group proposal, Stoltenberg said the S-400 issue had been considered many times at different NATO ministerial meetings. While it was not formally on the agenda in Washington, he expected it to be addressed.

"I expect that on the margins of our foreign ministerial meeting here in Washington this week, the S-400 issue will be discussed again. Not at the formal agenda, but on the margins when we have the ministers sitting down and looking into whether theres a way to find a way to find a compromise," Stoltenberg said.

In the meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Pompeo also called for the speedy resolution of cases involving detained U.S. citizens including Serkan Golge, the State Department said. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Additional reporting by Sarah Dadouch in Istanbul and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Grant McCool and James Dalgleish)Roche said its effort to expand in gene therapy via the $4.3 billion takeover of Spark Therapeutics remained on track despite failing to get enough votes to clinch the deal and as U.S. regulators continued scrutinizing it.

The Swiss company said it was extending its offer to May 2 from the original deadline of Wednesday, having received support from holders of only 29.4 percent of Spark shares. It needs a majority for its offer to go through.

A spokesman said Roche remained confident the deal would be completed by the end of June.

"All terms and conditions of the offer shall remain unchanged during the extended period," Roche said in a statement on the $114.50 per share offer it announced in February.

Roche also said a review of the acquisition by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the government agency which seeks to prevent anti-competitive practices, was taking more time than anticipated and its plans had had to be refiled.

It did not give any further detail on the refiling but said it had been agreed with the FTC and with Spark.

"The FTC review and clearance is required for the deal to be completed and needs more time," a Roche spokesman said.

"The deal is not in doubt at all and we expect it will be completed according to our guidance in the first half of 2019. There needs to be more than 50 percent of the shares to be tendered, but we believe our offer to be full and fair and it has been recommended by the board of Spark," the spokesman added.The appeal was released by the Indian Writers Forum and shared hundreds of times. Intellectuals are against the lynching of Muslims, the murder of inconvenient journalists, discrimination against minorities. They want a country without censorship, violence and stalking.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - "Let's vote against hate politics": this is what more than 200 Indian writers say on the eve of the general elections that begin next week, 11 April, and will end on 19 May. They intervene in the light of serious episodes of discrimination and intolerance towards those who express critical opinions, or simply "different" opinions with respect to the narrative dominated by the Hindu nationalist party. "All of us - they say - want a change. We don't want rational thinkers, writers and activists to be stalked or murdered ".

The writers 'appeal was published on the Indian Writers' Forum website and shared hundreds of times on social media pages. The document is signed by some of the most famous Indian intellectuals - including Girish Karnad, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Nayantara Sahgal and Romila Thapar.

According to the signatories, our country is at a crossroads. Our Constitution guarantees all its citizens equal rights, freedom to eat, pray and live as they wish, freedom of expression and the right to dissent ". But in recent years, they stress, we have seen citizens being lynched or assaulted or discriminated against because of their community, caste, gender, or the region they come from. Hate politics has been used to divide the country; create fear; and exclude more and more people from living as full-fledged citizens."

The reference of intellectuals is to attacked writers, journalists killed for their "uncomfortable" investigations, attacks on Christian and Muslim minorities, desecration of places of worship by Hindu fanatics. " Anyone who questions the powers-that-be is in danger of being harassed or arrested on false and ridiculous charges".

They conclude: "All of us want this to change. We dont want rationalists, writers and activists to be hounded or assassinated. We want stern measures against violence in word or deed against women, dalits, adivasis and minority communities. We want resources and measures for jobs, education, research, healthcare and equal opportunities for all. Most of all, we want to safeguard our diversity and let democracy flourish.(File photo): Protesters outside the ExxonMobil annual shareholders meeting at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has allowed Exxon Mobil to block a shareholder proposal requiring the oil giant to set targets to substantially reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The proposal called for the company to disclose greenhouse gas targets aligned with the 2015 Paris climate agreement effort to keep average global temperature increases to well below 2 degrees Celsius, a goal some experts contend is unattainable.

The shareholder community has increasingly pressured publicly traded firms to assess climate change risk as the U.S. government shies away from climate change regulation. President Donald Trump announced in June 2017 that the United States will withdraw from the Paris deal, though it cannot formally do so until November 2020.

Exxon had contended the resolution was misleading and would interfere with management responsibilities. The SEC said in its decision letter Tuesday that the requirement would "micromanage" the company and "impose specific methods for implementing complex policies in place of the ongoing judgments of management as overseen by its board of directors."

One group of investors who supported the resolution represented $9.5 trillion in assets under management.

This isn't the first time the SEC has used this argument. The agency approved a request in 2018 by EOG Resources, a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration, to ditch a resolution that required the firm to disclose greenhouse gas targets. As in Exxon's case, the SEC claimed the proposal would micromanage the company.

For oil and gas giants, this type of shift in SEC policy on activist shareholder proposals would be a positive development.

Exxon did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Church Commissioners for England and the New York state comptroller's office, which submitted the nonbinding proposal and other climate-change resolutions to Exxon, said they will continue to push the company on climate change.

"The SEC's ruling is a bump in the road, but as long-term investors determined to protect the value of our portfolio, we are not going away. We will continue to press Exxon, and others, on climate risk and consider all options available to us in our next steps," New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Church Commissioners told CNBC that the decision was "disappointing and puzzling" and would enable Exxon to close down interaction with its shareholders on climate-related strategy.

"Exxon is continuing to misjudge the mood of investors on climate risk and the fact remains that at present the company is providing no assurance that it has a strategy consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We are reviewing our options," the spokesperson said.Check out the companies making headlines midday Wednesday:

Signet Jewelers  Shares of Signet Jewelers rose 0.5 percent after the diamond retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly results. Signet reported earnings of $3.96 per share, 14 cents higher than expected, and revenues of $2.155 billion, $11 million higher than expected.

Verizon  Shares of Verizon Communications rose 0.6 percent  erasing earlier losses  after the telecommunications company announced it will be activating its 5G mobile network in Chicago and Minneapolis. Verizon also said add the service to 30 additional markets this year. The 5G network would give users speeds of roughly 10 times faster than current LTE network speeds.

Caterpillar  Caterpillar shares fell as much as 1.3 percent after an analyst at Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy. The analyst cited collapsing "synchronized global growth," noting: "China Land Cycle is rolling over, ... Europe is slowing more than expected and the US is oversaturated with construction equipment."

Advanced Micro Devices  Shares of Advanced Micro Devices shot up 8.5 percent after Nomura Instinet initiated coverage with a buy rating and a $33 per share price target. Nomura cited AMD's high revenue growth and rapid improving profitability.

GameStop The video game and electronics retailer fell over 4 percent after the company's fiscal fourth-quarter revenue missed expectations. GameStop reported $3.06 billion in revenue versus a Refinitiv estimate of $3.28 billion. The company also warned of a potential upcoming loss in the fiscal first quarter of 2019.

Usana Health Sciences Usana Health Sciences dropped about 3.5 percent after the company announced preliminary first quarter results that missed expectations. A lack of promotional activity and the impact of China's review of direct sellers is to blame, the company said in a release.

StoneCo  Shares of the Brazilian payments software company fell more than 8 percent after pricing its secondary stock offering at $40.50 per share. The company is selling 19.5 million shares in the offering, more than the 17.9 million indicated in a prospectus.

Urban Outfitters  The retailer's stock rose more than 3 percent after DA Davidson upgraded it to buy from neutral. The firm cited improving fundamentals for Urban Outfitters, noting: "Management has been methodically laying the foundation for a best-in class brand apparel company that could thrive under the shifting retail paradigm."

GrubHub  Shares of GrubHub rose 0.4 percent after BTIG initiated the food delivery company as buy with a price target of $95 per share. The firm cited optimism about GrubHub's growth in restaurant partnerships.

CNBC's Nadine El-Bawab and Jessica Bursztynsky contributed to this report.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte (L) attend a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, October 20, 2016.

The Philippines' finance secretary said his country has never failed to repay its loan payments, local press reported. His comments come amid concerns over the Southeast Asian nation's ability to repay its mounting debt to China and other countries.

"The Philippines has never, never defaulted on its loans. The Philippines has not done it even in the worst time, and the worst time was right after Marcos," Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a statement on Tuesday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported. He was referring to the two-decade long reign of the late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

"Even when the Philippines was cash-strapped, it had never defaulted on any of its loans," said Dominguez.

The Philippines has borrowed money from China and other nations to fund its massive infrastructure projects, under President Rodrigo Duterte's signature "Build, Build, Build" program.

"I don't know why people are saying, 'there might be a default.' That means to say those people have no faith in their own country," Dominguez said.

Like in many developing countries, there are concerns that the Southeast Asian nation cannot generate enough cash to repay the interest on China's loans.

Observers worry that Beijing may seek economic or political concessions as compensation as was the case with Sri Lanka, which had to hand over a strategic port to Beijing in 2017 when it couldn't pay off its debt to Chinese companies.

The phenomenon has been dubbed debt-trap diplomacy, which Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration has denied engaging in.

Read Carlos G. Dominguez III's comments about The Philippines' loans from China.(L-R) US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He pose for a group photo at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on February 15, 2019.

American and Chinese officials negotiating a trade deal have resolved most of the outstanding issues but are still haggling over how to implement and enforce such an agreement, the Financial Times reported late Tuesday.

Both countries have yet to agree on a number of important issues.

Beijing wants Washington to remove existing U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, while the United States wants China to agree to terms of an enforcement mechanism ensuring it abides by the deal, the FT said.

Myron Brilliant, executive vice president for international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told reporters that 90 percent of the deal is done, but the final 10 percent remains the trickiest part of the negotiations and would require trade-offs on both sides, according to the FT.

The U.S. and China have levied tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods since last year, which disrupted supply chains and raised costs for companies.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are set to resume talks with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Wednesday, days after both sides reported progress in talks that took place in Beijing.

If the discussions prove fruitful, the FT said it's possible that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping to formally sign an agreement. In the event the world's two largest economies are unable to reach a trade deal soon, some analysts have warned that a global recession could follow.

Read more about the FT's report on US-China trade negotiations here.Verizon on Wednesday announced that it has turned on its 5G wireless network in two markets  Chicago and Minneapolis  that will work with the next generation of connected gadgets. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg told CNBC that the company will activate 30 additional markets this year.

Vestberg added that Verizon is unlikely to see any impact on revenue from people who upgrade to new 5G phones until around 2021.

This network complements Verizon's existing "5G Home" service which launched in October in select areas and is a wireless alternative to a traditional cable-based home internet connection, but does not work far beyond the walls of your home.

Verizon said the wireless network will give customers access to peak speeds up to 1 Gbps. That's about 10 times faster than you might traditionally find on the LTE connection you have now. Put plainly: You'll be able to download movies in seconds instead of minutes.

Only a select number of phones will support the network at first. Samsung will launch a Galaxy S10 5G model later this quarter that will be exclusive to Verizon to start. AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint will begin to sell it in the second half of the year. That leaves the Motorola Z3 as the only phone that supports Verizon's new 5G network right now, and it requires a separate accessory to work on it.

The Motorola Z3 costs $240 and requires a $200 "moto mod" to work on the network.

T-Mobile and Sprint are planning to roll out 5G later this year but neither of the companies, which are still in the midst of a merger, have activated 5G yet. The first Sprint 5G markets are Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago and Kansas City in May followed by Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., sometime during the first half of the year. Devices from HTC and LG will support Sprint's 5G network.

AT&T's 5G+ network, the branding it's using for its 5G coverage, is available in 12 markets. The company says it will increase that coverage throughout the year. AT&T has been marketing its new network by switching on a new indicator on phones that says "5GE," but this does not actually add 5G service to the devices, which still operate at 4G speeds.

WATCH: Is 5G safe?Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

Bazaar Corporate Radar

Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar.by Mathias Hariyadi

Catholics number about 1.7 million on the Indonesian side of Borneo Island, which is divided into eight ecclesiastic districts. Promoting environmental protection is one of the most important aspects of pastoral care. In two weeks, Indonesians will choose their new president, vice president, and lawmakers.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Eight Catholic bishops (including two emeriti) from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) have released a joint pastoral letter ahead of Easter, calling on the faithful to use the period of Lent to reflect and adopt a new lifestyle that respects creation and faces the environmental challenges that await them.

The letter comes two weeks before the countrys general elections, and so the bishops also urge their flock to vote responsibly, defend the countrys pluralist nature, and oppose fundamentalism.

About 73 per cent of Borneo is part of Indonesia. The island is five times the size of Java, where the Indonesian capital Jakarta is located. About 1.7 million Catholics live in the region, which is divided into two ecclesiastical provinces: Pontianak and Samarinda.

In addition to these two archdioceses, there are six dioceses: Ketapang, Sanggau and Sintang (suffragan of Pontianak); Banjarmasin, Palangka Raya and Tanjung Selor (suffragan of Samarinda).

For the Church in this remote but resource-rich region, promoting environmental protection is one of the most important aspects of pastoral care.

In their letter, the bishops offer Catholics some starting points to engage in eco-compatible behaviour.

For Mgr Pius Riana Prapdi, bishop of Ketapang (West Kalimantan), "reviving the natural materials offered by Mother Earth is certainly a moral imperative, which we are all called to implement".

Mgr Petrus Boddeng Timang, bishop of Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan), slams "the unsustainable exploitation with which the mines threaten the ground of southern Borneo."

Rich in coal and oil, the provinces of South, North and East Kalimantan have become a land of conquest in the last few years for domestic and foreign mining giants.

"Our egocentric passion for profit has generated catastrophic dangers to our environment, said Mgr Timang, such as landslides, floods and the disappearance of some animal species.

Mgr Aloysius Maryadi Sutrisnaatmaka, bishop of Palangka Raya (Central Kalimantan), calls on Catholics to change their way of life starting from the smallest unit of society: the family. "The new Borneo is our common home," he said.

The pastoral letter touches on other topics of interest to Indonesians. The Archbishop of Pontianak (West Kalimantan), Mgr Agustinus Agus, criticises one "bad habit", namely the abuse of technology.

He cites a study that shows how the number of smartphone users rose from 70 million in 2016 to 103 million in 2018.

"Modern telecommunications technologies offer many good things, he says. However, in matters of religion, they pose a challenge: messages with hoaxes or unconfirmed reports are intentionally disseminated."

In the worlds most populous Islamic country, ethnicity and religion can lead to conflict, especially at elections. On 17 April, Indonesians will elect their president, vice-president, and members of both houses of parliament.

For this reason, Mgr Agus calls on voters to pick candidates who are committed "to serving the people, promoting justice and making our society more prosperous."

For his part, Mgr Paulinus Yan Olla, bishop of Tanjung Selor (North Kalimantan), warns Catholics against not voting or spoiling their ballot.

Lastly, the Archbishop of Samarinda (East Kalimantan), Mgr Yustinus Harjosusanto, notes that "The future of our nation is at stake: every vote counts."The states largest real estate trade association with more than 29,000 members said the policymakers' work on the issue benefits current and future homeowners, including increasing access to information vital to the buying process and increasing transparency about property tax obligations, as well as how the legislature invests in housing across the state.Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday.Thomas Schneider, Seth Reynolds' attorney, is questioned by Judge Mark Pfeiffer, left, while Judges Edward Ardini and Gary Witt listen during the Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District session Tuesday at Hulston Hall on MU's campus. The hearing was held before an audience of Missouri law students, who were taking notes of the hearing.by Melani Manel Perera

Developing interfaith harmony is a project involving the residents of various villages near Negombo. For Seth Sarana director, getting the trust of the various communities was not easy. Buddhists and Muslims call for action for future generations.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Promoting interfaith dialogue at the diocesan level through activities for children, language courses for children and parents, and educational programmes for young people is an important goal for Seth Sarana Caritas, the social action arm of the Archdiocese of Colombo.

Building up Inter-religious harmony in multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities in the Archdiocese is an important part of the works of Caritas-Seth Sarana, said the charitys director Fr Lawrence Ramanayake.

The priest spoke with the leaders of other religious groups at a meeting held on 28 March at the Cardinal Cooray Centre in Negombo.

Fr Ramanayake noted that in Colombo Caritas has worked with the leaders of other faith groups for the past five years. As a result of these efforts, seven village-level groups were established "to give answers to problems that arise".

Developing interfaith harmony is a project that involves the residents of Dalupatha, Periyammulla, Thillandduwa, Bolawalana and Kandasurindugama, in Negombo District, Colombo Archdiocese.

However, the Seth Sarana director admits that getting the trust of the various communities was not easy.

Sometimes those who did not know us interpreted our activities as an attempt to convert, Fr Ramanayake explained.

In other instances, religious representatives took part in events without any real interest, and a deep dialogue was not established. Sometimes understanding and mutual trust are missing.

Still, the inclusion of different religious groups and experiences has increased knowledge and curiosity towards others.

"Through the catechism, we have strengthened values in our children and so a change of attitude was generated towards other religions. Now participants want to learn more about other cultures and faiths."

For Maulavi Abdul Rahuman, a Muslim leader, and Buddhist Venerable Atabaage Piyadhassi Thero, this means working together. "We will not live forever. Let's try to do something good for future generations, they said.The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission formby Bernardo Cervellera

The former ordinary bishop, now reduced to auxiliary bishop at the request of Pope Francis, will not be able to celebrate the Chrism Mass. The Religious Affairs Office will not recognize him as a bishop unless he joins the Patriotic Association. All unofficial priests are required to register and support the "independent Church". If they register they receive an award of 200 thousand yuan (26 thousand euros). The ambiguity of Msgr. Zhan Silu, who from formerly excommunicated, is now the ordinary bishop of the diocese.

Rome (AsiaNews) - Bishop Vincenzo Guo Xijin risks not being able to celebrate the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday because the Religious Affairs Office and the United Front do not recognize him as a bishop. Until a few months ago, Msgr. Guo (photo 1) was ordinary bishop of Mindong (Fujian), recognized by the Holy See, but not by the government.

Following the agreement between China and the Vatican and the lifting of the excommunication of the official bishop Vincenzo Zhan Silu (photo 2), at the request of Pope Francis he accepted to be demoted to auxiliary bishop to vacate the ordinary see for Msgr. Zhan.

However, the Chinese authorities continue not to recognize him as a bishop and label his ministry as "illegal". In various dialogues with him, they have placed as a condition to recognize him as auxiliary bishop that he enrolls in the Patriotic Association (AP), the control body of the Catholic Church in China, which works for an "independent Church" (from the Holy See ). John, a faithful comment on AsiaNews: "In practice it is blackmail. If the bishop does not register with the PA, he cannot concelebrate with Msgr. Zhan Silu at the Chrism Mass and risks not exercising any ministry. After the China-Vatican agreement, everything turned upside down: the bishop who was previously unlawful [excommunicated] can now celebrate; what used to be the ordinary has now become even illegal! It's something to laugh about, if it weren't serious and painful! ".

In Pope Francis eyes the Sino-Vatican agreement was to be a step towards the reconciliation of the two branches of the Catholic Church in China, the official and the underground. In his Message to Chinese Catholics and the Universal Church, released a few days after the agreement was signed, the pontiff spoke of a process of reconciliation between official and unofficial Catholics, but did not say that it should be achieved by eliminating the underground community or with mandatory membership of the PA.

On the contrary, quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Francis affirms that the phenomenon of clandestinity "does not fall within the normality of the life of the Church", but also says - again with Benedict - that "history shows that pastors and faithful have recourse to it only amid suffering, in the desire to maintain the integrity of their faith": which is exactly the case with the so-called "independence " of the Church, wanted by the PA.

But in many dioceses the PA and the Office for Religious Affairs continue to demand that all priests enroll in the PA and support the "independent Church". The Vatican expressed a timid reservation in an interview with Card. Fernando Filoni given to the Osservatore Romano, stressing that PA membership, according to Chinese law, should be optional.

Instead, in the diocese of Mindong, the Religious Affairs Office is calling all the underground priests - who are the majority - one by one and demanding they join the PA, otherwise they will have to leave the parishes and not exercise their ministry.

The Diocese of Mindong has over 90 thousand Catholics. Of these, at least 80 thousand belonged to the underground Church, served by 57 priests, 200 nuns, 300 consecrated lay people and hundreds of lay catechists. There are 12 priests in the official community. These numbers are enough to help us understand that the aim of the Religious Affairs Office is to destroy the diocesan Church, removing the priests who do not want to bow. Moreover in order to encourage enrollment in the PA, the Religious Affairs Office offered some priests an award of up to 200,000 yuan (almost 27,000 euros). But so far no one has accepted.

According to information given to AsiaNews, the Office of Religious Affairs is requiring underground priests to sign a document. In it they ask the new ordinary bishop, Msgr. Zhan Silu, for their the priestly faculties, swearing obedience to him. Secondly, they swear to obey the laws of the State, enroll in state organizations and support the principle of an independent Church. In practice, rather than "reconciliation", they are wiping out the (former) underground community, through strong handed interference in the life of the Church.

The position of Msgr. Zhan Silu is ambiguous. According to some faithful he has advised some priests to sign and join the PA. It must be said that he is national vice-president of the PA.

In early March, he was in Beijing as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCCP). Speaking to a journalist of the Sintao Daily (March 3) who asked him if he did not mind that the faithful are being forced to join the official community, leading to the disappearance of the underground Church, he declared that this is the only way "the Church can be united . On that occasion, Msgr. Zhan even said that underground Catholics do not become official because they have "reasons of personal interest".Anandan to leave Google India to join Singapore-based firm Sequoia Capital

Googles vice-president for South East Asia (SEA) and India, Rajan Anandan is leaving the firm to take over as Managing Director of Singapore-based Sequoia Capital India.

Anandan has been instrumental in taking Google product adoption to significantly high levels as he was associated with the company since 2011, a company release stated.

Rajan Anandan is leaving Google to take over as Managing Director of Singapore-based Sequoia Capital. Photo courtesy: alchetron

He also set the tone for the coming year at Googles flagship India event when he said voice, video, and vernacular would be the future of the internet in India.

Eight amazing years. 850 million internet users across India and SEA. Many billions of revenue and the fastest-growing region in the world. Incredible team that thinks big and executes superbly. Thank you GoogleIndia, Google South East Asia. Loved every minute, said Anandan in a tweet yesterday.

8 amazing years. 850million internet users across India and SEA. Many billions of revenue and fastest growing region in the world. Incredible team that thinks big and executes superbly. Thank you @GoogleIndia #GoogleSEA. Loved every minute.  Rajan Anandan (@RajanAnandan) April 2, 2019

We are grateful to Rajan for his huge contribution to Google over the past eight years. His entrepreneurial zeal and leadership have helped grow the overall internet ecosystem in India and South East Asia, and we wish him all the best in his new adventures," said Scott Beaumont, president, Google Asia Pacific in a release.

Before joining Google, Anandan worked with Microsoft India as MD for two years. He began his career in 1992 with McKinsey & Company, followed by leadership roles in Dell.

He is an active angel investor (through Indian Angels Network) in over 45 early-stage technology companies as he made investments in internet, mobile, and software start-ups in India.

Welcoming Rajan in the team, Sequoia said, Rajans deep understanding of technology, significant operating expertise and track record of growing tech businesses across the region will help Surge founders scale and build the transformational businesses of tomorrow.May turns to Corbyn to decide the way forward on Brexit

Theresa May will put a soft Brexit on the table in talks with Jeremy Corbyn in a dramatic switch of tactics to get her deal through parliament. In the face of cabinet opposition the prime minister announced that she was seeking to secure Brexit with help from Labour after a tense seven-hour meeting in which she was repeatedly challenged by her ministers. Mrs Mays aides suggested that she was willing to agree a form of customs union and close single market alignment as the price of getting a Brexit deal through the Commons. A No 10 aide said that she would approach the issue of a customs union, which the Tories promised in a manifesto commitment to leave, in a constructive spirit. Such a strategy will prompt fresh hostility from the Tory party and last night her overture was condemned as a capitulation by leading Brexiteers.  The Times

Opinion

Editorials

May is unwise to have faith in Corbyn  The Sun Says

Years too late  The Guardian Leader

Moderates should infiltrate and take over the main parties  The Times Leader

Epic Cabinet meeting generates lots of heat, not much light  Daily Telegraph Leader

>Today:

The Prime Minister seeks a further extension  though the EU may exact a price

The EU is preparing to offer Theresa May a long Brexit delay with strict conditions attached, including the need to hold European Parliament elections and a possible gentlemans agreement over Britains future conduct as a member state. With an emergency Brexit summit of EU leaders planned next Wednesday  two days before Britains scheduled departure on April 12  the new offer is part of plans being drawn up by diplomats and officials to cope with an increasingly unpredictable UK government and parliament. Measures under consideration in Brussels include the EU postponing Brexit to January or April 2020 Mrs May is still holding out hope of a short delay that would avoid holding European Parliament elections. After a seven-hour cabinet meeting on Tuesday, she admitted she would require another extension, but would only need a short one if her Brexit deal is passed.  FT

>Today:

Angry seven-hour Cabinet meeting sees MPs denounced as nutters

Allegations that ministers opposed her plan but were ignored  Daily Mail

A majority, it is claimed, urged her to keep No Deal on the table instead  Daily Telegraph

They were kept locked away until after her statement  Daily Mail

MPs fear May will split her Party  FT

This is the worst Cabinet ever, charges Boles  The Times

Letwin arranges another day of indicative votes, as Cooper plans a rushed Bill to block No Deal

A minister called hardline Tory Brexiteers nutters and right-wing extremists while Attorney General Geoffrey Cox was slapped down for mansplaining leaving the EU to a female colleague in Theresa Mays extraordinary seven-hour crisis cabinet meeting, it was revealed today. Mrs May lurched towards a softer Brexit after her summit yesterday which saw 14 ministers oppose a Brexit delay while 10 spoke up in favour. Remainer ministers including Amber Rudd and Philip Hammond joined Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove in speaking up for a long extension. But they were outnumbered by ministers including Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt and Liam Fox who preferred a short delay or none at all.  Daily Mail

Supporters of the so-called indicative votes process, under which MPs put forward different options to Mrs Mays Brexit deal, said it could yet produce a Commons majority for one proposal. They intend to hold another round of voting on Monday, when composite parliamentary motions, such as one involving a referendum on Mrs Mays deal plus a customs union, are likely to be presented. But with just 10 days until Brexit, Ms Cooper opted to concentrate on securing a long extension to the Article 50 process rather than another round of indicative votes this week. She presented a bill on Tuesday calling for an extension, and aims for it to speed through all of its Commons stages on Wednesday. Mrs Cooper received a boost from the Commons speaker John Bercow, who said it was not particularly unusual at all for bills to pass several stages in a single day.  FT

>Today: Daniel Hannans column: We are shuffling towards a deal that is worse either than remaining or leaving

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Positions on both sides of the Commons are hardening, despite (or because of) the crusade for consensus

Wallace: Many in Westminster are horrified by the idea of Tory members holding MPs accountable

There is plenty of talk of participatory democracy and valuing the grassroots membership. But when members actually try to use their democratic powers the reaction is one of horror Voting against  or, god forbid, heckling  an MP was treated as if it was an act of extremism, rather than an expression of pretty widespread opinion Its clear that what some in power really want of Tory members is silent obedience. We said we wanted a broad church, but we meant that you should swallow our views, not that you should express yours. We said we wanted more members, but we meant to pay up and campaign, not to influence the Party. We said we wanted to be a democratic organisation, but that doesnt mean you should actually expect to have a choice. Such contempt is not new  remember the senior figure in the Cameron years who sneered at Tory members as swivel-eyed  but it is becoming more shameless.  Mark Wallace, Daily Telegraph

NATO at 70: Russia warned off further aggression in Eastern Europe

Nato will strengthen its presence in the Black Sea region to counter a Russian military build-up as a new arms race develops on Europes eastern flank. The 29-nation western alliance will mark its 70th anniversary by unveiling a package of measures aimed at supporting Ukraine and Georgia amid concern over Russian aggression and Moscows apparent deployment of nuclear-capable bombers in Crimea, the territory it seized in 2014. Russias capture of three Ukrainian naval vessels in November increased tensions, which were fanned when Russian officials claimed that Tupolev Tu-22M3 strategic bombers were being deployed in response to US missile defence systems installed in Romania. Nato is also preparing to fund a new 260 million weapons store at an airbase close to Powidz in central Poland, reducing the time it would take to deploy reinforcements there in case of Russian incursion.  The Times

Mordaunt allocates funding to combat child abuse tourism

The prison system needs a fundamental rethink  Bob Neill, The Times

Call to scrap prison sentences of less than a year  Daily Mail

50,000 offenders could be spared jail  Daily Telegraph

The Home Secretary, not the NHS, should fight knife crime  Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph

8,000 children and young adults seek hospital treatment for weapon wounds  Daily Telegraph

All eyes on the voters of Newport West

The National Crime Agency (NCA) will get 3 million in aid funding to investigate British paedophiles who travel to high risk destination countries, including the Philippines. Britons are among the most frequent foreign offenders in the Philippines and an increasing number in the UK pay to watch child abuse over the internet. Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, said the funding was part of a new approach to aid spending and was firmly in our national interest. This is the latest example of how we are using the aid budget to disrupt organised global crime groups and help the most in need, she said. The money is from the 1.28 billion conflict, stability and security fund, the strategy for which is set by the National Security Council. Half of the fund comes from the aid budget.  The Times

Early on Friday morning, people across the UK will be looking at Newport West and wondering what on earth the city has done. As everyone obsesses about Brexit , the only people who can make some kind of a statement on it at the ballot box will be the residents of the west side of a traditionally Labour city who on Thursday go to the polls to elect a successor to the late Paul Flynn. But will they be thinking about Brexit at all  or will disillusionment with Jeremy Corbyn, frustration with the M4, prostitution in Pill or something else entirely be on their mind?  WalesOnline

UKIP and Remain parties hope to get a look-in  The Times

NHS performs record number of amputations due to rise in diabetes

BMA sexism scandal  The Times

Health service struggles to fill jobs  Daily Mail

Dont blame NICE for relying on facts rather than emotion  James Kirkup, The Times

Rate of heart disease deaths falls faster than almost all other western countries  The Times

News in Brief

Refurbishing Parliament will cost far more than the stated budget  Architects Journal

The alt-right misread their movie inspirations  New Statesman

We must stop being so cruel to refugees  1828

Why is Kim Jong-il cute?  The Spectator

More people than ever are having parts of their legs amputated because of diabetes complications, figures have revealed. More than 27,000 toe, feet and lower leg amputations were carried out by the NHS between 2015 and 2018. This is 3,000 more than in the three years prior and is down to cases of type 2 diabetes  a weight-related illness  soaring. The number of patients suffering from the illness has doubled since the mid-90s, putting hundreds of thousands at higher risk of stroke and heart disease.  Daily MailAdams resigns: You have decided a deal cooked up with a Marxistis better than No Deal

Nigel Adams, the MP for Selby and Ainsty, has resigned from his post as a junior Wales minister in protest at the Prime Ministers decision to pivot to working with Jeremy Corbyn on Brexit.

His letter to the Prime Minister is pretty blunt, saying:

I and many others agreed with your previous position that no deal is better than a bad deal. It now seems that you and your Cabinet have decided that a deal  cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first  is better than no deal. I profoundly disagree with this approach and I have therefore decided that I must reluctantly tender my resignation.

Given the strength of Tory dissatisfaction with Mays new position, he might not be the last to go today.Daniel Hannan is an MEP for South-East England, and a journalist, author and broadcaster. His most recent book is What Next: How to Get the Best from Brexit.

Theresa Mays call for national unity will go unanswered. Labour has no interest in helping her at this stage. Jeremy Corbyns sole aim throughout has been to maximise the sense of chaos. He believes that, when things go wrong, sitting governments (however unfairly) get the blame. He has therefore done everything in his power to prolong the uncertainty, repeatedly whipping, for example, against a Withdrawal Agreement every dot and comma of which Labour accepts as a prelude to a final deal. You have to admire the chutzpah: having taken every opportunity to create gridlock at Westminster, Labour now turns around and says: Look! What a mess! Time for a change!

So we can dismiss the idea of the two parties agreeing a Brexit strategy. Asking for Labours co-operation might give the Prime Minister a tiny tactical boost, exposing Jezzas hypocrisy. But it is unlikely to result in a solution.

Which brings us back to Parliament and its fumbling attempts to find a majority. Tell us what you want, Britain! say EU leaders. Make up your minds! We know what youre against, but what are you for?

Actually, the Commons has said what it is for. The one motion it has passed with a majority is the so-called Brady Amendment. Britain is prepared to swallow all the other nasties in the Withdrawal Agreement  the lopsided arbitration mechanism, the continuing role for the ECJ, the 39 billion which no-one actually believes we owe  provided the backstop is replaced with something other than a scheme for permanent customs union.

It is worth stressing that MPs wanted the backstop replaced rather than removed. The United Kingdom is ready to take any reasonable steps to avoid a hard border in Ireland. It has said from the start that it will raise no physical infrastructure on its side of the line, and is happy to enshrine that commitment in a binding treaty. It will work with Dublin and Brussels on helping them to avoid infrastructure on their side. During his last attempt to negotiate changes, for example, Geoffrey Cox reportedly offered to accept a pared-down backstop, which would include only those things truly necessary to avoid border checks  common standards on animal health and the like.

The EU, of course, refused to make any such concessions. In its intransigence, it inadvertently revealed that it was not primarily interested in avoiding an Irish border. Rather it aimed  and aims  to keep Britain in a customs union, thereby neutralising what it wrongly sees as the threat of a more competitive neighbour. (Free-marketeers know that having a competitive neighbour is no threat. As David Hume put it: The increase in riches and commerce in any one nation, instead of hurting, commonly promotes the riches and commerce of all its neighbours.)

Eurocrats can hardly be blamed for wanting to take full commercial control of the worlds fifth-largest economy, and cant believe their luck at Parliaments evident readiness to let them. If there were any MPs before the 2016 referendum who argued that we should leave the EU but stay in the customs union, they kept very quiet. That option was seen by those who took an interest as manifestly the worst of all worlds.

If you want to understand quite how bad the customs union would be for a non-member, read Greg Hands  a former Remainer and a former trade minister. Surely no MP could digest Gregs argument and still, in good conscience, back this nonsense. But, sadly, few MPs will take the time. Even 30 months on, most of them seem not to understand what the customs union is and  more culpably  show no interest in learning.

The left-wing case against the customs union  that it hurts developing countries and penalises the poorest people in Britain by pushing up the price of food, clothing and footwear  is, if anything, even stronger than the free-market one. Yet, incredibly, Labour MPs have now stumbled into the bizarre position of wanting to junk the good bits of EU membership while hanging onto the bad bits. Why? Perhaps because the Customs Union sounds vaguely like some sort of compromise; perhaps because they can see that Eurosceptics hate it; perhaps because they dislike the word market but like the word union. Whatever the explanation, the EU is exploiting their stupidity for all its worth, repeatedly saying that it would be happy to alter its position if only Britain would agree to cede its trade policy to Brussels in perpetuity.

Remember, Brussels refused to amend the backstop, not because it was trying to prevent a hard border in Ireland  there are better ways to do that  but because it wanted to reduce Britains options to two: acceptance of a customs union or revocation of Article 50. Since it saw both options as congenial, it had no incentive to budge. Incredibly, it may now get its way.

Sulkily, gormlessly, ignorantly, Parliament is shuffling towards a deal worse than either remaining or leaving. We shall lose our veto in Brussels, but allow Eurocrats to set our technical standards and control our trade deals with non-EU states. This idiocy is being pursued for the most sordid of reasons. Some MPs want to stay as close to Brussels as possible on principle, even in areas where there is no conceivable argument for doing so. Some want to stick the other side in the eye. Some simply want the whole business to end, and will vote for a dreadful deal out of ennui.

Listen to the defenders of the Customs Union when they talk. They never make any kind of principled case for it. They cant. Instead, they talk about standing up to the ERG or finding a middle way. Are we really going to end up in this worst-of-all-worlds because our MPs cant be bothered to read about what theyre planning to vote for? It looks horribly likely.Kevin Hollinrake: So you think that energy bills have been going up? In which case, think again.

Kevin Hollinrake is MP for Thirsk and Malton.

At times like these, its nice to come across a good news story. Not just one that resonates within the Party, but one that voters will appreciate in homes up and down the nation. One that sees more money left in household budgets  and one that curbs not only the amount of energy we waste but that helps keep a lid on carbon emissions to boot.

The notion that energy bills are constantly rising seems to be trapped in our hearts and minds, maybe even resulting in last years energy price cap. But does the cap  which seemed a big issue at the time  properly tackle the problem at hand? Where, in fact, is the evidence that energy bills are going up?

It seems like an odd question, but Government figures this week show that, when we account for how much energy we use at home  rather than pegging to an outdated, arbitrary figure that assumes we are using the same amount of energy as 10 years ago  British families are not facing ever-rising bills for the gas we use to keep warm or the electricity that powers our daily lives.

The numbers show that the average home paid 1,155 for gas and electricity during 2018. This is pretty much the same as the bills landing on doorsteps when the Conservatives came to power in 2010. Compared to a high in 2013  when fossil fuel prices were soaring  homes are now nearly 200 better off per year.

And while they edged up higher on the year, this bucking of the trend was driven by surging prices in global gas markets, which is beyond the control of individual nations or governments.

We can also look to numbers from our boffins at the Office for National Statistics. Total household spending on gas and electricity in the 2017/18 financial year (the latest for which data is available) was nearly ten per cent lower than just three years prior, a saving of nearly 60 million, which households can spend on other things. Energy costs as a proportion of household budgets has also fallen, down half a percentage point in just three years to 3.7 per cent.

So why has the notion of ever-rising bills spread far and wide? It is easy to point at journalists looking for an easy headline, or at price comparison websites trying to earn commission. But a longer-running notion is the idea that the transition to a low-carbon and highly efficient energy system would ultimately hit British families in the pocket.

Entrenched for more than a decade, the warnings have been increasingly proven wrong. Back in 2010, less than seven per cent of the power flowing into British homes and businesses was from renewables. Last year it was a third, having more than doubled in just five years.

At the same time as boosting clean power output, we have also been slashing the amount of energy we waste at home. Better performing appliances, fewer leaky walls and windows, and high-tech boilers are all driving the amount of energy we use down. A 2017 report from the Committee on Climate Change showed that our bills are close to 300 lower per year than they would be without a range of efficiency measures that are in place.

Unfortunately, we are now at risk of seeing this good news story come to an end. Despite some progress, our homes remain the leakiest in Europe, with new-builds being constructed well below standards that would ensure they are fit for the future. So it was great to see the announcement of a Future Homes Standard in the Budget, locking in a promise to halve energy use in all new buildings from 2030. Encompassing all energy use and all buildings, this would go further on cutting waste and keeping bills down than the (unfortunately cancelled) Zero Carbon Homes policy did.

On top of this, another easy fix is to open the door to onshore wind power. Wind farms are now significantly cheaper to build than high-carbon gas alternatives, yet no auctions are scheduled to bring new capacity online. The surge in offshore wind is surely to be commended, especially the recent Sector Deal, but without new turbines on land we risk higher bills and higher emissions in the future.

This is why I am proud to put my name on a cross-party call for the Prime Minister to clear the road for new onshore wind farms. It is vital that we make the most of living in the windiest country in Europe, just as we made the most of North Sea oil.

Cutting waste and cutting costs are essential to keeping bills down, easing pressure on hardworking families and freeing up cash to flow into other parts of the economy. We should be celebrating the progress we have made in modernising our energy system, and jumping on simple steps that ensure more good news stories for years to come.Andrew Gimsons Commons sketch: Tory MPs decide this is not the right evening to defenestrate the PM

The revolution has not yet taken place. It had not, at least, occurred by the time I left the committee corridor.

The ways of Tory MPs can be mysterious even to themselves, but it seemed they did not feel this evening was the right time to defenestrate Theresa May.

Apart from anything else, she was not present. She sent Liam Fox to address the 1922 Committee, and he delivered a talk on trade.

This seems to have been enough, almost certainly more than enough, to calm the febrile atmosphere. Fox had taken the precaution of bringing with him two whole boxes of a pamphlet entitled UK Trade in Numbers, for distribution to the assembled MPs.

Hell report some progress on the Faroe Islands, an MP said with a grim smile.

One by one the 100 or so MPs who had entered Committee Room 14 drifted out again, unable to take any more trade figures.

They wore stunned expressions, as if they had been hit over the head with a whole box of the pamphlets, and this at a time when they were struggling to come to terms with the far greater blow of finding that their leader is now, apparently, hand in glove with Jeremy Corbyn.

One MP, a devout Leaver, expressed the shock he feels at the Prime Ministers overture to Corbyn: Its like one of those dolls where you pull the string, but someone else has programmed it with what to say.

Another MP, a devout Remainer, sounded no happier: I desperately wish we could all retrace our steps. But quite how far back wed have to go

His voice trailed off. He cannot tell at what point things went irretrievably wrong.

Meanwhile in the Chamber a vote had been tied, 310 to 310, for the first time since the Maastricht Treaty was going through the House in 1993. The Speaker had quite properly cast his vote with the Noes, but the sense of disorientation, of living through strange times when the House has extreme difficulty making up its mind, was intensified by this rare event.

I do know him, a passing MP said. He was at Oxford with Andy.

Perhaps we had stumbled into a performance of some neglected piece drawn from the theatre of the absurd.

The committee corridor is very long, high and dry, and one began to long for an interval when one could pop out for a drink, or at least a cup of tea.

From inside the committee room came short, quiet bursts of drumming on the desks, quite unlike the explosions of noise to be heard this time last week when the Prime Minister spoke.

Far from enraging the assembled MPs, her non-attendance seemed to have quietened them down, not least by ensuring that many fewer of them bothered to turn up.

James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East), no friend to the Prime Minister, emerged and told the waiting press: The indication is that its open season  put your letters [of no confidence in the PM] in and Graham Brady [Chairman of the 22] will go and see the PM when its 50 per cent plus one.

He predicted that in a secret vote, two thirds of Tory MPs would vote in favour of sacking the PM.

But Simon Hoare (North Dorset) was among those who derided such talk: It was raised as an idea and dismissed as an option.

Hoare and others reported that Brady had declared he would stick to the rules, which stipulate that there cannot be another vote of confidence in the Prime Minister until December, a year after the last one.

Nor will Brady offer a running commentary on the number of letters he has received. Duddridge has over-egged it, one of the reporters said.

And yet on that desultory evening there was a feeling of dramatic tension, of emotion which will soon need to be purged by action. Things cannot go on like this. The revolution, one felt, has only been postponed.Andrew Gimsons PMQs sketch: Mays enraged backbenchers ask how she can cosy up to Corbyn

For a time the Tory daggers remained sheathed, and it seemed just conceivable that Theresa Mays backbenchers would refrain from turning on her after her belated discovery that Jeremy Corbyn, far from being a Marxist revolutionary whom all decent people wish to consign to outer darkness, is a fit and proper person with whom to negotiate our nations future.

Corbyn revelled in his statesmanlike new persona. He welcomed her commitment to compromise to resolve the Brexit deadlock, and proceeded to praise the achievements of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

According to Corbyn, the last Labour Government halved child poverty, halved homelessness and lifted two million pensioners out of poverty.

He accused May of denying free television licences to the over-75s. This campaigning was an unwelcome reminder of how formidable an opponent Corbyn might be if a general election were to be called.

This Leader of the Opposition will stop at nothing. In his restless quest for power he is prepared to present himself as a Blairite.

In vain the Prime Minister protested, I didnt realise he was such a fan of the last Labour Government. Corbyn had shown everyone that he is a better campaigner than she is.

The Speaker called Nigel Adams, who had just resigned from the Government in protest at Mays decision to cook up a deal with a Marxist who has never once in his life put British interests first.

But Adams asked the Prime Minister to put her weight behind the campaign for step-free access to Selby railway station.

This gentle request occasioned incredulous laughter. Perhaps, after all, she was going to get away with it. Suella Braverman, who resigned as a Brexit minister in November in protest at Mays policy, asked a question about mental health.

But then David Jones, a former Cabinet minister and stern unbending Brexiteer, rose and asked: Does it remain the position of the Prime Minister that the Leader of the Opposition is not fit to govern?

That was the first dagger to be plunged into her, and she sounded rattled, though she rallied a bit as she reminded the House of Corbyns lamentable reaction to the Russian attack in Salisbury.

Lee Rowley (Con, North East Derbyshire) wanted to know what now qualifies Corbyn for involvement in Brexit, given that the Prime Minister had only last week called him the biggest threat to our standing in the world.

Caroline Johnson (Con, Sleaford & North Hykeham) remarked that she had voted for Mays deal, and asked another tough question: If it comes to the point when we have to balance the risk of a no-deal Brexit versus the risk of letting down the country and ushering in a Marxist, anti-semite-led government, what does she think at that point is the lowest risk?

Julian Lewis (Con, New Forest East) reminded the Prime Minister that she repeatedly told us no deal is better than a bad deal, and called on her to stop blocking a WTO Brexit.

Perhaps most wounding of all, Nigel Evans (Con, Ribble Valley) said that if the European Union will only grant her a long Brexit extension, she must declare: No! No! No!  words used by Margaret Thatcher.

May was by now starting to look like a pin cushion, stabbed repeatedly in broad daylight by her own backbenchers before a full House. One was reminded of the Agatha Christie story where everyone turns out to be guilty of committing the murder.

Nick Boles, who left the Conservative Party on Monday night, now describes himself as an Independent Progressive Conservative and was sitting between the Liberal Democrats and the Welsh Nationalists, managed at the very end of PMQs to catch the Speakers eye.

Boles congratulated her on her late conversion to compromise, and urged her to ditch the red lines which have bedevilled the Brexit negotiations so far.

One could not help thinking Corbyn, in his Marxist persona, might rather like the idea of keeping to a red line.

But May avoided answering Boless question. She didnt look, in her person, as tired as she has at some points during this process. There were flashes of perkiness from her.

For at least the whole situation is now highly fluid, and at the cost of enraging her own backbenchers, she sees a chance of getting her deal through the House.

She picked up a reference to her hero, Geoffrey Boycott, and remarked: He stayed at the crease, he kept going and he got his century in the end.Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, Northern Ireland will stay in the Customs Union. And the rest of the United Kingdom will be a customs union. This arrangement sets up a tug-of-war between the pro-Brexit and pro-Union instincts of most Conservatives. As Brexiteers, they would be happy to see the rest of the UK leave its customs union, because that would help to maximise trade deals. As Unionists, they would not, because doing so would threaten a customs barrier between Northern Ireland and the mainland.

This is why the Government has been indicating that it favours a Stormont Lock  in short, a guarantee that the rest of the UK will not leave its customs union without permission from Northern Irelands Assembly. It has come down on the pro-Union side of the balance, which is right.

The fuss about additionally joining a customs union more or less identitical to the Customs Union is puzzling  at least, if those concerned are backers of Mays deal. Sure, Greg Hands arguments against membership are as powerful as ever. But customs union membership, as proposed by Ken Clarke earlier this week, would make no difference to the proposed status quo (if you slap a Stormont Lock on it, anyway).

In the last resort, the UK could always join a customs union and leave it. What it cant do is automatically leave the backstop, if the deal is agreed. And it is precisely the backstop which locks us all, Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK alike, effectively into the Customs Union for as long as there is a Unionist-minded government in office.The top taxman has been accused by the Loan Charge APPG of overseeing a misinformation campaign which could see MPs hoodwinked into not delaying this Fridays charge.

Sir John Thompson, Revenue CEO, is presented in a letter with six areas of the imminent tax where out of context information was given by HMRC, says its author the APPG.

MPs on the cross-party group say they have written to Mr Thompson amid increasing concern about accuracy and honesty of statements by both HMRC and HM Treasury.

Evidencing their claim, the group said the Treasurys Mel Stride refused on three occasions to say how many criminal convictions HMRC has secured against loan scheme promoters.

'Deliberately false'

The truth is that there have been none relating to loan arrangements, the Loan Charge APPG said, alluding to the minister avoiding giving a straight answer on BBC Radio 4.

HMRC and Treasury Ministers are consistently issuing misleading [loan charge] information[and] in many cases it seems clear deliberately so, to give a false impression regarding the policy, its legality and impact.

And the impact that HMRC is having on loan promoters, one expert hinted last night, in light of a HMRC press release hailing a 40million victory over tax avoidance promoters.

'Complete misnomer'

To headline the press release HMRC wins 40m battle is a complete misnomer, tax dispute specialists WTT Consulting told ContractorUK last night.

What HMRC has won is a case that the scheme should have been disclosed. That is a very long way from going to a tribunal over the substance of the arrangement and proving it is, or is not, avoidance.

So the Revenue is counting its chickens before they hatch, according to WTT Consultings tax director Graham Webber.

'Spun by HMRC'

Whilst I have no doubt that this will be spun by HMRC as proof of action against promoters or employers, the reality is that it is  at very best  an excuse to issue an APN in due course, he said.

But HMRC says the courts backing that scheme promoter Hyrax should have disclosed under DOTAS means the firm must share the details of its 1,180 users, or face massive fines.

Thats because where HMRC proves a scheme should have been DOTAS-reported, it provides HMRC with powers to not only charge the tax and NI due, but also a tax penalty of at least 100% of tax avoided against all users of the scheme.

'Smoke and Mirrors'

Hyrax actually told users that the scheme will last about four years before HMRC legislates against it, so they closed and phoenixed a number of times to protect users, reflected Carolyn Walsh, a former tax inspector, pointing to the judgment.

That was obviously a challenge that could not be ignored, so HMRC swooped inside two years and secured an agreement from the tribunal, to treat all previous incarnations as being linked to the current scheme.

For Hyrax and its previous corporate incarnations, it was all smoke and mirrors but in the end HMRC, looked straight through them all.

'Blow for avoidance'

Another former Revenue official, Chris Leslie is also sympathetic to HMRCs win. [This] blow for tax avoidance [saw] those responsible for the K2 and Hyrax schemes ensure users of K2 were transferred as seamlessly as possible into Hyrax.

The judge found [that] emails sent to users reassured them that nothing was really changing other than the legal entity which employed them.:

He added: This is within the general anti-avoidance provision and dealing with what parliament intended in an equitable and constitutional way would be a significant step to tackling avoidance effectively.

Of the judgment, the Treasurys Mr Stride tweeted: Very positive that HMRC has won a case against loan scheme avoidance promoter, Hyrax. We are cracking down on unscrupulous loan scheme promoters, and were warning against new offshore schemes in Cyprus and Malta, too.

'Hollow victory'

WTTs Mr Webber remains unconvinced  even of the Revenues claim that it will now move to secure the particulars of those who used the arrangements.

By now, HMRC will [already] have all the details and documents from the scheme, he said. This victory, hollow as it is, has more value as a PR claim than anything else.

Speaking after co-signing the letter to the Revenues Mr Thompson, Labour MP Ruth Cadbury said yesterday: HMRC and the Treasury repeat the same discredited arguments over and over again but worse than that, there appears to be a deliberate attempt to mislead.

It is disgraceful the way HMRC and the Treasury have sought to give a false impression of actions taken against promoters by referring to convictions that have nothing to do with the Loan Charge. So we are now challenging HMRC to give honest answers and to stop issuing misleading statements which is not acceptable for a public body.

'Regurgitate the same'

Striking a more appealing than attacking tone, the letter to Mr Thompson states: We trust that you will address each of the questions[in the six areas] with pertinent and relevant answers and will not attempt to do what HMRC and the Treasury have done consistently with regards to the Loan Charge, which is to regurgitate the same arguments in response to all challenges.

That is not acceptable and would be a clear refusal to answer these important questions, each and every one requiring a factual answer.

The letter to the Revenue CEO concludes: We remind you of the Civil Service Code to which you and all HMRC officers are bound, which includes that you must not deceive or knowingly mislead ministers, Parliament or others, and must not ignore inconvenient facts or relevant considerations when providing advice or making decisions'."by Wang Zhicheng

In the elementary school of Wanquan (Hunan) a man stabbed and injured two other children. In Jiaozuo (Henan) a teacher is accused of adding nitrites to the childrens breakfast.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - This morning, in Wanquan, Hunan, a man named Zheng stabbed four children in a primary school. Two died and two were injured in the hospital. At the moment there is no further news. Deadly attacks on children are the order of the day in the country. Last February, in Jiangsu, a 33-year-old man injured 11 people, including many school children and a policeman.

Two days ago, the police reported that they had arrested a kindergarten teacher from Jiaozuo (Henan) on charges of poisoning at least 23 children. The incident occurred last March 27 at Mengmeng, a private kindergarten. The children, who had had breakfast of "zhou" - cooked rice with added herbs - began to feel sick, to vomit and to faint. The children were taken to the hospital and up until two days ago there was still one hospitalized with severe symptoms.

An initial police investigation revealed that the children had ingested nitrites, a chemical additive contained in fertilizers, which can cause liver and kidney damage. The arrested teacher, whose last name is Wang, has not explained the reasons for the gesture so far.

Mengmeng is a kindergarten for lower classes, which gathers up to 64 children, mostly children of migrants. The police closed the building for the investigation.

The treatment of children in kindergartens is a widespread problem in the country. Two years ago in Beijing, a private kindergarten was accused of violence and using needles (perhaps to inject tranquilizing substances) on schoolchildren. Last October, a woman who entered a kindergarten stabbed 14 children in Chongqing.The site you specified has a disallow rule.

At the origin of the Internet links were basically a signal of "likes". In a way, so likes, tweets and shares have now the natural explicit meaning of links. CoolSocial is an analyzer you can use to improve your site social media impact. You can also check for your competitors.97%

Website islamiboi.wordpress.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 129473 bytes (126.44 kb uncompressed) and 25482 bytes (24.88 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-08-04, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.81%

Website kzkgop.pl uses latest and advanced technologies. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 251714 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of .

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-11-22, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.South Africa: SA, Equatorial Guinea solidify bilateral relations

South Africa and Equatorial Guinea have agreed to strengthen their political, diplomatic and economic relations for the benefit of their people.

The two countries, which serve as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, also committed to promoting peace, security and sustainable development on the continent by advocating the African Unions Agenda 2063.

They further agreed on the need to strengthen South-South cooperation, and inter-African cooperation in particular.

These resolutions were announced at the conclusion of President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to Equatorial Guinea where he held talks with his counterpart President Obiang Nguema Mbasongo.

President Ramaphosa was accompanied by International Relations and Cooperation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

During the visit, the Heads of State witnessed the signing of the Rules of Procedure for a Joint Permanent Commission.

South Africa and Equatorial Guineas cordial relations were formally established in 1993.

The two countries have since entered into a number of bilateral cooperation agreements, including a General Cooperation Agreement and two agreements on defence cooperation.

The two countries are also formulating draft agreements to enhance cooperation in education and energy.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Japanese automaker Honda announced that its March deliveries in China hit a record high of 122,744 units with an evident year-on-year growth of 25.8%.

Last month, both GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda achieved an all-time high in March sales. GAC Honda saw its March sales grew 9.4% over a year ago to 64,510 units and Dongfeng Honda's sales surged 50.7% to 58,234 units.

For the first three months of the year, cumulative deliveries of two joint ventures aggregated 335,134 units, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. Of that, GAC Honda's year-to-date (YTD) sales edged up 5.1% to 180,810 units, while Dongfeng Honda handed over 154,324 units with a growth of 19.8%. Both of them hit new high in Q1 deliveries.

There are a total of 6 models whose respective March deliveries exceeded 10,000 units, namely, the Civic, the Accord, the Fit, the CR-V, the XR-V and the Crider. The best seller was the Civic, which had a sales volume of 21,078 units with a remarkable year-on-year increase of 55.1%. The sales of the CR-V Hybrid, which carries Honda's SPORT HYBRID i-MMD system, amounted to 2,115 units, skyrocketing 183.5% over the year-ago period. The other NEV model, the Accord Hybrid, with 2,128 vehicles delivered last month, gained a year-on-year surge of 43.7%.The Japanese government's plan to accept more foreign workers with pathways to citizenship, that takes effect this month, is a new frontier for Filipino migrant workers.

Filipino workers may corner at least 30 percent of some 350,000 jobs that Japan will offer to foreigners starting April 1, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on the weekend after Japan passed a controversial law that would enable skilled migrant workers to extend their stay from five to 10 years and bring in family members.

All foreign workers to be considered under this new law would have to pass a language competency and skills assessment tests.

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda earlier noted that Japan faces an aging society and lacks labor force, while the Philippines is abundant with young labor force with great potential.

Bello and Japanese Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita last week signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) providing better protection for Filipino workers to be hired under a new specified skills residency in Japan.

The pact seeks to establish a basic partnership framework for the proper operation of the system pertaining to foreign human resources with the status of residence of specified skilled worker who possess certain expertise and skills in certain job categories.

Among the specified skills include those in health care, building maintenance, food services, industrial machinery, electronics, food manufacturing, agriculture, hospitality, construction, shipbuilding, fisheries and aquaculture, parts and tooling, and aviation.

Requirements to be hired as a specified skilled worker in Japan includes passing the skill level tests and Japanese proficiency, which will be administered by the Japan Foundation in the Philippines.

Japan is not used to having foreign workers in such great numbers. Unfortunately, in some sectors such as construction and nursing care, the ratio between job vacancies and local job applicants is 4:1. The ultra-conservative Japanese parliament felt it had no other recourse but to reluctantly open its doors wider to migrant workers in order to address the critical shortage of workers in 14 industries. The number of foreign workers needed by Japan is sizable. For caregivers alone, the recruitment industry notes that at most 800,000 would be needed to look after the elderly.

Administrator Bernard Olalia of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration anticipates that Japan will be the next biggest labor destination country for Filipinos. An average Filipino caregiver in Japan can earn upward of P50,000 net of taxes. Once a Filipino worker is accepted as a technical intern, the Japanese principal will shoulder the tuition fee for his or her language training here in the Philippines.

Japans stable economy, lucrative salary scales, and proximity to the Philippines make it a better option for our skilled workers to consider, she said.

The Philippines, is one of the worlds biggest sources of migrant workers, with more than 10 million overseas workers.

Filipino men make up less than 40 percent of that number. Of almost half a million Filipinos who left the country for a job abroad in 2017, 72 percent are women, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

The Philippines is, most years, the largest source of immigrants to Canada; more than 40,000 Filipinos settled here last year, and there are now almost a million Filipino-Canadians.

Philippines is also one of the largest sources of temporary foreign workers to Canada.

Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that personal remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) was at $2.75 billion in January, 4.4 percent more than the $2.38 billion remitted in the same month last year.

OFWs working in the United States of America contributed the lion's share of overall remittances, making up 35.5 percent of the total figure.

Filipinos working in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Canada, Qatar, Hong Kong and Kuwait remitted more than 70 percent of the $2.75 billion.The Australian Academy of Science has broken down initiatives in the 2019 Federal Budget. Major science initiatives announced or elaborated in the Budget include:

$56.4 million over three years to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation to support nuclear medicine production, critical radioactive waste management and nuclear decommissioning activities, and asset management. The Government will also provide an equity injection of $56 million to ensure the continued protection of both the community and the environment.

$25 million over four years for a coasts, environment and climate science research and education centre at Point Nepean, Victoria. The Centre will be led by Monash University and include an interdisciplinary research facility on marine and coastal ecosystems, climate science and environmental management.

$15.1 million over three years to expand Questacons education and outreach activities.

$3.4 million over four years to support women in STEM through the SAGE Initiative and a digital National Awareness Raising Initiative led by the Women in STEM Ambassador Professor Lisa Harvey Smith.

$19.5 million over four years to establish a Space Infrastructure Fund.

$5 million over two years to build the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory to allow the University of Melbourne to join the global research effort to understand dark matter.

Funding of $2.9 million over three years to facilitate national leadership in agricultural innovation.

$3.6 million over two years from 2019-20 to trial a National Innovation Games through which students will work together to solve innovation, technology and/or digital challenges set by a corporate sponsor.

$0.5 million over five years (and $0.1 million ongoing from 2023-24) to establish an Australian Antarctic Science Council that would support reform initiatives announced as part of the Governments response to the Australian Antarctic Science Program Governance Review 2017.

Cuts and savings measures:Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line came to the rescue in Freeport, Bahamas, to provide temporary accommodations to Royal Caribbean International crew members from the Oasis of the Seas following an incident at the Grand Bahama Shipyard.

With a crane falling on the Oasis during her wet dock, the ship had to be evacuated, meaning there was no accommodation for crew aboard, many of who left without personal effects.

Thus, Bahamas Paradise provided humanitarian assistance, providing housing and meals for 1,200 crew from the Oasis aboard the companys recently-acquired Grand Classica, according to local media reports.

Bahamas Paradise operates the Grand Classica and Grand Celebration on two-night cruises from Palm Beach, sailing to Freeport.The 2021 World Cruise from Princess Cruises opened for sale on March 27 and within 24 hours it became the fastest-selling World Cruise in the cruise line's history, the company announced.

The 111-day World Cruise will visit 50 destinations in 32 countries, across six continents, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America and North America.

"First-day bookings for our 2021 World Cruise were extraordinary and this record-setting day further demonstrates that our guests value travel experiences to explore new places and cultures," said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president.

The 111-day roundtrip voyage from Ft. Lauderdale departs on January 3, 2021, and the 111-day roundtrip cruise from Los Angeles departs January 17, 2021. A 97-day World Cruise from Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale is also offered, setting sail on January 17, 2021.

The 2021 111-day World Cruise aboard Island Princess is on sale now with rates starting at $20,999/person. Guests booking the 97- or 111-day World Cruise before November 30, 2019 receive early booking perks such as a $1,000 onboard spending money, free airfare, stateroom upgrade, gratuities, Wi-Fi, specialty dining and wine.

"We want to congratulate and share our appreciation for our travel advisor partners for their exceptional efforts to promote and ultimately sell this World Cruise," said John Chernesky, senior vice president North America Sales and Trade Marketing. "Selling a World Voyage requires a professional who understands our business and travel advisors all over the world who are the most qualified to convey the value of this unique cruise vacation supported by our sales tools and promotional materials. It's the key to sales success."

Among the highlights:Virgin Voyages president and CEO Tom McAlpin and Diana Block-Garcia, vice president of destination, itinerary and revenue, were joined by La Habana Cruise Port officials yesterday for a ceremonial celebration of the formalization of Virgin Voyages contract to sail to Cuba in 2020, according to a press release.

The contract formalization ceremony piggy-backed off a development visit to Cuba as the company continues to build its shore excursion program, which it refers to as Shore Things.

Our Sailors are eager to sail to Cuba and we are incredibly proud to celebrate our plans to visit Havana, which is without a doubt, one of the Caribbeans most authentic and enriching destinations, said Virgin Voyages President and CEO Tom McAlpin. This fantastic place offers the chance for our Sailors to experience a vibrant city and artistic haven, where they can meet locals and discover the heritage and culture of this beautiful destination.

We are excited to take part in Virgin Voyages Shore Things program, and we look forward to welcoming Virgin Voyages first ship, Scarlet Lady, and its Sailors to Havana, said La Habana Cruise Port general manager Jorge Mandiola. La Habana Cruise Port is operated by Global Ports Holding and plays a role in developing the cruise port and the wider visitor experience in Havana. We wish Virgin Voyages smooth sailing as they ready their ship over the next year, Havana is awaiting your arrival, Mandiola added.

When Virgin Voyages first ship, Scarlet Lady, sets sail in 2020 she will be the largest and newest ship to ever sail into Havana Harbor. Virgin Voyages will begin sailing to Havana on four and five night Havana After Dark itineraries beginning April 1, 2020, featuring an overnight stay in Cubas magnificent capital and a visit to Bimini, Bahamas.

All sailings to Cuba from Miami feature an overnight stay.In just over a month, 11 people have died in fires across Connecticut.

In just over one month the state of Connecticut has seen an alarming increase in fatal fires, said a statement from the Connecticut Fire Academy.

The fires broke out in Oxford, Shelton, New Britain, North Branford, Bloomfield, Killingly, Somers and Windham. Those eight fires have led to the deaths of 11 people  five in just one week

Since late February, there have been eight separate fatal fires in our state, said William Abbott, the state fire marshal. This is in addition to numerous other fires where individuals are injured.

Typically, winter is the worst season for fires because of heating systems and supplemental heater usage, according to the Connecticut Fire Academy.

After the recent fatal fires, CFA officials urged residents to check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and set up an escape plan in case of an emergency. The academy said heating systems and fireplaces should be checked regularly for any potential problems.

A fire led to the deaths of two brothers in New Britain on Feb. 24. Neighbors told the Hartford Courant one of the brothers initially escaped the fast-moving fire, but went back inside to rescue his brother.

Generally speaking, the Connecticut Fire Academy warned that residents should never go back inside a building that is on fire.

On March 1, a man died after a fire broke out in his mobile home in North Branford. According to the Hartford Courant, officials said the fire was likely caused by smoking.

If you or anyone in your home smokes, be extra careful with smoking materials as they are the most common cause of fatal house fires in the U.S., the CFA said.

Six days later, on March 7, an early morning fire claimed a Bloomfield womans life.

On March 17, a fire erupted at a womans home in Shelton. She died two days later.

On March 25, a woman was found as firefighters battled a blaze at a house in Windham. She was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The next day, a fire in Oxford took the lives of two brothers, their longtime friend and a dog.

A fire broke out around 1 a.m. on March 28 at a house in Killingly, which left one woman dead. That same day, one man died and two firefighters were injured in a two-alarm house fire in Somers.DANBURY  Witnesses described Wednesday exchanging sex for drugs and money in the third day of the trial in a sex trafficking ring case.

One victim testified in Danbury Superior Court to receiving oral sex from Bruce Bemer, a 65-year-old Glastonbury businessman accused of patronizing a prostitute and accessory to trafficking.

Another witness said he had sex with Bemer. He added he was asked to urinate for Bemer, which he did, and defecate, which he did not.

The first victim said he was homeless and living in Middletown before Robert King, who pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to commit human trafficking and awaits sentencing, bought the victim heroin and food and invited him to live in Kings Danbury trailer.

Soon, the victim racked up debt with King and said he felt the only way to pay that back was to have sex with Bemer, who King drove the victim to see at Bemers motorcycle shop.

I felt like I was stuck in a situation, said the victim. It became hard to get out of.

That victims account was similar to a witness who testified Tuesday to receiving oral sex from Bemer about 20 times. Both said they also had sex a few times with William Trefzger, a Westport man who pleaded guilty to patronizing a prostitute and was sentenced to a year in prison. Those victims are also part of a civil suit against Bemer.

Similar to other victims, the men who testified Wednesday had mental health and substance abuse problems. One said he has depression, while the other said he has depression, anxiety bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Anthony Spinella, attorney for Bemer, called for a mistrial in the case after jurors learned a potential witness tried to kill himself after he was asked to testify.

The judge denied the mistrial, but asked jurors not to consider the account of the suicide attempt.

Spinella argued the jury would infer Bemer had done something wrong by knowing of the attempted suicide.

This new information has completed tainted the jury, he said.

Justin Lewis, a Danbury conservator, described the suicide attempt of a potential witness, who is a patient at Connecticut Valley Hospital, a psychiatric facility run by the state.

The judge said she agreed the information was inappropriate for the jurors to know.

States Attorney Sharmese Hodge said the suicide attempt did not imply that Bemer is guilty.

He said nothing that would go to the guilt of this accused, Hodge said.

The victim who spoke Wednesday morning said he used drugs before having sex with Bemer for the first time.

It was something I wanted to be numb to, something I didnt want to think about, said the victim, who added he met with Bemer seven to 10 times.

Each time, he received $300 from Bemer and gave $100 to King.

Spinella questioned why the victim did not call police or leave Kings place, pointing out there was no fence around Kings property or bars on his windows.

You could have walked away, right? Spinella asked.

The witness did not have a car, but eventually got a ride to Middletown from an acquaintance who bought the victim crystal meth and had sex with him, he said.

Afterward, the victim said he stayed in contact with King and asked to see Bemer when he needed money.

I guess it was just an easy way for me to get money, to get high, at the time, he said.

The victim said he is now sober and has a job, adding he is ashamed of his time with Bemer and King.

Its humiliating for me, brings me a lot of shame, feeling(s) of guilt, the victim said. Its not who I am.

The other witness, an auto mechanic who lives in Danbury, said he he had been friends with King since the 1990s and that King arranged for him to meet Bemer several times over 15 years.

I was never forced, the witness said.

The man received roughly $150 to $200 each time and always gave some money to King, he said, adding he would get high afterward with the money.

King often drove a few victims to Bemers businesses, and the men would go into a room with Bemer one after another, the witness said. He added he might have driven himself a couple times to Bemers.

Now 47, the witness said he was older than the other men King arranged to meet with Bemer. He said Bemer occasionally showed him photos of younger men on his phone and speculated Bemer was interested in those men.

After Kings arrest, that witness, who was living with King at the time, said he still felt loyal to King, but that the two are no longer friends.

I havent had contact with him since, the witness said.

More witnesses are expected to testify on Thursday.DERBY  A truck driver busted by local police in what turned out to be one of the biggest fentanyl finds in recent history was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday in Hartford federal court, followed by 3 years of supervised release, according to a news release.

Erick Crespo-Escalante, a Mexican national living in Arizona, claimed he was delivering the drug to Waterbury to pay off a debt on his truck. He had faced up to 11 years and three months in prison.

Crespo-Escalante, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., also faces deportation from after completing his term. He has been in custody since his Dec. 21, 2016, arrest on Route 34.

Heroin and fentanyl trafficking has become a priority for federal law enforcement efforts, Assistant U.S. Attorney S. David Vatti wrote the judge in his sentencing memorandum.

The prosecutor pointed out that nearly 75 percent of the more than 1,000 overdose deaths in Connecticut last year involved drugs laced with fentanyl.

Heroin cut with fentanyl has increasingly become a problem in Connecticuts cities and surrounding communities, Vatti said. Connecticut is in the midst of an opiate crisis and heroin-fentanyl-related abuse, addiction and overdose deaths are front and center in this burgeoning epidemic.

As the Court well knows, drug trafficking has a broad array of victims, from the individuals who become addicted, to families that are destroyed, to the erosion of educational and economic opportunities and the decay of whole neighborhoods, Vatti said.

It was just before Christmas in 2016 when police stopped the 18-wheeler tractor trailer truck for failing to drive in the proper lane on the highways two lane approach to Derby and Route 8.

Derby police said Crespo-Escalante told them he had just made a delivery in Orange and was looking for a place to buy diesel fuel. He appeared nervous and confused when asked what was in a cardboard box on the passenger seat, police said.

Police claimed Crespo-Escalante offer them the box but instead they called in Shelton Police to bring a drug sniffing K-9 who alerted on the box.

Inside police found 25 brick-like packages inside vacuum-sealed bags each containing a kilogram of what later tested positive for fentanyl. Police estimated the drugs worth to be at least $1.5 million. They also determined the Orange delivery did not involve narcotics.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, the investigation had revealed that Crespo-Escalante was transporting the shipment of fentanyl on behalf of his associate, Omar Villarreal, from California to a location in Waterbury.

As the investigation continued it was discovered that Villarreal, 27, of La Punte, Calif., previously spent two months in Waterbury setting up a stash house for narcotics and this delivery. Villarreal also conversed with Crespo-Escalante by phone, federal investigators claim.

Villarreal pleaded guilty Aug. 30, 2018, to aiding and abetting possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and traveling interstate to promote unlawful activity. Villarreal faces anywhere between nine years and 11 years and three months in federal prison when he is sentenced May 8. He has been detained without bail since his May 15, 2017, arrest.5 1 of 5 Matthew Male / Audubon Shop in Madison Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Matthew Male / Audubon Shop in Madison Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Matthew Male / Audubon Shop in Madison Show More Show Less 5 of 5









Some South Windsor residents are up in arms after the town trapped and killed three beavers that officials believed were destroying a local park, according to Fox 61.

The beavers had damaged dozens of trees along trails at Nevers Park and could possibly cause flooding at nearby homes, Fox 61 said.Authorities have charged an engineer in Berkeley, California, with trying to kill a colleague by putting a toxic metal into her food and water since 2017.



KTVU-TV reports Tuesday that police arrested 34-year-old David Xu last week. Berkeleyside was first to report the story.An American tourist and her driver who were kidnapped at gunpoint from a Ugandan national park have been released, the government announced Sunday.

Kimberly Sue Endicott and Jean Paul Mirenge were being held for a $500,000 ransom after being kidnapped on Tuesday. It is unclear if the ransom was paid, but Ugandan police originally said no money would be given to the kidnappers.

Emotional information came out of a vigil for slain University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson in her hometown.

Friends and family held the vigil Tuesday for the 21-year-old in Robbinsville, New Jersey.

Josephson was killed early Friday morning after getting into a car she thought was her Uber.

Her body was discovered a day after she disappeared.

The coroner said she died from multiple sharp injuries.

At the vigil, one by one, her high school friends and neighbors shared their favorite stories that they called "Sammy-isms."

When her boyfriend Greg Corbishley took to the mircophone, he told the crowd he was on the phone with Josephson after she got into the car.

"I was on the phone tracking her to make sure she got home safely and immediately knew there was something that was wrong," he said, holding back tears. "Unfortunately, I was two and a half hours away. I would do anything to go back."

Josephson's father also spoke at the vigil, speaking about the man accused in her death.

"He was a monster, right?" said Samantha's father, Seymour Josephson. "What he did, I don't want anyone else to go through what I did as a parent."

Her father is now calling for action that Uber and Lyft drivers do more to identify themselves.

South Carolina lawmakers filed legislation Tuesday that would require all drivers for companies such as Lyft and Uber to have illuminated signage on their cars while they are working.WEST HAVEN  Deputy Chief Joseph Perno, a city police officer for more than 40 years, was lauded as a cops cop and the right person to lead the department forward, as he was named interim police chief Tuesday.

Police commissioners Keith Sweeney, Peter BonTempo Jr. and Chairman Raymond Collins III praised Perno during the meeting, describing him as the correct choice to head the department in turbulent times. His appointment as interim chief was unanimous.

Chief John Karajanis has been away from the department on medical leave for months, opening the position for Pernos appointment.

I take great pride and privilege in knowing Chief Perno for the past 40 years. I worked with Joseph Perno as a patrolman, and now, I ... look forward to working with him as the Chief of Police, said Sweeney. I know hes the man to lead the department back to the pride and the morale thats been lacking for many years at the West Haven Police Department.

Bontempo said he had known Perno for 56 years. They grew up together and became police officers at the same time in 1977, he said.

He was always a steady influence  a steady cop, good on his feet, good thinker, and always had the respect of either his peers and/or his subordinates, said Bontempo (At) this time in the West Haven Police Department, I feel, on a personal level, that Joey is the right guy ... to help lead us  going forward, and never looking backward  to help us become one of the better police departments, again, in the state of Connecticut.

Former Sgt. David Tammaro was arrested in October and charged with dozens of counts of fraud following an internal investigation into overtime abuse.

Bontempo said Perno is one of the best men I know.

Collins noted that Perno often refers to the other officers in the department as his children.

Its never more true than this day, said Collins. And when you hear the officers talk about him, its always a cops cop... I cant think of a better person to fill these shoes right now.

Perno was welcomed to the new job by residents and his fellow officers, who filled the community room at the West Haven Police Department. After he was promoted, one by one, people stepped forward to congratulate Perno with handshakes and hugs.

Sean Faughnan, a detective and president of Local 895, the police union, congratulated Perno on behalf of the rank and file.

Id like to, on behalf of the union and the police department... congratulate Chief Perno  congratulate his family, his children, his wife, said Faughan. Were very grateful to have you at the wheel to steer us through a difficult time and to calm the waters. We pledge our support behind you; we hope to work well.

Stephen D. Dargan, a longtime state representative for West Haven and current member of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, also praised Perno Tuesday.

He will do a great job for the city of West Haven, because, like Jay (Jason Gregoriades, who was promoted to detective Tuesday), hes a Westie, said Dargan.

Perno said he wanted to make life in the department such that officers enjoyed coming to work and doing their job, and to spread a general emphasis on focusing about what they can control.

He said he joined the department full time on July 1, 1978.

On Tuesday, as he was promoted to the new role, he said his tenure in the community didnt feel like 40 years.

The chance to take on the new role, he said, was humbling.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.comFederal prosecutors filed charges Monday against a woman carrying Chinese passports whom they allege illegally entered President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in late March.

The woman, Yujing Zhang, initially gained access to the property Saturday through a miscommunication with members of Mar-a-Lago security, according to the complaint. Trump was staying at Mar-a-Lago on that date, though he was not on the property at the time Zhang's alleged visit occurred.

After she was detained, U.S. Secret Service agents searched multiple electronic devices she was carrying, including four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external "hard drive type" device and a thumb drive, and found that the thumb drive contained malicious malware, prosecutors say.

Once on the property, Zhang told a receptionist she was at the club to attend a United Nations Chinese American Association event, which the receptionist knew didn't exist.

After agents were alerted to Zhang's presence, she told one agent that she was there to attend a United Nations Friendship Event between the United States and China, and produced what she claimed was an invitation to the event, the complaint says.

But "agents were unable to read it as it was in Chinese," according to the complaint, which also says agents knew such an event wasn't scheduled to take place.

Agents removed Zhang from the Mar-a-Lago property and interviewed her. According to prosecutors, Zhang "claimed her Chinese friend 'Charles' told her to travel from Shanghai, China, to Palm Beach, Florida, to attend this event and attempt to speak with a member of the president's family about Chinese and American foreign economic relations."

Though agents attempted to elicit more information about "Charles," Zhang claimed she had spoken to him only through WeChat, a messaging service that is popular in China. And while Zhang behaved as though she didn't understand much English when she first entered the Mar-a-Lago grounds, the complaint says, during the interviews with agents she "exhibited a detailed knowledge of, and ability to converse in and understand even subtle nuances of, the English language."

Prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida charged her with one count of making a false statement to a federal officer and one count of entering restricted property.

Zhang made a brief initial appearance in Florida federal court Monday where she was advised of the charges against her and the possible penalties she faced, according to a court filing. She is due in court for a detention hearing on Monday.Heres something you already know: Blogging is an effective way to attract visitors to your website. In fact, you may have heard awesome statistics such as the one from Statista that says that of internet users ages 19 to 29 surveyed, 47 percent reported reading blogs regularly.

Related: Why You Should Republish Old Blog Content

The obvious conclusion is that blogging is a good business strategy to drive more traffic to your site and increase your conversions.

But, is it failing to work for your business? After all, theres a lot of content on the web; and if your content isnt up to par, youll never break through the noise. So, how do you craft blog posts that internet users will flock to?

Here are some ideas for writing solid business content that attracts viewers:

Write for your audience.

Occasionally, when business owners start blogging, their first instinct is to write about themselves. While blogging originated as a format for online journaling, thats not what makes for a successful business blog today. On the other hand, blogging for your business isnt all about showing off your expertise, either. Nor is using big words to make you appear smarter, or dropping in jargon users wont understand.

Instead, you have to create content thats useful and relevant to your target audience. According to research by journalism and electronic media professor Barbara Kaye at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, there are nine reasons readers seek out information from blogs. These include conveniently located information and information that offers guidance/opinions.

So, what kind of useful content does your own audience want to read? There are a number of ways to figure that out. First, if youve already started blogging, look at your analytics to see which posts are the most popular. This will give you an idea of what your audience wants. You should create detailed buyer personas to help you discover your audience's interests. Also, hang out where they hang out online to see for yourself what theyre interested in.

Not only does your content have to be useful for your audience, it also has to be easy and enjoyable to read. So, write in a casual way, as though youre speaking to a friend. Your audience will form a better connection with you and your business when its members can relate to you through your content. Other tips for making your content easy-to-read for your audience include:

Use headings.

Add bullet lists.

Keep paragraphs short, with lots of white space.

Insert eye-catching images.

Check out your competition.

Another important step to writing better business content is to take a look at whats already been successful for your competition. After all, if you cant beat em, join em. Checking out competitors will help you discover whats working and show you how you can incorporate something similar into your own business content for better results.

Start by reading the blogs of your biggest competitors to get a feel for the type of content theyre producing.

Study the top content and figure out what you can do to create something like it. How do their headlines compare to yours? What platforms have the most engagement? What topics perform the best? Your direct competition is going after the same target audience as you, so by looking at whats working for them, youll create content that brings them over to your website.

Dont forget about SEO.

Even if your content is spectacular,you have to consider SEO when creating it or users on the web will never discover it. SEO is key to attracting visitors to your blog and website. In fact, there are over 3.5 billion searches on Google per day. So, if you want your business content to be found on the web by tons of users, you'll need to create content with search engines in mind.

Related: 4 Simple Reasons Your Blog Still Isn't Getting Traffic

First, think about how your target audience would typically find you on the web. For instance, if your company creates budgeting software, your target audience might type best budgeting software into the Google search bar. You'll need to add that keyword/key phrase throughout your content in a natural way, to get your blog post into the top search results for that query.

You can also determine other user-intent keywords to use by looking in the searches related to section at the bottom of Google search results. For example, below are the search terms related to best budgeting software that you could consider using:

Image Source: Google.com

Some other SEO tips for your content include:

Make the post longer, for better results.

Add internal links.

Include a keyword in your title tag.

Optimize your meta description.

Optimize your image alt text.

Remember, dont write specifically for SEO; write great content with SEO in mind.

Related: Why We Should Focus on Attention, Not Clicks

Over to you

Start writing today! Now that you have in your back pocket these tips for writing solid business content that attracts visitors, your business blog may well bcome a popular spot on the web. When youve got hoards of people coming to check out your blog, you'll have that much more opportunity to turn those readers into leads -- and, ultimately, customers.

Related:

How to Write a Solid Business Blog That Attracts Visitors

The Sneaky, Little Known Secret I Use for Generating Content and Why it Works

Europe's Article 13 Copyright Rule Is a Transatlantic Trade War



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedEven at small newspapers such as those I edited through the years, writing headlines that grabbed readers' attention was important. I often reminded other editors that a headline reading "Council handles routine business" might as well say, "Don't bother reading this story."

When we moved into online versions of newspapers, I learned the importance of headlines as "clickbait," because the business side utilizes site-visit and story-view statistics to sell advertising. So I'm not averse to the need to draw as many eyeballs as possible to digital news products. What I am against is our legacy news outlets going full-blown supermarket tabloid, a practice we witness today on a daily basis across almost all media platforms.

And so, when Attorney General William Barr releases the report of special counsel Robert Mueller, we should prepare for ensuing days of hyperbolic headlines, most of which will probably employ the most abused word in today's media landscape: "bombshell."

Merriam-Webster defines "bombshell" as something that is "stunning, amazing or devastating." Type "Trump Russia bombshell" into your favorite search engine and entertain yourself with page after page of stories from the past two years describing so-called bombshells from an investigation that yielded no charges on the subject of Russian collusion.

Based on the fact that Mueller has recommended no additional indictments, it is almost certain that his full report will contain no real bombshells - not on collusion, not on obstruction of justice, not on anything that hasn't already been reported. What it is much more likely to provide is a step-by-step debunking of favorite collusion theories, such as those recently repeated in melodramatic fashion by Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) after Republicans asked him to step down as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Unfortunately, the absence of any actual bombshells in Mueller's report will not prevent such a description by Democrats. That's to be expected. Political parties are expected to play politics with issues for a few days before finally getting serious. Newsrooms shouldn't play that game, but in the age of Trump, they often do.

A sterling example of the side effect of collusion fever and the lengths some will go to justify the use of "bombshell" was provided in January by Esquire, in an article by pundit Charles Pierce headlined, "There is a bombshell of a word in The New York Times report on the Trump FBI investigation." Pierce posited that the Times story in question - which was, to be sure, something of a real bombshell on the FBI's troubling decision to open an investigation on the president - included a more cryptic bombshell, apparently discoverable only by the illuminati among us.

"The word is tucked into a sentence that, at first glance, seems to be a perfectly anodyne statement of the current fact," Pierce wrote, before revealing that the secret word was "publicly," which he discovered in this passage from the Times article: "No evidence has emerged publicly that Mr. Trump was secretly in contact with or took direction from Russian government officials." Aha!

Publicly, Pierce informed us, "is not a word chosen idly, not in a piece as judiciously written as this one." No, "the implication of that 'publicly' is that investigators likely know far more than what appeared in the newspaper." He also concluded that what was unfolding amounted to "the most astounding evidence of Oval Office criminality since the release of the 'smoking gun' tape in 1974." Or not.

In the category of "be careful what you wish for," Democrats are clamoring for Barr and Mueller to testify before Congress. Rather than providing more fodder for conspiracy theorists, both would be likely to systematically destroy whatever remnants of collusion and obstruction might remain. Despite efforts to portray Barr as Trump's political pawn, he is not, and there will almost certainly be no daylight among Barr, Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on the report's conclusions.

Mueller's report will be interesting. It will be enlightening. It will undoubtedly be comprehensive. What it almost certainly will not be is a bombshell.

But like jumping a dead car battery, there is one more brief charge to be had from the release of the Mueller report. So get ready, America. "Mueller report contains bombshells" is a headline already being written in newsrooms across the country. It is inconvenient indeed that reporters must await the bothersome details to write the copy that will follow, adjusted to fit the description.

If congressional Democrats and Trump's biggest media critics ever acknowledge that they were wrong about Trump and Russia and overhyped it from the beginning, it would be that rare news event that finally justifies the use of the media's most cliched and misapplied word.Atlanta, GA

Atlanta-based Georgia Institute of Technology experienced its own version of March Madness when a data breach potentially affecting 1.3 million current and former students, faculty and staff members hit the university.

Georgia Tech feared the data incident, its second in less than a year, exposed information including names, addresses, social security numbers and birth dates. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Georgia Tech learned in late March that a central database had been accessed by an unknown outside entity.

Brian Johnson, CEO and co-founder, Arlington, Va.-based DivvyCloud, said, Much like Yales disclosure of its data breach last year that it suffered between 2008 and 2009, it could only be a matter of days before affected individuals begin to file class-action lawsuits against Georgia Tech for failing to comply with privacy regulations.New York and federal authorities allege a Brooklyn man attempted to steal more than $1.1 million from the $24 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union in McLean, Va., by using the stolen identities of more than 170 individuals to apply for loans and credit cards.

PenFed helped authorities nab Joseph Batrony Jr., 28, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, who allegedly used the stolen identities of persons from past data breaches, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, announced March 20.

From September 2017 to May 2018, Batrony allegedly stole more than $320,000 from PenFed and attempted to siphon more than $870,000, according to investigators. He allegedly used stolen personal information of more than 178 individuals, primarily from the Western states, to open PenFed membership accounts and apply for loans and credit cards in their names before transferring the money to his own accounts or accounts of people related to or associated with Batrony.

Just one month after Batrony allegedly began his fraudulent scheme, PenFed began blocking his attempted money transfers, including several online applications he filled out in his own name in the name of an alias, Aaron Green.I always come away from the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) with several good ideas. And this year I had more company than usual, as the more than 5,200 who gathered in Washington, D.C., set a new attendance record.

Allow me to share three points that particularly stuck with me over the past two weeks.

1. Open Your Eyes is about consideration

CUNA unveiled the movement-wide Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union awareness initiative at the 2018 GAC, and has since rolled out in three states (Minnesota and North and South Carolina).

The initiatives objective has been refined somewhat over the past year, however. As it turns out, a solid majority of Americans already are aware of credit unions. They may harbor some misperceptionsIm not eligible to join and theyre inconvenient chief among thembut broadly speaking, people do know we exist.STORY LINK GBP to EUR Exchange Rate Jumps as Cross-Party Brexit Talks Bolster Hopes for Softer Outcome

GBP Exchange Rates Jump on Hopes for Softer Brexit

She is seemingly now prepared to back down on her prior red lines and also prepared to let Parliament decide on the outcome if she and Mr Corbyn cant. Recall that the customs union option came within 3 votes of passage on Monday.

EUR Exchange Rates Avoid Deeper Losses as Eurozone Services Rebound

Only at the turn of the year, when business was hit by headwinds such as widespread yellow vest protests in France and an auto sector struggling with new emissions regulations, has growth been slower over the past four years. The rebound from these temporary headwinds has clearly been disappointing and is already losing momentum, led by a deepening downturn in manufacturing.

GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: How Will Brexit Talks Unfold?

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After continued failure to point towards a single major solution for the Brexit process, and with the EUs next formal Brexit date still set for next Friday, the British Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate jumped amid fresh hopes for some kind of cross-party compromise to be made to resolve the long-standing Brexit deadlock.Despite last weeks notable GBP/EUR tumble on Brexit fears, that took the pair from 1.1688 to 1.1623, GBP/EUR has largely recovered all of last weeks losses as of Wednesday morning. Since Monday evening, hopes for a softer Brexit to be possible have led to jumps in Pound demand, and the latest news has taken GBP/EUR to trend near the level of 1.1732 at the time of writing.This put GBP/EUR just half a cent below last weeks yearly high of 1.1782.Hopes rose that the deadlock on Brexit could be broken through thanks to fresh talks between Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn.This news also bolstered market hopes of a softer Brexit, as well as doused concerns that a general election was becoming more likely.Brexit fears briefly worsened yesterday, as the latest attempt for UK Parliament to reach a solution with its indicative votes process failed, and every proposed amendment was once again blocked.It worsened market fears that Britain could crash out of the EU with no deal next Friday, as Britain continuously failed to reach any kind of solution to what sort of Brexit it wanted.The EU has indicated that it is willing to delay the Brexit process again, but only if the UK has a solid reason for doing so.This weakened the Pound amid concerns that Britain may be forced into a fresh general election as a way to break the deadlock.Overnight though, demand for the Pound rose as Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans to hold talks with the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn.May hopes that talks with Corbyn could lead to changes that significantly bolster the appeal of her Brexit bill among opponents, and help it to pass through Parliament.Analysts believe that the Prime Minister is willing to make compromises, and this is also being perceived as lessening the chances of a general election. According to Jim Reid from Deutsche Bank:The Eurozones manufacturing sector performed even worse than forecast last month, and caused deeper concerns that the Eurozones economic outlook was being considerably impacted by slowing global growth.However, todays Eurozone services and composite PMI stats from Markit generally beat expectations, as the Eurozones services sector saw its best month for growth since November.The services projection already beat expectations, but the final print was even stronger than projected.This data helped the Euro to avoid further losses versus a strengthening Pound this morning, but the Euros strength was still limited as the report indicated that the blocs economic activity was still weak overall.According to Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at Markit:There is just around a week and a half until the UK is set to formally leave the EU under the EUs current Brexit date of 12th April.As a result, investors are eagerly hoping that Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn will quickly reach some kind of compromise that could bolster the chances of a soft Brexit passing through Parliament.Any developments in cross-party talks have the potential to drive Pound movement in the coming sessions. The Pound is likely to climb if soft Brexit hopes rise, but if the talks fail and general election fears rise the Pound could slump again.With the fate of Brexit still a market-dominating uncertainty, the Pound is likely to take point in GBP/EUR movement, though some upcoming Eurozone data could influence Euro movement.German factory orders and construction data could influence the Pound to Euro exchange rate tomorrow, and German industrial production could drive the pair on Friday.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: Pound Euro ForecastsSTORY LINK Pound Sterling US Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate Rises despite Brexit Cloud Looming Over UK Services Sector

Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate Rises despite US Services Sector Stuck in Quicksand

Sterling (GBP) Buoyed as PM Attempts to Break Deadlock

Safe-Haven US Dollar (USD) Falls as 90% of US-China Trade Deal Done

Pound US Dollar Outlook: Will the GBP/USD Exchange Rate Rise on a Disappointing US PMI?

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The Pound Sterling US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate rose this morning despite disappointing UK data and the pairing is currently trading at an inter-bank rate of $1.3178.The UK services PMI revealed that business activity within the services sector declined for the first time in more than two and a half years in March.The PMI slumped to 48.9, as new orders fell for the third month in a row and prices charged increased at the slowest pace since June 2017.Commenting on the data, Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply said:With the headline index posting just below 50 for the first time since July 2016 this months results are a seriously worrying development. New orders fell for the third consecutive month and a drop in overall business activity for the first time in two and a half years has left the services sector facing a bleak near-term outlook.A fight for survival beckons if this market stagnation becomes entrenched, the global economy remains downbeat and the Brexit cloud is not lifted. With business expectations in the sector still close to the weakest seen over the past decade, this inertia will fast become the new normal unless some major change pulls the sector out of the quicksand.Prime Minister Theresa May is due to meet Jeremy Corbyn later on Wednesday to make an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock.However, the Prime Ministers move has angered some Brexiteers, including Conservative Boris Johnson who has accused her of entrusting the final handling of Brexit to Labour.Theresa May has also announced that she would request a further short Brexit extension in order to get an agreement passed by Parliament before 22 May.These announcements sparked hope that the UK would avoid a hard Brexit, which likely fueled an upswing in support for Sterling.The safe-haven US Dollar (USD) slipped following reports suggesting that the US and China are closer than ever to a final trade agreement, increasing investors risk appetite.Late on Tuesday it was reported that US and Chinese Officials have resolved the majority of the outstanding issues.However, it was noted that they are still haggling over how to implement and enforce the agreement, with China requesting the US remove existing tariffs on Chinese goods.Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President for International Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce told reporters that 90% of the deal is complete.Looking ahead to Wednesday afternoon, the US Dollar (USD) may slide against the Pound (GBP) following the release of the US ISM non-manufacturing PMI.The Greenback could be weighed down if Marchs PMI reading drops to 58 from the previous 59.7 showing growth has begun to slow.As there is a lack of further UK economic data releases this week, it is likely investors are going to remain focused on further Brexit developments.If Theresa May is able to secure a short Brexit extension from the European Union it could spark the Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate to rise further.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: Pound Dollar ForecastsFor Subscribers Wrestling preview: Yoder, pair of D5 champs lead county grapplers

A preview of the 2021-22 Somerset County wrestling season. New coaches take over at three local schools. Plenty of talent returning to chase gold.Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Ford Motor plans to roll out over 30 new Ford- and Lincoln-branded models in China over the next three years, including more than 10 NEV models, and will strengthen the R&D in autonomous driving, the automakers announced on April 3 at a conference themed Ford China 2.0 Strategy.

According to the strategy, we know that Ford's China development planning focuses on 5 core plans, including the 330 Product Plan, Smart Technology Plan, China Innovation Plan, China Partner Plan as well as China Talent Plan.

The new in-car infotainment system SYNC+ offering enriched connectivity experience was officially launched at the conference. Ford also plans to begin equipping new vehicles in China with C-V2X technology in 2021. Besides, it will strive to promote the application of the connectivity system and the Co-Pilot360 intelligent driving assistance system in more models.

Regarding the China Innovation Plan, Ford Motor will set up an innovation hub, a design center and a new energy center in China, further increasing the investment in product R&D. Nanjing Research & Engineering Centerand and Ford's joint ventures in China are empowered to focus on the development of local vehicles and services.

As to the China Partner Plan, Ford continues to strengthen cooperation with its joint-venture partners  Changan Automobile and Jiangling Motors Corporation Group focusing on product, marketing and sales and technology development, and team up with more China's local technology companies. Meanwhile, it will enhance its presence in NEV industry, introducing more industrial and capital resources with more flexible cooperation and operation modes.

Talent pool is another highlight for Ford China 2.0 strategy. The automaker is going to recruit more high-level management talents for Ford China's executive team. In addition, it will work hard on the cultivation of local employees, quickly adjusting strategies based on the real-time market trends and speeding up decision-making.More than 200 workers who make Huggies nappies in Sydney's southwest will be out of a job within months after the manufacturer announced it was moving production to Asia.

More than 200 workers were informed the factory would be shutting down and production of the nappies would be moving to Asia

Kimberley-Clark Australia on Wednesday revealed it would shut down the Ingleburn Mill by the end of July with the loss of up to 220 jobs.

'Production will move to Kimberly-Clark's facilities in Asia, enabling faster access to the latest research and engineering advancements in nappies and pants,' it said in a statement.

The move is part of the US corporation's 'global restructuring program'.

Parent company Kimberley-Clark said the move was necessary to gain access to the latest research and engineering advancements

'At this time the company is focused on the wellbeing of employees and their families and providing them with the support they need now and in the months ahead,' Kimberley-Clark Australia said.

'All affected employees who leave Kimberly-Clark will be paid their full legal entitlements and redundancy pay.'

Kimberly-Clark says it will continue to manufacture Kleenex, VIVA and Kimberly-Clark Professional products at its Millicent Mill in South Australia.Most Cabinet meetings last for a couple of hours at the longest.

They start with coffee and biscuits mid-morning, and break up in time for ministers to go their separate ways to lunch.

Nobody at Westminster could remember anything like yesterday. Cabinet went on for more than seven hours.

'For the past two years, sphinx-like Theresa May has never allowed anyone to know what she thinks'

And no wonder. This was possibly the longest and most difficult meeting in modern British political history.

And one of the most important.

Finally, the Prime Minister has made a decision. At last shes come off the fence. Shes gone against the habit of a lifetime and shown her cards.

For the past two years, sphinx-like Mrs May has never allowed anyone to know what she thinks.

Thats because shes tried desperately to keep the Tory Party from splitting as she navigated towards Brexit.

Passionate

On the one hand, she kept many of the so-called hard Brexiteers on side by refusing to rule out a No Deal Brexit.

But she also maintained the support of the so-called Remainers in her Cabinet  Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd and David Gauke  by holding open the prospect of a warm future relationship with Europe.

Yesterday Mrs May, for the very first time, took sides. And she chose that of Chancellor Philip Hammond and all those who have been advocating a softer Brexit, thus dumping the hard Brexiteers.

In a passionate speech, she told her Cabinet that she could not have the hard Brexit, the No Deal, that Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg desperately want  with the associated danger of economic collapse, social dislocation, rising food prices and street violence  on her conscience.

But then the Prime Minister was forced to bow to the inevitable and acknowledge that the Tory Party does not have the firepower to push through Brexit on its own.

So she stretched out a hand to Jeremy Corbyn, offering to sit down with the Labour leader and agree a plan to take Britain out of the European Union.

That cannot have been easy. Mr Corbyn has been adamant that he wants British membership of a customs union, something that the Prime Minister has vehemently opposed.

Remainer ministers including Amber Rudd (left) and Philip Hammond joined Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove (right) in speaking up for a long extension in a seven hour Cabinet meeting yesterday

This kind of collaboration between the two major political parties normally takes place only in wartime. But Brexit has become an emergency and Mrs May spoke of the need for national unity to deliver the national interest.

Its a dangerous ploy, which may not work. Mr Corbyn can now lay down conditions. When the last Labour leader in this position, Clement Attlee, agreed to join a Coalition government to fight World War II, he refused to serve under Lord Halifax, the most senior Tory politician. Churchill was chosen instead.

Corbyn could follow suit and indicate that he is ready to work with the Tories  but demand the head of Mrs May in return.

I therefore suspect that the Labour negotiations will fail. If they do, the Prime Minister has revealed that she has another card to play.

She said that she will allow the House of Commons to choose the kind of deal it wants, so she can take it to the European Union.

Perhaps this plan will work as she wishes, and end up with the Commons voting at last for her Withdrawal Agreement  but once again the Prime Minister could be forced to eat humble pie.

The indications are that the Commons is set on a far softer Brexit than anything that Mrs May has offered so far. And if she allows Parliament to push her into this softer Brexit, all hell will break loose in the Conservative Party.

Indeed, Mrs Mays statement was already being greeted with contempt and fury last night by the hard Brexiteers such as Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and others. They cannot stomach the thought of Jeremy Corbyn as an equal partner in the Brexit negotiations.

Yet the fact is that the ERG hardliners only have themselves to blame after they repeatedly rejected Mrs Mays deal and landed us in the current predicament.

But there are still very serious worries  even if Parliament can agree on a common Brexit arrangement.

First, the timing is very tight. Remember this: whatever progress Mrs May achieved in the Cabinet meeting yesterday, one crucial and very awkward fact remains unchanged.

Britain leaves the EU automatically on April 12  Friday week  unless something extraordinary happens.

'The Prime Minister was forced to bow to the inevitable and acknowledge that the Tory Party does not have the firepower to push through Brexit on its own. So she stretched out a hand to Jeremy Corbyn (pictured), offering to sit down with the Labour leader and agree a plan to take Britain out of the European Union'

We have, of course, been here before. We were due to leave the EU under Article 50 on March 29. On that occasion the European Council met in good time ahead of the 29th, dealt with Mrs Mays request for an extension, and matters were smoothed over easily.

Not so this time. The European Council meeting comes just 48 hours ahead of Britains scheduled departure. For this reason I disagree with those who say that, in the wake of Mrs Mays statement yesterday, the prospect of No Deal is dead.

Positive

Although Mrs May is offering Parliament the path to a softer Brexit, matters can go horribly wrong. Those who have written off No Deal are forgetting that her negotiations with the EU will take place just hours ahead of the moment we could be going over the Brexit cliff.

Mrs May will ask for an extension. But she will only get one if the European Union allows it. And European leaders could cut up rough.

There are 27 other members of the EU. They may impose conditions and make matters very difficult for the UK. Already French President Macron is signalling dissent. Its worth remembering, too, that the EU now claims it has completed its arrangements for a No Deal Brexit, so regards the prospect with more equanimity than last time.

Furthermore, Britain needs to make a positive case about future plans in order to obtain its extension. Will we able to do so? Thats not certain.

We cannot therefore rule out the possibility that Britain will fall out of the EU on April 12 without a deal. That risks calamity.

Even so, there is no doubting Mrs Mays heroic resilience. The Prime Minister has been written off time and again during the course of these Brexit negotiations  only to come bouncing back.

Strong

Today this remarkable lady is still going strong. Still fighting. Still determined to get Britain over the Brexit line. She makes the escape artist Harry Houdini look like a rank amateur.

As for the Tory Party, it is no longer a happy ship. But there had been no Cabinet resignations as the Mail went to press last night.

Yes, there were profound disagreements. Reportedly, a number of ministers in Cabinet opposed Mrs Mays plan to ask for another extension.

But the Tory Party is still in one piece  and that matters for the Prime Minister.

Critics will say Mrs May achieved very little in yesterdays meeting. In formal terms, they are right  only one thing has changed since her announcement. Mrs May hopes that Brussels will agree to extend our exit date by six weeks to May 22.

I fear that extension will be too short. The Prime Minister, the Cabinet and Parliament are exhausted by Brexit.

It is hard to think of a worse time for 650 shattered MPs to make such an important decision about our future.

As I waited for Mrs Mays announcement last night, I found myself hoping that she would announce a long extension so we can all reconsider over the next 12 months.

Instead, shes chosen another dash to the finishing line. Maybe this formidable and determined lady will pull it off this time. For all our sakes, lets hope she does.An ASOS customer was left unhappy after a size 8 belt she ordered online turned out to be ridiculously small.

India McCall, 21, an events management student at Leeds Beckett University, was shocked to discover it was barely large enough to fit around her friend's thigh.

She tweeted a picture of her friend wearing the red faux-leather garment with the caption: 'I ordered a red corset belt in a size 8 and it just about fits round my skinny mate's leg. Not happy.'

India McCall, 21, bought the red faux leather corset to wear around her waist but was shocked to discover it was barely large enough to fit around her friend's thigh, pictured

In pictures on the fashion giant's website, the product sits snugly over a baggy white T-shirt dress under the model's bust, pictured

India later tweeted ASOS to ask for an explanation after finding the accessory 'just about fit' around her 'skinny mate's leg'. The retailer said it would look into the issue

India bought the 11 ASOS PU Leather Underwire Corset in her usual size 8 and was shocked when it arrived so small.

In pictures on the fashion giant's website, the product sits snugly over a baggy white T-shirt dress under the model's bust.

While India said she was 'not happy' with the sizing mishap, her Twitter followers found it amusing.

One wrote: 'OMG is that a joke' followed by a series of laughing emojis.

While a third commented: 'Looooooool'.

The Leeds local (pictured) spent 11 on the ASOS PU Leather Underwire Corset in a size 8 and so was shocked when it arrived so small

While the India said she was 'not happy' with the retailer's dodgy sizing, her Twitter followers was more than amused by the mishap

ASOS has not responded to Femail's request for comment but has replied to India's tweet saying they'll look into it.

It comes less than a week after the fashion giant baffled shoppers with a pair of bizarre see-through trousers.

The 40 Flounce London sheer organza combat trousers in white was shared on the Asbos_Sos Instagram page, alongside the caption: 'When you did four squats this morning and the world must know.'

Made from 100 per cent polyester, it's no surprise that the rather cheeky pair of bottoms have left fashion fans rather bewildered.

ASOS have started selling the 'Flounce London sheer organza combat trousers in white' for 40. They're made from 100 per cent polyester, so it's no surprise shoppers have been left confused

'Thinking of getting a pair for casual wear, just shopping trips and the likes,' joked one, while another considered the practicality of the unique pair of trousers and penned: 'Those must get steamy in the summer.'

The site claims that the revealing item, which features a high-rise tie waist, cargo pockets and fitted cuffs are perfect for the days that 'call for a little extra.'

And many took to social media to joke they'd be 'appropriate' for any occasion, including a work conference.

The outrageous design features a high-rise tie waist, cargo pockets and fitted cuffs and the site claims they are perfect for the days that 'call for a little extra'

'Might get them for Zuma. I'm sure everyone will appreciate it,' wrote one shopper, while another penned: 'Going casual for conference?'

A third described them as 'like a peach wrapped in plastic,' while another considered wearing them to 'afternoon tea' with her mum.

Others considered the benefits of the unique design, with one writing: 'I am tempted like. Spill a beer? Wipe it off. Easy.'An Australian mum has impressed hundreds after sharing a photo of the 'abstract' artwork her three-year-old daughter painted using a $19 print from Kmart.

The mother, Kaycee, shared the artwork in a Kmart hacks group on Facebook and said she was both amused and pleasantly surprised at how well her daughter had mixed the colours and glitter.

'My three-year-old's hack to this minimalist picture,' the mother wrote, adding a 'crying laughing' Emoji.

'I was quite surprised at how well it turned out, although I would love it even if it looked like poop because I practically frame everything she paints.'

This work of art (pictured) was created by a three year old child who was let loose among a selection of new paints

This simple line print from Kmart (pictured) is priced at $19 and provided inspiration for the work of art

Since posting her child's handiwork to the group, nearly 700 people have liked it and she has received a stream of positive comments.

'That is beautiful you wouldn't even know a three-year-old did that,' one wrote.

Another wrote: '$3,000 sold in a gallery.'

'That's very cool talent there for sure.'

Commenters were also curious to know if the mum had 'contributed' anything to the impressive work of art.

'The yellow and blue stroke at the bottom of the body was me. That's about as much as I was allowed contribute to before she said it's her art but yes she's done well,' she said.

'We bought heaps of new paint so she was determined to try a lot of colours.'

While there's no word as to whether Kaycee's daughter is thinking about becoming an artist, the option might be one worth considering.

One child prodigy from Australia to set the art scene ablaze is Aelita Andre, from Melbourne, whose first work was displayed when she was two-years-old.

Aeletia's first solo exhibit show was held when she turned four and when she was seven she would sell a piece of her work for $50,000.

The eleven-year-old has been compared to Jackson Pollack and called a 'mini Picasso' says she loves creating art because it makes her feel 'free'.

Aelita Andre is a child artist from Melbourne who creates works which have been likened to abstract pieces by Picasso and Jackson Pollock

Aelita Andre may have sold a painting valued at $50,000 but says she paints to just 'feel free'

'When I do my paintings, I just feel free,' she told News.com.au. 'I don't feel locked up in a tiny world.'

'I just feel free and wonderful and I can just express my feelings.'

'I don't have any plan. The moment before I put a drop on the canvas I just say I'm going to make a beautiful abstract work of the universe today.'Blake Lively let fans into her world of makeup and skincare by revealing her newly organized beauty drawers filled with product.

On Instagram, the 31-year-old actress gave fans a glimpse into how she maintains her flawless complexion and achieves her luminous glow with the help of some luxury items at her disposal.

'When you organize once, then gotta share with the world,' Blake captioned the image while labeling each of the brands featured in her beauty drawer.

Beauty lover: Blake Lively gave her fans a sneak peek at her beauty collection by posting clips from inside her stash on Instagram

Spring cleaning! The 31-year-old was 'organizing' her products when she shared the look at all of the items

Notable brands in Blake's collection included products from Charlotte Tilbury and Kristofer Buckle - who have both worked as the actress's makeup artist in the past - as well as Dior, Christian Louboutin Beauty, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani Beauty.

The quality of the Armani products may not be the only reason that Blake has them in her stash though; earlier this year her husband Ryan Reynolds was revealed as the new face of Giorgio Armani's Code Absolu fragrance.

Kicking off with the basics however, the first product seen in Blake's beauty stash is a natural Lavanila The Healthy Deodorant in Vanilla Lavender ($14); unlike many drugstore deodorants, the Lavanila option is aluminum-free, and contains essential oils to soothe the underarm area.

For skincare, Blake has an Environ Skin EssentiA Moisturizer in her stash, which can only be purchased from professional dermatologists; the actress then has a budget-friendly lotion on-hand in the form of the CeraVe face lotion with SPF 50 ($14), as well as a more expensive face moisturizer in her beauty drawer was eXO Face Bio Digital Perfection Moisturizer ($118).

She also has Caudalie's Beauty Elixir ($49) hidden away in her stash to provide hydration to her face during her skincare routine. The spray can also be used to refresh makeup midway through the day, or to refresh a bare complexion.

To ensure that her skin remains healthy and wrinkle-free, Blake also uses an SPF in her routine, choosing the Darphin INTRAL Environmental Lightweight Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 50 ($48), which protects her skin from UVA and UVB, as well as pollution.

Surprisingly, Blake's skincare appears to be rather simple, and the rest of the products in her beauty drawer are reserved for makeup or her hair.

Her routine then moves onto foundation where she has two different shades of the Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder foundation ($46), and By Terry Terrybly Densiliss Anti-Ageing foundation ($116).

For concealer, Blake has a huge range of options, including four of Cle De Peau Beaute's concealers ($70), two of the Hourglass Hidden Corrective Concealer ($34), Make Up Forever's Color Correcting Palette ($42), Make Up Forever's Ultra HD Concealer ($28), the Kryolan Dermacolor Camouflage Creme Mini-Palette ($32.50) and what appears to be multiple samples of the Kevyn Aucoin The Sensual Skin Enhancer Concealer ($48).

To set everything in place, the A Simple Favor star turns to yet another Charlotte Tilbury product, the Airbrush Flawless Finish Skin Perfecting Powder ($45).

Shout out! Blake had several items from makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury's collection in her supplies, having worked with the British beauty pro on a number of occasions

Glamorous: Makeup artist Kristofer Buckle, pictured with Blake, also had a product featured in the actress's collection

When it comes to adding definition and color to her complexion, Blake has a slew of high-priced products at her disposal. There's the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand ( $38 ), and the brand's Filmstar Bronze & Glow Contour Duo ( $68 ), as well as the Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer Ultra-Light Glowing Fluid ( $62 ), which she has in both a bronze and blush shade.





She also has the Marc Jacobs Dew Drops Coconut Gel Highlighter ( $44 ) to give herself a radiant glow.





The apples of her cheeks are also given a dose a color courtesy of Stila's Convertible Color Dual Lip & Cheek Cream ( $25 ), which can be used to add a flush to the complexion, or some color to the lips.





Moving onto the eyes, the actress has just a few products to pick from, including the incredibly popular Viseart Neutral Mattes eyeshadow palette ($80), an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil ($18), a Kristofer Buckle Graphic Line Gel Eyeliner ($18), a Charlotte Tilbury Rock 'N' Kohl Eyeliner Pencil ($27).

Lash-wise, Blake appears to favor one specific mascara and it comes from designer brand Dior.

The Diorshow Lash-Extension Effect Volume Mascara ($30) is raved about online for its ability to amplify the volume of the lashes seamlessly, so it should come as no surprise it would be a favorite for Blake.

However that doesn't mean she doesn't want a bit of an extra boost for her lashes, and for that, she turns to the Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler ($23).

Last up for the face is Blake's impressive stash of lip products, many of which come from her favorite brand, Charlotte Tilbury; in her makeup supply, the actress has two lipsticks ($34), three Hollywood Lips liquid lipsticks ($34), a Lip Lustre lip gloss ($22), and a Lip Cheat lip liner ($22).

Blake isn't totally bound to one brand however, and also has a few other lip products in her arsenal: an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil ($21), a Giorgio Armani Rouge D'Armani Matte Lipstick ($38), a Christian Louboutin Silky Satin Lip Colour Lipstick ($90), a Chanel Precision Lip Liner ($31), and a Sephora Collection Lipstick ($13).

She also has a couple of products on-hand to keep her pout as hydrated as possible: the budget-friendly Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm ($3.59), and a much pricier lip balm from La Mer ($60).

The remaining beauty bits in Blake's supply include a few brushes - including one from Claudia Schiffer's European makeup brand - a nude nail polish from Essie ($9), and a hair mousse from Kerastase ($80).Advertisement

An old fire brigade building near Sydney is housing an incredible three-storey home with modern furnishings and a chic outdoor entertaining space.

While it may appear unassuming from the outside, the warehouse residence, in Annandale, New South Wales, features high ceilings, sleek finishes and three modern bedrooms with an 'urban' feel.

The owner, who works abroad, felt like it was too 'beautiful' of an estate to rent out so he has instead decided to sell it in its entirety.

An old fire brigade building near Sydney is housing an incredible three-storey home with modern furnishings and a chic outdoor entertaining space

While it may appear unassuming from the outside, the warehouse residence, in Annandale, New South Wales, features high ceilings, sleek finishes and three modern bedrooms with an 'urban' feel

The home is large inside - given its former design had to fit several fire trucks - with natural light streaming in through the windows.

'Blend all this with a whisper quiet position in the heart of Annandale and it provides a cool urban oasis in a highly convenient address that is close to everything,' Domain reported.

On the ground level you will find a two-car lock up garage with an elevator that can take you as far up as level two.

On the first level the master bedroom, robe, third bedroom, ensuite and bathroom are positioned to make the perfect cosy level, with the living quarters and kitchen upstairs.

The home is large inside - given its former design had to fit several fire trucks - with natural light streaming in through the windows

On the first level the master bedroom, robe, third bedroom, ensuite and bathroom are positioned to make the perfect cosy level, with the living quarters and kitchen upstairs

It's the ideal place to entertain while younger children or adults retire to their bedrooms on another floor.

There is also a loft bed and tiny ensuite attached to it on the highest level, which would be a great place for guests to stay in.

The floorboards and concrete benchtops are easy to clean and the additional ducted air conditioning makes it easier to sleep during those warmer summer nights.

The Johnston Street address is one of six houses currently on sale in the Annandale area.

It's the ideal place to entertain while younger children or adults retire to their bedrooms on another floorAn Australian model and Instagram influencer has announced she's four months pregnant, but was forced to delete an ultrasound video because of 'rude and creepy' people.

Belle Lucia, 23, from Sydney, posted a photograph of herself with her boyfriend in London sharing the joyous news with her 1.3 million followers.

'So 1 + 1 really does equal 3? Mum + Dad #comingsoon #4monthspregnant #librababylikeme #stillmodelling P.s Not April fools. It's the 2nd here in the UK,' she captioned the image.

Scroll down for video

An Australian model and Instagram influencer has announced she's four months pregnant (pictured), but was forced to delete an ultrasound video because of 'rude and creepy' people

Belle Lucia, 23, who is currently in London but usually resides in Sydney, posted a sweet photo of herself with her boyfriend sharing the joyous news with her 1.3 million followers

In between the thousands of congratulatory messages, there were many people wondering how Belle could be four months along without any visible bump.

'You don't look pregnant I would have never guessed,' one person said.

'She'll be skinnier than me at nine months,' another said.

In between the thousands of congratulatory messages, there were many people wondering how she could be four months along without any visible bump (pictured in December last year)

'I don't have a bump yet. Women grow at different rates. Just because I have no bump doesn't mean I'm not pregnant. Why would I lie about this?,' Belle responded to the criticism.

Belle decided to supplement her good news post by uploading an ultrasound video on her Instagram Stories, but deleted it shortly after.

'Had to delete my ultrasound video because people were being rude and creepy,' she said.

'I don't have a bump yet. Women grow at different rates. Just because I have no bump doesn't mean I'm not pregnant. Why would I lie about this?' She responded to the criticism (pictured here at four months pregnant)

It was likely she was receiving inappropriate direct messages about the video, but these were not published online.

In a series of other videos the 23-year-old mother-to-be showed how pregnancy wasn't going to keep her away from the cameras, as she travelled to Manchester for a PrettyLittleThing photo shoot.

'Still modelling normal clothes (not maternity) at four months,' she captioned one shot.

She even asked her followers when they started 'showing' because she wanted to know when to expect a 'belly'.A young woman has revealed both she and her mother breastfeed her daughter  despite strangers calling the shared regime 'weird'.

Julia Cannons, 21, from St Louis, Missouri, and her mother Angela Owen, 47, who has five children of her own, both breastfeed her daughter Naomi, 10 months, and claim it helps to develop a 'huge bond.'

Granny Angela, who was still lactating following the birth of her youngest child, started feeding baby Naomi when she was around four months old.

'People say it's weird, unnatural and gross,' nurse Julia told The Sun. 'But what is more natural than feeding a baby? It's how we all started out. Wet-nursing has been around since the beginning of time.'

Julia Cannons (above), 21, from St Louis, Missouri, lets her mother Angela Owen, 47, breastfeed her daughter Naomi (above), 10 months, as it helps to develop a 'huge bond'

Angela Owen, pictured breastfeeding her granddaughter Naomi, now 10 months, has five children her own and never stopped lactating after her youngest child

Julia, who has been breastfeeding from the beginning, told how Naomi would cluster feed all the time.

'She wanted to be on the boob 24/7,' she told the publication. 'It was like a comfort thing.'

One day, the new mother was keen for a shower and to get out of the house, so headed over to her mother's - which is when the feeding was shared for the first time.

'I was in the shower and she needed a feed,' explained Julia. 'My mother had already asked me how I would feel about her breastfeeding Naomi. She still produces milk and we knew she still produces. I was okay with it.'

Julia is delighted that she and her mother now share the feeding between them and said 'it's a huge help for me. I can sleep and getting something to eat.' Pictured, Julia (left), her mother Angela (right) and daughter Naomi

Nanny Angela, who is an over-producer, has been checked for any problems and had various scans, but no health problems have been detected.

And following the first time, the duo have continued to share the feeding between them, despite criticism from strangers.

On average, Angela now feeds her granddaughter a couple of times a month.

'She likes to do it,' Julia explained. 'She's been doing it about six months. We weren't sure if Naomi would latch on but she did immediately. It was amazing. It is a huge, huge help for me.

'I can sleep and get something to eat. A real bond has developed between the two of them.'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's new social media account, Sussex Royal, has broken the world record for the fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram.

The profile, described by an expert as 'highly stylised', racked up a staggering 150,000 followers in the 30 minutes after it was unveiled on Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday morning had accumulated a record-breaking 2.2 million followers.

The Guinness World Records confirmed they had broken the record by reaching the 1 million milestone in just 5 hours and 45 minutes, taking the title from K-Pop star Kang Daniel, who achieved 1 million followers in 11 hours 36 minutes in January.

Before this, the record holder was Pope Francis, who reached one million in 12 hours after debuting his verified Vatican media channel franciscus in 2016.

Among the followers are celebrities David Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as Princess Eugenie who commented 'welcome cousins'.

Kensington Palace's account, which has now been assigned to Prince William and Kate, currently stands at 7.1million followers.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first post - which announced they were joining the social network along with a gallery of their highlights - received 755,000 likes by Wednesday morning.

And followers were keen to share their support for Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, who are expecting their first child this month and are expected to share the first picture of their little one online.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's new social media account, Sussex Royal , has broken the world record for the fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram. Among the gallery of their highlights the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pictured during their visit to Sussex last October

Among the thousands of uplifting comments, one follower wrote: 'I truly wish I could personally give Meghan an apology.

'A part of me sided with judgmental fools in the UK and now that I am dealing with the same judgement from my own 'family' I can't imagine how hurt she must have felt. I applaud you for holding you head high you beautiful soul. You are my hero!'

Another added: 'Let's make this Instagram what Henry and Meghan's all about positiveness I love' (sic).

Praising them as inspiring, a follower said: '1.5 million in only a few hours. Their influence and reach is amazing.'

And a fourth wrote: 'I hope haters and negative posts will be removed and blocked'.

The profile picture is an image bearing a white version of couple's royal cypher  the entwined initials H and M below a coronet  on a navy background.

Their first post - a picture gallery- is kicked off with the same blue background featuring their monogram, and a welcome message written in a mix of italics and upper case fonts.

The carefully chosen pictures featured in the gallery, highlight the work they are most passionate about, and include their recent visit to a girl's school in Morocco, Harry's work with African conservation charities and Meghan's cooking project with the Grenfell community.

By Wednesday morning had accumulated a jaw-dropping 2.1 million followers - despite following just 23 people, including Kensington Palace and Princess Eugenie

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first post - which announced they were joining the social network along with a gallery of their highlights - received 755,000 likes by Wednesday morning

The new @SussexRoyal Instagram account notched up nearly 300,000 followers within an hour of launching  including Meghan's best friend Jessica Mulroney and celebrities David Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The account follows just 23 people, including Kensington Palace, Princess Eugenie, the Duke of York, and various wildlife conservation charities.

Following the move, an expert has claimed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have unveiled their own Instagram account in an effort to take control of their image.

Nick Ede, Popular Culture Expert and CEO of East of Eden, told The Sun: 'Harry and Megan have shown themselves to be stand out Royals who are embracing their work commitments in a progressive and passionate way.

'Like Kate when she took the official images of her children, I think we will see Harry and Meghan controlling their image and the communication of their life and relationship using Instagram as a tool to do this.

'Meghan had her own popular website, The Tig, which was highly stylised so I suspect she will have a lot of input in the style and what they want to say.

'It also shows a willingness to be out there in the public eye because Instagram is not for shrinking violets'.

Followers were keen to share their support for Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, who are expecting their first child this month and are expected to share the first picture of their little one online

Harry and Meghan said @SussexRoyal would be used to share the work that drives them, and important announcements.

The move comes as the duke and duchess are splitting their household from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose Instagram account is @KensingtonRoyal.

Meghan and Harry's new household will be based at Buckingham Palace, while William  a future King  and Kate will remain at Kensington Palace.

In a message on their first post, Harry and Meghan thanked people for their support, saying: 'Welcome to our official Instagram; we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues.

'We thank you for your support, and welcome you to @sussexroyal.'- Harry & Meghan.'

Among the thousands of uplifting comments, one follower wrote: 'I truly wish I could personally give Meghan an apology'

Another dedicated follower added: 'Let's make this Instagram what Henry and Meghan's all about positiveness I love'.

Kensington Palace's Twitter feed introduced the new account, saying: 'Welcome to Instagram, SussexRoyal!'

Harry and Meghan's first post also included a gallery of photos of them on engagements around the world, including on trips to Australia and Fiji.

Former actress Meghan revealed only last month that she does not read newspapers or engage with Twitter to avoid getting 'muddled' by the 'noise', whether positive or negative.

The duchess's admission came when she joined a panel of feminists and national figures to mark International Women's Day.

She told the audience: 'It's our responsibility to make a choice on what we click on, we make a choice of what we read, we make a choice of what we engage in, that's our personal decision to not be there for negativity, to be more positive and action-based.

'And for me that's a tricky one because I'm not part of any of that.'

The account has seen a staggering influx of followers, racking up 12,500 followers within 8 minutes of joining Instagram on Tuesday afternoon

The gallery includes a picture of Meghan as she shares a light-hearted moment with a well-wisher during a walkabout in Sydney. The image was one of three in the gallery taken on their royal tour last year

Ex-Suits star Meghan used to have her own personal Twitter and Instagram accounts, as well as a lifestyle website thetig.com, but closed them down ahead of her wedding to Harry.

The Sussexes' new Instagram account has been introduced less than a month after the royal family published new guidelines for members of the public interacting with them on social media.

It warned that trolls who post offensive or abusive messages on official royal channels will be blocked, and may even be reported to the police.

However despite their warning a number of users began to troll the couple with racist and offensive comments.

One cruel follower wrote of their charity work: 'Talking smiling shaking hands is not called 'work'.'

Another cause close to their hearts is wildlife and in the gallery Prince Harry, is seen far right, helping to tip a sedated elephant before it's relocated to a wildlife reserve in Malawi, Africa

Another of the snaps shared on Harry and Meghan's Instagram account, believed to be taken during a stop on the royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji last year

Kensington Palace's account, which has now been assigned to Prince William and Kate, currently stands at 7.1M followers - but will Harry and Meghan overtake them?

This followed news that Kensington Palace staff were spending hours each week moderating online abuse aimed at Kate and pregnant Meghan.

Some of the worst, hate-filled personal abuse is said to be between rival fans of the duchesses.

The royal family's website said the guidelines were introduced to try to maintain a safe environment on channels run by the three households, and it called for users to show 'courtesy, kindness and respect'.

At the moment, Harry and Meghan do not have a separate Twitter account, but their names have been removed from the @KensingtonRoyal Twitter account bio, which now reads: 'The official account of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Royal Foundation, based at Kensington Palace.'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sparked a social media frenzy when they unveiled their official Instagram account yesterday.

Now some are speculating the couple might soon be creating their own independent Twitter account, too.

The Sussex Royal Twitter handle, which matches the name of Harry and Meghan's new official Instagram account, was yesterday being used by a man named Kevin Keiley, from Brighton.

However today the @sussexroyal handle appears to be inactive - meaning it is in something of limbo state and users cannot search for it - and Mr Keiley is now using a different account, @sussexroyal2.

The move has prompted some excited fans to suggest that Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, have taken over the account and will soon start posting. They currently share the Kensington Palace handle with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sparked a social media frenzy when they unveiled their official Instagram account yesterday. Now it appears the couple, pictured at a Buckingham Palace reception last month, might soon be joining Twitter, too

The Sussex Royal Twitter handle, which matches the name of Harry and Meghan's new official Instagram account, was yesterday being used by a man named Kevin Keiley, from Brighton

However today the @sussexroyal handle appears to be inactive - meaning it is in something of limbo state and users cannot search for it. It prompted fans to speculate that the Duke and Duchess might soon be create their own Twitter account using the handle

One follower posted: 'Kevin is @ sussexroyal2 so Harry and Meghan twitter account coming today.' Another wrote: 'Now we waiting for their Twitter account.'

Despite the excitement, MailOnline understands the Twitter account is not part of the Sussexes' new social media presence.

It is possible the account was simply deactivated by Mr Keiley in the wake of the significant attention it received yesterday.

The Twitter user faced criticism from some Sussex fans who were frustrated that he had already taken the @sussexroyal handle.

One user posted: 'That person with The Sussex Royal account needs to delete their Twitter or change their name so our Duke and Duchess could start their own page on here too. That account doesn't even tweet anything.'

Mr Keiley is now using a different account, @sussexroyal2, pictured, although it is not known whether this was also in use yesterday

Today Mr Keiley has been praised by royal followers, with many believing he has given up his original Twitter handle so it can be used by the couple.

One tweeted: 'Be sure to follow Kevin too ! He deserved it all the way !! @Sussexroyal2.'

Another posted: 'If he sees that he was tagged here and reads this, THANK YOU, Kevin!'

MailOnline has contacted Mr Keiley for comment.

Followers were today praising Mr Keiley for apparently giving up his original Twitter handle so it could be used by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Twitter

Harry and Meghan, who are expecting their first child together in the coming weeks, sparked a frenzy when they launched the Sussex Royal Instagram account yesterday.

The profile, described by an expert as 'highly stylised', racked up a staggering 150,000 followers in just 30 minutes, and by Wednesday morning had accumulated a jaw-dropping 2.2 million followers.

Among the followers are celebrities David Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as Princess Eugenie who commented 'welcome cousins'.

On Tuesday afternoon Instagram went into meltdown when Harry and Meghan unveiled their own account, Sussex Royal. Among the gallery of their highlights the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pictured during their visit to Sussex last October

By Wednesday morning had accumulated a jaw-dropping 2.1 million followers - despite following just 23 people, including Kensington Palace and Princess Eugenie

Kensington Palace's account, which has now been assigned to Prince William and Kate, currently stands at 7.1M followers.

However the couple have already been the victim of trolling, with users posting offensive racist messages and others writing: 'Run, Harry, run'.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first post - which announced they were joining the social network along with a gallery of their highlights - received 755,000 likes by Wednesday morning.

And followers were keen to share their support for Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, who are expecting their first child this month and are expected to share the first picture of their little one online.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first post - which announced they were joining the social network along with a gallery of their highlights - received 755,000 likes by Wednesday morning

The move comes as the duke and duchess are splitting their household from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose Instagram account is @KensingtonRoyal.

Meghan and Harry's new household will be based at Buckingham Palace, while William  a future King  and Kate will remain at Kensington Palace.

In a message on their first post, Harry and Meghan thanked people for their support, saying: 'Welcome to our official Instagram; we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues.

The gallery includes a picture of Meghan as she shares a light-hearted moment with a well-wisher during a walkabout in Sydney. The image was one of three in the gallery taken on their royal tour last year

'We thank you for your support, and welcome you to @sussexroyal.'- Harry & Meghan.

It was accompanied by an image bearing a white version of couple's royal cypher  the entwined initials H and M below a coronet  on a navy background.

Kensington Palace's Twitter feed introduced the new account, saying: 'Welcome to Instagram, SussexRoyal!'

Harry and Meghan's first post also included a gallery of photos of them on engagements around the world, including on trips to Australia and Fiji.Retail giant Amazon has been slammed by cosmetic enhancement practitioners - for allowing consumers to buy dermal and lip filler kits for use without professional guidance.

A myriad of products that should, say experts, only be available for use by a registered, trained medical professional are being shipped out to consumers with no questions asked.

A Stylage lip kit product made by French Company Vivacy, designed to be used by a professional, was found to be on sale for 109 by a German beauty shop.

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Paris-based company Vivacy makes the Stylage lip filler product, available on Amazon until recently for 109. The product should only be used by registered, trained medical professionals but is being sold by German beauty shop Empire Beauty to online UK consumers

The retail description for the Stylage product, which has now been removed from Amazon

Consumers attempting to re-create professional looks at home using such kits leave themselves vulnerable to serious infection, say experts

Empire Beauty, based in Berlin, is selling the injectable product to the UK market.

A spokesperson from Vivacy, the manufacturer of Stylage lip product, said: `We are happy to raise awareness of the dangers of buying from these sites.

`We do not support and strongly condemn the sale of our products directly to the consumer through the sites mentioned.

`The Stylage product range are class 3 medical devices that should only be used by experience and prescribing medical professionals such as nurses and physicians.

The filler contains cross-linked hyaluronic acid designed to help 'fill and smooth wrinkles, natural lip correction, volume restoration, hydratation, chin remodeling, tear trough correction, neck, decollete and hand rejuvenation'.

While Amazon has removed one such product after being contacted by MailOnline, there are many similar products still available including Novofill, a product that claims to contain '100 per cent genuine BioCollagen' and retails at 42.99.

Before removing the page linking to the Stylage product, Amazon told MailOnline: 'All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who dont will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The product in question is no longer available.'

British cosmetic doctor Dr Tijon Esho said that shoppers could purchase products so easily was 'concerning'.

He told Femail: 'Dermal fillers like these shown should only be used by a registered, trained medical professional and are not for home use.

The fear is that vulnerable young patients can try to self inject fillers if they buy them online or they can get into the untrained hands who can inflect damage on others.

'There are several products on Amazon being sold by unofficial retailers.

Trained professionals fear that people trying to save money on cosmetic enhancements could turn to retail sites such as Amazon to perform potentially dangerous procedures on themselves. This product, a Serazena Novofill filler, is currently still on sale for 42.99

'These products are normally controlled by medical pharmacies who distribute them directly to medical professionals. However, it now appears they're getting into the wrong hands.'

Dan Marsh, a council member for British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) told MailOnline: 'Lip fillers and other facial fillers must be given only by trained medical professionals.

'There can be serious and permanent side effects if these fillers are injected by people who do not have sufficient knowledge of facial anatomy.

'I have seen patients who have had lip filler accidentally injected into the blood vessels of the lip who have been left with permanent scarring as they have had injections given by people not adequately trained.'

He said that BAAPS is working with the government to improve regulation in the dermal filler market and prevent fillers being sold in this way on the internet:

'Protect yourself and always see a practitioner who is appropriately trained - being a member of BAAPS is a good place to start.'

MailOnline has contacted Empire Beauty for comment.The new trailer for Lifetime movie 'Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal' was released on the channel's Twitter account this week.

The explosive clip sees American actress Tiffany Smith, who portrays Meghan, admitting she feels as though she's 'pretending to be a beautiful swan' before defending herself against cruel comments from an insider.

Last month the channel confirmed the film would air in May - a sequel to last year's hit Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance, which aired shortly before the royal wedding last year.

And the trailer picks up where it left off, showing the fictitious Meghan confiding her struggles to adjust to her new role as Duchess of Sussex, in a confidante.

The new trailer for Lifetime movie 'Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal' was released on the channel's Twitter account this week and shows a glimpse at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first year of marriage

'I feel like I'm pretending to be this beautiful swan', she is seen admitting, as the scene flashes to her posing alongside Harry, played by British actor Charlie Field, and fictitious William and Kate on Christmas Day.

The scene then cuts to Meghan on her wedding day, as a cruel insider tells her: 'Look at yourself in a mirror and all you see is a hypocrite'.

Meghan is then seen standing in her wedding dress as she takes a deep breath, before it cuts to her kissing Harry passionately.

The unnamed insider returns, telling her: 'You'll never be able to control everything', before Meghan hits back with: 'I'm still waiting on my curtsy', giving her critic a cheeky smile.

'I feel like I'm pretending to be this beautiful swan', Meghan is seen admitting, as the scene flashes to her posing alongside Harry, played by British actor Charlie Field, and fictitious William and Kate on Christmas Day

Passion: A brief scene shows her interaction with Harry, as it cuts to her kissing her new husband passionately following their wedding, pictured

Last month American actress Tiffany Smith, 36, who plays the Duchess, 37, alongside British Polkdark star Charlie Field, who plays Harry, 34, and screenwriter Scarlett Lacey, confirmed the movie will cover the royal wedding, family feuds and Meghan's relationship with sister-in-law Kate.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, screenwriter Lacey even revealed that celebrity wedding guests including George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Victoria Beckham, and Idris Elba play a part in the movie.

Revealing her close ties with Meghan's Hollywood friends and explaining that the plot features a mix of truths and fiction, Lacey said: 'This film deals with the drama of planning a wedding: the moment you'd much rather elope, the moment your family might mess it all up - and they nearly do.'

Tiffany added: 'We got to do some stuff with Kate, which I really liked.

'I think one of the biggest things, obviously, about Meghan is that she's such a supporter of other women and women's empowerment. That was something I think was important for all of us to focus on, myself included.'

Candid: The explosive clip sees American actress Tiffany Smith, who portrays Meghan, admitting she feels as though she's 'pretending to be a beautiful swan'

Hitting back! Meghan is forced to defend herself against cruel comments from an insider, seen left, who brands her a hypocrite

Nerves! Meghan is seen standing in her wedding dress as she takes a deep breath ahead of the biggest royal wedding of 2018

The unnamed insider returns, telling her: 'You'll never be able to control everything', before Meghan hits back with: 'I'm still waiting on my curtsy', giving her critic a cheeky smile

Admitting that the scenes surrounding Meghan's rift with her father Thomas Markle were hard to film as they made her question how hard it must have been for the Duchess to not have all of her family at the wedding, Tiffany said: 'The film definitely addresses a lot of the family drama.'

Speaking about her sources for the film, Lacey added: 'Some of the people I talk to are close to the royals. Others are Hollywood friends of Meghan, and others are journalists and experts in the royal field.'

The film will not include Meghan's babyshower, as production had finished before this took place.

Addressing the success of last year's flick, screenwriter Lacey even revealed that the royals didn't complain and reckons they had a 'good giggle' about it.

New of the upcoming release was confirmed last month, and at the time Tiffany shared the announcement on Instagram, Tiffany writing: 'So excited to share this royally awesome news... and to share this adventure with you sir, @charlierefield! #BecomingRoyal @lifetimetv.'

Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal will air on Lifetime TV on Lifetime TV on May 27.

News of the upcoming release was confirmed last month, and at the time Tiffany shared the announcement on Instagram, Tiffany writing: 'So excited to share this royally awesome news... and to share this adventure with you sir, @charlierefield! #BecomingRoyal @lifetimetv.

British actor Charlie Field, pictured in an Instagram selfie, who appeared in an episode of Poldark, has been cast as Prince Harry, 34. The new TV movie will premiere this springThe Victoria and Albert Museum will launch an exhibition showcasing some of the most iconic pieces from fashion designer Dame Mary Quant on Saturday.

The pioneer of the Swinging Sixties, 85, created a fashion revolution on the British high street and introduced the nation to everything from hot pants and mini skirts to vibrant tights and makeup - as well as the legendary bob haircut.

And visitors will now be able to step back in time to the 1960s for the first international retrospective on the designer, which will celebrate her commitment to feminism and democracy in fashion.

Exploring the years between 1955 and 1975, the display will feature pieces from the V&A's archive and Mary's collection, along with treasured clothes and photographs donated or loaned by women from all over the UK, who responded to the V&A's call-out to help locate the lost designs.

The international retrospective of the revolutionary fashion designer Mary Quant opens at the V&A this Saturday, 6 April. Pictured, an employee with a selection of mini dresses Mary Quant exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The exhibition will include pieces from the V&A's archive and Mary's own collection, along with treasured clothes and photographs donated or loaned by women from all over the UK, who responded to the V&A's call-out to help locate the lost designs. Above, a few of the garments from 1955 to 1975

Mary has become known as an iconic figure of 1960s thanks to her miniskirts, colourful tights and playful pop designs, Pictured, a selection of the designer's shoes

Dresses displayed during a photocall for the first international retrospective on the iconic fashion designer at the Victoria and Albert Museum in central London

From a small boutique to a global fashion label, Mary Quant (above) harnessed mass production to make fashion available for a whole generation of women. Pictured, the designer on 6 December 1966

It will also feature never-before-seen sketches and photographs that offer an insight into the working life of the revolutionary designer.

Mary's work has been praised for creating a 'movement of liberation' for working women bound by conservative clothing and gender roles.

But she has long been overlooked for exhibitions because of her belief in democratic, available fashion, curators said.

Dame Mary's sleek, streamlined and vibrant designs revolutionised womenswear and defined the look of London in the 1960s. Her garments borrowed from men's clothing and blurred gender lines.

Models and a Yorkshire Terrier present creations from 1967 by the Sixties style icon in London (pictured)

Known for her bold range of colours, Mary revolutionised the British high street. Above, platform shoes from the fashion exhibition

The exhibition opens on Saturday and will cost 12 for a concession ticket. A gallery assistant (right) views a 1966 dress with epaulettes and tie during a preview of the new V&A exhibition of pieces by fashion designer Mary Quant

Ranging from black and tan, to stripes and clock colour, a selection of Mary Quant mini dresses from 1962 -1966 are also on display for public viewing

From a small boutique to a global fashion label, she harnessed mass production to make fashion available for a whole generation of women.

Curators at the V&A said this passion for casual, democratised fashion kept Dame Mary from her true due when compared to the likes of Christian Dior.

But the exhibition of the British designer's work is now opening with the aim of celebrating her sartorial efforts to liberate women from formality.

Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, in Knightsbridge, London, said Dame Mary embodied 'the fantastic spirit of optimism in the 1960s' and that she was a 'powerful role model for working women at a time of entrenched gender conservatism'.

Describing Dame Mary as a 'democratising' influence in fashion, he added: 'She created a movement. A movement of freedom and fun. A movement of liberation.'

Flower power! A black Mary Quant mini dress and accessories at tje Mary Quant exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum

A range of retro dresses sit in the widow at the pioneer's exhibition - which is in celebration of the designer's 90th birthday

Visitors will be given the opportunity to step back in time and explore everything from hot pants and mini skirts to vibrant tights, makeup and lingerie (pictured)

Dame Mary began designing in the 1950s, and her distinctive style began to blossom in an era of increased freedom with the birth of Swinging London. Her early boutique, Bazaar, sold out of the early dresses crafted in a bedsit.

According to curators, she realised that 'that people wanted to look like her'.

Jenny Lister, co-curator of Mary Quant at the V&A, believes the exhibition was overdue.

'The motivation, sincerely, was a feeling of outrage really that she had been kind of left out of exhibitions and from serious books,' she explained. 'I think because of her emphasis on mass production and democracy. She can now be recognised for her true role in the evolution of fashion.'

'Right from the start she defined the look for a new generation of women who didn't want to dress like their mothers. She said fashion was a tool to compete in life outside the home.'

The range of dresses from the years between 1955 and 1975 take centre stage along with accessories and shoes from the iconic period

The classic sleeveless wool tweed 'Peachy' dress from 1962. Pictured on the left is the dress being worn by Mary Quant herself

Mary's work has been praised for creating a 'movement of liberation' for working women bound by conservative clothing and gender roles. Above, displays at the exhibition

The exhibition will explore the years between 1955 and 1975 - which is when the pioneer kick-started her career

She continued: 'The fashion at the time was very much influenced by the New Look of Christian Dior. The London look was different. It made people feel like they could express themselves much more than they could before.

'It's this whole freedom that we take for granted so much now. Freedom, rebelling, risk-taking - you can see that in fashion today.'

Ms Lister added that, in an era of Instagram influencers, imagining boundaries in fashion was difficult.

She hopes the exhibition will remind a new generation of the revolutions needed to break down barriers, with short skirts, PVC raincoats, decorative underwear and masculine tailoring examples of Dame Mary's innovations.

'You couldn't wear what you liked 50 or 60 years ago; for instance women didn't really wear trousers in public,' she said. 'She was really seeing at the time how androgynous fashion could take over, and unisex clothes.'

The Mary Quant retrospective opens at the V&A on April 6 and runs until February 16 2020Prince Charles was greeted by schoolchildren during a visit to the British Muslim Heritage Centre in Manchester today.

The Prince of Wales, 70, met members of the Muslim community and learned about the centre's programme of education and community initiatives.

While at the centre, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, Charles told those gathered for the visit: 'How important your communities are here in this country.'

Prince Charles has worked for many years to encourage inter-faith dialogue and greater understanding between different religions, both in Britain and abroad.

Prince Charles was greeted by school children as he arrived for a visit to the British Muslim Heritage Centre in Manchester today

The Prince of Wales, pictured greeting people at the British Muslim Heritage Centre, will later travel to Wigan to learn about local arts projects and visit the Toffee Works

The royal appeared in excellent spirits and laughed and joked with youngsters at the centre

He made sure to wrap up against the cold for the trip, donning a long grey overcoat with his blue striped suit.

The schoolchildren who greeted the heir to the throne smiled and held British flags as Prince Charles spoke to them outside the British Muslim Heritage Centre.

While at the centre the prince spoke with trustees, workers and representatives of local businesses and community groups.

He said: 'I've been so impressed by all the different initiatives and projects you run here and the difference you are making, in terms of all the work you are doing in the community, but also in terms of linking all the other communities together.

'It is obviously of huge importance, this dialogue and activity.

'If I may say so, I just wanted to congratulate you and to say how much I admire all the work you are doing. And how important your communities are here in this country.'

The head of projects for the centre, Ashraf Ali, said Charles took particular interest in the Stories of Sacrifice Exhibition, which is first about the Muslims who fought for Britain in the First World War.

Schoolchildren, right, lined up and smiled as Prince Charles, left, spoke to them this morning

The Prince of Wales spent time chatting to the schoolchildren before heading inside the centre

The girls, who attend a local school, appeared pleased to be meeting the Prince of Wales

Mr Ali said he showed the royal visitor a panel of Charles's great-grandfather, King George V, wearing a turban when he was head of a Muslim cavalry regiment.

'I said, "I've got someone here, you might recognise him",' Mr Ali said.

'He said, "I know this guy. Of course I recognise him".'

Mr Ali said Charles also took an interest in the work of the centre in bringing communities together.

He also described how the staff presented the prince with local honey after they found out that he enjoyed it in his tea.

Mr Ali said a local resident keeps bees but, when the centre asked him if they could have some for the visit, he said it was the wrong time of the year.

The Prince of Wales was given a tour of the centre, pictured, and praised its work. While there he was shown a picture of his great-grandfather King George V wearing a turban

The royal met members of the Muslim community and learned about the centre's programme of education and community initiatives. He said he 'admired' all the work they were doing

Prince Charles noted the importance of Muslim communities to British society at the centre

He said officials tracked down one of the man's customers who agreed to donate when she found out why they wanted it.

This afternoon Prince Charles will travel to Wigan, visiting The Old Courts in the town centre, to learn about the building's restoration into a community arts centre.

While there, he will meet participants from a variety of local arts projects before the tour moves to the Toffee Works.

The visit is to celebrate 100 years of family-run William Santus & Co Ltd's factory on the site, where it makes its most famous product Uncle Joe's Mint Balls.

Prince Charles, right, also toured the Toffee Works, Wigan, to celebrate 100 years of family-run William Santus & Co Ltd's factory operating on the site where it makes Uncle Joe's Mint Balls

The royal, right, donned a white coat for his tour of the factory and spoke with two workers

Joint Managing Director John Winnard told RockFM he couldn't believe that the factory was going to be visited by a royal.

He said: 'I got a phone call about 3-4 weeks ago from the Lord Lieutenant's Office saying Prince Charles would love to visit the factory.

'I couldn't believe it, I thought someone was playing a prank. But it was true, so it was great!'

Prince Charles' final visit will be to Wigan Little Theatre, where he will watch a short variety performance, before meeting the performers.She's never less than perfectly polished, and Queen Letizia of Spain kept up her stylish reputation today as she stepped out in a chic monochrome outfit.

The mother-of-two, 46, paired a polka dot print Carolina Herrera shirt with Loewe trousers, embellished in gold buttons for an effortlessly sleek appearance, and a pair of Hugo Boss heels.

The Spanish Queen was attending Medios de Comunicacion y Salud Mental, a conference on mental health and the media in Madrid.

Upon arrival the former journalist was greeted by delegates including the Minister of Health, Maria Luisa Carcedo, and the president of Mental Health Spain, Nel A. Gonzalez Zapico.

Queen Letizia of Spain (pictured) attended a conversation on media and mental health in Madrid on Wednesday organised by the Spanish Mental Health Confederation

The mother-of-two (pictured centre) paired Hugo Boss heels, high waist Loewe trousers and a polka dot shirt from Carolina Herrera

Letizia of Spain (pictured with authorities and assistants to the colloquium on 'Media and Mental Health') wore her glossy brunette hair swept off her face with a side-parting

Queen Letizia wore her glossy brunette hair in a loose side-parting, and added a touch of blusher to her cheeks for a golden glow.

She completed the look with a navy clutch bag from Carolina Herrera, which matched perfectly with her pointed court heels.

The event, which was organised by the Spanish Mental Health Confederation brought journalists, communication experts and people with mental health issues together to discuss how the subject is reported in the media.

During the conference a style guide was presented, featuring examples of good practice when reporting on mental health.

The mother-of-two who was seated on the front row for the conference took time to meet with participants, guests and assistants

Queen Letizia (pictured second from left) previously wore the outfit to last year's Easter Mass with the addition of a quilted purple bag for a splash of colour

Queen Letizia who had a successful career as a journalist before marrying into the monarchy in 2004, appeared in good spirits as she spoke with delegates, before taking a seat on the front row of the conference.

The 46-year-old who is married to King Felipe VI is mother to 13-year-old Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofia of Spain, 11.

The royals have a busy week ahead, including the launch of a project to help combat drug addiction.It's many a little girl's dream to be named after a princess - and a growing number of parents are making that dream into a reality by calling their kids after Disney's leading ladies.

According to research by Play Like Mum, 17,000 British children have been given monikers inspired by Disney flicks since 1996.

And the number is on the rise - arguably in the wake of the success of Frozen.

Unsurprisingly Elsa tops the list as the most popular moniker, with 3,101 babies given the name since the film's release in 2013.

Elsa was the most popular Disney-inspired baby name, following the huge success of the film Frozen

In 1996, a mere 188 babies were given Disney-inspired names, compared to 1,775 in 2017 - and the trend looks set to continue.

The stats exclude already popular names such as Anna (Frozen) and Jasmine (Aladdin).

It's not just the 'goody' characters that have inspired parents, with some opting to call their kids after villains like The Little Mermaid's Ursula, Beauty and the Beast's Gaston and Aladdin's nemesis Jafar.

The second most popular name on the list is Tiana - the name of the lead character in The Princess and the Frog (2009), with 2,931 babies taking that moniker.

Following that was Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty (1959), and Belle from Beauty and the Beast (1991).

The second most popular name on the list is Tiana - the name of the lead character in The Princess and the Frog (2009), while Aurora was also a popular choice, despite Sleeping Beauty being released way back in 1959

Strangely, Disney villain Ursula from The Little Mermaid (1989) made it into the top 10 most popular names

Woody (Toy Story, 1995) was the most popular boy's name on the list, followed by Olaf (Frozen) in eighth and Donald (The Wise Little Hen, 1934) in 11th and Mickey (Steamboat Willie, 1928) in 12th.

A number of parents went for more obscure choices, with 49 babies called Snow (Snow White, 1937), 41 called Buzz (Toy Story), 27 called Boo (Monsters Inc., 2001), 17 called Dash (The Incredibles, 2004), 16 called Genie (Aladdin), 15 called Simba (The Lion King, 1994), eight called Nemo (Finding Nemo, 2003), and three called Aladdin and Hercules respectively.

The research suggests girls are more likely to be called after a Disney character than boys, with eight of the top 10 being female names.

Meanwhile 19 parents have called their children Disney - most recently Jade and Joshua Jeanes from Bristol last month, who claimed they were mercilessly mocked by other mums and dads as a result.

The top 35 Disney-inspired baby names threw up some unexpected monikers, including several Disney villains

Olaf, pictured centre, was the second most popular boy's name after Woody (Toy Story), with Frozen proving to be the most influential filmPrince Harry couldn't keep the smile from his face as he spontaneously took part in a children's ballet class this afternoon.

The Duke of Sussex, 34, was at YMCA South Ealing for an engagement highlighting youth mental health issues, but couldn't resist joining in a session being held for four to six years olds in an activity room at the West London centre.

He gamely stood on one leg and raised his arms in the air as he showed off his balancing skills alongside the little dancers.

The father-to-be was particularly taken by three-month-old Naz, who giggled happily in the arms of her mother, Maria Ahmad, when the prince knelt down to speak to them about her sleeping habits.

Mother Maria later said: 'He was asking about her sleeping. I think he's worried about that, if the baby sleeps at night time.'

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Prince Harry couldn't keep the smile from his face as he took part in a children's ballet class at a YMCA in west London today. Pictured, the royal shows off his balancing skills

The Duke of Sussex cooed over three-month-old Naz who was brought to the class by her mother Maria Ahmad, pictured

Prince Harry's first child with wife Meghan Markle is due in the coming weeks - and the duke was clearly keen to get in some practice

The prince crouched down to speak to little boys and girls taking part in the class at the YMCA

The touching scenes come just weeks before Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, 37, are due to welcome their first child together.

Prince Harry beamed as he walked into the dance studio, where two rows of well-behaved youngsters sat waiting for his arrival.

After a brief introduction from their teacher, the mini ballerinas performed a brief routine which received a round of applause from their VIP visitor. A second routine ended in a curtsey and a bow from the children, prompting a 'whoop' of appreciation from Harry.

The Duke of Sussex demonstrated his natural paternal instincts when he crouched down to speak to the youngsters, shaking their hands and encouraging the rest of the group to come in closer so they could hear him speak.

The prince asked Emanuel Lester, five, what his favourite part of the class was and was told 'the ballet challenge'.

Intrigued, Harry, 34, asked what that was and teacher Jade Groves explained that it was when the children practiced their balance by standing on one leg with a plastic disc on their head. 'Do you guys want to show him?' she asked the children, and they all stood up.

The Duke of Sussex demonstrated his natural paternal instincts when he crouched down to speak to the youngsters, shaking their hands and encouraging the rest of the group to come in closer so they could hear him speak, pictured

Harry's blast as 'irresponsible' Fortnite By Rebecca English, Royal Correspondent for the Daily Mail Prince Harry yesterday suggested the irresponsible computer game Fortnite should be banned. Speaking at a meeting on youth mental health issues, the father-to-be also claimed social media was more addictive than drugs or alcohol. And he said parents were at a loss as to how to handle the challenges of digital media. A game like Fortnite for instance may not be so good for children, he said. Parents have got their hands up  they dont know what to do about it. Its like waiting for the damage to be done and kids turning up on your doorsteps and families being broken. Fortnite shouldnt be allowed. Where is the benefit in having that game in your household? Its created to addict  an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. Its so irresponsible. Growing up in todays world, social media is more addictive than drugs and alcohol. Yet its more dangerous because its normalised and there are no restrictions to it. We are in a mind-altering time. Fortnite, which launched in 2017, is said to have 250million registered players, including England football stars Harry Kane and Dele Alli. It is free but offers paid-for extras  earning an estimated 1.8billion for its US developer Epic Games last year. Although intended for players aged 12 and older, many younger children have become addicted. Fortnites popular Battle Royale version sees 100 players pitted against each other, creating superhero avatars for a fight to the death using crossbows, rifles and even grenade launchers. Harrys comments about Fortnite and social media came a day after he and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, launched their own Instagram site which has gathered more than two million followers in 24 hours. Kensington Palace had a photographer and a social media co-ordinator at yesterdays event to create online content. Aides rejected any suggestion of hypocrisy, saying that while the prince had no regrets about attacking social media, he also acknowledged that it could be a force for good and bring people and communities together when it wasnt being abused. Kensington Palace has been forced to take action against vile slurs being posted by trolls about the Duchesses of Sussex and Cambridge on its social media sites. Speaking at the South Ealing YMCA in west London, Harry said: We are in an exciting time because everybody in this room has an opportunity to actually make a real difference so that young people coming through are less connected to their phones. They can be as connected as they want to be but they have to have human connection as well. Without that human connection when you do have a problem you have nowhere to go and the only place you might go is online and you probably getting bullied. The prince unexpectedly took part in a ballet class for four- to six-year-olds in an activity room at the YMCA and watched as the children performed two dances. He told the group that they all deserved gold stars. He also greeted three-month-old Naz Hamed whose proud mother Maria said: I think he has babies on his mind  referring to the fact that Harry and wife Meghan are soon to become parents. Advertisement

Then to the surprise of his press team, Harry mimicked them by standing on one leg and putting his arms out. 'You wobbled,' one teased him.

He effortlessly engaged the excited boys and girls by asking their names and how long they had been taking ballet lessons.

When one of the group replied, '100 years', Harry smiled and said, 'wow', suitably impressed.

Earlier on Prince Harry was keen to discuss baby sleeping habits when he met a young mother during a visit in west London.

In a touching moment, Harry knelt down and spoke with Maria Ahmad, who met the Duke with her three-month-old daughter Naz.

Prince Harry joined the children taking part in a ballet class for four to six year olds during the visit to the YMCA in South Ealing, London

Afterwards, Ms Ahmad told reporters: 'He was so excited and happy about the baby.

Before she admitted that he asked about sleeping habits of her baby. She added about meeting the prince: 'It was a nice surprise. He is a good person.'

Naz also appeared to enjoy meeting the prince as She gave him a delightful smile as he knelt before her and her mum.

The light hearted moments came after a serious round table discussion about youth mental health issues, where Harry raged about the perils of social media.

In a frank remark he said: 'Social media is more addictive than drugs and alcohol and it's more dangerous because it is normalised and there are no restrictions.'

His statement comes just 24 hours after Harry and Meghan launched their own Instagram account, splitting from the joint Kensington Palace account they previously shared with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

An aide pointed out that his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, had previously said that at the heart of social media was the idea of bringing people together - but it had sadly been abused by some.

Prince Harry looked dapper as he paid a visit to a YMCA centre in London today, pictured. The royal, 34, was on hand to learn more about the services offered to young people

While there has been nothing about the YMCA visit posted on the account, it will be used as a way for the couple to communicate with followers about causes close to their hearts.

Prince Harry reiterated his concerns about the ills of social media and online gaming  calling out Fortnite for the addictive pull they have on kids.

But, he added, 'We are in an exciting time because everybody in this room has an opportunity to actually make a real difference so that young people coming through are less connected to their phones.

'They can be as connected as they want to be but they have to have human connection as well. Without that human connection when you do have a problem you have nowhere to go and the only place you might go is online and you probably getting bullied.'

The Duke of Sussex looked engaged as he spoke to the Youth Ambassadors Mental Health Champions during the visit to YMCA South Ealing

The Duke of Sussex, who will become a first time father in the coming weeks, speaks to Youth Ambassadors Mental Health Champions at YMCA South Ealing

During his visit Harry also chatted with residents who live in YMCA accommodation, as well as those who help with the YMCA's Mental Health Champions Programme.

He also met with parents and young children who use the nursery service run by the group and heard about the #IAMWHOLE campaign.

The campaign, developed by the NHS and YMCA, encourages young people to speak openly about their mental health issues.

Harry said charities had to be better at telling the success stories. 'Most of the people I've met who've been through a really dark place  99 per cent of them have come through it and found mechanisms to carry on with their normal life or have made serious adjustments in their life to be able to cope.

'You, as charities, I don't believe necessarily put those people forward. Those are the icons, the people that young people need to see and hear their stories. There is too much negativity surrounding mental health. No wonder it's so hard for young people to actually talk about it.'

Prince Harry looked relaxed as he had an informal chat with housing manager Kerry Oldfield-Spence, left, and residents in the centre's kitchen

The visit comes just 24 hours after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched their own Instagram account. Pictured, Prince Harry at YMCA South Ealing today

The work was carried out as part of the royal Heads Together campaign to promote an open dialogue on the topic.

Heads Together is a mental health initiative headed by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

YMCA South Ealing is part of the YMCA St Paul's Group, which provides services across London and is one of the largest in Europe.

The association provides housing for 150 young people who are dealing with a range of problems such as homelessness, mental illness, recovering from substance misuse, or are fleeing domestic violence.

Some 17,000 people are aided by the group's mental health services in England and Wales every year, using a range of workshops and mediation services.

Prince Harry became exercised as he spoke to YMCA residents at the South Ealing centreThe Queen of the Netherlands looked stylish as she met with several leaders of Dutch care organisations on Wednesday.

Queen Maxima, 47, met with representatives and clients of one of the biggest care providers in the country, Sensire, in Varsseveld, in the Eastern Region of the Netherlands.

The Dutch Royal wore a grey pencil skirt with a light brown cape and accessorised with a maroon clutch and matching shoes.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, 47, made a visit to representative care provider Sensire, who is partnering up with digital company NAAST to better their 'remote care'

Maxima looked stylish in a grey pencil skirt and light brown jacket, which she accessorised with statement jewelry

The Royal met with several representatives of the organisations as well as some of the people they care for

Maxima wore her hair in a relaxed pushed-back and wavy fashion. She accessorised her outfit with statement earrings, a flower-shaped ring and a discreet watch and bracelet.

During her visit, Queen Maxima spoke to representatives of both organisation as well as 72-year-old Mrs. Mijnten-Schoolderman, who told her about the care she was receiving.

The visit was informal and a surprise, according to the organisation. The mother-of-three looked natural and in good spirits as she shook hands with the representatives present during her visit at Sensire.

'The visit of Queen Maxima shows that something really special is happening with care in the Achterhoek,' says Maarten van Rixtel, director of Sensire.

Maxime shone with big golden statement earrings and light make sure. Her blond locks were pushed back in a natural look

Queen Maxima enjoyed a cup of a hot bevarage as she discussed healthcare innovation with the members of Sinsere and NAAST

The Dutch Royal arrived bright and early to her meeting clutching on her maroon bag, which she matched with her shoes

Sensire says it offers 'day and night care, nursing and specialised care at your home or in one of our residential care centres.'

Through its collaboration with NAAST, the healthcare provider hopes to become a leader in remote care.

Just yesterday, Maxima was in Rotterdam, where she visited the Nederlands Fotomuseum to view their whole scope of its work, including three of their main exhibitions.

All smiles. The mother-of-three seemed in excellent spirit as she arrived in Varsseveld this morning

Queen Maxima was ready to jump out of her car to meet care prodivers this morning. Sensire and NAAST are partnering up to better Dutch remote care

The museums goal is to become the number one international platform for photography from the Netherlands.

Opening 30 years ago in 1989 the museum wants their collection of photos to be a mirror image of Dutch photography.

Earlier in March it was announced that Queen Maxima had undergone a 'minor and planned' operation and would spend some time away from the limelight, resting.When Meghan stepped out in tights which were too pale for her skin colour one hosiery brand made sure they were there to help her.

Unlike her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, 37, is not a fan of nude tights and before marrying into the family, she gladly walked sans-tights.

However The Duchess of Sussex raised eyebrows when she wore tights that were lighter than her natural skin colour on her first outing as a married woman.

At Prince Charles' 70th birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace, three days after her wedding to Prince Harry, she wore nude tights with her outfit, but they stood out for being too light.

Meghan now, however, seems to have found her match with Heist, a British hosiery brand that offer tights for every skin shade.

The usually very stylish Duchess of Sussex, 37, wore tights that were to light for her complexion on her first outing after her wedding to Prince Harry, for Prince Charles' 70th birthday celebrations in June 2018

By the time she attended another reception at Buckingham Palace with the Princess Royal in March, Meghan's legs looked much more natural in these tights. Hosiery brand Heist, claim that the Duchess ordered a selection of their tights and loves them

'Were thrilled that Meghan Markle is a fan of our tights, and one of the thousands of women who support our brand,' a Heist spokesperson told People.

Heist claim they got in touch with the Duchess of Sussex after her Buckingham Palace appearance to offer her a selection of their nude tights.

The tights are a seamless toe-to-toe tube (i.e. gusset-free) and come with an adaptable waistband, low or high waisted, Heist tights claim to make digging, sagging or rolling a thing of the past.

To begin with Heist were disappointed when their tights gift was returned to them, after the Palace said that the Royal family are not allowed to accept gifts. But shortly after, Kensington Palace put in an order in with them for Meghan.

Heist worked with 85,000 women to develop their tights, and claim to sell tights in every skin colour

'The tights were a much better match for her and like many of our customers, they say when you know, you just know,' says the hosiery spokesperson, who confirms that Meghan has continued to wear the brand since.

Heist said it worked with about 85,000 women to develop their tights.

While the rest of the world have turned their backs on pantyhose, they are believed to be a staple for women of the royal family. Observers noted Meghan Markle only started donning the tights after her marriage to Prince Harry when before, she would let her calves breathe free.

The tights are not mandatory but they're seen as a mark of respect towards the eldest members of the royal family, and especially towards the queen.

Meghan rocking heels - and tights - at the arm of Prince Harry as they exited Westminster Abbey after a Commonwealth Day service. Tights are not mandatory for women of the Royal family, but they are deemed 'more respectful' than bare calvesYouTube stars Cole and Savannah LaBrant are getting slammed for a cruel prank in which they brought their six-year-old daughter Everleigh to tears after telling her they were giving away her puppy.

On Monday, April Fools' Day, the couple posted a video on their family YouTube channel, titled 'We Have to Give Our Puppy Away... Saying Goodbye Forever.' The 14-minute clip appears to be a typical vlog up until the halfway point, when the camera pans to Everleigh lying face down on the couch.

Cole, 22, explains they had just shared 'sad news' with the little girl before pulling a pillow off her and asking her if she wants to talk about what's happening.

Scroll down for video

Hard to watch: YouTube stars Cole and Savannah LaBrant are facing backlash for an April Fools' Day prank in which they made their six-year-old daughter Everleigh cry

So sad: At the start of the clip, Everleigh is lying face down on the couch after being told they were giving away her beloved dog Carl

'Ev, do you wanna talk? Are you OK?' he asks, prompting her to shake her head no.

After rubbing her back and repeatedly asking what is wrong, he finally cajoles her to get up, revealing her tear-stained face for the camera. The little girl sniffles as she cuddles up to her mom, who is also holding their three-month-old daughter Posie.

Cole asks Everleigh if she wants to 'tell the vlog' what is going on, but she refuses. Savannah jumps in and says that they are giving their dog Carl away to somebody else because they 'can't take good enough care of him.'

Everleigh is clutching Carl in her arms as her mom explains that he needs to be taken outside more often because he 'poops and pees all over our house.'

All for clicks? Cole, 22, explains they had just shared 'sad news' with the little girl before pulling a pillow off her and asking her if she wants to talk about what's happening

Upset: The little girl cuddles up to her mom while Cole asks her why she is upset

Heartbreaking: Everleigh holds Carl in her arms while Cole tells her she can choose who they give him to

The little girl shrugs when Cole asks who she would like to give Carl away to. When he asks if she is going to miss him, Everleigh just nods while her mom smiles next to her.

Cole announces that they have one last thing to tell her, and Savannah leans over to whisper, 'April Fools!' in her ear. They explain that they are filming their April Fools' Day video, but Everleigh is not amused.

Everleigh bursts into tears again. 'Too far?' Cole asks the camera.

The parents claim to be surprised by Everleigh's response to the news, insisting that they didn't even think the six-year-old was going to fall for it because they had been pranking each other all day.

Say what? Everleigh is not amused when they explain it was all a prank

Too far? The little girl starts to cry again while her parents claim they didn't think she would fall for the prank

'At least it is going to make Ev super love Carl now,' Cole says while Everleigh lies on the couch with the dog wrapped in her arms.

The end of the clip features footage of Everleigh getting her 'revenge' on Cole by putting mustard in his ice cream, and while Savannah insists that her eldest daughter is fine because they prank each other all of the time, many weren't convinced.

The backlash has been so fierce that they disabled the comments on the video, which has been viewed more than two million times. But that hasn't stopped people from taking to Twitter and their Instagram pages to share their outrage.

'Cole and Sav are f*****g disgusting for that "prank" they tried to pull on Sav's kid. Wow, yes, let's tell a six-year-old that we're getting rid of our family and the let's act like we didn't know she'd be so upset and THEN turn off comments on YouTube!!!! Genius!!!!' one person wrote.

How could you? Critics have been taking to Twitter and their Instagram pages to slam the couple for pretending they were going to give their daughter's dog away

'They also traumatized a young child by saying [they're] giving him away,' another added. 'She was in tears and all Sav and Cole did was laugh an ask why she was crying. She was crying because they thought they would take their dog away.'

One person simply tweeted: 'If you prank your child to the point of them CRYING, you are a bad person.'

Many agreed that they went too far with the prank, and some even brought up their Christian faith.

'Do you think Jesus would like you playing a cruel April Fools trick on your daughter? Its always religious people who act the least like Jesus would,' one Instagram user commented.

Both Savannah and Cole were YouTube stars in their own right before they wed in 2017. They now vlog under their channel The LaBrant Fam, which has 8.7 million followers.

Everleigh is Savannah's daughter from a previous relationship, and they welcomed Posie in late December, just days before the start of the new year.

Popular: Savannah and Cole were both YouTube stars when they wed in 2017. They now vlog under their channel The LaBrant Fam, which has 8.7 million followers

Girls: Everleigh is Savannah's daughter from a previous relationship, and they welcomed Posie in late December, just days before the start of the new year

They have millions of fans on social media, with each of them  even Posie and their dog Carl  having their own Instagram accounts.

Savannah and Cole found themselves in hot water last year when they were accused of pretending to evacuate their home during the California wildfires.

More than 20,000 people had to leave their homes as the Holy Fire ravaged Orange and Riverside counties in Southern California.

Cole and Savannah claimed to be among them, posting a 10-minute video documenting their evacuation from their home in Ladera Ranch.

Neighbors said their community was never told to evacuate for the Holy Fire, and there were no mandatory evacuations listed for Ladera Ranch on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group website at the time.

While Cole and Savannah insisted their latest video was a joke, there can be serious consequences to pranking your kids.

YouTubers Mike Martin and his second wife, Heather, lost custody of his two children, Cody and Emma, in 2017 after repeatedly making them the victims of their pranks.Lady Amelia Windsor looked stylish at the private viewing of the upcoming Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Tuesday.

Lady Amelia, 23, kept it simple with a sixties-inspired coat and MiuMiu velvet embellished platform sandals, as she arrived at the London venue.

The exhibition, which will open to the public on 6 April, is based on the iconic fashion designer who revolutionised 1960's fashion.

Amelia, who is the daughter of George Windsor, the Earl of St Andrews and Sylvana Tomaseli, looked excited to be at the preview.

Lady Amelia Windsor looked stylish at the private viewing of the upcoming Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Tuesday

The retrospective on Mary Quant at the Victoria and Albert Museum opens to the public this Saturday 6 April. Pictured as some of the designer iconic dresses

Mary has become known as an iconic figure of 1960s thanks to her miniskirts, colourful tights and playful pop designs. Pictured, a selection of the designer's shoes

The model and fashion editor, who is currently 38th in line for the throne, has worked with several brands, including Chanel and BVLGARI.

Several other celebrities made their way to the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington to get a first look at the exhibition, which will open to the public on Saturday.

Celebrity cook Gizzi Erskine made an appearance, as did fashion designer Pam Hogg.

British models Zara Martin, Frankie Herbert and Pixie Geldof were also spotted making their way into the exhibition.

Lady Amelia Windsor is a model and has worked with several fashion brands, including Chanel and Bvlgari

The DJ and model Zara Martin also made an appearance with a sophisticated red coat and leather outfit

A pioneer of the Swinging Sixties, Quant, 85, created a fashion revolution on the British high street and introduced the nation to everything from hot pants and mini skirts to vibrant tights and makeup - as well as the legendary bob haircut.

And visitors will now be able to step back in time to the 1960s for the first international retrospective on the designer, which will celebrate her commitment to feminism and democracy in fashion.

Exploring the years between 1955 and 1975 - the period she first began - the display will feature pieces from the V&A's archive and Mary's collection, along with treasured clothes and photographs donated or loaned by women from all over the UK, who responded to the V&A's call-out to help locate the lost designs.

Celebrity cook Gizzi Erskine honoured fashion icon with the mini skirt with a very short outfit and glittery silver shoes

Model Frankie Herbert donned her best pointed black booties and leather perfecto with a blue dress

It will also feature never-before-seen sketches and photographs that offer an insight into the working life of the revolutionary designer.

Mary's work has been praised for creating a 'movement of liberation' for working women bound by conservative clothing and gender roles.

But she has long been overlooked for exhibitions because of her belief in democratic, available fashion, curators said.

The range of dresses from the years between 1955 and 1975 take centre stage along with accessories and shoes from the iconic period

Ranging from black and tan, to stripes and clock colour, a selection of Mary Quant mini dresses from 1962 -1966 are also on display for public viewing

Dame Mary's sleek, streamlined and vibrant designs revolutionised womenswear and defined the look of London in the 1960s. Her garments borrowed from men's clothing and blurred gender lines.

From a small boutique to a global fashion label, she harnessed mass production to make fashion available for a whole generation of women.

Curators at the V&A said this passion for casual, democratised fashion kept Dame Mary from her true due when compared to the likes of Christian Dior.

But the exhibition of the British designer's work is now opening with the aim of celebrating her sartorial efforts to liberate women from formality.

Models and a Yorkshire Terrier present creations from 1967 by the Sixties style icon in London (pictured)

From a small boutique to a global fashion label, Mary Quant (above) harnessed mass production to make fashion available for a whole generation of women. Pictured, the designer on 6 December 1966

Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, in Knightsbridge, London, said Dame Mary embodied 'the fantastic spirit of optimism in the 1960s' and that she was a 'powerful role model for working women at a time of entrenched gender conservatism'.

Describing Dame Mary as a 'democratising' influence in fashion, he added: 'She created a movement. A movement of freedom and fun. A movement of liberation.'

Dame Mary began designing in the 1950s, and her distinctive style began to blossom in an era of increased freedom with the birth of Swinging London. Her early boutique, Bazaar, sold out of the early dresses crafted in a bedsit.

The exhibition will include pieces from the V&A's archive and Mary's own collection, along with treasured clothes and photographs donated or loaned by women from all over the UK, who responded to the V&A's call-out to help locate the lost designs. Above, a few of the garments from 1955 to 1975

According to curators, she realised that 'that people wanted to look like her'.

Jenny Lister, co-curator of Mary Quant at the V&A, believes the exhibition was overdue.

'The motivation, sincerely, was a feeling of outrage really that she had been kind of left out of exhibitions and from serious books,' she explained. 'I think because of her emphasis on mass production and democracy. She can now be recognised for her true role in the evolution of fashion.'

'Right from the start she defined the look for a new generation of women who didn't want to dress like their mothers. She said fashion was a tool to compete in life outside the home.'

Mary's work has been praised for creating a 'movement of liberation' for working women bound by conservative clothing and gender roles. Above, displays at the exhibition

A range of retro dresses sit in the widow at the pioneer's exhibition - co-curator Jenny Lister said she felt the exhibition was long overdue

She continued: 'The fashion at the time was very much influenced by the New Look of Christian Dior. The London look was different. It made people feel like they could express themselves much more than they could before.

'It's this whole freedom that we take for granted so much now. Freedom, rebelling, risk-taking - you can see that in fashion today.'

Ms Lister added that, in an era of Instagram influencers, imagining boundaries in fashion was difficult.

Flower power! A black Mary Quant mini dress and accessories at the Mary Quant exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum

She hopes the exhibition will remind a new generation of the revolutions needed to break down barriers, with short skirts, PVC raincoats, decorative underwear and masculine tailoring examples of Dame Mary's innovations.

'You couldn't wear what you liked 50 or 60 years ago; for instance women didn't really wear trousers in public,' she said. 'She was really seeing at the time how androgynous fashion could take over, and unisex clothes.'

The Mary Quant retrospective opens at the V&A on April 6 and runs until February 16 2020Children born today will lose nearly two years of their lives because of air pollution, research has claimed.

Breathing toxic air is known to damage the lungs, heart and brain and is a serious health concern for millions of people around the world.

A study published today estimates children born in 2019 will lose around 20 months of life because of pollution, on average.

Poorer children in South Asia will be worst affected, with their life expectancies cut up to 30 months short.

But children in wealthier countries will suffer the consequences, too, with those in North America still likely to lose around 20 weeks.

Global children's charity UNICEF has called for action around the globe to protect youngsters from the pollution, which often comes from cooking fires and traffic.

A map in the report showed more developed countries in North America, Europe and Australia come off best, while those in northern Africa and south Asia are likely to lose the most of their lives as a result of toxic air pollution

The State of Global Air report was published by the US-based Health Effects Institute and the University of British Columbia.

It reveals air pollution is the fifth leading cause of premature death worldwide  responsible for more deaths than malaria, road accidents, malnutrition or alcohol.

But the report warned air pollution does not affect all people equally, with those in South Asia  countries including India, Bangladesh and Pakistan  are worst off.

Damaging pollution is produced by people burning wood and coal indoors to cook on and heat or light their homes, as well as traffic fumes and smoke from factories and machines.

Smoke and fumes contain heavy metals, carbon particles and toxic gases which are damaging to human tissue and can be absorbed into heart, lung and brain tissue.

This can raise the risk of various cancers, heart disease, and lung diseases, infections and chronic problems like asthma.

The Health Effects Institute's vice-president, Robert O'Keefe, told The Guardian: 'That the life of children is being shortened so much came as really quite a shock.

'There is no magic bullet but governments should be taking action.'

In East Asia children's lives could be shortened by an estimated 23 months, the study claimed.

Whereas in developed parts of the Asia Pacific this could be just 20 weeks.

POLLUTION LEVELS ILLEGAL IN MOST UK MONITORING ZONES The UKs air pollution was labelled a 'national embarrassment' in September. Figures for 2017 showed 37 out of 43 air quality zones across the UK had illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution, the same number as the previous year. Annual average levels of the pollutant from exhaust fumes fell in most places, figures from the Government and environmental law charity ClientEarth revealed. But levels are still more than double the legal limit in Greater London and also well over the limit in areas including South Wales, West Midlands, Glasgow and Greater Manchester. Brighton, Worthing and Littlehampton in West Sussex  an area declared as legal in the previous year  crept up to just below the threshold again, the statistics show. The UK has been breaching EU pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide, much of which comes from diesel vehicles, since the rules came into effect in 2010. Air pollution causes an estimated 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK and is linked to health problems from childhood illnesses to heart disease and even dementia. Advertisement

Countries in North America and Europe, and Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, are likely to lose less than six months of life because of air pollution.

In total, the report says 147 million years of healthy life were lost in 2017 because of toxic air.

The report said if pollution levels were brought within World Health Organization guidelines lives could be lengthened again.

Bangladesh life expectancy would see the highest expected gain, at nearly 1.3 years.

India, Nigeria, and Pakistan would also all see average life expectancy increase by around one year.

China suffers from the most pollution-related deaths, with 852,000 in 2017, the researchers found.

Nearly half of the worlds population is exposed to household air pollution  that caused by burning fuels inside.

It is most common in sub-Saharan Africa and south and east Asia  it affects an estimated 846million people in India and 452million in China.

The top five countries with the highest number of deaths due to air pollution were China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

A study last October from the World Health Organization found that exposure to toxic air both indoors and out kills some 600,000 children under the age of 15 each year.

It found that children are often more vulnerable to the impact of air pollution since they breathe more rapidly than adults, and thus absorb more pollutants at a time when their brains and bodies are still developing.

Data from the UN health body said that, every day, 93 per cent of children under the age of 15 breath dangerously polluted air.

Alastair Harper, a spokesperson for UNICEF, told The Guardian: 'It's clear with better monitoring of global pollution data we will improve our understanding of the issue and how we can tackle it. The damage to children's health is happening right now.'A woman who had to have an ovary removed and went through four rounds of fertility-damaging chemotherapy has defied the odds to give birth to her first son.

Amy Smith-Morris, 32, works as a pharmacist dishing out drugs to cancer patients but had to fend off the disease herself after being diagnosed with an ovarian tumour.

Dr Smith-Morris, from Saskatoon in Canada, is now in remission and a mother to Max, who was born last month.

She first noticed something was wrong when she gained weight, felt bloated and suffered from heartburn for the first time.

When the symptoms didn't go away after returning from her honeymoon to Italy and Greece in 2016, she decided it was time to see a doctor.

They found a 21cm tumour on her left ovary and did four cycles of chemotherapy to kill the cancer.

Amy Smith-Morris, a pharmacist who helps treat cancer patients, said she believes a positive mindset is key to fighting the disease (Pictured: After her chemotherapy in early 2017)

Dr Smith-Morris managed to get pregnant despite her treatment  the surgery and chemotherapy  being known to reduce and even destroy fertility.

Discussing her original symptoms, Dr Smith-Morris said: 'Because of my young age, no one expected cancer.

'But many strange things can grow on ovaries, so [my doctor] sent me for an ultrasound to see if there was a fibroid or something. Unfortunately, a large tumour was found.

'In that moment, I was definitely in shock. I lay down on my bed and called my mum because I felt like my world had just stopped.

'We all have that inner voice that tells us when something is wrong. Mine was saying that this news wasn't going to be good.

'The gynaecologist came in, sat next to me on the bed, and said it was cancer.'

Dr Smith-Morris said she began feeling ill after her honeymoon to Europe with her husband, Marc, 31, in the autumn of 2016.

Originally thinking the weight gain and bloating were signs of a pizza, cheese and wine overload, she suspected something more sinister when they didn't go away.

She described her symptoms as 'sneaky' and said she knew ovarian cancer was notoriously difficult to spot.

'When you're trained as a clinician, you don't stop acting like a clinician when you become the patient,' she said.

'I began asking questions about what they saw on the scan to try to predict my chances of surviving.

'I had a rare form of ovarian cancer and a mixed tumour so it's really difficult to put my diagnosis in a box. The tumour was a mix of a teratoma and a type of germ cell tumour.

Dr Smith-Morris finished her cancer treatment in 2017 and has since managed to return to work full-time and last year became pregnant despite having one of her ovaries removed

Dr Smith-Morris (pictured with her husband, Marc, after her recovery) said she believes maintaining a positive mindset was crucial to her recovery

'I had one ovary and the fallopian tube removed. In my case, this included a tumour that had engulfed my left ovary, measuring 21 centimetres [8.2ins] by 10 centimetres [3.9ins].

'I then started chemotherapy just before Christmas 2016. I did a total of four cycles, each 21 days apart and I finished in early March 2017.'

Despite having a large part of her reproductive system removed, Dr Smith-Morris clung to her hope of starting a family.

And, after being healed of the cancer in 2017, she managed to return to full-time work after spending months recovering during which she was crippled by fatigue.

Then last summer she found out she was pregnant.

Comparing the trials of pregnancy to her cancer ordeal, she said it was 'easy' waiting to become a mother before she gave birth to Max by caesarean section last month.

Dr Smith-Morris said: 'During my treatment, there were definitely moments of darkness but there were also a lot of great moments.

'When you are diagnosed with cancer, everything is put into perspective.

Dr Smith-Morris, pictured during her first ever chemotherapy session, said she was still thinking like a scientist when she was diagnosed and would ask questions about her scans

Dr Smith-Morris needed one of her ovaries and a fallopian tube surgically removed to try and get rid of the cancer (pictured showing her scar), but she was not left infertile by her treatment

Dr Smith-Morris, pictured with her husband Marc in 2017, said having cancer made her put everything into perspective

'I strongly believed that it would be possible for us to conceive and I held onto that belief until it became our reality.

'Even though I'm very scientifically driven in my practice as a pharmacist, I still believe strongly in the power of mindset.

'I held strong beliefs throughout my diagnosis and recovery and those beliefs are what carried me through.

'Pregnancy was amazing. I really can't complain. Sure, I had morning sickness, fatigue, heartburn and insomnia, but compared to what I've been through, it was easy.'

The most difficult part, she said, was not being able to have cancer check-ups because the scans were unsafe while she was pregnant.

'Pregnancy was amazing,' Dr Smith-Morris said (pictured with her newborn son, Max. 'I really can't complain. Sure, I had morning sickness, fatigue, heartburn and insomnia, but compared to what I've been through, it was easy'

Dr Smith-Morris said she never gave up believing she would be able to start her own family one day and believes keeping the faith helped her get through the ordeal

Dr Smith-Morris, pictured with her mother, said it has been difficult to stop imagining the 'what-ifs' of life without cancer

But the new mother also said she wants to stop cancer having a grip on her day-to-day life, admitting its shadow is difficult to escape.

'I couldn't be monitored for a cancer recurrence with a CT or PET-CT because it isn't safe for the baby to have these scans,' she said.

'So, I've gone nearly a year without any follow up scans to access for recurrence.

'It's tough to not think about all the "what ifs" after cancer. It can be really debilitating.

'You want to do what you can to protect your family in case you aren't around anymore. It often makes it tough to think about moving on, but you have to.

'Cancer already took so much of my time and energy. It basically paused my life for the better part of a year and a half. I can't let it take any more time from me.'A woman who has battled with a giant right leg her entire life refuses to let her condition stop her dancing.

Ada Thompson, of Tyler, Texas, was born with lymphoedema, which causes the body's tissues to swell.

Miss Thompson even had to wear extra-large nappies as a baby when her leg became too large for regular diapers.

Now 38, Miss Thompson is unable to work, cannot wear trousers and only leaves her apartment a few times a week.

But despite everything, she refuses to let her condition dampen her spirit and can often be found dancing around her living room with the music turned up loud.

Ada Thompson refuses to stop smiling despite suffering from a giant leg all her life. She is pictured at her apartment in Tyler, Texas, which she only leaves three-to-four times a week

Miss Thompson (left) was born with lymphoedema, which causes the body's tissues to swell. She even had to wear extra-large nappies as a baby due to her large right leg (seen right)

'I sing, I dance, I turn my music on and I'm all around the apartment dancing because my situation could be worse,' Miss Thompson said.

'I hope I can inspire others with lymphoedema [not to] give up on yourself. It's a struggle but you just have to toughen up, get up and slay 'em.

'I have to accept the things that I cannot change the things that I can change strive to change.'

Although she tries her best to stay positive, Miss Thompson admits lymphoedema does not make life easy.

'It is a struggle,' she said. 'Sometimes I have a walker. I have my good days and I have my bad days. When I have a pretty difficult day, I have my electric chair.'

Miss Thompson - who weighs 460lbs (32st 12lbs) - also blames her condition for her obese frame.

'If I didn't have lymphoedema, I wouldn't be the size I am,' she said.

School bullies would call Miss Thompson 'fat' and pretend her condition was contagious.

This drove Miss Thompson to think her appearance meant no man would ever find her attractive.

'I have actually messed up a couple of situations where the guy was genuine, but I was stuck on to the way I look and the way I am,' she said.

Now armed with more confidence, Miss Thompson is open to meeting someone this year.

Miss Thompson's disorder has left her unable to work and means she has never met a partner

Pictured left when she was younger, Miss Thompson's lymphoedema only affects her right side. Her condition has worsened over the years. She is pictured right as a teenager. At 19 she had a grapefruit-sized mass removed from her leg, but the swelling returned

Miss Thompson is known in her local area for her sunny disposition despite all she endures

Miss Thompson, who has had the condition since birth, is only affected along her right-hand side.

'You can get it further on in life  me I was born with it,' she said. 'It's where you may have a blockage or damage to your lymphatic system.'

Miss Thompson's mother tried to help her daughter but nothing eased her suffering.

'My mother, when I was little, she took me to all kinds of doctors' offices trying to get me answers and try to get help to where I just kept on and kept on, never giving up but the condition has worsened over the years,' she said.

'When I was younger, I could wear pants, all kinds of clothing and shoes but now I can't be comfortable wearing just a regular pair of jeans.'

She calls being unable to wear jeans a 'stinker of lymphoedema'.

At home on March 14, Miss Thompson is open to meeting someone this year

Lymphoedema has no cure, with treatment focusing on minimising fluid build-up via compression stockings and a healthy lifestyle.

However, Miss Thompson's case is so severe, these therapies have had little impact.

'I have tried several types of alternative treatments and therapies,' she said.

'I have tried to look into liposuction for people who have lymphoedema but Medicaid [health coverage for low-income people] weren't going to pay for it - they just offered the compression socks, which I have tried and didn't work.'

Miss Thompson underwent surgery at 19 to have a grapefruit-sized mass removed from her leg.

While her mobility improved initially, her lymph fluid continued to build up, affecting her ability to walk.

Despite all she has endured, Miss Thompson is well known in her local area for her sunny disposition.

Her cousin Sharman - who lives five minutes away - said: 'She just keeps going, she does a lot of things.

'I know sometimes it may bother her when she is alone, she may think about it, but when she is with other people it doesn't phase her.'A three-year-old girl with severe epilepsy is now being given medicinal cannabis for free by a Canadian company because the NHS won't give it to her.

Jorja Emerson, from Dundonald in Northern Ireland, has been given cannabis oil by her father since December last year after it was legalised in the UK.

But her family has faced a gauntlet trying to get their hands on the medicine, which reportedly cuts her number of daily seizures from 30 to as few as three.

Her father Robin, 33, claims the NHS won't prescribe her the medicine she needs so Canadian firm Aphria has staged a 'life-saving' intervention.

Jorja Emerson will be given the treatment free of charge by Canadian medical cannabis producer Aphria, according to her father, Robin

Jorja has a severe form of epilepsy which, her family say, can cause as many as 30 seizures per day without cannabis medicine, which reduces them to three or four

Jorja has epilepsy so severe her family has feared for her life but say cannabis oil  from a firm called Tilray  improves her condition.

Mr Emerson has been buying the medication at a cost of 1,000 per month since December after getting a prescription through a private doctor.

But he has to travel to London to pick up the prescription from the pharmacy which agreed to provide it.

He said the family has spent around 30,000 on Jorja's healthcare since she was diagnosed in 2017, and are now struggling to cover the cost.

However, Aphria, a medicinal cannabis company based in Nanaimo, Canada, has reportedly been moved by the toddler's plight and is sending the drug for free.

It is unclear how long the company has agreed to supply the medicine for, or whether it will be sent in the post. The legal status of sending it in the post is currently unclear.

Mr Emerson said: 'Until this is sorted, families will have to continue travelling abroad to obtain medicine for their children illegally or, like me, go private to get help for our children.

'Aphria have done what the NHS should have done and put Jorja first.

'The team in Canada are full of emotion knowing that they have saved my daughters life.'

The British Government legalised cannabis medicines containing the psychoactive chemical THC in November last year.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced the policy change after months of pressure from the parents of children with life-threatening epilepsy.

Jorja Emerson's family were reportedly having to pay around 1,000 per month to get a private supply of cannabis oil to keep her condition under control

Jorja's father has been battling to get his daughter access to the drug he calls 'lifesaving' since medicinal cannabis was legalised in the UK in November last year

Despite the landmark law change, access to the medicines has not been a smooth ride, according to parents and experts.

It can only be prescribed by specialist doctors and a professor at Newcastle University said in February the medical community is being 'overcautious'.

Mike Barnes, an expert of neurological rehabilition, told the British Medical Journal: 'Not one patient has benefited from a cannabis prescription on the NHS.

'The legislation has had no impact on the health of people due to the lack of education of the medical community and overcautious guidelines produced by the Royal College of Physicians and the British Paediatric Neurology Association.'

Jorja is believed to have been one of the first people in the UK to have been prescribed cannabis after the law change.

Her father has said in the past the medicine is 'the difference between life and death' for her.

In January he criticised the process and told The Times: 'The process has been totally outrageous.

'The government and the medical establishment are putting money into the pockets of drug dealers.

'These parents are unable to get help through legal channels. A child is going to die unless this is sorted out.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We sympathise with those families dealing so courageously with distressing conditions and the government has changed the law so specialist doctors prescribe cannabis based medical products where there is a clinical evidence of benefit.

'As Mr Emerson and his daughter reside in Northern Ireland, the decision to prescribe and fund on-going treatment on the NHS will be the responsibility of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.'More than 1,200 students in the Seattle area may have been exposed to diseases such as hepatitis and HIV at 12 school-based dental clinics.

Neighborcare Health, the provider that operates the clinics, wrote in a letter to parents that some dental handpieces were disinfected but not fully heat sterilized.

This may have led to bacteria and bodily fluids from patients getting caked into the crevices of the instruments, reported KING 5.

Students in Seattle were potentially exposed prior to March 4 while kids in nearby Vashon Island may have been exposed between September 2017 and March 2018.

About 1,250 students may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C at 12 school-based dental clinics in Seattle and Vashon Island in Washington

According to a statement from Neighborcare, the handpieces, which hold instruments, were cleaned with CaviCide, a surface disinfectant.

The product label claims that within two minutes, it can kill microorganisms linked to HIV and hepatitis B and C.

However, staff did not put the handpieces in an autoclave, which is a chamber that cleans equipment by exposing it to pressurized steam, which is required under Neighborcare policy.

The agency says that the issue was discovered on March 4 and it has since re-trained its school-based dental staff on proper hygiene practices.

It's also offering free testing for all 1,250 patients that may have been affected.

SCHOOLS AFFECTED IN THE SEATTLE AREA Seattle Bailey Gazert Elementary

Beacon Hill International

Chief Sealth International

Denny International

Highland Park Elementary

Madison Middle School

Mercer Middle School

Van Asselt Elementary

Roxhill Elementary

West Seattle Elementary Vashon Island Chautauqua Elementary

McMurray Middle School Advertisement

Hepatitis B and C are liver diseases caused by the hep B and C viruses, respectively, and both are commonly spread from bodily fluids or from exposure to contaminated blood or needles.

Contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, means a lifetime of several different drugs that control the virus from multiplying and spreading.

The King County Department of Health says the infection risk is low and that it has not received any reports of infected patients yet.

'We are sincerely sorry for any distress this incident may have caused our patients, their families, and our partners,' Neighborcare said in a statement.

'We are working to be transparent in our understanding of what happened, the actual risk to potentially affected patients, and how we can ensure that this incident will not happen again.'

Neighborcare has come under fire in the past for making serious errors in its care of patients.

In 2013, mother-of-three Yesenia Pacheco sued the clinic after staff gave her a flu shot instead of her birth control injection - resulting in an unwanted pregnancy, reported KIRO 7.

Her youngest daughter, Sandra, was born with a brain malformation that causes neurological problems, such as mild seizures.

The case is still being argued before the US District Court Western District of Washington at Seattle.

This is not the first instance of patients being exposed to blood-borne diseases because of substandard hygiene practices.

Last week, all three locations of Trieu Family Dental in Philadelphia were closed after exposing as many as 1,500 patients to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

Investigators from the city's Department of Public Health found 'unsanitary conditions' including the reuse of needles and the use of equipment that hadn't been properly sterilized.

In December 2018, a report revealed the HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, may have exposed more than 3,000 patients to HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C due to improper drug storage methods, an outdated infection control plan and poor sterilization practices.

The New Jersey Department of Health wrote that operating rooms were not properly cleaned and disinfected between surgeries.A Virginia family was slapped with a $40,000 bill for an air ambulance after their two-year-old son accidentally swallowed prescription pills.

Joseph and Michelle Penrod, both teachers from Lynchburg, desperately called poison control when they found their youngest of four, Michael, with an empty bottle, saying he'd found some candy.

An operator told them to get to the emergency room as soon as possible.

Panicking, they rushed him to their local hospital, but staff said they weren't the best place to handle his case, so he was airlifted to a different hospital.

They were relieved the issue was being taken seriously as their son was coaxed into stability, given blood tests, monitored overnight, and sent home the next day.

But days later, they were hit with a $40,000 bill for the air ambulance.

Joseph Penrod (pictured) is a biology teacher whose wife home-schools their four sons. They said they would have had to sell their house and more to cover the $40,000 bill

Michael Penrod (pictured) accidentally swallowed prescription pills thinking they were candy

'I did not have $40,000 laying around. It would've destroyed us financially,' Penrod, a biology professor, told CBS, sharing his story as lawmakers debate the eye-watering air ambulance costs that are routinely palmed off onto patients.

Joseph and Michelle, who home-schools their sons, had health insurance coverage through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covered the costs of Michael's care.

However, it only covered $8,000 of the $48,000 air ambulance.

They would have had to sell their house to pay it all, and even that might not fully cover it.

After fighting the ordeal for more than a year, the Penrods finally reached an agreement, conceding to pay $1,000 for the service.

Even that was a huge stretch for them, and would be for most families.

After fighting the ordeal for more than a year, the Penrods finally reached an agreement, conceding to pay $1,000 for the service

'If you're rich, you can get a lawyer and that's great. If you're, if you're on the lower end of the spectrum, then you need to be able to fight for long enough to figure out how to escape,' Penrod said.

Air ambulances are something of a lottery, with costs starting at around $2,000 and escalating to $50,000, depending on insurance coverage.

Often, the ambulance provider is out of network, as was the case for the Penrods - in which case the air ambulance company can bill the patient for the difference.

Lawmakers are mulling ways to ease the blow to patients.

In Virginia, a law was passed last month allowing families to refuse an air ambulance if they fear a hefty bill. Some say that still puts the onus on patients' families in a time of panic.A dying grandfather was wrongly told he had been placed on the waiting list for a heart transplant, it emerged today.

Paddy Brolly, a former bouncer, suffered a heart attack last September and was allegedly told he had been placed on the list then.

Medics reportedly said the transplant, which patients often have to wait years for, would give him a 'fighting chance'.

The 47-year-old's daughter, Jenna McIntyre, also claims that he was told he would be placed on the waiting list at the time of his heart attack.

Mr Brolly and his family have now, however, found out he was never put on the list because he was considered to be too poorly.

Paddy Brolly, a former bouncer, suffered a heart attack last September and was allegedly told he had been placed on the list then

Medics reportedly said the transplant, which patients often have to wait years for, would give him a 'fighting chance' (pictured with his grandchild Alfie before he was ill)

Mr Brolly, originally from Glasgow, is now receiving palliative care at his daughters home in Stevenston, North Ayrshire. He weighs 6st (38kg) and cannot eat or swallow.

The Golden Jubilee National Hospital (GJNH), where he received specialist care, has now said it 'sincerely apologises' for the mix-up.

Miss McIntyre, a single mother-of-two, said: 'Im so angry. We feel very let down.' And she asked: 'How does that happen?'

She claims after meeting a consultant at the GJNH last month, the family believed Mr Brolly had a chance of receiving a new heart.

Asking how long her father may expect to wait on the transplant list, she said the medic replied stating 'it was based on certain criteria'.

Miss McIntyre, 26, added: 'I specifically asked the heart specialist how long the wait would be on February 26.

The Golden Jubilee National Hospital (GJNH), where he received specialist care, has now said it 'sincerely apologises' for the mix-up

The 47-year-old's daughter, Jenna McIntyre, also claims that he was told he would be placed on the waiting list at the time of his heart attack (pictured, a letter stating Mr Brolly was 'awaiting a heart transplant'

Mr Brolly, originally from Glasgow, is now receiving palliative care at his daughters home in Stevenston, North Ayrshire. He weighs 6st (38kg) and cannot eat or swallow (pictured with his granddaughter Eilidh, now seven)

'The doctor just said that its based on certain criteria and it was a waiting game. We left the Golden Jubilee on the Tuesday thinking he was on the transplant list.'

Discussing her father's condition, Miss McIntyre continued: 'He's yellow, it's like he has got a thin layer of skin on top of a skeleton.

'He looks nothing like my dad. It just makes you think how many other people are going through this.'

Mr Brolly was initially treated at University Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire when he was admitted with a heart attack.

Doctors then transferred him to the GJNH in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, for specialist care when his condition deteriorated.

Miss McIntyre, mother to Eilidh, seven, and Alfie, three, only found out about her the error affecting her father when she was contacted by a newspaper on Friday.

The GJNH has apologised to the family and said clinical staff 'had a duty to ensure information was understood'.

Mr Brolly was initially treated at University Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire when he was admitted with a heart attack (pictured holding Eilidh before his heart attack)

Doctors then transferred him to the GJNH in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, for specialist care when his condition deteriorated (pictured with Alfie and Eilidh before his heart attack)

Mr Brolly is pictured with his daughter Miss McIntyre, believed to be in her home

Mr Brolly - a former bouncer - is pictured with his three-year-old grandson Alfie

Miss McIntyre, mother to Eilidh, seven, and Alfie, three, only found out about her the error affecting her father when she was contacted by a newspaper on Friday

A spokesman for the GJNH said: 'Similar to all UK transplant centres, the Golden Jubilee follows national eligibility criteria and guidelines for heart transplantation.

'Following clinical review and assessment, our specialist teams decide whether advance heart failure patients meet the criteria for consideration of registration for a heart transplant.

'As an NHS Board that is committed to high-quality services, we sincerely apologise if the discussion about the patients care and treatment plan was not clear and understandable to the patient.

'Communication is an important issue in healthcare.'

They added: 'It is vitally important that patients are aware of the benefits and risks to different treatments and our clinical staff have a duty to ensure that this information is understood.

'At the Golden Jubilee, we actively encourage all patients, relatives and carers to meet with us and discuss their experience to make sure everyone has clear understanding going forward.

A spokesman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, which runs the hospital, said: 'NHS Ayrshire and Arran is unable to comment on the treatment of individual patients.

'We would urge Mr Brollys family to contact us directly so that we can discuss their concerns.'

The family is now raising 3,000 to fulfil Mr Brollys dying wish to be buried in Linn Cemetery, Glasgow, near his childhood home.

Anyone willing to donate can do so here.The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing stricter limits on fluoride in bottled water.

The proposed rule would lower the allowable level of fluoride to 0.7 milligrams per liter, a bit lower than the currently allowed 0.8 milligrams per liter.

It's consistent with the 2015 recommendation by the US Public Health Service that says 0.7 milligrams per liter is ideal for community water systems that add fluoride for the prevention of tooth decay.

Additionally, the rule would only apply to fluoride that is added by the manufacturer, not the level allowed in bottles that contain fluoride from source water.

But some officials say that the new proposed level is still too high and and put consumers at risk of bone disease and neurological problems.

The FDA has proposed lowering the allowable level of fluoride in bottled water to 0.7 milligrams per liter, a bit lower than the currently allowed 0.8 milligrams per liter (file image)

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in soil, rocks and water.

It's added to toothpastes, mouthwashes and drinking water because studies have shown water with optimal fluoride levels can lower the prevalence of tooth decay.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, water fluoridation can reduce the amount of decay in childrens teeth by up to 60 percent.

However, experts have found that fluoride can be dangerous in high concentrations.

This includes dental fluorosis, which is when faint white streaks appear on the teeth when younger children consume too much fluoride.

It can also cause skeletal fluorosis, which is a disease caused by too much fluoride in the bones.

As the bones become hardened and less elastic, the risk of pain and fractures increases and can eventual lead to loss of mobility.

Some health officials are calling for even lower limits than the ones proposed by the FDA, claiming that dental issues are not their only concern.

A 2012 analysis led by the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health looked at studies in which children had been exposed to high fluoride content in water.

The researchers found that the children lost an average of seven IQ points on tests.

And a 2017 study from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, found that higher exposure to fluoride before birth led to lower scores on cognitive function tests.

'Given that fluoride can damage brain development, I would recommend that the maximum fluoride concentration in bottled water be kept at a lower level than 0.7 mg/L,' Dr Philippe Grandjean, an adjunct professor of environmental health at the TH Chan School, told CNN.

Christopher Neurath, research director of the American Environmental Health Studies Project, which is part of the advocacy group Fluoride Action Network, says he doesn't believe the new proposed limit is enough to protect children.

The FDA proposed decision to reduce the allowable amount of added fluoride in bottled water to 0.7 mg/L is too little too late,' he wrote in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'We are most concerned about the rapidly emerging scientific evidence that prenatal and early life exposure to fluoride is neurotoxic and can cause lowered IQ.

The FDA action will do little to bring the current rates of fluorosis under control and will also do little to reduce the risk of neurotoxicity in the fetus and young children.'Saggy, wrinkled faces could soon be a thing of the past as researchers have identified a key mechanism of how skin ages.

A key protein compound which could represent a new anti-ageing intervention has been discovered by scientists.

Two drugs have been created which offer hope that a fountain of youth could be developed in the future.

The drugs work by boosting levels of a certain protein, which is found in high levels in young skin cells, but begins to dwindle over time as we age.

Scientists from the University of Colorado said their discovery could reveal a way to reduce wrinkles, sun damage, and potentially even skin cancer (stock image)

When the levels of this protein drop, skin cells appear older, misshapen and less elastic.

They also appear thinner and become more blotchy and more fragile.

As long as lots of cells are being born deep below the surface of the skin with high levels of the protein, the skin appears youthful.

In a survival of the fittest scenario, these healthier skin cells out-compete the weaker ones, which go on to die.

But over time, fewer strong skin cells are born and the weaker ones take over, creating a wrinkly appearance to the skin.

In addition, stress, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, or sun damage can also reduce levels of the protein, called COL17A1.

But giving hope to anyone who wishes for a more youthful appearance, researchers said they have found a way to boost its levels.

As well as recreating youthful looks, the drugs have potential to help wound healing and even to prevent skin cancer, the researchers suggest.

Emi Nishimura, from Tokyo Medical and Dental School, and colleagues made the discovery in mice and in human skin tissue grown in the laboratory.

The compounds have yet to be tested on living humans.

Writing in the journal Nature, the authors said they discovered two chemical compounds that boosted COL17A1.

The chemicals, Y27632 and apocynin, when applied to the skin, significantly promoted wound repair by boosting the production of skin cells with high levels of COL17A1, the authors wrote.

The discovery points towards directions for facilitating skin regeneration and reducing skin ageing, they said.

Commenting on the discovery, Ganna Bilusova and James DeGregori, both of the University of Colorado, suggest that the discovery may also help prevent tumours forming.

They wrote, the maintenance of fit stem cells through the years in which an individual is likely to reproduce probably also prevents tumour development, because these fit cells compete with (and eliminate) both damaged stem cells and tumour-prone cells.

They added that the work provides evidence that healthy cells in mammals can also efficiently repopulate adult tissues, replacing unfit or damaged cells.

Both chemicals improve wound healing in mouse tail skin, providing a proof-of-principle demonstration of the therapeutic potential of this new class of drug.'

The development also points the way to regenerate other organs apart from the skin, Professor Bilusova and Professor DeGregori wrote.

Future studies are needed to determine the mechanisms of cell competition in other tissues, and to identify compounds capable of reversing ageing in other organs.Acid attack victims could be saved from blindness after a 'revolutionary' treatment which has been been tested by scientists.

The pioneering method uses an enzyme which prevents stem cells  blank cells which can turn into new tissue  from losing their healing abilities in the eye following injury.

Stem cells treat an injury to the eye, such as from acid burns, cuts or infection, by dividing and heading directly to the wound.

The development offers hope to almost 500,000 people across the world each year who lose their sight due to chemical burns.

One of the most famous cases of this in the UK was that of TV personality Katie Piper who was attacked in 2008 and needed some of her sight restored.

Acid attack victims could be saved from blindness after a 'revolutionary' treatment has been been tested by scientists. Pictured, TV personality Katie Piper who was left blind in her left eye following an acid attack in 2008

Stem cells treat an injury to the eye, such as from acid burns, cuts or infection, by dividing and heading directly to the wound

Using live corneal tissues from an eye in a lab, researchers from Newcastle University and the University of Missouri, recreated the effects of chemical burns.

They found stem cells can lose their healing properties when the tissue they're contained in 'stiffens' after an injury.

They found that using collagenase, a tissue-softening enzyme, could soften up the stiffened area.

This, in turn, made it more able to support stem cells to promote healing.

The study authors described the research as being 'a potential revolution' in its field.

Dr Ricardo Gouveia said: 'This study demonstrates a potential new way to treat injuries by changing the stiffness of the natural environment which we have shown changes the behaviour of the adult stem cells.'

When stem cells repair a damaged cornea they quickly divide in great numbers and become cells which can make a solid membrane then move to the injury to seal it.

However, this healing process can be compromised when injuries reach the stem cell niche  the area of tissue in the cornea where stem cells live.

The scientists found that stiffening the niche causes stem cells to mature and lose their self-renewing properties.

WHAT IS A CORNEA TRANSPLANT? A cornea transplant is an operation to remove all or part of someone's cornea if it is damaged by injury or disease and replace it with donor tissue. The cornea is a see-through layer at the front of the eye which protects the vital parts such as the iris and pupil. The operation may also be called a keratoplasty or a corneal graft. And it is commonly performed to help people who have a condition called keratoconus, which is when the cornea changes shape. The procedure can be performed on an entire cornea or just on the outer layers, depending on how seriously damaged it is. Patients can be kept awake during the surgery but given local anaesthetic in their eye, or completely sedated under general anaesthetic. The op takes about an hour to complete. Potential complications include the body rejecting the new cornea, infection, or further vision problems. Source: NHS Advertisement

Professor Che Connon, from Newcastle University, said: 'We can now prove that the cornea becomes stiffer when exposed to injuries such as those caused by what are commonly known as acid attacks.

'[We can] demonstrate that wound healing is impaired due to stem cells differentiating in response to the stiffening of their otherwise soft niche, and not because they are killed during injury, as previously thought.

'This is an exciting development in the field of corneal biology, and allows us to better understand how vision works.

'But even more important, it provides us with a new set of strategies to treat eye conditions which were until now inoperable.'

The collagenase formulation has already been approved for other purposes by both the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicine Agency.

The scientists said the findings are also promising for people suffering from blindness caused by corneal scarring from cuts or disease.

The cornea is a thin piece of tissue which can be easily damaged by injury or infection, sometimes by contact lenses or a fingernail.

More than 1.5million new cases of corneal blindness are reported every year worldwide, and around 4,000 cornea transplants are done every year in the UK.

Professor Connon said their study is even relevant to the research of cancer treatment, where tumour stiffening is a known marker of aggressive cancer cell behaviour.

The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.Massachusetts health officials have confirmed the state's first measles case this year as the outbreak continues to spread across the US.

The patient, who has not been identified, was diagnosed with the infectious disease on Sunday and may have exposed others in the greater Boston area, according to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

During the infectious period, the person visited several locations including a Starbucks, a Staples, a Whole Foods and a Target.

This brings the total number of states where cases have been confirmed up to 16, and public health experts fear the number could rise even further.

The first case of measles in Massachusetts was confirmed in the greater Boston area, bringing the total number of states implicated in the nationwide outbreak up to 16

'The measles virus is currently causing large national and international outbreaks of measles and a lack of vaccination, combined with domestic and international travel, has resulted in the spread of illness,' said Dr Catherine Brown, the state's epidemiologist, in a statement.

'Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself from this disease.'

It is unclear if the infected patient was vaccinated, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 387 cases have been confirmed this year, surpassing the count for all of 2018, which was 372.

The 2019 tally is the second-highest since measles was considered to be eradicated in 2000, putting this year on track to beat the record-high of 667 cases in 2014.

The highly infectious disease has been spreading among people who are unvaccinated or live in states that allow non-medical exemptions for vaccines.

Cases have been confirmed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Of those states, six - Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, Texas and Washington - allow exemptions for philosophical and/or personal beliefs.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS OF MEASLES? Most people will recover from measles within one or two weeks, but sometimes complications can develop. People most at risk include teenagers and adults, babies younger than age one and children with weakened immune systems. Common complications include diarrhea and vomiting, middle-ear or eye infections, laryngitis, fits caused by a fever, and lung infections such as pneumonia, bronchitis and croup. About one in every 15 infected children will develop one of these. Less common complications include hepatitis, meningitis and a brain infection called encephalitis. Rare complications include serious eye disorders which can lead to vision loss, heart and nervous system problems, and a fatal brain infection called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis  this is very rare and only happens in one in every 25,000 cases. Having measles during pregnancy increases the risk of the baby having a low birth weight, premature birth, or stillbirth or miscarriage. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Washington and New York, particularly, have been struggling to contain the disease.

In January, Washington declared a public health emergency after a measles outbreak that has affected 73 people in Clark County and one in King County, where Seattle is.

Sixty-three of the cases are in residents who have not been vaccinated. Fifty-three cases are in children aged 10 and under.

Meanwhile, in New York, there have been at least 420 confirmed cases in Brooklyn, Queens and Rockland County since October 2018 - all in Orthodox Jewish communities.

Last week, officials in Rockland County issued a State of Emergency, banning unvaccinated people under age 18 from public places.

Additionally, the county is offering free MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccines for residents six months and older.

Measles is a highly contagious infection caused by the measles virus.

When someone with measles coughs, sneezes or talks, infected droplets are sprayed into the air, where other people can inhale them and are then infected.

Symptoms present themselves between 10 to 14 days after infection and include fever, cough, runny nose and a total-body skin rash.

For most, measles is not life-threatening. However, in some cases, people can suffer from serious complications including pneumonia and brain swelling.

Once common, the disease is now rare since the MMR vaccine was introduced in 1963.

The CDC recommends children receive the first dose at 12 to 15 months old and the second dose at four to six years old.

The vaccine is about 97 percent effective. But those who are unvaccinated have a 90 percent chance of catching measles if they breathe the virus in, according to the CDC.

Before the measles vaccine was available, more than 500,000 cases were diagnosed in the US every year, with about 500 annual deaths.

A report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January said measles has seen a 30 percent increase in cases around the world.

WHO also revealed that nearly 83,000 people contracted measles in Europe in 2018, the highest number in a decade.The AA suffered a 64 per cent slump in annual profit from 141million to 53million, its latest results reveal.

Investors at the roadside rescue and insurance group will see their total dividend for the year cut from 5p to 2p a share.

Chief executive Simon Breakwell said the reduction in profits was down to a strategic investment in the group's long-term prospects.

Profit slump: The AA suffered a 64 per cent slump in annual profit from 141million to 53million

The group said its profit drop was a result of a 26million investment in its roadside and insurance business, adding that it was distorted by a 22million 'non-cash adjustment for guaranteed minimum pensions equalisation' and a pension credit of 34million in the previous year.

Membership numbers continued to fall, with paid personal memberships down 2 per cent to 3.21 million.

But, the AA said its major contract deals with businesses helped to offset sliding individual sign-ups.

The period also saw an unusually high number of breakdowns as the Beast from the East blew in.

The group said it attended over 3.73 million breakdowns last year, which was one per cent higher than the previous year and a three per cent increase from the average over the last five years.

Repair rates slipped from 77.3 per cent to 76.6 per cent, while the arrive time taken to arrive to a call-out came in at 43 minutes, down from 50 minutes a year earlier.

Commenting on the group's results, Mr Breakwell said: 'We recognise there is still a lot to do, but we are building from a position of strength as market leader in breakdown, with best in class customer service, a growing insurance business and a clear plan to differentiate the AA through digital capabilities and investment in connected car solutions.'

Full-year underlying earnings reached 341million, in line with previous guidance, while revenue ticked up to 979million.

Today, the AA announced that it had secured a new three-year contract with Admiral to offer roadside assistance to the insurer's 4.3 million UK motor insurance customers.

Looking ahead, the company said it was 'well-placed to deliver Ebitda growth' in the current financial year and said it maintains its medium-term target of delivering a compound annual growth rate in group trading ebitda of between five and eight per cent by the 2023 financial year.

Emma-Lou Montgomery, of Fidelity Personal Investing's share-dealing service, said the decision to invest for the longer term, at a time when the business was underperforming, was 'a bold move, but a necessary one.'

Breakdown central: The period also saw an unusually high number of breakdowns as the Beast from the East blew in

She added: 'The task of broadening the AA's appeal away from over-50s and to the millennial audience is the next focus if it wants to retain and grow its customer base.'

Meanwhile, Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said: 'There is certainly a great deal going on under the bonnet at AA, although by its own admission there remains much to be done.'

He added: 'The challenges the company are facing are in plain sight. Competitor activity and regulatory pressures crimped growth, while such a transformation has inevitably slowed the business down.'

'Net debt is being serviced, but nonetheless remains stubbornly high at over 2.7 billion, while the reduction in the dividend, albeit prudent, removes some of the attraction of the stock as the yield has slumped to 2.2 per cent.

'It remains to be seen whether the progress being made is sufficient to entice new investors, but in the meantime share price volatility does seem guaranteed.

'From an initial float price in June 2014 of 250p (let alone a subsequent high of 432p in March 2015), the current level of around 93p gives some indication of the enormity of the challenges ahead.

'Even more recently, the rollercoaster ride has continued in a share price which is up 23 per cent over the last three months, down 7 per cent over the last six months and ahead by 12 per cent over the last year, as compared to a 4 per cent hike for the FTSE All-Share.

'One element of the mix is unchanged, however - the market consensus of the shares is stuck at a hold, reflecting divided opinion on the companys immediate prospects.'

Russ Mould, an analyst at AJ Bell, said: 'You really need to be a debt expert to read results from roadside assistance provider AA properly. Its borrowings are around eight times earnings so understanding when certain debt is due and how the company has refinanced its balance sheet are highly relevant considerations.

'To put this number in context, a ratio of between two and three times earnings is usually seen as a reasonable limit, depending on the type of company.'

The group's share price is up 2.75 per cent or 2.48p to 92.78p.Profits plunged at the AA last year as the breakdown service ploughed more money into road patrols and a digital turnaround plan.

It is banking on drivers willing to pay higher fees than its rivals for a more extensive service that will include plug-in technology to diagnose problems, predict breakdowns and tell patrols where the customer's car is if it runs into trouble.

The Smart Breakdown service has already been launched to new members and will be extended to existing customers next year.

The overhaul is the brainchild of the AA's tech-savvy chief executive Simon Breakwell, who co-founded Microsoft spin-off Expedia. Higher spending on its smart systems shake-up, and more patrols and staff, cost it 26m last year, and were part of the reason why profits dived 62 per cent to 53m.

Revenues rose from 960m to 979m, but the number of drivers with AA accounts fell by 80,000 to 3.21m. The average time it took to arrive at a call-out fell from 50 minutes to 43 minutes.

The AA is also expanding its insurance arm, with the number of motor policies sold rising 16 per cent to 731,000. It expects the splurge on technology to keep customer numbers stable this year with a rise in 2020. Breakwell said: 'We have spent the past year stabilising the operations  this year is about launching new services.'

It managed to renew several of its largest contracts last year, with companies including Lloyds Banking Group, Volkswagen and Jaguar Land Rover. Separately, it also announced it had signed a three-year contract with insurer Admiral offering roadside assistance to its 4.3m UK motor insurance customers.

The AA's share price yesterday rose 0.8 per cent, or 0.7p, to 91p but that will be of little comfort to investors who have been hammered since AA floated at 250p a share in 2014. Shares peaked at 432p in early 2015.

The total dividend for shareholders was 2p in 2018, down from 5p the year before.One of Britain's top beancounters apparently missed 'highly suspicious' trades at collapsed investment firm London Capital & Finance (LCF) before it went bust.

Ernst & Young (EY) served as auditor for LCF and gave its accounts a clean bill of health.

But earlier this year LCF went bust owing 237m to 11,500 customers, many of whom had invested their life savings in its unregulated so-called 'mini-bonds'.

Under fire: Ernst & Young served as auditor for LCF and gave its accounts a clean bill of health

Four people have been arrested by the Serious Fraud Office, while administrators said that customers' cash had flowed through the personal bank accounts of people connected to the business.

The customers may now face a tax bill because their savings were not being held in ISAs  even though many thought they were.

The revelations pile fresh pressure on the audit profession, which has been accused of missing everything from the impending collapse of outsourcer Carillion to fraud at Patisserie Valerie. Accounting expert Professor Prem Sikka, of the University of Essex, said: 'Auditors are mired in conflicts of interest and there's no real change.

'The usual game continues and innocent bystanders continue to suffer as a result. Everybody involved in this case who should have acted to introduce some kind of sanity failed  auditors failed, managers failed and the regulators failed.'

EY signed off on LCF's accounts for the year to 2017. The previous year, when it was a much smaller business, its books were checked by PwC.

Both said the firm was keeping accurate records and following the rules. But LCF, which targeted ordinary savers by offering them high returns of 8 per cent on its 'mini-bonds', collapsed in March after the Financial Conduct Authority banned it from taking on any new business.

Investors are expected to get just 20 per cent of their money back.

Smith & Williamson, the administrator appointed to try to recover lost funds, said that the cash was invested in just 12 companies, many of them with close connections to LCF's founder Simon Hume-Kendall and his associates.

Savers' money had been pumped into a convoluted web of business interests, stretching from Cornish holiday cottages and land on a Cape Verde island to a racing stables and even a helicopter.

S&W said: 'There are a number of highly suspicious transactions involving a small group of connected people which have led to large sums of the bondholders' money ending up in their personal possession or control.'

Return to sender: There is no suggestion Amber Rudd knew about any problems when the donation was accepted

AMBER RUDD HANDS BACK 5,000 DONATION Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd has handed back a 5,000 donation from a businessman at the heart of the London Capital & Finance scandal. Rudd's Hastings and Rye constituency was given the money last year by Simon Hume-Kendall, who was identified in a report by LCF's administrators as being involved in a series of suspicious transactions using savers' money. But she paid the cash back last month after questions were raised over LCF. There is no suggestion Rudd knew about any problems when the donation was accepted. Hume-Kendall, 65, a former chairman of the Tunbridge Wells Conservatives, founded LCF under a different name in 2012. Companies he controlled used LCF money to invest in developments in the Dominican Republic and Cape Verde.

Both EY and PwC have been involved in a range of previous scandals. EY failed to spot impending catastrophe at Lehman Brothers, the US bank whose collapse triggered the 2008 financial crisis, and is under investigation for its role auditing Danish lender Danske Bank during a 170bn money laundering scandal in Estonia.

PwC missed a 326m accounting error at Tesco, overlooked mistakes at financial adviser RSM Tenon, and even presided over a mix-up at the 2017 Oscars which saw the wrong film named best picture.

PwC and EY worked for Carillion before it went bust last year.

The two firms are regulated by the Financial Reporting Council watchdog, which is being scrapped for failing to properly hold auditors to account.

But the FRC does not investigate issues at small companies not listed on the stock market. These investigations are typically left to the Chartered Institute of Accountants in England and Wales, a trade group funded by the industry.

Both EY and PwC declined to comment last night.China has expanded the use of its cutting-edge facial recognition technology to the country's pig-rearing industry to boost output and enhance food safety.

An outbreak of the deadly African swine fever has devastated production since August, causing a pork shortage and a boost in prices in China, the world's largest consumer of the meat.

The pioneering artificial intelligence system helps farmers keep a 'file' on each hog's life cycle, documenting each stage from its birth to death.

Once the app scans a continuous stream of video frames of the swine's distinguishing features such as its snout, ears, eyes and markings on its head, the images are analysed using deep learning algorithms and uploaded to an online database

Within seconds, the system matches and updates the individual 'pig profile', which documents details such as an ID number, its breed, birth date, weight, gender and genetic compositions

Feng Yonghui, chief analyst at the hog market information provider soozhu.com, told Global Times that the outbreak has caused an 'extreme shortage' in the world's top hog market, especially in northern and northeastern China.

Yingzi Technology, a firm based in south China's Guangzhou city, was one of the first companies to roll out facial recognition software and big data analysis on pigs.

The technology is fundamentally similar to those used on humans, Yingzi Technology chief executive officer Dr Jackson He told MailOnline.

Once the app scans a continuous stream of video frames of the swine's distinguishing features such as its snout, ears, eyes and markings on its head, the images are analysed using deep learning algorithms and uploaded to an online database.

Within seconds, the system matches and updates the individual 'pig profile', which documents details such as an ID number, its breed, birth date, weight, gender, genetic compositions and other daily activities critical for the business.

'The most important thing that we want to achieve from this technology is to increase the animals' traceability as they move through the supply chain,' Dr He said.

Yingzi Technology, a firm based in south China's Guangzhou city, was one of the first companies to roll out facial recognition software and big data analysis on pigs

Piglets drink milk from a sow at a farm owned by Guangxi Yangxiang Co Ltd, a privately owned agricultural and animal husbandry company in south China. Currently, the facial recognition technology has been implemented on a trial basis on about 3,000 pigs on the farm

Accuracy of identification from the software is more than 98 per cent, Yingzi Technology chief executive officer Dr Jackson He said, and a pig can be identified even if it was moving in a herd

Harnessing big data analysis and artificial intelligence technology, the tech company aims to provide consumers an accurate and transparent information sharing process.

'We want customers to be able to scan a QR code on the packaging and immediately understand when and where the pig was born, slaughtered and processed,' Dr He said.

'Food safety authorities will also have more accurate ways to carry out their regulatory duties and oversee the entire process of food manufacturing, processing and transportation,' he added.

China has had a history of food safety scandals over the years, from melamine-tainted eggs, smuggled and expired frozen meat and recycled 'gutter oil' to crops tainted with heavy metals.

Accuracy of identification is more than 98 per cent, Dr He said, and a pig can be identified even if it was moving in a herd.

As his company develops more smart solutions for Chinese pig farmers, Dr He stressed that the facial recognition technology is one of the 'many means to a goal' - to improve food quality.

Pig facial recognition technology is a more human solution compared with the traditional practice of ear tagging (above). 'You have to physically harm the pig in the process of ear tagging, and that's an animal welfare problem,' Dr He said

Furthermore, the physical tags could fall off as the pigs move around, potentially causing a mismatch of information and also insurance fraud, as they could be easily swapped by humans

Although China is the world's biggest supplier of pork, efficiency and productivity in farms have much room for improvement, he said.

For example, Chinese sows have a low offspring rate due to low pregnancy rates compared with those in European countries.

Pigs per sow per year (PSY) in China in 2017 was 19.38, according to a market report by analysis website The Pig Site.

While in Britain, the number of piglets per sow reached 25.8 that same year, according to data provided by Agrosoft. Denmark, an exemplar for the rest of the industry, on average produces 30.5 piglets per sow per year.

The facial recognition technology provides a reference for farmers to evaluate and adjust the amount and type of feed, especially for sows, based on changes in their weight and other conditions.

'Ultimately, we want an increase of piglet yields - both in quantity and quality,' Dr He said. 'Many farmers in China don't know why they're failing as they mainly rely on their own experiences rather than science. We hope our platform and services can help them be smarter about farming and do a better job.'

Pregnant sows are kept at a farm in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. Dr He of Yingzi Technology hopes the technology can help increase piglet yields - both in quality and quantity

A keeper feeds sows that recently gave birth on the farm in Jiaxing, China. Denmark, an exemplar for the rest of the industry, on average produces 30.5 piglets per sow per year.

Impact of China's African swine fever outbreak China has reported 113 outbreaks of the contagious disease across 28 Chinese provinces and regions since last August, though farmers and industry insiders say several outbreaks are going unreported. While it is not harmful to humans, the disease kills around 90 per cent of infected pigs and there is no cure or vaccine. Once an outbreak of African swine fever is confirmed, all pigs on the farm, as well as any within a 3-km (1.8-mile) radius, must be culled and disposed of, according to Chinese law, and farmers should be paid 1,200 yuan (137) per pig culled. So far, more than 950,000 pigs have been culled. For some cash-strapped county governments, avoiding compensation payments could be an incentive not to report disease, said a senior official with a major pig producer. Source: Reuters Advertisement

Besides being able to improve food safety, data collection and nutrition plans, the facial recognition technology provides a more humane solution than the traditional measure of ear tags.

'You have to physically harm the pig in the process of ear tagging, and that's an animal welfare problem,' Dr He said. 'Some farmers even cut pig's ears for identification purposes, which is even more cruel.'

Furthermore, the physical tags could fall off as the pigs move around, potentially causing a mismatch of information and also insurance fraud, as they could be easily tampered with and swapped by humans.

Currently, the technology has been implemented on a trial basis on about 3,000 pigs on a farm owned by Guangxi Yangxiang Co Ltd, a privately owned agricultural and animal husbandry company in south China.

Other Chinese companies, such as JD.com and Alibaba, have also been developing AI cameras that can map pigs' faces to help lower costs.

JD.com's system uses robots to dispense the appropriate amount of feed while Alibaba's voice-recognition software monitors the pigs' coughs, daily activity, growth indicators, pregnancy and other health conditions.

However, Dr He made a point to say that pig facial recognition alone would not be able to detect diseases.

'It's like for humans - you can't just look at a person's picture and tell if he or she has a fever,' he said. 'Farmers need to combine it with other technologies to help prevent African swine fever (ASF).'

A farmer in Changzhi, Shanxi province injects a newborn piglet with a vaccine to fight against the swine virus. Pigs per sow per year in China in 2017 was 19.38, lower than those in Europe

Workers in protective gears disinfect pig pens at a farm in Zhejiang in August. China has reported 113 outbreaks of the contagious disease across 28 provinces and regions since then

China has reported 113 outbreaks of the contagious disease across 28 provinces and regions since last August, though farmers and industry insiders say several outbreaks are going unreported.

Chinese pork production will fall by up to 20 per cent in 2019 in the wake of the disease, according to Oscar Tjakra, a director of food and agribusiness research at Rabobank.

That means local production this year is between 50 million and 51 million tonnes, Tjakra told Reuters last month, down from last year's 54 million to 55 million tonnes.

Average lean pork factory prices in 16 provinces rose 36.9 per cent year on year in the week to March 15, a 14-month high, according to data compiled by the ministry and external consulting firm Zhuochuang.

Parameter controls are especially important, Dr He said, such as roads, workers' sanitation and transport vehicles, to protect the animals from getting infected unintentionally.

Another important measure that farmers should take is to stop feeding pigs with kitchen waste, he said, a practice that has been banned after it was linked to the majority of the early cases of the disease.

'What we can do is combine the facial recognition technology with other solutions to prevent the occurrence of ASF,' Dr He said, adding that if possible, he hopes to bring the his company's Future Pig Farm solutions to Europe by 2021.

'Facial recognition technology is only a small piece of the puzzle in the revolution of pig farming,' he said.Michael Brown's mother was defeated in her bid for a City Council seat in Ferguson where her son died in a police shooting that helped give rise to the national Black Lives Matter movement.

Lesley McSpadden could of had oversight over the police department that shot her son to death if voters in Ferguson, Missouri, had elected her to the City Council on Tuesday.

She finished third in a three-way race in Ferguson's 3rd Ward with unofficial St. Louis County election results showing the winner was Fran Griffin. The race also featured Keith Kallstrom, who was the incumbent.

Black 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by white police officer Darren Wilson in August 2014 sparking months of protests and violence on the streets of Ferguson.

Wilson claimed he was forced to shoot when the unarmed Brown came at him menacingly after attacking the officer during a street confrontation.

Lesley McSpadden wipes away tears as co-campaign manager Rukia Lumumba speaks during McSpadden's election night watch party at Sweetie Pie's restaurant in Dellwood, in St. Louis

Michael Brown's mother Lesley McSpadden embraces her brother Courtney McSpadden during election night watch party after losing the Ferguson City Council race

A St. Louis County grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson in November 2014 led to renewed unrest in the St. Louis suburb, where two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black.

McSpadden had pledged to make police accountability one of her top priorities if elected.

The 39-year-old was new at being a candidate but has been at the edge of politics since her son's death.

Michael Brown was shot dead by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in August 2014

McSpadden said late Tuesday night in an emailed statement: 'I congratulate Fran on her victory. I feel proud of the positive race we ran, and I loved talking to the Ferguson community.

'Tomorrow, the work continues and I intend to be a part of it no matter my position. I'm not going anywhere.'

Before the election McSpadden said: 'I wanted to go back and do something right in a place that did something so very wrong to my son, and I think that's what my son would want as well.'

The national Black Lives Matter movement has seen McSpadden front and center and she endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in early 2016, at a time when Clinton was fending off a primary challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

She was among seven 'Mothers of the Movement' who appeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 who had all lost children in police shootings, in police custody or from gun violence.

Also in 2016, McSpadden testified in favor of a Missouri Senate bill aimed at increasing use of police body cameras.

In the aftermath of Brown's death, Ferguson's criminal justice system drew heavy criticism for its treatment of poor and minority residents.

McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, at an event by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in St. Louis in December 2015

Police were accused of singling out black people for unnecessary traffic stops and harassing them on the street. The municipal court was accused of heaping on fines for minor offenses.

While the U.S. Department of Justice also found no grounds to prosecute Wilson, the agency's blistering report of the police and municipal court practices led to a consent agreement requiring reforms that are still being implemented.

McSpadden, who spelled her first name 'Lezley' for an autobiography but said she otherwise goes by Lesley, drew skepticism from some in Ferguson over her campaign.

LaTasha Brown, president of the Southeast Ferguson Neighborhood Association, said she was concerned that McSpadden mostly campaigned from afar rather than getting in touch with the community.

Brown said: 'The 3rd Ward needs somebody who's going to mingle with the people. You can't make change from a distance.

'If you don't know what your constituents are going through, if you're not there to hear what they're saying, how can you lead these people and make decisions for these people?'

McSpadden said she moved to Ferguson a year ago from a neighboring community specifically to run for the council.

In this iconic Pulitzer Prize-winning photo Edward Crawford Jr. returns a tear gas canister fired by police who were trying to disperse protesters in Ferguson in 2014

She said: 'I wanted to come back to a place that caused me so much pain and did me so wrong, and to do something right.'

Both Griffin and Kallstrom have long been active in Ferguson. Griffin has served on several boards and commissions, including serving on the city's Parks and Recreation Board.

Kallstrom was a councilman for 10 years, took seven years off, then won three-year terms in 2013 and 2016.

Last month it emerged six men with connections to protests in Ferguson all met untimely deaths in the past four years drawing speculation in the activist community that 'something sinister is at play'.

Two were found dead inside torched cars, three died of apparent suicides and another collapsed on a bus, his death ruled an overdose.

Police said there is no evidence the deaths have anything to do with the protests and that only two were homicides with no known link to the unrest.

The deaths included Edward Crawford Jr. who fatally shot himself in May 2017 after telling acquaintances he had been distraught over personal issues, police said.

An iconic photo of Crawford firing a tear gas canister back at police during a Ferguson protest was part of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage.A growing number of staffers at CBS fear 'fame obsessed' Norah O'Donnell will 'tear down' all their hard work in her bid to seize the Evening News anchor job from Jeff Glor, network sources tell DailyMail.com.

Colleagues suspect new president Susan Zirinsky is mulling over replacing Glor with CBS This Morning co-host O'Donnell, 45, who has coveted the prized TV gig since she was overlooked in 2017.

But the possible shake-up has not gone down well with some of O'Donnell's This Morning colleagues who accuse her of sucking up to Zirinsky, undermining their efforts with bitchy comments and claiming the show's successes for herself.

Some Evening News staff are said to be equally alarmed by O'Donnell's perceived lobbying to have the nightly broadcast moved from New York to Washington, D.C., where she and her husband Geoff Tracy have a house and restaurant.

'If she does get the job you are talking about a lot of people who will potentially have their personal and professional lives thrown upside down,' a former colleague told DailyMail.com.

'All that just to accommodate Norah  and her giant ego.'

A CBS spokesperson says the claims are 'grossly inaccurate' and Norah is a 'trusted colleague' at the network.

They added: 'Norah has done a terrific job on CBS This Morning, on 60 Minutes and on specials, with substantial interviews that have made international headlines.'

CBS This Morning co-host Norah O'Donnell has launched a bid to seize the Evening News anchor job from Jeff Glor, CBS sources tell DailyMail.com

Incoming President Susan Zirinsky (left) is said to be mulling over replacing Glor (right) with CBS This Morning co-host O'Donnell, 45, who has coveted the prized TV gig since she was overlooked in 2017

Some Evening News staff are alarmed by O'Donnell's apparent lobbying to have the broadcast moved from New York to D.C., where she and her husband Geoff Tracy have a house and restaurant. A source said: 'She floated the rumor about looking for schools in DC for her children, wanting everyone to think she was being tapped for the evening anchor job'

CBS Evening News has long trailed its rivals on ABC and NBC, and ratings have slumped slightly further since Glor took over the anchor's chair from Scott Pelley.

However the veteran newsman, 43, has proved popular with co-workers who say he should be given longer to turn things around.

'Norah never showed Jeff any respect - either before or after he got the anchor job,' dished an industry insider.

'Some of us believe Jeff was set up to fail - the sacrificial lamb to make room for Norah.'

Another CBS source told DailyMail.com: 'We're trying to build something back up at CBS News - Norah is trying to tear it down.'

'Jeff is a great guy. For him it's all about doing world class work and building a positive environment. The news team is very supportive and wants him to stay.

'But Norah is divisive. When John Dickerson was added to the morning show last year she did her best to undermine him at every turn, she would say under her breath 'I wouldn't have done it that way'.

O'Donnell did little to hide her disappointment in October 2017 when she was passed over in the search for Pelley's replacement and Glor was picked instead to succeed the likes of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Katie Couric.

'Reposted this running photo as a reminder to myself that life is a lot like training for a road race,' the fitness fanatic and mother-of-three lamented on Facebook the very same day.

'Sometimes no matter how much effort you put into the goal, you fall short. There's always another race.'

O'Donnell did little to hide her disappointment in October 2017 when Glor was picked to succeed the likes of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Katie Couric. 'Reposted this running photo (pictured) as a reminder to myself that life is a lot like training for a road race,' the fitness fanatic and mother-of-three lamented on Facebook the very same day

She added: 'Sometimes no matter how much effort you put into the goal, you fall short. There's always another race'

The comment needled some colleagues, as did a 426-word posting one year later where O'Donnell crowed about winning an Emmy for a report investigation on sexual assault in the Air Force Academy.

'This was the toughest story I covered in the last year, so I'm honored and humbled by the Academy's Emmy distinction,' gushed O'Donnell, with only a passing reference to a colleague, investigative producer Jennifer Janisch, half way down.

'Her team spent months on the Air Force sex scandal story and Norah said, 'I'm so happy I won this,' another newsroom source told DailyMail.com. 'With Norah it's always all about me.'

Unimpressed coworkers say O'Donnell's prolific postings are all part of an orchestrated campaign to build her profile and convince bosses she's the future of the Tiffany Network she joined in 2011 as chief White House correspondent.

O'Donnell is also said to have her own publicist - PMK's pit bull Cindi Berger - described by sources as a 'no no' for everyone else at CBS.

Recent Instagram posts include March 22 photos of her in a hospital bed and hooked up to machines prior to having an emergency appendix operation.

'She did it out of fear people would think she was left out of the Mueller coverage on purpose,' claimed the same source.

Recent Instagram posts include March 22 photos of her in a hospital bed and hooked up to machines prior to having an emergency appendix operation

'She did it out of fear people would think she was left out of the Mueller coverage on purpose,' claimed the same source

Zirinsky is mulling over an overhaul of the CBS news division but is yet to decide on whether Glor should stay or if O'Donnell should succeed him, according to reports.

She will also have the final call on moving it to D.C. to accommodate Georgetown University grad O'Donnell's desire to be closer to her family rather than commute to New York.

In what insiders complained was a flagrant attempt by O'Donnell to toady up to Zirinsky, the Emmy award-winning host is reported to have given her new boss a trendy Lingua Franca sweater emblazoned with the words 'It's time'.

'When she bought Susan what was probably a $400 sweater she made sure everyone knew about it,' scoffed another CBS colleague.

'Subtlety is not her middle name. She's gunning for Jeff's job and everyone knows it.

'From the moment he was announced as the evening news anchor she's had her sights set on the job.

'She floated the rumor about looking for schools in DC for her children, wanting everyone to think she was being tapped for the evening anchor job.

'She's a genius at feeding rumors about herself. She's not above calling journalists and columnists.'

CBS This Morning has been in flux since the ouster of Charlie Rose in late 2017, with newcomers Dickerson and Bianna Golodryga drafted in to make up a foursome of hosts with O'Donnell and Gayle King, who is reportedly close to signing a lucrative new contract.

Unimpressed coworkers say O'Donnell's prolific postings are all part of an orchestrated PR campaign to build her profile and convince bosses she's the future of the Tiffany Network she joined in 2011 as chief White House correspondent

Less than six months into her tenure, Golodryga is already on the way out according to a report Monday, with sources telling HuffPost that Zirinsky wants fewer anchors and that Golodryga would rather leave than face demotion.

O'Donnell has been a fixture on the show since 2012 and has won plaudits for her interviews with President Donald Trump, Prince Harry, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

But for all her journalistic prowess, some co-workers told DailyMail.com they would be happy to see the back of her in New York.

'Norah adds anxiety in the newsroom. She doesn't treat people well,' explained one source.

Said another: Norah is demanding but can be so harsh in her treatment of people - particularly women- I've seen a lot of tears. People live in fear around Norah.

'When people have complained about her to news chief Susan Zirinsky, she is known to reply, ''It's just Norah being Norah''.

'No one is better at self-promotion than Norah - but no one person is bigger than CBS News.'

A former colleague described ODonnell as diligent and intelligent with the sort of 'pit bull' mentality needed to beat Today and GMA to the biggest scoops.

'One thing Ill say about Norah, shes great at her job - but for her its all for one and one for one,' the source added.

'She has the highest expectations and is extremely rigid, from how thick she wants her apples sliced to how much peanut butter to dole out.

Yet, ratings at Good Morning have taken a dive since Rose left.

CBS This Morning was showing signs of a ratings revival under Rose and King before he was forced out amid sexual misconduct accusations in November 2017.

Since then, the perennial third place show has slumped further behind its rivals, averaging 3.2 million total viewers this season compared to 4.1 million for NBCs Today and 4.2 million for ABCs Good Morning America.No one will be convicted for the 2015 shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco restaurant parking lot that left nine people dead and at least 20 injured, prosecutors in Texas said Tuesday.

In a statement announcing all charges will be dropped in the deadliest biker shooting in U.S. history, McLennan County District Attorney Barry Johnson said any further effort to prosecute the case would be a 'waste of time, effort and resources.'

'In my opinion, had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences against many of those who participated in the Twin Peaks brawl,' Johnson said.

No one will be convicted for the 2015 shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco restaurant parking lot that left nine people dead and at least 20 injured, prosecutors in Central Texas said Tuesday.

More than 170 people were arrested in the aftermath of the shootout, and 60 remain in jail. Above, 35 mugshots of those taken into custody

Police arrived on the scene less than a minute after the violence erupted, and took away 12 long guns, 133 handguns and found 44 shell casings

'Over the next three years the prior district attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day.'

The shooting outside a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco on May 17, 2015, involved rival biker gangs, the Bandidos and Cossacks, and occurred as bikers from various groups were gathering to talk over matters of concern.

Fights and gunfire broke out. Waco police officers monitoring the gathering also fired on the bikers, killing at least two.

In a statement announcing all charges will be dropped in the deadliest biker shooting in U.S. history, McLennan County District Attorney Barry Johnson said any further effort to prosecute the case would be a 'waste of time, effort and resources'

Surveillance footage showed many bikers running from the scene and ducking for cover after gunshots rang out.

A smaller number could be seen pointing and firing weapons, slinging a chain or participating in fistfights.

Law enforcement officers recovered dozens of firearms, knives and other weapons from the restaurant and adjacent parking lot, many of which officers organized indiscriminately into piles on the pavement and in the back of a police vehicle, dash-cam video showed.

Law enforcement officials took the extraordinary step of arresting 177 bikers after the shooting, then charged 155 of them with engaging in organized criminal activity. Many were held on a $1 million bond.

Former District Attorney Abel Reyna ultimately dropped charges against all but 24 and re-indicted them on riot charges. Those were the cases that came to an end Tuesday.

Only one case was prosecuted in court and that ended in a mistrial.

aw enforcement officials stands at the scene of a motorcyle gang shootout theTwin Peaks restaurant May 18, 2015 in Waco, Texas

Law enforcement officers recovered dozens of firearms, knives and other weapons from the restaurant and adjacent parking lot, many of which officers organized indiscriminately into piles on the pavement and in the back of a police vehicle, dash-cam video showed

More than 100 bikers have filed civil rights lawsuits alleging McLennan County, the city and others violated the plaintiffs' civil rights by arresting them without probable cause after the shooting,

'It's a travesty that so many people were rounded up and then investigated, instead of vice versa,' Mark Snodgrass, president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said Tuesday. 'A lot of these people's lives were put on hold for four years.'

In a statement, Reyna said he disagrees 'with the overall result as well as several statements and accusations within Mr. Johnson's press release; however, it is solely his decision on how to proceed with any case in the District Attorney's Office.'Labor leader Bill Shorten slammed the federal budget as a marketing ploy that falls short of a number of key policies on Wednesday morning.

While the federal budget promises sweeping tax relief for millions of Australians, Mr Shorten told Sunrise host David Koch it was designed as a 'marketing document' and a 'con' that overlooked three key policies.

'There were three things missing in this: no action on climate change, no wages policy and electricity prices not dealt with,' he said.

'Australians are sick and tired of the fear-mongering and scare tactics that come out of the government.

'Last year we spent $18 billion dealing with natural disasters, go ask the farmers, go ask the insurance companies if they think climate change is real.'

While the federal budget promises sweeping tax relief for millions of Australians, Labor leader Bill Shorten (pictured) told Sunrise host David Koch it was designed as a 'marketing document' and a 'con' that overlooked three key policies

Mr Shorten said the budget didn't address climate change, no wages policy and electricity prices (pictured, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announces the budget on Tuesday)

The Coalition government released its highly anticipated federal budget last night to much fanfare, Julie Bishop threw up her arms in joy

The Coalition government released its highly anticipated federal budget on Tuesday evening to much fanfare.

However, Mr Shorten kept his arms firmly by his side and the next morning he said there was nothing worth getting excited about.

'All the glitter is not gold in this budget and the more it gets examined, the less attractive the total package becomes,' he said.

The opposition Labor leader criticised the one-off cash handout promised to vulnerable Australians - such as pensioners - who will get up to $125 to help with the soaring bill of power prices.

'I dont know the last time the senior government ministers paid their electricity bills, but that doesnt even touch the side of the increase in power prices,' he said.

Mr Shorten went on to say Australians would be at a loss, despite all the 'goodies' in the budget.

'The problem is some of the current numbers are based on cuts to hospitals over the last six years, cuts to schools, taking money away from Australians with a disability.

'This government wanted to make themselves out to be economic supermen.'

The federal budget promised $100 billion for fast trains and new roads and a massive $158 billion worth of tax relief. It will mean more than 10 million Australians will receive tax cuts of up to $1,080.

Mr Shorten did concede that he was pleased to see Australians would get some kind of relief.

'In terms of tax cuts, Labor last year said that we thought that 10 million wage earners should get about a $1,000 tax refund so Im pleased that the governments broadly matched our proposition. That's a tick.'

The Budget forecasts a $4.2billion deficit this year ahead of a $7.2billion surplus in 2019-20.

The federal budget promised $100 billion for fast trains and new roads and a massive $158 billion worth of tax relief. Mr Shorten did concede he was pleased to see tax relief for Australian families

In the past, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has claimed only his Coalition government could keep the economy afloat and return a surplus but Mr Shorten said he believed his party would be more than up to the job.

'Not everybody loves the fact were winding back negative gearing or cracking down on multi-nationals, but weve created space in the budget to provide fair dinkum tax relief, to properly fund our schools and hospitals,' Mr Shorten said.

'What weve got to do is have reform for the future. Everything is going up in Australia except your wages.

'Our hospitals and schools require proper funding. I want better schools, not bigger multinationals. I want better hospitals, not more billionaires.'

Along with tax cuts, the budget included a raft of sweeteners, including $30,000 in tax write-offs for tradies and small business owners, as well as cash handouts of $125 to help battlers pay their power bills.

It also included $8,000 subsidies for bosses hiring apprentices, $2,000 in cash for apprentices and $100billion for fast trains and new roads.

FEDERAL BUDGET 2019'S LOSERS First home buyers and university students: Little in the budget for these big groups of young people The unemployed: No increase to the dole (Newstart) High income earners: Only a tiny tax cut of $135 for now Child sex offenders: People convicted of sex offences will be named and pictured on a 'publicly available' register Bikies: The government has plunged almost $150 million into 'strengthening law enforcement efforts to combat outlaw motorcycle gangs' to fight the scourge of ice Foreign spies: There is an extra half-a-billion for ASIO and $35 million to 'counter activities that seek to undermine Australia's sovereign democratic institutions' Big banks: $600 million boost for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to deal with banking royal commission fallout Christmas Island detention centre workers: The government will close the Christmas Island refugee facility in July  just months after the Coalition re-opened it Migrants: Migration cap to be reduced to 160,000 from 190,000 Tax dodgers: $1billion investment in the ATO's Tax Avoidance Taskforce The ABC: Budget cut of $16 million for 2019-20 from $916 to $900 Foreign aid: Forecast to drop from $3.9bn this year to $3.4bn in 2021-22 AdvertisementPrime Minister Scott Morrison has been heckled by a spectator during a live television interview as he praised the recently announced Budget.

Tuesday's Budget announcement was aimed to entice voters with tax cuts and cash handouts, but not everyone was thrilled.

A woman could be heard shouting at Mr Morrison as he spoke on the Today show from Canberra in the live on-air interview on Wednesday morning.

'Hey Morrison, what about the carbon budget?' the woman could be heard yelling.

A woman could be heard shouting taunts at Mr Morrison (pictured) as he spoke on the Today show from Canberra in the live on-air interview on Wednesday morning

Unfazed by the taunts, Morrison continued to talk about the benefits the tax cuts would have for Australians.

'What it does is, it says, if you do better, you'll keep more of it - that's the incentive. You cannot have a stronger economy where people have no incentive to go out there and work hard and take risks.'

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's massive $158 billion worth of tax relief, which would put money in the pockets of low and middle-income earners, comes as the government prepares to face voters.

The Morrison government is set to get parliament's support for a $284 million package to help 3.9 million Australians with power bills, as the last major act before the election.

But the rest of Tuesday's federal budget - including income tax cuts - will have to wait until after the May poll.

BATTLE LINES: Scott Morrison is expected to call an election in the coming days - after offering millions of voters a $1000 tax cut

This graph shows how the tax cuts are broken down per bracket - with 4.5 million taxpayers getting the full cut of $1,080

There had been speculation Mr Morrison would visit the Governor-General some time between Friday and Sunday to ask for parliament to be dissolved and an election called.

But the Liberal leader was keeping mum on Wednesday, however he did reveal that rumours around when the election could be held might be wrong.

During the interview he shared there were three days available to him - May 11, 18 or 25.

'They're the options we have and when I decide to go out to the governor-general, then people will see that car drive out to Yarralumla,' he said.

Asked if he had made a decision on a date, Mr Morrison said: 'No. Not yet.'

There has to be a minimum of 33 days campaigning before voters head to the polls.

According to ABC election analyst Antony Green, the government needs to hold a standard general election before May 18 - meaning the prime minister will have to call it by April 15.

FEDERAL BUDGET 2019'S LOSERS First home buyers and university students: Little in the budget for these big groups of young people The unemployed: No increase to the dole (Newstart) High income earners: Only a tiny tax cut of $135 for now Child sex offenders: People convicted of sex offences will be named and pictured on a 'publicly available' register Bikies: The government has plunged almost $150 million into 'strengthening law enforcement efforts to combat outlaw motorcycle gangs' to fight the scourge of ice Foreign spies: There is an extra half-a-billion for ASIO and $35 million to 'counter activities that seek to undermine Australia's sovereign democratic institutions' Big banks: $600 million boost for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to deal with banking royal commission fallout Christmas Island detention centre workers: The government will close the Christmas Island refugee facility in July  just months after the Coalition re-opened it Migrants - Migration cap to be reduced to 160,000 from 190,000 AdvertisementA family-run zoo with giraffes, cheetahs, crocodiles, red pandas, monkeys, kangaroos, and wombats has hit the market for $5.5million.

Hall Gap Zoo is located in Victoria's Grampian Mountains and a three-hour drive north west of Melbourne.

Owners Greg and Yvonne Culell, 58 and 59, bought a rundown wildlife park 12 years ago and turned it into a 'highly profitable business'.

Their story echoes family drama We Bought a Zoo in which Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson fall in love and turn a neglected zoo into a thriving business.

Visitors who visit the park can feed wallabies, kangaroos and rhinos among other animals

Greg and Yvonne Culell (pictured), 58 and 59, hang out in the meerkat enclosure. They have owned the Hall Park Zoo for 12 years and have put it on the market for $5.5million

Welcome to the jungle! The Culells turned a rundown wildlife park into Victoria's biggest regional zoo

Did someone call a vet? Dr Chris Brown pats a lemur at Hall Gap Zoo in an episode of Bondi Vet

Visitors can feed and give a mud bath to a Southern white rhino named Kifaru. He is one of the latest additions to the zoo and a crowd favourite

The couple want to hand over their 21-hectare business including animals, vehicles and 20 trained staff who look after the zoo's residents.

The 140 animals live across ten enclosures and range from native Australian animals like kangaroos and wombats to exotic animals such as giraffes and red pandas.

Visitors can feed wallabies, hold snakes, pat dingoes and even give a southern white rhino a mud bath.

'When Yvonne and I came in it was a rundown wildlife park. We've got 20 plus employees now who look after the animals so we're more the administration side,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

The couple spend $100,000 on advertising a year and contribute a 'significant amount' to the Grampians economy.

Greg was a cabinet maker and former-farmgirl Yvonne was a practice manager at a GP before becoming zoo owners three years into their marriage.

White alpine dingo puppies are held by a zoo visitor. White and cream dingos are rare in the wild and are found in the Australian Alps

Paws for a photo: A white alpine dingo and a brown desert dingo live side by side at the park

Cuddly koalas are a standard at Australian zoos and Hall Gap is no different. The couple want to hand the zoo over to someone who is 'passionate about animals'

'You don't need to have experience but you need to be passionate about animals,' he said.

'It's a huge commitment.'

The couple have been married for almost 16 years and are selling Hall Gap to spend more time with their family who are spread out all over Australia.

'We want to be more involved in the grandchildren growing up,' Mr Culell said.

'They come over when it's school holidays which is the busiest period for us.'

Mr Culell said he and Mrs Culell are 'pretty cool' grandparents.

Neck and neck: Giraffes are just some of the foreign animals at the zoo

A pack of cheetahs roam a large enclosure in the zoo. Cheetahs can sprint at almost 100km/h for sixty seconds

Quokkas are small marsupials about the size of a domestic cat. They are found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia

An Asian red panda is one of over 140 zoo residents. Mr Culell said he wants someone who is 'passionate about animals' to take over the zoo because it is a 'huge commitment'

Up close and personal: Visitors can hold a range of reptiles including snakes and lizards

'I don't imagine there are many kids that can say their grandparents own a zoo,' he said.

He said he asked his children if they wanted to take over the zoo and one of his sons considered it but they were all happy with their jobs.

'We wouldn't force any of our children to take over,' he said.

'In an ideal situation we would hand it over to a family who keep it for generations.'

Halls Gap Zoo has seen two major bushfires and a major flood and overlooks the scenic Grampians National Park.

'The reason the zoo is successful is due to its beautiful location,' Mr Culell said in a Facebook post following the 2014 Victorian bushfires.

A lizard at Halls Gap. Other lizards include iguanas, blue-tounged lizards and gila monsters

A parrot looks into the camera at the Hall Gap Zoo. Other resident birds are wedge-tailed eagles, southern cassowaries, bush stone curlews and lorikeets

A woman holds a group of baby quolls. They are carnivorous marsupials native to mainland Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania

'This business has operated for 31 years and has never been directly impacted by a fire so just maybe it is in the correct place.'

Hall Gap has seen its fair share of of love stories - and not just in the animal breeding programs.

Several boyfriends mustered up the courage to propose to their partners at the zoo.

True to the words of Matt Damon's character in We Bought a Zoo: 'All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage.'

Mr Culell said the film is 'too Hollywood' but he found the book the film was based on to be 'relateable'.Child protection agencies have rejected plans for a national child sex offender registry, claiming the list will not protect children and will only give power to vigilante paedophile hunters.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton revealed his plans to introduce the $7.8million measure during the federal Budget on Tuesday night.

He claimed the registry, where paedophiles' names, aliases, photos, and the nature of the crimes would be made public, will help reduce child sex offences across the country.

The proposal, however, has raised concerns among child safety advocates who feel the idea could backfire.

Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston (left) said the registry is not an effective solution in protecting children. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton revealed the plans to introduce the $7.8million measure during the federal budget on Tuesday night

The founder of child protection organisation Bravehearts, Hetty Johnston has called the law 'flawed' and 'waste' of taxpayers' money.

Ms Johnston told Daily Mail Australia the register was not supported by research and would only capture a minute number of paedophiles.

'If these people are so dangerous that we need to spend $7.8 million of taxpayers' money to tell us what suburb they live in, they shouldn't even be on our streets,' said Ms Johnston, who is campaigning to represent Queensland in the Federal Senate.

'I want to know where child sex offenders are and that is behind bars where they can never have access to children again.

'There is no research anywhere in the world that says the proposed model works and, worse still, it gives people a false sense of security.'

She highlighted a number of 'flaws' in the proposed registry such as, only having access to the identity of registered child sex offenders - which are only a small percentage of paedophiles that are ever known to police.

She also pointed out that the majority of offenders are often people trusted by a child such as relatives or family friends.

'I understand why people want this, I want to know where they are too,' Ms Johnston told Daily Mail Australia.

Serial paedophile Dean Angus Bell (pictured left) is only 25 but has been rated by experts among the top one per cent of sex offenders internationally. He re-offended within hours of release. Former A Current Affair Ben McCormack (right) described himself as a 'proud ped' in a messages that saw him plead guilty to a child pornography charge

'But we've researched it and found it does not work. I'm really unsure why the minister has chosen a model that does not work.'

She urged the Federal Government to adopt Western Australia's register model, which is based on the UK's 'Sarah's Law' - allowing the community to contact police if they are concerned about a person in their child's life.

'This disclosure process is a proven effective response to community concerns about child sex offenders and has my full support rather than wasting $7.8 million on a register that will never see the light of day because the states won't support a failed model.

According to Ms Johnston, most child sex offenders have an 85 per cent chance of re-offending and not getting caught once released, and suggested tightening the laws to keep paedophiles behind bars.

If elected, founder said she will push for legislation to not release sex offenders back into the community.

Ms Johnston previously stated she believes the move could be politically motivated.

Cathy Kezelman, president of the Blue Knot Foundation which assists survivors of child abuse, said the registry may not work on low-risk offenders and could encourage vigilante behaviour.

There are more than 17,000 convicted paedophiles in Australia. Western Australia alone has more than 3,500 on its register for a population of less than 2.7 million

She echoed Ms Johnston's sentiments in that the government can learn of the impact and stats of the WA model, ather than having knee-jerk reaction,' ABC reported.

A report published by the Australian Institute of Criminology in 2007 found that there was little evidence to support the system would do much to prevent offences.

Sex offender registries already exist in other countries such UK and the US - which implemented Megan's Law in 1996, requiring authorities to publicise information on sex offenders.

However, the AIC found the law posed a number of issues including, not being able to monitor vigilantism and creating a false sense of fear and security among communities.

It also pointed out that some offenders can still continue to offend by 'going underground.'

The Australian Law Council released a statement saying it did not object to the 'principle' but said it should only apply to 'high-level offending.'

'Inclusion brings onerous reporting obligations like ongoing police monitoring of, and involvement in a person's activities, the risk of adverse community attention, and vigilantism. Therefore, only offenders posing a demonstrated risk should be required to register,' Law Council President, Arthur Moses SC, said.

He added the courts should be in charge of determining whether or not a person is required to register.

Worst of the worst: Half of the nation's convicted paedophiles re-offend within four years. Warren Hayter (left) abused disabled boys across several states, while the NSW government is fighting to keep Michael Guider in jail

Budget documents said the register will also detail offenders' date of birth, their physical description and the 'general location and nature' of their offending.

Budget papers make it clear the register will be 'publicly available' and hosted by the secretive national crime fighting body, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

Police agencies in every state and territory will provide, vet and manage the information included on the $7.8million register.

'Protection of our most vulnerable  our children  remains one of the highest priorities of the Morrison government,' Mr Dutton said in a statement.

The Budget papers don't specify what the rules would be for perpetrators whose victims would be identified if they were named - such as mums and dads who abuse their children.

The papers also do not elaborate on what crimes would land offenders on the register.

For instance, former A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack was convicted of a child pornography charge, but not physical offences against children.

It's not known whether that sort of offending - he expressed he was a 'proud ped' - would land a person on the register.

Paedophiles' names, aliases, photos and the nature of their crimes will be made public with the Federal government announcing it will establish a national child sex offender registry

Mr Dutton has previously floated the idea of a child sex offender registry but said the government would consult with the states.

But the register was announced as a funding commitment in the second budget paper on Tuesday evening.

A police source said he was 'very concerned' about the announcement, and wondered how the government will compel the states and territories to join the scheme.

Bravehearts opposed the proposal when Mr Dutton suggested the measure in January, branding it a political stunt.

Ms Johnston said: 'The bottom line is that all dangerous and repeat sex offenders should not be on a register, they should be in jail.

'No offender should be released until the risk they pose is of a level that can be managed in the community. A register will not keep children safe.'

But Mr Dutton said: 'It will send a clear message that Australia will not tolerate individuals preying on the most vulnerable members of the community - our children'.

The sex offenders register is likely to become another issue dividing the parties at the coming election.

Labor has previously said any changes must be 'evidence-based and effective'.

The party has pointed out former prime minister Tony Abbott once ruled out the measure.

'It would be good to know what has changed since then,' a spokesperson told the ABC.

Budget papers also revealed the government will set up a national museum and memorial for victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

It will provide $2.5 million to consult stakeholders on potential options and form of a 'national museum or memorial'.Unemployed Australians living on welfare will now benefit from a government power bill handout - after they were snubbed in Tuesday's budget.

Scott Morrison initially excluded Newstart recipients from the rebate in his budget announcement - but less than 12 hours later he backflipped after fierce criticism.

The power bill rebate - $75 for singles and $125 for couples - was originally only available to aged and disability pensioners, carers, veterans and single parents.

Unemployed Australians living on welfare will now benefit from a government power bill handout - after they were snubbed in Tuesday's budget (stock image)

But the government was criticised by the Opposition for excluding the unemployed from the energy rebate, with seniors' advocates arguing older Australians had been left out in the cold.

Despite Wednesday's move, the Morrison government is still ignoring calls to raise the Newstart rate, which has been slammed as 'unnecessarily cruel' by welfare advocates.

Even Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos went against his governments position on unemployment benefits - calling for a rise to the rate of the Newstart allowance.

Newstart recipients are given $538.80 a fortnight, while aged pensioners take home $834.40.

Scott Morrison initially excluded Newstart recipients from the power bills rebate (stock image)

Labor was planning a proposal to make sure Newstart and other welfare recipients also shared in the payments.

People the $285 million Energy Assistance Payment will help: - 4 million Australians receiving the Age Pension - 744,000 people on the Disability Support Pension - 280,000 carers receiving the Carer Payment - 242,000 Parenting Payment Single recipients - 225,000 veterans and their dependents receiving eligible payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs Advertisement

'Perhaps when they designed it, they should think about people,' Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told Sky News.

However, Mr Shorten said the electricity payments pointed to a deeper problem plaguing the federal government, arguing the one-off 'con' was designed to conceal a lack of climate policy.

Ian Yates, from the Council on the Ageing, said there were 350,000 job seekers over the age of 45.

'Surviving on Newstart and looking for work after a lifetime of employment is soul destroying enough,' Mr Yates said.

'Being told you aren't eligible for the same help with bills as others receiving income support is outrageous and must be remedied immediately.'

If the legislation passes parliament on Wednesday, the one-off payments will be exempt from income tax and paid automatically by the end of June.Ashley Stacey Hold, (pictured in her mugshot) faces child abuse charges

A mother in North Carolina faces child abuse charges after her son fell while riding a lawnmower she was driving and got tangled in its blades.

Ashley Stacey Holt, 27, had been mowing the lawn with her son, eight-year-old Braiden Brown, and his two-year-old sister at the familys home on Clarks Creek Road in Lincolnton, on March 17.

Police say that Braiden had been riding on the deck of the mower when he suddenly fell.

Holt immediately tried to stop the lawnmower but the blades kept spinning as her son rolled underneath.

Braiden's arm disappeared under the mower, according to his devastated father, and the blades cut into both hands and his left leg in the harrowing incident.

Braiden's sister also fell off the mower, but was not hurt, WBTV reported.

Braiden Brown (pictured in hospital after the accident) was was struck by lawnmower blades on his left leg and both hands

Holt was mowing the lawn at her house on Clarks Creek Road while holding a small child on her lap and her son was riding on the deck of the zero turn lawnmower, (pictured)

He was airlifted to Atrium Health-Charlotte by Med Center Air where he underwent surgery for his injuries.

Braiden remains in the hospital undergoing further treatment.

Now his mother has been charged with a felony count of child abuse with serious bodily injury by police in Lincoln County.

Holt posted a $2,500 bond after her arrest and has been released, officials said.

She is due to appear in Lincoln County District Court this week.

Braiden, (right) was airlifted to Atrium Health-Charlotte by Med Center Air where he underwent surgery for his injuries, while his mom (left) has been charged with child abuse

Browns stepfather, Robert Holt, (pictured) claimed that the mower had stopped and the blade was not turning when the accident happenedThe burnt body of a British environmental activist and Catholic missionary has been found at the youth hostel he set up in Peru.

Paul McAuley, 71, was found by students in the Amazon city of Iquitos.

Six residents of the hostel are being questioned by the state prosecutors office.

Briton Paul McAuley, 71, who worked to protect indigenous tribes from developers in the Peruvian Amazon, was found burned to death at a youth hostel he ran on Tuesday

One of the students understood to have found his body told the news outlet El Comercio that it had been a painful scene. He added: We want to investigate because he, who has taken us for so many years and has given us everything, has been murdered.

Mr McAuley, who was born in Portsmouth, had founded the hostel for indigenous students in the poor neighbourhood of Iquitos. He moved to Peru in 1995 and worked to encourage local tribes to resist powerful oil and mining interests.

He was made an MBE a short time after his arrival in the country, for setting up a school in the capital, Lima. He later said that he would have returned the honour to the Queen in protest at British companies presence in the rainforest  but he had already given the medal away.

The activist came to international attention in 2010 when the Peruvian government ordered his expulsion. It tried, unsuccessfully, to strip him of his residency for allegedly inciting unrest after he fought attempts to open up the Amazon to drilling. Environmental activists were among those to pay tribute to Mr McAuley yesterday, following the discovery of his body on Tuesday.

Julia Urrunaga, of the Environmental Investigation Agency, tweeted: What tough news. A great man who did a lot for indigenous communities, their rights and the forests. It has been a privilege to meet and work with Brother Paul.

Mr McAuley was a lay Catholic brother with the De La Salle teaching order. In a statement the group said he had been burned to death. Brother Laurence Hughes, a fellow member who was a close friend, said: He was a wonderful guy  he encapsulated everything to do with being a La Salle brother by the work he did in schools and on missions. Im in shock.

In a statement, the order said: Brother Paul worked among young people in Peru for many years in the tradition of our founder, St Jean Baptiste De La Salle. We are keeping him, his family and his many friends in Peru in our thoughts and prayers. May he rest in peace.

In 2010 Mr McAuley told The Guardian he felt at home in the region and that his Catholic faith had fused with elements of an Amazonian spiritual belief based on the concept of energy.The Trump administration once again slammed Puerto Rico over what it sees as its mismanagement of hurricane relief aid by 'corrupt and incompetent politicians' after a White House spokesperson on Tuesday referred to the island territory as that country.

Hogan Gidley, a White House deputy press secretary, said the comment he made about Puerto Rico was a slip of the tongue.

Gidley appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday, where he slammed Puerto Ricos government for mishandling aid money sent to it by the federal government.

They have had a systematic mismanagement of the goods and services we've sent to them, Gidley said.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley twice called Puerto Rico 'that country' during an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday

Their governor has done a horrible job... He's trying to find someone to take the blame off of him for not having a grid and not having a good system in that country.

Later in the interview, Gidley said the that country comment was a slip of the tongue.

The interviewer, Halle Jackson, then accused Gidley of rolling his eyes when she mentioned to him that the 3.2 million residents of Puerto Rico are American citizens.

The Caribbean island is an unincorporated U.S. territory.

Although Puerto Rico nationals are U.S. citizens and send a non-voting resident commissioner to the House, they are prohibited from voting in general presidential elections.

But they can cast ballots in the nominating contests starting early next year.

On Monday, President Trump said the federal government gave Puerto Rico $91billion in hurricane disaster relief, though this figure appears to be false.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday. She slammed Trump as a fake news cartoon adding: Three thousand Puerto Ricans died on your watch.

Since Hurricane Maria devastated the island and left nearly 3,000 people dead in 2017, Puerto Rico has received about $11billion in aid from Washington, according to The Washington Post.

Trump likely came up with the $91billion figure by adding $41billion that has been set aside for recovery to the $50billion that is expected to be spent over the life of the recovery effort, which could take decades.

The president says Puerto Ricans are taking from the USA. Puerto Rico is part of the United States, Jackson told Gidley.

There's a lot of confusion over why the president would say this and what he understands and how he views the people of Puerto Rico.

Gidley replied: That's ridiculous. He's actually already traveled to Puerto Rico after this horrific hurricane - he was there.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday. She slammed Trump as a fake news cartoon adding: Three thousand Puerto Ricans died on your watch.

On Monday, President Trump said the federal government gave Puerto Rico $91billion in hurricane disaster relief, though this figure appears to be false

Trump called himelf '[t]he best thing that has ever happened to Puerto Rico as he boasted about sending the island $91 billion in post-hurricane aid money

You should fire whomever told you $91billion were given to Puerto Rico, Cruz said on MSNBC, directing her comments at the president.

A major disaster relief bill stalled on Monday in the U.S. Congress amid a political debate over aid for Puerto Rico, with Trump and his fellow Republicans resisting Democrats insistence the island receive additional assistance.

The Republican-controlled Senate took two procedural votes on Monday that both failed. The first was on a Republican bill offering $13.5 billion in disaster relief for states that included $600 million in nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico.

The second was on a $14.2 billion bill, with additional assistance for the U.S. island territory, passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in January, before severe flooding hit the U.S. Midwest.

The failure of both bills sends lawmakers back to the negotiating table as the Trump administrations response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, receives increased scrutiny, including from more than a dozen Democrats vying to take on the president in the 2020 elections.

Republicans are poised to attack those Democratic candidates for holding up emergency aid to flood-hit states, including Iowa, which is the first state to hold its presidential nominating contest every four years.

Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a Republican disaster aid bill, saying it doesn't do enough to help Puerto Rico, which prompted Trump to lash out on Twitter

'Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their government can't do anything right, the place is a mess - nothing works,' the president tweeted

Trump then mentioned the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, a Democrat, said over the weekend that while the nutrition assistance in the Senate bill would be 'vital to the well being of our citizens,' it still 'falls short' of what is needed on the island of more than 3 million that has struggled to rebuild after the hurricane.

Trump has repeatedly accused Puerto Rico and its leaders, including Rossello and Cruz, a vocal Trump critic, of mismanaging recovery funds and said the island should not receive additional assistance.

Cruz slammed Trump on Tuesday, saying he was holding hostage money needed to feed the islanders.

We have $600 million that the president is holding hostage, the mayor told MSNBC.

Because his vanity is much higher than his humanity is.

$600 million to feed 1.3 million Puerto Rican people...What kind of man is he that he looks the other way when people need to be fed?

He continues to embarrass himself. He continues to embarrass the office of the presidency.

Trump on Tuesday called himself '[t]he best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico' on Tuesday, amping up a more than year-long feud with the island's Democratic Party leaders.

Trump had already sent a trio of tweets late Monday criticizing Puerto Rico's government and the 'crazed and incompetent' mayor of San Juan for squandering aid money following Hurricane Maria in 2017.

'Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before, & all their local politicians do is complain & ask for more money. The pols are grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from USA,' he griped.

'The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump,' he boasted.

'So many wonderful people, but with such bad Island leadership and with so much money wasted. Cannot continue to hurt our Farmers and States with these massive payments, and so little appreciation!'

Trump is seen above shaking hands with Cruz during the president's visit to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria on October 3, 2017

The 'crazed and incompetent' mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, responded to the president's attacks. She tweeted late Monday: 'Pres Trump continues to embarrass himself & the Office he holds'

In another tweet, Cruz wrote: 'Mr President I am right here ready to call you on every lie, every hypocrisy and every ill fated action against the people of Puerto Rico'

'The Democrats today killed a Bill that would have provided great relief to Farmers and yet more money to Puerto Rico despite the fact that Puerto Rico has already been scheduled to receive more hurricane relief funding than any "place" in history,' Trump tweeted Monday.

'The people of Puerto Rico are GREAT, but the politicians are incompetent or corrupt,' he added.

'Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their government can't do anything right, the place is a mess - nothing works.

'FEMA & the Military worked emergency miracles, but politicians like the crazed and incompetent Mayor of San Juan have done such a poor job of bringing the Island back to health.'

The 'crazed and incompetent' mayor, Cruz, responded to the president's attacks.

She tweeted late Monday: 'Pres Trump continues to embarrass himself & the Office he holds.

'He is unhinged & thus lies about the $ received by PR. HE KNOWS HIS RESPONSE was innefficient [sic] at best.

'He can huff & puff all he wants but he cannot escape the death of 3,000 on his watch.

'SHAME ON YOU!'Almost two thousand British Armed Forces personnel will be deployed to the Baltic Sea for a series of multinational exercises to bolster European security, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

The MOD said UK sailors and marines would be joined by 1,000 others from UK-led high-readiness Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) nations for the 'Baltic Protector' deployment from May to July.

They are expected to test themselves with maritime tactical exercises, amphibious drills, shore landings and naval manoeuvres near Russia.

Around 20 naval vessels - including Royal Navy ships - will be involved in the deployment.

The huge-scale exercise is designed to demonstrate the UK's ability to provide reassurance in the region at speed.

Almost two thousand British Armed Forces personnel will be deployed to the Baltic Sea for a series of multinational exercises to bolster European security, the Ministry of Defence has announced

Personnel from the British Army and Royal Air Force will also take part, the MOD added.

Defence ministers and representatives from the JEF countries will meet at the MOD this week to discuss the deployment and test the mechanisms for mobilising the force.

Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, said: 'As Britain prepares to leave the EU, our unwavering commitment to European security and stability is more important than ever.

'Deploying our world class sailors and marines to the Baltic Sea, alongside our international allies, firmly underlines Britain's leading role in Europe.'

The joint force, now fully operational, is spearheaded by the UK and includes eight other likeminded nations - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

In February last year, more than 800 British personnel were sent to Estonia in a bid to deter Russian aggression and showcase Nato as a 'very capable force'.

The deployment was part of Nato's enhanced forward presence (eFP) which was set up at the 2016 NATO Summit in Warsaw to increase Euro-Atlantic security.

Commodore James Parkin, Commander of the Task Group, added: 'Together, this UK-led Maritime Task Group will conduct a series of demanding amphibious exercises and maritime security patrols across the Baltic Sea that will serve to improve the way we operate together and our readiness to respond to crisis.'The sultan of Brunei is (seen above) has passed laws based on Islamic doctrine that have sparked outrage

Celebrities and LGBTQ are calling for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels in LA over the country's draconian laws around gay sex and relationships.

The call to boycott the fabled Beverly Hills Hotel, once the playground of Hollywood celebrities, and Hotel Bel-Air came after the sultanate announced plans to implement the death penalty for gay sex and adultery.

George Clooney and Elton John were among the first celebrities to join the call for a boycott of the hotels and other properties owned by the sultanate in Britain, France and Italy.

In a column for Deadline on Thursday, he wrote: '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.'

Officials are also demanding a boycott of the businesses over Brunei's treatment of gay people.

'As a citywide elected official, I represent a diverse community of Angelenos, and I call on everyone to boycott the hotels owned by Brunei's royal family,' LA Controller Ron Galperin said in a statement.

'I will not set foot in these establishments so long as they are owned and controlled by a regime that is willing to kill LGBTQ people.

'While I feel bad for the many hard-working employees of these local hotels, no one should support or attend any events there while lives are on the line.'

Los Angeles Council member Paul Koretz said people should shun both hotels even 'if that means marring their reputation and fabled history.'

'The city of Los Angeles and the United States and world should place severe sanctions on Brunei for taking LGBTQ rights back to the Stone Age,' said Karina Samala, chair of the Transgender Advisory Council.

'We are all human beings with a right to live in freedom.'

There are growing calls in the United States for a boycott of hotels owned by the royal family which rules Brunei. One of the hotels is the Beverly Hills Hotel (seen in the above stock image)

The new Islamic penal code, or Sharia law, which is to come into force in the tiny southeast Asian sultanate on Wednesday, has already drawn fierce criticism from rights groups and the United Nations.

Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed, in the face of opposition by rights groups, and as officials worked out the practical details.

The new law stipulates the death penalty for a number of offences, including rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery and insulting or defaming the Prophet Mohammed.

It also introduces public flogging as punishment for abortion, as well as amputation for theft, and criminalizes exposing Muslim children to the beliefs and practices of any religion besides Islam.

Since the new penal code was first announced in 2013, the who's who of Hollywood have shunned the celebrated Beverly Hills Hotel painted in pink and green and once a favorite of celebrities like Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor and The Beatles.

British pop legend Elton John and American actor George Clooney have also called for a boycott of the hotels and other properties owned by the sultanate in Britain, France and Italy. The Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles, which is owned by the sultan of Brunei, is seen above

Local news reports say the hotel has lost millions of dollars in business as a result of the long-running unofficial boycott.

The United States on Tuesday criticized Brunei's decision to implement the controversial Islamic laws and urged it to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

'Brunei's decision to implement Phases Two and Three of the Sharia Penal Code and associated penalties runs counter to its international human rights obligations, including with respect to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,' State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

Brunei is a Muslim-majority former British protectorate with a population of around 400,000.

'We continue to encourage Brunei to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 2015, and to sign, ratify, and implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,' Palladino said.The parents of a man charged with murdering a South Carolina student who got into the wrong car thinking it was her Uber insist their son is innocent and claim he was at a party at the time.

Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, is accused of kidnapping and murdering 21-year-old Samantha Josephson after she left a bar at 1.30am on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina.

Authorities say surveillance video captured Josephson getting into Rowland's dark colored car outside the bar after she mistook it for her Uber.

Rowland allegedly then attacked the young woman with a sharp object and caused numerous wounds to her head, neck, face, upper body, leg, and foot.

Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, is accused of kidnapping and murdering 21-year-old Samantha Josephson after she left a bar at 1.30am on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina

Rowland's parents Henry and Loretta Rowland said their son is a 'good kid' and insist there is no way he could have murdered Josephson

Her body was found dumped hours later in Clarendon County, which is about 65 miles from where she was last seen.

Rowland's parents Henry and Loretta Rowland told WACH News that their son is a 'good kid' and insist there is no way he could have murdered Josephson.

'There's no way in the world that he could do this,' Henry said.

Rowland's father Henry said that even though he is poor he is working to find his son the best attorney

'My heart goes out to the family because they lost a life. I feel so bad, but my son didn't do it. The truth is going to come to light.'

His parents claim their son was at a party at the time Josephson was kidnapped.

'He passed out, and from my understanding, it was 2:30 in the morning,' Henry said.

'He passed out, and when he finally woke up, he went to search for his keys. They weren't in his pocket. So, he stepped outside to see if his car was there. His car was out there.

'He opened the door and the keys were in the car. There was blood everywhere. That's a s far as we know right now.

'It's going to come to light. Who did it, why they did it, and where they did it at.'

Police said Josephson's blood and cellphone were found in his car when he was arrested.

The night after Josephson was kidnapped, a Columbia police officer noticed a black Chevrolet Impala about two blocks from the bar where Josephson was kidnapped.

The driver, Rowland, ran but was arrested after a short chase.

Investigators said there was a child safety seat in the back of the car and the child safety locks were enabled, meaning Josephson would have not been able to escape.

Surveillance video shows the fateful moment the 21-year-old mistook a car for the Uber she ordered outside a bar in Columbia, South Carolina, early Friday morning

Surveillance images released by the Columbia Police Department show Josephson wearing an orange shirt and black pants and talking on the phone seconds before she disappeared

Rowland's parents said that even though they are poor they are working to find their son the best attorney.

'Please don't blame my son. If he did it, I'd be the first person to lock him up and throw away the key but he didn't do it. There's no way,' Henry said.

'I'm sorry it happened but I can't afford to let my son serve time for something he didn't do, or something he didn't know about.'

Security footage from the area showed Josephson getting into the black Chevy Impala when she was leaving after a night out with a group of friends.

When Josephson's actual Uber driver arrived moments later, the driver cancelled the ride when she didn't show up for the pick-up.

Throughout the day on Friday, Josephson's friends and family were unable to get in touch with her and an urgent search was launched.

Police said the suspect previously lived in the area where Josephson's body was found.

Josephson's parents said their daughter was due to graduate next month and move on to law school at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Josephson's parents said their daughter was due to graduate next month and move on to law school at Drexel University in Philadelphia

Her father attended a candlelight vigil for their daughter on Monday night, while her mother went to court for Rowland's scheduled hearing.

The judge gave Marci Josephson a chance to speak even though Rowland opted not to appear.

'There are no words to describe the immense pain, his actions have caused our family and friends. He's taken away a piece of our heart, soul and life. Shame on him. We thought he would be here to see his evil face.

'I can not fathom how someone could randomly select a person, a beautiful girl and steal her life away. His actions were senseless, vile and unacceptable. It sickens us to think that his face was the last thing that my baby girl saw on this earth.

'His selfish, unspeakable and violent actions have created a hole in the universe.'

She described her daughter as bubbly and full of life and said she was due to graduate college in May and start law school in September.

The grieving mother urged the judge to deny bail for Rowland.

'He should never be given the right to walk free again for what he did to my daughter, or given the opportunity to hurt anyone else,' she said.A Republican Super PAC launched a 'Creepy Joe' attack ad against former Vice President Joe Biden as his friends say he will run in 2020 in face of inappropriate touching claims.

The ad features footage of young girls interspersed with photos of Biden touching women, including female children.

The voice over is from Biden accuser, Lucy Flores - the former Nevada politician who claims he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her head as he helped campaign for her in 2014 - talking on CNN about the incident in question.

'Our children are watching. What kind of example will we set for them?' is the message that flashes on the screen before it directs viewers to the website StopJoeBiden.com.

A Republican Super PAC launched a 'Creepy Joe' attack ad against former Vice President Joe Biden

The ad comes from a super PAC that supported Donald Trump in 2020

The ad features footage of young girls interspersed with photos of Biden touching women, including female children

It was paid for by the Great America PAC, a Super PAC that supported President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, and it advocates 'Vote Trump 2020' at the end of the ad.

But Biden remains committed to running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and intends to announce after Easter.

He's taking this all very seriously and is still committed to running," one Biden World source told The Hill newspaper.

Biden's aides are striking a more aggressive tone as the former vice president faces scrutiny over his past behavior toward women.

In a statement on Monday, Biden spokesman Bill Russo blasted 'right wing trolls' from 'the dark recesses of the internet' for conflating images of Biden embracing acquaintances, colleagues and friends in his official capacity during swearing-in ceremonies with uninvited touching.

Russo complained Monday about Flores' references to documented instances of untoward behavior that 'crossed a line between affectionate or supportive behavior and somethinghowever unintentionalmore inappropriate or unwelcome.'

He griped about photos of Biden with Stephanie Carter and Sen. Chris Coons' daughter Maggie. The latter was a cringe-inducing moment because of the then-13-year-old girl's facial expression.

Carter and Coons, a Delaware Democrat, have defended Biden in statements on the incidents.

'She did not think of it as anything,' he told The Washington Post. 'All three of my kids have known Joe their whole lives.'

Former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's wife says this photo of Biden touching her shoulder was 'misleading' and that he was helping her get through the nervous occasion

Biden leans in to say something to Maggie Coons, next to her father Sen. Chris Coons after Biden administered the Senate oath to Coons in 2015

Vice President Joe Biden kisses a niece of incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

In a Medium post, Stephanie Carter said the image of Biden's hands on her shoulders while her husband was being sworn in as defense secretary has been taken out of context.

She wrote that she didn't appreciate the attention generated by news coverage of a photo 'misleadingly extracted from what was a longer moment between close friends.'

Russo's statement came on a day on which a second woman said Biden had acted inappropriately, touching her face with both hands and rubbing noses with her in 2009.

Amy Lappos, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, says the alleged incident occurred at a fundraiser for Democratic Congressman Jim Himes.

'It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head,' Lappos, 43, told The Hartford Courant. 'He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.'

Lappos' story amplified claims by White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and others that Biden should be disqualified from holding the presidency.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi played defense on Tuesday, acknowledging that Biden should give people more personal space but arguing that he shouldn't be drummed out of the White House race.

Lucy Flores said on Friday in a personal essay that Biden planted a 'big slow kiss' on the back of her head before she went on stage at a rally for her campaign on November 1, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Flores and Biden pictured above at that event)

Amy Lappos, 43, says she felt uncomfortable when Joe Biden touched her at a fundraiser

'I don't think it's disqualifying,' she told Politico. 'He has to understand in the world that we're in now that people's space is important to them, and what's important is how they receive it and not necessarily how you intended it.'

The recent news cycles about Biden began with a complaint from a former Nevada state lawmaker who claimed Biden nuzzled the back of her head and made a point of smelling her hair during a public campaign event.

Lucy Flores said he also kissed her on the head and put his hands on her shoulders before she went onstage.

'I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?' Flores wrote. 'I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, "I didn't wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f**k?"'

Biden on Sunday defended his years of what he called 'expressions of affection' and claimed he 'not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately.'

'In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully,' he said in a statement.

'But it was never my intention. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.'Disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes has been spotted out in San Francisco with her fiance and dog, a day after the DailyMail.com revealed her husband-to-be is none other than the wealthy 27-year-old hotel heir William 'Billy' Evans.

Holmes cut a relaxed figure alongside her betrothed, despite the scrutiny over her now dissolved company Theranos, which was once valued at more than $9 billion, and claimed it could perform hundreds of lab tests using only a few drops of blood.

If found guilty in her multi-million dollar fraud trial she faces 20 years in prison. But Holmes kept a characteristic poker face today, as millionaire Evans and her wolf-dog Balto kept apace alongside her.

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Disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes has been spotted out in San Francisco with her fiance and dog, a day after the DailyMail.com revealed her husband-to-be is none other than the wealthy 27-year-old hotel heir William 'Billy' Evans

Holmes cut a relaxed figure alongside her betrothed, despite the scrutiny over her now dissolved company Theranos, which was once valued at more than $9 billion, and claimed it could perform hundreds of lab tests using only a few drops of blood

The footage was obtained by Inside Edition which will air in full April 2.

The pair share a luxury apartment in San Francisco, are co-parents to the Theranos founder's wolf-dog Balto and even traveled off to Burning Man last year to party in the desert as the doors to Holmes' company were shut for good.

A photo was posted by the pair on August 29, just six days before an email was sent to the few remaining employees of Theranos announcing that the company was dissolving for good.

Holmes seemed carefree at the time, wearing purple sunglasses and a white military-style blazer with sequined pinstripes and a fur collar - a far cry from her standard uniform of black turtlenecks and pants.

Evans meanwhile wore a military hat and a shirt that read: 'Sex Breakfast of Champions.'

In another photo, Holmes smiles while wearing a shirt with the name of Evans' company written across the front. The two are joined in that photo by Balto.

White fang: Elizabeth Holmes, 35, is dating William 'Billy' Evans, the heir to a hotel fortune who worked for the driverless car start-up Luminar Technologies (Holmes and Evans with Balto)

Not 'Sunny': Holmes and Evans live in San Francisco in a luxury high rise with Balto, the husky whom Holmes believes is a 'wolf'

Love bugs: Evans wrote in another snap with Holmes that 'the last year has been the best I've had' (above)

That is the infamous husky that Holmes adopted as Theranos found itself in increasingly dire straits, informing workers that the husky was a 'wolf.' Evans refers to the dog as Baltisimo.

In all the photos of the pair, Holmes is also seen wearing Evans' MIT signet ring around her neck.

That may also be her engagement ring, as she is not seen wearing any jewelry on her ring finger in other photos.

This would certainly be a practical decision given the fact that Holmes is being sued for millions of dollars, and if she loses those suits might have to hand over some of her more pricey possessions - like a diamond ring.

Evans wrote in another snap with Holmes that 'the last year has been the best I've had.'

Evans is a far cry from Holmes' ex, former Thernaos COO Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani.

Holmes and Balwani met in China just after her high school graduation when he was 37 and she was just 18.

Balwani divorced his Japanese artist wife Keiko Fujimoto shortly after he met Holmes, and the two kept their relationship a secret for years.

Evans is a player in the Silicon Valley scene, and recently worked at Luminar as the Director of Special Projects.

He attended prep school in San Diego from an early age, enrolling at Francis W Parker when he was in kindergarten and remaining there until he went off to college.

Evans chose MIT for college, and was able to also spend time in China at Fudan University.

Timeline: Evans is the son of William and Susan Evans, and his paternal grandparents founded the Evans Hotel Group which owns properties on the West Coast (Evans left in 2015, Holmes right with Jared Leto at the Women of the Year Awards in 2015)

Dad: Evans' father is described as 'a passionate collector of California Impressionist art, rare specimen palm trees and subtropical plants, and antique racing automobiles' (Evans and his father in 2015)

Squad: Evans' mother (above with her son and not Balto in 2012) 'made the commitment to dedicate herself to raising their three children  Billy, Rex, and Graciebefore accepting her current position' reads her bio on Evans Hotel Group

He graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor's Degree in Science and Economics, at which point he took a post at LinkedIn before making the move in 2017 to Luminar Technologies.

That is the company which is currently hard at work attempting to create and then mass market driverless cars.

Photos of the couple obtained by DailyMail.com show the two are very close, and very private.

They are seldom seen with anyone but each other or Balto, who wrecked havoc on the board rooms of Theranos in the company's final days,

Evans is one of three children born to William and Susan Evans.

The family grew up in the San Diego area, which is where Evans' grandparents, William and Anne, started the Evans Hotel Group in 1953.

The hotel group now owns three major resort properties on the west coast: the Catamaran, the Baha and The Lodge at Torrey Pines.

Anne remains the chairman emeritus of the company, and when her husband passed away in 1984 her children William and Grace joined the company.

They were soon followed by their spouses, and those five now comprise the leadership team for the hotel group.

On the company website, Evans' father is described as 'a passionate collector of California Impressionist art, rare specimen palm trees and subtropical plants, and antique racing automobiles'.

Evans' mother, it is noted, 'made the commitment to dedicate herself to raising their three children  Billy, Rex, and Graciebefore accepting her current position.'

Shady lady: Holmes and her ex Sunny Balwani are facing decades in prison for defrauding investors and of defrauding doctors and patients

 Slide me  New year, new me: Holmes in 2015 on left and in August on right days before Theranos dissolved

In the Vanity Fair story it was also noted: 'She wears his M.I.T. signet ring on a necklace and the couple regularly post stories on Instagram professing their love for each other.'

On the same day Vanity Fair published its piece, Holmes was spotted wandering the streets of Manhattans Upper East Side during a snowstorm.

She was seen on February 20 exiting The Mark hotel, lugging her own suitcase and attempting to hail a cab in the photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.

It is unclear what will happen to the lovebirds though should Holmes be sent to prison.

She has been charged with criminal fraud in federal court and is facing decades in prison, though she has maintained her innocence and entered a not guilty plea to all counts.

She and Balwani are accused of defrauding investors and of defrauding doctors and patients.

Holmes was set to revolutionize the medical industry with the introduction of Edison, a portable machine that she claimed could provide patients with a comprehensive blood test by analyzing just a single drop of blood.

Elizabeth Holmes, 37, lugged her suitcase through the snow and sleet in her attempt to grab a cab while out in New York on February 20

Bad blood: On the same day, Vanity Fair released an expose on the final days of Theranos which detailed Holmes' oddly effusive attitude and decision to purchase a 'wolf'

What followed was a spectacular fall from grace for Holmes, who had duped everyone from her billionaire investors and esteemed board members to Walgreens.

Holmes seemed blissfully unaware of what was to come in those final days according to the story, and even purchased a husky that she insisted on calling a wolf.

The workers who kept their jobs right until the bitter end recalled spending their final days with a inexplicably effusive Holmes and her 'wolf', who ran loose through the building and did not hesitate to use any room as his bathroom.The killer convicted of murdering Queens jogger Karina Vetrano has bragged about the news coverage the case drew.

'I'm on the front page - of both papers,' boasted Chanel Lewis, 22, in a jailhouse interview with the New York Daily News on Tuesday, going on to try to remember how many covers had been devoted to his crime.

Lewis was referring to the Daily News and New York Post, which both splashed Tuesday's covers with news that a jury convicted Lewis of the August 2016 murder and sexual assault of the 30-year-old jogger.

The media-savvy killer had been known to call newspapers during the two trials it took to secure a conviction, complaining of conditions on Rikers Island and demanding coverage of his plight.

A jury found Chanel Lewis, 22, guilty of murder and sexual abuse at his retrial on Monday

Karina Vetrano, 30, went missing on August 2, 2016, after she was last seen jogging near her home in Howard Beach

Lewis gloated that both of New York's tabloid dailies had splashed their Tuesday covers (above) with news of his conviction for murder and sexual assault

'Are you going to write a story?' Lewis once pleaded to the Daily News after sharing a tale of another inmate ejaculating into a communal hot pot.

On Tuesday, he was evasive with the paper when asked about his conviction.

'We're going to appeal the process,' he said. 'I'm going to let my lawyers handle that.'

He refused to say anything when asked how he felt about the verdict or victim.

Lewis said that he had nothing to say to Vetrano's family, who erupted in cheers and clapping when he was convicted on Monday in a second trial, after the jury was hung in the first trial.

'I'm focused on my family,' he said. 'They're trying to hang in there.'

Vetrano's body was found dumped near her family's home in Howard Beach soon after she vanished while out jogging.

The jury delivered the verdict just hours after they began deliberating on Monday following the closing arguments. His previous trial ended in a hung jury in November.

Vetrano parent's Phil and Cathy left the court holding hands after the verdict and said: 'Justice has been served'

Vetrano's family and supporters erupted into applause when Lewis was found guilty on all counts.

'Jubilation. Justice. Justice has been served,' Vetrano's father Phil said when he left the courtroom.

Lewis' sentencing is scheduled for April 17 and he faces life in prison without parole.

Lewis' attorneys, the Legal Aid Society, called the outcome 'a complete miscarriage of justice'.

They had unsuccessfully sought a hearing on Monday after getting an anonymous letter saying that police had pursued two white suspects before taking DNA samples from hundreds of black men - in what the defense called a 'race-biased dragnet' - and coming to focus on Lewis.

They claimed the letter alerted them to so-called exculpatory evidence about other potential suspects that they say was withheld from them.

It included a claim that NYPD officers had repeatedly said in the first two weeks of the investigation that they were 'looking for two jacked up white guys who are from Howard Beach'.

His attorneys further claimed that police used a 'race-biased dragnet' to collect DNA samples from 360 black men in Howard Beach before targeting Lewis and that detectives coerced his confession.

'Our client did not receive a fair trial,' the Legal Aid Society said on Monday, adding that it would appeal.

Chanel Lewis sits and waits in Queens Supreme Court for summations on Monday during his re-trial for the murder of Karina Vetrano

Vetrano's family and supporters erupted into applause when Lewis was found guilty on all counts

The New York Police Department said in a statement that the anonymous letter was 'riddled with falsehoods and inaccuracies,' the investigation was painstaking and 'the evidence clearly shows that Chanel Lewis is responsible for her death.'

Chief Queens Assistant District Attorney John Ryan called the case 'horrifying.'

The closely watched murder case initially baffled investigators, who for months were unable to find anyone who matched DNA that was found under the victim's fingernails from when she fought back.

Lewis was arrested six months into the murder investigation after police said he provided a DNA swab that linked him to the scene and victim.

Despite that DNA evidence and a taped confession, the first trial ended in a hung jury in November.

Lewis' attorneys repeatedly said during the retrial this month that the DNA evidence was suspect and that his confession was coerced by detectives who wore him down until he finally gave them what they wanted.

Karina Vetrano, 30, was murdered as she ran on a park trail in Howard Beach, Queens, back in August 2016. Police said she had been raped and strangled. She is pictured above in a photo taken right before she left to go jogging with her mother in the background

The confession video was played to jurors last week during which Lewis said: 'I got angry. It went red, and then one thing led to another. I got scared and threw her in the bushes.'

Lewis said he hit Vetrano in the face around five times before dumping her in the bushes, but denies sexually assaulting her.

The 30-year-old went missing on August 2, 2016, after she was last seen jogging near her home in Howard Beach.

Her mother, Cathie Vetrano, tried calling her daughter on her cell phone, but there was no answer.

Her father, Phil Vetrano, found her body face down in weeds off a path while helping police search for his daughter.

Lewis' attorney said the crime scene had been corrupted by various people, including Vetrano's father, and therefore couldn't be trusted.

They also argued that Lewis in his confession was just repeating information he learned from news reports about the murder.A hairdresser died from a toxic mix of prescription drugs and wine after telling her sister she was going home for a night of 'Netflix, chill and a bath'.

Hannah Pruden, 32, was found by two police officers lying face down on the sofa in her living room on the morning of November 1 last year.

Just hours before being found dead in her dad's flat with her pet dog, Hannah had sent her sister a stream of messages telling her how much she loved her.

Hannah Pruden, 32, was found dead by Merseyside Police officers on November 1, 2018

The 32-year-old, who lived in Seaforth, Merseyside, but was staying at her dad's flat in Crosby, Merseyside, died after mixing alcohol with prescription medication for depression and anxiety.

Hannah's devastated family wept as coroner Graham Jackson recorded a verdict of 'drug related death' in an inquest held at Sefton Coroners Court today.

The court was told that Hannah called 999 late on October 31 and could be heard crying down the phone, before hanging up.

Merseyside Police traced the phone number, which was registered to Hannah at her home address in Balfe Street, Seaforth. However, a trace on the call showed it was made from First Avenue in Crosby.

Hannah had 'seemed happy' leading up to her death said her sister Chloe. She had spoken of plans to go on holiday over Christmas

After Hannah's first sobbing call to police at 10.56pm, Merseyside Police called the mobile phone number back 15 minutes later.

The second call was described by Sefton coroner's officer Albert Howard Murphy as 'largely inaudible', with Hannah crying on the other end of the phone.

However, she told police she did not need any help and ended the call.

A police officer went out to the flat where Hannah was staying in Crosby just after 1am on November 1, but could not gain access to the building and left.

It was only when two constables from Merseyside Police returned at around midday and were able to get inside the communal hallway that they found her front door unlocked and her dog barking inside.

Describing the days and hours leading up to Hannah's death, her sister Chloe told the inquest: 'On October 30 she was at my house. She seemed happy. I was making pumpkins with the kids for Halloween and she was just laughing; she said she had been to my nan's to do my nan and grandad's hair and take them some flowers.

'She said she was going home for Netflix, to chill and to get in the bath. She texted me saying that she wanted to go away for Christmas on holiday but not to tell my mum because she was going to tell her the next day.'

Hannah's devastated family wept as coroner Graham Jackson recorded a verdict of 'drug related death' in an inquest held at Sefton Coroners Court today

Chloe added: 'I said to her that no one should be alone at Christmas and said it wouldn't be the same without her. I thought 'here's just one of Hannah's little things again'.

'Then she just started telling me that she loved me and the kids. I said 'we love you too' and she messaged me saying 'don't ever forget that'.

'[The texts] didn't give me any concern for her welfare because that was what she was like - it was just Hannah being Hannah - she was always telling me she loved me and she messaged me telling me I was the best thing.'

She added: 'I would have been there, I would have been breaking the door down. Some people thought her saying she was going on holiday was her saying she was going but it wasn't, it was just the way she was.'

The inquest heard that Hannah had taken an 'overdose' just a few weeks before her death and was admitted to Aintree Hospital on October 8.

When she was discharged, Chloe said she made her sister promise never to do the same thing again, but that Hannah avoided opening up about her struggles with anxiety and depression.

Chloe said: 'She was one of them that would just shut you down, saying I'm fine.'

Asked by the coroner if she ever spoke to Hannah about whether she had considered taking her own life, Chloe said: 'I just spoke to her about normal stuff - the sunbeds, shopping, taking the dog to the park with the kids. She was one of them that would just shut you down, saying I'm fine.'

The inquest was told that Hannah was also a 'gold' graded domestic violence victim, according to Merseyside Police's categorisation of victims which is based on how regularly incidents are recorded and their severity.

However, although a 'marker' was placed on Hannah's home address in Seaforth to identify her as a gold victim, this status did not appear for her name or for the address she was staying at in Crosby.

Chloe told the inquest that the domestic violence issues related to a month during autumn 2018, and that Hannah tried to conceal what was happening from her loved ones.

She said: 'She just had the domestic violence problems and she would say she just fell down the stairs or that she had hurt herself but it was only coming to light when the police arrived and I would get the truth. It had been going on for about a month.'

Merseyside Police conducted an internal review of their involvement in the events surrounding Hannah's death and the matter was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The IPOC referred the case back to Merseyside Police for an internal enquiry, and Mr Jackson said there was a 'failure to identify the maker of the [999] call as a domestic violence gold graded victim'.

For confidential support in the UK call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.A 12-year-old schoolgirl says she was sexually assaulted after a group of six men in their early 20s approached her on the top deck of a bus.

The girl was travelling to Birmingham city centre with three friends. She told her mother the men approached the group as the bus was in Finchley Road, Kingstanding.

She said her friends had been assaulted and ran down the stairs leaving her alone with the men who then sexually assaulted her.

The four girls were on the top deck of the No.33 bus - which runs from Pheasey to Birmingham - on Saturday, March 16

'No words can describe how I felt when she phoned me,' said the victim's mum, who has issued a plea for information.

'I felt useless as I wasn't there when she needed me the most.

'Police officers are yet to come out to see us. We've only spoken to them over the phone.

'She was really shaken up; there were about six of them.

'The top of the bus was empty, but they went and approached my daughter and her mates.

Travelling to Birmingham city centre (pictured) with three friends the schoolgirl told her mother the men approached the group as the bus was in Finchley Road, Kingstanding

'My daughter's friends were assaulted and they ran downstairs and off the bus. My daughter was left upstairs with them.'

According to the victim's mum, the gang eventually left the bus in the city centre.

The girls were on the top deck of the No.33 bus - which runs from Pheasey to Birmingham - on Saturday, March 16.

West Midlands Police said: 'Police are investigating reports a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on a bus in Finchley Road, Kingstanding, just before 3pm on 16 March.'

Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact West Midlands Police.Anti-vaxxers have covered the streets of Melbourne with stickers blaming Australia's 'flu epidemic' on vaccines.

The poster was spotted near the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Parkville, north of the CBD, but dozens more are believed to be scattered throughout the city.

'Australian doctors report a huge spike in flu cases. Clearly the flu vaccine isn't working. FLU EPIDEMIC,' the poster reads.

An image of the sticker was posted to Reddit with the caption: 'I saw this near the royal Melbourne. If you see these things, scrape them off'.

Anti-vaxxers have covered the streets of Melbourne with stickers claiming there is a 'flu epidemic' plaguing Australia.

People in the comments agreed that the posters have been popping up around 'all the major hospitals' and say the lack of information makes them 'invalid'.

'Saw one of these at my train station. I immediately scraped it off the wall in disgust,' one Reddit user replied.

'Interesting thing is this year they changed the advice to have your vaccine later so its more effective during peak flu season which has led to an early swell of flu cases. If anything this proves the vaccines have a huge positive impact,' another user wrote.

While many people agree the posters shouldn't be put up around the city with a lack of research, others chose to make fun of the sticker.

'Police report a huge spike in road fatalities over the Holidays. Clearly seatbelts don't work,' one user wrote.

'Hospitals also make people sick. Have you ever seen a healthy person in one of those beds?' another person said.

Despite the widespread attention around the validity of the stickers, Australia has endured a bizarre early flu outbreak.

A record 25,000 Australians were were struck by the flu over the last four months, with pregnant women deemed particularly at risk.

A record 25,000 Australians were were struck by the flu over the last four months, with pregnant women deemed particularly at risk

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy announced this year's flu vaccine will be available from April.

'It important to get the flu shot each year, as the virus changes each year,' he said.

'We know that the protection provided by the previous years vaccine diminishes over time.'

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said a record 11 million Australians got a flu shot last year.

'Last year the government's immunisation program saw an over 90 per cent drop in lives lost to flu, down from 1150 to 102,' she said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Australian Medical Association for comment.Mosquitoes carrying Zika will come to the UK due to global warming, the Department of Health warned yesterday.

Chief scientific adviser Chris Whitty told MPs there is a threat of a large epidemic of the currently incurable disease in Britain and elsewhere in northern Europe. However, he told the Commons environment committee that by the time the Aedes mosquito  which carries the virus  arrives here, there would likely be a vaccine against Zika.

Pregnant women infected with the disease can give birth to babies with abnormally small heads and brains  an often fatal defect. The majority of cases in the UK are in those who have travelled to the Caribbean or South America.

Mosquitoes carrying Zika will come to the UK due to global warming, the Department of Health warned yesterday. Pictured, a yellow-fever mosquito sucking blood, which is a known carrier of the Zika virus

Chief scientific adviser Chris Whitty (pictured) told MPs there is a threat of a large epidemic of the currently incurable disease in Britain and elsewhere in northern Europe.

Mr Whitty admitted much of the evidence presented to the committee was unremittingly gloomy, but added it was simply not true that nothing can be done, saying: There are huge scientific answers to very many of the problems we face.A couple are accused of murdering their nine-week-old son after an alcohol-fueled argument about not having sex because of the newborn.

Luke Morgan, 26, and Emma Cole, 22, are on trial for smothering baby Tyler Morgan in the early hours of April 29, 2014 at their two-bedroom flat in Burntwood, Staffordshire.

He was intentionally smothered or had his chest depressed, a court heard, and also had fractured ribs.

Luke Morgan, 26, and Emma Cole, 22, are on trial for smothering and killing their baby son Tyler Morgan

Jurors at Stafford Crown Court were told how neighbours heard the couple arguing on the night leading up to the baby's death about being short of money.

They also said Morgan was angry because he wanted to have sex with Cole but had been prevented from doing so because Tyler was still awake.

Paramedics were called to the couple's home at 2.42am and found the child unresponsive.

Tyler was rushed to Walsall Manor Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 4am.

On Tuesday, the couple went on trial accused or murder, manslaughter, allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child under 16-years-old.

Opening the case Andrew Smith QC, prosecuting, said: 'At 2.42am, on April 29, 2014 Emma Cole dialled 999 to summon an ambulance to her home address.

'Nine-week-old Tyler had collapsed before the call had been made.

'Tyler's collapse had been caused by him being intentionally smothered or by his chest being depressed.

'He was taken to hospital and died just after 4am. He had sustained other injuries including fractured ribs.

Neighbours claimed the couple had a boozy night out where they argued about not having enough sex because of their newborn

'The prosecution contends this was caused it was deliberate, unlawful actions which caused the death and they are responsible for his murder.'

A jury of eight men and six women heard how Morgan would sometimes make his son play air drums and had struck him on the back at least one occasion.

Mr Smith added: 'Tyler was born on February 27, 2014, by caesarean section. He was born well.

'Luke Morgan is now 26, he was 22 at the time. Emma Cole is 22 and was 18 at the time.

'They had been together for about two years and appeared to have a close relationship.

'Tyler had an unremarkable history, he had suffered from a little colic but that was under control.

'There was suggestions that the defendant's attitude was not always shown to medical professionals.

On Tuesday, the couple went on trial accused or murder, manslaughter, allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child under 16-years-old

'Emma Cole had said they had bathed Tyler cool water to keep him awake as warm water made him sleepy.

'Their preferred pattern was for Tyler to fall asleep at times that were convenient to them.

'Luke had put lemon juice on Tyler's tongue, it may have been some chilli crisps though.

'There was also an instance where Luke would play air drums with Tyler's arms, something Luke knew that Tyler was to young to do and he appeared to have hit him on his back too hard on one occasion.

'The relationship may have had some tensions that did not show to the outside. '

The court was told how on the night a neighbour had heard an argument between the defendants while Tyler was crying.

Mr Price said: 'Luke Morgan was angry because he wanted to have sex with Miss Cole and had been prevented by Tyler being up.

'On the night of April 28, a neighbour went to bed at 10.30pm and she could hear them having an argument about having no money Emma was sobbing.

'In the early hours of April 29 there was a high pitch screech from Miss Cole.

'Barry and Helen Wood at the flat above heard arguing in the hours before Tyler collapsed, they thought it may have been taking place in the kitchen.

'Mrs Wood said they were shouting at each other at 1am.

'The prosecution say they were having the arguments at a time when they were drinking alcohol.

'The 999 call was made at 2.42am and the first person to speak to the operator was Emma Cole.

'She said Tyler was not breathing. Paramedics were immediately dispatched.

'They were given instructions to perform CPR.

'At 2.51am the first of the ambulance crew were met by Luke, he was crying and upset but showed the crew into the property.

'Tyler was lying with his back on the floor. Emma Cole was trying to do chest compressions. She was plainly very upset.

'When the paramedics were began to assess Tyler in the bedroom he was showing no signs of life and was in cardiac arrest.

'He showed on response.

'As paramedics treated Tyler the defendants argued. He was saying ''I was trying to wake you up'', she said ''I did not know I was asleep''.

'The paramedics tried to find out how long he had been unresponsive. Mr Morgan provided no answers.

'It was at 1.45am that Tyler had been unresponsive and Luke Morgan could not wake him.

'Mr Morgan had repeatedly said ''this is a cot death isn't it''. Miss Cole kept telling him to ''shut up''.

'Tyler was taken to Walsall Manor Hospital and admitted to A&E at 3.40am. Tyler had no heart rate and was not making any breathing effort.

'He died at 4.03am, he was nine weeks old. It was said [Luke] did not call 999 because he had a stammer.

'During April 29 police officers went to the address and saw two empty wine bottles and nine empty cans of lager.'

The trial will resume today.Boots has warned it could close shops and axe jobs after its parent company issued a shock profit warning.

The chains American parent, Walgreens Boots Alliance, yesterday said it had suffered its most difficult quarter since its formation. It warned it needed to take decisive steps to reduce costs in the UK  with a Boots spokesman saying its shops were being reviewed.

It comes after the company previously said 350 jobs were at risk at its Nottingham headquarters.

The owner of retail chain Boots has warned over UK store closures as it looks to slash costs amid the "most difficult" quarter in the groups history.

Boots employs about 60,000 staff and has 2,500 UK shops. It said sales fell 1.3 per cent in the three months to February.

At the same time, Walgreens  itself a large pharmacy chain in the US  said profits had been hit by tough competition and falling prices in the drugs market. Stefano Pessina, the companys chief executive, said: While we are not the only company that has been impacted by the marked change in the environment, thats not an excuse.

Overall Walgreens said it now wanted to save 1.1billion by 2022  up from its previous target of around 750million.

Walgreens Boots Alliance was formed from a major merger five years ago between Walgreens and Boots Alliance. Boots itself was founded in 1849.Former soldier Andy McNabs book Today Everything Changes

Soldiers have been urged to take Andy McNab books on exercise to improve their literacy.

Recruits should bring action books to pass the time while in the field, according to Ministry of Defence guidance.

Many of the novels have been shrunk into easy to read versions to encourage soldiers, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Officials are concerned by low literacy levels as nearly half of Army recruits have a reading age of 11 or lower, according to most recent figures.

In a push to get soldiers reading, the MoDs official Soldier magazine this month recommends energetic, accessible books.

These include former soldier Andy McNabs Today Everything Changes and Bloody Valentine by James Patterson, the US thriller writer.

Soldiers are advised to read at lunchtime, in a waiting room or on exercise when there is time.

The magazine says: Many titles from bestselling authors have been shrunk into easy-to-read versions that can be bought in bookshops or borrowed from the Army Library and Information Service.

It adds: Choose something that interests you, fiction or non-fiction. Maybe its linked to a hobby or a person, film or video game.

Use a bookmark to follow the lines as you read. This can help if your eyes get tired.

According to most recent figures, 39 per cent of Army recruits have the reading ability of an 11-year-old or lower.

And 38 per cent can only do maths to the level of a child in their last year of primary school.

James Patterson's Bloody Valentine was another book suggested by Solider magazine

Army candidates without GCSEs must sit reading, writing and arithmetic tests in order to be accepted.

But those with scores which fall below the minimum pass mark are given special training.

The majority turn it around within two years, according to the MoD. And military bosses have organised poetry competitions in recent years to improve skills.

Cpl Anthony Lee, of the Royal Logistic Corps, told Soldier that he joined the Army with poor literacy skills and got sick of asking junior colleagues for help.

He said: I didnt realise there was so much reading involved.

Problems started with orders like Send an email but I had to be shown how. It was embarrassing.

I went to the education centre and told them I was struggling. I could have built an entire housing estate but I couldnt work out this other stuff.

It put me at the bottom of the pile. I wish Id done it a year after I had been in. You cant be good at everything.

The MoD said: We are proud of the opportunities the Army offers young people, providing challenging and constructive education and equipping them with valuable skills.

The Armed Forces are among the largest training providers in the UK, and we support and encourage our people to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.'A former neo-Nazi who exposed a paedophile white supremacist who wanted to kill a police officer and an MP turned became disaffected when the group, National Action, became more focused on terrorism.

Robbie Mullen, who was a member of National Action, reported the plot involving Jack Renshaw to anti-fascist organisation Hope not Hate - who passed on the information to police.

Renshaw wanted to kill Labour's Rosie Cooper as welll as Detective Constable Victoria Henderson.

Robbie Mullen, pictured, became a whistleblower and exposed a plot by paedophile neo Nazi Jack Renshaw to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper and a female detective constable who was investigating him on suspicion of child sex offenses

Jack Renshaw, pictured at a National Action demonstration is facing life imprisonment after being exposed by his former far right comrade who has turned his back on extremism

The 23-year-old convicted paedophile is facing life in prison for preparing an act of terrorism and killing the police officer and politician.

A jury failed to return a verdict on whether Renshaw was a member of the banned far right group National Action.

Mullen, whose insider information exposed the plot told The Mirror: 'Jack had a grudge against the police officer because she was investigating him.

'He didn't really have a clue who the MP Rosie Cooper was. As an MP, she was seen by him as the puppet of Jews, trying to let immigrants in to weaken the white race.'

Mullen claimed Renshaw would prefer to have been killed by police during his terror attack rather than face justice for being a paedophile.

Mullen said he went on his first White Pride march in 2015 and became involved with National Action.

The group was banned following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.

When members of National Action began discussing becoming 'white jihadis' Mullen contacted Hope not Hate and met with former far right activist Matthew Collins.

Renshaw is currently serving a 16-month jail term for grooming two underage boys online

In July 2017, Mullen warned Collins about the planned double attack. Mullen said he was convinced Renshaw was serious about going on a killing spree.

Jack Renshaw, 23, bought a 19in Gladius knife to kill the West Lancashire MP and exact revenge on a female police officer who interviewed him, the Old Bailey heard.

Renshaw, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, had admitted making preparations to kill his local MP and making a threat to kill police officer Victoria Henderson.

But he denied membership of banned extreme right-wing group National Action along with Andrew Clarke, 34, and Michal Trubini, 36, from Warrington.

A jury at his retrial was discharged, having failed to reach verdicts after more than 48 hours of deliberations and prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said he could not seek a third trial.

It can be reported today that Renshaw is a convicted paedophile who was jailed last June for 16 months after he groomed two underage boys online.

Jurors at Preston Crown Court found him guilty of four counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also received a three-year prison sentence two months earlier when he was found guilty of stirring up racial hatred after he called for the genocide of Jewish people.

National Action leader Christopher Lythgoe, 32, of Warrington, and his right-hand man Matthew Hankinson, 24, from Merseyside, who were present when Renshaw outlined his plans, were convicted of membership last year.

National Action is the first extreme right-wing group to be proscribed by the Government since the Second World War.

Renshaw had bought this knife with the intention of murdering Ms Cooper

In December 2016, it was banned by the then home secretary Amber Rudd over its support for the murder of Batley and Spen MP Ms Cox.

Lythgoe reacted to the news by telling members that they would 'just shed one skin for another'.

The North West contingent continued to meet in pubs and train together at a new mixed martial arts gym in Warrington, it was alleged.

Meanwhile, disillusioned Mr Mullen, 25, began leaking information about National Action to campaign group Hope Not Hate.

Shortly before his arrest, Renshaw met with National Action members Claudia Patatas, 39, left, and Darren Fletcher, 28, right, in Liverpool

By July 2017, Renshaw was on police bail for making hate speeches and under investigation for child sex offences.

He decided on 'suicide by cop' rather than face a seven-year stretch in prison.

He bought a large machete to take revenge on a female investigating officer and kill his local MP.

Renshaw unveiled his plan at the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington on July 1 2017 to Clarke, Hankinson, Lythgoe and Mr Mullen.

Earlier that day, he had met convicted National Action members Darren Fletcher, 28, Adam Thomas, 22, and his partner Claudia Patatas, 39, in Liverpool.

After the pub meeting, Mr Mullen, from Widnes, Cheshire, reported the threat to Hope Not Hate and Renshaw was arrested.

Mr Mullen, who was granted immunity from prosecution, told jurors: 'He said he was going to kill his local MP, Rosie Cooper. I said 'Are you sure?' and he said 'Yeah'.

'He said he would kill her, then try to take some hostages to lure the police officer that was investigating him to try to kill her because she was the reason behind it all.

'He said his mind was made up. He had bought a machete.'

Renshaw had planned to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper, pictured

Renshaw said he would wear a fake suicide vest so he would be killed by police, Mr Mullen added.

The defendant declined to give evidence in his retrial, but in his first trial last year explained his reasons for targeting Ms Cooper.

He said: 'I wanted to send a message to the state that if you beat a dog long enough it bites  she just happened to be my local MP.'

Giving evidence, warehouse worker Clarke said: 'National Action was immature. I was tired of it. I was thankful for the ban.'

He told jurors a Swastika bookmark found in his sister's loft was 'a joke' and he only went to the Friar Penketh on July 1 on a 'whim'.

He said: 'Renshaw said something about an MP when I was drunk but I do not remember what he said. Whatever Renshaw was doing I heard it but I did not really pay attention because I was drunk.'

Office worker Trubini, who qualified as a teacher in Slovakia, admitted a shared ideology about white nationalism and opposition to multiculturalism.

But he said: 'I would not jeopardise my job to be a member of a group that had no real impact.'

Trubini insisted he was 'politically naive' and having tried to read Mein Kampf, found it 'boring and badly written'.

As she discharged the jury from returning verdicts, Mrs Justice McGowan said: 'You have obviously worked very hard. You have obviously been very diligent. You have obviously worked your way through all the material so we understand and respect the decision you have made.'

She remanded Renshaw into custody to be sentenced on May 17.

Hope not hate chief executive Nick Lowles praised the bravery of Mr Mullen in foiling the plot but criticised police for being 'too slow' to act.

He said: 'We all owe a great debt of gratitude to Robbie Mullen, our source inside this Nazi gang, for his bravery.

'National Action was part a new, more extreme breed of neo-Nazis that vilified Jews, celebrated and encouraged violence and lauded Hitler. They wanted to ignite a race war in Britain.

'While we welcome the various prosecutions which have taken place, the authorities and police have been too slow to act and missed too many warning signs about the changing nature of the far-right terror threat.

'The Christchurch terrorist attack shows that there is a global network of far-right activists who are inspiring each other to launch violent attacks. This is no time for complacency about the threat we face from far-right terrorism.'

Mr Mullen said Jack Renshaw, pictured, was just days away from murdering Ms Cooper

Matthew Collins, Hope not Hate's head of intelligence, said: 'We continually warned that National Action had not stopped recruiting and training after its ban in December 2016 and we were proven right when Robbie Mullen first came to us in April 2017.

'At the time, police didn't seem to have any idea that the group was still active, despite its ban. I can only pay tribute to Robbie's persistence, which helped prevent the murder of an MP.

Mr Mullen thanked the organisation, saying: 'By reporting Jack Renshaw's murder plot and giving evidence in this court my life has changed. I had to walk out of my job, I was forced to move home and I have to live with a target on my back.

Renshaw, pictured, is facing life in prison

'But I know I had no other choice. Jack Renshaw was days away from trying to kill an MP, Rosie Cooper.

'I now want to get on with the rest of my life  I hope that in doing so, and rebuilding my life, I can encourage others to take a different path than I did.'

Ruth Smeeth MP, who warned Ms Cooper after learning of the danger, said it had been a 'truly shocking' case.

She said: 'Two years after the devastating murder of my colleague Jo Cox, we narrowly averted what could have been another appalling crime.

'I cannot overstate Hope not Hate's role and what might have happened had Robbie Mullen not been able to report Jack Renshaw's plans. We all owe Robbie a huge debt of gratitude for what he did.'Scott Willey, 27, worked on 18 cases in two years after becoming fixated on a career in the law. He attended the City Law School but did not graduate and was never called to the Bar

A fraudster who posed as a barrister after tricking a prestigious law firm into hiring him has been jailed for more than two years.

Scott Willey, 27, worked on 18 cases in two years after becoming fixated on a career in the law.

Willey attended the City Law School but did not graduate and was never called to the Bar.

After failing to pass the required exams he accepted a pupillage position at 4 Brick Court legal chambers in July 2016

But his elaborate ruse began to unravel as colleagues realised there were inconsistencies in his story.

Willey had been diagnosed with a low grade neurological tumour in 2008, but he lied to his bosses a decade later, claiming it had returned and was growing, the court heard yesterday.

Willey took 16,000 from the chambers for pupillage and claimed 757.45 in travel expenses.

One of the cases he was involved with has already had to be re-heard.

He was jailed for two years and three months at Inner London Crown Court by Judge Usha Karu who was told the crook had worked on family law hearings.

Willey hacked into a colleagues email account and stole a copy of a practising certificate, which then he edited to pass off as his own.

He was jailed for two years and three months at Inner London Crown Court by Judge Usha Karu who was told the crook had worked on family law hearings

He also used another colleagues legal registration details to maintain the appearance of being a barrister before disciplinary bodies.

Willey used these documents to get a legal aid account and told his bosses he had past exams with a mark of very competent.

He was offered a pupillage at the Chambers for one year and joined at the start of October 2017.

His lies were eventually uncovered on 7 June 2018 last year after discrepancies in the evidence he had provided about his qualifications came to light.

Willey, of Walderslade Road, Chatham, Kent, admitted three counts of fraud by false representation and one count of making an article for the use in fraud.

He also one count of falsely implying to be a barrister and one offence under the computer misuse act.

Willey was sentenced to a total of two years and three months jail.

Detective Constable Gary Kearley, from the City of London Police, said: Willey went to extraordinary lengths to cover up his lack of qualifications and fool a professional chambers of law into hiring him as a barrister.

By doing this he abused many peoples trust including his clients who looked to him for professional and legally sound advice and help.

Thankfully his lies were uncovered. He will now have to ponder the consequences of his obsessive pursuit of a career in law from prison.An elderly man is in a critical condition after being hit by a get-away car escaping a robbery in Kings Cross, central London, today.

Police say the driver of the car refused to stop following the incident, instead driving away 'at speed' as officers chased after it.

Four men exited the vehicle to flee on foot after the pedestrian was mowed down on a crossing on York way during rush hour- with two of the men were arrested nearby.

Witnesses took to Twitter to report the incident

Suffering life threatening injuries the pedestrian was rushed to hospital with an air ambulance landing nearby.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: 'At around 5.30pm on Tuesday, officers responding to a robbery requested a vehicle suspected to be involved to stop.

'The driver refused to do so and drove off at speed, colliding with a member of the public.

'Four men are believed to have decamped from the vehicle and fled the scene.

'Two men were arrested nearby on suspicion of robbery and taking and driving away and taken into custody where they remain

'The male pedestrian is believed to have suffered life threatening injuries and taken to hospital where he remains.'

Police say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.Thousands of militant vegans are planning to descend on Brisbane for the 'biggest animal rights protest the world has ever seen'.

The protest is scheduled for April 8 at a secret location in the Queensland capital, raising fears activists will illegally invade nearby farms.

The date is set to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Dominion, an anti-farming documentary loved by vegans.

A Facebook event titled Dominion Anniversary Action has 224 people going and 652 interested.

A swarm of militant vegans have stormed a Queensland cattle farm as part of their on-going fight for 'animal liberation'

'Make sure your fuel tanks are full. We hope that you can join us to make this the biggest animal rights direct action the world has ever seen,' the post read.

Organisers specified the protest is peaceful and denounced any kind of violence but said they are keeping the location secret until the day to stop counter protests.

Queensland Police said it is aware of the planned demonstration.

'The QPS respects the rights of people to protest lawfully and peacefully in Queensland, however, also acknowledges the rights of landholders and business operators,' a spokesman said.

'If a property owner has any concerns or should any unauthorised person attend their property, they are encouraged to contact Policelink on 131 444 or Triple Zero (000) in an emergency.'

Feedlots attract a lot of attention from activists across the globe as they are used to increase the amount of meat each animal produces

The biggest vegan demonstrations in the world have numbered many thousands of people - such as a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2015 attended by 10,000.

Last week, dozens of vegans stormed a Queensland cattle farm as part of their fight for 'animal liberation'.

The shocking footage showed a distressed farmer watch about 150 activists enter the property at Millmerran, 75 kilometres west of Toowoomba.

The protesters, wearing white overalls covered in black shirts that read: 'Meat the Victims', cut across Lemontree Feedlot as the farmer chased after them.

Lot feeder David McNamee later told Daily Mail Australia the vegans' actions were distressing for his family and had put his livestock at risk.

The footage showed the farmer shouting at the mob to 'get off my f***ing country.'

'Don't go f***ing through,' he adds.

One protester can then be hear yelling back: 'You're hurting animals here, we're here to show the truth of what you're hiding.

'The only reason you're upset is because you've got something to hide.'

Protesters then spread through the feedlot, where they captured images of three dead cows lying in muddy pens.

The farmer, overwhelmed by the number of activists on his his property, said to the camera that the animals were shot humanely.

'How do you humanely shoot a cow?' a protester asks.

Feedlots attract a lot of attention from activists across the globe as they are used to increase the amount of meat each animal produces.

The Queensland farmer appeared overwhelmed as about 150 animal rights activists swarmed his feedlot on Saturday

One activist, Yaz Ustani (pictured), posted footage of the protest to Facebook

The message from the group was: 'The animals do not need better welfare standards or conditions, they need to be liberated, they need people to live vegan'

When police arrived a short time later, the protesters left the property.

A police spokeswoman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia no arrests were made.

Footage from the protest was posted to the Facebook page of Animal Activist Collective.

The post included a comment from Leah Doellinger, which read: 'The message we are sharing is simple; animals are here with us, not for us.

'Animals lives are their right and what is happening to them is unjust, needless violence. There is no humane way to exploit and kill someone.

'The animals do not need better welfare standards or conditions, they need to be liberated, they need people to live vegan.'

Mr McNamee said the protesters had put his family, staff and livestock at risk.

'It remains unclear why our family business has been targeted by this group of activists.'

The lot feeder said he was committed to industry best practice but even the best efforts could not prevent occasional deaths.

It was the second time in a month that a feedlot in the area had been targeted by animal rights activists.

The Wonga Plains feedlot at Bowenville near Toowoomba was targeted by a group last month who claimed cattle were being mistreated.Mr Justice Hayden, pictured, said at a preliminary hearing of the Court of Protection: 'I cannot think of any more obviously fundamental human right than the right of a man to have sex with his wife  and the right of the State to monitor that'

A senior judge has provoked outrage by saying it is a fundamental human right for a man to have sex with his wife.

Mr Justice Hayden made the comments during a preliminary hearing in a case heard by the Court of Protection, over whether a woman with learning difficulties had the ability to consent to intercourse with her husband.

Social workers fear she no longer has the mental capacity to give consent.

Mr Justice Hayden said: I cannot think of any more obviously fundamental human right than the right of a man to have sex with his wife  and the right of the State to monitor that.

His comments enraged Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire, who said they legitimise misogyny and hatred.

She said: No man in the UK has such a legal right to insist on sex.

Miss Debbonaire referenced the Sexual Offences Act 2003, saying no capacity to give consent does not remove consent.

The judge has ordered nobody in the case be identified while they appear before the court in London.

The husband had pledged to no longer sleep with his wife, but Mr Justice Hayden said he wanted to hear from lawyers before making a ruling.Two more women have come forward to accuse former Vice President Joe Biden of inappropriate touching.

Caitlyn Caruso, 22, said she met Biden at an event devoted to sexual assault at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where she studied as an undergrad.

Caruso, who was 19 years old at the time, said that Biden placed his hand on her thigh while she squirmed in her seat to show how uncomfortable she was, according to The New York Times.

She said Biden then gave her a hug and held it just a little bit too long.

Caruso told the Times that she was startled at Bidens behavior because she had just told the audience of her own experience as a sexual assault survivor.

Caitlyn Caruso (left), a survivor of sexual assault, says Joe Biden (right) placed his hand on her thigh and hugged her 'just a little bit too long' at an event at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas on April 7, 2016

Biden was a guest at the university, which hosted the event to discuss sexual assault

Lady Gaga performed at that same event. She is seen above getting a kiss on the cheek from the then-vice president

She said she was also mindful of the fact that Biden was one of the authors of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act.

It doesnt even really cross your mind that such a person would dare perpetuate harm like that, she said. These are supposed to be people you can trust.

The event at UNLV was also attended by pop star Lady Gaga, who is seen on stage embracing Biden.

The then-vice president also leans in to give Gaga a kiss on the cheek.

The other alleged incident of inappropriate touching took place at a fundraiser in Minneapolis in 2012.

It was there that Biden met D.J. Hill, 59, a writer who attended the event with her husband.

At one point during the evening, Hill and her husband were posing with Biden for a photograph.

According to Hill, Biden put his hand on her shoulder and then began to run it down her back.

She told the Times that this made her very uncomfortable.

Hill said that her husband noticed Bidens hand caressing his wifes back. He then put his hand on Bidens shoulder and told a joke so as to break up the moment.

Lucy Flores (far right) claimed Biden (center) grabbed her shoulders and kissed her head while campaigning during her in 2014

Hill told the Times that she did not complain at the time. She says she does not know what Bidens intentions were or whether he was even aware of what he was doing.

Only he knows his intent, Hill said, adding that times have changed to the point where if something makes you feel uncomfortable, you have to feel able to say it.

In total, four women have now gone public with claims that Bidens physical behavior with them made them uncomfortable.

The fresh claims will likely provide more fuel to those who say that the 76-year-old Democrat should abandon plans to run for president given the changing attitudes toward the treatment of women.

Amy Lappos, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said Monday that Biden touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses in 2009.

Former Nevada politician Lucy Flores penned a magazine essay last week in which she wrote that Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.

Lappos told The Associated Press that she and other Himes aides were helping out at a fundraiser in a private home in Hartford, Connecticut, in October 2009 when Biden entered the kitchen to thank the group for pitching in.

"After he finished speaking, he stopped to talk to us about how important a congressional staff is, which I thought was awesome," Lappos said.

She said she was stunned as Biden moved toward her.

'He wrapped both his hands around my face and pulled me in,' said Lappos, who is now 43.

'I thought, "Oh, God, he's going to kiss me." Instead, he rubbed noses with me.'

Biden said nothing, she said, then moved off.

She said the experience left her feeling 'weird and uncomfortable' and was 'absolutely disrespectful of my personal boundaries.'

The Hartford Courant first reported Lappos' assertion.

Amy Lappos (above), a Greenwich, Connecticut woman, says Biden 'rubbed noses' with her at a 2009 fundraiser for Democratic Congressman Jim Himes

Russo, Biden's spokesman, didn't directly respond to Lappos, instead referring to a Sunday statement in which Biden said he doesn't believe he has acted inappropriately during his long public life.

The former vice president said in that statement: 'We have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.'

Biden hasn't made a final decision on whether to run for the White House.

But aides who weren't authorized to discuss internal conversations and spoke on the condition of anonymity said there were no signs that his team was slowing its preparations for a campaign.

Asked on Monday by the AP about the accusations against Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, 'I don't think that this disqualifies him from running for president, not at all.'

Biden's potential Democratic rivals haven't rushed to back him up.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California said Tuesday that she believed his accusers but that it's up to Biden to decide whether to run.

Over the weekend, presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said Biden 'needs to give an answer' about what occurred.

Another 2020 hopeful, Kirsten Gillibrand, said, 'If Vice President Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic he'll have to engage on further.'

Ultraviolet, a women's advocacy group, tweeted: 'Joe Biden cannot paint himself as a champion of women and then refuse to listen and learn from a woman who says his actions demeaned her. Good intentions don't matter if the actions are inappropriate. Do better, Joe. And thank you @LucyFlores for coming forward.'

A number of high-profile females from the world of politics and media who know the former vice president defended him.

Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC's Morning Joe said on the air Tuesday: 'I think the next time I see Joe Biden and he doesn't hug me, and give me a kiss and hold my hand while we're talking to you, that's the new Joe Biden, and that's not the Joe Biden I knew.

Ash Carter's wife says this photo of Biden touching her shoulder was 'misleading' and that he was helping her get through the nervous occasion

'Hes a nice guy, hes not a predator, and this is ridiculous. Let me just say it, this is ridiculous.'

She then took things a step further by suggesting an attack on Biden could be akin to a vote for President Trump.

Stephanie Carter, the wife of Obama-era Defense Secretary Ash Carter, was photographed with Biden placing his hands on both her shoulders and whispered something in her ear during her husband's swearing-in ceremony in 2015.

A screenshot of the moment was tweeted at the time but Carter said the photo is 'misleading' and that it was just a 'moment between close friends'.

Carter even apologized to Biden and his wife, Jill, when she saw them after the furor in February 2015.

According to Carter, Biden's physical touching was a 'means of offering his support' as she was 'uncharacteristically nervous' during her husband's swearing-in ceremony.

In her own article on the incident titled 'The #MeToo Story That Wasnt Me' published by Medium, Carter said she thought the situation would go away, but adding that was 'wishful thinking'.

She described how she had slipped ice earlier in the day during a ceremony at Arlington Cemetery and was 'uncharacteristically nervous'.

Thoughts: 'I think the next time I see Joe Biden and he doesn't hug me, and give me a kiss and hold my hand... that's the new Joe Biden,' said Mika Brzezinski (above on Tuesday)

Meghan McCain has defended Joe Biden after the former Vice President was hit by claims that he inappropriately touched women (pictured on March 30, 2019)

The View host called the rumored 2020 hopeful 'one of the truly decent and compassionate men in all of American politics.'

Biden then gave her a hug, telling her 'thank you for letting him [her husband] do this' and put his hands on her shoulders as a 'means of offering his support', she said.

Meghan McCain also defended Biden. The View host called the rumored 2020 hopeful 'one of the truly decent and compassionate men in all of American politics.'

She explained that the politician had been there for her when her father, the late Arizona Sen. John McCain died in August of brain cancer, as his son suffered the same diagnosis before his death in 2015 aged 46.

Taking to Twitter she said: 'He has helped me through my father's diagnosis, treatment and ultimate passing more than anyone of my father's friends combined.

'I wish there was more empathy from our politicians not less.'Independent senator Fraser Anning has been censured by parliament for his 'shameful and pathetic' comments which linked the Christchurch terror attacks to Muslim immigration.

The Queenslander was rebuked by his colleagues on Wednesday for blaming Muslim migrants for the horrific attack in which a white supremacist killed 50 worshippers at mosques last month.

'Senator Anning's comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place,' government Senate leader Mathias Cormann told parliament.

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Independent senator Fraser Anning has been censured by parliament for his 'shameful and pathetic' comments which linked the Christchurch terror attacks to Muslim immigration

Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong said while scores of injured people were being treated for gunshot wounds, Senator Anning fanned the flames of division.

'How pathetic. How shameful. A shameful and pathetic attempt by a bloke who has never been elected to get attention by exploiting diversity as a fault line for political advantage,' she said.

The censure motion, moved by Mr Cormann and Ms Wong, was passed unanimously after Mr Anning left the chamber.

Senator Anning entered parliament after One Nation's Malcolm Roberts was disqualified for being a dual citizen.

He has been widely condemned for a series of racist comments including a reference to the 'final solution' - a Nazi term - in his first speech to parliament.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he wanted to focus on addressing hate speech in society, only making brief mention of Senator Anning.

'He has shown himself to be a pathetic man lacking any empathy,' he said.

Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong (pictured) said while scores of injured people were being treated for gunshot wounds, Senator Anning fanned the flames of division

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he wanted to focus on addressing hate speech in society, only making brief mention of Senator Anning

What does censure mean for Anning? A censure motion expresses dissatisfaction of a politician. Passing a censure motion in the Senate does not appear to have a substantive effect. A censure motion can be seen as contributing to parliamentary and other pressures which could lead to a Minister's resignation or dismissal. SOURCE: Parliament of Australia Advertisement

Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi said Senator Anning's comments were 'flat out wrong' but disagreed with the motion's definition of hate speech.

'Do you understand the can of worms you are opening here?'

Senator Peter Georgiou said his party, One Nation, would abstain from the censure vote.

While Senator Anning won just 19 below-the-line votes at the 2016 election, 250,000 Queenslanders supported the One Nation ticket he was on.

After a fallings out with Pauline Hanson and later Bob Katter, he split with their parties to sit on the crossbench.

Mr Anning denied blaming victims for the attack and described reasoning's of the motion as attack 'barely coherent', SBS reported.

'This censure motion against me is a blatant attack on free speech,' he said.

'The claim that this someone blames the victims is absurd, my real crime is that I simply told the truth. '

Senator Anning then took to social media, writing: 'The left wing outrage was on show today!'

'But no matter how many times they tried to condemn me, they could not refute that what I said is 100 per cent true.'

Following the Christchurch terror attack on March 15, Senator Anning released a statement linking Muslim migration to the shooting.

Following the Christchurch terror attack on March 15, Senator Anning released a statement linking Muslim migration to the shooting

He said while any form of violence could never be justified, the growing fear of the 'increasing Muslim presence' was behind the massacre.

'The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program that allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.'

In a follow-up statement, he said he opposed to any form of violence within our community and totally condemned the actions of the gunman.

'What it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence,' he said.

The comments were widely condemned by the Australian public.

Will Connolly, a 17-year-old from Melbourne, became known as 'egg boy' after slamming an egg into the Senator's head following his controversial comments.

More than one million people signed a petition demanding Senator Anning be removed from parliament.

The former One Nation party member has been condemned as a 'disgrace' since the statement, with the petition requesting he be pushed to resign from his position and if appropriate 'be investigated for supporting right-wing terrorism.'A changeroom 'up-skirter' who took photos of a woman in her 50s as she tried on clothes handed himself to police after his mother recognised him on CCTV footage.

Kyle Jamie Stawski, 27, slipped his phone underneath a cubicle and took images of the mother-of-five at a Rebel sportswear store in Maroochydore Homemaker Centre, on the Sunshine Coast, on January 7.

He ran away from the store after the woman noticed the phone on the floor and cried out in shock.

Queensland Police later released CCTV footage of the offender in a bid to get witnesses to come forward.

But on February 15, Stawski turned himself in after his mother recognised him from the footage.

Kyle Jamie Stawski, 27, slipped his phone underneath a cubicle and took images of the woman at the Rebel sportswear store in Maroochydore Homemaker Centre (pictured)

On Wednesday he pleaded guilty to taking recordings in breach of privacy at Maroochydore Magistrates Court, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported.

Since the incident the woman, who was a tourist in the city, said she has not been able to enter a changeroom without a friend waiting outside, fearing the same thing will happen again.

She was also concerned for 16-year-old daughter, urging her to be more 'vigilant.

The woman was also afraid the images would somehow appear on Facebook.

Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin said Stawski's acts were 'strange' as his victim was old enough to be his mother.

Mr McLaughlin considered Stawski may have been struggling with an 'underlying problem'.

Stawski (pictured left and right) turned himself in after his mother recognised him on CCTV footage released by Queensland police

The court heard how Stawski was a casual tree lopper who still lived at home.

He was sentenced to a nine month probation with an extra condition that he must abide by any medical or psychiatric assessment ordered by the court.

A conviction was not recorded but the court ruled that it would be if Stawski reoffended while on probation.Police are desperately searching for two missing teenage schoolgirls who were last seen leaving their Sydney school at lunchtime on Tuesday.

Thanatphicha Pothasin and Telitha Mansfield, both aged 13, were last seen at 1pm on Tuesday leaving their school in Davidson on Sydney's northern beaches.

New South Wales Police believe the girls could be attempting to travel to Queensland via public transport.

Officers are now seeking assistance from the public as they are worried about the teenagers' welfare.

Thanatphicha Pothasin (left) and Telitha Mansfield (right) were last seen at 1pm on Tuesday leaving their school in Davidson in Sydney's northern suburbs

The girls were last seen wearing their checkered school uniform but are believed to have changed clothing.

Police believe the girls may now be wearing oversized t-shirts and track pants.

They are thought to be hanging around the Northern Beaches and travelling on public transport.

Police also say it's possible the girls may choose to travel on public transport to Chatswood, the Sydney CBD or even Queensland.

Thanatphicha is described as being of east Asian appearance with long black hair, brown eyes and is 155-160cm tall.

Telitha is of caucasian appearance with long brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on the girls' whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers immediately.One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been rushed to hospital in serious pain a week after a tick bit her on the face and left her 'unrecognisable'.

The 64-year-old Queensland senator posted a photo from her Canberra Hospital bed on Wednesday, revealing she had undergone emergency surgery to remove her appendix.

'Over the weekend I felt extraordinarily unwell. At first, I thought it was a case of food poisoning so I just took it easy,' she told her Facebook followers this afternoon.

Her latest health scare occurred as her former Senate running mate Fraser Anning was censured in Parliament for his comments last month blaming Muslims for the Christchurch massacre which saw 50 Muslims killed in New Zealand.

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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was raced to hospital on Tuesday for emergency surgery to remove her appendix

Her appendicitis also occurred just days after the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network's hidden-camera expose on One Nation officials was broadcast on the ABC.

'I woke yesterday morning to continued pains in my stomach and decided to see a GP,' Senator Hanson said.

'Surgeons determined I needed an emergency operation to remove my appendix.

'Compared to the pain I was in before the surgery, today's pain is a lot less and I plan on being back on my feet tomorrow.'

A week ago, Senator Hanson was left 'unrecognisable' after suffering facial paralysis from a tick bite when she was still in Queensland.

Ms Hanson said she felt 'extraordinarily unwell' over the weekend but assumed it was a case of food poisoning

Her sister Judy Smith had told Daily Mail Australia the senator was unwell, as the One Nation leader cancelled public appearances.

'No, she's not okay,' she said.

While most tick bites don't cause symptoms, in some cases they can spark an allergic reaction, including anaphylactic shock and breathing problems.

What can a tick bite do? Ticks inject an anticoagulant, which prevents blood clots, when they bite into skin. This highly-toxic saliva can cause paralysis to humans. In severe cases, allergic reactions can lead to swelling of the throat and breathing problems. Some people suffer anaphylactic shock. Early symptoms of tick paralysis may include rashes, headache, fever, influenza like symptoms, tenderness of lymph nodes, unsteady gait, intolerance to bright light, increased weakness of the limbs and partial facial paralysis. Tick paralysis, while rare, is usually seen in children rather than adults. Most tick bites pose no medical problems apart from some localised swelling and redness at the bite site if the tick is removed quickly. Source: Department of Health Advertisement

Tick bites can also cause partial facial paralysis, rashes, headache, fever, intolerance to bright light and flu-like symptoms.

Her tick bite occurred the day after Al Jazeera network's How To Sell A Massacre documentary was broadcast on the ABC, showing her chief-of-staff James Ashby and her party's Queensland leader Steve Dickson agreeing to the idea of soliciting $20 million in political donations from the American National Rifle Association.

Senator Hanson had also been duped by journalist Rodger Muller, who had posed as the founder of the fictitious Guns Rights Australia lobby group.

She had been caught on camera suggesting the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, which saw 35 people shot dead, was a government conspiracy to take away guns.

Senator Hanson fronted the media in Brisbane on Thursday last week, claiming she supported Australia's existing ban on semi-automatic weapons, adding that gunman Martin Bryant was the only person involved in the mass slaughter 23 years ago.

On Wednesday, the Senate passed a censure motion against Senator Anning, who was third on One Nation's Queensland ticket at the 2016 election.

Senator Hanson condemned Senator Anning's March 15 media statement, issued hours after the Christchurch massacre.

But she has opposed the censure motion against the MP, who defected from One Nation in November 2017, the day he was sworn into Parliament to replace Malcolm Roberts, who was found to be a dual citizen.

The One Nation leader was left 'unrecognisable' after a paralysis tick bit her face last weekThree ex-Penn State fraternity brothers have been sentenced to jail for their roles in the hazing-related death of a pledge two years ago.

Michael Bonatucci, 21, Luke Visser, 21, and Joshua Kurczewski, 20, had all previously pleaded guilty to various charges related to 19-year-old Timothy Piazza's alcohol-fueled death.

The sentences handed down to them on Tuesday ranged from 30 days to nine months in prison.

A total of 28 members of the now-shuttered Beta Theta Pi house at Penn State faced charges at one point after Piazza died in February 2017 during the fraternity's pledge bid acceptance night.

Piazza, an engineering student from New Jersey, drank 18 alcoholic drinks in just under 90 minutes during the pledge night and was fatally injured in a series of falls.

Tim Piazza, 19, died after consuming 18 alcoholic beverages in just under 90 minutes during the hazing ritual in February 2017 while pledging Beta Theta Pi at Penn State

Surveillance video showed Piazza falling down the basement stairs before he was carried back up and placed on a couch.

Piazza suffered severe head and abdominal injuries, but help was not summoned until the following morning. He later died at a hospital.

The ex-district attorney had pursued involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges against some of the students.

However, judges dismissed some of those allegations and prosecutors withdrew others.

Of the dozens of students charged, Bonatucci, Visser and Kurczewski are so far the only ones who have been given jail sentences, the Centre Daily Times reports.

Kurczewski pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit hazing, hazing and furnishing liquor to a minor. He was sentenced to between three to nine months.

Prosecutors said he set up the beer pong station, carried beer into the frat house and gave beer to at least 10 pledges, including Piazza. He was also at the bottom of the stairs when Piazza fell into the basement.

Michael Bonatucci, 21 and Luke Visser, 21, were two of three ex-Penn State fraternity brothers who were sentenced on Tuesday in relation to Piazza's death

A total of 28 members of the now-shuttered Beta Theta Pi house (above) at Penn State faced charges at one point after Piazza died in February 2017 during the fraternity's pledge bid acceptance night

Bonatucci, who pleaded guilty to three counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing, ran the beer shotgun station. He was sentenced to between 30 days and six months.

Visser pleaded guilty to six counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing. Prosecutors say he took photos of the victim when he was unconscious on the couch. He was sentenced to between two to six months.

A fourth ex-fraternity brother, Joseph Sala, was also sentenced on Tuesday to three months of house arrest.

'Today was a significant step forward in the long road to justice for the parents of Tim Piazza with the sentencing of three individuals to prison for admitted conspiracy to haze their son,' the Piazza's family attorney Tom Kline said after the sentencing.

The others who have previously been sentenced have generally received probation and community service. Six others have entered a state program designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders that will likely leave them without criminal records. Two former defendants no longer face any charges.

Piazza's parents reached an undisclosed settlement with the fraternity follower their son's death.

They are also suing the 28 fraternity members, as well as the security company hired to help enforce alcohol regulations.A violent teenage criminal could be deported to Sudan for hacking two men with a machete when they refused him entry into a 'gangster-themed' birthday party.

The Sudanese boy, who was 15 at the time, gatecrashed Liam Hamilton's 16th gangster-themed party at a home in Quakers Hill, in Sydney's west, in June last year.

A group of about 10 youths caught a bus to the party from Blacktown, including the teenager who was high on marijuana at the time.

The African teenager, who was 15 at the time, gatecrashed Liam Hamilton's 16th birthday party at a home in Quakers Hill, in Sydney's west, in June last year

A 16-year-old could be deported to Sudan for allegedly hacking two men with a machete when they refused him entry into a 'gangster-themed' birthday party

The now-16-year-old was charged with reckless wounding in company and affray, and sentenced to 18 months in prison with non-parole period of nine months at Parramatta Children's Court on Tuesday, The Daily Telegraph reported.

He has a long history of criminal offending and if his behaviour continues, the teenager could face the possibility of being deported.

The gatecrashers claimed they were invited when they weren't and were asked to leave at 10.30pm by Liam's brother Corey and friend David Davis, both 22 at the time.

Both Corey and David were allegedly stabbed with a 50cm machete by the teenager and then set upon by a large group of gatecrashers - sparking an all-in brawl.

Corey suffered deep wounds to his arm and David remained in Westmead Hospital for five days with a punctured lung after being stabbed.

Five men, aged between 18 and 20, and six teenage boys, between 15 and 17, were arrested at the scene and taken to Riverstone Police Station where they were interviewed the following morning.

All youths were released apart from the African teenager who was charged.

Corey Hamilton (right) and David Davis (left) were rushed to hospital after being stabbed at the party. Corey suffered a punctured lung and was in a serious condition after undergoing surgery

Liam Hamilton (pictured) was celebrating his 16th birthday when brother Corey Hamilton and friend David Davis, both 22, tried to move on a group of gatecrashers

The gatecrashers claimed they were invited when they weren't and were asked to leave at 10.30pm by Liam's brother Corey and friend David Davis, both 22 at the time

'The victim was intending to be a peacemaker in this situation,' Magistrate Tracy Sheedy said about Mr Davis.

'The young person assaulted the victim whilst he was on the ground held by others and unable to defend himself.'

According to lawyer Ali Hallani, the 16-year-old boy boy was born in Sudan when his mother was just 16 years of age.

Both his father and grandfather were killed when he was a baby before his family left the country to avoid death.

Both of the men with stab wounds were taken by NSW Ambulance paramedics to Westmead Hospital after the incident

They spent years living in a refugee camp before they arrived in a Australia where his mother began a relationship with a man who became violent with his family.

The teenager was on bail at the time of the brawl and has a long record of significant criminal history, the court heard.

Despite his history of offending, Magistrate Sheedy said the boy had faced a lifetime of 'very serious issues'.

'He spent many of his formative years in what can only be described as very, very poor and hostile conditions in a refugee camp,' Magistrate Sheedy said.

Mr Hallani said the teenager understands if his behaviour persists there is a high chance that he could be deported.A Sydney landlord who secretly hid spy cameras and filmed tenants showering and performing sex acts on themselves has been jailed for at least a year.

James Ernest Maxwell, 49, fronted Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, where he was charged with hiding cameras in two Pyrmont buildings last year.

The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to 11 charges including intentionally recording an intimate image without consent and installing a device to observe or film another.

James Ernest Maxwell, 49 (pictured), fronted Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, where he was charged with hiding cameras in two Pyrmont buildings last year

Magistrate Kate Thompson said Maxwell's victims all thought when they closed their door, the only other people present were those in the room.

'The victims were oblivious that their most intimate moments and lives were being recorded,' the magistrate said.

Maxwell was charged in 2018 after a tenant at one of two units he managed found a small lens hidden in the face of a clock kept in a bathroom, according to a facts sheet tendered in court.

When the tenant then saw an SD card at the back of the clock and plugged it into his computer, he found videos of his housemates naked, showering, using the toilet and masturbating.

Police would also discover cameras hidden across Maxwell's two units - in a clock in a couple's bedroom, in a watch and in a clock facing the bed of his roommate.

Officers seized multiple items from one unit which were capable of recording audio and vision, including clocks, laptops and mobile phones, which contained a 'significant amount of material and data'.

Maxwell (pictured) was charged in 2018 after a tenant at one of two units he managed found a lens hidden in the face of a clock in a bathroom, according to a facts sheet tendered in court

An examination of seized items revealed videos and images of people captured 'in private acts including showering, using the toilet, masturbating and sexual intercourse'.

Maxwell claimed he installed the devices after he came across an advertisement for spy cameras, which popped up on his Facebook feed, the court heard.

After installing the discreet spy cameras, the landlord filmed tenants having sex, going to the toilet, masturbating and showering.

Maxwell, who was born in Barbados, and bizarrely referred to himself as 'Tiger', has been living in Australia for a decade.

Maxwell (pictured) pleaded guilty to intentionally recording an intimate image without consent and installing a device to observe or film another

Maxwell claimed he installed the devices after he came across an advertisement for spy cameras, which popped up on his computer, the court heard (stock image)

A legal aid lawyer said her client had experienced 'extreme levels of remorse' for the offending, which had led him to quit his dream job as a flight attendant.

A former friend previously said Maxwell lived a jet-set lifestyle and continually posted pictures of exotic locations to social media.

Magistrate Thompson on Wednesday jailed the 49-year-old for 28 months with a non-parole period of 12 months.

When handing down her sentence, Magistrate Thompson said Maxwell had expressed genuine remorse for his crime and given up work because of his actions.The Aboriginal suicide crisis has claimed the lives of at least 24 indigenous children in just four months, sparking a national campaign to tackle mental health issues in remote communities.

Of the young people, three 12-year-old indigenous children have committed suicide since January, according to the National indigenous Critical Response Service (NICRS).

At Tuesday's budget, the government revealed $461million would be spent on youth mental health - but only $5million over four years would go towards indigenous youth suicide.

At least 24 young indigenous people have taken their own lives this year amid Australia's Aboriginal suicide youth crisis

Five young indigenous girls took their own lives across Australia in January (pictured Rochelle Pryor, from Perth, took her own life after a cry for help on social media)

An average of three indigenous Australians commit suicide each week.

Over the past three months, a total of 42 indigenous people have committed suicide, including 24 males and 18 females.

Gerry Georgatos, who helped found and launch NICRS, said the majority of the 42 losses were youth suicides.

'Suicide is multifactorial and multilayered with an arc of issues, some which intertwine, but it is not complex. There is an underwriting narrative  poverty,' Mr Georgatos wrote for Independent Australia.

'In my research  borne robustly from the experiential  responding to suicide-affected families, nearly 100 per cent of First Nations suicides are of people living below the poverty line.

'Understanding and addressing poverty is the major way forward to saving from suicide First Nations children and youth, and reducing of the Australian suicide toll.'

Over the past three months, a total of 42 indigenous people have committed suicide, including 24 males and 18 females

Gerry Georgatos, who helped found and launch the National indigenous Critical Response Service (NICRS), said the majority of the 42 losses were youth suicides

Mr Georgatos told ABC's Hack that indigenous people's living conditions needed improvement to prevent further suicides.

'What we need is our governments to prioritise the indigenous suicide prevention space with outreach, intensive psychosocial support, helping people improve their life circumstances... and early intervention,' he said.

The 2019 Closing The Gap report found indigenous Australians are still more likely to be disadvantaged than non-indigenous Australians in regards to employment, education and health.

Around 165 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders took their own own lives in 2017, according to official figures.

While the 2018 figures are yet to be released, Mr Georgatos believes last year's death toll was at least 180, including around 50 under the age of 18.

'The suicide crisis for First Nations peoples remains an uninterrupted three-decade-long tragedy and it is a humanitarian crisis, with more children and females lost than ever before,' he told The Australian.

The crippling epidemic has led mental health organisation R U OK? to launch a suicide prevention campaign for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) communities

Indigenous children, aged between five and 17, die from suicide at five times the rate of non-indigenous children, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Figures show one in four people who took their own life before turning 18 were Aboriginal.

Five Aboriginal girls committed suicide within two weeks in January including 14-year-old Rochelle Pryor from Perth.

The crippling epidemic has led mental health organisation R U OK? to launch a suicide prevention campaign for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) communities.

Stronger Together, announced last week, aims to encourage conversation and individuals to offer support to family and friends within the community.

R U OK? said a 2016 report found an average of over 100 ATSI people committed suicide each year.

R U OK? said a 2016 report found an average of over 100 ATSI people committed suicide each year

The rate is twice as high as what was recorded for other Australians.

'Nationally, indigenous people die from suicide at twice the rate of non-indigenous people. This campaign comes at a critical time.' said Dr Vanessa Lee, who has chaired R U OK?'s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group.

'As a community, we are Stronger Together. Knowledge is culture, and emotional wellness can be learned from family members such as mothers and grandmothers.'

'These new resources from R U OK? will empower family members, and the wider community, with the tools to look out for each other as well as providing guidance on what to do if someone answers ''No, I'm not OK''.'Senator Dianne Feinstein of California says that former Vice President Joe Biden is a warm, tactile person who reaches out and he touches in a way that is hardly sexy.

The California Democrat defended Biden as senior party officials try to grapple with the fallout from accusations made by four women who say the former vice president made them feel uncomfortable with unwanted touching.

It's a new thing that people have been affronted by it, the 85-year-old senator said.

Over 25 years I've never seen that before.

While Feinstein defended Biden, other female Democratic senators were more critical.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (left), the Democrat from California, defended former Vice President Joe Biden (right) after he was accused of unwanted touching by four women

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democrat from New York, told Politico: Lucy Flores felt demeaned and thats never OK.

And if Vice President Biden decides to run for president this is something hes going to have to address directly with the American people.

Flores, a former Nevada politician, penned a magazine essay last week in which she wrote that Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.

Amy Lappos, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said Monday that Biden touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses in 2009.

Two more women came forward on Tuesday.

Caitlyn Caruso, 22, said she met Biden at an event devoted to sexual assault at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where she studied as an undergrad.

Caruso, who was 19 years old at the time, said that Biden placed his hand on her thigh while she squirmed in her seat to show how uncomfortable she was, according to The New York Times.

She said Biden then gave her a hug and held it just a little bit too long.

Caruso told the Times that she was startled at Bidens behavior because she had just told the audience of her own experience as a sexual assault survivor.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democrat from New York, told Politico : Lucy Flores felt demeaned and thats never OK. And if Vice President Biden decides to run for president this is something hes going to have to address directly with the American people.

D.J. Hill, 59, a writer who attended a fundraiser in Minneapolis in 2012, said Biden made her feel very uncomfortable by running his hand down her back.

Gillibrand and her Democratic colleagues have so far refrained from saying that the accusations should disqualify Biden from seeking the presidency.

While Biden has yet to officially announce a run for the White House, it has been widely expected for some time.

It was initially thought that Biden would have the easiest time in securing the support of Democratic senators.

But the spate of allegations has complicated matters.

All of us, including the vice president, need to continue to work on changing our culture,' said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (left). Sen. Mazie Hirono (right) said: The focus isn't on what his intentions were, it is how his behavior is experienced and one should not invade personal space'

Theres a failure to understand how ones actions impact others, Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin said of Biden.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said: I was surprised by the allegation.

It is clear that Lucy Flores felt it was inappropriate.

It took courage for her to come forward and share her story, and I am glad she did.

All of us, including the vice president, need to continue to work on changing our culture.

Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, said: The focus isn't on what his intentions were, it is how his behavior is experienced and one should not invade personal space.

He needs to be a lot more aware of that.

I would say with Trump it's many, many degrees of worseness if there is such a word.

Caitlyn Caruso, a survivor of sexual assault, says Joe Biden placed his hand on her thigh and hugged her 'just a little bit too long' at an event at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas on April 7, 2016

Biden was a guest at the university, which hosted the event to discuss sexual assault

Lady Gaga performed at that same event. She is seen above getting a kiss on the cheek from the then-vice president

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware defended Biden, saying: Im confident hes going to run and that Joe Biden is someone who hugs people and encourages people and is incredibly engaged with people is I think a pretty well-known feature of his personality.

An image of Biden in which he appears to grab the arm of his teenage daughter during Coonss swearing-in ceremony in 2015 has been scrutinized in the wake of the allegations of unwanted touching.

Lucy Flores claimed Biden grabbed her shoulders and kissed her head while campaigning during her in 2014

Coons dismissed any suggestion that Biden behaved inappropriately toward his daughter.

She doesnt think theres anything inappropriate or unkind or in anyway unusual, the senator said.

And he was simply trying to encourage her in a moment that would be tough for any teenager, to have a bank of 50 TV and print cameras.

Joe Manchin, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, said attacks on Biden were totally wrong.

If youre looking for him to have his hand on shoulders there might be a lot of them, Manchin said.

I just know Joe Biden, this is how he does it.

Senator Debbie Stabenow, the Democrat from Michigan, said: We all know Joe and how he is and the caring guy that he is, but he needs to be sensitive to his actions and it's important that he be hearing from the women.

It's an important issue in the context of running against this president and all that he has done to women.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California said Tuesday that she believed his accusers but that it's up to Biden to decide whether to run.

Over the weekend, presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said Biden 'needs to give an answer' about what occurred.

Former Nevada politician Lucy Flores penned a magazine essay last week in which she wrote that Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.

Lappos told The Associated Press that she and other Himes aides were helping out at a fundraiser in a private home in Hartford, Connecticut, in October 2009 when Biden entered the kitchen to thank the group for pitching in.

"After he finished speaking, he stopped to talk to us about how important a congressional staff is, which I thought was awesome," Lappos said.

She said she was stunned as Biden moved toward her.

'He wrapped both his hands around my face and pulled me in,' said Lappos, who is now 43.

'I thought, "Oh, God, he's going to kiss me." Instead, he rubbed noses with me.'

Biden said nothing, she said, then moved off.

She said the experience left her feeling 'weird and uncomfortable' and was 'absolutely disrespectful of my personal boundaries.'

The Hartford Courant first reported Lappos' assertion.

Amy Lappos (above), a Greenwich, Connecticut woman, says Biden 'rubbed noses' with her at a 2009 fundraiser for Democratic Congressman Jim Himes

Russo, Biden's spokesman, didn't directly respond to Lappos, instead referring to a Sunday statement in which Biden said he doesn't believe he has acted inappropriately during his long public life.

The former vice president said in that statement: 'We have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.'

Biden hasn't made a final decision on whether to run for the White House.

But aides who weren't authorized to discuss internal conversations and spoke on the condition of anonymity said there were no signs that his team was slowing its preparations for a campaign.

Asked on Monday by the AP about the accusations against Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, 'I don't think that this disqualifies him from running for president, not at all.'

Ultraviolet, a women's advocacy group, tweeted: 'Joe Biden cannot paint himself as a champion of women and then refuse to listen and learn from a woman who says his actions demeaned her. Good intentions don't matter if the actions are inappropriate. Do better, Joe. And thank you @LucyFlores for coming forward.'

A number of high-profile females from the world of politics and media who know the former vice president defended him.

Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC's Morning Joe said on the air Tuesday: 'I think the next time I see Joe Biden and he doesn't hug me, and give me a kiss and hold my hand while we're talking to you, that's the new Joe Biden, and that's not the Joe Biden I knew.

Biden leans in to say something to Maggie Coons, next to her father Sen. Chris Coons after Biden administered the Senate oath to Coons in 2015

Ash Carter's wife, Stephanie, says this 2015 photo of Biden touching her shoulder was 'misleading' and that he was helping her get through the nervous occasion

'Hes a nice guy, hes not a predator, and this is ridiculous. Let me just say it, this is ridiculous.'

She then took things a step further by suggesting an attack on Biden could be akin to a vote for President Trump.

Stephanie Carter, the wife of Obama-era Defense Secretary Ash Carter, was photographed with Biden placing his hands on both her shoulders and whispered something in her ear during her husband's swearing-in ceremony in 2015.

A screenshot of the moment was tweeted at the time but Carter said the photo is 'misleading' and that it was just a 'moment between close friends'.

Carter even apologized to Biden and his wife, Jill, when she saw them after the furor in February 2015.

According to Carter, Biden's physical touching was a 'means of offering his support' as she was 'uncharacteristically nervous' during her husband's swearing-in ceremony.

In her own article on the incident titled 'The #MeToo Story That Wasnt Me' published by Medium, Carter said she thought the situation would go away, but adding that was 'wishful thinking'.

She described how she had slipped ice earlier in the day during a ceremony at Arlington Cemetery and was 'uncharacteristically nervous'.

Thoughts: 'I think the next time I see Joe Biden and he doesn't hug me, and give me a kiss and hold my hand... that's the new Joe Biden,' said Mika Brzezinski (above on Tuesday)

Meghan McCain has defended Joe Biden after the former Vice President was hit by claims that he inappropriately touched women (pictured on March 30, 2019)

The View host called the rumored 2020 hopeful 'one of the truly decent and compassionate men in all of American politics.'

Biden then gave her a hug, telling her 'thank you for letting him [her husband] do this' and put his hands on her shoulders as a 'means of offering his support', she said.

Meghan McCain also defended Biden. The View host called the rumored 2020 hopeful 'one of the truly decent and compassionate men in all of American politics.'

She explained that the politician had been there for her when her father, the late Arizona Sen. John McCain died in August of brain cancer, as his son suffered the same diagnosis before his death in 2015 aged 46.

Taking to Twitter she said: 'He has helped me through my father's diagnosis, treatment and ultimate passing more than anyone of my father's friends combined.

'I wish there was more empathy from our politicians not less.'A Washington DC mom is furious after her young son was handcuffed and lead away in a squad car - despite the fact the ten-year-old was never charged with a crime.

The boy was part of a group of children stopped by police on Saturday, over claims they assaulted and robbed another young boy.

Police there responded to the 200 block of Massachusetts Avenue for the report of a robbery at about 4am on Saturday.

A mother expressed her anger after her son, 10, (pictured), was detained by police and handcuffed during a robbery investigation

The victim, who was a young boy, told police he was approached by other youngsters who beat him up and took his cellphone, WUSA 9 reported.

Later a number of boys were stopped by police in the area shortly after the incident, including Chaquitta Williams two children. She declined to name her sons.

Footage shows her 10-year-old son being handcuffed by officers while a number of bystanders shout 'he is just a child' as he is led to a squad car.

Chaquitta Williams two sons were detained by police and she expressed anger that police did not call her. She arrived at the scene 45 minutes later after a bystander contacted her

The footage was shared on social media and has gone viral, with many expressing outrage that a child was detained in such a manner.

Williams said that her son was walking home from Union Station with his brother, 14, and a few friends Saturday when the incident happened.

She insist that he is innocent and only panicked when approached by the police.

She told WUSA 9: 'So my son, by him being with them, he's going to run. Him and his brother.

'That's why I told them you shouldn't have never ran. If you run, they're going to assume that you're doing something.

'It was hurting me. There were so many people out there, I didn't know what to do. My mind was just blown from the situation.

'I see my son on the ground with three police around him at just 10-years-old,' she added.

Footage shows the 10-year-old boy being handcuffed by officers while a number of bystanders shout 'he is just a child' as he is led to a squad car

The child was taken by officers but police did not find he had done anything wrong

Williams' sons were later released without incident. However a 13-year-old in the group was arrested and charged with armed robbery.

Cops revealed later on that they recovered a BB gun from the scene early on Monday.

A statement provided by police claimed that officers on the scene contacted the Youth and Family Services Division, which is in line with police protocol.

Ward Six council member Charles Allen said the incident raises important questions about how the police handle juvenile suspects.

He said: 'I think its a fair question for us to have and a fair conversation to have with MPD about should a 10-year-old have their hands behind their back, be handcuffed and put into a car.

'Are there other ways for us to think about our work with juveniles?,' Allen asked.A passenger has described how Qantas cabin crew moved other travellers away from the body of a woman who died several hours into an international flight.

The passenger was on board QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne on Sunday when 33-year-old Aleisha Tracy died while travelling back from a holiday in the United States.

Ms Tracy, who was an avid traveller, had flown the same route many times previously and publicly praised the Airbus A380 model aircraft on which she was flying.

Her death remains a mystery, with the Victorian coroner investigating.

The National Broadband Network operations centre employee had only recently bought a new apartment at Moonee Ponds in Melbourne's inner north-west and was described by friends as being in the prime of her life.

Ms Tracy, who left Melbourne on March 24 and had visited Las Vegas during her holiday, died just hours into the 16-hour flight home.

Her devastated friends had no idea what caused her death, given Ms Tracy had no known medical conditions and was 'happy and healthy' before she boarded the aircraft.

Aleisha Tracy, 33, died on a flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne. The mysterious death of the National Broadband Network operations centre employee has stunned friends and family

Ms Tracy, pictured with a friend, was an avid traveller who had flown the same route many times previously and publicly praised the Airbus A380 model aircraft on which she was flying

A fellow passenger who was seated on the lower floor of the aircraft in economy said about three hours into the journey two appeals were made for any doctor on board to come forward.

The plane was not full and the passenger, a woman from Melbourne, had been allowed to occupy three adjoining seats by herself.

Not long after the requests for a doctor, cabin crew told the woman she would need to return to her original seat as passengers were being relocated from upstairs due to a medical emergency.

'A flight attendant said "We're very sorry, we've got a person who's unwell",' the woman told Daily Mail Australia.

'They were very calm. We didn't know exactly what had happened but we were aware something was going on.'

The woman said about seven passengers from upstairs moved down to her section on the plane and some of them were wearing pyjamas.

'They weren't going around telling everyone exactly what happened,' she said of Qantas staff.

Ms Tracy posted her Qantas boarding pass when she left Melbourne on March 24 to start her holiday in the US. She died on the flight home on Sunday

The woman said she had asked a male flight attendant sometime later what was happening upstairs and he reassured her there was nothing to worry about. 'He looked so sad,' she said.

Throughout the journey Qantas staff had remained calm and professional despite it being obvious to some of those on board a passenger had died.

'I can't understand how hard it must be for them,' the woman said. 'They were very compassionate with everyone.'

'They were the unsung heroes. They were incredible. There was no panic, they still managed to do their jobs.'

'It's tragic what happened to her. It's tragic for her family. It's tragic for everyone.'

What we know about Aleisha Tracy's death Qantas flight departs LA at 10.40pm Hours into the flight there's a medical emergency on board Flight attendants are assisted by two doctors on the plane The flight lands about 9am on Sunday at Melbourne Airport Paramedics and police meet the plane and go on board Ms Tracy's family is notified of her death Friends pay tribute to her online as the coroner begins investigation Advertisement

Passengers spent about 40 minutes on the tarmac when the plane touched down in Melbourne as police and paramedics boarded, the woman said.

Qantas confirmed its cabin crew was assisted by two doctors on board the flight.

Ms Tracy wrote in an online discussion about aircraft and flight routes last year of how much she liked flying from Los Angeles to Melbourne in the A380.

'A380 felt like a total upgrade coming home (a lovely flight attendant helped) but if you are looking at booking this return flight, choose the A380!' she wrote.

'It was a beautiful plane.'

Ms Tracy had flown to Bali three months ago and she was planning a trip to New York at the end of the year.

Close friend David Loiterton paid tribute to Ms Tracy on Facebook just hours after her death.

'Aleisha Tracy I'm devastated. I will miss you brightening up my day. I will miss your hilarious stories ... I will miss your bargain stories. I will miss your messages and seeing your face pop up,' Mr Loiterton wrote.

'I will miss your famous selfie pose. I will miss us looking at each other and knowing what we mean.'

Photos of Ms Tracy's United States trip were posted to social media in the days before her fateful flight home.

Her Instagram account shows holiday snaps of Las Vegas and a photo of her Qantas boarding pass.

Aleisha Tracy was no stranger to overseas travel and had previously given advice on long haul flights coming from the United States to Melbourne. She died on a flight from LA on Sunday

Friends of Ms Tracy continued to post tributes to the frequent flyer on Wednesday, often referring to her love of travel.

'I have no words... the sudden loss of such a beautiful young and vibrant soul,' Jessica Van de Leur wrote.

'Your spirit shone bright and may it always travel light my darling girl - and take a fabulous handbag along for the ride. With a heart full of tears, I wish you peace,'

Yeshe Grace remembered a 'generous and bubbly' woman with whom she had once shared a house.

'Always offering whatever she could, planning her next adventure and coming home more often than not with a bag of something shiny and new,' she wrote.

'The embodiment of zest for life, larger than life personality and the sweetest heart you could ever hope to meet.'

Another friend of Ms Tracy told Daily Mail Australia the popular woman's family and friends were mystified as to how she may have died on the flight.

'We are completely at a loss,' he said.

Aleisha Tracy (left) and David Loiterton, who posted a touching tribute to her on Facebook. He described Ms Tracy as a 'one of a kind friend who was always there'

Mr Loiterton described Ms Tracy as a 'one of a kind friend who was always there'.

'I will miss hearing about your up coming holidays. I will miss talking about all the shows that we like,' he wrote.

'I am truly blessed to have known you. Thank you for such a beautiful friend. I will miss you. Xo.'

Friend Sherlyn Moynihan described Ms Tracy as an entertainer who always had people in stitches.

'(I) loved sitting in the back of the car just listening and laughing at her stories and how she made us all giggle,' she wrote.

'It breaks my heart to see her leave and go just like that in a split second .. all I know is she touched my heart and soul.'

A Qantas spokesman described the incident as 'tragic' but would not reveal any further information on the matter, or the airline's procedures for dealing with deaths in flight.

Victoria Police said Ms Tracy's death would be for the coroner to investigate, and a post-mortem examination was to be carried out on Tuesday.

Ms Tracy's family declined to comment.A new trailer for the Netflix film on Ted Bundy starring Zac Effron premiered Tuesday, striking a far more sinister tone than its original January teaser which was slammed for being 'sexualized' and a 'punch in the face' to the serial killer's victims.

The first promotional clip for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile depicted the mass murderer with his shirt off and in a romantic clutch with his wife Liz Koefle, who is played by Lily Collins.

Critics took to Twitter to criticize the romanticized portrayal of Bundy, who confessed to killing 30 women in seven states and escaped custody twice.

But a full length trailer shows the killer in a far more manic, manipulative and unnerving state, with Effron's character displaying the evil traits that made him one of the United States' most notorious criminals.

Locked up: The trailer ends where it began, back in the visitation chamber

No mercy: We hear the judge on the soundtrack: 'The killings were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile'

The trailer opens in an prison visitation room, which it will return to periodically. Bundy enters the room to meet with his visiting girlfriend, Kloepfer. 'Do you remember the night we met?' she asks, as the screen cuts to the memory of a happier party scene.

In another flashback montage, the charming serial killer shares glances with two smiling women in a library who are unaware of his true intentions.

'We've got a very disturbed, sick individual,' says a voice in archival audio, as photographers push each other aside to take the serial killer's picture.

We see one of his lawyers saying that he'll have the first nationally televised trial in history. In the courtroom, the judge, played by John Malkovich, seems disarmed by Bundy's good looks and charming demeanor.

All dressed up: In the courtroom, the judge, played by John Malkovich, seems disarmed by Bundy's good looks and charming demeanor. After he compliments the accused murderer's appearance, he replies, 'I'm disguised as an attorney today'

After he compliments the accused murderer's appearance, he replies, 'I'm disguised as an attorney today,' referencing his failed attempts to become a lawyer.

In another testy court scene, the judge shouts, 'It is a capital murder case, and you are skating on thin ice.'

As the cutting becomes more frenzied, showing scenes of Bundy befriending different women, Kloepfer crimes out, 'I wish I could take it all back!'

Then, as Bundy stands over a bed where Kloepfer lies unconscious, perhaps considering adding her to his list of victims, we hear the judge on the soundtrack: 'The killings were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile.'

The trailer ends where it began, back in the visitation chamber.

Kloepfer begs for an answer: 'Did you do these things, Ted?'

'This is all gonna end,' he says.

'It's only going to end with the truth, she replies.The final image is of Efron as Bundy, giving a frighteningly intense glare into the camera.

Preying: As the cutting becomes more frenzied, showing scenes of Bundy befriending different women, Kloepfer crimes out, 'I wish I could take it all back!'

Following the release of the first promotional trailer, however, audiences were left incensed that the portrayal was sympathetic and played on Effron's good looks.

One person tweeted: 'That's exactly what Ted Bundy wanted. posthumous fame for his cruelties.

'You can count on Hollywood to make the worst human beings immortal.What's next?The Harvey Weinstein biopic?

'What a punch to the face for the victim's families after all these years.'

Another user referenced the way the star came off as attractive as he might have in other flick's he's famed for such as Baywatch in 2017.

Some on Twitter complained the Zac Efron casting looked like a 'hyper-sexualized' film

Others said the 90-second clip was disrespectful to the families of the women Ted Bundy killed

'Can we not sexualize Ted Bundy? He raped, murdered, and decapitated women and had sex with their dead bodies.

'Not here for this hyper-sexualized Zac Efron film. I know the youth of twitter will obsess over him, and I'd prefer not to read thirst tweets about a serial murderer,' another account shared.

But some people disagreed and pointed out that former Disney star heartthrob was the correct casting for a motion picture about how Bundy was romanticized by the media as his slayings of the 70s were reported.Donald Trump has mocked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as little more than a 'young bartender' as he ridiculed her Green New Deal proposal.

'The Green New Deal, done by a young bartender, 29 years old,' Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington DC on Tuesday, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

'A young bartender, wonderful young woman,' he continued, referring the freshman Democrat's experience tending bar at Flats Fix, a taqueria in New York City's Union Square, while she campaigned for Congress.

'The Green New Deal. The first time I heard it I said, 'That's the craziest thing.'

'You have senators that are professionals that you guys know that have been there for a long time ... and they're standing behind her shaking.

'They're petrified of her,' he continued, without referring to Ocasio-Cortez by name.

'The Green New Deal, done by a young bartender, 29 years old,' Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington DC on Tuesday

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tended bar at Flats Fix, a taqueria in New York City's Union Square, while she campaigned for Congress. She is the mastermind of the Green New Deal

Trump said he hoped to focus his reelection campaign on the economy and cast Democrats as outside the mainstream in their support for policies such as 'Medicare for all' and the Green New Deal, an ambitious master-plan for social, economic and environmental transformation.

'If they beat me with the Green New Deal, I deserve to lose,' he said.

Still, he said some of the Democrats' proposals could prove enticing to votes in the short term. He said free health care sounds very seductive.

'Don't underestimate the power of socialism to get a vote,' Trump said.

Trump told GOP lawmakers and supporters they have the advantage on a variety of issues, but conceded that Democrats have the advantage on health care.

'We have to take that away from them,' Trump said.

'Republicans should not run away from health care,' he added. 'You can't do it. You're going to get clobbered.'

'If they beat me with the Green New Deal, I deserve to lose,' Trump told the GOP lawmakers

He told the GOP House members: 'You are the minority, I hate to say. That's not going to last long.' Democrats hold a 235-197 majority in the House with three vacancies.

Trump opened his remarks at the dinner by taking a shot at Joe Biden, whose potential campaign for the Democrat presidential nomination has hit the rocks amid multiple claims of 'creepy' hugging and kissing behavior.

'He's being taken care of by the socialists. They got to him. Our former vice president,' Trump said, referring to a report Bernie Sanders supporters were behind the allegations, which the Sanders' campaign has denied.

'I was going to call him. I really don't know him well. I was going to say welcome to the world, Joe. You having a good time, Joe?,' Trump added. 'Are you having a good time.'

In wide-ranging remarks that meandered for more than 80 minutes but often circled back to the 2020 race, Biden was the only potential rival Trump mentioned by name - a sign that he would view Biden as a strong challenger, were he to enter and win the Democratic race.

Biden was vice president under President Barack Obama and had a long career in the Senate before that. He had been expected to announce his bid for the Democratic primary race this month and has led the large field of Democratic hopefuls in opinion polls.

At one point in his remarks, Trump revisited his odd pet peeve with electronic aircraft catapults which are being installed to replace steam catapults on aircraft carriers

Trump told the dinner, which raised $23 million for Republicans running for the House of Representatives, a story about wanting to kiss a general he met in Iraq who had promised an expedient end to a campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria.

'I said, 'General: come here and give me a kiss.' I felt like Joe Biden,' Trump said, drawing laughter and applause.

At one point in his remarks, Trump revisited his odd pet peeve with the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, which is replacing steam-driven catapults on Ford-class aircraft carriers.

Trump has griped about the subject repeatedly in the past, voicing his preference for 'reliable' steam.

At the NRCC dinner, he told a story about talking to a sailor who advised him that the steam catapults could be fixed with a 'wrench,' whereas the electromagnetic version takes an 'Albert Einstein.'

In November, Trump raised the subject during a Thanksgiving Day call with a naval officer serving overseas, telling him: Steam is very reliable. Electromagnetic  unfortunately you have to be Albert Einstein to really work it properly.'

The naval officer responded: 'Yes sir. You sort of have to be Albert Einstein to run the nuclear power plant that we have here as well, but we're doing that very well.'In the first address to Congress by a NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance and called for bigger defense budgets to cope with global challenges such as Russian assertiveness, the core reason NATO was created in Washington 70 years ago this week.

'We have to be frank,' Stoltenberg said before a joint meeting of Congress. 'Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences.'

The NATO secretary general credited President Donald Trump with compelling allies to spend more on defense, without noting that Trump also has questioned the value of the alliance and suggested that some members are freeloaders.

Trump's criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington to be its leader. Stoltenberg's speech provided a diplomatic counterpoint to Trump's sometimes derisive rhetoric, and the enthusiastic reception he received from both parties in the House was testament to an enduring pro-NATO consensus in Congress.

'The secretary general delivered to Congress a powerful affirmation of the value of the NATO alliance,' said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was NATO's top commander from 2009 to 2013, called the Stoltenberg address a high point in recent U.S.-European relations.

Historic moment: The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed a joint session of Congress to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the alliance - but warned there were serious divisions between members

Washington moment: The rare joint session of Congress was attended by members of the House and Senate, as well as senior members of the military

'Given the president's evident and frequently vocalized skepticism of the alliance, it is clear that Congress - on a bipartisan basis - wants to put the full weight of the legislative branch behind NATO,' Stavridis said. 'We will never find a better pool of allies in the world than the Europeans, and this address underscores the importance of the trans-Atlantic bridge, which has been creaking a bit lately.'

Trump's criticisms are not NATO's only source of friction. The alliance also is at odds with long-time member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defense system that is not compatible with the allied air defenses.

The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest U.S. fighter jet, the F-35, if the Turks go through with their plan to buy Russia's advanced S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

Escalating that fight, Vice President Mike Pence scolded Turkey at a NATO 70th anniversary event following Stoltenberg's speech.

He said the Russian S-400 system 'poses great danger to NATO,' and suggested that Turkey needs to decide between NATO and Russia.

'Turkey must choose,' he said. 'Does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?'

Stoltenberg made a point of highlighting the benefits to the United States of having NATO allies.

He noted, for example, that in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 of its founding charter to come to the aid of a member under attack.

He said allies also provide the U.S. with valuable military support in peacetime, from tracking submarines in the Arctic to providing bases in Europe from which the U.S. can project power.

Weapons system: The Russian S-400 'Triumph' anti-aircraft system has been ordered by Turkey - to the fury of Mike Pence who says that the country has to choose between Russia and NATO if it goes ahead with the deal

Top brass: U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, was among senior military leaders who spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after the joint session of Congress

Praised: Donald Trump, who did not attend the address, was singled out by NATO's chief Jens Stoltenberg for getting other member states to spend more on defense

'Our alliance has not lasted for 70 years out of a sense of nostalgia or of sentiment,' he said. 'NATO lasts because it is in the national interest of each and every one of our countries.'

Stoltenberg on Thursday will lead a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to mark 70 years since the alliance's founding charter, the North Atlantic Treaty.

The alliance has grown from its original 12 members to 29, with the Republic of North Macedonia about to become the 30th member country.

Stoltenberg, a two-time former prime minister of Norway, is the first head of NATO to address a joint meeting of Congress.

He touted the alliance's long record of partnership but also noted it has a history of coping with internal divisions, including strong opposition by France, Germany and other members to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

'Open discussions and different views is not a sign of weakness,' he said. 'It is a sign of strength. So we should not be surprised when we see differences between our countries.

'Today there are disagreements on issues such as trade, energy, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. These are serious issues with serious disagreements.'

Trump has sharply criticized other NATO members, including Germany, for not meeting spending targets. On Tuesday, he praised the generally upward trend among the European allies, but hounded them to pay even more because he believes America still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

In a meeting at the White House, Trump and Stoltenberg had kind words for each other. But in the past, Trump has called NATO 'obsolete' and suggested he might pull the U.S. out of the alliance if member nations didn't significantly boost defense spending.

'We've worked together on getting some of our allies to pay their fair share,' Trump told reporters. 'At some point, it's going to have to go higher.'

Trump took credit for the increased spending. However, spending by NATO countries, which dropped after the end of the Cold War, has actually been rising since 2014, before Trump took office .

After Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, member countries agreed to boost defense budgets and 'move toward' spending 2% of their gross domestic products on defense by 2024. The U.S. spends about 3.4% of its GDP on defense.

Since Trump took office, European allies and Canada have added $41 billion to their defense budgets. By the end of next year, this is scheduled to reach $100 billion, Stoltenberg said. Germany remains the main target of Trump's ire because it plans to spend 1.5%, below the 2% guideline, by 2024.

Stoltenberg has said the 2% guideline was not invented by the United States and was a target the 29 allies set in 2014.

'The allies are really stepping up,' Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Associated Press.A teenager from Ohio has been arrested and charged with making a number of swatting calls to authorities in New York and other parts of the country.

The 17-year-old from Mahoning County faces 40 felony and 33 misdemeanor delinquency charges.

Authorities say the teen made swatting phone calls, or prank calls to police in which violent crimes are fabricated so that SWAT teams are sent to the home of the intended victim.

Investigators say that the boy called police on August 11 and told them that he had shot his wife, had an AR-15 assault rifle, and was holding his son hostage at a home in Kent, New York, CNN is reporting.

A 17-year-old from Ohio has been charged with 73 counts related to swatting incidents. Swatting is the practice of pranking police by reporting a fake crime, usually a hostage situation, and giving an address of an intended victim. The above image is a stock photo

Police rushed to the scene only to find that the home in question was empty and there was no emergency.

The Putnam County Sheriffs Office said that the homeowner and his family were out of town.

Investigators then began to trace the source of the phone call. Their efforts led them to a number in Mahoning County, Ohio.

Authorities say that other swatting calls were made from the same phone number.

The suspects name hasnt been released. Authorities have also declined to say how many swatting incident the boy masterminded.

So far, we do not know if anyone was injured as a result of those incidents.

Tyler Barriss (above) was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison for a hoax call that led police to fatally shoot an unarmed Kansas man

Putnam County Sheriff Robert L. Langley Jr. said he hopes the arrest will dissuade others from trying this type of activity.

Last week, a California man was 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.

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.

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

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.

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.Prime Minister Scott Morrison has impersonated Borat in parliament while attacking Labor over its proposed carbon tax.

The Liberal Party leader made the cringeworthy popular culture reference on Wednesday by claiming Kazakhstan would be 'thrilled' about the opposition's carbon tax.

'Over in Kazakhstan I'm sure they're pretty pleased about this, I'm sure they're absolutely thrilled about this,' he said during Question Time.

'Some call it a carbon tax, but I call it the Borat tax.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has impersonated Borat in parliament while attacking Labor over its proposed carbon tax

Parliament erupted in laughter when Mr Morrison referred to Borat, the main character in Sacha Baron Cohen's 2006 mockumentary.

The bizarre attempt to connect serious political debate to popular culture was then taken to the extreme when Mr Morrison pretended to be Borat.

'I know what Borat would think of Labor's policies on emissions reduction,' he said.

'Verrrrry Niiiiice.'

Mr Morrison, who uttered the two words with Borat's think accent, raised his thumbs up and grinned in unison.

As parliament recovered from the comedic act, Mr Morrison hit out again at Labor.

'That's what they'd be thinking of the leader of the opposition who wants to force companies to send $36billion offshore, sucking jobs offshore, sucking profits offshore, sucking wage increases offshore,' he said.

Labor announced their climate policy would encourage Australia's biggest polluters to cut their emissions.

If they win the impending federal election, due for mid-May, they will target 250 of the biggest-polluting companies to cut emissions below current levels.

Labor leader Bill Shorten is promising exemptions from the new scheme for major industries like steel and agriculture, which he'll work with to cut pollution.

The Liberal Party leader made the cringeworthy popular culture reference on Wednesday by claiming Kazakhstan would be 'thrilled' about the opposition's carbon tax

'There will be no carbon tax, carbon pricing mechanism, or government revenue,' Mr Shorten said.

'Labor has listened to industry and stakeholders who desperately want stability after this chaotic government.'

Mr Shorten said the policy is an extension of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's 'safeguard mechanism' which puts limits on pollution by big industries.

'They don't want to start from scratch with another mechanism. Industry feedback has been unanimous, businesses want Labor to expand the safeguard mechanism, and we've listened,' Mr Shorten said.The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to authorize the subpoena of the full Mueller report, as panel Chairman Jerold Nadler indicated Attorney General William Barr had one last chance to hand it over.

The resolution passed on a party-line 24-to-17 vote in the Democratic-controlled committee.

'I will give him time to change his mind,' Nadler told the committee shortly before the vote.

'But if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials,' Nadler, a New York Democrat said. The vote came after Barr failed to abide by an April 2 deadline Nadler had imposed for the release of the full report.

House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerold Nadler scheduled a hearing on a resolution to authorize subpoenas including one to get the full, un-redacted Mueller report

Nadler made plain that going to court was an option if the administration, through Barr, fails to comply.

'If the department still refuses, then it should be up to a judge  not the president and not his political appointee  to decide whether or not it is appropriate for the committee to review the complete record,' Nadler said.

Top panel Republican Doug Collins of Georgia fumed: 'This is reckless, it's irresponsible, and it's disingenuous,' and charged Nadler for trying to force the attorney general to break the 'rules and the regulation and the law' by handing over the material.

He said the effort is confusing 'since the attorney general is doing exactly what he said he would be doing making as much of the report public as possible under federal law and department policy,' Collins said as he rifled through a prepared statement.

'This is hope against hope that we're going to find something. This committee is better than this. Why are we here doing preemptive subpoenas?' Collins said.

He pointed to newly authorized subpoenas of people close to the president, some of whom have indicated they are already complying with Nadler's document requests.

'This is great political theater,' meant to entice journalists to write about it,' he said.

Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican, said rather than subpoenaing the report: 'Lets issue one for Bob Mueller. Let Bob Mueller come and lets ask Bob Mueller whether he thinks the report that he created should be disclosed without considerations of classified national security information or without redactions for grand jury information.'

Nadler now holds those subpoenas essentially in his pocket while he seeks to negotiate with the administration. Although he can issue them at any time, Nadler has not said exactly when he might do so.

He told reporters he would issue the subpoenas 'in very short order' if he is unable to get the report, and would go to court to obtain grand jury information that under existing law must be kept confidential.

'The committee must see everything,' Nadler said, and would make its own decisions about what must be redacted from public release.

Nadler pointed to the volumes of material provided to Congress by Kenneth Starr's investigation. To date, all Congress has is a four-page letter from Attorney General William Barr summarizing the Mueller report

Nadler also explained why he had lined up votes on subpoenas for top former White House aides Hope Hicks, Don McGahn, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon, as well as Ann Donaldson, the former chief of staff to McGahn, the former White House counsel.

He said the aides  witnesses in the Mueller probe  may have received White House documents in preparation for their interviews and given those documents to their lawyers. Nadler said this would constitute a waiver of any Trump claim of executive privilege.

'It is imperative that the committee take possession of these documents and others without delay,' Nadler said.

Nadler made numerous comparisons to the Clinton-era Starr report  holding up heavy volumes of material that were turned over to Congress. He also referenced Watergate-era materials that were handed over to Congress.

He explained that in the case of the multi-million dollar Mueller probe, Congress needed to have the entire report, as well as underlying materials and evidence, in order to carry out its constitutional responsibilities.

Nadler pushed back at Trump after the president escalated attacks on him Tuesday. The two men have known each other for years through New York politics

There is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff [the House Intelligence Chairman],' Trump tweeted Tuesday

Attorney General William Barr is in the process of considering redactions to the report, which he says he intends to give to Congress

Nadler said he was opposed to the release of 'graphic' information to the public during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but that Congress already had obtained the Starr report at the time

Barr wrote Congress to say he would provide the report  but is engaged in a process of determining redactions based to hold back grand jury materials, certain intelligence, and ongoing cases, as well as information that might harm people's reputations.

'One way or another, the country will move on from President Trump,' Nadler intoned, saying the panel must find out whether the president had abused his office. 'We must make it harder for future presidents to behave this way.'

Earlier, Nadler hit back at Trump and drew distinctions with the trove of 'lurid' detail Ken Starr provided to Congress.

At the start of a hearing on a resolution authorizing subpoenas, Nadler brought up the 'high honor' of being mentioned three times by Trump on Twitter the previous day.

Trump had tweeted that Nadler 'strongly opposed' the release of the Starr Report during the Clinton administration.

Former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and former Communications Director Hope Hicks, former White House Counsel Don McGahn and former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus are in the Judiciary Committee's cross-hairs

'President Trump seems to think in 1998 I was opposed to public release of the Starr Report and that he has caught me changing my mind on the subject. Let me set the record straight,' Nadler told the committee in a hearing televised on cable.

Back then, he said, Congress had already received the full 445-page report by Special Counsel Ken Starr, along with 17 boxes of additional documents.

'In 1998, the central debate was the public release of some of the materials accompanying the Starr Report, he said.

These were 'materials that Congress already had, and that described private sexual acts in lurid detail,' Nadler said, pointing to sexual details of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky that Starr's team of investigators obtained.

'Congress has no business broadcasting graphic accounts of the president's sex life. It was inappropriate in 1998. It would be inappropriate today. Our focus should be on the law,' he said.

The Trump tweet from Tuesday that brought Nadler's response said: 'In 1998, Rep. Jerry Nadler strongly opposed the release of the Starr Report on Bill Clinton. No information whatsoever would or could be legally released. But with the NO COLLUSION Mueller Report, which the Dems hate, he wants it all. NOTHING WILL EVER SATISFY THEM! @foxandfriends.'

Trump also tweeted Tuesday after earlier saying he was fine with releasing the Mueller report: 'There is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff [the House Intelligence Chairman]. It is now time to focus exclusively on properly running our great Country!'

The subpoena vote was a marked escalation of congressional pressure on the Trump administration to hand over all that Mueller documented during his 22-month probe, including grand jury evidence.

The committee's focus shifted to subpoenas when it became clear that Attorney General William Barr would ignore a Democratic demand for him to turn over the full report by April 2. Barr has pledged to share a redacted copy of the nearly 400-page report with Congress and the public by mid-April, if not sooner.

Democrats, who hold a seven-seat majority on the 41-member Judiciary Committee, fear that Barr could use redactions to suppress evidence of potential misconduct by Trump and his campaign that could be vital to their congressional oversight agenda.

Barr's March 24 summary of the Mueller report said the special counsel did not establish that Trump campaign officials conspired with Russia during the presidential election but also did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice. Barr also said Mueller's team had not found enough proof to warrant bringing obstruction charges against the president.

Trump has long denied any collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice. Moscow says it did not try to interfere in the election, even though U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that it secretly trying to sway U.S. voters in Trump's favor.

NEW LEGAL FRONT

A subpoena would open a new legal front against the Trump administration by Democrats who won control of the House in last years congressional elections. But it is not clear if the Justice Department would simply hand over all the documents they now seek.

The Department could ignore the subpoena, running the risk of being held in contempt of Congress, and prepare for a lengthy battle in the courts.

Democrats have pledged to fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to enforce a subpoena and obtain the full report.

'We need that report turned over. Look at every prior case of independent counsel and special counsel, they've turned over the entire report within a day or two,' said Representative Jamie Raskin, a House Judiciary Democrat. 'What's taking place here is a sharp break from precedent.'

Trump took a dig on Tuesday at Nadler and House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, one of the president's strongest critics in Congress about the Russia investigation.

'There is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff. It is now time to focus exclusively on properly running our great Country!'

Republicans contend that Barr is being transparent under Justice Department regulations adopted after former President Bill Clinton's impeachment in the 1990s, which allow the attorney general to be circumspect in what he releases. They also contend that Democrats are seeking grand jury material that federal law precludes the Justice Department from sharing.

'It's unfortunate that a body meant to uphold the law has grown so desperate that it's patently misrepresenting the law,' Representative Doug Collins, the committee's top Republican, said this week.

The committee was due to meet to consider the subpoena resolution after Nadler and five other Democratic House oversight committee chairs wrote to Barr, giving him one last chance to produce an unredacted Mueller report.

In addition to McGahn, the former White House counsel, and Bannon, former chief White House strategist, the committee was expected to authorize subpoenas for former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former White House deputy counsel Ann Donaldson.

The five former Trump aides were among 81 people, agencies and other entities that received document requests on March 4 as part of the committee's obstruction and corruption investigation of Trump and his associates.A Melbourne GP touched a teenager's breasts without consent and asked her and her boyfriend inappropriate questions about their sex life, a jury has heard.

Azit Das is facing a retrial over allegations he sexually assaulted the 17-year-old girl during a consultation alongside her boyfriend at a Mill Park clinic in March 2016.

The boyfriend had gone to Das for test results of a scan on his groin, which turned out to be a cyst, and his girlfriend had accompanied him.

Azit Das is facing a retrial over allegations he sexually assaulted the 17-year-old girl during a consultation alongside her boyfriend at a Mill Park clinic in March 2016

But the conversation allegedly 'shifted into another direction' while the couple were in the room with Das, prosecutors said.

'It shifted into a conversation about sexual matters,' prosecutor Nick Batten told a County Court jury in his opening address on Wednesday.

'Some unjustifiable questions were put to these young people about their sexual life.'

It's alleged Das then suggested he would carry out a medical check on the girl's breasts.

'And she said to him, 'no'. She didn't agree to that,' Mr Batten said.

'He touched the young woman on her breasts without her consent.'

Das also suggested he could demonstrate something on the woman's genitals 'in relation to sexual matters', Mr Batten added.

The doctor's clinic in Mill Park in Victoria, where the alleged assault took place in 2016

'It was rejected and it didn't happen. But that was part of the lead up to the sexual assault.'

Das denies the assault and his defence lawyer Sean Cash told the jury to look closely at the evidence of a nurse who will testify.

'She's going to say she was there (during the consultation). Nothing happened,' Mr Cash said.

There could be aspects of the couple's evidence that could leave the jury with doubts about their 'reliability' and 'credibility', Mr Cash noted.

The couple went to a police station after the consultation to make a complaint about Das, who was later interviewed.

Mr Batten said Das, who is on bail, denied any wrongdoing when he was questioned by police.

Judge Michael McInerney said Das had previously faced a trial over the same allegations but it was aborted.

The latest jury will be shown footage of the complainant's evidence from the first trial, saving her from testifying again.An 18-year-old boy has been ordered to serve 200 hours of community service after he punched a police officer in the face and arm 'because he deserved it'.

William Albert Eaves, also known as William White, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of obstructing police and one count of serious assault of a police officer.

Police were patrolling Surfers Paradise, Queensland, on January 27 when they spotted Eaves shoving a person around 4.30am.

After being confronted by an officer, Eaves refused to give them his name and address, according to Senior Constable Nicola Wood.

Police were patrolling Surfers Paradise, Queensland, on January 27 when they spotted Eaves shoving a person around 4.30am (stock)

Eaves then lashed out, striking the officer in the face and the arm before other police were able to step in and stop the attack.

When asked why he punched police he said "he deserved it",' Constable Wood told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

The officer suffered bruising to the face and arm and soft tissue damage.

Queensland Magistrate Pamela Dowse slammed the 18-year-old's terrible behaviour and ordered Eaves to pay $500 in compensation to the officer.

'You have a very bad attitude if you think you can whack someone because you think they "deserve it",' she told the Southport Courthouse.

Eaves' lawyer noted that he had consumed a large amount of alcohol on the night of the attack - which was also his 18th birthday.

He also said Eaves is in the process of completing Year 12 and is working at Taco Bell part time.Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has joined outspoken politicians in slamming Fraser Anning after he linked the Christchurch terror attacks to Muslim immigration.

The Queenslander was rebuked by his colleagues on Wednesday for blaming Muslim migrants for the horrific attack in which a white supremacist killed 50 worshippers at mosques in New Zealand last month.

Ms Hanson-Young called Anning 'a disgrace' during a censure at the Senate on Wednesday.

'People lost their lives and you think its a joke. What an absolute disgrace. He has no right to have the privilege to stand in this place and spout that hatred, that racism.

Following the Christchurch terror attack on March 15, Senator Anning (pictured) released a statement linking Muslim migration to the shooting

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (pictured) has joined outspoken politicians slamming Fraser Anning after he linked the Christchurch terror attacks to Muslim immigration

'To be an apologist to terrorism and murder. We know where this leads because we've seen it. We saw it on the 15th of March in New Zealand, because we've heard the names of the 50 people who died.

'I am not even going to call him Senator Anning because he doesn't deserve it. He is not fit to represent the Australian people. He is not fit to call himself an Australian, he is not us,' she said.

Ms Hanson-Young was one of many politicians who voiced their disgust at Anning after his comments.

'Senator Anning's comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place,' government Senate leader Mathias Cormann told parliament.

Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong said while scores of injured people were being treated for gunshot wounds, Senator Anning fanned the flames of division.

Ms Hanson-Young (pictured) was one of many politicians who voiced their disgust at Anning after his comments

Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong (pictured) said while scores of injured people were being treated for gunshot wounds, Senator Anning fanned the flames of division

'How pathetic. How shameful. A shameful and pathetic attempt by a bloke who has never been elected to get attention by exploiting diversity as a fault line for political advantage,' she said.

Senator Anning took to social media after parliament ended for the day, writing: 'The left wing outrage was on show today!'

'But no matter how many times they tried to condemn me, they could not refute that what I said is 100 per cent true.'

Following the Christchurch terror attack on March 15, Senator Anning released a statement linking Muslim migration to the shooting.

Independent senator Fraser Anning (pictured) has been censured by parliament for his 'shameful and pathetic' comments which linked the Christchurch terror attacks to Muslim immigration

He said while any form of violence could never be justified, the growing fear of the 'increasing Muslim presence' was behind the massacre.

'The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program that allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.'

In a follow-up statement, he said he opposed to any form of violence within our community and totally condemned the actions of the gunman.

'What it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence,' he said.

The comments were widely condemned by the Australian public.An Ausgrid worker who died after suffering an electric shock while working on a power pole has been remembered by colleagues as a quiet but devoted family man.

Robert Nicholls, 39, was replacing a low-voltage power pole at Riverview Street in Riverview in Sydney's lower north shore on Tuesday just before noon when he was injured.

Paramedics treated Mr Nicholls on the scene and rushed him to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition, where he later died.

The tragedy occurred just one day after 18-year-old tradie apprentice Christopher Cassaniti was crushed to death when nine storeys of scaffolding fell on him at a semi-completed block of flats in Macquarie Park in Sydney's north-west on Monday.

Robert Nicholls (pictured) was replacing a low-voltage power pole when he was electrocuted

Mr Nicholls was part of a crew replacing the power poles situated along the suburban streets when the workplace tragedy occurred.

Shane Lyons was Mr Nicholls' mentor at Ausgrid.

'He was always a quiet man who kept his thoughts to himself but when he spoke, you always listened because he always spoke with a bit of wisdom,' Mr Lyons told Daily Mail Australia.

'He is definitely a family man. He had a love for his wife and family. He would move heaven and earth for his family.'

'He would move heaven and earth for his family,' Robert Nicholls' (pictured) Ausgrid mentor Shane Lyons told Daily Mail Australia

Shocked colleagues are struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

'We're all lost for words. No one knows what to say,' My Lyons told Daily Mail Australia.

'It really hit home. When you work closely with someone, they pretty much become your family. For me, it was like losing a family member. He's going to be severely missed. It won't ever be the same.'

Mr Nicholls was a member of the Electrical Trades Union.

'Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this tragic time,' union secretary Justin Page said in a statement.

SafeWork NSW will prepare a report for the coroner following the death of Robert Nicholls (pictured) on Tuesday

An Ausgrid spokeswoman expressed sympathy and said the company had offered assistance to Mr Nicholls' family.

'We are providing support and counselling to his colleagues who were on site with him on the day,' the statement read.

SafeWork NSW inspectors confirmed they are investigating fatal incident.

'SafeWork NSW inspectors are investigating following an incident at Riverview Road, Riverview yesterday where a 39-year-old energy supply worker working from a cherry-picker suffered a fatal electric shock,' executive director Tony Williams told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Robert Nicholls, 39, was replacing a low-voltage power pole at Riverview Street (pictured) in Riverview in Sydney's lower north shore on Tuesday before midday

'SafeWork NSW will prepare a report for the coroner.'

Mr Nicholls was employed by the electricity company through their Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island pre-apprenticeship program in partnership with TAFE NSW  Sydney Institute.

On Monday, Christopher Cassiniti, 18, died when a 15-metre tower of scaffolding collapsed on top of him.

The scaffolding also fell top of another worker, a 39-year-old father. It is understood he remains in a critical condition at Royal North Shore Hospital.

On Monday, Christopher Cassiniti (pictured left with mum), 18, died when a 15-metre tower of scaffolding collapsed on top of himThe Sultan of Brunei has called for 'Islamic teachings to grow stronger' as new sharia laws that punish gay sex and adultery with death by stoning came into force today.

The tough penal code in the tiny country on tropical Borneo island - ruled by the all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah - fully came into force following years of delays.

The laws, which also include amputation of hands and feet for thieves, make Brunei the first place in East or Southeast Asia to have a sharia penal code at the national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah leaves after speaking at an event in Bandar Seri Begawan on Wednesday

Rape and robbery are also punishable by death under the code and many of the new laws, such as capital punishment for insulting the Prophet Mohammed, apply to non-Muslims as well as Muslims.

The decision to push ahead with the punishments has sparked alarm around the world, with the United Nations labelling them 'cruel and inhumane' and celebrities, led by actor George Clooney and pop star Elton John, calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted.

In a public address to mark a special date in the Muslim calendar, the sultan called for stronger Islamic teachings but did not mention the new penal code.

'I want to see Islamic teachings in this country grow stronger,' he said in the nationally televised speech at a convention centre near the capital Bandar Seri Begawan.

The sultan, who has been on the throne for over five decades, also insisted that Brunei was a 'fair' country and the environment for visitors was 'safe and harmonious'.

Brunei's sultan called for 'stronger' Islamic teachings in the country on Wednesday amid global criticism over the introduction of the death penalty

Government officials later confirmed the laws had entered into force.

The sharia laws have triggered worldwide condemnation, and Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, described the code as 'barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldn't even be crimes'.

The European Union said in a statement that some of the new punishments 'amount to torture, acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment'.

They are particularly upsetting for the country's small lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Before the new laws, sex between men was already illegal in Brunei and punishable with up to 10 years in jail.

But the new code stipulates death by stoning as a punishment for sex between men, while women convicted of having sexual relations with other women face up to 40 strokes of the cane or a maximum 10-year jail term.

A 33-year-old gay Bruneian man, who spoke anonymously, said the new laws were 'unfair, cruel and should not happen'.

Brunei introduced stoning as a punishment for gay sex this week. Pictured: People leave after listening Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's speech

'It really takes away my happiness and freedom to express myself, and depresses me so much,' he told AFP.

Zulhelmi bin Mohamad, a transgender woman who fled Brunei last year and is seeking asylum in Canada, told AFP that the environment will be more terrifying for the country's LGBT community, who were already leading 'very secretive' lives.

'Some worry a lot and would like to escape the country before they are found out not to be... heterosexual,' the 19-year-old said.

Confirming the new penal code was now in force, a religious affairs ministry official told AFP: 'The statement from the prime minister's office last weekend on (the code's) implementation prevails, hence (April 3) marks the date of its implementation.'

A second government official, speaking anonymously, confirmed it had entered into force.

The sultan - who is one of the world's wealthiest men and lives in a vast, golden-domed palace - announced plans for the code in 2013.

A swathe of media personalities and world leaders condemned Brunei's decision to bring in the death penalty

The first section was introduced in 2014 and included less stringent penalties, such as fines or jail terms for offences including indecent behaviour or skipping Friday prayers.

Clooney's call to boycott nine Brunei-owned hotels in Europe and the United States last week catapulted the issue into the international headlines.

Since then, a series of well-known figures have lined up to add their names to the chorus of condemnation.

The sultan, who is the world's second-longest reigning monarch, first called for the penal code in the late 1990s and it appears to enjoy broad support in the former British protectorate of about 400,000 people.

Analysts say he is seeking to burnish his Islamic credentials and shore up support among the country's conservatives due to the waning fortunes of the oil-dependent economy, which has been ravaged by recession in recent years.

It is also unclear whether death by stoning will actually be implemented, as a high burden of proof is needed to hand down the punishment and Brunei has not executed anyone for decades.The Homeland Security Secretary has likened the immigration crisis to a 'Cat 5 hurricane disaster' and revealed plans to send soldiers along the Mexican border.

Speaking on Tucker Carlson Tonight Tuesday, Kirstjen Nielsen said the Trump administration was treating the issue like a natural disaster, adding: 'We are bringing all of the agencies together; we're asking everybody to chip in.'

'Why wouldn't we put the U.S. military along our border if it's really a crisis of that magnitude?' the Fox News show host asked Secretary Nielsen.

'I think we're looking into that. We've made the request. I'm in constant contact with the acting secretary of defense,' she said.

Speaking on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the Trump administration was treating the issue like a natural disaster

'I talked to some of the combatant commanders today. We are in fact pushing more and more military resources to the border,' Nielsen added.

Nielsen's comments come a day after President Donald Trump threatened to close the border this week if Congress doesn't change America's immigration laws.

'I'm ready to close it, if I have to close it,' he told reporters on Tuesday in the Oval Office.

Trump complained that the U.S. has the 'worst, dumbest immigration system in the world,' and he said he's lobbying congressional Democrats to change it.

Secretary Nielsen left a series of G7 meetings in Europe and rushed back to Washington D.C. amid a White House meltdown after Trump threatened to close the border

White House staffers are said to be panicked over President Donald Trump's threat to close the border

Specifically, he wants them to end the 'catch and release' policy that allows illegal immigrants to roam freely in the U.S. while they wait for their cases to be adjudicated by immigration judges. That can take years, based on the backlog.

Carlson also asked Nielsen if Trump would consider expanding the E-Verify system to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Nielsen made it clear they were considering all options. She said: 'We have to stop the drugs. We have to stop the smuggling and trafficking gangs. He's very serious about it, so yes, I think everything is on the table.'

Neilsen revealed plans to send soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border (pictured, the barrier in Tijuana)

Mexicans climb the metal wall that divides the border between Mexico and the United States from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state

Yesterday Secretary Nielsen left meetings in Europe and rushed back to Washington amid the White House meltdown over Trump's threat to close the border.

She returned to the US early Tuesday morning and it's thought she'll will head to the border on Wednesday, according to reports.

She was scheduled to be in Europe all week for meetings with interior ministers from G7 countries.Two people were killed and two others were injured after a knife-wielding man broke into a school in central China and started attacking students today.

The incident occurred at 7.16am local time at Wanquan Elementary School in Yongzhou, Ningyuan county in Hunan province, according to police.

A 31-year-old male suspect from the town of Baijiaping, surnamed Zheng, was arrested by police.

Video footage shows one of the wounded students being moved onto an ambulance on a stretcher. Another clips shows concerned parents gathering at the school entrance

The injured students were rushed to hospital and were being treated for non-life threatening injuries, according to a statement released by Ningyuan county police.

Video footage released by Beijing Youth Daily shows one of the wounded students being moved onto an ambulance on a stretcher.

Another clip shows concerned parents crowding the entrance of the school.

Desperate parents seen gathering at the front gates of the school after the knife attack

Authorities are conducting an investigation, the statement added.

The attack is the latest in a string of mass stabbings around the country which are often blamed on people with mental illnesses or bearing grudges against individuals or society.

Firearms are tightly controlled in China, with private ownership illegal, while knives are mostly unregulated.

The incident occurred at 7.16am local time at Wanquan Elementary School in Yongzhou (above)

The school is located in the town of Baijiaping, Yongzhou, Ningyuan county in Hunan province

In a recent case in February, a 33-year-old man attacked morning commuters with a knife in Jiangsu province, injuring 11 people including students and police officers.

In December, an attacker with a knife who tried to hijack a bus killed eight people and wounded 22 others in Longyan, Fujian province.

In September, a man was executed for killing nine students and injuring 11 others in a knife attack at a middle school in Shaanxi province.

The man had said he had taken knives into his former school in order to vent frustration and anger over his misfortunes in life and the bullying he was subjected to while attending the school.

Homemade explosives and flammable liquids have also been used in mass attacks.A jet-setting serial killer who murdered women in three countries over three weeks and raped their corpses has spoken of the chilling way he slaughtered the women.

Bakhtiyor Matyakubov, 46, has been sentenced to two life sentences for seven murders in Russia and Ukraine.

He now faces a trial for three more suspected killings of women in his native Uzbekistan.

Bakhtiyor Matyakubov, 46, given two life sentences for murdering seven woman and raping their corpses in Russia and Ukraine, and now faces trial for three more slayings in Uzbekistan

Yulia Lebezhina (left and right), a sex shop worker from Moscow, was stabbed more than 20 times by Matyakubov because it was his birthday 'and I wanted to please myself'

Matyakubov was nicknamed the 'maniac in white gloves' which he wore for murders in Moscow.

Earlier jailed twice for robbery, the father-of-one claimed he killed to revenge women who cheated on him.

All the murders for which he is convicted or suspected took place in a 13-week spree as he flew between three countries, courts were told.

In one case he is alleged to have killed two women in separate attacks in a single day.

His final victim was Yulia Lebezhina, 26, a sex shop saleswoman in Moscow who he stabbed 20 times before stealing an artificial vagina toy.

'It was my birthday and I wanted to please myself,' he told his interrogators.

In sickening testimony, he said: 'I had never been to such places before. A normal girl would not work in a sex shop.

'I decided to punish this immoral madam. Then for a long time, I regretted killing her.

'She even came to me in my dreams. She was a beautiful girl.'

A Russian court this week found the construction site worker guilty of five murders - the first of which was triggered by him finding out on New Year's Day 2015 that his Moscow lover had another man, he claimed.

Lebezhina's murder was caught on CCTV at the shop where she works, and shows her standing in one corner (top right) as Matyakubov (left) walks in

Matyakubov calmly walks to stand beside her before pulling out a knife and stabbing her multiple times as she falls to the floor

He can then be seen walking out of the shop clutching the knife in his hand (top left)

'I understood the meaning of the phrase "the earth moved under my feet". I was extremely angry, ready to tear her to pieces. She felt it and fled.'

He tracked her to a railway station where he saw her talking to a man, he claimed.

Realising he would be caught if he attacked her, he instead hunted another random woman to kill in revenge, he said.

He drove around Moscow until he spotted Yulia Anpilova, 36, an estate agent.

'She was so pretty and all alone,' he said.

He offered her a lift and she told him she was married with two children.

In chilling testimony he said: 'I just got mad, a married woman walking down the street alone at night.

'I took her out of the city, pulled her out of the car and hit her several times with a knife. She fell like a doll. And somehow I felt better in my soul. Minus one prostitute in Moscow.'

He then flew 1,700 miles to Uzbekistan where the following day he is accused of killing a pharmacy saleswoman in Tashkent.

Less than a week later, on January 8, he killed a seamstress and another woman in a separate attack.

He is alleged to have raped the corpses of these suspected victims. In one case he is accused of beheading a woman before raping her.

On March 3, he flew to Kiev in Ukraine where he the murdered Natalia Onipchenko, 47 in a park, then raped her corpse, stealing her mobile phone, a court ruled.

Two days later he murdered Klavdiya Lepetyuha, 77, stabbing her 20 times.

'Matyakubov tore out her earrings and took her phone,' said Dmitry Tkachuk, head of the Kiev prosecutor's office.

'In both cases, the maniac raped the dead women. Both victims had two broken ribs.'

Natalya Yelkina, 34 and a single mother, was stabbed to death on April 4 while walking alone. Matyakubov said he did not even speak to her before he began his attack

Yulia Anpilova, 36, who was married with two children, was dragged off the streets of Moscow by Matyakubov because he was angry that she was walking alone before he beat her to death

On March 14, he attacked a 52-year-old flower seller, stealing her gold jewellery but not killing her.

He was caught by CCTV and also made calls with the phone he stole from Natalia Onipchenko which would later enable police to snare him.

But first he returned to Russia where on March 17, he killed Elmira Gusenko, 44.

He told detectives: 'I wanted to learn how to kill with just one stab. I understood that it must be strong and accurate - right in the heart. I wanted to work it out and left the house to kill a woman.'

In Izmailovo Park he saw a woman walking her small dog.

'There was a ring on her hand, so she was married, yet walking along the street alone showing herself off. I quickly pulled out the knife and struck her. But with one stab it did not work, so I had to repeat.

'When her blood gushed, it was as if a stone fell from my soul. I felt better.'

On April 4, he attacked single mother Natalia Yelkina, 34, a confectionery saleswoman, who was walking alone.

The vicious killer said: 'She was a blonde with blue eyes. I did not even talk to her.

'There was a lot of blood there, I don't remember how many times she was stabbed.'

A day later, he killed Irina Chekanova, 53, who worked in a medical supplies shop.

'She did not look kindly at me,' he said.

Police say this CCTV footage shows Matyakubov fleeing after killing Mrs Lebezhina

Blood is pictured at the scene of one of Matyakubov's murders, which he has described in detail for authorities for the first time

' I struck her seven times with a knife for this. I took nothing and left '

On April 9, he brutally killed sex shop worker Yulia Lebezhina.

A week later he reappeared in Ukraine and was spotted by CCTV cameras topping up the mobile phone he earlier stole.

He had planned to kill another woman, a mother of two, in her home when he was detained by police.

He told police: 'If you had not detained me, I would have committed another murder.

'I planned a murder tonight, and I would not stop.'

Tkachuk said that the killer talked openly about his murders but refused to speak about 'the rape of the corpses' for which there was clear forensic evidence.

He now faces extradition from Russia to Uzbekistan to face a further murder trial.

If convicted he can expect a third life sentence.

His state-appointed Russian lawyer Marina Efimenko said: 'My client admitted his guilt lost immediately.

'Trying to defend him, I wanted to find at least some witnesses who would speak positively about him.

'But his own son, brothers and friends talked of him as a very cruel and aggressive person.'

He sent her greetings cards from his detention cell, she said.A monstrous four-man-high ice-wall has been dumped in a sodden farmer's field by a raging torrent of water.

In scenes reminiscent of Game of Thrones, the Kepler family squelch along the side of the mile long frozen barricade in the middle of their hay meadow.

The Niobrara river burst its banks last month due to a massive 'bomb cyclone' storm, flinging water and ice across a million acres of farmland from the Dakotas to Missouri.

The towering wall of ice was abandoned as flood waters receded in Keya Paha county, Nebraska.

The 20-foot-high ice wall dumped by the raging river Niobrara in a field in Keya Paha County, Nebraska

A digger removes ice blocks from a badly damaged property after the floods

The frozen barricade that was dumped in a farmer's field is estimated to be a mile long and 200 yards wide

A stunning video of the storm's aftermath shows Ann and Billy Kepler with their child and two dogs pulling themselves through their sodden field.

They struggle along the edge of the immense 20-foot high and 200-yard wide ice-wall as it glints in the sunlight.

The wall, formed of several shards of ice, was dumped in their 75-acre hay meadow as flood waters receded.

'We dont even know what to think yet', Ann told the Lincoln Journal and Star.

'Parts of us are thinking this might be there until it starts snowing again.'

After showing the wall, the video swings over to the scraped bare and soaked countryside.

The family said that as much as 155-acres of their farmland has been buried by ice following the storm.

At least 1.1 million acres of cropland and more than 84,000 acres of pastureland in the US Midwest had flood waters on then for at least seven days between March 8 and March 21, satellite data analysed by Gro Intelligence revealed.

A rancher was seen walking along the side of the wall with another adult, children and two dogs

The camera then looks away to show the scarred landscape of Nebraska. Ice blocks in the flood water have scraped off topsoil as well as destroying property

The floods, caused by a bomb-cyclone, also washed away the bridge for Highway 12 over the Niobrara river

This may delay the planting of soy, wheat and corn for the coming year which could affect production

Floodwaters submerged fields from the Dakotas to Missouri for a week while ice blocks scraped away topsoil, flattened property and uprooted a bridge.

'There's thousands of acres that won't be able to be planted', Ryan Sonderup, 36, who has been farming for 18 years in Fullerton, Nebraska, said.

'If we had straight sunshine now until May and June, maybe it can be done, but I don't see how that soil gets back with expected rainfall.'

Fields are strewn with everything from silt and sand to tyre meaning some may not even be farmed this year. The water has also destroyed billions of dollars of old crops that were in storage, as well as damaging roads and railways.

The ice blocks were also dumped in some fields rendering them useless for planting at present

Justin Mensik, a fifth-generation farmer of corn and soybeans in Morse Bluff, Nebraska, said rebuilding roads was the first priority. Then farmers would need to bring in fertilizer trucks and then test soil before seeding, Mensik said.

'We're not too sure if we're going to be able to get a good crop this year with all the new mud and junk that's just laying here," said Mensik.

To be fully covered by crop insurance, Iowa farmers must plant corn by May 31 and soybeans by June 15, as yields decline dramatically when planted any later. Deadlines vary state by state. The insurance helps ensure a minimum price farmers will receive when they book sales for their crops.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast on Friday farmers would increase corn plantings by 4.1 percent from last year, but the estimate did not account for the flooding.

The floodwaters also washed away part of Highway 281 which is south of the Spencer dam

In Missouri, floodwaters covered roughly 200,000 acres in five northwest counties adjoining the Missouri River as of Wednesday morning, said Charlie Rahm, spokesman for USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in Columbia.

In Wisconsin more than 1,000 dairy and beef animals were lost during winter storms and 480 agricultural structures collapsed or damaged, according to an email from Sandy Chalmers, executive director of the Wisconsin state office of the USDAs Farm Service Agency.

In the Dakotas and Minnesota, melting snows in coming months will put spring wheat planting at risk. Gro Intelligence found nearly 160,000 acres have already been flooded in Minnesota.

It is unusual to see ice in the area in late March, when temperatures vary between eight degrees celcius and minus five.

The frozen blocks may have instead been brought down by the river from its source in the cool High Plains, Wyoming.The late wife of an Aldi founder has lashed out at her daughter-in-law's lavish lifestyle and excluded her and her children from future business decisions in her will.

Cacilie Albrecht, who was married to the discount supermarket chain's co-founder Theo, died aged 92 in November last year.

In her will - which was made public over the weekend by German weekly Bild am Sonntag - the matriarch accused her late son's five children and his widow, Babette, of not keeping with the firm's frugal mindset.

Cacilie Albrecht (pictured right with her husband in the 1970s) accused her late son's five children and his widow, Babette (left), of not keeping with the firm's frugal mindset

Cacilie claimed the family misused more than 100million (85million) of company funds to support their grand lifestyles.

Together with her husband and his brother Karl, Cacilie turned a humble grocery store in the German city of Essen in 1946 into one of the country's biggest successes following the Second World War.

Theo died in 2010 aged 88, soon to be followed by his brother Karl four years later.

In 1960, Aldi separated into two firms known as Aldi Nord and Sud, with both arms of the supermarket operating in different countries internationally.

The Nord company - which covers France, Spain, and Holland notably - is managed by the Markus foundation, of which Cacilie sat on the board, and two smaller institutions, Lukas (run by Cacilie's son, Theo) and Jakobus.

In her will, Cacilie claims her daughter-in-law and her five adult children have maintained their wealthy lifestyle by taking millions from the Jakobus foundation - which was operated by Babette Albrecht's husband Berthold until his death in 2012.

Babette can often be seen going against the family's traditionally quiet existence - taking part in a Germany Dancing show, and appearing at society events such as Vienna's Operball and Oktoberfest (pictured in 2016)

As such, the grandmother declared in her will - which was first heard in an Essen court in February - that Babette and her offspring should have no future role in the company.

'With this document I undertake to ensure the preservation of the philosophy of our family, which is to serve the consortium Aldi Nord and to foster this, at the same time as setting aside self-interests and practising a modest and abstemious way of life,' the will read.

Babette at a fashion party in January 2017 in Dusseldorf

Cacilie also noted that her worries were shared by her son about his wife and children.

She declared: 'Berthold himself said when he was alive that he had considerable doubts as to the suitability of his children to respect the life's work of my husband who, with my support, built the consortium Aldi Nord, and to serve it with respect and with responsibility towards its thousands of employees.'

The family denies any wrongdoing.

Andreas Urban, the lawyer of Babette Albrecht and her adult children, told The Guardian: 'The heirs of Berthold Albrecht have always been concerned since the death of their father, more than six years ago, for the welfare of Aldi Nord.

'This can be deduced in particular from the considerable financial means which have flowed into the company from the Jakobus foundation as well as from the support for important corporate projects.

'The heirs of Berthold Albrecht therefore need not reproach themselves in any way.'

Babette can often be seen going against the family's traditionally quiet existence - taking part in a Germany Dancing show, and appearing at society events such as Vienna's Operball.

The family's hermit-like lifestyle followed the 1971 kidnapping of Cacilie's husband, Theo, who was only freed after ransom money was paid.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fired back at Tucker Carlson after the Fox News host mocked MSNBC presenter Chris Hayes' masculinity.

The Democratic Rep. leaped to the defense of Hayes after Carlson called him 'what every man would be if feminists ever achieved absolute power'.

Ocasio-Cortez told the controversial Fox News presenter to 'get spooked' because 'the future is here'.

In a tweet Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez said: 'Chris Hayes was just as excited to host a #GreenNewDeal policy town hall in the BX as he was to get home in time to take his child to gymnastics class. If that's the scary future feminists want, get SPOOKED because the future is here and full of great relationships with your dad.'

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has defended MSNBC host Chris Hayes (pictured together promoting the Green New Deal) after he was mocked by Fox News' Tucker Carlson

The Democratic Rep. told Carlson to 'get spooked' because 'the future is here' - a reference to his jibe at feminism

Carlson had swiped at the Democratic Rep. and Hayes for promoting Ocasio-Cortez's ambitious climate change program at a town hall event in New York.

'Chris Hayes is what every man would be if feminists ever achieved absolute power in this country: apologetic, bespectacled and deeply, deeply concerned about global warming, and the patriarchal systems that cause it,' Carlson said.

The Fox News host also slammed Ocasio-Cortez, calling her a 'moron' who 'has never even raised children'.

Hayes responded on his Instagram account with a short clip of him exercising in a gym with the caption, 'Every quarter the Feminarchist junta require all adult males to present themselves for a fitness inspection. Failure to pass results in summary execution.'

Tucker has branded Chris Hayes 'what every man would be if feminists ever achieved absolute power in this country'

Donald Trump also weighed in following the Green New Deal town hall sit down, branding Ocasio-Cortez as little more than a 'young bartender'.

'The Green New Deal, done by a young bartender, 29 years old,' Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington DC on Tuesday, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

'A young bartender, wonderful young woman,' he continued, referring the freshman Democrat's experience tending bar at Flats Fix, a taqueria in New York City's Union Square, while she campaigned for Congress.

'The Green New Deal. The first time I heard it I said, "That's the craziest thing".'Shanghai (Gasgoo)- An intelligent connectivity and mobility service program jointly funded by GAC Group, Tencent, Guangzhou Public Transport and other investors will be officially launched in June this year, GAC Group revealed on April 1 at its 2018 annual performance announcement conference.

GAC Group said the new program will be started in Guangzhou first and then will step into five China's cities in 2019 with 10,000 NEVs deployed.

Using B2C (Business-to-Customer) mode in an initial stage, the new ICV and mobility service program will deploy tailor-made intelligent-connected NEVs to offer users all-round mobility life scenarios. Besides, all drivers and vehicles must be strictly managed to ensure service quality and safety.

With a total investment of RMB1 billion, the new program is an important part of GAC Group's strategy to become a mobility service provider. In addition, it is also a strategic investment program for Tencent in smart mobility area. The China-based Internet giant will strengthen its cooperation with GAC Group in policy resources, industrial experience, cloud computing, AI, HD map as well as autonomous driving, etc.

GAC Group is ambitious to reinforce its presence in NEV area. Since the presale of the Aion S BEV, the first model of GACs new NEV brand Aion, started on March 1, the automaker has received nearly 20,000 units of orders and 50,000 orders showing the purchase intention. Moreover, GAC Group will launch more NEV models into the market this year, including a B-segment all-electric SUV.Theresa May has slammed the video of four British paratroopers using a picture of Jeremy Corbyn for target practice as the Labour leader said he was 'shocked' - but a Military Cross hero has dismissed their 'tomfoolery' as a 'silly stunt'.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the incident was 'clearly unacceptable', and that she was aware of the video's content but had not seen it earlier today.

Mr Corbyn has called for an inquiry by the Ministry of Defence into the video and those who recorded it.

He added: 'I'm shocked, obviously, that this sort of thing has happened.

'I hope the Ministry of Defence will conduct an inquiry into it and find out what was going on and who did that.'

Now Ex-Colour Sergeant Trevor Coult, who was awarded the military cross for fighting suicide bombers and gunmen who ambushed his convoy in Baghdad in 2005, has said the group had recorded the clip 'out of mischief, not spite'.

He told MailOnline: 'This is a training video that went wrong. The person who put this online has done it out of mischief, not spite.

British paratroopers have been filmed using a picture of Jeremy Corbyn as target practice, pictured, in a video shared on social media

Mr Corbyn, pictured today with Keir Starmer, said he was 'shocked, obviously' by the video and has called for an inquiry by the Ministry of Defence

But ex-Colour Sergeant Trevor Coult, pictured, has dismissed the video as a 'silly stunt that backfired'

'But if people are saying the Paras are trying to kill the Labour leader then it is outrageous.

'I will stand by these young lads. You cant do this in the armed forces and it was inappropriate and it got out of hand.

'It should never have gone online. But it was tomfoolery, nothing serious.

'There should not be an investigation. They should get a slap on the wrist for being so stupid, and then we should get on with it.

'Sometimes young people do silly things and we need to remember that. Its just a silly stunt that backfired.'

The Snapchat video shows troops, of the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment based at Merville Barracks in Essex, peppering a large image of the Labour leader with hard wax rounds at a shooting range in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Politicians and the public condemned the footage online and the Ministry of Defence said it had launched an investigation, adding their behaviour fell 'well below the high standards the Army expects'.

Meanwhile Labour described the video as 'alarming' and called for urgent action to be taken.

It is understood the paratroopers involved have been spoken to and will soon return to the UK as their tour is coming to an end.

Some Twitter users claimed the video was fake, but it has been verified by military officials.

Brigadier Nick Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said the Army is conducting a full investigation and wants to get to the bottom of what happened.

He said: 'This is a serious error of judgment. Let me be clear - the Army is, and always will be, an apolitical organisation.

'We have 400 soldiers from the Brigade conducting force protection in Afghanistan, and working closely with both Nato and Afghan partners. These soldiers are doing an outstanding job out there.'

Meanwhile a Labour Party spokeswoman said: 'This behaviour is alarming and unacceptable. We have confidence in the MoD to investigate and act on this incident.'

The troops, pictured, were filmed on Snapchat firing paintball rounds at the picture at a shooting range in Kabul, Afghanistan. They are members of 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment based at Merville Barracks in Essex

The video was also addressed in the Commons today when speaker John Bercow said he would be 'horrified' if anyone in the services behaved that way towards an MP.

The target appears to show the party leader speaking at a podium with the Labour logo in front of him.

The video also includes the caption 'Happy with that.'

A link to the footage was shared on Twitter by former soldier and Military Cross recipient Trevor Coult, who also wrote 'Not looking good for a Labour leader' alongside a laughing emoji on his post.

The link has since been taken down and the footage appears to have been deleted.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practise what is called the 'guardian angel drill' - a force protection tactic.

Several politicians reacted with fury this morning as the video emerged.

Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith slammed the video on Twitter, describing it as 'shocking and completely unacceptable'.

'Right that the Army is carrying out a full investigation,' she added.

Former soldier and Tory MP, Johnny Mercer, tweeted that 'every organisation has good people who make serious misjudgements'.

He added: 'It's how it police's itself that matters, and an inability to do that correctly has caused so many problems of late (IHAT). I look forward to a robust response.'

Labour MP, Dan Jarvis, who is also a former Paratrooper, said the incident is 'shameful and utterly unacceptable'.

'This goes against the values and standards of the British Army. I welcome the Ministry of Defence investigation into this video and trust it will be resolved quickly,' he added.

Shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, also criticised the video branding it as 'absolutely disgraceful'.

She added: 'I hope the investigation will be conducted thoroughly and the conclusions made public.

'Political tensions are heightened at the moment and this type of behaviour is wholly inappropriate and unacceptable, we expect much better from our Army and soldiers.'

Labour MP Lucy Powell said she is 'absolutely shocked', and that the behaviour of the personnel is a 'total disgrace and utterly unacceptable'.

'Not least emerging the day after someone was convicted of trying to murder an MP,' she added.'

Labour MP Stella Creasy added the 'awful' video 'damages the well deserved professional standing' of the Army.

The camera zoomed in on the picture of Mr Corbyn to show several shots hit the target. Although there are claims online that the video is fake, but the Ministry of Defence confirmed it was legitimate

She tweeted: 'Not going to promote the awful video of soldiers doing target practice with a picture of Jeremy Corbyn but it's appalling - completely unacceptable and frightening to threaten violence to any politician.

'It also damages the well deserved professional standing of rest of the Army.'

The shocking clip has also drawn wide criticism on social media, with one person dubbing the video 'facist.'

Some online have claimed the unknown troops - whose faces can be seen in the footage - belong to the Parachute Regiment.

Many on social media slammed the footage particularly in the wake of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by far-right killer Thomas Mair in 2016.

Anthony Lock commented: 'Not looking good for the Paras either lol. Outrage in the morning you watch.'

Another social media user described it as 'extremely fascist behaviour'.

Anders Gardberg added: 'How deeply unprofessional. The task of any military unit in a democratic country is to defend the nation and its institutions, not even target them as a joke.'

Zach Martin posted: 'Almost certain this is illegal but even if it isn't against the law for uniformed military personnel to threaten death [on] a Member of Parliament, it's undeniably f****** terrifying.

'Gentle reminder that Jo Cox was murdered by a 'British Patriot' less than three years go.'

An Army spokesperson said: 'We are aware of a video circulating on social media, this behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects.

'A full investigation has been launched.'

A spokesman for the Parachute Regiment declined to comment.Taylor Swift was not said to be at her mansion at the time of the crash

Taylor Swift had a late night intrusion when a police chase ended with a stolen sedan smashed through her front gates.

Police in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, confirmed they began speeding after the vehicle at around 1am on Tuesday before it crashed into the gates of Swift's $25 million Watch Hill mansion.

Swift was not at home at the time, TMZ reported.

Three ambulances rushed to the scene and the driver Shykeim Edwin Lewis, 19, along with 18-year-old Kajae Correa and a 16-year-old were taken to hospital.

Another 18-year-old Taquan Nealey fled the scene but was later found and was not injured, the Westerly Sun reported.

The sedan's hood was severely crumpled following the high speed collision which bent Swift's gate and broke it open

The air bags are seen to have inflated within the vehicle which had four teenagers inside - three were rushed to hospital and another fled

Police said a car with no license plates, believed to have been stolen from Hartford, Connecticut, was spotted driving erratically in Hopkinton, five miles from Swift's home.

Westerly police were waiting to intercept the vehicle as it made its way to the affluent Watch Hill neighborhood.

After another police car nearly collided with the stolen car it went into Swift's gates.

Lewis, of Hartford, is charged with reckless driving by engaging police in high-speed pursuit; obstructing an officer; felony receiving stolen goods; and driving when license is suspended or denied.

The others in the car were not charged.

This is not the first time Swift's mansion has received unwanted visitors.

In July 2016, an obsessed fan Joseph Bernatche showed up at her house asking to marry her.

Just a day earlier he had been arrested for flashing his penis at a passing car.Komodo Island in Indonesia will be closed to tourists next year because people are stealing the giant lizards, the government has announced.

It comes after police uncovered a smuggling ring that sold 41 komodo dragons overseas for almost 27,000 each.

The closure will give the government time to beef up their conservation efforts including preserving the island's habitat by planting more indigenous plants.

Komodo Island will close to tourists from the start of 2020 so the Indonesian government can beef up efforts to conserve the komodo dragon after dozens were stolen to be sold abroad

Indonesian authorities busted another Komodo-smuggling ring last month, this time selling five of the rare animals via Facebook.

The dragons were being sold alongside dozens of other animals including bearcats, cockatoos and cassowaries.

The vast Southeast Asian archipelago nation's dense tropical rainforests boast some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world and it has for years been a key source and transit point for animal trafficking.

Five smugglers, identified only by their initials, were arrested in Semarang and Surabaya on Java island on March 27.

'The suspect VS sold the komodos online through Facebook,' East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said in a statement.

The dragons, which can only be found in their natural habitat on a cluster of islands in eastern Indonesia, were sold for between 15 and 20 million rupiah ($1,000-$1,400), Mangera said.

In a separate case, three other people were arrested in East Java over the alleged online sale of otters, leopard cats and pangolin, Mangera said.

Komodo dragons are the world's largest species of lizard, growing up to 10ft long, and are only found on a few small islands in Indonesia

If convicted, the smugglers could face up to five years in prison and a 100-million-rupiah fine.

The haul of komodo dragons comes just a day after authorities seized more than 5,000 endangered pig-nosed turtles from smugglers in Indonesia's easternmost province Papua.

The pig-nosed turtle - which has a distinctive snout-like nose and webbed feet - is only found in Australia and New Guinea, an island shared between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, and is protected under Indonesian conservation laws.

Indonesia's illegal trade in wildlife along with habitat loss has driven numerous endangered species, from the Sumatran elephant to the orangutan, to the brink of extinction.

Authorities in Bali, a popular holiday island, last week arrested a Russian tourist who attempted to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of Indonesia in his suitcase to keep as a pet.Sophia Gorden (left, outside Manchester Magistrates' Court today) would not scan items for friends such as Shelley Harris (right) who said they could not afford food

A check-out assistant who ran a 'Robin Hood' theft racket by giving hard-up friends freebies has been spared jail but banned from a shopping centre.

Mother-of-two Sophia Gorden didn't scan items placed on her conveyor belt by select friends who said they couldn't afford to pay.

The 43-year-old got away with her scam for up to three months until she was caught following an investigation at Quality Save in Stretford, Greater Manchester.

Gorden - who worked at Quality Save for three years - later said she had given away goods to two customers on at least 16 occasions although the value of the missing items is not known.

She insisted she had failed to scan the purchases due to a 'misplaced sense of being helpful to people'.

She lost her job at Quality Save following the probe and was later banned from Stretford Arndale - which in turn cost her another job at fashion retailers Peacocks, which has a branch in the mall.

Gorden admitted 16 charges of theft by employee and was ordered to complete a 12 month community order which will include 200 hours of unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay 285 costs at Manchester Magistrates' Court.

One of her friends was also arrested for stealing groceries during the illicit 'free' transactions. It is thought the store will not be insured for the thefts of the missing items due to the willing involvement of an employee.

Shelley Harris, 32, of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, admitted stealing from the store and was fined 120 with 175 costs and was ordered to pay 180 compensation.

The racket took place between August and October 2017 after Gorden set up a 'system' in which she planned for customers to come to her till so she could give them 'free' items.

Her defence lawyer Andrew Cowan said: 'It was through this work she was able to identify the two customers, including Miss Harris. These were two people, she didn't know them socially, only from her years working there.

'She was approached by the customers who said they were struggling financially. It started by them saying they were a couple of pounds short. They would say they would come and give her the change another time, but they soon stopped doing that.

Gorden would allow friends not to pay for certain items at the Quality Save store (pictured) in Stretford, Greater Manchester

'They would say "it's my birthday, could you give me something a bit cheaper". Or they'd ask, if she wouldn't put something through the till.

'She said she did this from a misplaced sense that she was helping and being nice. She had no problems whilst working there, there was no animosity towards her employer. There was no bad feeling. This was simply a misplaced sense of trying to help people.

'She is currently on Universal Credit. She has two children aged 20 and 19, who are both in education.

Gorden and Harris (both pictured outside Manchester Magistrates' Court today) were spared prison

'She was working at Peacocks for two weeks after losing her job, but once she was banned from Stretford Arndale, so she lost that job too.

'She is sorry for what she's done, she said it was a stupid thing to do, and again she's sorry for what she's done. She felt she didn't have an option.. She wasn't planning to sell them. They were consumables and they weren't for her.'

Sentencing District Judge James Hatton told Gorden: 'You are somebody who has never been convicted of a criminal offence, but you do have a caution for a dishonesty offence of some time ago.

'Within each commission of the offence you executed, you threw that trust back in the face of your employer by your actions.

'You say what you did was out of some sort of misguided kindness by being kind to people but I find that hard to believe that on the 16 occasions you did this out of either misguided friendship or misguided loyalty.

'There was a system and a degree of planning as these people came to your till. All of these items were facilitated by you to be able to do to.'

The judge added: 'You have also suffered with financial difficulties yourself but have no difficulties with your mental health, alcohol or drugs.

'I believe you will benefit from limited support from probation and punishment in the form of unpaid work, and that will be the most appropriate.'Leila Hammoud, 36, is in a protracted legal battle with her wealthy Omani ex, Talal Al Zawawi, 48

A wealthy wife locked in a bitter divorce fight has succeeded in having her husband, said to be worth 300m, face the prospect of jail after he failed to turn over financial information to her lawyers.

Leila Hammoud, 36, is in a protracted legal battle with her wealthy Omani ex, Talal Al Zawawi, 48.

She has already received a court award granting her 25m of his fortune but he has threatened not to pay it.

Ms Hammoud, who moved to London from the 'palace' in Muscat, Oman, that she shared with Mr Al Zawawi after they split in 2017, has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds fighting her ex in 'litigation of the utmost intensity'.

She wanted 50m from Mr Al Zawawi, whom a judge found owns a 300m slice of a family group of companies valued at over 2 billion, and whom his wife claims personally earns 'about 3.7m' a year.

Now Mr Justice Williams in the family division of the High Court has imposed a three-month jail sentence on the husband for failing to obey an order to let his wife's lawyers have information about his finances.

The court heard Ms Hammoud say at an earlier hearing she had shared a 'palace' in Muscat with Mr Al Zawawi, as well as having a home in London and enjoying an opulent lifestyle during their 12-year marriage.

Leila Hammoud and Talal Al Zawawi married when she was 24 and he 36. He is worth 300m. she said they shared a 'palace' in Oman and now wants 50m from the businessman

Mr Al Zawawi owned 15 per cent of the Zawawi Group, worth around 300

Mr Al Zawawi owned 15 per cent of the Zawawi Group, which controls a huge portfolio of businesses including banking, construction and tourism.

He inherited his share from his late father, politician and businessman Qais Bin Abdulmunim Al Zawawi, and it was worth around 300m, divorce judge Mr Justice Holman found.

Mr Al Zawawi has already obtained an Omani divorce from Ms Hammoud.

But she continued to fight on for a payout in London after saying that she would get no financial provision under Omani law.

And last month, Mr Justice Holman awarded her 25m, including more than 5m for a house and 75,000 for a car.

Mr Al Zawawi had claimed that his fortune was around 34m and consisted of assets that were 'illiquid and unrealisable'.

Lawyers representing Ms Hammoud had asked the judge to impose an asset-freezing order. They said Mr Al Zawawi had not complied with earlier orders and suggested that he would not pay the 25 million.

Leila Hammoud has already obtained an Omani divorce but she continued to fight on for a payout in London after saying that she would get no financial provision under Omani law

The award came after Mr Justice Holman had slammed Mr Al Zawawi for his 'highly controlling behaviour' towards his ex, despite them being over 3,500 miles apart.

The judge criticised the husband for having instructed Ms Hammoud's chauffeur in London 'not to drive the wife anywhere alone in the car, unless she has the children with her and so it is a journey for the purpose and benefit of the children'.

'It is the husband who pays the salary of the driver,' the judge explained.

'This, frankly, is highly controlling and in my view demeaning of the status of a recently divorced wife and mother of the children,' he continued, adding that he found the situation 'frankly absurd'.

'This of course has been the historical pattern in this family. They do not drive themselves,' the judge noted.

Mr Al Zawawi said he banned the wife from taking solo trips in the chauffeur-driven car because of 'a tendency of the wife to smoke or vape in the cars in the presence of the drivers if the children are not there'.

Mr Justice Holman went on to order that the husband must give money for the cars and chauffeurs to the wife so she could pay for them herself and be in direct control of her own transport.

'It is frankly preposterous to suggest that there should be some provision to the effect that she can only be driven alone in the car provided it does not take priority over the children,' he said.

The judge ruled it was 'preposterous' and 'controlling' that the husband should control how his driver paid with his money uses his car to ferry his ex-wife (pictured) around London, since their divorce

'It is for her to make decisions as to the division of the driver's time between her reasonable needs and the reasonable needs of the children,' he added.

The judge also commented that the situation with the cars 'illustrates the objectively petty position this family and these parties have got themselves into'.

Mr Al Zawawi now faces jail for contempt of court after failing to comply with an order made last May to hand over vital financial documents to his Lebanese ex-wife's lawyers.

He was given a suspended sentence last month, which he has now breached, said Mr Justice Williams.

'A prison sentence of three months, suspended for seven days was imposed,' he said.

'The husband had failed to follow the order of Mr Justice Holman of 1 May 2018, requiring him to file, by 4pm May 15 2018, documents relating to the application for financial remedies.

'Mr Al Zawawi failed to file the required documents by 15 May 2018.

'He has (still) not filed or served the documents. I am satisfied that Mr Al Zawawi has failed to comply with the terms of the suspension and thus that the suspended sentence should now be implemented.

'I will now issue a warrant for the committal to prison of Mr Al Zawawi for three months from the date of his arrest,' the judge concluded.

Mr Al Zawawi is in Oman, but will be liable to be arrested and jailed should he set foot in the UK.A woman has claimed that what should have been a standard beauty treatment has left her face permanently scarred and pigmentation damage.

Lillian Paul told A Current Affair on Wednesday she recently visited a local beauty salon in Melbourne to undergo a laser hair removal on her face.

But instead of walking out with smooth skin, she claims the treatment stripped the pigmentation from her face, leaving a distinct discolouration that required months of painful treatment.

Having never tried the service before, Ms Paul said she wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was surprised with the 'excruciating' pain.

As a part of her recovery, Ms Paul (pictured) had to 'peel the skin on her face back to let it heal.' She said she now wears a lot of colour correcting foundation to feel comfortable

Stunned with the results, Ms Paul said she went to hospital for help and was met by horrified medics.

Ms Paul said staff told it would take months, if not years, for her skin to recover.

She claims she was forced to quit her job and spend an entire two months at home, out of direct sunlight.

As a part of her recovery, Ms Paul said she had to 'peel the skin on her face back to let it heal.'

'That was very painful. It was think burnt skin I was pulling off my face twice a week. I have to wear a lot of colour correcting foundation now to feel comfortable,' she said.

Ms Paul (pictured) claimed she was told it would take months, if not years, for her skin to recover

Ms Paul was just one of a number of women who voiced their concerns to A Current Affair about the beauty clinic.

Another woman said she was left with first and second degree burns to the face, while another claimed she suffered blistering red welts under her arms due to a treatment.

NSW and Victorian laws surrounding laser treatment providers are softer than those in other states.

According to cosmetic surgeon Dr Joseph Ajaka, anybody in NSW and Victoria can perform laser surgery.

She claims she was forced to quit her job and spend an entire two months at home, out of direct sunlight (pictured)

He said the system needs a serious overhaul.

'With Lillian's case, the laser settings are way too high and they have picked up her hair follicles as well as her pigment cells.

'By picking up the pigment cells it has caused them damage and they are no longer able to produce any pigment which has turned parts of her skin white. She now has what we call hyperpigmentation.

'It is irreversible,' he said.

Ms Paul was financially compensated by the salon.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that he cannot guarantee his social network won't be used to influence the outcome of the European elections.

Mr Zuckerberg, who spoke in Ireland after visiting the social network's European headquarters, said Facebook has taken steps to protect the democratic process since Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election in the US.

But he described the situation as an 'ongoing arms race' pitting 'sophisticated nation states' against technology giants, meaning a final solution will likely never be found.

Mark Zuckerberg has said he cannot give a guarantee that Facebook will be able to stop its platforms being used by malicious actors trying to influence the outcome of the European Elections. | https://t.co/19SBgASq5C pic.twitter.com/2Wf92vYrO0  RTE News (@rtenews) April 2, 2019

Mark Zuckerberg described the fight against election meddling by foreign governments as an 'arms race' and admitted a final solution might never be found (file image)

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE, he said: 'Weve certainly made a lot of progress in building defences to protect the integrity of elections.

'But no, I dont think anyone can guarantee in a world where you have nation states [that] are trying to interfere in elections there is no single thing that we can do, and say okay, we have now solved the issue.

'This is an ongoing arms race.'

The European elections are due to take at the end of May when more than 700 positions in the European Parliament will be voted on by 27 member states.

Voters in the United Kingdom are not expected to take part because the country was supposed to have left the European Union by the time the election starts.

Mr Zuckerberg also qualified comments he made weeks ago calling for governments to take a greater role in regulating social media, denying that he had been trying to shirk responsibility for the issue.

Instead, he said that people want governments to be taking the lead over private companies or individuals like himself.

'I think these days a lot of people dont want tech companies or any private companies to be making so many decisions about what speech is acceptable and what this harmful content that needs to be gets taken down,' he said.

'So I think there is a role for a broader public debate here and I think some of these things would benefit from a more democratic process and a more active government role.'

Mr Zuckerberg spoke out after travelling to Facebook's EU headquarters in Dublin Tuesday to discuss with politicians how best to regulate the social network

It comes after Mr Zuckerberg met with politicians Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless and Eamon Ryan to discuss what could be done to regulate social media.

The three members of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News described the Facebook boss as 'quiet, unassuming, pleasant and smart.'

Former British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, now serving as Facebook's head of global affairs and communications, was also at the meeting.

Mr Zuckerberg told the politicians that issues around child protection and age verification are of 'huge concern' to him.

Ms Naughton described the meeting as 'positive and constructive'.

'We went through a number of issues including child protection and the need for a robust age verification system,' she said.

The three members of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News described the Facebook boss as 'quiet, unassuming, pleasant and smart'

'He said it was an area of huge concern to him and that he is looking forward to working with law enforcement agencies and legislators in relation to that. We have to balance the state of privacy of users as well as safety.

'He stated he had a lot more work to do.

'Our committee is working on a number of pieces of legislation including an online safety commissioner as well as looking at and protecting democracy.

'I mentioned the importance around age verification because you have right now paedophiles online lying about their age and preying on young children and grooming them.

'This is something he acknowledged, he knew it was a problem and he stated that he wanted to work with law enforcement agencies and policy makers to make more robust laws.'

The TDs held an hour-long meeting with him days after he called for increased government oversight of the internet in areas like harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.

Mr Lawless said: 'Our focus was also on electoral integrity and what has been happening around the world on the rules in managing election campaigns.

'He agreed legislation is needed, he is working on those internationally to be able to see who is running campaigns, who is paying for campaigns and who is being targeted.

'It shouldn't be about the private companies dictating what goes online when it comes to democracy and child protection and safety, we as legislators have responsibilities to put in place rules that we think should be followed and dictating to companies about how behaviours are conducted online.'

Mark Zuckerberg assured senior Irish politicians Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless (right) and Eamon Ryan he will work with governments to establish new policies in a bid to regulate social media during a meeting at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin

Nick Clegg, the former leader of the British Liberal Democrats, accompanied Mr Zuckerberg in his new role as head of global affairs

Mr Ryan said: 'I pressed him about the article he wrote on regulation and I made the point that it can't be self-regulation it has to be European regulation and that has to include funding journalism and having a courts procedure rather than a self-appointed board to look at difficult decisions.'

Mr Zuckerberg also visited the technology giant's European Headquarters as part of his visit to the Republic.

But he refused to answer questions from the media about online child safety as he left the Merrion Hotel.

The International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News is made up of international parliamentarians and investigates issues like data privacy, safety, security and sharing.

The three TDs, who are also members of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, have been vocal in demanding the regulation of social media platforms in recent years.

Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has a number of inquiries ongoing into Facebook and associated organisations.

According to the Irish Times Mr Zuckerberg praised Europe's introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which tightened up rules regarding data privacy.

The social network founder said GDPR was a good foundation that encoded a lot of important values around people being able to choose how their data is used, and at the same time making sure that companies have the ability to use information for safety purposes.

He added that it was almost inevitable that every country was going to want comprehensive privacy legislation.A zoo bear in China has caused a craze on the internet after a trending video apparently shows her dancing like there is no tomorrow.

The animal, dubbed the 'disco dancing bear' on social media, is seen passionately shaking her head and wiggling her body as she holds onto exercise bars.

The footage, which was given upbeat background music, has gathered more than 1.1 million likes and 57,000 comments since it appeared yesterday.

The bear in a Chinese zoo has been dubbed the 'disco dancing bear' after appearing to shake her head in a vigorous way in a viral video. The animal is an eight-year-old Tibetan Blue Bear

Web users on popular video app Douyin, where the 15-second clip is shared to, love the bear's enthusiastic movements

One user wrote: 'I feel like the bear has reached the peak of its life.'

Another one joked: 'It must be the only bear in the zoo that has been to the disco.'

The comical bear live in Tianjin Zoo in northern China and is an eight-year-old female Tibetan Blue Bear.

Apparently, she doesn't 'dance' this vigorously in real life.

Zoo staff told MailOnline that the footage had been sped up by the uploader.

Bust a move: The footage, which was given upbeat background music, has gathered more than 1.1 million likes. The bear was in heat and the footage has been sped up, according to zoo staff

The celebrity bear, nicknamed Ma Xiaoqian, is a Tibetan Blue Bear (above, file photo). The rare bear species is native to the Himalayas on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau

'The bear does shake her head and body, but she does it at about half the speed,' said Wang Yuan, who works at the zoo's propaganda and education department.

The bear shares the enclosure with three other male Tibetan Blue Bears.

She is described to be 'outgoing' and has been named Ma Xiaoqian by keepers, which means 'pretty' in Chinese.

The hilarious footage was filmed at the bear enclosure of Tianjin Zoo (pictured) in China

'She is more active in spring and summer and moves her body around more frequently.

'It is because she is in heat during those months,' said Ms Wang, adding it was most likely that Ma Xiaoqian had smelt other male bears and become excited in the video.

Tibetan Blue Bears, a type of brown bear, are native to the Himalayas on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.

They are very rare and could be extinct in the wild, according to Bear Conservation.

They are said to be shy from human contact.A transgender bank robber who was arrested for stealing to fund her sex change operations 11 years ago was arrested again last week over another raid - fresh from recent facial surgery.

Police in Gulfport, Mississippi, were called to a bank in the city after reports a woman walked into the building and passed a note to staff demanding money on March 22.

A suspect who gave her name as Iconic Facce was arrested last Saturday and it was revealed by police the women was born Jimmy Maurice Lewis II.

Lewis gained notoriety in 2008 when she reportedly held up a teller at the Alabama Credit Union in Decatur where she demanded $20,000, but made off with less than half that amount.

Prosecutors said she planned a series of raids to fund her gender reassignment surgery, according to Alabama Local.

Jimmy Maurice Lewis, also known as Iconic Facce, pictured (right) after her arrest with tape around her nose and (left) CCTV of the suspect who passed a note to staff at BancorpSouth Bank

Gulfport Police issued CCTV images from the BancorpSouth Bank showing a suspect officers were looking for in connection with the recent robbery.

A picture of Lewis released by police after her arrest shows surgical tape around her nose which could have been due to recent facial surgery.

She left the bank building in Gulfport on foot on foot, according to police.

An appeal was put out by police and Lewis was again arrested returning flight from Mexico on March 30.

She was taken into custody at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, and is being held in the Harris County Jail in Texas awaiting extradition to Mississippi.

Police were called to the bank in Gulfport, Mississippi, after a woman (pictured) walked in and handed a threatening note to a staff member

From June 2007 to January 2008, Lewis was said to have robbed banks by passing threatening notes in Cleveland, Decatur and Lenoir City in Tennessee.

She was arrested in 2008 in Los Angeles on arrival with a flight from Mexico when one of her aliases was spotted by border agents.

According to police reports, Lewis threatened the life of a teller, saying in a note: 'No games, no jokes and get your hands up. Don't mash any alarms. Don't move or she's had it.'

Lewis was sentenced to 51 months behind bars and probation for the robbery.

But 11 years later the 37-year-old was arrested again in Mississippi over allegations of robbery at the BancorpSouth Bank.A Georgia actress and star of a recent biopic about an anti-abortion activist says she is 'ecstatic' over the passing of the state's new 'heartbeat' anti-abortion bill.

Ashley Bratcher's stance is opposed by more than 50 Hollywood stars who have threatened to pull business in Georgia over the controversial law which would ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected - as early as six weeks.

Bratcher, who stars as activist Abby Johnson in 'Unplanned,' spoke of her joy for the bill's passing on Friday.

Governor Brian Kemp must now make a decision by May 12 on whether to sign the bill into law amid intense activist pressure.

Ashley Bratcher attends the 'Unplanned' red-carpet premiere of the movie on March 18, 2019 in Hollywood, California

Actress Alyssa Milano speaks after delivering a letter to Governor Brian Kemp's office detailing her opposition to the bill on Tuesday

Georgia's law currently allows for abortions to the 20th week of pregnancy.

More than 50 Hollywood actors, including Alyssa Milano, Alec Baldwin and Amy Schumer sent a letter threatening to pull business out of Georgia - a hub for television and movie production - if the ban is enacted.

But Bratcher told the AJC: 'I am ecstatic that the heartbeat bill passed in Georgia.'

She added: 'I couldnt be more proud of our fearless leaders like Governor Brian Kemp who stood for life in the face of all the threats and backlash.'

Last week Bratcher went after Milano in a Deadline piece, writing: 'Mother to mother, actress to actress, and as a proud Georgian, Ive got some things to say to you.

'Hollywood may be silent on womens rights but Georgia, the new home of the movie industry, is making its voice heard loud and clear.

'Im incredibly proud of my home state for taking a stand in the fight for life amidst backlash and dubious threats.'

Energized by new conservatives on the Supreme Court, abortion opponents in multiple states hope to ignite new legal battles that could prompt the Supreme Court to revisit 1973's Roe v. Wade.

Kentucky and Mississippi governors have already approved the bans on abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.

A South Carolina House subcommittee passed a bill Tuesday that would ban almost all abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Opponents argued the bills are ultimately futile and losing court battles will leave the states with hefty legal bills.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (right) speaks to members of the Georgia House as House Speaker David Ralston looks on during the final 2019 legislative session at the State Capitol Tuesday

Pro-abortion rights demonstrators the 35th legislative day at the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta

'Here's the problem: This bill is unconstitutional,' Vicki Ringer, director of Public Affairs Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said during subcommittee debate of the South Carolina bill. 'You believe that (Justice Neil) Gorsuch and (Justice Brett) Kavanaugh will save you on the Supreme Court. That court has already blocked an abortion bill.'

Asked about proposing something clearly in conflict with current Supreme Court decisions, Collins, who previously sponsored heartbeat legislation in Alabama, said the 'whole point is to get the courts to relook at this issue.'

'I think people are seeing a possibility that the Supreme Court might have a more conservative leaning balance,' Collins said.Advertisement

Theresa May will sit down for Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn today after she enraged her party by offering to find a consensus with the Labour leader.

Mr Corbyn and his senior aides will sit down with the Prime Minister in her Commons office this afternoon and see if they can finally find a compromise that allows the divorce deal to pass.

Mrs May appears to have thrown out the political declaration she agreed with the EU on what the final UK-EU trade deal might look like - signalling she will accept a softer Brexit in the end to get Britain out of the bloc within weeks.

Mr Corbyn has agreed to the talks 'without limits' but few in Westminster see how the Tory and Labour positions can be successfully brought together.

The Tories have promised to leave the Single Market and Customs Union so they can end free movement of people and strike new trade deals after Brexit but Labour's policy is to keep a customs union.

If the talks fail, Mrs May has promised to put options to Parliament and agreed to be bound by the result. In a second round of indicative votes on Monday night a customs union, Norway-style soft Brexit and second referendum were the leading options - but none got a majority of MPs.

The Prime Minister is in a race against time after deciding to avoid No Deal next Friday, April 12.

A new extension must be agreed with the EU at an emergency summit on Wednesday - with Britain's demands needing to be set out in a letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk early next week.

Mrs May's speech suggest she will ask for a new extension running at least for several months - but with a break clause if the deal can be passed in the next couple of weeks so Britain could avoid holding EU elections in May.

EU leaders must agree the terms of any extension unanimously and Mrs May will get no say in what is actually decided after she has made her request.

What did Mrs May announce last night?

The Prime Minister said the divorce deal could not be changed but announced she would seek a new consensus with Jeremy Corbyn on the political declaration about the final UK-EU agreement.

She has effectively thrown out the second document and wants a new basis to renegotiate it with the EU. To make progress with Labour, it is inevitable this will for a softer Brexit than her current plan.

What is the first step?

Mrs May is due to meet Mr Corbyn later today in her Commons office. There is a race against time to see if there can be a new cross party agreement in time for an EU summit next week.

What does Mrs May's shift mean?

It suggests Mrs May has abandoned all hope of winning over remaining Tory Brexiteers and the DUP on the terms of her current deal.

Striking a cross-party deal on the future relationship will require Mrs May to abandon many of her red lines - including potentially on free movement and striking trade deals.

To get an agreement with Labour, Mrs May will need to agree the political declaration should spell out a much softer Brexit than her current plans do. This might mean a permanent UK-EU customs union or even staying in the EU Single Market.

What if Mr Corbyn says No?

Mrs May said if she cannot cut a deal with Corbyn, she would ask Parliament to come up with options - and promised to follow orders from MPs.

In a second round of indicative votes on Monday night a customs union, Norway-style soft Brexit and second referendum were the leading options - but none got a majority of MPs.

They would probably pass if the Tories whipped for them - but it would almost certainly mean ministers quitting the Government.

When will Brexit be?

It is hard to say - but it is unlikely to be next week on April 12. Mrs May said she would ask the EU for a new extension to Article 50 that is as 'short as possible' and ends when a deal is passed.

The PM clearly still wants to get out of the EU before European Parliament elections have to be held on May 22 but this is ultimately up to Brussels.

Will the EU agree to this?

It is hard to say. The EU has said it is open to further extension if there is a clear purpose and plan. Open ended talks on the future framework are unlikely to qualify.

A clear, negotiable goal for the future framework probably would do. The EU has always said it is open to Britain staying in the Single Market and Customs Union.

When does it need to be sorted out?

Mrs May must have a new plan in her pocket by the time she sees EU leaders next Wednesday. In practice, talks with Mr Corbyn must have concluded today or tomorrow to give time for MPs to have their say if she is to make demand to the EU ahead of next week's summit.

What are rebel MPs doing today?

Oliver Letwin secured control of the Commons agenda today, a third day after he staged indicative votes on Brexit yesterday and last Wednesday.

Today the MPs have a different plan - to pass a draft law requiring the Government to seek a delay to Brexit if there is No Deal.

How do they do it?

Before they can use the time in the Commons they have secured, the MPs must win a vote on the rules known as a Business of the House motion.

Today's motions says the principle of the new law would be debated until 7pm. After this there is until 10pm to debate any proposed amendments to the law before another vote to finalise it at 10pm.

Is it allowed?

Yes, in principle and if a majority of MPs vote for the Business of the House motion. Laws have been passed by the Government in a single day before though it remains unorthodox for backbench MPs to have control of the Commons at all.

Can it be stopped?

Yes, if opponents of the idea can win votes on the issue and block the Business of the House motion. This seems unlikely as Sir Oliver has won his previous votes with a majority of around 40.

What will the Lords do?

Unclear. Forcing the Bill through would require the cooperation of the Lords as there are no timetabling rules in the Upper House. Brexiteers would have a better chance of blocking it in the Lords.

In practice, Labour signalled in January the Lords would be unlikely to outright block a draft law passed by MPs in the Commons.

Will May resign?

Nodbody knows for sure. Last week, Mrs May announced she would go if and when her divorce deal passed so a new Tory leader could take charge of the trade talks phase.

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 on Friday, 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.

Does is all mean there will be an election?

Probably, at some point though the immediate chances probably fell slightly tonight. 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 last 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.

MPs voting to seize control of Brexit from ministers has only fuelldd 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.

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.A disastrous D-Day rehearsal which led to the deaths of six British soldiers when their amphibious tanks sank is to be remembered in a new exhibition 75 years on.

The top secret but ill-fated exercise, known as Operation Smash, took place on April 4, 1944 in Studland Bay, Dorset.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill and King George VI were among those watching on from a concrete bunker as a series of floating tanks were launched into the sea.

Seven of the Valentine Duplex Drive (DD) tanks (pictured) were overcome by the waves during the operation and sunk in 60ft of water

The wrecks still lie some 800m off the beach where Isle of Purbeck Sub-Aqua Club have recently been diving on them in the run-up to the anniversary

Most of the tanks on the seabed have at least part of the turret and the guns seem to have survived. They are covered in algae and act as an artificial reef for marine life

As part of the exhibition, the National Trust will be hosting the last remaining duplex-drive Valentine tank (pictured) of the type used in the exercise

Veterans gathered at Studland Bay, Dorset in 2014 to remember those who lost their lives during the exercise on April 4, 1944

But in deteriorating conditions seven of the Valentine Duplex Drive (DD) tanks were overcome by the waves and sunk in 60ft of water.

Six servicemen - Lieutenant C Gould, Sergeant V Hartley, Corporals Arthur Park and V Townson and Troopers A Kirby and E Petty - drowned.

Their deaths were kept secret for decades but a memorial to them was erected to mark the 60th anniversary of the doomed operation in 2004.

As a result of the exercise, amphibious Sherman tanks were launched much further inshore on D-Day on June 6, 1944, saving lives in the process.

But the Americans unfortunately didn't heed these lessons and launched their tanks from too far out at Omaha with the loss of more than 100 of them.

The wrecks lie in 60ft of water and have now been examined by underwater archaeologists on numerous occasions - with the latest including the Isle of Purbeck Sub-Aqua Club

The exhibition, held in partnership with Purbeck Sub Aqua Club and Bournemouth University, features haunting underwater images showing the wrecks of the amphibious tanks

The duplex tanks (pictured) were modified versions of the existing Valentine model which had propellers and a fabric skirt added so they could be launched from offshore as part of the assault on the Normandy beaches

The exhibition, held in partnership with Purbeck Sub Aqua Club and Bournemouth University, features haunting underwater images showing the wrecks of the amphibious tanks which still lie on the seabed today.

The divers found that the hulls of the tanks are all relatively intact and there are significant debris fields around each one.

Most tanks have at least part of the turret and the guns seem to have survived. They are covered in algae and act as an artificial reef for marine life.

In addition, the last surviving duplex-drive Valentine tank of the type used in the fateful exercise will be on display.

The last remaining duplex-drive Valentine tank of the type used in the exercise will be visible on the beach on Saturday, March 30 to Sunday, April 7 from 10am to 4pm at Knoll Beach

The tanks owner, military vehicle expert Jon Pearson, along with Nick Reed of Isle of Purbeck Sub-Aqua Club, will also be giving a talk as part of the exhibition

Prime Minister Winston Churchill and King George VI were among those watching on from a concrete bunker as a series of floating tanks were launched into the sea

Also watching on were US General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, with the view from the bunker visible here

James McWilliam, senior visitor experience officer at the National Trust, said: 'At Studland, there is a wide range of untold stories and the preparations for the invasion of France in 1944 form a vital part of Studland's history.

'Upon learning about the Isle of Purbeck Sub Aqua Club's research into the sunken Valentine Tanks, we saw a good opportunity to host their research and help them to share the story of the soldiers who took part in the events on April 4, 1944.'

The exhibition is running at the Discovery Centre, Knoll Beach.Cesar Sayoc, 57, now claims he had no intention to harm the recipients of his mail bombs

A Florida man who mailed 16 bombs to prominent opponents of President Donald Trump, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, claims they were only meant to 'intimidate or scare.'

Cesar Sayoc, 57, wrote a note to the judge in New York to clarify his position having answered yes to a question during his plea hearing over whether he knew his devices would hurt his targets.

In his letter Sayoc claims: 'In my heart I wanted to say no.' He added: 'I answered under extreme emotional circumstances.'

Sayoc's letter from March 23 to U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff was made public Tuesday and will impact Sayoc's guilty plea he entered two weeks ago regarding the October 2018 mailings.

In an order, Rakoff gave lawyers a week to comment.

During the plea proceedings two weeks ago, Rakoff asked Sayoc if he knew the devices would hurt anyone.

In his handwritten letter, Sayoc said his lawyer told him to say yes.

Hillary Clinton delivers a speech during a campaign rally at Northern Community College in Annandale, Washington in July 2016 - she was sent a mail bomb

President Barack Obama speaks during the 2019 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple Of Hope Awards on December 12, 2018 in New York - he too was targeted by Sayoc

'In my heart I wanted to say no,' he said. 'I answered under extreme emotional circumstances.'

Sayoc noted that he answered the question just after crying as he read a statement describing his crimes.

Cesar Sayoc (far right in red hat) is seen as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the AeroMod International hangar at Orlando Melbourne

He said he was returned to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he reconsidered his answer.

'I realized that it was the wrong thing to say, because under no circumstances my intent was to hurt or harm anyone. The intention was to only intimidate and scare,' he wrote.

Sayoc faces life in prison at sentencing on September 12 after pleading guilty to various explosives-related crimes in a deal with prosecutors.

Sayoc admitted sending 16 rudimentary bombs - none of which detonated - to targets including Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former President Barack Obama and actor Robert De Niro.

Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta.

The bombs began turning up over a five-day stretch weeks before the midterms.

They were mailed to addresses in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the packages addressed to former CIA head John Brennan and an explosive device that was sent to CNN's New York office in October 2018

Sayoc was arrested in late October at a Florida auto parts store.

He had been living in a van plastered with Trump stickers and images of Trump opponents with crosshairs over their faces.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers did not comment Tuesday on Rakoff's order.A couple were arrested when they returned from their dream Caribbean wedding because neighbours smelled out a cannabis plantation in their home.

Police raided the house of blushing bride Leigha Armstrong, 25, and groom Ricky, 29, of Pontypool, Gwent, while they were on their honeymoon 4,000 miles away in Cuba.

Officers were tipped off by residents who reported a strong smell from inside, and they found a locked room with 34 cannabis plants and heating equipment inside.

A court heard dopey groom Mr Armstrong also left a notepad full of calculations and growing instructions.

Police raided the house of blushing bride Leigha Armstrong and groom Ricky (pictured) of Pontypool, Gwent while they were away celebrating their wedding

The pair, were arrested on their arrival back as Mr and Mrs in July 2017.

Prosecutor Tony Trigg said the plants had a maximum value of 22,500 with the plants produce an estimated 30 to 90 ounces.

When they jetted off on their honeymoon they left behind a cousin to look after their drug factory in the rented house, who was said to be 'dog sitting.'

Newport Crown Court heard the couple claimed the nuptials were paid for by a 'tax rebate' although police suspected it was from their plantation.

Officers were tipped off by residents who reported a strong smell from inside, and they found a locked room with 34 cannabis plants and heating equipment inside (pictured)

Some of the cannabis plants that were found inside the house that was raided by police

The pair (pictured on their wedding day in July 2017) were arrested on their arrival back as Mr and Mrs

Newport Crown Court heard the couple claimed the nuptials (pictured) were paid for by a 'tax rebate' although police suspected it was from their plantation.

Defending Gareth Williams said it was clear the Armstrongs were 'in it together.'

He said: 'While there are not as many plants as you sometimes see in these cases, this was a determined effort to grow.'

He added: 'It's surprising that anyone who has done this before would write this information down to leave as a Christmas present for the authorities.'

The newlyweds, were charged with producing a controlled class B drug.

Judge Geraint Walters said: 'So happy were you in your little world you celebrated your marriage in Cuba leaving a drugs factory back in your house.

Another photograph taken by the police inside the house showed growing equipment

The newlyweds were charged with producing a controlled class B drug after the discovery of the factory inside their house

The couple signing the marriage register. They were arrested when they returned to Wales after 34 cannabis plants were found in their home

Self-employed Mr Armstrong, who pleaded guilty and beautician Mrs Armstrong, who earlier pleaded not guilty but then changed her plea, were handed suspended sentences

'You thought: 'Why do I bother working when I can make vast sums of money growing cannabis?'

'People who think they can set up these factories will find that they too get knocks from police officers, because they are not that discrete. This kind of behaviour is a scourge.'

Following their court appearance, an elderly neighbour told how her suspicions were raised when she spotted plants through the open curains.

'I could see plants growing in the bedroom which was a bit odd,' she said. 'I said to my husband: "That's a funny place to grow tomatoes."

'My husband said "I wonder if it could be that cannabis stuff you hear about these days".'

Self-employed Mr Armstrong, who pleaded guilty, was given an eight month suspended sentence. He must do 150 hours unpaid work.

Beautician Mrs Armstrong, who earlier pleaded not guilty but then changed her plea, was given a nine month suspended sentence. She must do 120 hours unpaid work.A lucky lotto kiosk has sold not one but two winning $200,000 lottery tickets in just two days.

But anyone looking to also try their luck should be prepared for quite a drive.

The newsagent, located in Virginia shopping centre, 40 minutes from Adelaide, is co-owned by Rose Pogas, who said she can't believe the store sold two big winners on April 1 and 2.

'I was telling everyone on Monday that I'd sold a major prize and they thought I was pulling an April Fool's joke,' Ms Pogas told The Lott on Wednesday.

The newsagent, located in Virginia shopping centre, 40 minutes from Adelaide, is co-owned by Rose Pogas, who said she can't believe the store sold two big winners on April 1 and 2 (pictured)

'I kept telling everyone I knew I was going to sell a Lucky Lotteries 1st Prize win one day  now I can say I've sold two.'

Ms Pogas said she has since had customers visit the store with the hope of keeping up the winning streak.

'I had customers asking "what are the odds of you selling another one?". I don't know what the odds are but I'm going to be telling them I've done it.'

However, the lucky winner of the second ticket has yet to be found.

'The second winning entry was unregistered, which means we dont have the winners contact details and have no way of informing them of their good fortune,' SA Lotteries spokesperson Bronwyn Spencer said.

'They could be walking around $200,000 richer and just not know it.'

Ms Spencer also reminded people to register their information when buying a ticket so they could be contacted if they win.Rachel Riley has blasted Jeremy Corbyn again and accused him of 'condoning' anti-Semitism in the Labour party and 'fostering an environment hostile to Jews.'

The star of Channel 4's Countdown is a vocal critic of Mr Corbyn, whose party has been mired in an anti-Semitism crisis since last summer.

The 33-year-old, who is Jewish, has previously spoken about the deluge of abuse she has suffered for her campaigning against anti-Semitism.

In an interview with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell in GQ, Ms Riley has said Mr Corbyn is 'fostering an environment that's just really hostile to Jews.'

Rachel Riley, pictured on 'The Jonathan Ross Show' last month, has strongly criticised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a new interview with GQ

After being asked by Mr Campbell about Jeremy Corbyn's claims he is not anti-Semitic she says: ' No. I think it's a pointless argument. I couldn't give a monkey's if he is anti-Semitic or not himself, because the environment he seemingly supports and is encouraging, the stuff that people are claiming to do in his name, is vile.

'So, for me, whether he says he's an anti-Semite or not, he's allowing this to happen.

'He's condoning it, in my view. His top people appear to be adding to the idea that it's a smear.

'So, he is helping it grow. I couldn't care less that he has friends who are Jewish, or he doesn't think he's an anti-Semite.

'It means nothing to me, as he, deliberately or not, is fostering an environment that's just really hostile to Jews.

The avid mathematician also revealed who she would vote for at the next election.

In the interview Ms Riley said the Labour leader (pictured outside his home today) 'is fostering an environment that's just really hostile to Jews'

She said: 'If there was an election tomorrow, I'd vote Conservative. In a heartbeat.

'Because I'd vote anyone that would stop them getting in power. I mean, the Greens are no better.'

Ms Riley's comments come after she spoke exclusively to the MailOnline this week about the anti-Semitism crisis in Labour.

She said: 'People think this is some kind of game, attention seeking or politically motivated. It's not. '

'Labour has been sweeping story after story (and much worse) like this, under the carpet for some time now.

'If the only way to get action, is by shaming the party on social media, and showing the public the type of racially motivated abuse and rhetoric, levelled at Jews and fighters against bigotry receive every day in its party's name, what other choice is there?'

The TV host hit out as it was revealed that a Labour activist - who was suspended from the party in February for trolling her - was reported to the party over his anti-Semitic tweets last year.

Bob James was suspended after accusing Riley of prostituting her Jewish heritage with her campaign against anti-Semitism.

Saying that her campaign was 'poisoning the memory of her ancestors', he also accused Ms Riley of taking '30 pieces of silver' from the Tory Party, and had repeatedly compared Zionists to the Nazis.

But a leaked email shows Labour chiefs ignored a complaint about Mr James's tweets last year.

The Labour party has been engulfed by the anti-Semitism crisis since last summer after it failed to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism.

The next month The Daily Mail exclusively publishes photos of Jeremy Corbyn holding a wreath at a ceremony where a terrorist linked to the Munich massacre was honoured.

The Labour leader insisted he was there to honour others killed.

This year in February nine MPs including Luciana Berger, Joan Ryan and Ian Austin are among those who quit the Labour Party with broadsides at inaction over anti-Semitism under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Last week it emerged three Labour activists had been arrested on suspicion of publishing or distributing material likely to stir up racial hatred, and were released pending further inquiries.

The Labour Party said: 'We welcome the police investigating these individuals' alleged crimes.

'Anti-Semitism has no place in our society and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms.'

See the full feature in the May issue of British GQ, available on digital download and newsstands on Friday 5th April.Sparky the dog saved the woman after she fell down the sewer

A hero dog has rescued a woman who was trapped for three days after falling down an uncovered manhole into a Ukrainian sewer.

Lenura Levanova, 67, tumbled 13 feet into the sewer on her way to work in Dnipro, Ukraine, breaking her ribs in the process.

Despite her cries for help, Ms Levanova remained missing for days and only managed to survive by drinking juice and munching on chips she had with her.

Sparky, a specially trained rescue dog of Malinois breed, located Mrs Levanova after hearing her breathing.

A missing woman has been rescued from old sewer after being found by a specially trained rescue dog with super sharp ears who heard her breathing underground.

Lenura Levanova, 67, fell 13 feet into a manhole on her way to work in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraines Dnipropetrovsk Oblast region.

Her relatives almost lost their hope after a three-day search that gave no result.

Lenura Levanova, 67, fell 13 feet into a manhole on her way to work in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine

But it took the super rescue dog Sparky only 30 minutes to locate and save the missing woman.

Local media report Mrs Levanova had taken a shortcut down a path in a deserted area to get to her work faster.

Mrs Levanova said she survived on snacks she had packed in a bag

But she found herself lying on the bottom of a deep cement manhole suffering from unbearable pain in her chest and left thigh.

She did not have her mobile phone with her and tried to call for help but nobody heard her in the deserted place.

After Mrs Levanova did not appear at work, her anxious colleagues called her relatives who alerted the police.

Over the next two days her relatives, their friends, some volunteers and the police combed the area between Mrs Levanova's home and work but could not find her.

On the third day, her desperate relatives came up with the idea of using a specially trained dog.

Mrs Levanova's son-in-law Evgen Chaus said to local media: 'We were in a panic after she went missing and only on the third day did we think about a dog.

'We went on the Internet and found a dog handler who arrived a few hours later.'

The dog handler Larisa Borysenko and her Malinois breed dog Sparky arrived from the town of Pavlohrad, 47 miles from the city.

Sparky reportedly located Mrs Levanova after smelling her down the well and leading rescuers to her

It took Sparky 30 minutes to find Mrs Levanova. The animal is reported to have located her by hearing her breathing.

Ms Borysenko said: 'Sparky found a manhole covered with dry branches and started barking.

'I lay down on the ground and put my head into space between branches. I saw a dark cement well.

'I called, ''Is there anyone alive?'', and several seconds later I heard a weak voice that said, ''help me! I have been here for three days!''

Within the next hour, Mrs Levanova was rescued from the underground trap.

A video filmed by rescuers and posted on their official social media shows the woman climbing up a ladder while moaning from pain.

Mrs Levanova suffered several broken ribs after falling into an open manhole cover in a remote forest

After Mrs Levanova did not appear at work, her anxious colleagues called her relatives who alarmed the police

Rescue service spokeswoman Daria Grechyshcheva said: 'It is just a miracle that the woman survived the fall and was found.

'She had some juice and chips with her and it helped her to hold out in difficult circumstances.'

After being rescued, Mrs Levanova was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with broken ribs and severe thigh bruise.

Doctors say the woman's life is not in danger and she is recovering quickly.

Mr Chaus said: 'On the first day of search I passed 10 metres [32 ft] from this manhole but heard nothing.'

Ms Borysenko, who helps to search for missing people on a voluntary basis, said: 'Sparky was trained to search for alive people by their breath. She does not need to sniff a missing person's things and track the scent.

'She works in a particular territory and hears the breath of any living person who is in the territory.

'When Mrs Levanova was lying on the ground while paramedics were preparing her for transportation, she said softly,''Could I stroke the dog, please?''

'Now that is gratitude!'A hiker has recalled the horrifying moment he discovered the decomposing body of a man who was reportedly swept off the Figure Eight Pools more than a month ago.

Brad Pyne, 26, was bushwalking through the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, with his girlfriend Georgia on Monday when they stumbled across the gruesome discovery lodged between rocks near the 'Instagram famous' tourist hotspot.

Authorities are yet to identify the body, however, its believed to belong to a 22-year-old Nepalese national who was swept off the rocks on February 25.

Brad Pyne has recalled the shocking moment of finding the decomposed body near the Figure Eight Pools (pictured)

'We stopped for lunch near the pools and decided to head south along the coast instead of heading back along the track for something different,' Mr Pyne told Daily Mail Australia.

'I don't know why we chose to walk back along the coast instead of the track, it was high tide and the surf was pretty rough.'

Within 20 minutes of resuming their walk, Mr Pyne noticed a bad smell and spotted something washed up on the rocks.

'When I first saw a foot sticking out from the rocks, I thought it was a Halloween prop,' he recalled.

'I froze when I realised it was actually a person's foot. When I got closer, I could see down between the two boulders I could see the legs and lower half of the body wedged in the gap.'

'When I saw the pants and belt, it kind of struck home that this was actually a person like you or me,' he said.

The biological science university student from Sydney's Sutherland Shire is used to dealing with human remains, but even he was shocked by the discovery.

The decomposed body was found by Brad Pyne and his girlfriend Georgia on a bushwalk (pictured)

'I wasn't sure what to do,' Mr Pyne said.

'I think if we hadn't walked back that way it's likely the remains would never have been found.'

Mr Pyne took photos of the remains before the couple began the two hour walk back to their car.

'That walk back was pretty sobering, you hear about this sort of thing but you never think it would affect you personally,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Brad Pyne said this photo facing north from where the man's body was found helped the police find the body on Monday night

After they returned to the car, the couple drove to a nearby police station, where they forwarded the photos and explained what happened and the remote location of the body.

The police phoned Mr Pyne later on Monday night to say they'd found the man's body.

'Needless to say I didn't sleep that well that night. I hope that the family of this person can get some closure and maybe some peace now that they have been found,'he told Daily Mail Australia.

The harrowing discovery hasn't put off the couple from their regular bushwalks through the Royal National Park.

Brad Pyne took this photo of the scenic bushwalk with his girlfriend before it turned to horror

Wollongong Police District, Police Rescue and Airwing were part of the joint-recovery operation that retrieve the body on Tuesday afternoon.

It's believed the deceased man was part of a group of international students stranded on a rock platform before a wave washed one of the men into the water, Surf Life Saving NSW said at the time.

A second man was also swept across the rocks, but survived and was treated for minor injuries.

The official risk rating by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) was forecast as extreme.

'If you're standing on the rock shelf [at this time] you'll be knocked over by waves and dragged across it,' the website states

'You could also be washed into the ocean.'

The body was found a 20 minute walk away from the Figure Eight Pools (pictured)

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

The Figure Eight Pools is considered extremely dangerous during high tides, with swimmers often bombarded by large waves.

The NSW Government has an online warning system in place to gauge the danger of the waves.

According to statistics by Surf Life Saving NSW, the most recent drowning at Figure Eight Pools take the death toll on coastal areas in the Royal National Park to nine since 2016.

The Figure Eight Pools is a rock platform that is completely submerged during high tide.

But large swells and wave frequently batter the platform even at low tide making it a treacherous location.Stephen Baldwin has gone after his brother Alec on twitter for standing against a controversial anti-abortion law in Georgia.

Alec and more than 50 Hollywood stars have signed a letter threatening Governor Brian Kemp with a filming boycott of the state if he signs the 'heartbeat' bill into law.

The new law would prevent abortions from when a fetal heartbeat can be detected - as early as the sixth week of pregnancy.

Stephen Baldwin, a born-again Christian, speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast of Ukraine press conference in Kiev in May last year

Stephen - who is the father of Justin Bieber's wife, Hailey - said he had avoided tweets like this in the past, 'but for so long Ive sat back & trusted God as my own family members have perpetrated the spirit of hate ... through abortion Mockery & blindness #sad #Alec #hates #pray.'

Alec Baldwin has found new fans for his SNL impression of President Donald Trump

Prior to this tweet, Stephen wrote: '#Hollywood #sad #goingtohell #pray.'

As well as Alec, actors and actresses including Judd Apatow, Mark Ruffalo, Alyssa Milano and Amy Schumer have signed the letter threatening to pull business out of Georgia - a hub for television and movie production - if the ban is enacted.

Georgia's law currently allows for abortions to the 20th week of pregnancy.

After the bill was passed by lawmakers on Friday the governor must now decide whether or not to stamp it into law by May 12.

Milano has led the charge against Governor Kemp and spoke at the State Capitol on Tuesday about her opposition to the heartbeat bill as activists gathered in Atlanta.

Energized by new conservatives on the Supreme Court, abortion opponents in multiple states hope to ignite new legal battles that could prompt the Supreme Court to revisit 1973's Roe v. Wade.

Kentucky and Mississippi governors have already approved the bans on abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Actress Alyssa Milano speaks after delivering a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp's office detailing her opposition to the heartbeat bill at the State Capitol in Atalanta on Tuesday

A South Carolina House subcommittee passed a bill on Tuesday that would ban almost all abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Stephen Baldwin's politics diverge significantly from those of his brother Alec, who has risen to prominence of late with his SNL impression of President Donald Trump.

On the other hand, Stephen - a born-again Christian - is an outspoken fan of Trump on twitter and regularly retweets the President and support for him.Four healthcare professionals have been arrested over allegations of mistreatment and neglect at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Last November, Lancashire Police were asked by Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to investigate alleged incidents in their stroke unit.

One suspected allegation is patients were wrongly administered with prescription-only 'zombie' sedation drug Zopiclone, to make them sleepy.

Three hospital workers were previously arrested on suspicion of poisoning patients after Lancashire Police were informed in November by bosses at Blackpool Victoria Hospital (pictured) of allegations of mistreatment and neglect on the unit

Last year a female nurse was arrested in November, then in December a male medic and female health care professional were also arrested.

They were quizzed on suspicion of administering a poison or 'noxious' thing with the intent to injure and ill treatment or wilful neglect. All were released on bail.

Today four more medics - one man and three women - were arrested on the same poisoning and neglect allegations. Lancashire Police said all four 'are currently in custody.'

Det Chief Insp Jill Johnston, of Lancashire Police, confirmed 'a number of post-mortem examinations have taken place' of patients due to their probe.

The unit is at the centre of a separate investigation into the death of Valeria Kneale (pictured) at the hospital

Det Chief Insp Johnston added: 'Our investigation into allegations of mistreatment and neglect of patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital is very much on-going.

'I understand further arrests could be concerning but I would like to reassure people we have a dedicated team of detectives working on this investigation.

'Our priority and the priority of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is to ensure the safety of patients.

'Given the number of arrests and the nature of the allegations, it remains a complex and sensitive inquiry.

'No timescales have been set and I would ask people to remain patient while we continue to conduct our enquiries.

'A number of post-mortem examinations have taken place in connection with our investigation.

'We are supporting those families who have had loved ones identified as potentially being involved.

'They are being kept fully updated and supported throughout the process by specially trained officers.

'We are working closely with the Trust as well as HM Coroner for Blackpool and Fylde as part of the investigation.'

Officers are probing whether nursing staff had been heavily sedating their patients during night shifts with the drug, which is used to treat insomnia.

It has previously been claimed up to eight former patients on the stroke unit have so far been identified as potential victims.

The original allegations were made by a whistle blower, who is also a member of staff of the 780-bed hospital.

What is Zopiclone? Zopiclone tablets are prescription-only and are taken to treat insomnia. It is usually never prescribed for more than four weeks. This is because you can become dependent on the drug. It is also because your body builds up a resistance to its effects. The most common side effects - which hit more than one in 100 - are a bitter or metallic taste in the mouth, dry mouth and feeling sleepy or tired. Rare side effects include amnesia, hallucinations, falling over, delusions and depression. Advertisement

The unit is also at the centre of a separate murder investigation involving Blackpool pensioner Valerie Kneale, 75, who died there on November 16.

In February, Mrs Kneale's family said: 'We, as a family, are completely and utterly devastated and heartbroken to have lost Val in these circumstances.

'She was the most precious wife, mother and grandmother, our constant friend and problem solver who we will miss dearly.

'We kindly ask our privacy is respected while we continue to come to terms with our loss.'

One grieving daughter was told to cancel her father's funeral as his body was taken away for a post-mortem examination.

Blackpool South MP, Gordon Marsden, has previously said: 'This is a very serious and needs to be investigated with all speed and with the maximum transparency.'

BVH is the main hospital for Blackpool and Lancashire's Fylde Coast and the leading hospital for heart surgery in the region.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokeswoman Wendy Swift has stressed 'all allegations' are taken 'extremely seriously'.

She added: 'When the concerns were raised we immediately contacted the police. The trust is continuing to work with the police and co-operate fully with their investigation.

'The hospital remains a safe and caring environment for patients, and the provision of services will continue as usual.'Miguel Martinez, 44, was arrested on more than 100 counts of child sex crimes, including possessing and producing child porn

An illegal immigrant and convicted sex offender has been arrested in Louisiana on more than 100 counts of child sex crimes, including producing child pornography and molesting a minor.

Miguel Martinez, 44, who'd been deported from the U.S. in 2005 and is a registered sex offender in the state of California, was charged after being found with a stash of 100 images and videos of child porn.

He was arrested in Harvey, where he was illegallly residing, and also charged with one count of production of child pornography and one count of sexual battery of a juvenile under 13.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced the arrest Tuesday. 'Internet crimes against children continuously inflict damage,' General Landry said on Twitter.

'Every time one of these videos or images is viewed, the child is re-victimized. This arrest should serve as a wake-up call to Congress.

'By not securing our borders and properly vetting those coming into our Nation, we have seen lives lost and destroyed,' Landry added.

The attorney general said he supports President Trump's clampdown on border control and was in favor of building a wall.

The illegal immigrant had been deported from the U.S. in 2005 and is a registered sex offender in the state of California

'Illegal immigration has real-life consequences  countless numbers of needless crime victims, including too many Louisiana families and children,' he said.

'For their sake  I again urge Congress to realize the national emergency we have at our Southern border, support President Trump, build the wall, and help us make our communities safer.'

Martinez has been arrested and booked into the Jefferson Parish Jail.The Queen's former pilot and the first captain to fly Concorde from London to New York has been found dead alongside his wife in a suspected murder-suicide.

Tony Meadows, 84, and his wife Paula, 83, were found dead at their 800,000 home in leafy Bucklebury, Berkshire - less than three miles from the 5m home of the Duchess of Cambridge's parents.

Residents told MailOnline Mr Meadows was 'fit as a flea' and 'devoted' to his wife of 60 years, who had dementia.

They say Mrs Meadows depended on her husband, who acted as her carer.

The couple's former daughter-in-law Katherine Meadows confirmed the news this morning, telling MailOnline it was a 'very difficult time for the family'.

Mr Meadows was part of the flight crew on the first London to New York Concorde flight for British Airways in December 1977 and was then at the controls of the inaugural Concorde flight to Singapore, two weeks later.

He also also a pilot for Princess Diana, and flew the Queen on Concorde in 1979.

Mr Meadows is pictured here in January 1976 aged 41 with Paula, left, as he and his family got set to compete in the World Orienteering Championships

Retired Concorde pilot Tony Meadows (pictured) and his wife Paula were found dead at their home in Bucklebury, Berkshire yesterday evening

Mr Meadows started as a mathematician, before signing up for National Service in the Royal Air Force and going on to work as a Concorde Pilot. He is pictured here with the Concorde Alpha at Heathrow Airport

Forensics officers are pictured at the scene today after Concorde pilot Tony Meadows was found dead alongside his wife Paula in what police suspect was a murder-suicide

Officers are pictured today at Hawkridge Farm, where they are investigating the deaths of Tony Meadows and his wife, Paula

Pictured: An aerial shot of the scene in Bucklebury today following the deaths of Tony and Paula Meadows

The couple's former daughter-in-law Katherine Meadows confirmed the news this morning, telling MailOnline it was a 'very difficult time for the family'. Pictured, police at the scene today

The couple were found at their property, pictured, in the same leafy Berkshire village where Kate Middleton's parents Carole and Michael live

Detectives say they are treating the incident as murder but not looking for anyone else.

Forensic teams remain at the scene of the couple's 800,000 home today.

A long time friend of the couple told MailOnline: I heard the news this morning from a member of the family, who you can imagine are absolutely devastated.

Tony was devoted to Paula, theyd been married for such a long time, probably more than 60-years.

She had dementia which had gotten steadily worse the older she got. Tony would often take her for a walk around the country lanes on a sunny day.

Id stop and chat if I saw them but although Id known her for years, recently Paula didnt seem to recognise me.

Tony was as fit as a flea and so he really helped his wife, she depended on him. They were a lovely couple.

Other locals in the village of Frilsham near Bucklebury in West Berkshire said they sometimes chatted to Mr Meadows at the Pot Kiln pub.

One said: He was a really warm, friendly bloke. Well miss him and his wife. This is such a quiet peaceful area and for something as tragic as this to happen, its shaken a lot of people.

The Duchess of Cambridge's parents live less than three miles away in Bucklebury Manor, a 5million Grade II-listed pile with vast grounds.

Mr Meadows started as a mathematician, before signing up for National Service in the Royal Air Force and going on to work as a Concorde Pilot.

Mr Meadows started as a mathematician, before signing up for National Service in the Royal Air Force and going on to work as a Concorde Pilot

Police at the sprawling farmhouse today where former Concorde pilot Captain Meadows lived

The British flight crew for the inaugural Concorde service pose with the statue of aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown, who made the very first Atlantic crossing by aeroplane in 1919. From left to right: Captain Tony Meadows; Captain Brian Walpole; Captain Leo Budd; Senior Engineering Officer George Floyd

Captain Meadows is pictured here in May 1988 with Norman Parkinson with the 'first sausages served on Concorde'

Forensic officers remain at the scene this afternoon, but detectives have confirmed they are not looking for anyone else

The scene, in Bucklebury, Berkshire, where Thames Valley Police have launched a murder investigation

A long time friend of the couple told MailOnline: I heard the news this morning from a member of the family, who you can imagine are absolutely devastated'

A family friend said the Meadows lived alone in the farm house where they had been for 35 years and that she had spoken to one of their three 'devastated' children on Wednesday morning.

She said: 'They can't understand it. They haven't been able to get their minds around it really. Paula has dementia so she hadn't been very well for quite a while.

'But Tony always took care of her and looked after her very well, and took her for walks.

'He was a very caring person, very friendly. I can't understand how it happened... unless she deteriorated and he got to the end of his tether.'

She added: 'He's the type of person who would normally cope with any situation and it's really sad that it's happened.

'It's difficult to take in really. I can only think that if he committed suicide then he must have been driven to it by the situation.'

In an interview in 1982, he said the fastest speed he experienced in the Concorde was 'more or less 1.450 miles per hour, or 23 miles every minute.'

Captain Meadows, left, featured in advertisements for Concorde, including this one in 1988 for the new range of in-flight meals

Detectives say they are treating the incident in Berkshire as murder but not looking for anyone else

Police were called to the home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, after a call from a member of the public

Police remain at the scene today as they carry out a murder investigation

In December 2017, Mr Meadows recalled the thrill at being part of the flight crew on the first scheduled LHR-JFK Concorde service for British Airways.

Writing in Mach2Magazine, he revealed all about the 'spectacular' flight, adding: 'The 22nd of November 1977 was to be an exciting day  we were at last going to fly passengers to New York.'

Mr Meadows was then invited to 'fire the 'Eastern Bullet' to Singapore.

Speaking in 2017, he said: 'Life for me was very exciting in 1977. David Leney flew myself and my crew to Bahrain on the 7th of December  two weeks after I had flown the New York inaugural  to be ready to operate the inaugural flight to Singapore on the 9th in GBOAD.'

He was part of the Nucleus Group of pilots and flight engineers who were trained by BAC at Filton and by the Concorde test pilots. He then took part in the Endurance Flying program to the Far East and Australia.

Prior to Concorde's entry into service, Mr Meadows' responsibility was to develop subsonic noise abatement techniques for the take off and climb phases; and a training program for the crews to implement them.

A spokesman for British Airways told MailOnline: 'Our thoughts are with their family and friends.'

Forensic teams remain at the scene of the couple's 800,000 home today

'Our first bite of the Big Apple': The Concorde Captain who became part of the flight crew on historic first Concorde London-New York service for British Airways Captain Tony Meadows was on the first scheduled LHR-JFK Concorde service for British Airways In December 2017, Captain Tony Meadows recalled the thrill at being part of the flight crew on the first scheduled LHR-JFK Concorde service for British Airways. Writing in Mach2Magazine, Mr Meadows wrote: 'The 22nd of November 1977 was to be an exciting day  we were at last going to fly passengers to New York. After a successful trial period flying into Washington, we were now granted access to John F. Kennedy ( JFK) airport. 'This was enormously important commercially; BA Deputy Chairman Ross Stainton said: 'Concorde is expected to earn more revenue for British Airways in the next four months than in the whole of the previous financial year.' 'It was also extremely significant to me, because I was responsible for Concorde Noise Abatement, and noise was the crux of this matter. 'The three test flights were all successful  we were ready. 'Brian Walpole was in command for the outbound flight, with myself as co-pilot, George Floyd Senior Flight Engineer, and Captain Leo Budd to look after VIPs and any contingencies. 'Conscious of the importance of the flight, the photographer suggested a picture in front of the Alcock and Brown memorial at Heathrow. 'The mood was very upbeat; before we left we received a telex from BAC Deputy Chief Test Pilot Jock Cochrane: 'Trust your inaugural will be received like the three wise monkeys. Our thoughts and best wishes for all success in the New York service.' 'Meanwhile, our plane full of VIPs dined on bone china and fine wines at twice the speed of sound. 'The welcoming crowds were enormous. Amidst the euphoria, we departed to the Waldorf Astoria for a press conference and a lunch hosted by New York Business. 'At the top of the menu card it said: 'The Concorde today brings New York closer than ever before to the rest of the world. The business men and women of New York take pride in honouring those whose vision and foresight have helped to make this possible.' 'Then in the evening we were invited by Ross Stainton and Pierre Giraudet, his opposite number in Air France, to a reception at the Pierre Hotel on 5th Avenue. A good first day! 'The next day it was my turn. To leave the Big Apple and take Concorde G-BOAA back home; to fly the procedures that my colleagues and I had worked out to make our take-off noise acceptable. 'All went according to plan. We were well within the noise limits and achieved results comparable to subsonic jets on the day. The rest of the flight went without incident. All the work had been worthwhile; we had successfully taken our first bite at the Big Apple.' Advertisement

The pair were found at their property in leafy Berkshire, the village Kate Middleton's parents where Carole and Michael Middleton (pictured) live

The couple were found at their home in a remote lane following a call from a member of the public

Thames Valley Police said detectives launched an investigation following the deaths in West Berkshire.

Officers were called to the property around 7.35pm yesterday where they found the couple. Their next of kin have been informed.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Howard, of Thames Valley Police's Major Crime Unit, said: 'This is a tragic incident in which two people have died.

'We are currently investigating and have launched a murder enquiry but we are not looking for anybody else in connection with this incident. There is no danger to the public so people locally should not have any undue cause for concern.

'We are aware that Bucklebury is a small community and this will have an impact on its residents, as such people will see an increased police presence.'A 72-year-old Frenchman floating across the Atlantic in a custom-made barrel says he is in high spirits as he approaches the end of his journey, after nearly 100 days alone at sea enjoying 'magnificent sunrises and sunsets.'

'The days are going by too fast,' Jean-Jacques Savin said by satellite phone this week. 'I'm not bored at all.'

The former French paratrooper and avid triathlete embarked on his trans-Atlantic test on December 26 from the Canary islands just west of Africa, aiming to reach the Caribbean in about three months just by drifting in ocean currents.

The Frenchman crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a large barrel had his stocks replenished during a visit from the Ronald H. Brown, a US oceanography vessel based in Charleston, South Carolina

Jean-Jacques Savin, a former paratrooper, works on the construction of a ship made from a barrel at the shipyard in Ares, southwestern France

Capricious trade winds slowed his progress - not that it dented Savin's enthusiasm for 'experiencing this feeling of freedom, and admiring the richness of the ocean's wildlife.'

Measuring 10 feet long and 6.8 feet across, his barrel is made from resin-coated plywood, heavily reinforced to resist waves and potential attacks by orca whales.

Inside the capsule, which weighs 990 pounds when empty, is a six-square-metre living space which includes a kitchen, sleeping bunk and storage.

Jean-Jacques Savin is a retiree from the Arcachon Bay

A porthole in the floor allows Savin to look at passing fish.

Having already travelled some 2,500 miles, he estimates he has about 1,000 more to go. 'I think I'll arrive around April 20, I'm not sure where, maybe the Dominican Republic,' he said.

His days have mainly gone smoothly, though there have been a few close calls. 'I've only had eight difficult nights, and one that was extremely difficult,' he said.

In late February, he nearly got rammed by a cargo ship that wasn't responding to his radio calls.

'Luckily I shot up a flare. It was like being trapped on a railroad track and I was watching the oncoming train,' he said.

But the most perilous moment came on March 28, when his barrel was being pummelled by huge waves that were threatening to turn the vessel completely upside-down.

The former paratrooper poses aboard his ship before embarking on his trans-Atlantic test on December 26 from the Canary islands just west of Africa

Tying himself to a safety rope, Savin crawled out to try to reattach a vertical stabiliser, only to find himself thrown off and dangling from his armpits, sometimes being dunked completely under the water.

It took half an hour of scrambling to pull himself back up, and Savin later posted pictures of his heavily bruised body on his Facebook page.

So far Savin has lost four kilos on his trip, eating freshly caught bream alongside freeze-dried food.

His stocks were replenished during a visit from the Ronald H. Brown, a US oceanography vessel based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Inside the capsule, which weighs 990 lbs when empty, is a six-square-metre living space which includes a kitchen, sleeping bunk and storage. A porthole in the floor allows Savin to look at passing fish

Savin has stowed away a block of foie gras and a bottle of Sauternes white wine for New Year's Eve, along with a bottle of red Saint-Emilion for his 72nd birthday on January 14

Jean-Jacques Savin set off from El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands for a three-month voyage he hopes will take him to Barbados, Martinique or Guadaloupe

'They spoiled me. I got mail, T-shirts, and lots of chocolate,' he said.

He's now focused on figuring out which coast to wash up on, though he added that 'I will be sad to arrive.'

'I'd like to end up in Martinique or Guadaloupe,' he said, since it would be easier to get his ship back home since they are French overseas territories.

Afterwards he plans to write a book, and requests for speaking appearances have been pouring in.

But already Savin has another challenge in sight: swimming alone across the English Channel.A baby girl was left in agony for more than three months after a nurse inserted wipes in her vagina to stop post-natal bleeding, then forgot to remove them.

The horrific case in Russia led to the child's father and other family members facing 'hell' as they fell under suspicion of child sex crimes.

Mother-of-three Tatiana Sibasova, from the city of Chita, in Siberia, saw her daughter was often in pain especially when urinating, that she was frequently in a bad mood, and cried a lot.

Nurse Lyudmila Cherkasova (pictured top left and right) has been placed under investigation after she left three medical wipes inside this baby girl and then forgot about them

Mother-of-three Tatiana Sibasova took her daughter to the doctor three months after she was born because of a foul odor when the wipes were discovered

Two months after the girl was born she noticed a foul-smelling odor and took the girl to the doctor, who diagnosed a severe inflammation of the genital area.

Tatiana noticed the end of one of the wipes and removed it from her daughter, but the problems persisted.

One month later the girl was taken back to hospital and a second surgical wipe was found inside her.

The girl was discharged from hospital but the problem continued and subsequently a third wipe was found and removed under general anaesthetic.

The wipe had been embedded for so long that the girl's hymen had been damaged, doctors said.

Concerned medics called police and the family were placed under investigation for sexual crimes.

A criminal case was opened against the girl's parents, an aunt and a female sibling were suspected of 'violent actions of sexual character' against a minor, a crime that can lead to 20 years in jail.

'The family went through hell,' said their lawyer Anastasiya Kopteeva.

Concerned medics at this clinic in Chita, Siberia, had the family placed under investigation for sexual crimes before it was revealed one of their own staff was to blame

'Law enforcement suspected the girl's father, mother, aunt and even older sister.

'This girl was asked whether she had played doctor with her baby sister. The aunt who had recently lost a child was suspected.'

Tatiana, sobbing, said: 'There were interrogations, and our family was under suspicion.'

She was asked: 'Perhaps, your husband abused her or your elder daughter?'

The ordeal was 'scary' she said.

But investigators realised the wipes were of a type only available in hospitals.

Detectives then traced the nurse who had cleaned the girl after birth.

The woman Lyudmila Cherkasova said she was 'scared' to come forward earlier, fearing she would lose her job.

Doctors told investigators that bleeding - effectively a girl's first period triggered by the withdrawal of hormones she is exposed to in the womb - is common.

It typically occurs two to three days after birth and can be cleaned externally using wipes without having to insert anything.

The sex crime investigation was dropped and the nurse is now charged with medical negligence causing injury to a child.

She faces up to four months in jail if convicted.

'I want her to be fired and put in jail,' said the mother.

'She has not lost her job and instead laughs and jokes during the court case.'A passenger has been detained by police for throwing three coins at a plane for good luck before take-off in central China.

CCTV footage of the bizarre incident on Tuesday shows the 31-year-old man tossing the coins from the jet bridge as he was boarding the flight with his family at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Hubei province.

As a result of the man's superstitious actions, Hainan Airlines flight 7783 departing for Urumqi, Xinjiang was delayed for 40 minutes, affecting 101 passengers on the plane, Chinese media reported.

CCTV footage on Tuesday shows the man, 31, tossing the coins from the jet bridge as he was boarding the flight with his family at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Hubei province

The three 1 yuan coins were found on the ground near the aircraft's engine after a security guard alerted airline staff, according to reports. The man has been detained for 10 days

The video shows the man's wife walking behind him, holding their four-month-old daughter.

As he approaches the cabin door, the man slows down and reaches into his pocket before dropping the coins through the narrow gap between the jet bridge and the plane.

Two 1 yuan and one 1 jiao coins were found on the ground near the aircraft's engine after a security guard alerted airline staff, according to Changjiang Daily.

The man, surnamed Xia, later told police that his mother-in-law insisted that he threw coins at the aircraft to pray for a safe flight since it was the baby's first time flying.

The video shows the man's wife walking behind him, holding their four-month-old daughter

As he approaches the cabin door, the man slows down and reaches into his pocket before dropping the coins through the narrow gap between the jet bridge and the plane

As a result of the man's superstitious actions, Hainan Airlines flight 7783 departing for Urumqi, Xinjiang was delayed for 40 minutes, affecting 101 passengers on the plane (file photo)

The man, surnamed Xia, later told police that his mother-in-law insisted that he threw coins at the aircraft to pray for a safe flight

Xia was detained for endangering passenger safety for 10 days in Wuhan, while his wife continued to Urumqi with their daughter.

The engine of an aircraft would be severely damaged or even destroyed if a coin is sucked into it, according to a professor at Civil Aviation University of China cited by China Daily in a previous report.

'The engine could tremble, lose speed and even stop in mid-air if a coin were sucked into its core,' he said. 'That would put all the passengers on board at great risk.'

This is not the first time a passenger has attempted to toss coins into an aircraft engine for good fortune and a safe flight.

Last month, two women in their mid-20s were removed from a Lucky Air flight after they each admitted to tossing a 1 yuan coin as they were boarding a plane at Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport in Shandong province.

In February, a 28-year-old man was detained for seven days after he admitted to throwing two 1 yuan coins at another Lucky Air passenger jet in Anqing, Anhui province, causing the flight to be cancelled.

A similar incident happened in February when a 28-year-old man was detained for throwing two 1 yuan coins at another Lucky Air passenger jet in Anqing, Anhui province

A total of 162 passengers were affected and the incident caused the airline nearly 140,000 yuan (16,000).

In June 2017, an 80-year-old woman threw her change at a China Southern Airlines flight at Shanghai Pudong Airport to pray for a safe flight, causing a five-hour delay and one million yuan in damages. She was not charged due to her age.

Several months later in the same year, a 76-year-old woman flung several coins into the engine of a Lucky Air flight, also Kunming-bound from Anqing. She was detained but not charged.Rights group Amnesty International has accused four Nordic countries renowned as bastions of gender equality of having 'shockingly high levels of rape'.

Investigators looked at rape cases in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and said flawed legislation, harmful myths and gender stereotypes had resulted in 'endemic impunity' for perpetrators.

Amnesty said victims were routinely being failed by investigators thanks to inconsistent techniques and delays in processing evidence.

Swedish police were accused of inconsistency in how they investigated rape cases and for delays in forensic analysis and in interviewing suspects

The report said: 'It is a paradox that Nordic countries, which have strong records of upholding gender equality, suffer shockingly high levels of rape.'

Citing statistics from the European Institute for Gender Equality, the report said an average of 30 per cent of women in Denmark, Finland and Sweden had experienced violence or abuse at the hands of sexual partners, compared to an EU average of 22 per cent.

In Finland, Amnesty said some victims reported positive experiences with law enforcement but that other cases highlighted how 'deeply entrenched myths' about rape had directly impacted access to justice.

Amnesty also said rape in Denmark was 'hugely under-reported', and for those cases that were reported the chances of prosecution or conviction were slim.

It accused Norwegian authorities of not taking necessary measures to prevent rape or address its consequences.

Almost a third of women in Denmark, Finland and Sweden were found to have suffered assault at the hands of a sexual partner, compared to 22 per cent across Europe as a whole (file)

The report praised Sweden for adopting a new law last year redefining rape as sex without consent and introducing a new offence labelled 'negligent rape.'

However, it criticised Swedish police's handling of rape cases, with inconsistent investigative techniques and delays in forensic analysis and in interviewing suspects.

Swedish Home Affairs Minister Mikael Damberg told AFP in a phone interview the report was 'important', but noted that the high level of rape reports was also a sign that victims were willing to report offences to police.

He said the handling of rape cases was already a priority for police and that some of the issues raised were already being addressed. But he conceded there was still work ahead.

'We have homework to do when it comes to making sure that investigations are conducted and that they lead to convictions,' Damberg said.An undocumented Honduran immigrant who is charged with killing a Peruvian nanny in a New Jersey park did not know his alleged victim, authorities said.

Jorge Rios, 33, was charged with murder, felony murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in the death of 45-year-old Carolina Cano, the Hudson County Prosecutor's office announced.

Cano's body was found in the lake at Lincoln Park by the Hudson County Sheriff's office on March 24 but police did not expect foul play at the time, ABC 7 NY reports.

Scroll down for video

Jorge Rios, 33, was charged with murder, felony murder, kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault in the killing death of 45-year-old Carolina Cano

Both Rios and Cano are said to live close to the park and the nanny's roommate said that she went on a run and never came back on the 24th.

Video evidence shows Rios following Cano as she runs in the park. She is wearing headphones in the footage.

Officials from Jersey City say that the two did not know each other.

Cano's body was found in the lake at Lincoln Park by the Hudson County Sheriff's office on March 24 but the police did not expect foul play at the time

'Our understanding is that it was strangers, and he frequented the park, and we feel real comfortable that we have the right person based on his statements,' said Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop.

Divers searched in the lake on Tuesday for more evidence in the case.

'When you understand the video, the background, and the statements, this was just a horrible situation,' Fulop added. 'The entire circumstance was a terrible thing, and the prosecutors did a great job wrapping it up quick.'

Video evidence shows Rios following Cano as she runs in the park. She is wearing headphones in the footage

The Medical Examiner's Office ruled the woman's death to be homicidal violence including strangulation and water submersion.

Rios is set to appear in court on Thursday for arraignment and his detention hearing.

He is currently being transported to the Correctional Facility in Kearny, the Hudson County prosecutor office explained to Pix 11.

Mayor Fulop stated that the patrols in Lincoln Park will be increased so residents can feel more secure.Theresa May faced the wrath of the Tory party yesterday as two ministers quit, rebel MPs launched a bid to oust her and furious activists tore up their membership cards after she opened Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn.

Plotters on the backbench 1922 Committee tried to organise a secret vote of no confidence in the PM at a stormy meeting last night.

One furious MP, James Duddridge, declared it was 'open season' on Mrs May and encouraged colleagues to send letters of no confidence to chairman Graham Brady.

But the coup quickly collapsed as Mr Brady refused to allow a vote, with rebels reminded that Mrs May was immune from such a challenge until December after surviving a confidence ballot last year.

Theresa May (pictured yesterday at PMQs) faced a furious backlash from her MPs and party members after opening Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn

Furious Tory activists were up their membership cards in disgust at Theresa May yesterday after the PM called a Brexit meeting with Jeremy Corbyn

Brexiteers had earlier rounded on Mrs May at Prime Minister's Questions after she ignored their calls to back No Deal and pivoted towards a softer Brexit.

Two Conservative ministers - Chris Heaton-Harris and Nigel Adams - quit the front bench today in yesterday at the PM's move.

Jacob Rees-Mogg said mockingly that Mr Corbyn was now the deputy Prime Minister, claiming that the views of Brexit voters 'are not being represented'.

Tory members shared pictures on social media of their destroyed party ID cards, with one, Adam Brooks, saying Mrs May had 'killed the Conservative party'.

'That's me finally done... I couldn't now care less about voting for the next leader,' said Mr Brooks.

'Jeremy Corbyn has no right to be involved after his behaviour over the last two years.'

One voter from Swindon said three people in the same household had cut their membership cards in two yesterday.

Another said their party membership was over after 34 years of voting for the Conservatives.

This Tory member shared a picture of three destroyed membership cards from the same household

After the 1922 Committee meeting, Mr Duddridge said: 'In my view, two-thirds of the parliamentary party in a secret vote would vote against her.'

Fellow May critic Mark Francois said he would put in a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister to Sir Graham today.

However the plotters were quickly reminded that, following last years failed coup, there is no official mechanism to unseat Mrs May until December.

Other Tories poured scorn on their attempts, saying that the party should unite ahead of next months local elections.

Mr Rees-Mogg had earlier accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with 'a known Marxist' - but ruled out toppling her.

'I have more confidence in Theresa May than in Jeremy Corbyn, though that's not necessarily a very high bar, and Mr Corbyn - even as deputy - is still not the prime minister,' he told LBC.

'Both Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May backed Remain. And the views of the 52 per cent who voted to leave the European Union are not being represented in this attempt at a coalition'.

Former Cabinet minister Priti Patel was also among those who rounded on Mrs May.

Another voter said their Tory membership was over after backing the party for 34 years

Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured today) is deeply unhappy with Mrs May's compromise and said Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at PMQs today) was now effectively deputy Prime Minister

Ms Patel, the former international development minister, tweeted: 'A man who sides with terrorists and socialist dictators, would surrender our nuclear deterrent, has let anti-Semitism run rife in his Party and would bankrupt Britain has now been given the keys to Brexit'.

Fellow rebel Andrew Bridgen said: 'For the good of our country, our democracy, and the Conservative Party, she needs to go now'.

Mrs May faced criticism during PMQs from her own benches over her decision to talk with Mr Corbyn.

Caroline Johnson cited the PM saying that Brexit was about the 'balance of risk'.

The MP for Sleaford in Lincolnshire added: 'I have looked at the balance of risk myself and supported her deal and I urge others in our party to do so.

'But Prime Minister, if it comes to the point when we have to balance the risk of a no-deal Brexit versus the risk of letting down the country and ushering in a Marxist, anti-Semite-led government, what does she think at that point is the lowest risk?'

Mr Corbyn could be seen shaking his head after Dr Johnson sat down, before Mrs May replied: 'What I want to see is that we are able to deliver for her constituents and for others across the country, that we deliver Brexit and do it as soon as possible.'

Sleaford MP Caroline Johnson warned Mrs May she risked 'ushering in a Marxist, anti-Semite-led government' under Jeremy Corbyn

Junior Welsh minister Nigel Adams had quit the Government in disgust, saying the PM had made a 'grave error' by 'legitimising and turning to' Jeremy Corbyn.

He told the PM in his resignation letter: 'It now seems that you have decided a deal - cooked up by a Marxist who has never put British interests first - is better than No Deal'.

Mr Heaton-Harris, whose responsibilities included overseeing no-deal preparations, said the UK would 'swiftly overcome' any difficulties caused by quitting the EU without an agreement.

Mrs May's evident determination to avoid no deal had made his job 'irrelevant', he said.

The PM hit back with her own letter to all Tory MPs declaring 'this impasse cannot go on', and said: 'With some colleagues unwilling to support the Government, this is the only way to deliver the smooth, orderly Brexit that we promised.'

She pointed the finger at Tory Brexiteers, remainer rebels and the DUP saying her deal will not pass without Labour support because 'having tried three times, it is clear that is is unlikely to happen'.

Boris Johnson said the decision to hand control to Mr Corbyn meant the Cabinet had concluded 'any deal is better than No Deal'.

He said: 'It is very disappointing that the cabinet has decided to entrust the final handling of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.

'It now seems all too likely that British trade policy and key law making powers will be handed over to Brussels - with no say for the UK.

'As it is, we now face the ridiculous possibility of being forced to contest the European elections more than three years after leaving the EU and having to agree to exit terms that in no way resemble what the people were promised when they voted to leave.

Theresa May has written to Tory MPs and said they left her with no option but to negotiate with Jeremy Corbyn after they voted her deal down three times

Junior Welsh minister Nigel Adams quit saying in his resignation letter (pictured) the PM had made a 'grave error' by 'legitimising and turning to' Jeremy Corbyn

'The PM and Cabinet have concluded that any deal is better than no deal, and this is truly a very bad deal indeed - one that leaves us being run by the EU. I can under no circumstances vote for a deal involving a customs union as I believe that does not deliver on the referendum.'

The PM's DUP allies in Northern Ireland said last night: 'The Prime Minister's lamentable handling of the negotiations with the EU means she has failed to deliver a sensible Brexit deal that works for all parts of the United Kingdom. That is why she has not been able to get it through Parliament.

'Her announcement therefore comes as little surprise. Though it remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily.

'We want the result of the referendum respected, and just as we joined the Common Market as one country we must leave the EU as one country.

'We will continue to use our position within Parliament and with the Government to argue strongly the case for Northern Ireland and the integrity of the United Kingdom.

'We remain consistent in judging all Brexit outcomes against our clear unionist principles.'To be a good teacher in China, one has to be a good dancer, as it seems.

A new trend is sweeping through schools in the country which sees teachers and headmasters demonstrating upbeat dance routines in front of hundreds of students.

The latest star teacher to lead the national movement is 27-year-old Wang Lihong, who has managed to turn the boring daily exercise at her school into fun festivity loved by usually rebellious teenagers.

Wang Lihong (centre) busts a move with hundreds of pupils every day on the playground. The enthusiastic educator is a music teacher at the No.3 School at Ju County in Rizhao city, China

The 27-year-old teacher has become super popular among her pupils. She says the dance routine has made her students, who are around 13 years old, vigorous and spirited

Ms Wang has become popular among her students after choreographing a lively mass dance routine and boogieing away on the playground with youngsters every day.

'At the beginning when [the students] first tried to learn the routine, they seemed to lack energy and their backs weren't upright. But now they are vigorous and spirited,' Ms Wang told Pear Video.

The enthusiastic educator is a music teacher at the No.3 School at Ju County in Rizhao city, eastern China's Shandong Province.

She dances with more than 300 eighth-grade students, who are about 13 years old. She has been doing so for around two months.

Pupils around China need to do group exercise every morning before classes (file photo)

Apparently, the teacher also shares the same name as the 'King of Chinese pop', Wang Leehom, which further boosts her popularity among boys and girls.

Pupils are now looking forward to the workout session between classes.

'I always remind myself the movements before I start dancing and I always dance passionately,' one female pupil said.

Pupils around China are required to do radio callisthenics every morning, in which they move their arms, legs and torso in a rhythmic, synchronised way to music broadcast through a loudspeaker.

'Compared to the radio callisthenics in the past, this [dance] is unique and full off personality,' the pupil added.

The school's headmaster said teenagers need curious and new forms of exercise to help them build a habit of working out.

Ms Wang is the third 'dancing teacher' that has gone viral in China.

Zhang Pengfei, the headmaster at the Xi Guan Primary School in Linyi county, Shanxi province, was the first educator to lead the trend.

The 40-year-old shot to fame in January after dancing with some 700 pupils in a 'ghost shuffle' routine simultaneously.

Zhang Guannan, a PE teacher in Pingliang, Gansu province, followed suit last month with videos showing him salsa-dancing to viral hit song, Dura, with about 400 students.William Umberto Martinez Chavez pictured with MS-13 gang tattoos which he says he got in prison for protection

A MS-13 gang member who was kicked out of the US for stabbing a man outside a bodega was arrested yesterday after re-entering the US.

William Umberto Martinez Chavez became the second member of the notorious street gang to be arrested coming back into the country in less than a week.

Salvadoran Chavez was deported in 2017 after serving 15 years in jail for the manslaughter of a man in Huntington, Long Island, in May 2000.

The 40-year-old was apprehended back in the same town by ICE agents on Tuesday.

Chavez was released from prison and deported to his native El Salvador, Eastern District U.S. Attorney records said.

But shortly after he was deported, Martinez re-entered the United States, according to sources reported by News Day.

Images taken at his arrest show Chavez's chest and abdomen covered with MS-13 tattoos.

Chavez claims at the time of the stabbing he was not a member of the 18th Street gang but joined the gang in prison for protection, according to court documents.

Richard Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in court documents: 'As alleged, Martinez Chavez illegally returned to the United States after he served a lengthy New York State prison sentence for a homicide he committed on Long Island, and was deported to El Salvador.

'This office is firmly committed to prosecuting criminals who illegally re-enter the United States, especially MS-13 gang members who break into the country after deportations resulting from violent crime convictions.'

Chavez pleaded his innocence after his conviction, stating he did not know what he was signing when he confessed to the manslaughter of Jose Armando Garcia.

After his recent arrest he has been charged with illegal reentry into the US, which could see him jailed for up to 20 years if convicted.

He also goes by the aliases 'William Martinez', 'William Martines', 'Wiliam Martinez Chavez' and 'Julio Cordero', court documents state.

Last week another MS-13 member, Gerson Eli Turcios Maradiaga, was also arrested for illegal re-entry into the US, officials said.

The Honduran national was deported to his home country in 2012, according to reports.

Turcios had served around five years in prison in connection with a shooting on four people they mistook to be MS-13 members in 2008, leaving one victim dead and three others were wounded.

President Trump faced a barrage of criticism for insisting that the brutal Central American street gang's operatives were embedded in the sprawling migrant caravan last October.

He claimed gang members and ISIS terrorists were hiding in the human convoy making its way towards the US border.

The president threatened to shut the border due to immigration numbers and warned he would close crossings if Congress doesn't change America's immigration laws.A German court has dropped a case against a former Nazi concentration camp guard after finding the seriously ill 95-year-old was unfit for trial.

Johann Rehbogen was accused of complicity in mass murder at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland.

His trial began on November 6 but was suspended in December as he suffered from serious heart and kidney problems.

Given the gravity of his ailments, the court in Muenster ended the case, deeming him 'permanently unfit for trial'.

Johann Rehbogen, 95, (pictured on November 6) was accused of complicity in the murders of several hundred Stutthof camp prisoners between 1942 and 1944 when he was a guard there

His trial was repeatedly interrupted as he suffered heart and kidney problems, and the case against him has now been dropped after he was ruled permanently unfit

Rehbogen was aged 18 when he began serving as a guard at the Stutthof camp in June 1942. He left the camp in September 1944.

The German, from the western district of Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia state, was charged with being an accessory to the murders of several hundred camp prisoners.

These included more than 100 Polish prisoners gassed in June 1944 and 'probably several hundred' Jews killed from August to December 1944 as part of the Nazis' so-called 'Final Solution'.

He broke down in tears at the trial opening and subsequently told the court he was ashamed of having been in the SS.

Rehbogen however insisted that he was unaware of the systematic killings at the camp.

Rehbogen's lawyer told the panel of judges in one session that while he served at Stutthof, he was 'not a Nazi.'

More than 60,000 people were murdered at the Stutthof death camp by the Nazis, though Rehbogen claimed to know nothing about the mass executions

The case against Rehbogen was among the last to be brought against former Nazi death camp guards because the majority have since died

He suggested that he knew prisoners were being mistreated, but denied any knowledge of the camp's gas chamber or any participation in killing them.

'As a Christian it was hard for me to be part of all of it,' Rehbogen told the court. 'But I was too scared to protest.'

The cases have resurfaced since the legal basis for prosecuting former Nazis changed in 2011 with the landmark conviction of former guard John Demjanjuk.

He was sentenced on the grounds that he served as a cog in the Nazi killing machine at the Sobibor camp in occupied Poland, rather than for killings or atrocities linked to him personally.

German courts subsequently convicted Oskar Groening, an accountant at Auschwitz, and Reinhold Hanning, a former SS guard at the same camp, for complicity in mass murder.

Both men were convicted at age 94 but died before they could be imprisoned.

Their trials will be among the last of former SS personnel accused of being complicit in the Holocaust, because most of the perpetrators have since died.Actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Angelina Jolie is not ruling out running for public office.

'Never say never,' Jolie, 43, told People. '[But ] right now I am looking to others for leadership.'

The United Nations Special Envoy didn't mention what kind of role might appeal to her, but talked about the issues she's focused on right now, like women's empowerment and a proposal for a permanent international body to investigate war crimes.

The long-time member of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has spent much of her free time focusing on international human rights over the past two decades.

Actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Angelina Jolie is not ruling out running for public office. In this February 5 file photo, Jolie holds a news conference at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Recently, Jolie has urged nations to deploy more women peacekeepers in order to prevent sexual violence against refugees.

'If you look across the world, there are far too many women and girls who are not only not seeing progress, their rights are slipping away from them,' she said.

'We have to change laws that treat women as second-class citizens.'

Recently, Jolie has urged nations to deploy more women peacekeepers in order to prevent sexual violence against refugees. Jolie is pictured speaking before the UN in New York City on Mach 29

In addition to working to change laws around the world, Jolie is also fighting to ensure those laws are enforced. Jolie is pictured speaking before the UN in New York City on Mach 29

In addition to working to change laws around the world, Jolie is also fighting to ensure those laws are enforced.

'One of the things we are putting forward now is a proposal for a permanent international body to investigate war crimes, including mass rape and other sexual and gender-based violence,' she said.

This is a goal Jolie has been working on since 2012, when she set up the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) with former British foreign secretary William Hague.

Jolie is pictured in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC during a meeting with then-US President Barack Obama on January 11, 2012

'There is now a lot more awareness and discussion and many more countries have made commitments,' Jolie said.

'For example, 156 countries have pledged not to include amnesties for rape when they are negotiating peace agreements. It is hard to believe, but peace treaties routinely grant immunity to people whove carried out the most disgusting violent crimes against civilians. So we have to make sure all those countries live up to that commitment.'

Since breaking up with Brad Pitt more than two years ago, Jolie is focused on their six children and her work. Her oldest, Maddox, enters college in the fall.

She wrapped up her first starring movie role in four years in 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.' It's due out in October.

Her full interview appears in People's April 15 issue.The suspect in a hit and run crash which saw a nine-year-old girl who was playing in her front yard seriously injured has been arrested.

Gabriel Fordham, 28, turned himself in on Tuesday but claims he was fighting off an armed carjacker inside the car when the incident occurred, WSB reports.

His attorney, Ryan Williams, said: 'Someone jumped in his vehicle with a pistol, put the gun to his face, made him drive, and the whole time my client was driving, he was kind of directing the path.'

LaDerihanna Holmes was outside her home in Lithonia, Georgia with another girl around 7pm on Friday when the car careered straight toward them.

Distressing video shows the second girl running off in one direction after looking back and seeing the oncoming vehicle.

LaDerihanna runs in the other direction, but the black sedan blows past a stop sign and jumps the curb before running her over and slamming into her home.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Gabriel Fordham turned himself in on Tuesday but claims he was fighting off an armed carjacker when the incident occurred. He has since been charged with failure to maintain lane, failure to stop at a stop sign, reckless driving, hit and run and serious injury by vehicle

Surveillance footage captured the horrific moment the driver plowed into LaDerihanna

Surveillance footage captured one of the two suspects fleeing from the scene, exiting from the car's passenger side and running across the front lawn as LaDerihanna's family rushed over to help her.

Fordham has since been charged with failure to maintain lane, failure to stop at a stop sign, reckless driving, hit and run and serious injury by vehicle.

LaDerihanna (pictured in the hospital after the crash) sustained a skull fracture with laceration and a broken pelvic bone in three places

His attorney says he is 'apologetic and he wants to help this family get closure to this issue'.

Fordham has faced previous charges including aggravated battery, aggravated assault, burglary, forgery and probation violation, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

LaDerihanna was taken to the hospital in critical condition. She sustained a skull fracture with laceration and a broken pelvic bone in three places, according to the family's GoFundMe page.

Her right heart valve was also leaking. Chris Stewart's, the family's lawyer, said it is a miracle she survived.

'There is no explanation on how my client is alive,' he wrote on social media. 'I sat with her and can't believe me eyes. Though her road to health will be long, she's alive.'

The black sedan blows past a stop sign and jumps the curb before running her over and slamming into her home

Surveillance footage captured one of the two suspects fleeing from the scene, exiting from the car's passenger side and running across the front lawn

The other girl who was playing in the front lawn with LaDerihanna was not seriously injured.

Authorities had said that the owner of the vehicle told investigators she was at work at the time of the crash and had given the car to her boyfriend.

The suspect and his girlfriend are since said to have contacted police following the crash and have been negotiating a surrender ever since.

In the shocking clip the person in the white pants is the the robber who attacked Fordham, his attorney claims.

Williams added: 'My client tried to take the gun from him, the guy hits him in the face, my client blacks out, and that's why you see the full fledge force of them going through a stop sign.'

Fordham only fled the scene when he saw someone come out of the house with a gun and making threats, Williams argues.

He said: 'With emotions rising, he had no opportunity to stay there, without possibly being harmed. He has not been trying to hide in the shadows.'

LaDerihanna's family then rushed out of the home and ran to help her following the crash

Charlette Bolton, LaDerihanna's mother, had issued a plea directly to the driver.

'You know what you did. You didn't try to help my baby,' she said. 'You almost killed my baby and I hope you do the right thing and turn yourself in.'

Bolton said she is trying to stay 'strong' for her daughter.

'I just want everybody to pray for LaDerihanna,' she said. 'The community loves her, her school loves her, her friends love her. I just want the people involved to be caught.'

Chris Stewart's, the family's attorney, posted a photo of LaDerihanna smiling with him from her hospital bed on Monday morning

LaDerihanna's family shared the security footage with the hope that the driver would come forward and turn themselves in

Charlette Bolton, LaDerihanna's mother,issued a plea directly to the driver. 'You know what you did. You didn't try to help my baby,' she said

'She's strong, and I know she'll bounce back from this. It's just going to take awhile.'

Stewart said footage of the horrific crash is proof that miracles do exist.

'I was shocked,' he said. 'I deal with wrongful death all the time, and I cannot believe she survived it. When I went to see her in the room, she does not have a mark on her face.'

'The video is really hard to watch, but she survived somehow. You gotta believe in God after seeing this.'A white police officer has been caught on camera telling black students walking outside of a Virginia middle school: 'Wait until your a**es turn 18, then you're mine.'

Cellphone video of the incident on March 28 was shared on social media by a concerned parent, sparking an internal investigation by the Richmond Police Department.

Cameron Hillard, the student who recorded the video, said she and her classmates were on their way to an after school program at Albert Hill Middle School when the officer drove up in a patrol car.

'Somebody said a curse word to "f*** the police" - but it wasn't me or my friends,' Hillard told CBS19.

The 13-year-old said the officer then put his car in reverse and asked the group who made the comment, which they all denied.

The officer responded by telling the teens to 'man up' before remarking: 'Wait until your a**es turn 18, then you're mine' and driving off, according to Cameron.

Cellphone video shows the moment a white police officer told a group of black students walking outside of a Virginia middle school: 'Wait until your a**es turn 18, then you're mine'

The video was filmed by 13-year-old Cameron Hillard (left), whose mother Keisha Curry (right) posted it on YouTube, sparking an internal investigation by the Richmond Police Department

Cameron showed the cellphone clip to her mother, Keisha Curry, who addressed it in a video shared on YouTube.

Curry said she initially brushed it off because it wasn't anything she hadn't experienced before, having grown up in Richmond.

'Being that I was brought up and raised in Hillside Court and the Highland Park area, I found that officers acted like that on a regular basis,' Curry said in the YouTube video.

However, the more she thought about the incident and discussed it with her daughter, the more disturbed Curry became.

The mother is now calling for the officer to be disciplined and reprimanded for his actions.

'I don't feel he needs to lose his job,' she told NBC News on Tuesday. 'He just shouldn't be patrolling the streets.'

Curry also said she would be willing to meet with the officer to discuss the incident, saying: 'A comment like that can really disturb a child at this age.'

Cameron added: 'It makes us think that some officers can be rude and not all officers are here to serve us.'

Curry and her daughter addressed the incident in a second YouTube video, in which the mother called for the officer to be disciplined and reprimanded. Cameron said the cop's comment 'makes us think that not all officers are here to serve us'

A Richmond police spokesman said the officer in the video is under investigation by the department's Internal Affairs division but did not release his name

A spokesman for the Richmond Police Department said officials are aware of the video and have launched an investigation.

'The Department takes these concerns very seriously,' the spokesman said in a statement.

'The officer in the video is currently being investigated by the Internal Affairs Division.'

The department did not release the officer's name but confirmed that he is white.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney also addressed the video, saying that the type of behavior exhibited by the officer will not be tolerated by the city.

'I trust that the Richmond Police Department will conduct a quick and thorough investigation and respond accordingly,' Stoney said in a statement.

'This behavior is unacceptable. It reinforces stereotypes of our communities that are hurtful and damages the relationship between our police department and the citizens they are charged to serve.'A Canadian woman is crediting her 'mom instinct' for helping her find the courage to pounce on a cougar that was attacking her seven-year-old son in their backyard.

Chelsea Lockhart was doing chores inside her home in Vancouver Island on Friday when she heard her son Zachary struggling with something outside.

She sprinted to the backyard, where she saw her little boy being attacked by a cougar.

'I could hear his voice, I could hear struggling, so I ran down the stairs and ran to his voice and turned the corner, and I see this animal on my child,' she told CTV.

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Chelsea Lockhart credits her 'mom instinct' for helping her find the courage to pounce on a cougar that was attacking her seven-year-old son in their backyard last week

Lockhart was doing chores inside her home in Vancouver Island on Friday when she heard her son Zachary (pictured together) struggling with something outside

'He was on the ground and the cougar was attached to his arm.'

Zachary had ventured to the waterfront area of the family's home in Lake Cowichan when the cougar had begun running toward him.

A mesh fence on the property gave Zachary some time to run, but the cougar managed to get through the fence and pounced on him.

'I looked at him and I just thought, "Oh my god, my kid could die right before my eyes,"' Lockhart recalled. 'All you think is, "What can you do? What can you do in your own physical strength?"'

The mother said she doesn't know where she gained the strength, but she fish-hooked the animal by the mouth and managed to pry him off.

'I had a mom instinct. I just leaped on it and I tried to pry its mouth open.'

As the mother-of-six desperately tried to unhook the cougar's jaw from her son's arm, she began to pray.

'I knew that in my own power and in my own strength, I wasn't going to be able to pry its mouth open, so I started praying,' she said.

She sprinted to the backyard (pictured), where she saw her little boy being attacked by a cougar. She immediately pounced

As the mother-of-six desperately tried to unhook the cougar's jaw from her son's arm, she began to pray. 'Three sentences into me praying, it released and it ran away,' she said

'Three sentences into me praying, it released and it ran away.'

Zachary was then rushed to the hospital, where he was treated for a four-centimeter gash to his head, as well as injuries to his neck and arms.

The thick sweatshirt he was wearing at the time of the attack helped protect his neck from the cougar's claws and teeth.

Lockhart said her son is expected to make a full recovery and has been recuperating at his grandmother's house.

'We are definitely well on our way to recovery and Zach is resting at his grandma's house, having some one-on-one time there,' she said.

Zachary had ventured to the waterfront area of their home (pictured) in Lake Cowichan when the cougar attacked him. The family's mesh fence bought Zack some time to run, but the animal came through the fence and jumped on him

'His stitches are healing. He is well on his way to being fully recovered.'

Lockhart and her husband Kevin Bromley said they are also working to make sure the attack doesn't impact their son 'mentally or traumatically'.

And while they plan to set up a live trap and camera in the backyard, Lockhart said she has no plans to force her children to stay indoors.

'If the kids see us as parents being apprehensive and being fearful, then they can imitate that behavior,' she said.

'So I'm just constantly reassuring them that the conservation officers dealt with the cougars, and talking to them about normal cougar behavior and how this is a very odd circumstance.

Shortly after the attack, the couple's daughter spotted a second cougar nearby. Conservation officers (pictured) located the two cougars and they were both euthanized

Shortly after the attack, the couple's daughter spotted a second cougar nearby.

Conservation officers located the two cougars, which they said were both juvenile males, about 20 yards from the family's home. They were euthanized.

The British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said the animals were 'quite thin' and were likely both hungry and looking for food.

A necropsy revealed the animals were likely starving at the time of the attack. It is believed the cougars had been separated from their mother for many months.

'We're so grateful that Zach is going to be okay and that he's alive,' Lockhart said.

'I like to say I'm doing okay because the circumstances could've been a lot worse, and we've got our baby boy.'Mike Overd, 54, latest case was brought after he failed to leave Bridgwater town centre in January after police told him to move on, accusing him of anti-social behaviour

A Christian dubbed 'the most arrested street preacher' in the country has walked free from court again after his latest case collapsed when police bungled the paperwork.

Mike Overd, 54, regularly appears in town centres delivering 'fire and brimstone' sermons using a microphone and brandishing printed signs saying 'Repent'.

He has been accused of preaching hate speech, Islamophobia and homophobia and telling a gay man he was going to hell for being a sinner.

More than 3,000 locals once signed a petition to get the preacher banned from town centres in Bridgwater and Taunton but Mr Overd remains defiant.

Overd, 54, of Creech St Michael, Somerset - who denies any wrongdoing - has been arrested and hauled before the courts on a number of occasions.

He has been summoned to court four times accused of public order offences.

Overd was found not guilty the first time, while two guilty findings were overturned at appeal and the fourth case was dropped.

The latest case against Overd was thrown out by Taunton Magistrates Courts on what police say was a 'technicality'.

Now the evangelist will have his legal costs paid out of public money from central funds after he walked free after police failed to complete the paperwork correctly.

The latest case was brought after Overd failed to leave Bridgwater town centre in January after police told him to move on, accusing him of anti-social behaviour.

Overd regularly appears in town centres delivering 'fire and brimstone' sermons using a microphone and brandishing printed signs saying 'Repent'

Michael Overd (left) was arrested in July 2016 at Broadmead shopping centre in Bristol and convicted of a religiously-aggravated public order offence - but later won his appeal against his conviction

He claims police are discriminating against him on the grounds of his beliefs.

After the case was discontinued, he said: 'I'll take whatever - God gives the victory. But it's bad that I'm still being harassed for the same reason.

'I was just preaching when a handful of troublemakers started becoming aggressive - one man threatened to rip my face off.

'One of the complainants reported me to police just for looking at them.

'I refused to accept a Section 35 order (requesting him to leave the area) so I was arrested.'

Mr Overd added: 'Freedom of speech is supposed to be one of the most important freedoms we have.

'But this is happening more and more around the country.

'I'm the most arrested Christian preacher in the land. I'm not proud of it, but I should never be in this position - the authorities have no shame and they're misusing the law.'

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson confirmed the latest case against Mr Overd failed on a 'technicality' after the paperwork was 'not completed correctly'.

She added: 'Mr Overd has made an official complaint to the police. That is ongoing and is currently being investigated, so we are unable to comment at this stage.'

Mr Overd (left), 53, and Michael Stockwell (right), 51, were both found guilty of the public order offences in Bristol in 2016 - but are pictured after winning their appeals

The previous petition was launched after a member of the public claimed Mr Overd told him he is a sinner and will go to hell for being gay.

In February 2012, Mr Overd was cleared of harassing a gay couple on Taunton High Street in Somerset after telling them homosexuals would 'burn in hell'.

A court heard he approached the pair and called them 'sinners', but Mr Overd claimed he was exercising his right to expression by reading from the Bible.

In another incident in 2017 Overd was arrested with two other preachers after onlookers called police accusing him of Islamophobia during a rant.

Mr Overd claims he was just exercising his right to free speech and insists he is doing God's work and he rejoices in his persecution.A pair of neighbors from Arkansas with a bulletproof vest and too much spare time on their hands have been arrested after officials say they took turn shooting each other while wearing the protective gear.

Charles Ferris, 50, and 36-year-old Christopher Hicks were booked into the Benton County Jail on Monday on suspicion of aggravated assault.

A police affidavit says the two men, who live next door to each other in Rogers, were drinking alcohol on a deck Sunday when Ferris, who describes himself as an Evangelical Anglican priest, told Hicks to shoot him with a .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle while Ferris wore the bulletproof vest.

Idle hands: Charles Ferris, 50 (left), and 36-year-old Christopher Hicks (right), were arrested in Arkansas on Monday for shooting each other while wearing a bulletproof vest

The incident took place on Sunday night in Rogers, Arkansas, where the men are neighbors

According to the document cited by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the shot left a red mark on Ferris chest and that he was angry because it hurt.

The affidavit says Hicks then put on the vest and Ferris 'unloaded the clip' into his back, causing bruises but no serious injuries.

Ferris went to Mercy Hospital at 11pm that night to seek treatment for the bruise, which prompted medical staff to contact the authorities.

When interviewed by deputies, Ferris initially claimed that he was paid $200 to protect an 'asset,' and that he was shot six times guarding his charge from a man in a white suit at Hobbs State Park at around 10pm, reported 5 News Online.

Ferris is a married-father-of-two (pictured with his family). His wife, Leslie (right), told deputies what had happened Sunday

Man of the cloth: Ferris describes himself as an Evangelical Anglican priest, and founded the Knights Templar-inspired Warriors Cross Church

If convicted of felony aggravated assault, the cleric (pictured) and his neighbor could face up to six years in prison

When Ferris' wife of 10 years and the mother of his two children, Leslie, arrived at the hospital, she told the deputies what had actually happened, Ferris finally came clean, claiming that he only lied keep Hicks out of trouble.

Ferris and Hicks were released from jail on Tuesday after posting $5,000 bond each. A judge also issued a non-contact order to keep the duo apart.

Both neighbors are due back in court on May 13. If convicted of the felony charges against them, Hicks and Ferris could face up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

According to his Facebook page, Ferris is the founder of the Warriors Cross Church, which is apparently inspired by the medieval Catholic military order of the Knights Templar whose mission it was to protect Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land during the Crusades.The man accused of holding a woman hostage for four days while repeatedly raping, beating and threatening to kill her is a car-loving father-of-two.

Robert Wilson, 32, is allegedly assaulted the 39-year-old Vietnamese woman he met on dating app 'Badoo' in his home in Darley, Victoria, on March 25.

Court documents obtained by 7News allege the avid car lover 'stomped on the woman's stomach, punched her in the head and slammed her into the floor'.

He is also accused of holding a crossbow to her head and shouting 'do you want to die?' while demanding large sums of cash be transferred into his bank account.

The man accused of holding a woman hostage and repeatedly raping, beating and threatening to kill her over a four-day period has been identified as Robert Wilson (pictured)

He reportedly handcuffed the woman and beat her with a metal pole before threatening to turn her into a 'money making machine' by pimping her out.

The 32-year-old has argued that $3,000 allegedly transferred from the woman's bank account into his was a loan.

He also claimed the pair - who had been on a number of dates in the past - had engaged in consensual sex.

Police allege the woman was only released from Wilson's home after her friend, Thein Truong, contacted him on Facebook asking for information on her whereabouts.

'The only thing I was thinking about at the time was to rescue her. She told me she was in a very bad situation, she'd been punched, raped by him, (and given) no food' Mr Truong told 7News.

She was later taken to a hospital and treated for significant head and body injuries.

Police allege the woman (pictured) was only released from Wilson's home after her friend Thein Truong, contacted the father-of-two on Facebook asking for information on her whereabouts

Wilson allegedly threatened to turn her into a 'money making machine' by pimping her out

Neighbours have claimed Wilson continued about his daily activities while allegedly keeping the woman captive.

'He... continued doing what he normally does, say hello, shake our hands,' his next door neighbour told The Age.

'We heard absolutely nothing. He had mates coming around, working on the trucks. Just day to day things. There was nothing strange about it ... I just can't believe it,' he said.

Darley man Robert Wilson, 32, allegedly imprisoned a 39-year-old Vietnamese woman in his home (pictured) from March 25 to 29

Police allege Robert Wilson (pictured) held a woman captive for four days at his home

Wilson is believed to have split from his wife several years ago, and lives in the family home they purchased six years ago.

He was arrested at his home on Tuesday and was charged with seven offences, including three counts of rape, one count of false imprisonment intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury and theft.

Wilson did not apply for bail or appear in the dock when his case was mentioned in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday night.

Wilson was remanded in custody to reappear in court on Friday.

Police alleged the Vietnamese national was held captive at a home in Grey St Darley (pictured)Hidden renaissance paintings believed to be nearly 500-years-old have been discovered in the walls of a 13th-century castle that was seized by the Nazis during the Second World War.

The colourful sketches of curtains and forest motifs were found under plaster during the renovations of Walbrzych's Ksiaz Castle - the largest in the Silesia region of Poland.

In 1944, the castle was seized by Nazis who set about transforming the grand property into a headquarters and living space for Adolf Hitler.

One of the hidden renaissance paintings discovered in the walls of a 13th-century castle that was seized by the Nazis during the Second World War

The colourful sketches of curtains and forest motifs were found under plaster during the renovations of Walbrzych's Ksiaz Castle - the largest in the Silesia region of Poland

In 1944, the castle was seized by Nazis who set about transforming the grand property into a headquarters and living space for Adolf Hitler

They also developed a vast network of tunnels below the castle which later fuelled local folklore that a train full of gold, art, and other treasures looted by the Nazis was buried in the hidden passages.

Meanwhile, more paintings are likely to be discovered as work on the castle continues, castle spokesman Mateusz Mykytyszyn said.

More paintings are likely to be discovered as work on the castle continues

He told local media: 'The polychrome paintings, which are very beautiful and probably cover half the room, are likely to come from the Renaissance time, so around 400 to 500 years ago, but this will only be confirmed by further examination.

'Other polychrome paintings might exist in other parts of the castle but these are the only ones that have been uncovered so far.'

Mykytyszyn explained: 'The room was destroyed during the second half of 1944 and the original decor was lost.

'The ceiling was completely removed and thrown away along with many other original elements. So that is why this discovery is so important.'

It comes after 24 priceless renaissance portraits hidden behind plaster were discovered while renovating Schloss Adelsbach palace earlier this month.

The palace is only five miles away from Ksiaz Castle, in the village of Struga.

It comes after 24 priceless renaissance portraits hidden behind plaster were discovered while renovating Schloss Adelsbach palace earlier this month

Struck gold: Piotr Koper had been renovating the walls of an old palace near from Walbrzych in southwest Poland, when he came across the stunning portraits hidden behind plaster

The paintings were discovered by Polish Piotr Koper, who made headlines around the world in 2015, when he, along with a fellow explorer, claimed to have found the site of the legendary 'Nazi gold train - only to be proven wrong a year later.

'When we pulled away the plaster we saw a delicate strip of painting underneath. We pulled away some more and we discovered a whole line of well-preserved paintings,' he told local news portal thefirstnews.com.

'We managed to uncover the paintings without damaging them, which is a great success.'

He added: 'The first well-preserved portrait made on the wall surprised everyone. It was an accidental discovery, we didn't expect to find such a rarity.'

One side of the room has images of medieval rulers from the region of Silesia, and on the other side there are images of four Roman emperors

Amazing find: In total, he has found 24 priceless renaissance wall portraits, which are believed to be over 500 years old

One side of the room has images of medieval rulers from the region of Silesia, and on the other side there are images of four Roman emperors.

Krzysztof Wieczorek, the owner of the palace, said: 'The title Holy Roman Emperor was also used by the medieval rulers of Bohemia and Silesia, hence the presence of the ancient Roman rulers.

'Each of these huge paintings was made about four metres (13ft) above the ground.

'The oval shows the ruler and around the painting information about his main titles, such as emperor, king, ruler of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia and emperor.

'In the lower part is information about the time of his reign and death, and at the top his official maxim at that time.'A Viking cruise ship was severely damaged after crashing into a cargo ship while on a river cruise in the Netherlands.

The ship was carrying 171 passengers as it collided with the vessel near the Dutch city of Terneuzen just after midnight on Monday - sending passengers 'flying' and causing extensive damage to the hull.

The incident took place on the seventh day of the ten-day river cruise, while travelling from Antwerp to Ghent.

According to Viking, no-one was seriously injured in the collision - despite several passengers suffering minor injuries.

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The heavily damaged bow of the cruise ship as seen from the deck of an assisting rescue boat

The damaged dining area of the boat with broken glass all over the floor and chairs strewn across the deck

Pictures from on board show smashed glass throughout the dining room and chairs strewn across the deck of the boat.

One passenger, Tammy Miller, from Colorado wrote online in the aftermath that the incident was 'very scary and very chaotic'.

'We are okay. Some passengers had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance,' Ms Miller said.

'We were lucky to just have broken glass all over our room and a cut on my hand. It was very scary and very chaotic on board.

'We were immediately surrounded by rescue ships and coast guard ships. We were pushed and then towed to a port in Terneuzen, The Netherlands.

'We know this could have ended a lot differently and we are very thankful for this outcome.'

Another passenger Shelly Eitel, also from the US, said passengers 'went flying' after the impact.

'We went flying on our couches and chairs to the opposite side of the deck,' she said.

A photo shot from the deck of the ship as rescue boats swarmed around it to ferry passengers to safety

The bow of the cruise ship was covered in the aftermath after it was docked in Terneuzen

Viking confirmed that passengers would continue on their journey, albeit with a different itinerary.

A Viking spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We can confirm that just after midnight (CEST) on 1 April, Viking Idun and a cargo vessel collided while sailing from Antwerp to Ghent.

'No guests were injured. The ship sustained some damage near the bow and is currently docked in Terneuzen.

'Viking can confirm that guests booked on the 4 April departure will be on the Viking Longship, Viking Ullur.

'They will be spending their first two nights in Amsterdam, before continuing with the rest of their itinerary as planned. This has been fully communicated to the guests and we are providing them with regular updates.'

It comes just weeks after another Viking ship, the Viking Sky, nearly ran aground off the coast of Norway while carrying 1,400 passengers.Scott Chen, the president of Grindr, switched company communications to WeChat and spoke in Chinese which stoked fears among employees that they could not protect user data

The president of Grindr switched internal communications onto WeChat, spoke only in Chinese and proposed putting an HIV research intern in the company's West Hollywood office, it has been claimed amid growing fears the gay hook-up app's millions of users were put at risk when it was bought by a Chinese company last year.

Two Grind employees spoke to NBC anonymously to share their concerns about Scott Chen's leadership of the company.

The company Chen works for, Beijing Kunlun Tech, acquired Grindr in January 2018, taking ownership of the company which holds millions of users' sensitive data including whether or not they are HIV positive.

It paid $93million for a 60 percent stake in the company in 2016 then acquired the remaining 40 percent in 2018 for $157million.

Since then, there have been increasing fears that the move puts those users' data into the reach of the Chinese government.

The Committee on Foreign Investment has ordered Kunlun to sell the company amid fears it could blackmail users who are government workers with security clearances by using the information they put on the app against them. Grindr is now in discussions to sell the company but wants double what it paid for it.

The two unnamed employees say there were internal fears that data was compromised when Chen started making changes to internal communications policy while acting as the Chief Technology Officer shortly after the January 2018 sale.

'Scott was increasingly restricting access to any kind of information, transferring everything over to WeChat and conducting all communications in Chinese, so it was very hard to keep tabs and help effectively police,' one said.

They reported it to the company's compliance officer, they said.

Chen also discussed putting an intern in the company's West Hollywood office (shown) to work on a paper about HIV prevention. It concerned employees who reported it to the company's compliance officer

When the Foreign Investment Committee launched its investigation in August, the changes were rolled back, they said.

The US Foreign Investment Committee has urged the Chinese tech company which owns Grindr to sell it over fears it is putting sensitive user data within the reach of Chinese government spies

The employees also say Chen proposed putting an intern from a Chinese health organization in the West Hollywood office so that they could put together research for a paper on HIV prevention.

The intern would work for Yiming Shao, a professor at China's Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Shao had proposed working with Grind to compile research on HIV prevention and treatment.

In an email to staff about the idea, Chen admitted that he had asked for users data and expressed concern about it.

'They are attracted by our brand, reach and data. We need to be extremely careful about their data request.

'Yiming is head of HIV prevention in China CDC. We cant let people say this is about "sharing user data with the Chinese government,"' he wrote.

During a visit to the company's office in August 2018, Shao was accompanied by Dr. Susan Little, an HIV researcher for The University of San Diego.

Chen had shared an article about HTC president Cher Wang funding two anti-LGBTQ organizations and in a comment said he agrees that marriage is a 'holy matrimony between man and woman' in a Facebook post in November

Chen, pictured with his wife and two daughters, has said he thinks that 'marriage is a holy matrimony between a man and woman'

Her pitch involved recruiting study participants through the app but insist no plan would have ever given her or Shao user data about their HIV status.

Ultimately, Grindr never took either up on their officer.

Chen came under fire last year for saying in a now deleted Facebook post that he believed marriage should be between a man and a woman.

He also vowed to boycott a company which was funding LGBTQ causes.

It was a comment which prompted the resignation of the company's 'out and proud' communications director who said he refused to 'compromise' his values.

A spokesman for Grindr said it never pursued either HIV research project but did not comment on Chen's change in communications policy.

'Grindr and the Grindr for Equality team periodically engage in discussions with highly respected national and international health organizations and researchers, including to help stem the spread of the deadly HIV epidemic.

'Regardless of emails you may have regarding a very preliminary internal discussion, Grindr has never engaged any intern associated in any way with the Chinese government,' the spokesman said.The severed face of a man was left on a street by a cartel seeking to expand its dominance over one of Mexico's favorite tourist destinations.

Police officers came across the gruesome discovery the evening of March 28 in Acapulco, a beach resort town on the Pacific coast.

The severed face was placed inside a black bag and was accompanied by two warning signs directed at a local gang known as 'The Virus' and Mexico's three different government branches.

The New Jalisco Generation Cartel, considered by authorities to be the most powerful criminal enterprise in Mexico, claimed responsibility.

New Jalisco Generation Cartel claimed responsibility for leaving the severed face of a man in a street in Acapulco, Mexico

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who is also known as El Mencho, is the leader of the New Jalisco Generation Cartel and the most-wanted man in Mexico

According to Mexican news outlets, law enforcement investigators said the rest of the man's head was missing.

The immediate surrounding area was cordoned off but the rest of the body was not located.

Cops also recovered 10 9mm bullet casings.

The Spanish written reminder read: 'To the three levels of government - municipal, state, federal - if you can't handle this package, get the f*** out. We're already here to clean up Acapulco of all this garbage. All public transportation [operators] that support his garbage will suffer the same.'

The gang signed off the poster with its Spanish initials, C.J.N.G [Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion], declaring it seeks 'an Acapulco free of extortion.'

A separate 'narco message' read: 'This will have to everyone that supports 'The Virus' ... We came to kick the a**** of all you extortioners and kidnappers.'

The Spanish written reminder reads: 'To the three levels of government - municipal, state, federal - if you can't handle this package, get the f*** out. We're already here to clean up Acapulco of all this garbage. All public transportation [operators] that support his garbage will suffer the same.'

Another message from the New Jalisco Generation Cartel calls out a local criminal gang known as 'The Virus' as they seek to rid Acapulco, Mexico, of 'extortioners and kidnappers'

The United States Department of State, Justice and Treasury has offered a $10million bounty for the capture of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the New Jalisco Generation Cartel

It also include a list of several suspects affiliated to the gang that are being hunted.

No arrests have been reported by Mexican authorities.

The New Jalisco Generation Cartel was founded in 2009 and was once allied to El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel before becoming the strongest cartel in 2018.

It is led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who is also known as El Mencho, the most- wanted man in Mexico. The United States Department of State, Justice and Treasury has offered a $10million bounty for his capture.

El Mencho's criminal organization has been embroiled in ongoing wars with two different cartels.

The New Jalisco Generation Cartel is battling the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel over the control of the illegal tapping of oil refineries in Mexico, which has left scores of cartel members dead on each side as well as innocent bystanders.

It's also involved in a brutal battle with the Zetas Vieja Escuela.

An early Tuesday morning gun fight claimed the lives of three suspected members of the C.J.N.G in Veracruz, a port city on the Gulf of Mexico.Daniel Osula, 36, pictured, has gone on the run from court after leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court during a sentencing hearing when the judge rose to consider his punishment for sending threatening emails to House of Commons staff

A warehouse assistant who threatened to carry out a terror attack at Westminster has gone on the run after fleeing court before he could be sentenced.

Daniel Osula, 36, was set to find out his punishment today after sending emails to staff at the House of Commons claiming he would stab civil servants and run down pedestrians in the street.

A warrant for his arrest has now been issued after he brazenly walked out of a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court this morning.

Osula left the building shortly after district judge Richard Blake had risen to consider the sentence, taking advantage of the break in proceedings.

A previous hearing was told Osula, who holds both an Irish and Nigerian nationality, sent the threatening emails because staff at HM Revenue and Customs had refused to return his passport after he had applied for tax credits.

Osula claimed he was being 'kept prisoner' in the UK and needed it to travel to Ireland for a legal case.

He threatened to 'steal a car and smash as many people as I can', City of London Magistrates' Court heard previously.

Osula also said he would 'get a knife and go through the security at the HMRC building until I get the last one.'

He previously had a 1.6million lawsuit thrown out of the High Court in Belfast last year after he made unfounded assertions that Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had plotted to murder him.

Osula, of Dagenham, east London, was found guilty of four counts of sending a threatening communication after a trial last month.

Prosecutor Sophie Akister said Osula sent his emails to four different departments in Parliament.

Ms Akister said a committee support assistant for the treasury committee, Nicholas Berry, received an emails in which Osula threatened to 'get a knife and go through the security at the HMRC building until I get the last one.'

The email continued, 'I will jump in a car and run everyone over until I get killed. I will spill blood over your country.

'HMRC must return my passport or I will spill blood.'

Ian Bradshaw, the second clerk for the public accounts committee, received threats saying: 'The HMRC is refusing to return my passport. I have a court hearing to attend in Ireland.

'Now I am tempted to steal a car and smash as many people as I can so you do not treat visitors on the UK as a piece of s*** anymore.

'Tomorrow I will contact the EU Commission so that my actions can be distinguished from a terrorist act.

'Take note, I am not willing to live here so return my passport and I will walk away and never return to this hell.'

An arrest warrant has since been issued for Osula after he walked out of Westminster' Magistrates Court, pictured, this morning

Susan Rowe, an inquiries officer for the House of Lords, said in a written statement she received an email which said: 'Sir/Madam, since no one is willing to return my passport I will be forced to enter the street with a knife.

'I cannot be imprisoned in the UK because I am a European - this is a sick country!'

Another email to Fiona Green, a public enquiries manager at the House of Commons, read: 'I have no love for this disunited kingdom, I will go through the British blood for my passport and no one should underestimate my resolve.

'I need my passport now or I will complain to the EU and commit a grave and bloodied crime to bring attention to this matter to the United Nations.'

Osula was arrested soon after he sent the emails on 9 October and told officers that he had sent them from his wife's mobile phone.

The officer asked: 'Apparently you sent an email to someone?'

Olusa replied: 'In regards of my passport.'

The court heard Olusa also smashed up an office in the High Court on September 20 last year when trying to launch a legal claim.

Olusa filled out a claims form for 2,000 but that staff rejected the application because he has a restraining order.

He became angry, picked up a chair, smashed it against the bulletproof glass, then brought it down on two fixed tablets used to help people fill out documents.

Olusa admitted damaging property at the Royal Courts of Justice at court.

District judge Richard Blake said: 'To threaten people in the manner as you did when they work in a place where people have lost their lives as a result of terrorist attacks.

'Personally, if I would have received that, my blood would have run cold given the context. On the very premises of the Houses of Parliament somebody died as a result of a knife attack.

'My starting point is custody.'

But the warrant was issued for his arrest after he walked out of his sentencing hearing.A 37-year-old father-of-three has been killed in a tragic motorcycle accident just one day before his youngest son's birthday.

Brett Fox died on Tuesday after his motorcycle crashed into a tree at Port Elliott in South Australia just before 9.30pm.

People who overheard the crash rushed out to help the father, but it was too late, according to witnesses and police.



'We went out and there was nothing that could be done, our neighbour is a nurse and he was gone,' Pam Elliott told Nine News.

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Messages from friends and family described Mr Fox as a loving family man who had struggled in the past.

In a Facebook post in November last year, Mr Fox opened up about his life as a dad.

'Lots of things I regret in my life but one thing is certain I love my kids and families the dearest,' Mr Fox said.

'Just remember even the smallest act of kindness costs nothing, make a stranger smile and have an awesome time doing it.'

Investigators from Major Crash are still trying to find out the cause of the crash on Tuesday night

Investigators from Major Crash are still trying to find out why he crashed, but witnesses reported the motorbike may have been travelling at excessive speed.

His death brings the road toll to 31 this year, with nine of the deaths motorcyclists.

Shadow minister for Road Safety and former police officer Lee Odenwalder has called for increased standards on motorcycle licencing laws.

'Lots of things I regret in my life but one thing is certain I love my kids and families the dearest,' Mr Fox said in a Facebook post last year

Mr Odenwalder called for an increase in the minimum age of obtaining a licence and for the length of the provision licence to be extended to three years.

Current road Safety Minister Corey Wingard said they were consulting with the public before making changes, but it will being doing so on Wednesday.

'We know that we do need to consult widely to make sure that we get the best outcome for South Australia,' Mr Wingard said to Nine News.A Labour MP who was the target of a neo-Nazi plot to kill her with a machete has received a round of applause in the Commons this afternoon.

Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire, spoke of her ordeal in the chamber and told MPs to 'do our utmost' to defend democracy.

It comes after Jack Renshaw admitted purchasing a 19-inch replica Roman sword to assassinate Ms Cooper and exact revenge on a female police officer who was investigating him for child sex offences.

The plan was scuppered by whistle-blower Robbie Mullen, who was at a meeting in a pub when Renshaw announced that he was going to kill Ms Cooper in July 2017.

Ms Cooper, raising a point of order, thanked Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and all MPs for their 'kindness' over the 'last two difficult years'.

Rosie Cooper, the MP for West Lancashire, spoke of her ordeal in the chamber and told MPs to 'do our utmost' to defend democracy

Rosie Cooper's colleagues gave her a lengthy applause in the Commons this afternoon

Ms Cooper, raising a point of order, thanked Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and all MPs for their 'kindness' over the 'last two difficult years'

She said: 'I was to be murdered to send a message to send a message to the state, to send a message to this place.

'Members of this house are regularly abused and attacked. Our freedoms, our way of life, our democracy is under threat and we must do our utmost to defend it.

She also asked Home Secretary Sajid Javid to consider the Diplock process, which were judge-only hearings introduced in Northern Ireland in the 1970s for terrorist-related offences following a report by senior judge Lord Diplock.

After a lengthy round of applause, Speaker John Bercow added: 'I think the spontaneous reaction on both sides of the chamber, joined in by the Leader of the House and other colleagues speaks volumes.

'And I hope that I speak on behalf of the House in saying that we have the most enormous respect and admiration for the Honourable Lady.

'She has displayed courage and fortitude of which many people and probably most of us, can only dream.'

It comes after Jack Renshaw admitted purchasing a 19-inch replica Roman sword to assassinate Ms Cooper and exact revenge on a female police officer who was investigating him for child sex offences

'In the most harrowing of circumstances, faced with an explicit and very real threat to her life from neo-Nazis she has not wilted for a second.

'She has defended her own rights, she has defended the rights of her constituents, she has defended the rights of all of her colleagues and she's defended the rights of Parliament as an institution.

'By this sort of poisonous, fascistic bile, we will not be cowed and the sooner for the purveyors of hate, of fascism, of Nazism, of a death cult realise that, the better.

'I salute the honourable lady.'

Commons Leader Mrs Leadsom paid tribute to Ms Cooper on behalf of the Government, adding: 'We all absolutely stand with her.'

Mr Javid echoed the tribute before Mr Corbyn thanked Ms Cooper for her 'incredible fortitude' in standing up against the 'appalling' threat.

The plot to kill Ms Cooper comes a year after Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot by far-right extremist, Thomas Mair.

The abuse of MPs rose to prominence in January this year after Tory MP Anna Soubry was abused as she was interviewed by the BBC's Simon McCoy and Sky's Kay Burley.

Soubry was branded a 'Nazi', a 'liar' and a 'traitor' by right-wing yellow vest activists.

A litany of abuse has also been levelled, mostly at female MPs, online.

Last month, ahead of International Women Day, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd revealed revealed that she had been called 'less attractive than Medusa's fugly sister'

And ex-Labour MP Luciana Berger quit the party due to online abuse, while Labour MP Jess Phillips regularly speaks out about the misogynist tweets she receives.An American woman and her driver have been kidnapped from a national park in southwest Uganda, by people demanding a ransom of $500,000 for their release, police said on Wednesday.

Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, was on a game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park when her vehicle was ambushed by four gunmen on Tuesday evening, a statement from the deputy police spokesman said.

Ugandan soldiers are hunting the gunmen, who abducted the California woman and Wild Frontiers Safari driver Jean Paul around dusk on Tuesday.

Scroll down for video

Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, was kidnapped in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

Martin Julius and his wife Barbel were said to be on a Wild Frontiers Safari tour and alerted a manager when they were abandoned in the ambush

'Four armed men, not yet identified, between 5pm and 7pm (1400-1600GMT), staged an ambush and kidnapped an American tourist with his Ugandan driver near Katoke Gate in the Queen Elizabeth National Park,' government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said Wednesday in a statement.

'A joint operation by the Uganda police, Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and Uganda Wildlife Authority Game Wardens is underway to locate and rescue them.'

Other tourists, who were present when the gunmen attacked but were not abducted or physically harmed, managed to raise the alarm from the lodge where they were staying.

A Canadian elderly couple left behind on the Edward Track between Katoke Gate the wilderness camp, reported to the camp manager who came to rescue them after the incident that occurred between 6pm and 7pm.

Wild Frontiers Safari tour company names married father-of-two Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo as one of their drivers and says he was born in Congo and grew up near Goma

Opondo said those 'who were left abandoned and unharmed, later contacted the base (lodge) and were quickly got safely out of any danger.'

Deputy Police spokesperson ACP Polly Namaye, said the captors took the keys the van the others were left in.

Their names were reported as Martin Julius and his wife Barbel.

California-based Endecott and the couple entered Uganda on March 29 and flew the next day to the park in the country's southwest, a Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) spokesman said.

The safari company's website names married father-of-two Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, 38, as one of their drivers and says he was born in Congo and grew up in the area near Goma.

He moved to Uganda in 1992 and joined the company with in 2007 with five years of experience in the tourism industry. He speaks English, Swahili and French.

Police said the initial indications lead them to believe that the kidnapping was financially motivated.

The group quickly made their demand for Shs1.8billion using Endecotts cellphone.

'We strongly believe this ransom is the reason behind this kidnap,' the police stated. 'The Joint Security teams have cut off all exit areas on the border between Uganda and the DRC in search of the victims.'

On Thursday police said the captors were still use devices from the kidnapped people to ask for ransom money.

Her vehicle was ambushed on a game drive Tuesday evening and driver Jean Paul was taken

Ugandan soldiers are hunting the four gunmen who took the pair on the Edward Track between Katoke Gate the wilderness camp

'They (the abductors) continue to use cell phones of the victims to call the lodge they were staying asking for $500,000 ransom, which we will not offer,' Uganda Deputy Police Spokeswoman Namaye said.

Law enforcement believed the group could still be within the parameters of the park on Wednesday but later expanded their search.

'We strongly believe the perpetrators and victims could still be trapped within our search area,' the statement continued. 'The priority at this point is to locate, rescue and bring them back to safely.'

The state-run Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said an armed ranger is supposed to be with tourists and their guides at all times.

'We have armed ranger guides, if you're going out on a drive in the park you're supposed to have one but these tourists went out on their own without a guard,' spokesman Bashir Hangi told Reuters.

'From their camp in the park, they just got into a vehicle and went out. They should have notified us and informed us that they're going out for a game drive and then we would have availed them a guard but they didn't do this.'

Uganda Wildlife Authority spokesman Bashir Hangi said: 'They should have notified us and informed us that they're going out for a game drive and then we would have availed them [an armed] guard but they didn't do this'

Queen Elizabeth, in southwestern Uganda lies some 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, famous among tourists for gorilla trekking

Hangi added to ABC News on Thursday: 'This is a one-off incident, its an isolated incident. It is not something that we are known for. We call it an accident. Its very unfortunate, it is regrettable, but it happened.

'Our parks are very safe right now, tourists are in the parks as I speak. We are known to be a safe country for all visitors. We are known to be a country with people who are warmly welcoming those they dont know. Thats what we are known for and thats who we are, and thats who we are going to remain to be despite this incident.'

But the US embassy in Kampala said to avoid the Ishasha area on Thursday.

On Wednesday it said 'is aware of reports that an American citizen was kidnapped and warned to 'exercise caution when traveling to this area due to ongoing security activity'.

'The operation to rescue the tourist is still ongoing,' Uganda's tourism minister, Godfrey Kiwanda, told AFP on Thursday morning.

NTV reported Army spokesman Brigadier Richard Karemire added: 'Let the security forces do their work.'

The identity of the kidnappers was unclear. The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab has carried out attacks in Uganda in the past, but has never kidnapped anyone for ransom there.

'We are hopeful that our efforts will lead to their successful recovery,' police said, adding they have strengthened safety measures.

'We want to further reassure the public that this is the first incident of its kind registered in such a peaceful setting and those planning to visit the national park and its surrounding should not be discouraged.'

Queen Elizabeth National Park borders Virunga national park, Africa's oldest national park

Virunga suspended all tourism activities last year following the kidnapping of two British tourists, Bethan Davies and Robert Jesty, in May 2018

Britons and their killed driver, Rachel Masika Baraka, were freed two days after the attack

Queen Elizabeth, in southwestern Uganda lies some 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, famous among tourists for gorilla trekking.

In 1999, Rwandan rebels killed eight foreign tourists there, inflicting an enormous blow to Uganda's tourist industry.

Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the East African nation's most famous wildlife reserves, runs along the frontier with conflict-wracked regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It borders its famous Virunga national park, Africa's oldest national park.

Virunga suspended all tourism activities last year following the kidnapping of two British tourists, Bethan Davies and Robert Jesty, in May 2018.

The Britons were freed two days after the attack and their 25-year-old Virunga Park Ranger Rachel Masika Baraka was killed.

Numerous militia groups and armed gangs roam eastern DR Congo.A Maryland police officer has been cleared for fatally shooting an unarmed black during a heated exchange last year, after the department concluded his actions were both lawful and justified.

Officer Anand Badgujar, 33, had already been ruled out of facing any criminal charges by state prosecutors before the Montgomery County Police Departments announcement on Wednesday.

The department says its administrative investigation of the fatal June 2018 shooting of Robert White, a 41-year-old black man, found that the officer's use of deadly force was circumstantially justified by law.

Police Chief J. Thomas Manger says Badgujar's body camera footage shows White was clearly the aggressor in the exchange, and even escalated the situation by attacking the officer to the extent the he appeared to be in grave danger.

The footage shows White pushing the policeman to ground at the end of the encounter, where investigators say White posed a real threat to steal Badgujars gun and shoot him.

White never brandished a weapon at Badgujar, but police say they later found a folding knife in his right front pocket.

Officer Anand Badgujar, 33, was concluded to have acted lawfully by internal investigators at the Montgomery County Police Department on Wednesday

Robert White (above), 41, was shot dead by Badgujar in June 2018, following a heated exchange were he repeatedly asked the officer to shoot him

The tape is quite revealing, Howard County States Attorney Dario Broccolino said in August, referring to the body-camera footage. Its pretty clear who the aggressor was.

Maryland authorities released the clip in July, showing Badgujar running through a neighborhood in Silver Spring on June 11, after spotting White acting suspiciously.

During his pursuit, Badgujar is heard shouting to White: 'Hey, big man, you need to stop'.

After an initial confrontation, Badgujar told a dispatcher: 'He's got his hands in his pocket. Might be a suicide-by-cop type thing'.

With the situation escalating, the officer tried to pepper spray White, and then requested back-up as White moved away.

Later in the video, after getting some distance between himself and the officer, White appeared to yell: 'Get in the car. Stop following me if you're not going to do it.' By then, the two men had reached a townhouse complex.

As Badgujar approached, he told White: 'Sir, I do not want to shoot you. Sir, I don't want to (expletive) shoot you, bro'.

Badgujar was later shown reaching into his car under the steering column to turn off the ignition.

Maryland authorities released the clip in July, showing Badgujar running through a neighborhood in Silver Spring on June 11, after spotting White (pictured) acting suspiciously

Police Chief J. Thomas Manger says Badgujar's body camera footage shows White was clearly the aggressor in the exchange, and even escalated the situation by attacking the officer (pictured: White charging toward Badgujar who is laying on the ground)

Badgujar repeatedly tells White: 'Sir, I do not want to shoot you' during their various scuffles

Investigators say White posed a real threat to steal Badgujars gun and shoot him, making his actions to shoot the suspect legally justified

Badgujar fires several shots at White during the exchange, until he eventually drops to the ground and stops moving

White was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say he never brandished a weapon, but they later found a folding knife in his front-right pocket

White was heard on the video yelling: 'Do it!' multiple times at the officer. At one point, he appeared to try to get into a police cruiser.

White then takes several stutter steps toward the officer, who is now out from his vehicle, continuing to yell 'Do it...'Big shot!'

He finally charges at the officer. Badgujar fires twice and falls to the sidewalk. White is heard grunting, then gets up and says: 'Do it again!'

In the ensuing struggle, in which the officer is still on the ground, Badgujar fires several more shots.

White then falls to the ground and stops moving. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Howard County State's Attorney Dario Broccolino said in a July 27 letter to Manger that after a review of the evidence and the law, it was concluded that Badgujar's actions 'were justified under the circumstances.'

Broccolino noted that investigators reviewed also reviewed other evidence relating to the video, and Badgujar responded to questions prosecutors posed to him through his attorney.

Following the ruling, the Montgomery Police announced they would be conducting their own investigation and reached the same verdict as Broccolino on Wednesday.

Bagujar has since returned to duty from administrative leave and remains an officer of the Montgomery County Police Department, where he has worked for three years.A transgender woman was jeered by a mob and assaulted in Paris before being saved by police on the fringes of a protest by Algerians on Sunday.

Julia, 31, says she was trying to make her way to the metro from the Place de la Republique in the French capital when she was heckled and abused by men who were out protesting against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Footage shows her being shouted at before she goes to confront one of the men who then beats her repeatedly across the arm.

Members of the crowd can be heard jeering in the background as others try to intervene before the police take hold of the situation.

A protester can be seen wildly striking Julia, 31, repeatedly across the arm after she confronts him near the Place de la Republique in central Paris on Sunday

Julia, 31, jostles with the crowd as the transport police move in to diffuse the situation (left) and before the violence she cuts a lonely figure on the steps, surrounded by loud protesters (right)

Transport police officers intervened and protected Julia from any further assaults.

She has since told local media that she was trying to get to the metro, but that 'three individuals blocked me.'

She added: 'One of them said to me, "But you are actually a man, and anyway, you will not pass."

'One of the three individuals said to me "But you have breasts, can I touch?" And then, he put his hand on my chest.'

Julia continued: 'I found myself in front of a man who took out his penis in front of me and told me that I had to make him happy.

'The men above me threw beer at me. And the person who touched my chest came back to me and slapped me and then you saw the next part on the video.

'I had never experienced a situation like this.'

She added: 'Violent acts are committed against this community on a daily basis. There are people who will not have the strength that I have and who will be destroyed by this kind of assault.'

According to local media, Julia is filing a complaint for 'sexual assault.'

Julia begins walking up the stairs to confront the man (left) and appears unsure of how to deal with the situation (right)

The video was shared on social media by LGBTQ+ activist Lyes Alouane who said: 'Transphobic aggression. This is indeed in the centre of Paris, at [Place de la] Republique. Shameful for our country [French flag emoji].

'Shameful for the flag you thought to honour [Algerian flag emoji].'

Mr Alouane told local media: 'Men began to humiliate her by singing a song meant to sexualise her, to ridicule her. Then a man spat on her. The victim got angry and tried to get out of the way. So the man started to hit her.'

The incident took place on Sunday but was only shared online on Tuesday morning and has picked up more than a million views since it was posted.

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said an investigation was to be launched to identify the attackers and local media are now confirming that investigators have officially opened a case.

The Mayor tweeted that she was 'indignant at this transphobic aggression, which I condemn with the greatest firmness. I want to assure the victim of all my support.

'The parties guilty of this intolerable act must be identified and prosecuted.'

Following protests at home and abroad Algeria's Constitutional Council met on Wednesday to confirm President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's resignation.

Protesters rally in the famous Place de la Republique in Paris to demand an end to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's rule on Sunday - he has since stepped down as President (there is no suggestion these protesters were involved in the incident)

Julia said she told local media that she was trying to get to the metro, but that 'three individuals blocked me' (pictured: protesters hold smoke grenades in the Place de la Republique on Sunday, there is no suggestion these protesters were involved in the incident)

Algerians woke to a new and uncertain era, after the departure of their ruler of 20 years.

A Bouteflika ally - the upper house of parliament's president, Abdelkader Bensalah - is expected to take over as interim leader while Algeria plans presidential elections.

International neighbours are watching closely for what will happen next to the gas-rich country and key player in the global fight against terrorism.Students at Eastern Michigan University have been told to stop taking seflies with a pair of aggressive geese on campus after one of the animals was filmed attacking a passerby.

College police put out the warning on Tuesday afternoon after CCTV captured the bird launching itself at a woman and chasing her along a sidewalk.

'Beware of goose! A pair of geese are nesting in the northwest area of Green Lot 1. Please use caution,' Eastern Michigan University police said on Instagram.

Students at Eastern Michigan University have been told to stop taking seflies with a pair of aggressive geese that are nesting on campus (one pictured in the college car park)

University spokesman Geoff Larcom revealed several students have tried to take selfies with the geese when they are hissing.

He revealed several students have reported goose attacks, but no injuries have been reported.

Larcom said it's not unusual for geese to nest on campus this time of year.

They are territorial birds and are known to chase or attack humans who disturb their territory.He suffered a damaged right arm and partially shattered right leg and foot in combat and has to wear a leg brace

Esquibel is a U.S. Marines veteran and served in Afghanistan

He was allegedly beat by park rangers and arrested for parking in a handicapped spot at Sequoia National Park in California

His case was supposed to go to trial last week, but was recently settled

He sued the Department of Interior and the National Park Service for assault, false arrest, and false imprisonment for a 2012 incident

A disabled U.S. Marines veteran has won a $250,000 payout after a national park ranger allegedly beat him and arrested him for parking in a handicapped reserved spot.

Sgt. Dominic Esquibel, who suffers a damaged right arm and partially shattered right leg and foot, was allegedly aggressively handled, kicked, and arrested after he parked in the handicapped spot at the Sequoia National Park in California in 2012, and rangers didn't believe he was disabled.

The San Diego veteran sued the Department of Interior and the National Park Service for assault, false arrest, and false imprisonment for the incident and the case was scheduled to go to trial last week in U.S. District Court, but was recently settled.

'He feels vindicated and he is glad this is over,' Esquibel's lawyer said to the Washington Post.

Disabled U.S. Marines veteran Sgt. Dominic Esquibel won a $250,000 settlement from the U.S. government after a national park ranger allegedly used excessive force and arrested him over the use of a handicapped parking space at Sequoia National Park in 2012

'He was having trouble sleeping and his condition was getting worse,' he added on the veteran who served in Afghanistan and was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On December 22, 2012, Esquibel was visiting Sequoia National Park with his family. He parked in a nearby handicap space, despite the long lines at the park, so that he could use the restroom.

A park employee yelled at him saying, 'You can't park there'. When Esquibel said he was disabled the employee replied saying, 'I can see that you're not', the lawsuit states.

That employee then called two rangers onto the scene. One of them was Ranger Parrack, who demanded Esquibel show his handicapped driver's license, which he didn't have because he didn't require any adaptive equipment.

Esquibel served in Afghanistan and was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He suffered major injuries to his right leg, arm and foot in the war

After Esquibel parked in a handicap spot on December 22, 2012, he was approached by a park ranger who threatened to throw him to the ground and didn't believe he was disabled. In that confrontation the ranger kicked his legs and pulled up his pant to see proof of his leg brace (above)

Parrack then allegedly threatened Esquibel, saying he'd throw him to the ground and order him to be arrested.

Then things turned physical and Parrack grabbed Esquibel's scarred arm, inflicting pain upon the veteran as his wife watched.

Parrack proceeded to kick Esquibel's feet to separate his legs as the veteran shouted that his leg and feet were injured from his time fighting in Afghanistan.

'I'm combat wounded, and you're kicking my salvaged limb,' Esquibel told Parrack.

Parrack pulled up Esquibel's jeans to see the brace.

It's unclear whether Parrack or any other park staffers at Sequoia National Park (above) were disciplined over the incident

'I told my wife to remove herself and get in the car so at least there would be a witness to hold him accountable,' Esquibel said.

When Esquibel offered to show his paperwork for his handicap placard, Ranger Parrak refused to listen and forcibly arrested him instead, as per the lawsuit.

Parrack arrested him and issued a citation for 'failure to follow a lawful order', according to court documents.

Esquibel was later released and the charge was dropped in 2014.

Esquibel pursued the lawsuit because he didn't want the arrest on his record and wanted to clear his name.

It's unclear whether Parrack or any other park staffers were disciplined over the incident.

'It is my hope that this will prompt other law enforcement to think twice before repeating the same missteps and causing further misfortune for others with disabilities,' Esquibel said.President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he was 'never planning a vote prior to the 2020 Election' on healthcare reform and 'never' asked Senate Republicans to take up a bill before he'd been reelected.

He said reporting that said otherwise was wrong  even though the information he was disputing came directly from the Senate majority leader.

Trump said the GOP plan that's being reconfigured now by a group of senators, 'will be on full display during the Election as a much better & less expensive alternative to ObamaCare.'

'This will be a great campaign issue. I never asked Mitch McConnell for a vote before the Election as has been incorrectly reported (as usual),' he said, singling out the New York Times, 'but only after the Election when we take back the House etc. Republicans will always support pre-existing conditions!'

President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he was 'never planning a vote prior to the 2020 Election' on healthcare reform and never asked Senate Republicans to consider a bill before the presidential election

He said reporting that claimed otherwise was wrong  even though the information he was disputing came from the Senate majority leader

Trump said the GOP plan that's being reconfigured now by a group of senators, 'will be on full display during the Election as a much better & less expensive alternative to ObamaCare

Trump said Tuesday he's leaving healthcare reform until after the election, because Republicans may win back the House. But assertion only came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made it clear the upper chamber would not pass a repeal and replace to Obamacare until after next November.

'If we get back the House and the assumption - we keep the Senate and we keep the presidency, which I hope are two good assumptions - we're going to have phenomenal healthcare,' President Trump said in the Oval Office. 'I think we're going to have a great healthcare package. I think the Republican Party will become the party of healthcare.'

He has offered no details on what would be in the GOP healthcare plan, aside from pre-conditions coverage.

'When the plan comes out, which we will show you at the appropriate time, it's much better than Obamacare. So when the plan comes out, you'll see it, it's possible the Democrats would want to do it,' he said.

Without saying what is in it, Trump claimed, 'I mean it's much better for the people, but I'm assuming they won't because the Democrats never do anything that necessarily is going to be anything other than political.'

Trump did an about-face on his plan to push healthcare legislation as his administration moved on the Affordable Care Act in the courts. It is pushing to have the entire law thrown out.

His move came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he talked to Trump and made it clear the Senate would not pass a repeal and replace

McConnell said he spoke to Trump on Monday and made it clear to him that Republicans will not move forward on a comprehensive package to replace Obamacare if it falls while Democrats control the lower chamber.

'We had a good conversation yesterday afternoon and I pointed out to him the Senate Republicans' view on dealing with comprehensive health care reform with a Democratic House of Representatives,' he told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday.

McConnell noted Republicans had the chance to do comprehensive reform in the last Congress and 'were unable to do so,' even though they controlled the legislative branch.

'I made clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate,' McConnell said.

Trump said in a series of tweets Monday night that the effort would take place after the 2020 elections.

The move was an immediate turnaround after Trump caught Senate Republicans off guard in a private meeting last week, where he announced his intent make health care reform a priority.

Senate leaders immediately said they would leave it to the White House to try to concoct a bill that could make it through the Democratic-controlled House.

Trump believes health care is a winning issue in 2020, mostly because he plans to frame the Democrats' plan as socialism.

'Even the Dems want to replace it, but with Medicare for all, which would cause 180 million Americans to lose their beloved private health insurance,' he said Monday night of the plans favored by some Democratic presidential candidates.

Trump announced the reversal on Twitter Monday night

The president is also focused on the healthcare fight in the courts.

A federal judge in Texas ruled in December that the entire law was unconstitutional due to its insurance mandate, since Congress and the president already reduced the penalty for failure to get insurance to zero.

The Trump administration joined the lawsuit after the internal split and intervened in a filing before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.An airline passenger was left 'shocked' when the 'warming beef and bean chilli' they ordered on their flight turned out to be a 'disgusting liquid' instead.

Trudy Gleeson, from Kent, shelled out 7.50 for a Chilli Meal, which came with nachos and dips, on her Jet2 flight from Stansted to Paphos on March 30.

But when it arrived all she got was a bright red, thin-looking liquid in a plastic tub, with little evidence of beef or beans.

Trudy Gleeson, from Kent, shelled out 7.50 for a Chilli Meal, which came with nachos and dips, on her Jet2 flight from Stansted to Paphos on March 30. But when it arrived all she got was a bright red, thin-looking liquid in a plastic tub, with little evidence of beef or beans

The meal was a stark contrast to the wholesome-looking chilli advertised on the in-flight menu (pictured) which came served up in a ceramic bowl with nacho chips and a dip

It was a stark contrast to the wholesome-looking chilli advertised on the in-flight menu which came served up in a ceramic bowl with nacho chips and a dip.

Where it was described as 'a warming beef and bean chilli, served with nachos and dips'.

Ms Gleeson shared pictures of her meal on Twitter, saying: 'Lovely flight from Stansted to Paphos yesterday. But was shocked when I ordered the chilli on the menu - but got some sort of disgusting liquid.'

She included a picture of the sumptuous-looking menu and one she received and asked: 'From the pics, guess which one I got? Very disappointed.'

Ms Gleeson shared pictures of her meal on Twitter (right, the meal she received; left the meal on the menu), saying: 'Lovely flight from Stansted to Paphos yesterday. But was shocked when I ordered the chilli on the menu - but got some sort of disgusting liquid'

The chilli meal is described as 'a warming beef and bean chilli, served with nachos and dips' on the in-flight menu

Jet2 has since apologised for the meal, and has said it is willing to discuss the matter further with Ms Gleeson.

A spokeswoman said: 'We are sorry for any disappointment caused to Trudy.

'We're proud to deliver a quality experience from the moment people start their holidays with us, including our in-flight food and drinks which consistently receive great feedback from customers, as we monitor standards regularly.

'Our customer services team have already been in touch directly with Trudy, but have not yet received a response.

'We will of course be willing to discuss this further with Trudy if she was not happy with her in-flight meal.'

Tui were criticised recently over their 4 bacon roll, pictures of which show five pieces of bacon dripping with butter.

Tui were criticised recently over their 4 bacon roll, pictures of which show five pieces of bacon dripping with butter (left). But the reality for one passenger named David was far different (right)

A customer known only as David last month received a roll that had only two slices of bacon that seemed free of the butter and ketchup

A customer known only as David last month received a roll that had only two slices of bacon that seemed free of the butter and ketchup.

And in February, this year a couple splashed out thousands for a BA World Traveller plus ticket for their 12 hour flight and were left 'disgusted' when they were handed a croissant and cereal bar instead of the promised traditional full English.

Steve Hislop and his partner paid 2,000 in total to upgrade their return flights from London Heathrow to Grand Cayman.

While Andrew Hedge was served a 'dry bun' smeared with cream cheese on his 1,200 flight from Heathrow to Miami last July.More than 30 criminals ranging from a wife murderer and sex offenders to armed robbers and drug traffickers have been allowed to stay in Australia, despite having their visas cancelled.

Over the last 10 months, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has overturned 34 decisions made by delegates for the Home Affairs and Immigration ministers involving serious offenders.

Most were facing deportation but were then given a lifeline by the AAT to stay in the country.

Of the new cases  16 of the criminals live in Melbourne, another 16 reside in Sydney, The Herald Sun reported.

Perth and Adelaide are each home to one convicted offender.

Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton (pictured) expressed concerns about previous AAT overrulings earlier this year

Among those given the green light, are Kenyan-born killer Paul Jason Margach, who was jailed after he repeatedly stabbed his wife Tina in front of one of their young children at their Melbourne home in 2004.

Convicted African-born sex offender Malipo Muyobe also had his visa cancellation overruled, as did an unnamed Chinese triad organised crime gang member jailed for 13 years for trafficking a commercial quality of ecstasy and possession of ice.

Mauritian stalker Jean Marie Amoorthum, who was convicted of stalking and threatening a young female with a knife, also had his cancellation overturned.

Statistics from AAT's latest annual report show that the tribunal only affirmed 35 per cent, or 4,432, of the migration visa decisions made by ministerial delegates in 2017-18.

The latest cases are on top of 164 criminals saved from deportation by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal between 2010 and 2018.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (pictured) has overturned 34 decisions involving serious offenders in the last 12 months

Out of the previous cases, eight were convicted of murder, 23 were found guilty of armed robbery, 33 were drug dealers, 17 were rapists and eight were convicted of murder.

Last April's revelations prompted Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to request a Joint Standing Committee on Migration to inquire and report on the AAT review processes regarding visa cancellations made on criminal grounds.

The committee's findings aimed at making it more difficult for the AAT to save criminals from deportation are now being examined by the federal government.

'I have made my concerns about the outcomes of some AAT reviews very clear in the past,' Mr Dutton told the Herald Sun in February.

Immigration Minister David Coleman reiterated he has no tolerance for those who put Australians in danger.

'Non-citizens who commit abhorrent crimes should expect to forfeit the privilege of staying in Australia,' Mr Coleman said on Wednesday night.

'The safety of Australian's must always come first.'Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said 'there is no doubt' that Nazism was a leftist movement, shortly after visiting Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

His remarks directly contradicted information on the museum's website saying Germany's Nazi movement rose out of right-wing radical groups responding to the rise of communism.

In Tuesday's televised comments, the Brazilian president echoed previous remarks by his country's foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, also claiming the Nazis were leftists.

Asked by reporters if he agreed with Araujo, Bolsonaro said, 'There is no doubt, right?'

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro delivers a statement at Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem on Tuesday

He went on to say that the Nazi party's name was the National Socialist Party of Germany, which includes the word 'socialist.' The official name was the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Despite their name, the Nazis followed a fascist and anti-Semitic - rather than a socialist - ideology.

Bolsonaro left Israel on Wednesday to return to Brazil. His four-day visit came just one week before Israel's election in which right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking re-election.

President Bolsonaro takes part in a wreath-laying ceremony commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust

The visit had initially been seen as potentially boosting Netanyahu's election prospects but fell short of the Israeli prime minister's expressed hope that Brazil would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Bolsonaro suggested soon after his inauguration in January that he would move the embassy, but his government later walked back the comments.

In Tuesday's comments, the president echoed previous remarks by his country's foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo (pictured), also claiming the Nazis were leftists

Brazilian officials instead announced during his Israel visit that the country would open a trade office in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu has said he hopes the trade office is a step toward moving the embassy there as well.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, who Bolsonaro regards as an ally, recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017.

It ordered the American Embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which took place last May.

Israelis and Arabs dispute the status of Jerusalem, which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Israel regards the city as its 'eternal and indivisible' capital but that is not recognised internationally.

Palestinians want Jerusalem to be the capital of an eventual Palestinian state.

Jerusalem is home to Yad Vashem, which documents the Holocaust and is a memorial to the 6million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during World War Two.Queen of Versailles star Jackie Siegel has revealed she had no idea her 18-year-old daughter was addicted to drugs until the teen died from an overdose.

Now Siegel, 53, is sharing her late daughter Victoria's secret diary, hoping it will help other parents see the signs that she missed for years.

'She was just a typical teenager, in front of our faces she seemed completely sober,' Siegel told Fox News.

'She should have won an Academy Award for acting because she appeared drug-free, but she wasn't.'

Siegel revealed that her 'free-spirited' daughter suddenly began to change when she was 15 years old, right around the time the family was thrust into the spotlight after The Queen of Versailles was released in 2012.

Queen of Versailles star Jackie Siegel has revealed she had no idea her 18-year-old daughter Victoria was addicted to drugs until the teen died from an overdose

'She was just a typical teenager, in front of our faces she seemed completely sober,' Siegel said. 'She should have won an Academy Award for acting because she appeared drug-free, but she wasn't'

The documentary film followed the construction of a house Siegel and her billionaire husband David had named the Palace of Versailles.

It specifically focused on David's struggle after the Great Recession in 2008 and its effect on the construction of the home, which has been valued at more than $100million and will be the fourth most expensive house in the United States. It has still not been completed.

Siegel is now publishing Victoria's secret diary. The book is titled 'Victoria's Voice: Our Daughter's Losing Battle with Drug Abuse'

Siegel was also a focal point of the documentary as she struggled with her compulsive shopping habits. The couple's children were also interviewed in the film.

'All the children would dodge the cameras,' Siegel admitted. 'I guess they got a little traumatized by the exposure.'

'They just started getting bullied at school. It was rough for them.'

Victoria then came to Siegel one day and said 'Mom, I have anxiety and I need help', Siegel recalled.

'We took her to a psychiatrist. They gave her a prescription - the smallest dose possible - of Xanax. She never complained again, so I figured she was cured.'

It was only later, Siegel said, that she would realize this was the moment that sealed her daughter's fate.

'Victoria became more and more withdrawn,' Siegel wrote in an introduction to Victoria's Voice: Our Daughter's Losing Battle with Drug Abuse. 'She stopped spending as much time with us. She struggled in school and with her friends.'

A few years later, Victoria told her mother that she needed to go to rehab because she was addicted to Xanax.

Jackie said she hopes the books will also show teens that 'they are not alone in their thoughts'

Siegel revealed that her 'free-spirited' and 'smart beyond her years' daughter suddenly began to change when she was 15 years old after being thrust into the spotlight (the family are pictured here on Celebrity Wife Swap in 2015)

Siegel was completely shocked. Victoria no longer even had a prescription for the anti-anxiety drug. But the teen admitted she had been buying pills at school.

'We took her to rehab. She was 18 then,' Siegel told Fox News. 'She met a 26-year-old man who was court-ordered to be there for heroin addiction. He had no intention of getting clean. He was just there because it was either that or jail.'

'He then introduces her to heroin and they start doing heroin together. A month later she was dead.'

Victoria died of an overdose of methadone and antidepressants on June 6, 2015.

Shortly after her death, Victoria's ex-boyfriend forwarded a letter that the teen had asked him to send her parents if she passed away.

In the letter, Victoria explained exactly where to find her secret journal and also encouraged her mother to publish it one day.

The family became famous as Victoria and her billionaire husband David constructed the Palace of Versailles (pictured), which will be the fourth most expensive home in the United States when it is finally completed

Siegel said Victoria hated being part of the documentary and avoided the cameras as much as she could

'My business is everyone else's business now and I'm okay with that,' the letter read. 'Mom, maybe you can publish my teenage journal and bump up your career. If it worked out I'd be so proud of you. I'll always be proud of you.'

Siegel said Victoria and her other children were bullied after the film was released

'I just fell into a deep sleep dreaming sweet dreams and knowing how much you love me and I'll always be with you.'

'Now don't freak out, I'm only trying to let you know I'm there for you. Always have been, always will.'

Siegel said that she had no idea how much her daughter had been suffering until she read the diary.

'I was shocked by all the experimentation with drugs. She said she had an eating disorder, depression, bullying - there was so much she was going through. I really had no idea,' Siegel said.

'After reading Victoria's diary, I felt like I knew my daughter better than I had when she was alive.'

It was also only after reading the diary that Siegel realized all the warning signs she had missed.

'Changing friends, lost of interest in the family, locking herself in a room and just saying she's tired,' Siegel recalled. 'I'm assuming that she was probably doing drugs now.'

'It happened right under our noses. That's one of the reasons we wanted to get this book out. We want other parents to know that if it can happen to us, it can be happening to them. They really need to open their eyes.'

Siegel said that she had no idea how much her daughter had been suffering until she read the diary. One post from the diary shows a doodle made by Victoria and the words: 'I've caught this disease called life, to find the only cure is death'

In another, from April 2013, Victoria writes about a dream she had of her 'paradise' and says she would 'give anything to go back, even if it meant falling asleep forever just to live there'

'Looking back, there were all kinds of warning signs that I wished I knew. Now we want to share them with other parents.'

Siegel said she also wanted to honor her daughter's 'dying wish' to publish the diary and 'help save other teenager's lives' at a time when a record number of Americans are dying from drug overdoses - specifically with opioids.

'I just felt I needed to carry on with her legacy,' she added. 'It's been a very difficult thing for me because it's something so personal. I've been a bit of a recluse during these last few years, But I finally have the courage to come out in the public eye.'

Siegel said she shut down and shut herself out from the world for a long time after her daughter died.

'It was very, very difficult,' she said. 'The press came down so hard on me. I felt like I was being bullied by all these photographers. Then there were these outrageous stories about me and my husband.'

Siegel said she also wanted to honor her daughter's 'dying wish' to publish the diary and 'help save other teenager's lives'

Pictured is a photo Siegel shared from Victoria's funeral with her husband David and seven other children

Siegel said she was ruthlessly picked on by the press after her daughter died, noting one newscaster said she had dressed for the funeral like it was the Kentucky Derby

Siegel recalled hearing stories that she was taking selfies at her daughter's funeral, and that she had dressed for Victoria's burial like it was the Kentucky Derby.

'I was taking pictures of my daughter's casket. Everyone copes with death differently. They had no compassion.'

'The funeral was also in Florida and it was very hot. I had a big hat on. When we buried her, we were outside in the sun. I just got picked on a lot.'

But eventually, Siegel decided she needed to speak out to save lives.

'This book shares the story of how a beautiful, smart, funny girl with everything to live for - and despite her family's help, love, and support - became dependent on drugs,' she wrote in the introduction of her daughter's diary.

'This book details a story about teenage life - its celebrations and craziness, dreams and nightmares, hopes and addictions.'

'I also hope this book shows teens that they are not alone in their thoughts.'Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan, 54, has been released from jail after being arrested for allegedly trying to kidnap a five-year-old girl

A sensational case of an attempted child kidnapping in a West Virginia shopping mall may have been nothing more than a man being friendly to a little girl.

BarboursviIle police initially said a woman pulled a gun on Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan, forcing him to release her five-year-old daughter inside the Old Navy at the Huntington Mall.

Zayan was arrested near the Huntington Mall's food court on an attempted abduction charge.

But police Sgt Anthony Jividen said the mother now says she may have misinterpreted the man's intentions.

Zayan, a 54-year-old engineer from Alexandria, Egypt, was released from the Western Regional Jail Tuesday night on a reduced bond.

Police said that the whole incident stemmed over a 'cultural misunderstanding'.

Zayan doesn't speak English, and police say he may have simply been patting the girl on the head.

The sergeant said a prosecutor will have to decide whether to charge the woman instead.

The Egyptian consulate has been in touch with authorities in West Virginia about the overall incident.

BarboursviIle police said a woman pulled a gun on Zayan (pictured during arrest), forcing him to release her daughter. But Sgt Anthony Jividen says the mother now says she may have misinterpreted the man's intentions

Police said that the whole incident stemmed over a 'cultural misunderstanding'. Zayan doesn't speak English, and police say he may have simply been patting the girl on the head

Video courtesy of WSAZ

The mother initially told police that she had been shopping on Monday evening with her daughter at the Old Navy store when Zayan 'grabbed the child by the hair and attempted to pull her away'.

She said the girl tried to stop her kidnapper, dropping to the floor as he was 'still pulling her away'.

That's when the girl's mother pulled out a handgun and told the man to let go of her daughter.

The mother told investigators that the man released her daughter and sprinted out of the store and back into the mall, according to WSAZ.

She gave officers a description of the suspect. Officers and mall security then spotted Zayan walking near the food court and arrested him.

He was subsequently charged with attempted abduction shortly after 6pm.

But police later said they found inconsistencies with the mother's report, according to WOWK.

She was asked to return to the police station to give a further statement, and reportedly admitted she may have misjudged the suspect's intentions.

Zayan, who is from Alexandria, was arraigned at the Cabell County Courthouse on Monday night.

Since he only speaks Arabic, an interpreter was used over the phone during the arraignment.

Zayan was forced to surrender his passport and ordered to stay in West Virginia.

Police said a decision on whether to drop the charges against him would be up to prosecutors.Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the scandal 'should never have happened'

The 'unacceptable treatment' experienced by some members of the Windrush generation was a 'terrible mistake and it should never have happened', Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said.

Announcing details of the Windrush Compensation Scheme in the Commons, Mr Javid said he was confident that the proposals for the scheme were closely aligned with what affected communities wanted to see.

'Namely that it is simple, it is accessible and above all it is fair,' he said.

Mr Javid acknowledged the scheme had 'taken longer than I would have liked' but added it was 'vital that we get this right.'

He said: 'The whole country was shocked by the unacceptable treatment experienced by some members of the Windrush generation.

'People who have built their lives in this country, people who have done so much for this country, people who have every right to be in this country, they were told that they were not welcome.'

He added: 'It was a terrible mistake and it should never have happened. And that it did is a matter of profound regret to myself, to my department, to the Government.

'That's why just under a year ago one of my first acts as Home Secretary was to stand at this despatch box and to say sorry on behalf of successive governments.'

He went on: 'I didn't just say sorry to members of the Windrush generation, I also vowed to right the wrongs that had been done to them and I sincerely hope that his compensation scheme being unveiled today goes some way into doing that.'

Members of the Windrush generation Paulette Wilson and Anthony Bryan

Anthony Bryan, of Edmonton, north London, was one of those wrongly arrested, having been detained twice in recent years and told to return to Jamaica, which he left in 1965 aged eight.

He said last year: 'The apology is all well and good but for me personally Im still going through the Windrush scandal.

'The three years I didnt work, its been backing up on me. People are asking for their money that I borrowed off them and unfortunately I cant be dealing with that yet.'

Gretel Gorcan, 81, (pictured with children Pauline Blackwood (right) and Wilton Foster (left) is penniless and cut off from her family since going to her sister's funeral in Jamaica

Who is eligible for compensation under the new Home Office Windrush scheme? The scheme is not only open to Carribbean immigrants. As early as last April it was reported that immigration charities and MPs had been notified of new cases from countries including Kenya, Cyprus and Canada. The Windrush Compensation Scheme's first call for evidence received 650 responses, and a formal consultation on the compensation scheme generated responses from almost 1,500 individuals and organisations. So now anyone, of any nationality, who has the right to live or work in the UK without any restrictions, or is now a British Citizen, and arrived in the UK before 31 December 1988, can apply. It is also open to anyone from a Commonwealth country who arrived and settled in the UK before 1973. Certain children and grandchildren of those arriving before 1973 and some close family members may also be eligible to apply. People who were wrongfully detained or removed from the UK could also be able to make a claim. Advertisement

Gretel Gorcan, 81, was one of thousands invited from the Caribbean to the UK to boost the economy and held a regular job and raised a family in London.

When she arrived in 1960 aged 24 she got a stamp in her passport giving her indefinite leave to remain, but it was stolen in a 2006 burglary.

Even though she hadn't lived in Jamaica for half a century, authorities said she wouldn't be issued a British passport and would need a visa if she left the country.

When Ms Gorcan returned from her sister's funeral in 2010 she was shocked to be denied entry because he new passport didn't he the right documentation.

'From the life, I once had surrounded by my children in London to having been made homeless in Jamaica has broken my heart,' she said at the time. 'I travelled to Britain to help out on the promise of a new life but now they have turned their back on me.'

Mrs Gorcan was reuinited with her family in the UK last May.

Last August, when he made the apology, Mr Javid said work was still ongoing, but there appeared to be 164 people of Caribbean Commonwealth heritage who might have been in the UK before 1973.

Of those, officials had identified 18 cases where individuals had lived in the UK but were unable to demonstrate their continuous residence, and were removed or detained as a result.

Today he said the scheme took account of more than 2,000 responses to a call for evidence and consultation.

What will scandal victims be able to claim for? At least 18 people were wrongly deported in the Windrush Scandal. But the term incorporates a host of wrongs and inconveniences visited on immigrants who could not prove they were entitled to government services. No financial amounts have been published by the Home Office, and the government has not provided guidance on what payouts will be available in relation to what claim. But among problems caused for immigrants by the scandal, which may merit compensation under the scheme, are: immigration and legal fees

detention or deportation

loss of access to employment

loss of access to benefits or tax credits

inability to access housing

inability to access the NHS, or having to pay for private health treatment

inability to access education

having an application for banking services refused

being wrongly denied a driving licence For further information go to www.gov.uk/guidance/windrush-compensation-scheme Advertisement

The scheme is not only open to those of Caribbean origin. Commonwealth citizens settled in the UK before 1973 along with certain children and grandchildren are eligible to apply if they had losses to claim for.

He added: 'Other eligible groups include those of any nationality who have a right of abode or settled status or are now British citizens who arrived to the UK to live in the UK before 31 December 1988.'

Mr Javid said there was 'no cap' on the scheme. But in recent days Home Office officials have said at least 15,000 may have a right to compensation

Small numbers of people were wrongly deported, locked out of the country, or lost their job in the debacle.

But officials advised most payouts would be in the 'low hundreds', for inconveniences like difficulty opening a bank account or delays accessing the NHS.

The Government will also accept claims from the 'estates of individuals who would themselves have been eligible had they not passed away and from close family members of an eligible person'.

Mr Javid added the Government had proposed a programme of events alongside the scheme, saying that on June 22 it would be marking the second annual Windrush Day.

Mr Javid muddled his words as he concluded: 'Nothing we say or do will ever wipe away the hurt, the trauma, the loss that should have never been suffered by the men and women of the Windrush generation, but together we can begin to wrong the rights of Windrush - right the wrongs of Windrush. We can begin to turn the page on this sad chapter in our history.'

Sajid Javid has said there is no limit to the amount which could be paid to the victims of the Windrush Generation as he confirmed the compensation scheme has 'no cap'.

The Home Secretary said the current estimated cost is around 200 million as he unveiled the details of the long-awaited proposals.Onasanya (pictured outside Cambridge County Court today) is accused of discriminating against a disabled employee

Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya discriminated against a disabled employee who worked in her constituency office for a month, it was claimed at a tribunal today.

The former Labour MP for Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was accused of discriminating against case worker Jane Goodenough.

Ms Goodenough, who has multiple sclerosis, IBS, heart problems, chronic fatigue and arthritis, joined the MP's office as a part-time worker in Sept 2017.

Faced with walking from the first floor office to the disabled toilet on the third floor, she raised concerns with Onasanya.

But she says that the politician told her to used the men's, telling her she won't have to walk past a urinal to use the toilet.

Judge Michael Ord heard at Cambridge County Court how the claimant said she had made her medical conditions clear in interview.

Today the tribunal heard that Ms Goodenough was left 'heartbroken and betrayed' by Ms Onasanya and was left with 'no other option but to resign'.

It comes after the 35-year-old MP was jailed for three months in January for lying to police.

Ms Goodenough - who is in her 50s - says she faced problems with access to disabled lifts, parking and toilets at the Eco Innovation Centre in Peterborough while working for the disgraced politician.

Onasanya (pictured) is accused of discriminating against a disabled employee at her constituency office

She said it was also agreed in the interview that she carry out 22 and a half hours a week, which is equivalent to the three days, and was able to work 'flexi-hours'.

Ms Goodenough told the court she worked on the first floor but the nearest female toilets were located on the ground and second floors and the disabled toilet was on the third.

When she raised this, she says she was told to use the closest male toilets on the first floor in case of an emergency.

Speaking to the first witness Mr Robert Grayson, who conducted her original interview, Ms Goodenough said: 'I explained that my bowel incontinence is bad four or five times a week. It can fluctuate remarkably and be unpredictable.

Pictured: The Eco Innovation centre in Peterborough, where Ms Goodenough claims she face discrimination over her disability

'The nearest disabled toilets are on the third floor - I would have to walk with my arthritic little legs from the first floor to the third floor toilets.'

Ms Goodenough told the court that it had been suggested that she use the men's toilets, which were situated on the same floor as the office, in an emergency.

Speaking to Mr Grayson she said: 'I recall you saying that I wouldn't have to walk past a urinal.'

Judge Ord followed by saying: 'No female member of staff should ever be asked to use the male toilets.'

In response, Mr Grayson said that the suggestion was a 'flippant comment' and that he had told Ms Goodenough that 'it was a joke'.

Ms Goodenough, who was cross examined this afternoon by Ms Onasanya's representative Mr Stuart Brittendon, said the key issues were that the MP should have chosen a different building to host her office.

The court heard that the disabled lift was also broken in the office 'for what felt like months' while Ms Goodenough was employed.

The disabled employee was also allocated a parking space '50 paces from the front door of the building', which required steps up to the entrance.

Ms Goodenough, handed her resignation in on November 7, 2017 after a 'personality clash' with the Labour MP.

In the witness statement, Mr Grayson said Ms Goodenough had 'corrected Fiona in front of a constituent' which led to her resignation.

Giving evidence this afternoon, the former employee said that she had also experienced a build up of 'passive aggressive behaviour' after a discussion with the MP.

Ms Goodenough (pictured) has accused the disgraced Labour MP of discriminating against her

Explaining the discussion, Ms Goodenough said: 'Fiona was mispronouncing the word 'eligible' - she was saying "illegible".

'She said it about seven times while on the phone and in front of a constituent. I had a notepad next to me and wrote 'eligible not illegible' and underlined it.

'The notepad was upside down and across the table from woman who had cataracts. I did not say anything in front of the constituent.'

Mr Brittendon told the court that his client recalled Ms Goodenough telling her that 'if you don't speak properly people won't understand what you are saying'.

Ms Goodenough said the MP was mis-remembering and said the discussion had in fact after the constituent and the conversation was a 'mildly heated discussion' because Ms Onasanya 'felt undermined'.

In her witness statement, Ms Goodenough said the MP had 'taken offence' and 'immediately insisted' that she started working full-time hours - something she had already explained she could not do due to her medical conditions.

The former employee said it was from this point that the MP's body language started to become passive aggressive.

Ms Goodenough felt her hours were 'beyond' her as her fluctuating energy levels meant she could not work consecutive days as asked.

The court also heard that the building that the MP's office suite was a revamp from an ancient building where women were not employed and ladies' toilets were therefore not installed.

Ms Goodenough said: 'I do think in modern regulations that the male loos could have been changed to unisex loos.

'The real issue is that the respondent should have had her office in a different building or on the ground floor.

'If there had been accessible loos close by and a working lift, I think it could have worked out.

'Conditions changed and conditions weren't met and that is what brought my employment to an end.'

Ms Goodenough also told the court that she was made to feel like she was 'milking' her medical issues.

She said: 'There was no other option for me than to resign - unless I was going to suffer the continual stress of potential humiliation.'

In an email sent to Ms Onasanya regarding her resignation, Ms Goodenough referenced the limited access to the toilets by the lift, the issue with her allocated parking space and the suggestion that was made to her about the male toilets.

The case is due to continue for three days. Ms Onasayna - who was in court for the hearing - was expelled from the Labour party in December 2018 after being convicted of perverting the course of justice.

She now stands as an independent. A jury found that she had lied to police about the identity of who was driving her car when it was caught speeding.

The MP faces a possible by-election as a 'recall petition' has been opened in her constituency which is due to close in May. If ten per cent of her constituents sign the petition a by-election will be held.

The former Labour MP today sat at the back of the court wearing knee high boots which covered the electronic tag that she was issued when she left prison in February.Movie producer Tania Zarak, 39, is suing Netflix for unspecified damages claiming discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination prompted by her pregnancy announcement

A former high-level Netflix manager is suing the streaming juggernaut for allegedly firing her for being pregnant and planning to go on maternity leave.

Tania Zarak, 39, a Mexican-born film producer and married mother-of-two toddlers, with a third child on the way, filed a complaint against her former employer on Tuesday claiming wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment.

According to Zarak's 35-page lawsuit obtained by Deadline.com, she was hired as a manager in the International Originals division at Netflix in July 2018 and was fired within five months, just weeks after announcing her pregnancy.

Zarak, who previously worked at Robert De Niro's Tribeca Film Festival and was a production assistant on Guillermo Del Toro's Academy Award-nominated Pan's Labyrinth, says in her complaint that as soon as she revealed that she was expecting another child, her supervisor Francisco Ramos began to exclude her from important meetings and ignore all of her communications.

A Netflix spokesperson said in a statement to DailyMail.com on Wednesday: 'We have previously looked into these claims and determined they were unfounded. Netflix works hard to ensure that employees with families, or who are starting a family, have the flexibility and support they need.'

Zarak, who previously worked at Robert De Niro Tribeca Film Festival (pictured second left), was hired as a manager in the International Originals division at Netflix in July 2018

Zarak alleges in her lawsuit that her supervisor, Francisco Ramos (right), became 'angry' after learning that she was pregnant with her third child and intent on taking maternity leave

According to the court filing, Ramos seemed 'angry' about Zarak's pregnancy and suggested that she quit, but the woman refused.

The lawsuit alleges that shortly after, Ramos secretly removed Zarak from a show about a Mexican-American singer she was working on, and then falsely claimed he did not know that she was an executive on the project.

In another case, according to the complaint, Ramos prevented Zarak from attending a critical meeting about a remake of a Mexican telenovela that she was heavily involved in, telling her it will be just a bunch of lawyers.

But when Zarak later passed by the conference room where the meeting was taking place, she saw that it was attended by Netflix executives and employees of another media company, all of whom were men.

After Zarak complained about her treatment at Ramos' hands to Human Resources, her supervisor called her in for a meeting and asked when her due date was.

An ex-Netflix HR director is quoted in the complaint as saying that although the company offers one-year paternity leave, staff who take it are later pushed out

Zarak replied that she was due in May, but she reassured Ramos that it was her intention to work through her pregnancy before taking maternity leave.

The complaint states that at the mention of maternity leave, Ramos grew 'visibly agitated and told Zarak that it would be no big deal if she resigned. He also allegedly called the then-38-year-old Netflix manager a very nice girl and reassured her it was not personal.

The next day, on December 14, Ramos summoned Zarak to a meeting with an HR representative and told her, 'Tania, we're here because I'm letting you go.'

After Ramos walked out of the conference room, Zarak was quoted as telling the HR staffer, 'This is because I am pregnant.'

Zarak claims that before her termination, Ramos had excluded her form key meetings and stopped communicating with her

The mom-to-be who was four months along at the time was then escorted out of the building in tears, bringing to a close her brief tenure at Netflix, for which she had uprooted her family and moved from New York to Los Angeles.

Zarak's lawsuit discusses in detail what is referred to as 'Netflix Culture': a set of 'apparently progressive and pro-employee policies, including Netflix's support and leave policies and alleged "no tolerance" policy for unethical and illegal workplace conduct.'

According to a former Netflix HR employee who is quoted in the lawsuit, although the streaming giant had previously announced a one-year paternal leave policy, the company 'secretly retaliated against employees who took leave to be with their newborn children.'

The unnamed HR director claims that in private meetings, Netflix executives 'have repeatedly stated that if anyone did take advantage of the [paternal leave] program they would be pressured or asked to leave.'

The company honchos specifically singled out female staff, allegedly saying that if they chose to go on maternity leave for a full year instead of three or four months, they were 'not serious about their careers,' the complaint states.

Zarak's lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensatory damages for lost wages, lost employee benefits, bonuses, vacation benefits, medical expenses, pain, suffering and emotional distress, as well as punitive damages to serve both as a punishment for Netflix and as a deterrent for other companies.

A source within Netflix familiar with the matter tells DailyMail.com that the company has not been served with the complaint, but would strongly dispute the claims in it if served.

The source also insisted that the streaming service's parental leave policy is considered among the best in the business.British holidaymakers could be forced to become smugglers if there is a No Deal Brexit because EU rules will block them from travelling with home comforts like Cornish pasties and pork pies.

Ham, sausages and cheese are among products that could be barred from being taken to the continent if the UK leaves without a deal under hardcore disease control rules.

It came as a senior European Commissioner warned that luggage checks would come into force at all EU borders points immediately if the UK left without a deal at any time.

If the rules were heavily policed it could mean travellers either leaving their beloved comfort snacks behind or find a way of smuggling them past border guards.

'You will have to pick and choose what you are bringing from the UK. Any animal based product you will not want to put into your luggage. No import of any ham, sausage or other delicacies. That's the end of that,' a Brussels official told the Telegraph.

European Commissioner for customs Pierre Moscovici told reporters in Brussels today that if there was a no-deal Brexit 'luggage and goods will be subject to customs checks' which would mean 'passengers, travellers coming from the UK will not be able to bring in to the EU certain goods, or just in limited quantities'

Cornish pasties could be among foods holidaymakers could be barred from taking to the continent under disease control rules if there is a No Deal Brexit

'The reason for this is you can bring serious diseases into the EU by bringing these products in.'

The new rules would be in direct contrast to the position taken by the UK Government on travellers arriving in Britain.

In guidance issued last month it said that rules on what visitors from the EU could bring in would not change under a No Deal Brexit.

This includes 'fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy or other animal products (eg fish, eggs and honey)' it said.

Currently free movement rules mean that British tourists can travel to EU countries with whatever food and drink they want.

What foods could the could the EU ban? Here are some products that travellers could be banned or restricted from taking into the EU from the UK after a No Deal Brexit. The UK would become subject to customs rules designed to cut down on trafficking and diseases carried by food: Red meat

Poultry

Offal

Game

Fish

Shellfish

Milk

Eggs

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But under a no-deal departure it would immediately become what is known as a 'third country' subject to completely different rules.

Any animal products including meat, gelatine, milk and honey would be subject to stringent rules designed to halt the spread of diseases across the EU

This would also include a limit on the amount of money people could travel with.

Former French finance minister and current commissioner for customs Pierre Moscovici told reporters in Brussels today what that would mean in practice.

He said: 'Luggage and goods will be subject to customs checks.

'So passengers, travellers coming from the UK will not be able to bring in to the EU certain goods, or just in limited quantities.

'I'm thinking here of animal origin products - or in fact there will be the 10,000 euro cash limit for people travelling into the EU.

'Let's be clear. Without an exit agreement the activity of thousands of European businesses and to a lesser extent travellers will be disturbed by the reintroduction of customs checks.

'This will apply in Calais, Rotterdam (and) Zeebrugge, but also to any of the entry points to the European Union, whether we are talking about the port of Naples or Budapest airport or (Estonian capital) Tallinn.

'Any goods and passengers coming from the UK will be subject to these formalities. It's a common border across the EU and that will apply across the board.'

Asked about the need for full checks in every case, he added that they were important to avoid a health crisis or trafficking.

He added: 'Let's be clear, without an agreement, the activities of thousands of European businesses, and to a certain extent travellers, will be disturbed by the reintroduction of customs checks.

'I would prefer rigorous checks and a few tailbacks of lorries rather than a health crisis or illegal trafficking.

'The safety of Europeans will be our absolute priority.'Two identical twin brothers have been ordered to pay child maintenance after refusing to say which one of them had fathered an infant girl.

Judge Filipe Luis Peruca, in the central state of Goias, Brazil said since paternity could not be established both men would have to pay for the child.

The two men had refused to tell the court which one was the father in a plot to avoid paying anything at all.

A DNA test could not reveal the infant's true father either because of their identical twin status.

DNA tests were unable to prove which man had fathered the girl because their genetic makeup was too similar

'One of them is acting in bad faith in order to hide the fact that he is the father. Such vile behaviour cannot be tolerated by the law,' wrote the judge in the town of Cachoeira Alta.

The judge said the two men had removed the young girl's right to know who her biological father was.

Under the court ruling, they will each have to pay 230 reais; ($60; 45) a month, or 30% of the minimum salary in Brazil, as maintenance - double the amount of normal maintenance payments.

Judge Peruca also ruled that the names of both men would be on the girl's birth certificate.

The twins' names have not been disclosed for legal reasons. They were referred to in court as Fernando and Fabricio.

The judge said the twins had used their resemblance to impersonate each other and date as many women as possible, and then defend themselves from allegations they were cheating on girlfriends.The RAF has been deployed to stop Russian Blackjack bombers entering UK airspace for the second time in four days.

The two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 long range bombers flew inside international airspace off the northeastern coast of Scotland before being escorted back northwards again.

The RAF sent two of its Typhoons from its base in Lossiemouth, which were accompanied by a refuelling tank from its Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire.

Officials have confirmed that 'at no point' did the Russians manage to infiltrate British airspace.

The RAF has been deployed to stop Russian Blackjack bombers (one pictured on Friday during previous incident) entering UK airspace for the second time in four days

It is the second time in a week the RAF has identified Russian aircraft (two pictured from Friday) in UK airspace. The fighter jets successfully escorted the Blackjacks away on Friday

An RAF spokesman said: 'We can confirm that RAF quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth scrambled to monitor two Blackjack bombers while they were in the UK area of interest.

'At no point did the Russian aircraft enter UK territorial airspace.'

The incident took place as Nato forces are in Scotland for a training exercise named Exercise Joint Warrior.

It comes less than a week after fighter jets were scrambled from a base in northern Scotland to monitor two Russian Blackjacks on Friday.

Refuelling tank The Voyager was also deployed from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire that day.

There was another incident with Russian planes flying near UK airspace on Wednesday, but Typhoons were not required.

Speaking after Friday's incident Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: 'Our brave RAF pilots have shown again that we are ready to respond to any threat to the UK.

'Alongside our NATO allies, we must remain vigilant and aware of Russian military activity.'

Pictured: RAF typhoons are 52ft-long and can fly at heights of 55,000ft with one pilotAn illegal immigrant knifed his fiancee to death in Austria when she mocked him for having a small penis, it has emerged.

Iraqi Daban K. stabbed his partner after she told him his penis was too small and said he was 'not a real man'.

The defendant's attacked on Nagsha R., who was a mother-of-five, came even after she sheltered him from the Austrian authorities.

Police were hunting the Kurdish Iraqi national in relation to a previous GBH conviction.

The 50-year-old hid Daban K. in her flat in Vienna-Leopoldstadt, a district in the capital, when he ignored a deportation order to be sent back to Iraq from Austria.

Killer Daban K., who was denied asylum stabbed his partner to death when he should have been in an Austrian prison cell for three previous convictions

Daban K. shielding his face during a court appearance in Vienna. He blamed the murder of his fiancee on her mocking his manhood

After he was arrested for murder, the 40-year-old blamed the attack, which saw him stab his partner at least four times in the neck, on her for mocking his masculinity and being unfaithful.

According to local media, the migrant had received a deportation order that he ignored and meant he should not have been in Austria when he murdered Nagsha R. in 2017.

He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by a court in the Austrian capital Vienna on Tuesday.

Daban K., who's full name has not been released due to Austrian privacy laws, said in a conversation with court psychiatrist, Sigrun Rossmanith, that he was also locked in a 'penis battle' with his fiancee.

He told the court: 'She was a very good woman to me, but she repeatedly insulted me.

'She cheated on me three times with other men and did not want to have sex with me anymore. One day she told me that my penis was too small.'

Austrian authorities wanted to arrest and deport Iraqi national Daban K. since 2011, but his partner who he went on to murder was sheltering him

The flat in Vienna-Leopoldstadt where the 50-year-old victim, Nagsha R., was murdered by her fiancee Daban K.

During the case, Daban argued in court that he had acted out of self-defence claiming that his fiancee had grabbed a knife first and had been trying to stab him.

According to the defendant, his fiancee, who has also not been fully named due to privacy laws, told him: 'You don't have any chest hair and you are not a real man.'

Daban K. said: 'The punishment is too high. I cannot return to my native country.'

Neighbours heard his fiancee screaming: 'Help, save me, he wants to butcher me.'

The defendant, who is originally from Iraq, later complained about the severity of the sentence, after the court did not believe his version of events.

Daban K. arrived in Austria in 2005 and his temporary right of residence was withdrawn in 2011 after he amassed three criminal convictions.

But he did not return to his homeland and instead filed a fresh asylum application in 2014, which was rejected, according to Austrian newspaper Der Standard.An Indiana school district will turn unused cafeteria food into take-home meals for students who are in need thanks to a partnership with a local nonprofit organization.

The Elkhart School District announced on Friday that they will now be working with Cultivate, a non-profit group that 'rescues food, packages meals and serves meals to people who are food insecure'.

At Woodland Elementary, 20 students will go home each Friday with meals for the weekend.

The Elkhart School District announced on Friday that they will now be working with Cultivate, a non-profit group that 'rescues food, packages meals (pictured) and serves meals to people who are food insecure'

At Woodland Elementary, 20 students will go home each Friday with meals for the weekend. Eight frozen meals will go into each backpack (pictured). This service will be provided until the end of the school year

Eight frozen meals will go into each backpack. This service will be provided until the end of the school year.

Administrators said the students were identified by staffers at the elementary school.

According to a statement from the district, Cultivate will rescue the unused food within the Elkhart Community Schools district to provide the meals.

Cultivate's president, Jim Conklin, explained to WSBT how the process works: 'Mostly, we rescue food thats been made but never served by catering companies, large food service businesses, like the school system.'

'You don't always think of a school,' he added.

The district said in the statement that Cultivate's 'process has been reviewed and approved by the Elkhart County Health Department and Indiana Department of Education, and meets strict criteria to ensure safe food handling for students'.

Natalie Bickel, who works for the school district's student services department, told WSBT that they identified the need after they noticed they were wasting a lot of cafeteria food.

Cultivate's president, Jim Conklin (pictured), said the process works rescuing food 'thats been made but never served by catering companies, large food service businesses, like the school system'

Natalie Bickel, who works for the school district's student services department, said they identified the need after they noticed they were wasting a lot of cafeteria food. But through the partnership with Cultivate, food will be salvaged by volunteers (pictured) three times a week

But through the partnership with Cultivate, food will be salvaged by volunteers of the organization three times a week.

Cultivate has been in place in St Joseph County since 2017.

The idea to bring Cultivate's program to Elkhart came from a group of participants in the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce Leadership Academy, a nine-month program whose mission is to promote servant leadership through an awareness program combining key community issues and enhanced leadership skill development to advance community stewardship.Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax released the results of his lie detector tests on Wednesday, claiming he 'passed on the very first try' and it's proof that the sexual assault allegations two women made against him are false.

Politics professor Vanessa Tyson and former Duke University classmate Meredith Watson came forward separately in February to accuse Fairfax of sexual assault in 2004 and 2000 respectively.

Fairfax vehemently denied the accusations, claiming the encounters were consensual, and took the polygraph test to prove his innocence.

He released those results and his own telling of the encounters, slamming the accusations as 'false from the first moment I heard them,' on Wednesday.

He's now demanding prosecutors in Boston and Durham, North Carolina, where the assaults took place, investigate the claims.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax released the results of his lie detector tests on Wednesday and demanded prosecutors launch investigations into the sexual assault allegations made against him, adding he'll fully cooperate. Pictured above in a press conference Wednesday

Fairfax has been accused of sexual assault by two women. His former Duke University classmate Meredith Watson (left) and politics professor Vanessa Tyson (right)

Fairfax says he's confident the investigations will reach the same conclusions as a polygraph test he said he's releasing that shows he's innocent.

The results of his polygraph test determined he was 'Not Indicative of Deception'.

During the news conference, Fairfax also noted his accusers came forward when it appeared he would become Virginia's next governor in the wake of a scandal surrounding a racist photo on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's yearbook page.

Vanessa Tyson, an associate professor of political science at Scripps College in California, came forward in February claiming that Fairfax sexually assaulted her during the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.

She released a statement detailing the alleged assault saying Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him and that she couldn't feel her neck when he forced his hands on her.

'I couldn't feel my neck. I couldn't hold my head up. He's using his hand on the back of my neck. And I still didn't know what was going wrong. I thought there was something wrong with my neck And he's pushing down and pushing down. And I couldn't hold my neck up. And I didn't know what was going on,' she said during a bombshell interview on CBS This Morning.

But on Wednesday in the polygraph results, Fairfax alleged that Tyson got the date of their first meeting wrong and maintained that when they met up on a later date, their interaction was consensual.

On Wednesday he released the results of a polygraph test he voluntarily submitted to in regards to the allegations made against him, saying he 'passed on the very first try'

The results of his scores determined he was 'Not Indicative of Deception'

Fairfax says he was not at the DNC in Boston on July 26 in 2004, as Tyson alleged. He claims he was with former presidential candidate John Edwards at the time.

'While Dr. Tyson has stated definitively that she met, interacted, and had a conversation with me in Boston on July 26, 2004, the first day of the Convention; in fact, Senator Edwards and I were not in Boston on that date. We did not arrive in Boston from North Carolina until the following day,' Fairfax said according to CBS.

But he didn't dispute the date of the alleged sexual encounter.

'After I arrived, I met Dr. Tyson, who was a volunteer at the Convention. As young adults and students we spent time together talking. I invited her to my hotel room, where we engaged in completely consensual activity,' he said in a statement Wednesday.

'I have heard Dr. Tyson say that I held her neck and physically forced her to engage in sexual contact. That is simply is not true. What she alleged never happened. At no time did I force any contact,' he added.

Watson came forward shortly after Tyson and claimed that Fairfax assaulted her when they were studying at Duke University in 2000, saying he took advantage of her history as a sexual assault survivor too.

'It happened to her [Tyson] after it happened to me. And had I had the strength or the courage to say something in 2000, maybe it never would've happened to her,' Watson said through tears to CBS' Gayle King.

On Wednesday he stressed that his interaction with Watson was consensual.

'On one occasion late in my senior year in the year 2000, she initiated a consensual encounter with me. I did not rape or sexually assault Meredith Watson. I did not lock the door, turn out the lights, hold her down, or use any physical force whatsoever. We were both willing participants,' he said.

'After that encounter, I saw her on occasion when we were with mutual friends. At no time, before, during, or after our encounter did she ever say or do anything that suggested to me in any way that she believed that she thought anything that happened between us was something she had not wanted or that she was uncomfortable with,' he added.

Stanford University fellow Vanessa Tyson suggested in a private Facebook post that Virignia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax sexually assaulted her in 2004

In a letter released by her lawyer in February, Watson called for Fairfax's resignation claiming he sexually assaulted her in 2000

The attack allegedly took place in 2000 when Watson and Fairfax were students at Duke University. Pictured above is Fairfax in his university yearbook photo

Tyson previously shut down allegations that she and Watson are orchestrating a smear campaign against Fairfax by confirming that the women have never met or spoken.

Fairfax dismissed the allegations against him saying 'if the facts alleged by Dr. Tyson and Ms Watson were true the conduct would be criminal.

He added that such conduct is 'against everything I have stood for in both my public and private life.'

He went on to say that the 'false allegations' has inflicted significant pain to his family. He's been married to dentist Cerina Fairfax since 2006.

Fairfax dismissed the emotional TV interviews Tyson and Watson have done with CBS saying, 'TV appearances are not the right vehicles to get at the truth,' adding that 'sensationalizing allegations do not make them true'.

Still his account doesn't sit well with everyone.

Virginia House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert said he found Tyson and Watson's accounts to be 'very compelling' on Wednesday and is calling for a bipartisan public forum to be held for the women to share their stories.

He accused Virginia House Democrats of rebuffing Republican efforts to hold such a hearing.The life of an elephant that faces being shot for being a 'nuisance' is hanging in the balance as animal campaigners in South Africa fight in court to keep him alive.

Riff Raff's habit of trampling fences to gain access to land that belonged to him for more than half his life has led neighbours of his reserve to apply to have him killed.

A fence was erected in the middle of his home in the The Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve in Limpopo during one of the region's worst droughts - cutting him off from a water source and land that he had used unhindered for 13 years.

The bull elephant faces being shot to death despite the fact that campaigners from Humane Society International/Africa and Global Supplies have found him a new home 250 miles away.

Bull elephant Riff Raff faces being shot for being a 'nuisance'. Pictured: The animal after being darted with an immobilising agent during an operation to relocate him from The Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve in Limpopo

Riff Raff's habit of trampling fences to gain access to land that belonged to him for more than half his life has led neighbours to apply to have him killed. Pictured: Inside the recovery crate after being darted

A fence was erected in the middle of his home during one of the region's worst droughts - cutting him off from a water source and land that he had used unhindered for 13 years

It looked as though Riff Raff's days were numbered when permission to relocate him was turned down by the Limpopo government.

But at the last-minute Judge M.G. Phatudi intervened and on Tuesday granted Riff Raff a temporary stay of execution.

The decision by the government's Economic Development, Environment and Tourism to reject the plan to relocate the elephant must now be reviewed by the court.

Animal campaigners are fighting the killing in court, and have found he elephant (pictured being lifted by a crane onto a flat-bed truck) a new home 250 miles away

It looked as though Riff Raff's days were numbered when permission to relocate him was turned down by the Limpopo government

But at the last-minute a judge intervened and on Tuesday granted Riff Raff a temporary stay of execution. Pictured: JJ van Altena - director of Global Supplies - pushes on the head of Riff Raff as they transport the animal

Humane Society International/Africa and Global Supplies (pictured tending to Riff Raff after he was darted) have been trying to save Riff Raff for two year

HSI/Africa has been trying to save Riff Raff for two years and even relocated him to a new reserve last year when neighbouring landowners threatened to apply to have him killed.

But the elephant turned around and walked the 40-mile journey back to his original territory, and back in the line of fire.

Audrey Delsink, Wildlife Director of HSI/Africa, said: 'Riff Raff is a magnificent bull elephant who symbolises the growing problem here in South Africa of lethal solutions being sought to solve human-elephant conflict.

'Many elephants who are labelled a problem are simply bull elephants following what they are biologically hard-wired to do - leave their herd to find their own new range with unrelated females so that they can move up in the bull hierarchy and sire offspring.

'With crops and human settlements common in and around elephant protection areas, they often encounter fences, and then all too often land-owners seek to solve fence-breaking behaviour with a rifle.

HSI/Africa has been trying to save Riff Raff for two years and even relocated him to a new reserve last year when neighbouring landowners threatened to apply to have him killed

But despite successfully transporting Riff Raff to the new reserve, he turned around and walked the 40-mile journey back to his original territory, and back in the line of fire.

'In Riff Raff's case, a fence was erected in the middle of his home range during one of the region's worst droughts, cutting him off from a water source and land that he had used unhindered for 13 years.'

'We very much hope that the review process will assess the exceptional circumstances of Riff Raff's case, address the ill-judged historical decisions that have led to this conflict, and set an important precedent by overturning Limpopo's refusal to let us relocate Riff Raff again.'

An independent study facilitated through the Elephant Specialist Advisory Group revealed that up to 50 destruction permits were issued between 2016-2017 to kill so-called problem elephants.

If the decision is upheld Riff Raff will be killed through something called a destruction permit

Conservationists in South Africa are concerned that destruction orders are being used by landowners as a quick fix to get rid of elephants rather than be inconvenienced by having to implement elephant-friendly management plans for their land.

HSI/Africa's Delsink added 'If the decision is upheld and Riff Raff is killed through a destruction permit, it will be a tragedy not only for this amazing animal but for all so-called 'problem' elephants across South Africa who face a similar fate.

'While we have no guarantee that Riff Raff's relocation to the new reserve would be successful, as care-takers of the natural world, all stakeholders have a moral obligation to find non-lethal solutions to these human-wildlife conflict challenges.

'We share this land with these magnificent giants, it should be utterly unthinkable to kill them simply because it's easier than managing the land in a way that considers their biological drivers.

'The travesty is compounded by the fact that the body mandated to protect these animals is the same one issuing these destruction permits.'

HSI/Africa is extremely grateful to have been represented in court by Hogan Lovells.The fake German heiress on trial for defrauding bankers in to giving her millions of dollars in loans delayed court again on Wednesday because of a wardrobe malfunction and then cried in front of the increasingly impatient judge.

Anna Sorokin, 28, is accused of posing as heiress Anna Delvey to defraud bankers out of $22million. She also allegedly skipped out on hotel room bills and lied to Manhattan's social circle about who she was.

As part of her defense, her legal team has enlisted the services of a celebrity stylist to make her look more sympathetic to a jury. Their goal, the stylist said last week after Anna's first fashion tantrum, is to make her look 'mysterious chic'.

On Wednesday, there was a hiccup in their plan. Rather than arrive in court wearing the clothes, Anna arrived again in prison garb but refused to come out of her holding cell.

Her lawyer, Todd Spodek, then presented the judge with a bag of clothes for her to wear. He gave it to a court officer but was told off because it contained a 'weeks' worth of clothing' which all had to be checked and cleared for security purposes.

'This is the last day we're playing with clothes,' a furious Judge Diane Kiesel said, ordering him to only give the clothes Anna would wear on Wednesday over to be checked and to send the rest to the prison where she is being held

Eventually, Anna emerged in a court-appointed outfit because she did not like what Spodek had chosen for her.

Still unsatisfied, she wept and had to be consoled by Spodek while the judge scolded her courtroom antics.

Anna Sorokin, 28, emerges after delaying court proceedings again on Wednesday because she did not have clothes to wear that she was happy with. Eventually, she emerged in a court-appointed outfit because she did not like the clothes her lawyer gave her

Sorokin cried in her crumpled shirt and had to be consoled by Spodek who offered her a glass of water and a tissue

It was the second time in as many weeks Sorokin set back the trial by refusing to wear prison clothes.

Instead, she is coming to court in looks that have been put together for her by Anastasia Walker, a stylist who has a mutual friend with her.

It is not clear who is paying Walker but Sorokin's lawyer, Spodek, said making her come to court in ordinary clothes as opposed to prison clothes was crucial. He does not want the jury to think she looks 'guilty', he said.

On Wednesday, she wore the same wrinkled white shirt and black pants as last week.

Her 'signature' Celine glasses and a pair of black flats completed her look.

Earlier in the trial, she has worn Yves Saint Lauren, Victoria Beckham and Michael Kors.

On Monday, Sorokin's trial heard how the banker she approached for a loan sent her explicit text messages after they met.

The 28-year-old's attorney, Todd Spodek, rifles through a bag to find an outfit for her as the impatient judge watches on

Spodek was warned by the judge that it was the 'last day we are playing around with clothes'

Dennis Onabajo, a banker at the private equity fund Fortress sent Sorokin 158 texts when she was trying to secure the loan.

'I'm forcing myself not to kiss you because you are insanely beautiful,' he is alleged to have texted her, according to the New York Post.

The text was sent in March 2017 after Fortress rejected her $22 million loan.

Judge Diane Kiesel is unimpressed with Sorokin's antics

He is also allegedly texted her after a meeting at the SoHo hotel where she was staying - 11 Howard - and said: 'Let me come upstairs and say a proper good-bye'.

Her attorney brought up the flirty texts when he was questioning the banker's boss Spencer Garfield on Monday.

The judge refused to let the attorney question Garfield in detail about the texts after saying he was not aware of the exchanges.

Onabajo left the company about two months after Sorokin's loan was rejected.

Garfield testified that Sorokin's loan was rejected because she couldn't produce proof of her fortune.

Her attorney argued that Sorokin couldn't be guilty of attempted grand larceny if she wasn't close to getting the loan in the first place.

Another New York banker testified last week that Sorokin seemed to 'speak the language' of the financial world during her attempt to obtain a multimillion-dollar loan.

Sorokin was in a better mood on Monday in an all-black outfit with her hair tied up

Sorokin is accused of trying to dupe investors into thinking she had a $67million fortune

Ryan Salem of City National Bank told the court last Thursday that his bank denied a request to finance a private arts club Sorokin proposed building.

But despite a host of red flags, the bank agreed to lend Sorokin $100,000 that she promised to repay within days.

Makeover: Sorokin is seen in February last year after her arrest

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.'

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 last week 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.This is the shocking moment a mayor in Mexico shamed a girl he said was 'obese.'

Manuel Guillermo Billy Chapman visited an elementary school located in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa on Monday and shamed a student named Nancy over her physical appearance.

Chapman, who is the mayor of Ahome, picked out the young girl from a crowd of children that sat outside at a patio as their teachers looked on.

The politician asked Nancy questions about her favorite foods before talking about her weight.

Mexican mayor Manuel Guillermo Billy Chapman (pictured center kneeling) visited a school in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa on Monday and shamed a Nancy (pictured in front of the mayor) because he considered her to be 'obese'

Mayor Chapman (pictured) issued a statement in which he apologized to Nancy as well as her family, teachers and classmates for the comments he made about her weight

After asking the names of her parents, Chapman asked: 'What do you like to eat? What do you like to eat the most?'

The shy girl quickly replied 'eggs'.

But the mayor continued by asking, 'Eggs? Do you eat a lot of eggs? What else do you eat?' before Nancy added she also ate chicken.

She then nodded her head in approval when Chapman asked, 'do you like to eat sweets? Lots of sweets? You eat a lot of sweets?'

The bizarre meet-and-greet at the school in the municipality of San Miguel Zapotitlan veered off track when Chapman turned to a teacher and asked why the girl was overweight.

'The problem with this girl, this girl is obese,' Chapman said.

'Frightening, horrible? Do you know, do you know why?'

And instead of cutting off the conversation, the educator replied: 'The mother gives the girl what she asks for and at any time'.

Another school official added that Nancy was 'the only child, she is over protected.'

Chapman's behavior quickly drew criticism.

Mexico's agency for the Comprehensive Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents [SIPINNA] announced it would look into the matter and determine what course of action, including fines, it could impose on the mayor.

Manuel Guillermo Billy Chapman (pictured center with Nancy) could face sanctions from Mexico's agency for the Comprehensive Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents [SIPINNA]

Chapman issued an apology for his actions, claiming his only intention was to bring to light to the health issues that affect Mexicans nationwide.

'Sending my most heartfelt apologies, because, quite possibly, I have committed a grave mistake,' the ashamed mayor said.

'Never, under any circumstance, was it my intention to hurt this very precious girl. I was having a dialogue with one of the teachers, about this unfortunate disease and the terrible conditions ... to serve this important sector of the population, who always deserve from us all the support and respect.

'In that sense, with all respect and humility, I insist, from the deepest part of my heart, I want to ask Nancy, her family, her teachers and classmates a sincere apology.'Police are hunting for a cyclist who is believed to have slashed the faces of at least eight people as he rode by them in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department released video footage and images of the suspect as they continue searching for him.

Authorities reported that the incidents started on March 20, according to KTLA.

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Los Angeles law enforcement are searching for a cyclist who has been riding around and cutting people's faces since March 20

Three of the attacks have been reported to have taken place in the Florence neighborhood of South Los Angeles, while another is said to have taken place in South Gate.

The LAPD described his weapon as only having an 'edge.'

Stefany Coboz, a Wilmington resident and one of the eight victims, shared that the man rode off laughing after he slashed her.

Stefany Coboz, a Wilmington resident and one of the eight victims, shared that the man rode off laughing after he slashed her

'You never know, he could kill someone,' she said to NBC Los Angeles.

Coboz was slashed in her neck and rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

The suspect is described as being a Hispanic man who is approximately 5'6" to 5'8" and weighs roughly 150lbs

'He just came in back of me and hit me,' Coboz added. 'I just started looking at him, he looked back, I grabbed myself, full of blood.'

Police are searching for the man throughout Wilmington and South Gate, all the way to Lynwood and South Los Angeles.

The suspect is described as being a Hispanic man who is approximately 5'6" to 5'8" and weighs roughly 150lbs. He was seen wearing a dark-colored shirt and dark pants at the time of the attacks.

The cyclist was last seen along Slauson Avenue from Main Street on a black and green mountain bike, the LAPD shared.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477, http://www.lacrimestoppers.org. or by downloading the 'P3 Tips' mobile app and selecting the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers as the local program.

He was seen wearing a dark-colored shirt and dark pants at the time of the attacksA British father who fled to Iraq and Syria to fight against ISIS wrote about how the terror group was the 'biggest threat to the world since Hitler'.

Aidan James, 28, spent four months fighting alongside Kurdish militia groups the PKK and YPK in 2017.

He is on trial accused of terror offences after allegedly undergoing military training with the PKK, a proscribed organisation in the UK, for two months.

James, of Merseyside, kept a diary about his experiences in which he wrote about his joy at battling ISIS and when he shot a jihadi dead from 500 yards away he described himself as 'very happy to get rid of another rat'.

The Old Bailey also heard UK counter-terror organisation Prevent, who had arrested James four months before he left the UK, tried to encourage him to return using a trained negotiator.

Aidan James, 28, pictured, spent four months fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria in 2017 but is on trial for terror offences after training with proscribed organisation the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK)

James, a father-of-one, pictured with an RPG, wrote a journal about his experiences using a variety of weapons and added that ISIS was the 'biggest threat to the world since Hitler'

One journal entry, pictured, said James wanted to fight ISIS to 'make a difference' rather than feeling 'worthless' in the UK

The court heard a diary from December 2017 said: 'The situation with Turkey continues to worsen the war is long from over but I am playing my part in this war and feel good to be a part of history and with the revolutionary force of YPG.

'Daesh is the biggest threat the world has seen since Hitler so anything I can do in these operations is good.'

In an earlier handwritten entry, jurors heard James wrote that he was 'waiting for Daesh to give me the opertunity (sic) to fire'.

He described his group's 'quest to vanquish Daesh from this place and send the rechid (sic) souls straight to hell.'

James also wrote about how he got 'a kill' that day and was 'very happy to get rid of another rat'.

Jurors were also shown a photograph of a black Islamic State flag with the caption: 'This is the evil flag of the worlds enemy ISIS, Daesh. IS flag (took) from a window in Deir Ezzor by me. F*** Daesh!!'

The court heard the negotiator, Chief Inspector Paul Court of Merseyside Police, began emailing James in October 2017.

James, pictured left in the UK shortly before leaving in 2017 and right while fighting with the YPK, was contacted by Prevent who urged him to return

A trained negotiator tried to convince the 28-year-old to come back for his family. Pictured is James, of Merseyside, holding his plane tickets ahead of his journey

In a message sent at Christmas he wrote: 'I haven't heard from you for some time now so I wanted to check that you are ok.

'I imagine at this time you may feel lonely and particularly on Christmas Day.

'Being away from your mum and child cannot be easy particularly when you are facing such conflict.

'As always I remain available to discuss your return home.'

Giving evidence, Chief Inspector Court explained that he had been called in by the Prevent team to 'establish communication to get him home'

He said: 'My communication was to save life because of the situation he was in. That was the top of my strategy.'

Chief Inspector Court also tried to convince James to come back by referencing his sciatica and added his family were worried about him.

He added: 'In terms of coming home, let me be honest and tell you that you will be arrested. You will be taken to a custody suite. You will be interviewed about travelling abroad and, based on what I know so far, you will then be released whilst they investigate.'

'Nobody is saying that you are a terrorist and there are loads of people like you who have come back from Syria and to the best of my knowledge none have been charged.

James came to the attention of Prevent after posting on Facebook in April 2017, pictured, about how he planned to go to Syria

He left the UK via Manchester Airport in August 2017, pictured here on security footage, and went to Iraq via Turkey and Jordan, before eventually going to Syria

'If you look at it from the other point of view, we can't have people going out to fight in Syria and then returning without the police investigating what they have been doing whilst out there.'

James told the officer: 'I have been in combat many times since my arrival, that is my job here, so due to this and any risk of being charged under any act by the British government, I think I will stay.

'I don't have a life back home, all I have there is s***, so after I recover I will be back to the front and continue my work against daesh.'

He complained that he had lost access to his son and 'no one helped' and added: 'I don't trust anyone in your line of work. You will tell me what I want to hear, so telling me I will be fine falls of death [sic] ears.

'My so called country should be proud of the work us volunteers are doing as they have failed to help.'

On October 25, Mr Court replied: 'There is only a single case I know about of someone being charged having returned from fighting in Syria and that person was charged because they had a bomb manual. I've got no special information about it, that is just info that I get from Google.'

The exchanges continued over the following months and on November 12, James told the officer: 'My mental health has decreased a lot. My PTSD has got a lot worse the past few days after stuff I have seen.

'It isn't possible to leave any time soon. I need my meds when I arrive home, is there anyway to arrange this as been trying to get them here but not possible.'

He referred to spending time in a 'mental home' and said he understood he would be charged with 'other offenses' which turned out to be drugs charges.

This image shows how James had Googled a route between Turkey and Syria before his trip

James wrote: 'I am stressing over this and it is affecting me a lot. I am worried that the longer I am here, the more my PTSD and mental health problems will get worse and maybe if I am looking at jail time, will be better to section me instead as my state in jail will worsen.'

The court heard James was first contacted by police four months before he fled the UK when a Prevent case was opened after they spotted Facebook posts in which he declared his intention of fighting against 'the sick regime and ideologies' of the so-called caliphate.

During a meeting, they warned James of the possible consequences that could arise were he to travel.

He was arrested days later after officers deemed the 'engagement was not considered to have been successful'.

James told police he intended to travel to Turkey and on to Rojava, in the northern part of Syria, and had been learning Kurdish, reading the Qu'ran and about 'all the conflict that's going on, political stuff'.

Jurors heard he had to scrap his original departure date at the beginning of May after his passport was seized.

But it was handed back at a later meeting on July 17, 2017.

In a journal entry dated that same day, he wrote he was 'still planning on going away to Syria/Iraq' to 'fight this most important of battles against the sick ideology of daesh'.

James is pictured here going through airport security and he was not stopped despite having been arrested by Prevent months earlier

Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, said James' intention to fight 'remained the same', 'completely un-wavered by the police investigation' and he soon started to 'plan, train and equip himself' in the UK.

James, who had 'no prior military knowledge or experience whatsoever', underwent physical training and acquired body armour in North Wales in July before travelling to Iraq in August where he linked up with the proscribed PKK (Kurdish Worker's Party) and spent a month training, including in the use of weapons.

He then made his way to the border with Syria for just over another month's training.

The court heard he wrote a journal during his period abroad.

Entries included descriptions of a night taking the drug ketamine and in December 2017 he wrote: 'Mum rang today, told me she was proud, made me very happy.'

On 6 December he wrote: 'People really annoy me at the moment. I just want to hit someone.'

By mid-December Jones began to write about returning to the UK: 'starting to think about going home because Daesh is nearly done.'

By 27 December, Jones had expressed a desire to go home and began to write about his experience with the YGP in hindsight.

He listed memories where he 'fought in front lines', 'killed Daesh soldiers', 'fought Assad's regime,' and 'been shot at many times by Daesh and our own guys.'

The court heard he finally returned to Liverpool John Lennon airport on February 14 last year on flights via Baghdad, Amman and Amsterdam.

James, from Formby, Lancs, denies preparing for acts of terrorism and two counts of attending a place where instruction or training was provided for purposes connected to the commission or preparation of terrorism.

His trial, expected to last two weeks, continues.Xem them

...

Tin bai cuoi cung

Khong con du lieu e loadCyber security experts have raised fears that sensitive data held by Grindr on British users could be at risk amid a probe into the sale of the gay dating app to a Chinese tech firm.

Authorities in the US are investigating the acquisition of the app by Beijing Kunlun Tech in January 2018, as reports claim China could harvest information from Grindr's three million daily users.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, which oversees foreign acquisitions of US companies, opened a probe last summer, according to NBC News.

Grindr holds millions of users' data including whether or not they are HIV positive, raising fears that the information could be used to blackmail users with high level security clearances to provide information to China.

Grindr app is seen on a mobile phone in this photo illustration taken in Shanghai, China, March 28, 2019. US officials are ordering Beijing Kunlun Tech to sell the gay dating app over fears user data could be exploited by the Chinese government

Experts have now called on the UK government to liaise with the US in their probe to ensure the safety of UK users is not put at risk.

Professor Peter Sommer, a specialist in digital forensics, told Mailonline: 'There is of course the potential for blackmail in this case.

'With the sensitive information that is held on an app like Grindr there will be concerns this could get into the wrong hands.

Scott Chen, the president of Grindr, switched company communications to WeChat and spoke in Chinese which stoked fears among employees that they could not protect user data

'The government would have to make a decision on whether to fully investigate this issue by looking at resources that are available.

'Relationships between the UK and the US in the field of cyber security are very strong, and any information gleaned by the US could be shared with authorities over here.

'It is one of a number of things the government should be looking at. Anyone working handling sensitive information, or handling a sensitive computer system could be a target.'

Professor Alan Woodward, a computer security expert at the University of Surrey, said: 'The concern of course is that when you pass this data on, it is anonymised, but it is very easy to deanonymise it.

'Once you give somebody else access, it's not clear how long it will be retained for.

'We have lots of data protection laws in Europe, but once it is outside of Europe, like in this case, to a US based firm, you have lost control of it.

'There is not a lot the UK government can do.'

Reports in the US which told of the investigation claimed the president of Grindr switched internal communications onto WeChat, spoke only in Chinese and proposed putting an HIV research intern in the company's West Hollywood office.

Chen also discussed putting an intern in the company's West Hollywood office (shown) to work on a paper about HIV prevention. It concerned employees who reported it to the company's compliance officer

Two Grindr employees spoke to NBC anonymously to share their concerns about Scott Chen's leadership of the company.

Kunlun Tech, acquired Grindr in January 2018, paying $93million for a 60 percent stake in the company in 2016 then acquired the remaining 40 percent in 2018 for $157million.

Since then, there have been increasing fears that the move puts those users' data into the reach of the Chinese government.

The Committee on Foreign Investment has ordered Kunlun to sell the company amid fears it could blackmail users.

Grindr is now in discussions to sell the company but wants double what it paid for it.

The two unnamed employees say there were internal fears that data was compromised when Chen started making changes to internal communications policy while acting as the Chief Technology Officer shortly after the January 2018 sale.

'Scott was increasingly restricting access to any kind of information, transferring everything over to WeChat and conducting all communications in Chinese, so it was very hard to keep tabs and help effectively police,' one said.

They reported it to the company's compliance officer, they said.

When the Foreign Investment Committee launched its investigation in August, the changes were rolled back, they said.

The employees also say Chen proposed putting an intern from a Chinese health organization in the West Hollywood office so that they could put together research for a paper on HIV prevention.

The intern would work for Yiming Shao, a professor at China's Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Shao had proposed working with Grindr to compile research on HIV prevention and treatment.

In an email to staff about the idea, Chen admitted that he had asked for users data and expressed concern about it.

'They are attracted by our brand, reach and data. We need to be extremely careful about their data request.

'Yiming is head of HIV prevention in China CDC. We can't let people say this is about 'sharing user data with the Chinese government,'' he wrote.

A spokesman for the company emphasized that it never pursued either project but did not comment on Chen's change in communications policy.

'Grindr and the Grindr for Equality team periodically engage in discussions with highly respected national and international health organizations and researchers, including to help stem the spread of the deadly HIV epidemic.

'Regardless of emails you may have regarding a very preliminary internal discussion, Grindr has never engaged any intern associated in any way with the Chinese government,' the spokesman said.Police are investigating after a talk show host and his guests were robbed at gunpoint as the programme was broadcast live on social networks.

SOT online radio station in Sao Paulo was allegedly invaded by at least five gangsters, posing as takeaway delivery drivers, on Tuesday night around 9pm, just minutes before the show ended. One of the robbers appeared to be armed.

The presenter was just wrapping up his chat show when the bandits stormed in.

A recording of the incident shows the shocked victims recoiling in terror, leaping from their seats and putting their hands up as the hooded bandits burst into the studio, kicking back the door to make sure it stays open before announcing the hold-up.

Surprisingly the mobile phone used to transmit the Facebook programme, which also recorded evidence of the assault, was not taken.

Footage shows the robber holding what appears to be a gun and waving it in the direction of the presenters

Presenter Jocimar Martins shouts 'stay calm, calm down' as the outlaws, who appear agitated and aggressive, start to ransack the place.

Other staff working outside the studio were rounded up, shoved into the room and forced to hand over their belongings too.

It's claimed the hooded bandits were aware that their actions were being transmitted live, but that didn't seem to deter them as they brazenly swiped all the cell phones on the table, took watches off victims' wrists and demanded victims' hand over their necklaces and rings.

During the horrific shakedown, the masked thugs could be heard swearing and allegedly threatening the victims with lethal force if they didn't hand over the cash in their pockets.

One of the assailants allegedly warned: 'Stay calm if you don't want to die.

The scared looking hosts told the robber to 'calm down' as the tense standoff took place live on air

'Is anyone hiding their phones and other stuff, because if you are you will suffer the consequences'

Pointing the weapon at one of the victims, as everyone cowered in their chairs, the gunman apparently demanded to know if there was anyone else in the building while his accomplices searched the office.

Even though he was assured there wasn't, the thug continued to brandish the pistol and allegedly said: 'Don't lie. Do you want to die?'

Viewers watched in disbelief as the crime, which lasted five minutes, unfolded before their eyes. Police received dozens of emergency calls, but by the time they arrived the assailants had fled with hundreds of pounds worth of valuables.

Alessandro Santos, owner of the radio station, revealed he opened the door to the hijackers thinking they were delivering food ordered by staff.

SOT online radio station in Sao Paulo was allegedly invaded by at least five gangsters this weekend

In an interview with Globo TV he said: 'They said they had a delivery and as we are accustomed here to ordering takeaways, I just opened the door without a second thought and asked 'who's it for?'

'As soon as they entered, one of them put a gun to my head and told me to lead the way inside.'

Martins said that during the robbery he was petrified that one of his guests could be shot and injured or even lose their life.

He said it was a 'terrible moment' to realise that we had encouraged guests to leave the 'security of their homes' only for them to end up in situation like this.

One of the guests, Tassiane Martins, who was recently crowned Miss Sao Paulo Plus Size said: 'I thought it was a joke the moment they came in with a gun.

'It was only when I saw the others that I realised it was real.'

Detectives said they are using footage from the incident to try to identify the perpetrators and are asking anyone who recognises anything about the assailants including their voices and clothes to get in touch.The drunk driver who mowed down and killed a Florida mother whose daughter was then beaten to death by her father earlier this year, is to plead guilty in her death.

Mother Rachel Foster, 24, died when she was hit by suspected drunk driver Leornardo Morciego in June 2016, and she left behind her newborn daughter named Savanna Roque.

Her boyfriend Yovahnis Roque was also hurt in the crash and became the caretaker of the child.

Following the crash Yovahnis and Savannah moved to Orange, Texas but in February the 26-year-old dad allegedly beat the two-year-old child to death, bludgeoning her with a hammer.

He allegedly believed that the little girl had a microchip implanted in her and he attacked her with a hammer to 'destroy it'.

Florida mother Rachel Foster, 24, (left) was killed by alleged DUI driver Leornardo Morciego (right)

Now mother and daughter are buried next to each other in Florida.

Morceigo, 48, is expected to plead guilty to DUI manslaughter and other felonies next week and get a five-year prison sentence for the drunk driving crash.

Meanwhile, Roque faces capital murder charges and faces the death penalty.

A Texas police captain called the child's death a 'crime scene of nightmares' and cops reportedly discovered Yovahnis naked and covered in blood from head to toe.

Rachel Foster's mother Delia Foster said that her only solace in the double tragedy was knowing that her daughter and granddaughter were together, she told the Miami Herald.

'Its a blessing for us. After all of this suffering, at least to have them together is a consolation,' Foster said.

Following the crash Foster's boyfriend Yovahnis and Savannah (pictured) moved to Orange, Texas but in February the 26-year-old dad allegedly beat the two-year-old child to death

A Texas police captain called the child's death a 'crime scene of nightmares' and cops reportedly discovered Yovahnis (in his mugshot, left, and in court, right) naked and covered in blood from head to toe

Bizarre behavior: During his initial court appearance, Roque exclaimed 'the government made me do it' and 'this is fake'

Morceigo, the accused drunk driver who killed Foster, is set to accept a sentence of five years in prison next week, according to prosecutor Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine.

He appeared in court where he remained silent on Tuesday.

After he's released he'll have to serve two years of 'community control', which is a type of house arrest, then four years of probation.

He was unharmed when he plowed his BMW car into Foster and Roque's vehicle.

He was found to have a blood alcohol content level of more than double the legal limit.

'For me, it's a huge relief that I can go to the cemetery and tell my daughter that justice is being done,' Rachel's father Richard Foster said to the paper.

Rachel and Yovahnis Roque met online.

She allegedly told her mother that Roque suffered mental health problems and would sometimes lash out violently at her.

Rachel Foster died when she was hit by suspected drunk driver Leornardo Morciego in June 2016 shortly after she had given birth to Savanna

Savanna's mother, 24-year-old Rachel Foster, was killed in a suspected DUI crash in Florida, which also seriously injured Roque and left him in a wheelchair

His brother, Lazaro Roque, told 12 News Now Roque felt guilty about the crash that killed his girlfriend, a dance teacher, because she died crossing the road to where his car had run out of gas.

The document states that after he killed Savanna, responding officers found Roque 'completely covered in blood' on the front porch and discovered Savanna's lifeless body hidden in a closet.

While detectives were asking Roque to state his name, he blurted out, unprompted, 'I killed my daughter,' the affidavit reads.

Orange police Capt. Robert Enmon described it as the most horrific crime he's dealt with in his 29-year career.

Roque, who is wheelchair bound after the crash, appeared in court in February looking disheveled and making wild exclamations such as: 'the government made me do it.'

He also was overheard uttering, 'this is fake' and 'I don't know what you want from me.'

He remains in jail on $2million bond/Nearly half (46 percent) of U.S. men  and 38 percent of all Americans  believe that women are making up the gender pay gap 'to serve a political purpose' and that wage disparity is not a 'legitimate issue,' according to a new survey.

Among all Americans, 62 percent believe that men make more money than women for the same work - including 71 percent of women and 53 percent of men.

However, 24 percent of men ages 18-34  incorrectly  said that news stories about women making less money than men are 'fake news,' according to the online poll of 8,566 Americans conducted for TIME Magazine. Among all men, the figure was 21 percent.

American women make an average of about 81 cents for every dollar a man makes  a recent $0.01 improvement, according to the latest U.S. Census data.

'I think there could be cultural stereotypes about women that may be informing the perpetuation of myths, but when you actually look at the data, it shows there is a continuing pay gap across occupations,' said Deborah Vagins, of The American Association of University Women in an interview with DailyMail.com.

This graph illustrates major beliefs among Americans about whether the gender pay gap is real. Responses are broken out among all Americans, and U.S. men and women

This graph illustrates the top reason that men, women and Americans believe that a gender pay gap persists in this country

Despite the slow pace of progress, 47 percent of all Americans think there are no more obstacles for women in the workplace  an increase compared to 44 percent last year.

That number swells to 58 percent among U.S. men, up from 54 percent in 2018.

Meanwhile, 62 percent of Americans believe the pay gap will disappear within their lifetime  up from 55 percent in 2018.

The poll also found that 47 percent of Americans believe that unconscious bias in the workplace is the reason for the pay gap, including 51 percent of women and 43 percent of men.

Less than half (45 percent) of Americans blame sexism for the disparity, while 44 percent attribute it to a lack of women in leadership positions.

'We know women are still fighting the battle to get equal pay for equal work, but we also see another dynamic, called occupational segregation, which contributes to the gap,' Vagins said.

'Women are steered into lower paying occupations, or even (when they work) in higher paying careers, they are steered to low paying sub-specialties because women's work is valued less,' she added.

For example, men who work as parking lot attendants or car washers often make more money than women who get paid to care for children, Vagins said.

A majority (73 percent) of Americans said that companies should play a role in eliminating the pay gap, and 54 percent believe the government should do more about the issue.

However, there is not a clear consensus on how to address the disparity between what men and women are paid.

The survey follows the March 27 passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act in the House of Representatives. The proposal, which would prohibit employers from asking job candidates about their past pay, faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate.

This graph shows what men, women and Americans overall think about media reports on gender pay disparity

'The idea behind that is, if women's wages have been tainted by discrimination in a prior job, even a well-intentioned employer could be carrying forward discrimination by basing a new employees salary on prior wages,' Vagins said.

If successful, the act would also require employers to share salary data with the government and prohibit employers from retaliating against workers who reveal how much they make to their colleagues.

Some 55 percent believe it would help if companies reported their gender pay statistics to the government, while 52 percent favor release of that information to the public and 52 percent support a ban precluding employers from asking about prior salaries during the interview process.

Others support employee transparency and encourage workers to share their own compensation details with each other to promote pay equity.

Nearly a third (29 percent) of U.S. workers have revealed their salary to co-workers, and another 24 percent said they haven't done so but would be willing to.

However, 45 percent of American workers are not willing to share their pay details, though responses break along generational lines with just 33 percent of Millennials saying they would refuse to be transparent.Brayan Mejia Hernandez, 31, has been arrested after he allegedly forced his way into a home and hit a 10-year-old girl in the forehead with a hammer

A Texas man has been arrested after he allegedly forced his way into a home and hit a 10-year-old girl in the forehead with a hammer.

Brayan Mejia Hernandez, 31, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, injury to a child, and possession of marijuana.

A family was returning to their Dallas home from a party around 1.40am on Sunday when Hernandez forced his way in.

Witnesses said he pointed what appeared to be a black handgun at a man at the residence and accused him of 'attempting to have relations' with the mother of Hernandez's son.

Hernandez then picked up a hammer and hit the man several times in the leg and arm, according to the Dallas Morning News.

He then allegedly took the hammer and struck the forehead of a 10-year-old girl who lived in the home.

A family was returning to their Dallas home from a party on Sunday when Hernandez forced his way into the residence. Pictured is the block where the home was located

Emergency responders arrived at the scene and treated the 10-year-old girl. Her current medical condition has not been disclosed.

Authorities who arrived at the home discovered that the black handgun Hernandez had pointed at the man was actually a plastic BB gun.

They also found a bag of marijuana in Hernandez's pocket.

Hernandez was booked into Dallas County Jail and has been released after posting bond.Chinese police have detained two web users after they allegedly posted insulting comments towards a group of people who died fighting a massive forest fire.

They include 27 firefighters, two officials and one volunteer. They were killed in the line of duty on Sunday while trying to contain a forest blaze in the mountains of Liangshan prefecture, south-western Sichuan Province.

The youngest victim was just 18 years old, and many other were in their early 20s. They have been lauded as heroes and the authorities have started the process to add their names to the martyrs list.

One of the web users from the city of Quanzhou made malicious speeches about the late firefighters on Baidu, China's equivalent to Google, according to the country's web police.

Both individuals, from two different provinces, are accused of slandering the firefighters online under pseudonyms.

The first web user was detained by police in Quanzhou in Fujian Province on Monday after reportedly making malicious speeches on Baidu, China's equivalent to Google.

According to screen grabs released by the Liangshan web police, the individual claimed that the province of Sichuan deserved to be burnt and joked that public should go there to 'enjoy barbecued people'.

The second web user, identified as 35-year-old Zhang, was detained by police in Anshan in Liaoning Province today.

The other web user, identified as 35-year-old Zhang, was detained by police today (file photo)

The Anshan web police said Zhang had spread defamatory messages about the firefighters, without specifying the content. Zhang posted the comments in chatting groups on WeChat, the Chinese equivalent to WhatsApp.

Nearly 700 firefighters were deployed to battle the massive blaze, which broke out on Saturday on steep, remote terrain at an altitude of around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in Muli County, Sichuan province.

The blaze was largely contained around midday on Tuesday, though some areas were still burning, said Wu Song, county chief of Muli, according to Xinhua.

Local authorities lost contact with 30 victims on Sunday afternoon after a sudden change in wind direction ignited a 'huge fireball', authorities previously said.

Twenty seven were firefighters, two forestry officials and one local volunteer.

The two individuals allegedly slandered a group of firefighters who were killed in the line of duty on Sunday while trying to contain a forest blaze in the mountains of Sichuan (pictured)

People arrive at a funeral parlor for a funeral service for the firefighters yesterday in Xichang

A public funeral for the victims was held yesterday in the city of Xichang and residents flocked to the funeral home to pay their respect for the heroes.

News of the detentions comes amid a national crackdown on 'harmful' online information. The 'clean net 2019' campaign, set to run from March to November, vows to fight against pornography and vulgar content online.

The news also came a year after China's central government passed a law which bans people from defaming the country's 'heroes and martyrs'.

The law, which went into effect on May 1 last year, aims at 'passing down the martyr spirits' and 'promoting patriotism'.

It makes it illegal to 'misrepresent, defame, profane or deny the deeds and spirits of heroes and martyrs, or to praise or beautify invasions,' state media said in a summary when it was introduced.

Anyone infringing it faces punishment in line with the law and may be investigated for criminal responsibility.

One Chinese citizen, named Zeng, became the first to be punished by the law after being sued by a city government last May for insulting a dead fireman.A former appeal judge has said the legality of Theresa May's delay to Brexit should be tested in a court.

Sir Richard Aikens, who sat in the Court of Appeal from 2008 until 2015, spoke after the leader of the English Democrats political party launched a legal battle claiming that the UK has already left the EU.

Britain was supposed to leave on March 29, but was granted an extension by the EU until April 12 at a meeting last in Brussels last month.

But the English Democrats leader Robin Tilbrook, as well as number of Tory Brexiteers, says the new exit date should have gone before the House of Commons and the House of Lords before it was approved.

Robin Tilbrook has launched a High Court battle claiming that the UK has already left the EU. Former appeal judge Sir Richard Aikens (right) today said the case should go before a court

Mr Tilbrook yesterday announced he had submitted his case to the High Court and hoped to challenge the decision within weeks.

He says that, if his case is successful, the delayed leave date will be 'null and void' and Britain will already have left the EU and no longer be subject to its laws.

The case has been compared to the landmark ruling forced by campaigner Gina Miller, which led to judges ruling Parliament should have a vote on Brexit.

Respected former appeal judge Sir Richard Aikens has said the way in which the extension was organised is 'highly unsatisfactory' and 'arguably illegal'.

Today, he told MailOnline the legal row over whether the government did act lawfully 'can only be determined by a court.'

He added: 'If the argument... is correct, then it would mean that, under UK law, we left the EU last Friday at 11pm. The Treaties would no longer be binding and the UK would no longer be subject to EU law.

'The argument obviously becomes much more important if there is any attempt at a longer "extension", but, logically, if the argument is correct, then any attempt at a further extension would be a legal nonsense as the UK would already be "out".'

The English Democrats argue in their legal application that Theresa May (pictured last night) did not have the power to extend the exit date past March 29 without consulting Parliament

His comments will add weight to the claims that Britain may have accidentally dropped out of the EU and the ongoing wrangles over Theresa May's withdrawal agreement are unnecessary.

Four Conservative MPs last week wrote to Theresa May also suggesting delaying Brexit in the way she did was illegal.

Sir Bill Cash, who was among the four, wrote: 'We ask that you fully explain the actions taken by your Government and why you say that what it has done and is doing is legal.

'We are gravely concerned that you are unlawfully seeking to extend the UK's membership of the EU.'

Other legal commentators have suggested the case is unlikely to be successful.

The government agreed an extension with the EU last month. But the legality of the move could now be in doubt. Pictured: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk on the day of the extension

Professor Mark Elliott, Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge, has argued that the government was entitled obtain an Article 50 extension and change the exit day before asking Parliament to approve it.

Meanwhile Thom Brooks, Professor of Law and Government at Durham University Law School, told MailOnline: 'Parliament did agree for the PM to have more time and both the UK and EU have agreed our 'deal' remains, or at least for now. This is through temporary extensions.'

The government has yet to state its defence in the case, but wrote to Mr Tilbrook last month claiming he had failed to identify a decision capable of judicial review.

A spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union said today: 'As a matter of international law, the date of the UK's exit from the EU was changed following the decision of the EU Council held on 22 March and the exchange of letters between the UK and EU on 25 March. We reflected this change in domestic law when we made the relevant statutory instrument on Thursday 28 March.'

The legal bid will be seen as a Brexiteer equivalent to Gina Miller's battle with the Government over triggering Article 50 in 2016 (pictured, Ms Miller in London last week)

Theresa May today met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in her Commons office in the hope of agreeing a position which can win a majority within the next few days, allowing her to request another delay to Brexit at next week's EU summit.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would accept an extension to May 22 if the UK had approved Mrs May's Withdrawal Agreement by a 'viable majority' before April 12.Advertisement

The contents of a majestic country home owned by the man who is said to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond will go under the hammer for 250,000.

Moigne Combe in Dorchester, Dorset, is a 10-bedroom mansion built by the Bond family in 1900 that belonged to the late Major General Mark Bond OBE before his death in 2017.

The property, which was recently been sold for 3.5million, will auction off a range of items including antique furniture, paintings and ornaments.

The sale consists of 467 lots, which range in value from 40 to tens of thousands of pounds.

The contents inside Moigne Combe in Dorchester, Dorset, will go under the hammer for 250,000. The lavish country estate, which was recently been sold for 3.5million, was owned by the man who is said to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond

One of the most valuable items up for auction is an early 18th century giant George I walnut bookcase, valued at 60,000, while a George III mahogany bookcase is expected to fetch 20,000.

A large 18th century portrait of the daughters of the former governor of the Bank of England, thought to have been done by renowned portrait painter Thomas Hudson is valued at 8,000.

Another portrait, a watercolour painting from the 1830s by John Frederick Lewis depicting a spy being brought before a general, is tipped to sell for 6,000.

The extensive collection also features numerous clocks, vases and long mirrors, as well as niche items like an Edwardian enamel blue watering can.

The sale consists of 467 lots, which range in value from 40 to tens of thousands of pounds. The property, which was recently been sold for 3.5million, will auction off a range of items including antique furniture, paintings and ornaments

The bronze figure of a Grenadier guard (left) has an estimated value of 500, while the figure of a rabbit by Emille Galle (right) is valued at 400

A large 18th century portrait of Martha and Mary, the daughters of the former governor of the Bank of England, thought to have been done by renowned portrait painter Thomas Hudson is valued at 8,000

The extensive collection also features numerous clocks, vases and long mirrors, as well as niche items like an Edwardian enamel blue watering can. A William and Mary oak dresser up (pictured) is up for auction and expected to fetch 1,500

William Batt, specialist at Duke's, said: 'The Bond family has a fascinating history, not withstanding the suggested James Bond link.

'Some of the furniture in the sale is outstanding and since they travelled so much so there is a whole variety of art from all over the world.

'The entire contents of the house will be sold so alongside the marquee items there is something for everyone with lots in the 20 to 40 range,' he added.

One of the most valuable items up for auction is a George I walnut bureau valued at 60,000. Another antique item up for sale is a Benjamin Gray and Justin Vulliamy bracket clock worth 5,000

Another expensive item listed in the auction is a George III mahogany bookcase estimated to be worth 20,000

Aside from the George I walnut bureau (left and valued at 60,000) up for sale is a portrait of Samuel Buller (right) which has been valued at 1,000 and a portrait of Madame Zamparini (centre) valued at 3,000

William Batt, specialist at Duke's, said: 'The Bond family has a fascinating history, not withstanding the suggested James Bond link. 'Some of the furniture in the sale is outstanding and since they travelled so much so there is a whole variety of art from all over the world'

John Bond, the Bond family ancestor, was a late 16th century Elizabethan spy who adopted the Latin phrase 'non sufficit orbis' (the world is not enough) as his family's motto.

It is thought Fleming learned of his exciting tales of espionage while the author went to prep school in Dorset in 1914.

He introduced the spy's 'the world is not enough' motto in the book On Her Majesty's Secret Service and it became the title of the 21st Bond film in 1999.

Mr Blatt added: 'The entire contents of the house will be sold so alongside the marquee items there is something for everyone with lots in the 20 to 40 range'

John Bond, the Bond family ancestor, was a late 16th century Elizabethan spy who adopted the Latin phrase 'non sufficit orbis' (the world is not enough) as his family's motto. It is thought Fleming learned of his exciting tales of espionage while the author went to prep school in Dorset in 1914 (dining room pictured)

Fleming introduced the spy's 'the world is not enough' motto in the book On Her Majesty's Secret Service and it became the title of the 21st Bond film in 1999 (stairway pictured)

Bond spied for Queen Elizabeth I, assisting Sir Francis Drake on many escapades, including the 1586 raid on the Azores, which Spain had just bought from Portugal.

During the raid on the Spanish governor's palace, Drake saw a stone globe with the Latin phrase non sufficit orbis, which was King Philip II of Spain's motto.

Ralph and Evelyn Bond moved to the 10-bedroom mansion house at Moigne Combe after the War Office requisitioned their principal home at Tyneham for the war effort in 1943.

John Bond spied for Queen Elizabeth I, assisting Sir Francis Drake on many escapades, including the 1586 raid on the Azores, which Spain had just bought from Portugal. Later, Ralph and Evelyn Bond moved to the 10-bedroom mansion house at Moigne Combe after the War Office requisitioned their principal home at Tyneham for the war effort in 1943

Their son Major General Mark Bond (pictured), who fought in the Battle of Alamein and later served as an aide de camp for Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, took over the running of the estate after he retired from the army in 1972. He lived in the rural estate until his death in 2017, aged 94

Their son Major General Bond, who fought in the Battle of Alamein and later served as an aide de camp for Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, took over the running of the estate after he retired from the army in 1972.

He lived in the rural estate until his death in 2017, aged 94.

The property was recently been sold for 3.5million and the auction for the items will take place on April 10.Arkansas prosecutors say they're seeking the death penalty for one of the men accused in the brutal killing of a 24-year-old mother and two of her three young children in 2017.

Pulaski County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Johnson told a judge on Tuesday that prosecutors would seek the lethal injection for 26-year-old Michael Collins, making it the first death penalty request the county has pursued in a decade.

Collins and his brother, 22-year-old William Alexander, have been charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the stabbing deaths of Mariah Cunningham, five-year-old A'Layliah Fisher and four-year-old Elijah Fisher.

Arkansas prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Michael Collins, 26 (left), who along with his brother, William Alexander (right), has been charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery

Cunningham's grandmother, Sheba, found her granddaughter and two great-grandchildren knifed to death in the family's Little Rock home on December 5, 2017, reported Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Cunningham's other daughter, Cheyanne, who was eight at the time of the triple homicide, was not home that day.

Investigators found traces of bleach on the bodies and discovered a steak knife believed to have been used in the murders in the bathtub.

Collins and Alexander are accused of stabbing to death Mariah Cunningham, 24 (left), and two of her three children, five-year-old A'Layliah Fisher and four-year-old Elijah Fisher (right)

A relative said Collins had been living with Cunningham and her family, but the woman told him to move out on the same day she and her children were found dead

Mariah Cunningham is pictured above with her son Elijah, before their murders

Police have not released an official motive in the killings but described it as a 'domestic-related' situation.

Following Collins and Alexander's arrests last year, the victims' relative told KATV that Collins was living with Cunningham's family and was a friend of her boyfriend, who was in prison in 2017.

The family member said that Cunningham had told Collins he had to move out of her apartment on the same day she and her children were found dead.

The brothers have also been charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in a fourth slaying, which was initially ruled a suicide.

Billie Thornton, 64, was found dead in his apartment in July 2017.A New Jersey mother is grieving after her son was killed in an Army training accident 15 years after his father, whose footsteps he followed in, died the same way.

Army Spc. Nicholas Peter DiMona III passed away as a result of the incident during the Saturday early-morning drill at the Donnelly Training area near Fort Greely, only one hour after she'd spoken to him on the phone.

Melissa DiMona described the moment she knew what had happened to her boy, who was based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, saying she was reminded of the moment she learned her husband had been killed in an Army training accident in 2004.

Melissa DiMona is devastated after her son Nicholas Peter DiMona III was killed in an Alaska Army Saturday morning drill

The specialist and paratrooper, 20, was shot dead at Donnelly Training area near Fort Greely

'I saw their faces. I just knew. I knew that look,' she told NBC 10 about the visit from two uniformed men to her Medford Lakes home.

His father also died in an Army training accident in 2004 when DiMona III was five

'It's like somebody took my heart and soul and just took it somewhere and it's just gone.'

The Army specialist and paratrooper was only five years old when his father passed away.

He graduated from Shawnee High School and joined the Army in 2017.

Melissa had spoken to her son shortly before he died.

'I just said, "Please Nick. Just be careful. Just be careful. I love you Nick. I love you",' she recalled.

'And he's like, "Mom, I love you, too. I'm always careful".'

US Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell said he didn't know of any similar deaths in the state during ongoing readiness training exercises.

She said about the loss of her son in the incident: 'It's like somebody took my heart and soul'

US Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell said he didn't know of any similar deaths in the state during ongoing readiness training exercises

They are investigating to find out who was responsible for firing the shots that killed Nicholas.

Parent Melissa demands to know what went wrong, asking: 'Why were they using live rounds near him? Why would they put him in a proximity where he could be shot?

'When my husband got killed, it was a training accident. Now this is another training accident.'

The parent said: 'Why were they using live rounds near him? Why would they put him in a proximity where he could be shot?

Melissa said: 'When my husband got killed, it was a training accident. Now this is another training accident'Diana Turner (pictured in a police photo), stole nearly 1million from vulnerable people she was supposed to be looking after and has been jailed for seven years

A carer who stole nearly 1million from vulnerable people she was supposed to be looking after has been jailed for seven years.

Diana Turner, 53, defrauded residents with mental health problems and learning difficulties by using their bank cards to transfer money to herself.

She spent some of the takings on a Range Rover Evoque with a personalised numberplate - DI4NA T - and also bought an Audi A3 for her son.

Jurors in Sheffield also heard how she purchased five houses to rent out, including two in Dubai, and went on luxury holidays in Italy and New York.

She was found guilty after a three-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court where a judge told her she had 'abused her position of trust' as a manager at Glastonbury Guest House in the city.

Judge Graham Reeds QC described Turner as a 'greedy' and 'arrogant' woman as he sentenced her for seven years on two counts of fraud.

He said: 'What you did can only be explained by greed.

You took as much money from them as you could for as long as you could, I'm sure this was arrogance on your part. You decided they didn't need the money so you took it.'

'You had power and trust. It's clear from the evidence you had considerable charm with the residents. Each victim was vulnerable financially. You abused your position of trust and authority over them.'

The 53-year-old was found guilty after a three-week trial where a judge told her she had 'abused her position of trust' as a manager at Glastonbury Guest House in the city

South Yorkshire Police said Turner had illegally taken 923,000 from 10 people although her defence lawyers said she had only pocketed 640,000 herself.

Her illegal takings plus her 50,000 salary and benefits meant Turner was taking home approximately 100,000 a year between 2007 and 2016, Judge Reed said.

The court heard one resident was paying 943 per month into an account in the name of Turner's mother and some of the sums of cash were paid as 'rent'.

Turner was caught in 2016 by business owner David Andrews, who noticed some of the residents' bank accounts were linked to Turner's.

She tried to blame Mr Andrews because the majority of residents' fees were paid to him directly from Sheffield City Council.

Turner also attempted to hide her crimes by removing cash from her home and having residents write letters to their banks saying she was acting in their best interests.

She spent some of the takings on a Range Rover Evoque with a personalised numberplate - DI4NA T - and also bought an Audi A3 for her son

Jurors at Sheffield Crown Court (pictured) heard how Turner purchased five houses to rent out, including two in Dubai, and went on luxury holidays in Italy and New York

She even took some from the home to their local bank branches in attempt to cover her tracks.

Turner's brothers Khalid, 59, and Waleed Rahman, 58, were accused of laundering the illegal takings but were found not guilty on Monday.

Speaking after the sentencing Detective Constable James Hughes, the investigating officer, said: 'Over ten years, Turner selfishly and shamelessly took advantage of the vulnerable residents, taking possession and control of their bank cards making regular - and often daily - bank withdrawals to fund the lavish lifestyle she was leading.

'The decade of control she exercised over the victims is absolutely abhorrent and I hope that they feel some comfort in knowing she has been jailed.

'To abuse her position as a carer with people who trusted her implicitly is absolutely disgusting and I'm pleased that the jury returned guilty verdicts and she will now serve a basic lifestyle in prison.'A brave mother wielded a can of soup to fend off a man trying to steal her SUV with her two-year-old son inside on Tuesday.

The suspect and another man, 22-year-old Antonio Harper, were driving at speed in a stolen Mercedes-Benz convertible in Daytona Beach, Florida, when suddenly their vehicle collided head-on with a delivery truck.

Fleeing the wreckage, the currently unidentified driver leaped from the vehicle and attempted to carjack the near-by SUV, which was parked outside of a convenience store, in Holly Hill.

In the car was a woman, who declined to identify herself to the media, and her two-year-old son. The womans husband was inside the store buying cigarettes.

The crashed Mercedes then caught fire, prompting the husband to search for a fire extinguisher in the store, and the woman attempted to get out of the SUV - parked near the burning wreck - with her son.

The suspect and another man, Antonio Harper, were driving at speed in a stolen Mercedes-Benz convertible (shown) in Daytona Beach, Florida, when suddenly their vehicle collided with a truck

Attempting to carjack a near-by SUV with a mother and son inside, the suspect was fended off by the woman who wielded a can of Progresso Homestyle Soup (pictured) and struck him with it

The suspect then ran away from the scene on foot, leaving behind an unconscious Antonio Harper, who was stuck in the front seat of the original stolen car

As she opened the door, the suspect is said to have approached her and tried to drive off in her vehicle, with her two-year-old son still strapped in the back-seat.

Grabbing the closest thing she could find, the mother picked up a can of Progresso Homestyle Soup, struck the man with it, and urged him to get away from the car.

The woman used the can of soup to prevent the man driving off with her young son in the back-seat

The suspect then ran away from the scene on foot, leaving behind an unconscious Antonio Harper, who was stuck in the front seat of the stolen mercedes.

The driver is still on the run. We're working right now to identify him, the Holly Hill Police Chief Stephen Aldrich said in a statement. We do have some leads we're working.

According to the department, officers recovered several blood droplets within the vehicle which they believe belong to the suspect at large. His identity has not been released.

Meanwhile, Antonio was found to be armed with a concealed and stolen gun by attending officers.

While being handcuffed, he allegedly kept shouting at the officers urging them to let him go, according to the Daytona Beach News Journal.

Holly Hill Police Chief Stephen Aldrich (pictured) revealed blood droplets were recovered from the crashed Mercedes and they reportedly belong to the suspect

He was taken to hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries and later charged with grand theft auto of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, Aldrich added.

Harper had already been facing charged from an arrest in March, in which police said he was in possession of a .380 caliber pistol that had been stolen in New Smyrna Beach.

He remains in the Volusia County Branch Jail and is being held on a $7,500 bail bond.

The driver of the delivery truck was unharmed in the crash and decline treatment from attending paramedics.

The car in which the assailant and Harper had been driving was stolen from Dayton Beach Shores sometime on Monday.

In a police report, one officer said he spotted the car-thieves making an illegal U-turn in the middle of a busy high-way shortly before the crash, but didnt pursue the vehicle.He's a libertarian-leaning Republican. She's the popular House freshman of the liberal Democratic vanguard.

Yet in this time of polarized politics, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have found common ground on Syria.

She is among a dozen lawmakers signing on to a letter Paul has written supporting President Donald Trump's 'deliberate withdrawal' from the country's war.

Paul said on Wednesday the letter is a continuation of 'the bipartisan movement in Congress to snatch back power' from the executive branch on war authority.

The Kentucky senator is encouraging Trump to stick to his 'gut' as other Republicans push the president to continue U.S. involvement fighting Islamic State militants.

The House this week is considering legislation to halt U.S. involvement in the civil war in Yemen.

Unexpected: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of 12 lawmakers from both parties signing on to a letter praising Trump for pulling out of Syria

Troops out letter: Rand Paul organized the letter to Trump saying he was right to pull U.S. forces out of Syria. The president has not reacted to the praise from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Ocasio-Cortez's move came after Trump mocked her as little more than a 'young bartender' as he ridiculed her Green New Deal proposal on Tuesday night at a Republican fundraiser.

'The Green New Deal, done by a young bartender, 29 years old,' Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington DC.

'A young bartender, wonderful young woman,' he continued, referring the freshman Democrat's experience tending bar at Flats Fix, a taqueria in New York City's Union Square, while she campaigned for Congress.

'The Green New Deal. The first time I heard it I said, 'That's the craziest thing.'

'You have senators that are professionals that you guys know that have been there for a long time ... and they're standing behind her shaking.

'They're petrified of her,' he continued, without referring to Ocasio-Cortez by name.

Trump blindsided his own defense secretary, Jim Mattis, with his decision to for a 'rapid' withdrawal from Syria late last year. Mattis later quit.

The drawdown has since been revised to keep a presence of as many as 400 troops in the country, compared to the peak of as many as 3,000.This year's Grand National winner will celebrate with English bubbly instead of French Champagne for the first time in the horse race's 172-year history.

The winning jockey will enjoy a glass of Coates & Seely English sparkling wine after the brand secured a three-year deal with The Jockey Club who own the famous Aintree racecourse.

As well as being served in the owners and trainers enclosure, the sparkling wine will also be available to racegoers as they cheer on horses.

Racegoers are expected to down an estimated 300,000 pints and pop 8,000 bottles of fizz, all cooled down by a whopping 1,813,600 ice cubes.

This year's Grand National winner will celebrate with English sparkling wine instead of French Champagne for the first time in the horse race's 172-year history (pictured: Davy Russell, last year's winner)

Paul Fisher, Chief Executive of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: 'It's great to be working with Coates & Seely and we're really looking forward to a prosperous partnership over the next three years.

Coates & Seely (pictured: their English sparkling wine) secured a three-year deal with The Jockey Club who own the famous Aintree racecourse

'We look to support British producers on our menus and wine lists wherever we can and I'm sure our racegoers will be impressed with this sparkling wine.'

Demand for home-grown wines has soared in recent years, with last summer's heatwave leading to a record grape harvest and a vintage year for English and Welsh wine.

Last year the Denbies Chalk Valley Sparkling Brut NV, from Surrey, beat out French an Italian rivals in a taste test by the consumer group Which?

Ridgeview, which makes sparkling wine in East Sussex, was also named Winemaker of the Year in the International Wine & Spirit Competition for 2018.

It is expected that more than 150,000 people will visit the Aintree racetrack over the three days of the popular jump festival.

It's claimed the National's recent switch to ITV1 from Channel 4 will also see one in four Brits place a bet along with 600 million viewers worldwide, with a staggering 650million wagered.

Coates & Seeley wines will be served across 14 of the 15 racecourses The Jockey Club own.

Nicholas Coates and Christian Seely, co-founders of Coates & Seely, added: 'We are delighted to have been appointed an Official Partner by the Jockey Club, which is a major accolade for our young brand.

'There are many qualities that connect fine wine with racing  not least the endless pursuit of form and quality and a love of celebration  and we greatly look forward to developing our activities across this wonderful portfolio of racecourses.'Brian Couture, 40, is accused of faking a burglary to cover up the theft of more than $700 from his daughter's Girl Scout cookie sales after calling police to his home

An Oregon father is accused of faking a burglary to cover up the theft of more than $700 from his daughter's Girl Scout cookie sales after calling police to his home.

Brian Couture, 40, was found 'unresponsive' after claiming a thief had entered through a sliding glass door at the Forest Grove house, police say.

Couture is said to have told officers a struggle had taken place during the alleged incident last month and he is seen with a black eye in his mugshot.

But when the area was searched and no suspect was located police say Couture, who was taken to hospital, admitted to staging the attack.

Couture has pleaded not guilty to charges of initiating a false report and improper use of an emergency reporting system.

Forest Grove Police captain Michael Hall told KGW8 News: 'There's a distinct difference between being unconscious and being unresponsive.'

In a statement police said: 'Couture admitted to Forest Grove Police investigators that the alleged incident was staged.

'Investigators believe that Couture staged the incident in order to conceal the theft of money belonging to a non-profit organization, that was spent inappropriately.'

And a Girl Scouts spokeswoman confirmed Couture has a daughter in the organization and there is around $740 in missing cookie sales.

Couture has pleaded not guilty pleaded to charges of initiating a false report and improper use of an emergency reporting system after claiming a thief had entered through a sliding glass door at the Forest Grove house

Police carried out a search of the area but no suspect was located and Couture, who was taken to hospital, is said to have told officers he staged the attack

The alleged staged burglary sparked concern among local residents who said there was 'cops from all over, dogs, the forensic team, they had crime scene tape up everywhere'

A Girl Scouts spokeswoman told DailyMail.com: 'On Friday, March 15, 2019, Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington was notified that a family had experienced a theft at home, including the alleged theft of Girl Scout funds. At that time, we initiated our internal process to respond to such matters.

'Since the March 18 arrest in this case, we have been in contact with the Forest Grove Police Department and are working with them to resolve the matter.

'At this time, Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington is following our normal procedure to collect on funds owed. The stewardship of Girl Scout troop funds is a top priority for our organization, and that is our focus in this matter.'

One neighbor told KGW8 News the report of the burglary had sparked among local residents.

Brooke Gwin said: 'There were cops from all over, dogs, the forensic team, they had crime scene tape up everywhere. We put sticks in all of our doors and I started setting the alarm during the day because I was afraid to be home by myself during the day.'

'It's kind of really strange though, did he hit himself in the head. He went away in an ambulance.'

The Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington say they are following their normal procedure to collect on funds owed. Couture faced a judge last Friday, pictured

Police had said when filing the initial complaint: 'Upon arrival officers made entry into the residence and located one adult male resident, Brian Couture, age 40, who was not responsive. Couture was later transported to an area hospital and is currently listed in stable condition.'

Two weeks later they arrested him for the crimes of initiating a false report, a class A misdemeanor, and theft in the 2nd Degree, a class A misdemeanor.

DailyMail.com has contacted Forest Grove police for comment.Police probing a 'brutal attack' after a man in his 40s died on a west London high street have released an initial suspect without charge.

Emergency services responded to a 999 call said they found a man, believed in his mid-40s, with 'stab or slash' wounds nearby.

He was pronounced dead at the scene 30 minutes later despite efforts by ambulance crew.

Police arrested a man who was 'seen running from the scene' believed to be in possession of a machete knife on suspicion of murder.

The man was taken to a nearby north London police station for questioning, but was released without charge.

It has become apparent since that the man was not in possession of a knife, as suggested by witnesses at the scene.

Police cordoned off the scene at the corner of Northolt and Wargrave Road.

Forensic teams were seen collecting evidence outside a cash and carry shop on Northolt Road. It is not known where the stabbing occurred but the much of the road remains a crime scene

A man, believed to be in his mid-40s has died after being 'hacked to death' on a northwest London street this afternoon

Officers look at the rear of the cash and carry and a Ladbrokes where it is believed the stabbing may have taken place

Air ambulance services also attended the scene but were not needed.

A spokesperson for the Met Police confirmed news of the incident and said that Major Crime Command has been informed.

Harrow residents had been on high alert since the death of a local shopkeeper during a bungled robbery.

Pinner newsagent Ravi Katharkamar was stabbed in the chest on March 24 while opening his shop, and died 45 minutes later.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed the incident has taken place and said that Major Crime Command has been informed

Police maintain a perimeter around the scene following the incident on the busy Harrow high street

London ambulance services were first on the scene. An air ambulance was also called but the victim sadly died before it arrived

The London Ambulance Service said: 'We were called at 3.14pm today to reports of an incident on Northolt Road, South Harrow.

'We sent an ambulance crew, two single responders in cars and an incident response officer to the scene. We also dispatched London's Air Ambulance.

'Sadly, despite the efforts of medics, a person died at the scene.'

Local MP Gareth Thomas said: 'I am very concerned to hear reports of a recent fatal attack in South Harrow in my constituency.

'I am in contact with the Met Police and Harrow Council to understand who is responsible and why. My thoughts are with the victim and their family.'

One man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and is in police custody for questioning

Councillor for Roxeth Peymana Assad said: 'Im aware of incident that has taken place on Northolt Road, South Harrow highstreet.

'Hope the community can be reassured,we are talking to all,on steps ahead for the safety of our residents.'

Community leaders share their sympathies with the victim's family and ask for police to find the person responsible

Calvin Bungisa, 22, was knifed to death on Monday at 8.30pm by a gang of masked thugs in Kentish Town.

Witnesses said the victims mother came 'screaming' from her home nearby after the attack and friends gathered at the scene to light candles and pay tribute.

On Friday, father-of-three Gavin Garraway, 40, was ambushed while driving near Clapham Common station.

Pictured: Bungisa, who was stabbed to death in Kentish Town on Monday (left); and Gavin Garraway, who died in Clapham on Friday

Witnesses claim his attackers smashed his window using a pair of crutches before launching the vicious attack through the gap.

They were also caught on CCTV running off and laughing as they fled the scene, with horrified shoppers going to the victims aid.

Anyone with information is asked to contact officers at the North-West Command Unit via 101 quoting reference 4680/3Apr.Rapper Mally Mall has denied reports he was arrested by FBI agents as part of a human and exotic animal trafficking investigation today, claiming instead he was detained at his home and released after no evidence was found.

Authorities surrounded Mall's San Fernando Valley home located in the 4400 block of Grimes Place around 8am Wednesday morning and served him a search warrant.

According to TMZ, there were allegations in Nevada that the Love & Hip Hop Hollywood star was involved in an escort service.

Mall, whose real name is Jamal Rashid, is no stranger to having exotic animals. He is a well-known collector of animals and his house is home to pit bulls, snakes, turtles and other wild cats.

Mall's attorney, Steve Sadow, has called the allegations bogus, telling TMZ: 'If they had real evidence they would have arrested him. They don't have evidence. It's bogus. Period.'

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The California home (pictured) of rapper and producer Mally Mall was raided as part of a human and exotic animal trafficking investigation Wednesday morning

Mall is no stranger to having exotic animals. Authorities seized a cotton-top Tamarin monkey from his home (a crate is seen being lifted inside a truck). Following the raid, Mall was arrested

The LA County Department of Public Health launched an investigation against Mall after he brought his capuchin monkey inside the Ace of Diamonds strip club in 2016. It's unclear what type of monkey is seen above but its name is LiL G, which Mall gifted to rapper Swae Lee

Mall has at one time or another owned wolves as well and even gave Justin Bieber one of his monkeys and an ocelot.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health launched an investigation against him after he brought his capuchin monkey, Lil Bubs, inside the Ace of Diamonds strip club in November 2016.

In California, it is illegal to possess wild monkeys of any kind and keep them as pets. The club is located in West Hollywood, California.

In a January 2018 video that Mall shared on his Instagram, rapper Swae Lee is seen holding a monkey. '2018 is ALREADY LOOKING FABULOUS!!' the caption reads. It's believed that the monkey (pictured) in the video is the same Tamarin that was seized during Wednesday's raid

According to TMZ, Capt Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife said authorities seized a cotton-top Tamarin monkey from Mall's home.

Their department started an investigation nearly nine months ago.

One photo shows wildlife officials loading an animal crate into the back of a truck.

Cotton-top Tamarin's are illegal to own and they are among the most endangered primates in the world with between 300 to 1000 left in the wild.

In a January 2018 video that Mall shared on his Instagram, rapper Swae Lee is seen holding a monkey.

'2018 is ALREADY LOOKING FABULOUS!!' the caption reads. It's believed that the monkey in the video is the same Tamarin that was seized during Wednesday's raid.

Mall was arrested shortly after the Tamarin was seized.

Mall was arrested shortly after the Tamarin was seized from his home (pictured)

It's unclear how many animals in total were seized from the home, but photos show several small animal carriers outside of the home

An officer is seen toting an animal carrier to a nearby vehicle outside Mall's home

Authorities blocked off the road outside of Mall's home during the raid

In 2017, Mall gifted Swae Lee with his own monkey, but it's unclear what species it is.

It's unclear how many animals in total were seized from the home, but photos show several small animal carriers outside of the home.

The producer, who is known for his work with Snoop Dogg and Chris Brown, also owned a caracal back in 2016.

At the time, his three-year-old caracal, Nyla, was killed during a house fire that ripped through his $1.5million home in Nevada, according to TMZ.

A caracal is a 40-pound cat native to Africa.

In 2014, the same house that caught on fire was raided by the FBI as part of an ongoing federal investigation into Mall and possible human trafficking allegations.

Mall is a well-known collector of animals and his house is home to pit bulls, snakes, turtles and other wild cats (pictured is Mall's Serval, a wild cat native to Africa, named Isis)A thousand angry London Underground workers are set to go on strike in protest against cuts that they claim are dangerous.

Maintenance and engineering workers have voted to go on strike in protest against 'the hacking back of train preparation and inspection schedules'.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said its 1,000 members, based at depots across the network, had backed industrial action by 9-1.

It is unclear where and when the strike will take place, or what lines will be affected.

The union claimed reliability and safety was being damaged by the new plans.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said its 1,000 members have voted to go on strike because of London Underground cuts (file photo)

The vote came after RMT objected to the plans earlier this year.

The union said that it advised London Underground to consult and inform them about their plans to change train preparation schedules.

However, this consultation has not taking place and the RMT is now warning that the plans will lead to train failures, pressure on drivers and workers and an increased safety risk for passengers.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: 'The result of this ballot shows just how angry Tube staff are at proposals London Underground are attempting to bulldoze through that would decimate the inspection and safety culture on the fleet.

'They should pull back immediately rather than crash on regardless of the consequences of their actions.

'The overwhelming ballot result will now be considered by the union's executive. We remain available for genuine and serious talks.'

The result of the ballot will now be considered by the union's executives, who will decide the next steps the workers will take.

Peter McNaught, Director of Asset Operations for London Underground, said: 'I am disappointed that the RMT has voted to take action over plans to improve the way we maintain our trains.

'We will never compromise on the safety of our customers and staff and our proposed changes to train checks have been shared with the Office of Rail and Road, which is satisfied with our approach.

'We have resilience plans in place and are committed to providing a service for our customers where possible during any industrial action. We remain open for discussions on how to resolve this dispute.'

RMT workers on the Central Line went on strike between 8pm on Friday, December 21 and 8pm on Saturday December 22 last year, in a protest that affected thousands of Christmas shoppers.

The industrial action hit the capital on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

On that occasion, the RMT said the strike was over 'a failure to employ enough drivers, a wholesale abuse of agreed procedures and the victimisation of a trade union member'.British holidaymakers may face long airport queues in Greece as police bring in extra checks on British passports.

From April 7, Hellenic police will be completing additional checks on travellers going to and from areas outside the Schengen zone.

The Foreign Office has warned Brits to arrive at the airport 'in good time' - which is usually at least two hours before your flight is set to leave.

The travel advice on the Foreign Office website says: 'As of 7 April 2019, the Hellenic Police will begin implementing systematic passport control checks for all European citizens travelling to/from destinations outside the Schengen area (including the UK) in line with a 2017 Schengen Borders Code regulation.

British holidaymakers may face long airport queues in Greece after police bring in extra checks on travellers going to and from areas outside the Schengen zone. Pictured: Athens airport

'Increased waiting times at passport control are possible on departure from and arrival into Greece. You should ensure you arrive at the airport in good time.'

The EU directive should have been implemented in 2017 but Greece were given an extension because they were not ready for it.

More than 3 million trips to Greece are made by Brits every year.

The Schengen area, named after the agreement which was signed in Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985, covers 26 European countries.

The UK and Ireland opted out of joining the zone in 1997 when it became part of the EU charter.

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia and Romania are all set to joint the Schengen zone.The heartbroken boyfriend of Samantha Josephson, who was murdered after she got into a car she mistook as her Uber, has revealed he was tracking her location on his phone and knew something went wrong the night she was attacked.

The 21-year-old college senior was kidnapped and killed when she got into the wrong car early Friday morning, hit multiple times with a sharp object.

Her boyfriend Greg Corbishley shed tears as he addressed a crowd at a candlelight vigil in Robbinsville, New Jersey on Tuesday evening saying Samantha was the 'love of my life'.

'I was on the phone tracking her to make sure she got home safely and immediately knew there was something that was wrong,' he said according to WPVI.

'Unfortunately I was two and a half hours away. I'd do anything to go back,' he added.

Greg Corbishley, the boyfriend of murdered college student Samantha Josephson, paid tribute to her on Tuesday evening calling her the 'love of his life'. The 21-year-old was kidnapped and killed when she got into the wrong car, mistaking it for her Uber early Friday morning

Greg Corbishley revealed through tears at her vigil on Tuesday that he was tracking her location the night she was attacked and knew something went wrong

I was on the phone tracking her to make sure she got home safely and immediately knew there something wrong.- Greg, Samantha Josephsons boyfriend @6abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/ccR3TUR2yS  Christie Ileto (@Christie_Ileto) April 3, 2019

He went on to thank the friends and family that came to remember Samantha.

'I see why she loved you all you guys so much,' he said during the emotional vigil to the hundreds of people that packed beneath a lakeside gazebo Tuesday.

'I saw myself 10 years from now coming back to this place with her,' he added.

On Friday Samantha got into a car that she mistakenly thought was her Uber as she was trying to return home from a bar near her campus.

The driver of the black Chevy Impala had the child lock activated to prevent her from escaping the vehicle and attacked her, inflicting numerous wounds to her head, neck, face, upper body, leg and foot, using a sharp object.

Her body was found dumped in Clarendon County, about 65 miles from Columbia, South Carolina by turkey hunters.

Her suspected killer Nathaniel Rowland, 24, was charged with her murder and kidnapping.

On Wednesday a funeral for the beloved college student was held at Congregation Beth Chain in West Windsor, New Jersey, near her hometown of Robbinsville

Seth Josephson, a cousin, is pictured above reading out a statement outside the funeral on behalf of Samantha Josephson's family on Wednesday

Samantha Josephson's relatives and friends pictured above arriving to a funeral service for her on Wednesday in West Windsor, New Jersey

Family and friends gathered at the congregation to say their goodbyes and a burial is set to follow at Perrineville Cemetery

People pictured arriving for Samantha's funeral at Congregation Beth Chaim in New Jersey

A hearse carrying the remains of Samantha Josephson pictured above

'Samantha was by herself. She had absolutely no chance. None. The door was locked, the child safety locks were on,' her father said at a vigil on Sunday.

Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, was arrested for allegedly killing 21-year-old Samantha Josephson after she got into his car in Columbia at about 1.30am on Friday thinking it was her Uber ride

On Wednesday a funeral for the beloved college student was held at Congregation Beth Chain in West Windsor, New Jersey, near her hometown of Robbinsville.

Seth Josephson, a cousin, spoke on behalf of the family.

'The sadness that is being suffered will never end. It may wane in the future, but it will always leave a hole in the hearts of the fun-loving, generous, kind parents and sister today,' he said according to Patch.

'They don't know and can't contemplate how they can think of the future.

'Education and laws need to be put into place to protect people and the rideshare industry. With the millions of dollars it earns, the Ubers and Lyfts should be compelled to adjust their business model to better assure rider safety,' the statement continued.

On Sunday friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil in honor of Samantha's live at the University of South Carolina where she was a senior

Peers hugged each other and choked back tears as they remembered Samantha's life

Her sorority sisters Alpha Gamma Delta laugh as they discuss her memories on Sunday

HEART WRENCHING, raw emotion from Samantha Josephsons father at his daughters vigil in Robbinsville, NJ tonight @FOX29philly pic.twitter.com/KBs5xavWYV  jennifer joyce (@JenniJoyceTV) April 2, 2019

Family and friends gathered at the congregation to say their goodbyes and a burial is set to follow at Perrineville Cemetery.

In the wake of Josephson's death, a bill called the Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Safety Act has been introduced in the South Carolina Legislature to require Uber and Lyft drivers to have illuminated signs.

The bill also requires that an Uber or Lyft employee who stops working as a driver must return the light to the company, according to South Carolina State Rep. Seth Rose, a co-sponsor of the bill.

A GoFundMe page for Samantha's Memorial fund as raised $74,465 by Wednesday afternoon, far surpassing the goal of $5,000.Jordan Kinyera was six years old when his father lost his hand in a land dispute.

And after 18 years of education, law school and training he has won back their land in Uganda.

On Monday, the High Court ruled in favour of Mr Kinyera and his family - 23 years after their neighbours sued them.

Mr Kinyera told BBC witnessing the affects and frustrations his family went through as the trail continued inspired him to pursue a career as a lawyer.

Jordan Kinyera was six years old when his father lost his hand in a land dispute. And after 18 years of education, law school and training he has won back their land in Uganda. The High Court ruled in favour of Mr Kinyera and his family - 23 years after their neighbours sued them

He explained that his father, now 82, was retired and there was not a lot of financial resources available.

'He was desperate and there is something dehumanising about being in a desperate situation and not being able to do something about it. That is what inspired me the most,' he said.

Their case was dragged through the court system for over two decades - like many other such cases in the African nation.

Mr Kinyera told BBC witnessing the affects and frustrations his family went through as the trail continued inspired him to pursue a career as a lawyer

Land disputes are a widespread issue in Uganda for internally displaced people after they leave their home for camps and return home following civil wars.

Mr Kinyera said he represents a number of his clients are in similar cases, like his family.

'The issue is so widespread that an entire branch of the high court is just dedicated to land disputes,' he added.One women distracts owner as the others stuff the garments under their clothes

This is the moment a conniving gang of women dupe a salesman and steal clothes from under his nose.

CCTV footage shows the thieves walking into a small shop, distracting the owner and making off with hundreds of pounds in garments before the owner notices.

The daring theft happened in a shop in the Tripolia market of Jaipur, northern India.

Three women can seen walking into the small garments shop and begin the browse the items.

But after a few seconds it quickly becomes apparent that ladies have no intention of buying anything.

While one of them engages the salesmen by the front door, the other two take turns in slickly picking out clothes and tucking them inside their sari dresses.

The three women enter the small garment shop in Tripolia market of Jaipur, northern India

Two of them appear to browse the items on the shelves as the other woman distracts the salesman's attention away

At one moment however it looks like the store manager is on to them, ripping the clothes out of one woman's hands.

But the minute he turns his back she returns to the shelves and takes another handful, lifts up her leg and stows the items safely underneath her long gown.

The two thieves then walk out quietly while the third one finishes chatting to the salesman.

In a matter of seconds one of them manages to grab of bunch of clothes from the shelf and stuff them under her sari without the salesman noticing

The other women then does the same, as the salesman helps their accomplice with her browsing

She then decides to leave, and the salesman cleans up the few garments left on the floor, unaware of the theft.

It was only a few minutes after the women left without buying anything that the salesman clocked onto what had happened.

Police said Nitesh Lodha, a relative of the owner of the shop, had lodged a complaint about the theft.

The women allegedly stole clothes worth 220 (20,000 Rupees).

Police are currently looking for the thieves.

Saris are a women's garment that originates from India, and consists of a drape of material that can be as long as eight metres in length that is typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder.White House adviser Ivanka Trump is planning a trip to Africa to promote a global women's initiative she's leading.

President Donald Trump's daughter will visit Ethiopia and Ivory Coast over four days this month.

The White House said Wednesday that her schedule includes a women's economic empowerment summit in Ivory Coast as well as site visits and meetings with political leaders, executives and female entrepreneurs in both countries.

Accompanying her will be Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Off to Africa: Ivanka Trump will conduct a four-day tour to Ivory Coast and Ethiopia this month to push her 'women's empowerment' agenda, which is being funded by USAID

African tour: Melania Trump went to Africa for five days last October, visiting Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, and finally Egypt where she was photographed in front of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza

On parts of the trip, they will be joined David Bohigian, acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, as well as Kristalina Georgieva, interim president of the World Bank Group, which is hosting the summit.

OPIC provides loans, loan guarantees and political risk insurance, funding projects that stretch across continents and industries.

It will be Ivanka Trump's first visit to Africa since the White House undertook the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative in February.

In a statement to The Associated Press, she said she was 'excited to travel to Africa' to advance the effort.

Gerogieva said in a statement that economic empowerment 'can help unleash the enormous potential of women entrepreneurs for job creation and economic growth, especially in Africa.'

The initiative involves the State Department, the National Security Council and other U.S. agencies. It aims to coordinate current programs and develop new ones to assist women in job training, financial support, legal or regulatory reforms and other areas.

Ivanka Trump says the goal is to economically empower 50 million women in developing countries by 2025.

Safari time: Melania Trump went on a trip to the Nairobi National Park while in Kenya. Ivanka is not going to countries known for their safari sightseeing

Money for the effort will come through USAID, which initially set up a $50 million fund using dollars already budgeted.

The president's 2020 budget proposal requests $100 million for the initiative, which will also be supported by programs across the government as well as private investment.

The White House spending plan would cut overall funding for diplomacy and development.

Ivanka Trump has made women's economic empowerment a centerpiece of her White House portfolio.

She has made a number of international trips, with a focus on these issues, including to Japan and India.

Her travel to Africa follows a five-day tour that first lady Melania Trump made there last year, with a focus on child welfare.

Like the first lady, Ivanka Trump's efforts could be complicated by the president, who was criticized last year after his private comments about 's***hole countries' in Africa and other regions were leaked to journalists.CEOs from America's leading companies told the Trump administration Wednesday that a border shutdown 'would severely damage the operations of American businesses and hurt American workers' and the president should not count it as an option.

The heads of GM, JP Morgan Chase, Oracle, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Cisco, IBM, Marriott, AT&T, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Comcast and dozens of American businesses sent the administration a letter via the Business Roundtable outlining the economic risks of Trump proposed port of entry closure.

'Closing the border would back up thousands of trucks, impact billions of dollars of goods each day, cripple supply chains and stall U.S. manufacturing and business activity,' they said in a letter to the president's economic advisers and members of his Cabinet.

Trump said last week that he could close it all down within days if the illegal immigration does not come to an immediate halt. He claimed Tuesday that he 'ready to close' to do it and will if Congress doesn't change America's laws.

In a Wednesday tweet, he threatened a border closure again, and America's CEOs signaled they'd had enough.

Administration officials were working behind the scenes, in the meantime, to limit disruptions to the economy and local businesses, in case Trump acts on his threat during a Friday visit to Calexico, California, to see newly-constructed areas of his border wall.

Economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday morning that the administration was looking at keeping freight lanes open if Trump shuts down the rest of the border

Trump warned Congress again on Wednesday that he'll shutdown the border without immediate action

In this photo taken on April 2, 2019 cars line up to cross to San Diego, US from Tijuana, Mexico at San Ysidro crossing port in Baja California state, Mexico

Economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday morning that the administration was looking at keeping freight lanes open if Trump shuts down the rest of the border. He also stressed that the president hasn't made a decision to shut it down, yet.

'We're very integrated with the Mexican economy,' he acknowledged at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. 'We certainly looking at it, we're certainly exploring it. We will do the best that we can in the event that that becomes necessary.'

White House Director of Strategic Communication Mercedes Schlapp punted to the president's Council of Economic Advisers as she was cornered by reporters outside the building on Wednesday morning and questioned about a possible border closure's economic impacts.

'They're studying all options,' she said. 'They're looking ways to ensure that we're able to minimize any economic impact.'

She said the Department of Homeland Security is working on alternatives to a closure, but the border crisis is at a 'breaking point' and it's a priority of the president to fix it.

'We're looking at all options. I think what we've already started to see is Secretary Nielsen has ordered the redeployment of resources from the ports of entry to other points along the border where we're seeing the surge of illegal immigrants coming through the border. So that's where we are at this point,' she said.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has established an inter-agency task force that's being led by border patrol veteran Manny Padilla. She reportedly said on a call that the administration is treating the border emergency like a Category 5 storm.

'We know that this is a crisis. It's a humanitarian crisis. We want to be able to manage this as we've seen the system is overwhelmed, and it's at a breaking point,' Schlapp on Wednesday said.

A DHS spokesman did not respond to a request from DailyMail.com for comment.

Trump meanwhile claimed, again, that he'd shut it all down if he doesn't see action.

'Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the Border! If no action, Border, or large sections of Border, will close. This is a National Emergency!' he said.

Trump's acting chief of staff warned Sunday that the president isn't bluffing. Mick Mulvaney said it would take 'something dramatic' to change Trump's mind.

Since then, the president altered his border closure threat from a request for new action by Mexico to a demand for a congressional overhaul. Neither seemed particularly likely on Wednesday as warnings that that a border closure would damage national and local economies grew louder.

If the border were to totally shut down it would hamper tourism and trade on both sides of the border. Trucks delivering goods would be temporarily barred from traveling between the United States and Mexico.

'I don't think the car industry would be able to adjust to that very rapidly,' said the American Enterprise Institute's Stan Veuger.

While it is impossible to estimate the total economic cost of a border closure, experts anticipate weekly losses in the billions.

In 2017, the U.S. and Mexico did $615 billion in business with one another, according to the U.S. Trade Representative's office. That's roughly $1.7 billion a day.

Mexico is the United States' third largest trading partner after Canada and China.

Veuger said the United States' GDP would not immediately take a hit as a result of a total border closure, but after a couple of weeks, he said there are likely temporary layoffs in the automotive industry. The agricultural industry would also be effected because food products would expire and rot.

Construction companies who rely on day laborers and retailers on both sides of the border would also be hurt, he said.

'I think the baseline assumption should be that its government by hissyfit,' he said of the potential carveouts for workers and commercial deliveries that have been floated.

He said it would seem the Trump administration is trying to 'blackmail' legislators and Congress with a border closure will not solve the problems the president cited as reasons for taking unilateral action.

If the U.S. shuts down legal ports of entry, the economic expert said, 'People will just say, "Ok. Fine. Then we'll just cross illegally." '

That makes their journey more dangerous, he said, and it won't necessarially cut down on the number of people crossing the border with claims that they deserve asylum.

While the state of Texas would bear the brunt of a border closure, California, Arizona and New Mexico will also share in the pain.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday that he would be 'supportive of' the president if he shuts down the border but he would 'want it to be as short as possible'

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday that he would be 'supportive of' the president if he shuts down the border but he would 'want it to be as short as possible.'

'I don't see any reason why that would have to happen, when all Congress needs to do is act on something that I think everyone, Democrat and Republican, knows is a real issue,' he said.

Ducey said trade with Mexico is 'incredibly important but border security comes first,' and the economic impact of a closure would depend on the timing of such an action.

Trump complained Tuesday that the U.S. has the 'worst, dumbest immigration system in the world,' and he said he's lobbying congressional Democrats to change it.

Specifically, he wants them to end the 'catch and release' policy that allows illegal immigrants to roam freely in the U.S. while they wait for their cases to be adjudicated by immigration judges. That can take years, based on the backlog.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have proposed the hiring of more judges to reduce the wait period. But Trump has rejected their spending requests and argued on Tuesday, 'We have to get rid of judges.'

'If we don't make a deal with Congress, the border's going to be closed, 100 percent,' he insisted. 'Then we're going to close the border, that's going to be it.'

He immediately amended the statement to say that it could be large portions of the border and not every legal port of entry.

'Sure, it's gonna have a negative impact on the economy,' he told a reporter asking about the risks. 'But to me, trading is very important, the borders are very important ... but we're gonna he security in this county. That's more important than trade.'

The White House admitted earlier in the day that he had no 'specific timeline' for the border clamp down he said he'd authorize unless Mexico takes action to 'immediately stop ALL illegal immigration.' It appeared to be walking back the threat that would have significant repercussions on the economy.

Sarah Sanders admitted Monday that Trump has no 'specific timeline' for the border clamp down he said he'd authorize

Trump had said in a Friday tweet, that if his conditions were not met, 'I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week.'

'Well keep it closed for a long time. Im not playing games,' he told reporters later in the day. 'Mexico has to stop it.'

His spokeswoman admitted Tuesday, as she spoke to reporters outside the White House, that Trump doesn't actually have a day in mind to shut the border down, though.

'The president's not working on a specific timeline,' she said. 'He's working to look at all of the options on the table.'

Trump has been claiming since October of last year that he will close the border if illegal immigrants continue to enter the U.S. at record rates.

He said Friday, as he spoke to reporters during a dike tour in Florida, that he'd follow through, if Mexico didn't break up newly-formed caravans.

'So, Mexico is tough. They can stop them, but they chose not to. Now theyre going to stop them. And if they dont stop them, were closing the border. Theyll close it,' he said.

He said a border closure would hurt Mexico more than it would the United States.

'Mexico has a trade surplus with the United States, for many years, of $100 billion a year, at least,' Trump argued. 'Mexico has taken a big portion of our car business. Mexico is doing very well because of the United States. And, frankly, they have to stop the illegal immigration.'

It remains unclear what legal authority Trump has to close the border, in any case, and the White House was not able to answer the question on Tuesday.

'The Democrats are leaving us absolutely no choice at this point,' Sanders said instead. 'We've already had to move roughly 750 personnel from ports of entry.'

Trump has been claiming since October of last year that he will close the border if illegal immigrants continue to enter the U.S. at record rates

'Well keep it closed for a long time. Im not playing games,' he told reporters on Friday

Nearly half a million people, 465,000, come through legal ports of entry each day.

Sanders said that problems at the border are already creating long lines 'and eventually maybe that it's the best decision that we close the border' because border agents are spread too thin.

'This isn't our first choice,' she noted as she spoke to press after a television hit.

The president would prefer to sit down with Democrats and fix the problem, she insisted.

As far as the economy is concerned, she said, 'He certainly doesn't want to hurt that, but the the same time his number one job as president is to protect life, protect Americans.'

Asked about a date of closure, she admitted that Trump doesn't have one.

'We're hoping that Mexico will continue to step up like we've seen them them do over the last couple of weeks we hope that continues, and we can work with them so that we don't have to do that,' Sanders said.Passengers were taken off an easyJet flight headed for Malaga from Belfast after it was damaged in a collision with a pushback tug.

Photographs showed the jet's starboard engine suffered damage around the nascelle.

EasyJet sent a relief crew and spare aircraft to Belfast so passengers could continue their trip to the Costa del Sol.

Passengers on board easyJet flight EZY6755 were forced to disembark after the jet's engine nascelle was damaged after a collision with a push back tug

Two units of Belfast International Airport's fire service rushed to the aircraft which was preparing to begin its taxi to the runway

EasyJet said the passengers were being sent to Malaga on a replacement aircraft

A spokesperson for the airline told MailOnline: 'easyJet can confirm that flight EZY6755 from Belfast to Malaga has been delayed as a result of damage sustained from a pushback tug.

'All passengers disembarked normally. They have been provided with refreshment vouchers and support from our ground staff in Belfast Airport.

'A replacement crew is operating the flight to Malaga on a replacement aircraft."

'We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.

'The safety of our passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority and we have launched an urgent investigation with our ground handling provider at Belfast Airport.'A top Barclays banker has been charged with the murder his dressage fan wife who was found with fatal injuries at the remote stables near their Cheshire home.

Ann Marie Pomphret, 49, was found with serious head injuries at the stables near Warrington on the evening of Friday November 2 last year and died at the scene.

David Pomphret, 50, who is listed as an associate vice-president at Barclays on his online CV, has been charged with her murder, a Cheshire Police spokesman said.

Pomphret, of Masefield Drive in Winwick, was arrested by police as part of their inquiries at the time of her murder and later released on conditional bail.

David Pomphret (left), 50, has been charged with the murder of his wife Ann Marie Pomphret after she was found with fatal head injuries at a remote stables in Warrington, Cheshire, in November

The couple, who live in a 500,000 home (pictured) in the village of Winwick, Cheshire, were married for 21 years

A police spokeswoman said he was due to appear before Chester magistrates on Thursday after being charged and remanded in custody on Wednesday afternoon.

Mrs Pomphret was discovered shortly after 10.05pm when police were called to stables in Old Alder Lane in Burtonwood following reports of concern.

The couple, who live in a 500,000 home in the village of Winwick, Cheshire, were married for 21 years and have at least one daughter, Megan, 17.

In a tribute, her family said: 'Marie was a beloved daughter, wife and mother. She loved nothing more than spending time with her family out in nature, looking after their horses.

'We are devastated that she has been taken from us so young and in such a senseless way.'

Mrs Pomphret was discovered shortly after 10.05pm when police were called to stables in Old Alder Lane in Burtonwood following reports of concern. Pictured: their home

Debbie King, owner of Somerford Park Farm, an equestrian centre in Congleton, Cheshire, said: 'Marie did so much for dressage. She was incredibly knowledgeable about the rules, scoring, judging, everything to do with it'

It is understood Mrs Pomphret was an expert in quadrille  a dressage discipline where a minimum four horses perform to music  and regularly helped out at the Bolesworth International Horse Festival, a prestigious annual event near Chester.

She and Megan, who took part in competitions and is described as a talented young rider, were both keen horsewomen and well known in the dressage community.

Friends and colleagues praised her contribution to the sport at the time of her death.

Debbie King, owner of Somerford Park Farm, an equestrian centre in Congleton, Cheshire, said: 'Marie did so much for dressage.

'She was incredibly knowledgeable about the rules, scoring, judging, everything to do with it.

'She endlessly volunteered to help out at events  she gave so much of her time. She was an amazing, selfless person.

'Megan was a talented dressage rider, but the sport was Marie's life as well. They had a lovely relationship.'Advertisement

MPs were warned they may have made an 'accidental No Deal' more likely after they demanded a further Brexit delay last night.

The Commons hurried through a bill, which passed by just one vote, forcing the Prime Minister to seek an extension if she cannot agree a deal with Jeremy Corbyn.

The backbench bill was meant to prevent a No Deal Brexit on April 12, but Brexit minister Robin Walker warned it could have the opposite effect.

Last night's vote means that if the PM fails to make a deal with the Labour leader she will have to ask the EU for more time - which then has to be agreed by MPs with a vote.

The PM would be expected to get an extension with the EU at a European Council meeting on April 10 and MPs would vote to support it the following day.

However, Mr Walker warned that this would not leave enough time time to complete the necessary paperwork before the UK is scheduled to leave the EU on April 12.

Brexit minister Robin Walker (pictured) warned MPs they might have made an 'accidental No Deal' more likely with the bill they hurried through the Commons last night

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Walker said he feared an accidental No Deal on April 12 if there was not enough time to complete these extra steps.

The Brexit minister said there is a 'real risk created by this bill that we could be timed out'.

He said the Bill 'actually increases the likelihood of an accidental No Deal - an outcome which this House has repeatedly voted against'.

He said: 'For example, on April 10, the EU could propose an extension of an alternative length.

'Under this Bill the PM must then return to this House to put forward that proposal.

'But by April 11, by the time this House has had time to consider that, the Council would be over.

'We would need to confirm UK agreement to the EU proposal and get an EU council decision before 11pm on April 12.

'I struggle to see how we could carry out such a negotiation through correspondence in 24 hours before we leave.'

Theresa May (pictured in the Commons yesterday) will be forced to seek a further delay to Brexit if she cannot agree a deal with Jeremy Corbyn

Mr Walker's intervention came during an historic and dramatic day in the Commons where a series of knife-edge votes saw the backbench bill pass resulting in Mrs May being cornered by MPs and forced to seek an extension rather than risk No Deal.

The first vote was at 7.20pm when the Commons backed the bill by five votes, 315 to 310.

MPs then rejected a series of amendments and took a final vote shortly before 11.30pm when they passed the bill by 313 to 312.

Today it will be rubber-stamped in the House of Lords after it was hurried through the Commons in what the bill's opponents called a 'constitutional outrage'.

Legislation usually takes weeks or months to pass through Parliament but MPs last night tore up the rules to rush it through.

It is also unusual for a bill to pass through the Commons if the Government does not support it.

The bill, proposed by Conservative MP Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour's Yvette Cooper, was intended to make the prospect of a No Deal Brexit much less likely.

The bill forcing the PM to postpone Brexit to prevent No Deal was championed by Labour MP Yvette Cooper (left) and Conservative Oliver Letwin (right), both pictured last night

The attempt to wrestle control of Brexit by the cross-party Remainers sparked fury among Brexiteers.

CARNEY HITS OUT AT 'NO-DEAL OK' CLAIMS Mark Carney has rubbished claims that Britain could have a managed No Deal Brexit where there were no trade barriers with the EU. The Bank of England Governor dismissed as absolute nonsense assurances by Hard Brexiteers that disruption could be avoided if we leave without an agreement. And he warned the danger of No Deal happening by accident is now alarmingly high. The comments will be seen as a veiled attack on his predecessor Lord Mervyn King, who last week said No Deal was his preferred option. Asked about claims the UK could leave without a deal but still avoid tariffs on EU trade, Mr Carney said: Forget the fiction. Absolute nonsense. It needs to be called out. Asked about the risk of No Deal, he said: Back in August, it felt uncomfortably high. Its alarmingly high now. Advertisement

European Research Group Tory Mark Francois said it was a 'constitutional outrage' that the law had passed the Commons in little more than four hours.

And Eurosceptic Bill Cash said it amounted to 'supplication to the EU' - begging - which he said would be a 'profound humiliation for the British people'.

The closeness of the vote suggests that many MPs are uneasy at the backbench attempt to force the Prime Minister's hand, or see it now as slightly less powerful given events elsewhere.

Jeremy Corbyn had demanded 'a customs union with the EU' in his face-to-face Brexit showdown with Theresa May, as Tory anger over the meeting threatened to explode into civil war.

The hard-Left Labour leader pronounced his first Brexit discussions with Mrs May 'useful but inconclusive', and complained that there 'hasn't been as much change as I expected'.

He confirmed he raised the idea of a second referendum and said technical talks on finding an end to the Brexit impasse would continue on Thursday morning.

As well as a customs union Mr Corbyn said he and Mrs May had discussed 'dynamic regulatory alignment' with the trade block that would see Britain retain minimum standards on 'the environment as well as consumer and employment rights'.

The opposition leader said he also raised the issue of a confirmatory public vote on any Brexit deal with Mrs May.

Speaker John Bercow (pictured in the chair) last night broke the first tied vote since 1993 to rule against holding a third round of Brexit alternative votes

The second reading vote was passed by just five votes last night, 315 to 310

The group behind the Bill, which also includes former Tory chairwoman Dame Caroline Spelman, Commons Brexit Committee chair Hilary Benn, former attorney general Dominic Grieve and Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb, hopes it will be approved by the Lords today and granted Royal Assent in time for the EU summit.

Ms Cooper, speaking at second reading, said her Bill was still needed because although the PM has signalled she wants to extend Article 50 'there is no clear process of how those decisions will be taken', adding her Bill 'adds some clarity'.

But Tory Sir Bill Cash, chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, said the Bill would amount to 'supplication to the EU'.

He added: 'As I and others have made clear over the years, it will be decided by Germany, in the council of ministers, and the European Council.

'I say this is a German Europe, it is run by Germany and that is the bottom line, and that will happen in relation to this decision as well.'

Veteran Brexiteer Mr Cash complained the idea was 'unconstitutional' yesterday and urged the Commons Speaker to block it.

But John Bercow told him pushing through laws in a single day was 'not particularly unusual' in itself, pointing out the Government does so in an emergency.

Shadow Brexit minister Paul Blomfield offered Labour's support for the bill while Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay outlined the Government's opposition, saying: 'It's constitutionally irregular.'

John Bercow had earlier broken a tie to rule against holding a third round of indicative votes on Brexit on Monday.

MPs were tied for the first time in decades after they voted 310-310 on the proposal.

Labour's Hilary Benn had tried to amend the rules of the House to stage more votes on alternatives to Mrs May's Brexit deal - in defiance of Tory rebel Oliver Letwin, who has masterminded the way backbench MPs seized control from the Government.

Mr Bercow said he had to use his casting vote - for the first time in his nine years as Speaker - against the move.

The Speaker's decision is helpful to the Government which may need Monday's time in the Commons to debate and vote on a new Brexit plan.

Explaining why he broke the tie against the amendment, Mr Bercow said: 'The rationale .. for the exercising of the casting vote is .. that it is not for the chair to create a majority that doesn't otherwise exist.'

It was the first time since 1993 that a Speaker has broken a tie in the Commons. On that occasion, the result was later changed after a recount.

The last successful tie breaker was cast in 1980 on a vote on whether to allow TV cameras into the Commons for the first time.

Another vote on whether yesterday's rebel control of the Commons could go ahead was won by 312 votes to 311.

Commons Speaker John Bercow (pictured) broke a tie to rule against holding a third round of Brexit alternative votes on Monday night

Veteran Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash complained the idea was 'unconstitutional' and urged the Commons Speaker to block it

Of last night's legislation, the Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom said: 'The Government regrets the position that Parliament is in today.

'Not only does it challenge again our constitutional conventions, but it offers Parliament hardly any time to consider, let alone to debate, the legislation before us.

'The people of the UK rightly expect our democracy to be upheld at all times and for our democratic institutions to take their responsibilities seriously.

'The Prime Minister also set out the Government's next steps to leave the EU in a way which can command support from a majority of parliamentarians, in that context, I question why the legislation before the House today is necessary.'

She added: 'The Government has consistently said that we do not support the unprecedented removal of Government control of the order paper, no matter the circumstances.'

JACK DOYLE: So what DOES Labour want from Theresa in return for their backing on Brexit? Customs Union Until now, Theresa May has said the UK will leave the European Union's customs union. The customs union eliminates duties  or tariffs  between member states, while EU countries impose a common external tariff on imports from non-members. But the customs union also allows the EU to strike trade deals on behalf of all its members. The Prime Minister made leaving the customs union a 'red line' in her negotiations due to her desire to strike independent trade deals with other countries  such as the USA. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, pictured with his shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, left and shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, right, discussed strategy ahead of the his meeting with the PM yesterday eremy Corbyn wants a permanent customs union. He says it will help protect existing trade between the UK and EU, in particular that of manufactured goods which relies on complex supply chains  links which can break down if goods are delayed at the border Remaining in the union would stop this because the UK would be barred from reducing its tariffs on imported goods from other countries. They could only strike deals in the services sector  however this does make up a vast part of the modern UK economy. Jeremy Corbyn wants a permanent customs union. He says it will help protect existing trade between the UK and EU, in particular that of manufactured goods which relies on complex supply chains  links which can break down if goods are delayed at the border. Labour also says that remaining in the customs union will help keep trade flowing freely between Northern Ireland and the Republic without the need for the so-called 'backstop'. Mr Corbyn claims his proposal does include the UK having a say on future trade deals negotiated by the EU and affecting the UK. But this is something Brussels has apparently ruled out. Despite all this, senior Tory ministers were out in force yesterday preparing the ground for a customs union compromise. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox argued that the customs union might be needed to get out  claiming the UK could leave at a later point and a customs union would not be a 'permanent straitjacket'. Employment rights Under Mrs May's deal, the UK agrees not to row back on existing EU rules on workers' rights  such as the Working Time Directive which limits working hours  after we leave. But Mr Corbyn wants to go further and is demanding 'dynamic alignment'  meaning any future government would agree to accept any employment laws and trade union rules passed by the EU in future, regardless of Parliament's wishes. So what if the EU agreed to a four-day working week, or passed other regulations which would erode competitiveness? Mrs May claims to be a champion of workers' rights, so this is an area she could argue is consistent with her approach, even if it limits the UK's ability to set its own course in future because we are tied to Brussels diktats. Free movement In theory, the parties are not far apart on free movement  one of the central issues of the referendum campaign. Vast numbers of Labour voters backed Leave because they oppose uncontrolled immigration. This was reflected in Labour's manifesto which said free movement will end after we leave. For Mrs May, ending free movement is her reddest of red lines. But Labour policy on what migration policy should replace free movement is significantly more liberal than Tory policy. In particular, the Opposition is against the proposed 30,000 minimum earnings requirement for post-Brexit working visas. Could Mr Corbyn demand this is scrapped and a lower earnings threshold imposed? For Mrs May, ending free movement is her reddest of red lines. But Labour policy on what migration policy should replace free movement is significantly more liberal than Tory policy Second referendum PUBLICLY, Downing Street officials have not ruled out agreeing to a second referendum. Yet if anything is a deal breaker, it is a demand for another Brexit vote. The whole point of the talks with Mr Corbyn  and the reward for Mrs May enduring civil war in the Tory Party  is that Brexit goes through in short order with Labour backing. But a second referendum, with Remain on the ballot paper, would require a Brexit delay of at least a year and the UK taking part in MEP elections next month  both currently unacceptable to Mrs May. On Mr Corbyn's side, the second referendum is the issue which divides his Shadow Cabinet, MPs, activists and voters like no other. Agree to a deal without one and the Remainers in his party will be livid. If he wants to deliberately crash the talks, this is what Mr Corbyn demand Advertisement

No joy after two-hour May-Corbyn Brexit talks: Leaders remain divided as Labour chief demands customs union and a possible second referendum - but Attorney General says any soft divorce could be hardened up later

By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter and Tim Sculthorpe, Deputy Political Editor and David Wilcock, Whitehall Correspondent for MailOnline

Jeremy Corbyn demanded 'a customs union with the EU' in his face-to-face Brexit showdown with Theresa May, he revealed last night as Tory anger over the meeting threatened to explode into civil war.

The hard-Left Labour leader pronounced his first Brexit discussions with Mrs May 'useful but inconclusive', and complained that there 'hasn't been as much change as I expected'.

He confirmed he raised the idea of a second referendum and said technical talks on finding an end to the Brexit impasse would continue this morning.

But just minutes later, amid simmering Tory tensions over the meeting, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox sought to placate angry MPs by suggesting a soft withdrawal might not be the end of the world, because we could later quit any customs union arrangement.

Mr Cox told the BBC: 'If we decided, in some considerable years time, that we wanted to review our membership of any such customs union if we signed it - and I'm not saying we will - that's a matter for negotiation and discussion.

'There's nothing to stop us removing ourselves from that arrangement, so we can't look at these things as permanent straitjackets upon this country.'

Theresa May leaving the Houses of Parliament tonight after meeting Leader Jeremy Corbyn for talks which sparked uproar among Tory MPs and pushed two ministers into resigning

As well as a customs union Mr Corbyn said he and Mrs May had discussed 'dynamic regulatory alignment' with the trade block that would see Britain retain minimum standards on 'the environment as well as consumer and employment rights'.

The opposition leader said he raised the issue of a confirmatory public vote on any Brexit deal with Mrs May.

'I said this is the policy of our party, that we would want to pursue the option of a public vote to prevent crashing out or to prevent leaving with a bad deal,' he said.

A cross-party manoeuvre hatched by Tory Sir Oliver Letwin and Labours Yvette Cooper to force a new law through the Commons in a day look set to succeed after a 315-310 decision to allow it to proceed (pictured)

'There was no agreement reached on that, we just put it there as one of the issues that the Labour Party conference voted on last year.'

Ex-Tory Boles hits out at May's 'hard Brexiter' comms chief Gibb Nick Boles (left) laid into Mrs May's director of communications Robbie Gibb (right) in a Twitter outburst tonight, two days after the Grantham MP dramatically quit the Tories over Brexit Ex-Tory MP Nick Boles tonight blasted Theresa Mays comms chief Robbie Gibb, claiming the ex-BBC journalist was a hard Brexiter who wanted her search for a cross party compromise to fail. The Grantham MP, who resigned the Conservative whip on Monday night over Brexit, said the Prime Minister should tell Mr Gibb, her director of communications, to get back in his box - or go back to the BBC. His Twitter outburst came after Mrs May had met Labours Jeremy Corbyn for constructive talks on a soft Brexit compromise. Mr Boles, who dramatically announced he was quitting the Tories in the Commons after the party helped block his soft Brexit plan, which included a customs union, wrote: I am no longer a member of the Conservative Party. So I can be blunt where previously I might have been discreet. The PMs head of communications Robbie Gibb is a hard Brexiter who wants to destroy the PMs new search for a cross party compromise. The media should be honest about the briefings they receive from that quarter. And the Prime Minister would do well to tell Mr Gibb to get back in his box - or go back to the BBC. Advertisement

The meeting came late on a day which saw two two Tory ministers resign in disgust, with MPs demanding a new secret ballot on Theresa May's leadership today after she chose to hatch a Brexit deal with Jeremy Corbyn rather than leave the EU with No Deal on April 12.

The Prime Minister has enraged her party by abandoning hopes of persuading hardline Brexiteers and the DUP to back her deal and instead offering talks with the Labour leader on delivering a softer Brexit.

Mrs May and Mr Corbyn were locked in talks for around two hours amid fevered speculation they could agree on a customs union plan that would end hopes of post-Brexit trade deals.

Both Labour and Downing Street said the meeting was 'constructive'. Aides will meet further later before intensive negotiations today.

The talks also put Mr Corbyn on collision course with his shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry, who earlier demanded that any deal reached must be put to a public vote.

She wrote to MPs ahead of a meeting of Mr Corbyn's front benchers tonight, saying: '(I'm) assuming one of the main topics of discussion will be whether to insist that any planned compromise deal we agree to support will be subject to a confirmatory public vote, with 'Remain' as the other alternative.

'What I would have said is that if we look like reaching any other decision than a confirmatory vote, that would be in breach of the decision made unanimously by conference in Liverpool (last September) and overwhelmingly supported by our members, and it needs to be put to a vote by the shadow cabinet.'

Since the meeting was called dozens of irate grassroots Tory members have been cutting up their memberships in protest and posting pictures of their destroyed cards on social media.

Today Mrs May was bombarded with hostile questions from her own side at Prime Minister's Questions and as she met with the Labour leader this afternoon junior Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris, who was tasked with planning for No Deal, resigned.

The Daventry MP said: 'You don't want to quit the EU without a deal, and that makes my job irrelevant'.

Last night Mrs May said he had done 'crucial work' to prepare the country for No Deal and thanked Mr Heaton-Harris for his service.

Earlier yesterday Nigel Adams, the junior Wales Office minister, became the first to quit over the concessions to Mr Corbyn and told Mrs May: 'It now seems that you have decided a deal - cooked up by a Marxist who has never put British interests first - is better than No Deal'.Presidential contender Beto O'Rourke raised $9.4 million in the 18 days he's been in the running for the Democratic nomination, his campaign announced on Wednesday.

O'Rourke brought in 218,000 contributions with teachers being the top contributor, at an average of $520,000 per day.

The former congressman brought in an astounding $6.1 million during his first 24 hours in the race, which means he raised about half his total number in the 17 days following.

Beto O'Rourke raised $9.4 million in the 18 days he's been in the running for the Democratic nomination

O'Rourke has raised an average of $520,000 per day

O'Rourke's team argued he is the ' highest per-day raising candidate in the Democratic primary'

O'Rourke's team argued he is the 'highest per-day raising candidate in the Democratic primary.'

'In just 18 days, people in every state and from every walk of life have organized in homes, contributed a few bucks online and united together to show that the power of people is far greater than the PACs, corporations and special interest that have captured, corrupted and corroded our democracy for far too long,' O'Rourke said in a statement.

'Not only is this a sign of our grassroots strength during the first two weeks of our campaign but it is a sign of what's possible when you put your full trust in the people of this country,' the Texas Democrat added.

DEM HOPEFULS' CASH SO FAR IN 2019 Bernie Sanders: $18.2 million Kamala Harris: $12 million Beto O'Rourke: $9.4 million Pete Buttigieg: $7 million Elizabeth Warren: $6 million Amy Klobuchar: $5.2 million Cory Booker: $5 million Kirsten Gillibrand: $3 million Jay Inslee: $2.25 million John Hickenlooper: $2 million Tulsi Gabbard: $1.9 million Andrew Yang: $1.7 million Marianne Williamson: $1.5 million Julian Castor: $1.1 million John Delaney: $345,000 Wayne Messam $84,000 From January 1 to March 31 Advertisement

The campaign noted 99 percent of O'Rourke's fundraising came online as he traveled 2,366 miles to visit nine states and hold 59 events in the days following his announcement.

The first quarter numbers - an important marker for a candidate's strength among supporters and in their own campaign organizational abilities - have been trickling in for the Democratic contenders.

Bernie Sanders topped the list with his $18.2 million, followed by Kamala Harris at $18 million, Pete Buttigieg at $7 million and Andrew Yang at $1.7 million.

Looking at how much each candidate raised in the first quarter divided by how long they've been in the race found that Sanders averaged $444,000 a day; Harris $171,000 a day; and Buttigieg $103,000 a day.

Not all the Democratic presidential contenders have released their first quarter numbers.

O'Rourke also announced on Wednesday he would sign into law Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's legislation to create a commission to conduct a study on slavery reparations.

'Yes,' he told attendees at Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network conference in New York. 'Absolutely, I would sign that into law.'

O'Rourke recounted a conversation with Bryan Stevenson, the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and said that 'foundational to reparations is the word repair, foundational to repair is the truth.'

He had previously hinted he would not support reparations.

'I don't believe ... that [reparations] should be the primary or initial focus of the conversation,' he said campaigning in New Hampshire last month.

Reparations has become a hot topic in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro has been pushing for them and has critizied Bernie Sanders for not supporting it.

Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren all support reparations in some form.

O'Rourke said he would sign into law Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's (above center) legislation to create a commission to conduct a study on slavery reparations

O'Rourke also made his first comments on the allegations against Joe Biden and said it was the former vice president's decision whether to enter the 2020 race

Sharpton remains one of the most prominent African American activists in the Democratic Party and several of the contenders at speaking at his conference this week in New York.

After his talk to activists, O'Rourke was asked about the allegations of inappropriate touching against former Vice President Joe Biden.

He said Biden's accuser, former Nevada politician Lucy Flores, needs to be listened to and that it's ultimately the decision of the former vice president's on whether or not to enter the 2020 race.

'Ultimately, of course this is a decision for him to make. And then beyond that it's going to be a decision, if he's in the race, for the voters in the primary states and caucus states of this country to decide,' O'Rourke told SiriusXM host Mark Thompson.

'I think at the same time that we're concerned about his decision making process, we need to make sure that we're concerned about Lucy Flores and her ability to tell her story, and the point that she's trying to make, and the consideration that she wants everyone to take into account. So, I think all of that has to be part of the discussion,' he added.The Duke of Sussex has said that social media is 'more addictive than drugs and alcohol' during a roundtable discussion on young people's mental health - as his and his wife Meghan's new Instagram account hit three million followers.

Harry visited the YMCA in South Ealing, west London, on Wednesday, to discuss and meet with representatives from charities including Stonewall and Young Minds.

The roundtable event was convened by Heads Together, a mental health initiative headed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The Prince's words come as his new social media account, Sussex Royal, broke the world record for getting one million followers the quickest on Instagram.

Prince Harry was speaking at a YMCA event in west London today, where he discussed mental health on a panel

The profile, described by an expert as 'highly stylised', racked up a staggering 150,000 followers in the 30 minutes after it was unveiled on Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday evening had accumulated three million followers.

The Duke has come under fire for the timing of his words criticising social media.

One person commented: 'Is that not hypocritical? I thought the Royals weren't allowed to have social media accounts?'

Another said: 'You honestly could not make that up.'

A third wrote: 'Isn't that rather ironic? New Instagram account whilst warning of addictive quality of social media?'

At the roundtable discussion, the Duke said: 'Social media is more addictive than drugs and alcohol. Yes it is more dangerous because it is normalised and there are no restrictions. So we are in a really mind-altering time.

'But we are in an exciting time because everybody in this room has an opportunity to actually make a real difference so that young people coming through are less connected to their phones.

'They can be as connected as they want to be but they have to have a human connection as well. Without that human connection when you do have a problem you have nowhere to go and the only place you might go is online and you [are] probably getting bullied.

The roundtable event was convened by Heads Together, a mental health initiative headed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

'Every single one of us has mental health. There is good mental health and there is bad mental health and just because you suffer or might not suffer from mental illness, your bad mental health is affecting everyone around you.

'The younger generation feel so much more positive about this. There is no point in saying ''I'm fine, I feel fine''. Everyone in this room is susceptible to mental illness.'

Much of the discussion at the event centered on how, for many young people, mental health issues can lead to alcohol and drugs abuse as they try to cope with pressure.

The Duke of Sussex looked engaged as he spoke to the Youth Ambassadors Mental Health Champions during the visit to YMCA South Ealing

The discussion included representatives from YoungMinds, The Mix, Safe Lives, and Mermaids, which supports transgender children and young people.

Harry spoke at length about the need to hear more 'success stories' from young people who have overcome their mental health issues - explaining that many of the young people he had met, who had been in 'really, really dark places' had come out the other side to 'live a normal life' and were keen to talk about their experiences.

'Now you as charities, I don't believe, necessarily put those young people forward. Those are the icons, the people that young people need to see and hear. The media here need to be better at telling the success stories.

'There is too much negativity surrounding mental health. No wonder it so hard for young people to actually talk about it. '

Harry was visiting the YMCA as part of his ongoing work to promote greater openness around mental health.

YMCA South Ealing, one of the largest in Europe, primarily provides supported housing for 150 young people who are dealing with issues such as homelessness, mental illness, substance misuse or domestic violence.

He began his visit by meeting with a group of residents in a kitchen area.

'What's this place like - be honest!' he asked them.

'It has its ups and downs,' admitted Jade Messam-Goodenough, who was expelled from school at the age of 15 for low attendance and was later diagnosed with psychosis and anxiety but has managed to come through with the help of a YMCA support worker.

Prince Harry couldn't keep the smile from his face as he took part in a children's ballet class at a YMCA in west London today. Pictured, the royal shows off his balancing skills

The prince commented: 'It must be comforting to know that you are not alone, that you are one of the more not the few [when it comes to mental health]. That must be comforting?'

Later he went for an informal chat with some of YMCA's 'mental health champions'.

He spoke at length to Charlie Smith, from Norfolk, a senior youth engagement worker for the Mind Matters project and a YMCA Youth Ambassador.

Harry quizzed her about how important it was to have 'peer to peer' mentoring as opposed to help from teachers.

'It must be easier for kids in some situations to go and speak to someone relatable to them instead of going to a teacher or a therapist,' he commented.

'We just need to normalise the conversation, to make it so normal [to talk about mental health] that it becomes part of every day life.

'As we all know stage 1 is talking about it and that can be a cure in itself.

'The shame we feel.... we are chipping away [at it] but the shame associated with mental illness is terrible.'A church in Maryland has eradicated the medical debts of more than 900 families across 14 different counties, in a no-strings-attached act of incredible kindness worth almost $2 million.

Revolution Annapolis, a 170-member nondenominational church, sent anonymous letters out to the lucky families on Monday to tell them their medical bills  both big and small  had been wiped clean.

The church covered costs as little as $200, all the way up to $100,000 as part of the incredible scheme.

To fund the project, Revolution raised $15,000 in December thanks to a fundraising drive, and later partnered with the non-profit, RIP Medical Debt, to help pay $1,893,288.73 worth of medical bills in central and eastern Maryland.

Revolution Annapolis, a 170-member nondenominational church, helped pay $1,893,288.73 worth of medical bills in central and eastern Maryland

Pastor Kenny Camacho (pictured with family) said the scheme has absolutely no-strings-attached and he hopes his church can set an example of hope and kindness for all - whether religious or not

The generous gesture took advantage of how debt collection companies operate.

It is possible for companies - like RIP Medical Debt - to purchase the rights to collect vast amounts of people's medical debt - often for less than a cent per dollar.

In this case, the $15,000 raised by Revolution was able to purchase $1,893,288.73 worth of medical debt, which they then forgave - meaning the lucky patients no longer needed to pay it off.

The churchs lead pastor, Kenny Camacho, in a statement: Forgiving medical debt is not part of a strategy to get people to attend or give to local churches.

We know that there are strings attached to almost everything we do these days: everything you buy, everything you search for online, becomes part of the next advertisement you see.

Revolution wants to resist the idea that the church is just another business: the church should exist so that people can have hope, period.

Camacho added that the congregation were inspired by a segment of John Olivers HBO show Last Week Tonight, which exposed how easy it was to buy and sell large amounts of medical debt for comparatively small amounts of money.

The host's show purchased $14.9 million of medical debt for $60,000, before forgiving the debts, helping 9,000 families.

Revolution also heard the story of Covenant Church in Texas, who used $100,000 to wipe out $10,000,000 of medical debt, helping 4,200 families.

Revolutions initial goal was the clear the debts of people in the town of the churchs headquarters in Annapolis, but as their fundraising efforts continued to gather in momentum their aspirations increased exponentially too.

The 170-member church sent anonymous letters out to the lucky families on Monday to tell them their medical bills  both big and small  had been wiped clean

900 families across 14 different counties in Maryland were beneficiaries of the scheme

Camacho is hoping to build a coalition among other local congregations and non-profits, in an effort to broaden the kindness scheme to more families plagued by debts

We think this is a practical and tangible way that we can help people  regardless of whether they are part of a church or not  experience forgiveness that impacts their lives in a meaningful way, Camacho explained to the Christian Post.

We hope that is kind of the taste of the larger message that we would like to communicate to people about what it means to have debt forgiven.

The church, who meet weekly in an elementary school hall, are hoping to build a coalition among other local congregations and non-profits, in an effort to upscale their fundraising and to help even more families tackle the debt ladder encumbering them.

Pastor Camacho said he even hopes to one day see organizations working directly with hospitals to settle outstanding amounts and tackle the issue medical debt at its source.

We are open to doing something similar in years to come although it will take time. We will have to spread that circle a lot larger or it will take time to accumulate more debt for sale in our area, he said.

We are not giving up. A Virginia woman was delighted to discover her beloved dog was still alive two days after a fire ravaged her apartment block.

On Saturday, Kayla Blake returned to The Hills Southview Apartments after it was destroyed by flames last Thursday and heard her pet, Rebel, barking.

'The K-9 unit told my parents that there was no way that Rebel would have been able to escape, because at the time they assumed the floors had collapsed,' Blake told WHSV about the state of her third floor apartment last week.

Kayla Blake's dog Rebel survived fire that destroyed The Hills Southview Apartments in Harrisonburg, Virginia last Thursday

But adopted pooch was found on the third floor after university student was told he wouldn't have survived inferno

'Even if he hadn't fallen through a floor or anything, they said he would have died just from the heat.'

Blake was 'a wreck' and 'hysterical' about the predicted loss of her canine pal who she adopted from a Richmond Animal Hospital three years ago.

But the James Madison University student is glad she didn't give up because after hearing signs her furry friend was still alive, she contacted the Harrisonburg Fire Department and they swooped in to rescue the pup.

"We got him!" Dog named Rebel found alive in third-floor apartment 2 days after fire destroyed apartment building in Virginia. https://t.co/HMvQC5Z5aA pic.twitter.com/1a0bx3jBwB  ABC News (@ABC) April 3, 2019

Rebel survived with only a burned nose and he was 10 pounds lighter but otherwise healthy

Best friends: Blake was 'a wreck' and 'hysterical' before discovering the dog was still alive

Blake recalled: 'They walked up within a few minutes, five or six minutes later, we heard one of the fire fighters yell, 'We got him!' and he looked out the window and gave me a thumbs up.'

Rebel took shelter underneath desk in the corner of her room and only suffered a burn on the nose.

He had lost 10 pounds in weight but a vet said the dog was otherwise healthy.

Firefighters who stepped through debris to save him noted only the animal and Blake's college flag were not destroyed.

The fire department called Rebel 'one lucky pup' after the inferno on Lois Lane.

The fire broke out in the apartment block on Lois Lane last Thursday

Three floors were assumed to have collapsed in the blaze but the dog survived by hiding under a deskPolice in Texas filed felony charges against a black woman who was brutally beaten and racially abused in a shocking attack by an armed man which was caught on camera.

Dallas cops filed a felony charge against L'Daijohnique Lee, 24, over damage done to the vehicle driven by her alleged attacker, Austin Shuffield, 30, after first charging Shuffield with only misdemeanors.

But the Dallas District Attorney immediately rejected the charges filed against Lee by the police - which had been slammed by her lawyer, S. Lee Merritt.

Video of the incident showed the man identified by police as Shuffield beating Lee and hurling racist abuse at her while holding a gun during a parking lot dispute early on the morning of March 21.

The Dallas Police Department told DailyMail.com on Wednesday, 'The decision to file charges against LDaijohnique Lee was based on her admission [to damaging windows on Shuffield's vehicle], evidence at the scene and statements obtained from witnesses.'

Shuffield told police that Lee broke out the back window windshield of his truck with a jump box, following the attack, according to CBS.

Shuffield's charges were later upgraded to include two felonies, following outrage over the handling of the incident and the revelation that he did not have the proper license to carry the weapon he appears to be seen holding in the video.

Merritt has created a GoFundMe account for Lee, who is out of work while she recovers from her injuries.

The Dallas District Attorney has rejected charges filed by police against L'Daijohnique Lee, 24 (left), the black female victim who was seen on video being brutally attacked by a white man who police identified as Austin Shuffield, 30 (right)

'A black woman alone in a dark parking lot is stalked, harassed and assaulted by a white male. He brandishes a gun, knocks away her phone when she tries to call for help then beats her mercilessly with blows to the head. DPD just found a way to charge HER with a felony,' Merritt tweeted on Tuesday, after he was notified of charges against Lee but before they were dropped.

Merritt added in a subsequent tweet: 'Victims of savage assaults cannot logically be held responsible for damage done to their assailants property during or immediately after their attack. Of course contexts matters and the decision to charge is a clear abuse of discretion.'

Officers obtained an arrest warrant for Lee after she allegedly caused $3,000 in damage to Shuffield's car, without the knowledge of the District Attorney's Office.

Police asked Merritt to have his client turn herself in, before the charges were reviewed by prosecutors.

Upon review, however, 'The charges were immediately rejected by the prosecutor's office,' Merritt told DailyMail.com.

'A black woman alone in a dark parking lot is stalked, harassed and assaulted by a white male. He brandishes a gun, knocks away her phone when she tries to call for help then beats her mercilessly with blows to the head. DPD just found a way to charge HER with a felony,' Merritt tweeted on Tuesday, after he was notified of charges against Lee but before they were dropped

Merritt added in a subsequent tweet: 'Victims of savage assaults cannot logically be held responsible for damage done to their assailants property during or immediately after their attack. Of course contexts matters and the decision to charge is a clear abuse of discretion'

People were outraged at the decision to charge Lee, with one Twitter user writing, 'Our justice system is broken'

Dallas Police Department deputy chief Thomas Castro said on Tuesday, 'We simply had information that was provided to us on a criminal offense. We thoroughly investigated that offense, and we took the action that was taken today [Tuesday],' referring to the filing of charges and obtaining of an arrest warrant.

Castro added: 'We encourage people their First Amendment right and afford them that right to protest. We hope that they do so peacefully. We understand there are some people that are upset. It is not the intention of the Dallas Police Department to pick one side or the other.'

People were outraged at the decision to charge Lee, with one Twitter user writing, 'Our justice system is broken.'

The video shot by a bystander went viral on social media and caught the attention of high-profile civil rights attorney Merritt, who contacted the victim and said he is working with her to ensure her attacker is held accountable.

'It made my blood boil,' Merritt told DailyMail.com about seeing the video for the first time.

The attorney said Lee suffered a concussion and 'cranial swelling' following the attack.

Police were called to the scene of the attack at 4.26am Central on March 21.

A man police identified as Shuffield is seen punching L'Daijohnique Lee, 24, in the face during a parking lot dispute early on March 21

Lee said Shuffield confronted her for driving the wrong way down a one-way street and blocking a parking lot exit with her vehicle while he was trying to leave the lot.

When she tried to leave the scene, she said Shuffield blocked her path with his vehicle before getting out to berate her again.

That was the moment a bystander starting filming the incident with his smart phone camera, according to Merritt.

The video shows Shuffield pulling a handgun from his waste band while arguing with Lee, who responds by pulling out her cell phone to call 911.

'I was scared. I was like, "You got a gun?"' Lee told WFAA after the incident. 'The first thing I could think of was to call the police.'

In the video, Shuffield is seen knocking the phone out of Lee's hand, prompting her to punch him. He retaliates by punching Lee in the face at least five times, even after she curled up and covered her face in submission.

'He charged at me and just kept going. I was just like saying, "OK OK," as he's hitting me like, "OK,"' Lee said.

Shuffield then kicked Lee's phone into the street.

'You're in big trouble bro,' a bystander can be heard saying on the video.

'Hey bro, chill bro, that's a female,' the man filming the incident says next before the video cuts off.

Police say Shuffield is the man seen on video savagely punching a black woman identified as L'Daijohnique Lee (pictured), 24

Lee's attorney said she suffered a concussion and 'cranial swelling'

Shuffield used to work as a bartender at a combination bar and barbershop called High & Tight

Prior to the incident, Shuffield worked as a bartender at High & Tight Barbershop, a combination barbershop and bar located in Dallas's Deep Ellum neighborhood not far from where the attack occurred.

The business's owner told reporters he fired Shuffield after seeing the video of the attack and talking with police.

'We have finally spoke with police representatives and have terminated this employee,' the company said in a post on its Facebook page. 'We do not stand behind the actions that took place and hope that the full weight of the law comes down on this incident.'

Lee told WFAA the incident was the worst night of her life.

'Why you put your hands on me like that?' she said of Shuffield. 'You literally sat there and beat me like a man.'

Shuffield's former boss said he fired Shuffield on March 21 after viewing the video of his attack and talking with police

Shuffield was initially arrested on March 21 on misdemeanor counts of assault, public intoxication and interference with an emergency call.

Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall told reporters on Thursday morning that her department has added felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawfully carrying a weapon after investigating the incident further.

She said Shuffield did not have a license to carry the concealed handgun he was seen holding in the video. Police found the firearm in his car after the incident.

'Our detectives, as part of our protocols and procedures, investigated that case thoroughly by insuring we interviewed all witnesses, gathered all evidence, any additional video and now have added some additional charges,' Hall said.

'An additional warrant has been issued for the arrest of Mr. Shuffield. He does have the ability to turn himself in. The grand jury will make the decision as to whether or not to indict Mr. Shuffield on the felony assault charge.'

A GoFundMe account created by Merritt for LEE has raised over $13,000 in four days.A drugs gang delivered cocaine hidden inside hamburger meals, according to authorities in Colombia who have smashed a huge drugs ring.

A multi-city operation led to the arrest of 328 people, including members of the National Liberation Army [ELN] and dissident Revolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaPeople's Army [FARC], the Colombian Attorney Generals office said on Tuesday.

The arrests took place between the last week of March and the first days of April.

One Barranquilla-based gang came up with the idea of including combo orders of hamburgers as part of their delivery system.

The dealers would carry burgers with plastic baggies or strips that were already filled with cocaine that passed off as extra condiments of salt.

Colombian law enforcement agents concluded a weeks-long operation that captured of 328 people suspected of trafficking and selling drugs

A group that sold cocaine in plastic strips that were supposed to pass off as salt

The drug dealers also hid their drugs inside boxes of hamburgers that were later distributed

The drug runners fulfilled the illicit transactions operating as taxi drivers, according to Colombian news outlet Noticias Caracol.

The drugs were also distributed inside cardboard boxes of hamburgers.

The group also sold flavored cigar wraps that were rolled up and filled with marijuana.

Investigators discover a cardboard box with sealed packages of marijuana

Agents in Colombia seized marijuana that was prepackaged for sale

Investigators in Colombia raided a local business that also sold drugs to its customers

It was one of the several drug trafficking networks that were broken up in the huge operation.

A separate group was busted for selling narcotics in the areas surrounding 77 educational institutions in the capital city of Bogota.

Another criminal group sold their drugs from front-businesses like internet cafes.Authorities in Washington state have released security footage showing a man suspected of raping a woman after pretending to be her ride-share driver.

The sexual assault took place in Seattle back in December 2018, but deputies with King County Sheriff's Office made the video public on Tuesday along with a plea for the publics help, having exhausted all of their leads.

According to a post on the agency's Facebook page, the victim told deputies that on December 16, she was at a bar in the 5100 block of Ballard Avenue NW.

King County Sheriff's Office has released security footage showing a rape suspect (left) walking the victim to her front door in December 2018 in Seattle

Footage shows the bogus ride-share driving opening the door with the victim's own keys, which he had in his pocket

At around 12.15am, she went outside to catch the ride-share car that a friend had ordered for her to take her home.

The woman asked several ride-share drivers parked in the area if they were there for her, until one of them identified himself as her chauffeur, reported Q13 Fox.

The man led the woman to his black car, possibly a Dodge Charger, and took off.

During the ride, the woman said the bogus ride-share driver pulled over near the 11400 block of 5th Avenue S in the White Center neighborhood and raped her. He then asked for her address and took her home.

Security footage recorded by the victims Ring doorbell camera shows the suspect calmly walking the womans to her front door and unlocking it with her own key, which he had in his pocket.

He also hands the woman her cellphone back, which evidently he had taken away earlier.

The suspect was described as 'possibly Hispanic' and speaking with an accent. Authorities have found no evidence to suggest that he ever worked for any ride-share service.

He hands the woman her cellphone back, which apparently he had taken away earlier

Have YOU seen him? The suspect was described as 'possibly Hispanic' and speaking with an accent; he was behind the wheel of a black car, possibly a Dodge Charger

The law enforcement agencys appeal to the public for help comes just days after Samantha Josephson, a University of South Carolina student, was found murdered after she got into a man's car thinking it was her Uber.

The suspect in the murder, 24-year-old Nathaniel Rowland, was arrested on Saturday and charged with kidnapping and murder.

King County sheriffs Office urges anyone who knows the identity of the man in the security video to call 206-296-3311.A Florida mother is hearing her murdered baby son's heart beat once again after meeting the girl whose life it saved four years ago.

Alicia Erchul's son was just four-months-old when his life was taken away from him by his own father.

Erchul, 43, had left her husband Donald Crystalus with Gabriel and his older brother Aidan while she went to work.

Crystalus called Erchul later that day and said something was wrong with their son.

Alicia Erchul got to hear her murdered baby's heart once again after meeting Morgan Price, the girl whose life it saved four years ago (pictured together)

Erchul's son Gabriel was just four-months-old when his life was taken away from him by his own father in 2014

Gabriel's brain had begun swelling from severe trauma to the head. Two days later, he was dead.

Crystalus later told investigators that Gabriel wouldn't stop crying that day. He had thrown up his breakfast and was having a fit, repeatedly kicking his little legs.

Two years later, Crystalus was charged with second-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Erchul lost half her family in the blink of an eye. But she wanted to help someone else by donating Gabriel's liver and heart.

Nearly 500 miles away in Birmingham, Alabama, a baby girl was barely clinging to life.

Erchul had left her husband Donald Crystalus with Gabriel and his older brother Aidan while she went to work. Crystalus beat Gabriel to death that day after he threw a fit

Morgan Price had been born just a week apart from Gabriel. She had been in the hospital for months, born with an enlarged heart that couldn't pump enough blood.

'We had our church praying for us, our friends praying for us,' Dorothy Johnson, Morgan's grandmother, told the Orlando Sentinel.

'She could have been waiting for months and months and months.'

But on November 2, 2014, everything changed. Gabriel's heart arrived and Morgan underwent a successful organ transplantation.

'It has always been bittersweet for our family,' Johnson said. 'We were thankful to get a heart. Otherwise we were going to lose Morgan. But we knew another family had lost a child.'

Erchul had donated her son's heart and liver. This November she finally felt ready to reach out to Morgan's family and introduce herself

Morgan's family invited Erchul and her six-year-old son to join them on their spring break trip to Walt Disney World last month

As Morgan grew up to be a healthy child, Erchul and her son Aidan, now six, tried to find peace in their lives once again.

They went to Walt Disney World on Gabriel's birthday and the holidays, replacing bad memories with laughter.

And as the scars began to heal, Erchul decided to reach out to Morgan's family in November.

'I'm sorry it's taken so many years to write you,' the email read. 'I didn't want to shadow the joy you must have felt in receiving a necessary gift to save your child's life by sharing about my son's life. I have prayed every day for Morgan that her heart has grown stronger.'

Johnson quickly replied and struck up a correspondence with Erchul. Soon, she was inviting her to the family vacation at Walt Disney World.

It was there that Morgan showed Erchul her transplant scar, which she calls 'Zipper'.

Erchul and Morgan's families became fast friends, spending three days together enjoying the rides and shows at Walt Disney World. Pictured is Morgan, her sister, and Erchul's son Aidan

'She just held me so tightly,' Erchul recalled. 'She wanted to hold my hand all the time. It's brought a sense of peace that I didn't realize I was missing.'

Erchul and Morgan's families became fast friends, spending three days together enjoying the rides and shows at Walt Disney World.

When it was time to say goodbye to Erchul, Morgan cried.

But before she left, the family gave Erchul a stuffed pink unicorn. Inside was a recording of Morgan's heart, beating on.The sister of a bride-to-be who tragically died on her friend's hen do has revealed her three children were told 'mummy's gone to heaven'.

Ruth Maguire, 30, who was due to marry her partner in August, died after falling into Carlingford Lough in County Louth on March 16.

Her body was found in the water between between Carlingford and Greenore two days later.

She was buried in her wedding dress at St Vincent de Paul Church in Ligoniel, north Belfast, last month.

Now her sister, Rachel Wilkinson, has revealed her children are absolutely devastated - and that her youngest, Oliver, five, doesn't understand that she's gone.

Ruth Maguire, 30, who was due to marry her partner in August, died after falling into Carlingford Lough in County Louth on March 16

Her sister, Rachel Wilkinson, pictured together, has revealed her three children were told 'Mummy's gone to heaven'

She told Virgin Media Ireland: 'Tyler is 10, Lydia is six and Oliver is five. I don't think Oliver really understands.

'Lydia is just trying to work it out in her head how it's all going to work. "Who's doing my hair for Irish dancing?" and she's asking for things that belonged to Ruth.'

Ms Maguire, who lived in Newcastle, County Down in Northern Ireland, had rented a property for the weekend with friends just five minutes' walk from Taaffe's Bar.

On the night she went missing it is believed she told the doorman she intended to walk home to Newcastle, and at around midnight she posted a photo on Instagram with the Lough in the background.

By 11.30pm, the rest of the hen party were back in the house and realised Ruth was not with them.

Ms Maguire, pictured with her partner James Griffin and their children, was buried in her wedding dress last month

Ms Maguire, 30, with her sister Rachel Wilkinson (left) and friend Michelle McCabe (right)

Pictured: the family of Ms Maguire follow her coffin as it is carried from Saint Vincent de Paul church after a poignant service

Her friends started searching for her immediately after realising she was missing.

They then raised the alarm, prompting a much wider search by police, the coastguard and members of the public.

Ms Wilkinson added: 'It hasn't sunk in yet. I don't think any of us really are getting the reality of this that Ruth's gone.'

In the interview, she confirmed all three children had been told 'mum's gone to heaven'.

Hundreds of tearful mourners attended the funeral service last month, where Ms Maguire's coffin, covered in flowers, was carried by her partner James Griffin and followed by her three children.

Friends have described Ms Maguire as 'the most loving, hardworking and caring mother to her three beautiful children' who, along with her partner, 'worked tirelessly to give their children the best that they possibly could in life'.

Speaking after her body was recovered on Monday, her fiance James Griffin paid an emotional tribute, writing on Facebook: 'Ruth wasn't just my partner, she was my soul mate. Stay safe love always James and your three beautiful children.'Rupert Murdoch did not even look up from his soup when Donald Trump told him over lunch that he was running for president, three people who were at the meeting say.

The anecdote was one of countless contained in a lengthy New York Times investigation into the Murdoch family that was published on Wednesday morning.

According to its sources, the lunch meeting took place in the corporate dining room of the Fox News building in Midtown Manhattan in 2015.

It was set up by Ivanka Trump who had phoned Murdoch. The pair were good friends through his ex-wife Wendi.

Rupert Murdoch 'did not even look up from his soup' when Donald Trump told him he was running for president during a lunch meeting at Fox in 2015, according to sources. He later put his support behind Trump when it became clear he would likely win the nomination. The pair are shown in June 2016 in Aberdeen, Scotland

At the time, Murdoch had not put his support behind any presidential candidate and the Trumps were vying for his favor.

When Trump announced his campaign, Murdoch eventually responded by telling him: 'You have to be prepared to be rapped up badly,' the sources said.

For more than a year after their initial meeting, Murdoch resisted Trump and sought out other candidates to put his weight behind.

He even tried calling Hillary Clinton, the Times reports, at the suggestion of his liberal-leaning daughter-in-law Kathryn.

It is not clear if he intended to use his media empire to endorse her or what his apparent intentions were but Clinton, the report claims, never answered the phone.

She called him back but 'immediately' declined his offer of a meeting, the report claims.

The meeting had been set up by Ivanka Trump who called Rupert to arrange it. She was close friends with him through his ex-wife, Wendi Deng and was one of the trustees on his youngest daughters' trust fund. She and Murdoch are shown in 2016, a year after the meeting, once he had thrown his weight behind her father and he had won the election

Murdoch grew to endorse Trump as a candidate and put the weight of Fox News behind him because his voter base were the same people who watched the network. The pair are shown embracing in May 2017

Murdoch's resistance to Trump's campaign has been well-documented.

His alleged description of him as a 'f*****g idiot' was first included in the bombshell book Fire and Fury and repeated by other sources cited by The New York Times as part of its expose.

'Rupert, Rupert! You love the action, dont you? You cant get enough of this s**t! Trump on the phone to Murdoch in the Oval Office

Murdoch eventually rallied behind him when it became plain that he would win the Republican party nomination.

After the election, once Trump was in the White House, they shared regular phone calls.

In one, Trump was heard shouting from the Oval Office: 'Rupert, Rupert! You love the action, dont you? You cant get enough of this s**t!

He and the Trumps were already closely-connected at the time.

His ex-wife Wendi Deng is a close friend of Ivanka and he and Kushner had come to know one another independently when Kushner bought The New York Observer.

When Trump announced his candidacy, Kushner tried to lobby Murdoch by showing him videos on his iPhone of his enthusiastic rallies, according to the report.

The Times report also details the rivalry between Murdochs' two sons, James and Lachlan, and their apparent desperation to be named as his heirs.Nuclear war has come to Britain, levelling our cities, killing millions and leaving the wretched survivors in a new Dark Age, scrabbling like rats in the ruins of civilisation.

In the streets, ghostly figures stagger in search of food and water. At special Government depots, armed police stand guard, ready to shoot looters on sight.

And in countless homes across the country, grieving families are holed up in their makeshift fallout shelters, their food supplies dwindling as the corpses in their living rooms begin to rot.

It sounds like some terrible nightmare. Yet in reality, this was Britain in 1981  or it could have been.

The Doomsday Book forms part of an exhibition at the National Archives in Kew. The exhibition, Protect and Survive: Britain's Cold War Revealed shows a recreation of a government nuclear bunker from the 1980s

This artists impression shows the possible impact of a nuclear bomb on Central London

This timeline described in the document begins in March 1981, the heyday of the Cold War, when the capitalist West, led by Margaret Thatchers Britain and Ronald Reagans America, confronted the Communist East, ruled by Stalins heirs in the Kremlin

The envisaged slide to war has been precipitated by a Soviet build-up in the Balkans, Moscows hardliners having decided to take advantage of the apparent weakness of the recession-hit Thatcher and Reagan governments

For deep in the bowels of the National Archives, in the leafy streets of Kew, West London, is perhaps the most terrifying document in our history.

Normally it is kept hidden from view, but today it goes on public display as part of Protect and Survive, a chilling new exhibition exploring the story of Britain in the Cold War.Step by step, the top-secret war-game exercise, codenamed Wintex-Cimex 81, sought to test Britains preparedness for a Third World War. It explained how the planet stumbled towards Armageddon, leading to the nightmarish scenes above.

This timeline described in the document begins in March 1981, the heyday of the Cold War, when the capitalist West, led by Margaret Thatchers Britain and Ronald Reagans America, confronted the Communist East, ruled by Stalins heirs in the Kremlin.

The envisaged slide to war has been precipitated by a Soviet build-up in the Balkans, Moscows hardliners having decided to take advantage of the apparent weakness of the recession-hit Thatcher and Reagan governments.

The document 'war games' what would happened nationally and internationally

In the event of nuclear war people would be advised to stockpile non perishable goods

As the international mood darkens, riots break out in British cities. Even as British troops are sent to strengthen NATO forces in West Germany, thousands of students march for peace.

Within days, railway stations are overwhelmed by people fleeing the capital, while major roads from London, Manchester and Birmingham are choked with traffic.

The government declares a state of emergency. But already shops have run out of coal, oil, batteries and candles, while many pharmacies have run out of first-aid supplies.

On Saturday March 14, with the first reports of clashes in the Balkans and the Middle East, a massive anti-war demonstration in Londons Trafalgar Square attracts prominent Left-wing MPs, leading trade unionists and personalities from many walks of life including sport and showbiz.

With war imminent, newspapers would carry advertising on how to 'Protect and Survive'

At the same time, military planners would be deep underground preparing for battle

But it ends in chaos, with the police wading in to arrest the Labour leader Michael Foot and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, who have been caught up in the fighting.

By the following evening, war seems inevitable. Eastern Bloc forces have over-run Yugoslavia, and the government announces that an attack on the West is expected within hours rather than days.

The mood is close to panic. The newspapers are full of Protect and Survive adverts, advising people on how to build shelters in their own homes and urging them to stay inside until they hear the all-clear.

On Monday, March 16, the first Soviet attack comes, the Kremlins bombers pounding British bases. The United Kingdom is now at war.

The next day, as fresh attacks destroy Britains air defences, the scenes in the streets are said to be reminiscent of Vietnam . . . as families with children push overladen supermarket trolleys along the roads out of cities.

Some 15,000 people are fleeing to the West Country and Wales every hour to seek refuge in the countryside. In rural areas, farmers are forced to use shotguns against marauding bands of youths.

According to the war game, the conflict begins with conventional bombing

Planners had even written a draft speech the Queen was due to deliver in the event of nuclear conflict where she would say 'the madness of war is once more spreading through the world'

The short speech was marked SECRET and EXERCISE on both of the pages

At last, on the morning of March 20, Mrs Thatchers War Cabinet meets to consider the worst. With Soviet forces breaking through in West Germany, defeat seems inevitable. There is only one option left.

NATO commanders have asked permission to launch nuclear weapons at enemy bases in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, in a last, desperate attempt to save the West from collapse.

Never before, record the official minutes had a Cabinet been faced with such a grim choice between capitulating to a powerful and malevolent aggressor, and embarking on a course of action which could end with the destruction of civilisation. But the choice had to be made.

Mrs Thatcher gives the go-ahead. Before dawn the next morning, the missiles are launched. And by the time Britain awakes, the nuclear holocaust has begun.

There the document ends, with Western civilisation on the brink of utter destruction.

Now it reads like some wild exercise in paranoid fantasy, but back then the scenario described seemed all too real a possibility. Our children and grandchildren may find it hard to believe, but between 1945, when Europe was divided between Communist East and democratic West, and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Britain really did live in genuine fear of nuclear Armageddon.

The Queen in her speech would call for calm and draw on inspiration from Britain's experiences during the First and Second World Wars

As the Kew exhibition shows, this was a conflict that seeped into almost every aspect of daily life. It was a war of spies and secrets, missiles and rockets, consumer pleasures and state surveillance.

But it was also a cultural struggle for hearts and minds, from Ian Flemings best-selling James Bond books in the Sixties to the triumphs of Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Daley Thompson at the boycott-hit Moscow Olympics in 1980.

Cold War Britain was a world of deception, defectors and double agents, from the infamous Cambridge traitors to Soviet defectors such as the heroic Oleg Gordievsky, who gave Margaret Thatcher vital intelligence on the weakness of the Soviet regime in the Eighties.

Among countless enthralling documents, the National Archives exhibition contains a list of potential traitors compiled by George Orwell for MI5 in 1949, among them the Left-wing actors Charlie Chaplin and Michael Redgrave, the historian E.H. Carr and the Labour MP Tom Driberg.

We know now that Orwell was right to fear Communist subversion. But what, I wonder, would he make of the fact that the current Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was once a contact for the blood-drenched Czechoslovakian secret service?

The exhibitions most abiding lesson, which even now seems the stuff of nightmares, remains the mind-numbing terror of nuclear apocalypse.

The dropping of atom bombs by the U.S. on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 had made an enormous impact on world opinion. The time is short, writes Labours Prime Minister Clement Attlee in one document. I believe that only a bold course can save civilisation.

Domestically, people would be told to hide under the stairs in the event of nuclear attack

The exhibition has great fun with the short films and leaflets in the governments Protect and Survive campaign, which was prepared in the mid-Seventies to use in the event of war. The aim was to reassure people that they could survive a nuclear holocaust

He was unswervingly committed to Britains national security, and indeed it was Attlee and his Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, who were the key figures in establishing NATO, the alliance that won the Cold War for democracy and which celebrates its 70th birthday this week.

As Bevin told his Cabinet colleagues in 1946, Britain could not just rely on the Americans, but must have its own nuclear deterrent. Weve got to have this thing over here, whatever it costs, he said bullishly. Weve got to have the bloody Union Jack on top of it.

Britain did get its own bomb in 1952, but fears of Soviet nuclear attack ran very high.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis ten years later, many people were literally unable to sleep, terrified that they would wake to see a mushroom cloud from their bedroom window.

The exhibition has great fun with the short films and leaflets in the governments Protect and Survive campaign, which was prepared in the mid-Seventies to use in the event of war. The aim was to reassure people that they could survive a nuclear holocaust.

Yet few were persuaded by the campaigns make-do-and-mend, Blue Peter-style advice about how to build their own fallout refuges.

On paper the short films sound almost boring: Materials to Use for Your Fall-Out Room, Water and Food, Sanitation Care. Yet even now there is something horribly haunting about the official advice on how to dispose of the bodies of family members.

If anyone dies when you are in your fallout room, move the body to another room in the house, the narrator says sternly. Label the body with name and address, and cover it as tightly as possible in polythene, paper, sheets or blankets.

Few of us, I imagine, would relish wrapping and labelling the radiation-ravaged body of even the most annoying relative. Yet the remorseless logic of the Cold War meant that people genuinely had to think about such issues. The exhibition even includes a reconstruction of an ordinary familys fallout refuge, complete with makeshift toilet, tinned Fray Bentos pies and a packet of Charles and Diana-themed liquorice.

In 1983 a study by the British Medical Association estimated that 33 million people would be killed in a Soviet strike

Far better to be killed at once, than to find yourself dying slowly of radiation sickness in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where civilisation had collapsed

Indeed, in 1981 the Daily Mail reported on the Ideal Nuclear Shelter Exhibition, held in North Yorkshire. YOU CAN SURVIVE and it will be worth surviving, read one brochure. Remember Hiroshima? Its now a bustling city.

And what if the worst had happened?

In 1983 a study by the British Medical Association estimated that 33 million people would be killed in a Soviet strike. But they would have been the lucky ones.

Far better to be killed at once, than to find yourself dying slowly of radiation sickness in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where civilisation had collapsed.

To anyone born after the fall of the Berlin Wall, all this must seem like ancient history. And in some ways, the Cold War looks like a lost age of stability and certainty, when the Western world was led by statesmen (and one woman) beside whom todays politicians look like gibbering pygmies.

Military planners had maps showing the potential disaster zones in a nuclear strike

The exhibition provides a fascinating insight into events towards the end of the Cold War

One of the documents on display is a note written by Winston Churchill during a meeting with Joseph Stalin on how to divide up eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War Two

Yet the shadow of the bomb has never entirely disappeared. And in todays fractious world, where politics seems to be spiralling towards the extremes, the shadow of the Cold War looms rather too large for comfort.

Far from being defeated, the virus of Communism has never gone away. Indeed, since the financial crisis, Left-wing extremism has been reinvigorated, with todays Labour Party, once a bulwark of our Cold War consensus, having been taken over by Marxist zealots.

The National Archives exhibition may be a chilling lesson in the fragility of our civilisation. But it is also a reminder that we only enjoy the freedoms of democracy and capitalism because our predecessors were prepared, if necessary, to stand up and defend them.

Would we have the courage to do the same? Would we, like our forebears, have the guts to resist the zealots who would destroy our freedom?

That, I think, is the most chilling question of all.A 4ft by 96ft plot of land in California has been on the market for 512 days as potential buyers struggle to think of anything to do with it.

The sloped stretch between a commercial parking lot and a driveway for vacant law offices in Long Beach remains on the market for $17,995.

A listing posted by agent Tova Oren explains for baffled land hunters just where the space begins and ends on the 'narrow parcel of land' at 3811 Long Beach Blvd and E Bixbi Rd.

A 4ft by 96ft plot of land in Long Beach, California has been on the market for 512 days as potential buyers and the owner struggle to think of anything to do with it

'To the right of this building, where the fence is, that's where the 4ft starts, 4ft from the fence to the right towards the parking lot, and the 96 ft is from street to back wall,' the description reads.

However approximately 65 of those feet are on slanted land.

Oren even suggests ways in which the oddly-shaped patch can be used.

'Land can be used for storage, food stand or parking carts, bikes etc. Utilities are available,' Oren's listing states.

'One fence already build on the left of the land, additional fenced can build to close it completely.'

A listing posted by agent Tova Oren explains for baffled land hunters just where the space begins and ends on the 'narrow parcel of land' at 3811 Long Beach Blvd and E Bixbi Rd

Although it may not seem like much, Oren's client wouldn't let it go for a few thousands less than the asking price and was 'adamant' about getting just under $18,000.

It's despite the owner reportedly having had offers ranging from $1,000 to $15,000.

'When he bought it, he thought it was a different lot  and then Googled it and found that he didn't own what he thought he was buying,' ERA North Orange County agent Oren told the Long Beach Post.

'And so now he's just hoping that one day a builder will come and put up a shopping center.'A 14-year-old boy found wandering the streets in Newport, Kentucky has told police that he's Timmothy Pitzen, an Aurora, Illinois, boy who disappeared without a trace in 2011 following his mother's suicide.

According to a police report filed on Wednesday, the boy told officers that he'd managed to flee 'from two kidnappers that have been holding him for 7 years'.

The teen said that his abductors had most recently been keeping him in a Red Roof Inn, thought to be in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he saw his chance to escape, he took it and fled, and and 'kept running across a bridge' - the state line - and into Newport, Kentucky.

Residents who live near where the 14-year-old boy was found said the his face was bruised and he appeared to be 'very scared and agitated'.

Pitzen vanished without a trace on May 11, 2011, shortly after being dropped off at Greenman Elementary School by his father

Timmothy, originally from Aurora, Illinois, was last seen at a water park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin in 2011. The teen told police he had been held by captors ever since and was most recently being held at a Red Roof Inn, thought to be in Cincinnati, Ohio, until he escaped and kept running until he crossed a bridge over the river which acts as a state line and passed into Newport, Kentucky.

One woman revealed to CBS Chicago that the boy told her he'd been running for two hours and that he had 'been passed around for seven years'.

Pitzen vanished without a trace on May 11, 2011, shortly after being dropped off at Greenman Elementary School, in Aurora, Illinois, by his father.

The boy, just 6-years-old at the time, was later picked-up by his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, who told the school she needed to take her son home because of a family emergency.

Fry-Pitzen, 43, then took her son on a three-day holiday, visiting the zoo and several water-parks before she was found dead inside a motel room, in Rockford.

Police reports at the time say Fry-Pitzen checked into the motel alone, without her son. An autopsy confirmed she had committed suicide with a series of slashes to her wrists.

A note left behind by the mother stated her son was safe and in the care of others, but added: Youll never find him.

His mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen (left), 43, took him on a three-day holiday, visiting the zoo and several water-parks before she was found dead inside a Rockford motel room, having committed suicide

Residents who live near where the 14-year-old boy was found in Newport, Kentucky, have said the his face was bruised and was 'very scared and agitated' (pictured: a photo submitted to CBS Chicago allegedly depicts the boy who claims to be Pitzen)

The boy found in Newport gave police a detailed description of his alleged kidnappers, who he says have held him captive for more than seven years.

'Timmothy described the two kidnappers as two male, whites, body-builder type build,' the police report details.

'One had black curly hair, Mt. Dew shirt and jeans & has a spider web tattoo on his neck. The other was short in stature and had a snake tattoo on his arms.'

He then described his captor's vehicle as a new white Ford SUV, with yellow transfer paint and a dent on the rear left bumper, registered to Wisconsin.

After speaking with police, the boy was taken to a local hospital and later transferred to the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital, where he remains with authorities.

On Wednesday afternoon Aurora Police Sgt. Bill Rowley said that the department knows there is a boy involved but they don't know who he is or if he has any connection to Timmothy Pitzen.

We have no idea if this is Timmothy Pitzen, Rowley said. We dont know if its a hoax. Obviously, everyones hopeful, but we have to be super judicious.

Timmothy was described as a four-foot two-inches, 70-pound boy with brown hair and brown eyes in missing persons reports at the time. An age processed image (right) predicts what he may look like now

The last known images of Pitzen and his mother were captured on CCTV, checking out of the Kalahari Resort, in Wisconsin Dells

The last known images of Pitzen and his mother were captured on CCTV, checking out of the Kalahari Resort, in Wisconsin Dells.

He was described as a four-foot two-inches, 70-pound boy with brown hair and brown eyes in missing persons reports at the time. This year would mark his 14th birthday.

Timmothys grandmother, Alana Anderson, says she hopes the boy found by police in Kentucky turns out to be missing Pitzen, but admits she isnt getting her hopes up.

Dont want to say anything until I know for sure. I just dont want to comment until I know for sure, praying its him and hes okay, she said to CBS.

Anderson, later added that she's 'cautiously optimistic' to ABC 7, having heard reports that the boy has identified himself as Timmothy.

'We never stopped looking for him, thinking about him and we love him, and we'll do everything to get him back to a good life,' she added.

Timmothy (shown aged 6) vanished without a trace on May 11, 2011, after his mother picked him up from Greenman Elementary School and took him on a three day holiday and was found to have committed suicide

Timmothys grandmother, Alana Anderson (pictured), says she's 'quietly optimistic' that the boy found in Kentucky is her grandson

Shortly before her daughter's suicide, Anderson received a note from Fry-Pitzen, that read: 'Ive taken him somewhere safe. He will be well cared for and he says that he loves you. Please know that there is nothing you could have said or done that would have changed my mind.'

The last breakthrough in the disappearance of Pitzen came in 2014, when a woman hosting a garage sale in northern Illinois dialed 911 to tell police a boy matching his description had been standing in the front-yard of her home.

The call came shortly after police released an aged processing image, speculating what Pitzen may have looked like aged 9.

In an interview with Crime Watch Daily, James Pitzen described the fateful day he dropped his son off at school and never saw him again.

'I dropped Timmothy off at school and he hopped out of the back seat and ran off to school,' he recalled in 2017. 'And I said 'I love you buddy,' and he said 'I love you too, dad, and I'll see you later,' and I'm like 'OK.' And I watched him run off to class.'

James says both he and Timmothy's mother were struggling in their marriage at the time, but insists he was stunned when he was told of Amy's suicide.

In an interview with People in 2015, Timmothy's dad, James Pitzen (left), described his son as a 'little mini-me' and vowed to never give up searching for him

'I was in total shock at the time,' said James. 'They told me where she was found, in a cheap little motel. She had a razorblade knife and she cut herself.

He said just hours before she committed suicide he received a call from Amy, telling him: 'Timmothy is fine. Timmothy belongs to me. Timmothy and I will be fine. Timmothy is safe.'

'She was definitely wrestling with the demons,' James said. 'And the demons were winning, and they eventually won.'

He added that he knew Timmothy was alive somewhere, as his wife would never do anything to harm their son.

'Every day I get up and check my phone and wait for the detectives to say 'Hey, we found Timmothy here,' he said. 'It's going to be a glorious day when he comes home. Just can't wait. It's going to be happy. I'm going to cry a lot. I'm going to cry a lot when he comes home.'

James Pitzen didn't immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment on Wednesday.

Anyone with information is asked to call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or Aurora Police at 630-256-5500.Rupert Murdoch's two sons tried to talk him out of marrying Wendi Deng and thought she was a Chinese spy, it has been claimed.

According to The New York Times lengthy investigation into Murdoch and his media dynasty, his sons Lachlan and James were so desperate for him not to marry her that they took him out for dinner in 1999 to try to dissuade him.

James had been told by US officials that the government had reason to believe Deng was a spy for the Chinese government, the report claims.

It is a claim that reared its head again last year in a Wall Street Journal report which claimed Jared Kushner, one of Deng's long-term friends, had been given the same warning.

Rupert Murdoch's two sons did not wan him to marry Wendi Deng and thought she was a spy working for the Chinese government, according to The New York Times. Deng and Murdoch are pictured in 1999, the year they married

Lachlan and James Murdoch, shown above with their father in 1999, took him for dinner to try to dissuade him, accordng to the report

Murdoch, now 88, was 68 when he married the then 31-year-old Deng on board his yacht.

He had been divorced from his second wife, Anna, for three weeks at the time. The pair went on to have two children, Grace, 18, and 16-year-old Chloe, before divorcing in 2013.

He married former supermodel Jerry Hall three years later.

The reason for his split from Deng has been widely speculated to be her alleged affair with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Others have long claimed that she was abusive towards Murdoch, which she denies.

According to The Times' piece, her treatment of their father was another cause for concern for the brothers.

They had noticed her calling him 'old and stupid', according to the article. Deng denied the allegation.

The brothers and their father ate at Babbo in Manhattan's West Village, according to sources, where they expressed concern about him and Deng's relationship

Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng in 2013 amid claims she'd had an affair with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair

The couple had two daughters, Grace and Chloe, who are shown in the above photograph from their star-studded baptism along with Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Hugh Jackman and his wife and Nicole Kidman. Queen Rania of Jordan hosted the event at in the River Jordan

In 2014, Vanity Fair reported that she had once pushed Murdoch over in a rage during an argument.

The couple's split in 2013 was one of the reasons Lachlan, who had been living in Australia against his father's wishes, decided to return to the US, the New York Times article claims.

Deng's reputed spy links were reported to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law with whom she has long held a friendship, in 2017.

According to a Wall Street Journal report last January, he was warned that she had been using her close friendship with him and, crucially, his wife Ivanka to further the Chinese government's interests.

Deng is who is credited with reuniting Jared and Ivanka when they split before their own marriage.

Ivanka was a trustee on her daughters' trust fund until her father won the election then gave up her position.Authorities have shared grisly details of the deaths of a family whose SUV plunged off a cliff in California, including how their bodies were retrieved and how the children had drugs in their system.

The details were revealed at a coroner's inquest on Wednesday in a bid to determine whether the March 2018 deaths of Jen and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children were accidental, a murder-suicide or undetermined.

The crash happened just days after authorities in Washington state, where the family moved in 2017 from Oregon, opened an investigation following allegations the children were being neglected.

A neighbor of the Harts in Woodland, Washington, had filed a complaint with the state, saying the children were apparently being deprived of food as punishment.

The details were revealed at a coroner's inquest in California on Wednesday in a bid to determine whether the March 2018 deaths of Jen and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children were accidental or a murder-suicide. Sarah and Jennifer Hart (behind) with their six kids

The bodies of Jen and Sarah were inside the SUV when it was discovered but one of the women fell out as the vehicle was being towed up the cliff off the coast of Mendocino County

No one answered when social workers checking on the report went to the family's home near Portland, Oregon, on March 23.

Three days later, their SUV was found partially submerged on the ocean below a rugged cliff.

Google searches were read by California Highway Patrol Officer Jay Slates during the Mendocino County coroners inquest presented by the Sheriffs Office Thursday.

'How long does it take to die from hypothermia in water while drowning in a car?', Sarah also searched, according to Slates testimony.

Sarah began searching at 12.30 am on March 24 as she and her family neared the Washington-Oregon border.

She would continue to conduct Google searches along these lines until 6:30 p.m. that night.

The bodies of Jen and Sarah were inside the SUV when it was discovered but one of the women fell out as the vehicle was being towed up the cliff off the coast of Mendocino County.

Sheriff Deputy Robert Julian testified on Wednesday that he was able to identify Sarah Hart through a Minnesota driver's license found near the car.

'I wasn't able to identify Jennifer Hart due to her fall,' Julian said.

The bodies of siblings Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail Har were found the same day near the car.

Weeks later, the body of Ciera Hart was pulled from the Pacific Ocean and human remains found in a shoe were matched to Hannah Hart through DNA testing.

The remains of 15-year-old Devonte Hart have not been found.

The bodies of Jen and Sarah were inside the SUV when it was discovered but one of the women fell out as the vehicle was being towed up the cliff off the coast of Mendocino County

The crash happened just days after authorities in Washington state, where the family moved in 2017 from Oregon, opened an investigation following allegations the children were being neglected

Jennifer was drunk when she drove her large family off a Northern California cliff, authorities said.

Greg Pizarro, a forensic pathologist, testified on Wednesday that an autopsy found she had an alcohol level of 0.102. California drivers are considered drunk with a level of 0.08 or higher.

Pizarro said her cause of death was a broken neck.

Her wife, Sarah, and several children had large amounts of a drug in their systems that can cause drowsiness, authorities have said.

The family's SUV plunged off a seaside cliff more than 160 miles north of San Francisco.

Sarah pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children.

Oregon child welfare officials also investigated the couple in 2013, but closed the case without taking any action.

Jennifer was drunk when she drove her large family off a Northern California cliff, authorities said. Her wife, Sarah, and several children had large amounts of a drug in their systems that can cause drowsinessPauline Hanson has been inundated with comments from well-wishers after having her appendix removed and has vowed to be 'in fine form' for the election.

The One Nation leader, 64, shared a picture of herself in hospital in Canberra on Wednesday after having emergency surgery.

Dozens of supporters rushed to pass on their good wishes - and Hanson replied to several fans.

She also praised the 'wonderful' doctors and nurses who looked after her, saying 'you realise how helpless you are when you don't have your health.'

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was raced to hospital on Tuesday for emergency surgery to remove her appendix

Dozens of supporters rushed to pass on their good wishes - and Hanson replied to several fans

One fan Mick Gardner wrote: 'Having a bad trot there Pauline,' and the Queensland senator replied: 'From the tick to this, it's been a rough week. It won't keep me down for long though Mick.'

She also wrote to another commenter: 'It's the equivalent of a quick service before a long road trip. I'll be in fine form before the election is called.'

Hanon's latest health scare occurred as her former Senate running mate Fraser Anning was censured in Parliament for his comments last month blaming Muslims for the Christchurch massacre which saw 50 Muslims killed in New Zealand.

It also came just days after the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network's hidden-camera expose on One Nation officials was broadcast on the ABC.

The One Nation leader was left 'unrecognisable' after a paralysis tick bit her face last week

'Over the weekend I felt extraordinarily unwell. At first, I thought it was a case of food poisoning so I just took it easy,' she told her Facebook followers on Wednesday afternoon.

'I woke yesterday morning to continued pains in my stomach and decided to see a GP,' Senator Hanson said.

'Surgeons determined I needed an emergency operation to remove my appendix.

'Compared to the pain I was in before the surgery, today's pain is a lot less and I plan on being back on my feet tomorrow.'

A week ago, Senator Hanson was left 'unrecognisable' after suffering facial paralysis from a tick bite when she was still in Queensland.

Ms Hanson said she felt 'extraordinarily unwell' over the weekend but assumed it was a case of food poisoning

Her sister Judy Smith had told Daily Mail Australia the senator was unwell, as the One Nation leader cancelled public appearances.

'No, she's not okay,' she said.

While most tick bites don't cause symptoms, in some cases they can spark an allergic reaction, including anaphylactic shock and breathing problems.

What can a tick bite do? Ticks inject an anticoagulant, which prevents blood clots, when they bite into skin. This highly-toxic saliva can cause paralysis to humans. In severe cases, allergic reactions can lead to swelling of the throat and breathing problems. Some people suffer anaphylactic shock. Early symptoms of tick paralysis may include rashes, headache, fever, influenza like symptoms, tenderness of lymph nodes, unsteady gait, intolerance to bright light, increased weakness of the limbs and partial facial paralysis. Tick paralysis, while rare, is usually seen in children rather than adults. Most tick bites pose no medical problems apart from some localised swelling and redness at the bite site if the tick is removed quickly. Source: Department of Health Advertisement

Tick bites can also cause partial facial paralysis, rashes, headache, fever, intolerance to bright light and flu-like symptoms.

Her tick bite occurred the day after Al Jazeera network's How To Sell A Massacre documentary was broadcast on the ABC, showing her chief-of-staff James Ashby and her party's Queensland leader Steve Dickson agreeing to the idea of soliciting $20 million in political donations from the American National Rifle Association.

Senator Hanson had also been duped by journalist Rodger Muller, who had posed as the founder of the fictitious Guns Rights Australia lobby group.

She had been caught on camera suggesting the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, which saw 35 people shot dead, was a government conspiracy to take away guns.

Senator Hanson fronted the media in Brisbane on Thursday last week, claiming she supported Australia's existing ban on semi-automatic weapons, adding that gunman Martin Bryant was the only person involved in the mass slaughter 23 years ago.

On Wednesday, the Senate passed a censure motion against Senator Anning, who was third on One Nation's Queensland ticket at the 2016 election.

Senator Hanson condemned Senator Anning's March 15 media statement, issued hours after the Christchurch massacre.

But she has opposed the censure motion against the MP, who defected from One Nation in November 2017, the day he was sworn into Parliament to replace Malcolm Roberts, who was found to be a dual citizen.Police are searching the former home of a convicted paedophile whose 17-year-old stepdaughter vanished 43 years ago.

Officers and forensic teams were seen at Norman Duncan's former home in Ladyton, West Dunbartonshire, earlier today, reports the Daily Record.

Duncan was jailed for five years in 2016 for historical sexual offences against girls between 1968 and 1976.

It is believed police are searching the property for clues about the disappearance of Mary Duncan, who went missing after telling her family she was going to meet a friend.

Police are searching the former home of a convicted paedophile whose 17-year-old stepdaughter went missing 43 years ago

It is believed police are searching the property for clues about the disappearance of Mary Duncan, who vanished after telling her family she was going to meet a friend

Mary had a two-year-old daughter, Laura, at the time of her disappearance who tragically died later that year of natural causes.

In July, Detective Superintendent Calum Young said Mary's stepfather, Norman Duncan, had been spoken to as one of a number of lines of inquiry.

At the time, Mary's sister Debbie Renwick said she no longer believes her sister is alive but that she wanted to 'bring her home'.

She added: 'Mary was a quiet, happy girl who worked as a machinist. In March 1976 she simply went out to visit her friend in Tullichewan and never came home.

'This was out of character for her and has always been a cause of concern for us.

'Although over 40 years have passed since we last saw her, we still miss her and we dearly long to locate her and bring her home.

'We would ask anyone who knew Mary prior to her disappearance to please share their recollections of her with the police.'

A Police Scotland spokeswoman told the Daily Record: 'Police are currently searching an address in Ladyton, Alexandria, as part of an ongoing investigation.'The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has submitted a sweeping request to the IRS seeking not only President Trump's personal tax returns but filings for a related web of financial entities.

Included in the tax information being sought are a list of LLCs that are part of the Trump financial empire.

Panel Chairman Rep. Richard Neal is seeking six years of Trump's personal tax returns, from 2013 to 2018. The candidate declined to release his returns during the campaign or after obtaining office.

'Under the Internal Revenue Manual, individual income tax returns of a President are subject to mandatory examination, but this practice is IRS policy and not codified in the Federal tax laws,' Neal wrote in a letter to the IRS.

'It is necessary for the committee to determine the scope of any such examination and whether it includes a review of underlying business activities required to be reported on the individual income tax return.'

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal is seeking Trump's tax returns from the IRS

President Trump brushed off the news Wednesday evening

Democrats are seeking information on the LLCs that include LFB Acquisition LLC, the firm that took up formal ownership of the Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey the day before Trump was inaugurated. Also included is DTTM Operations LLC, which includes Trump trademarks on a range of products, from Trump Vodka to bottled water and fragrances as well asTrump hotel operations.

Neal is also seeking information on DJT Holdings, the company set up for Trump Organization ownership after Trump won the White House. It is among eight Trump entities where the chairman, who has the right to view any American's return under current law, is seeking information.

Other returns being sought are for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, DTTM Operations Managing Member Cor, LFB Acquisition Member Corp, and Lamington Farm Club LLC  the controlling entity for Bedminster.

The action in the powerful tax-writing panel, which was reported by CNN, came as the House Oversight panel got a breakthrough in seeking to obtain other Trump financial documents, as Democrats dig in in their efforts to gather information through oversight even amid the fight over Robert Mueller's report.

Among the questions Neal asks is if the entity was ever under audit. Trump and the White House have repeatedly stated that he is under audit as a reason for not divulging a return. Presidents as a matter of practice are audited in office.

President Trump brushed off the news Wednesday evening, when asked about the request for six years of information he has been unwilling to relinquish.

'Is that all?' he said at the White House. 'Oh. Usually it's ten. So I guess they're giving up. We're under audit, but despite what people said and we're working that as I'm always under audit it seems, but I've been under audit for many years, because the numbers are big, and I guess when you have a name, you are audited but until such time as I'm not under audit, I would not be inclined to do that.'

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Elijah Cummings, D-Md., is seeking financial documents to investigate claims Donald Trump 'inflated' his net worth when seeking loans

The firm representing President Trump's longtime accountant has indicated it will turn over documents to the House Oversight committee chairman who is seeking 10 years' worth of financial information.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings wrote the firm, Mazars USA, last week with a wide-ranging information request after longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified that Trump 'inflated' his financial statement while seek to finance the purchase of the Buffalo Bills.

The firm is home to longtime Trump accountant Donald Bender, who has signed returns for Trump entities and who has been identified as Trump's accountant going back years.

After receiving the information request, the firm intends to comply, said Cummings.

'The accounting firm told us that they will respond, and they just want a subpoena,' Cummings told reporters. 'They have told us that they will provide the information pretty much when they have a subpoena. And we'll get them a subpoena.'

Cummings termed it a 'friendly' subpoena since the company was seeking it. Such a move could potentially provide a shield for any liability.

The development comes after Cummings contacted the firm of President Trump's longtime accountant and demanded financial statements and audit reports on a web of Trump business entities  in the latest flexing of congressional investigatory power.

In a letter to the firm, Cummings seeks all communications between Trump and accountant Donald Bender  who has been publicly linked to Trump and whose firm has signed tax returns for a variety of Trump entities, including the Donald J. Trump Foundation and the Eric Trump Foundation.

In the letter, to the firm of Mazars USA, Cummings asks for 'all communications between Donald Bender and Donald J. Trump or any employee or representative of the Trump Organization.'

Bender is the Long Island-based numbers cruncher who has been identified as Trump's accountant as far back as 2011.

The letter seeks documents as far back to 2009  and casts a wide net to include the president himself and many of his companies.

Those listed as being specifically of interest are the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the Trump Organization, the Trump Corporation, DJT Holdings LLC, the Trump Old Post Office LLC, the Trump Foundation, and 'any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, joint venture, predecessor, or successor.'

The Trump Old Post Office LLC is a reference to the Trump company that holds a long term lease on the Old Post Office that is the site of Trump's luxury hotel in Washington, D.C. It is the subject of an Emoluments Clause lawsuit.

The Trust embodies Trump's business empire. He created the entity after his 2016 election victory.

Rep. Cummings seeks all communications between Bender, the accountant, and Trump

Accountant Donald Bender

The nature of the documents Cummings is digging for also is broad.

He asks for 'all statements of financial condition, annual statements, periodic financial reports and independent auditors' reports prepared, compiled, reviewed, or audited by Mazars USA LLP or its predecessor, WeiserMazars LLP,' according to the letter.

Bender is a Queens College graduate whose office is located in a single-story building in Woodbury, New York. According to his online bio, he leads the firm's Hospitality Group and Long Island Real Estate Practice, and has been in business for more than 35 years. 'Donald acts as a trusted advisor to his clients, and uses his in-depth knowledge of a client's business and individual structure to form effective problems solving solutions on tax issues,' it states.

Bender did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment about the document request.

The push for information comes as the White House has been holding firm and to date refusing all of Cummings requests for information about various governmental matters. It also follows a Special Counsel Robert Mueller's submission Friday of his report to the attorney general, and William Barr's four-page letter on its findings.

Cummings seeks 'all communications related to potential concerns that records, documents, explanations, or other information, including significant judgments, provided by Donald J. Trump or other individuals from the Trump Organization, were incomplete, inaccurate, or otherwise unsatisfactory.

The letter, addressed to Victor Wahba, chairman and CEO of Mazars USA LLP, also seeks 10 years worth of President Trump's financial records to follow up on a claim that he allegedly inflated his net worth while trying to buy the Buffalo Bills.

Bender did prior accounting work for Trump with an earlier firm, Manhattan-based WeiserMazars.

Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen testified last month that Trump 'inflated' his overall net worth in financial statements provided to Deutsche Bank during his failed effort to buy the team. His bid sputtered in 2014.

'Mr. Cohen produced to the Committee financial statements from 2011, 2012, and 2013 that raise questions about the President's representations of his financial affairs on these forms and on other disclosures, particularly relating to the President's debts,' House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings wrote the accounting company.

'Several of these documents appear to have been signed by your firm.'

The letter also points to discrepancies in the forms provided by Cohen and the financial disclosure form Trump submitted as a candidate for president in 2015. Their inclusion indicates that Cummings' investigative staff is scrubbing Trump financial reports for inconsistencies as the investigation proceeds.

The letter notes that the 2012 form omits debt totaling $75 million for a Chicago project and assets totaling $50 million for a Las Vegas project. 'It is unclear why certain debts connected to the Chicago property and assets related to the Las Vegas property were omitted and whether the omission was directed by President Trump or someone else,' Cummings wrote.

Republicans were pushing back against the investigatory escalation even before it was made public. Two top Republican on the panel wrote Cummings to complain about what they call an 'ill-conceived inquiry.'

The lawmakers, ranking Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, say an inquiry about the 'private finances of private citizen Donald J. Trump appears to depart from responsible and legitimate oversight.' They call it an attempt to 'embarrass' the Trump administration.

Cummings wouldn't directly confirm the inquiry when asked about it earlier Wednesday. 'We're looking at quite a few things. I'm not going to comment on that right now,' he told reporters in the Capitol.

Cummings, asked about charges from Jordan and Meadows, responded: 'I know. I said they complain about everything I do. They complain about every single thing I do. And that's to be expected. We're just seeking the truth that's all.'

The investigation is said to have been prompted by longtime Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, testifying before congress that the President routinely 'inflated' valuations of his property empire

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings wrote accounting firm Mazars USA for years worth of documents

Cohen mentioned the failed Bills purchase in his bombshell congressional testimony, where he provided Trump financial statements  including 2011 and 2013 net worth assessments that differed by $4 billion.

'These documents and others were provided to Deutsche Bank on one occasion where I was with them in our attempt to obtain money so that we can put a bid on the Buffalo Bills,' Cohen testified at the Oversight Committee.

'I believe these numbers are inflated,' the former fixer said of the valuations generally.

The Republican lawmakers wrote that the Cummings letter to the international accounting firm was dated March 20, before Mueller turned in his report and suddenly had Democrats playing defense on a raft of investigations.

On Tuesday, Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow denied Congress has a 'legitimate' interest in seeking the president's tax returns. The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee has furnished a request for the returns from the Treasury. Trump is the first party nominee in decades not to release his returns.

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio blasted the inquiry

Two Republicans on the committee wrote Cummings to complain about the request for information

Reps. Jordan and Meadows called it an 'ill-conceived' inquiry into Trump when he was a 'private citizen'

Trump's 2011 form showed $4.6 billion in assets

The documents show a Trump net worth of $8.6 billion in 2013

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, pictured earlier this year, has reportedly subpoenaed Deutsche Bank for documents relating to financing of three Trump hotels and the attempt to secure a loan to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014Terrifying footage has emerged of a rogue driver speeding down the wrong side of a busy freeway into oncoming traffic.

Dramatic video shows the vehicle reaching dangerously high speeds while travelling down the Eastlink Motorway in Dandenong, south-east Melbourne, on Wednesday afternoon.

Police initially tried to intercept the speeding driver earlier, but abandoned their chase once the vehicle drove the wrong way down the Cheltenham Rd off ramp at 1.40pm.

The hunt is on for a rogue driver who sped down the wrong side of the Eastlink Motorway in Melbourne

Witnesses told 9News that 'it was remarkable that he didn't hit or injure anyone,' and that he came 'remarkably close to other cars'.

The driver is believed to have entered the off-ramp at Dandenong and exited at Princes Highway, before travelling down the emergency lane for three kilometres.

A Vic Police spokesperson said: 'The motorist evaded police and drove the wrong way down the Cheltenham Road off ramp at 1.40pm.

Dramatic footage has been released of the vehicle reaching dangerously high speeds while traveling down the tollway next to oncoming traffic

'He continued driving northbound along the Eastlink in southbound lanes. Police did not pursue the vehicle for safety reasons.'

The hunt for the driver is still ongoing this morning and police are encouraging anyone who saw the 2003 Hyundai Elantra Sedan to contact them.A gang of girls as young as 12 have rampaged through a busy shopping centre and McDonalds, leaving eight people injured.

Ryan Ciszek, 29, was left without vision after he was allegedly attacked by one of the girls in Cockburn in Perth's south, on Monday afternoon.

Mr Ciszek said he felt defenceless when the minor began to assault him at Dome Cafe in Cockburn Gateway Shopping Centre.

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Ryan Ciszek (pictured), 29, was left without vision after he was attacked by one of the youngsters in Cockburn, Perth's south, on Monday afternoon

Seven girls were arrested and taken to Cockburn Police Station after a rampage through Cockburn Gateway shopping centre on Monday

'I put my arms up and that's just when he started wailing at me,' Mr Ciszek told Nine News.

'It's just revolting, it's disgusting to see.'

Mr Ciszek could not see out of his left eye for four hours as well as suffering a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone.

The rampage began when about seven girls got off the train at Perth's Cockburn Station, about 5pm.

The girls, aged from 12 to 15, moved as a pack, allegedly assaulting strangers as they made their way to the shopping precinct.

Stopping at a McDonald's restaurant, they allegedly harassed customers and broke a staff member's nose before attempting to steal a till.

They group made their way to a medical centre (pictured) where a woman was allegedly punched

People ran and hid as the group continued to a medical centre, where staff tried to shield patients.

'They just rampaged in, pretty much, and the receptionist lady was obviously trying to move her out, and that's when the girls just started punching her in the face,' Caitlin Gahleitner told Nine News.

A 72-year-old grandmother who was also at the medical centre said a young girl never gave up and fought her whole way to the door.

Staff attempted to shield patients from the group of young girls (victims pictured)

Sergeant Dave Eaton said their behaviour was extremely aggressive as they roamed the street looking for victims.

He described it as a 'pack mentality'.

Employees at a Cockburn business said the young girls have allegedly caused havoc for in the shopping precinct for weeks, following a spate of attacks, Perth Now reported.

'They threaten us and they threatened me personally, one of the girls even spat at me,' said an anonymous employee.

'I don't want to work in a place where I don't feel safe. We were just trying to earn a little bit of money while we are at uni, we don't want to go to work and get hit every day.'

Seven girls were arrested as a result of the rampage and taken to Cockburn Police Station.

Two have been charged with stealing offences and disorderly conduct.A murder charge has been dropped against a former sheriff's deputy who was accused of just standing by as her husband strangled a man to death outside a Houston restaurant.

Chauna Thompson and her husband Terry were both charged with murder for the 2017 death of John Hernandez, 24, outside Denny's restaurant near Crosby.

Terry Thompson was convicted of his murder last year and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Investigators said Hernandez was urinating outside the restaurant and Terry Thompson had yelled at him to stop on May 28, 2017.

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A murder charge has been dropped against Chauna Thompson, (center), who was accused with her husband Terry, (right), of strangling a man to death outside a Houston restaurant

John Hernandez died in hospital after Terry Thompson locked him in a choke-hold outside and he eventually stopped breathing following a dispute outside Denny's in Crosby

Footage then shows Terry Thompson on top of Hernandez with his arm around his throat.

Prosecutors said that during the altercation, Hernandez signaled with his hand that he was no longer resisting but that Thompson kept him in a chokehold for an additional three minutes and 36 seconds until Hernandez went limp.

Hernandez eventually stopped breathing and Chauna Thompson administered CPR. Hernandez was later taken to the hospital but died three days later.

Chauna Thompson was originally charged because didn't try to intervene as Hernandez stopped struggling and eventually stopped breathing.

A bystander caught the disturbing incident on her cell phone and the video became a rallying point for relatives and supporters of Hernandez.

Prosecutors said after a thorough review of all the evidence, there was no way to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she had committed a crime.

First Assistant District Attorney Tom Berg said: 'Courts have often said the role of a prosecutor is to do justice not to simply convict.

'Our action today is based on the lack of evidence to convict somebody and our ethical obligation not to go forward.

Terry Thompson, (left), was convicted of the murder of John Hernandez, while his wife Chauna Thompson, (right), had a murder charge against her dropped in relation to the case

Terry Thompson, accused of fatally choking John Hernandez, is shown in court in Houston on June 13, 2018. In November, a jury convicted Thompson of murder for the strangulation death of a man the couple confronted outside a Houston-area restaurant

Thompson, left, and defense attorney Scot Courtney, right, are shown in the court June 23, 2018. Thompson's trial will move to its punishment phase, where additional testimony will be presented before jurors deliberate a sentence

'To be clear, Ms. Thompsons former employment as a deputy sheriff played no role in our decision to dismiss, just as it played no role in our original decision to present the case to a grand jury.'

The decision to request a dismissal was made after prosecutors met with Hernandezs parents, widow and their supporters, the DA's office said in an email.

Prosecutors argued Thompson wanted to kill Hernandez and kept him in a chokehold even after he stopped resisting.

Thompson's attorneys countered that he was only defending himself after being punched in the face and insisted Thompson kept Hernandez subdued only until he stopped resisting.

Hernandez (pictured) died at a hospital three days after the confrontation. A medical examiner ruled he died of lack of oxygen to the brain caused by strangulation and chest compression

Hernandez's wife and three-year-old daughter begged for Terry to release his strong hold during the incident at Denny's restaurant on Mary 23, 2017

Chauna Thompson was off-duty at the time and was later fired by the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Chauna's trial was supposed to start later this year, but the case will not now move forward.

Cesar Espinosa, Executive Director FIEL, a group supporting immigrants and their families said: 'It's a very complex case and at the end of the day the DA did not think there was enough evidence to convict her.

A shocking video grab shows the moment Thompson pinned Hernandez to the ground

In the recording, Terry can be heard repeatedly asking his alleged victim, 'do you want me to hit you again?' before two bystanders command the witness to stop filming

'Its a hard pill to swallow, but I ask that we center on what the family wants which is to close this dark chapter in their lives. At the end justice is subjective.

'The Hernandez family will never have true justice because this should have never happen to begin with.'

It was the second time a jury had deliberated Thompson's case. His first trial in June ended with a hung jury.

Members of John Hernandez' family including his wife Maria Toral, (right), speak to media after the first trial against Terry Thompson ended with a hung jury on June 23, 2018

A bystander recorded the alleged murder in a disturbing video, which appeared to show Thompson holding down Hernandez's arm with her knee while Terry mounted him and left him in a choke hold for several minutes until he apparently turned blue.

While this unfolded, Hernandez's wife and three-year-old daughter begged for Terry to release his strong hold.

In the recording, Terry can be heard repeatedly asking his alleged victim, 'do you want me to hit you again?' before two bystanders command the witness to stop filming.

Autopsy results revealed that he died from anoxic encephalopathy, which means that his brain was deprived of oxygen during the alleged strangulation.Taylor Swift was not said to be at her mansion at the time of the crash

Taylor Swift has responded to a late night intrusion at her mansion after a police chase ended with a stolen sedan smashed through her front gates.

'Nothing good starts in a getaway car,' Swift wrote in an Instagram comment on Wednesday, responding to a fan page that posted a screenshot of a story about the unusual occurrence.

Police in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, confirmed they began speeding after the vehicle at around 1am on Tuesday before it crashed into the gates of Swift's $25 million Watch Hill mansion.

Swift was not at home at the time, TMZ reported.

Three ambulances rushed to the scene and the driver Shykeim Edwin Lewis, 19, along with 18-year-old Kajae Correa and a 16-year-old were taken to hospital.

Another 18-year-old Taquan Nealey fled the scene but was later found and was not injured, the Westerly Sun reported.

Taylor Swift responded to a fan page on Instagram that posted a story about the incident

The sedan's hood was severely crumpled following the high speed collision which bent Swift's gate and broke it open

The air bags are seen to have inflated within the vehicle which had four teenagers inside - three were rushed to hospital and another fled

Police said a car with no license plates, believed to have been stolen from Hartford, Connecticut, was spotted driving erratically in Hopkinton, five miles from Swift's home.

Westerly police were waiting to intercept the vehicle as it made its way to the affluent Watch Hill neighborhood.

After another police car nearly collided with the stolen car it went into Swift's gates.

Lewis, of Hartford, is charged with reckless driving by engaging police in high-speed pursuit; obstructing an officer; felony receiving stolen goods; and driving when license is suspended or denied.

Shykeim Edwin Lewis, 19, appeared in court on Wednesday on multiple charges

Lewis, of Hartford, is charged with reckless driving by engaging police in high-speed pursuit; obstructing an officer; felony receiving stolen goods; and driving when license is suspended or denied

The others in the car were not charged.

This is not the first time Swift's mansion has received unwanted visitors.

In July 2016, an obsessed fan Joseph Bernatche showed up at her house asking to marry her.

Just a day earlier he had been arrested for flashing his penis at a passing car.Customs Union

Until now, Theresa May has said the UK will leave the European Unions customs union.

The customs union eliminates duties  or tariffs  between member states, while EU countries impose a common external tariff on imports from non-members.

But the customs union also allows the EU to strike trade deals on behalf of all its members.

The Prime Minister made leaving the customs union a red line in her negotiations due to her desire to strike independent trade deals with other countries  such as the USA.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, pictured with his shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, left and shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, right, discussed strategy ahead of the his meeting with the PM yesterday

Jeremy Corbyn wants a permanent customs union. He says it will help protect existing trade between the UK and EU, in particular that of manufactured goods which relies on complex supply chains  links which can break down if goods are delayed at the border

Remaining in the union would stop this because the UK would be barred from reducing its tariffs on imported goods from other countries.

They could only strike deals in the services sector  however this does make up a vast part of the modern UK economy.

Jeremy Corbyn wants a permanent customs union. He says it will help protect existing trade between the UK and EU, in particular that of manufactured goods which relies on complex supply chains  links which can break down if goods are delayed at the border.

Labour also says that remaining in the customs union will help keep trade flowing freely between Northern Ireland and the Republic without the need for the so-called backstop.

Mr Corbyn claims his proposal does include the UK having a say on future trade deals negotiated by the EU and affecting the UK. But this is something Brussels has apparently ruled out.

Despite all this, senior Tory ministers were out in force yesterday preparing the ground for a customs union compromise. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox argued that the customs union might be needed to get out  claiming the UK could leave at a later point and a customs union would not be a permanent straitjacket.

Employment rights

Under Mrs Mays deal, the UK agrees not to row back on existing EU rules on workers rights  such as the Working Time Directive which limits working hours  after we leave.

But Mr Corbyn wants to go further and is demanding dynamic alignment  meaning any future government would agree to accept any employment laws and trade union rules passed by the EU in future, regardless of Parliaments wishes. So what if the EU agreed to a four-day working week, or passed other regulations which would erode competitiveness?

Mrs May claims to be a champion of workers rights, so this is an area she could argue is consistent with her approach, even if it limits the UKs ability to set its own course in future because we are tied to Brussels diktats.

Free movement

In theory, the parties are not far apart on free movement  one of the central issues of the referendum campaign.

Vast numbers of Labour voters backed Leave because they oppose uncontrolled immigration. This was reflected in Labours manifesto which said free movement will end after we leave.

For Mrs May, ending free movement is her reddest of red lines. But Labour policy on what migration policy should replace free movement is significantly more liberal than Tory policy. In particular, the Opposition is against the proposed 30,000 minimum earnings requirement for post-Brexit working visas.

Could Mr Corbyn demand this is scrapped and a lower earnings threshold imposed?

For Mrs May, ending free movement is her reddest of red lines. But Labour policy on what migration policy should replace free movement is significantly more liberal than Tory policy

Second referendum

PUBLICLY, Downing Street officials have not ruled out agreeing to a second referendum.

Yet if anything is a deal breaker, it is a demand for another Brexit vote. The whole point of the talks with Mr Corbyn  and the reward for Mrs May enduring civil war in the Tory Party  is that Brexit goes through in short order with Labour backing.

But a second referendum, with Remain on the ballot paper, would require a Brexit delay of at least a year and the UK taking part in MEP elections next month  both currently unacceptable to Mrs May.

On Mr Corbyns side, the second referendum is the issue which divides his Shadow Cabinet, MPs, activists and voters like no other. Agree to a deal without one and the Remainers in his party will be livid.

If he wants to deliberately crash the talks, this is what Mr Corbyn demands.A former Renault and Nissan CEO facing a series of financial misconduct charges was arrested again last night, according to Japanese media.

Carlos Ghosn was reportedly arrested at his Tokyo home in the early hours of Thursday just hours after he took to Twitter and vowed to tell his side of the story.

The scandal-hit car tycoon could face a fourth criminal charge amid claims he funnelled $32million (24million) in Nissan funds towards a luxury boat for his family.

Ghosn, 65, had earlier promised to hold an April 11 news conference to 'tell the truth about what's happening' as he awaits trial.

Carlos Ghosn (pictured in Tokyo yesterday) was reportedly arrested at his home in the early hours of Thursday just hours after he took to Twitter and vowed to tell his side of the story

The tweet sparked questions over his bail conditions, which were thought to include a ban on internet access.

He is now believed to be back in custody, just four weeks after he was bailed following three months at a detention centre.

Ghosn already faces three charges of financial misconduct, which he denies, over allegations he under-reported his pay and sought to transfer personal losses to Nissan's books.

An internal probe by Nissan has found that Ghosn approved more than $30million (23m) in payments to a distributor in Oman, it is claimed.

It is alleged that some of the money ended up in personal accounts, was used to buy a yacht and went towards investments via his son's firm.

The 64-year-old Franco-Brazilian-Lebanese executive has angrily denied the misconduct charges against him.

'The payments made by Renault to the distributor in Oman have not been diverted from their commercial objectives and under no circumstances has all or part of such payments benefited Carlos Ghosn or his family,' a spokesman said.

Scandal-hit car tycoon Ghosn (pictured in Paris last year) could face a fourth criminal charge amid claims he funnelled Nissan funds towards a luxury boat for his family

He was first arrested on November 19 after prosecutors stormed his private jet at a Tokyo airport and took him into custody.

He spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on bail of nearly $9 million.

Nissan swiftly sacked him as chairman and is also expected to remove him from the board at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting slated for Monday.

He may also have to repay a 50,000 bill for a wedding party at the Palace of Versailles which was waived under a sponsorship deal with Renault.

Renault said in February it had informed prosecutors about the alleged deal, which saw Ghosn and his wife Carole threw a Marie Antoinette-themed dinner and party at the former royal residence near Paris.Bryce McIntosh, 32, who has been charged with murder in the death of his eight-year-old son, bought gloves, acid and drain cleaner two days after the boy's mother said she last saw him, police said

A Southern California man charged with the murder of his missing eight-year-old son has pleaded not guilty.

Bryce McIntosh, 32, allegedly bought gloves, acid and drain cleaner two days after the boy's mother says she last saw him, KTLA-TV reported on Wednesday.

McIntosh has been charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture for the suspected killing of his son Noah, who went missing earlier this month in Riverside County, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said on Thursday.

If convicted, McIntosh could face the death penalty.

Corona Police Chief George Johnstone said detectives have found traces of evidence that 'leave no doubt that Noah is the victim of a homicide' even though the boy's body still hasn't been found.

'It is unfortunate and with a heavy heart that I must let the community know that the missing child investigation regarding Noah McIntosh has now been escalated to a homicide case,' Johnstone said.

Authorities have released very few details about Noah's disappearance earlier this month so as to protect the integrity of the investigation.

Bryce McIntosh, 32, has been charged with first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture for the suspected killing of his son Noah (pictured), who went missing earlier this month in Riverside County

McIntosh and Noah's mother Jillian Godfrey, 36, who live separately in Corona, were arrested and charged with felony child endangerment on March 13, just over a week after the boy was last seen on March 5, after investigators served a search warrant at McIntosh's home.

Corona police Detective Mario Hernandez wrote in a declaration filed on Thursday that McIntosh bought two pairs of long cuffed gloves, 24-inch bolt cutters, four gallons of muriatic acid, and a bottle of drain opener from a Home Depot store on March 4.

He also is said to have searched on his cellphone that day for 'normal heart rate for 8 year old' and 'exactly how sodium hydroxide works.'

Sodium hydroxide is a corrosive chemical that can dissolve flesh.

McIntosh (right) and Noah's mother Jillian Godfrey, 36 (left), who live separately in Corona, were arrested and charged with felony child endangerment on March 13, just over a week after the boy was last seen on March 5, after investigators served a search warrant at McIntosh's home. Only McIntosh was charged with the additional murder and torture charge

Further information extracted from McIntosh's cell phone led authorities to the unincorporated area of Aguanga, which showed up as one of McIntosh's previous locations, documents obtained by KTLA showed.

There, authorities noted finding purple latex gloves, a plastic bag with residue that is believed to be blood, parts to a Ninja blender, empty bottles of drain cleaner, empty cans of oven cleaner, blankets and towels.

Police say Godfrey initially told police she saw her son March 4, but she later said it actually was two days earlier.

Godgrey said she observed McIntosh taking the boy into the bathroom on March 2, and heard her son ask his father why he was hurting him.

Authorities interviewed McIntosh's daughter, who said she was aware Noah was missing 'because her daddy told her.'

Police say the daughter described instances of physical abuse being inflicted upon Noah to investigators, including the use of handcuffs to keep the child in a bathtub with cold water. Handcuffs were found when police searched McIntosh's home.

The daughter also described 'helping her daddy at times by holding Noah's legs down,' according to documents.

Noah had been living at his father's home with his 11-year-old sister when he went missing. Police have urged anyone who saw the boy or his parents between mid-February and mid-March to contact investigators

Godfrey said she saw McIntosh take Noah into a bathroom on March 2, and heard the child ask the father why he was hurting him, the detective wrote. She said that when she left McIntosh's home that day, the child was still in the bathroom, the report said.

Godfrey had contacted police to report that McIntosh was refusing to let her see her son, who was living with his father and 11-year-old sister at the time.

The mother asked officers to perform a welfare check on Noah at around 7pm on March 12. McIntosh allegedly told Godfrey that Noah had been missing since March 6, though it's not clear when he is said to have told her that.

Notes in Godfrey's phone showed she was documenting instances of abuse against Noah by McIntosh, authorities included in the report.

Godfrey was not hit with any additional charges when McIntosh was charged with murder.

Both defendants are being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in downtown Riverside.

McIntosh's bail has been set at $1million and Godfrey's is set at $500,000.

They are scheduled to enter pleas in court on April 8.The doomed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max that crashed and killed 157 people last month reportedly had its angle-of-attack sensor damaged on takeoff from a foreign object or bird.

The damaged sensor went on to trigger inaccurate data and resulted in the pilots turning the anti-stall software - known as MCAS - off, but it re-engaged and pushed the jet downwards, aviation sources close to the investigation told ABC News.

The pilots are said to have tried to manually bring the nose of the plane back up before restoring power but they were unable to regain control - ultimately resulting in the plane crashing to the ground.

It was not immediately clear whether the crew intentionally re-deployed the MCAS system, which was designed to push the nose of the 737 MAX down to prevent a stall but which is suspected of exacerbating a different scenario linked to two recent crashes.

The doomed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max that crashed and killed 157 people last month reportedly had its angle-of-attack sensor damaged on takeoff from a foreign object or bird

A person with knowledge of the aircraft said the system cannot re-activate itself unless prompted by pilots. One possibility is that the crew may have re-activated MCAS in an attempt to reduce the forces on the control column, or because they were unable to adequately trim the plane manually.

Boeing warned against speculation ahead of a preliminary report, while Ethiopian investigators could not be reached for comment.

Boeing's anti-stall software is at the center of investigations into last month's Ethiopian Airlines crash and a Lion Air accident in Indonesia in October.

Ethiopia is due to release its first report on Thursday.

No significant new technical issues have so far emerged in the Ethiopian investigation beyond those already being addressed by Boeing through updated software in the aftermath of the Lion Air crash, a person familiar with the findings said.

People close to the Ethiopian investigation have said the anti-stall software - which automatically pushes the aircraft's nose down to guard against a loss of lift - was activated by erroneous 'angle of attack' data from a single sensor.

Boeing's anti-stall software is at the center of investigations into last month's Ethiopian Airlines crash. Pictured is rescuers working at the scene of the crash site

The investigation has now turned towards how MCAS was initially disabled by pilots, in line with part of a cockpit checklist procedure, but then appeared to start working again before the jet plunged to the ground, the people said.

A directive issued after the Indonesian crash instructed pilots to use two cut-out switches to disengage the system in the event of problems and then leave them switched off.

Officials briefed on the matter said a key question is when did the pilots at the helm of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX disengage the MCAS system and did they do it too late to regain control of the airplane.

Two people briefed on the matter said the system is not designed to resume operations unless the crew acts and the crew may have unintentionally re-engaged the system as it desperately tried to pull the plane out of its nose-down descent.

They cautioned the data was still being reviewed and that the findings were preliminary.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board declined to comment.

Boeing is working to submit an upgrade of the software to the U.S. regulators in a couple of weeks and adding extra training.

Investigators will also look at whether the crew carried out procedures in full, including a recommendation to steady the plane's nose using the trim system before turning software off.

The pilots maneuvered the plane back upwards at least two times before hitting the stabilizer cut-out switches to disable the system, a person familiar with the matter said.

However, initial flight data indicates the aircraft was flying nose-heavy and not in a 'neutral' attitude when pilots hit the stabilizer cutout switches to disable the MCAS system, the person added, making the situation harder to manage.

After the pilots turned off MCAS, the airplane over the next few minutes gained roughly 2,000 feet, but dived into the ground after the MCAS system re-engaged, a source told Reuters.

Safety experts stress accidents are usually caused by a combination of factors and the probe is at an early stage.The speakers chair was like a scene from a Caravaggio canvas. Either side was a whirl of flailing arms and concerned faces bathed in soft chiaroscuro, each one trying desperately to get their view across.

Out in front, concerned-looking Clerks sat and conferred. At the centre of it of all sat the man himself, John Bercow, stroking his chin and listening to the commotion around him.

Bercow, slap bang in the middle of drama. Just the way he likes it. The issue at hand was a tied vote  310-310  the first in the House of Commons since 1993 during the Maastricht hoo-haa.

MPs were voting on whether to hold a third round of indicative votes on Monday as put up by Hilary Benn (Lab, Leeds Central) to help break the Brexit impasse. Boisterous Mark Francois (Con, Rayleigh and Wickford) suggested the decision fall to a Peoples Vote. What a helpful chap.

Like a scene from a Caravaggio canvas, Speaker Bercow surveyed the Commons with his head in his hands as arms whirled around him

House speaker John Bercow sat in the middle of the drama as MPs from across the UK voted on whether to hold a third round of indicative votes to help break the Brexit impasse

The deadlock meant the Speaker had to cast his deciding vote. Precedent required him to reject the motion. Such a move could have been helpful to the Government. Thatll sting Bercow. May require ointment.

Another knife-edge vote followed, on a Bill brought by Sir Oliver Letwin (Con, West Dorset) and Yvette Cooper (Lab, Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) forcing the Prime Minister to rule out a No Deal Brexit, this one squeaking through 315-310. In other words, it was yet another day of Brexit high drama.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister had endured a highly lively PMQs. The government backbenches now resemble a Wild West saloon.

Opposing factions eye one another suspiciously. Such is the undercurrent of menace, you feel at any moment the scene could erupt into a chair-smashing melee.

Mrs Mays decision on Tuesday to invite Jeremy Corbyn to help break the impasse is, for most of them, the final straw. Yesterday, several Tory MPs openly turned on her. Yes, they still cheered her occasional sallies but through forked tongues.

With Mrs May due to meet Mr Corbyn later that afternoon, Labours Dear Leader chose to ignore Brexit and focus on poverty. The pair grappled non-committedly in the manner of two ageing prize fighters holding out for a draw.

Neither required the bucket and sponge.

The Prime Ministers real showdown came with her own party. When the Speaker called Nigel Adams, the former Welsh minister who had resigned hours earlier, he received a heros welcome.

The deadlock meant the Speaker had to cast his deciding vote. The issue at hand was a tied vote  310-310. Precedent required him to reject the motion. Such a move could have been helpful to the Government

Would he chose the occasion to bludgeon the PM? A delightful tension suddenly gripped the House. Barry Gardiner (Lab, Brent North) twiddled his neatly manicured beard. Sir Nicholas Soames (Con, Mid Sussex) gawped in eager anticipation. Can I urge the Prime Minister to put her weight behind the campaign for step-free access for Selby railway station? he asked.

Loud exhales of breath. Adams grinned and apologised for disappointing colleagues by refusing to wield the dagger.

Not everyone let the PM off so lightly. David Jones (Con, Clwyd West) asked if it was still the Prime Ministers opinion the Leader of the Opposition was unfit to govern. To her credit, Mrs May didnt shy from the question and brought up Mr Corbyns milky response to the Salisbury poisoning when he appeared to doubt Russias involvement.

Lee Rowley (Con, North East Derbyshire) pondered what qualified Mr Corbyn to discuss Brexit when only last week Mrs May described him as the biggest threat to our standing in the world, to our defence and to our economy. Mrs May squirmed, tamely responding something about the public wanting politicians to work together to find a solution.

Grumbles emanated from behind her. ERG corner was as lively as bingo night in a nursing home. Jacob Rees-Mogg (Con, North East Somerset) chatted conspiratorially with Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Con, Berwick-upon-Tweed). Sir William Cash (Con, Stone) grimaced.

Julian Lewis (Con, New Forest East) stuck his oar in. Why, he asked, after preaching about No Deal being better than a bad deal, was the PM approaching Labour when most of her party wanted to leave next week without a deal? Mrs May responded she had a good deal, but Lewis chose to vote against it. Good answer.

At the end of a lengthy session, the PM trotted off for her lengthy pow-wow with the Leader of the Opposition. Hardly a barrel of laughs, one suspects. But a country picnic compared to her next meeting with her party.More than a third of Britons have admitted to snooping on their partner's phones and social media to find out if they're cheating.

Research, based on a survey of 2,000 Britons, found that four in ten people confessed to spying on their other halve's phone at least once a week.

One in five men said they waited until their partner was asleep to use their fingerprint to unlock their phone.

Family lawyers Hodge Jones & Allen released the report after they found a surge in in people citing information uncovered on devices.

The firm said that this type of evidence is increasingly being used as examples of unreasonable behaviour and adultery for divorce.

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More than a third of Britons have admitted to snooping on their partner's devices and social media accounts to find out whether they are guilty of cheating, a study has revealed (file photo)

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T FIND ANYTHING ON YOUR PARTNERS PHONE? Jacqueline Major, head of family law at Hodge Jones & Allen warned that there could also be consequences if nothing is uncovered. She said: 'If you do find evidence of inappropriate behaviour, this could be used as grounds of unreasonable behaviour in a divorce. 'But if you do not and your partner found out that you were looking through their phone that could be used against you as unreasonable behaviour, and it proves your trust in your partner has gone.' Advertisement

'Technology means there are far more ways to snoop now than there were before,' said Doctor Martin Graff, a psychology expert at the University of South Wales.

'Social media has also created a world where people might be encouraged to search out information on their romantic partners.'

The partners may have seen them in what they view as a suspicious situation. For example  tagged in a post with someone else, motivating them to look for more information, according to Doctor Graff.

'Furthermore, it is also quite possible that people see relationships today in a more casual way, possibly because of the hook-up culture created by mobile dating apps.'

More than half of those who snooped on their partner discovered something that led them to believe they had cheated.

Around half (45 per cent) of this group decided to end the relationship as a result, but participants failed to agree on how to define cheating.

Almost six in ten indicated that sexting should be considered cheating while 40 per cent felt it was not.

One in nine said that they believe kisses at the end of a text message constituted betrayal, while six per cent said that simply liking somebody else's post on social media was an indication that their partner was being unfaithful.

Four in 10 people confessed to spying on their other halve's phone at least once a week, while one in five men said they waited until their partner was asleep to use their fingerprint to unlock their phone (file photo)

'In a world where our lives are increasingly lived online, checking a partner's phone, email or social media without their permission is surprisingly common,' said Denise Knowles, a counsellor at relationship support charity, Relate.

'It's understandably tempting, but this doesn't make it okay.

'Take a breath  imagine you uncover something concerning and ask, 'is this really how I want to find out?'.

'Think about what's best for the relationship in the longer-term: once your partner knows you've been snooping it will only erode trust further.

'If you suspect your partner is going behind your back, talk to them about it.

'If they continue to deny it and you don't believe them, consider relationship counselling which helps to improve communication and re-build trust.

'Ultimately, checking someone's messages without their consent is a breach of trust and could be a sign of controlling behaviour.'

The results suggest that women and younger generations are more likely to snoop, compared to men and older adults.South Korea is preparing to launch the world's largest super-fast 5G mobile internet.

Friday's launch will see the service go live across the country in 85 different cities and users with 5G-enabled devices will be able to download data 20 times faster than existing 4G.

US rival AT&T became the first in the world to lunch a commercial 5G network in December 2018 and is currently available in 12 US cities.

South Korea's 5G network is expected to let users download entire movies in less than a second and paves the way for faster video streaming as well as AI and VR powered products.

Customers will need to have 5G-enabled devices in order to use the service, with the upcoming Samsung S10 likely to be a popular choice in the tech-savvy country.

The news comes on the same day as a study found that the economic benefits to the UK could be up to 15.7 billion ($20.66 billion) by 2025 if 5G's roll out is accelerated.

South Korea is in a race with China, the United States and Japan to market 5G, with firms like Samsung, Huawei and Apple pioneering 5G tech.

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A new survey shows the United States and China are the leading nations prepared for ultrafast 5G wireless networks. Friday's launch will see South Korea go live across the country and users with 5G-enabled devices will have internet 20 times faster than the existing 4G (file photo)

South Korea is hoping the technology will spur breakthrough in fields such as smart cities and autonomous cars, and drive economic growth after 2018's six-year low.

'It is meaningful that South Korean telecom companies are providing services and networks meeting South Korean customers' high standard in speed and picture quality,' Ryu Young-sang, executive vice president at the country's top mobile carrier SK Telecom, said on Wednesday.

5G will change the landscape of the gaming industry as it allows games streamed with minimal delay to be played on smartphones, Mr Young-sang added.

South Korean carriers have spent billions on campaigns marketing 5G and, on Wednesday, SK Telecom showed off K-pop stars and an Olympic gold medalist as its first 5G customers.

SK Telecom is working with its memory-chip making affiliate SK Hynix to build a highly digitised and connected factory powered by 5G technology, Ryu said.

The operator expects about one million 5G customers by end-2019. It has a total of 27 million users.

Smaller rival KT Corp is set to offer cheaper plans than its LTE service, with unlimited data and 4-year instalments to buy 5G devices.

Samsung was the first to unwrap a 5G phone in February when it unveiled the Galaxy S10 5G and its cutting edge Samsung Fold.

In the eyes of many analysts, this put the world's top smartphone maker by volume in pole position in the 5G race.

Smaller local rival LG Electronics plans to release its 5G smartphone in South Korea later this month.

In the United States, carrier Verizon plans to launch its 5G network in two cities on April 11.

While security concerns over 5G networks using telecom equipment made by China's Huawei have marred the buildup to the release of these services, South Korean has tried to shrug them off.

'I don't think we have a security issue in South Korea,' Park Jin-hyo, head of SK Telecom's information and communication tech research centre, told reporters.

He added that the company uses advanced technology to block eavesdropping or hacking into 5G networks.

Among South Korea's top three telecom operators, SK Telecom and KT Corp do not use Huawei equipment for 5G. Smaller carrier LG Uplus uses Huawei gear.

Samsung was the first to unwrap a 5G phone in February when it unveiled the Galaxy S10. This puts the world's top smartphone maker by volume in pole position in the 5G race, some analysts say

The news comes as a new study released today reports on the economic benefits to the UK if it installs 5G technology.

Barclay's research found the UK business revenues by up to 15.7 billion ($20.66 billion) by 2025 if its projected rollout is accelerated.

With networks and government making progress to introduce the next standard of mobile technology, experts predict that businesses in distribution could be the biggest winners, with revenue growth of 3.6 billion ($4.74 billion).

There are growing concerns, however, that a lack of knowledge regarding how best to apply the technology could stunt its growth.

A survey of 526 business decision makers found 39 per cent would not know how best to maximise 5G.

'While the Government and network providers are already working hard to introduce 5G in the UK, we found that businesses do not yet have enough clarity about how they will benefit in the long-run, said Sean Duffy, head of technology, media and telecoms (TMT) at Barclays.

'What's more, nearly four in 10 business leaders still aren't entirely sure what 5G is,' At the current pace of development, revenue is expected to reach 13 billion ($17.1 billion), while a slower approach would bring in an extra 8.3 billion ($10.92 billion).

Under the optimistic scenario, the manufacturing, professional services and business services also stand to gain the most, with billions split across the UK.

London and the south east could benefit most, with 4.1 billion ($5.4 billion) and 2.5 billion ($3.29 billion) respectively in increased business revenue, but the north west, east of England, south west and Scotland could also take in over 1 billion ($1.37 billion) each.

'To ensure the UK can realise the full potential of an accelerated rollout, the Government, mobile operators and other corporate partners - including financial institutions - have a job to do in order to raise awareness amongst businesses so they can harness 5G,' Mr Duffy added.

'This support is crucial for businesses to make smart investments which will unlock the power of 5G.'

In February, telecoms giant O2 confirmed it will start rolling out its 5G network this year, beginning in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London, following fellow operators EE and Vodafone, who are already running trials of 5G networks in parts of the UK.An ancient Egyptian nobleman who lived 4,300 years ago has been discovered buried in an L-shaped limestone tomb decorated with brutal murals.

It had previously been raided by tomb robbers but remains of the nobleman, believed to be called Khuwy, were found scattered among the blocks.

Many of the paintings inside the tomb include original pigments and hieroglyphs which depict scenes of men carrying cuts of meat as well as slaughtering cows.

The unusual site dates back to the 5th Dynasty, which ruled the Nile Valley from 2388-2356 BC.

It was found in the Saqqara pyramids complex outside Cairo.

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Many of the paintings inside the tomb include original pigments and hieroglyphs which depict scenes of men carrying cuts of meat as well as slaughtering cows (pictured)

Dr Mohamed Megahed of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities told Ahram Online that the mission found the chamber via two entrances in the west wall of its antechamber.

He added: 'It seems that the space of the burial chamber was almost completely filled with a limestone sarcophagus, which was found entirely destroyed by ancient tomb robbers.'

His remains, although vandalised, were once mummified, the experts found.

Resins and oils used to preserve the body were identified at the site.

This tomb's greater structure includes a descending corridor with a small hallway leading to an antechamber.

These were then decorated with scenes showing the owner of the tomb at an offering table.

The tomb had previously been raided by tomb robbers but remains of the nobleman, believed to be called Khuwy, were found scattered among the blocks. It was also decorated with scenes showing the owner of the tomb at an offering table (pictured)

A nobleman from the early period Egyptian society has been discovered buried in an L-shaped white tomb made of limestone (pictured) and decorated with brutal murals. The mission from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities found the chamber via two entrances in the west wall of its antechamber

Further study of the site (pictured) is expected and researchers hope to find evidence of the period between the fifth and sixth dynasties

Archaeologists also found evidence of a little-known queen, called Sebtihor, among the many inscriptions, on a red granite column.

It reads: 'The one who sees Horus and Seth, the great one of the hetes sceptre, the great of praise, king's wife, his beloved Setibhor.'

It is believed she was the wife of Djedkare Isesi, the eighth and final ruler of the Fifth Dynasty.

Scholars previously found an anonymous tomb dedicated to him in the nearby vicinity, but it remains unknown if this is its twin for the married couple.

Further study of the site is expected and researchers hope to find evidence of the period between the fifth and sixth dynasties.This time of year, the Bering Sea is typically blanketed in a thick layer of ice that stretches from the outer rim of Alaska toward it's northern neighbor, the Chukchi sea, but according to scientists, the body of water is nearly 'ice-free.'

Satellite images released this month from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reveal a concerning picture of declining Bering Sea ice coverage which has now set record lows for two consecutive years.

Without the ice covering the ocean, which usually helps to reflect any sunlight overhead, the Bering Sea is at higher risk of warming and accelerating further ice melt, say experts.

 Slide me  On the left is what the Bering Sea looked like in April 2014, while the right image represents the body of water's current condition.

In 2018, one scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center noted that the Bering Sea was missing about 500,000 square kilometers, or 'two Texases,' worth of ice.

'This virtually guarantees that sea surface temperatures will be warmer than normal this coming summer and autumn, and so it will impact the ecosystem, including commercial fisheries for months to come,' said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist for the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Elsewhere throughout Alaska last month, other records were set on land, with Klawock, a town in southeastern Alaska, hitting its earliest 70-degree temperature ever on March 19.

According to NOAA, elsewhere throughout the state, 55 record daily high temperatures were also broken between March 1 and March 23.

Overall, Arctic sea ice was at its seventh lowest extent ever recorded this winter according to the NOAA who released its analysis last month.

While Arctic ice decline slowed marginally year-over-year, the NOAA says the trend throughout the last 40 years is clear -- sea ice is in rapid decline.

Global temperatures have been documented around the globe and have contributed to the melting of Arctic ice

Compared to the average between 1981 and 2010, Arctic sea ice is now missing a geographic area equivalent to the size of Texas said the NOAA last month.

The culprit is the continued march of average temperatures across the globe, scientists say.

So far, January through February this year was the globe's fourth warmest two-month period in 140 years according to a recent monthly report from the NOAA.

The month of February clocked in at 55.3 F, which is 1.42 degrees higher than the 20th century average of 53.9 degrees.Hikers and climbers are being forced to clean up their waste in Alaska as 66 tons of frozen faeces is expected to start thawing - thanks to global warming.

As climate change melts the glacier's icy surface, the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing for a potential avalanche of human waste heading for the ocean.

Six of the seven hiking companies contracted to take tourists up Mount Denali's trails have volunteered to enforce a waste management program, according to the NPS,

This waste brings with it a trove of parasites, diseases, bacteria and residual toilet paper, which is travelling towards Alaska's coast.

Since the 1970s park rangers needed to accommodate increasing numbers of climbers by digging latrines into the glacial ice near crowded stopping points.

The 10 foot (three metre) hole was covered was filled in at the end of climbing season, but melting ice could reveal the excrement buried within.

Hikers are now being asked to take a personal transportable toilet, called the Clean Mountain Can, with them on their expedition.

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Hikers and climbers are now being forced to clean up their waste at Denali mountain in Alaska as 66 tons of frozen faeces is expected to start melting. As global warming melts the glacier's icy surface, the National Park Service is having to prepare. Here, the Clean Mountain Can

The slogan on the can, reading 'no can, no climb', has been adopted by six of the seven guide companies contracted on the mountain.

Every climber is handed a can on arrival and expected to use it. The toilet can be used around 12 times and weighs up to 15 pounds (7kg) when full.

The guide companies that lead many of the 1,200 climbers who attempt the summit each year.

Previously, going up Denali's climbing route each year would defecate wherever they could.

Experts are now fearing that a whopping 66 metric tons of faecal matter has accumulated in Kahiltna Glacier's ice over the decades.

'Climbers and particularly guide services are really embracing the new policy and are even exceeding it. It has become kind of an informal badge of merit to carry off all your waste,' said Michael Loso, a National Park Service glaciologist.

Mr Loso has been studying the problem of climber waste on the mountain for nearly a decade.

The first steps towards improving sanitation took place in 2001, when the NPS worked with the American Alpine Club to pilot the cup program.

More than 500 climbers used the can over the following years, reducing contamination near one of the more disgusting campsites enough to show the program's merit.

Since it can take a few weeks to trek up and back, park rangers admitted that they couldn't expect walkers to carry an entire trip's worth of waste the whole way.

So they compromised on a sign-posted crevasse at 14,200 feet (4,328m) where hikers could drop their faeces.

According to the NPS, six of the seven hiking companies contracted to take tourists up Denali's trails have volunteered to enforce new waste management practices. Hikers are now being a personal transportable toilet called the Clean Mountain Can which they would take with them

Every climber is handed a can on arrival and expected to use it. The toilet can be used around 12 times and weighs up to 15 pounds (7kg) when full. The guide companies that lead many of the 1,200 climbers who attempt the summit each year. Pictured here is Mount Denali

The Clean Mountain Can program has made a marked improvement cleaning up the glacier's surface, the park said.

Now all but one of the park's contracted hiking companies are stepping up to make their clients carry all of their waste the entire way.

The companies cover around half of all climbers making their way up Dinali's flanks, so it should make a significant impact on the park's sanitation

Research by the National Park Service found that in the past 50 years, the area covered by ice within the Alaskan parks has diminished by 8 percent.

'We have lost more glacier cover in the Alaskan national parks than there is area in the whole state of Rhode Island,' said Loso.

'One of the consequences of warming temperatures is that the surface of the glacier is melting more quickly.

'But with global waming Kahiltna glacier is still steaming ahead with its cargo of caca

'We have lost more glacier cover in the Alaskan national parks than there is area in the whole state of Rhode Island,' said National Park glaciologist Michael Loso.

This means that waste deposited at the lowest climbing camp on the mountain could start reappearing soon.

Waste deposited higher up the mountain will take longer to appear.

On Mount Everest, the bodies of climbers who had long been buried in the snow and ice are being exposed because of global warming.

Mr Losos research suggests that the bacteria and other bugs that live in feces survive after being buried in the snow.Facebook is under fire after it was revealed that the social media giant asks new users to provide their email passwords when they sign up to create an account.

The site prompts some new users to give up the highly sensitive information in order to login, catching the attention of security experts, some of which say the practice is no different than a phishing attack.

What's worse, after users provide their email password, Facebook appears to be harvesting users' contacts to store in its databases without their consent, according to Business Insider.

It comes mere weeks after Facebook was found to have stored hundreds of millions of users' passwords in plain text, marking just the latest example of Facebook's numerous privacy bungles.

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Facebook is under fire after it was revealed that the social media giant asks new users to provide their email passwords when they sign up to create an account

The findings were first reported by The Daily Beast.

When some users attempt to login, they're met with a notice on the site that reads: 'To continue using Facebook, you'll need to confirm your email.'

The notice then has an empty field for entering their email password below the email address they used to register on the site.

A disclaimer on the notice then states: 'Facebook won't store your password.'

The notice appears to show up only for users who sign up with certain email providers, such as Russian internet firm Yandex and GMX Mail.

Twitter user @originalesushi first discovered the password entry form over the weekend. It requires some new users to provide their email password in order to verify their identity

Users with email addresses from Gmail, Outlook and other services aren't being shown the notice because those providers use the OAuth protocol, which authenticates a user's identity without requiring them to supply their password.

Once users provide their email password, Facebook shows a pop-up that says the site is 'importing contacts.'

However, users aren't given the option of consenting to this, Business Insider noted.

It's unclear whether or not the site pulls any contact information or where it's stored.

After the practice was discovered, Facebook announced that it would no longer give the option of providing an email password to login.

Facebook said only a 'small number of users' were asked to provide their email password upon logging in.

'We understand the password verification option isn't the best way to go about this, so we are going to stop offering it,' a Facebook spokesperson told the Daily Beast.

The firm said users can also authenticate their account by having a code sent to their phone or a link sent to their email by clicking on the 'Need help?' button in the bottom left corner of the pop-up.

Twitter user @originalesushi first discovered the password entry form over the weekend.

'By going down that road, you're practically fishing for passwords you are not supposed to know,' the user wrote.

Security experts said the practice was concerning because it encouraged users to hand over private information that should only be shared in very limited circumstances.

Moreover, should Facebook ever experience a data breach the likes of those it has experienced previously, users email passwords could very well be up for grabs by hackers.

'That's beyond sketchy,' security consultant Jake Williams told the Daily Beast.

'They should not be taking your password or handling your password in the background. If that's what's required to sign up with Facebook, you're better off not being on Facebook.'

Another security expert compared Facebook's request of email passwords to a phishing attack.

'This is bad on so many levels,' Bennett Cyphers, a security researcher with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Business Insider.

User trust in CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook has been tested time and time again as it has weathered numerous privacy scandals, notably the Cambridge Analytica debacle last year

'It's an absurd overreach by Facebook and a sleazy attempt to trick people to upload data about their contacts to Facebook as the price of signing up.

'Even when you consent to uploading contact information to Facebook, you should never have to put in your email password to do it,' he added.

User trust in Facebook has been tested time and time again as it has weathered numerous privacy scandals.

Just last month, security researcher Brian Krebs reported that Facebook left the passwords of 200 million to 600 million users stored in plain text.

It meant that the information was readable and searchable by more than 20,000 Facebook employees, in some cases dating as far back as 2012.

Prior to that, the firm announced in September it had been hit by its worst-ever data breach, with 50 million users' information left exposed by an exploit in its 'View As' feature.Global warming is stopping the Australian great Barrier Reef from recovering from bleaching.

Research has found warmer waters stops the coral from begin able to reproduce and rebound.

Previous studies have also discovered warmer waters are responsible for bleaching corals, with the iconic Great Barrier Reef experiencing four events in 1998, 2002, and back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.

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Global warming is stopping the Australian great Barrier Reef from recovering from bleaching. Research has found warmer waters stops the coral (pictured) from being able to reproduce and rebound

Previous studies have also discovered warmer waters are responsible for bleaching corals, with the iconic Great Barrier Reef experiencing four events in 1998, 2002, and back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. This graphic explains the process

'Dead corals don't make babies,' said lead author Professor Terry Hughes at James Cook University (JCU) in North Queensland, Australia.

'The number of new corals settling on the Great Barrier Reef declined by 89 per cent following the unprecedented loss of adult corals from global warming in 2016 and 2017.'

The study measured how many adult corals survived along the length of the world's largest reef system following extreme heat stress events.

It also examined how many new corals they produced to replenish the Great Barrier Reef in 2018.

The loss of adults resulted in a crash in coral replenishment compared to levels measured in previous years before mass coral bleaching.

'The number of coral larvae that are produced each year, and where they travel to before settling on a reef, are vital components of the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef,' said co-author Professor Andrew Baird.

'Our study shows that reef resilience is now severely compromised by global warming.'

The biggest decline in replenishment, a 93 per cent drop compared to previous years, occurred in the dominant branching and table coral, Acropora.

As adults these corals provide most of the habitats that support thousands of other species.

The mix of baby coral species has shifted, and that in turn will affect the future mix of adults, as a slower than normal recovery unfolds over the next decade or longer.

'The decline in coral recruitment matches the extent of mortality of the adult brood stock in different parts of the Reef,' added Professor Hughes.

'Areas that lost the most corals had the greatest declines in replenishment.'

'We expect coral recruitment will gradually recover over the next five to ten years, as surviving corals grow and more of them reach sexual maturity, assuming of course that we don't see another mass bleaching event in the coming decade.'

The study measured how many adult corals survived along the length of the world's largest reef system following extreme heat stress events. It also examined how many new corals they produced to replenish the Great Barrier Reef in 2018 (stock image)

So far, the Great Barrier Reef has experienced four mass bleaching events due to global warming, in 1998, 2002, and back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.

Scientists predict that the gap between pairs of coral bleaching events will continue to shrink as global warming intensifies.

'It's highly unlikely that we could escape a fifth or sixth event in the coming decade,' said co-author Professor Morgan Pratchett.

'We used to think that the Great Barrier Reef was too big to fail - until now,' he said.

'For example, when one part was damaged by a cyclone, the surrounding reefs provided the larvae for recovery. But now, the scale of severe damage from heat extremes in 2016 and 2017 was nearly 1500km--vastly larger than a cyclone track.'

Professor Pratchett added that the southern reefs that escaped the bleaching are still in very good condition, but they are too far away to replenish reefs further north.

'There's only one way to fix this problem,' says Professor Hughes, 'and that's to tackle the root cause of global heating by reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero as quickly as possible.'Advertisement

Art fans are being given the chance to spend a night at the world's most popular museum alongside its stunning masterpieces.

Airbnb has teamed up with the Louvre to let one lucky competition winner and a guest see what happens inside the building once the lights go out.

They will sleep in the famous glass pyramid, which has been transformed into a bedroom, drink cocktails in front of the Mona Lisa and have dinner in the company of the Venus de Milo.

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Aibnb is offering two lucky art fans the chance to spend the night at the Louvre in Paris after all the other visitors have left. One of the experiences they will be treated to is having cocktails in front of the Mona Lisa

The two guests will also have an extravagant feast in a pop-up dining room located right next to the Venus de Milo statue

The experience includes being greeted by an art historian, who will take the two guests on a bespoke tour, like those previously given to Barack Obama, Beyonce and Jay-Z

The bedroom where the two lucky guests will sleep will be located inside the Louvre's famous glass Pyramid

It is the first time that anyone has been granted permission to sleep in the Paris museum overnight

It is the first time that anyone has been allowed to sleep in the Paris museum overnight and it is being described as a 'one night only' event.

The experience also includes being greeted by an art historian, who will take the two guests on a bespoke tour, like those previously given to Barack Obama, Beyonce and Jay-Z.

They will then toast the Mona Lisa with a cosy Renaissance-inspired aperitif, while relaxing on a sumptuous Parisian lounge sofa and listening to the atmospheric sounds of French music on vinyl records.

Venus de Milo, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, will then 'host' an extravagant feast in a pop-up dining room.

While gazing at the Mona Lisa, the two guests will be able to listen to the atmospheric sounds of French music on vinyl records

Emmanuel Marill, general manager of Airbnb France, said: 'Paris is one of the most attractive cities in the world and the Louvre is one of the most loved and celebrated institutions in Paris'

The competition to spend a night at the Louvre is open until 11.59pm (French time) on April 12. You must answer the question: 'Why would you be the Mona Lisa's perfect guest?'

And lastly, guests will be treated to an intimate acoustic concert in Napoleon III's lavish apartments.

Anne-Laure Beatrix, deputy managing director of the Musee du Louvre, said: 'We are happy to offer this unique and special experience for two people to stay in the museum overnight, in a bespoke pyramid shaped bedroom.

'We know that many people would love the opportunity to wander alone at night through the Louvre and we want this to be a magical and unforgettable experience.

'With Airbnb's partnership, we hope to encourage more people to discover how truly accessible and inspiring the wonders of art can be.'

Airbnb's partnership with the Louvre extends beyond the lucky winner of the contest and their guest.

Anne-Laure Beatrix, deputy managing director of the Musee du Louvre, said: 'We know that many people would love the opportunity to wander alone at night through the Louvre and we want this to be a magical and unforgettable experience'

From May until the end of the year, a series of experiences at the museum will be bookable on the Airbnb platform. Airbnb say these experiences will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Emmanuel Marill, general manager of Airbnb France, said: 'Paris is one of the most attractive cities in the world and the Louvre is one of the most loved and celebrated institutions in Paris.

'We are thrilled to partner with them and to offer exciting and unique experiences that will celebrate our community and welcome Parisians and international travellers to rediscover the museum in a new and authentic way.'

The competition to spend a night at the Louvre is open until 11.59pm (French time) on April 12. You must answer the question: 'Why would you be the Mona Lisa's perfect guest?' To enter visit airbnb.com/louvre.A newly unveiled airline seat is being tipped as the seat Emirates will install in its first ever premium economy cabin.

Design firm Haeco Cabin Solutions showcased its new Eclipse seat at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, explaining that it's for 'long-haul premium economy' and that its launch customer would be a 'Middle Eastern-based airline' who will begin flying it in 2020.

Given that last year Dubai-based Emirates announced that it would be launching a premium economy class cabin from 2020, aviation websites have been putting two and two together.

The brand new Eclipse seat unveiled by Haeco Cabin Solutions, which is being tipped by some aviation specialists as the seat Emirates will install in its first ever premium economy cabin

For example, Simple Flying wrote: 'There is probable cause to believe it could be Emirates.

'The airline is known to be implementing premium economy in the future, and this seat fits that mission.

'In fact, the seat represents a good middle ground between the carriers economy and business cabins.'

When approached by MailOnline Travel, Emirates refused to comment.

According to Haeco Cabin Solutions, the Eclipse seat has an innovative layout and design and could be also used for short-haul business class travel.

The company says the seat has increased privacy and comfort and provides more stowage space for amenities and crew baggage, freeing overhead bin space.

Doug Rasmussen, president and group director of Haeco Cabin Solutions, said: 'We saw an opportunity to develop a premium product for an emerging new class between premium economy and business class seating that would be appreciated both by passengers and airlines.

It was announced last May that Emirates is to launch a premium economy class on its aircraft from 2020

'We harnessed our decades of experience in providing premium seating products and services to take a holistic approach to creating a new standard. The unique advantages of the Eclipse seat, together with the integrated cabin, can create up to a 14 per cent increase in passengers within the same cabin space.'

Customer deliveries will start in the first quarter of 2020 after the Eclipse Cabin has been certified. It has already achieved technical viability with Boeing and configurations for the Boeing 737 and 787 are now available.

It was announced last May that Emirates is to launch a premium economy class.

The airline's president Tim Clark said it could help the carrier attract more higher spending travellers.

Premium economy will be on the Airbus A380s that Emirates ordered last year, of which the first six will be delivered in 2020, Clark said in a company podcast on its website.

He added: 'We will be installing premium economy into those and it will be an Emirates premium economy, so it will be special.'

Premium economy costs more than economy class tickets, but less than business class. Its introduction by Emirates could increase competitive pressure on rival Gulf airlines Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.He's developed a habit of transforming himself for his roles in recent years.

Now Zac Efron is at his most chilling in the new trailer for the upcoming Netflix and Sky Cinema movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile.

The 31-year-old actor plays serial killer Ted Bundy in the film, which focuses on his manipulative relationship with his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, played by Lily Collins, 30.

Horrifying: Zac Efron, 31, is at his most chilling in the new trailer for Extremely Wickedly, Shockingly Evil And Vile, in which his stars as serial killer Ted Bundy, opposite Lily Collins, 30, as his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer

The trailer opens in an prison visitation room, which it will return to periodically.

Bundy enters the room to meet with his visiting girlfriend, Kloepfer.

'Do you remember the night we met?' she asks, as the screen cuts to the memory of a happier party scene.

Locked away: The trailer opens in an prison visitation room, which it will return to periodically. Bundy enters the room to meet with his visiting girlfriend, Kloepfer

Charming mask: 'Do you remember the night we met?' she asks, as the screen cuts to the memory of a happier party scene

The trailer cuts to footage of Bundy being driven to a jail in a police car and photographed for a mug shot as the prosecutor, played by The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parson, speaks.

'Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have been witness to the unspeakable horrors of the defendant's heinous crimes. You have seen ghastly injuries, smashed-in faces, broken jaws...'

In another flashback montage, the charming serial killer shares glances with two smiling women in a library who are unaware of his true intentions.

Finally caught: The trailer cuts to footage of Bundy being driven to a jail in a police car and photographed for a mug shot as the prosecutor, played by The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parson, speaks

Mug shot: 'Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have been witness to the unspeakable horrors of the defendant's heinous crimes. You have seen ghastly injuries, smashed-in faces, broken jaws...'

Seductive: In another flashback montage, the charming serial killer shares glances with two smiling women in a library who are unaware of his true intentions

Back in the courtroom, Kloepfer watches the crying family of one of his victims as her voice is heard on the soundtrack.

'For years, I've carried this guilt that I'm to blame for everything,' she says. 'If only I hadn't trusted you.'

In a kitchen scene, one of her friends asks her, 'It's about another missing girl, isn't it?' suggesting that she may have known more than she let on as Bundy's crimes continued.

Blaming herself: Back in the courtroom, Kloepfer watches the crying family of one of his victims as her voice is heard on the soundtrack. 'For years, I've carried this guilt that I'm to blame for everything,' she says. 'If only I hadn't trusted you'

Early signs: In a kitchen scene, one of her friends asks her, 'It's about another missing girl, isn't it?' suggesting that she may have known more than she let on as Bundy's crimes continued

Next, the acting shifts to the circus-like atmosphere of the trial.

'We've got a very disturbed, sick individual,' says a voice in archival audio, as photographers push each other aside to take the serial killer's picture.

We see one of his lawyers saying that he'll have the first nationally televised trial in history.

In the courtroom, the judge, played by John Malkovich, seems disarmed by Bundy's good looks and charming demeanor.

After he compliments the accused murderer's appearance, he replies, 'I'm disguised as an attorney today,' referencing his failed attempts to become a lawyer.

Sensation: Next, the acting shifts to the circus-like atmosphere of the trial. 'We've got a very disturbed, sick individual,' says a voice in archival audio, as photographers push each other aside to take the serial killer's picture.

All dressed up: In the courtroom, the judge, played by John Malkovich, seems disarmed by Bundy's good looks and charming demeanor. After he compliments the accused murderer's appearance, he replies, 'I'm disguised as an attorney today'

Not having it: In another testy court scene, the judge shouts, 'It is a capital murder case, and you are skating on thin ice'

In another testy court scene, the judge shouts, 'It is a capital murder case, and you are skating on thin ice.'

As the cutting becomes more frenzied, showing scenes of Bundy befriending different women, Kloepfer crimes out, 'I wish I could take it all back!'

Then, as Bundy stands over a bed where Kloepfer lies unconscious, perhaps considering adding her to his list of victims, we hear the judge on the soundtrack: 'The killings were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile.'

Preying: As the cutting becomes more frenzied, showing scenes of Bundy befriending different women, Kloepfer crimes out, 'I wish I could take it all back!'

Helpless: Then, Bundy stands over a bed where Kloepfer lies unconscious, perhaps considering adding her to his list of victims

No mercy: We hear the judge on the soundtrack: 'The killings were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile'

The trailer ends where it began, back in the visitation chamber.

Kloepfer begs for an answer: 'Did you do these things, Ted?'

'This is all gonna end,' he says.

Locked up: The trailer ends where it began, back in the visitation chamber

Searching for answers: Kloepfer begs for an answer: 'Did you do these things, Ted?'

'It's only going to end with the truth, she replies.

The final image is of Efron as Bundy, giving a frighteningly intense glare into the camera.

Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil and Vile premieres on Netflix and in select theaters on May 3. It will also be available in UK cinemas and on Sky Cinema from May 3.She is known for her signature bohemian style.

But on Tuesday, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky traded her laid-back attire for a glitzy ensemble during photo shoot in Sydney.

Taking to Instagram, the 42-year-old shared a collection of snaps to Instagram of herself looking very glamorous in a sequined silver dress.

Glitzy goddess! Model Elsa Pataky (pictured) looked simply sensational in a glamorous sequin dress and bold red lip ahead of a lavish photo shoot on Tuesday

Elsa's striking appearance was complete with a bold makeup look, consisting of dewy foundation, lashings of mascara and a red lip.

The stunner also had her short blonde locks styled in loose, textured waves.

'Working in another great campaign for @gioseppo_official,' she penned beside another photograph of her posing up a storm at the shoot.

Getting ready! Elsa's striking appearance was complete with a bold makeup look consisting of dewy foundation, lashings of mascara and a red lip

'Working in another great campaign for @gioseppo_official,' she penned beside another snap, showing her posing up a storm at the shoot

The slender model shares three children with Chris Hemsworth, who is best known for his role in the Thor film series.

Chris and Elsa met in early 2010 and married shortly after in December that year.

The couple have a daughter, six-year-old India, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, four.

Gorgeous! The stunner also had her short blonde locks styled in loose, textured waves

In a recent interview with Hola's USA magazine, Elsa revealed that her three children don't realise their parents are famous.

Elsa told the magazine in February that the kids think 'that their parents maybe appear in movies or on TV every once in a while, and for them it's the most normal thing in the world.'

She added: 'They think their parents are like the other parents, and that's what I think they have to think all their lives.'She was arguably the most controversial star of Yummy Mummies before exiting the reality series after its first season.

But now Maria Di Geronimo is 'open' to making a comeback for the reality show's third season, with her manager confirming that the star is currently exploring her options.

'She's excited about the future,' Max Markson told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.

'She's excited about the future': Yummy Mummies villain Maria Di Geronimo is 'open' to returning for the show's upcoming third season

'In my opinion, Maria was definitely the breakout star of the show when it aired in Australia originally and again when Netflix broadcast it globally these last few weeks.'

Max then warned that without Maria, Yummy Mummies could suffer a similar fate to the sitcom Two and Half a Men after Charlie Sheen left.

'Maria did not appear in season two and I think the commercial reality of her starring again in season three is of enormous value to the continuation of the show locally and globally into seasons four, five, and six!

'Otherwise, it may well suffer a similar fate as Two and a Half Men did when Charlie Sheen left. Ashton Kutcher was great but everyone wanted Charlie back.'

'Maria was definitely the breakout star of the show when it aired in Australia and again when Netflix broadcast it globally,' her manager Max Markson told Daily Mail Australia

Maria previously told The Advertiser that she had 'no interest' in returning for another season and would prefer to pursue her own show, but she appears to have changed her mind now.

The first season of Yummy Mummies followed four lavish mums-to-be around as they awaited the birth of their children.

Maria emerged as the most outrageous of the bunch, receiving viewer backlash after she threw out a $600 designer blanket that her daughter Valentina had soiled instead of just washing it.

Change of heart? Maria previously said she had 'no interest' in returning for another season and would prefer to pursue her own show, but she appears to have changed her mind now

Sleeper hit: Yummy Mummies originally flopped when it premiered on Channel Seven, but the show has since become a huge success after being picked up by Netflix

The brunette beauty quit the series after season one, claiming that she was 'not portrayed accurately'.

Yummy Mummies originally flopped when it premiere on Channel Seven back in 2017, hitting a tragic low of just 207,000 viewers for its final episode.

However, the show found a second life on Seven's streaming platform, before being picked up by global giant Netflix late last year.

Yummy Mummies has become a runaway success since hitting Netflix, with Maria's Instagram following jumping from 60,000 followers to over 460,000.

The outspoken star is currently engaged to business owner Carlos Vannini. Together, the couple have one child, a daughter named Valentina.The Bachelor's Dasha Gaivoronski is officially an Australian citizen.

The 33-year-old personal trainer, who emigrated from Russia in 2013, announced the news via Instagram on Tuesday.

She shared a photo of herself holding a brand new Australian passport, and revealed that her son Leon, six, has also acquired citizenship.

'Australians... with a dash of Russian!' The Bachelor's Dasha Gaivoronski revealed on Tuesday that she and her son Leon, six, have become citizens after emigrating from Russia in 2013

Reflecting on her journey to becoming a citizen, Dasha wrote: 'Today, nine days before our six-year anniversary of living in this incredible country we received our passports and that means we're officially Aussies now. That, honestly, feels surreal.

'In 2013 we moved to Adelaide and only last year I decided to relocate our entire life to Sydney.

'And despite me being so hard on myself the whole time thinking I could've given my son a better life and overall could've been better, stronger, more patient, more successful - today I'm taking a moment to reflect on our life and celebrate this epic moment for my tiny little family.'

New life: Dasha, a 33-year-old personal trainer, emigrated from Russia almost six years ago

Dasha was previously married to Leon's father for eight years but they broke up after relocating to Adelaide together.

Following their marriage breakdown, Dasha's ex moved back to Russia and she has been raising Leon as a single mum ever since.

The glamorous brunette appeared as a contestant on Nick Cummins' season of The Bachelor last year.

Just the two of us! Dasha is raising Leon as a single mum after splitting with husband, who has since returned to Russia. Leon was four months old when he came to Australia with his parents

She often spoke about her son on the show, and once broke down in tears during a challenge when she imagined what he would be like in 10 years' time.

After failing to win Nick's heart on the Bachelor, Dasha briefly dated former Bachelorette star Charlie Newling.

However, it's believed she is currently single.She is the fashion IT girl who has cultivated partnerships with a slew of fashion brands.

And on Tuesday, Alexa Chung has dressed to impress at the launch of her spring summer 2019 collection with Italian trainer brand Superga at Gloria Trattoria in London.

The 35-year-old flaunted her lithe figure in a mid length frock with an ivory frock with a floral pattern and plunging neckline - teamed with white Superga sneakers.

She's got the look! Alexa Chung has dressed to impress at the launch of her spring summer collection with Italian trainer brand Superga at Gloria Trattoria in London

She accessorised her look with a silver choker necklace featuring a large pearl at the centre and a small pearl suspended below it.

The brunette beauty styled her shoulder-length locks in loose waves that skimmed her delicate shoulders.

For make-up she opted for a subtle flush of pink to her cheeks, a mauve pout, lashings of mascara and defined brows.

Outside of the venue she donned an edgy black leather jacket that contrasted her soft feminine dress.

Fashionista: She teamed her look white Superga sneakers and accessorised with a silver choker necklace featuring a large pearl at the centre and a small pearl suspended below it

Mixing it up: Outside of the venue she donned an edgy black leather jacket that contrasted her soft feminine dress

Stylish: At the event she mingled with a slew of guests including radio DJ and TV presenter Lilah Parsons who opted for a bold, red floral frock that featured a cheeky split in the centre

At the event she mingled with a slew of guests including radio DJ and TV presenter Lilah Parsons.

She opted for a bold, red floral frock that featured a cheeky split in the centre.

Alexa's brother Dominic also attended his sister's footwear event and even posed for a photo together.

No rivalry here: Alexa's brother Dominic also attended his sister's footwear event and even posed for a photo together. She added an edgy black leather jacket to her look while her brother who donned a bright yellow jumper under a navy jacket

Classic: Also at the event was social media influencer Sophia Smith who looked chic in a black blazer and navy trouser ensemble for the event

The model-turned-fashion designer wore her leather jacket to match her look, while her brother who donned a bright yellow jumper under a navy jacket.

Also at the event was social media influencer Sophia Smith who looked chic in a black blazer and navy trouser ensemble for the event.

Youtube star Tanya Burr was also at the event keeping it casual in a sheer top, black acid wash jeans and sneakers.The explosive two-part Married At First Sight reunion will kick off on Sunday night.

But bride Heidi Latcham had a shock reunion of her own while appearing on KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie O show on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old revealed her secret history with shock jock Kyle Sandilands, 47, more than 10 years ago, but was forced to ask the radio star: 'You don't even remember me? I went to you house once!'

Scroll down for video

'Oh, Jesus. Sorry Mike!' Shock jock Kyle Sandilands (left) jokingly apologised to MAFS' star Mike Gunner after his 'wife' Heidi Latcham revealed her history with the radio shock jock during his radio show on Wednesday

History: Heidi claimed she once worked with Kyle at MTV, but he insisted he didn't remember her as he sat awkwardly across from her 'husband' Mike in the Sydney studio. Heidi and Mark are pictured on MAFS on Tuesday night

Heidi claimed the pair once worked together at MTV, but Kyle insisted he didn't remember her as he sat awkwardly across from her 'husband' Mike Gunner in the Sydney studio.

Before Heidi explained the situation further, Kyle joked to Mike with a chuckle: 'Oh, Jesus. Sorry Mike!'

'We were working at MTV together and I had black hair,' Heidi added, hoping to jog Kyle's memory, but he still didn't recall knowing her.

'You picked me up from work, took me to your house and we went to the filming of Tamara's (Kyle's ex wife) video clip.'

'Well, that's a blast from the past!' Heidi mentioned being present during the filming of a video clip for his ex-wife Tamara Jaber, who Kyle split with in 2010 after two years of marriage (Pictured: 2005)

'Well, that's a blast from the past!' Kyle said, as she spoke about his ex-wife Tamara, who he split with in 2010 after two years of marriage.

It's believed the video clip Heidi was referring to would have been filmed in 2005.

Kyle has been dating glamour model Imogen Anthony, 28, for almost eight years after meeting at Kyle's 40th birthday bash in 2011.

Girlfriend: Kyle has been dating glamour model Imogen Anthony, 28, for almost eight years after meeting at Kyle's 40th birthday bash in 2011 (Pictured: Kyle and Imogen in 2017)

Meanwhile, MAFS couple Heidi and Mike claim they are still together since their vow renewal aired this week on the experiment.

The pair, as well as the other 12 original couples on the show, will reunite in a two-part reunion on Sunday and Monday.

Married At First Sight returns on Sunday from 7pm on NineThey reportedly split just two days after saying 'I love you' at their final vows on Married At First Sight.

But Mike Gunner didn't have to worry about any awkward break-up questions during his appearance on 9Life's Talking Married on Tuesday.

The show's hosts, Jayne Azzopardi and Shelly Horton, both avoided asking questions about Mike's relationship status, which seemed rather remiss.

Aren't you forgetting something? On Tuesday night, the hosts of MAFS after-show Talking Married avoided asking Mike Gunner (right) if he was still dating Heidi Latcham (left)

They didn't even address the fact Mike had appeared on the MAFS after-show alone.

The Gold Coast electrician also raised eyebrows when he was seemingly unsure of how to answer some of the softball questions.

Guest panellist Ryan Gallagher asked Mike how he felt when he told Heidi he loved her during their emotional final vows.

Sensitive subject? Despite break-up rumours making headlines this week, Jayne Azzopardi (pictured) and Shelly Horton didn't bother asking Mike if he was still dating Heidi

Mike responded: 'That's a good question. I don't know if I have a good answer to that.

'I felt like I was levitating at that moment. There was a lot of emotions happening. It's something I'll never forget.'

The following morning, Mike made another solo appearance on KIIS FM's The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

During that interview, he awkwardly tried to claim he was still dating Heidi before dodging a series of tricky questions about their relationship.

'I don't know if I have a good answer to that': The Gold Coast electrician also raised eyebrows when he was seemingly unsure of how to answer some of the softball questions

'Yeah, no, we are... we are, absolutely,' he stammered when asked if he and Heidi were still together three months after filming their final vows.

Mike, who is doing interviews in Sydney alone while Heidi remains on the Sunshine Coast, added: 'I'm sitting here holding her hand right now. You can't see that?'

Unsatisfied by Mike's answers, Kyle Sandilands decided to call Heidi live on air, despite the fact she was presenting her own radio show on Sea FM in Queensland.

Mr Lonely: The following morning, Mike made another solo appearance on KIIS FM's The Kyle and Jackie O Show. During that interview, he dodged questions about his relationship status

'Hello, how are you going guys? Is my beautiful wife there?' Mike said uncomfortably as he waited to speak to Heidi.

The stilted conversation that followed between Mike and Heidi certainly didn't sound like an exchange between a 'husband' and 'wife.'

'How did you feel about it last night, Heids?' asked Mike, who had watched the final vows ceremony by himself in Sydney.

Hmm! Mike cryptically said 'anything's possible' after Kyle Sandilands (right) asked him point blank if he's still in a relationship with Heidi after Married At First Sight

'Oh God!' Unsatisfied by Mike's answers, Kyle then decided to call Heidi (pictured) live on air, despite the fact she was presenting her own radio show on Sea FM in Queensland

'Yeah, I liked it. I liked... Oh God. Just all the emotions. And it just brought back so much. It was so good!' Heidi spluttered.

'Are you still together? Why aren't you together, you two?' Kyle then asked.

'We are together! She just can't do any media because of her early working hours,' Mike replied, before Heidi explained: 'I'm doing my radio show!'

Awkward! The stilted conversation that followed between Mike and Heidi certainly didn't sound like an exchange between a husband and wife. Pictured on Married At First Sight

At the end of the interview, Kyle asked Mike whether he was telling the truth or if there was something else going on behind the scenes.

Once again, Mike played it cool and simply responded: 'Anything's possible...!'

On Monday, New Idea reported that the couple decided to call it quits just two days after filming their final vows in December.

According to the magazine, Heidi ended the relationship after discovering her husband 'had felt pressured to say he loved her'.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel NineShe was accused of buying almost half of her 234,000 Instagram followers.

And in the wake of the allegations, Married At First Sight's Martha Kalifatidis is suffering backlash from fans.

Viewers have flooded the show's popular fan account MAFS Funny to slam the star, describing her as 'fake' and a 'snake'.

'I have my fingers crossed she doesn't get her tick. She doesn't deserve it for being a fake snake': MAFS star Martha Kalifatidis faces fan backlash after claims she bought Instagram followers

'Fake followers, adds to the fake nose, fake lips, fake boobs , fake tan, fake personality, fake selfies,' one fan raged.

Referencing the much hyped wine-throwing showdown between her and co-star Cyrell Paule, the Instagram user added: 'I wouldn't waste a good glass of wine on you.'

Another commenter said they weren't shocked about the claims, writing: 'No surprise, her whole life is BS. Nothing real about her. Next.'

A further comment read: 'She's a fake 'b**ch. I have my fingers crossed she doesn't get her tick. She doesn't deserve it for being a fake snake.'

Deluge of insults: MAFS fans didn't hold back when slamming Martha after accusation arose that more than 100,000 of her Instagram followers may be 'ghost' accounts

'She's so fake, I can't stand her,' one MAFS fan wrote, while another added: 'What a joke she is!'

Others called for someone to start a petition to prevent Martha from being officially verified on Instagram with a blue tick.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that Martha appeared to be buying fake followers on Instagram to boost her popularity on the social media site.

'Suspicious accounts': The shocking statistic was provided by Hype Auditor, an online tool that analyses social media pages to expose 'fake influencers, followers, likes and comments'

Daily Mail Australia can reveal that 103,700 of Martha's followers are 'suspicious' or 'mass' followers (also known as 'ghost' pages), and are not believed to be genuine accounts.

The shocking statistic was provided by Hype Auditor, an online tool that analyses social media pages to expose 'fake influencers, followers, likes and comments.'

Social media analytics website Social Blade has also noticed inconsistencies with the growth of Martha's account

11,047 in one day? Analytics site Social Blade has also noticed inconsistencies with the growth of Martha's account - often jumping from its daily average of 2,000-3,000 new followers

Popular: Martha currently has 232,000 Instagram followers, making her the most popular star from season 6

While the makeup artist tends to average 2,000-3,000 new followers daily, which is similar to her co-stars, occasionally her page jumps by much more than that.

On March 18, despite the show not airing on this day, Martha unexpectedly gained a staggering 11,047 followers in just 24 hours.

In recent weeks, the brunette's page has also gone from averaging around 5,000-10,000 'likes' per post, to averaging 25,000.Grant Denyer is still recovering in a Sydney hospital after suffering a ruptured disc from a DIY home project that left him unable to walk or sit.

And in a heartfelt post on Instagram on Tuesday, the presenter's wife Chezzi, 39, posted an image of Grant FaceTiming with their daughter Sailor, 7, from his hospital bed.

'She [Sailor] absolutely adores her Daddy and I know she misses him so much right now, I miss him too, and I only left his bedside about 4 hours ago to fly home,' she wrote in the accompanying caption.

Get well soon: Grant Denyer FaceTimed daughter Sailor, 7, from his hospital bed this week. The presenter is currently recovering from a ruptured disc

'But, a few more days complete rest in hospital is what was advised and I can already see him making a big improvement.'

Despite being bedridden in hospital, Grant still had perfectly quaffed hair and a well-groomed beard.

And while he's beginning to look better, Chezzi revealed that he may still have some recovery time to go.

'He was discharged on Sunday and we thought he was good but we may have jumped the gun a little bit,' she wrote.

Health woes: Grant is still recovering in a Sydney hospital after suffering a torn disc from a DIY home project last week.

On the mend: In the Instagram post, Chezzi wrote that Grant may have been discharged earlier than he should have been - saying they 'jumped the gun a little bit'

'We knew it was a stretch but wanted to see how he went and then realised it was a bit too early.'

'So back into hospital he went. And while tonight I feel a bit exhausted, and a tad emotional being reunited with my girls.'

Touching on why their other daughter, Scout, 3, wasn't in the FaceTime video, Cheryl added: 'She was busy eating.. but I know she would prefer eating by his side!?'

Chezzi ended the post by sending a shout out to 'anyone who has someone in hospital' and 'everyone missing a parent or loved one'.

Chezzi, whose been by Grant's side up until Tuesday evening dedicated her heartfelt post to 'anyone who has someone in hospital'

'I think sometimes we forget that life isn't always easy and that's ok,' she added.

'And for my little family, we will count down the days until we can all head back down to Sydney to hang out with Daddy!'

She then caps off the post with hashtagging 'fewsleepstogo'.

In late March, the father-of-two tore his L1 disc during an accident at home which resulted him keeling over in serious pain.Channing Tatum stripped down to black and grey swim trunks during his lavish vacation in Cabo San Lucas on Saturday.

Gone were the chiseled six-pack abs the 38-year-old Independent Spirit Award winner famously sported in his 2012 breakout role as a Tampa stripper in Magic Mike.

But the Lego Movie 2: The Second Part actor still looked pretty good, albeit visibly sunburned on his back and shoulders.

Channing Tatum stripped down to black and grey swim trunks during his lavish vacation in Cabo San Lucas on Saturday.

 Slide me  Dad bod: Gone were the chiseled six-pack abs the 38-year-old Independent Spirit Award winner famously sported in his 2012 breakout role as a Tampa stripper in Magic Mike

Channing finished off his barefoot poolside attire with a crucifix necklace and a newly-shaved head.

Tatum appeared to be have a great time relaxing at a big beach house in the seaside Mexican town.

Joining the Alabama-born heartthrob was his pink-clad daughter Everly, whom he sweetly cradled in his arms.

The Smallfoot star has custody of his fairy-obsessed five-year-old with estranged wife Jenna Dewan on Mondays and Tuesdays, alternating weekends, and half the holidays - according to The Blast.

Looks painful! But the Lego Movie 2: The Second Part actor still looked pretty good, albeit visibly sunburned on his back and shoulders

Minimal tattoos: Channing finished off his barefoot poolside attire with a crucifix necklace and a newly-shaved head

Holiday! Tatum appeared to be have a great time relaxing at a big beach house in the seaside Mexican town

His baby: Joining the Alabama-born heartthrob was his pink-clad daughter Everly, whom he sweetly cradled in his arms

Co-parents: The Smallfoot star has custody of his fairy-obsessed five-year-old with estranged wife Jenna Dewan on Mondays and Tuesdays, alternating weekends, and half the holidays

Pals: Channing and his privileged princess were sharing the vacation home with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine (L), his Namibian wife Behati Prinsloo, and their two small daughters

Chilling: The 40-year-old Super Bowl LIII half-time performer appeared to be enjoying a cocktail, perhaps from Tatum's Born and Bred vodka brand

Channing and his privileged princess were sharing the vacation home with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, his Namibian wife Behati Prinsloo, and their two small daughters.

The 40-year-old Super Bowl LIII half-time performer appeared to be enjoying a cocktail, perhaps from Tatum's Born and Bred vodka brand.

On Monday, the flame-haired 30-year-old posted a beach snap of herself posing beside a 'vanilla' cake featuring herself storming the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runway.

Behati's early birthday bash? On Monday, the flame-haired 30-year-old posted a beach snap of herself posing beside a 'vanilla' cake featuring herself storming the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runway

Co-stars: Channing met the three-time Grammy winner back in 2012 under awkward circumstances as he performed a steamy love scene with Tatum's 38-year-old wife (R) in the second season of FX's American Horror Story: Asylum

That was quick: Jenna moved on with Tony-winning actor Steve Kazee (R) in October - the same month she filed for divorce from the Sundance Jury Prize winner (pictured March 16)

Channing met the three-time Grammy winner back in 2012 under awkward circumstances as he performed a steamy love scene with Tatum's 38-year-old wife in the second season of FX's American Horror Story: Asylum.

Jenna moved on with Tony and Grammy-winning actor Steve Kazee in October - the same month she filed for divorce from the Sundance Jury Prize winner.

It's unclear why Channing's girlfriend of six months - British pop star Jessie J - didn't come to Mexico as she doesn't resume her 50-date R.O.S.E Tour until April 13 at Zermatt Unplugged in Switzerland.

Rehearsing? It's unclear why Channing's girlfriend of six months - British pop star Jessie J - didn't come to Mexico as she doesn't resume her 50-date R.O.S.E Tour until April 13 at Zermatt Unplugged in Switzerland (pictured November 26)

PDA: Last Wednesday, the Glenville State College drop-out publicly wished his 'special baby' a happy 31st birthday and she responded by Insta-storying a whale asking 'Whale you be mine?'

First embrace: The Grammy nominee first met the Step Up: High Water executive producer in 2015 when she presented him with the MTV Movie Award for best comedic performance for his film 21 Jump Street

Last Wednesday, the Glenville State College drop-out publicly wished his 'special baby' a happy 31st birthday and she responded by Insta-storying a whale asking 'Whale you be mine?'

The Grammy nominee first met the Step Up: High Water executive producer in 2015 when she presented him with the MTV Movie Award for best comedic performance for his film 21 Jump Street.

Career-wise, Tatum is producing a Broadway-bound production of Magic Mike, which runs November 30 through January 5, 2020 at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston.Married At First Sight's Ines Basic has denied allegations she asked a Brisbane pub to temporarily close its doors so she could enjoy a private drink with her lawyer.

A Facebook user claimed on Wednesday that Ines, 29, had asked the owners of the Elysium Restaurant & Bar to 'close down so she could have lunch in peace' last week.

She had just left nearby Cleveland Magistrates Court with her lawyer Ivan Sayad after pleading guilty to drink driving and other charges and wanted to celebrate the end of a stressful few months.

Denials: Married At First Sight's Ines Basic has denied 'asking a Brisbane bar to close so she could have lunch with her lawyer in peace'. Pictured at Cleveland Magistrates Court last week

Indeed, she was pictured at the venue with Mr Sayad on Tuesday, March 26.

A week after the sighting, however, somebody wrote on a Facebook fan page: 'I just spoke to a friend that was at Cleveland the other day when Ines was there for court.

'Who does this woman think she is? After court she went into the pub and asked them to close it down so she could have lunch in peace. Of course they said no. This woman is off her head.'

Bottoms up! Ines went for a celebratory drink with her lawyer Ivan Sayad at the Elysium Restaurant & Bar after pleading guilty to drink driving on Tuesday, March 26

Ines told Daily Mail Australia these allegations are false, however, saying in a statement: 'I have no idea where people get this stuff from. It's rather sad.'

A spokesperson for Elysium Restaurant & Bar also denied the claims, insisting that Ines did not request that other patrons leave the venue.

'She actually sat in one of the most visible spots,' they said.' She was no trouble at all, she just came in and had a wine with her lawyer.

'I didn't even know who she was. The only reason I knew she was famous was because of all the paparazzi taking photos of her.'

Allegations: A week after her court appearance, a Facebook user claimed Ines demanded the owners of the Elysium Restaurant & Bar close the place down so she could have more privacy

Ines became one of the most controversial stars on this year's season of Married At First Sight after she cheated on her 'husband' Bronson Norrish with another groom.

However, the legal assistant's affair with Samuel Ball didn't last and the pair are currently involved in a very public feud.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday 7pm on Channel Nine

Villain: Ines became one of the most controversial stars on this year's season of Married At First Sight after she cheated on her 'husband' Bronson Norrish (left) with another groomElle Fanning got some family backup at a screening of her upcoming musical movie Teen Spirit at the ArcLight Hollywood this Tuesday.

The platinum blonde 20-year-old was joined at the bash by her elder sister Dakota Fanning, who preceded her in the business as a child star.

For her big night, Elle modeled a glittering floor-length sheer pink Rodarte gown, adding a twee touch to the ensemble with a matching bow in her hair.

What a night: Elle Fanning got some family backup at a screening of her upcoming musical movie Teen Spirit at the ArcLight Hollywood this Tuesday

Meanwhile, 25-year-old Dakota showed off her enviably trim legs in a flowing black mini-dress that featured a glinting silver bow at the neckline.

Slicking her signature blonde hair tightly back into a high ponytail, the 5foot4 actress lent herself a bit of extra stature on black platform heels.

Helmed by actor and first-time director Max Minghella, Teen Spirit stars Elle as a girl entering a singing competition to escape her small-town life.

Family time: The platinum blonde 20-year-old was joined at the bash by her elder sister Dakota Fanning, who preceded her in the business as a child star

The look: For her big night, Elle modeled a glittering floor-length sheer pink gown, adding a twee touch to the ensemble with a matching bow in her hair

The premise: Helmed by actor and first-time director Max Minghella, Teen Spirit stars Elle as a girl entering a singing competition to escape her small-town life

Meanwhile: 25-year-old Dakota showed off her enviably trim legs in a flowing black mini-dress that featured a glinting silver bow at the neckline

Sleek and chic: Slicking her signature blonde hair tightly back into a high ponytail, the 5'4" actress lent herself a bit of extra stature on black platform heels

'I always had this dream of being a pop star. That feeling, like I can just let loose and perform, was so attractive,' she dished to Billboard of her role in the film.

There has been a swirl of rumors over the past few months that Elle and Max are a couple, but neither of them has publicly confirmed as much.

Married movie stars Jamie Bell and Kate Mara, who are currently expecting their first child together, glowed as they hit the red carpet.

Hot couple: Married movie stars Jamie Bell and Kate Mara, who are currently expecting their first child together, glowed as they hit the red carpet

Backstory: Gossip spread of Kate's pregnancy after she spilled the news to Emily Blunt in the ladies' room line at the Golden Globe Awards in January, Page Six alleges

Quirky: Kate Crash showed off her quirky sense of style as she posed on the red carpet

Think pink: Hayley Orrantia stunned in a neon pink number which perfectly showed off her long, lean legs

Bloomin' beautiful: Spanish actress Christina Ochoa wowed in a fitted silk suit

Love: AJ Michalka slipped into a denim jumpsuit as she cosied up to Ryan Blair

Sister, sister: Dakota and Elle joined forces as they partied inside the venue

L-R: Jamie Bell, Fred Berger, Elle, Max Minghella and Agnieszka Grochowska

Gossip spread of Kate's pregnancy after she spilled the news to Emily Blunt in the ladies' room line at the Golden Globe Awards in January, Page Six alleges.

To hear the Page Six insider tell it, Emily remarked that Kate's breasts had grown, prompting the Chappaquiddick actress to explain why.

She went public with the news at Elton John's Oscar Party, posing in a dress that accented her bump and posting a photo of herself and Jamie that evening to Instagram with the caption: 'Went on a date with our bun in the oven.'She is the daughter of model and fashion icon Christine Brinkley, who took her career Down Under earlier this year.

And Sailor Brinkley-Cook made her latest foray into the Aussie modelling world at the Australian Turf Club Autumn Fashion Lunch on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old glowed in a white sheer turtleneck shift dress as she posed with horses at Sydney's Royal Randwick.

A delight in white! Sailor Brinkley-Cook flaunted her slender physique in a chic sheer dress at Royal Randwick's Autumn Fashion Launch in Sydney on Wednesday

White-on-white: The American model emphasised the white-on-white look with a pair of elegant high heels as she basked in the Autumn sunshine

The American model emphasised the white-on-white look with a pair of elegant high heels as she basked in the Autumn sunshine.

Adding to the striking appearance, she partly braided her blonde tresses and allowed the other half to flow effortlessly off her shoulder.

She completed the look with a beaded headpiece and a gold and silver wrist watch.

Gorgeous: The 20-year-old glowed in a white sheer turtleneck shift dress as she posed with horses at Sydney's Royal Randwick

Accessories: She completed the look with a beaded headpiece and a gold and silver wrist watch

The young starlet appeared at the event alongside television beauties, Abbey Gelmi, Carissa Walford and Kate Waterhouse.

Former Miss Universe Jesinta Franklin and Australian swimmer Cate Campbell completed the group of ambassadors for the Autumn Carnival of horse racing.

In an interview with Stellar on Sunday, Sailor reflected on growing up in the spotlight and the inner demons she's battled along the way.

'I'm pretty candid about the fact that I dealt with a couple of eating disorders. I understand feeling out of control and obsessing over how you look,' she said.

Group shot: The young starlet appeared at the event as an ambassador alongside Abbey Gelmi, Jesinta Franklin, Carissa Walford, Cate Campbell and Kate Waterhouse (pictured left to right)

Beauties: Sailor dazzled in the white dress alongside TV presenter Kate Waterhouse at Royal Randwick

Luscious locks: Adding to the striking appearance, she partly braided her blonde tresses and allowed the other half to flow effortlessly off her shoulder

Having been signed by IMG models when she was 15-years-old, she admitted that constantly being compared to her famous mother had been difficult at times.

It comes after the stylish Instagram star revealed to Daily Mail Australia she was teased for being 'chubby' as a child.

'I got teased, bullied and bad-mouthed. My friends were petite and could eat whatever they wanted. I wasn't. I hated having a roll around my tummy,' she recalled.

She's just like all of us: In an interview with Stellar on Sunday, Sailor reflected on growing up in the spotlight and the inner demons she's battled along the wayShe's often praised for her sleek and sophisticated style.

And on Wednesday, Jesinta Franklin (nee Campbell) looked every inch the elegant fashionista during an exquisite photo shoot.

The 27-year-old model posed up a storm alongside a stunt horse for the Australian Turf Club's autumn fashion launch, which was held at the Centennial Parklands in Sydney.

Mane chick! Model Jesinta Franklin (pictured) exuded elegance in this quirky polka dot frock as she struck a pose alongside a stunt horse for an exquisite photo shoot on Wednesday

With one hand on her hip, Jesinta, who is the 2019 Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes ambassador, struck a pose while the horse reared up behind her.

The wife of AFL star Buddy Franklin, stunned in a quirky navy blue-and-white polka dot frock that featured short, puffy sleeves and a collar.

She teamed the ensemble with a pair of patent black pumps and wore a glitzy silver watch by Longines.

Wow! The 27-year-old model posed up a storm beside this stunt horse in a collection of stunning photographs for Australian Turf Club's autumn fashion launch, held at the Centennial Parklands in Sydney

Amazing! With both hands on her hip, Jesinta struck this pose while the horse reared up behind her

Attire: Jesinta stunned in this quirky navy blue-and-white polka dot frock that featured short, puffy sleeves and a collar

Her short blonde locks were swept over to one side of her face and styled silky straight.

For a touch of glamour, Jesinta wore a silver diamond-crusted hairpiece.

Her makeup consisted of matte foundation, a pop of coral blush, nude lipstick and defined eye brows.

All in the details: She teamed the ensemble with a glitzy silver watch and her diamond engagement and wedding bands

Hair: Her short blonde locks were swept over to one side of her face and styled silky straight

Later, she flashed her pearly whites for a close-up shot with the beautiful steed.

Racing Ambassadors Sailor Brinkley Cook, Abbey Gelmi, Carissa Walford, Cate Campbell and Kate Waterhouse joined Jesinta for a cheerful group snap at the event.

Gold-Coast born Jesinta became a household name after competing at the Miss Universe competition in 2010, where she placed second runner up. She has since worked as an ambassador for brands like Cadbury and Dior.

She's also appeared on reality television, with a bikini-clad stint on The Celebrity Apprentice back in 2011.

Visage: Her makeup consisted of matte foundation, a pop of coral blush, nude lipstick and defined eye brows

Breathtaking: Later, she looked out into the distance for this close-up shot with the beautiful steedIt was a big day for the Little cast Tuesday in New York City, as Issa Rae, Regina Hall and Marsai Martin promoted the film in a group interview with Build Series NYC.

There, 34-year-old actress/writer Issa looked elegant in a fire orange long-sleeved top with matching pants and gold heels and her dark locks pulled into an immaculate bun.

The fashionista was also snapped Tuesday in a red overcoat with a blue ensemble with textured pants and danglers; and in a creme sweater with matching slacks and gold heels appearing om Late Night with Seth Meyers.

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Front and center: Issa Rae, 34, Marsai Martin, 14, and Regina Hall, 48, promoted their new film Little in a group interview with BUILD Series NYC Tuesday

Martin, 14, wore a blue floral dress with silver heels to BUILD, while Hall, 48, donned a sheer navy blue top with jeans and grey sandal heels.

At BUILD, Issa told a story that related to the film when it comes to run-ins with bullies who reappeared in their lives after they made it in show business.

Marsai confirmed she had but did not want to divulge any further details, while Issa recalled a former middle school and high school who was not nice to her in the past reemerging - with a favor to ask.

She 'was just a b***h - she was just the worst person in life,' Rae said. 'When I had my one series Awkward Black Girl and it started gaining some speed, she had the nerve to message me and be like, "Hey whats up, Id love to be a part of this, blah, blah ...'

Terrific trio: The three actresses posed together at the facility in the Big Apple

Storyline: In the movie, Hall and Martin play the same character, named Jordan, at different ages

Reveal: At BUILD, Issa told a story that related to the film, when it comes to run-ins with bullies who reappeared in their lives after they made it in show business

Say what? Issa recalled a former middle school and high school who was not nice to her in the past reemerging and asking for a role on her show; she never responded

The Los Angeles native, whose full name is Jo-Issa Rae Diop, said she was shocked by the ask, especially considering how the girl had past treated her: 'And I was like, What?! Did you just forget all the torment you put me through?"'

Revenge is a dish best served cold - or silent - as the bully is still waiting a response, as Issa said she never replied to the ask.

Little arrives in theaters April 12.

Stunning: The Insecure star beamed after leaving the SiriusXM headquarters Tuesday

Busy day: Issa also promoted the film on Late Night with Seth Myers late TuesdayThe pair solidified their friendship after they shared a passionate kiss during a wild night out in February.

And on Tuesday, Married At First Sight 'villains' Ines Basic, 28, and Martha Kalifatidis, 30, were back together again as they stepped out for lunch on the Gold Coast.

The 'bride from hell' and the Bondi-based makeup artist looked relaxed as they chatted away over a few red wines.

Banding together! MAFS 'villain' Ines Basic (left) and Martha Kalifatidis (right) enjoyed lunch together on the Gold Coast on Tuesday ahead of explosive two-part MAFS finale next week



Martha, who has previously defended Ines over 'unfair' trolling, continued to pledge her allegiance to the Bosnian beauty during the outing.

The brunette, who was clad in a thigh-skimming white denim dress, looked animated while she conversed with Ines over lunch.

Meanwhile, the Queensland legal assistant, who was also dressed in white, was seen intently listening to her best friend's words of wisdom.

Chewing her ear off! Martha, who was clad in a thigh-skimming white denim dress, looked animated during her conversation with Ines

Serious: The pair continued their intense conversation while they sipped on red wine and indulged in bowls of pasta

Girl talk: Martha was seen sipping on red wine while she dined with Ines

Intense: Martha appeared to take quite a large sip of wine during the intense conversation

Keep it coming! The waiter was seen bringing a bottle of red wine to the ladies' table

Ladies who lunch: The ladies enjoyed bowls of pasta during their outing on the Gold Coast on Tuesday

The pair continued their intense conversation while they indulged in bowls of pasta.

The reality TV duo were also seen sipping on glasses of red wine.

Shortly after the pair finished their meal at the venue, Martha was spotted staring at her smartphone.

At one stage, the glamorous Sydneysider appeared to read something aloud from her device while Ines sat back and listened.

Comfort food: The pair continued to enjoy their carbohydrates as they dug into the pasta

Deep and meaningful? The reality TV duo continued to converse at the restaurant

Lunch: Martha was seen nibbling on salad during their meal on the Gold Coast this week

Quick scroll? Shortly after the pair finished their meal at the glitter strip restaurant, Martha (right) was spotted staring intently at her smartphone

OMG! At one stage the glamorous Sydneysider appeared to read aloud something from her device, while Ines sat back in her chair and listened

The mood between the female co-stars appeared to lighten as soon as they departed the restaurant.

The pair looked every inch the bosom buddies as they were seen laughing and joking while they walked through the carpark towards their vehicle.

As Martha walked through the parking lot she flaunted what appeared to be a brown and black Fendi handbag.

Sisterhood: The pair were spotted dining together on the Gold Coast ahead of the MAFS finale

Girls getaway: The Sydney-based star and Ines enjoyed a girls getaway together on the Gold Coast this week

LOL! The mood between the female co-stars appeared to lighten as soon as they departed the restaurant

Bosom buddies: The pair looked every inch the bosom buddies as they were seen laughing and joking while they walked through the carpark towards their parked vehicle

Details: Martha also offered fans a look-see at what appeared to be a brown and black logo Fendi handbag as she strut through the parking lot

All smiles: The beaming brunettes continued to flash their pearly whites in the carpark

Next level! The brunette bombshells appeared keen to take their girls getaway to the next level as they were seen making a quick pitstop at a local bottle shop

The brunette bombshells appeared keen to take their girls getaway to the next level as they were seen making a quick pitstop at a local bottle shop.

Earlier on the same day, Ines finally broke her silence on her controversial kiss with Martha back in February during an interview with The Kyle And Jackie O Show.

'Yeah, we made out. You're not best friends until you make out with each other!' she mused, before confirming the pair did nothing more than kiss.

'It was my birthday and we were just having a really good time and we hooked up!'

Kyle and Jackie O weren't shy to probe Ines on whether she would consider dating women following her catastrophic on-screen romances.

'I could never date a chick. Um, no I like men too much,' Ines responded.

Staying stong! Ines and Martha were seen together on Tuesday ahead of the explosive two-part finale next weekShe's a two-time Oscar-nominated actress and comedian who starred in the wildly successful Bridesmaids.

And on Tuesday Melissa McCarthy put her outrageous comedic skills on full display alongside husband Ben Falcone.

The dynamic duo had fans bursting out in laughter when they donned dragon costumes to promote their upcoming action-comedy, Superintelligence at CinemaCon 2019 in Las Vegas.

Comic relief: Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone dressed up in dragon costumes for CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday

The 48-year old star's ensemble was a showstopper with its sparkling red sequins that came complete with a red and gold cape and a green dragon protruding from behind her head.

She added a red headset, matching arm bands and long pointy add-ons to her fingers on her left hand.

Her hubby of 13 years, who directed Superintelligence, looked creature-like in a black sequined costume that had dark green scales and frontal armor.

Working it: The dynamic duo had the crowd laughing with their outrageous outfits and banter

Shining star: The 48-year old star was a showstopper in the sparkling red sequin costume that came complete with a red and gold cape and a green dragon protruding from behind her head

Monster move: Falcone, 45, creature-like in a black sequined costume that had dark green scales and frontal armor

In Superintelligence, McCarthy plays a former corporate executive whose life is turned upside down when she is selected for observation by the worlds first super-intelligence  a form of artificial intelligence that may or may not take over the world, according to Variety.

The couple have already collaborated on three comedies together: Tammy (2014), The Boss (2016) and the upcoming film Life Of The Party, which is based on Rodney Dangerfield's 1986 hit Back To School.

Superintelligence is slated to premiere December 20, 2019.

Strike a pose: The comedian hammered home her routine with a classic move

Comrades: The Bridesmaids star chatted it up backstage with acclaimed actress Helen Mirren

McCarthy was also on hand at the event to promote her new film, The Kitchen, alongside co-star Tiffany Haddish.

It is based on the DC/Vertigo comic book series of the same name, hits theaters in September 2019.

CinemaCon is part of Warner Bros. Pictures roll out of its upcoming slate of films.Evan Peters is taking a break from American Horror Story.

The St. Louis native, 32, revealed his streak of eight seasons as a stalwart on the Ryan Murphy series is coming to an end while talking to Extra at Wonder Con.

'Im going to sit a season out,' he told the show at a Wonder-Con event in Anaheim, California Friday.

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The latest: Evan Peters, 32, told Extra at Wonder Con that his streak of eight seasons as a stalwart on the Ryan Murphy series American Horror Story is coming to an end, as he's sitting out the ninth season

The actor has played a number of roles on the popular FX series - including Tate Langdon, James March and Jimmy Darling.

He told GQ last summer that with his varied roles - many of them of the macabre variety - the series was an 'exhausting' acting experience for him as the years passed by, sometimes creeping into his personal life.

'Its really mentally draining, and you dont want to go to those places ever in your life,' he said. 'And so you have to go there for the scenes, and it ends up integrating it somehow into your life.

'Youre in traffic and you find yourself screaming and youre like, "What the hell? This isnt who I am.

Versatile: The actor has played a number of roles on the popular FX series - including Tate Langdon, James March and Jimmy Darling

Casual: The talented performer attended the fan event in Orange County in a green coat over a plaid top with khaki pants

In a follow-up chat with GQ Style last month, Peters clarified his remarks, saying they were the result of 'a full-on burnout.

'I'm going to take a break, regroup, decompress, get back in touch with what I feel like I want to do,' the actor said. 'Not that I didn't want to do any of those roles - they're exactly what I wanted to do. It was just zero to 100 instantaneously.'

As for the ninth season, FX has announced that Peters' ex Emma Roberts will be featured, with Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy playing her love interest.

Future is bright: Even without a season of AHS, Peters has plenty to keep him busy, with a number of projects on the horizon; they include a role in the X-Men summer film Dark Phoenix

Even without a season of AHS, Peters has plenty to keep him busy with a number of projects on the horizon.

They include a role in the X-Men summer film Dark Phoenix, in which he will play Quicksilver, which he previously played in X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: Days of Future Past, as well as an uncredited cameo in Deadpool 2.

He's also the lead actor in a retro film titled I Am Woman, and linked to a comedy titled Snow Ponies with Jon Bernthal and Josh Gad.She's been spoiling her 1.1 million followers with scantily-clad photos from her Bali getaway last month.

So it came as no surprise to fans when Swedish-Australian model, Kelly Gale, 23, shared another bikini shot to Instagram on Wednesday.

The Victoria's Secret model showed off her toned abs and ample cleavage in a plunging two-toned swimsuit, as she posed at an idyllic clifftop resort.

Life's a beach! Victoria's Secret model Kelly Gale (pictured) showcased her stunning bikini body in a sizzling throwback snap on Wednesday

The offered a generous view of her sensational stems while she clutched a palm tree and expertly balanced on her tip toes.

The model playfully ran her fingers through her salt water-strewn chestnut tresses.

Just last week, Kelly took to the photo-sharing app to flaunt her phenomenal bikini body once again.

What a view! Kelly flaunted her incredible figure in lingerie in this throwback snap from Bali

In another throwback image from her Bali getaway, Kelly was seen showcasing her wares in a sheer lace bra and matching briefs while she reclined by an infinity pool.

The brunette beauty looked off into the distance and seductively tucked her hair behind her ear.

'Take me back to the heat,' Kelly, who is now back in chilly New York, wrote.

White hot! While in Bali, Kelly flooded her Instagram page with stunning bikini snaps of herself, including one where she showed off her abs in a white bikini

While in Bali, Kelly flooded her Instagram page with stunning bikini snaps of herself, including one where she showed off her abs in a white bikini.

The model works hard to stay in such great shape, admitting last year she exercises six times a week and walks up to 30km per day.

She told Vogue Australia: 'To be honest my exercise regimen doesn't change that much leading up to a [Victoria's Secret] show.'

'I work out six days per week all year round and usually work out [for] two hours per day. On top of that, I like power walking 15-30km each day.

How she does it: Kelly works hard to stay in such great shape, admitting last year she exercises six times a week and walks up to 30km per day

'In the lead up to the show itself, I walk closer to 30 km every day, and work out [for] two hours per day.'

Back in October 2018, Kelly revealed on Instagram she had just spent four hours straight exercising in the gym.

She shared a photo of herself in an empty studio, adding that she was 'proud' to have pushed herself to her limits.

'Just doubled up class and then I doubled up the double up,' she wrote in the caption. 'What I'm trying to say is I just smashed four hours and I'm proud.'Advertisement

Troy Cassar-Daley has said goodbye to his extraordinary weekend getaway property after it was sold at auction this week, pending negotiations.

The sprawling 10-acre 'Carinya' property, which sits just outside of Fernvale, west of Brisbane, went to auction over the weekend and is now sitting under offer.

Boasting stunning water views, four spacious bedrooms and a terrace balcony, the retreat also inspired the four-time ARIA winner's 2009 song, I Love This Place.

Property listing: Country music star Troy Cassar-Daley (pictured), 49, has listed his four-bedroom Brisbane property, which inspired his 2009 song I Love This Place

The tranquil getaway home was passed in by a young local couple, with negotiations securing a conditional offer the next day, realestate.com.au reports.

Troy said he always wanted to secure a place that would provide amazing memories for his family.

'We wanted a place so our kids could experience some of the country life I experienced growing up and this has always been our great escape; a really special part of our memories,' he recently told Domain.

'The fact we heard stacks of children's laughter there, that was wonderful.

Location, location: Advertised on Domain, the property is located just outside of Fernvale in Brisbane, Queensland

'We caught stacks of fish, rode horses. It was incredible.'

Troy and his radio and TV presenter wife Laurel Edwards have enjoyed the home for the past 12 years.

Originally from NSW, Troy has made Queensland his home with his wife Laurel and their two children.

Located just outside of Fernvale in Brisbane, the two-storey property contains four spacious bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Interiors feature polished timber floorboards, a white colour palette and an open plan layout through the kitchen and dining areas.

Plenty of room to move: The weekender boasts two main paddocks and cattle yards

Floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room also offer unspoiled views of the breathtaking scenery and allow in plenty of natural light.

The home is perfect for entertaining or a spot of alone time, thanks to a large terrace balcony, outdoor swings, and a patio area.

Fronting Brisbane river, the weekender offers stunning water views, boating and canoeing opportunities, as well as two main paddocks and cattle yards.

Land: The home, which Troy and his wife Laurel have enjoyed for 12 years, offers an incredible 10 acres of open land

Peaceful: The home is perfect for entertaining or a spot of alone time, thanks to a large terrace balcony, outdoor swings, and a patio area

The home holds special meaning for Troy, as he would often invite songwriters over during the week.

It was during one particular songwriting sessions he was inspired to write the 2009 track, I Love This Place.

Troy told Domain on Monday: 'It was that kind of place. I started this song at the kitchen table, and it just came out. It just told me that this place is going to be special to us for a long, long time - and it was.'

Design: Interiors feature polished timber floorboards, a white colour palette and an open plan layout through the kitchen and dining areas

Scenery: Floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room also offer unspoiled views of the breathtaking scenery, and allow in plenty of natural light

Hue: The white colour palette allows potential buyers the chance to inject their own personality into the space

The Daily Telegraph reported in July last year that Troy and wife Laurel are reluctantly selling the property as their children, son Clay and daughter Jem, are getting older.

The couple have been married since 1996, a year after Troy released his debut album, Beyond The Dancing.

Since then, the crooner has gone on to huge success, and has won an astonishing 32 Golden Guitar Awards.She's the Love Island Australia star who has previously opened up about her struggles with positive body image.

But Cassidy McGill oozed confidence while flaunting her figure in a red bikini, during an impromptu photo shoot at a Sydney beach last week.

The 23-year-old flashed her perky posterior and slim figure while posing up a storm in photos shared to Instagram.

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That's cheeky! Love Island's Cassidy McGill, 23, (pictured) turned up the heat while flaunting her figure in a G-string bikini last week

She finished off her look with a pair of white ankle socks and matching sneakers, giving off an eighties vibe.

'Socks and sneakers at the beach goes together about as well as toothpaste and orange juice does,' Cassidy joked.

It comes after the blonde beauty penned an emotional essay about her struggles with positive body image.

'Socks and sneakers at the beach goes together about as well as toothpaste and orange juice does,' Cassidy joked to her fans

In January, Cassidy who often parades her bikini body on Instagram, urged her followers to practice self-love.

'I could train every day for a month and still find something wrong with my body,' she wrote.

'Instead, I'll focus on the fact that I trained every day for a month, and my arms are looking shredded. Start being a glass half full kinda person, they're nicer to be around anyway.'

'I could train every day and still find something wrong': Cassidy stripped down to underwear as she revealed her struggle with body image earlier this year

The former reality star urged fans to concentrate on the positive aspects of their bodies.

'Positive body image isn't something that comes easily. Just like training your body, you need to train your mind. Don't forget that.

'Self love also isn't something that comes easily. You're not in love with yourself just because you've learnt to love yourself. Instead of telling yourself what you don't like, start talking about what you do like.

'You'll eventually feel a shift and it'll be amazing.'She was left heartbroken when her 'marriage' to on-screen 'husband' Dino Hira fell apart during her stint on Married At First Sight.

However it appears MAFS star, Melissa Lucarelli, is back in fine form.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the 38-year-old shared two sizzling images of her stunning bikini body before teasing a return to reality television.

Sizzling hot! Married At First Sight star Melissa Lucarelli (pictured) showed off her trim bikini body in an Instagram post on Wednesday

In the first picture, Melissa undoubtedly stopped traffic as she posed in a black crop top bikini at the front entrance of Sydney's Bondi Bather swimwear store.

The brunette stunner, who accessorised with a straw hat and a pair of round shades, drew further attention to her lean legs as she balanced on her tip toes.

Meanwhile in a separate boomerang clip, the gorgeous talent manager cut a feminine silhouette in a vintage inspired polka-dot swimsuit.

She offered fans a closer look of her toned arms and trim pins as she playfully pulled a dancers pose in the moving picture.

Wow! The brunette stunner offered fans a closer look of her toned arms and trim pins as she playfully pulled a dancers pose in the moving picture

In the caption, Melissa told to her 102,000 followers she's ready for a second shot at love during spin-off show, MAFS: Honeymoon Island.

'Ready and waiting for MAFS Honeymoon Island?' she captioned the slideshow.

Last month, it was revealed former MAFS castmembers are supposedly 'in talks' to appear on spin-off show, MAFS: Honeymoon Island.

EXCLUSIVE: Channel Nine is cashing in on the incredible ratings success of Married At First Sight with a spin-off show, MAFS: Honeymoon Island, Daily Mail Australia can reveal

Daily Mail Australia understands that contestants past and present will have a second chance at love on the upcoming series, which will be set on a tropical island.

According to sources with knowledge of the project, 'early discussions have started' and fame-starved former participants are 'eager to get the call-up'.

The spin-off is expected to follow the format the U.S. version.

The American version of MAFS: Honeymoon Island premiered last year, and followed 'fan favourites and some new faces' as they searched for love in Saint Lucia.

At the end of their stay, the Honeymoon Island couples were made to decide whether they wanted to get married or leave the island alone.

The idea is similar to that of Bachelor in Paradise, which brings together former stars of the Bachelor franchise in a tropical resort in Fiji.

Who will return? According to sources with knowledge of the project, 'early discussions have started' and fame-starved former participants are 'eager to get the call-up'. Pictured: Season six star Ines Basic

Second time lucky? The American version of MAFS: Honeymoon Island premiered last year, and followed 'fan favourites and some new faces' as they searched for love in Saint Lucia. Pictured: Season six couple Sam Ball and Elizabeth Sobinoff on their wedding day

Although the project has yet to be confirmed by Channel Nine, contestants from all six seasons of Married At First Sight are reportedly 'getting excited'.

'Everyone's messaging everyone to try and see if they've heard anything or know anyone that's been formally approached by Nine,' a source told Daily Mail Australia.

'Other people have even joked about hiding their current relationships if it means they'll get back on television.'

Will Dino make a comeback? Some of the names being mentioned in TV circles include Ines Basic and Dino (pictured), who were both badly mismatched on MAFS season six

Some of the names being mentioned in TV circles include Ines Basic and Dino, who were both badly mismatched on MAFS season six.

If the show is given the green light, season five's Ryan Gallagher and Tracey Jewel are also both good candidates as they are believed to be single.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.

'Early discussions have started': If the show is given the green light, season five's Tracey Jewel (pictured) would be a good candidate as she is believed to be singleEmilia Clarke has revealed that she 'knew' her brain was being damaged while having a brain aneurysm and recited Game Of Thrones lines to stay conscious.

The actress, 32, recently told of how she suffered and survived two brain aneurysms while filming the fantasy drama, during an open letter in the The New Yorker.

But Emilia has now admitted that she was aware her brain was being harmed during the traumatic event when speaking to TV host Stephen Colbert on The Late Show.

'I genuinely knew': Emilia Clarke has revealed that she 'knew' her brain was being damaged when she suffered a brain aneurysm and recited Game Of Thrones lines to stay conscious

Emilia told Stephen that during the haemorrhage she did everything she could to keep her brain active, including testing her knowledge of the fictional language she uses in Game of Thrones.

She said: 'The easy way of describing it is that it's the worst headache that a human could possibly manage to experience. It was pretty intense.

'I genuinely knew I was being brain damaged. I don't know how. [I] moved my fingers, toes, my hands, asked myself questions, Dothraki lines. [I was] really trying to force my memory to stay conscious.'

Opening up: The actress, 32, recently told of how she suffered and survived two brain aneurysms while filming the fantasy drama, during an open letter in the The New Yorker

Asked by the presenter how she knew to perform the exercises, she said: 'The mind is an extraordinary thing. I just knew that I was... not today.'

When questioned about whether the life-threatening experiences changed her outlook on life, she said: 'It made me petrified most of the time. I wish I could sit here and say I was just like, 'Yeah, let's go jump out of a plane!'

Emilia, who plays Daenerys Targaryen in the show, added with good humour: 'But I did do Game Of Thrones, which was similar, certain seasons'.

The London native said that 'at some point' she started to realise how fortunate she was and gained a new perspective, she said: 'For the rest of your life, you know how lucky you are.'

Chat show: Emilia told Stephen that during the haemorrhage she did everything she could to keep her brain active, including testing her knowledge of the fictional language she uses in Game of Thrones

During her open later, Emilia explained that she had just finished filming the first season of the HBO series when she had her first brain aneurysm while working out with a personal trainer.

Emilia, who was just 24 at the time, was quickly sent for an MRI after the shocking event, where they diagnosed her with a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

This type of hemorrhage is a life-threatening form of stroke, which is caused by bleeding around the brain and a third of patients die immediately or soon after suffering one.

She said: 'The easy way of describing it is that it's the worst headache that a human could possibly manage to experience. It was pretty intense'

Emilia said: 'In my worst moments, I wanted to pull the plug. I asked the medical staff to let me die. My jobmy entire dream of what my life would becentred on language, on communication. Without that, I was lost.'

While recovering from her first aneurysm she was told that she had another on the other side of her brain which could burst at any time, however it may also just lie dormant.

Before she was thrown back into filming, Emilia had to endure a press tour for the first season of the show and said she remembers feeling like she could die at any moment and made it through interviews by sipping on morphine.

She said: 'I genuinely knew I was being brain damaged. I don't know how. [I] moved my fingers, toes, my hands, asked myself questions, Dothraki lines. [I was] really trying to force my memory to stay conscious'

After struggling through filming for season two and pushing herself to complete season three, Emilia took a role as Holly Golightly on Broadway.

While in New York, Emilia went for a one of her regular brain scans and medics discovered that it had doubled in size and wanted to operate to avoid any complications.

Despite being promised a simple operation, Emilia said she awoke screeching in agony following the failed operation and doctors had to operate again in order to improve her chance of survival.

She said while spending another month in hospital she sometimes lost hope and suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, adding that she felt like a shadow of her former self.

How did you do it? Asked by the presenter how she knew to perform the exercises, she said: 'The mind is an extraordinary thing. I just knew that I was... not today'

The Me Before You actress said that she now struggles recalling those dark times because her mind has tried to block them out, but she does remember being convinced she would die, and that her story would get out.

A reporter asked her about her operation six weeks after the surgery, when the National Enquirer ran a small story, but Emilia was quick to deny the allegation.

However Emilia said she now feels like the time is right to speak out, and acknowledges that she is one of the fortunate few with an excellent level of care.

When questioned about whether the life-threatening experiences changed her outlook on life, she said: 'It made me petrified most of the time. I wish I could sit here and say I was just like, 'Yeah, let's go jump out of a plane!'Dame Helen Mirren took a swipe at Netflix during an appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The actress, 73, was attending a Warner Bros screening of her new film The Good Liar at Caesars Palace when she said of the streaming service: 'I love Netflix, but f*** Netflix.'

Her surprising remark received laughter and a huge round of applause from the audience, with the actress smiling to show her comment wasn't meant to be mean-spirited.

Explicit: Helen Mirren took a swipe at Netflix by saying 'f***' the streaming service as she admitted 'there's nothing like sitting in the cinema' at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday

Going on to explain why she criticised Netflix, Helen explained she felt that 'there's nothing like sitting in the cinema and the lights go down.'

'I would like to thank you guys for making that environment possible,' The Queen star added, in reference to the event's celebration of cinema owners around the world.

Although Helen hit out at Netflix, her iconic ITV detective drama Prime Suspect is available to stream on the site in the UK.

On demand: Although Helen hit out at Netflix, her iconic detective drama Prime Suspect is available to stream on the site in the UK

But that's not all, as her films The Hundred-Foot Journey, State Of Play, Winchester, Red 2, The Pledge, and The Comfort Of Strangers are also on Netflix UK.

At the event, the age-defying actress exuded glamour in a full-length satin leopard print skirt as she posed for photos.

Proving she was queen of the red carpet, the star wore a chic crisp white shirt she paired with a black buckle belt which accentuated her trim figure.

Reasoning: Going on to explain why she criticised Netflix, Helen explained that she felt like 'there's nothing like sitting in the cinema and the lights go down'

Streaming now: Helen's films The Hundred-Foot Journey, State Of Play, Winchester, Red 2 (pictured), The Pledge, and The Comfort Of Strangers are also on Netflix UK

Helen caught the eye as she strutted in her outfit, which she adorned with a gold statement necklace encrusted with sparkling green and red jewels.

The Red star accessorised the look with an emerald green clutch back and gold earrings.

She wore her silver locks in an effortlessly coiffed up do and she upped the glamour with a dash of pink lipstick.He is the TV hunk who set pulses racing all over the globe with his portrayal of troubled police officer David Budd in Bodyguard.

But Richard Madden is believed to have enlisted a bit of help in maintaining his debonair image, with the star thought to be dying his hair after reportedly telling pals he was worried about 'premature greying'.

Photos of the 32-year-old actor at various awards show him with a noticeable white streak in the front of his hair, but in TV roles such as his Golden Globe-winning turn in Bodyguard, the streak has vanished.

Silver fox: Richard Madden is believed to have enlisted a bit of help in maintaining his debonair image, with the star thought to be dying his hair after reportedly telling pals he was worried about 'premature greying' (Jan 2019)

Difference: Photos of the 32-year-old actor at various awards show him with a noticeable white streak in the front of his hair, but in TV roles such as his Golden Globe-winning turn in Bodyguard, the streak has vanished.

A source told The Sun: 'He isn't ashamed about the white streak but he knows that certain roles require him to have a particular look so he does dye it to cover it up when it's needed.

'Richard doesn't like it when people stare at it and he's hopeful it stays as a neat streak.'

MailOnline has contacted Richard's representatives for comment.

Handsome: A source told The Sun: 'He isn't ashamed about the white streak but he knows that certain roles require him to have a particular look so he does dye it to cover it up when it's needed (Feb 2019)

This comes amid claims Richard is considering moving to the United States to try out his luck in Hollywood, after winning a Golden Globe for his role in Bodyguard.

According to The Sun, the actor told pals he's keen to go Stateside and make his mark across the pond after his successful turns in Bodyguard and Game Of Thrones.

Speaking to the publication last month, a source said: 'Richard's career is going from strength to strength - the world really is his oyster.

'He never really used to like Los Angeles, but went there a couple of times at the end of last year and fell in love with the place.'

Missing: They continued: 'Richard doesn't like it when people stare at it and he's hopeful it stays as a neat streak'

Hunk: Richard proudly showed off his silver streak at February's BAFTAs

But they were quick to add: 'Obviously Britain will always be home but if Richard does make it big in the States, it certainly wont do his Bond chances any harm.'

Richard is widely tipped to become the seventh incarnation of Bond after Daniel Craig completes work on his fifth and final film as the iconic secret agent in 2020.

The Scottish star is the latest in a long line of actors to be connected with Bond following Daniel's decision to give up the role some 15-years after making his debut in Casino Royale.

Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Aidan Turner and James Norton have also been linked with the role, but Madden has emerged as front-runner following his appearance as protection command bodyguard Sergeant David Budd.

Speaking in 2018, the actor - whose found fame as the doomed Robb Stark in Game Of Thrones - admitted he was honoured to be associated with Bond.

'This is what happens with all these shows, like Tom Hiddelston in The Night manager. Then there's the next one. I'm the next one,' he told GQ.

'I'm more than flattered to be mentioned, for people to consider putting me in that role. I'm very flattered and thankful. It's a really brilliant thing to be in. I don't want to curse anything by saying anything.'

However Madden may well make another appearance as Budd in the second series of Bodyguard before the Broccoli family make a final decision regarding the next Bond.

A second series is said to be 'very much on the cards,' but Hawes insists her own character, Home Secretary Julia Montague, will definitely not be returning.He plays Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But Tom Holland was kept in the dark about the Avengers: Endgame script by directors Joe and Anthony Russo because he 'can't keep his mouth shut'.

Joe revealed the extreme lengths the pair went to stop the actor, 22, from spilling secrets about the plot.

Tom Holland was kept in the dark about the Avengers: Endgame script by directors Joe and Anthony Russo because he 'can't keep his mouth shut'

'Yeah, Tom Holland does not get the script, gets his lines and thats it. He doesnt even know who hes acting opposite of.' Joe told IndieWire.

Speaking at the Avengers: Endgame Indian Anthem event on Monday, the director added: 'Well just, we use like very vague terms to describe to him what is happening in the scene, because he has a very difficult time keeping his mouth shut.'

The decision was made after Tom accidentally let slip information about Doctor Strange and Quantum Realm at a press conference for Infinity War last year.

Joe revealed the extreme lengths the pair went to stop the actor (pictured last year), 22, from spilling secrets about the plot

Sitting alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor happily told reporters: '(Benedict) has the most difficult lines, though.

'He has to talk about so much Quantum Real stuff. I just have to talk about, "Yeah man, thats awesome. So mines easy, but his is all so difficult.'

The cast filmed scenes for Infinity War and Endgame around the same time, and seeing as Doctor Strange didn't refer the Quantum Realm in Infinity War, Tom hinted at what is in store for Endgame.

Exciting: The Avengers are ready for revenge on Thanos in a new trailer released just weeks before the highly-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe film debuts in theaters worldwide

Tom first portrayed Spider-Man in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War and will next portray the character in Spider-Man: Far From Home to be released this summer.

The Avengers are ready for revenge on Thanos in a new trailer released just weeks before the highly-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe film Endgame debuts in theaters worldwide.

In the trailer Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Ant Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Rocket Raccoon, Nebula and War Machine devise a plan to save the world from further destruction.

The trailer focuses on Tony Stark's guilt following Thanos killing half of the universe in the last Marvel flick.

Giving a clue to the plot Stark says: 'We're the Avengers ... We've got to finish this.'

Avengers: Endgame will be released in UK cinemas on April 25.Jodie Kidd cut a fresh-faced figure as she was spotted touching down in Barbados after a long flight on Tuesday.

The legendary model, 40, oozed casual chic as she exited the terminal with boyfriend Joseph Bates and son Indio, seven.

As they exited the airport it seemed Jodie was set for a fun-filled week in the sunshine, as she also donned a beach-ready multicoloured bag after jetting over from the UK.

Low-key: Jodie Kidd cut a fresh-faced figure as she was spotted touching down in Barbados after a long flight on Tuesday

Jodie was every inch the doting mum as she headed out of the terminal with her loved ones, as she sported the low-key black jumper with rainbow-lined trousers.

The fashion favourite appeared to go makeup free for the trip as Indio followed on close behind, while Joseph took charge of the luggage.

As the shielded her eyes with sunglasses to make her way out of the terminal, Jodie carried her essentials along in an amazing multicoloured bag adorned with tassels.

Relaxed: The legendary model, 40, sported a simple ensemble with some cheeky pops of colour as she exited the terminal after a lengthy flight from the UK

Family time: Jodie was also joined by her beau Joseph as well as Indio, from her relationship with Andrea Vianin

Quirky: The fashion legend also matched the laid-back beach vibe with an eclectic rainbow tasselled bag

Family outing: As Jodie exited the airport for a family break, Indio followed in her wake, sporting a sweet blue top covered in sharks

Jodie is mum to son Indio from her previously relationship with Andrea Vianin, after they split in September 2011.

She and Joseph confirmed their relationship last year, as she made her first appearance with the Royal Marine at the 2018 Cheltenham Festival, but the couple have since denied they are engaged.

Jodie recently made a sensational return to the runway for London Fashion Week, after speaking to the Daily Mail about her struggles with anxiety.

She said: 'I would like to write about anxiety next, having suffered from it for so many years. I would like to talk about it a bit more, even though I'm not an expert therapist. Through the years of suffering I've explored different avenues.'

Happy: The star seemed to be in high spirits as she went makeup free for the outing, finishing her outfit with tortoiseshell sunglasses

Big star: Her trip came after Jodie made a sensational return to the catwalk at London Fashion, as she also spoke candidly about her battles with anxiety

Close: Jodie, who made one charity catwalk appearance in 2015, has talked of suffering from anxiety her whole life, which compelled her to stop modelling

Jodie, who made one charity catwalk appearance in 2015, has talked of suffering from anxiety her whole life, which compelled her to stop modelling.

'It's not performance anxiety  it's full-on anxiety,' she said. 'I had proper wobbles when I was in my late teens and there was a lot of pressure in the fashion industry, which made things worse.

'I had to stop. I could be backstage about to go on the catwalk, or even doing something as ordinary as the weekly shop, and I'd panic. I knew I couldn't walk down another catwalk again.'Their relationship has been a cause of much drama among their friends and family.

Yet Chloe Sims, 36, and Dan Edgar, 28, showed they wouldn't be bowing to peer pressure as they defiantly spent the night together at Dan's Essex abode.

Ensuring his new girlfriend got home safely, the TOWIE Lothario went out onto his balcony to watch her leave.

Stepping out in style: Chloe Sims, 36, and Dan Edgar, 28, showed they wouldn't be bowing to peer pressure as they defiantly spent the night together at Dan's Essex abode

Chloe has been conflicted over her new beau as her brother Charlie and several of their friends disapprove of the romance.

However, she didn't appear to have a care in the world as she headed home after spending the night with Dan.

Looking as glamorous as ever, the blonde bombshell went braless beneath a plunging tight white bodysuit that she teamed with figure-hugging leggings.

Watching eye: Ensuring his new girlfriend got home safely, the TOWIE Lothario went out onto his balcony to watch her leave

Despite the chill in the air this morning, Chloe didn't wear her denim jacket, instead shrugging the oversized coat over her arms.

She completed the look with a small Gucci handbag and delicate gold necklace, whilst she styled her glossy golden locks in loose waves.

Last month, Chloe confirmed she and Dan were 'seeing how it goes' after growing close to each other over their four years of friendship.

Struggling: Chloe has been conflicted over her new beau as her brother Charlie and several of their friends disapprove of the romance

Looking good: Chloe seemed in high spirits as she strutted out of her boyfriend's lavish home

She told The Sun: 'Me and Dan are just seeing how it goes. We have grown close over four years of friendship. He could be the one.

The mother-of-one ruled out claims it was a holiday fling in Thailand because she insisted it was so important they do 'not damage' their friendship.

She said: 'The idea that it was a holiday fling in Thailand made it sound cheap! I am not a fling type of girl and I wouldnt cry my eyes out about a fling. There's a lot of mutual respect there.

'It is really important for me to stay friends with him and not damage our friendship.'

Debating: Chloe has been conflicted over her new beau as her brother Charlie and several of their friends disapprove of the romance

Loving life: However, she didn't appear to have a care in the world as she headed home after spending the night with Dan

Turning heads: Looking as glamorous as ever, the blonde bombshell went braless beneath a plunging tight white bodysuit that she teamed with figure-hugging leggings

Despite their passion for one another, the duo have already been having crisis talks due to the fact that Chloe's brother, and her best friend Diags, disapprove of the romance as they believe

Things heated up between Chloe and Dan when they were away filming The Only Way Is Essex in Thailand.

The mother-of-one laid her cards on the table as she admitted she'd 'marry him right now' during their candid talk.

Denim darling: Despite the chill in the air this morning, Chloe didn't wear her denim jacket, instead shrugging the oversized coat over her arms

Keeping it casual: Dan kept things low-key in a green T-shirt and jeans as he made a phone call on the balcony

Blonde bombshell: Chloe completed the look with a small Gucci handbag and delicate gold necklace, whilst she styled her glossy golden locks in loose waves

However, viewers were left doubting about Dan's emotions for Chloe because he divulged he was weary over the 'pressure' of their relationship.

Chloe sat on the beach with Dan as she said: 'You know that I've always thought you were beautiful and a nice person. So for you to say you had those feelings, I was really happy. There isn't any pressure from me.'

The hunk revealed he also holds feelings for his love interest but confessed he's worried about the pressure from their close friends.

Smitten: Last month, Chloe confirmed she and Dan were 'seeing how it goes' after growing close to each other over their four years of friendship

He shared: 'I feel like there's a load of pressure, that didn't need to happen. I feel like I'm going to end up hurting someone... you know that I care about you a lot, but it's been a lot to take in.

'It's frustrating that there's pressure from outside. It's so early and so ridiculous to have all of this at this stage.

'Lets see how things happen when we get home. I don't get on with any girl better than you.'

Fun in the sun: Things heated up between Chloe and Dan when they were away filming The Only Way Is Essex in ThailandVictoria Beckham offered a rare glimpse of her beaming smile on Monday, as she made a jovial arrival at the Verti Music Hall in Berlin.

The fashion star, 44, cut a stylish figure in all-black as she headed into the building via. the car park, and shared a cheeky glimpse of her toothy grin.

Victoria's outing comes after made a triumphant appearance at an awards ceremony for Fashion Trust Arabia in Qatar, with the honouring the best and brightest in Middle Eastern Fashion.

Happy: Victoria Beckham offered a rare glimpse of her beaming smile on Monday, as she made a jovial arrival at the Verti Music Hall in Berlin

As Victoria exited her car and headed into the hotel, she surprised onlookers by flashing her pearly white smile.

The mother-of-four had her brunette tresses loosely curled, and highlighted her flawless complexion with barely-there makeup.

Victoria had previously been seen at the Soho House Hotel in the German city, but shielded her eyes with her signature Ray Ban-style sunglasses.

Unusual: The fashion star, 44, cut a stylish figure in all-black as she headed into the building from her waiting car, and shared a cheeky glimpse of her toothy grin

Out and about: After Victoria was seen arriving at the hall, she also exited her car at the Soho House Hotel in the German city

Victoria is of course famous for her signature posing style, which has rarely consisted of such a broad grin.

Her outing came after she made a triumphant appearance at the Fashion Trust Arabia awards ceremony in Doha, Qatar.

The star oozed sartorial chic in a tailored black suit trousers and a matching blazer, which she draped over her shoulders.

Relaxed: Victoria sported her usually chic all-black look as she arrived in the car park at the music hall

Triumphant: It came just days after she was seen attending the Fashion Trust Arabia awards ceremony in Doha, Qatar

Quiet: As she arrived at the hotel, the star shielded her eyes with Ray Ban-esque sunglasses

Fashion Trust Arabia is a non-profit organisation which supports designers in the Middle East and North Africa, hoping to offer new talent the opportunity to get off the ground and reach point where they are recognised globally.

It is the only initiative of its kind operating in the Arab world and under the patronage of Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the group is committed to discovering talented fashion designers.

A competition held by FTA saw designers present their collections to a judging panel of international industry leaders, and the awards will honour the winners during Thursday's ceremony.She's an aspiring model with a reality TV star mother on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

And Delilah Hamlin was wearing head-to-toe designer clothes as she stepped out for a girls' dinner at Craig's in West Hollywood on Tuesday night.

The cover girl, 20, slipped into a pair of custom made high-waisted jeans bearing the Chanel logo as she left the A-list eatery.

Making a statement: Delilah Hamlin was wearing head-to-toe designer clothes as she stepped out for a girls' dinner at Craig's in West Hollywood on Tuesday night

Delilah teamed her statement charcoal grey denim with a sheer black polo neck top for her outing.

The rising star accesorised her outfit with a black cord belt, over the shoulder bag and black satin boots.

Delilah kept her make-up fairly natural for the dinner and wore her long blonde locks straight with pearl hair slide accessories.

The beauty completed her ensemble with large silver hooped earrings to glam up the look.

Model moment: The cover girl, 20, slipped into a pair of custom made high-waisted jeans bearing the Chanel logo as she left the A-list eatery

This isn't the first time the aspiring model has been spotted making a statement with her clothes while out and about in Hollywood in recent weeks.

The star turned heads as she donned an expletive-ridden pair of trousers for Billie Eilish's album release bash last week.

Delilah oozed street chic in a black jumper and matching trousers, which boasted the phrase 'stop looking at my d***' across the crotch area.

As Delilah arrived for the album launch, she was seen posing up a storm with sister Amelia, who sported a similar all-black look, but instead opting for leather trousers and heavy-duty black boots.

Stylish: Delilah teamed her statement charcoal grey denim with a sheer black polo neck top for her outing

Dinner date: The rising star accesorised her outfit with a black cord belt, over the shoulder bag and black satin boots

The model and her younger sister Amelia, who is three years her junior, recently burst onto the celebrity scene and both have growing careers as models.

The pair are the children of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna, 55, and actor Harry Hamlin, 67.

Lisa and Harry marked their 22nd anniversary on Friday with beautiful throwback photographs on Instagram.

The reality star shared an image from their wedding day as they kissed for the first time as husband and wife.

Crude: The star turned heads as she donned an expletive-ridden pair of trousers for Billie Eilish's album release bash last weekShe is expecting her first child with fiance Jenson Button.

And as Brittny Ward reached the six month mark of her pregnancy, the model revealed that she is expecting a baby boy in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

The Californian native, 28, beamed with delight as she cradled her growing belly while posing for the sweet shot, wearing a pretty floral bikini.

It's a boy! As Brittny Ward reached the six month mark of her pregnancy, the model revealed that she is expecting a baby boy in an Instagram post on Tuesday

In the snap Brittny stood outside a white cladded house wearing a blue bikini top with thick set straps, which she teamed with a pair of matching bottoms.

The model, who is best known for appearing in Playboy Magazine, opted for soft touches of make-up in mauve hues and a poker straight hairstyle.

She captioned the glowing image: '23 weeks today! I cant believe Im carrying a little human in my tummy. The female body continues to amaze me.'

She captioned the glowing image: '23 weeks today! I cant believe Im carrying a little human in my tummy. The female body continues to amaze me.'

The hashtags underneath the caption included #babyboy, which revealed the gender of their baby, which the couple have previously kept under wraps.

One commenter, who is presumably pals with Brittny wrote below the snap: 'Yes queen! You are radiant and glowing!!! I cant wait for playdates with our boys.'

British racing driver Jenson announced that he is expecting his first child with his fiancee Brittny in January earlier this year.

Happy days: British racing driver Jenson announced that he is expecting his first child with his fiancee Brittny in January earlier this year (pictured in January 2018)

Taking to Instagram, the 38-year-old sportsman penned: 'Brittny & I are Delighted to announce the new edition to the family currently having his first seat! Look how comfy he looks! #babybutton'.

Brittny took to her own account to also share the news just minutes later with a picture of her baby scan, along with the caption: 'Baby couldnt wait for the wedding, hes decided to make an early appearance.

'@jensonbutton_22 and I are very happy to announce baby button is coming this summer  #babybutton.'

She also uploaded a snap of the scan to her Instagram stories, writing: 'Coming this summer #babybutton'  with an image of a car superimposed on the fetus.

Scan: Taking to Instagram, the 38-year-old sportsman shared the baby scan

Announced: Just minutes later, Brittny followed suit with her own announcement, sharing her due date, as well as an image of a car superimposed on the scan

Former Formula One racer Jenson and Brittny have gone from strength to strength since they announced their engagement on social media in June.

He lifted the lid on the most romantic thing he had ever planned was lunch in a little boat off Italy's Amalfi Coast in the summer.

He told Mail On Sunday's YOU magazine: 'Have lunch in a little boat off Italy's Amalfi Coast this summer with my girlfriend Brittny.'

The couple have been dating since March 2016, three months after Jenson's 2015 split from model ex Jessica Michibata was confirmed.TOWIE beauty Georgia Kousoulou has furiously hit back at social media trolls, after they called her 'plastic' and 'a bad role model.'

Taking to Instagram Stories, the Essex beauty, 27, ranted she and her co-stars never set out to be role models on the show, as she warned her fans need to be more appreciated of each other.

Georgia has spoken openly about her struggles with trolls in the past, and in an exclusive interview with MailOnline admitted she's been reduced to tears by some of the comments.

Raging: TOWIE beauty Georgia Kousoulou has furiously hit back at social media trolls, after they called her 'plastic' and 'a bad role model'

In her lengthy rant, Georgia detailed a social media discussion she saw between two trolls, as they both criticised her and other girls of TOWIE.

She explained: 'Quick little rant, so there's this woman on Twitter who's s******g us all off for being plastic and all this.

'You've got to laugh. She goes on, talks about fillers and all this s**t and then someone gets involved and they're having this whole conversation about role models and how bad is society these days that we're role models.'

Angry: The star took to Instagram Stories to reveal she and her co-stars had been slammed by the trolls (pictured above with former co-star Yazmin Oukhellou)

Annoyed: Georgia then proceeded to berate the troll for making such horrific comments about her and the TOWIE cast, and insisted she 'loves her life'

Georgia berated the troll for making such horrific comments about her and the TOWIE cast.

'Firstly we are NOT claiming to be role models but I'm sorry if I was claiming to be a role model I know that I and all my other friends on TOWIE are better role models than two bitter women sitting on their little laptop trolling young girls just trying to make a living and a life for themselves,' she continued.

'So before you tweet me abuse please look at yourself in your bio you've got ''Mum of two loving life.'' Do I say more?'

'I just cant get my head around it imagine my mum in her bio and then they've got the audacity to troll girls on TV like I'd be so embarrassed if my mum started trolling other girls..

Upset: Georgia admitted she tends to take out her troll-based anger on her pet dog Monkey, who runs off in bewilderment

Irritated: She added: 'I love my life, but can I just say, these are the people, these weird freaks, sometimes you've got to laugh or scream'

'Can you imagine if someone started trolling their kids, what would they say then? Who are these people like oh god aaah this is what I have to deal with, yes all the people who say ''great life you have,'' I love my life, but can I just say, these are the people, these weird freaks, sometimes you've got to laugh or scream.'

Georgia admitted she tends to take out her troll-based anger on her pet dog Monkey, who runs off in bewilderment.

She added: 'Poor monkey gets it all every day, he runs away most of the time it's sending me insane who are these people?

'Lucky for them I just laugh because I think it's funny although it is weird, sometimes I have to rant on here guys, but I love all my followers.

'I'm really lucky let's just appreciate, I appreciate all my lovely followers that are here to big up the people lets all be them girls in toilets who say ''I love your dress.''

Emotional: The star then finished her post by telling fans to be supportive and understanding of one another

Hard time: Georgia has previously admitted she was reduced to tears by social media trolls after they slammed her 2017 nose job (left before the procedure in 2016)

The star then concluded: 'Come on guys let's just be nice! To be fair most of my followers are really nice I have like 1% of people just to write weird stuff to be honest. Rant over I'm over it now.

In the past Georgia has spoken openly about struggling to cope with trolls, and admitted in an exclusive MailOnline interview they have left her in tears.

Georgia spoke candidly about the abuse she received on social media after undergoing a nose job in recent years saying: 'I never used to get it but I got my nose done about a year ago and since then people cant get over it.

'Yes I hid behind a Christmas tree at first but I eventually admitted it but people just cant get over it. Stop talking about my nose. Why are you not over it?'

Open: She told MailOnline: 'I never used to get it but I got my nose done about a year ago and since then people cant get over it'

Looking good: Amid the backlash Georgia stepped out in Essex as she filmed TOWIE scenesShe has been worried about Sam Mucklow's intentions after he admitted he's got his eye on a few girls.

Yet Demi Sims certainly seemed to have the star's full attention as they filmed TOWIE scenes in Billericay, Essex on Wednesday.

Cosied up to one another as they chatted in the street, the pair looked very cosy, with Sam resting his hand on his love interest's thigh.

Head turner: She has been worried about Sam Mucklow's intentions. Yet Demi Sims seemed to have the star's full attention as they filmed TOWIE scenes in Billericay on Wednesday

It was no wonder Demi had turned his head, as she was dressed to impress in a PVC co-ord that showed off her incredible figure.

Demi - who is the younger sister of show stalwart Chloe - donned a quirky leather bustier layered over a white vest.

She teamed the garment with matching navy and black panelled trousers, whilst a pair of barely there black heels boosted her petite frame.

The blonde bombshell toted a clear PVC handbag to complete her ensemble, whilst her glossy ombre locks were styled poker straight to frame her pretty features.

Chic and cheerful: It was no wonder Demi had turned Sam's head, as she was dressed to impress in a PVC co-ord that showed off her incredible figure

Bold ensemble: Demi - who is the younger sister of show stalwart Chloe - donned a quirky leather bustier layered over a white vest

Leggy lady! She teamed the garment with matching navy and black panelled trousers, whilst a pair of barely there black heels boosted her petite frame

Demi joined TOWIE this season, and has already been causing waves over her budding romance with Sam.

The starlet - who identifies as bisexual - caught Sam's eye during a cast trip to Thailand, and he has been wooing her in recent weeks.

The romance has not been without drama, however, as Sam was sleeping with Shelby Tribble at the time, leading to an explosive row that saw Shelby throw a drink over him, whilst he retaliated by calling her a 's**g'.

Getting cosy: Cosied up to one another as they chatted in the street, the pair looked very cosy, with Sam resting his hand on his love interest's thigh

Hot new couple? Demi joined TOWIE this season, and has already been causing waves over her budding romance with Sam

Smitten: The starlet - who identifies as bisexual - caught Sam's eye during a cast trip to Thailand, and he has been wooing her in recent weeks

Love triangle: Sam's romance with Demi has not been without drama as he was sleeping with Shelby Tribble at the time, leading to an explosive row that saw Shelby throw a drink over him

Demi hasn't allowed the scandal to deter her, however, as she explained that although she has found herself in the centre of drama, she won't stop seeing Sam.

Speaking to MailOnline last week after going on a 'mates date' with Sam, she explained: 'Everythings new between me and him.

'If you get on, you go on a "date date" afterwards. Its a surprise. Ill have to wait and see,' she teased while insisting to MailOnline that she hadn't kissed him and has yet to say that she likes him.

Hard at work: Also out filming across town was Chloe Meadows, who was joined by co-stars Shelby Tribble and Courtney Green

Wild thing! Clad in a chic leopard print midi dress, the 26-year-old reality star looked effortlessly stylish on the outing

Speaking of her bisexual orientation, Demi was also vocal about her disappointment in there being no women to date on the show.

Chest a glimpse: Showing off her sensational figure, the garment clung to her hourglass curves and featured a cowl neckline that offered a glimpse at her cleavage

Leggy lady! Featuring a daring thigh high split along the front, the garment showed off her enviably tanned and toned pins

Speaking to MailOnline, Demi also explained that it was difficult for herself to avoid drama after Shelby Tribble embarked on a furious row with her ex Sam after he heard of his plans to make a move on her.

However, she revealed she had attempted to put her differences with Shelby behind her, revealing: 'We had a conversation earlier, we spoke to each other.

'I dont really know her that well. We just wanted to say we haven't got a problem with each other. Theres no animosity.'

Glamorous gal pals: Courtney Green and Shelby Tribble also looked phenomenal

Furry nice! Courtney was a vision of beauty in a navy fur coat teamed with distressed jeans and snake print ankle boots

Going hell for leather! Shelby teamed a pair of leather look leggings with a shearling coat

Stepping out in style: Shelby brushed off her recent heartache and the Sam Mucklow drama as she strutted her stuff down the street in her effortlessly glam ensemble

Two's company: Shelby and Courtney made for a dazzling duo on the outing

Also out filming was Chloe Meadows, who was joined by co-stars Shelby Tribble and Courtney Green.

The trio appeared to be supporting their pal Bobby Norris as they carried a sandwich board emblazoned with the words 'sign Bobby's bill'.

In February, Bobby launched a petition to make online homophobia a specific criminal offence, which has garnered more than 13,000 signatures.

Petition: The trio appeared to be supporting their pal Bobby Norris as they carried a sandwich board emblazoned with the words 'sign Bobby's bill'

Showing their support: In February, Bobby launched a petition to make online homophobia a specific criminal offence, which has garnered more than 13,000 signatures

Three's company: The girls seemed to be out collecting signatures for the cause

Hard at work: After spending the morning campaigning, there was no rest for Courtney as she later headed to The Better Gym in Brentwood to film more scenes for TOWIE

Fighting fit! Clelia Theodorou showed how she stays in shape as she slipped into gymwear to squeeze in an afternoon workout whilst filming her scenes

Sipping pretty: The reality starlet kept her caffeine levels up as she enjoyed a coffee on her way into the gym

He started the campaign after receiving a barrage of homophobic abuse from trolls on social media.

He explained: 'As a gay man I find it devastating how members of the LGBT community are still subjected to homophobic abuse online.

'Just because I am on TV I dont think that makes it acceptable to be sent homophobic messages/ comments on social media platforms. Nobody should have to receive these comments.

'I wont go into detail as to the various names I have been called, but this should not be acceptable and can have an impact on peoples mental health and has certainly helped in making my anxiety and low self esteem worse by receiving them.'

Low-key outing: Chloe Sims kept things casual in a pair of cropped beige trousers teamed with a baggy grey jumper

Leggy lady! Georgia Kousoulou dazzled in a pair of leather look leggingsChannel Nine star Alicia Loxley has announced the birth of her third child.

The newsreader and journalist revealed her baby news on Wednesday, welcoming daughter Ada Elizabeth with husband Kane.

Taking to Instagram, the 37-year-old shared sweet snaps of her newborn with her two older sons, and one adorable image of herself nursing her little girl in her arms in hospital.

Baby joy! Alicia Loxley welcomed her third child with husband Kane, a daughter called Ada Elizabeth. She announced the news on Wednesday

'It's a girl! Ada Elizabeth Loxley,' Alicia captioned one photo of her newborn in the arms of brothers Ned and Archie.

She also shared a snap of herself cradling Ada Elizabeth and gazing at her affectionately, writing: 'Ada,' and adding love heart emojis.

On Tuesday before the birth, Alicia shared a sweet snap of herself and her husband with their boys, saying they were heading for dinner for the last time as a family of four.

Too cute! 'It's a girl! Ada Elizabeth Loxley,' Alicia captioned one photo of her newborn in the arms of brothers Ned and Archie

'The last supper': On Tuesday before the birth, Alicia shared a sweet snap of herself and her husband with their boys, saying they were heading for dinner for the last time as a family of four

'The last supper as a family of four,' she wrote.

Alicia previously told Nine Honey how 'thrilled' she was to be expanding her brood.

'Also a little bit daunted by the prospect of adding to the clan  but really, really excited,' she said.

One hot Mama! Alicia previously told Nine Honey how 'thrilled' she was to be expanding her brood

Working mother: 'Also a little bit daunted by the prospect of adding to the clan  but really, really excited,' she said

She also said that she and Kane decided to not find out the sex of the baby and said at the time: 'If we had a girl it would be amazing, obviously. But it'd also be really fun (but also crazy!) to have three boys.'

Alicia and Kane - who are based in Melbourne - married in 2012.

The couple celebrated their seven-year anniversary in January.She's known for her impeccable style.

And on Tuesday, Lara Worthington (nee Bingle), 31, looked every inch the style icon in a series of throwback snaps shared to Instagram.

Wearing a pink satin Gucci gown, the mother-of-two oozed glamour while posing for photos.

Pretty in pink! Lara Bingle, 31, (pictured) sunned in a frilly strapless Gucci gown in photos shared to Instagram on Wednesday

In the first photo, Lara showed off her chiseled jawline as she posed to one side.

With her blonde bob slicked back, Lara highlighted her symmetrical facial features with a soft makeup palette.

In a second shot, the blonde beauty hid her face behind a retro camera while she took a photograph with flash.

Poser: In a second shot, the blonde beauty hid her face behind a retro camera while she took a photograph with flash

Lara is married to Hollywood actor Sam Worthington, who she shares two children with - Rocket Zot, four, and Racer, two.

Last month, the family celebrated Rocket's fourth birthday with the model revealing his monster truck-themed party took over her entire home.

She shared a glimpse of the birthday party preparations on Instagram and said the decorations were almost too much to handle.

'Rocket's monster truck birthday prep is taking over my house!' Last month, Lara shared a photo of her living room covered with cardboard boxes and vibrant truck decorations

'Rocket's monster truck birthday prep is taking over my house!' Lara penned in her Instagram Stories alongside a photo of her decoration-strewn living room.

The photo showed Lara's dining room covered with cardboard boxes and vibrant truck decorations.

On the floor were several smaller boxes containing party favours for the young guests.

No expense spared! Lara also unveiled a huge monster truck crafted entirely from balloons as she celebrated her son Rocket Zot's fourth birthday in Los Angeles

The Australian model later shared a centrepiece from the big birthday bash- a huge monster truck made entirely out of balloons.

Sharing the photo of the enormous sculpture sitting in her living room, she wrote alongside the snap: 'Thank you thank you @ballooncelebrations for creating this spectacular #monstertruck for Rocket's birthday!'

The family are based in Los Angeles and are known for being fiercely private.

They tied the knot in an intimate wedding in 2014, which was held at a private home in Melbourne.

Lara moved away from the celebrity spotlight in recent years to focus on caring for the couple's young sons.Married At First Sight's Martha Kalifatidis has poked fun at the 'Kmart Kim Kardashian' nickname that fans recently coined for her.

Proving she has self-deprecating humour, Martha, 30, shared a bikini selfie to Instagram on Wednesday alongside the caption: 'It ain't as cheap as you think being Kmart Kim.'

It comes after the Bondi-based makeup artist previously said she 'hates' the comparisons to the American reality TV star, despite her striking resemblance to Kim.

Self-deprecating: Martha Kalifatidis has poked fun at the 'Kmart Kim Kardashian' nickname that fans recently coined for her

In her latest Instagram photo, Martha posed in a leopard-print bikini for a photo shoot.

Despite embracing the nickname now, Martha told The Daily Telegraph last month that she is 'over' the Kardashian jokes and comparisons.

'I'm just over hearing it now, because they're saying it like, 'you're a try hard' or 'you're a wannabe' and that's the last thing that I am,' said Martha.

So similar! The Bondi-based makeup artist (L) previously revealed she 'hates' the constant comparisons to Kim Kardashian (R)

From their identical brunette waves to their plump pouts and bronzed complexions, the similarities between Martha and Kim are endless.

'At first I thought it (being likened to a Kardashian) was a compliment, but now I feel like everyone's saying it in a horrible way and I just think, like, OK, so anybody with dark hair and dark eyes and that wears makeup is a Kardashian?' Martha added.

She continued: 'I'm a wog, I look like a wog, like any wog girl that wears makeup and is groomed now just wants to be a Kardashian, I don't get it, but it's a compliment I guess, sure.'

'At first I thought it (being likened to a Kardashian) was a compliment, but now I feel like everyone's saying it in a horrible way': From their identical brunette waves to their plump pouts and bronzed complexions, the similarities between Martha and Kim are endless

'I don't get it, but it's a compliment I guess, sure': Martha questioned if she only got the comparisons because she had dark hair and was a 'wog girl that wears makeup and is groomed'

Outside of her physical appearance, the MAFS bride also seems to take style cues from the famed American star.

Martha appears to recreate many of Kim's iconic looks on social media, with the pair appearing so similar in some photos that it's often difficult to tell them apart.

Speaking to NW magazine last month, Martha revealed she has had extensive surgery including a boob job, nose job, Botox and fillers.

Botox, fillers, a boob job and more: MAFS' Kim Kardashian (right) lookalike Martha Kalifatidis (left) has previously revealed her plastic surgery transformation

'I don't have fillers in my lips  but I do have them in other places on my face... and I've had my boobs done ... like 10 years ago now,' said Martha.

It comes after the busty brunette, who is of Greek heritage, told A Current Affair in January that she was flattered by comparisons to Kim Kardashian.

'Everyone's inspired by Kim... She's hot!' she said.

'Everyone's inspired by Kim. She's hot!' The 30-year-old gushed about Kim during her appearance on A Current Affair in JanuaryShe revealed her mother Carol had passed away, sharing a heartbreaking video of some of her most precious moments on Instagram six days ago.

And Kara Tointon, 35, was pictured for the first time since sharing the sad news, taking her baby son Frey and her pet dog out for a walk in West London on Sunday.

It would have been Kara's first Mother's Day since giving birth, and also her first since losing her mum and she tried to put a brave face on things as she smiled at her son.

Tough time: Kara Tointon tended to her four-month-old baby son Frey on Sunday as was seen for the first time since her mother Carol tragically passed away

Poignant: Kara has been sharing beautiful images of herself and her lookalike mother Carol on social media - the cause of her death is not known but Kara previously said she had been unwell over the last year

The former EastEnders actress tended to her beautiful son, Frey, while eating a chocolate dessert and drinking a coffee.

Kara, whose sister is actress Hannah Tointon, 31, gave birth to her beautiful son four months ago with fiance Marius Jensen

She previously revealed she had put off setting a wedding date due to her mother's illness.

Tough time: No doubt the day was made even harder for Kara as it was Mother's Day

Bond: No doubt her beautiful son was giving her comfort during this time - Kara admitted her mother had said to her that becoming a parent would be a good thing for her

There for them: The girls' friends have been sending their condolences on social media

Kara spoke to Hello! last year about her plans to tie the knot and said: 'We are hoping next year, perhaps in Norway or maybe in London.

'My mum hasn't been too well over the last year or so and I want her to be able to enjoy it.

'Seeing her with Frey and dealing with everything she has to right now is overwhelming and I couldnt be more proud. I just want her to be back to herself again. Thats our priority.'

A magical moment: Kara shared this beautiful image of her other hugging her just after her son was born

Memories: Kara's sister, fellow actress Hannah Tointon also shared some throwback images of her mother and father Ken

Special: Hannah also shared a picture of herself as a teenager with her mother

A look back: The girls shared lots of special family moments in their compilation video of their mother

Moments: The family resemblance was clear to see as Carol flashed her warm smile in the video

Kara also said in the interview that her mother had always told her that being a mother would be good for her.

The TV star paid tribute to her mother with the sweet Instagram compilation video which sees Carol doting on her children in throwback footage .

Simply captioning the clip with the words, 'My mum,' Kara's friends offered their condolences.

Izzy Judd wrote: 'Beautiful, I am so sorry Kara. Sending lots of love to your family at such a sad time.'

Giovanna Fletcher simply wrote: 'Love you. Xxxx.'

Helen George wrote: 'Sending love from all of us.'

Love: Kara previously revealed she had put off setting a wedding date with her fiance Marius Jensen due to her mother's illness (pictured with Marius in January)

Denise Van Outen sent a couple of love heart emojis.

Celebrity hair stylist Lisa Davey penned: 'This news breaks my heart! Such a beautiful mumma!!! Sending much love to you all sweetheart! Xxx."'

Kara's sister also shared some pictures of her mother on social media, writing that she was her 'best friend.'

Last month, Kara thanked a restaurant who had shared a snap of her family on Twitter, writing: 'This was a very happy day. You dont know what this tweet means to me today. Very strange. Thank you xx.'

MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Kara Tointon for more information.Vicky Pattison has heaped praise on the NHS after her friend was hit by a car while on her way to a showbiz party.

The former Geordie Shore star, 31, took to her Instagram to thank the health service for 'amazing care' following an 'incredibly scary and long day' on Tuesday.

The TV personality's friend, Zoe Illy, had been on the way to join her for the opening of the new Gringotts Bank attraction at the Harry Potter Studios in London when she was struck down and taken to hospital.

'An incredibly scary and long day': Vicky Pattison has heaped praise on the NHS after her friend was hit by a car while on her way to a showbiz party

Posting a series of shots of Zoe wearing a neck brace in the back of an ambulance, Vicky branded the NHS 'a credit to our country'.

Alongside the harrowing images, she wrote: 'After an incredibly scary and long day at the Royal London Hospital I want to thank all of the incredible staff who helped look after my @zoe_illy!! Such a credit to our country.

'When I woke up this morning I was expecting to be at the @wbtourlondon with my faves drinking butter beer and enjoying some wand play- needless to say it didnt go to plan.'

She continued: 'Gutted we missed the Gringotts opening but Im just so pleased youre ok. We will be spending the rest of the night eating chocolate, watching the Jill dando documentary and snuggling.

A&E dash: The former Geordie Shore star, 31, took to her Instagram to thank the health service for 'amazing care' following an 'incredibly scary and long day' on Tuesday

'Ps huge huge THANKYOU to Josh and Julian the paramedics who took such amazing care of my girl and made us laugh when we were worried. Pps love you little @zoe_illy ... so proud of how brave you were today.'

The reality star also posted a series of Instagram videos once she returned home safely with Zoe - with both girls able to see the funny side of the incident once they were back on the sofa.

Speaking into the camera, Vicky said: 'So today hasn't exactly gone how we expected. I was very excited because the new Gringotts Bank has just opened at Harry Potter world and I got an invite, because everyone knows what a big fan I am.

'So I invited some of my nearest and dearest to go down and appreciate the tour. But of course it didn't quite go to plan and as this one arrived in Bethnal Green disaster struck.'

Dramatic: The TV personality's friend, Zoe Illy, had been on the way to join her for the opening of the new Gringotts Bank at the Harry Potter Studios in London when she was struck

Praise: Posting a series of shots of Zoe wearing a neck brace in the back of an ambulance, Vicky branded the NHS 'a credit to our country'

The reality star then began sharing photos of her pals trip to the accident and emergency ward, which show her lying in a stretcher as the doctors attended to her.

'Yep she got hit by a car,' she revealed as she tagged Warner Studios in the snap.

But, despite Zoe sporting a neck brace, Vicky joked: 'At least we can see the funny side of it. We spent an entire afternoon in A&E, all the staff were lovely though.'

Vicky concluded the video by revealing her pal hadn't broken any bones as a result of the accident and said that the pair were enjoying a girls' night in instead.

She continued: 'She's still sore. She's been very hurt, but nothing is broken so I've got her on the sofa and we're looking after each other.

'We missed Harry Potter, but we're hoping, if you're listening to this Harry or anybody at the studio then please take pity on us. It was touch and go for a while.'

On the mend: Vicky concluded the video by revealing that her pal hadn't broken any bones as a result of the accident and said that the pair were enjoying a girls' night in instead

It's been a drama-filled few days for Vicky after she proved her relationship with boyfriend Ercan Ramadan was very much back on track amid split rumours.

The couple silenced break-up rumours as they enjoyed a romantic dinner date at Vivi restaurant on Saturday night.

The former Geordie Shore star started dating Ercan three months after splitting from fiance John Noble.

According to The Sun, Vicky decided to end things with the TOWIE hunk because she felt they got together too soon after her split from John.

The source said: 'Vicky has decided to call things off with Ercan because it was all moving too quickly.

'She felt like it was too soon after her split from John Noble to get so involved with someone else.

'She really fancies Ercan and they are very much still friends but it's just not the right time for a serious romance. They might end up getting back together in the future.'

Silencing rumours: It's been a drama-filled few days for Vicky after she proved her relationship with boyfriend Ercan Ramadan was very much back on track amid split rumours



They've been working together every night in their play, Betrayal.

Yet Zawe Ashton and Tom Hiddleston took some time out from the theatre to attend the launch of Character Breakdown - Zawe's debut book - at Wild By Tart in London on Wednesday.

Cosying up to one another, the co-stars seemed in high spirits as they chatted with the likes of Emeli Sande and Rizzle Kicks' Jordan Stephens.

Two's company: Tom Hiddleston supported his Betrayal co-star Zawe Ashton at the launch of her debut book, Character Breakdown, at Wild By Tart in London on Wednesday

Zawe looked sensational on the outing as she donned a vibrant burnt orange trouser suit by ROKSANDA.

The Fresh Meat star looked effortlessly glamorous as she slipped her lithe frame into an oversized blazer with a scarlet satin scarf threaded through the buttons.

She teamed the garment with matching flared trousers, which skimmed over a pair of cream mule heels.

Three's company: Cosying up to one another, the co-stars seemed in high spirits as they chatted with the likes of Emeli Sande - with the trio posing for snaps together

Time away: They've been working together every night in their play, Betrayal. Yet Zawe and Tom took some time out from the theatre to attend the launch

Cosy: The pair seemed in good spirits as they shared a hug and chatted with one another at the daytime launch event

Character Breakdown is Zawe's debut book, and has been described as an experimental memoir about the effects of character creation - and destruction - on actors.

Zawe and Tom were no doubt making the most of the daytime event before they were required back at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

The pair are starring in Betrayal, which follows a seven-year extramarital affair between two characters, Emma and Jerry, with the latter character being Emma's husband Robert's friend.

Read all about it: Character Breakdown is Zawe's debut book, and has been described as an experimental memoir about the effects of character creation - and destruction - on actors

One to read: Tom seemed in good spirits as he looked through his stunning co-star's book

Loving life: Emeli, Tom and Zawe made for a stunning trio, and appeared in high spirits as they chatted and posed holding up Zawe's book

Family affair: Zawe was joined by her mother Victoria alongside Tom and Emeli at the event

Three's company: Also in attendance was Rizzle Kicks star Jordan Stephens, who donned a bold red tracksuit teamed with a brown coat

In particular innovative Pinter style, the play uses reverse chronology with the first scene taking place after the affair has ended.

Betrayal was inspired by Pinter's secret relationship with Joan Bakewell during the 1960s.

Tom plays Robert in the play with Zawe starring as his on-stage wife Emma and Charlie playing Jerry.

Dressed to impress: Zawe looked sensational on the outing as she donned a vibrant burnt orange trouser suit by ROKSANDA

Dressed to impress: The Fresh Meat star looked effortlessly glamorous as she slipped her lithe frame into an oversized blazer with a scarlet satin scarf threaded through the buttons

Leggy lady! She teamed the oversized blazer with matching flared trousers, which skimmed over a pair of cream mule heels

Two's company: Zawe was joined at the event by Clara Paget - the pair starred together in St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold and have remained friends

Snap happy: Clara - who kept things casual but chic in a dove grey coat - whipped her phone out to snap selfies with Zawe inside the venue

All-smiles: Zawe couldn't keep the smile off her face as she sat between Gemma Cairney - who sported vibrant pink locks - and a pal

Hug it out: Zawe was seen getting a hug from her friend Russell Tovey, who brought his adorable French bulldog along to the bash

Two's company: Zawe seemed in good spirits as she joined Bonnie Greer at the event

It is part of the The Jamie Lloyd Company's Harold Pinter season, marking ten years since his death in 2008, with Betrayal the finale in the star-studded performances of all his short plays.

In February, Danny Dyer and Martin Freeman took to the stage to perform The Dumb Waiter as part of the theatre extravaganza.

Zawe can currently be seen in Netflix film Velvet Buzzsaw alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, whilst fans are speculating whether Tom will appear in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame film.Celebrity psychic Jackie Gillies defended her profession on Wednesday, after being challenged about the ethics of fortune telling by The Project's Hamish MacDonald.

Jackie, 38, who previously starred on The Real Housewives of Melbourne, said she has 'helped tens of thousands of people' during her 15 years as a medium.

The tense on-air exchange began when Hamish suggested that psychics who charge for readings are potentially 'preying on vulnerable people'.

Clash: Celebrity psychic Jackie Gillies (far left) defended her profession on Wednesday, after being challenged about the ethics of fortune telling by The Project 's Hamish MacDonald

Jackie replied: 'Well, for me, I've been doing it for 15 years...'

Hamish then asked, 'Do you take money for it?' to which Jackie responded: 'Absolutely! Just like you get paid for this job, [which is] quite a lot!'

The wife Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies added: 'I know when I give a psychic medium reading how many people I have helped and inspired over the years, and after 15 years I've got tens of thousands of testimonials that say that.'

Critical: The tense on-air exchange began when Hamish (left) suggested that psychics who charge for readings are potentially 'preying on vulnerable people'

Jackie explained that it's important for people to 'keep an open mind and an open heart' when it comes to psychic readings.

Addressing the ethics of being a professional medium, Jackie said that she 'isn't pushing anyone to come' to her and charges for her services because she 'knows [her] self-worth'.

Jackie had appeared on The Project to promote her new book, Shine It Up, which tells the story of how she supposedly discovered her psychic 'gift'.

Defensive: Jackie, 38, who previously starred on The Real Housewives of Melbourne, insisted she has 'helped tens of thousands of people' during her 15 years as a medium

Jackie, who was born in Croatia and raised in Newcastle, was previously in the corporate world before deciding to follow a more spiritual path.

In 2010, she married Ben Gillies, the drummer of alternative rock band Silverchair.

The Project airs weekdays at 6:30pm on Channel 10She has been enjoying a relaxing trip to Oman with her friend.

And Lisa Armstrong offered a glimpse into her sun-soaked break, as she took to Instagram to post snaps from her holiday on Wednesday afternoon.

The make-up artist, 42, reflected on her 'fun' trip with her gal pal, as she jetted home in an upper class section of the plane wearing a restorative eye mask.

Relaxed: Lisa Armstrong offered a glimpse into her sun-soaked break, as she took to Instagram to post snaps from her holiday on Wednesday afternoon

Lisa appeared to have had an exciting trip, as she shared snaps from a trip to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, wearing patterned head scarves and shades.

Lisa looked in her element as she shielded herself from the scorching sun with a pair of chic shades, while covering her tresses in a rose-print scarf in a bid to culturally respect her surroundings.

The star seemed to have been in high spirits, as she wore beaming smiles in her holiday shots and referenced the fact that two pals 'hadn't stopped laughing'.

Luxury living: The make-up artist, 42, reflected on her 'fun' trip with her gal pal, as she jetted home in an upper class section of the plane wearing a restorative eye mask

Culture: Lisa appeared to have had an exciting trip, as she shared snaps from a trip to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, wearing patterned head scarves and shades

She also shared snaps with her 44,000 strong following of her evenings out while on the trip, in one mirror selfie Lisa looked sensational in an off-the-shoulder black dress with pom-pom detailing which was cinched around her waist.

Lisa's trip proved she was very much removed from the Britain's Got Talent premiere this weekend, as she took some time off her ex-husband Ant McPartlin prepares to launch the show alongside his best fried Declan Donnelly.

Lisa and Ant parted ways in January of last year following 11 years of marriage and were granted a decree nisi in October with Ant swiftly moving on to new girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett.

Beaming: Lisa looked in her element as she shielded herself from the scorching sun with a pair of chic shades, while covering her tresses in a rose-print scarf in a bid to culturally respect her surroundings

Laugh a minute: The star seemed to have been in high spirits, as she wore beaming smiles in her holiday shots and referenced the fact that two pals 'hadn't stopped laughing'

Meanwhile, Ant's BGT co-stars have told of their delight at 'the family' being back together as the presenter returns for the new series.

The star took a step back from his work commitments following his arrest for drink-driving in March last year, and his presenting partner Declan Donnelly hosted the live Britain's Got Talent shows alone.

However, the duo are back together in the 13th series of the ITV talent show, which starts on April 6.

Judge Alesha Dixon said of Ant's return: 'It's been like getting the family back together, it just feels normal. We've been working together for so long now that when we're together it just feels right.'

Glam: She also shared snaps with her 44,000 strong following of her evenings out while on the trip, in one mirror selfie Lisa looked sensational in an off-the-shoulder black dress with pom-pom detailing which was cinched around her waist

Moved on: Lisa's trip proved she was very much removed from the Britain's Got Talent premiere this weekend, as she took some time off her ex-husband Ant McPartlin prepares to launch the show alongside his best fried Declan DonnellyEastEnders teen Bex Fowler could be leaving Albert Square in the near future, as on-set snaps show her visiting Oxford University.

The soap favourite can be seen emotionally clashing with another girl as she tours the campus in upcoming scenes, as she also battles with her growing feelings for the older Kush Kazemi.

Bex has been mentally struggling in recent months after her boyfriend Shakil was brutally stabbed last year, and it seems some time away from Walford may be the next step for her.

Struggling: EastEnders teen Bex Fowler could be leaving Albert Square in the near future, as on-set snaps show her visiting Oxford University

In the filming snaps, Bex (played by Jasmine Armfield) can be seen taking a stroll around the Oxford campus with a mystery girl.

As the pair take in the sights of the iconic school, Bex remains conflicted as to whether she would still like to attend university.

Despite pressure from mum Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) and dad Martin (James Bye), Bex will grow more and more uncertain over her future as the weeks go on.

Tense: The soap favourite can be seen emotionally clashing with another girl as she tours the campus in upcoming scenes

Brutal: As she strolls around the campus, Bex seems to fly off the handle as she lashes out at a mystery girl who joins her on the tour

Horrific: As the pair take in the sights of the iconic school, Bex remains conflicted as to whether she would still like to attend university

Eventually things become too much for Bex and she brutally lashes out at the other visitor, who then tries to talk her round.

After some soul-searching, Bex calms down and makes amends with the girl before they continue on the tour.

Bex will embark on the university trip after visiting the grave of her boyfriend Shakil (Shaheen Jafargholi), who was brutally stabbed last May in a horrific gang attack.

Calming down: After some soul-searching, Bex calms down and makes amends with the girl before they continue on the tour

Horrific: Bex will embark on the university trip after visiting the grave of her boyfriend Shakil (Shaheen Jafargholi), who was brutally stabbed last May in a horrific gang attack

Harrowing: While Bex was devastated by her boyfriend's death, she has struggled to express her grief and in recent weeks has had growing feelings for Shakil's older brother Kush

Embattled: It remains to be seen if Bex will decide to leave Albert Square behind to focus on her studies, and whether she can finally move on from Shakil's death

Heart-wrenching scenes saw the much loved character left for dead in an alley, before his friend Keegan Baker (Zack Morris) - who was also stabbed - managed to find help.

While Bex was devastated by her boyfriend's death, she has struggled to express her grief and in recent weeks has had growing feelings for Shakil's older brother Kush (Davood Ghadami).

Despite his attempts to refuse her advances, the pair will be brought back together again, after Martin suggest Kush join her for a run to help clear her head ahead of the school exams.

It remains to be seen if Bex will decide to leave Albert Square behind to focus on her studies, and whether she can finally move on from Shakil's death.

EastEnders continues on Thursday 4th April at 7:30pm on BBC One.Joey King is a rare force in Hollywood as her performance in the new movie The Act with Patricia Arquette proves.

But there is another actress out there who looks just like her.

On Tuesday the 19-year-old up-and-coming actress posed with her look-alike sister Hunter, 25, as they attended the Hotel Vivier Los Angeles Cocktail Party.

Best friends: Joey King held hands with her sister Hunter when at the Hotel Vivier Los Angeles cocktail party on Tuesday

The two held hands as they stood on the red carpet.

Joey went with a black and white stripped mini dress with black tights and matching heels as well as a purse that went with the theme.

Her sister had on a maroon shiny dress with ruffles on the sleeves and hems. She added Calzedonia rhinestone tights and black heels with diamond buckles on top.

C'est chic: Joey went with a black and white stripped mini dress with black tights and matching heels as well as a purse that went with the theme

She met a friend! Here the star posed with Gherardo Felloni at the Beverly Hills event

The two looked very similar with the same facial features and frame.

Her sister Hunter is on the soap opera The Young And The Restless. She has also starred in 2012's Hollywood Heights and 2015's A Girl Like Her.

Joey was also seen posing near a large bathtub filled with flowers.

And then she was seen next to Gherardo Felloni on the red carpeted stairs.

Fashionista: Mandy Moore showed off her style credentials

Also at the bash was Mandy Moore.

The actress, 34, posed for photos in a shimmery black dress with a high collar and long sleeves.

The frock was cinched at the waist and had an asymmetrical hem that fell from just below the knee at the front to the ankle at the back.

Moore stepped out in black sandal heels decorated with black ostrich feathers and carried a signature Roger Vivier purse.

Her newly bobbed hair was styled with a center parting and she wore it tucked behind her ears showing off her long dangly earrings.

Striking: The This Is Us star, 34, wore a shimmery black dress with a high collar, long sleeves and an asymmetrical hem, and she added black heels decorated with ostrich feathers

Pretty: Moore's newly bobbed hair was styled with a center parting and she wore it tucked behind her ears showing off her long dangly earrings

Star power: Moore was joined at the event hosted by French luxury brand Roger Vivier by fellow actress Patricia Arquette

Moore also posed for photos with fellow guest Arquette.

The Boyhood Oscar winner looked gorgeous in a dark green ankle-length dress with short sleeves and a sash at the waist.

Arquette, 50, added black sandal heels with platform soles and carried a rectangular black purse with the distinctive large square silver clasp of the Paris-based luxury brand.

She's currently starring in Hulu's The Act playing a mother with Munchausen's by proxy in the based-on-a-true story series.

Her co-star in the drama is King and she was also at the exclusive cocktail party.

Stylish: Arquette, 50, looked gorgeous in a dark green ankle-length dress with short sleeves and a sash at the waist. She dded black sandal heels with platform soles

Dramatic role: The Boyhood Oscar winner currently stars in Hulu's The Act playing a mother with Munchausen's by proxy in the based-on-a-true story series

Christina Ricci, 39, dazzled in a shimmery silver dress and distinctive Roger Vivier shoes.

Her outfit had a ruffled collar and ruffled hem and three-quarter sleeves with bell cuffs.

Other guests included model Chanel Iman and actresses Nikki Reed, Georgie Flores and Halston Sage.

On hand, too, were model Mae Musk, mother of Elon Musk, French model and fashion designer Ines de La Fressange, Roger Vivier creative director Gherardo Felloni.

Eye-catching: Christina Ricci, 39, dazzled in a shimmery silver dress and distinctive Roger Vivier shoes. Her outfit had a ruffled collar, ruffled hem and sleeves with bell cuffs

Natural beauty: Model Chanel Iman, 28, stunned in a sleeveless top edged with black ostrich feathers and black trousers with pink detailing

Spring-like: The Twilight Saga's Nikki Reed, 30, opted for a full-length floral-themed dress

Dared to bare: Georgie Flores paired a long black blazer with a semi-sheer black bralette and black mini skirt

Shiny: Halston Sage, 25, flashed a little cleavage in a sparkly gold sleeveless jumpsuit

VIPs: On hand, too, were model Mae Musk, 70, left, and French model and fashion designer Ines de La Fressange, 61, right

Quirky: YouTuber Poppy, 24, made a fashion statement with her chosen ensemble

Man of the hour: Arquette and Moore posed for photos with Roger Vivier creative director Gherardo FelloniHer Happy X Nature clothing range is set to launch on Thursday.

And Kate Hudson showed off her chic sense of style when the actress his the streets of New York City in a peach trench coat on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old paired the statement garment with a matching jacket.

Life's a peach! Kate Hudson showed off her chic sense of style when the actress his the streets of New York City in a coat by Michael Kors Collection on Wednesday

On her lower half, Kate wore a pair of skinny blue jeans and slipped a pair of ruby red heels on her feet.

The mother-of-three accessorized with an army green Diorcamp messenger bag, valued at $3050, and aviator shades.

The daughter of Goldie Hawn carried a bright yellow folder under one arm as she walked the New York street.

Accessories: The mother-of-three accessorized with an army green Diorcamp messenger bag, valued at $3050, and aviator shades

Well-heeled: On her lower half, Kate wore a pair of skinny blue jeans and slipped a pair of ruby red heels on her feet

Hudson's Instagram caption parroted her new 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.

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.She may well have been absent, but Ferne McCanns infant daughter wasnt far from the mind as her mother celebrated potty training expert Amanda Jenners book launch on Wednesday afternoon.

The former TOWIE star, 28, caught the eye in a teal green satin dress as helped Jenner celebrate the publication of her Potty Training Magic Book in London.

A stylish Gucci belt gave the look an elegant designer flourish, while a fitted black blazer was tastefully draped across her shoulders.

Looking good: Ferne McCann caught the eye in a teal green satin dress as helped Amanda Jenner celebrate the publication of her Potty Training Magic Book in London on Wednesday

Knee-length leather boots added to the look, while a smart black leather handbag proved to be her only notable accessory.

Drawing further attention to her features, the TV personality applied her make-up generously from a rich colour palette.

Ferne may well have been hoping to get some tips from potty expert Jenner, with absent daughter Sunday celebrating her first birthday last November.

Distinctive: A stylish Gucci belt gave the look an elegant designer flourish, while a fitted black blazer was tastefully draped across her shoulders

Finishing touches: Knee-length leather boots added to the look, while a smart black leather handbag proved to be her only notable accessory

Don't mind me: Drawing further attention to her features, the TV personality applied her make-up generously from a rich colour palette

Ferne's attendance comes after the second series of her ITVBe reality show First Time Mum, which ended in February, was warmly received by fans.

While the show mainly documented Ferne's day-to-day struggles and triumphs as a single mum to daughter Sunday, it also showed the star as she debated whether to return to the dating scene.

The TV personality has also started embracing the single life following her split from former boyfriend Arthur Collins, Sunday's father, in 2017 .

In good company:Ferne may well have been hoping to get some tips from potty expert Jenner, with absent daughter Sunday celebrating her first birthday last November

Collins is currently serving a 20-year jail term for an acid attack at an east London nightclub after being found guilty of five counts of grievous bodily harm and nine of actual bodily harm.

Ferne has since been linked to Love Island star Charlie Brake and former TOWIE co-star Liam Gatsby Blackwell.

In a bid to reemerge on the dating scene, the TV personality agreed to go on a second date with co-star Gatsby, four years after their first, during an episode of First Time Mum.

Hardcore TOWIE fans will remember they enjoyed a brief flirtation, with the aspiring rapper treating Ferne to a helicopter date on the reality show in 2015.He's known for his role as Jim Hopper in the Netflix series Stranger Things.

And now David Harbour, 43, is heading to the big screen as he joins Scarlett Johansson, 34, in Marvel's latest project Black Widow.

The film is getting to the end of casting with production set to start in London in June, according to a Wednesday article from the Hollywood Reporter.

Headed to the big screen: David Harbour, 43, of Stranger Things, is joining Scarlett Johansson, 34, and heading to the big screen for Marvel's latest project, Black Widow, it was revealed on Tuesday

The film will see Scarlett reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff, A.K.A. Black Widow.

With filming starting in the coming months, it is rumored to hit the big screen on May 1, 2020.

It was also reported on Tuesday that Oscar nominee Rachel Weisz is also in talks to star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

The time has come! The film will see Scarlett reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff, A.K.A. Black Widow after years of fans begging for her to have her own movie (pictured in Avengers 2012)

Outlaw King's Florence Pugh is also on board as is Cate Shortland to direct.

Variety reported on Tuesday that is was yet to be determined 'whether Black Widow will be an origin tale or set after Avengers: Endgame.'

For years fans have urged Marvel to give Scarlett her own Black Widow movie.

The blonde beauty has portrayed the character in Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame.

This will be David's first time entering the Marvel world.

Jim Hopper: And although a veteran actor in theater, film and television, David captivated audiences when he appeared in Netflix's Stranger Things in 2016

Father-daughter bond: Jim ends up being a father figure for Millie Bobbie Brown's character, Eleven

And although a veteran actor in theater, film and television, David captivated audiences when he appeared in Netflix's Stranger Things in 2016.

Playing the role of Jim Hopper, he commanded attention as the Chief Police Officer who's haunted and troubled by his past.

Jim ends up being a father figure for Millie Bobby Brown's character, Eleven.

His role in the series has led him to nine nominations and two wins - a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics Choice Award - over its two seasons.

Racking it in! According to reports, Millie Bobby Brown (second from left) managed to negotiate a secret contract which will see her make $350,000 per episode (on par with David Harbour and Winona Ryder) - while her fellow kid co-strars will only make $250,000 (L-R: Actors Gaten Matarazzo, Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink, Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin)

And according to reports, David has managed to negotiate a salary of $350,000 for the third season.

The same fee will also be issued to Winona Ryder, who plays Joyce Byers, as well as Millie, 14.

However, Millie's fellow child actor co-stars will only be racking in an estimated $250,000 per episode.

Apart from Stranger Things, David will also play the title character in the rebooted film Hellboy, set to be released later this year.He's one of Hollywood's highest-earning actors.

And Will Smith earned his pay check on Wednesday, when the 50-year-old apparently decided to forgo his stunt double and perform a fight scene himself.

The scene, from his forthcoming action flick Bad Boys For Life, involved the Independence Day actor fighting a man in motorcycle wear on a balcony in Miami.

I've got this one: Will Smith earned his pay check on Wednesday, when the 50-year-old apparently decided to forgo his stunt double and perform a fight scene himself

Both Will and his double wore button-up long sleeve T-shirts for the scene, with dark pants.

After giving his lookalike a breather, the Ali star proceeded to get physical with a man in a black bike helmet and leather jacket.

After blocking a few punches, Smith grabbed the man and slammed him up against the wall of the apartment building where they were filming.

After they cut, Will appeared to inquire after his scene partner's well being, as the man rubbed his head.

Twins! Both Will and his double wore button-up long sleeve T-shirts for the scene, with dark pants

Let's get physical: After giving his lookalike a breather, the Ali star proceeded to get physical with a man in a black bike helmet and leather jacket

Wrestlemania: After blocking a few punches, Smith grabbed the man and slammed him up against the wall of the apartment building where they were filming

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Smith's stand-in was spotted on the set of the action sequel.

Stand-ins are commonly used in Hollywood - they fill in for the actor while the film crew gets the cameras and lighting set up.

Unlike body doubles, stand-ins do not appear on camera, so they don't need to look alike.

However, Will's stand-in did have a similar build and was wearing similar clothes.

Heads up! Will shoves his scene partner's head into the wall

You okay bro? After they cut, Will appeared to inquire after his scene partner's well being, as the man rubbed his head

In the first Bad Boys movie, it was revealed Smith's character Mike Lowrey is quite wealthy, with his parents leaving him a fortune.

The plotline of the third film in the series follows Marcus (played by Martin Lawrence), who is now a police inspector, while Mike is in a midlife crisis. They unite again when an Albanian mercenary, whose brother the pair killed, promises them an important bonus.

Also returning from 1995's Bad Boys and 2003's Bad Boys II is Joe Pantoliano's Captain Howard.

Rich kid: In the first Bad Boys movie, it was revealed Smith's character Mike Lowrey is quite wealthy, with his parents leaving him a fortune

Working it out: The plotline of the third film in the series follows Marcus (played by Martin Lawrence), who is now a police inspector, while Mike is in a midlife crisis

Plotline: They unite again when an Albanian mercenary, whose brother the pair killed, promises them an important bonus

Looking ahead: Sony Pictures has set Bad Boys For Life for release on January 17, 2020, which already has plenty of competition lined up

The rest of the cast is populated by franchise newcomers, including Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig and Charles Melton. The cast also features popular musician DJ Khaled.

Sony Pictures has set Bad Boys For Life for release on January 17, 2020, which already has plenty of competition lined up.

Also opening on that date is Warner Bros' Just Mercy starring Michael B Jordan and Universal's The Voyage of Dr Dolittle starring Robert Downey Jr.

Sony is already developing a fourth Bad Boys movie, while there will also be a TV spin-off debuting this summer.Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx are doing well together.

The 40-year-old actress and the 51-year-old Oscar winner somehow make it work even though she calls New York City home while he resides in Los Angeles.

'When they can spend time together, they do,' a source told People. 'When theyre busy and they cant, they dont. They are two adults who enjoy each others company and have for a long time.'

They make it work: Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes are going strong because they see each other whenever they can, a source told People

They just click: Holmes and Foxx smiled at each other during an event in January 2018 in NYC

The actors were first seen dancing together in 2013 in the New York area after she divorced Tom Cruise.

Since then they have been seen kissing in Malibu and, more recently, hitting the Met in Manhattan.

As far as their schedule, they 'see each other as frequently as they can' said the insider.

The actors were first seen dancing together in 2013 in the New York area after she divorced Tom Cruise. Seen in 2012

The two can handle a long-distance relationship because they have a track record and common interests.

'They have known each other for years, and both turned out to be great parents, so they also have that in common,' said the source.

'They are dedicated to their careers. Plus they give each other space.'

But the two still keep things very quiet.

For example, when on a mini vacation last week, Katie only shared photos of herself and not Foxx.

The Mad Money actress took to her Instagram page on Sunday to post a photo of herself in a summery Ulla Johnson striped jumpsuit. She also shared a photo of a bottle of red wine as well as an image of beaded bracelets.

Summer ready: The First Daughter actress took to Instagram on Sunday to post a photo of herself in the lovely Ulla Johnson jumpsuit

Wine and cooking: Holmes showed off a bottle of wine from film director and friend Gia Coppola

Cooking tips: And The Gift star showed off a wrist full of beaded bracelets while reading from Mia Stone's Cooking For Artists cookbook

The Batman Begins performer also posted a photo of her latest reading selection, Mia Stone's Cooking For Artists, while enjoying a bottle of wine from film director and friend Gia Coppola.

Her last photo from the weekend featured a photo of Holmes with the open cookbook while showing off an arm full of beaded bracelets.

Holmes has been very busy both on screen and in the real world.

The philanthropist has been busy with her social reform efforts, recently returning from a humanitarian trip with her daughter Suri to visit Syrian refugees in Greece.

The screen siren's next film role will be in the horror movie The Boy 2 which is set to be released in July of this year.

Foxx meanwhile has kept busy with both film and television roles.

The Django Unchained actor has been hosting and executive producing the musical game show Beat Shazam since 2017 with the third season set to premiere in May.

Foxx has also been cast to play Al Simmons/Spawn in the reboot of the Todd McFarlane comic book superhero movie set to begin filming in June.As the world mourns the tragic death of rapper Nipsey Hussle more people around the world are listening to his music.

According to Nielson Music, the 33-year-old star - real name: Ermias Asghedom - became one of the hottest artists to buy and stream after he was fatally shot on Sunday.

The statistics company told The Associated Press on Tuesday that 2,000 copies of his albums were purchased on the day he died.

Rising to the top: Nipsey Hussle's music sales and streams have soared and dominated the charts since his death on Sunday; seen in February

And the sales didn't stop there with 9,000 copies on Monday and 4,000 copies on Tuesday. That's in contrast to last Friday and Saturday when he sold just a few albums - an amount Nielsen Music said is too small to report.

On Wednesday, Hussle's major-label debut album, 2018's Victory Lap, was No. 1 on the iTunes albums chart, while his 2013 mixtape, Crenshaw, was No. 5.

Several of the hitmaker's songs, including Racks In the Middle, Double Up and Grinding All My Life, have landed on the Spotify and iTunes charts.

Skyrocketing: It was revealed on Wednesday that 2000 copies of his albums were purchased on the day he died with 9,000 copies on Monday and 4,000 copies on Tuesday; seen in February

Big fan: Jay-Z bought 100 copies of Hussle's Crenshaw for $100 each in 2013, and sent him a $10,000 check

By mid-afternoon on Wednesday, 10 of the Top 50 songs on Apple Music belonged to Nipsey.

Sales for his songs jumped from 1,000 to 14,000 on Sunday, Nielsen Music said. The next two days he sold 58,000 and 36,000 singles.

He averaged close to 2 million audio streams before his death - however, on Sunday, he earned 10 million audio streams and an impressive 57 million on Monday.

And it wasn't just his music that took off. His his video streams jumped from 900,000 to 9.7 million on the day he passed.

This however is not unusual, with musicians' albums usually selling much better following their death.

Nipsey was shot and killed in front of his South Los Angeles clothing store on Sunday afternoon - not far from where he grew up.

After a nearly 48-hour manhunt, police arrested a man, suspect Eric Holder, 29, they say gunned down the rapper.

Nipsey began his career in the mixtape circuit - selling his albums from the truck outside his car in Crenshaw.

In 2010, he was placed on hip-hop magazine XXL's "Freshman Class of 2010" - a coveted list for up-and-coming hip-hop acts - alongside J. Cole, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa and others.

Jay-Z even bought 100 copies of Hussle's Crenshaw for $100 each in 2013, and sent him a $10,000 check.

She's devastated: Nipsey leaves behind long-term girlfriend, Lauren London; seen in February

But Hussle, once signed to Sony's Epic Records, hit a new peak with Victory Lap, his critically acclaimed major-label debut album on Atlantic Records that made several best-of lists last year - from Billboard magazine to Complex.

At the 2019 Grammy Awards, Victory Lap was one of five nominees for Best Rap Album Of The Year alongside Cardi B's, Invasion of Privacy, Mac Miller's, Swimming, Pusha T's, Daytona, and Travis Scott's, Astroworld.

Cardi B took home the coveted award.

Victory Lap has sold 328,000 units based on sales and streams since its February 2018 release.

It debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's 200 albums charts and featured collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Diddy, CeeLo Green and more.

Nipsey leaves behind long-term girlfriend, Lauren London and his two children daughter Emani and son Kross Asghedom, two.

Lauren broke her silence on Tuesday and took to Instagram.

She wrote: 'I am completely lost. I've lost my best friend. My sanctuary My protector My soul. I'm lost without you We are lost without you babe I have no words.'Elyse Knowles has a message to her Instagram followers: 'Stop looking at my body and care about the environment'.

The Myer ambassador, 26, said on Thursday that she hopes to use social media to 'educate' people about sustainability, in addition to sharing bikini photos.

'Some people would rather see boobs and butt [on my Instagram],' Elyse told Australian Women's Health magazine.

'Some people would rather see my boobs': Elyse Knowles wants her Instagram followers to appreciate more than just bikini photos - as she hopes to 'educate them about sustainability'

The model and former Block star, who recently moved to Byron Bay with her boyfriend Josh Barker, has almost a million followers on Instagram.

And while she often posts photos of herself in bikinis, she also shares less glamorous updates about her skin battles and environmental issues.

'I'd rather relate to the people who love me for who I am,' Elyse added. 'I'd rather those people follow me than the people who want to see girls in bikinis all the time.'

Multi-faceted: While Elyse (pictured in 2016) often posts photos of herself in bikinis, she also shares less glamorous updates about her skin battles and environmental issues

When it comes to her social media philosophy, Elyse explained that she hopes to 'set an example' for her followers by leading a sustainable life.

'I really want to use [Instagram] to educate people on how they can make small changes to make big difference,' she said. 'I've never been so motivated to live that sustainable, eco-friendly life and share that with others.'

It comes after Elyse published a lengthy blog post explaining her recent decision to pack her bags and relocate from Melbourne to Byron Bay.

Values: 'I'd rather relate to the people who love me for who I am... I'd rather those people follow me than the people who want to see girls in bikinis all the time', Elyse told Women's Health

Firstly, she claimed that 'change can bring opportunity' and she was looking forward to finding 'fresh beginnings and a new perspective' on life.

'[Moving to a new area] challenges you to go out and meet new people, find new habits and just live your life in a slightly different way,' she said.

Her second reason for relocating to Byron Bay is that the community aligns more with her environmentalist values.

Eco warrior! When it comes to her social media philosophy, Elyse explained that she hopes to 'set an example' for her followers by leading a sustainable life

She said the residents are 'consciously aware of their carbon footprint', adding: 'People care about more than just their actions... They care deeply about the effect their actions have on other people, species and industries. It's a little green hub!'

Lastly, Elyse said that living in a busy city like Melbourne can be 'consuming and exhausting', but Byron Bay allows her to visit the beach at any time.

'Life has been quite nuts over the last few years. Just so crazy busy,' she explained.

'What could be better than living in a place where some of the most beautiful beaches in this country would literally sit on our doorstop? Nothing! So Byron it was.'

Shallow: 'Some people would rather see boobs and butt [on Instagram],' Elyse acknowledged

Elyse concluded by saying that the people who live in Byron are more aware of their surroundings and aren't 'focused down on their phones as much'.

The Seafolly ambassador and her boyfriend Josh moved to Byron a few weeks ago.

Taking to Instagram last month, Elyse revealed how excited she was to embark on this new chapter in her life.

'We have always had this dream': It comes after Elyse published a lengthy blog post explaining her recent decision to pack her bags and relocate from Melbourne to Byron Bay

'We have always had this dream, we have decided to make it reality,' she wrote.

'The new adventure has begun! We have packed up our lives and we are moving to Byron Bay! I can't believe it's happening and it's real now! So excited for our new adventure with my man @joshy.barker.'

Josh also shared the news with his own social media followers, but clarified that the move was more of a '12-month working holiday'.The wise guys have landed in Brooklyn.

Filming has officially gotten underway on the feature film prequel to The Sopranos, titled The Many Saints of Newark.

Ironically, the cast and crew of the mafia flick were spotted on set in Brooklyn, New York a mere 30 minutes from Newark, New Jersey where the film is set.

Bada bing! Filming has officially gotten underway on the feature film prequel to The Sopranos, simply The Many Saints of Newark, as the stars were spotted in costume on Wednesday

Actor Alessandro Nivola was seen for the first time as main character Dickie Moltisanti dressed in a sharp, shiny grey suit with an azure colored tie with a tie bar and slicked back hair.

The actor was filmed as he stepped out of a restaurant with heavy drapery onto a sun drenched street.

The plot of the mob prequel is set in the era of the Newark riots in the 1960s, when African-Americans and Italians in New Jersey embroiled in an often fatal feud.

David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, co-wrote the upcoming film adaptation.

Made man: Actor Alessandro Nivola was seen for the first time as main character Dickie Moltisanti

Sixties style: The character was dressed in a sharp, shiny grey suit with an azure colored tie with a tie bar and slicked back hair

Brooklyn appeared to have been transformed for the movie as a handful of extras were dressed like they stepped out of a time machine and 60s style cars littered the streets.

Between scenes, a much more relaxed version of the indie actor kept warm in an over coat and shared a laugh with his co-star Michela De Rossi.

The brunette beauty's vintage costume was covered by a long red winter jacket but her raven locks were fluffed and curled in a retro style.

Relaxed: Between scenes, a much more relaxed version of the indie actor kept warm in an over coat and shared a laugh with his co-star Michela De Rossi

Vintage! The brunette beauty's vintage costume was covered by a long red winter jacket but her raven locks were fluffed and curled in a retro style

The film also stars Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen, and John Magaro.

Alessandro's Dickie Moltisanti will be familiar, at least in name, to any fan of the iconic HBO show as it is the surname of Christopher Moltisanti, played by the incomparable Michael Imperioli.

Dickie was never seen during the drama's tenure on television but referenced several times as a sort of mentor of Tony Soprano, who was famously played by James Gandolfini.

Storyline: The plot of the mob prequel is set in the era of the Newark riots in the 1960s, when African-Americans and Italians in New Jersey embroiled in an often fatal feud

Coming soon: The film also stars Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen, and John Magaro and will be out in theaters in 2020

The Soprano family tree is a bit of a twisted one as Dickie is the cousin of Tony's wife Carmela (Edie Falco), however Tony refers to her second cousin Christopher (Imperioli) solely as his nephew.

Dickie is 'a charismatic but violent made man who falls in love with his father's much younger bride, a recent immigrant from Italy,' according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Sopranos centered around mob boss Tony Soprano and his dealings with his family and The Family while also seeking treatment for panic attacks.

Familiar: Alessandro's Dickie Moltisanti is the father of the character Christopher Moltisanti, played by the incomparable Michael Imperioli (left) in The Sopranos

Iconic: The Sopranos was a first-of-its-kind cable drama for HBO and ran for six seasons frin 1999-2007

The hit show was one of the first of it's kind and ran for six seasons on HBO from 1999 to 2007.

It made a star of actor James Gandolfini, won numerous awards including Golden Globes, Emmys and SAG Awards, and is often credited for the kicking off the stellar trend of television dramas in the 2000s and 2010s.

Gandolfini died suddenly of a heart attack while visiting Rome, Italy, on June 19, 2013. He was 51.

HBO hit: The Sopranos centered around mob boss Tony Soprano and his dealings with his family and The Family while also seeking treatment for panic attacks; Gandolfini pictured with actress Lorraine Bracco who played Dr. Melfi

Tony Soprano will be portrayed as his younger self in New by the late, great James Gandolfini's real life son Michael.

Earlier this month, Michael Gandolfini, 19, told TMZ that he's psyched to be playing his famous father's character as a young man in the prequel.

'It's exciting to step into the shoes of my dad,' he said. 'I'm real excited, it's going to be great!' he said.

Newark is set for release September 25, 2020.Their unlikely romance appears to be going from strength to strength, after it became clear that the pair were romantically involved in October last year.

And Jessie J proved that she and her beau Channing Tatum, 38 can have fun as she shared a series of clips of them and their pals attempting a synchronised swimming routine under the cover of darkness in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Wednesday.

The footage shows the 30-year-old Domino hit maker as she leads the way during their choreographed diving sequence.

Good-times: Jessie J, 30, proved that she and her beau Channing Tatum, 38 can have fun as she shared a series of clips of them and their pals attempting a synchronised swimming routine under the cover of darkness in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Wednesday

Keeping up her stylish persona, Jessie can be seen flaunting her toned physique in a white bikini and large gold hoop earrings.

Towering over the beauty, Tatum can be seen stood behind his sweetheart in the line up in a pair of swim shorts.

The group of friends laugh and giggle as they attempt their swim routine by diving off the side and pose for pictures of them having a laugh in the aqua water.

The group holiday includes Channing's daughter Everly - whom he shares with his estranged wife Jenna Dewan - as he and Jessie stay in the vacation home with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, his Namibian wife Behati Prinsloo, and their two small daughters.

Jessie and Channing first rubbed shoulders four years ago when she presented the actor with the Best Comedic Performance at the MTV Movie Awards in 2015.

It is not known how their love flourished or where they crossed paths before the duo embarked on a romance together in recent months.

Standing-out: Towering over the beauty, Tatum can be seen in the line up in a pair of swim shorts

Channing announced his split from Jenna Dewan last April after nine years of marriage and an insider claimed that their split was down to their careers.

A source told the New York Post's Page Six column that Jenna believed her husband wasn't working as hard as he should have on their relationship, whilst she was allegedly 'troubled' by the Magic Mike star's success.

The insider claimed: 'She is troubled by his success. He was turning down jobs because of her, and they were fighting a lot.'

Pals: The group of friends laugh and giggle as they attempt their swim routine and pose for set of pictures of them having a laugh in the aqua water

First encounter: Jessie and Channing first rubbed shoulders four years ago when she presented the actor with the Best Comedic Performance at the MTV Movie Awards in 2015

Explaining that the split was foreseeable as they had 'fallen out of love', the source added: 'Jenna always said they had to put work into their marriage to keep it alive, and while Channing is a great dad to their daughter, [Jenna] felt like he stopped wanting to work as hard on them as a married couple.'

They released a statement on Instagram that read: 'We have lovingly chosen to separate as a couple. We fell deeply in love so many years ago and have had a magical journey together.

'Absolutely nothing has changed about how much we love one another, but love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now.'She has used her reality star roots as a platform to kick start her career in the West End theatre.

And Amber Davies, 22, opted for casual glam when she slipped out the backstage door of 9 To 5: The Musical, in London on Wednesday.

Having a penchant for over sized hoodies, the former Love Island 2017 winner donned a Gucci hoodie with sequinned detailing which retails for 1,443 ($1,900).

One way to keep things casual: Amber Davies dressed in a 1,443 Gucci hoodie as she left 9 To 5: The Musical, in London on Wednesday after another theatre production

The reality star dressed her petite frame in leggings when she changed following another performance on stage for the Dolly Parton musical extravaganza.

Amber did, however, carry a fashionable pink handbag which she kept her essential items in as she went about her day-to-day life at the theatre.

Louise Redknapp stars alongside Amber in the office satire musical about three female secretaries who decide to get their revenge on their sexist boss.

What a price tag! Having a penchant for over sized hoodies, the former Love Island 2017 winner donned a Gucci hoodie with sequinned detailing which retails for 1,443 ($1,900)

Big day: The reality star dressed her petite frame in leggings when she changed following another performance on stage for the Dolly Parton musical extravaganza

Amber headed home to her minimalist London pad where she often entertains her new celebrity pals and long-time friends alike.

While many were sceptical of the reality star landing the role on 9 To 5: The Musical, she has gone onto impress her critics and audiences.

Yet Amber hit back at cynics as she insisted Love Island doesn't 'define' who she is during a recent interview with Lorraine Kelly.

Prepared: Amber did, however, carry a fashionable pink handbag which she kept her essential items in as she went about her day-to-day life at the theatre

Poser: Amber posed up a storm when she was captured on camera outside the theatre

The actress revealed she had always wanted to be on the West End and she had been in training for the role really since she was six years old.

She said: 'I think Love Island was a massive stepping stone for me and Im so grateful, [but then] its like "Oh can this love Island girl sing?"

'I always feel like Love Island doesnt define me as a person and Ive trained to sing since I was six, and have always wanted to be on the West End stage.'

Starring role: Louise Redknapp stars alongside Amber in the office satire musical about three female secretaries who decide to get their revenge on their sexist bossZara McDermott showed her Love Island ex Adam Collard precisely what he's missing as she stepped out in London on Wednesday night in a tiny black leather mini-dress.

Her hunky former lover has been sunning himself in Los Angeles with fellow members of 2018's so-called Do Bits Society, enjoying a lads trip stateside, but Zara was sure to steal the spotlight back home.

Attending an event held by Kaz Crossley - who is another of Zara and Adam's past Love Island housemates - Zara slipped into the sultry number, featuring a zip-up front teasing her bust, with elaborate heels to add to the look.

You ain't gonna get THIS candy! Zara McDermott showed her Love Island ex Adam Collard precisely what he's missing as she stepped out in London on Wednesday night in a tiny black leather mini-dress

She was sure to show off her leggy pins in the tiny dress, wearing her caramel locks loosely around her shoulders.

She accentuated her pretty features with bronzer and a slick of deep rouge to her lips.

Zara snacked on some candy floss as she posed for snaps at the event, joining Kaz to celebrate the launch, which was for KISS Lashes and Nails.

The night was held at Cirque le Soir in London's Soho.

Turning heads: Her hunky former lover has been sunning himself in Los Angeles with fellow members of 2018's so-called Do Bits Society, enjoying a lads trip stateside, but Zara was sure to steal the spotlight back home

Leggy: Zara, of Love Island fame, helped kick off the celebrations

Strutting along: She wore a leather, zip up mini-dress, teasing her bust, with elaborate heels to add to the look

While Zara partied with the likes of Kaz, Lizzie Cundy and Georgia Harrison in London, ex Adam is living it large with Jack Fowler, Sam Bird and Wes Nelson in California.

They've been documenting their boys getaway with plenty of posts on the beach, hanging out at the luxury villa someone's lent them and fawning over random women on Venice Beach.

Zara and Adam split earlier in the year - leaving just Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham flying the flag for Love Island longevity.

Bombshells: Zara was attending an event held by Kaz Crossley - who is another of Zara and Adam's past Love Island housemates

Sunning himself: While Zara partied in London, ex Adam is living it large with Jack Fowler, Sam Bird and Wes Nelson in California

Who are THEY? They've been documenting their boys getaway with plenty of posts on the beach, hanging out at the luxury villa someone's lent them and fawning over random women on Venice Beach

But on the very same night Zara partied with Kaz - who split from her own villa hunk, Josh Denzel, recently too - Jack and Dani announced they too were no more.

Jack took to Instagram to break the news. The former pen salesperson penned: 'There is no easy way to say this and it isn't going to be an easy time but me an Dani are not in a relationship anymore.

'We will always care a lot for each other and have love for each other and I mean that from the bottom of my heart and I wish her nothing but happiness.'The new CEO of the Northern Land Council Marion Scrymgour has urged the Northern Territory Government to come back and negotiate with Canberra after talks over $1.1 billion in remote housing funding broke down.

Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week telling him he would hand back all indigenous housing leases in 44 remote communities, more than half of its overcrowded 73 settlements.

The move followed a bitter public clash between Mr Gunner and Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion over a deal made last year to jointly fund the housing program with $1.1 billion over five years.

The NT Labor Government has accused the Federal Coalition of not delivering any money.

Senator Scullion is insisting that the NT's four Aboriginal land councils oversee housing procurement and accused the Territory Government of not allocating any funding in its budget.

Ms Scrymgour said she wanted to see the NT government back at the table with the Commonwealth Government.

"That is in the interests of Aboriginal people living in remote communities, particularly to deliver good housing and needs on the ground in remote communities," she told reporters.

"It doesn't need either government standing away from Aboriginal people."

The Federal Government is arguing that housing is a constitutional responsibility of the states and territories, which the PM said in a letter to the Mr Gunner.

Ms Scrymgour, a former Labor MLA, is the first woman appointed to run any of the NT's four land councils, which play powerful roles in Aboriginal self-governance including on land rights and other issues.

She is the fourth chief executive in five months after a tumultuous period in which long-time boss Joe Morrison resigned after a falling out with the executive over alleged poor governance, conflicts of interest and improper spending of taxpayer funds.

The NLC's finances will be examined in an independent audit, which it agreed to after two days of tense meetings two weeks ago.

"Hopefully we can go forward now and there can be some stability, it is in the Aboriginal Territorians that we do that," Ms Scrymgour.

"Aboriginal people that live in the Northern Land Council region need this organisation to be functioning and to be focusing on their needs rather than inward focused."

Ms Scrymgour is the current CEO of the Tiwi Islands Regional Council and will finish up there soon before taking over from NLC interim CEO and her former NT Labor Government colleague Jak Ah Kit.

In 2000, she became the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the Legislative Assembly, serving as senior cabinet minister and deputy chief minister.

Senator Scullion said he had the "greatest confidence in her capacity to serve the NLC and its members and communities".Australian Federal Police officers would have extra mental health support services at their disposal under a Labor government.

The opposition has pledged to spend $5 million over four years on ramping up services for AFP members if it wins the next federal election.

The commitment comes as 66 per cent of AFP staff experience potentially traumatic events at some stage in their career.

"We cannot expect our Australian Federal Police officers to look after us if we do not do the same for them," Labor leader Bill Shorten said on Wednesday.

The AFP has recently made efforts to improve its own mental health support services for staff, but some officers want more outside support, Labor believes.

Labor wants to work with the organisation, the AFP Association and experts to direct its fresh funding to the most appropriate services.

AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin revealed in January the force was restricting its officers' access to firearms, after the suicides of four members in two years.

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Australia's annual migration intake is being slashed by 30,000 places in an attempt to ease population pressures on congested capitals.

Many skilled migrants will also have to work in regional towns for three years, with international students offered enticements to study outside the big cities.

After hinting at his population plans for many months, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce the details on Wednesday.

Mr Morrison said he wanted ordinary workers in capital cities to spend less time stuck in traffic, while helping struggling rural and regional communities inject life into their towns.

He denied concerns about congestion were driven by racism, saying migrants were an important part of Australia's social and economic fabric.

"We won't be distracted from the task at hand to make Australia's cities and towns even better places to live," Mr Morrison said.

"People who want to play politics or run scare campaigns from these announcements are taking Australians for mugs."

The government is cutting the annual migration ceiling from 190,000 to 160,000 places for the next four years.

It does not expect the reduction to have any impact to the federal budget.

The federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has confirmed Labor is willing to lower the annual migrant intake to 160,000 but has warned against "dog whistling" on population policy.

Mr Morrison said Australia had thrived from steady population growth, but for the past two decades infrastructure and services have struggled to keep pace.

He pointed out the vast majority of migrants had settled in the capital cities, putting significant pressure on roads and public transport.

In an attempt to arrest this trend, the government is introducing two new visas requiring skilled workers to stay in the regions for three years before applying for permanent residency.

There will be 23,000 set aside for the new regional visas, which more than triples the number of migrants currently forced to spend two years in the bush.

Population Minister Alan Tudge said many smaller cities were crying out for more people, with an estimated 47,000 job vacancies in regional Australia.

"Some regional areas simply cannot fill the jobs available," he said.

The number of employer-sponsored skilled migrants allowed into Australia is being bumped up slightly to 39,000 places, but there will be no change to the family stream of the program, which offers 48,000 visas.

Meanwhile, tertiary scholarships worth $15,000 will be offered to 1000 local and international students each year to attend university in the regions.

Overseas students will also be able to work in Australia for an extra year after graduating from regional unis.Canberra's Jack Wighton is just relieved to get his first NRL game in nine months out of the way.

The 26-year-old missed the final 10 matches last season after being banned for assaulting five men in an alcohol-fuelled incident, which was captured on CCTV.

Apart from a trial game against Canterbury in February, Wighton's last outing for the Green Machine was a win against Wests Tigers on June 17.

Combine a comeback game with a switch to five-eighth and it proved to be a tense lead-in for Wighton to the Raiders' round one clash with Gold Coast.

But the former fullback made an impressive transition to the halves, where he hadn't featured since 2014, for his 131st NRL appearance

"I was a little bit nervous to get that one out of the road as it has been a little while, so it was good to get back out there," Wighton said.

"I think we communicated well; Aidan (Sezer) ran the show and I passed the message, so I think we worked well.

"I was happy with that start, I've done a lot of work over the pre-season so for us to come out and play like that was pleasing.

"We've still got a lot to work on, it was a wet game, but we done well."

The Raiders will face the might of Melbourne at GIO Stadium this Friday night.

The Storm have dominated in matches against the Green Machine, but Wighton thinks Canberra can snap the hoodoo.

"It's a new year so we'll try and change it," Wighton said.Manly playmaker Kane Elgey has made no secret of his side's plan to target the Sydney Roosters halves Cooper Cronk and Luke Keary as they seek to jump-start their NRL season against the reigning premiers.

Both sides go into the round two clash looking to open their accounts and a win over the competition favourites at Lottoland would go a long way to restoring some pride for the Sea Eagles after a disastrous 2018.

Elgey said if the Sea Eagles forwards could get at the Roosters' champion halves, it would go a long way to victory.

The Sea Eagles boast plenty of fire power on their edges in the form of Joel Thompson and Curtis Sironen and the pair are expected to roll out the welcome wagon for Cronk and Cleary at Lottoland on Saturday.

"Those two together, they're up there (with the best halves in the NRL)," Elgey said.

"They're extraordinary players and I think we're going to take them out,;we've just got to tire them out.

"If we can go through the middle and get to the edge, it's going to be a good one."

An up-front and honest Elgey described his first outing in Manly colours as underwhelming, saying part of his game, including his kicking, was lacking in their round one defeat at the hands of the Wests Tigers.

Elgey is looking to rebuild his career after stagnating at the Gold Coast over the previous two seasons but beat out ex-NSW Origin half Trent Hodkinson for the position to partner Daly Cherry-Evans in the Sea Eagles' halves.

Hodkinson has been named on an extended bench for Saturday's clash and faces being relegated to reserve grade, but is waiting in the wings if Cherry-Evans and Elgey fail to click.

Elgey said he was taking responsibility for the performance and needed to step up against the Roosters.

"I think I didn't stand up with the last tackle options," Elgey said.

"(Tigers halves (Luke) Brooks and Benji (Marshall) were a lot better and I have to take a bit of pressure off Chez.

"We spoke about that and it's a not a massive thing. We spoke about our game and we both have to go out this weekend and improve.

"He's a great talker and he's taken me under his wing and we're going to put round one behind us. It's a long season."The NSW Labor leader has been unable to recall how much cash his party pledged for schools and TAFE during a televised election forum despite education being at the centre of the party's campaign.

During a People's Forum, hosted by Sky News and the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday night, Michael Daley said Labor would spend $3 billion more on TAFE before saying he would need to check the figure.

AAP understands Mr Daley was referring to grants given to TAFE by the government each year.

However, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet noted in a tweet that independent costings by the Parliamentary Budget Office showed Labor was planning to invest just over $25 million over four years.

Labor's own policy is costed at $64.5 million over forward estimates.

Mr Daley also could not remember the exact figure his party would spend on schools - a key Labor policy - under Gonski funding, before coming back later in the forum to explain NSW Labor would spend about $2.7 billion.

NSW Labor's policy announcement said this sum would be over the life of the current state and federal funding agreement due to end in 2027.

The PBO's costing for the policy is just over $169 million over four years, Mr Perrottet tweeted.

At the end of the forum, 50 per cent of voters were more likely to vote for Ms Berejiklian.

Some 25 per cent were more likely to vote for Mr Daley, while a further 25 per cent were still undecided.

Earlier on Wednesday, a seemingly deflated Mr Daley offered an unqualified apology for remarks he made about Asian immigration as a buoyant Ms Berejiklian stepped up her attack on the Labor leader.

Video footage emerged on Monday of Mr Daley telling a Blue Mountains pub forum last year that highly-skilled Asian migrants were forcing Australian-born workers to "flee" Sydney.

The premier on Tuesday labelled the comments "hypocritical" and "offensive" but on Wednesday she went further.

"Absolutely it was, absolutely, absolutely, I can't stress that enough," Ms Berejiklian told AAP when asked if the opposition leader's remark was racist.

"Words matter and when you use a particular group of people as a scapegoat that actually causes a lot of hurt. I've been at the receiving end, I know what it's like," she said.

The premier - who is of Armenian descent - said Mr Daley had "crossed the line" with his comments.

The Labor leader admitted on Tuesday he could have used better language when discussing the issue of housing affordability and apologised if anyone was offended.

"I'm not (a racist), I never have been, people who know me know that I'm not," Mr Daley told reporters on Wednesday.

"I did use words that I shouldn't have, I accept that and my apology is unqualified."

A worried NSW Labor party ran full-page ads featuring Mr Daley and his family on the front of several Chinese language newspapers on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the remarks as "appalling", "very upsetting" and "offensive".

"I reject the comments and I think that Bill Shorten should disassociate himself as well," he told ABC News.

Mr Shorten acknowledged on Tuesday that the comment was "very poorly worded" but noted Mr Daley had apologised.

A recent opinion poll suggests the premier is narrowly leading Mr Daley 38 per cent to 36 on a preferred leader basis.

The YouGov-Galaxy survey, published by the Daily Telegraph, indicates the major parties are split at 50 per cent each on a two-party preferred basis, increasing the likelihood the winner will have to negotiate with the crossbench to form government.Tropical cyclone Trevor has caused chaos in some north Queensland communities as it barrels towards the Northern Territory.

Communities were in lockdown on Tuesday and roads and schools closed as the category three tropical storm made landfall just south of Lockhart River.

Hundreds of people there had braced for 220km/h winds and emergency services crews were on the ground at towns in the storm's path.

More than three hours after the storm reached the coast about 5pm on Tuesday, it still hadn't fully crossed the coast, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman told AAP.

The cyclone is expected to cause high tides along the coast north of Port Douglas and dump hundreds of millimetres of rain.

Warnings are in place for Orford Ness to Cape Flattery, extending across the Cape York Peninsula to Pormpuraaw and Mapoon, including Weipa and Coen.

Additional emergency crews, including specialist swift water rescue firefighters, have already been deployed to the region.

The storm is expected to weaken to a category one system as it crosses the Cape York Peninsula before re-intensifying on its way towards the Northern Territory.As frustration mounts over the time taken to return the bodies of those killed in a terror attack on two New Zealand mosques, authorities are defending the pace of work.

The remains of just six of the 50 people killed in Christchurch last week have been released to relatives for burial, according to New Zealand police.

Another six have been identified and will be returned shortly.

With custom requiring swift burials, the city's Muslim community is concerned.

Wednesday had earlier been cited as a goal and funeral preparations have been under way for days, with dozens of volunteers flying in from Australia and around New Zealand to help with the rites.

Those helping say the families have been unable to fully begin their grieving, while friends have described the bodies as "crying out to be buried".

Police say they're highly aware of the exasperation and having completed autopsies, are working as fast as possible to formally identify the bodies.

"While identification may seem straightforward, the reality is much more complex, particularly in a situation like this," they said in a statement.

"Our absolute priority is to get this right and ensure that no mistakes are made."

Officials say another 30 people are still in hospital, with nine in intensive care, after the shooting on Friday that killed 50 and wounded another 50.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expected to return to Christchurch on Wednesday, where families raised concerns about the release of bodies during her visit last week.

Meanwhile, Brenton Tarrant, the 28-year-old Australian man charged with the attack, is being held in strict security with no access to media, Stuff reports.

With suggestions he intends to represent himself in court, fears have grown the white supremacist could use his trial to espouse extremist views.

In an impassioned speech to parliament on Tuesday, Ms Ardern said she would not be using the gunman's name, in a bid to deny him notoriety.

"He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless," she said.

"And to others I implore you: speak the names of those who were lost, rather than name of the man who took them."

As her government prepares to announce new firearms laws in coming days, ministers have confirmed they are looking to Australia, which launched a successful gun buyback following the Port Arthur massacre 33 years ago.

With a possible ban on military-style, semi-automatic rifles like those Tarrant allegedly used, some New Zealanders have already taken on Ms Ardern's suggestion to consider voluntarily handing in their guns.

Armed police have maintained a heavy presence across Christchurch and mosques are still under guard, but residents have returned to work, school and prayer this week.Police believe a diamond ring may help solve the disappearance and suspected murder of NSW mother Roxlyn Bowie 37 years ago.

The 31-year-old mother of two was last seen leaving her home in Walgett about 6pm on June 5, 1982, and her husband John denied having any further information about her whereabouts.

Detectives did forensic tests on a home in the northern NSW town on Tuesday and have now have lodged an appeal to try to find the ring, which is believed to be Ms Bowie's.

It hasn't been seen since it was bought at a Bankstown pawn shop on June 6, 1984, and police have released a picture of a similar ring in a bid to get public help to track it down.

In 2014, the coroner ruled Ms Bowie was likely killed that day or not long after but the manner of her death and location of her remains could not be established.

The NSW government announced a $1 million reward in November for anyone who could help find Ms Bowie and fresh leads from across Australia were passed on to police.

Police also excavated the concrete slab at an industrial estate and searched a dam on the edge of Walgett.The prime minister has denounced NSW Labor leader Michael Daley for linking Asian immigration with young people fleeing Sydney, labelling it offensive and upsetting.

Mr Daley on Tuesday admitted he could have used better language and apologised if anyone was offended by the remarks made at a pub forum in the Blue Mountains in September.

"Our young children will flee and who are they being replaced with? They are being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs," the then-deputy party leader was filmed saying.

Scott Morrison, who on Wednesday announced plans to reduce Australia's migration intake, said federal Labor leader Bill Shorten should join him in condemning Mr Daley.

"I found those comments about Asian immigrants to be very upsetting and offensive," he told Seven's Sunrise.

"I think Mr Shorten should disassociate himself from those comments."Australian communities bracing for catastrophic natural disasters will soon have access to billions more dollars in recovery funding, with drought and flood-ravaged farmers also given extra support.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is funnelling almost $4 billion worth of unspent dollars from the Rudd-era education investment fund into a re-badged "emergency response" account.

Mr Frydenberg proposes to withdraw up to $150 million each year following a significant disaster, when the government believes there is a need for money above and beyond its normal response programs.

He has also set aside almost $30 million over four years to bolster agricultural exports to key markets.

The package includes $11.4 million to improve market access for horticultural exports, in large part by addressing pests, diseases and import risks.

Another $5 million will be spent on minimising the impact of non-tariff trade barriers.

National Farmers' Federation president Fiona Simson said the agriculture sector needed support to be a $100 billion industry by 2030.

"Australian agriculture exports 70 per cent of what we grow. Our farmers depend on broad, unfettered market access," Ms Simson said.

"We know there are significant opportunities in existing and new markets by understanding and addressing non-tariff barriers and equipping small exporters with the capacity to get their product to market."

The treasurer has also locked in $5 billion for a "future drought fund" to support resilience projects.

Drought-stricken farmers are being offered $6.3 billion in government assistance and concessional loans.

Farmers recovering from the Queensland floods are being offered $3.3 billion worth of various supports.

"Over the past year drought and flood have taken a heavy toll on our agricultural towns and communities," Mr Frydenberg said on Tuesday night.

"These communities have shown strength and resilience, as all Australians have stood with them."

Flood-affected farmers in north Queensland are being given $300 million to rebuild infrastructure, replace livestock and replant crops.

Family farmers will be able to apply for up to $400,000 each.

To the disappointment of many farmers, the federal budget did not include funding for agriculture-specific visas.

"Farmers are leaving produce on the vine to rot because they just can't source the workers they need," Ms Simson said.

"It's time the government stopped pontificating on this one and delivered the known solution in the form of an ag visa."NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has welcomed more than $7 billion of federal funds being ploughed into infrastructure projects across his state.

His federal counterpart Josh Frydenberg on Tuesday pledged billions for Western Sydney rail and the M1 Motorway north of Newcastle as part of a project to dispatch "cranes, hard hats and heavy machinery" across the nation.

"This is a fiscally responsible budget which rewards people for hard work and effort, helps those in need, and has a clear long term aim of building a secure future for our nation," Mr Perrottet said in a statement on Tuesday.

"It is especially heartening to see the Liberals and Nationals return the federal budget to surplus after the previous Labor government, headed by Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan, left Australia mired in billions of dollars of debt."

The federal government has committed $3.5 billion for the first stage of the Western Sydney rail link, that will eventually connect St Mary's to Campbelltown via the new airport at Badgerys Creek.

Another $3.1 billion will be spent on road upgrades, including extending the M1 Pacific Motorway to Raymond Terrace and building a third crossing over the Hawkesbury River.

"NSW has the strongest economy and lowest unemployment in Australia, and our record $90 billion infrastructure pipeline is helping us achieve that," Mr Perrottet said.

"This additional funding for these projects will create thousands of jobs and ensure NSW continues to lead the nation."

He also welcomed the personal income tax cuts that will provide "relief for families and help small business by boosting spending".

Prime Minister Scott Morrison had already announced a $254 million urban congestion fund, which includes money for car parks at four key train stations.You can run but you cannot hide, this is the stern message from the countrys Chief Spy, Brigadier Peter Magosi (r) as he unveils his plan to crack down purveyors of high level corruption. Speaking to Botswana Guardian in a wide-ranging interview Magosi disabused public perceptions that his organisation is a toothless dog that only goes after the small fish.

Magosi said people should know that whatever has been done and swept under the carpet, come one day the truth will come out. If you have committed a crime or done something wrong then you must be brought to book and answer for it. I will keep on investigating any allegation and where there is reasonable evidence to justify that one has committed a crime, such a person has to face the law.

He said even in the DIS they have already built enough evidence that suggests there is a prima facie case against one officer. He will appear before the court soon. In the same breadth if any person in a security agency commits crime, say in Botswana Police or DCEC, he will call the Commissioner or Director General instructing them to take action against such officers. If this fails, Magosi will take action against them because, I do not want us to be seen to be above the law.

Magosi said his organisation is currently in the middle of investigating many cases. But, it is still premature to discuss them with third parties. I do not want to discuss even those that I am about to close up. But a lot is happening and what I can say is that the clock is ticking and, or time is getting quite near for many wrongdoers to be taken to court. I will not go into details, but we are on a lot of cases which shows many are in the wrong.



Samson Moyo Guma

Did security agencies fail to protect Member of Palrliament for Tati East, Samson Moyo Guma who has fled the country for fear of being assassinated? Magosi retorts with a rhetorical question, Do you believe Guma. Do you know him very well? Asked if he knows Gumas whereabouts, he says, Yes I know that Guma is in Sandton, South Africa. I will tell you the bottom line is Guma is lying. He went to South Africa because he was afraid that BURS was closing up in him. Now let us all wait and see if he will never come back, if he does you journalists should interview him.

Magosi supported his premise by showing us a series of his cellphone communication with Guma. I am trying to show you that this is a man that talks to me everyday or regularly. In one of the messages Guma says to Magosi, Sir Guma is my name the conspiracy theory about me working with former President Ian Khama is alive and thick. It is not true; rumour mongering and lying to the leadership were bringing instability in our society, and please assist in ensuring what reaches His Excellency has been properly vetted, he has noble ideas to take this country forward. Magosi replied: Good evening my dear brother, I am in Zambia and we will be arriving on Friday.

I have actually prepared the ground over the weekend in Gantsi, my ultimate interest is for you to meet and talk about it, thanks and we will keep in touch. Magosi also showed us a WhatsApp message from Guma which he says bothered him the most. The message in question was about former DIS boss Isaac Kgosi and was written on 17 September 2018. It reads, Evening sir, I met Kgosi at his request, he says he is targeted for assassination by the state, I humbly ask you to investigate and protect him.

Magosis response written on 18th September 2018 was Hi my brother, he is my brother and will always stay my brother.

Professional differences do not mean I can allow such a thing to happen to him. Please tell him that I give him assurance of safety. Thank you my brother. I am doing all these things to show you that I am terribly disappointed about what Guma has done but I know he was just talking politics. Magosi said that all along Guma has been communicating with him and in fact it is not only Guma, I communicate a lot with all politicians. It is my job to make sure that where I think you are doing something wrong, I should talk to you. What I had done is to instigate an investigation whereby we see a white elephant of a cooking oil factory in Francistown which belongs or is owned by Moyo Guma.

In this company P30 million had gone down the drain. Do you expect me to sit and watch? No I could not because this is the money that could be used by another Motswana elsewhere. I instigated an investigation on that and when it took direction I do investigation to a certain level and then give it to DCEC to continue with the investigation. Said Magosi, Whilst still there, it became evidently clear that Guma owes a lot of tax. I have never met with Guma over the issue of tax. I did my investigation through my officers who did this at the level to get the facts and forwarded them to DCEC.

Although it is unusual to talk about our operations, I have to do so specifically about this particular operation so that the nation understands that the image of this organisation will stay cordial or good at all times and we will prove our case if we have to. Guma was summoned by DCEC and BURS who investigated him on tax related issues. Getting emotional, Mogosi asked, what reason do I have to get this guy murdered you tell me?

I am not crazy, Guma knows that. I was in Serowe one evening when this issue appeared on the news and I called him. I knew he will not answer, but I did not give up. I subsequently sent him the article written about his life allegedly being in danger and that he has gone into hiding.

I do not have a problem when someone tells lies about me. But when you attack my people, I will never take it lightly and I will defend them at all costs. This is why I took the trouble to make a rebuttal that Guma is lying because he is killing the very same people that I am trying to build. I am trying to make a better image of this organisation in order to win the public image. Guma is looking at his own safety using us, so I get emotional about it because it really gets me mad.A 26-year-old rookie with just eight NRL games under his belt is on standby to fill the boots of South Sydney's superstar captain Greg Inglis on Saturday night.

With Inglis now in a race against the clock to overcome illness as well as injury, little-known Jacob Gagan trained in the centres for the Rabbitohs on Wednesday.

Inglis had been named to make his return from a shoulder complaint against Manly at Lottoland, but looms as a 50-50 prospect to play as Souths bid to remain unbeaten in 2019.

"I was meant to pick him up for training this morning and he sent me a message saying he was a bit crook," Inglis's centre partner and chaffeur Dane Gagai revealed.

"So he'll have the day off and rest and come in on Friday and do the captain's run and I guess we'll see what happens there."

Gagai remains hopeful his Queensland State of Origin skipper will recover in time and has full faith in Inglis's ability to perform despite minimal preparation if he does.

"You know what you're going to get with Greggie. He's competitive and he just needs to rest," he said.

"It doesn't really disrupt anything.

"One of the benefits we've got going here, which was a big key to our success last year, was the reserve grade boys going really pushed us at training.

"If anything happened and someone had to come and fill in, there was no doubts that that person was going to do the job.

"That's the same situation we're in here."

Gagan, a former Australian schoolboys representative, is in his second season at Redfern after failing to nail down a first-grade spot in four seasons at Newcastle and Cronulla.

He's also yet to make his top-grade debut for the Rabbitohs.Federal funding for emissions reduction activities will be stretched across 15 years, not 10 as originally flagged.

When Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a $2 billion injection for the Climate Solutions Fund he described it as a 10-year plan, but Tuesday's budget papers showed a different story.

Of the $2 billion, only $189 million has been allocated for the next four years.

By stretching the funding period, about $160 million will be available each year instead of $300 million, after those first four years.

Environment Minister Melissa Price was directly asked about the five-year funding difference in parliament on Wednesday, but she avoided the question to instead say the emissions reduction activities will still occur over 10 years.

This goes in line with the aim of the fund, which is to reduce emissions by 103 million tonnes by 2030.

The $2 billion also includes $226 million which was remaining in the fund when it was first announced, she added.

The Australian Conservation Foundation says the funding shouldn't be spread out until 2035.

"Climate scientists are telling us we are in the crucial decade for action on climate change," CEO Kelly O'Shanassy told AAP in a statement.

"That means we need serious action to tackle climate pollution now, not in the 2030s."A man has been charged after a motorcyclist was killed during a suspected race on a Melbourne bridge last year.

A 32-year-old Highett man was killed after two motorbikes were seen racing at high speed along the Bolte Bridge at Port Melbourne about 10pm on July 15.

"Both bikes took the exit ramp towards the Burnley Tunnel and one lost control around a bend and crashed into a side barrier," police said in a statement.

A Williamstown man, 49, was on Wednesday charged with culpable driving, dangerous driving causing death, driving a motor vehicle in race on highway, reckless conduct endangering life and other driving offences.

He is due to face Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 29.Treasurer Josh Frydenberg didn't know a close colleague suffered from severe depression until he pledged a multi-million dollar boost to mental health funding in his first budget.

More than half of the $737 million in new mental health money, to be rolled out over seven years, will be allocated to improve youth services including suicide prevention.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for 15 to 44-year-olds with more than 3000 people taking their lives each year.

"The high rate of suicide, particularly among our young people, is a national tragedy which we have to take urgent action to address," Mr Frydenberg said.

Addressing a post-budget National Press Club lunch on Wednesday, the treasurer said a colleague had confided his struggle with severe depression as a young man.

"Being a man in his 20s he thought he could beat it all himself," Mr Frydenberg said.

The illness had made the man feel "in his words, 'like a zombie', no feeling of happiness or sadness, just personal pain", he said.

"Too ashamed to talk to someone about it or go and see a doctor, he finally admitted that he had a weakness, he had a mental illness."

Now his colleague takes medication, manages his illness effectively and lives a normal life, Mr Frydenberg said.

"But he is just one of the fortunate ones in our community who did get help in time," he added.

The budget measures grant more than $250 million to youth mental health provider Headspace, including funding for 30 new centres to help reduce waiting times.

A special suicide prevention advisor, to assist the cabinet on mental health policy development, will be appointed by the prime minister.

A perinatal mental health program, four residential facilities specialising in eating disorders and community-based mentoring and peer support for indigenous youth are also part of the package.

Suicide Prevention Australia chief executive Nieves Murray says the funding is a major step forward.

"Global evidence shows a fragmented and mental illness-specific approach doesn't work," Ms Murray said.

"An integrated approach to suicide prevention encompassing mental health, social, economic and community is the best evidence-based solution."

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636EGYPTIAN-AUSTRALIAN HAZEM HAMOUDA IS ON HIS WAY HOME

WHO IS HE?

* Australian-Egyptian man, Hazem Hamouda, 55, is a Brisbane IT consultant and father of six living in Australia for more than 30 years.

* He was arrested at Cairo airport after arriving for a family holiday with his children.

WHY WAS HE ARRESTED?

* Egyptian authorities accused Mr Hamouda of being associated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false information.

* His family deny these allegations, which they believe may be linked to Facebook posts he made during the Arab Spring in 2011.

WHERE WAS HE DETAINED?

* Mr Hamouda was held without charge in Cairo's notorious Tora prison for more than a year, where his mental and physical health deteriorated.

* At Tora he shared a 9 x 3 metre cell with one toilet and no beds with 13 other men.

* There was no cooling or heating and food had to be bought in by each prisoner's family.

HOW DID HE GET OUT?

* Prominent former journalist Peter Greste, who was also detained in Tora prison by the Egyptian government, called for Mr Hamouda's release.

* Egyptian lawyers and high-profile human rights Australian lawyer Jennifer Robinson also worked for his release with the Australian government.

RELEASED BUT NOT FREE

* Mr Hamouda was released from Tora prison without charge in February 2019 but rearrested as he tried to board a flight to Australia.

* Egyptian authorities cited incorrect documentation and returned Mr Hamouda to detention even though he was escorted to the airport by Australian consular officials.

FINALLY ON HIS WAY HOME

* Early on Wednesday Brisbane time, Mr Hamouda finally left Cairo. He'd cleared the final hurdle preventing him from leaving Egypt - obtaining an exemption certificate from military conscription.AAP FactCheck Investigation: Is there more funding in the federal budget for a Queensland ring road than for climate change?

The Statement

"There's more new money (in the budget) for the Cairns Ring Road than for climate change."

Greens climate spokesman Adam Bandt. April 2, 2019.

The Analysis

Greens climate spokesman Adam Bandt says in the federal budget the coalition government plans to spend $189 million over four years on its "signature" climate policy - Climate Solutions Package. He claims more money has been allocated for a ring road in Cairns. [1]

AAP FactCheck examined Mr Brandt's claim and compared funding in the budget papers released on Tuesday.

AAP FactCheck contacted Mr Bandt's office to clarify the source of the climate change funding comparison referred to in the quote. We were advised it was contained in the Climate Solutions Fund.

According to the budget papers, the government will provide $2 billion over 15 years, including $189.1 million over four years to 2022-23, to establish a Climate Solutions Fund. [2]

The fund is part of the government's Climate Solutions Package of $3.5 billion over 15 years.

The Climate Solutions Fund will partner with farmers, local governments and businesses to deliver practical climate solutions to reduce emissions by 103 million tonnes by 2030.

In announcing the fund in February, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it would ensure that Australia meets its 2030 target of lowering emissions by 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels. [3]

Regarding Mr Brandt's claim on funding for the Cairns Ring Road, the budget document titled, 'Investing in our community. Congestion busting infrastructure now and for the future', shows $287 million has been allocated for the project. [4]

The evidence shows Mr Bandt's quote is misleading as the $189 million for climate change refers to part of the government's $2 billion over 15 years for the Climate Solutions Fund.

AAP FactCheck concludes the checkable claim is mostly false.

The Verdict

Mostly False - Mostly false with one minor element of truth.

The References

1: 'Budget 2019: Coalition cuts climate solutions fund by $70m a year'. By Paul Karp. The Guardian. April 3, 2019: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/02/coalition-climate-solutions-fund-must-last-further-five-years

2: 'Budget 2019-20. Budget Measures Budget Paper No.2 2019-20' (page 73-74). April 2, 2019: https://www.budget.gov.au/2019-20/content/bp2/download/bp2.pdf

3: 'Morrison pledges $2b for emissions fund'. Perth Now. February 25, 2019: https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/morrison-to-announce-2b-emissions-fund-ng-s-1927257

4: 'Budget 2019-20. Investing in our community. Congestion busting infrastructure now and for the future' (page 17): https://budget.gov.au/2019-20/content/download/community.pdfThe Northern Territory Treasurer Nicole Manison says she only found out she had been hit with a $75 million funding black hole when Tuesday's federal budget was released.

The cash-strapped NT Labor Government complained that the latest fall in its GST allocation came on top of a $500 million cut for the next fiscal year.

However the NT's GST will actually increase from $2.74 billion to $2.78 billion in 2019-20, the federal budget papers show, and the gripe relates to what NT Treasury staff forecasted in a mid-year update last year.

The cut was described as a devastating blow by Ms Manison, who is preparing the NT's budget, is tackling a weak local economy, record debt, a structural deficit, and is due to receive John Langoulant's independent report into government spending in days.

"It is where we expected money to be going and we have to deal with the fact we have less GST coming in," Ms Manison told reporters on Wednesday.

People in Canberra did not seem to understand how important the GST was to to delivering frontline services and tackling the Territory's large amounts of disadvantage, she said.

"We have people in very remote localities and huge infrastructure deficits ... every time we lose GST money that puts more pressure on the work we're trying to do to help people have better lives and overcome disadvantage."

NT Senator and Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion dismissed complaints about the GST as a "massive piece of propaganda" by fools.

The complex grants system in which Commonwealth GST is divvied up to the states has been reformed in the last year to make it fairer.

The NT's share is at risk of falling but Senator Scullion pointed out it would not fall below a floor level and the Territory had received top-ups of $259 million this year and $252 million next year.

"They come down to Canberra and say "we are right out of money, we're broke, we've spent $4 million more a day than we've actually got but we are not cutting a single thing, not cutting a single public servant or increasing any of our invoices'," he said.

He also rejected Ms Manison's key complaint after the budget that no start date for $216 million in funding to revitalise Kakadu National Park to boost tourism and the economy had been given.

He said up to $150 million of the money would be delivered over the next four years, for road and infrastructure upgrades, a new visitor centre in Jabiru and other work.HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY ON THIS DATE

1406 - King Robert III of Scotland dies and is succeeded by James I, who was being held prisoner by the English.

1581 - Francis Drake arrives back in England after circumnavigating the globe and is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I on board his ship, the Golden Hind.

1611 - Denmark's King Christian IV declares war on Sweden.

1617 - John Napier, Scottish mathematician who invented the concept of logarithms, dies.

1818 - US Congress decides the American flag will consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

1844 - Germany occupies South-West Africa, Togoland and Cameroons.

1883 - State Premier Thomas McIlwraith claims British New Guinea as a Queensland possession; the claim is later disallowed by Britain.

1905 - An earthquake strikes the province of Lahore, then part of India, killing 19,000 people.

1912 - Chinese republic is proclaimed in Tibet.

1929 - Fourteen die when a dam on the Cascade River, Tasmania, bursts and floods the town of Derby.

1932 - US researcher Professor CG King of Pittsburgh isolates vitamin C for the first time.

1949 - NATO is founded when the North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington.

1964 - The Beatles set a record by having all of the top five US singles at the same time.

1968 - US civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

1975 - About 155 children die when a US Air Force transport plane carrying Vietnamese orphans crashes on take-off from Saigon.

1979 - Pakistan's former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, ousted by the military in a coup 21 months earlier, is hanged.

1983 - The US space shuttle Challenger roars into orbit on its maiden flight.

1994 - Serbs launch major attack on besieged Muslim enclave Gorazde.

1996 - A military judge in Rome orders former Nazi SS Captain Erich Priebke to stand trial for his role in the massacre of 335 civilians in World War II.

1999 - NATO warplanes and missiles attack an army headquarters, oil refineries and other targets in Yugoslavia.

2001 - Sudan's defence minister and 14 other military officials are killed when their plane crashes on takeoff.

2003 - US forces seize control of Baghdad's Saddam International Airport and rename it Baghdad International.

2006 - Women make history in Kuwait by voting and running for office for the first time in a local by-election.

2007 - Restrictions on cross-media and foreign ownership rules are lifted in Australia.

2010 - Nine miners are pulled to safety after spending more than a week trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China.

2013 - Chris Bailey, bass player for Australian band The Angels, dies aged 62 after fighting throat cancer.

2017 - The Australian Electoral Commission is asked to investigate whether Pauline Hanson's One Nation breached financial disclosure laws after it emerged donated money was used to buy a light aircraft.

2018 - The US marks 50 years since the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Grinling Gibbons, English sculptor (1648-1721); Max Dupain, Australian photographer (1911-1992); Muddy Waters, US blues musician (1913-1983); Marguerite Duras, French writer (1914-1996); Anthony Perkins, US actor (1932-1992); Christine Lahti, US actress (1950-); Hugo Weaving, Australian actor (1960-); Robert Downey Jr, US actor (1965-); Sam Moran, Australian children's entertainer (1978-); Heath Ledger, Australian actor (1979-2008); Grumpy Cat, US internet-celebrity feline (2012-).

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea. - Medgar Evers, murdered American civil rights activist (1926-1963).Singapore has taken a tough stand against maid abuse to protect some 250,000 domestic workers from other parts of Asia who work in the affluent nation for higher salaries

A Singaporean couple was on Monday jailed for abusing a Myanmar maid after the pair force-fed her with a funnel, made her eat her own vomit and threatened to kill her family if she reported the maltreatment.

In a case described by Singapore prosecutors as "arguably one of the worst of its kind" in the city-state, the married couple -- who were sentenced two years ago over the abuse of another maid -- beat and kicked their helper and made her clean the house in her underwear.

Moe Moe Than, 32, was also given little food, limited use of the toilet and faced threats that her parents in Myanmar would be killed if she reported the abuse, court documents showed.

District Judge Olivia Low on Monday sentenced the woman, Chia Yun Ling, to 47 months in prison and ordered her to pay a fine. Her husband, Tay Wee Kiat, a former information technology manager, was jailed for 24 months.

They were also ordered to pay compensation to the maid.

The sentence however drew angry reactions online, with readers demanding a harsher punishment.

"Pathetic sentences. Should each be doing 10 years and have their kids taken off them," reader Rich Mackereth wrote on the Facebook page of state broadcaster Channel NewsAsia.

"Such deplorable human beings!! They need also to be whipped and caned," wrote reader Andrew Siah with the symbol of an angry emoji.

The couple's mistreatment of Than during her employment of nearly a year in 2012 was detailed in more than 20 charges.

"In the present case, the accused persons had systematically and persistently abused Moe Moe Than both physically and psychologically throughout the period of her employment," state prosecutors told the court, also noting a lack of remorse from the couple.

One charge said Chia, a former senior sales manager, force-fed the maid a mixture of rice and sugar through a funnel after the helper told her she did not have enough food to eat.

This caused the victim to choke and she ran to the toilet to throw up, the charge said.

Chia followed, scolded and slapped the maid, and instructed her to throw up into a plastic bag "and thereafter (made) to eat her own vomit," the charge added.

The same couple were in March 2017 sentenced to jail terms for abusing their Indonesian maid -- the husband for two years and four months and the wife for two months. They have yet to serve those sentences.

Singapore has taken a tough stand in prosecuting abusers to protect some 250,000 domestic workers from other parts of Asia who work in the affluent nation for higher salaries.

In February, a Singaporean salon manager who abused her Myanmar maid by forcing her to pour hot water on herself was jailed for three years.

And in March 2017, a Singaporean couple who starved their Filipina maid had their jail sentences increased to 10 months by the High Court after an appeal by the prosecution.

The High Court had agreed that their original jail terms ranging from three weeks to three months were "patently and manifestly inadequate".Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said in Azerbaijan's capital Baku that OPEC+ countries were "close to implementing 90 percent" of the latest oil reduction agreement

Major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia agreed Monday to keep working together to prop up crude prices, but said they would decide only in June on whether to extend production cuts.

Meeting in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, members of the OPEC+ alliance said they would continue coordinating efforts to "stabilise" the oil market through production cutbacks.

But they postponed a planned April meeting and said a decision would be made in June on whether to extend production cuts into the second half of 2019, once the impact of US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela is more clear.

In a joint statement after the talks, members of the alliance stressed the need to "restore market stability and prevent the recurrence of any market imbalance" -- shorthand for keeping prices from dropping too low.

The 24-nation alliance came together in 2016, when the Saudi-dominated Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia agreed on the need to limit production in the face of tumbling prices.

The OPEC+ alliance has endured, with regular meetings and agreements to extend production limits, helping oil prices rise from around $40 per barrel in 2016 to an average of $70 per barrel last year.

The meeting in Baku brought together the group's monitoring committee to review the latest extension, which saw OPEC+ nations agree to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day from January to June.

The committee was due to meet again next month but on Monday that meeting was postponed until May.

The joint statement also said that the decision "on the production target for the second half of 2019" would be taken at an OPEC Conference meeting on June 25.

- New OPEC+ committee members -

The move to wait until June took place amid confusion over the impact of US sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela, with Russia saying more time was needed due to high volatility.

Addressing Monday's meeting, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih urged OPEC+ members to maintain the alliance.

"It is more important than ever that we continue to collaborate," he said.

The OPEC+ alliance has breathed fresh life into OPEC and brought Russia new influence as an arbiter on the oil market

OPEC, and mainly Saudi Arabia, have made it clear they would like to formalise longer-term cooperation with Russia, though Moscow has been hesitant.

Falih raised the issue again in Baku, saying that "institutionalising a framework for longer-term cooperation" was very important.

The alliance said after the talks that Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates had also become new members of the committee.

The pact has breathed fresh life into OPEC and brought Russia new influence as an arbiter on the oil market.

Creating the alliance was not an easy decision after years of fierce competition for market share that lead to overproduction.

- Uncertainty over US sanctions -

Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said it was hard to plan for months ahead because of the volatility due to the sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.

"We have to take these uncertainties into account in making decisions on the market," he was quoted as saying ahead of Monday's meeting.

US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a nuclear accord with Iran in May last year and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

From late April, US companies and citizens will be barred from dealing in Venezuelan crude, as Washington ramps up punishment against President Nicolas Maduro's government.

But Trump has also urged OPEC to take steps to lower prices, saying in a tweet last month: "Oil prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax and take it easy."

The Saudi energy minister was defiant in response, saying at the time that OPEC was pursuing a measured response and that he was leaning towards extending production cuts in the second half of 2019.

Host Azerbaijan is one of the alliance's non-OPEC members and analysts said the ex-Soviet republic has used its participation to court investment in its oil sector.

After years of growth, Azerbaijan's oil and gas production is stabilising.

Analysts at S&P Global Platts said the country is forging closer ties with Riyadh and in recent weeks hosted several Saudi delegations.

Azerbaijan "needs to attract new investment if it is to successfully replace current reserves and maintain production volumes over the next few decades," they said.For a country that has more cattle than people, where a meal without beef is regarded as incomplete, a meat less burger could be a farfetched idea of cooking. Infinite Foods thinks not. Last week Thursday, they just did that, launchedguess what, a meatless burger. The burger is a new plant-based protein offering. Also launched on the day was Nature & Moi Cheese.

The event was held at the Caravela Restaurant, a Portuguese flavoured eatery in Extension 4, in the periphery of the African mall shopping complex. The big launch was attended by the media, and notable faces in the banking and hospitality industry, including the outgoing M.D of Baclays Bank Botswana, Reinette van der Merwe, as well as the General Manager of Cresta Lodge, Greg Soutter, among many others.

The moment of truth came for the attendants to sample and bite this burger. When this reporter heard about the meatless burger, her initial reaction was of curiosity. Will the bite live to the expectation of a meat burger as it is known to be? The Patti was something else, could not tickle the beef taste buds. Needed some seasoning, perhaps. If it was an audition and this reporter was the judge, the burger would probably have frowned at the verdict. The launch comes on the back drop of the signing of a contract between Go Fresh and Infinite Foods.

The deal will see Infinite Foods distributing the leading plant-based protein products in Botswana. It is part of the Botswana-based fresh produce brand expansion plans, to include plant-based protein products as part of its offerings. A press release explains that the brains behind Go Fresh is none other than leading entrepreneur Michelle Adelman. The company, says the release, has been delivering high quality fresh produce to consumers in Gaborone and Maun since 2014 and has won numerous awards for its technology-abled farming and approach to engaging Batswana youth leaders to run the company. It further says that The Beyond Burger is the flagship product of leading US plant-based meat company Beyond Meat.

The company, explains the release is at the forefront of the growing global movement towards a more sustainable approach to meat and protein. Livestock agriculture has a detrimental impact on the environment, and it has become imperative that sustainable, less detrimental meat and protein alternatives be sourced. Companies like Beyond Meat are using cutting-edge science to change the way we think about and define meat. While the positive impact of plant-based meat on the planet and to human health is massive, the most revolutionary thing about The Beyond Burger is that it looks, cooks, and tastes like beef. It is made entirely of plants and has no added hormones, antibiotics, GMOs, soy or gluten, says the release.

According to the Director of Infinite Foods, Phenyo Moroka, as much as Batswana love their beef, we know that too much meat has been linked to high cholesterol, cancer and heart disease. He also says that it is high time we find ways to eat less meat.

These are the words most of us dont want to hear but imagine if you could enjoy all the things you love about eating meat, get all the protein, nutrients and delicious taste, but have no health worries linked to eating too much meat? Thats what has consumers going crazy for The Beyond Burger. It really is The Future of Protein, he says.

A Beyond Burger patty has 20g of protein, more than a beef burger, with less saturated fat and no cholesterol. It also uses 99% less water than a traditional 113-gram beef burger, 93% less land, and produces 90% fewer greenhouse gases, according to a joint study by Beyond Meat and a major US university. Infinite Foods will initially launch The Beyond Burger in restaurants and foodservice outlets, adding to Beyond Meats current distribution in more than 12,000 restaurants including Carls Jr., TGI Fridays, BurgerFi, Bareburger and A&W Canada.Jacinda Ardern has faced the tragedy of the mass killings in Christchurch with a mix of empathy and resolve

Scarcely 18 months in office, Jacinda Ardern faces an era-defining tragedy for her country -- and is winning praise for meeting the moment with a deft mix of empathy and resolve.

Tragedies like the murder of 50 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch can shape nations.

They can also derail political careers and cement a leader's place in the history books -- for good or for ill.

Barack Obama's tearful public appearance after 20 elementary school children were murdered at Sandy Hook in 2012 and his singing of 'Amazing Grace' at the memorial for slain pastor Clementa Pinckney were seminal moments of his eight years in the White House.

Vladimir Putin's first months in office were thoroughly overshadowed by images of him holidaying on the Black Sea as all 118 submariners aboard the sunken Kursk lay dead.

Within hours of the mosque massacres, Ardern was in Christchurch, wearing a headscarf in a poignant show of solidarity with victims' families.

The next day, in the capital Wellington, she put on the headscarf again and was seen in emotional embraces with members of the shellshocked Muslim community.

The heartfelt expressions of solidarity and shared pain embodied the sense of vulnerability many Kiwis now feel, and offered a powerful rebuttal of the politics of hate.

"She never had to deal with something so horrific," said Vicki Spencer, of the University of Otago's politics department, "nor has any other New Zealand Prime Minister."

But she quickly moved beyond the role of consoler-in-chief to confront the challenges posed by an Australian white supremacist who, unbeknownst to any security agency, was able to come to her country, legally purchase weapons of war, and devastate the nation.

Within hours of the tragedy, Ardern started tackling those challenges, declaring: "I can tell you right now, our gun laws will change."

"I know that there is, understandably, grief in New Zealand right now, but there is anger too, there are questions that need to be answered," she said later in one of many televised interviews, the tone both reassuring and firm.

"Empathy has always been one of her strengths and never has it shown more," said David Farrar of the popular politically-focused Kiwiblog.

"The picture of her in Christchurch wearing a headscarf looking devastated is a powerful iconic image. I think Ardern has been near perfect in her response to the tragedy."

- Baby politics -

Until the gunman walked into the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on Friday afternoon, Ardern was better known around the world as a new mother holding down a difficult and busy job.

She became an instant champion for working women the world over when she brought her infant daughter Neve onto the floor of the UN Assembly in New York last year.

Becoming only the second prime minister in the world to give birth while in office -- after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990 -- allowed the leader of a small, remote nation of just 4.5 million people to enjoy an extraordinarily high profile.

She has graced talk show host Stephen Colbert's couch, met with celebrities such as Anne Hathaway and shared parenting tips with the panel of NBC's Today Show.

Amid a sea of conservative leaders, the 38-year-old has become a hero to the disgruntled centre-left around the world.

Like Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau, her advocacy for climate action and gender equality has led her to be branded the anti-Trump.

Like Trudeau, Ardern has not been shy about expressing her displeasure at US President Donald Trump's politics or leveraging his unpopularity in New Zealand to boost her own.

When Trump called to ask what he could do to help in the wake of the shootings, Ardern had no qualms about divulging their usually private leader-to-leader chat.

"He asked what he could do, and I think I simply conveyed the sentiment that exists here within New Zealand. My message was sympathy and love for all Muslim communities," she said in a press conference broadcast around the world.

According to Spencer, that message to Trump was "clearly genuine and has resonated strongly with New Zealanders."

Despite such a sure political touch, Ardern's lustre had been starting to fade at home.

Her legislative agenda had been stymied repeatedly by wily coalition partner, Winston Peters and his populist New Zealand First party.

At a crisis cabinet meeting Monday, she harnessed the political moment to sweep aside Peters' longstanding opposition to gun control.

The 73-year-old could do little more than stand beside her at the podium and acknowledge "the reality is that after 1pm on Friday our world changed forever."

So did New Zealand politics.Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders reported that 2018 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in Afghanistan

Afghanistan on Monday marked National Journalists Day amid a spike in violence that has already seen four media workers killed so far this year, in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press.

Gunmen killed Sultan Mahmood Khairkhaw, a journalist working for a private TV channel and radio station in southeastern Khost province, on Friday -- the latest media worker to be killed in the war-torn country, which saw its deadliest year on record for journalists in 2018.

"Freedom of expression is the most important achievement for us," Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan's second vice president told a gathering of journalists in Kabul.

"During the Taliban regime ... any voice would be considered against their movement. And it is not acceptable to us to put people under censorship and pressure anymore," he said.

The attack on Khairkhaw came two days after another journalist was seriously wounded when a sticky bomb ripped through his vehicle in southern Helmand province.

Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan's media has been one of the country's few success stories.

Hundreds of free media organisations have mushroomed, giving rise to a lively and largely free press -- something that had never before existed in the country's history.

The media landscape in the Afghanistan today includes over 100 TV channels, 284 radio stations and just over 400 newspapers and magazines, according to a recent government report.

Most of the outlets are private.

But growing violence has made the country one of the most dangerous environments for the media.

Last month, two journalists were shot and killed when gunmen stormed their radio station in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province in north-east Afghanistan.

The pair, both men in their 20s, worked for Radio Hamsada, a private broadcaster.

In January, Afghan citizen journalist Jawid Noori was snatched from his car and murdered by the Taliban in Farah province, in the country's west.

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that 2018 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in Afghanistan.

"Eighteen journalists lost their lives in the line of duty last year," Danish said.

According to RSF, 60 journalists and media workers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001 -- an average of around three a year.Protesters shout slogans during an anti-government demonstration in Street 60 in the Sudanese capital Khartoum

Scores of Sudanese protesters chanting "freedom, peace, justice" rallied in Khartoum on Monday, witnesses said, as a campaign against President Omar al-Bashir's rule was poised to enter its fourth month.

Protests erupted in Sudan on December 19 over soaring bread prices and have since turned into at times deadly rallies against Bashir's 30-year rule, with demonstrators demanding he step down.

Anger has been brewing for years in the east African country over financial woes, with demonstrators accusing Bashir's administration of mismanaging the economy.

Protesters took to the streets Monday in the capital's northern suburb of Bahari, in an area called Street 60 and the upmarket district of Riyadh, witnesses said.

"Protesters are chanting freedom, peace, justice," a witness said, referring to a slogan that has become the movement's catchcry against Bashir's rule.

Police fired tear gas at demonstrators in Street 60 area, while some students also protested in a college in another upmarket Khartoum district, witnesses said.

"Who killed our martyrs?" asked protesters as they gathered in Street 60 area, a witness told AFP.

Officials say 31 people have died in violence during the protests so far, but Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at 51, with medics and children among those killed.

The campaign against the veteran leader's administration was initially led by the Sudanese Professionals' Association, a group of teachers, doctors and engineers.

Several political parties have since joined the SPA to form an umbrella network called the Alliance for Freedom and Change, which is now leading the campaign.

Bashir, 75, has remained defiant and imposed a nationwide state of emergency on February 22 to quell the protests after an initial crackdown failed to rein in the movement.

A slew of measures accompanied the state of emergency, including a ban on unauthorised rallies, the setting up of special courts to investigate violations and more powers granted to the security forces to carry out raids without warrants.

- Dwindling numbers -

Bashir also dissolved the previous federal government and installed a new cabinet tasked with tackling the worsening economic crisis.

The protest campaign is seen as the biggest challenge Bashir has faced since he swept to power in 1989 in an Islamist-backed coup.

The scale and intensity of protests, however, have shrunk in recent weeks, particularly since the state of emergency came into effect.

"The number of protesters are not big these days," said Sawsan Mohamed, 25, who was sentenced to two weeks imprisonment by a special emergency court for taking part in a rally in Khartoum.

Protesters march during an anti-government demonstration in Street 60 in the Sudanese capital Khartoum

"I think the violence unleashed by the security forces and lack of leaders on the ground is keeping many protesters away."

Several opposition leaders, activists, journalists and prominent protesters are still in detention following the crackdown on protests.

During the first two months, the demonstrations spread through villages, towns and cities across the country.

The protests have over the past month turned largely into weekly rallies, mostly in Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman.

But experts say the demonstrations have changed Sudan.

"It's already a game changer and the genie can't go back into the bottle now," a senior Western diplomat based in Khartoum told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"For the moment I see a holding pattern... until there is some sort of breakthrough. The breakthrough can come any moment."US Democrat Beto O'Rourke has raised a record $6.1 million in the opening day of his presidential campaign, signalling fundraising prowess for the 2020 Democratic nomination

Democrat Beto O'Rourke pulled in a record $6.1 million in the 24 hours after announcing his US presidential run, outraising the crowded field of challengers to Donald Trump in 2020.

The former congressman from Texas, who rose to national prominence last year with an inspirational but ultimately unsuccessful effort to unseat Senator Ted Cruz, jumped into the presidential race last Thursday in a closely-watched kick-off.

"In just 24 hours, Americans across this country came together to prove that it is possible to run a true grassroots campaign for president -- a campaign by all of us for all of us that answers not to the PACs, corporations and special interests but to the people," O'Rourke said in a statement.

Like most other major Democrats running for the nomination, O'Rourke has sworn off contributions from corporations and political action committees, groups that raise money in support of a candidate.

The 46-year-old Texan impressively eclipsed the $5.9 million opening-day haul of Senator Bernie Sanders, the liberal icon who maintains a vast database of supporters and donors from his 2016 presidential race.

That O'Rourke outraised Sanders and all other Democrats on Day 1 signals he will be able to draw massive donations on a national level by tapping into his own substantial support list from his Texas Senate campaign, which helped him pull in $79 million for that race.

Hours after announcing his candidacy, O'Rourke embarked on a three-day, 837-mile (1,347-kilometer) road trip across Iowa, the state that votes first in 2020 in the party primary process.

He headed to Wisconsin at the weekend, and is in Michigan and Ohio on Monday.

All four states voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but swung to Trump in the 2016 election.

Experts say grassroots enthusiasm among Democrats and Republicans, coupled with increasingly seamless online donor options for voters, could help the 2020 presidential cycle break records for total small-dollar donations.Trump is unhappy with European NATO members' defence spending

German defence spending will rise next year but then drop off again as a percentage of GDP, Berlin said Monday, in news expected to anger US President Donald Trump.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Germany and other NATO allies for falling far short of meeting the target of spending two percent of gross domestic product on their militaries, accusing them of freeloading on US military might.

Germany's finance ministry on Monday presented its budget planning for coming years.

It said that defence spending would reach 1.37 percent of GDP in 2020.

But it would then drop off to 1.29 percent by 2022, and to 1.25 percent by 2023.

Though NATO countries have only promised to try to hit two percent by 2024, the failure of many to even get close to that has infuriated Trump, who has reportedly threatened to pull out of the alliance if the European allies does not boost spending immediately.

Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, has come in for particular criticism from the United States, whose military spending dwarfs that of the rest of the alliance.

In 2018 Washington spent nearly $700 billion on defence, compared with just $280 billion for all the European NATO allies combined.

While German defence spending went up from $45 billion to $50 billion last year, the country's growing economy meant the figure relative to its GDP stayed flat at 1.23 percent.

Figures released this month showed that just seven of the 29 NATO countries hit the alliance's defence spending target in 2018.

Apart from the US, six members hit the two percent target in 2018: Britain, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last week welcomed Berlin's moves to increase its budget so far but stressed that "I expect further increases".

Trump's regular outbursts about European defence expenditure have caused some to question the future of the alliance, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

After the end of the Cold War military budgets in Europe steadily dwindled, but Russia's annexation of Crimea and growing assertiveness have made defence a priority once more.

Last month a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) showed that NATO's 27 European countries fell short of the two percent target by $102 billion in 2018.

The IISS said European NATO members would "collectively have had to increase their spending by 38 percent" to hit the two percent target in 2018.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, pictured in February 2019, has vowed to stamp out sexual abuse at the global organization following a string of cases over recent years

A UN report released Monday showed an increase in allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by staff working in UN agencies and their partner organizations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an annual report however there was a drop in cases of rape and exploitation involving UN peacekeepers, down to 54 in 2018 from 62 the previous year and 104 in 2016.

Guterres has vowed to stamp out sexual abuse at the United Nations following a string of cases over recent years that have severely tarnished the image of UN peacekeepers and staff.

In all, there were 94 allegations against UN personnel in 2018 and 109 targeting staff of local organizations that work with the United Nations worldwide, up from 25 in 2017.

Eleven cases involve child rape, according to the report.

The World Food Programme received 19 allegations of sex abuse against its staff and partner organizations in 2018, compared to 26 over the previous 12 years.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR reported 34 allegations in 2018 compared to 19 in 2017 while there were 15 allegations at the UN children's agency UNICEF last year compared to eight in 2017.

The increase was in part attributed to improved efforts to encourage victims to come forward.

The latest figures suggest that "awareness-raising and outreach efforts are having an impact and that there is increased trust among victims and witnesses and increased understanding of the need to report," said the report.

There were 94 allegations against UN personnel in 2018 and 109 targeting staff of local organizations

Among peacekeepers, the majority of claims -- 74 percent -- in 2018 came from two UN missions, in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Under UN rules, it is up to governments to take action against their troops sent as peacekeepers who face credible allegations of rape or other misconduct but there were few details on prosecutions, with many cases still under review.The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have spearheaded an offensive in Syria against the Islamic State group

Syrian government forces will reclaim control of northeastern areas controlled by the US-backed Kurds, whether by force or through reconciliation, the defence minister warned Monday.

Marginalised for decades, Syria's minority Kurds have carved out a de-facto autonomous region across some 30 percent of the nation's territory since the devastating war broke out in 2011.

Backed by a US-led coalition, Kurdish forces have spearheaded an offensive in Syria against the Islamic State group.

Washington's shock December announcement that it would withdraw its troops from Syria has sent the Kurds scrambling to rebuild ties with the Damascus regime, but talks so far have failed to reach a compromise.

Syrian Defence Minister Ali Abdullah Ayoub said the Syrian government will recapture territory controlled by Kurdish-led forces in the same way it "liberated" other parts of Syria.

"The only card that remains in the hands of the Americans and their allies is" the Syrian Democratic Forces, he said, referring to the force leading the battle to wipe out the last remnant of the IS group's "caliphate".

"The Syrian government will deal with this issue in one of two ways: a reconciliation agreement or liberating the territory they control by force," he said at a joint press conference with the military chiefs of staff of Iran and Iraq.

His comments come as the SDF, backed by the US-led coalition, battle jihadists in their last patch of territory in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.

Eight years into a war that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions, Syrian government forces control almost two-thirds of the country.

Just two areas remain beyond their control: the jihadist-held northwestern region of Idlib, and the third of the country under the control of the SDF.

Ayoub on Monday said Idlib will also be recaptured by government forces.

"The Syrian government will reassert its complete control over all Syrian territory sooner or later," he said.

"Idlib is no exception."

The Idlib region borders Turkey and is dominated by an alliance led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Idlib has been protected from a massive offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's regime since September, thanks to a buffer zone deal agreed by Damascus's ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

But it has been hit by sporadic government shelling.

The defence minister's comments come after a rare meeting with the military chiefs of staff of Iraq and Iran in Damascus.

Ayoub stressed the importance of cooperation and coordination between the three militaries to combat mutual threats.

He said what emerged from talks "will help us to continue to confront challenges, dangers and threats" posed by terrorism.

IS seized large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, but has since lost most of that to various offensives, including by the Russia-backed regime.Brenton Tarrant was steeped in a neo-fascist, anti-Muslim ideology, according to a rambling "manifesto" he posted online before the massacre of 50 people at two mosques last week

The carnage unleashed in Christchurch by a white supremacist has highlighted what analysts say is the global problem of a far-right threat that frequently flies beneath the intelligence radar.

Like other extremist groups, racist ideologues have leveraged the power and reach of the internet to disseminate violent ideas, and give advice on the logistics of terror.

And while not a well-defined group with a core leadership, they represent a "blind spot" for security services, says Amarnath Amarasingam, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

Bridging this gap -- instead of focusing primarily on Islamist militants -- needs to be a priority.

"We're able to -- in multiple sectors of government and policy... connect random knife attacks inspired by (the Islamic State group) to a global terrorist movement with some ease," Amarasingam wrote on Twitter after the Christchurch attack.

"But we struggle to do this with white nationalism, the alt right, etc. We need to quickly rethink this blind spot."

Brenton Tarrant was steeped in a neo-fascist, anti-Muslim ideology, according to a rambling "manifesto" he posted online before the massacre of 50 people at two mosques last week.

He was not on any watch lists and travelled abroad extensively.

New Zealand will "look at what all relevant agencies knew or could or should have known about the individual and his activities, including his access to weapons and whether they could have been in a position to prevent the attack," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday.

The probe will also look at "travel movements... his use of social media and his connection to others".

While critical details and connections have yet to be discovered by investigators, the Christchurch attack has sparked a wave of questions about counter-terrorism policies against right-wing extremists.

Experts say the white nationalist movement is a cohesive one, binding together people from disparate bits of the world on a platform that preaches an imagined, racially "pure" ideal.

It is one that rejects immigration, and has an often violent antipathy towards Jews, Muslims, and women.

In a 2011 article that has begun circulating on the internet since the mosque attacks, analyst Thomas Hegghammer of the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment described violent white nationalism as "a new doctrine of civilisational war".

It is "the closest thing yet to a Christian version of Al Qaeda", he said.

"Many forms of right-wing terrorism are international terrorism, drawing on international networks, ideas, and personalities from around the world," wrote Daniel Byman, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institute.

"An Australian travelling to New Zealand to attack mosques is one example."

- Slipping through the cracks -

Analysts say one factor that has emboldened extremists like Tarrant is the rise to power of right-wing populists and anti-immigrant parties across the world.

"The demonisation of Muslim communities, often by politicians who later act shocked and angry when violence occurs, contributes to societal polarisation and inspires violence," wrote Byman.

Critics in the United States point to the anti-immigrant ethos of President Donald Trump's "America First" rhetoric as one such example.

Trump's expression of sympathy in the wake of Christchurch has been attacked as tepid -- a position exacerbated when he told reporters white nationalism was not a growing problem.

"I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess," Trump said.

In Australia, successive governments -- including the current administration of Prime Minister Scott Morrison -- have been accused of stoking anti-immigrant sentiment as an election strategy.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton defended Canberra's counter-terrorism policies, claiming Australian authorities were alert to the threat of the extreme right.

"These extremist groups -- neo-nazis, or white supremacists, extreme right-wing groups -- whatever term you want to apply to them, they've been squarely on... (the) radar," he said.

New Zealand, however, now intends to find out if there are failings in how its intelligence and law enforcement are set up in the face of the threat posed by individuals like Tarrant who can go around the world -- often without stringent visa requirements.

Dutton said Tarrant had spent only 45 days in Australia during the last three years.

The 28-year-old travelled extensively for years and said in his online screed that he first began considering an attack in 2017 while in Western Europe, where he was shocked by the number of immigrants.

Such ideas are spread regularly on online platforms like the neo-Nazi forum Stormfront, or 8chan, a messaging board notorious for misogynistic posts and far-right conspiracy theories.

How the extreme right organises online and spreads these views presents a unique challenge, despite the vast electronic monitoring infrastructures deployed by governments.

To counter it, tech firms -- especially social media giants -- need to respond with the same rigour as they use to identify and filter jihadist content.

"Similar methods need to be employed for other, equally lethal, forms of hate like anti-Muslim, racist, and anti-Semitic violence," said Byman.The UN Human Rights Council has a dedicated fixture on its schedule which is exclusively devoted to resolutions condemning Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, which is known as Agenda Item 7

The US ambassador to Germany led protests outside the UN Monday over what he termed the "bigotry" faced by Israel at the Human Rights Council, as nations weighed condemnations of the Jewish state.

Several hundred people joined the protests which were largely focused on the council's so-called Agenda Item 7, a fixture on the council's schedule exclusively devoted to resolutions condemning Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

Israel is the only country with a dedicated agenda item, which is one of the main factors that prompted the United States to leave the rights council last year.

"This is not just a form of bigotry. It is a sign of intellectual and moral decay," US envoy Richard Grenell told the crowd.

"Like a drug-addiction, anti-Semitism is both a disease and a source of comfort" for states that habitually condemn Israel at the UN, said Grenell, who stirred controversy in Germany last year over his stated ambition to promote conservatives throughout Europe.

The protests were organised by the Geneva-based NGO UN Watch, which seeks to flag alleged anti-Israel bias within the UN, among other issues.

As the protest took place, council members attending the Item 7 session were debating the results of a probe which found that Israeli troops may have committed crimes against humanity in their response to the Gaza protests last year.

Israeli officials have rejected the probe's findings and accused investigators of bias.

Santiago Canton, who headed the commission of inquiry, told reporters he also does not "personally agree" with Agenda Item 7.

But even though the probe was initiated by the arguably flawed Human Rights Council, "that doesn't mean the work of the independent commission cannot be objective," he said.

"If (critics) want to discredit our report they should discredit (it) on the facts and the law."

Israeli officials have said the commission ignored the violent threat posed by Gaza protesters and downplayed the role of Hamas in orchestrating the unrest.Questions have been raised about why the Boeing 737 MAX was approved so quickly, despite flaws to its flight system

Boeing said Monday that the flight stabilization system under scrutiny following two deadly 737 MAX plane crashes, met all US regulations.

"The 737 MAX was certified in accordance with the identical Federal Aviation Administration requirements and processes that have governed certification of all previous new airplanes and derivatives," Boeing said Monday.

Boeing and regulators face increased examination over the stall prevention system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS, which authorities have said was likely a factor in deadly crashes in Indonesia in October, while the crash in Ethiopia earlier this month showed similarities.

"The FAA considered the final configuration and operating parameters of MCAS during MAX certification, and concluded that it met all certification and regulatory requirements," Boeing added.

Since the Ethiopian crash, which claimed 157 lives, questions have been raised not only about Boeing, but also the FAA and its close relationship with the company.

While it may take months for definitive conclusions, experts are asking why the MCAS was given the green light despite objections by American pilots who had voiced concerns with the system.

Investigation into the Lion Air crash in October implicated the MCAS which can erroneously force the plane down when the autopilot is engaged, if it detects the plane may be at risk of a stall. Both crashes happened shortly after takeoff.

American pilots had complained of the flaw, and Boeing has been working on a software upgrade to the system and issued new instructions about how to override the issue in the meantime.

In service since May 2017, the 737 MAX 8, one of several variants of the 737 MAX, has now experienced two deadly tragedies, a scenario that is unprecedented for a new aircraft.

The US Transportation Department's inspector general is probing the FAA's approval of the MCAS, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper also said the criminal division of the Justice Department was looking into the development of the plane.

The 737 MAX was certified as a variant of the 737 Next Generation, the plane it replaced, despite major differences in the engine and the MCAS, according to documents available on the FAA's website.

But because of budget constraints, the FAA delegated aspects of the approval process to Boeing itself, according to sources.

Under a program, known as the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA), employees of Boeing are accredited by the FAA to assist in approving the aircraft -- including design, production, flight tests, maintenance and other systems -- as well as signing off on the training procedures of pilots on new planes.Israeli security forces have launched a manhunt for the assailant who killed two people in the occupied West Bank

Israeli forces on Monday hunted a Palestinian who they said killed two people in the occupied West Bank, an attack that put security back at the forefront of the country's electoral campaign.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose popularity rests largely on his reputation as a security hardliner, visited the site of the attack and pledged tough action, including the demolition of the assailant's home.

But Netanyahu and his allies also came under fire from both his centrist opponents in the April 9 elections as well as those on the far-right, though for different reasons.

The centrist Blue and White alliance criticised Netanyahu's camp for what it said was the politicisation of Sunday's attack, which killed a 19-year-old soldier and a rabbi.

Far-right politicians meanwhile blamed Netanyahu's government for what they see as being too weak toward the Palestinians.

The campaign rhetoric was another sign of how much security has come to dominate Israeli politics, which has moved firmly to the right in recent years.

Opinion polls show Netanyahu in a tight race with the Blue and White, which includes three former military chiefs of staff, including the centrist alliance's leader, Benny Gantz.

Netanyahu is running for re-election while under threat of indictment on corruption charges and has sought to further bolster his security credentials as part of his strategy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu visited the scene of the attack and vowed tough action

"These terrorists will not uproot us from here," Netanyahu said while visiting the site of the attack near the Ariel settlement in the West Bank on Monday.

"The complete opposite will happen. Our response is simple: The more they afflict them, the more they multiplied and spread," he added, referring to a verse in the Bible's Book of Exodus.

He noted that the construction of 840 more homes was due to begin on Tuesday in Ariel, which already has a population of nearly 20,000.

It was yet another nod by Netanyahu ahead of the polls to Israel's settler movement, which holds important influence in the country's right-wing politics.

He also pledged security forces would track down the attacker in addition to his vow the assailant's home would be demolished, a policy regularly carried out by Israel.

- 'Political propaganda' -

Israeli security forces say Sunday's incident saw a 19-year-old Palestinian attack a soldier with a knife at a junction near Ariel and steal his weapon.

He later fired on three vehicles -- hitting a 47-year-old rabbi, who later died -- before taking one of the cars to another nearby junction.

The rabbi, a resident of the Eli settlement, fired toward the attacker during the incident, according to his family.

At the second junction, the Palestinian opened fire and wounded another soldier, who was in serious condition, the army said.

The Palestinian, identified by Israeli authorities as Omar Amin Abu Laila from the West Bank town of Az-Zawiya, then fled.

Israel's army said its troops were searching for him and his home had been surveyed "to examine the possibility of its demolition."

Palestinian attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers occur sporadically in the West Bank, under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War, but Sunday's came amid the final weeks of the electoral campaign.

Mourners attend the funeral of 47-year-old rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, who died from wounds sustained in the attack in the West Bank

Shortly after the attack, Culture Minister Miri Regev, sticking with Netanyahu's campaign strategy, sought to label the Blue and White leftists whose government's policies would lead to more such incidents.

Regev, a strong supporter of the premier, alleged the alliance's leaders would ally with Arab politicians to try to keep Netanyahu from forming a coalition after the elections.

Gantz's alliance responded that "never in the history of the country has an Israeli minister taken advantage of the death of the victims of attacks for political propaganda even before the funeral of the dead."

Since Gantz joined with former finance minister Yair Lapid to form Blue and White on February 21, polls have shown the alliance would win the most seats.

But the centrists have more recently slid in polls, and a new survey out Sunday showed Netanyahu's right-wing Likud winning the most seats for the first time since February 21.

According to the poll, Likud would win 31 compared with Blue and White's 30.

The election is expected to be close and much may depend on post-poll negotiations to form a coalition.An Israeli court has ordered the temporary closure of the Golden Gate at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem

Jordanian lawmakers on Monday sought to expel the Israeli ambassador from the kingdom in response to "ongoing Israel aggression" at holy sites in Jerusalem.

Amman is the official custodian of Jerusalem's holy Muslim sites and the parliamentary session followed an Israeli court ruling on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

"The parliament recommended the government recall the Jordanian ambassador from Israel and expel the Israeli ambassador from Amman to confront the ongoing Israeli aggression at holy sites in occupied Jerusalem," reported the official Petra news agency.

Lawmakers also called on the government to address the UN Security Council about "stopping Israeli violations and protecting the Palestinian people".

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.

On Sunday, an Israeli court ordered the temporary closure of a side building known as the Golden Gate at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Jordan condemned the court ruling, with its foreign ministry saying that Israel would bear "full responsibility for the dangerous consequences" of the decision.

There have in recent weeks been scuffles between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the site over the use of the side building.

Palestinian worshippers have been entering the site and praying there despite an Israeli order that it should stay closed.

Israel shut access to the Golden Gate in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada over alleged militant activity there.

Palestinian officials argue that the organisation that prompted the ban no longer exists and there is no reason for it to remain closed.

As well as being the third-holiest site in Islam, the larger compound is also the location of Judaism's most sacred spot.

Al-Aqsa is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

Israel sees the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians view the eastern sector -- where key holy sites for Christians, Muslims and Jews are located -- as the capital of their future state.Die-hard Islamic State group fighters are confined to a tiny area on the banks of the Euphrates River in Syria

Kurdish-led fighters advanced in the Islamic State group's last bastion in eastern Syria, confining holdout jihadists to a tiny pocket on the edge of Baghouz village, the force said Tuesday.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said those IS fighters who had not yet surrendered had been forced out of their main encampment and cornered into a very small area on the banks of the Euphrates River.

"SDF is in control of the Daesh encampment area in Baghouz," spokesman Mustefa Bali said on Twitter in English, using the Arabic acronym for the jihadist group.

But SDF fighters have not taken up positions in the so-called encampment, a jumble of mangled vehicles, makeshift berms and tents on the edge of Baghouz village.

"This is not a victory announcement, but a significant progress in the fight against Daesh," Bali said.

After another night of fighting and the surrender of yet another batch of jihadist fighters, the few acres of land controlled by IS shrank further.

It is unclear how long the unknown number of holdout jihadists could last but Bali said some of them were still fighting back.

"Clashes are continuing as a group of ISIS terrorists who are confined into a tiny area still fight back," Bali said in English, using an alternative acronym for IS.

AFP reporters in Baghouz saw IS jihadists moving across the edges of the now mostly deserted encampment, and fighting taking place in an area closer to the river.

Backed by warplanes from the US-led coalition, the SDF launched their final assault on Baghouz on February 9.

The offensive, the last phase of a broad operation launched more than six months ago to wipe out the remnants of a "caliphate" declared in 2014, has been slowed by the presence inside the IS redoubt of a large number of civilians.

Tens of thousands of people -- jihadist fighters, their relatives and other civilians -- have poured out of the IS pocket in recent weeks.The new oil refinery will be built near the port of Hambantota

Sri Lanka announced Tuesday that an overseas joint venture had committed $3.85 billion to a new oil refinery -- the single largest foreign investment in the country's history.

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka said construction would begin this weekend on the refinery and storage facility jointly financed by Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas and a Singapore-registered company.

Deputy international trade minister Nalin Bandara said he expected the refinery, which will eventually produce 200,000 barrels a day, to be fully operational within four years.

"This is the biggest single foreign investment (in Sri Lanka's history)," he told reporters in Colombo.

It is more than double the next largest foreign investment -- a $1.4 billion land reclamation project next to Colombo port.

Oman will fund 30 percent of the new oil project while Singapore-based Silver Park International, which is majority owned by a business interest in India, will finance the rest.

It is being constructed near the port of Hambantota, which was leased to a Chinese state-owned enterprise in 2017 for 99 years after Sri Lanka was unable to service a loan from Beijing.

The circumstances surrounding China's acquisition of that port, along one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, generated concern in neighbouring India and beyond over Beijing's expanding presence in the Indian Ocean.

Bandara said new lines of cash pouring into the region showed foreign investors were not deterred by that experience.

"The latest investment shows that companies in other countries too are interested in going to Hambantota," Bandara said.

Sri Lanka attracted a record $2.37 billion last year in foreign direct investment, up 38 percent compared to the previous year, official figures show.

Several major proposals were put on ice late last year as Sri Lanka reeled from a constitutional crisis, with rival factions of government claiming the right to rule the country.

Calm was restored after the Supreme Court ruled President Maithripala Sirisena acted illegally when he sacked his prime minister and parliament, and called snap elections.

Sirisena's opponents blamed the president for unnerving foreign investors at a time Sri Lanka desperately needs to spur its ailing economy.Bags containing confiscated drugs are displayed at the police anti-narcotics unit headquarters in Amman

Issam was reduced to tears recounting his life as a drug addict, as Jordanian authorities press an unprecedented campaign in the Muslim-majority country where substance abuse remains taboo.

Slogans such as "No to Drugs" are part of the new drive, launched in the wake of a worrying rise in the number of cases of addiction, possession and smuggling, to raise overall awareness of the issue, according to the anti-narcotics department.

Jordan's public security directorate has also started a primetime radio show that airs every Tuesday to address the dangers of drug addiction.

"Drugs have made me an outcast. No one respects me or even looks at me," Issam said during the show, hosted by Major Anas al-Tantawi of the anti-narcotics department.

"It got to the point where I sold my furniture and my five-year-old daughter's gold earrings ... I tried to commit suicide twice."

As the show came to a close, Tantawi said: "They are victims, and we must help them, not discard them."

- 'Bags of evidence' -

Brigadier Anwar al-Tarawneh, director of the anti-narcotics department, told AFP there has been a 32 percent increase in cases of addiction, possession smuggling in Jordan since 2017.

The evidence is there. In a room in the department, the shelves are crammed with white plastic bags and brown envelopes bulging with seized drugs -- including heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. Some were smuggled into the country in hollowed-out books, or shoes or disguised as pastries in a box.

But authorities say hashish is the most commonly used drug in the kingdom, where 20,000 people were arrested in 2018 for drug abuse.

Jordanian psychiatrist Jamal al-Anani talks to a drug-dependent youth at a government-run rehabilitation in Amman

Drug traffickers in Jordan, which has a small population of just over nine million, face sentences of between three and 20 years, depending on the amount and type of drugs seized.

Under a 2016 law, addicts are exempted from serving time if they agree to treatment at a rehabilitation centre.

But drug addicts are generally still looked down upon by Jordan's conservative society.

"Drugs are a (vice) that affects one's mind, soul, finances and health," Muslim preacher Raed Sabri, who has a YouTube channel, told AFP.

Recovering addicts however must be "cared for and not discarded so that they can again be contributing members of society," he insisted.

The kingdom's anti-drugs campaign targets those aged between 18 and 27, who make up 47 percent of users, according to the anti-narcotics department.

According to Jamal al-Anani, a psychiatrist and drug addiction specialist, "curiosity, lack of maturity and stress" are the main causes that lead to addiction among teenagers.

Apart from workshops in schools and universities, Tarawneh said authorities were using "modern methods", including social media, to reach those most vulnerable.

- 'Drugs are a monster' -

At a 170-bed rehab centre in the capital Amman, affiliated with the public security directorate, posters on the walls read "Drugs are a Monster, don't come near" and "Drugs are a Waste of Money".

Treatment lasts between one and two months, said Fawaz al-Masaeed, the centre's director.

A drug-dependent youth in the gym of a government-run rehabilitation centre in Amman

"There are three stages: detox, treatment and rehabilitation,"he told AFP, and the centre follows up with patients for four months after their discharge.

Omar, 32, said his mother encouraged him to check in to the centre after having struggled with drug addiction for 14 years.

"A friend offered me a cigarette when I was depressed, telling me 'Take this, it'll make you relax,'" Omar, now a father of four, told AFP.

"When I asked for another, I realised it was hashish ... I was 18 years old."

After years of substance abuse, "my health deteriorated, I lost 27 kilos (almost 60 pounds), I lost my job, and it strained my relationships with everyone around me. I destroyed my life."

Now after his rehabilitation, Omar hopes "to start a new life".Tipene Newbery said he wants to create a more positive environment for his four young children following the shootings

As Tipene Newbery laid a wreath outside Al Noor Mosque -- where dozens of worshippers were massacred by a white supremacist last Friday -- his children called out, "Don't cry daddy!"

Families in the southern New Zealand city have struggled to come to terms with the mental toll of the attacks at two mosques that left 50 people dead Friday, including children, just years after a devastating earthquake killed 185 residents.

At memorial sites across Christchurch, children's heartfelt notes and drawings of young Muslims holding hands or hugging non-Muslims have been particularly poignant.

One drawing of children from different backgrounds holding hands had the words: "You are my friends. I will keep watch while you pray."

At memorial sites across Christchurch, children's heartfelt notes and drawings have been particularly poignant

Newbery, who was a teenager when the 2011 earthquake struck, admits he was "messed up" by the destruction it caused, and wants to create a more positive environment for his four young children following the shootings.

"This is way worse than the earthquake as far as I'm concerned. Natural disasters are inevitable but this can be prevented," the 26-year-old told AFP at a memorial site outside Al Noor.

"Even though there's a lot of hate inside me, I can't show that in front of them (his children). Just show that peace and love is the only way."

The impact of the shootings stretches from those directly affected, such as children who lost their parents in the attacks, to New Zealanders shocked at how such a violent act could be carried out in their usually peaceful country.

Saleha Hussain travelled from Auckland to support her friend's young daughters aged two and five after their father Suhail Shahid was killed in Al Noor.

Having comforted the older daughter when she woke up in the middle of the night screaming for her father, Hussain told AFP her message to children was for them to not have "fear in their hearts" as they would be protected by God.

- 'World that isn't torn apart' -

Clinical psychologist Sarb Johal, a New Zealand expert in mental health for those coping with disasters, said it was important for parents to monitor what their children were exposed to when they were outside home, in case they were being fed misinformation.

Parents say managing their children's curiosity has been a big challenge

Giving them a sense of hope, to contrast against the shootings, was also key, Johal said.

"We have a duty to make sure that we present a world that isn't torn apart," he told Radio New Zealand.

"This is a terrible, terrible event, a horrific event but in the broader context of things we need to remember that there are many people working... to help assist and protect people going about their everyday lives, so point them out."

Moazzem Hossain, who survived the hail of gunfire at Linwood Mosque and has struggled to sleep since, told AFP he had worked hard to reassure his 16-year-old daughter.

"I tell her to keep mentally strong and to find resilience," he added.

Families in the southern New Zealand city have struggled to come to terms with the mental toll of the attacks

Newbery admits his children's curiosity has been a big challenge, noting that "you don't have a choice with children, they ask the hardest questions".

But he feels that public displays of compassion -- as seen in the growing fields of flower bouquets at makeshift memorial sites in Christchurch -- are a good starting point.

"I think doing stuff like... coming and paying respect, and showing love and compassion and not hatred towards the person who did it, is important," Newbery said.

"I'm devastated but I'm trying not to show too much of that around them (the children)."Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to Europe on Thursday as the continent is divided over his cherished Belt and Road trade infrastructure project

Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to Europe on Thursday as the continent is divided over his cherished Belt and Road trade infrastructure project and under US pressure to shun telecom giant Huawei.

Xi will start his trip in Italy before heading to Monaco -- the first visit by a Chinese president to the posh principality -- and cap his five-day journey in France.

His visit comes a week after the European Union released a 10-point plan outlining a shift to more assertive relations with Beijing, warning that China was a "rival" to the bloc as well as its biggest trading partner.

But Xi is expected to secure a non-binding agreement for Italy to join the $1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative.

China has financed maritime, rail and road projects in Asia, Africa and Europe through BRI, but critics warn that it mainly benefits Chinese firms while setting up a "debt trap" in financially vulnerable countries.

Italy's would be the first G7 nation to join the ambitious venture, raising eyebrows among Western allies.

EU members Greece and Poland have also embraced the "New Silk Road" but others in the bloc fear it could lead to growing Chinese government influence on the continent.

A White House official, Garrett Marquis, last week tweeted that there was "no need" for Italy to endorse "China's infrastructure vanity project".

French President Emmanuel Macron said EU countries should have a "coordinated approach" to Beijing and urged for cooperation based on the "spirit of equality (and) reciprocity".

French President Emmanuel Macron said EU countries should have a "coordinated approach" to Beijing

But Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who will meet Xi, dismissed the concerns, saying there were no risks.

"For us, collaborating with China on Belt and Road is a choice of a purely economic or commercial nature, perfectly compatible with our position in the Atlantic alliance and in the EU," Conte told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

A draft of the non-binding memorandum of understanding published in Italian media reveals broad undertakings for cooperation in logistics, infrastructure investment, financial and environmental sectors.

Beijing has been eyeing investment in the Italian ports of Trieste and Genoa that offer easy access to Europe's markets, Giuliano Noci, a China expert at Milan Polytechnic business school, told AFP.

He said any deal should ensure that the "ports remain Italian" warning Rome must avoid the model of the Greek port of Piraeus, which was taken over by Chinese shipping giant Cosco in 2016.

Xu Tiebing, professor of international relations at Communication University of China, said Italy has maintained a supportive attitude towards Beijing despite "some pressure from the United States".

- Picking sides -

Xi's trip also comes as the United States is urging European allies to avoid using Huawei for next generation 5G networks, warning it could serve as a "backdoor" for spying.

Meeting EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, China's top diplomat Wang Yi lashed out at "abnormal, immoral" attacks on Huawei.

While the United States and Australia have kept Huawei out of their 5G networks, European countries have not closed the door on its services.

Italy's coalition government is divided, with the head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement keen to have Huawei testing 5G in some cities while the far-right deputy prime minister has been more cautious, warning against any threat to the country's security.

In France, where Xi will meet Macron, two telecom operators are using Huawei equipment for their 4G networks and are testing 5G gear with the Chinese firm.

The French government has warned on the risk of using Huawei equipment, but it has not taken any decisive steps against it so far.

- 'Raking the Mediterranean' -

Monaco -- the second stop in Xi's tour -- has already signed a deal with Huawei to support the tiny country's "5G Nation" project, according to a statement by Monaco Telecom.

Xi will hold talks with Prince Albert II during a visit to the independent city-state known for its upscale casinos and prestigious Grand Prix motor race.

The unusual destination is part of China's "doctrine of raking wide the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea" for opportunities, said Francois Godement, Asia advisor at the Institut Montaigne in Paris.

Monaco is a tourist attraction and a financial stronghold, he said, adding that China likes to "cultivate bilateral relations even with the tiniest (nations)."

burs-prw/lth/faHong Kong is notorious as one of the least affordable housing markets on the planet

Hong Kong plans to build one of the world's largest artificial islands with an eye-watering $79 billion price tag, city officials announced Tuesday.

The government's HK$624 billion proposal to reclaim 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of land around the territory's largest island, Lantau, has been touted as a solution to the pressing housing shortage in the city, which is notorious as one of the least affordable markets on the planet.

Authorities said they hope to start work on reclaiming land in 2025, with an eye on allowing residents to move to the island in 2032.

The artificial island -- the city's most expensive infrastructure project to date -- would be four times the cost of building Hong Kong International Airport, which opened on Lantau in 1998, and far outstrip Dubai's famous palm-tree shaped Palm Jumeirah, which reportedly cost $12 billion to build.

The man-made island would be nearly three times the size of New York's Central Park and provide up to 260,000 flats, more than 70 percent of which would be used for public housing, the government has said.

But critics say the vast reclamation project is too costly and could damage the environment, especially marine life, with many also expressing frustration over the lack of a public say in the plans.

"When all aspects of Hong Kong's public services and facilities are on the brink of collapse, will the (Lantau project) -- as the government's panacea -- solve problems or create a bigger crisis?" pro-democracy lawmaker Eddie Chu said on his Facebook page.

He estimated the cost of the project could balloon to more than $112 billion by 2025, when reclamation work is expected to start.

Authorities are also planning to build another 700-hectare artificial island around Lantau, but have not released any further details about that project or its cost.

Lantau island is also home to a new mega bridge launched last year -- billed as the world's longest sea bridge -- connecting Hong Kong to neighbouring Macau and mainland China at a time when Beijing is seeking to tighten its grip on its semi-autonomous territories.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the plans for the artificial island.

Campaigners have also warned that the dwindling number of much-loved pink dolphins in waters surrounding Lantau may disappear altogether due to large-scale infrastructure projects.Addressing the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, US assistant secretary of state Yleem Poblete questioned whether China and Russia were sincerely committed to the talks

The US on Tuesday accused Russia and China of raising the risk of conflict in space, notably by developing anti-satellite weapons, as diplomats held talks on a treaty to keep space peaceful.

The closed-door negotiations in Geneva involving experts from 25 governments -- including the US, China and Russia -- are aimed at laying the groundwork for a legally-binding text to prevent an arms race in outer space.

Beijing and Moscow pushed for the discussions that run through March 28, which experts have said may show results despite the grim climate for disarmament diplomacy.

But addressing the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, US assistant secretary of state Yleem Poblete questioned whether China and Russia were sincerely committed to the talks.

"How can we believe (Russia is) serious about preventing an arms race in outer space when they are the ones that are developing ground-launched anti-satellite weapons?" Poblete asked.

She also accused Russia of trying to develop lasers that could "blind or damage satellites".

Poblete, of the State Department's arms control bureau, spoke as the US took over the rotating presidency at the Conference on Disarmament. The space peace talks are being held in a different venue in Geneva.

- China criticised -

Turning to China, Poblete accused the country of developing a range of anti-satellite capabilities, including jammers and ground-based missiles intended to target "low-Earth-orbit satellites".

Given that, "it is difficult to determine the truthfulness of China's concern about the prevention of an arms race in space," she said.

US President Donald Trump has called for the creation of a new military branch devoted exclusively to space, with the Pentagon submitting a proposal to Congress earlier this month.

Trump's "Space Force" call and his declaration that Washington considered space a "war-fighting domain," has raised widespread concern.

But experts have noted that the three major powers -- and all seafaring nations -- have a lot to lose if the ongoing negotiations collapse, given the increasing importance of satellite technology in both civilian and military affairs.

The negotiations being led by Brazil's ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota, will only produce a report if all nations reach consensus on its content.

He said he hopes the sides will agree on "elements" that could form the basis of a future, legally-binding treaty.A social media campaign ad for Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's far-right New Right party has her unapologetically wearing a perfume called "Fascism"

A new ad with an elegantly dressed minister using "fascist" perfume drew online outrage Tuesday, the latest in a social media war ahead of an Israeli election that has also featured a flatulent hippo.

Israeli law prevents political ads from being aired on television until two weeks before the April 9 election, so parties have flooded social media with clips instead.

The elections are expected to be close and social media is playing a part in the campaign as never before.

Messaging tool WhatsApp is particularly popular among Israelis and makes sharing clips easy, though Facebook and Twitter are also unavoidable in the self-proclaimed "start-up nation," known for its hi-tech prowess.

"There's very heavy use of the internet in campaigning, but it's a wild west," said Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler of the Israel Democracy Institute think-tank. "There's no regulation."

In keeping with Israel's seldom subtle political scene, many clips have been over the top, and the one released late on Monday featuring Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked pushed lots of buttons.

The ad, viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media, tries to play on accusations from her critics that Shaked has pursued a fascist-like agenda and argues that her policies are in fact more democratic.

Supporters registered approval, but many comments judged the ad, which mimics an advert for a pricey perfume, as a failure that could be mistaken for an endorsement of fascism.

"For anyone who doesn't know that the left often accuses Shaked of fascism, this ad will sound like she's endorsing fascism and calling it democracy," Eylon Levy of Israel's i24 news channel posted on Twitter.

Opinion polls show Shaked's far-right New Right party not performing as well in the election as had earlier been projected, and the aim seemed to be to recapture the public's attention.

It certainly succeeded in doing so, though it perhaps backfired.

As dramatic piano music plays, Shaked saunters and poses while a narrator lists the virtues of a perfume called "Fascism".

The qualities listed include Shaked's stated goals such as reducing what she calls judges' activism.

After spraying herself with "Fascism," Shaked turns her gaze to the camera and says: "Smells like democracy to me."

- 'Shoot him' -

Political parties are trying to break through the noise with eye-catching videos and hard-hitting claims about their opponents.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud have been among them, creating an online television channel and churning out regular videos denouncing his main opponent, former military chief Benny Gantz.

Gantz's Blue and White alliance has responded in kind.

No caption

Smaller parties have sought to differentiate themselves.

Particularly shocking was a clip posted on Facebook by Oren Hazan, a Likud lawmaker in the outgoing parliament known for provocative comments and behaviour.

Hazan, now running independently after failing to get a Likud slot for the April election, is seen playing a scene in a classic western movie where from his bathtub he shoots an intruder with the face of Arab MP Jamal Zahalka.

The post is titled "The Good the Bad and Zahalka."

Zahalka is chairman of the Raam-Balad party, which is fiercely critical of Israeli policies, particularly the occupation of Palestinian territory.

A spokeswoman told AFP he had filed a police complaint accusing Hazan of incitement to murder.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's centre-right Kulanu, which is struggling in opinion polls, last week released a video designed as a trailer for a movie.

It featured a fish climbing a tree and a flatulent hippopotamus, with the message being that only Kahlon, the "sane right", cares about social issues.

The animals were meant to symbolise all the distractions from real issues Israeli voters are facing in the campaign.

The extreme-right Jewish Power party, which many Israelis view as racist, has distributed a video showing a soldier hesitating to shoot a Palestinian attacker out of fear of prosecution.

One of the party's leaders, Itamar Ben-Gvir, emerges and tells the soldier to "shoot him, its self-defence!"

The head of the party, Michael Ben-Ari, has since been disqualified from the election by the supreme court for statements that the attorney general called incitement to racism.

Netanyahu and Gantz have been duking it out over who is best-suited to guarantee Israel's security.

One video from Gantz's campaign boasted of the number of Palestinian militants killed and targets destroyed under his command in a 2014 war with Gaza's Islamist rulers, Hamas.

Not to be outdone, one from Likud warned against voting for Gantz because it would lead to "more violence," and included images of sites of attacks against Israelis as well as a shot of a military cemetery.

After widespread criticism over it, Netanyahu said the video had been a mistake.The attacks have shocked the usually peaceful country

As the first bodies of the Christchurch mosque shooting victims were returned to grieving families, Muslim volunteers from across New Zealand and Australia descended on the small town to help in the burial process.

Islamic custom dictates that people have to be buried as soon as possible, but the scale and devastation of Friday's massacre -- that saw 50 killed in the usually quiet southern New Zealand city -- has delayed the handover of bodies to next of kin.

Police said Tuesday that just six bodies have been released so far and a total of 12 victims identified. As anguished relatives wait, waves of volunteers have driven or flown in to ease the burden on exhausted locals.

"We are a Muslim community, regardless of where we are situated through the country and the world, there is always going to be a connection with other Muslims when tragedy occurs," Javed Dadabhai, a volunteer from Auckland, told AFP.

"Quite specifically, Christchurch is a small community, so... when you see a loss of 50 people, you really need to come down and help in whichever you can."

While there has been no figures on the number of volunteers who have travelled to Christchurch, large numbers have been walking in and out of a family support centre near the Al Noor Mosque where dozens were killed by a white supremacist.

Sohail Ibrahim was among the volunteers who packed his bags and hopped onto a plane from Sydney when a call came from his mosque for helpers.

"The problem is, many men and many women can't face the body," Ibrahim told AFP of why he felt compelled to lend a helping hand.

Dadabhai said the volunteers were divided into several teams which would help in the washing of bodies -- required under Islamic custom -- and the burials in the cemetery.

Mohammed Bilal, another volunteer from Auckland, said the "coming together" was a good way for Muslims to show they wanted to "live peacefully".

"That's why we are here," he told AFP. "This is a hard time but we have to be strong and faithful and believe that we are going to overcome this.

"People come here to help each other and do something good for our society."Algeria has been gripped by mass protests calling for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign, which began on February 22

Algeria's deputy prime minister Ramtane Lamamra on Tuesday promised "open and transparent" steps to resolve the country's political crisis, as ally Moscow backed his government's plans.

Lamamra was in Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as a wave of mass protests continued in Algeria against the rule of its ageing president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in power for 20 years.

Tens of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets to demonstrate, prompting the government to respond with promises of political and constitutional reform.

So far, the authorities have pledged to hold a "national conference" to discuss reforms, followed by a referendum on a new constitution and eventually the election of a new president.

Speaking after talks with Lavrov, Lamamra said Algeria was developing a "concept of a future state" and that a new constitution would be formed "on the basis of an open and transparent discussion".

He said the national conference would decide the date of future elections and that Bouteflika was "ready to fully transfer his powers" to a new president.

An independent commission would be set up to monitor elections and Algerian opposition groups would be allowed to participate in political life, he said.

"We hope to implement all of this in the near future," said Lamamra, who is also Algeria's foreign minister.

Lavrov said Moscow, a longtime ally of Algiers, was behind the Algerian government's efforts.

"We support these plans and we expect they will help stabilise the situation," Lavrov said, hitting out at "attempts to destabilise the situation from the outside".

"I am convinced... that the people of Algeria can solve their own problems, resolve their own internal affairs," he said.

Algeria has been rocked by mass demonstrations for more than three weeks, with thousands of students protested in Algiers again on Tuesday, calling for Bouteflika to step down.

In response to the protests, the ailing 82-year-old initially said he was withdrawing his bid for a fifth term.

But an April 18 election was scrapped and on Monday, Bouteflika confirmed that he planned to stay in power beyond his term, which expires next month.The continued constraints come weeks after Pakistani authorities said they had fully reopened the country's airspace

Restrictions over large swathes of Pakistani airspace continued to affect numerous flight routes, officials said Tuesday, weeks after clashes between Pakistan and India brought the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of war.

The continued constraints come weeks after Pakistani authorities said they had fully reopened the country's airspace after it was closed for days following clashes and aerial dogfights between the two countries late last month.

"All entry and exit points to and from India remain closed," a senior Pakistan official told AFP on the condition of anonymity, saying the decision to keep portions of the country's airspace closed was reviewed daily by authorities.

The closure of large swathes of the eastern airspace effectively shuts off major international flight routes in and out of Islamabad and Lahore along with select domestic routes.

"At least seven domestic and four international destinations are suspended," Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Mashud Tajwar said.

The national carrier's operations to India, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur have all been suspended for nearly a month causing heavy losses to the already struggling airline.

"We can't give an off-hand estimates of the losses but yes the losses have been occurring for sure," Tajwar told AFP.

Aviation experts said the ongoing restrictions have also affected Indian flights headed west over Pakistan.

"Indian airlines are suffering much more compared to Pakistan because their westward operations are much bigger," said Sajid Habib, a former chief of state-run Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Information from online flight tracker flightradar24 showed no flights along the border between the two countries.

The crisis between the countries was first sparked by a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that killed 40 Indian security personnel and was later claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Days later India responded with a cross-border air raid on Pakistan that kicked off a quick succession of attacks and dogfights between the arch-rivals over the disputed Kashmir frontier that spurred fears of wider war erupting.

Pakistani and Indian soldiers have continued to fire over the Line of Control -- the de-facto border dividing Kashmir, killing several civilians on both sides.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947.

Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over it.

The ongoing flight restrictions come as the government prepares to close the airspace over the capital for half a day for Pakistan Day on March 23, with Islamabad set to host a parade accompanied by a military air show.Republican Congressman Devin Nunes alleges that Twitter "shadow bans" conservatives, purportedly making their messages less visible, and failed to crack down on defamatory tweets

A Republican congressman is suing Twitter claiming the online platform discriminates against conservatives by hiding their messages, and for allowing "abusive, hateful and defamatory" content about the lawmaker.

The complaint was filed by Representative Devin Nunes, an ally of President Donald Trump, in a Virginia state court, and released online by Fox News. It seeks $250 million in damages.

Nunes alleges that Twitter "shadow bans" conservatives -- purportedly making their messages less visible -- and failed to crack down on parody accounts such as "Devin Nunes' Mom" and "Devin Nunes' cow" which accused him of obstructing investigations into the president.

The suit echoes accusations from Trump that major internet platforms discriminate against conservatives, even though he himself has more than 59 million followers on Twitter.

Twitter declined to comment on the lawsuit, but has in the past vigorously denied claims that its platform is politically biased.

Legal analysts have largely maintained that internet platforms such as Twitter are not liable for most content posted by third parties, but the Nunes lawsuit claims Twitter was negligent and failed to enforce its own terms of service.

"Twitter let it happen because Twitter had (and has) a political agenda and motive," the lawsuit said.

The complaint included many of the insulting tweets, including one from the Devin Nunes' Mom account stating: "Are you trying to obstruct a federal investigation again? You come home right this instant or no more Minecraft!"

Other tweets accused the lawmaker of having "white supremist friends" and distributing "disturbing inflammatory racial propaganda."

Nunes, who represents a district in California, is a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and was accused of undermining the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 president election.

Trump himself weighed in on the issue again on Tuesday, retweeting a message about the lawsuit and repeating his claims about bias by internet firms.

"Facebook, Google and Twitter, not to mention the Corrupt Media, are sooo on the side of the Radical Left Democrats. But fear not, we will win anyway, just like we did before!" Trump tweeted.The kudurru is a ceremonial stone tablet recording the legal gifting of land by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar I to one of his subjects

A 3,000-year-old carved stone tablet from Babylonia, which promises a curse on those who would destroy it, is to be flown home from Britain after being looted during the Iraq War.

British Museum boss Hartwig Fischer handed over the priceless work to Iraqi Ambassador Salih Husain Ali during a ceremony on Tuesday after museum experts had verified its provenance.

"It is a very important piece of Iraq's cultural heritage," said Fischer, praising the "extraordinary and tireless work" of border officials.

They spotted the object at London's Heathrow airport in 2012 and contacted the museum after being presented with fake documents.

"They seized this item when they saw it at a British port and several years later, after a lot of legal work, we are able to effect this transfer," said Michael Ellis, Britain's Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism.

"It's a very important and significant moment."

It is still not clear how the object was taken out of Iraq, "but we believe it was probably stolen about 15 years ago during troubles in Iraq," he said.

The kudurru is a ceremonial stone tablet recording the legal gifting of land by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar I to one of his subjects in return for distinguished service, according to curator Jonathan Taylor.

On one side are depictions of the great Babylonian gods Enlil and Marduk, and on the other, legal text written in cuneiform, the Babylonian alphabet.

Taylor said the object also carried "terrible curses" for anyone trying to claim the land or damage the tablet.

- 'National hero' -

Iraq's Ambassador Salih Husain Ali with the Babylonian boundary stone which carries "terrible curses" for anyone trying to claim the land or damage the tablet

Fewer that 200 such objects are known to exist, and the one handed over on Tuesday was broken in antiquity and eroded, presenting a problem for sleuths trying to establish its history.

"The basic identification is quite straightforward," said Taylor.

"More difficult is tying down exactly who the king is and what the circumstances are, for that we need to read the inscription and it's quite worn, there's a lot of damage in the middle of the text," he said.

"It's old fashioned bookwork. We have a few clues."

They established the king was Nebuchadnezzar I, "a kind of national hero, a legend in his own life time".

The stone is thought to have originally been on display in the ancient city of Nippur, now in central Iraq.

"It's more than just a carved stone... It is a testament to the remarkable history of the Republic of Iraq," said Ellis.The United Arab Emirates has announced its first astronaut will blast off to the International Space Station in September 2019

Eleven Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Morocco on Tuesday signed on to the first regional team to cooperate on a space programme, the UAE said.

"Today at the Global Space Congress in Abu Dhabi, we attended the signing of a charter to establish the first Arab body for space cooperation, bringing together 11 Arab states," said Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum in comments carried by the government media office.

The pan-Arab team's first project is "a satellite that Arab scientists will work on from here in the UAE", he said.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed, the UAE's vice president and prime minister, vowed in 2017 to send four Emirati astronauts to the International Space Station by 2022.

The UAE announced last month that its first astronaut will blast off on a mission to the station on September 25.

The oil-rich Gulf state has two astronauts in training as it looks to get an ambitious space programme aimed at exploring Mars off the ground.

The astronaut programme would make the UAE one of only a handful of states in the Middle East to have sent a person into space, as it looks to make good on a pledge to become a global leader in space exploration.

The first Arab in outer space was Saudi Arabia's Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, who flew on a US shuttle mission in 1985.

Two years later, Syrian air force pilot Muhammed Faris spent a week aboard the Soviet Union's Mir space station.The Islamic State group claimed the suicide attack in the northern Syrian town of Manbij that killed four Americans in January

A US-backed force in Syria said Tuesday it has arrested jihadists suspected of involvement in the deadliest attack on US troops since they deployed in the war-torn country in 2014.

Nineteen people including four American personnel were killed in the January 16 suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group in the northern Syrian city of Manbij.

The four Americans killed were two soldiers, a civilian defence department employee and a Pentagon subcontractor.

The US Department of Defense had previously reported only two American personnel killed in combat in Syria, in separate incidents.

A spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said that several suspects have been detained over the Manbij bombing.

"A group of suspects believed to be involved in (the) January 16 Manbij bombing that killed several US and SDF servicemen were captured following technical surveillance by our forces," Mustefa Bali said in English on Twitter.

The spokesman's comments came as his force advanced against the jihadists in eastern Syria, confining holdout fighters to a tiny slither in the village of Baghouz on the banks of the Euphrates River.

The Kurdish-led force on Sunday said at least 520 IS fighters have been captured in "special operations" by the SDF since January 9.

An additional 5,000 jihadists who have fled their last redoubt have been detained over the same period, it said.

After sweeping across swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, the IS jihadists' cross-border "caliphate" has been whittled down by multiple offensives to the tiny embattled enclave in Baghouz.

But despite the stinging defeats, IS has proved it is still capable of carrying out deadly attacks using hideouts in the sprawling desert or sleeper cells in the towns.

Run by a Washington-backed town council since the US-led coalition and its ground partners pushed out jihadists in 2016, Manbij has been a realm of relative quiet.

The town was considered sufficiently secure that a group of top US military commanders and lawmakers strolled through its market without body armour last summer.

President Donald Trump in December announced he would pull all American troops from Syria, claiming IS had been "largely defeated".

But the White House has since said it would maintain a small "peace-keeping" force of 200 US troops in the country.Libya has been a key departure point for migrants hoping to reach European shores

A baby's body was found after a shipwreck Tuesday off the coast of Libya, an official said, while at least eight migrants are missing at sea.

A boat carrying 27 people sank near the coastal town of Sabratha, to the west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, said Bassem al-Gharabli who heads the local office combatting illegal migration.

The figure is based on testimony from the 18 survivors, whom Gharabli said were rescued after fishermen alerted the coast guard.

The group attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea included seven women, said Gharabli without detailing the migrants' nationalities.

The International Organization for Migration's Libya office confirmed the shipwreck and said 15 people were hospitalised.

"Some of whom have fractured bones, according to IOM doctor onsite," the IOM wrote on Twitter.

Thousands have died in recent years trying to cross from North Africa to reach European shores, crammed into rickety boats by people smugglers.

Libya has been a key departure point for those hoping to reach Italy, 300 kilometres (185 miles) to the north.

But a controversial decision to Rome to close its ports to rescue ships has slashed the number of arrivals over the past few months.

Nearly 350 migrants have reached Italy so far in 2019, according to figures from the UN refugee agency.Mourning: Victims of the disaster were given a joint burial on Monday at the local cemetery, Chimanimani Heroes Acre

Agony is etched in Tapiwa Chanyawos face as he tells of the night the storm came, a mudslide swept away their home, and his family died.

Their home, in the eastern Zimbabwean town of Chimanimani, lay in the path of Idai -- a gigantic tropical cyclone that may have left more than a thousand dead in its wake.

"My father, my mother, my two sisters including the elder one and her child, they all died," Chanyawo told AFP from his bed at a local hospital, counting the numbers on his fingers.

His family was among 98 confirmed dead in Zimbabwe. At least 217 more are missing and 44 stranded, according to the information ministry.

The storm struck overnight Friday after first smashed into central Mozambique, whose president, Filipe Nyusi, said on Monday that at least a thousand people there may have perished.

More than a hundred houses in Ngangu township in Chimanimani were destroyed by heavy rain, raging winds and rolling rocks.

The structures are made of home-baked bricks and corrugated iron sheets.

Homes of this type are a familiar sight across Zimbabwe, and are known for their resilience.

But, in Ngangu, they were no match for a storm packing hurricane-force winds, pounding rain and mudslides.

Searching: A man in Ngangu hunts for missing loved-ones, helped by his dog

Jane Chitsuro, 42, miraculously survived but struggled to hold back the tears of loss.

"I have no clue where my daughter is buried in the debris," she said, her head wrapped in a bandage.

"There is no house left to talk about, no furniture, nothing to wear or cover oneself with. Only masses of broken bricks and rocks".

Praise Chipore's face is bruised and swollen -- the evidence in pain of what happened to her on Friday night.

"A flood came and my house was destroyed and I was buried underneath it. My daughter who was with me on the bed was washed away from me and then a bigger flood carried me farther away," said Chipore.

Grief pervaded the Chimanimani community on Monday as families started burying their dead in damp graves, with some family members sharing one grave.

No caption

A tractor did several trips carrying coffins, fashioned out of crude timber by local woodworkers, to the burial site.

Chimanimani is one of Zimbabwe's most picturesque regions, a verdant place of mountains, water falls and rainforests that is deeply popular with tourists

But the scene following Cyclone Idai was one of awful desolation.

The storm not only destroyed homes. It also washed away crops awaiting harvest in the fields and ripped bridges to pieces, leaving destruction that acting defence minister Perrance Shiri said "resembles the aftermath of a full-scale war".

Some roads were swallowed up by massive sinkholes, a business centre was wiped out while bridges were ripped to pieces by flash floods.

"This is the worst infrastructural damage we have ever had," Zimbabwean Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza said.

Stranded: Loggers on a damaged road on Charter Estate, Chimanimani

The eastern district of Chimanimani was worst-hit, with houses and most of the region's bridges washed away by flash floods.

Some of the most affected areas are not yet accessible, and high winds and dense clouds have hampered military rescue helicopter flights.

Two pupils and a worker at a secondary school in the area were among those killed after a landslide sent a boulder crashing into their dormitory.

A cyclone survivor sits outside Chimanimani Rural District Hospital

Soldiers on Sunday helped rescue the surviving nearly 200 pupils, teachers and staff who had been trapped at the school in Chimanimani.

The majority of the missing are thought to be government workers, whose housing complex was completely engulfed by raging waters. Their fate was unknown because the area was still unreachable.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa who cut short a visit to Abu Dhabi, visited the affected areas on Tuesday.

pho-strs-fj/sn/riDiehard Islamic State group fighters are confined to a tiny area on the banks of the Euphrates River in Syria

An Italian fighting alongside a Kurdish-led force to expel the Islamic State group from its last pocket of territory in eastern Syria has been killed, the force said Tuesday.

Lorenzo Orsetti, 33, was killed in battle on Sunday as he fought diehard jihadists in the village of Baghouz, a spokesman for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said.

"Two days ago... he was at the forefront of the fighting and he died in battle," Mustefa Bali told AFP.

"He was a frontline fighter in the ranks of the People's Protection Units" or YPG, a Kurdish force spearheading the SDF, he said.

"He participated in more than one battle and more than one SDF campaign" against IS, Bali said.

Lorenzo Orsetti said before his death fighting jihadists in Syria that he had no regrets

Orsetti even fought to defend the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northwest Syria, before it was overrun by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels a year ago, he said.

IS published a photograph of the slain fighter and a snapshot of his healthcare card on its social media channels Monday, claiming to have killed him in Baghouz.

The YPG on Tuesday released a video of Orsetti, in which the Italian said he joined the Kurdish force of his own free will, knew the risks involved, and had no regrets.

Dressed in military uniform and with a weapon in his hand, he said he was in Syria mainly "because I believe in freedom -- I'm an Anarchist -- and I was tired of my life in... Western society".

- 'I love you all' -

"If you see this message, probably something's going... you know," he said, a yellow triangular-shaped YPG flag on the wall behind him.

"I love you all, all of you -- all of you (who) passed through my life: my friends, my family -- my dog," he said.

"Long live Kurdistan, long live the YPG and the YPJ," its female fighter units, he added in Kurdish.

Orsetti's father told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera he and his wife were "very proud" of their son.

A former waiter and chef from Florence, Orsetti had initially travelled to Syria in September 2017 as an observer but felt "increasingly involved", his father said.

His body "is apparently still in a combat zone. We hope to be able to recover it as quickly as possible," he said.

"Lorenzo once told us he'd love to be buried in Syria. We don't know what we'll do yet, but I think we'll respect his wishes".

Orsetti had left a "last testament" cited by La Stampa daily and other media.

"I have no regrets. I died doing what I believed was right, defending the weak," it read.

According to the Corriere della Sera, some 25 Italians have travelled to Syria since 2015 to fight alongside Kurdish forces.

Three men and two women are still there, it said.General Motors Ends Production At Lordstown Assembly Plant

General Motors' decision to shutter an Ohio auto plant was back in the spotlight on Tuesday following repeat Twitter attacks on the company from President Donald Trump.

Trump, who is scheduled to visit the politically crucial Midwestern state on Wednesday, revived his criticism of the company, saying on Twitter over the weekend that GM "let our country down" and calling on the company on Monday to reverse a decision to close the plant in Lordstown, Ohio.

The plant, which employed about 1,400 prior to ceasing production earlier this month, was one of five North American plants that GM announced in November would be closed as part of a cost-cutting reorganization.

Lordstown had been building the Chevrolet Cruze, a sedan model that has been losing favor in the US as consumers embrace larger vehicles.

Trump, who blasted GM's decision last year, again unloaded on the company, calling on GM and the United Auto Workers to begin talks immediately and defend the plant.

"General Motors and the UAW are going to start 'talks' in September/October. Why wait, start them now!" Trump tweeted Monday. "I want jobs to stay in the U.S.A. and want Lordstown (Ohio), in one of the best economies in our history, opened or sold to a company who will open it up fast!"

GM has characterized the reorganization as essential to its long-term competitiveness and emphasized its efforts to place affected workers at other US factories.

- Some workers relocated -

A GM spokesman said Tuesday the ultimate fate of Lordstown would be determined by the talks with UAW.

"We remain open to talking with all affected stakeholders, but our main focus remains on our employees and offering them jobs in our plants where we have growth opportunities," the GM spokesman said.

US President Donald Trump, shown here in 2017 with GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, revived his attacks on the US auto giant over its decision to shut a plant in Ohio

"We have now placed over 1,000 employees from our unallocated plants to other GM locations, and we have opportunities available for virtually all impacted employees."

The UAW vowed to continue to push for the workers.

"The UAW's focus is and has been on our members impacted and we will leave no stone unturned in keeping the GM plants opened," said UAW International spokesman Brian Rothenberg.

Trump, who also attacked the UAW, is scheduled to visit a defense plant on Wednesday and fundraise for his 2020 campaign. Trump carried Ohio in the 2016 race but The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Tuesday that the visit comes as Trump's popularity has declined in the state during his presidency.

Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown defended the UAW from Trump's attacks and blasted the US president for signing a 2017 tax cut law that he said created incentives to shut US factories.

Trump "has made lots of big promises and failed to stand up for workers at every turn," Brown said.

"Instead of fighting to save these jobs, President Trump decided to side with corporations and give companies like GM massive tax breaks to shut down American factories and ship jobs overseas."Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, welcomes Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to Beijing

China backed its "iron friend" Pakistan on Tuesday, applauding its recent counter-terrorism measures as Islamabad faces criticism for harbouring militants.

An attack on Indian-administered Kashmir last month killed 40 Indian security personnel and was claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group.

"China commends Pakistan's recent strong counter-terrorism measures at home," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters after meeting with his Pakistani counterpart.

"We fully support Pakistan in carrying through its counterterrorism campaign," Wang said.

Since March 5, Pakistani authorities have arrested hundreds of suspected Islamist militants and shuttered more than 700 madrassas, mosques, and clinics linked to banned groups.

Islamabad has come under pressure to demonstrate it is sincere about eliminating militancy, but the crackdown has yet to convince the international community.

"We also call on the international community to adopt a fair perspective of the commitments and efforts made by Pakistan over the years to combat terrorism," Wang said as he stood beside Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

New Delhi has long accused Islamabad of harbouring militant groups, which it says are used by Pakistan intelligence agencies to launch attacks in India.

The February 14 suicide blast in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops -- claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed -- ignited the most recent crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

China last week blocked measures by the UN Security Council to blacklist JeM leader Masood Azhar.

It was the fourth time China has blocked such attempts, reinforcing suspicions that it was acting on Pakistan's behest.

On Tuesday, Pakistan expressed gratitude for China's continued support as it faces international criticism.

"Pakistan appreciates the role China has played once again, standing by Pakistan in these difficult times," Shah said.

"We have been cooperating against this menace of terrorism, and we feel strengthening this in relevant fields is important," Shah said.

"We have made a considerable progress vis-a-vis terrorism, we have paid a huge price, everybody recognises that," Shah said.

Wang welcomed Shah to Beijing by noting China calls Pakistan "our iron friends" because Islamabad "provides us with iron-like support" on Beijing's core issues of concern.

"Of course, China does the same," Wang said.An estimated 400 French tourists head each year to North Korea, which has been isolated from the international community for decades

A French travel publisher presented Tuesday its first guide book for North Korea, offering 190 pages of tips for getting the most out of a trip to experience the "survival of a totalitarian communist state".

"The guide wasn't conceived to defend the current regime or to cast judgment, but to show the genuine touristic interest of the country," Jean-Paul Labourdette, a co-founder of the "Petit Fute" guides, said in Paris.

He said 4,000 copies had been printed -- more than enough for the estimated 400 French tourists which head each year to the pariah state, which has been isolated from the international community for decades.

North Korea has endured harsh UN sanctions to pursue its nuclear weapons programme under the Kim dynasty, which implemented a dictatorship that has been accused of provoking widespread hunger and human rights abuses.

The French foreign ministry strongly discourages tourists from visiting, while the US State Department only rarely grants exceptional permits for Americans hoping to travel to North Korea.

But Labourdette said "there are no security issues" for travellers, though he admitted "very restrictive" conditions, not least tight surveillance that limits foreigners to just a handful of hotels and restaurants.

And while tourist visas are readily granted, the guide warns that missteps are costly: "The punishments can be severe... as was the case for the American student Otto Warmbier."

Warmbier, an Ohio native who studied at the University of Virginia, was pulled away from his tour group at the Pyongyang airport in 2016 and charged with crimes against the state for allegedly taking down a propaganda poster in his hotel.

He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour.

After lengthy negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, Warmbier was released in a vegetative state in 2017 but died a few days later on American soil.

- 'Don't take pictures' -

Mainstream travel guides have steered clear of the repressive nation, with English-language stalwarts like "Lonely Planet" limiting their coverage to a few chapters in their Korea books.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) has been holding talks with US President Donald Trump on ending the pariah state's nuclear weapons efforts

"Don't take any pictures of airports, road, bridges or train stations," the "Petit Fute" warns, and make sure you don't throw away or even fold any newspaper with a picture of former or current leaders.

"Roll it up instead," the guide advises.

The book comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump are holding halting talks on ending the country's nuclear weapons efforts.

"We launched this project four years ago, we didn't wait for Donald and Kim to start their little friendship," Labourdette said. "But it took quite a while to find qualified French writers."

"Petit Fute" aims to publish guides on all the world's countries, or 204 instead of the 175 it covers now.

"We still don't have Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Liberia," Labourdette said.Homes are surrounded by floodwater from the Pecatonica River on March 18, 2019 in Freeport, Illinois, part of a predominantly rural area hit by historic floods that caused losses estimated above $1 billion

Waters began to recede Tuesday in the US Midwest after historic flooding that claimed at least three lives and caused losses estimated at more than $1 billion.

The flooding across a predominantly rural part of the country was caused by a big storm last week and rapid snow melt that swelled streams and rivers in large swaths of the middle of the United States, and sent gushing water over levees.

Hundreds of homes and businesses were inundated, roadways damaged, and bridges washed away in several states, with much of Nebraska and parts of Iowa hardest hit.

Officials also were concerned about crop and livestock losses at farms.

"This past week will forever be remembered for the historic, devastating flooding our state experienced," Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts said in a statement.

"In scope of reach, we believe it is the most widespread natural disaster in our state's history."

Vice President Mike Pence headed to Nebraska on Tuesday to survey the damage, where nine shelters remained open for displaced residents.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said she and Ricketts would be seeking expedited federal funds to repair roads and other infrastructure. Reynolds has declared 41 Iowa counties disaster areas.

"We're continuing to work with local officials to assess the flood damage," she told a news conference.

While waters were receding in some areas, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecasted flooding would persist in parts of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

"Major to historic and catastrophic flooding will continue across parts of the Missouri and Mississippi River Basins," the NWS said in an advisory.

Nebraska officials estimated that damage to public and private property topped $600 million. The Nebraska Farm Bureau, a group representing farmers, expected crop and livestock losses around $1 billion.

"We won't know of course for a little while what the losses are, but I would not be surprised to see the losses to go over a billion dollars for agriculture in Nebraska," the group's president Steve Nelson told The Weather Channel.

Dozens of cities and counties in Nebraska had declared states of emergency. Some residents in small towns and rural areas were surrounded by waters and cut off, while others evacuated to shelters.

Reynolds said two-thirds of the small town of Hamburg, with a population of approximately 1,000, was destroyed.

Two people were killed in Nebraska last week due to the raging flood waters, while a motorist died in Iowa after his vehicle was swept away.

A third of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska was overcome with floodwaters, and was not expected to be dry again until Thursday.Michael Cohen (2nd L), US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, was under investigation very early on in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, newly unveiled documents show

The US Russia collusion probe was targeting the emails of President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen over his foreign contacts in July 2017 -- long before his offices were raided last year, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller began seeking warrants to get into Cohen's emails -- and eventually his phones -- just two months after he was named to lead the investigation.

The paperwork suggests an initially narrow probe into the New York attorney's work on behalf of foreign clients snowballed into a much broader corruption investigation.

Cohen was eventually sentenced to three years in jail for election finance fraud, bank fraud, tax avoidance and lying to Congress, after implicating Trump in some of those crimes.

Some 900 pages of applications indicate that Mueller initially used the rarely-enforced Foreign Agents Registration Act, and suspicions of money laundering and financial fraud, to ask a court to let him review Cohen's emails dating from 2016.

That apparently revealed more financial fraud and that Cohen was earning millions of dollars in unreported consulting fees from major businesses including Novartis and a US company linked to Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg.

The payments from the Vekselberg firm, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, began just days after Trump's inauguration in January 2017 and eventually totaled nearly $600,000.

The documents revealed details about Cohen's anonymously-owned company, Essential Consultants LLC, that he used to arrange a hush payment to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claimed an affair with Trump.

Eventually Mueller's team, which was focusing on whether Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia, referred much of the information on Cohen to prosecutors in the Justice Department's Manhattan office, leading to the dramatic raids on Cohen's residence and offices in April 2018.

Secret until now, the search warrant applications provided no new information on Trump, for whom Cohen worked for a decade as executive vice president and "fixer" at the Trump Organization.

Cohen has told prosecutors Trump ordered him to make the payoff to Daniels just before the 2016 election, which was later ruled in violation of campaign finance laws.

Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis said Tuesday's release "only furthers his interest in continuing to cooperate and providing information and the truth about Donald Trump and the Trump organization to law enforcement and Congress."UN peace envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths is holding talks on a pullback of government and rebel forces from Hodeida, the entry point for aid to the country

The United Nations will put forward a new plan for the pullback of forces from Yemen's flashpoint city of Hodeida to the government and Huthi rebels, a UN envoy said Tuesday.

The redeployment of forces was agreed in December under a ceasefire deal reached in Sweden that offered the best hope in years of moving toward an end to the war that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

"Following constructive discussions with both parties, there is significant progress towards an agreement to implement phase one of the redeployments of the Hodeida agreement," said a statement from Martin Griffiths, the UN envoy for Yemen.

"Operational details will be presented to the parties in the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) for endorsement shortly," he added.

The RCC, chaired by Danish General Michael Lollesgaard, was set up under the Stockholm deal to bring the government and the Huthis to the table to hammer out details of the ceasefire deal.

The UN envoy's statement did not give a date for the start of the pullback, which would mark the first concrete step towards de-escalation in Hodeida.

Griffiths said he "looks forward to the swift endorsement of the plan" and expressed hope that a deal would pave the way to a broader political settlement to end the war.

The United Nations announced a deal on the two-stage pullback from Hodeida city and its ports on February 17, but the redeployment failed to materialize on the ground and the peace effort appeared to run out of steam.

- One step at a time -

According to UN diplomats, the Huthis have refused to pull away from the ports as part of the first stage, citing fears that forces linked to the Saudi-led coalition will move in to take over those facilities.

Griffiths and Lollesgaard have been holding talks with all sides to overcome the final hurdles, but the United Nations sounded a cautious note about the latest developments.

"I don't want to sound over-confident about this," said UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

"Whether we can get to actually having the withdrawals to occur, that remains to be seen. We are moving one step at a time."

The Red Sea port of Hodeida is the entry point for the bulk of imported goods and relief aid to Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to push back an advance by Huthi rebels who continue to hold the capital Sanaa, and restore President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to power.

The conflict has unleashed the world's worst humanitarian conflict, according to the United Nations, with millions facing famine.

Since the Stockholm agreement three months ago, the UN envoy has struggled to turn details of that deal into reality on the ground, and several deadlines have been missed.

Aside from the redeployment, the Huthis and the government agreed to an exchange of thousands of prisoners from the war and to hold talks on the future of the city of Taez, which is beseiged by the Huthis.US President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of internet platforms during a White House news conference with Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro

President Donald Trump stepped up claims of political bias by Big Tech firms Tuesday in a fresh assault on Silicon Valley after one of his key congressional allies sued Twitter claiming it discriminates against conservatives.

The latest diatribe from the president comes with online platforms facing heightened scrutiny on how they filter and amplify content -- but with the industry fiercely defending itself against claims of political bias.

Trump renewed his attacks after retweeting news of a lawsuit filed by Republican Representative Devin Nunes seeking $250 million in damages from Twitter.

"Facebook, Google and Twitter, not to mention the Corrupt Media, are sooo on the side of the Radical Left Democrats," Trump tweeted.

Hours later, he went further when asked about social media at a joint press briefing with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro.

"It seems to be if they are conservative, if they are Republicans, in a certain group, there is discrimination. I see it on Twitter and Facebook," Trump said.

- Blocked for spam activity -

Representative Devin Nunes has sued Twitter claiming it discriminates against conservatives and failed to block defamatory content

In a separate tweet, the president pointed to an incident in which his social media director Dan Scavino was temporarily blocked on Facebook.

"I will be looking into this!" Trump wrote, adding the hashtag #StopTheBias.

Facebook said Scavino, who claimed he was merely responding to comments, was briefly blocked as a result of activity detected as spam, not for any political reason, and added that it had apologized to him.

Nunes alleged in his lawsuit filed in a Virginia state court that Twitter "shadow bans" conservatives, making their messages less visible.

He also claimed Twitter was negligent for failing to crack down on parody accounts such as "Devin Nunes' Mom" and "Devin Nunes' cow" which accused him of obstructing investigations into the president.

Nunes, the former Republican leader of the House probe into Russian interference in the US election, stepped aside in 2017 after being criticized for compromising the probe in visits to the White House.

Nunes, then the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, had sought to turn the investigation away from Russia and toward allegations that the previous Obama administration abused its powers by spying on Trump and his advisors.

- 'Political agenda' -

Donald Trump Jr. echoed claims by his father of political bias by social media firms

Rancor over Nunes sharing top secret intelligence reports with Trump -- but not members of his own committee -- had driven the committee's probe to a halt.

The suit echoes accusations from Trump that major internet platforms discriminate against conservatives, even though he himself has more than 59 million followers on Twitter.

Twitter declined to comment on the lawsuit, but has in the past vigorously denied claims that its platform is politically biased.

Legal analysts have largely maintained that internet platforms such as Twitter are not liable for most content posted by third parties, but the Nunes lawsuit claims Twitter was negligent and failed to enforce its own terms of service.

"Twitter let it happen because Twitter had (and has) a political agenda and motive," the lawsuit said.

The complaint included many of the insulting tweets, including one from the Devin Nunes' Mom account stating: "Are you trying to obstruct a federal investigation again? You come home right this instant or no more Minecraft!"

Other tweets accused the lawmaker of having white supremacist friends and distributing "disturbing inflammatory racial propaganda."

Separately, the president's son Donald Trump Jr. wrote in the news outlet The Hill that tech firms are using a variety of tools to silence conservatives.

"Facebook appears to have deliberately tailored its algorithm to recognize the syntax and style popular among conservatives in order to 'deboost' that content," he wrote.

Internet firms have consistently maintained there is no attempt to impose bias on their platforms and that conservative have large followings on social platforms.

"Tech firms do not, and it would be foolish for them to make conscious decisions to discriminate on political grounds," said Ed Black, head of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represents major firms including Facebook and Google.

Black called the recent attacks an effort "to bully them into an attempt to do it in a direction favorable to the attackers."Former defense secretary Jim Mattis quit after President Donald Trump announced a unilateral US withdrawal from Syria, and the retired Marine general will resume his post at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in May

Former US defense secretary Jim Mattis, who quit in December after disagreeing with President Donald Trump's Syria policy, is to return to his research post at Stanford University in California.

The Hoover Institution, where the retired Marine general taught from 2013 after leaving the military, said Mattis will return in May.

"The wealth of knowledge and experience of an already extraordinary career has been made even richer by General Mattis latest endeavor as Secretary of Defense," said the institute's director Tom Gilligan.

The Hoover Institution, a research center specializing in international relations, said Mattis would "focus his research and writing on domestic and international security policy."

Mattis joined the institute in 2013 after being fired from his post as head of the US Central Command by then president Barack Obama over differences on Washington's Iran policy.

He left the research center in 2017 to become Trump's defense secretary, but resigned from that position after Trump announced a unilateral withdrawal from Syria without consulting US allies in the coalition that is battling Islamic State militants in Syria.

Mattis' duties at the Hoover Institution will include authoring research papers, participating in conferences on national security issues, and teaching.

"I believe we have an obligation to pass on the lessons weve learned so that future generations can study, learn and become better," Mattis said, according to the statement.

The Hoover Institute is considered to be conservative-leaning, having taken on several former senior officials as fellows, including George W Bush's secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.Counselor to US President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway is used to defending her boss, but she finds herself having to rebut a critic close to home -- her own husband, George Conway, who says Trump is mentally unstable

President Donald Trump fired off one of his Twitter insults Tuesday to retaliate against a prominent lawyer -- married to one of his top aides -- accusing him of being mentally sick.

"A total loser!" Trump tweeted about George Conway, who has taken to social media and The Washington Post to question Trump's mental state.

The unseemly row is made unique by the fact that Conway's wife is Kellyanne Conway, a fiercely loyal advisor to Trump.

A frequent guest on the television networks, where she promotes Trump's agenda and defends him in multiple controversies, Kellyanne Conway now finds herself also having to bat down questions about her outspoken husband.

Trump's tweet came with a retweet of his election campaign manager Brad Parscale, who belittled George Conway as a jealous failure.

"We all know that @realDonaldTrump turned down Mr. Kellyanne Conway for a job he desperately wanted," Parscale wrote. "Now he hurts his wife because he is jealous of her success."

Conway has posted symptoms -- which he says Trump matches -- for "Anti-social and Narcissistic Personality Disorder" and says that Americans should think "seriously" about the president's state.

"No, I don't share those concerns," Kellyanne Conway said drily Monday.Cash-strapped power monopoly Eskom had been plagued by maintenance problems at its plants, the towers of one of which are seen in Hendrina, South Africa in 2018

The South African government said Tuesday it was unsure when severe rolling electricity power cuts would end as the continent's most developed nation struggles to grow its economy.

Utility giant Eskom imposed highly unpopular rotational power rationing, known as load-shedding, since last Thursday.

By the weekend it had escalated the blackouts to one of the severest levels - plunging swathes of the country into darkness for long hours and sparking public anger targeted at the ANC-led government, less than two months to crucial national elections.

Cash-strapped power monopoly Eskom had been plagued by maintenance problems at its plants.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said authorities were still trying to get to the bottom of the underlying issues affecting power supplies.

"We need to complete these investigations," Gordhan told a news conference.

"We don't have a magic formula," Gordhan said.

"We understand the frustration," he said, telling consumers that the utility would "get it right in the next few years."

For many critics of the ANC, the Eskom blackouts have come to symbolise the price that South Africans are paying for alleged state corruption and mismanagement.

The power utility which generates more than 90 percent of the country's energy is buried under a debt bill of 420 billion rand ($30 billion). Last month Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced a $1.6 billion-a-year bailout for the company.

Eskom has traditionally imported hydro-generated power from Mozambique's Cahora Bassa and Tropical Cyclone Idai which struck the region last week, knocked down some pylons that transmit power to South Africam, adding to Eskom's woes.

Gordhan said technicians have been dispatched to assess the damage caused by the cyclone .

With national elections in May, the blackouts have shaken the ANC party, which has held power since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Analysts warn that the power outages may be one of the biggest political threat facing President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC party as elections loom.

On Sunday Ramaphosa apologised for the severe power cuts.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance said the ANC has neither the capacity, ideas nor the political will to fix the electricity crisis.

"The challenges at Eskom lie squarely at the feet of the failing ANC, which has actively looted and broken Eskom to the verge of collapse." the DA said in a statement.Air Canada announced it will ground its 24 737 MAX planes until at least July 1, 2019, explaining that it does not know when they will be certified to fly again

Canada said Tuesday it will make its own assessment of Boeing's modifications to its 737 MAX airliners before allowing them to fly again in its airspace, after two crashes in less than five months.

"Of course, when that software change is ready, which is in a number of weeks, we will, in Canada, even if it's certified by the FAA, we will do our own certification," Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said.

Garneau's comments marked a break from protocol, with Canada traditionally working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the US commercial airline industry.

Boeing has been making software modifications to the best-selling aircraft's MCAS flight stabilization system since a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 crashed in Java Sea October 13, 2018, killing 189 people.

The fix had not been completed when an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa March 10, killing 157 people under eerily similar circumstances.

But the FAA delayed recommending that the MAX 8 and 9 be grounded in the United States until after virtually every other country had acted.

Canada's transport ministry, also among the last to ground the plane, has come under fire in the press and from the political opposition for waiting too long.

Air Canada, meanwhile, announced it will ground its 24 737 MAX planes until at least July 1, explaining that it does not know when they will be certified to fly again.

The airline said there was a "domino effect" from removing the 737s that impacts the schedule and will affect some customers.

"We have been working very hard to minimize that impact," said Lucie Guillemette, the airline's executive vice president.

The Ethiopian authorities and France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA), which examined the black box flight data, said they found "clear similarities" between the Ethiopian and Lion Air crashes.A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on March 19, 2019 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad greeting the visiting Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, in Damascus

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Russia's defence minister Tuesday, stressing the importance of coordination between the two countries in the fight against "terrorism", state media said.

The meeting came one day after the military chiefs of staff of Syria, Iraq and Iran met in Damascus to discuss coordination between their forces.

It also came as US-backed forces in eastern Syria cornered holdout Islamic State group fighters in a tiny patch of land near the Euphrates River in the village of Baghouz.

During the meeting, Assad said coordination between Moscow and Damascus was a key factor behind victories over IS and Al-Qaeda-linked groups, the official SANA news agency reported.

For his part, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his country would continue to support efforts to regain the Syrian government's control of all the country, SANA added.

Russia has been a key player in the Syrian conflict since launching a military intervention in 2015 in support of Assad's regime.

Eight years into a war that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions, Syrian government forces control almost two-thirds of the country.

Just two areas remain beyond their control: the jihadist-held northwestern region of Idlib, and the third of the country under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Assad and Shoigu discussed the situation in areas east of the Euphrates River, where the SDF is battling IS, as well as Idlib, the news agency said.

They agreed on the need to restore stability and counter foreign influence in the two areas, it added.

Earlier on Monday, Syrian Defence Minister Ali Abdullah Ayoub said both Idlib and areas controlled by the SDF would be recaptured by the government.

The Idlib region borders Turkey and is dominated by an alliance led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

It has been protected from a massive regime offensive since September, thanks to a buffer zone deal agreed by Damascus's ally Russia and rebel-backer Turkey.

But it has been hit by sporadic government shelling.

Syria's regime has insisted the buffer zone deal is temporary and that Idlib will eventually revert to government control.In this file photo taken on February 22, 2019 US President Donald Trump watches as China's Vice Premier Liu He (L) speaks with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (R) in the Oval Office

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will return to Beijing next week as the United States and China inch toward resolving their trade war, a senior administration official told AFP on Tuesday.

The renewed shuttle diplomacy is a sign of progress in the talks after several weeks in which momentum toward a resolution appeared to have slowed.

Following the renewed talks in Beijing, Chinese trade envoy Liu He will return to Washington the following week, with talks in their final stages, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters the talks were going "very well," reiterating the positive message of recent months.

But he also said last week he was in "no rush" to strike a bargain, insisting any deal had to do more than make cosmetic changes.

US and Chinese officials in recent weeks have alternated between projecting optimism and warning that they have much to do before reaching a final outcome.

On Friday, China's rubber-stamp parliament approved a foreign investment law to strengthen protections for intellectual property -- a central US grievance -- but foreign businesses said they were not given enough time add input.

The report helped lift Wall Street on Tuesday after stock prices had begun to sag, following a Bloomberg report that some US officials believed China was reneging on earlier trade concessions.

US officials are demanding far-reaching changes to Chinese industrial policy -- including an end to massive state intervention in markets, subsidies and the alleged theft of American technology -- and insist that any agreement must be enforceable.

China has been willing to increase purchases of American exports but analysts say they will be reluctant to accede to American demands in ways that could weaken the communist party's hold on power.

The two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade. Lighthizer has declined to state publicly whether Washington would lift the tariffs it has imposed so far if both sides reach a deal.

In congressional testimony last week, he said China and the United States were in "the final weeks" of talks but he stopped short of predicting success.Iran's Mahan Air has been forced to cancel its Paris flights over "sanctions", its customer services team said Tuesday weeks after Germany banned the airline.

"We have been told that (flights to France) have been cancelled... as of the first of April," an operator at the airline's office in Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport told AFP.

The Paris schedule will be scrapped "because of sanctions" by the French, the source said by phone without elaborating.

Two of the airline's French customers in Iran were notified by email that their flights booked for next month were cancelled.

Mahan, the Islamic republic's second-largest carrier after Iran Air, flies up to four services a week between Tehran and Paris.

Germany imposed a ban on Mahan in January, which the foreign ministry said was necessary to protect Berlin's "foreign and security policy interests".

That decision came amid broader sanctions adopted by the European Union against Tehran over attacks on opponents in the bloc.

Iran has denied any involvement in the alleged plots and described Germany's move as "hasty and unjustifiable."

Mahan Air was blacklisted by the US in 2011, as Washington said the carrier was providing technical and material support to an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards known as the Quds Force.Trump's measures to curb migration have faced numerous court challenges, including at the Supreme Court in Washington, pictured here

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that authorities can detain some immigrants with criminal records at any time, marking a victory for the administration of President Donald Trump and its hard line on migrants.

Justices of the country's highest court, which has a conservative majority under Trump, decided by five votes to four against a lower court ruling from California's Ninth Circuit appeals court.

Trump's measures to curb migration have faced numerous court challenges.

In this case, two permanent residents of the US had filed class actions over their arrest and detention without bond hearings by immigration authorities years after they had served criminal sentences and been released.

The Ninth Circuit -- whose rulings Trump has previously criticized as "dangerous" -- said that aliens deemed deportable under a 1996 law and who have committed certain crimes must be arrested immediately by immigration agents upon release from jail. Otherwise, the alien must have a chance for a bond hearing.

Justice Samuel Alito, in delivering the Supreme Court's judgment, said that "we have held time and again, an official's crucial duties are better carried out late than never."

Justice Stephen Breyer dissented, saying that when Congress enacted the law it "did not intend to allow the government to apprehend persons years after their release from prison and hold them indefinitely without a bail hearing."

The American Civil Liberties Union, a party to the case, reacted to the Supreme Court's ruling by saying the government's interpretation of the 1996 law "has resulted in gross violations of due process for thousands."

Speaking of an "invasion" of illegal immigrants and criminals, Trump last week signed the first veto of his presidency, overriding congressional opposition to secure emergency funding to build a wall on the Mexican border, the signature policy of his administration.

Earlier in his term, a travel ban for citizens from several mostly Muslim countries was repeatedly blocked by judges before the Supreme Court approved a version of it.US Democrats are debating the idea of changing the number of justices on the US Supreme Court, but the issue is among the most controversial in American politics

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday slapped down ambitious proposals being circulated by some Democratic White House candidates to expand the number of justices on the US Supreme Court, dismissing it as election sour grapes.

Trump said Democrats were seeking to rebalance the nine-member court or draw it once again to a more liberal lean after the high court shifted to the right with the president managing to place two of his nominees -- Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- on the bench.

"So if they can't catch up through the ballot box by winning an election, they want to try doing it in a different way," Trump said at a White House press event with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro.

"We would have no interest in that whatsoever, it'll never happen. I guarantee it won't happen for six years," Trump added, referring to his remaining time in office should he win re-election in 2020.

The remarks come as several Democratic 2020 hopefuls said they might seek to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court if they were elected president, as the party looks to reclaim ground in the judiciary gained by Trump's Republican Party.

Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand told Politico they would not rule out dramatic changes to the Supreme Court, including adding seats or instituting term limits.

Two others, former congressman Beto O'Rourke and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have openly floated the idea of five justices selected by Democrats, five by Republicans, and another five chosen by the other 10 justices.

"I think that's an idea we should explore," O'Rourke said last week at a campaign stop in Iowa.

Democrats were furious with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's refusal in 2016 to hold hearings or a confirmation vote for then-president Barack Obama's nominee Merrick Garland.

Trump won that year's election, and filled the vacant seat with the conservative Gorsuch.

It would be a steep uphill climb for Democrats' proposed reforms to gain political support, with critics warning that a packing of the Supreme Court when a Democrat is president would be met with tit-for-tat responses by Republicans when they return to power.A picture taken on March 19, 2019 shows the newly opened Sumer gallery in southern Iraq's Basra Museum where more than 2,000 artefacts have gone on display, including about 100 that were looted and found abroad

Over 2,000 artefacts, including about 100 that were looted and found abroad, were unveiled Tuesday in a museum in Basra province on the southern tip of Iraq, authorities said.

Basra is the most oil-rich province in Iraq but its heritage sites have long been neglected.

On Tuesday between 2,000 and 2,500 pieces went on display in the Basra Museum, the second largest in Iraq, said Qahtan al-Obeid, head of archeology and heritage in the province.

"They date from 6000 BC to 1500 AD," he told AFP, referring to the Assyrian, Babylonian and Sumerian periods.

Obeid said about 100 artefacts -- most of which came from Jordan and the United States -- were given back to Iraq to be displayed in the museum, a former palace of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.

The heritage of Iraq, most of which was former Mesopotamia, has paid a heavy price due to the wars that have ravaged the country for nearly four decades.

Visitors to the Basra Museum in southern Iraq inspect some of the artefacts that were unveiled

Following the US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam in 2003, Islamic State group jihadists destroyed many of the country's ancient statues and pre-Islamic treasures.

During its occupation of nearly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017, IS captured much attention by posting videos of its militants destroying statues and heritage sites with sledgehammers and pneumatic drills on the grounds that they are idolatrous.

But experts say they mostly destroyed pieces too large to smuggle and sell off, and kept the smaller pieces, several of which are already resurfacing on the black market in the West.

The United States says it has repatriated more than 3,000 stolen artefacts to Iraq since 2005, including many seized in conflict zones in the Middle East.Lithuania's centrist Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis is running for president in the country's May 2019 polls

Centrist Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said Tuesday he would consider moving Lithuania's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, should he win May's presidential elections.

Skvernelis said that moving the mission could lead to closer ties with Israel and the United States, which Lithuania sees as a key security buffer against Russia.

The embassy transfer "could bring new impetus for relations with Israel, both in the areas of security and trade," Skvernelis told reporters as he hit the presidential campaign trail to outline his foreign policy priorities.

"We would also send a signal that the United States is our partner not only in words but that we also side with it in bitter questions under discussions," he added.

President Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem ruptured decades of international consensus that the city's disputed status should be settled as part of a two-state peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who also claim it as the capital of their future state.

Senior politicians in fellow EU states Czech Republic and Romania have said they are also considering moving their embassies to Jerusalem but no decisions have been taken to this date.

The EU as a whole holds the position that Jerusalem's status must be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

Skvernelis insisted on Tuesday that his nation "must not be afraid to differ from neighbouring states", saying cultural and security links made Israel one of Lithuania's closest allies.

The legacy of the Holocaust and close alignment with the US are among the reasons why Lithuania has become one of Israel's closest friends within the EU over the last decade.

Outgoing president Dalia Grybauskaite, who after two consecutive terms is not running for re-election, "would not comment on election programmes", her spokeswoman said.

Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said Tuesday that Skvernelis' remarks did not mark any change in Lithuania's official policy because "he was talking as a presidential candidate, and not the prime minister".

"The official Lithuanian position has not changed: Jerusalem's status must be solved through negotiations and both sides should refrain from unilateral actions and decisions," the minister told AFP.

By law, moving the embassy would require the approval of both the government and the president.

Lithuania will hold a two-round presidential election on May 12 and 26.

In recent opinion polls, Skvernelis was trailing independent economist Gitanas Nauseda and conservative ex-finance minister Ingrida Simonyte.Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has stepped down after 30 years in power

The United States voiced confidence Tuesday that its warm relationship with Kazakhstan will endure after the sudden resignation of veteran strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev.

A State Department spokesperson said that the United States looked forward to "continuing our work with Kazakhstan on a wide variety of issues."

"The United States and Kazakhstan enjoy a strong bilateral relationship, as demonstrated by President Trump's historic meeting with President Nazarbayev last year, and we expect this momentum to continue," the spokesperson said.

Trump welcomed Nazarbayev last year to the White House to pledge close economic and political ties with the vast Central Asian nation that borders US rivals Russia and China.

Kazakhstan has pleased the United States by voluntarily giving up its nuclear weapons following the fall of the Soviet Union and offering logistical support to the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

The 78-year-old strongman said in an address to the nation that he was quitting after three decades in power, although observers widely expect him to retain control from behind the scenes.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the Shiite holy city of Najaf during a March 2019 trip to Iraq

The United States is extending a waiver to let energy-hungry Iraq keep buying power from Iran, despite Washington's campaign of sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran, an official said.

The State Department issued a second three-month exemption from Iran sanctions for Iraq, mindful not to destabilize the war-torn country increasingly reliant on Iranian gas and electricity to cope with chronic blackouts that have triggered unrest.

"While this waiver is intended to help Iraq mitigate energy shortages, we continue to discuss our Iran-related sanctions with our partners in Iraq," a State Department official said.

The official said that increasing Iraq's capacities and diversifying imports "will strengthen Iraq's economy and development as well as encourage a united, democratic and prosperous Iraq free from malign Iranian influence."

Despite Washington's repeated warnings, Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein has walked a fine line and maintained warm ties with Iran, with which Iraq's majority Shiite community shares religious affinities.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani paid a visit last week to Iraq, where he highlighted Tehran's support in battling the Islamic State extremist movement and said that the United States was "despised" in the region.

Last year, US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international deal on curbing Iran's nuclear program that was negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama.

Trump instead imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran as he seeks to reduce the regional role of the Shiite clerical state, a foe of US allies Saudi Arabia and Israel.

But the US approach has met strong opposition, with European powers encouraging their companies to stay present in Iran so as to safeguard the denuclearization accord.US General Robert Abrams, commander of US forces in South Korea, said there has been 'little to no verifiable change' in Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities

North Korean military activities are incompatible with denuclearization, which the United States is demanding as a condition for lifting sanctions, the commander of US forces in South Korea said Wednesday.

"Despite a reduction in tensions along the demilitarized zone and a cessation of strategic provocations coupled with public statements of intent to denuclearize, little to no verifiable change has occurred to North Korea's military capabilities," General Robert Abrams testified to lawmakers.

"These capabilities continue to hold the United States, South Korea and our regional allies at risk."

Abrams said he believed it necessary to maintain a "postured and ready force to deter any possible aggressive actions."

Asked about signs of military activity reported in news outlets -- triggering fear North Korea is preparing missile or rocket tests -- the general said he could not comment in open session.

"Their activity that we have observed is inconsistent with denuclearization," said Abrams.

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at an unprecedented summit last June in Singapore, after which Kim agreed to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

But since then negotiations to turn that vague pledge into something concrete have failed to yield progress, and a second meeting between the two men in February in Vietnam ended abruptly and without agreement.

Trump has been criticized for lending legitimacy to the North Korean dictator, whose regime has an atrocious human rights record.

"Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," he tweeted after Singapore.

"There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience."

The United States says it will not accept a gradual denuclearization of North Korea but rather wants it to be swift and total, in exchange for lifting sanctions.Ethnic Tutsi Jean-Bosco Gakwenzire (in the hat), 65, embraces Pascal Shyirahwamaboko, 68, who was among the killers of his father at Mutete, where the old schoolfriends have now reconciled

The houses along the quiet tree-lined street look just like the normal homes found all across the Rwandan capital.

But behind the walls of the three adjoining villas in Kigali are the headquarters of a global operation involving investigators and prosecutors who are working to track down the very worst killers of Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

Inside, French investigators have come to talk to witnesses and to gather evidence. A Norwegian team is also on site.

All are supported by Rwanda's Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit (GFTU), a special team created in 2007 to prosecute the architects behind the slaughter of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi victims.

"The mandate was to investigate and compile case files for the fugitives who were still at large," said Faustin Nkusi, spokesman for the National Public Prosecution Authority, which oversees the unit.

After the bloodshed, many perpetrators escaped.

Some were arrested and taken to the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Tanzania. That court closed in 2015 after several dozen convictions.

Focus Twiringiyimana, 47, a former Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda combatant, heads for Mutobo's vocational training centre where participants in the scheme spend three months before they can return home to families left decades ago

For many of those who carried out the killings, justice has been at a local level through community tribunals known as "gacaca" courts.

Between 2005 and 2012, these courts put nearly two million people on trial, with some two-thirds of cases resulting in a conviction.

But the search for justice continues.

- 72,000 convicted in absentia -

A quarter of a century after the genocide, Rwanda is as determined as ever to make sure the key suspects are arrested and put on trial over the killings.

Many are still at large, scattered all over the world.

The GFTU has issued 1,012 international arrest warrants for suspects in 32 countries.

Although the search for justice continues with Rwanda determined to chase down key suspects, reconciliation is the path chosen by Jean-Claude Mutarindwa, a Hutu, and Daphrosa Mukarubayize, a Tutsi, seen in the valley separating their villages

Several are in neighbouring nations like Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Tanzania. Others are further afield in places like Kenya, Malawi and Zambia. And still others fled to Europe, North America or even Australia.

Key suspects on the run include Felicien Kabuga, once one of Rwanda's richest men who is accused of financing the genocide. He was reportedly spotted in Kenya.

Another is Augustin Bizimana, a former defence minister believed to be hiding in DR Congo.

The team is having an impact: 19 people who were allegedly involved in plotting the genocide have been arrested and returned to Rwanda for trial, while 22 others have been tried abroad.

But this is only a drop in the ocean.

When the gacaca process closed in 2012, the courts handed the GFTU a list of nearly 72,000 fugitives who had been sentenced in absentia.

And tracking down all those people along with other remaining suspects is tough.

Former Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda fighters prepare to play football at Mutobo's reintegration centre -- but reconciliation attempts cannot hide the fact 1,012 international arrest warrants are out for suspects in 32 countries

"It's not easy," Nkusi said.

"We don't have the upper hand in investigating and arresting. We have to work together with other institutions from those countries."

The GFTU team, which involves both investigators and prosecutors, works with teams across the world, including their judicial counterparts in countries where suspects are hiding.

It also works with UN experts and the international policing agency, Interpol.

- 'Justice has to be done' -

Investigators face many challenges: by now, suspects have grown much older and have had years to perfect their changed identity as well as to slip across borders.

Some have obtained political asylum.

After Rwanda abolished the death penalty in 2007, countries were encouraged to send suspects home.

In recent years, suspects have been extradited from United States, Canada and The Netherlands.

A pit on the outskirts of Kigali discovered last year and containing victims' bones and skulls bears witness to some of the horror of the Rwandan genocide

Other nations, however, argue that they do not have extradition treaties with Rwanda while also demonstrating a reluctance to try suspects themselves.

"We wish they would be brought back to the country, to the scene of the crime," Nkusi said, but pointed out that some countries were "not politically willing to do that".

France, which denies Kigali's accusations of supporting the Hutu regime that planned the genocide, has refused multiple requests from Rwanda to extradite suspects.

So far, only one former Rwandan army officer and two mayors have been sentenced in France.

"They have an obligation to judge these people," said Nkusi.

With Rwanda set this month to mark a quarter of a century since the genocide, Nkusi hopes the speed of extraditions will increase.

"Justice has to be done," Nkusi said.

"People have to be arrested. People have to be tried -- to either be found innocent or be convicted."Chinese soldiers helped tackle the blaze in Muli County, Sichuan province

Firefighters in southwest China contained a forest blaze on Tuesday after it claimed the lives of 27 firefighters and three others, local officials said.

Nearly 700 firefighters were deployed to battle the fire, which broke out on Saturday on steep, remote terrain at an altitude of around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in Muli County, Sichuan province.

The blaze was contained around midday on Tuesday, though some areas are still burning, said Wu Song, county chief of Muli, according to Xinhua.

"Due to complex terrain, we need more time to extinguish the fire," Wu added.

Five helicopters have also been deployed to help in firefighting efforts, said Tang Yi, head of safety enforcement at Liangshan Prefecture at a press conference on Tuesday.

Local authorities had lost contact with the 30 victims Sunday afternoon after a sudden change in wind direction ignited a "huge fireball", authorities previously said.

Twenty seven were firefighters, two forestry officials and one local volunteer. Authorities had initially said all 30 were firefighters.

Most of the bodies were taken to a funeral parlour in Xichang city early Tuesday, the fire department said.

Footage posted to their official social media page showed scores of residents lining a road where the hearses passed through, many holding stalks of chrysanthemum -- a traditional Chinese symbol of mourning.

Of the dead, a number were from Sichuan province, with the youngest victim just 18 years old, and many in their early 20s.

They have been lauded as heroes who died in the line of duty, with several official websites, including the ministry of emergency management, turning their pages monochromatic as a mark of respect.

Chinese authorities on late Monday also issued a red alert -- the highest level -- warning of forest fires in the northern areas of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shanxi.Pedestrians reflected in the wall of the Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday after the government unveiled a big-spending federal budget

Australia's conservative government unveiled a big-spending federal budget Tuesday with tax cuts and new infrastructure investment to win voters ahead of the imminent general election.

The budget includes a return to surplus for the first time in 12 years -- with economic growth bringing a surfeit of Aus$7.1 billion (US$5.02 billion, 4.48 billion euro) forecast for 2019-20 -- allowing the government to tout its economic credentials.

The election could be held as soon as next month, giving the minority Liberal-National government little time to reverse polls which have consistently favoured the Labor centre-left opposition.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tried to steer the debate away from his unpopular immigration and climate policies and onto the economy, which his party believes is a strong suit.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Australias parliament the budget was back in the black, "and Australia is back on track".

He said the fundamentals of the Australian economy were sound, but there were genuine and clear risks emerging at home and abroad.

"Global trade tensions remain, the Chinese economy has slowed, and there has been a loss of momentum in Japan, Europe and other advanced economies," he said.

"Notwithstanding these challenges, it is testament to the strength of the Australian economy that it is in the 28th year of consecutive economic growth. Our economic plan will see this continue."

The Treasurer said growth was expected to pick up to 2.75 percent in 2019-20. The $7.1 billion budget surplus will rise to $11 billion in 2020-21, $17.8 billion in 2021-22 and $9.2 billion in 2022-23.

He said the surplus allowed the government to start paying off masses of accumulated debt, with the objective of eliminating it entirely by 2030 or sooner.

In a swipe at the former Labor governments economic management, he said the previous coalition government of John Howard paid off Labors debt, and now Morrison's government was setting a path to do it again.

"This matters because over the last year the interest bill on the national debt was $18 billion. And this was in a low-interest environment," he said.

"This is money that could have built 500 schools or a world-class hospital in each state and territory."

Frydenberg said the proposed tax cuts would reduce tax paid by 10 million Australians and three million small businesses.

There are losers, however.

Budget papers reveal savings of more than $2 billion over four years through reduced welfare payments. Savings of $77.9 million come from "better targeting of support for refugees".

Frydenberg said a strong economy needed roads, rail, bridges, dams and ports and the government was boosting infrastructure spending to $100 billion over the decade.

That will deliver a range of new projects in every state and territory.

"Cranes, hard hats and heavy machinery will be seen across the country as we build Australia for current and future generations," he said.A China-US spat is hurting global trade expansion

Global trade growth is expected to be lower in 2019 than it was last year, the World Trade Organization forecast on Tuesday, citing widespread "tensions" and economic uncertainty.

The WTO had in its preliminary estimates predicted a 3.7 percent expansion of trade for this year, but has revised that down to 2.6 percent, marking a decline on the three-percent growth recorded in 2018.

"The fact that we don't have great news today should surprise no one who has been reading the papers over the last 12 months," WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo told reporters in Geneva.

In its main annual forecast, the 164-member WTO renewed its concerns about systemic threats that could continue to disrupt the world's economy, notably retaliatory tariffs between China and the United States.

There are indications that ongoing talks between Washington and Beijing could resolve the bruising tariff battle, but timelines for a possible deal are not clear.

Asked if he saw either side emerging victorious in the trade spat between the world's two largest economies, Azevedo said "there will be many losers".

It was therefore becoming "increasingly urgent" that tensions are resolved, he added in a statement.

The WTO is "definitely hoping that we will hear good news" from the US-China talks, said Azevedo, who is a Brazilian national.

A year ago, the WTO projected that trade growth for 2018 would be 4.4 percent.

The fact that the final number was 1.4 percent lower than the initial estimate highlights the considerable downside risks plaguing the global economy, WTO economists said.

WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said: "The fact that we don't have great news today should surprise no one who has been reading the papers over the last 12 months"

For this year, the downside risks again outweigh the upside potential, but a "relaxation" of tensions, especially the lifting of restrictive trade measures, could see 2019 beat the projections, the WTO said.

- 'Smooth' Brexit? -

The projections released Tuesday are based on a "relatively smooth" Brexit playing out over the next two years, WTO economist Coleman Nee told reporters.

Britain leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement, or the various other possible Brexit scenarios that remain in play, will impact global trade, Nee said.

But "the situation is so fluid," Nee added. "We will have to wait and see what the final outcome is," before fully understanding Brexit's influence on world trade.

The WTO, which works to create a level playing field in global trade, has faced unprecedented criticism from President Donald Trump's administration, which has accused the body's arbitrators of treating the US unfairly.

Azevedo stressed that the WTO leadership was available to help nations work together to improve the global trade climate, but conceded that when tensions mount countries "tend to try to go on their own".Nur Bekri, former chairman of the government of China's troubled northwest region of Xinjiang, has been arrested for graft

A former chairman of the government of China's troubled northwest region of Xinjiang, an ethnic Uighur, has been arrested for graft, national prosecutors said Tuesday.

Nur Bekri was the regional government's chairman for seven years until 2014 -- a period that was marked by a spate of deadly violence in the region, including riots.

Bekri later served as head of the National Energy Agency and deputy director of the country's top economic planning office.

His arrest was announced in a short statement by the Supreme People's Procurate (SPP).

It is among the most high-profile cases in President Xi Jinping's sweeping campaign against corruption in the Communist Party, which has ensnared 1.5 million officials.

In Xinjiang, authorities have stepped up a security clampdown in the name of combatting terrorism and separatism, detaining as many as one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in internment camps, according to estimates cited by a UN panel.

Bekri had last month been been expelled from the Communist Party for "serious violations".

He had resisted investigators and was untruthful, the country's graft watchdog said in a March statement.

The Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI) said Bekri had used his position to benefit himself and his family, buying luxury cars and doling out favours to others.

"(He) lived extravagantly ... was morally corrupt, and abused his power for sexual favours," the CCDI said.

As deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Bekri was one of the most powerful ethnic minority members of China's central government.

He was a member of the powerful Central Committee of the Communist Party until 2017.

In a separate statement, the SPP said three other senior officials have been prosecuted for graft.

The former deputy head of the food and drug administration, Wu Zhen; former vice chairman of Beijing, Li Shixiang; and former vice chairman of Henan province, Jin Suidong, had all abused their positions for their own benefit, prosecutors said.

This comes shortly after former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei was expelled from the Communist Party and his official positions, and the public security ministry announcing that it would "completely and thoroughly eliminate the poisonous influence of Meng Hongwei".

The men are part of a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in Xi's anti-graft campaign, which critics say has served as a way to remove the leader's political enemies.The Islamic State group was driven from its last sliver of territory in eastern Syria last month

A US-backed force said Tuesday it was chasing Islamic State group jihadists in eastern Syria, as coalition warplanes pound the militants more than a week after their "caliphate" was declared defeated.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by warplanes of a US-led coalition, dislodged IS fighters from their last redoubt in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border on March 23, following a months-long offensive.

The US-backed alliance is now "tracking down remnants of the terrorist group", SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali said on Tuesday.

"There are groups hiding in caves overlooking Baghouz," he said.

The US-led coalition said it was supporting sweeping operations with air strikes on jihadist hideouts.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces continues to deny Daesh a physical space and influence in the area and work to deny them the resources they need to return," coalition spokesman Scott Rawlinson told AFP on Monday, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"In support of back-clearance operations, the coalition continues to conduct precision strike support in coordination with SDF," he said.

The official said anti-IS operations are now focusing on "eroding" IS's "capacity to regenerate and collaborate".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said that more than a dozen coalition air strikes have targeted IS hideouts in Baghouz since Sunday.

Strikes hit caves and farmlands in the village where holdout jihadists are believed to be hiding, it said.

IS fighters also retain a presence in Syria's vast Badia desert and various other hideouts, and have continued to claim deadly attacks in SDF-held territory.

Last week, IS killed seven US-backed fighters in an attack on a checkpoint in the northern city of Manbij, which is controlled by a local council linked to the SDF.

The Observatory on Tuesday said that nine suspected jihadists were captured in the former IS bastion of Raqa since Sunday.

The SDF has warned that a new phase has begun in anti-IS operations, following the defeat of the jihadist proto-state.

They appealed for sustained coalition assistance to help smash sleeper cells.

The "caliphate" proclaimed in mid-2014 by fugitive IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi started collapsing in 2017 when parallel offensives in Iraq and Syria wrested back its main urban hubs -- Mosul and Raqa.

The nearly five years of fighting against the most brutal jihadist group in modern history left major cities in ruins and populations homeless.UN chief Antonio Guterres warns that hatred of Muslims is growing alongside anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia, during a visit to the Sunni Muslim world's foremost religious institution, Al Azhar in Cairo

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday against growing hatred of Muslims, less than a month after a deadly attack on mosques in New Zealand killed at least 50 people.

His remarks came during a speech at Egypt's Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's foremost religious institution, where he met Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb.

"Around the world, we are seeing ever-rising anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia," the UN secretary general said.

He cited the March 15 New Zealand mosque attacks by a white supremacist as well as a 2018 synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that killed 11 people and is believed to be the deadliest against Jews in US history.

Guterres warned of a surge in hate speech he said was "entering the mainstream, spreading like wildfire through social media".

"We see it spreading in liberal democracies and as well as in authoritarian states."

Guterres is on a two-day trip to Egypt, Following his visit to Al-Azhar, he was scheduled to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

On Sunday, he attended an Arab League summit in Tunisia.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on February 27, is to hold his latest talks with the Russian leader in Moscow on Thursday, just five days before Israel go to the polls

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday, just five days ahead of an April 9 Israeli general election, the premier's office said.

Netanyahu has held a series of meetings with foreign leaders in the runup to the vote, helping him further his argument that he is Israel's irreplaceable statesman.

His office did not provide further details in its brief statement on the meeting on Tuesday.

Israel and Russia coordinate their military activity in Syria to avoid accidental clashes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria.

It has pledged to keep its main enemy Iran from entrenching itself militarily in the neighbouring country.

In the civil war that erupted in Syria in 2011, Russia has been backing President Bashar al-Assad's forces alongside Iran and Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

A friendly fire incident in September that led to Syrian air defences downing a Russian plane during an Israeli raid angered the Kremlin, which blamed Israel.

Netanyahu and Putin held their first extensive face-to-face discussions since the friendly fire incident in Moscow on February 27.

The two have spoken repeatedly by phone in recent months, including on Monday.

The Israeli premier is currently hosting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who arrived in Israel for a three-day visit on Sunday.

He also recently hosted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and last week met US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Netanyahu is facing a tough election challenge from centrist former military chief Benny Gantz.French Barkhane force near the Malian town of Gossi has been carrying out anti-jihadist operations in the region

A French military doctor was killed in Mali when his armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device during an operation against "armed terrorist groups", the French presidency and army said Tuesday.

France's army for the past year and a half has carried out military operations against jihadists in northeast Mali and into the border area of neighbouring Burkina Faso.

Captain Marc Laycuras, who belonged to a medical unit from Mans in western France, died in the Gourma region near the Burkina frontier, army spokesman Patrik Steiger told AFP.

He said Laycuras and another wounded soldier "were immediately taken by helicopter" to hospital near Gossi, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Gao where the French Barkhane force is based.

The doctor was gravely wounded and died of his injuries, Steiger said, adding that the other soldier was not in a serious condition.

"No enemy or any particular presence had been detected in the area at the time of the explosion," he said.

The doctor was the 24th member of the French military to die in Mali since France intervened in 2013 and drove back jihadist groups who had taken control of the north of the country.

President Emmanuel Macron in a statement expressed his "very great sadness" at the news of the doctor's death.

Macron also reiterated France's "full support for Mali and the United Nations forces in implementing the peace accord" reached in 2015 with some armed groups.

But jihadist raids remain a persistent threat and the Gourma region is known to be a sanctuary for several armed groups, based in the forests and along the Burkina border.

In the centre of Mali, an ethnic mosaic, attacks have had a bloody impact on groups with a history of rivalry.

Just last month 160 people were massacred, the victims Fulani herders in the village of Ogossagou who were killed by suspected militiamen from the rival Dogon ethnic group.

The violence persists despite the presence of a strong French military contingent, UN peacekeepers, and the creation of a five-nation military force in the Sahel region.The last G7 ended in acrimony when US President Donald Trump refused to sign the final communique in a spat over trade

France this week kicks off meetings under its presidency of the club for the world's seven most developed nations as questions mount over the relevance of the group at a time of tension between Europe and the United States.

President Emmanuel Macron has laid out an ambitious set of goals for his country's Group of Seven (G7) presidency, which will culminate with a summit in the resort of Biarritz in August as the young leader seeks to burnish his credentials as a world statesman despite unrest at home.

But the French presidency is already shadowed by the fiasco of the last G7 summit in Canada, which ended in acrimony when US President Donald Trump refused to sign the final communique in a bitter spat over trade.

Trump's foreign policy, meanwhile, has prompted divisions with European allies unprecedented since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, in particular over his pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

- 'Relevance of the G7' -

Foreign ministers from the G7 -- the United States, Italy, France, Canada, Germany, Britain and Japan -- are to meet on Friday and Saturday in the northern French resort of Dinard. The talks are preceded by a gathering of interior ministers in Paris on Wednesday and Thursday.

But in an early troubling sign of Washington's enthusiasm, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo won't be attending the Dinard meeting, with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan representing Washington instead.

G7 countries

The snub is all the more bruising given that the United States is due to assume the G7 presidency in 2020.

"It is quite complicated. And this is not just with Europe but also the other non-US actors" in the G7, said Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, senior policy fellow and head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"The French presidency does not just come after the Canadian one. It comes before the US one. The feeling in many circles is that this could be very important for the relevance of the G7 as a forum," he told AFP.

Benjamin Haddad, director of the Future Europe initiative at the Atlantic Council, said the previous "G7s have not been very successful" and Trump did not favour multilateralism.

But he added "there will always be eagerness to work on areas of cooperation," for example on dealing with China, as European capitals begin to indicate a tougher stance on Beijing.

- 'Macron very involved' -

Questions about the relevance of the G7 had intensified after the founding in 1999 of the G20 group of the 20 most developed nations, including China and fellow developing economic giant India, which are not in the G7.

The G7 dates back to a first meeting hosted outside Paris by French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1975 of six states, which later grew to seven with the addition of Canada.

Russia joined in the late 1990s but was ejected in 2014 following Vladimir Putin's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

"The aim is to build a consensus on the issues," said a French diplomatic source, who asked not to be identified, ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers.

Recalling the acrimony during the Canadian presidency, the source added: "One of the challenges of the French presidency will be to manage all that. The president is very involved himself and we are in constant dialogue with our American counterparts."

- 'Room for convergence' -

Macron has made the fight against inequality as globalisation intensifies the priority of the French G7 presidency, a goal aimed to resonate strongly at home with his government still facing the ire of "yellow vest" protesters on the streets of Paris.

France particularly wants to fight against inequality caused by environmental damage and the growing use of artificial intelligence, sending a message that while globalisation is to be welcomed, those who miss out must be helped.

"It is striking to see Macron promoting a bold and ambitious agenda," Lafont Rapnouil said.

He said it was possible to find common ground on issues less divisive than trade, such as the fight against terrorism and cybercrime, but the question would always remain if leaders could agree to texts drafted by their officials.

"In Canada it flew and then Trump decided it was not for him. It will be interesting to see if there is room for convergence."Billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit captured the support of many millennials in the recent Thai election

The telegenic leader of a Thai political party who rode to prominence during last month's election on a wave of millennial support stands accused of inciting unrest, he said Wednesday, calling his latest legal woes "politically motivated" by the junta.

Billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit heads up the youth-oriented Future Forward Party, which came out of nowhere to amass more than six million votes in the March 24 vote, the first since a 2014 coup.

Future Forward has joined an anti-junta coalition with six other parties claiming the right to form a government in the aftermath of the disputed vote whose full results will not be ratified until May 9.

But the tycoon said on Facebook he has now been summoned to appear at a Bangkok police station on Saturday to hear incitement charges against him that carry a maximum sentence of seven years.

He wrote on the Facebook page, where he posted the summons, the move was "an old political game" that he expected to intensify after the party's strong election showing.

Speaking to reporters later Wednesday, Thanathorn hit back at the junta government, which filed the complaint.

"It is not the Future Forward Party which causes divisiveness of the people but the military who wants to hold on to power," he said.

"I am calling for a restoration of democracy in Thailand... these cases are politically motivated."

Police investigator Charoensit Jongitthi said there were two charges in total that related to Thanathorn's actions in 2015, though he would not elaborate.

"That is what I can say for now," he told AFP.

Thanathorn is already being investigated under Thailand's Computer Crimes Act for allegedly spreading false information when he criticised the junta in a Facebook Live discussion last year.

Future Forward is a key member of the anti-junta political coalition led by Pheu Thai, the party linked to self-exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The so-called "democratic front" says it has more than a majority of seats in the lower house, but the junta-backed Phalang Pracharat Party won the popular vote.

Inconsistent counting, inaccurate figures and more than two million invalidated ballots have fuelled doubt over the poll.

The party aligned with the junta put forward 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha as its candidate for prime minister.

The former army chief is heavily favoured to secure the post thanks to a junta-scripted charter that creates an upper house of 250 appointed senators -- selected by the military -- who vote for the prime minister.Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has been arrested twice in six weeks, prompting international criticism

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, whose news website is critical of President Rodrigo Duterte, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the first of a series of criminal charges she says are government attacks.

Ressa has been arrested twice in six weeks by Philippine authorities, prompting international criticism and allegations she is being targeted for her work.

She entered her plea in a Manila court to four tax evasion charges stemming from a 2015 bond sale that raised money from a US-based investor for the news site she co-founded, Rappler.

If found guilty she could face up to 10 years behind bars on each charge.

The site has taken a tough stance on Duterte's signature narcotics crackdown that has killed thousands of alleged drug dealers and users, but also cast a critical eye on his leadership and controversial public statements.

"I'm hoping for justice," Ressa told reporters after the court hearing. "I still say all of these cases are politically motivated."

Ressa was arrested in her Manila office in mid-February on an online libel charge and was released on bail the next day.

She was again taken into custody on Friday, this time for allegedly violating the Philippines' strict rules prohibiting foreign ownership of media with a 2015 investment from eBay founder Pierre Omidyars Omidyar Network.

The Philippines' corporate regulator revoked Rappler's business licence last year over the investment, but the site continued operating as it appealed the case in the courts.

After her second arrest the United States urged the Philippines to quickly resolve the case against Ressa, who holds Filipino and US passports, and allow her and Rappler to "operate freely".

"The freedom of expression is a cornerstone of any truly democratic society and a fundamental freedom recognized by both the United States and the Philippines," a State Department spokesperson said.

Duterte has in speeches lashed out at Rappler and other critical media outfits, including the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper and broadcaster ABS-CBN.

He threatened to go after their owners over alleged unpaid taxes or block the network's franchise renewal application.Najib Razak was ousted by an electorate angry over the looting of state fund 1MDB

Malaysia's disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as he went on trial Wednesday over a multi-billion-dollar fraud, almost a year after his shock election loss.

The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation.

The former premier and his cronies are accused of plundering billions of dollars from the fund and spending it on everything from high-end real estate to artworks and a luxury yacht.

He had been tipped to win another term in office easily last year and extend his coalition's six-decade stranglehold on power, only to be soundly defeated by his former boss, Mahathir Mohamad, who rode a wave of public anger over 1MDB to the premiership.

In the months that followed, once-dormant investigations into the controversy were relaunched and Najib was hit with dozens of corruption charges linked to the plundering of the fund.

A small crowd of supporters was waiting for Najib as he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur court ahead of his trial, and he prayed with them for a few minutes before entering the building to shouts of "Long Live Najib".

- 'Near absolute power' -

What is Malaysia's 1MDB scandal?

Looking relaxed in the dock, he denied seven corruption and money-laundering charges related to the alleged theft of 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. It is just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars that he allegedly stole.

Opening the prosecution, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas told the High Court it was the "first trial in our courts against a former prime minister, who for nearly a decade occupied the most powerful office in the land and wielded near absolute power.

"Such privilege carries with it enormous responsibility.

"The accused is not above the law," he added.

After the first witness, an official from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, gave largely technical evidence related to corporate records, the trial was adjourned.

The judge set the next hearing for April 15, and trial dates until May 10. Najib left without commenting, to cheers from his supporters waiting outside court.

Far from being considered a pariah, the ex-leader has gained a following among members of the country's Muslim majority as some are worried their long-held privileges are being eroded under the new government.

He has become an unlikely social media phenomenon by attacking the new administration's policies online.

- Billions plundered -

He was initially due to stand trial in February, but appeals by his defence team over procedural matters saw his case put on hold until a judge last week ruled the trial should finally proceed.

Malaysia said the luxury yacht Equanimity, allegedly bought for $250 million with funds looted from 1MDB, had been sold for around half that price

It was a relief for the government, as there had been mounting public anger about the delay in bringing Najib to justice.

Najib's mentor-turned-nemesis Mahathir, now 93 and in his second stint in office, has pledged to bring the younger man to justice and recoup the huge sums of cash stolen from 1MDB.

The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the controversy as money was allegedly laundered through the American financial system, believes $4.5 billion in total was looted from 1MDB.

Malaysia has also charged Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs over the scandal, alleging the bank and its former employees stole billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Goldman units and two ex-bankers are accused of misappropriating $2.7 billion, bribing officials and giving false statements in relation to bond issues they arranged for the fund. The bank has vowed to fight the charges.

While many of Najib's suspected accomplices have been caught and charged in Malaysian courts, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, playboy financier Jho Low, is still at large.

On Wednesday the Malaysian government said a luxury yacht allegedly bought by Low with $250 million of stolen 1MDB money will be sold for around half that price. The yacht was returned to Malaysia after being seized last year in Indonesia.Earlier this week, President Maithripala Sirisena witnessed the destruction of nearly 800 kilos (1,280 pounds) of cocaine

Sri Lanka on Wednesday began interviewing 47 applicants for two positions as hangmen, officials said, as Amnesty International urged Colombo not to bring back capital punishment.

President Maithripala Sirisena announced in February that Sri Lanka would end a 43-year moratorium on executions this month in a Philippines-inspired war on drugs.

Am official said that 47 male applicants would be interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday, after the government advertised the vacancies in February.

But the successful candidates may face a delay in carrying out their new role.

"Since there is no living person in Sri Lanka who has carried out an execution, we need to send the new recruits abroad for training," the official, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP, adding that Colombo was also yet to identify a country to provide training.

"The rope (used for hangings) has not been used at all since it was imported (in 2015), it will have to be tested and certified."

Rights group Amnesty International meanwhile said resuming hangings would not end drug-related crime and that innocent people could be executed due to flaws in Sri Lanka's criminal justice system.

Sirisena has said that he was inspired by the anti-drug war in the Philippines and was keen to replicate the success of his counterpart Rodrigo Duterte. Sirisena has since deployed security forces in his battle against drugs.

In a nationally televised event in Colombo, Sirisena pledged to end the spread of narcotics within two years.

Restoring capital punishment is a centrepiece of his anti-drugs policy.

Criminals in Sri Lanka are regularly given death sentences for murder, rape and drug-related crimes but until now their punishments have been commuted to life in jail.

Sri Lanka's last judicial hanging was in 1976, but an executioner was in post until his retirement in 2014. Three replacements since have quit after short stints at the unused gallows.

On Monday, Sirisena witnessed the destruction of nearly 800 kilos (1,280 pounds) of cocaine seized between 2016 and 2018.

In February, police seized nearly 300 kilos of heroin worth $17 million, the island's biggest haul, at a Colombo shopping mall. In 2013, police seized 260 kilos of heroin brought into the country hidden inside tractors imported from Pakistan.

Sri Lanka's biggest drug haul, by weight, was in December 2016 when police seized 800 kilos of cocaine. Six months earlier, authorities discovered 301 kilos of cocaine inside a shipping container.

Authorities believe the Indian Ocean island is also being used as a trafficking transit point.Saudi activist Aziza al-Yousef is one of the women who have gone on trial in the kingdom on charges that include contact with foreign media

A Saudi court hearing in the high-profile trial of detained women activists ended Wednesday without bail for eight of them, campaigners said, following the provisional release of three remaining detainees last week.

Eleven women, some of whom allegedly faced torture and sexual abuse during nearly a year in detention, are on trial in Riyadh's criminal court on charges that include contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups.

Three of them -- blogger Eman al-Nafjan, retired university lecturer Aziza al-Youssef and preacher Rokaya al-Mohareb -- were seen hugging one another as they entered the courthouse after being granted temporary release last Thursday.

Their release had raised expectations that the other women would also be freed, but there was no decision from the three-judge panel on Wednesday.

"The third trial session for the Saudi women activists has ended with NO VERDICTS against any of them, and with no temporary release to any of them," Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners, said on Twitter.

There was no immediate comment from the court, but the development was corroborated by multiple other activists and people with access to the trial.

Prisoners of Conscience added that the next hearing in the trial, which foreign media and diplomats are barred from attending, was scheduled for April 17.

London-based rights group ALQST said some verdicts were expected on that day.

Most of the activists were detained last summer in a wide-ranging crackdown against women campaigners just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female motorists.

The siblings of one of the prominent detainees, activist Loujain al-Hathloul, said they were being pressured by people close to the Saudi state to stay silent over her treatment in detention.

"Pressure from all sides to remain silent," her sister Alia al-Hathloul said on Twitter, without naming anyone.

"We were silent and the worst kinds of torture happened while we were silent. I can shut up but only when Loujain is with us and those who tortured her are put on trial."

At an emotionally charged hearing last week, some women broke down as they accused interrogators of subjecting them to electric shocks, flogging and groping in detention, two people with access to the trial told AFP.

A Saudi prosecutor roundly rejected the accusations in court on Wednesday, witnesses said, reiterating the government's stance.

- 'Buckling to pressure' -

The women were initially expected to appear in a court set up to handle terrorism-related cases, but trial was shifted to the criminal court at the last minute, without any explanation.

That prompted speculation the trial could pave the way for the women's release after the crackdown sparked international criticism against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler.

Some detainees, including Loujain, were recently made to sign letters in prison requesting a royal pardon from King Salman.

But people close to the Saudi establishment have warned that public criticism by family members could prolong their detention.

"One of the issues I believe Saudi is grappling with... is not to be seen to be buckling to Western pressure," Ali Shihabi, founder of pro-Saudi think tank Arabia Foundation, said on Twitter last week.

"(It) can only delay their release."

Before their provisional release, the three freed women and their bail guarantors were made to sign a pledge that they will stay away from the media, according to multiple people with access to the trial.

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.

The trial has intensified criticism of the kingdom over human rights following global outrage over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder by Saudi agents last October at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.The United Nations has deployed 14,000 troops and police to Mali, where a jihadist insurgency shows no signs of ending

The UN Security Council on Wednesday agreed to discuss revamping the UN peacekeeping force in Mali but cautioned that any changes, including a possible major drawdown, should not jeopardize the West African country's stability.

The council unanimously adopted a French-drafted statement requesting that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres draw up options for "a potential significant adaptation" of the 14,000-strong force, known as MINUSMA.

The statement set the stage for a showdown between France, which is seeking to keep a large UN presence in Mali, and the United States, which is pushing for major cuts to peacekeeping missions.

Guterres will present the options to the council before it decides in June on the renewal of MINUSMA's mandate.

The peacekeeping force was established in 2013 after the jihadist takeover of northern Mali was beaten back during a French military intervention.

A peace deal was signed in 2015 between the government and some armed groups, but the jihadist insurgency has shown no signs of weakening, spilling over to Burkina Faso.

Mali's Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga warned the council last week that a big drawdown of MINUSMA could put at risk fragile gains made to contain the threat from extremist groups.

The statement cautioned that changes to MINUSMA should enhance the blue helmet's ability to support the peace deal "without jeopardizing the stability of Mali and its region."

The council called on the government and armed groups to agree on a "revised roadmap" to implement the peace deal.

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 prospects for peace.

MINUSMA is considered one the most dangerous peace missions run by the United Nations. Sixteen peacekeepers have died in attacks this year alone.BEIJING (AP) - Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Italy, France and Monaco from Thursday to March 26, the foreign ministry said Monday.

Italy's coalition government has sent mixed signals over whether it will sign a proposed agreement to join China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure investment drive. The initiative aims to expand commerce by building ports, railways and other infrastructure across more than 60 countries from the South Pacific through Asia to Europe and Africa.

Projects under the initiative have faced complaints that they leave host countries with too much debt, and with too little work going to local companies.

Italian Undersecretary of State Guglielmo Picchi tweeted earlier this month that Italy should not sign the agreement.

The foreign ministry's statement did not give details of Xi's schedule during the trip.

However, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron said Xi will be in France from Sunday through Tuesday. Macron is to greet Xi in the French Riviera city of Nice on Sunday.

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. The country's foreign ministry announced on Monday, March 18, 2019 that Xi will visit Italy, France and Monaco from Thursday to March 26. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The Monaco royal palace said Xi will also visit the tiny Mediterranean principality on Sunday.WASHINGTON (AP) - As ominous music plays in the background, the narrator of a radio ad warns that a Trump administration proposal to apply international pricing to certain Medicare drugs would be a nightmare for seniors.

The one-minute spot is the handiwork of the Alliance for Patient Access, a nonprofit group that gives off a consumer-friendly vibe but is bankrolled by the powerful pharmaceutical industry. It's also closely aligned with a Washington lobbying and public relations firm, Woodberry Associates, whose president, Brian Kennedy, is the nonprofit's executive director.

As Congress and President Donald Trump's administration aim to lower prescription drug costs, outside groups like the Alliance for Patient Access are seeking to sway the outcome. But not all of these organizations are clear about who they actually represent. Their names can obscure the source of the message, and they're cagey about where they get their funding.

Yet even a small degree of separation can be valuable for pharmaceutical companies at a time when the industry faces stiff political headwinds. Drug prices may provide a rare bipartisan issue on which Congress and the White House could collaborate on legislation ahead of the 2020 elections. In a prelude of sorts, the Senate Finance Committee last month grilled drug company executives over the cost of their products.

Anger is bubbling up from their constituents. A February poll by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found nearly one in four Americans taking prescription drugs have difficultly affording their medications. Although majorities of the public trust pharmaceutical companies to develop new and effective drugs, only 25 percent trust them to price their products fairly - down from 41 percent in 2008.

Susan Hepworth, a spokeswoman for the Alliance and Woodberry, described the nonprofit as "a national network of physicians that advocates for patient access to the medicines they prescribe."

In this June 15, 2018 photo, pharmaceuticals are seen in North Andover, Mass. As Congress and the Trump administration aim to curb spiraling drug costs, outside groups like the Alliance for Patient Access are raising their voices as they seek to sway the outcome. But not all of these organizations are clear about who they actually represent. Their names can obscure the source of the message and they're cagey about where all of their money comes from. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Through the Alliance, she said, doctors "can share their perspectives about the benefits of respecting the physician-patient relationship, clinical decision making and personalized, patient-centered health care." It's no surprise, Hepworth said, that the group's backers include companies that manufacture medicines.

She declined to answer questions about the radio ad. The one-minute spot singles out for criticism a Trump administration proposal to gradually shift Medicare payments for drugs administered in doctors' offices to a level based on international prices.

Prices in other countries are lower because governments directly negotiate with manufacturers. But drugmakers have assailed the Trump plan, arguing it smacks of government price-setting and would lead to socialized health care.

The Alliance's radio spot makes the same argument, using nearly identical language. Under the Trump proposal, the ad says, "cancer treatment would be paid based on rates from countries with European-style health care, where access to new medicine is rationed and patients often wait months for care."

Tax filings for 2015 through 2017, the most recent available, show the Alliance has paid Woodberry's consultants more than $1 million. Brendan Fischer of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center said the transactions may raise red flags.

"Nonprofits are supposed to promote social welfare, not operate to provide a private benefit to any person or entity," Fischer said. "A nonprofit could run afoul of tax law if it is substantially benefiting a nonprofit officer's for-profit consulting firm."

Hepworth said Woodberry is a consultancy with a division that specializes in nonprofit coalition management and that the money paid to the firm's people represents a small amount of the Alliance's expenditures for those years.

The Alliance "files all of the appropriate paperwork with the IRS and takes the extra step of making available on its website a current list of its supporters," according to Hepworth. The link to this list takes a bit of searching to find, however.

The Alliance's money comes from more than three dozen associate members and financial supporters, which include several of the largest pharmaceutical companies. Among them are AbbVie, manufacturer of Humira, the blockbuster drug for immune system conditions; AstraZeneca, maker of the cholesterol drug Crestor; Bristol-Myers Squibb, maker of the blood thinner Eliquis; and Pfizer, maker of Lyrica for nerve pain.

The group's leaders are medical doctors based outside of Washington; those identified in the tax records as directors aren't paid for the one hour per month, on average, of work they do for the nonprofit. But several of them have earned tens of thousands of dollars in consulting and speaker fees from the health care industry, including companies that back the Alliance.

For example, Dr. Jack Schim, a neurologist in California and an Alliance director, was paid nearly $329,000 between 2015 and 2017, with the bulk of the money coming from Allergan, maker of wrinkle treatment Botox, according to a database maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Schim was one of the top-ranking physicians in his specialty for these payments.

While the Alliance names its supporters, it doesn't disclose how much each has contributed. Federal rules permit groups structured as tax-exempt social welfare organizations to say little about their benefactors.

Social welfare organizations like the Alliance also may engage in limited political activities so long as politics isn't their primary focus. Known by their IRS designation as 501(c)(4)s, they typically are civic-minded groups such as homeowner associations and volunteer fire departments.

The Alliance spent $13.6 million in 2015 and 2016 on awards to recognize dozens of members of Congress who, according to Hepworth, "have championed patient access in the Medicare program." The lawmakers, who are barred by ethics rules from accepting monetary gifts, are presented with a plaque and are praised in press releases and advertisements. Recent recipients include Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Tax records for the drugmakers' influential trade association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, provide a bit of insight into the Alliance's finances. The association, known as PhRMA, identifies the recipients of its grants and contributions. It donated more than $1.8 million to the Alliance between 2009 and 2016 and since 2016 gave another $215,000 to two smaller offshoots - the Institute for Patient Access and the Global Alliance for Patient Access.

PhRMA's largest single contribution, $1.4 million, came in 2016 when Trump, then a candidate for president, and Democratic contender Hillary Clinton rattled drug companies with their pledges to take aggressive steps to bring down prescription medication costs.

"Groups like the Alliance for Patient Access often act as foils for the pharmaceutical industry instead of advancing patient interests," said Steven Knievel of the nonpartisan watchdog group Public Citizen. "They advocate for policies where industry and patient interests align. But any time drug prices are on the table, they toe the line of their corporate backers."

Kennedy, a former top official at the Republican Governors Association, registered the Alliance in June 2006 in Iowa; he lists an address in Bettendorf on the certificate. He registered Woodberry Associates as an LLC nearly five months later, also in Iowa. Kennedy is the Alliance's executive director and Woodberry's president. The nonprofit and the business share an office in downtown Washington.

The bulk of the more than $1 million paid to Woodberry between 2015 and 2017 was for consulting services that Hepworth said ranged from managing Alliance working groups to the development and promotion of white papers, podcasts and social media posts. Kennedy also received more than $457,000 in reimbursements for travel, hotels and catering contracts.

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Follow Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardnerJERUSALEM (AP) - The Cinderella story of Israel's current election campaign is a fringe party led by an ultranationalist libertarian with a criminal record who vows to legalize marijuana, and seems to diverge dramatically from the long list of quirky candidates of the past who have drawn attention to their improbable runs for parliament.

For starters, Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party has a real shot of getting elected next month and could even emerge as a kingmaker in a tightly contested race for prime minister. But his seemingly liberal civic platform, which has generated a strong hipster following, could be masking a far more polarizing agenda.

Feiglin, who got pushed out of the ruling Likud party four years ago for his extreme right-wing positions, has taken the campaign by storm, putting cannabis high on the national agenda and forcing the front-runners to take a stand on the issue. He's also one of the few party leaders to refrain from endorsing either Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his top challenger, retired military chief Benny Gantz.

"We are in nobody's pocket," Feiglin told Israel's Army Radio recently. "Legalization is the condition for us joining any government."

The message seems to be catching on, ironically, in the first election in 20 years that the single-issue Green Leaf party has refrained from running. In response to what has been dubbed the "Feiglin effect," Netanyahu this week boasted about increasing the availability of medical cannabis and approving its export, making Israel just the third nation in the world to do so. He also promised to "examine" the issue of legalization for recreational use.

Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay said he was in favor of legalizing, calling cannabis less dangerous than alcohol. In a radio interview, he then disclosed he had smoked it himself in the past. And the dovish Meretz party, seeking to reclaim what would seem to be its natural electorate, issued a reminder that it was the first party in parliament to promote the issue while others were now merely catching up.

In this Thursday, March 14, 2019 photo, Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin, second left, attends an election campaign event in Sderot, Israel. The Cinderella story of Israel's current election campaign is a fringe party led by Feiglin, an ultranationalist libertarian with a criminal record, who vows to legalize marijuana in an improbable run to parliament. Feiglin's Zehut party has a real shot of getting elected and could even emerge as a kingmaker in a tightly contested race for prime minister. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

But Feiglin, an observant, Jewish West Bank settler who doesn't smoke marijuana himself, has been the one cashing in, finding an unlikely audience among urban youngsters drawn to his message of personal freedom and domestic policies, which, besides legalization, include an anti-labor union platform that promotes school vouchers, animal rights and free market economics.

With his skullcap, trim beard and small round-frame glasses, the 56-year-old Feiglin hardly cuts the image of an iconoclast. But he's become an internet sensation with viral animated online hipster memes portraying him as a cool gangster with sunglasses and a joint hanging from his lips.

It's a stunning makeover for a man who first made his name in Israel for orchestrating raucous protests against the Oslo Peace accords in the early 1990s. A recent cartoon in the Maariv daily poked fun at the irony of his drawing liberal supporters. Cast as the pied piper, Feiglin is shown leading a slew of smiling, glassy-eyed voters following the trail of smoke from a joint he is holding in the air.

"Feiglin is a revelation to young, secular supporters of the center-left," explained commentator Yaron Dekel in the YNet news site. "He emphasizes that he is primarily liberal when it comes to the issue of religion and state, and a staunch supporter of the legalization of marijuana, but is hiding an extremely hawkish platform in every other arena."

The political manifesto of Feiglin's Zehut - Hebrew for identity - party includes canceling signed agreements with the Palestinians, making Israeli Arab citizens pass a loyalty test and offering financial incentives to them to emigrate elsewhere if they refuse to accept Jewish sovereignty over the land.

He's also spoken out against women, gays and reform Jews. In 1995, shortly before Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, his Zo Artzeinu (This is our Land) movement blocked dozens of major intersections that wreaked havoc throughout the country. The Supreme Court later sentenced him to six months in prison for sedition against the state, which was later commuted to community service.

Feiglin, who refused an Associated Press interview, has downplayed his past as an ultranationalist activist and insists he is currently focused on civic issues alone. In reinventing himself, he has managed to create the latest iteration of a regular Israeli election ritual of obscure and offbeat lists offering an entertaining diversion to those voters despairing over Israel's weighty issues.

Previous parties have included a faction calling for the establishment of a national casino and a group led by a fishmonger and puppeteer that tried to abolish bank fees. An offshoot of Green Leaf aligned with elderly Holocaust survivors to make a run in 2009 and four years later its castaways ran as the Israeli Pirate Party, offering a platform promoting a variety of personal freedoms, including the right to sail the high seas.

Should Zehut manage to cross the electoral threshold, it would join the likes of the Israeli Pensioners Party that managed to win seven seats in the 2006 election and joined Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Cabinet. Seen largely as the recipient of protest votes against the system, the group of retirees led by an octogenarian former spymaster disappeared in the next election.

Feiglin's Zehut party, however, could prove to have a greater impact if it eventually has a say in who forms the next government. Columnist Shmuel Rosner called its emergence a "deliberate, cunning distraction" that reflects the dire state of discourse and overall disgust with mainstream politics.

"It is the proof - and not the first - of the difficulty the public has in addressing complex issues that require expertise and in-depth study," he wrote Thursday in Maariv. "Everyone has despaired and only wants to be given something to dull their senses. It could be that the marijuana in the campaign is simply medical cannabis to relieve pain."

___

Follow Heller at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap

In this Thursday, March 14, 2019 photo, Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin, center, attends an election campaign event in Sderot, Israel. The Cinderella story of Israel's current election campaign is a fringe party led by Feiglin, an ultranationalist libertarian with a criminal record, who vows to legalize marijuana in an improbable run to parliament. Feiglin's Zehut party has a real shot of getting elected and could even emerge as a kingmaker in a tightly contested race for prime minister. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's military expanded its massive manhunt for a Palestinian assailant on Monday as authorities announced that a second Israeli died of wounds sustained in a West Bank shooting attack the previous day.

Beilinson Hospital said Ahiad Ettinger, a 47-year-old father of 12, died of his wounds from the shooting and stabbing attack near the settlement of Ariel on Sunday. The attack also killed 19-year-old soldier Gal Keidan and seriously wounded another soldier.

Ettinger, an ordained rabbi, lived in a West Bank settlement and headed a religious seminary in Tel Aviv. He managed to get off a few shots from his personal sidearm before he was gunned down.

"Rabbi Ettinger's life's work will continue and be among us even after his passing, and the strength he gave his pupils and the community he led will continue to strengthen us through the enormous grief and sorrow," said President Reuven Rivlin.

Israeli troops went house to house overnight in search of the assailant, identified as a 19-year-old Palestinian, and closed off a cluster of villages where he is believed to be hiding.

"We know the attacker's identity ... and security forces are in a close pursuit after him," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he visited the site of the shooting attack. "These terrorists will not uproot us from here, the opposite will happen."

An Israeli police officer is seen at the scene of an attack near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Sunday, March 17, 2019.The Israeli military says a Palestinian killed an Israeli and seriously wounded two others in a West Bank shooting and stabbing spree before fleeing and setting off a massive manhunt. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

He added that Ariel would begin constructing some 840 already approved housing units in a new neighborhood the following day.

The military said the attacker fatally stabbed Keidan, the soldier, before stealing his assault rifle and opening fire at passing vehicles. He then carjacked another vehicle and sped away, firing toward more soldiers before escaping into a nearby Palestinian village.

The military said it had surveyed his home for future demolition. Israel often demolishes homes of alleged Palestinian assailants or their families as a policy it says deters future attacks.

Sunday's attack came after two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire last week in separate West Bank incidents that followed a period of relative calm, even as the Israeli military has been warning of the potential of a new escalation of violence.

Last week, Hamas fired a pair of missiles from Gaza toward the Israeli city of Tel Aviv in a rare attack into the heart of Israel that looked to set the sides into another round of escalation. But the launch was apparently a technical malfunction and after a brief Israeli reprisal, calm was restored.

Israel is currently in the midst of an election campaign, and Egypt is trying to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Since 2015, Palestinians have killed over 50 Israelis in stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks in the West Bank. Israeli forces have killed more than 260 Palestinians in that same period. Israel has described most of the Palestinians killed as attackers, but clashes between protesters and soldiers have also turned deadly.

An Israeli forensic expert, right, inspects the scene of an attack near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The Israeli military says a Palestinian killed an Israeli and seriously wounded two others in a West Bank shooting and stabbing spree before fleeing and setting off a massive manhunt. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

An Israeli forensic expert, right, inspects the scene of an attack near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The Israeli military says a Palestinian killed an Israeli and seriously wounded two others in a West Bank shooting and stabbing spree before fleeing and setting off a massive manhunt. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

A vest of an Israeli soldier is seen on the ground at the scene of an attack near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel, Sunday, March 17, 2019.The Israeli military says a Palestinian killed an Israeli and seriously wounded two others in a West Bank shooting and stabbing spree before fleeing and setting off a massive manhunt.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Israeli forces search for a Palestinian gunman in the village of Bruqin near the West Bank town of Salfit, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The Israeli military says a Palestinian killed an Israeli and seriously wounded two others in a West Bank shooting and stabbing spree before fleeing and setting off a massive manhunt. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli forces search for a Palestinian gunman in the village of Bruqin near the West Bank town of Salfit, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The Israeli military says a Palestinian killed an Israeli and seriously wounded two others in a West Bank shooting and stabbing spree before fleeing and setting off a massive manhunt. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Shares in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank rose on Monday after the two said they were in merger talks, but that didn't stop people from questioning what a merger would accomplish.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, and Commerzbank announced Sunday they would discuss a possible combination. News media reports have said Germany's finance minister, Olaf Scholz, favors a deal that would bring together two lenders that have been troubled over recent years, but unions fear that it could lead to major job losses.

The German government deflected questions on the merger and wouldn't say whether it welcomed the announcement.

"This is a decision by two private companies that have said they want to enter open-ended talks on a closer cooperation, and we as the finance ministry take note of that," ministry spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin.

Asked about perceptions of pressure from the ministry, he said: "I have perceived no pressure on the part of the finance ministry."

Deutsche Bank could not even bring itself to use the word "merger" in its brief statement Sunday, instead referring only to "strategic options," and added "there is no certainty that any transaction will occur."

Headquarters of Deutsche Bank, left, and Commerzbank are seen in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, March 18, 2019. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank begin talks on a possible merger. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

One reason for skepticism is that both banks have been engaged in extensive overhauls of their businesses, raising the question of how they would integrate a new partner. Deutsche Bank made its first full-year profit in three years in 2018 and has been engaged in a drawn out effort to shed riskier investments, reduce headcount and streamline its computer systems. The bank is pulling back from a decades-long effort to compete with U.S. Wall Street banks, an expansion that soured after the bank was caught up in financial scandals involving money laundering and bonds based on mortgages to people with shaky credit. Settlements and fines cost the bank billions.

The slow pace of restructuring led to the departure of CEO John Cryan last year and his replacement by Christian Sewing.

The talks take place against a background of German government statements favoring "national champions" - businesses that are big enough to compete globally.

The German government still has a stake of some 15 percent in Commerzbank, which received aid during the financial crisis. Commerzbank, which has long relied on a steady business lending to German small and medium-sized businesses, has had to write off billions in bad shipping loans but made 865 million euros last year.

Banking expert Wolfgang Gerke said on n-tv television that a merger makes "absolutely no sense" because the two banks are "so occupied with existing burdens." Tom Kinmonth, senior fixed income strategist at ABN AMRO, wrote in a research note that "the creation of a new bank is going to be monumental task to generate profitability" starting with two banks that already have weak profit measures.

The deputy head of the opposition Left party delegation in the German parliament, Fabio De Masi, said that "two sick turkeys do not make an eagle."

Shares in Commerzbank rose 7 percent to 7.65 euros in early afternoon trading in Europe. Deutsche Bank climbed 5 percent to 8.22 euros.

___

Moulson reported from Berlin.LONDON (AP) - The Latest on negotiations over Britain's departure from the EU (all times local):

3:50 p.m.

The speaker of Britain's House of Commons says the government can't ask lawmakers to vote again on its twice-rejected Brexit deal unless it is substantially changed.

John Bercow says parliamentary rules prevent a motion being brought back repeatedly for votes in the same session of Parliament. He says the government can't "resubmit to the House the same proposition or substantially the same proposition" that has already been rejected.

Bercow's statement complicates Prime Minister Theresa May's attempts to get her deal approved.

Lawmakers rejected the deal in January and again last week. May has been holding talks with opponents in a bid to persuade them to back the bill at a third attempt this week.

In this handout photo provided by UK Parliament, Speaker of the House John Bercow, centre, talks, during the Brexit debate in the House of Commons, London, Thursday March 14, 2019. Britain's Parliament has voted to seek a delay of the country's departure from the European Union, a move that will likely avert a chaotic withdrawal on the scheduled exit date of March 29. (UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor via AP)

Amid the gridlock, lawmakers voted last week to delay Brexit by at least three months.

___

1:10 p.m.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman says there has been no breakthrough in talks on winning Parliament's support for the government's EU divorce deal - and there is just a day to shift opinion before Britain will have to seek a long delay to Brexit.

Spokesman James Slack says talks are continuing between the government and the Democratic Unionist Party, whose support is crucial.

May hopes to bring her twice-rejected Brexit deal back to Parliament this week for a third vote. But Slack says the government will only do that if there is "a realistic prospect of success."

May will have to make that judgment by the end of Tuesday. Wednesday is the last day a vote can be held before May heads to an EU summit where she will ask the bloc to delay Brexit.

If the deal has been approved, May will ask for a short "technical extension." If it is not, she will seek a much longer delay.

___

9:10 a.m.

European Union foreign ministers are urging Prime Minister Theresa May to make clear Britain's position on leaving the bloc, as the Europeans weigh whether to approve an extension to the Brexit process.

Ahead of a Brexit-focused summit of EU leaders this week, the ministers implored May once again to set out clearly what she wants from her European partners, less than two weeks before the Brexit date.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday: "We have to know what the British want: How long, what is the reason supposed to be, how it should go, what is actually the aim of the extension?"

Belgium Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said: "We are not against an extension in Belgium, but the problem is, to do what?"

___

9:05 a.m.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is making a last-minute push to win support for her European Union divorce deal, with attention focused on wooing Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.

The DUP's 10 lawmakers are pivotal to May's effort to overturn two overwhelming defeats in Parliament, because their support could influence hard-line members of May's Conservative Party. Opposition has focused on the so-called backstop, designed to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

But May suffered a setback Monday when former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson refused to support her deal.

Johnson used his column in the Daily Telegraph to say that further changes are needed to the backstop, claiming it left the U.K. vulnerable to "an indefinite means of blackmail" by Brussels.NEW YORK (AP) - Facebook's effort to establish a service that provides its users with local news and information is being hindered by the lack of outlets where the company's technicians can find original reporting.

The service, launched last year, is currently available in some 400 cities in the United States. But the social media giant said it has found that 40 percent of Americans live in places where there weren't enough local news stories to support it.

Facebook announced Monday it would share its research with academics at Duke, Harvard, Minnesota and North Carolina who are studying the extent of news deserts created by newspaper closures and staff downsizing .

Some 1,800 newspapers have closed in the United States over the last 15 years, according to the University of North Carolina. Newsroom employment has declined by 45 percent as the industry struggles with a broken business model partly caused by the success of companies on the Internet, including Facebook.

The Facebook service, called "Today In ," collects news stories from various local outlets, along with government and community groups. The company deems a community unsuitable for "Today In" if it cannot find a single day in a month with at least five news items available to share.

There's not a wide geographical disparity. For example, the percentage of news deserts is higher in the Northeast and Midwest, at 43 percent, Facebook said. In the South and West, the figure is 38 percent.

FILE - In this March 29, 2018, file photo, the logo for Facebook appears on screens in New York's Times Square. Facebook's effort to establish a service that provides its users with local news and information is being hindered by the lack of outlets where the company's technicians can find original reporting. The service, launched last year, is currently available in some 400 cities in the United States. But the social media giant said it has found that 40 percent of Americans live in places where there weren't enough local news stories to support it. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

"It affirms the fact that we have a real lack of original local reporting," said Penelope Muse Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor who studies the topic. She said she hopes the data helps pinpoint areas where the need is greatest, eventually leading to some ideas for solutions.

Facebook doesn't necessarily have the answers. "Everyone can learn from working together," said Anne Kornblut, director of news initiatives at the company.

The company plans to award some 100 grants, ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, to people with ideas for making more news available, said Josh Mabry, head of local news partnerships for Facebook.

That comes on top of $300 million in grants Facebook announced in January to help programs and partnerships designed to boost local news.

The company doesn't plan to launch newsgathering efforts of its own, Kornblut said.

"Our history has been - and we will probably stick to it - to let journalists do what they do well and let us support them and let them do their work," she said.MILAN (AP) - Italy's famed La Scala opera house will immediately return 3 million euros ($3.4 million) sent to an escrow account by Saudi Arabia in what Milan's mayor on Monday termed a badly handled fundraising deal. But he did not rule out future dealings with the kingdom despite concerns raised over its human rights record.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala told reporters that La Scala's board decided to return the money deposited earlier this year by the Saudi culture minister without a proper indication of its purpose and before the board had been formally notified of fundraising discussions with Saudi officials by La Scala's general manager.

While the current procedure aimed at making Saudi Arabia an official financial backer of the opera house was officially closed, Sala refused to rule out future talks with the kingdom. He said a planned tour by La Scala's orchestra in 2020 will go ahead as planned.

"We are not closing doors to Saudi Arabia," Sala said. "It depends on the form of cooperation. We will do the tour. I wouldn't make a list of countries where it doesn't make sense to go, also because this kind of activity can help in respect to the situation that exists today in Saudi Arabia."

The fundraising deal, for example, foresaw the establishment of a music school run by La Scala's academy that would be open to all Saudi children regardless of gender.

While announcing the return of the money, the mayor noted that the Italian government and financial institutions continued to have dealings with Saudi Arabia.

La Scala theater general manager Alexander Pereira, right, and La Scala conductor Riccardo Chailly attend a press conference, in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 11, 2019. Italy's premier opera house, La Scala in Milan, is under fire over a proposal to grant a board seat to Saudi Arabia's culture minister with the promise of 15 million euros ($16.8 million) in new funding. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italy is Saudi Arabia's ninth-largest trading partner, according to the Saudi embassy website. While Italy's premier Giuseppe Conte said at his year-end news conference that Italy planned to suspend arm's sales, no action has been taken yet.

The opera house deal, which would have given a seat on the La Scala board to Saudi Arabia's culture minister, was hotly contested in light of Saudi Arabia's human rights record. The kingdom is under increased scrutiny internationally since the killing of a Saudi journalist inside its consulate in Istanbul last October and the plight of a Saudi woman who turned to social media to help escape alleged family abuse.

Other Western cultural institutes have also grappled with how to handle financial contributions from Saudi Arabia following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia, which has been making moves to open culturally to the West, participated for the first time in last year's Biennale architecture exhibit in Venice.

As part of the arrangement agreed, Saudi Arabia would have contributed 15 million euros to La Scala over the coming years and in return would have become a so-called "founding member." of the foundation and taken a seat on the board.

Sala said the talks with Saudi Arabia, which included discussions ahead of the gala Dec. 7 season-opener, were poorly handled in terms of communication. He said he had been aware of the talks, but not of their speedy advancement nor of the transfer of funds.

But he said that general manager and artistic director Alexander Pereira had acted in good faith while showing some naivete in dealing with Italian politicians.

"In all these years in Italy, he should understand the mechanisms," he said. "If you think that one day a politicians tells you one thing and then the next day he says the same thing, you are dreaming."

Despite calls by the governor of Lombardy for Pereira's dismissal, Sala said regional representative on the board made no such motion during Monday's board meeting and that his position at the opera house was not in question for the time being. His mandate expires next year.

Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala, center, arrives for a press conference, in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 11, 2019. Italy's premier opera house, La Scala in Milan, is under fire over a proposal to grant a board seat to Saudi Arabia's culture minister with the promise of 15 million euros ($16.8 million) in new funding. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

From left, La Scala's general manager Alexander Pereira, La Scala conductor Riccardo Chailly, former Milan's mayor Letizia Moratti and Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala pose during a press conference, in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 11, 2019. Italy's premier opera house, La Scala in Milan, is under fire over a proposal to grant a board seat to Saudi Arabia's culture minister with the promise of 15 million euros ($16.8 million) in new funding. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

La Scala theater general manager Alexander Pereira waves as he arrives for a the press conference, in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 11, 2019. Italy's premier opera house, La Scala in Milan, is under fire over a proposal to grant a board seat to Saudi Arabia's culture minister with the promise of 15 million euros ($16.8 million) in new funding. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is escalating his pressure on General Motors, as he calls for the company to reopen an Ohio manufacturing plant.

Trump tweeted Monday that GM should: "Close a plant in China or Mexico, where you invested so heavily pre-Trump," and "Bring jobs home!"

Trump travels to politically important Ohio this week. Over the weekend, Trump tweeted that officials should start talks with the United Auto Workers immediately so that the Lordstown plant could be reopened or sold.

General Motors said in a statement Sunday that the future of plants scheduled to be closed "will be resolved between GM and the UAW." The automaker said that they had "opportunities available for virtually all impacted employees."DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria's defense minister on Monday slammed what he called the "illegitimate" U.S. military presence in his country, vowing that Damascus has a right to self-defense, while Iraq said a border crossing with Syria will open in the coming days.

Syria's Gen. Ali Ayoub spoke during a rare joint news conference with visiting Iranian and Iraqi army commanders who have been holding meetings in the capital, Damascus.

The U.S. currently has about 2,000 troops in eastern and northern Syria and is expected to withdraw hundreds of them in the coming months.

The meeting in Damascus illustrates the strong alliance between Iran, Iraq and Syria at a time when the U.S. is seeking to isolate and increase sanctions against Iran and its regional allies.

Tehran has sent troops and Iran-backed fighters into Syria and Iraq to fight alongside government forces against Islamic militants, including the Islamic State group, which is on the verge of defeat by U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters in the last area under its control in eastern Syria.

"The Americans will leave Syria as they left other places, because this is an illegitimate presence and is rejected no matter what the justifications are," Ayoub said. "Syria has affirmed the necessity of the withdrawal of these forces. It is a force of occupation and violates the country's sovereignty," he said.

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Iran's Chief of Staff of Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, left, speaks during a press conference with Syria's defense minister Gen. Ali Ayoub, center, and Iraqi army commander, Gen. Osman Ghanemi in Damascus, Syria, Monday, March 18, 2019. Syria's defense minister slammed what he called the "illegitimate" U.S. military presence in his country, vowing that Syria has a right to self-defense. (SANA via AP)

After years of setbacks, Syrian government forces have been on the offensive since 2016 and have regained control of wide parts of the country thanks to Russian and Iranian support. Ayoub vowed to eventually capture the last major rebel stronghold in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Asked about reports of tension between Iranians and Russians in Syria, Ayoub strongly denied them, saying "the role of the friends and allies was important in all that has been achieved on the ground."

Iranian army commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, who arrived in Damascus on Sunday, said "Syria and Iraq have asked the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian armed forces to stand by their side and help, through advisers as well as logistical support." He added that Iranian troops had been invited by Syrian authorities and would only leave when asked by the Syrians.

Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Bagheri as saying that Iran, Syria and Iraq will work together to bring end to the presence of foreign forces in Syria. "The current phase has aimed at reinstating the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the departure of all forces who have been present in the country without permission" from Damascus, he said.

Bagheri added that the three countries will "continue the path" of cooperation, as they have in recent years.

The Iraqi army commander, Gen. Osman Ghanemi, did not give further details about the border crossing between Syria and Iraq, saying only that it is open in the coming days.

____

Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene Monday in a fight over control of the nation's oldest synagogue and its religious bells worth millions, leaving in place a ruling that the Rhode Island synagogue will remain the property of a New York congregation.

The Congregation Jeshuat Israel in Newport, Rhode Island, had asked a judge to declare that it owned the more than 250-year-old Touro Synagogue and a set of Colonial-era Torah bells, called rimonim. It had a plan to sell the bells to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for $7.4 million as a way to shore up its finances.

Manhattan's Congregation Shearith Israel, the nation's oldest Jewish congregation, became trustee of Touro after Jews left Newport in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It fought the plan to sell the bells.

Congregation Jeshuat Israel has worshipped at Touro since the late 1800s, and the two sides have periodically fought since then over who controls it.

Lou Solomon, a lawyer for Congregation Shearith Israel, struck a conciliatory tone, saying he looked forward to "a return of harmonious relations" between them and Touro's congregation.

"It's a national treasure, it's going to remain open for all Jews," Solomon said.

FILE - In this July 30, 2009 file photo, visitors stand outside the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, R.I., the oldest existing Jewish house of worship in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday, March 18, 2019, not to take up the case over control of the synagogue, which means a lower court ruling that a New York synagogue has ownership, stays in place. (AP Photo/Eric J. Shelton, File)

But he added a caveat.

"We're going to go forward with or without them. It is my hope that there will not be any more hostile acts," he said.

A trial judge awarded control of the property and the bells to the Newport group, but the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals went the other way, giving them to the group from Manhattan.

Gary Naftalis, a lawyer for the Newport congregants, said they were disappointed.

"Our petition raised significant constitutional issues affecting the survival of Touro Synagogue and the rights of religious organizations in America," he said, adding that they hope the congregation's "right to continue to pray in the historic Touro Synagogue, as it has for over a century, will be respected."

Solomon said the New York congregation plans to reach out to the one in Newport soon with an offer to meet and plan for ways to move forward together.

"We don't want to be the imperialists that are coming there and kicking people out. What matters is that the synagogue remain a house of worship for all Jews, open to all Jews," he said.

Touro Synagogue was dedicated in 1763 and is a national historic site. The synagogue was visited by George Washington in 1790, and he later sent its congregants a letter declaring that the government of the United States "gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." It attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually.WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court will consider overturning a criminal conviction by a 10-2 jury vote in Louisiana.

The justice acted Monday, four months after Louisiana voters amended the state constitution to prohibit non-unanimous verdicts in criminal cases.

Oregon is the only state that still allows them.

The high court will consider the case of Evangelisto Ramos, who was convicted in 2016 of second-degree murder in the killing of a woman in New Orleans. Ramos is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole.

The change in the state constitution took effect in January, but is of no help to Ramos without court action.

The last time the Supreme Court took up the issue was in 1972, when it ruled that nothing in the Constitution bars states from allowing some convictions by non-unanimous verdicts. But even in Oregon and Louisiana, first-degree murder, which could bring the death penalty, has required a unanimous verdict.

The court has held that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimous verdicts in federal criminal cases.

The 1972 case turned on the vote of Justice Lewis Powell. The court said states were not compelled to follow suit and require unanimous juries in all criminal cases.

At the same time, the Supreme Court has determined that most rights guaranteed by the first 10 amendments to the Constitution apply to states as well as the federal government

Also Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether states can eliminate the so-called insanity defense for criminal defendants without violating the Constitution.

The appeal comes from a Kansas man who has been sentenced to death for killing his estranged wife, their two daughters and the wife's grandmother.

The cases will be argued in the fall.WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump says he is unfairly being blamed for the New Zealand mosque massacre.

Trump tweeted Monday that the media "is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand." He adds: "They will have to work very hard to prove that one."

The gunman in last week's massacre left a document in which he called himself a white nationalist and referred to Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity."

Trump had expressed sympathy for the victims, but played down the threat of white nationalism across the world, saying he didn't consider it a rising threat despite data suggesting it's growing.

In the past, Trump has drawn criticism for saying "both sides" were to blame for violence at a deadly white supremacist demonstration.GLENVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Officials in North Carolina say a pilot has been found dead after a single-engine plane disappeared from radar during a flight from Tennessee to South Carolina.

News outlets report the Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad said searchers found the plane south of Whiteside Mountain on Friday. Officials say the pilot, 59-year-old Gary Lee Huttleston of Aiken, South Carolina, was dead. He was the only person aboard the plane.

Officials say Huttleston left Island Home Airport in Knoxville for Aiken, South Carolina, on Thursday evening and was last seen on radar over Jackson County.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports Federal Aviation Administration records state he had reported a loss of altitude. The Mooney M20C registered to Huttleston was manufactured in 1965.UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in U.N. peacekeeping missions decreased in 2018 - but allegations against other U.N. personnel and against staff of organizations implementing U.N. programs increased, according to a U.N. report released Monday.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report to the U.N. General Assembly circulated Monday that the alleged victims were mainly women and children.

The United Nations has long been in the spotlight over allegations of child rape and other sexual abuses by its peacekeepers, especially those based in Central African Republic and Congo. But the latest figures demonstrate again that sexual misconduct spans the entire U.N. system and beyond to outside organizations helping to implement its programs on the ground.

Guterres stressed the U.N.'s "zero-tolerance" policy and said he has embarked on "a cultural transformation" to eliminate sexual abuse and exploitation throughout the U.N. system, which comprises more than 90,000 staff and over 100,000 uniformed personnel.

According to the report, the number of cases in U.N. peacekeeping and political missions dropped to 54 in 2018 from 62 in 2017, and from 104 reported cases in 2016. It said 74 percent of the allegations in 2018 came from the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Central African Republic and Congo, and the remaining 24 percent from the peacekeeping missions in Mali, Haiti, Liberia and South Sudan.

By comparison, there were 94 reported cases of sexual exploitation elsewhere in the United Nations system, and 109 allegations involving U.N. partner organizations, the report said.

Guterres said the increase in those allegations was possibly due to "awareness-raising" and improved reporting by the 30 U.N. agencies, funds and programs.

The U.N. chief stressed that continuing allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse "harms those we serve, undermines the United Nations values and principles and tarnishes the reputation of the women and men who work with integrity and dedication to realize the objectives of the organization."DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) - The Latest on an arrest in the 1999 killings of two Alabama teenagers (all times local):

10:35 a.m.

A prosecutor says he'll seek the death penalty against a man charged in the slayings of two Alabama teenagers nearly 20 years ago.

District Attorney Kirke Adams says 45-year-old Coley McCraney can be prosecuted for capital murder in the killings of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley.

Adams told a news conference Monday that one of the multiple capital counts against the man includes a charge that one of the victims was sexually assaulted during her slaying in 1999.

Authorities say they used DNA matching to confirm that evidence from the killings was tied to McCraney.

This combination of images from a 1999 flyer released by the Ozark (Ala.) Police Department, shows J.B. Beasley, left, and Tracie Hawlett, who were both murdered in July 1999. Alabama authorities say a DNA match found through a genealogy website has led to an arrest in the killings of the two teen girls nearly 20 years ago. Coley McCraney, of Dothan, was arrested Saturday, March 16, 2019, on rape and capital murder charges in the deaths of Hawlett and Beasley, according to Dale County jail records. (Ozark Police Department via AP)

The prosecutor says he decided years ago to pursue the slayings as a death-penalty case.

McCraney was arrested Saturday. A defense lawyer says the man is cooperating with authorities.

___

9:35 a.m.

The lawyer for a suspect in the 1999 deaths of two Alabama teenagers says he's an outstanding member of the community and is cooperating with law enforcement.

Investigators in Alabama say a DNA match found through a genealogy website led them to arrest 45-year-old Coley McCraney.

McCraney faces rape and capital murder charges in the slayings of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley. The girls had left Dothan, Alabama, to attend a party but never arrived. They were later found in the trunk of a car, each with a gunshot wound to the head.

Attorney David Harrison tells The Associated Press it's going to be difficult to find a jury that's not already aware of the case and that he might have to ask for another venue to get a fair trial.

___

1:30 a.m.

Authorities in Alabama say a DNA match found through a genealogy website has led to an arrest in decades-old slaying and rape case.

Al.com reports 45-year-old Coley McCraney, of Dothan, was arrested Saturday and charged with rape and capital murder in the 1999 deaths of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley. Ozark police and Dale County sheriff's officials are scheduled to hold a press conference about the case on Monday.

The girls left Dothan the night of July 3, 1999, to attend a party, but they never arrived. The pair was found the next day in the trunk of Beasley's car alongside a road in Ozark, each with a gunshot wound to the head.

A different suspect was cleared after his DNA didn't match that from semen found on Beasley.

This Saturday, March 16, 2019 booking photo provided by the Dale County Sheriff's Office, shows Coley McCraney. Al.com reported McCraney, of Dothan, was arrested Saturday and charged with rape and capital murder in the 1999 deaths of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley. Ozark police and Dale County sheriff's officials are scheduled to hold a press conference about the case on Monday, March 18. Authorities in Alabama said a DNA match found through a genealogy website led to to the arrest. (Dale County Sheriff's Office via AP)"The Liar's Child" (Ballantine Books), by Carla Buckley

Young Cassie and her 5-year-old brother, Boon, live at the Paradise apartments near North Carolina's Outer Banks and are dealing with a broken home. Their mom left them with their father, who doesn't have the strength or finances to handle being a single parent, and when they are together, it's more fighting than anything else. Cassie starts acting out, and if she's not careful, she may fall in with the wrong crowd.

Sara arrives at the complex and reluctantly moves into an apartment near Cassie and her brother. She isn't there on her own free will but because of the choices she made. Sara has a new name and hopes she can discover a future far away from her old life.

Cassie, Boon and Sara might not like the present, but they will have to rely on each other to guarantee a future. The path to a happy ending sometimes is fraught with storms while finding the courage necessary to survive seems impossible.

Author Carla Buckley has crafted a complex and compelling story. The nuances and dynamics at play in "The Liar's Child" will take the most jaded reader on a heartfelt and emotional journey. The story is also unpredictable, like real life. Buckley details a tough path for her characters. It's guaranteed to get rocky at times, but the adventure is worthwhile.MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed bills restricting online media and making a criminal of anyone who insults the state - laws that critics see as part of Kremlin efforts to stifle criticism and tighten media control.

A bill passed by the Russian parliament earlier this month introduces fines for publishing materials showing disrespect to the state, its symbols or government organs. Repeat offenders could face a 15-day jail sentence.

Another bill envisages blocking anyone who publishes "fake news" online that is perceived to threaten public health and security. It gives those who publish such information a day to correct or remove it. If they fail to do so, prosecutors will move to block them.

Putin has signed both bills, according to information posted Monday on the government portal of legal information.DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - An autopsy says natural causes claimed the life of a North Carolina prosecutor found dead at home last year amid attention over "The Staircase" documentary series.

Freda Black helped prosecute the 2001 killing examined by the documentary. An autopsy released Monday by the state medical examiner cited liver disease due to alcoholism as the cause of death.

Police have said Black was found dead last July and the 57-year-old's death didn't appear suspicious.

Black gave closing arguments at the 2003 trial that ended with novelist Michael Peterson convicted of murdering his wife. A judge later ordered a new trial, and Peterson entered a special plea in 2017 acknowledging prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him of manslaughter.

The case received renewed attention after Netflix distributed new episodes of "The Staircase."TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey businessman accused of killing his brother, his brother's wife and two children pleaded not guilty Monday to felony murder and other charges, the same day his defense lawyers withdrew from the case due to recently discovered conflicts of interest.

Michael Wicke, a public defender for Paul Caneiro, 52, entered the pleas on his behalf during a five-minute court hearing in Freehold, New Jersey.

Monmouth County prosecutors have said Caneiro's brother, Keith, was planning to cut him off financially because he was suspicious of Paul over missing money from two companies they owned at the Jersey shore. The next day, Keith Caneiro and his family were found dead in their burning mansion in Colts Neck.

An indictment handed up late last month charges Paul Caneiro with murder, felony murder, aggravated arson and a weapons offense. He also faces counts of theft, misapplication of entrusted property and hindering his own apprehension.

Caneiro had previously been represented by private attorneys Robert Honecker Jr. and Mitchell Ansell, who maintained his innocence. However, they said they determined they could no longer represent him because a review of materials recently released by prosecutors found "at least two separate and clear" conflicts of interest.

The attorneys' statement did not specify those conflicts, and they declined to elaborate on the matter after the hearing. They said their decision to withdraw came "after great debate and discussion within our firm," and noted that prosecutors and the trial judge had agreed with their assessment that "our continued representation of Mr. Caniero would be impossible at this time."

Paul Caneiro appears for his arraignment in the murders of his brother and his brother's family, before Judge Joseph W. Oxley at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, N.J., Monday, March 18, 2019. The New Jersey businessman pleaded not guilty to felony murder and other charges. (Tanya Breen/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)

The two attorneys have said Paul Caneiro loved his family, had no reason to harm them and had been "wrongly accused."

Colts Neck police were dispatched to Keith Caneiro's mansion in New Jersey horse country on Nov. 20 after a neighbor reported the house was on fire. Officers found Keith Caneiro's body on the lawn; he had been shot once in the lower back and four times in the head.

Inside the mansion were the bodies of his wife, Jennifer, their 11-year-old son Jesse and 8-year-old daughter Sophia. The children were stabbed multiple times; their mother was shot and stabbed.

Prosecutors have said that after he committed the slayings, Paul Caneiro set a slow-burning fire in the mansion and returned to his own family's home in Ocean Township to set it on fire in a ruse to make it look like the Caneiro family was being targeted by someone else. His wife and two daughters were inside, but no one was injured.

Paul Caneiro appears for his arraignment in the murders of his brother and his brother's family, before Judge Joseph W. Oxley at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, N.J., Monday, March 18, 2019. The New Jersey businessman pleaded not guilty to felony murder and other charges. (Tanya Breen/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)

Paul Caneiro appears for his arraignment in the murders of his brother and his brother's family, before Judge Joseph W. Oxley at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, NJ Monday, March 18, 2019. The New Jersey businessman pleaded not guilty to felony murder and other charges. (Tanya Breen/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)

Paul Caneiro appears for his arraignment in the murders of his brother and his brother's family, before Judge Joseph W. Oxley at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, NJ Monday, March 18, 2019. Caneiro has pleaded not guilty to felony murder and other charges. (Tanya Breen/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)

Paul Caneiro appears for his arraignment in the murders of his brother and his brother's family, before Judge Joseph W. Oxley at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold, NJ Monday, March 18, 2019. Caneiro has pleaded not guilty to felony murder and other charges. (Tanya Breen/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Dozens of Serbian high school students on Monday staged a sit-down protest demanding the release from detention of a fellow student jailed during weekend anti-government protests in the Balkan country.

The protest came as President Aleksandar Vucic reportedly called for the release of those people who were detained on misdemeanor charges, but not those charged with more serious offenses.

The students marched Monday from their school in downtown Belgrade toward the main police station in the Serbian capital, where they sat on the ground, blowing whistles and booing.

Authorities said Monday they detained 18 people following incidents during demonstrations against Vucic on Saturday and Sunday. Protesters on Saturday burst into the state-TV building in Belgrade. More skirmishes with police took place Sunday when protesters surrounded the Serbian presidency during Vucic's news conference.

The incidents were the first during some three months of weekly rallies demanding democratic and media freedoms. Critics accuse Vucic of fostering divisions and hate speech in the country while curbing media and other freedoms.

A former extreme nationalist who now says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, Vucic has denied the allegations that he is an autocrat. He said opposition leaders want to topple him without elections.

High-school students protest in front of main police station in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, March 18, 2019. Dozens of high-school students have staged a sit-down protest demanding that the authorities release from detention a fellow-student who was jailed during weekend anti-government protests in Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

"As I said, you can walk as much as you want, that's fine, but violence is not allowed," Vucic said. "Anyone who commits violence will be punished."

High-school students protest in front of main police station in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, March 18, 2019. Dozens of high-school students have staged a sit-down protest demanding that the authorities release from detention a fellow-student who was jailed during weekend anti-government protests in Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A woman sits in front of a riot police cordon after a standoff in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. Supporters of the Serbian opposition clashed with police on Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, were the first major incidents after months of peaceful protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators are demanding his resignation, fair elections and a free media. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Police create a cordon in front of the Belgrade police headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The opposition clashes with police on Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, were the first major incidents after months of peaceful protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators are demanding his resignation, fair elections and a free media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Protesters throw a traffic cone towards a police cordon in front of the Belgrade police headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The opposition clashes with police on Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, were the first major incidents after months of peaceful protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators are demanding his resignation, fair elections and a free media. . (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Police create a cordon in front of the Belgrade police headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The opposition clashes with police on Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, were the first major incidents after months of peaceful protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators are demanding his resignation, fair elections and a free media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, foreground center, speaks with police officers behind a cordon in front of the Belgrade police headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The opposition clashes with police on Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, were the first major incidents after months of peaceful protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators are demanding his resignation, fair elections and a free media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Protesters throw a can at a police cordon in front of the Belgrade police headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The opposition clashes with police on Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, were the first major incidents after months of peaceful protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators are demanding his resignation, fair elections and a free media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Police create a cordon in front of the Belgrade police headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 17, 2019. The opposition clashes with police on Saturday and Sunday in Belgrade, the capital, were the first major incidents after months of peaceful protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic. The demonstrators are demanding his resignation, fair elections and a free media. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii would be the first state in the U.S. to ban most plastics at restaurants under legislation that aims to cut down on waste that pollutes the ocean.

Dozens of cities nationwide have banned plastic foam containers, but Hawaii's measure targeting fast-food and full-service restaurants would make it the first state to do so. The liberal state has a history of prioritizing the environment - it's mandated renewable energy use and prohibited sunscreen ingredients that harm coral.

A second, more ambitious proposal would go even further and prohibit restaurants, stores, wholesalers and government agencies from distributing and using plastic drink bottles, utensils, stirring sticks, bags and straws.

The Hawaii efforts would be stricter than in California, which last year became the first state to ban full-service restaurants from automatically giving out plastic straws, and broader than in Seattle, San Francisco and other cities that have banned some single-use plastics.

Activists believe the foam container measure has a better chance of passing in Hawaii.

"We have this reputation of setting the example for the world to follow, and that's what we're trying to do here," state Sen. Mike Gabbard, lead author of the more ambitious measure, said to the Senate. "Our state can once again take the lead in protecting our environment."

In this Thursday, March 14, 2019 photo, Belinda Lau, manager of the Wiki Wiki Drive Inn takeout restaurant in Honolulu, sprinkles cheese on an order of spaghetti in a styrofoam container. Hawaii would be the first state in the U.S. to ban most plastics used at restaurants under legislation that aims to cut down on waste that pollutes the ocean. Dozens of cities across the country have banned plastic foam containers, but Hawaii would be the first to bar them statewide. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

Gabbard, father of Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, said 95 percent of plastic packaging worldwide is thrown out after being used once. In the U.S., 500 million plastic straws are used and thrown out every day, he said.

Discarded, slow-to-degrade plastic is showing up at sea, as in a massive gyre northeast of the Hawaiian islands, and on beaches.

Plastics also contribute to climate change because oil is used to make them, said Stuart Coleman, Hawaii manager for the Surfrider Foundation.

Eric S.S. Wong, co-owner of two fast-food establishments on Oahu, said not being able to serve food in plastic foam containers would drive up his costs at a time when he faces rising health insurance charges for his employees and a possible minimum wage hike that lawmakers also are considering.

He said he'll have to raise prices.

"Now all of the sudden, your family's $30 dining experience became $37 or $38," Wong said.

His Wiki Wiki Drive Inn takeout counter in Honolulu sells sandwiches, breakfast meals and Hawaii favorites like Loco Moco, which features white rice topped with a hamburger patty, fried egg and gravy.

A package of 200 foam boxes costs him $23, while the same number of biodegradable boxes would cost $57, he said.

Chris Yankowski of the Hawaii Restaurant Association, which represents 3,500 restaurants, said lawmakers are trying to do "too much too fast."

Yankowski, who is also president of Triple F Distributors, argued that good alternatives to plastic products are not yet available. Hawaii's cities and counties also don't provide composting facilities, so there is no organized place to dispose of compostable containers that lawmakers say restaurants should use instead, he added.

"It's almost like we want to do great things for the environment, but we're not ready to handle it when we change it over," Yankowski said.

The Hawaii Food Industry Association, which counts the state's biggest supermarkets and convenience stores as members, initially opposed the foam container ban but now supports it.

The group said in written testimony that it's encountered difficulties coping with varied local regulations and it wants the state to create a consistent standard. Two main counties - Hawaii and Maui - have already adopted plastic foam bans. Maui's took effect on Dec. 31, while Hawaii's takes effect on July 1.

The association still opposes the broader measure, which also would ban plastic garbage bags.

The president of Island Plastic Bags, a Hawaii company that makes plastic bags, said the legislation would prohibit his company from selling trash bags to nursing homes and hospitals as well as restaurants and hotels.

Grocery stores wouldn't be able to sell trash can liners, Adrian Hong said in written testimony. It would create a "public health crisis," he said.

Gabbard said his proposal was in the early stages so lawmakers have time to address such concerns.

The state Senate has passed both bills. They still must get through several House committees and the full House before heading to the governor.

Cindy McMillan, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Ige, said he hasn't stated a position on the measures yet.

Justin Macia, a pharmacist in Honolulu, said he would like people to use less plastic and stop using plastic foam entirely because of how long it takes to degrade. Cardboard containers would be a great alternative, he said.

"It's definitely something that's got to go," he said, after eating a sandwich from a foam takeout box.

In this Thursday, March 14, 2019 photo, Belinda Lau, manager of the Wiki Wiki Drive Inn takeout restaurant in Honolulu, holds a polystyrene foam box containing an order of roast pork, rice and salad. Hawaii would be the first state in the nation to ban most plastics used at restaurants, including polystyrene foam containers, if legislation lawmakers are considering is enacted. The aim is to cut down on waste that pollutes the ocean. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

In this Thursday, March 14, 2019 photo, Belinda Lau, manager of the Wiki Wiki Drive Inn takeout restaurant in Honolulu, sprinkles cheese on an order of spaghetti in a styrofoam container. Hawaii would be the first state in the U.S. to ban most plastics used at restaurants under legislation that aims to cut down on waste that pollutes the ocean. Dozens of cities across the country have banned plastic foam containers, but Hawaii would be the first to bar them statewide. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)LONDON (AP) - Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan has been derailed in Parliament. Now she is at the mercy of an exasperated European Union.

May was preparing Tuesday to ask the EU for a delay of at least several months to Brexit after the speaker of the House of Commons ruled that she can't keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same divorce deal that they have already rejected twice.

Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the bloc wouldn't automatically grant the request. He said a long extension "must be linked to something new, a new event, or a new political process."

"The real question is, what is the purpose of it. What is it for?" Barnier said in Brussels.

"To get out of this uncertainty, we need choices and decision from the United Kingdom."

May had hoped to win over her domestic opponents and bring her deal back to Parliament before a summit of the 28-nation bloc in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier answers a question during a press conference following a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. The European Union's Brexit negotiator says Prime Minister Theresa May must explain to EU leaders this week exactly why she wants an extension to the Brexit deadline beyond March 29. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

That plan was scuttled Monday by House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, who declared that Parliament can only vote again if the deal is "fundamentally different" to the version rejected by 230 votes in January and 149 votes last week.

The deadlock leaves Britain's plan to exit the European Union - still scheduled to take place on March 29 - in limbo.

The prime minister's Downing St. office said May will send a letter formally requesting an extension to European Council President Donald Tusk on Tuesday or Wednesday. Downing St. wouldn't say how long a delay she plans to ask for.

If the Brexit deal was approved, May had planned to ask the bloc for an extension until June 30 in order for Parliament to pass the necessary legislation for Britain's departure.

Now a much longer delay looks likely. May has warned opponents that a failure to approve her agreement would mean a long, and possibly indefinite, delay to Britain's departure from the EU.

It could also mean Britain crashing out of the bloc next week without a deal, even though Parliament has voted to rule out that option.

By law, the U.K. will leave the EU on March 29, deal or no deal, unless it secures a delay from the bloc. Withdrawing without a deal could mean huge disruption for businesses and people in the U.K. and the 27 remaining EU countries.

The EU is intensely frustrated with Britain's political paralysis, and says it will only grant an extension if U.K. politicians break their deadlock and come up with new proposals.

"If there is no decision, the date of March 29 comes and then it's a 'no-deal,'" French European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau said. "For the British to decide nothing is to decide on a 'no-deal.'"

Loiseau said U.K. lawmakers "have said no to a 'no-deal' and they have said no to a realistic deal. They have to change their mind on one of the two options."

A top official at the French presidency said a British request would be assessed on "two criteria: Is there a new plan likely to win a majority, and what will be the impact on the European Union?"

"The EU's interests will be put before anything else," said the official, who isn't authorized to speak publicly in line with the presidency's customary practices.

Germany's European affairs minister, Michael Roth, said he expected "clear and precise proposals" from Britain.

"We are really exhausted by these negotiations," Roth said at an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels before the leaders' summit.

EU leaders have been left bemused by Bercow's ruling, in which he cited a 400-year-old parliamentary precedent against voting repeatedly on the same issue.

"I'll concede that I wasn't actively aware of the British Parliament's rules of procedure from the 17th century, so I took note of this with interest yesterday," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

The British government is enraged at Bercow, believing he has overstepped the bounds of his role as speaker. As interpreter and enforcer of Parliament's rules, the speaker has broad powers. But some ministers have accused him of plunging Britain into a constitutional crisis by upsetting the balance of power between the government and Parliament.

"It's a political crisis," said Catherine Haddon, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government think-tank. "It is shambolic and I think it's showing up many of the confusing aspects of our constitution - particularly the convoluted parliamentary rules that have been a difficulty for MPs (members of Parliament) throughout this process."

May, meanwhile, hasn't given up on getting her deal approved. She could try to bring it back to Parliament next week if it can win over enough opponents.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said that despite Bercow's ruling, the deal could be voted on again if "the circumstances have changed."

"The fact that a number of members of Parliament have said that they will change their votes points to the fact that there are things that are different," he told Sky News.

___

Lorne Cook reported from Brussels. Samuel Petrequin in Paris, Danica Kirka in London and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story.

___

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 file photo European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker prepares to shake hands with British Prime Minister Theresa May before their meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker talks to journalists during a joint press conference with Slovakian President Andrej Kiska at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. The British government was preparing Tuesday to ask the European Union for a delay of at least several months to Brexit after the speaker of the House of Commons ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same divorce deal that they have already rejected twice. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier looks on during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. The British government was preparing Tuesday to ask the European Union for a delay of at least several months to Brexit after the speaker of the House of Commons ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same divorce deal that they have already rejected twice. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, right, talks to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. The British government was preparing Tuesday to ask the European Union for a delay of at least several months to Brexit after the speaker of the House of Commons ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same divorce deal that they have already rejected twice. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

FILE - In this file photo dated Thursday, March 22, 2018, John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons speaks at Westminster Hall inside the Palace of Westminster in London. Bercow dealt a potentially fatal blow to Prime Minister Theresa May's ailing Brexit deal on Monday, March 18, 2019, saying the government couldn't keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same Brexit deal that lawmakers have already rejected twice. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, FILE)

France's European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau, left, talks to Romania's Minister for European Affairs George Ciamba during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Loiseau says Britain must make up its mind about its future in the EU or it risks falling out of the bloc without an agreement by default on March 29. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Stephen Barclay arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A European flag placed by anti-Brexit remain in the European Union supporters flies backdropped by the Houses of Parliament, at right, in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A tourist takes a selfie next to placards placed by anti-Brexit supporters stand opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Pro-Brexit supporters protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

An anti-Brexit supporter stands by European and British Union flags placed opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Anti-Brexit supporters protest opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Germany's European Affairs Minister Michael Roth, left, speaks with Malta's Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Helena Dalli, center, and Croatian European Affairs State Secretary Andreja Metelko-Zgombic during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Germany's European affairs minister Michael Roth says Brexit is not a game and that the EU is worn out by two years of tortuous and interminable negotiations over Britain's departure from the bloc. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Britain's exit from the European Union (all times local):

4:25 p.m.

The European Union's Brexit negotiator says Prime Minister Theresa May must explain to EU leaders this week exactly why she wants an extension to the Brexit deadline beyond March 29.

Michel Barnier said Tuesday that "the question is: what is the point? What is the objective of that extension? That will determine the length, or explain the duration."

After talks with EU ministers to prepare Thursday's Brexit summit, Barnier said that any U.K. demand for a long extension "must be linked to something new, a new event, or a new political process."

He says that the draft agreement sealed between EU leaders and May in November remains the only deal possible.

European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, right, talks to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. The British government was preparing Tuesday to ask the European Union for a delay of at least several months to Brexit after the speaker of the House of Commons ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same divorce deal that they have already rejected twice. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Barnier warned of the danger that Britain might crash out of the EU without a deal, saying "everyone should now finalize preparations for a no-deal scenario."

___

11:10 a.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Brexit is in a state of flux and that European Union leaders will "try to react" to whatever British Prime Minister Theresa May proposes on Brexit at an EU summit this week.

Merkel said in Berlin: "We will watch very attentively how the British government reacts to what was said yesterday in Parliament and then deal with the situation. I cannot evaluate what it will be on Thursday - much too much is in flux."

The British government appears to be preparing to ask the EU for a long extension to the country's departure date of March 29, after the House of Commons speaker ruled the government cannot keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same divorce deal they have already rejected twice.

Merkel said: "I'll concede that I wasn't actively aware of the British Parliament's rules of procedure from the 17th century, so I took note of this with interest yesterday."

___

10:45 a.m.

For all the talk of Brexit uncertainty weighing on the British economy, the country continues to post sizeable declines in unemployment.

The Office for National Statistics said employment in Britain rose by 222,000 in the three months to January, compared to the previous quarter. That took the employment rate up to a record 76.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the country's unemployment rate declined to 3.9 percent. That's the first time it has fallen below 4 percent since early 1975.

James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, said the figures are "stunningly strong" and suggest that business in Britain "must still be seeing healthy demand to have the confidence to hire workers in such numbers."

Wages are also on the up, with average weekly earnings excluding bonuses 3.4 percent higher than the previous year.

The figures counter much of the economic news of recent weeks, with increasing signs of Brexit uncertainty harming the economy, notably business investment.

___

9:55 a.m.

France's European affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, says Britain must make up its mind about its future in the EU or it risks crashing out of the bloc by default on March 29.

Loiseau said U.K. lawmakers "have said no to a 'no-deal' and they have said no to a realistic deal. They have to change their mind on one of the two options."

Meeting with EU counterparts to prepare this week's Brexit summit, she said "if there is no decision, the date of March 29 comes and then it's a 'no-deal.' For the British to decide nothing is to decide on a 'no-deal'."

Summing up the growing European fatigue with two years of protracted negotiations, Loiseau said: "You have to have a sense of humor when you deal with Brexit right now."

She added: "We have goodwill but we also have other issues to deal with and we have citizens and companies and the uncertainty is unbearable for them."

___

9:20 a.m.

Germany's European affairs minister, Michael Roth, says Brexit is not a game and that the EU is worn out by two years of tortuous and interminable negotiations over Britain's departure from the bloc.

Speaking at a meeting with his EU counterparts to prepare a leaders' summit this week, Roth said "we are really exhausted by these negotiations."

Roth said: "I expect clear and precise proposals of the British government."

He told reporters that "it's not just a game. It's an extremely serious situation, not just for the people in the United Kingdom but also for the people in the European Union."

Roth underlined that Germany stands by the deal the EU agreed with British Prime Minister Theresa May in November and "it's the key priority to prevent a no-deal Brexit."

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 but following the failure of lawmakers to back her withdrawal agreement, May is expected to ask leaders at the summit for an extension to the country's departure date.

___

9:15 a.m.

The European Union's presidency thinks a series of developments over recent days have made it more difficult to predict what might happen at this week's summit of EU leaders, at which British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to request a delay to Britain's departure date from the bloc.

Romania's European affairs minister, George Ciamba, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said "the biggest issue right now is that it's getting more foggy."

His comments come a day after John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, ruled out a new vote on May's Brexit deal unless there are substantive changes. May was trying to win support from opponents who have voted against her deal on two occasions previously.

Ciamba said "we need to have more clarity from London. Clearly, there is no clarity."

EU leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday to weigh whether to grant Britain an extension on beyond March 29, and if so, for how long.

___

8:50 a.m.

The British government is considering its response to the ruling of the speaker of the House of Commons that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same European Union divorce deal they have already rejected twice.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told Sky News Tuesday that the Cabinet would give "serious consideration" to John Bercow's decision that the government could not bring the deal back for a third vote without substantial changes. May has been lobbying opponents in preparation for another vote on her plan.

Barclay says the government needs "to look at the details of the ruling."

"The fact that a number of members of Parliament have said that they will change their votes points to the fact that there are things that are different."

___

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

Members of the British delegation wait for the start of a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Germany's European affairs minister Michael Roth says Brexit is not a game and that the EU is worn out by two years of tortuous and interminable negotiations over Britain's departure from the bloc. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

A European flag placed by anti-Brexit remain in the European Union supporters flies backdropped by the Houses of Parliament, at right, in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A woman exits the metro station under a symbol of the EU in the EU quarter of Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Germany's European affairs minister Michael Roth says Brexit is not a game and that the EU is worn out by two years of tortuous and interminable negotiations over Britain's departure from the bloc. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Romania's Minister for European Affairs George Ciamba, left, speaks with Sweden's European Affairs Minister Hans Dahlgren during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Germany's European affairs minister Michael Roth says Brexit is not a game and that the EU is worn out by two years of tortuous and interminable negotiations over Britain's departure from the bloc. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Germany's European Affairs Minister Michael Roth, left, speaks with Malta's Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Helena Dalli, center, and Croatian European Affairs State Secretary Andreja Metelko-Zgombic during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Germany's European affairs minister Michael Roth says Brexit is not a game and that the EU is worn out by two years of tortuous and interminable negotiations over Britain's departure from the bloc. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Romania's Minister for European Affairs George Ciamba, left, speaks with Sweden's European Affairs Minister Hans Dahlgren during a meeting of EU ministers for European Affairs at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Germany's European affairs minister Michael Roth says Brexit is not a game and that the EU is worn out by two years of tortuous and interminable negotiations over Britain's departure from the bloc. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, left, speaks with Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi during a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 18, 2019. EU foreign ministers hold talks with their Chinese counterpart as the bloc seeks to establish a new strategic balance with the Asian economic giant. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

FILE - In this file photo dated Thursday, March 22, 2018, John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons speaks at Westminster Hall inside the Palace of Westminster in London. Bercow dealt a potentially fatal blow to Prime Minister Theresa May's ailing Brexit deal on Monday, March 18, 2019, saying the government couldn't keep asking lawmakers to vote on the same Brexit deal that lawmakers have already rejected twice. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, FILE)

A tourist takes a selfie next to placards placed by anti-Brexit supporters stand opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Pro-Brexit supporters protest outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

An anti-Brexit supporter stands by European and British Union flags placed opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Placards placed by anti-Brexit supporters stand opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Anti-Brexit supporters protest opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday, March 18, 2019. British Prime Minister Theresa May was making a last-minute push Monday to win support for her European Union divorce deal, warning opponents that failure to approve it would mean a long - and possibly indefinite - delay to Brexit. Parliament has rejected the agreement twice, but May aims to try a third time this week if she can persuade enough lawmakers to change their minds. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A Catholic diocese in Mississippi on Tuesday released the names of 37 clergy members who it says have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Officials with the Diocese of Jackson said 30 of the clergy were accused of sexual abuse in Mississippi and the others worked in the Mississippi diocese but were accused of abuse in other states.

The bishop of the diocese, Joseph Kopacz, publicly apologized Tuesday during a news conference outside a cathedral in downtown Jackson.

"Every case of abuse represents shattered lives and damaged families and communities," Kopacz said. "I hope that releasing this list will demonstrate a new level of transparency and a sincere desire to accompany victims of sexual abuse as our God of compassion and justice demands. I apologize to all the victims of abuse, to their families and to the faithful who have been hurt by this scandal."

The diocese published the list Tuesday on its website as part of the Catholic Church's international reckoning with allegations of sex abuse that have proliferated around the world.

The victims in the Jackson Diocese were boys and girls ages 5 to 17, diocese chancellor Mary Woodward said. Woodward said the cases date from 1939 to 1998, and none of the accused clergy are still in active ministry.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz speaks about the Diocese of Jackson releasing names of clergy members it says have been credibly accused of sexual abuse on its website, during a news conference in the parking lot of The Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Woodward said there are two additional cases involving clergy whose names were not released Tuesday. One is on appeal. The other, still under investigation, involves abuse that allegedly happened in 1961 but was just reported recently.

Woodward, members of an independent fitness review board and retired bishops reviewed about 1,400 files from five bishops of the diocese from 1924 to this year, she said.

In some cases, psychologists "treated a priest and deemed him safe to go back into ministry," the diocese said in a message that accompanied the list on its website.

Any clergy member, employee or volunteer found to be abusing minors from now on will be permanently removed from ministry, the post said.

The diocese also said it provided information about the past abuse allegations to the Mississippi attorney general's office in 2002, before the current attorney general was elected. The diocese said it gave the attorney general an updated list Monday.

Kopacz said in a letter released Monday that he is "truly, deeply sorry" for any pain the list may cause.

"The crime of abuse of any kind is a sin, but the abuse of children and vulnerable adults is especially egregious," Kopacz wrote. "First and foremost, it is a sin against the innocent victims, but also a sin against the Church and our communities. It is a sin that cries out for justice."

The bishop said he encourages anyone who has been sexually abused by a clergy member or church employee to come forward. He wrote that the diocese has a legal duty to report the cases to law enforcement, and "helping victims find healing and wholeness is our moral imperative."

He also said the church is taking steps to prevent abuse, including screening and educating employees and volunteers.

The Diocese of Jackson encompasses 65 of Mississippi's 82 counties and has about 48,000 registered Catholics.

In January, the only other Catholic diocese in Mississippi, the Diocese of Biloxi, released the names of three clergy members who it said had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct against minors since the diocese was founded in 1977. All three were prohibited from the ministry and allegations were reported to authorities, the diocese said. One was accused in 2015 of misconduct with an adolescent boy in Laurel, and is serving a 10-year prison sentence. Another was accused of misconduct with an adolescent girl in Biloxi during the mid-1980s; and the third, with adolescent girls in Biloxi in 1989, the diocese said.

A grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania last year identified nearly 300 "predator priests" going back nearly 70 years, and it accused Roman Catholic Church leaders of covering up the abuse. The Associated Press reported that in the final four months of 2018, Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States released the names of more than 1,000 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children.

More information has been released since then. In January, 14 Catholic dioceses in Texas identified 286 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children.

Mary Woodward, Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, speaks to reporters about their releasing names of clergy members it says have been credibly accused of sexual abuse on its website, during a news conference in the parking lot of The Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Bishop Joseph Kopacz speaks about the Diocese of Jackson releasing names of clergy members it says have been credibly accused of sexual abuse on its website, during a news conference in the parking lot of The Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - Uganda's president is denying support for rebels opposed to Rwanda's government as tensions between the two East African neighbors persist, raising fears of a possible armed conflict.

In a letter to Rwandan President Paul Kagame published on Tuesday in government-controlled media, President Yoweri Museveni said that "there is no question of Uganda supporting anti-Rwanda elements."

An official with the Ugandan presidency confirmed Museveni authored the private letter to Kagame in efforts to assuage the Rwandan leader's concerns about alleged help from Uganda being extended to the Rwanda National Congress, an opposition group in exile that's led by former Rwandan army chief Kayumba Nyamwasa.

Nyamwasa, who lives in South Africa, has survived at least two assassination attempts he believes were ordered by Rwandan authorities. Rwanda, which denies targeting Nyamwasa, has outlawed his group, which it accuses of operating rebel cells in eastern Congo.

In the letter published in the Ugandan newspaper The New Vision, Museveni acknowledged he recently met with a member of a Rwanda National Congress who spoke of "bad things" happening in Rwanda and who "wanted us to support them."

Museveni also met separately with an exiled Rwandan tycoon, Tribert Rujugiro, who is accused by Rwandan authorities of financing rebels opposed to Kagame, according to Museveni's letter to Kagame. Rujugiro's business in Uganda, notably a big tobacco processing plant, is one of the contentious issues, with Kagame demanding Rujugiro divests out of Uganda.

It appeared Museveni would not move to forcibly shut down or sell Rujugiro's business.

"If, therefore, he is still a problem to Rwanda, the correct option is to use the courts of Uganda to prove the case of terrorism and then his assets can be frozen," Museveni wrote to Kagame on March 10, talking about Rujugiro.

Rujugiro himself denies supporting anti-Kagame groups, saying in an interview with the New Vision on Sunday that "Kagame knows that if I opted to help the rebels fighting against him, it would take less than six months to defeat him."

Both Museveni and Kagame have recently made remarks seen as threatening to each other, with the Ugandan leader warning that "those who try to destabilize our country do not know our capacity" and Kagame countering that "nobody anywhere can bring me to my knees."

Rwanda's government has closed a busy border crossing with Uganda, stranding traders in what Uganda describes as a trade embargo. Rwanda's government has ordered its citizens not to travel to Uganda.

Tensions between Rwanda and Uganda, as well as between Rwanda and Burundi, "are reaching an alarming level" and "could lead to another proxy conflict in eastern (Congo)," according to analysis by the South Africa-based think tank Institute for Security Studies.

In recent years Rwanda also has sparred with Burundi over charges Burundian rebels are based across the border in Rwanda.

In the 1990s the armies of Uganda and Rwanda went to war in eastern Congo when they backed rival rebel groups. Many parts of eastern Congo remain lawless, with many armed groups still operating there.

Kagame and Museveni, strong leaders who have ruled their countries for many years, have increasingly disagreed in recent years as Kagame, once an intelligence lieutenant for Museveni, asserts his authority at home and in the region.

Kagame, who grew up as a refugee in Uganda, was a Ugandan army major before he led Uganda-backed rebels who took power in Rwanda at the end of the 1994 genocide.BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) - U.S.-backed Syrian forces on Tuesday seized control of an encampment held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, after hundreds of militants surrendered overnight, a spokesman said, signaling the group's collapse after months of stiff resistance. A group of suspects involved in a January bombing that killed four Americans in northern Syria were among militants captured by the Kurdish-led forces.

The taking of the IS camp was a major advance but not the final defeat of the group in Baghouz, the last village held by the extremists where they have been holding out for weeks under siege, according to Mustafa Bali, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces. Still, fighters from the force were starting to celebrate anyway.

"I'm happy it's over. Now I know my people are safe," said a fighter who identified himself as Walid Raqqawi who fought in the camp Monday night. He said he is returning to his hometown of Raqqa to rest. Comrades from his unit sang and danced in celebration at an outpost in Baghouz, all saying they were looking forward to going home.

An unknown number of IS militants still clung to a tiny sliver of land trapped between the Euphrates River and the encampment now held by the SDF, officials in the force said.

The militants have been putting up a desperate fight, their notorious propaganda machine working even on the brink of collapse. On Monday, IS issued a video showing its militants furiously defending the encampment, a junkyard of wrecked cards, motorcycles and tents. In the footage, they shoot nonstop with AK-47s and M-16s from behind trucks, vehicles and sand berms.

A group of children could be seen at one point amid the fighting.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters celebrate their territorial gains over Islamic State militants in Baghouz, Syria, move to a camp Tuesday, March 19, 2019. On Tuesday, a spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting IS in Syria says his fighters are in control of an encampment in the village of Baghouz where IS militants have been besieged for months. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

"My Muslim brothers everywhere, we did our best, the rest is up to God," a fighter says as black smoke rises from behind him.

The complete fall of Baghouz would mark the end of the Islamic State group's self-declared territorial "caliphate," which at its height stretched across much of Syria and Iraq. For the past four years, U.S.-led forces have waged a destructive campaign to tear down the "caliphate." But even after Baghouz's fall, IS maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells that threaten a continuing insurgency.

The battle for Baghouz has dragged on for weeks - and the encampment has proven a major battleground, with tents covering foxholes and underground tunnels.

The siege has also been slowed by the unexpectedly large number of civilians in Baghouz, most of them families of IS members. Over past weeks they have been flowing out, exhausted, hungry and often wounded. The sheer number who emerged - nearly 30,000 since early January according to Kurdish officials - took the Kurdish-led SDF by surprise.

In the last two weeks, many IS militants appeared to be among those evacuating. But SDF commanders have stopped speculating when the battle may finally be over. Commanders say they don't know how many more may still be left, hiding in tunnels beneath the war-scarred village.

In the seizure Tuesday of the encampment, hundreds of wounded and sick militants were captured and have been evacuated to nearby military hospitals for treatment, Bali, the SDF spokesman, said in a Twitter post. Still, he cautioned, "this is not a victory announcement, but a significant progress in the fight."

There were conflicting reports from SDF commanders on the ground about the extent of the IS surrender.

Commander Rustam Hasake told The Associated Press that SDF forces advanced on four fronts Monday night and were inside the camp when the last IS fighters surrendered at dawn. He said the last fighters were pushed out of the camp and were now in an open patch of land by the Euphrates River and were being processed and detained.

Another commander, however, said some IS militants continue to hold a tiny area in an open patch of land in the village, outside the encampment.

AP journalists in Baghouz reported sporadic gunfire echoing in Baghouz and jets circling overhead. At a command post in Baghouz, a Humvee pulled up and unloaded weapons captured from IS on Tuesday, including sniper and hunting rifles, pump action shot guns and grenades and ammunition.

Five trucks hauling 10 trailers full of people were seen coming out of Baghouz. A child could be heard wailing from inside one of them. At least 100 people, nearly all of them children, have died in the truck trips from Baghouz on the way to a camp in northern Syria, or soon after reaching it, according to the International Rescue Committee - a sign of how miserable conditions were inside Baghouz during the siege as supplies ran out.

Bali, in a separate Twitter post Tuesday, said the SDF captured a group of suspects involved in a January suicide bombing that killed four Americans in the northern town of Manbij. He did not elaborate on the number of suspects or whether they were among the most recent militants to surrender.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the blast outside a popular restaurant in Manbij, which killed at least 16 people, including two U.S. service members and two American civilians. It was the deadliest assault on U.S. troops in Syria since American forces went into the country in 2015.

As they make their final stand, the IS militants have issued a string of statements this month claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on the SDF.

In an audio posted online Monday, the IS spokesman, Abu Hassan al-Muhajer, issued his first message in six months, calling for revenge attacks by Muslims in Western countries in retaliation for the shooting attack on two New Zealand mosques that killed 50 people.

He also ridiculed U.S. declarations of the defeat of the Islamic State group, calling the claim of victory a "hallucination."

But SDF fighters celebrated as if the final collapse were imminent. At the SDF outpost in Baghouz, a commander danced with his soldiers. Fighters said remaining IS militants didn't put up much resistance.

"We fired on them with our rifles and heavy weapons and they didn't shoot back. So we walked into the camp and they didn't shoot at us," said Orhan Hamad, from the northern province of Hassakeh.

"I tell the martyrs, it wasn't for nothing. With God's permission, we've finished Daesh."

___

Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed reporting.

A U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter prays after returning from the front line in their fight against Islamic State militants in Baghouz, Syria, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. On Tuesday, a spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting IS in Syria says his fighters are in control of an encampment in the village of Baghouz where IS militants have been besieged for months. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters celebrate their territorial gains over Islamic State militants in Baghouz, Syria, move to a camp Tuesday, March 19, 2019. On Tuesday, a spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting IS in Syria says his fighters are in control of an encampment in the village of Baghouz where IS militants have been besieged for months. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters rest after returning from the front line after territorial gains over Islamic State militants in Baghouz, Syria, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. On Tuesday, a spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting IS in Syria says his fighters are in control of an encampment in the village of Baghouz where IS militants have been besieged for months. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

A U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter stands guard as trucks carrying Islamic State militants and families who surrendered in Baghouz, Syria, move to a camp Tuesday, March 19, 2019. On Tuesday, a spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting IS in Syria says his fighters are in control of an encampment in the village of Baghouz where IS militants have been besieged for months. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

In this Monday, March 18, 2019, photo, Islamic State militant positions are ablaze in Baghouz, Syria as U.S-backed Syrian Democratic forces pound the group's remaining territory. On Tuesday, a spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting IS in Syria says his fighters are in control of an encampment in the village of Baghouz where IS militants have been besieged for months. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

This frame grab from video posted online Monday, March 18, 2019, by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows Islamic State fighters firing their weapons during clashes with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, in Baghouz, the Islamic State group's last pocket of territory in Syria. U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State group announced Tuesday they have taken control over an encampment in an eastern Syrian village where IS militants have been besieged for months, refusing to surrender. (Aamaq News Agency via AP)

This frame grab from video posted online Monday, March 18, 2019, by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows IS fighters walking as they hold the group's flag inside Baghouz, the Islamic State group's last pocket of territory in Syria. U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State group announced Tuesday they have taken control over an encampment in an eastern Syrian village where IS militants have been besieged for months, refusing to surrender. (Aamaq News Agency via AP)

This frame grab from video posted online Monday, March 18, 2019, by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows smoke rising as an IS fighter walking inside Baghouz, the Islamic State group's last pocket of territory in Syria. U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the IS announced Tuesday they have taken control over an encampment in an eastern Syrian village where IS militants have been besieged for months, refusing to surrender. (Aamaq News Agency via AP)HANOVER, N.H. (AP) - A Dartmouth College professor of physics and astronomy was awarded one of the world's leading religion prizes for blending hard science and deep spirituality in his work, a foundation announced Tuesday.

The John Templeton Foundation is awarding its 2019 prize to Marcelo Gleiser, who has written books on topics ranging from the origin of the universe to how science engages with spirituality. The Templeton Prize comes with a $1.4 million award.

Gleiser, a 60-year-old Brazilian native, is the 49th recipient and the first from Latin America to get the award, which honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension. Previous winners include Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The award will be presented at a ceremony in New York City on May 29.

"I will work harder than ever to spread my message of global unity and planetary awareness to a wider audience, as we prepare to face this century's daunting social, technological, and environmental challenges," Gleiser said.

Gleiser, who joined Dartmouth in 1991, works to advance the public understanding of science. He has published five books in the United States, including "The Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang," plus many others in Brazil.

He also co-founded the long-running 13.7: Cosmos and Culture blog for National Public Radio.CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's top media regulator on Tuesday put into effect tighter restrictions that allow the state to block websites and even social media accounts with over 5,000 followers if they are deemed a threat to national security.

The move is the latest step by the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to suppress dissent. In recent years, Egypt has launched an unprecedented crackdown on reporters and the media, imprisoning dozens and occasionally expelling some foreign journalists.

The new regulations, published in the official gazette late Monday, allow the Supreme Media Regulatory Council to block websites and accounts for "fake news," and impose stiff penalties of up to 250,000 Egyptian pounds ($14,400), all without having to obtain a court order.

Prominent Egyptian journalists have called the measures unconstitutional, saying they grant far-reaching powers to authorities to censor the media, in violation of basic press freedoms.

Chief regulator Makram Mohammed Ahmed refused to comment.

Mohamed Abdel-Hafiz, a board member of the journalists' union, said the government is threatening journalists with "vaguely defined national security violations, as well as vaguely defined political, social or religious norms."

FILE -- In this May 3, 2016 file photo, security forces close off a street near the Egyptian Press Syndicate during a protest by journalists, in Cairo, Egypt. The Supreme Media Regulatory Council has put into effect tighter restrictions that allow the state to block websites and even social media accounts with over 5,000 followers if they're deemed a threat to national security. The media regulator will also be able to impose stiff penalties of 250,000 Egyptian pounds ($14,400), all without having to obtain a court order. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)

The nine-page document gave a broad list of prohibited topics, including "anything inciting violating the law, public morals, racism, intolerance, violence, discrimination between citizens or hatred." Media outlets that continue to publish "offending material" will be fined up to five million Egyptian pounds (around $298,000). The new regulations laid out the same penalty for outlets that publish content without obtaining distribution rights, plus additional compensation.

Critics of the new measures said the rules were stricter than those approved by lawmakers last July, which they said gave the government almost total control over the media.

Journalists' union board member Gamal Abdel-Rahim explained: "Blocking websites is not included in the laws. The constitution itself states that websites and newspapers cannot be shut down without a court order."

He said the regulatory council had also ignored all of the union's notes and comments on the new measures.

Since late 2017, some 500 websites including news outlets and rights groups have been blocked, according to a recent report by an Egyptian watchdog group, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.

Authorities say the measures are necessary to prevent instability as Egypt struggles to revive its economy and combat an Islamic insurgency in northern Sinai. El-Sissi has frequently suggested political rights are less important than the right to food, housing and other necessities, and has rolled back many of the freedoms won by the 2011 uprising against longtime autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.

The government set up a unit last year for tracking alleged rumors, after el-Sissi claimed without elaborating that the government had identified some 21,000 rumors circulated over a three-month period in 2018.

Egypt remains among the world's worst jailers of journalists, behind China and Turkey, according to the press freedom group the Committee to Protect Journalists.NEW YORK (AP) - Anderson Cooper has a two-book deal and plans to collaborate with historian-novelist Katherine Howe.

Harper announced Tuesday the 51-year-old CNN anchor and "60 Minutes" correspondent will work on two books of nonfiction with Howe, who specializes in novels about witchcraft, including "The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs" and "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane." The first release is scheduled for 2022. Harper declined to share further details.

Cooper is the best-selling author of "Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival" and "The Rainbow Comes and Goes," which he wrote with his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt.LOS ANGELES (AP) - According to filmmaker David Lynch, all it takes are 70 ideas to make a feature film.

The visionary mind behind "Blue Velvet," ''Mulholland Drive" and "Twin Peaks" is imparting this and other wisdom, like never giving up final cut, in a new MasterClass on creativity and filmmaking that's available now for enrollment online.

Lynch joins an esteemed lot of MasterClass instructors from Martin Scorsese to Spike Lee. Prices range from $90 for one class to $180 for unlimited access.

In his class, Lynch talks about the value of daydreaming for catching ideas. He also extols the importance of studying classic films and why he doesn't like rules.

Lynch says he was drawn to the idea that a MasterClass could make a difference to new filmmakers.

FILE - This Nov. 4, 2017 file photo shows director David Lynch during the Rome Film Festival in Rome. The "Blue Velvet" director has joined the MasterClass faculty with an online class about creativity and filmmaking. He outlines the process for "catching ideas", the importance of daydreaming and setting "bait" for creative ideas. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)BRUSSELS (AP) - Police in Brussels have reopened a street close to the European Union headquarters after a bomb threat was sent to a company linked to the EU.

Police spokeswoman Ilse Van de Keere said a "telephone bomb threat" temporarily forced the evacuation of some 40 people from a building close to the EU Commission on Tuesday. Police sealed off the street and had it checked for explosives, but reopened it after a thorough check with sniffer dogs.

Officials said the company was a consulting office linked to the EU's executive Commission but did not name it.THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and destruction.

United Nations appeals judges will on Wednesday rule whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as his 40-year sentence. They will also rule on an appeal by prosecutors against his acquittal on a second count of genocide during Bosnia's war, Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.

The appeals judgment comes at a time when the global project to hold leaders accountable for crimes is under pressure - last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel seeking to investigate alleged abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seek action against Israel.

Amnesty International described the move as "the latest attack on international justice and international institutions by an administration hell-bent on rolling back human rights protections."

Karadzic was convicted by a different court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, but should the judges overturn his convictions, it would likely be seen as another damaging blow to international courts.

As the leader of Bosnia's Serbs during the country's devastating 1992-95 war, Karadzic is one of the most senior figures tried by the Hague war crimes court. His case is considered as key in delivering justice for the victims of the conflict which left over 100,000 people dead and millions homeless.

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 1992 file photo, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic holds a knife he said was seized from Bosnian Croat soldiers in Bosnia during a news conference in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and destruction during Europe's bloodiest carnage since World War II. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019, will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/File)

Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko Mladic is also awaiting an appeal judgment of his genocide and war crimes conviction, which earned him a life sentence.

At an appeals hearing last year, prosecution lawyer Katrina Gustafson told a five-judge panel that Karadzic "abused his immense power to spill the blood of countless victims. Justice requires that he receive the highest possible sentence - a life sentence."

Last week, Bosnian war wounds were revived when it was revealed that the white supremacist suspected in the mosque shootings that left at least 50 people dead in New Zealand appeared to show admiration for Karadzic and his legacy. In a video, the self-proclaimed white supremacist is seen driving apparently on his way to the attack and listening to a wartime Bosnian Serb song praising Karadzic and his fight against Bosnia's Muslims.

Bosnian war survivors believe that appeals judges must keep in place his 10 convictions and his sentence.

"We expect that he'll get (the punishment) he deserves," said Sehida Abdurahmanovic, who lost 30 relatives in the Bosnian war's bloody climax, the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. "We expect (the appeals court) to confirm the first-instance verdict and that he will not be allowed at any price to avoid the responsibility for genocide."

But Karadzic supporters are hoping for a reduction in his sentence or even acquittal.

"I believe that, at worst, the (appeals) verdict will be much, much more favorable than the first-instance verdict," said Momcilo Krajisnik, Karadzic's political right-hand man during the war. "If we are lucky, he will be a free man."

Krajisnik, himself, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for persecuting and forcibly expelling non-Serbs and crimes against humanity. He was released in 2014 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Azir Osmanovic, 36, curator of the Srebrenica memorial, who survived the massacre as a child but whose older brother's remains have not been found, fears that Karadzic's sentence could be reduced.

"We believe that for the crimes he had organized here in Bosnia-Herzegovina he does not deserve 40, but rather 400 years in prison," he said.

Karadzic was also tried for an orchestrated campaign to drive the Muslims and Croats from Serb-held territories in Bosnia, as well as the more than three-year siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital.

Karadzic remained at large for years before he was arrested in Serbia in 2008 as a disguised new-age therapist.

A U.N. peacekeeper in Srebrenica ahead of the massacre, Boudewyn Kok has been returning to the eastern Bosnian town annually to pay his respect to the victims. This year, he came with his teenage son so he could tell him about what happened in Srebrenica.

"But unfortunately, the war crimes court has no death penalty," Kok said.

___

Stojanovic reported from Belgrade, Serbia. Sabina Niksic contributed to this story from Sarajevo, Bosnia.

In this Saturday, March 16, 2019 photo, a flower is placed next to a name of a massacre victim carved in memorial cemetery in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

This Saturday, March 16, 2019 photo shows tombs at the memorial cemetery for massacre victims in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Saturday, March 16, 2019 photo, a chaplet hangs on a tomb at the memorial cemetery for massacre victims in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, graffiti depicting Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic on a wall in the Bosnian Serb wartime stronghold of Pale, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. The text in Cyrillic reads: "Radovan, Serbian hero". (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, a church service is held at an Orthodox church in the Bosnian Serb wartime stronghold of Pale, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, a man walks his children past the monument for Bosnian Serbs killed in 1990s war in the Bosnian Serb wartime stronghold of Pale, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, a church service is held at an Orthodox church in the Bosnian Serb wartime stronghold of Pale, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, women walk past a war damaged building in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, a woman walks a dog past a war damaged building in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, cyclists ride past war damaged buildings in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this Sunday, March 17, 2019 photo, a man places flowers at the section of a cemetery for 1990s war victims in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia's devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and mistreatment by his administration's forces. United Nations appeals judges on Wednesday March 20, 2019 will decide whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic's 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland is seeking to prosecute seven communist-era judges and prosecutors who imprisoned pro-democracy fighters in the 1980s, justice officials said Tuesday.

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, said that authorities want to lift the immunity of three judges and four prosecutors, who "unlawfully deprived of freedom" those protesting the 1981 communist-imposed martial law and the authorities of the time.

Ziobro, who is also the prosecutor general, said the aim was to bring the officials to justice for what he described as "court crimes." He did not disclose their identities, other than to say that two of the judges were active until recently in the Supreme Court.

The motions, written by special history-focused prosecutors of the government-controlled Institute of National Remembrance, or IPN, were sent to disciplinary courts on Tuesday.

Head of the institute's investigative arm, Andrzej Pozorski, said the probe into the martial-law era imprisonments was their biggest so far.

Poland's right-wing ruling Law and Justice party, which has introduced controversial charges to the justice system that are strongly criticized by the European Union leaders, has sought to punish and remove from public life justice officials of the communist era. It argues it is acting in the interest of the victims.

The IPN says that at least 10 people were unlawfully sent to prison in 1981-82, including two high school students caught painting anti-regime graffiti. The verdicts had a very negative effect on their lives.TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranian state TV says careless loading of cargo has capsized a ship in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, sending port workers scrambling to retrieve any of the 153 containers that were suddenly submerged.

The report says only one Indian seaman aboard the Comoros-owned LS Star was injured in the foot in the incident on Monday.

Mehdi Haghshenas, deputy chief of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization, told the TV the ship was not being loaded properly and that there was "poor coordination between the ship's first officer and the crane operator" lifting the containers on board.

He says the ship has a 14-member crew, all from India.

There were no further details and there was no immediate estimate of damages.BERLIN (AP) - A court in Germany ruled Tuesday that the government has partial responsibility to ensure U.S. drone strikes controlled with the help of an American base on German territory are in line with international law, but judges stopped short of ordering the ban that human rights activists had called for.

The case was brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights on behalf of three Yemeni plaintiffs, who allege their relatives were killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2012. A lower court had dismissed their case in 2015, concluding at the time that the government had fulfilled its legal duties and was within its rights to balance them with "foreign and defense policy interests."

The Muenster administrative court said in a statement that available evidence suggests the Ramstein U.S. air base in southern Germany plays "a central role" for the relay of flight control data used for armed drone strikes in Yemen.

Judges ordered the German government to take "appropriate measures" to determine whether the use of armed drones controlled via Ramstein is in line with international law and, if necessary, to press Washington to comply with it.

"The judgment from the court in Muenster is an important step toward placing limits on the drone program as carried out via Ramstein," said Andreas Schueller, a lawyer with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. "Germany must now face up to its responsibility for these strikes."

The German Foreign Ministry said it would study the ruling.

FILE-In this June 27, 2015 file photo an airplane lands at the US Air Base in Ramstein, Germany. A court in Germany has ruled that the government should seek assurances from the United States that drone strikes controlled from German territory are in line with international law. (Ronald Wittek/dpa via AP)

"The German government is in regular and confidential contact with the United States about the role the U.S. air base Ramstein plays in the U.S.'s international deployment of unmanned aircrafts," the ministry said in a statement.

A spokesman for U.S. Air Force Europe said the Ramstein base is used to "conduct operational level planning, monitoring and assessment of assigned airpower missions throughout Europe and Africa."

"The U.S. Air Force does not launch or operate remotely piloted aircraft from Germany as part of our counter terrorism activities," Lt. Col. Dustin M. Hart said in an emailed comment.

"We greatly value our longstanding and close relationship with Germany and remain in close dialogue with our German counterparts on all matters related to our bases here and our mutual efforts to support German and European security," he added.

The Muenster court said in its statement that "the question of whether international law permits the use of armed drones in Yemen isn't a political question but a legal question."

Judges questioned the German government's assertion that there was no reason to believe the U.S. had broken any laws with the 2012 strike in in Hadramawt province, which killed at least two people, and ordered it to investigate doubts raised by the plaintiffs.

U.S. drone strikes in Yemen have targeted suspected members of al-Qaida.

The German judges said public statements by U.S. officials cast doubt on whether the American drones are only targeting people who have a "continuous combat function" - a legal threshold meant to prevent civilians associated with but not actively fighting for armed groups from being subjected to extrajudicial killings.

The court said the "fundamental significance" of the case means it can be appealed before the federal administrative court.

___

Follow Frank Jordans on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wirereporterGENEVA (AP) - A top U.S. diplomat says her country wants an envoy of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to take up the rotating presidency of a key U.N. disarmament body in two months.

Assistant Secretary Yleem Poblete used the United States' turn to hold the rotating presidency of the Conference on Disarmament to chronicle many U.S. concerns, including policies by Russia, Iran and China.

She said Tuesday the U.S. hopes a Guaido envoy "will be in a position" to take the conference presidency when Venezuela's turn comes in May. The United States and dozens of other countries have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's president.

Venezuelan ambassador Jorge Valero, who represents President Nicolas Maduro's government, called Poblete's comments "absolutely absurd" and accused the Trump administration of seeking to install a "puppet president" in Venezuela.BERLIN (AP) - Hundreds of U.S. soldiers have begun arriving in Germany in the first test of a rapid deployment strategy meant to bolster NATO's presence in eastern Europe in the event of Russian aggression or other emergencies.

U.S. Army Europe says 350 soldiers from the 1st Armored Division arrived in Berlin Tuesday as part of a group of 1,500 arriving this week.

They're heading to Poland, where they will link up with tanks and other heavy equipment being brought in from a pre-positioned site in the Netherlands.

They will then conduct maneuvers with Polish forces.

The idea of the "dynamic force employment" strategy is to "rapidly surge combat-ready forces" into Europe when needed.

The U.S., Canada, Germany and Britain already lead battalion-size units in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):

7:45 p.m.

Russia's defense minister has visited Damascus to deliver a letter from President Vladimir Putin to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that during Tuesday's visit, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Assad "discussed the issues related to fighting international terrorism along with various aspects of Mideast security and post-conflict settlement."

It said the talks also focused on efforts to help Syrian refugees return and to deliver humanitarian assistance.

Shoigu said Western nations have sought to "hamper positive changes in Syria and create new obstacles for ending the crisis."

This frame grab from video posted online Monday, March 18, 2019, by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows IS fighters walking as they hold the group's flag inside Baghouz, the Islamic State group's last pocket of territory in Syria. U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State group announced Tuesday they have taken control over an encampment in an eastern Syrian village where IS militants have been besieged for months, refusing to surrender. (Aamaq News Agency via AP)

Russia launched a military intervention in Syria in September 2015, eventually helping Assad's forces to regain large areas of the country. Western nations supported the Syrian opposition, and have refused to aid in Syria's reconstruction without a political settlement.

___

5:15 p.m.

A Kurdish force fighting the Islamic State group in Syria is confirming the death of an Italian national killed while battling the extremist group.

The People's Protection Units, or YPG, say Lorenzo Orsetti, 33, joined their ranks in 2017 and died on Monday during operations to capture the last area occupied by IS in the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria.

The extremist group had claimed Monday the killing of five U.S.-backed fighters, including Orsetti, publishing pictures of his body and his documents.

The Italian news agency ANSA confirmed Orsetti's death. His father told ANSA he was proud his son, who "died for a cause he believed in."

___

2:40 p.m.

A spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting the Islamic State group in Syria says they have captured a group of suspects involved in a January bombing that killed four Americans in a town in northern Syria.

Mustafa Bali says the suspects were captured following technical surveillance by the group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces. He did not elaborate on the number of suspects or when they were captured.

The Americans were killed in a suicide bombing in January in the town of Manbij that was claimed by IS.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday, he said the outcome of the ongoing investigation will be shared at a later time.

Bali's statement came few hours after the SDF said it had captured an IS encampment in the eastern village of Baghouz after IS militants surrendered.

___

11:35 a.m.

A spokesman for U.S.-backed forces fighting the Islamic State group in Syria says his fighters are in control of an encampment in the village of Baghouz where IS militants have been besieged for months.

Mustafa Bali, of the Kurdish-led force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, says clashes however are continuing elsewhere in the village in eastern Syria as IS militants continue to fight back.

Bali says on Twitter on Tuesday that controlling the encampment in Baghouz marks "significant progress" in the fight but that it's "not a victory announcement."

The area held by IS in Baghouz is the last pocket of territory in Syria controlled by the extremist group, which once held a vast area of Syria and Iraq, calling it an Islamic "caliphate."

This frame grab from video posted online Monday, March 18, 2019, by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, shows smoke rising as an IS fighter walking inside Baghouz, the Islamic State group's last pocket of territory in Syria. U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the IS announced Tuesday they have taken control over an encampment in an eastern Syrian village where IS militants have been besieged for months, refusing to surrender. (Aamaq News Agency via AP)KINGWOOD, Va. (AP) - Authorities in Virginia say charges are pending against the driver of a commercial bus that overturned while traveling from Florida to New York, killing two people and injuring others.

Virginia State Police say in a statement that the Tao's Travel Inc. bus with 57 people aboard overturned on an Interstate 95 exit Tuesday in Prince George County. Police say that as the bus turned onto the exit, it ran off the left side and overturned.

Police say two people died and numerous other passengers are being treated at area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious. They say the driver, a 40-year-old man from Staten Island, New York, wasn't injured.

Police say a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration representative is on scene and the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified.PARIS (AP) - Amid a recent rise in anti-Semitic acts in France, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has attended a ceremony in Toulouse to mark the 2012 attack on a Jewish school that killed four people.

Islamic extremist Mohamed Merah opened fire on the school, slaying a rabbi, his two young sons and a schoolgirl, before being shot by police days later.

It was France's deadliest school shooting and the bloodiest attack on Jewish targets in decades.

"You died a victim of poison, anti-Semitism... that invades the mind, whispers hatred, attacks and kills," Castaner said after lighting candles at a memorial stone.

The total of reported anti-Semitic acts in France rose to 541 in 2018 from 311 in 2017 - a 74 percent surge - Castaner said last month.COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Fish in the Cuyahoga River, which became synonymous with pollution when it caught fire in Cleveland in 1969, are now safe to eat, federal environmental regulators say.

The easing of fish consumption restrictions on the Cuyahoga was lauded Monday by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine as an important step toward ultimately delisting the river altogether as an area of concern. Seven impairments remain to be addressed before that can happen.

"This is an example of the progress that can be achieved when you collaborate and dedicate resources to improving the quality of water in our state," DeWine said in a statement. "We need to continue to invest in our water resources so that we can see additional improvements."

The announcement came as DeWine is pushing a state budget that includes nearly $1 billion for water quality projects aimed at cleaning up toxic algae in Lake Erie and protecting other lakes and rivers in the state.

The Cuyahoga River was already one of the most polluted rivers in the country at the time of the fire on June 22, 1969, close to where the river empties into Lake Erie, according to the Ohio History Connection. The fire was neither the first nor the worst the river had experienced.

But the 1969 fire on the river, where industrial waste and sewage were regularly dumped, drew national media attention that made it an instant poster child for water pollution at a time when the country was becoming more environmentally aware.

FILE - In this June 25, 1952 file photo, a fire tug fights flames on the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland. Federal environmental regulators say fish living in the northeastern Ohio river are now safe to eat. The easing of fish consumption restrictions on the Cuyahoga River was lauded by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine as progress achieved by investing in water quality.(The Plain Dealer via AP)

"As we approach the 50th anniversary of the most infamous Cuyahoga River fire, we reflect on the progress that has been made," said Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, CEO of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, whose creation was inspired by the Cuyahoga River fire, gave the thumbs-up to easing the fish consumption restrictions.

Regional administrator Cathy Stepp called it "a huge step" in the agency's work to improve water quality.

The U.S. EPA agreed with Ohio EPA's recommendation that restrictions on fish consumption be eased from Gorge Dam near Akron to Lake Erie in Cleveland. State regulators proposed the change last year judging by improvements observed through fish tissue sampling.

Ohio EPA Director Laurie Stevenson said in a statement, "If you safely can eat the fish, we know that's a great indication that water quality is improving."BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will be traveling to Brussels to attend a meeting of the main center-right alliance in the European Parliament, set to discuss the expulsion or suspension of Orban's Fidesz party from the group.

Thirteen of the European People's Party's 49 full-member parties are calling for Fidesz's ouster after years of disagreement. EPP delegates will meet Wednesday in Brussels to debate the matter, one of several on the agenda for the occasion.

Some EPP members believe Orban - known for his anti-EU rhetoric and anti-migration views and policies - has strayed too far from the alliance's Christian Democratic values.

Manfred Weber, the EPP candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission, has called on Orban to meet certain conditions to stay in the alliance, like putting an end to the anti-EU campaigns and allowing Budapest-based Central European University, founded by Hungarian-American financier George Soros, to continue issuing its U.S.-accredited diplomas in Hungary.

While pro-government media in Hungary have called for Fidesz to leave the EPP and are increasingly critical of Weber and EPP President Joseph Daul, Orban appeared to favor staying.

"I'd rather prefer to achieve ... the transformation of the People's Party so there is room for anti-immigration forces like us," Orban said recently on state radio. "Whatever happens in the future, no compromise is imaginable regarding the protection of Christian culture and immigration."

File - In this Thursday, June 4, 2015, file photo, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, and group leader of the European People's Party, EPP, Manfred Weber, right, give a statement following their talks at the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Hungary. (Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP, File)

Fidesz has 12 deputies in the EPP group and polls expect the party to win up to 14 seats in May's EU parliament elections.

The EPP is forecast to lose nearly 50 seats from the current 221.

Weber has repeatedly said that Fidesz's status in the EPP depends on its adherence to EU democratic values, not the number of its deputies.

"We want to guarantee that Fidesz is committed to EPP values and Hungary is a clear pro-European country which sticks to European values" including democracy and rule of law, Weber said last week during a visit to Budapest to meet with Orban.

Analysts say Fidesz's continued presence in the EPP could complicate Weber's ambition to lead the EU's executive Commission.

"The biggest problem is that Manfred Weber needs the votes of the greens, but most probably the socialists and the liberals, too," to secure the post, said Peter Kreko, executive director of Political Capital, a research and consulting firm in Budapest.

"It's not obvious that keeping Fidesz ... really helps the EPP and Manfred Weber to gain more power," Kreko said. "Probably, it can be the guarantee of losing power."MOSCOW (AP) - President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday after three decades in power, raising uncertainty over the future course of the Central Asian country.

In a televised address to the oil-rich nation, the 78-year-old Nazarbayev said he has made the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, effective Wednesday.

He did not give a specific reason for the surprise move, but noted that he would have marked 30 years on the job later this year and added that he sees his mission as securing a smooth transition of power.

"As the founder of the independent state of Kazakhstan, I see my future task in ensuring the ascent to power of a new generation of leaders, who will continue reforms," he said.

Nazarbayev will retain the honorary title of "Elbasy" or "Leader of the Nation" and continue to wield considerable political power. He said he will remain chairman of the nation's Security Council and the head of the ruling Nur Otan party.

"I will stay with you, as a citizen, a man who loves our country," he said. "I will serve you until the end of my days. "

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2005, file photo, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev waves to supporters after his victory in Sunday's presidential election was officially announced in the capital of Astana. Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday, March 19, 2019, after three decades in power. (Presidential Press Service/Pool Photo via AP, File)

He said that upper house speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will serve as interim head of state in line with the constitution until a new election can be held. Tokayev is a former prime minister and foreign minister who also served as director-general of the U.N. office in Geneva between 2011 and 2013.

Kazakhstan, despite having a population of only about 18 million, is the ninth-largest country in the world with an area of about 2.7 million square kilometers (1 million square miles). It borders Russia to the north and China to the east and has extensive oil reserves that make it strategically and economically important.

Nazarbayev took the helm in Kazakhstan as its Communist Party chief of the republic in 1989 when it was part of the Soviet Union, and he was first elected its president weeks before the 1991 Soviet collapse gave the country its independence.

In those days, Kazakhstan was a backwater region best known for prisons, nuclear testing sites and being the home of the launch facility of the Soviet space program, the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Nazarbayev has been widely praised for maintaining stability and ethnic peace in Kazakhstan but he also has faced criticism for marginalizing the political opposition and creating what is effectively a one-party state.

He has maintained a delicate balance between Russia and the West, leading Kazakhstan to join a Russia-dominated economic alliance of ex-Soviet nations, but cultivating close energy ties and other links with the West.

He was lauded abroad for modernizing the oil industry and his decision to give up the nuclear weapons that Kazakhstan had inherited from the Soviet Union.

In 1997, Nazarbayev moved the country's capital from Almaty to the remote northern city of Astana in what was widely considered a way to fuse the ethnic-Russian minority in the north to the new Kazakh state. The new city was filled with post-modern architecture including the soaring glass pyramid of the Palace of Peace and Accord, dedicated to harmony among religious and ethnic groups.

In 2010, Nazarbayev was awarded the title of "Leader of the Nation," which comes with lifelong immunity from prosecution and as-yet untested powers of veto over some government policies.

He departs at a time of rare open protest against the government.

He fired his prime minister and cabinet last month following a wave of protests by Kazakh women calling for more financial support for children and safer housing after a fire in which five children died. Soon after, he announced a program of more generous spending for large families.

Nazarbayev has extended his tenure by landslide victories in successive elections and plebiscites. He took nearly 98 percent of the vote in the most recent election, in 2015, when elected for another five-year term.

Nazarbayev's resignation will set the stage for a potential battle between Russia and the United States for influence with the successor government.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin had spoken with Nazarbayev by telephone earlier Tuesday but didn't say what they had discussed. He wouldn't say if the Kazakh leader had given Putin advance warning of his move.

Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, said Nazarbayev will retain clout in Kazakhstan and "there will be no radical changes in foreign or home policies."

Nazarbayev was born into a poor rural laborer's family on July 6, 1940. As a young adult, he worked in harsh conditions at a steel plant's blast furnace and at age 22 he joined the Communist Party. He worked his way up in the party, went to university and became known for his comparatively candid assessments of the Soviet Union's shortcomings.

That turn of mind positioned him in the reformist camp that came to ascendancy when Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union in 1985.

Nazarbayev supported Russian President Boris Yeltsin during the failed coup attempt against Gorbachev by Communist hardliners. Nazarbayev opposed the breakup of the Soviet Union, but was forced to take Kazakhstan out of the union as it collapsed in December 1991.

Just as Yeltsin resigned as Russian president on Dec. 31, 1999, to make way for Putin, so Nazarbayev's resignation statement came two days before Kazakhstan celebrates the Nauryz holiday, a traditional New Year celebration at the spring equinox.

Nazarbayev was the last of Central Asia's former Communist Party bosses to remain in power after the deaths of Turkmenistan's Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006 and Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov in 2016. The president of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, is now the region's longest-serving head of state, having assumed power in 1992 during a civil war.

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 1994, file photo, President Bill Clinton meets with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday, March 19, 2019, after three decades in power. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2013, file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev shake hands during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow. Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday, March 19, 2019, after three decades in power. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Aug. 12, 2018, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, left, gestures as he walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 5th Caspian summit at the Friendship Palace in Aktau, the Caspian Sea port in Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev, who has ruled the oil-rich ex-Soviet nation for nearly three decades, announced his resignation in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday March 19, 2019. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Oct. 18, 2018, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrives for the ASEM 12 in Brussels. Nazarbayev, who has ruled the oil-rich ex-Soviet nation for nearly three decades, announced his resignation in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2016, file photo, Kazakhstan's President and Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) Chairman Nursultan Nazarbayev attends the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia. Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday, March 19, 2019, after three decades in power. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Wells Fargo Securities has agreed to pay an $800,000 civil penalty to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over Rhode Island's failed $75 million deal with former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video game company.

Wells Fargo and the SEC announced the proposed settlement in filings Monday with the U.S. District Court in Providence. A federal judge must approve it.

According to details of the agreement, Wells Fargo does not admit or deny wrongdoing. If approved, the company would be permanently barred by the judge from violating certain municipal securities and other laws.

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said she would not comment because the matter is still pending and has not yet been approved.

The case represents the final legal battle over 38 Studios.

Schilling struck a deal in 2010 to move his company from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in exchange for a $75 million loan guarantee. The state's economic development agency used bonds to fund the deal. Less than two years after the move, 38 Studios ran out of money and went bankrupt.

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 16, 2012, file photo, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, center, is followed by members of the media as he departs the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation headquarters, in Providence, R.I. Wells Fargo Securities has agreed to pay an $800,000 civil penalty to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over Rhode Island's failed $75 million deal with Schilling's 38 Studios video game company. Wells Fargo and the SEC announced the proposed settlement in filings with the U.S. District Court in Providence on Monday, March 18,2019. A federal judge must approve it. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

The SEC sued Wells Fargo and Rhode Island's economic development agency in 2016, accusing them of making misleading statements about the bonds.

It said they failed to disclose that 38 Studios needed at least $75 million but would receive only $50 million of proceeds from the offering, leaving a gap of $25 million. It also said Wells Fargo represented 38 Studios while also representing the state economic development agency as bond placement agent, something it failed to disclose.

The economic development agency previously settled the case, paying a $50,000 penalty without admitting wrongdoing.

Claims against a Wells Fargo employee are still pending. A message was left with his lawyer.

In a separate lawsuit in state court, Rhode Island sued several people and companies involved in the deal. It received about $61 million in settlements in that case, which ended in 2017.NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut doctor who bilked Medicaid out of nearly $5 million and stashed some of the stolen money in a Swiss bank account has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say 49-year-old Ramil Mansourov was also ordered in federal court in New Haven on Monday to repay the money and surrender his federal controlled substances registration.

Authorities say the Darien resident, who ran an urgent care center in Norwalk, billed Medicaid for home, office and nursing home visits that never occurred.

Mansourov has been detained since July 2017, when he was apprehended after fleeing to Canada. He pleaded guilty last September to health care fraud and money laundering.

State records show Mansourov's medical license became inactive after he failed to renew it.BALDWIN, Md. (AP) - The robbery suspect wore a unicorn costume, and police in Maryland say he has been unmasked.

News outlets report that Baltimore County police say 28-year-old Jacob William Rogge donned a pink-and-white unicorn costume and smashed a convenience store register with a crowbar Saturday. Police say 27-year-old Joseph Philip Svezzese drove Rogge, who fled with cash and cigarettes from High's Dairy Store.

The pair's car crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed into mailboxes, a utility pole, shrubbery and a boulder, which sent the car back across the road until it hit a tree. Both men were hospitalized with serious injuries.

Svezzese was treated and released, but Rogge remains hospitalized in serious condition. Court records didn't list lawyers for them.

Police say a discarded unicorn costume was later found in bushes.

This photo provided by Baltimore County police shows surveillance video of an armed robbery with a suspect dressed in the unicorn costume. Baltimore County police have captured Jacob William Rogge, suspected of robbing a convenience store on Saturday, March 17, 2019 dressed in a unicorn costume. Rogge donned a pink-and-white unicorn costume and smashed a High's Dairy Store register with a crowbar. Police say 27-year-old Joseph Philip Svezzese drove Rogge, who fled with cash and cigarettes.(Baltimore County police via AP)

This booking photo provided by Baltimore County police shows Jacob William Rogge. Baltimore County police have captured Rogge, suspected of robbing a convenience store on Saturday, March 17, 2019 dressed in a unicorn costume. Rogge donned a pink-and-white unicorn costume and smashed a High's Dairy Store register with a crowbar. Police say 27-year-old Joseph Philip Svezzese drove Rogge, who fled with cash and cigarettes.(Baltimore County police via AP)VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis has declined to accept the resignation of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin as archbishop of Lyon after he was convicted of failing to report a known predator priest to police, the Vatican said Tuesday.

The decision greatly disappointed abuse survivors, given that Barbarin had traveled to the Vatican on Monday to present his resignation following the March 7 verdict and six-month suspended sentence he received.

The Vatican spokesman, Alessandro Gisotti, said Tuesday that during the audience, Francis didn't accept the resignation and instead asked Barbarin to do what he thinks is best for the archdiocese. Barbarin has decided to take time away and has asked his deputy in Lyon, the Rev. Yves Baumgarten, to assume leadership of the archdiocese, Gisotti said.

"The Holy See repeats its closeness to victims of abuse, to the faithful of the archdiocese of Lyon and the French church who are living in a particularly difficult moment," Gisotti said.

The French court found that Barbarin had an obligation to report the Rev. Bernard Preynat to civil authorities when he learned of his abuse. Preynat, who is scheduled to be tried on sexual violence charges next year, confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 1980s. His victims accuse Barbarin and other church authorities of covering up for him for years.

Barbarin has appealed the conviction, which could have influenced Francis' decision to not immediately accept his resignation. Francis has been loath to take such measures lest they influence the outcome of trials.

Pope Francis attends an audience with personnel and families of the Italian Court of Auditors (Corte dei Conti) in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

But the decision nevertheless left French abuse victims disillusioned, particularly given Francis' recent comments about ending cover-up that he pronounced at the end of a high-level Vatican summit last month.

Bertrand Virieux, a victim and co-founder of the association La Parole Liberee (Lift the Burden of Silence), told France Info radio he doesn't understand Francis' decision and doesn't expect anything anymore from the church.

He noted the disconnect between the "strong words pronounced a few weeks ago that might have given hope to victims and to those who want some change within the church" and "the daily reality in the church."

Another victim, the president of the association Francois Devaux, called Francis' decision a mistake.

"It shows that we are right and that the problem is inherent to (religious) dogma," he told French media.

Last year, Francis reluctantly accepted the resignation of one of his key supporters, Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl, after he was implicated in cover-ups from decades ago.

The cases were revealed by a Pennsylvania grand jury report. Wuerl was never criminally charged, but he determined he could no longer effectively lead the archdiocese after he lost the trust of the flock and some of his priests.

Francis also accepted the resignation last year of Philip Wilson, archbishop of Adelaide, Australia, after he was convicted of covering up abuse. Wilson's conviction was reversed on appeal, but he had already had been replaced. His future status is unclear.

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2019 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin waits for the start of his trial at the Lyon courthouse, central France. Pope. A French court on Thursday March 7, 2019 is expected to acquit a cardinal and five other defendants accused of protecting a pedophile priest, but alleged victims say France's most important church sex abuse trial has at least allowed them to bring the affair into the open. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)BERLIN (AP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel says the German government shouldn't get involved in exploratory talks between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank on a possible merger.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, and Commerzbank announced Sunday they would discuss a possible combination. Media have reported that Merkel's finance minister and vice chancellor, Olaf Scholz, favors a deal, which would bring together two lenders that have been troubled over recent years. Many analysts are skeptical.

Merkel said Tuesday: "I think such things are private business decisions, and would argue very much for the government not intervening with a vote."

She added that the government will "have a certain interest in evaluating" the eventual result of the discussions, because it holds 15 percent of Commerzbank. "But that is a small stake."

A traffic light stands in front of the headquarters of Deutsche Bank, left, and Commerzbank in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, March 18, 2019. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank begin talks on a possible merger. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Headquarters of Deutsche Bank, left, and Commerzbank are seen in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, March 18, 2019. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank begin talks on a possible merger. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)ATMORE, Ala. (AP) - Less than a week after an Alabama inmate ended a hunger strike to protest the use of solitary confinement, eight more prisoners have begun hunger strikes of their own.

The Montgomery Advertiser cites a release from a prison advocacy group that says the Alabama Department of Corrections told eight inmates that they were placed in solitary at Holman Correctional Facility as a "preventative measure," unrelated to disciplinary action. Attorney Donna Smalley says the eight are "recognized peacekeepers."

Corrections spokesman Bob Horton said late Monday that three had ended their strikes.

A group of 30 inmates were transferred to Holman on Feb. 28, following a contraband raid at St. Clair Correctional Facility. Horton says those placed in segregated housing need to be assessed for assignment to the general population.

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Information from: Montgomery Advertiser, http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.comNEW YORK (AP) - Novelist Tommy Orange keeps winning awards.

PEN America announced Tuesday that the author of "There There," the most honored literary debut of 2018, has received the PEN/Hemingway award for "distinguished" new novel. Orange's previous awards included a prize from the National Book Critics Circle for best new book and the First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction. "There There" is set in the Bay Area, its story of a loosely connected community of Native Americans culminating unforgettably at the Big Oakland Pow Wow. Orange, an Oakland native, is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.

PEN/Hemingway judges Cristina Garcia, Dinaw Mengestu and Scott Simon called "There There" a "devastatingly beautiful novel, as acutely attuned to our current cultural and political condition as it is to the indelible legacy of violence that brought us here."

For the PEN/Hemingway award, Orange receives $25,000, along with a month-long fellowship at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming. Ernest Hemingway's grandson Sean Hemingway will present the award to Orange at an April 7 ceremony at Boston's John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, where the late author's archives are stored. Previous winners include Colson Whitehead, Jhumpa Lahiri and George Saunders.

Akwaeke Emezi's "Freshwater" and Ling Ma's "Severance" were runners-up for this year's award.WASHINGTON (AP) - A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday against a group of immigrants in a case about the government's power to detain them after they've committed crimes but finished their sentences.

The issue in the case before the justices had to do with the detention of noncitizens who have committed a broad range of crimes that make them deportable. Immigration law tells the government it must arrest those people when they are released from custody and then hold them while an immigration court decides whether they should be deported.

But those affected by the law aren't always picked up immediately and are sometimes not detained until years later. In the case before the Supreme Court, a group of mostly green card holders argued that unless they're picked up essentially within a day of being released, they should be entitled to a hearing where they can argue that they aren't a danger to the community and are not likely to flee. If a judge were to agree, they would not have to remain in custody while their deportation case goes forward. That's the same hearing rule that applies to other noncitizens the government is trying to deport.

But the Supreme Court disagreed with the immigrants' interpretation of federal law in a 5-4 ruling that divided the court along ideological lines. Looking at a statutory provision enacted by Congress in 1996, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that "neither the statute's text nor its structure" supported the immigrants' argument. The court's conservative justices sided with the Trump administration. The administration argued, as the Obama administration did, that those affected by the law aren't entitled to a hearing where they can argue for their release, regardless of whether they are arrested immediately after being released from custody or not.

Department of Justice spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said the administration was "pleased with the decision."

Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent he read aloud in court, said that the larger importance of the case has to do with the power his colleagues' ruling gives the government.

A view of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, March 15, 2019. The Supreme Court is ruling against a group of immigrants in a case about immigration detention. In the case before the justices a group of mostly green card holders who had committed crimes argued that unless they were detained immediately after finishing their prison sentence they should get a hearing to argue for their release while deportation proceedings proceed. The high court disagreed. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

"It is a power to detain persons who have committed a minor crime many years before. And it is a power to hold those persons, perhaps for many months, without any opportunity to obtain bail," Breyer said.

He wrote that in his view the law requires immigrants who have committed crimes to be detained "within a reasonable time after their release" from custody, "presumptively no more than six months." If the person is not detained within that time, they should get a hearing where they can argue for their release, Breyer wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union represented the immigrants in the case before the Supreme Court. ACLU attorney Cecillia Wang, who argued the case, said after the decision that the ACLU will call on Congress to clarify the law and will continue to pursue options in court.

Tuesday's ruling was based on the text of the statute, and Wang said the ACLU will argue that the statute, as interpreted by the justices, is unconstitutional. Wang also called the decision an "extreme waste of taxpayer money," saying it locks up individuals who are not a danger to the community.

The case before the justices involved a class-action lawsuit brought by noncitizens in California and a similar class-action lawsuit brought in the state of Washington. In those cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with the immigrants, but other appeals courts had sided with the government in similar cases.

One of the lead plaintiffs involved in the California case, Mony Preap, has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since 1981 and has two convictions for possession of marijuana. He was released from prison in 2006 but was not taken into immigration custody until 2013. Preap has since won his deportation case, allowing him to remain in the country.

The case is 16-1363 Nielsen v. Preap.

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Follow Jessica Gresko on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jessicagreskoPITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Authorities have found evidence that accelerants were used to start a fire at a Massachusetts home in which a family of five was found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.

Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington on Monday said investigators located evidence of an accelerant in different parts of the Sheffield home, including two 20-pound (9-kilogram) propane tanks on the upper floor.

Harrington says there is "overwhelming evidence" that 41-year-old Luke Karpinski killed his wife, 41-year-old Justine Wilbur, their 7-year-old twins, Alex and Zoe, and 3-year-old son, Marek, last Wednesday morning before starting the fire and killing himself.

Authorities have not said how the family died and autopsy results are pending, but Harrington says police did not find any evidence of guns in the home.

The investigation is ongoing.Exploring Israeli innovation from all angles

Conference sponsored by Schusterman Center, International Business School unites Israel scholars and economic experts

Brandeis Provost Lisa Lynch (left) moderates the Ilan Troen Lecture on Contemporary Israel Affairs featuring Karnit Flug, past governor of the Bank of Israel, and Gideon Argov, general partner at New Era Capital Partners.

The U.S. and Israeli economies share an entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take risks that has led to flourishing technology sectors in both countries, former Bank of Israel governor Karnit Flug told a crowd of experts and academics gathered Sunday at Brandeis University for the Innovation in Israel: Economy and Society conference.

Flug, who served as the first female governor of Israels central bank from 2013 to 2018, said three factors are largely behind the countrys high-tech success to date: investments in education, effective bridge-building between universities and commercial enterprises  which helps get breakthrough innovations to market quickly  and the maturation of Israels venture capital industry.

But Flug cautioned it will take further investment in human capital before the economic benefits of the innovation boom are felt beyond just a select pocket of Israeli society.

The main issue is education, from the very early start all the way up to adulthood, and vocational training, said Flug. The education system doesn't provide enough people with the right skills.  This is the area where we must invest much more.

The two-day Innovation in Israel conference, which concluded Monday, served as a forum to explore the roots, future direction and societal impact of Israel's innovation economy. The event was sponsored by the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Brandeis International Business School and Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.

Were going to be debating innovation in Israel from all angles  what works, what doesnt work and the implications for the future, said Brandeis Provost Lisa Lynch, who moderated Sundays discussion with Flug and Gideon Argov of New Era Capital Partners, a venture capital investment firm with offices in Boston and Tel Aviv.

On Monday conference attendees engaged in in-depth lectures and panel discussions about Israels status as startup nation, a moniker frequently used to describe the countrys thriving innovation sector. Participants included Erran Carmel of the Kogod School of Business at American University; Shayna Weiss of the Schusterman Center; Aziz Kaddan, CEO and co-founder of Myndlift; Ilan Troen of Ben-Gurion University; Yehudah Mirsky of Brandeis; Jacob Cohen of MITs Sloan School of Management; Shana Krakowski of Tel Aviv Yafo municipality; and Ohad Elhelo '16, MA '17, founder of Our Generation Speaks (OGS).

Also Monday, Elhelo received the Brandeis Alumni Entrepreneurship Award for his work at OGS, a fellowship program and incubator for emerging Israeli and Palestinian leaders hosted at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. The honor, which was presented by Brandeis IBS Dean Kathryn Graddy, is given annually to a Brandeis alumnus that best exemplifies an entrepreneurial spirit and independent thinking.

What started out as an idea Ohad conceived during his years as a Brandeis undergraduate has blossomed into a thriving organization promoting positive social change, said Graddy. Ohad, we are so proud that you are a part of our Brandeis family. And we are thrilled to give you this award today in recognition of everything you do to uphold the values on which our university was founded.MYRTLE GROVE, La. (AP) - The captain of a tug boat is missing but two crew members were rescued after the vessel capsized in the Mississippi River in Louisiana.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the Seattle Slew overturned near Myrtle Grove downstream from New Orleans around 8 p.m. Monday.

Petty Officer Brandon Giles told news outlets two crew members were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Giles says a helicopter and a Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office boat are searching for the missing captain. A 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) stretch of the river was closed during the search.

Myrtle Grove is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of New Orleans. The names of those involved weren't immediately released.ABBEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - More than 13 years after a south Georgia high school teacher and one-time beauty queen vanished without a trace, a trial has begun for a man charged with concealing her body and lying to police.

Tara Grinstead's disappearance in October 2005 stumped her hometown of Ocilla for more than a decade until authorities charged two men in 2017. Prosecutors say Ryan Duke killed Grinstead after breaking into her home to steal money for drugs, then enlisted his friend Bo Dukes to help him move the body and burn it in a pecan orchard.

A trial for Dukes, the alleged accomplice, opened Monday in nearby Wilcox County south of Macon. Dukes is charged with concealing a death, hindering apprehension of a felon and lying to police.

John McCullough, who said he met Dukes during Army basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, testified Tuesday that Dukes confessed to him one night during a Christmas break visit to Georgia.

Dukes had been drinking and using cocaine, McCullough said, and they were sitting in his mother's car late at night.

"He seemed like something was bothering him," McCullough told the jury. "It started to come out. He said, 'You're my battle buddy, right?' He was like, 'Man, I need to tell you something.'"

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006 file photo, missing teacher Tara Grinstead is displayed on a billboard in Ocilla, Ga. A Georgia man is standing trial on charges that he helped conceal the death of Tara Grinstead, who disappeared more than 13 years ago. Bo Dukes is charged with concealing a death, hindering the apprehension of a felon and lying to police after Tara Grinstead vanished from her home in rural Irwin County in October 2005. His trial began Monday, March 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Elliott Minor, File)

He said Dukes told him a friend had killed Grinstead, whose face loomed large on a billboard in the area seeking tips in her disappearance. Dukes said he helped the friend put the body in his pickup truck, according to McCullough, and they drove to a pecan orchard owned by Dukes' family.

"They burned her body and let it burn as long as they could," McCullough testified. "And once they were satisfied, they buried the rest."

McCullough told his story to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent years later, in 2016. Dukes' defense attorney, John Fox, asked McCullough why he didn't alert police sooner.

McCullough said he waited until he and Dukes went their separate ways after Army basic training, to avoid confrontation, and then tried calling police in February 2007. He said several phone calls to police agencies in the area either weren't returned, or those who he talked to didn't take him seriously.

"One had made the comment: 'We get tips like this all the time,'" McCullough said.

News outlets reported that during opening statements Monday, Fox told the jury all charges against Dukes in Wilcox County stem from accusations that he lied to investigators during a June 2016 interview. He asked jurors to listen carefully to the recording of that interview.

"That evidence is not going to show you that he concealed information," said Fox, who noted charges against Dukes for burning Grinstead's body are tied to a separate case in a separate county.

District Attorney Brad Rigby also cautioned jurors that Dukes isn't charged with killing Grinstead.

"This case is not about her murder," Rigby said. "This case is about lies, this defendant's lies. This case is about his secrets, his denial."

Duke is scheduled to stand trial on charges of murder and other crimes April 1 in Irwin County, where Grinstead lived. GBI agent Jason Shoudel testified at a pretrial court hearing that Duke confessed to killing Grinstead and burning her body. He said DNA from both Duke and Grinstead was found on a latex glove recovered outside her home.

But Duke's defense attorneys say Duke gave a false confession while he was under the influence of drugs. They have said in court documents that Duke was at home asleep the night Grinstead was killed.WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's two Supreme Court appointees were on opposite sides of two of three cases that the justices decided Tuesday.

The two new justices have solidified conservative control of the Supreme Court, but they do not march in lockstep, at least in the small corners of the court's work dealing with Indian treaties and maritime law.

In one case, Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the court's liberal justices in ruling that a Washington state Indian tribe doesn't have to pay a state fuel tax. Gorsuch said an 1855 treaty makes a "handful of modest promises" to the Yakama Nation, including the right to move goods to market freely.

Holding the parties to the terms of the treaty that ceded 10 million acres to the United States "is the least we can do."

Justice Brett Kavanaugh dissented, arguing that the treaty merely gives tribal members the same right to travel as everyone else.

The other case involved a lawsuit by survivors of two Navy veterans over their exposure to asbestos. Kavanaugh wrote the court's opinion that allows the suit against manufacturers of equipment used on Navy ships to continue. Kavanaugh wrote that the makers of pumps, turbines and blowers that required asbestos insulation to operate properly should have warned about the health dangers of asbestos exposure. This is so, Kavanaugh wrote, even though the companies did not manufacture or sell the asbestos to the Navy.

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2019 file photo, Supreme Court Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch, left, and Brett Kavanaugh watch as President Donald Trump arrives to give his State of the Union address to a joint session on Congress at the Capitol in Washington. President Donald Trump's two Supreme Court appointees are on opposite sides of two of three cases the justices are deciding Tuesday. Justice Neil Gorsuch is joining the court's liberal justices in ruling that a Washington state Indian tribe doesn't have to pay a state fuel tax. Gorsuch says an 1855 treaty makes a "handful of modest promises" to the Yakama Nation, including the right to move goods to market freely. Justice Brett Kavanaugh is dissenting, arguing that the treaty merely gives tribal members the same right to travel as everyone else. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Gorsuch dissented. The manufacturers "are at risk of being held responsible retrospectively for failing to warn about other people's products," Gorsuch wrote.

The liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts also were in the majority. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas joined Gorsuch's dissent.

The lineup in the Indian treaty case was even more interesting. Gorsuch's opinion was joined only by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the leader of the court's liberal wing. The other three liberal justices voted for the same outcome, but with different reasoning.

Trump nominated Gorsuch in 2017 to fill the seat Senate Republicans held open for more than a year following Justice Antonin Scalia's death in 2016. The Senate refused to act on President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.

Kavanaugh joined the court in October, following tumultuous hearings that included an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman as a teenager. Kavanaugh denied the allegation. Kavanaugh replaced Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired.

Tuesday's other case demonstrated the more common alliance of the conservative justices. In a case involving immigrants, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were with the other three conservatives in ruling that the Trump administration has the authority to detain people who have finished serving criminal sentences while it decides whether to deport them.

The four liberal justices dissented.BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi security and hospital officials say three soldiers have been killed and five wounded in an ambush on an army patrol north of Baghdad.

The officials say a group of militants opened fire on the patrol Tuesday in the town of Tarmiyah, a former insurgent stronghold about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Iraqi capital.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, blamed the Islamic State group, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The shooting was the latest in a string of attacks along roads and in villages in areas north and west of Baghdad, many of them claimed by the extremist group. Iraq declared victory over IS in 2017 after a devastating four-year war.NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - Greece's foreign minister says it's in the best interests of his country, Cyprus and the European Union that Turkey's faltering bid to join the bloc stays on track.

George Katrougalos said after talks Tuesday with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides that an "anti-European, hostile Turkey" on the EU's eastern frontier is undesirable, but that Ankara has to fully respect EU principles.

He added that Greece opposes the fostering of a climate of "Islamophobia" that's contrary to values that the EU espouses.

Christodoulides said Cyprus disagrees with other EU member states that don't want Turkey to join the bloc because it would scupper efforts to reunify the ethnically divided Mediterranean island nation and undercut chances of getting Ankara to embrace EU principles.WASHINGTON (AP) - Jim Mattis, who resigned as Pentagon chief three months ago, is returning to Stanford University.

The Hoover Institution at Stanford announced Tuesday that Mattis will join the public policy think tank to research and write about domestic and international security policy. He was in the same role at Hoover when President Donald Trump nominated him to be secretary of defense in December 2016.

Mattis resigned in December 2018 after a series of policy conflicts with Trump, capped by the president's decision to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria, a plan he has since partially reversed. Trump has not yet nominated a successor; Patrick Shanahan, who was the deputy secretary during Mattis' tenure, has been serving as the acting secretary since Jan. 1.

Mattis, who served more than 40 years in the Marines before retiring as a four-star general in 2013, had been working as a national security specialist at Hoover when Trump nominated him to lead the Pentagon.

A Hoover announcement said Mattis will start May 1 as the Davies Family Distinguished Fellow. The announcement quoted Mattis as saying he believes he has an obligation to pass along lessons, for the benefit of future generations.

"The wealth of knowledge and experience of an already extraordinary career has been made even richer by Gen. Mattis' latest endeavor as secretary of defense, and we are fortunate to once again be beneficiaries of his acumen," said Tom Gilligan, director of the Hoover Institution.NEW YORK (AP) - A woman who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty last July 4 to protest the separation of families at the Mexican border came to her sentencing Tuesday with her face entirely covered with clear sticky tape, irritating a judge who refused to proceed until she removed it.

After she did so, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein spared Therese Okoumou from prison for her conviction on multiple misdemeanor counts though he berated her for what he thought was a lack of concern for rescuers whose safety he said she jeopardized.

As she stood before him with a white headband across her forehead scrawled with the phrase "I care!" he ordered her to perform 200 hours of community service and five years of probation, leading her attorney, Ron Kuby, to suggest the judge might be seeing a lot of them in the future.

"I think there's hope" otherwise, the judge responded, saying he would be willing to shorten the probation term at a later point if Okoumou did not commit more crimes.

Given a chance to speak in court, Okoumou called the case against her "a fraud against injustice," an explanation for her continuing protest and the tape she had earlier painfully pulled off her face.

"I'm not a criminal," she told Gorenstein.

Therese Okoumou poses for pictures and rallies with supporters before her sentencing in New York, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Okoumou was convicted of trespassing and other offenses after she climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

When Gorenstein took a break from the bench before announcing the sentence, Okoumou stood and turned around to face several dozen supporters before raising her fist in the air.

The gesture silenced the supporters, who raised their fists in return as everyone stood for a moment before Okoumou blew a kiss to them and turned around to await her sentence.

Outside court, she was surrounded by supporters as she railed the immigration policies of the Trump administration, saying they're what prompted the Statue of Liberty protest.

"We have people in cages? What was I supposed to do?" she said. "I made my point. ... Find your own conscience. Don't look up to me."

The nearly four-hour demonstration forced an evacuation of 4,330 people from the statue grounds on one of its busiest days of the year.

As he announced his sentence, Gorenstein noted that Okoumou repeatedly ignored orders to descend from a perch at the feet of the statue that was high enough that a prosecutor said it could have seriously injured or killed her or tourists below. New York Police Department rescuers were forced to climb a rickety ladder and gird themselves like mountain climbers to safely bring her down.

The judge said she tried to push down the ladder, jeopardizing rescuers.

Prosecutors noted in presentencing papers that since Okoumou's arrest, she has twice climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, forcing its evacuation, and has climbed onto the roof of an Austin, Texas, building, leading to another arrest in which charges are pending.

The Texas climb led to her being subjected to electronic monitoring in New York, though Gorenstein ordered the removal of the device Tuesday.

Kuby said Gorenstein was overestimating the danger to rescuers posed by his client's statue climb. The lawyer called them the most elite rescuers "on the planet."

FILE- In this July 4, 2018, frame from video provided by the New York City Police Department, members of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit work to safely remove Therese Okoumou, a protester who climbed onto the Statue of Liberty and was charged with misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct. Okoumou who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of families at the Mexican border has been sentenced to five years' probation and 200 hours of community service. (NYPD via AP, FILE)

Therese Okoumou poses for pictures and rallies with supporters before her sentencing in New York, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Okoumou was convicted of trespassing and other offenses after she climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Therese Okoumou poses for pictures and rallies with supporters before her sentencing in New York, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Okoumou was convicted of trespassing and other offenses after she climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Therese Okoumou, center, walks with supporters to her sentencing in New York, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. Okoumou was convicted of trespassing and other offenses after she climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK (AP) - Talk show host Stephen Colbert has postponed what was supposed to be a surprise visit to New Zealand following the terrorist attack in Christchurch that killed 50 people.

Colbert's "Late Show," the top-rated American late-night show, said that he was supposed to travel to New Zealand on Wednesday for a week of shows. He was invited last fall when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was a guest on "Late Show."

Colbert, on his show Monday night, said he was heartbroken at what the country is going through and prays that residents have the courage that Americans seem to lack to take action against violence.

He said he hopes to reschedule the visit.DETROIT (AP) - U.S. securities regulators countered Tesla CEO Elon Musk's contempt-of-court defense Monday night, writing in court papers that he brazenly disregarded a federal judge's order and that one of his arguments "borders on the ridiculous."

Lawyers for the Securities and Exchange Commission, in a response to Musk, wrote that when the contempt motion was filed in February, Musk had not had a single tweet approved by a company lawyer, violating a requirement of a court-approved settlement order.

The October securities fraud settlement stemmed from tweets by Musk in August about having the money to take Tesla private at $420 per share. But Musk didn't have the funding secured. Tesla and Musk each had to pay $20 million in fines and agree to governance changes that included Musk's removal as chairman.

SEC lawyers led by Cheryl Crumpton wrote in a response to Musk's defense that he interprets the settlement order as not requiring pre-approval unless Musk decides the tweets are meaningful to investors. The agency said Musk's argument that tweeting about car production forecasts on Feb. 19 wasn't material information is nearly ridiculous. "His interpretation is inconsistent with the plain terms of this court's order and renders its pre-approval requirement meaningless," the lawyers wrote.

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan will decide if Musk is in contempt and whether he should be punished. The SEC said no hearing is necessary on the matter "because there appear to be no disputed issues of material fact."

Musk's lawyers wrote last week that the Feb. 19 tweet merely restated previously approved disclosures on electric car production. They wrote that the tweet, which was published after the markets closed, neither revealed material information, nor altered the mix of data available to investors.

FILE - In this June 14, 2018, file photo, Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Attorneys tell a federal judge that Tesla CEO Elon Musk shouldn't be found in contempt because he didn't violate a securities fraud settlement. The attorneys wrote in documents filed Monday night, March 11, 2019, that a Feb. 19 tweet by Musk merely restated prior disclosures on electric car production volumes. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

The lawyers also accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of censorship and of violating Musk's First Amendment rights by imposing a prior restraint on his speech.

But the SEC lawyers wrote that submitting statements for approval does not mean Musk is prohibited from speaking. "As long as a statement submitted for pre-approval is not false or misleading, Tesla would presumably approve its publication without prior restraint on Musk," they wrote. The SEC also wrote that Musk waived any First Amendment challenge to the order when he agreed to it.

Musk's lawyers also argued that the SEC's motion for contempt is an over-reach that exceeds its authority. But the SEC said enforcement of the order is up to the judge, who has broad powers to enforce court orders.

Also Monday, Musk lawyer, former Enron prosecutor John C. Hueston of Newport Beach, California, asked the court for permission to file another response to the SEC, this one by Friday.

In a one-page letter to the judge, Hueston said the SEC raised new allegations in its reply, which he contends is improper. He called the new assertions "unsupported" and asked to submit documentation about negotiations with the agency "which undermines the newly-presented interpretation the SEC sets forth in its reply."

Monday's filing said the Feb. 19 tweet was different from prior public disclosures by the company. Also, Musk has regularly published tweets with "substantive information" about the company and its business, the SEC contended.

Musk's 13-word Feb. 19 tweet said that Tesla would produce around 500,000 vehicles this year, but it wasn't approved by the company's "disclosure counsel," the SEC has said.

The lawyer quickly realized it and arranged a meeting with Musk to write a correction. The company would make vehicles at a rate of 500,000 per year, but it wouldn't produce a half-million in 2019.

Musk's response by Hueston said that the settlement allows Musk "reasonable discretion" to determine if his communications would require the lawyer's approval. In the case of the Feb. 19 tweet, Musk determined that it did not.

Legal experts say it's unlikely that Musk will be punished severely, but the commission wants to get on the record that Musk violated the terms, to prepare for any future violations.

The tweet was posted and corrected after U.S. markets had closed, but experts say regulators don't care much about that because stocks are traded nearly around the clock. Tesla's stock rose by just $1.10, or less than 1 percent, the next day.WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. has added a Venezuelan state-owned mining company and its president to a growing sanctions list as it seeks to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.

The Treasury Department says the gold mining company known as Minerven and Adrian Antonio Perdomo Mata are helping to prop up Maduro while encroaching on the land of indigenous people and contributing to deforestation and other environmental problems in Venezuela.

The sanctions announced Tuesday bar any U.S. citizen or entity from any financial transactions with the company or its president.

The U.S. and more than 50 other governments see Maduro's re-election last year as illegitimate and are pressing him to step down and hand over power to the opposition head of the National Assembly.

Maduro has denounced his opponents as killers and criminals.The Institute of Greece, Rome, and the Classical Tradition is delighted to welcome Professor Richard Thomas to speak at its third Sir Jeremy Morse Lecture. The title of Professor Thomas's lecture is The Art of Bob Dylan's Songwriting.

The lecture will examine the art and the craft of Bob Dylans songwriting, exploring the ways in which the greatest songwriter of the last 60 years produces art of the highest aesthetic appeal, from the first impulse to final perfection, from hotel stationery to studio and performance, through the hard work that is the hidden ingredient of genius.

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception.

Registration for this lecture is required via Eventbrite.

Richard F. Thomas is the George Martin Lane Professor of the Classics at Harvard University and Chair of the Editorial Board of Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. He is Co-chair of the seminar on "The Civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome" in Harvard's Mahindra Humanities Center. He has served as Director of the American Philological Association and as Trustee, Director, and President, of the Vergilian Society of America. Since 2001, he has been a Trustee of the Loeb Classical Library. He has taught at Harvard, the University of Cincinnati, Cornell University, and the University of Venice. Among his publications are Lands and Peoples in Roman Poetry: The Ethnographical Tradition (1982), a two-volume text and commentary on Virgil's Georgics (1988), Reading Virgil and his Texts (1999), Virgil and the Augustan Reception (2001), Classics and the Uses of Reception (co-edited with Charles Martindale, 2006), The Performance Artistry of Bob Dylan (co-edited with Catharine Mason, 2007), a commentary on Horace, Carmen saeculare and Odes 4 (2011), a three-volume Virgil Encyclopedia (co-edited with Jan Ziolkowski, 2014), and Why Dylan Matters (2017).

Sir Jeremy Morse (1928 - 2016) was Chancellor of the University of Bristol from 1989 to 2003, and former President of the IGRCT. Sir Jeremy was one of the Institute's staunchest supporters.CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago police union's president alleges that the county's top prosecutor interfered with the investigation of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett before recusing herself and wants the Justice Department to determine if she broke any laws.

WLS-TV in Chicago reports that Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham wrote the Justice Department following reports that Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx asked Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to let the FBI investigate Smollett's allegations that he was attacked by two masked men after the former chief of staff to former first lady Michelle Obama informed Foxx that Smollett's family had concerns about the probe.

The police kept the investigation and Foxx recused herself. Her office charged Smollett with lying to police.

Foxx's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

FILE- In this Feb. 23, 2019, file photo, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after R. Kelly was ordered held on a $1 million bond, in Chicago. The Chicago police union's president alleges that the county's top prosecutor interfered with the probe of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett before recusing herself and wants the Justice Department to investigate. WLS-TV in Chicago reports that Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham wrote the Justice Department following reports that Foxx asked Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to let the FBI investigate Smollett's allegations that he was attacked. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Attorney General's Office is suing to shut down what it describes as a national puppy-laundering ring that sells dogs from illegal breeding operations at inflated prices while pretending the animals are rescues.

The lawsuit filed Monday seeks an injunction to dissolve breeder J.A.K.'s Puppies, and nonprofits Hobo K9 Rescue and Rescue Pets Iowa Corp, Attorney General Tom Miller's Office said in a news release . The lawsuit also alleges four ringleaders - Jolyn Noethe, Kimberly Dolphin, Megan Peterson, and Russell Kirk - violated Iowa's consumer fraud act.

The operations sold almost 1,300 animals in California, Illinois, Florida and New Jersey for more than $700,000 from 2016 to 2018, the lawsuit said. None of the puppies - including Pomeranians, Shar-Peis, Alaskan Malamutes, Poodle-Yorkies - were re-homed in Iowa.

"No matter where they live, consumers should not be misled about the source of the pets they buy," Miller said. "Puppy laundering obscures the identity of breeders who may have animal welfare violations or other problems."

The state is seeking $40,000 in fines per violation, plus reimbursement to defrauded customers.

Kirk, who is the president of Rescue Pets, declined to comment to the Des Moines Register. Noethe, Dolphin, Peterson are all officers with Hobo K9 and J.A.K.'s. The newspaper was unable to reach them for comment.

J.A.K.'s acquired the animals from puppy mills then sold them to Hobo K9, which sold them for profit, the lawsuit said. Animal welfare groups say puppy mills are cruel; they breed the animals constantly and force them to live in cramped, often dirty conditions.

Miller's office began investigating the groups in June 2018, prompting the alleged ringleaders to create a "brand-new sham charity" called Rescue Pets Iowa Corp. in December last year, the lawsuit said.

The nonprofit's fees are "extravagant" and the animals being sold were all puppies, a vast departure from legitimate rescues that typically charge minimal fees and primarily offer older animals, the state said.

___

This story has been corrected to show the lawsuit was filed Monday, not Wednesday.TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) - The man charged with killing the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family had a symbol on his hand that some say is associated with a conspiracy theory.

Anthony Comello was arrested Saturday in the death of Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali.

Before a hearing in New Jersey, Comello held up his left hand.

On it were scrawled slogans supporting President Donald Trump, including "MAGA Forever." That refers to Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. In the center of his palm was what appeared to be a "Q."

The letter is associated with QAnon. That's a conspiracy theory that suggests a "deep state" plot against Trump and contends special counsel Robert Mueller is actually investigating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama.

Asked what was on Comello's hand, his lawyer Brian Neary replied: "Handcuffs."BEEVILLE, Texas (AP) - Three male Native American inmates in Texas will be allowed to grow their hair long as an expression of their religious beliefs after winning a lawsuit against the state prison system.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos' ruling last month only affects the three inmates at the McConnell Unit near Beeville, but their arguments could apply to future lawsuits involving any of the more than 5,000 Native American prisoners in the state, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Texas is considering an appeal, according to prison spokesman Jeremy Desel.

The inmates' nearly seven-year lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice argued that Native American spiritual beliefs regard hair as an extension of the soul, and that hair should only be cut when in mourning. The inmates claimed that the prison system's rules requiring men to keep their hair short or face punishment were an unfair violation of religious freedom under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The three men have all been behind bars for decades, serving time for crimes such as murder and sexual assault. They haven't faced major disciplinary infractions in years.

Raymond Cobb, a Walker County man of Native American descent who was part of the lawsuit, said he wanted to grow his hair long and braid it to avoid risking rejection from his ancestors when "crossing over" after death.

The lead plaintiff and a Cherokee man, 55-year-old Robbie Dow Goodman, said his long hair connected him to his Creator.

"It's just like the roots of a tree," he said at trial. "It connects us."

Attorneys for the state argued that allowing male prisoners to have long hair hinders inmate identification and could present a suicide risk after a female prisoner tried to smother herself with her hair. Corrections officials worried that inmates would be able to hide contraband in long hair, attorneys said.

The department also claimed long hair could symbolize gang affiliation, harbor lice or increase the likelihood of inmates overheating in uncooled units.

Security and hygiene concerns were also cited in a similar case in 2015 , in which an appeals court ruled against Native American inmates in Alabama who fought for their right to wear long hair.

"Inmates being able to fully express and practice their religion is rehabilitative and reduces recidivism," said attorney Steven Messer, who represented the Texas inmates. "It's just good policy."MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The attorney for Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek, Wisconsin's most famous runaway fugitive who insisted until her death in 2010 that she did not kill her husband's ex-wife, hopes Gov. Tony Evers will finally clear her name with a posthumous pardon she unsuccessfully sought for decades.

Bembenek's attorney sent Evers the pardon request earlier this year. Evers, a Democrat, has said he will once again consider granting pardons after his predecessor, Republican Scott Walker, didn't issue a single one during his eight years in office.

"I am hoping (Evers) will do something about this," Bembenek's attorney, Mary Woehrer, said Tuesday. "Granting Laurie Bembenek a pardon would be the right thing to do. It would be justice."

Woehrer argues that new ballistics and DNA evidence prove Bembenek's innocence.

Evers has declined to comment on specific pardon requests. He's in the process of establishing a process for considering pardons after eight years of inaction.

Bembenek worked briefly as a Playboy Club waitress in Lake Geneva before becoming a police officer in Milwaukee in 1980, where she married Detective Fred Schultz. Bembenek was convicted in 1982 of fatally shooting his ex-wife after complaining about the alimony he had to pay.

FILE - In this Dec. 10, 1992 file photo, flanked by her attorneys Frank Morocco, left, and Sheldon T. Zenner, right, Lawrencia Bembenek answers questions at a new conference in Chicago, Ill. The attorney for Wisconsin's famous runaway convict and convicted murderer Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek is asking Gov. Tony Evers for a pardon. Bembenek insisted up until her death in 2010 that she did not kill the ex-wife of her husband in 1982. Her attorney filed a pardon request with Evers earlier this year. Bembenek, a former Milwaukee Police officer who escaped from prison after she was convicted of murder in a wild criminal saga that later became a TV miniseries. (AP Photo/Mark Elias, File)

Bembenek was sentenced to life in prison but maintained her innocence. In 1990 and now divorced, she escaped from Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac and fled to Canada with her fiance, who was the brother of a fellow inmate. She escaped by crawling through a laundry room window.

In Milwaukee, more than 200 supporters - many wearing "Run Bambi Run " T-shirts - rallied to show support for her flight from the law. Bembenek and her fiance were living under fake names when they were captured in Thunder Bay, Ontario, about three months later after the case was featured on "America's Most Wanted."

In 1992, Bembenek was released on parole after her original conviction was set aside and she agreed to plead no contest to second-degree murder as part of a deal. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

She moved to Washington state to live with her parents, where she fought to clear her name until her 2010 death from liver failure at age 52.

Bemebenek had a pardon request pending with then-Gov. Jim Doyle when she died. Doyle, a Democrat, didn't act on the pardon request.

Woehrer, Bembenek's attorney, said it was the dying wish of Bembenek and her parents to clear her name.

"Laurie Bembenek was not a murderer," Woehrer said. "She murdered no one. She was wrongly convicted."

Bembenek's colorful case was tabloid fare, the subject of multiple books, a 1993 TV movie starring Tatum O'Neal and the focus of an Investigation Discovery episode of "Vanity Fair Confidential" last year.

___

Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAPPITTSBURGH (AP) - An off-duty police officer who rescued a 5-year-old girl from a rabid coyote at a New York playground is one of 19 people being honored with Carnegie Medals for heroism.

The Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced the award winners on Monday.

Arcangelo Liberatore was at the playground in Thornwood, New York, in April 2018 when he heard screams and saw the animal attacking Natalia Petrellese.

Liberatore rushed over after the girl's mother unsuccessfully tried to fight off the animal. He got the animal to release its grip on Natalia and pinned it to the ground, while the little girl's mother rushed her a safe distance away. Liberatore struggled to restrain the animal as it attempted to bite him until police officers arrived several minutes later and fatally shot the animal. Natalia had stitches in her arm, and Liberatore sustained scratches. Both were treated for rabies and recovered.

The Hero Fund commission was founded and endowed by steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It has awarded over $40 million to more than 10,000 heroes or their families since 1904.

Other winners announced Monday include:

FILE - In this April 30, 2018 file photo, Irvington police officer Arcangelo Liberatore poses for a photo in Irvington, N.Y. Liberatore, who rescued a 5-year-old girl from a rabid coyote at a New York playground, is one of 19 people being honored with Carnegie Medals for heroism. (Tania Savayan/The Journal News via AP, File)

-Steve Wahler, 47, of Owensboro, Kentucky, and Bradley Eugene Murphy, 21, of Elberta, Alabama, both drowned after entering the water to attempt to save a 12-year-old boy caught in a Gulf of Mexico rip current in Gulf Shores, Alabama in October 2017.

-Malik Andre Williams, 25, of Galesburg, Illinois, drowned trying to rescue his 6-year-old son, and Van U. Thang, of East Moline, Illinois, managed to save the boy who fell into the Mississippi River in Moline, Illinois, in June 2017.

-Timonthy Hunley, 43, of Wilmington, North Carolina, rescued a 40-year-old woman from the cab of a semitrailer that crashed while towing a trailer loaded with a motor home, another vehicle and fuel containers into woods along a highway in Waltersboro, South Carolina, in March 2018.

-Kristian Harrison, 47, of Dayton, Kentucky, rescued a neighbor from his burning home in November 2017.

-Nicholas Anderson, 45, of San Francisco, rescued two women and three children from a pickup that caught fire after colliding with an SUV in Willits, California, in May 2017.

-Kali Allen, 38, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, attempted to rescue a man who had fallen through ice in a deep pond in Catoosa, Oklahoma, in January 2018, before Allen had to be rescued by responding firefighters.

-Peter Di Pinto, Sr., 64, of Brookhaven, New York, saved a woman after her van crashed and came to rest on railroad tracks seconds before a freight train then struck her vehicle in October 2017.

-David Connelly, 30, of Providence Forge, Virginia, saved a couple from drowning after their car crashed into the Little River in Doswell, Virginia, in December 2016.

-Charles Franklin Hoop, 40, of Wendell, Idaho, rescued a suicidal man from jumping off a bridge above the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho, in December 2017.

-Omar Lee, 40, of Louisville, Kentucky, and James Wyatt, 42, of Clarksville, Indiana, rescued a man whose semi-truck crashed and burned on a Louisville interstate in November 2017.

-Michael James Jordan, 47, and his son, Wyatt, 24, both of Sterling, Connecticut, saved a woman from her crashed and burning pickup truck in Killingly, Connecticut, in November 2017.

-Willowick, Ohio, Police officers Christopher Olup, 34, and Robert Prochazka, 49, saved a man with limited mobility after his home caught fire in Willowick in April 2016.

-Christopher Schafer, 42, of Hayti, South Dakota, saved a farmer after his semi-tractor hauling more than 90,000 pounds of grain struck a freight train and caught fire in Blunt, South Dakota, in August 2017.MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has signed an open letter promising to not seek re-election after his six-year term ends in 2024.

That move was prompted by opposition fears that a proposal to let voters oust the president midway through his term might actually end up letting him serve longer.

The president's supporters in Congress advanced legislation last week that would call a referendum halfway through presidential terms - an idea Lopez Obrador had campaigned on.

But critics suspect it could undermine Mexico's constitutional prohibition on re-election. Conservative opponents have long compared Lopez Obrador to Venezuela's late Hugo Chavez and other leaders of the Latin American left who made moves to extend their time in office.

Lopez Obrador said Tuesday that in 2024 he'll retire to his ranch.JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A black Mississippi man who has been tried six times for murder says his latest conviction and death sentence should be thrown out for a familiar reason - the prosecutor's practice of keeping African-Americans off the jury.

Curtis Flowers has been jailed in Mississippi for 22 years, even as prosecutors couldn't get a murder conviction against him to stick through his first five trials.

Three convictions were tossed out, and two other juries couldn't reach unanimous verdicts.

The justices on Wednesday will examine whether District Attorney Doug Evans' history of excluding black jurors should figure in determining if Evans again crossed a line when he struck five African-Americans from the jury that most recently convicted Flowers of killing four people.

In overturning Flowers' third conviction, the Mississippi Supreme Court called Evans' exclusion of 15 black prospective jurors "as strong a prima facie case of racial discrimination as we have seen" in challenges to jury composition. This time around, though, the state's high court has twice rejected Flowers' claims, even after being ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to take another look.

Wednesday's arguments at the high court are the latest stop on a twisting path that began July 16, 1996. That's when four people were found dead inside Tardy Furniture in downtown Winona. Shot in the head were 59-year-old owner Bertha Tardy and three employees - 45-year-old Carmen Rigby, 42-year-old Robert Golden and 16-year-old Derrick "Bobo" Stewart.

This Aug. 3, 2017 photo provided by Mississippi Department of Corrections shows Curtis Flowers, who's murder case has gone to trial six times. Supreme Court justices are again considering how to keep prosecutors from removing African-Americans from criminal juries for racially biased reasons, this time in a case involving a Mississippi death row inmate who has been tried six times for murder. (Mississippi Department of Corrections via AP)

It was months before officials arrested and charged Curtis Flowers for the murder. Prosecutors say Flowers was a disgruntled former employee who sought revenge against Tardy because she fired him and withheld most of his pay to cover the cost of merchandise he damaged. Nearly $300 was found missing after the killings.

Defense lawyers, though, say witness statements and physical evidence against Flowers are too weak to convict him. A jailhouse informant who claimed Flowers had confessed to him recanted in recorded telephone conversations with American Public Media's "In the Dark" podcast. There's a separate appeal pending in state court questioning Flowers' actual guilt, citing in part evidence that reporters for "In the Dark" detailed.

Flowers, now 48, has been imprisoned at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman since 1997, following his first conviction. That and two subsequent convictions were overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court. Then two hung juries couldn't reach verdicts. Finally, Evans won conviction in Flowers' sixth trial, in 2010, the case at issue here.

The first two cases were overturned in part because Evans impermissibly introduced evidence relating to all four deaths in cases where Flowers was on trial for killing only one person. In the second trial, Evans got into trouble for striking black jurors, with a judge overruling one of the strikes. Then, the state Supreme Court overturned the third verdict, again citing racial bias in removing jurors. Lawyers for Flowers argue the guilty verdict from the sixth trial should be tossed for the same reason, noting Evans has overwhelmingly used his ability to strike individual jurors to remove black people.

"Mr. Evans has a history of keeping black folks off the jury ... so he can guarantee himself a victory, pretty much," said Ray Charles Carter, who represented Flowers in his last four criminal trials.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Hood's office declined to comment. Evans did not reply Monday to a request for comment.

In the course of selecting a jury, lawyers question potential jurors and first try to weed out people for specific reasons including unwillingness to impose a death sentence or personal relationships with people involved in the case.

Both sides also can excuse a juror merely because of a suspicion that a particular person would vote against their client. Those are called peremptory strikes, and they have been the focus of the complaints about discrimination.

Evans has removed black jurors at 4.5 times the rate that he struck white jurors, according to an "In the Dark" analysis of 6,700 jurors in 225 trials over 26 years.

The U.S. Supreme Court tried to stamp out discrimination in the composition of juries in Batson v. Kentucky in 1986. The court ruled then that jurors couldn't be excused from service because of their race and set up a system by which trial judges could evaluate claims of discrimination and the race-neutral explanations by prosecutors.

Justice Thurgood Marshall, who had been the nation's pre-eminent civil rights attorney, was part of the Batson case majority, but he said the only way to end discrimination in jury selection was to eliminate peremptory strikes.

Flowers' case had previously come to the U.S. Supreme Court's attention. In 2016, the justices ordered Mississippi's top court to re-examine racial bias issues in Flowers' case following a high court ruling in favor of a Georgia inmate because of a racially discriminatory jury. But the Mississippi justices divided 5-4 in upholding the verdict against Flowers. The state, defending the conviction, argues that justices must narrow the focus from Evans' broader record to the case at hand.

"Any potential relief must be confined to the events of this, his most recent conviction and sentence," Assistant Attorney General Jason Davis, who will argue the case for the state, wrote in a brief.

The state argues that each of the five black women who were removed from the jury were struck for legitimate reasons - that they knew Flowers, worked with his relatives, had been sued by Tardy Furniture, or opposed the death penalty on principle.

"The race-neutral reasons provided by the state were valid and were not the result of pretext," Davis wrote.HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - It was a caper Scarface might have sanctioned ... until they dropped him and got collared.

Authorities say two Missouri men snatched a statue of Al Capone from its seat outside the Ohio Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas, early Saturday morning.

Club owner Mike Pettey told the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record that the men dropped it and he was able to chase them down and take back the statue. He says the statue suffered a broken fedora brim, arm and leg amounting to about $3,500 worth of damage.

The two Missouri men, Mason Potter Jr. and Andrew Vaughn, were charged with public intoxication and criminal mischief.

Hot Springs, which is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Little Rock, was once a popular destination for gangsters, including Capone.STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke is making an early impression in Pennsylvania, a late-voting state that may yet play a role in the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential primary contest.

An animated O'Rourke spoke Tuesday for 50 minutes to a crowd of hundreds in a Penn State auditorium, promising to take his campaign everywhere, including Republican strongholds. Later, speaking to reporters, he suggested that he'd support doing away with the Electoral College.

The Texan's appearance was easily the splashiest of any Democratic presidential hopeful who has ventured into Pennsylvania this year. He attracted a bank of TV cameras and waded patiently through a crowd of hundreds of fans in Penn State's student union who shouted questions or sought autographs, selfies and handshakes.

Many who came to see him said they were drawn by his youth - he is 46 - and his rising star reputation after he narrowly lost his bid for U.S. Senate in Texas in November's election. They didn't leave disappointed, struck by his willingness drive his own car, mingle with crowds and answer questions, including one criticizing him for spouting platitudes.

Later, on his way out, he told reporters that "there's a lot of wisdom" in scrapping the Electoral College system, saying it puts some states out of play in presidential elections. O'Rourke suggested that changing the Constitution to adopt a popular vote for president would ensure that every voter counts.

The idea has traction among Democrats, since Hillary Clinton netted nearly 3 million more votes in 2016 than Republican Donald Trump, yet lost the Electoral College and therefore the White House.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks at an event at The Hub Robison Center on the Penn State campus in State College, Pa., Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pennsylvania was one of the states that swung narrowly to Trump, helping deliver his victory.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also reiterated her support for eliminating the Electoral College while on her Democratic presidential campaign swing through Selma, Alabama.

O'Rourke made his stop in Pennsylvania on a seven-day, six-state tour before he climbed into a minivan and, taking the wheel, headed to the early voting state of New Hampshire.

Onstage in Pennsylvania, he fended off a question suggesting his voting record in Congress didn't reflect his "big ideas," echoing criticism from some that he was too moderate in Congress.

He disagreed with another questioner that he speaks in platitudes, insisting he is specific about where he stands, whether advocating for universal pre-kindergarten, legalizing marijuana, arresting pharmaceutical executives instead of people with addiction, or backing universal health care legislation in Congress named "Medicare for America."

"In every single policy area, I'm trying to describe not just the goal and the aspiration, but the path that we will take to get there," O'Rourke responded onstage. "I understand if we disagree or come to different conclusions. That's the genius of our democracy."

That democracy, he said at another point while transitioning from the urgent need to fight climate change to the influence of corporate campaign contributions, "is as broken as it's been in our lifetimes."

"It is captured, it is corrupted, it is being attacked from without, it is being attacked from within," he said.

He spoke at length about humankind having just 12 more years to combat climate change and supporting the Green New Deal, a sweeping environmental plan backed by liberal Democrats. If the planet warms just another degree Celsius, he said, "we are screwed."

"That is the term the scientists use," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Elana Schor in Selma, Alabama, contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, center, thanks students as he leaves the The Hub Robison Center on the Penn State campus in State College, Pa., Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, right, hands his cap to Tom Sowers, a freshman at Penn State from State College, Pa., as he speaks at an event at The Hub Robison Center on the Penn State campus in State College, Pa., Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)UPPER MAKEFIELD >> A chill hung in the air Sunday afternoon as General George Washington and his troops brought history to life by re-enacting a daring journey across the Delaware River that forever changed American history. As canon fire echoed through the peaceful river valley, a record number of people - more than 4,000 - watched the pageantry of the...ROME (AP) - Russia and the United States remain split on how to resolve the crisis in Venezuela, officials from both powers said Tuesday after talks in Rome.

Elliott Abrams, the Trump administration's special envoy to Venezuela, met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to discuss the situation in the Latin American country.

"We did not come to a meeting of the minds, but the talks were positive in the sense that I think both sides emerged with a better understanding of the other's views," Abrams told reporters after the meeting at a luxury hotel in Rome.

He said it's "perfectly plausible" that the two sides meet again but no date was set.

Russia backs Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and has accused Washington of meddling in the country's affairs by pressing him to step down and hand over power to opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Speaking to Russian media, Ryabkov emphasized the need for dialogue with the U.S. but warned Washington against military intervention.

Police stand guard in anticipation of a march called by a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups who are petitioning lawmakers for a law of guarantees that will protect workers who have been victims of political retaliation and unjustified dismissals, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

President Donald Trump has said "all options are on the table" regarding Venezuela, which Russia interprets as a refusal to exclude military force, Ryabkov said.

"We have warned the U.S. against that reckless approach," Ryabkov said in remarks that were carried by the state Tass and RIA Novosti news agencies.

Abrams insisted the U.S. will continue to keep its options open, but said it has chosen the path of putting political, financial and diplomatic pressure on Maduro's regime.

Earlier, Abrams met with government officials from Italy - one of four European Union countries that have not backed Guaido as Venezuela's interim president - and paid a visit to the Vatican. He noted that the Catholic Church enjoys respect and credibility in Venezuela, but said it's unclear what role if any the Vatican could play in its political crisis.

Pope Francis has reportedly written to Maduro indicating conditions aren't ripe for the Vatican to step in and help mediate.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. added a Venezuelan state-owned mining company to a growing sanctions list as it seeks to increase pressure on Maduro.

The new sanctions bar any U.S. citizen or entity from any financial transactions with the gold mining company known as Minerven and its president, Adrian Antonio Perdomo Mata.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the company is helping to prop up Maduro, who alleges that he is the target of a U.S. coup plot.

___

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Ben Fox in Washington contributed to this report.

Police stand guard in anticipation of a march called by a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups who are petitioning lawmakers for a law of guarantees that will protect workers who have been victims of political retaliation and unjustified dismissals, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut man has pleaded guilty to his role in an investment fraud scheme.

Prosecutors say 58-year-old Leonid "Lenny" Pollak entered his plea Monday to charges of wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction.

The Greenwich man owned a Norwalk-based company that organized trade shows and expositions across the U.S.

Prosecutors say in 2013 he persuaded an acquaintance to invest money in a new business venture that would organize similar expositions in Ukraine.

Instead of using the money on the business, prosecutors say Pollak spent about $250,000 on groceries, his home mortgage and private school tuition.

He faces up to 30 years in prison during his sentencing scheduled for June.THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch police have detained a Rwandan man suspected of involvement in his country's 1994 genocide.

Prosecutors say in a statement that authorities in Rwanda have requested extradition of the man, identified only as Venant R. The 69-year-old was arrested Tuesday by the Dutch police's International Crimes Unit.

Rwanda alleges he was regional director of an agricultural institute located outside of the southern Rwandan city of Butare in 1994 where more than 1,000 Tutsi men, women and children were killed during the genocide.

According to Dutch prosecutors, Rwandan authorities accuse the suspect of summoning to the institute soldiers and militias who killed the Tutsis.

Venant R. sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2000, but his application was rejected. It was not immediately clear when he will be extradited.WASHINGTON (AP) - Carrying a bitter personal feud beyond the grave, President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on the late Sen. John McCain on Tuesday, declaring he will "never" be a fan of the Vietnam war hero and longtime Republican lawmaker who died last year of brain cancer.

"I was never a fan of John McCain, and I never will be," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The fresh vitriol followed Trump's weekend tweets insulting the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, with whom he long had a fractious relationship. He repeated some of those attacks, complaining about McCain's vote against repealing President Barack Obama's health care law.

"He campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare for years and then it got to a vote and he said thumbs down," Trump said, adding - without citing evidence - that the repeal would have "saved a trillion dollars."

Over the weekend, Trump attacked McCain on Twitter. Among his barbs was that the longtime Arizona senator had been "last in his class" at the U.S. Naval Academy. But while McCain famously racked up demerits and earned poor grades, he ultimately graduated fifth from the bottom of his 1958 class.

Those attacks drew retaliatory fire from McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain.

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 208 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. speaks at a rally outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. President Donald Trump is not backing down from his longstanding criticism of the late Sen. John McCain. Trump declared Tuesday at the White House: "I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be." Trump drew criticism over the weekend for tweeting insults at McCain, a Vietnam war hero, Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate who died last year of brain cancer. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

"He spends his weekend obsessing over great men because he knows it and I know it and all of you know it - he will never be a great man," said Meghan McCain, on ABC's "The View," which she co-hosts.

Trump targeted McCain during his presidential campaign, saying in 2015 that the former prisoner-of-war was not a hero, "because he was captured." Trump received a series of deferments to avoid serving in Vietnam, including one attained with a physician's letter stating that he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.JOHANNESBURG (AP) - The lives of hundreds of thousands of people are at risk after a cyclone ripped into central Mozambique and heavy rains continue to fall. Aid groups report people clinging to rooftops and trees as rivers burst their banks and waters rise. Authorities openly worry that the world has not grasped the severity of the crisis.

Here is a look at the disaster that has killed untold hundreds of people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

___

WILL THE DEATH TOLL RISE?

Almost certainly. Emergency responders are struggling to reach parts of the three countries after some roads, bridges and communications networks were washed away or destroyed.

A massive storm surge when Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique over the weekend created what one World Food Program staffer calls "inland oceans extending for miles and miles in all directions." The city of Beira with its some 500,000 residents is said to be 90 percent destroyed.

A family dig for their son who got buried in the mud when Cyclone Idai struck in Chimanimani about 600 kilometres south east of Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, March, 19, 2019. According to the government, Cyclone Idai has killed more than 100 people in Chipinge and Chimanimani and according to residents the figures could be higher because the hardest hit areas are still inaccessible. Some hundreds are dead, many more are missing, and some thousands at risk from the massive flooding in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe caused by Cyclone Idai.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

The European Union's global observation program, mapping the crisis, said some 394 square kilometers (152 square miles) of Mozambique had been flooded.

Further deaths could occur if people clinging to hope are swept away by the rising waters or are not reached in time with critical water, food and other aid.

And now authorities are warning of water-borne diseases after what infrastructure existed in the largely impoverished countries was stripped away.

Mozambique's president, after flying over the region, has warned as many as 1,000 people could die.

___

WHAT IS BEING DONE TO HELP?

Mozambique and Malawi are two of the poorest countries in Africa, and the economy of once-prosperous Zimbabwe has collapsed in recent years.

Aid appeals for millions of dollars have begun as the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations rush to deliver food, water, fuel and medicines to the vast affected area. In Beira, a staging point for emergency responders, electricity could be out through the end of the month and a fuel shortage is reported. The Beira hospital is severely damaged.

The European Union and Britain have been among the first to pledge aid. The EU says its initial package to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi is worth about $3.9 million, while Britain says it will provide up to $7.9 million.

The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe says it is "mobilizing support" for partners in the three countries, with no further details. Tanzania's military airlifted some 238 tons of emergency food and medicine to the three countries.

Zimbabwe's president has said a number of countries, including the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola, also were offering aid.

___

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Aid organizations and authorities are rushing humanitarian aid to Beira and other areas by air and sea, while rescue efforts push on. The torrential rains are expected to continue in central Mozambique until Thursday.

As the water begins to recede throughout the region, the extent of the devastation will become clearer.

And thousands, perhaps scores of thousands, of families could be on the move, seeking new refuge after their homes were washed away.

"I salvaged nothing except this baby," Chipo Dhliwayo told The Associated Press in eastern Zimbabwe, referring to her 6-month-old son.

Burials, which already have begun, will continue.

___

Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_AfricaJACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Latest on a Catholic diocese in Mississippi releasing the names of clergy accused of sexual abuse (all times local):

12:25 p.m.

A Catholic diocese in Mississippi has released the names of 37 clergy members it says worked in the diocese and have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

The Diocese of Jackson released the names Tuesday. It says 30 of the clergy members were accused of abuse in Mississippi and the others worked in Mississippi but faced allegations in other states.

Diocese chancellor Mary Woodward says the victims were boys and girls ranging in age from 5 to 17. She says the cases date from 1939 to 1998, and none of the accused clergy are still in active ministry.

Woodward says there are two additional cases involving clergy members whose names were not released Tuesday. One is on appeal. The other is under investigation and involves abuse alleged to have taken place in 1961 that was just recently reported.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz (KOH-paz) is apologizing to victims and their families.

____

3:59 a.m.

A Catholic diocese in Mississippi is releasing names of clergy members it says have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz (KOH-paz) says the Diocese of Jackson is publishing the list Tuesday on its website.

The Jackson bishop says in a letter released Monday that he is "truly, deeply sorry" for any pain the list may cause.

Kopacz says "abuse of any kind is a sin, but the abuse of children and vulnerable adults is especially egregious." He says it is "a sin that cries out for justice."

The bishop says he encourages anyone who has been sexually abused by a clergy member or church employee to come forward. He also says the church is taking steps to prevent abuse, including screening and educating employees and volunteers.PARIS (AP) - France's finance minister has revised the country's growth forecast this year to 1.4 percent, down from the previous 1.7 percent, partly attributing the new estimate to the yellow vest protests.

Speaking Tuesday at the Senate, Bruno Le Maire said the overall cost of damage linked to the four-month anti-government movement is estimated at 200 million euros ($227 million).

Le Maire said France's revised growth is still higher than government forecasts in neighboring Germany (0.8 percent) and Italy (1 percent). He stressed that the French unemployment rate is decreasing, falling to 8.8 percent at the end of last year, its lowest in 10 years.

The yellow vest movement started in November to protest against French President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies, seen as favoring the rich.

Bystanders take snapshots of a vandalized perfumery the day after riots erupted on the Champs Elysee avenue during the 18th straight weekend of demonstrations by the yellow vests in Paris, France, Sunday, March 17, 2019. Paris cleaned up one of the world's most glamorous avenues Saturday after resurgent rioting by yellow vest protesters angry at President Emmanuel Macron stunned the nation. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

Outside view of a store vandalized and set on fire the day after riots erupted on the Champs Elysees during the 18th straight weekend of demonstrations by the yellow vests in Paris, France, Sunday, March 17, 2019. Paris cleaned up one of the world's most glamorous avenues Saturday after resurgent rioting by yellow vest protesters angry at President Emmanuel Macron stunned the nation. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)NEW YORK (AP) - It's not uncommon for people to just look at Jodi Benson and burst into tears.

Sometimes they hyperventilate or scream. But mostly they break down and start sobbing. Benson will hold them, heaving in her arms, and pat their back gently.

Benson isn't a household name but for many she's an intimate part of their childhood. She supplied the singing and speaking voice of Ariel, the heroine of the 1989 animated Disney hit "The Little Mermaid," which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Benson says she will sometimes watch as the stunned movie's fans virtually go back in time in front of her. "It triggers a memory for them," she says.

"They remember who they were with when they saw the movie the first time. Maybe that sibling is no longer with them, that grandparent is no longer with them. It reminds them of a relationship that had been broken with a parent. So they have all sorts of emotions that go on."

"The Little Mermaid " has changed a lot of lives, not least of which is Benson's, who has continued to perform Ariel virtually every weekend in concerts as well as on film in the "Wreck-It Ralph" franchise.

This image released by Disney shows Ariel, voiced by Jodi Benson, in a scenefrom "The Little Mermaid. The film, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, also had a big role in making Disney into an animation juggernaut. Many believe we'd never have Anna and Elsa from "Frozen" without first having Ariel. (Disney via AP)

"The Little Mermaid" also had a big role in making Disney into an animation juggernaut and reviving the art form. Many believe we'd never have Anna and Elsa from "Frozen" without first having Ariel.

"Disney was starting to get into a groove that would continue, but I feel like a lot of that started with 'A Little Mermaid,'" says Ron Clements, who co-wrote and co-directed the film.

Benson was a rising Broadway star when Ariel came into her orbit. She had been in a short-lived musical "Smile" when Howard Ashman, the musical's lyricist and story writer, invited the out-of-work cast to audition for his next project, an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid."

Producers wanted the singing and speaking voice to be supplied by the same actress. So Benson, a lyric soprano, sang the signature "Part of Your World" on a reel-to-reel tape and was handed a few of pages of dialogue.

"I ran into the ladies' room," she recalls "and waited for everybody to get out of the stalls and started talking to the mirror, sort of trying to come up with what would she sound like at 16."

Benson, it turned out, was a master mimic. She had spent countless hours in her room as a child with her guitar, singing along to records by Barbra Streisand, Carole King, James Taylor as well as Marvin Hamlisch's "A Chorus Line."

"I would start to just sing like them. But it wasn't like I was trying to be them. It's just that's what I heard. And so that's just what you do. You just sound like what you been listening to," she says.

A year or so after auditioning for Ariel, she got the call that she'd won the role. "I completely forgot that I had auditioned," she says. Back then, voiceover work wasn't very glamorous and big celebrities wouldn't consider it.

"It wasn't a good job. Doing voiceovers was what you would do when your career was on the back half, when it was tanking," says Benson. She thought Ariel would be just another notch on her resume. It was not.

"Things just changed overnight," she says.

Propelled by such Alan Menken songs as "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl," the film won two Grammys and earned three Academy Award nominations. It was critically acclaimed, with Roger Ebert calling it a "jolly and inventive animated fantasy," and would go to earn $211 million worldwide. Parents of children with learning disabilities have told Benson their child's first words were from the film.

A live-action remake is in the works, featuring new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created "Hamilton." He loved the 1989 animated film so much its partly the reason he named his first child Sebastian - the mermaid's crab friend.

It was the kind of hit that Clements and his animators at Disney had long been hoping for. He had started at Disney in 1974 and was part of a new generation of artists trying to change the notion that animation was just for kids.

Clements had pitched a two-page treatment of the musical to then-studio head Michael Eisner and was given the green light. For Clements and his partner, John Musker, the stakes were high: It was the first fairy tale Disney had done for some three decades.

"There was a feeling - all through 'Little Mermaid' - that this film had potential to be the film that could break through and work the way we were all hungry for and hoping for," recalls Clements, who went on to co-direct "Aladdin" and "Hercules."

"It was really, really gratifying that it did break through. It broke through the stigma that animated films were just for kids. It became a date movie. People started taking Disney animation seriously again."

Over the past 30 years, Ariel has become the bridge between classic princesses like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and modern ones like Mulan and Merida. And Benson has become the official Ariel ambassador, tapped to do sequels, video games and shorts, in addition to voicing other characters like Barbie in the "Toy Story" franchise.

Her arms are always open to fans and she's now welcoming the fourth generation to "The Little Mermaid." So feel free to cry on her shoulder.

"It doesn't feel like a job. It just feels like a way of life more than more than anything else," she says. "You have this multigenerational moment that families can share together. And I get to be a small piece of the puzzle of their story."

___

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

This Feb. 19, 2019, photo shows Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel from the Disney animated film, "The Little Mermaid," poses in Nashville, Tenn. The film, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, also had a big role in making Disney into an animation juggernaut. Many believe we'd never have Anna and Elsa from "Frozen" without first having Ariel. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

This Feb. 19, 2019, photo shows Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel from the Disney animated film, "The Little Mermaid," poses in Nashville, Tenn. The film, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, also had a big role in making Disney into an animation juggernaut. Many believe we'd never have Anna and Elsa from "Frozen" without first having Ariel. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

This Feb. 19, 2019, photo shows Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel from the Disney animated film, "The Little Mermaid," poses in Nashville, Tenn. The film, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, also had a big role in making Disney into an animation juggernaut. Many believe we'd never have Anna and Elsa from "Frozen" without first having Ariel. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)SANAA, Yemen (AP) - A senior Houthi rebel leader in Yemen said Tuesday that his group will not give up the key port city of Hodeida, the focus of months of U.N.-brokered talks with the government.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the rebels' Supreme Revolutionary Committees, accused his rivals from the internationally-recognized government of misinterpreting the deal. He says the Houthis have agreed to withdraw their forces but will remain in control.

He said the Saudi-backed government "couldn't get (the port) by force and they won't seize it by tricks."

"We agree on the redeployment according to the presented mechanism, but withdrawal as they are promoting, is impossible," he said in an interview conducted in undisclosed location in Sanaa, after relocating to avoid airstrikes.

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.

The two sides have agreed to withdraw their forces from the port, but are divided over who will run it once they pull out. The U.N.-brokered deal was vague on that point, saying a "local force" would take over without specifying who would lead it.

U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths said Tuesday "significant progress" has been made on the withdrawal of forces from Hodeida.

He said in a statement that "operational details" of the agreement on phase one of the redeployment will be presented to a U.N. committee shortly. Griffiths said he looks forward to the committee's "swift endorsement of the plan."

A mutual pullout from Hodeida, which handles about 70 percent of Yemen's imports, and the two smaller ports of Salif and Ras Issa, was agreed to in Sweden in December and was seen as an important first step toward ending the conflict.

But a lack of trust between the government and the Houthis hampered agreement on details of the withdrawals. Each side has accused the other of violating the Hodeida cease-fire, and fighting has continued in other parts of the country.

"This is a process that will take a lot of patience so I don't want to sound over-confident about this, but any progress in getting the parties to agreement is welcome, and that is why today's developments are welcome and a positive step forward," U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.

"Whether we can get to the final step of actually having the withdrawals occur, that remains to be seen," he added.

The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Iranian-backed Houthis. A Saudi-led coalition allied with the government has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015.

The fighting in the Arab world's poorest country has killed an estimated 60,000 people and left millions suffering from food and medical care shortages. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock has said about 80 percent of Yemen's population - 24 million people - need humanitarian assistance, including nearly 10 million "just a step away from famine" and nearly 240,000 "facing catastrophic levels of hunger."

Last month, Griffiths said that forces will initially be withdrawn from Salif and Ras Issa, followed by a pullout from Hodeida and critical parts of the city. That would allow access to the Red Sea Mills, a major U.N. storage facility holding enough grain to feed 3.7 million people for a month.

The U.S.-backed and Saudi-led coalition allied with the government views the Houthis as an Iranian proxy. A U.N. panel of experts said earlier this year that Iran finances the war through illegal oil shipments to rebels. Both Iran and the Houthis deny Tehran has armed them.

Al-Houthi, who is considered the deputy leader of the movement, denied the rebels receive any aid from Iran, saying only that they have shared goals.

He said there was still a "big chance for peace" but only if the other side is committed to it.

"My message is that there is a big chance for peace despite the terrorism we face." But, he added, "if you decide to go for war, you will find us fierce warriors."

__

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.BOUNTIFUL, Utah (AP) - Utah officials say a teacher who asked a student to wipe an ash cross off his forehead on Ash Wenesday has returned to work.

KUTV reports that the Davis County School District says fourth-grade teacher Moana Patterson is back in the classroom after gave 9-year-old Catholic student William McLeod a wet wipe to clean off the cross. She has said she did not know it was a religious symbol.

The district apologized to the family, saying it recognizes Ash Wednesday as one of the holiest days of the year in the Catholic faith. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.

Patterson had been placed on administrative leave.

The principal of her Valley View Elementary School will work with the district officials to provide additional training to educators.

___

Information from: KUTV-TV, http://www.kutv.com/Free event encourages girls to become leaders in tech, entrepreneurship

She Started IT takes place April 13, giving girls the opportunity to meet with women in the tech and startup world

BUFFALO, N.Y.  At a free event called She Started IT, girls interested in computing, tech and entrepreneurship will get the chance to learn about potential careers and meet women who have founded companies.

The program is open to the public, and is designed for girls in the 6th to 10th grades. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Librarys Central Library at 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo.

Register for the event at https://bit.ly/2UgMKfx.

Organizers include UBs Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars and partners across Western New York, with ACV Auctions as a major sponsor.

The schedule of events for the day:

10-10:15 a.m.: Introduction and welcome

10:15-11:30 a.m.: Video clip from the She Started IT documentary, along with talks by female founders

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Lunch (provided) and a facilitated discussion with female professionals in the tech industry

12:30-2 p.m.: Interactive demos and experiences

Chaperones will be provided by event organizers. Family members may attend, but are not required to do so.

Learn about volunteer opportunities at https://bit.ly/2FOvXX6.

She Started IT is a collaboration between UBs Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars, ACV Auctions, Ingram Micro, the Allstate Foundation, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Driver Watchdog, The Foundry, Girl Scouts of Western New York, Inspiring Future Engineers, launchTECH, the UB Office of Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships, the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, WNY STEM and the WNY Womens Foundation.COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that he'll soon decide whether to join the sprawling field of candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

"I've said clearly, in the next couple of weeks, I'll make the final determination," McAuliffe said during a visit to the Statehouse in South Carolina, home of the first Southern presidential primary of 2020. "So, I'm traveling around, but out of all those early states, I have a lot of strength here in South Carolina."

McAuliffe, 62, began popping up in early-voting states late last year, campaigning with candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire as he explored a possible run for the White House. In January, the longtime Democratic power player used his old state political action committee to raise big money and cut checks to Democrats in both states, with campaign finance reports showing the PAC raised $300,000 in the second half of 2018.

Part of the pitch McAuliffe said he's making to power brokers in early-voting states is his ability to make Democratic inroads in Virginia, under Republican control for nearly two decades. In the 2017 elections, the last of McAuliffe's four-year tenure as governor, 15 House of Delegates seats shifted from Republican to Democratic control, reducing the GOP's majority to two seats.

"I took a red state and made it blue," the former Democratic National Committee chairman said. "We had the biggest pickups in 140 years under my four years as governor, and if we did it there, we can do it here in South Carolina."

Some have expressed concern that it could be difficult for McAuliffe to garner broad-based popularity in the wake of the political crisis that engulfed three of Virginia's top Democrats, turning the state that has trended toward the left back into a potential battleground in the upcoming presidential race.

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2018 file photo, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe delivers his final "State of the Commonwealth" address to the General Assembly at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. During a visit to South Carolina, home of the first southern presidential primary of 2020, McAuliffe said Tuesday that he'll soon decide whether to join the sprawling field of candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

"Voters could take this out on Democrats ... less as an ideological shift but more as an issue of repercussions for genuine political scandal," Josh Schwerin, who worked for McAuliffe, said earlier this year.

Last month, President Donald Trump gleefully agreed, predicting in a tweet that he will reclaim a state he lost by 5 percentage points to Hillary Clinton in 2016. "Democrats at the top are killing the Great State of Virginia," he tweeted. "If the three failing pols were Republicans, far stronger action would be taken. Virginia will come back HOME Republican) in 2020!"

Part of McAuliffe's calculus could be timed around an expected announcement from former Vice President Joe Biden, with whom many of McAuliffe's potential supporters may also fall politically in line. Like Biden, McAuliffe is largely seen as a centrist Democrat angling to tap into a network of supporters and donors cultivated over the last three decades during the Clinton and Obama administrations. During an event Monday at George Mason University in Virginia, McAuliffe said he believes Biden "is 95 percent" in the race, "but he hasn't made a 100 percent decision to do it."

As part of his trip to South Carolina, McAuliffe met with House members and planned to make a stop at Allen University, a historically black school in Columbia. Later Tuesday, he was expected to attend a reception at the home of longtime Democratic activists Don and Carol Fowler. Don Fowler chaired the DNC in the 1990s. His wife, Carol, headed the South Carolina Democratic Party in the 2000s.

"We're sort of getting the lay of the land, seeing old friends, firing folks up and seeing where we go," McAuliffe said.

___

Associated Press writer Christina L. Myers contributed to this report.JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel and the U.S. have successfully intercepted a series of medium to long-range ballistic missiles in a joint drill.

The missile test in southern Israel was conducted Tuesday by the Israeli Ministry of Defense along with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Rafael, an Israeli defense technology company.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the tests, noting that Israel has earned a place "among global leaders" in the development of missile defenses.

The test follows a temporary U.S. troop deployment in Israel during the installment of an advanced American missile defense system earlier this month.

The countries' close military cooperation against the backdrop of tensions with Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah reflects their shared concerns about Iran's development of long-range missiles.LOS ANGELES (AP) - In a story March 19 about the horror film "Us," The Associated Press misspelled the surname of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It is Chekhov, not Chekov.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Jordan Peele dares everyone to look at the horrors of 'Us'

How does Jordan Peele follow 'Get Out'? By turning the spotlight on 'Us'

By LINDSEY BAHR

AP Film Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jordan Peele's sweet spot as a filmmaker are the "pit in your stomach" moments. That thing that happens when you realize the woman stirring the tea isn't just there for conversation. When you notice that the help is a little off. Or, as in his new film "Us," when you see that the family of four standing in your driveway late at night looks exactly like you.

Peele knows how to get under your skin and stay there, and it's what made him the must-see horror filmmaker of the moment. "Us," out nationwide Friday, is only his second and yet it's been an event-in-the-making ever since it was announced. That's what happens when your debut is "Get Out."

"Get Out" wasn't even finished when the former sketch-comedian started cooking up the idea for his follow-up about doppelgangers, loosely inspired by the "Twilight Zone" episode "Mirror Image." Then the wild success of "Get Out" - four Oscars nominations, one win (Peele for original screenplay), over $255 million in tickets sold against a $4.5 million budget, and general cultural impact - put Peele on another level. So by the time Universal Pictures agreed to make "Us," not only did he have a budget over five times higher than his first, but he had his pick of collaborators too.

"Because of 'Get Out' I was privileged enough to be able to tap the best talent in the industry," Peele said recently.

That goes for stars Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke, who play dual roles as the nuclear American family, the Wilsons, and the terrifying red jumpsuit-wearing and gold scissor-wielding Red and Abraham, as well as the below-the-line talent: Production designer Ruth De Jong ("Twin Peaks"); cinematographer Mike Gioulakis ("It Follows"); and costume designer Kym Barrett ("The Matrix") among them.

"I had an amazing team on 'Get Out,'" Peele said. "But this group sort of allowed me to stretch a little bit more."

Duke was impressed by his calm. He knew there were "sophomore pressures" - he had his own set following his breakout role in "Black Panther" - but said Peele never brought any of that to set.

"Day one, (Peele) said, 'Before we do anything I just want to let you guys know that I'm here for you. I won't stop until we get the shot. When I say cut, we got the shot. So trust me, believe in me,'" Duke said. "And I was like, that's all I need."

Duke and Nyong'o already had a short hand working together. Yes, they had just both been in "Black Panther," but they were also Yale Drama School graduates and have seen one another do everything from clown work to Chekhov.

"It was great to be able to perform with someone who I value as much more than a friend - I value her as a cohort. I value her as an ally. I went to work every day trying to make sure we could create a space where she could excel. I thought that was my duty," Duke said. "We had a female lead and in our climate in Hollywood we were doing the work and leading by example."

And Peele put them both through the wringer. The days on set as the Wilsons were full of laughter and fun. But the days as the murderous doppelgangers known as The Tethered, Peele said, felt like "a morgue."

"The air getting sucked out of the room is an understatement. But it was kind of cool," Peele said. The actors went "pretty method" on those days.

Nyong'o had it especially hard. She'd chosen to affect a strained vocal condition - spasmodic dysphonia - to make Red even more haunting. And she had to do Red's first big monologue 11 times with that raspy, painful sounding voice.

"Us" is chock full of pop culture references, subtle and overt: A "Jaws" t-shirt here, a C.H.U.D. VHS there. Even the setting, the Santa Cruz boardwalk, is a callback to "The Lost Boys." And every reference works "on two different levels and hopefully more," Peele said. But don't stress if you don't catch or decipher them all.

"There are many of these things that only I will ever know," Peele revealed.

Although one thing is not really up for interpretation: The genre. He tweeted the other day that "'Us' is a horror movie."

"I can see the debate already beginning and people are calling it different things. I have a little bit of fun with the big genre conversation," he said. "But I saw enough little pieces of like 'horror-thriller,' 'horror-comedy,' 'social-thriller,' out there that I just want to make it nice clean and defined: It's a horror movie."

Peele hasn't tired of explaining that "Us" isn't about race, either. Though he understands why people might think it would be, considering "Get Out."

"I know the way we are, the lack of representation in the industry and genre has led us to this point where it's almost impossible to not see race in a movie with a black family in the center. And I wanted people to be ready to expand their expectations," Peele said. "My fear was if I didn't say anything that people would take away that this was a movie about black-on-black violence which was not my intention."

As for whether Peele has felt internal or external pressures to match "Get Out's" magic?

"There are, but it's OK," he laughed. "It's just movies."

___

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahrDWIGHT, Ill. (AP) - A Virginia-based company is one step closer to building a private immigration detention center near Chicago after trustees of a small village approved the plan despite pushback from activists.

Dwight trustees last week voted to annex and rezone 88 acres (36 hectares) where Immigration Centers of America plans to build a detention center. More than 200 people attended the village meeting, which was repeatedly interrupted by protesters.

The project could stimulate the region's economy by creating about 300 jobs, said Jared Anderson, the president of the village board. Dwight, which is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of downtown Chicago, lost jobs and businesses when the state closed a women's prison in the village, he said.

There have been multiple failed attempts in recent years to bring a detention center to the Chicago area. The most recent effort stands out because village officials backed the plan, said Fred Tsao, the senior policy counsel with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, a nonprofit that advocates for immigrants and refugees.

"All the others were basically killed either at a vote of the village officials or never got a vote because the proposal was withdrawn," Tsao said.

Anderson said he received more than 100 emails opposing the Immigration Centers of America project, but almost all of them were sent by people who live outside the village.

Open land east of Interstate 55 and south of Illinois State Road 17 is shown near Dwight, Ill., on March 15, 2019. The town of Dwight approved an annexation and rezoning of land that would get allow Immigration Centers of America to get one step closer to building an immigration detention center in the Chicago area. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP)

John Truscott, a spokesman for the Immigration Centers of America, agreed that most of those against the center were outsiders.

"We are more than happy to listen to what they have to say," Truscott said. "In the end, this is a decision for the citizens of Dwight."

Those against the plan complained that the only goal of for-profit facilities is to increase the number of inmates for financial gain, and have raised concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies that separate children from their parents.

"Opportunities built on the back of another person aren't opportunities," said Eva Garcia, of the Chicago-based United Workers Center.

Immigration Centers of America, which already operates a detention center in Farmville, Virginia, must secure a contract with the federal government by September 2020 for the Dwight facility.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in February rejected ICA's effort to purchase a former state prison in Ionia, Michigan, because the company wasn't able to ensure detainees wouldn't be people being separated from their families.

The firm is still looking for a location in Michigan, according to a company spokesman.

The business district in Dwight Illinois, in a Friday, March 15, 2019 photo. The town of Dwight, Il., approved an annexation and rezoning of land that would get allow Immigration Centers of America to get one step closer to building an immigration detention center in the Chicago area. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP)LANSING, Mich. (AP) - In a sign of R-E-S-P-E-C-T, the Michigan Legislature is expected to honor the late Queen of Soul with a highway designation.

The Michigan House voted 101-6 on Tuesday to designate a portion of M-10 in Detroit as the "Aretha L. Franklin Memorial Highway." Franklin died in Detroit last year after battling pancreatic cancer.

The legislation will next go to the state Senate.

Supporters say dedicating a portion of the highway is an appropriate way to honor the musical and cultural icon, who grew up in Detroit and learned the gospel fundamentals at New Bethel Baptist Church.

The sponsor, Democratic Rep. Leslie Love of Detroit, says Franklin was a "special lady" who fought for civil rights and "gave us all a soundtrack to our lives."COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - A Singapore-based company and the government of Oman have pledged to build a $3.9 billion oil refinery next to a Chinese-controlled port in what will be the largest foreign investment ever for the Indian Ocean island nation, officials said on Tuesday.

The refinery will be a joint venture for the Singapore-based Silver Park International Private Limited firm and the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas, said Nalin Bandara, Sri Lanka's deputy minister of international trade. Construction will begin next week and the refinery is expected to be up and running in 2023, he said.

"This is the biggest foreign investment in the country's history," Bandara told reporters in the capital Colombo.

The refinery will produce 200,000 barrels per day, mainly for export, though Sri Lankan companies could place orders for refined products and sell them to local consumers.

The refinery and a tank farm will be built on 237 hectares (585 acres) of land lying about 235 kilometers (146 miles) south of Colombo, near the Hambantota port that is controlled by a Chinese firm.

Sri Lanka leased the Chinese-built port located near the planet's busiest east-west shipping route - to a Chinese firm in 2017 for 99 years in a bid to recover from the heavy burden of repaying a loan obtained the country received to build the facility.

The port is part of Beijing's so-called string-of-pearls plan for a line of ports stretching from Chinese waters to the Persian Gulf.

China's influence in Sri Lanka makes neighboring India anxious because it considers the Indian Ocean region to be its strategic backyard. Sri Lankan government has been trying to balance both Asian giants. Sri Lankan officials have reiterated that the port's security will be handled by the government in an attempt to allay fears that the port could be used by China as a military hub.

Bandara said Silver Park has 70 per cent stake in the joint venture while Oman controls 30 percent.

The investment comes as Sri Lanka struggles to repay $5.9 billion in foreign loans this year, of which 40 percent that must be serviced by the end of this month. The country used its reserves to repay a $1 billion sovereign bond loan in January.

Much of Sri Lanka's foreign debt is from China, with loans obtained to build highways and other infrastructure projects, including some that have become white elephants, deepening the country's debt burden.

Sri Lanka's export earnings are expected to rise $7 billion because of the refinery, Bandara said.GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Hamas is facing the biggest demonstrations yet against its 12-year rule of the Gaza Strip, with hundreds of Palestinians taking to the streets in recent days to protest the dire living conditions in the blockaded territory.

With little tolerance for dissent, the Islamic militant group has responded with heavy-handed tactics. It has arrested dozens of protesters, beaten activists and violently suppressed attempts by local media to cover the unrest.

Hamas has accused the rival West Bank-based Palestinian Authority of orchestrating the protests - a charge that organizers vehemently reject.

"There is no political agenda at all," said Amin Abed, 30, an organizer who has been forced into hiding. "We simply want to live in dignity," he said by telephone. "We just ask Hamas to ease the economic hardships and tax burdens."

Hamas, which seeks Israel's destruction, seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade, a step meant to prevent Hamas from arming.

The blockade, and three wars with Israel, have ravaged Gaza's economy but done nothing to loosen Hamas' grip on power.

Unemployment is over 50 percent and much higher for young university graduates like Abed. Tap water is undrinkable, electricity is limited and travel abroad severely restricted. Hamas' cash-strapped government recently raised taxes on basic goods like bread, beans and cigarettes.

Protesters accuse Hamas of corruption and imposing the hefty taxes to enrich itself. They used social media to organize protests last week with the slogan "We want to live!"

The protests come just as Hamas marks the one-year anniversary of its weekly demonstrations along the frontier with Israel. The demonstrations, aimed largely at easing the blockade, have accomplished little, even as some 190 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli fire.

This is not the first time people have taken to the streets against Hamas. Two years ago, protesters demonstrated against the chronic power cuts on a cold January day before Hamas violently dispersed them. This time around, the sporadic rallies have continued for five days, despite a similarly violent response.

"These protests were the largest, the longest and the most violent in terms of Hamas' suppression," said Mkhaimar Abusada, political science professor at Gaza's al-Azhar University.

"This was a message of anger to Hamas that the situation is unbearable and that it must reconsider all its policies," he added.

On Monday, Amnesty International reported that hundreds of protesters have been beaten, arbitrarily arrested, tortured and subjected to ill-treatment. Journalists and human rights workers, including a researcher for the London-based organization, were also roughed up, Amnesty said.

"The crackdown on freedom of expression and the use of torture in Gaza has reached alarming new levels," said Amnesty's Middle East deputy director Saleh Higazi.

Osama al-Kahlout, a journalist with the local news site Donia al-Wattan, last week published a photo of a protester on crutches raising a sign that said "I want to live in dignity." The next day, he was detained as he went live on Facebook during another protest.

Al-Kahlout said police smashed furniture, seized his belongings and beat him on the way to the police station. "I'm a journalist," he said. "I don't regret covering it."

He said he was released after a meeting with the police chief in which officials "advised" journalists not to cover the protests.

Heba el-Buhissi, 31, who filmed the raids at her family home, said a policeman fired a warning shot in the air as others cursed and yelled at her after she started filming. Her videos show a group of Hamas police beating her cousin with wooden batons.

Other amateur videos have shown protesters burning tires and hurling stones toward Hamas forces. Hamas gunmen can be seen jumping out of vehicles and beating people with clubs. Other videos show Hamas going door to door and carrying out mass arrests.

El-Buhissi filmed the incident last Thursday when she saw Hamas dispersing some of her neighbors who had hoisted banners against tax hikes. Her family opened the home to allow youths to escape the police.

"This is what drove the police crazy, and that's why they stormed our houses," she said. "I felt I have to film to prove what was going on."

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists reported Monday that 42 Palestinian journalists "were targeted" by Hamas forces in the past five days. The abuses included physical assaults, summons, threats, home arrests and seizure of equipment.

The official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa reported Monday that the spokesman of Abbas' Fatah movement in Gaza, Atef Abu Saif, was badly beaten by Hamas.

It showed pictures of Abu Said with a bandaged leg, bruises and blood-stained clothes lying on a hospital bed.

Ammar Dwaik, director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Gaza, said Hamas forces have dispersed 25 protests with excessive force and arrested about 1,000 people. He said some 300 people remain in custody.

"This is worst crackdown in Gaza since the Hamas takeover in 2007 in terms of its scope and cruelty," Dwaik said.

On Tuesday, Hamas issued a brief statement "rejecting the use of violence and repression against any Palestinian for practicing his legitimate right of expression."

But Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official, used tougher language in a Twitter post, accusing Israel and the Palestinian Authority of conspiring to organize protests. "The attempts of the Palestinian Authority and the occupation to drive a wedge between the people and the resistance have failed," he said.

The demonstrations appeared to subside on Monday, but organizers say the protests will continue until Hamas cancels taxes on dozens of goods, creates a national employment program and releases everyone who has been arrested in the crackdown.

Abed, the protest leader, said Hamas has stormed his family's house and delivered an arrest warrant for him to his father.

"Hamas doesn't want us to scream. It wants us to die in silence," he said.NEW YORK (AP) - The apparent suspension of Jeanine Pirro is squeezing Fox News Channel in two directions.

A prominent Muslim-American civil rights organization is calling for advertisers to boycott Fox News, while another group is petitioning to have the weekend host reinstated.

Pirro wasn't on the air Saturday, a week after Fox publicly condemned her for comments questioning U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar's loyalty because she wears a Muslim head covering. Fox hasn't explained the former New York-area district attorney's absence, declining to comment on "internal scheduling matters."

The network's schedule for the upcoming weekend lists another program in Pirro's time slot.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, this week said that advertisers should boycott Fox News until Pirro and prime-time host Tucker Carlson were fired. Carlson has been fighting back since being criticized last week for comments made on a radio show a decade ago and unearthed last week.

Meanwhile, the lobbying group Act for America urged its members write to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott to complain about Pirro's absence. In its online message, Act for America said that instead of rewarding its anchor for opening a much-needed debate, "Fox News caved to pressure from the radical left."

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2015, file photo, Jeanine Pirro attends the HBO Documentary Series premiere of "THE JINX: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst," in New York. Fox News weekend host Pirro's show didn't air Saturday night, March 16, 2019, a week after her comments questioning U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar over her wearing a Muslim head covering. No explanation was given. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

"Jeanine Pirro did nothing wrong," the group's leader, Brigitte Gabriel, said via tweet. "People should be outraged."

Act for America has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for anti-Muslim rhetoric. Gabriel has tweeted in recent days that she considered SPLC a hate group.

Act for America said more than 20,000 people have responded to its request to email Scott. Fox News had no comment on the campaign Tuesday.

Act for America was echoing tweets by President Donald Trump last weekend. He had also proclaimed his support for Pirro and advocated for her reinstatement.

Pirro has issued one statement through Fox, saying she did not call Omar un-American and that "my intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don't support the Constitution."

Gabriel had appeared with Pirro last Friday on the online Fox Nation service, where the advocacy group leader referred to Omar and a colleague, Rep. Rashida Talib, as anti-Semitic, in a transcript provided by the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America. Of the two representatives, Pirro said, "it's almost as though they think they're representing another country."

Gabriel also criticized Fox in the wake of its hiring Monday of former Democratic National Committee chief Donna Brazile as a political commentator.

Between the suspension of Pirro and hiring of Brazile, "if that doesn't show you the direction Fox News is headed I don't know what will," she tweeted.JERUSALEM (AP) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pays a visit to Israel this week but it's what he's not doing while there that may be the most notable aspect of the trip.

Pompeo doesn't plan to talk publicly about the "deal of the century" that President Donald Trump said he would offer to settle the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a plan so important that he delegated negotiations to his senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

"Look, we desperately want a good solution," Pompeo told reporters Tuesday before his plane landed in Kuwait City for the first stop of the trip. "Mr. Kushner's working on the Middle East peace plan. There'll be a right time when we will introduce bigger pieces of that."

Pompeo's Israel itinerary is characteristic of the administration's approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has been largely private and without participation from the Palestinians.

The secretary won't even meet with any Palestinian officials on this trip, something that would have been routine for any top U.S. diplomat in recent decades.

Pompeo's mere presence in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just weeks before a national election may be symbolic of the administration's political preference, but his main public message will be a familiar one: The U.S. has an unbreakable commitment to Israel's security no matter who's in charge.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Ambassador Reem Al-Khaled, as he arrives at Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City, Kuwait, Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (Jim Young/Pool Image via AP)

"I'm going to Israel because of the important relationship we have," he said. "Leaders will change in both countries over time. That relationship matters no matter who the leaders are."

He said he would spend a good deal of time speaking about the security challenges posed by the conflict in Syria ahead of a sharp reduction in the U.S. presence there, as well as about the longstanding threats Israel faces from Iran and the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Palestinians wouldn't meet with Pompeo even if he wanted to see them. They have severed ties with the administration over its recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv and slashing hundreds of millions of dollars of aid.

"Political relations with the U.S. administration are broken unless it backs down from its decisions on Jerusalem and refugees and abides by international law," said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh.

For now, the only apparent interaction between U.S. and Palestinian officialdom seems to be an increasingly frequent stream of tweets from international negotiations envoy Jason Greenblatt, taking issue with Palestinian positions and criticism, most of which he says is incorrect, relies on faulty hearsay or is otherwise intended to deceive.

"The message is that those who spread misinformation about the conflict or the plan are not going to get away with it anymore," said Greenblatt, who is leading the talks with Kushner, in an interview last week. "If you lie or deceive to try to shape public opinion, we're not going to let you do that without a response. We are in the midst of educating, and in some cases, re-educating people."

Greenblatt brushed away criticism of the tweets from former would-be peacemakers and diplomats with experience in the region who say such engagement is undignified.

"In some cases it might be more useful to provide information behind closed doors, but they won't engage with us that way," he said. "But more importantly, they are speaking loudly and publicly, so why should the U.S. not say something publicly and respond to accusations, misinformation or manipulation?"

The peace plan itself doesn't yet exist, at least not outside a small circle of top White House aides led by Kushner and Greenblatt. They insist the plan is real but won't say when it will be presented other than after Israel's April 9 election. But officials note there is only a narrow window between the election, the start of the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover in late April and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts in early May. That means the plan is likely to be delayed further.

In the meantime, Kushner and Greenblatt have begun to preview the nonpolitical elements of the plan to interested parties, including Israelis, Palestinians outside of the Palestinian Authority, Arab countries that will be critical to the economic part of the plan, and the Jewish and evangelical Christian communities in the U.S. that staunchly back Israel.

Administration officials familiar with that outreach say each group has its own issues and concerns. They add that Greenblatt and Kushner have their work cut out for them as they try to promote a peace plan for which they are unwilling to provide details, particularly on the most sensitive parts of what must be in an eventual deal: the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, territorial sovereignty and borders.

Those officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the effort and spoke on condition of anonymity, conceded that early discussions had produced some unease, particularly as Greenblatt and Kushner make clear that both Israel and the Palestinians will have to make hard compromises to achieve peace.

Suggestions that the plan will not explicitly call for a two-state solution, which is favored by most of the international community, and instead offer the Palestinians something less in return for massive economic investment have not sat well with veteran Mideast hands.

"The architects of Trump's deal of the century believe that's old think," said Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and the second of the Obama administration's three Mideast peace envoys. "Their idea is that the Palestinians can be persuaded to forgo their national aspirations in return for normalcy and prosperity funded by the Arab states."

Yet administration officials believe the mood in the region has changed, that Arab nations have higher priorities and that even if the plan fails it may have benefit in more closely aligning Israeli and Arab interests on Iran.

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EDITOR'S NOTE_AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee has been covering U.S. foreign policy and international affairs since 1999.In his manifesto, the white supremacist charged with attacking two New Zealand mosques praised fellow "freedom fighters" as his role models. In reality, all were terrorists - most notable for acting alone.

Investigators' growing certainty that a single gunman was responsible for the massacre that claimed 50 lives has renewed attention to a longtime concern: terror attacks by ideologically driven lone actors in the U.S. and Europe.

The shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand was "a blatant imitation. This is a copycat crime. He's followed others who have come before him," said Mark Hamm, a professor of criminology at Indiana State University who has charted such attacks in the U.S.

But the public's stereotypes of such "lone wolves" risk obscuring the fact that many are not nearly as solitary as they might seem, criminologists say.

"They may be alone at the time of the attack," said Noemie Bouhana, a professor of security and crime science at University College London who studies terrorism. "But the ties have existed that have been necessary for the attack to occur, and I would be very surprised if that wasn't the case here."

Those ties are key not just to prosecuting such terrorist attacks but to finding ways to prevent them, experts say. That helps explain investigators' determination to follow all threads, even with the 28-year-old Australian they say was the lone gunman already in custody.

FILE - In this March 17, 2019, file photo, a police officer stands guard in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, where one of two mass shootings occurred. Growing certainty that a single gunman was responsible for the attacks renews attention to warnings about the threat of terror attacks by ideologically driven lone actors. But stereotypes of such attackers, often called "lone wolves" in the U.S., risks obscuring the fact that many are not as solitary as some might believe, criminologists say. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

"We believe absolutely there was only one attacker responsible for this," Mike Bush, New Zealand's police commissioner, said at a news conference. "That doesn't mean there weren't possibly other people in support and that continues to form a very, very important part of our investigation."

Those looking to unravel how the attack took shape have decades of history to consult. Attacks by lone actors harboring extremist motives date back decades, particularly in the U.S.

In the 1940s and 1950s, electrician George Metesky planted more than 30 bombs in New York theaters, libraries and other public places. He was driven by anger at his former employer over a workplace injury.

Theodore Kaczynski, the technophobe known as the Unabomber, was arrested in 1996 after nearly two decades of planting bombs that killed three; Eric Rudolph spent years as a fugitive while carrying out a series of anti-abortion attacks, including bombing a park during the Atlanta Olympics. In 2015, Dylann Roof slaughtered nine at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

The vast spaces and lack of borders in the U.S., along with a culture of individualism, help seed such attacks, Hamm said.

But access to more powerful guns and ammunition has increased the lethality, said Hamm, who with a fellow researcher used a Justice department grant to identify more than 120 lone wolf attackers in the U.S. over seven decades.

Hamm points to the 2009 shootings at the Army's Fort Hood in Texas that left 13 dead. Maj. Nidal Hasan, convinced that U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were an assault on Islam, used a pistol equipped with a laser sight and magazine extenders to fire more rounds.

But terrorist attacks by loners have also increased around the globe. Between 1990 and 2017, the U.S. saw 56 attacks by ideologically driven lone actors, a study by Bouhana and others found. Over the same period, Europe and other countries were targeted by 69 such attacks, they concluded.

The Christchurch attack has drawn comparisons to the 2011 massacre of 77 people in Norway, most at an island youth camp. The attacker, Anders Behring Breivik, raged against Europe's growing Muslim population and claimed to represent what turned out to be an imagined order of Knight crusaders.

"I have read the writings of Dylan(n) Roof and many others, but only really took true inspiration from Knight Justiciar Breivik," the New Zealand suspect, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, allegedly wrote in his manifesto.

The document cites others including Anton Lundin Petterson, who, in 2015, entered a school in Sweden and used a sword to kill a teacher and a student in an attack police say was motivated by racial hatred.

In the years since the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S., law enforcement agencies in many countries have stepped up efforts to detect and prevent plots by large groups.

Muslim reactionaries in Europe have continued to carry out attacks organized in small cells. But they have increasingly followed right-wing counterparts in acting alone, said Tore Bjorgo, director of the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo in Norway.

"The security environment makes it very difficult to operate as an organization, as part of a large group ... so the only viable option is to go as a lone actor," he said.

That does not mean lone attackers are entirely disconnected from others. Even Breivik, who planned his attack in isolation, had been involved in a right-wing political party and wrote frequently on political websites, said Bjorgo, an expert on the underpinnings of the Norway massacre.

Rather than plotting entirely in their own heads, lone extremists increasingly find their inspiration in what others post online, experts say. And many are prone to discuss their motives or their plans, offering one of the best chances for preventing attacks.

"They tell people why they want to engage in violence. They tell people what their grievances are. They even tell people, in some cases, what they're going to do. It's just in a lot of cases, for whatever reason, people don't report it," Bouhana said.

She and other European experts take issue with the "lone wolf" description often used in the U.S., saying it promotes a false mystique about such attackers as isolated from others and exceedingly stealthy.

But looking beyond that mythology, it is clear that such attacks are characterized by troubling commonalities in the mindsets of those who carry them out, criminologists say. While there is still much we don't know about the prime suspect in the New Zealand attack or how it was planned, early details provide red flags.

In casting Muslim immigration as a direct threat to his existence, the New Zealand shooter's manifesto echoes the sense of "aggrieved entitlement" that has long motivated other lone wolf attackers, Hamm said.

"They're similar across borders," he said, "and although elements of the conspiracy theories themselves change a bit, the theme remains the same."New book details how railroad porters helped lead civil rights efforts in the U.S. and Canada

A new book by Cecil Foster looks at the role that sleeping car porters in the U.S. and Canada played in civil rights efforts in both countries.

Life is better for many because of these men. They were active in taking on the government and creating a society where there is social justice and everyone is entitled to the benefits of a common citizenship.

BUFFALO, N.Y.  In 2009, President-elect Barack Obama arrived in Washington by train for his inauguration as the nations 44th president.

The symbolic three-day journey, which began in Philadelphia, paid homage to Abraham Lincoln, but Obamas decision to travel by train was also a tribute to the historical struggles and achievements of sleeping car porters, who in the 1920s formed the first African American-led labor union in the United States, creating in the process a brotherhood that became home to some of the days leading intellectuals and an instrument for social change.

The sleeping car porters were an essential element to the growing fortunes of the 19th century railroad industry, but beyond their professional roles, the porters, through their diligence and activism, helped amend immigration policy and secure civil rights for a marginalized population, according to Cecil Foster, a University at Buffalo professor of transnational studies and author of the new book, They Call Me George: The Untold Story of the Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada.

While this is a story of what happened in Canada, it is still part of the American narrative, says Foster, a novelist, journalist and scholar, and an expert in Canadian studies and multiculturalism. The sleeping car porters are an important part of the black experience, and coming out of slavery we can hear its transnational orientation.

Foster will take part in a reading and book signing event at Talking Leaves Books, 951 Elwood Ave. in Buffalo on April 25 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The book places the porters in the historical context of the generation of immigrants who arrived in Canada from Caribbean countries. Foster says this group changed the United Kingdom, which included Canada at the time, and put the country on a multicultural path, while also securing human rights in North America through their careers on the railroad.

These men on the trains, coming out of Harlem and Chicago and Montreal and Toronto formed a transnational black community, he says. Great leaders A. Phillip Randolph and others emerged from this community to work with Martin Luther King.

They challenged the system across North America and are responsible for many of the gains during the civil rights movement. Their contributions shouldnt be underestimated.

With the introduction of luxury Pullman cars in the 1870s, railroads needed employees to take care of passengers every need. Porters staffed the transcontinental Pullman cars as domestic servants.

Pullman cars allowed passengers to stay on trains rather than rent hotel rooms during layovers; Jim Crow laws, meantime, prevented the cars porters from staying at the hotels their passengers no longer needed.

The porters were sometimes known as sleepy car porters because they worked to exhaustion, often out on their feet, says Foster. Eventually, the railroads rented rooms in the black communities of major cities. Its there that the porters slept, in rooms filled with bunks.

For decades after the Civil War, working as a sleeping car porter was the only employment available to black men in the U.S. and Canada, he said.

From the beginning of Canadian confederation in 1867, Canadas policies toward black people was in lockstep with the United States, according to Foster.

Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier in Canada worked to institutionalize Jim Crow laws in Canada just as Woodrow Wilson, Lauriers friend, would do as president of the United States.

Prior to the 1960s, Parliament permitted only white British subjects to immigrate to Canada. The restrictive policy contributed to a drop in Canadas black population from around 50,000 in 1867 to 18,000 by 1950.

Canada systematically kept black people out of the country or forced them to go to the U.S., says Foster. Canada argued it did not have a color line, because there was no significant black population in that country.

When railroad barons broke the Canadians attempt to organize, porters in Canada joined their American counterparts in their organized-labor efforts. Many of the changes pioneered in Canada by the sleeping car porters made their way to the U.S.

One of the ways to read this book is to hear how Canada was not unique at all, says Foster. The country was another example of how to fight Jim Crow.

And the porters were on the front lines of that fight.

Life is better for many because of these men, says Foster. They were active in taking on the government and creating a society where there is social justice and everyone is entitled to the benefits of a common citizenship.RIPLEY, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia man has been convicted of sexually abusing and killing his girlfriend's 10-month-old baby.

News outlets report a Jackson County Circuit Court jury on Tuesday found 33-year-old Benjamin Taylor of Cottageville guilty of first-degree murder, death of a child by child abuse and sexual abuse by a guardian or custodian.

The jury did not recommend mercy, meaning Taylor wouldn't be eligible for parole.

A sheriff's deputy testified last week Taylor had blood on his torso and a wet spot on his pants when officers went to the home in Fairplain in October 2016.

Taylor testified Monday he consumed several beers, remembered doing laundry and listening to music while the girl was under his care but could not recall what happened to the girl the night of her death.JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's foreign minister is urging his counterparts in the U.N. Human Rights Council to vote against the panel's demand that Israel examine and change its tactics against Palestinian demonstrators along the Gaza border.

Israel Katz sent a letter to 26 foreign ministers Tuesday calling the U.N. commission "biased and distorted." He said its recent report criticizing Israeli military shootings neglects violence perpetrated by Gaza's Hamas rulers and violates Israel's right to self-defense.

The report released last month accused the Israeli army of committing potential crimes against humanity in killing over 189 Palestinians during mass protests last year at the Israel-Gaza border.

The document was denounced by the Israeli government and prompted an outcry from pro-Israel groups that have slammed what they call the council's anti-Israel bias.ATLANTA (AP) - The Republican author of a "heartbeat" bill that would ban almost all abortions in Georgia says he's worried his colleagues are starting to waver.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a Facebook video posted this week shows Rep. Ed Setzler expressing concern about pressure from abortion rights advocates.

Setzler says in the video that some Republicans have "bellyache" over voting yes and worry it could affect their re-election chances.

He expects a final House vote Thursday.

The bill initially passed the House by a vote of 93-73. That's just two votes over the 91 needed to pass legislation in the 180-member House, so a few defections could sink the bill.

It now awaits House approval of Senate changes. Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to sign if it reaches his desk.

State Rep. Ed Setzler, right, and Sen. William Ligon, Jr., arrive at the Capitol for a hearing on Monday, March 18, 2019, in Atlanta. A Georgia Senate committee approved a measure that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Republicans in Georgia are joining others in many states moving to enact tough abortion restrictions, even though they're certain to be challenged in court, in hopes that recent appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court will find them constitutional. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

Pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion demonstrators display their signs in the lobby of the Georgia State Capitol building during the 35th legislative day at the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta, Friday, March 22, 2019. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

A woman records a group of pro-abortion rights demonstrators the 35th legislative day at the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta, Friday, March 22, 2019. The Georgia Senate is set for a lengthy debate on the anti-abortion "heartbeat bill" Friday. Sen. Renee Unterman is carrying the bill for Rep. Ed Setzler. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Georgia State Troopers walk toward the Senate chambers gallery during the 35th legislative day at the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta, Friday, March 22, 2019. The Georgia Senate is set for a lengthy debate on the anti-abortion "heartbeat bill" Friday. Sen. Renee Unterman is carrying the bill for Rep. Ed Setzler. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Protesters opposed to a proposed abortion bill fill the hallway on Monday, March 18, 2019, in Atlanta. A Georgia Senate committee approved a measure that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Republicans in Georgia are joining others in many states moving to enact tough abortion restrictions, even though they're certain to be challenged in court, in hopes that recent appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court will find them constitutional. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)BEIJING (AP) - Firefighters on Tuesday contained a blaze high in the rugged forested mountains of western China that claimed the lives of 30 colleagues, in one of the worst disasters for the emergency services in recent years.

Open flames had been extinguished and only a few areas continued to emit smoke with no further threat of the fire spreading, state media reported.

The bodies of the dead firefighters were transported to the town of Xichang in Sichuan province, where residents presented flowers as a sign of mourning and respect. Some of the bodies could only be identified through DNA, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Three helicopters brought in reinforcements to fully extinguish the blaze.

Changing winds Sunday apparently trapped 27 firefighters and three helpers who were battling the blaze in a remote area at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,500 feet), according to the Ministry of Emergency Management. Despite attempts at a rescue, all 30 were confirmed dead on Monday afternoon.

The Xinhua News Agency quoted firefighting official Xie Shi'en as saying wind, dry air and combustible material creative an explosive effect where the men were working.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a fire-fighting helicopter leaves on a mission to fight aforest fire in the Muli County in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture from an airport in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Monday, April 1, 2019. The fire high in the mountains of western China's Sichuan province has killed over two dozen firefighters and others, the government said Monday. (Lin Jiping/Xinhua via AP)

"Among all scenarios in a fire, an explosive blaze is the most dangerous, and also very rarely seen," Xie said.

The fire advanced so quickly that trees on the ridge were consumed within seconds, surviving firefighter Wang Xin told Xinhua.

"All of a sudden, we heard a huge explosive sound from the ridge and saw a wall of flame rocket up. It was as if someone triggered a huge flamethrower," Wang said.

Most of the dead were in their 20s, although at least two were teenagers, according to state media reports. One had recently married.

China has been battling forest fires in recent weeks in various parts of the vast country, including on the outskirts of Beijing, fed by dry weather and high winds across many northern areas.

The death toll appeared to be the worst among Chinese firefighters since 2015, when an explosion at a chemical warehouse in the port of Tianjin killed 173 people, most of them firefighters and other first responders.CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP) - The air hanging over Thailand's far north has become so polluted, the prime minister went Tuesday to see in person what is being called a severe health crisis.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrived by helicopter at an army base in Chiang Mai, a popular tourist destination where seasonal haze has been unusually bad and prolonged this year.

The thick gray smoky air has largely hidden the forested mountains that surround the city, and many schools have closed. Pollution levels have soared into the hazardous zone and remained there for many weeks, putting the city at the top of the list of the world's most polluted cities on many days, although readings often fluctuate by time of day.

Much of the current pollution has been caused by the burning of forest undergrowth by villagers to make it easier to gather mushrooms and other products for sale. The burning often occurs at night, lighting the sky but making it hard to catch the perpetrators.

The city is especially vulnerable because the mountains that surround it trap the pollution.

The problem has been worse this year because of a drier-than-usual dry season. In several weeks, farmers are expected to start burning corn fields to clear them for planting, prolonging the pollution.

A thick layer of smog covers Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai province, Thailand, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. The air hanging over Thailand's far north has become so polluted, the prime minister went Tuesday to see in person what's been called a severe health crisis. (AP Photo/Maytanan Merchant)

Prayuth handed out firefighting supplies such as hoes and told local military personnel and firefighters that he traveled to Chiang Mai to show his support.

He met with representatives from eight northern provinces at an ad-hoc regional pollution monitoring center and said the fires must be controlled within seven days.

"We need to work on a long-term solution with understanding from the public," he said. "We need time to change the way we grow crops and farm. Tens of millions of people could be affected. It could create confusion and chaos. We will work on the immediate problems and plan for long-term solutions."

There has been widespread criticism of the government's response so far, with about 40,000 people signing a Change.org petition calling for the governor's replacement. The local government has been hesitant to declare a state of emergency, in part because of the possible impact on tourism.

Levels of tiny airborne particulates known as PM2.5 in Chiang Mai and surrounding areas exceed 300 mcg. on many days, six times the Thai safety limit, and have peaked at about 700. PM2.5 particulates are small enough to be sucked deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, and can cause respiratory problems and over time may raise risks of cardiovascular disease and cancers.

Khuanchai Supparatpinyo, director of the Research Institute of Health Sciences at Chiang Mai University, told The Associated Press that Chiang Mai province has endured the annual phenomenon known as "dust season" for more than a decade. The haze used to hit from about February to March, but Khuanchai said in recent years it can last up to five months due to worsening conditions such as drier air and industrial farming.

In January, more than 400 schools in the capital, Bangkok, were shut for a week when the PM2.5 level was around 70 to 120 mcg. Bangkok's governor responded by declaring the city a "pollution control zone," allowing measures such as road closings and limits on diesel exhaust, outdoor burning and construction activities.

Air quality in Bangkok, Thailand's largest city, has been mostly at moderate levels since then, a concern mainly for people with sensitivities such as existing lung conditions.

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Tassanee reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Kaweewit Kaewjinda in Bangkok contributed to this report.May: UK to seek further Brexit delay, try to break logjam

LONDON (AP) - With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Prime Minister Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise.

May made the announcement after the EU's chief negotiator warned that a disruptive and costly Brexit was likely unless Britain broke the impasse that has paralyzed the government and Parliament.

After failing repeatedly to win Parliament's backing for her Brexit blueprint, May said the country needed "national unity to deliver the national interest."

Following the defeat of the government's plan and a range of lawmaker-written alternatives, May said Britain would need a further delay to its EU departure, currently scheduled for April 12. She offered to hold talks with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find a compromise solution.

"This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer," May said in a televised statement from 10 Downing St. after an all-day Cabinet meeting.

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Police: Suspected killer of rapper Nipsey Hussle arrested

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police on Tuesday arrested a man they say fatally shot rapper Nipsey Hussle and evaded authorities for two days.

Eric Holder, 29, was captured in Bellflower, a Los Angeles-area city about 20 miles southeast of Hussle's clothing store, where the musician was shot Sunday.

Hussle and Holder knew each other, and the two had some kind of personal dispute in the hours before the rapper was killed, Police Chief Michel Moore said.

Police released Holder's name and photo Monday night and asked for public's help in finding him.

It was not immediately clear how authorities located him. He was detained first by sheriff's deputies until LA police arrived and confirmed that he was wanted in Hussle's slaying, authorities said.

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Venezuela lawmakers strip opposition leader of his immunity

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Lawmakers loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stripped Juan Guaido of immunity Tuesday, paving the way for the opposition leader's prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether Maduro's government will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker remains unclear. Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president's socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.

He declared himself Venezuela's interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader.

Tuesday night's vote was unanimous. Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

"They don't care about the deaths," Cabello said. "They don't have the slightest idea of ??what the consequences of war are for a country."

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Chinese woman carrying malware allegedly got into Mar-a-Lago

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A woman carrying two Chinese passports and a device containing computer malware lied to Secret Service agents and briefly gained admission to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club over the weekend during his Florida visit, federal prosecutors allege in court documents.

Yujing Zhang, 32, approached a Secret Service agent at a checkpoint outside the Palm Beach club early Saturday afternoon and said she was a member who wanted to use the pool, court documents said. She showed the passports as identification.

Agents say she wasn't on the membership list, but a club manager thought Zhang was the daughter of a member. Agents say that when they asked Zhang if the member was her father, she did not answer definitively but they thought it might be a language barrier and admitted her.

Zhang's story changed when she got inside, agents say, telling a front desk receptionist she was there to attend the United Nations Chinese American Association event scheduled for that evening. No such event was scheduled and agents were summoned.

Agent Samuel Ivanovich wrote in court documents that Zhang told him that she was there for the Chinese American event and had come early to familiarize herself with the club and take photos, again contradicting what she had said at the checkpoint. She showed him an invitation in Chinese that he could not read.

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Lori Lightfoot will be Chicago's 1st black, female mayor

CHICAGO (AP) - Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot was elected Chicago mayor on Tuesday, becoming the first black woman and first openly gay person to lead the nation's third-largest city.

Lightfoot defeated Toni Preckwinkle, who served in the City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president.

Lightfoot promised to rid City Hall of corruption and help low-income and working-class people she said had been "left behind and ignored" by Chicago's political ruling class. It was a message that resonated with voters weary of political scandal and insider deals, and who said the city's leaders for too long have invested in downtown at the expense of neighborhoods.

Chicago will become the largest U.S. city to elect a black woman as mayor when Lightfoot is sworn in May 20. She will join seven other black women currently serving as mayors in major U.S. cities, including Atlanta and New Orleans.

Lightfoot, 56, has never been elected to public office. She and her wife have one daughter.

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US expands 'catch and release' amid surge in migrants

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - The surge of migrant families arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice President Donald Trump has long mocked as "catch and release."

With immigrant processing and holding centers overwhelmed, the administration is busing people hundreds of miles inland and releasing them at Greyhound stations and churches in cities like Albuquerque, San Antonio and Phoenix because towns close to the border already have more than they can handle.

Relief organizations in some cities are struggling to feed and house the migrants and warning that a public health crisis is taking shape, especially with sick infants and children among the many immigrant families who need medical attention.

"We're asking volunteer doctors and nurses and community members to step up and do what the government should be doing. If this was a hurricane, FEMA would be on the ground helping," said Jim Gannon, CEO and executive director of Catholic Charities in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For many years, families arriving at the border were typically released from U.S. custody immediately and allowed to settle in this country with family or friends while their cases wound their way through the courts, a process that often takes years.

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Florida man says pipe bombs weren't meant to hurt anybody

NEW YORK (AP) - A Florida man who pleaded guilty to sending pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of President Donald Trump says he thinks he was misunderstood at his guilty plea.

Cesar Sayoc said in a letter to a judge that was made public Tuesday that it was never his intent to harm anyone.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff asked prosecutors and defense lawyers whether Sayoc's comments in his March 23 letter will impact a guilty plea he entered two weeks ago regarding the fall mailings. In an order, Rakoff gave lawyers a week to comment.

During the plea proceeding, Rakoff asked Sayoc if he knew the devices would hurt anyone.

In his handwritten letter, Sayoc said his lawyer told him to say yes.

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Trump eases up on border shutdown threat

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump eased up Tuesday on his threats to shut the southern border this week as officials across his administration explored half-measures that might satisfy the president's urge for action, like stopping only foot traffic at certain crossings.

Facing a surge of Central American migrants trying to enter the U.S., Trump last week threatened to seal the border this week if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the U.S., a move would have enormous economic consequences on both sides of the border.

While Trump on Tuesday did not back off the idea completely, he said he was pleased with steps Mexico had taken in recent days and renewed his calls for Congress to make changes he contends would solve the problem.

"Let's see if they keep it done," he said of Mexico. "Now, if they don't, or if we don't make a deal with Congress, the border's going to be closed, 100%." He also said that he might only close "large sections of the border" and "not all of it." He added that his posturing was "the only way we're getting a response."

Later Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen held an emergency call with Cabinet members and White House aides, saying, "We are going to treat it as if we have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane," according to a person on the call. The person was not authorized to discuss the call publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

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North Carolina GOP chair, major donor charged with bribery

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The chairman of North Carolina's Republican Party, an insurance magnate and two of his associates are facing federal charges for a plan to shower the state's top insurance regulator with campaign contributions to ensure special business treatment, a criminal indictment unsealed Tuesday said.

State GOP Chairman Robin Hayes and insurance and investment firm founder Greg Lindberg were among those charged with bribery, conspiracy and other crimes.

The four defendants appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate.

Hayes also was charged with lying to the FBI. The 73-year-old former congressman announced Monday that he wouldn't seek re-election as party chairman, citing health problems.

Hayes "steadfastly denies the allegations made against him" and is eager to clear his name, his attorney, Kearns Davis, said in a statement.

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US health officials alarmed by paralyzing illness in kids

NEW YORK (AP) - One morning last fall, 4-year-old Joey Wilcox woke up with the left side of his face drooping.

It was the first sign of an unfolding nightmare.

Three days later, Joey was in a hospital intensive care unit, unable to move his arms or legs or sit up. Spinal taps and other tests failed to find a cause. Doctors worried he was about to lose the ability to breathe.

"It's devastating," said his father, Jeremy Wilcox, of Herndon, Virginia. "Your healthy child can catch a cold - and then become paralyzed."

Joey, who survived but still suffers some of the effects, was one of 228 confirmed victims in the U.S. last year of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, a rare, mysterious and sometimes deadly paralyzing illness that seems to ebb and flow on an every-other-year cycle and is beginning to alarm public health officials because it is striking more and more children.MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin's high-stakes Supreme Court race was too close to call and appeared headed for a recount Tuesday.

With the unofficial vote at 99%, conservative candidate Brian Hagedorn held a lead of about 1,600 votes over his liberal-backed challenger Lisa Neubauer. The margin was about 0.14 percentage point out of nearly 1.2 million votes cast, close enough for Neubauer to request a recount paid for by taxpayers.

The Associated Press did not declare a winner, noting that the race was within the 1 percentage point margin for a recount.

The last recount in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election was in 2011.

"This race is too close to call," Neubauer campaign manager Tyler Hendricks said in a statement. "We are almost assuredly headed to a recount. We are going to make sure every vote is counted. Wisconsinites deserve to know we have had a fair election and that every vote is counted."

Conservatives have been in the majority since 2008, currently with a 4-3 split. Their majority would increase to 5-2 if Hagedorn defeats Neubauer. A win by Neubauer would give liberals a chance to take control in 2020.

Judge Brian Hagedorn and Mrs. Christina Hagedorn cast their votes in the 2019 Spring in the Town of Summit, Wis., Tuesday, April 2, 2019. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race is a judicial showdown between two state Appeals Court judges, Lisa Neubauer and Brian Hagedorn. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been the final word in some of the most partisan battles in the state over the past decade. It has upheld several polarizing laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, none more so than GOP former Gov. Scott Walker's law that essentially eliminated collective bargaining for public workers.

Now with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers often at odds with the Republican-controlled Legislature, the Supreme Court's role could be even more crucial in settling disputes. Already, cases fighting laws passed by Republicans during a December lame-duck legislative session appear headed to the court.

Tuesday's outcome will also be read for clues to the 2020 election cycle, with Wisconsin seen as a critical battleground for presidential hopeful. Expected low turnout could make that difficult. Past Supreme Court races in non-presidential years has generally been around 20%.

Both Neubauer and Hagedorn are appeals court judges and insist their personal views would not affect how they would rule on the Supreme Court.

There has been no public polling in the race, but Neubauer raised more money than Hagedorn - $1.7 million to $1.3 million.

Hagedorn, 41, served as a law clerk for conservative state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman. Hageman served as an assistant attorney general, worked in private practice and was Walker's chief legal counsel for nearly five years. Walker appointed him to the state appeals court in 2015, and Hagedorn won election two years later.

Madison resident Lana Nenide, a 43-year-year nonprofit director, said she voted for Neubauer. "I want a Democratic woman representing my rights. I don't want Scott Walker's puppet," she explained.

Kathy Halverson, a 50-year-old Republican from Franklin, said she voted for Hagedorn because "he has morals."

"He will judge according to the law and I just really like his stance on the topics - abortion, I think he's fair and he's going to be an asset to the Supreme Court," she said. "Hopefully he will get in."

Hagedorn, an evangelical Christian, spent much of the race defending his conservative beliefs. Opponents have pointed to a blog he wrote as a law school student in the mid-2000s in which he called Planned Parenthood a "wicked organization" and denounced court rulings favoring gay rights by likening homosexuality to bestiality. They have also pointed to his founding of a conservative private school that allows for expelling students who are gay. Hagedorn was also paid $3,000 to give speeches at meetings of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that supported criminalizing sodomy and sterilizing transgender people.

Neubauer, 61, was appointed to the appeals court in 2007 by former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Neubauer was elected to the appeals court in 2008, re-elected in 2014 and has been chief judge since 2015. She spent almost 20 years as an attorney in private practice.

Judy Johnson, 76, an independent voter from Franklin, said her vote for Neubauer reflected her dislike of President Donald Trump. Johnson said she believes Neubauer "will vote for the people," rather than supporters of the president.

Nearly every judge who has endorsed a candidate in the race - more than 340, or 98% - backs Neubauer. Hagedorn has endorsements from the National Rifle Association and Wisconsin Right to Life.

The winner will serve a 10-year term and replace retiring liberal Justice Shirley Abrahamson, who is 85.

___

Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP

___

Associated Press writer Ivan Moreno contributed to this report from Franklin, Wisconsin.

FILE - In this March 15, 2019 file photo, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn speaks during a debate with opponent Lisa Neubauer at the Wisconsin State Bar Center in Madison, Wis. A Republican group announced Tuesday, March 26, 2019 it is launching a seven-figure ad buy a week before the April 2 election to boost candidate Hagedorn in his race against Lisa Neubauer. The Republican State Leadership Committee's Judicial Fairness Initiative said it was spending at least $1 million on the effort, which would be the most significant outside spending for Hagedorn so far. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama is the latest Republican-leaning state seeking to enact a strict abortion ban as conservatives take aim at the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

Energized by new conservatives on the Supreme Court, abortion opponents in multiple states hope to ignite new legal battles that could prompt the justices to revisit Roe v. Wade.

Alabama lawmakers introduced legislation Tuesday that would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony unless the mother's health is in jeopardy. That comes after Kentucky and Mississippi approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which happens as soon as the sixth week of pregnancy. Other states, including Georgia and South Carolina, could enact similar bans.

The Alabama bill , HB314, goes even further: It would ban all abortions, even those using prescription drugs, as soon as a woman is "known to be pregnant." It does allow for ending a pregnancy when the fetus has a "lethal anomaly" or to avoid a "serious health risk" to the mother, but there are no exceptions for rape and incest. Any attempt to end a healthy pregnancy would be a felony.

"It simply criminalizes abortion," said bill sponsor Rep. Terri Collins, a Republican from Decatur, Alabama, said of the Alabama bill. "Hopefully, it takes it all the way to the Supreme Court to overturn (Roe versus Wade.)"

The text of the Alabama bill likens legalized abortion to history's greatest atrocities, including the Holocaust. The bill has more than 60 co-sponsors in the 105-member Alabama House of Representatives.

Women hold signs to protest HB 481 at the state Capitol, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Atlanta. HB 481, which would ban most abortions after a fetal heart beat is detected, has past both the House and the Senate and awaits a signature from Gov. Brian Kemp. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast, called it a "death sentence for women across this state."

"These bans are blatantly unconstitutional and lawmakers know it - they just don't care. Alabamians are just pawns in this political game to challenge access to safe, legal abortion nationally," Fox said.

Georgia's governor is considering whether to sign a law banning abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. More than 50 Hollywood actors, including Alyssa Milano, Alec Baldwin and Amy Schumer sent a letter threatening to pull business out of Georgia - a hub for television and movie production- if the ban is enacted.

A South Carolina House subcommittee passed a similar "heartbeat" bill on Tuesday.

Opponents say the Republicans are needlessly launching legal battles that will prove to be expensive and futile.

"Here's the problem: This bill is unconstitutional," Vicki Ringer, director of Public Affairs Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said during subcommittee debate of the South Carolina bill. "You believe that (Justice Neil) Gorsuch and (Justice Brett) Kavanaugh will save you on the Supreme Court. That court has already blocked an abortion bill."

Collins said she's not concerned that her bill conflicts with Supreme Court precedent.

The "whole point is to get the courts to relook at this issue," she said. "I think people are seeing a possibility that the Supreme Court might have a more conservative leaning balance."

___

AP writer Christina L. Myers contributed to this report from Columbia, South Carolina.

Actress Alyssa Milano, left, delivers a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's office detailing her opposition to HB 481 at the State Capitol Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Atlanta. HB 481 would ban almost all abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Actress Alyssa Milano speaks after delivering a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's office detailing her opposition to HB 481 at the State Capitol, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Atlanta. HB 481 would ban almost all abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Supporters and opponents of proposed legislation that would ban almost all abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected attend a public hearing, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. The legislation has over 50 co-sponsors. South Carolina had been in the forefront of more restrictive abortion laws over the past 35 years. (AP Photo/Christina L. Myers)

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)

File-This March 22, 2019, file photo shows, pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion demonstrators displaying their signs in the lobby of the Georgia State Capitol building during 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)

FILE - In this March 21, 2019 photo, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is surrounded by lawmakers as he signs a bill that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, at the capitol in Jackson, Miss. The bill is set to become law July 1, 2019 and would be one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. The Center for Reproductive Rights calls the law unconstitutional and on Thursday, March 28, 2019, expanded a lawsuit it filed last year to challenge a Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks' pregnancy. (AP Photo/Emily Wagster Pettus, File)ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan and India traded fire in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, leaving seven people dead - three Pakistani soldiers, a Pakistani villager, an Indian woman and a girl and a member of the Indian paramilitary troops, officials said Tuesday.

The fatalities were some of the highest since tensions flared between the rival nuclear-armed nations after a suicide bombing killed 40 Indian troops in Indian-administered Kashmir in February.

Pakistan's military said Indian troops targeted its military positions overnight in the border town of Rakhchakri in Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir. Along with the three soldiers killed, a fourth was wounded, the army said. The statement added that Pakistani soldiers "responded effectively."

The Indian fire also killed a 70-year-old Pakistani villager in a remote area of Niaza Per on Monday evening, according to Pakistani police official Waheed Qureshi.

In India, the army accused Pakistani troops of firing mortars and small-arms fire Monday along the disputed frontier, the highly militarized so-called Line of Control, hitting the sector of Poonch in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It said Indian soldiers retaliated.

Indian police officer M.K. Sinha said an Indian paramilitary officer, a woman and a girl were killed while at least 18 civilians and five troops were wounded.

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2014, file, photo, Pakistani police officers stand guard at Chakoti post situated at the line of control between Pakistan and Indian Kashmirs, in Pakistan. Pakistan's military said Tuesday, April 2, 2019, that Indian troops targeted its military positions in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing three soldiers and wounding a fourth. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal, File)

The cross border firing resumed on Tuesday morning, after a brief lull, he said.

Days after the Feb. 14 suicide attack in Kashmir, India launched an airstrike inside Pakistan, saying it targeted militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group who had claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Pakistan retaliated and said it shot down two Indian air force planes; one Indian pilot was captured and later released and handed back to India amid signs of easing tensions. Pakistan said Washington, Moscow, Beijing and Riyadh helped avert all-out fighting but tensions remained. Islamabad later claimed no Pakistani was linked to the attack and that Jaish-e-Mohammed had no training camps inside Pakistan.

The group was founded by Pakistani militant Masood Azhar after his release from prison in India in 1999 in exchange for 155 hostages held on an Indian Airlines flight hijacked in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Azhar is believed to be seriously ill, living at an undisclosed location.

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Associated Press writers Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, and Roshan Mughal in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.TOKYO (AP) - Japan's government said Tuesday that the official translation of the era name for the new emperor will be "Beautiful Harmony," setting off confusion while offices rush to make changes before Crown Prince Naruhito takes the throne.

The era of "Reiwa" begins May 1, a day after 85-year-old Emperor Akihito abdicates and hands over the chrysanthemum throne to his elder son.

The cultural importance of the imperial family and the secretive naming process created a frenzy of attention for the announcement of the era name on Monday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the name, composed of two Chinese characters, was taken for the first time from an ancient Japanese book instead of from Chinese classics. He said it comes from a section about plum blossoms in Manyoshu, a poetry anthology from the 7th-8th centuries, and suggests that "culture is born and nurtured as the people's hearts are beautifully drawn together."

Abe did not say which of a range of meanings for each of the two Chinese characters applied to the era name.

Experts and media had a variety of interpretations of the meaning, and initial reports generally settled on "pursuing harmony." The first character can also mean order, rule, good or auspicious. The second can mean peace, reconciliation or soft.

In this Monday, April 1, 2019, photo, Kane Tanaka, who is honored as the world's oldest living person by Guinness World Records at 116, poses with new era name "Reiwa," made of chocolate at a nursing home in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. Tanaka was born in Meiji era, and will soon experience the fifth era, starting on May 1. (Ryosuke Uematsu/Kyodo News via AP)

A Foreign Ministry official gave the official translation Tuesday.

"'Reiwa' is best interpreted as 'beautiful harmony,'" said Masaru Sato, the deputy consul-general and director of the Japan Information Center in New York. "'Reiwa' refers to the beauty of plum blossoms after a tough winter, and is taken to mean the beauty of people when they bring their hearts together to cultivate a culture."

However, some experts said the first Chinese character, "Rei," today is most widely thought to mean "order," ''command" and "dictate," with an authoritarian tone.

Historians and experts on the monarchy noted that an 1864 era name proposal of "Reitoku" using the same first character was rejected by the Tokugawa Shogunate, which said it sounded like the emperor was commanding Tokugawa.

"The name sounds as if we are ordered to achieve peace, rather than doing so proactively," Kazuto Hongo, a University of Tokyo historian, said on TV Asahi.

Yoshinori Kobayashi, a conservative cartoonist who has written books on Japanese emperors, said the character "Rei" portrays "the people kneeling down under the crown. It's meaning, after all, is a command of a monarch or a ruler. ... It is inevitable that 'Reiwa' gives a somewhat cold impression."

As discussions of the era name dominated Japanese newspapers and television talk shows, stores began selling Reiwa goods.

A bakery in Tokyo sold cupcakes decorated with Reiwa toppings, and sweet bean cakes carrying Reiwa logos quickly sold out at a souvenir shop inside Japan's parliament building. Some bookstores set up Manyoshu sections, and many editions of the anthology were out of stock on Amazon. Department stores were planning to sell gold coins emblazoned with Reiwa.

The announcement gives the government, businesses and people only a month to adjust to a change that affects many parts of Japanese society, though the emperor has no political power under Japan's postwar constitution. Era names are still widely used in government and business documents and on calendars. Many people use them to identify generations and historical periods.

Discussing an era change in advance was not considered a taboo this time because Akihito is abdicating, a highly unusual step.

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Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

In this Monday, April 1, 2019, photo, Kane Tanaka, who is honored as the world's oldest living person by Guinness World Records at 116, poses with chocolates with era names at a nursing home in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. Tanaka was born in Meiji era, and will soon experience the fifth era, starting on May 1. The words, from left, read "Meiji, Taisho, Showa, Heisei and Reiwa." (Ryosuke Uematsu/Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - In this Jan. 2, 2018, file photo, Japan's Emperor Akihito, right, with Crown Prince Naruhito waves to well-wishers from the bullet-proofed balcony during his New Year's public appearance with his family members at Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Japan's government says the translation of the new era name is "beautiful harmony," setting off confusion while offices rush to make changes before Crown Prince Naruhito takes the throne. The era of "Reiwa" begins May 1, 2019, a day after 85-year-old Emperor Akihito abdicates in favor of his elder son. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - In this April 1, 2019, file photo, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga unveils the name of new era "Reiwa" at the prime minister's office in Tokyo. Japan's government says the translation of the new era name is "beautiful harmony," setting off confusion while offices rush to make changes before Crown Prince Naruhito takes the throne. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)Research News

Book details how railroad porters helped lead civil rights efforts in U.S., Canada

Faculty member Cecil Foster says that while his new book, They Call Me George: The Untold Story of the Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada, tells a story that took place in Canada, it is still part of the American narrative. Photo: Douglas Levere

By BERT GAMBINI

Life is better for many because of these men. They were active in taking on the government and creating a society where there is social justice and everyone is entitled to the benefits of a common citizenship. 

In 2009, President-elect Barack Obama arrived in Washington by train for his inauguration as the nations 44th president.

The symbolic three-day journey, which began in Philadelphia, paid homage to Abraham Lincoln, but Obamas decision to travel by train was also a tribute to the historical struggles and achievements of sleeping car porters, who in the 1920s formed the first African-American-led labor union in the United States, creating in the process a brotherhood that became home to some of the days leading intellectuals and an instrument for social change.

The sleeping car porters were an essential element to the growing fortunes of the 19th century railroad industry, but beyond their professional roles, the porters, through their diligence and activism, helped amend immigration policy and secure civil rights for a marginalized population, according to Cecil Foster, professor and chair of the Department of Transnational Studies, and author of the new book They Call Me George: The Untold Story of the Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada.

Foster will give a reading and sign copies of his book at 7 p.m. April 25 at Talking Leaves Books, 951 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo.

While this is a story of what happened in Canada, it is still part of the American narrative, says Foster, a novelist, journalist and scholar, and an expert in Canadian studies and multiculturalism. The sleeping car porters are an important part of the black experience, and coming out of slavery we can hear its transnational orientation.

The book places the porters in the historical context of the generation of immigrants who arrived in Canada from Caribbean countries. Foster says this group changed the United Kingdom, which included Canada at the time, and put the country on a multicultural path, while also securing human rights in North America through their careers on the railroad.

These men on the trains, coming out of Harlem and Chicago and Montreal and Toronto, formed a transnational black community, he says. Great leaders A. Phillip Randolph and others emerged from this community to work with Martin Luther King.

They challenged the system across North America and are responsible for many of the gains during the civil rights movement. Their contributions shouldnt be underestimated.

With the introduction of luxury Pullman cars in the 1870s, railroads needed employees to take care of passengers every need. Porters staffed the transcontinental Pullman cars as domestic servants.

Pullman cars allowed passengers to stay on trains rather than rent hotel rooms during layovers; Jim Crow laws, meantime, prevented the cars porters from staying at the hotels their passengers no longer needed.

The porters were sometimes known as sleepy car porters because they worked to exhaustion, often out on their feet, says Foster. Eventually, the railroads rented rooms in the black communities of major cities. Its there that the porters slept, in rooms filled with bunks.

For decades after the Civil War, working as a sleeping car porter was the only employment available to black men in the U.S. and Canada, he says.

From the beginning of Canadian confederation in 1867, Canadas policies toward black people was in lockstep with the United States, according to Foster.

Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier in Canada worked to institutionalize Jim Crow laws in Canada just as Woodrow Wilson, Lauriers friend, would do as president of the United States.

Prior to the 1960s, Parliament permitted only white British subjects to immigrate to Canada. The restrictive policy contributed to a drop in Canadas black population from around 50,000 in 1867 to 18,000 by 1950.

Canada systematically kept black people out of the country or forced them to go to the U.S., says Foster. Canada argued it did not have a color line because there was no significant black population in that country.

When railroad barons broke the Canadians attempt to organize, porters in Canada joined their American counterparts in their organized-labor efforts. Many of the changes pioneered in Canada by the sleeping car porters made their way to the U.S.

One of the ways to read this book is to hear how Canada was not unique at all, says Foster. The country was another example of how to fight Jim Crow.

And the porters were on the front lines of that fight.

Life is better for many because of these men, says Foster. They were active in taking on the government and creating a society where there is social justice and everyone is entitled to the benefits of a common citizenship.CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - The Australian government unveiled a plan on Tuesday to balance the national budget next year and pay off all debt in a decade as it prepares for a general election next month.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg outlined a strategy to deliver a 7.1 billion Australian dollar ($5 billion) surplus in the fiscal year starting July 1 - Australia's first surplus budget in 12 years - while promising tax cuts and cash handouts for most Australians.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison hopes the budget will be positively received by voters whom he will ask to re-elect his conservative coalition for a third three-year term. Morrison is expected to announce within days that an election will he held on May 11 or May 18.

The government expects surpluses to grow annually to AU$17.8 billion in 2021-22 before slipping to AU$9.2 billion the following year as tax cuts take effect on government revenues.

Net debt would peak at AU$373 billion in the current fiscal year - at 19.2 percent of GDP - and be paid off by 2029-30.

Frydenberg described proposed income tax cuts as the largest since Australia's mining boom years before the global financial crisis in 2008.

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg addresses the media as he arrives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Frydenberg said he will unveil Australia's first balanced annual budget plan in a decade days before general elections are called. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk)

The cuts, which include lowering the 32.5% tax rate to 30% from July 2024, are forecast to cost the nation's coffers AU$158 billion in tax revenue by 2030.

The budget strategy has to be endorsed by Parliament to become law.

But the government does not propose to get much of its economic blueprint through Parliament before the next election, which opinion polls suggest the center-left opposition Labor Party is likely to win.

Frydenberg said he will try to pass legislation this week that would give AU$284 million to pensioners in one-off payments by July to help pay soaring energy bills.

He said voters must decide at the election between the low-taxing conservatives and high-taxing and high-spending Labor.

"There's a clear contest in this election between one side of politics which wants to reduce taxes and the Labor Party which will try and increase taxes," Frydenberg said.

Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor would go to the May election promising bigger surpluses than the ruling coalition.

"Based on the figures we've seen tonight, we would have a better bottom line ... paid for by a whole range of policies," Bowen told Sky News TV.

Annual GDP growth is forecast to accelerate from 2.25% in the current fiscal year to 2.75% for the next two years. The jobless rate is expected to remain unchanged at around 5%.

The Australian economy is vulnerable to commodity swings that the Treasury Department regards as particularly volatile at the moment.

Exports are forecast to grow by 4% in the next fiscal year, supported by major liquefied natural gas projects ramping up production. Australia recently overtook Qatar as the world's biggest LNG exporter.

But prices of Australia's most lucrative exports - coal and iron ore - are forecast to decline next year.

A dam collapse at a Brazilian iron ore mine in January that killed more than 110 people elevated prices of Australian iron ore in the current fiscal year. But the price will settle as supply issues are addressed, Treasury said.

Australian coal shipments have also been held up at Chinese ports with conflicting reports of Chinese policy changes.

"There is greater uncertainty than usual around commodity prices as a result of heightened price volatility and policies in China and Brazil," a Treasury document said.

Frydenberg said one of the government's "chief concerns" is a forecast downturn in the Australian housing market next year. Housing prices are falling in Australia's largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, where construction has slowed.

Frydenberg said the downturn would be worse if a Labor government is elected and implements its promised reduction of tax breaks for landlords.

The budget continues the government's policy of increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2020-21, with AU$38.7 billion allocated next year. President Donald Trump has called on U.S. allies to raise their defense spending to that level.

A AU$2 billion fund to invest in infrastructure construction among Australia's Pacific island neighbors will become operation on July 1. The fund offers an alternative to growing Chinese investment in the Pacific.

A conservative Australian government delivered annual surplus budgets for a decade before the global financial crisis struck during a Labor government's first year in office. Labor ran up debt through stimulus spending and avoided a recession. But Labor's failure to curb debt during six years in office damaged the party's economic credentials.

If opinion polls are correct and Labor wins the next election, Morrison would become the sixth Australian prime minister since 2007 to fail to last an entire three-year term.

Labor has said if it wins the election, it will outline its own economic blueprint before September.CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox will be visiting Harvard University to talk about gender equity and stereotyping.

The "Orange is the New Black" star is scheduled to headline a campus discussion Tuesday alongside fashion designer Christian Siriano and other panelists.

It's part of Harvard's "2019 Summit for Gender Equity." The event is being hosted as Harvard prepares to participate in a national survey on campus sexual assault and misconduct.

Cox and other panelists will be asked to talk about gender equity and gender stereotyping in the realms of pop culture, advertising and consumerism.

In 2014, Cox became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Harvard joins more than 30 universities participating in a campus climate survey conducted by the American Association for Universities.BEIRUT (AP) - U.S.-backed Syrian fighters are battling the Islamic State group in eastern Syria 10 days after declaring victory over the extremists, an official with the Kurdish-led force said Tuesday.

Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said they are rooting out groups of militants who were hiding in caves in and near the village of Baghouz. He added that SDF experts are still removing mines and booby-traps in areas liberated in recent weeks.

The SDF declared military victory over IS on March 23 after liberating what it said was the last pocket of territory held by the militants. The victory marked the end of the brutal self-styled caliphate the group carved out in large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The nearly five-year war left a swath of destruction across both countries and ended in Baghouz, a tiny village near the Iraqi border where the cornered militants made their last stand, under a grueling siege for weeks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the U.S.-led coalition is still conducting airstrikes against IS. It says senior IS commanders and prisoners held by the extremists are believed to be in the caves on the east bank of the Euphrates River.

The Observatory, which closely monitors the Syrian war through contacts on the ground, says scores of IS fighters and commanders who refused to surrender are still in the area.

In this Sunday, March 31, 2019 photo, a woman waits with her baby for aid supplies at Al-Hol camp, in Hassakeh province, Syria. An international aid group says it recorded 31 deaths in the final week of March among people making their way out of the last sliver of territory held by the Islamic State group and toward a camp for the displaced. The International Rescue Committee says Monday the highest weekly death rate reflects the desperate conditions of the mostly women and children who left the village of Baghouz for al-Hol camp. The IRC figures could not be independently confirmed. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

During the last weeks of fighting in Baghouz, thousands of civilians, IS fighters and their families were evacuated. Many were moved to al-Hol, a camp for the displaced in northeastern Syria, which now holds 70,000 people.

An aid group said 31 deaths were recorded in the final week of March among people making their way out of Baghouz and toward the camp.

The International Rescue Committee said the highest weekly death rate reflected the desperate conditions endured by those who left, mostly women and children. It said a total of 217 people died while evacuating Baghouz in the final weeks of the battle. Most were toddlers suffering from malnutrition.

The IRC figures could not be independently confirmed.

In this Sunday, March 31, 2019 photo, laundry dries on a chain link fence in an area for foreign families, at Al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province, Syria. An international aid group says it recorded 31 deaths in the final week of March among people making their way out of the last sliver of territory held by the Islamic State group and toward a camp for the displaced. The International Rescue Committee says Monday the highest weekly death rate reflects the desperate conditions of the mostly women and children who left the village of Baghouz for al-Hol camp. The IRC figures could not be independently confirmed. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

In this Sunday, March 31, 2019 photo, a child rides in a makeshift cart at Al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province, Syria. An international aid group says it recorded 31 deaths in the final week of March among people making their way out of the last sliver of territory held by the Islamic State group and toward a camp for the displaced. The International Rescue Committee says Monday the highest weekly death rate reflects the desperate conditions of the mostly women and children who left the village of Baghouz for al-Hol camp. The IRC figures could not be independently confirmed. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

In this Sunday, March 31, 2019 photo, a boy in Islamic dress carries a younger child in the marketplace at the Al-Hol camp in Hassakeh province, Syria. An international aid group says it recorded 31 deaths in the final week of March among people making their way out of the last sliver of territory held by the Islamic State group and toward a camp for the displaced. The International Rescue Committee says Monday the highest weekly death rate reflects the desperate conditions of the mostly women and children who left the village of Baghouz for al-Hol camp. The IRC figures could not be independently confirmed. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)NEW DELHI (AP) - India's main opposition Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi has released its election manifesto ahead of a multiphase general election that begins April 11.

The 48-year-old grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi blasted the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party for working "to divide the nation and spread hatred" in a speech Tuesday in New Delhi outlining the party manifesto.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP swept elections in 2014 promising to boost the Indian economy.

Gandhi also singled out the government's record on jobs. The first item in the party's 54-page manifesto describes its plan for creating new jobs.

The manifesto also promises an income subsidy program for the poorest families and for farmers.

It is unclear when the BJP will release its party manifesto.WASHINGTON (AP) - As former Vice President Joe Biden's camp scrambles to contain any political damage over his past behavior with women, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has some words of advice: Keep your distance.

"Join the straight-arm club," Pelosi said at a breakfast hour Washington event on Tuesday.

In other words, keep your handshakes at arms' length and don't be touchy-feely.

"Just pretend you have a cold and I have a cold," Pelosi said.

President Donald Trump weighed in on the matter with a little more sarcasm. "Welcome to the world, Joe," Trump said at a fundraising dinner for Republican House races. "You having a good time, Joe?" Trump himself has denied multiple accusations of sexual misconduct on his part.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said Biden "has to understand that in the world we are in now people's space is important to them and what's important is how they receive it, not necessarily how you intended it."

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Biden Courage Awards, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Her remarks at an event sponsored by Politico came as Biden's aides are striking a more aggressive tone as he considers seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and faces scrutiny over his past behavior toward women.

In a statement Monday, Biden spokesman Bill Russo blasted "right wing trolls" from "the dark recesses of the internet" for conflating images of Biden embracing acquaintances, colleagues and friends in his official capacity during swearing-in ceremonies with uninvited touching.

Two women have said Biden touched them inappropriately in the past. Amy Lappos, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said Monday that Biden touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses in 2009. Former Nevada politician Lucy Flores penned a magazine essay last week in which she wrote that Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.

The developments underscored the challenge facing Biden should he decide to seek the White House. Following historic wins in the 2018 midterms, Democratic politics is dominated by energy from women. The allegations could leave the 76-year-old Biden, long known for his affectionate mannerisms, appearing out of touch with the party as the Democratic presidential primary begins.

Lappos told The Associated Press that she and other Himes aides were helping out at a fundraiser in a private home in Hartford, Connecticut, in October 2009 when Biden entered the kitchen to thank the group for pitching in.

"After he finished speaking, he stopped to talk to us about how important a congressional staff is, which I thought was awesome," Lappos said.

She said she was stunned as Biden moved toward her.

"He wrapped both his hands around my face and pulled me in," said Lappos, who is now 43. "I thought, 'Oh, God, he's going to kiss me.' Instead, he rubbed noses with me."

Biden said nothing, she said, then moved off.

She said the experience left her feeling "weird and uncomfortable" and was "absolutely disrespectful of my personal boundaries."

The Hartford Courant first reported Lappos' assertion.

Russo, Biden's spokesman, didn't directly respond to Lappos, instead referring to a Sunday statement in which Biden said he doesn't believe he has acted inappropriately during his long public life. The former vice president said in that statement: "We have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will."

Biden hasn't made a final decision on whether to run for the White House. But aides who weren't authorized to discuss internal conversations and spoke on the condition of anonymity said there were no signs that his team was slowing its preparations for a campaign.

Asked on Monday by the AP about the accusations against Biden, Pelosi said, "I don't think that this disqualifies him from running for president, not at all."

Biden's potential Democratic rivals haven't rushed to back him up. Sen. Kamala Harris of California said Tuesday that she believed his accusers but that it's up to Biden to decide whether to run.

Over the weekend, presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said Biden "needs to give an answer" about what occurred. Another 2020 hopeful, Kirsten Gillibrand, said, "If Vice President Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic he'll have to engage on further."

Ultraviolet, a women's advocacy group, tweeted: "Joe Biden cannot paint himself as a champion of women and then refuse to listen and learn from a woman who says his actions demeaned her. Good intentions don't matter if the actions are inappropriate. Do better, Joe. And thank you @LucyFlores for coming forward."

___

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. AP Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show the congressman's surname is Himes, not Hines.

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Biden Courage Awards Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

FILE - In this March 12, 2019, file photo, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to the International Association of Firefighters at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington. Biden says he does not recall kissing a Nevada political candidate on the back of her head in 2014. The allegation was made in a New York Magazine article written by Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state representative and the 2014 Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor. Flores says Biden's behavior "made me feel uneasy, gross, and confused."(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Biden Courage Awards Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Biden Courage Awards Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2014 file photo, Nevada state Democratic Assemblywoman Lucy Flores speaks during a debate with Nevada state Republican Sen. Mark Hutchison in Las Vegas. Flores, the former Nevada politician who accused Joe Biden of inappropriately kissing her on the back of the head in 2014, rose from a tough childhood through top Nevada political circles before becoming an outspoken critic about sexism and harassing behavior in politics. AP Photo/John Locher, File)

FILE - In this June 3, 2016, file photo, Lucy Flores poses for a photo at her North Las Vegas campaign headquarters. Flores, the former Nevada politician who accused Joe Biden of inappropriately kissing her on the back of the head in 2014, rose from a tough childhood through top Nevada political circles before becoming an outspoken critic about sexism and harassing behavior in politics. (AP Photo/Michelle Rindels, File)DIXON, Calif. (AP) - Two 17-year-old boys who jumped into a Northern California irrigation canal to rescue a dog were killed when they grabbed onto an electrified bridge, authorities said Tuesday.

Jacob Hourmouzus and Jacob Schneider died of electrocution, according to the Solano County Sheriff's Department.

The department told The Sacramento Bee the pair was crossing a bridge over the canal with two other teenagers and the dog Monday afternoon when the animal either jumped or fell into the water.

Hourmouzus and Schneider tried to pull themselves and the dog out of the fast-flowing water by grabbing hold of the bridge, which had an electric current running underneath it.

As the electricity froze their grip to the bridge, another teenage boy jumped in and managed to knock them free, sheriff's officials said. Meanwhile, a teenage girl with the group called 911.

The third boy managed to pull Hourmouzus, Schneider and the dog to the shore by the time authorities arrived.

In this Monday, April 1, 2019, photo provided by the California Highway Patrol. a CHP helicopter is stationed near where two teenage boys were electrocuted while trying to rescue a dog from an irrigation canal at an orchard in Dixon, Calif. KTXL-TV reported that the Solano County sheriff's office said that when the boys walked into the canal Monday to attempt to save the dog, one of the boys touched a nearby electrified gate. The boys were taken to a hospital where they died. (California Highway Patrol/Via AP)

Hourmouzus and Schneider died Monday night at a hospital. The dog was injured and survived.

Hourmouzus' mother, Candy Carrillo, complained there were no signs anywhere in the area warning that the bridge was electrified or that the water in the canal was dangerously swift.

"They could have put up signs. They could have fixed the downed power lines or the short circuit they had. They could have prevented these kids from going down these roads," she told The Bee.

Sheriff's officials said they were trying to learn why electricity, since shut off, was running through the bridge southwest of Sacramento.

Hourmouzus and Schneider both attended Dixon High School, where Principal Stephanie Marquez said counseling was being made available to their fellow students.

Carrillo said her son was "a senior in high school fixing to graduate, to start his life."

"That's too soon for any young person to be taken off this Earth," she said. "My son was an amazing person. He was kind, caring and lovable."

Carrillo said her son once pressed the family to take in a friend who needed a place to stay.

"He had a friend who was getting evicted and he was like, 'Mom, my friend needs a place to live.' I'm like 'Ok, we'll send him back to his parents,' and he was like, 'No, he doesn't have a family. Can he move in with us? I'll share my bedroom with him.' So we moved him in with us and shared a bedroom with him."

___

Information from: KTXL-TV.WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump eased up Tuesday on his threats to shut the southern border this week as officials across his administration explored half-measures that might satisfy the president's urge for action, like stopping only foot traffic at certain crossings.

Facing a surge of Central American migrants trying to enter the U.S., Trump last week threatened to seal the border this week if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the U.S., a move that would have enormous economic consequences on both sides of the border.

While Trump on Tuesday did not back off the idea completely, he said he was pleased with steps Mexico had taken in recent days and renewed his calls for Congress to make changes he contends would solve the problem.

"Let's see if they keep it done," he said of Mexico. "Now, if they don't, or if we don't make a deal with Congress, the border's going to be closed, 100%." He also said that he might only close "large sections of the border" and "not all of it." He added that his posturing was "the only way we're getting a response."

Later Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen held an emergency call with Cabinet members and White House aides, saying, "We are going to treat it as if we have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane," according to a person on the call. The person was not authorized to discuss the call publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Nielsen was creating an emergency operations center and named U.S. Border Patrol official Manny Padilla as an operational crisis coordinator to manage the response from within the different immigration agencies at the Department of Homeland Security. Padilla is a 30-year Border Patrol veteran and was recently the head of the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas.

Immigrants from Central America seeking asylum board a bus, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

His job will be different from that of the immigration or "border czar" that Trump is considering, the official said.

Closing the border completely would disrupt manufacturing supply lines and the flow of goods ranging from avocados to cars, making for a "potentially catastrophic economic impact," in the words of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.

Some inside the administration also worry it would only exacerbate illegal immigration.

Meantime, administration officials grappled with how they might minimize the impact of a shutdown or implement less sweeping actions.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, for example, told CNBC he's been looking at potentially keeping truck lanes open.

"We are looking at different options, particularly if you can keep those freight lanes, the truck lanes, open," he said. As for the hundreds of thousands of tourists and workers who cross the border legally, Kudlow said, "that may be difficult."

Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had told reporters that, while, "Eventually, it may be that it's the best decision that we close the border," the president was "not working on a specific timeline" and all options remained on the table. The Council of Economic Advisers, she said, was conducting a number of studies on the impact, and "working with the president to give him those options."

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in an appearance on MSNBC that closing only certain entry ports, or parts of all of them, could be among the steps short of closing the entire border.

It was a shift from Trump's threat late last week to seal the whole border, and quickly. "I am not kidding around," he said then, exasperated by the swelling numbers of migrants, thousands of whom were being released into the U.S. because border officials had no space for them. Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, a 12-year high. More than half of those are families with children, who require extra care.

With southern border facilities near a breaking point, U.S. officials are busing many migrants hundreds of miles inland and dropping them off at bus stations and churches. Trump has mocked and vowed to end that "catch and release" practice but overwhelmed authorities saw no choice.

Responding to Trump's threats, Nielsen rushed home late Monday night from Europe, where she was attending G7 security meetings and intended to fly to the border mid-week to assess the impact of changes already made, including reassigning some 2,000 border officers assigned to check vehicles to deal with migrant crowds and new efforts to return more asylum seekers to Mexico as they wait out their case.

Officials were hoping to have as many as 300 asylum seekers returned to Mexico per day by the end of the week near Calexico and El Paso in Texas and San Ysidro in California. Right now, only 60 a day are returned.

Nielsen has also requested volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department and sent a letter to Congress seeking more money and detention space and broader authority to deport families faster. The request was met with disdain by Democrats.

Even absent the extraordinary step of sealing a national border, delays at border stations have been mounting due to the personnel reassignments, Homeland Security officials said. When the Otay Mesa, California, entry port closed for the night Monday, 150 trucks were still waiting to get into the U.S.

Shutting certain border stations or parts of them would not be unprecedented. Over the Thanksgiving holiday last year, Trump claimed he'd already "closed the border" after officials briefly closed the northbound lanes at San Ysidro, California, for several hours in the early morning to bolster security because of concerns about a potential influx of migrant caravan members.

Mexican officials announced Monday they'd pulled 338 Central American migrants -181 adults and 157 children- off five passenger buses in a southern state that borders Guatemala, and said they had detained 15 possible smugglers on immigration law violations. But that was not unusual for Mexico, which has for years been cracking down on migration.

In 2014 then-President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a program that was described as ensuring orderly migration but in practice resulted in making it much more difficult for Central Americans to transit.

___

Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey and Darlene Superville in Washington and Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

___

Follow Colvin and Long on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj and https://twitter.com/ctlong1

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Immigrants from Central America seeking asylum board a bus, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders turns to go back into the White House in Washington after speaking to reporters, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Immigrants from Central America seeking asylum board a bus, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Vehicles from Mexico and the U.S. approach a border crossing in El Paso, Texas, Monday, April 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)NEW MARKET, Tenn. (AP) - Representatives for a social justice center that trained the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders said Tuesday that a white-power symbol was spray-painted near the site of a fire that destroyed a building there.

The fire at the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee, happened early Friday morning, incinerating decades of archives in the center's main office. Highlander leaders found the symbol Friday but did not make the news public until Tuesday, when they posted a news release on the center's Facebook page.

Chelsea Fuller, acting spokeswoman for Highlander, said in an email that the symbol "looks like a tic-tac-toe board" and was painted in the parking lot near the office.

"It's connected to a well-known white power movement, but they're not releasing the name at this time," Fuller wrote.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is investigating with assistance from the state Fire Marshal's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The bureau referred questions to Sheriff Jeff Coffey, who did not return phone messages Tuesday.

A news release from the center noted that the fire destroyed "decades of historic documents, speeches, artifacts and memorabilia from movements of all kinds," including the civil rights movement.

This Friday, March 29, 2019, photo provided by the New Market Fire and Rescue Team shows a fire at the main offices of the Highlander Education and Research Center in New Market, Tenn. The center is a social justice center that trained the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. Representatives of the center said Tuesday, April 2, 2019, that a white power symbol was also found spray painted on the parking lot near the building. (Sammy Solomon/New Market Fire and Rescue Team via AP)

The office that was destroyed Friday was one of 10 buildings on the property, and Fuller said the library, which also contains historic materials, was undamaged.

Since 1932, Highlander has trained labor organizers and civil rights leaders including King and Rosa Parks. Over the years, it has been investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, spied on by a segregationist Georgia governor and marched on by the Ku Klux Klan.

It was started as the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, but a campaign to brand it as a "Communist training school" ultimately resulted in the center losing its charter, its building and its land in 1961.

It reopened under a new name in Knoxville, where it endured Klan marches, fire bombs and arrests, ultimately moving again to rural New Market in 1972.

This Friday, March 29, 2019, photo provided by the New Market Fire and Rescue Team shows a fire at the main offices of the Highlander Education and Research Center in New Market, Tenn. The center is a social justice center that trained the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. Representatives of the center said Tuesday, April 2, 2019, that a white power symbol was also found spray painted on the parking lot near the building. (Sammy Solomon/New Market Fire and Rescue Team via AP)WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump and immigration (all times local):

8:35 p.m.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says in an emergency call with Cabinet members and White House aides that the administration will treat U.S.-Mexico border issues "as if we have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane."

That's according to a person who was on the conference call. The person was not authorized to discuss the call publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The person says the Department of Homeland Security is standing up an emergency operations center not unlike when there is a major natural disaster.

Nielsen named longtime U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Manny Padilla as a crisis coordinator who will manage efforts within the department's different immigration agencies.

Vehicles from Mexico and the U.S. approach a border crossing in El Paso, Texas, Monday, April 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

Padilla's job will be different from the immigration or "border czar" that Trump is considering.

Officials say an influx of Central American migrants is overwhelming border facilities.

-By Colleen Long

___

3:30 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell says closing the U.S. border as President Donald Trump has threatened would have a "potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country."

The Kentucky Republican told reporters on Tuesday that he hopes Trump won't take that action. Trump last week said he'd seal the border in the coming days if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the United States. On Tuesday, the president said he'll take a wait-and-see approach.

That's good, McConnell suggested.

"Closing down the border would have a potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country," he said, adding, "I would hope we would not be doing that."

A closure would have enormous economic consequences for Mexico and the United States. Trump has threatened to close the border before but not acted on the threat.

___

2:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he is taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to his threat to close the southern border as soon as this week.

Trump is telling reporters as he meets with NATO's secretary general that he's pleased with steps that Mexico has taken in recent days and that, "We're going to see what happens."

But he says that he's "ready to close it" if he has to and will do so if Mexico stops helping or if he fails to reach a deal with Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws."

Trump is bemoaning current regulations and says: "We're going to have a strong border or we're going to have a closed border."

___

12:50 p.m.

Trump administration officials are pulling back the president's threat to shut the southern border as soon as this week.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday the administration is "looking at all options" on whether to close entry ports and what the impact would be.

Last week, Trump said he'd close the border as the number of migrants coming to the U.S. has surged. He's threatened that before.

Delays at entry points are already mounting. That's because as many as 2,000 border officers assigned to check trucks and cars are being shifted to deal with migrant crowds. Wait times at Brownsville, Texas, were 180 minutes Monday, double the wait last year. And there were 150 trucks in Otay Mesa, California, still waiting when the border station closed for the day.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders turns to go back into the White House in Washington after speaking to reporters, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON (AP) - "Not any longer."

And with that, a triumphant Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to close the book Tuesday on a divisive Republican debate, convincing President Donald Trump to shelve plans to replace the Affordable Care Act until after the 2020 election.

"I made it clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate," McConnell told reporters.

It was a rare public disclosure of private counsel from the Republican leader. And it signaled that, after two years in Trump's Washington, Republicans on Capitol Hill are figuring out how to handle the president and his impulsive swerves on policy.

Trump insisted Tuesday it was his idea to switch course.

"I wanted to delay it myself," Trump said during an event at the White House. "I want to put it after the election."

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner in Washington, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Facing a court deadline, Trump seized on health care last week, backing a lawsuit seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act. Trump's motivations were as political as they were legislative. He didn't want to cede the issue again in the 2020 campaign, according to a person familiar with the conversations who was not authorized to speak publicly.

"We're going to keep the presidency, and we'll vote in the best health care package we've ever had," he said.

Speaking later Tuesday at a fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Trump said, "Republicans should not run away from health care. ... If we stay away from that subject, we're going to lose."

Trump and McConnell had not spoken for days. The president stunned Republicans last week by announcing he wanted to try again to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, insisting the GOP could become the "party of health care." Republicans wanted no part of a do-over after their failure to replace the law in 2017. Facing a revolt from the ranks, McConnell told the president he needed him to listen, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss the private call.

McConnell explained to Trump that senators are open to tackling specific aspects of health care - namely, trying to lower prescription drug prices. But Trump's promised big, new health care bill wasn't going happen with Democrats running the House. Instead, Trump could focus on the issue during the election.

Several times McConnell told Trump to listen, the person said. And it worked. Trump told McConnell he "accepted" the situation and "would be developing a plan that he would take to the American people during the 2020 campaign." That night, Trump tweeted as much.

"So we don't have a misunderstanding about that," McConnell said Tuesday.

Trump's shift - he tweeted late Monday that Congress will vote on a GOP plan after the elections "when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House" - made clear that the health care debate will be left for voters to decide during the race for the White House.

That arrangement suits Democrats just fine. They are denouncing Trump's attempt to overturn the ACA in court and floating various health care plans, including an expansion of government-funded Medicare with so called "Medicare for All," setting up a stark contrast between the parties for the campaign trail.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump will "hold Americans hostage through 2020" on an issue that affects millions of people. He said that Trump "insists he has a magic plan that we can see if only the American people re-elect him."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Democrats' health care battle with Trump is "a values fight."

After Trump dropped the issue on Republicans last week, many hoped it would just go away. They had no comprehensive proposal to replace the ACA law and no big plans to unveil one. Publicly and privately, Republicans tried to talk to Trump.

McConnell has made it clear Republicans should spend their time attacking "Medicare for All" proposals rather than revisiting the ACA debate, according to a Republican granted anonymity to discuss the private thinking.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a Trump confidant, called shifting the debate to 2021 "a very pragmatic decision." He said Tuesday that "spending quality time to develop a comprehensive strategy" would be "critical."

Trump's effort to repeal former President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law narrowly failed in the Senate in 2017 when Republicans controlled both chambers in Congress. He still blames the late Sen. John McCain for joining other senators to oppose a last-ditch plan.

While Republicans gained Senate seats last fall, GOP senators - particularly those up for re-election next year - weren't looking for another fight over the law. They saw how the issue played in 2018, when Democrats made it the cornerstone of their successful drive to win back the House.

Preserving health care protections, and especially for people with pre-existing conditions, resonates with voters. According to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 115,000 midterm voters nationwide, nearly 4 in 10 Democratic voters identified health care at the top of a list of key issues.

As Democrats have blamed Republicans for trying to end the ACA, GOP-backed challenges to the 2010 law are making their way through courts.

Last week, the Trump administration told a federal appeals court it wants the entire Affordable Care Act struck down, an outcome that could leave millions of people uninsured.

In his late-Monday tweets, Trump claimed Republicans are developing a plan with cheaper premiums and deductibles that "will be truly great HealthCare that will work for America."

Republicans appeared relieved that, for now, that battle will be fought during the campaign, rather than in Congress.

The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Thune of South Dakota, said the president "has some big ideas and, to his credit, wants to solve problems." But Thune said, "you run into that wall of reality," of a divided Congress with Democrats in control of the House, which requires bipartisanship.

"Trying to convey what the obstacles are to getting what he wants to get done in the next two years is something I think a number of our members conveyed to him," Thune said.

___

Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman, Alan Fram, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Darlene Superville and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner in Washington, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., accompanied by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., sleft, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., second from left, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, center right, speaks to members of the media following a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; and other Democrat leaders, speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California leaves a news conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California leaves a news conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore already faced daunting challenges: soaring violent crime, a thriving drug economy and poverty so intense that some derelict neighborhoods look like they were hit by a plague. Now, Mayor Catherine Pugh is embroiled in a strange scandal, sucking attention away from those core issues while embarrassing Maryland's biggest city on a national scale.

The allegations surrounding the first-term mayor conjure up a bizarre world where no-contract financial deals intersect with children's picture books, of all things. Since 2011, the Democrat has somehow received payments totaling at least $700,000 for tens of thousands of self-published 20-page books with titles like "Healthy Holly: Fruits Come in Colors Like the Rainbow."

Her main customers for the hard-to-find paperbacks: a $4 billion medical network, on whose board she served, that paid her personal business half-a-million dollars for 100,000 copies; and a health care provider that bought "Healthy Holly" books after she became mayor, as that company was seeking a city contract.

It's Baltimore's latest chapter of murky politics and alleged corruption, of odd bedfellows and weird contradictions. For many locals, it's yet another reminder that their hometown seems doomed to repeat cycles of tawdry mismanagement, reinforcing tales of homegrown sleaze ingrained in pop culture by the gritty TV drama "The Wire."

"Baltimore's insular politics, with its interlocked civic and political elite, and without clear divides among parties or factions, creates the conditions for scandals like this one," said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University.

For Pugh, an affable, image-conscious politician who was once the state Senate majority leader and ran a public relations firm, the stakes could not be higher. Allegations of blatant self-dealing have left her increasingly isolated and politically vulnerable. As a growing chorus presses for her resignation, her spokespeople say she's retreated to her home on doctor's orders, taking an "indefinite" leave of absence due to a pneumonia bout.

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2016 file photo, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh delivers an address during her inauguration ceremony inside the War Memorial Building in Baltimore. Maryland's chief accountant is calling for Pugh to step down, calling the latest revelations about lucrative deals to sell her self-published children's books "brazen, cartoonish corruption." In a Monday, April 1, 2019 tweet, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot wrote: "The Mayor has to resign - now." His comments came on the same day that Kaiser Permanente disclosed that it paid Pugh's limited liability company about $114,000 for roughly 20,000 copies of her "Healthy Holly" children's books. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Yet at a rambling press conference last week, Pugh painted her "Healthy Holly" initiative as entirely well-intentioned, while calling her whopping $500,000 book deal with the University of Maryland Medical System a "regrettable mistake." She held up baby bibs and onesies emblazoned with words like "play" and "crawl" that she said were part of a "Healthy Holly" lifestyle message.

As public trust appears to erode with each new revelation, many political observers wonder if an indictment will come from an investigation into Pugh's financial dealings as an elected official. On Monday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan formally asked for a criminal investigation into Pugh's activities by the State Prosecutor's Office, which investigates public corruption.

Pugh's lawyer, Steven Silverman, said she looks forward to cooperating with the state prosecutor's investigation and will provide "as much information as possible to put this matter to rest."

While the accusations raise clouds over Baltimore's mayor, Pugh hasn't been indicted for anything and it's far from clear how long the criminal investigation will take. Pugh might even try forging ahead, at least through 2020 when her term expires, but many political analysts believe she would never be able to wield power effectively.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Pugh came to office contrasting her clean image with her main opponent, ex-mayor Sheila Dixon who was forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal for misappropriating about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families.

But as Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks wrote of Pugh in a Tuesday piece, it turns out "the woman who was elected because she did not come with baggage turns out to have had a matching set of luggage you'd need five bellhops to carry."

Acknowledging that Baltimore faces more tough times due to the latest scandal, Democratic U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings urged people to focus on the many Baltimoreans working hard to transform the city in ways big and small.

"I want everyone to remain focused on the fact that there are thousands of good people doing important work every single day to make Baltimore a better place to live and work," said Cummings, a native of the city, in a statement touching on Pugh's leave of absence.

That kind of pep talk is recurrent in Baltimore, a city with a shrinking population and public officials who keep getting into trouble. Just last week, Pugh's onetime police commissioner, Darryl De Sousa, was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for tax fraud.

A crowning frustration preoccupies city leaders: Baltimore's latest scandal is unfolding amid the overwhelming, unmet expectations of citizens in large swaths of the startlingly segregated city. There's a failing school system, crumbling infrastructure, and a beleaguered police department under federal oversight.

Some members of Baltimore's influential legislative delegation in Maryland's capital are now describing Pugh's scandal in almost existential terms.

"I hope that she's doing some real soul searching," said state Sen. Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat. "This is such a distraction from where we need to be and the issues that we should be focused on to really help rebuild a great American city, so now we've just got to pull it together and figure out what the future holds."

Another city Democrat, Sen. Antonio Hayes, put it more bluntly: "It's frustrating as hell."

___

Follow McFadden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmcfadd

This March 2019 photo taken in Baltimore, shows copies of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh's self-published "Healthy Holly" illustrated paperbacks for children. Baltimore's embattled mayor announced Monday, April 1 that she is taking an indefinite leave of absence, just as a political scandal intensifies over what critics call a "self-dealing" book-sales arrangement that threatens her political career. The various officials' calls came shortly after Kaiser Permanente disclosed that it paid $114,000, between 2015 and 2018, for roughly 20,000 copies of Pugh's children's books. And it came about two weeks after news broke that since 2011, Pugh has received $500,000 selling her books to the University of Maryland Medical System, a $4 billion hospital network that's one of the largest private employers in the state. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP)DALLAS (AP) - Arkansas Pastor Ronnie Floyd has been elected president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee after the man previously in the role resigned due to an inappropriate relationship.

The committee elected Floyd at a meeting Tuesday in Dallas. His previous SBC leadership roles include being SBC president from 2014 to 2016.

He replaces Frank Page , who last year resigned over what an SBC leader described as a "morally inappropriate relationship."

Floyd, an evangelical adviser to President Donald Trump, is senior pastor of Cross Church, which has locations in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. He'll resign from Cross Church in order to take his new role.

The SBC has been grappling with how to better respond to sexual abuse. Two Texas newspapers reported in February that hundreds of Southern Baptist clergy and staff had been accused of sexual misconduct over the past 20 years.

With 15 million members and over 47,000 churches, the Nashville, Tennessee-based SBC is the nation's largest Protestant denomination. The SBC's structure as a voluntary association of autonomous churches has hindered past efforts at fighting sexual abuse.

FILE - in this June 14, 2016 file photo, Pastor Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaks to members of the organization, in St. Louis. Floyd has been elected president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee after the man previously in the role resigned due to an inappropriate relationship. The committee elected Floyd at a meeting Tuesday, April 2, 2019 in Dallas. His previous SBC leadership roles include being SBC president from 2014 to 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, file)

Floyd said after his election that sexual abuse victims should know "we want to walk with you, we lament with you." He said he joins SBC President J.D. Greear in working to make sure churches are safe environments.

"We need to come together. Southern Baptists stand against sexual abuse," Floyd said.HOUSTON (AP) - A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at a Texas plant Tuesday, killing one worker, critically injuring two others and sending panicked employees fleeing over a fence to safety.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed the fatality in a tweet and said the two injured had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. The two injured were in critical condition, said Rachel Moreno, spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.

Authorities shut down a roadway near Tuesday's fire at a KMCO chemical plant in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston, Gonzalez said. Fire crews battled the blaze for about 5 hours before they extinguished it, according to the fire marshal's office.

All residents within a one-mile radius of the plant were ordered to stay indoors or shelter in place for about four hours. It was not immediately known how many residents were affected by the shelter in place. Crosby has about 2,300 residents. The fire sent a large black plume of smoke into the air.

The fire erupted about two weeks after a March 17 blaze at a petrochemical storage facility in Deer Park , located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Crosby. That fire at a facility owned by Intercontinental Terminals Company burned for days and triggered air quality warnings. Crosby also is where an Arkema chemical plant was inundated by water during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some chemicals eventually caught fire and partially exploded.

"It is disturbing and it is problematic that we're seeing this incident in a facility, especially on the heels of" the fire in Deer Park, said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county's top administrator.

This photo taken by the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office shows the KMCO Chemical plant Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Crosby, Texas. Authorities say one person is confirmed dead after a fire broke out at the chemical plant Tuesday near Houston. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says two other people were life-flighted. Gonzalez says preliminary information shows that the chemical isobutylene initially started the fire, and is still burning. (Harris County Fire Marshal's Office via AP)

Samantha Galle lives less than a mile away from the plant and said she heard and felt an explosion Tuesday.

"It shook everybody's house around here," the 23-year-old said.

Gonzalez said a transfer line at the KMCO plant ignited in the area of a tank of isobutylene - a flammable colorless gas used in the production of high octane gasoline - which then caught on fire.

The fire spread to a nearby warehouse where dry chemicals are stored.

Moreno said the Environmental Protection Agency has been testing air samples from the area around the plant and has not found any harmful readings.

Worker Justin Trahan told Houston television station KPRC that he heard "some panic on the radio" but no alarms sounding before the plant caught fire.

"We didn't think anything of it - we didn't think it was anything severe," he said.

Trahan said employees began running after "the tank ignited."

He said that he and other colleagues had to jump over a fence to escape because all the gates were locked.

Pilar Davis, a product manager with KMCO, said none of the emergency evacuation points at the plant were blocked during the fire.

At a news conference late Tuesday afternoon, John C. Foley, chief executive of KMCO, said a cause of the blaze is still being determined.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation ... and take steps to ensure this doesn't happen again," Foley said.

Davis said the fire initially ignited with isobutylene but was fueled by ethanol and ethyl acrylate. All three are chemicals and solvents used to make fuel additives at the plant.

Davis declined to comment on the worker who was killed and the two who were injured, only saying they were part of KMCO's operations department.

KMCO, which was founded in 1975, is a chemical company that offers coolant and brake fluid products and chemicals for the oilfield industry.

The Crosby, Sheldon and Channelview school districts asked students and staff to shelter in place at all their campuses. But later Tuesday afternoon, all three districts lifted those orders to shelter in place.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said that it has dispatched emergency response personnel to conduct an initial assessment of the fire.

Foley said his company's number one priority "is safety and compliance."

"We have a long track record of investing in the people, the systems and the assets to operate safely," he said.

Meanwhile, the Texas Attorney General's office filed a petition in state district court in Austin on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The petition seeks a permanent injunction, civil penalties and reasonable attorney fees, court costs, along with recovery of investigative costs.

KMCO has had environmental violations in the past, according to a review of records.

In 2016, KMCO's corporate agents pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge of violating the Clean Air Act. A plea agreement document stated that a plant employee made false entries in logs of air testing of tanks that were known to be leaking chemicals. Another employee then used those falsified logs to submit reports to the federal and state environmental authorities. The document says the violation went on between 2008 and 2012.

A year earlier, the EPA cited KMCO for failing to comply with regulations on its risk-management plan for the plant, but settled with the plant for a $2,700 penalty.

Texas has served the plant with three notices of violation of a federal clean-air law since last August, the EPA website shows. Harris County had obtained an injunction against KMCO in 2009 that required the firm to pay $100,000 in civil penalties and give investigators easy access to the plant and prompt notification of releases.

___

Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant in Houston, Jake Bleiberg and Terry Wallace in Dallas, Jill Zeman in Little Rock, Arkansas, Adam Kealoha Causey in Oklahoma City and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

A plume of smoke rises over the site of a fire at the KMCO plant Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Crosby, northeast of Houston, Texas. A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at the Texas plant Tuesday. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed fatality in a tweet and said injured ones had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A plume of smoke rises over the site of a fire at the KMCO plant Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Crosby, northeast of Houston, Texas. A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at the Texas plant Tuesday. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed fatality in a tweet and said injured ones had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A plume of smoke rises over the site of a fire at the KMCO plant Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Crosby, northeast of Houston, Texas. A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at the Texas plant Tuesday. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed fatality in a tweet and said injured ones had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A plume of smoke rises over the site of chemical fire at the KMCO plant Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Crosby, northeast of Houston, Texas. A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at the Texas plant Tuesday. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed fatality in a tweet and said injured ones had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Brandy Lyons talks in her backyard, which is less than 1/8th of a mile from the KMCO chemical plant fire, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Crosby, Texas. A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at the Texas plant Tuesday, killing at least one worker, critically injuring two others and sending other panicked employees fleeing over a fence to safety. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration on Wednesday will resume negotiations with China toward ending a trade war that has deepened uncertainty for businesses and investors and dimmed the outlook for the global economy.

The two sides are to meet for the ninth time, with analysts expressing optimism that the world's two biggest economies might be near some kind of agreement. Negotiators met in Beijing last week in talks that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin described as "constructive." Now, Vice Premier Liu He, a close confidante of President Xi Jinping, is leading a Chinese team to Washington.

"We have been encouraged by the tone of the negotiations," Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told reporters Tuesday.

Brilliant estimated that the two sides are 90% of the way to an agreement but cautioned that "the last 10% is the hardest part, the trickiest part."

At the heart of the dispute are the Trump administration's allegations that China steals technology and coerces U.S. companies to hand over trade secrets - all part of Beijing's zeal to overtake U.S. technological dominance. To pressure China, the United States has imposed tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods. The Chinese have counterpunched by taxing $110 billion in U.S. imports.

Forecasters at the World Bank and International Monetary, among others, have downgraded their outlook for the global economy, partly because the U.S.-China rift is damaging trade and causing businesses to slow their investment until they know how the dispute will end.

In this March 28, 2019, photo, President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington for the short trip to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The Trump administration on Wednesday will resume negotiations with China toward ending a trade war that has deepened uncertainty for businesses and investors and dimmed the outlook for the global economy. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Tensions have eased somewhat since President Donald Trump met Xi in Buenos Aires late last year and the administration ended up suspending its plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion of the Chinese imports to buy time for negotiations

"We're making headway," Larry Kudlow, Trump's top economic adviser, said Tuesday, describing the talks as "a larger, grander discussion than anything we've ever had in U.S.-China relations."

Analysts say two major sticking points, in particular, stand in the way of any agreement.

First, Trump wants to preserve at least the 25% tariffs he has imposed on $50 billion in Chinese imports as a way to maintain leverage over Beijing. China wants those sanctions lifted.

Second, the two sides must develop a mechanism to ensure that China honors any commitments it makes in an agreement. The administration complains that China has repeatedly failed to keep promises it made in previous trade talks.

The Chinese are widely expected to agree to buy substantially more American products - likely including soybeans and natural gas - to help narrow the United States' trade deficit in goods and services with China, which hit a record $379 billion last year. America's trade deficit with China has been a chronic complaint of Trump, although many economists say a bilateral trade gap is relatively insignificant.

Congressional Democrats and others have warned Trump against reaching any agreement that settles for more U.S. exports to China without also requiring Beijing to adopt serious economic reforms.

"Stand firm" Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. "Skip the political photo op and make good on your promise to stand up for American businesses and workers when China takes advantage."

Christopher Adams, a former China specialist at the Treasury Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative who is a senior adviser at the Covington & Burling law firm, added: "There has to be something substantive on the structural issues. Otherwise, the criticism will be severe."

Whatever negotiators agree to, analysts say, they are unlikely to end the long-standing tensions between America's mostly open, capitalist economy and a Chinese economy in which the Communist Party and the central government command the dominant role.

Even with a deal, Adams said, "a lot of the underlying issues will still be with us unresolved because they're rooted in fundamental differences between the US and Chinese systems."NEW YORK (AP) - A Florida man who pleaded guilty to sending pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of President Donald Trump says he thinks he was misunderstood at his guilty plea.

Cesar Sayoc said in a letter to a judge that was made public Tuesday that it was never his intent to harm anyone.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff asked prosecutors and defense lawyers whether Sayoc's comments in his March 23 letter will impact a guilty plea he entered two weeks ago regarding the fall mailings. In an order, Rakoff gave lawyers a week to comment.

During the plea proceeding, Rakoff asked Sayoc if he knew the devices would hurt anyone.

In his handwritten letter, Sayoc said his lawyer told him to say yes.

"In my heart I wanted to say no," he said. "I answered under extreme emotional circumstances."

FILE - This Aug. 30, 2015, file photo released by the Broward County Sheriff's office shows Cesar Sayoc in Miami. Sayoc, a Florida man who pleaded guilty to sending pipe bombs to CNN and prominent critics of President Donald Trump, thinks he was misunderstood at his guilty plea, he said in a letter to a judge that was made public Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (Broward County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Sayoc noted that he answered the question just after crying as he read a statement describing his crimes. He said he was returned to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he reconsidered his answer.

"I realized that it was the wrong thing to say, because under no circumstances my intent was to hurt or harm anyone. The intention was to only intimidate and scare," he wrote.

Sayoc, 57, could face life in prison at sentencing Sept. 12 after pleading guilty to various explosives-related crimes in a deal with prosecutors. If convicted at trial, he could have faced a mandatory life sentence.

Sayoc admitted sending 16 rudimentary bombs - none of which detonated - to targets including Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former President Barack Obama and actor Robert De Niro. Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta.

The bombs began turning up over a five-day stretch weeks before the midterms. They were mailed to addresses in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

Sayoc was arrested in late October at a Florida auto parts store. He had been living in a van plastered with Trump stickers and images of Trump opponents with crosshairs over their faces.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers did not comment Tuesday on Rakoff's order.CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Maduro loyalists stripped Venezuela's Juan Guaido of immunity Tuesday, paving the way for the opposition leader's prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker following the Constituent Assembly's decision remains unclear. Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president's socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages .

He declared himself Venezuela's interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader.

A defiant Guaido spoke publicly moments after the vote, saying he's undeterred, while knowing he runs the risk of being "kidnapped" by the Maduro government.

"We are aware of that," Guaido said. "But we will not change our path."

He cited low wages driving millions abroad and the spate of blackouts that have crippled the nation's public transportation, water services and communications.

National Constituent Assembly members attend a session in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Lawmakers loyal to President Nicolas Maduro considered whether to strip National Assembly leader Juan Guaido of immunity on Tuesday in a move that would pave the way to prosecute and potentially arrest him for allegedly violating the constitution after declaring himself interim president. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio - who has Trump's ear on Venezuela policy - said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaido as his country's legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduro's government to "abduct" him as a coup.

"And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly," Rubio said on Twitter.

However, the vote against Guaido was unanimous, and Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

"They don't care about the deaths," Cabello said. "They don't have the slightest idea ??what the consequences of war are for a country."

The Constituent Assembly, which is made up entirely of Maduro loyalists, met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered it to strip Guaido's immunity for violating an order banning him leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general. The opposition leader is also accused of inciting violence through street protests, and of receiving illicit funds from abroad.

The Constitution guarantees immunity for elected officials, and says that in order to withdraw immunity the accused lawmaker must be given a preliminary hearing before the Supreme Court. The action must be approved by the National Assembly - steps that weren't taken in Guaido's case.

The Constitutional Assembly was created two years ago, when Maduro became frustrated by the democratically elected and opposition-dominated National Assembly rejected the president's policies. Its creation essentially replaced the National Assembly, rendering it powerless.

Guaido has dismissed the Maduro-stacked high court and Constituent Assembly as illegitimate, and continued his calls for Maduro to step down.

Guaido has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and Tuesday night's vote was but the latest instance of that. Officials have jailed his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, and accused him of involvement in a "terrorist" scheme to overthrow the government. Maduro's government also barred Guaido from holding public office for 15 years for allegedly hiding or falsifying data in his sworn statement of assets.

The opposition leader, however, has drawn masses of Venezuelans into the streets and garnered broad international support, demanding Maduro give up rule of the crisis-wracked nation.

Defying the court order, Guaido left the country in late February for a ten-day tour of South America, meeting with foreign leaders who support the Venezuelan opposition and who reject Maduro's election last year for a second six-year term.

Maduro blames Washington of attempting a coup to overthrow him and install Guaido's puppet government aimed at seizing Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the Maduro government may be assessing its strength amid the global community.

"This seems like an attempt to test the waters, weighing how the international community would react to detaining Guaido," Ramsey said. "The government is reasserting its authority while also sending a clear signal to the opposition: we are in control."

___

Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda and Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this story.

Juan Guaido, President of National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president waves to the gallery during a session of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Venezuela's chief justice on Monday asked lawmakers of the rival pro-government National Constituent Assembly to strip Guaido of his parliamentary immunity, taking a step toward prosecuting him for alleged crimes as he seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro.(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Juan Guaido, center, President of National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president, Edgar Zambrano first Vice President, left, and Staling Gonzalez second Vice President, raise their hands to approve of daily order of business during a session of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Venezuela's chief justice on Monday asked lawmakers of the rival pro-government National Constituent Assembly to strip Guaido of his parliamentary immunity, taking a step toward prosecuting him for alleged crimes as he seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro.(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Juan Guaido, right, President of National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president speaks with lawmaker Delsa Solorzano during a session of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Venezuela's chief justice on Monday asked lawmakers of the rival pro-government National Constituent Assembly to strip Guaido of his parliamentary immunity, taking a step toward prosecuting him for alleged crimes as he seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's socialist party boss and president of the National Constituent Assembly, sits in the Speaker's chair as Venezuela's Planning Minister Ricardo Melendez, addresses delegates during a session in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Lawmakers loyal to President Nicolas Maduro considered whether to strip National Assembly leader Juan Guaido of immunity on Tuesday in a move that would pave the way to prosecute and potentially arrest him for allegedly violating the constitution after declaring himself interim president. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's socialist party boss and president of the National Constituent Assembly, waves as he arrives to attend a session in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Lawmakers loyal to President Nicolas Maduro considered whether to strip National Assembly leader Juan Guaido of immunity on Tuesday in a move that would pave the way to prosecute and potentially arrest him for allegedly violating the constitution after declaring himself interim president. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's socialist party boss and president of the National Constituent Assembly attends a session in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Lawmakers loyal to President Nicolas Maduro considered whether to strip National Assembly leader Juan Guaido of immunity on Tuesday in a move that would pave the way to prosecute and potentially arrest him for allegedly violating the constitution after declaring himself interim president. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - An Australian senator was censured by his colleagues on Wednesday for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.

Sen. Fraser Anning was the target of widespread condemnation for blaming the attack in New Zealand on immigration policies. He faced more criticism later for physically striking a teenager who cracked a raw egg on his head in a viral incident in Melbourne.

On Parliament's second sitting day since the March 15 attack in which 50 people died, government and opposition lawmakers moved the censure motion against Anning for divisive comments "seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people."

"Sen. Anning's comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place," Government Senate Leader Mathias Cormann told the Senate.

Anning dismissed the censure motion as an attack on free speech. "It is also an exercise in left-wing virtue signaling of the worst kind," he told the Senate before the vote.

He sits as an independent lawmaker after defecting from the anti-Muslim One Nation party, whose two senators abstained from the censure vote.

Australian Senator Fraser Anning gives a speech in Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. The independent legislator was arguing against a censure motion that was passed against him over his comments about last month's New Zealand mosque shootings. (AP Photos/Rod McGuirk)

One Nation Sen. Peter Georgiou read a speech on behalf of party leader Pauline Hanson, who was absent.

Hanson said while Anning's comments were "untimely and therefore deemed highly insensitive, he still maintains a right to his opinion."

"If One Nation endorses your action to censure Sen. Anning, your freedom of speech as elected members of this chamber will be removed," the speech said.

A day after the Christchurch attacks, Anning faced more criticism for physically striking the teenager who cracked an egg on his head at a Melbourne public appearance - 17-year-old Will Connolly, who became known around the world as "Egg Boy."

Anning on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Scott Morrison for saying at the time that Anning should "be subject to the full force of the law" for his retaliation against Connolly. Police investigated the altercation but no charges have been announced.

"It might have only been an idiot with an egg this time, but there is a continuum that begins with this and ends with a fanatic with a gun or a bomb," Anning said.

"But apparently, according to Prime Minister Morrison, that's OK, as long as the victims are conservatives," he added.

The minor Greens party later failed to win majority support for a motion for the Senate to suspend Anning.

Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistan-born Greens senator, produced an online petition to the Senate with more than 1.4 million signatures calling for Anning to resign.

She argued that he should be suspended as well as censured.

"It is terrifying that rightwing extremist groups have a found a mouthpiece in Federal Parliament," Faruqi told the Senate.

An Irish-born lawmaker who criticized British policy toward his homeland in 1920 became the only Australian legislator to be expelled from Parliament by a vote of colleagues.

Senate President Scott Ryan warned that laws had been tightened in the 1980s so that suspending Anning could be challenged in the courts.

After New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously called Anning's comments on the shootings "a disgrace," her deputy Winston Peters on Tuesday called Anning a "jingoistic moron."

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.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant has been charged with murder in the shootings and is due to appear in a New Zealand court on Friday.

Australian Senator Fraser Anning gives a speech in Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. The independent legislator was arguing against a censure motion that was passed against him over his comments about last month's New Zealand mosque shootings. (AP Photos/Rod McGuirk)CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - The Latest on Venezuela's Crisis (all times local):

10:10 p.m.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido says he knows he runs the risk of being arrested for pushing to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

But a defiant Guaido said Tuesday that he is undeterred. The 35-year-old opposition leader spoke publicly moments after an assembly loyal to Maduro stripped him of his immunity from prosecution.

The move by the National Constituent Assembly paves the way for his prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

Guaido has backing from more than 50 nations, including the United States, which reject Maduro as illegitimately elected.

Juan Guaido, right, President of National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president speaks with lawmaker Delsa Solorzano during a session of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Venezuela's chief justice on Monday asked lawmakers of the rival pro-government National Constituent Assembly to strip Guaido of his parliamentary immunity, taking a step toward prosecuting him for alleged crimes as he seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Maduro blames Washington for trying to install a puppet government to seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

___

8 p.m.

Maduro loyalists stripped Venezuela's Juan Guaido of immunity Tuesday, paving the way for the opposition leader's prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker remains unclear. Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the president's socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.

He declared himself Venezuela's interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's legitimate leader.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio - who has Trump's ear on Venezuela policy - said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaido as his country's legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduro's government to "abduct" him as a coup.

"And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly," Rubio said on Twitter.

Juan Guaido, President of National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president waves to the gallery during a session of the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Venezuela's chief justice on Monday asked lawmakers of the rival pro-government National Constituent Assembly to strip Guaido of his parliamentary immunity, taking a step toward prosecuting him for alleged crimes as he seeks to oust President Nicolas Maduro.(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

National Constituent Assembly members attend a session in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Lawmakers loyal to President Nicolas Maduro considered whether to strip National Assembly leader Juan Guaido of immunity on Tuesday in a move that would pave the way to prosecute and potentially arrest him for allegedly violating the constitution after declaring himself interim president. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)A judge has sentenced three former Penn State fraternity members to jail in the 2017 death of a pledge, the first defendants ordered to serve time behind bars in a case that rewrote Pennsylvania's anti-hazing law.

Centre County Judge Brian Marshall sentenced former Beta Theta Pi members Tuesday for hazing surrounding the death of sophomore engineering major Tim Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, New Jersey.

The sentences were 30 days to six months for Michael Bonatucci, 21, of Woodstock, Georgia; two months to six months for Luke Visser, 21, of Encinitas, California; and three months to nine months for Joshua Kurczewski, 20. A fourth defendant, Joseph Sala, 21, received three months to 10 months of house arrest. Kurczewski and Sala live in Erie.

Each was also fined and given a probation term. They were all sentenced for hazing and conspiracy to commit hazing, and Kurczewski also pleaded guilty to furnishing alcohol to minors.

Kurczewski defense attorney Jeffrey Veitch said they can apply to do their time on home monitoring, but it will be up to the judge to determine if they are eligible. Lawyers for the three others did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Piazza drank heavily the night of a pledge bid acceptance ceremony and was fatally injured in a series of falls, his agonizing night captured on the house's elaborate video security system. The four men sentenced on Tuesday were generally involved in providing alcohol to pledges and pressuring them to drink, prosecutors said.

FILE - In this May 5, 2017 file photo, Jim and Evelyn Piazza stand by as Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller, left, announces the results of an investigation into the death of their son Timothy Piazza, seen in photo at right, a Penn State University fraternity pledge, during a press conference in Bellefonte, Pa. Three ex-Penn State fraternity brothers have been sentenced to jail on hazing charges in connection to the February 2017 death of Piazza. Sentences handed down Tuesday, April 2, 2019, to the three former Beta Theta Pi members range from 30 days to three months in jail. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times via AP, File)

"Piazza's 'brothers,' including defendant Visser, repeatedly encouraged and caused more and more alcohol consumption until his judgment and physical control of his body became severely impaired," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. "This directly resulted in his slow and painful death."

Prosecutors said Visser and Kurczewski set up a beer pong station as part of a series of drinking events known as the "gauntlet." Sala led pledges into the drinking course's start, prosecutors wrote, and Bonatucci handed out beer.

An autopsy estimated that Piazza had consumed several times the legal limit for alcohol the night of the pledge event. He also suffered severe head and abdominal injuries. He ended up in the basement the next morning, but it took members 40 minutes after finding Piazza injured and unconscious before they summoned help.

Twenty-eight members of the now-shuttered fraternity have faced charges, although the most serious allegations of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed or withdrawn. Most pleaded guilty to hazing- and alcohol-related counts and received probation and community service, or were enrolled in an alternative sentencing program designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

A lawyer for Piazza's parents Jim and Evelyn, who two months ago sued former fraternity members and a security company hired to enforce alcohol regulations, called the sentences a significant step toward justice.

"Jim and Evelyn, in the courtroom for the sentencing, remain committed to the cause of eradicating hazing and the beneficial deterrent effect of the enforcement of anti-hazing laws throughout the country," said the lawyer, Tom Kline.

The state's new anti-hazing law, named for Piazza, took effect in November.

Two former Beta Theta Pi members, president Brendan Young, 23, of Malvern and vice president and pledge master Daniel Casey, 22, of Ronkonkoma, New York, face charges that include reckless endangerment, hazing and alcohol violations. Their case is on hold while state prosecutors appeal an order that evidence from their cellphones can't be used.

Another member, Braxton Becker, 22, of Niskayuna, New York, is accused of evidence tampering related to the security camera footage, and his case is in the preliminary stages. Two others are scheduled to be sentenced April 15.KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's government said Wednesday that a luxury yacht allegedly bought with money stolen from a troubled state investment fund will be sold to casino operator Genting Berhad for $126 million, half its original price.

Attorney General Tommy Thomas said the Admiralty Court on Wednesday approved the sale of the Equanimity, which has lavish amenities including a helicopter landing pad, plunge pool, gymnasium and a cinema. Genting will pay up by end of April, making it the "highest recovery to date" for the government from the scandal, he said in a statement.

U.S. investigators say the $250 million yacht was bought with funds diverted from the 1MDB fund by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, believed to be a key figure in the theft and international laundering of $4.5 billion from 1MDB.

The yacht was seized by Indonesian authorities off Bali island last year in cooperation with the FBI and subsequently handed back to Malaysia. The U.S. Justice Department, one of several foreign agencies investigating the 1MDB scandal, had listed the yacht among the assets it could seize and sell to recover stolen funds.

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak set up 1MDB when he took power in 2009, but it accumulated billions in debts. The 1MDB fiasco led to Najib's shocking electoral defeat last May and ushered in the country's first change of power since independence from Britain in 1957.

Najib and his wife have been charged with multiple counts of corruption and money laundering and both have pleaded not guilty. Najib's first corruption trial began later Wednesday.

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2018, file photo, the luxury yacht Equanimity is seen in the Benoa harbor in Bali, Indonesia. Malaysia's government says a luxury yacht allegedly bought with money stolen from the multibillion-dollar looting of a state investment fund will be sold to casino operator Genting Berhad for $126 million, half its original price. Attorney-General Tommy Thomas says the Admiralty Court on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, approved the sale of the Equanimity, which has lavish amenities including a helicopter landing pad, plunge pool, gymnasium and a cinema.(AP Photo/Ambros Boli Berani, File)

Thomas said the Genting offer was the highest since the government opened bids for the 300-foot (91 1/2-meter) yacht in November. Although the estimated market value was $130 million, he said there was a saving of $4.4 million in agency commission as the sale was negotiated directly with the government.

"This judicial sale at $126 million is historic by any measure. It records a high-water mark for our judicial system in ensuring that market value is secured for a vessel sold through the processes of court without any discount," Thomas said.

In a statement issued through his U.S. lawyers, Low - who remains at large - slammed the "fire sale" and said the proceeds have been further eroded by upkeep on the vessel.

The Equanimity was built in 2014 by the Dutch yacht manufacturer Oceano, which received detailed instructions from Low about its outfitting, according to the Justice Department's asset recovery case.

The new government has said that corruption by Najib's administration caused national debt to pile up and that the yacht was being sold to recover as much money as possible.A handful of Democratic presidential candidates are touting the amount of money they've raised in the first fundraising period of a 2020 primary fight that will last into next spring. The totals for the first quarter, which ran through March 31, are the first measure of how candidates are faring.

Details for the entire field won't be known until candidates file their required disclosures with the Federal Election Commission by April 15, but here are some takeaways from what the campaigns have released so far:

BERNIE REALLY IS A FRONT-RUNNER

Bernie Sanders joins former Vice President Joe Biden atop many polls of prospective Democratic primary voters. But Sanders has something Biden doesn't have (yet): a campaign operation raking in cash.

The senator from Vermont, who showed surprising fundraising heft in his upstart challenge to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago, raised more than $18 million in the 41 days between his official campaign launch and March 31, giving him $28 million cash on hand.

Those totals are expected to lead the Democratic field, putting pressure on other heavyweights, including Biden, who is still deciding whether to run and who is navigating accusations that he's acted inappropriately toward women.

In this April 1, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during the We the People Membership Summit in Washington. Sanders is leading Democratic presidential candidates in the early money chase with more than $18 million in contributions during the first seven weeks of his candidacy. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Besides Sanders, Sen. Kamala Harris of California put up an impressive $12 million haul. Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas reported $9.4 million, a noteworthy sum given that it came in 18 days.

Sanders' haul shows that his base is just as enthusiastic as it was four years ago. In fact, it may be growing. The senator's campaign noted that of his 525,000 unique donors, about 20% are new, about 100,000 are registered independents and about 20,000 are registered Republicans.

As impressive as Sanders' fundraising has been, it's not as large as previous presidential contenders who were more reliant on big donors.

In her first quarter as a candidate ahead of 2016, Clinton topped $45 million. In 2007, when then-Sen. Barack Obama and Clinton were beginning their long battle for the 2008 nomination, the favored Clinton opened with an initial fundraising quarter of $36 million, while the underdog Obama pulled in $26 million.

___

EXPECTATIONS GAME: MAYOR PETE WINS

Sanders' fundraising haul set the curve for all candidates and will give pause to some of the other perceived heavyweights in the field, particularly his fellow senators Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. (Harris is the only candidate of that group to release her fundraising totals.)

But the biggest winner may be Pete Buttigieg, an unlikely headline-grabber even among a group of lesser-known candidates that includes governors and members of Congress.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised $7 million, calling it "a great look for our first quarter." That might be an understatement.

Such a sum ensures Buttigieg can finance a legitimate campaign operation for months as long as he's not a profligate spender. (Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker learned in the 2015-16 Republican presidential campaign that being an early fundraising leader is no guarantee of success; he spent big, ran out of money and dropped out before the Iowa caucuses.)

Just as important as the bottom line: Buttigieg said he has almost 160,000 unique donors, a mark that meets the new grassroots fundraising threshold that the Democratic National Committee has set for candidates to qualify for the initial summer debates.

O'Rourke's number also is impressive, and his campaign emphasized that his nearly $10 million came in just 18 days. But that doesn't mean he can sustain that per-day clip. Sanders, for example, raised $10 million (more than half his total) in his first week.

___

SMALL DONORS RULE THE DAY

It's a new day in Democratic politics, with small donors carrying the day.

Sanders touts that he's held zero traditional fundraisers and has an average donation of $20 - less than 1% of the $2,800 maximum. Sanders' campaign says the senator got 88% of his money from donors who contributed $200 or less.

Buttigieg said his average contribution is about $36, with 64% of his total coming from those donating $200 or less. Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur who's never held political office, has raised just $1.7 million, but his campaign says it's come from about 80,000 donors averaging less than $18 per contribution.

O'Rourke said his average contribution was $43, with 98% of his donations coming from people giving less than $200.

This shift largely reflects politicians reacting to a progressive base that looks with suspicion and distrust on big-money donors.

For example, Warren is among the perceived favorites in the field but has promised she'll be financing her campaign without leaning on traditional donors.

Harris isn't eschewing high-dollar fundraisers. In a recent stop in Atlanta, she held one small-dollar event but also a high-dollar gathering sponsored by bundlers who'd pulled together at least $28,000 for her campaign. Yet when her campaign aides released fundraising totals for the first quarter, it wasn't the big checks they touted. Rather, they emphasized that 98% of her contributors gave less than $100.

Gordon Giffin, a former Canadian ambassador under President Bill Clinton, recently hosted a fundraiser for Klobuchar in his metro Atlanta home. Traditional fundraising isn't going away, Giffin said in a recent interview, "but that grassroots money can more than make up for it, and candidates have to prove they can do that."

___

Follow Barrow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP .

California Sen. Kamala Harris speaks to more than 100 people who jammed the Washoe County Democratic headquarters in Reno, Nev., Tuesday, April 2, 2019 for her fist presidential campaign stop in northern Nevada. Harris is bringing her Democratic presidential campaign to northern Nevada for the first time to visit party faithful and teachers and speak at a fundraiser for one of the biggest progressive groups in the early caucus state. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner)

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, addresses labor leaders at the California Labor Federal and State Building and Construction Trades Council Legislative Conference Dinner, Monday, April 1, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

FILE - In this March 9, 2019, file photo, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during an event in St. George, S.C. Harris is casting herself as a progressive who consistently leveraged her power in the justice system to further civil rights causes and advocate for the disadvantaged. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

In this March 23, 2019, photo, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks to a crowd about his presidential run during the Democratic monthly breakfast at the Circle of Friends Community Center in Greenville, S.C. Buttigieg was the longest of long shots when he announced a presidential exploratory committee in January. But now the underdog bid is gaining momentum, and Buttigieg can feel it. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this March 23, 2019, photo, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg arrives to speak about his presidential run during the Democratic monthly breakfast at the Circle of Friends Community Center in Greenville, S.C. Buttigieg was the longest of long shots when he announced a presidential exploratory committee in January. But now the underdog bid is gaining momentum, and Buttigieg can feel it. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks to a crowd about his Presidential run during the Democratic monthly breakfast held at the Circle of Friends Community Center in Greenville, S.C. Saturday, March 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, speaks during the We the People Membership Summit, featuring the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, at the Warner Theater, in Washington, Monday, April 1, 2019. Sanders says his campaign has raised $18.2 million in the 41 days since he launched his Democratic presidential bid. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during the We the People Membership Summit, featuring the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, at the Warner Theater, in Washington, Monday, April 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid blowback from Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump switched gears again Wednesday, suggesting he never wanted Congress to vote to replace the Affordable Care Act until after the 2020 election.

Trump's new tweets shifted his rationale for the "Obamacare" fight. First he said it was his choice to push off the health care votes. Then he said he never expected there to be any votes at all until after 2020.

Trump claimed Wednesday he had never intended to reopen old wounds. But in keeping the issue at the forefront, the president put fresh attention on the GOP's long-running and thus far unsuccessful effort to end ACA.

"I was never planning a vote prior to the 2020 Election on the wonderful HealthCare package that some very talented people are now developing for me & the Republican Party," Trump tweeted, adding, "I never asked Mitch McConnell for a vote before the Election."

That's not how congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader McConnell, understood Trump's sudden shift to the issue last week.

Nor did it stop Democrats from calling attention to the health care issue Wednesday.

In this March 28, 2019 photo, President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. Trump is suggesting he will defer until after 2020 his push for a Republican health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Trump tweeted late Monday that Congress will vote on a GOP plan after the elections, "when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House." (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Democratic-controlled House used a near party-line 240-186 vote to condemn the Trump administration for joining a federal lawsuit aimed at annulling former President Barack Obama's health care law. Minutes later, the House Democrats' campaign organization launched digital ads in the districts of around 40 Democrats in competitive seats, saying they'd "fought back" against GOP efforts to gut the statute's protections.

The GOP's bitter internal fight over health care in 2017 remains a sore subject for the president. He often retells the story of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain's "no" vote that killed the repeal-and-replace effort. Republicans, hit hard on health care issues during the 2018 midterm election, had no plans to take up the issue again before the next one.

Trump's fight was on display when he told Republican senators last week that his White House was developing a plan to replace the Obama health law. The sudden move stunned GOP leaders on Capitol Hill. While Trump wanted them to become "the party of health care," they feared it could be for all the wrong reasons if they were forced into a do-over of the tough votes.

McConnell on Tuesday issued a rare public disclosure of his private counsel to the president, warning that another health care fight would be politically costly and doomed to fail now that Democrats control the House. The usually tight-lipped leader said afterward that the president agreed to shelve his health care push until after the campaign.

"I made it clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate," McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

Facing a court deadline, Trump seized on health care last week , backing a lawsuit seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act. Trump's motivations were as political as they were legislative, mindful that Republican unfulfilled promises to "repeal and replace" the Obama-era law stand as a glaring failure of his administration. He didn't want to cede the issue again in the 2020 campaign, according to a person familiar with the conversations who was not authorized to speak publicly.

"We're going to keep the presidency, and we'll vote in the best health care package we've ever had," Trump said.

Trump and McConnell had not spoken for days. After Trump said last week he wanted to try again to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, McConnell faced a revolt from the ranks.

McConnell explained to Trump that senators are open to tackling specific aspects of health care - namely, trying to lower prescription drug prices, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss the private call. But Trump's promised big, new health care bill wasn't going happen with Democrats running the House. Instead, Trump could focus on the issue during the election.

Trump told McConnell he "accepted" the situation and "would be developing a plan that he would take to the American people during the 2020 campaign." That night, Trump tweeted as much.

McConnell has made it clear Republicans should spend their time attacking "Medicare for All" proposals rather than revisiting the ACA debate, according to a Republican granted anonymity to discuss the private thinking.

___

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Laurie Kellman, Alan Fram, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Darlene Superville and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., accompanied by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., sleft, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., second from left, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, center right, speaks to members of the media following a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; and other Democrat leaders, speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California leaves a news conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California leaves a news conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump eased up on his threats to close the southern border as officials across his administration explored half-measures that might satisfy the president's urge for action, like stopping only foot traffic at certain crossings.

Facing a surge of Central American migrants trying to enter the U.S., Trump last week threatened to seal the border this week if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the U.S., a move that would have enormous economic consequences on both sides of the border.

While Trump on Tuesday did not back off the idea completely, he said he was pleased with steps Mexico had taken in recent days and renewed his calls for Congress to make changes he contends would solve the problem.

"Let's see if they keep it done," he said of Mexico. "Now, if they don't, or if we don't make a deal with Congress, the border's going to be closed, 100%." He also said that he might only close "large sections of the border" and "not all of it." He added that his posturing was "the only way we're getting a response."

Later Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen held an emergency call with Cabinet members and White House aides, saying, "We are going to treat it as if we have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane," according to a person on the call. The person was not authorized to discuss the call publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Nielsen was creating an emergency operations center and named U.S. Border Patrol official Manny Padilla as an operational crisis coordinator to manage the response from within the different immigration agencies at the Department of Homeland Security. Padilla is a 30-year Border Patrol veteran and was recently the head of the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas.

Immigrants from Honduras seeking asylum rest on a cot at Travis Park Church which is serving as a makeshift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

His job will be different from that of the immigration or "border czar" that Trump is considering, the official said.

Closing the border completely would disrupt manufacturing supply lines and the flow of goods ranging from avocados to cars, making for a "potentially catastrophic economic impact," in the words of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader.

Some inside the administration also worry it would only exacerbate illegal immigration.

Meantime, administration officials grappled with how they might minimize the impact of a shutdown or implement less sweeping actions.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, for example, told CNBC he's been looking at potentially keeping truck lanes open.

"We are looking at different options, particularly if you can keep those freight lanes, the truck lanes, open," he said. As for the hundreds of thousands of tourists and workers who cross the border legally, Kudlow said, "that may be difficult."

Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had told reporters that, while, "Eventually, it may be that it's the best decision that we close the border," the president was "not working on a specific timeline" and all options remained on the table. The Council of Economic Advisers, she said, was conducting a number of studies on the impact, and "working with the president to give him those options."

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in an appearance on MSNBC that closing only certain entry ports, or parts of all of them, could be among the steps short of closing the entire border.

It was a shift from Trump's threat late last week to seal the whole border, and quickly. "I am not kidding around," he said then, exasperated by the swelling numbers of migrants, thousands of whom were being released into the U.S. because border officials had no space for them. Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, a 12-year high. More than half of those are families with children, who require extra care.

With southern border facilities near a breaking point, U.S. officials are busing many migrants hundreds of miles inland and dropping them off at bus stations and churches. Trump has mocked and vowed to end that "catch and release" practice but overwhelmed authorities saw no choice.

Responding to Trump's threats, Nielsen rushed home late Monday night from Europe, where she was attending G7 security meetings and intended to fly to the border mid-week to assess the impact of changes already made, including reassigning some 2,000 border officers assigned to check vehicles to deal with migrant crowds and new efforts to return more asylum seekers to Mexico as they wait out their case.

Officials were hoping to have as many as 300 asylum seekers returned to Mexico per day by the end of the week near Calexico and El Paso in Texas and San Ysidro in California. Right now, only 60 a day are returned.

Nielsen has also requested volunteers from non-immigration agencies within her department and sent a letter to Congress seeking more money and detention space and broader authority to deport families faster. The request was met with disdain by Democrats.

Even absent the extraordinary step of sealing a national border, delays at border stations have been mounting due to the personnel reassignments, Homeland Security officials said. When the Otay Mesa, California, entry port closed for the night Monday, 150 trucks were still waiting to get into the U.S.

Shutting certain border stations or parts of them would not be unprecedented. Over the Thanksgiving holiday last year, Trump claimed he'd already "closed the border" after officials briefly closed the northbound lanes at San Ysidro, California, for several hours in the early morning to bolster security because of concerns about a potential influx of migrant caravan members.

Mexican officials announced Monday they'd pulled 338 Central American migrants -181 adults and 157 children- off five passenger buses in a southern state that borders Guatemala, and said they had detained 15 possible smugglers on immigration law violations. But that was not unusual for Mexico, which has for years been cracking down on migration.

In 2014 then-President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a program that was described as ensuring orderly migration but in practice resulted in making it much more difficult for Central Americans to transit.

___

Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey and Darlene Superville in Washington and Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

___

Follow Colvin and Long on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj and https://twitter.com/ctlong1

Pastor Gavin Rogers, second from left, prays with an immigrant from Central America seeking asylum who had requested communion while at Travis Park Church which is serving as a make-shift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Immigrants from Central America seeking asylum prepare for bed at Travis Park Church, which is serving as a make-shift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Immigrants from Honduras seeking asylum rest on a cots and play at Travis Park Church which is serving as a make-shift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Immigrants from Central America seeking asylum rest on cots at Travis Park Church which is serving as a make-shift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A young immigrant from Central America traveling with his family and seeking asylum plays at Travis Park Church, which is serving as a make-shift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Immigrants from Honduras seeking asylum rest on a cot at Travis Park Church which is serving as a make-shift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

An immigrant from Central America seeking asylum rests on a cot at Travis Park Church which is serving as a make-shift shelter, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in downtown San Antonio. The surge of migrants arriving at the southern border has led the Trump administration to dramatically expand a practice it has long mocked as "catch and release." (AP Photo/Eric Gay)JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - During Republican Mike Dunleavy's successful run for governor last year, he offered few specifics for his vision of limited government but was clear that Alaska residents should get a full payout from the state's oil-wealth fund.

Lawmakers and Dunleavy's predecessor capped the annual checks at $1,600 or less the past few years as they struggled to address a budget deficit that has persisted amid low to middling oil prices and is now estimated at $1.6 billion.

Dunleavy's call for paying the full amount this year, around $3,000 each, plus what they missed out on the past three years, was a centerpiece of his campaign.

But now that he's governor, residents are learning what it will take to pay a full dividend, and many don't like their options.

Dunleavy has proposed sweeping cuts, including potentially selling a state museum; idling Alaska's ferry fleet while the future of that service, critical to many coastal communities, is debated; slashing health and social service programs; shifting costs to local governments; and cutting the University of Alaska system budget by an amount nearly equivalent to the cost of running two of its three flagship campuses.

Some see this as a manufactured crisis that doesn't consider potential new or increased taxes and too highly prizes the annual checks over education and other government services.

In this Feb. 27, 2019 photo, protesters attend a rally at the Capitol in Juneau, Alaska, to show opposition to budget cuts proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy as part of his plan to provide Alaskans a full payout from the state's oil-wealth fund. Many state residents believe the proposed cuts to government services and programs would go too far. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

The formula for calculating the amount residents receive from Alaska Permanent Fund earnings is set in state law, based on an average of the fund's income over five years. Starting in 2016, former Gov. Bill Walker and the lawmakers capped the yearly dividend, at $1,022, $1,100 and $1,600. A full dividend this year would be roughly $2,900 to $3,100.

Alaska has no personal income or state sales tax.

Frank Kelty, the mayor of Unalaska, a community of about 4,300 along the far-flung Aleutian Islands that is home to one of the nation's busiest fishing ports, likens Dunleavy's quest to pay a full dividend to President Donald Trump's push for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

"The governor's looking at any kind of pool of money he can try and grab, and it's all going into this dividend promise that he made," Kelty said. "I don't think that's right."

Dunleavy argues the state must live within its means. He says spending is the problem, not the dividend, and sees revenue that would come from new or increased taxes as a pathway to more spending. Dunleavy is seeking constitutional changes that include a spending cap, giving voters a say on tax or dividend changes approved by lawmakers and giving the Legislature a say on tax-related voter initiatives. Key senators have begun kicking around the idea of a change in the dividend calculation.

He hasn't said if he would accept a smaller dividend, or how heavily he'll wield his veto power. He said he's willing to use "every tool available to make sure we have our fiscal house in order."

Lawmakers in recent years blew through billions of dollars in savings as they struggled to address the deficit. With savings dwindling and disagreement over taxes and continued cuts, they began tapping permanent fund earnings, typically used to pay dividends and fortify the nest-egg fund, to help pay for government last year. This created tension, with the decades-old dividend, widely considered an entitlement, seen as competing against other programs for funding.

A new law that seeks to limit what can be taken from fund earnings calls for a withdrawal of $2.9 billion for the coming budget year for both dividends and government expenses. Paying a full dividend for 2019 alone would take $1.9 billion. That doesn't include any back-payment.

The dividend provides a financial boost more critical for residents with lower incomes and those in high-cost rural areas. Checks have ranged from about $331 a person in the program's early years to $2,072 in 2015, the year before it was capped.

Roger Stone, a Dunleavy supporter from Ketchikan, doesn't agree with everything Dunleavy proposed but sees his budget as a wake-up call that something's got to give.

"I think that they need to take a hard look at what's really necessary in state government," Stone said of lawmakers. Once that happens, he said he's willing to have a lower dividend, seeing that as preferable to a sales or income tax.

Former state Sen. Rick Halford unsuccessfully sued Walker for roughly halving the amount available for dividends in 2016 and agrees with Dunleavy's effort to pay a full dividend. But he said it isn't a full debate when options such as taxes on oil and other resources aren't being considered.

"Nothing should be off the table," he said.

Jan MacClarence said she and her husband, who are in their 70s, are moving from a state-owned elder-care facility in Anchorage after 3 years and into an apartment to avoid the budget stress. State officials have proposed rate increases of between 40% and nearly 140% for Pioneer Home residents to reflect costs of care, though they have said no one would be evicted or barred entry based on their ability to pay.

MacClarence said being on their own and using food delivery and personal care services as needed is better than worrying every year about what lawmakers might do.

As lawmakers have held hearings around the state on Dunleavy's budget proposals, the governor has begun traveling to make his case.

He's faced criticism for participating in what some see as friendly venues, including events hosted by the limited government group Americans for Prosperity-Alaska, which asked people to register in advance and reserved the right to kick out anyone who was disruptive. Some of the gatherings drew protesters; police alleged one woman yelled at the governor in Nome and resisted their commands, but the prosecutor there declined to pursue charges.

Community meetings and some budget hearings held by lawmakers have drawn big crowds. Hundreds spoke against cuts to the ferry system, a thoroughfare for coastal communities not connected to the mainland road system.

The state wants to hire a consultant to recommend "reshaping" the system and reducing its costs. Dunleavy has expressed openness to keeping some runs going while that process plays out, but no boats are currently set to sail past Oct. 1.

Many residents of small southeast Alaska communities travel by ferry with their cars to the bigger city of Juneau to buy supplies at places like Costco, or fly there and take the ferry home. Walt Weller, the mayor of Pelican, a town of about 70 people 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Juneau, called the ferry a lifeline.

"When you're out here at the end of everything - I mean no roads, float planes only - 100% weather-dependent, we're pretty doggone dependent on that ferry," Weller said. He acknowledges people choose to live there but said the ferries - even with limited runs - have helped make that possible.

"To have people claim that they're going to give everybody giant (dividend) checks and then rip our road out from underneath us is fairly upsetting," he said.

Protesters unfurl a banner as Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a roadshow with Americans for Prosperity in 49th State Brewing Company on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

In this March 8, 2019 photo, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy talks to reporters during a news conference in Juneau, Alaska. Dunleavy is proposing sweeping budget cuts as part of a plan that would provide Alaskans a full payout from the state's oil-wealth fund, but many state residents believe the proposed cuts to government services and programs would go too far. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

In this Feb. 27, 2019 photo, protesters attend a rally at the Capitol in Juneau, Alaska, to show opposition to budget cuts proposed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy as part of his plan to provide Alaskans a full payout from the state's oil-wealth fund. Many state residents believe the proposed cuts to government services and programs would go too far. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - In a series of clandestine meetings in closed restaurants and small airport terminals, the pressured insurance magnate and his associates offered North Carolina's insurance commissioner money for special treatment, federal prosecutors say.

Greg Lindberg, in 2017 suddenly a major political donor, wanted the regulator investigating his company replaced or one of his insurance executives made her boss, federal prosecutors described in newly unsealed indictments. State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey would receive up to $2 million funneled anonymously into his 2020 re-election campaign if he went along, prosecutors said.

Or the deputy insurance commissioner could stay in her post, Lindberg consultant John D. Gray told Causey in a phone call, as long as "she doesn't breathe a word outside that office, or send a slip of paper outside that office, that is not first reviewed by John" Palermo, the Lindberg insurance executive earlier proposed as her replacement.

But Causey reported the scheme to corrupt his agency by giving favored treatment to Lindberg's company, Global Bankers Insurance Group, which was headed toward a periodic financial examination, prosecutors said. And the review discovered problems, which the company agreed in May to correct, prosecutors said.

For their efforts to turn Causey to Lindberg's cause, he, Gray, Palermo and the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, Robin Hayes, were charged with conspiracy and bribery. Hayes agreed to use the state GOP as a conduit to funnel $250,000 to Causey, prosecutors said, and amplified Lindberg's message urging that the unnamed deputy commissioner be sidetracked.

"They were hoping that you would, and I don't even know the lady that was apparently really, really good, in financial analysis, that they would like to see put back into that department to make sure that things got done that needed to get done," Hayes told Causey in a May telephone call, according to prosecutors.

FILE - In this June 3, 2017 file photo North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes speaks during the North Carolina Republican Party State Convention at the Wilmington Convention Center in Wilmington, N.C. Hayes won't seek re-election to the post after all, the former congressman announced Monday, April 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Mike Spencer, File)

Hayes also was charged with lying to FBI agents investigating the case.

The 73-year-old former congressman from Concord announced Monday that he wouldn't seek re-election as party chairman, citing health problems. His attorney said Tuesday that Hayes "steadfastly denies the allegations made against him."

In October, as the federal investigation was building steam, Causey turned over $250,000 in campaign donations from the state GOP to U.S. Marshals. Lindberg also had donated $5,000 directly to Causey's campaign, but the commissioner returned the money.

"Everything I did was in cooperation and with direction of the federal investigators," Causey told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday.

Lindberg - largely unknown in political circles until his contributions started flowing heavily in 2017 - has given more than $5 million to North Carolina candidates, party committees and independent expenditure groups. Recipients also include the state Democratic Party and outside groups that supported then-Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, who's now chairman of the state Democratic Party, and Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is running for governor in 2020.

Federal prosecutors alleged that between April 2017 and last August, Lindberg, Gray, and Palermo met with Causey repeatedly to discuss favors and money, prosecutors said. Palermo was an executive for Lindberg's Eli Global LLC and until last fall was chairman of a county Republican Party.

Palermo created an independent expenditure committee able to spend unlimited amounts on political campaign with limited public disclosure that was funded with $1.5 million of Lindberg's money, prosecutors said. In all, Lindberg and his associates promised Causey $2 million in donations.

The case also threatens to embroil an unidentified official who prosecutors described as speaking to Causey several times on Lindberg's behalf. Lindberg made a $150,000 contribution to a political committee backing "Public Official A" on the same February 2018 date he learned the politician was willing to help sway Causey, prosecutors said.

Federal Election Commission records show Lindberg made a contribution in that amount to Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Walker's "Mark Walker Victory Committee" around the same time. It's the only $150,000 contribution by Lindberg listed in 2018 on the FEC website.

Walker's spokesman, Jack Minor, said he couldn't confirm if Walker was "Public Official A," adding that the February 2018 contribution eventually went to the Republican National Committee and wasn't used for Walker's campaign.

"Walker is not and never has been a target of this investigation, and has committed no wrongdoing," Minor said in a statement, adding that Walker helped federal investigators.

The four defendants appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate.

Palermo, 63, of Pittsboro, didn't return calls seeking comment. A published number for Gray, 68, of Chapel Hill, was disconnected.

"Greg Lindberg is innocent of the charges in the indictment and we look forward to demonstrating this when we get our day in court," his attorney, Anne Tompkins, said in a statement.

The state GOP cooperated with the investigation, including turning over requested documents, attorney Josh Howard said in a statement.

A spokesman for Global Bankers and Eli Global noted the companies were not charged. Global Bankers has cooperated with federal prosecutors and will continue doing so, spokesman Steven Goldberg said.

Also, Eli Global has "always worked to operate with integrity and honesty in all aspects of our business and will continue to do so," Goldberg wrote in an email.

___

Follow Emery P. Dalesio on Twitter at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/emery%20dalesio .

___

Associated Press writer Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Conservative Brian Hagedorn's strong showing in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race cheered state Republicans Wednesday, with their first positive result in a statewide election since 2016 suggesting reasons for optimism next year in a critical presidential battleground.

Hagedorn led liberal-backed Lisa Neubauer by 5,962 votes - less than half a percentage point - in a race that could still go to a recount. But it came after a string of losses by Republicans in special and statewide elections since Donald Trump carried the state.

While Republicans were excited, they were also cautious about what Hagedorn's showing means for President Donald Trump's re-election.

"Nobody should assume because Republicans won this race that they will continue to win everything else," Republican strategist and former state GOP leader Brandon Scholz said. "This is one election where all the pieces came together at the end. 2020 is an entirely different, politically charged animal with the presidential race."

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who has been leading GOP efforts to rebound following the 2018 election, credited Hagedorn's showing with a ground-up engagement with conservatives who were angry with attacks in the race and national Democratic priorities.

"This is the recipe for success," he said. "That's what I've been preaching since the day after the November 2018 election. We have to energize, rely on the grassroots."

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn speaks at a news conference Wednesday, April 3, 2019, in Pewaukee, Wis. Hagedorn, a conservative, who was former Republican Gov. Scott Walker's chief legal counsel for five years, led liberal-backed Lisa Neubauer by 5,962 votes out of 1.2 million cast, based on unofficial results with all precincts reporting. That is a difference of just under half a percentage point, close enough for Neubauer to request a recount, but she would have to pay for it. (AP Photo/Ivan Moreno)

Hagedorn benefited from a late infusion of $1.2 million from the Republican State Leadership Committee. Conservative talk radio, including former Republican Gov. Scott Walker for three hours the day before the election, also worked to drive up turnout.

Republicans compared attacks on Hagedorn to those on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. National political fights over the release of Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump and ongoing court battles over a lame-duck legislative session in Wisconsin also fueled interest in the race, GOP strategists said.

Hagedorn said attacks against him over long-ago blog writings, including calling Planned Parenthood a "wicked organization" and denouncing court rulings that favored gay rights, motivated his supporters.

Democrats took the result as a sign that despite a string of wins, including ousting Walker in November, nothing can be taken for granted.

"Not that Democrats needed it, but it's another wakeup call that every single election here is going to be highly competitive," said Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki. "This is not a red state. This is not a blue state. This is the deepest shade of purple there is on the spectrum."

Neubauer didn't immediately say whether she would request a recount, which would face a tough challenge in overturning such a large margin and which would come at her expense. She immediately appealed to supporters for money in case she pursues the recount. Counties have until April 12 to report final vote totals, and Neubauer has three days after that to request a recount.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been the deciding force in several partisan battles over policy in recent years, and is itself clearly partisan - conservatives hold a 4-3 edge. Democrats had hoped Neubauer would capture a seat currently held by a liberal justice, maintaining that spread but positioning them to win the majority in another election next year.

Unless Hagedorn's apparent victory is undone by recount, conservatives instead will enjoy a 5-2 majority and won't be at risk of losing it until at least 2023. The high court already looks likely to decide early disputes between new Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and majority Republicans in the Legislature.

Turnout was nearly 27%, well above the 22% of last year's state Supreme Court race. Hagedorn overcame Neubauer's huge margins in the liberal strongholds of Madison and Milwaukee by running up the vote in Green Bay and more rural parts of northeastern and north central Wisconsin. Those are both parts of the state that helped fuel Trump's win in 2016.

Wisconsin recounted its presidential vote in 2016 at Green Party candidate Jill Stein's expense. In that recount of nearly 3 million ballots, only 131 votes were changed - in favor of Trump. Neubauer, in a recount of just 1.2 million ballots, would have to pick up 45 times as many votes.

The 2016 presidential recount cost local election clerks $2 million - more than the $1.7 million Neubauer raised during the entire campaign through March 18. However, those costs included overtime for clerks who had to count nearly 2.9 million votes under a tight deadline due to the Electoral College.

Given the recent tight elections, Republicans are taking nothing for granted going into 2020, Johnson said.

"We have to run almost perfect elections going forward," he said "If (Democrats) are energized, we're going to have issues. Nobody will be overconfident. We know what's at stake."

___

Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP

___

Associated Press writer Ivan Moreno contributed to this report from Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

Judge Brian Hagedorn and Mrs. Christina Hagedorn cast their votes in the 2019 Spring in the Town of Summit, Wis., Tuesday, April 2, 2019. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race is a judicial showdown between two state Appeals Court judges, Lisa Neubauer and Brian Hagedorn. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

FILE - In this March 15, 2019 file photo, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn speaks during a debate with opponent Lisa Neubauer at the Wisconsin State Bar Center in Madison, Wis. A Republican group announced Tuesday, March 26, 2019 it is launching a seven-figure ad buy a week before the April 2 election to boost candidate Hagedorn in his race against Lisa Neubauer. The Republican State Leadership Committee's Judicial Fairness Initiative said it was spending at least $1 million on the effort, which would be the most significant outside spending for Hagedorn so far. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)JERUSALEM (AP) - In a charged election campaign that has been heavy on insults and short on substance, Israel's conflict with the Palestinians has been notably absent from the discourse.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud Party has offered no plan for what many believe is the country's most existential problem. His main challenger in the April 9 vote speaks vaguely of "separation," while Netanyahu's hard-line partners speak openly of the once unthinkable idea of annexing all or parts of the West Bank. Talk of a Palestinian state, the international community's preferred solution for the past two decades, is non-existent.

It is a far cry from past elections, when peace with the Palestinians was the central issue for voters. This apparent lack of interest reflects widespread disillusionment in Israel over years of failed peace efforts.

But it also is a testament to Netanyahu's success in sidelining the issue. Capitalizing on internal Palestinian divisions and promoting sometimes contradictory policies, Netanyahu has succeeded in managing the conflict without addressing the bigger issue of how two intertwined peoples will live together in the future. Strong backing from the Trump administration has given him an extra boost.

"The peace track is currently in a coma," said Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. "There's not much hope for a viable solution to be revived in the near future, so people can just keep pushing it aside until someday it comes back to haunt them."

Netanyahu took office in early 2009 and under heavy pressure from then-President Barack Obama reluctantly stated his support for an independent Palestinian state, albeit with many conditions, which were rejected.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 28, 2019 file photo, leader of the Blue and White party, former Israeli army chief of staff, Benny Gantz dances with ultra Orthodox Jewish men at the Western Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City. The conflict with the Palestinians has been a central issue in Israeli elections going back decades, but in the campaign ahead of next week's vote it's been notably absent. Prime Minister Netanyahu's main challenger, Gantz, has given Israel's "peace camp" some dim hope. His party's platform devotes just a few sentences to the Palestinians, promising "an open horizon for political settlement" and pledging to work with Arab neighbors to find a way to "deepen the separation." (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File )

Things quickly went downhill, and serious peace talks never took place during Obama's time in office.

Throughout his tenure, Netanyahu has repeatedly cast blame on the Palestinians, accusing President Mahmoud Abbas, who seeks a negotiated settlement with Israel, of incitement and promoting "terror." At the same time, he has maintained behind-the-scenes security cooperation with Abbas' forces in the West Bank in a joint struggle against the Hamas militant group.

In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Netanyahu has engaged in frequent rounds of fighting, but is also conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations with his bitter enemy in hopes of maintaining calm.

The Trump administration has further sidelined the Palestinians by cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, prompting the Palestinians to sever ties with the U.S. A long-promised peace plan, which the White House says will be released after the election, faces dim prospects, if it is even released.

With the peace process in a deep freeze, it is perhaps no surprise that none of the major Israeli parties are talking about the Palestinians.

"The Palestinian cause is totally absent in the Israeli elections, and when it comes, it comes only in a negative context," said Ahmed Majdalani, a senior Palestinian official. "This is worrisome, because it tells us that we are going from bad to worse."

The Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip - areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war - for an independent state. The so-called two-state solution is widely backed internationally as the best way to end the conflict.

If Israel continues to rule over millions of Palestinians, the thinking goes, the Palestinians will eventually abandon their dream of statehood and instead demand Israeli citizenship and full equality. In such a scenario, Israel would no longer be able to be both Jewish and democratic.

Israelis accuse the Palestinians of rejecting generous peace offers, most recently in late 2008, a narrative the Palestinians reject. The Israelis also point to the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, which cleared the way for Hamas to seize power from Abbas' forces two years later.

Ahead of the election, several religious and nationalist parties, along with individual members of Netanyahu's Likud party, have openly called for annexing parts or all of the West Bank. These plans include a range of proposals for the Palestinians, including nonvoting residency rights, possible citizenship or financial incentives to emigrate.

It remains unclear how hard these parties, all potential coalition partners for Netanyahu, will push, though Trump's recent recognition of Israel's annexation of the occupied Golan Heights has led to stepped-up calls for annexing West Bank territory.

Likud spokesman Eli Hazan said he does not expect annexation to be on the agenda. He said the party "strongly believes" in the status quo. "We are against the one-state solution and two-state solution. Both ways may lead to the end of Israel as a Jewish and democratic country," he said.

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israeli Democracy Institute and a former lawmaker, said he did not think Netanyahu would give in to the annexation calls. "At the end of the day, West Bank annexation is the prerogative of the prime minister," he said.

Netanyahu's main challenger, former military chief Benny Gantz, has given Israel's "peace camp" some dim hope.

His Blue and White party's platform devotes just a few sentences to the Palestinians, promising "an open horizon for political settlement" and pledging to work with Arab neighbors to find a way to "deepen the separation." It makes no mention of Palestinian statehood, and says Israel will continue to maintain control of parts of the West Bank and never divide Jerusalem.

Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian negotiator, said the lack of interest on the Israeli side is harmful to the Palestinians in the short term but much worse for Israel in the long term.

"It means the end of the two-state solution," he said. "The alternative will be an apartheid system, and this will cause huge damage to Israeli democracy and the image of Israel."

Yossi Beilin, one of the chief architects of Israel's historic 1993 interim peace agreement with the Palestinians, said Netanyahu's policies have been "devastating" for peace prospects. Yet he remains confident the two-state solution will one day be adopted due to a lack of alternatives, and even believes that Gantz "for sure" will pursue a peace deal if elected.

Ironically, Trump's peace plan, if released, may force Netanyahu's hand, Beilin said. If elected, Netanyahu will have a hard time resisting his close friend's proposal while his hard-line coalition partners oppose any concessions to the Palestinians.

"The impact of the plan might be very interesting," Beilin said.

___

Associated Press writers Isabel Debre in Jerusalem and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed.

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 27, 2019 file photo, Israeli border policemen move away from a burning vehicle during clashes with Palestinians at checkpoint Bet El near the West Bank city of Ramallah. The conflict with the Palestinians has been a central issue in Israeli elections going back decades, but in the campaign ahead of next week's vote it's been notably absent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud Party has offered no plan for what many believe is the country's most existential problem. His main challenger speaks vaguely of "separation," while Netanyahu's hard-line partners speak openly of the once unthinkable idea of annexing all or parts of the West Bank. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 26, 2019 file photo, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour address a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Palestinian and Israeli conflict, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at U.N. headquarters. The conflict with the Palestinians has been a central issue in Israeli elections going back decades, but in the campaign ahead of next week's vote it's been notably absent. With the peace process in a deep freeze, it is perhaps no surprise that none of the major Israeli parties are talking about the Palestinians. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, March 31, 2019 file photo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Saeb Erekat, attend the the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia. The conflict with the Palestinians has been a central issue in Israeli elections going back decades, but in the campaign ahead of next week's vote it's been notably absent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has largely succeeded in his aim of sidelining the Palestinians, thanks in part to widespread pessimism following years of failed peace efforts. (Fethi Belaid/ Pool photo via AP, FIle)SINGAPORE (AP) - New Islamic criminal laws that took effect Wednesday in Brunei that punish gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Brunei's Shariah Penal Code. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim.

Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years. The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offenses such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays.

But under the new laws, those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped. Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offense and a left foot on their second. The laws also apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim.

"Living in Brunei, we already knew that our sexual identity is taboo and should not be expressed. We already felt belittled before the law came to place," said a 23-year-old member of the LGBTQ community who wanted to be identified only as Kun out of fear of reprisal from the authorities.

"Now with it, we feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they want," he said.

In this Oct, 10, 2013, photo, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah speaks during the closing ceremony and handover of the ASEAN Chairmanship to Myanmar in Bandar Seri Begawan. The sultan announced to implement Islamic criminal laws that punishes gay sex by stoning offenders to death. The legal change in the tiny, oil-rich monarchy, which also includes amputation for theft, is due to come into force Wednesday, April 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Celebrities including George Clooney, Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boycott of nine hotels in the U.S. and Europe with ties to Hassanal, who is still sultan.

"Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?" Clooney wrote Thursday on Deadline Hollywood.

Clooney said that while you can't shame "murderous regimes," you can shame "the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them."

Customers at two prestigious Paris hotels owned by the sultan expressed their support for a boycott.

Outside the Le Meurice hotel, Philippe Menager said he was no longer comfortable going to the spa after being a regular customer for 15 years.

"I can't continue to be a frequent visitor of the hotels of this savage to preserve the jobs of the people who work at Le Meurice - who are very nice and I like them," he said.

A tourist from Norway, Anja Anderson, said she would have stayed at a hotel other than the Plaza Athenee had she heard about the boycott before making her reservation.

There has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties in Brunei, where the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority. Public criticism of his policies is extremely rare in the country.

Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of "special guidance" from God and would be "part of the great history" of Brunei.

The United Nations said Wednesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "stands clearly against any form of cruel punishment" and believes the Brunei legislation clearly violates the principles "that human rights are to be upheld in relations to every person everywhere without any kind of discrimination."

"So long as people face criminalization, bias and violence based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics, we must redouble our efforts to end these violations," said Guterres' spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. "Everyone is entitled to live free and equal in dignity and rights."

On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans.

"The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalization and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

Brunei's Southeast Asian neighbors, some of whom have laws banning sex between men, were silent. But LGBTQ citizens of other nearby Muslim-majority countries were concerned about the broad penalties.

Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 32 million people are Muslim. They are governed by Islamic courts in family, marriage and personal issues. Last year, two Malaysian Muslim women were convicted under Islamic laws and caned for attempting to have sex with each other.

Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Brunei's government to "stop the entry into force of this Draconian new penal code."

"Any religion-based legislation must not violate human rights, including the rights of those belonging to the majority religion as well as of religious minorities and non-believers," she said in a statement on Monday.

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called on the sultan to "immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments."

"Brunei's new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldn't even be crimes," Robertson said in a statement Wednesday.

Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei researcher at Amnesty International, decried the "vicious" laws and asked the international community to condemn them.

In this April 23, 2013, photo, a child walks near Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, one of the landmarks of Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei. Brunei announced to implement Islamic criminal laws that punishes gay sex by stoning offenders to death. The legal change in the tiny, oil-rich monarchy, which also includes amputation for theft, is due to come into force Wednesday, April 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)LONDON (AP) - Britain's Brexit drama went into overtime Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May and the country's main opposition sought a compromise deal to prevent an abrupt British departure from the European Union at the end of next week.

In an about-face that left pro-Brexit members of May's Conservative Party howling with outrage, the prime minister sought to forge an agreement with left-wing Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn after failing three times to win Parliament's backing for her Brexit deal.

May also said she would ask the EU for a further delay to Britain's departure date - postponed once already - to avert a chaotic and economically damaging no-deal Brexit on April 12. Skeptical lawmakers, reluctant to take her word for it, approved a hastily crafted law that compels May to ask for an extension to the Brexit deadline if a no-deal departure is looming.

"The country needs a solution, the country deserves a solution, and that's what I'm working to find," May told lawmakers before meeting with Corbyn for about two hours.

Afterward, both the government and Labour called the meeting "constructive" and said their teams would hold more in-depth talks Thursday.

May's office said both sides had shown "flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close."

In this grab taken from video, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (House of Commons/PA via AP)

Corbyn, more muted, said "the meeting was useful but inconclusive."

"There hasn't been as much change as I expected," he said.

May's change of direction left her caught between angry Conservatives who accuse her of throwing away Brexit, and Labour opponents mistrustful of her sudden change of heart.

Labour lawmaker Paul Sweeney said May's outreach to his party "shows the desperation that she's in."

Pro-Brexit Conservatives, meanwhile, expressed outrage. Two junior ministers quit, and other lawmakers angrily accused May of putting the socialist Corbyn in the Brexit driver's seat.

Her cross-party talks - after almost three years of seeking to push through her own version of a Brexit divorce deal - came amid EU warnings that a damaging withdrawal without a plan was growing more likely by the day.

After lawmakers three times rejected an agreement struck between the bloc and May late last year, the leaders of the EU's 27 remaining countries postponed the original March 29 Brexit date and gave the U.K. until April 12 to approve the divorce deal or come up with a new one.

So far the House of Commons has failed to find a majority for any alternative plan.

"A no deal on 12 April at midnight looks more and more likely," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday, adding that would bring disruption for EU citizens and businesses, but much worse economic damage for Britain.

EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said a "no-deal" Brexit would mean long lines at borders and paperwork headaches for customs checks on the 11,000 vehicles entering and leaving Britain each day.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned that, even though Britain and the EU both wanted to avoid a no-deal Brexit, it remained the legal default position, and the risk of Britain accidentally crashing out was "alarmingly high."

Carney told Sky News that claims by pro-Brexit politicians that such a situation could be managed were "absolute nonsense."

May's pivot toward Labour points Britain toward a softer Brexit than the one she has championed since British voters decided in June 2016 to leave the EU. Labour wants the U.K. to remain in the EU's customs union - a trading area that sets common tariffs on imports to the bloc while allowing free trade in goods moving between member states.

May has always ruled that out, saying it would limit Britain's ability to forge an independent trade policy.

May's decision to negotiate with Corbyn is risky for both the Conservatives and Labour, and could widen divisions over Brexit that run through both parties.

Labour is formally committed to enacting the voters' decision to leave the EU, but many of the party's lawmakers want a new referendum that could keep Britain in the bloc. They will be angry if the party actively helps bring about the U.K.'s departure.

Meanwhile, May's move infuriated pro-Brexit Conservatives who say Britain must make a clean break with the EU in order to take control of its laws and trade policy.

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Brexit "is becoming soft to the point of disintegration."

Junior Wales Minister Nigel Adams quit his post, criticizing May for seeking a deal with "a Marxist who has never once in his political life out British interests first" - a reference to the left-wing Corbyn.

He was followed by junior Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris, who said in his resignation letter that the government "should have honored the result of the 2016 referendum" and left the EU on March 29.

Meanwhile, pro-EU lawmakers were not banking on talks between May and Corbyn succeeding. The House of Commons on Wednesday approved a bill to ensure May can't go back on her promise to seek a delay to Brexit rather than let Britain tumble out of the bloc.

The bill, debated and approved in a single day, compels May to seek to extend the Brexit process beyond April 12 in order to prevent a no-deal departure. In a reflection of how divided lawmakers are over Brexit, it passed by a single vote, 313-312.

The bill still needs approval from the House of Lords, Parliament's unelected upper chamber - likely on Thursday. And it does not force the EU to agree to delay Brexit.

EU leaders, weary of the whole Brexit circus, gave a cautious welcome to May's attempt at rapprochement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would work "until the last hour" to secure an orderly Brexit, but stressed that "these solutions have to be reached above all in Britain itself."

Britain's televised political melodrama over Brexit - with its weeks of passionate debates, narrow votes and seemingly endless crises - has left EU leaders exasperated, but also fascinated.

The EU's Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, joked that "the sessions in the House of Commons have become more popular than the matches in the Premier League."

"The trouble is that it is always a draw in the House of Commons," he said.

___

Casert reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Danica Kirka in London and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.

___

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

In this grab taken from video, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (House of Commons/PA via AP)

In this grab taken from video, Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (House of Commons/PA via AP)

In this grab taken from video, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (House of Commons/PA via AP)

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has invited left-of-center Labour Party leader Corbyn for talks this week aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse, but Corbyn said there will be conditions attached and that the government must compromise on their Brexit stance. (David Mirzoeff/PA via AP)

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in north London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has invited left-of-center Labour Party leader Corbyn for talks this week aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse, but Corbyn said there will be conditions attached and that the government must compromise on their Brexit stance. (David Mirzoeff/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, to attend the weekly Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Larry the cat, Britain's Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, sits outside 10 Downing Street in London, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, to attend the weekly Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

In this grab taken from video, Speaker John Bercow speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (House of Commons/PA via AP)

Anti Brexit demonstrators hold up their flags opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A pro Brexit placard placed on the ground as a pedestrian walks past the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

In this grab taken from video, Speaker John Bercow gestures during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday April 3, 2019. With Britain racing toward a chaotic exit from the European Union within days, Theresa May veered away from the cliff-edge Tuesday, saying she would seek another Brexit delay and hold talks with the opposition to seek a compromise. (House of Commons/PA via AP)MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Philippine customs officials were astonished when they opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in all the way from Poland and found a hair-raising contraband: hundreds of live tarantulas.

Bureau of Customs personnel seized the 757 tarantulas at a mail exchange center near Manila's international airport Monday and later arrested a Filipino man who tried to claim the long-legged and venomous spiders, which were declared as "collection items."

Many of the baby tarantulas were concealed in small plastic vials punctured with holes for air while bigger spiders were shipped in see-through plastic containers. Officials estimated the value of the unusual shipment at 310,000 pesos ($5,900).

Philippine wildlife laws prohibit the trading, collection and possession of such spiders, which are popular pets among arachnid enthusiasts, without permits.

Despite threats of hefty fines and imprisonment, a startling array of wildlife have been seized by the hundreds by airport customs inspectors in Manila since last year, including geckos, iguanas, chameleons and a popular reptile called bearded dragons.

A staff of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources shows one of the 757 Tarantulas kept inside plastic containers at their office in metropolitan Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. Philippine Customs District Collector Carmelita Talusan said in a statement that 757 live Tarantulas, with an estimated value of P310,000 (about US$6,000), were seized by customs agents at Manila's airport last April 1. The endangered wildlife species were found concealed in gift-wrapped oatmeal and cookie boxes and was shipped from Poland. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A staff of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources shows DNA sampling vials containing Tarantulas at their office in metropolitan Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. Philippine Customs District Collector Carmelita Talusan said in a statement that 757 live Tarantulas, with an estimated value of P310,000 (about US$6,000), were seized by customs agents at Manila's airport last April 1. The endangered wildlife species were found concealed in gift-wrapped oatmeal and cookie boxes and was shipped from Poland. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A staff of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources shows plastic containers with Tarantulas at their office in metropolitan Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. Philippine Customs District Collector Carmelita Talusan said in a statement that 757 live Tarantulas, with an estimated value of P310,000 (about US$6,000), were seized by customs agents at Manila's airport last April 1. The endangered wildlife species were found concealed in gift-wrapped oatmeal and cookie boxes and was shipped from Poland. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Staff of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shows DNA sampling vials containing Tarantulas at their office in metropolitan Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. Philippine Customs District Collector Carmelita Talusan said in a statement that 757 live Tarantulas, with an estimated value of P310,000 (about US$6,000), were seized by customs agents at Manila's airport last April 1. The endangered wildlife species were found concealed in gift-wrapped oatmeal and cookie boxes and was shipped from Poland. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)PARIS (AP) - Legal troubles are piling up for Carlos Ghosn after French carmaker Renault said Wednesday it had flagged to judicial authorities serious problems with his expenses during his time as chairman of the company.

Renault's statement suggests the company is toughening its approach to Ghosn, who it had long refrained from criticizing after he was arrested in November in Japan on charges of understating his income at Japanese carmaker Nissan, which he was chairman of too.

Renault said after a special board meeting that it had informed French authorities "of potential issues concerning payments made to one of Renault's distributors in the Middle East."

That echoed media reports that Ghosn had also benefited from payments made to a Renault-Nissan distributor in Oman that exposed him to further charges.

Ghosn has denied wrongdoing and on Wednesday took to Twitter, posting on his new verified account , to say he will hold a news conference on April 11: "I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening."

Renault had previously alerted French authorities that Ghosn had benefited to the tune of 50,000 euros from a philanthropic deal the company had struck with the chateau of Versailles. Ghosn had reportedly held a lavish wedding at the royal estate.

FILE - In this April 20, 2018, file photo, then Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview in Hong Kong. Japan's court has denied the prosecutor's request to extend detention of ex-Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn. Ghosn, facing financial misconduct charges in Japan, says he will hold a news conference April 11. Ghosn said Wednesday on his new verified Twitter account he is getting ready to tell the truth. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

On Wednesday, Renault also said that an internal investigation at the joint venture between Renault and Nissan, called RNBV, "suggest serious deficiencies in terms of financial transparency and expenditure control procedures." It said the expenses amount to several million euros since 2010.

The Renault board said it would not pay Ghosn the variable part of his pay packet for 2018, which comes on top of his fixed salary of 1 million euros ($1.13 million) for the year. It also stripped him of part of his pension benefits scheme.

Ghosn's lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters on Tuesday he has petitioned a Tokyo court to allow him to be tried separately from Nissan Motor Co., a co-defendant in the case in Japan.

Ghosn's arrests and charges are a sharp fall for an executive who dominated the industry. He has won global accolades for turning around Renault and then its alliance partner Nissan over the past two decades. He had wanted to merge the two companies, which together with a third alliance partner, Mitsubishi, are the biggest maker of passenger cars in the world.

Ghosn bet early on that emissions crackdowns would eventually bring an end to the era of gasoline and diesel engines, so he has championed bringing electric and autonomous cars to the masses, fighting resistance within both companies.

___

Piovano reported from London.HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong introduced revised extradition laws before the legislature Wednesday despite concerns they would allow suspects to be sent to face torture and unfair trials in mainland China.

The amended Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance were heard before the Legislative Council and now head toward passage at a later date.

Business, legal, human rights and journalists groups have expressed concern over the proposed changes, saying they will damage the territory's reputation for legal independence.

The amendments expand the scope for the transfer of criminal suspects to China and remove the legislature's right to scrutinize individual extradition decisions filed by Hong Kong's chief executive.

Hong Kong's Beijing appointed Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said earlier revisions to the proposed amendments were sufficient to allay concerns and has ruled out further changes.

Hong Kong currently limits such extraditions to jurisdictions with which it has existing extradition agreements or to others on an individual basis under a law passed before the semi-autonomous territory's handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Protesters raise placards against Hong Kong's extradition law at the Legislative Council Hong Kong, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. First and second readings of the proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law take place at Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over the proposed changes that would regularize the extradition of suspects to mainland China where they say they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

China was excluded because of concerns over its poor record on legal independence and human rights. In recent years, mainland authorities have gone after opponents by accusing them of dubious crimes such as tax evasion, crystalizing worries among critics and others.

Lam's government argued the revisions were needed to close legal loopholes, while opponents say that is merely an excuse to pursue China's agenda of reducing Hong Kong's legal independence.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association and a dozen other groups issued a letter Wednesday saying the amendments would "not only threaten the safety of journalists but also have a chilling effect on the freedom of expression in Hong Kong."

"The amendment will make it possible for mainland authorities to demand the surrender of journalists in Hong Kong, citing all kinds of unfounded charges," the letter said.

It said that threat would "muzzle both journalists and whistleblowers, dealing a further blow to the already limited freedom of speech that Hong Kong still enjoys."

Thousands marched to government headquarters on Sunday to show their opposition to the amendments and further protests were held outside the legislature, known as Legco, on Wednesday.

"Most likely there will more actions from different civil society groups and also from the citizens," said Jeff Au, co-organizer of the protest. "So, I think the government, they need to really need to think about aborting the entire law and the entire proposal."

Standing amid placards reading "withdraw the evil law," pro-democratic councilors, who are firmly in the minority, repeatedly voiced their opposition inside the council chamber during the first and second readings of the revised laws, although they were not given a formal opportunity to register comments.

Secretary of Justice Teresa Cheng, center, leaves after speaking to media on Hong Kong's extradition law at the Legislative Council Hong Kong, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. First and second readings of the proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law are taking place at the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over the proposed changes that would regularise the extradition of suspects to mainland China where they say they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Secretary of Justice Teresa Cheng, center, speaks to media on Hong Kong's extradition law at the Legislative Council Hong Kong, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. First and second readings of the proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law are taking place at the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over the proposed changes that would regularise the extradition of suspects to mainland China where they say they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Secretary of Security Bureau, Lee Ka-chiu listens to lawmakers on Hong Kong's extradition law at the Legislative Council Hong Kong, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. First and second readings of the proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law are taking take place at the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over the proposed changes that would regularise the extradition of suspects to mainland China where they say they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Secretary of Security Bureau, Lee Ka-chiu leaves after answering questions by lawmakers on Hong Kong's extradition law at the Legislative Council Hong Kong, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. First and second readings of the proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law take place at Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Business and human rights groups are expressing concern over the proposed changes that would regularize the extradition of suspects to mainland China where they say they could be subject to torture and unfair prosecution. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. TRUMP EXPLORES ART OF THE CLIMB-DOWN

The president pivots on two big policy fronts, easing up on threats to close the U.S. border with Mexico and delaying any changes to "Obamacare" until after the 2020 election.

2. 'A CITY REBORN'

Lori Lightfoot will be Chicago's next mayor, a historic repudiation of the old-style, insider politics that have long defined America's third largest city.

3. BREXIT CHIEF: NO 'BLANK CHECK' IN TALKS

Lori Lightfoot, left, kisses her spouse Amy Eshleman at her election night party Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Chicago. Lori Lightfoot elected Chicago mayor, making her the first African-American woman to lead the city. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Stephen Barclay says some Labour proposals, such as a customs union with the EU, would be "very difficult" for the government to accept, but a compromise is needed to avoid a no-deal divorce.

4. WHAT POLICE ARE SAYING ABOUT NIPSEY HUSSLE SLAYING SUSPECT

Authorities say 29-year-old Eric Holder and the rapper-businessman knew each and had some kind of personal dispute.

5. BRUNEI INVOKES SHARIA LAW

The laws would punish gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death while thieves would face amputation, moves that have triggered a global outcry.

6. WHO TOOK EARLY LEAD IN 2020 FUNDRAISING

Bernie Sanders is leading Democratic presidential candidates in the early money chase, while Mayor Pete Buttigieg of Indiana posts surprising results.

7. IN ISRAEL ELECTION, PALESTINIAN ISSUE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

The lack of interest reflects disillusionment after years of failed peace efforts but also is a testament to Netanyahu's success in sidelining the issue.

8. HOLLYWOOD ACTRESSES DUE IN BOSTON COURT

Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are facing federal charges that they participated in a wide-ranging college admissions cheating scam.

9. NO KIBBLE FOR MAX

U.S. pet owners are increasingly feeding fresh food to their dogs and cats, but some veterinarians question the trend.

10. SUCCESS IN MARCH TIED TO NBA-CALIBER TALENT

An AP analysis of rosters of perennial NCAA Tournament teams concludes it takes pro-ready talent - players who leave school early - to go far consistently.

A man touches a mural depicting slain rapper Nipsey Hussle, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Los Angeles. Hussle was shot and killed Sunday, March 31, outside of his clothing store in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)LONDON (AP) - Britain's military said Wednesday it was investigating "totally unacceptable behavior" by some of its soldiers after they were filmed apparently using a picture of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn for target practice.

Footage posted on social media showed members of the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan shooting at an image of Corbyn, Britain's main opposition leader.

Corbyn, a veteran socialist, has often been critical of British military campaigns overseas.

Brig. Nick Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said "the video shows totally unacceptable behavior and a serious error of judgment that falls far below what we expect of soldiers in our brigade."

He said the video was being "fully investigated."

"The army is and always will be a totally apolitical organization," he said.

Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn poses for the media with the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future UK-EU relationship, in his office in the Houses of Parliament in London, Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Opposition leader Corbyn says he is happy to sit down with Prime Minister Theresa May to work on a Brexit deal, even though "so far she hasn't shown much sign of compromise." The leader of the left-of-center Labour Party says "we recognize that she has made a move" and is willing to hold talks with May. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

The brigade has 400 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO deployment to train Afghan forces.

Labour defense spokeswoman Nia Griffith tweeted that the video was "shocking and completely unacceptable." She said it was "right that the Army is carrying out a full investigation."

Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, a former soldier, said the video was "disgraceful."

British politicians have reported increased threats and fears for their safety amid heightened tensions over Brexit.

Last month, a man angry about Brexit was sentenced to 28 days in prison for hitting Corbyn with an egg.

In 2016, Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist. A neo-Nazi was recently convicted of plotting to kill another Labour legislator.BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union launched legal action against Poland on Wednesday that alleges recent justice laws undermine the independence of the country's judges and comes amid concern the rule of law is being increasingly abused around the bloc.

The EU's executive commission sent a letter of formal notice - the first step in legal action - to the nationalist government in Warsaw and wants a reply addressing its concerns within two months.

Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said disciplinary measures for judges contained in a 2017 law on the Supreme Court of Poland seem designed "to systematically subject judges to the political control of the executive."

Timmermans said investigations that were opened since the rule change have "an obvious, chilling effect on the activities of judges, and this is incompatible with the requirements of judicial independence."

He said the letter gives Poland a chance to explain or change its mind about the laws.

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court established under the 2017 law is necessary to ensure the justice system applies in "equal measure to all citizens," including judges accused of wrongdoing.

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans speaks during a media conference on strengthening the rule of law at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. The European Union is launching action against Poland over allegations that recent justice laws introduced by the government undermine the independence of judges. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

As evidence of the problem the chamber is meant to address, Ziobro cited a case in which the Supreme Court acquitted a judge who had been seen on CCTV appropriating a 50 zloty ($13) banknote.

Poland's government argues that the deep changes it has made to the judiciary were needed to eliminate corruption and inefficiency left over from the country's communist era. Critics say the government has used it to install ruling party loyalists in key positions.

The EU's move was the latest in a series of procedures launched against Poland that the commission insists is meant to safeguard the rule of law there. The commission has also launched similar action against Hungary.

Timmermans said Brussels believes it is time for a broader reflection on what can be done to protect democracy, personal freedoms and the justice systems of some EU member countries.

"There is a growing consensus that further action to protect the rule of law into the whole of the European Union is needed," he told reporters. Asked whether he is worried about the rule of law in Italy, Timmermans said: "I do not see at this stage a systemic problem."

But he did express concerns about possible back-sliding on reform in Romania, particularly in the fight against corruption.

"I want to warn against any government action that would disrupt the Romanian judicial system by creating a systemic, de-facto impunity for high office holders who were sentenced for corruption," he said. "Such a move would compel the commission to act swiftly."

Wednesday's legal action and warnings have been announced in the run-up to the May 23-26 EU elections. Timmermans is running as a candidate to take over from Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the commission.

___

Monika Scislowska contributed from Warsaw.

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans speaks during a media conference on strengthening the rule of law at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. The European Union is launching action against Poland over allegations that recent justice laws introduced by the government undermine the independence of judges. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)BEIRUT (AP) - Venezuela's foreign minister, meeting with anti-U.S. allies in the Middle East, said Wednesday that opposition leader Juan Guaido is in breach of the constitution and that the judiciary has to "take care" of it.

Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly, loyal to President Nicolas Maduro, has stripped Guaido of his immunity, putting him at risk of arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president in January.

"He is in breach of most part of the constitution, so the judiciary has to take care of those who violated the Venezuelan law," Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told reporters in Beirut.

The United States and roughly 50 other nations recognize Guaido as Venezuela's interim leader, asserting that Maduro's re-election last year was illegitimate.

Arreaza met with Lebanon's president and foreign minister in Beirut. He is expected to meet with an official from the Hezbollah militant group before traveling onward to Syria.

Maduro's government has warm relations with Syria and its allies in Lebanon, all of which are opposed to U.S. policies.

In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer, Dalati Nohra, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, left, shakes hands with his Lebanese counterpart, Gebran Bassil, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 3, 2014. Arreaza met with Lebanon's president and foreign minister and is expected to meet with an official from the Hezbollah militant group before traveling onward to Syria. (Dalati Nohra via AP)

Russia, a major backer of Syria, and China, which has invested heavily in Venezuela's oil industry, back Maduro.

Last weekend, a Russian aircraft carrying military officials and equipment arrived in Caracas and is believed to have flown via Syria, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site. Russian officials have scoffed at U.S. demands to withdraw military personnel, saying their presence in Venezuela is fully legitimate.

In December, Russia sent two Tu-160 strategic bombers to Venezuela for several days in a demonstration of support for Maduro, who has rejected demands from the United States and dozens of other countries that he resign.

"We have had cooperation, military and technical cooperation with Russia for almost 17 years, and it's just developing as it should," Arreaza said. "The only interference we have had for 20 years, every day of every week of every month of every year, is from the United States."VATICAN CITY (AP) - South Sudan's president and opposition leader are expected to travel to the Vatican next week for what the Holy See says is a "spiritual retreat" and opposition officials say is an effort to help implement the country's peace deal.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti confirmed the visit Wednesday. He said a spiritual retreat was scheduled next week at the Vatican for "the leaders of South Sudan." He didn't identify them or cite any political initiative.

The meeting comes a month after President Salva Kiir met with Pope Francis to discuss the peace process.

A deputy spokesman to opposition leader Riek Machar said Machar and two leaders from the South Sudan Opposition Alliance would attend the meeting with Kiir, and said an audience with the pope is also planned.

The spokesman, Manawa Peter, said the April 10 meeting would focus on confidence-building and helping bring the two leaders together.

South Sudan is emerging from a five-year conflict that killed almost 400,000 people and displaced millions. A peace deal calls for the formerly warring sides to create a single functional government by May.

FILE - In this Thursday, June 21, 2018 file photo, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, left, and opposition leader Riek Machar shake hands during peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. South Sudan's committee overseeing the fragile transition from civil war has approved almost $185 million in spending on vehicles, food and home renovations while the country's peace deal suffers from an alleged lack of funds, according to internal documents seen by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene, File)

That's when Machar is expected to return to South Sudan to once again become the president's deputy - an arrangement that has collapsed in fighting in the past.

Machar's participation in the Vatican meeting had been in doubt because he has been under house arrest for two years, most of it in South Africa. But Peter, the deputy spokesman, said he would be allowed to travel to Rome, and is expected to be released from house arrest altogether by the end of the month.

Peter said the Vatican initiative aimed to address the lack of trust that had foiled past peace efforts.

"If we want to bring the people of South Sudan together and mend the peace agreement, they need to have a good relationship and they need to build trust before we form the government," he told The Associated Press. "We're happy he'll be able to go and meet with other political leaders from South Sudan. It will be good for all of them."

Francis had hoped to visit South Sudan in 2017 along with the archbishop of Canterbury, but security conditions forced it to be called off. During his March 16 meeting with Kiir, Francis renewed his hope to visit, the Vatican said at the time.

___

Sam Mednick contributed from Juba, South Sudan.

Faithful gather in St. Peter's Square during Pope Francis' Angelus noon prayer at the Vatican, Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Nearly a dozen Saudi women's rights activists, most of them imprisoned, attended their third court session on Wednesday and were told their trials will continue for at least two more weeks, people with knowledge of the cases told The Associated Press.

While the 11 women are being tried separately, they have been present at joint court appearances and, according to people with knowledge of the cases, they appear to be facing similar charges related to their activism and rights work.

Yet on Wednesday, the court gave the women different dates for their next session.

The ALQST rights group said some verdicts could be issued April 17, when the eight women who remain imprisoned are due back for their fourth court appearance. The court is also expected to hold more bail hearings in the coming days.

Most of the women, including prominent activist Loujain al-Hathloul, have been imprisoned since May of last year.

Meanwhile, three women who were granted temporary release last week, among them Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Najfan, were told their next court date would take place after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which coincides with early June. The king traditionally issues pardons after Ramadan, however they do not typically include political detainees.

FILE - In this March 29, 2014 file photo, Aziza al-Yousef drives a car on a highway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of a campaign to defy Saudi Arabia's then ban on women driving. Nearly a dozen Saudi women's rights activists, most of them imprisoned, have attended their third court session Wednesday, April 3, 2019, and were told their trials will continue for at least two more weeks. Meanwhile, three women who were granted temporary release last week, among them al-Yousef and Eman al-Najfan, were told their next court date would take place after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which coincides with early June. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, File)

Last month, some of the women were pressured into signing a request for a royal pardon, according to people with knowledge of the arrests.

The Associated Press was also told that the prosecutor presented on Wednesday a rebuttal denying the women's claims they'd been tortured during interrogations.

In the presence of their children, spouses and parents, the women had told the Riyadh criminal court last week they'd been caned on their backs and thighs, electrocuted, groped and waterboarded by masked men who did not identify themselves. The women say the abuse took place during interrogations last year in the Red Sea city of Jiddah before they were moved to Riyadh, where they are being tried.

Journalists working for foreign media, diplomats and other independent observers have not been allowed to attend the hearings.

The government has not disclosed the charges the women face, but several people with knowledge of the cases and rights groups say the women have been charged in connection with their efforts to promote women's rights and of having contact with accredited foreign reporters, diplomats and human rights groups.

It is unclear what charges Ruqaya al-Muhareb, a conservative proselytizer who was granted temporary release last week, faces. She was detained in late 2017 during a crackdown on preachers and writers who were suspected of not supporting the crown prince's reforms and his decision to cut ties with Qatar.

It is also unclear why she is being tried alongside the women's rights activists, who had pushed for progressive reforms like the right to drive and abolishing laws that give men final say over a woman's right to marry and travel abroad.

Since the murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year, the imprisonment of the women activists has drawn widespread criticism from members of the U.S. Congress, the British Parliament and other Western capitals.US health officials are investigating whether electronic cigarettes may trigger seizures in some people who use the nicotine-vaping devices.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has reviewed 35 reports of seizures among e-cigarettes users, mainly in young people.

Regulators stressed it's not yet clear whether vaping is responsible.

But they said they're concerned and encouraged the public to report information about the issue.

These cases warrant 'investigation into whether there is in fact a connection,' FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.

Gottlieb is stepping down on Friday after nearly two years heading the agency.

The FDA said it has not established a direct connection between vaping and seizures but is seeking more information. Regulators noted that seizures and convulsions are a known side effect of nicotine poisoning

Cases go back to 2010 and were reported to the FDA or poison control centers around the country. Regulators said they detected an uptick in reports beginning mid-2018. While they represent a tiny fraction of Americans who have used e-cigarettes, many safety issues with foods, supplements and other consumer products can go unrecognized because reporting is voluntary.

Most e-cigarettes heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor. The battery-powered devices have grown into a multibillion dollar industry though there are few standards, including how much nicotine they deliver. Additionally, many refillable e-cigarettes can be used with nicotine formulas of varying strength.

Nicotine poisoning can cause seizures, convulsions, vomiting and brain injury. The FDA has previously warned of potentially fatal nicotine poisoning in infants and children who accidentally swallowed nicotine solutions.

Seizures usually last a few seconds or minutes and rarely cause permanent injury. But they can be a sign of underlying neurological disorders that need medical attention.

The agency said the handful of seizure reports often lack information about the brand of e-cigarette or whether users had a medical condition that might have contributed. In some cases, e-cigarettes were being used with drugs like marijuana and amphetamines. Some seizures were reported after just a few puffs of the device, others after a day of use.

The FDA is asking consumers to report problems to an online site. The agency is seeking details about vaping brands and models and whether users who have experienced problems were also taking medications, supplements or other drugs.

It's not the first time the FDA has flagged a potential health hazard with vaping devices - the agency has warned of rare burns and explosions related to overheating of batteries that power the devices.

The latest concern comes amid a nationwide push to fight underage use of e-cigarettes, which have surged in popularity among high school and middle school students. Last month the FDA outlined new restrictions on retail and online sales of most flavored e-cigarettes. Meanwhile, local and state officials are considering age restrictions, taxes and flavor bans to keep the products away from teenagers.NEW YORK (AP) - Your sister, best friend or beloved cousin just had her first baby and you'd like to treat your favored newborn to some luxury. But where to begin?

Where you live and how you shop - online only, swanky department stores or exclusive boutiques - will help determine your options, along with the fast-moving local trends where your little "royal" resides.

The mindset of baby's parents also matters. Do they have traditional taste? Are they modernists? Is laid-back chic, chemical free or New Age more their style?

In celebration of the upcoming birth of the first baby for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, some gear and gift ideas to get you started:

PRAM OR STROLLER

What does actual royalty use? Well, in Britain it's usually Silver Cross. Founded in 1877, the company has been bouncing royal babies in their fancy prams since the birth of King George VI. Prince Charles got around in one when he was born and now the three children of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, have shared their Silver Cross ride.

This combination photo shows Britain's Princess Charlotte in Victoria, British Columbia, on Oct. 1, 2016, from left, in Hamburg, Germany on July 21, 2017, at St Mary's Hospital in London on April 23, 2018 and at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace in London, on July 9, 2018. The bite-size princess is a fashion influencer with some of her smock dresses selling out in just a few hours. (AP Photo)

The company has lots of options if you can't afford the top of the line, hand-built Silver Cross Surf Aston Martin, for example. It's available at Harrods for about $4,000, as is the Marie-Chantal Kensington for nearly $2,000. They convert from carry pram to stroller. Silver Cross is available in stores around the world, including the United States.

Too rich for your blood, or simply not the right vibe? Go for UPPAbaby (one in the Vista collection with a bassinet runs nearly $1,000) or a fun and funky Bugaboo. The convertible Track collection from Bugaboo sells for up to $2,000 or so, depending on add-ons.

ROYAL DUDS

Let's cut to the chase. While thoroughly modern Meghan may choose less traditional looks for her No. 7 in line for the throne, sister-in-law Kate has some favorite British brands for her brood, including No. 3 Prince George and little sis Charlotte.

The bite-size princess is quite the fashion influencer, with some of her smock dresses selling out in just a few hours.

Some of Kate's brands: Amaia (Charlotte's $184 burgundy coat for her first day of school), Pepa & Co. (George's whale jumper - think sweater - when he was 3) and My 1st Years, because who can forget that adorable monogrammed robe George sported to meet then-President Barack Obama?

Kate's choices aren't always hugely pricey, so don't sweat it.

And for Meghan's royal bundle? Meghan the American. Meghan the Californian. Petit Tresor has all manner of gear, nursery furniture and baby blankets, including monogrammed cashmere blankets with crochet trim for up to $700. Elegant Child of Beverly Hills has a selection of Charlotte-worthy party dresses in the $380 to $480 range.

For the feet? Perhaps the Duchess of Sussex will hop on the Freshly Picked bandwagon and outfit her baby in a pair of $60 "it" fringe moccasin-style soft shoes. There's a wide range to choose from.

SILVER SPOONS AND SUCH

There's always that gift option of a keepsake. Take your pick at Tiffany & Co. for silver spoons, cups and baby brushes. Don't miss the company's earthenware banks for $125. They include elephants, pigs and bunnies.

Queen Elizabeth II, the Duchess of Cambridge and various other royals and celebrities have been spotted at London's high-end Fortnum & Mason department store. Online, you can find the timeless Harmony Barbell Rattle for 140 British pounds. It's hand-tuned. It has 16 tones. It's crafted from German silver with an ample covering of sterling for added strength.

How about you hunt down a rare edition of a children's classic book? Let Abebooks.com drop some knowledge on that. Search the site for the world's most valuable editions.

THAT CALIFORNIA VIBE

Markle has embraced mindfulness as her pregnancy has progressed. Jerico Mandybur is fresh out with "Neo Tarot: A Fresh Approach to Self-Care, Healing and Empowerment," a beautiful deck of illustrated tarot cards published by Hardie Grant and available on Amazon for $22.48. Mandybur shows how to use the ancient cards and practices as healing tools first and foremost.

Just how Southern California the Duchess of Sussex will get when it comes to her baby is unknown. The nursery at Frogmore Cottage, on the grounds of Windsor Castle, will reportedly be eco-friendly and gender-neutral in design touches heavy on gray and white.

Will that color scheme take off in baby gifts? Saks Fifth Avenue online sells an Aden (plus) Anais 100 percent cotton baby blanket, the Dream Serengeti, in a gray print with rhinos for nearly $50.

Stella McCartney isn't a Californian, but she's feeling "cool California vibes" in the latest from her children's collection. That includes an adorable gray baby jumpsuit (for any gender) with a green and blue snake wending through, done in 100% organic cotton for $80. There's a palm tree print in blue, yellow and green on a gray T-shirt for $58.

British designer. Check. California cool. Double check.

This combination photo shows various fashion worn by Britain's Prince George, after the christening of Princess Charlotte on the Sandringham Estate, in England on July 5, 2015, from left, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on Sept. 24, 2016, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on Oct. 1, 2016 and at his brother's christening service at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, London on July 9, 2018. (AP Photo)

FILE - This July 5, 2015 file photo shows Britain's Prince William, Kate the Duchess of Cambridge, with son Prince George and daughter Princess Charlotte in a pram as they arrive for Charlotte's Christening at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, England. Silver Cross, founded in 1877, has been bouncing royal babies in their fancy prams since the birth of King George VI. Prince Charles got around in one when he was born and now the three children of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, have shared their Silver Cross ride. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 2013 file photo, Lucinda Croft, the managing director of Dragons, a small British family business that was tapped to design nurseries for British royals, poses with a Silver Cross pram while she showcases a hotel nursery suite at a central London hotel. Silver Cross, founded in 1877, has been bouncing royal babies in their fancy prams since the birth of King George VI. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

FILE - This July 9, 2018 file photo shows Princess Charlotte wearing a blue and white print sundress after the christening service for her brother Prince Louis at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, London. (Dominic Lipinski/Pool Photo via AP, File)A new drive has been launched to encourage recently retired doctors to return to work to help services in rural areas which struggle to recruit.

The initiative involves clinicians who have recently retired or who are working part time taking on short-term work at rural general hospitals.

Speaking at the launch in Edinburgh, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said medical education must adapt to changing circumstances. But opposition parties said it showed the extent of the workforce crisis in Scotlands NHS.

The recruitment drive for retired clinicians is part of the Scottish Clinicians Collaborative, being developed by the Scottish Government and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

No target number of places has been set yet but 30 surgeons and anaesthetists have so far registered an interest in taking part.

Part of the package for working away home includes paid-for accommodation.

Ms Freeman said: We are experiencing a period of unprecedented change and medical education must adapt and evolve to meet the expectations of our healthcare services.

Our health service benefits if we can retain the expertise and skills of our most experienced doctors and health professionals.

We are committed to high quality care in our rural communities.

These highly experienced clinicians have told us that they would welcome the opportunity to maintain their clinical interests in more flexible ways, making them ideally suited to working in rural environments.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman launched the scheme in Edinburgh (Andrew Milligan/PA)

After retiring from NHS Ayrshire and Arran last year, consultant surgeon Robert Diament has returned to the health service as a travelling locum consultant surgeon in Scotlands remote and rural hospitals.

He said: This joint venture is an opportunity for senior consultants from across the country to come together and provide specialist services wherever and whenever they are required.

This support is required in some of Scotlands more remote communities where the sustainability of specialist hospital services is particularly challenging.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: Scotland is lucky to have so many retired doctors who are willing to return to the frontline.

Of course, had the SNP Government not bungled the training of new recruits, none of this would be necessary.

Its yet another reminder about just how badly this nationalist administration has failed when it comes to planning for the future of the NHS.

Scottish Labours health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: Any steps being taken to support local and rural services in our NHS are to be welcomed but the need to bring doctors out of retirement underlines the staffing crisis in our hospitals and GP surgeries after twelve years of SNP mismanagement.The UKs largest cast bronze sculpture is being unveiled after two years in the making.

The young, powerful female figure, entitled Messenger, has been cast at a foundry in a tiny Welsh village, using the ancient technique of lost wax casting.

It will stand in front of the Theatre Royal Plymouth, which commissioned Joseph Hillier to create the work.

Hillier was inspired by the split-second pose of an actor rehearsing for Othello on the theatres stage.

The sculpture, spanning seven metres high and nine metres wide, was too large to be put together inside the foundry.

Artist Joseph Hillier on a boat beside his sculpture Messenger (Ben Birchall/PA)

It was made in sections, with 30 master craftsmen and women welding together 200 bronze panels.

The Cornish-born sculptor previously told the Press Association that the piece will be the largest bronze sculpture in the UK by volume  at 25.6 metres cubed and will weigh nine and a half tonnes.

Its a really big piece. If I lay on the floor, Im the size of one of the feet, he said.

But, despite this, the pose is very small. Shes like a coiled spring 

Messenger arrives in Plymouth Sound by barge (Ben Birchall/PA)

Visitors will be able to walk under Messengers body into the theatre, like an archway .

There have been people inside the sculpture for months, welding it, Hillier said.

He said of the work: Its a young powerful woman, a potent force, about to transform the world by her actions  Its a metaphor for what great theatre does.

Messenger was cast at the Castle Fine Arts Foundry in Llanrhaeadr-Ym-Mochnant and travelled to Plymouth Sound on a barge before heading to its destination on a low-loader lorry.

It is being installed as part of Theatre Royal Plymouths 7.5 million regeneration project.

Theatre chief executive Adrian Vinken described the work as mind-blowing.

Messenger has been made by Hillier for the Theatre Royal Plymouth as a monument to the creativity of theatre and will be open to the public from Friday evening.One person has died and there are multiple people injured after a shooting on a tram in the central Dutch city of Utrecht, according to police.

Authorities immediately raised the terror alert for the area to the maximum level and said they are considering the possibility of a terrorist motive in the attack.

Dutch military police went on extra alert at Dutch airports and at key buildings in the country as the Utrecht manhunt took place.

Police, including heavily-armed officers, flooded the area after the shooting on Monday morning on a tram at a busy traffic intersection in a residential area.

Anti-terror officers gathered in front of a block of flats close to the scene. Authorities say that a suspect is still on the run following the shooting.

Utrecht police said trauma helicopters were sent to the scene and appealed to the public to stay away.

(PA Graphics)

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the situation very worrying and the countrys counter-terror co-ordinator said in a tweet that a crisis team was meeting to discuss the situation.

Police spokesman Bernhard Jens said no-one had been detained yet in the shooting and one possible explanation is that the person fled by car. He did not rule out the possibility that more than one person was involved in the attack.

Rescue workers at the scene of the shooting (Peter Dejong/AP/PA)

We want to try to catch the person responsible as soon as possible, Mr Jens said.

The countrys anti-terror co-ordinator raised the threat alert to its highest level around Utrecht. Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said the threat level has gone to 5, exclusively for the Utrecht province.

Hugely concerning news of a gunman opening fire on a tram in Utrecht, no doubt with innocent people just getting on with their day. We are in contact with Dutch authorities, urgently seeking further information. The UK stands with the people of the Netherlands  Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) March 18, 2019

Police in Germany say they have upped surveillance on the countrys border and are on the lookout for the gunman.

Heinrich Onstein, a spokesman for the federal police in the border state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said additional police had been added to watch not only major roads, but also minor crossings as well as railway routes.A train conductor was punched in the stomach after asking two passengers to produce a valid rail ticket.

The men, who were on board the train to Glasgow, assaulted the conductor before waving a 5 note in front of him and getting off at Falkirk Grahamston.

The man did not suffer any injuries.

British Transport Police officers are appealing for information about the incident, which happened between Polmont and Falkirk Grahamston on March 5, between 5:30pm and 6pm.

Can you help?



A member of rail staff was punched after asking two men for their tickets. One of them waved 5 in the victim's face before leaving the train. Happened at 5.30pm on 05/03 on board a train in Falkirk. More info here: https://t.co/ALPttlOHZh  BTP Scotland (@BTPScotland) March 18, 2019

One of the suspects is described as being white, around 5ft 8in, of slim build, and aged between 25 and 28 years old.

He is said to have short blonde hair, was speaking with a Scottish accent and had been wearing a black hooded top with black jeans.

The two men exited the train at Falkirk Grahamston station (SNS/PA)

The second suspect is described as white, 5ft 8, of medium build, also aged between 25 and 28 years old, with short brown curly hair which was shaved at the sides, and he spoke with a Scottish accent.

He was wearing a black top with a pocket on the front and black jeans.French President Emmanuel Macron summoned top security officials on Monday after police failed to contain resurgent rioting during yellow vest protests that transformed a luxurious Paris avenue into a battle scene.

Prime minister Edouard Philippe promised to announce new measures to avoid a repeat of Saturdays violence, in which rioters set life-threatening fires, ransacked luxury stores and attacked police around the Champs-Elysees.

The new surge in violence came as the four-month-old yellow vest movement demanding economic justice has been dwindling.

Images of the destruction  including from a bank fire that engulfed a residential building and threatened the lives of a mother and child  could further erode public support.

However, the renewed attention energised some protesters, who took to social networks to call for new protests this Saturday to occupy the avenue to demand lower taxes and more support for workers from big business.

Emmanuel Macron (centre) leads a meeting of security officials (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP/PA)

High-end boutiques along the Champs-Elysees remained closed and boarded up on Monday, some of them ransacked and charred from fires set by rioters.

The Finance Ministry held a meeting on Monday with groups representing small businesses, restaurants, hotels, insurance companies and banks to estimate the economic impact of the protests.

The Paris regions Chamber of Commerce said 91 businesses suffered consequences from Saturdays riot at the Champs-Elysees, 80% of which were severely damaged. It called for an emergency plan to support the shopkeepers and employees.

One of the security officials meeting on Monday with Mr Macron, junior Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, acknowledged the French police response to Saturdays rioting was a failure.

Mr Nunez said Monday on RTL radio that police had prepared for an upsurge in violence but the protesters were exceptionally radicalised.

Riot police stand in front of a burned store (Christophe Ena/AP/PA)

He said police were less reactive on Saturday than in previous demonstrations, and notably more cautious about using rubber ball launchers because of numerous injuries they have caused at previous protests.

Last month, the French Parliament passed a bill backed by Mr Macrons government to further prevent violence during protests and to help authorities maintain order. The anti-troublemakers law has not yet taken effect since the Constitutional Council must assess it first.

It would authorise regional prefects to prevent people seen as a serious threat to public order from protesting, and would force protesters involved in violence to pay for damage. It would also make it a crime for protesters to conceal their faces, punishable by up to one year in prison and a 15,000-euro (12,800) fine.

The bill has been criticised by rights groups, opposition members and even members of Mr Macrons centrist party as going too far in restricting freedoms.

Protesters had tried to raise their profile on Saturday to mark the end of a national debate that Mr Macron had organised to respond to concerns about sinking living standards, stagnant wages and high unemployment.Chelsea have lodged a formal complaint with UEFA over racist abuse aimed at Callum Hudson-Odoi during the closing stages of the 5-0 Europa League win away to Dynamo Kiev.

The Premier League club issued a statement on Monday highlighting the incident during the second leg on March 14, which did not name Hudson-Odoi directly.

During the last two minutes of the match, winger Hudson-Odoi, 18, brought the incident  which Press Association Sport understands to have been monkey chants from a small group of ultras home supporters in the corner of the end Chelsea were attacking  to the attention of team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta.

We can confirm a report of racist abuse directed at one of our players in the final minutes of the match in Kiev from a small section of home supporters.



We wholeheartedly condemn such abhorrent behaviour.https://t.co/ZG12S8ZqFc  Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 18, 2019

Shortly after the final whistle, defender Azpilicueta went up to the referee to complain about the abuse.

When Hudson-Odoi left the pitch, he told the club of the incident. Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck and club secretary David Barnard swiftly sought out the UEFA delegate and reported it to him.

A Chelsea club statement on Monday read: We can confirm a report of racist abuse directed at one of our players in the final minutes of the match in Kiev from a small section of home supporters. We wholeheartedly condemn such abhorrent behaviour.

The matter was reported to the referee at the final whistle and the chairman and club secretary spoke to the UEFA match delegate immediately after the match.

We expect UEFA to conduct a fulsome investigation and we will provide full cooperation.

With the matter included in both the referees report and being highlighted to UEFA, the governing body is now set to investigate.

Press Association Sport has contacted UEFA for further comment.

Olivier Girouds hat-trick led Chelsea to a comfortable victory (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

It is understood Chelsea opted against issuing a statement on the evening of the match as both the club and player were content the matter was being dealt with correctly and taken very seriously by UEFA having gone through the correct channels.

France forward Olivier Giroud had scored a hat-trick to set the Blues on their way towards a memorable away victory, with Hudson-Odoi also getting on the scoresheet during the 78th minute.

Chelsea were later drawn against Czech side Slavia Prague in the quarter-finals.More than 1,000 students from Christchurch schools and different religions have taken part in a vigil to honour the 50 lives lost after a gunman attacked two mosques in the New Zealand city.

In a park across from the Al Noor mosque, where dozens were killed by a white supremacist gunman, the students sat on the grass in Mondays fading daylight, lifting flickering candles to the sky as they sang a traditional Maori song.

Hundreds then stood to perform a passionate, defiant haka, the famed ceremonial dance of the indigenous Maori people.

A student lights candle during the vigil (Vincent Yu/AP/PA)

Most of the students spent hours locked down in their schools on Friday as police tried to determine if any other people were involved in the attacks.

Those at the vigil told harrowing tales of being forced to hide under classroom tables or on a school stage behind a curtain, of being instructed not to speak.

After the ceremony officially ended, many lingered, standing in circles, arms draped around each others shoulders, singing Leonard Cohens Hallelujah and Maori songs.

The students vigil was a striking and healing counterpoint to Mondays developments in the mass shooting.

Gun City owner David Tipple (Vincent Yu/AP)

A Christchurch gun shop acknowledged selling guns online to the 28-year-old white supremacist accused of killing 50 people.

At a news conference, Gun City owner David Tipple said the store sold four guns and ammunition to Brenton Harrison Tarrant through a police-verified online mail order process. The store detected nothing extraordinary about the buyer, he said.

Separately, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said gun law reforms would be announced within 10 days and an inquiry conducted into intelligence and security services that failed to detect the risk from the attacker or his plans.

Jacinda Ardern hugs a woman as she visited Kilbirnie Mosque to lay flowers among tributes to Christchurch attack victims on Sunday (TVNZ via AP)

There have been concerns intelligence agencies were overly focused on the Muslim community in detecting and preventing security risks.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police are certain that Tarrant was the only gunman but are not ruling out that he had support.

I would like to state that we believe absolutely there was only one attacker responsible for this, he said at a news conference.

(PA Graphics)

That doesnt mean there werent possibly other people in support and that continues to form a very, very important part of our investigation.

None of the guns sold to Tarrant were military-style, semi-automatic weapons, according to Mr Tipple. It was not clear if any of the firearms Tarrant purchased from Gun City were used in the shootings.

In vowing to tighten gun laws, Ms Ardern has said the attacker used five guns, two of them semi-automatic, which were purchased with an ordinary gun licence and modified.

Tarrant, an Australian citizen who lived in New Zealand, appeared in court on Saturday, where the judge read one murder charge and said more would likely follow.

Tarrant had posted a muddled, 74-page anti-immigrant manifesto online before the attacks at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Masjid Mosque, and apparently used a helmet-mounted camera to stream live video of the slaughter.Blackburn midfielder Corry Evans is Northern Irelands only injury worry as the squad assembled for their forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers.

The 28-year-old came off after 68 minutes of Rovers 4-2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend and has undergone a scan on a hamstring problem at the club.

However, he will still join up with Michael ONeills squad ahead of matches at home to Estonia and Belarus.

Corry will be in later today, ONeill told media on Monday.

He had a scan this morning so we have a little bit of a doubt about Corry but we will see how the week progresses.

No other issues have been reported by members of the squad arriving in Belfast ahead of Thursdays first game at Windsor Park.A dead whale with 40 kilograms of plastic in its stomach has been discovered off the coast of the Philippines.

Marine biologist Darrell Blatchley was called to recover the 4.7m (15.4ft) Cuviers beaked whale, which was trapped in the shores of the Mabini Compostela Valley.

By the time Mr Blatchley arrived, the whale had died, showing signs of starvation and dehydration, and had been vomiting blood.

A necropsy revealed 40 kilograms of plastic waste in the whales stomach, made up of shopping bags, banana plantation bags and 16 rice sacks.

It had died of starvation and dehydration, tests confirmed.

Images posted on Facebook show the whales corpse being towed to shore, then sheets of plastic being lifted out of its stomach.

Dead whale found with 40kg of plastic in stomach (DBone Collector Museum)

Mr Blatchley and other marine biologists at the the DBone Museum in Davao City have recovered 61 whales and dolphins in the last 10 years, but said that their latest discovery was the most plastic we have ever seen in a whale.

The museum called on the Philippines government to take action against people dumping plastic into the sea.

Mr Blatchley told the Press Association: Upon reaching the stomach I knew this whale had died due to plastic ingestion.

I was not prepared for the amount of plastic. Forty kilos roughly of rice sacks, grocery bags, banana plantation bags and general plastic bags. Sixteen rice sacks total. It was so bad the plastic was beginning calcification.

The Philippine people are a proud people, sadly its not in being clean or taking care of the environment.

The Philippines needs to change from the children up or nothing will be left.US President Donald Trump claims he is unfairly being blamed for the New Zealand mosque massacre.

Mr Trump tweeted on Monday that the media is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand. He adds: They will have to work very hard to prove that one.

The gunman in last weeks massacre left a document in which he called himself a white nationalist and referred to Mr Trump as a symbol of renewed white identity.

The US president has expressed sympathy for the victims but played down the threat of white nationalism across the world, saying he did not consider it a rising threat despite data suggesting it is growing.

In the past, Mr Trump has drawn criticism for saying both sides were to blame for violence at a deadly white supremacist demonstration.Police in Scotland will be ready to respond to any emergencies during an unprecedented set of circumstances following Brexit, a senior officer has said.

Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Steve Johnson, Police Scotlands EU Exit Tactical Commander, said that the force would be prepared to handle a range of potential challenges presented within the coming months.

It included having 360 officers on standby in the event of any incidents arising.

ACC Johnson, who met with Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, said that preparations would extend to any delays at ports, as well as possible political protests.

Our number one priority is protecting the people of Scotland and we have been preparing for the operational impact of Britains exit from the European Union for many months now, he said.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf described the decision as `prudent and sensible (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament)

We have detailed plans in place to address all the potential challenges, including a no-deal Brexit, which could lead to delays at borders and ports and to political protest.

Part of our planning has ensured that we have sufficient officer availability during critical periods.

The Brexit Coordination Centre allows us to work closely with all relevant multi-agency partners to address any civil contingency matters which may arise.

Working with these partners, we are ready to respond to emergencies to ensure the safety of the public during an unprecedented set of circumstances which will challenge policing in the months ahead.

Mr Yousaf said: The Scottish Government is intensifying its preparations for all EU exit possibilities in order to protect Scotlands economy, businesses and workers.

While we are doing everything we can to prepare, we will not be able to mitigate all of the impacts of a no-deal exit on Scotland.

The Chief Constable has been clear that Police Scotland will be ready to respond to any civil contingency issues arising from EU exit, including the policing of the countrys ports and borders, and possible protests and civil unrest.

The Brexit Coordination Centre will be central to managing those priorities and the wider resilience response across local authorities, emergency services and other public sector bodies  ensuring Scotland stands ready to deal with the implications of leaving the EU.

Decisions around officer deployment and contingency planning are of course operational decisions for the Chief Constable.

I welcome his decision to put 360 officers on standby from today for EU exit-related incidents as a prudent, sensible approach to contingency planning to ensure Police Scotland remains well-placed to keep people safe.No-one reported the video of the Christchurch terror attack while it was being streamed live, Facebook has said.

It was 29 minutes after the video had started  and 12 minutes after it had ended  before the first user flagged up the footage, the social media giant said.

The company earlier revealed that it had removed 1.5 million videos of the attack worldwide in the 24 hours after the shootings, 1.2 million of which were blocked at upload.

People mourn at a makeshift memorial site near the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch (Vincent Thian/AP)

Facebook and other social media firms have come under fire over the rapid spread of the footage across the networks and around the world.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Chris Sonderby, vice president and deputy general counsel at Facebook, said the video was viewed fewer than 200 times during its live broadcast.

No users reported the video during the live broadcast, he added.

Including the views during the live broadcast, the video was viewed about 4,000 times in total before being removed from Facebook.

The first user report on the original video came in 29 minutes after the video started, and 12 minutes after the live broadcast ended.

Muslims offer prayers near the main road to the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch (Vincent Thian/AP)

Before we were alerted to the video, a user on 8chan posted a link to a copy of the video on a file-sharing site.

Mr Sonderby said Facebook was working around the clock to prevent the video from appearing on its site.

Meanwhile, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, formed by tech giants Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube in 2017 to tackle the spread of terrorism online, said more than 800 different versions of the video have been added to a shared database.

The group said the digital fingerprints of visually-distinct videos were included, in a bid to uncover and remove edited videos that aim to get around existing detection technology.

This incident highlights the importance of industry co-operation regarding the range of terrorists and violent extremists operating online, it said.

Fifty pairs of white shoes lined up as a memorial to the victims the Christchurch massacre (Mark Baker/AP)

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called on social media companies to take responsibility for ensuring that such content cannot be distributed or viewed on their platforms, saying they are the publisher, not just the postman.

She told the countrys parliament: There is no question that ideas and language of division and hate have existed for decades, but their form of distribution, the tools of organisation, they are new.

We cannot simply sit back and accept that these platforms just exist and that what is said on them is not the responsibility of the place where they are published.

They are the publisher, not just the postman. There cannot be a case of all profit, no responsibility.

A police official stands guard in front of the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch (Vincent Thian/AP)

In the UK, Home Secretary Sajid Javid told social media companies enough is enough in the wake of last Fridays shootings.

Reacting to a tweet from YouTube claiming that the video-sharing service was working to remove the footage, he said: You really need to do more @YouTube @Google @facebook @Twitter to stop violent extremism being promoted on your platforms. Take some ownership. Enough is enough.

Damian Collins, Tory chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, called for a review into how the footage was shared and why more effective action wasnt taken to remove them.

And Downing Street said social media companies needed to act more quickly to remove terrorist content.Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay has signalled that ministers will continue to press on with Theresa Mays Brexit deal despite the Commons Speakers bombshell intervention.

John Bercow provoked uproar at Westminster on Monday when he ruled that the Government could not bring the Prime Ministers deal back for a third meaningful vote unless there were substantial changes.

Mr Barclay said that, while the Cabinet would give serious consideration to his ruling, Mrs Mays plan remained the only deal on the table.

What we need to do is secure the deal, he told Sky News.

This is the only deal on the table. The EU is clear it is the only deal on the table. Business need the certainty of this deal and it is time that Parliament comes together and gets behind it.

Mr Barclay acknowledged that the ruling made it more unlikely that there would be an attempt to get the deal through the Commons before Mrs May attends the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

However, he said the Speaker had made clear in earlier rulings that the Commons should not necessarily be bound by precedent.

What the Speaker has said in his ruling is there needs to be something that is different. You can have the same motion but where the circumstances have changed, he said.

So we need to look at the details of the ruling, we need to consider that in the terms of earlier rulings that dont particularly align with yesterdays.

The fact a number of Members of Parliament have said that they will change their votes points to the fact that there are things that are different.

(PA Graphics)

Mr Barclay rejected suggestions that ministers could seek a prorogation of Parliament from the Queen in order to get round the ruling.

I think the one thing everyone would agree on is involving Her Majesty in any of the issues around Brexit is not the way forward so I dont see that as a realistic option, he said.

He accepted that there would now have to be a short extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process as the Government would not be able to get through all the legislation it needed in time for March 29 when the UK is due to leave.

Theresa May will chair Cabinet, where ministers will discuss the Speakers ruling (John Stillwell/PA)

We are now in a situation where we do need to have an extension to pass the legislation for the Withdrawal Bill, he said.

The Speakers ruling was welcomed by some Tory Brexiteers opposed to Mrs Mays deal, who argued that it increased the chances of a no-deal break, but Mr Barclay warned their optimism was misplaced.

I think that is clutching at straws because the House has already ruled to take no-deal off the table, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

His warning echoed a Government source, who said it seemed clear that the Speakers motive was to rule out a meaningful vote this week which could have led to a shorter extension.

(This) leads you to believe what he really wants is a longer extension, where Parliament will take over the process and force a softer form of Brexit, the source said.

But anyone who thinks that this makes no-deal more likely is mistaken  the Speaker wouldnt have done it if it did.

Mr Bercow faced awkward questioning from the media as he made his way to the Commons on Tuesday.

The Speaker refused to be drawn when he was asked a series of questions regarding his controversial ruling as he walked towards the Palace of Westminster.

Jeremy Corbyn is to hold talks with other opposition parties (Victoria Jones/PA)

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will meet leaders of the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and Green Party to discuss Brexit.

In a joint statement ahead of the talks, Ian Blackford, Sir Vince Cable, Liz Saville Roberts and Caroline Lucas said: The UK faces an unprecedented crisis with Brexit, and Westminster remains deeply divided.

The best and most democratic way forward is to put the decision back to the people in a new vote  with the option to Remain on the ballot paper.

Mr Corbyn will also meet members of the Norway Plus group of MPs for separate talks on Tuesday.

Meanwhile in Dublin, European Council president Donald Tusk will hold talks with Irish premier Leo Varadkar.A third person has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the tram shooting in the city of Utrecht that left three people dead and five injured, Dutch police say.

Public prosecution office spokesman Ties Kortmann said three people were in custody  the alleged gunman Gokmen Tanis, 37, and two others who were also arrested on suspicion of involvement in the shooting on Monday morning.

Mr Kortmann said Tanis was being held on suspicion of manslaughter with a possible terrorist motive, but added that investigations were continuing into what drove him to allegedly open fire in a tram.

(PA Graphics)

Prosecutors said the nature of the attack and a note found in a getaway car give them reasons to consider terrorism as a motive, but other possible motives are being investigated.

Dutch media said Taniss neighbours in Utrecht have speculated that the shooting may have been linked to a relationship, but prosecutors said investigations do not so far indicate the gunman knew any of the victims.

Earlier, justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus said Tanis was known to authorities and had a criminal record, but would not elaborate.

If it had terror motives, that is being investigated. But it was very serious. The world shares our grief, prime minister Mark Rutte said.

Our thoughts go to the victims relatives, to the families who have lost a beloved member. Our thoughts also go to the wounded, who are now fighting for their lives. The whole of the Netherlands shares your deep pain.



Full statement  https://t.co/VBOPf232R3  Mark Rutte (@MinPres) March 18, 2019

The attack came three days after 50 people were killed when an immigrant-hating white supremacist opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday prayers.

Dutch authorities reduced the threat level in the city back to four out of five following the arrest of Tanis, which came after a manhunt involving heavily armed officers with dogs.

During the hunt, police released a photo of a bearded Tanis on a tram in a blue hooded top.

Local media said Tanis had been charged several times over recent years with offences ranging from attempted manslaughter to petty crime in and around Utrecht. Two weeks ago he was in court on charges of raping a woman in 2017, news reports said.

The Netherlands anti-terror co-ordinator, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, raised the threat alert to its highest level, five, around Utrecht, a city of nearly 350,000, until Tanis was captured.Plans for a subsea electricity cable linking Shetland to the mainland have been provisionally approved by the energy regulator.

Ofgem said it is minded to approve the Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) 600MW transmission link, which would allow new wind farms on Shetland to export renewable electricity to the rest of the UK and help ensure security of supply on the islands.

However it said it is minded to reject a similar project in the Western Isles.

The Shetland project would consist of a single 600MW subsea circuit from Kergord on Shetland to Noss Head in Caithness on the Scottish mainland, connecting into SSENs recently completed Caithness-Moray transmission link.

PRESS RELEASE: Ofgem approves Shetland link and would support alternative Western Isles link proposal that provides better value for money for consumers  https://t.co/8m6TPc7OPL pic.twitter.com/crsmIVcSyW  Ofgem (@ofgem) March 19, 2019

It is estimated the link would cost around 709 million and would be completed in 2024.

Ofgem is now consulting on approving the link subject to SSEN demonstrating, by the end of 2019, that the Viking Energy Wind Farm project planned for Shetland has been awarded subsidies through the UK Governments Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction.

The link would connect renewable electricity generation into the national grid (Stephen Pond/PA)

Colin Nicol, managing director of SSEN, said: Ofgems decision to provisionally approve SSENs 600MW proposed transmission link is an important milestone in connecting Shetland to the mainland electricity network and helping to unlock its significant renewables potential.

There are still a number of steps to be taken before we can proceed with the transmission connection, in particular the requirement for renewable developments to secure CfD support in this years auction, and we will continue to engage with key stakeholders during this consultation period.

We also await clarity from Ofgem on their assessment of our proposed whole system solution.

This decision will be important in reducing costs for consumers and securing the best economic case for delivery of renewable development in Shetland and Scotlands other island groups.

However, the energy regulator has suggested changes to SSEN plans for the western isles.

In a statement, Ofgem said: Ofgem is minded to reject SSENs separate proposal to build a 600MW transmission link to connect the Western Isles to the mainland based on two Lewis Wind Power wind farm projects being awarded subsidies through the CfD auction because of the risk of consumers paying for a significantly underutilised link.

Ofgem would instead support an alternative proposal that more appropriately protects consumers from the additional costs of funding a potentially significantly underutilised link.

This could be either a 450MW or 600MW transmission link depending on any revised proposals SSEN put forward.

An initial estimate for the 600MW link for the western isles put the cost around 663 million and a 450MW link at around 617 million.

SSEN is calling on Ofgem to reconsider its provisional decision and said that a 450MW link would be short sighted, limiting the potential for community schemes to benefit from renewables expansion.

Mr Nicol said: Moving to a 450MW at this late stage also introduces risks and uncertainty which, in turn, could impact on the delivery of a transmission link to the Western Isles.

Ofgem said it plans to reduce costs by seeking to replicate the outcomes of competition and is minded to use the Competition Proxy model, setting the revenue that SSEN can earn from building and operating the links.

Western Isles Council said it believes a 600MW connection is in the local and national interest and said it would use the consultation period to make a robust case for such a link.

Council leader Roddie Mackay said: The present consultation is a step in the right direction and one that opens potential for significant development opportunity in the islands.

I am, however, extremely disappointed at the short-sightedness of Ofgems position of being minded to approve a 450MW connection rather than 600MW.

I am confident that the present pipeline of renewables projects will quickly fill a 600MW cable and that Ofgems fears around 150MW of stranded assets are ill-founded.

Hannah Smith, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said: We welcome Ofgems minded-to position on the Shetland interconnector  the lack of which has left promising projects effectively locked out of the energy market for want of a network connection.

The decision to approve a smaller connection to the Western Isles  which is in an almost-identical situation  does, however, raise questions about whether consumers now and in the future will be denied access to the islands potential for low-cost renewable generation.The family of a 24-year-old who was murdered by a jealous and obsessed soldier said the Army could have done more to protect her from her controlling ex-partner.

Alice Ruggles had contacted Northumbria Police about Trimaan Dhillons stalking in the days before he broke into her Gateshead home and repeatedly cut her throat.

A Northumbria Police officer contacted his barracks in Edinburgh and spoke to a superior, but not Military Police or Police Scotland, and Dhillon was then told to stop contacting her or face arrest.

But he ignored the warning from within the regiment, continued to contact her and eventually drove 120 miles to Tyneside to murder the bubbly and popular Sky employee in October 2016.

Trimaan "Harry" Dhillon, (Northumbria Police/PA)

Dhillon, a Lance Corporal at the time who trained with the Special Reconnaissance Service, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

After the trial, Gateshead Council conducted a domestic homicide review (DHR) and the findings were published on Tuesday.

It has made 20 recommendations for local authorities, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence to act upon.

In the review, her parents Sue and Clive said: We believe that her death was preventable.

We find it difficult to comprehend that, although Alice described in her first phone call to the police that she was being stalked and provided ample evidence, the police and the army were unable to support and protect her.

Miss Ruggless sister Emma, herself a serving soldier, said she was frustrated by the Armys response to the murder.

She has had no contact from Dhillons unit, no response to questions she posed to the Royal Military Police nor a sense that lessons had been learned.

The 2 Scots soldier had a history of offending against ex-partners and Emma Ruggles could not believe the Army was unaware as he was serving at the time.

She said: Similar situations need to be taken far more seriously in the future by both the police and the Army.

Failure to do so would show a blatant lack of regard for my sister, the nightmare she lived in her last few months and the sustained, painful, violent last few minutes of her life.

The DHR has recommended that it becomes an offence to threaten to release intimate photos of an ex-partner, as Dhillon had done once Ms Ruggles had called off their relationship.

In a second call to Northumbria Police, as Dhillons stalking continued, a call handler asked Ms Ruggles if she wanted him to be arrested.

The DHR found the police should have made the decision, and it should not have been left to the victim, who declined.

Northumbria Polices Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Bacon said changes have been made nationally regarding the response to stalking and harassment in the light of this horrific case.

She said: With the help of Alices family we are now leading the way in training officers in the best way to deal with these types of offences, with their input vital in developing a video which is now also used by other forces and partners.

Their continued determination to change the law to better protect victims of stalking is commendable.

Commenting on the case, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: Our thoughts remain with Alices family and friends at this very difficult time.

We are committed to tacking domestic abuse and last year launched a strategy to help prevent domestic abuse in all its forms.

This includes prevention of abuse in the home and providing support to the families of service personnel who may be affected.Aid workers are trying to rescue victims clinging to trees and crammed on rooftops against rapidly rising waters after a cyclone unleashed devastating floods in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

More than 238 people are dead, hundreds are missing and thousands more are at risk.

This is the worst humanitarian crisis in Mozambiques recent history, said Jamie LeSueur, head of response efforts in Beira for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

At least 400,000 people have been left homeless.

With authorities in #Mozambique warning that the death toll may climb beyond 1,000, new drone footage reveals the extent of damage caused by #CycloneIdai. The footage taken on 18 March shows how the storm flattened the informal settlement of Praia Nova on the edge of #Beira. pic.twitter.com/gObMlS7Uax  IFRC  (@ifrc) March 18, 2019

The rapidly rising floodwaters created an inland ocean in Mozambique, endangering tens of thousands of families, aid workers said as they scrambled to rescue survivors of Cyclone Idai and drop food, water and blankets.

President Filipe Nyusi said the death toll could reach 1,000.

Emergency workers called it the regions most destructive flooding in 20 years. Heavy rain is expected to continue until Thursday.

This is a major humanitarian emergency that is getting bigger by the hour, said Herve Verhoosel of the World Food Programme.

With floods triggered by #CycloneIdai submerging much of the city of Beira, WFP is hoping for the best  but planning for the worst. We are putting people and equipment into #Mozambique to help those affected.https://t.co/OaLTxWcKpA  World Food Programme (@WFP) March 19, 2019

Many people are crammed on rooftops and elevated patches of land outside the port city of Beira and WFP is rushing to rescue as many as possible, he said.

Mozambiques Pungue and Buzi rivers overflowed, creating inland oceans extending for miles and miles in all directions, Mr Verhoosel said. Dams are at 95% to 100% capacity.

People visible from the air may be the lucky ones and the top priority now is to rescue as many as possible, he added.

The extent of the damage is not yet known as many areas remain impassible. With key roads washed away, aid groups are trying to get badly needed food, medicine and fuel into hard-hit Beira, a city of 500,000 people, by air and sea.

Queues for food supplies (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP)

Cyclone Idai swept across central Mozambique before dropping huge amounts of rain in neighbouring Zimbabwes eastern mountains. That rain is now rushing back through Mozambique, further inundating the already flooded countryside.

Its dire, Caroline Haga of the Red Cross told the Associated Press from Beira. We did an aerial surveillance yesterday and saw people on rooftops and in tree branches. The waters are still rising and we are desperately trying to save as many as possible.

Satellite images are helping the rescue teams target the most critical areas, she said. Rescue operations are based at Beira airport, one of the few places in the city with working communications.

The waters flooded an area of land more than 30 miles wide in central Mozambique, putting more than 100,000 people at risk, said aid group Save the Children.

The assessment emerging from Mozambique today is chilling, said Machiel Pouw, Save the Childrens response leader in Mozambique. Thousands of children lived in areas completely engulfed by water. In many places, no roofs or tree tops are even visible above the floods.

STATEMENT: Fears for the lives of 100,000 people as rivers burst their banks and engulf communities in cyclone-hit #Mozambique. Spokespeople available for interview in Maputo. Contact the media team for details. #Idai https://t.co/iXbTZ51EtT  SavetheChildren News (@SaveUKNews) March 18, 2019

The full horror, the full impact is only going to emerge over coming days, Red Cross spokesman Matthew Cochrane told reporters in Geneva.

Torrential rain is still lashing the region on Tuesday, and Buzi town could be entirely submerged within 24 hours, the aid group said.

Hardest hit was Beira, where thousands of homes were destroyed.

The city and surrounding areas were without power and nearly all communication lines were destroyed. Beiras main hospital was also badly damaged.

Large areas to the west of Beira have been severely flooded and water has completely covered homes, telegraph poles and trees, the Red Cross said.

The nearby cities of Dondo and Chimoio were also badly affected.

Residents dig for victims (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP)

In Zimbabwe the death toll rose to 98, the government said.

The mountain town of Chimanimani was badly hit. Several roads leading into the town were cut off, with the only access by helicopter. Residents expected the death toll to rise.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrived in the area on Tuesday, saying a number of countries, including the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola, were offering aid.

The US embassy in Zimbabwe said the US was mobilising to provide support to partners in the three affected countries, but provided no details. The European Union and Britain also pledged aid.

Malawis government confirmed 56 deaths, three missing and 577 injured, with 11,000 households displaced in the southern district of Nsanje.Unemployment in Scotland has fallen by more than a fifth in the last year, with the jobless total down to a record low of 94,000.

Official figures for November 2018 to January show that the number of Scots who were out of work had reduced by 21.5% over the last 12 months.

Employment grew by 10% over the year, to stand at 2,676,000, according to the Office for National Statistics, an increase of 13,000 over the quarter.

The unemployment rate in Scotland now stands at 3.5%  lower than the overall rate for the UK of 3.9%

That marked the first time the UK jobless rate has has fallen below 4% since 1975.

In Scotland the proportion of those aged 16 to 64 who were in work increased to 75.3%.

The unemployment rate in Scotland now stands at 3.5% - lower than the overall rate for the UK (Philip Toscano/PA)

Business minister Jamie Hepburn welcomed the fall in unemployment  but warned that leaving the European Union could cost jobs.

Mr Hepburn said: Despite the huge and continued challenges of Brexit, the Scottish economy and jobs market continues to strengthen.

Scotlands employment rate rose to 75.3%, close to the highest on record. The unemployment rate fell yet again, to 3.4%, another record low and lower than the rest of the UK.

Scotland is performing particularly well on unemployment rates for women and young people. At 2.6% for women and 7.4% for young people, both rates are at record lows and significantly lower than in the rest of the UK.

However, while Scotlands economy and jobs market continues to grow, the UK Governments Brexit plans, in whatever form, will cost jobs, make people poorer and damage our society.

The Scottish Government has already warned a no-deal Brexit could see the jobless total north of the border rise by 100,000.

Mr Hepburn added: We continue to call on the UK Government to immediately rule out the possibility of a no-deal Brexit and extend the Article 50 process.

However, as a responsible Government we will also continue  and indeed intensify  our work to prepare for all outcomes as best we can.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: It is great news that employment continues to rise in Scotland.

Scotlands two governments are working together to strengthen our economy and create jobs, with initiatives such as our growth deal programme beginning to reap rewards. In the last few weeks we have co-signed the 250 million Ayrshire growth deal and announced 345 million in joint government funding for the Borderlands.

The UK Governments investment in growth deals in Scotland is now more than 1.35 billion, and shows our huge commitment to growing Scotlands job sector.

However Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: These headline figures look encouraging but we know that being in work does not necessarily lift a person out of poverty, because of the crisis of low pay and insecure contracts across our economy. 

He added: SNP ministers hailing these figures as a sign of the health of the economy are not living in the real world.

Real earnings are still lower than before the financial crash. People are working hard but still struggling.

Economist Dr Stuart McIntyre of the Fraser of Allander Institute said: On the face of it, todays headline labour market statistics make good reading for the Scottish economy.

The unemployment rate is at 3.4%, below that of the UK as a whole, and the employment rate increased further in the last three months to 75.3%. This suggests that any apparent Brexit uncertainty still isnt feeding through to the key labour market indicators.

That being said, it is important to caution that these impressive headline numbers are not leading to the improvement in underlying wages and earnings we might ordinarily expect.Self-styled yellow vest protester James Goddard has denied calling MP Anna Soubry a Nazi and a traitor during a chaotic court hearing which resulted in the judge adjourning proceedings part-way through.

Goddard, 29, pleaded not guilty to harassing the politician between December 18 last year and January 8 in Westminster.

He also denied one count of racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, and another count of harassment, alarm or distress, when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Goddard, wearing a white T-shirt featuring a British flag, a logo for The Directory Guys, a motif of three childrens faces, and the words our boys, repeatedly gesticulated to the packed and noisy public gallery during the hearing.

James Goddard denies harassing MP Anna Soubry (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

He is expected to rely on a defence of fair comment.

Addressing Judge Kenneth Grant from the dock, Goddard said: Its not illegal to heckle an MP. All of this is wrong.

He also complained that he was called a far-right fascist every day, and drew raucous applause from the public gallery as he addressed the judge.

Judge Grant rose and temporarily adjourned the case 15 minutes into the hearing after several people in the public gallery began shouting about Brexit, made derogatory comments about Ms Soubry, and chanted: Shame on you.

Supporters chanted Soubry is a Nazi, commented on the perceived severity of his bail conditions by telling the judge that Goddard is not a terrorist, you know, and said a police officer briefly present in court would be better off fighting knife crime.

The hearing resumed to inform Goddard of his bail conditions, but descended into farce again soon after as the defendant left the dock complaining to the judge that he could not get a fair trial.

People in the public gallery shouted messages of support to the defendant as he left the court.

He will return for a two-day trial on July 19, during which Ms Soubry is expected to be among the witnesses. It is not known whether or not the Independent Group MP will give evidence in person.

Goddard, 29, from Timperley in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, denies one count of harassment without violence in which he allegedly shouted and chanted at Ms Soubry, pursued her, filmed her, called her scum, Nazi and traitor, and used other insulting language; one count of using threatening/abusive words/behaviour or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress; and one count of racially/religiously aggravated harassment/alarm/distress by words/writing, towards Pc Mindaugas Sciukas.

Goddard, who live-streamed his arrival at court, addressed swells of supporters outside upon its conclusion.HiKOKI Power Tools has become a member of the British Merchants Federation.

HiKOKI Power Tools, formerly known as Hitachi Power Tools, has many merchant customers which it supports with eye-catching Point of Sale and toolbars, technical help and extended warranties on its tools.

The BMF is the only trade association that supports and protects the interests of merchants and suppliers in the building supplies industry. The unique forum brings together national merchants, independent merchants and suppliers for the benefit of the industry.

Becoming a member of the such a strong trade body highlights HiKOKIs commitment to the merchant supply chain and will bring the company closer to its membership, keep abreast of future trends and meet its customers demands and expectations.

Marketing Director Simon Miller said: We are very excited about our membership of the BMF.

We are very much looking forward to developing a strong and lasting relationship with the BMF and its members.Hundreds of mourners have left written and floral tributes to three teenagers who died following a crush outside a St Patricks Day disco.

Up to 400 people were present as the tragedy near the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown unfolded on Sunday night, and detectives said it was fortunate more were not killed.

Youngsters described chaotic scenes and police confirmed some were trampled underfoot as they waited to enter the popular Co Tyrone night spot.

On Tuesday, tearful well-wishers embraced tightly after laying flowers at a shrine to the dead beside a police cordon.

Eyewitness Eboney Johnston, 16, said people just started to fall; as one person fell another went down (Liam McBurney/PA)

Books of condolence across the county filled with page upon page of tribute.

Eyewitness Eboney Johnston, 16, recalled: People just started to fall, but as one person fell another went down.

As a person went to lift another person up, they were pushing and shoving and another person would fall, which caused a build up of everybody lying there.

She said she was lucky to survive.

We nearly feel guilty because it was not us, we nearly feel bad.

Students Lauren Bullock, 17, Connor Currie, 16, and Morgan Barnard, 17, all from nearby Dungannon in Co Tyrone, died.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray said it was fortunate more were not killed following every parents `worst nightmare (Liam McBurney/PA)

They were likened to a ray of sunshine, ambitious and charismatic young people with compassion and courtesy.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Detective Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray said: This is an event that should have been a celebration and it has turned into every parents worst nightmare.

He added: Bad enough, a horrendous tragedy, but we could easily have been looking at more.

Buses let youngsters off outside before the disaster happened.

Ms Johnston described the unfolding events.

She said: We looked down and you could just see everybody lying there and then you could just see Connor himself being took out.

It was just such a tragic situation.

Youngsters will not face police action for being under age if they come forward, prosecutors pledged, in a bid to encourage people to tell their stories to officers.

Mr Murray praised those in the crowd who worked hard to get party-goers who had fallen down back on their feet when others were tumbling on top of them.

Councillor Sean McPeake, chairman of Mid-Ulster District Council, signing a book of condolence in Cookstown (Liam McBurney/PA)

One tribute in a book of condolence in Dungannon said: Heartfelt sympathy for you all on the tragic loss of your child.

It was signed a mother.

Lauren was a bright and bubbly cheerleader and schoolgirl who lit up the lives of her friends, a close friend said.

Alice Lambert, also 17, from Coalisland in Co Tyrone, was among the first to sign the memorial book in Cookstown.

She said: She was such a nice person  she was like a ray of sunshine.

She made you happy, you saw her on a night out and she would have made you happy.

St Patricks Academy in Dungannon, where the two other victims attended school, said it was a time of profound sadness.

Morgan was an ambitious and charismatic young person with abundant potential.

Teachers said: He lifted the mood everywhere he went, everyone benefited from Morgans energetic, positive zest for life. It was contagious.

His smile was bright and when Morgan was around, fun and laughter always followed.

Connor was a kind-hearted, loyal friend, always willing to help others, courteous, mannerly and compassionate.

The school said: He had a great sense of team spirit and his warm, caring nature endeared him to all and earned him much deserved respect.

Counselling services are being provided to those affected and prayer services have been held.

The British Psychological Society and the Royal College of Psychiatrists said it was completely normal for those present to experience distress  difficulty sleeping and bad dreams, thoughts and memories of what happened popping into your head, irritability, feeling sad and worried.

A statement from the professional bodies said: People all react in different ways. It is helpful to be with family and friends and for those who were there to talk about happened if they want to.

For some people quiet time can be important.

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley signed the Cookstown book of condolence and met members of the emergency services.A woman was left distressed after being sexually assaulted in bushes at a car park near a former school in Dalkeith.

The 24-year-old had been out with friends and was returning home between 1.45am and 2.45am on Saturday when she was approached by a man on Newmills Road.

He began to engage her in conversation and a short time later, at the car park area of the old Dalkeith High School, she was pushed into bushes and attacked.

The suspect is described as white, between 5ft 9in and 6ft tall, wearing a dark hooded top and white trainers.

After the attack he made off towards the wastelands between Allan Terrace and the River South Esk.

Detective Inspector Keith MacKay said: This is a very serious attack on a young woman, which has left her deeply distressed and we are doing everything we can to provide her with all the necessary support she requires.

The woman was attacked in bushes by the former Dalkeith High School (David Cheskin/PA)

Despite the time that this incident took place, there were potentially a number of local residents either still awake within their properties or travelling in the area.

Id ask any of these individuals who believes they can assist our inquiries to contact police immediately.

In particular, any motorists who were in the Newmills Road area during the early hours of Saturday morning and who may have dash-cam footage that captured the attack, or provides us with a more detailed description of the suspect, should also get in touch.

Anyone with information can contact the PPU in Dalkeith via 101 and quote incident number 517 of the 16th March, or anonymously contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.A Labour MP faced suggestions he was a misogynist bully boy during a furious Commons clash with a Government minister.

Conservative frontbencher Claire Perry made the claim after Clive Lewis (Norwich South) gesticulated and shouted as she responded to his question in the chamber.

At one point, Business Minister Ms Perry asked if Mr Lewis was going to ask her to get on my knees next  a reference to a previous incident involving the Labour MP.

In 2017, Mr Lewis was criticised over a video in which he jokingly told a man to get on your knees bitch.

Speaking during business, energy and industrial strategy questions, Mr Lewis criticised the Governments rhetoric on climate change and asked if they would ever announce a cut in the lavish support it doles out to its friends in the fossil fuel industry.

Ms Perry replied: Its news to me that the Labour Partys policy is to be anti the oil and gas industry that employs so many hundreds of thousands of people.

Clive Lewis criticised the Governments rhetoric on climate change(Yui Mok/MP)

And when it comes to rhetoric, (Mr Lewis) should just go and practise in front of the bathroom mirror.

At this point Mr Lewis waved his arms in mock horror before laughing, with Ms Perry adding: Perhaps hes going to ask me to get on my knees next, Mr Speaker.

What we do on this side of the House is focus on facts.

Mr Lewis then shouted maybe answer the question, which prompted the minister to say: He was very clear that he wasnt a misogynist bully boy.

I think his activity and behaviour today suggests quite the opposite.

Mr Lewis continued gesticulating as Ms Perry concluded her answer, in which she said the Government has not slashed support for renewable energy.

On a later question, asked by Labour MP Dennis Skinner (Bolsover), Ms Perry said many people, including the GMB union, supported fracking.

This prompted Mr Skinner to shout theyre wrong, with Ms Perry replying: He says the unions are wrong, thats probably a first.

If hed stop yelling  crikey, I do have to say Mr Speaker, I feel desperately sorry for female members on the Opposition benches if this is how their colleagues treat them, being howled down, winked at  hes not in his place (Mr Lewis)  and kisses blown after a question.

The brocialists are in full control of the Labour Party.Communication between infection control doctors and nurses at a hospital where several patients died was not good, a Holyrood committee has been told.

MSPs are holding an inquiry into infections in Scotlands hospitals after two patients died at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow, having contracted an infection linked to pigeon droppings.

Speaking to the Scottish Parliaments Health and Sport Committee,the director of quality assurance at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Alastair Delaney, said that there were systemic problems in relationships and governance at the QEUH.

Committee convener, Scottish Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald, referred to comments made by Mr Delaney in his report on the QEUH (published earlier this month) which stated that he had encountered challenges in the relationship between the estates department and the infection control team at the hospital.

Mr Macdonald said that having heard evidence from witnesses, it was suggested that infection control doctors and nurses did not appear to have close working relationships with those managing domestic services in a number of hospitals.

Mr Delaney said: It was a feature of what we found in the QEUH and its associated sites.

A committee has heard there were problems around `governance and relationships at the hospital (Jane Barlow/PA)

Its also something that we would be concerned about across the country as a whole because it is absolutely essential that there is good working relationships between the nursing staff, particularly for infection control, and the buildings staff.

Obviously in that particular circumstance, we had quite a large backlog of repairs to be done and the communication was not particularly great about how those were being managed and what happened when they were being reported and potentially having to be reported again.

So it demonstrated that that level of leadership governance was really important.

The benefit for us in that inspection was that we were able to stand back and look at that, and it became a key feature because the frontline staff were doing as good a job as they could in the circumstances and we give praise to them in the actual report.

Some of the problems were more systemic  about governance and relationships.

Mr Macdonald also said that evidence submitted had indicated that the undertaking of certain routine maintenance and repairs was often carried out without consultation with infection control professionals at the hospital.

Over the course of its inquiry, the committee will examine whether infection control is adequate and whether more can be done to improve patient safety at hospitals across Scotland.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman last month said that public confidence in the NHS had been shaken by the outbreak of hospital infections.

Last week, 63-year-old Mito Kaur died after she had contracted a fungal infection after being admitted to the QEUH on January 7.

A statement released by solicitor Aamer Anwar on behalf of her family said that many questions remain unanswered over her death.

Police were instructed by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal to obtain a full report, with an independent post-mortem to be carried out subsequently.The Queen and Duchess of Cambridge met a robot and admired London rooftop views as they teamed up for their first joint engagement outside palace walls.

The pair visited Kings College London to open new education and learning facilities on Tuesday.

They toured the Bush House facilities and met supporters of the development, as well as visiting a roof terrace that boasts panoramic views of the capital.

Kate could be heard describing the cityscape as impressive.

They viewed a robotics demonstration, including robotic surgery, and a demo showing how sensors made from textiles can measure useful information about the body.

The Queen was accompanied by the Duchess of Cambridge to open Bush House (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Shaking a robotic hand, Kate joked: Very nice to meet you.

They then visited the Kings virtual trading floor and met students from the Entrepreneurship Institute, which exists to support entrepreneurial thinking, skills and experiences amongst Kings students, staff and alumni.

Kate met entrepreneur Aysha Ingar who has set up an app for Muslim women and Tobi Oredein who has set up a media platform for black women in the UK.

Ms Oredein said of Kate: She was saying that her parents are entrepreneurs so shes all for it.

The Duchess of Cambridge met a robot on the tour (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Kate also met Qasim Munye, who has set up an app called Shortly for people who want to read short stories on the go, allowing people to choose a story that suits how much time they have to read.

He said: She mentioned that she thinks it would be good for her children before they go to sleep.

Mr Munye said he is now going to think about adding stories for children to the app.

They ended their visit in the developments new auditorium, where the Queen, who is patron of the university, unveiled a plaque, formally opening Bush House, before signing the visitors book alongside Kate.

Kate was wearing a grey Catherine Walker coat for the engagement.

The Queen and the duchess signed the visitors book before the end of their trip (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The Queen was wearing a Stewart Parvin old rose cashmere coat with a silk dress of autumnal woodland in shades of grey, fuchsia and olive, teamed with a matching Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat.

In 2014, Kate joined the Queen as she hosted a night in celebration of the UKs dramatic arts at Buckingham Palace.

The duchess joined the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2012 for the start of the Queens Jubilee tour in Leicester.

And in 2011, the Queen viewed Kates wedding dress with her during a private tour of a new display at Buckingham Palace.

In June 2018, a few weeks after the royal wedding, the Queen carried out joint engagements with the Duchess of Sussex in Cheshire.Theresa May has voiced her absolute determination that MPs should have another chance to vote on her Brexit deal, despite the bombshell intervention of the Commons Speaker.

John Bercow provoked uproar at Westminster on Monday when he ruled that the Government could not bring the Prime Ministers deal back for a third meaningful vote unless there were substantial changes.

However in the course of a 90-minute discussion at the weekly meeting of the Cabinet in Downing Street, Mrs May made clear she wanted MPs to have another vote as soon as possible.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: What you can see from the Prime Minister and her colleagues is an absolute determination to find a way in which Parliament could vote for the UK to leave the European Union with a deal.

The Prime Minister has been very clear throughout that she wants that to happen as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, there was said to concern among some ministers that Brexit appeared to be slipping away.

The Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom is understood to have told the meeting: This used to be the Cabinet that would deliver Brexit and now from what Im hearing its not.

Mrs Mays spokesman said the Prime Minister had made clear if her deal was voted down in the second meaningful vote  as happened last week  they would be in crisis.

He said events on Monday suggested that situation has come to pass.

The spokesman said that Mrs May would now be writing to European Council president Donald Tusk ahead of Thursdays EU summit in Brussels in relation to an extension of the Article 50 withdrawal process.

The Prime Minister previously said if the deal was defeated in last weeks vote there would have to be an extended delay to Brexit, with the UK staging elections to the European Parliament in May.

However the spokesman said: She has said in the House of Commons that she does not want there to be a long delay and that she believes asking the British public to take part in European elections three years after they voted to leave the EU would represent a failure by politicians.

Downing Street confirmed discussions were continuing with the Democratic Unionist Party  which props up the Government at Westminster  in an effort to build support for the deal after last weeks 149-vote defeat.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson  one of the most strident opponents of the Withdrawal Agreement  was also seen entering the Cabinet Office for talks.

The Prime Ministers spokesman said: She is speaking with and having meetings with colleagues and a lot of those meetings have been focused on Brexit.

Earlier, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay acknowledged Mr Bercows ruling made it more unlikely there would be an attempt to stage another vote before Mrs May heads to Brussels, as No 10 had hoped.

However, he insisted that Mrs Mays agreement remained the only deal on the table.

What we need to do is secure the deal, he told Sky News.

This is the only deal on the table. The EU is clear it is the only deal on the table. Business needs the certainty of this deal and it is time that Parliament comes together and gets behind it.

Stephen Barclay (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

While Mr Bercow cited previous rulings dating back to the 17th century in his Commons statement, Mr Barclay said he had previously made clear the House should not necessarily be bound by precedent.

What the Speaker has said in his ruling is there needs to be something that is different. You can have the same motion but where the circumstances have changed, he said.

So we need to look at the details of the ruling, we need to consider that in the terms of earlier rulings that dont particularly align with yesterdays.

The fact a number of Members of Parliament have said that they will change their votes points to the fact that there are things that are different.

With less than two weeks before Britain is still formally due to leave on March 29, there was exasperation among leaders of the remaining EU 27 over the continued deadlock in Westminster.

Arriving for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Germanys Europe minister Michael Roth said they needed clear and precise proposals from the UK regarding any Article 50 extension.

Dear friends in London, please deliver. The clock is ticking, he said.

Its not just a game. Its an extremely serious situation.

Meeting with Taoiseach @campaignforleo in Dublin to confirm full EU unity on #Brexit, discuss latest developments and uncertain political situation in London as well as preparedness for a no-deal brexit. pic.twitter.com/wtvQqRYYVQ  Charles Michel (@eucopresident) March 19, 2019

Meanwhile, Irish premier Leo Varadkar has held talks in Dublin with Mr Tusk ahead of the Brussels summit.

The Irish government has been adamant it will not accept changes to the Northern Ireland backstop  intended to ensure there is no return of a hard border  which remains the main stumbling block to an agreement for many MPs.

In a joint statement, they said Mr Tusk had expressed strong and ongoing solidarity with Ireland and they had agreed they needed to see what proposals would now emerge from London.

Meanwhile, preparations continue in Ireland and across the European Union for a no deal scenario, which would have serious consequences for all concerned, the statement said.Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, has abruptly announced his resignation after three decades in power, raising uncertainty over the countrys future course.

The 78-year-old said in a televised address to the oil-rich nation that he had taken the difficult decision to terminate his authority as president, effective on Wednesday.

He did not give a reason, but noted that he would have marked 30 years in the job later this year.

He said he sees his mission as ensuring the transfer of power to a new generation of politicians.

It was an honour for me to serve the people, he said. I have worked hard to fulfil the nations will.

Mr Nazarbayev added that he would retain the position of the chairman of the nations Security Council and the head of the ruling party. I will serve you until the end of my days, he said.

He said upper house speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will serve as interim head of state in line with the constitution until a new election is held.

Kazakhstan, despite having a population of only 18 million, is the ninth largest country in the world with an area of more than a million square miles. It borders Russia to the north and China to the east and has extensive oil reserves that make it strategically and economically important.

Mr Nazarbayev came to power in 1989 as its Communist Party chief when it was part of the Soviet Union, and was first elected president weeks before the 1991 Soviet collapse.

In those days, Kazakhstan was a backwater region best known for prisons, nuclear testing sites and being the home of the launch facility of the Soviet space programme, the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Mr Nazarbayev has been widely praised for maintaining stability and ethnic peace in Kazakhstan but has also faced criticism for marginalising the political opposition and creating what is effectively a one-party state.

He has maintained a delicate balance between Russia and the West, leading Kazakhstan to join a Russia-dominated economic alliance of ex-Soviet nations, but cultivating close energy ties and other links with the West.

He was lauded abroad for modernising the oil industry and his decision to give up the nuclear weapons Kazakhstan inherited from the Soviet Union.

In 1997, he moved the countrys capital from Almaty to the remote northern city of Astana in what was widely considered a way to fuse the ethnic-Russian minority in the north to the new Kazakh state.

The new city was filled with post-modern architecture including the soaring glass pyramid of the Palace of Peace and Accord, dedicated to harmony among religious and ethnic groups.

In 2010, Mr Nazarbayev was awarded the title of Leader of the Nation, which comes with lifelong immunity from prosecution and as-yet untested powers of veto over some government policies.

He departs at a time of rare open protest against the government.

He fired his prime minister and cabinet last month following a wave of protests by Kazakh women calling for more financial support for children and safer housing after a fire in which five children died.

Soon after, he announced a programme of more generous spending for large families.

He has extended his tenure by landslide victories in successive elections and plebiscites. He took nearly 98% of the vote in the most recent election, in 2015, when he was elected for another five-year term.

His resignation will set the stage for a potential battle between Russia and the US for influence with the successor government.

Nursultan Nazarbayev with Vladimir Putin in 2013 (Alexander Nemenov/AP)

Vladimir Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president had spoken with Mr Nazarbayev by telephone earlier on Tuesday but did not say what they discussed.

Nazarbayev was born into a poor rural labourers family on July 6 1940. As a young adult, he worked in harsh conditions at a steel plants blast furnace and at 22 he joined the Communist Party.

He worked his way up in the party, went to university and became known for his comparatively candid assessments of the Soviet Unions shortcomings.

That turn of mind positioned him in the reformist camp that came to ascendancy when Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union in 1985.

Mr Nazarbayev was the last of Central Asias former Communist Party bosses to remain in power after the deaths of Turkmenistans Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006 and Uzbekistans Islam Karimov in 2016.

The president of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, is now the regions longest-serving head of state, having assumed power in 1992 during a civil war.More than 35,000 worth of jewellery has been stolen during a break-in at a shop.

Rings, pendants and chains, earrings, bracelets and a three figure sum of money were snatched from Fennes Jewellery in Glenrothes in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The items ranged in value from a pair of celtic stud earrings worth 145 to an 18ct white gold diamond bubble ring worth 3,700.

The incident happened at around 2.20am at the shop in Newark Road South in the Fife town.

APPEAL AFTER BREAK-IN TO #GLENROTHES JEWELLERS



Over 35,000 worth of jewellery was stolen from local business, Fennes Jewellery, in the early hours of Saturday 16th March. Please call 101 if you have any info which may be relevant.



Read more - https://t.co/KF4f0DMJLv pic.twitter.com/UORRHDYGXv  Glenrothes Police (@GlenrothesPol) March 19, 2019

Police are keen to trace three men who were seen in the area at the time and are believed to have been involved.

They were wearing dark clothing and may have been travelling in a vehicle.

Police are investigating the robbery in Glenrothes (David Cheskin/PA)

Detective Inspector Paul Dick of Fife CID said: This incident has caused significant disruption to a local business, and a thorough investigation is underway.

As part of this, wed ask anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious behaviour, or any motorists or taxi drivers who were travelling in the area around this time and have dashcam footage, to contact us.

Likewise, anyone who may recognise this jewellery or have been offered it for sale since this time is urged to get in touch with us or Crimestoppers anonymously.

If you purchase a stolen item, knowingly or otherwise, this can be seized by officers at any time meaning a financial loss for yourself. Always check that a seller can provide proof of ownership.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 0491 of March 16, 2019, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be maintained.A man has returned an overdue library book  53 years after he first borrowed it.

Harry Krame from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, said he checked out The Family Book Of Verse by Lewis Gannet from his school library when he was 13 and Lyndon Johnson was president.

The now 65-year-old Mr Krame found the book recently while cleaning out his basement and felt guilty about keeping it overdue for all those years.

Memorial Middle School vice principal Dominick Tarquinio said a late fee at todays rate would be about 2,000 US dollars (1,500), but said the district will let it slide.

School librarian Susan Murray said she plans to use the book for a display to teach students about returning books.Beavers will be given legal protection in Scotland after an attempt by a Conservative MSP to prevent the move was voted down.

Beavers will now be added to list of European protected species, meaning culling can only be carried out under licence.

Licences, managed by Scottish Natural Heritage, will also be required to remove dams more than two weeks old.

Exciting beaver news! Holyrood has agreed new legal protections for our semiaquatic rodent pals, so @SpeciesChampion @JohnFinnieHI and I chatted with this charming furry lobbyist outside Holyrood! pic.twitter.com/l1lqCzNRuo  Patrick Harvie  (@patrickharvie) March 19, 2019

John Scott argued the protected status would allow beavers to grow more rapidly (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA)

John Scott, Tory MSP for Ayr, told the Scottish Parliaments Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee beavers were illegally released in the River Tay catchment area and grew from around 146 in 2012 to up to 500 by 2018.

He said their dams can cause floods and affect the structure of riverbanks, damaging farmland and costing thousands of pounds to fix.

Mr Scott, a farmer, said beaver activity could hit wild salmon stocks and raised concerns dams could affect flood mitigation schemes and cause flooding upriver  posing a flood risk to Perth.

Putting forward a motion to annul the legislation change, he said: Illegally released beaver numbers are growing very rapidly without protection.

This statutory instrument will offer protection, allowing the beaver population to grow even more rapidly, all of which comes at a cost.

John Scotts motion to annul the SI that would give #beavers legal protection in #Scotland has been defeated!



Beavers will now gain legal protection in Scotland as of 1 May 2019!  Scottish Wild Beaver Group (@ScotsBeavers) March 19, 2019

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said she did not recognise Mr Scotts somewhat apocalyptic vision of the future of beavers in Scotland.

She said the animals were released around the River Tay either by accident, negligence or as a deliberate illegal act, prior to a 2009 Scottish Government-run trial which successfully reintroduced the species in Knapdale, Argyll and Bute.

Beavers became extinct in Britain in the 16th century, mainly due to over-hunting.

Ms Cunningham said there would be no way of removing the animals in Tayside without sending in kill squads.

She said: What we anticipate now is that beavers will simply be allowed to spread naturally.

She said pop-up populations in geographically separate parts of Scotland would not be tolerated.

Roseanna Cunningham said the Government wants the beaver population to spread naturally (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Ms Cunningham said some 20 countries had already reinstated beavers and she would be very glad to have Scotland be the 21st country to do a successful reintroduction of the beaver.

Questioned if farmers affected will be compensated, she said it is not currently under discussion and instead they will be supported to manage the impact of beavers so compensation is not required.

She questioned the point of Mr Scotts motion to annul which she said would not change anything he was raising concerns about.

Her party colleague Stewart Stevenson said the legislation allowed for culling as it provided exemptions from protection to deal with any impact on fishing and the environment.

The Labour and Green members of the committee backed adding beavers to the list of protected species, highlighting their contribution to biodiversity.

Green MSP John Finnie, announced as the Scottish Wildlife Trusts new champion for the Eurasian beaver, said: The beaver is a keystone species because of the multiple benefits it can have on biodiversity and Scotland has already benefited from their reintroduction  but sadly they have been targeted for indiscriminate killing, including of pregnant mums and their young.

Thats why Greens have pushed consistently for these vital legal protections  but the Tories should hang their heads in shame for trying to roll back the clock instead of boosting Scotlands precious biodiversity.Self-styled yellow vest protester James Goddard has denied calling MP Anna Soubry a Nazi and a traitor during a chaotic court hearing which resulted in the judge adjourning proceedings partway through.

The Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has confirmed it is urgently investigating what happened when Goddard, 29, pleaded not guilty to harassing the politician between December 18 last year and January 8 in Westminster.

He also denied one count of racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, and another count of harassment, alarm or distress, when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Goddard is expected to rely on a defence of fair comment.

But the truncated hearing descended into farce after supporters chanted Soubry is a Nazi, commented on the perceived severity of his bail conditions by telling Judge Kenneth Grant that Goddard is not a terrorist, you know, and said a police officer briefly present in court would be better off fighting knife crime.

Supporters of James Goddard outside Westminster Magistrates Court (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Judge Grant rose and temporarily adjourned the case 15 minutes into the hearing, during which three supporters made their way into the dock alongside the defendant.

Earlier, Goddard complained that he was called a far-right fascist every day, and drew raucous applause from the public gallery as he addressed the judge.

Goddard said: Its not illegal to heckle an MP. All of this is wrong.

The hearing resumed to inform Goddard of his bail conditions but there were chaotic scenes as the defendant left the dock complaining to the judge that he could not get a fair trial.

People in the public gallery shouted messages of support to the defendant as he left the court.

Goddard, wearing a white T-shirt featuring a British flag, a logo for The Directory Guys, a motif of three childrens faces, and the words our boys, repeatedly gesticulated to the packed and noisy public gallery during the hearing.

He will return for a two-day trial on July 19, during which Ms Soubry is expected to be among the witnesses.

James Goddard is greeted by a supporter as he arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

It is not known whether or not the Independent Group MP will give evidence in person.

Goddard, 29, from Timperley in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, denies one count of harassment without violence in which he allegedly shouted and chanted at Ms Soubry, pursued her, filmed her, called her scum, Nazi and traitor, and used other insulting language; one count of using threatening/abusive words/behaviour or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress; and one count of racially/religiously aggravated harassment/alarm/distress by words/writing, towards Pc Mindaugas Sciukas.

Goddard, who live-streamed his arrival at court, addressed swells of supporters outside upon its conclusion.

But there was also an allegation that journalists  described as vultures during the hearing by Goddard  were intimidated at court.

An HMCTS spokesman said: The safety and security of all court users is our priority and were deeply concerned to hear of intimidating behaviour at Westminster Magistrates Court this morning.

We apologise to all those affected and are urgently investigating what happened. This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.A blind 98-year-old Second World War veteran who became embroiled in a High Court battle because he wanted to leave a care facility has told a judge how he is living again after returning home.

Former Royal Navy gunner Douglas Meyers, who lives near Southend, Essex, said he was unhappy in the care facility and wanted to end his life in the bungalow which was his home for 40 years.

Earlier this year, Mr Justice Hayden decided that Mr Meyers, a widower who served in the Italian and north African theatres during the 1940s, might be able to return home.

The judge, who analysed evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in Southend, said the ideal solution would be for Mr Meyers to return home with a suitable package of support.

He is now overseeing developments at follow-up hearings in London.

Social services bosses at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council have welfare responsibility for Mr Meyers and had asked the judge to make a decision about what was in the veterans best interests.

Douglas Meyers said he was unhappy in the care facility (Yui Mok/PA)

Lawyers representing the council told Mr Justice Hayden at a follow-up hearing last week that Mr Meyers had returned home.

Mr Meyers has now spoken to the judge from home via a telephone link at a further hearing.

He said he was enjoying being back in his bungalow and added: I have had eight days of living again.

Mr Justice Hayden told Mr Meyers that he had to be pleasant to social workers and carers visiting him home and co-operate with them.

The judge said he wanted the pensioner to smile at helpers until your teeth hurt.Home Secretary Sajid Javid has doubled Government funding for security at mosques and other places of worship in the wake of the New Zealand attack.

The amount available for religious buildings seeking to enhance premises will rise to 1.6 million in 2019-20.

Launched in 2016, the places of worship security fund helps churches, mosques, temples and gurdwaras in England and Wales to install alarms, security lighting, fencing and CCTV cameras to deter attackers.

So far, more than a third of grants have been awarded to mosques. Synagogues are covered by a separate scheme.

The Government had previously committed 2.4m over three years  or 800,000 a year.

Sajid Javid says it is `vital we stand together (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Announcing the financial boost for the next financial year, Mr Javid said: The horrific events in New Zealand are a direct attack on the values of tolerance and freedom of worship that unite us all.

Nobody should ever fear persecution of their faith and its vital we stand together to reject those who seek to spread hatred and divide us.

I know many Muslim communities are feeling vulnerable and anxious. But they should seek comfort from knowing we are doing everything to tackle hate and extremism.

Thats why we are doubling next years places of worship fund  providing physical protection as well as peace of mind.

To increase uptake, the Home Office said the bidding process for the fund will be simplified so organisations no longer have to prove they have previously experienced a hate crime incident directly.

In addition, a new 5 million fund will be set up to provide protective security training for places of worship.

Following the New Zealand atrocity, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) urged the Government to step up funding for security at mosques.

Pointing to a 14 million grant to help protect Jewish sites, the MCB called on ministers to demonstrate equivalent support to Muslim communities.

In the wake of the New Zealand attack, UK police stepped up patrols around mosques to provide reassurance and security advice.

The potential risk that mosques and Muslim worshippers could be targeted in Britain was underlined by the Finsbury Park attack in 2017.

Experimental figures published by the Home Office last year indicated that in 2017-18, where the perceived religion of the victim was recorded, just over half (52%) of religious hate crime offences recorded by police in England and Wales were targeted against Muslims.

British security chiefs have warned of a rising threat from far-right terrorism.

Police say they have foiled four extreme right-wing plots in the last two years, while referrals to the Prevent anti-terror scheme relating to right-wing extremism jumped by more than a third in 2017-18.Child sexual exploitation victims should no longer be forced to reveal convictions linked to their abuse, Labour have argued.

Shadow home office minister Louise Haigh said in the Commons the punitive rules mean they cannot escape their past as victims, calling the procedure unjust.

Asking an Urgent Question, Ms Haigh added: But these victims are not only forced to live with their trauma, but convictions linked to their sexual exploitation in childhood.

They are blighted by an obligation to disclose previous convictions linked to past abuse, forced to tell employers and even local PTAs about past convictions.

Ms Haigh referenced the campaigner and survivor of child sexual exploitation (CSE) Sammy Woodhouse, who has two convictions linked to her abuse.

She asked the Government to look at enacting a proposal called Sammys Law, which would allow victims to have their criminal records automatically reviewed and crimes associated with their grooming removed.

Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The Labour frontbencher asked what the position on records disclosure for survivors was.

Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said due to an ongoing case at the Supreme Court on this issue, she was not able to comment on individual cases.

She went on to say that the Government was considering the judgment very carefully, adding: I am not in a position sadly to comment on other aspects of the Urgent Question.

Ms Atkins said: The criminal record disclosure scheme seeks to strike a balance between safeguarding children and enabling vulnerable individuals to put their offending behind them.

And she said it applies to only certain jobs that are protected, and it is for employers to judge a persons suitability for a role once they are armed with the facts.

Labours John Spellar (Warley) said: Its for the employer to decide and thats frankly just not good enough. It shows the failure in the Home Office to recognise the fundamental flaws both in policy and in implementation of the disclosure and barring scheme.

We have to allow people, particularly victims of CSE to rebuild their lives. So why wont she dump the dogma, sort out the faulty DBS before it blights even more lives?

Labours Sarah Champion (Rotherham) said: Will the minister please give guidance to police, the judges and CPS to consider holistically when a child is presented with a criminal activity that it could be part of grooming.

Labours John Mann (Bassetlaw) said: Theres a handful of people whose views should be forgotten, those increasing number of commentators and politicians suggesting that this is a waste of money.

Ms Atkins noted: The choice of language that we use is vitally important and I make it absolutely clear that it is the policy of this Government that we will always be on the side of victims of child sexual abuse and we will always seek to secure justice for them.

Tory MP Boris Johnson was last week urged to apologise to victims of child abuse after claiming millions of pounds of police funding is being spaffed up the wall investigating historic allegations.The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwalls tour of the Caribbean threatens to be overshadowed by paparazzi pictures taken of the royal couple relaxing on a Barbados beach.

Charles and Camilla were photographed in their swimming costumes during their day off on Monday, just as their major Commonwealth trip, with an historic visit to Cuba, began.

HRHs arrival in St. Lucia marks the beginning of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwalls 10 day visit to the Caribbean.



Find out more about TRHs engagements during the tour https://t.co/hlpV58mQyh  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 17, 2019

In a series of pictures, the heir to the throne and his wife are seen strolling along the sand with their matching hotel beach towels under their arms.

The prince is wearing a pair of multi-coloured flower-print trunks while his wife is in a dark blue one-piece costume.

Charles is seen up to his thighs in the turquoise water and in another image he has emerged after a dip and has wet hair.

The images do not appear to have been used yet by British media outlets and it is understood a letter from the princes solicitor has been sent to press organisations highlighting his reasonable expectation to privacy.

The tour began on Sunday when Charles briefly visited St Lucia for a few hours and marked the 40th anniversary of the countrys independence.

Charles is presented with flowers as he attends the Governor-Generals Reception at the Serenity Hotel, Coconut Bay, St Lucia (Jane Barlow/PA)

He travelled that night to Barbados to be reunited with his wife, who had flown out ahead of the start of the tour.

A source said the pictures were taken during a brief off-duty moment on a major international tour on behalf of the Government, in circumstances where the couple would have a reasonable expectation of privacy during private down time.

Clarence House has declined to comment.The UK Government has been urged to devolve drugs legislation to Scotland so that a consumption room can be created in Glasgow.

Under current legislation, such a facility, which aims to prevent drug-related deaths and reduce HIV infection rates, would be illegal.

Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs) are aimed at providing a safe environment for drug addicts to inject.

However, unless the UKs Misuse of Drugs Act is amended, addicts and staff working at a DCR could be arrested.

A bill that'd allow Glasgow's safer drug consumption facility to open lawfully has been put before the UK Parliament with cross-party support. The full text of the case made by Glasgow Central's @alisonthewliss in support of the bill is here: https://t.co/9Q8moSyz1c @GCHSCP pic.twitter.com/EbwsoNXhZB  Glasgow City Council (@GlasgowCC) March 15, 2018

In a submission to Westminsters Health and Social Care Committee  which is carrying out an inquiry into drugs  four charities in Scotland set out the advantages of introducing a DCR.

The submission states: DCRs are cost-effective, reduce public injecting, do not increase injecting frequency, drug use, or drug-related crime, and increase the uptake of social work and addiction services

Plans to introduce a drugs consumption room in Glasgow have been discussed for several years (Paul Faith/PA)

The introduction of a DCR in Glasgow could potentially reach 400-500 people that currently partake in public injecting  a particularly vulnerable population who face severe and multiple disadvantages and are disproportionately affected by health inequalities

The legal barriers that are currently in place to a DCR in Glasgow could be solved by an exemption to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to protect both people that inject drugs and the staff at such a facility.

So proud that @theSNP conference has given overwhelming support to our resolution on medically supervised drug consumption facilities. We call on the @ukhomeoffice to let Glasgow's pilot go ahead so we can help save lives and reduce harm. #DCRs #HarmReduction #SNP18 pic.twitter.com/csMGpCqK9V  Alison Thewliss  (@alisonthewliss) October 8, 2018

Nathan Sparling, HIV Scotland chief executive, said: The localisation of drug laws would allow the Scottish Government to respond far faster and in a far more relevant manner than the current legal framework allows.

Allowing the Scottish Government to act in the best interests of its citizens in this instance makes perfect sense and we hope that the committee agrees.

Leon Wylie, Hepatitis Scotland lead officer, said: With legislative control reserved to Westminster, its important that they understand the actual issues affecting the people we work with and stand for.

The international evidence base tells a positive story but at the moment Westminster is not listening.

Grant Sugden, Waverley Care chief executive, said: The establishment of a DCR in Glasgow could play a really important part in addressing the huge health impacts of problem drug use.

In particular, it would help tackle the transmission of blood-borne viruses amongst some of societys most vulnerable individuals.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: A safer drug consumption facility would help save lives in Glasgow.

Such facilities reduce accidental overdoses and syringe sharing  cutting the risk of HIV and other infections. They also cut risks to the general public by reducing the number of syringes and needles found in public places.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: As demonstrated by our support for Glasgows proposals to introduce a safer medically supervised drug consumption facility, and offer heroin-assisted treatment, we are willing to back innovative, evidence-based approaches that can make a real difference.

If the UK Government continue to block these proposals, we hope they will devolve the necessary authority over these matters to Scotland so we can take action that saves lives.

Tackling stigma over blood-borne viruses is one of the top priorities of the Scottish Government  and one of the five high level priorities of our sexual health and blood borne virus framework.The Scottish Government has been asked to create a fund for security at places of worship following the terror attack at two mosques in Christchurch.

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar made the call following the shooting in New Zealand that left 50 people dead and dozens wounded.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, he said: No one should have to fear for their own lives, especially within a mosque, a church, a synagogue or a gurdwara.

There is a places of worship security funding scheme available in England and Wales, no such scheme exists in Scotland.

Will the minister urgently consider this and commit the Government and agencies to work with all our faith communities to deliver it?

Anas Sarwar MSP said the latest attack did not surprise him (Andrew Milligan/PA)

In response, communities secretary Aileen Campbell said that, on a visit to the Glasgow Central Mosque, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had committed to exploring what the Scottish Government could do to provide reassurances to all faith communities and their places and worship.

She added: Police Scotland has stepped up reassurance patrols around mosques and increased engagement with all faith communities, giving advice on how people and places can stay safe in these troubling times.

Paying tribute to the victims and their families, Mr Sarwar urged people to tackle the us versus them rhetoric, the sowing the seeds of hate and the othering of our fellow citizens.

He added: Im sad to say that this tragic attack didnt surprise me and it probably didnt surprise Muslims across the UK and across the world.

He added: This was a devastating and despicable act and lets be clear  it was the act of a terrorist.

In the aftermath of this latest tragedy, it is important that we unite and work together to confront hatred in all its forms.

This is not someone elses fight; dont leave it to anyone else. This is a fight for all of us.

Scottish Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Liam Kerr backed Mr Sarwars comments that tackling hate was a job for everyone and asked the cabinet secretary what steps Scots can take to show minority communities that they are welcome neighbours, colleagues and friends?

Ms Campbell suggested that people could reach out to Muslim communities in their areas as well as calling out hate and toxic language by politicians, in the media and on social media.Theresa Mays Government has sold out Scotland during the Brexit process at the same time as other parts of the UK have been bought off with bungs, Holyroods Finance Secretary said.

Derek Mackay accused the UK Government of shortchanging and ripping off Scotland as the country prepares to leave the European Union.

He claimed the Scottish Government should have received more than 3.3 billion when the UK gave over 1 billion to Northern Ireland as a result of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) agreeing to support Mrs Mays minority Tory administration.

With DUP MPs having so far failed to back the Governments Brexit deal, the Finance Secretary predicted Northern Ireland could be in line for more cash from the UK.

He spoke out after warning MSPs at Holyrood about the possible consequences of a no-deal Brexit  saying it could push Scotland into deep recession.

Mr Mackay said: Frankly, all forms of EU exit will harm Scotlands economy but leaving the EU without a deal could lead to a potential shrinking of our economy by up to 7%, a drop in exports by up to 20% and a reduced business investment by 1 billion in 2019.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay accused the UK Government of `shortchanging Scotland (Jane Barlow/PA)

Such profound economic impacts could result in an increase in unemployment of around 100,000 in Scotland, more than doubling the current record low unemployment rate, and push the Scottish economy into a deep recession, similar in scale to the financial crash of 2008.

Mr Mackay, who was updating Holyrood in the wake of Chancellor Philip Hammonds Spring statement, said that the DUP are probably heading for another bung.

He added: Whilst other parts of the UK are being bought off in terms of the Prime Ministers vote, Scotland is being sold out.

In addition to the extra cash for Northern Ireland, the UK Government has also set aside 1.6 billion to help support communities across England in the wake of Brexit as part of its Stronger Towns fund.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie criticised SNP politicians at both Holyrood and the Commons for failing to win more cash from Westminster.

He asked: With 35 MPs and the heft of the Scottish Government surely this begs a crucial question, why has the Finance Secretary been so ineffective at lobbying the UK Government on behalf of Scotland?

But Mr Mackay insisted it was unionists who have put us in this position, nobody else.

He told MSPs: I would rather not have to plead with a right wing chancellor but make the decisions here in Scotland.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have told New Zealanders we are with you as they signed a book of condolence for the victims of the Christchurch terror attack.

Heavily pregnant Meghan wore a pair of earrings featuring a crossed feathers design given to her by the countrys prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

The duchess and her husband Harry greeted the New Zealand High Commissioner to the UK Sir Jerry Mateparae with the traditional Maori method of pressing noses together on Tuesday afternoon.

They both placed bouquets of flowers outside the building in central London, adding to the pile of floral tributes which has grown since 50 people were killed after a lone gunman opened fire at two mosques during last weeks Friday prayers.

Meghan wore earrings given to her by New Zealands prime minister (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The duke and duchess were among the first to sign the book of condolence, which opened to the public on Tuesday.

On a single page, they left the message: Our deepest condolences We are with you.

Harry leaves flowers at New Zealand House (Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror)

Beneath their signatures was the Maori word Arohanui, meaning much love.

The duke and duchess met with members of staff at the High Commission to discuss their response to the atrocity.

Meghan said we are with you, adding she was just devastated by the atrocity, as she cradled her baby bump.

The message written by the royal couple (Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror)

Harry said its just very sad as he asked about their connections to Christchurch.

Sir Jerry said: We are overwhelmed by the tremendous amount of support weve received from across the UK.

Their Royal Highnesss visit is reflective of this outpouring of support and it was wonderful to welcome them to New Zealand House.

Meghans appearance came more than a week after her last official public engagement before the arrival of her baby.

She joined the royals at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey last Monday after visiting Canada House with Harry.

Harry receives a hongi from Sir Jerry Mateparae (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The duchess is believed to be around six weeks away from the arrival of her first child, which she has said is due in late April or early May.

Meghan and Harrys baby will be seventh in line to the throne and the Queen and the Duke of Edinburghs eighth great-grandchild.

Kensington Palace announced the pregnancy on the eve of the couples first royal tour, which ended in New Zealand.

The duchess made a big impression on the countrys people and was singled out for praise by figures including Ms Ardern.

Meghan is due to give birth in late April or early May (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

She said Meghans pregnancy increased my respect for the role that shes playing at such an often tiring time, adding: I have real empathy and I think shes incredible.

The duchess in turn praised the efforts of Kiwi women who fought for the right to vote 125 years ago, saying they were universally admired.

In the wake of last weeks terror attack, the Queen led heartfelt messages of condolence from senior royals to the people of New Zealand.

We send our thoughts and prayers to everyone in New Zealand today. Kia Kaha.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. https://t.co/WQ5talX3dr  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) March 15, 2019

In a joint message, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: We have all been fortunate to spend time in Christchurch and have felt the warm, open-hearted and generous spirit that is core to its remarkable people.

No person should ever have to fear attending a sacred place of worship.A coroner has called for more to be done to warn of the dangers of swimming in the sea on a night out after a drunk father drowned during Storm Callum.

Brighton and Hove assistant coroner Gilva Tisshaw said extra steps must be taken to make the public aware of the risks of going into the water after drinking or taking drugs as she ruled David Dooleys death an accident.

The 38-year-old Irishman was swept out to sea after a night out in Brighton on October 13, while being almost four times the drink-drive limit.

He was spotted waving his arms and making attempts to return to shore in the very rough sea with high winds and large waves before he fell lifeless and his body was seen floating.

An inquest on Tuesday heard revellers spilling out of seafront nightclubs, heading onto the beach and venturing into the sea after a night drinking was a common problem in the East Sussex city.

Born in Dublin, Mr Dooley lived in Tullamore, Co Offaly, before moving to Chiswick, west London  where he was described as a popular regular at The Windmill pub in nearby Acton.

Brighton seafront suffered battering winds (Flora Thompson/PA)

He had recently moved to Sussex for work before he died, having arranged that day to meet an old friend in Brighton and they ended up on the beach after spending the evening drinking.

A post-mortem examination found he died from drowning, but serious intoxication was a contributing factor. Toxicology reports also showed he had traces of cocaine in his system.

He is survived by his wife Khrystyna and son Brandon.

Last month, Ms Tisshaw adjourned the inquest while she investigated matters of concern over whether Mr Dooley could have been saved.

Police were first called at 1.21am and saw him in the water two minutes later. He had stopped moving around 20 minutes later and his body was pulled out of the water at around 2am.

Officers were ordered not to go into the rough seas because Mr Dooley had drifted too far out and the weather was so bad it was unsafe to try to rescue him, the inquest previously heard.

The police on the scene did not know where to find life rings which are stored along the beach  although at least two had been close by, resulting in delays in attempts to reach him.

Instead they tried to get closer and shout instructions as he was battered by the waves and rapidly dragged west by the current.

Experienced surfer and swimmer Chris Ingall, the councils seafront office manager, told the court a shingle bank had built up on the beach that night and there were extremely powerful crashing waves of up to three metres high hitting the shore every four to seven seconds, adding: The sea is very unforgiving at the best of times.

Sussex Police Sergeant Paul Nellis said he had never seen the waves so bad in his 10 years working for the police in the city, adding: It was my honest opinion at the time that if anyone else had entered the sea, they would have been swept away.

While Pc Anastasia Dart said she feared for the safety of officers after feeling shocked at the momentum of the sea and surprised that the waves were so aggressive.

Ms Tisshaw said: I believe there was nothing further the police could have done.

In making the report to prevent future deaths  where coroners can tell public bodies to take action, Ms Tisshaw said: I believe steps should be taken to increase police awareness of the locations of life rings.

Steps should be taken to increase public awareness of the risks of the sea when having consumed alcohol or drugs.

Mr Dooley was one of two people to die as the storm wreaked devastation across western parts and coastal areas of the country that weekend.

Corey Thomas Sharpling, 21, of Newcastle Emlyn, was killed near the village of Cwmduad in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, on the same day.Three people have been jailed for life for the merciless murder of a man at a flat.

Defenceless Haider Hayat, 49, was subjected to a sustained and relentless attack with lethal weapons at the property in Raithburn Road, Castlemilk, Glasgow, on April 3 last year.

He suffered more than 100 injuries and his throat was cut in the assault, which likely began when he was asleep.

Muhammed Rauf, Shahida Abid and Saima Hayat were all convicted of murder at the High Court in Glasgow last month.

Main assailant Rauf, 42, was ordered to spend a minimum of 24 years behind bars when he returned to the court for sentencing on Tuesday.

The victims wife, 34-year-old Saima Hayat, who was also convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice, was told she would spend at least 25-and-a-half years in jail before she can be considered for release.

Her co-accused 33-year-old Shahida Abid, Raufs wife, who also tried to cover up the crime, was given a life sentence with a 25-and-a-half year minimum term.

Abid (left), Rauf and Saima Hayat (right) were all jailed for life (Police Scotland/PA)

Passing sentence, judge Lady Rae told them: All three of you are responsible for what was a merciless attack on Mr Hayat and all three of you are equally responsible for his death.

The judges comments were released by the Judicial Office for Scotland following the hearing.

The court heard that pathology evidence showed that Mr Hayat had sustained at least 100 severe blows to his head, while his throat and neck had been cut at least 16 times.

He also had numerous other blunt force injuries to other parts of his body, including defensive wounds.

Lady Rae told the killers: You have all been convicted by the jury of the brutal murder of a defenceless man who was, at the start of the assault, in all probability, asleep in his bed.

He was then subjected to a sustained, relentless and merciless attack with lethal weapons.

From the chilling recording which the jury heard of the noise from within the flat, it is clear that this attack lasted in excess of six minutes. The number of injuries Mr Hayat sustained were so extensive that it was difficult to count them.

The judge also rejected Saima Hayats claims that her husband had been abusive towards her.

From the evidence I have heard in this case I am satisfied that you Saima Hayat were the abusive partner in this relationship and not your husband, Lady Rad said.

The evidence disclosed that you are a manipulative, scheming woman.

Detective Chief Inspector Craig Willison, of Police Scotland, welcomed the lengthy sentences handed out.

Speaking after the hearing, he said: Haider Hayat was subjected to a brutal and sustained violent attack in the property where young children were present.

This brings to a close a chilling investigation of acts which are simply unacceptable in our society.

I hope Haiders family are now able to be comforted that his murderers are in prison for a very long time and in some way can move on.The European Union will need to know the reason and the usefulness of any UK request to delay Brexit before deciding whether to grant an extension, the EUs chief negotiator has said.

Theresa May is due to write by the end of Wednesday to European Council president Donald Tusk, setting out her proposal to extend the two-year process.

But a delay beyond the scheduled date of March 29 needs the approval of all 27 remaining member states at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Chief negotiator Michel Barnier told a news conference in Brussels: It is our duty to ask whether this extension would be useful because an extension will be something which would extend uncertainty and uncertainty costs.

He warned that the UK would need to propose something new to justify a lengthy extension.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Mrs May could ask for a lengthy extension to Article 50, with the option of an early break in May or June if she manages to get her Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament.

But Mr Barnier poured cold water on this option, saying: Both short and long. Well, its either one or the other, isnt it?

He added: My feeling is  a longer extension needs to be linked to something new.

There needs to be a new event or a new political process.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said any extension to Brexit would have to be `useful (European Commission Audiovisual Service/PA Images)

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the UK would need to provide a very persuasive plan to support any request for a long extension to the Article 50 negotiation process.

He told reporters in Brussels: If there is going to be a request for a long extension of Article 50 by the UK then there will need to be a very persuasive plan to go with that to explain why thats needed and how they will use the time to conclude the outstanding issues that havent been able to be agreed in London in the context of the Brexit process.

If the EU agrees an extension, Brexit will be delayed by the passage of a statutory instrument through both Houses of Parliament removing the date of March 29 from the legislation.

MPs will be given an opportunity in the House of Commons on Monday to debate how the process should go forward.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn indicated that this will be the point to challenge the Government.

Speaking after talks with other opposition parties and Labour backbenchers on the way forward, Mr Corbyn said: If the Government cant get a majority for its way on Monday, then I think thats the time to challenge this Government.

The reality is that this Government has lost its authority, doesnt enjoy the confidence of the House, cant get anything through. Surely that is the time to step aside and let the people decide in a peoples vote thats called a general election.

He added: I hope that on Monday the House will come together and support some sensible alternatives that can be negotiated during an extension period with the EU.

At a meeting of Cabinet in Downing Street, Mrs May voiced her absolute determination that MPs should have another chance to vote on her Brexit deal, despite the bombshell intervention of the Commons Speaker.

John Bercow provoked uproar at Westminster on Monday when he ruled that the Government cannot bring the Prime Ministers deal back for a third meaningful vote without substantial changes.

But Mrs May told Cabinet she wanted MPs to have another vote as soon as possible.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: What you can see from the Prime Minister and her colleagues is an absolute determination to find a way in which Parliament could vote for the UK to leave the European Union with a deal.

Nevertheless, there was said to be concern among some ministers that Brexit appeared to be slipping away.

The Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom is understood to have told the meeting: This used to be the Cabinet that would deliver Brexit and now from what Im hearing its not.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Brexit was in a state of flux and that EU leaders will try to react to whatever Mrs May proposes on Thursday.

Mrs Merkel appeared bemused by Mr Bercows decision to block a fresh vote on the basis of a convention dating back to 1604.

Speaking in Berlin, she said: Ill concede that I wasnt actively aware of the British Parliaments rules of procedure from the 17th century, so I took note of this with interest yesterday.

Downing Street confirmed discussions were continuing with the Democratic Unionist Party, which props up the Government at Westminster, in an effort to build support for the deal after last weeks 149-vote defeat.

And Mrs May held talks on Brexit with former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, one of the most strident critics of her Withdrawal Agreement.

(PA Graphics)

With just 10 days to go before Britain is formally due to leave, there was exasperation among the EU27 over the continued deadlock in Westminster.

Arriving for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Germanys Europe minister Michael Roth said: Dear friends in London, please deliver. The clock is ticking.

Its not just a game. Its an extremely serious situation.

Meeting with Taoiseach @campaignforleo in Dublin to confirm full EU unity on #Brexit, discuss latest developments and uncertain political situation in London as well as preparedness for a no-deal brexit. pic.twitter.com/wtvQqRYYVQ  Charles Michel (@eucopresident) March 19, 2019

Meanwhile, Mr Tusk met Irish premier Leo Varadkar in Dublin to discuss the backstop arrangement which both the EU and Ireland insist is necessary to keep the border open.

In a joint statement, they said Mr Tusk had expressed strong and ongoing solidarity with Ireland and they had agreed they needed to see what proposals would now emerge from London.The number of children experiencing early learning and childcare in Scotland has increased to more than 290,000, figures show.

A report by the Care Inspectorate, published on Tuesday, stated that the number increased from 254,770 in 2014 to 291,460 in 2016.

The Scottish Government has promised to increase free early years care from 600 to 1,140 hours for eligible youngsters by 2020.

While children and families had experienced a high quality of care and support, supported by well trained and motivated staff, the report raised concerns over a decrease in the overall number of fully qualified managers.

Minister for Children and Young People Maree Todd has said the expanded childcare target is deliverable (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Peter Macleod, Care Inspectorate chief executive, said that the process of expanding early learning and childcare began with the Scottish Governments Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

He said: The workforce has had to adapt and change to a wide range of initiatives and have still maintained a high quality of care throughout.

Care Inspectorate inspection, registration and complaints colleagues have worked hard to engage with providers, settings, children and families over the last three years and are committed to ensuring children get the best start in life.

People consistently tell us that they appreciate the advice and guidance our inspectors and other colleagues in the organisation provide and we can be proud of the impact we have had on improving services throughout the country.

Earlier this month, Minister for Children and Young People Maree Todd said that she is confident that, with multi-year funding agreed with local authorities, the policy to expand childcare will be sustainable and deliverable.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: We welcome the findings of the Care Inspectorate report, which shows that children are benefiting from an improving, high quality standard of service.

International evidence shows that high quality early learning and childcare makes a huge difference to childrens outcomes and we are nearly doubling the entitlement to funded early learning and childcare so that, from August 2020, every three and four-year-old and eligible two-year-old will be able to benefit from 1,140 hours each year.Private companies should pay for trials into medical cannabis because they stand to make the profits, Englands top doctor has said.

But the countrys chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies told an influential committee of MPs that there were no shortcuts to getting the drugs to patients.

The Government announced plans to reschedule the drug earlier this year, and doctors have been able to prescribe cannabis products to patients in the UK since November 1.

Medical cannabis campaigners in Westminster (Jonathan Brady/PA)

But patients and their families have complained about being denied NHS prescriptions for medical cannabis because the professional guidance is too restrictive.

Dame Sally told the Health Select Committee on Tuesday that there needed to be a series of randomised control trials in order to get cannabis drugs licensed for use.

She said that because the private sector was set to make the most profits from the drugs being licensed, it should to fund some of the trials.

Dame Sally added: We have a role for the public sector to fund these studies because it matters to patients.

But we would expect the manufacturers, who are going to be making the profit at the end of the day, to be funding the licensing trials.

Thats whats needed  randomised control trials are the only way to get these drugs licensed.

Those would normally be funded by the industry and I think its time that the industry started to say what it is going to do about funding trials to get the licence so patients can have access.

But when asked if the process could be streamlined to allow patients quicker access to the products, Dame Sally said: There is no shortcut, we have to find out how it works and what the impact is.

Her comments come on the same day families of children with severe epilepsy handed a petition with about 578,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street calling for the guidance on prescribing medical cannabis to be reviewed.

The petition, organised by the End our Pain campaign, said that despite medical cannabis being rescheduled, guidance issued Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA) was so restrictive that almost no one will get access to medical cannabis.

Alfie Dingley is severely epileptic (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

It is supported by Hannah Deacon, whose son Alfie Dingley was the first person in the UK to receive a permanent medical cannabis licence and went on to be granted the first NHS prescription issued after the UK law change.

Speaking at Parliament on Tuesday, Ms Deacon said she could not stand back and let other children suffer after seeing the wonderful change medical cannabis had had on Alfie.

She said that since the prescription, her seven-year-old son had gone from being in hospital 48 times in one year to just one hospital admission in a year.

Ms Deacon added: A public health crisis is looming if these children are not helped urgently.

All these children have tried many drugs, many interventions, and they still have seizures every single day and its an utter disgrace.

But Alette Addison, head of pharmacy development and regulation at Department of Health and Social Care, told the select committee that without an evidence base doctors will not be confident prescribing the drugs.

She also denied that the current guidance was too restrictive, insisting it was based on the best international evidence available.

She added: Doctors are only going to be confident in prescribing, signing that form, if they have the evidence base to do so, and its not there at the moment.Contaminated land under Clydeside poses an immediate risk to human health because of toxic waste leaking into the River Clyde, politicians have been warned.

Poisons in the ground dumped by a former chemical factory are leaking into the river and urgent action is required, a regeneration agency has said.

Cancer-causing chromium-VI has been found flowing into the river, especially when it rains, from the site of the former Shawfield Chemical Works that has been closed for more than 50 years.

In a blunt report given to MPs, MSPs and councils, Clyde Gateway said: The nature of the contamination poses immediate or long-term risks to human health and the environment through land, surface water or groundwater pollution.

The Scottish Government-funded partnership between two councils and Scottish Enterprise is aiming to regenerate an 840-hectare area in the east end of Glasgow and neighbouring South Lanarkshire.

Clyde Gateway has already been working on diverting underground burns but say that, without public-sector intervention, sites in the area will not be capable of development and contamination will continue to blight communities and pose a health issue for local residents.

Contaminated water in West Burn underneath Shawfield in Clydeside (Clyde Gateway/PA)

The toxic chemical found underground during the first phase was turned into a non-soluble form of chromium using 6,000 injections of up to six metres in depth.

However, the report estimates that further development and decontamination in the area could cost 54.2 million, with the next phase of work taking place where the former J & J White Chemicals plant was based.

The chemical works opened in 1820 and closed in 1967

Clyde Gateway added: It had a long and often controversial history, the legacy of which has left an environmental headache which must be addressed in some shape or form, given that the poisons in the ground are leaching into underground streams and polluting the Clyde, putting at risk the successful strategy to have the river as the focus of so much of the citys economic rebirth.

They added that the company was known to dump waste materials across Rutherglen, Cambuslang and east Glasgow, often in old quarries or mines.

The issue of chromium in the water at Shawfield gained attention in February when water at Polmadie Burn  where children had been reportedly playing  was unnaturally green due to high levels of the dangerous chemical.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Glasgow City Council have been draining the burn into the Clyde at low tide and the council has cordoned off the area until a permanent solution can be found.Firefighters have occasionally travelled more than 100 miles across Scotland to cover shifts, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information request found that last year there were firefighters travelling from Aberdeenshire and Moray to cover shifts in Aberdeen, with some brought in from as far afield as Inverness and Dundee.

The Lib Dems request found that during 2017-18 there were 159 staff  on 143 occasions  from the Aberdeenshire Moray area on duty in Aberdeen.

It also found that six staff from Inverness covered in Aberdeen on two separate days and three people from Dundee over two consecutive days.

North-east MSP Mike Rumbles said: Our fire service is under real pressure in the North East.

These figures show firefighters travelling over 100 miles to cover shifts, while staff are regularly being pulled into Aberdeen from the surrounding areas.

Firefighters have had to travel more than 100 miles to cover shifts last year, the Lib Dems say (Andrew Millligan/PA)

Nationwide more than 1,000 firefighters have been lost since the SNPs merger.

Budgets have fallen in real terms while ministers have been cavalier about where the almost 400 million needed to maintain and invest in the services property, vehicles and equipment is going to come from.

Ministers must not allow the service in the nort-east to become threadbare.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: The provision of fire and rescue resources is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS).



In 2019-20 we will increase the funding to SFRS by 5.5 million to invest in service transformation plans. This is on top of the 15.5 million additional spending power provided this year  a level of funding not matched anywhere else in the UK.The Prince of Wales honoured Barbados war dead as he began the first full day of his Commonwealth tour.

In National Heroes Square in the shadow of the parliament building, Charles laid a wreath to mark all those Barbadians who paid in the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of peace.

At Heroes Square in the heart of Bridgetown, Their Royal Highnesses receive an official arrival ceremony and The Prince of Wales takes the salute.#RoyalVisitBarbados pic.twitter.com/lseuB2g3CV  The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) March 19, 2019

Mia Mottley, Barbados prime minister, the Duchess of Cornwall and crowds nearby watched as the prince left the floral tribute at the countrys Cenotaph in the capital Bridgetown.

The hand written note read In grateful remembrance, Charles.

The royal couple are at the start of a major Caribbean tour, but it is likely to be overshadowed by paparazzi pictures of Charles and Camilla on the beach.

The images, taken on Monday during a day off from their 12-day tour, show the couple spending down time in the sun.

The Prince of Wales lays a wreath against the Cenotaph in Heroes Square, Bridgetown, Barbados (Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA)

Photos of Charles have been published online, but his wifes images have not been used.Nearly 3,700 people have been issued with British citizenship under a Home Office scheme set up in response to the Windrush scandal.

From May last year, members of the Windrush generation, their UK-born children, and those who arrived in the country as minors have been able to apply for citizenship free of charge.

By the end of January, 3,674 people had been granted citizenship.

Ministers faced a furious backlash over the treatment of members of the Windrush generation, named after a ship that brought people to Britain from the Caribbean in 1948.

Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973 were automatically granted indefinite leave to remain but many were not issued with any documents confirming their status.

A public outcry erupted after it emerged that long-term UK residents were denied access to services, held in detention or removed despite living legally in the country for decades.

The latest statistics show that as of January 31:

 Nearly 2,500 individuals had been given documentation confirming their right to be in the UK;

 There had been 48 requests for urgent and exceptional support under a policy introduced in December, of which 41 were under consideration, two had been approved and five had been declined;

 The Home Offices dedicated taskforce had rejected 597 applications made under the Windrush scheme;

 Fifty requests for refusals to be reviewed had been lodged, with two decisions overturned, 39 upheld, and nine in progress;

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee said it was completely shocking that only two people had been accepted for help under the urgent support arrangements.

The Empire Windrush (PA)

We know the endless difficulties and destitution that Windrush families have faced as a result of Home Office failures, and yet they are still not getting swift and comprehensive support from the Government, she said.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the majority of requests have yet to be concluded.

He added: The taskforce are working closely with individuals who have submitted requests in order to assess the current circumstances and gather the necessary evidence to support the urgency of their claim.

I would like to emphasise that all these cases have had lengthy and detailed consideration.

Any decision made in these cases has been checked and challenged extensively at operational level and been approved at senior official level.

Mr Javid noted that three exceptional payments were made for return flights to the UK before the official launch of the policy on December 17.

The Home Office added that a vulnerable persons team within the Windrush taskforce has already provided support to over 600 people, including referrals to the Department for Work and Pensions for benefit claims and advice and support on housing.

Last year the Government apologised over 18 cases where people were considered most likely to have suffered detriment because their right to be in the UK was not recognised.

Ministers are also preparing to set up a compensation scheme for those affected by the failings.Police have arrested 12 people on suspicion of outraging public decency after climate change activists stripped off to stage a protest in the House of Commons while MPs debated Brexit.

A group of largely-naked Extinction Rebellion protesters with messages painted on their bodies stood up in the public gallery overlooking the debate on Monday night.

Picture taken with permission from the twitter feed of James Heappey MP of the Extinction Rebellion protest in the public gallery of the House of Commons (James Heappey/PA)

Some of the activists dressed only in underwear used superglue in an attempt to stick themselves to the glass which separates the gallery from the chamber.

MPs were seen taking a glance up at the protest and Speaker John Bercow maintained that the debate on the second stage of the Brexit alternatives would proceed despite the protest.

Scotland Yard said officers were sent in an attempt to negotiate with the activists, before adding: 12 arrests have been made for outraging public decency.

Some of us did try to warn that no good would come of the Speaker allowing people into the House of Commons chamber without a neck tie ...  Lord Walney (@LordWalney) April 1, 2019

Extinction Rebellion, which describes itself as a non-violent direct action and civil disobedience group, said the protest was an attempt to draw politicians attentions to the climate and ecological crisis.

Protester Savannah, an English literature student from Ladbroke Grove in west London, told the Press Association: Everyone stripped and two people were elephants and had climate crisis written on them.

We were pointing at them as the elephants in the room of the Brexit debate.

She added: Personally I dont care that much about Brexit.

I think its fine that people do but I think there are bigger things right now.

Nuala Gathercole-Lam, an Extinction Rebellion member from Haringey in north London, said there were 20 protesters in the public gallery, with 14 stripping and roughly eight sticking themselves to the glass with superglue.

Its a crazy thing to do but the situation is crazy  there is no Brexit on a dead planet, she told PA.

Activist Oliver Baines, 68, a retired charity director from Cornwall, said he was protesting to put climate change higher up the agenda.

This is a greater national crisis than Brexit, he said.

The group of men and women stood up as Labour MP Peter Kyle was making a speech.

Another MP speaking during the protest, Tory Nick Boles, made a joke that his Brexiteer colleagues were noted naturists.

It has long been a thoroughly British trait to be able to ignore pointless nakedness, and I trust the House will be able to return to the issue that we are discussing, he added.

An Extinction Rebellion spokesman said the naked protest was an effort to try and force the issue up the news agenda as far as possible so it breaks through the Brexit Radar.

Extinction Rebellion named five of the protesters as 24-year-old wildlife biologist Iggy Fox; celebrant Isla Macleod, 34; counsellor Bell Selkie, 48; former teacher William Cooke, 36, and 35-year-old Mark Ovland.

Some had slogans including climate justice act now and eco collapse painted on their bodies. Those who became stuck to the glass were freed within roughly 30 minutes.

The activists touted a larger protest to take place on April 15.MPs have again rejected a series of alternatives to Theresa Mays Brexit deal.

A call for a customs union after Brexit was defeated by just three votes, a referendum on any deal was rejected by 12 votes, the Common Market 2.0 plan lost by 21 votes and cancelling Brexit to prevent a no-deal scenario was defeated by 101.

So what happens next?

 Tuesday April 2



Theresa May has scheduled a five-hour Cabinet meeting instead of the usual 90 minutes. The first three hours will be a political Cabinet in the absence of civil servants  fuelling speculation the senior Tories will consider the prospect of a snap election, the timing of the Prime Ministers departure or the potential for ministerial resignations if there is a change in Brexit strategy.

 Wednesday April 3

Backbench MPs will again take charge of the Commons timetable to consider Brexit plans under Tory MP Sir Oliver Letwins scheme to break the Parliamentary deadlock.

Leave and remain protesters outside the Houses of Parliament, London, ahead of the latest round of debates in the House of Commons concerning Brexit issues.

 Thursday April 4

After the latest round of indicative votes failed to produce a clear winner, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said: If the House were to agree a deal this week it may still be possible to avoid holding European parliamentary elections.

That could be an indication the Prime Minister might risk a fourth showdown on her Withdrawal Agreement in the hope that more Tory Eurosceptics will accept the choice is between her plan and a softer Brexit.

The Speaker has announced the results for today's #IndicativeVotes2.

(Ayes/Noes)



(C) Customs Union (273/276)

(D) Common Market 2.0 (261/282)

(E) Confirmatory public vote (280/292)

(G) Parliamentary Supremacy (191/292) pic.twitter.com/luvhO9NPdQ  UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) April 1, 2019

 Wednesday April 10



An emergency summit of European Union leaders will consider any request by the UK for a longer delay to Brexit. To be granted a further postponement the Government will have to set out what purpose it would achieve and it will almost certainly involve taking part in the European elections.

 Friday April 12

The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on April 12 after MPs rejected the Prime Ministers deal last week.

 Thursday May 23

If Europes leaders have agreed an extension to the Article 50 process, the UK will elect MEPs to the European Parliament.

The breakaway Independent Group of MPs has announced it intends to set up a fully fledged political party  Change UK  to fight the elections on a pro-EU platform.

Nigel Farage will seek to continue as an MEP, this time for the newly formed Brexit Party.

 Sunday June 23

Mrs May warned MPs before they rejected her deal that a long extension would at least delay and could destroy Brexit.

Three years after the referendum, it is possible the UK will still be in the European Union, have newly elected MEPs and will be contributing to the Brussels budget.

 A general election?

The Chief Whip is attacking the PM. The Cabinet is deeply split.



And the Tories' DUP partners say they'd reject the deal even if it was voted on 1,000 times.



It's meltdown. A General Election is coming.  Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) April 1, 2019

The current make-up of the House of Commons has so far proved unable to agree on any Brexit plan so the Prime Minister could be tempted to call a snap election to break the deadlock.

But having promised not to lead the Tories into the scheduled 2022 election and then said she would quit before the next phase of the Brexit process, would her MPs allow her to fight another contest as leader?

And would a new election produce a decisive result to give whoever occupies Number 10 a majority to steer such a divisive issue through Parliament?

 A fresh referendum?





The call for another referendum was defeated by just 12 votes and campaigners seized on the fact it had more MPs voting in favour than any other option.

 A soft Brexit?

The narrow defeat for a customs union will increase pressure on Mrs May to move in favour of the measure.

But that would tear the Tory party apart and would be likely to result in Cabinet resignations as critics of the customs union believe it robs the UK of one of the major Brexit prizes  the ability to strike trade deals with countries such as the US.On December 20, 2018, Grozny city court ruled that the regional branch of Gazprom, Mezhregiongaz, should write off most of the republics gas debt. The courts unprecedented ruling has caused four other indebted federal Russian regions to file similar appeals to their regional courts. The Chechen Prosecutors Office explained that it filed the appeal to the court due to concern over the threat of popular protests. Chechnyas leader Ramzan Kadyrov insisted that Chechnyas gas debts are due to Gazproms long-term mismanagement and miscalculations. While the Federal Attorney Office is currently investigating the issue, neither Kadyrov nor Gazprom have made any concessions. Since the start of scandal, the Kremlin has kept its distance from both sides.

BACKGROUND: After the decision by Grozny city court that Gazprom should write off the republics gas debt of 9.353 billion rubles, Chechen authorities explained that the debt has long expired and that it was based on faulty calculations, which included Chechen residents who no longer lived in the republic or who were deceased. According to Chechnyas minister for national policy and communication, Dzhambulat Umarov, the republic accumulated most of its gas debts during the two Chechen Wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the republic lacked consistent energy supply due to the war.

Russias political opposition described the verdict of Grozny city court as yet another effort by Kadyrov to manipulate the Kremlin. Yet also pro-regime politicians expressed fears that the debt write-off will set a dangerous precedent for other Russian regions, particularly in the restive North Caucasus federal district, which both have high gas debts and a high potential for political unrest. For example Dagestan, neighboring Chechnya, is lagging in payments on over 40 percent of its energy bills and is notorious for its high level of insecurity due to the ongoing Islamist insurgency. Another North Caucasus republic with exceptionally high energy debts is Ingushetia, which has not paid over 60 percent of its energy debts.

In the immediate aftermath of the Grozny court decision on Chechen debts, regional government representatives of Astrakhansk and Smolensk regions filed similar appeals to their Prosecutor Offices, demanding to write off their respective regions outstanding energy debts. MPs from Chuvashia and Bashkiria autonomous regions soon launched similar appeals.

The Chechen gas debt scandal has clearly caught found Kremlin unprepared. It took Moscow almost a month to issue an official statement, in which the presidents press-secretary simply described the issue of regional energy debts as a complex one. Under Gazproms pressure, the Kremlin ordered the Federal Attorney General Office to force the Chechen prosecutors office to launch an investigation into the verdict. After Gazproms complaint about the verdicts illegality, Chechnyas Supreme Court agreed to consider the disputed decision by Grozny city court at a court hearing postponed until March 21.

IMPLICATIONS: To many in Chechnya, the announcement that the republic has over 9 billion rubles in gas debt came as a shock. Interviews conducted by the Caucasian Knot with members of the general public in Grozny reveal that most Chechens are regularly forced to pay for utilities through frequent inspections and threats to cut their salaries. Local media have reported that inspectors cut off debtors access to utilities on a regular basis, inducing the public to carefully avoid any delays with bill payments. The republics vast energy debt is explained to the public as due to the work of numerous underground mini-factories producing bricks and other construction materials. According to Chechen lawyers, underground factories can avoid paying for their utilities because most of them enjoy patronage from the government. Interviews carried out by the Caucasian Knot with gas inspectors in Grozny disclosed that many high-ranking state officials, who own large private estates, refuse paying for utilities using their positions and influence as a pretext.

However, the row over Chechnyas gas debt write-off is not only an effect of Chechnyas domestic problems and Kadyrovs patronage over illegal businesses operating in the republic. In mid-February, a series of arrests of high-ranking Gazprom employees resulted in the dismissal and detention of Raul Arashukov, the chief adviser to the director general of Gazproms regional branch Mezhregiongaz. His nephew, Ruslan Arashukov, who served as Gazproms director general in the Astrakhan region is also under investigation, along with Raul Arashukovs son, senator Rauf Arashukov. All three are accused of stealing natural gas worth 30 billion rubles. The Arashukov family was allegedly in control of all gas supplies in southern Russia, including Chechnya. Kadyrovs attempt to write off Chechnyas gas debt also aimed to undermine Arashukovs influence over the gas market in the North Caucasus region, which Kadyrov considers to be his own area of influence. The crackdown on the powerful Arashukov family also appears related to the internal power struggle in Arashukovs native republic Karachay-Cherkessia, where Raul Arashukovs son Rauf served as senator representing the Khabezsk region. Due to their role in Gazprom, the Arashukov family retained firm control over Karachay-Cherkessian politics and their removal was followed by the appointment of officials directly accountable and loyal to the Kremlin.

The Arashukov affair indicates that Gazprom is riddled by internal problems related to corruption and embezzlement. This clearly benefits Kadyrov who continues to insist that his republics debt is due to Gazproms inefficient management. While Kadyrovs move to write off most of Chechnyas gas debts was unexpected in Moscow, the Chechen leader most likely calculated that the Kremlin would turn a blind eye to the write-off. However, Kadyrov also seemingly expected that the scandal would unearth fundamental problems with Gazproms regional branch, which would undermine Arashukovs influence in the company and enable Kadyrov to assume leverage over Gazprom in the North Caucasus.

CONCLUSIONS: While legal procedures unfold, the Kremlin continues to take a wait-and-see approach to the issue. Since neither Kadyrov, nor the central office of Gazprom are willing to compromise, it will be up to President Putin to make a final decision on the issue. The key challenge for the Russian president is to choose between his most loyal regional ally, Kadyrov, and the most influential energy giant in the country, Gazprom. For Kadyrov, a victory over Gazprom would serve both to boost his popularity at home in Chechnya and to grant him informal control over natural gas market in the region. For the Kremlin, allowing Kadyrov to write off his republics gas debts would set a dangerous precedent for other regions, serving as proof that blackmail works. However, much to the benefit of both Kadyrov and Putin, the Arashukov affair allows Moscow to present the Chechen gas debt as the outcome of Arashukovs persistent theft of gas, in which case the debt write-off can be portrayed as nothing more than an act of justice on Moscows part towards the unfairly indebted Chechnya.

AUTHORS BIOS:

Huseyn Aliyev is a LKAS Research Fellow at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow. He specializes in armed conflicts, non-state armed groups, and informal practices. Huseyn is the author of When informal institutions change. Institutional reforms and informal practices in the former Soviet Union (University of Michigan Press, 2017). Huseyns most recent publications appeared in Comparative Political Studies (2019), Cooperation & Conflict (2018), Security Dialogue (2016), and International Security (2015).

Image Source: accessed on 4.3.2019A man has been stabbed by an attacker matching the description of a knifeman who injured four people in one night.

The victim, aged in his 30s, was left with life-threatening injuries when he was stabbed in Aberdeen Road, Enfield, north London at around 5am on Tuesday.

Police have said the latest incident has not yet been formally linked to a series of knife attacks in the area, but the culprit in all five is a tall, skinny black man wearing a hooded top.

Two men who were arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm remain in custody, and investigators have until later on Tuesday to interview them.

Police are investigating after a man aged in his 30s was stabbed in #Edmonton #Enfield this morning - his condition is currently being treated as life-threatening. https://t.co/Q3Qai6uR3I pic.twitter.com/GwmWnIlqtI  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) April 2, 2019

Detective Superintendent Luke Marks said: I am aware that events from the weekend have caused a huge amount of worry and concern among the community, and that this incident will cause further alarm.

While at this stage the incident has not yet been formally linked, the location and manner of this attack will be of concern to the public.

Our advice continues that that public to remain vigilant, and to contact police regarding anyone acting suspiciously.

You will see additional uniformed patrols in the Edmonton area; if you have any concerns, please speak with my officers immediately.

The Times reported that local schools had banned children from leaving the grounds during their break time as a safety measure.

Police activity near the scene (Henry Vaughan/PA)

The latest stabbing follows attacks on four people in the Edmonton area of Enfield over the weekend, that left two critically hurt and one with potentially life-changing injuries.

Police believe that a single male suspect who may have mental health issues was acting alone in the attacks, and there is nothing to suggest they are terror-related.

The suspect is described as a skinny black man, approximately 6ft 3ins who was wearing dark clothes.

At the weekend a 45-year-old woman was the first victim when she was stabbed once in her back at about 7pm on Saturday in Aberdeen Road, and left in a critical condition.

Then at 12.15am police were called to Park Avenue where a 52-year-old man had also been injured with a knife.

He has since been discharged from hospital.

Police officers in north London at the scene of one of the weekend attacks (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The third attack was on a 23-year-old man just before 4am near Seven Sisters Tube station.

He is in a critical but stable condition.

The final attack occurred at about 9.40am on Sunday in Brettenham Road where officers found a 29-year-old man with a stab injury to the back.

His injuries are life-threatening.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been left deeply saddened after Harrys most devoted Australian fan died at the age of 99.

Harry and Meghan are to write privately to the family of war widow Daphne Dunne to express their condolences.

The couples thoughts are said to be with Mrs Dunnes family and friends at this difficult time.

Mrs Dunne had been in hospital with pneumonia for two months before dying just days after turning 99, 7News said.

She met Harry three times during his visits to Sydney over the years and recently received a letter from the duke and duchess congratulating her on her birthday.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet 98-year-old Daphne Dunne during a walkabout outside the Sydney Opera House (Paul Edwards/The Sun/PA)

In October, Mrs Dunne greeted Harry outside the Sydney Opera House on the first day of his tour Down Under.

The duke proudly introduced Meghan, whose pregnancy had just been announced, to his oldest Australian admirer.

After finding the nonagenarian in the crowd of around 2,000 people, the duke: I was looking for you earlier and hoped youd be here. Its so good to see you again.

Harry proudly introduced Meghan to Daphne Dunne during their visit to Sydney (Paul Edwards/The Sun/PA)

Meghan told Mrs Dunne, who saw Harry during his 2015 and 2017 visits: Im so glad I got to meet you.

Harry has told me all about you and your special bond, its so lovely you came to see us, thank you.

Mrs Dunne, who congratulated the couple on their baby news, touched Harrys cheek fondly as he put his arm around her.

She said: It was lovely to meet the duchess, Meghan. Harry is a wonderful man and Im so happy he had found happiness. They both deserve the absolute world together.

Daphne Dunne described Harry as `a wonderful man (Paul Edwards/The Sun/PA)

Mrs Dunnes first husband, Lieutenant Albert Chowne, died aged 25 in 1945 during an attack on a Japanese machine gun post in Papua New Guinea.

He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, which Mrs Dunne was wearing when she first met Harry.

In 2017, the duke left Mrs Dunne a little flushed after he gave her a peck on the cheek.

The Duke of Sussex had a special bond with Australian fan Daphne Dunne (Steve Parsons/PA)

She had waited for hours in the rain to see him.

The pair embrace in Sydney in 2017 (Steve Parsons/PA)

Harry gave her a similar welcome when they met in 2015 during his month-long attachment with the Australian Defence Force.

Harry meeting Daphne Dunne in Sydney in 2015 while he was on a month-long attachment with the Australian Defence Force (Angus Dunsire/PA)

She said in 2017: He kissed me on the other cheek this time. He really is a lovely young man and hes warm and genuine and really cares about the injured servicemen and women, hes doing a fantastic job supporting them.A doctor has called for young children to be screened for psychopathic behaviour in the wake of the Alesha MacPhail murder.

Dr John Marshall, head of forensic clinical psychology services at The State Hospitals board for Scotland, said certain behavioural traits can be found in children as young as five.

These can include not responding to parents or boundaries, poor or sadistic treatment of other children or animals, showing independence and not being expressive or showing emotion.

Aaron Campbell abducted, raped and murdered six-year-old Alesha (Police Scotland/PA)

Dr Marshall was one of the psychologists who assessed 16-year-old Aaron Campbell, who was sentenced last month to a minimum of 27 years in prison for murdering the six-year-old last July.

The teenager snatched Alesha from her bed as she slept at her grandparents home on the Isle of Bute and finally admitted his crime in a psychological report prepared ahead of his sentencing in March.

Writing in The Scotsman, Dr Marshall said: You dont become a psychopath on your 16th birthday. Psychopathic traits start in very early childhood, have predictable pathways and yet we do not assess children for this neurodevelopmental problem.

At the age of 16, such traits are already entrenched and chronic so it is time for policy to catch up with research, given the enormous social costs of psychopathy.

We have to deal with psychopathy trajectories in childhood head-on now to divert budding psychopaths and make sure what happened to poor Alesha never happens again.

He added early identification can be the focal point and made a number of suggestions on how to solve what he called a major public health issue.

Dr Marshall also pointed out Campbell had not suffered childhood trauma, meaning it was not a factor in the murder of his young victim.

Lord Matthews, sentencing Campbell at the High Court in Glasgow last month, said social work and psychologist reports had painted a clear picture of a cold, callous, calculating, remorseless and dangerous individual.

He said the teenager had shown a staggering lack of remorse and told him: Not once did I detect a flicker of emotion from you.

In the psychologists report, Campbell also described his reaction to seeing Alesha as a moment of opportunity.Thousands of bikers will roar into London next week to protest against the prosecution of a British soldier over Bloody Sunday.

Soldier F is to be charged with murdering two people after troops opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Londonderry in 1972.

Some relatives of the 13 people killed have campaigned for justice.

Families of the dead demonstrated recently (Niall Carson/PA).

Veterans have reacted angrily to the decision to take legal action decades after the bloodshed.

Rolling Thunder ride organiser Harry Wragg said: Our ride is not directed at the victims, it is directed at the British Government.

Our argument is with the Government, not the victims of Bloody Sunday or any other event.

He added: Where are they pulling the evidence from, why are the British Government allowing this to happen?

Participants in the demonstration on Friday April 12 are due to travel from across the UK, including the Lake District, Wales as well as the home counties.

Mr Wragg said: The plan is, we ride through with 4,000 motorcyclists.

That is rolling thunder.

They had planned to travel to Westminster but that date coincides with the new no-deal Brexit date.

It is uncertain whether they will be allowed to proceed to Parliament, the organiser said.

Thirteen civil rights demonstrators were shot dead on January 30 1972, on one of the most notorious days of the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron confirmed Soldier F will face charges (Liam McBurney/PA).

Soldier F will face charges for the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and the attempted murders of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon and Patrick ODonnell in Londonderry in 1972, Northern Irelands Public Prosecution Service has said.

Bloody Sunday helped galvanise support for the Provisional IRA early in the Troubles. An image of a Catholic priest waving a bloodstained handkerchief as he tried to help a victim to safety went around the world.

A public inquiry conducted by a senior judge shortly after the deaths was branded a whitewash by victims families and a campaign was launched for a new public inquiry.

Relatives sought to right the wrongs of false claims that their loved ones had been armed. A fresh probe was eventually ordered by then prime minister Tony Blair in 1998.

A decade-long investigation by Lord Saville concluded that the troops killed protesters who posed no threat.Cancelling hundreds of operations a month because hospitals cannot cope has become a grim norm, an MSP has said.

Scottish Labours health spokeswoman Monica Lennon criticised the rate of cancelled planned operations as new figures were released.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said boards ensure cancellations are kept to a minimum.

The NHS Scotland Information Services Division figures indicate 571 (2.1%) planned operations were cancelled by hospitals in February due to a capacity or non-clinical reasons.

This figure has been falling since a spike of 3.4% in November 2018, relating to the unplanned, temporary closure of the Cowlairs decontamination unit in Glasgow after it failed a safety inspection.

Of the 27,741 planned operations in February, a total of 2,457 were cancelled (8.9%), down from 10.3% in February 2018.

Some 879 (3.2%) were cancelled by the hospital based on clinical reasons and 875 (3.2%) were cancelled by the patient.

Cancelled planned operations (ISD Scotland/PA)

Ms Lennon said: Hundreds of cancelled operations because our hospitals cant cope should be unacceptable but it has become the grim norm under this SNP government.

Behind these cancelled operations are worried people, often waiting in pain.

NHS staff do their best but they are being let down by this SNP government, too.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman must get on with giving our NHS the right resources to deliver the care people need.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton also called on Ms Freeman to provide more resources for the NHS.

He said: Hundreds of patients are missing out on planned operations through no fault of their own. Thats unacceptable.

NHS staff do an incredibly job but the simple fact is they havent got the resources they need to meet demand and keep operations running to schedule.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said health boards ensure cancellations are kept to a minimum (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA)

Ms Freeman said: The decision to cancel any procedure is never taken lightly.

Health boards ensure that cancellations are kept to a minimum and that any cancelled operation is rescheduled as soon as possible.

We are clear that operations for those with the greatest clinical need, such as cancer patients, should not be cancelled.

She added: Todays statistics show on average more than 900 procedures took place across Scotlands hospital each day in February.

Out of a total of 27,741 operations planned, 2.1% were cancelled for capacity reasons.

Our Waiting Times Improvement Plan, backed with more than 850 million of funding, will help to increase capacity and efficiency, in turn helping to reduce the number of cancellations.The story of how Queen Victoria turned Buckingham Palace from an unloved royal residence into the centre of social, cultural and official life will be told during its annual summer opening.

Victoria renovated the unused palace, adding the famous balcony and the grand ballroom, which she and Prince Albert used to stage magnificent themed costume balls.

The special display is being held to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Victorias birth.

Queen Victorias Stuart Ball costume (Yui Mok/PA)

A waltz danced at a ball staged to mark the end of the Crimean War and the ballrooms original decorative scheme will be recreated as part of the exhibition.

A Victorian illusion technique, known as Peppers Ghost, and projections around the room will enable visitors to imagine the ballroom as Victoria and Albert would have known it.

Victoria became monarch when she was only 18 in 1837 and moved into Buckingham Palace just three weeks later.

But the building, converted by architect John Nash, had been left empty for seven years after the death of Victorias uncle, George IV.

It was incomplete and many of the rooms were undecorated and unfurnished.

Queen Victorias Star and Collar of the Order of the Bath will be on show at the exhibition (Yui Mok/PA)

George IVs successor, William IV, preferred to live at Clarence House during his short reign and never occupied the Palace.

Victorias ministers advised her to stay at Kensington Palace, her childhood home, until Buckingham Palace could be brought up to a suitable standard, but Victoria wanted to move immediately and begin her new life.

Her marriage to Prince Albert brought nine children over the years  eight of whom were born at Buckingham Palace  and the expanding family needed more space.

In 1845, Victoria wrote a letter to the prime minister, Sir Robert Peel, concerning the urgent necessity of doing something to Buckingham Palace and the total want of accommodation for our growing little family.

She was granted funds to extend the residence, and the East Wing was added to the front, enclosing the previous open, horseshoe-shaped courtyard and introducing the famous central balcony, used by generation after generation of royals since.

The Queen and other members of the royal family on the Buckingham Palace balcony (Yui Mok/PA)

A new ballroom was added to the State Rooms because the other rooms were too small for Victorias plans for a season of elaborate balls and concerts.

Writer John Ruskin had witnessed the problems with the Palaces other rooms for entertaining, describing an occasion at Court as the most awkward crush, with the ruins of ladies dresses, torn lace and fallen flowers.

In May 1856, the ballroom was inaugurated, followed soon afterwards by a ball to mark the end of the Crimean War and to honour the returning soldiers.

Victoria wrote in her journal about the evening: Albert, even, who generally dislikes State Balls, enjoyed it, and I could have stayed up till 4, I am sure.

A watercolour by Louis Haghe, which is the only surviving record of the ballrooms original Italian Renaissance-inspired decoration devised by Alberts artistic mentor, Ludwig Gruner, will also be on show.

During their time together at the Palace, Victoria and Albert held three grand themed costume balls which were celebrations of British history and a showcase for the countrys textile industry.

Guests were encouraged to commission elaborate costumes to give work to the Spitalfield silk weavers, whose business was in sharp decline.

Queen Victorias sketch of herself and Prince Albert at the Stuart Ball, from her journal dated June 13 1851 (Yui Mok/PA)

The Stuart Ball of July 13 1851 had as its theme the Restoration period, with guests dressed in the style of Charles IIs court.

Queen Victorias costume for the Stuart Ball, designed by the artist Eugene Lami, has a bodice and full skirt of grey moire trimmed with gold lace and an underskirt of gold and silver brocade.

Among the portraits on display will be a painting by Thomas Sully of Victoria soon after she moved into the Palace.

The young Queen is shown wearing the Diamond Diadem made for George IV.

Buckingham Palace staff arranging Queen Victorias Stuart Ball costume (Yui Mok/PA)

The Royal Collection said: This years Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace will tell the story of how the young monarch turned an unloved royal residence into the centre of the social, cultural and official life of the country.

It added: Visitors will learn how Victoria made Buckingham Palace what it remains today  the headquarters of the monarchy, a rallying point for national celebrations and a family home.

Victoria was born on May 24 1819, and is the nations second-longest reigning monarch, after being overtaken by Elizabeth II in 2015.

Queen Victorias Palace is part of a visit to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, and is open from July 20 to September 29 2019.Hundreds of staff at Glasgow Airport will go on strike over pay and pensions after an overwhelming majority backed industrial action.

A recent ballot found 95% of Unite the union members  on a turnout of 75%  voted to walk out after the airport decided to close the final salary pension scheme.

It comes amid a 60-day consultation launched in January on the closure, which would break an Advisory, Conciliation and Arbritration Service (Acas) agreement made in 2016.

The latest pay offer of 1.8% has also been described by Unite, which represents around 500 workers at Glasgow Airport, as a real-terms pay cut.

Members are expected to walk out between mid-April and mid-October  with an overtime ban also scheduled during the same period.

Pat McIlvogue, Unite regional industrial officer, said: The overwhelming support for industrial action on a very high turnout shows the strength of feeling by hundreds of Unite members at Glasgow Airport.

Unite also say the airport has `admitted they remain on target to increase profits by 6% this year (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The workforce has been treated with disregard, contempt and disrespect. The paltry pay offer on the table is an insult while the boardroom enjoys pre-tax profits of 91 million.

If this wasnt bad enough, there is a proposal to close the final salary pension scheme at Glasgow Airport, which breaks existing agreements we have with the company.

He added: So, while talks with Acas are scheduled over the coming weeks, Im not confident at all that Glasgow Airport management has the awareness and sense to bring this dispute to a positive resolution.

Glasgow Airport and the AGS Board have been well warned of the consequences of the attack on Unite members pay and pensions.

Industrial action is now set for the spring & summer period, and the public should know that Glasgow Airport is exclusively to blame for this situation.

Unite also said the airport has admitted it remains on target to increase profits by 6% this year, after posting a 74 million post-tax profit in 2017.

A spokesman for Glasgow Airport, which is owned and operated by AGS Airports, said it was extremely disappointed at the decision.

We have made a pay offer that is entirely fair and reasonable against a backdrop of declining passenger numbers, he said.

The consultation on proposals to close our final salary (defined benefit) pension scheme is still ongoing, however, with employer contributions anticipated to rise significantly above the current level of 19.8% it is simply no longer affordable or sustainable.

To suggest we have broken any agreements with Unite in regards to the companys pension arrangements is simply incorrect.

He added: We are committed to continuing negotiations with the trade unions and have sought the intervention of the conciliation service Acas in attempt to achieve a sensible and sustainable outcome.

In the event of strike action, we will implement our contingency plans to avoid any disruption for our airlines and passengers.Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is to discuss regulation of social media with senior politicians in Dublin.

He is expected to visit the technology giants offices in the Republic on Tuesday.

Facebooks European headquarters is in the Irish capital.

Mr Zuckerberg is to meet Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless and Eamon Ryan, three members of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News.

Their spokesman said: During their discussions the deputies will raise a number of concerns, including: the regulation of social media, transparency in political advertising and the safety of young people and vulnerable adults.

The Committee is made up of international parliamentarians and investigates issues like data privacy, safety, security and sharing.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is to discuss regulation of social media with senior politicians in Dublin (Chris Ratcliffe/PA)

The trio, who are also members of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, have been vocal in demanding the regulation of social media platforms in recent years.

Irelands Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has a number of inquiries ongoing into Facebook and associated organisations.

In a blog post published on Saturday, Mr Zuckerberg called for increased government oversight of the internet in areas like harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.Laws must be introduced across the UK to safeguard the publics access to cash machines, MPs have been told.

At Westminsters Scottish Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Ron Delnevo, of the ATM Industry Association, warned action must be taken to ensure people still have the option of making cash rather than digital payments.

The committee has been examining access to financial services following a decline in the number of ATMs across the country, as the use of contactless payment has risen.

There has been a rise in contactless transactions (Yui Mok/PA)

We are in a uniquely bad position and the public are not being served, Mr Delnevo said.

We need laws here to protect the people. Talking about it and relying on the morals of the participants isnt good enough.

We need politicians to act, in Scotland and here at Westminster, to have laws to protect the public.

It wont be done through gentlemans agreements and meetings in smoke-filled rooms.

A report by former financial ombudsman Natalie Ceeney was published last month and made a number of recommendations to the Government to ensure that cash remains a viable option.

Mr Delnevo criticised the report, suggesting it does not go far enough.

Natalie Ceeney is a nice person but we needed Boadicea and we got Boy George  no conviction here, he said.

Mr Delnevo also described use of the term cashless as a nonsense.

He said: This is a PR companys creation. You dont say when youre driving by car its a bicycle-less transaction, do you?

You dont say when youre flying its a car-less transaction.

Cashless is a phrase invented by the anti-brigade and theyre firing it through newspapers with massive PR budgets to try to persuade people that cash is old-fashioned.

Actually contactless is old-fashioned  it was introduced first in Hong Kong 22 years ago.

So the idea that its some fangled new wonder that we all need to kneel before and worship is a complete nonsense.

Eric Leenders, from UK Finance, which represents banks, said: The pattern of cash and cash usage is changing and there is no doubt that we use cash less than we did 10 years ago and we are likely to use it less in 10 years time.

That doesnt mean that we shouldnt continue to provide an infrastructure, it doesnt mean that we should drive customer choice  customers should be free to manage their money how they choose and if thats with cash, then thats absolutely fine.

It does mean, however, that we do need to think about the footprint of opportunities to access cash and we also need to think about the wholesale distribution of cash.

John Howells, chief executive of LINK, the cash machine network, suggested a lack of coordination between organisations regarding ATM closures is creating problems for consumers in accessing cash.

Mr Howells said: Whilst I can see that consumers are using digital, forcing them to use digital by closing cash access is not a good thing for this country to move to.

And at the moment, because theres no coordination with the Post Office and the ATM and the bank, I think we risk that.A rare Chinese giant salamander is going on display at London Zoo after smugglers attempted to illegally import the animal in a cereal box.

The salamander was one of five critically endangered amphibians found in a box at a postal hub in Coventry in September 2016, one of which had already died by the time authorities discovered them.

Border Force asked London Zoo to look after the remaining four and one of those, named Professor Lew, will go on display to the public on Wednesday.

Ben Tapley, the Zoological Society of Londons curator of amphibians, said: We work closely with Border Force to identify unusual animals, but even I was astonished to see that they were Chinese giant salamanders  one of the worlds most critically endangered amphibians.

Chinese giant salamanders may not be everyones idea of beautiful  Ive heard them described as giant brown blobs with eyes  but Professor Lews crinkly purple tail and slimy smile have already made the newcomer a big hit with all our keepers, who have been finding any excuse to visit the Reptile House.

Professor Lews new home has been designed to replicate the Chinese giant salamanders natural habitat (ZSL)

The species is the worlds largest amphibian and is native to mountainous regions of China.

Professor Lew, who is thought to be four years old, is 30cm long but could grow to be six times that length, meaning ZSL staff have had to work hard to build a brand new enclosure to house the growing youngster.

Professor Lew will eventually be joined by one of the other three seized Chinese giant salamanders as a potential mate, with the other two likely to go to other zoos in the UK.

Chinese giant salamanders are sometimes described as `living fossils (ZSL)

According to ZSL, the species, which is under threat after becoming a delicacy in China, is thought to have inspired Chinese dragon legends and even the iconic yin-yang motif.

Mr Tapley said: Theyre definitely unique: often referred to as living fossils, Chinese giant salamanders have remained largely unchanged for millions of years  as the only zoo in the country to have one in residence, its a real privilege to be able to introduce the species to our visitors.Des soldats camerounais patrouillent dans les rues de Buea, ville en proie aux troubles de la region anglophone du Sud- AFP/Archives/ALEXIS HUGUET

Cameroon has dismissed claims made by Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a recent report on cases of human rights violations conducted mostly by the countries military in the Anglophone regions.



In the report, the countrys national defense and Security forces were accused of human rights abuses directed against civilian targets. The report also mentioned extrajudicial executions, excessive use of force against civilians, torture of captured terrorists and burning of houses and other property belonging to the people.

The Tuesday communique signed by Rene Sadi, Minister of Communication, argues that the countrys military is engaged in a fight for the preservation of the territorial integrity of the State and the protection of persons and property in the North-West and South-West Regions, in accordance with their sovereign obligations, in strict compliance with international conventions on human rights, and fully aware of their responsibility.

He accused the human rights organ as bias in their report. Communication boss regrets that it ignored most atrocities in the North West and South West, are perpetrated by armed separatists. He mentioned intimidations, kidnappings, burning of public structures, threats, and stopping childrens education, according to him, are actions carried out by separatists. He further accused separatists of recently burning the Muyuka District hospital, in the South West region.

He claimed that the military was attacking only arras in the Anglophone regions, considered to be hideouts of separatists.

Moreover, the operations of the Defense and Security Forces in the North-West and South-West regions, mainly target the encampments and other hiding places of the secessionist armed bands who have taken peaceful populations hostage.

Government proudly states that instead of a deteriorating situation is the Anglophone regions as reported by most critics, the security situation is gradually getting stable.

However, gun exchanges continue within the affected regions, displacing several persons. Only few areas in the Anglophone regions are considered safe to travel to, or live in.

No one expected a contrary statement from government of Cameroon who has for the past months been fighting back, international personalities and structures on their views about the degrading security situation and reports of human rights violations in these regions.The Prince of Wales will visit Muslims in Manchester and the makers of Uncle Joes Mint Balls in Wigan during a day-long royal visit to the region.

Charles first engagement will be at the British Muslim Heritage Centre in Whalley Range, Manchester, to meet members of the Muslim community and learn about the centres programme of education and community initiatives.

Charles has worked for many years to encourage inter-faith dialogue and greater understanding of different religions, both in Britain and abroad.

Next he will travel to Wigan, visiting The Old Courts in the town centre, to learn about the buildings restoration into a community arts centre.

Uncle Joes Mint Balls (PA)

While there, he will meet participants from a variety of local arts projects before the tour moves to the Toffee Works to celebrate 100 years of family-run William Santus & Co Ltds factory operating on the site, where it makes its most famous product, Uncle Joes Mint Balls.

Charles final visit will be to Wigan Little Theatre, where he will watch a short variety performance, before meeting the performers.The UKs highest court is set to rule on the case of a woman who lost a libel battle over Facebook posts about her ex-husband.

Nicola Stocker said businessman Ronald Stocker had tried to strangle her, during an online exchange with his new partner, Deborah Bligh, in December 2012.

Mr Stocker, 68, won a court battle against his ex-wife at Londons High Court after Mr Justice Mitting found that those reading the comments would think she meant he had tried to kill her.

After the Court of Appeal upheld that ruling, Mrs Stocker, 51, of Longwick, Buckinghamshire, took her case to the Supreme Court  where a panel of five judges will give their ruling on Wednesday.

Outlining Mrs Stockers case at a hearing in January, her barrister David Price QC said the appeal raises issues of general importance for defamation claims.

He told the Supreme Court: The appellant is an individual with no interest in the law of defamation other than the ultimate outcome of this claim and the hope that it might assist others who find themselves in a similar position.

Mr Price added: The phrase tried to strangle is a common way of describing an assault involving a constriction of the neck or throat where the victim is alive.

The phrase does not convey an intent to kill in ordinary language or in relevant criminal offences.

Ronald Stocker was the subject of a Facebook comment in 2012 (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Lawyers for Mr Stocker, of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, argued that Mr Justice Mitting reached the right conclusion and urged the judges to dismiss the appeal.

During the High Court trial in 2016, the court heard that the allegations were published to 21 individuals who had authorised access to the page.

They were also visible to 110 of Ms Blighs friends and to their Facebook friends.

Ruling in favour of Mr Stocker, Mr Justice Mitting had said a comment on Facebook was the same as a comment posted on an office noticeboard and Mrs Stocker had no right to assume it was private.

The judge found that Mr Stocker did in temper attempt to silence his ex-wife, but was not satisfied he had threatened to kill her and therefore her comments had a defamatory meaning.

He said the libel was not trivial, and assessed the appropriate compensation at 5,000  though Mr Stocker did not want any money.

Mrs Stocker previously challenged the judges ruling at the Court of Appeal.

But she was left facing a hefty legal bill after her case was rejected by three senior judges in February last year.The Duke of Sussex has warned of the dangers of social media, declaring it more addictive than drugs and alcohol during a roundtable discussion on young peoples mental health.

Harry visited the YMCA in South Ealing, west London, on Wednesday, to discuss and met with representatives from charities including Stonewall and Young Minds.

The roundtable event was convened by Heads Together, a mental health initiative headed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The Duke of Sussex chats with the Mental Health Champions (PA/Adrian Dennis)

Harry said: Theres too much negativity surrounding mental health and it must be so hard for young people to talk about it.

Social media is more addictive than drugs and alcohol, and its more dangerous because its normalised and there are no restrictions to it.

We are in quite a mind-altering time, but quite an exciting time, because everyone in this room has the opportunity to make a real difference.

In a post to the new Sussex Instagram account, a picture of Harry during the visit was shared, and he was quoted as saying: There continues to be huge progress in smashing the stigma that surrounds mental health, but lets keep normalising the conversation.

Lets keep reminding each other that its okay to not be okay, and to listen to each other.

After all, how we think determines how we act, how we feel, and how we treat ourselves and those around us.

YMCA South Ealing is part of the YMCA St Pauls Group, which provides services across London and is one of the largest in Europe.

The association provides housing for 150 young people who are dealing with a range of problems such as homelessness, mental illness, substance misuse and domestic violence.

The Duke of Sussex chats to children taking part in ballet class for 4 to 6 year olds during a visit to YMCA South Ealing (Adrian Dennis/PA)

Earlier in the afternoon, Harry spoke with three residents at the YMCA, Jade Messa-Goodenough, Julie Spencer and Rory Tomlinson.

He told them: One of the most comforting things to know is youre not alone and youre one of the more as opposed to one of the few.

Your own experience is very unique to you but the relatability of people in this place and everybody outside is huge. Its hugely relatable, even more so today than it was four years ago.

Elsewhere during the tour he discussed the #IAmWhole campaign with young champions for mental health.

Harry with children taking part in a ballet class (PA/Adrian Dennis)

The campaign, developed by the NHS and YMCA, encourages young people to speak openly about their mental health issues.

Harry finished with a ballet demonstration by a group of children between the ages of four and six, during which he tested his balance in a short exercise.Many Democrats have already entered the race to be the partys 2020 presidential nominee but some are faring better than others in the all important task of raising the money needed to fund a campaign.

The totals for the first quarter, which ran through to March 31, are the first measure of how candidates are performing.

Details for the entire field will not be known until candidates file their required disclosures with the Federal Election Commission by April 15.

Bernie Sanders is once again proving to be a formidable fundraiser (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Bernie Sanders, with former vice-president Joe Biden, is faring well in the polls but with Mr Biden yet to formally launch a White House bid, Mr Sanders is the early trailblazer in terms of campaign donations.

The senator from Vermont, who showed surprising fundraising ability in his challenge to eventual Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago, raised more than 18 million US dollars in the 41 days between his official campaign launch and March 31, giving him 28 million dollars cash to hand.

Those totals are expected to lead the Democratic field, putting pressure on other heavyweights, including Mr Biden, who is still deciding whether to run and who is navigating accusations that he has acted inappropriately toward women.

As promised, heres a more complete breakdown our Q1 fundraising metrics, including number of donors (158,550), average donation ($36.35), and the percent of our total raised that came in through contributions under $200 (64%) -- second half of video to follow. #PeteforAmerica pic.twitter.com/41gedmRiNW  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 2, 2019

Besides Mr Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris of California put up an impressive 12 million dollar haul.

Former US Representative Beto ORourke of Texas did not offer a fundraising total, but aides said he raised more than one million dollars over the weekend and previously said he raised more than six million dollars in his first 24 hours as a candidate.

Mr Sanders haul shows that his base is just as enthusiastic as it was four years ago.

Over the last two months, the response to our campaign has been inspiring:



- $12 million raised

- 218,000 individual contributions

- 99% of donors can give again



No corporate PACs. No federal lobbyists. A real, grassroots campaign  by the people and for the people.  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 2, 2019

In fact, it may be growing.

The senators campaign noted that of his 525,000 unique donors, about 20% are new, about 100,000 are registered independents and about 20,000 are registered Republicans.

As impressive as Mr Sanders fundraising has been, it is not as large as previous presidential contenders who were more reliant on big donors.

In her first quarter as a candidate ahead of 2016, Mrs Clinton topped 45 million dollars.

In 2007, when then-senator Barack Obama and Mrs Clinton were beginning their long battle for the 2008 nomination, the favourite Mrs Clinton opened with an initial fundraising quarter of 36 million dollars, while the underdog Mr Obama pulled in 26 million dollars.

Air Force One takes off from Prestwick Airport (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Mr Sanders fundraising haul set the curve for all candidates and will give pause to some of the other perceived heavyweights in the field, particularly his fellow senators Ms Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Ms Harris is the only candidate of that group to release her fundraising totals.

But the biggest winner may be Pete Buttigieg, an unlikely headline-grabber even among a group of lesser-known candidates that includes governors and members of Congress.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised seven million US dollars, calling it a great look for our first quarter.

That might be an understatement.

Its the last day of the quarter and we need you to be like Reilys mom. Give $1 now to support a strong woman in the White House. https://t.co/iVg91M9DTq https://t.co/Lbxtz4YcUk  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) April 1, 2019

Such a sum ensures Mr Buttigieg can finance a legitimate campaign operation for months as long as he is not a profligate spender.

Mr Buttigieg said he has almost 160,000 unique donors, a mark that meets the new grassroots fundraising thresholds that the Democratic National Committee has set for candidates to qualify for the initial summer debates.

The eventual Democrat nominee will take on President Donald Trump in 2020.Flybe has cancelled dozens of flights and announced it will stop flying jets from four airports.

The regional airline said a shortage of pilots was one of a combination of factors causing disruption on Wednesday, but insisted the cancellations were not linked to a decision to reduce its aircraft fleet.

Passengers travelling to and from Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, London Southend and Southampton were among those whose travel plans were thrown into disarray.

The Exeter-based carrier said in a statement: Flybe sincerely apologises to all our customers and partners affected by the current flight cancellations.

Whilst 95% of Flybe flights are operating as per normal, we do recognise the impact of todays cancellations.

We are doing our best to mitigate the impact of the current situation that has arisen due to a combination of factors including seasonality, pilots end of leave year, Easter holidays, base restructuring and the shortage of pilots across the industry that Flybe has highlighted over recent months.

Dozens of flights were affected by the disruption (Flybe/PA)

Flybe also announced changes to its bases from October, as it returns all its 118-seater Embraer 195 jet aircraft to their owners. It will continue flying 78-seater Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

The end of jet flights means its bases at Cardiff and Doncaster Sheffield will be closed, and its operations at Exeter and Norwich will be reduced.

Unite union regional officer Peter Coulson said: Unite is seeking to minimise the potential job losses and secure assurances about Flybes long-term future.

Our members are justifiably concerned about their jobs and future employment, as a result of the company cancelling a number of flights for operational reasons and having launched a redundancy programme.

It is essential that Flybe is fully transparent with its workforce about the exact situation facing the company. The current uncertainty is incredibly unsettling and is in danger of severely damaging morale at the company.

Flybe chief executive Christine Ourmieres-Widener said: Our fleet reduction has always been core to improving our profitability.

We are committed to assisting all our affected employees across the impacted Flybe bases.

We remain fully committed to Exeter, Cardiff and Doncaster airports and will continue to offer a comprehensive choice of regional and European destinations operated by our 78-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

Editor of Which? Travel magazine, Rory Boland, said: Thousands of people will understandably be frustrated to have their travel plans thrown into chaos by these last-minute cancellations.

The lack of clear information provided by Flybe was completely unacceptable.

All passengers affected by these cancellations are entitled to a full refund or to be rerouted on to another flight to their intended destination  and to over 200 compensation under European air travel rules.

Flybe flies 8.5 million passengers each year to 170 European destinations.

In February the airline was bought by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic following poor financial results.

Connect Airways, which consists of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital, paid 2.8 million for Flybes assets and operations.Iran has been accused of launching a number of cyber attacks on the Post Office and the UKs local government networks in the lead-up to Christmas, it has been reported.

According to Sky News, the attacks took place on December 23, with more than 10,000 pieces of data records stolen, such as email addresses, postal addresses, company positions and phone numbers, including the mobile number of Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells and at least 10 peers and MPs.

Paula Vennells (Jeremy Durkin/PA)

Other private companies and banks were also affected, cyber security experts said, blaming a Iranian Revolutionary Guard group for the incident and a previous attack hitting the parliamentary network in 2017.

British security services have not confirmed Irans involvement, but the National Cyber Security Centre said it was aware of a cyber incident affecting some UK organisations in late 2018.

Political disruption provides a fertile ground for cyber-attacks against government, non-government and international organisations, meaning its hardly surprising malicious actors in Iran have mounted an attack against the UK, said Darren Anstee, chief technical officer at IT specialist firm Netscout.

Attacks by Iran can be effective, as groups in the country are known to be employing new techniques, as well as combining custom-made tools with commodity crimeware to extend their reach and impact.

As a result, it is critical that governments and organisations make themselves aware of these new methods to disrupt and interfere with domestic and international affairs. It is also essential that governments and businesses collaborate closely to neutralise threats and prevent attacks on national institutions.

The news comes as social networks continue to fight interference from Iran and other countries seeking to manipulate political events elsewhere.

In February, Facebook said it had removed 783 pages, groups and accounts engaging in co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour tied to Iran using repurposed news stories from Iranian state media, about topics such as Israeli-Palestinian relations and the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

The bad actors misrepresented themselves as originating from other countries, but were traced back to Iran.Innovative technology could help the UK Government hit its mobile coverage target, in addition to the telecommunication regulators proposals, an Ofcom boss has told MSPs.

The UK Government wants 95% of the country to be covered but this will not be achieved solely through Ofcoms proposed mobile coverage obligation plans in an auction of radio frequency for mobiles, chief technology officer Mansoor Hanif said.

The regulator has proposed targets ranging from at least 90% geographic coverage for England to 74% in Scotland.

Mr Hanif told the Scottish Parliaments Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee: I think we are very clear that we are not going to get to the 95%.

Following the meeting, Ofcom clarified Mr Hanif was referring to the regulators proposed mobile coverage obligation.

The current deadline for the government target, which is expected to boost UK GDP by 75 billion, is the end of 2022.

Mr Hanif said the problem of parts of the country having no mobile signal at all is really hard to solve.

The reality is, it is improving but clearly not fast enough and demands are increasing, he added.

The Government has set a target for 95% geographical coverage, which is a revolution in the way we measure coverage because before we would only target coverage to where people actually lived, to houses.

Mr Hanif said 95% coverage is achievable and Ofcom is pursing a stepped approach through its current spectrum auction, which involves reasonable targets which operators can reach of at least 90% in England and Northern Ireland, 83% in Wales and 74% in Scotland.

He added: The next thing we can do seeing where the gap is  a lot of those areas are national parks, like the Cairngorms, a lot of those are mountains.

I just flew over them yesterday and I was thinking what a challenge that is. It can be cracked but only through innovation.

Technological developments such as low orbit satellites and device-to-device technology could help go further, he said.

I dont really think anyone wants to build thousands of ugly towers in national parks,  he added.

If there are smarter ways to achieve that (coverage) through innovation then I think we should be looking at that.

Stewart Stevenson criticised Ofcoms target reduction in Scotland (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA)

Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee member Stewart Stevenson criticised Ofcoms decision to reduce the geographical target in its coverage obligations from at least 76% in Scotland to at least 74%.

The target for England and Northern Ireland was also reduced by 2%, while Wales remained static.

Mr Stevenson asked: Isnt it is absolutely perverse that we are seeing the target for coverage being reduced at the present when in fact it should be increased?

The SNP MSP said his Banffshire home gets 0G, adding: I would say that we should have no improvements in telephony services in cities, of any kind, including 5G, until we get decent rural coverage.

Ofcoms regulatory affairs manager Jonathan Ruff said: More needs to be done to improve rural coverage.

The 74% target weve proposed for Scotland  is the largest increase of any of the UK nations.

Scotland is coming from a lower point, I think the average 4G coverage is around 50% of landmass.

He said the vast majority of the value of the spectrum auction is going to Scotland and Ofcom has had to weigh up the costs and benefits for operators.

Mr Ruff added: If we dont get the balance right on setting that coverage target there is a real risk that the spectrum obligation would go unsold.Personal statements about some of those who died when a police helicopter crashed into a pub will be read out as a moving and fitting tribute to them at the start of the inquiry.

The pilot, two crew members and seven people in the Clutha bar in Glasgow were killed when the Police Scotland helicopter crashed on to the roof of the building on November 29 2013.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the tragedy will begin on Monday April 8.

Senior Counsel Sean Smith told a final preliminary hearing ahead of the FAI that both those participating in the inquiry and those not represented have been asked if they want to provide personal statements with a view to them being read out at the start of the inquiry.

The wreckage of the helicopter being lifted clear of the pub (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Statements will be read on behalf of victims Gary Arthur, Robert Jenkins, Samuel McGhee and Colin Gibson, while John McGarrigles son is expected to provide one.

Mr Smith, who is leading the inquiry, said: Providing a statement encapsulating in a few sentences someone that they loved is a difficult matter.

Some family members may wish to keep such matters personal.

Where representatives have provided statements, the Crown is confident this will provide a moving and fitting tribute to the deceased.

There will be no personal statements on behalf of pilot David Traill and crew Tony Collins and Kirsty Nelis, while relatives of Joe Cusker have not indicated whether they wish to provide one.

Jonathan Brodie QC, representing the family of Mark OPrey, said they were still considering the matter.

He said: Both Mr OPrey and his wife have found this very difficult. The parents have so far just not found it something that they are able to do.

I think its something that they would wish to do.

He said they were unlikely to have one ready by Monday when the inquiry starts but that one might become available later.

Sheriff principal Craig Turnbull, who is overseeing the FAI, said: I cannot begin to envisage how difficult it is to encapsulate someones life in a statement of any length.

Theres no pressure, a statement can come on the first day or the last day and if it does not come it does not come.

He suggested the statements could be read by Mr Smith or by those representing the families of victims.

More than 100 people were at the Clutha Vaults pub when the helicopter, returning to its base on the banks of the River Clyde, crashed through the roof.

An Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) report published in 2015 found two fuel supply switches were off and the pilot did not follow emergency procedures after a fuel warning in the cockpit.

Mr Turnbull said a minutes silence will be held at the start of the inquiry in memory of those who died.

Mr Smith told the hearing the first four weeks of evidence will be taken up with witnesses from the AAIB and Airbus.

The FAI, which is being held at Hampden Park, is expected to involve around three months of evidence spread over six calendar months this year.A naval memorial which commemorates 24,500 men and women who died during the two world wars is being renovated ahead of the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is carrying out the work at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Southsea Common, Hampshire, which will be at the centre of national commemoration events in June.

Among those remembered on the memorial are 21-year-old Frank Sturmey from Retford, Nottinghamshire, who served with Number 48 Royal Marine Commando and died during fighting at Juno Beach on D-Day.

A CWGC spokesman said: Tragically, it is believed that Frank was killed very early in the assault, possibly before ever reaching the beach.

He is commemorated on panel 87 of the CWGC Portsmouth Naval Memorial. He is one of more than 40 men of 48 Commando to die on D-Day.

Among those remembered on the memorial are 21-year-old Frank Sturmey from Retford, Nottinghamshire (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Max Dutton, assistant historian at CWGC, said: This memorial commemorates 25,000 servicemen who died during the First and Second World Wars.

They have no known grave, the only place you can come and see their names is here on panels like these.

Work to restore the Grade I listed structure involves steam-cleaning each of the 95 panels before applying a bronze solution, cleaning the letters and buffing, which takes two days per panel.

More than 2km of repointing and horticultural works are also being carried out to the structure, taking a total of two months.

Mike Witham, CGWC stonemason chargehand, said the work needed to be done approximately every 10 years and added: This is one of the closest memorials to the sea so it gets hammered by the sea and the salt and it gets sandblasted, but when the work is done it will look sparkling for the 75th anniversary.

Commander Mike Dreelan, executive officer of Portsmouth Naval Base, said: I recognise it commemorates nearly 25,000 naval service personnel who have no known grave, its a stark reminder to all of us in the service of the ultimate sacrifice our servicemen and women may be called upon to make for their country.Maurice Kamto Archives

Maurice Kamto, National President of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement(CRM), along with many others, were in court on Tuesday, where Kamto fought to be tried in an open court room.

Party officials in a press release late Tuesday, expressed disdain for Cameroons habeas corpus proceedings carried out both at the Yaounde High Court and the Court of Appeal. The CRM, claims that Cameroon's denial of public hearings , is an intimidating strategy of shutting down sympathisers and allies of the party, who could reveal to the national and international community the level of degrading treatment, suffered during the arrest, custody and detention of CRM members.

Habeas Corpus is the requirement that an arrested person be brought before a judge or court before being detained or imprisoned

After a lot of resistance from the party to have an open hearing, judges did the usual and hearings took place in an enclosed office. Population and press were kept away from the hearings. Judges finally adjourned the case to 9th April, 2019.

The party has announced it is rejecting all pending decisions at the high court and the Court of appeal which, they consider bias and not in compliance with the countrys judicial system.

They also condemned the heavy militarisation of courts, which they consider as the regimes intimidating tactic.

They further demand the immediate and unconditional release of its leader and all supporters of the party, arrested during the January 26, 2019 national protest against electoral fraud and injustice in Cameroon.

To buttress their point, CRM party officials are planning to stage another national strike action on the 13th of April, to call for the release of their leader and other militants, push Cameroonian authorities to investigate the use of public funds disbursed for the hosting of AFCON 2019, electoral holdup amongst other reasons.The Prince of Wales has praised the work of the British Muslim Heritage Centre, telling those gathered for his visit: How important your communities are here in this country.

Charles visited the centre, in the Whalley Range area of Manchester, as he began a series of engagements in the North West.

He was greeted by children from local schools waving Union flags before he was shown around the centre, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Charles was greeted by local schoolchildren (Nigel Roddis/PA)

The prince told trustees, workers and representatives of local businesses and community groups: Ive been so impressed by all the different initiatives and projects you run here and the difference you are making, in terms of all the work you are doing in the community, but also in terms of linking all the other communities together.

It is obviously of huge importance, this dialogue and activity.

If I may say so, I just wanted to congratulate you and to say how much I admire all the work you are doing. And how important your communities are here in this country.

Dressed in a blue pin-striped suit and a patterned tie, the prince looked relaxed as he joked with guests.

Charles at the British Muslim Heritage Centre (Nigel Roddis/PA)

Ashraf Ali, head of projects for the centre, said Charles took particular interest in the Stories of Sacrifice Exhibition, which is first about the Muslims who fought for Britain in the First World War.

Mr Ali said he showed the royal visitor a panel of Charless great-grandfather, King George V, wearing a turban when he was head of a Muslim cavalry regiment.

I said, Ive got someone here, you might recognise him, Mr Ali said.

He said, I know this guy. Of course I recognise him.

Mr Ali said Charles also took an interest in the work of the centre in bringing communities together.

He also described how the staff presented the prince with local honey after they found out he enjoyed it in his tea.

Mr Ali said a local resident keeps bees but when the centre asked him if they could have some for the Royal visit, he said it was the wrong time of year.

He said officials tracked down one of the mans customers who agreed to donate her honey when she found out why they wanted it.

Charles unveiled a plaque as he toured the Toffee Works in Wigan (Peter Byrne/PA)

Charles later left the centre and Manchester to head east to Wigan, where he visited The Old Courts in the town centre to learn about the buildings restoration into a community arts centre.

He met participants from a variety of local arts projects before the tour moved on to the Toffee Works to celebrate 100 years of family-run William Santus & Cos factory operating on the site, where it makes its most famous product, Uncle Joes Mint Balls.

Charless final visit of the day was to Wigan Little Theatre, where he watched young performers stage the To Be Or Not To Be sketch which the royal visitor appeared in at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2016 for the Shakespeare Live event.

As he left the auditorium, the prince waved and said: Youve been a great audience.A Scottish university is searching for family members of seven women who will be awarded a posthumous degree 150 years after making history.

The so-called Edinburgh Seven were the first female medical students at any university in the UK.

They were not allowed to graduate after missing out on a narrow vote on the decision.

A spokeswoman for the University of Edinburgh said they wanted to right that wrong on the 150th anniversary of their matriculation day.

THIS IS VERY EXCITING pic.twitter.com/li2laMxxvp  Chloe Kennedy (@ChloeJSKennedy) April 2, 2019

Sophia Jex-Blake, Isabel Thorne, Edith Pechey, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Mary Anderson Marshall and Emily Bovell will be awarded a posthumous MBChB on Saturday July 6.

Professor Peter Mathieson, principal and vice-chancellor of the university, said: We are pleased to commemorate the historic achievements of the Edinburgh Seven in this 150th anniversary year of them joining the University of Edinburgh.

A spokeswoman for the University of Edinburgh said they wanted to `right that wrong (David Cheskin/PA)

These honorary degrees recognise not just their academic achievements but the significant contribution these women made to widening access to a university education for generations to follow.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh unveiled a plaque commemorating the medics achievements last March.

The institute is also launching an appeal for family members of the seven women to come forward ahead of the ceremony.

Few photos exist of the women in the universitys archives and it is hoped family or others could also help with this.

Any family members of the Edinburgh Seven, or those with photographs, are asked to contact press.office@ed.ac.uk.Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says Egyptian government ministers have been asked to help find a 12-year-old British girl who went missing more than seven years ago and is thought to be living in Cairo.

He told a judge overseeing family court litigation that an official at the British Embassy in Cairo has discussed Elsa Salamas case with a member of the Egyptian government.

Mr Justice Mostyn on Wednesday made public a letter he had received from Mr Hunt, outlining steps taken at the Foreign Office, as he examined latest developments in the case at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The judge had asked Mr Hunt for help earlier this year. He said he appreciated the ministers response to his request.

Elsa Salama (Quest Public Relations/PA)

Elsa is at the centre of a battle between her divorced parents.

Egyptian former teacher Tamer Salama took his daughter, then aged four, from her mother Naomi Button in December 2011 while all three were visiting his relatives in Egypt.

Ms Button, 45, a leadership consultant from Leeds, was forced to return to England alone and has not since seen Elsa, who she thinks is living with Salamas mother in Cairo.

Ms Button launched family court litigation after arriving back in the hope of getting Elsa home and is continuing that fight.

Salama, who subsequently returned to England without Elsa, was jailed in January 2012 for breaching judges orders to arrange his daughters return to England or to reveal where she was.

But a judge ordered his release in December 2013 after deciding that continuing to keep him in prison was no longer proportionate or justifiable.

Jeremy Hunt (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mr Hunt told Mr Justice Mostyn in his letter that a number of actions had been taken.

He said a minister had already met Ms Button and the case had been raised with the Egyptian justice ministry.

Mr Hunt said he had written to his Egyptian counterpart, foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, and added: I have requested his assistance to underline the priority that we attach to this case and have requested that the Egyptians explore any additional avenues that have not yet been tried.

He said a British Embassy official had also met Yasser Hashem, the assistant minister of consular affairs.

Mr Hashem said that he would look into the case and see if there was anything that could be done to resolve it, Mr Hunt went on.

I will continue to keep the court updated and officials in my department will continue to remain in contact with Ms Button.

Mr Justice Mostyn ordered Salama to assist Egyptian authorities by providing detail of relatives in Egypt.A woman has spoken of her huge relief after winning a libel battle against her ex-husband over Facebook posts.

Nicola Stocker wrote that Ronald Stocker tried to strangle her, during an online exchange with his new partner in 2012.

She was left facing a legal bill of about 300,000 after Mr Stocker successfully sued her at the High Court for defamation  a decision which was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

But, after she took her case to the Supreme Court, the previous rulings were overturned by a panel of five justices on Wednesday.

Mrs Stocker, 51, of Longwick, Buckinghamshire, said: I am just delighted, hugely relieved.

I think it highlights the danger that the courts are being used by men to continue an abusive process, whether it be in the family courts or through a libel court.

If they have got the money to do it, they will. It has been five years of my life that has been hell.

The emotional and financial damage that it does is huge.

Mr Stocker, 68, of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, originally won his legal action against his ex-wife at the High Court in London, after Mr Justice Mitting found that those reading the comments would think she meant he had tried to kill her.

However, announcing the Supreme Courts ruling in London on Wednesday, Lord Kerr said the judge made a legal error by relying on the dictionary definition of strangle.

He said Mr Justice Mittings approach to the case illustrates the danger of using dictionary definitions as a guide to the meaning of an alleged defamatory statement.

Lord Kerr also said the fact that the comments were made on Facebook was critical and that any assessment of such posts should reflect the conversational nature of the casual medium.

He added: We have concluded that, knowing that Mrs Stocker was alive, an ordinary reader of Facebook would have interpreted those words to mean that Mr Stocker had grasped his wife by the throat and applied force to her neck, rather than that he had tried to kill her.

During the High Court trial in 2016, the court heard that the allegations were published to 21 individuals who had authorised access to the Facebook profile of Mr Stockers new partner, Deborah Bligh.

They were also visible to 110 of Ms Blighs friends and to their Facebook friends.

Ruling in Mrs Stockers favour and ordering Mr Stocker to pay all legal costs, Lord Kerr said: It is beyond dispute that Mr Stocker grasped his wife by the throat so tightly as to leave red marks on her neck visible to police officers two hours after the attack on her took place.

It is not disputed that he breached a non-molestation order. Nor has it been asserted that he did not utter threats to Mrs Stocker.

Many would consider these to be sufficient to establish that he was a dangerous and disreputable man.

"This case is a victory for common sense and for women who seek to warn others about mens abuse."- @HWistrich

Our statement on todays #StockerVStocker judgement: https://t.co/9Zwdtnc3tY  Centre for Women's Justice (@centreWJ) April 3, 2019

Solicitor advocate David Price QC, who represented Mrs Stocker, said: Im delighted for Nicola that she has finally got some common sense and justice, albeit five and a half years after the process started and having to go to the Supreme Court.

He added: It does take a unique person who is willing and has the courage to fight it.

Mr Price said current libel laws make it difficult, if not impossible for an ordinary person to defend themselves against a claim due to the cost and complexity.

Harriet Wistrich of the Centre for Womens Justice (CWJ), which supported Mrs Stockers appeal, said: We have been supporting this case and a number of others because essentially what these cases do is enable wealthy men to try to silence women through the libel laws.

Strangulation, whether or not someone is meaning to kill, is a very dangerous act.

In a statement, Mr Stocker said: I am disappointed with todays judgment after two previous courts found in my favour.

I understand that in defamation cases the court has to make a decision on the meaning of the words used, and the Supreme Court has overruled the trial judge in this respect.A British man wrote of his joy at fighting against Islamic State, describing the group as the biggest threat the world has seen since Hitler, a court has heard.

Aidan James, 28, from Formby, Merseyside, had no previous military knowledge when he allegedly set out to join the bloody war in 2017 on behalf of the Kurdish people.

The father-of-one is accused of receiving training from the Marxist group PKK, before going on to fight with Kurdish YPG units  or Peoples Protection Units  in Syria.

On the second day of his Old Bailey trial, the jury was shown a series of Facebook pictures of James posing with YPG insignia wearing military garb.

In a December 2017 diary entry, he allegedly described the worsening situation.

He allegedly wrote: The situation with Turkey continues to worsen the war is long from over but I am playing my part in this war and feel good to be a part of history and with the revolutionary force of YPG.

Daesh is the biggest threat the world has seen since Hitler so anything I can do in these operations is good.

An image posted to Facebook by Aidan James in August 2017 of himself (Crown Prosecution Service/PA)

In an earlier handwritten entry, James allegedly wrote that he was waiting for Daesh to give me the opertunity (sic) to fire.

He described his groups quest to vanquish Daesh from this place and send the rechid (sic) souls straight to hell.

He told how he got a kill that day and was very happy to get rid of another rat, the court heard.

Jurors were also shown a photograph of a black Islamic State flag with the caption: This is the evil flag of the worlds enemy ISIS, Daesh. IS flag (took) from a window in Deir Ezzor by me. F*** Daesh!!

Facebook post of Aidan James in August 2017 of himself holding plane tickets (CPS/PA)

On Christmas Eve, James allegedly posted a new profile picture on Facebook in which he referred to a region in Syria in a Christmas greetings message.

It stated: Merry Christmas friends and family back home in the UK. Lots of love from us here in Rojava xxxx

The court heard how a police negotiator was in email contact with James, promising to support him and discuss his return to Liverpool.

As he made moves to go home, James wrote in his diary of the amazing time he had fighting on the front line numerous times, killing Islamic State soldiers, being shot at and even chilled with a donkey.

The court heard he finally returned to Liverpool John Lennon airport on February 14 last year on flights via Baghdad, Amman and Amsterdam.

In a written statement, Jamess mother told how her son had twice tried to join the British army and twice been turned down.

Tracey OConnor said he was 19 years old when he first applied.

She thought it was a good idea to provide stability and hopefully keep him on the straight and narrow.

But James was rejected because of his health and when he reapplied received the same outcome, the court heard.

James denies engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and two charges of attending a place used for terrorist training.Theresa May has come under intensive fire from her own side for her decision to seek a Brexit compromise with Jeremy Corbyn, with one minister resigning and a string of MPs launching attacks on the move.

Wales minister and whip Nigel Adams said the Prime Minister had made a grave error by reaching out to the Labour leader in the hope of finding a consensus on Brexit ahead of a crunch EU summit on April 10.

Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg described the offer to Mr Corbyn as deeply unsatisfactory and accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with a known Marxist.

And normally-loyal Caroline Johnson joined a clutch of Tory backbenchers at Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons who spoke out against what she called the risk of letting down the country and ushering in a Marxist, anti-Semite led government.

At Prime Ministers Questions, a succession of Tory backbenchers got up to challenge the decision to hold talks with Mr Corbyn.

North-East Derbyshire MP Lee Rowley pointed out that the PM had last week called the Labour leader the biggest threat to our standing in the world, to our defence, and to our economy and asked: In her judgment what now qualifies him for involvement in Brexit?

And former Brexit minister David Jones asked: Does it remain the position of the Prime Minister that the leader of the opposition is not fit to govern?

A spokesman for the Labour leader later brushed off the attacks, telling reporters: We are clear that there needs to be a majority found in Parliament to break the Brexit deadlock.

A few insults here or there is not going to dim Jeremys commitment to do what is right.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will address a potentially explosive meeting of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, a cross-party group of MPs was attempting to force legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit through the Commons in a single day.

The single-clause Bill tabled by Yvette Cooper requires the Prime Minister to table a motion seeking MPs approval for an extension to the Article 50 process beyond April 12 to a date of her choosing.

Labour is backing the bill, but Conservative MPs are being whipped to oppose it, as well as a business motion which would also put a third round of indicative votes on to the Commons timetable on Monday.A decision by soldiers to shoot at an image of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a serious error of judgment, a senior military commander has said.

Footage captured in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows personnel from 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment using a picture of the Islington North MP for target practice on a Simunition range.

Brigadier Nick Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said the Army is conducting a full investigation and wants to get to the bottom of what happened.

This is a serious error of judgment, Brig Perry said. Let me be clear  the Army is, and always will be, an apolitical organisation.

We have 400 soldiers from the Brigade conducting force protection in Afghanistan, and working closely with both Nato and Afghan partners. These soldiers are doing an outstanding job out there.

A Labour Party spokesman described the conduct of the soldiers in the clip as alarming and unacceptable, adding that they have confidence in the Ministry of Defence to investigate and act on the incident.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (Andrew Milligan/PA)

I commend the prompt and clear leadership shown by the army in investigating this troubling video. https://t.co/JBYbGotkCq  Gavin Williamson (@GavinWilliamson) April 3, 2019

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said he commends the prompt and clear leadership shown by the Army in investigating this troubling video.

An Army spokesman said they are aware of the clip circulating on social media.

This behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the army expects, a full investigation has been launched, he added.

The video shows a number of soldiers taking aim down the range and firing their weapons  the camera then focuses on the target and zooms in on an image of Mr Corbyn.

With a graphic of happy with that across the screen throughout, a number of marks can be seen peppered across Mr Corbyns face.

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practise what is called the guardian angel drill  a force protection tactic.

Theresa Mays official spokesman said the incident was clearly unacceptable, and that the Prime Minister was aware of the videos content but had not seen it.

Commons speaker John Bercow also condemned the footage and said he would be horrified if service personnel behaved in such a way towards an MP.

Shameful and utterly unacceptable. This goes against the values and standards of @BritishArmy. I welcome the @DefenceHQ investigation into this video and trust it will be resolved quickly. https://t.co/kDBTG0UgDx  Dan Jarvis (@DanJarvisMP) April 3, 2019

Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith has written to her Tory counterpart, Mr Williamson, asking him to condemn this footage immediately and commit to ensuring that the investigation is thorough and carried out in a timely manner.

In the letter posted on Twitter, she added that the appalling footage comes at a time when members of Parliament face an unprecedented level of threat to their personal safety.

Former soldier and Tory MP Johnny Mercer tweeted that every organisation has good people who make serious misjudgements.

He added: Its how it polices itself that matters, and an inability to do that correctly has caused so many problems of late (IHAT). I look forward to a robust response.

Labour MP Dan Jarvis, who is also a former Paratrooper, said the incident is shameful and utterly unacceptable.

This goes against the values and standards of the British Army. I welcome the Ministry of Defence investigation into this video and trust it will be resolved quickly, he added.

The incident was also branded as deeply worrying by Labour MP Paul Sweeney who served as an Army reserve soldier for 12 years.

I was horrified to see the footage apparently showing soldiers firing at an image of @jeremycorbyn.



This disgraceful behaviour is deeply troubling and has no place in the Army.



I have written to @GavinWilliamson about the investigation that is underway. pic.twitter.com/WcELyHLDPE  Nia Griffith MP (@NiaGriffithMP) April 3, 2019

He said what the soldiers in the video have done is a shameful act which destroys the reputation of the British Army, and is at odds which what is expected of them.

They need to be held to account for that action, but it demonstrates a more worrying trend in our society, where were prepared to see that kind of behaviour enacted against a key part of our democracy, he told the Press Association.

Whether you like him or not, Jeremy Corbyn is the Leader of Her Majestys Official Opposition in Parliament, and Parliament is the supreme democratic body in this country.

It comes after far-right activist Tommy Robinson posted a photograph of himself surrounded by grinning soldiers in October  prompting another Army probe.

The former English Defence League leader also shared a video featuring Army personnel who cheered and shouted his name.

At the time, the Army said it was aware of the image and footage and was investigating the circumstances, adding that a far-right ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the armed forces.The Eurosceptic press in Britain has played a large role in the negative perception of the EU as a remote and soulless technocracy, a special adviser to the EU Commission president has said.

Catherine Day, a special adviser to Jean Claude Juncker, told an Irish parliamentary committee that the outlook of the European Union would become more continental post-Brexit as member states would no longer have to contend with the reluctance of the UK.

Ms Day was before the EU Affairs Committee in Dublin on Wednesday to discuss alliance building within the EU.

She told TDs and senators that she was well placed to know how badly the EU has suffered from a bad press as a remote and soulless technocracy.

The British Eurosceptic press has had a lot to do with that, Ms Day said.

Theyve used ridicule to really try to undermine what is very solid and praiseworthy progress in a lot of areas.

A special adviser to Jean-Claude Juncker spoke about the post-Brexit challenges (Matt Cardy/PA)

Ms Day said Irish people had a strong desire to understand and be part of what was happening in the EU, but she warned that it would be hard to maintain that level of interest post-Brexit.

Weve seen now with Brexit what can happen when people feel alienated from that process, she said.

While we may be enjoying at the moment a Brexit dividend in terms of Irish support for the EU, I think we know that its very hard to maintain that intensity of interest and level of focus in more normal times.

Discussing the future of the EU, Ms Day said the outlook of the union would inevitably become more continental once the UK exits.

France and Germany will obviously play a bigger role in shaping future direction of the EU, she said.

They will no longer have to contend with the questioning and the reluctant attitude of the UK.

But she said Ireland would miss the role the UK played as a buffer between France and Germany in terms of organising a different debate, as it had never known the EU without the UK.

On a positive note, Ms Day said the EU was likely to develop stronger social policies without the opposition of the UK.

This will certainly be needed to address the challenge of populism, she said.

The EU does need to be able to show that it cares about all its citizens and that stronger economic policies will be accompanied by social policies that deliver.

Ms Day told the committee that Ireland had enjoyed huge solidarity from the other EU members states and EU institutions throughout the Brexit process, which she attributed to the mobilisation of politicians and diplomats.

Were going to need to keep up that effort in future, she said.

We have to reach out beyond the English speaking world to our continental partners. That means travelling to them and it means keeping in touch on a regular basis not just when we have a problem.

She added: The good news is that all small members states are coming to the same conclusion. They all see what we see  the need to work together permanently to ensure that the voice of the small member states is heard.Irish premier Leo Varadkar will hold Brexit talks with German leader Angela Merkel in Dublin on Thursday.

The Taoiseach will host Ms Merkel at Farmleigh House in the capital where their discussions are set to focus on the latest developments ahead of the special European Council meeting next week.

Prior to their formal sit-down the leaders will take part in round-table discussions with people from Northern Ireland and the border area about their views on the UKs withdrawal from the EU.

It comes as efforts intensify to find a way through the Brexit impasse.

Prime Minister Theresa May held talks with Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday in the hope of agreeing a position which could win a majority in the House of Commons in the coming days to allow her to request a short delay to Article 50.

On Tuesday Mr Varadkar held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dublin on Thursday (Brian Lawless/PA Wire)

Ahead of Ms Merkels visit, an Irish government spokesman said the Chancellor had been a strong and unwavering ally of Ireland as the country responded to the challenges brought about by Brexit.

Ahead of their formal meeting, the Taoiseach and Chancellor will participate in a round-table discussion with people from Northern Ireland and the border area, who will share their personal experience and perspectives on the impact any return to a hard border would have on border communities and businesses, the spokesman said.

These are people for whom the border is a very real issue  people from communities along the border, from business, and with direct personal experience of conflict before the Good Friday Agreement.

It is important to hear their voices as we work together to deal with the challenges that Brexit presents. 

The spokesman said the meeting was also an opportunity for the leaders to consider other issues on the EUs agenda and to reflect on how Ireland and Germany can strengthen the already excellent relations between the two countries.

Speaking in the Irish parliament on Wednesday, the Taoiseach said he hoped Mr Corbyn would show leadership and come up with a compromise plan with Mrs May.

Mr Varadkar also said that the growing frustration among a number of EU countries over the Brexit process was worrying for Ireland.

Discussing his meeting with Mr Macron in Paris on Tuesday, Mr Varadkar said he was really heartened by the enormous support that France continued to demonstrate towards Ireland and, by Mr Macrons statement that Ireland would never be abandoned by France or by the EU.

Whatever issues arise, if there is no deal, they are very much seen as shared problems, ones that Ireland will try to resolve with our partners in France and the European Commission, he added.

Its not a questions of a big stick or us being put under undue pressure, but there are reasonable questions being asked as to how we will protect the integrity of the single market and the single union.SINGAPORE, April 3 (Reuters) - Most London base metals rose on Wednesday after a senior U.S. official expressed optimism about progress in the scheduled trade talks with China this week.

The United States and China "expect to make more headway" in trade talks this week, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday, as Chinese vice premier Liu He is due to resume talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4 percent to $6,453 a tonne by 0143 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.1 percent to 49,200 yuan ($7,332.01) a tonne.

* Benchmark nickel, zinc and lead all rose 0.4 percent each, while tin advanced 0.5 percent. London aluminium was unchanged.

* Concern about copper supply disruption returned after an indigenous community in Peru, which has been blocking roads to Chinese miner MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine, refused to negotiate with the government.

* Norsk Hydro said on Tuesday it could take months for its Karmoey aluminium plant in western Norway to return to full capacity after a power outage that cut production by about 10 percent.

* Korea Zinc Inc and Teck Resources Ltd have agreed annual concentrate treatment charges of about $245 a tonne, 67 percent higher than last year, as mine supply ramps up, two industry sources said.

* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian shares hovered near seven-month highs as global investors paused for breath after the strong rally seen earlier this week, while oil approached the key $70 per barrel mark.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0030 Australia Retail Sales MM Feb

0030 Australia Trade Balance G&S Feb

0800 EU Markit Comp Final PMI March

0830 UK Reserve Assents Total March

1400 US ISM N-Mfg PMI March

PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminium

Most active ShFE aluminium

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead

Most active ShFE lead

Three month LME nickel

Most active ShFE nickel

Three month LME tin

Most active ShFE tin

ARBS ($1 = 6.7103 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)Zang III, former Fako SDO Archives

Georges Zang III, the no nonsense one time Senior Divisional of Fako Division, South West Region, is no more.

It is reported he passed away on Friday, March 29 in Yaounde. After quitting the Fako stage, reports were filtering in that Zang III had been battling with ill health for a while, which will have him flying to France for medical attention. However, he succumbed to the cold hands of death Friday afternoon.

Appointed as Senior Divisional Officer for Fako on 27 October 2012 to replace Bona Ebengue Francoise, Zang III has been described by many as the most dreaded SDO Fako has ever had. He could be described as one who neither feared human nor spirit, but always, in an outright manner expressed his say on issues, and ensured that what he wanted done, was done.

Zang III spent five years in Fako at the helm of the division; and during the said period, Land issues and chieftaincy squabbles remained major issues of debate in the division.

He was the SDO who received the Head of State when he visited the South west region and Buea in particular in 2015, and his efforts to ensure a serene and attractive atmosphere at the time, equally earned him the name the Action man.

Zang III even used threats when necessary, but he remained an open administrator, who loved to socialize and one who enjoyed his position, as the representative of the Head of state in Fako, as he is quoted to have always reiterated.

He also took actions to fight the Anglophone crisis during its early days, such as ordering chiefs to talk with their indigenes to send their children to school and sealing shops whose owners observed the ghost town on Mondays.

He was retired and replaced in June 2017 by present SDO, Engamba Emmanuel Ledoux.

Until his death, Zang III served as Head of Division of Electoral Operations and Referendums at Elections Cameroon, ELECAM.

Zang III, Head of Division of Electoral Operations and Referendums at Elections Cameroon, ELECAMDUBAI, April 3 (Reuters) - Dubai's largest lender Emirates NBD Bank has reached a new agreement to buy Turkey's Denizbank from Russia's state-owned Sberbank for 15.48 billion lira ($2.77 billion).

The current offer is lower than the $3.2 billion agreement reached last year.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter, subject to regulatory approval, Emirates NBD said in an exchange filing on Wednesday. ($1 = 5.5944 liras) (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Rashmi Aich)BRATISLAVA, April 3 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 1 hour) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/1C/events-overview ======================NEWS==================================== OPINION POLL: The election of anti-graft lawyer Zuzana Caputova as Slovakia's president has boosted her liberal, pro-European Union party's prospects in EU elections, against the grain of rising populism across the continent, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday. FOOD RETAIL TAX: The European Commission said on Tuesday it suspended a Slovak tax on the food retail sector pending the results of an in-depth investigation into whether certain exemptions from the tax gave some retailers a selective advantage over their competitors. For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jason Hovet +420 224 190 476 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)SOFIA, April 3 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- The ministry said that any hotelier who joins in the idea will become a partner of the national campaign which, the statement said, would be widely publicised in the Bulgarian media and would last for two months, April and May.

-- National Protection Service bodyguards have been assigned to the head of Bulgarias anti-corruption commission, Plamen Georgiev, after threats against him were received (Trud, 24 Chasa, Monitor, Sega)

-- Bulgarian police detained a 23-year-old foreigner -- who had escaped from an Austrian prison, at the Kalotina border crossing, the Interior Ministry said (Trud, 24 Chasa, Monitor)

-- Bulgarias Tourism Ministry has launched a campaign by which tourists will get a "pay for two nights, get one free" offer, in a move that the ministry hopes will boost domestic tourism (Monitor, Trud)

-- The number of criminal offences registered in Bulgarian capital Sofia in 2018 was 20,133, nearly 10 percent lower than the year before, the Interior Ministry said (Trud, Monitor)By Giuseppe Fonte and Gavin Jones

ROME, April 3 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday ruled out that Economy Minister Giovanni Tria, who is under fire from within the ruling coalition, could step down.

Tria, a 70-year-old academic who is not a member of either of the ruling parties - the right-wing League and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement - has often struggled to get along with his political backers.

"All ministers should stay calm ... there is nothing on the agenda," Conte said during a visit to Qatar when asked about rumours that Tria could quit.

Simmering tensions erupted this week over what 5-Star sees as Tria's reluctance to approve a decree to reimburse savers who suffered losses in a series of bank collapses.

The government has set aside 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) for the reimbursement, which was among 5-Star's campaign promises ahead of last year's election. Tria fears it will fall foul of European Union rules governing bank rescues.

He has drawn up a compromise proposal which would automatically reimburse less-affluent savers, and set up a special commission to judge the claims of better-off investors.

However, this has not satisfied 5-Star, which is struggling in opinion polls and fears it will be accused of reneging on a core election promise.

"Tria can't decide this on his own. We will have savers on the streets," a senior 5-Star lawmaker who asked not to be named told Reuters.

A source close to Tria said the minister had already got the European Commission to informally sign off on his plan, and "if 5-Star upset everything there will be no reimbursements and it will be the poorest savers who suffer".

Tria himself dismissed speculation he was ready to resign as "rubbish", in comments to daily Corriere della Sera on Wednesday. "If I were to go, we'd have to see how markets would react," he was quoted as saying.

Tria has repeatedly clashed with the ruling parties since the government was formed last June, especially during a drawn-out tussle over Rome's 2019 budget when he wanted to commit to a lower deficit than they did.

The League is taking a back seat in the latest hostilities but this could change if they escalate, because it will be reluctant to allow 5-Star to be seen as the main champion of savers' rights.

The League has overtaken 5-Star as Italy's most popular party, according to opinion polls, with both campaigning hard ahead of European parliamentary elections next month.

"Tria's position is not in question at the moment, but anything can happen after the European vote," a senior League lawmaker told Reuters. ($1 = 0.8906 euros) (Additional reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Agnieszka Flak, Editing by William Maclean)By Fabio Teixeira

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The maker of two of Brazil's biggest fashion brands was named to the country's "dirty list" of companies that have engaged in slave labor, with workers putting in excessive hours for scarcely any pay, government officials said on Wednesday.

Fabula Confeccao e Comercio de Roupas was found to be outsourcing the manufacture of A.Brand and Animale clothing to three workshops in Sao Paulo that kept Bolivians in slavery-like conditions, it said.

Brazil's "dirty list" is considered one of the South American nation's most effective measures against slave labor, and companies named to it are barred from access to credit from state banks or other public financial support.

While Fabula does not own the workshops at issue, it was found by labor inspectors to be the real employer since the workshops took orders from Fabula and only serviced its brands.

"They were the ones setting the rules, so they have the responsibility," Mauricio Krepsky, head of the Division of Inspection for the Eradication of Slave Labor, told Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Animale and A.Brand are two of the most well-known luxury brands owned by Grupo Soma, which owns Fabula. Soma has about 4,700 employees and had revenue of more than 1.2 billion reals ($312.28 million) in 2018, according to its website.

In a statement, Grupo Soma said this was an isolated incident, caused by a subcontractor that hired the workshops without its knowledge or consent.

"In 27 years, A.Brand and Animale never had a case of a direct supplier involved with any sort of work analogous to slavery," it said.

The use of subcontractors by fashion companies is not unusual in Brazil, which boasts the fourth-largest garment industry in the world in number of employees.

Throughout the industry, thousands of immigrant subcontractors from Bolivia and Paraguay sew clothes in small shops for national retailers.

Grupo Soma said it has not been found guilty of slavery in criminal courts and is seeking removal of Fabula's name from the "dirty list."

It also said it has adopted practices to better monitor its supply chain including hiring a company to audit suppliers weekly to check work practices.

Names are added to the "dirty list" after an internal government process that can take years. Once added, a name stays on the list for two years.

Nearly 190 companies are listed, most of them farms and construction companies.

At the Sao Paulo workshops, officials rescued 10 Bolivians who were working 12 to 14 hours a day and slept on site, said the labor inspector's report.

They were paid about 5 reals ($1.30) for each piece of clothing made, some of which was sold for about 700 reals ($182), it said.

In Brazil, slavery is defined as forced labor but also covers debt bondage, degrading work conditions, long hours that pose a health risk and work that violates human dignity. (Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)"There is a real danger that developing nations may adopt a space programme largely for the glamour, devoting resources not through a recognition of the values of which we are talking about here, but from a desire to create a sham image nationally and internationally."  Vikram Sarabhai.

The BJP is in full form and the Congress  screaming hoarse on issues like the economy, lack of transparency and achievement and their promise of minimum income guarantee  is, frankly, not cutting the mustard.

In the war of optics, the BJP seems to be winning hands down.

Hema Malini cuts hay with a sickle in a matching saree and make-up, a few days after admitting she has no recollection of what she might have done for her constituency, Mathura, but is sure she has done a lot of good work.

Yes. She's cutting the (publicity) mustard. (Source: Twitter)

Modis face is plastered all over the place  from sarees to bindi packets. Even paper cups in the Shatabdi Express were not spared and were hastily pulled out when there was a public outcry about the words Main Bhi Chowkidar printed on them. They were apparently printed on behalf of the Sankalp Foundation, which described itself as a 'charitable trust without any object of profit-making' on its website. However, they had reportedly done the same thing in 2015. At that time, the cups had a toll free number and an appeal to join the BJP. Bhajpa ke sadasya banein. Saath aayein, desh banayein (Become a member of BJP. Come along, build the nation).

If one feels this NGO's activities and the biopic on Narendra Modi starring Vivek Oberoi  which the BJP claims to have nothing to do with  are not connected in a grand plan that combines falsifying facts, 24/7 Goebbelesian psychological assault and militarist grandstanding, then one is exceedingly naive.

We are long past howling in indignation at the Election Commission (EC) code of conduct being violated. If a court can obligingly uphold a ban of social media comments reportedly at the behest of the latest wunderkind of the BJP, a 'youth' leader based down south, then there is hardly any forum left to exercise freedom of free speech, let alone speak truth to power.

Any criticism of the government or anyone from the ruling party is apparently considered either defamatory  or treasonous.

The BJP is quick with their repartee and adept at snatching back the narrative. The modus operandi has the juvenile simplicity of kindergarten fights. The popular parlance for this is Tu-tu, Main-main. You lob a Rafale scam accusation at us, we give you an airstrike (following a lapse of security whose details are apparently taboo to question). If the airstrike does not suffice and the 'Chowkidaar Chor Hai' slogan is still around on some lips, we reply with 'Main Bhi Chowkidaar', making everyone complicit fellow travellers. If Rahul Gandhi ups the ante with an announcement of a minimum income scheme, the attention of the nation has to diverted by another act of bravado  namely, shooting down one of our own satellites (believed to be Microsat-R satellite, weighing 740 kgs which India launched on January 24) by launching a missile, thus proving we are a formidable space power.

The Mission Shakti announcement came a day after Rahul Gandhi's NYAY welfare scheme was proposed. (Source: Reuters)

The Ministry of External Affairs, in its statement, said the Indian test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there was no space debris and whatever debris is generated will decay and fall back on to earth within weeks. This claim is contestable.

The leader in tracking objects in space is the US military through its 18th Space Control Squadron. It maintains an online database of more than 23,000 orbiting objects, including active satellites, defunct satellites, pieces of rockets and debris from previous tests of anti-satellite weapons. These objects include more than 3,000 pieces of space debris created in a Chinese anti-satellite test in 2007 and more than 1,000 from an accidental collision in 2009 between a Russian satellite and an Iridium satellite.

US Air Force Lieutenant General David Thompson, vice commander of Air Force Space Command, told a Senate hearing on Wednesday that the United States was tracking about 270 different objects in the debris field several hours after the Indian test. Thompson said it was "likely that the number is going to grow as the debris field spreads out and we collect more sensor information."

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has warned that any nations contemplating ASAT weapons tests  as the one India carried  risk making a 'mess' in space because of debris fields they can leave behind.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration chief Jim Bridenstine on Monday reportedly criticised Indias anti-satellite missile test strongly, saying that it has created 60 pieces of orbital debris big enough to track. Of these, 24 pieces rise higher than the International Space Stations orbit around Earth.

Why would Pakistan not demand their own version of Mission Shakti? (Source: PTI)

That apart, we may also have started an arms race in space as well, with Pakistan wanting to execute their own version of Mission Shakti.

In 1998, on May 11 and 13, India conducted a set of five nuclear tests in Pokharan  Pakistan followed soon after, in just two weeks. Pakistan was forced to take that decision as a response, in self-defence, to the nuclear tests and accompanying hostile posturing by its neighbour, the Foreign Office said in a statement. These developments, unfortunately, put an end to the prospect for keeping South Asia free of nuclear weapons, an objective which Pakistan had actively pursued.

The Foreign Office said that Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to non-proliferation and global peace and strategic stability. The country has shown utmost restraint and responsibility in exercising its nuclear capability since the 1998 tests, the statement read.

However, in the face of rapidly expanding nuclear and conventional forces in the region, and aggressive security doctrines, Pakistan is confident of its ability to deny space for any misadventure, the statement added.

The recklessness of militarism opens the gateway to further escalation. We may have given them a reason not to deny space for any misadventure.

One has a sense of unease and deja vu when one looks at history and how these things tend to play out.

In 1958, the Soviet Union had called for a ban on atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons and went so far as to unilaterally stop such testing. Under external political pressure, the US fell in line. However, in late 1961, political pressures internal to the USSR forced Nikolai Khrushchev to break the moratorium, and the Soviets began testing once again  under pressure, the US responded with tests of their own.

In 1962, when America detonated a nuclear warhead in the upper reaches of the atmosphere in a test called Starfish Prime, it took out at least six satellites  it was part of a dangerous series of high-altitude nuclear bomb tests at the height of the Cold War. Its immediate effects were felt for thousands of kilometres. Twenty-one years later, in 1983, the Soviet Union, then under Yuri Andropovs leadership, decided to respond to President Ronald Reagans announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative by declaring a self-imposed moratorium on anti-satellite testing.

What happens in space does not stay in space. It can have very hard impacts on earth too. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

It is well known that we had developed this technology in 2012. It is also well documented why we did not carry out any such demonstration.

Political will as former head of DRDO, V.K. Saraswat claims, had nothing to do with it.

Better sense had prevailed.

Saraswat may have changed his tune after apparently coming closer to the BJP, but in an interview to India Today in 2012 he had explained why he was not in favour of testing Indias ASAT capabilities at the time.

We dont want to weaponise space but the building blocks should be in place. Because you may come to a time when you may need it. Today, I can say that all the building blocks (for an ASAT weapon) are in place. A little fine-tuning may be required but we will do that electronically. We will not do a physical test (actual destruction of a satellite) because of the risk of space debris affecting other satellites.

In any case, this latest posturing is very likely a waste of time, money and effort. According to former ISRO Satellite Communication Engineer, N Kalyan Raman, who has worked with ISRO for over two decades, "Most of the countries' satellites are in the higher orbit, and even with this India won't be able to knock out those satellites." Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at MIT, reportedly told Wired that while China can knock out all of Indias satellites, India cannot do the same to China. "So its kind of a weird balance for India if its interested in getting into the anti-satellite deterrence game."

The DN-3 is thought to be Chinas most capable midcourse hit-to-kill interceptor, but the country has other systems capable of exo-atmospheric ballistic and anti-satellite interception, including the DN-2, the HQ-19, and the ASAT-oriented SC-19.

Neither we, nor the Russian Nudol anti-satellite system come close to that.

The political sparring between the INC and the BJP resembles an arms race too  one salvo from one side, followed by another from the other side.

Some may even find it amusing, but this recent escalation goes beyond the permissible ethical ambits of election campaigning. It is an overreach with serious potential consequences and displays, to my mind, immense political immaturity and recklessness. A 'chowkidar in space', as PM Modi grandly proclaims India has become, would have taken care not to have indulged in this adventurism.

Also read: Why I think PM Modi's Mission Shakti announcement was in fact just empty space!Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.

Read MoreRene Emmanuel Sadi, ministre de la communication, porte-parole du gouvernement archives

Cameroons Communication Minister, Rene Emmanuel Sadi has put the blame for the burning of portions of the Muyuka District Hospital at the doorsteps of pro-independence fighters.

The minister was reacting to a March 27, 2019 damaging Human Rights Watch report on the situation in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. The UK-based group had in its report said: Government forces in Cameroons Anglophone regions have killed scores of civilians, used indiscriminate force, and torched hundreds of homes over the past six months.

Cameroons government should investigate allegations of human rights violations and ensure that civilians are protected during security operations, Human Rights Watch continued.

In a press conference Tuesday, Minister Sadi described the report of the International Human Rights NGO as a systematic tendency to discredit public authorities and the Cameroonian government categorically refutes these accusations made recklessly against Republican Forces engaged in a struggle for preservation the territorial integrity of the state and the protection of persons and property in the North West and South West Regions.

The minister said allegations that government security forces have committed extrajudicial executions, burned property, carried out arbitrary arrests, and tortured detainees shows an obvious bias in favour of the armed groups by downplaying their responsibilities on atrocities committed in Cameroons North West and South West regions

Sadi cited the burning of the Muyuka District Hospital and the Kumba District Hospital among the atrocities carried out by separatists.

The Muyuka District Hospital is said to have gone up in flames on Saturday, March 30, 2019. Information has it that the pharmacy, vaccination centre and the consultation wing of the hospital was razed down under unclear circumstances.

The incident comes a few weeks after the Kumba District Hospital was attacked and burnt down by suspected separatist fighters, although they have since described the allegations as baseless. The separatists have however not claimed responsibility for the Muyuka Hospital fire.

Sadi in yesterdays outing stressed that the Defence and Security Forces have been professional in executing their tasks in these regions and reaffirmed governments support to weed off armed groups in these restive regions.

He cautioned rights groups in the likes of Human Rights Watch to show a lot of responsibility and objectivity in their assessment of the situation in the country if they intend to remain credible and preserve their relations with Cameroon.10 hours ago

How Much Higher Can Broadcom Go?

Double-Digit Gains In Store For Broadcom With shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) up sharply in the wake of the Q4 earnings and Q1 guidance investors and traders alike are surely wondering how much higher can the stock go? Based on our assessment of the report, the market fundamentals, and the chart we think this stock could go a lot higher.

Read ArticleDowDuPont Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in agriculture, materials science, and specialty products businesses in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company's Agriculture segment produces, and sells hybrid corn seed and soybean seed varieties; sunflowers, wheat, alfalfa, canola, cotton, rice, and sorghum; silage inoculants; and crop protection products that include weed control, disease control, and insect control. Its Performance Materials & Coatings segment manufactures and sells architectural paints and coatings, and industrial coatings; performance monomers and silicones; standalone silicones; and home and personal care solutions. The company's Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure segment offers ethylene oxides, propylene oxide derivatives, cellulose ethers, redispersible latex powders, and acrylic emulsions; sustainable solutions; and chlorine and caustic soda. Its Packaging & Specialty Plastics segment provides ethylene, and propylene and aromatic products; and polyolefin elastomers and ethylene propylene diene monomer rubbers. The company's Electronics & Imaging segment offers materials and systems for mobile devices, television monitors, personal computers, and electronics. Its Nutrition & Biosciences segment provides specialty ingredients, as well as cellulosic- and alginates-based pharma excipients; and enzymes, biomaterials, biocides, and antimicrobial solutions and process technologies. The company's Transportation & Advanced Polymers segment offers engineering resins, adhesives, lubricants, and parts for transportation, electronics, healthcare, industrial, and consumer end-markets. Its Safety & Construction segment provides engineered products and integrated systems for construction, worker safety, energy, oil and gas, transportation, medical device, and water purification and separation industries. The company was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Midland, Michigan.

Read MoreT3 Motion, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets electric motor powered personal mobility vehicles to the professional and consumer markets in the United States and internationally. The company offers the T3 Series and the T3i Series ESV, which are three-wheel, front wheel drive, stand-up, electric personal mobility vehicles primarily for public and private security personnel. It also provides power modules and chargers; and accessories, including reversible rear tires, side-mount external storage packs, sun shades, front and rear turn indicator systems, and on-board video camera systems and digital video recorders for its T3 Series and T3i Series ESVs. In addition, the company offers T3Automatic License Plate Recognition System, a law enforcement tool that provides real-time knowledge and post-action criminal intelligence, monitoring, and analyzing of license plates; and various CCTV and camera systems. Further, it focuses on developing T3 Vision line, a consumer version of the T3 Series; R3 Series, an electric/hybrid vehicle, which is a plug-in hybrid vehicle that features a single, wide-stance wheel with two high-performance tires sharing one rear wheel; and third generation of the T3 Series units. The company sells its products directly, as well as through distributors and manufacturer's representatives to law enforcement and securities firms. T3 Motion, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. On May 15, 2017, T3M Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. The case was later converted to Chapter 7 liquidation on September 26, 2017.

Read MoreAutomax Motors Ltd. does not have significant operations. Previously, it was engaged in offering domain monetization and mobile digital advertising services to advertisers, advertising agencies, app developers, and domain owners. The company was formerly known as Matomy Media Group Ltd and changed its name to Automax Motors Ltd. in April 2021. Automax Motors Ltd. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Read MoreHannah Etonde Mbua, Congregational Chairperson of PC Molyko Facebook

Elder Dr. Hannah Etonde Mbua has been elected Congregational Chairperson of Presbyterian Church Molyko during a 7-hour congregational meeting Sunday March 31 that witnessed the election of elders and session executive members.

The congregational meeting that started with a moving sermon on the theme new Christian leadership by Rev. Fobang Christopher Tah went on to vote a 25-man session for a five-year mandate. The preacher urged Christians of the congregation to support the new elders in carrying out their mission.

Elder Etonde Mbua will be assisted in her duties by Elder Fomunjong Elias who was voted Vice Congregational Chairperson.

Before Sundays elections, Elder Hannah Etonde Mbua was Parish Chairperson for the Molyko/Bokwai Parish while Elder Fomunjong Elias was Congregational Chairperson for PC Molyko. With the hierarchy of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon raising PC Bokwai into a full parish, the faithful of Molyko decided to hand their affairs to Dr. Etonde Mbua.

Christians were quick to praise the transparency of the elections.

Richard Ayuk, President of the Christian Men Fellowship (CMF) PC Molyko said the elections of new elders for the congregation paves the way for the reorganization of the executive committees of groups and movements.

On Thursday, April 11, 2019, new bureaus to pilot the affairs of the Christian Men Fellowship and Christian Women Fellowship (CWF) will be put in place.

Who is Etonde Mbua?

Dr. Mrs. Mbua nee Ngoto Hannah Etonde, aged 52, is the South West Regional Delegate for Secondary Education. She is the first-ever woman to occupy that position in the South West Region.

The calm-looking teacher cum educational administrator is as a devout Presbyterian Christian who believes strongly in the Bible principle that everything works for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose(Romans 8:28).

An Appointment to a post of responsibility is based on various considerations; but what is so obvious with Mrs. Mbuas own is that her competence and qualifications-both administratively and academically, earned her the job, critical observers said.

Having served as principal of state-owned secondary/high schools for more than a decade running, her quest for purposeful knowledge would cause her journey for a terminal degree.

And that is how she enrolled for a PhD in Educational Administration in the prestigious Anglo-Saxon University of Buea, and several years after, brilliantly defended it in October 2017.

Whether as principal of GSS Bonjongo (2000-2002) or as first-ever female Principal of Government High School (GHS) Buea (2002-2016) or as Principal of Government Bilingual Grammar School-Molyko-Buea(2016-August 2018, from where she was elevated to the rank of Regional Delegate, Mrs. Mbua, was described by both students and students as a disciplinarian par excellence

Her school management style also attracted the admiration of not only Hierarchy but also the general public.

This Fako elite has put in a total of eighteen years as principal of the above mentioned schools before her new portfolio.

As recognition of her valuable contributions to nation-building, Mrs. Mbua has been decorated by the State of Cameroon with the Knight of the National Order of Valour medal.

A member of the ruling CPDM since the 1990s,Mrs. Mbua,has been president of Buea WCPDM(WCPDM Fako III) since March 2007 and is member of the WCPDM National Bureau since 2011. She had before held other duty posts in the WCPDM in Buea such as Section Treasurer (May 2002 march 2007) and Subsection president of WCPDM Soppo Mokongo (1997-2002).

As a Buea councilor, this courageous lady in September 2013 when the CPDM won municipal elections in Buea, contested the mayoral seat against Ekema Patrick Esunge but lost to him.

Yet, she is ambitious. I aspire to become something more than a mayor. Life is all aspirations and hopes.

She taught English Language and Literature in Bilingual Grammar School (BGS)Molyko Buea(December 1994-August 2000);taught The Use of English at University of Buea(September 1995- July 2000);taught English & Literature at Central GCE Evening School Mevick Bilingual Grammar School Yaounde( January 1993 June 1994) and at Inter Comprehensive College Buea(1992)

Mrs. Mbua has been Assistant Chief Examiner (O level Literature in English) from July 2008 to date), and had been a GCE examiner for O level in English Literature (1995-2008)

She is a committed Christian, an elder and lay preacher of Presbyterian Church Molyko - Buea; member of Christian Women Fellowship (CWF Molyko) and is President-General of Ndola Kristo Choirs Association of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC).

Mrs.Mbua is an amateur actress, who has been member of both the Musinga Drama Group and the University of Yaounde Theatre. She likes doing research on important subjects .She enjoys cooking and singing.Royal Mail Plc engages in the provision of postal and delivery services. It operates through the following segments: Royal Mail and General Logistics Systems (GLS). The Royal Mail segment collects, sorts and delivers letters and parcels across the UK. The GLS segment operates in continental Europe and the Republic of Ireland and has a ground-based deferred parcel delivery network in Europe. The company was founded in 1516 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreTSO3 Inc. engages in the research, development, production, maintenance, sale, and licensing of sterilization processes, related consumable supplies, and accessories for heat and moisture sensitive medical devices worldwide. Its principal product is the STERIZONE VP4 sterilizer, a dual sterilant, low temperature sterilization system that utilizes vaporized hydrogen peroxide and ozone that is marketed in Canada and the United States. The company also develops and sells the STERIZONE 125L+ sterilizer, which is designed for terminal sterilization of heat and moisture sensitive medical devices, and is intended for the reprocessing of general instruments, rigid channel instruments, and single/multi-channel rigid endoscopes, as well as short and long single/multi-channel flexible endoscopes. In addition, it provides product development services to medical device manufacturers and others that include hydrogen peroxide and ozone sterilization validation, compatibility testing, medical devices cleaning method development, and medical packaging compatibility verification services. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Quebec, Canada.

Read MoreFormer General Manager of CAMTEL, heading to SCC Twitter

David Nkotti Emane, former general manager of Cameroons national telecommunications and internet service provider (CAMTEL), will this Wednesday at 10am, appear before judges at the Special Criminal Court in Yaounde.

Although no reason has been attached to this call, this is not the first time ,he is being called up for questioning at the countrys feared court room.

In 2016, a restriction order was issued by the Special Criminal Court (SCC), barring David Nkotto and some other senior staffs of CAMTEL, from leaving the country. The order was dispatched across the borders on the 2nd of March 2016.

Former director of finance anf budget, Enow Kenneth Agbor, Nganou Boris, former Director of human resource management Dieutoss Evariste, marketing expert Tsaam Gah Marcelino,chief of service for marketing Asssouzo'o Benjamin and Mfou'ou Jean Claude, were all the senior staffs of CAMTEL, banned along with David Nkotto.

He was accused by auditors of the supreme state audit and the National Corruption Commission (CONAC), for financial lapses between 2010-2015. In a special report published in2016_ the supreme state audit mentioned the absence of transparency in the management of public funds at CAMTEL.

Appointed in 2006 as General Manager of CAMTEL, David Nkotto was sacked through a presidential decree of December , appointing Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi, as his replacement.

With Nkotto gone, many expected judicial proceedings could be revived on his mismanagement case.

Operation Sparrow Hawk is an initiative of President Paul Biya, to trap down corrupt and embezzlers of public funds.

Recently, the former minister of defense, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o, fell into its dragnet. There are fears that same thing could happen to David Nkotto Emane.The following companies are subsidiares of Tyson Foods: APF Legacy Subs LLC, Advance Food Company LLC, AdvancePierre Foods, AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc., AdvancePierre Foods Inc., Aidells Sausage Company Inc., Allied Specialty Foods Inc., American Proteins Inc, Artisan Bread Co. LLC, Australian Food Corporation Pty Limited, Australian Food Corporation Trust, BRF, Barber Foods LLC, Bosco's Pizza Co., Bryan Foods Inc., C.S. Grain LLC, C.V. Holdings Inc., CBFA Management Corp., Central Industries Inc., Chefs Pantry LLC, Clovervale Farms LLC, Cobb (Hubei) Breeding Co. Ltd., Cobb (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Cobb Ana Damizlik Tavukculuk Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Cobb Columbia S.A.S., Cobb Europe B.V., Cobb Europe Limited, Cobb Peru (Andina) S.A.C., Cobb-Heritage LLC, Cobb-Vantress Brasil Ltda, Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cobb-Vantress New Zealand Limited, Cobb-Vantress Philippines Inc., Coominya AFC Pty Limited, Coominya AFC Trust, DFG Foods Inc., DFG Foods L.L.C., Don Julio, Egbert LLC, Equity Group - Georgia Division LLC, Equity Group - Kentucky Division LLC, Equity Group Eufaula Division LLC, Equity Meat Corp., Flavor Corp., Flavor Holdings Inc., Foodbrands America Inc., Foodbrands Supply Chain Services Inc., Gallo Salame Inc., Global Employment Services Inc., Grow-Out Credit LLC, Grow-Out Holdings LLC, Haimen Tyson Poultry Development Co. Ltd, Hudson Foods Company, Hudson Midwest Foods Inc., Hybro Genetics Brasil Ltda, IBP Caribbean Inc., IBP Foodservice L.L.C., IBP Inc., International Affiliates & Investment LLC, Jiangsu Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Keydutch Finance B.V., Keydutch Holdings I LLC, Keydutch Holdings II LLC, Keydutch Investments B.V., Keystone CLJV Holdings Limited, Keystone County House Road LLC, Keystone Foods, Keystone Foods (AP) Limited, Keystone Foods Holdco LLC, Keystone Foods Intermediate LLC, Keystone Foods LLC, Keystone Foods Pty Limited, Keystone Management Inc., Keystone Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited, LD Foods LLC, M & M Express LLC, M&M Restaurant Supply (MI/OH) LLC, MFG (USA) Holdings Inc., Mac Food Services (Malaysia) SDN. BHD., Madison Foods Inc., McKey Food Services (Hong Kong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Shandong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Thailand) Limited, McKey Food Services Limited, McKey Luxembourg Holdings APMEA S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg S.a.r.l., McKey VI Holdings Limited, Myung Seung Food Company Ltd., National Comp Care Inc., New Canada Holdings Inc., Oaklawn Capital Corporation, Oaklawn IT Solution Private Limited, Original Philly Holdings Inc., PBX inc., Pierre Holdco Inc., River Valley Ingredients LLC, Rizhao Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Rizhao Tyson Poultry Co. Ltd, Rural Energy Systems Inc., Sara Lee - Kiwi Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Diversified LLC, Sara Lee Foods LLC, Sara Lee Household & Body Care Malawi Ltd., Sara Lee International LLC, Sara Lee International TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Mexicana Holdings Investment L.L.C., Sara Lee TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Trademark Holdings Australasia LLC, Saramar L.L.C., Shandong Tyson-Da Long Food Company Limited, Smart Chicken, Southern Family Foods L.L.C., Southwest Products LLC, TF 20 B.V., TF 5201 B.V., TFA Leasing LLC, TFA Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, TFI of California Inc., Tecumseh Poultry LLC, Texas Transfer Inc., The Bruss Company, The Hillshire Brands Company, The IBP Foods Co., The Pork Group Inc., TyNet Corporation, Tyson (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Tyson Americas Holding Sarl, Tyson Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Tyson Breeders Inc., Tyson Chicken Inc., Tyson China Holding 2 Limited, Tyson China Holding 3 Limited, Tyson China Holding Limited, Tyson Deli Inc., Tyson Europe Holding Company, Tyson Farms Inc., Tyson Farms QOZB LLC, Tyson Foods Brasil Investimentos Ltda., Tyson Foods Canada Inc., Tyson Foods Europe (Netherlands) B.V., Tyson Foods Europe GmbH, Tyson Foods France S.A.R.L., Tyson Foods Germany GmbH, Tyson Foods Group Limited, Tyson Foods Holland B.V., Tyson Foods Huadong Development Co. Ltd, Tyson Foods Iberia Alimentos S.L.U., Tyson Foods Italia S.p.A., Tyson Foods Korea, Tyson Foods Netherlands B.V., Tyson Foods Products Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Europe Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Sales (Europe) Limited, Tyson Foods UK Limited, Tyson Foods Wrexham Limited, Tyson Foods oosterwolde B.V., Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., Tyson Fresh Meats Sales and Distribution LLC, Tyson Global Holding Sarl, Tyson Hog Markets Inc., Tyson India Holdings Ltd., Tyson International APAC Ltd., Tyson International Company Ltd., Tyson International Holding Company, Tyson International Holding Sarl, Tyson International Service Center Inc., Tyson International Service Center Inc. Asia, Tyson International Service Center Inc. Europe, Tyson Mexican Original Inc., Tyson Mexico Trading Company S. de R.L. de CV., Tyson New Ventures LLC, Tyson Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, Tyson Pet Products Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Prepared Foods Inc., Tyson Processing Services Inc., Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats Inc., Tyson Sales and Distribution Inc., Tyson Service Center Corp., Tyson Shared Services Inc., Tyson Storm Lake Holdings LLC, Tyson Warehousing Services LLC, Tyson of Wisconsin LLC, Uninex SA, Universal Meats (UK) Limited, WBA Analytical Laboratories Inc., Wilton Foods Inc., Xamol Consultores e Servicos, and Zemco Industries Inc..There is not enough analysis data for BlackRock MuniYield Pennsylvania Quality Fund.

4.7 Community Rank

Outperform Votes BlackRock MuniYield Pennsylvania Quality Fund has received 84 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

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Community Sentiment BlackRock MuniYield Pennsylvania Quality Fund has received 69.42% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about BlackRock MuniYield Pennsylvania Quality Fund and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe MPA will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe MPA will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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NextCanadian Utilities Limited and its subsidiaries engage in the electricity, natural gas, and retail energy businesses worldwide. It operates through Utilities, Energy Infrastructure, and Corporate & Other segments. The Utilities segment provides regulated electricity transmission and distribution services in northern and central east Alberta, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories; and integrated natural gas transmission and distribution services in Alberta, the Lloydminster area of Saskatchewan, and Western Australia. It owns and operates approximately 9,000 kilometers of natural gas pipelines, 16 compressor sites, approximately 3,700 receipt and delivery points, and a salt cavern storage peaking facility located near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta in Canada. The Energy Infrastructure segment provides electricity generation, natural gas storage, industrial water, and related infrastructure development solutions in Alberta, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Australia, Mexico, and Chile. The Corporate & Other segment retails electricity and natural gas business in Alberta. The company was incorporated in 1927 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Canadian Utilities Limited is a subsidiary of ATCO Ltd.

Read MoreMedtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, coninuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Read More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.Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions

Read MoreHannover RAck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment offers specialty lines comprising marine, aviation, facultative and direct business, credit, surety, and political risks reinsurance products; and treaty, catastrophe XL, and structured reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities. This segment also provides risk solutions for agricultural, livestock, and bloodstock businesses; aviation and space business; and marine and offshore energy business. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment offers group and individual credit life, enhanced annuities, group life and health, and Sharia-compliant Takaful reinsurance products. This segment also provides risk solutions in the areas of critical illness, disability, health, longevity, long term care, and mortality and morbidity, as well as underwriting services. In addition, it offers various financial solutions, including new-business financing; monetization of embedded value; reserve and solvency relief; and divestiture of non-core businesses. The company was formerly known as Hannover RAckversicherung AG and changed its name to Hannover RAck SE in March 2013. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hannover RAck SE is a subsidiary of Talanx AG.

Read MoreInvesco New York AMT-Free Municipal Bond ETF's stock was trading at $25.65 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, PZT stock has increased by 2.3% and is now trading at $26.23.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.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. LP, HPS Vertical Development Co. LLC, HPS Vertical Development Co.-B LP, HPS Vertical Development Co.-D/E LLC, HPS1 Block 1 LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3B LLC, HPS1 Block 50 LLC, HPS1 Block 51 LLC, HPS1 Block 52 LLC, HPS1 Block 53 LLC, HPS1 Block 54 LLC, HPS1 Block 55 LLC, HPS1 Block 56/57 LLC, HSP Arizona Inc., HTC Golf Club LLC, Hammocks Lennar LLC, Harbor Highlands Group LLC, Harveston LLC, Haverton L.L.C., Heathcote Commons LLC, Heritage Pkwy East Holdings LLC, Heritage of Auburn Hills L.L.C., Hewitts Landing Trustee LLC, Hingham Properties LLC, Huntley Venture L.L.C., Inactive Companies LLC, Independence L.L.C., Independence Orlando LLC, Isles at Bayshore Club LLC, KMC Real Estate Investors LLC, Kendall Hammocks Commercial LLC, Kentuckiana Medical Center LLC, Kingman Lennar LLC, LB/L  Duc III Antioch 330 LLC, LCD Asante LLC, LCI Downtown Doral Investor LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor GP LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor LP LLC, LEN - Belle Meade LLC, LEN - OBS Windemere LLC, LEN - Palm Vista LLC, LEN BPT Investor LLC, LEN Mirada Investor LLC, LEN Notarize Investor LLC, LEN OT Holdings LLC, LEN Paradise Cable LLC, LEN Paradise Operating LLC, LEN-CG South LLC, LEN-Cypress Mill LLC, LEN-Ryan 1 LLC, LEN-Touchstone LLC, LENH I LLC, LENNAR HOMES OF TENNESSEE LLC, LFS Holding Company LLC, LH Eastwind LLC, LHI Renaissance LLC, LMC 10th & Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 144th and Grant Investor LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Holdings LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Investor LLC, LMC 360 Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 410 S Wabash Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Investor LLC, LMC 8th Avenue Apartment Investor LLC, LMC 990 Bannock Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Investor LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Holdings LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Investor LLC, LMC Block 42 Holdings LLC, LMC Build to Core III Investor LLC, LMC Build to Core III LLC, LMC Burnside Holdings LLC, LMC Burnside Investor LLC, LMC Chandler and McClintock Holdings LLC, LMC Charlestowne Holdings LLC, LMC Charlotte Ballpark Developer LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Holdings LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Investor LLC, LMC Cobalt Holdings LLC, LMC Costa Mesa Holdings LP, LMC Crest at Park West Holdings LP, LMC Denver Gateway I Investor LLC, LMC Denver Gateway II Holdings LLC, LMC Development LLC, LMC Downtown Doral South Holdings LLC, LMC Durham Gateway Holdings LP, LMC Evans School Holdings LLC, LMC Gateway Investor LLC, LMC Gateway Venture LLC, LMC Gilman Square Investor LLC, LMC Horton Street Holdings LLC, LMC Huntington Crossing Holdings LLC, LMC Inactive Companies LLC, LMC Lakeside Holdings LP, LMC Leya Holdings LLC, LMC Living Illinois LLC, LMC Living Inc., LMC Living LLC, LMC Living TRS LP, LMC Millenia Investor II LLC, LMC NE Minneapolis Lot 2 Holdings LLC, LMC New Bern Investor LLC, LMC North Park Holdings LP, LMC Parkfield Holdings LLC, LMC Parkfield Investor LLC, LMC Righters Ferry Holdings LLC, LMC River North Holdings LLC, LMC Spring Street Investor LLC, LMC Stonewall Station Investor LLC, LMC Triangle Square Investor LLC, LMC Venture Developer LLC, LMC Verbena Holdings LLC, LMC West Loop Investor LLC, LMCFX Investor LLC, LMCPNW Marymoor Holdings LLC, LMI - Jacksonville Investor LLC, LMI - South Kings Development Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle Holdings LLC, LMI - West Seattle Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle LLC, LMI Cell Tower Investors LLC, LMI City Walk Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale LLC, LMI Contractors LLC, LMI Glencoe Dallas Investor LLC, LMI Lakes West Covina Investor LLC, LMI Largo Park Investor LLC, LMI Las Colinas Station LLC, LMI Naperville Investor LLC, LMI Pacific Tower LLC, LMI Park Central Two LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners Investor LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners LLC, LMI-JC Developer LLC, LMI-JC LLC, LMV 1640 Broadway REIT-DC LP, LMV 1701 Ballard REIT-DC LP, LMV 19H REIT-DC LP, LMV 2026 Madison REIT-DC LP, LMV 85 South Union REIT-DC LP, LMV ATown REIT-DC LP, LMV Annapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Apache Terrace REIT-DC LP, LMV Block 42 REIT-DC LP, LMV Bloomington REIT-DC LP, LMV Bolingbrook REIT-DC LP (DE), LMV Central at McDowell REIT-DC LP, LMV East Village I REIT-DC LP, LMV Edina REIT-DC LP, LMV Fremont WS I REIT-DC LP, LMV Glisan REIT-DC LP, LMV Grand Bay REIT-DC LP, LMV II Grand Bay Pod V Holdings LP, LMV II Kierland Holdings LP, LMV II NoMo Holdings LP, LMV II Venture Developer LLC, LMV II Wynwood Holdings LP, LMV Kirkland REIT-DC LP, LMV Little Italy REIT-DC LP, LMV M Tower REIT-DC LP, LMV Millenia II REIT-DC LP, LMV Milpitas REIT-DC LP, LMV NE Minneapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Oak Park REIT-DC LP, LMV One20Fourth REIT-DC LP, LMV QR Build to Core Manager LLC, LMV Rio Bravo REIT-DC LP, LMV Scottsdale Quarter REIT-DC LP, LMV Tysons REIT-DC LP, LMV Vallagio III REIT-DC LP, LMV Victory Block G REIT-DC LP, LMV Warren Street REIT-DC LP, LNC Communities II LLC, LNC Communities IV LLC, LNC Communities V LLC, LNC Communities VI LLC, LNC Communities VII LLC, LNC Communities VIII LLC, LNC Pennsylvania Realty Inc., LNC at Meadowbrook LLC, LNC at Ravenna LLC, LS College Park LLC, LS Terracina LLC, LV Opendoor Investor LLC, LV Opendoor JV LLC, LW D'Andrea LLC, Lagoon Valley Residential LLC, Lakelands at Easton L.L.C., Legends Club LLC, Legends Golf Club LLC, Len - Little Harbor LLC, Len FW Investor LLC, Len Paradise LLC, Len-Angeline LLC, Len-Hawks Point LLC, Len-Land LLC, Len-Land West LLC, Len-MN LLC, Len-Verandahs LLP, LenCom LLC, LenFive LLC, LenFive Opco GP LLC, LenFive Sub III LLC, LenFive Sub LLC, LenFive Sub Opco GP LLC, Lenalto CMBS LLC, Lencraft LLC, Lennar Aircraft I LLC, Lennar Arizona Construction Inc., Lennar Arizona Inc., Lennar Associates Management Holding Company, Lennar Associates Management LLC, Lennar Avenue One LLC, Lennar Berkeley LLC, Lennar Bevard LLC, Lennar Bridges LLC, Lennar Buffington Colorado Crossing L.P., Lennar Buffington Zachary Scott L.P., Lennar Carolinas LLC, Lennar Central Park LLC, Lennar Central Region Sweep Inc., Lennar Chicago Inc., Lennar Cobra LLC, Lennar Colgate Urban Renewal Development LLC, Lennar Colorado LLC, Lennar Colorado Minerals LLC, Lennar Commercial LLC, Lennar Communities Development Inc., Lennar Communities Inc., Lennar Communities Nevada LLC, Lennar Communities of Chicago L.L.C., Lennar Concord LLC, Lennar Construction Inc., Lennar Cory Road LLC, Lennar Courts LLC, Lennar Developers Inc., Lennar Ewing LLC, Lennar Financial Services LLC, Lennar Flamingo LLC, Lennar Fresno Inc., Lennar Gardens LLC, Lennar Georgia Inc., Lennar Greer Ranch Venture LLC, Lennar Heritage Fields LLC, Lennar Hingham Holdings LLC, Lennar Hingham JV LLC, Lennar Homes Holding LLC, Lennar Homes LLC, Lennar Homes NJ LLC, Lennar Homes of Arizona Inc., Lennar Homes of California Inc., Lennar Homes of Indiana Inc., Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction Ltd., Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing Ltd., Lennar Homes of Utah Inc., Lennar International Holding LLC, Lennar International LLC, Lennar Lakeside Investor LLC, Lennar Layton LLC, Lennar Living LLC, Lennar Lytle LLC, Lennar MF Holdings LLC, Lennar MPA LLC, Lennar MPA WIP LLC, Lennar Mare Island LLC, Lennar Marina A Funding LLC, Lennar Massachusetts Properties Inc., Lennar Middletown LLC, Lennar Monmouth Redevelopers LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Victory Block G Mezz LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily Builders LLC, Lennar Multifamily Communities LLC, Lennar Multifamily Venture DC LP, Lennar New Jersey Holdings LLC, Lennar New Jersey Properties Inc., Lennar New York LLC, Lennar Northeast Properties LLC, Lennar Northwest Inc., Lennar OHB LLC, Lennar PI Acquisition LLC, Lennar PI Property Acquisition LLC, Lennar PIS Management Company LLC, Lennar Pacific Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Management Inc., Lennar Plumsted Urban Renewal LLC, Lennar Point LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core GP LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core LP LLC, Lennar Realty Inc., Lennar Reno LLC, Lennar Riverwalk LLC, Lennar Sacramento Inc., Lennar Sales Corp., Lennar Sierra Sunrise LLC, Lennar Spencer's Crossing LLC, Lennar Sun Ridge LLC, Lennar Texas Holding LLC, Lennar Ventures LLC, Lennar West Valley LLC, Lennar Winncrest LLC, Lennar at Franklin LLC, Lennar at Jackson LLC, Lennar at Marlboro 79 LLC, Lennar at Monroe LLC, Lennar.com Inc., Longleaf Acquisition LLC, Lori Gardens Associates II LLC, Lori Gardens Associates III LLC, Lori Gardens Associates L.L.C., Lorton Station LLC, Lyons Lennar Farms LLC, Madrona Ridge L.L.C., Madrona Village L.L.C., Madrona Village Mews L.L.C., Majestic Woods LLC, Maple and Broadway Holdings LLC, Menifee Development LLC, Mid-County Utilities Inc., Miralago West Lennar LLC, Mission Viejo 12S Venture LP, Mission Viejo Holdings Inc., Motomic Diagnostics LLC, Multibank 2009-1 CML-ADC Venture LLC, Multibank 2009-1 RES-ADC Venture LLC, NC Properties I LLC, NC Properties II LLC, North American Asset Development LLC, Northbridge L.L.C., OHC/Ascot Belle Meade LLC, One SR L.P., PD-Len Boca Raton LLC, PG Properties Holding LLC, POMAC LLC, PT Metro LLC, Pace Drive Holdings LLC, Palm Gardens At Doral Clubhouse LLC, Palm Gardens at Doral LLC, Palm Springs Classic LLC, Palm Vista Preserve LLC, Patuxent Infrastructure Inc., Pioneer Meadows Development LLC, Pioneer Meadows Investments LLC, Plaza Condominium Ventures LLC, Portside Marina Developers L.L.C., Portside SM Associates L.L.C., Portside SM Holdings L.L.C., Portside Shipyard Developers L.L.C., Prestonfield L.L.C., Quail Roost Lennar LLC, RCCF GP II LLC, RCCF GP III LLC, RCCF GP IV LLC, RCCF GP LLC, RES-FL EIGHT LLC, RES-FL SEVEN LLC, RES-FL VISION ONE LLC, RES-FL VISION TWO LLC, RES-GA CASCADE LLC, RES-GA DIAMOND MEADOWS LLC, RES-GA KAP LLC, RES-GA SOUTHERN PLANTATION LLC, RES-GA THIRTEEN LLC, RES-GA TWELVE LLC, RES-GA WEST LLC, RES-IL ONE LLC, RES-NC ONE LLC, RES-PA LSJ LLC, RES-PA POM LLC, RES-TX BOULEVARD LLC, RH Insurance Company Inc., RH MOA BBCMS 2017-C1 LLC, RH MOA CF 2017-C8 LLC, RH MOA LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C4 LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C6 LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 CLASS B LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 LLC, RL BB FINANCIAL LLC, RL BB INACTIVE LLC, RL BB-AL LLC, RL BB-FL ALHI LLC, RL BB-GA LLC, RL BB-GA RMH LLC, RL BB-IL LLC, RL BB-IN AA LLC, RL BB-IN KRE LLC, RL BB-IN KRE OP LLC, RL BB-IN KRE RE LLC, RL BB-MS LLC, RL BB-NC LLC, RL BB-OH LLC, RL BB-SC BROOKSA LLC, RL BB-SC CLR II LLC, RL BB-SC CLR III LLC, RL BB-SC CLR IV LLC, RL BB-SC CLR LLC, RL BB-SC CRRC LLC, RL BB-SC RACEDAY LLC, RL BB-TN BRISTOL LLC, RL BB-TN LLC, RL BB-TN RACEDAY TOWER LLC, RL BB-TX LLC, RL BB-WV LLC, RL CMBS Holdings LLC, RL CML 2009-1 Investments LLC, RL REGI ARKANSAS LLC, RL REGI Alabama LLC, RL REGI FINANCIAL LLC, RL REGI Florida LLC, RL REGI GEORGIA LLC, RL REGI INACTIVE LLC, RL REGI KANSAS LLC, RL REGI MISSISSIPPI LLC, RL REGI MISSOURI LLC, RL REGI NORTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI SOUTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI TENNESSEE LLC, RL REGI VIRGINIA LLC, RL REGI-AL HP LLC, RL REGI-AL VRC LLC, RL REGI-FL CRC LLC, RL REGI-FL ESH LLC, RL REGI-FL FT. PIERCE LLC, RL REGI-FL GDL LLC, RL REGI-FL ITALIA LLC, RL REGI-FL MRED LLC, RL REGI-FL RDI LLC, RL REGI-FL SARASOTA LLC, RL REGI-FL TPL LLC, RL REGI-FL VARC LLC, RL REGI-GA DRAD LLC, RL REGI-GA HAY DB LLC, RL REGI-GA MHU LLC, RL REGI-GA MPD LLC, RL REGI-GA RLR LLC, RL REGI-MO GMB LLC, RL REGI-MO MOSCOW MILLS LLC, RL REGI-MS Double H LLC, RL REGI-MS OCEAN SPRINGS LLC, RL REGI-NC CIL LLC, RL REGI-NC LITTLE WING LLC, RL REGI-NC MLD LLC, RL REGI-NC Mland LLC, RL REGI-NC RALEIGH LLC, RL REGI-NC SUGARM LLC, RL REGI-NM LLC, RL REGI-SC CTL LLC, RL REGI-SC LAKE E LLC, RL REGI-SC TDG LLC, RL REGI-SC TIG LLC, RL REGI-TN OAK LLC, RL REGI-TN SEVIERVILLE LLC, RL RES 2009-1 Investments LLC, RMF Alliance LLC, RMF Commercial LLC, RMF PR New York LLC, RMF Partner LLC, RMF SUB 1 LLC, RMF SUB 2 LLC, RMF SUB 3 LLC, RMF SUB 4 LLC, RMF SUB 5 LLC, RMV LLC, Raintree Village II L.L.C., Raintree Village L.L.C., Ral-Len BM LLC, Ral-Len LLC, Rannel Capital WeWork Series D LLC, Rannel Holdings LLC, Rannel Interests LLC, Rannel Investments LLC, Rannel Mortgage Investments LLC, Rannel Proprietary Investments LLC, Renaissance Joint Venture, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove II LLC, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove LLC, Reserve at River Park LLC, Reserve at South Harrison LLC, Rialto Commercial Mortgage Securities LLC, Rialto Credit Partnership GP LLC, Rialto Mezz Partners GP LLC, Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC, Rialto Partners GP II LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Debt LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Property LLC, Rialto Partners GP LLC, Rialto RSSF GP LLC, Riverwalk at Lago Mar LLC, Rocking Horse Minerals LLC, Rutenberg Homes Inc. (Florida), Rutenberg Homes of Texas Inc., Rye Hill Company LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada Holdings LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada LLC, Ryland Homes of California Inc., S. Florida Construction II LLC, S. Florida Construction III LLC, S. Florida Construction LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve South LLC, SPIC CPCO Inc., SPIC CPDB Inc., SPIC CPRB Inc., SPIC Del Sur LLC, SPIC Dublin LLC, SPIC Mesa LLC, SPIC NC Fremont LLC, SPIC Otay LLC, SPIC Springs LLC, San Felipe Indemnity Co. 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.Manchester & London Investment Trust plc is a close-ended fund launched and managed by M&L Capital Management Limited. The fund primarily invests in the public equity markets of the United Kingdom. It makes its investments across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in growth stocks of companies by employing a fundamental analysis. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against the FTSE Actuaries All-Share Index. Manchester & London Investment Trust was formed on January 1, 1972 and is domiciled in the United Kingdom.

Read MoreNational Grid plc transmits and distributes electricity and natural gas. It operates through UK Electricity Transmission, UK Gas Transmission, US Regulated, and National Grid Ventures (NGV) and Other segments. The UK Electricity Transmission segment owns and operates electricity transmission networks, which comprise approximately 7,236 kilometers of overhead lines. The UK Gas Transmission segment owns and operates gas transmission systems, as well as third-party independent systems and liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facilities. The US Regulated segments owns and operates transmission facilities across upstate New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; and electricity distribution networks in upstate New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Its assets comprise 14,439 kilometers of overhead lines; an electricity distribution network of approximately 117,498 circuit miles; and a network of approximately 57,551 kilometers of gas pipeline. The NGV and Other segment engages in the energy metering business; transporting renewable energy long distances through its electricity interconnectors; and storing LNG, as well as commercial property and insurance activities in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreNovan, Inc., a clinical development-stage biotechnology company, provides nitric oxide-based therapies to treat dermatological and oncovirus-mediated diseases. Its clinical stage dermatology drug candidates include SB204, a topical monotherapy for the treatment of acne vulgaris; SB206, a topical anti-viral gel for the treatment of viral skin infections; SB208, a topical broad-spectrum anti-fungal gel for the treatment of fungal infections of the skin and nails, including athlete's foot and fungal nail infections; and SB414, a topical cream-based gel product candidate for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. The company also develops SB207, an anti-viral product candidate for the treatment of external genital warts; WH602, a nitric oxide-containing intravaginal gel to treat high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV); WH504, a non-gel formulation product candidate to treat high-risk HPV; and SB019 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Novan, Inc. has a license agreement with Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; and a strategic alliance with Orion Corporation. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Read MoreNuveen Ohio Quality Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc. The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors LLC and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of Ohio. The fund invests in tax exempt municipal bonds. It employs fundamental analysis, with bottom-up stock picking approach, to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Standard & Poor's Ohio Municipal Bond Index and Standard & Poor's National Municipal Bond Index. The fund was formerly known as Nuveen Ohio Quality Income Municipal Fund. Nuveen Ohio Quality Municipal Income Fund was formed on October 17, 1991 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read More15 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Deutsche Wohnen in the last twelve months. There are currently 8 hold ratings and 7 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "hold" Deutsche Wohnen stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in DWNI, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Deutsche Wohnen or view top-rated stocks.The following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc..Photo: File photo

North Okanagan-Shuswap Conservative MP Mel Arnold says Ottawa is not doing enough to protect fresh-water lakes in Western Canada.

Arnold is calling on the federal government to initiate immediate responses to an audit released today examining aquatic invasive species.

The audit was performed by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development and examined the federal governments measures to prevent zebra and quagga mussels (among other species) from becoming established in Canadian waters.

Although we have known for some time that there are significant gaps in the federal AIS program, especially for British Columbia, the commissioners report released today has exposed the governments mismanagement and neglect of their duty to protect our waters, said Arnold. It is clear that the federal government is failing in their responsibility to lead the management of aquatic invasive species nationally and their timelines for closing these gaps stretch to 2022  this is unacceptable.

Arnold said Commissioner Julie Gelfand concluded the federal government had not taken the steps required to prevent invasive species, such as the zebra mussel ... from becoming established in Canadas waters despite commitments to do so over the years.

The commissioners report found the government had done limited enforcement of the Aquatic Invasive Species Regulations and had failed to prevent contaminated boats from entering Canada at the key international border crossing points.

In response, the feds committed to deploy seven new fishery officers to the Central and Arctic region and to the Quebec region, but none to Western Canada or British Columbia.

Arnold said the Okanagan-Shuswap regions popularity with boaters from across the continent carries the risk of the mussels entering our ecosystem.

In 2013, the Okanagan Basin Water Board estimated that an introduction of invasive mussels in the valley would cost the region $43 million a year to just manage.Photo: Contributed Stock image.

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m.

A woman is in hospital suffering serious, life-threatening injuries after a man allegedly assaulted her early Tuesday morning.

Sicamous and Salmon Arm police responded to Riverside Avenue at 6:20 a.m. after receiving a report that a man was assaulting a woman.

A woman was found suffering from trauma inside an apartment near Riverside Avenue.

Police arrested a 26-year-old man and he remains in custody.

Sgt. Murray McNeil said the male suspect was arrested for attempted murder.

The man and the woman are known to each other.

Anyone with information relating to this matter are urged to contact the Sicamous RCMP Detachment at (250) 836-2878.

ORIGINAL: 4:35 p.m.

Police have arrested a man for attempted murder in Sicamous.

RCMP Sgt. Murray McNeil confirms with Castanet a man has been arrested in connection to an incident on Tuesday morning.

More details comingPhoto: Facebook

Members of a First Nation in northern British Columbia who oppose a planned pipeline through their traditional territory say they will build a new camp to block its path.

A statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday says the Likhtsamisyu clan of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation is asserting its sovereignty by creating "a new, permanent land reclamation on their territory."

It says the camp will be "strategically located in order to impede the ability of the Coastal GasLink corporation to force their pipeline through Wet'suwet'en land."

The Coastal GasLink pipeline would transport natural gas from northeastern British Columbia to LNG Canada's export terminal on the coast in Kitimat, B.C.

The company says it has signed agreements with all 20 elected First Nations councils along its path but the hereditary clan chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation say the project has no authority without their approval.

In January, RCMP enforced an injunction against members of the nation's Gidim'den clan and supporters who built a blockade along a logging road toward the project's work site.

The Unist'ot'en camp, led by members of another clan, was conceived as a re-occupation of the land and has been a focal point of resistance against Coastal GasLink and other proposed oil and gas projects for almost 10 years.

"It's important that people realize this fight is far from over," the statement says.

"The events of December and January should be regarded as one phase in a struggle that has been going on for a decade. A new phase of struggle will begin in the spring of this year, and it may prove to be the decisive one."

Coastal GasLink says in an emailed statement that it is aware of social media discussions regarding the construction of new structures in areas near the company's right of way.

Preliminary construction activities are underway and the project has permits and authorizations from British Columbia's environmental assessment office and the BC Oil and Gas Commission, it says.

"We continue to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities to ensure the pipeline is built in an environmentally sustainable manner that ensures First Nation members, businesses and local communities maximize their economic opportunities."

The Likhtsamisyu clan statement calls for volunteers to help build a cabin, outbuildings and a structure for a kitchen, dining room and bunks from April 28 to May 18.

The camp will be led by warrior chiefs Dsahayl and Smolgelgem, who is also known as Warner Naziel and co-founded the Unist'ot'en camp.

"We will be building permanent buildings on our territory in an effort to assert our pre-colonial rights and jurisdiction on our lands," the chiefs say in a statement.

The project's website also says they are embarking on "a path of litigation (that) will hold all colonial antagonizers accountable for their actions against our people."GST law allows a person to take separate registration on same Permanent Account Number (PAN) in the same state.

New Delhi: Cracking down on tax evaders, the CBIC has asked tax officers to be cautious while processing application for fresh GST registration by those businesses whose earlier registration has been cancelled due to non-compliance.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) also directed tax officers to analyse the information by an applicant in the fresh registration form regarding details of proprietor, director/members of managing committee of associations/board of trustees etc vis-a-vis any cancelled registration having same details.

Recently, a large number of registrations has been cancelled by tax officers on account of non-compliance.

However, it has come to notice of taxmen that such businesses continue to operate without any registration and are not applying for revocation of cancellation of registration and are instead applying for fresh registration.

Instead, many of them are applying for fresh registration, so as to evade taxes which were due under earlier registration.

"It is instructed that the proper officer may exercise due caution while processing the application for registration submitted by taxpayers, where the taxpayer is seeking another registration within the State although he has an existing registration within the said State or his earlier registration has been cancelled," the CBIC said in its communication to field offices.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) law allows a person to take separate registration on same Permanent Account Number (PAN) in the same state.

However, a tax officer can reject the application for registration if the information or documents submitted by the applicant is found to be "deficient" if details in relation to earlier registration are suppressed.

Some of the details that may be concealed in the application for new registration are date of commencement of business, date on which liability to register arises, reason to obtain registration etc.

Such persons may also not furnish the details of earlier registrations, if any, obtained under GST on the same PAN.

"The proper officer may compare the information pertaining to earlier registrations with the information contained in the present application, the grounds on which the earlier registration(s) were cancelled and the current status of the statutory violations for which the earlier registration(s) were cancelled," the CBIC said.

In cases where the registration has been cancelled due to non-compliance, the officer would have to check whether the business had filed application for revocation of cancellation of registration.

"It is advised that where the applicant fails to furnish sufficient convincing justification or the proper officer is not satisfied with the clarification, information or documents furnished, then, his application for fresh registration may be considered for rejection," the CBIC said.

About 1.2 crore businesses are registered under GST, which was rolled out on July 1, 2017.

"Many of the taxpayers are unable to cope with the burden of compliances and the pace of GST evolution, committing bonafide mistakes. A blanket push on tax officers to scrutinise all applications with a coloured lens would lead to presumption of guilt without giving even first opportunity of being heard," AMRG & Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said.Ghaziabad: Actor Vivek Oberoi, who is all set to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic PM Narendra Modi, said that the Congress party is afraid of "chowkidar ka danda" (security guards wooden stick).

Ever since BJP kick-started its main bhi chowkidar campaign ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, chowkidar has become a part of political discussions. While many are constantly criticising the programme, there are people who support it. The latest one to appreciate the campaign is Vivek Oberoi. Why is the opposition afraid, what are they afraid of? I think they fear chowkidar ka danda (security guards wooden stick)," Oberoi told ANI.

The film, which follows Prime Minister Modi from his humble beginnings to his years as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and finally his landmark victory catapulting him as the Prime Minister, recently came under the ECI scanner after Congress and Left parties complained to the poll body saying that it violates the Model Code of Conduct.

However, in a major relief to the makers of the biopic, the Bombay High Court on Monday disposed-off the PIL. Commenting on the issue, Vivek said, Such big lawyers like Abhishek Manu Singhvi is wasting so much of time on a small film. We are filmmakers, we are not used to these courts and like you have Freedom of Expression, we as filmmakers have the freedom to make films on any subject and release anytime.

The actor also asserted that the movie is not funded by any political party and is not part of any propaganda. This film is an inspirational story, its not funded by anyone, proper documentation has been submitted. Allegations can be made on anyone, where is the proof? Oberoi questioned.

This is not a political film, it is a fascinating and inspirational story of a chai wala (tea vendor) in Vadnagar rising to such level without having the backing of a big family, English education and resources. This film shows what he went through. This biopic shows that anybody can become Prime Minister," the actor said emphatically.

Besides Vivek, the film also stars Suresh Oberoi, Barkha Sengupta, Prashant Narayanan, Darshan Kumar, Boman Irani, Zarina Wahab, Manoj Joshi, Anjan Shrivastav, Karan Patel and Akshat R Saluja. 'PM Narendra Modi' is scheduled to release on April 05.Mumbai: It was literally a smoking-hot birthday for the superstar-choreographer-actor Prabhudheva as he is shooting in the sweltering heat with Salman Khan for Dabangg 3 and the megastar and his team made sure his birthday was extra special.

Speaking from the location, Prabhu chuckled, This is my hottest birthday. Were shooting in a beautiful place called Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh and the heat seems to be pouring out of the ground instead of the sky.

Not that Prabhu is complaining. I cant hope to have a better birthday than one where I am working. Every artiste prays he would be working on that special day of the year.

They are being very nice to me. Theres so much warmth here. At my age, birthdays are hardly a day to celebrate and party. But being with Salman Sir, Sonakshi and the others is a pleasure. It just seems like family.

Speaking of family, Prabhus two sons had flown into Madhya Pradesh for his birthday. They have their exams going in Chennai where they stay and study. But they wanted to be here with me.

And wanted brings us to the first time Salman and Prabhu collaborated as actor and director. It was Salmans first hit after a string of stinging flops. Prabhu is embarrassed by the observation. I never thought of Wanted as that one picture which will bring back Salman Khan. He is one of Indias biggest stars. Hits or flops dont matter to him. But yes, we never expected Wanted to become so popular.

The dialogue Ek baar jo commitment kar di toh main khud ki bhi nahin sunta has become Salman Khans signature line.

Is Prabhu hoping for a similar impact with Dabangg 3? That is too much pressure to put on all of us. We are just making a film. Everyone is putting their hundred percent into it. Ive finished all my acting assignments for now. I have five films as an actor coming up. But no more acting until I complete Dabangg 3.

This birthday Prabhudheva is a Padma Shri. Does it feel any different? He laughs, It is no doubt a great honour. But I cant be thinking about being a Padma Shri and behave like one. How does a Padma Shri winner behave anyway? he asked.Nagarjuna and his team are all set to leave for Portugal for the shooting of Manmadhudu 2. Its not a sequel, were only using the name of the romantic drama, explains Nagarjuna. Rakul Preet Singh is going to be playing the female lead role in the film.

Why Portugal? This film is all about the people from the fourth generation who have settled in Portugal, which is why were shooting there, says Nagarjuna.

The Soggade Chinni Nayana star also added that the film is going to be an entertaining ride for the audience. Like the previous one, this one, too, is going to be hilarious. My scenes with Vennela Kishore have been written quite well and the film is definitely going to be a feast for the audience, he said.

Nagarjuna also has faith in the director Rahul Ravindrans (Chi La Sow fame) capabilities. He is super talented and has been doing his job quite well, he said. Nagarjuna also gave us an update about his other film, Bangarraju. The story is in its final stages and the script is looking good. Once complete, I will join the film on the floors soon, he concluded.Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko leaving the stage as he stepped down on April 30, the latest in a string of historic abdications. (Photo: AFP)

When the 85-year-old Japanese Emperor Akihito stepped down on April 30, it was the latest in a string of historic abdications that have included the pope and several other monarchs. As medical technology improves and lifespans grow, the concept of a lifetime of duty is gradually being eroded and abdications are becoming increasingly acceptable and frequent.

On February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world with an announcement that he was stepping down due to ill health, the first pontiff to abdicate for medical reasons in 700 years. In a speech in Latin at the Vatican, the 85-year-old German-born Benedict told cardinals that "due to an advanced age" his strength was "no longer suited to an adequate exercise" of his post.

Benedict, who suffered from arthritis and had a stroke while he was still a cardinal, eventually stepped aside on February 28, sparking an outpouring of emotion from the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

The only previous pope to step down because he considered himself unable to continue was Celestine V, a simple hermit elected against his will in 1294. His decision to back out sparked derision and Italian poet Dante Alighieri famously condemned him in "The Divine Comedy" to spend eternity in hell's antechamber for his "cowardice" in making "the great refusal".

In July 2013, the "King of the Belgians" Albert II announced to his divided country that he would be stepping down, saying he felt too ill and frail to continue. "I am at an age never attained by predecessors. My age and my health do not allow me to exercise my duties as I would like," said the then 79-year-old, after 20 years on the throne of the small European country.

It was the first voluntary abdication in the history of Belgium, which gained independence from the Netherlands in 1831. The Belgian monarch plays a crucial role in fostering national unity in a country which is sharply divided between French-speaking Wallonia and Flemish-speaking Flanders.

Dutch Queen Beatrix left the field open for a new generation. (Photo: AFP)

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands also stepped down in the abdication-heavy year of 2013, but the energetic and popular monarch did not abdicate due to ill health but rather because she wanted to pass the torch to her son Willem Alexander.

The then 74-year-old told the nation: "I'm not standing down because public service is too heavy for me, but because of the belief that responsibility for our country should be in the hands of a new generation."

Thousands of Dutch party-goers wearing orange suits, wigs and sunglasses, flooded the streets of Amsterdam to celebrate the handover of power to their first king in more than 120 years.

In June 2014, King Juan Carlos of Spain stepped down in favour of his son, bringing to a close a 39-year reign that won praise for guiding the country to democracy after the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975 but also had its share of scandals.

Carlos walked with a cane after several hip operations but, like Queen Beatrix, justified his abdication by saying that "a younger generation deserves to step into the front line". His reign was marred by a corruption scandal implicating the king's youngest daughter Cristina and her husband, and he outraged Spaniards in 2012 by going on a luxurious African elephant-hunting safari during a recession.

Also in 2013, the emir of gas-rich Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, abdicated after 18 years on the throne, a rarity in the Arab world. The emir, then 61, suffered from kidney problems but officials insisted his motivation for stepping down was not health-related but rather a determination to bring a younger leadership to the fore. His son Sheikh Tamim, then 33, took over.It is unclear whether death by stoning will actually be implemented, as a high burden of proof is needed to hand down the punishment. (Photo: AFP)

Brunei: On Wednesday is to introduce harsh new sharia laws, including death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, despite a storm of global criticism from politicians, celebrities and rights groups.

The tough penal code in the tiny country on tropical Borneo Island, ruled by the all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, will fully come into force following years of delays.

The laws, which also include amputation of hands and feet for thieves, will make Brunei the first country in East or Southeast Asia to have a sharia penal code at the national level, joining several mostly Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.

The decision to push ahead with the punishments has sparked alarm around the world, with the United Nations labelling them "cruel and inhumane" and celebrities, led by actor George Clooney and pop star Elton John, calling for Brunei-owned hotels to be boycotted.

But the sultan shows no sign of backing down, and the Muslim-majority country issued a statement at the weekend insisting that Brunei "enforces its own rule of law" and sharia "aims to educate, respect and protect the legitimate rights of all individuals".

The sultan is due to attend a public event Wednesday, and may make an announcement related to the implementation of the laws.

The sultan, who is one of the world's wealthiest men and lives in a vast, golden-domed palace, announced plans for the penal code in 2013 and the first phase was introduced the following year.

This included less stringent penalties, such as fines or jail terms for offences including indecent behaviour, failure to attend Friday prayers, and out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

A series of well-known figures have lined up to add to their names to the chorus of condemnation, including former US vice president Joe Biden and actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch, said: "This kind of law doesn't belong in the 21st century. It's going to be something that will turn Brunei into a human rights pariah."

The sultan, who is the world's second-longest reigning monarch, is unlikely to change course, however. He first called for the penal code in the late 1990s and it appears to enjoy broad support in the former British protectorate of about 400,000 people.

Analysts say he is seeking to burnish his Islamic credentials and shore up support among the country's conservatives due to the waning fortunes of the oil-dependent economy, which has been ravaged by recession in recent years.

It is also unclear whether death by stoning will actually be implemented, as a high burden of proof is needed to hand down the punishment and Brunei has not executed anyone for decades.Mumbai: Bunk beds remind us of childhood, of fun and adventure and of student life, where dorms often make use of bunk beds to maximise space usage. One can easily associate the idea of using bunk beds with discomfort, obstructed physical intimacy and impracticality in adulthood but bunk beds seem to be popular trend in hotels across the world.

Vogue recently identified the inclination of certain chic hotels offering private bunk rooms. Not the typical overcrowded, stuffy dorm rooms for backpackers but high-end, luxe rooms with bunk beds, which are ideal for people travelling in a group. These luxurious bunk bed options are ideal for bachelorette parties and family reunions.

Even larger hotels are joining in on the childlike fun. First introduced at Lightstones Times Square hotel, the decision to include bunk beds at four other Moxy Hotel locations was partly about maximizing the space of the room. Filling a room with traditional beds being side by side would have been the easy answer, but capitalizing on the vertical space was a better opportunity, especially given our target audience, Aliya Khan, vice president of Global Design Strategies for Marriott International (which owns Moxy), told Vogue.

From The Asbury hotel in New Jersey to Shibuyas Trunk (Hotel) in Tokyo, bunk bed-style comfort is being offered without compromising on the affluence quotient. Detroits The Siren features a twin bunk-bed room, The Hideout, which it says is ideal for friends on an adventure, tycoons in training or children with parents across the hall, with a price range that starts from USD 159 per night.

Volkshotel in Amsterdam charges up to 558 euros for its standard L room that is meant for a group of four, including two in a double bed suspended from the ceiling for those who like to be on top of things. If you are heading to the Miami area with your gang, then try out the Family Miracle Mile Lofts at Hotel Colonnade. Located on the top floor, the lofts have killer views of the resort's pool deck and most importantly, they have bunk beds plus a sleeper sofa in the living room.

The LetsBunk Poshtel in the sprawling Hauz Khas area of New Delhi also offers the bunk bed-experience with their 'Superior Quadruple' and 'King Room with Rooftop Patio' options. According to The Guardian, the appeal of bunk beds is endless. The article explains, Bunk beds are the essence of fun, rendered in steel or wood like some kind of totem to novelty. Maybe its the combination of physical proximity without any potential for eye contact, fostering late-night confidences.

Even one of the world's largest furniture retailer, the Swedish giant Ikea describes them as much more fun than an ordinary bed. So next time when you holiday with friends or family, do not hesitate from adding a bit of fun and opting for a bunk bed room instead of a regular, run-of-the-mill, mundane hotel room.The 15-year-old girl was abducted from near her house in Chinna Kanchi on Saturday evening by auto driver Raja and three of his friends, who drove the girl to a vacant land with bushes and trees, near a prominent landmark, which was deserted. (Representational Image)

Chennai: In yet another horrific incident of sexual violence in Chennai, a mentally retarded minor girl was allegedly abducted and gang-raped by four men near Kancheepuram. Police arrested two of the accused and have launched a search for the other two.

The 15-year-old girl was abducted from near her house in Chinna Kanchi on Saturday evening by auto driver Raja and three of his friends, who drove the girl to a vacant land with bushes and trees, near a prominent landmark, which was deserted. They then took turns to rape her. The girl was left there the men fled the spot, said a senior police officer.

The girl was playing near her house when the accused abducted her. Subsequently, the victims parents lodged a missing complaint with the Vishnu Kanchi police after searching for her.

Police sources said a special team of police was formed to find the girl. Meanwhile, on Sunday evening the Vishnu Kanchi police were informed that a girl was found lying unconscious near the bushes in Thirukalimedu in Kancheepuram. Police rescued the girl and admitted her to the Kancheepuram medical college and hospital for treatment. Police, quoting doctor, said the girl was gang-raped and had sustained severe internal injuries.

The case was then transferred to Kancheepuram all women police station who retrieved the CCTV footages from the area and found the auto used to

kidnap the girl. With the help of the footages, police on Monday arrested Raja, 25, the owner of the auto and his friend Deva, 27 of Thirukalimedu under Pocso Act.

Police have seized the auto used for the kidnap.

They were remanded and lodged in Vellore prison, police said. An Investigation revealed that Rajas friend Dinesh was known to the victims family and he had hatched the plan to kidnap the girl. Police are searching for Dinesh and his friend Aravind who have gone into hiding missing after the incident.

Nearly six months ago, a hearing-impaired girl 11-year-old child had been sexually assaulted by multiple men at a gated community in the Ayanavaram area.Photo: SD67

For the first time, School District 67 is attempting to streamline summer job searching for its students by launching their "Get to Work" campaign.

The new Careers 67 website will allow students to check out their employment options in a one-stop-shop format.

"It's essentially to help students find some great summer jobs. We're looking to create a system that uses a little bit of technology to help students find all the jobs that are located both in Penticton and Summerland," said Trevor Knowlton, SD67 careers and apprenticeship coordinator.

"And, on the flip side, we're intending it to help local businesses to submit job postings for students they may be looking for this summer."

It's about making the hiring process easier for both students and employers, and helping more students find jobs that fit their interests.

"It's giving them some opportunities to see jobs they may not have known before. A lot of times students think about job postings for summer that are the classic tourist-type opportunities," Knowlton said. "So we're just trying to open opportunities up a bit more."

Posters have been distributed to all SD67 schools with QR codes students can scan on their phones and instantly see an updated list of job postings available.

"They'll be taken immediately to the website, it outlines all the postings for Penticton and Summerland," Knowlton explained. "And it has information in terms of videos for information on resumes, job interviews, right on their phones right there to make it easier for them."

Businesses in Penticton and Summerland are encouraged to reach out if they have job postings they think would be ideal for a summer student. Knowlton said they can fill out an employer form by clicking the "Get To Work" logo on the website here.

"This is a huge step forward in being able to streamline that process of getting more students out there," Knowlton said. "And at the same time, helping some of those local employers that have been helping us with work experience and apprenticeship programs."The womans father Syed Gaffar Ali approached the Telangana State government in 2018, which requested the MEA to take action and rescue the children and their mother.

Hyderabad: A Hyderabadi woman and her three daughters, who were reportedly facing harassment at Mogadishu in Somalia, were rescued by the government of India and brought to India on Tuesday.

Afreen Begum, a resident of Basharath Nagar under Kalapathar police station limits, was married to one Mohammed Hussain Duale, a Canadian passport holder on September 19, 2013.

They were blessed with three daughters and were living in the city.

In July 2018, they left for Somalia, as Hussain wanted to see his family members.

After a few days, Hussain left for Canada and never contacted Afreen. After that, she called her family members in the city on a few occasions, and they got anxious about her condition. They later got to know that Afreen and the children were confined to the house at Mogadishu, the area which frequently suffered bombings and attacks.

The womans father Syed Gaffar Ali approached the Telangana State government in 2018, which requested the MEA to take action and rescue the children and their mother.However, no response has been received from the Government of Pakistan in this regard. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: India on Tuesday sent a note verbale to Pakistan , urging it to make necessary arrangements for an immediate release and repatriation of 10 Indian prisoners who had completed the prison sentence in Pakistani jails.

India has also made a fresh demand seeking consular access to five Indian nationals, including Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose case is pending at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Ministry of External Affairs sent the note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission here in which India has conveyed its deep concern over the long pending release and repatriation of Indian prisoner held under Pakistan custody despite completion of sentence and nationality confirmation, MEA sources said.

India has put Jadhav in the category of Indian civilian' prisoners in Pakistans custody with the long-pending request for consular access. Kulbhushan Jadhavs name figures with four others- Mohammad Javaid, Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Ismail, Salfikar Ali.

Former naval officer Jadhav, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court after being arrested on charges of spying activities in 2016.

In the note verbale India said, "... consular access to Indian fishermen and prisoners in Pakistan jails is inordinately delayed. Such delays cause an avoidable delay in confirmation of their nationality and thus detrimental to the timely release of prisoners and fishermen."

Consular access for two civilian prisoner in Rawalpindi, which was postponed by the Government of Pakistan is still pending. It is requested that immediate consular access is provided to all those prisoners and fishermen held in Pakistans custody and awaiting consular access, the note added. India has been consistently raising with Pakistan its concern regarding missing Indian defence personnel, including Prisoners of War, believed to be in Pakistans custody, the note mentioned.

However, no response has been received from the Government of Pakistan in this regard. It is requested that necessary steps may be taken immediately to locate, release and repatriate the missing Indian defence personnel believed to be held in Pakistan custody, it said. India also shared the list of Indian fishing boats held in Pakistans custody.Kochi: Kerala Police Association has come out strongly against Mohanlal-starrer 'Lucifer' for one of its posters showing the hero hitting on the chest of an officer with his foot.

In a complaint to the chief minister on Tuesday, its general secretary said the ad sends a wrong message to the society and sought action.

"This advertisement also has a title which sends a wrong message to the people. No action against such posters undoubtedly creates lawlessness. Earlier, criminals were attacking police, but nowadays our youth also involved in such criminal acts," it says.

"If it creates a thought in the society that police officers are to be attacked, there is nothing to wonder. Because films can influence the people in a much bigger way and it provokes people to do such acts. Those showing the usage of tobacco and liquor and not wearing helmets have statutory warnings displayed on the screens and posters. The scenes and posters showing an attack against police should also be made illegal."

Meanwhile, trolls and hate comments are spreading all across the social media against the complaint.

They argue that the poster does not spread anything wrong, but the people will take it only as a film. Those who support the police association said the scene should not be used for promotional purposes even if the act was contextual.In a representation submitted to the superintendent of Osmania General Hospital the junior doctors stated that the post graduates have not been paid for the past five months doctors in the super speciality have not been paid for seven months. (Representational Image)

Hyderabad: Telangana Junior Doctors Association on Tuesday called an indefinite strike from April 3 demanding payment of pending stipends as well as to protest against the presence of health minister Etala Rajender at a meeting with quacks in Karimnagar.

In a representation submitted to the superintendent of Osmania General Hospital the junior doctors stated that the post graduates have not been paid for the past five months doctors in the super speciality have not been paid for seven months.

Dr H. Naresh, president of Osmania Medical College of TJUDA said, The request to the higher officials had no results. It is also not proper for a health minister to chair a meeting with quacks. We had repeatedly pointed out that the governments move to support PMPs and RMPs will be strongly objected. This is the reason for calling the indefinite.

The doctors also protested outside the Osmania General Hospital on Tuesday evening.

Health minister Etela Rajenders pictures of the Karminagar meeting has gone viral on social media groups as the banner in the background showed that it was a meeting of RMP's and PMPs Welfare Association.Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday lambasted BJP president Amit Shah over his recent statement that Article 35A of the Constitution which grants special rights and privileges, including owning immovable property, jobs and scholarships to permanent residents of the state will be abrogated by 2020.

She said, He has said Article 35A will go in 2020. Then that year will also be Jammu and Kashmirs deadline to the country, she said while speaking to reporters after filing her nominations to seek election to Lok Sabha from home constituency Anantnag.

She also criticised senior Congress leader and former Union minister and Sadar-e-Riyasat (head of the state) of J&K Dr Karan Singh for his assertion that the special status to the State was offered by the

Government of India in difficult circumstances and was not there to guarantee its Muslim majority character. Karan Singhs father Maharaja Hari Singh had himself laid the foundation of Article 370. Today, he is singing a different tune, she said.Subsequently, it was introduced in the overseas market last year and it spread like a virus and 500 millions of people were using the said TikTok application.

Chennai: Highlighting the danger involved in the use of TikTok mobile app, the Madras high court, as an interim measure, has directed authorities to prohibit the downloading of the app.

A division bench comprising Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar who gave the directive said, The media is prohibited from telecasting the videos made using TikTok mobile app. The government has to answer whether the Union of India will enact a statute, like Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, enacted by the United States, to prevent the children becoming cyber/online victims.

The bench posted to April 16, further hearing of a Public Interest Litigation, which sought a direction to the authorities to ban the TikTok mobile app which was containing degrading culture and encouraging pornography besides causing pedophiles and explicit disturbing content, social stigma and medical heath issue between teens.

The bench said it was the contention of the petitioner that TikTok, the mobile application has been created by Byte Da-nce, a China company and it was launched as Dou-yin in September 2016.

Subsequently, it was introduced in the overseas market last year and it spread like a virus and 500 millions of people were using the said TikTok application. It was stated that 104 millions users had downloaded the app. In India, youngsters and children were using TikTok application and they were vulnerable in that application, the bench added.

The bench said majority of the teens were playing pranks, gaffing around with duet videos sharing with split screen to the strangers.

The children who use the said application were vulnerable and may expose them to sexual predators. It was stated that the governments of Indonesia and Bangladesh have already prohibited use of TikTok application.

Citing some of the recent incidents of suicide, the bench said before many tragic incidents would occur, the government has to take appropriate steps. The government has got the social responsibility to prevent these kinds of applications and also take action against the persons, who were making use of it. As an interim measure, the authorities are directed to prohibit downloading of TikTok mobile app, the bench noted.According to police, he cheated around Rs 5.60 lakh by promising them job visas through his two firms at Palakkad town and Kothamangalam. (Representational Image)

Kochi: Kothamangalam Police on Wednesday arrested a 38-year old person on charge of duping job aspirants of lakhs of rupees by promising them jobs in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Norway.

The arrested was identified as Rajesh, 38, of Manthuruthy in Malampuzha village. According to police, he cheated around Rs 5.60 lakh by promising them job visas through his two firms at Palakkad town and Kothamangalam.

Cops nabbed the accused after months long investigation. According to police, he stands accused in Abkari and cheating cases registered in many police stations across the state. Police also suspect the involvement of more people behind the cheating.

So far, police had received 36 petitions and are ex-pecting more in the coming days. Shajimon Joseph, DySP, Muvattupuzha had ordered an inquiry based on the petitions.

A team led by Inspector J.D. Sunilkumar, sub inspector Ranjan Kumar and assistant sub inspector Shaji Kuriakose made the arrest.Guwahati: Congress president Rahul Gandhi who on Wednesday addressed three elections rallies, one in Nagaland and two in Assam, said that Congress wouldnt allow the Citizenship Amendment Bill if voted to power. Asserting that Congress would restore the special status to Northeastern states, Mr Gandhi reiterated that his government would also bring a new industrial policy to make the region a manufacturing hub.

Targeting the BJP, Mr Gandhi said, We do what we say, we dont lie... they always lie. We are committed to paying minimum wages in tea estates. We will fulfil it. This is a fight of ideologies. The RSS, BJP break the country but the Congress unites the nation. RSS and Nagpur a-re attacking Assam, its history, thinking and culture.

He said the party would change the GST and give a simpler tax on coming to power. The Modi government has given Rs 3-0,000 crore to one person. The countrys youth want to start small businesses. But you need permissions and to give bribes to start businesses in Modis Indi-a. But we have promised that no permission will be needed for the first three years if you want to start a small business.

Talking about the flagship programmes of the party, the NYAY scheme, he said, Modi ji made people unemployed in five years. We want to create a new line. Twenty per cent of people earn less than Rs 12,000 per month. The moment our government is formed, we will make a list of all these people and the government will put Rs 72,000 every year in the bank accounts of these people. The money will go into womens accounts. We will give Rs 3,60,000 in five years in the accounts of 20 per cent of Indias poorest. This is our guarantee.

He added, Funds for the scheme will come from pockets of chor businessmen favoured by chowkidar Narendra Modi.

Mr Gandhi who continued his rhetoric against Mr Modi in all rallies said, The chowkidar is always speaking lies. I decided to put the truth in front of the people. I asked the Congress think tank to tell me how much money could the Congress government put into peoples accounts? We worked for six months, spoke to worlds top economists, and planned. We came to the conclusion of Rs 72, 000 every year in everyones account.

Nagalands lone Lok Sabha seat is going to polls on April 11 in the first phase.

The Congress party has fielded veteran K.L. Chishi for the seat, while states ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-led alliance has fielded Tokheho Yepthomi.

Mr Gandhi addressed the second rally at Bokakhat in Assams Golaghat district where Gaurav Gogoi is in the fray. Mr Gandhis third rally was at Lakhimpur where he asked the people to vote for Congress candidate Anil Borgohain.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingBJP national president Amit Shah participates in a party road show to campaign for the party candidate in Bangalore South Tejasvi Surya in Bengaluru on Tuesday. BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa, BJP leaders R. Ashok, V. Somanna, Tejaswini Ananth Kumar and others are seen. (Photo: KPN)

Bengaluru: The discord in Bangalore South constituency over the denial of the party ticket to Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, appears to have been papered over for now, hours before the arrival of BJP National President Amit Shah in the city for a massive road show with the party appointing Tejaswini, as party state vice-president.

In fact the very purpose of Shah's arrival in the city for a one-stop show, was intended to make sure that BJP leaders and workers here closed ranks and ensured that young Tejasvi Surya, who was finally chosen as the candidate, did not face any dissent in Bangalore South, considered one of the safest seats by the party in the state.

The roadshow, held to garner support for Tejasvi, saw the BJP presenting a united front with sulking leaders like R. Ashok and V. Somanna besides Tejaswini herself accompanying Mr Shah as he made his way from Padmanabhanagar through the constituency covering Jayanagar and BTM Layout.

While most BJP MLAs in the constituency and even party state president B.S. Yeddyurappa had backed Tejaswini, widow of former Union Minister Ananth Kumar for the ticket, the Sangh Pariwar put its weight behind Tejasvi, known as a rising star in the party.

Mr Shah's address to party workers was cancelled as the roadshow, which was scheduled to begin at around 6.30 pm, was delayed by two and a half hours. By making sure that Tejaswini was present along with senior BJP leaders during the road show, Mr Shah has managed to send out a message to party supporters in the constituency that the differences over candidate selection have been resolved and Tejaswini, who enjoys massive sympathy following the death of her husband last year, has been suitably accommodated.Lucknow: BSP supremo Mayawati Wednesday termed the Congress manifesto as a "showoff" and an "illusion" and said there was no credibility of the promises made by the party due to its past.

Congress and BJP are no different when it comes to non-fulfilment of promises, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in a tweet. "Congress election manifesto appears to be a showoff and illusion like its pervious promises. Due to continuous working against its promises, there is no credibility left for Congress among the people. Congress and BJP are no different in non-fulfilling promises," she said in the tweet.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Tuesday released his party's manifesto for Lok Sabha polls, making jobs creation, addressing farm distress, bringing a single moderate rate of GST and giving Rs 72,000 per annum to poor families as key focus if the party comes to power. Claiming the BJP was afraid of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, Mayawati said, "They (BJP) are so afraid that instead of talking of issues, they indulge in unnecessary casteist statements on top leader of (alliance).No one should be provoked by them (statements) and give them befitting reply by showing good results".

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingPhoto: Alanna Kelly - File Photo

Local governments on the Westside have joined forces to create a support network for the most vulnerable.

West Kelowna, Peachland, Westbank First Nation and representatives from the RCMP recently brought together a number of social agencies to establish the Greater Westside Hub.

The next step, according to officials, is to create a Situation Table, a multi-agency response team to provide "rapid intervention strategies" for those experiencing elevated risks of harm.

The Situation Table is modelled after one first established in Prince Albert, Sask., that model has rapidly spread across Canada.

The Westside group has also looked at other successful models for best practices, including those in Penticton and Surrey.

The Greater Westside Hub is expected to begin operating in May, following a three-day training seminar. Members will continue to meet to identify those facing acute risks of harm and to look at the best course of action.

The provincial Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General provided funding for the project.Hyderabad: MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for criticising his party and called the PM a king of liars.

Addressing the election meetings for the TRS, Mr Owaisi said, If we are controlling the steering of the TRS car, why are you feeling a headache? You are disturbed because I am a bearded man and wear a cap and my name is Asaduddin Owaisi.

He said such comments do not suit for a person who holds the post of the Prime Minister. He said the PM has to maintain and respect the sanctity of the post. He said his party was not only the steering of the car, but also the battery and engine of it. You are worried because your battery is defusing and you are fearing defeat in the elections. He said that in Maharashtra, Mr Modi objected to referring to the term Hindu terrorists, but EC did not take notice.Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Wednesday accused the Centre of creating scarcity of helicopters in the State to prevent the coalition ofCongress and the JD(S) from reaching out to people.

"The BJP government at the centre has created a scarcity of helicopters so that we cannot reach more people in the State. They have issued directions in this regard.

Such low level politics is being played out in the state," Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters in Hassan from where his nephew Prajwal Revanna is contesting the Lok Sabha election, Kumarswamy predicted that the 2019 polls would not be a cakewalk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"This is not going to be a cakewalk for Narendra Modi. There is tremendous difference between 2014 and 2019...

I won't comment on that but considering the developments in thecountry, I can say that it will be a tough election for Modi,"the chief minister said.

Kumaraswamy also hit out at the prime minister for reportedly calling the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) a 'Khichri.'

"He may call us Khichri parties but the National Democratic Alliance is a formation of 13 parties.

If at all he had done some positive works for the development of the country and its people, there was no need for him to stand at the door of regional parties," the chief minister said.

Kumaraswamy saw a bigger role for his father and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda at the national level post elections.

He said his father would get more weightage for his views.

In this regard, he appealed to the voters of Karnataka toreject the BJP and give all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State to the Congress-JD(S) coalition, so that they could get a government atthe centre that could solve the problems of Karnataka. "It is a good opportunity for voters to throw out the BJP.

Today if you win us 28 seats in Karnataka, there will be a government at the Centre which will provide solutions to theproblems of Karnataka," Kumaraswamy said.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingGiving a good fight, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has tweaked her campaign schedule so that she could have the last word in todays verbal contest. (Photo: File)

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch his Lok Sabha poll campaign in West Bengal on Wednesday with two rallies - one in Siliguri and second at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata.

West Bengal has 42 seats, of which the BJP is eyeing more than 20.

Giving a good fight, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has tweaked her campaign schedule so that she could have the last word in todays verbal contest.

The TMC campaign, however, was to be officially launched on April 4. Banerjee was expected to launch her campaign in Cooch Behar on Thursday, instead the rally will now be held on Wednesday.

The timing of the rallies has been coordinated in such a way that Banerjee can begin as soon as PM Modi finishes the address.

Derek OBrien, TMC leader said, It is not about the first word or last with Mamata Banerjee, it is about conviction. He added that nobody has tweaked any programme.

This is an election season. She is our star campaigner by far and she is in demand," he added.

While the PM will address the rally around 1 pm in Siliguri, Mamatas rally at Dinhata will begin at 3 pm.

In 2009 Lok Sabha elections the BJP won 6.14 per cent of the votes and secured only one seat. Five years later, the figures climbed to 17.02 per cent and two seats. In comparison, TMC secured 31.18 per cent of the votes and 19 seats in 2009 which rose to 39.79 per cent votes and 34 seats in 2014.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading.Lashing out at other opposition parties the PM alleged, "The same situation prevails upon the Congress and the Communists also. (Photo: BJP4India | Twitter)

Kolkata: Launching a torpedo on Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee in her home turf, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called the West Bengal chief minister a "speed breaker" on his development projects. He observed that Ms Banerjee's "boat has started capsizing."

Addressing his Lok Sabha Election campaign rally in Siliguri Mr Modi asserted that he could implement his welfare schemes at high speed across the country successfully. He however lamented that he could not maintain the tempo in ensuring the same in West Bengal.

"Do you know the reason behind it? Yes, you have got it right. There is a speedbreaker in West Bengal. The people here know this speed breaker as 'Didi'. This 'Didi' is the speed breaker on the development works for you. Didi is not bothered about the poor. She is more occupied in playing politics over poverty. So how can she work to eradicate poverty? If poverty ceases to exists, Didi's politics will come to an end also," Mr Modi told the rally at a railway ground near New Jalpaiguri railway station.

To justify his charges the PM then gave the examples of Aayushman Bharat, a central medical insurance scheme, and other central projects which Ms Banerjee has not allowed in the state. "When the poor suffer from ailments or diseases, they mostly worry about how bear the medical expenses. But what has this Speed breaker Didi done for them? A brake has been applied on a welfare scheme like Ayushman Bharat. The list of activities of Speed breaker Didi is very long. She has also put a brake on the activities of 70 lakhs of farmers and their families. By dint of PM Kisan Yojana, money is directly transferred to their bank accounts. But Didi is Didi. She is the speed breaker after all and so she did the same on this scheme too" he noted.

Lashing out at other opposition parties the PM alleged, "The same situation prevails upon the Congress and the Communists also. They need poverty to continue. Their politics lies in keeping the poor people in same fate. That's why they have applied brakes on the development works for the poor. They have hatched a conspiracy to ensure the poor would not be uplifted."

Praising the huge turn outs at the rally Mr Modi added, "The presence of this huge crowd clearly tells one thing: Didi's boat has started capsizing."

Mr Modi also referred the multi crore chit fund scams which rocked the state few years ago. He accused Ms Banerjee's cabinet ministers, party MLAs and aides of looting the people's deposits. "Didi undertook the job of devastating the poor who deposited their small savings with the chit fund firms," he complained.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingPM Modi also lashed out at TMC supremo for pulling out of the Ayushman Bharat insurance project. (Photo: BJP4India | Twitter)

Siliguri: Taking a sharp dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called her the speed breaker in the path of development.

Launching his poll campaign, PM Modi attacked West Bengal CM and her government over the chit fund scams.

Addressing crowd in West Bengals Siliguri, PM Modi said, There is a speed breaker in West Bengal, who you know by the name of 'Didi'. This 'Didi' is the speed breaker of your development."

Alleging that Banerjee does not care about the poor, Modi said, If poverty is removed, her politics will end. The same is true for the CPI(M).

PM Modi also lashed out at TMC supremo for pulling out of the Ayushman Bharat insurance project.

Modi will address another rally in Kolkata later this afternoon.

Mamata Banerjee had altered her campaign schedule, bringing it forward by a day so she could respond to PM Modis attacks.

Read: Mamata alters schedule to have last word to take on PM Modi in Bengal

The timing has been coordinated so that Banerjee can begin as soon as PM Modi finishes his address in Kolkata.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingModi thanked the people of Arunachal Pradesh for their cooperation that has helped his government to implement various projects in the state. (Photo: ANI)

Pasighat: On the campaign trail on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked the Congress pro-poor and welfare manifesto as a hypocricy document.

In an election rally in Arunachal Pradeshs Pasighat, Modi said the manifesto is full of lies. It is just like the. Corrupt, he said.

The Prime Minister added that his partys work stands tall against the Congress' apathy and loot.

Modi thanked the people of Arunachal Pradesh for their cooperation that has helped his government to implement various projects in the state.

"With your support, we have been able to develop roads, national highways, railway network and improved air connectivity of the state with the rest of India. It is the result of your trust and confidence in us," Modi said.

Putting the agenda for voters forward for the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Modi said, "This election is about choice between trust and corruption, between resolution and conspiracy."

Modi took a dig at the Congress attempts to woo farmers in its manifesto. He said: The BJP government has never asked for votes by fooling farmers.

He touched upon Congress stand on national security and asked, Is the Congress hand with the country or with those conspiring against it?

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingMumbai: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday accused the Congress of spreading the word "Hindu terror" during its rule, saying it encouraged terrorists from Pakistan to carry out their activities in India.

It also criticised former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah over their stand on Article 35-A of the Constitution, saying if such voices are not curbed, the border state will remain in the grip of unrest and instability. The remarks of the Sena, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress, accusing it of insulting "peace-loving" Hindus by linking them to terrorism. "The word 'saffron terror' or 'Hindu terror' was spread when the Congress was in power at the Centre. Besides allegations, false cases were also filed against Hindus in the Samjhauta train blast and Malegaon bomb blast cases," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It claimed that "gross injustice" was meted out to Swami Aseemanand (in the Samjhauta blast case), and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit (both accused in the Malegaon case). "The spread of the term 'Hindu terror' encouraged terrorists from Pakistan. Pakistanis put the onus of terror strikes on Hindu extremists... now, a court has found Swami Assemanand not guilty," the Marathi daily said. It noted that Modi, during his rally at Wardha in Maharashtra on Monday, slammed the Congress for insulting the Hindu religion worldwide and blotting the country's 5,000-year-old culture by linking Hindus to terrorism. "Modi has aggressively played the Hindutva card in the 2019 battleground.

Some say 40 per cent of the ground (at Wardha rally) was empty during Modi's speech. But, it is important that 60 per cent was filled with people in the extremely hot weather conditions," it said. By raising a voice for it, Modi and the BJP have proved that "Hindutva cannot be separated from politics," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said. Further slamming the Congress, it said the party earlier claimed that late ATS chief Hemant Karkare, IPS officer Ashok Kamte and senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar were not killed by terrorists during the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, but were victims of "Hindu terror". "This was unfortunate for the country and brought disrepute to it. Pakistan's hand in the attack could be proven as terrorist Ajmal Kasab was captured alive...otherwise the Pakistan connection would have remained hidden...," it said.

The Sena also hit out at PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah over their stands on Articles 370 and 35-A of the Constitution. Mufti recently warned that any tampering with Jammu and Kashmir's special status would "undermine and nullify" the state's accession to the Union, while Abdullah sought a separate Prime Minister for Kashmir.

The Sena said both the leaders have openly challenged the Constitution and the law of the land. "If such worms are not crushed in time, then Kashmir will always remain unstable and in unrest. Only the roar of Hindutva can provide a shield for the country. However the issue should not be forgotten after elections," it said. Petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of Articles 370 and 35-A, which grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir and special rights and privileges to its "permanent residents", respectively.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingYadav was referring to PM Modi's remarks made during the 2015 assembly polls, which the RJD fought in alliance with Kumar's JD(U) besides the Congress. (Photo: File)

Patna: The opposition RJD in Bihar on Tuesday took potshots at Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar, who shared stage at an election rally at Gaya, wondering whether the prime minister privately expressed regret to the chief minister over the infamous "DNA" remark.

"Hope the DNA episode were discussed. And explanations offered that the words had been uttered unwittingly," RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told reporters, when asked what he thought of the rally where PM Modi, Kumar and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan put up a joint show of strength for the NDA.

Yadav was referring to PM Modi's remarks made during the 2015 assembly polls, which the RJD fought in alliance with Kumar's JD(U) besides the Congress.

PM Modi, whose projection as the prime ministerial candidate by the BJP had led Kumar to snap JD(U)'s 17-year-old ties with the BJP, had attacked Kumar over the removal of Jitan Ram Manjhi as the chief minister.

He had also quipped that the manner in which "a Mahadalit was insulted" indicated that there was "something wrong with the political DNA" of the JD(U) leader.

Kumar had taken strong exception to the remark, insisting that it was tantamount to insulting the entire population of Bihar.

The bitter rivalry between the two leaders, however, took a back seat over time and Kumar returned to the NDA in 2017 after ending his short-lived alliance with the RJD over the issue of corruption allegations against Tejashwi Yadav, who was then the deputy chief minister.

At the Gaya rally, they showered praises on each other. PM Modi lauded Kumar for getting all villages across Bihar electrified and said, "I can say from experience (as Gujarat chief minister) that this is no mean feat".

Kumar thanked the Modi government for extending full cooperation for the state's development including a Rs. 50,000 crore aid for building roads. He also urged the people of the state to vote in large numbers for the NDA and help Modi return to power.

Tejashwi Yadav, however, maintained that PM Modi's promises like generous central assistance for development of Gaya a renowned Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage town into a tourist spot where the footfall would exceed that at the Taj Mahal in Agra were far from being realised.

Interestingly, Manjhi who had been at the centre of the ''DNA episode'' left the NDA last year and is now a part of the "Mahagathbandhan" led by the RJD and comprising the Congress, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and Mukesh Sahni's VIP.

The former Bihar chief minister who floated Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) after quitting JD(U), is the Mahagathbandhan candidate from Gaya.

Not known for being active on Twitter, the HAM president took to the micro-blogging site accusing the prime minister of pursuing "politics of hate".

"You are welcome to the holy city of Gaya. This land has been made pure by luminaries like Buddha and Mahavira. Your politics of hate will find no takers here," tweeted Manjhi. Manjhi's message came in reply to a tweet from Modi earlier in the day in which the prime minister had mentioned that he would be holding two rallies in Bihar - at Jamui followed by Gaya.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading.Kolkata: Describing Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee as a speed breaker on development in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asserted that her boat has sunk.

Mr Modi and Ms Banerjee went for each others jugular in battleground West Bengal, with the Prime Minister castigating speed breaker Didi and the Trinamul chief hitting back warning that he will face a voter strike.

Mocking Prime Minister Mr Modi as Expiry Babu and Expiry PM, Ms Banerjee dared him to participate in a direct debate with her in television or at a public rally.

In a series of rallies, in Silguri in North Bengal and later at Kolkatas historic Brigade Parade Ground, Mr Modi also accused both the Congress and Trinamul of being sympathisers of Pakistan who wanted to break the morale of Indias security forces and make them helpless in the fight against terror.

He also lambasted Ms Banerjee for questionning the airstrike at Balakot before he promised to build a New Bengal when the BJP would come to power in the state.

Not the one who would take things lying down, the Ms Banerjee mounted a blistering counteroffensive, mocking Mr Modis 56-inch chest and claiming his government did nothing to save the lives of the CRPF jawans despite having information about the impending terror attack. We are nationalists not fascists, she asserted. Chowkidar is acting like a fascist. You are talking of air strike, you will see a voter strike, she said.

Addressing a rally in Siliguri, Mr Modi said, If many big pundits, even myself excluded, had not visited this place and witnessed this sea of people, it would not have been possible to understand that Didis boat has sunk.

He lamented that he could not implement his welfare schemes in West Bengal. Do you know the reason behind it? Yes, you have got it right. There is a speed breaker in West Bengal. The people here know this speed breaker as Didi. This Didi is the speed breaker on development for you. Didi is not bothered about the poor. She is more occupied in playing politics over poverty. So how can she work to eradicate poverty? If poverty ceases to exists, Didis politics will also end, Mr Modi said.

He accused both the Congress and the Trinamul of perpetuating family rule. In 55 years that a family ruled India, it stifled the talent of the youth and spread the poison of casteism in society. It is being repeated in West Bengal where the aunt (Mamata Banerjee) and nephew (Abhishek Banerjee) are looting people, he alleged.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy readingIt is being said that the missile that shot down the satellite reportedly created at least 400 pieces of orbital debris, including 60 larger than 6-inch in size.

Indias recent test of anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile has been termed as a terrible, terrible thing by NASA chief Jim Bridenstine, as reported by Engadget.

According to Bridenstine, as per Engadget report, the anti-satellite missile test could endanger astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

It is estimated that the risk to the ISS has increased by 44 per cent over the last ten days.

Though the astronauts are safe and the ISS could be manoeuvred if needed to avoid the debris, Bridenstine stressed that these activities are not sustainable or compatible with human spaceflight.

It is being said that the missile that shot down the satellite reportedly created at least 400 pieces of orbital debris, including 60 larger than 6-inch in size.

NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

Indias successful anti-missile test, a part of Mission Shakti, had been announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address to the nation on March 27. After the US, China, and Russia, India is the fourth country to have anti-satellite missile capability.

An official statement from the Government of India had claimed that the test was at a level low enough to ensure that any debris generated would fall back to Earth within weeks.

Under the Mission Shakti, a joint mission of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the anti-satellite missile test was conducted in which one of Indias existing satellites operating in the lower orbit was shot down with a missile.

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement stated that the technological test was carried out to verify that India has the capability to safeguard its space assets.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Photo: The Canadian Press (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Police on Tuesday arrested a man they say fatally shot rapper Nipsey Hussle and evaded authorities for two days.

Eric Holder, 29, was captured in Bellflower, a Los Angeles-area city about 20 miles southeast of Hussle's clothing store, where the musician was shot Sunday.

Hussle and Holder knew each other, and the two had some kind of personal dispute in the hours before the rapper was killed, Police Chief Michel Moore said.

Police released Holder's name and photo Monday night and asked for the public's help in finding him.

It was not immediately clear how authorities located him. He was detained first by sheriff's deputies until LA police arrived and confirmed that he was wanted in Hussle's slaying, authorities said.

The two men had several arguments on Sunday, and Holder returned to the store with a handgun and opened fire on Hussle and two other men, who survived the shooting, police said.

The chief did not reveal how the two men were acquainted or offer any details about their dispute, but he emphasized it was a personal matter between Hussle and Holder. Hussle acknowledged that he was involved with a gang when he was younger, and police said Holder is a gang member, but the chief said gang rivalries played no role in the shooting.

After shooting Hussle and two other men who survived, Holder fled in a waiting car driven by a woman, the police chief said.

Moore had urged Holder to surrender, addressing him directly at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The police chief and the president of the city's Police Commission had been scheduled to meet with Hussle on Monday to discuss the relationship between the police force and the inner city.

Both Moore and Police Commission President Steve Soboroff said they were devastated when they learned Hussle had been killed on the eve of their talk.

An emotional Soboroff read from the email Hussle sent asking for the meeting.

"Our goal is to work with the department to help improve communication, relationships and work towards changing the culture and dialogue between LAPD and your city," Hussle said in the email.

A tense scene unfolded Monday night at an impromptu memorial for Hussle in the parking lot where he was shot. A man brandishing a gun caused a panicked stampede. At least 19 people were injured in the chaos, including two people who were taken to hospitals in critical condition, police said.

At least one of the critically injured persons was struck by a car, and the other one had a "penetrating injury," although it was unclear whether that person was stabbed or cut by broken glass on the ground, a fire department spokeswoman said.

Two other injuries were serious and 15 were considered non-life threatening.

"It's been a tough few days for Los Angeles," Garcetti said. "Nipsey Hussle was an artist who touched our city and lives."

An autopsy completed Monday showed that Hussle was shot in the head and torso. The 33-year-old rapper, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, had recently purchased the strip mall where the shop is located and planned to redevelop it into a mixed-use commercial and residential complex.

The plan was part of Hussle's broader ambitions to remake the neighbourhood where he grew up and attempt to break the cycle of gang life that lured him in when he was younger.

The rapper sold demos for just a few dollars in those streets before becoming an underground phenomenon for a decade with his much-sought-after mixtapes. Last year he had a mainstream breakthrough with his album "Victory Lap," a major label debut that got him a Grammy nomination.

___

Associated Press Writer John Antczak contributed to this report.The power bank is said to be light and compact while the build is said to be premium.

Stuffcool has launched the most versatile power bank with Type-C 3A Fast Charge Input/Output. The Power Bank offers two standard Type-A USB ports (2.1A max), one Type-C port (3A fast charging) that can be used for both input/output and one Micro-USB port, which can only be used for charging the power bank itself. The Stuffcool 1062 is perhaps the only power bank available with real Type C 3A input/output.

The power bank is said to be light and compact while the build is said to be premium. The dotted textured body gives a firm grip to hold and there are four LEDs that light up in white to indicate the current charge level and charging/ discharging.

The Stuffcool power bank has 3A max output, which makes it your best bet if you want to use your power bank to fast charge your devices faster when using a Type-C to C cable like Stuffcool Minima Type-C to C which is perfectly designed for use with power bank.

Stuffcool has also launched minima Type-C to C cable (3A max) with 15cm of length to make sure that you charge your phone from power bank faster without any troubles. With this Type-C to C cable, you can fast charge your smartphone with type C input using the Type-C output port in Stuffcool power bank.

The price of the power bank is Rs 2,499 and minima C-C cable is Rs 499. Both of these products are available at an introductory offer price of Rs 1,999 and Rs 399 respectively. The product carries a 6 months warranty and is available at PAN India leading retails stores including CROMA and online at stuffcool.com, amazon.in and flipkart.com.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Self-driving cars start-up Aurora is open to working with BMW and Daimler to develop self-driving cars, the technology companys Chief Executive Chris Urmson said on Tuesday.

We are open to working with everybody, Urmson said on the sidelines of the Auto Motor und Sport car industry conference in Stuttgart.

BMW and Daimler in February announced an alliance to develop technologies for highly automated driving.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Four Facebook and more than 20 Twitter accounts belonging to members of the Pakistan Cyber Force have been shuttered in the past two months.

Pakistani social media campaigner Hanzala Tayyab leads about 300 ultra-nationalist cyber warriors fighting an internet war with arch-foe India, in a battle that is increasingly sucking in global tech giants such as Twitter and Facebook.

M Hanzala Tayyab, 24, a social media campaigner and cyber analyst, is seen working on computer at a local cafe in Islamabad, Pakistan March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Tayyab, 24, spends his days on Facebook and encrypted WhatsApp chatrooms organizing members of his Pakistan Cyber Force group to promote anti-India content and make it go viral, including on Twitter where he has more than 50,000 followers.

That ranges from highlighting alleged Indian human rights abuses to lionizing insurgents battling Indian security forces in Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region at the heart of historic tensions between Pakistan and India.

Tayyabs job became harder on Monday when the Pakistan Cyber Forces Facebook account was taken down, one of 103 Pakistani accounts the social media giant said it had deleted because of inauthentic behavior and spamming. Some Indian nationalist accounts have also been suspended in recent weeks.

Portraying himself as an online combatant defending Pakistan from Indias attempts to destabilize his country, Tayyab plans to continue playing his role in the broader information war being fought between the nuclear-armed foes.

We are countering the Indian narrative through social media, we are countering the enemies of Pakistan, Tayyab told Reuters in the capital Islamabad.

With a combined population of 1.5 billion, India and Pakistan are hot growth markets for Facebook and Twitter, say analysts.

But with many rival ultra-nationalist and extremist groups in the region using Facebook and Twitter platforms to advance their political agenda, both companies face accusations of bias whenever they suspend accounts.

Facebook has been buffeted by controversies across the globe in recent years, including for not stopping the use of fake accounts to try to sway public opinion in the 2016 US Presidential election and Britains vote to leave the European Union, and for not acting to stamp out hate speech on its platform that was fuelling ethnic violence in Myanmar.

Four Facebook and more than 20 Twitter accounts belonging to members of the Pakistan Cyber Force have been shuttered in the past two months, according to Tayyab, who is still angry at Twitter for shutting down his previous personal account in 2016.

A Twitter spokeswoman said: We believe in impartiality and do not take any actions based on political viewpoints.

A Facebook spokesperson told Reuters the company did not remove the Pakistani accounts because of Indian government pressure, but because people behind them coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves.

When we disrupt these networks for coordinated inauthentic behavior, its because of their deceptive behavior and not because of the content theyre sharing, or the ideology or political leanings of the people behind them, Facebook said.

FLARE-UP

Pakistan and India flirted with war in February, when they carried out aerial bombing missions against each others territory for the first time since the 1971 war and fought a brief dogfight over the Kashmir skies.

That flare-up was accompanied by a fierce propaganda war on social media.

This online battle of political and ideological narratives is one that Pakistans military believes it must win at all costs, analysts say. Military spokesmen often warn unconventional fifth generation warfare is being waged against Pakistan.

Facebook said on Monday the 103 accounts removed were part of a network linked to employees of the Pakistani militarys public relations arm.

Tayyab denies the Pakistan Cyber Force is linked to Pakistans military, saying the group is made up of volunteers.

But analysts say such cyber armies work directly either for Pakistans military or civilian state organizations, acting as de facto proxies or militias in the online battlefields.

These groups who are being resourced and organized are actually a kind of a line of defense for this fifth generation warfare, said Shahzad Ahmed, from Pakistani digital rights group Bytes for All.

Pakistans military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In India, similar nationalist groups are popping up and pushing to purge and punish those who they perceive to be critical of India  or supportive of Pakistan  on social media.

One such group, Clean the Nation, says its actions have resulted in more than 50 people who had posted what it called anti-India comments and remarks critical of Indias armed forces being arrested or suspended from work or education.

This is our motherland and if someone is abusing people who are protecting our motherland, actually fighting on the ground, I dont believe they should be allowed to work here or allowed to live here, Rahul Kaushik, one of co-founders the group, told Reuters. This is a clear case of treason, in our view.

Kaushik said Clean the Nation had no formal links with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), though one BJP leader praised the group when it was founded in late February, following an attack by a Pakistan militant group in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 paramilitary police.

Two of Clean the Nations founders, Siddharth Kapoor and Ashutosh Vashishtha, are followed on Twitter by Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Others including Kaushik have posted pictures on social media of meetings with Modi and other members of his cabinet.

Amit Malviya, the BJPs head of social media, did not respond to a request for comment.

Clean the Nation said some of its accounts had been banned or suspended by Facebook last month. That action was unconnected with the 549 accounts and 138 pages linked to Indias opposition Congress Party that Facebook said on Monday had been taken down.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.At Sequoia Capital India he will join six other managing directors and work on developing Surge, Sequoias program that aims to ramp up early stage startups in India and Southeast Asia.

Google's vice president for India and Southeast Asia, Rajan Anandan, is joining Sequoia Capital India as a managing director, the US-based capital venture firm said on Tuesday.

Anandan will leave Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, at the end of April, according to a statement issued by Googles Asia Pacific chief Scott Beaumont earlier on Tuesday.

An active angel investor in early stage technology companies, Anandan has been at Google India for eight years and previously held key positions at McKinsey & Company, Dell Inc and Microsoft India.

At Sequoia Capital India he will join six other managing directors and work on developing Surge, Sequoias program that aims to ramp up early stage startups in India and Southeast Asia.

Rajan Anandan will join the leadership team at the firm ... where he will focus on developing Surge into the worlds top scale-up program for startups by acting as an investment advisor and mentor to the programs founders, Sequoia said in a blog post announcing Anandans appointment.

Mentors of the Surge program already include Ubers Amit Jain and WhatsApps Neeraj Arora, as well as executives of Indian hospitality firm, OYO Rooms, Indonesian ride-hailing and online payment company, Go-Jek, and Indian food search and delivery service, Zomato.

Anandan will be replaced by Vikas Agnihotri, country director, sales at Google India in the interim, Beaumont said in his statement.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Intel said that Davis would become chief financial officer effective Wednesday, reporting to Chief Executive Bob Swan.

Qualcomm Incs chief financial officer, George Davis, has left the company to become finance chief at rival Intel Corp, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Davis had been the mobile chip suppliers finance chief since 2013 and also served on the executive committee of the companys board of directors.

Qualcomm said it appointed David Wise, a longtime veteran of the company and its treasurer, as interim finance chief while it searches for a replacement for Davis, whose departure was effective Tuesday.

On behalf of the Executive Team, I want to thank George for his dedicated service over the last six years at Qualcomm, Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf told Reuters in a statement. We all wish him well in his future endeavours.

Intel said that Davis would become chief financial officer effective Wednesday, reporting to Chief Executive Bob Swan.

Intel has been without a permanent finance chief since January, when Swan, who had joined as CFO in 2016, was promoted to become Intels chief executive.

Davis and Swan have worked together before. Before joining Qualcomm, Davis was the chief financial officer of semiconductor equipment firm Applied Materials Inc at the same time that Intels Swan served on the board of directors.

I know George is a world-class CFO, leader and team-builder, Swan said in a statement. Our owners can expect a continued disciplined approach to capital allocation and a relentless focus on creating stockholder value.

Qualcomm shares dipped 1 per cent to USD 57.50 in late trading after Reuters first reported that Davis was departing for Intel. Intel shares rose .1 percent to USD 54.46.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.The person inviting you to a group will be prompted to send a private invite through an individual chat, giving the user choice of joining the group.

The move assumes significance, especially ahead of elections in the country, as social media platforms are expected to play a major role in political campaigns to reach out to citizens in large numbers.

"WhatsApp groups continue to connect family, friends, coworkers, classmates and more. As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience," the Facebook-owned company said in a statement. The messaging app has added that a new privacy setting in which an invite system will help users decide who can add them to groups.

Previously, WhatsApp users could be added to groups without their consent. To enable the feature, users can go to 'settings' option in WhatsApp app and select one of three options -- nobody, my contacts, or everyone. If they choose nobody, users will have to approve of joining every group to which they are invited. Upon choosing my contacts option, users from the person's address book will be able to add them to groups.

In these cases, the person inviting you to a group will be prompted to send a private invite through an individual chat, giving the user the choice of joining the group. The user will be given three days to accept the invite before it expires, the statement said. "With these new features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive," WhatsApp said. These new privacy settings will begin rolling out to some users starting Wednesday, and will be available worldwide in the coming weeks to those using the latest version of WhatsApp, it added.

WhatsApp, which counts India as one of its largest markets with over 200 million users, had faced flak from the Indian government after a series of mob-lynching incidents, triggered by rumours circulating on the messaging platform, claimed lives last year.

Under pressure to stop rumours and fake news, WhatsApp had last year restricted forwarding messages to five chats at once. It has also been putting out advertisements in newspapers and running television and radio campaigns offering tips to users on how to spot misinformation.

With ensuing general elections, the Indian government had warned social media platforms of strong action if any attempt was made to influence the country's electoral process through undesirable means. One of the amendments being mulled in the IT intermediary rules (meant for online and social media platforms) will require them to enable tracing out of such originators of information as needed by government agencies that are legally authorised.

However, WhatsApp has so far resisted the government's demand for identifying message originators, arguing that such a move would undermine the end-to-end encryption and the private nature of the platform, creating the potential for serious misuse.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.A woman from China who attempted to enter President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida carrying a thumb drive with malicious malware and two Chinese passports has been arrested. (Photo: File)

Washington: A woman from China who attempted to enter President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida carrying a thumb drive with malicious malware and two Chinese passports has been arrested and is being charged with lying to a Secret Service officer and having knowingly entered a restricted building.

The Washington Post quoting court documents said the accused, Yujing Zhang on Saturday made her way past a security checkpoint at the Club, owned by Donald Trump in Palm Beach shortly after noon and told security officials she was there to go to the swimming pool.

Zhang was asked if the true member . . . was her father, but she did not give a definitive answer, according to the criminal complaint filed by Secret Service special agent Samuel Ivanovich.

Zhang additionally did not give a definitive answer when asked if she was there to meet with anyone. Due to a potential language barrier issue, Mar-a-Lago believed her to be the relative of member Zhang and allowed her access onto the property, the court document added.

According to the arrest affidavit the woman after nearing the swimming pool area of the resort was questioned by a receptionist she told she was at the Mar-a-Lago for a United Nations Chinese American Association event later that evening.

The receptionist alerted a Secret Service agent, who detained Zhang for questioning. Upon being questioned further by Security Service agents, Zhang alleged that she had arrived early for the event so that she could familiarise herself with the property and take pictures.

At that time, Zang showed her documents to the security official but he could not decipher the content as it was written in Chinese. Following this, Zhang was taken to a different location for further interrogation.

During the second interview of Zhang, she claimed her Chinese friend Charles told her to travel from Shanghai, China to Palm Beach, Florida, to attend this event and attempt to speak with a member of the Presidents family about Chinese and American foreign economic relations. Agents were unable to obtain any information more specifically identifying Zhangs purported contact, Charles, the complaint said.

The charging document further revealed that a search of Zhangs belongings showed four cell phones, a laptop, a hard drive, and a thumb drive which contained malicious malware.

Authorities have also claimed that despite her intention to go near the swimming pool area, Zhang was not carrying her swimsuit. As of now, Zhang has been charged for making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer and entering a restricted area in the resort.

An investigation into the matter is underway.Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a luxury boat allegedly used by Ghosn and his family. (Photo:AP)

Tokyo: Tokyo prosecutors are considering pressing a fresh charge against Carlos Ghosn, local media said Wednesday, as the former Nissan boss announced on Twitter he would be giving his side of the story.

In the latest twist in a rollercoaster of a case, Japanese investigators are reportedly eyeing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least USD 32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman.

Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a luxury boat allegedly used by Ghosn and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.

If Tokyo prosecutors were to proceed, it would be the fourth criminal charge against the 65-year-old former high-flying auto executive, who denies all allegations.

Ghosn already faces three charges of financial misconduct over allegations he under-reported his compensation and sought to transfer personal losses to Nissan's books.

Tokyo district prosecutors are discussing the case with more senior colleagues before deciding whether to move ahead, Japanese media said.

Shortly after the reports emerged, a verified Twitter account in Ghosn's name said he would be speaking to journalists next week.

"I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening. Press conference on Thursday, April 11," said the tweet, sent early Wednesday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for the executive later confirmed the news conference in a statement to AFP.

If prosecutors were to file new charges, it would not necessarily mean Ghosn returns to the detention centre where he spent more than three months before winning bail on March 6, according to a local lawyer.

"The prosecutor can hit Ghosn with new charges without sending him back to prison. Prosecutors would need to again justify a detention by saying he was a flight risk and could destroy evidence and the chances seem fairly slim," said the lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous.

The news came after it emerged that lawyers for Renault -- Nissan's parent company that Ghosn also led -- have handed over documents to prosecutors showing millions of euros in payments to the firm's distributors in Oman.

An internal probe by Nissan, which is cooperating with prosecutors, has found Ghosn had approved over USD 30 million in payments to a distributor in Oman, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP.

Some of this money ended up in personal accounts, or was used for purchases and investments by Ghosn -- mainly to buy a yacht and make investments via his son's firm -- according to this person.

A spokesperson for Ghosn has already rejected these allegations.

"The payments made by Renault to the distributor in Oman have not been diverted from their commercial objectives and under no circumstances has all or part of such payments benefited Carlos Ghosn or his family," said the representative in a statement.

In a bolt from the blue that rocked Japan and the business world, Ghosn was arrested on November 19 after prosecutors stormed his private jet at a Tokyo airport and took him into custody.

He spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on a bail of nearly USD 9 million.

Nissan swiftly removed him as chairman and is also expected to remove him from the board at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting slated for Monday.Ijaz Shah, a confidant of former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf, has also been accused of harbouring terror outfit Al-Qaeda. (Photo:AP)

Islamabad: Despite objections from the Opposition, Pakistan's former Intelligence Bureau chief Ijaz Shah, who helped Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, was sworn in as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday by President Arif Alvi in Islamabad.

The move has put the Imran Khan-led government and the Opposition, especially the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), at odds as former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had alleged that Ijaz Shah was among the people who had hatched a conspiracy to kill her, reports Dawn.

Ijaz Shah, a confidant of former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf, has also been accused of harbouring terror outfit Al-Qaeda's founder-leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He was most wanted by the United States for perpetrating the gruesome 9/11 attacks.

In its report in 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald had quoted former ISI chief General Ziauddin Butt as saying that Shah had ordered to build the three-storied walled compound in Abbottabad where Laden was hunted down and terminated by the US Forces in 2011.

"I fully believe that Ijaz Shah had kept this man (Osama bin Laden, in Abbottabad) with the full knowledge of Pervez Musharraf," Butt had alleged. Shah has since dismissed the allegations. Ijaz Shah served as Pakistan's IB Director General from 2004 to 2008. He was also elected as a Member of National Assembly (MNA) on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) ticket from NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-II).

Alleging that Pakistan Prime Minister has no respect for the Parliament, PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah told Dawn, "Ijaz Shah is being made the minister to make parliament redundant and to further degrade it." He added that Ijaz Shah was made the minister to "provoke" the Opposition.

According to the Pakistan People's Party leader, Ijaz Shah has been "brought to power as an alternative" to Pervez Musharraf, who currently lives in Dubai.The machines were transported in a mini-truck and were to be delivered to Polavaram YSRCP candidate Balaraju, police confirmed.

However, the YSRCP sources claimed that the machines were to be used for educating the voters.

On the other hand, the Income Tax department raided the house of Putta Sudhakar Yadav the TTD chairman and the TDP candidate from Mydukuru Assembly segment of Kadapa district in Proddutur on Wednesday afternoon. The I-T raids came a day after Yadav made a complaint to EC against the YSRCP for printing dummy ballot papers showing Yadav and his symbol cycle third in the list. The YSRCP cadre was found distributing the ballot papers across the Assembly segment.

On Tuesday YS Jaganmohan Reddy stayed back in Hyderabad. The very next day there are I-T raids on AP leaders, said Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu accusing Jagan of planning attacks.

In yet another incident Telangana police allegedly chased Gannavaram TDP candidate Vallabhaneni Vamsi with a non-bailable warrant in connection with a 2009 case of unlicensed firearms.Photo: Wayne Moore - File Photo

Drug overdoses spiked at the Cornerstone Emergency Shelter on Leon Avenue Tuesday, just days after Interior Health issued an alert following a rapid rise in carfentanil-suspected deaths.

The shelter called in an Interior Health alert after six clients suffered drug overdoses over a span of eight hours.

Dawn Himer, executive director of the John Howard Society which runs the shelter, told Castanet News all six overdoses occurred inside the facility.

She says one other person who is not a client, was saved on the streets outside Cornerstone.

All seven were saved.

"The good news is we saved seven lives, when you keep it all in perspective. Part of me just worries a little bit more for people out there that don't have that support," said Himer.

"I hope we don't find anybody on the street tomorrow or somebody in somebody's home that didn't use safely."

She says an alert was issued to Interior Health, who have relocated its mobile safe-injection unit downtown for the evening.

Himer says it's hard to know exactly what caused the overdoses without proper testing, but has her suspicions.

"There's no real evidence to support it, but the guess, and it really is just a guess, is carfentanil, just because that is the alert that was posted.

"Obviously, somebody purchased some bad stuff. Word gets out we've got this good stuff, and people start using it.

"But now, word is out not to get any more of that."

Himer says Cornerstone encourages its clients to conduct their drug use safely, indoors, where help is quickly available if something goes horribly wrong.

"We don't leave it on the street. It's a safe, controlled environment," she says.

"That's likely why we saved those lives. Had we not been there, I'm not sure they would have beat it."

While Tuesday was as bad as she's seen, Himer says she's concerned for what lies ahead.

"It just seems these synthetic drugs are getting worse and worse, and I wish we could scare people into sobriety.

"There's a drug crisis out there. My point was please everybody use with a partner. If you're at a party, make sure everybody's not using at the same time. Reduce your dose. Safety protocol."If there is a Pakistani inter-services directorate as lethal as the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), it is the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Military strategists may balk at the fact that I am equating a notorious intelligence agency with an innocuous media management department. Since the times I executed cyber operations in the government, I have been obsessed with deconstructing the evolving mandate of this little-known outfit. And I have always held the opinion that the role, or rather the potential, of the ISPR has been severely underestimated in the Indian strategic circles.

Cyber operatives like me have been envisioning this scenario since a decade: how the South Asian flashpoint would manifest itself in the cyber-enabled information battlespace. The Balakot escalation unleashed another invisible playbook of the Pakistani military, and the ISPR was its key orchestrator.

Since 2009, the Pakistani Army has conducted a series of public wargames dubbed as Azm-e-Nau, meant to counter the elusive Indian Cold Start doctrine. With many successful iterations over the years, these exercises simulated massive mobilisations, augmented by net-centric warfare, stopping short at the tactical nuclear weapons threshold. Azm-e-Nau further chiselled Pakistans home-brewed philosophy of hybrid war  fusing together many conventional and unconventional elements of conflict, power and diplomacy.

Interestingly, the wargames treated the ISPR as the crucial pivot of conflict escalation and de-escalation. It was meant to undertake information operations, military deception and strategic communications  benignly dubbed as perception management in military parlance. This was a couple of years prior to hybrid war becoming all the rage in media circles, manifesting itself as the wildly successful Russian playbook against Georgia, Crimea and the US elections.

There were other classified Pakistani exercises which also hinted at the deftness and dexterity of the ISPRs information warfare strategy. All of this neatly converged, almost with textbook precision, in the showdown after

Pulwama.

Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of the armed forces of Russia, is thought to be the key proponent of its hybrid war philosophy  so much so that the Western media prefers to call it the Gerasimov Doctrine. Gerasimov clearly articulated and foresaw the role of mobile, mixed-type groups of forces, acting in a single intelligence-information space.

With his carefully orchestrated social media spectacles during the Balakot escalation, Major General Asif Ghafoor, the current director general of the ISPR, proved to be a formidable disruptor as well.

Pakistan had an undue structural advantage in the information battlespace. International relations were the overarching backbone of Indias response to Pulwama. The Ministry of External Affairs was tasked with communications, and rightfully so. On the other hand, with the political establishment in Pakistan being a dud, the escalatory and de-escalatory ladders scarily fell fully under the military. It gave rise to a natural asymmetry.

The hawkish ISPR, which must have been itching to flex its muscle, merely ended up conducting trademark information warfare manoeuvres like denial and deception. Indeed, there were times when its twitter shenanigans pushed the envelope and stole the initiative for a few minutes. They did put the Indian machinery in reactive mode, especially after the capture of a fighter pilot.

If one had carefully studied Ghafoors disposition and the enhanced mandate of the ISPR, then some of the tactical wins could have been averted. Back in 2017, the two-star general had the temerity to publicly rebuke the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, after a media leak painted the Pakistani Army in negative light. Ghafoor is also the loudest exponent of the Bajwa Doctrine, hinting at his closeness to the army chief.

The shining or waning star of the ISPR completely mirrors the tumultuous history of Pakistan. Under General Ayub Khan, the Bureau of National Research & Reconstruction  the ISPRs predecessor  actually had the mandate to conduct intelligence operations.

Brigadier AR Siddiqi, the former head of the ISPR, is the author of The Military in Pakistan: Image & Reality. He openly speaks about the self-love and self-promotion of the generals that became the bane of ISPRs perception management. That clearly seems to be the case with Ghafoor.

Fifth-generation warfare

In fact, a 2018 dossier of Amnesty International disclosed a series of cyber attacks which targeted Pakistani human rights activists. Due to the blundering operational security of the attacks, they could directly be attributed to the ISPR. Imagine a Goebbels-ian propaganda arm spying, kidnapping and even silencing journalists and dissenters. It hints at the unbridled power of Ghafoor in the current scheme of things. He has repeatedly postulated the theory of fifth-generation warfare, which thrives on irregular instruments and political chaos.

Thankfully, we saw little or no action in the information battlespace. But due to the aforesaid advantage, the ISPR could have weaponised its mandate to wage a full-frontal cyber-enabled information offensive. This is something the Indian security principals may need to be wary of, as our domestic political environment is ripe for exploitation. I would also recommend that information operations officers from the tri-Services Integrated Defence Staff be attached to our public relations divisions during such crises.

At a recent military conference where I spoke, a senior officer remarked at my unwarranted glorification of the enemy as I labelled Ghafoor as the Gerasimov of South Asia. From the Athenians and Spartans to Rommel and Patton, the obsession with peeking into the adversarys mind has required some accommodation of his ingenuity.

(The writer is a cyber intelligence specialist and has worked with the Indian government and security response teams of global companies)The Excise Department officials on Tuesday seized a huge quantity of liquor that was being transported to Wayanad in Kerala.

The officials arrested Shankar and Suresh and seized 2,615 litres of liquor worth Rs 9 lakh.

Along with liquor from Goa, there was illicit liquor in bottles without any labels that were being transported to Kerala. Fake stickers of VRL logistics were pasted on the bottles, said Excise Department Deputy Commissioner Veeranna Bagewadi.

Acting on a tip-off, the officials conducted a raid at Gonikoppa check post at 4 am. Samples of the seized illicit liquor have been sent for testing in a laboratory.

There was a separate compartment in the lorry where liquor was stored.

Veeranna said, "A task force was constituted to check illegal transportation of liquor to Kerala. We were on high alert at all the check posts from the last week."

Meanwhile, the officials have seized Rs 6.31 lakh cash that was being transported without any valid documents, at Koppa check post in Kushalnagar.

The cash was being transported by Santosh and Jeevan of Kerala in a jeep.Photo: The Canadian Press Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, one of the landmarks of Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei.

New Islamic criminal laws that took effect in Brunei on Wednesday, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death, have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Brunei's Shariah Penal Code. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim.

Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years. The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays.

But under the new laws  which apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim  those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped. Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second.

"Living in Brunei, we already knew that our sexual identity is taboo and should not be expressed. We already felt belittled before the law came to place," said a 23-year-old member of the LGBTQ community who wanted to be identified only as Kun out of fear of reprisal from the authorities.

"Now with it, we feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they want," he said.

Celebrities including George Clooney, Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boycott of nine hotels in the U.S. and Europe with ties to Hassanal, who is still sultan.

"Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?" Clooney wrote Thursday on Deadline Hollywood.

Clooney said that while you can't shame "murderous regimes," you can shame "the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them."

There has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties in Brunei, where the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority. Public criticism of his policies is extremely rare in the country.

Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of "special guidance" from God and would be "part of the great history" of Brunei.

On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans.

"The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalization and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

Brunei's Southeast Asian neighbours, some of whom have laws banning sex between men, were silent."SWEAT," through April 13, Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East (801- 581-6356 or pioneertheatre.org); running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (one intermission)

SALT LAKE CITY  Although portraying the struggle of millions, the characters of Lynn Nottages Sweat inhabit a small, small world.

A non-chronological play based on real-world events, Sweat portrays the shattering of the extremely predictable  and, most importantly, reliable  career and life trajectories of American steel factory workers in Reading, Pennsylvania in the early 2000s.

Skipping college, using a familial in to get a job on the floor of a steel factory, working 10 hours a day for 30 years in an assembly line, then retiring with a decent pension is the default game plan for the characters of Sweat. Those who attempt to break out of this system are mocked and hated by their peers. Chris (Hassiem Muhammad), for example, states he has aspirations and wants to become a teacher, and gets scolded by his father who  although barred from work  insists there is no future outside the factory. Chris friend, Jason (Callum Adams), lashes out at him as well. The characters express hostility toward anyone or anything that threatens their traditional way of life.

The cast's love for the familiar is also apparent in the play's setting, a bar run by the aging and amicable Stan and his Colombian busboy, Oscar. All get-togethers, from birthdays to after-work hangouts, take place at the bar, where only people "from the factory" come, says Tracey (Margot White), a factory worker.

Everything about this community  the bar, the work, the social dynamics  has been the same for generations. Therefore, when half of the machines at the Olstead factory go missing one day, implying layoffs, its no surprise the entire cast is left fumbling in the dark, wondering who to blame.

But thanks to Nottages skill as a playwright, their frustration is wholly understandable. Tracey claims that immigrants shouldn't be allowed to work at the factory due to a lack of family history in America. It's a pretty prejudiced claim, yet it sounds poetic and almost reasonable from her point of view. Similarly, Oscar, the Colombian boy defending his right to work at the factory for lower pay, is easy to empathize with as the workers focus their rage on him.

This is another of Nottage's great strengths as a playwright: to illustrate the perspectives of all of her characters at once, without taking sides.

The dialogue of the play is complex, beautifully scripted and tactfully delivered by the plays cast. The choreography which moves characters through the bar  the only setting in the play, minus an opening and closing vignette at a police station  gives the play a dynamic feeling, despite the sets limitations. From a production standpoint, Pioneer Theatres cast, technical team and director made complete use of the script and set.

But perhaps the most thought-provoking aspect of the play is its ending. During intermission, I could hear an audience member say, What I dont like about this play is that its depressing. You know how they end up. And yes, the end for most characters is pretty derelict. (Whether or not a sad ending constitutes a bad play, however, is arguable.) While chance plays an enormous role in the future of these steel workers, their hopelessness seems to be a sentiment of the strong beliefs they held at the plays beginning.

Because of the worldview theyve grown up with, the characters can't intuit how to build a life beyond the factory. Nottages script portrays, in several moments, the binding quality of the anger and shame caused by the layoffs  emotions which send the characters spiraling into depression, violence, drug use and other dark paths.

While the play does an incredible job of being informative, its strength lies in its ability to describe the histories, backgrounds and mental states of its characters. Their limitations are entirely on display in Nottages script, and Pioneer Theatres cast rises to the occasion.

But perhaps todays humans are not meant to spend a lifetime on foot doing the work of a machine. Perhaps a better future lies ahead for the citizens of these Rust Belt towns. What such a future entails, we think, is a mystery only time will unveil.

Note: "Sweat" contains strong language.Photo: The Canadian Press Surrounded by colleagues, International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and International Trade Diversification Minister James Carr respond to questions from the media about canola during a news conference in the Foyer of the House of Commons Monday April 1, 2019 in Ottawa.

A third Canadian canola exporter has received a non-compliance notice from China over quality concerns, the federal agriculture minister said Tuesday, the latest development in an escalating feud with the Asian country.

Marie-Claude Bibeau confirmed the Chinese government's complaint to a third, unnamed company as she testified before a parliamentary committee studying a trade dispute that has seen China suspend the canola-seed sale permits of two other Canadian firms.

"We've been informed that there's a third company that received a non-compliance notification," Bibeau said, though she wouldn't name it. "It doesn't mean that they're suspended, either, at this time. So, we will obviously keep working with them and see how it goes."

In recent weeks, citing concerns about pests, China has sent non-compliance notifications to Richardson International Ltd. and Viterra Inc., two major Canadian exporters of canola seed. Chinese officials also suspended their licences.

China's moves to choke off Canadian canola-seed imports have been widely viewed as the superpower applying economic pressure on Canada after the December arrest of senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the behest of the United States.

Late Tuesday, a spokesman for Bibeau said the third, unnamed company received its non-compliance complaint from China in early March, around the same time as Richardson was issued its notice. Oliver Anderson said it was important to make the distinction to show that it was not a more recent escalation by China.

Curt Vossen, the CEO of Richardson, told another House of Commons committee Tuesday that canola products alone were just over 15 per cent of all of Canada's exports to China and, last year, were worth more than $4 billion.

China imported $2.7 billion worth of Canadian canola seed last year, which ensures any prolonged feud would be felt by farmers, the industry and the broader economy. The seeds are the raw material for canola oil, which is widely used for cooking and in some industries.

Vossen, whose Winnipeg-based company has been doing business in China for more than a century, said he cannot emphasize enough the importance of finding a solution to the feud  and quickly.

As the federal government searches for that solution, it's been trying to find new markets and cabinet ministers have been touting Canada's recently ratified trade deals with the Asia-Pacific region and the European Union.

The federal Liberals have also established a working group that includes officials from Richardson and Viterra and representatives from the governments of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

On March 1, the same day China suspended Richardson's licence, Canada's Justice Department gave the go-ahead for the extradition case against Meng.

It marked the formal start of the high-profile process that has thrust Canada into a highly uncomfortable position between China and the United States.

In the days following Meng's arrest, China arrested Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, on allegations of engaging in activities that have endangered Chinese national security.I urge Sens. Lee and Romney and Rep. Stewart to support the retention of the Affordable Care Act. Their constituents need access to health insurance and a standard for the industry which does not allow the former abuses they have suffered from insurance companies.

I am a medical care provider in Utah and in years past I have seen this happen innumerable times: people or their children dumped off their policies because they had illness, no coverage for lifesaving preventative care, no affordable options for policies, denied access on all fronts for preexisting conditions, denial of treatments and tests, the "donut hole" preventing Medicare patients from affording essential medications. It goes on and on.

I have seen numerous letters to patients from insurance companies telling them they are "uninsurable," meaning "we don't want to insure you anymore though you have faithfully paid your very high premiums all these years." This is not to be tolerated any longer.

Utahs citizens need protection and are looking to our elected officials. As our population ages, this will become more and more critical. Insurance companies make very good profits and while we cannot afford to provide all things to all people, we need to maintain the basic protections that the ACA provides.

Members of Congress have access to excellent insurance coverage. So should their constituents. I urge my representatives to not allow the ACA to be damaged, underfunded or nullified.

Patricia Jeys

North Salt LakeSALT LAKE CITY  America is almost exactly one year away from its decennial count, the U.S. Census. In coming months, the federal government will fine-tune its survey and embark on a hiring binge to make sure it has enough workers in place to process data submitted online, take information over the phone and send surveyors into communities to complete the job where forms are not returned.

The U.S. Census is conducted every 10 years on years ending in zero and asks where people live on April 1. Answering is required by law, and the call for the count is contained in the U.S. Constitution.

The goal is to account for all those living in the United States, said Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham during a press briefing Monday. "We go to extraordinary lengths to ensure we count everyone once, only once and in the right place," he noted in a statement.

The upcoming 2020 version has been controversial because the White House wants to add a question asking if people are U.S. citizens, resulting in political and legal battles. At its heart, though, the census is not about political wrangling, but about the way people live in America.

In addition to the decennial censuses, the Census Bureau also conducts the American Community Surveys that take place between them asking more detailed and personal questions about American life. (A census counts  or tries to  every individual, while a survey is a sampling.)

Here are six ways all of this data matters to families:

1. Federal representation in Congress can impact how resources are allocated among states.

How many seats a state gets in the House of Representatives depends on its population size, and that's based on the U.S. Census count. That arguably means more representatives and more clout. How much representation a state had was also important during the Base Realignment and Closure process as states fought to keep military bases open to preserve jobs and the economic boost they provide both for families and for a state's economy.

To get a sense of the impact losing the base would have on Utah, consider that the Hill Air Force Base 2018 economic impact statement released three months ago says Hill added $3.6 billion to Utah's economy. As for direct family impact, there were 25,709 personnel attached to Hill, including civilians, members of the military and their dependents.

Congressional representatives can promote family-friendly policies and programs. If a state has a particular interest, like caring for a high percentage of children or elderly citizens, having more votes can make a difference in serving that group's needs.

2. An undercount takes money from programs.

The bureau said as many as 5 percent of children under age 5 were missed in the official count in 2010. An undercount may not only decrease money that flows into a state through various federal grants, but also inevitably reduces some services. A good example is Head Start, which provides early childhood education to low-income families. Adequate funding is needed to meet the need, and the impact is multiplied if an undercount fails to provide enough money and also translates to fewer slots in the program.

Child Trends reports that annually, "$20 billion in federal supports for young children  through Head Start; the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant; the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children; and the Child Care and Development Block Grant programs  are distributed to communities based on census counts of children under age 5."

Wrote Anna Maria Barry-Jester for FiveThirtyEight in 2018, "Problems with the big decennial survey can linger for a decade. That dynamic isnt isolated to Head Start; the census is the bureaucratic bones supporting much of the infrastructure behind our social safety net, political representation and research programs."

3. Data is needed to right-size schools.

Census data on how many preschoolers there are can help planners get ready for when those youngsters get to school. Counting how many kids are in school can be used to help colleges plan for what's coming, too, while also tracking trends. Data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, for example, showed that just under 3 in 10 people in college attend two-year schools, and that one-fourth of the entire American population over age 3 is enrolled in school at some level, from kindergarten to college.

4. Planners get a heads-up on infrastructure they'll need in the future.

The U.S. Census provides an early indication of population growth or shrinkage in particular areas. The South and the West, for instance, grew the most between the 2000 and 2010 census counts, while the overall "resident population"  those living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia  increased almost 10 percent to nearly 309 million people on April 1, 2010.

The 2010 big count told us California had the most people and Wyoming the fewest, both facts many people might have guessed. But without the census, who'd have known that Texas gained the most people, while Nevada had the highest percentage increase?

That's the kind of data that can impact whether or not a big-box grocery chain builds in a community, and that might influence how a school board plans its future placement of grade schools or whether planners propose building a new airport.

5. The census can ensure vulnerable populations aren't missed.

Correctly counting everyone is important because they may have very different needs that have to be taken into consideration by officials. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, those most likely to be overlooked in a census decennial count are also often the most vulnerable, "including communities of color, residents of rural areas, immigrants and young children."

The foundation notes that "underrepresentation of those groups, known as the 'hard to count,' leaves them at great disadvantage when it comes to resources and policy choices in vital areas from education to transportation to access to technology."

6. Knowing how many people live together and what their households look like impacts family policy.

The decennial census provides a look at how many people live together, including the age span between them. For example, the census and its related interim samplings are how we know that 2.6 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren, as The Atlantic reported. That kind of knowledge about families and their structures can help lawmakers make good policies that affect them when it comes to things lile financial support, housing and legal issues.Cookie banner

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By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.SALT LAKE CITY  Southern Utah University will launch in January a pilot program that will enable students to complete a bachelor's degree in three years.

Completing an undergraduate degree in three years means students must be "fully engaged" in summer sessions following their freshman and sophomore years.

"This is a pilot project for the system," said SUU President Scott Wyatt, referring to the Utah System of Higher Education.

"What we learn with this we believe will help all the institutions become more efficient," Wyatt told Utah lawmakers during the recent legislative session.

Participation is voluntary, although SUU officials estimate half of incoming freshman will seek to complete their bachelor degrees in three years.

Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, said the Utah Legislature has been working with state colleges and universities to develop innovative ways to allow students to complete their degrees more efficiently so they can enter the workforce sooner.

Southern Utah University's three-year bachelor degree program certainly fits that criteria. We have great confidence in SUU, as well as (its) president, his leadership team, faculty and staff. We are eagerly anticipating the outcome and success of this program and hope to be able to replicate it in other state institutions, Vickers said.

The Utah Legislature recently appropriated $3.8 million in ongoing funding for the program.

Under a proposed academic calendar on the university's website, students on the three-year track would attend fall, winter and spring terms. The fall term would run from the second week of September to mid-December. Winter term would run from the second week of January through mid-April and spring term would go from the last week of April ending prior to July 24.

"New structural changes will also include robust online offerings and summer classes," a news release states.

Summer break would run from the last week of July to the second week of September, according to the proposal.

For the next academic year, at least, the university will seek no increase in tuition or fees, under the schedule adopted last week by the Utah State Board of Regents.

We worked diligently on the budget and reviewed all of our operating expenses, said Wyatt. Our goal is to keep school affordable, help students get into college and complete their degree."

Wyatt said SUU is considered an innovator and it has earned the trust of policymakers.

This initiative is a significant investment in SUU and our success in developing this program will benefit our students, community, and employees, and may pave the way for other schools to follow our lead," he said in a statement.

SUU officials expect that the program "will significantly moderate demand for new buildings, classrooms, offices, faculty and staff members, student housing and increase student success," according to legislative budget documents.SALT LAKE CITY  For author Keira Shae  who, as she put it, grew up as the child of an uneducated, meth-addicted prostitute  escaping her home life would require nothing short of a miracle.

I told a youth leader (about my situation), and she said, 'Oh, let's pray, Shae said in a recent interview with the Deseret News.  And I'm like, 'Oh lady, if prayer solved everything, I wouldn't have been homeless, I wouldn't have had nothing, none of this would have happened. You're going to pray right now?

Shae, who at the time had never before prayed out loud, knelt down on the floor as instructed and spoke to a higher power whose nature and existence she was unsure of.

I just opened my mouth and (did) the thing that the Mormons always do, where they say, Heavenly Father, and that was it  I don't even remember what the rest of the prayer was, she said. I said, Heavenly Father, and I felt the most peace I ever had in my life. All that peace that I felt in the Mormon homes (that had taken me in), I had my own version of it inside of myself for the first time.  It was just totally clear. Everyone else around me was in chaos, but I knew that I was OK.

This incident, which gave Shae the intuition to leave her mothers home and put herself in foster care, came near the end of her challenging and seemingly godless youth. Shaes childhood, plagued by the difficult whims of an abusive parent, involved poverty, homelessness, molestation, constant moving and regular humiliation and harassment from her mother and the men she brought home. The path to well-being, it seems, was paved by Shaes own decisions  and, the kindness of many, many strangers along the way. (In 2012 Shae wrote a thank you letter to taxpayers that went viral  and, as expected, received a range of responses.)

Rather than seeing a traditional therapist, which she couldn't afford, Shae wrote down her story to help her process and cope with her memories of her abusive childhood. Her work led to the eventual publication of her deeply personal memoir, How the Light Gets In, (BCC Press, 268 pages) taken from the Leonard Cohen song "Anthem."

The book gives an honest, detailed depiction of Shaes difficult childhood through her early adulthood and sheds light on some of the dark undersides of Utahs suburbs. On April 5-6, Shae will visit local book stores in Salt Lake City and Provo to read from and sign copies of her memoir.

(My mother) had been married and divorced, I think about seven times  some of them were to the same man twice, so I'm not exactly sure, Shae said. (She) suffered from extreme mental illness that was definitely untreated. And part of that might have been because she was in poverty  its just more difficult to get the resources that you need when you are poor, or a mother, especially a single mother."

Shae's mother also had little formal education. In fact, Shae was the first high school and later college graduate in her family, and she's made good use of her education: After graduating as an Outstanding Student with cum laude from Utah Valley University  and carrying the flag at her graduation ceremony  Shae started a foundation, The Provo Promise, to help fund and support the secondary education of kids, such as herself, who lack the resources to go to college.

Additionally, Shaes memoir educates the general public on the extraordinary challenges that children of abusive parents endure  unseen difficulties that could easily be happening to children in Utah's neighborhoods or local schools.

I think my memoir shows a side of Utah or Provo that we don't really know about  people don't really understand that there's a meth problem in Utah, especially in the early 2000s,  she said.

Shae isnt wrong about Utahs meth problem  particularly among women. According to data collected by the Utah Department of Health from 2004 to 2014, nearly 28 percent of addicts admitted to treatment facilities were addicted to meth, with 75 percent of those cases being women.

Methamphetamine addiction, which played a large role in landing Shae's mother in prison, created an incredibly turbulent home environment. To manage, Shae found support in kindly strangers, her local community, and most of all, generous members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Luckily for me, I didn't know much about what they were all about, Shae said about the group who invited her to summer camps and dances. But they seemed to naturally have an imperative to protect innocent people, or to lend a helping hand however they could.

Shae recalled her Latter-day Saints neighbors doing whatever it took to help her and her family in times of trouble, such as when their family car broke down, or when she needed a choir dress, although her family was not involved with the church at the time.

Just thinking about these people  at my worst times wanting them to be near me, thinking about how they would be different than the way my mother was and the way she was treating me  was enough to calm my heart when I was sad, Shae said.

But while her mothers addiction lead to an extremely chaotic childhood, Shae, who is now married with three children, has done as much as she can to prevent others from enduring the same adversity shes been through.

I'm starting my master's degree to become a school counselor because so many teachers and school counsellors helped me, Shae said. I'd be able to see these children for what they are. I know the signs of abuse and neglect, (and) I know what to do.  I also know that children are really strong, they're very resilient and they will overcome.

If you go 

What: Keira Shae book signing for How the Light Gets In

When: April 5, 7-9 p.m.

Where: Anthony's Antiques, 401 E. 200 South

How much: Free

Web: anthonysfineart.com

Also 

What: Keira Shae book signing for How the Light Gets In

When: April 6, 7-9 p.m.

Where: Writ & Vision, 274 W. Center, Provo

How much: Free

Web: www.writandvision.comSALT LAKE CITY  A man was arrested after police say he gained access to the Salt Lake City International Airport terminal without an airline ticket and randomly punched a traveler.

Victor Cossio, 42, was arrested for investigation of robbery and assault, according to court documents.

On Saturday, an officer responded to concourse G after several passengers reported an assault.

The officer found Cossio and a man who said Cossio "began punching him for no reason and then took his cellphone and walked away," according to an affidavit filed in 3rd District Court.

According to police, several witnesses and "clear video footage corroborated this story."

The man who Cossio allegedly punched was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries, Salt Lake police said.

The Transportation Security Administration released a statement regarding the incident saying Cossio got into the terminal as a result of travel document verification procedures not being "properly followed."

"As a result, an individual who was not ticketed for travel gained access to the sterile area of the airport. The individual and his belongings were screened through the security checkpoint with no alarms," according to the statement.

The incident is under review and the security officer who performed travel document verification duties when Cossio was allowed through has undergone remedial training.

Cossio has no criminal history in Utah, according to court records.

 Ashley Imlay

Correction: An earlier version incorrectly reported the alleged assault at the airport happened on Sunday. It actually happened on Saturday.HERRIMAN  Police say they arrested a convicted sex offender this week in Herriman after they allegedly found him in a vehicle with a 15-year-old boy.

Phillip Joseph Reed, 33, of Lindon, was taken into custody Sunday for investigation of enticing a minor.

About 11:30 p.m., a Herriman police officer doing a routine patrol came across what he thought was an unoccupied Jeep Cherokee near 14850 S. Juniper Bend Drive. But when the officer put a spotlight on the vehicle, a boy quickly got out of the back passenger door and into the front passenger seat, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.

"The rear of the vehicle contained a sheet spread out, pillows, blankets and various items of clothing were strewn about," according to an officer's observation noted in the report.

After questioning the two people in the Jeep, the officer learned that Reed allegedly met a 15-year-old Herriman boy on the app Grindr and they had had four meetings, the report states.

In 2013, Reed was convicted of five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, after police found child pornography on some of his electronic devices at his home in Lindon. He was given a suspended prison sentence, placed on probation and put on the Utah Sex Offender Registry.SALT LAKE CITY  Chick-fil-A has been banned by another airport.

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is under fire from a top civil rights official after reports that the NFTA ruled against allowing a Chick-fil-A in the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, WIVB reports.

Peter Kirsanow, who works for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, has accused the NFTA of discriminating against Chick-fil-A for religious reasons.

Flashback: Last week, the NFTA announced that Chick-Fil-A had been tentatively selected a choice for one of the concession stands at the Buffalo-Niagara airport.

However, New York state Assemblyman Sean Ryan of Buffalo complained about the decision, saying the NFTA was showing it was against the LGBT community, USA Today reported.

"I am a bit disappointed with the NFTA. They wanted to talk about how they could have them to stay there. But that is really not allowed under our rules, Ryan said, according to WIVB.

Ryan said the decision was based on the companys long history of supporting and funding anti-LGBTQ organizations.

Now: I applaud the decision that has been made to remove Chick-fil-A from plans from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Thank you to everyone who reached out to share their opinion, Ryan tweeted.

Update: I applaud the decision that has been made to remove Chick-fil-A from plans for the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Thank you to everyone who reached out to share their opinion. pic.twitter.com/HA5t1CjwkV  Assemblyman Sean Ryan (@SeanMRyan149) March 29, 2019

Yes, but: Kirsanow wrote a letter to the NFTA Chair Sister Denise Roche that said theres no evidence Chick-fil-A has discriminated against anyone based on sexual orientation. The main issue when it comes to the LGBT community comes from the Chick-fil-a Foundation, which supports the traditional marriage of a man and woman, according to ThinkProgress.

Chick-fil-a released a statement about the issue.

Recent coverage about Chick-fil-A continues to drive an inaccurate narrative about our brand," the company said in a statement. "We want to make it clear that our sole focus is on providing delicious food and welcoming everyone  not being a part of a national political conversation. We do not have a political or social agenda. More than 145,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand. We embrace all people, regardless of religion, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Kirsanow said Chick-fil-A would likely sue the NFTA's members in their official and personal capacities if the airport doesnt take back its ban on Chick-fil-A.

Flashback: Last week, the San Antonio City Council declined to approve plans from Chick-fil-A to open a restaurant in a local airport because of the companys stance on LGBTQ issues, The Houston Chronicle reports.SALT LAKE CITY  Utah has named a venomous lizard with black and yellow bead-like scales as its state reptile.

Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill into a law last week that adds the Gila monster to the list of state symbols, honoring the lizard among such things as the beehive, the Dutch oven, elk and sea gulls.

Republican state Rep. Lowry Snow, R-Santa Clara, sponsored the bill after students at Lava Ridge Intermediate School in Santa Clara lobbied the lawmaker. The students pushed for the bill through correspondence and committee testimony.

"I have so much enjoyed these emails from these fourth-graders," Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said during debate on the matter. "I did not know the Gila monster stored its fat in its tail, and I felt like we had something in common."

The lizard is named after the Gila River, a Colorado River tributary that flows through Arizona and into New Mexico. They are native to areas across the Southwest but are mostly found in parts of Arizona, according to the state Division of Wildlife Resources.

In Utah, the lizards can be found in Snow Canyon State Park and in the Red Cliffs Reserve. People are likely to see them during daytime hours in April and May and on warm summer nights.

The monsters eat tortoise and bird eggs as well as small mammals, like baby cottontail rabbits, according to the agency.

They dine only three or four times a year because they can eat up to 33 percent of their body weight in a single meal. They mostly stay underground.

Their venom can be deadly in large doses, but it also has medicinal properties, according to the agency.Photo: UBCIC

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Penticton Indian Band and president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, has stated his intense displeasure with the fact that Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott have been kicked out of the Liberal caucus.

"We are absolutely disgusted," Phillip wrote in a press release. "They chose to act honourably and with integrity regarding the SNC-Lavalin scandal rather than kowtow to Liberal political pressure. Apparently, this equates to being 'untrustworthy' in the shifty eyes of Justin Trudeau, who is clearly committed to propping up cronyism and the old boys network.

The prime minister announced Wilson-Raybould and Philpott were being expelled from the party Tuesday, following a released recording between Wilson-Raybould and Michael Wernick.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Trudeau told caucus members.

Phillip, who has clashed with Trudeau in the past over the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, lambasted the prime minister over this latest action.

"This type of shoddy, slimy backroom politics, is the exact opposite to the new kind of government that Trudeau and his sunny ways promised," Phillip wrote. "How can the Liberals be considered a united team if members of their office have inappropriately sought to interfere with and undermine Jody Wilson-Rayboulds actions regarding the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin?

The secretary treasurer of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs wrote in the same release that the expulsion of Wilson-Raybould, the first Indigenous Attorney General and Justice Minister in Canada, demonstrates "another low in [Trudeau's] treatment of Indigenous peoples today."

"We hold up our hands to Jody Wilson-Raybould for her fierce advocacy, honesty, and commitment to speak the truth and we applaud Dr. Philpott for standing up for our governments democratic institutions and refusing to stay quiet while the Liberal Party incited a gaslighting of Wilson-Raybould to justify their own unconscionable behaviour, including lying to the public about inappropriately pressuring Wilson-Raybould," Judy Wilson wrote.SALT LAKE CITY  Having long called China one of the biggest threats to the U.S, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney and two Democrats introduced legislation this week aimed at protecting the economy and national security.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Act would help ensure the U.S. government and Congress are prepared to face the multiple challenges posed by China, according to Romney and co-sponsors Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

Romney said the bill puts safeguards in place to confront the "critical" threat China poses.

"We must develop a comprehensive strategy to confront the unprecedented challenge that the Chinese government poses to U.S. national security, U.S. intellectual property and U.S. businesses," he said in a statement.

I'm probably more of a hawk on China than the president. I think we have to hold China's feet to the fire.  Utah Sen. Mitt Romney during an interview in March

The bill would put in place the recommendations of the bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which monitors and investigates the trade relationship with China and submits reports to Congress.

Romney recently discussed trade, China and national security in a meeting with President Donald Trump. Romney has accused China of "cheating" and "stealing" American jobs. China, he said, has moved from currency manipulation to intellectual property theft to combat the U.S. economically.

"I'm probably more of a hawk on China than the president," Romney said last month. "I think we have to hold China's feet to the fire."

The Commerce Department announced in March that the U.S. trade deficit surged nearly 19 percent in December, pushing last year's trade imbalance to a decadelong-high $621 billion. The gap with China on goods widened to an all-time record of $419.2 billion.

"From its unfair trade practices to its rapid military expansion, China now presents security, economic and political challenges to the United States unlike any weve faced before," Coons said in a statement.

The U.S., he said, must be in a position to "work with China where we can, but also push back where we must" as it aggressively expands its power and influence around the world.

Kaine said the U.S. has for too long failed to address the challenges China poses to the economy, allies in East Asia and international norms on human rights and civil liberties.

"It is now clear that a new approach is needed, and this bill will begin to lay the foundation for a reassessment of the U.S.-China relationship," he said.

The proposed legislation would require:

 The administration to assess and report on the potential vulnerabilities of the federal supply chain to Chinese threats.

 The U.S. trade representative to assess whether it is in the national interest to bring a complaint against China at the World Trade Organization in coordination with U.S. allies and partners.

 The Justice Department to identify whether members of the Chinese Communist Party are intimidating U.S. residents, and ensure Chinese government publications distributed in the U.S. are clearly labeled as such.

 The National Counterintelligence and Security Center to report on the influence and propaganda activities of the Chinese Communist Party in the U.S.

 The comptroller general to assess potential risks involved in U.S.-China technical cooperation.

 The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to report on Chinas trade-distorting practices and what it is doing to counteract their anti-competitive impact.SALT LAKE CITY  A former Kanosh firefighter has filed a federal lawsuit against the town's assistant fire chief who faces criminal charges for allegedly raping her.

The woman, whom the Deseret News has chosen not to name, claims Assistant Fire Chief Austin James Corry, Chief Scott Corry, Kanosh and Millard County violated her civil rights, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

The woman claims Austin Corry started to sexually harass her shortly after she joined the fire department in 2015 and despite her efforts to dissuade him, his behavior increased in frequency and severity through 2018.

"Tragically, the sexual behavior escalated and became violent, culminating in his raping plaintiff three times at the department," the lawsuit says.

The woman reported the alleged assaults to Scott Corry who in addition to being the fire chief is a Millard County sheriff's sergeant and Austin Corry's father  to no avail, the suit alleges.

"As might be expected, plaintiffs complaints to the fire chief about his sons egregious behavior were dismissed out of hand with instructions to 'not be alone with (Austin),' according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Scott Corry had a legal obligation to investigate the womans allegations and, due to the familial relationship, should have turned over the investigation to a nonbiased party

"That did not happen," the lawsuit states. "Instead, Scott Corry took no action and allowed the sexual harassment, assaults and ultimate rapes to happen unfettered."

The woman used the audio recorder on her cellphone to record two of the alleged assaults in April and August 2018.

"The audio recording captured plaintiff repeatedly telling (Austin) Corry 'no' and to 'stop,' all to no avail as he continued his assault," the lawsuit says.

Austin Corry is charged in 4th District Court with two counts of rape and two counts of object rape, first-degree felonies; five counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony; and five counts of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor, for allegedly assaulting the woman at the fire station several times dating back to 2015.

When officers questioned him about the incident, "he admitted that she said 'no' five or six times. Corry also described another occasion when they had what he initially characterized as sex, but after admitting she kept telling him she needed to go and he continued to engage in sex, he acknowledged that it was actually 'rape,'" according to the criminal charges.

A preliminary hearing in the criminal case is scheduled for April 10.

The fire department issued a statement after Austin Corry was arrested last September saying he had been placed on administrative leave and suspended.

The woman's lawsuit seeks at least $1.2 million in damages for emotional distress. It also wants the town of Kanosh to be required to provide annual harassment, discrimination and retaliation training, impose guidelines for investigating harassment complaints and create a vetting process for hiring and promoting firefighters.Tushar Pandey who was last seen in Rajshri Productions Hum Chaar and is currently busy shooting in Mumbai for his upcoming film Chhichhore directed by the Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari.

In the film, the actor will be seen portraying characters of two different generations and he would go de-glamorous however in the real-life the actor is exactly opposite. Here are a few images where we can see how the actor is very fashion forward and loves to dress up for the occasion.

Here are 5 images that prove how Tushar Pandey is himself a fashion savvy actor.





















The actor reveals how he loves to stay in touch with the latest Fashion trends at the same time believes comfort is also equally important for men.

Comfortable attires too can be fashionable if accessorized in the right manner.

With such fashion sense and kind of projects, Tushar is currently a part of, people really should watch out for him.Minister of State Ciaran Cannon announces public consultation process Irelands new diaspora policy

Press release

First public consultation event will take place in Galway Hotel Meyrick, Eyre Square on 15 April from 6:00pm

The Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development,

Mr. Ciaran Cannon T.D., today announced the opening of a public consultation to inform the development of Irelands new diaspora policy.

The Government has committed to introduce a new diaspora policy in 2020 as part of Global Ireland 2015, Irelands plan to double our global footprint by 2025. The policy will guide Irelands support for and relationship with Irish people and Irish diaspora communities overseas.

Launching the consultations, Minister of State Cannon said:

We have a special relationship with Irish people living abroad and with people of Irish heritage throughout the world.

Our new diaspora policy will seek to build on the many strong bonds of culture, family, and values which define the global Irish community.

The consultation process will begin with a public consultation in Galway on 15 April and all interested members of the public are invited to attend. Further events will take place in Donegal on 20 May, in Cork on 27 May and in Mayo on 8 July. Further events will be held around the world by Irelands Embassies and Consulates to allow diaspora communities to contribute.

Commenting on the process Minister of State Cannon said:

It is of great importance that our new diaspora policy is informed by a wide range of views. Nearly every person in Ireland has experience of emigration in some way and I would like to I invite all interested members of the public to attend our consultation events and to help shape Irelands future diaspora policy.

Interested stakeholders and members of the public will also be able to send written submissions on the policy. Further information on the diaspora policy consultation process can be found at www.dfa.ie/global-irish.

ENDS

Press Office

2 April 2019

Notes for Editors:

Global Irish: Irelands Diaspora Policy, published in 2015, was the first written statement of Irelands diaspora policy.

Global Ireland: Irelands Global Footprint to 2025, launched by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney last year, is the Governments initiative to double the scope and impact of Irelands global footprint in the period to 2025. As a part of this programme the Government has committed to introduce a new diaspora policy in 2020.

 Previous Item | Next Item Citroen fans, rejoice! The French brands first car in India will be the C5 Aircross SUV.

Highlights:

Citroen brand launched in India

Its first model in India will be the C5 Aircross SUV

The compact SUV will be showcased before the end of 2021

If youre a motoring enthusiast, chances are youve heard of Citroen before. Youve probably even seen the French brand of cars and vans in films and on your trips outside the country. Well, youll be happy to know that parent company Groupe PSA has just announced the launch of the Citroen brand in India for the first time. Partnering with CK Birla Group, the French marque will manufacture its cars and powertrains in Tamil Nadu and showcase the C5 Aircross SUV sometime before the end of 2021.

To support our range of unique new products and our in-depth study of the Indian market, we have planned for a unique customer experience, which will enable us to be the new digital reference for a seamless customer experience in the Indian automotive market, said Roland Bouchara, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing of Citroen India. We are planning to introduce a unique digitally disruptive, omni-channel customer journey to deliver ATAWADAC (AnyTime AnyWhere AnyDevice AnyContent) experience to customers. Our Network focus will be to develop lean & phygital (physical + digital) formats with a brick to click orientation. This seamless experience will be brought alive by personalized digital sales and service processes for our customers.

Part of Groupe PSA since 1976, Citroen was founded in 1919 by French industrialist Andre-Gustave Citroen. It developed the worlds first hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system in 1954. A year later, it launched the DS, the first mass-produced car with modern disc brakes. Its current lineup in Europe includes models like the Citroen C-Zero, C1, C3, C3 Aircross, C4 Cactus, and the India-bound C5 Aircross SUV.

The Citroen C5 Aircross SUV is expected to come to India with both petrol and diesel engine options. In Europe the compact SUV is sold with four engine options: a three-cylinder 1.2-litre PureTech 130 turbocharged petrol motor followed by a four-cylinder 1.6-litre variant of the same, a four-cylinder 1.5-litre BlueHDi diesel motor with a 2.0-litre turbocharged variant. The gearbox is either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic. When launched in India, the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV is expected to compete with models like the Honda CR-V and Jeep Compass.

Related Read: MG Motor unveils iSMART Next Gen for upcoming MG Hector, an internet-based connectivity solutionOppo Reno Lite is a new variant to be leaked after reports about Standard Edition, a 5G variant and a Lamborghini Edition of the device are already making rounds on the internet.

Highlights:

Oppo sues source who leaked Reno renders.

The phones periscopic camera tech leaked in marketing banner.

A Lite variant of the phone has also been spotted on TENAA.



Oppo Reno is one of most talked about phones lately, and among several reasons, the design of the pop camera has gained the phone its popularity. Oppo, however, has not taken this recognition in a positive way and has reportedly sued those who have leaked the renders of the phone. According to a report, the company wanted to keep the design of the phone under covers till the launch.

An internal memo from Oppo detailing the sanctions that should be carried out against those who were involved in the leak was shared on the internet. According to the memo, the original leakster will have to pay a fine of CNY 500,000 (approx 51 lakh). A full report about the whole incident as well as a commitment of not sharing more details about the phone have also been sought. Moreover, there is a request of taking legal actions against the dealers and clerk of the store that allegedly shared the info.

While the Chinese company was busy hunting for the render leakster, the phones periscopic camera has been confirmed in marketing banner. An image was leaked which showed a banner hanging from the ceiling of what looks like a shop or an office. The image shows a phone with similar design that we have already seen previously. There is no notch and no punch hole, which suggests that it has a pop-up selfie camera. The phone are surrounded by a green ring which looks a lot like the "O" in the Oppo branding.

In the second leak of the day, a Lite variant of the phone was spotted on TENAA. The listing shows that the phone with model number PCAM10 and PCAT10. The phone is seen with two cameras as well as a fingerprint sensor on the back. The cameras are seen to have a 16Mp sensor and a 2MP sensor. This phone is seen to have 4/6GB of RAM and 128GB storage, with an option to expand it via a microSD slot. The phone features a 6.5-inch LCD panel with FHD+ resolution.

This phone is in addition to various versions, including a Standard Edition, a 5G variant and a rumoured Lamborghini Edition. Oppos VP, Brian Shen, has already confirmed that the Oppo Reno will be made available in two variants. One of these models will be equipped with a copper tube and support liquid cooling, which is likely to be the one with Snapdragon 855. While the other version is said to use heat-conducting gel and graphite sheet for heat dissipation. The latter model is speculated to launch with Snapdragon 710 SoC under the hood. The Snapdragon 855 powered version Oppo Reno is also confirmed to sport 10x zoom capabilities and pack a 4065mAh battery.

Related Read:

Oppo Reno smartphone series announced, to officially launch on April 10The Galaxy Note series has always been aimed at productivity enthusiasts who require a bigger screen. If the report is true, Samsung will target a new bunch of users with a smaller Galaxy Note.

Highlights:

Samung might be working on a smaller Galaxy Note device.

This could be aimed at emulating the success of the Galaxy S10E.

Samsung is procuring components indivdiually for two different Note devices.

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S10 series has hit the market, the focus is now on the upcoming Galaxy Note. Expected to be called the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, a new report claims Samsung will launch a compact variant of the upcoming device. A South Korean report states this would be the first time Samsung will launch more than one variant of the Galaxy Note.

Given that there are four models of the Samsung Galaxy S10, we wouldnt be surprised if the Galaxy Note is also given a similar treatment. The Galaxy Note series has always been aimed at productivity enthusiasts who require a bigger screen. If the report is true, Samsung will target a new bunch of users with a smaller Galaxy Note.

Reports coming out of South Korea suggests the smaller Galaxy Note may be shipped to select few markets only, especially in Europe. It could be a bid to acquire users who prefer a compact form factor and are not too comfortable using very large displays.

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 10 is expected to come with a 6.7-inch display, same as the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. It could be possible that the smaller variant will come with a 6.4-inch display, same as the Galaxy Note 9.

The report outlines that Samsung is sourcing parts from the supply-chain for both models separately. That could be an indication that the two devices will come with differentiated hardware, same as the Galaxy S10E.

While most of it is mere speculation at this point, its entirely possible that Samsung is planning to diversify the Galaxy Note series to attract more users. Its also expected that Samsung will announce a 5G variant of the Galaxy Note 10 along with a standard 4G variant.

Related Reads:

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 might be devoid of all keys, including the Bixby button: ReportWhile India demoed its ASAT capabilities, NASA disapproved of it saying over 400 pieces of space debris were created that could be a threat to the ISS and the astronauts within. An ISRO scientist has now said that the debris will burn out in a span of six

Highlights

ISRO scientist says the space debris created by ASAT demonstration will burn out in six months.

This comes after NASA administrator Jim Brindenstine pointed out repercussions of Mission Shakti.



Indian recently demonstrated its capabilities of destroying low orbit satellite using an anti-satellite missile system. India became the fourth nation in the world to be capable of achieving the feat via Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) and the operation was named Mission Shakti. However, NASA head Jim Bridenstine had condemned the act saying that it resulted in the creation of 400 pieces of space debris that are posing a threat to the International Space Station, and the astronauts that reside within it. In response, Tapan Misra, a senior adviser to the ISRO chairman said that the missile destroyed the satellite at about 300km in space where the wind pressure is low and the debris will be burned out in a span of six months.

Misra is the former director of Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre (SAC), which is an arm of ISRO that is working on Indias Gaganyaan space mission. The Indian Express reports that replying to a query on NASAs concern at an open session at the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Misra claimed that the ASAT experiment carried out by DRDO was not an explosion, but was more like a bullet. Additionally, Misra added that much of the existing space debris is already being tracked by different countries via a network of telescopes, cameras and radars. They are cooperating with each other If you see space debris (in a collision course), you can always change the course of the satellite.

China was the third nation to be able to destroy low orbit satellites. The Chinese did an experiment at 800-kilometer altitude where the air pressure is not much. The debris is still flying around, Misra said. Knowing the ability of the Indian scientists, I am sure they have done it the right way, with all calculations and in a way that will not cause any shame to India. Because it is in the 300-kilometer range, it will dissipate much faster.

Related Reads:

Mission Shakti: India demonstrates anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, becomes fourth space warfare-ready country

Indian ASAT demonstration criticised by NASA, 400 pieces of space debris threaten ISSLast month, I was invited to the Ottomate Smart Fan launch event in New Delhi, where I sat for what felt like an entire day listening to Vishal Sehgal, Ottomates Co-Founder and MD, wax poetic about the companys first product. Sehgal, who is also the Co-Founder of Lava International (yes, the Indian smartphone brand), explained to me and a few other heavy-eyed journalists that there had been absolutely no innovation in the ceiling fan industry in the past fifty years. Running us through numerous slides, he presented the Ottomate Smart Fan, an advanced ceiling fan operated using a smartphone app.

Curious enough, I got in touch with the Ottomate team and asked for one to be installed in my bedroom. No more than a week later, an Ottomate personnel turned up at my doorstep with a couple of boxes, an installation kit, and a folding step ladder. As he went about installing the fan, he told me that I would need the Ottomate app to use it. As I reached for my iPhone, he said the app was available only on Android. Fortunately, I had an Android phone too, so before long I was able to create an account with Ottomate and register the product. And a little after that, what should I see pop up on the app but a firmware updatefor my ceiling fan! Imagine my surprise.

Ottomate: How the system works

Before I tell you about my experience with the fan, let me explain to you how the whole Ottomate system works. The Gurgaon-based company aims to offer a whole range of smart consumer durables like ceiling fans, lights, and water heaters that are operable through the Ottomate smartphone app. The idea is that once these smart devices are all installed and connected to a smartphone, the user can then control them from any part of the house using the connected smartphone. In an ideal scenario, the user should be able to control the operation of a connected Ottomate device that's in the first floor from the ground floor without having to get up. Whats more, an entire mesh of Ottomate devices can be connected through Bluetooth Low Energy and controlled using the same app. The primary user can add more users and guests.

In addition to creating smart durables, Ottomate wants to simplify the installation process of its devices. According to the company, the user neednt go to the trouble of calling a local electrician to have their new device installed; once the user has purchased an Ottomate product, they need only download the Ottomate app on their Android phone, open it, and request an installation. They can then expect an Ottomate installation agent to visit their home and take care of the setup. Future service requests too can be made from the Ottomate app.

From the proposed range, the companys first product is the Ottomate Smart Fan. Designed by Bangalore-based design studio Foley Designs, it looks no different from a regular ceiling fan at first glance but has a few tricks up its sleeve. Sitting next to the motor inside the central dome is a Qualcomm CSR1020 QFN chipset, which is considered the brain of the fan. It features a 16-bit processor, 80 kilobytes of RAM, 60 kilobytes of internal storage space for applications, Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth Low Energy, and CSRmesh. The fan also has an integrated temperature and humidity sensor made by STMicroelectronics. All this is what lets the fan talk to the Ottomate app on an Android smartphone. The fan can also be operated using a proprietary Ottomate remote control, which is an optional purchase.

Ottomate service engineer at work

Ottomate Smart Fan: My experience

With the installation of the new Ottomate Smart Fan all done, I sat around under the fan playing with the controls on the app. I explored all the speed options available. Unlike a regular ceiling fan, which is typically equipped with a four- or five-speed regulator, the Ottomate Smart Fan could be set to spin at any speed between 1 and 100 with the option of a Turbo Mode, which gave it an additional ten-percent boost after its top speed. There was a Breeze Mode, which varied the speed of the fan every few seconds to create the effect of a breeze. This, I felt, was a bit of a gimmick even though the fan made use of the internal temperature and humidity sensor to work. Of course, I can understand if there are users out there who might actually like such an effect. Lastly, there was an Otto Mode (auto mode, basically), which, as you can guess, set the speed of the fan automatically depending on the temperature and humidity. The Otto Mode predicted the right speed required quite well as far as I could tell.

I have been using the Ottomate Smart Fan for the last two or so weeks now. While my experience has been mostly pleasant during this time, I came across a few unmissable issues. The first is noise. The Ottomate Smart Fan installed in my bedroom is significantly louder than my previous Havells fan at any speed. This, Im told by my colleague Shrey, could be the result of a bad installation. At any rate, the grinding noise from the Ottomate in the middle of the nightresembling an old fan from the 70svexes me enough to believe the Ottomate Smart Fan wasnt designed smartly enough to run quietly.

The second issue is overall quality of execution. The Ottomate app, which is currently limited to Android users and has no integration with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, needs the users location at all times to run, something users concerned about privacy (like me) will not want to provide. On launching, the app loads (read: communicates with the fan) for some four to five seconds before letting me control the fan. Working the speed slider in the app can, at times, be a bother while setting a precise number. On pressing the back button, the app persistently asks if I really want to quit. All these niggles give me the impression that Id have sooner operated the fan by getting up from my bed and reaching for the regulator on the wall. The lack of a bundled remote control only adds to my annoyance because, honestly, it would have still been faster than using the Ottomate app.

Ottomate app only available on Android for now

Summary: Smart but not smart enough

I think Ottomate is bold and ambitious in its quest to build a connected household but its first product already suffers from quality issues, especially in terms of execution. After a few weeks with the Ottomate Smart Fan, Im left with the impression that its a noisy fannoisier than the thirty-year-old Khaitan table fan my grandmother owns. It doesnt help that at times, it takes longer to operate the fan through an Android smartphone than through a traditional regulator on the wall. In summary, the Ottomate Smart Fan is an advanced ceiling fan with the potential to be truly smart, but right now, is just trying too hard.Photo: IHIT

UPDATE: 12:15 p.m.

The reward for murder suspect Brandon Teixeira has been increased to $55,000.

Police say a previous reward of $5,000 didn't bring them any closer to catching the fugitive wanted for the shooting of Nichola Khabra in Surrey, CTV News reports.

"He has managed to evade police so far but we are working hard to bring that to an immediate end," Supt. Donna Richardson of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in a statement.

"This reward is available for an initial period of six months. So if you have information, we urge you to call in right now."

Teixeira is considered "extremely violent" and should not be approached.

Anyone who sees him should call 911, IHIT at 7-877-551-4448, or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

 with files from CTV Vancouver

ORIGINAL: 10:45 a.m.

Police are preparing to announce a new strategy in the search for a wanted man.

Brandon Teixeira was 27 when he was charged with first-degree murder almost seven months ago, and police believe he remains on the run.

The RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says a new tactic in the search is ready to be announced at the team's headquarters in Surrey.

A warrant for Teixeira was issued last September, after the October 2017 shooting of Nicholas Khabra.

A woman with Khabra was injured in the attack.

Cpl. Frank Jang has described Teixeira as extremely violent, with several distinctive tattoos, including a sleeve tattoo on his left arm, but has also said he is likely "hunkered down," evading police, and may have altered his appearance.

Last September, Jang said Teixeira was likely still in the Metro Vancouver area, but also said he could have travelled to Edmonton or Calgary because he has associates in those cities.Photo: Contributed

An Ontario man who shot a woman in the head several times in her apartment and left her body to decompose there has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

James Scordino was found guilty last month of first-degree murder in the death of Angela Skorulski, a woman he knew from working in the elevator business and who was also his co-defendant in a lawsuit.

First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with 25 years of parole ineligibility. A sentencing hearing was held last week.

In his written decision on sentencing, Ontario Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan said Scordino took steps to conceal the "brutal killing," which took place roughly two years ago.

But though Skorulski's body wasn't found for weeks, Conlan said police eventually uncovered what had happened with the help of forensic technology.

Scordino is also facing a lifetime firearms ban and must submit a DNA sample.

Court documents say little is known about Scordino or the nature of his relationship with Skorulski, but the two were being sued by the University of Toronto.

Crown attorneys argued at trial that Scordino murdered Skorulski in part because he was angry that she had asked him to take full responsibility for the lawsuit, documents say.

On Feb. 13, 2017, Scordino went to Skorulski's apartment in Oakville, Ont., the documents say. He was captured on security video alone in the parking garage, then with Skorulski in the lobby and in the hall near her apartment.

He was also seen on surveillance footage after the murder, the documents say.

Evidence from a forensic pathologist showed Skorulski was shot in the head four times, with the final shot delivered with the gun pressed against the back of her head, they say.

"After he killed the victim, Scordino went back to his usual life," Conlan wrote. "He continued to work. He took a leisure trip out of the country. He continued to reside in Fort Erie. He continued to have contact with his girlfriend."

Scordino tried to cover up his crime, however, by hiding ammunition in the unfinished basement ceiling of his home and putting the murder weapon  a handgun registered to his grandfather  in the finished ceiling of an office at his work, court documents say.

He disposed of the clothes he had been wearing during the murder by placing them in a garbage bag at his work, they say.

The defence did not present any evidence but, prior to the trial, had filed an application to raise the possibility of an alternate suspect  another man who was the sole beneficiary and executor of Skorulski's estate.

But the court dismissed the application, saying that while the man may appear to have a "strong financial motive" to kill Skorulski, there otherwise was a "complete absence of anything" connecting him to the crime.Alanna Kelly

UPDATE: 3:25 p.m.

After a bombshell revelation that a provincial social worker lied about his education, the Ministry of Children and Family Development says it is working to develop a screening guide.

A growing number of lawsuits allege Robert Riley Saunders stole money from more than 40 vulnerable aboriginal youth while they were under his care.

Exclusive documents obtained by Castanet include a resume and a forged University of Manitoba diploma.

The university confirms no one named Robert Riley Saunders ever graduated there. But, Saunders listed two U of M degrees on his resume  a bachelor of social work in 1994 and a bachelor of arts in psychology in 1992.

Minister of Children and Family Development Katrine Conroy says the new information is disturbing.

I cant tell you how disturbed I am by this information, she said. To think that anyone who intends to work with vulnerable people might lie about their qualifications is deeply upsetting.

Front-line staff must be subject to a higher degree of scrutiny, Conroy said.

As per Public Service Agency guidelines, currently all prospective employees are required to sign a statement confirming the accuracy and validity of information in their application package, including educational history.

Local hiring managers with MCFD may verify an applicants degree by requesting an original or certified copy from the university.

Asked if Saunders' education was ever verified, a ministry spokesperson said they could not comment as the matter is covered under privacy regulations and is currently before the courts.

Conroy said moving forward, the ministry is working to develop a screening guide for for child protection workers.

This process will include validation of an applicants credentials, said Conroy.

Lawyer Michael Patterson said they are aware of new information but cannot comment.

ORIGINAL: 1:45 p.m.

A man who worked as a government social worker and allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from vulnerable aboriginal youth lied about his qualifications.

Castanet exclusively received the bombshell allegation against Robert Riley Saunders on Wednesday.

Saunders worked for the Ministry of Children and Family Development in Kelowna and has been named in numerous lawsuits accusing him of stealing money from vulnerable children in his care. In some cases, his actions allegedly left children homeless.

The theft allegations date back to early 2008. Lawsuits have been filed in Kelowna, and a class-action has been launched in Vancouver.

Saunders claims he graduated from the University of Manitoba with a bachelor of social work and bachelor of arts in psychology degrees. However, "there is no record of that individual graduating from the University of Manitoba, says university executive director of public affairs John Danakas.

Documents obtained by Castanet reveal false claims of education, and his resume states that he had worked for the ministry since November 1996.

B.C.'s representative for children and youth said more than 40 kids may have been victimized by Saunders. Jennifer Charlesworth says she first became aware of the allegations in June 2018.

These kinds of cases are heartbreaking because it is one persons actions that can cause tremendous harm to these young people, she said.

One woman says she was just 15 when she was under the care of Saunders. She says Saunders stole $40,000 from her, causing her to be homeless.

I was put into one of the homeless shelters While living at the shelter, I was sexually exploited. I got into very hard drugs to cope with the way I was feeling with the events going on in my life, the woman said.

Many cases mirror each other, stating the plaintiffs were moved from foster homes into unstable residential or independent living arrangements. The youth would then be eligible for government payments, and Saunders is alleged to have opened a joint bank account with the child, and to have stolen the funds.

According to one suit, Saunders sought out and exploited aboriginal high-risk youth because he knew that his supervisors and managers would not look too closely at their affairs.

Saunders was terminated by the province last May.

Since then, he worked as an adult special educator at Okanagan College, but public affairs director Allan Coyle says Saunders' association with the college was ceased in late November.

Coyle added: "Privacy regulations prevent me from commenting on Mr. Saunders' qualifications for the role that he had been hired for ... he was not hired to be a social worker."

Vancouver lawyer Jason Gratl told CTV News about $400,000 to $500,000 was stolen from vulnerable children by Saunders.

No criminal charges have been laid, and the allegations have not been proven in court.Subscriber content preview

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

Associated Press

BOSTON  A wide-ranging college admissions cheating scheme allowed wealthy parents not only to get their kids into sought-after schools but to write off the bribes on their taxes, federal authorities say.

Now some parents who are already facing possible prison time could be hit with additional criminal charges and stiff financial penalties, experts say.





. . .India on Tuesday sent a note verbale to Pakistan, urging it to make necessary arrangements for an immediate release and repatriation of 10 Indian prisoners who had completed the prison sentence in Pakistani jails.

India has also made a fresh demand seeking consular access to five Indian nationals, including Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose case is pending at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Ministry of External Affairs sent the note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission here in which India has conveyed its "deep concern" over the long pending release and repatriation of Indian prisoners held under Pakistan custody despite completion of sentence and nationality confirmation, MEA sources said.

India has put Jadhav in the category of Indian 'civilian' prisoners in Pakistan's custody with the long-pending request for consular access. Kulbhushan Jadhav's name figures with four others- Mohammad Javaid, Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Ismail, Salfikar Ali.

Former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court after being arrested on charges of spying activities in 2016.

In the note verbale India said, "... consular access to Indian fishermen and prisoners in Pakistan jails is inordinately delayed. Such delays cause an avoidable delay in confirmation of their nationality and thus detrimental to the timely release of prisoners and fishermen."

Consular access for two civilian prisoners in Rawalpindi, which was postponed by the Government of Pakistan, is still pending. It is requested that immediate consular access is provided to all those prisoners and fishermen held in Pakistan's custody and awaiting consular access, the note added.

India has been consistently raising with Pakistan its concern regarding missing Indian defence personnel, including Prisoners of War, believed to be in Pakistan's custody, the note mentioned.

However, no response has been received from the Government of Pakistan in this regard. It is requested that necessary steps may be taken immediately to locate, release and repatriate the missing Indian defence personnel believed to be held in Pakistan custody, it said.

-ANITheres no denying that most men arent fans of shopping; especially mens clothes shopping. The idea of heading to the shops at the weekend is rarely at the top of most mens priority list. But mens online shopping is a completely different ball game.

The plethora of online mens clothing stores bring numerous benefits: no pushy salespeople, no queues, no walking between store-to-store, and no partner who makes you try things on that you will never actually buy. Instead, the online clothing store experience can be a safe haven even for the most stylishly-minded gent, who wants to browse pages of new clothes with a drink in hand.

But what if youre not so style-savvy and you need a starting point for the go-to stores for the must-have clothes? Or you may think you know the best places to shop but could do with a few more suggestions

We here at DMARGE like to think we know a thing or two when it comes to fashion, so weve put together a definitive list of the online clothing stores you should be checking on a regular basis (if youre shopping in Australia, check out this list of dedicated online fashion stores). Your wardrobe will thank you and youll no doubt start hearing the compliments rain in.

Heres our picks for the best online clothing stores for men.

1/33 Bonobos Bonobos is committed to offering well-fitting and well-made mens clothing for reasonable prices. Whether youre after casual, smart-casual, business, or even formal attire, Bonobos has a huge range to meet all needs. Stylish tees, shirts, pants, suits, swimwear; you name a piece of mens clothing, they do it, and they do it well. Shop Now

2/33 Todd Snyder What do you get when you cross Savile Row craftsmanship with military tailoring and a distinct New York sensibility? Todd Synder, of course. The eponymous label is filled with high-quality menswear essentials - t-shirts, shirts, pants, sweaters, jackets, etc. - thatll elevate your wardrobe (and look) effortlessly. Shop Now

3/33 Mission Workshop Mission Workshop was born in 2009 in San Francisco. Their workshop was created out of the desire to build gear as tough as it is beautiful and its this pursuit that has kept them going for more than 20 years. The brand makes some of the highest-quality technical wear, with a strong focus on waterproofing. Products range from activity-specialised apparel, such as mountain biking, to numerous bag and accessory options. If you like the outdoors, Mission Workshop is for you. Shop Now

4/33 Bombinate Bombinate is an online retailer that puts a heavier focus on sustainability than most others. The site is a platform for other brands to sell their wares, and as such, Bombinate carefully curates the labels it stocks. Brands come from all over Europe, so youre sure to find pieces with a certain je ne sais quoi. Brands of note include Native North, Apnee, Hamilton & Hare, Wax London, and Riley Studio. Shop Now

5/33 Everlane Everlane is an ethically-minded manufacturer that is completely transparent about the way it produces its clothes and how it works out pricing. Prices are often a lot lower than what youd expect to pay for similar items from other brands and considering it has the full range of menswear essentials covered, theres no reason you shouldnt add the company to your shopping list. Shop Now

6/33 Huckberry Huckberry began on a chairlift in the snowy mountains in 2011 and snowballed from there. It is now an online retailer for adventurous men, bringing guys who live in the city but live for the outdoors a curated range of brands  most of which are up and coming  that offer high-quality goods for competitive prices. Brands to check out include Flint & Tinder, Relwen, Proof, Mystery Ranch, and Rhodes. Shop Now

7/33 End Clothing End Clothing is the go-to store for high-end sportswear, men's casual clothes, outdoor wear, and a little bit of fashion thrown in for good measure. If youre after the latest drops, collaborations and exclusive from your favourite brands, End is the place to go. Brands of note include Saint Laurent, ACNE Studios, Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garcons, and Valentino. Shop Now

8/33 SSENSE Oh, Canada! Montreal based SSENSE is similar to END Clothing, but a tad more luxurious. The website itself is a good place to visit regardless of your style tastes, as it takes conventional web design and throws it out the window and the use of big images help sell its amazing range of designer mens fashion. Brands of note include A.P.C., Converse, Dsquared2, Moncler, Noah NYC, Oliver Peoples, and Saturdays NYC.

Shop Now

9/33 FWRD Translating the traditional brick-and-mortar boutique into a singular online shopping experience, FWRD stocks everything from iconic Maisons de couture to the latest emerging talents. Suffice to say, some of the biggest brands are here - such as Alexander Wang, Craig Green, Engineered Garments, Fear Of God, and Off-White - complemented by striking editorial imagery. Shop Now

10/33 Matches Fashion Matches Fashion is a quirky men's online clothing store for men which stocks premium items from the likes of Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Veja, and Paul Smith. If youre after unique designer selections to subtly (and not so subtly) stand out from the crowd, youll find em here.

Brands of note include De Bonne Facture, LNDR, Moncler, 2XU, and Loewe.

Shop Now

11/33 Cole Haan Cole Haan has been supplying Nordic-inspired clothing and footwear to the world from its US headquarters ever since it was founded in 1928. Thats partly why you wont find much in the way of everyday menswear essentials on the site, but rather an extensive collection of outerwear options.

Shop Now

12/33 Luisa Via Roma Luisa Via Roma is the creme de la creme when it comes to online mens fashion. They stock all the top designer brands and make no mistake, if you see it on the catwalk, youll see it here. Drop it while its hot, and buy it while its still there. Brands you must check out include Ambush, Fendi, Haider Ackermann, Moschino, Reebok Classics, and Vivienne Westwood. Shop Now

13/33 The Rake The Rake has its roots in editorial publication but has since evolved into an online clothing store for all things gentlemanly. Not only does it have the basics of fine suits, shirts, and shoes taken care of, but The Rake also offers a refined selection of accessories and luggage for the well-dressed traveller. Brands of note include Cifonelli, Crockett & Jones, Grenfell, Oris, and Scarosso. Shop Now

14/33 Farfetch Shopping heaven for men, Farfetch is at the centre of a global fashion community that brings together independent boutiques from all over the world. Thanks to that innovative and forward-thinking network, unique designs from over 1,000 boutiques and luxury designers are now available on the site. Cool brands that Farfetch offers include Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Grenson, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Thom Browne, and Valentino. Shop Now

15/33 YOOX Yoox is no ordinary fashion retailer. By partnering directly with designers, manufacturers, and official retailers, this tasty Italian online store offers exclusive capsule collections, end-of-season clothing from leading labels, rare and vintage finds, and eco-friendly fashions.

Brands Yoox offer include Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, and Pierre Balmain.

Shop Now

16/33 Coggles Coggles is an online world of design, creativity, music, fashion and books. Centred around the timeless quality of simple design, Coggles has made a name for itself by stocking cool brands such as Belstaff, Billionaire Boys Club, Nike, AMI, Belstaff, Champion, Drole de Monsieur, Hugo, and The North Face. Shop Now

17/33 ASOS To say ASOS is a large men's online clothing store for all things menswear would be an understatement. The selection is indescribably huge. The brand is a pioneer in social media and continues to up the ante in the online clothing stakes. Free shipping is its biggest drawcard. Brands to check out include Bershka, Converse, Fjallraven, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, and Vans. Shop Now

18/33 Backcountry If outdoor activities are your jam then Backcountry has all the clothing, footwear, and accessories you could ever need. The biggest and best brands in the industry are all in stock, so if its a pair of hiking boots, an extra-warm coat, or a go-anywhere bag youre after, theres no better place. Brands of note include The North Face, Patagonia, Vissla, Under Armour, and Arcteryx. Shop Now

19/33 Uniqlo Uniqlo offers quality Japanese-made basics that tick off all the menswear essentials. Prices are incredibly competitive and more often than not are more affordable than the designer label equivalent. The brand has frequent collaborations with industry big-wigs too, such as Andy Warhol and JW Anderson. Shop Now

20/33 Selfridges Selfridges is known throughout the UK as where to go for ultimate luxurious shopping. With flagship stores in London and Machester that are quite simply, huge, its no surprise the online offering is equally extensive. For the best of the best in designer fashion, theres nowhere quite like it. Brands to check out include A Bathing Ape, Bell & Ross, All Saints, Paul Smith, Emporio Armani, and MKI MIYUKI-ZOKU. Shop Now

21/33 Saks Fifth Avenue Precious few retailers can claim the level of fame that Saks Fifth Avenue has. Since 1898, Saks has been a leader in the high-end speciality market, alongside the likes of Bergdorf and Barneys. The online version of the company has been around since 2000, offering an enhanced, personalised, online shopping experience. Brands of note include Balenciaga, Brunello Cucinelli, Givenchy, Ermenegildo Zegna, Vacheron Constantin, and Dunhill. Shop Now

22/33 Nordstrom For more than a century, Nordstrom has been dedicated to providing an exceptional shopping experience. That commitment has taken it from a small Seattle shoe shop to a global company with locations in 44 countries and a thriving online offering catering to your every quirky and sophisticated desire. Brands to check out include 34 Heritage, Barena Venezia, Billy Reid, Tiger Of Sweden, and Wrangler. Shop Now

23/33 J. Crew J. Crew debuted on the fashion scene with the release of its first catalogue in 1983. Six years later the company opened its flagship store in NYC and now, over 30 years after that first catalogue, its become a huge mens online retailer that brings style to customers internationally. J. Crew has a huge menswear range thats stylish and preppy but wont break the bank. Shop Now

24/33 Reiss Reiss calls its brand sexy, modern, iconic, and design-led. Popular with just about everyone, from the Royal Family to stars of the silver screen, Reiss is committed to delivering fashion-forward products with exceptional design, quality, and value. Make sure you check out their online store to secure yourself some elevated clothes. Shop Now

25/33 Rag & Bone Rag & Bone combines everything thats hip about NYC with everything thats cool about London style. Pieces from Rag & Bone are effortless, innovative, edgy, understated, and totally wearable. Oh, and to top it all off, the clothing is also beautifully constructed and tailored. Shop Now

26/33 Orlebar Brown Orlebar Brown is without a doubt the hottest mens swimwear and leisure label around. The brand is so hot that their Setter swim shorts have been worn by none other than James Bond himself. The designs are quirky, materials are excellent and the fit is out of the world. Definitely worth adding a pair to your closet. Shop Now

27/33 G-Star Raw Since 1989 G-Star Raw have been purveyors of its own unique brand of Dutch designer clothing, all while pushing the boundaries of raw, untreated denim. While its not quite as hip as some of the newer labels, sometimes thats not such a bad thing If you want to look edgy urbanbut not too much so, G-Star Raw is the online clothing store for you. Shop Now

28/33 Saturdays NYC Saturdays NYC is what you get when you whisk New Yorks most stylish menswear and lifestyle trends into a pastel-coloured cocktail. From the gym to the catwalk, from the street to the office, their clothing will have you looking cool yet tidy. Shop Now

29/33 Shopbop Shopbop is a super fashionable e-commerce site that combines a major range of designer clothing with handy advice on how to wear it. Always on top of new brands and up-and-coming trendsetters, Shopbop is an awesome place to shop. Brands to check out include Calvin Klein, Coach 1941, Double Rainbouu, Paul Smith, and Monitaly. Shop Now

30/33 Club Monaco From classic tees and polos to trendy shorts, jeans, and outerwear, youll find what youre after when you shop Club Monacos online store. The brand is well known for their better basics classic, effortless pieces that are well-made and elevate wardrobes. Shop Now

31/33 Belstaff If you like leather jackets and sultry stares then Belstaff is the online clothing store for you. In all seriousness though: when winter is coming, this is where you go to prepare. With a selection of clothing, outerwear, and footwear to put any large retailer to shame, Belstaff comes good with its catchphrase classic inspiration meets modern inspiration. Shop Now

32/33 Hackett Hackett, the multi-channel British menswear retailer, will certainly provide you with clothes to go the distance. Hackett specialises in formal mens shirts as well as other gentlemanly clothing, so if youre after something a little fancy this is the online clothing store to peruse. Shop NowBSNL mulls laying off 54,451 employees to cut costs and stay afloat

Cash-strapped Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has proposed laying off around 54,000 of its employees, comprising 31 per cent of its total workforce, and is now waiting for government nod for doing so.

The board of BSNL has now has approved laying off of 31 per cent of its workforce after the public sector telco found it difficult to pay salaries to employees in time.

The government, however, is unlikely to oblige as the firing of employees in large numbers, especially on an election eve, could jeopardise poll prospects.

But, the companys board says this has to be done to reduce losses, and to make sure that BSNL doesnt shut down.

For state-owned BSNL, which is reeling under debts of more than Rs13,000 crore, the only remaining option for staying afloat is to reduce employees and thereby curtail wage costs.

Last year, BSNL suffered losses of Rs7993 crore, which is 20 per cent more than the 2017 losses.

A special task force constituted to recommend ways to revive the ailing telco made several suggestions to the government on BSNL revival, of which three have been accepted.

One of the suggestions is termination of around 31 per cent of its workforce comprising over 54,000 employees, from the companys payroll.

Another suggestion that BSNL board has accepted, is a reduction in the retirement age from 60 years to 58 years, which alone would help BSNL remove 33,568 employees from service.

Besides the reduction in retirement age, BSNL board has proposed a special VRS for all employees aged above 50 years.

Together, the reduction in retirement age and the VRS scheme will enable BSNL to gradually reduce its employee strength by 54,451 from the current 1,74,000.

Interestingly, the average age of employees in BSNL is 55 years, and this is the reason that BSNL Board has gone for reducing retiring age, and to introduce VRS scheme.

The DoT, however, is unlikely to approve BSNLs staff reduction plan, especially in an election eve.US authorises $2.6-bn sale of 24 MH-60R choppers to India

The US Department of State has approved the sale of 24 MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters, valued at $2.6 billion, to India under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.

The principal contractor for the deal will be Lockheed Martin, as per a statement released on Tuesday by the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the body that administers the FMS programme.

The proposed sale will provide India the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions, says the DSCA.

The DSCA submitted its certification notifying the US Congress of the possible sale, kicking off a 30-day notification period. Congress is not required to approve or disapprove the potential sale. Even if the Congress fails to take any action in the 30-day period, the sale will move forward.

The proposed sale will provide India the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions, including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay. India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defence, the DSCA said.

Defence exporters in the US have to inform the Congress of any sale of major defence equipment (MDE) worth $14 million and above, defence articles and services of $50 million and above and design and construction services of $200 million and above in the case most non-NATO countries.

Besides, the statement noted that India typically requires offsets that will be defined between India and the contractor.

Also, the Indian government would request for personnel training and training equipment, engineering contract, logistics and technical support services, the statement said.

This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region, the DSCA said.

India was designated a Major Defence Partner (MDP) of the US in 2016 by the Obama administration, in a move to allow the country access US military technology at a level on par with those of the USs closest allies.

Accordingly, India was given Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) status by the US in August last year, facilitating the transfer of technology in the defence and space sectors. India is the third Asian country after South Korea and Japan, and 37th country globally, to acquire the status.

India and the United States, two of the worlds largest democracies are attracted to each other by overlapping concerns over a rising China and Islamist extremism.

For the US which has been alarmed by China's growing interest in the Indian Ocean, India is "a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region."

China has made use of a growing number of naval bases in the Indian Ocean, most notably the Gwadar port it is developing in India's historic rival Pakistan, to challenge Indias influence.

India has responded with a doctrine to ensure freedom of movement throughout the Indian Ocean, stretching from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca.

It is against this background that India signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) agreement with the US, providing a legal basis for the US to transfer secure communication equipment to India, increasing military equipment interoperability and real time data sharing.

The sale comes on the heels of a few weeks of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan that began with an attack on an Indian security convoy in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, on 14 February.A Ballyshannon man who was found guilty of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl who was babysitting his children in his home, while his wife was having a baby in hospital, has been jailed for 14 months at Donegal Circuit Court.

65-year-old Patrick Patton, Cashelard, Ballyshannon had denied indecently assaulting Geraldine McParlane in July 1980.

The father-of-three, and former ESB employee, was found guilty of the first count of indecently assaulting the young girl after a four-day trial at a previous sitting of the court.

That jury took almost three hours to find him guilty of the first count against the young female on a majority verdict of ten to two after failing to reach a unanimous verdict.

The jury had earlier found him not guilty of a second alleged indecent assault against Geraldine McParlane and not guilty of another alleged indecent assault against a second young female that allegedly happened in a period between June 1981 and August 1982 on unanimous verdicts on both counts.

The court was told the defendant will be appealing the verdict to the Court of Criminal Appeal.

In jailing the defendant on the first count, Judge John Aylmer told the court it was clear from the evidence that there was a considerable amount of force and violence used, against which the complainant struggled.

Breach of trust

It also involved a significant breach of trust of a young girl of 14 who was related to the defendants wife.

The judge added that there was a big age difference between the offender and his victim, and it had a severe impact on her that lasts to this day, the court heard.

Speaking shortly after the hearing, Geraldine McParlane, who waived her right to anonymity, said: I feel great relief that I was believed by the court system because a lot of the time I was not believed, and I have got justice.

In a moving victim impact statement read in court, the 52-year-old told how she was dragged along the floor, thrown on the bed and sexually assaulted.

In her victim impact statement, she said she was only a child herself.

She said Patrick Pattons actions continue to haunt her.

He chose to ignore my tears and my terror for his own sexual gratification.

He was remorseless then and is remorseless now.

The victim added that she still felt the rancid smell of his body.

He lied and he continues to lie, the statement added.

She added that all the details of her harrowing experience were re-lived and she felt it was her who was on trial during the previous sitting last October when she was under cross- examination.

She added that she was expected to make adult decisions as a child.

In relation to the first count, an earlier sitting heard the victim told the court she had been babysitting for the defendant when he came into her room, pulled her out of the bed by the wrists and brought her to his bedroom.

He threw her down on the bed, pulled down her nightgown, put his head near her breasts and put his hands in her private parts and put his private parts on her leg.

He was dressed in his underpants.

The alleged victim said she cried out: I was so scared, and I said you are going to make me pregnant.

The victims impact statement added that by appealing the verdict the man was adding another unnecessary burden on her and her family.

She said he was conducting a reign of terror he had begun many years ago.

Trust

And her trust in adults was now ended.

She added that the man had taken away her innocence and she cringed when a male had paid her a compliment or attention.

The victim added that she had difficulties with intimacy in relationships and the trauma had also affected her studies because she was trapped in her past.

She said she was constantly afraid of meeting him while trying to keep a relationship with his wife who was a relative.

She said whatever sentence he would get would not compensate for the life sentence she was enduring following the incident.

She thanked the gardai and the court for exposing the defendant.

The victim said she was still attending counselling until the burden of shame and blame is shifted where it belongs to Patrick Patton.

Defence Counsel Michael Duffy said that nothing I could say could minimize the gravity of such offending.

It was an old case and the maximum sentence was two years before other factors were taken into consideration.

It was a once off and was not at the top of the scale and lasted for some minutes, and there were no threats made to keep it secret.

The defendant was a married man with three children and no previous convictions of any description and was of good character.

And without minimizing the victim impact statement it was not at the level of others.

The man had co-operated with the gardai and was of an age where rehabilitation could be considered.

Judge John Aylmer said it was very difficult to rehabilitate someone who was in denial.

A Probation Report assessed him as being at a low risk of re-offending, the court heard.

The man had health issues and custody would not be an easy option at his age.

This was a case where it was not absolutely necessary to impose an immediate custodial sentence and the court had a wide discretion in these matters.

It was a borderline case and it was up to the court to decide on what side it lies.

The assault was on the lower end of the scale.

The Counsel asked the court to consider a non-custodial sentence and if not then a sentence within the range available.

Judge John Aylmer rejected an appeal for bail for the defendant from defence counsel Michael Duffy, after he had sentenced Patton to 14 months in jail at yesterday's sitting.The Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) asked the local community in Louth to be a strong voice to improve the quality of life of people who have disabilities.

There are 17,881 people living in Louth with a disability or chronic illness. This represents 14% of the entire population of the county.

According to DFI, the lack of supports and services for people with disabilities encompasses a far larger percentage of Louths population than assumed.

Four out of every five people with disabilities acquired their disability during their working lives. This year alone, over 56,000 people nationally will be diagnosed with a disability for the first time.

Louth County Council is responsible for services that are of crucial importance to those with disabilities. They include housing, planning, public facilities,education and training. The Disability Federation of Ireland is asking the local community and local public representatives to put supports for people at the disability at the top of the public agenda.

Mr PJ Cleere, Disability Federation Ireland Support Officer for Co Louth said:

People with disabilities are a core element of community life in Louth. Their voice must be heard. Providing necessary supports to enable Louth people with disabilities to live as equal citizens will benefit every one of us.

In the forthcoming local elections, we will be asking all aspiring local government representatives to embrace the needs of people with disabilities and reflect this in the priorities they put before the electorate. People with disabilities, their families and supporters are a sizeable electoral demographic and they will remember those candidates who place disability at the centre of their political agenda.

Since 2008, there has been a steady erosion of services and supports for people with disabilities. As a result, people with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty than others.

Ireland officially exited recession in September 2013. However, people with disabilities in our community are in a far weaker position than before the recession, PJ said.

Today, 26% of adults in Ireland with a disability live in consistent poverty. Locally, DFI says that access to services, including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, personal assistants and other key supports are totally insufficient. Furthermore, people with disabilities are not entitled to participate in many employment programmes and are further excluded from the labour market.

Census statistics show that of people with a disability age 15 years and over in Louth, 21% were at work compared to 51% of the general population of the same age.

The Disability Federation of Ireland is calling on Louths local election candidates to set out their plans in their election manifestos for improving the lives of the constituents of Louth who have disabilities.Hong Kong: HK set for 5G development

The Government is promoting the 5G mobile network's development by opening up its premises to mobile service operators under a pilot scheme, Acting Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Bernard Chan said.

Mr Chan told legislators today the pilot scheme, launched in March, has identified more than 1,000 government premises where mobile service operators can install 5G base stations.

The Government will consider whether to provide more premises based on the response to the pilot scheme and its progress, Mr Chan said.

He added the 5G network is an important telecommunications infrastructure in Hong Kong with immense potential for business services and smart city applications.

The Government and the Communications Authority are promoting 5G developments in Hong Kong on various fronts, including the supply of spectrum supply, support for technical trial and implementation of facilitation measures.

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)One person has died and two have been critically injured in the second fire to break out at a Houston-area chemical plant in little more than two weeks.

The fire started Tuesday at the KMCO plant in Crosby, Texas when a transfer line ignited near a tank of the flammable gas isobutylene, the Associated Press reported. Workers rushed to escape the blaze by climbing over a fence, and a cloud of black smoke billowed into the air.

"It shook everybody's house around here," Samantha Galle, who lives about a mile away from the plant, told the Associated Press.

The incident follows a fire at an Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) plant in Deer Park on March 17. That fire did not injure anyone, but it did burn for several days, prompting air quality warnings.

"It is disturbing and it is problematic that we're seeing this incident in a facility, especially on the heels of ITC," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a media briefing.The number of U.S. measles cases through the first three months of this year has surpassed the amount for all of last year, according to a recent report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Since Jan. 1 of this year, there have been 387 reported cases in 15 states  the second greatest number of cases in the country since measles was declared eliminated in 2000. Last year, there were 372.

In a given year, the CDC reports that an uptick in measles cases can occur for a variety of reasons, such as an increase of travelers who get measles abroad or the spread of measles within unvaccinated communities at home. In both cases, people who opt out of receiving their vaccinations help facilitate the dangerous spread of a disease responsible for as many as 2.5 million deaths in a given year. Dubbed a "regression in modern medicine," recent trends in so-called antivaxxers refusing to vaccinate their children citing religious or philosophical concerns have led to the increase in the spread of infectious diseases, specifically MMR. (Despite the often-cited concern, vaccinations do not cause autism in young children.) So far this year, six separate outbreaks have occurred in New York, Washington, California and New Jersey. Just last month, a county in New York announced an emergency ban on unvaccinated children from entering enclosed public spaces for 30 days or until unvaccinated children were administered with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Confirmed cases have also been reported in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Texas.

*Cases as of December 29, 2018. Case count is preliminary and subject to change.

**Cases as of March 28, 2019. Case count is preliminary and subject to change. Data are updated every Monday. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionBy Tiffany Higgins

It's a frigid December morning when I meet Chairman Joseph Holley at the Te-Moak tribal headquarters in Elko, Nevada, seven hours north of Las Vegas. Holley, tall and round-faced, offers me a cup of coffee. He has the burly build of a man who worked 37 years in the area's gold mines, drilling aboveground and digging below the surface.

Holley's a relatively new tribal chairman, having served since November 2018. "I'm still catching up with a lot of things," he tells me. He's following in the footsteps of father, activist Glenn Holley, Sr., who fought for aboriginal title to restore Te-Moak lands starting in the 1970s.

That heritage of activism may need to be invoked for the struggle that Chairman Holley and the Te-Moak now face. A major plan to lease drilling rights near the Ruby Mountains, including land bordering the Ruby Lake Wildlife Refuge, threatens not just the local ecosystem but the tribe's very existence.

Mining the Mountains The Ruby Mountains are a prime summertime destination for anglers and hikers, but for the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone, who have called the area home for tens of thousands of years, these are the Duka-Doya mountains. Here are pronghorn and bighorn sheep, mule deer and greater sage-grouse. The rivers run with mountain whitefish and native rainbow trout, while endangered Lahontan cutthroat trout swim in the lakes. Here the Te-Moak have gathered nuts and branches and tracked the pathways of wildlife, in tune with the changing seasons. Over millennia, the Te-Moak learned what plants grow where and when, and which animals come to drink in certain springs. These are watering holes that  if oil and gas companies get their way  might dry up forever, bringing the Te-Moak cultural history to a close. This June the Nevada Bureau of Land Management plans to auction oil and gas leasing rights on 934,244 acres of public lands in the Ruby Mountains area. Long in the works, the lease parcels were formally announced on Feb. 19. In Elko the BLM will offer 49 parcels, comprising 75,005 acres. In the nearby Battle Mountain district, it will lease 123 parcels, amounting to 264,075 acres. The Ely district will see the largest amount leased: 291 parcels totaling 604,164 acres.

According to Holley, lands included for possible leasing are both within and adjoining the South Fork Band reservation at the foothills of the Ruby Mountains. (The Te-Moak have four bands: the South Fork, Wells, Battle Mountain and Elko colonies.) Another 52,533 acres in the nearby Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest were expected to be similarly auctioned, but the U.S. Forest Service denied that lease request on March 14 following months of public outcry and data that showed the land had little drilling value.

Thunderstorms near the Ruby Mountains near Elko, Nevada, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Michael Balen / U.S. Forest Service When I visited Elko to talk with Chairman Holley and other residents, I found that many people were still unaware of the ongoing BLM leasing plans. Those who heard feared they would have devastating effects on the local land and peoples and expressed outrage at how little the tribe was consulted.

Polluted Medicines I meet Fermina Stevens in an Elko hotel/casino. Stevens served as chairperson representing the Elko Band on the Te-Moak tribal council from 2000-2003 and since 2012 has worked as a legal assistant for the Cavanaugh-Bill Law office, where she's assisted on cases of the Western Shoshone Defense Project. As we sit at the casino bar, Stevens tells me she's concerned about public access. Specifically, tribal access. Historically the Western Shoshone used a wide swath of land, traveling to seasonal camps and trekking to different sites to gather various foods and medicinal plants. That traditional land is now federally owned "public" land, with highly restricted access. Only 14,005 acres have been accorded to the tribal reservations. "We have to go to public lands to gather," Stevens explains. "We gather willow across a wide area, which means we need wide access." Red and green willow, which are used to create cradleboards and baskets, have particularly important cultural significance, she tells me. "Our culture is our gathering, our willow, our prayer. We come from the land." Other important plants include cedar, sage, and the doza root that grows close to sagebrush. In early fall, from September to October, the Te-Moak gather pine nuts. And the Te-Moak's limited acreage doesn't protect many sites of spiritual and cultural significance. If tribal members wish to conduct a ceremony on BLM land  for example, at the summer and fall solstices, the points of the year of highest cultural significance  they must submit a request to the agency, including a map of the area to be entered. Holley later tells me this raises a particularly difficult dilemma: How do they protect these areas of sacred significance without announcing them to the outside world? He asks, what will happen when those sites the Te-Moak have been utilizing for centuries end up in private hands? How will the continuity of their culture be affected? Stevens says she also worries about how the land itself will be affected by oil and gas development, particularly fracking. "Fracking pollutes our medicines, the water, the animals who are drinking the water," she says. Leasing the land, including fracking, "affects us spiritually. It's a big loss. We need clean water and plants to conduct our ceremony."

Lost Lands For the Western Shoshone, these lands have always been theirs. The 1863 Treaty of Peace and Friendship at Ruby Valley acknowledged as Shoshone lands a wide swath from the Shoshone River Valley in the north, to the Smith Creek Mountains in the west, to the Colorado Desert in the south to the Great Salt Lake Valley in the east. Holley asks: How will fracking affect those never-ceded lands, now held by BLM "as a trustee" of public lands? If the pinon trees dry up because water-intensive fracking sucks springs dry, then how can the Western Shoshone teach their children about the history that happened at that spring? "Kids will lose their culture, tradition and history." Holley has seen the pattern before with past mining projects. For example, the Newmont Mining Company's open-pit Lone Tree gold mine notoriously polluted the local water with arsenic, boron and other contaminants. BLM promised the Te-Moak that water sources would remain unaffected. However, according to Holley, "the mine drew water down to where springs don't flow any more. It changes the whole landscape, everything that depends on the water, the grasses, the trees, the animals that drink from the springs." More recently, Holley says, BLM permitted Newmont to dry up 63 springs near its Long Canyon Mine in Wells. "BLM assures us that it will be fine, that the water will be healthy," Holley says. "It never is fine."

Chairman Joseph Holley. Tiffany Higgins Kyle Hendrix, public affairs specialist for the Battle Mountain BLM district, later tells me that cleanup of mining waste by companies such as Newmont is "voluntary." In Elko Holley's jaw is set, eyes registering the memory of failed promises.

Contradictory Stories About Consultation During and after my visit to Elko, I'm told conflicting stories about whether and how tribes had been consulted on this leasing of public lands. The Nevada BLM's Environmental Assessment report, dated Feb. 13, states that consultation included "letters, phone calls, e-mails, and visits with individual tribal/band Environmental Coordinators or other representatives." Chairman Holley denies that, stating that aside from a Feb. 4 letter informing the tribe of the June auction, the Te-Moak have not been contacted in other manners. According to Holley, authentic consultation has not happened. Letters, he says, show little understanding of his people's culture or policies. BLM and Forest Service consultation-request letters require a reply within 30 days, but the Te-Moak Council, which makes all decisions collectively, meets only once a month. Ironically, the very letter to invite consultation from the tribes imposes a timeline that ignores the tribal calendar. When I contact all three BLM relevant districts (Ely, Battle Mountain and Elko), the claim to have visited tribal members appears to be more aspirational than accurate. Greg Deimel, public affairs specialist for the Elko district, says their district's tribal liaison Native American coordinator would have met with tribal councils in January were it not for the government shutdown. Kyle Hendrix, public affairs specialist for the Battle Mountain district, tells me that the letters sent on Feb. 4 are "the only formal letter on consultation for the upcoming June sale." Hendrix says the BLM's goal "is to provide government-to-government consultation with the sovereign tribes, which is a little bit elevated and happens earlier than the more standard public scoping processes. We're looking to get early issues and concerns. If they've got an area of tribal significance, cultural significance, within some of these areas that we're looking at doing that, it's the opportunity to say 'These are our concerns,' and what can be done to include the removal of that parcel in that sale." He adds, "We've got a great working relationship with the tribes. It's really a high priority for the Battle Mountain district." But Holley objects to smaller BLM districts sending letters to the tribe, arguing that it doesn't constitute actual government-to-government consultation, which would be "President-to-president, country-to-country. Get us to the top, somebody that can make changes, make adjustments." Meeting with his counterpart in the Nevada BLM at the state level, he says, would fulfill government-to-government consultation.

Federal Declarations on Consultation What's legally and culturally expected in tribal consultation? International declarations require more than just consultation, says Matthew Campbell, attorney for the Native American Rights Fund. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 32, states that indigenous peoples must give "free, prior, and informed consent" to projects that will affect them. In U.S. law, Campbell explains, "the federal government has an obligation to consult with Indian tribes on matters that will have an impact on the tribes, their resources, whether it's water resources or land, their traditional resources, cultural resources, within their traditional areas." He mentions directives issued by Presidents Clinton and Obama stating that the government needs to take its obligation to tribes very seriously. Campbell says the federal government's responsibility to tribes is "separate and apart from any obligation that it might have to the public. Tribes are not just mere stakeholders. Because they have the unique government-to-government relationship, the feds have a unique obligation to reach out, take affirmative steps to ensure the tribes understand what it intends to do and get the tribes' position." I mention Chairman Holley's contention that he's only received a letter from BLM, but no contact beyond that. Campbell declined to comment on the specific case, but says "in general, form letters should not be sufficient. They need to reach out to the tribes and ensure that they really understand what is taking place."

How Are Cultural Resources Assessed? The Story Between the Stones If the June auction goes through, any oil and gas companies winning leases would have to spell out their plans for the land. It's only at this point that the BLM would hire an archaeologist to survey the "cultural resources" on those particular parcels. Holley objects to this process, saying an archaeologist's assessment can't be called a "cultural survey" if the tribe isn't asked to consult on it. The problem, Holley says, is that an archaeologist may identify art on stones and determine those areas to be worthy of protection. But without the storied past of the Te-Moak culture, the expert might be ignorant of a spring or other natural features of cultural significance, where the Te-Moak have passed on teachings through the generations. "They label archaeological surveys as cultural surveys, but they won't pay or invite us to be on site," he says. "So it's not a cultural survey. This happens quite regularly, all the time." Holley maintains that such surveys turn out to be rubber stamping what the company already intends to do. "We're much more than stones. Tell me what happened in between the stones," Holley insists. It is a declaration that resists the historical tendency of anthropology and archaeology to see native peoples as physical artefacts rather than living cultures whose oral histories are embedded in the land. Holley prods, "Who better to do such an assessment than the ones who live the story between the stones?" To his mind the Te-Moak should be integrated into the beginning of any cultural surveys. And be paid for it. Although Hendrix of the BLM Battle Mountain district later notes hypothetical instances where tribes might be paid for consultation services, he doesn't furnish any examples. Holley also suggests that conducting an official ethnography  a scientific study of the customs of peoples and cultures  would go a long way toward recording, and perhaps protecting, traditionally used gathering sites. However, Holley describes struggling with BLM over who conducts the ethnography. "Ethnography should be part of the process of reviewing a plan  for example, for oil and gas leasing or mining," he says. "But they always want to choose the ethnographer," which he says leads such reports to be biased. He'd like to raise funds to hire a non-BLM ethnographer, but so far the tribe hasn't found the money to do so.

Past Experience I ask Chairman Holley if he has faith that BLM would, if properly informed, indeed remove places of tribal concern from the parcels to be leased in June? "No. I don't trust how they do business," he says. The tribe's past experience has taught them differently. "When you come face to face with BLM, they don't hear a thing you're saying," he says. "It's just frustrating." He mentions BLM district administrators who "don't do what they say they're going to do," and instead "go just the opposite direction." He challenges the BLM representatives to "tell us where the cultural side, the medicinal side is," but despairs that they lack such knowledge and don't seem interested in learning. His tone turns urgent, the buildup of decades of not having the Te-Moak cosmology and cultural practices truly heard or respected: "We're a part of the land, we hunt, we gather medicinal herbs, we pray. This is what's required of us as human beings to give back to what's provided to us to live by." He describes a relationship with the land and its denizens that is mutual. The land, which they call Newe Sogobia, requires humans' humble tending. It's a worldview distinct from the Western view of land as the deliverer of economic resources  oil, gas, and minerals for companies to exploit. So will the tribe answer the February letters from the BLM districts, particularly the inquiry regarding identification of places of tribal concern? "Yes," Holley replies; they'll answer the letters. But in doing that, he says, they want the locations of their most significant places "under lock and key." That hasn't happened in the past. Before development of the Tosawihi Quarries within the Waterton Mining Company's Hollister Mines, the Te-Moak identified and notified Elko BLM of ancient rock shelters that Holley says were used as blinds when gathering or hunting. Despite this notification, "these cairns got kicked over by the mining company." Another project saw workers drive right through a sacred site, which BLM reportedly blamed on its archaeologists' GPS not synching up with the mining company's maps. "If BLM can't even ensure that their own people will protect our sacred locations, then how can they keep others from destroying them?" Holley asks. They're hoping that this time, history won't repeat itself.

Holding Out Hope for Consultation On March 26, according to Holley, the tribe received a phone call from Elko District BLM Native American consultation coordinator/tribal liaison Jessica Montcalm. They've agreed that Montcalm, whose background is in industrial archaeology, will come to the April 3 tribal council meeting. Holley stresses that this classifies as information-gathering, not consultation. "She's not the boss, so she can't make the decision" about parcels to be leased for oil and gas uses. "We always request to talk with the lead person in the agency." He acknowledges that, in the past, the BLM-Elko district has sent its district manager, Jill Silvey. But in general he hasn't seen the agency take steps allowing the Te-Moak to talk "with someone who can make laws and regulations." So far, he stresses, there has been no consultation. To begin true consultation, he'd like to see BLM approach the tribe to propose adequate dates to meet with the Te-Moak tribal council  and then not just give information, but listen. I ask him if he thinks the BLM and the Te-Moak tribe will actually get to that phase of consultation. "Honestly, probably not. They're too overworked, they're too busy, they have no time. But, let's see where it goes. Maybe they will." As time winds down before the June lease auction, Holley holds out that slim hope.

Reposted with permission from our media associate The Revelator.Thursday's explosions at the Harvey-damaged Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas have prompted criticism of the Trump administration's delay of an Obama-era chemical safety regulation that was designed to "improve chemical process safety, assist local emergency authorities in planning for and responding to accidents, and improve public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated source."

The 2013 Risk Management Program rule was developed after a Texas fertilizer plant in the city of West exploded in 2013 and killed 15 people. However, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt the program on hold for two years in order to reconsider industry objections.

Notably, the International Business Times reports that Arkema and its industry colleagues lobbied Pruitt and the EPA to delay the regulation, claiming it was too expensive and burdensome to implement.

After the explosions, Harris County sheriff's office said 15 deputies complained of respiratory irritation and were treated at a local hospital. The office said that all 15 were released from the hospital and healthy.

The blasts also occurred just a day after a federal court refused to force the EPA to implement the Obama rule.

But if the EPA had implemented the regulation, none of the officers would have been at risk, Mathy Stanislaus, who led the agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response during the Obama administration, told E&E News.

The rule, which Stanislaus helped draft, would not have prevented the explosions but would ensure "that the local responders were fully aware of the particular chemical and the particular method to respond to an incident," he said.

Stanislaus said that it also would have strengthened efforts to head off accidents and help keep the public informed of potential risks at such facilities.

The substances that caught fire at the Arkema plant were organic peroxides for the production of plastic resins, polystyrene, paints and other products. The company, however, has not provided a full list of chemicals stored at the plant.

"There was a gap in specific knowledge. People need to know what chemicals (are being stored) and what kind of precautions are in place," Stanislaus told the Associated Press.

EPA spokeswoman Amy Graham told the AP that "the agency's recent action to delay the effectiveness of the 2017 amendments had no effect on the major safety requirements that applied to the Arkema Crosby plant at the time of the fire."

The EPA has since sent emergency response personnel to the site and is reviewing data received from an aircraft that surveyed the scene, Pruitt said Thursday.

"There are no concentrations of concern for toxic materials reported at this time," the EPA administrator said.

But Nathan Donley, senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity's environmental health program, cried foul.

"Trump's EPA chief say's there's nothing to worry about at Arkema. Quite frankly, I don't believe him," Donely said. "These are incredibly reactive chemicals that the EPA, under previous administrations, has recognized as dangerous. But once again Trump's EPA is siding with industrial polluters rather than looking out for the health of the American people."

Bakeyah Nelson, executive director of Air Alliance Houston, also criticized the Trump administration's continued regulatory rollbacks.

"It's extremely frustrating, it's disheartening, it's unfair to the communities that face these risks," Nelson told POLITICO. "Not just in a natural disaster-type situation, but on a daily basis."

The unprecedented rain and flooding from Harvey has sparked concerns about the risks of the Gulf Coast's massive petrochemical infrastructure. According to data from the Sierra Club, the area is home to 230 chemical plants, 33 oil refineries and hundreds of miles of pipelines.The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will no longer conduct a controversial experiment that led to the deaths of thousands of cats beginning in 1982, NBC News reported.

The USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) announced Tuesday that it was stopping an experiment that used cats to study the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Its announcement comes weeks after a report from the White Coat Waste Project detailed experiments in which the USDA had bought unwanted cats and dogs from Asia, Africa and Latin America, killed them, and fed them to laboratory cats and other animals.

"We are elated that after a year of campaigning we have relegated the slaughter of kittens to the litter box of history," White Coat Waste Project Vice President Justin Goodman told NPR.

The USDA ARS said that it would no longer use cats for any research and adopt out the 14 cats remaining at its laboratories. Since no other USDA department conducts experiments on cats, that means cat testing at the USDA is officially over, Goodman told the Huffington Post via email. Outcry over the experiments first erupted in 2018, when the White Coat Waste Project revealed the details of the parasite experiments that had been conducted since 1982. As the White Coat Waste Project summarized in the 2019 report: The currently approved protocol for this project calls for up to 100 kittens to be bred each year at ARS's Animal Parasitic Disease Laboratory (APDL) in Beltsville, Maryland. At eight weeks old, the kittens are fed raw meat infected with the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite, and their feces is collected for up to 3 weeks so experimenters can harvest oocysts (eggs) for use in food safety experiments. These healthy kittens  who briefly pass the parasite's eggs and become immune within weeks  are then killed and incinerated by USDA because they are no longer useful. The White Coat Waste Project said the experiments had cost the lives of more than 3,000 cats and $22.5 million in tax payer funds. The 2018 report led both the House and Senate to introduce bi-partisan legislation to stop the killings. "The USDA made the right decision today, and I applaud them for their willingness to change course," Democratic Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who introduced the Senate version of the bill, said in a statement reported by NPR. "It's a good day for our four-legged friends across America."(Photo: REUTERS/ Christinne Muschi)Demonstrators protest against Quebec's proposed Charter of Values in Montreal, September 14, 2013. Thousands took to the streets to denounce the province's proposed bill to ban the wearing of any overt religious garb by government paid employees.

The Canadian province of Quebec has introduced legislation that would bar public servants in positions of "authority" from wearing religious symbols at work.

The center-right Coalition Avenir Quebec's bill covers judges, prosecutors, police officers, teachers, and some other positions, the BBC reported.

It is not the first time Quebec has proposed legislation on the ground of re-enforcing State religious neutrality.

The bill would forbid future government employees from expressing their faith through religious symbols during office hours.

The proposed legislation called "An act respecting the laicity of the state," was introduced March 28 and is expected to pass, Catholic News Agency reported.

"The purpose of this bill is to assert the secularity of the state and to specify the requirements that flow from it," said Simon Jolin-Barrette, Quebec's Minister of Immigration, Diversity, and Inclusiveness, the architect of the bill at a legislative session last week.

The legislation would ban religious symbols for government employees, including Muslim headscarves, Jewish yarmulkes, and crucifixes.

The public servants who would be affected include teachers, police officers, and judges.

Current government employees in Quebec would be exempt from the ban.

Political and religious leaders have condemned the bill calling it an act of discrimination and an affront to religious freedom and Canada's prime minister has also opposed.

"It is unthinkable to me that in a free society we would legitimize discrimination against citizens based on their religion," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told journalists.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal issued a statement, saying that the crucifix represents the Christian roots of the country and does not need to be removed in a religiously pluralistic society.

THE CRUCIFIX

"As a sign revered by Christians, the crucifix remains a living symbol. It symbolizes openness and respect toward all peoples, including toward other faith communities and religious traditions, which rightfully adhere to their own signs and symbols," said Archbishop Christian Lepine.

Rabbi Reuben Poupko, Quebec co-chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said, "We are deeply opposed to the restriction and erosion of the freedom of religion of individuals in the name of secularism."

"What right does the Quebec government have to stop my career?" Maha Kassef, 35, an elementary school teacher, said of the proposed law on the display of religious symbols, The New York Times reported.

Kassef, an ambitious elementary school teacher, aspires to become a principal.

But since she wears a Muslim head scarf, she may have to put her dreams on hold: A proposed bill in Quebec would bar public school principals, and other public employees, from wearing religious symbols.

"How am I supposed to teach about respect, tolerance and diversity to my students, many of whom are immigrant kids, when the government is asking me to give up who I am?" asked Kassef, the child of Kuwaiti immigrant parents who worked tirelessly to send her and her four siblings to college.Dozens of states are falling short in giving the public a clear window into the school data theyre required to collect and report under the Every Student Succeeds Act , an advocacy group says, including a breakout of test score data, achievement, and discipline disparities among vulnerable groups of students, and teacher quality information.

That verdict comes in a report issued April 3 by the Data Quality Campaign, which pushes for more transparent use of school and student data, and which looked at state school report cards for the 2017-18 school year, the most recent available.

An alarmingly high number of parents have never looked at [states school] report cards, and its not because they dont want that information, said Paige Kowalski, the vice president of policy and advocacy for the organization. Its because they dont know how to get it, and theyre not able to read it.

The architects of ESSA sought to provide the public a much more comprehensive understanding of how Americas public schools perform by requiring states to include in their annual school report cards both inputssuch as how much states and districts spend on individual schoolsand outputs like achievement gaps among a multitude of student subgroups.

That approach is a sharp break from the days of the No Child Left Behind Act, when states were only required to annually report disaggregated test scores and graduation rates.

But, the DQCs Show Me The Data report says many states still arent complying with large swaths of ESSAs reporting requirements. Beyond that, the report says, many report cards are especially hard to navigate and understand.

Among the reports findings, as of the 2017-18 school year report cards:



Forty-two states failed to disaggregate achievement data for at least one federally required subgroup, such as racial groups, English-learners, those with disabilities, or military-connected students, which is required on the report cards.

Half of states dont include suspension and expulsion data, even though the law requires them to post that information.

All but four states dont include how many effective teachers work in schools, data they must collect but dont have to post on their report cards.

Ten states that hold schools accountable for student test score growth dont include that data on their report card, a federal requirement.

Only five states fully complied with a new requirement to break out school-by-school spending.

But the Council of Chief State School Officers said several conclusions in the report were outdated, inaccurate, and misleading.

This years report, we dont think, accurately captures whats happening in states and with their report cards, said Melissa McGrath, CCSSOs chief of staff. Its a snapshot in time.

Serving Parents

State education departments have said retrieving so much data and displaying it in a way thats easily accessible and user-friendlyas the law requiresis expensive, technically complicated, and politically delicate.

In addition, emaciated state departments have had to navigate a slew of data-privacy laws that can curtail what states are allowed to display on their report cards.

Many state officials say they are gathering feedback and working to improve their report cards for the next rollout this fall.

A lot of things that we had to punt [werent] just because its hard and we dont want to do it, but because it takes time and resources, said John Kraman, chief information officer for Mississippis department of education.

Because ESSAs regulations were scrapped in 2017 by the Trump administration, states are not beholden to a deadline for when to comply with the report card portion of the law. The DQC also points out that several states have placed some data points on a separate report card used mostly by researchers and practitioners rather than the public, though that defeats the purpose of the law, they said.

The group is urging state lawmakers to set aside more funding for states to collect better data and redesign their school report cards.

Using the Information

School report cards are heavily relied upon by the real estate sales industry to set housing prices, politicians to determine policy initiatives, and parents to figure out which school to send their child to. There remains a large gap between the publics perception of how Americas public schools perform and how they actually perform, according to several surveys and many advocates attribute that to the quality of states report cards.

In its first Show Me the Data report in 2016, which looked at state report cards when NCLB was in place, DQC found that more than a third of state departments buried their report cards in hard-to-find corners of their websites, that 10 states hadnt for years updated test scores and graduation rates, and that only four states actually met No Child Left Behind reporting requirements, even though the law was passed 15 years prior.

ESSA, for advocates, practitioners, and state department officials alike, was seen as a reboot. The latest report looked at one elementary school and one high school in every states 2017-18 ESSA report card to evaluate how states stacked up on a set of self-selected metrics such as how user-friendly report cards are and how closely they align with ESSAs requirements.

The DQC found that more than 31 states now have mobile-friendly report cards, 35 states offer downloadable data, and 42 states report cards now show up within the first three results in internet searches.

Kowalski said that states got especially creative with ways to display data.

Rhode Islands department of education, for example, allows principals to highlight in a 350-word essay on school report cards what makes their school unique and share pictures of the school. Users can then use separate tabs to compile different data points about school climate and test scores.

What I charged my team with is to make it super clean, think about voice and audience, and also make it [customizable] like Build-a-Bear, said Ken Wagner, the commissioner of Rhode Islands department of education.

The state also charts the schools that have mostly poor students but academically perform exceptionally well.

We wanted to show that there are real, academically successful high-poverty schools with real principals, Wagner said. Anyone who tells you poverty is destiny is lying.

Soft Spots

But DQC staff members were alarmed at how few data points states displayed on those user-friendly report cards, including for vulnerable groups of students, discipline data, student growth, and teacher effectiveness.

This is information that communities are really hungry for, and we found it wasnt published anywhere on the report card, Kowalski said.

California in 2017 released a report card that got so much political backlash for being confusing and incomplete that Gov. Jerry Brown in his last budget proposal set aside more than $300,000 for the states education department to redesign it. The state got rid of its pie charts, included better explainers of how to navigate the report card, and ditched more than 80 percent of the pages that users have to click through to get to some data points.

The dashboard is intended to be a tool that parents, teachers, and school leaders can use to begin conversation that we know is important: to improve all of our schools in California, said Sara Pietrowski, a policy consultant for the department.

State departments have said that redesigning report cards was especially difficult. State lawmakers often wanted different data points highlighted than district officials and teacher groups did, and those requests sometimes conflicted with what parents groups wanted.

In some instances, such as with absenteeism rates and school spending amounts, states had to craft new definitions and then train district staff members on how to insert the data into sometimes-outdated data systems.

States have also struggled to compile data points from several different databases.

The office for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education, which compiles and reports a large portion of the data ESSA now requires states to report , released its data significantly late last year. States said much of that federal data was inaccurate and so they left it off their report cards.

CCSSO officials said the DQC marked states down for not reporting some things, such as teacher effectiveness, even though ESSA doesnt require states to post that data on their report cards.

I think all states are striving to make sure that they meet the requirements in the law and respond to the feedback theyre hearing from parents, McGrath said. Some states are going to take longer than other states.

Mississippis department of education said that because of the delay of OCR data and challenges in compiling other data, it decided to come out with several versions of a redesigned report card. With every version, officials have been bombarded with feedback from parents, teachers, administrators, and lawmakers.

Were over-the-moon excited about how much feedback were getting from the field, said Kraman, from the Mississippi education department. Were continuously driving to meet a variety of needs across the state. We want to meet them where they are.5G is in the final stages - experts in Paris discussed the status of the new mobile radio standard in Europe.

5G is almost ready, in Germany the final negotiations are in progress. The new mobile radio standard brings opportunities and risks. What they are and how things will continue with 5G were discussed by experts in Paris.

From 26th to 27th March 2019, experts from the mobile communications sector and industry met in Paris to discuss current developments in the new 5G mobile communications standard. The technical implementation is already in progress - according to Wassim Chourbaji of Qualcomm, everything is going on schedule in Europe. Italy, Spain and Austria, for example, are 5G-ready, while Germany is currently in the final negotiations of talks and auctions.

Large bandwidth

Qualcomm's Lorenzo Casaccia gave an insight into the world of 5G and an update on Qualcomm's activities on the first day of the conference. The 15th release of the new 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-standard is rolled out in 2019, with more releases in the pipeline. 3GPP is the worldwide cooperation for standardization in mobile communications. The frequency ranges 5G will work with, from Release 15 on, are 410 to 7,125 MHz (Sub-7) and 24,250 to 52,600 MHz (mmWave), which is 25 times the bandwidth of 3G or 4G. The lower frequency band is thus increased from 6 GHz (Sub-6) to 7 GHz (Sub-7).

In doing so, so-called Doppler effects  known from the spreading of sound waves  are to be avoided. According to Qualcomm, the main focus is on the security of the system architecture  users of the network must be offered the greatest possible security. The next step in the development of 5G is Release 16. Cassacia stresses: The new standard is important to advance Industrial IoT and autonomous driving.

On the way to Smart Everything

On the second day of the conference, Dino Flore talked about how 5G can change technology companies and the benefits it can bring to the industry. On the one hand, there are completely new development opportunities for companies, for example the Smart Factory. On the other hand, the standard will also change life at home by supporting the networking of intelligent devices and furnishings.

5G will also set new standards in mobile communications. Surfing speeds as with wire, short latency times for real-time applications, large data capacities and low costs per bit are to be expected. Qualcomm has also tested data rates and network coverage in a variety of environments and has achieved complete network coverage at 28 GHz at its San Diego headquarters. Dino Flores emphasizes the importance of the 5G rollout: according to him, it should be possible to serve both industrial and home networks. In addition, 5G will offer new possibilities for autonomous driving.

Qualcomm's Dino Flore talked about how 5G will change technology companies as well as our daily lifes.

Europe lags behind

However, Malik Saadi of ABI Research warned: Europe is still lagging behind China and the USA in terms of investment and implementation of the 5G standard. He identified three drivers that are important to further strengthen 5G: standardization, diversification and collaboration. According to Saadi, 5G will generate more users, enable edge computing and advance artificial intelligence.Flybe cancels flights around the UK

Flybe says it "sincerely apologises" to customers and partners hit by cancellations - due to what it called "operational reasons".

The airline's blamed factors including a shortage of pilots, the Easter holidays and base restructuring.

The carrier says while 95 percent of its flights are operating as normal, those affected can re-book or apply for a refund.

Flights to the Isle of Man are unaffected at this stage.Manx young actors take part in festival

A team of young local actors will take part in one of the largest youth theatre festivals in the world later this month.

Connections, organised by the National Theatre, is being held in Inverness, Scotland.

A group from Kensington Road Youth Arts Centre (YAC) in Douglas is travelling to participate.

The actors, aged between 13 and 19, will perform Variations by Katie Hims, a play about family, string theory and breakfast.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company is supporting them by assisting with the cost of travel to and from the UK for 13 young performers and their production team.EP to vote visa-free access for UK nationals after Brexit

Visa-free offer made so long as EU citizens traveling to the UK are offered reciprocal conditions.

Amid continuing chaos over Brexit, with Britains prime minister seeking another delay on the exit date, the European Parliament is set to vote on a measure to allow British citizens visa-free travel.

THE PROPOSAL TO HOLD ON THURSDAY

The EPs Committee on Civil Liberties proposed Wednesday that after Brexit, British citizens would be able to enter EU countries visa-free for short periods, provided EU nationals enjoy the same conditions when traveling to the UK said a committee statement. The proposal faces a vote in the full EP on Thursday, and if passed, it will apply on the day following Britains withdrawal from the bloc.

From that date, British citizens will not be required to have a visa for stays in the EU of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, under the proposal. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that the UK needs an additional short extension from the EU from the current exit date of April 12.

The EU is set to hold an emergency Brexit summit on April 10, two days before the delayed date. Britains parliament has repeatedly failed to settle on any plan for Brexit. In a 2016 referendum, UK voters decided to leave the bloc after a more than 40-year-long membership.Guaido stripped of immunity by Venezuelan court

Lawmakers unanimously approve the request by chief justice over opposition leader's violation of the travel ban.

Venezuelas Constituent Assembly stripped opposition leader Juan Guaido of his parliamentary immunity Tuesday, paving the way for his prosecution and possible arrest.

IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY ALL LAWMAKERS

The assembly convened to discuss a request by Maikel Moreno, president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), to strip Guaido of his immunity from prosecution. It was unanimously approved by all lawmakers. Guaido, the leader of Venezuelas National Assembly, was charged with violating a travel ban imposed on him for visiting Colombia. He traveled there a day before an attempt was made to bring US provided humanitarian aid into Venezuela on Feb. 23.

He later visited Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Ecuador before returning to Venezuela on March 4, having no difficulty in re-entering the country.

Venezuela has been rocked by protests since Jan. 10, when Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a second term following a vote boycotted by the opposition. Tensions flared when Guaido declared himself acting president on Jan. 23 a move supported by the US and many European and Latin American countries. Turkey, Russia, China, Iran, Bolivia and Mexico have thrown their weight behind Maduro.Macron urges UK to come up with a plan

The French president has said the EU cannot be held hostage to the UK political crisis.

The European Union will not be held hostage by the political crisis in the UK over Brexit, French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.

"PUTS US ON A PATH OF A UK EXIT WITHOUT A DEAL"

"The EU cannot be held hostage to the resolution of a political crisis in the United Kingdom on a long-term basis," Macron said at a news conference with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, according to the France 24 news channel. Macron said the three-time rejection of the withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons and having no alternative plans at this stage puts us on a path of a UK exit without a deal. Urging the UK to present a credible alternative plan before April 10, when an emergency Brexit summit will be held, he added that if it is not capable of this, it will have decided itself, de facto, to leave without a deal.

The EU recently granted a Brexit extension, saying the deadline is April 12 if the House of Commons did not approve British Prime Minister Theresa Mays deal by the end of last week. Mays deal was rejected last Friday for the third time. Earlier Tuesday, May said she needed an additional short extension from the bloc.

In a statement following a seven-hour Cabinet meeting, she said she understands that some people are fed up and ready to leave the bloc on April 12 without a deal but added that leaving with a deal is the best solution. UK voters decided to leave the 28-member bloc following a referendum in 2016.Saudi King Salman to visit Bahrain later Wednesday

Kings visit was not announced in advance, nor have details been given regarding duration, itinerary.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz is expected to pay a surprise visit to Bahrain later Wednesday, according to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

"ISSUES OF COMMON INTEREST"

Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa will receive his Saudi counterpart upon the latters arrival in Manama, BNA reported. According to the news agency, the two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral relations, regional developments and other issues of common interest.

King Salmans visit was not announced in advance, nor have any details been given regarding its expected duration or itinerary.

In 2017, Bahrain along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates abruptly severed relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist groups. Qatar vociferously denies the allegation, describing Saudi led efforts to isolate it politically and economically as a violation of international law. Kuwait has attempted to mediate the crisis, which until now remains unresolved.Turkish pilots to keep training on F-35

Turkish pilots will continue to train with F-35 fighter jets at a US Air Force base in Arizona, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

According to a statement by Pentagon, Turkish pilots will continue training on the F-35 fighter out at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. The remarks are in contrast to comments made earlier in the day by Senator Jim Inhofe, who said a decision was made to stop training the Turkish pilots.

"Turkish pilot and maintainer training at Luke AFB is continuing," said Air Force Lieutenant Col. Mike Andrews, a Defense Department spokesman. "I'm not aware of any delay in training at Luke. I have confirmed that the training is continuing. If that changes, we'll let you know," said Andrews.

"WE EXPECT TO RESOLVE THE DISPUTE BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES"

The US announced Monday that it would be suspending all "deliveries and activities" related to Turkey's procurement of the stealth fighter jet over Ankara's plans to purchase Russias S-400 surface-to-air missile system.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Tuesday he expects to resolve the dispute between the US and Turkey over the S-400s. Shanahan said he expects that they will be delivered.

PENTAGON STILL WORKS THEIR WAY THROUGH

During a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia between U.S. and South Korean defense officials, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said he hopes an arrangement can be made between the two countries over the S-400 system and the F-35 jets.

"As you know, its a complicated issue, and the S-400 and the F-35, weve made it clear that those are incompatible systems. But were still working our way through that and hope we can come up with an arrangement with Turkey," Dunford said.UK minister resigns amid Brexit deadlock

Minister for Wales and government whip Nigel Adams resigns after PM May's decision to start Brexit talks with the opposition.

British Minister of Wales Nigel Adams resigned from the government and Conservative Party whip after failing to agree the latest Brexit strategy of Prime Minister Theresa May.

"WE MUST PREVENT THE CALAMITY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT"

We must deliver the Brexit people voted for, Adams criticized Mays decision to start talks with the main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to find a way forward in the Brexit impasse. And we must prevent the calamity of a Corbyn government, he said in his resignation letter.

Adams added: I fear that we are now at risk of simultaneously failing in both. He said that "Legitimising and turning to Jeremy Corbyn to assist you at this crucial stage, rather than being bold, is a grave error.

"NO DEAL IS BETTER THAN A BAD DEAL"

Defending a UK departure from the EU with a no-deal, Adams said: No deal is better than a bad deal. It now seems that you and your cabinet have decided that a deal cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first is better than no deal, he said.

On Tuesday, May said after a 7-hour long cabinet meeting that she will start talks with Corbyn to look for a way forward to break the Brexit deadlock. With the UKs first extended Brexit deadline on April 12, British Prime Minister Theresa May also said that it needs an additional short extension from the EU.

So today I am taking action to break the logjam: I am offering to sit down with the Leader of the Opposition and to try to agree with a plan that we would both stick to ensure that we leave the European Union and that we do so with a deal, she said, referring to the Labour leader. May said, We need to focus on our future relationship with the EU." The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a Future Relationship that delivers on the result of the Referendum, that both the Leader of the opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and which I could then take to next weeks European Council, set for April 10.

The prime minister added that if a single unified approach cannot be reached, then we would instead agree with a number of options for the future relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue. May and Corbyn are expected to initiate talks on Brexit on Wednesday.Six recipients of the Takeda/ACMG Foundation Next Generation Fellowship Awards were announced during the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) 2019 Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting in Seattle, Washington. The six awards were the third set of awards given after Shire (now part of Takeda) made a $1.65 million commitment in 2017 to support the training of future medical geneticists.

Bruce R. Korf, MD, PhD, FACMG, president of the ACMG Foundation said, "We are delighted to recognize the continuing support of Takeda to this important program in training clinical and laboratory geneticists, especially given the rapid pace of change in this field and the great opportunity to improve health of our patients."

Takeda Pharmaceuticals/ACMG Foundation Genetics and Genomics Residency Fellowship Program will provide funding for two different specialties in 2019: one Clinical Genetics and Genomics Residency Training Award (2 years) and five Medical Biochemical Genetics Subspecialty Fellowships (1 year).

Clinical Genetics and Genomics Residency Fellowship:

1. Elizabeth Jalazo, MD, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Dr. Jalazo is a board-certified pediatrician and fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics. She grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina and received a BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She moved to the DC area after graduating medical school at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Dr. Jalazo completed her pediatric training at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, MD. She spent an additional two years at Johns Hopkins as a general academic pediatrics fellow and serving as pediatric Chief Resident.

She has practiced since 2016 in the Greater DC area, as a pediatrician with a special interest in caring for children with complex healthcare needs. During this time, she also served on the Maryland AAP Board of Directors, advocating for children with disabilities. Additionally, she joined the Angelman Syndrome Foundation Board of Directors in 2017 and has played a key role in the expansion of the global Angelman Syndrome Clinic Network. She moved back to North Carolina with her husband and three children this past fall and is excited to return to her alma mater, UNC, as a medical genetics fellow this summer.

Dr. Jalazo said, "I am thrilled to accept the Shire/ACMG Foundation "Next Generation" training award. It is an honor to serve the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine and Shire with this 2-year award dedicated to advancing education, research and the practice of medical genetics."

Medical Biochemical Genetics Subspecialty Fellowships:

1. Joshua Baker, DO, FAAP, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program

Dr. Baker received his DO from Des Moines University, College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2014. He is currently a Clinical Genetics Fellow in the Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program. His research at Boston Children's Hospital covers, "A Retrospective Chart Review: Effect of Socioeconomic Influence on Phenylalanine Levels in PKU Patients", as Primary Investigator and "Gene Transfer of SB-913 in patients with MPS II" as a Co-Investigator. Now in a Clinical Genetics Fellowship, he plans on expanding his prior research to help assess and improve healthcare outcomes for patients with genetic and metabolic disease with the goal to assess the barriers to diagnose and treat individuals to lead to improved morbidity and mortality of this population.

Dr. Baker said of receiving the award, "I am extremely honored to be awarded the 2019 Takeda Next Generation Medical Biochemical Subspecialty Fellowship. I am thankful that our industry partners continue to make such scholarships available, helping to make quality educational and training opportunities accessible to a new generation of Metabolic providers. I am looking forward to starting my project, which will assist in the development of technology to better screen, diagnose, and manage patients with lysosomal storage disorders. Thank you so much for this honor and the responsibility of your award."

2. William Brucker, MD, PhD, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program

Dr. William Brucker is a Fellow in Clinical Genetics and Genomics at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. He graduated from Brown University in 2004 with an Sc.B in Chemistry and received his MD and PhD from the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University in 2013. His graduate thesis investigated the neuroproteomic changes associated with nicotine addiction. Dr. Brucker completed his pediatric residency training at the University of Connecticut before joining the fellowship program in Clinical Genetics and Genomics in 2016. His primary interests are in galactosemia, congenital disorders of glycosylation, and biochemical medical education. His career goals are to both provide and advance the clinical care of individuals with inborn errors of metabolism and improve the understanding of these disorders by physicians and the lay public. The focus of his clinical project will involve the use of stable isotope studies in order to ascertain functional genotype/phenotype correlations in individuals with galactosemia and diverse genotypes.

"I am thrilled and honored to have received this award. I am looking forward to starting a career in biochemical genetics and becoming a part of the biochemical genetics community," said Dr. Brucker once receiving the award.

3. Kevin E. Glinton, MD, PhD., Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Glinton is currently a second-year clinical genetics resident at Baylor College of Medicine where he has enjoyed caring for children with a range of inborn errors of metabolism. After pursuing a graduate degree in synthetic organic chemistry with a focus on the synthesis of small pharmacologically active compounds, he graduated in 2014 from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Dr. Glinton's undergraduate and graduate research in the clinical applications of chemistry and pharmacology eventually led to his career in genetics after completing a pediatrics residency at the University of Virginia Health System. Dr. Glinton will continue his training at Baylor College of Medicine as a medical biochemical genetics fellow.

Upon receiving this award, Dr. Glinton said, "I am very excited and humbled to be a recipient of the ACMG Foundation Takeda Next Generation Award. I have greatly enjoyed my time here at Baylor and I am happy to have the privilege of being taught and mentored by the amazing metabolic faculty here for another year. I hope that the research this award affords will give our patients new insight and possibly additional options for the management of this condition."

4. Fillipo Ingoglia, PhD, University of Utah, School of Medicine

Dr. Filippo Ingoglia was born in Italy, growing up in Partanna, a small hill town located in the west of Sicily. He graduated from the University of Parma with a MSc in Biology and Biomedical Application in 2013. In 2017, he earned his PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Parma. His PhD work focused on functional and molecular analysis of Organic Cation Transporters (OCTs and OCTNs) in human airway epithelial cells and macrophages. In his postdoctoral career, he worked on lysinuric intolerance (LPI) focusing on the availability and effects of arginine on macrophagic function.

"I am very honored to receive this award from the ACMG Foundation that will allow me to obtain training and investigate metabolic alterations in urea cycle disorders," said Dr. Ingoglia after receiving the award.

5. Brian J. Shayota, MD, Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Shayota is a current medical genetics resident at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. His interest in the field began during his undergraduate education at the University of California, San Diego and continued through medical school at St. George's University School of Medicine and his pediatric training at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson, NJ.

Dr. Shayota believes in the importance and potential of the field of medical biochemical genetics. He has worked to inspire younger students as early as high school to get involved in the field and worked under the mentorship of great faculty members to conduct and publish research with an interest in inborn errors of metabolism

He also has a Master of Public Health degree which he has used to implement community outreach programs and advocate for patients' rights. He hopes to continue advocating for patients with rare diseases to make sure appropriate services are made available and dignity preserved, both through his work in the clinic and the community at large.

"I am ecstatic and humbled to be recognized for this great honor. Receiving this award has made proper fellowship training in the field of biochemical genetics a reality for me, which I will use to give back to the community that helped me get here today. I am most excited though to continue the work I have started in trying to better understand rare genetic inborn errors of metabolism with an emphasis on public health matters like the Newborn Screen and investigating new therapies," said Dr. Shayota after receiving this award.

The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (ACMGF) is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics and genomics in healthcare. A nonprofit organization established in 1992, the Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) mission to "translate genes into health"; to foster charitable giving, promote training opportunities to attract future medical geneticists and genetic counselors, to share information about medical genetics, to sponsor important research and much more.

###

To learn more and support the ACMGF mission to create "Better Health through Genetics", please contact Nicole O. Bell, ACMG Foundation Manager, at nbell@acmg.net or (301) 718-9604 or visit acmgfoundation.org.

Note to editors: To arrange interviews with experts in medical genetics, contact Kathy Moran, MBA, ACMG Senior Director of Public Relations at kmoran@acmg.net.Cynthia S. Gubbels, MD, PhD was honored as the 2019 recipient of the ACMG Foundation/PerkinElmer Diagnostics Travel Award at the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) 2019 Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

Dr. Gubbels was selected to receive the award for her platform presentation, "Rapid turnaround whole exome sequencing for critically ill neonates."

Cynthia Gubbels is a Research Fellow in the Division of Genetics and Genomics at Boston Children's Hospital, where she is studying the implementation of new genomic techniques in clinical medicine, to help facilitate earlier diagnosis and better treatment in children and adults with genetic disorders. She has an MD from Maastricht University (the Netherlands), did clinical residencies in pediatrics and clinical genetics, and obtained her PhD working on the reproductive system in classic galactosemia. She enjoys combining her clinical background with her main research interests, neurodevelopmental and metabolic disorders.

"I am deeply honored to have been awarded the 2019 Perkin Elmer Travel Award. It is such a privilege to join the ranks of distinguished awardees, and I would like to thank the selection committee and the ACMG Foundation for this great opportunity. To see my work validated in this way gives an enormous boost to my career and research and confirms that we are continually improving the way we diagnose and treat our patients by advancements made in research such as this. I aspire to continue to contribute to the field of medical genetics as both a physician and a scientist, and to be part of the future of medicine. I would like to thank my mentor and Principal Investigator, Dr. Timothy Yu, for the tremendous support that he has given me and my project. It has been a wonderful experience to work with and learn from him; he is truly a great teacher, scientist and person. I am also grateful for the support of Dr. Pankaj Agrawal for his guidance on this project and the opportunities that I have by working with him and the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research at the Division of Genetics and Genomics at Boston Children's Hospital," said Dr. Gubbels.

This award was created in 2008 by Signature Genomics to recognize an ACMG member and first author of a platform presentation abstract for the scientific program. The ACMG Program Committee selects the Travel Award recipient based on scientific merit. In recognition of the selected presentation, PerkinElmer Diagnostics covers the travel costs for the recipient to the ACMG Meeting.

"Travel to present their results and network with colleagues is a critical component of the training of medical genetics researchers. We greatly appreciate Perkin Elmer's continuing commitment to support of the Travel Award," said Bruce R. Korf, MD, PhD, FACMG, President of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (ACMGF) is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics and genomics in healthcare. A non-profit organization established in 1992, the Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) mission to "translate genes into health"; to foster charitable giving, promote training opportunities to attract future medical geneticist and genetic counselors, to share information about medical genetics, to sponsor important research and much more.

###

To learn more and support the ACMGF mission to create "Better Health through Genetics", please contact Nicole O. Bell, ACMG Foundation Manager, at nbell@acmg.net or 301-718-9604 or visit acmgfoundation.org.

Note to editors: To arrange interviews with experts in medical genetics, contact Kathy Moran, MBA, ACMG Director of Public Relations at kmoran@acmg.net.Renowned medical geneticist Roger E. Stevenson, MD, FACMG is the recipient of the 2019 ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Stevenson, 78, is senior clinical and research geneticist at the Greenwood Genetic Center in Greenwood, South Carolina, where he holds the Curry Chair in Genetic Therapeutics. He is honored for his vision in founding the Greenwood Genetic Center, his groundbreaking research that identified the genetic basis of numerous forms of X-linked intellectual disability, and his leadership in establishing in South Carolina the first statewide program to prevent neural tube defects.

"When I think about Roger I think about his attitude and general approach to his life's work. I can think of nobody with more brilliance and even greater doses of commitment, integrity, humility, and sheer willingness to put in the countless hours it takes to complete the tasks Roger has taken on," said Dr. Michael J. Friez, director of the diagnostic laboratories at Greenwood Genetic Center. "And perhaps more importantly, the manner in which he goes about bringing out the very best in those around him. Faculty, staff, and trainees all hold equal status with Roger--each with their own special contribution to moving us as an institution, and as a field, forward. I would also like to acknowledge Roger's dedication to his family and community where he also commits significant time and energy. He is a true role model on every front."

ACMG Foundation President Dr. Bruce R. Korf said, "Dr. Stevenson has been a guiding light in bringing the advances of medical genetics to patients in his region and has established an example that is admired internationally. As such, he is a role model for medical geneticists, reflecting the high standards set by Dr. Rimoin, who is memorialized in this award. We congratulate Dr. Stevenson for his career-long achievements and contributions to our field and to our patients." "Dr. Roger Stevenson's visionary brilliance is reflected in his founding of the Greenwood Genetics Center, a not-for-profit institution that became home to critical research and exceptional mentoring for young geneticists," said Ann Garber, Dr. Rimoin's widow. "As a new concept in 1974, the Greenwood Genetics Center has been an exciting setting for the identification of many X-linked disorders and the prevention of neural tube defects. The Rimoin family is inspired by Dr. Stevenson's mission to move the field of medical genetics toward treatment options for patients suffering from genetic disease and is particularly grateful for his example of leadership through compassion, integrity, and mentorship with his patients and students. We offer Dr. Stevenson wholehearted congratulations as the recipient of the 2019 David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award."

Upon learning that he had received the David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Stevenson said, "To me, this is personally overwhelming, but more important is the recognition of the Greenwood Genetic Center's accomplishments over the last four decades. This small institution in rural South Carolina has brought genetic diagnostics and research to the state. What has been challenging to achieve in many states, the Greenwood Genetic Center has accomplished for South Carolina. In some respects, this award is also an acknowledgement that medical genetics need not be contained exclusively in a university setting; that it can exist and thrive in other settings and that students, residents and fellows can thrive in an environment that is not based in a university, be well trained, and take their careers out into the world to be part of the genetics workforce."

Dr. Stevenson's work in medical genetics began more than a half century ago at Bowman Gray School of Medicine--now Wake Forest University School of Medicine--in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Of his time at Bowman Gray, Dr. Stevenson said, "It was there that I had my first contact with a 'card-carrying' geneticist, Harold "HO" Goodman. Dr. Goodman was from the lineage of American pioneer geneticists William Allan and Nash Herndon. He adopted me early in medical school and allowed me to set up a chromosome lab in his closet, the first chromosome lab at the university, in the early 1960s. The first report of a chromosome abnormality from the university came out of this lab. Other faculty members at Bowman Gray were also supportive, allowing me to study the effects on babies of mothers with phenylketonuria (PKU)."

During his fellowships in metabolism and genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Stevenson worked with Drs. Victor McKusick, R. Rodney Howell, and George Thomas, and changed his focus to metabolic diseases, specifically lysosomal storage diseases. "These mentors adopted me and pushed my career along," said Dr. Stevenson. After leaving Hopkins, Dr. Stevenson spent two years working for Dr. R. Rodney Howell on the faculty of the newly formed pediatrics department at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, Texas--now the John P. and Katherine G. McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Dr. Stevenson then made what he describes as one of the largest changes of his career, which was to leave academia and establish the Greenwood Genetic Center with longtime colleague Dr. Harold Taylor. "Hal set up the lab technologies while I set up the clinical services," said Stevenson. Of this endeavor, Dr. Charles E. Schwartz, senior research scholar at Greenwood Genetic Center said, "Dr. Stevenson returned to his home state of South Carolina in 1974 with the idea of creating a private, non-profit genetic center that could bring the advances in genetics he was exposed to as a fellow under Dr. Victor McKusick to the people of South Carolina. At that time, there existed almost no genetic services in the state. Within a decade, his vision to establish the Greenwood Genetic Center gave rise to an institution much respected for human genetics in the southeast. In the years since, the Greenwood Genetic Center has expanded its reach beyond the borders of South Carolina and is now recognized both nationwide and worldwide, which would not have been possible without Roger's desire to move current advances in medical genetics into the clinical practice of the Greenwood Genetic Center."

"Of all Roger's accomplishments and previous accolades, none stand taller than the Greenwood Genetic Center and the mission for which it stands. As a private, not-for-profit institution in a relatively under-privileged state, Greenwood Genetic Center is a reflection of everything good that Roger stands for and has created for the benefit of the citizens of South Carolina," said Dr. Michael Friez.

Dr. Stevenson is also known for his work to delineate the genetic basis of X-linked disorders that are associated with intellectual disability. As he recalls, "I had the great privilege to be associated with Dr. Charles Schwartz, a molecular geneticist, who wanted to go back to the original families including the family described in the 1940s by William Allan and Nash Herndon, and others described later by Hans Renpenning and John Optiz. Over the years, we had the privilege of seeing almost all of these original families, all with named conditions that had been reported prior to 1980 and were able to map these disorders to the X chromosome and find the genes." Of working with Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Schwartz said, "Roger has always exhibited tremendous empathy for any family or patient with whom he has contact. He always makes the family relaxed and they know that he understands their situation which can sometimes be quite dire. Roger has always been one who believed that collaborating with others was the most effective way to achieve the best results for his patients."

Dr. Stevenson is also credited with establishing in South Carolina the first statewide program to prevent neural tube defects. Of this achievement, Dr. Steven A. Skinner, director of Greenwood Genetic Center, said, "One of Roger's most notable successes and passionate projects has been in the area of birth defects prevention. He began the South Carolina Birth Defects Prevention program in 1992 and since that time the program has led to a 60% decline in neural tube defects within South Carolina and has been hailed as a model prevention program."

On a personal note, Dr. Skinner said that Dr. Stevenson "was an extraordinary mentor. His scholarship in the field, most notably in the areas of X-linked intellectual disability and birth defects, is unparalleled and under his tutelage and guidance, I and many other genetics fellows and residents have developed a passion for the field as well as a compassionate and caring manner in working with patients and families. He sees his work as that of a servant providing care and hope to families struggling with difficult circumstances. He actively avoids the spotlight but is quick to point out the contributions of others. Though he would disagree, those of us who are privileged to work with him on a daily basis understand that it was his vision that created the Greenwood Genetic Center and his persistence, will, and sheer determination that has turned it into the success it is today."

Looking forward, Dr. Stevenson has great aspirations for the field of medical genetics. "The most exciting part of all is where we are going. We need to move from a diagnostic specialty to a treatment specialty. For every disorder we are involved with, we should think of how to treat, cure, or prevent it. The mindset of our specialty has to incorporate the ability to treat every genetic disorder, and this will be even more exciting than diagnosis," he said, with gratitude that the Greenwood Genetic Center will allow him to devote the rest of his career to moving in that direction. To achieve this goal he said, "will require worldwide collaboration to develop treatments and places like the Greenwood Genetic Center to bring those treatments to patients."

Of those with whom he has worked, Dr. Stevenson said, "I have had many great mentors in my career, but one thing that has been very important to me has been the contact I've had with students, residents and fellows who have influenced me throughout my career." To all the young geneticists just beginning their careers, Dr. Stevenson offers this, "Taking on this vow of getting us to treatments for genetic disorders is a very important thing. We cannot forget diagnostics because if we do not know the cause of a disorder it is difficult to dream up treatment, but our mindset as geneticists must also include how a condition can be treated."

"Dr. Roger Stevenson's visionary brilliance is reflected in his founding of the Greenwood Genetics Center, a not-for-profit institution that became home to critical research and exceptional mentoring for young geneticists. As a new concept in 1974, the Greenwood Genetics Center has been an exciting setting for the identification of many X-linked disorders and the prevention of neural tube defects," said Dr. Ann Garber, David Rimoin's surviving spouse. "The Rimoin family is inspired by Dr. Stevenson's mission to move the field of medical genetics toward treatment options for patients suffering from genetic disease and is particularly grateful for his example of leadership through compassion, integrity, and mentorship with his patients and students. We offer Dr. Stevenson wholehearted congratulations as the recipient of the 2019 David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award."

The David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious award given by the ACMG Foundation. A committee of past presidents of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics selects the recipient following nominations, which come from the general membership.

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About the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine

The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (ACMGF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics and genomics in healthcare. Established in 1992, the Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics' (ACMG) mission to "translate genes into health"; to foster charitable giving, promote training opportunities to attract future medical geneticists and genetic counselors, to share information about medical genetics, to sponsor important research, and much more. To learn more and support the ACMGF mission to create "Better Health through Genetics," please contact Nicole O. Bell, ACMG Foundation Manager, at nbell@acmg.net or (301) 718-9604 or visit http://www.acmgfoundation.org.

About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG)

Founded in 1991, ACMG is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics. The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (http://www.acmg.net) provides education, resources and a voice for more than 2,200 biochemical, clinical, cytogenetic, medical and molecular geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals, nearly 80% of whom are board certified in the medical genetics specialties. The College's mission is to develop and sustain genetic initiatives in clinical and laboratory practice, education and advocacy. Three guiding pillars underpin ACMG's work: 1) Clinical and Laboratory Practice 2) Education and 3) Advocacy. Genetics in Medicine, published monthly, is the official ACMG peer-reviewed journal. ACMG's website (http://www.acmg.net) offers a variety of resources including Policy Statements, Practice Guidelines, Educational Resources, and a Find Genetic Services tool. The educational and public health programs of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics are dependent upon charitable gifts from corporations, foundations, and individuals through the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

Note to editors: To arrange interviews with experts in medical genetics, contact Kathy Moran, MBA, ACMG Senior Director of Communications and Public Relations at kmoran@acmg.net.ORLANDO, Fla., April 3, 2019 -- Lead leaching from pipes into the water supply is a serious public health concern. And if water sources or treatment regimens are changed, the new chemistry can cause water distribution systems that were previously safe to begin releasing toxic lead, as the crisis in Flint, Michigan, demonstrated a few years ago. Today, scientists will describe a cost-effective and quick method that could overcome these problems and make lead pipes safe for carrying drinking water.

The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

A brand-new video on the research is available at http://bit.ly/HLS_Lead_Pipes.

"More than 18 million people in the U.S. are currently at risk of developing health problems from lead leaching from pipes in their water distribution systems," says Gabriel Lobo, a doctoral student who is presenting the work at the meeting. Lead poisoning in young children can cause a broad range of symptoms, including brain damage, learning difficulties, and slowed growth and development. Adult exposure can cause high blood pressure, memory difficulties, miscarriages and other conditions.

Historically, many municipalities installed iron water mains that were connected to individual buildings by lead water pipes. In a typical lead pipe, chemicals in the water cause the inside wall of the pipe to corrode, releasing lead ions into the water, Lobo explains. To address this problem, municipalities add corrosion inhibitors to the water. Over time, these added phosphates react with the lead ions to create compounds that deposit on the inside of the pipe. This coating, or "scale," blocks other lead ions from leaching from the pipe into the water, making the pipe safe for water distribution. However, in Flint, the drinking water source was changed to a source that had different water quality, and concurrently, the city of Flint stopped using corrosion control measures. The protective scale dissolved, and toxic lead ions leached into the water.

Lobo became involved in this issue when his adviser, Ashok Gadgil, Ph.D., began to focus on finding a solution for the lead problems in Flint. Gadgil's team is at the University of California, Berkeley, and Gadgil is also affiliated with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

After a few months of intense effort, Gadgil and his team came up with an electrochemical approach to the problem. They applied a small external voltage to a sample of pipe to speed up corrosion. As usual, the freed lead ions then reacted with phosphates in the water to form scale. The process took just a few hours, compared with a couple of years for the usual scaling method. Lobo hopes this process could quickly restore the protective coating in the pipes in Flint, where scale has still not recoated the pipes.

The researchers have tested their process in the laboratory but caution that they haven't yet conducted any trials on lead pipes in the ground. For real-world applications, Gadgil envisions attaching external connectors to a homeowner's pipe at the water meter and at other junctions in the pipes, and then threading another wire through the pipes to complete the circuit. "The idea is that we wouldn't have to dig the whole pipe out, so we could keep the cost low," Gadgil explains. "Replacing all the plumbing in one house would cost several thousand dollars, whereas our process would cost less than one tenth of that."

Currently, the group is working with experts from a local water utility in California to determine the practical parameters for a test under real-world conditions. They are also planning to conduct a test later this year at an Oakland school where normal scale buildup isn't happening in the pipes.

A press conference on this topic will be held Wednesday, April 3, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time in the Orange County Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at the press center, Room W231B, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSLive_Orlando2019 ("ACSLive_Orlando2019" is case-sensitive). To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

###

The researchers acknowledge support from Big Ideas and a Hellman Graduate Award.

The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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Title

In situ electrochemical passivation of lead pipes in water distribution systems

Abstract

More than 18 million people in the US are currently at risk from lead poisoning due to lead leaching from pipes in their water distribution systems. This problem is usually contained through the slow and natural development of a passivating scale inside lead pipes; however, depending on the scale composition and water quality, this scale may dissolve, causing well known health crises like that in Flint, MI.

We propose a novel, fast and cost-effective technology to address this problem termed ALPS (Accelerated Lead Pipe Scale-buildup), which is an electrochemical method that accelerates scale formation in lead pipes. In ALPS, a wire is inserted within the pipes and the water is enriched with phosphates. A power source is then connected to the wire and to the pipe itself, and a small potential is applied to anodize the pipe, promoting lead corrosion and the rapid formation of an insoluble lead phosphate scale, after which the power source is disconnected, and the system removed. Our results show that ALPS decreases lead corrosion rates up to 500 times when compared to bare lead, depending on the power used and the reaction time. However, numerous challenges remain, including overcoming the high porosity of the lead phosphate scale. This study aims to show the advantages and limitations of ALPS, as well as discuss its potential for implementation.ORLANDO, Fla., April 3, 2019 -- Science-fiction writers have long envisioned human-machine hybrids that wield extraordinary powers. However, "super plants" with integrated nanomaterials may be much closer to reality than cyborgs. Today, scientists report the development of plants that can make nanomaterials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and the application of MOFs as coatings on plants. The augmented plants could potentially perform useful new functions, such as sensing chemicals or harvesting light more efficiently.

The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

A brand-new video on the research is available at http://bit.ly/HLS_Plants.

According to the project's lead researcher, Joseph Richardson, Ph.D., humans have been introducing foreign materials to plants for thousands of years. "One example of this is flower dyeing," he says. "You'd immerse a cut flower stem into some dye, and the dye would be taken up through the stem and penetrate into the flower petals, and then you'd see these beautiful colors."

Because of their extensive vascular networks, plants readily absorb water and molecules dissolved in fluids. However, it's more difficult for larger materials and nanoparticles such as MOFs to penetrate roots. So Richardson and colleagues at the University of Melbourne (Australia) wondered if they could feed plants MOF precursors, which the plants would absorb and then convert into finished nanomaterials.

MOFs -- which consist of metal ions or clusters linked to organic molecules -- form highly porous crystals that can sop up, store and release other molecules, much like a sponge. Chemists have made thousands of different MOFs so far, with potential applications ranging from storing hydrogen fuel to absorbing greenhouse gases to delivering medications within the body. Having plants make small amounts of these useful compounds in their own tissues could give them new abilities not seen in nature.

To see whether plants could make MOFs, Richardson and colleagues added metal salts and organic linkers to water and then placed cuttings or intact plants into the solution. The plants transported the precursors into their tissues, where two different types of fluorescent MOF crystals grew. In a proof-of-concept experiment, MOF-producing lotus plant clippings detected small concentrations of acetone in water, as shown by a decrease in fluorescence of the materials. Based on these results, Richardson plans to explore whether plant-MOF hybrids could sense explosives or other volatile chemicals, which could be useful for airport security.

In addition to having the plants make MOFs, the finished materials could be used as a coating on the plants to help them convert harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays into light that's more useful for photosynthesis. "As we contemplate growing crops in space or on Mars where you don't have an atmosphere and are bombarded by UV rays, something like this could be helpful," Richardson says. "That's because it not only protects the plants from the UV rays, but it also turns them into useful energy. Especially as you get farther away from the sun, it's harder to capture all of the light you'd need for photosynthesis."

The researchers have already started examining the protective abilities of the nanomaterials, and the preliminary data are promising. The team coated clippings of chrysanthemum and lilyturf with luminescent MOFs and then exposed the plants to UVC light for three hours. Compared with uncoated clippings, the plants with MOFs showed less wilting and bleaching.

Now, Richardson is teaming up with plant biologists to study the effects of MOFs on plant growth. So far, they haven't noticed any toxicity of the nanomaterials. The researchers also want to explore whether MOFs could actually help plants grow better, which may lead to applications in agriculture.

A press conference on this topic will be held Wednesday, April 3, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time in the Orange County Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at the press center, Room W231B, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSLive_Orlando2019 ("ACSLive_Orlando2019" is case sensitive). To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

###

The researchers acknowledge support and funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology.

The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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Title

Nano-bionics: Assembly of functional metal-organic nanomaterials inside plants

AbstractORLANDO, Fla., April 3, 2019 -- Wood may seem more at home in log cabins than modern architecture, but a specially treated type of timber could be tomorrow's trendy building material. Today, scientists report a new kind of transparent wood that not only transmits light, but also absorbs and releases heat, potentially saving on energy costs. The material can bear heavy loads and is biodegradable, opening the door for its eventual use in eco-friendly homes and other buildings.

The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition. ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

A brand-new video on the research is available at http://bit.ly/HLS_Transparent_Wood.

"Back in 2016, we showed that transparent wood has excellent thermal-insulating properties compared with glass, combined with high optical transmittance," says Celine Montanari, a Ph.D. student who is presenting the research at the meeting. "In this work, we tried to reduce the building energy consumption even more by incorporating a material that can absorb, store and release heat."

As economic development progresses worldwide, energy consumption has soared. Much of this energy is used to light, heat and cool homes, offices and other buildings. Glass windows can transmit light, helping to brighten and heat homes, but they don't store energy for use when the sun goes down.

Three years ago, lead investigator Lars Berglund, Ph.D., and colleagues at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, reported an optically transparent wood in the ACS journal Biomacromolecules. The researchers made the material by removing a light-absorbing component called lignin from the cell walls of balsa wood. To reduce light scattering, they incorporated acrylic into the porous wood scaffold. The team could see through the material, yet it was hazy enough to provide privacy if used as a major building material. The transparent wood also had favorable mechanical properties, enabling it to bear heavy loads.

Building on this work, Montanari and Berglund added a polymer called polyethylene glycol (PEG) to the de-lignified wood. "We chose PEG because of its ability to store heat, but also because of its high affinity for wood," Montanari says. "In Stockholm, there's a really old ship called Vasa, and the scientists used PEG to stabilize the wood. So we knew that PEG can go really deep into the wood cells."

Known as a "phase-change material," PEG is a solid that melts at a temperature of 80 F, storing energy in the process. The melting temperature can be adjusted by using different types of PEGs. "During a sunny day, the material will absorb heat before it reaches the indoor space, and the indoors will be cooler than outside," Montanari explains. "And at night, the reverse occurs -- the PEG becomes solid and releases heat indoors so that you can maintain a constant temperature in the house."

The team encapsulated PEG within the de-lignified wood scaffold, which prevented leakage of the polymer during phase transitions. They also incorporated acrylic into the material to protect it from humidity. Like their earlier version, the modified wood was transparent, though slightly hazy, and strong, but had the added bonus of storing heat.

The researchers point out that the transparent wood has the potential to be more environmentally friendly than other building materials such as plastic, concrete and glass. In addition to its thermal-storage capabilities, the transparent wood could be easier to dispose of after it has served its purpose. "The PEG and wood are both bio-based and biodegradable," Berglund notes. "The only part that is not biodegradable is the acrylic, but this could be replaced by another bio-based polymer."

Now, the focus turns to scaling up the production process to be industrially feasible. The researchers estimate that transparent wood could be available for niche applications in interior design in as little as five years. They are also trying to increase the storage capacity of the material to make it even more energy-efficient.

A press conference on this topic will be held Wednesday, April 3, at 9 a.m. Eastern time in the Orange County Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at the press center, Room W231B, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSLive_Orlando2019 ("ACSLive_Orlando2019" is case sensitive). To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

###

The researchers acknowledge support and funding from the Wallenberg Foundations and the European Research Council.

The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, is a not-for-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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Title

Multifunctional transparent wood for thermal energy storage applications

Abstract

Recent research on transparent wood composite highlighted its potential to be used in thermal insulating buildings thanks to the combination of low thermal conductivity, unique optical features, and favorable mechanical properties. In this study, a multifunctional transparent wood composite was designed, extending the applications of transparent wood to thermal energy storage systems in passive buildings. Organic phase-change materials (PCMs), such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), can store and release latent heat energy during a reversible phase change process. PEG is an environmentally friendly and recyclable organic PCM, which exhibits large latent heat and undergoes solid-liquid phase transitions at suitable temperature range. However, the utilization of solid-liquid PCMs is limited due to leakage issues occurring during the melting process, hence decreasing their long-term thermal reliability. In this work, the wood scaffold was used to encapsulate PEG to prevent leakage during phase transitions. A multifunctional transparent wood composite was designed with functionalities including optical transparency and latent heat energy storage. During the experimental procedure, PEG was firstly shape-stabilized into a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) matrix, and further encapsulated into a delignified wood scaffold. Wood delignification was performed to remove the light absorbing components (lignin), and transparency was eventually achieved after impregnation of the shape-stabilized PEG into the porous wood cells. The prepared multifunctional transparent wood combines excellent thermal properties with large latent heat, and tunable optical properties with unique high optical transmittance and haze. The multifunctional transparent wood composite can be used as a load-bearing material in glazing structures with reduced heat energy consumption.Boston, MA -- Infectious diseases experts and transplant physicians and surgeons at Brigham and Women's Hospital have blocked the transmission of hepatitis C from infected organ donors to recipients in need of hearts or lungs. The DONATE HCV Trial Team reports that hepatitis C-infected thoracic organs can be safely transplanted, detecting no signs of the disease and good outcomes for the transplanted organs in all patients treated with a preemptive, short course of antivirals. In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the team describes a four-week antiviral treatment regimen started within hours of organ transplantation surgery, preventing establishment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in all patients, and, in so doing, expanding the pool of eligible heart and lung donor organs.

"There was a 100 percent success rate in terms of HCV treatment and six-month graft survival," said corresponding author Ann Woolley, MD, MPH, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham. "Direct acting antivirals have revolutionized the field of hepatitis C treatment and have also created an opportunity to transplant organs from hepatitis C positive donors. While transplants from hepatitis C positive donors have previously been done, the best approach to doing this -- when to initiate treatment and how long to treat patients after transplant -- as well as the outcomes for heart and lung transplant recipients have not previously been systematically studied. This is the largest clinical trial to date for HCV thoracic organ transplantation and provides clear evidence that this shortened regimen, initiated within hours of transplant, can prevent the establishment of hepatitis C in the recipients and lead to excellent outcomes for patients."

In their paper, the researchers present data on the 35 patients who had enrolled in the study by February 2018. Each of those 35 patients met the trial's primary endpoints -- all had undetectable hepatitis C viral loads and functioning transplanted organs six months or more after transplant surgery. Given the study's successful outcomes, enrollment continues and the team has now enrolled a total of 69 participants to date.

The team found that nearly all of the patients who received organs from HCV viral load positive donors had evidence of HCV virus immediately post-transplantation. However, very early preemptive treatment prevented HCV from establishing infection, despite the fact that patients were taking high-dose, induction immunosuppressive medications as part of the transplant process. All recipients cleared the virus by about two weeks and hepatitis C viral loads remained undetectable thereafter.

"It was critically important to us to determine that this treatment not only prevented transmission of hepatitis C but also didn't worsen outcomes for our transplant patients," said co-author Steve Singh, MD, former surgical director of the Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support in the Department of Cardiac Surgery. "Our short-term findings to date suggest that graft survival is just as excellent in patients who were transplanted with thoracic organs from hepatitis C positive donors as it was in those who received thoracic organs from non-hepatitis C positive donors during the same period."

Although the number of organ transplants in the U.S. has increased over the last five years, it is estimated that about 1,000 patients die every year waiting for a lung or heart transplant. Drug intoxication deaths have led to a rise in available organs for transplantation, but donor hepatitis C viral infection has been a leading reason that otherwise medically suitable organs are deemed ineligible for transplantation.

Direct-acting antivirals, such as sofosbuvir/velpatasvir, are used to treat patients infected with hepatitis C. Standard treatment for people who are chronically infected with hepatitis C is typically 8-to-12 weeks, depending on the treatment regimen used. Other studies have found that it is feasible to treat kidney and liver transplant patients with these drugs early after transplantation, and such treatments are beginning to be used to treat heart and lung transplant recipients. Woolley and colleagues set out to treat a much larger cohort of patients with a shortened course of therapy and collected data on outcomes over a longer period of time.

The authors noted the importance of a shorter duration of antiviral treatment leading to successful outcomes for patients.

"HCV infection has been a long-standing reason to decline donation of suitable organs," said co-author Lindsey Baden, MD, director of Clinical Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham. "What the data show is that transmission does occur, but a short, four-week course of antiviral therapy led to rapid HCV clearance. These data demonstrate how preemptive therapy can stop transmission thus decreasing medication burden, drug interactions, and cost."

The team also analyzed safety outcomes, finding that there were no hepatitis C-attributable adverse events. The researchers reported a numerical increase in acute cellular rejection among lung transplant patients, but this trend was not statistically significant.

"This study provided a unique opportunity to explore the utilization of thoracic organs from hepatitis C positive donors for transplantation, which to date have been underutilized despite being relatively common in the current donor population," said co-author Hilary Goldberg, MD, MPH, the medical director of the Lung Transplant Program and the former lead for the Solid Organ Transplant Quality Assurance and Process Improvement Program at the Brigham. "I am very encouraged by the results so far, and the potential that this study may allow us to provide transplantation successfully to the many recipients who might otherwise never have access to it."

###

This work was supported in part by the Mendez National Institute of Transplantation Foundation, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Grant Number 1UL1TR002541-01, Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science.

Brigham Health, a global leader in creating a healthier world, consists of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, the Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization and many related facilities and programs. With more than 1,000 inpatient beds, approximately 60,000 inpatient stays and 1.7 million outpatient encounters annually, Brigham Health's 1,200 physicians provide expert care in virtually every medical and surgical specialty to patients locally, regionally and around the world. An international leader in basic, clinical and translational research, Brigham Health has nearly 5,000 scientists, including physician-investigators, renowned biomedical researchers and faculty supported by over $700 million in funding. The Brigham's medical preeminence dates back to 1832, and now, with 19,000 employees, that rich history is the foundation for its commitment to research, innovation, and community. Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and dedicated to educating and training the next generation of health care professionals. For more information, resources, and to follow us on social media, please visit brighamandwomens.org.INTE-AFRICA aims to scale up care for two chronic conditions whose prevalence is high and rising in sub-Saharan Africa

The kick off meeting of INTE-AFRICA, a major European Commission-funded project that will study the integration and decentralisation of HIV, diabetes and hypertension care in two African countries, took place in Liverpool, UK, on 27-28 March. INTE-AFRICA is led by an international research partnership and collaboration of nine partners.

During the kick-off of the four-year project, Shabbar Jaffar, Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, underlined the "need for research that establishes feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of integrating and decentralising HIV, diabetes, and hypertension services in sub-Saharan Africa."

"The demand for diabetes and hypertension care in Africa will soon be so great that health facilities will become overloaded," explains Jeffrey Lazarus, ISGlobal researcher and work package leader. "Therefore, we need to find a way to integrate these services to manage them more efficiently, and to decentralise to community-based care," he adds.

Africa is undergoing a rapid health care transition and chronic conditions will overtake that of infectious diseases within the next 10-20 years. The chronic conditions of gravest concern are hypertension and diabetes. Unlike in high-income countries, diabetes and hypertension affect young-middle-aged adults across all socioeconomic classes.

The low coverage of services for these conditions across sub-Saharan Africa is "mainly due to a shortage of clinically qualified health care staff, drug supplies, and services that are ill equipped to handle the increase of non-communicable diseases", emphasises Josephine Birungi, project partner and senior scientist at The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO, Uganda).

These approaches towards more sustainable services and care will be tested in Tanzania and Uganda, two countries where the consortium has been conducting research and establishing a strong partnership for many years.

INTE-AFRICA aims to test the efficacy of two approaches for integrating diabetes and hypertension services: alone or together with HIV-infection services. A solid experience has been acquired over the years in managing HIV as a chronic disease, and many of these practices could be applied for the effective management of diabetes and hypertension. Whilst focusing on Tanzania and Uganda, the study results should be relevant and applicable to other conditions and other sub-Saharan countries.

"This project could lead to an increase in the coverage and sustainable long-term care of these conditions," says Sayoki Mfinanga, chief research scientist and director of the partner institution NIMR in Tanzania.

The Consortium: INTE-AFRICA is led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM, UK), in collaboration with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal, Spain), the National Institute for Medical Research NIMR, Tanzania), the University of Bergen (Norway), the University College Dublin (Ireland), the University of East Anglia (UK), the Liverpool John Moores University (UK), the MRC & LSTMH Uganda Research Unit (Uganda), and The Aids Support Organisation (TASO Uganda).

###The designer Carolin Vogler and scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation have been awarded one of the STARTS Residencies, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program

The designer Carolin Vogler and scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) have been awarded one of the STARTS Residencies, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme

STARTS Residencies support artistic residencies that bring original artistic contributions to technology-based projects.

The award was announced during the STARTS Residencies Days, on the 27th and 28th of March at Centre Pompidou in Paris

Inside-Out: Knitted DNA, Chromatin structures visualised as knitted fashion pieces, is the project awarded to Caroline Vogler and the CRG.

The designer Carolin Vogler and scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), will start a new collaboration bringing together art and science, thanks to the STARTS Residencies programme. The laureates were announced last Thursday, 28th March, during the STARTS Residencies Days, held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The STARTS (Science, Technology, and the ARTS) Initiative, supported by the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, promotes the inclusion of artists in innovation projects. It aims to remove the boundaries between art and engineering to stimulate creativity and innovation.

The purpose of Vogler and CRG collaboration is to create awareness of the natural beauty in life sciences research, and make genetics and genomics more approachable to the public. Vogler will create genome-inspired knitted fashion pieces that will allow translating complex scientific topics into common and nice objects.

An important aspect of the artwork will be to enable the public, going beyond the visual display of a dress, to experience it on different levels, detailed as follows: a) Tactile, the final art pieces will be experienced through touch giving the art exhibition a second sensorial dimension; b) Visual, complex modern patterns based on scientific data, reflecting them in an aesthetic and modern way, will show that DNA can also be the base of personal expression and personality; and c) Experience, the public will be able to see the creation of the artwork as it is done, as if they were watching DNA replication live. By combining science, fashion and technology, the blueprint of life will be visible to the human eye.

One of the pillars of STARTS are the STARTS Residencies, which support and fund between 2017 and 2020, 45 artistic residencies that bring original artistic contributions to technology-based research projects. During each STARTS Residency, a technological driven project collaborates with an artist, leading to the creation of an original artwork, and to the development of the innovative aspects of the tech research. A grant (up to 30,000) is awarded to the artist of each STARTS Residency as a contribution to her/his involvement in the residencies programme.

The CRG submitted a 'technology project' proposal to STARTS Residencies in October last year, in the framework of the EU-funded H2020 ChromDesign project, coordinated by Luciano Di Croce. The main objective of the proposal was the development of visual artwork to illustrate the complex 3D organisation of the human genome over time, and its relevance for the correct functioning of our cells and our body.

After that, artists had time to apply for a collaboration with one of the presented technology projects. CRG received several applications from artists from very different fields with suggestions for collaborations, including the awarded fashion inspired proposal by Carolin Vogler, entitled Inside-Out: Knitted DNA, Chromatin structures visualised as knitted fashion pieces.

A multidisciplinary team at the CRG, including scientists, scientific project managers and science communicators reviewed and ranked the artists' proposals in November last year. This ranking was respected afterwards, during the actual evaluation process of the official jury of STARTS Residencies. From all selected 'tandems' of technology projects and artists, the jury of STARTS Residencies selected the most original collaborations, including Vogler's proposal.

The collaboration will start in April 2019.

###

About STARTS Residencies Days

The STARTS Residencies Days were organized by the STARTS Residencies European Program coordinated by IRCAM. The results of this program of collaboration of artists with technological projects throughout Europe were presented through contributions by 30 artists and researchers involved, roundtables and participatory events. The laureates of the third call are were announced and the new modes of contribution of artists to innovation processes were discussed with the heads of institutions and communities involved.

About Mutations / Creations and the Vertigo Forum

The STARTS Residencies Days were organized as part of the VERTIGO Forum, a series of symposia and societal debates on art-science relationships at Centre Pompidou from March 27th to 30th on the theme "La Fabrique du Vivant" together with the exhibitions "La Fabrique du Vivant" and "Erika Verzutti" which constitute the 2019 edition of Mutations / Creations, a joint yearly event by Centre Pompidou and IRCAM.How do mobile cell types like leukocytes or metastatic cancer cells reach their place of action during immune surveillance or cancer dissemination, respectively? The research group around Michael Sixt at IST Austria has now shown that leukocytes use their nucleus as a ruler to screen their surroundings for the largest pores--and thereby find the path of least resistance.

Certain cell types continuously crawl through the body to reach their place of action. For instance, all leukocytes--the white blood cells of the immune system--in the human body cover a cumulative distance of more than 100,000 km per hour. On their journey, these migratory cells have to find their way through a three-dimensional maze crowded with other cells and extracellular matrix. Certain cell types--mesenchymal cells like fibroblasts--move forward by digesting the tissue they come up against, thus leaving behind a tunnel as a wake of devastation. Leukocytes, on the other hand, show an amoeboid way of movement that allows them to move around 100 times faster. Also, they do not digest or remodel their environment (if they did, they would perforate the body with more than two million kilometers of tunnels per day!). How these extremely fast cells navigate through the dense meshwork of interstitial connective tissue fibers without harming other cells has been of great interest to cell biologists. Professor Michael Sixt and his team--including first author Jorg Renkawitz, Postdoc at IST Austria at the time of the study and now leading his own research group at the Biomedical Center of Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany--have now found out how leukocytes manage to choose the path of least resistance when navigating through complex environments.

Nucleus measures pore size and helps leukocytes to move full speed ahead

To understand the mechanism behind this selective form of cell movement, the researchers built an obstacle course for leukocytes in reconstituted tissue where the cells could choose between differently sized pores while following global directional cues such as chemotactic gradients. What they observed was that whenever the amoeboid cells had a choice, they used the bigger pores, i.e. the path of least resistance. In further tests, the scientists found that the cells facilitate this active directional movement by pushing their nucleus very much to the front of the cell so it can serve as a kind of mechanical gauge or ruler. In other words, as the cell is moving forward, it applies cytoskeletal forces to insert its nucleus into several adjacent pores to measure pore sizes. Michael Sixt: "The usual organelle to steer a cell is the actin rich leading front, which explores the environment. Unexpectedly, we found that this is not what determines the path of a leukocyte. Instead, it is the nucleus that guides the cell through the bigger pores. This makes sense as the nucleus is the most bulky part of the cell and also sensitive to damage."

Microtubules make sure that cells are not fragmented when passing through pores

Whenever the cells successfully push their nucleus through a pore, they have to retract the nucleus-free protrusions, which are still inserted in the other pores, to avoid becoming entangled or even fragmented. To tell the protrusions to retract, the microtubules disappear from these protrusions as soon as the microtubule organizing center (which always follows the nucleus) passes through a pore. This disappearance of the microtubules triggers actomyosin contraction and the cell finally retracts the remaining protrusions. When the researchers actively destroyed the microtubules, the cells entangled because the supernumerary protrusions had not retracted, kept moving forward through other pores and migrated in many directions. Ultimately, the cell fractured into pieces and died. "Our findings are based on the analysis of leukocytes. Yet, most probably, the mechanisms are the same for any other amoeboid cell types involved in developmental, immunity or regeneration processes. Also, the mechanism might help to explain how cancer cells move from one part of the body to another to form metastases and, most importantly, how to stop them from doing so," Michael Sixt concludes.

###

The study was partly supported by data from collaborators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA. Michael Sixt's work for this study was supported by the European Research Council (ERC), a grant from the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) and the FWF DK "Nanocell". Jorg Renkawitz was supported by ISTFELLOW funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), and an EMBO long-term fellowship co-funded by the European Commission.

IST Austria

The Institute of Science and Technology (IST Austria) is a PhD-granting research institution located in Klosterneuburg, 18 km from the center of Vienna, Austria. Inaugurated in 2009, the Institute is dedicated to basic research in the natural and mathematical sciences. IST Austria employs professors on a tenure-track system, postdoctoral fellows, and doctoral students. While dedicated to the principle of curiosity-driven research, the Institute owns the rights to all scientific discoveries and is committed to promote their use. The first president of IST Austria is Thomas A. Henzinger, a leading computer scientist and former professor at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, and the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland. The graduate school of IST Austria offers fully-funded PhD positions to highly qualified candidates with a bachelor's or master's degree in biology, neuroscience, mathematics, computer science, physics, and related areas. http://www.ist.ac.at

Animal welfare

Understanding cell biological processes is only possible by studying real cells and the natural physiological environments of organisms, in this case of mice. No other methods can serve as alternatives. The animals were raised, kept and treated according to the strict regulations of Austrian law.Standard survey asks caregivers to recall diarrhea cases over past two weeks -- but a one-week recall period may be much more accurate

Public health surveys used in as many as 90 countries may be missing the number of recent diarrhea episodes among children by asking parents and caregivers to recall events two weeks versus one week out, suggests a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The researchers, whose findings were published March 25 in the International Journal of Epidemiology, compared the responses to two large public health surveys that were worded almost identically, and concluded that the survey with a two-week recall period, which has been the standard in the field, is less accurate than the survey with a one-week recall period.

"People asked to recall events over a two-week period may remember significantly less than they would if the recall period were just one week," says study principal investigator Natalie G. Exum, PhD, an assistant scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Bloomberg School. "Understanding the global burden of diarrheal diseases in young children is critical to identifying tools to treat and prevent diarrhea in this vulnerable population."

Diarrhea is a significant global health concern because there are between 1 and 2 billion cases of it every year among children under 5, including about 500,000 fatal cases. In many low- and middle-income countries diarrheal illness is a leading cause of death among young children.

Researchers commonly estimate the burden of diarrheal illness in countries where it is endemic using large-scale, house-to-house surveys of mothers and other caregivers. The most widely used set of surveys, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development, ask respondents to recall cases among children in their care in the previous two weeks. The number of recalled cases in this period, as a proportion of the sampled population, is an estimate of "two-week prevalence:" a snapshot of the overall diarrhea burden that researchers can compare to similar two-week snapshots taken at other times or in other populations.

Human recall is subject to error, however, and prior, smaller studies have hinted that a two-week recall period for diarrhea prevalence surveys may yield less accurate results than shorter recall periods.

A newer set of public health surveys, conducted under the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 (PMA2020) project, are almost identical to DHS surveys but use a one-week recall period instead. Launched in 2013, PMA2020 is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with direction and support provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and the Johns Hopkins University Water Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

For this study, Exum and her colleagues compared results from PMA2020 and DHS surveys of similar communities in the same five African countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda) from 2013 to 2016. The PMA2020 surveys covered 14,603 households and the DHS surveys 66,717 households.

On average, there should be more diarrhea cases in any two-week period compared to any one-week period. Thus the two-week prevalence--the percentage of the sampled population that had a bout of diarrhea in the two weeks prior to the survey--should be greater than the one-week prevalence. Yet the researchers found that the DHS surveys yielded a two-week diarrhea prevalence estimate of 16.0 percent, whereas the PMA2020 surveys yielded a one-week diarrhea prevalence estimate that was higher, at 21.4 percent. Moreover, the PMA2020 surveys consistently yielded higher estimates than DHS when compared on a country-by-country basis.

The scales of the surveys and the similarities of their questions and covered populations were such that the difference in outcome was unlikely due to statistical "noise," the researchers note.

The authors are recommending that future versions of the DHS use a one-week recall period instead of the traditional two-week period.

"Comparison of 1-week and 2-week recall periods for caregiver-reported diarrhoeal illness in children, using nationally representative household surveys" was written by Katie Overbey, Kellogg Schwab and Natalie Exum.

###

Support for the research was provided by the Osprey Foundation of Maryland and the National Institutes of Health (T32 ES007141).Partitioning space into cells with optimum geometrical properties is a central challenge in many fields of science and technology. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and colleagues from several countries have now found that in amorphous, i.e. disordered, systems optimization of the individual cells gradually results in the same structure, although it remains amorphous. The disordered structure quickly converges to hyperuniformity - a hidden order on large scales. This is reported in Nature Communications. (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08360-5)

No matter whether you search for an optimum foam or for a method to pack spheres as closely as possible - ideal tessellation of three-dimensional space, that means complete partitioning into cells with special geometrical properties, has been studied for a long time by scientists. It is not only of theoretical interest, but relevant to many practical applications, among others for telecommunications, image processing, or complex granules. Researchers of KIT's Institute of Stochastics have now studied a special problem of tessellation, the quantizer problem. "The goal is to partition space into cells and all points in a cell to be located as closely as possible to the cell center, intuitively speaking," says Dr. Michael Andreas Klatt, former staff member of the Institute, who now works at Princeton University in the USA. Solutions of the quantizer problem can be used for the development of novel materials and may contribute to a better understanding of the unique properties of complex cell tissue in future.

The theoretical work that combines methods of stochastic geometry and statistical physics is now reported in Nature Communications. The researchers of KIT, Princeton University, Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat (FAU) Erlangen-Nuremberg, Ru?er Boskovi? Institute in Zagreb, and Murdoch University in Perth used the so-called Lloyd algorithm, a method to partition space into uniform regions. Every region has exactly one center and contains those points in space that are closer to this than to any other center. Such regions are referred to as Voronoi cells. The Voronoi diagram is made up of all points having more than one closest center and, hence, forming the boundaries of the regions.

The scientists studied stepwise local optimization of various point patterns and found that all completely amorphous, i.e. disordered, states do not only remain completely amorphous, but that the initially diverse processes converge to a statistically indistinguishable ensemble. Stepwise local optimization also rapidly compensates extreme global fluctuations of density. "The resulting structure is nearly hyperuniform. It does not exhibit any obvious, but a hidden order on large scales," Klatt says.

Hence, this order hidden in amorphous systems is universal, i.e. stable and independent of properties of the initial state. This provides basic insight into the interaction of order and disorder and can be used among others for the development of novel materials. Of particular interest are photonic metamaterials similar to a semiconductor for light or so-called block copolymers, i.e. nanoparticles composed of longer sequences or blocks of various molecules that form regular and complex structures in a self-organized way.

###

The work reported in Nature Communications was carried out by the research group "Geometry & Physics of Spatial Random Systems" funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The interdisciplinary team consists of groups of KIT, FAU, and the University of Aarhus (Denmark) with experts in stochastic geometry, spatial statistics, and statistical physics, among others. Publication of the work was funded by the KIT publication fund.

Original publication (open access):

Michael A. Klatt, Jakov Lovri?, Duyu Chen, Sebastian C. Kapfer, Fabian M. Schaller, Philipp W. A. Schonhofer, Bruce S. Gardiner, Ana-Suncana Smith, Gerd E. Schroder-Turk & Salvatore Torquato: Universal hidden order in amorphous cellular geometries. Nature Communications, 2019. (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08360-5)

Animation relating to the publication:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f0b0dfxanFFbABWt_xmXHxyEdaCNmGJH

Press contact:

Kosta Schinarakis

Press Officer

Phone: +49 721 608-21165

Email: schinarakis@kit.edu

Being "The Research University in the Helmholtz Association," KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility and information. For this, about 9,300 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 25,100 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life.

This press release is available on the internet at http://www.sek.kit.edu/english/press_office.php.A study by researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute, Western University and Brescia University College has found evidence of a strong association between exposure to sulfur dioxide during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes.

"This is the first study in Southwestern Ontario to investigate the association between air pollution and adverse outcomes, while also considering the other determinants of health, including socioeconomic, medical, psychosocial and behavioural-related factors that are also associated with birth outcomes," explains Dr. Jason Gilliland, scientist at Children's Health Research Institute, a program of Lawson, and professor at Western. He is also the Director for Western's Human Environments Analysis Laboratory and the Urban Development Program.

The objective of the study was to test the relative influence of these factors on low birthweight and preterm birth in this region. The final sample consisted of over 25,000 live births at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) between February 2009 and February 2014.

"We were able to take advantage of a large neonatal and perinatal database from LHSC. Through geographical mapping of maternal postal codes by our HEALab at Western, we tested the relative influence of the various factors," says Dr. Jamie Seabrook, scientist at Children's Health Research Institute, a program of Lawson, associate professor at Brescia University College, and adjunct professor at Western. Dr. Seabrook is also the lead author of the study.

Pregnant women in Southwestern Ontario were 3.4 times more likely to have a low birthweight baby and two times more likely to have a preterm birth for every 1-parts per billion increase in sulfur dioxide, adjusting for all other variables in the model. This translates to a 30 per cent increase in low birthweight and 20 per cent increase in preterm birth when comparing a typical high exposure to sulfur dioxide to a typical low exposure to sulfur dioxide.

"Our findings are in keeping with other research, and evidence is accumulating that toxic air travels through pregnant women's lungs and are found in their placentas," notes Dr. Gilliland. "There is definitely a major concern for pregnant women who live in areas with high exposure to sulfur dioxide."

About 67 per cent of sulfur dioxide emissions come from smelters and utilities, and 25 per cent from other industrial sources. Sulfur dioxide is also present in motor vehicle emissions. The research team found that the best predictor of both adverse birth outcomes was previous preterm birth. Sulfur dioxide was the only physical environment variable highly associated with low birth weight and preterm birth.

Their next step will be to identify geographical clusters or 'hotspots' of sulfur dioxide exposure and adverse birth outcomes in Southwestern Ontario. The identification of these clusters will provide knowledge on where health promotion interventions need to be focused in the future.

"While many factors contribute to a healthy pregnancy, the takeaway message is that the quality of air women breathe is also important," remarks Dr. Seabrook. "If health care providers could be informed of the hazards of air pollution to developing fetuses, they could make recommendations to pregnant patients about limiting exposure when air quality is poor."

Such recommendations could include more time spent indoors with windows closed, particularly during commute rush hours, or taking other means to limit exposure when local air quality is poor. This information could also be incorporated when making public health warnings related to air quality. Other measures are sticking to indoor exercise when pollution levels are high and keeping windows closed when travelling by car.

The study, "Geospatial analyses of adverse birth outcomes in Southwestern Ontario: examining the impact of environmental factors," has been published in Environmental Research.

###

ABOUT LAWSON HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE: As the research institute of London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London, and working in partnership with Western University, Lawson Health Research Institute is committed to furthering scientific knowledge to advance health care around the world.

ABOUT WESTERN: Western delivers an academic experience second to none. Since 1878, The Western Experience has combined academic excellence with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social and cultural growth in order to better serve our communities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western attracts individuals with a broad worldview, seeking to study, influence and lead in the international community.

ABOUT THE SCHULICH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY: The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University is one of Canada's preeminent medical and dental schools. Established in 1881, it was one of the founding schools of Western University and is known for being the birthplace of family medicine in Canada. For more than 130 years, the School has demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence and a passion for scientific discovery.

ABOUT BRESCIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE: Brescia University College, Canada's women's university college, is affiliated with Western University. The 1,500 women registered as either full- or part-time students at Brescia study a wide variety of subjects in the Schools of Behavioural & Social Sciences, Food & Nutritional Sciences, Humanities and Leadership & Social Change in an empowering, compassionate, student-centred and invigorating environment. Degrees are granted by Western. The Catholic University College welcomes students from all backgrounds and values diversity.CAMBRIDGE, MA -- What goes into making plants taste good? For scientists in MIT's Media Lab, it takes a combination of botany, machine-learning algorithms, and some good old-fashioned chemistry.

Using all of the above, researchers in the Media Lab's Open Agriculture Initiative report that they have created basil plants that are likely more delicious than any you have ever tasted. No genetic modification is involved: The researchers used computer algorithms to determine the optimal growing conditions to maximize the concentration of flavorful molecules known as volatile compounds.

But that is just the beginning for the new field of "cyber agriculture," says Caleb Harper, a principal research scientist in MIT's Media Lab and director of the OpenAg group. His group is now working on enhancing the human disease-fighting properties of herbs, and they also hope to help growers adapt to changing climates by studying how crops grow under different conditions.

"Our goal is to design open-source technology at the intersection of data acquisition, sensing, and machine learning, and apply it to agricultural research in a way that hasn't been done before," Harper says. "We're really interested in building networked tools that can take a plant's experience, its phenotype, the set of stresses it encounters, and its genetics, and digitize that to allow us to understand the plant-environment interaction."

In their study of basil plants, which appears in the April 3 issue of PLOS ONE, the researchers found, to their surprise, that exposing plants to light 24 hours a day generated the best flavor. Traditional agricultural techniques would never have yielded that insight, says John de la Parra, the research lead for the OpenAg group and an author of the study.

"You couldn't have discovered this any other way. Unless you're in Antarctica, there isn't a 24-hour photoperiod to test in the real world," he says. "You had to have artificial circumstances in order to discover that."

Harper and Risto Miikkulainen, a professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, are the senior authors of the paper. Arielle Johnson, a director's fellow at the Media Lab, and Elliot Meyerson of Cognizant Technology Solutions are the lead authors, and Timothy Savas, a special projects assistant at the Open Agriculture Initiative, is also an author.

Maximizing flavor

Located in a warehouse in Middleton, Massachusetts, the OpenAg plants are grown in shipping containers that have been retrofitted so that environmental conditions, including light, temperature, and humidity, can be carefully controlled.

This kind of agriculture has many names -- controlled environmental agriculture, vertical farming, urban farming -- and is still a niche market, but is growing fast, Harper says. In Japan, one such "plant factory" produces hundreds of thousands of heads of lettuce every week. However, there have also been many failed efforts, and there is very little sharing of information between companies working to develop these types of facilities.

One goal of the MIT initiative is to overcome that kind of secrecy, by making all of the OpenAg hardware, software, and data freely available.

"There is a big problem right now in the agricultural space in terms of lack of publicly available data, lack of standards in data collection, and lack of data sharing," Harper says. "So while machine learning and artificial intelligence and advanced algorithm design have moved so fast, the collection of well-tagged, meaningful agricultural data is way behind. Our tools being open-source, hopefully they will get spread faster and create the ability to do networked science together."

In the PLOS ONE study, the MIT team set out to demonstrate the feasibility of their approach, which involves growing plants under different sets of conditions in hydroponic containers that they call "food computers." This setup allowed them to vary the light duration and the duration of exposure to ultraviolet light. Once the plants were full-grown, the researchers evaluated the taste of the basil by measuring the concentration of volatile compounds found in the leaves, using traditional analytical chemistry techniques such as gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. These molecules include valuable nutrients and antioxidants, so enhancing flavor can also offer health benefits.

All of the information from the plant experiments was then fed into machine-learning algorithms that the MIT and Cognizant (formerly Sentient Technologies) teams developed. The algorithms evaluated millions of possible combinations of light and UV duration, and generated sets of conditions that would maximize flavor, including the 24-hour daylight regime.

Moving beyond flavor, the researchers are now working on developing basil plants with higher levels of compounds that could help to combat diseases such as diabetes. Basil and other plants are known to contain compounds that help control blood sugar, and in previous work, de la Parra has shown that these compounds can be boosted by varying environmental conditions.

The researchers are now studying the effects of tuning other environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, and the color of light, as well as the effects of adding plant hormones or nutrients. In one study, they are exposing plants to chitosan, a polymer found in insect shells, which makes the plant produce different chemical compounds to ward off the insect attack.

They are also interested in using their approach to increase yields of medicinal plants such as the Madagascar periwinkle, which is the only source of the anticancer compounds vincristine and vinblastine.

"You can see this paper as the opening shot for many different things that can be applied, and it's an exhibition of the power of the tools that we've built so far," de la Parra says. "This was the archetype for what we can now do on a bigger scale."

Climate adaptation

Another important application for cyber agriculture, the researchers say, is adaptation to climate change. While it usually takes years or decades to study how different conditions will affect crops, in a controlled agricultural environment, many experiments can be done in a short period of time.

"When you grow things in a field, you have to rely on the weather and other factors to cooperate, and you have to wait for the next growing season," de la Parra says. "With systems like ours, we can vastly increase the amount of knowledge that can be gained much more quickly."

The OpenAg team is currently performing one such study on hazelnut trees for candy manufacturer Ferrero, which consumes about 25 percent of the world's hazelnuts.

As part of their educational mission, the researchers have also developed small "personal food computers" -- boxes that can be used to grow plants under controlled conditions and send data back to the MIT team. These are now used by many high school and middle school students in the United States, among a network of diverse users spread across 65 countries, who can share their ideas and results via an online forum.

"For us, each box is a point of data which we're very interested in getting, but it's also a platform of experimentation for teaching environmental science, coding, chemistry, and math in a new way," Harper says.

###

The research was funded by Target Corp., Lee Kum Kee Health Products Group, Welspun, Sentient Technologies, and Cognizant Technology Solutions.ANN ARBOR, MI - A curled-up cat, a tail-wagging dog, a chirping parakeet or even a serene goldfish may help older adults cope with mental and physical health issues, according to a new national poll.

While pets come with benefits, they can also bring concerns, and some people may even put their animals' needs ahead of their own health, the poll finds.

In all, 55 percent of adults ages 50 to 80 have a pet, according to the new findings - and more than half of those have multiple pets. More than three-quarters of pet owners say their animals reduce their stress, and nearly as many say pets give them a sense of purpose. But 18 percent also said having a pet or pets puts a strain on their budget.

Two-thirds of all pet owners, and 78 percent of dog owners, said their pet helps them be physically active, according to the new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging. The poll is conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, and sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center.

For those who reported that their health was fair or poor, pet ownership appeared to offer even more benefits. More than 70 percent of these older adults said their pet helps them cope with physical or emotional symptoms, and 46 percent said their pets help take their mind off of pain.

"We have long known that pets are a common and naturally occurring source of support," says Cathleen Connell, Ph.D., a professor at the U-M School of Public Health who has studied the role of companion animals in older adults' lives. "Although the benefits of pets are significant, social connections and activities with friends and family are also key to quality of life across the lifespan. Helping older adults find low cost ways to support pet ownership while not sacrificing other important relationships and priorities is an investment in overall mental and physical health."

Poll director Preeti Malani, M.D., who has training in caring for older adults, says the poll results indicates a need for physicians and other health care providers to ask older adults about the role of pets in their lives.

"More activity, through dog walking or other aspects of pet care, is almost always a good thing for older adults. But the risk of falls is real for many, and six percent of those in our poll said they had fallen or injured themselves due to a pet," she says. "At the same time, given the importance of pets to many people, the loss of a pet can deal a very real psychological blow that providers, family and friends should be attuned to."

"This study highlights the many physical, psychological, and social benefits that pets can have for older adults," says Alison Bryant, Ph.D., senior vice president of research for AARP. "In recognition of these health benefits, more assisted living facilities today are allowing residents to have pets."

Pet positives

Companionship and social connection were positive side effects of pet ownership for many poll respondents.

In fact, more than half of those who owned pets said they did so specifically to have a companion - and a slightly higher percentage said their pets sleep in bed with them. Sixty-five percent of pet owners said having a pet helps connect them to other people, too.

"Relationships with pets tend to be less complicated than those with humans, and pets are often a source of great enjoyment," says Mary Janevic, Ph.D., M.P.H., an assistant research scientist at the U-M School of Public Health who helped design the poll. "They also provide older adults with a sense of being needed and loved."

Pet problems

Other concerns about pet ownership emerged in the poll results. More than half of pet owners said that having a pet also made it difficult to travel or enjoy activities outside the home.

And one in six said that they put their pet's needs ahead of their own health needs - a figure that was closer to one in four among those with health issues.

"Later life is often a time when people have more freedom to travel, and a long list of things they want to do with their free time, and sometimes having a pet can get in the way,"says Janevic. "For people living on a fixed income, expenses related to health care for pets, and especially pets that have chronic health issues, can be a struggle. Older adults can also develop health problems or disabilities that make pet care difficult."

The non-pet owner perspective

The 45 percent of older adults who said they don't have pets gave many reasons for not keeping a dog, cat, fish, lizard, bird or small mammal around. Among non-pet owners, 42 percent said they didn't want to be tied down. Twenty percent said they didn't have time, and 23 percent gave cost as the reason, while 16 percent said their own allergies, or those of someone in their household, were the reason.

For those who can't own pets due to allergies, budget constraints, housing circumstances or schedules, there's often a need for volunteers at local animal shelters or pet-sitting for friends and family, the researchers say. They note that health care providers and family may even want to recommend these options to older adults who have no pets and wish to have one.

The National Poll on Healthy Aging results are based on responses from a nationally representative sample of 2,051 adults aged 50 to 80 who answered a wide range of questions online. Questions were written, and data interpreted and compiled, by the IHPI team. Laptops and Internet access were provided to poll respondents who did not already have them.

###

A full report of the findings and methodology is available at http://www.healthyagingpoll.org, along with past National Poll on Healthy Aging reports.BOZEMAN -- When Andrew Santiago-Frangos came down the hallway with a slightly stunned look on his face, Montana State University associate professor Blake Wiedenheft recognized the same mix of emotions that he'd experienced more than a decade ago.

Santiago-Frangos, a postdoctoral researcher in Wiedenheft's lab, had just been notified that he had received the fellowship, he told Wiedenheft. By that, Santiago-Frangos meant the same fellowship that had launched Wiedenheft into one of the hottest fields in science in 2008.

The award of $186,000 from the Life Sciences Research Foundation "may be the most competitive postdoctoral fellowship," Wiedenheft said. Santiago-Frangos was selected from among 810 applicants for the three-year award. Since the award was established 36 years ago, LSRF has typically given out only about 20 fellowships per year. Santiago-Frangos's funding is sponsored by the Simons Foundation.

Santiago-Frangos, who grew up mostly in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus and earned his doctorate in biology at Johns Hopkins University, will use the fellowship to explore fundamental questions about the immune system called CRISPR -- an acronym describing how bacteria incorporate fragments of viral DNA into their own genome as a way to recognize and fight viruses.

Although much is known about CRISPR, including how to repurpose it into a precise tool for editing the genomes of such things as sheep and cultivated mushrooms, there remain intriguing questions about how bacteria recognize invading viruses, according to Santiago-Frangos.

"There are still some outstanding questions concerning how the CRISPR system distinguishes between self and non-self," Santiago-Frangos said.

Using "optical tweezers" -- precise beams of light that can hold tiny pieces of DNA and other molecules -- as well as powerful microscopes, Santiago-Frangos hopes to observe how complex CRISPR molecules interact with viral DNA.

Wiedenheft said that Santiago-Frangos's intellect, curiosity and research background helped prepare him for postdoctoral research at MSU and for winning the fellowship. "He really thinks carefully about all possible answers to complex scientific questions," Wiedenheft said. "He's a very thoughtful individual."

Santiago-Frangos conducted his doctoral research in the lab of Sarah Woodson at Johns Hopkins. There, using a combination of biochemical and biophysical techniques, he conducted a detailed study of the structure and function of a protein that plays an important role in the stress response of nearly all bacteria.

Becoming an LSRF fellow means that Santiago-Frangos will attend an annual conference with his fellow fellows. That's a top benefit, according to Wiedenheft, who still keeps in touch with many from his 2008 cohort. Exchanging ideas and bonding with a select group of researchers "really broadened my scientific perspective," he said.

Wiedenheft, whose LSRF fellowship was sponsored by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, earned his doctorate at MSU while researching viruses that inhabit the boiling, acidic hot pools of Yellowstone National Park. That niche research launched him into a postdoctoral position at the University of California, Berkeley, in the lab of renowned CRISPR researcher Jennifer Doudna.

The fellowship inspired him to reach for his fullest potential and gave him a stable foundation for conducting research, said Wiedenheft, who returned to MSU in 2012 and has since published several groundbreaking papers about CRISPR's inner workings. The Wiedenheft lab is housed in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Letters and Science and College of Agriculture.

Santiago-Frangos noted that his fellowship, which provides a $52,000 annual stipend plus a $10,000 annual research allowance that covers the cost of laboratory supplies as well as conference registration and travel, would let him propose more ambitious questions and would ultimately improve the quality of the science. "In the end," he said, "we'll get really quality data."

###Hamilton, ON (April 1, 2019) - Physicians are told to gauge the severity of a child's problem with obesity using the body mass index (BMI) that measures weight against height. But that doesn't work well to identify health issues, especially those of mental health, in children with obesity seeking care, says a study led by McMaster University.

Other medical issues, including high blood pressure, prediabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are also common, and are only slightly more frequent in those with the most severe obesity compared to those with less severe obesity, according to the study.

The details of the study called the Canadian Pediatric Weight Management Registry (CANPWR) were published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. This study found two thirds of children entering weight management programs across Canada have severe obesity based on their BMI.

"We found that social and mechanical health issues were more common in those with the highest body mass index. However, mental health issues, for example, are consistent across the BMI groups," said Katherine Morrison, principal investigator of the CANPWR study, and professor of the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster.

"If you are only using BMI to identify the youth who need the most care, you would be presuming the kids with the lowest BMI class would be the least likely to have mental health issues or metabolic issues, but our findings suggest this is not true. This study suggests that using a clinical staging system, one that evaluates the health of the child and not just the BMI, is likely the best approach."

Morrison is also co-director of the Centre for Metabolism, Obesity and Diabetes Research at McMaster, an investigator of the Population Health Research Institute, and a pediatric endocrinologist at McMaster Children's Hospital. She said the end goal is to improve care of these children.

"There is a lot said about preventing obesity, we also really need to focus on how best to treat children with obesity. This is especially true when we see the burden of health illness that is associated with obesity in children entering weight management programs."

The CANPWR study aims to identify what influences the success participants achieve in weight management programs and help improve these programs. The study follows participants for three years.

The 10 clinics taking part in the study are in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Montreal.

The paper used information from 847 children with obesity and the health issues were determined at their initial visit to one of the multidisciplinary weight management clinics across Canada. Participants were aged five to 17 at the time of enrolment.

In this study, researchers showed that using a clinical staging system called the Edmonton Obesity Staging System for Pediatrics, or EOSS-P, was more useful for understanding the health issues of the children in these clinics than the BMI class system. They suggest that using a clinical staging system will better assist the design of health care interventions for children with obesity.

Obesity-related health issues were common. Mental health concerns were the most common (90 per cent), followed by metabolic (85 per cent), social (65 per cent) and mechanical (62 per cent) health issues. The most common mental health issue identified was anxiety.

The most commonly identified metabolic health complication was dyslipidemia, followed by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Bullying was the most commonly identified social health factor, followed very closely by low household income. More than one-third of children in the highest obesity group came from low income homes, which was significantly higher than those with lower levels of obesity.

Those with the most severe obesity by BMI were more likely to have experienced bullying, and more likely to report difficulties with peer relationships, compared to the less severe obesity groups.

###

The study is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), McMaster University's Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster Children's Hospital Foundation, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Editors: Photo attached of Katherine Morrison.

Photo caption: Professor Katherine Morrison is co-director of the Centre for Metabolism, Obesity and Diabetes Research at McMaster University.

For more information:

Veronica McGuire

Media Coordinator

Faculty of Health Sciences

McMaster University

vmcguir@mcmaster.ca

905-525-9140, ext. 22169CORVALLIS, Ore. - A groundbreaking two-year study in southern Oregon found greater abundance and diversity of wild bees in areas that experienced moderate and severe forest fires compared to areas with low-severity fires.

The study, published today in the journal Ecosphere by researchers in the Oregon State University College of Forestry, is the first to demonstrate that wildfire severity is a strong predictor of bee diversity in mixed-conifer forest.

Bees are the most important among the Earth's pollinators, which combine for an estimated $100 billion in global economic impact each year. Oregon is home to more than 500 species of native bees.

Animal pollinators enhance the reproduction of nearly 90 percent of the Earth's flowering plants, including many food crops.

The pollinators are an essential component of insect and plant biodiversity. Bees are the standard bearer because they're usually present in the greatest numbers and because they're the only pollinator group that feeds exclusively on nectar and pollen their entire life.

Scientists led by OSU forest wildlife ecologist Jim Rivers in 2016 began trapping bees at 43 sites in forests burned by the 2013 Douglas Complex fire that scorched nearly 50,000 acres north of Grants Pass.

They collected bees with blue-vane traps, which attract the insects by reflecting ultraviolet light, and used satellite imagery to determine fire severity.

"Twenty times more individuals and 11 times more species were captured in areas that experienced high fire severity relative to areas with the lowest fire severity," said Sara M. Galbraith, a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Forestry. "We detected a large number of bees in recently burned forest patches. The bees represented five families and a large subset of Oregon's wild bee species."

At low-severity sites, flames were mostly confined to low-growing vegetation.

"If you weren't looking for the markers of fire, in the low-severity spots you wouldn't know that they had burned," Galbraith said. "The canopy is more closed, and there wasn't a lot of visible evidence of fire except for blackened areas on the tree trunks."

In contrast, some of the high-severity sites had a completely open canopy.

"There were many more flowering plants in the understory because the light limitation was gone," she said. "The flowering plants and another critical habitat component for maintaining bee populations -boring insect exit holes used by cavity-nesting bees - both increased with fire severity."

And the two most abundant genera among the trapped bees, Bombus (bumblebee species) and Halictus (sweat bee species), each responded positively to high fire severity despite having different foraging ranges.

"This research adds to the evidence that there is high biodiversity in early seral forests - the beginning stages of forest development - and moving forward, the amount and location of this habitat could have an impact on services like pollination in the landscape overall," she said. "Half of Oregon is forested, yet we know very little about bees in forests, especially managed conifer forests. With this fundamental information, we can begin to understand the best management actions that can promote pollinator populations within managed forests."

Previous studies primarily just considered, "did it burn or didn't it burn?'" Galbraith said.

"Our study took into account the mosaic of habitats that you find after fires in many regions of the world," she said. "We found that burn severity is really useful for predicting where the bee habitat will be after a fire. It makes sense that some organisms would have evolved to do well after severe burning in this fire-adapted landscape."

###

The Bureau of Land Management and the College of Forestry supported this research.Scientists observe cases of gorillas touching and grooming the bodies of dead individuals, with potential implications for the spread of diseases like Ebola

It is now known that many animals exhibit unique behaviors around same-species corpses, ranging from removal of the bodies and burial among social insects to quiet attendance and caregiving among elephants and primates. Researchers in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have been able to take a close look at the behavioral responses to the deaths of three individuals -- both known and unknown -- in gorillas and have reported their findings in PeerJ - the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences.

Scientists from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the University of California Davis, Uppsala University, and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature observed and filmed the behavior of mountain gorillas around the corpses of a 35-year-old dominant adult male and a 38-year-old dominant adult female from the same social group living in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Both individuals had died a few hours earlier of illnesses possibly linked to their advanced age. Researchers also studied the behavior of a group of Grauer's gorillas who found the body of a recently deceased adult male in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Researchers predicted that more individuals would engage with the corpses of familiar members of their own group compared to the extra-group mature male and that individuals who shared close social relationships with the deceased would be the ones to spend the most time close to body.

To the researcher's surprise, the behavioral responses toward the corpses in all three cases were remarkably similar. In all three cases, animals typically sat close to the body and stared at it but they also sniffed, poked, groomed and licked it.

In the two mountain gorilla cases, individuals that shared close social relationships with the deceased were the ones who spent the most time in contact with the corpse. For example, a juvenile male who had established a close relationship with Titus, the dominant mountain gorilla silverback male, after his mother left the group, remained close and often in contact with the body for two days, and slept in the same nest with it. The juvenile son of Tuck, the deceased adult female, groomed the corpse and even tried suckling from it despite having already been weaned, a behavior that could indicate his distress near his mother's body.

This work is not only of interest regarding how animals perceive and process death, but it also has important conservation implications. Close inspection of corpses can present a serious risk for disease transmission. Contacts between healthy individuals and infected corpses may be a major way through which diseases like Ebola, which have affected and killed thousands of gorillas in Central Africa, spread among gorillas.

###

Images:

Image 1: A Grauer's gorilla group gathers around the body of a male gorilla encountered in the forest of Kahuzi-Biega National Park. Image Credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (gorillafund.org) - shared under CC BY 4.0

Image 2: A juvenile mountain gorilla inspects the body of his mother for several hours after she died in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Image Credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (gorillafund.org) - shared under CC BY 4.0

Video 1: A juvenile mountain gorilla touches and grooms the body of his mother in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Video Credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (gorillafund.org) - video shared under CC BY 4.0

Full Media Pack including image and video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GkBm_0C5QnS_NuQ09NVofenl60QW3H6o?usp=sharing

For immediate release - Wednesday April 3rd, 2019

Link to the Published Version of the article (quote this link in your story - the link will ONLY work after the embargo lifts): https://peerj.com/articles/6655 your readers will be able to freely access this article at this URL.

Citation to the article: Porter A, Eckardt W, Vecellio V, Guschanski K, Niehoff PP, Ngobobo-As-Ibungu U, Nishuli Pekeyake R, Stoinski T, Caillaud D. 2019. Behavioral responses around conspecific corpses in adult eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei spp.) PeerJ 7:e6655 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6655

About:

PeerJ is an Open Access publisher of seven peer-reviewed journals and a preprint server. PeerJ's mission is to help the world efficiently publish its knowledge. All works published by PeerJ are Open Access and published using a Creative Commons license (CC-BY 4.0). PeerJ is based in San Diego, CA and the UK and can be accessed at peerj.com

PeerJ is the peer-reviewed journal for Biology, Medicine and Environmental Sciences. PeerJ has recently added 15 areas in environmental science subject areas, including Natural Resource Management, Climate Change Biology, and Environmental Impacts. peerj.com/environmental-sciences

PeerJ has an Editorial Board of over 1,900 respected academics, including 5 Nobel Laureates. PeerJ was the recipient of the 2013 ALPSP Award for Publishing Innovation. PeerJ Media Resources (including logos) can be found at: peerj.com/about/press

Media Contacts

For the authors:

Dr. Amy Porter (preferred contact)

spizaetusornatus@gmail.com

+243 828 017 828

Dr Damien Caillaud

dcaillaud@ucdavis.edu

+1 530 754 0732

For PeerJ: email: press@peerj.com , https://peerj.com/about/press/

Note: If you would like to join the PeerJ Press Release list, please register at: http://bit.ly/PressListApplication of sun protection factor (SPF) moisturizers tends to miss more of the face, especially around the eyelid regions, compared with sunscreen application, according to a study published April 3 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Kevin Hamill of the University of Liverpool, and colleagues. Moreover, people applying these products are unaware that they are failing to cover regions vulnerable to skin cancer.

Many moisturizers contain SPF equivalent to those found in sunscreens, but there is a lack of research into how SPF moisturizer application compares to sunscreens in terms of coverage achieved and protection afforded. Previously, Hamill and his team demonstrated that users incompletely covered their eyelid regions during routine sunscreen application. In the new study, the researchers aimed to determine if SPF moisturizer users also displayed these tendencies. Eighty-four participants were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and photographed using a UV-sensitive camera on two separate visits. At visit one, images were acquired before and after application of either SPF30 sunscreen or moisturizer, then at visit two, the study was repeated with the other formulation.

Application was significantly worse for the moisturizer than the sunscreen in terms area of the whole face missed (11.1% missed with sunscreen compared to 16.6% for SPF moisturizer). This difference was primarily due to decreased coverage of the eyelid regions (14.0% missed with sunscreen, 20.9% moisturizer).

A post-study questionnaire revealed that participants were unaware of their incomplete coverage. Despite potential advantages in terms of increased frequency of moisturizer application, the areas of the face that are at higher cancer risk are likely not being protected, and participants are unaware that they are at risk. According to the authors, alternative sun-protection strategies should be promoted and a more extensive public awareness campaign is warranted.

The authors add: "When applying both sunscreen and moisturiser, the area around to eyes is often missed, particularly near the nose. Participants covered a smaller area of the face when using moisturiser compared to sunscreen. We conclude that particular attention should be paid to the eyelid area when applying any SPF cream. Alternative methods of protecting the eyelids should be considered such as UV filter sunglasses. Moisturiser is not as well applied as sunscreen; therefore, if planning prolonged sun exposure we advise sunscreen be used. If using moisturiser we advise one with SPF: any SPF is better than none but it should not be considered the equal of sunscreen."

###

Peer reviewed; experimental study; people

Citation: Lourenco EAJ, Shaw L, Pratt H, Duffy GL, Czanner G, Zheng Y, et al. (2019) Application of SPF moisturisers is inferior to sunscreens in coverage of facial and eyelid regions. PLoS ONE 14(4): e0212548. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212548

Funding: This work was supported by bench fees raised from a University of Liverpool Masters in Research Course.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0212548WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Gene editing has been a much sought after and controversial technology. Last month, part of the World Health Organization called for an international registry to track all research into editing the human genome.

Purdue University researchers, including one who was inspired by the cancer death of a close friend, have developed a new technology that could change how gene editing is approached in the future. The research team presents the work on April 4 at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Orlando.

One of the most widely used methods for gene editing is CRISPR-Cas9 technology. The method requires a certain sequence or motif for function that restricts modifications.

"CRISPR can be programmed to cut DNA at specific regions to make precise edits in an organism that can increase sustainable manufacturing, treat disease and even create better crops," said Kevin Solomon, an assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering, who leads the Purdue research team. "However, it requires a certain sequence for function that restricts modifications to certain regions."

Many diseases in humans, including several types of cancer, are caused by mutations at specific sites in the genome. The Purdue team created a method that uses the protein Argonaute from Natronobacterium gregoryi (NgAgo) and supplied DNA as a guide to enable modification anywhere on the genome, providing new options to potentially improve manufacturing, disease treatment, drug discovery and crop production.

"While there is still work to do, we have shown that these molecular scissors can edit regions of DNA previously inaccessible by current technologies," said 2nd Lt. Michael Mechikoff, a master's student working on the project.

"One of my best friends died from a cancer caused by a genetic variant several years ago," said Kok Zhi Lee, a doctoral student who works on the research team in Solomon's lab. "I always dreamed of a different scenario for my friend - living in an era where genetic engineering is a regular and safe option to correct genetic disorders. With the potential of our technology, I anticipate a future where genetic disease is history for human beings."

The team has worked with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to file a utility patent on the technology. They are looking for partners and others interested in developing and licensing it.

Their work aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration, acknowledging the university's global advancements in health as part of Purdue's 150th anniversary. It is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebration's Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.

###

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization

The Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University.

Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org

Source: Kevin Solomon, kvs@purdue.eduSpringer Nature published its first machine-generated book in chemistry. The book prototype provides an overview of the latest research in the rapidly growing field of lithium-ion batteries. The content is a cross-corpus auto-summarization of a large number of current research articles in this discipline. Serving as a structured excerpt from a huge set of papers, the innovative pipeline architecture aims at helping researchers to manage the information overload in this discipline efficiently.

In close collaboration between Springer Nature and researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, a state-of-the-art algorithm, the so-called Beta Writer, was developed to select, consume and process relevant publications in this field from Springer Nature's content platform SpringerLink. Based on this peer-reviewed and published content, the Beta Writer uses a similarity-based clustering routine to arrange the source documents into coherent chapters and sections. It then creates succinct summaries of the articles. The extracted quotes are referenced by hyperlinks which allow readers to further explore the original source documents. Automatically created introductions, table of contents and references facilitate the orientation within the book.

Niels Peter Thomas, Managing Director Books at Springer Nature, said: "Looking back to a long tradition and expertise in academic book publishing, Springer Nature is aiming at shaping the future of book publishing and reading. New technologies around Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence offer promising opportunities for us to explore the generation of scientific content with the help of algorithms. As a global publisher, it is our responsibility to take potential implications and limitations of machine-generated content into consideration, and to provide a reasonable framework for this new type of content for the future."

Henning Schoenenberger, Director Product Data & Metadata Management at Springer Nature, added: "We are thrilled to finally publish this new type of research content and make it available for the global research community. While research articles and books written by researchers and authors will continue to play a crucial role in scientific publishing, we foresee many different content types in academic publishing in the future: from yet entirely human-created content creation to a variety of blended man-machine text generation to entirely machine-generated text. This prototype is a first important milestone we reached, and it will hopefully also initiate a public debate on the opportunities, implications, challenges and potential risks of machine-generated content in scholarly publishing."

In the future, Springer Nature plans to expand this pilot project by developing prototypes for content from other subject areas as well. The published prototype on research about lithium-ion batteries will serve as a solid basis to further refine and improve the underlying technology.

Springer Nature's first machine-generated book is designed for all interested audiences: researchers, master and PhD students, reviewers, academic writers, librarians and decision makers in science education. It is available as eBook and print book. The eBook is freely available for readers on SpringerLink.

###There have been no major ground rupturing earthquakes along California's three highest slip rate faults in the past 100 years. A new study published in Seismological Research Letters concludes that this current "hiatus" has no precedent in the past 1000 years.

U.S. Geological Survey researchers Glenn Biasi and Kate Scharer analyzed long paleoseismic records from the San Andreas, San Jacinto and Hayward Faults for the past 1000 years, to determine how likely it might be to have a 100-year gap in earthquakes across the three faults. They found that the gap was very unlikely--along the lines of a 0.3% chance of occurring, given the seismic record of the past 1000 years.

The results emphasize that the hiatus is exceptional, and that the gap isn't some sort of statistical fluke created by incomplete paleoseismic records, said Biasi.

The analysis also indicates that the next 100 years of California earthquakes along these faults could be a busy one, he noted. "If our work is correct, the next century isn't going to be like the last one, but could be more like the century that ended in 1918."

Between 1800 and 1918, there were eight large ground-rupturing earthquakes along the faults, including the well-known 1906 earthquake in San Francisco and the similar-sized 1857 rupture of the San Andreas in southern California, but nothing so large since.

"We know these big faults have to carry most of the [tectonic] motion in California, and sooner or later they have to slip," said Biasi. "The only questions are how they're going to let go and when."

The three faults and their major branches analyzed by the researchers accommodate the majority of the slip between the Pacific and North American plate boundary. Paleoseismic records from the faults predict that there would be three to four large ground-rupturing earthquakes (magnitude 6.5 or larger) each century.

Biasi and Scharer examined the best available paleoseismic records from sites along the three faults to determine whether the current gap could be explained by missing data, or incorrect radiocarbon dating of past earthquakes. From these data, they calculated the probability that there would be a 100-year gap in ground-rupturing earthquakes across all three faults.

"Our paper confirms that this hiatus is very improbable and it's our view that our efforts will be better spent considering explanations for this, rather than trying to bend the data to make the hiatus a 'statistically improbable but could happen' kind of thing," said Biasi.

"We're saying, no, it's not a data problem, it's not a data choice problem, it doesn't matter how you slice this," he added. "We just have not had earthquakes that past records predict that we should have had."

He likened the hiatus to what a person might see if they pulled up a chair alongside a freeway to count passing cars. "You might say that a certain number of cars per hour is kind of representative, and then something happens and you go ten minutes of seeing no cars. If it's just ten minutes, you could say it was a statistical fluke."

But if the freeway stays clear of traffic for a long time, "the other reason there might be no cars is that up around the bend, there's a wreck," said Biasi.

The researchers would like more seismologists to focus on the reasons--"the wreck around the bend"-- behind the current hiatus.

"We had the flurry of very large earthquakes from 1800 to 1918," Biasi said. "It's possible that among them they just wrung out--in the sense of wringing out a dishrag--a tremendous amount of energy out the system."

There may be stronger long-range interactions between the faults than suspected, or there may be unknown features of the mantle and lower crust below the faults that affect the probability of ground-rupturing earthquakes, he noted.

###Ground-breaking work by university experts in Tennessee, Texas and Swansea is helping develop a better understanding of the growing threat posed by antifungal drug resistance.

Invasive aspergillosis is a devastating disease caused by breathing in small airborne spores of the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus and it is a condition where drug resistance has been encountered.

In a healthy person these spores are destroyed by the body's immune system but in those with a weakened immune system - such as following organ transplantation or in someone with a lung condition such as asthma or cystic fibrosis - they can trigger a range of problems including infections.

Every year aspergillosis leads to more than 200,000 life-threatening infections and increasingly resistance to vital antifungal drug treatments makes those infections harder to treat.

National Institutes of Health (USA) funding supported a collaboration between the University of Tennessee, the University of Texas and Swansea University as part of a $2 million, five-year research programme. This support enabled investigation of resistance to the triazole class of antifungal drugs used for treating the disease

A new paper, published in the prestigious American Microbiology Society journal mBio, reveals how researchers have been able to identify a previously uncharacterised genetic mutation in clinical isolates that leads to resistance.

Professor Jarrod Fortwendel, from the University of Tennessee, said: "As with bacteria, antifungal drug resistance is a real challenge facing medicine.

"Understanding how the fungus becomes drug resistant is important for designing changes in therapy to overcome aspergillosis."

Professor Dave Rogers, also from the University of Tennessee, added: "It is very important that the research continues and we find out more about why it is happening and how we can tackle it for the future."

Swansea University's Professor Steve Kelly, whose experience researching the field of antifungal resistance dates back to 1984, described the findings as a real breakthrough.

He said: "This paper is the result of a lot of hard work and we are delighted to now be able to publish our findings."

###

The paper Mutations in hmg1, challenging the paradigm of clinical triazole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus is published in mBio. Its authors are Jarrod R Fortwendel, P David Rogers, Jeffrey MRybak and Wenbo Ge, from the University of Tennessee and Nathan P Weiderhold, University of Texas. Swansea University authors are Steven Kelly and Josie Parker."If you believe that all life surrounding you in Hong Kong has been discovered, then you'll realise that you just need to look a bit closer... not for big things, but for ants and other insects walking at your feet, to find a plethora of new creatures," said Dr Benoit Guenard from the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

In two separate articles recently published in Zookeys and Asian Myrmecology, Dr Guenard and his team expanded the knowledge on Hong Kong ants by adding 13 species to the 174 species officially recorded.

Among those are three new species of the genus "Strumigenys", also known as miniature trap-jaw ants, new to Science and thus far known only from Hong Kong. As their name indicates, these species are tiny, measuring only 2 to 4mm long but are astounding predators of the small arthropods living in the forest leaf-litter. They can open their mandibles widely and snap their prey with the fast-closing movement of their mandibles.

The new species described by a recent HKU graduate student Wilfred Kit Lam Tang, and the researchers Mr. Mac Pierce and Dr Benoit Guenard, are named Strumigenys hirsuta, in reference to its hairy appearance; Strumigenys lantaui, as this extremely rare species is known only from a single locality on Lantau Island; and Strumigenys nathistorisoc, in honour of the Hong Kong Natural History Society which funded this research through the Name an Ant Program which invites donors to support scientific research on biodiversity in exchange for having a species named after them.

Ken Bradley, Chairman of the Hong Kong Natural History Society said that the Society readily supports Dr. Guenard's research which is line with the Society's objective of "encouraging the study of Natural History in general and in particular in Hong Kong". "There are still many species in Hong Kong to be discovered and the support and involvement from the community in this endeavour is absolutely fundamental," said Dr. Guenard.

Another five species of Strumigenys are newly recorded from Hong Kong but had already been described from other Asian regions. One of them, Strumigenys formosa, was known only from Taiwan where only two queens had been collected since its discovery in 1988. For the first time, the worker caste is thus described from a single specimen collected in Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve; enhancing our knowledge on this species' distribution and its importance for conservation. Other species recorded were previously known from South East Asia, Japan, Taiwan or other provinces of China. Finding these new, and for some of them rare species, is a good thing for Hong Kong and its biodiversity, but other discoveries are more worrisome.

Indeed, five of the species newly recorded are non-native to Hong Kong, four belonging to the Strumigenys genus, and one, Brachymyrmex patagonicus, here recorded for the first time from mainland Asia. This latter is an urban pest well-known for its ability to enter and establish nests within a wide range of buildings, like hospitals, hotels, schools, and houses, and colonise various rooms such as kitchens, offices, and laundry rooms, but also more sensitive areas such as infirmary and neonatal units. In some American states, where it is also introduced, it has become the species causing the most frequent intervention from pest control companies. If the population in Hong Kong, currently known only from Hung Hom, was to proliferate, it would most likely induce an increase in pest management costs; and more harmful for the environment and populations, a more frequent use of pesticides.

The discovery of five more exotic species in Hong Kong, like the fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) in the early 2000's, highlights the regional importance of Hong Kong in importing species, some with important consequences for human populations and local biodiversity. It also indicates the need to deploy efficient survey and monitoring programmes to quickly detect these species after their arrival so targeted actions to suppress them or limit their spread through Hong Kong and beyond can be activated.

Monitoring Hong Kong insects can thus reveal both beautiful and alarming discoveries. With probably several hundreds, if not thousands of species waiting to be found, it shows the fantastic diversity that the city still has to offer if protected sufficiently. In parallel, it also represents an important step for uncovering more alarming species, in particular exotic ones for which early detection represents a key requirement to ensure success in the limitation of their spread and negative impacts.

###

Links of journals:

Tang K.L., M.P. Pierce, & B. Guenard (2019). Review of the genus Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in Hong Kong with the description of three new species and the addition of five native and four introduced species records. Zookeys 831, 1-48. https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/31515/

Guenard B. (2019) First record of the emerging global pest Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr 1868 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from continental Asia. Asian Myrmecology 10: e010011. http://www.asian-myrmecology.org/publications/am10/guenard-2018-am010012.pdf

Presentation powerpoints at the press conference (download).

More information and Images download: https://www.scifac.hku.hk/press/release/new-ant-speciesSPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 3, 2019) - - When Susannah Lerman talked with fellow researchers and friends about her study of the effects of less frequent lawn mowing to improve habitat for native bees, the response she heard most had nothing to do with bees. "The first thing people said was that letting the grass get longer would invite ticks," said Lerman, a research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station. "It was clear that before we could make the case for promoting lawns as bee habitat, we had to understand the tick risk."

In a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, Lerman and her Northern Research Station colleague, Research Entomologist Vince D'Amico, report on their quest to get to the bottom of a common assumption about the urban landscape: ticks like long grass. As part of a study to evaluate whether less frequent lawn mowing in residential lawns in Springfield, Mass., could promote floral resources and hence, serve as viable habitat for native bees, Lerman and her partners surveyed for blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis, also known as deer ticks) as well as bees every three weeks. In 16 suburban Springfield lawns over the course of two summers, Lerman and colleagues documented 111 bee species, which equates to roughly one-quarter of all bees documented in Massachusetts. As for blacklegged ticks? In 144 tick drags in lawns of various lawn mowing frequencies and grass heights, Lerman and her colleagues found not a single one.

"There are obvious limitations to this study in terms of establishing the risk of ticks," Lerman said. "We sampled for a single species of tick, and our study was limited to 16 residential lawns in a single city. Still, our study has two significant take-aways: you do not necessarily invite ticks if you mow the lawn every other week instead of every week, and common assumptions about nature are always worth investigating; scientists may be surprised by what we find."

Blacklegged ticks are notorious as carriers of Lyme disease, a tick-borne infection with significant human health risks that is prevalent in the Northeast. While blacklegged ticks are no doubt lurking in people's yards, D'Amico said that the grassy part of a property is probably too dry for the tick. "This species needs near 100 percent humidity for at least part of the day," D'Amico said. "Where we have leaf litter, the ticks do very well."

In the United States, an estimated 40 million acres of residential lawn managed by homeowners, businesses, government agencies and cemeteries have the potential to become habitat for beleaguered native bee species, if people can put aside a very reasonable fear and loathing of ticks. In this study, Lerman and her team found good reason to do so.

###

See the study, "Lawn mowing frequency in suburban areas has no detectable effect on Borrelia spp. vector (Ixodes scapularis)," at : http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214615The new technology is focused on improving detection and diagnosis of congenital heart disease in infants and children.

A new study by biomedical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas could significantly improve methods for detecting and diagnosing congenital heart disease in infants and small children.

The researchers, collaborating with cardiologists at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, tested a new ultrasound technology called vector flow imaging for the first time on pediatric patients to create detailed images of the internal structure and blood flow of the babies' hearts. The images can be still or moving, and can be taken from any angle.

"Vector flow imaging technology is not yet possible in adults, but we have demonstrated that it is feasible in pediatric patients," said Morten Jensen, associate professor of biomedical engineering at the U of A. "Our group demonstrated that this commercially available technology can be used as a bedside imaging method, providing advanced detail of blood flow patterns within cardiac chambers, across valves and in the great arteries."

Jensen performed the study with a multidisciplinary team, including Dr. Hanna Jensen, clinical assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the U of A; Dr. Thomas Collins, clinical associate professor of pediatric cardiology at Stanford University School of Medicine; and researchers at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Their findings were published in Progress in Pediatric Cardiology.

Roughly 1 percent of all babies are born with some type of congenital heart defect. Fortunately, the majority of these defects will never have any significant impact as the child grows into adulthood and old age. Pediatric cardiologists detect and diagnose congenital heart disease through multiple processes, including echocardiography. This imaging method is based on ultrasound and assesses the overall health of the heart, including valves and muscle contraction.

Although ultrasound provides essential information about cardiac valve function in babies and small children, it has critical limitations. It cannot accurately obtain details of blood flow within the heart. This is due primarily to the inability to align the ultrasound beam with blood-flow direction.

Using a BK5000 Ultrasound machine with built-in vector flow imaging, the researchers performed successful tests on two pigs, one with normal cardiac anatomy and one with congenital heart disease due to a narrow pulmonary valve and a hole within the heart. The researchers then compared the vector flow images to direct examination of the pigs' hearts.

The researchers subsequently used the imaging system to take cardiac images of two three-month-old babies, one with a healthy, structurally normal heart and one with congenital heart disease because of an abnormally narrow aorta. With both patients, the technology enabled total transthoracic imaging of tissue and blood flow at a depth of 6.5 centimeters. Abnormal flow and detailed cardiac anomalies were clearly observed in the patient with congenital heart disease.

All procedures, both animal and human, were performed at Arkansas Children's Hospital with assistance from Dr. Elijah Bolin, pediatric cardiologist at UAMS.

"We are still getting used to having this great, new information readily available, and we're excited about the future in both research and direct clinical advancements," Bolin said.

"This technology will increase our ability to provide the best possible bedside diagnosis and greatly enhances our understanding of what is happening in hearts with complex abnormalities," Stanford's Collins said.

The researchers will perform additional studies to further quantify images using this recently developed technology.

###

This project was supported by the Arkansas Children's Research Institute, the Collaborative Nutrition Pilot Grant and the Arkansas Research Alliance.

Jensen is an Arkansas Research Alliance Scholar.Using light focused to size of an atom, they push resolution of microscopy to new level

Irvine, Calif., April 3, 2019 - By focusing light down to the size of an atom, scientists at the University of California, Irvine have produced the first images of a molecule's normal modes of vibration - the internal motions that drive the chemistry of all things, including the function of living cells.

In a study published today in Nature, researchers at UCI's Center for Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit describe how they positioned the atomically terminated silver tip of a scanning tunneling microscope mere angstroms from its target: a cobalt-based porphyrin molecule affixed to a copper platform. (Porphyrins are of biological importance for their role in respiration and photosynthesis.)

Prodding the molecule with the light confined on the silver atom, the team delved into the quantum regime among the twittering atoms of the molecule, becoming the first to record vibrational spectra and observe how charges and currents that hold atoms together in bonds are governed by the molecular vibrations.

"From structural changes in chemistry to molecular signaling, all dynamical processes in life have to do with molecular vibrations, without which all would be frozen," said co-author V. Ara Apkarian, CaSTL director and UCI Distinguished Professor of chemistry. "We've long been aware of these vibrations. For ages, we have been measuring their frequencies through spectroscopy - but only now have we been able to see what is moving and how."

Co-author Joonhee Lee, CaSTL research scientist, added: "To date, molecular vibrations have been pictorially explained using wiggling balls and connecting springs to represent atoms and bonds, respectively. Now we can directly visualize how individual atoms vibrate within a molecule. The images we provide will appear in textbooks to help students better understand the concept of vibrational normal modes, which till now had been a theoretical concept."

To achieve atomic resolution, CaSTL researchers set up their experiment in an extremely high-vacuum and low-temperature (6 kelvins) environment to eliminate all external motions and positioned their single-atom probe near the targeted molecule, within a distance less than the size of an atom. Glass lenses wouldn't work in this type of microscopy, in which features are resolved on a scale that's a thousand times smaller than the wavelength of light.

"The limit of what you can see in standard microscopy is half the wavelength of light, which is on the order of half a micron, from which the microscope derives its name," Apkarian said. "The optical microscope revolutionized cellular biology because through it you can observe what's happening inside a cell - but a molecule is one-thousandth the size of a cell."

In their experiment, the team poked and prodded the cobalt-based molecule with a silver atom being zapped with laser light, risking agitation of the target. The CaSTL scientists mitigated this possibility by freezing the sample onto a copper substrate. The molecule flattened by binding to the copper, exposing itself to the close approach of the scanning tunneling microscope tip.

By moving the silver tip up and down in relation to the sample to keep a distance of about 2 angstroms (1 angstrom equals one-ten-billionth of a meter), the researchers were able to record differences in frequencies at various positions within the molecule. They maintain that the incredible resolution stems from quantum mechanical tunneling of plasmons (electrons interacting with light), countering the notion that tunneling would decrease the electric field necessary to excite the molecule.

"We have a microscope now that can resolve atoms, and we're using it to look inside molecules, which was unthinkable only a few years ago," Apkarian said. "The spatial resolution of optical microscopy has been advanced by another notch, and what we're seeing at this scale is truly amazing."

Next, CaSTL scientists will further refine their measurements of electrical fields within molecules, work to detect where atoms are missing from molecular structures, and use quantum interference principles to characterize even finer details.

"This National Science Foundation-supported team reached a major milestone by overcoming impossible barriers to develop a new instrument to 'see' the individual atoms of a molecule in real time and space," said Kelsey Cook, NSF chemistry program director. "This invention will lead to unprecedented, transformational understanding of how molecules react and cells function."

###

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 222 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.AURORA, Colo. (April 3, 2019) - A currently approved epileptic drug to treat seizures has been modified by a University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus professor and is currently being used in a clinical trial in Australia for medically refractory epilepsy.

Tom Anchordoquy, Professor at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Dan Abrams, M.D., CEO of Cerebral Therapeutics have developed a proprietary reformulated specialty pharmaceutical, which bypasses the blood brain barrier using a chronic implantable infusion system, to improve the lives of patients with severe medically refractory epilepsy.

The two have worked together for over a decade developing drug formulations to be injected directly into the brain where it is needed.

Cerebral Therapeutics is currently conducting a proof of concept study in adult patients at Australia's University of Melbourne using its proprietary anti-epileptic specialty formulation via direct intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration. This proof of concept study has demonstrated potentially enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity in patients with medically refractory epilepsy.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to file an IND with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial.

"It is well established that getting drugs into the brain is very difficult," said Anchordoquy. "Typically, patients have to take high doses of drugs that distribute all throughout the body in order to get some drug into the brain. As a result, most of the drug that the patient takes does not end up in the brain, and therefore cannot effectively treat the disease. For this reason, conventional treatment often causes adverse effects in other parts of the body. This technology allows the drug to be delivered directly into the brain where it is needed, and avoids exposing the rest of the body to the drug. This is a very clever idea that makes sense. While the advantages of using pump technology are clear, the formulation challenges associated with implementing this approach are significant. We need to be very creative and think outside of the box."

"Patients who have multiple seizures every day cannot be left alone. They can't work, drive, or even walk to the mailbox by themselves. This technology enables them to have the potential to do all these things and resume a relatively normal life. I am grateful to be a part of it," said Anchordoquy. "There are so many reasons why the pump is the most effective way to get the drug to the seizure area in the brain," he continued. "It eliminates the patient taking multiple pills every day and doesn't saturate the entire body with the drug minimizing adverse side effects. Their lives are changed dramatically."

Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological problem in the world. Approximately three million people in the United States are living with epilepsy with one million people experiencing uncontrolled seizures; medications and surgery have not been an option for the majority of these patients.

Cerebral Therapeutics' therapy uses a specialized implanted, refillable catheter pump infusion system to deliver a continuous micro dose of its proprietary specialty formulation of valproic acid called CT001 for which Cerebral Therapeutics has an exclusive license agreement from the University of Colorado.

###

About Cerebral Therapeutics

Cerebral Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company dedicated to improving the lives of patients living with uncontrolled neurological diseases, focused on severe refractory epilepsy. Founded by experts in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery and drug delivery, the Company is pioneering the development of long-term implanted drug-device combination therapies directly into the target region of the brain. The goal of this novel approach is to maximize efficacy while greatly reducing systemic drug exposure and enhancing drug regimen compliance. Cerebral Therapeutics' infusion therapy may offer a more efficacious and reliable approach to treating neurological diseases for which oral and I.V. infused medicines are not able to achieve adequate control and/or are limited by systemic toxicities. For more information please visit http://www.cerebraltherapeutics.com.

About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education, and healthcare. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, numerous centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked hospitals that treat more than 2 million adult and pediatric patients each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, together we deliver life-changing treatments, patient care, and professional training, and conduct world-renowned research powered by more than $500 million in research awards.Unsustainable harvesting, including hunting, trapping, fishing and logging, is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Yet, no previous assessment has investigated which areas are most vulnerable to this threat globally.

In a new article published in the journal Science Advances, a team of scientists has identified regions under high-intensity threat from commercial harvesting of species. On land, high-risk regions occur across all continents, but are especially concentrated in Asia and North and South America. At sea, high-risk regions are particularly concentrated in Asian seas. These hotspots cover 4.3 percent of the land and 6.1 percent of the seas.

Dr. Enrico Di Minin, a conservation scientist at the University of Helsinki, the lead author highlighted that urgent actions are needed in these centers of unsustainable harvesting to ensure that use of species is sustainable.

"We found that high-risk areas contain 82 percent of all species impacted by unsustainable harvesting, and more than 80 percent of the ranges of Critically Endangered species threatened by this threat," says Dr. Di Minin

"Currently, only 16 percent of these regions are covered by protected areas on land and just 6% at sea. Furthermore, species threatened by unsustainable harvesting are especially concentrated in areas where governance is the lowest", he says.

Species threatened by unsustainable harvesting include highly charismatic species, such as elephant and rhinoceros, but also thousands of other less well-known species, including birds, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, plants and invertebrates. Examples include the Helmeted Hornbill from South-East Asia a bird that is heavily hunted for its remarkable beak, which is carved for decoration or used in traditional medicine. The Dama Gazelle of North Africa is threatened by uncontrolled hunting for food. And many shark species are threatened by targeted fishing and bycatch.

Prof. Thomas Brooks, chief scientist at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a co-author in the article highlights the pressing threat from unsustainable harvesting.

"Unsustainable harvesting is now the most prevalent threat affecting threatened marine species and is the second most prevalent (after agriculture/aquaculture) for terrestrial and freshwater species. In this analysis, we included an extensive set of species from all comprehensively assessed groups in the IUCN Red List," he says.

Co-author Dr. Stuart Butchart, Chief Scientist at BirdLife International, concluded: "There is an urgent need to expand and effectively manage protected areas in these hotspots, alongside broad-scale policies to tackle unsustainable fisheries, logging and hunting" added Butchart. Underpinning such efforts is the need for awareness-raising to reduce demand for threatened species, better enforcement of protective laws and strengthening compliance with trade regulation including through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

###

Reference: E. Di Minin, T. M. Brooks, T. Toivonen, S. H. M. Butchart, V. Heikinheimo, J. E. M. Watson, N. D. Burgess, D. W. S. Challender, B. Goettsch, R. Jenkins, A. Moilanen, Identifying global centers of unsustainable commercial harvesting of species. Sci. Adv. 5, eaau2879 (2019).

More information:

Dr. Enrico Di Minin, Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki

Email: enrico.di.minin@helsinki.fi

Tel: Finland: +358(0)458413206

Twitter: @EnTemboPROBING unsolved crimes from years or decades ago is a challenge for any police officer. But the task is made even more difficult because the very term "cold case" puts a dampener on expectations of success, according to a university criminologist whose latest book calls for a new investigative mindset in detectives who are assigned to re-open case files.

"Put bluntly, if you believe a case to be unsolvable before you've actually looked at it, then it most certainly is," writes Dr Jason Roach, who is Director of the Applied Criminology and Policing Centre at the University of Huddersfield.

In tandem with ex-Metropolitan Police detective Mark Roycroft, Dr Roach has jointly edited Decision Making in Police Enquiries and Critical Incidents: What Really Works? and co-written two chapters, including The Retrospective Detective: Cognitive Bias and Cold Case Investigation.

Dr Roach outlines many of the challenges facing detectives who review unsolved cases.

"The cold case investigator has little more to work with beyond that provided by previous investigators and investigations. They cannot turn back the clock and begin the investigation afresh," he writes.

There might have been a recent breakthrough in the shape of new forensic evidence or criminal intelligence. But if not, "the frame for cold case homicides by definition is that they are difficult if not impossible to solve" and the "psychological effect on an officer(s) charged with investigating a cold case is likely to be one of pessimism, with the common psychological frame adopted by detectives for cold cases likely to be a far more negative one".

Dr Roach - a psychologist and criminologist whose career has included crime analysis for the Home Office - uses psychological theory to analyse the attitude of detectives to cold cases. This includes so-called System 1 thinking, which is more emotional and intuitive than its more rational System 2 equivalent. He argues that the term "cold case" is more likely to trigger a System 1 response.

The Retrospective Detective chapter includes a sequence of recommendations, including the need for research into the cognitive biases that influence the investigation of cold cases.

Dr Roach also seeks to to identify "whether a difference exists in the way that investigators think about and approach cold cases that are simply undetected and those cold cases that previously led to a miscarriage of justice". The chapter cites the murder of Lesley Molseed, when the innocent Stefan Kiszko was imprisoned for sixteen years until eventually being found not guilty by the Supreme Court.

Dr Roach believes there are several reasons that the investigation of cold cases is important, including the correction of miscarriages of justice and the fact that undetected murderers could still be at large. He also sees cold cases as valuable learning opportunities and he has researched ten cases in which offenders were identified up to 25 years after the crime.

The new book, Decision Making in Police Enquiries and Critical Incidents, came about because there was a gap to be filled in the literature of criminology and forensic psychology.

"Most of it focusses on how offenders make decisions. But there is very little on how the police make decisions. This book is how do they do it in criminal investigations and in critical incidents such as terrorist incidents or the Grenfell fire," said Dr Roach.

The book has nine chapters from seven authors, most of whom have been serving police officers in the UK and overseas. Topics include the operation of a major incident room and a European perspective, comparing decision-making in Norway and the UK.

Dr Roach has recently returned from Oslo, Norway, where he presented a series of lectures on self-selection policing and police decision-making to detectives at the Norwegian National Police University College.

###One University of Texas at Arlington researcher is working to understand the relationship between cardiovascular disease and depression in a National Institutes of Health-funded project. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., killing more than 600,000 people each year, and the approximately 16 million Americans affected by depression have a high risk of developing the disease.

"Adults with depression have an accelerated risk of developing cardiovascular disease," Jody Greaney, an assistant professor of kinesiology at UTA, said. "Not only are they more likely to develop the disease in the future, but it also happens at an earlier age; the risk is excessive and premature compared to an adult who has never had a history of depression."

Greaney is using a $248,000 NIH award to study the effect depression has on the human brain's control of blood pressure and how it can cause long-term detrimental changes to a person's cardiovascular system.

"The hope would be that the findings from these studies could inform the development of innovative therapeutic strategies to minimize the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in adults with depression," she said.

Greaney completed the first phase of this two-phase grant at Pennsylvania State University as a postdoctoral fellow. Building on a series of studies in rodent models of depression, phase one of the project attempted to translate these findings from pre-clinical rodent models to the human manifestation of the disease. Greaney tested blood vessel function and examined the specific mechanisms that cause them to function poorly in otherwise healthy young adults with depression.

Phase two will investigate these same mechanisms as they relate to blood pressure regulation. Both phases of the project have been supported by the NIH, with a three-year award funding the second phase at UTA.

Greaney joined the faculty at UTA in January 2019 and said the university's leadership, resources and position in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex played a major role in her decision to bring her research to the urban research university.

"I think the Department of Kinesiology has grown tremendously and in a very impressive way with leadership setting forth a vision for growing the research profile of this department," Greaney said. "I was able to see immediately how I could fit into that framework."

Greaney also praises the newly constructed Science & Engineering Innovation & Research, or SEIR, Building as encapsulating a high-caliber, modern clinical research environment.

"Jody's innovative research explores new territory in understanding the physiological dysfunction that appears to accompany this critical condition [depression] affecting our population at alarming rates," David Keller, associate dean of the College of Nursing and Health Innovations and chair of the Department of Kinesiology. "Her work will contribute greatly to expanding UT Arlington's research portfolio and directly supports our mission to enhance health and the human condition."

Greaney aims to begin collecting phase-two data in the coming months. Currently, she is networking with other researchers in the area interested in the topic, which she said presents "limitless" opportunities for collaboration.

###Two College of Education researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington are launching a statewide, longitudinal study of a new program designed to better prepare high school students for college and careers.

Supported by a $265,531 grant from the Greater Texas Foundation, associate professor Yi "Leaf" Zhang and professor Maria Trache are following Texas students who participated in the Foundation High School Program (FHSP), which began in 2014 and is designed to improve high school students' readiness for postsecondary education and the workforce. They anticipate their research also will give parents and faculty better information when students are planning their academic programs.

"We want to know how this program is affecting students' high school graduation, college choice, major selection, college persistence, academic performance and degree attainment," Zhang said. "Our findings will shed light on how this program relates to overall student performance and serve to inform future research, policy and practice on the matter."

FHSP provides students with five choices of endorsements, or areas of study, to complete on their path to graduation: science, technology, engineering and mathematics; business and industry; public service; arts and humanities; and multi-disciplinary studies.

According to the Texas Education Agency, endorsements consist of a related series of courses grouped together by interest or skill set to provide students with in-depth knowledge of a subject area.

"Though the program is almost five years old, it's still a new policy in terms of what we understand about it," Zhang said. "We want to test the main purpose of this program: Are these endorsements preparing students to succeed and complete their degree in these specific fields of study?"

Trache added: "We talk often about how students go into secondary school without knowing what they want to do, and this program tries to alleviate that by giving them clearer educational and career goals at an earlier age. But no evidence of student success has been provided, and we hope to make the program more efficient and effective for administrators and students by finding empirical answers to our study's questions."

Zhang and Trache are focusing on ninth graders who entered high school as FHSP was implemented in 2014 and will follow them through high school graduation and the first four years in higher education via restricted, statewide longitudinal data housed in the Texas Education Research Center (ERC). The Texas ERC is the state's official clearinghouse of student-level data for scientific inquiry and policymaking purposes

"One major question we have is if there's a difference in student performance among the five endorsements," Trache said. "And are they choosing majors related to their endorsement? If they are, is it making them take college courses more efficiently? If a student comes into school with little idea of what they want to do, it can lead to wasted time and more money spent."

Teresa Taber Doughty, dean of the College of Education, noted that the University "has committed to programs and initiatives that support PK-16 education in Texas. We focus on preparing highly effective teachers, school leaders and higher education administrators as our faculty engage in impactful research that shapes education-related policies and practices."

"Drs. Zhang and Trache commit tremendous time and effort to research that will ensure our practices and the state's education policy serve students," she continued. "Their research examining student outcomes achieved through the FHSP will result in findings that will inform our future practices. I continue to be impressed by the work in which Drs. Zhang and Trache are engaged and am excited to see how these Mavericks continue to shape the landscape of education in Texas."

Zhang and Trache are analyzing data from a cohort of more than 400,000 students. The funding from the Greater Texas Foundation supports four years of study. This study is a continuation of a one-year project sponsored by Texas OnCourse the two conducted previously. The researchers say the new funding will allow them to study the educational experience of the cohort from the time they selected their endorsements to anticipated college graduation.

###For years, scientists have assumed that when top predators are reintroduced to an ecosystem, the effects are predictable: The ecosystem will return to how it was before the predators were wiped out.

Now, University of Wyoming researchers have published a study showing that there's little evidence for such claims. This has big implications for wildlife conservation in places such as Yellowstone National Park.

Most people are probably familiar with the story of Yellowstone's wolves. Wolves were wiped out in Yellowstone in the 1920s and, in their absence, elk became much more common and ate so much vegetation that it degraded the ecosystem.

Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in the mid-1990s and over the next two decades brought profound change to the ecosystem. The number of elk decreased, while the number of aspen, willow and cottonwoods increased. Biologists observed positive responses by other animals, from songbirds to beavers. Scientists assumed that Yellowstone's ecosystem is on its way to being restored to historical conditions.

But this new study questions that assumption: Do we really know what those historical conditions were? And, does reintroducing apex predators alter ecosystems with any predictability at all?

The team of researchers from UW, Yale University and the University of British Columbia-Okanagan set out to find the answer. The results were published in the journal Biological Conservation earlier this week.

Ecosystem restoration via large carnivore reintroduction relies on two critical assumptions. First, large carnivore reintroduction has to initiate a predictable trophic cascade -- that is, where carnivores reduce the abundance of herbivores, which, in turn, increases the abundance of the plants they feed on. Second, the magnitude of that trophic cascade has to push an ecosystem back to a previous state.

But lots of other things can happen, too. Reintroduction of large carnivores might not affect the ecosystem much at all. Or the ecosystem might veer off in a new, unpredictable direction due to changes to the ecosystem or biological communities that occurred when large carnivores were absent. This is particularly likely in today's era of climate change and invasive species, the researchers say.

There aren't many studies on this topic, so the researchers collected studies that included data on the reintroduction of native apex predators or removal of invasive ones. These events are two sides of the same coin: Reintroductions and removals should work the same way, but in opposite directions.

They found that trophic cascades brought on by these events don't appear to be predictable -- sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't. In fact, they found only one consistent result: When invasive apex predators were removed, smaller predators such as coyotes, foxes and rats become more common.

Jesse Alston, the lead author on this study, says there are two take-home messages to this work.

"We need more studies," he says. "More tests of this 'assumption of reciprocity,' as we call it -- particularly via rigorous experimental studies -- would be really helpful. This is hard data to get, but we really do need it before we can credibly claim that large carnivores restore ecosystems. They might not."

"We also think that large carnivore reintroduction should be pursued for its own sake," Alston adds. "Large carnivores are great, but using their effects on ecosystems to justify reintroduction might not hold up to scrutiny and could be counterproductive in the long term.

"We hope we set up a nice framework for thinking about large carnivore introduction and invasive species removal that others can run with. We want to raise an important question, but it's going to take lots of folks to provide a definitive answer. This is an unfinished story."

###MORGANTOWN, W.Va.--In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, West Virginia University neuroscientists linked white light at night--the kind that typically illuminates hospital rooms--to inflammation, brain-cell death and higher mortality risk in cardiac patients.

Randy Nelson, who chairs the Department of Neuroscience in the WVU School of Medicine, and Courtney DeVries, the John T. and June R. Chambers Chair of Oncology Research at WVU, re-created cardiac arrest in animal models. Doing so temporarily interrupted the brain's oxygen supply. Then the researchers and their colleagues divided the models into three groups that would spend their nights in--respectively--dim red light, dim white light and the dark.

After seven nights of this regimen, the researchers evaluated the health of the models' brain cells. Exposure to white light at night caused multiple poor outcomes. The researchers' findings are published in Experimental Neurology.

Cardiac arrest was more likely to be lethal for models in the white-light-at-night group, whereas the mortality rate in the red-light-at-night group did not differ from the group that stayed in darkness.

Exposure to white light at night also correlated to greater cell death in the hippocampus--a part of the brain that's key to memory formation--and more aggressive inflammation overall. In fact, just one dimly illuminated night was enough to cause pro-inflammatory cytokines--tiny proteins critical to immune responses--to surge. This was only the case, however, if the light was white. Red light had no effect.

"When you see long-wavelength, blue light first thing in the morning, those long wavelengths set your circadian clock to precisely 24 hours. The problem is, if you see blue light at night--from your phones, TVs, computers and compact fluorescent lights--they're disrupting your circadian system all night long. Those lights look white to us, but frankly, they're mostly blue," explained Nelson, who--along with DeVries--receives support from the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute. His previous research has associated nocturnal blue light with higher rates of obesity, metabolic disorders and depression.

"Clearly light at night is required in patients' rooms acutely after cardiac arrest and other major health events," said Laura Fonken, lead author on the study and an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. "Our data suggest that a relatively simple shift--changing the light color from broad-spectrum white to a red hue--benefits outcomes in an animal model of cardiac arrest. If this also occurs in clinical populations, then it would be important because it would not require complicated clinical trials to implement for patients and could improve recovery from various other health events that require hospital stays."

To that end, the researchers are exploring whether white light at night provokes a similar physiological response in people. For four nights in a row, they outfit one group of hospitalized cardiac patients in special "gaming glasses" with orange lenses that filter out the troublesome blue light. Wearing the glasses seems to bathe everything in warm, sunset tones. Another group of patients wears identically shaped glasses that have clear lenses, allowing the full spectrum of white light--including blue tones--to pass through.

"The cool thing from our perspective is, we believe these longer-wavelength lights won't have that detrimental effect, and people will recover faster," Nelson said. If studies bear out the researchers' hunch, gaming glasses may be an affordable, practical option for preserving brain function, reducing inflammation and lowering the risk of death in cardiac patients.

###

Research reported in this publication was supported by the US-Israeli Binational Research Foundation, the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1R01NS092388 and the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute. WVCTSI is funded by an IDeA Clinical and Translational grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, under Award Number U54GM104942, to support the mission of building clinical and translational research infrastructure and capacity to impact health disparities in West Virginia.this news is not availableRecent sessions have seen the inescapable effect of Brexit push the Pound exchange rates to fresh one-week best levels against a basket of currency peers as foreign exchange market participants reel back expectations of a messy withdrawal from the EU in the wake of PM May's about-face which could see the probability of a 'softer' Brexit scenario rising.

With focus now turning to whether PM May's cross-house olive branch will yield a deal which the House of Commons, as well as EU leaders, can agree upon remains to be seen.

For the Sterling, while a benign outcome to the Brexit debacle is expected to be supportive, some analysts feel a deal is almost fully priced in for the GBP, leaving risks skewed to the downside.

Above: Current GBP Pricing - Key Points

Summarising market perceptions of the Brexit process and the implications for the GBP, Nordea analysts Morten Lund and Andreas Larsen wrote "A long prolongation of the Brexit deadline is now most likely on the cards. The GBP is though priced, as if a relatively benign exit is almost carved in stone, why a long prolongation could easily end up as GBP disappointment."

Out with the risk of one of the EU27 leaders rejecting the UK's request to extend the already extended Brexit deadline, no-deal risks appear to off the table - for now at least - with markets reacting Pound-positively.

Nordea analysts wrote that given recent surges in the GBP on positive Brexit news-flow have left the Sterling close to fair value should a deal be forthcoming, in turn leading to an expectation that a longer Brexit delay could actually weigh on the Sterling.

Long Brexit Delay: Negative for the Pound Euro

Larsen and Lund wrote "The GBP is though already close to fair value in case of a deal. I.e. a long postponement of the Brexit deadline is not necessarily a GBP positive scenario, why we believe that the GBP could weaken over the following 3-6 months in case of such a prolongation," adding "From a risk/reward perspective this leaves us with a negative GBP view."

No Deal Brexit: Pound Sterling Modestly Stronger vs Euro

Given their perspective, Nordea analysts anticipate that should a no-deal outcome unfold, "A no deal will put +0.95 range in play in EUR/GBP," while in the case of a deal, "the GBP will only be modestly stronger."

Norway-Plus / Customs Union Brexit: GBP/EUR to Appreciate

On the type of deal, Nordea analysts forecast that a Norway-plus model or permanent customs union to be more likely to spur GBP appreciation - with these options relatively softer - when compared to the GBP impact should May's deal pass.

"A Norway-plus model or a permanent customs union would take EUR/GBP fair value to the 0.81-0.83 range, while May's deal will take EUR/GBP fair value to around 0.83-0.84 (almost at current spot-levels)," wrote the analysts.

Above: Pound Sterling (GBP) Brexit Exchange Rate ForecastsHi,



I am on Australia PR living in Melbourne for the last two years. I would like to bring my brother's daughter (American born citizen five year old child, currently living in Chicago) for a holiday.

1) Please suggest on what type of Visa to pursue for the child?

2) Should the child parents accompany her to enter Australia, or Can I go and bring her from America?



Please help.



SudheerRev 04/03/19



CLAREMONT, CA  April 3, 2019 Arbela, Reveel and the Manufacturing Executive Institute have committed to sponsor the upcoming APICS Inland Empire (APICS_IE) Spring 2019 Symposium on Saturday, April 13, 2019 as platinum sponsors. The symposium will be held from 8am  11:30am at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California.

APICS Inland Empire Chapter (APICS-IE) is the Inland Southern California chapter part of the Association of Supply Chain Management (ASCM), the leading association for manufacturing, distribution and logistics professionals focused on the end-to-end supply chain and operations. The chapter provides resources, classes and accreditation for supply chain and operations professionals.

The Spring 2019 Symposium focuses on a key issue in today's manufacturing and supply chain environments: Manufacturing & Supply Chain Talent Transformation: People or Robots?"

"Our sponsors are key to our ability to host these events twice each year" commented Lisa Anderson, APICS-IE Chapter Leader and President of LMA Consulting Group. "Each of the sponsors have supported the APICS Inland Empire chapter for over three years" she concluded. The symposium attracts industry professionals from the Inland Empire and Southern California.

"The APICS Inland Empire chapter is an important resource for manufacturing executives. The symposiums provide insight and a place for professionals to connect" noted Alan Dunn, Founder of the MEI and President of GDI Consulting.

Just as important, manufacturing, distribution and supply chain professionals can discuss relevant industry issues. "It has been proven that embracing the latest supply chain solutions creates advantages and affects the bottom line. The symposiums cover the latest technology and industry advances and insights that allow professionals to reconfirm their own efforts and do advance planning. Collaborating and sharing with peers will also increase success in adopting new strategic processes. We are glad that we are part of the transformation of supply chains in the Inland Empire." commented Nima Bakhtiary, President and CEO of Arbela Technologies.

All supply chains are affected by transportation whether locally or globally. "APICS-IE symposiums demonstrate how all disciplines affect each other and allow for education and collaboration. We are proud to be a part of that" noted Keith Durna, Vice-President at Reveel.

The APICS-IE Spring Symposium: Manufacturing & Supply Chain Talent Transformation: People or Robots? will be held Saturday, April 13, 2019 from 8:00-11:30 AM at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont. Fees to attend are $15 for members, $25 for non-members and students are no charge (must register in advance). A breakfast buffet is included. Register online: APCIS-IE.org.Toyotas Tacoma in March once again topped other midsize pick-ups on the market, but analysts say the Japanese automakers bestselling workhorse  manufactured in San Antonio  will soon face sharper competition from Ford and Jeep.

Tacoma sales climbed 12 percent last month from the previous March, according to sales figures Toyota released Tuesday.

The Tacoma has been so successful for Toyota that Ford Motor Company has brought back the midsize Ford Ranger. Ford ended production of the Ranger at the end of 2011 after a 30-year run to focus on the Ford F-150, its highly profitable full-size truck.

The redesigned truck started appearing in Ford dealerships over the last few weeks.

In the meantime, FIAT Chrysler Automobiles NV is jumping into the competition with a new midsize truck, the Jeep Gladiator  the Jeep brands midsize pick-up since the early 1990s.

It is definitely the case that the Tacoma is going to see some renewed competition, said Jeremy Acevedo, manager of industry analysis at Edmonds.com Inc. It was the only show in town.

Toyotas success with the Tacoma, he said, prompted Ford and Fiat Chrysler executives to get back into the midsize market.

Toyota produced 22,798 Tacomas in March, and 58,183 in the three-month period ending March 31, according to the Japanese automaker. Not only was it the best March for Tacoma production, it was also its best-ever first quarter, up 8.2% from the first quarter of 2018.

U.S. sales of the Tacoma nearly reached 250,000 in 2018, Toyota reported.

Sales had been so strong that Jack Hollis, group vice president and general manger of the Toyota division of Toyota Motor North America, said the San Antonio plant had been operating at more than full-capacity. During a press briefing Tuesday, he said the plant was running 24-hours a day with three-shifts until December 2018  before Toyota moved some of the production to its newly expanded plant in Baja Mexico.

But even with the Mexico plant taking part of the load, Hollis said the San Antonio facility is still running overtime shifts due to demand for the Tacoma.

A state regulatory filing in March shows that Toyota expects to spend $17 million to expand and upgrade the San Antonio plant, though the company has not said whether the expansion is to increase production of the Tacoma.

Fords and Fiat Chryslers new models have the potential to impact the number of Tacomas the automakers produces, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.

It will be interesting to see if Tacoma can hold up on the growth, given the changes in the segment with two new models, he said.

The Tacomas success has eclipsed the other vehicle manufactured by Toyota in San Antonio  the Tundra, its full-size pick-up. Toyota statistics for March show 10,351 Tundras sold in the U.S., down 4.6 percent from March 2018.

First-quarter numbers were also disappointing for the Tundra. Buyers bought 25,100 Tundras in the three-month period ending March 31, compared to 26,318 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Brauer said the Tundra has never gotten close to toppling more entrenched models such as Fords F-150, which had U.S. sales of 900,000 vehicles in 2018. By comparison, Tundra sales were 118,258 in the U.S. last year.

The Ford truck and other popular models, like General Motors Chevy Silverado and Fiat Chryslers RAM 1500 trucks, dominate the U.S. market, Brauer said, and have built extreme brand loyalty.

Toyota officials are hoping to increase Tundra sales by redesigning the truck. Toyotas Hollis, however, didnt offer a specific timetable. The last time the pick-up truck had a major redesign was in 2007.

While a redesign is long overdue, Acevedo said, it will be difficult for Toyota to take market share from the entrenched players in the large pick-up truck market.

Its such a loyal segment, he said of the large pick-up buyers.

randy.diamond@express-news.netGary Cain, who last year was convicted with then-state Sen. Carlos Uresti in a Ponzi scheme, says he was duped along with defrauded investors.

In a court filing appealing his conviction for his role at oil-field services company FourWinds Logistics, Cain says most of the criminal activity  including falsifying bank statements to lure prospective investors  occurred before he was hired as a consultant.

FourWinds CEO and principal owner Stan Bates, co-owner Shannon Smith and Uresti, who served as FourWinds lawyer and recruited investors, are the culprits in the scheme, Cain says.

These were the men who ordered documents to be tampered with and then presented them to investors, Cain says in the appeal filed Tuesday. These acts were all done before Mr. Cain began working at Four Winds and were not reasonably foreseeable by Cain.

Cain, 62, is serving a 68-month prison sentence in a low-security federal facility in Seagoville. He is scheduled to be released in October 2023. Cain and five others convicted in the FourWinds fraud collectively must pay $6.3 million in restitution.

On ExpressNews.com: Cain gets a more than five-year prison sentence

A jury last year found Cain and Uresti guilty on a combined 20 felony counts. Uresti, 55, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, a term he is serving in a low-security institution in Beaumont. Uresti, who is scheduled to be released in 2029, is not appealing his conviction. The guilty verdicts led the longtime San Antonio Democratic lawmaker to resign from the Senate and surrender his law license.

On ExpressNews.com: Jury finds Cain, Uresti guilty on all counts

Bates, 47, pleaded guilty to eight felonies rather than stand trial with Uresti and Cain. Bates is serving a 15-year prison term in a low-security facility in Bastrop and is scheduled to be released in 2031. Bates intends to appeal his conviction.

Smith and two other FourWinds employees pleaded guilty and cooperated with federal authorities in the investigation. FourWinds was set up to buy and sell frac sand thats used in oil production.

Cain was found guilty of nine felonies, comprised of various money-laundering and wire-fraud charges.

Stephanie Stevens, a St. Marys University Law School professor, is representing Cain in his appeal before the 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals

A spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office declined to comment on the appeal.

In his appeal, Cain says federal prosecutors presented insufficient evidence on all of the charges against him. He also says the court erred in one jury instruction and in determining the amount he owes in restitution.

Cain raised similar arguments when he asked Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who presided over the trial, for both a new trial and an acquittal. Ezra denied both motions.

On ExpressNews.com: Judge denies Uresti, Cains request for a new trial

On the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Cain says in his appeal he neither emailed false records to anyone nor transferred investors money between accounts. He wants the appeals court acquit him of the charge.

Cain joined FourWinds in September 2014 but says he didnt become aware of FourWinds troubles until late that year when oil prices collapsed.

Mr. Cain began to take numerous steps to try to save Four Winds from financial ruin, his appeal says. Some of his actions worked well and allowed investors to receive some return on their investments. Ultimately, however, Bates excessive spending, poor financial judgment, and deceit caused Four Winds to go bankrupt.

At Cains sentencing in June, though, Ezra said Cain knew FourWinds was a crooked enterprise but chose to stay to collect $15,000 in consulting payment every two weeks.

Every two weeks was a win for him, lead prosecutor Joseph Blackwell said at Cains sentencing. He helped drain, what he knew to be a scam, out to the very end.

FourWinds entered bankruptcy in the summer of 2015. The business was later liquidated.

FourWinds, in fact, sold sand and turned a profit, Cain says. Therefore, prosecutors couldnt show that the paychecks he received came from tainted funds.

The evidence is insufficient to show he conspired to launder money instruments (his paychecks), and the evidence is insufficient to show he engaged in monetary transactions (depositing his paychecks) from money derived from specific unlawful activity, he adds.

Cain says that rather than abandon the investors, he tried to help them recoup their losses. He also cooperated with law enforcement, he says.

He wants the appeals court to reverse his conviction and order a new trial.

Cain also says the court erred in holding him responsible for $6.3 million in restitution, claiming the figure includes losses that occurred before he joined FourWinds. He wants the court to review the restitution amount.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPDPrivate equity firm Thoma Bravo has acquired a controlling stake in Mailgun, a fast-growing tech company based in San Antonio.

The company helps customers send, receive, track and manage email in applications. Mailguns more than 150,000 clients include Reddit, Slack and Lyft.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Thoma Bravo, which has offices in San Francisco and Chicago, has more than $30 billion in investor commitments and has acquired more than 200 tech companies, according to its website.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios venture-capital investments lag, but climate here is changing

The firm believes there is tremendous growth potential in the email infrastructure market, said Hudson Smith, a partner at Thoma Bravo, in a news release.

Thoma Bravo stood out among the private equity firms that approached Mailgun, CEO Will Conway said. The firms experience with acquisitions, initial public offerings and companies similar in size to Mailgun was appealing, and it was aligned with the businesss leadership.

The key is going out and finding the private equity (firm) who believes in your strategy, executive team and geography, Conway said.

Mailgun

was founded in 2010 and participated in Y Combinator, a prominent Silicon Valley accelerator.

Locally based Rackspace acquired the company in 2012. The cloud-computing firm didnt disclose how much it paid for Mailgun, but said it issued 59,485 shares to certain Mailgun stockholders. That would amount to at least $3.3 million, based on the stocks closing price the day before the deal was announced.

The company raised $50 million and spun out of Rackspace in 2017, as Rackspace shifted its focus away from building its own products and toward offering support, Conway said. The financing round was led by Turn/River Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, with participation from Rackspace and San Antonio-based venture equity firm Scaleworks.

Mailgun became profitable outside of Rackspace, Conway said, though he declined to share further financial details. The company nearly quadrupled its workforce from 23 to 110 and expects to continue hiring more people over the next few years. Mailgun also has offices in Austin and San Francisco.

Rackspace declined Tuesday to say whether its keeping an ownership stake in the company. Turn/River will retain a minority position in Mailgun, but Thoma Bravos investment marks an exit for Scaleworks. Mailgun was the only business in Scaleworks fund that it wasnt majority owner of.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio venture equity firm raises $80 million fund

The company was growing well within Rackspace, but we believed the opportunity to create its own story and position (it) as an independent company was very strong, said Ed Byrne, co-founder and general partner at Scaleworks, in a statement.

These days, believe it or not, we get more email, not less. It's still a huge part of business, he added. We look forward to seeing continued growth from Mailgun.

Thoma Bravos investment is also a boost for San Antonios nascent technology scene, Byrne said, noting: This is significant validation of the growing tech ecosystem here.

madison.iszler@express-news.netA box covered in silver wrapping paper sits on a low table in the lobby of Aerial Horizon, the aerial performance company and school.

The box is filled with secrets.

Anybody who steps into the space is invited to jot one down on a card and drop it into the box. Secrets are being collected through the companys website, too. All are being gathered anonymously. Some will be read aloud during Divulge, the companys latest show, which debuts this weekend and is about secrets.

Among the secrets read during a rehearsal last week:

I secretly enjoy making my co-workers miserable at work.

I judge people who dont tell their animals they love them.

The sound of fans drives me nuts.

Cards will be visible at various points in the show, so company members are re-writing the secrets on fresh cards, lest an eagle-eyed audience member recognize the handwriting on them.

On ExpressNews.com: Aerial Horizon shows off new home

The show is the first by Aerial Horizons professional performance troupe since the company moved into its studio almost a year ago. Its the companys first space built expressly for its distinctive needs  think very high ceilings that can safely accommodate performers soaring overhead.

The building was created to the specifications of Julia Langenberg, the troupes founding artistic director and a performer in her own right.

Langenbergs intent from the beginning was for the space to be used as a performance venue.

The production is just one indicator of growth for the company. It also hosted a national conference on aerial theory a few weeks ago, which drew performers from across the country. Langenberg is hoping to host other conferences in the future.

It was really a great way to put Aerial Horizon more on the national circus map, as it should be, said Lauren Breunig, a circus artist based in Vermont who has taught a number of workshops for the company and will be joining the troupe for Divulge.

The show was inspired by PostSecret, an online community art project through which people are invited to anonymously share an array of secrets. About three years ago, Langenberg listened to a podcast about the project and immediately saw the idea of secrets as a fertile one for a show.

The company started developing the idea in August, then began rehearsing in January.

Its been a fun process, she said.

Langenberg directed the piece, which was shaped collaboratively by the company. It includes solo pieces as well as larger sections in which the performers work together. There are some light-hearted moments as well as some darker sequences. Langenberg takes center stage for a powerful piece dealing with trauma.

On ExpressNews.com: Immersive art showcase Hopscotch opening in SA this fall

At the start of the process, company members were tasked with coming up with characters to play in the piece, said Jenny Franckowiak. The characters had to have traits that would allow each performer to develop a story.

Franckowiaks character climbs a rope at the start of the show and drops several secret cards to the floor.

Shes a person who cant keep secrets, she said.

Her character doesnt intend to hurt anyone by revealing things that others might want kept hidden. In a moving duet, she attempts to make amends with a friend (Joshua Grohman) who has suffered as a result of her actions.

Grohman said working on the show made him think about his own life, something that audience members may walk away doing, as well.

I feel like Im an open person, he said. I had to really think about the secrets I have. I thought, Is this a secret that I would be better off sharing?

Breunig  who got to know Langenberg as a fellow alum of the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro, Vermont  has wanted to work with the company in the past, so she was delighted when an opening in her schedule coincided with the rehearsal process.

Breunig will be performing on a sliding trapeze, an apparatus she devised herself.

She has enjoyed collaborating with her fellow artists to create something new.

I love the students that Ive met here and the way that Aerial Horizon has become this hub of aerial arts in San Antonio, she said.

Aerial Horizons Divulge can be seen at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at Aerial Horizon, 6203 Krempen Ave., Suite 101. Tickets range from $15-$20 at brownpapertickets.com . Info, aerial-horizon.com/divulge ; 210-908-7816.

dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN

Deborah Martin is an arts writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinENAvogeddon? Avopocalypse?

OK, maybe thats hyperbole. But this much is true: avocado prices saw the biggest single-day spike in prices in the past decade this week following threats by President Trump to close the U.S. border with Mexico.

Growers south of that demarkation are responsible for more than 75 percent of the U.S. supply, and padlocks on the gates between the two countries would mean guacamole will most definitely cost extra  if you can even find it  as supplies dry up.

So what do we have to say about it? Well, theres really only one puro San Antonio way to respond: Come and take it.

This citys love affair with the fruit is undeniable and, lets face it, undefeatable. If there is a San Antonian cook involved, avocados will be found, one way or another.

On ExpressNews.com: Podcast: Avo-geddon and Paesanos tyranny of nostalgia

And were always looking for new ways to use them. This week were celebrating the sweet side of avocados in four recipes.

Avocado-based desserts are a trendy newcomer that have found their way onto restaurant menus and into home kitchens alike over the past few years.

Experts say 85 percent of the calories in an avocado come from fat  in the same neighborhood as most commercially produced butter. So believe it or not, mashed or pureed avocado makes a surprisingly effective substitution in many cases.

There are some factors to keep in mind when using avocados in this unorthodox manner. For starters, they do oxidize and turn brown, so sweets that contain at least some citrus juice will stay looking pretty for longer as the juice slows that color shift.

While were on the topic of color, bear in mind that most of the avocados bright green pigment is closest to the skin. If you want your desserts to look their shamrock best, be sure to scrape as much of that deeply hued flesh from the peels as possible.

On ExpressNews.com: Hack your favorite puro San Antonio Tex-Mex foods with healthy swaps

Additionally, while avocados are mostly fat, they do not melt in the same way as butter due to a significantly higher fiber content. Mashing with a fork will deliver flavorful and functional results, but for the smoothest texture and appearance, a blender or food processor works best.

Still feeling skeptical? Fear not. The recipes weve included this week are all simple, straightforward concoctions that are designed to show off just how neutral the flavor of avocado is in a finished dessert. So get into the kitchen and cook em while youve got em.

Recipe: Avocado Cheesecake

Recipe: Avocado Coconut Paletas (Popsicles)

Recipe: Avocado Pound Cake

Recipe: Avocado Chocolate Truffles

Paul Stephen is a food and drink reporter and restaurant critic in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephenTwo Southwest Research Institute scientists are part of a team set to conduct the largest ever Hubble Space Telescope survey of the Kuiper Belt by studying some 200 objects in the ancient reservoir of material to better understand the formation of the solar system.

The Kuiper Belt, a doughnut-shaped region around the sun that lies outside Neptunes orbit, is home to objects that have to be made primordially and had to survive 4.5 billion years of solar system evolution, said Alex Parker, the surveys principal investigator and a senior research scientist at the SwRIs Boulder, Colorado office.

That makes the area and the objects a very rich source of information about the origin of the solar system, he said.

The survey could start as soon as next month and will take up to a year, Parker said. The program, awarded to SwRI by NASAs Space Telescope Science Institute, involves 206 orbits of the Hubble, or about 200 hours of telescope time, he said.

The Hubble circles the earth every 97 minutes, but the actual time it will be observing the objects during each orbit is a little less than 60 minutes, Parker said.

OnExpressNews.com: Scientist aims to find secrets of solar system's past

Scientists will measure the properties of the "binary systems" in the Kuiper Belt, pairs of objects that an institute news release called "powerful tracers of the processes that built the planets." The objects orbit with each other around a point in space, rather than one orbiting the other.

They'll use the Hubble to test the theory that the binary systems formed together from the start, rather than as singular objects that later merged to form binaries, a competing theory.

During a time of instability when the planets were rearranging into their current configuration, everything got too stirred up for binaries to form, Parker said. So the objects in the Kuiper Belt have to hearken back to before, when everything was calm and quiet.

The structure of the Kuiper Belt tells us that it is the most well-preserved remnant from when the planets were formed, Parker said.

The design of the Solar System Origins Legacy Survey takes into account not just what the Kuiper Belt looks like from earth, but to what it actually looks like, without discovery biases that occur because some objects are easier to see and discover, he said.

The team includes two SwRI investigators at the institutes office in Boulder, as well as researchers in other U.S. cities, Canada and Northern Ireland.

LTeitz@express-news.netWilliam Luther /

The Aspen Institute gave Palo Alto College its Rising Star Award on Tuesday, marking the South Side institution as one of the top five community colleges in the nation.

Its amazing, said Beatriz Joseph, PACs vice president of college services, at a watch party for the Aspen Prize announcement in the colleges performing arts center. Its a great honor. It really speaks volumes of our faculty and our staff and their dedication to ensuring our students can achieve better lives through education.None of the school districts in and around San Antonio, rich or poor, would lose money under the House education bill headed for floor debate Wednesday in Austin  and many would gain significantly, revenue estimates released this week by the Legislative Budget Board show.

The House plans a full day of debate and possible amendments to House Bill 3, which would modify per-student state funding formulas and provide an additional $9 billion to public education over two years, including $2.7 billion that school districts could use to relieve property taxes.

A competing Senate bill is less ambitious. If both pass, they will need to be reconciled by negotiators from both chambers.

Some school superintendents in Bexar County said the estimates bolster their already favorable view of HB 3. Several have faced dire financial problems in recent years amid widespread complaint about existing state education funding.

Theres still considerable uncertainty about the bills real impact.

Based on school districts current average daily attendance, the calculations do not include the extra per-student funding weights that HB 3 proposes, including a new five-tiered system designed to more closely reflect the costs of educating low-income students.

For example, the San Antonio Independent School District would receive an additional $40 million in maintenance and operations funding in the 2020 fiscal year under this weeks estimates.

But since enrollment in SAISD has rapidly declined over the past two years  causing a budget shortfall last year that resulted in layoffs  the 2020 numbers could be lower. Yet, since about 91 percent of the districts 51,000 students qualify for free or reduce-price lunch, the HB 3 funding weights not included in the estimate likely would drive the per-student amounts higher.

Were pleased with the estimates, but we know they are only estimates, said Leslie Price, SAISD spokeswoman.

Edgewood ISD, historically one of San Antonios poorest districts, would receive more than $9 million in fiscal year 2020 above what it could expect under the current systems state outlays for its 10,000 students, according to the estimates.

Nothing is finalized but its exciting to think about all the things it could do to support the classroom and the teachers and our community, Superintendent Eduardo Hernandez said.

Lawmakers general willingness to listen to educators this year made him cautiously optimistic for a positive outcome regardless of the final tally, he said.

The bill also would offer some relief to Alamo Heights ISD, a property-wealthy district of nearly 5,000 students now in the second year of a budget deficit that its leaders blame on recapture payments under the states Robin Hood system.

In August, its board froze employee salaries and administrators expressed fear of having to make future cuts.

Under the current law, it would owe the state a recapture payment of $42.4 million, more than half of its local property tax revenues, but HB 3 would reduce that by about $7.5 million, according to the LBB estimate, which would absolutely get us out of the deficit, Superintendent Dana Bashara said.

I think this is thoughtful, comprehensive legislation that would adequately fund public schools across the state, while paying special attention to areas like pre-kindergarten, dual language and dyslexia, she said.

North East ISD, which recently saw its property values climb to the point where it owed money to the state under the recapture law, would see its recapture payments reduced to zero in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 if HB 3 were enacted, according to the LBB estimate.

But NEISD officials declined comment, saying they questioned the assumptions on which some of the calculations were based, particularly those showing higher recapture payments under current law than their own projections show.

Judson ISD, which has struggled with difficult budget decisions this year and would receive an estimated $15 million more in revenue in 2020 if the law passes, also declined comment. So did Boerne ISD, whose recapture payment could fall by more than $10 million in 2020, according to the estimates.

Staff Writer Liz Teitz contributed to this report.

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A man who pleaded guilty in the death of a longtime San Antonio Museum of Art security guard in October received a 50-year prison term Tuesday.

Benito Menesess was arrested last year and charged with murder in the death of Robert Esparza Sr., 68, who workedfor more than 20 years with SAMA. His body was found Oct. 15 at his home in the 300 block of West Harding on the South Side by co-workers who were concerned that he had not shown up for work.

Officials said Esparza was bludgeoned to death in his home.

Two of Esparzas vehicles were reported missing from the home, officials said. One of them, a Toyota Tacoma that was recovered on the East Side on Oct. 16, 2018, contained evidence that led detectives to Menesess.

As part of an agreement with prosecutors that was reached before Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl on Tuesday, Menesess pleaded guilty to the murder charge and was assessed a 50-year prison term. Because Menesess has served time in prison twice for convictions for assault family violence, he is considered a habitual offender.

Esparzas family was at the sentencing in the 175th state District Court on Tuesday. The mans son, Robert Esparza Jr., faced Menesess during an emotional victim impact statement.

Nothing will ever heal my family, he told Menesess. Nothing will ever bring my dad back.

Thom Nisbet, who prosecuted the case for the Bexar County District Attorneys Office, was pleased with the outcome.

This family got some justice today for a savage attack on their father, he said.

Menesess, 49, will have to serve at least 25 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863Andre McDonald, the husband of Andreen McDonald, who disappeared more than a month ago, was released from the Bexar County Jail Tuesday.

Andre McDonald, 40, is charged with tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. He was booked into jail March 3 and a judge initially set his bail at $2 million. Last week that was lowered it to $300,000.

In lowering the bond, State District Judge Frank Castro ordered McDonald to wear an electronic monitoring device and put him under full house arrest. He also prohibited McDonald from visiting the home he shared with his wife on Solitude Cove or contacting their 6-year-old daughter.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Andre McDonald walked out of the jail at about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday. Surrounded by a scrum of cameras and glancing down at a book in his hands, he walked over to a waiting pre-trial services van and was driven away.

Andreen McDonald, 29, a local businesswoman, was last seen alive Feb. 28. Law enforcement officials have said they believe she is dead.

According to court records, investigators discovered blood and hair in McDonald's bathroom after Andreen McDonald's disappearance. They also found a fresh burn pit in the back yard, as well as a shovel, heavy duty trash bags, an ax and gasoline canisters.

ON EXPRESS-NEWS.COM: Employee: Missing San Antonio woman and her husband had a history of fighting

He was arrested on the tampering charge after the investigators said they discovered two receipts for the items that McDonald had tried to destroy.

Weeks of searching, including on Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, where authorities believe Andre McDonald went after his wife's disappearance, have yielded no answers.

A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of the suspect responsible for McDonalds disappearance.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.comTwo wedge issues in this years mayoral race came into sharp focus last week.

On Tuesday, Councilman (and mayoral contender) Greg Brockhouse sent a letter to Chick-fil-A, expressing regrets over the councils March 21 vote to remove the fast-food business from a concessions contract at the San Antonio International Airport.

Listen:

The council action was either an expression of disapproval over Chick-fil-As history of supporting organizations that are hostile to LGBTQ rights (if you believe District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino) or a simple bottom-line business move (according to Mayor Ron Nirenberg).

On ExpressNews.com: Brockhouse apologizes to Chick-fil-A

On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threw his weight behind Brockhouses argument by announcing that he was launching an investigation into the councils removal of Chick-fil-A from the airport contract.

Brockhouses attempt to capitalize on the controversy by aligning himself with faith-based conservative voters was a topic of discussion on this weeks edition of the Express-News Puro Politics podcast.

A day after the release of Brockhouses letter, Nirenberg provided himself with a buffer from another polarizing campaign issue: the citys Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Nirenberg announced that a council climate vote would be pushed back from May until sometime in the fall.

On ExpressNews.com: City Council to delay climate plan vote

Environmental reporter Josh Baugh pointed out that this marked the second time that council action on the plan  which faces pushback from fossil-fuel powerhouses Valero and NuStar  has been postponed.

Baugh said the planned May vote rankled some people because it would have come after the May 4 election and there were some people who were opposed to it, saying, This is unfair for a lame-duck council to make a vote on such a major initiative.

Although the climate plan offers no regulations or specific policy mandates, Brockhouse has slammed it as an anti-business proposal.

Baugh said Nirenberg and other climate-plan advocates are billing the latest vote delay as an opportunity to continue to get more buy-in and talk to more people, both from the environmental side and from the business side.

He added: Theyre trying to come up with something that big business in San Antonio can get behind, so theres more consensus going forward.

Hear these and other topics discussed on this weeks Puro Politics podcast.

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Four buses pulled up to the Municipal Plaza Building during Wednesday afternoon rush hour on March 20.

The buses were filled with members of the community who have seen their neighborhoods gradually crumble under the weight of gentrification.

They went to register a protest with the members of City Council. But this protest came with a twist.

The activists, who were affiliated with COPS/Metro Alliance, did not object to the risk-mitigation housing ordinance that the council would approve the following day, a plan providing $1 million in financial assistance to low-income families facing forced displacement from their homes.

They simply considered the plan to be insufficient: a reactive measure when proactive policies are required.

They want a plan to prevent displacement, rather than one thats focused on cushioning the blow of displacement after it happens.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg wants to tackle displacement, but says the full implementation of any municipal displacement policy must wait up to 18 months for the completion of a city study into the root causes of the problem.

This approach has triggered impatience and frustration; the kind of frustration that brings four busloads of San Antonians to council chambers.

We think he doesnt have a sense of urgency, the way we see it as residents of our neighborhoods, said COPS/Metro leader Maria Tijerina. Were saying if you wait another year, we really feel that its going to be too late to be proactive.

If some local activists question the speed of the mayors response, they concede that he shares their belief that city government should play an active role in combatting displacement.

Its a philosophy not shared by the mayors chief opponent, Councilman Greg Brockhouse.

Among other things, the May 4 showdown between Nirenberg and Brockhouse is a referendum on how the city should handle its housing affordability crunch.

Brockhouse often says he doesnt believe the city should be involved in the business of housing. He sees the remedy in less government, more willingness to let the free market do its thing.

Even while acknowledging that the city only collects about 22 percent of local property taxes (with public school districts receiving more than twice that amount), Brockhouse advocates cuts in municipal property tax rates.

I dont care if its five bucks a month, he told the San Antonio Express-News editorial board on March 20. Youve got to start somewhere.

Brockhouse also suggests that a business-friendly municipal government will spur the local economy to produce more jobs and higher wages  enabling San Antonio homeowners and renters to better cope with escalating housing costs.

People making more money means they can afford more house, a little more square footage, a little extra bedroom, a little better apartment, Brockhouse said during a Feb. 11 interview on the Express-News Puro Politics podcast.

Theres also the issue of incentives for developers.

The citys housing-affordability problem was inflamed by the 2012 passage of the Center City Housing Incentive Policy (CCHIP), which provided a combination of tax breaks and fee waivers to developers for projects in the urban core. Over its first six years, CCHIP delivered $102 million in incentives for 64 multi-family developments, generating an estimated $1.4 billion in private investment.

But because CCHIP did not take affordability into account, Nirenberg put a halt to it in December 2017 and the council rebooted it a year later with some modest tweaks.

If some perceive CCHIP as an example of the unintended consequences that come with incentivized development, Brockhouse argues that the city needs to provide more, not fewer, incentives to developers. To his way of thinking, that would lower construction costs, a savings that developers could pass on to consumers.

We have to reduce the cost of what were doing to business owners, to developers. Brockhouse said. We have to reduce costs so theyll save a little bit more money building. Because were scaring them out.

Nirenberg considers the recently approved risk-mitigation plan to be a mere safety net, and promises that ultimately he will deliver a comprehensive displacement prevention strategy. The details of that strategy, however, remain a work in progress.

Unfortunately, we cant move fast enough, Nirenberg told the Express-News editorial board on March 19. We could have everything delivered today and it would be too slow, because they (COPS/Metro) have been waiting a generation for it.

The truth of the matter is, we finally have a city thats making this a serious concern and is doing something about it and Im very proud of that work. And I dont want it to get derailed. And thats one of the other reasons why Im running.

@gilgamesh470

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Carlos Javier Sanchez / Contributor

AUSTIN  Will Texas lawmakers guarantee teachers a pay raise this year? Thats one question members of the Texas House will attempt to answer Wednesday as they take up a mammoth education bill that promises to reform how the state funds education and offers property tax relief to homeowners.

Two-thirds of the House members have signed up to support the $9 billion bill, giving the proposal more than enough votes to pass. The bill does not promise pay raises for teachers, although several superintendents have testified that they would expect to give teachers a raise should the legislation pass. A competing measure passed by the Senate guarantees $5,000 across-the-board raises for teachers and school librarians.The upcoming presidential election is arguably the most important in our countrys history, demonstrated by the number of Democratic candidates who have thrown their name in the hat for a chance to challenge Donald Trump in 2020.

For many, the options are so ample that it is hard to choose a candidate to root for. Some could be attracted to Bernie Sanders platform but turned off by his age. Some could favor Beto ORourkes youth and energy, but fear his lack of experience.

The perfect combination of candidates for the 2020 Democratic ticket seems to be ORourke and Sen. Kamala Harris  regardless who is in the presidential position and who would be vice president. Heres why:

After nearly unseating Republican Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race in Texas, ORourke has become the superstar of the Democratic Party. His youth, transparency and Obama-esque way of speaking have made him popular among Democrats across America. In a recent article in Vanity Fair, however, ORourke reiterates that he is a white male when many members of the Democratic Party are looking to bring diversity to the executive office.

Then we have Harris, the perfect yin to ORourkes yang. While also among the younger Democrats vying for the presidential nomination, Harris is a woman of color whose resume speaks volumes. A law degree from University of Californias Hastings College of Law, former district attorney of San Francisco, former attorney general of California and a U.S. senator from California since 2017 make her, on paper at least, an undoubtedly qualified and ideal presidential candidate.

ORourkes and Harris signature policies and experience are different yet complementary. A prosecutor for years, Harris spent that time trying to reform the criminal justice system, and her signature policy revolves around taking money from the top 1 percent and giving it to working class, struggling families.

ORourke, on the other hand, grew up next to the border in El Paso and his ideas center on immigration reform, while he also expresses Americas need for universal health care.

Ultimately, what truly makes Harris and ORourke a compatible duo is their shared intention to bring the country together. While touring Texas during his Senate campaign, Beto stated time and again that he would work with and listen to anyone, at any time, in any place, regardless of party affiliation, to move the country forward.

Likewise, in her book, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Harris speaks of working with the late Republican Sen. John McCain and states, for all of our differences  we are still one American family, and we should act like it.

It seems a Harris-ORourke team would consider the needs of the American people as a whole  regardless of political party  when making decisions and would work to end the extreme polarization that has characterized America since 2016.

At the end of the day, each voter must decide who to cast a ballot for to lead America, but in my opinion, you cant have more of a dream team other than a woman of color with an impressive resume and a former punk rocker with big dreams to handle our countrys most pressing needs.

Courtney Mason, a recent graduate of Baylor Universitys school of journalism, worked as a field organizer on Beto ORourkes Senate race in 2018.The South San Antonio Independent School District boards decision to go against the recommendation of its superintendent by moving forward with the reopening of three shuttered schools and rejecting an $10 million offer from the city for a community center does not bode well for the taxpayers in this beleaguered district.

The votes by board members Homer Flores, Shirley Ibarra Pena, Connie Prado and Gilbert Rodriguez to proceed with the school projects will cost taxpayers in this cash-strapped district millions of dollars they can ill afford.

The boards position on the community center is baffling. Shunning an offer to explore the investment of future municipal bond funds in their community makes no sense. Such offers dont come around often.

Regrettably, these most recent board actions will also likely set in motion a revolving door at the administration building.

Going against the advice of the superintendent on such an important decision sends an alarming message to the administration. Superintendent Alexandro Flores has six months on the job and has not been allowed to lead. A new board majority elected in November came armed with a political agenda they are determined to pursue at all costs.

South San ISD is in the hands of a runaway school board intent on fulfilling a campaign promise to reopen closed campuses despite the lack of any evidence this would be in the best interest of the district or its students. Pleas from dozens of students and community members asking the board to reconsider and instead allocate the funds to other pressing needs did not sway the board.

The three campuses were closed due to declining enrollment and budget woes. The district continues to lose students and does not have money to adequately fund three additional schools next fall. The board majority behind the reopening of the schools is of the mindset that if the campuses come back online, they will draw students who have left the districts schools and enrolled in charter schools.

Pushing forward with an expedited plan to reopen three campuses by next fall offers a short timeline for such a massive plan and only sets up the administration for failure. More troubling is that much of the discussion on the reopening of the campuses has occurred at budget committee meetings chaired by Rodriguez, who had the camera for livestreaming the proceedings removed.

It would not hurt the district to accept City Councilman Rey Saldanas offer to study the repurposing of the closed Kazen Middle School campus into a multigenerational center that would be built with future bond money. The councilman was not asking for a firm commitment, just an opportunity to do some preliminary groundwork that would allow the funding to be included in the citys next bond election.

The winners in all these shenanigans are the other South Side communities that would benefit from the bond funds the city was hoping to funnel into the South San area. Both the Palo Alto community college and Texas A&M-San Antonio communities have expressed interest in partnering with the city.

This type of project between the city and a school district is not new. The city has a partnership with Southwest ISD for the construction of a $21.2 million natatorium off Loop 410 and Pearsall Road. Its a shame the South San board wont even explore the possibilities.

Governance has always been a big problem in South San. Dysfunctional boards in the past have caused a high turnover in the superintendents office and prompted intervention by the Texas Education Agency.

Its disheartening to watch the South San board moving back in time on multiple levels.

TEA needs to step in before this board bankrupts the district.FAIRFIELD - State Representative Brenda Kupchick (R-132) hosted a ceremony at the at the Fairfield Museum and History Center last Saturday to honor the Fairfield sixth graders who won the essay contest she has sponsored for the community for the past eight years.

All public and private schools with 6th grade students in Fairfield were invited to participate in the National Women's History Month contest by writing a 300-word essay on the topic, Important Women in Connecticuts History and How Their Contributions to the State and Nation Affect Me.

Each student participant was asked to research on one notable Connecticut woman, detailing her life and accomplishments and what those accomplishments mean to them. The students read their essays and received an official state citation from the Connecticut General Assembly and a check from Fairfield County bank.

Kupchick was joined by State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28) as she presented the awards.

This annual contest is a wonderful way to provide students with new opportunities to learn more about Connecticut women who stood against conventional attitudes and made a difference in our state and country, said Kupchick. It was a pleasure to recognize the students excellent work and achievement. I want to thank all of the students who participated in the contest and the staff who worked with them.

Kupchick said, I appreciate Principals, Gary Rosato, Anthony Formato, and Steven Santoli and Meg Tiley, and Board of Education Chairwoman Christine Vitale for participating in the ceremony.

One winner and runner-up was chosen by each school and were invited along with their family members and school staff to a Saturday ceremony at the Pequot Library.

The winners and runners up were:

Fairfield Woods Middle School

 Caitlyn Yang

 Justin Wang

Roger Ludlowe Middle School

 Isabella Cramer

 Caroline Gouley

Tomlinson Middle School

 Musa Mohammad

 Miriam Grosman

Our Lady of The Assumption Catholic School

 Julia Basseto

 Alana Davis

Kupchick added that a sincere appreciation to Sarah Lubarsky from the Connecticut Womens Hall of Fame, Gregory Peck and Lori Peck owners of Spic & Span for donating the tasty refreshments, JoAnn Sterling and Fairfield County Bank for donating prizes for the students and to Fairfield Museum and History Center for hosting us this year.WASHINGTON  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are kicking off Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month by calling for greater collaboration with public, private and nonprofit partners, as well as, state and local officials to educate and engage consumers and stakeholders throughout the supply chain on the need to reduce food loss and waste.

In the U.S., more than one-third of all available food goes uneaten through loss or waste. Food is the single largest type of waste in our daily trash. In recent years, great strides have been made to highlight and mitigate food loss and waste, but the work has just begun. When food is tossed aside, so too are opportunities for economic growth, healthier communities and environmental prosperity  but that can change through partnership, leadership and action. Further elevating the importance of this issue, yesterdays announcement follows a message from President Trump acknowledging the month of April as Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month and encouraging public action and participation from all sectors.

USDA alone cannot end food waste, it will require partners from across the supply chain working together on innovative solutions and consumer education. We need to feed our hungry world and by reducing food waste, we can more wisely use the resources we have. I am pleased President Trump identified this issue as one of importance and I look forward to USDAs continued work with our agency partners at EPA and FDA to change behavior in the long term on food waste, said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.

Reducing food waste and redirecting excess food to people, animals, or energy production provide immediate benefits to public health and the environment. I am proud to join President Trump and my federal partners in recognizing April as Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month, said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. We are working closely with our federal partners and stakeholders across the nation to reduce the amount of food going to landfills and maximize the value of our food resources.

With 1 in 6 people getting a foodborne illness every year in the U.S. and up to 40 percent of food left uneaten, its understandable why food safety and food waste are major societal concerns, said FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas. The FDA is working to strengthen its collaboration and coordination with the EPA and USDA to strategically align our federal efforts between the two issues to better educate Americans on how to reduce food waste and how it can be done safely.

Getting involved

As part of the months observances, on April 9, EPA will host a live-streamed event with USDA and FDA. Additional joint agency actions will be announced at the event regarding the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative. At the event, a panel of food waste stakeholders will share how state and local communities can join the federal government in reducing food waste and loss.

USDA, EPA and FDA invite public and private partners to participate in Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month through the following:

Join the conversation: Share your efforts with the #NoWastedFood hashtag in your social media posts throughout the month.

Share your efforts with the #NoWastedFood hashtag in your social media posts throughout the month. Educate your community: Learn about USDA, EPA and FDA programs and resources to reduce food loss and waste.

Learn about USDA, EPA and FDA programs and resources to reduce food loss and waste. Be a U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champion: Join other corporate and business leaders who have made a public commitment to reducing food loss and waste in their U.S. operations by 50 percent by the year 2030.

The Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative is a collaborative effort (PDF, 579 KB) among USDA, EPA and FDA to reduce food loss and waste through combined and agency-specific action. Individually and collectively, these agencies contribute to the initiative, encourage long-term reductions and work toward the goal of reducing food loss and waste in the United States. These actions include research, community investments, education and outreach, voluntary programs, public-private partnerships, tool development, technical assistance, event participation and policy discussion.

For more information about Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month, visit the USDA Food Loss and Waste website.A Somerset farmer accidentally set his telehandler on fire after driving too close to a bonfire, according to firefighters.

The Burnham-On-Sea farmer started a controlled bonfire on his land on Tuesday (2 April).

But firefighters were called to the farm just before 4pm after the farmer reported that his machinery caught fire.

Two fire engines were directed to the well alight telehandler, which they say was caused by the farmer driving too close to the bonfire.

A Devon and Somerset Fire Service spokesman said: The fire control received a call from a local farmer advising his telehandler had caught fire in a field at Kingsway, Mark. Two fire engines from our Burnham-On-Sea station were mobilised immediately.

He added: On arrival crews confirmed the vehicle was well alight and set to work with one hose reel jet.

The fire was caused by the farmer driving too close to a controlled bonfire and caused 75% damage to the vehicle. The cause has been returned as accidental.

During last year's harvest period, farmers claimed 31.5m in compensation due to on-farm fires, compared with 26m in 2017.Around one million calves are missing after the US state of Nebraska suffered a catastrophic 'bomb cyclone' which caused extreme flooding.

Recent flooding in the Midwestern state is said to be the worst in 50 years, smashing weather records.

The brunt of the weather hit the state around mid March, bringing hurricane-like winds and blizzard conditions.

Since then, farmers across the state are tallying their losses from the extreme weather.

US government's Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, told Fox News that the weather has led to the loss of around one million calves.

Were going to do everything we can to help those people get back up on their feet, Mr Perdue said.

Pete Ricketts, Nebraska Governor, told the channel that farmers have lost around $400m (304m) worth of livestock and $440m (334m) of crop losses.

In Scotia, Nebraska, Annette Bloom and her farming family highlighted how they lost 35 calves in the flooding during the peak of her calving season.

There's just been a lot of devastation. We are having to travel three miles through pasture and cropland just to get out because our roads are gone, she told WBUR's Here & Now programme.

And the corn fields are going to be devastating to get in and plant and get that going, because usually we're planting within the next two weeks and it's not going to happen.

Thanks to the @NENationalGuard for their great work with this rescue by Arlington today. #NebraskaFlood pic.twitter.com/Ri69TTqPRy  Gov. Pete Ricketts (@GovRicketts) March 16, 2019

Across other parts of the state, hundreds of farming businesses have lost livestock.

One farmer, Jeremy Mahon, from Knox County, faced the choice of either saving his calves or his neighbours when freezing flood water rushed in, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.

He rescued one neighbour with his tractor as the floodwater kept rising. After, he used a boat to save three more neighbours, including an elderly woman and a 9-month old baby.

Mr Mahon estimates the flood carried away 30 calves and almost as many cows, nearly $50,000 (38,000) worth of losses.

Meanwhile, farmers in the UK have used social media to offer their condolences. One user, Geraint Powell, a 2017 Nuffield scholar, said such widespread damage puts it all 'into perspective'.

More calves lost to flooding in Nebraska than the UK suckler herd produces in 2 years. It takes some getting your head around....cant imagine what those farmers are going through. Puts a hailstorm while lambing into perspective pic.twitter.com/Dkb0wU4QrB  Geraint Powell (@geraint_powell) April 2, 2019

Nebraska is one of the leading US states in terms of agricultural output.Food manufacturer 2 Sisters Food Group has been fined 1.4m after a worker was seriously injured while unblocking a machine on the poultry slaughter line.

The employee was attempting to clear a blockage on a conveying system at 2 Sister's Foxhills Industrial Estate site in Scunthorpe, when he was struck by a large metal stillage.

As a result, the man's body was crushed at chest height against the end of the unit, and he sustained multiple injuries including several fractured ribs, fractures to his back and a punctured lung.

The incident happened on 6 September 2012. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to identify deficiencies in the guarding on the machine, and the clearing of blockages was usually carried out while the machine was still in operation.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been fined 1.4 million with 38,000 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing at Doncaster Magistrates Court, HSE inspector Kirsty Storer said: The employees life-threatening injuries could easily have been prevented had the company identified the guarding deficiencies and put in place simple measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.

This should serve as a lesson to others in the food processing industry about the importance of effectively guarding their machinery to stop others being similarly injured.

In February this year, 2 Sisters were fined over 270,000 after two workers had their thumb and finger severed in machinery at the company's poultry site in Norfolk.2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS.

We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover.

We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come.The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.Those of us who live in Fethiye often talk about how lucky we are and the beauty of our chosen home. Sayings like Arent we lucky to live here or Were so blessed to live here are often uttered and heard.

Here at Fethiye Times we spend a lot of time discussing the best way to share the beauty of Fethiye and what a special a place it is with our readers.

Its that time of year when you will be poring over holiday brochures and deciding where to go. Theres just so much choice!

Lets take five minutes away from you brochure or your internet holiday surfing and have a closer look at the things that make Fethiye such a special place.



Theres so much to tell you about Fethiye so weve made it easier by including links to various other articles that that showcase the area.

The Turquoise Coast

Kaputas Beach near Kalkan

Stretching from Antalya to Marmaris, the Turquoise Coast is the most dramatic, varied and unspoilt area in Turkey.

The Turquoise Coast is a succession of stunning panoramas, glorious beaches, dramatically sited ancient ruins, charming resort towns, coastal villages that remain relatively undisturbed and, inland, some of Turkeys most beautiful rural spots.

Want to see for yourself? Click on the link below and read our previous article including videos that show the Turquoise Coast in all its glorious beauty.

Experience the true meaning of Turquoise



Fethiye  a truly special place

Fethiye has so much to offer visitors  breathtaking beauty, wonderful weather, good hotels, historical sites, activities for everyone, delicious food and warm Turkish hospitality.

Breathtaking beauty

Fethiye is, without a doubt, stunningly beautiful. Everywhere you look there is scenery that will take your breath away.

The view across Fethiye

Oludeniz from the Lycian Way

The Blue Lagoon at Oludeniz

A paradise for foodies

If youre a foodie youll find yourself in food paradise.

Turks are passionate about food and eating and drinking arent merely about servicing the bodys needs. Its a rare Turk who regards food as simple fuel. Prepare to be dazzled by the array of meze (hors doeurves) that will appear in restaurants and savor the smells and tastes of Turkish cuisine.

Meze: an event rather than a type of dish

Mixed meze plate

A dazzling array of activities

Fethiye has a dazzling array of activities on offer. From beach days to historical sites, waterparks to paragliding or kite surfing and so much more. It would be impossible to list them all.

Hare are some previous articles that go into more detail about the activities available

Fethiye  more than the sum of its parts  activities for everyone (part one)

Fethiye  More than the sum of its parts -activities for everyone (part two)

Activities for everyone  Fethiye Adventure (Macera) Park

Dare you ride the slides?

Sehit Fethiye Bey Park  a very grand opening

Sun, wind and sea: Kite Surfing in Cals

Kite surfing at Cals Beach

Of course, the best way to experience Fethiye is to pay us a visit. All you need to do now is decide how long youll stay 

We hope to see you in Fethiye this summer.Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryD Boss Reacts

It all started when Shivarame Gowda said that Sumalatha can never become Mandya's daughter as she originally belongs to Naidu community. During the campaign, Darshan reacted to this comment saying, "I am a Christian, Muslim, Hindu and moreover a human being. Yes, I am a Naidu. So what?"

Darshan's Response To Deve Gowda's Comment

GT Deve Gowda, Minister of Higher Education in the cabinet of H.D. Kumaraswamy, recently issued a statement saying, "Darshan's campaign is not going fetch many votes." Darshan responded, "It's alright. I would be happy even if we get 50 votes instead of a 100."

He Sticks To His Words

From the start, Darshan has been calm and composed with regard to all the allegations targeted against him. He even requested his fans not to share any derogatory posts on social media. D Boss said all he seeks is peace and support at the given time.

Darshan Will Answer On The Day Of Results

Despite being discouraged and taunted at, Darshan's spirit seems to be an unbeatable one. Recently, the Yajamana actor said that on the day of the results, all the taunts will be answered. Look like he's quite confident about Sumalatha's win in Mandya.The KGF actor Yash and wife Radhika Pandit welcomed their first baby last December. She went on to be called the mascot who brought immense luck and happiness into these actors' life. Despite fans' requests and pleading, the star star couple has not released a single picture of their baby girl. While seeing her comes across as a far-fetched dream for some, Yash recently revealed that his and Radhika's bundle of joy will be named after a Hindu Goddess!

In an interview with Outlook India, Yash said, "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."

Yash Hopes To Make KGF Chapter 2 A World-Class Film! Says 'It Would Be Of No Use' If THIS Happens

A few days ago when Radhika shared a picture of herself holding a balloon shaped 'R'. Fans were quick to guess that she and Yash were planning on naming their daughter with a moniker starting with R. However, Yash later confirmed that it represented their names.

Recently, Radhika also issued a statement saying, "We are waiting for the right time to name her. Depending on the rituals, we would be naming her soon. And, we will definitely announce it in a special way when it's done."

Darshan Fires Back At Politician Who Called Him & Sumalatha Outcast; 'I Belong To All Religions'HEERLEN, Netherlands, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living,announces that all members of its Executive Committee have purchased ordinary shares in Royal DSM, expressing their confidence in the growth prospects of the company.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/657851/DSM_Logo.jpg )

All seven members of the DSM Executive Committee have decided to purchase ordinary shares in Royal DSM by converting 50% of their gross Short-Term Incentive into shares. The amount of the Short-Term Incentive converted per individual is on average circa 245,000, representing approximately 17,500 shares in total. Details of the transactions are provided in the notification to the AFM (Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets), according to the applicable regulations.

DSM - Bright Science. Brighter Living.

Royal DSM is a global, purpose-led, science-based company active in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living. DSM's purpose is to create brighter lives for all. DSM addresses with its products and solutions some of the world's biggest challenges while simultaneously creating economic, environmental and societal value for all its stakeholders - customers, employees, shareholders, and society at large. DSM delivers innovative solutions for human nutrition, animal nutrition, personal care and aroma, medical devices, green products and applications, and new mobility and connectivity. DSM and its associated companies deliver annual net sales of about 10 billion with approximately 23,000 employees. The company was founded in 1902 and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. More information can be found at www.dsm.com.

Forward-looking statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to DSM's future (financial) performance and position. Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections of DSM and information currently available to the company. DSM cautions readers that such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and therefore it should be understood that many factors can cause actual performance and position to differ materially from these statements. DSM has no obligation to update the statements contained in this press release, unless required by law. The English language version of the press release is leading.

For more information:

DSM Media Relations

Lieke de Jong

tel. +31-(0)-45-5782420

e-mail media.contacts@dsm.com



DSM Investor Relations

Dave Huizing

tel. +31-(0)-45-5782864

e-mail investor.relations@dsm.com



PRN NLDHemp Oil Extract Gummies (0%THC) Launches into Northeast USA

NEW YORK, NY /ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / Weekend Unlimited Inc. ("Weekend" or the "Company") (CSE: POT - FSE: 0OS1 - OTCQB: WKULF) updates that pursuant to its February distribution deal announcement with Infinity One LLC, its Canna Candys brand has begun shipping its initial order to launch the brand in the Northeast USA, to be followed by the Midwest and Southeast.

Canna Candys, 5 mg 99.6% Hemp Oil extract (0% THC) mixed fruit gummies are being retailed in gummy packs containing 20 servings

Following Weekend's Consumer Packaged Goods strategy, Infinity One LLC, will focus on sales through supermarket chains, pharmacies and convenience stores

The agreement with Infinity One LLC to distribute Canna Candys products starts with an initial launch of 1 million gummies with additional SKUs to follow

"This is a significant step for our Company, our production team has done a terrific job and we are thrilled with the product taste, effectiveness and packaging," said Mr. Paul Chu, Weekend Unlimited President and CEO. "The Canna Candys brand, using Hemp Oil extract, will establish a presence for our products in multiple retail locations, a presence that we will build upon to establish consumer recognition and trust in multiple markets to pave the way for additional product rollouts in the near future."

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Paul Chu, President and CEO

Telephone: 1 (236) 317-2812 - Toll free 1(888) 556-9656

E-mail: IR@weekendunlimited.com

About Weekend Unlimited Inc.

Weekend Unlimited is capitalizing on its vast industry relationships to establish a lifestyle brand featuring premium products and delivering life's highest moments. The company aggregates and scales small to medium brands, primarily in the categories of flower, extracts and edibles. Weekend Unlimited brands have best of class operations, distribution and strong revenue trajectories, making them ideal candidates for the deployment of capital and expertise through access to technologies, infrastructure and centralized systems. Learn more at www.weekendunlimited.com

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.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: Weekend Unlimited Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540911/Weekend-Unlimiteds-Canna-Candys-Ships-GummiesDZ BANK AG Frankfurt am Main - Pre Stabilisation

RNS Number: residue number system

Frankfurt am Main, 1. April 2019

Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful.

Pre-Stabilisation Notice

Aareal Bank AG

DZ BANK AG (contact: Christian Klocke; telephone: +49 69 7447 43841) hereby announces, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilising Managers named below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU Regulation 596/2014).

The security to be stabilised: Issuer: Aareal Bank AG Guarantor (if any): None Aggregate nominal amount: EUR [300mm] Description: fixed rate, due 10th April 2024 Offer price: Tbc Other offer terms: Payment tbd, denoms 100k/100k, senior preferred Stabilisation: DZ BANK AG Stabilisation Coordinator:

Stabilising Managers:

DZ BANK AG

Commerzbank AG

DekaBank

Nomura Stabilisation period expected to start on: 3rd April 2019 Stabilisation period expected to end on: no later than 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximum size and conditions of use of over-allotment facility. The Stabilising Managers may over-allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation trading venue: Luxembourg Stock Exchange (Regulated Market)

In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilisation Manager(s) may over-allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the securities at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, there is no assurance that the Stabilisation Manager(s) will take any stabilisation action and any stabilisation action, if begun, may be ended at any time. Any stabilisation action or over-allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules.

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the Issuer in any jurisdiction.

In addition, if and to the extent that this announcement is communicated in, or the offer of the securities to which it relates is made in, any EEA Member State that has implemented Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended (together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive") before the publication of a prospectus in relation to the securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive (or which has been approved by a competent authority in another Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive), this announcement and the offer are only addressed to and directed at persons in that Member State who are qualified investors within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive (or who are other persons to whom the offer may lawfully be addressed) and must not be acted on or relied on by other persons in that Member State.Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) -Robix Environmental Technologies, Inc. (CSE: RZX) (FSE: R0X) ("Robix" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it obtained a successful outcome in the previously-disclosed court application brought by Robix's former chief executive officer, Mr. Robin Ray, against Robix and certain directors of Robix. Mr. Ray's application was dismissed with costs in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta on February 2, 2019.

Robix is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Mark Bentsen as chief executive officer. Robix's operations will be managed by Mr. Bentsen together with the Corporation's chief financial officer, Mr. Peter Teunissen.

A brief biography of Mr. Bentsen is set forth below:

Mr. Bentsen has significant experience as an executive officer and as a director in the energy services sector with both public and private companies. From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Bentsen held increasing roles of responsibility with ATCO Drilling/Akita Drilling including Contracts Administrator, Contracts Manger and VP Corporate Development. In 1998, he founded Direction Plus and then took the company public in 2000, which was subsequently renamed Cathedral Energy Services. Mr. Bentsen acted as CEO, President and Director of Cathedral Energy Services from inception to his retirement in 2013 and lead the company's equipment development and expansion across North America and completing multiple key acquisitions along the way while returning significant equity returns for Cathedral shareholders.

Mr. Bentsen was formerly a director of Patch International, a former heavy oil play which was recently merged with Stem Holdings, a real estate developer specializing in retail and warehouse space for the cannabis industry. Presently, Mr. Bentsen is a Director, Investor and consultant to Petrosight Inc., a software provider and developer for oil and gas operators. As well, Mr. Bentsen is CEO and VP Sales and Marketing for Quantum Downhole Systems, a leading provider of horizontal wellbore intervention technologies.

The Corporation will provide further operational updates on its business activities as they progress.

About Robix:

The Corporation is an "industrial products/technology" company, which has recognized a worldwide market opportunity for effective containment, recovery and disposal equipment, particularly in the oil spill protection industry, and it proposes to develop a business model as a service provider, and/or equipment provider under licensing agreements with other industry participants, wherein Robix will use its existing unique technology and design solutions.

Any inquiries related to the above, should be directed to Mr. Teunissen at:

Robix Environmental Technologies, Inc.

Peter Teunissen

Chief Financial Officer

peter@leverage.works

(403) 480-4020

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain certain forward-looking information. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. A description of assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in the Corporation's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. The Corporation does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

No stock exchange or any securities regulatory body has reviewed the contents of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43858PRESS RELEASE

With Legal Industry Transformation Underway, Technology is Key to the Future Ready Lawyer

New Survey Report from Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory Examines

Trends, Technology and Change in Legal Profession in Europe and U.S.

(April 3, 2019) - Faced with increasing information complexity, changing client demands and shifting market forces, legal professionals are turning to technology to help them achieve better outcomes. However, not all lawyers are doing so at the same pace, and those already leveraging technology have an early adopter advantage, including higher profitability and readiness to take on change, according to the findings of the 2019 Future Ready Lawyer Survey from Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory.

"After years of debate about the transformation of the legal sector - if, when and how it would happen - there's no question that the global future of law is rapidly underway, and that technology is a key force for change," said Stacey Caywood, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory. "Legal professionals are increasingly turning to accessible and impactful technologies that help them achieve better outcomes and offer higher value through data-driven analytics and insights, and higher efficiency and productivity."

The independently conducted survey of 700 lawyers from Europe and the U.S. focused on three core areas and asked lawyers to assess their current state and future priorities and preparedness to identify what it will take to be future ready in the areas of: Tools & Technology; Client Needs & Expectations; and Organization & Talent.

Across these categories, the Survey found significant differences between those organizations already optimizing technology, with plans to invest in new technologies.

Preparing for Change

Lawyers foresee pressure from a series of trends they expect to impact their organizations over the next three years. The top five trends expected to have the most impact according to the Future Ready Lawyer Survey are:

Coping with increased volume and complexity of information (72% report expected impact);

Emphasis on improved efficiency and productivity (71%);

Understanding which legal technologies deliver the highest value (69%);

Meeting changing client and leader expectations (68%); and

Financial issues including greater price competition, alternative fee structures and cost containment pressures (68%).

Yet, there's a concerning gap between these near-term forces and readiness to manage them. Fewer than one-third of lawyers report their organizations overall are very prepared to address any one of these trends.

In fact, while "Coping with increased volume and complexity of information" is a concern for 72% of lawyers, only 31% indicate their organization is very prepared to address it. Next, 71% of lawyers say "Emphasis on improved efficiency and productivity" will impact their organization, but only 31% are very prepared to respond.

Other key findings of the Future Ready Lawyer Survey include:

About one-third of lawyers overall (34%) believe their organization is very prepared to keep pace with changes in the legal market. Technology Leading organizations, however, fare better, with 50% very prepared to keep up with expected changes, compared to just 19% of Transitioning organizations.



53% of lawyers indicate their organization's technology investment will increase over the next three years, with Technology Leaders most likely to report increased future investments in technology. Technology Leading firms also report being more profitable.



The Lack of Technology Knowledge, Understanding or Skills comprise the top category of reasons for resisting new technology (36%), followed by Organizational issues (34%) and Financial matters (30%).



Across both Europe and the U.S., lawyers in law firms and legal departments agree that the two greatest areas of change in how firms and law departments deliver service will be related to Greater use of technology and Greater specialization.



Top criteria law firms say they will be evaluated on moving ahead include: Ability to understand and partner with clients; Pricing; and Specialization.



Top challenges for corporate legal departments are: Reducing and controlling outside legal costs; Improving case and contract management; and Automating routine tasks and leveraging technology in work processes.

"The Survey indicates the future of law is truly global, with many similar findings across the U.S. and Europe and even types of organizations," said Caywood. "While some differences were found based on specific geography or organization type, the most significant differences overall were reported between Technology Leaders and those Transitioning and Trailing organizations still not leveraging technology effectively."

Acceleration of Tech Adoption: Transformational Technologies

The Future Ready Lawyer Survey from Wolters Kluwer also examined the technologies lawyers are using today and plan to implement over the next three years. The number of organizations using transformational technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), predictive analytics, machine learning, blockchain, smart contracts and decision support tools, is expected to approximately double by 2022, according to the report. Technology Leaders expect to embrace these technologies at a higher rate than Transitioning organizations, across the board.

There's a gap, however, in understanding the benefits of new technology, and expected impact. More than one-half of lawyers expect to see some impact from transformational technologies over the next three years - but fewer than 24% say they understand them very well. As may be expected, millennials score higher in both forecasting the impact of these new technologies and understanding how they can be used.

In addition to the Survey findings on trends, technologies and change, the Future Ready Lawyer report also includes insights from legal industry luminaries in the U.S. and Europe. The full report can be downloaded here .

About the Survey

The 2019 Future Ready Lawyer Survey from Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory included quantitative interviews with 700 lawyers in law firms, legal departments and business services firms across the U.S. and 10 European countries - the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic - to examine how technology and other factors are affecting the future practice of law across core areas and how legal organizations are prepared to address these. The Survey was conducted online for Wolters Kluwer by a leading international research organization from December 10, 2018 through January 13, 2019.

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory, a division of Wolters Kluwer, is a global leading provider of legal and compliance solutions that enable professionals to improve productivity and performance, mitigate risk and achieve better outcomes.

Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the clinicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2018 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. For more information about our solutions and organization, visit www.wolterskluwer.com , follow us on Twitter , Facebook , LinkedIn , and YouTube .LOS ANGELES, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imperial Capital Group, LLC ("Imperial") announced today that its affiliate, Imperial Capital (International) LLP ("Imperial Capital International"), has recently hired three senior professionals to expand its London operations across multiple areas of its Global Corporate Credit Business. Simon Quinn joins in Sales, Alex Gutierrez Rubino in Trading and Peter Kawada in Research, all at Managing Director level.



Simon Quinn joins Imperial Capital International's Institutional Sales Team with over 20 years of market experience, and was most recently a Managing Director at Barclays, managing the Dutch, Scandinavian, Italian, Swiss and Middle Markets credit sales teams. Mr. Quinn has worked across a range of platforms including Societe Generale and Mitsubishi Trust International, and graduated from the University of Reading with a BA in Politics and International Relations.

Alex Gutierrez Rubino joins Imperial Capital International's Credit Trading Team bringing experience in Credit, Structured Products and Asset Backed Securities. Most recently, Mr. Gutierrez Rubino was a Managing Director at Stormharbour Securities, where he set-up a secondary trading business in Distressed Debt & Special Situations. Mr. Gutierrez Rubino also spent time at Chalkhill Partners and Cheyne Capital Management as an analyst, portfolio manager and trader. Mr. Gutierrez Rubino holds an MEng in Aeronautical Engineering and an MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London.

Peter Kawada joins Imperial Capital International's Credit Sales & Trading Analysis Team to focus on European High Yield, Distressed and Event Driven situations. Most recently, Mr. Kawada was a Distressed Debt analyst at Jefferies International's European Credit desk, and previously he worked at The Seaport Group Europe and Yorvik Partners. Mr. Kawada graduated from Bates College with a BA in Psychology.

"We are very pleased to be able to announce these three key Managing Director level hires, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to hiring top senior professionals with extensive experience. This allows us to better serve our institutional clients and underscores our commitment to serving the institutional community and our long term commitment to our European operation, which now includes our recently-opened Milan branch," said Brian Robertson, Head of Imperial Capital International in Europe.

About Imperial Capital, LLC

Imperial Capital, LLC is a full-service investment bank offering a uniquely integrated platform of comprehensive services to institutional investors and middle market companies. We offer sophisticated sales and trading services to institutional investors and a wide range of investment banking advisory, capital markets and restructuring services to middle market corporate clients. Paired with our proprietary research and sales & trading desk analysis, we provide investment analysis across an issuer's capital structure, including bank loans, debt securities, the hybrid/bank capital marketplace.

For more information regarding Imperial Capital, please contact:

Mark Martis

+1 310 246 3674

mmartis@imperialcapital.com

About Imperial Capital (International), LLP

Imperial Capital International, founded in 2011, is an affiliate of Imperial Capital, LLC with an office in central London. Complementing Imperial Capital's existing corporate credit sales and trading franchise, Imperial Capital International expanded the Imperial Capital franchise into the EEA. The company focuses on the entire credit spectrum and takes a full capital structure research approach to supplement sales and trading services to its European institutional clients.

For more information regarding Imperial CapitalVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - Bluestone Resources Inc. (TSXV: BSR) (OTCQB: BBSRF) ("Bluestone" or the "Company") is pleased to announce additional high-grade intercepts from the resource upgrading infill drill program at its Cerro Blanco Gold project. The primary focus of the program is to upgrade Inferred Resources identified during the previous drill program completed in 2018. In addition, this program is also designed to define new resources along known veins in the mine plan that extend outside of the current resource envelope.

Three LM-75 diamond drill rigs are currently situated within the Cerro Blanco underground workings and are targeting key veins in the upper portion of the Cerro Blanco resource. The Cerro Blanco Feasibility Study (see press release January 29th, 2019) highlighted some 357,000 ounces of Inferred Resources (1.4 Mt grading 8.1 g/t Au) that could be potentially converted to Measured and Indicated Resources through infill drilling.

Darren Klinck, President and CEO, commented, "Of special note are the broad zones of high-grade mineralization drilled in several different holes. For example, 8.1 meters at 8.3 g/t Au and 73 g/t Ag (Hole UGCB18-122), 5.6 meters at 19.9 g/t Au and 281 g/t Ag (UGCB18-124) and 10.2 meters at 13.1 g/t Au and 25 g/t Ag (Hole UGCB18-126). These wider intercepts comprising multiple closely-spaced vein sets are reminiscent to those drilled in the lower parts of the South Zone orebody by Bluestone last year and were demonstrated in the Feasibility Study as amenable to long-hole stoping mining methods and key drivers in the project economics."

Table 1. Significant Intercepts (this Press Release)

HOLE ID FROM (m) TO (m) CORE INT.

(m) TRUE

WIDTH

(m) Au g/t Ag g/t Vein ID UGCB19-120 62.0

98.9

110.0

119.5

126.2

140.0 63.5

101.3

112.9

120.5

127.2

141.6 1.5

2.3

2.9

1.0

1.0

1.6 1.5

2.3

2.8

1.0

1.0

1.6 6.1

16.6

8.5

3.6

3.9

4.5 1.0

109.0

123.0

34.0

50.0

36.0 -

VN_02

VN_03

VN_05

VN_06

VN_11 UGCB19-121 5.0

63.6

75.4

84.3

95.1

104.1 6.0

64.6

78.4

92.4

96.3

108.4 1.0

1.0

3.0

8.1

1.2

4.3 1.0

1.0

3.0

8.1

1.2

4.2 5.7

15.9

4.9

8.3

9.4

6.9 13.0

126.0

41.0

73.0

177.0

74.0 VN_18

VN_01

VN_02

VN_03, 05, 06

VN_06

VN_07 UGCB19-123 56.7

61.4

70.9

82.1 57.9

62.8

74.1

83.1 1.2

1.4

3.2

1.0 1.2

1.4

3.1

1.0 14.8

7.9

5.3

6.9 130

82

67

88 VN_01

-

VN_02, 03

VN_05 UGCB19-124



including 62.3

76.6

79.8

96.9

114.8 64.3

82.2

80.8

98.3

117.8 2.0

5.6

1.0

1.4

3.0 2.0

5.6

1.0

1.4

3.0 8.0

19.9

80.1

17.7

3.9 51.0

281.0

1,257.0

72.0

28.0 VN_01

VN_03, 05

VN_03

VN_07

VN_11 UGCB19-125 1.2

16.5

22.3

31.1 10.8

19.1

27.2

33.2 9.6

2.6

4.9

2.1 9.4

2.5

4.9

2.0 5.3

5.0

12.3

33.6 10.0

36.0

44.0

239.0 VN_07

VN_09

VN_10

VN_11 UGCB19-126







including 0.0

8.9

13.4

32.2

33.2

52.0

58.0

71.7 6.0

9.9

14.5

43.0

35.9

53.0

59.2

72.7 6.0

1.0

1.2

10.8

2.7

1.0

1.2

1.0 5.7

1.0

1.2

10.2

2.3

1.0

1.2

1.0 10.0

4.0

11.9

13.1

31.0

5.3

24.3

10.2 16.0

26.0

14.0

25.0

32.4

8.0

56.2

15.0 VN_06

-

-

VN_09,10

VN_09

-

VN_11

VN_22

Notes: Intervals in bold are cited in the text of the news release. Only intercepts averaging over 3 g/t Au when diluted to a minimum 3 meters true width are stated. Hole coordinates and azimuth/dip information accompany the plan view attached to this release.

All holes cited in this press release were drilled from various platforms in the North Zone underground workings. Except for hole UGCB18-126, all holes were drilled at positive (upward) angles and designed to test the Inferred Resource portions of several key veins that sit above the current underground infrastructure. Hole UGCB18-126 was a sub-horizonal hole drilled at -5 degrees. A plan view showing drill hole locations, sections, and core photos can be accessed by clicking HERE. All holes intercepted their predicted targets, including Hole UGCB18-122, which drilled veins of lower grade and widths due to their proximity or emplacement within the Salinas Unit, a silicified conglomerate that forms a cap over the deposit.

Results for a total of 29 holes have been released to date as part of the Infill resource conversion program (3,384 meters). Drilling is ongoing and further results will be reported as received.

Precious metal mineralization at Cerro Blanco is associated with classic low sulphidation adularia-sericite epithermal quartz veins and vein swarms hosted in altered sequence of volcanoclastic and sedimentary rocks. Higher grades (>20 g/t Au and >60 g/t Ag) are normally associated with visible gold and silver sulphides in ginguro-style colloform-banded veins.

Quality Analysis and Quality Control

Assay results listed within this release were performed by Inspectorate Laboratories ("Inspectorate"), a division of Bureau Veritas, which are ISO 17025 accredited laboratories. Logging and sampling are undertaken on site at Cerro Blanco by Company personnel under a QA/QC protocol developed by Bluestone. Samples are transported in security-sealed bags to Inspectorate, Guatemala City, Guatemala, for sample preparation. Sample pulps are shipped to Inspectorate Laboratories in Vancouver, BC, Canada or Reno, NV, USA, and assayed using industry-standard assay techniques for gold and silver. Gold and silver were analyzed by a 30-gram charge with atomic absorption and/or gravimetric finish for values exceeding 5 g/t Au and 100 g/t Ag. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material, and replicate samples. Quality control is further assured by Bluestone's QA/QC program, which involves the insertion of blind certified reference materials (standards) and field duplicates into the sample stream to independently assess analytical precision and accuracy of each batch of samples as they are received from the laboratory. A selection of samples is submitted to ALS Chemex Laboratories in Vancouver for check analysis and additional quality control.

Qualified Person

David Cass, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and verified that the technical information set out above in this news release is accurate and therefore approves this written disclosure of the technical information.

About Bluestone Resources

Bluestone Resources is a mineral exploration and development company that is focused on advancing its 100%-owned Cerro Blanco Gold and Mita Geothermal projects located in Guatemala. A Feasibility Study on Cerro Blanco returned robust economics with a quick pay back. The average annual production is projected to be 146,000 ounces per year over the first three years of production with all-in sustaining costs of $579/oz (as defined per World Gold Council guidelines, less corporate general and administration costs). The Company trades under the symbol "BSR" on the TSX Venture Exchange and "BBSRF" on the OTCQB.

On Behalf of Bluestone Resources Inc.

"Darren Klinck"

Darren Klinck | President, Chief Executive Officer & Director

For further information, please contact:

Bluestone Resources Inc.

Stephen Williams | VP Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Phone: +1 604 646 4534

info@bluestoneresources.ca

www.bluestoneresources.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Bluestone Resources Inc. ("Bluestone" or the "Company") believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, without limitation: the conversion of the inferred mineral resources; increasing the amount of measured mineral and indicated mineral resources; the proposed timeline and benefits of further drilling; the proposed timeline and benefits of the Feasibility Study; statements about the Company's plans for its mineral properties; Bluestone's business strategy, plans and outlook; the future financial or operating performance of Bluestone; capital expenditures, corporate general and administration expenses and exploration and development expenses; expected working capital requirements; the future financial estimates of the Cerro Blanco Project economics, including estimates of capital costs of constructing mine facilities and bringing a mine into production and of sustaining capital costs, estimates of operating costs and total costs, net present value and economic returns; proposed production timelines and rates; funding availability; resource estimates; and future exploration and operating plans are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to Bluestone and often use words such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "may" or variations thereof or the negative of any of these terms.

All forward-looking statements are made based on the Company's current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. Generally, these assumptions include, among others: the ability of Bluestone to carry on exploration and development activities; the price of gold, silver and other metals; there being no material variations in the current tax and regulatory environment; the exchange rates among the Canadian dollar, Guatemalan quetzal and the United States dollar remaining consistent with current levels; the presence of and continuity of metals at the Cerro Blanco Project at estimated grades; the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices and within estimated delivery times; metals sales prices and exchange rates assumed; appropriate discount rates applied to the cash flows in economic analyses; tax rates and royalty rates applicable to the proposed mining operation; the availability of acceptable financing; anticipated mining losses and dilution; success in realizing proposed operations; anticipated timelines for community consultations and the impact of those consultations on the regulatory approval process.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and, even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Bluestone. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: risks relating to variations in the mineral content within the mineral identified as mineral resources from that predicted; risks and uncertainties related to expected production rates, timing and amount of production and total costs of production; risks and uncertainties related to ability to obtain or maintain necessary licenses, permits, or surface rights; risks associated with technical difficulties in connection with mining development activities; risks and uncertainties related to the accuracy of mineral resource estimates and estimates of future production, future cash flow, total costs of production and diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources; risks associated with geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic instability in Guatemala; risks and uncertainties related to interruptions in production; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; uncertain political and economic environments and relationships with local communities; variations in rates of recovery and extraction; developments in world metals markets; risks related to fluctuations in currency exchange rates; as well as those factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Amended and Restated Annual Information Form.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made, and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Bluestone disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Bluestone believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to their inherent uncertainty. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Non-IFRS Financial Performance Measures

The Company has included certain non-International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") measures in this new release. The Company believes that these measures, in addition to measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, provide investors an improved ability to evaluate the underlying performance of the Company and to compare it to information reported by other companies. The non-IFRS measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

All-in sustaining costs

The Company believes that all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") more fully defines the total costs associated with producing gold.

The Company calculates AISC as the sum of refining costs, third party royalties, site operating costs, sustaining capital costs and closure capital costs all divided by the gold ounces sold to arrive at a per ounce amount. Other companies may calculate this measure differently as a result of differences in underlying principles and policies applied. Differences may also arise due to a different definition of sustaining versus non-sustaining capital.

Total cash costs

Total cash costs is a common financial performance measure in the gold mining industry but has no standard meaning. The Company reports total cash costs on a gold ounce sold basis. The Company believes that, in addition to measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, such as revenue, certain investors can use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate operating earnings and cash flow from its mining operations. Management uses this metric as an important tool to monitor operating cost performance.

Total cash costs include (cost of sales such as mining, processing, maintenance and site administration, royalties, selling costs and by-product credits) to arrive at total cash costs per ounce of gold sold. Other companies may calculate this measure differently.

AISC and total cash costs reconciliation

ASIC and total cash costs are calculated based on the definitions published by the World Gold Council ("WGC") (a market development organization for the gold industry comprised of and funded by 18 gold mining companies from around the world). The WGC is not a regulatory organization.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43846Channel Leaders Embrace ZiftONE Platform to Turn Channel Programs into Business Growth Engines

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina and OXFORD, England, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Channel Management Leader Zift Solutions has debuted ZiftONE, the first and only all-in-one platform that connects and simplifies channel sales, marketing, and operations for indirect sales organizations.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/845593/ZiftONE_Logo.jpg

"With ZiftONE, we are fulfilling the promise of Enterprise Channel Management with an absolutely unique and holistic platform designed to connect channel leaders, partners, and customers -- and turn their channel programs into real business growth engines," said Gordon Rapkin, CEO of Zift Solutions.

"To compete effectively in today's channel, suppliers must integrate data silos and automate workflows to foster data-driven conversations with partners," said Maria Chien, service director of Channel Marketing Strategies at SiriusDecisions. "B-to-b channel organizations must help partners progress in their journey to a successful, profitable partnership."

ZiftONE eliminates the data silos, disorganization, and disengagement caused by piecing together multiple point solutions to cover the myriad requirements of channel sales, marketing, and operations. With ZiftONE, channel organizations can now:

Recruit, onboard and activate partners

Automate and execute channel sales

Enable multi-tactic to-, through- and for-partner marketing; and

Generate predictable pipeline

All with just ONE new platform, built from the ground up, to drive channel success.

"World-class partner programs require world-class technology, services, and support," said Sarah Locke, Digital Marketing Lead, Global Partner Marketing for Dell EMC. "ZiftONE delivers deeper insight, so we can see and report on unfolding trends, manage our business performance metrics -- and make it even easier for our partners to build predictable pipeline and profitable, long-term customer relationships that drive mutual value."

"Zift Solutions is once again on the forefront of channel technology and automation," said David Portnowitz, Chief Marketing Officer at Star2Star Communications. "They know the channel -- and what channel leaders require to put their partners and channel programs ahead of the pack."

The new ZiftONE platform combines purpose-built channel technology and services to address complex, multi-dimensional channel challenges. ZiftONE also provides advanced reporting capabilities, business intelligence for prescriptive partner planning, machine learning and analytics for deeper strategic insight and Marketing Development Funds (MDF) management.

"ZiftONE balances power with simplicity, giving channel leaders one place to recruit, onboard, engage and empower partners to do more, with much less hands-on help," said Laz Gonzalez, well-recognized channel expert and Chief Strategy Officer for Zift Solutions.

ZiftONE premiered at an exclusive Executive Summit held last week in Zift Solutions' Cary, North Carolina-based offices. The event brought together initial users of ZiftONE, channel leaders and experts, along with well-respected industry analysts, including Forrester Principal Analyst and B2B expert Jay McBain, and Maria Chien, Service Director, Channel Marketing Strategies at SiriusDecisions.

To learn more about ZiftONE and Zift Solutions results-driven approach to Enterprise Channel Management, visit ZiftONE.

About Zift Solutions

Zift Solutions is the Enterprise Channel Management leader, delivering the people, processes and technology organizations require to drive channel success. Relied on by more than 80% of top channel chiefs, Zift boosts channel partner program productivity, and profitability by automating and aligning marketing, sales, and operational processes. The ZiftONE platform integrates seamlessly with established systems and infrastructure to speed time-to-sales, create an exceptional partner experience, and provide faster ROI. To learn more, visit www.ziftsolutions.com, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and join the conversation via Channel Chatter.

CONTACT: Lisa Hyatt, 919-271-1472, lisahyatt@ziftsolutions.comThe gift card technology leader builds on its omnichannel user engagement and retention strategies

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CleverTap, the customer lifecycle management platform, today announced that Qwikcilver, the Gift Card Technology leader, has been able to drive repeat transaction on its B2C platforms www.woohoo.in and Woohoo Gifting App with over three-quarters of its customer base on the back of effective omnichannel marketing campaigns.

Founded in 2006, Qwikcilver is the single largest end-to-end service provider in the pre-paid, gift card space, serving some of the biggest names in retail and service industries in India, the Middle East, South East Asia, and more. It powers 9 out of every 10 gift cards and e gift cards sold in these regions and manages an annualized gross transaction value of $1.5 billion.

"At Qwikcilver, we have always been able to keep our operations frugal, but continue to build high-quality technology," said Pratap TP, Co-Founder & Director at Qwikcilver. He further added, "To that end, CleverTap's Customer Lifecycle Management suite helps us measure the real impact of our marketing spend, and build a strong customer base without spending too much on customer acquisition. With CleverTap, we've been able to see as many as 80% customers performing repeat transactions on www.woohoo.in & Woohoo Gifting App through targeted and personalized engagement campaigns across channels."

CleverTap's recently launched measurement dashboard - Real Impact, helps brands measure the long term consolidated impact of their marketing campaigns. Using Real Impact, the Qwikcilver team will be able to attribute the ROI of their marketing spend to key business metrics such as revenue per user, conversion, user retention, stickiness, and more.

Anand Jain, Co-founder of CleverTap, stated: "We are proud to have been associated with Qwikcilver for over three years now, and are excited about their journey ahead." He further added, "Qwikcilver has managed to achieve phenomenal growth by constantly innovating while keeping their operations lean and cost-effective. With the international market for gift and loyalty cards expected to grow to $506 billion by 2025, I am confident that our partnership will continue to yield great results."

About CleverTap

CleverTap helps consumer brands retain their users for life. Growth teams use CleverTap's automation, AI/ML and personalization capabilities to manage and improve customer lifecycle by delivering the most consistent experience across all touchpoints. With a unique combination of a unified data platform, automated segmentation and insights, and omnichannel engagement, CleverTap enables brands to optimize customer experiences in real time and at scale.

Over 8,000 global brands, including Star, Sony, Vodafone, Domino's Pizza, DC Comics, BookMyShow, and DealsPlus, trust CleverTap to help them connect with users and grow their mobile apps. CleverTap has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. To see how businesses of all sizes are building more meaningful customer relationships, visit the customers' page , and for more information about CleverTap, visit clevertap.com or follow on LinkedIn and Twitter .

About Qwikcilver

Qwikcilver is the pioneer and single largest end-to-end service provider in the pre-paid, gift card space, serving the who's who of the retail and service industries in India, the Middle East, South East Asia and more recently, having entered the Australia & New Zealand region. Qwikcilver today, using its robust, secure, banking-standard, transaction management platform, powers 9 out of every 10 gift cards and e gift cards sold.

For more information, visit the Qwikcilver website .

Press Contact

Ketan Pandit

PR for CleverTap

ketan@clevertap.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/559274/CleverTap_Logo.jpgPan African Resources PLC

("Pan African" or "the company" or "the group")

(Incorporated and registered in England and Wales under Companies Act 1985 with registered number 3937466 on 25 February 2000)

Share code on AIM: PAF

Share code on JSE: PAN

ISIN: GB0004300496

RESIGNATION OF NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In compliance with paragraph 3.59 of the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited, shareholders are informed of the resignation of Mr Rowan Smith as an independent non-executive director with effect from

3 April 2019. Mr Smith has been an independent non-executive director for more than four years, and is resigning to pursue other interests. The board of directors, which now consists of three independent non-executive and two executive directors, has commenced a process to appoint a suitable replacement non-executive director.

Pan African Chairman Keith Spencer commented: "The board of directors would like to thank Rowan for his invaluable contribution to Pan African over the past years, and we wish him well in his future endeavours."

Rosebank

3 April 2019Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - Voleo Inc. ("Voleo", the "Company"), is pleased to receive the 2019 Best Stock Trading App Award in the Investment Category from FinTech Breakthrough, an independent California-based organization that recognizes the top fintech companies and products in the financial services and technology industry. The award acknowledges the development and innovation that Voleo has achieved in the past year to deliver consumers a one-of-a-kind investing experience.

As a FinTech Breakthrough Award winner, Voleo will receive industry-wide recognition and co-marketing promotion through media and analyst outreach. In addition, participating in the highly-competitive Fintech Breakthrough Program builds valuable exposure to support the growth of Voleo's organic user base in the U.S.A, where Voleo has launched its consumer-facing mobile and web investing platform. The award comes as Voleo prepares to go public through a reverse takeover transaction with Logan Resources Ltd. (see news release dated January 15, 2019 for the latest update).

"Winning the Best Stock Trading App Award represents Voleo's success, so far, as a growing technology that combines the online brokerage model with social media. The FinTech Breakthrough Program recognizes Voleo's ability to create the best experience for our users, making Voleo an attractive white-label solution for the banking sector, globally and especially in the U.S.A, where our subsidiary is a FINRA member," commented Voleo CEO, Thomas Beattie. "On behalf of Voleo, I would like to thank FinTech Breakthrough and to congratulate the other award recipients who join us in the 2019 FinTech Breakthrough Program," added Mr. Beattie.

James Johnson, Managing Director at FinTech Breakthrough, stated, "With over 3,500 nominations this year, coming in from all over the world, the FinTech Breakthrough judges, ultimately, selected Voleo for the Best Stock Trading App Award because they demonstrate a clear understanding of what will make a difference to the user investing experience, which then allows Voleo to adapt its millennial-friendly app to its B2B financial partners. Voleo was assessed by an independent panel of experts who have earned a reputation for fairness and credibility, and are committed to determining the break through winners for each award category."

About FinTech Breakthrough

FinTech Breakthrough, part of the Tech Breakthrough Awards organization, is an independent awards and recognition platform devoted to honoring excellence in Financial Technologies and Services companies and products. The FinTech Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of FinTech companies and products in categories including Investments, Payments, Personal Finance, Wealth Management, Fraud Protection, Banking, Lending, RegTech, InsurTech and more.

For more information on FinTech Breakthrough, please visit http://www.FinTechBreakthrough.com.

About Voleo Inc.

Voleo is a Canada-based mobile fintech company that is transforming the retail investing space through its powerful, collaborative investing platform. Voleo's equity trading platform operates on native iOS and Android devices, as well as a companion web application. Voleo has increased retail investor participation in the stock market by breaking down barriers to entry, facilitating trust and improving financial literacy. The product is being white-labeled by major financial institutions around the world as an innovative product to engage and retain a new category of investors.

For more information on Voleo, please visit our Investor Relations website at https://ir.myvoleo.com.

Voleo has entered into an agreement, dated January 29, 2018, with Logan Resources Ltd (TSXV: LGR) with respect to a business combination as more fully described in Logan Resources Ltd's news release dated January 30, 2018.

ON BEHALF OF THE VOLEO BOARD

"Thomas Beattie"

Chief Executive Officer

Voleo Inc. is part of the King & Bay group of companies. King & Bay is a merchant bank that specializes in identifying, funding, developing and supporting growth opportunities in the technology, resource, aviation, and sectors.

For further information regarding this press release, please contact:

Voleo Inc.

Thomas Beattie, Chief Executive Officer

Toll Free: 1-866-683-8030

Email: investor.relations@myvoleo.com

Investor Relations Website: https://ir.myvoleo.com

Follow us: @MyVoleo

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or Voleo Inc's (the "Company") future performance and the integration of cryptocurrency trading. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "budget", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Voleo believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this release should not be unduly relied upon. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, or as of the date specified in the documents incorporated by reference into this release, as the case may be. In particular, this release contains forward-looking statements pertaining, but not limited to: expectations as to future operations of the Company, future market trends, growth opportunities, the Company's go to market strategy, future partnerships, new initiatives and innovations of the Company, product offerings, the expected operations and performance of the Company's business, expected user growth, and the timing of key development milestones.

With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this release, the Company has made assumptions regarding, among other thing: the accuracy, reliability and applicability of the Company's business model; the timely receipt of governmental approvals, including the receipt of approval from regulators in Canada and the United States; the timely commencement of operations by the Company and the success of such operations; the ability of the Company to implement its business plan as intended; the legislative and regulatory environments of the jurisdictions where the Company will carry on business or have operations; the impact of competition; and the availability of financing to execute the business plan. The Company has included the above summary of assumptions and risks related to forward-looking statements provided in this release in order to provide investors with a more complete perspective on the Company's current and future operations and such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists of factors are not exhaustive and it would be unreasonable to rely on any such forward-looking statements and information as creating any legal rights, that the statements and information are not guarantees and may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ (and may differ materially) and objectives and strategies may differ or change from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements or information as a result of various factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company is not under any duty and do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date of this release or to conform such statements to actual results or to changes in the Company's expectations and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43853Supply agreement enhanced to include new non-combustible insulation product

LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany and NORTHBOROUGH, Massachusetts, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BASF SE ("BASF") and Aspen Aerogels, Inc. ("Aspen") announced today the expansion of their strategic partnership with the signing of an addendum to their exclusive supply agreement. The addendum provides for the production and supply of a new non-combustible, high-performance thermal insulation product. The new product, complimentary to SLENTEX, is showing excellent performance in early testing with lead customers.

SLENTEX, available today, represents the cutting edge of non-combustible thermal insulation technology with its unique combination of industry-leading thermal performance and a non-combustible fire rating. SLENTEX was developed for unique applications in the building and construction sector, including facade systems, thermal bridges and transition areas, while the new insulation product will also target broader applications beyond the construction industry.

As part of the agreement, Aspen has received a second tranche of prepayment from BASF which will be used to support product optimization and new process development. BASF receives exclusive rights to market the newly developed product.

"When we announced our joint development agreement with BASF in 2016, we had a collective vision to create innovative and exceptional products. Our partnership with BASF has exceeded our expectations," said Don Young, President and CEO of Aspen. "This addendum recognizes the commitment to our cooperative development and the additional prepayment strengthens our financial position."

"The successful development of the product will help us to better serve the fast-growing market for high-performance insulation materials," said Raimar Jahn, President of Performance Materials, BASF. "This innovative product will expand our portfolio in the high-performance insulation market and, together with SLENTEX, will make our offering more competitive. The addendum will accelerate the global launch and adoption of a new class of firesafe and ultra-efficient aerogel insulation technology."

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 122,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of around 63 billion in 2018. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.

About Aspen Aerogels, Inc.

Aspen Aerogels is the global leader in aerogel technology. The company's mission is to enable its customers and partners to shape their own strategies around the global megatrends of resource efficiency and sustainability. The company's Cryogel and Pyrogel products are valued by the world's largest energy infrastructure companies. The company's Spaceloft products provide building owners with industry-leading energy efficiency including options for a safe, non-combustible fire rating. The company's strategy is to partner with world-class industry leaders to leverage its aerogel technology platform into additional markets. Headquartered in Northborough, Mass., Aspen Aerogels manufactures its products at its East Providence, R.I. facility. For more information, please visit www.aerogel.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/373154/Aspen_Aerogels_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/845585/BASF_Logo.jpgVANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CROP INFRASTRUCTURE CORP. (CSE: CROP) (OTC: CRXPF) (Frankfurt: 2FR) has been advised by its tenant brand sales team that the Hempire and Evolution brands are now available in 40 retail locations, mostly along the coastal cities of Washington.

The flower is available in eight different strains across seven sizes with concentrates being made available in five different concentrates across 20 separate strains giving the retail locations over 100 SKUS to offer their consumers.

The Washington market for 2018, according to Statista.com, was a $534.06 Million market with RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi writing: 'The legal cannabis category [in the U.S.] is set to grow at a 17% CAGR over the next decade to as much as $47 billion in annual sales.'

Crop's tenanted Washington facility has a major advantage with low cost electricity at $0.02 per kWh and greenhouse style growing, making it one of the most efficient growing operations available in the state of Washington for high quality product.

CROP CEO, Michael Yorke, stated: "Our tenant growing team and their sales team have made outstanding progress with product placement in 40 retail locations for both flower, oils and extracts. We continue to build out our brands in California and Nevada and our objective is, ultimately, to be in as many states as possible."

About CROP

CROP is publicly listed company trading under symbol CROP.CSE. The company is focused on cannabis branding and real estate assets. CROP's portfolio of projects includes cultivation properties in California, two in Washington State, a 1,000-acre Nevada cannabis farm, 2,115 acres of Hemp CBD farms, and a growing portfolio of common share equity in upcoming listings within the cannabis space.

CROP has developed a portfolio of assets including Canna Drink, a cannabis infused functional beverage line and 16 Cannabis brands.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the expected returns from the Washington Project; the technological effects of Washington Project; the intention to expand its portfolio; and execute on its business plan. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding the regulatory and legal framework regarding the cannabis industry in general among all levels of government and zoning; risks associated with applicable securities laws and stock exchange rules relating to the cannabis industry; risks associated with maintaining its interests in its various assets; the ability of the Company to finance operations and execute its business plan and other factors beyond the control of the Company. Such forward-looking statements should therefore be construed in light of such factors, and the Company is not under any obligation, 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 applicable law.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.

Company Contact

Michael Yorke - CEO and Director

E-mail: info@cropcorp.com

Website: www.cropcorp.com

Phone: +1(604) 484-4206PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / Uptick Newswire Stock Day Podcast welcomed Genoil Inc. (OTC PINK: GNOLF) ('the Company'), an independent exploration, production company which has experience drilling for oil and gas in the Caribbean. CEO, David K. Lifschultz, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by asking Lifschultz about the Company's most recent press release involving Lloyd's Register, a prominent independent organization in the shipping company. Lifschultz explained that Lloyds Register observation of the desulphurization test for bunker fuel that met International Maritime Organization standards provided independent validation of the Genoil desulphurizing process. Similar validation was made in the Lukoil, Aramco, and ConocoPhillips tests, and many others.

'We're very excited about the validation through Lloyd's Register, and we think this is going to make a major impact on the shipping industry,' stated Lifschultz.

Jolly then asked about the Company's pending deals. Lifschultz explained that the Company is currently working out a major deal with a 7,000 square kilometer oil field, containing an estimated 1 billion tons of oil reserves in which 285 million tons are recoverable and can produce 500 thousand barrels of oil per day. The field is connected to China by pipelines that go through Kazakhstan. The deal is currently progressing based on the results of meetings with a major bank in China larger than J. P. Morgan Chase.

Jolly inquired about the Company's technology and what makes it so different from other competitors in the industry. Lifschultz explained that the technology of the Company offers incredibly high conversion rates. This creates a more efficient and profitable process at a lower cost than competitors. Currently, the Company is even being considered for a project in Saudi Arabia that would be worth $50 billion.

Lifschultz then shared that the Company expects to be generating revenue as soon as their numerous projects come to fruition and interest in the Company's technology continues to grow.

To hear David K. Lifschultz's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://upticknewswire.com/interview-ceo-david-lifschultz-of-genoil-inc-otc-gnolf/

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of 'Stock Day,' and Uptick Newswire encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/.

About Genoil Inc.:

Genoil is an independent exploration, production company which has experience drilling for oil and gas in the Caribbean. The company specializes in heavy oil development and is focused on long-term growth. Genoil has developed a proprietary, state of the art patented advanced hydroconversion process technology (heavy to light & sour to sweet). This advanced Hydroconversion Upgrader (GHU), converts heavy crude oils and refinery bottoms into clean crude that is much more valuable. This more valuable crude produces a higher value product slate meaning that this new crude oil refines into clean-burning fuels for transportation. The company is deeply focused on the downstream transportation refining industries especially shipping. Hydroconversion is a common and proven desulfurization process, capable of processing various feedstocks ranging from crude oil to Naptha.

The Genoil Hydroconversion Upgrader (GHU), is an advanced upgrading and desulfurization technology, which converts heavy or sour crude oil into much more valuable light low sulfur oil for a very low cost. The GHU achieves 96% pitch conversion and 95% desulfurization with an operating cost of up to 75% less than the competition. For Conoco Canada Ltd, Genoil converted their bitumen of 6-8.5 API and converted it to 24.5 API. We also removed 92% of the sulfur-reducing the amount from 5.14 % to below 0.24%. These results were taken by Conoco Canada Ltd, who had them analyzed by Core Laboratories, one of the largest service providers of core and fluid analysis in the petroleum industry.

Media Contact Information:

David Lifschultz

Tel: 212 688 8868

Email: dklifschultz@Genoil.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain information regarding Genoil, including the availability of capital and other sources of funds and future plans, may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as 'seek,' 'anticipate,' 'hope,' 'plan,' 'continue,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'may,' 'will,' 'intend,' 'could,' 'might,' 'should,' 'believe' and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions, expectations, and estimates of management as at the date the statements are made and, in some cases, information received from or disseminated by third parties, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this release necessarily involve risks and uncertainties associated with an oil and gas technology development and engineering corporation. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance upon forward-looking information contained herein. Although Genoil believes that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are reasonable given current market conditions, and information received or disseminated by third parties is reliable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Genoil does not assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements and such forward-looking statements should not be taken as guarantees of future outcomes. Subject to applicable securities laws, Genoil does not undertake any obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement. Additionally, statements included in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Further information on potential risk factors that could affect Genoil's financial results can be found in Genoil's disclosure materials filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and with the Securities Exchange Commission available at www.sec.gov.

About Uptick Newswire and the 'Stock Day' Podcast

Founded in 2013, Uptick Newswire is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Uptick provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. Uptick is the sole producer of its 'Stock Day' Podcast, which is the number one radio show of its kind in America. The Uptick Network 'Stock Day' Podcast is an extension of Uptick Newswire, which recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona.

Source Contact:

Uptick Newswire

602-441-3474

https://upticknewswire.com/

SOURCE: Uptick Newswire

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540913/Uptick-Newswire-Hosts-Genoil-Inc-on-the-Stock-Day-Podcast-to-Discuss-Major-Upcoming-DealsVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / BTU METALS CORP. ("BTU" or the "Company") (BTU-TSX:V) announces it has commissioned Zen Geomap Inc to conduct a low-altitude, high resolution drone magnetic survey of its Dixie Halo properties contiguous to Great Bear Resources in Red Lake, Ontario.

The survey is expected to include over 80 flights, covering a grid of 827 line kilometres. In addition to high-resolution magnetics, the survey will include 20 flights for the purpose of air photo mapping. Data will be processed and mapped with the objective of honing the drill targets on the Company's current six identified areas of focus, particularly around the northern border of the BTU property. The drone survey will also investigate a large part of the minimally explored areas of the 12,963 hectare property to investigate further areas of interest and supplement targets. The survey is planned to begin within the next two weeks and take approximately two weeks to complete.

Doug Hunter, P.Geo and BTU VP, Exploration commented, "High-resolution was a critical tool for neighboring Great Bear Resources in identifying D2 folds and gold-bearing structures. The survey will be flown very close to the ground and we greatly anticipate the three-dimensional image output to assist in identify potential gold-bearing structures on the BTU land".

The Company would like to acknowledge the significant support and assistance of the team at the MNDM in Red Lake. They have been extremely helpful as the company ramps up its 2019 exploration program.

Figure 1: High Grade Hole DHZ14 Drill plan map over colour mag 1VD data. BTU Metal's property surrounding that of Great Bear resources is shown in black outline.

To view reports and maps of the Dixie Halo Project please visit https://www.btumetals.com. The drill hole intersection reported on the property location map is not on the Company's Dixie Halo Property. Mineralization that may be hosted on adjacent properties is not representative of mineralization that is, or may be, hosted on the Company's Dixie Halo Property.

The technical contents of this release were approved by Mr. Doug Hunter, P. Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Paul Wood"

Paul Wood, CEO, 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.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward -looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM).

SOURCE: BTU METALS CORP.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540930/BTU-Commissions-High-Resolution-Drone-Magnetics-SurveySteven Wallace to take the lead with UK Ireland operation

McLarens, a leading, global independent insurance services provider, announced today the appointment of Graham Smart to the newly created global role of Chief Commercial Officer. In this new position, Smart will work closely with McLarens Chief Executive Officer Gary Brown and the firm's Global Management Team to provide comprehensive leadership of McLarens' global commercial strategy and expanding service offerings. Smart, who has served as the firm's Managing Director in the UK and Europe for more than five years, will continue in a significant client service capacity. He will manage relationships with McLarens' key global clients and will lead the firm's proposition with blue chip account business (Fortune 500, FTSE 250). As Chief Commercial Officer, Smart will also play an active role in identifying, integrating and anticipating client needs from a holistic perspective. Working with internal business partners in technology and operations, as well as regional and specialty practice leaders around the globe, Smart will drive innovation and the development of expanded product offerings, as well as enhanced technology, systems and processes to meet the needs of the market.

Gary Brown, Chief Executive Officer: "As one of the largest insurance services firms in the world, with an ambitious international growth agenda, we recognise the need to have a leader with a strategic global perspective to focus on comprehensive commercial initiatives. We see a real opportunity to offer our customers an enhanced experience by providing a more seamless, integrated solutions strategy, which includes exploring opportunities to strengthen our traditional core services, as well as pursuing synergies in tangential markets. Graham and I have been discussing this position for years, and as we have ramped-up our strategic growth plan and continue to look for ways to strengthen partnerships with our clients, the timing is right to centralise our leadership efforts in this Global Commercial Officer role. We are fortunate to have someone of Graham's calibre on our team to take on this opportunity. He brings significant experience and understanding of the global industry, and is ideally and uniquely suited to lead this effort."

Graham Smart, Chief Commercial Officer: "The market is undergoing significant change through disruption as technologies and new solutions emerge, yet there is a greater than ever desire for global market-leading loss adjusting and ancillary services. We are extremely well placed to take advantage of the opportunities to broaden our service portfolio and partner with clients in new ways. I am looking forward to working with Gary to set and support our strategic growth plans."

As Smart assumes his new position, Steven Wallace has been appointed Managing Director, UK Ireland. In this capacity,Wallace will oversee a network of 18 offices across the UK and Ireland, in addition to driving continued growth in line with McLarens' strategy of offering comprehensive regional coverage alongside the development of specialist practices. As a member of the UK executive board he has worked closely with Smart in developing the UK business, which has grown tenfold over the past decade, introducing specialist service lines, such as Construction Engineering, Private Clients and Real Estate. As Executive Director responsible for Ireland, he has also overseen the growth of McLaren's All-Ireland operation, from the launch of its Belfast office in 2007, to the subsequent opening of new offices in Cork, Derry, Dublin and Galway.

A Chartered Loss Adjuster with three decades of experience handling primarily commercial property and energy claims, Wallace has acted on many high profile major and complex losses during his career, including the 7/7 London Underground suicide bombs. He is also a well-known and respected figure within the profession, having previously served as President of the Belfast Insurance Institute and currently as a member of the UK Council of the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters.

Steven Wallace, UK Ireland Managing Director: "As our UK and Ireland business has evolved, we've continually enhanced and refined our proposition, investing heavily in infrastructure, strategic recruitment and building out our specialist practices and, under Graham's leadership, we have created a strong platform to take the business to the next level. Given the market consolidation and continued appetite for specialist, practitioner-led adjusting, considerable opportunities exist, and the UK Executive Team is actively working to shape our business for future growth in this hugely exciting time to be taking on the role. We have a fantastic UK and Ireland team, which I am immensely proud to lead."

Chris Panes, Chief Operating Officer EMEA region, who joined the business in 2016, will take direct responsibility for McLarens' European business which, last year, expanded its footprint with the announcement of a tri-partite alliance with two leading European adjusting firms: Polyexpert, a major French adjusting business, and IES, a market leader in Italy, Poland, Romania and Turkey.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About McLarens:

McLarens is a leading global provider of loss adjusting and risk management services. The company's international footprint, which includes offices and operations strategically located in 39 countries, enables it to provide streamlined consistent service to global customers, while at the same time delivering local expertise and responsive service. Founded in 1931, the company's focus has historically been claims management services for complex, commercial and niche markets, as well as auditing and pre-risk surveying. The company's expert adjusters have an average of over 20 years' claims experience, operating across a range of industries with specialties including: Property, Crisis Management, Natural Resources, Construction Engineering, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Aviation, Casualty, Marine, FAJ Specie, Global TPA Services. To complement our claims services, McLarens began expanding its suite of risk management services in 2019, with the acquisition of American Environmental Group, which offers a range of indoor air quality and environmental consulting services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005441/en/

Contacts:

Linde A. Miscio

Sr. Director, Global Marketing Communications

+1 678 303-2517Focused on progressing the Enterprise business while taking advantage of recent positive momentum in the crypto market

Boden, Sweden--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - Hydro66 Holdings Corp. (CSE: SIX) (OTCQB: HYHDF) ("Hydro66" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a business update and its strategic plan going forward.





Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5085/43844_ec322a358432ebc1_001full.jpg

Hydro66 remains well positioned to take advantage of the exponential growth in data and computing trends by providing access to low-cost, green energy in an ultra-efficient hyperscale colocation data center. The company has already built the largest High-Performance Computing ("HPC") colocation data center in Europe with further potential to expand this existing capacity.

The Company's award-winning data center, located in Boden, northern Sweden, is custom designed as multiple halls physically connected by a shared services area. The halls can be individually engineered for cooling, power density, security and redundancy to provide clients with bespoke solutions. The current capacity of the data center is up to 19.2 MW with the potential to expand to 40 MW of 100% hydroelectric, low carbon power and up to 80 MW including an adjacent site.

Anne Graf, CEO, commented, "As data growth and new compute-intensive technologies are outgrowing IT budgets, corporations are searching for new solutions. Hydro66 continues to champion the idea of moving data towards power to realize cost savings and to reduce the environmental impact of the data center industry. We are addressing the problem through location and design, utilizing efficiency and grid resiliency to drive down both capital and operating costs. This approach allows Hydro66 to offer companies solutions that can result in an approximate 50% reduction in cost compared to legacy data centers."

Today, the Company sees growth from customers in four key sectors; System Integrators, Enterprise Businesses, Cloud Hosting and HPC.

System Integrators: Applications are normally served from client's premises, a third-party data center or the public cloud. It is essential for the System Integrator help clients make hosting decisions to maintain control and ensure quality. Having a strong colocation data center partnership is beneficial for System Integrators to add value to the client, enhance retention rates and increase margin opportunities.

Enterprise Businesses: Hydro66's colocation data center is perfect for security conscious Enterprise clients whose needs extend beyond on-premise solutions. Reducing complexity by outsourcing non-core activities, such as physical data center operations, allows clients to focus on their principal business. Hydro66 is proving to be a perfect partner.

Cloud Hosting: Hydro66 helps security conscious cloud providers who need EU carrier neutral colocation and recognize their hosting partner must offer economies of scale and flexible growth options. Saving money with ultra-efficient colocation at zero carbon cost is a win-win for cloud providers and their clients.

High Performance Computing: By operating industrial grade wholesale HPC optimised server and ASIC or GPU data halls Hydro66 offers a quick and assured solution for operators needing to deploy megawatts of equipment in the minimum time possible.

In addition to the colocation business that Hydro66 continues to build, the Company continuously monitors the global cryptocurrency and blockchain space for opportunity. The Company is opportunistic in utilizing its world-class data center infrastructure to provide hashing power to mining pools when positive returns can be generated. This flexibility, to turn on and off hashing power, is a strong competitive advantage and avoids leaving the company materially exposed to negative movements in the sector, while providing significant leverage to cryptocurrency price upside.

Anne Graf, CEO, continued, "Hydro66 continues to look at the crypto asset space and opportunistically enter whenever it is profitable. Utilizing equipment that was acquired at the bottom of the market means that there is essentially no capital expenditure to recuperate. This allows us to gain exposure to a rising cryptocurrency market while substantially protecting ourselves from any downside volatility. The ability to gain exposure from hashing power is a great cash flow opportunity as we continue to build out our Enterprise business."

For additional information, contact: investors@hydro66.com

About Hydro66

Hydro66 owns and operates an award-winning colocation data center in Sweden specializing in High Performance Computing ("HPC") hosting. The Company hosts third party IT infrastructure, utilizing 100% green power, at amongst the EU's lowest power prices and within an ISO27001 accredited facility.

Hydro66 is uniquely positioned to capitalize on opportunities in blockchain infrastructure as well as the traditional enterprise colocation data center market. The Company provides truly green power at a leading price, purpose-built space and cooling, telecoms, IT support services and 24/7 physical security in their facility in Boden, Sweden. www.hydro66.com

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals.Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43844Provides Insight into Corporate Strategy and Outlook

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF) today says it has recently shifted focus to look for more innovative methods of financing exploration that do not dilute shareholders' interests in the Company. This approach, and other aspects of the Company's corporate strategy and outlook, are outlined in the Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") released today together with the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018.

In its 2018 MD&A, the Company says that the resource market has lately improved somewhat, especially for base metals, and copper in particular.

"However, given the ongoing scarcity of funds available to finance mineral exploration, over the past year the Company has raised modest amounts of capital (with the goal of minimizing shareholder dilution), through the limited use of convertible debentures and a small private placement. Work on the Company's properties in 2018 was consequently constrained by a lack of funds."

More recently, the Company says, Quaterra has shifted focus to look for more innovative methods of financing exploration that do not dilute shareholders' interest in the Company. The recent sale of certain primary ground water rights by Quaterra's Yerington, Nevada-based subsidiary, Singatse Peak Services LLC ("SPS"), for $6.02 million is an outcome of that strategy.

"In addition to providing non-dilutive funds for ongoing exploration, the price achieved in the recent sale has the added advantage of placing a value of about $20 million on the Company's remaining primary ground water rights, which should go some way to placing a floor under the Company's market capitalization," the Company says in the MD&A. SPS retains about 6,700 acre-feet per year of primary ground water permitted for mining and milling at its 51-square-mile Yerington property. In addition, SPS also has substantial decree, supplemental and storage water rights associated with private land that it has under option.

The Company has focused on initiating a prefeasibility study at the MacArthur open-pit, copper oxide deposit located in the north of its Yerington property. This decision has been driven by an independent review of opportunities to optimize the near-term production potential at MacArthur as laid out in a 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") prepared by M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation of Tucson, Arizona, and the identification of several areas for potential improvement. Better market fundamentals, a better understanding of the geology at Yerington, and investor appetite for near-term oxide-leach projects also played a role in the decision to focus on MacArthur.

Although the initiative at MacArthur is currently the foremost component of Quaterra's strategic plan for its collection of Yerington assets, the longer term goal remains to investigate, consolidate and de-risk the over-all Yerington property by:

Maintaining and further consolidating its large and prospective land position in the historic copper district. The company renegotiated option agreements with certain private land-holders reducing option payments significantly and extending the option period. Additional initiatives are underway to further this goal.

Protecting its remaining 6,700 acre-feet of primary water rights that are already permitted for mining and milling, and the decree, supplemental and storage water rights associated with private land that it has under option.

Continuing, where feasible, targeted exploration of the property, specifically the sulfide system underlying the MacArthur oxide cap, and the large Bear porphyry deposit.

Retaining key staff to advance the company's efforts in the district.

Exploring opportunities for district cooperation and consolidation.

Negotiating an agreement with Atlantic Richfield Company ("ARC") that will allow ARC to complete its remedial activities at the old Yerington mine site, and the Company to move forward with development of the site.

The Company says that as part of its mandate for discovery, Quaterra continues to identify and assess exploration opportunities, provided they can be acquired on reasonable terms, and without the obligation of long-term financial commitments. The focus on exploration opportunities has recently been reinforced by indications that the improvement in commodity markets may be becoming more deeply rooted, bringing prospects for a longer term firming in the price of copper, Quaterra's key underlying commodity.

The financial statements and MD&A are available at www.quaterra.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. This news release should be read in conjunction with those documents. All dollar amounts herein are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.

About Quaterra's Yerington Copper Project

Quaterra's 51-square-mile Yerington Copper Project is located in the historic Yerington Copper District, a mining-friendly jurisdiction with a history of copper production and good infrastructure, about 70 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada. Assets on the property consist of the MacArthur oxide-leach and sulfide copper deposit; the Yerington pit sulfide and oxide deposit previously mined by Anaconda; the Bear porphyry copper system; and several untested exploration targets. The Company has reported oxide and sulfide resources at both MacArthur and the Yerington pit, and the 2012 PEA at MacArthur, all prepared under National Instrument 43-101. Quaterra also owns valuable water rights in the district.

About Quaterra Resources Inc.

Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF) is a copper exploration company with the objective of advancing its U.S. subsidiary's copper projects in the Yerington District, Nevada. Quaterra also holds an option to earn a 90% interest in the Groundhog copper prospect, a 40,000-acre property situated on an established copper porphyry belt 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, and immediately north of the large Pebble copper-gold porphyry project. The Company continues to look for opportunities to acquire copper projects on reasonable terms that have the potential to host large mineral deposits attractive to major mining companies.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Thomas Patton, Chairman & CEO

Quaterra Resources Inc.

For more information please contact:

Karen Robertson, Corporate Communications, 778-898-0057

Gerald Prosalendis, President and COO, Quaterra Resources Inc., 250-940-3581

Thomas Patton, Chairman & CEO, Quaterra Resources Inc., 604-641-2758

email: info@quaterra.com

website: www.quaterra.com

Disclosure note:

Some statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements under Canadian securities laws and within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified in this news release by words such as "believes", "anticipates", "intends", "has the potential", "expects", and similar language, or convey estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives, potential outcomes, expectations, or goals. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. In particular, forward looking statements in this news release include that the Company will continue to receive funding, that near term opportunities exist to enhance value, that a pre-feasibility study will be completed supporting the development of the MacArthur project, that value can be placed on the Company's remaining water rights, that exploration drilling will be undertaken, that results will define further mineralization or high grade zones; that historical and new exploration will support a resource on the property; and that the Yerington assets have the potential to support mining operations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. A summary of risk factors that apply to the Company's operations are included in our management discussion and analysis filings with securities regulatory authorities, and are publicly available on our website. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43851Oncology professionals from all over the world met in Orlando to discuss how to better address the needs of people with cancer. Join the conversation online with the hashtag NCCNac19

ORLANDO, Florida, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 1,500 cancer care professionals participated in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2019 Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, to advance global practices and accelerate collaboration and research. The conference included continuing medical education sessions presenting recent changes to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines), and the evidence behind those updates. Faculty from across the 28 leading academic cancer centers that comprise NCCN presented the latest thinking on treatment for breast, prostate, and lung cancers, among numerous other topics. The conference also focused on international themes in cancer care, and had multinational attendees hailing from 24 different countries, including Japan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil.

Abubakar M. Bello, MD, from the National Hospital Abuja in Nigeria, gave an invited presentation on the NCCN Harmonized Guidelines for Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Bello explained how the average lifespan in many Sub-Saharan nations has increased from 48 to 60 years of age in the past 3 decades thanks to greater control over infectious diseases. But that progress comes with an unintended consequence: skyrocketing cancer rates. Experts predict 1.6 million new cancer cases by the year 2040, with the potential for even higher rates if tobacco companies succeed in gaining footholds in the currently low-smoking region. Additionally, there is very little in the way of health insurance. Most patients pay for medicine out-of-pocket, while 76% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

In the 12 countries represented by the African Cancer Coalition, doctors and health ministers are taking a proactive approach, improving infrastructure and methodology before the patient load increases any further. According to Dr. Bello, until recently Ethiopia had just three oncologists serving a population of 105 million. Now there are more than 40 oncologists, which has led to marginally increased accessibility to care, but there is still much progress to be made.

"Things in Sub-Saharan Africa are changing rapidly," said Dr. Bello. "Awareness of cancer is rising. We're scaling up our local training programs, and developing evidence-based guidelines that will soon cover 97% of cancer incidence in the area. The harmonization process gets care providers to work together, giving them more clout for negotiations with policy makers, regulators, and payors. Our hope is to be on par with developing nations within the next five years."

"We take advantage of any opportunity to improve the standard of care globally," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "That means listening to feedback, and adapting the NCCN Guidelines to address unmet needs. It also means providing opportunities for medical education on the research that backs up the recommendations within those guidelines. Cancer management is getting more complex every day, and NCCN is there to help fill any knowledge or experience gaps."

Other sessions from the NCCN 2019 Annual Conference provided training on complicated issues like how to prepare patients and their caregivers for end-of-life care; when to use multi-gene assays and the difference between those that test for prognostic factors (likelihood of recurrence) and predictive factors (effectiveness of treatment); and how to provide compassionate pain management without contributing to the growing crisis of opioid addiction and overdose.

"Simple solutions created a crisis. It will take complex solutions to solve it," said Judith A. Paice, PhD, RN,Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. "We need better education and access to addiction specialists. Our electronic records systems need to make it easy to do the right thing. And we can't ignore the social determinants that drive drug use. But there is a silver lining; people are starting to recognize that the pendulum may have swung too far in the direction of opioid restriction, leaving many to suffer in severe pain. We need new ways to address the opioid crisis without causing unnecessary suffering for people with chronic or cancer-related pain."

Cancer-related distress was the focus of another session. NCCN Guidelines for Distress Management Panel Chair Michelle B. Riba, MD, MS, University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, explained why it's important to screen patients for distress at least once during treatment, and again during any pivotal times in care. She also pointed out that the screening only matters if you're prepared to follow-through on the results.

A number of sessions also addressed the rising use of personalized medicine, with expanding recommendations around genetic testing for pancreatic, prostate, lung, and other cancers. Multiple experts also mentioned emerging research on next-generation sequencing, which they are watching very closely. A breast cancer session addressed positive results from PARP inhibitors for patients with BRCA 1/2 mutations, and explained which circumstances have sufficient evidence to support further genetic testing.

Recordings from all continuing education-accredited sessions will soon be available via the NCCN CE portal at education.NCCN.org.

The next NCCN Annual Conference will take place on March 20-22, 2020, in Orlando, and will include a look back on NCCN's 25-year history. Visit NCCN.org/conference to stay current on any updates. Also coming up is the next NCCN Policy Summit, "The State of Cancer Care in America: The Impact of State Policy on Access to High-Quality Cancer Care" in Washington D.C. on June 27, 2019, and the next NCCN Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies in San Francisco on September 27-28, 2019.

Take part in ongoing online discussions from the NCCN 2019 Annual Conference with the hashtag NCCNac19, and visit NCCN.org/news for other updates from the event.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not-for-profit alliance of 28 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. By defining and advancing high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers around the world.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, NE; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH; City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on Twitter @NCCNnews and Facebook @National.Comprehensive.Cancer.Network.

Media Contact:

Rachel Darwin

267-622-6624

darwin@nccn.org

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/441768/NCCN_Logo.jpgVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / Alchemist Mining Inc (CSE: AMS) ("AMS" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors of the Company have appointed former California Director of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Awet Kidane, as an independent director, effective immediately.

Mr. Kidane has worked for nearly 15 years in public service in both the Legislative and Executive branches, including as Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, as Chief of Staff to Assembly member Steve Bradford and as Senior Advisor to State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

During his career in the California State Assembly, Kidane led a department that oversees more than 40 professional licensing boards, including ones that regulate medical cannabis, construction and nursing. Kidane was the staff point-person who oversaw the release of the bill from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Other key works included the creation of the film tax credit during budget negotiations and the first CEQA exemption for a Los Angeles stadium during a special session. His other works included the passage of the first and second Renewable Portfolio Standard. As Director of Consumer Affairs, Kidane oversaw the development of the budget and the legislative package, managed close to 5,000 staff and led efforts to reform licensing and enforcement for all consumer boards and commissions including negotiating the continuance of the boards and commissions under his jurisdiction. In this capacity, Kidane worked closely with Governor Brown's Cabinet and was among those advising the Governor directly on issues within his jurisdiction.

During his five years of service in the Administration, Kidane served as a constant advisor and chief negotiator for the Administration on all issues pertaining to the Department of Consumer Affairs, forming strong relationships with members and staff of the Legislature of both parties. Moreover, while serving the Governor, he successfully negotiated many contentious budget and policy issues pertaining to his Department, such as sunset review.

"We are very proud and honoured to have Mr. Kidane join our team," said Paul Mann, CEO of Alchemist. "His knowledge, experience, professional network and successful track record speaks for itself. I have no doubt that Awet's contribution, counsel and diplomacy will have an immediate and positive impact to our business endeavors in California."

Mr. Kidane commented: "I am honored and excited to be part of the Alchemist team, who really seem to know what they are doing and where I believe I can offer my experience and expertise all the while learning a tremendous amount from them in return."

The Company also thanked Mr. Will Rascan for his service as he steps down from his role as a member of the Board of Directors.

On Behalf of the Board,

Paul Mann, CEO

Alchemist Mining Inc.

For further information on this release, please contact:

Sukh Sandhu Investor Relations

Investors@alchemistinc.ca

604-601-2093

About Alchemist Inc.

Upon affecting the Fundamental Change as announced on September 25, 2018, Alchemist's goal is to be a global provider of technology solutions to the cannabis sector. It will be primarily focused on investing and building a sustainable portfolio of business entities, by actively identifying opportunities in the developing global cannabis market, through a combination of acquisitions, incubations and investments, with a goal to create shareholder value.

Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update such statements.

SOURCE: Alchemist Mining Inc

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540895/Alchemist-Appoints-Former-California-Director-of-Consumer-Affairs-Awet-Kidane-to-Its-Board-of-Directors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.European Commission and Council of Europe Partnering with APWG.EU for Fourth Annual Symposium in Bucharest in June

APWG.EU is holding its fourth annual Symposium on Global Cybersecurity Awareness in partnership with the European Commission and the Council of Europe (Convention on Cybercrime) on June 26-27, to be held at the European Commission Representation Office in Bucharest with the theme of "Considering Behavioral Interventions at Global Scale".

The objectives of the Symposium, inaugurated by APWG.EU in 2016, are the establishment of global strategies for cybersecurity awareness development and the cultivation of research, measurement tools and awareness assets deployed as instruments of cybercrime prevention regimens, subject to the same rigor as any other kind of public health measure.

The Awareness IV Bucharest review committee is receiving proposals for presentations from: developers of awareness programming; curators and advocates of awareness campaigns; and researchers on all behavioral aspects of cybersecurity, user metrics and behavioral interventions against cybercrime and all related areas of public policy and risk management. Other topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Cybersecurity education and cyber awareness program development

* Cybersecurity awareness training metrics/evaluation of awareness campaign effectiveness

* Case studies of successful cyber awareness training campaign

* Instruments that work in awareness: training, hacking demos, etc.

* Techniques and tools to raise awareness

* New techniques to train users

* Cybersecurity awareness in critical infrastructure

* Case studies on a country's legislation support in cybersecurity education/awareness

* Metrics and techniques to measure efficacy of awareness programming

Important dates:

Session/Talk submission: April 18th, 2019

Author notification: May 2nd, 2019

Symposium: June 26-27, 2019

The submission instructions and webform are available on the Symposium's notes page: https://apwg.eu/bucharest-global-cybersecurity-awareness-2019/

Awareness IV Bucharest coincides with the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2019. The timing and venue places this year's symposium and its discussions of awareness as an instrument of programmatic suppression of cybercrime within a potent multilateral context.

APWG Secretary General Peter Cassidy, founder of the symposium, said, "Interest in the behavioral aspect of cybercrime and appreciation of its role in cybercrime's success has never been higher since APWG's eCrime research conference began receiving scholarly papers on related subjects in 2006. Since then, our STOP. THINK. CONNECT. cybersecurity awareness campaign has been launched in 21 nations, joining scores of other awareness efforts worldwide."

With industry's increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity awareness/education/training offerings, researchers from manifold disciplines entering the space and the increasing interest of enterprises, national government and inter-governmental organizations in behavioral aspects of cybercrime prevention, Awareness IV Bucharest promises to be a keystone event.

About the APWG.EU

APWG.EU, established in 2013 as the Anti-Phishing Working Group European Foundation, is an industry association focused on unifying the global response to cybercrime. The organization provides a forum for responders and managers of cybercrime to discuss phishing and cybercrime issues, to consider potential technology solutions, to access data logistics resources for cybersecurity applications, to cultivate the university research community dedicated to cybercrime, and to advise government, industry, law enforcement and treaty organizations on the nature of cybercrime. Based in Barcelona, Spain, APWG.EU is the EU chapter of the APWG, established in Fall 2013 as a non-profit scientific research foundation managed by its trustees for the benefit of cybercrime fighters across Europe and beyond. (APWG, founded in 2003 as the Anti-Phishing Working Group, operates as a 501c6 tax-exempted corporation.) The APWG is the worldwide coalition unifying the global response to cybercrime across industry, government and law-enforcement sectors. APWG's directors, managers and research fellows advise: national governments; global governance bodies; hemispheric and global trade groups; and multilateral treaty organizations. APWG is co-founder of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, the global online safety public-awareness collaborative and founder/curator of the eCrime Researchers Summit, the only peer-reviewed conference dedicated to cybercrime studies, proceedings of which are published by the IEEE.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005245/en/

Contacts:

(EU) Zoriana Dmytryshyna

Tel:+34 618 782 169

Email: zoriana.dm@apwg.eu

(USA) Peter Cassidy

Tel: +1 617 6691123

Email: pcassidy@apwg.orgOne of the world's leading producers of plant-based protein products, Atlantic Natural Foods, underscored today its commitment to its European market strategy with the appointment of Mike Easterbrook as its European Representative effective July 2019.

In this role Easterbrook will lead the strategic European roll out of a number of Atlantic Natural Foods' plant-based products including the iconic Loma Linda brand, neat, and Tuno, the world's first-ever plant-based seafood/tuna alternative that has received numerous awards and accolades since its 2018 debut.

Over the past year, the company has prepared flavor profiles tailored to British palate preferences with specific package creations. In late 2018, the company announced its intention to bring affordable, high quality, shelf stable, plant-based foods to the European consumer.

"Mike has extensive knowledge and a proven track record in commercial product development, market creation, mergers and acquisitions, and international trade," said Atlantic Natural Foods founder and chairman J. Douglas Hines. "I have known him for many years and am thrilled to have his experience and passion for sustainable, alternative food products on board at this critical and exciting time in our European journey."

Hines, himself a 40-year food industry veteran, promises products that are sustainable, healthy, portable, prepare quickly, taste great, and will change the future through food innovation.

Easterbrook holds more than 40 years' experience within the grocery industry including retail, food-service, and wholesale. Before joining Atlantic Natural Foods he was Managing Director at Princes Ltd., one of Europe's leading marketers of shelf-stable foods.

"Atlantic Natural Foods is quickly gaining traction as the leader in shelf stable/ambient products in the plant-based grocery space, which makes it an exciting time to join," Easterbrook said. "I'm thrilled to use my knowledge and experience to develop the company's European presence even further. It's great to be part of creating a sustainable future for us all."

About Atlantic Natural Foods

Headquartered in Nashville, NC, Atlantic Natural Foods is the leading shelf-stable manufacturer and provider of Loma Linda, Neat and Kaffree Roma brand products. Its mission is to provide affordable, sustainable, and healthy sources of plant-based protein food for all lifestyles and people to help them live healthier, longer lives. The company operates its own manufacturing facility in North Carolina, as well as a joint venture project in Thailand. The brands are sold throughout the U.S. and in 17 countries, including the U.K. and Australia. To learn more about Atlantic Natural Foods, please visit www.atlanticnaturalfoods.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005166/en/

Contacts:

Margie Newman

margie@intesacom.com

619-995-3078The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. launches with two limited-release bottles

Today, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. announces its launch as a highly collectible brand of Irish Whiskey, available only in exclusive locations. This long-awaited debut features two exceptionally unique whiskeys, Grain Oak and The Devil's Keep, both of which have been hand-crafted and carefully distilled to increase their smoothness, taste and quality.

After years crafting what will be the world's most collectible Irish whiskey, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. perfected proprietary mash bill and maturation techniques. By using the finest ingredients and early additions of pure Irish spring water, the final product becomes fully flavored by the oak cask throughout the entire aging process. This procedure allows for an ultra-premium, incomparable whiskey with a full-bodied mouthfeel and exceptional, robust flavours.

"Coming from a country that has strong roots in whiskey-making, we wanted to focus on creating something that embodied the traditions of Irish whiskey, while allowing ourselves to experiment and produce a superior result," explained Co-Founder of The Craft Irish Whiskey Co., Jay Bradley. "In our process, we add water upfront, allowing it to marry together with the spirit, while soaking in flavours from the barrel as it ages. Other producers dilute their product after aging, which greatly reduces the flavour and work of the cask. Our technique, though it requires more expenses, vessels and storage space for the same volume of product, is what creates our signature full-bodied and smooth profiles."

The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. is launching with two limited-release whiskeys: Grain & Oak and The Devil's Keep. Grain Oak, a substantial Single Grain Irish Whiskey matured in double-charred bourbon casks, has a rich gold color with an aroma that carries traces of oak, vanilla and fruit. Aficionados can expect flavours of cane sugar, bourbon, and pecans upon their first sip. Bottles of Grain Oak can be found with select stockists for 90.00. The Devil's Keep, an ultra-rare Single Malt Irish Whiskey, has an inaugural release of only 4,950 bottles. It is artfully aged in select premium Kentucky Bourbon casks, with a golden appearance and the scent of maple syrup and toffee. The flavour balances rich oak, honey and butterscotch for a smooth, lingering finish. Bottles of The Devil's Keep are available at exclusive locations for 220.00.

In addition to the whiskey releases, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. is introducing an exclusive membership for their limited whiskeys. Members of the "Craft Cask Club" will gain access to purchase casks of their superior spirit, The Devil's Keep, along with exclusive entry to intimate events. For more information on the availability of these luxury whiskeys and how to join the Craft Cask Club or become a stockist, visit www.craftirishwhiskey.com.

About The Craft Irish Whiskey Co.: Founded in 2015, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. is the first and only Irish whiskey company to cask at 52% ABV. With category-bending distillation, bonding, barreling and maturation processes, each of their highly-collectible whiskeys provide more depth of flavour, silky smoothness and a luxurious mouthfeel. The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. only uses products that are guaranteed to be of the utmost quality, including pure Irish spring water and top-quality Irish barley, to create the most collectable Irish whiskey on the market. If you are an establishment looking to become one of our exclusive carriers, reach out to stockist@craftirishwhiskey.com. For more information, visit www.craftirishwhiskey.com, check out our latest video, or follow us on Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005106/en/

Contacts:

Jay Bradley

+353-83-068-1960

Jay@CraftIrishWhiskey.comVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. (TSXV: MXR) (OTC Pink: MXROF) (FSE: M1D1) (the "Company") is pleased to report that, at the Special Meeting of Shareholders held on April 2, 2019, shareholders adopted a special resolution approving the transaction with Noble Metals Limited ("Noble") and its wholly-owned subsidiary Condoto Platinum Limited ("Condoto") (the "Transaction"). The Company has also received approval from the Board of Noble for the execution of the Transaction.

Transaction highlights include:

The acquisition by MAX of 100% rights to mineral claims and mineral applications held by Noble and, more importantly, the "Novita Agreement", an exclusive right of first refusal to the mineral rights and mining rights over 1,050 sq. km held by the Novita Higher Community Council as sole owners of the land and minerals.

The Novita Agreement area encompasses or is adjacent to the Company's Choco Precious Metals Project, which covers an area of 1,757 sq. km, located 100 km SW of Medellin, Colombia.

Established infrastructure, including a fully operation 30-man exploration camp at the town of Novita.

The Choco Precious Metals Project covers or is adjacent to historic surface production of 1.5Mozs of gold and 1.0Mozs of platinum by Compania Minera del Choco Pacifico between 1906 and 1990. (Source: R.J. Fletcher and Associates (2011) Review of Gold and Platinum Exploration and Production in Choco Province Colombia Part 3. Private Report for Condoto Platinum Ltd).

The Company advises that mineralization hosted on adjacent properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's Choco Precious Metals Project.

Brett Matich, Max's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Shareholder approval of the Noble Transaction represents a major milestone for the Company. This transaction secures a major ground position in a world class precious metals province."

The Transaction

The Transaction is described in a definitive asset purchase agreement (the "Transaction Agreement") dated effective February 8, 2019, pursuant to which the Company has agreed to purchase a bundle of resource exploration assets located in the Choco Department of Colombia between Noble, Condoto, a local Colombian branch of Condoto (known as a "Sucursal") and the Novita Higher Community Council. In consideration for these assets, MAX has agreed to pay the sum of C$500,000 and to issue to Noble 26,665,896 MAX common shares (the "Acquisition Shares").

At the Special Meeting, the Company's shareholders adopted an additional special resolution to approve Noble as a 'Control Person' of the Company as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company anticipates that Noble will become a Control Person when the Acquisition Shares are issued upon the completion of the Transaction because, at closing, Noble will hold 29.2% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company. The Transaction remains subject to conditions within the Transaction Agreement and the TSX Venture Exchange conditional approval letter.

About Max Resource Corp.

MAX Resource Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the development of prospective projects in the rich mineral belts of Colombia. The Company has established significant exploration infrastructure and local community support for two very large prospective Colombian projects: the Choco Precious Metals Project, located 100 kms south of Medellin, which covers or is adjacent to historic production of 1.5Mozs gold and 1.0Mozs platinum and the Gachala Copper Project, located 60 kms east of Bogota.

The Company is led by a seasoned management team with a track record of significant discovery and exploration success.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MAX RESOURCE CORP.

"Brett Matich"

Brett Matich, CEO and President

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.maxresource.com

or the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com

If you would like to be added to Max Resources' news distribution list, please send your email address to info@maxresources.com

For more information contact:

Brett Matich, CEO and President Tel: (+1) 604 365-1522

info@maxresource.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements pertaining to completion of the Transaction and any approvals required in connection with the Acquisition. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in the price of commodities (particularly copper), unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general social, economic or geo-political conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43855Combined operations rank among top U.K. and European consultancies

AVENIR GLOBAL, a Montreal-based holding and management company of public relations and communications firms, today announced that it has acquired Hanover, a top 10 independent U.K. public relations consultancy with offices in London, Brussels, Dublin, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005503/en/

The Hanover executive committee with AVENIR GLOBAL's International Managing Partner Ralph Sutton. (Left to right) back row: Jonty Summers, Michael Prescott, Katie Blower, Christian Hierholzer, Ian Chapman, Claire Sherry (Left to right) front row: Lorna Jennings, Andrew Harrison, Charles Lewington, Ralph Sutton, Gavin Megaw, Laura Roberts (Photo credit: Paolo Ferla)

With the acquisition of Hanover, AVENIR GLOBAL consists of 1,000 employees in 25 locations across North America, Europe and the Middle East. Its annualized revenue of 125M should place the firm in the top 15 worldwide public relations agency ranking.

This transaction is part of a strategic plan to build a global powerhouse of specialist communications firms delivering outstanding value to clients. Together with the November 2018 acquisition of London-based healthcare creative agency, Cherry, the deal significantly enhances AVENIR GLOBAL's EMEA offering. The group was already represented in the region by healthcare communications firm AXON Communications, with offices in London, Copenhagen, Zug, Brighton, New York and Toronto, and by its strategic communications consultancy Madano Partnership.

"We are building a powerful network of colleagues who are the best in their field and our goal is to provide our clients with bold thinking founded on research, insights and deep sector expertise. Hanover is hugely respected as one of the best and fastest growing agencies in the world and this transaction showcases our ambitions. In addition to an enhanced geographic footprint, there is a strong cultural alignment, which is critical to our teams working well together," said Ralph Sutton, International Managing Partner of AVENIR GLOBAL.

"Hanover focuses on communications and public affairs disciplines which are key to our network, in addition to deep sectoral expertise in healthcare, financial services, technology, media, energy, fast-moving consumer goods, industrials and sport. The combined business in the U.K. places us among the country's largest public relations consultancies; second in public affairs and first in healthcare."

Founded in London in 1998 by CEO Charles Lewington, Hanover is one of Europe's leading strategic communications and public affairs consultancies with 163 employees, advising global companies on building recognition and enhancing reputation. Clients include Goldman Sachs, Airbus, Microsoft, Apple, Warner Media, Sky, Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Premier League, Tata Steel, Lilly, Novartis, BMS, Roche and Takeda. The Hanover Group also includes creative communications agency The Playbook, and Multiple, a brand and culture consultancy that enables technology challengers and corporate change-makers to define their purpose, fire up their people and build platforms for growth. The agency's leadership team will remain in place following the transaction.

AVENIR GLOBAL has 300 healthcare communications staff harnessing expertise in public relations, reputation management, crisis and issues management, medical communications, clinical trial support, marketing communications, public affairs, market access and internal communications. The firm works for many of the largest names in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries as well as working with healthcare providers, technology firms and patient advocacy organisations.

Other sectors where the combined group will have particular strength on both sides of the Atlantic include food and drink, energy and financial services, and the communications disciplines of reputation management, public affairs and issues and crisis management.

"AVENIR GLOBAL provided a strong business case for joining forces to create an unrivalled worldwide team of specialist communications firms. We share a common belief in building a high degree of client service and expertise," said Charles Lewington.

"By joining the AVENIR GLOBAL network, we broaden our offering in insights and research, add impressive resources in creative and digital campaigning and execution, and can draw on additional scientific expertise in healthcare, food and drink, and energy. Our international clients also now have access to a strong presence in North America which will help us meet their international communications objectives.'

The Fonds de solidarite FTQ and Bank of Montreal provided the cross border financing for the transaction.

About AVENIR GLOBAL

AVENIR GLOBAL is a Montreal-based holding and management company with an active operations mindset and a hands-on approach to all its investments. A global powerhouse of specialist communications firms, AVENIR GLOBAL has 1,000 staff and offices in 25 locations across Canada, the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, and ranks among the top 15 largest communication firms in the world.

In Canada, AVENIR GLOBAL owns NATIONAL Public Relations, the country's leading public relations firm, servicing clients across a wide range of sectors, which includes NATIONAL Capital Markets, the industry's foremost investor relations and financial services practice. In the United States, AVENIR GLOBAL owns SHIFT Communications, a data-driven integrated communications agency; and the public relations and communication company Padilla, which includes the brand consultancy Joe Smith, the food and nutrition experts at FoodMinds and the research authorities at SMS Research Advisors. In Europe, AVENIR GLOBAL owns the London-based strategic communications consultancy MadanoandHanover, one of the EMEA's leading strategic communications and public affairs consultancies, with offices in London, Brussels, Dublin, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Hanover Group also includes creative communications agency The Playbook, and the brand and culture consultancy Multiple. The AVENIR GLOBAL network also includes healthcare specialists AXON Communications, with offices in Toronto, the U.S, the U.K. and Europe and healthcare creative agency Cherry, based in London.

AVENIR GLOBAL is owned by RES PUBLICA Consulting Group

About Hanover

Hanover is one of Europe's leading strategic communications and public affairs consultancies, with offices in London, Brussels, Dublin, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Hanover Group also includes creative communications agency The Playbook, and Multiple, a brand and culture consultancy that enables technology challengers and corporate change-makers to define their purpose, fire up their people and build platforms for growth.

Hanover Group has 163 full-time employees across Europe and 2018 revenue of 19m. It has delivered consistent 25% top-line growth over the past four years, and plans to double the size of the company by 2022.

Hanover provides a full suite of communications services to clients in healthcare, financial services, technology, media, energy, FMCG, industrial, and sport. Its blue-chip client list includes Goldman Sachs, Airbus, Microsoft, Warner Media, Sky, Lilly, Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Tata Steel, Novartis, BMS, Roche, and Takeda.

Hanover is now an AVENIR GLOBAL company.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005503/en/

Contacts:

INFORMATION:

AVENIR GLOBAL

Ralph Sutton

+44 (0) 7803 899576.

rsutton@avenir.global

Hanover

Laura Roberts

+44 (0) 7791 501992

lroberts@hanovercomms.comCommissioner Mariya Gabriel and Director-General Roberto Viola to Host Digital Signing; IOTA's Director of Social Impact and Public Regulatory Affairs Appointed to INATBA Board of Directors

IOTA Foundation, a non-profit foundation focused on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and permissionless ecosystem development, announced today it has joined the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) as a founding member. INATBA's core directive is to promote the use of DLT technology by developing a predictable, transparent and trust-based global framework. INATBA offers developers and users of DLT a global forum to interact with regulators and policymakers and bring DLT and blockchain technology to the next stage.

The initiative is an outgrowth of the EU Blockchain Industry Round Table, a European Commission-hosted group convened to identify the right conditions for DLT to flourish. The Association was legally formed in March with more than 100 founding members, including major DLT and blockchain providers, large-scale users, start-ups, and business and sectoral associations.

Digital Signing at the European Commission Headquarters

The digital signing of the INATBA Charter at the European Commission headquarters will be hosted by European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, who will give a keynote speech, and Director-General Roberto Viola. The digital signatures will be hashed on IOTA's Tangle network, in addition to other DLTs, to create an immutable audit trail of the signing. In connection with the founding of the Association, Julie Maupin, IOTA's Director of Social Impact and Public Regulatory Affairs, was elected to serve on the INATBA board of directors.

"Developing a regulatory framework around distributed ledger and blockchain technologies is essential to their widespread adoption and growth. We have established our own Public Regulatory Affairs team to lead this effort and are excited to be one of the founding members of INATBA. The strength and size of this association, as well as the support of the European Commission and other governments, only further shows the future limitless potential for Distributed Ledger Technologies," said Dominik Schiener, co-founder and co-chair of IOTA Foundation.

The organizations named below have committed to INATBA's goals of developing interoperability guidelines and standards, transparent and inclusive governance, and ongoing constructive dialogue with authorities and regulators. The organization believes this approach will be a significant driver of distributed ledger technology innovation and uptake.

As part of this collaborative approach, INATBA's founders enshrined four goals:

Maintain a permanent and constructive dialogue with public authorities and regulators that will contribute to the convergence of regulatory approaches to blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies globally. Promote an open, transparent and inclusive global model of governance for blockchain and other distributed ledger technology infrastructures and applications -- a model that reflects the shared interests of stakeholders from industry, start-ups and SMEs, civil society organisations, governments and international organisations. Support the development and adoption of interoperability guidelines, specifications and global standards, to enhance trusted, traceable, user-centric digital services and uphold an open, transparent and inclusive method of multi-stakeholder cooperation. Develop sector-specific guidelines and specifications for the development and acceleration of trusted sectorial blockchain and DLT applications in specific sectors (i.e. financial services, health, supply chain, energy and financial inclusion).

The organizations are asking other like-minded blockchain stakeholders to join INATBA and help drive the development and deployment of the technology across the globe. For more information on INATBA, visit: https://www.inatba.org/.

For information on IOTA and its work with regulators and policymakers, please visit: https://www.iota.org/get-started/for-regulators-and-policymakers

The founding organizations include:

21 Consulting GmbH

AB InBev (Anheuser-Busch InBev)

AboutGovernance B.V.

ACCENTURE

ACCORD PROJECT, LLC

ALASTRIA

ALIS Co., Ltd.

Ambrosus (Represented by Innolab Engineering SARL)

BANK FRICK CO AG

Barclays Services Limited

BBFA LTD

BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.)

Berkeley Research Group (UK) Ltd. (thinkBRG)

Billon Group Ltd

Billon Sp. z o.o

Bitfury Holding B.V.

Blockchain Bundesverband e.v. (Bundesblock)

Blockchain Centre Vilnius

Blockchain Hungary Association

BLOCKCHAIN ITALIA SRL

Blockchance UG

Boerse Stuttgart Digital Ventures GmbH

BOTLabs GmbH

BPCE

BUIDL, Ltd.

Caisse des depots et consignations

CARDANO Stiftung

CASHLINK Technologies GmbH

Ceska fintech asociace, z.s.

Chaintip B.V.

Climate Change Coalition (Novasphere)

COALA (Coalition d'Applications Legales Automatisees)

COCIR (COMITE EUROPEEN DE COORDINATION DES INDUSTRIES RADIOLOGIQUES ELECTROMEDICALES ET D'INFORMATIQUE DE SANTE)

COCUS Aktiengesellschaft

Coinarmy Bilisim Teknolojileri Ticaret Anonim Sirketi

COMPELLIO SA

ConsenSys AG

Datafloq B.V.

DECENT International, a.s.

DEON DIGITAL

Deutsche Borse AG

Deutsche Telekom AG

DIGITAL GRID Corporation

DLC Distributed Ledger Consulting GmbH

DNV GL Business Assurance Group AS

ECLIPSE FOUNDATION

ECSDA (European Central Securities Depositories Association)

EFN (FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DES ASSOCIATIONS INFIRMIERES )

ELECTRINA HOLDINGS DESIGNATED ACTIVITY COMPANY

ENGIE

ENTERPRISE ETHEREUM ALLIANCE INC.

ERTICO (European Road Transport Telematics Implementation Coordination Organisation)

EVAN GmbH

Everis Belgique

Fractal Blockchain GmbH

Fujitsu Technology Solutions

FUTURE ENERGY FOUNDATION LIMITED

Gnosis Limited

GuardTime AS

IBM BELGIUM

Intesa SanPaolo

IOTA Foundation

IPDB Foundation e.V. (Interplanetary Database Foundation e.V.)

iPoint-systems gmbh

ITALIA 4 BLOCKCHAIN

Jolocom GmbH

Konfidio UG

Kriptomat

Kunfud Cero Seis, SL

LEDGER

Lisk Stiftung

L'OREAL

Lukso Blockchain GmbH

LYNKEUS

MADANA UG

NEC EUROPE LTD

Odilia GmbH

ParkinGO International SA

QPQ Limited

QUANT NETWORK LTD

R3 LLC

Raoof Consultancy Limited

Repsol SA

Riddle & Code GmbH

Ripple Labs Inc.

RoyaltyRange (Intangible Range Ltd.)

S. ESTEBAN CONSULTING LIMITED

SAP SE

Scrypt.Media

SIA S.p.A.

slock.it GmbH

Sovrin Foundation

Stablecoin Integration servies Danmark IVS

Stichting FIBREE

STOKR S.A.

Summitto B.V.

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication)

Tangany GmbH

TechGDPR DPC GmbH

Telefonica SA

thinkBLOCKtank

Unibright IT UG

Volksbank Mittweida eG

WE.TRADE INNOVATION

Yoti Ltd

About the IOTA Foundation

IOTA is a not-for-profit foundation incorporated and registered in Germany. The IOTA Foundation's mission is to support the development and standardization of new distributed ledger technologies (DLT), specifically the IOTA Tangle. The IOTA Tangle is an innovative type of DLT specifically designed for the Internet of Things (IoT) environment. It is an open-source protocol facilitating novel Machine-to-Machine (M2M) interactions, including secure data transfer, fee-less real-time micropayments, and the collection and dissemination of sensor-based and other data. www.iota.org

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005510/en/

Contacts:

Cara Harbor

cara.harbor@iota.orgToronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - Minnova Corp. (TSXV: MCI) ("Minnova" or the "Company") wishes to provide an update it on its La Esperanza discovery-stage project in Peru, various business initiatives at the PL Gold Mine in Canada and its previously announced shares for debt transaction, further to its news release dated January 31, 2019.

At the La Esperanza project in Peru, heavy seasonal rainfall has restricted access to the property resulting in a delay in receiving our work permit. We hope to complete the permitting process by May 2019 and following that initiate surface work programs of mapping, trenching and sampling. This will be followed by a shallow drilling program and a series of small bulk samples from surface and existing underground development. Bulk samples will be processed at a local toll mill to collect data on gold distribution and metallurgical characteristics. Additionally, we hope to generate a small amount of cash flow from the sale of recovered gold, after considering bulk sample extraction and processing costs.

We consider the La Esperanza project with its high-grade vein-hosted gold mineralization to be a starting point in our broader regional exploration and development efforts. The district supports numerous small-scale mines and employs thousands of miners. Our regional business development strategy is focused on identifying additional mining and exploration properties in the district for possible M+A or Joint Venture. In March 2019 we had the opportunity to attend a meeting with over 400 miners in attendance where we presented our company and our strategy. Follow-up discussions with business and community leaders was positive and we are encouraged by our initial progress.

At the PL Gold Mine the Metallic Screen Fire Assay ("MSFA") check assay program, initiated in 2018, continues with further results from the program expected before the end June 2019. As previously reported on January 31, 2019 MFSA's received to date have produced an average positive variance in gold grades of 18% versus the Original Fire Assay ("OFA") results. On completion of the MSFA program we will be in a position to advance plans for a future bulk sample and update current reserve and resource estimates for the PL Gold Deposit.

In addition to our various technical programs in support of our PL Gold Mine re-start plans we continue to advance our planned biomass power generation business model that will be associated with the PL Gold Mine re-start.

In 2018 we created a new Manitoba subsidiary called Minnova Renewable Energy ("MRE"). Our business plan for MRE capitalizes on significant local and regional infrastructure, including; grid power connection, all weather roads and underutilized railway infrastructure and future access to various feedstocks typically used in biomass power generation. We firmly believe there is room for alternative energy, as part of our overall energy demand requirements at the PL Gold Mine. The re-start of the PL Gold Mine and an associated biomass power generating facility represents a unique business opportunity to create a "hybrid mine" that not only reduces the mine's carbon footprint but also creates additional sustainable jobs and numerous other potential benefits to the local community beyond planned mining operations and gold production.

MRE is in the process of reviewing all available proven, green energy technologies and if warranted will incorporate them into the PL Mine re-start plan. Sustainable green energy generation technologies being reviewed include; biomass power generation and lake-based geothermal heating and cooling system for the mining camp.

The regional economy near the PL Mine site lacks sustainable employment opportunities and Minnova hopes to promote job creation by developing a biomass power generating facility that utilizes the region's abundant harvestable resources under a sustainable forestry management plan and other biomass feedstocks.

Finally, the Company has received conditional approval from the TSXV to settle an aggregate of $500,000 in debt with arm's length and non-arm's length parties. Of this amount, $241,501 of the indebtedness relates to the provision of management and director consulting services and fees for an aggregate of up to 536,668 common shares, at a deemed price of $0.45 per common share, which will be issued to the Company's CEO in full or partial settlement, as the case may be, of the outstanding indebtedness. All securities issued pursuant to the Concurrent Debt Settlement will be subject to a four-month statutory hold period in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

The issue of the common shares in connection with the debt settlement remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and in the case of the Company's CEO, subject to receiving disinterested shareholder approval, which the Company will be seeking at the next annual and special meeting of the shareholders of the Company.

The Debt Settlement constitutes a related party transaction within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") as various insiders of the Company received 981,112 common shares in connection with the Debt Settlement. The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the common shares being issued to insiders in connection with the Debt Settlement does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before the closing of the Debt Settlement because the Company wanted to improve its financial position as expeditiously as possible.

Qualified Person

Mr. Chris Buchanan, M. Sc., P. Geo., a consultant of the Company and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

For more information please contact:

Minnova Corp.

Gorden Glenn

President & Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact Investor Relations at 647-985-2785 or info@minnovacorp.ca

Visit our website at www.minnovacorp.ca

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information regarding the Company including management's assessment of future plans and operations, that may involve risks associated with mining exploration and development, volatility of prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of resource estimates, environmental and permitting risks, access to labour and services, competition from other companies and ability to access sufficient capital. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward looking statements. A feasibility study has not been completed and there is no certainty the disclosed targets will be achieved nor that the proposed operations will be economically viable. Although Minnova has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Minnova does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43859TOULOUSE, France, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today in Toulouse (France), Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, who along with her fellow dignitaries from the National Assembly visited and attended the delivery ceremony for Vietjet's brand new A321neo, registered as VN-A600 at Airbus's factory.

Fitted out with 230 comfy leather-covered seats and high-quality carpeting, the first five rows of Vietjet's spacious new A321neo have been especially designed to accommodate passengers who choose to fly Skyboss, the airline's premium service. The aircraft's interior also features a lively lighting system and a striking decor that combine to create a comfortable and refreshing ambience through the whole cabin.

The visit of the delegation from National Assembly of Vietnam to the aircraft manufacturer's factory underscores the significant commitment of Vietnam's national leaders in supporting the development of the aviation industry at home and other affairs related to technology transfer and strategic cooperation within the industry.

During the visit, the National Assembly of Vietnam's Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan insisted in her speeches that Vietjet has been a pioneering airline, positively contributing to the development of the national and regional aviation industry. She noted how the Vietnamese aviation industry has been growing continuously while Vietjet has been among the fastest growing airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. Vietnam's economy has been benefited greatly from the contribution of tourism and investment segments. Vietnam's government has given considerable attention to supporting the development of aviation. As a result, the aviation industry in Vietnam is a rising star at the moment, making large orders of aircrafts, building new fleets of modern planes, especially the private airline Vietjet.

Speaking at the delivery ceremony in France, Mr. Jean-Francois Laval, Airbus Executive Vice President Sales Asia, said: "We are pleased to be an aircraft manufacturer of choice for Vietjet, one of the fastest growing carriers in the Asian region. We congratulate Vietjet on their latest A321neo delivery. At Airbus we are honoured to be a key partner of Vietjet, and we look forward to seeing more of our aircraft flying in its colours."

Marking a milestone in this relationship, this A321neo is also the 60th aircraft of its kind that Vietjet has received directly from Airbus, among a fleet of almost 80 aircraft that the airline is operating. The new aircraft will immediately join fleet operations in April 2019.

Speaking on the occasion of this special event, Mr.Dinh Viet Phuong, Vice President ofVietjet, said, "Vietjet is currently operating a fleet of new Airbus A320 family aircraft with an average age of 2.82 years, making it the youngest fleet in the world. The A320 family aircraft has greatly contributed to Vietjet's impressive operation performances, including the airline's technical reliability rate standing at 99.64%, in recent years and to be among one of the airlines with the lowest operating costs in the world. The delivery of this new A321neo today once again emphasizes Vietjet's great efforts to grow and modernize our fleet, so we can continuously contribute to the growth of tourism and economies across the region, while meeting our utmost objective, bringing maximum comfort, joy and safety to our valued passengers."

About Vietjet:

Vietjet is the first airline in Vietnam to operate as a new-age airline offering flexible, cost-saving ticket fares and diversified services to meet customers' demands. It provides not only transport services but also uses the latest e-commerce technologies to offer various products and services for consumers. Vietjet is a fully-fledged member of International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate. Vietjet was named "Best Ultra Low-Cost Airline 2018 - 2019" and awarded the highest ranking for safety with 7 stars in 2018 by the world's only safety and product rating website AirlineRatings.com. The airline has also been listed as one of the world's 50 best airlines for healthy financing and operations by Airfinance Journal in 2018.

Currently, Vietjet operates around 400 flights daily, carrying more than 70 million passengers to date, with 108 routes covering destinations across Vietnam and international destinations such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, mainland China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia.

For more information, please visit: www.vietjetair.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/846186/Vietnamese_National_Assembly_Chairwoman.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/846187/Cutting_red_ribbon_delivery_ceremony_A321neo.jpgTurkey Baby Food Market Segmentation by Food Category (Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula and Other Baby Food), by Nature (Inorganic Baby Food and Organic Baby Food), byType ofMilk Formula (Standard Milk Powdered Formula, Follow-on Milk Powdered Formula, Growing- up Milk Formula, Special Baby Milk Formula), by Age Group (0-6 Months, 6-12 Months and 12+ Month and Company Profiles of Major Players in the Turkey Baby Food Market (Danone Group, Hero Group GmbH, HiPP GmbH & Co. Vertrieb KG, Nestle S.A, Abbott Laboratories Inc,Eti Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Yasar Holding AS, Yildiz Holding AS, Ari Gida Sanayi AS, Montero Gida San Tic. AS, Pladis Global and DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH)

GURUGRAM, India, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Increasing demand for organic baby food which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.8% during the five year forecast period of 2018(P) to 2023(E) is projected to drive the baby food market in Turkey

Innovation in the baby food products such as emergence of special baby food and goat milk formula is anticipated to attract new customers

The prime reason behind poor demand for baby food on E-commerce websites in Turkey is majorly due to safety and security concerns for their babies

Increasing Special Milk Formula Sales: The advancement in technology and consistent research and development in the food and nutrition industry of Turkey has led to the emergence of special milk formula. Parents can now purchase baby food for their malnourished, allergic and lactose intolerant infants as well. This has augmented the demand for special milk formula which has known to account for below 5% of the total milk formula sales. Moreover, the demand for growing-Up milk formula is also expected to rise due to increasing population in the age group 12-36 months. It is projected to account for a share of over 35% of the total milk formula sales in Turkey by 2023.

Innovation in the Market: Newer baby food products such as specialized baby food for infants with allergies, colic, premature babies, regurgitation and other such issues have attracted new customers. Additionally, rising preference of goat milk formula products has also been observed in Turkey. Parents opt for goat milk formula in case their kids are allergic to soy and cow milk. Thus, emergence of innovative products in the baby food market of Turkey is projected to drive the growth in the overall market size.

Stringent Government Norms: The government of Turkey has very specific requirements to be fulfilled to be able to import food into the country. Specific norms for manufacturing, packaging, labeling and others are required to be met to be able to import and sell food in the Turkish market. These regulations are expected to continue acting as a hindrance in operations for both existing and potential players in the baby food market of Turkey.

Encouraging Breastfeeding: The Turkish government is encouraging mothers to breastfeed their children and has also introduced pregnancy-friendly labor laws such as paid maternity leaves of 16 weeks and 1.5 hour long daily breast feeding breaks which have offset the demand for milk formula in the country.

Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Turkey Baby Food Market Outlook to 2023 - By Infant Milk Formulae (Standard, Follow-On, Growing-Up and Special Baby Milk Formula), Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula and Other Baby Food; Organic Baby Food" suggests that investing heavily in research and development (R&D) and bringing out innovative products in the market is the need of the hour. For instance, DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH introduced special categories of baby foods and has received a positive response from its customers indicating that a huge demand exists for such products. The market is expected to register a positive CAGR of 9.5% in terms of retail sales during the forecast period 2018(P)-2023(E). The market is further expected to be driven by new companies, both domestic and international, that are entering the market.

Key Segments Covered:

By Food Category:

Dried Baby Food



Prepared Baby Food



Milk Formula



Other Baby Food



By Type of Milk Formula:

Standard Milk Powdered Formula



Follow-on Milk Powdered Formula



Growing-up Milk Formula



Special Baby Milk Formula



Nature of Food:

Inorganic Baby Food



Organic Baby Food



By Channels of Distribution:

Hypermarkets



Discounters



Supermarkets



Independent Small Grocers



Health and Beauty Specialist Retailers



Other Foods Non Grocery Specialist



Internet Retailing



By Age Group:

0-6 Months



6-12 Month



12+ Months

Key Target Audience:

Baby Food Manufacturers

Baby Product Manufacturers

Baby Product Distributors

Baby Food Distributors

Government Agencies

Baby Food Retailers

NGOs supporting Baby Health

Pharmaceutical Stores

Online Sales and Retailing Agencies

Time Period Captured in the Report:

Historical Period: 2012-2018(P)

2012-2018(P) Forecast Period: 2019-2023

Companies Covered:

Abbott Laboratories Inc.

Ari Gida Sanayi AS

Baby Goat

Danone Group

DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH

Eti Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret AS

Golden Goat

Hero Group

HiPP GmbH & Co. Vertrieb KG

Montero Gida San Tic. AS

Nestle SA

Pladis Global

Yasar Holding AS

Yildiz Holding AS

Key Topics Covered in the Report:

Executive Summary

Research Methodology

Ecosystem of Turkey Baby Food Market

Stakeholders in the Turkey Baby Food Market

Turkey Baby Food Market Overview and Genesis

Value Chain Analysis of Turkey Baby Food Market

Turkey Baby Food Market Size, 2012-2018(P)

Turkey Baby Food Market Segmentation

Trends and Developments in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market Issues and Challenges in the Turkey Baby Food Market

Snapshot on Emerging Baby Foods in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market Decision Making Criteria for Consumers

Government Regulations in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market SWOT Analysis of Turkey Baby Food Market

Competitive Landscape in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market Turkey Baby Food Market Future Outlook and Projections, 2018(P)-2023(E)

Analyst Recommendations in Turkey Baby Food Market

For more information on the research report, refer to below link:

https://www.kenresearch.com/consumer-products-and-retail/baby-care/turkey-baby-food-market/189102-95.html

Related Reports

Australia Baby Food Market Outlook to 2023 - By Type (Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula and Other Baby Food), By Organic Baby Food), By Region and By Channels of Distribution

The report provides information on Baby Food market segmentation by category (Milk Formula, Dried baby food, Prepared Baby Food and Other Baby Food), by Milk Formula (Standard Milk Powdered Formula, Follow-on Milk Powdered Formula, Growing-up Milk Formula and Special Baby Milk Formula),by Age Group (0-6 Months, 6-12 Months, 12+ Months), by Nature (Inorganic Food and Organic Food),by Region (New south Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory) and by Channel of Distribution (Supermarkets, Health and Beauty Specialist Retailers, Internet Retailing, Discounters, Other Foods Non Grocery Specialists, Convenience Stores and Forecourt Retailers). Company Profiles of Major Players in Australia Baby Food Market (Nestle SA, Danone Group, Aspen Pharmacare and Other Companies (Kraft Heinz, Bellamy's Australia Ltd., A2 Milk Co. and others) have been covered in the publication. The report concludes with market projection and analyst recommendations.

Egypt Baby Food Market Outlook to 2023 - By Food Category (Milk Formula - (Standard Formula, Follow-on Formula, Growing-up Formula and Special Baby Milk Formula, Dried baby food and Prepared Baby Food) and by Distribution Channel (Health and Beauty Stores, Supermarkets, Independent Small Grocers, Hypermarkets, Convenience Stores and Online Sales)

The report titled provides a comprehensive analysis of the Baby food market in Egypt. The report also covers the overall trade scenario, SWOT Analysis, decision making process, competitive landscape and growth drivers and trends and government role and regulations. The report concludes with market projection and analyst recommendations highlighting the major opportunities and cautions.

Egypt baby food market is still in its growth stage with retail revenue increasing at a positive double digit CAGR during the period 2012-2018. Due to a majority of international players, it has been an import oriented market. There has been a vast demand for innovative products such as camel milk based baby food. Due to high level of malnutrition among infants, increasing number of parents has preferred baby food to fulfill their child's nutritional requirements. Also, there has been a shift to organic baby food products as they minimize child's exposure to harmful chemicals and elements. Albeit government is encouraging breast feeding among new mothers; the baby food market has shown consistent growth over the years due to lack of paid maternity leaves to women in the working sector.

UAE Baby Food Market Outlook To 2022 - By Category (Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula And Other Baby Food), By Inorganic And Organic Baby Food, By Region (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Sharjah, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah And Umm Al Quwain)

The report titled provides a comprehensive analysis of the baby food market in the UAE. The report also covers the overall market size in terms of revenue and sales volume, SWOT Analysis, decision making process, competitive landscape and growth drivers and trends and government role and regulations. The report concludes with market projection for future market described above and analyst recommendations highlighting the major opportunities and cautions for the UAE Baby food market.

The baby food market of UAE is still in its growth stage. The market displayed a strong competitive scenario where international players that hold majority of the stake are constantly trying to increase their existing market share. The UAE Baby Food market has majorly been an import dominated market. The market is receptive to newness and innovations for instance, camel milk based baby food products and halal baby food products have gained a lot of popularity in the country. Despite the fact that government is encouraging breast feeding among new mothers and economic impact due to oil price shock of mid 2014 that continued till 2015, the baby food market has shown consistent growth.

Contact Us:

Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing

Ken Research Private Limited

Ankur@kenresearch.com

+91-9015378249

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661352/Ken_Research_Logo.jpgThe Company Begins Detailed Mapping of the Project Site Ahead of Geophysics and Core Drilling Programs

RENO, NV / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / Pershing Resources Company, Inc., (OTC PINK: PSGR) is pleased to announce the completion of key milestones for the 2019 mineral exploration program planned for its 100% owned New Enterprise Project site near Kingman, Arizona. Fieldwork preparations, subcontractors, and permit submissions have been secured to successfully implement the 2019 mineral exploration program. Phase 1 will concentrate on the characterization of recently identified gold-copper-bearing porphyry-related vein systems, including a focused follow-up diamond drill core program and leaching tests of the recently collected and submitted bulk samples. Completion of Phase 1 will depend on securing sufficient funds to complete the entire program.

Mapping & Geophysics

Phase 1 will initially concentrate on detailed geological mapping of the outcropping gold-copper-bearing porphyry-related vein systems. These veins are situated within the expanded New Enterprise Project that now consists of 281 contiguous BLM claims, covering approximately 10 square miles. Recently completed field preparations within the Central and Western vein systems have further confirmed the continuity of the vein systems by searching targeted locations and finding previously unreported veining. In addition, previously unreported surface bedrock exposed alteration indicative of porphyry-related systems was also readily identified within, and beyond, the vein systems. Detailed geological characterization of the gold-copper-bearing porphyry-related systems will help determine the associations and controls related to the gold and copper mineralization and assist in targeting drill hole locations.

In conjunction with the geological characterization of the vein systems, Pershing Resources has selected a Canadian geophysical service provider to execute a high-resolution tri-axial aeromagnetic heliborne survey. Scott Hogg & Associates Ltd., http://www.shageophysics.com , of Toronto, Ontario, will provide an aeromagnetic survey using their state-of-the-art equipment and processing software technology that will cover the entire New Enterprise Project with a line spacing of 50 metres (164 feet). Complementing the magnetic survey data and the recent geological mapping program will be the acquisition of detailed satellite photo imagery and analysis for the entire New Enterprise Project area, acquired from PhotoSat, https://www.photosat.ca/ , of Vancouver, BC. The acquired orthophoto will be further processed to create a mineral alteration map, with an accuracy of 50 centimetres (1.64 feet) assisting in the detailed mapping work with accurate ground control of surficial features and, will also potentially detect exposed surface bedrock alteration patterns know to be associated with porphyry-related mineralization. Pending review and correlation of the data compiled by each of these surveys, Pershing Resources will likely engage a third vendor to execute a ground Induced Polarization "IP", Resistivity studies on selected areas of higher interest. None of the above described work appears to have been ever executed within the current New Enterprise Project area prior to Pershing Resources acquisition of the mineral rights.

Preliminary Core Drilling & Correlation to Bulk Samples

Phase 1 will also include an initial diamond drill core program that will include four to six holes along a strike length of approximately 1,300 feet, (420 metres), in close association with the Enterprise Mine shaft and Jewell Tunnel within the Central Vein System. The initial drilling program is intended specifically to acquire drill core material similar to the uncategorized and/or loosely hand-sorted mined material from the Enterprise shaft and Jewell Tunnel historical mine workings. A correlation between the mine dumps/spoils found on the surface and bedrock source occurrences at the Enterprise and Jewel mine sites will assist in determining the near surface mineral resource potential of these vein systems. An amended Notice of Intent to the previously approved permit for the proposed program have been submitted to Bureau of Land Management in Kingman. Pending the completion of the permitting process, anticipated to be completed on or before July, the Company will move forward with its drill program once sufficient funding is in place. Additional drilling will likely be needed to fully test the mineral resource potential of the vein systems at depth and their spatial relationship with an underlying porphyry source. None of the identified vein systems appear to have been previously drilled.

As detailed information is compiled and interpreted, additional leaching tests will be completed on the 2.5 tons of previously collected and submitted bulk samples. Pershing Resources has been conducting bench scale mineral processing test work on the mine dump material at the Enterprise Shaft. Successful lab testing of gold recovery by cyanide leaching in 2017 and 2018 has provided sufficient encouragement to collect larger, 2.5-ton bulk samples from the Enterprise Shaft mine dump and the Jewell Tunnel mine dump.

As part of the 2019 Phase 1 mineral exploration program, additional leaching tests will be completed to determine the optimum conditions for leaching gold and copper from the collected samples. Completion of Phase 1 exploration, surveys, drilling, and testing will help in assessing the mineral resource potential of the New Enterprise Project.

Pershing Resources' CEO, Steve Plumb added, "Our Geologic Team is executing a detailed mapping of the Central and Western Vein Systems to more clearly define the mineralization associated with the porphyry identified on the surface of the Enterprise Claim Block. So far, the exploration results have been very positive and, we are looking forward to getting our geophysics and drilling programs completed later this year."

The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and/or prepared by Edward C. Walker, Ph.D., P.Geo., an independent consultant as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

The 2018 Technical Report on the New Enterprise Project along with additional data and information can be found at: https://www.pershingpm.com/projects/the-new-enterprise-project/technical-report

About Pershing Resources

Pershing Resources is a precious and base metals exploration and development company with several projects in North America. The Company is based in Reno, Nevada and owns an operations facility near Kingman, Arizona. It is currently focused on the development of its 100% owned New Enterprise and Mohave-Standard properties, collectively referred to as the New Enterprise project. The New Enterprise Project is located between the Mineral Park Porphyry Cu-Mo mine (approximately 20 miles to the northwest) and the Baghdad Cu-Mo mine (approximately 45 miles to the southeast). The Company's other assets are comprised of mining properties in various stages of development located in the Western United States.

As opportunities arise, the Company will seek to strengthen its balance sheet through acquisition of additional mineral rights and mining properties. Pershing Resources is committed to responsible mining practices and, we believe, is positioned to deliver sustained growth and performance for years to come.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained in this press release as well as the information on the Company's website is provided solely for the reader's general knowledge. Such information is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all matters pertaining to the Company. Certain statements included herein and on the Company's website, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current knowledge, assumptions, judgment and expectations regarding future performance or events. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, these forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to the Company's management. When used in this press release and on the Company's website, the words "estimate," "project," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance and/or achievements of the Company or of the gold mining industry in general to be materially different from future results, performance and/or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include uncertainties related to fluctuations in gold, silver and other commodity prices, uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology of the Company's properties, uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, the need for cooperation of government agencies in the development of the Company's mineral projects, the need to obtain additional financing to develop the Company's mineral projects, the possibility of delay in development programs or in construction projects, and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral projects.

All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company has no obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update, revise or correct any of the forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact:

Pershing Resources Company, Inc.

200 South Virginia Street, 8th Floor Reno, NV 89501

Phone: 775-398-3124

Email: j.adams@pershingpm.com

SOURCE: Pershing Resources Company, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540942/Pershing-Resources-Ramps-Up-for-2019-Exploration-Program-on-New-Enterprise-Project-Near-Kingman-ArizonaSynCardia continues commitment to invest in their executive leadership team

TUCSON, Arizona, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SynCardia Systems, LLC, manufacturer of the world's only clinically-proven and commercially approved total artificial heart, is pleased to announce that Don Webber has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer, and Peter Spadaro has been appointed as the President and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

Don Webber joined SynCardia in 2018 as Chief Operating Officer (COO), leading Manufacturing Operations and Engineering, Quality and Supply Chain Logistics for the SynCardia product line. Don's demonstrated leadership as COO led to his promotion in January 2019 to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He brings extensive management experience from more than 25 years in public and private sector life science companies. Prior to joining SynCardia, Don had been the COO at OptiScan since 2010. In addition, he's previously served as VP of Manufacturing Operations at C.R. Bard, VP of Operations at EKOS Corporation, and President and CEO of Mitralign. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering technology from the State University of New York and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.

Peter Spadaro has joined SynCardia's leadership team as the President and Chief Commercial Officer. Peter will be responsible for oversight of the global Sales and Marketing Organizations and for driving the company's sales growth. He assumed the new role on April 2, 2019 reporting directly to the CEO, Don Webber. Peter started his career at St. Jude Medical as a Sales Representative in New York City. During his almost 30-year career with St. Jude Medical he progressed through the organization's Sales and Marketing organizations taking on leadership roles that included Vice President of Global Marketing, Vice President of Cardiovascular Sales, and Division Vice President of Cardiac Rhythm Management to name a few. Peter comes to SynCardia from his recent leadership role at Medtronic as Senior Director of Sales, Cardiac Surgery. He holds a bachelor's degree from Fordham University.

Together, Don and Peter bring over 60 years of medical device leadership and management experience to SynCardia.

About SynCardia Systems, LLC

Headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., SynCardia manufactures the world's only commercially approved total artificial heart. In clinical use for more than 35 years and with more than 1,800 implants, the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH) is the most widely used and extensively studied TAH in the world.

By partnering with, training and supporting healthcare teams at more than 140 transplant hospitals and heart failure programs in more than 20 countries, SynCardia helps create better outcomes for critically ill adults and adolescents whose best chance at survival is total heart replacement. When a donor heart isn't an available option, SynCardia provides a new heart without the wait for patients with end-stage heart failure affecting both sides of the heart (biventricular failure).

Follow SynCardia: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Media Contact:

Kris Peiffer, kpeiffer@syncardia.com, (520) 618-1859

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/845808/SynCardia_Systems_Don_Webber_and_Peter_Spadaro.jpgThe FIGEAC AERO Group, a leading partner of major aerospace manufacturers, specialises in the production of light alloy and hard metal structural parts, engine parts, landing gear parts and sub-assemblies. An international group with a workforce of nearly 4,000 employees, FIGEAC AERO operates in France, the United States, Morocco, Mexico, Romania and Tunisia. In the year ended 31 March 2018, the Group reported annual revenue of 371 million.

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.CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral finance institution established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in 2014, plans to almost double its loan book to USD 16 billion this year and increase its impact, as the Bank seeks to broaden its global development partnerships and mobilise more institutional and private capital. These announcements were made at the 4th Annual Meeting of the NDB in Cape Town, South Africa which brought together senior government officials from BRICS countries, leaders of multilateral and national development institutions, distinguished scholars, prominent commercial bankers, captains of industry and representatives of civil society organizations.

"In 2019 the Bank will build on the strong momentum in our operations and aims to double its loan approval book to about USD 16 billion," Mr. K. V. Kamath, President of the NDB, said in his keynote speech at the 4th Annual Meeting of the institution in Cape Town, South Africa. "The Bank will ramp up its hard currency financing from the international capital markets."

In 2018, the NDB approved 17 loans totaling about USD 4.6 billion, building on its base of 13 loans worth USD 3.4 billion as of the end of 2017. That brought the total loan book of the bank to 30 projects worth approximately USD 8 billion by the end of last year.

The NDB also announced that on 31 March 2019 its Board of Directors had approved five additional projects with loans aggregating to approximately USD 1.2 billion, two in China and three in South Africa, taking its total loan book to USD 9.2 billion as of today.

These five new projects include RMB 825 million (USD 123 million) for the Shengzhou Urban and Rural Integrated Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Phase II); USD 300 million for the Guangxi Chongzuo Urban Water System Ecological Restoration Project; USD 480 million to Eskom for the Environmental Protection Project at Medupi Thermal Power Plant; ZAR 1.15 billion (USD 80 million) to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) for its Renewable Energy Sector Development Project; and ZAR 3.2 billion (USD 220 million) to South Africa's Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) for work on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (Phase II).

During the 4th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the NDB, its members provided strategic guidance for the Bank and appreciated the growth of the Bank's loan portfolio.

The NDB was established to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in member states as well as other emerging economies, and the Bank is strongly committed to supporting the sustainable development agenda of its member countries.

"The share of the BRICS countries in world GDP in PPP terms has grown from 30% to 36% since 2010. This growth has put increased pressures on natural resources and the environment. Fortunately, however, our members have explicitly recognized these pressures and are increasingly investing in undoing some of the past damage. Our members are also focusing on implementing development strategies aimed at minimizing adverse impacts in the future. In both these endeavours, the Bank is being called upon to assist," said Mr. Kamath in his keynote speech.

In keeping with the theme of sustainability at this year's Annual Meeting, the Bank announced that it had signed a USD 180 million loan agreement with Eskom to fund the integration of 670 Megawatts (MW) of renewable energy into South Africa's power grid as well as a two-step USD 300 million loan to the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses and support renewable energy in South Africa.

"We plan to end the year with total loan approvals of about USD 2.3 billion in South Africa," said Mr. K.V. Kamath, adding that the opening of the Africa Regional Centre (ARC) in Johannesburg in 2017 had helped the NDB make progress in South Africa. In the last three years the NDB approved only three projects worth USD 680 million from South Africa. Importantly, the efforts of the ARC had enabled the Bank to identify six new potential projects for 2019, of which three, worth USD 780 million, were approved on 31 March (see project detail above). The NDB now plans to open additional regional offices in Brazil and Russia and is considering opening an Indian regional office in due course.

Mr. K.V. Kamath said at a press conference at the end of the event's first day that the expansion of the Bank's membership is expected to be discussed at the 11th BRICS Summit, which will be hosted in Brazil later this year. He also provided greater detail on the Bank's plans to raise capital in local currency in the markets in which the NDB extends loans in order to reduce exchange rate risks to borrowers.

"We will help deepen the capital markets and will be a quality paper issuer given the rating we have," said Mr. K.V. Kamath. The NDB has a AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch.

Mr. Leslie Maasdorp, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the NDB, added that the Bank had received regulatory approval for a ZAR 10 billion local currency bond programme in South Africa.

"We are focusing on the development impact of our lending through more robust monitoring frameworks and measurement of projects' contributions to our members' SDG commitments," said Mr. K.V. Kamath. "Sustainability therefore remains at the core of everything we do."

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Regulatory News:

M6 METROPOLE TELEVISION (Paris:MMT):

The Shareholders of the company are invited to attend the General Meeting to be held on April 25, 2019, at 9:00 am, at the Cinema Le Village, 4 rue de Chezy" 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine.

The preliminary notice of meeting, including the agenda and the presentation of the proposed resolutions to be submitted to the Ordinary meeting, has been published in the BALO dated March 18, 2019. Notice of meeting has been published in the journal of legal announcements les Petites Affiches on April 1st, 2019.

Documents mentioned in Article R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code will be made available to Shareholders starting from the notice of meeting.

In accordance with the current legislation

Registered shareholders can, until the 5 th day (included) before the Annual Meeting, request supply of the said documents, including by the way of an electronic mail. For bearer shareholders, the exercise of this right is subject to the presentation of a certificate of attendance in the bearer share accounts kept by the duly empowered intermediary.

day (included) before the Annual Meeting, request supply of the said documents, including by the way of an electronic mail. For bearer shareholders, the exercise of this right is subject to the presentation of a certificate of attendance in the bearer share accounts kept by the duly empowered intermediary. All shareholders can consult these documents at the Company's headquarters.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005755/en/

Contacts:

M6 METROPOLE TELEVISIONJasmin Staiblin, Michael Halbherr and Barry Stowe elected as new members of the Board of Directors

Dividend of CHF 19 per share approved

Zurich has one of the highest dividends in the insurance industry and among Swiss companies, and a total shareholder return of 80% since March 2016, one of the highest among its industry peers

This year Zurich became the most valuable Swiss financial company by market capitalization

Shareholders also approved the dividend of CHF 19 per share, one of the highest in the insurance industry and in Switzerland. With a total shareholder return of 80% since March 2016, Zurich has outpaced most of its peers. This year Zurich became the most valuable Swiss financial company by market capitalization.

Zurich's leaders spoke of a proud Swiss company with a global footprint, which helps people and society as a whole by providing protection against risks. They also noted the Group's strong financial results, which put the company on track to achieve or exceed all of its financial targets for the three-year period from 2017 to 2019. This achievement comes as customers' needs are changing, leading to a major transformation in the way the company serves its customers.

Michel M. Lies told shareholders that he listened to many business leaders, customers, colleagues, employees and other stakeholders in his first year as Chairman. "These encounters have shown me how wide Zurich's influence is. How the credo of the Executive Committee is built, putting customers at the center of our thinking and actions. How we create an environment that attracts dedicated employees and enables them to develop and succeed."

Group Chief Executive Officer Mario Greco said: "We are transforming Zurich to meet the needs and expectations of our customers. This transformation builds on our strength as a uniquely global insurer. We understand the complex and diverse nature of globalization, and manage it like no other in our industry. We use our reach as a global insurer while acting as a local company and speaking local languages."

In a non-binding advisory vote, 88.2% of shareholders represented approved the remuneration report 2018. They approved a maximum total remuneration for the Board of Directors of CHF 4.89 million for the period until the next Annual General Meeting with 97.5% voting in favor. They voted in favor of a maximum total remuneration of the Executive Committee of CHF 74.7 million for the financial year 2020 with 90.1%. The remuneration reports will continue to be presented to shareholders in an advisory vote in the years to come.

The Management Report, Annual Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements detailing Zurich's performance in 2018, and all other items on the agenda, were also approved. PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Zurich, was re-elected as auditor for the 2019 financial year.

There were 1,741 shareholders (incl. proxies), representing 74,176,334 registered shares or 68.6% of the shares entitled to vote, at the meeting in Zurich. Detailed results of all votes will be published on www.zurich.com (https://www.zurich.com/en/investor-relations/shareholder-area/annual-general-meeting) on April 4, 2019.

In its constituent meeting held after the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors re-elected Christoph Franz as its Vice-Chairman.

(https://www.zurich.com/_/media/dbe/corporate/images/people/michel-lies-agm-2019.jpg?la=en&hash=7B0D2F406B5F5B8114DCD5CBF22B884D05B65C0F)Chairman of the Board of Directors(https://www.zurich.com/_/media/dbe/corporate/images/people/mario-greco-agm-2019.jpg?la=en&hash=BF913A7F7422DBA66F08B71AB92C86F16E8669A3)Group CEO(https://www.zurich.com/_/media/dbe/corporate/images/people/michael-halbherr-agm-2019.jpg?la=en&hash=278FE0117EB3B1B1223E810B0858762AAE60F294)(https://www.zurich.com/_/media/dbe/corporate/images/people/jasmin-staiblin-agm-2019.jpg?la=en&hash=8B82CA2EA5C203BBE5C9F77EBCE9F20A46DB693B)(https://www.zurich.com/_/media/dbe/corporate/images/people/barry-stowe-agm-2019.jpg?la=en&hash=313B3B143CAE884519E553EB4E697AA895A5733B)

The Board of Directors (all CVs to be found here (https://www.zurich.com/en/about-us/corporate-governance/board-of-directors)) and its committees now consist of the following members:

Michel M. Lies, Chairman

Joan Amble

Catherine P. Bessant

Dame Alison Carnwath

Christoph Franz

Michael Halbherr

Jeffrey L. Hayman

Monica Machler

Kishore Mahbubani

Jasmin Staiblin

Barry Stowe

Remuneration Committee

Christoph Franz, Chairman

Catherine P. Bessant

Michel M. Lies

Kishore Mahbubani

Jasmin Staiblin

Audit Committee

Dame Alison Carnwath, Chairman

Catherine P. Bessant

Monica Machler

Barry Stowe

Jeffrey L. Hayman

Risk and Investment Committee

Jeffrey L. Hayman, Chairman

Joan Amble

Dame Alison Carnwath

Kishore Mahbubani

Michael Halbherr

Governance, Nominations and Sustainability Committee

Michel M. Lies, Chairman

Dame Alison Carnwath

Christoph Franz

Jeffrey L. Hayman

Monica Machler

Further information

More information about Zurich's Corporate Governance structure can be found here (https://www.zurich.com/en/about-us/corporate-governance).DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2019 / The most immediate relationship the average person has with fintech comes in the form of digital payment services. Apps like PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle have made it easier than ever to send money to friends and coworkers for things as small as food, drinks, or concert tickets. Cash is a relic of the past.

Regardless of such convenience, there is much to be improved in the digital transaction space. Processing and security fees applied on a percentage basis prevent the widespread adoption of such digital services. Additionally, paper checks continue to be used by individuals, businesses, and even the government. The Federal Reserve Bank estimates that it processes 15.2 billion paper checks per year.

Checkbook Inc. today announced the launch of Instant Pay. Businesses can push money instantly into millions of individual and business bank accounts without collecting sensitive routing or account information. There is no need for recipients to sign up for any service or download any app.

With over 19 billion checks for over $30 trillion sent in 2013, B2B checks cost businesses $25 billion a year. Yet conducting the money transfers over the traditional banking backend costs Checkbook merely pennies each time. It's one of those classic startup businesses where you just wouldn't expect that tech could cut prices so low.

The business model works a bit like Dropbox in the sense that Checkbook gives away its service to consumers in hopes of infiltrating businesses that it will charge. Rather than try to sell Checkbook's convenience to companies one at a time, it hopes to gain viral traction and parlay that into real customers. That opportunity attracted a seed round from Boost.vc, Rocketship.vc, AngelList's founders, and a slew of angels including Tim Draper.

Until now, most bank to bank transactions in the United States take 3 to 5 business days since funds traditionally travel along the ACH infrastructure, which is 40+ years old. ACH transactions require recipient on-boarding as a prerequisite, which is a huge barrier, especially for new or one-time payments. Today, vendors, suppliers and consumers desire that funds will hit their bank accounts faster and effortlessly. Checkbook has innovated the instant payment solution with these factors in mind. The company enables this faster payment method across a number of industries with a variety of payor and payee entities using VISA Direct rails.

One such partner is Yooz, which provides a seamless Accounts Payable automation solution for SMEs.

Laurent Charpentier, Chief Operations Officer, explains their business places tremendous value on getting their customers' vendor invoices paid as quickly as possible. "Our customers are looking for the easiest and most automated way to process, approve and pay their vendor invoices without losing visibility and control. The cycle time from capture to payment is really important to avoid late payment fees, but even more important to negotiate early payment discounts and generate value out of the AP process. While traditional ACH solves some of the paper issues compared to traditional checks, Checkbook now provides great additional value with InstantPay, a solution for our customers and their vendors to operate even faster."

CONTACT: Shazir@imperium-Pr.com

SOURCE: SV Advisory Group

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/540953/Check-Out-The-Company-That-Created-Digital-Checks-with-Instant-PaymentsHamilton, Bermuda - April 3, 2019 - As advised by Nordic American Offshore Ltd. (the "Company" or "NAO") in its press release on March 25, 2019 the waivers under the Company's $150,000,000 Revolving Credit Facility, dated March 16, 2015 (the "Credit Facility") had been extended until Monday April 1, 2019.

The constructive discussions with the lenders under the Credit Facility regarding the long-term capital structure and long-term financing needs of the Company continue and they have agreed to further extend the waivers until April 26, 2019 to accommodate the process.

About Nordic American Offshore Ltd.

NAO is a Bermuda-based company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It owns and operates a fleet of 10 modern harsh environment offshore supply vessels built with the latest technology available. From its operating offices in Norway and elsewhere, NAO is positioned to support a global business and take advantage of the expected upturn in oil service activity in the North Sea and globally. Additional information about the Company is available on the Company's website at www.nao.bm (http://www.nao.bm).

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the PSV market, as a result of changes in the general market conditions of the oil and natural gas industry which influence charter hire rates and vessel values, demand in platform supply vessels, our operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry docking and insurance costs, governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities as well as potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, the availability of financing and refinancing, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hire and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact Information:

Nordic American Offshore Ltd.

+377 9798 5717 (Monaco)

+1 646 432 3315 (New York)

Web-site: www.nao.bm (http://www.nao.bm)

Press release (PDF) (http://hugin.info/159489/R/2240708/883522.pdf)



This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Nordic American Offshore Ltd via Globenewswire

Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to report that a third drill rig has arrived at site and has been mobilized to an area located about 1km south of the Porphyry Zone (the "Exploration Target"). Very limited historical drilling of this target area returned several high-grade intercepts, including up to 17.5 g/t Au over 1.5m (downhole length). The Exploration Target has a very similar magnetic response to the Porphyry Zone (see Fig. 1) and is also very similar geologically with mixed syenite and basalt, i.e. containing contact style mineralisation. The nearest historical hole is found 400m to the east, and there is no further drilling for approximately 1500m to the west or northwest. Two initial drill-holes will be drilled in this area to test for volume potential of mineralisation.

Maple Gold's VP, Exploration, Fred Speidel, commented: "Following up on isolated higher-grade samples in the NW Gap Area during last year's campaign resulted in the definition of the new Nika Zone. There is very limited drilling in the Exploration Target area, but we have the right ingredients there to define new gold zones and are excited to take a couple discovery shots with our 2019 drilling."





Fig. 1: Mag target area with characteristic paired high/low response

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3077/43866_figure1.jpg

The paired high/low response in Fig. 1 reflects multiple, mainly magnetically depressed, syenitic bodies intruded into magnetic basalts. There is a similarity of magnetic response in the Exploration Target area to that of the Porphyry Zone further north, and this similarity also holds true geologically. The green dots in Fig. 1 represent drill collars for the new drill-holes set to commence at the Exploration Target.





Fig. 2: Third drill rig and equipment being mobilized to the Exploration Target area at Douay

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3077/43866_3f006a16b47eab99_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/43866Pradhan said UBI is not growing due to lack of capital. Last year the bank got Rs 5000 crore which will help us to meet the regulatory requirements, Pradhan said

Kolkata: City-based United Bank of India (UBI), which reported losses for the last seven quarters, is expecting to come out of the prompt and corrective action (PCA) list of RBI in the second quarter of the current financial year, a top official of the bank said.

"We should be coming out of PCA by the second quarter of 2019-20. Things are happening the way we have strategised," Ashok Kr Pradhan, MD and CEO of UBI told PTI.

Pradhan said that the bank is not growing due to lack of capital. "However, the government has given us capital support. Last year the bank got Rs 5000 crore which will help us to meet the regulatory requirements", Pradhan said.

He said that the bank is increasing the asset book by changing the risk-weighted asset portfolio.

"The bank is increasing the advance book by managing the risk-weighted exposures. Earlier, the asset book was tilted towards risky assets. Now we are going for AA and AAA-rated accounts".

He said that UBI had received around Rs 4500 crore through NPA resolution during the last year. "Our GNPA should be in the range of 15 percent to 16 percent by March 2019, down from 21.27 percent earlier".

Pradhan said, "this last quarter we expect to be in profits and continue for the rest of the period quarter-on-quarter".

RBI had imposed PCA on the bank in December 2017 which had led to restrictions on lending, non-opening of new branches and non-recruitment of staff as the cost-to-income of the bank was adverse.

The advance book of the bank increased Rs 4000 crore during the last financial year with advances presently touching Rs 73,000 crore.

Pradhan said, "The target this year for advances should touch Rs 80,000 crore and deposits at Rs 1,35,000 crore".

He said that capital would be required for the growth of the bank. "We will raise capital from the market, maybe in the third quarter.

"We will also raise Rs 100 crore from the employees through Employees Stock Purchase Scheme", he said.

Since the bank is located in the east, its growth had been constrained due to lack of growth in this part of the country for which it wants to have an ambitious target.

In the current fiscal, the retail sector is expected to grow by 20 percent, MSMEs by 22 percent to 24 percent and agriculture eight to ten per cent, he said.

"We will be very selective on the corporates and to take exposure in AA and AAA-rated accounts", Pradhan added.India's exports are expected to reach $32.38 billion in March, the highest in any month so far, on account of healthy growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Wednesday

New Delhi: India's exports are expected to reach $32.38 billion in March, the highest in any month so far, on account of healthy growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Wednesday.

He said that exports would cross $331 billion mark in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

"We will at least have $331 billion (in 2018-19) and in the month of March, we will have $32.38 billion, the highest ever in any month," he told PTI in an interview.

He said that for the "first time", India has crossed $19 billion figure in pharma exports this fiscal.

The commerce ministry will release the trade data on 15 April.

Prabhu said that the country's exports were declining for long time but now "this year, we would have record exports".

The figures in 2018-19 would be the highest ever at a time when there is the worst scenario in the world trade front, he said.

The outbound shipments are growing because of concerted efforts by the ministry in the last one year, the minister said.

"We created a matrix between every product and every geography. Secondly, we had done series of road shows," Prabhu said adding export potential was tapped in regions such as Africa and Latin America.

The ministry also held several meetings with then line ministries including food, agri, pharma and IT ministry to resolve issues hindering exports.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) yesterday stated that the global trade will continue to face strong headwinds this year and in 2020 after growing slower-than-expected in 2018, due to rising trade tensions and increased economic uncertainty.

The minister said that India is recording a healthy growth in exports despite the fact that countries are putting barriers and following protectionist measures.

Imposition of high customs duties by the US on certain steel and aluminium products have triggered a trade war kind of situation.

India's exports grew by 8.85 percent to $298.47 billion during April-February 2018-19.

Since 2011-12, India's exports have been hovering at around $300 billion. During 2017-18, the overseas shipments grew by about 10 percent to $303 billion.Tokyo prosecutors are considering pressing a fresh charge against Carlos Ghosn, local media said on Wednesday, as the former Nissan boss announced on Twitter he would be giving his side of the story

Tokyo: Tokyo prosecutors are considering pressing a fresh charge against Carlos Ghosn, local media said on Wednesday, as the former Nissan boss announced on Twitter he would be giving his side of the story.

In the latest twist in a rollercoaster of a case, Japanese investigators are reportedly eyeing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least $32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman.

Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a luxury boat allegedly used by Ghosn and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.

If Tokyo prosecutors were to proceed, it would be the fourth criminal charge against the 65-year-old former high-flying auto executive, who denies all allegations.

Ghosn already faces three charges of financial misconduct over allegations he under-reported his compensation and sought to transfer personal losses to Nissan's books.

Tokyo district prosecutors are discussing the case with more senior colleagues before deciding whether to move ahead, Japanese media said.

Shortly after the reports emerged, a verified Twitter account in Ghosn's name said he would be speaking to journalists next week.

"I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening. Press conference on Thursday, 11 April," said the tweet, sent early Wednesday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for the executive later confirmed the news conference in a statement to AFP.

If prosecutors were to file new charges, it would not necessarily mean Ghosn returns to the detention centre where he spent more than three months before winning bail on 6 March, according to a local lawyer.

"The prosecutor can hit Ghosn with new charges without sending him back to prison. Prosecutors would need to again justify detention by saying he was a flight risk and could destroy evidence and the chances seem fairly slim," said the lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous.

The news came after it emerged that lawyers for Renault -- Nissan's parent company that Ghosn also led -- have handed over documents to prosecutors showing millions of euros in payments to the firm's distributors in Oman.

An internal probe by Nissan, which is cooperating with prosecutors, has found Ghosn had approved over $30 million in payments to a distributor in Oman, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP.

Some of this money ended up in personal accounts, or was used for purchases and investments by Ghosn -- mainly to buy a yacht and make investments via his son's firm -- according to this person.

A spokesperson for Ghosn has already rejected these allegations.

"The payments made by Renault to the distributor in Oman have not been diverted from their commercial objectives and under no circumstances has all or part of such payments benefited Carlos Ghosn or his family," said the representative in a statement.

In a bolt from the blue that rocked Japan and the business world, Ghosn was arrested on 19 November after prosecutors stormed his private jet at a Tokyo airport and took him into custody.

He spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on a bail of nearly $9 million.

Nissan swiftly removed him as chairman and is also expected to remove him from the board at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting slated for on Monday.With the latest development, With this, the number of Jet Airways planes grounded on account of lease rental defaults alone touched 69

Mumbai: Cash-hit Jet Airways continues to navigate in troubled skies despite the SBI-led consortium of lenders taking over its management control last month as the airline on Tuesday grounded as many as 15 more planes due to lease rental defaults leaving just 20 planes in its operational fleet.

In another development, its pilots body, the National Aviators' Guild has written to the aviation regulator DGCA and airline chief executive Vinay Dube, pressing for payment of three months of salary dues along with applicable interest.

With 15 more planes out of operations, its fleet has woefully come down to just 20 from as high as 123, operating over 650 flights across the country and the continents. "An additional 15 aircraft have been grounded due to non-payment of outstanding to lessors under their respective lease agreements," Jet Airways said in an exchange filing late Tuesday evening.

With this, the number of planes grounded on account of lease rental defaults alone touched 69, which is more than half of its fleet, reducing the overall operational fleet less than one-sixth.

The 25-year-old airline also said it is making all efforts to minimise flight disruptions due to the grounding of these planes. Till last month, the airline had taken 54 planes out of operations due to lease rental defaults. Last week, the airline had informed the government it had only 35 aircraft in operations.

On 25 March, Jet Airways board had approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders, under which had agreed to infuse an emergency funding of Rs 1,500 crore into the airline, and convert the same into equity worth 50.1 percent for a notional value of just Re 1 each share. However, the funds are yet to be disbursed due to "technical" reasons.

Earlier on Tuesday, the guild demanded interest on delayed salaries along with timely payment, saying prevailing situation is not "ideal" for them to be in the cockpits. In two separate communications to director general of civil aviation BS Bhullar and Jet Airways chief executive Vinay Dube, the guild also said they are facing problems in paying their EMIs and other financial commitments.

The pilots along with engineers and have salary arrears for three months, starting January, which stand Rs 320-350 core. The guild, which claims to represent around 1,100 of the 1,600 Jet pilots, had last month warned of halting operations from 1 April, unless their salary dues were cleared and clarity was provided on future payments by March 31.

On 6 December last, the management had revised its earlier payment schedule, according to which it was to clear all dues by 31 March and on 21 March, the guild had sought government intervention in the recovery of their dues.

Amid mounting dues, the airline on Tuesday reportedly offered leave without pay to its Boeing 737 pilots to restrict the spiralling outstanding salary dues. In addition, they have been given three-days off after a five days of work from 11-26 April as against two- days off for a six-days work earlier.In response to queries related to Jet Airways crisis, Prabhu said the ministry should not be seen to be doing any deals of any kind that would help in any way.

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday ruled out any interference in efforts to help cash-strapped Jet Airways, saying that the government should not be seen to be doing any kind of deals to help an airline.

Against the backdrop of lenders set to take control of Jet Airways under a debt resolution plan, he said banks are direct stakeholders and are dealing with commercial matters of the airline where the ministry would not like to intervene.

Interacting with PTI journalists here, Prabhu said, "The ministry should not be dealing in any commercial transactions of any kind. Same thing I did for railways or for anywhere else. The issue is between banks and the management".

He was responding to a query about the case of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines where banks apparently did not intervene.

Days after Jet Airways' board approved a debt resolution plan, wherein the lenders led by SBI would take control of the airline, embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya had lashed out at public sector banks for "double standards" under the current NDA regime for their intervention to bailout Jet Airways while the same lenders made his Kingfisher airlines "fail ruthlessly".

Mallya was the founder of Kingfisher Airlines.

In response to queries related to Jet Airways crisis, Prabhu said the ministry should not be seen to be doing any deals of any kind that would help in any way.

"It is always possible. You can help a company by bringing the other down," he said.

"We should not be seeing to be doing anything which would be construed or seen or actually resulting in either favouritism or doing something wrong against somebody. We did not do that," the minister said.

However, Prabhu said the ministry would be looking at the safety aspects.

When asked if the government played any role in state-run banks taking over Jet Airways, the minister said, "What role have we got? That is exactly the point. That is what Jet Airways was trying to come with us. We said we will not play any role into this".

To another query on whether the ministry would have been perfectly fine and remained a neutral observer had the Jet Airways gone under, Prabhu replied, "That is banks' call. There is a law which says that any company which could not service the liability - how to deal with that".

"Our role is very clear. And that is what I have personally done actually. It is not to interfere into any commercial matter of any airline," he emphasised.

About recent meetings between the ministry officials and Jet Airways' executives, Prabhu said the meetings are taking place because "we are dealing with safety".

"There is a direct issue of safety of Jet Airways, or for that matter, any other airline," he said.

"Safety is ensured because we are telling banks that if you are taking over as management, then ensure that the safety is assured, and give enough funds for the safety," he added.

Prabhu said his job as an aviation minister is to come with the policy, ensuring that policy allows the growth and it allows to deal with the situation of this kind.

"My policy should be robust enough to take care of situations like this... Earlier, many times, the government would be tempted to be interventionist... We are very clear that managing the airline is the responsibility of the respective board and the airline company," he said.With a smaller operating fleet, Jet Airways has given pilots and cabin crew the option of flexible working days and taking extended leave with or without pay.

New Delhi: Indias Jet Airways said it has grounded more planes after failing to pay lessors, as the debt-laden carrier  which also owes salaries to pilots and crew  works to secure bailout funds promised by state-run banks.

Jet Airways last month was rescued by State Bank of India (SBI) and other lenders, which will temporarily own a majority stake in the airline and extend a fresh loan of $218 million.

However, the crisis-hit Jet Airways is yet to receive any loan money and employees have not yet been paid for the month of March, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Once Indias leading full-service carrier, Jet Airways operational fleet stood at about 26 to 28 aeroplanes as of Wednesday versus 119 planes last year, two sources said.

At least 69 aircraft have been grounded due to money owed to lessors, showed stock exchange filings by Jet Airways, while the remainder are out of service for maintenance, said one of the sources.

Some lessors with direct knowledge of the matter said Jet Airways had told them it would pay for one months rental and maintenance by the end of last week, and that no payment had been received.

They said when they asked Jet Airways about payment, they were told only that the airline was addressing the matter.

We already have five to six months of delinquencies and we were promised just one month and even that hasnt been paid. This is very disappointing, said one of the people, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Jet Airways did not respond to requests for comment.

After the bailout was announced, Jet Airways told the aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) it would not ground any more planes and would fly 40 more aircraft by the end of April, taking its operational fleet to 75 planes.

But late on Tuesday, Jet Airways said it grounded 15 planes, sending its stock down as much as 4 percent in early Wednesday trade. The stock had shed more than half of its value in a year as of Tuesdays close.

With a smaller operating fleet, Jet Airways has given pilots and cabin crew the option of flexible working days and taking extended leave with or without pay, showed a note to staff reviewed by Reuters.Shares of Jet Airways Wednesday fell up to 4 percent after the carrier grounded as many as 15 more planes due to lease rental defaults

New Delhi: Shares of Jet Airways Wednesday fell up to 4 percent after the carrier grounded as many as 15 more planes due to lease rental defaults.

With the latest move on Tuesday, its fleet has come down to just 20 from its peak of 123 through which it used to operate over 650 flights across the country and continents.

On BSE, the stock opened on a negative note at Rs 257.80 and further declined 3.90 percent to a low of Rs 254.55.

Similarly, on NSE, the scrip touched a low of Rs 254.40, down 4 percent from the previous close.

"An additional 15 aircrafts have been grounded due to non-payment of outstanding to lessors under their respective lease agreements," Jet Airways had said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

With this, the number of planes grounded on account of lease rental defaults alone touched 69.

The domestic pilots union of Jet Airways, National Aviator Guild, has written to aviation regulator DGCA and airline chief executive Vinay Dube, pressing for payment of three months of salary dues along with applicable interest.The timeline for implementing phase 2 and phase 3 shall remain unchanged from the date of completion of phase 1, Sebi said in a circular

New Delhi: Markets regulator Sebi Wednesday extended the timeline for the implementation of phase 1 of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as an alternative payment mechanism for retail investors buying shares in a public issue.

To ensure a smooth transition to UPI in ASBA (Application Supported by Block Amount) and in the backdrop of the representation received from various stakeholders, Sebi said, "it has been decided to extend the timeline for implementation of Phase I... by 3 months i.e. till 30 June, 2019"

However, the timeline for implementing phase 2 and phase 3 shall remain unchanged from the date of completion of phase 1, Sebi said in a circular.

In November 2018, the regulator had said it would launch UPI as an alternative payment option for retail investors buying shares in a public issue in a phased manner from 1 January, 2019, which will cut listing time for an IPO to three days from existing six days.

It had further said the new mechanism would increase the efficiency of the existing system and curtail the need for manual intervention.

Currently, retail investors either invest in an initial public offering (IPO) through bank ASBA or through broker ASBA, where the broker does the bidding and hands over the application form to the investors' bank.

With the UPI mechanism, the existing process of physical movement of forms from intermediaries to banks for blocking of funds will be discontinued.

UPI is an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It allows instant transfer of money between any two persons' bank accounts using a payment address which uniquely identifies a person's bank accountNational Stock Exchange had two years ago cancelled its agreement with the Singapore bourse after RBI had raised issues with the massive spike in NDF (non-deliverable forwards) in its rupee trade, which led to a hammering of the domestic unit

Mumbai: The largest bourse, National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday said it has sought to renew its association with the SGX of Singapore to help its overseas clients trade on its benchmark Nifty through the International Finances Service Centre (IFSC), Gift City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The joint proposal by NSE and SGX is the result of the arbitration court's proposal to talk to each other and resolve their two-year old legal tangle after NSE arbitrarily cancelled its contract with its Singapore counterpart.

"A joint proposal has been submitted by SGX and NSE, to both Sebi and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and we are awaiting feedback from them," NSE chief executive and managing director Vikram Limaye told reporters when asked about media reports to this effect.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is the capital market regulator in the island city-state. It can be noted that media reports had earlier said contracts in Singapore would be executed at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) of the Gift City.

It can be recalled that NSE had two years ago cancelled its agreement with the Singapore bourse after the Reserve Bank had raised issues with the massive spike in NDF (non-deliverable forwards) in its rupee trade, which led to a hammering of the domestic unit.

As the contract was cancelled against a written agreement to sever a six months notice to each parties, SGX had taken the matter to an arbitration for settlement in a Mumbai court.

Limaye tried to allay concerns on the huge concentration of retail investors in the domestic derivative markets, saying as much as 95 percent of them are discerning high networth investors and should not be confused with the common man. "Many of those have been in the markets for long and are professional traders," he added.

Limaye said there are no exotic derivatives in the market, stressing that the products on offer are individually approved by the regulators and are simple instruments. They are exchange-traded and monitored intraday based on real-time margins, he added.

Additionally, the entire domestic equity derivative market is exchange-traded unlike many those in other parts of the world where a large portion of the derivatives market are driven by the over-the-counter products, he claimed.

Limaye was speaking on the eve of the World Federation of Exchanges' 36th clearing and derivatives conference to be held in the financial capital.Company officials had earlier hinted that production and sales of the Nano would stop from April 2020

New Delhi: For the third month in a row Tata Motors did not produce any unit of its entry level small car Nano in March, heightening the uncertainty over the future of the vehicle once dubbed as 'people's car'.

According to a regulatory filing, the company also said it did not sell even a single unit of the small car last month.

Tata Motors has so far maintained that no decision has been made yet on the future of Nano, although in its current form it will not meet the new safety and emission norms and may need infusion of fresh investments.

There was zero production and sales of Nano in March. In the same month last year the company had produced 31 units of Nano and sold 29 units, Tata Motors said in a BSE filing.

In February also Tata Motors had said there was zero production of Nano although it sold just one unit in the domestic market during the month. There was no export either.

Similarly, in January this year too, Tata Motors had reported zero production and sales of the Nano.

When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson said no decision has been made yet on the phase out of Nano.

"Decisions on product life cycle is a holistic view taken after considering the market developments, regulations and emerging competitive landscape. Any such decisions are announced as and when it's taken," the spokesperson added.

Further, the spokesperson said, "Production planning of a car is a conscious management of demand, system inventory and planned efficiencies. Therefore, speculating on the fate of a car based on a month's production figure is something the company would not like to participate in."

Company officials had earlier hinted that production and sales of the Nano would stop from April 2020 as Tata Motors has no plans to invest further on Ratan Tata's dream car to meet strict emission norm under BS-VI and other upcoming safety regulations.By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday the United States would continue to pressure Venezuela's oil industry and those who support it with economic sanctions, citing world oil prices as low enough to allow for the measures.

By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday the United States would continue to pressure Venezuela's oil industry and those who support it with economic sanctions, citing world oil prices as low enough to allow for the measures.

Oil prices hit their highest point since November on Tuesday, with Brent crude approaching $70 a barrel, based in part on fears that U.S. sanctions against OPEC members Iran and Venezuela would result in a cut to global supplies. [O/R]

"We recognise the importance of energy to the United States," Pence told reporters. "But the price of oil around the world has been quite low for some time, quite competitive for some time, and we're just going to continue to stand firm and bring even more pressure on this regime," he said.

A White House official said while oil prices have crept up from historic lows recently, prices are still under last year's highs.

Pence's comments stood in contrast to concerns that President Donald Trump has voiced about oil prices. As recently as last week, Trump called for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost production, saying on Twitter that the price of oil was "getting too high."

Pence, who is helping lead the White House campaign to dislodge Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, made his remarks in a meeting with family members of six executives jailed in Venezuela since 2017. The executives worked for Citgo Petroleum, the U.S. refinery division of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA.

The United States and most other Western countries have backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president in January, arguing that Maduro's 2018 reelection was illegitimate. Maduro has called Guaido a puppet of the United States.

The United States slapped stiff sanctions on PDVSA in January, aimed at cutting Maduro's government off from oil revenues.

Trump is considering expanding the measures with sanctions on foreign companies that do business with Venezuela, his national security adviser John Bolton said on Friday.

"We're going to continue to bring pressure on the oil industry. We're going to continue to bring pressure on countries in this hemisphere who are supporting the dictatorship in Venezuela," Pence said.

Pence also said the Trump administration was considering new measures to punish Cuba, which has close ties with Maduro.

"We're looking at strong action against Cuba which continues to provide personnel and support for the dictatorship in Venezuela," he said.

'WORRIED FOR THEIR LIFE'

Pence expressed sympathy to the family members of the six Citgo executives - five U.S. citizens and one legal permanent resident - who were arrested in Caracas during corporate meetings and accused of embezzlement and money laundering.

Pence said the men had been "illegally detained" and that 16 court hearings had been cancelled as the men languished in basement cells without enough food or medical treatment. He said the Trump administration was working for the prisoners' release.

"We are just worried for their life and we just want them home as soon as possible," said Carlos Anez, who told Pence his father had worked for Citgo for more than 20 years before he was detained.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Marguerita Choy)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.P Chidambaram, the senior Congress leader said with a touch of irritation that if Prime Minister Narendra Modis Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) targeting the poor for free healthcare can lend itself to identification of the intended beneficiaries, so can Rahul Gandhis proposed NYAY. He forgets that while Ayushman is all about free medical treatment in secondary and tertiary care hospitals, both privately-owned and government-owned, NYAY is all about free lunchRs 72,000 per annum simply flowing into the bank accounts of matriarchs of poor families spread equally over 12 months of the year.

In Tamil Nadu, post-poll, people look to encash the promise of freebies with all earnestness. Post-poll, therefore, people stand in long queues to get their mixies and grinders promised in the run-up to the elections and get restive and violent if they are left out. If this can happen with freebies, imagine what can happen with real moolah!

Ayushman Bharat has identified beneficiary-families on the basis of Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data8.03 crore families in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas will be entitled to be covered under these scheme, i.e., it will cover around 50 crore people.

While there can be two views on presumption of poverty underpinning the criteriato wit, tailors are presumed to be poor, the scheme at least has certainty and cannot get out of hand thanks to people jostling to make the grade. Those left out can at best pine for it but cannot manipulate the system to get into it.

At any rate, what is on offer is not cash but free medical treatment which is a sombre affair. Leakage is not likely to bedevil the scheme. That cannot be said of NYAY which can beckon idle minds to gatecrash into the scheme any which way. Thus there could be feigned unemployment. A rich farmer can plead seasonal unemployment. So can a trader selling seasonal products like garments on the eve of Diwali and other festivals. A pink-slipped geek can lay claim to the monthly dole.

To be sure, it is not beyond the ingenuity of the Congress Party to prescribe some definitive criteria a la Ayushman but as said earlier, the temptation to clamber into the bandwagon by hook or crook is real given the lure of lucre.

Food riots were common in famished countries like Ghana whenever a gravy train chugged in. NYAY could unleash a me-too riot on the part of those left out of its sweepstakes. For example, to start with it would be a pilot scheme. But when the stakes are as high as Rs 72,000 per annum, patience can run thin unless it is rolled out across the nation in double-quick time. A five-year roll-out is a recipe for disaster on the back of mass upsurge by those left out.

Passing the buck on to states is another potential and potent source of dissatisfaction. There are a large number of BJP-ruled states who might not toe the Congress line, assuming Congress is voted to power in the centre.

The short point is, there is no way people will have patience to wait for the gravy train. Therefore, the Congress Party would do well not to implement the scheme piecemeal or pass on the buck to the states. Instead, it should bide its time, think through the issue in its entirety, provide for and mobilise resources and then roll-out the scheme pan-India so that no one meeting the tightly defined criteria is left out even for a month.

The assertion that the scheme would be implemented in phases in step with the growth in gross domestic product is irresponsible. Implementing the scheme that is flawed in design and operation is a disastrous recipe for failure

(The author is a senior columnist and tweets @smurlidharan)Natural rubber from rubber trees is a raw material with a limited supply. Synthetically produced rubber, on the other hand, has not yet been able to match the abrasion behavior of the natural product, rendering it unsuitable for truck tires. But now, for the first time, a new type of synthetic rubber has been developed that achieves 30 to 50 percent less abrasion than natural rubber.

Truck tires have to put up with a lot: As a result of the heavy loads they carry and the long distances they travel every day, they are subject to heavy wear and tear. Consequently, the treads of the tires are manufactured primarily from natural rubber that comes from rubber trees and to date has demonstrated the best abrasion characteristics. Before now, artificially manufactured rubber has been unable to match the performance of natural rubber, at least in this respect. The problem with natural rubber is that the security of supply for this important raw material is endangered. In Brazil, the original home of the rubber tree, the fungus Microcyclus ulei is laying waste to whole plantations. If the fungus crosses over to Asia, where major cultivation areas are located today, the global production of rubber will be threatened.

Biomimetic synthetic rubber with optimized abrasion behavior (BISYKA)

In view of this threat, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research IAP, for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS, for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, for Mechanics of Materials IWM and for Silicate Research ISC have now optimized the characteristics of synthetic rubber. Our synthetic rubber BISYKA  thats a German abbreviation for biomimetic synthetic rubber  actually has superior characteristics to natural rubber, says Dr. Ulrich Wendler, who heads up the project at the Fraunhofer Pilot Plant Center for Polymer Synthesis and Processing PAZ in the German municipality of Schkopau. Fraunhofer PAZ is a joint initiative between Fraunhofer IAP and Fraunhofer IMWS. Tires made of the synthetic rubber lose 30 percent less mass than equivalent tires made of natural rubber. On top of that, the synthetic tires have only half the tread loss. Furthermore, the synthetic rubber can be produced on an industrial scale using existing plants and equipment. This means that the synthetic rubber offers an excellent alternative to natural rubber  including the domain of high-performance truck tires.

Targeted analysis of dandelion rubber

But how did the researchers achieve this higher performance? At Fraunhofer IME, scientists investigated rubber from dandelions. Like the rubber from rubber trees, 95 percent of dandelion rubber consists of polyisoprene, while the remaining percentage is made up of organic components such as proteins or lipids. The advantage of dandelion rubber over tree rubber: the former has a generation succession of just three months as opposed to seven years for the latter. That makes rubber made from dandelions an ideal starting point for investigating the influence of organic components on the rubber characteristics. To this end, the Fraunhofer researchers eliminated the key organic components involved in a targeted manner. After they had identified the organic components that were important for abrasion behavior, the researchers at Fraunhofer IAP synthesized the BISYKA rubber out of functionalized polyisoprene with high microstructural purity and the respective biomolecules. Their colleagues at Fraunhofer IWM and IMWS then investigated the characteristics of the rubber variants thereby obtained. To do this, they used extensional crystallization: If you stretch natural rubber to three times its length, crystalline regions form  the rubber hardens. The extensional crystallization of BISYKA rubber equals that of natural rubber, explains Wendler. When making truck tires, the rubber is usually mixed with carbon black  which is where the black color comes from. Increasingly, however, manufacturers are adding silicates to the mixture instead of carbon black. This is where the expertise of Fraunhofer ISC comes in: At the institute, scientists investigate how new kinds of silica fillers can lead to optimum alternatives to natural rubber in the automotive industry.

Synthetic rubber yields impressive results in practical tests

After the development of the BISYKA rubber, it was tested: Would it do what its extensional crystallization promised? The researchers handed over this question to an external and thus independent partner to investigate: Pruflabor Nord. For this purpose, four car tires were manufactured with a tread made from BISYKA and they were then compared with tires with a tread made from natural rubber. The tests were carried out directly on a car that drove 700 circuits in one direction and then 700 circuits in the other direction. And the result? While the natural rubber tire was 850 grams lighter after the test and lost 0.94 millimeters of tread, the BISYKA tire lost merely 600 grams and 0.47 millimeters of tread. The rolling resistance of the synthetic rubber was also better: While the natural rubber achieved a score of C on the traffic light labelling of the rolling resistance, BISYKA achieved the higher score of B. So far, we have only carried out initial tests with the BISYKA tire blend, but they are extremely promising. As the next step, we want to further optimize the BISYKA rubber. This concerns above all the proportion and the composition of the organic components. At the same time, we will adapt the formula of the tread compound for truck tires to the new rubber, says Wendler. Currently the researcher and his team are looking for cooperation partners who will bring the product to the market.IndiGo continues to grapple with P&W engine issues even after three years of A320 Neo induction when the problem was first reported which led to grounding of several planes at frequent intervals.

Mumbai: A Pune-Nagpur flight of IndiGoan Airbus A320 Neo was grounded soon after takeoff Tuesday due to "excessive engine vibrations"--sixth such incident in the past two weeks alone, an airline industry source said. The plane is powered by the already troubled Pratt & Whitney engine.

This is the sixth incident of midair glitches in the P&W engine-powered planes of IndiGo in the past two weeks alone, as the carrier continues to grapple with P&W engine issues even after three years of A320 Neo induction when the problem was first reported which led to grounding of several planes at frequent intervals.

Queries seeking a detailed response to these half-a-dozen incidents sent to the airline's chief spokesperson C Leekha, and Pratt & Whitney India head Palash Roy Chowdhury remained unanswered, while one of the airline spokespersons said the aircraft could not complete its journey and made a comeback after the pilot observed "engine caution" message.

"After takeoff from Pune, the pilot observed engine caution message forcing the aircraft to return. The aircraft is being investigated by our technical team now," she said, seeking to downplay the incident and refused to comment on other similar incidents.

As per the source, on 1 April, in another incident, the engine of a A320 Neo (VT ITB) from Jaipur to Hyderabad, also failed midair after detecting oil chips and was forced to return to Jaipur and subsequently grounded.

"Another of A320 Neo (VT-ITJ) is also grounded in Guwahati for the past 10 days after its engine reported high vibrations. The aircraft is now awaiting engine replacement," said the source. A quick check at one of the aircraft tracking websites did not show any record for this plane.

On 29 March, IndiGo flight from New Delhi to Istanbul was made to land in Kuwait after getting a snag warning in one of the two PW engines powering the Airbus A320 Neo.

Earlier, another A320 Neo (VT IZJ) was also diverted to Kuwait after its engine failed when the plane was enroute to Doha.

Then on 21 March, yet another A320 Neo (VT-IZH) made a midair return while operating to Delhi from Hyderabad owing to similar engine glitches, the source added. Besides, the airline was also forced to change the P&W engine of its brand new A321 Neo after it experienced heavy vibrations during a flight last week, as per the source.By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc's chief financial officer, George Davis, has left the company to become finance chief at rival Intel Corp, the two companies said on Tuesday. Davis had been the mobile chip supplier's finance chief since 2013 and also served on the executive committee of the company's board of directors.

By Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc's chief financial officer, George Davis, has left the company to become finance chief at rival Intel Corp, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Davis had been the mobile chip supplier's finance chief since 2013 and also served on the executive committee of the company's board of directors.

Qualcomm said it appointed David Wise, a longtime veteran of the company and its treasurer, as interim finance chief while it searches for a replacement for Davis, whose departure was effective Tuesday.

"On behalf of the Executive Team, I want to thank George for his dedicated service over the last six years at Qualcomm," Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf told Reuters in a statement. "We all wish him well in his future endeavours."

Intel said that Davis would become chief financial officer effective Wednesday, reporting to Chief Executive Bob Swan.

Intel has been without a permanent finance chief since January, when Swan, who had joined as CFO in 2016, was promoted to become Intel's chief executive.

Davis and Swan have worked together before. Before joining Qualcomm, Davis was the chief financial officer of semiconductor equipment firm Applied Materials Inc at the same time that Intel's Swan served on the board of directors.

I know George is a world-class CFO, leader and team-builder, Swan said in statement. Our owners can expect a continued disciplined approach to capital allocation and a relentless focus on creating stockholder value.

Qualcomm shares dipped 1 percent to $57.50 in late trading after Reuters first reported that Davis was departing for Intel. Intel shares rose .1 percent to $54.46.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Peter Cooney and Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.The apex court quashed the RBI circular of 12 February, 2018, that made it mandatory for banks to recognize even a one-day default by the borrowers

Mumbai: Welcoming the Supreme Court ruling quashing the RBI circular on the resolution of stressed assets, the Association of Power Producers Tuesday said it will give some breather and flexibility to restructure their debt.

The apex court quashed the RBI circular of 12 February, 2018, that made it mandatory for banks to recognize even a one-day default by the borrowers and resolve the problem in 180 days failing which such accounts must be referred to NCLTs for resolution for a large account of Rs 2,000 crore and above.

"The circular had outlined impractical conditions and timelines for resolution and also had an inbuilt bias against the existing owners of stressed projects," APP director- general Ashok Khurana said in a statement.

He further said with the order, stressed power companies and the lenders will have some breathing space as well as flexibility to restructure debts in a manner that

ensures continuity and value maximization for lenders as well as for borrowers.

This also provides the much-needed relief to power companies like RattanIndia, GMR, GVK, IL&FS and Coastal Energen among others which had been taken to NCLTs under the RBI circular, he said.

The order, handed out by a bench headed by justice RF Nariman said, "we declare the RBI circular ultra vires." The details of the order are awaited.

The RBI's circular led 34 power producers to drag the regulator first to the Allahabad High Court, which asked RBI to offer some respite, but the RBI did not budge and challenged it in the Supreme Court last year.

Domestic rating agency Icra had estimated the total debt impacted due to the February 12 circular at around Rs 3.8 lakh crore across 70 large borrowers, of which Rs 2 lakh crore across 34 borrowers were in the power sector.

The agency had also said 92 percent of this debt were classified as NPAs by banks as of March 2018 and also made provisions of over 25-40 percent on these accounts.

The association, through multiple representations to RBI and other authorities, had highlighted how the impugned circular did not take into account genuine difficulties faced by the developers and the underlying causes of stress.

Khurana said APP had also highlighted the circular would not help either the developers or the lenders or the sector at large, and instead it would lead to significant

erosion of value as the assets were stressed due to factors which would be faced even by new promoters, in case of change in ownership as fallout of the impugned circular.

"The verdict along with recent CCEA and union power and commerce ministries' notifications implementing the recommendations of the empowered committee will provide the

much- needed respite to all the affected parties and alleviate their stress," Khurana said.

Meanwhile, reacting to the apex court order, JSW group CFO Seshagiri Rao said the order is not life changer for defaulters or banks.

"The judgement is not going to make much of a difference as the court has only questioned the RBI's powers to pass such general directions as the regulator still

continues to have the powers to direct banks to take the companies to IBC in specific cases, which has not been reversed," Rao told PTI.

The court also has not asked banks to ignore a default, he said, and pointed out that if any bank or financial creditor can still take a company to IBC.

"The circular says if there is one-day default then from that day the banks have to find a resolution within 180 days failing which they have to refer it to IBC. I, therefore, don't think this order is not a life changer," Rao added.The Tata group company has 5% of its overall 35,000 employees or about 1,750 women working on the shop floor at present

Mumbai: Tata Steel on Tuesday said it is targeting to double the proportion of women working on its shopfloor to 10 percent of the total workforce by 2025.

The Tata group company has 5 percent of its overall 35,000 employees or about 1,750 women working on the shop floor at present, a company official said.

In a statement, the company further said it will create more avenues for women to grow in the technical/manufacturing domain.

In a fillip for the 2025 goal, the company has begun to include women working on the shopfloor in two additional shifts at the flagship Jamshedpur plant, which has helped the fairer sex be present in the factory between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

A company official explained that women have been on the shop floor for many years, but used to work only in the general 9 a.m.-5 p.m. shift.

Tata Steel had to make a slew of changes in the workplace in adherence of local rules in Jharkhand to help make it possible for women to work in shifts, he added. These include conducting sensitisation sessions for the employees, set-up security systems, creating women role models as ambassadors and meeting families of women, the statement said.

After the efforts, 52 women are working on the shopfloor across different shifts at the coke plant and electrical repair shopfloor at its over a century old plant, it added.

"Going forward, we hope to expand this further to include more departments that will open-up for women," its vice president-human resource management Suresh Dutt Tripathi was quoted as saying.

The company has 20,000 workers, of which 1,300 are women. The women employees include 500 officers who are not on the shopfloor and 800 non-officers, including the 52, who man the shopfloor, the official explained.In the days following the Pulwama attack, one suggestion for retaliation has been to cut off the waters of the Indus to downstream Pakistan. Can we turn off the tap though? After all, the Indus (and her tributaries) are mighty rivers  the annual flow of the Indus is estimated to be upwards of 200 cubic kilometres.

On 14 February this year  a day when popular culture has sweethearts reaching for each other  40 members of the Central Reserve Police Force of India lost their lives in a suicide bomber attack in Pulwama. Subsequently, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (the army of Mohammed), a Pakistan-based terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attack. In the days that followed, one suggestion for retaliation has been to cut off the waters of the Indus to downstream Pakistan, because, in the words of Indias Prime Minister, blood and water cannot flow together.

Can we turn off the tap though? After all, the Indus (and her tributaries) are mighty rivers  the annual flow of the Indus is estimated to be upwards of 200 cubic kilometres. Thats going to need one hell of a tap (it has been done, as we will see later). So, the question becomes, if we can, how? And even if we can, should we? To answer these questions, we will need to first examine history, explore the present and visit the future, to unravel the skeins that make the up the narrative of the Indus river system.

This involves appreciating the irony that characterises the Indus River basin: that amongst the earliest records of the geography of the modern-day Islamic Pakistan is the Rig Veda, the most sacred text of the Hindus, who form the majority of Pakistans inimical neighbour, India. The Rig Veda describes the Indus, or the Sindhu as:

The Rivers have come forward triply, seven and seven. Sindhu in might surpasses all the streams that flow.

Most active of the active, Sindhu unrestrained, like to a dappled mare, beautiful, fair to see.

The Atharva Veda, not to be outdone, adds:

Ye rivers all, whose mistress is Sindhu, whose queen is Sindhu.

The Vedic people called the Indus Valley the Sapta Sindhu. But when the Persians invaded the region circa 500 BCE, they called the land Hapta Hindu (the s in Sanskrit is morphs to h in Persian), which gives birth to the words Hindus and Hindustan. But we get ahead of our story.

Some 2,000 years before the Persian invasion (and many believe several millennia before that), a flourishing civilisation existed in the Indus Valley, named by modern historians  quite originally  as the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC). We have no idea what the inhabitants of this civilisation called the Indus because we are yet to decipher their script. But we do know they were masters of water management from the eloquent non-verbal language of the tanks and drains they left behind.

At its peak, the Indus Valley Civilisation spanned a thousand individual cities/sites. Like other civilisations of its time, the periodic flooding of the river, and the dispersal of the silt was crucial to growing crops in the IVC. To allow their cities to thrive, they were often built on an elevation, with sophisticated engineering to carry water to and sewage away from every house.

The river was central to their civilisation  providing drinking water, carrying away sewage, and importantly serving as transport to enable trade. Cotton textiles are thought to have originated here, with cotton textile fragments dating to 2750-3250 BCE found at Mohenjo-daro. The goods of the IVC reached distant shores: the Mesopotamians called the IVC Meluhha, and were customers for many of their wares. Clearly, they were a sophisticated, egalitarian civilisation who appreciated the value of managing water all too well.

Why did such a sophisticated civilisation disappear?

While there are several theories of why the IVC declined, one key factor appears to have been climate change. Around 4,800 years ago, the Indian Monsoon began to weaken, causing agriculture to suffer. The Meluhhans responded by changing the crops they grew to the drought resistant millet, but while that action appears to have postponed the decline, it did not stop it.

Yama Dixit of Cambridge University, and her team, studied the sediments of a small lake in one of the Harappan sites. The lake they studied, Kotla Dahar, was a closed system, filled only by rain and groundwater; the only way for water to leave was to evaporate. This meant they could directly link the water composition of the lake with the rainfall patterns and temperature of the region. To study rainfall patterns historically, they first dated the different sediment layers of the lake through radiocarbon dating. Then they analysed the snail shells found in the lake for relative concentration of two forms (isotopes) of oxygen  the heavier Oxygen-18 and the lighter Oxygen-16.

The snails shells are formed from the water of the lake, meaning their shells will reflect the composition of the lake water. In times of drought, more water would evaporate, meaning the lake water  and by extension, the snail shells  would have a higher fraction of the heavier Oxygen-18. This meant the ratio of the two oxygen isotopes in the snail shells found in any particular sediment layer was now an indicator for the intensity of drought in that region in that time period. The team's data showed that around 4,100 years ago, there was a spike in the relative amount of Oxygen-18 suggesting that rainfall decreased radically during that time. Of course, there are uncertainties of +/- 100 years in the exact timing of these events, but the trends themselves are reliable especially given that they correlate with other finding pointing to an overall drying around India and the world.

There was another finding that was more frightening: around this time, the snails disappeared from the sediment, suggesting that the lake had become seasonal, rather than permanent. Their study suggested that regular summer monsoons may have weakened considerably for some 200 years.

Two hundred years  thats dramatic. It shows us the kind of events that may occur when climate changes. We sit here today, so arrogantly confident about our climate, that it does not even figure in how we judge our own performance or the performance of our leaders. We forget that there were times, just a geological blink ago, where the Indian Monsoon weakened for two centuries. Think of what might happen to our powerful world if the Indian summer monsoon were to weaken for 200 years. More than half of Indias farms are rainfed  what would the farmers do, if the monsoon weakened, not just in devastating back-to-back droughts, but for decades at a stretch?

Our story does not end here. Over the ensuing centuries, invaders have passed through the Valley, bringing change to the subcontinent. Alexanders visit, in particular, while he did not cross into the subcontinent, and he did not stay, acted as a pole star for subsequent invaders. It is one particular invader I would like to focus on for next time. One that changed the Indus Valley decisively and laid much of the groundwork for the hydrological fractures of today.

Read part 2 of this column.

The writer is the founder of the Sundaram Climate Institute, cleantech angel investor and author of The Climate Solution  India's Climate Crisis and What We Can Do About It published by Hachette. Follow her work on her website; on Twitter; or write to her at cc@climaction.net.A Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student was shot at in front of his hostel inside the campus on Tuesday evening and he later succumbed to his injuries, police said

Varanasi: A Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student was shot at in front of his hostel inside the campus on Tuesday evening. He succumbed to his injuries later in the day, the police said.

The police have detained four BHU students in connection with the shooting for the crime branch to question them.

Varanasi: MCA student at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Gaurav Singh, who was shot at in front of Birla hostel yesterday, has succumbed to his injuries. Anil Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Varanasi Cantt says, "we have arrested 4 people. It was a case of personal enmity" pic.twitter.com/pqsJTg8xI1  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 2, 2019

The victim was identified as Gaurav Singh, an MCA student. He was shot at in front of BHU's Birla hostel.

"We have arrested four people in this matter. It was a case of personal enmity," said Anil Kumar Singh, Circle Officer of Varanasi Cantonment.

Singh's father Rakesh is a worker at BHU.Congress candidate from Kerala's Alathur constituency Ramya Haridas has filed a police complaint against CPM's A Vijayaraghavan for making 'sexist' and 'lewd' remarks against her.

Congress candidate from Kerala's Alathur constituency Ramya Haridas on Tuesday filed a police complaint against Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor A Vijayaraghavan for making "sexist" and "lewd" remarks against her.

While addressing an LDF rally in Ponnani near Palakkad on Monday, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Vijayaraghavan said the "woman candidate from Alathur" had called on Indian Union Muslim League leaders, including Panakkad Sayyid Hyderali Shihab Thangal and PK Kunhalikutty, soon after filing her nomination. "I do not know what will happen to her now," he added.

This statement created a controversy as his comment appeared to be an indirect reference to a sexual assault case in which Kunhalikuty was an accused of over a decade before it was absolved by the Supreme Court.

"He (Vijayaraghavan) should remember that I too have a father and a mother. Those who are raising renaissance slogans should not behave with women in this manner. This is not an accidental statement, but a planned one. No other woman should not face such a situation in future. Hence, I have moved a complaint with the police," The Indian Express quoted Haridas as saying.

"I didn't expect such a remark by a representative of the Left, which constantly talks about the security for women. There are still many Scheduled Caste women like me who have yet to come into the mainstream. I hope they don't have to go through such problems," Haridas said, according to The News Minute.

Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, Kerala Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran and All India Congress Committee general secretary Oommen Chandy, have demanded strict action against Vijayaraghavan.

Vijayaraghavan  a former member of both houses of Parliament  said he had not intended to hurt anyone with his comments. "I had no intention to insult Haridas or Kunhalikutty. My statements were misconstrued in a manner to create misunderstanding. I want more women to come to the public sphere," he said.

However, PK Biju, the CPM candidate from Alathur who has won the seat twice, claimed that the Congress was raking up "baseless issues" as it is aware that the party is on a back foot in this constituency.Noted jurist Soli Sorabjee has dubbed as nonsense and 'impractical the promises made by the Congress in its election manifesto that it would repeal the colonial-era laws on criminal defamation and sedition if voted to power in the upcoming general election.

New Delhi: Noted jurist Soli Sorabjee on Tuesday dubbed as "nonsense" and "impractical", the promises made by the Congress in its poll manifesto that it would repeal the colonial-era laws on criminal defamation and sedition if voted to power in the upcoming general election.

In the manifesto released on Tuesday, the party promised to omit Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code and make defamation a civil offence. It also said, "Sedition has been misused and, in any event, has become redundant because of subsequent laws."

On being asked about his views on the Congress party's promise, Sorabjee said it is "nonsense" and such claim in "impractical".

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is facing trial in a criminal defamation case pending in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra for allegedly blaming RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Sorabjee, however, refused to comment on Rahul's pending defamation case.

"I would not like to comment on that," he said.

Section 500 of the IPC holds a maximum of two years imprisonment for the offence of criminal defamation.

The offence of sedition entails a minimum and maximum punishment of three years and life imprisonment respectively, to which a fine may be added.Today's top stories: Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee will kick start their West Bengal campaigns at same time; the BJP has slammed the Congress's election manifesto as dangerous; Donald Trump has threatened to shut the US-Mexico border; and more.

Modi to speak on Didi's turf in Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his political adversary, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, are both scheduled to start their campaigns in the state on Wednesday with almost simultaneous public meetings at North Bengal's Siliguri and Dinhata, respectively.

Modi has a busy day, which is scheduled to start with a public meeting at 10 am, at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. He is likely to then hold meetings at Siliguri (12.20 pm) and finally, at Kolkata's Brigade Parade grounds (3.30 pm). By evening, he will be in Maharashtra, where he will address a rally at Gondia (6.30 pm).

Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah is scheduled to address election rallies at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand at 11.30 am, and Udhampur (2.30 pm) and Rajouri (4 pm) in Jammu and Kashmir. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to hold a public meeting at 10.45 am at Dimapur in Nagaland, and rallies at 12.45 pm at Golaghat and 3 pm at North Lakhimpur in Assam.

BJP calls Congress manifesto 'dangerous'

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and other senior leaders, released the party's 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, a document titled India's New Tryst With Destiny.

Prioritising employment, poverty, farmers' woes, women and an inclusive society above all else, the manifesto counter the BJP's five years' of policies and measures at every step and calls for a "new narrative" to come forth this general election.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley criticised the manifesto, saying that the Opposition partys promises are "dangerous and unimplementable", and that the agenda seemed to be the "balkanisation of India". Accusing Congress of shielding terrorists and being under the influence of Naxals, Maoists and jihadis, Jaitley hit out at the Congress for suggesting it will scrap the sedition law.

India asks for release of prisoners in Pakistan

India on Tuesday sent a note verbale to Pakistan, urging it to make necessary arrangements for the "immediate release and repatriation" of 10 Indian prisoners who completed their prison sentences in Pakistani jails.

India also made a fresh demand seeking consular access to five Indian nationals, including formal naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose case is pending at the International Court of Justice.

The Ministry of External Affairs sent the note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, in which India has conveyed its deep concern over the long pending release and repatriation of Indian prisoners held under Pakistan custody despite completion of sentence and nationality confirmation, MEA sources said.

Trump says he is ready to shut down US-Mexico border

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is "100 percent" prepared to close down the US-Mexico border, warning Congress and Central American governments to take action to stem the flow of migrants into the country.

Delays were already rising at several key border crossings as Trump ratcheted up pressure on Democrats in the Congress to toughen US laws against illegal immigrants, threatening to hurt the US economy in the name of border security.

"It is a national emergency on the border," Trump said.

If Mexico does not stop migrants from transiting across its territory, and if Congress does not act, he said, "the border's going to be closed, 100 percent".

YouTube executives ignored warnings of 'toxic' content

YouTube executives, including CEO Susan Wojcicki, ignored warnings from a number of employees that led to toxic video recommendations, reports said.

Officials at the company are believed to have been more concerned with keeping user engagement high on the platform. Employees complaining were all given the same response to not rock the boat.

Jet Airways has only 20 planes in operation

Cash-strapped Jet Airways continues to navigate in troubled skies despite the SBI-led consortium of lenders taking over its management control last month, as the airline, on Tuesday, grounded 15 more planes due to lease rental defaults. This has left just 20 planes in its operational fleet, down from 123, which operating over 650 flights across the country and the continents.

"An additional 15 aircraft have been grounded due to non-payment of outstanding to lessors under their respective lease agreements," Jet Airways said in an exchange filing late on Tuesday evening.

With this, the number of planes grounded on account of lease rental defaults alone touched 69, which is more than half of its fleet, reducing the overall operational fleet to less than one-sixth.

In another development, its pilots body, the National Aviators' Guild, has written to aviation regulator DGCA and airline chief executive Vinay Dube, pressing for payment of three months of salary dues along with applicable interest.

Mindtree panel ropes in Khaitan and Co, ICICI Securities as advisors

The independent directors' committee formed by IT company Mindtree to look into the "unsolicited open offer" by Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday roped in ICICI Securities and Khaitan and Co as independent advisors. The committee was formed to give its recommendations on the open offer for the consideration of shareholders.

Lead independent director Apurva Purohit, who is also the president of Jagran Prakashan Limited, in a statement said: "The committee held its first meeting today (Tuesday) and has appointed Khaitan and Co as its independent legal counsel and ICICI Securities Limited as its independent financial advisor to provide assistance in the matter. The written reasoned recommendations on the open offer shall be provided within the timeline and as per the guidelines laid down by SEBI."

The committee is expected to submit its recommendations by 11 May.

Chennai Super Kings to face Mumbai Indians at Wankhede

Unbeaten in the league so far, MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings will aim to maintain the winning momentum against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Chennai are the only team to win all three matches this season, while Mumbai, placed sixth, have lost two and have tasted success in only one match.

Mumbai will hope to take maximum advantage of the home conditions and look to avoid their second consecutive defeat in the Indian Premier League. Chennai spinners  Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja  will once again hold the key against Mumbai batsmen.

Graham Norton to host 2019 BAFTA TV Awards

Popular comic-host Graham Norton is set to host 2019's BAFTA Television Awards. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it marks his return as the ceremony's presenter after 15 years.

"It has been almost 15 years since I first hosted the Television Awards and what a pleasure it is to be returning to host once again. The year 2018 was a stand-out year for television, and I look forward to seeing the brilliant talent in our industry rewarded," Norton saidThe Election Commission has reportedly decided to not stay the release of the biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has been at the centre of controversy this election season.

The Election Commission has given its approval for the release of the biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has been at the centre of controversy this election season, reports said on Wednesday.

News18 reported sources as saying that the Election Commission said the Central Board of Film Certification must now decide on whether to allow the release of PM Narendra Modi.

India Today also reported that the Election Commission will not stay the release of the film.

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 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.

"Once the response from the BJP general secretary is received, the Election Commission will make a decision," said a senior poll panel official had said on Monday night.The EC took the decision based on a video clip submitted by the Ghaziabad district magistrate

New Delhi: The Election Commission is learnt to have issued a show cause notice to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his 'Modi ji ki sena' remark made during a poll rally at Ghaziabad earlier this week. Sources in the poll panel said, prima facie, Adityanath has violated the EC's advisory of keeping armed forces away from political campaign. A functionary said Adityanath has been asked to reply by Friday evening.

The EC took the decision based on a video clip submitted by the Ghaziabad district magistrate which shows Adityanath making the remarks at the election rally there on Sunday. Adityanath, who addressed election meetings in Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Sunday, had lashed out at the Congress for what he called was its "soft approach towards terrorism and terrorists". "Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modiji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. (Congress leaders 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 (JeM chief) Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," Adityanath had said at the Ghaziabad election rally.

The BJP leader was campaigning for sitting MP and Union minister VK Singh. The Election Commission had on 19 March asked political parties to "desist" from indulging in any propaganda involving actions taken by defence forces during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns. The advisory was issued days after the poll panel asked parties and their candidates against using pictures of defence force personnel in their campaign material.

"...parties/candidates are advised that their campaigners/candidates should desist, as part of their election campaigning, from indulging in any political propaganda involving activities of defence forces," it had said. Former Navy chief Admiral L Ramdas had Monday said he would approach the Election Commission against Adityanath for his remarks and claimed that many veterans and those in service were upset over it.Facebook-owned WhatsApp has launched newspaper and radio campaigns to deter the spread of misinformation.

Two weeks after a suicide bombing in Kashmir in February killed 40 Indian paramilitary policemen, a Facebook user called Avi Dandiya posted a live video in which he played a recording of a call purportedly involving Indias home minister, the president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and an unidentified woman.

The trio could be heard talking about arousing nationalist sentiment ahead of Indias general election, with the BJP president allegedly saying in Hindi: We agree that for election, we need a war.

Within 24 hours, one of Facebook Incs fact-checking partners in India, BOOM, exposed Dandiyas video as fake. An analysis on BOOMs website said the video was created by splicing audio from older political interviews.

By the time Facebook took down the post, it had received more than 2.5 million views and 150,000 shares. There is no Indian law that specifically targets fake news, but police in New Delhi registered a case of forgery against Dandiya and an official said investigations were ongoing.

Still, Reuters last week found at least four edited copies of Dandiyas videos on Facebook with about 36,000 views. One on Googles YouTube has been seen 2,800 times while another on Twitter has 22,000 views.

Messages and e-mails to Dandiya, an avid Facebook user who last appeared in a live video on 23 March, went unanswered. The home ministry, the BJP president and partys information-technology chief did not respond to requests for comment.

The videos underline how social media companies are struggling with fake news in India despite saying theyve taken steps to tackle the menace ahead of the general election, which starts on April 11.

With 900 million people eligible to vote and an estimated half-a-billion with access to the internet, fake news can have an enormous impact on the election. Dandiyas video, for example, could have seriously damaged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP if enough people thought it was true.

Policing content has become a massive global problem for social media giants which have no template for consistently preventing online fake news or eliminating it.

Fierce internet disinformation battles gripped countries such as Brazil and Malaysia last year ahead of elections. Authorities in Indonesia and the EU, which are due to hold polls, have warned of the threat of fake news.

In India, Facebook has partnered with fact checkers and, like Twitter, ramped up efforts to block fake accounts.

On Monday, Facebook said it had deleted 1,126 accounts, groups and pages in India and Pakistan for inauthentic behaviour and spamming, many linked to Indias opposition Congress party.

Google has partnered with fact-checkers to train 10,000 journalists this year to better tackle fake news.

Facebooks popular messaging app WhatsApp has launched newspaper and radio campaigns to deter the spread of misinformation.

Social media companies say they dont outrightly remove all fake posts as that would jeopardize free speech. Facebook has said that circulation of posts which are debunked, or discovered to be fake, is reduced by more than 80 percent.

No Silver Bullet

Posts that violate Facebooks community guidelines, including hate speech or content that could incite violence, are completely deleted, the company said, adding that Dandiyas video came under that category.

But even when content has been identified as fake and removed, slightly modified versions of the same images, video or text can escape detection and spread further.

This is a highly adversarial space, so we still miss things and wont catch everything - but were making progress, said a Facebook spokeswoman, who added that the overall volume of false news had been reduced on the platform.

Theres no silver bullet solution in fighting misinformation.

Twitter said it deeply cares about the potentially harmful effects of misinformation and encourages users not to share unverified information.

A YouTube spokesman said the company will continue to embrace the democratization of access to information while providing a reliable service to users.

Twitter and YouTube did not comment on Dandiyas video.

Shown To Be False

Another fake post that went viral recently was on popular student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested and charged with sedition after a 2016 rally to commemorate the execution of a Kashmiri separatist. Opposition parties said Kumars arrest by the police was an attempt by authorities to curb free speech.

Some Facebook posts in February described Kumar as anti-India and showed his photo in front of a map that depicted some Indian states as part of Pakistan. Two Facebook fact-checkers in India investigated the posts and said the image was doctored.

Still, a month later, Reuters found at least two copies of those posts on Facebook with 375 comments and 1,500 shares.

Facebook in February announced an expansion of its fact-checking company partners to seven, from two. Facebook says it also issues an alert to users who try to share a post which its fact-checkers have debunked, but doesnt prohibit further sharing.

Reuters found that when debunked posts of Kumar were shared, an alert popped up with a link to the fact-checkers analysis. However, all four variants of Dandiyas videos could be shared without such fake news alerts from Facebook.

There is no way you can solve this problem (quickly) ... the magnitude of the problem is really huge, said Kanchan Kaur, a Bengaluru-based assessor at International Fact-Checking Network at U.S.-based Poynter Institute.

Fact-Checking Business

When tensions rose between India and Pakistan in February following a suicide bombing in Kashmir and cross-border air strikes, social media was flooded with fake news - old videos of captured pilots and photos of earthquake-hit regions were spread as depicting current events.

Since Pulwama weve been working seven days a week, said Jency Jacob, managing editor at BOOM, referring to the site of the suicide attack.

On a recent visit to BOOMs office in Mumbai, five people have seen monitoring and analysing online content. One of the rooms served as BOOMs studio where television-style news videos are shot on debunked stories and published on its website.

As an industry, fact-checking is fast spreading in India.

British broadcaster BBC has in-house fact-checking operations and a dedicated WhatsApp number where anyone can flag suspected fake posts for further checks.

A dedicated team of journalists is debunking fake news daily, and also writing detailed explainers on controversial issues and claims, BBCs India Digital Editor, Milind Khandekar, told Reuters.

Former software engineer Pratik Sinha and his mother are part of a 10-member fact-checking initiative named Alt News which is run from a two-bedroom-flat in Ahmedabad.

Using online video verification and social media tracking tools, Sinha said his team debunks up to four posts each day.

Debunked posts appearing online has become a problem even for the Election Commission.

In February, a WhatsApp message called for spreading the word that said Indians living overseas could now vote online for 2019 elections and should register on the Commissions website. The Commission called it FAKE NEWS on Twitter and filed a police complaint against unknown persons for public mischief.

A month later, the message continues to circulate on Facebook - a user who shared it on March 23 has so far received 42 likes and 19 shares. When someone questioned the post, the Facebook user responded: I think you can vote. Just check the web site and follow the steps.Arvind Kejriwal has also said that class disparity is a problem which will be solved if Delhi gets full statehood.

Though Congress and BJP have rejected the demand for full statehood for New Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals pitch for the same seems to have gained currency among the poorer section of Delhiites.

In his public rallies, Kejriwal often receives claps and cheers when he speaks about the benefits the people of Delhi would enjoy if the capital city is granted full statehood.

When the issue of full statehood was first raised by Kejriwal as a poll issue a few days back, it was snubbed as impossible and impracticable by many.

It was seen as impossible because major political parties like Congress and BJP refused any support to the cause raised by AAP. It is a known fact that, for Delhi to become a full fledged from an union territory, a constitutional amendment is required, which is impossible without expressed support from many parties. But Kejriwal has said that Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee have promised support to him on this issue.

The Delhi chief minister has also said that class disparity is a problem which will be solved if Delhi gets full statehood.

Referring to the disparities between the Lutyens Delhi spread around the India Gate area and the rest of the capital city full of slums and unauthorised colonies, he had said, Just imagine, if we can do so much of work without a penny as aid from the central government, what will we be able to do with huge funds we are going to receive as a separate state? I will make Delhi equivalent to ten Singapores and give each of you one home.

According to a study conducted in 2009, more than half of Delhis population lives in slums. Thus, a livable home is an important issue for this population. Though a number of housing projects have been declared over the years, very few of them have materialised.

Navjeevan camp locality, which in itself is a huge cluster of haphazardly built shanties, is one of the biggest sufferers of the housing problem in Delhi.

For the last five years, the DDA has been building a huge cluster of flats in our locality. We were told that residents of Navjeevan camp would be allotted flats there. But no none has done that, said Raju Ahmed, who lives by repairing bikes.

They have asked the local AAP workers whether the promise to give them homes in the new building would be fulfilled with full statehood.

Devendra Tanwar, a local AAP leader, told Firstpost , We are surprised to see that the construction work of the flats has not been completed till now. Some of our party workers visited DDA office to ask about the progress of the project. But we were not provided with any information.

No wonder that the demand for full statehood, which comes with the promise of a home, strikes a chord with the masses here.

I think Delhi should be given the powers of a state as it would bring police and DDA under it, solving many of the problems faced by us, said Munna Khan, another resident of the area.

Issues related to caste, creed and religion hardly matter to the impoverished people living in the Navjeevan camp, as earning daily bread is the prime struggle here.

Both Hindus and Muslims live in Navjeevan camp in complete harmony. We never fight over religion, said Ram Lal, a retired employee of a public sector undertaking.

More than anything else, hopes of housing, jobs, education and healthcare matter for the people living in Navjeevan camp. Hence, Kejriwal has further promised that if Delhi becomes a state, 85 percent of the jobs in government sector and 85 percent of seats of new colleges would be reserved for the residents in Delhi.

Kejriwals words sounded convincing to Raju Ahmed, who never went to school. I think there are people everywhere who are hindering Kejriwals path. This problem would be solved if Delhi becomes a state," he said.

Though many people in the area are convinced that the quality of services provided by the Delhi government has been enhanced many times, there are still problems with the conduct of the AAP MLAs.

After the election is over, they hardly visit the area. In our area, we still do not have piped drinking water. We are supplied water by tankers. But tankers never reach in time and we lose valuable working hours waiting for them. We have found no solution to the problems despite repeated complaints, said Khan.

But he also said that he has yet not decided whom he would vote for in the Lok Sabha polls.Sankat Mochan Foundation, which has been monitoring the quality of the Ganga water for over three decades, found in its latest study that levels of faecal coliform bacteria had risen substantially, while levels of dissolved oxygen had dropped.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to clean up River Ganga before contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Varanasi. Now, five years later, the Ganga is more polluted than ever.

The Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF), an NGO that has been monitoring the quality of the river water for over three decades, released the findings of its most recent study in mid March. The study showed that levels of faecal coliform, a form of bacteria, in the Ganga had risen substantially, while levels of dissolved oxygen had dropped.

Professor VN Mishra  SMF chairperson and head of the Department of Electronics at Banaras Hindu University  rues the fact that the government has shown no commitment to cleaning up the river, and when evidence is provided to show the deteriorating quality of the river water, the local Jal Nigam skirts the problem with its unwillingness to accept this proof.

This correspondent spoke to Mishra about the poor state of the Ganga. Here are edited excerpts of the interview.

Why is the Ganga so polluted in Varanasi even though the government allocated over Rs 20,000 crore to clean it up?

I don't want to jump into this debate right now. My focus is specifically on Varanasi.

The SMF office is located at Tulsi Ghat, which is on the western bank of the Ganga. In Varanasi, not a drop of sewage should be allowed to enter the river, but there are 33 sources of pollution at present. So in a stretch of 5 kilometres, there are 33 points where raw, untreated sewage flows into the Ganga.

To give some perspective, SMF has played a pivotal role in focusing on pollution levels of the Ganga. We have set up a state-of-the-art laboratory for this purpose and have a dedicated team of scientists monitoring the quality of the river water. In the first phase of the Ganga Action Plan, which was launched in 1986, three Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) with a capacity of 102 million litres per day (MLD) were set up at a cost of Rs 43 crore. (Congress leader) Kamal Nath had told my late father Veer Bhadra Mishra that the Ganga was clean, but my father showed him the results of our lab tests, which showed that the river contained high levels of faecal coliform.

The problem was that the amount of sewage entering the river exceeded the 102 MLD that these plants could treat. The other problems with these STPs were their dependence on electricity, the supply of which was erratic, their high operation and maintenance costs and their inability to remove the faecal coliform bacteria from the sewage.

You are quoting 1986 figures. What are the current figures of the amount of sewage that flows into the Ganga?

At present, the estimated sewage generation in Varanasi is around 350 MLD. The amount of sewage and wastewater collected and diverted for treatment is only a third of the total. The remaining two-thirds of sewage gets discharged into the Varuna and Assi rivers through drains and sewers, both of which end up flowing into the Ganga.

What is the essence of the problem? Why has the government failed to treat the sewage? What obstacles hinder tackling related problems?

There are various types of technologies available in India to treat wastewater. The activated sludge process is one; there are also Membrane Bio Reactors, Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactors and Waste Stabilisation Ponds. There are some question marks regarding their operation and maintenance costs, energy needs and effectiveness in removing pollutants, including metals and vectors.

We conducted our own research and found that the Advanced Integrated Wastewater Pond System technology, which was developed by the University of California-Berkeley, is probably the most effective for our conditions. This system requires the creation of four ponds through which the water is treated, and in doing so, it gets rid of bacterial pathogens as well as human viruses, protozoans and parasites. This reclaimed water can be used for irrigation as well as for industrial and environmental reuse. This technology has been implemented successfully in many parts of the US.

Has it been tried in India?

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change asked SMF to prepare a pilot project for an initial design capacity of 37 MLD at Ramana in Varanasi. We prepared a detailed progress report way back in 2011 at a cost of Rs 51 crore, and then brought the amount down to Rs 49 crore, giving them details of the life cycle costs. The Jal Nigam had asked us to build this project to treat only 20 MLD and later reduced the figure to 2 MLD. Is this some kind of a joke? I wrote several letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding our proposal, but I have not got a reply to date.

Modiji did inaugurate an STP in Dinapur in Varansai last November, which can treat 14 crore litres of wastewater every day. The biogas-powered treatment plant uses the activated sludge process and was supposed to treat between 50 and 60 MLD of wastewater. We were told another plant at Goitha will treat 120 MLD per day, but because of lack of connectivity, the two only treat 10 MLD of sewage at present.

The problem with both STPs, as I already mentioned, is that they do not treat faecal coliform, and that will remain a major problem.

SMF was in the midst of a controversy because its recent findings said faecal coliform levels in the Ganga had risen, while biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) levels had dropped, but the Jal Nigam later came up with a study claiming that this was not the case. What do you have to say about this?

Our database is place-specific. If the Ganga water is tested 15 kilometres downstream, it will be found to be cleaner. We work as a watchdog and have an extremely sophisticated laboratory. The quality of the water in the Ganga has worsened in the past three years. When we tested the river water, we found that faecal coliform had risen from 4.5 lakh upstream at Nagwa and 5.2 crore downstream in Varuna in January 2016 to 3.8 crore upstream and 14.4 downstream in February 2019.

Similarly, BOD levels have risen from 46.8 mg/1 in January 2016 to 54 mg/1 in February 2019. Besides, the level of dissolved oxygen, which should be 6 mg/1 or more, declined from 2.4 mg/1 to 1.4 mg/1 in the same period.

Also, the high presence of coliform bacteria is extremely harmful for human health.

The other aspect is the time at which the water is tested. We have a peak time, which begins at 5 am, and then between 6 pm and 8 pm. If the water is taken 5 to 10 metres from the west bank, the result will be different.

What do you think is the way out?

Stop domestic sewage from reaching the Ganga. Doing that will check 95 percent of the river's pollution. People should not be allowed to discharge either treated or untreated wastewater into the Ganga from any of the sources. Tapping sewage at the point sources should be stopped and diverted to fields to be used as manure.

Given how the prime minister is planning to contest the election from Varanasi once again, a clean Ganga should have been a priority for him and his government.The year 1915 is significant in Indian political history because it was then that the word 'Hindu' was used and accepted as a political term to define those who were not Muslim, Christian, Jain, Sikh or Buddhist. Until the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha was formed, the Arya Samajis, for instance, referred to themselves as 'Aryans', the followers of the ancient Vedic faith.

Editor's note: This is the third reported piece in an 18-part series on the contemporary history of Hindutva in coastal Karnataka. The series features interviews, videos, archival material and oral histories gathered over a period of four months.

Read other articles of the series here

***

The year 1915 is significant in Indian political history because it was then that the word 'Hindu' was used and accepted as a political term to define those who were not Muslim, Christian, Jain, Sikh or Buddhist. Until the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha was formed, the Arya Samajis, for instance, referred to themselves as 'Aryans', the followers of the ancient Vedic faith. The Brahmo Samajists called themselves Brahmo and the followers of Sanatana Dharma identified themselves by their castes and sects.

What was compelling enough to bring these factions together?

The early 20th Century witnessed the shoots of democracy springing in Colonial India, with the introduction of the Minto-Morley reforms that allowed Indians to hold elected office. The reforms were the starting point for the emergence of a unifying Hindu nationalist discourse, where the Muslim was identified as the enemy.

As part of these reforms, the British had granted the Muslim minority separate electorates to ensure that they were sufficiently represented in a legislature against the Hindu majority.

This was instantly viewed by the ruling caste Hindus as a British measure to give Muslims an advantage over them in electoral politics. It created a great urgency among competing Hindu groups to come together under one umbrella to counter the influence of organisations such as the Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami.

In the early 1900s, there were three major Hindu formations in the North: the Brahmo Samaj, the Arya Samaj and a loose collection of orthodox traditionalists who believed in Sanatana (ancient) Dharma.

Their activities fell within the realm of the slowly emerging construct of 'Hindu nationalism', promulgated mostly by Brahmins, the first of them being Raja Ram Mohan Roy from Calcutta. Roy was a Hindu reformist who argued that ancient Vedic religion was superior to others including Christianity and that oppressive practises were newer additions. He opposed conversions of lowered castes on this ground. After him came Dayanand Saraswati who founded the Arya Samaj. Saraswati argued that "Aryas" formed Bharat and were spiritually, socially and culturally superior. Rather than reform, a revival was in order to restore 'Bharat' to its erstwhile glory. He was the first person to justify the caste system as an egalitarian 'merit based division of labour'. The Arya Samajist's blamed recent happenings like foreign invasion, be it British or Muslim rulers, and colonialism for degradation of 'Bharat'.

Other than the reformists and revivalists, there was a third group of the Sanatanists, who were opposed to reforms and viewed them as British interventions into existent practises and weren't pro-British, like the Arya Samajists were.

The reformists, revivalists and sanatanists articulated differently but it all came down to the same point  it started at reform and swung to the revival of a "glorious Vedic past". They put their differences aside in great haste and came together in 1915 as the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha at a mega convention in Hardwar in present-day Uttar Pradesh.

This was also a time when Indian Muslims were beginning to see themselves as a part of the global Islamic consciousness that ultimately led them to break out in support of the Khilafat movement in 1921 which was led by Islamic clerics such as the Ali brothers.

The Mahasabha and its leadership, whose idea of India was rooted in the Vedic consciousness, saw Muslim support of the Ottoman Empire and the Khilafat movement as an 'anti-national' activity. This further entrenched the Hindu-Muslim binary in the political discourse of large parts of North India.

Meanwhile, in Coastal Karnataka the Hindu movement was still finding its feet, with the Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj focussed mainly on the threat that Christian conversions posed to the supremacy of the various Brahmin castes  Havyaks, Kotas, Saraswat Brahmins, Shivalli Madhavas.

The reigning political force in coastal Karnataka at the time was the Indian National Congress. In 1921, Gandhi visited Kasargod and Mangalore accompanied by the most prominent leader of the Khilafat Movement, Moulana Shoukhat Ali who he referred to as his "blood brother". The visit was part of Gandhi's national tour to mobilise support for his twin movements: Khilafat and Non-cooperation.

The Khilafat movement's invocation of a pan-Islamic consciousness meant little to the Beary Muslims who attended Gandhi's rally by the thousands in 1921.

The Beary Muslims are primarily a trading community. The Western Coast has been a hub of trade activity for centuries, with the major trading communities dominating these waters being Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and Muslims. Arab traders were prominent across port cities on the West like Barkur, Basrur, Calicut, Cannanore and Mangalore. Inter-marriage between local Tulu-speaking women and Arab traders is attributed to the emergence of the local 'Beary' speaking Muslim community. Beary, in Tulu, translates to a trader. The community is called 'Bearys' and the language they speak is also called Beary. It is believed that the community emerged as early as the 7th Century. Twelfth-Century accounts of 'Hanjamanas'  recognised trade guilds of Muslim foreign merchants  trace the presence of Arab traders on the Western coast.

The focus of the Beary community in the early 20 Century was on education and trade, not political Islam. But the widespread support for the Khilafat in the North, created the ideological base from which the Muslim league finally raised its demand for a separate Pakistan in 1940.

These conditions also led to the emergence of one modern Hindutva's most influential thinkers, Vinayak Damodardas Savarkar, a Chitpavan Brahmin from Maharashtra. Savarkar as a student took inspiration from the likes of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, another Chitpavan Brahmin who is accredited for designing the roadmap for culturally mobilising under the banner of 'Hindu' in Maharashtra. In 1909, while Savarkar was pursuing a degree in law at Gray's Inn in England, he was imprisoned on charges of murdering a British official as part of the agitations against the Minto-Morley reforms.

In his years in jail, Savarkar morphed from an anti-British to an anti-Muslim activist. He wrote a series of mercy petitions to the British authorities between 1911 and 1920, seeking clemency and promising loyalty to the Crown.

In 1920, he wrote 'Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?' as a counter to the mobilisation of Muslims in India around the issues of separate electorates and the Ottoman Khilafat. The Hindu right considers this book as its foundational text to this day. It is Savarkar who can be credited for transforming a movement steeped in the scriptures into a modern ideology which was at once defined by religion yet not limited to it.

He was the first to define 'Hindu Rashtra' as 'Hindu, Hindi, Hindustan'  a geographical territory of Hindustan where the majority Hindu community resides. This idea was so influential that it was instantly accepted as a rallying cry by the organisations rushing under the Hindu Mahasabha's umbrella. The forefathers of this community, he said, were Vedic Aryans. The Hindus were bound by their cultural identity which stemmed from immersion in Vedic Sanskritic codes.

He went on to say that before the invasion of Muslims and forcible conversions to Islam, Hindustan existed as a "glorious" nation. All Indian Muslims and Christians he said were originally Hindu, their conversion had changed their allegiance to Mecca or Palestine. He declared himself an atheist. Savarkar said 'Hindutva' is deeper than just Hinduism which he felt was just 'a set of religious practices'.

After he was pardoned and released by the British, Savarkar was quarantined in Ratnagiri where he was barred from political activity. In 1937, when he was finally allowed to leave Ratnagiri, he moved to Bombay and was elected President of the Hindu Mahasabha. When World War II broke out, he honoured his pledge of loyalty to the British by organising his cadre to join the allied army.

In 1933, the Akhila Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha organised its first mass meeting in South Kanara at Mundajje village 70 km from Mangalore.

The chief guest was RG Bhide. He was the chief editor of Kesari, the newspaper founded by Tilak and the general secretary of the Akhila Bharatha Hindu Mahasabha. A sense of how profoundly Savarkar's ideas in his book 'Hindutva: Who is a Hindu' had shaped the thinking of the Hindu leaders of the time can be assessed from the speech Bhide delivered at Mundajje. The speech not only marked the inauguration of the Mahasabha in South Kanara but also set the tone for the development of the movement into the present day.

In all of Karnataka, the most inflammatory of speeches come from leaders of the Sangh in coastal Karnataka, so much so, that the top BJP leaders of the state disassociate themselves with what is said in this region. At a vigil to condemn the killing of an RSS worker, the reigning Member of Parliament of Dakshin Kannada Nalin Kumar Kateel threatened to burn down the entire district and alleged that the police are colluding with the Muslims (in their attacks on the Hindu community).

An FIR was registered against Kateel for making inflammatory statements. Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat is another famous cardholder of the 'inflammatory speeches club' of Dakshin Kannada. This speech of Bhide is perhaps a good introduction to the legacy of this club.

Excerpts from the speech follow:

Muslims are anti-national, their interests lie with Turkey

"The Hindu Mahasabha is not a caste institution with a narrow vision. It is an organisation fighting for goals with a larger vision. The selfish nature of Hindus is not the cause for the formation of the Hindu Mahasabha. It is the anti-Hindu, anti-national behaviour and attitude of other communities, especially Muslims and disregard for national freedom which is the reason for it.

When it comes to the issue of freedom, irrespective of caste and community, people are expected to stand shoulder to shoulder under the nationalist flag and fight. But it appears like our Muslim friends have forgotten this or have deliberately insulted (the idea). In Afghanistan, there are a few Hindus. There are many Christians in Japan. But the Hindus of Afghan are Afghanis, Japan's Christians are Japanese. But our Muslim brethren are not Hindus. Their religious fanaticism has scuffled their love for the nation and has made Turkey their fatherland.

It is the hard work of Hindus which is the sole reason for the creation of our only prominent political organisation which is the Hindu Mahasabha. The people who nurtured it and brought it to the current level are also Hindu leaders. The number of loyal Muslims to the Mahasabha is zero.

When the national leaders were brainstorming about the eradication of common sorrows of both Hindus and Muslims and the restoration of stolen freedom, these so-called patriotic Muslims had merged in envisioning there Dream Empire of a Global Muslim nation! To substantiate this, they distributed the handbills and books describing the future era of "Pakistan" to the joint Parliamentary committee of the British Parliament.

Bhide's interpretation of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's support to the Khilafat Movement

The famous Mahtamaji of Hindustan started his great movement to unite Hindus-Muslims. He closed his eyes to what the world had never witnessed in history. He ignored the barbaric genocide of Punjab and empathised with the problems of Muslims in Turkey and played the Khilafat trumpet. Thousands of youth, mesmerised by the sound of it, believed that the injustice meted out to Muslims is indeed on us too! And followed Gandhiji.

Fake News: Misrepresenting the peasant revolution of Malabar

I was also a volunteer then. I, too, had collected one lakh rupees and joined the Choir of Allah ho Akbar. What was the result of all these sacrifices? What happened to the money collected? Everything of Hindus was destroyed in your neighbouring region Malabar! Hindu women were raped, Hindus were slaughtered! Pandit Malaviya and Devdhar came from afar and saw it for themselves, and instead helped the Muslims who were being hounded by the government.

Then in Guwahati, Muslims committed atrocities on Hindus and set a model for their fanatic brethren's in Saharanpur. Hindus had to live in a pathetic condition in Saharanpur. Finally, the worshipper of peace, Muslim-hugger Gandhiji too got tired and formed enquiry committee in collaboration with Maulana Shaukat Ali. But Gandhi go to know the conspiracy hatched by Maulana to tutor the witnesses for giving evidence. The Mahatma walked away from the committee.

Last year's incident in Firozabad, where on the day of Ramanavami some Muslims displayed their love for blood, must have been in his mind too. The house of the President of the Firozabad chapter of Rashtreeya Sabha (he trumpeters of Hindu Muslim unity) was burnt with the patients who had come for treatment. Did the Congress wake up from its slumber with this devilish act? No. In Karachi, too, something similar happened.

The book, criticising Koran written by a Muslim who converted to Christianity, was translated by Pandith Nathuram. He was awarded six months' prison term. Though he appealed to the higher court, the court was filled with Muslims and only one position was vacant and Nathuram came and deposed himself. With security around in front of the British lord of justice, an accused, helpless Hindu was stabbed by a Muslim!

I telegraphed Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel to condemn the incident, only Gandhi responded. He said the Muslim leaders should condemn it. So, the same thing was written to all Muslim leaders of Hindustan. Instead of responding in a public meeting in Karachi in the chairmanship of a Muslim leader of Sindh who was also a member of Bombay legislative council, a resolution was passed demanding the abolition of the sections of Indian Penal Code which penalises religious murders. To save the murderer, all Muslims, from Fakir to Mohammed Yakub, raised funds. The lawyer of the accused praised his courage and valour in the court.

Same voices from Bengal too. When the law to whip the criminals, who kidnap and rape women, came up in Bengal legislature, most of the Muslim electorates opposed it being aware that majority of the rowdies involved in the kidnapping were Muslims.

In this Islamic Dharmaabhimaana from Ghaznavi, Yakoob to the so-called nationalist Muslims like Dr Ansari, are all beads of the same rosary. When I raised this in a public meet with all the evidence, Doctor Saheb couldn't answer! Today, when Hinduism is fractured from all sides, what should the Hindus do?

Plan for Hindu Mahasabha to challenge Muslim domination

Hindu Mahasabha will answer this. We don't say that the Muslims should be paid in the same coin. Once Hindus become strong, become the people of valour, no other person will have the courage to look at the face of a Hindu. Only when Hindus match the strength of Muslims, the unity of Hindus and Muslims is possible. Now, the concept of unity by Muslims is strange  if all the Hindus convert to Islam, total unity is achieved. This, too, is unity.

Because of this understanding, Muslims, who were 1,900 out of 10,000 in the year 1881, became 22,000 in 1931 and reduced Hindus from 71,000 to 6,824 with the help of Christians. If this continues, after three generations Hindu community could be found only in graveyards. And what is the point in living as a Hindu if the abla naris are insulted through kidnapping?

I somehow feel it is better for the Hindu community to go to the graveyard than remain in the current situation.

Hindus, if they want to live can't exist like cats and dogs, they should live like brave humans, like the mighty Rajputs and like the nation-loving courageous Maratha Bhakts. Some intelligent people claim that without Hindu-Muslim unity, there cannot be Swaraj. These are the animals are trapped in some kind of witchery.

There are 20 crore Hindus, if all of them are patriotic and strong-willed, our country will improve. We are working towards that in Maharashtra. There are 25,000 brave men who've donned a single uniform and are waiting to serve their nation'. In Pune, there are 1,000 youths who are ever ready to work.

Our vision is for a strong 'Hindu Rashtra' to materialise.

Every Muslim is a soldier of his religion. In the same way, every Hindu should be a missionary of his religion and should be willing to sacrifice the self towards the pursuit of this goal.

Just because you are doing well in your region, you think that is sufficient? Do you think the Hindu faces of Bengal, Punjab and Sindh aren't yours? This thought process is very anti-national. Your Hindu brothers are looking at you with hope. If you do not meet their expectation as a Hindu, the possibility of a strong Hindu Rashtra will be impossible. This is the first step towards Swaraj.

Our message to Muslims or desh drohis from other religions is this  we will not interfere in your religious, cultural and linguistic practices. But if we've to converge at a common point, that would be at nationalism. First, you have to accept that Hindustan is your nation. Discard the selfish and communal concept of a Pakistan. Only if you work towards the betterment of a Hindu Rashtra can we be friends.

What do you think would be their reply to this?

There should only be one language for Hindus; that is the national language. Let all the Hindus become nationalists. Every village should have a garadi (gym) to produce strong youth for the seva of the world. Only the Arya dharma organisation of Hindu society envision betterment of the world and talks of a 'Vishwa-dharma'. Bharat Mata wants to break her chains with our help and emerge as a Mahamata. To fulfil this wish is the prerogative and responsibility of every Hindu."India on Tuesday sent a note verbale to Pakistan, urging it to make necessary arrangements for an immediate release and repatriation of 10 Indian prisoners who had completed the prison sentence in Pakistani jails

New Delhi: India on Tuesday sent a note verbale to Pakistan, urging it to make necessary arrangements for an immediate release and repatriation of 10 Indian prisoners who had completed the prison sentence in Pakistani jails. India has also made a fresh demand seeking consular access to five Indian nationals, including Kulbhushan Jadhav, whose case is pending at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Ministry of External Affairs sent the note verbale to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in which India has conveyed its deep concern; over the long pending release and repatriation of Indian prisoners held under Pakistan custody despite completion of sentence and nationality confirmation, MEA sources said.

India has put Jadhav in the category of Indian 'civilian' prisoners in Pakistan's custody with the long-pending request for consular access.

Kulbhushan Jadhav's name figures with four others- Mohammad Javaid, Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Ismail, Salfikar Ali.

Former naval officer Jadhav, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court after being arrested on charges of spying activities in 2016.

In the note verbale India said, "... consular access to India fishermen and prisoners in Pakistan jails is inordinately delayed. Such delays cause an avoidable delay in confirmation of their nationality and thus detrimental to the timely release of prisoners and fishermen."

Consular access for two civilian prisoners in Rawalpindi, which was postponed by the Government of Pakistan, is still pending. It is requested that immediate consular access is provided to all those prisoners and fishermen held in Pakistan's custody and awaiting consular access, the note added.

India has been consistently raising with its concern regarding missing Indian defence personnel, including Prisoners of War, believed to be in Pakistan's custody, the note mentioned.

However, no response has been received from the Government of Pakistan in this regard. It is requested that necessary steps may be taken immediately to locate, release and repatriate the missing Indian defence personnel believed to be held in Pakistan custody, it said.

India also shared the list of Indian fishing boats held in Pakistan's custody.The sale of the helicopters, at an estimated cost of $2.4 billion, will improve the security of a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region

Washington: The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60 'Romeo' Seahawk helicopters to India at an estimated cost of $2.4 billion, the State Department has said.

India has been in need of these formidable anti-submarine hunter helicopters for more than a decade now. Designed for hunting submarines as well as knocking out ships and conducting search-and-rescue operations at sea, the Lockheed Martin-built helicopters, would replenish India's aging fleet of British-made Sea King helicopters.

The Trump Administration on Tuesday notified the Congress that it has approve sale of 24 MH-60R multi-mission helicopters, which will provide the Indian defence forces the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions.

In its notification, the State Department told the Congress that this proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the US by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship.

The sale, at an estimated cost of $2.4 billion, will improve the security of a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region, it said.

"The proposed sale will provide India the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay," said the Congressional notification.

India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense, the notification said, adding that India will have no difficulty absorbing these helicopters into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region, it said.

Currently deployed with the US Navy as the primary anti-submarine warfare anti-surface weapon system for open ocean and littoral zones, the helicopters are considered the world's most advanced maritime helicopter.

According to industry experts, it is the most capable naval helicopter available today designed to operate from frigates, destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers. MH-60 Romeo Seahawks would add lethal capabilities of the Indian Navy, which experts say is the need of the hour given the aggressive behaviour of China in the Indian Ocean region.

According to US Naval Air System Command, the MH-60R Seahawk missions are anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, surveillance, communications relay, combat search and rescue, naval gunfire support and logistics support.

As the Navy's next generation submarine hunter and anti-surface warfare helicopter, the MH-60R Seahawk is considered to be the cornerstone of the Navy's Helicopter Concept of Operations.Pakistan on Tuesday expressed 'deep concern' over the assessment of international experts on the threats resulting from space debris generated by the recently conducted Anti-Satellite missile (ASAT) test by India

Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday expressed "deep concern" over the assessment of international experts on the threats resulting from space debris generated by the recently conducted Anti-Satellite missile (ASAT) test by India.

On 27 March, India achieved a historic feat by shooting down its own low-orbit satellite with a ground-to-space missile, making the country a space power. Only three other countries  the US, Russia and China  have ASAT capabilities.

On Monday, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Jim Bridenstine said India shooting down of one of its own satellites was a "terrible thing" as it created about 400 pieces of orbital debris. The NASA chief warned that the risk of debris colliding with the International Space Station (ISS) has risen by 44 percent since the Indian anti-satellite weapon test.

"The reports that some of the space debris created by this test has been pushed above the apogee of the International Space Station (ISS), increasing the risk of collision are deeply worrying," Pakistan's Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement, expressing "deep concern" over the ASAT test conducted by India.

The ISS is a habitable artificial satellite, orbiting the Earth at an altitude between 330 and 435 kilometre. It is a joint project between space agencies of US, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada, and serves as a research laboratory for scientists to conduct space experiments.

As many as 236 astronauts from 18 countries have visited the space station, many of them multiple times, since November 2000.

The test should be a matter of "grave concern for the international community" not only in terms of generation of space debris but also because of its ramifications for long term sustainability of peaceful space activities, the FO said.

It would amiss to ignore the military dimension of such actions and its implications on the global and regional peace, stability and security, it added.

Asserting that Pakistan remained a strong proponent of non-militarisation of outer space, the FO said, "We will continue to work with like-minded countries to address gaps in the international legal regime governing the exploration and use of outer space with a view to ensuring that no one threatens peaceful activities and applications of space technologies for socio-economic development."

It said in the absence of strong legal instruments, other states could also follow suit by demonstrating such capabilities.

India has said the test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. "Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks," the Ministry of External Affairs said soon after the test.

By conducting the ASAT test, India was not in violation of any international law or treaty to which it is a party to or any national obligation, it said.Sending out a message to stop crimes against women, the Maharashtra Information Centre's tweet spoke about how Shivaji was a 'dependable supporter of women and their honour', one who opposed 'violence, harassment of women.'

On the 339th death anniversary of of Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji, Twitterati has paid homage to the leader, often considered a 'unifier' of Hindus, who waged war against the Mughal empire.

Formally crowned as the 'Chhatrapati' of Raigad in 1674, Shivaji passed away on 3 April, 1680. He is considered one of the first kings to establish a navy, building naval forts in Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg and Jaigad.

The Maratha ruler had expanded his army from 2,000 to 10,000 soldiers. A popular story about his bravery tells of how he had escaped from Aurangzeb's captivity in a box of sweets.

Popular History TV sent out a tweet with a little "Did you know?" info about the king.

#DidYouKnow Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was one of the most revered Indian kings who created the great Maratha Empire. In 1674 he was formally crowned as the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad. #ThisDayInHistory pic.twitter.com/OUmdVo9PXI  HISTORY TV18 (@HISTORYTV18) April 3, 2019

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri also paid tributes to the brave king, calling him a "visionary ruler" who established a "long lasting Hindu empire rooted".

Humble homage to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his death anniversary. He was a visionary ruler whose military acumen, unwavering courage & contribution towards establishing a long lasting Hindu empire rooted in Indian values & ethos will continue to inspire generations to come. pic.twitter.com/NQYzpgi4dl  Chowkidar Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) April 3, 2019

Shivaji was, almost contrary to popular belief, a secular leader. He had inducted several Muslims within his military ranks such as Ibrahim Khan, Daulat Khan, Siddi Ibrahim among others.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also took to Twitter to pay her tributes.

Solemn tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his death anniversary. His tales of courage continue to inspire and motivate us  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 3, 2019

Likewise, BJP MLA from Lucknow Neeraj Bora also paid his tributes.

Sending out a message to stop crimes against women, the Maharashtra Information Centre's tweet spoke about how the king was a "dependable supporter of women and their honour", one who opposed "violence, harassment of women."

Chhtrapati #ShivajiMaharaj was a dependable supporter of women & their honour. He opposed all kinds of violence, harassment & dishonour against women. In fact, women of captured territories were also released unharmed & with integrity. Tributes to a Great King on his SmrutiDin. pic.twitter.com/kmRHvXoAxb  MAHA INFO CENTRE (@micnewdelhi) April 3, 2019

Known also for employing guerrilla tactics in which surprise attacks, raids and ambushes with small groups were carried on his enemies, Shivaji died due to fever and dysentery at the age of 52.State-sponsored terrorism could be recited as a form of asymmetric warfare, redefining the concept of conflict amongst the nations.

State Sponsored Terrorism (SST) has become an important facet of hostility among nations and its complicating the nature of warfare. It is also primarily because SST has been a grey area in the arena of conventional international conflicts. SST is aptly described as terrorist acts on a state or government by a state or government. These usually include proxy war strategies and tactics of directly or indirectly supporting terrorist activities and/or organisations for a variety of political goals, as indicated by the recent Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019 orchestrated by the Jaish-e-Mohammed based in Pakistan.

SST could be recited as a form of asymmetric warfare, redefining the concept of conflict amongst the nations. Since the beginning of time, warfare has been characterised by military operations amongst clearly defined enemies -- usually in a physically localised area. However, the physicality of war has transmuted to include the whole world as well as the cyberspace and outer space, particularly after the time of the two world wars. Technological advancements, coupled with increasing globalisation and a greater degree of international diplomacy, have led to the distortion of the concept of clearly defined enemies. SST epitomises this lack of clarity and uses its proxy war characteristics to leave the entire world in a state of continuous war and tension. SST adds the grey to this previously rather black and white environment.

Daniel L Byman, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, gives an apt categorisation of the two primary forms of SST: active and passive sponsorship. These two are differentiated based upon the degree of direct or indirect-ness of involvement of a state. For instance, active sponsorship encompasses the supporting of terrorist groups by sponsoring their arms and ammunition, monetary requirements, media bolstering, and other such direct interactions, whereas a state turning a blind eye to terrorist activities would be considered a passive sponsor.

In todays increasingly connected and more aware world, most countries indulging in SST have shifted from active to passive sponsorship, primarily due to fear from being subjected to justify their actions pertaining to accountability, association and blame. Passive sponsorship has become the most feasible way to avoid attention while still being able to support terrorist activities.

SST has been observed to be commonly practised in conflict-stricken regions in the Middle East, Pakistan, Malaysia, Philippines and other such countries. The common factor in all these countries is their dearth of institutional and social development, along with a higher degree of power and influence of the military/armed forces over their civilian counterparts. Significantly, coupled with the increased military power is the reduction in democratic tendencies of the country since civilian control over the armed forces is tantamount for maintaining a well-functioning, effective democracy. Henceforth, countries partaking in state sponsorship of terrorism including Pakistan would be those that are struggling democratically, to say the least.

Of late, countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism are Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria and it is the US that designates countries as such. It has been inferred after thorough research and analysis that the official designation of becoming a state sponsor is largely based on political motives and self-interest of the United States. It has been widely argued how the US is unwilling to acknowledge countries which are evident and thorough sponsors of terrorism, while also failing to remove existing countries from its list even if they have highly reduced or even eliminated SST from their nation. Besides, this list also appears to be extremely minimalist and misrepresentative of the issue of SST in todays world.

For instance, Pakistan has not only played a huge role in aiding groups that pose a direct threat to the United States, but has also actively as well as passively supported various terrorist organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed to create unrest in Kashmir. From giving asylum to the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks  Osama Bin Laden  to letting the 26/11 Mumbai attacks lead coordinator Hafiz Saeed to roam freely. Despite this, it has still not been included in the United States SST list. It is partly because once a country is included in the designated list of countries practising SST, it will lead to sanctions, bans and other such restrictions which will not only lead to a detriment in international relations but also to an unfavourable economic situation.

Pakistan permits the US to use many of its own military bases for logistics, drone operations, etc. and also because of two reasons. Firstly, to maintain a balance of power in Asia and in the South Asian region particularly, by keeping a check on China, India, etc. and secondly, to maintain a favourable position on Pakistan, which has supported/continues to support the US and its war on Afghanistan.

State sponsorship of terrorism has been impacting India as Pakistan is known to be the most active sponsor of terrorism in the world. Extensive travelling across Kashmir and deliberation with numerous intelligence, security and army officials indicates that Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence unofficially provide intricate networks of funding, access and all forms of support to terrorist outfits with the goal of creating an atmosphere of continuous unrest in the Kashmir Valley, and subsequently spreading it to other parts of India.

Therefore, the solution to the problem lies not only around extensive security and surveillance but also on decisive action in that region in the form of strong responses to terrorist attacks (even if pre-emptive in nature), as was with the case of the surgical strikes conducted in 2016 and the recent IAF strikes on the JeM camps in Balakot.

Nonetheless, the ubiquity of SST makes it a herculean task to combat. However, international unity coupled with meaningful action can go a long way in curbing its extremely detrimental and disastrous effects.

The author has worked with Brookings Institution India and is presently pursuing his study in Politics and Asian Studies in Pomona, USA.By KA Shaji

Despite being one of the oldest water-regulator structures in the world that is still functional, the Kallanai dam or the Grand Anicut looks almost empty with not much water to regulate. Located near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, it was built across river Kaveri around 2,000 years ago by then king Karikala Chola to divert water to the delta region to boost irrigation and also to avoid loss of crops to floods.

Downstream of Kallanai, the Kaveri river, among the most important rivers of south India, gives a poignant picture of large-scale encroachments and indiscriminate sand mining. Now, no water flows into the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar, the celebrated coastal town where the river meets the sea.

The subject of decades-long use and abuse by both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the river is in its deathbed, lamented Swamimalai R Vimalnathan, general secretary of the Thanjavur District Kaveri Farmers Protection Association. In the future, we will not have the once perennial river to fight over. The water resources are receding and our once celebrated delta region is shrinking.

Along with the imminent death of the river, Vimalnathan is pointing out another worrying factor that is threatening the very existence of this traditional granary of Tamil Nadu. According to him, the delta region is shrinking fast with cultivable lands increasingly deteriorating into wastelands. To substantiate his claim, Vimal Nathan quoted findings of a study by S Janakarajan, a retired faculty member with the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS).

Supported by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), the study had focused on change in land use patterns of the delta region in the last four decades. Based on his field level research, spread over three years, Janakarajan says that the delta shrunk already by 20 percent because of anthropogenic factors including diversion of land for non-agricultural purposes. He also cited climate change as a contributing factor.

Drying and polluted river

According to Janakarajan, the delta region witnessed a 13-fold increase in wastelands since 1971. The once-prosperous agricultural region is witnessing large-scale reduction in crop cover in recent years mainly due to lack of proper irrigation. The number of farmers who keep their paddy fields fallow due to lack of water is increasing.

Its no more a dynamic life-giving system that created and promoted civilisations. The Kaveri Water Disputes Tribunal and the governments in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are considering the river as a mere water channel. The water wars between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu would end sooner or later as the river dries, said Kaveri S Dhanapalan, president of Nagappattinam-based Kaveri Delta Farmers Association.

Tamil Nadu is blessed with 416 km of the 800 km long Kaveri and most parts of the river are running through the delta region. But even the available water remains extremely contaminated causing irreparable damage to both soil and agriculture.

Chemical factories located in the close vicinity of the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur have been identified as major polluters of the river. Mass fish mortality is reported from the delta region regularly. In the downstream region, tens of small- and medium-scale chemical industries continue to discharge their effluents through natural drains and engineered canals into the Kaveri. A water-guzzling coal-fired thermal power plant at Mettur is also contributing to the present sorry state of affairs in Kaveri. The plant has permission to draw 184 million litres per day (MLD) of river water. Coal ash from the plant is often dumped up on a hill, from where it finds its way back to the river.

River Bhavani, a major tributary of the Kaveri joins it in Erode. It brings with it effluents from dyeing industries, leather tanneries and pulp and paper mills  large scale water-users and heavier polluters. Further south, the industrial town of Salem discharges about 35 MLD of untreated sewage into the Kaveri through the Thirumanimuthar rivulet.

Now our agriculture is at the mercy of monsoon. The survival concerns are turning more intense than ever before, said Dhanapalan. The shrinking delta and its after-effects are now visible across Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, a part of Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu and Karaikal region of Puducherry Union Territory.Next years state elections will be a referendum for AAPs decentralised public policy efforts.

There is no airtight definition of diaspora politics because political parties make big efforts at assimilating a particular community, but cant upset the proverbial applecart, leaving other voters disillusioned with it.

This compulsion gave rise to a certain narrative. Earlier this month, at rallies in Malviya Nagar and Burari, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal pushed for full statehood for Delhi while promising employment and housing for all city residents. The day Delhi becomes a full state, 85 percent of all jobs in Delhi will be reserved for Delhiites, the chief minister said.

On Saturday, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, demanding 85 percent reservation for Delhi voters in jobs and colleges, but the PMO did not agree.

This is contradictory to the party's pro-migrant stand. Purvanchalis, who hail from the Hindi heartland, essentially East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, make up a quarter of Delhis population and are nearly 42 lakh strong. A big part of this population comprises migrant workers. Both BJP and AAP have acknowledged the community as the new dominant vote bank which dominates the East Delhi and North East Delhi constituencies and has a sizeable impact in constituencies like Burari, Seemapuri, Gokalpuri, Karawal Nagar, Kirari, Badli and Nangloi. As per the Election Commission, in Delhi, there are at least 20 Assembly constituencies or 80 municipal wards where Purvanchalis constitute 17 to 47 percent of the vote.

AAP isn't alone in realising the need to acknowledge the eventual growth in the vote bank. In 2012, during civic elections, Delhi BJP fielded 18 Purvanchali candidates and 12 managed to win, and in 2017, the party gave tickets to 43 Purvanchalis and 34 won. With a view to reaching out to Purvanchali concerns, BJP made Manoj Tiwari party president in the capital. In 2017, Firstpost reported a story on the need to break diaspora politics to get the Purvanchali vote in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections and focus on public policy reform instead of cultural outreach through a familiar face.

The Purvanchalis rallied behind the BJP in the election. One reason for that was that the Delhi BJP unit invoked Modis 'vikas' in a civic election. Under the 'Sampark for Samarthan' campaign, senior leaders, including Tiwari and booth-level office-bearers, went door to door and talked about the Modi government's achievements. The Delhi BJP unit cashed in on the prime ministers appeal in the 2017 MCD elections and the partys performance improved considerably since the Vidhan Sabha elections of 2015, when it had only won three seats.

Ever since then, the battle to woo the migrant vote has become intense. AAP, by virtue of being in power, has given emphasis to reforming government schools and focusing on mohalla clinics. Aside from that, the party has given special emphasis on the quick completion of the Signature Bridge that connects Purvanchali-dominated areas across the Yamuna to Delhi. The recently inaugurated Pink Line of the Delhi Metro  that connects East Delhis populated areas like Trilokpuri, Khajuri Khas and Bhajanpura to South Delhi  has also improved connectivity with the east of the state with the other parts.

Dilip Pandey, AAPs candidate from North East Delhi, has been running the campaign on the Uttar Bhartiya Swabhiman Yatra to instill pride among the community. Pandey has nearly over 2,000 foot soldiers campaigning for him at the ground level and is working aggressively on policy and pride outreach within the community.

Interestingly, the process of transition from a migrant to a local, who can cast his or her vote, has also become smoother. In 2015, Kejriwal launched an e-ration card facility to cut down the delays in preparation and delivery of ration cards to beneficiaries. Last year, AAP MLA from Timarpur Pankaj Pushkar had said that two lakh new people will be added to the ration card scheme. He had mentioned that owing to labour migration, many poor people had arrived in Delhi, and this includes many who hold ration cards of their respective states.

On one side, the party is pushing the Purvanchali agenda through its pro-migrant policies. The number of chhath ghats (set up for the festival that worships the rising and setting sun, celebrated in the Hindi heartland) increased from 72 in 2014 to 1,055 in 2018. The urgency to absorb migrants into the voter base is critical to politics in Delhi. On the other hand, AAP is projecting itself as a guardian of the local Delhi residents through its reservation push in colleges and jobs. Theres a contradictory narrative that seems to be born out of the compulsion of vote bank politics. AAP cannot afford to boldly state its pro-Purvanchali stand because it can upset its formerly more dominant Punjabi Khatri-Baniya vote bank.

Another reason for introducing Delhi statehood as its primary poll plank is to distance the local voter from the fact that this is a national election where voters vote to elect the next prime minister. Kejriwal is repeatedly raising the issue of statehood right before the election and explaining how thatll enable its government to execute its policies. The identity of the Delhi local is far more fluid than anywhere else in the country. There is no single language, there is no single culture. The sense of emotional belonging in this melting pot is overpowered by the public convenience a political party can offer its people and a testimony to this is seen in the way it votes in Vidhan Sabha elections.

Next years state elections will be a referendum for AAPs decentralised public policy efforts on health and education. But, as far the ruling party in Delhi is concerned, the upcoming elections are all about catching the attention of the voter by contradictory narratives, one that quickly blurs boundaries between the outsider and the local and the other that immediately distances the locals from the rest of the country.Former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken has gone public with his revolt and announced that he will not contest polls unless the party stitches up an alliance with AAP, media reports said.

The prolonged uncertainty over pre-election alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress has exposed fault lines within the Delhi unit of the grand old party. Former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken has gone public with his revolt and announced that he will not contest elections unless the party stitches up an alliance with AAP in the National Capital, media reports said.

Maken's latest move probably won't go down too well with Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit who has been quite vocal about her opposition to any alliance with the AAP. This in itself is not news as alliance talks, and reshuffle of internal ranks, often polarises party workers between the stalwarts within the political party, until a final decision is reached. However, what is interesting is that Dikshit's aversion to an alliance and Maken's proclivity towards it are both newfound.

Maken and Dikshit seem to have swapped their roles on the issue of alliance with AAP and are now seen sparring with each other over their new-found zeal. Maken, who strongly opposed any alliance with AAP when he was the head of Delhi Congress, is now backing an internal party survey, on Congress' inter-party app, Shakti App, seeking views from party workers on whether or not to ally with AAP in the upcoming elections.

On the other hand, Dikshit who was known to be soft towards a possible alliance with AAP, is now strongly opposing the survey, terming it an attempt to cause confusion. She asserts that there is no change in the Congress leadership's decision to not ally with AAP.

The reversal of positions seems to have happened around the same time that Dikshit took over the helm of Delhi Congress from Maken.

Earlier too, Maken had expressed his support for the alliance and offered to give up his traditional New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, which he represented twice and lost to BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi in 2014, for "larger interest of the alliance" if need be. He had been campaigning in the area ever since he gave up the post of Delhi Congress chief.

"I have been conducting these meetings in the capacity of a two-time MP from the area and a former Cabinet minister. The idea was to get things moving on the campaign front for the party and it was not for pre-empting anything," Maken had told Hindustan Times.

Dikshit, however, had opposed the survey saying it was "overriding" Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's decision that the Delhi Congress was against the alliance. "Our stand (against alliance) remains what it was. Rahulji is not in Delhi. He does not give orders for such surveys," she had said

Earlier this month, Dikshit, after meeting Rahul, had claimed that there was unanimity in the party against an alliance with the AAP. Opinion seems to be divided in the Congress over the issue. Many believe that it is necessary to have an alliance in Delhi to take on the BJP.

"We do not think it will be an easy task for us to fight against the resurgent BJP and the ruling AAP in Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections. Also, things will be tougher for us as both the Congress and the AAP have the same voter base which will be split if there is no alliance," a senior Delhi Congress leader told PTI.

However, the opponents of the alliance in the party believe that the move will be "suicidal" as the Congress has to face the Delhi Assembly polls early next year and its main rival will be the ruling AAP.

Four former Delhi Congress chiefs  Ajay Maken, Subhash Chopra, Tajdar Babar and Arvinder Singh Lovely  are said to be in favour of alliance with the AAP. Sheila Dikshit, and three working presidents of Delhi Congress  Devender Yadav, Rajesh Lilothia and Haroon Yusuf  are against the idea of aligning with the AAP.The Gujarat Congress on Tuesday lodged a complaint of model code violation during BJP chief and party's Gandhinagar nominee Amit Shah's 30 March rally cum roadshow alleging that loudspeakers were used near hospitals.

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Congress on Tuesday lodged a complaint of model code violation during BJP chief and party's Gandhinagar nominee Amit Shah's 30 March rally cum roadshow 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.

On 30 March, Shah 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 loudspeakers near the hospitals is a clear violation of the model code of conduct, the party said.

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.

The Congress claimed that thousands of commuters and local residents were stranded because stages were erected on the entire route of the roadshow. Roads were also blocked without any prior announcement by the administration or police, it stated. "Common people were stranded for hours due to this roadshow, as traffic was stopped on busy roads," the complaint stated. The Opposition party urged the CEO to take necessary action against Shah for the alleged violation of model code.

Polling in all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held on 23 April. The model code of conduct came into effect on 10 March when the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for general elections, to be held in seven phases beginning 11 April.Jayaprakash Narayan, who is founder-president of the Lok Satta Party and former MLA from Kukatpally, Andhra Pradesh, spoke to Firstpost about the need to strengthen federalism without upsetting the unity of the country

When the 'Congress versus BJP' tale, spun in North India, touches the political fabric of the South, it re-stitches the power dynamic between regional parties within a pattern set by New Delhi. Take the case of Tamil Nadu. The state will go to polls in 2019 without its two political stalwarts  the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's M Karunanidhi and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's J Jayalalithaa. Both regional parties have formed alliances, the former with Congress, and the latter with the BJP.

Jayalalithaa's AIADMK was the third-biggest party in the country with 37 seats in 2014. While the AIADMK chief had contested against the BJP back then, the ruling party made inroads into the party's machinery and brought it under the NDA umbrella. The AIADMK has given five seats to the BJP, and seven seats more to the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which is influential among the powerful Vanniyar caste in the state's northern belt. In the same state, despite the Congress' poor performance that prevented the DMK from getting a majority, the Grand Old Party has been granted 10 seats. There's a maze of regional equations in southern states where voters are conscious of the north Indian ways in the larger narratives of the two big parties.

In Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu seems to be eyeing a key role at the Centre and has projected himself as leading the anti-Narendra Modi front nationally. The TDP had snapped ties with the NDA last year, accusing the Centre of not honouring the commitment of granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh. The other big regional party in the fray is the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) whose chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy said he is willing to support Modi if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) falls short of the half-way mark, on the condition that special category status is granted to Andhra Pradesh.

Jayaprakash Narayan, who is founder-president of the Lok Satta Party and former MLA from Kukatpally, Andhra Pradesh, spoke to Firstpost about the need to strengthen federalism without upsetting the unity of the country. "Regional parties must be respected. People who have stakes in the state can serve help serve better. Domination from Delhi is not a very wise thing," he said, asking for unity (between parties) over uniformity. He gives examples of the governance dynamic in southern states.

In Andhra Pradesh, the fiscal crisis and unfulfilled legal commitments made by the government are real issues. In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK and the DMK have a shared legacy of social reform, commitment to state autonomy and fiscal federalism. "Today, despite the state becoming a hub of the automobile industry, its social indicators are not improving," Narayan insists, adding that stimulating investment in local industry is necessary, but not enough. He gives the example of Alandur in the state's Kanchipuram district. "The municipal chairman in Alandur has done a great job and built a great sewerage system. The state has developed in pockets," he said, noting that empowering local leadership can prove to be more effective than pushing a model guided by Delhi.

In Karnataka, beset with a fiscal crisis in the wake of the announcement of farmer loan waivers, the JD(S)-Congress coalition government slashed grants to the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region Development Board by Rs 500 crore. The board was formed in 2013 after the constitutional amendment was brought about to give special status (Article 371J) to the region owing to special development needs of the state. Loan waivers are a critical poll promise at the national level but its repercussions are felt in other areas of governance in the state.

In Kerala, Narayan feels that the social and political institutions are a little more advanced than the rest of India because of a higher literacy rate. The state can't make forays into the manufacturing sector because its landscape is more suited to the service industry. However, the state's robust social movements end up protesting against even minor changes. In Narayan's opinion, regional leadership feels disempowered because of Article 356 that states that the President of India can take control of a state, if the president is convinced that the state government machinery has broken down and cannot function as is. And it was first imposed in Tamil Nadu during the Emergency declared by the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi that dislodged Karunanidhi's government on charges of corruption back in 1976.

"Power has become a game, partly because of the institutional design of post-Independence India that celebrates the personal career of MPs and MLAs. The purpose of power, which is governance, isnt made a part of the discourse," he says, adding that at local level, power becomes about protecting cronies, punishing opponents by meddling with investigations and collecting moolah in contracts. All power is vested with the person holding the post so it all becomes about winning or losing and not constructively contributing to governance issues across party lines. This method, he feels, has erased policies from the institutional design of politics.

In such a scenario, coalitions with bigger parties may not be result of ideological pairing but compulsions for funding or protection against investigations. Smaller parties generally tend to wish for a hung Parliament for greater say in determining the majority. A weaker government can benefit the political-business interests of small parties.

One of the other factors, that in his opinion, has pulled people away from local concerns is hyper-emotionalism and harks back to the golden era of patriotism. "Saying 'Bharat Mata ki jai' becomes perfunctory if imaginary ideas of pride aren't replaced by notions of human dignity and equality of opportunity," he says, describing radical patriotism as a burden rather than a liberating source.

Another problem that upsets the reality of democracy today, in his view, is that the Opposition has nothing to offer. "They cant say farmer distress and run away without offering concrete solutions. Other than anger against the opponent, the Opposition has nothing much to offer," he concluded that despite overarching national issues, each state will vote differently.The reason why BJP succeeded in hijacking the Congress narrative was because it launched a fierce attack from different parts of the country through the powerful oratory of Narendra Modi and other senior leaders

The first words on the Congress manifesto  spoken by Randeep Singh Surjewala, who said this will write a new history in India"  were all about raising the hype surrounding the event. Speaker after speaker, including party chief Rahul Gandhi propagated the "historic" theme. From the Congress perspective it indeed was a historic event: Sonia and Rahul were at the dais and Priyanka, recently appointed general secretary, was seated in the front row of the audience, along with other distinguished Congress leaders.

The Congress' Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme was also referred to as historic. The Congress believes its vow to pay Rs 72,000 to five crore poor families is "game changing". Rahul even came out with a new slogan: Garibi par waar, 72 hazar. Extending his hand, the Congress president said the manifesto  like his fingers  had five prominent items and asserted that it would set the narrative for the 2019 polls.

However, within hours of the launch, the BJP called on its vast network of workers and sympathisers to take the narrative to a different pitch. The BJP pushed the theme that the Congress manifesto was pro-terrorist and pro-separatist, the promises made were dangerous to countrys integrity, it was agenda for Balkanisation, it was anti-Indian Army and anti-security forces.

The top guns began firing back at the Congress, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley holding a media briefing at party headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talking about it in series of his public rallies in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal on Tuesday and Wednesday, BJP president Amit Shah attacking Congress in his public rallies in other parts of the country, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holding a press briefing on Wednesday at party headquarters and claiming that the Congress manifesto would "demoralise" the armed forces fighting day in and day out in Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP said that the promises made by the Congress (amendments in AFSA and repeal of sedition law) if implemented, would favour terrorists and secessionists, encourage subversive activities and leave security forces in a most vulnerable situation by tying their hands. The BJP said the Congress was also for unconditional talks with separatists, who are now facing brunt of law enforcement agencies. Other BJP leaders, ministers, chief ministers, star campaigners, office bearers, candidates across the country and foot soldiers also slammed the manifesto.

In the past 24 hours, the BJP had some success setting the counter-narrative. The BJP's pitch was so loud that Congress chatter about NYAY, their supposed ticket to grab power at the Centre, was drowned out. The Congress poll promise bail a norm and jail an exception was also dubbed a security issue. The BJP said the manifesto showed that the Congress intended to handle with kid gloves terrorists, secessionists, scam artists, and criminals. They also stated that Rahul, Sonia and other several senior Congress leaders were out on bail.

The Congress' problem was further compounded by the fact that its top leadership has been demanding proof of airstrike and surgical strikes conducted by Indian Air Force and Indian Army on terror camps deep inside Pakistani territory in retaliation for Pakistan-sponsored terror strikes in Pulwama and Pathankot. The Congress is still not satisfied with the information provided by the government and their questioning the veracity of the airstrike has made headlines in Pakistan.

The BJP also made much of Rahul's previous appearance at JNU  a day after the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case  to express his solidarity with left-wing students and teachers to claim Rahul was supportive of the radical Left and secessionists. The BJP also said that while the Congress manifesto focussed on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), repeal of sedition law, curbing powers of the district administration to suspend the use of social media (particularly WhatsApp) when stone-pelters target security forces, the Grand Old Party remained completely silent on the rights and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits, and the status of Central Paramilitary Forces killed by terrorists, something it had been targetting the Modi government over post the Pulwama terror strike.

At his rallies, Modi, in his characteristic style, spoke at length about how the Congress was sympathetic to "anti-national" forces.

The Congress has made a scheme for violence by secessionists, for those who abuse country, for those who burn tricolour, for those who dont say jai Hind, for those who chant Bharat tere tukde hoonge, for those who deface Ambedkars statue. The Congress has sympathy for such people. The chowkidar (Modi) is standing with brave sons of soil the Congress has become ideologically bankrupt. Jaitley charged that the Congress, under its present day leadership, was siding with Maoists and separatists.

While BJP put all its might to push out a counter-narrative, the Congress was content with a press conference by P Chidambaram. The reason why BJP succeeded in hijacking the Congress narrative was not because the Grand Old party erred in listing out issues on national security, but because the BJP launched a fierce attack from different parts of the country through the powerful oratory of Modi and other senior leaders. In contrast, the Congress was content to languish in the air-conditioned AICC headquarters.A Congress spokesman said over 3,000 people had assembled to hear Ghulam Nabi Azad despite heavy shelling by Pakistan but he could not attend the rally because the local administration did not allow the landing of his chopper

Jammu: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday addressed an election rally telephonically in a border village in Rajouri district as Pakistan shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) played the spoilsport.

Azad, who reached here on a three-day election campaign trail, was scheduled to address a rally at Laam area of Nowshera sector where the party had made all arrangements, a Congress spokesman said.

He said over 3,000 people had assembled to hear the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha despite heavy shelling by Pakistan but he could not attend the rally because the local administration did not allow the landing of his chopper.

The landing site was shifted to Qila Darhal, six kilometers from Laam, but the authorities did not allow the landing of the chopper there as well despite permission, the spokesman said.

Azad later briefly addressed the people telephonically and sought their support for the Congress candidate, he said.

Chief Spokesperson of Pradesh Congress Committee Ravinder Sharma said the people waited for hours altogether to hear the state's former chief minister despite persistent shelling by Pakistan.

He said the rally was addressed by local Congress leaders and National Conference who lashed out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for its "failure to ensure safety of the border village residents and the security personnel guarding the border".

Condemning Pakistan for targeting civilian population in forward areas, he alleged that the present government has failed to end cross-border shelling.

"The Pakistani shelling is intolerable and needs a befitting reply from the government of India," he said, urging the local administration to make contingency arrangements to deal with the situation arising out of the intense shelling.On Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also criticised the Congress manifesto, saying that the Opposition partys promises are 'dangerous and unimplementable' and the agenda seems to be the 'balkanisation of India'.

Upping the ante ahead of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday slammed the Congress for its manifesto, terming it "pro-terrorists" and "anti-armed forces" and alleged that the grand old party's promise ahead of elections will impact the national security.

Reacting on the Congress' poll document's proposed amendments to the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA, the minister said, "Why should it be presumed that the powers of the security forces are opposed to human rights? This is very, very insidious."

#CongManifestoDebate -- On one hand, Congress (@INCIndia) says that they will declare the Pulwama victims as martyrs but on the other they want to dilute the powers of AFSPA: Defence Minister @nsitharaman. | #ElectionsWithNews18 pic.twitter.com/PTqE0S3E11  News18 (@CNNnews18) April 3, 2019

The manifesto, which was released on Tuesday, promised a revision of the AFPSA in order to strike "a balance between the powers of security forces and the rights of citizens".

"If you want to remove AFSPA, there is a system. It was removed from Tripura and Meghalaya. Our government has shown it can be removed. Congress manifesto on removing AFSPA will have a negative effect. It will be interpreted as being in favour of anti-nationals and separatists; they are demoralising our forces," said Sitharaman.

Hitting out at the Congress for not mentioning the "martyrs" of the 14 February Pulwama terror attack, she said: "On one hand, Congress says that they will declare the Pulwama victims as martyrs, but on the other they want to dilute the powers of AFSPA."

Sitharaman alleged that the Congress's manifesto will bring down the morale of the Armed Forces. She also criticised the grand old party's attempt to promise a measure to do away with the sedition law. "You will remember, it was the Congress party which brought the amendment on bails in the sedition law," she said.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also criticised the Congress manifesto, saying that the Opposition partys promises are "dangerous and unimplementable" and the agenda seems to be the "Balkanisation of India".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.In the Lok Sabha election, the BJP is contesting against the 'alliance' of the National Conference, Congress and PDP in Hindu-majority Jammu, while the three are locked in a contest in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Srinagar: The Lok Sabha election battle in Jammu and Kashmir could not have been more predictable  the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is contesting against the "alliance" of the National Conference, Congress and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Hindu-majority areas of Jammu, while the National Conference, Congress and PDP are locked in contest among themselves in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region.

The prime issues that tie the Kashmir-centric political parties together against the BJP are protecting the special status of Jammu and Kashmir to retain the exclusive rights of the state's residents on jobs and property, as well as preventing any direct application of Central laws in the state.

At the core of the BJP's political ideology with regard to India's northernmost state is abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which bars any extension of Central laws to Jammu and Kashmir without the state government's clearance. This is what led to an "electoral alliance" among the National Conference, PDP and Congress in the state. The BJP has also sought to have Article 35A revoked, which prevents people from outside the state from getting jobs or voting in the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Although there were no talks between the Congress and PDP over seat-sharing from the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Jammu and Udhampur, former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had said in March that her party will not field any candidates from these seats to ensure that secular votes are not divided. The contest is restricted to the Congress and BJP in these two seats in Jammu, whereas all parties have fielded candidates from the three seats in Kashmir.

Ladakh is the sixth Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir.

The fight to retain the "special constitutional" position of the state with a separate flag and Constitution  and now former chief minister Omar Abdullah's call to revive the posts of 'sadar-e-riyasat' (president) and 'wazir-e-azam' (prime minister) in the state  has become more than a mere election rhetoric with communal overtones.

The Congress, National Conference and PDP coming together in the state is being construed as a move to ensure that Muslim votes are not divided in Jammu. The "secular" alliance in this division was formed in the aftermath of attacks on Kashmiri Muslims in the region after the suicide attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force in Kashmir on 14 February, in which 42 troopers were killed.

Before the BJP-PDP broke in June 2018, the "diatribe" that leaders of both parties had resorted to over the eviction of Muslim Gujjars from their homes had soured relations between the alliance partners. Now, all the mainstream political parties in the state are firing salvos at each other, calling the poll promises of their rivals "election gimmicks".

Jammu and Kashmir BJP general secretary Ashok Koul said Abdullah's political campaigns lack any "seriousness", and that his statement saying the National Conference would seek to restore the positions of prime minister and president in Jammu and Kashmir was a "mere election gimmick".

However, by calling for the revival of the two offices in the state, Abdullah has also raised a pitch for the Assembly election by also promising to revoke the Public Safety Act (PSA) that authorities have abused to detain Kashmiri youth on "flimsy" grounds.

The BJP has termed as "toeing a soft separatist line" Abdullah's promise of revoking the PSA and Mehbooba's promise to lift the ban on plebiscite-supporting Islamist party Jamat-e-Islami (JeI). This, even as separatists have asked the people of Kashmir to boycott the "sham polls".

In the past, the National Conference had attacked Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani for its pro-India leaning when the party's founder Shiekh Abdullah had been seeking a plebiscite in Kashmir. Also, the PDP had come to power in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002 in alliance with the Congress as people had voted for the party in areas considered traditional JeI strongholds.

In contrast, jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yaseen Malik had claimed that former state finance minister Haseeb Drabu had met him in 1996  much before leaving the PDP  to push his separatist line.

Even though separatists have rejected Kashmir's mainstream politicians as "non stakeholders" for any negotiations on the state, instead pinning their hopes on the Central government to initiate any dialogue, Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan had said after the India-Pakistan dogfight on 27 February that there was an Indian leader who was also of the view that "an idea can't be jailed"  a veiled reference to Mehbooba.

After she lost power, Mehbooba opted to burnish her image as a pro-separatist leader by also visiting families of militants. She was criticised several times, especially for her remarks that young boys were not going to the camps of security forces to buy toffee and milk, a statement believed to be an attempt to justify the "excesses" committed by the forces on separatists after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzafar Wani on 8 July, 2016. At her highly-fortified official residence at Gupkar, Mehbooba also proudly displays her photo with former Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari, which was taken during her visit to the neighbouring country in 2008 as part of a dialogue to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

In the current election season, instead of making direct references to their political planks of restoring autonomy and self-rule, the National Conference and PDP have, instead, denounced the BJP for its efforts to abrogate Article 370. Both Kashmiri parties have asserted that Jammu and Kashmir had acceded with the Union of India on the promise that Article 370 will be retained, which the Congress supports, as well.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress president GA Mir said the BJP had failed to have Article 370 revoked despite the majority it enjoys in Parliament, calling the party's renewed push for its abrogation "gibberish". "No power on earth can revoke Article 370. The Congress gave this article to the state," he emphasised.

However, former state BJP president Satpal Sharma said retaining Article 370 was helping to strengthen separatist forces in Kashmir. "The Congress should not ally with separatist forces. Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, we will preserve the integrity of the nation," he said.

Earlier, separatists said Article 370 should be retained to prevent a change in the state's demography. They said allowing non-residents to settle in Jammu and Kashmir could "tilt the vote in favour of India" in the event of any plebiscite in the state.

Political commentator Noor Mohammad Baba said Abdullah's call to have the offices of the prime minister and president restored in Jammu and Kashmir was part of his party's plank to restore the autonomy the state enjoyed before the dismissal of former chief minister and National Conference founder Shiekh Abdullah.

"The restoration of the offices of the prime minister and president was very much part of the autonomy document of the National Conference," he said, adding that the PDP's self-rule pitch, on the contrary, treated Pakistan as the clear stakeholder on Kashmir. Besides the porous borders of Kashmir, the self-rule pitch also seeks a joint electoral mechanism for the two parts of Kashmir divided by the Line of Control with Pakistan.BJP Delhi unit's reluctance to rectify the party's stand on sealing of commercial establishments in residential areas in the national capital is making it easier for Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to turn the issue into a poll agenda

On driving along Delhi's concentric roads, away from its neat nucleus, into hundreds of colonies lost in its eastward-northward-westward realms are buildings with grazed doors and smashed windows. Aside from fracturing the citys aesthetic look, the sealing drive is a cause of massive monetary inconvenience to traders who own and run these properties.

The trader community in the national capital is nearly 10 lakh strong and has traditionally been the BJPs core voter. The Aam Aadmi Party is cornering the BJP on the sealing issue with two points: first is that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that is demolishing the buildings on the instructions of the monitoring committee is under the charge of the BJP, and second, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) that can alter Delhis Master Plan (that contains ambiguities on mixed land use) also takes orders from the BJP-ruled Centre.

The monitoring committee comprising former advisor to the Election Commission KJ Rao, Environmen Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) chairman Bhure Lal and Major General (Retired) Som Jhingan, which was appointed to oversee the implementation, has the power to seal offending premises without leaving the said action to the discretion of the MCD officials.

The Aam Aadmi Party has failed to improve the infrastructure of old markets, be it Chandni Chowk or Sadar Bazar. They are exactly the way they used to be three years ago," said Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

However, the lack of efforts by the BJP state unit to rectify its stand on the sealing drive is making it easier for Kejriwal to turn the issue into a poll agenda. Khandelwal added that AAP had promised a single licence programme to traders who currently have to get up to 14 licenses to do business in the national capital.

The CAIT has suggested Union Urban Development Minister Harjit Puri to constitute a working group comprising of officials from Ministry of Urban Development, Delhi Government, DDA, MCD, Land & Development Office (L&DO), Delhi Police and other concerned departments with representatives from the trade body, but even though less than a month is left for the Lok Sabha election, no official commitment on this has been made yet.

Ajay Gupta, member of the Sundar Nagar Market Association, had earlier told Firstpost that his area was notified as a commercial zone in the Master Plan, but sealings have been going on despite that. "The monitoring committee says they havent sealed our area, but the MCD has been showing up without any notice or proof and has sealed 24 out of 30 shops even though it has been a commercial area since its inception in the 50s, rued Gupta.

The trader community has been staging protests and demanding a re-designation of commercial, residential and mixed use land. The traders take is that on the pretext of non-clarity on the issue, the monitoring committee is carrying out sealing drives. For instance, Delhis walled city is a commercial area since even before a century but is still facing sealing threats and local shopping centres (LSCs) are being forced to pay conversion charges.

"People have paid lakhs to convert residential properties into commercial properties, but the multiple civic bodies in Delhi leave a lacuna in the law to keep harassing traders," said Sanjiv Mehra, president of the Traders Association in Khan Market for nearly two decades.

In another move to appease the traders, AAP named Sushil Gupta and ND Gupta as its three nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections in January this year. In picking these candidates, AAP had overlooked senior leaders like Kumar Vishwas and Ashutosh.

In 2017, the DDA directed shopkeepers to deposit Rs 22,000 per square metre as a conversion charge along with an affidavit. Before the DDAs rate was notified, sealings in Defence Colony were carried out over non-payment of conversion charges at the rate of Rs 89,000 per square metre.

In 2018, an amendment to the rule exempted traders who paid the annual charges for a period of 10 years.

But traders are now concerned if the money collected in the form of conversion charges is being used towards the upkeep of the market complexes. Such anxiety to the trading community has caused immense frustration, added Mehra.

Meanwhile, Vijendra Gupta of the Delhi BJP unit told Firstpost that in 2018, the DDA had, in fact, made modifications in the Delhi master plan to rectify the issue, but the Supreme Courts monitoring committee interfered in the implementation of the changes.

The DDA had made two modifications. The first increased the number of workers for household industrial units from five to 10 and maximum power usage limit from 5 kilowatt to 11 kilowatt. The second modifications pertained to local shopping centres. Establishments that fell under this category and hadn't deviated from already approved plans, as per the modifications proposed, were not to be liable to pay the use conversion charges.

Gupta is an MLA from Rohini, one of the three constituencies from where AAP lost out to the BJP in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls. He hails from the bania trader community and is also a member of the DDA.

The Aam Aadmi Party is playing negative politics to garner the trader vote instead of lending administrative support to solve the issue," alleged Gupta, adding that the BJPs approach to the issue is far more specific. He feels that the AAP is addressing the traders as one block to galvanise a vote bank.

The sealing drive dates back to 1985 when environmentalist MC Mehta had filed a petition in the Supreme Court that illegal activities were being carried out in the national capital in the context of residential areas being used for commercial purposes. In 2004, the Supreme Court had set up a monitoring committee to address the misuse of residential premises. The Supreme Court had directed that if the misuse didn't stop, the sealing drive would commence.

After traders took to the streets in protest, in which four people lost their lives, the government attempted to subterfuge the apex court s order. The DDA had then modified the chapter on mixed land use in the 2001 Master Plan for Delhi. The government at the Centre was that of the Congress. As a result of the modification in the master plan, mixed use streets were now to be identified based on traffic and parking studies.

On the basis of the identification, mixed use was allowed on the ground floor in residential plots and mixed use with respect to retail shops was allowed up to maximum permissible ground floor coverage. Finally, professional activity was allowed up to 25 percent of floor area and up to one floor in case of plotted development. The Congress-ruled Central government then notified the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Bill, 2006, on 19 May to restore status quo on mixed land use not conforming to the master plan and constructions beyond sanctioned plans. This offered traders relief from sealing till December 2017.

On 15 December 2017, under the BJP-led central government, the Supreme Court revived the powers of the monitoring committee and continued its resistance towards the proposed amendments in the Delhi Master Plan. Ever since, a brand new political tug of war has started with the AAP on one end and the BJP on the other.

Owing to the tussle between the two parties, even broken bricks lying on streets of the national capital are rife with political fury.Lok Sabha election 2019 2019 LIVE updates: In a fresh affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre said that there were no legal or factual merit to Election Commission's concerns. CNN-News18 quoted the government as saying in that electoral bonds can't impact policies. On 27 March, the Election Commission had told the Supreme Court that it had written to the Centre saying the changes made in several laws relating to political funding will have 'serious repercussions' on transparency.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his political adversary, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, will both start their campaigns in the state on Wednesday with almost simultaneous public meetings at North Bengal's New Jalpaiguri and Dinhata, respectively.

Modi has a busy day, which is scheduled to start with a public meeting at 10 am, at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. He is likely to then hold meetings at Siliguri (12.20 pm) and finally, at Kolkata's Brigade Parade grounds (3.30 pm). By evening, he will be in Maharashtra, where he will address a rally at Gondia (6.30 pm).

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to hold a public meeting at 10.45 am at Dimapur in Nagaland, and rallies at 12.45 pm at Golaghat and 3 pm at North Lakhimpur in Assam.

The West Bengal chief minister was expected to launch her poll campaign at Cooch Behar in North Bengal on Thursday. Instead, the rally will now be held on Wednesday, at Dinhata. It has been arranged in such a way that her speech will begin as soon as Narendra Modi's ends.

The Lok Sabha polls campaign of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, which was to be officially launched on 4 April, has been brought ahead by a day.

He also slammed what he called the "tukde tukde gang" which he said has gone against the country and betrayed it. "Should there not be justice done to those who insult the nation?" he asked, following up with the question if Congress was with the nation or with its betrayers.

"When I came to power in 2014, crores of families had no electricity in spite of the Congress's promise to electrify the country by 2009," Modi said.

He has also developed an edge of defensiveness over his millinery choices, saying in more than one rally that those who made fun of his clothing and hats make fun of a region's culture itself.

A lot has been said about Narendra Modi and his penchant for picking headgear traditional to the region he is speaking in. On the campaign trail this election season, the prime minister had kept up his habit of wearing regional hats.

On the Congress's proposed amendments to the acts which give Armed Forces unbridled access in places, like the AFSPA, the minister said, "Why should it be presumed that the powers of the security forces are opposed to human rights? This is very, very insidious."

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a press conference on Wednesday, slamming the Congress manifesto as one in which "separatists have been encouraged".

She said the Congress is trying to bring down the morale of the Armed Forces. She also criticised Congress's attempt to promise a measure to do away with the sedition law. "You will remember, it was the Congress party which brought the amendment on bails in the sedition law," she said.

On the Congress's decision to name armymen and women killed in service as "martyrs", Nirmala Sitharaman said the Army is already sufficiently respected in the state. "If the matter is so close to your heart then why you have not mentioned the Pulwama martyrs?" she asked.

Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday filed her nomination papers in Anantnag. The leader has been vocal in her criticism of BJP's promise of doing away with Articles 35A and 370, that promise special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah blamed the Congress for allowing "one and all" to come into the country during the 10 years of UPA rule, amping up the offensive along the internal security line.

He also slammed Omar Abdullah for asking for another prime minister in Jammu and Kashmir. "And Congress keeps quiet," he said.

BJP chief Amit Shah, speaking at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand said only Narendra Modi can give an answer to Pakistan and terrorists.

"The last time Narendra Modi came to Bengal, he made some lofty claims," the party's official Twitter handle said. It then linked to a glossary of lines from Modi's earlier speeches, all with subtexts on what the state government's take is on the matter.

Fake news has flown thick and fast this election season, with the onus largely on small fact-checking efforts to set things straight. However, it appears as if the Trinamool Congress has jumped into the fray, with a "Jumla Meter" that ostensibly aims to check facts that Narendra Modi and his government put across.

He called her 'speedbreaker Didi' and said she has put the brakes on Bengal's development. "I accept your love," he told a wildly applauding audience.

Speaking at his second rally of the day, the prime minister said the cheers of the audience had reached Mamata Banerjee and would destroy her sleep.

Narendra Modi, speaking at Siliguri, spared no invective when amping up the charge on the Trinamool Congress government in the state.

"Your chief minister cried so loudly that she became a hero in Pakistan," the PM said.

"More pain than what was felt in Rawalpindi and Lahore, was felt by Didi in Kolkata (over the Balakot air strikes)," Modi said, hitting out at Mamata's questioning of the Balakot toll.

Addressing a rally in West Bengal's Siliguri, Modi said that Armed Forces Special Forces Act was like armour for the security forces but the Congress party wants to snatch it away from them.

"The Congress has also made arrangements to reward those who abuse India. People who chant 'Bharat tere tukde honge' will all be let free because the Congress is conspiring to scrap the sedition law," Modi said.

"We are not projecting Modi ji as larger than life, he already is larger than life. We are not projecting him as a hero, he already is a hero,not only for me but for crores of people in India and abroad. Its an inspirational story which we brought to the screen."

Vivek Oberoi, the actor who played Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a biopic, today said that he, along with crores of Indians was inspired by the prime minister and tha there was nothing wrong in bringing an inspirational story on screen.

The Congress party has denied the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat to wife of Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. Navjot kaur has, however, said she will not rebel and work for the party candidate's victory.

BJP president Amit Shah, who is campaigning in Uttarakhand, slammed the Congress party for talking about reviewing the Armed Forces Special Forces Act in its manifesto. Shah said that neither Rahul Gandhi, nor the entire Congress party can dare to touch it,

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that looking at the Congress manifesto, it appears that the Congress has been infiltrated by urban Naxals that is why the nation has to see such a shameful day.

Claiming that India was witnessing its worst unemployment scenario, Rahul said that the Congress will ensure facilities for youths to start own businesses.

Addressing a rally in Golaghat in Assam, Rahul Gandhi spoke on Congress' minimum income promise. "Funds for NYAY will come from pockets of 'chor' businessmen favoured by 'chowkidar' Narendra Modi," he said.

'Funds for NYAY will come from pockets of chor favoured by chowkidar': Rahul Gandhi at Assam rally

"Congress, if voted to power, will not allow Citizenship Amendment Bill," Rahul Gandhi said at a rally in Assam. He also said that the party will restore special status of northeastern states, and bring in industrial policy to make the region a manufacturing hub.

The Commission, among other issues, is learnt to have asked about details of the launch of the channel. The channel, also called 'Content TV', carries the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its logo.

The Election Commission is learnt to have sought details of Namo TV from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after the issue was flagged by the Congress and the Aam Admi Party which wanted to know whether political parties having own channels was violative of the model code of conduct.

Addressing a press conference, Arun Jaitley questioned the assets of Congress president Rahul Gandhi in view of a media report alleging Rahul and Priyanka had conducted business transactions with NSEL scam accused Jignesh Shah.

"If the political pundits want to predict the 23 May results, then they can take a guess by looking at the wave from the ground of West Bengal," said Narendra Modi in Kolkata.

"Whether it's a surgical strike or strike in the space, the world is looking at India with pride," said Narendra Modi in Kolkata. "Some people who were opposed to me, have started opposing India. Who was questioning the airstrike? Who was upsetting the jawans? Who was demanding the bodies of terrorists? Who was asking saboot from sapoots?"

On Mission Shakti, Narendra Modi said, "Our brave soldiers had the ability to carry out surgical strikes. Our scientists already had the power to kill the satellite in space. What we didn't have was the government's intention and courage."

"Your vote will play a big role in doing away with terrorism," he said.

At the Kolkata rally, Narendra Modi said, "In their manifesto, the Congress has stated that they will dilute AFSPA. This move will help Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The Congress is determined to bring instability in the country."

"The country has seen parivar tantra for 55 years, and loktantra (democracy) has barely been here for 15-16 years. India needs freedom from dynasts," Narendra Modi said in Kolkata.

The BJP has fielded Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav, popularly known as Nirhua, to contest from Azamgarh against Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) registered a complained with the Election Commission against Nellore MLA and YSRCP's Nellore candidate Anil Kumar Yadav over a speech he delivered on Tuesday, reported ANI. The party said in its complaint that the speech was "intended to terrorise public who are not supporters of YSRCP."

She lashed out at the prime minister for making "false claims" on performance of TMC government in West Bengal, and said, "I am not Modi; I don't tell lies."

Addressing a rally in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Expiry Babu" and dares him to participate in direct debate with her.

Kawade was later released on bail, police said. According to police, Kawade had made objectionable remarks against Irani while addressing an election rally on Monday. A video of his speech had gone viral on social media. Kawade had made the remarks in the context of Irani wearing a big 'bindi' on her forehead.

People's Republican Party (PRP) leader Jaideep Kawade was detained in Nagpur on Wednesday for allegedly making misogynistic remarks against Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani, police said.

Addressing a rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Suderbani, Amit Shah said, "If you choose Narendra Modi government, in the next five years, we will oust every single infiltrator from the country. Infiltrators are eating our country like termites. They want to change demography of Jammu. As long as there's BJP government, we won't let this happen."

"It is for the first time that I'm revealing this: We left the Jammu and Kashmir government on the issue of dilution of AFSPA."

In Suderbani, Amit Shah lashed out at Congress for promising AFPSA review in its manifesto. "Nobody can dilute AFSPA as the BJP will be standing like a rock behind security forces who are protecting our borders," he said.

In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi said, "Our Ex-Servicemen are Indias pride and must be given the respect they deserve. We will allow qualified Ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the civil services. The Central Armed Police Forces will be opened up to ex-servicemen under the age of 40."

On 27 March, the Election Commission had told the Supreme Court that it had written to the Centre saying the changes made in several laws relating to political funding will have "serious repercussions" on transparency. It also said that the changes in the Foreign Regulation Contribution Act (FRCA), 2010 will allow unchecked foreign funding of political parties which could lead to Indian policies being influenced by foreign companies.

In a fresh affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre said that there were no legal or factual merit to Election Commission's concerns. CNN-News18 quoted the government as saying in that electoral bonds can't impact policies.

Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) leader Shivraj Singh, once a close aid of its president Upendra Kushwaha, also joined the saffron party along with the two Samajwadi Party leaders in the presence of senior BJP leaders, including its general secretaries Bhupendra Yadav and Anil Jain.

Two SP leaders, former Uttar Pradesh minister Ram Sakal Gurjar and former MLA Rajendra Singh, joined the BJP on Wednesday, with Union minister Piyush Goyal asserting that their decision shows the Narendra Modi government's all-round acceptability.

"We had supported the Congress in tribal-dominated areas and hence the party was able to return to power (in the state). But the Congress ignored our contribution. We were not given a share in power," he said.

JAYS national convener Hiralal Alawa, who won from Manawar Assembly constituency on Congress ticket in 2018, claimed the Congress fared well in tribal areas in assembly polls because of his party's help.

Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS), a tribal outfit, said Wednesday that it would scrap its alliance with the Congress if the latter did not field JAYS' candidates from Khargone and Dhar Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.

Kirit Somaiya,sitting BJP MP from Mumbai North East: Very happy that Manoj Kotak ji standing with me here has got the ticket. We all will support him and ensure he wins.Ultimately our aim is a second term for Modi ji. Responsibilities within party keep shifting,nothing new in it. pic.twitter.com/5sIE2XCGcX

Sitting MP Kirit Somaiya responded to BJP's move to field Manoj Kotak from his constituency Mumbai North East. "We all will support him and ensure he wins. Ultimately our aim is a second term for Narendra Modi ji," he said.

Congress party releases list of 1 candidate in Odisha for #LokSabhaElections2019 and 9 candidates for elections to the Odisha state legislative assembly. pic.twitter.com/onxlg0nsoN

The party has announced Prabhakar Jaiswal from the East Champaran seat, Arjun Kumar from Chatra and Keshkali Kol from Shahdol.

The candidate list released by the party includes East Champaran in Bihar, Chatra seat in Jharkhand and Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh as well as six seats in Uttar Pradesh.

The Communist Party of India announced its candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Our Ex-Servicemen are Indias pride & must be given the respect they deserve. We will allow qualified Ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the Civil Services. The Central Armed Police Forces will be opened up to Ex-Servicemen under the age of 40.

In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi said, "Our Ex-Servicemen are Indias pride and must be given the respect they deserve. We will allow qualified Ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the civil services. The Central Armed Police Forces will be opened up to ex-servicemen under the age of 40."

On 27 March, the Election Commission had told the Supreme Court that it had written to the Centre saying the changes made in several laws relating to political funding will have "serious repercussions" on transparency. It also said that the changes in the Foreign Regulation Contribution Act (FRCA), 2010 will allow unchecked foreign funding of political parties which could lead to Indian policies being influenced by foreign companies.

In a fresh affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre said that there were no legal or factual merit to Election Commission's concerns. CNN-News18 quoted the government as saying in that electoral bonds can't impact policies.

"I have not proposed for a ticket from Amritsar because (her husband) Navjot Singh Sidhu will be very busy campaigning, and in his absence, it won't be able to campaign full time in a constituency like Amritsar constituency and thats the reason why I was asking a ticket from Chandigarh... Our only target to defeat Narendra Modi and make Rahul Gandhi-led govt in Centre.

After being denied a ticket from chandigarh, Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu said, "I proposed to contest but I agree with the party's decision. Pawan Bansal is a veteran Congress leader who has worked hard on the ground level in Chandigarh. The party announced his ticket after review of all aspects. We are with Pawan Bansal.

Lok Sabha election 2019 LATEST updates: In a fresh affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre said that there were no legal or factual merit to Election Commission's concerns. CNN-News18 quoted the government as saying in that electoral bonds can't impact policies. On 27 March, the Election Commission had told the Supreme Court that it had written to the Centre saying the changes made in several laws relating to political funding will have "serious repercussions" on transparency.

Sitting MP Kirit Somaiya responded to BJP's move to field corporation Manoj Kotak from his constituency Mumbai North East. "We all will support him and ensure he wins. Ultimately our aim is a second term for Narendra Modi ji," he said.

In Suderbani, Amit Shah lashed out at Congress for promising AFPSA review in its manifesto. "Nobody can dilute AFSPA as the BJP will be standing like a rock behind security forces who are protecting our borders," he said. "It is for the first time that I'm revealing this: We left the Jammu and Kashmir government on the issue of dilution of AFSPA."

The BJP has fielded Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav, popularly known as Nirhua, to contest from Azamgarh against Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav. It named corporator Manoj Kotak as its candidate from the Mumbai North East seat, dropping sitting MP Kirit Somaiya.

Addressing a mega rally in Kolkata, Narendra Modi said, "In their manifesto, the Congress has stated that they will dilute AFSPA. This move will help Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The Congress is determined to bring instability in the country... Your vote will play a big role in doing away with terrorism."

He also lashed out at the Congress, saying "Some people who were opposed to me, have started opposing India. Who was questioning the airstrike? Who was upsetting the jawans? Who was demanding the bodies of terrorists? Who was asking saboot from sapoots?"

The Election Commission is learnt to have sought details of Namo TV from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after the issue was flagged by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party which wanted to know whether political parties having own channels was violative of the model code of conduct.

Addressing a rally in Golaghat in Assam, Rahul Gandhi spoke on Congress' minimum income promise. "Funds for NYAY will come from pockets of 'chor' businessmen favoured by 'chowkidar' Narendra Modi," he said.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that looking at the Congress manifesto, it appears that the Congress has been infiltrated by urban Naxals that is why the nation has to see such a shameful day.

Modi said, "The Congress has also made arrangements to reward those who abuse India. People who chant 'Bharat tere tukde honge' will all be let free because the Congress is conspiring to scrap the sedition law."

Addressing a rally in West Bengal's Siliguri, Modi said that Armed Forces Special Forces Act was like armour for the security forces but the Congress party wants to snatch it away from them.

Narendra Modi, speaking at his second rally of the day, at Siliguri in West Bengal said the cheers of the audience had reached Mamata Banerjee and would destroy her sleep. He called her 'speedbreaker Didi' and said she has put the brakes on Bengal's development. "I accept your love," he told a wildly applauding audience.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday that should Article 370 be abrogated, then the people behind it should be prepared to see Jammu and Kashmir outside the country. "We will do everything to protect Article 370 and the region," she said, shortly after filing her nomination papers.

BJP chief Amit Shah, speaking at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand said only Narendra Modi can give an answer to Pakistan and terrorists. He also slammed Omar Abdullah for asking for another prime minister in Jammu and Kashmir. "And Congress keeps quiet," he said. Shah blamed the Congress for allowing "one and all" to come into the country during the 10 years of UPA rule, amping up the offensive along the internal security line.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, on Wednesday compared prime minister Narendra Modi to German dictator Adolf Hitler. Political parties in the Valley have been critical of what the BJP leadership has maintained on Article 35A and 370. "Modi wants to win the hearts of Kashmiris with a gun. Hitler ruled with a gun," he said, addressing a rally at Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara.

Azad also said that no one dared to unleash violence like this on Kashmiris earlier.

The Foreigners Division of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notice to the wife of Trinamool Congress leader and Mamata Banerjees nephew Abhishek Banerjee for making false representation and concealing material facts while submitting documents before competent authorities to get her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

No sooner had Narendra Modi's address at Pasighat finished, than Congress communications in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala held a press conference in which an unverified sting video was used to allege that money was distributed among people in Pasighat to attend Modi's rally today. Cash of Rs 1.8 crore was recovered last night from Arunachal BJP president Tapir Gaos vehicles at the Siang Guest House.

Speaking at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, Modi has also kept the focus, significantly, on the Congress's manifesto, which was released on Tuesday, playing with words and referring to it as a dhakoslapatra.

Blaming Congress leaders for never coming to the Arunachal and spending their time in expensive hotels, Narendra Modi also slammed what he called the "tukde tukde gang" which he said "has gone against the country and betrayed it". "Should there not be justice done to those who insult the nation?" he asked, following up with the question if Congress was with the nation or with its betrayers.

Ahead of his rallies in Arunachal, Bengal and Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted in English, Bengali and Marathi, reaching out to the prospective audience of his meetings. "BJP's popularity has only grown in West Bengal...only BJP can solve the state's problems," he wrote.

Wednesday promises to be yet another high octane day in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who remains the Bharatiya Janata Party's most significant crowd puller on the campaign trail, will speak on the turf of one of the Opposition's rallying forces, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Modi and Mamata are both scheduled to speak in north Bengal on Wednesday morning, the prime minister at Siliguri and Mamata at Dinhata.

Modi is scheduled to start the day with a public meeting at 10 am, at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. From there, he is expected to address the north Bengal rally before travelling to Kolkata's Brigade Parade grounds, where he will speak at around 3.30 pm. By evening, he will be in Maharashtra, where he is expected to address a rally at Gondia at 6.30 pm.

In his rallies, the prime minister has been prioritising internal security above all else, repeating the value of the Balakot air strike in public meetings at nearly every venue across the country. In Bengal, he is likely to slam the Mamata rule with renewed vigour. The chief minister often clashes with the BJP at the Centre and has accused it of compromising the freedom of public institutions, even holding a dharna in retaliation to the CBI's questioning of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar.

Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah is scheduled to address election rallies at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand at 11.30 am, and Udhampur (2.30 pm) and Rajouri (4 pm) in Jammu and Kashmir. Shah's visit to Jammu and Kashmir comes in the backdrop of severe back and forth regarding Article 370, which gives the state special status, among Kashmir's mainstream political parties like the People's Democratic Party and the National Conference on one hand and the BJP on the other.

PDP chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday had said Shah was "daydreaming" about abrogating Article 370. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said if the constitutional provision was removed, then mainstream politicians, including her, will have to reconsider their future course of action.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to hold a public meeting at 10.45 am at Dimapur in Nagaland, and rallies at 12.45 pm at Golaghat and 3 pm at North Lakhimpur in Assam.

On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi, with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and other senior leaders, released Congress's 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley came down heavily on it, saying that the Opposition partys promises are "dangerous and unimplementable", and that the agenda seemed to be the "balkanisation of India". Accusing Congress of shielding terrorists and being under the influence of Naxals, Maoists and jihadis, Jaitley hit out at the Congress for suggesting it will scrap the sedition law.PM Modi said the situation in communist-ruled Tripura was the same as West Bengal

After calling West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee a "speedbreaker" in the path of development in north Bengal's Siliguri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi later slammed both the Congress and the ruling Trinamool Congress of their "appeasement politics" at the iconic Brigade Ground of Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon  the same venue where Banerjee had held her united Opposition rally some months ago.

"It is time to get rid of this one-family-rule. Fifty five years of dynastic politics has ruined this country and the Congress is determined to bring instability to the nation. In its manifesto, the grand old party has stated that it will dilute AFSPA, a move which will help Pakistan-sponsored terrorist.

"Congress has always bowed down against terrorism due to its policy of appeasement for vote bank. Like Congress, Trinamool too is responsible," he said.

He went to say that the situation in communist-ruled Tripura was the same as West Bengal.

"We will form a government in Bengal to get rid of the Left and TMC's goondaraj," he added.

So far, he has addressed three rallies on Mamata Banerjees turf  in north Bengals Cooch Behar, in Dalit-Matua community-dominated Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas and in West Bardhaman districts industrial city Durgapur.

A Hindustan Times report has stated that the BJP still has a long way to go in this eastern state. It has, however, made significant inroads since the heydays of the Left but the rising votes may still fall short to beat TMC.

"Since the time I have began chanting chowkidar, there is one naamdar who has been angry with every chowkidar of the country. The Congress is angry with chowkidars even at the borders. The Opposition has been raising questions on airstrikes, seeking evidence and suppress the morale of our armed force. They are insulting our brave soldiers. Even the space mission was a drama for them. And the TMC shares Congress' ideology," said Modi.

Several BJP leaders were present at the Brigade Ground on Wednesday. Senior leader Swapan Dasgupta also tweeted a photo with Babul Supriyo from the venue.

With @SuPriyoBabul at the @narendramodi rally in Kolkatas Brigade Parade Ground. Both happy at the spectacular crowd response pic.twitter.com/2L1FewTVdE  Swapan Dasgupta (@swapan55) April 3, 2019

"I am standing between them. Will never allow the Congress to succeed. The party's manifesto expires on 23 May," he added.

Earlier in the day, a News18 report had stated how the saffron party hired four special trains at a cost of Rs 53 lakh to bring in party workers and supporters to fill the massive ground.

"The Opposition leaders had come to Kolkata only to say Modi hatao. But why? If providing provided homes, toilet, electricity and gas connection to the poor is crime, then I am a sinner," the prime minister said.

Modi's rallies in Banerjees bastion is likely to give a big push to the BJP where it is looking to win more than 22 seats. In the 2014 General Election, the TMC had won 34 seats in West Bengal, while the BJP picked up two. The eastern state has 42 parliamentary seats where polling will be held in seven different phases between 11 April and 19 May.Narendra Modi has often referred to first-time voters, who number close to nine crore, and asked party leaders to run a campaign to connect with them.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to interact with first-time voters, a voting segment he has often reached out to, on Sunday and will dwell at length about his government's work aimed at their welfare, BJP sources said.

Modi has often referred to this group of electorate, which numbers close to nine crore, and asked party leaders to run a campaign to connect with them.

The prime minister has also spoken about the need to connect with the voters born in 2000-01, noting that the coming Lok Sabha polls will be the first time they will vote in a general election.

A party leader said details of the interaction are being worked out.

The BJP, especially its youth wing BJYM, has run a number of campaigns to woo the young voters.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha spokesperson Rohit Chahal said it has organised events such as youth Parliament, townhall with young voters and campus ambassadors to connect with new voters.

BJP leaders have claimed that Modi remains a big draw among the young voters and that this group of electorate had voted in large numbers for the party in 2014.In an exclusive interview, conducted by Network 18 group editor Rahul Joshi, Kumar downplayed the rifts within the party saying that if Prashant Kishor has certain qualms it's up to him

Bihar chief minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar on Monday underplayed reports of a rift within the JD(U) on Tuesday after Prashant Kishor gave up his duties as the party's campaigner, stating the latter is still part of the party and remains a star campaigner of the party.

In an exclusive interview, conducted by Network18 group editor Rahul Joshi, Kumar downplayed reports of rifts within the party, saying that if Kishor has certain misconceptions it's up to him.

"Kishor is always respected. The biggest thing is he and I share very good relations. I trust him a lot. He also likes me, there's no doubt about it. But sometimes in politics, all sorts of things come up. If he has any misconceptions, that's a different matter," Nitish said during the exclusive interview.

On Friday, Kishor had clarified his limited role in the party's campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in a tweet while stating that he will not be campaigning for the party.

Nitish, however, dismissed the reports of Kishor not campaigning for the JD(U) in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. "Prashant Kishor is in the party. His name is included in the list campaigner since the very start. He is the vice-president," the Bihar chief minister told News18 during the interview.

Nitish also said that Kishor is always respected in the party, but he has a long way to go. He said that Kishor excelled as an election analyst but he is still very new in politics.

Kishor was credited with the success of Modi's electoral campaign in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He was seen as Nitish's number two in JD(U) after he joined as party vice-president in September 2018.

Sources told News18 that Kishor's role in the party had been reduced in order to placate certain senior leaders who considered Kishor's closeness to the Bihar chief minister as an eyesore.

Kumar also said on Monday that calling someone no.2 or no.3 was just a matter of analysis, but Kishor has not been sidelined from the partys affairs. He commands a lot of respect, Nitish said.

According to News18, Kishor had clarified his limited role in the party sitting that the managerial responsibilities of the election campaign wrested on Nitish's Man Friday (and actual no.2) Ramchandra Prasad Singh.

"The NDA in Bihar has been contesting the election with full strength under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar. The responsibility of election campaign and management from the JD(U) rests on the strong shoulders of the partys senior and experienced leader RCP Singh. My responsibility in the early phase of my political innings is to learn and cooperate," he had tweeted.

Kishor's tweet was reportedly to clear the air on his role in the JD(U) amid reports that he is working on the campaign of YSR Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh.

Sources say that he has dropped hints that after finishing his assignment with Reddy, he may turn his attention on the Shiv Sena and then take on "more political challenges".

This article has been amended to include Nitish Kumar's complete statement about Prashant Kishor, which the editors felt clarifies Kumar's position on the JDU vice-presidentWith this manifesto, the Congress has indicated that it is unwilling to settle for the 'B-Team' tag. Instead, the party aiming to be an 'A-Team' of its own standing. Now, party leaders, starting from Rahul, have the task of effectively bringing the message of this 48-page manifesto to voters.

In what has become fairly characteristic with him, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, after releasing the party manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election along with a galaxy of party elders on Tuesday, took questions from assembled journalists.

Striding across the stage Town Hall style while replying to the second question directed at him, Rahul used the phrase "economic emergency" to depict what had the nation under its grip.

Certainly keen to deploy this jargon at the first available opportunity, it conveyed his intention to keep pushing the electoral narrative back into the economic domain. This was the terrain where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party were seemingly contesting a challenging battle before the terror attack in Pulwama and the Indian Air Force's airstrikes in Balakot that followed. Rahul succeeded in his attempt at the manifesto event, but it remains to be seen whether he can sustain this in the electoral tracks.

However, keeping the economic narrative in focus is essential for the Congress as the twin events and the subsequent fallout altered the scenario and enabled the BJP to, once again, set the agenda within the framework of populist nationalism, projecting national security as its primary concern.

The Congress election manifesto is an effort of the party leadership to bring back focus on bread-and-butter issues, more specifically on employment, rural distress and security of various social and demographic groups.

However, lest it is accused of underrating threat to national security, the manifesto pledges to "reverse the trend of declining defence spending under the NDA government and increase it to meet the requirements of the armed forces". Yet, it regained courage to commit itself to amending the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) to "strike a balance between the powers of security forces and the human rights of citizens".

The party also reiterated what several of its leaders and the defence experts it enlisted  including the overseer of the September 2016 surgical strikes  Lieutenant General DS Hooda, said, that there was an urgent need to "expedite all modernisation programmes of the armed forces".

To ensure that the Congress is not seen as ignoring the 'Chalte Raho Pyare Fauji'  as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is popularly called in police circles  and other paramilitary forces, it has also committed to "improve social security, education and health facilities" for these forces and their families.

Much of what the manifesto holds has been released in bits and parts in recent weeks. Besides the promise of catalysing a "job revolution" by filling the vacancies in government positions, there is also the keenly-debated Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) under which the party has promised to transfer Rs 72,000 per year to the poorest 20 percent in India.

As NYAY is still an electoral promise, much of the idea is still skeletal, though the Congress has announced a few significant details. These include the commitment that "as far as possible, the money will be transferred to the account of a woman of the family who has a bank account or who will be urged to open a bank account".

Coupled with this is the promise of introducing in the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha the Bill that proposes to reserve 33 percent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The Congress has certainly singled women out in an attempt to woo them.

In response to questions raised on NYAY so far, the party has not claimed to hold a magic wand. Instead, It ha said that there would be a "design period" of three months, which would be followed by a pilot for six to nine months and a testing period.

That "an independent panel of eminent economists, social scientists and statisticians" will oversee the exercise underscores that the Congress retains faith in outside talent on the lines of the National Advisory Council the UPA government had established after coming to power in 2004. However, whether this panel will function under the Prime Minister's Office or the Ministry of Finance, in the event of the Congress heading the next government, is yet unknown, though the manifesto does raise the spectre of another power centre, given the specific brief of this committee.

Furthermore, Rahul suffered a slip of tongue at the manifesto launch when he said the battle would be against gareebon (the poor), not gareebi (poverty). The BJP must have been tempted, at its own risk, to use this to ridicule the Congress president because it would keep the slogan alive on an adversarial platform. But Rahul has also learnt the art of dropping catchphrases  'saral simple tax' being an example, though he still thinks 'Gabbar Singh Tax' strikes a chord with the people.

Besides its promise of transferring money to the poor, its proposed 'kisan budget' has the potential to resonate with the distressed peasantry. The promise may be questioned because it comes after the Railway Budget was scrapped, but the BJP knows better than to lend support to this line of criticism for fear of alienating the already distressed rural voters.

Moreover, the Congress gave the sub-sections in its manifesto smart names: Kaam, daam, shaan, sushashan, swabhimaan and samman (work, wages, good governance, self-esteem and respect). If voted to power, the party needs to ensure an exemplary delivery mechanism, which has been lacking so far.

In the past few years, the party had wavered on its ideological stand, and its silence on minorities in the run-up to the Assembly elections late last year was widely commented upon. Now, the Congress has mustered the courage to put forth an alternative ideology.

Rahul, in his foreword in the manifesto, pledged that Indians would be "free from fear, free to live and work and pray and eat and love and marry according to their wishes". The Congress president claimed his party's vision stood against the "pernicious ideology that will trample upon people's rights, institutions, conventions and the healthy differences that are the essence of a multi-cultural country".

The BJP is likely to now couple these commitments with the storyline that Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled in his speech in which he took note of Rahul contesting from Wayanad in Kerala.

Although the Congress has the advantage of being a challenger, despite the likelihood that the BJP's workforce will try to project its promises as not doable, there are several pledges that resound positively with people. The promise to the maintain integrity and independence of the judiciary is certainly a political promise.

Additionally, the party has pledged to amend the Constitution to convert the Supreme Court into a 'constitutional court' to "hear and decide cases involving the interpretation of the Constitution", besides other cases of national and legal importance. Significantly, the party has proposed to establish six courts of appeal with three judges each to hear appeals against high court verdicts.

The slew of proposed judicial reforms, such as preventing post-retirement appointments for judges, the formation of a transparent National Judicial Commission and investigations against judges if allegations are levelled against them, suggest that the Congress has brought several new ideas at a time when the BJP has constricted space for fresh free-flowing concepts.

With this manifesto, the Congress has indicated that it is unwilling to settle for the 'B-Team' tag. Instead, the party aiming to be an 'A-Team' of its own standing. Now, party leaders, starting from Rahul, have the task of effectively bringing the message of this 55-page manifesto to voters.Reuters

Singapores parliament on Monday began considering a law on fake news that an internet watchdog has called the worlds most far-reaching, stoking fears the government could use additional powers to choke freedom of speech and chill dissent.

Governments and companies worldwide are increasingly worried about the spread of false information online and its impact on everything from share prices to elections and social unrest.

Human rights activists fear laws to curb so-called fake news could be abused to silence opposition.

Here are details of such laws around the world:

Singapore

Singapores new law would require social media sites like Facebook to carry warnings on posts the government deems false and remove comments against the public interest.

Singapore, which ranks 151 among 180 countries rated by the World Press Freedom Index, defines public interests as threats to its security, foreign relations, electoral integrity and public perception of the government and state institutions.

Violations could attract fines of up to S$ 1 million ($737,500) and 10 years in prison.

Russia

Last month, President Vladimir Putin signed into law tough new fines for Russians who spread what the authorities regard as fake news or who show blatant disrespect for the state online.

Critics have warned the law could aid state censorship, but lawmakers say it is needed to combat false news and abusive online comment.

Authorities may block websites that do not meet requests to remove inaccurate information. Individuals can be fined up to 400,000 rouble ($6,109.44) for circulating false information online that leads to a mass violation of public order.

France

France passed two anti-fake news laws last year, to rein in false information during election campaigns following allegations of Russian meddling in the 2017 presidential vote.

President Emmanuel Macron vowed to overhaul media laws to fight fake news on social media, despite criticism that the move was a risk to civil liberties.

Germany

Germany passed a law last year for social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, to quickly remove hate speech.

Called NetzDG for short, the law is the most ambitious effort by a Western democracy to control what appears on social media. It will enforce online Germanys tough curbs on hate speech, including pro-Nazi ideology, by giving sites a 24-hour deadline to remove banned content or face fines of up to 50 million euros.

Since it was adopted, however, German officials have said too much online content was being blocked, and are weighing changes.

Malaysia

Malaysias ousted former government was among the first to adopt a law against fake news, which critics say was used to curb free speech ahead of last years general elections, which it lost.The measure was seen as a tool to fend off criticism over graft and mismanagement of funds by then prime minister Najib Razak, who now faces charges linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad.

The new governments bid to deliver on an election promise to repeal the law was blocked by the opposition-led Senate, however.

European Union

The European Union and authorities worldwide will have to regulate big technology and social media companies to protect citizens, European Commission deputy head Frans Timmermans said last month.

EU heads of state will urge governments to share information on threats via a new warning system, launched by the blocs executive. They will also call for online platforms to do more to remove misleading or illegal content.

Union-level efforts have been limited by different election rules in each member nation and qualms over how vigorously regulators can tackle misleading content online.tech2 News Staff

It's been months since rumours of a mid-range Pixel 3A series began, and they haven't stopped since. However, for the first time, Google SVP has somewhat hinted at the new phones, and we wonder if the devices will go official soon!

In a Twitter post on Tuesday, Google senior vice president, Hiroshi Lockheimer, shared information on his visit to the Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard office from the 60s (HP printers?). In the tweet, he left a rather broad hint, "I took pictures with an unreleased phone so I probably shouldn't share them here. "

I got to see Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard's office from the 60s yesterday, it was super cool! But... I took pictures with an unreleased phone so I probably shouldn't share them here. The offices looked like this  https://t.co/fPE7um3gyv  Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) March 30, 2019

He didn't share any sample image clicked from the phone, for obvious reason, but this little hint leads us to hope that the Pixel 3A is coming soon.

Now, it's unlikely that the Pixel 4 series is already being teased, because the flagship Pixel series is traditionally launched in October every year.

Google is expected to release the purported Pixel 3A and Pixel 3A XL at the I/O 2019 conference scheduled from 7 May to 9 May 2019 in Mountain View, California.

Google Pixel 3A, Pixel 3A XL expected specifications and features

The Google Pixel 3A and Pixel 3A XL are believed to come in three colour options  black, white, and Iris. Further, recent reports suggest that new mid-range Pixel phones will feature 64 GB of internal storage, as opposed to the previously reported 32 GB of storage.

In addition to that, the report also suggests that the Pixel 3A phones will not be cheap, though an estimated price was not given. From what we have heard so far, the phones will be priced in the Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 segment.

While that's the extent of what is revealed in the leak, from what we know, the larger Pixel 3A XL will feature a 5.6-inch OLED display whereas the Pixel 3A XL will sport a 6-inch one. Under the hood, the smartphones will be powered by a Snapdragon 670 SoC, coupled with 4 GB of RAM. As for cameras, it is believed to come with 12 MP rear camera and an 8 MP front camera. Fueling the Pixel 3A will likely be a 3,000 mAh battery.Reuters

Japan Display will begin to supply organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for the Apple Watch later this year, two sources said, a breakthrough for the cash-strapped company whose late shift to OLED has cost it orders from Apple.

The supply deal would mark Japan Displays foray into the OLED display market, the two sources familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

A spokesman for Japan Display said he could not comment on specific customers.

Japan Displays mainstay liquid crystal display (LCD) business has been slumping due to Apple Incs recent shift away from LCD, and disappointing sales of the iPhone XR, the only LCD model in Apples 2018 line-up.

The OLED display market is dominated by Samsung Electronics unit Samsung Display and LG Display. The newer OLED technology are generally thinner and allow more flexibility than LCD screens.

Japan Display, which gets more than half of its revenue from Apple, has a small OLED pilot line at a smartphone screen plant in eastern Japan.

It is seeking investment from a group that includes China Silkroad Investment Capital (CSIS), sources have told Reuters. The company has said it is seeking as much as $990 million in fresh financing.

Shares of Japan Display finished up 6.3 percent at 84 yen in Tokyo trade on Wednesday after climbing as much as 7.5 percent.Reuters

Facebook is much better than it was in 2016 at tackling election interference but cannot guarantee the site will not be used to undermine European Parliament elections in May, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday.

Chastened since suspected Russian operatives used Facebook and other social media to influence an election that surprisingly brought Donald Trump to power in the United States, Facebook has said it has ploughed resources and staff into safeguarding the 26 May EU vote.

Zuckerberg said there had been a lot of important elections since 2016 that have been relatively clean and demonstrated the defences it has built up to protect their integrity.

"We've certainly made a lot of progress ... But no, I don't think anyone can guarantee in a world where you have nation states that are trying to interfere in elections, there's no single thing we can do and say okay we've now solved the issue," Zuckerberg told Irish national broadcaster RTE in an interview.

"This is an ongoing arms race where we're constantly building up our defences and these sophisticated governments are also evolving their tactics."

US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia ran disinformation and hacking operation to undermine the American democratic process and help Republican Trump's 2016 campaign. Moscow denies interfering in the election.

Under pressure from EU regulators to do more to guard against foreign meddling in the bloc's upcoming legislative election, Facebook toughened its rules on political advertising in Europe last week.

It also announced plans to ramp up efforts to fight misinformation ahead of the vote and will partner with German news agency DPA to boost its fact-checking.

"Here in the EU for the upcoming elections we are bringing the full battery of all of the strategies and tools that worked very well in a lot of important elections so far so I've a lot of confidence," Zuckerberg said during a trip to Dublin, home to Facebook's international headquarters.

"But I think that we should expect that for some of these countries that are out there that are trying to interfere, they are just going to keep trying, so we need to stay ahead of that and keep on doing this work in order to stay ahead."Reuters

Pakistani social media campaigner Hanzala Tayyab leads about 300 ultra-nationalist cyber warriors fighting an internet war with arch-foe India, in a battle that is increasingly sucking in global tech giants such as Twitter and Facebook.

Tayyab, 24, spends his days on Facebook and encrypted WhatsApp chatrooms organising members of his Pakistan Cyber Force group to promote anti-India content and make it go viral, including on Twitter where he has more than 50,000 followers.

That ranges from highlighting alleged Indian human rights abuses to lionizing insurgents battling Indian security forces in Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region at the heart of historic tensions between Pakistan and India.

Tayyabs job became harder on Monday when the Pakistan Cyber Forces Facebook account was taken down, one of 103 Pakistani accounts the social media giant said it had deleted because of inauthentic behaviour and spamming. Some Indian nationalist accounts have also been suspended in recent weeks.

Portraying himself as an online combatant defending Pakistan from Indias attempts to destabilise his country, Tayyab plans to continue playing his role in the broader information war being fought between the nuclear-armed foes.

We are countering the Indian narrative through social media, we are countering the enemies of Pakistan, Tayyab told Reuters in the capital Islamabad.

With a combined population of 1.5 billion, India and Pakistan are hot growth markets for Facebook and Twitter, say analysts.

But with many rival ultra-nationalist and extremist groups in the region using Facebook and Twitter platforms to advance their political agenda, both companies face accusations of bias whenever they suspend accounts.

Facebook has been buffeted by controversies across the globe in recent years, including for not stopping the use of fake accounts to try to sway public opinion in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and Britains vote to leave the European Union, and for not acting to stamp out hate speech on its platform that was fuelling ethnic violence in Myanmar.

Four Facebook and more than 20 Twitter accounts belonging to members of the Pakistan Cyber Force have been shuttered in the past two months, according to Tayyab, who is still angry at Twitter for shutting down his previous personal account in 2016.

A Twitter spokeswoman said: We believe in impartiality and do not take any actions based on political viewpoints.

A Facebook spokesperson told Reuters the company did not remove the Pakistani accounts because of Indian government pressure, but because people behind them coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves.

When we disrupt these networks for coordinated inauthentic behaviour, its because of their deceptive behaviour and not because of the content theyre sharing, or the ideology or political leanings of the people behind them, Facebook said.

Flare Up

Pakistan and India flirted with war in February, when they carried out aerial bombing missions against each others territory for the first time since the 1971 war and fought a brief dogfight over the Kashmir skies.

That flare-up was accompanied by a fierce propaganda war on social media.

This online battle of political and ideological narratives is one that Pakistans military believes it must win at all costs, analysts say. Military spokesmen often warn unconventional fifth generation warfare is being waged against Pakistan.

Facebook said on Monday the 103 accounts removed were part of a network linked to employees of the Pakistani militarys public relations arm.

Tayyab denies the Pakistan Cyber Force is linked to Pakistans military, saying the group is made up of volunteers.

But analysts say such cyber armies work directly either for Pakistans military or civilian state organizations, acting as de facto proxies or militias in the online battlefields.

These groups who are being resourced and organised are actually a kind of a line of defence for this fifth generation warfare, said Shahzad Ahmed, from Pakistani digital rights group Bytes for All.

Pakistans military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Case of Treason

In India, similar nationalist groups are popping up and pushing to purge and punish those who they perceive to be critical of India  or supportive of Pakistan  on social media.

One such group, Clean the Nation, says its actions have resulted in more than 50 people who had posted what it called anti-India comments and remarks critical of Indias armed forces being arrested or suspended from work or education.

This is our motherland and if someone is abusing people who are protecting our motherland, actually fighting on the ground, I dont believe they should be allowed to work here or allowed to live here, Rahul Kaushik, one of co-founders the group, told Reuters. This is a clear case of treason, in our view.

Kaushik said Clean the Nation had no formal links with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), though one BJP leader praised the group when it was founded in late February, following an attack by a Pakistan militant group in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 paramilitary police.

Two of Clean the Nations founders, Siddharth Kapoor and Ashutosh Vashishtha, are followed on Twitter by Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Others including Kaushik have posted pictures on social media of meetings with Modi and other members of his cabinet.

Amit Malviya, the BJPs head of social media, did not respond to a request for comment.

Clean the Nation said some of its accounts had been banned or suspended by Facebook last month. That action was unconnected with the 549 accounts and 138 pages linked to Indias opposition Congress Party that Facebook said on Monday had been taken down.tech2 News Staff

If you watched United States Vice President Mike Pence's speech this week challenging NASA to send astronauts to the Moon's South Pole, maybe you noticed that it had something in common with what our own Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in 2018 when he announced that ISRO should  and will  put Indian astronauts in space by 2022. Politicians are suddenly interested in space. And for once, it looks like a win for space and not just politicos.

The announcements from both leaders represent some rather monumental challenges. For India, it's about our very own ISRO sending astronauts into space for the first time ever. For the US, it's about returning to the Moon, a celestial object that hasn't seen a human in almost 50 years. It's been so long since we went there that even conspiracy theorists have run out of new material to explain what's taken them so long to return there!

Word on the street is that a combination of ambition and lack of funding are big reasons for it. NASA says it has held back to make their next mission manyfold more impactful, with gear to explore the Moon's resources and technology to mine it for a future lunar colony. But it's clear now  Americans are heading back to the moon in five years, and as the NASA Chief said earlier in the year, this time it'll be to stay.

NASA plans to have a communication satellite orbiting the moon by 2022, which is a big deal for any future moon missions. The science-rich lunar South Pole will give planetary scientists nothing short of a leap in solar system science.

The South Pole gets a steady supply of sunlight for power and a direct line of sight to Earth, making communication relays both ways easier. The terrain of the South Pole, though, is more dramatic and unique. Sunlight doesn't reach the bottom of some of the craters there, making them cold traps that preserve a record of the early Solar System.

NASA's Orion spacecraft, which will likely be the vessel modified for the mission, can host up to four astronauts, but the lunar lander's size hasn't yet been confirmed, David Kring, a planetary scientist at Houstons Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), told Forbes. He adds that at least two astronauts will set foot on the lunar surface in the next landing.

The astronauts will also be collecting samples of regolith and a boulder or two from the large basin in the South Pole formed by an impact  the 4.2 km-deep Shackleton Crater.

Another attractive possibility NASA hopes to explore is the South Pole-Aitken basin  an enormous, 2,500-km wide, 13-km-deep impact crater. It is the moon's oldest and largest known basin. Foremost on the list of priorities for going to the Aitken basin is collecting samples of the melt produced by the large impact event that created it, Kraig told Forbes.

Experts believe that the basin was created by an impact that would have caused a mass extinction event if it had struck Earth instead.

The South polar region also allows for fairly rapid economic development of polar ice as a space resource, to support life and then as a propellant for spacecraft.

NASA scientists are also keen on studying the geological past of the moon through chunks of moon rock from the better-preserved South Pole. This is to understand a chunk of ancient history missing entirely from Earth's geological past, called the Great Unconformity (GU). It remains one of geology's deepest mysteries to date.

"There is no question that the Moon is the best place in the entire solar system to make the greatest advances in our understanding of solar system history," Kring said.

And the best part? It's less than a 72-hour trip away.Kavya Narayanan

"As the first light of the sun hit the Gibbon Sanctuary in Jorhat district of Assam, Elizabeth Allgood from the International Fund for Animal Welfare and I were engrossed in a discussion about the wide variety of wildlife inhabiting Assam and the rest of North-East India. It was 24 January, and we were here to see Hoolock Gibbons... but they were high up in the canopy and it was almost impossible to spot them from a distance. We didnt lose hope and kept walking through this pristine landscape. Our attention was often pleasantly diverted by colorful butterflies that were fluttering all around us. I was jolted out of this paradise by a frantic call from Dr Parag of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) asking, Bishwa, did you get the news? Unaware in this paradise, I was appalled when he told me that more than 50 vultures have succumbed to poisoning in Sivasagar, Assam."

The above is an excerpt from the Wildlife Trust of India's website  a personal account from a serious case of poisoning in Assam's vultures in 2015. There have been six reported incidents of vultures being poisoned in numbers larger than 20 since then. In the most recent cases, on 29 March, at least 47 vultures were found limp on the forest floor, in a coma. It was one of the worse instances of poisoning in recent years. And if wildlife experts dealing with the situation in Assam are to be believed, it certainly isn't going to be the last.

The truth is, vultures are unintended casualties in a long-standing tiff between cattle farmers and predators  rabid street dogs, leopards, hyenas, and jackals. Each of these threats is a nuisance to cattle farmers. The villagers arent targeting vultures with the poison. In the interest of saving their cattle, they dose (poison) the predator indirectly by poisoning a sick cow or rabid dog.

"Theyre targeting predatory threats to their farms. And some times it isnt leopards, but vultures that come, and vultures that die," Dr Rathin Barman, Wildlife Biologist and Joint Director of the Wildlife Trust of India in Assam, told Firstpost.

In a matter of 72 hours, these poisoned vultures decorate the forest floor with their limp, comatose bodies waiting to be discovered by rangers or villagers.

"This has been happening for many, many years now, and is probably as important as the diclofenac problem was once. At this moment, diclofenac isnt a problem as this has been banned in India for years  its use in the Ghats has come down significantly," Dr Barman told Firstpost. "This new (secondary poisoning strategy) is definitely a big problem."

Wildlife departments are working with locals and villagers to address it. Unfortunately, it takes a single bad egg to wreak havoc of this scale, Dr Barman says. Threats like secondary poisoning continue to haunt vulture populations countrywide, but especially in Assam.

India is home to nine unique species of vultures, six of which are found in Assam. Unfortunately, the most recent case of poisoning, like the many before it, threaten the endangered Gyps vultures, which include the Himalayan griffon, White-backed and slender-billed vulture species. The majority of accidentally-dosed vultures this time around were Griphons  a species just coming out of a prolonged, dark, drawn-out era of mass-culling from another poison, diclofenac.

The Bombay Natural History Society along with a handful of other organisations published a report on India's and Nepal's Gyps vulture populations over 1990-2007. They reported that Gyps species in both countries had dropped from 40 million in the 1990s by a shocking 99.9 percent in just two decades from accidental poisoning by consuming diclofenac.

Being natures most efficient scavengers, vultures dispose of carcasses when domestic animals die. They also have the rare ability to digest (and effectively, kill) disease-causing bacteria in rotting flesh. Vultures, hence, have an important role to play in the ecosystem: preventing outbreaks and limiting the spread of infectious diseases like anthrax, foot and mouth disease and rabies that can be transmitted from animal to animal or animals to humans.

Diclofenac has been banned in India for years. There also hasn't been a threat to wildlife from this pesticide in years. In fact, the numbers of white-backed and slender-billed vultures are slowly but surely on the rise again after the ban, according to the study. Experts are convinced that unlike many reports in the media, what poisoned the vultures found on 29 March wasn't diclofenac.

"One thing I want to make very clear this is not diclofenac poisoning. Diclofenac does not affect the bird this way... this quickly. A forensic investigation was conducted for cases last year and we showed that it was organophosphate poisoning. I have given my diagnosis for (the recent) case also as the same," Dr Samshul Ali, the veterinary doctor treating the poisoned vultures from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Kaziranga, Assam, said.

The surviving vultures are responding positively to the treatment for organophosphate poisoning so far. As it turns out, vultures aren't the only birds affected by secondary poisoning incidents like this most recent one. So are crows and any other animals that feed on the poisoned animal. Efforts of wildlife groups and locals are helping the vulture species recover in recent years.

"Numbers of the slender-billed and Oriental white-backed vultures are recovering slowly. Griphons are also now much less affected by diclofenac poisoning, so there are also lots of these birds as well," Dr Barman said. "We are hopeful, definitely. After banning diclofenac, they are coming back... slowly, but the numbers look much better today," he added.

It is a good thing vultures aren't vanishing. The consequences of a vulture-free world  more communicable disease, more feral dogs, rats, and flies  is a scenario that is anything but pleasant.The Associated Press

An 8-meter (26-foot) sperm whale was found dead off Sardinia with 22 kilograms (48.5 pounds) of plastic in its belly, prompting the World Wildlife Foundation to sound an alarm Monday over the dangers of plastic waste in the Mediterranean Sea.

The environmental group said the garbage recovered from the sperm whales stomach included a corrugated tube for electrical works, plastic plates, shopping bags, tangled fishing lines and a washing detergent package with its bar code still legible.

The female whale beached off the northern coast of Sardinia last week, within the vast Pelagos marine sanctuary that was created as a haven for dolphins, whales and other sea life.

It is the first time we have been confronted with an animal with such a huge quantity of garbage, Cinzia Centelegghe, a biologist with the University of Padova, told the Turin daily La Stampa.

The exam also determined that the whale was carrying a fetus that had died and was in an advance state of decomposition. Experts said the mother whale had been unable to digest calamari due to the huge amount of plastic it had ingested, filling two-thirds of its stomach.

WWF said plastic is one of the greatest threats to marine life and has killed at least five other whales that had ingested large amounts of it over the last two years from Europe to Asia.

Another sperm whale died off the Italian island of Ischia, near Naples, last December with plastic bags and a thick nylon thread in its stomach, but plastic was not the cause of death.

The World Wildlife Foundation said between 150,000 and 500,000 tons of plastic objects and 70,000 to 130,000 tons of micro-plastics wind up in Europes seas each year.

To combat the phenomenon, the European Parliament last week approved a new law banning a wide range of single-use plastic products, including plates and straws, starting in 2021.

Italys environment minister, Sergio Costa, lamented the whales death and said he planned to propose a new law this week to limit the use of plastics.

The law will permit fishermen to bring plastics recovered at sea to land for proper disposal, which they currently are barred from doing. Costa also pledged Italy would be one of the first countries to enact the European single-use plastics ban and appealed to the mayors of Italian cities and coastal towns to adopt the ordinances in advance of the 2021 law.

We have been using disposable plastics in a carefree way in these years, and now we are paying the price, he said. The war on disposable plastics has started. And we wont stop here.Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to six weeks of largely peaceful mass protests driven by youth and pressure from the powerful army against his 20-year rule.

Algiers: Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on Tuesday, succumbing to six weeks of largely peaceful mass protests driven by youth and pressure from the powerful army against his 20-year rule.

Hundreds took to the streets of the capital after the announcement of the 82-year-old's departure, capping protests which called for the removal of an elite seen by many as out of touch with ordinary people and presiding over an economy driven by cronyism. Earlier in the day, army chief of staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah demanded the veteran ruler, who has been long in poor health, be declared immediately unfit for office.

State TV later showed a frail-looking Bouteflika, dressed in a traditional winter robe, handing his resignation letter to the head of a constitutional council. Also present was Abdelkader Bensalah, chairman of the upper house of parliament, who will run the country for 90 days until elections are held. "I have taken this step because I am keen to put an end to the current bickering," Bouteflika said in a letter released on state media, using his main means of communication since suffering a stroke in 2013 and largely disappearing from public view.

Western powers, some of which had demanded a peaceful solution, will be relieved that Bouteflika has quit, valuing stability in the OPEC oil producer, which is also a key gas supplier for Europe and partner to fight militants. Analysts say it was unclear whether the demonstrations will end, however. They were started initially to protest Bouteflika's plan to seek a fifth mandate but then widened to include calls from some youth and lawyers for wider reforms.

As Bouteflika's grip on power started to loosen over recent days, some protesters began shifting their focus to rejecting a caretaker government appointed on Sunday. The lineup included respected technocrats but was headed by Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, who the opposition said was too close to the ruling elite dominated by business tycoons and veteran fighters of the 1954-62 independence war with France. "What is important to us is that we do not accept the (caretaker) government," Mustapha Bouchachi, a lawyer and protest leader, told Reuters before Bouteflika quit. "Peaceful protests will continue."

Hundreds of students marched early on Tuesday through the capital Algiers, calling for a new system in a country where more than one in four Algerians under the age of 30  some 70 percent of the population  are unemployed. Bouteflika's supporters had sought to stop the dissent by evoking the 1990s when some 200,000 were killed in the civil war with Islamists, warning even of a scenario like Syria, embroiled in an eight-year-long conflict.

But only around one person was confirmed to have died during the protests, a man believed to be around 60 years old who suffered a heart attack, with most rallies peaceful and protesters cleaning up the streets before going home. In Egypt, more than 800 people were killed in the 2011 uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak.

Algeria has transformed during the protests, with people losing the fear of criticizing the government and state media first ignoring and then, after a mutiny of reporters, covering the dissent. Supporters in the ruling FLN party and business people gradually abandoned Bouteflika. The military at first stayed in the barracks but step by step increased pressure, first only indirectly in an army magazine editorial saying the military shared the same vision as the people.

Then chief of staff Salah proposed last week to invoke a constitutional clause to remove Bouteflika on health grounds. In another sign the end was approaching, several oligarchs close to his camp had been banned from travelling abroad in the past few days.

Tuesday started like any other weekday since the protests began, with some students protesting and others going to work after joining a mass rally on Friday, Algeria's weekend. With many at home or in restaurants at dinner time, TV stations flashed a blitz of comments from Salah that Bouteflika's removal should happen immediately. "There is no more room to waste time ... We decided clearly ... to stand with the people so all their demands get fulfilled," Salah said after a meeting with senior officers, state news agency APS said.

A veteran of Algeria's war for independence and the only leader many Algerians have known, Bouteflika was first elected president in 1999 and established himself by ending the civil war. He had only on Monday said he would quit before the end of his term on April 28 without giving a date. He had also vowed to undertake unspecified measures for the sake of stability, making many wonder what would happen next. An hour later, he announced he was standing down in a statement posted by APS on Twitter.

Hundreds took to the streets in the city centre, where the 22 February mass protests first broke out, waving Algerian flags. "The army and the people are one" and "Game over", banners read.By Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday moved to end the worst crisis of his tenure, expelling two former cabinet members whom he said had undermined the ruling Liberal Party.

By Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday moved to end the worst crisis of his tenure, expelling two former cabinet members whom he said had undermined the ruling Liberal Party.

Trudeau announced that former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former treasury board minister Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal legislators.

The Liberals have been in turmoil since Wilson-Raybould said in February that officials had inappropriately pressured her to ensure construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc escaped a corruption trial when she was justice minister last year.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Trudeau told an emergency meeting of caucus.

"Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided. We can't afford to make that mistake  Canadians are counting on us," said Trudeau, who came into office in November 2015 and faces a re-election contest this year.

Wilson-Raybould was demoted in January and resigned the next month. Philpott quit shortly afterwards, saying she had lost confidence in how Trudeau was handling the matter.

The move represents a retreat by Trudeau who as recently as last week had said the Liberals needed strong legislators with differing points of view.

But increasingly angry parliamentarians had demanded both women be removed from caucus on the grounds they were undermining party unity.

Polls show the crisis has cut public support for the Liberals to such an extent that they could lose an October election to the official opposition Conservatives.

Trudeau has denied any wrongdoing. The scandal is starting to hit his fortunes in the populous province of Quebec, where the Liberals say they need to pick up seats in October to remain in power.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeau's decision to expel the two politicians from the Liberal Party sent a message that "if you tell the truth, there is no room for you in the Liberal Party".

Wilson-Raybould said on Twitter that Trudeau had also told her she could not run for the Liberals in the October election.

Philpott said on Facebook that she "did not initiate the crisis now facing the party or the prime minister".

(Reporting by Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren; editing by Grant McCool)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.US investigators found in Yujing Zhangs possession four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive device and a thumb drive

A Chinese woman who passed security checkpoints at President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida carrying a thumb drive coded with malicious software was arrested on Saturday for entering a restricted property and making false statements to officials, according to a court filing.

Documents filed by the Secret Service on Monday in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida say that shortly after noon on Saturday, Yujing Zhang approached a Secret Service agent screening visitors to Mar-a-Lago seeking entrance to the club.

Zhang produced two Chinese passports displaying her photo and said she wanted to go to the pool. Secret Service officers could not initially find her name on an access list for the property, according to the Secret Service affidavit filed with the court.

A club manager said that a man named Zhang was a club member, and even though Yujing Zhang did not give a clear answer as to whether the man was her father, the Secret Service affidavit says resort officials allowed her on the property on the assumption she was related to a member.

Resort personnel became suspicious after Zhang appeared to have trouble explaining why she was visiting Mar-a-Lago, according to the affidavit.

Zhang initially said she was there for an event staged by a group called the United Nations Chinese American Association. But resort staff found no such event was scheduled, according to the court filing.

A receptionist then contacted Secret Service personnel who questioned Zhang and concluded she did not have any legitimate documentation authorising her entry to Mar-a-Lago, according to the filing.

After detaining her, investigators found in Zhangs possession four cellphones, a laptop computer, an external hard drive device and a thumb drive, the Secret Service court filing says. Initial examination of the thumb drive determined it contained malicious malware, the Secret Service said.

While the Secret Service does not determine who is permitted to enter the club, our agents and officers conduct physical screenings to ensure no prohibited items are allowed onto the property, the Secret Service said in a statement.

Responding to a question on the case, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday: I have no understanding of the situation you mention.

In a court filing on Tuesday, a public defender representing Zhang said she was invoking her right to remain silent.

A Justice Department spokeswoman had no comment on the arrest.The new Islamic penal code, or Sharia law, which is to come into force in the tiny southeast Asian sultanate on Wednesday, has already drawn fierce criticism from rights groups and the United Nations

Los Angeles: Officials and LGBTQ leaders in California joined on Tuesday a growing chorus of people calling for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels in the Los Angeles area.

The call to boycott the fabled Beverly Hills Hotel, once the playground of Hollywood celebrities, and Hotel Bel-Air came after the sultanate announced plans to implement the death penalty for gay sex and adultery.

"As a citywide elected official, I represent a diverse community of Angelenos, and I call on everyone to boycott the hotels owned by Brunei's royal family," LA Controller Ron Galperin said in a statement.

"I will not set foot in these establishments so long as they are owned and controlled by a regime that is willing to kill LGBTQ people.

"While I feel bad for the many hard-working employees of these local hotels, no one should support or attend any events there while lives are on the line."

Los Angeles Council member Paul Koretz said people should shun both hotels even "if that means marring their reputation and fabled history."

"The city of Los Angeles and the United States and world should place severe sanctions on Brunei for taking LGBTQ rights back to the Stone Age," said Karina Samala, chair of the Transgender Advisory Council.

"We are all human beings with a right to live in freedom." British pop legend Elton John and American actor George Clooney have also called for a boycott of the hotels and other properties owned by the sultanate in Britain, France and Italy.

The new Islamic penal code, or Sharia law, which is to come into force in the tiny southeast Asian sultanate on Wednesday, has already drawn fierce criticism from rights groups and the United Nations. Brunei first announced the measures in 2013, but implementation has been delayed, in the face of opposition by rights groups, and as officials worked out the practical details.

The new law stipulates the death penalty for a number of offences, including rape, adultery, sodomy, robbery and insulting or defaming the Prophet Mohammed.

It also introduces public flogging as punishment for abortion, as well as amputation for theft, and criminalises exposing Muslim children to the beliefs and practices of any religion besides Islam.

Since the new penal code was first announced in 2013, the who's who of Hollywood have shunned the celebrated Beverly Hills Hotel painted in pink and green and once a favorite of celebrities like Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor and The Beatles.

Local news reports say the hotel has lost millions of dollars in business as a result of the long-running unofficial boycott.The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as he went on trial on Wednesday over a multi-billion-dollar fraud, almost a year after his shock election loss.

The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation. The former premier and his cronies are accused of plundering billions of dollars from the fund and spending it on everything from high-end real estate to artworks and a luxury yacht.

He had been tipped to win another term in office easily last year and extend his coalition's six-decade stranglehold on power, only to be soundly defeated by his former boss, Mahathir Mohamad, who rode a wave of public anger over 1MDB to the premiership. In the months that followed, once-dormant investigations into the controversy were relaunched and Najib was hit with dozens of corruption charges linked to the plundering of the fund.

A small crowd of supporters was waiting for Najib as he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur court ahead of his trial, and he prayed with them for a few minutes before entering the building to shouts of "Long Live Najib". Looking relaxed in the dock, he denied seven corruption and money-laundering charges related to the alleged theft of 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. It is just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB that allegedly ended up in his bank accounts.

Opening the prosecution, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas told the High Court that it was the "first trial in our courts against a former prime minister, who for nearly a decade occupied the most powerful office in the land and wielded near absolute power. "Such privilege carries with it enormous responsibility.

"The accused is not above the law and his prosecution and this trial should serve as precedents for all future holders of this august office," he added.

Time to 'face justice'

The first witness  Muhamad Akmaludin Abdullah, an official from the Companies Commission of Malaysia  took the stand, and talked about records of the firms linked to the trial. Najib was initially due to stand trial in February, but appeals by his defence team over procedural matters saw his case put on hold until a judge last week ruled the trial should finally proceed.

It was a relief for the government, as there had been mounting public anger about the delay in bringing Najib to justice. Fahmi Reza, a graphic artist who was jailed and fined for depicting Najib in a caricature as a sinister clown, said it was the ex-premier's turn to "face justice".

"Today, it is your turn to be dragged here to face justice for the crime of corruption and abuse of power during your reign," he said in a tweet. Najib's mentor-turned-nemesis Mahathir, now 93 and in his second stint in office, has pledged to bring the younger man to justice and recoup the huge sums of cash stolen from 1MDB.

The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the controversy as money was allegedly laundered through the American financial system, believes $4.5 billion in total was looted from 1MDB. Malaysia has also charged Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs over the scandal, alleging the bank and its former employees stole billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Goldman units and two ex-bankers are accused of misappropriating $2.7 billion, bribing officials and giving false statements in relation to bond issues they arranged for the fund. The bank has vowed to fight the charges.

While many of Najib's suspected accomplices have been caught and charged in Malaysian courts, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, playboy financier Jho Low, is still at large.

On Wednesday the Malaysian government said a luxury yacht allegedly bought by Low with $250 million of stolen 1MDB money had been sold for around half that price. The yacht was returned to Malaysia after being seized last year in Indonesia.Artemiy Dubovskiy first came to police attention after sending troubling emails referencing the 15 March New Zealand attacks

Wellington: A man who apparently killed himself during a standoff with police had posed a "significant threat" to the community and supported the actions of the man who killed 50 Muslims at two mosques last month, New Zealand police said on Wednesday.

Police said 54-year-old Artemiy Dubovskiy, also known as Troy, did not have a direct connection to the mosque gunman, as they revealed more details about the man and his death last week.

Dubovskiy first came to police attention after sending troubling emails referencing the 15 March attacks, district police commander John Price said.

Based on a tip, police searched three of Dubovskiy's properties and found guns, ammunition and violent extremist content.

Police located Dubovskiy in a vehicle at about 12.30 am on 27 March and negotiated with him for three hours before approaching the vehicle and finding him with a mortal stab wound. They also found a knife.

"Based on the nature of the items located during the search warrant, the nature of what he said to police during the negotiation, and subsequent enquires, police are of the view that Dubovskiy did pose a significant threat to the community," Price, the Canterbury District Commander, said in a statement.

Price said they weren't able to say more about the nature of that threat because they were still investigating two more people, and releasing details could jeopardise the investigation.

Some friends and family members expressed concerns about bruising on Dubovskiy's face.

Price said police officers had "forcibly extracted" Dubovskiy from the vehicle at about 3.40 am, during which time he'd also been bitten by a dog and scraped, which would have caused the bruising.

Price said the man was taken along the ground by officers to a point of safety before crews unsuccessfully provided first aid. He said the actions of police were being investigated, although his preliminary view was that the officers acted in a courageous way in a potentially high-threat situation.

Dubovskiy's father Vlad Dubovskiy told the New Zealand Herald that he and his son moved to New Zealand from Russia in 1997. The father said his son was fanatical about weapons and military history, and had a collection of Nazi memorabilia.

Vlad Dubovskiy told the Herald his son was simply a collector and never indicated he was going to use his guns, which included a modified semi-automatic.

The Herald reported that Dubovskiy had several previous convictions, including two following a 1999 incident in which he burgled a Russian couple he knew.

When the couple returned home, Dubovskiy, who was wearing a balaclava, pointed a replica German pistol at them, before the couple escaped, the Herald reported. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment. The Herald reported Dubovskiy admitted in a police statement at the time that he was the intruder but said he couldn't recall all the details of the incident because he was drunk.By Jose Luis Gonzalez and Lizbeth Diaz CIUDAD JUAREZ (Reuters) - Trucks delivering goods from Mexico to the United States are facing up to 12 hours of gridlock, after a transfer of U.S. border agents to immigration duties slowed the flow of commercial traffic at several border crossings

By Jose Luis Gonzalez and Lizbeth Diaz

CIUDAD JUAREZ (Reuters) - Trucks delivering goods from Mexico to the United States are facing up to 12 hours of gridlock, after a transfer of U.S. border agents to immigration duties slowed the flow of commercial traffic at several border crossings.

President Donald Trump took a step back on Tuesday from his threat to close the U.S. southern border to fight illegal immigration, amid pressure from companies worried that a shutdown would inflict chaos on supply chains and the $1.7 billion daily trade.

But the reshuffling of border agents, announced last week to process the record number of migrant families entering the United States from Mexico, prompted delays of up to 12 hours for trucks crossing from Mexico's Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas, truckers told Reuters.

"Industry is most affected by this situation, due to the millions in fines they have to pay when deliveries arrive late to clients," said Manuel Sotelo, head of the truckers union in Ciudad Juarez. He said the delays could even lead to the cancellation of contracts and layoffs.

Senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said on Tuesday that the recent redeployment of some 750 officers on the border to deal with a surge in migrants - mostly Central American families turning themselves into border agents - led to the slowing of legal crossings and commerce at ports of entry.

"The U.S. threat is being carried out and having an impact on factories, transportation companies and most directly on drivers," truck driver Jose Cota said.

Trump said on Friday he would close the border this week unless Mexico acted to curb a surge of asylum seekers from countries in Central America. He backed off that on Tuesday, saying that Mexico had made progress in detaining migrant flows.

Long lines of trucks started forming at the border crossings from Friday, as the number of agents was cut, said Cota, who had been waiting since 6 a.m. to cross into El Paso.

"There is no danger ... this is just the United States government's way of pressuring and blackmailing," Cota said.

Mexico's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, also noted that commercial traffic at the U.S.-Mexico border had slowed at several crossings due to the transfer of U.S. border agents.

"They don't intend on shutting (the border) but they have this problem that they are reallocating personnel," Ebrard said. He said Mexico would be prepared for the possibility of a border shutdown if it were to happen.

(Reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in Ciudad Juarez and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Leslie Adler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Panasonic India, the brand which is known for its lineup of cameras, televisions, etc has an online brand called Sanyo. The company has been selling a range of Televisions like 4K TV, Android TV, FULL HD TV and more. Today, the brand has forayed into Air conditioners with the launch of an Inverter ACs in India. Panasonic launched Arch series Air Conditioners last month.

Sanyo has launched 5 models of Inverter ACs which have 3-star ratings and 5-star ratings. The lineup of Inverter ACs comes in 1, 1.5 and 2 tons configuration.

The range of ACs is available on Amazon.in and select retailers at starting at Rs. 24,490, and this is an introductory price of limited period.

Features of Sanyo Inverter ACs:

The Inverter ACs comes with Duo Cool Inverter technology which aims to give instant and energy efficient cooling.

The new ACs come with Glacier Mode that allows 35% higher fan speed to deliver instant cooling in much lesser time.

higher fan speed to deliver instant cooling in much lesser time. Auto restart mechanism and Self Diagnosis function.

The PM 2.5 Air Purification system in Sanyo ACs aims to eliminate the airborne particles, including particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in size

These Air conditioners are powered by ECO function that aims to optimize the performance and ensure lesser electricity consumption.

Commenting on the launch, Sarthak Seth, Business Head  Sanyo, Panasonic India, said:

We are delighted to introduce the new range of Sanyo inverter ACs for Indian consumers. This is an inverter only AC range as our research has shown that energy efficiency is a key deciding parameter in India while buying air conditioners. Consumers can now purchase Sanyo Inverter AC at a price which is even lower than that of a regular fixed speed AC. With the Duo Cool Inverter technology and Glacier Mode feature, Sanyo Inverter ACs ensure efficient and faster cooling with exceptional power saving performance. The ACs compliment the consumers need for convenience along with savings.

Commenting on the partnership, Suchit Subhas, Director  Large Appliances & Furniture, Amazon India, said:

Sanyo Air Conditioners boast of inverter technology with powerful features at a very attractive price point. In line with our endeavour of offering the widest selection of Air Conditioners, we are excited to offer them to customers on Amazon.in.The Madurai bench of the Madras high court today issued an interim direction to the state authorities to prohibit downloading of TikTok Mobile Application and also said that medias are prohibited from telecasting the videos made using the app. This is in response to a petition which sought a ban on the app stating that the app promotes disturbing content and degrades culture.

As an interim measure, court said that the Government has to answer whether the Union of India will enact a statute, like Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, enacted by the United States, to prevent the children becoming cyber/online victims

The court said that the matter will be taken up next on April 16th.

The order notes:

It is stated that the Governments of Indonesia and Bangladesh have already prohibited use of Tik Tok application. In fact, understanding the vulnerability of the children in the cyber space, the United States of America has passed a Statue called Children Online Privacy Act, to prevent the children becoming cyber victims. It is stated that memes, lip-synced songs, comedies and videos are made using Tik Tok App. As long as this Tik Tok App., is used for comedy and humour, there should not be any problem. However, nobody can be pranked or shocked or being made as a subject of mockery by any third party and it would amount to violation of the privacy. It is said that Tik Tok App is mostly played by the teenagers and young people and it has proved to be an addictive one. By becoming addicted to Tik Tok App, and similar Apps., or cyber games, the future of the youngsters and mind set of the children are spoiled. Before many tragic incidents would occur, the Government has to take appropriate steps. The Government has got the social responsibility to prevent these kinds of applications and also take action against the persons, who are making use of it. It is always open to the authorities to take action without waiting for orders from this court.The mariner republic of Genoa has long been known for the fine art of pasta-making. Powerful merchants traded wheat far and wide across the Mediterranean Sea, and the sunshine and salty sea winds of the Ligurian port city provided prime pasta-drying conditions. Made especially for holding rich sauces, such as the other Genoese specialty, pesto, the shape earned inclusion in a 15th-century caution. Medical guide Medicinalia quam, preserved in the library of the University of Genova, advises, "One shouldnt overindulge in the consumption of lasagne, corzetti, tagliarini, tortellini, and the like."In a statement, Drury Lane president Kyle DeSantis paid tribute to Osetek. "We are grateful for everything Bill has done over the last 30 years to build the artistic and commercial prestige of Drury Lane," DeSantis said. The theater now will conduct a national search for Osetek's replacement. Matthew Carney, currently a casting director and company manager, will be at the helm on an interim basis.IHG Grows Boutique Footprint Across Spain And Southern Europe

Expansion of Hotel Indigo and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurant brands reflect growth opportunity of boutique hotel sector

April 03, 2019 // Franchising.com // InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the worlds leading hotel companies, has announced plans to open a new Hotel Indigo in the Spanish capital. The Hotel Indigo Madrid - Princesa will be one of seven IHG boutique hotels opening in key cities across Southern Europe in the next three to five years.

The announcement was made during the 19th WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) Global Summit in Seville, Spain, which brings together influential figures from around the world to address the challenges and opportunities facing the Travel & Tourism industry.

The Hotel Indigo Madrid - Princesa is set to open its doors in Autumn 2019 in the Moncloa - Arguelles area, a key location in the Spanish capital within walking distance of the citys main business and leisure districts. Developed in partnership with Hotel Collection International, a Luxembourg - based third party operating company which currently operates four IHG properties, the hotel will feature 100 design - led rooms inspired by local culture and history, a destination restaurant, fitness centre and access to a stunning rooftop with sweeping views of the city.

The move builds on Hotel Indigos strong growth as one of the largest boutique brands in this fast - growing segment. Having recently celebrated opening in 100 vibrant neighbourhoods around the world, Hotel Indigo made 33 new hotel signings in 2018 and is now set to double its portfolio over the next three to five years. Current open properties in Southern Europe include Madrid (Gran Via), Barcelona, Rome and Paris, with pipeline developments opening in Venice, Milan and Belgrade in 2019, Verona in 2020, and Gibraltar in 2021.

Eric Viale , Managing Director Southern Europe, IHG, commented: The strong growth of openings and pipeline of our Hotel Indigo and Kimpton brands reflect the opportunity across the boutique hotel sector, which is among the fastest growing in the industry. With appetite for unique, design - led hotels continuing to increase across Southern European markets, we are perfectly placed to take advantage of that growth and look forward to welcoming guests from around the world to these popular and historic locations.

, Managing Director Southern Europe, IHG, commented: The strong growth of openings and pipeline of our Hotel Indigo and Kimpton brands reflect the opportunity across the boutique hotel sector, which is among the fastest growing in the industry. With appetite for unique, design - led hotels continuing to increase across Southern European markets, we are perfectly placed to take advantage of that growth and look forward to welcoming guests from around the world to these popular and historic locations. Sebastian Lodder, CEO, Hotel Collection International, commented: We look forward to partnering once again with IHG on this exciting project and tapping into its world - class systems and expertise. Madrids rich arts and culture scene make it a great fit for Hotel Indigo, and were delighted be able to bring this world - class lifestyle brand to the popular business and leisure district of Moncloa - Arguelles.

Together with IHGs leading luxury boutique brand, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, IHGs boutique portfolio makes up almost 170 hotels globally, with nearly 120 more hotels in the development pipeline. Having doubled its number of signings in 2018, the Kimpton brand has secured a presence in 14 countries and is set to expand across Southern Europe with stunning properties opening in Barcelona at the end of 2019 and Paris in Summer 2020.

There are currently 186 IHG hotels (over 3,000 rooms) open across Southern Europe - 27 of which are in Spain - and 31 hotels in the pipeline*

*Figures as of 31 December, 2018

Hotel Indigo

Hotel Indigo serves the curious - people who are inspired by new places, new people and new ideas. With hotels in culturally diverse locations all over the world, no two properties are the same. Each is part of the pulse and the rhythm of a place, drawing inspiration from the local neighbourhood, culture and popular trends in food, drink and design to create a warm and vibrant atmosphere. With its ambition to make travel inspiring, Hotel Indigo provides a gateway to discover and explore some of the worlds most inspiring cities and neighbourhoods. Established in 2004, Hotel Indigo now has a presence in more than 15 countries with 102 open hotels and nearly 100 hotels in the pipeline. Currently, the brand has its largest number of hotels in the US, where there are more than 50 hotels, and Europe, where there are over 30, from the UK to Spain and Russia. In January this year Hotel Indigo celebrated opening in 100 vibrant neighbourhoods around the world.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

As the industry pioneer that first introduced the boutique concept to the US in 1981, San Francisco - based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is renowned for making travellers feel genuinely cared for through thoughtful perks and amenities, inventive meetings and events, bold and playful design, and a sincerely personal style of guest service. The brands heartfelt approach to hospitality has translated to unique, design - led hotels across city centers, beachside resorts, mountain getaways, and more. Anchored in one - of - a - kind experiences, Kimpton now operates more than 60 hotels and 78 restaurants, bars and lounges across urban locations, resort destinations and up - and - coming markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, Caribbean and Greater China.

Upcoming IHG boutique openings:

Kimpton Barcelona - Located in the citys Gothic Quarter, Kimpton Barcelona will feature 156 rooms, as well as an all - day dining restaurant and a rooftop swimming pool with unparalleled views of the city. The neighbourhood, full of trendy boutiques and restaurants, is a favorite of visitors and locals alike, and provides the perfect base from which to explore.

- Located in the citys Gothic Quarter, Kimpton Barcelona will feature 156 rooms, as well as an all - day dining restaurant and a rooftop swimming pool with unparalleled views of the city. The neighbourhood, full of trendy boutiques and restaurants, is a favorite of visitors and locals alike, and provides the perfect base from which to explore. Hotel Indigo Milan - Corso Monforte - Situated in fashion Stazione Centrale district of Milan, the hotel will have 56 locally - inspired rooms overlooking the rooftops of Milans ancient centre, modern facilities such as rainfall showers, Restaurant Mezzo with international dishes, and a courtyard bar for pre - dinner aperitivi.

- Corso Monforte - Situated in fashion Stazione Centrale district of Milan, the hotel will have 56 locally - inspired rooms overlooking the rooftops of Milans ancient centre, modern facilities such as rainfall showers, Restaurant Mezzo with international dishes, and a courtyard bar for pre - dinner aperitivi. Hotel Indigo Gibraltar - Located close to the Old Town and just a five - minute drive from Gibraltar International Airport, the ~120 - room hotel will be entirely reconfigured with a new facade and rooftop extension. Alongside the onsite gym, the hotel will also have a destination restaurant and bar designed to attract locals as well as guests.

- Located close to the Old Town and just a five - minute drive from Gibraltar International Airport, the ~120 - room hotel will be entirely reconfigured with a new facade and rooftop extension. Alongside the onsite gym, the hotel will also have a destination restaurant and bar designed to attract locals as well as guests. Hotel Indigo Venice - Sant'Elena - Due to open as a Hotel Indigo in 2019, Hotel Indigo Venice - SantElena is located next to the canal 'Rio Sant' Elena' within walking distance to the Castello district, a 15 - minute walk from St Marco Square. The 77 - room hotel will boast an interior courtyard and large windows with high ceilings, which draw inspiration from the local neighbourhood and existing architecture.

- Sant'Elena - Due to open as a Hotel Indigo in 2019, Hotel Indigo Venice - SantElena is located next to the canal 'Rio Sant' Elena' within walking distance to the Castello district, a 15 - minute walk from St Marco Square. The 77 - room hotel will boast an interior courtyard and large windows with high ceilings, which draw inspiration from the local neighbourhood and existing architecture. Hotel Indigo Belgrade - The first Hotel Indigo in Belgrade will be located on Cika Ljubina Street, featuring interior designs that reflect Serbian culture and tradition, a restaurant in the atrium serving locally - inspired dishes, a bar and an onsite gym.

About IHG

IHG  (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including Regent Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, EVEN Hotels, HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, voco Hotels, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Holiday Inn Resort, avid hotels, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns more than 5,600 hotels and approximately 837,000 guest rooms in more than 100 countries, with more than 1,900 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG Rewards Club, our global loyalty programme, which has more than 100 million enrolled members.

In February 2019, IHG acquired Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, adding 16 hotels (1,347 rooms) to its system and 18 hotels to its development pipeline.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Groups holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 400,000 people work across IHG's hotels and corporate offices globally.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihgplc.com/media and follow us on social media at: www.twitter.com/IHGCorporate, www.facebook.com/IHGCorporate and www.linkedin.com/company/intercontinental - hotels - group

Media Contacts:

Michael Kissman

michael.kissman@ihg.com

+44 (0) 7970 889 317

Andriana Matsangou

Andriana.Matsangou@ihg.com

+44 (0) 7880 091 669

SOURCE IHG  (InterContinental Hotels Group)

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DisqusScott has eradicated the memory of Ailes by overseeing a massive renovation of the entire second floor where his corporate lair was located  part of a $135-million upgrade of facilities and studios. More than 200 of the networks producers, writers and production assistants have been moved from a bleak basement at 1211 Avenue of the Americas to a bright, airy workspace steps away from where top management is located. Scott and Jay Wallace, president of news, have offices adjacent to Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, who serves as co-chairman of Fox Corp. and has become more involved with the channel.The Learning Experience Opens Academy of Early Education in Greater Houstons Missouri City/Quail Valley area

April 03, 2019 // Franchising.com // The Learning Experience, one of the nations fastest-growing Academies of Early Education, is pleased to announce the opening of its newest center in the Greater Houston area at 3451 FM 1092 Road in Missouri City, Texas.

The Learning Experience center, which will primarily serve families in Missouri City, Quail Valley, and surrounding cities, is now enrolling for summer camp and offering private tours for families. The academy provides childcare, enrichment programs, and early education for children from six weeks to six years of age will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Its all-inclusive curriculum and programs include phonics, mathematics, science, foreign language, yoga, and a philanthropy program that teaches children the value of kindness and generosity.

The independent franchise location in Missouri City is owned by Reema Lamba, who will employ over 30 teachers and staff members to serve upwards of 180 children.

The Learning Experience provides the perfect balance of owning a small business and having the support of a nationally-recognized franchise brand with a proven track record of success, said owner Reema Lamba. I am thrilled to work closely alongside my center director who has over 20 years of childcare experience to bring a well-rounded curriculum that helps children learn, play, and grow to our community.

The Learning Experiences proprietary Learning Experience Academic Program (L.E.A.P.) curriculum and enrichment programs were developed through more than 30 years of experience in early childhood education. Its early literacy programs have 9 out of 10 children reading before Kindergarten, and its unique philanthropy curriculum was created in partnership with Make-A-Wish.

The center, located next to DeWalt Highway 6 in Missouri City marks the franchises 35th location in Texas, where The Learning Experience is seeing explosive growth. The Learning Experience is ranked no. 79 on Entrepreneurs 2018 Franchise 500 and has over 220 centers across the country serving more than 25,000 toddlers and preschoolers with childcare, enrichment programs, and early education. The franchise also has over 100 locations currently in development in select markets nationwide.

For more information about The Learning Experience center in Missouri City, please visit https://www.thelearningexperience.com/our-centers/tx/missouri-city/missouri-city-quail-valley.

About The Learning Experience

The Learning Experience (www.TheLearningExperience.com) is one of the nations fastest-growing Academies of Early Education for children ages six weeks to six years old. With a greater national emphasis on educational development during the most crucial years of a child's growth, The Learning Experience places a prominent focus on programs that advance scholastic preparation. The Learning Experience prepares children academically and socially via innovative scholastic and enrichment programs such as the L.E.A.P. curriculum, a cutting-edge proprietary approach to learning which has 9 out of 10 of its children entering Kindergarten already reading. To complement the academic curriculum, The Learning Experience utilizes various enrichment programs crucial to advancing learning and overall balance, such as philanthropy, Yippee 4 Yoga, Music 4 Me, Movin N Groovin, manners and etiquette, and foreign language.

Media Contact:

Courtney McAlister

courtney@stir-communications.com

SOURCE The Learning Experience

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DisqusWoofies Wags Its Tail Into Leesburg

All-inclusive pet-care franchise signs development agreement for first Leesburg location

April 03, 2019 // Franchising.com // ASHBURN, Va. - Just a few months after launching their franchising opportunity - Woofies, a new franchise in the $70 billion professional pet care industry that is the first to offer the combined services of personalized pet sitting, dog walking and mobile pet spa services, has signed a development deal for its second franchisee-owned location, and its first in Leesburg, Virginia. The first franchisee-owned location will service the communities of Reston and Herndon, and will be operated by different owners.

The Woofies of Leesburg is slated to open mid-April 2019. The location will be owned and operated by neighbor entrepreneurs Kristine Tech and Katherine Bhat.

Kristine and I are both long-time Woofies clients, Bhat said. We both trust our dogs with the Woofies team. When we found out that Woofies had launched its franchise opportunity, we knew it was the perfect opportunity and wanted to get involved. We are so excited to bring these amazing services to our hometown of Leesburg.

Kristine and Katherine, with backgrounds in accounting and human resources, respectively, met two years ago when they became neighbors. Both women have dogs of their own and are current Woofies customers.

Choosing Woofies was easy, Tech said. We know Woofies. We know their brand. Theyre well-respected, and our personalities and values align well with the Woofies team. Woofies understands that dogs are more than just pets  theyre members of the family; which is why theyve created a system of personalized care thats tailored to each family style.

Founded in 2004, Woofies offers personalized pet sitting and dog-walking services which includes consultations with a member of the management team, in-home overnight care and Bed & Biscuit overnight care. Their mobile pet spa provides one-on-one, cage-free grooming services such as: breed-specific haircuts, nail trims, hydrosurge baths and specialized de-matting and de-shedding treatments. The customization of products and services for each pet and the focus on the customer experience further set Woofies services apart from others in the industry.

As fairly new franchisors, we knew we wanted to stay close to home and find the perfect franchisees, Woofies co-founder Amy Reed said. Kristine and Katherine were already a part of the Woofies family as customers, and we are so excited to bring them in as franchisees. We know they will work hard to always represent the Woofies brand, and we are thrilled to bring Woofies to the Leesburg community.

Another core value of the pet care service franchise is a focus on community involvement. Once a year, Woofies hosts a Paws & Claus fundraising event where they partner with a local pet photographer to take photos with Santa with all proceeds donated to a local animal shelter. The company also collects unused pet items from clients for Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA), on a quarterly basis, and sponsors a dog each year to provide a years worth of food and supplies.

About Woofies

Founded in 2004 and franchising since 2018, Woofies is a new franchise in the professional pet care services industry that is the first to offer the combined services of pet sitting, dog walking and mobile pet spa services. They are further set apart by their completely customizable services and their focus on customer service. Today, there is one location open and operating in Ashburn, Virginia and two others under development in Reston-Herndon and Leesburg. For more information, visit www.woofies.com

Media Contact:

Gaby Gutierrez

Franchise Elevator PR

(847) 239-8171

ggutierrez@franchiseelevator.com

SOURCE Woofies

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DisqusA second test, conducted using other bone samples, found that Pulaski and his grand-niece were a match. The results, derived from mitochondrial DNA, werent as conclusive as better-known nuclear DNA tests, but the scientist who conducted them said that 99.98 percent of the population would not share the characteristics that these two people shared. Scientists also found that Pulaskis skeleton was between 5 foot 2 and 5 foot 4, in line with accounts of the generals height, that the skeleton showed signs of extensive horseback riding, that the skeleton was in the right age range, and that the skeleton had a right hand injury consistent with a battle wound Pulaski was known to have suffered.Juan Lavista, a member of Kahan's team at that time, is now the senior director of data science at the AI For Good research lab, which is part of an initiative called AI for Humanitarian Action, launched by Microsoft president Brad Smith. The idea behind the initiative is to use artificial intelligence to tackle some of the world's most difficult problems, and it has allowed Lavista to work on things like the SUID study full time instead of cramming it in around his day job.FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 3, 2019

Contact:

Georgia Parham, 812-334-4261 x 203, Georgia_Parham@fws.gov

Missouri population of eastern hellbender proposed for endangered status

Other populations of this large salamander are in decline but do not currently warrant Endangered Species Act protection

After conducting a thorough species status review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that most populations of the eastern hellbender are not in danger of extinction and do not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). However, the eastern hellbender population in Missouri is a distinct population segment (DPS) and the Service is proposing to list this DPS as endangered.

Our review of the status of the eastern hellbender included input from states, academic partners and species experts, said Charles Wooley, the Services acting Midwest Regional Director. While Endangered Species Act protection is not warranted for most populations, we will continue to support partners in efforts to monitor and conserve eastern hellbenders throughout their range.

Eastern hellbenders are found across 15 states: northeastern Mississippi, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, Tennessee, western North Carolina, western Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, eastern Illinois, southern Indiana, east-central Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, western Maryland and southern New York. The Service has identified the population in east-central Missouri as geographically and genetically distinct from the others, meriting separate consideration under the ESA.

The status assessment found that about 61 percent of the species historic populations remain, all of which are associated with large river drainages. Of the five historic populations in Missouri, none is considered healthy; four are declining and one is likely gone altogether. The threats affecting the Missouri eastern hellbender DPS are habitat destruction and modification from sedimentation and water quality degradation, disease and pathogens, and habitat disturbance. The unauthorized collection of eastern hellbenders, especially for the pet trade, also remains a concern.

The Service is concerned that identifying areas where eastern hellbenders may be found in Missouri may further exacerbate the threat of illegal collection. Consequently, we will not propose designating critical habitat for the population.

Hellbenders are the largest salamander in North America, growing up to two feet long. They can live up to 30 years and spend their entire lives in water, living in perennial streams and rivers of the southeastern and central United States. Hellbenders hide under large, flat rocks on the streambed. Male hellbenders guard eggs and tend to their young after they hatch.

The eastern hellbender is one of two subspecies of hellbenders in the United States. The other subspecies, the Ozark hellbender, occurs in Missouri and Arkansas and was listed as endangered in 2011.

The proposal to list the Missouri distinct population segment of the eastern hellbender will publish in the Federal Register on April 4, 2019. The public comment period for the proposed listing will be open for 60 days. Instructions on how to submit comments are available at regulations.gov under docket # FWSR3ES20180056. Following the comment period, the Service will make a final listing determination regarding this matter.

Learn more about the eastern hellbender, the 12-month finding, or the proposal to list the Missouri distinct population segment.Inspiring conservation after listening to the delicate sound of butterfly wings in Mexico

April 3, 2019



Wintering monarchs roosting clusters look dark and dense on the branch tips of Oyamel fir trees. Photo by Lori Nordstrom/USFWS.

Imagine hiking up a dusty trail to elevations of 10,000 feet, each step moving closer to what appears to be orange and black confetti covering the trees. Through the dense forest, approaching closer and suddenly realizing the confetti is actually thousands of monarch butterflies in roosting clusters resting until they once again begin their migration north. We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working to ensure that monarch butterflies and this magnificent migration phenomenon continues. The number of monarchs have decreased significantly over the last 20 years, however together we can save the monarch. In North America, there is a massive effort underway to provide habitat for monarch butterflies, imperiled bees and other pollinators. Lori Nordstrom, the Assistant Regional Director of Ecological Services for our Midwest Region, has an integral role in monarch conservation. Witnessing this enchanting phenomenon gives her a new perspective on the conservation efforts conducted throughout the United States and North America. We are delighted to share her story.



Lori Nordstrom at the El Rosario monarch butterfly sanctuary. Photo by Lori Nordstrom/USFWS.

Nordstrom fulfilled a lifetime dream this year visiting the monarch butterfly wintering grounds in central Mexico. It is a highlight of my life, said Nordstrom. An avid traveler she has hiked to Mount Everest, gone on multiple African safaris and seen Bruce Springsteen live in Scotland and on Broadway. Monarchs top all of that!

Inspired by predictions of the monarch population being high for the 2018-2019 overwintering count, Nordstrom used vacation time and reserved a spot on a guided trip led by the University of Florida Natural History Museum. Meeting her tour in Mexico City started with a surprise; other monarch conservationists were on the trip, including staff from Monarch Watch. They departed the following day to Angangueo, a colonial town once filled with mining activity. Angangueo is nestled in a ravine that rambles between forested mountains, where millions of monarchs winter within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.

Nordstrom visited both the Sierra Chincua and El Rosario monarch butterfly sanctuaries on her trip. Here a local guide leads you on the 45 minute to 1-hour hike or horseback ride into the mountains. This incredible journey wanders through forests filled with long needled pines and Oyamel firs until you reach the butterfly colonies.

El Rosario supported the biggest population this winter so we started to see monarchs flying as we drove up in elevation to the base of the reserve,  said Nordstrom. As we hiked higher into the forest there were thousands of monarchs flying and we could see huge clumps of monarchs on the branches of the oyamel trees. I got teary with joy and awe at this magical wonder.

The dense shade and cool temperatures at this high elevation permits monarchs to survive the winter with scarce resources. There are few nectar sources in the forest so monarchs sip water from small streams trickling down the mountain to metabolize their stored fats to fuel their spring migration north. When the sun does strike its rays, basking the monarchs in warmth, the energy entices them to lift off the trees and take to the air.

There were so many that I could hear them! Nordstrom said, describing the sound of them flying as a gentle rain on dry leaves in a forest. There were millions of monarchs. Some trees would be covered with clumps of monarchs while nearby trees barely had any monarchs in them, leading Nordstrom to better understand why estimating the size of the monarch population is so difficult, and why it is measured by the size of the area covered rather than numbers of butterflies.

The 2018-2019 overwintering count confirmed the predictions  monarchs occupied more than 15 acres of forest, a 144 percent increase in overwintering population from last winter. Monarch numbers have not been this high since 2006-2007, as reported by Mexicos National Commission for Protected Natural Areas. Monarch populations, like other insects, are characterized by annual population boom and busts.



Monarch butterfly on purple coneflower. Photo by Jim Hudgins/USFWS.

Local guides are stationed along the paths through the reserves to provide information and ensure people are able to immerse themselves in the experience. Guides stress the importance of respecting the observation limits to allow all visitors to enjoy this breathtaking natural event. Visitors may not eat, smoke, throw trash or make noise.

The monarchs witnessed are those who survived a 2,500-mile migration across the eastern United States and southern Canada. It is amazing that these monarchs are the great-great-great-great grandchildren of the butterflies that were in this exact location the previous winter. When monarchs start to arrive in late October, locals welcome them affectionately, believing these miracle migrations represent the souls of ancestors on their spiritual journey. This is because the monarchs return to Mexico around November 1 coincides with Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), an important Mexican holiday.

During Nordstroms visit to El Rosario, she was impressed that the majority of visitors to the reserve were from local communities coming to appreciate their monarchs, including elementary school groups, families escorting their grandparents and college students. Nordstrom and her group showed the school kids and other visitors on the trail how to cup their hands around their ears to better amplify the sound of the monarch wings, as is done when listening to bats, which resulted in big smiles and wide-eyed appreciation of the delicate sound. What a field trip to instill the next generation of conservationists for the reserve!

After hiking back down, visitors are able to rest and recharge energy at local restaurants, explore other trails or stroll around the local vendor corridor for a souvenir. Nordstroms tour group also visited an ejido, an area of communal land used for sustainable agriculture supported by Alternare, A.C. Alternare is a Mexican organization that educates and trains rural communities and supports ejidos that inhabit the reserve region. The Services International Affairs supports Alternare through the Wildlife Without Borders  Mexico program. In 2018, the Service and the Organization of American States awarded Alternare as the 2018 Conservation Champion for their 20 years of work to conserve migratory phenomenon of the monarch butterfly.

Our work may be known to Americans, now I see the results of our actions, said Nordstrom.

Nordstrom was proud to see the Services logo displayed on the wall recognizing Alternares many partners. Seeing that recognition deepened her understanding of the relevance of our conservation efforts and support on an international scale. Furthermore, this visit informed the tour group on sustainable agricultural practices for fruit crops, avocados and livestock.

Back in the office, Nordstroms singular experience visiting the monarch reserves has helped to better inform her work on monarch butterfly conservation. On a personal note, she is interested in how to help the ecotourism industry be even more sustainable for the communities within the reserve. The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve comprises 140,000 acres of forest between the states of Michoacan and State of Mexico and is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The monarch tourist season is December through March.

No matter who you are or where you live, you can get involved today to help monarchs. Start by planting milkweed and nectar plants that are native to your area. Use organic yard products to minimize your impacts on monarchs, their food plants and other pollinators. Become a citizen scientist and monitor monarchs in your area. Educate others about pollinators, conservation and how they can help.A Few Words for Nature Nerds

Do you think techies have a lock on weird words? Think again. Wildlife enthusiasts have a lingo all their own. Weve picked just a few words that might puzzle you on first meeting.

Decoding them may give you a chuckle  and perhaps deepen the pleasure you take from observing the natural world.

Welcome to natures nerdy side. Go easy on dropping these words into daily conversation.

A mule deer  a crepuscular animal  browses at first light along the Green River at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming. (Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS)

Crepuscular (from the Latin crepusculum for twilight). Active at dawn and dusk.

Crepuscular animals  such as rabbits and deer  wait for dawn or dusk to go about their business. Some creatures adopt crepuscular habits to hunt, evade predators or avoid midday heat. True word nerds divide crepuscular animals into two subtypes: matutinal (morning) and vespertine (evening). Animals that are not crepuscular tend to display diurnal (daytime) or nocturnal (nighttime) activity.

Horseshoe crabs, with their prominent shells or exoskeletons, come ashore by the thousands in spring at Mispillion Harbor, Delaware. (Photo: Gregory Breese/USFWS)

Exoskeleton (from the Greek). A rigid outer structure that supports the body, especially in invertebrates (animals without backbones), such as insects, spiders and crabs.

Horseshoe crabs have exoskeletons. You knew that. How about turtles? Fooled you. Turtles may have bony shells, but their skeletons are on the inside (endoskeletons), just as ours are.

Pintail ducks and other birds fly over Mattamuskett National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, located along the Atlantic Flyway. (Photo: Allie Stewart/USFWS)

Flyway A major air route of migratory birds.

Flyways are the main avenues linking birds breeding grounds up north with their wintering areas down south. North American birds can choose one of four routes: the Pacific, Central, Mississippi or Atlantic Flyway. Some routes extend north as far as the Arctic Circle and south as far as the tip of South America.

Atlantic puffins build nests each spring and summer on rocky cliffs at Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo: USFWS)

Habitat (from the Latin habitare, to live). The place where a plant or animal normally lives and grows.

If youre in your native habitat, you probably havent strayed far from the place you think of as home.

To those in the know, its a song sparrow, photographed in the Prairie Pothole region of North Dakota. To others, its an LBJ. (Photo: Rick Bohn/USFWS)

LBJ (birders slang). Little Brown Job.

When you hear this acronym from birders, you can bet theyre not summoning the spirit of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Theyre admitting they cant differentiate a bird they see from scores of other small nondescript brown birds. To the question, See anything in that field? a birder might answer: Not much. Some LBJs at the far end, but I couldn't get a good look at them without a scope.

A prothonotary warbler perches easily on a branch at Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, thanks to a toe pattern that marks it as a passerine. (Photo: USFWS)

Passerine (from the Latin passerines, meaning of a sparrow). Perching birds.

More than half the worlds bird species  including songbirds, sparrows and finches are passerines. What makes a bird a passerine is its toe arrangement. Three of its four toes face forward; the other points backward, allowing the bird to grasp tree limbs and branches.

The Little Tennessee River in North Carolina creates a riparian corridor. (Photo: USFWS)

Riparian (from the Latin riparius for river, derived from ripa for bank or shore). Relating to or located on a riverbank.

Riparian areas support many species of wildlife. Animals use riverbanks for food, shelter, nesting sites and travel arteries. Riparian areas also attract tourists and boost local economies.

A rufous hummingbird sips nectar from Rocky Mountain beeplant at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming. (Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS)

Rufous (from Latin rufus). Reddish-brown animal skin, fur or feathers

Why do we have a special word for the color red in animals, particularly birds? Go figure. The rufous hummingbird  only about 3 inches long and weighing just over a penny  flies an astounding 2,000 miles or so in its yearly migrations. Dont wear a rufous tie to the party if you dont want to stick out.

Tule elk  ungulates  browse in a meadow at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in California. (Photo: Steve Martarano/USFWS)

Ungulate (from Latin ungula for hoof). A large hoofed mammal, such as a deer, elk, moose or pig.

Overgrazing by wild ungulates can stress sensitive ecosystems at national wildlife refuges.

A forested wetland is part of the Pocomoke River watershed in Maryland. (Photo: Dan Murphy/USFWS)

Watershed A land area that collects rain and snow and funnels it into a river, stream or groundwater.

No, a watershed is not an outhouse.

Compiled by Susan_Morse@fws.gov | April 3, 2019One of the things we can admire about Lightfoot is that she started out, for the most part, like many Chicagoans. She rose from humble beginnings in Ohio to become mayor of one of the greatest cities in America. But she did not get here alone.Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Areas of dense fog. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Areas of dense fog. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.I think this Burke moment has really been a wake-up call for people, she said. Strangers are stopping me on the street, telling me to keep making the case. This meteor that hit is really waking people up, and were going to keep riding that lane.A new Pokemon: Detective Pikachu poster has been unveiled, showing the live-action Pokemon in greater detail.

Detective Pikachu has been accumulating a lot of hype these last few months. Not only is the film based on the super popular media franchise, but the trailers also make the film seem like an adequate motion picture to watch with the whole family.

This latest poster for Detective Pikachu is for the Chinese markets. While the eponymous Detective Pikachu is in front and center, behind him are a variety Pokemon that many fans will recognize. However, for those who are less knowledgeable, Ill be sharing which are the Pokemon present in the poster. Ill also go over which games these Pokemon first appeared in. So lets get started.

Detective Pikachu needs no explanation. He is the mascot of the Pokemon franchise, famous for his starring role in the Pokemon anime. Pikachu is one of the original 151 Pokemon introduced in the first Pokemon games, Red and Blue.

In the middle of all the Pokemon are the two human leads, played by Justice Smith and Kathryn Newton respectively.

On Smiths left is a big, orange lizard with wings. This iconic Pokemon is Charizard. Charizard was the face of the Pokemon Red cover art and is well-known for having a significant role in the Pokemon anime, just like Pikachu.

Directly below Charizard, the strange creature with a duckbill and lily pad hat is Ludicolo. They are a water/grass Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, the third generation of Pokemon games.

On Ludicolos right and below Smiths character is the abomination called Mr. Mime. Mr. Mime, as its name suggests, is the mime Pokemon. The Pokemon has grown a reputation for how creepy it looks, especially in the Detective Pikachu trailers. Mr. Mime is one of the original 151 Pokemon introduced in Red and Blue.

Directly below Ludicolo is a blue turtle. This blue turtle is the Water-type Pokemon Squirtle. Squirtle was one of the more popular Pokemon in the original Red and Blue games; they are one of three starter Pokemon that the player can pick in the very beginning.

On Squirtles right is Bulbasaur, the Grass-type Pokemon. Bulbasaur was another started Pokemon in Red and Blue.

On Bulbasaurs right is Aipom, the monkey Pokemon with a hand as a tail. Aipom first appeared in Pokemon Gold and Silver, the second generation.

On Mr. Mimes right, and slightly above Detective Pikachu is Snubbull. Snubbull looks a pink bulldog that walks on two legs. They first appeared in Gold and Silver.

The orange lizard Pokemon that is behind Pikachus tail is Charmander, the third starter Pokemon in Red and Blue. Charmander is a fire Pokemon, and they evolve into the before mention Charizard.

The Pokemon behind Charmander, the one with the huge mouth, is called Loudred. Loudred is known for the very loud noises it makes. It first appeared in Ruby and Sapphire.

On Charmanders right and in front of Loudred is Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff is the balloon Pokemon, capable of inflating and deflating. It is one of the original 151 Pokemon in Red and Blue and was famous for its prominent role in the first season of the Pokemon anime. Jigglypuff, along with Pikachu, has also been a playable character in every Super Smash Bros. game.

On Jigglypuffs lower right is Morelull, and it is the youngest Pokemon on the poster. Morelull is mushroom Pokemon, and are also a part fairy. They first appeared in the most recent generations of Pokemon games, generation VII, AKA Pokemon Sun and Moon.

Right behind Morelull and on Jigglypuffs upper right is Psyduck. Psyduck is the psychic duck Pokemon. They are famous for their prominent role in the first season of the Pokemon anime. They were one of the signature Pokemon of Misty, one of the leads in the first season. Psyduck is another one of the original 151 from Red and Blue.

Finally, the Pokemon behind Psyduck and on Kathryn Newtons right is Snorlax. Snorlax is called the sleep Pokemon, as it spends most of its time sleeping. When it isnt sleeping, it eats, which explains why it is so huge. Snorlax is another one of the original 151 Pokemon.

The poster shows off the Pokemon in all their live-action goodness. This is also just a fraction of the Pokemon shown off in the trailers. The trailers also show off Mewtwo, Greninja, and many more. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is expected to release on May 10 in the United States.

Image SourceI thought of the black women Ive met as an adult who have become friends and colleagues. Theyve helped me understand what it has been like for them to make their way in a world where power is dominated by white people, where being the first or the only black person in a room or at a job is a distinction that can feel both right and lonely.KFC shocked plenty of punters when it was announced that Colonel Sanders was joining the lineup as a DJ at Ultra in Miami.

Many thought it was some sort of joke, but sure enough at 5.35 on Friday a man donning a giant cartoon Colonel Sanders head a la Deadmau5/Marshmello took to the stage for a quick five minute set.The model railroad club dates back to 1947, but moved from Garfield Park to the Clarendon Park Community Center in 1963. The current layout, on which every 3 millimeters of the model represents one foot on an actual railroad, is the largest in the clubs history  it can take 30 minutes for a train to run through the whole thing, and up to 25 independently operated trains can run at the same time. Designed to look like a cluster of Appalachian towns in the 1960s, the layout has stores, train stations, houses, schools, farms and even a family of bears in the woods on a mountain side.Both V.C. Reps Vote No; Sen. Mike Lang: Medicaid Expansion is Going to Happen

On Saturday March 30, the Montana House passed House Bill 658 with a vote of 61 in favor to 37 opposed. The bill, if passed in the Senate, will continue Montanas Medicaid Expansion program that features a 9 to 1 match in funds from the Federal Government and provides health care to over 96,000 Montanans according to the Department of Health and Human Services. That number equals roughly 9.4 percent of the states population.

Both Montana House Representatives for Valley County, Casey Knudsen (R) and Rhonda Knudsen (R), voted against advancing the bill to the Senate.

R. Knudsen said her vote on Medicaid expansion reflected the opinion of the people in her district. I voted with the people of my district that voted against Medicaid expansion, said Knudsen in response to questions from the Courier. She also expressed concerns about additional tax revenues that would be required to fund the new law, but provided no specifics.

In an email response to questions, C. Knudsen voiced his concerns about the bills long-term viability. My main issue with the bill is it is an unsustainable program, stated Knudsen. Especially when, not if, the federal government starts reducing the cash flow to the state.

I realize we need to come together to take care of the people who cannot care for themselves, and I have no issue with having a program in place to do so, explained the two-term representative from Malta. What I do not agree with is this massive expansion of Medicaid to include, as we have seen over the past 4 years, people who have the ability to work and care for themselves but choose to let the government do it for them because its easier.

If expansion fails the state would still be obligated to pay for traditional Medicaid that would apply to Montanans below the poverty line. Failing to pass expansion would cut coverage to those between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty line. For a family of three the poverty line is $21,330 and 138 percent of that is $29,435.40 based on numbers on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website. That means that a single parent of two children earning $14.15, or less, an hour would no longer receive health care under Medicaid if the program lapsed.

According to a Department of Labor and Industry report published in January, 62.1 percent of Valley County businesses (110 in total) employ persons enrolled in Medicaid expansion. That same report found that nearly 70 percent of all Medicaid enrolled persons are employed. Under the ACA a business must provide health insurance if they employ more than 50 people, but most of the employers of Medicaid recipients in Montana are small businesses.

C. Knudsen did not respond to a follow-up question seeking clarification by press time.

He also expressed concerns that the bill was rushed through the legislative process. This bill came out of the gate as one thing, was heavily amended in the Human Services Committee, wrote C. Knudsen, [W]e only had about two days to look this bill over and investigate the changes before the vote on the house floor.

Senator Mike Lang, who represents the Hi-Line from Havre to Bainville, told the Courier, Medicaid expansion is going to happen. One way or another its going to happen. The Senator said he was going to vote in favor of the expansion depending on the committee decisions and amendments to the bill that he anticipates will be added during debate in the senate. He did not clarify the amendments.

Lang did express concern that the expansion would have winners and losers because funding would have to be shifted around to pay for the program. What I want, what my personal opinion is, is that we are not taking care of our elderly enough through long-term care, said Lang, So, the reason that it gets cut, is we dont have enough money to go around.

HB 658 originally sought to continue Medicaid expansion permanently but was amended to include a sunset clause of six years while still in committee. That means that the legislature will have to pass expansion again in 2025. Among the sunset clause, other reforms in the bill added community engagement and work requirements for participants in the program.

Those requirements state that participants 19 and older but younger than 55 must participate in 80 hours of community engagement activity a month.Those activities include work readiness and training; secondary, postsecondary, or vocational training; substance abuse education or treatment; and other work related activities that promote work or worker readiness. Exemptions for the program apply for people unable to meet the requirements for various reasons such as health issues.

Chief Executive Officer of Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital Randy Holom told the Courier that the hospital is publically in support of Medicaid expansion but not for financial reasons. Holom stated that due to the nuances of critical access hospitals and the transfer of traditional Medicaid participants to the expansion program the numbers more or less come to a wash for FMDH. Holom said that the hospitals motivation for being in support of the program is due to the health of the community.

Financially, it was sort of neutral, said Holom, It didnt help or hurt us. The CEO went on to explain that most people who had been uninsured prior to expansion had often put off seeking medical care when they were first in need. As a result of the delays, people were often worse off health-wise and the level of care was usually higher and more costly. Medicaid expansion has benefited the community by allowing the newly insured to seek immediate care, which pays off in health outcomes and lower costs.

A separate Medicaid expansion bill, House Bill 425 was tabled in committee and will likely die there. That bill would have extended the Medicaid expansion program indefinitely and would have kept it more or less the same as it is today.Dear Editor,

This was a busy week in the legislature. Both the House and Senate acted on large pieces of legislation.

As we move toward the end of the 66th legislature, the budget is moving along. I sit on the Senate Finance and Claims Committee where we met one day for eight hours to review House Bill 2  the largest part of the budget. There were great hearings on different sections of the bill. As I have always done, I am working hard with my colleagues to keep the Governor's tax increase wish list out of the final version. Money, having enough to go around and put in the proper place, is a major challenge, as we must have a balanced budget.

The House passed Medicaid Expansion, which will now head to the Senate. This is a government program that lacks work requirements, lines the pockets of some, and leaves us exposed to insolvency. There are winners and losers in this bill  the big hospitals win, and patients lose.

Planned Parenthood, a New York City-based group with more than $350 million in assets, is helping promote Medicaid expansion. With a price tag around $1.5 billion, Montana cannot afford the Expansion program, but Montana will have Medicaid expansion in some form.

We rely on the federal government for 44 percent of our budget. One might say that makes us a welfare state. When the federal government is forced to rein in spending, Montana could be hit hard. Most of my Republican colleagues and I realize that in the end, the Medicaid program could financially collapse, leaving thousands of Montanans without medical coverage. Medicaid expansion obligations are using valuable dollars such that we will not have properly funded programs for our nursing homes and assisted living centers.

SB 71 is going to the House floor for a final vote. I hope the Governor will sign this bill as it will help reduce medical insurance expenses by millions as we are restricting pharmaceutical benefit managers.

We have moved SB 317 to the House. This bill will enable those who wish to purchase a permit and increase weight limits by 10 percent on their transportation units, during the months of December through March. MT Department of Transportation and county commissioners have the power to renounce permits based on road conditions.

SB 139 will help schools that apply for a teacher vacancy through hardship. It has passed from the Senate to the House with only opposition from the public employee retirement fund. I hear that the Governor may not sign it now there has been support if Pre-K school funding does not pass.

SB 299 deals with sage grouse and has moved to the House as well. The bill directs the program to maintain habitat and sage grouse populations, with respect to the social and economical values of the state, mainly eastern Montana.

HB 31, which had a request for rural eastern Montana property tax payers to help with fire suppression by fees valued at $10 million. This has been tabled and should be dead. Eastern Montana does carry their own load, but this bill was unjust. We appreciate all that DNRC does, with the support of county taxes, for fire protection.

Betty Stone, from Glasgow will serve on the State Parks board. Julie French, Scobey, will continue her position the board of outfitters and guides. I hope Logan Brower, Scobey, will stay on the FWP commission.

I have had overwhelming support from all the counties in SD-17 for HJ 28. This issue is asking that the BLM stay with present practices that have established and maintained our great land, water and forage resources. At one time the resources were unmanaged. Drought had also devastated the area. The implementation of the Taylor Grazing Act by the BLM and the stewards on the land, have maintained a great natural resource for wildlife and livestock. Please follow this issue.

SB 361, the Public Access to Lands (PAL) Act, will help increase access to public lands that are land-locked by private property. The PAL Act provides a framework for the state to work with private land owners to open lands with no government mandate.

Money is the issue. I feel we should cover our needs first, before the wants. However, we are all humans with certain desires and free will. Satisfying all is tough and I will do my best for SD 17. Please text me at 406-654-7357 or email [email protected]

Gratefully,

Senator Mike Lang,

District 17

Blaine, Hill, Daniels, Phillips,

Roosevelt, Sheridan and

Valley CountiesRussian Man Sentenced In Treason Case Linked To FSB Cyberscandal

By Mike Eckel April 02, 2019

A Russian Internet businessman has been sentenced to seven years in prison for state treason, in a case linked to a major scandal at Russia's main security agency.

The sentence handed down against Georgy Fomchenkov on April 1 by the Moscow City Court is the latest development in a case that shed light on the murky overlap between computer hackers and the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Interfax and TASS quoted the court as saying that Fomchenkov cooperated with prosecutors in their investigation.

"The Moscow City Court found Fomchenkov guilty of a crime defined by Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code. He was sentenced to seven years in a high-security penal colony," court spokeswoman Ulyana Solopova said.

Fomchenkov is one of four men prosecuted in connection with the investigation into the Center for Information Security, the cyberunit for the FSB.

A senior officer at the center, Colonel Sergei Mikhailov, was sentenced in February to 22 years in prison after a military tribunal found him guilty of state treason.

Ruslan Stoyanov, who previously worked for Russia's Interior Ministry and the Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, received a 14-year sentence.

A fourth man, Dmitry Dokuchayev, has pleaded guilty under a plea bargain deal with prosecutors and has not yet been sentenced.

Dokuchayev worked as a deputy to Mikhailov at the FSB cyberunit. Prior to that, he was well-known in Russian hacking circles.

Prosecutors accused Mikhailov and Stoyanov of passing classified information to U.S. and Western intelligence about Pavel Vrublevsky, a Russian businessman and convicted hacker known for running one of the world's biggest spamming operations.

Russian press reports, citing unnamed officials, have alleged that Mikhailov was paid $10 million for information he handed over to foreign intelligence services.

Dockuchayev was also named in a 2017 U.S. Justice Department indictment related to the hack of hundreds of millions of Yahoo e-mail accounts.

Mikhailov was not named in those charges, though his role was identifiable from the details in the indictment.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-man- sentenced-in-treason-case-linked -to-fsb-cyberscandal/29855205.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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April 2, 2019

News Release

Press Operations

Release No. NR-077-19

United States, Lithuania Sign Defense Cooperation Plan

Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Kathryn Wheelbarger met with Lithuanian Policy Director Robertas Sapronas today at the Pentagon to sign the U.S.-Lithuania Defense Cooperation Strategic Roadmap.

The roadmap identifies specific security cooperation priorities the United States and Lithuania agreed to focus on from 2019 to 2024.

These areas include:

 Strengthening existing defense cooperation in training, exercises, and exchanges;

 Cooperating on deterrence and the security of the Baltic Sea region, including providing support to improve maritime domain awareness in the Baltic Sea;

 Improving intelligence-sharing, surveillance, and early-warning capabilities in the Baltic region;

 Cooperating in multinational operations;

 Focusing cyber security efforts toward building capabilities to deter and defend against malicious cyber intrusions and attacks.

During the U.S.-Baltic Strategic Dialogue in November 2018, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania each agreed to bilaterally develop Defense Cooperation Strategic Roadmaps with the United States.

The Lithuania Roadmap is the first of these agreements to be signed.

Activities to support the implementation of these roadmaps will be decided during upcoming military staff talks.

Since 2014, the United States has invested nearly $80 million for defense security cooperation in Lithuania, and Lithuania has committed more than $200 million in national funds to purchase U.S. defense articles.

Photos of the signing are available here: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/5232153/us-lithuania-sign-defense-cooperation-plan

https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1803624/

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April 2, 2019

News

By Jim Garamone

Defense.gov

A Short History of NATO

WASHINGTON -- On May 8, 1945, the guns in Europe fell silent. Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to the victorious allies  the United Kingdom, France, the United States and the Soviet Union.

For the moment, there was peace. World War II caused millions of deaths in Europe  military and civilian. This included Nazi Germany's systematic effort to effect the Final Solution and kill Jews and others they considered inferior.

The war was over in Europe, but it continued in the Pacific, and the U.S. Army  the largest and best-equipped force in the world at the time  was sending combat divisions to the war on Japan.

A New Worry

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant the end of World War II, but it also signalled the start of a new era and a new worry for the world.

In Europe, the Soviets and the Americans confronted each other from their occupation zones. Germany was divided into four zones, as was Berlin, the German capital that was squarely in the Soviet zone.

The Soviets wanted Germany to be the communist centerpiece of Europe. With Germany a Soviet satellite, dictator Josef Stalin could see western Europe falling under the domination of the USSR.

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was among the first to warn of the Soviet danger. On March 5, 1946, in Fulton, Missouri, Churchill sounded the warning. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent," he said. "Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow."

Some dismissed the British statesman. Others heeded him. The Soviet Union's own actions left little doubt of their intentions. The Soviet Union launched a coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948, placed a communist government in power in Poland and extended its sway to every Eastern European country it occupied since 1945.

In June 1948, the Soviet imposed a land blockade of Berlin in hopes of starving the Western allies out of Berlin.

A Search for Peace

In response, the allies launched the Berlin Airlift  a nonviolent strike back at an aggressor. No country had ever tried to resupply a city by air before, but the Western allies  the U.S., the U.K and France  succeeded.

This was the backdrop as talks proceeded on the North Atlantic Treaty in early 1949. The clear Soviet provocations created the urgency for collective defense of Western Europe.

The European nations were still clawing their way out of the destruction of WWII, and to be credible, any collective defense agreement had to include the U.S. and Canada. Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the U.K. joined their transatlantic allies in signing the treaty, April 4, 1949, in Washington.

From the beginning, the treaty was a defensive alliance. "By this treaty, we are not only seeking to establish freedom from aggression and from the use of force in the North Atlantic community, but we are also actively striving to promote and preserve peace throughout the world," U.S. President Harry S. Truman said about the North Atlantic Treaty.

The goal was to defend the North Atlantic region. The nations sought to block Soviet expansion into Western Europe. The key to the treaty was  and is  Article 5. That article states "The parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all."

Deterrence

The treaty put teeth in deterrence in Europe. An attack on West Germany or France would be met by an alliance backed with the tremendous power of the United States military. This served the nations in good stead. The only time the alliance invoked Article 5 was in response to the terror attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

The headquarters for the alliance was in France, and the first secretary general was Britain's Lord Ismay. General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower was NATO's first supreme commander in Europe.

The Soviet Union gathered its subject states in Central and Eastern Europe and formed the Warsaw Pact in response to NATO.

Public support for the alliance has ebbed and flowed throughout its history, but internally, the nations were as one in their decisions. In 1952, Greece and Turkey joined the alliance. In 1955, West Germany joined. In 1982, Spain formally joined the alliance.

Testing the Alliance

The Soviets tested NATO in a number of ways. In 1956, the Soviets brutally put down the Hungarian revolution. Thousands of people escaped to the West as Soviet tanks confronted demonstrators in Budapest.

East Germany was bleeding people throughout the 1950s as there was no hard border in the occupied city of Berlin. East Germans could simply walk into West Berlin and freedom. In 1961, the Soviet-backed East German government built the Berlin Wall. It was a time of rising tensions between the superpowers, and Berlin could have been a flashpoint. The wall stopped most of the exodus, but never really sealed off the West from those wishing to escape communist rule.

The Prague Spring of 1968 in Czechoslovakia looked promising. The communist government of the nation looked to give people basic human rights. The Soviets rolled into the city and crushed the nascent renaissance.

In the 1980s, Polish workers looked for more rights and freedoms and those in Gdansk demonstrated against Soviet control.

Through all this, the alliance remained strong. It was more than a military pact; it became a symbol of freedom to the people of Europe and the cornerstone of America's commitment to freedom on the Continent.

Looking for Freedom

And it worked. On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at the Berlin Wall. He called on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." The economic foundations of the Soviet Union and the military ties among the Warsaw Pact nations were already crumbling when Reagan made the speech, and a little more than two years later, the Berlin Wall did come down  breached by joyous Germans both East and West. It was followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Many people assumed that, with the fall of the Soviet Union, that the NATO alliance would itself dissolve.

But the alliance adapted. Leaders on the continent saw the need of the organization to maintain peace and to act collectively.

The first case was in the Balkans. When Yugoslavia broke apart, NATO peacekeepers stepped in to maintain peace in an unstable part of the world. Russia provided troops to the NATO effort and worked alongside American forces to keep the peace. There are still NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo today.

And nations that were once under the Soviet boot now sought to join NATO. In March 1999, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined NATO  the first former Warsaw Pact nations to do so. They were followed in 2004 by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

In 2009, Albania and Croatia joined, and then Montenegro in 2017. North Macedonia is well on its way to completing the accession process and should join later this year.

Invoking Article 5

In 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 of its founding treaty for the first time. Member nations responded together to the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

The alliance reached out to North African and Middle East nations to strengthen their institutions and help them build conditions where young men would not be driven to extremism.

Today, the NATO nations work together in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The lessons the forces have learned in 70 years of the alliance also serve when nations work together individually in other areas of the world.

In August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and occupied two provinces in the small country. NATO protested the illegal occupation.

In 2014, Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine and continues to provide fighters in Eastern Ukraine, and NATO has met Russian aggression with resolve.

The alliance members still dream of a Europe "whole and free" as President George H.W. Bush said in 1989.

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Yemeni FM urges UN to let ships carrying food dock in ports

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 2, IRNA -- Yemeni foreign minister said that the United Nations has stopped giving permission to the ships for entering Yemen's ports.

Hisham-Sharaf, foreign minister of Yemeni government called on the UN to give permissions for the ships carrying food consignments to dock in Yemeni ports, acording to al-Mayadeen.

Describing the Arab League role as negative role in Yemen war and blockade, he also condemned the final statement of the summit on Sunday, and said that such statement indicates the body is ignoring the realities, including pains and suffering of Yemeni people.

The Arab League in the statement denounced self-defense of Yemeni forces in face of the Saudi Arabia attacks instead of condemning the raids by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi against the Yemeni civilians.

Since 2015 that the war was waged by Saudi Arabia and its allies thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, were killed or maimed in air raids on non-military targets or by the cluster munition remnants.

UN once put Saudi Arabia on the blacklist of child killers, but it retreated from the measure as a result of pressures by Riyadh.

The poor Arab country has also been under all-out blockade for the past four years. Humanitarian groups and organizations have repeatedly warned on widespread acute malnutrition among Yemeni children and dire humanitarian situation in the country.

9156**1424

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According to the reports released to the Tribune as part of a public records request, Edward R. Brown told police he was on his way home from work Dec. 17 when he found a KelTec .380-caliber pistol in a black fanny pack in an alley at 101st Street and Vernon Avenue. He went to the nearby Metra station, ascended to the tracks and fired the handgun into the air and toward a local school.NATO Secretary General thanks President Trump for his strong leadership

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

02 Apr. 2019

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the White House on Tuesday (2 April 2019) for a meeting with US President Donald Trump. The Secretary General thanked President Trump for his strong leadership and commitment to NATO.

The two leaders discussed progress in the fight against terrorism and efforts to ensure fairer burden sharing within the Alliance. "We have increased the readiness of our forces, we have stepped up in our joint fight against terrorism and we are investing more," said the Secretary General. He stressed that Europe and North America are doing more together, and European Allies and Canada are expected to add $100 billion more to their defence budgets by the end of next year. The Secretary General is in Washington D.C. for the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Alliance.



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Ike Completes Sea Trials

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS190402-08

Release Date: 4/2/2019 12:21:00 PM

From USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) successfully completed its Sea Trials April 1.

"Sea Trials was successful well beyond expectations," said Capt. Kyle Higgins, Ike's commanding officer. "Our investment in our ship paid off and now the real work begins: getting the flight deck certified so we start doing what this warship was built to do - launch and recover aircraft."

Ike departed Naval Station Norfolk March 28, returning to sea for the first time since August 2017. The ship conducted the Sea Trials off the Virginia coast alongside engineers and shipyard employees from Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY), running through a checklist of evolutions, including conducting small-boat operations, testing countermeasure wash-down systems, executing high-speed turns, and testing catapults.

While shipyard workers tested out systems, Sailors evaluated their readiness to become an operational crew, conducting numerous drills to test their mettle in various areas such as damage control, deck seamanship and flight deck operations.

Additionally, Sea Trials allowed the crew to encounter real-life scenarios while navigating the open ocean, something that is hard to replicate while in port.

"These five days made our bridge teams much more proficient and allowed us to carefully evaluate our strengths and weaknesses so we can continue to improve," said Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Sanders, Ike's assistant navigator.

The five-day event required coordination from the entire ship, with maintenance-heavy departments like engineering taking on an increased workload in order to ensure the ship's systems were operational.

"I think a successful Sea Trials had a lot to do with coordination from all of engineering department and its divisions," said Machinist Mate 1st Class Robert Howard, from San Diego. "We spent our availability period planning, training and working day in and day out for this moment and when it came, we executed."

With Sea Trials complete, Ike begins the basic phase of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP). From there the training becomes more focused and intense, Higgins also said.

"We still have a long way to go, but with sea trials behind us, we are motivated to charge forward," he said. "We will continue to train and strive to be better, to be greater each day."

Carrier Strike Group 10, also known as the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, includes the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D, Eisenhower (CVN 69), the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Monterey (CG 61), USS San Jacinto (CG 56), and USS Vella Gulf (CG 72); the ships and staff of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26; and the squadrons and staff of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3.

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Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigns

Iran Press TV

Tue Apr 2, 2019 10:05PM

Algeria's ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has announced his resignation with immediate effect, following months of protests against his rule.

State television announced on Tuesday that Bouteflika "officially advised the Constitutional Council of the end of his term of office as president of the republic."

The 82-year-old had been in power for the past 20 years, but was reportedly in poor health and had rarely appeared in public after suffering a stroke in 2013.

Based on the Algerian constitution, the speaker of the upper house of parliament should act as interim leader for up to 90 days to organize a presidential election following an official resignation of the president.

The resignation came a few hours after the military had demanded the president's impeachment, dismissing the presidential office's announcement a day earlier that Bouteflika would resign before his mandate runs out towards the end of this month.

In the military statement issued earlier today, Armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah called for "the immediate application of the constitutional procedure for removing the head of state from power."

The announced resignation prompted celebrations as crowds gathered and car horns sounded in the streets of the capital city of Algiers.

Mass protests began across the country after Bouteflika announced his bid for a fifth term in office in February. Under increasing pressure, the Algerian president ultimately dropped his bid for another term, but protests continued, demanding that he step down.

The protesters have expressed their disapproval of the country's old political system, which is dominated by veterans of the 1954-1962 independence war against France, who include the newly resigned president.

Opponents have cited suspicion that the president had been kept in office to protect interests of the military and business elite.

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Philippines protests China's presence in disputed waters

Iran Press TV

Tue Apr 2, 2019 06:14AM

The Philippines says it has filed a diplomatic protest over the presence of more than 270 Chinese vessels near a Philippine-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told a news conference on Monday that the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had protested the presence of 275 Chinese boats spotted by the military near Thitu Island.

China has said the vessels are fishing boats.

"The mere fact that they are there and just staying there for a week, why, what are they doing there?" Panelo said, without providing details of when and where the protest had been filed.

Data provided by the Philippine military showed it had spotted 275 Chinese boats near Thitu between January and March this year.

Zhao Jianhua, China's ambassador to the Philippines said they were fishing boats and denied media reports that the fishermen were carrying guns. He said both Chinese and Filipino fishermen were present in the disputed waters.

Zhao also dismissed concerns about a potential armed conflict in the sea.

"We have been handling this issue [with the Philippines] through friendly diplomatic channels, so you don't need to worry about whether there will be any kind of outbreak of conflict," the Chinese diplomat said.

Meanwhile, the Philippines and the United States kicked off an annual joint military drill  involving roughly 7,500 troops  on Monday.

A Philippine military official, Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay, told reporters that the exercises were aimed at enhancing natural disasters response and "not directed to any threat or existing security concern," an apparent reference to China.

China and the Philippines have competing claims over territory in the South China Sea, through which five trillion dollars in shipping trade passes annually. There are also claims by Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Brunei.

Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US would come to the Philippines' defense in the event of a confrontation with China.

The US is allied to the Philippines by treaty.

But Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took power in 2016, has been more inclined toward China. Under his presidency, the territorial dispute with Beijing has been less emphasized.

Duterte, who has sought Chinese investment in his country, famously unleashed several diatribes against former US president Barack Obama and partially downgraded military ties with America.

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Top Venezuela court urges revocation of Guaido's immunity

Iran Press TV

Tue Apr 2, 2019 05:18AM

Venezuela's Supreme Court has urged the National Constituent Assembly to strip opposition figure Juan Guaido of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

In a ruling issued on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Maikel Moreno asked lawmakers to revoke the immunity that Guaido holds as a member of the National Assembly, even though the opposition-held body has been dissolved.

The ruling against Guaido was issued over his violation of a travel ban that was imposed against him by the Supreme Court back in January for his role in "serious crimes that threaten the constitutional order." The opposition figure visited Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Paraguay between late February and early March.

In January, Guaido abruptly declared himself "interim president," disputing the outcome of the May 2018 election, which President Nicolas Maduro won. He has been accusing Maduro of "usurping power" and calling on him to step down.

The court's decision could pave the way for the prosecution of Guaido, who is reportedly under investigation for inciting violence against the government and receiving illicit funds. It comes just days after Guaido was banned from holding public office for 15 years.

The United States and a number of its allies have endorsed Guaido's self-proclamation as "interim president" of Venezuela. The US has also imposed sanctions on Caracas, and has threatened it with potential military intervention to remove Maduro. Other countries have rejected this, calling for non-interference in Venezuelan affairs.

The political turmoil comes amid difficult living conditions in Venezuela. In March, three major blackouts hit Venezuela, leaving millions without electricity and water. The government has blamed the repeated blackouts on sabotage.

The power outage prompted Maduro to announce 30 days of electricity rationing on Sunday and replace the country's energy minister the next day.

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U.S. Special Envoy Holds Talks In Kabul Amid Continued Taliban Violence

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 02, 2019

The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban has held consultations in Kabul with Afghan government representatives.

Zalmay Khalilzad's trip to Afghanistan comes ahead of an expected new round of talks with the Taliban in Qatar's capital, Doha, reportedly due to begin in mid-April.

Previous talks in the Qatari capital, where the Taliban has a political office, concluded last month with Khalilzad saying "real strides" had been made in efforts meant to put an end to the almost 18-year conflict.

Fereydoun Khuzon, deputy spokesman for the Afghan presidential administration, told RFE/RL on April 1 that he expected the visit of U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to pave the way for the start of direct talks between the government and the Taliban.

Khalilzad, the chief negotiator with the Taliban, has held several rounds of peace talks with the militant group in Qatar. But the Western-backed government in Kabul has complained it is being left out of the negotiations, with the Taliban refusing to negotiate with what they consider "a U.S. puppet."

Khalilzad appears to have hit the ground trying to smooth those complaints and facilitate a peace process that brings all Afghan parties together in inclusive intra-Afghan negotiations.

"We discussed the urgency of making progress on intra-Afghan dialogue," Khalilzad tweeted on April 1 after meeting with government representatives with responsibility for the Afghan peace process.

He later wrote that he had "productive" talks with Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Foreign Minister Salah Rabbani, adding, "We discussed how the international community can best support them in an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" peace process.

The growing rift between Kabul and Washington over the talks with the Taliban erupted in public view on March 14, when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's national-security adviser harshly criticized Khalilzad, a veteran, Afghan-born U.S. diplomat.

During a visit to Washington, Hamdullah Mohib accused the U.S. envoy of "delegitimizing" the government by excluding it from the negotiations, acting like a "viceroy," and harboring personal ambitions in Afghanistan.

Despite being engaged in talks with the United States, the Taliban continues to stage major attacks on Afghan security forces.

At least 19 Afghan soldiers were killed in a series of Taliban attacks in the Badghis and Sar-e Pul provinces, officials said on April 1.

The militant group's military success has given them considerable leverage in political talks, the peace advocacy organization International Crisis Group says.

With reporting by dpa and Tolo News

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-special-envoy- arrives-in-kabul-ahead-of-new-round -of-peace-talks/29854696.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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Interview: U.S. Envoy Plays Down Tensions With Kabul, Hopes For Peace This Year

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 02, 2019

KABUL -- The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban has played down recent tensions with the Western-backed Kabul government, telling RFE/RL that he hopes 2019 will be the "year of peace."

In an interview in the Afghan capital on April 1, Zalmay Khalilzad said there was a "chance and readiness for peace."

Khalilzad has held several rounds of peace talks with the militant group in Qatar. But the Afghan government has complained it is being left out of the negotiations, with the Taliban refusing to deal with what they call a "U.S. puppet."

A rift between Kabul and Washington over the talks with the Taliban erupted into public view in March, when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's national-security adviser harshly criticized Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran U.S. diplomat.

Khalilzad said relations with Kabul remained "good" and he was doing his "best" to keep the government informed of progress in U.S.-Taliban negotiations.

"I have always told the president that he has my phone number, that I'm at his service, and I can address any questions or issues he has," Khalilzad told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan in the interview.

Hamdullah Mohib, Ghani's national-security adviser, on March 14 accused the U.S. envoy of "delegitimizing" the government by excluding it from the negotiations, acting like a "viceroy," and harboring personal ambitions in Afghanistan.

Reports in the U.S. media said American officials have ended contacts with Mohib, who did not meet Khalilzad during his trip to Kabul on April 1.

The U.S. envoy met with Ghani, Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, and key power brokers during his trip.

"I don't want to say anything about the issue with Mr. Mohib," said Khalilzad. "America has made its decision about this."

Khalilzad said it was "time" to end the nearly 18-year war.

"I hope this year will be the year for peace in Afghanistan," he said. "Afghans are tired of the war. So, too, is the world. The war has raged for a long time."

He added: "The Taliban says it cannot win the war and is ready for a political settlement. America says war is not the solution and a political solution is needed. And the [Afghan] government says the same thing. Eventually, there will have to be some give and takes so the sides can come to an agreement and end the war."

Basic Framework

During a round of talks in Doha in January, U.S. and Taliban negotiators reached the basic framework of a potential peace deal in which the militants would prevent international terrorist groups from basing themselves in Afghanistan in exchange for a withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

After a round of talks that ended in early March, Khalilzad said "real strides" were made on those two issues.

Less progress has been made on two other core issues -- a cease-fire in Afghanistan and an intra-Afghan dialogue that would include the Taliban and government representatives.

"The Taliban says the issue of a cease-fire will only be addressed when talks among Afghans begin," he said. "But we are hopeful that intra-Afghan talks will start as soon as possible and that we can agree to de-escalate the war."

Khalilzad said it would be ideal if a peace agreement could be clinched before Afghanistan's presidential election slated for September. But he said preparations should be made for holding the election in which Ghani is seeking re-election.

"It would be good if there was a [peace] agreement between the Taliban and Afghanistan before the election," he said. "And whatever [deal] is agreed among Afghans, including the government, should be applied."

Khalilzad's trip to Afghanistan came ahead of an expected new round of talks with the Taliban in Qatar's capital, Doha, reportedly due to begin in mid-April.

Before his Kabul trip, Khalilzad visited Britain and Belgium. He is expected to travel to Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Jordan before ending his trip in Qatar.

The State Department said that Khalilzad's March 25-April 10 trip was "part of the overall effort to facilitate a peace process that brings all Afghan parties together in inclusive intra-Afghan negotiations."

Despite being engaged in talks with the United States, the Taliban continues to stage major attacks on Afghan security forces.

At least 19 Afghan soldiers were killed in a series of Taliban attacks in the Badghis and Sar-e Pul provinces, officials said on April 1.

The militant group's military success has given them considerable leverage in political talks.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-khalizad- interview-u-s-envoy-tensions-kabul/29856891.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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Afghan Official Says Taliban Killed Eight Soldiers In Northern Attack

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 02, 2019

An Afghan official says the Taliban killed at least eight members of the country's security forces after attacking a checkpoint in the northern Balkh Province.

Adil Shah Adil, the police spokesman in Balkh, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afganistan on April 2 that five other security service personnel were injured in the overnight clash, which took place in the Sholgara district.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, though Adil blamed the extremist Taliban group. The Taliban is quite active in Sholgara and has struck several checkpoints in that district.

Adil said the Taliban also suffered casualties in the long shoot-out that followed the attack, though he did not know how many.

The Taliban has stepped up attacks against Afghan officials and security forces around the country despite the group's officials holding talks with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Kabul in an effort to reach a peace agreement to end the country's 17-year war.

Meanwhile, Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said on April 2 that Afghan forces had retaken control of the Arghanj Khaw district in the northeast province of Badakhshan.

The district had fallen to the Taliban on March 30 after heavy fighting that killed at least 12 Afghan troops.

With reporting by AP and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghan-official- says-taliban-killed-eight-soldiers-in- northern-attack/29856867.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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Greek PM In Skopje To Boost Defense, Economic Ties -- And For A Selfie

April 02, 2019

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has received a warm welcome in North Macedonia, just months after the two neighbors settled a decades-long dispute over the former Yugoslav republic's name.

The one-day trip on April 2 is the first time a Greek leader has visited Greece's northern neighbor since it became independent in 1991.

Tsipras was greeted by Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska at the airport in Skopje airport before being taken to government headquarters to meet Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

As a sign of a potential new era in relations, the two leaders posed, smiling, as they took a selfie outside the building.

Zaev called it a "truly historic day" as he posted the photo to Twitter.

"Happy moments for an even happier future for the peoples of our friendly countries," he wrote.

The two men signed a series of agreements before holding a joint news conference, during which Tsipras said: "We have lost a lot of time and now we must rapidly catch up."

"We want to build a strong bond of trust and stability," he added.

"It is a milestone to be leaving all these difficulties behind," Zaev said. "We have showed Europe and the world that with bold decisions anything is possible.

Tsipras and Zaev reached a deal in 2018 to add "North" to Macedonia's name, an agreement that will likely pave the way for Skopje's eventual membership in NATO -- most likely later this year or early 2020  and the European Union.

The agreement came into force in February following ratification by both parliaments despite heavy opposition from nationalist critics who said their respective sides were making too many concessions.

Greece had objected to its neighbor's use of "Macedonia," because of the northern Greek province of the same name.

'Historic Visit'

Tsipras traveled to North Macedonia with 10 Greek cabinet ministers and more than 20 business representatives as the two countries look to increase trade and defense ties.

"This visit is historic," Tsipras told the state-run MIA news agency on April 1, saying the future would see the countries as "partners and allies."

"It is our responsibility -- mine and Zoran's -- to show that our nations can only benefit from the path that is now open," he said.

Prior to the Tsipras' arrival, Zaev told the AFP news agency that some 500 million euros in new Greek investment would come to the smaller, poorer Balkan country as a result of the historic agreement and the new relationship.

"North Macedonia will have huge economic benefits from the deal that I believe will be seen in every area of the economy," he said.

Greek forces are also set to assist in the policing and protection of North Macedonian airspace.

Tsipras and Zaev have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize because of their efforts to narrow their countries' differences.

With reporting by AFP, The Greek Times, dpa, AP, and the BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/greece-s-tsipras-in- skopje-to-boost-defense-economic-ties- and-a-selfie/29857113.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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NATO To Discuss Black Sea Presence This Week, Russia's 'Aggressive' Actions

By RFE/RL April 02, 2019

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the alliance will discuss this week its "next steps" in response to Russia's continued violation of a key Cold War-era nuclear arms-control agreement, as well as its presence in the Black Sea region in the face of Russian "aggressive behavior."

NATO foreign ministers will gather in the U.S. capital on April 4 to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of Western military alliance's founding Washington Treaty.

The talks are expected to focus largely on relations with Russia, which have been severely strained over a variety of issues including Moscow's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and its support for separatist militants in the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has cost some 13,000 lives over five years.

Stoltenberg told journalists in Brussels on April 1 that the NATO ministers will "begin by addressing NATO's relations with Russia," which he said "continues to violate" the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The INF Treaty, the first of its kind to eliminate an entire class of missiles, banned the United States and Russia from developing, producing, and deploying ground-launched cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.

The United States in February suspended participation in the bilateral accord because of what it says is Russia's development and deployment of a missile system that violates the pact. Moscow, which denies the accusation, later followed suit.

"These missiles are hard to detect, lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, and make us all less safe," Stoltenberg said. "Russia continues to defy our calls to return to compliance with the INF Treaty, and time is running out, so we will discuss NATO's next steps."

He has said that the alliance has no plan to deploy new ground-launched nuclear weapons in Europe.

Speaking at a joint news conference with U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison, the NATO chief also said that he expects the ministers to "agree new measures to improve our situational awareness in the [Black Sea] region and to step up NATO's support for both Georgia and Ukraine."

Stoltenberg said the measures will include the training of maritime forces and coastguards, port visits, exercises, and sharing of information.

NATO is "concerned by Russia's pattern of aggressive behavior, including its ongoing actions against Ukraine and the seizure" of three Ukrainian vessels and their 24 crew members near the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea and Sea of Azov in November.

NATO has demanded the immediate release of the detained crew members, as well as free access for Ukrainian vessels to the country's ports in the Sea of Azov.

Hutchison said the NATO foreign ministers will talk about "what Russia is doing to destabilize Ukraine -- most certainly from the Kerch Straits -- as well as the illegal invasion of Crimea and the militarization of Crimea."

The ministers will also discuss "ways to continue to build our deterrence and defense against Russian aggression, whether it is hybrid, cyber or chemical warfare," the U.S. ambassador added.

NATO's role in the fight against terrorism and the ongoing issue of defense spending are also expected to be high on the agenda of the April 4 Washington meeting.

On April 2, Stoltenberg is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and address Congress.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-to-discuss- black-sea-presence-this-week-russia-s- aggressive-actions/29855090.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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Lorena Viveros stood outside on the sidewalk with a blue ribbon she made herself fastened in her hair. Viveros said she made it to honor the police force and said she also decorated her home with blue ribbons in honor of Rivera. Viveros, who lives in the East Side neighborhood, said Riveras death affected her because she has a son who is the same age as Rivera.NATO Ministers In Washington For Two-Day Meeting Dedicated To The Bloc's 70th Anniversary

April 02, 2019

Foreign ministers from NATO's 29 member countries are scheduled to open a two-day meeting in Washington on April 3 to honor the alliance's 70th anniversary and discuss security threats, including Russia and Afghanistan.

Ahead of the gathering, U.S. President Donald Trump on April 2 met NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg at the White House and pressed his demands that the allies do more to pay for their own defense.

Stoltenberg is scheduled to address Congress on April 3, the first NATO secretary-general to do so.

NATO foreign ministers are due to attend a reception at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, where President Harry S. Truman hosted the original 12 member nations that signed the accord establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949.

On April 4, the foreign ministers will hold meetings at the State Department, with a first session focusing on Russia.

They are expected to endorse a set of measures in the Black Sea to improve NATO's defenses in the region.

The situation in Afghanistan as well as the demise of a landmark arms-control treaty that the United States and Russia signed in the last years of the Cold War, and NATO member Turkey's decision to buy a Russian surface-to-air missile system, will also be on the agenda.

The Russian system is not compatible with NATO systems and is considered a threat to U.S. F-35 aircraft.

On April 2, Trump praised member countries for increasing their financial contributions to NATO, but said the United States still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

"We are protecting countries that have taken advantage of the United States," Trump said. "The United States pays for a disproportionate share of NATO," Trump said, adding: "We just want fairness."

Trump has called on NATO allies to increase their defense spending to the agreed level of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and even much higher. He said during his meeting with Stoltenberg that most nations are missing the target, although he cited progress.

Stoltenberg thanked Trump for his "strong commitment to NATO" and for his leadership in getting member nations to increase their commitments.

Spending by the 29 NATO countries, which dropped after the end of the Cold War, has actually been on the rise since 2014 -- before Trump took office.

After Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, allies agreed to boost defense spending and "move toward" spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. The U.S. spends 3.4 percent of its GDP on defense.

Trump singled out Germany, which recently announced plans to increase defense spending to 1.25 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2023 -- a revision of Chancellor Angela Merkel's pledge last year to hit 1.5 per cent by 2024.

"Germany honestly is not paying their fair share," the U.S. president said, sitting next to Stoltenberg.

Trump has at times voiced doubts about NATO -- in particular Article 5, its mutual defense clause, which stipulates that an attack against one NATO ally will be regarded as an attack against all.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/29857544.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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NATO Chief Meets Trump As U.S. President Calls For Increased Defense Spending

By RFE/RL April 02, 2019

WASHINGTON -- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for his "strong commitment" to the military alliance, while the president pressed his demands that the allies do more to pay for their own defense.

Trump, in his April 2 meeting at the White House with the NATO chief, also said he hopes for better relations with Russia.

He asserted that the West has "made great strides" in Afghanistan, although he referred to the nearly 18-year-long war there as "unfortunate" and "ridiculous."

Stoltenberg, who is in Washington to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of Western military alliance's founding Washington Treaty, said Trump's call for increased "burden-sharing" among members has led to increased defense spending within NATO.

"We are doing more together now than has been done for many, many years," he said.

"NATO is a strong alliance, but to remain a strong alliance we have to be fair. And therefore allies have to invest more in defense," the NATO chief said.

Trump, who has called on NATO allies to increase their defense spending to the agreed level of 2 percent of gross domestic product and even much higher, said most nations are missing the target, although he cited progress.

With Stoltenberg by his side, Trump said that "we've worked together in getting some of our allies to pay their fair share. It's called burden-sharing."

"We are very proud of what's happened in the past couple of years...a tremendous amount of additional money was invested by other [NATO] nations," he added.

Trump singled out Germany, one of the closest allies of the United States, for failing to live up to its promises on spending.

"They're not paying what they should be paying. They're paying close to 1 percent. They're supposed to be paying 2 percent," he said.

'We Just Want Fairness'

The U.S. military is protecting Europe, he said, but "we are protecting countries that have taken advantage of the United States."

"The U.S. pays for a disproportionate share of NATO. We just want fairness."

After comments made earlier in the day by his administration that Russia remains "a threat to the alliance and the United States," the president said he is seeking a better relationship with Moscow.

"I hope we have a good relationship with Russia," Trump said. "I think we'll get along with Russia."

In an earlier briefing with reporters, a senior State Department official said the threat posed by Russia to the West and the United States will be a main topic of discussion when foreign ministers from NATO nations meet in Washington on April 4.

"Russia will be a topic of discussion at the ministerial [meeting]," the official said. "It isa threat to the alliance and to the United States."

Relations between Russia and the West have been severely strained over a variety of issues including Moscow's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and its support for separatist militants in the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has cost some 13,000 lives over five years.

Speaking on April 1, Stoltenberg said he expects the NATO ministers to "agree new measures to improve our situational awareness in the [Black Sea] region and to step up NATO's support for both Georgia and Ukraine."

He said the alliance will also discuss its "next steps" in response to what he called Russia's continued violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between Moscow and Washington.

On Afghanistan, the State Department official said future decisions on troop levels will depend on the outcome of peace talks with the Taliban.

The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, is conducting negotiations with representatives of the militant group in Qatar in an effort to end the war that began after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/stoltenberg- trump-press-increased-defense-spending -by-nato/29857508.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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Washington, Manila Considering US Rocket System to Counter China - Report

Sputnik News

22:16 02.04.2019

Officials from the US and the Philippines are reportedly in talks to discuss the possible deployment of the American high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) in a bid to counter China's continued militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea.

Regional security experts recently informed the South China Morning Post that while talks are ongoing, both countries have failed to obtain a deal on account of costs running a little too high for government officials in Manila.

In the event that an agreement between the two powers is signed, one expert told the publication that the Lockheed Martin rocket system would be able to easily target China's artificial islands in the Spratly chain thanks to its ability to zero in on objects up to 190 miles away.

"For US Army Pacific, the M142 HIMARS is a capability within our organization, specifically the 17th Field Artillery Brigade that we train and use to maintain our overall war-fighting readiness," Derrick Cheng, spokesperson for the US Army Pacific, which operates the rocket system in the region, told the Post.

"The brigade and its role as a multi-domain task force is part of our effort to integrate capabilities and evolve the concept of multi-domain operations."

Cheng did not comment on reports that the US and the Philippines were in talks to deploy the HIMARS.

In late March 2019, during a media roundtable discussion regarding rotational, short-term troop deployments in the Pacific, Gen. James McConville, the vice chief of staff of the US Army, indicated that the US wasn't necessarily "at the point of placing long-range precision" weaponry in the region, but that it's likely up for discussion with partner nations.

The Center for New American Security released a report on March 20, urging the US to deploy the HIMARS across countries in the region in order to "demonstrate the flexibility and variability of America's rotational military presence."

Patrick Cronin, one of the lead authors of the CNAS report, stressed to the Post that the HIMARS "would be better against a fixed target, such as an artificial island."

The South China Sea has long been a thorn in the side of US-China relations, with Washington repeatedly criticizing Beijing for moving weapons onto artificial islands of the Spratly archipelago for what it calls national defense purposes.

Two months prior to his December 2018 departure from the Trump administration, Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters that the US would continue to "fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows and our national interests demand." At the time, he also stressed that the US "cannot accept [China's] militarization of the South China Sea or any coercion in this region."

Despite threats from China that it is willing to use military force to protect its claims, the US military stuck to the protocol, disregarding China's warnings and continuing to pass through the contested waters as part of freedom of navigation operations. Most recently, the US flew two B-52 bombers over the East China Sea for an "integration training" operation with the US Air Force, US Navy and the Japan Air Self-Defense Forces.

 Sputnik

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Algeria's President Bouteflika Resigns - Reports

Sputnik News

21:50 02.04.2019(updated 22:16 02.04.2019)

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has submitted his resignation, the country's state news agency APS reported on Tuesday.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika has officially notified the president of the country's Constitutional Council about the decision to end up his term as the President of the Republic.

A meeting of the Constitutional Council is due to take place soon to discuss Bouteflika's petition to resign.

Last week, Algerian Army Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah said in a televised address that Bouteflika should be declared unable to govern under Article 102 of the country's constitution.

Article 102 suggests that a president suffering from a serious long-term illness is unable to fulfill his responsibilities, so, in this case, the Constitutional Council, after verification, can ask the parliament to consider vacating the presidency.

The resignation comes amid nationwide rallies as people went out on the streets to protest against Bouteflika's intention to run for the fifth term in the upcoming presidential election. Reacting on the protests, Bouteflika said that he would not run for a new term and postponed the election, but a new date has not been set yet.

 Sputnik

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Maduro Announces Establishment of Power Supply Headquarters After Blackouts

Sputnik News

10:17 02.04.2019

CARACAS (Sputnik) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced the creation of headquarters on electrical power supplies, which will be headed by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, in the wake of the recent blackouts in the country.

"I inform you that the power supply headquarters presided by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez will be reactivated. Similar headquarters will be re-established in all states across the country. They will be headed by [local] governors] and will work on a daily basis," Maduro said, as broadcast by local television channels.

The president also announced the creation of an executive secretariat on security under the headquarters, which will be led by Interior and Justice Minister Nestor Reverol.

In early March, Venezuela suffered its worst power outage in history, when as many as 21 out of 23 states were left without power. Venezuela's national electricity supplier, Corpoelec, said that the incident had been caused by "sabotage" at the Guri hydroelectric power plant, which generates electricity for nearly all of the country.

Major power outages continued across the country later in March, with Caracas saying that the country's power system had suffered several attacks. Maduro, in particular, mentioned "electromagnetic attacks" on power transmission lines.

 Sputnik

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3 Pakistani Soldiers Killed as Heavy Firing Continues Between India and Pakistan

Sputnik News

09:59 02.04.2019(updated 12:00 02.04.2019)

The two nuclear-armed nations have been embroiled in sporadic fighting since mid-February, when a Pakistan-based terror group attacked an army convoy and killed at least 40 Indian soldiers in Kashmir's Pulwama district.

New Delhi (Sputnik): Three Pakistani soldiers were killed and one was critically injured amid cross-border gunfire and and shelling between India and Pakistan on Tuesday. One Indian soldier was also killed, while five others sustained injuries in the hostilities, which flared up on Monday. The exchange of fire between the two armies has spread to more areas along the line of control (de facto border).

"Three brave sons of soil laid their lives in the line of duty. Indian troops resorted to unprovoked fire in Rakhchakri, Rawalakot Sector along Line of Control(LoC)," Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan(ISPR) said.

The deceased soldiers were identified as Subedar Muhammad Riaz, Lance Havaldar Aziz Ullah and Sepoy Shahid Mansib. Pakistani media reports claim that one elderly man was also killed and five other local Pakistanis, including two women, were injured in the attack.

Tuesday marks the second consecutive day of heavy firing and shelling between the two nuclear-armed nations. Earlier on Monday, an Indian border guard was killed and four others wounded in shelling across the border in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. According to media reports, a 5-year-old was killed in Jammu in yesterday's exchange of fire, while many others have sustained injuries on both sides.

After the terror attack in Pulwama, the Indian Air Force conducted an airstrike on an alleged terror camp in Balakot inside Pakistan on 26 February, which resulted, the following day, in the first dogfight between the two nation's warplanes in five decades. Pakistan claimed that two Indian fighter jets were shot down in the clash while India contradicts the Pakistani claim, saying that an Indian MiG-21 Bison was downed along with a Pakistani F-16.

 Sputnik

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Venezuelan Supreme Court Urges Lawmakers to Strip Guaido's Immunity

Sputnik News

02:12 02.04.2019(updated 06:22 02.04.2019)

CARACAS (Sputnik) - The Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice on Monday called on the Constituent Assembly to strip opposition leader Juan Guaido of parliamentary immunity.

"[The court] orders to hand a certified copy of this decision to the head of the national Constituent Assembly in order to recall the parliamentary immunity of Juan Gerardo Guaido Marquez," Supreme Court Justice Maikel Moreno said.

The announcement of the court decision was aired by local television broadcasters.

The court also confirmed the ban for the opposition leader to leave the country without a permission and found him guilty of contempt for the government.

"The court had previously banned Guaido from traveling abroad without the permission of the court. It is well known that he violated this ban," the court ruling read.

Moreover, the court confirmed its previous decision on blocking of Guaido's bank accounts and other financial tools on the Venezuelan territory.

Venezuela has been facing an acute political crisis since January 5, when Guaido was elected the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which all other government branches have been refusing to recognize since 2016. On January 23, two days after the Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled his election, Guaido declared himself the country's "interim president." Venezuelan President Maduro, who was sworn in for his second presidential term on January 10 after winning the May election, which part of the opposition boycotted, qualified Guaido's move as an attempt to stage a coup orchestrated by Washington.

The United States immediately recognized Guaido, after which some 50 other countries followed suit. Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and a number of other states have, in the meantime, voiced their support for the legitimate government under Maduro. Mexico and Uruguay have refused to recognize Guaido, instead declaring themselves neutral and promoting crisis settlement via dialogue.

 Sputnik

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Pentagon Working on Secondary Supply Sources for Turkish-Made F-35 Parts

Sputnik News

00:52 02.04.2019

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Defence Department is searching for new sources to replace Turkish-made F-35 aircraft parts after Washington suspended activities associated with Turkey's F-35 operational capability, Pentagon spokesperson Charles Summers said in a statement.

"The United States has been clear that Turkey's acquisition of the S-400 is unacceptable," Summers said on Monday. "Therefore, the DoD has initiated steps necessary to ensure prudent program planning and resiliency of the F-35 supply chain. Secondary sources of supply for Turkish-produced parts are now in development."

The Pentagon said on Monday that the United States suspended deliveries and activities associated with Turkey's F-35 operational capability due to Ankara's decision to purchase the Russian missile defence systems.

"We very much regret the current situation facing our F-35 partnership with Turkey, and the DoD is taking prudent steps to protect the shared investments made in our critical technology," Summers said on Monday. "Our important dialogue on this matter will continue, however, until they forgo delivery of the S-400, the United States has suspended deliveries and activities associated with the stand-up of Turkey's F-35 operational capability. Should Turkey procure the S-400, their continued participation in the F-35 program is at risk."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided not to abandon plans to buy the Russian system despite US claims that the S-400s may compromise the security of their F-35s. Commenting on the planned purchase, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara purchases Russia's S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems for its own needs and there will be no reselling. According to the Turkish official, Ankara will receive the military equipment from Moscow in July.

 Sputnik

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Afghan Forces Reclaim Key District From Taliban

By Ayaz Gul April 02, 2019

Authorities in Afghanistan say a military-led counteroffensive has evicted the Taliban from a strategically important district in northeastern Badakhshan province, inflicting heavy casualties on retreating insurgents.

The Taliban had late last week overrun Arghanj Khwa, located in the vicinity of the provincial capital of Faizabad, disrupting links with at least 10 other districts in the mountainous Afghan province near the border with Pakistan and China.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said in a tweet the clearance operation in the district ended Tuesday, killing at least 14 insurgents and injuring several others. A provincial government spokesman, Naik Mohammad Nazari, told VOA airstrikes against Taliban positions forced the insurgents to retreat from the district.

The Taliban claimed its fighters "abandoned" Arghanj Khwa and took new positions about a kilometer away after transferring all seized military-related equipment from the district.

"Enemy claims of retaking the district headquarters in a military operation and causing (Taliban) casualties is fabrications," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid asserted in a brief statement sent to journalists.

The Taliban, which controls or contests more than 50 percent of Afghan territory, has stepped up attacks on Afghan forces across many provinces in recent weeks, reportedly killing or injuring hundreds of security forces in March. Two American special forces troops were also among the battlefield fatalities.

Afghan officials cite preemptive counter-Taliban offensive operations this year ahead of spring fighting season for an intensification in clashes and increased casualties. The offensives, they say, have killed scores of insurgents.

Continued Afghan hostilities are also causing record levels of civilian casualties after more than 3,800 Afghan civilians were killed in 2018, the highest number of fatalities in the past 10 years.

US-Taliban talks

The spike in violence comes as U.S. and Taliban representatives are expected to start a new round of negotiations later this month in search for a political settlement to the Afghan war.

Both the sides reported progress at the end of the last round of talks concluded in early March. The issues in focus were a timeline for the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and Taliban's assurances to disallow terrorist groups from plotting international attacks from the country.

"No date has been fixed for the next meeting (with the U.S. team) as of this moment. But we believe it would certainly happen because a continued dialogue process could only lead to a resolution of the problem," a senior Taliban official told VOA Tuesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

"There is no other option because the other option is war and that has been going on for the past 18 years," said the insurgent official.

U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad is visiting Kabul where he met with President Ashraf Ghani and prominent Afghan opposition leaders as well as civil society representatives to share with them details of his talks with the Taliban before his next meeting with insurgent negotiators. Khalilzad has emphasized that Afghan leaders in and outside of the government need to form an inclusive negotiating team for a peace dialogue with the Taliban.

"While Afghans alone will decide the composition of their delegation for talks, women must be at the table during all negotiations about peace and Afghanistan's future," the Afghan-born U.S. diplomat tweeted Monday.

Khalilzad has repeatedly said any final agreement with the Taliban will be linked to a comprehensive cease-fire and intra-Afghan talks.

Meanwhile, Afghan opposition politicians, civil society, as well as youth representatives, and tribal elders, are also scheduled to hold another round of their unofficial talks with Taliban delegates in Qatar in mid-April. The last round of the intra-Afghan dialogue process was held in November in Moscow, but the Afghan government had boycotted the meeting and it is not clear whether Kabul will participate in the upcoming talks.

Ghani insists any negotiations with the Taliban must be led by his government, but the insurgents refuse to engage in a peace process with the government, denouncing it as an illegitimate entity.

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Trump Takes Credit for Turning Around NATO

By Steve Herman April 02, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump is warming toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), praising the alliance and its leader Tuesday during meetings with its secretary-general.

"Tremendous progress has been made," Trump said of improved burden-sharing among the pact's 29 independent member countries, but stated that "Germany, honestly, is not paying their fair share."

Trump reiterated his concern that while America spends a lot of money to protect Europe, "they're taking advantage of us on trade."

Trump, alongside Jens Stoltenberg in front of the Oval Office fireplace, praised him for an excellent job running NATO.

"We get along really well," Trump said of the former Norwegian prime minister.

The president took credit for the turnaround of the alliance he had previously referred to as obsolete.

"As you know when I came it wasn't so good, and now, they're catching up" to the goal of members spending two percent of their gross domestic product on defense.

"But I think it should be higher," added Trump.

Stoltenberg thanked the president for his "strong leadership on burden sharing," adding, "we have stepped up in our joint fight against terrorism and we are investing more."

Trump was asked by a reporter about Russia, the Cold War nemesis that led to the alliance's creation.

"I hope that it's not going to be a security threat. I think we'll get along with Russia," replied Trump, whose 2016 presidential campaign was the target of a two-year investigation by a special counsel for alleged ties to Moscow.

In a subsequent expanded meeting in the Cabinet Room, Stoltenberg, sitting across from Trump, stated that Russia is violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, noting "NATO allies have supported the U.S. position on that strongly."

Defense spending

Since becoming president in 2017, Trump's threats to "do his own thing" if NATO states did not meet defense spending targets plunged the organization into crisis.

Only seven of the 29 member states reached the GDP spending commitment in 2018, but that is considered an improvement from previous years.

During Tuesday's expanded bilateral meeting, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton made note of the increased defense spending by NATO members.

"Now we have the common challenge of making sure it's spent efficiently," said Bolton.

70th anniversary

NATO is officially marking its 70th anniversary in Washington this week. But there is a bit less pomp than might have been expected as alliance partners downgraded the celebration to a meeting of foreign ministers to avert the risk of further verbal attacks from the U.S. president.

NATO membership "remains an integral part of U.S. security strategy," a senior State Department official reassured reporters a few hours prior to Trump's meeting with Stoltenberg.

As foreign ministers of NATO gather in Washington, foreign policy analysts are emphasizing it is one of the most successful military alliances in history and still relevant, pointing to its ability to adapt in dealing with a resurgent Russia, managing the crisis on the south of NATO's flank, and new threats such as cybersecurity.

"NATO is adapting and allies are spending more on defense. And I think this administration is understanding more and more how critical NATO is to some of the challenges that it faces, including China," Mark Simakovsky of the Atlantic Council tells VOA. "So, in many ways, NATO is far from obsolete."

Value of alliance

Trump's comments, political upheaval in Europe  including the impending British exit from the European Union  and calls by some to kick Turkey out of NATO, can leave the impression, however, that the defense alliance is fracturing.

"I don't think that's the case. The alliance is strong," Estonian Defense Minister Juri Luik tells VOA, pointing to increased political dialogues and military exercises among NATO's members, as well as more U.S. military equipment and troops being brought to Europe.

"You're not giving the money to somebody else. You're not putting it into a NATO budget somewhere, you're spending it on yourselves," said McCain Institute Director Kurt Volker, who formerly served as U.S. ambassador to NATO. "But it is a demonstration of your commitment to your own security, which then gives NATO the confidence that this is a country that we can help defend as well, because they are committed to defense of their own territory."

Others agree that defense spending is important, but they say the alliance is fundamentally about the members' ability to trust each other, and Trump has damaged that trust.

"When an American president questions the value of the alliance, our enemies in Moscow and Beijing are now questioning whether or not NATO would come to the defense of some smaller NATO nations that the president has criticized as maybe not worthy of NATO's defense," said Simakovsky, a former Europe/NATO chief of staff in the policy office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. "But I don't think at this summit the administration is going to be announcing any departure of the United States."

Brooking Institution's Robert Kagan is expressing concern that Trump's attitude toward the European Union and expressed hostility toward the defense alliance could bring more chaos to the continent.

"Think of Europe today as an unexploded bomb, its detonator intact and functional, its explosives still live. If this is an apt analogy, then Trump is a child with a hammer, gleefully and heedlessly pounding away. What could go wrong?" wrote Kagan in an upcoming issue of Foreign Affairs.

Cindy Saine at the State Department and Valeria Jegisman of VOA's Russian Service contributed to this report.

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This is the second time since I took office that Ive been asked to eulogize a member of the Illinois State Police; before the week is over, I will again speak to the life and death of a third trooper as well, he said. And I promise: I will carry the burden of action that our collective grief conveys every day of my administration.Remarks by Vice President Pence in Meeting with the Family Members of Citgo Executives Currently Detained by the Maduro Regime in Venezuela

April 2, 2019

Vice President's Ceremonial Office

1:36 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much for being here. It's an honor to welcome all of you to the White House, but I know under very difficult circumstances for your families.

Before me, seated today, are six families whose loved ones are being illegally detained by the Maduro regime in Venezuela. And on behalf of President Trump, our entire administration, and all the American people, I want to assure you that we're with you, and we're going to stand with you until your loved ones are free and until Venezuela is free.

November 2017, at a Citgo meeting in Caracas, Maduro's regime arrested six men: five American citizens and a legal permanent resident. The names of all of them deserve to be known to the world: Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, and Jose Angel Pereira.

They're still being held to this day. And I look forward to hearing their stories from each of you and giving  giving you the opportunity to tell the story of your loved ones.

It's important that the media know that the Maduro regime has denied repeated efforts by these families to meet with their loved ones. They've canceled 16 separate court hearings. Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power, and Nicolas Maduro must go. Nicolas Maduro has suspended due process and the rule of law. And these six families and their loved ones are a testament to the brutality of this regime.

We hear that, while you are separated from your loved ones, that many of them have been deprived of food and medicine and are now suffering severe health problems.

But let me  let me let these families tell their story. Veronica Weggeman's father, Tomeu Vadell, is currently being held by the Maduro regime. Her mom and her sister are here with us today. But, Veronica, you've been a  you've been such a strong voice for your family and for all of these families. Tell us your story.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Well, first of all, I want to say thank you, Vice President Pence, and Trump, State Department, the Consular Affairs, for all your effort and support on this case, on this matter.

This meeting brings us faith and hope that our family members will hopefully soon be back with us.

Today marks day 497 of our loved ones not being here with us. It's been hard. We're concerned for their health and safety as Venezuela's situation continues to deteriorate. And we need all the help that we can get to bring them home.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And you've had  you've had no contact?

MS. WEGGEMAN: We haven't had contact with our father for about four weeks now, since the initial blackout in Venezuela. They don't have power. They're in basements. They don't have A/C. There's no light.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Where are they being held? Do you know?

MS. WEGGEMAN: They're being held in the  a place called DGCIM. It's the  it's a counterintelligence military base, two floors down in a basement.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And what is he accused of?

MS. WEGGEMAN: He's being accused of false  just bogus charges: corruption, traitor to, you know, the country or  just silly. Nothing that, you know, is real.

Our father and all these men are honest and hardworking men. They've all worked in the industry for over 20-something years.

And our family men all have been married for over 25-plus years  children, grandchildren  and we're all extremely worried for them.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Did you have any prior warning? Did they have any prior warning, prior to the arrest?

MS. WEGGEMAN: No, not at all. They were summoned very quickly, about two days before, that they need to go to this emergency meeting and speak about budgets or something. Pretty out of the normal.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: They were summoned to Caracas?

MS. WEGGEMAN: Yes, sir.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: In November of 2017?

MS. WEGGEMAN: Yes, sir.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And they were arrested at the meeting?

MS. WEGGEMAN: They were arrested Tuesday, November 21st, the week of Thanksgiving. And we were not able to spend it with our family members.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Okay. Well, you've been very courageous, Veronica.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I know your family is very proud of you and so are we.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Thank you so much, sir.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. We're with you.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: We're with you.

Carlos Anez, your father is being held, Jorge Toledo. Tell us about your dad and your experience.

MR. ANEZ: Well, my dad brought us to the United States back in January of 1997, and we've made a wonderful home here in the U.S. The country has given us so many opportunities to grow that we just wish to be able to pay this back throughout the rest of our lives.

My dad has worked for Citgo for almost 21 years. And, as Veronica mentioned, they've been detained now for over 16 months in the basement of a facility with very little air circulation, now with no light, with absolutely no medical care. And we are just worried for their lives and we just want them home as soon as possible.

And if I may speak for the six of them: We're very confident in the administration, sir, with their track record on the recovery of American hostages and illegally detained citizens abroad. We are confident that, soon, you'll be able to extend the same warm welcome to them.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Carlos. Thank you for your strong stand. And we're with you.

ANEZ: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: We're with your family.

I know the State Department today is hosting a conference you all have been a part of about Americans that are being imprisoned around the world, held against their will. But I wanted to take particular time to welcome you here to the White House to make sure that you know that we're standing with your loved ones and we're going to continue to stand with them.

The United States today calls for the immediate release of these six individuals: five American, one legal permanent resident of the United States of America. We call on the Maduro regime to release them immediately. We call on the Maduro regime to release all political prisoners.

Of course, we recognize that none of that will happen so long as Nicolas Maduro remains in power. Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power. The National Assembly, under the constitution, has recognized Interim President Juan Guaido as the legitimate President of Venezuela. And the United States was proud to be the first nation on Earth to recognize President Guaido. And now more than 50 nations around the world have stood with him.

We've continued to bring economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on the regime, but we stand for the principle that for democracy to be restored, for the rule of law to be restored, Nicolas Maduro must go. And so we call not only on them; we call not only on the regime to release and free your loved ones. We call on this regime to free the people of Venezuela who are suffering under dictatorship and deprivation.

And I want to assure each and every one of you that President Trump and I and the American people are going to continue to stand firm, to stand firm for the freedoms of your loved ones, and we're going to stand firm until liberty, freedom, and the rule of law is restored in Venezuela.

So thank you for being here. I look very much forward to hearing your stories and giving you the opportunity to tell your stories to the country and to the world.

WEGGEMAN: Thank you.

ANEZ: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.

Q Will the U.S. take any (inaudible) actions to help (inaudible)?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: The United States is going to continue to take strong action not only to isolate Venezuela, but also we're looking at strong action against Cuba, which continues to provide personnel and support to the dictatorship in Venezuela and enables the oppression of the people of Venezuela.

At this point, this President is looking at a broad range of options. There's a great deal more we can do, and we're prepared to do it. But we call today on the regime to immediately release these five Americans and one legal permanent resident. They're being held illegally. But this regime should release all political prisoners. But to accomplish that, the rule of law has to be restored, democracy has to be restored, and Nicolas Maduro must go. It's time for a new day for Venezuela.

Q Can you talk about the health of Citgo as a business and how it's affecting U.S. gasoline supplies? Is the U.S. able to keep track of profits from Citgo? That sort of thing.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, look, among the sanctions that we imposed were on PDVSA, the Venezuelan oil company. At this point, we remain absolutely determined to stand firm. We recognize the importance of energy for the United States. We recognize the importance of petroleum product in this country. But the price of oil around the world has been quite low for some time, quite competitive for some time, and we're just going to continue to stand firm and bring even more pressure on this regime.

It is astounding to think  and I don't have to tell the families of oil executives  that Venezuela, by some accounts, has the largest oil reserves in the world and was the second wealthiest nation in our hemisphere. But through socialism, through dictatorship, through oppression and corruption, Nicolas Maduro has impoverished this nation. And so we're  we're going to continue to bring pressure on the oil industry. We're going to continue to bring pressure on countries in this hemisphere who are supporting the dictatorship in Venezuela.

But I just want these families to know, and the President wants them to know, that we're going to stand with them until their loved ones are free, and we're going to stand with the people of Venezuela until their nation is free.

Q Do you feel that these family members are hostages? And have you tasked, or has the administration tasked U.S. Hostage Envoy Robert O'Brien to look into this? Is he working on this?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I would refer your technical question. But, look, we believe that these six individuals  five of which are American citizens and one of which is a legal permanent resident  these six individuals are being held illegally since November of 2017.

We just heard from Veronica that they were enticed to come to Caracas under the auspices of an emergency meeting, and then they were arrested, and now they are being held, many of them to great detriment to their health. And I can assure you that we're going to use all means at our disposal to secure their release.

I appreciate Carlos mentioning the success that this President and our administration have had in seeing Americans freed from captivity around the world, whether that be in North Korea or other nations around the world. And as you heard at the State Department today, we remain determined to see Americans, who are being illegally held, freed.

Q Mr. Vice President, (inaudible) sanctions on Friday. When should we expect to see those?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: President Trump has made it clear there's a lot more we can do to bring pressure economically to bear on Venezuela, and we're prepared to do it. Nicolas Maduro must go. And while all options are on the table, we have a whole range of economic sanctions that we can bring to bear, and we're continuing to see support across the wider world grow for President Juan Guaido and for the reestablishment of the rule of law.

But the personal stories of these families are all emblematic of the story of a nation that literally is being held hostage by a regime. And we're going to continue to stand firm until freedom is restored for their loved ones and freedom is restored for all the people of Venezuela.

Thank you all.

END

1:49 P.M. EDT

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New York Man Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 20 Years in Prison for Attempting to Provide and Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Adam Raishani, aka "Saddam Mohamed Raishani," Attempted to Travel to Syria to Join ISIS and Facilitated Another Man's Travel to Join ISIS

Adam Raishani, aka "Saddam Mohamed Raishani," 32, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by 20 years of supervised release for attempting to provide and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers and U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the Southern District of New York made the announcement. Raishani pleaded guilty to a Superseding Information on Nov. 14, 2018, before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who also imposed today's sentence.

"Raishani tried to leave his young family to travel overseas to join ISIS," said Assistant Attorney General Demers. "Fortunately, he was arrested before he could leave the country. Raishani is the latest in the long line of would-be terrorists whom we have arrested and prosecuted before they could accomplish their mission to provide material support to ISIS overseas. I commend the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this result."

"Adam Raishani may be a U.S. citizen, but he pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, the terrorist organization that seeks to destroy the ideals inherent to America," said U.S. Attorney Berman. "In his efforts to show support to the organization, he helped another man make a trip to the Middle East so that he could join and train. Then, a year later, Raishani decided to follow him, leaving Raishani's wife and child behind in the United States. Thankfully law enforcement was there to arrest him before he could make his dream of jihad a reality. Now, Raishani will spend the next 20 years of his life behind bars for his treachery."

According to the Superseding Information, other court filings, and statements made during court proceedings:

Beginning in the fall of 2015, Raishani conspired with another ISIS supporter (CC-1) to provide material support and resources to ISIS. Raishani and CC-1 agreed to travel overseas to join and wage jihad for ISIS, with CC-1 to depart first. On Oct. 30, 2015, CC-1 departed from JFK Airport for Istanbul, Turkey, where he planned to cross into Syria to join and fight for ISIS. Raishani helped coordinate CC-1's transportation from the Bronx, New York, to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport), and Raishani accompanied CC-1 from the Bronx to JFK Airport.

Raishani continued communicating with CC-1 following CC-1's departure, using an encrypted email application in an effort to avoid law enforcement detection. For example, on Jan. 2, 2016, Raishani sent an email to CC-1 stating: "Glad tidings brother. Its [sic] been some time since your voyage. I pray to Allah The ALL MIGHTY to grant you success. Until next time."[1] On April 1, 2016, Raishani sent another email to CC-1 stating: "I hope Allah has bestowed you what you were seeking. . . . May Allah grant you sincere and clean intentions and make you among the righteous in Janatal Firdaus [a reference to Islamic paradise]. . . . Please return this email and respond to what we agreed upon before your departure. Until next time." On May 3, 2016, CC-1 responded to Raishani, indicating that he had succeeded in joining the Islamic State. CC-1 informed Raishani that CC-1 was "fine and well," that CC-1 "wished you [Raishani] were here with me," and that "here we are living with izza [honor]."

Also in May 2016, CC-1 posted content on a particular social media application (Application-1) indicating that CC-1 was living in the Islamic State and fighting on its behalf. For example, CC-1 sent messages to another user of Application-1 stating: "I'm living in the Islamic state safely and secure by the permission of Allah," "[h]ere we are fighting the kuffars [non-believers]," and "I left the land of kuffars now I'm living in the khilafah [the caliphate]." CC-1 also posted a photograph on Application-1 that shows CC-1 carrying an assault rifle and the flag of ISIS.

Between January and June of 2017, Raishani had a series of meetings with individuals who were, unbeknownst to Raishani, a confidential source working at the direction of law enforcement and an undercover law enforcement officer. In the course of those meetings, Raishani admitted that he had previously helped another person (CC-1) travel overseas to join ISIS, and stated that he intended to travel overseas to join ISIS himself. During those meetings, Raishani also downloaded and viewed violent ISIS propaganda videos, and expressed his desire to wage jihad on behalf of ISIS and his belief that the Quran can be read to justify the violence, including beheadings, perpetrated by ISIS.

By April 2017, Raishani was actively planning to travel abroad to join ISIS. Raishani indicated that he aspired to join ISIS in Syria and that he aimed to travel before the end of Ramadan, an Islamic holy month that ran from approximately May 26 through June 24 of 2017. In June 2017, Raishani made preparations to leave, including by paying off debts and purchasing clothing that he intended to wear for training with ISIS overseas. Raishani indicated his intention to meet an ISIS member in Turkey, who would facilitate Raishani's joining the terrorist organization in Syria. In the course of communications with an undercover law enforcement officer, Raishani conveyed that he was prepared to die, to martyr himself, for ISIS. On June 21, 2017, Raishani attempted to board a flight bound for Turkey (via Portugal) at JFK Airport, at which point law enforcement officers arrested him.

Following Raishani's arrest, the FBI searched Raishani's Bronx residence pursuant to a search warrant. Among the evidence recovered was a letter from Raishani addressed to members of his family, which the FBI found in a safe in Raishani's bedroom. In the letter, Raishani  who left behind his wife and young son when he attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIS  advised his wife that she could still choose to "[j]oin" him in the Islamic State, and he expressed regret that she did not share his radical views and that he had been unable to convince her to accompany him to join ISIS. Raishani also wrote: "Do Not Divulge this document and other documents that I have giv[en] to you to the authorities. Do not believe their plots. Do not divulge my absences but instead say I went to do volunteering outside the country with my medical skills and health background."

* * *

In addition to the prison term, Raishani, 32, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 20 years of supervised release.

Mr. Demers and Mr. Berman praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI's New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD, and the NYPD's Intelligence Division. Mr. Demers and Mr. Berman also thanked the New York Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sidhardha Kamaraju, Jane Kim, and George D. Turner are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Kevin C. Nunnally of the Counterterrorism Section.

[1] Communications and conversations discussed herein are described in substance and in part.

Topic(s):

Counterterrorism

National Security

Component(s):

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - New York, Southern

Press Release Number: 19-307

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Trump Offers Mixed Signals on Possible Closing of Border with Mexico

By Ken Bredemeier April 02, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump offered mixed signals Tuesday on whether he plans to close the U.S. southern border with Mexico to thwart the surge of undocumented migrants trying to seek asylum in the United States.

"After many years (decades), Mexico is apprehending large numbers of people at their Southern Border, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador," President Donald Trump said Tuesday on Twitter, days after he accused Mexico of doing nothing to stem the flow of migrants heading to the United States and threatening to close the border if it did not immediately step up enforcement.

No border closing decision has been made, and Trump later said he is ready to close it if he feels he has to.

"I'm totally prepared to do it," Trump said at the White House.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Monday that nearly $1.7 billion of goods and services flow across the U.S.-Mexico border each day, and nearly half a million legal workers, students, shoppers and tourists cross the dividing line between the two countries, as well.

"Sure, it would have a negative effect on the economy," Trump said of a possible border closing. "But security is what's more important. Security is more important to me than trade."

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said U.S. officials are "looking at all options" whether to close entry ports from Mexico and what the impact would be. Sanders said the White House's Council of Economic Advisers is studying the impact of closing different ports of entry.

She said U.S. officials see Mexico "stepping up and taking a greater sense of responsibility" for the surge of immigrants, about 100,000 last month, mostly from Central America, who entered the United States to request asylum to escape poverty and violence in their homelands.

"They have started to do a significant amount more," Sanders said of Mexico. "We've seen them take a larger number of individuals" and hold those who have asylum claims in Mexico while they are being processed in the United States.

"We've also seen them stop more people from coming across the border so that they aren't even entering into the United States," she said. "So those two things are certainly helpful and we'd like to see them continue."

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Moon Stays Positive on Denuclearization Talks Following N. Korean Embassy Raid

By Steve Miller April 02, 2019

North Korea has called a daylight raid on its Madrid embassy in February a "grave terrorist attack" and called for a full investigation into the incident that took place the week preceding the second summit between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The North's comments about the raid on its Spanish diplomatic mission came more than a month after the February 22 incident as details from the official investigation began emerging.

One possible reason for Pyongyang's late response was that North Korea was conducting its own investigation into the matter and trying to determine what happened, said Daniel Pinkston, a lecturer of international relations at Troy University in Seoul.

"The decision-making process takes some time in North Korea and has to rise up to the senior levels in a case like this. So I think that's why it took some time," he said.

Park Won-gon, Dean of International Affairs at Handong Global University, added that the timing of the Hanoi summit may have also factored in Pyongyang's decision not to mention it sooner.

"After failing to reach an agreement in Hanoi, North Korea has received pressure from the U.S., so they're now raising the issue or appealing to the U.S. [because of the perpetrators' alleged contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation]," he said.

The Spanish government has identified 10 people who allegedly raided the embassy, linking them to Cheollima Civil Defense, also known as Free Joseon. It's a dissident organization that characterizes itself as a government-in-exile and dedicated to liberating North Korea.

Adrian Hong has been alleged by authorities to be the leader of Cheollima Civil Defense and the individual who led the group which entered the Madrid embassy.

Hong was a founding member of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), a non-profit organization that helps North Koreans to defect, but currently serves as managing director of Pegasus Strategies. According to LiNK, Hong hasn't been involved with the organization for several years.

Spain has issued at least two international arrest warrants for suspects in the raid.

The raid's effect on denuclearization talks

Whatever the reason for the delayed public acknowledgment of the embassy incursion, Pinkston said the actions of Cheollima does not help denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States.

However, when speaking to members of his cabinet Monday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in remained optimistic that the process would continue in a positive direction.

"Both the United States and North Korea are demonstrating their willingness to continue the dialogue by managing the situation in order to prevent the tensions from escalating to the level of the past. In the midst of it all, my upcoming visit to the United States will take place as a result of the ROK-U.S. joint efforts to revive the momentum for dialogue in the near future," Moon said using South Korea's formal English acronym, the Republic of Korea.

Moon also took issue with those seeking to derail the process he began nearly a year ago with the first inter-Korean summit.

"In some quarters," Moon said, "there have been certain attempts to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington and reverse the tide of peace on the Korean Peninsula."

"Such attempts can be labeled truly irresponsible, especially when we recall the state of crisis we endured before dialogue was launched. If the ongoing dialogue ends in failure, the situation will deteriorate even further," he warned, adding that such actions were in "no way helpful to our national interest or the future of the Korean Peninsula."

Moon visits Washington April 10

Next week, Moon will meet President Trump in Washington. There he plans to "engage in in-depth discussions with President Trump on how we can work together to advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula."

This includes resuming talks between Pyongyang and Washington and moving toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and "the creation of a virtuous cycle of inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea relations."

Pinkston currently sees divergent interests between Washington and Pyongyang and says it will be difficult moving forward.

Denuclearization should be sequenced and structured to bring about a result "mutually agreeable and beneficial to both sides," said Pinkston.

"But that said, for it to be acceptable to the United States and its allies, it would require verified abandonment of North Korea's nuclear weapons and nuclear capability," he said.

Ultimately, the complete denuclearization of North Korea will be a complicated and long process, according to Pinkston.

"That would require a change in the world view of the North Korean leadership but I don't see any sign that North Korea is prepared to do that, certainly under the present conditions," he added.

Jung Dae-jin, a research professor with the Ajou Institute of Unification, said North Korea may now be exercising a form of "strategic patience."

He said that North Korea may be going through a "cooling-off" period following the Hanoi summit and may be ready to resume talks following the anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit on April 27.

Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report.

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Rafale Jet Deal Features in Election Manifesto of India's Main Opposition Party

Sputnik News

16:00 02.04.2019(updated 17:26 02.04.2019)

India's main opposition Congress party has promised an inquiry into the alleged irregularities of the Indo-French Rafale fighter jet deal in its election manifesto, which was released by party president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday.

New Delhi (Sputnik): The Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concluded $8.7 billion deal with the French Government in 2016 to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets under a government-to-government deal. Indian opposition parties have been demanding a probe, as they allege that the price of fighter jets under this deal is inflated and the Indian government had favoured a private company.

"Congress will investigate several deals entered into by the BJP Government in the last 5 years and, in particular, the Rafale deal (sic)," the manifesto says as part of the promises made under the anti-corruption plank.

Bhalchandra Mungekar, a member of the manifesto committee, further added that the inquiry into the Rafale deal will be initiated on the "first day after coming to power".

Rahul Gandhi has been accusing the Modi government of corruption and irregularities in the Rafale acquisition and alleged that it conducted parallel negotiations and scrapped the earlier deal agreed by the Congress-led UPA government. Currently, a review petition to launch investigation by the anti-corruption body CBI in the deal is pending before the Supreme Court of India. Congress has been demanding a parliamentary probe committee into the deal.

The review petition pertains to the 14 December judgement over the procurement of 36 Rafale fighters from French manufacturer Dassault Aviation, in which the Supreme Court of India had given a clean chit to the Modi government.

The court is currently hearing a number of petitions filed by private citizens on the issue. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, one of the petitioners in the case, has alleged that the government lied in court about the Rafale deal and should face perjury charges.

General elections in India are scheduled to be held in seven phases, from 11 April to 19 May 2019, to form the 17th Lok Sabha and to elect the next Indian prime minister. The counting of votes is scheduled for 23 May.

 Sputnik

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NASA Says India's Anti-Satellite Missile Test 'Unacceptable'

Sputnik News

05:38 02.04.2019

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States has criticized India for last week's anti-satellite missile test calling it unacceptable and incompatible with the future of human space flight, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Monday.

"It's unacceptable," Bridenstine said when asked about India's successful anti-satellite test during a town hall event.

NASA said the test created 400 identifiable pieces of orbital debris. Of those, 60 pieces are big enough to be tracked  10 centimetres or larger  with 24 expected to go above the apogee of the International Space Station (ISS).

"That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris in an apogee that goes above the International Space Station," Bridenstine said. "That kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human space flight."

As a result of India's test, the risk of a small debris impact to the ISS increased by 44 percent over a period of ten days, according to NASA.

READ MORE: NASA's Scramble to Blur PHOTOS of Lagging Heavy Rocket Design Baffles Observers

On Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that New Delhi had successfully tested its first indigenous anti-satellite missile by hitting a defunct Indian satellite at an altitude of 300 kilometres (186 miles).

Modi said India became the fourth country in the world to possess such a weapon after China, Russia and the United States.

 Sputnik

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Iraqi Parliament Speaker Says US Support Needed for Lasting Defeat of IS

By Rikar Hussein, Balen Saleh April 02, 2019

In an exclusive interview with the Voice of America's Kurdish Service, Mohammed al-Halbousi, Iraq's speaker of the Council of Representatives, said support of the U.S.-led coalition to ensure a lasting defeat of Islamic State (IS) is crucial as Iraq continues its efforts against the group's insurgency activities.

Discussing whether neighboring Iran can meddle in Iraqi politics by pushing for the withdrawal of U.S. troops after the military defeat of IS, al-Halbousi said Iraq does not wish to be a proxy of any country, adding that the "overwhelming majority" in the Iraqi government supports the presence of the coalition forces.

"No guardianship on Iraq," al-Halbousi said, adding, "Any country can express its objection if it deems this presence will have a negative impact on it, but Iraq makes its own decisions."

The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is the "single goal" of defeating IS and its radical ideology, al-Halbousi said.

"We do not allow Iraqi soil to be used against any neighbor," he said, but "we do not accept a country to impose its will on Iraq regarding Iraqi agreements with the international coalition, United States, or any other country."

Insurgency

The Iraqi government declared final victory over IS in December 2017, three years after the militant group seized about a third of the country's territory. The group has since gone underground, maintaining insurgency attacks against security forces and operating in small groups outside various cities.

Al-Halbousi said the next step for Iraq is to focus mainly on intelligence sharing, combating insurgency tactics and reconstructing areas destroyed by war. He said international cooperation is also vital to help Iraq deal with IS family members and captured foreign fighters.

"Iraq will prevail and move beyond those challenges with or without international support, but the time will be much longer if we do not have cooperation with regional and international powers," he said.

U.S. forces left Iraq in 2011, but returned after IS gained prominence in 2014. There are currently around 5,200 American troops stationed in Iraq, mostly at the Ain Assad Airbase in Al Anbar Province. U.S. military officials say their mission is to advise, assist and support Iraqi forces in the fight against IS.

Countering Iran

President Donald Trump has said U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to counter Iran's threats.

In an interview with CBS News in February, Trump said U.S. troops withdrawing from neighboring Syria would soon be moved to Ain Assad Airbase to keep an eye on Iran, which his administration has accused of being the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and of wanting to acquire nuclear weapons.

"We spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it," he said. "And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem."

For their part, Iranian officials say they could use their deepening influence in Iraq to defy U.S. pressures, particularly after the U.S.'s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

"At a time when the United States is seeking to pressure the Iranian nation with its unjust sanctions, we need to develop and deepen our relations to stand against them," said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a visit to Iraq last month.

Iraqi officials have publicly expressed frustration over the U.S.-Iran competition in Iraq, fearing the rivalry could weaken Iraqi sovereignty and its ability to get back on its feet after IS's defeat.

"Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues," Iraq President Barham Saleh said in February, appealing to the U.S. and Iran to keep their conflict away from Iraq.

Al-Halbousi charged that officials in Baghdad wish to maintain a balanced relation with the U.S. and Iran to best serve Iraqi interests. He said good relations with Iran are equally indispensable to Iraq due to long historic ties and border sharing.

"Iran is a neighbor. They undeniably played an important role in helping Iraq against terrorism by providing support to Iraqi security forces. There are also religious ties between the people of Iraq and Iran. We wish our relationship to continue as neighbors, based on mutual respect," he said.

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Japan Becomes First Indo-Pacific F-35 Buyer to Meet IOC Status

Sputnik News

00:43 02.04.2019

The Japan Air Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) announced on March 29 that its first F-35A shipment, which makes up part of the service's 302nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, has achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) status, allowing the fighter jets to take part in simple missions.

IOC is the term used in military acquisitions that denotes when a unit has been received by select servicemembers, who are able to maintain the system in its minimum usefully deployable form. The requirements of a particular system's IOC status varies, and the date at which it is achieved is typically seen as its in-service date. Full Operational Capability (FOC) is attained when all members of the designated force or squadron are able to maintain the newly acquired system.

The new F-35A fighter squadron, which will make up part of the service's 3rd Air Wing, will be stationed at Misawa Air Base in the northern portion of the Honshu Island.

Other regional buyers of the F-35 jets include Australia and South Korea, according to Defense-Aerospace.com, which noted that Seoul received its first two F-35As on the same day that the JASDF declared its jets had reached IOC.

"This is a major milestone for the F-35 enterprise, as it marks the first F-35 IOC for an Indo-Pacific region customer," US Navy Vice Admiral Mat Winter, F-35 program executive officer, said in a statement.

"This significant achievement is a testament to the global nature of this program, and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) values the long-established bond with our Japan allies. This could not have happened without the hard work and collaboration between the F-35 JPO, the Japan F-35 program, our industry partners and the Japanese Air Self Defense Force."

Lockheed Martin's F-35As will be replacing the service's aging, third-generation Douglas-Mitsubishi F-4EJ-Kai Phantom IIs, the Diplomat reported. The squadron will reportedly consist of 12 F-35As.

Four of the JASDF's F-35As were built in the US, with the remaining ones assembled at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' F-35 Final Assembly and Check Out Facility (FACO) in Nagoya, the capital of Japan's Aichi Prefecture.

"Local production is expected to continue at least until the end of fiscal year 2022," reads The Diplomat's report. "The JASDF is slated to take delivery of six F-35As in the upcoming Japanese fiscal year that runs from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020."

The Japanese government first placed an order for 42 F-35As in December 2011. However, by the time December 2018 rolled around, the existing order was updated. At the time it was reported that Tokyo would be adding 63 F-35As and 42 F-35B variants to its order, in addition to the already placed request for 42 F-35As. The purchase made Japan the second-largest buyer of the F-35 jet, bumping the UK's purchase of 138 fighters to third.

As Sputnik has previously reported, the US' F-35 program has been widely criticised for being wildly over budget and years behind schedule. The Pentagon's F-35 program in 2018 reported that costs for the program's software update would earn a price tag of at least $10 billion, and that's not even including development costs, which are estimated to hit some $7 billion.

 Sputnik

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Islamic State Still Showing Signs of Life in Syria's Baghuz

By Jeff Seldin April 02, 2019

More than a week after declaring victory over Islamic State's self-declared caliphate, U.S.-backed forces are still trying to clear the terror group's last stronghold of its fighters.

A spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces tweeted Tuesday that clearing operations in the northeastern Syrian town of Baghuz included an ongoing hunt for IS members who have yet to give up the fight.

"SDF combing the area in #Baghouz (sic) and its vicinity," spokesman Mustafa Bali said. "There're still some terrorists hiding in the cave system in vicinity of mount Baghouz."

Separately, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said its observers in Syria estimate there may be as many as 4,000 to 5,000 IS fighters and operatives in areas controlled by the SDF.

SDF officials declared victory over the IS caliphate March 23 following several nights of heavy airstrikes against multiple clusters of several hundred fighters in Baghuz, that had refused to surrender following a protracted siege.

Almost immediately, though, SDF troops shifted into clearing operations, a process coalition spokesman Col. Sean Ryan described as "deliberate and thorough."

Fight not over

Top U.S. officials also warned the collapse of the IS caliphate would not mean an end to the fighting, noting U.S. intelligence estimates suggested that, at minimum, there are still "tens of thousands" of IS fighters spread across both Syria and Iraq."We've thought for quite a while at this point that ISIS' strategy was to conduct the clandestine insurgency in Iraq," a senior defense official said shortly before the SDF declared victory, using an alternate acronym for the terror group.

"There's every reason to believe that their intent would be to do the same on the Syria side," the official added. "Our concern, I think, on the Syria side is there's a lot less of a capability to actually deal with them as there is in Iraq."

Just last week, U.S. envoy for Syria James Jeffrey, echoed those sentiments.

"This is not the end of the fight against ISIS," he said. "They're reconstituting in small groups, operating in the shadows as a low-level insurgency."

Much of the concern in Baghuz has centered around the caves, as well as what U.S. and SDF officials have described as an extensive network of tunnels, some of which are believed to run for several kilometers.

Experts have also raised concerns about IS' ability to conduct successful insurgent operations based on its history as an insurgent force prior to the declaration of its caliphate in 2014, as well as the ample time IS leaders had to plan for the caliphate's collapse.

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Acting US Defence Chief Expects Turkey to Purchase Patriot Instead of S-400s

Sputnik News

19:17 02.04.2019(updated 19:19 02.04.2019)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States expects that Turkey will opt to purchase Patriot missile systems instead of S-400s, in a move that would resolve its dispute with the country over F-35 deliveries, Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday.

"I am very confident in the Patriot proposal that we've delivered to Turkey, its availability, its pricing, and very importantly, the industrial participation that comes along with the Patirot system," Shanahan told reporters, according to a Pentagon pool report. "I expect we'll solve the problem so that they have the right defence equipment in terms of Patriots and F-35s."

This comes after on Monday a State Department official told Sputnik

that Washington issued a warning to Ankara that it could face even more consequences including sanctions for purchasing Russian S-400 defence systems.

Earlier that day, the United States halted shipments to Turkey of equipment related to the fifth generation F-35 fighter aircraft over the country's plans to purchase Russian S-400 air defence systems, Reuters reported.

In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement for the supply of S-400s.

 Sputnik

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Rivera was shot multiple times in the drivers seat and was later pronounced dead. Another man, also 23, was seriously wounded in the shooting. Two other occupants of the car, a woman and another man who was also an off-duty Chicago police officer, were not injured.Turkish Ruling AKP Appeals Results of Mayoral Election in Istanbul

Sputnik News

19:13 02.04.2019

ANKARA (Sputnik)  Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party appealed the preliminary results of the election of the mayor of Istanbul, where an opposition candidate is leading, with the Central Election Commission (CEC), head of the Istanbul division of the party said Tuesday.

"Today, we have protested the election results in all 39 districts of Istanbul to the CEC," Bayram Senocak told reporters.

He stressed that AKP had evidence that 2,675 votes cast for Yildirim were not taken into account in the final protocols of the election commissions.

Media reports have recently emerged claiming that AKP candidates appear to have lost the mayoral elections in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, which are the country's largest cities. Meanwhile, the official results are expected to be announced in several days, after all appeals are reviewed.

On Sunday, Turkish citizens voted in municipal elections, choosing new mayors of cities, municipal leaders, heads of villages and members of village councils, among others. According to preliminary data, AKP's Binali Yildirim appears to have lost the Istanbul mayorship to the Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu by a narrow margin.

 Sputnik

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US State Dept Threatens Turkey With Sanctions Amid Halt on F-35 Program

Sputnik News

04:47 02.04.2019

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US government warned Ankara that it could face even more consequences including sanctions for purchasing Russian S-400 defence systems, a State Department official told Sputnik on Monday after the United States reportedly halted shipments of F-35-related equipment to Turkey.

"We have clearly warned Turkey that its potential acquisition of the S-400 will result in reassessment of Turkey's participation in the F-35 program, and risk other potential future arms transfers to Turkey, as well as lead to potential actions under Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) upon any government entities, private industry, or individuals involved in such a transaction," the official said when asked to comment on the United States reportedly halting the shipments.

Earlier in the day, the United States halted shipments to Turkey of equipment related to the fifth generation F-35 fighter aircraft over the country's plans to purchase Russian S-400 air defence systems, Reuters reported.

In December 2017, Russia and Turkey signed a loan agreement for the supply of S-400 air defence systems. In early March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed that the deal with Russia on deliveries of the S-400 air defence systems was completed, and said a new deal on purchases of advanced Russian-made S-500 systems could be possible in future.

 Sputnik

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Erdogan's Party Appeals Election Results in Istanbul, Ankara

By VOA News April 02, 2019

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party on Tuesday appealed election results in Istanbul and Ankara, claiming irregularities in the voting cost them mayorships in both cities.

Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a majority of votes throughout Turkey in Sunday's local elections, but trailed in Istanbul, the country's economic hub, and Ankara, the capital. If the initial outcomes hold, it would be a political setback for the Turkish leader, who campaigned extensively for his party's candidates.

AKP's Istanbul chief, Bayram Senocak, said the party had filed objections about the voting in all 39 districts in the city. "We have identified irregularities and falsifications," he said.

Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem Imamoglu claimed victory in the mayor's race in Istanbul by 28,000 votes over AKP's Binali Yildirim, a former Turkish premier.

Imamoglu told reporters, "Had the other party won, I would have said 'Congratulations, Mr. Binali Yildirim,' which I do not say because I am the one who won. They are behaving like a kid who has been deprived of his toy."

In Ankara, opposition CHP mayoral candidate Mansur Yavas was ahead of AKP's Mehmet Ozhaseki by nearly four percentage points, according to the state news agency Anadolu, but the AKP said it was contesting the results in 25 districts.

Electoral authorities have two days to decide whether the claims of vote irregularities have any merit.

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British lawmakers reject all four Brexit options in second round of unbinding vote

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:21, April 02, 2019

LONDON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- British lawmakers on Monday voted to turn down all the four proposed Brexit options on the table, the second time since Friday that none of MPs' proposed Brexit options wins clear backing in the House of Commons.

MPs voted down all the four Brexit proposals chosen by House Speaker John Bercow in a bid to break the current Brexit deadlock. The British government has until April 12 to decide how Britain will leave the European Union (EU).

None of the four alternatives to British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal receives support from a majority of MPs in the second round of "indicative vote," which kicked off at around 20:00 BST on Monday and whose results were announced at around 22:00 BST.

MPs voted 261 to 282 to reject the proposal that the United Kingdom stays in the single market and negotiates the customs union with the EU.

The customs union proposal means Britain's close trading relations with the European Union after Brexit.

Under the Common Market 2.0 proposal, the UK would leave the EU, but retain the free flow of goods and make contributions to the EU budget.

Meanwhile, MPs also voted 191 to 292 to turn down the idea to give lawmakers power to stop a no-deal Brexit.

They voted 280 to 292 to oppose the proposal that confirmative public vote will be conducted on Brexit.

MPs also voted 273 to 276 to reject the proposal to negotiate permanent customs union with the EU.

None of the Monday votes on the proposals are legally binding, meaning it will be up to the British government if they act on the results.

Conservative MPs have been given a free vote, but cabinet ministers will be told to abstain. The opposition Labour Party ordered its MPs to vote for the customs union.

Prime Minister May is seeking a fourth vote on her Withdrawal Agreement, which has been rejected by the parliament three times since January.

The first round of unbinding "indicative vote" was conducted on March 27, in which none of MPs' eight proposed options secured a majority, but among them, the proposed options about a customs union with the Europan Union and a referendum on any deal received most support from the lawmakers.

Many of those eight options have returned for round two, but some have been replaced with new alternatives.

The prime minister, who is struggling to hold her party together, warned Sunday night that she faced resignation and a split in the Conservative Party if she agrees to pursue a "soft" Brexit this week.

The British cabinet is expected to meet on Tuesday morning to consider how to proceed with the vote outcomes amid speculation about possible resignations, a general election or change of Tory leader.

"My party refuses to compromise, I regret therefore that I can no longer sit for the party," an emotional Conservative MP Nick Boles said in the parliament chamber shortly after the announcement of the vote results to quit the party.

"I accept that I have failed," he added.

British cabinet ministers were once again reportedly instructed to boycott the votes as MPs make a second attempt to coalesce around an alternative deal.

May had suggested she would "engage constructively" with the indicative votes process.

May's plan that she negotiated with the EU has been rejected twice by historic margins in Parliament.

The withdrawal agreement section of her deal was voted down again by MPs on Friday.

Mrs May now has until 12 April to either seek a longer extension from the EU to take a different course or decide to leave the EU without a deal.

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UK economy nearing zero growth amid Brexit standoff

Iran Press TV

Tue Apr 2, 2019 02:35PM

A major political standoff over Britain's withdrawal from the European Union has caused the economy to stagnate as business groups and industries report almost zero growth for the first three months of this year.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) released the results of the its latest survey into business activity in the United Kingdom, saying growth in the country's economy has "nearly ground to a halt" due to Brexit anxiety and a slowdown in global growth.

BCC's director general Adam Marshall warned that businesses were "hitting the brakes" due to the ongoing political standoff in the parliament where no one has been able to come up with solution on how Britain should deliver on the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum.

"For too long Brexit tunnel-vision has distracted government from fixing the fundamentals to support growth here in the UK," said Marshall.

The BCC research covered business activity over the first three months of this year for more than 7,000 groups and firms employing around a million people.

It said the services sector saw no growth in exports in the period, its weakest level since 2009. The study also showed that fewer manufacturers reported an increase in sales this year compared to previous periods.

The study said the decline in UK economic growth was due to new regulation, including compliance with new tax rules, rises in business rates and changes to employers' pensions contribution, factors that have largely been left overlooked by the government due to the ongoing row on Brexit.

The UK government has until April 12 to either ratify a Brexit agreement in the parliament or face options like no-deal Brexit or a long extension to EU membership.

Official government estimates suggest the UK economy could shrink up to 10 percent if it fails to clinch an agreement with the EU on the terms of its withdrawal from the bloc.

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European Union's chief negotiator warns no-deal Brexit more likely

Iran Press TV

Tue Apr 2, 2019 10:23AM

Britain is becoming more likely to crash out of the European Union (EU) without a proper withdrawal agreement, the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator.

Michel Barnier said Tuesday that recent developments in the British parliament with regards to Prime Minister Theresa May's divorce deal were paving the way for a no-deal scenario.

"Over the last days a no-deal scenario has become more likely, but we can still hope to avoid it," Barnier said at an event in Brussels.

The EU official said London had three choices before the April 12 leaving date: a no-deal Brexit, staying the EU's customs union or maintaining a special relationship with the bloc similar to Norway.

"The UK should now indicate the way forward or indicate a plan," Barnier said. "More today than ever."

The remarks came after lawmakers in the UK's House of Commons failed to approve an alternative plan to May's divorce deal, which has been voted down three times.

Barnier noted that an alternative option for the Brits would be to accept the stalled deal negotiated by May, which he described as "the only way" for an orderly divorce.

Other option was a long delay of the UK's leaving date, Barnier said, warning that the blame for the possible consequences of a delay would lie with the factious UK parliament.

Barnier said a postponing Brexit deadline for long would mean that London should organize European Parliament elections in May and name its representatives for the new European Commission.

The Frenchman said all of the EU's 27 were ready for the UK's abrupt split although the process was going to cause disruption.

"Being prepared for no-deal doesn't mean that everything will be smooth. There will be disruptions, there will be problems. Being prepared means all unforeseen disruptions could be managed by the EU," Barnier said.

EU leaders including May were going to meet in Brussels on April 10 to decide on the next step.

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British parliament rejects all Brexit alternatives

Iran Press TV

Tue Apr 2, 2019 02:27AM

British lawmakers have rejected four motions presenting different Brexit alternatives, further complicating the country's bid to leave the European Union.

The voting, which happened on Monday, attempted to drive the country out of deadlock after parliament rejected against Prime Minister Theresa May's 585-page EU divorce deal on Friday, marking the deal's third failure in parliament.

The four proposals on Monday sought to avoid a potentially damaging no-deal Brexit before the EU's April 12 deadline.

The rejected motions considered negotiating a permanent customs union with the EU, a second Brexit referendum, revoking Brexit to avoid a no-deal exit or accepting May's Brexit on the condition of negotiations seeking a new EU customs and single market arrangement.

The failed vote prompted conservative MP Nick Boles, who had proposed the new EU customs and single market arrangement motion, to resign from the party.

"I accept I have failed. I have failed chiefly because my party refuses to compromise. I regret therefore to announce I can no longer sit for this party," he said.

The motions were not legally binding but could have potentially pressured the government to agree to an alternative plan if a strong majority on one of the proposals had been achieved.

Following the vote, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay suggested that the government may bring the deal for a fourth vote this week to avoid a longer delay to Brexit.

He warned that "the default legal position is the UK will leave the EU in just 11 days time" without a deal.

"Cabinet will meet in the morning to consider the results of tonight's vote and how we should proceed," Barclay said.

Facing the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, European Council President Donald Tusk has called for an emergency meeting on April 10.

On Sunday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had warned that the EU was "running out" of patience with the UK, urging the British parliament to reach an agreement on a Brexit plan "in the coming hours and days."

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Brexit: Some Are Fed Up With Delay and Want No Deal  British PM May

Sputnik News

20:09 02.04.2019(updated 20:31 02.04.2019)

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that the European Union cannot be held hostage to the political crisis in the United Kingdom for a long time.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that leaving the EU with a deal is the best option, and some people are already fed up with the delay to Brexit.

She went on to note that lawmakers are facing a decisive moment and they "can and must" reach a compromise.

However, when addressing Article 50, Theresa May stated that the UK government requires a further extension to secure a timely withdrawal.

The British prime minister's remarks come after earlier in the day French President Emmanuel Macron said

that the EU couldn't "be a long-term hostage to the political crisis in Britain". His comment was made after on Monday, UK lawmakers rejected all four alternative Brexit options in the second round of indicative votes.

The United Kingdom was set to leave the European Union on 29 March, exactly two years after it triggered Article 50. However, it missed this deadline due to Parliament's indecision on the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the bloc. Therefore, the European Union set Britain a new deadline, 12 April, to present new Brexit conditions. If British parliamentarians fail to agree on a plan, London will have to leave the bloc without a deal.

 Sputnik

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Macron Says EU Cannot Be Held Hostage to Brexit Crisis in UK

Sputnik News

19:59 02.04.2019

PARIS (Sputnik) - The European Union cannot be held hostage to the political crisis in the United Kingdom for a long time, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday during his joint press conference with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

"Smooth functioning of the European Union and the common market must be our priority. The European Union can't be a long-term hostage to the political crisis in Britain," Macron said.

The French leader also stated that it was necessary to build new relations with the United Kingdom that would remain a key ally and a "good friend".

"However, we can't spend the coming months settling the terms of our divorce," the French president said.

Macron and Varadkar met during the Irish prime minister's visit to Paris. The two politicians discussed Brexit, especially no-deal option.

The meeting came after the House of Commons rejected Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal plan several times. The United Kingdom was to leave the European Union Brussels on March 29, as initially agreed but failed to do so without a proper "divorce" plan. The European Union set Britain an April 12 deadline to present new Brexit conditions. If British parliamentarians fail to agree on a plan, London will have to leave the bloc without a deal.

 Sputnik

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More Than Ever Today UK Should Indicate Way Forward - Barnier

Sputnik News

09:25 02.04.2019(updated 09:54 02.04.2019)

Earlier, UK lawmakers rejected all four alternative Brexit options in the second round of the indicative votes; the most popular scenario was to withdraw from the European Union but to retain membership in the customs union.

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that the only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit will be through a majority vote in the House of Commons.

"Over the last days a no-deal scenario has become more likely, but we can still hope to avoid it," Barnier said, adding the EU was ready to accept Britain remaining within the EU's customs union or a relationship similar to the one the EU has with Norway.

He added that a compelling justification would be needed for the EU to agree to a lengthy Brexit delay.

"The UK should now indicate the way forward or indicate a plan," Barnier said. "More today than ever."

UK citizens voted to leave the European Union in a referendum almost three years ago, but the UK parliament has repeatedly rejected the withdrawal agreement, which was presented by the government after months-long talks with Brussels.

The European Union has given the United Kingdom until April 12 to determine alternative withdrawal arrangements, or or exit the bloc without a deal in place on the same date.

 Sputnik

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This was a campaign where support for an elected school board was a benchmark; where a commitment to affordable housing was a requirement; where we focused not solely on big business but real, living wages; where we didnt just talk about being a world-class city, we acknowledged the long-term, institutional inequities that stop many of our communities from feeling that they were ever truly part of our city and what it has to offer.UK Parliament Rejects All Brexit Options in 2nd Round of Indicative Votes

Sputnik News

00:35 02.04.2019(updated 01:20 02.04.2019)

British MPs were holding an indicative vote on Brexit's new direction in the House of Commons in London on Monday.

UK lawmakers have rejected all four alternative Brexit options in the second round of the indicative votes, while the most popular scenario is to withdraw from the European Union but to keep membership in the customs union, according to the results of the vote published on Monday evening. Earlier, the European Union gave the United Kingdom until 12 April to decide upon alternative withdrawal arrangements, or leave without a deal.

The first round of the indicative votes was held on March 28 and then UK lawmakers rejected all eight alternative Brexit options, including the agreement proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May and the one envisioning the UK withdrawal from the European Union without a deal on April 12.

On Monday, 273 lawmakers voted for the scenario prescribing the UK's withdrawal from the bloc with an agreement and preservation of membership in the customs union. This scenario was opposed by 276 lawmakers.

The second option prescribing that any deal with the European Union must be agreed at a referendum in the United Kingdom was supported by 280 lawmakers against 292.

The scenario involving the UK membership in both the European Free Trade Association and the European Economic Area was supported by 261 lawmakers and opposed by 282 lawmakers.

Finally, the fourth option prescribes endowing the parliament with additional duties that would allow it to oblige the government to ask Brussels to extend the Brexit deadline if the agreement is not reached two days before April 12. If Brussels does not accept these conditions, the parliament will have to choose between revoking Brexit and leaving the EU without a deal. This option was supported by 191 parliamentarians and opposed by 292.

 Sputnik

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Prospect of a nuclear war 'higher than it has been in generations', warns UN

2 April 2019 - In a world defined by "competition over cooperation, and the acquisition of arms, prioritized over the pursuit of diplomacy", the threat of a nuclear weapon being used is "higher than it has been in generations," the Security Council heard on Tuesday.

The warning came from Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, in a meeting convened in support of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), ahead of the next conference to review the historic accord, scheduled for 2020.

The NPT, which entered into force in 1970, represents the only multilateral, binding commitment to the goal of disarmament by the States which officially stockpile nuclear weapons.

Its objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and disarmament overall.

Ms. Nakamitsu said that the use of nuclear weapons, "either intentionally, by accident, or through miscalculation", is one of the greatest threats to international peace and security, and that "the potential consequences of a nuclear war would be global and affect all Member States."

The Treaty, she said, is widely acknowledged as "the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation of nuclear disarmament. Its role as a pillar of our collective security is likewise an accepted fact."

From disarmament success to "dangerous rhetoric"

The disarmament chief described the two pillars of the NPT  disarmament and non-proliferation  as "two sides of the same coin", adding that "backward movement on one will result in backward movement on the other."

Unfortunately, Ms. Nakamitsu was able to cite several examples, including the use of "dangerous rhetoric" about nuclear weapons' use; an increased reliance on nuclear weapons in security doctrines; and modernization programmes to make nuclear weapons faster, stealthier and more accurate.

The durability of the NPT, which has lasted for almost half a century, cannot be taken for granted, she insisted, adding that there is currently nothing to replace the disarmament and arms control framework which is foundational to the post-Cold War era.

With the Treaty coming under increasing stress, the upcoming Review Conference in 2020 will, she said, be a "defining moment." It could either highlight divisions between States and raise questions about their willingness to seek collective security for all, or present "a golden opportunity to make the practical gains that will ensure the Treaty's continued viability."

Iran, North Korea nuclear programmes 'top of the agenda'

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, also briefed the Council, reminding members of the role that the Agency plays in the implementation of the NPT; in the creation of an environment "conducive to nuclear cooperation"; and in assisting developing countries to use nuclear energy for peaceful means.

However, Mr. Amano said the IAEA was facing several challenges, including the steady increase in the amount of nuclear material in circulation, the number of nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards (the system of inspection and verification of the peaceful uses of nuclear materials), and continuing pressure on the Agency's budget.

He told the Council that monitoring the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), are among the top items on the IAEA's agenda.

Mr. Amano said that Iran was implementing its commitments under the UN-backed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, whose future has been put in doubt by the decision of the US administration to withdraw from the agreement. After 2009, he said, there have been "no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device."

As for the DPRK, Mr. Amano said that the country's nuclear programme has significantly expanded over the past decade, carrying out nuclear tests on five separate occasions since 2009, despite the recent lull. With no inspectors inside the country, the IAEA monitors the situation using tools such as open-source information and satellite imagery.

Security Council reaffirms support for nuclear treaty

In a statement released following the meeting, the Security Council announced a reaffirmation of its members' support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and a commitment to "advance the goals of the NPT as the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

Describing the NPT commitments taken under the treaty as viable and mutually reinforcing, the statement underscored the need for its full implementation, and the importance of achieving universal adherence to the Treaty.

The Council members agreed that the 2020 NPT Review Conference will provide an opportunity for an unambiguous reaffirmation of commitment to the Treaty, a commemoration of its historic achievements, and the strengthening of the nuclear-disarmament and non-proliferation regime.

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TORONTO, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dividend 15 Split Corp. (the Company) is pleased to announce it has completed the overnight marketing of up to 2,981,000 Preferred Shares and up to 2,981,000 Class A Shares of the Company. Total proceeds of the offering are expected to be approximately $56.5 million.

The offering is being co-led by National Bank Financial Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., Scotia Capital Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, and also includes TD Securities Inc., BMO Capital Markets, Canaccord Genuity Corp., Industrial Alliance Securities Inc., Echelon Wealth Partners, GMP Securities L.P., Raymond James Ltd., Desjardins Securities Inc., Mackie Research Capital Corporation, and Manulife Securities Incorporated.

The sales period of the overnight offering has now ended.

The offering is expected to close on or about April 9, 2019 and is subject to certain closing conditions including approval by the TSX.

The Preferred Shares were offered at a price of $9.90 per Preferred Share to yield 5.3% and the Class A Shares were offered at a price of $9.05 per Class A Share to yield 13.3%.

The closing price on the TSX of each of the Preferred Shares and the Class A Shares on April 1, 2019 was $10.14 and $9.16, respectively.

The net proceeds of the offering will be used by the Company to invest in an actively managed, high quality portfolio consisting of 15 dividend yielding Canadian companies as follows:

Bank of Montreal Enbridge Inc. TELUS Corporation The Bank of Nova Scotia Manulife Financial Corp. Thomson-Reuters Corporation BCE Inc. National Bank of Canada The Toronto-Dominion Bank Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Royal Bank of Canada TransAlta Corporation CI Financial Corp. Sun Life Financial Inc. TransCanada Corporation

The Companys investment objectives are:

Preferred Shares:

to provide holders of the Preferred Shares with fixed, cumulative preferential monthly cash dividends in the amount of 5.25% annually; and on or about the termination date, currently December 1, 2024 (subject to further 5 year extensions thereafter), to pay the holders of the Preferred Shares $10.00 per Preferred Share.

Class A Shares:

to provide holders of the Class A Shares with regular monthly cash dividends currently targeted to be $0.10 per share; and on or about the termination date, currently December 1, 2024 (subject to further 5 year extensions thereafter) to pay holders of Class A Shares at least the original issue price of those shares.

A prospectus supplement to the Companys short form base shelf prospectus dated June 1, 2018 containing important detailed information about the Preferred Shares and the Class A Shares being offered will be filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in all provinces of Canada. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the short form base shelf prospectus may be obtained from your registered financial advisor using the contact information for such advisor, or from representatives of the agents listed above. There will not be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy the securities being offered until the prospectus supplement has been filed with the Securities Commissions or similar authorities in each of the provinces of Canada.

For further information, please contact:

Dividend 15 Split Corp.

Investor Relations

416-304-4443

Toll free at 1-877-4-Quadra (1-877-478-2372)

www.dividend15.comVANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corvus Gold Inc. (Corvus or the Company) - (TSX: KOR, OTCQX: CORVF) announces it has received results from three additional holes including one testing the deep intrusive zone below the existing Mother Lode deposit (Table 1). Hole ML19-109 (detailed below, highlights include 41.1m @ 2.83 g/t gold & 30.5m @ 1.71 g/t gold ending in 4.14 g/t gold) tested the depth extension potential of the central part of the Mother Lode gold system in the lower plate carbonate rocks along the main intrusive dike trend (Figure 1).



The new discovery is now outlining an intrusive related deep gold zone below the main deposit which the Companys believes could offer additional resource expansion potential. Further follow-up drilling will be testing this new lower Mother Lode zone over the next few months.

Deep Intrusive Related Target

The new deep zone intersection in hole ML19-109 was targeted on the central, north trending dike swarm, about 100 metres below the main Mother Lode deposit (the initial resource estimate announced in September 2018). The new, deep zone, has an upper oxide zone in the Paleozoic carbonate rocks (6.1m @ 0.81 g/t Au) and then a main intrusive hosted zone of 30.5m @ 1.71 g/t gold which is dominantly sulfide, with the hole ending in 4.1 g/t gold, where the hole was lost due to very strong alteration. The Deep Zone lies below the main Mother Lode deposit, which returned an upper oxide zone totaling 25 metres at 0.5 g/t and a main zone with 9.1m @ 1.17 g/t gold and 41.1m @ 2.83 g/t gold. This new deep intersection could be defining an important intrusive connection to the main Mother Lode deposit and is separate from the Northern Extension (NR19-05, Mar.19, 2019), Western Feeder zone (NR18-17, Oct.17, 2018) and yet untested Western Deep FCF Target.

Jeff Pontius, President and CEO of Corvus, said, The results we have received from the deep intrusive zone are encouraging and highlight what might be a large intrusive related deposit at depth. This drilling as well as our other deep exploration to the north and west continue to point to a rapidly expanding gold system at Mother Lode. We believe that this continued expansion of the system and the style of mineralization could support multiple gold horizons and could potentially lead to a much larger deposit being defined in the future. The Mother Lode system is emerging as a promising discovery and we expect it may form a cornerstone for the Companys District-wide resource development program, offering our shareholders an opportunity to participate in a potential re-emergence of a Nevada Gold District.

East and South Results

Hole ML19-107 is targeting the eastern extension of oxide mineralization from the main Mother Lode deposit and intersected thick intervals of low-grade oxide material in the targeted horizon. Hole ML19-108 was a shallow hole targeting the southern extension of the deposit toward the property line and only intersected low grade mineralization.

Table 1

Phase III - Mother Lode Drilling Results

(Reported intercepts are not true widths as there is currently insufficient data to calculate true orientation in space. Mineralized intervals are calculated using a 0.3 g/t cutoff unless otherwise indicated below)

Drill Hole # from (m) to (m) Interval (m) Gold (g/t) Silver (g/t) Comment ML19-107

AZ 090 dip-45 47.24 56.39 9.15 0.63 n/a East of ML17-024

East Zone 201.17 207.26 6.09 0.99 n/a OX Pz 220.98 230.12 9.14 0.51 n/a OX Pz 246.89 249.94 3.05 0.42 n/a OX Pz 256.03 260.60 4.57 0.72 n/a OX Pz





ML19-108

AZ 180 dip-90 12.19 21.34 9.15 0.13 n/a East of ML17-023

Southeast Zone 105.16 108.20 3.04 0.17 n/a L-G Hits using 0.10 cutoff





ML19-109

AZ 085 dip-85 121.92 129.54 7.62 0.48 n/a Below ML18-089

Deep Zone 155.45 170.69 15.24 0.55 n/a Upper OX Zone 181.36 182.88 1.52 0.45 n/a Upper OX Zone 205.74 214.88 9.14 1.17 n/a Upper OX Zone 227.08 268.22 41.14 2.83 n/a Main Sulfide Zone 355.09 361.19 6.10 0.81 n/a OX halo in Pz 374.90 405.38 30.48 1.71 n/a New Intrusive Zone 414.53 416.05 1.52 4.14 n/a EOH Lost Hole

Figure 1 accompanying this announcement is available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/df111231-8297-4b5f-b43a-8468180d79cb

Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance



Jeffrey A. Pontius (CPG 11044), a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101), has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Pontius is not independent of Corvus, as he is the CEO & President and holds common shares and incentive stock options.

Carl E. Brechtel, (Nevada PE 008744 and Registered Member 353000 of SME), a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has coordinated execution of the work outlined in this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Brechtel is not independent of Corvus, as he is the COO and holds common shares and incentive stock options.

The work program at Mother Lode was designed and supervised by Mark Reischman, Corvus Golds Nevada Exploration Manager, who is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project log and track all samples prior to sealing and shipping. Quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind certified standard reference materials and blanks into each sample shipment. All resource sample shipments are sealed and shipped to American Assay Laboratories (AAL) in Reno, Nevada, for preparation and assaying. AAL is independent of the Company. AALs quality system complies with the requirements for the International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025:1999. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. Finally, representative blind duplicate samples are forwarded to AAL and an ISO compliant third-party laboratory for additional quality control. Mr. Pontius, a qualified person, has verified the data underlying the information disclosed herein, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information by reviewing the reports of AAL, methodologies, results and all procedures undertaken for quality assurance and quality control in a manner consistent with industry practice, and all matters were consistent and accurate according to his professional judgement. There were no limitations on the verification process.

Mr. Scott E. Wilson, CPG (10965), Registered Member of SME (4025107) and President of Resource Development Associates Inc., is an independent consulting geologist specializing in Mineral Reserve and Resource calculation reporting, mining project analysis and due diligence evaluations. He is acting as the Qualified Person, as defined in NI 43-101, and is the primary author of the Technical Report for the Mineral Resource estimate and has reviewed and approved the Mineral Resource estimate and the Preliminary Economic Assessment summarized in this news release. Mr. Wilson has over 29 years of experience in surface mining, resource estimation and strategic mine planning. Mr. Wilson is President of Resource Development Associates Inc. and is independent of the Company under NI 43-101.

Mr. Wilson, a qualified person, has verified the data underlying the information disclosed herein, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information by reviewing the reports of AAL, methodologies, results and all procedures undertaken for quality assurance and quality control in a manner consistent with industry practice, and all matters were consistent and accurate according to his professional judgement. There were no limitations on the verification process.

Metallurgical testing on North Bullfrog and Mother Lode samples has been performed by McClelland Analytical Services Laboratories Inc. of Sparks Nevada (McClelland), McClelland is an ISO 17025 accredited facility that supplies quantitative chemical analysis in support of metallurgical, exploration and environmental testing using classic methods and modern analytical instrumentation. McClelland has met the requirements of the IAS Accreditations Criteria for Testing Laboratories (AC89), has demonstrated compliance with ANS/ISO/IEC Standard 17025:2005, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, and has been accredited, since November 12, 2012. Hazen Research Inc. (Hazen), an independent laboratory, has performed flotation, AAO testing and cyanide leach testing on samples of sulphide mineralization from the YellowJacket zone and Swale area of Sierra Blanca, and roasting tests on Mother Lode flotation concentrate. Hazen holds analytical certificates from state regulatory agencies and the US Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA). Hazen participates in performance evaluation studies to demonstrate competence and maintains a large stock of standard reference materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Canadian Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET), the EPA and other sources. Hazens QA program has been developed for conformance to the applicable requirements and standards referenced in 10 CFR 830.120 subpart A, quality assurance requirements, January 1, 2002. Pressure oxidation test work on Mother Lode concentrate samples was performed by Resource Development Inc. of Wheatridge, CO.

For additional details, see technical report entitled Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Integrated Mother Lode and North Bullfrog Projects, Bullfrog Mining District, Nye County, Nevada, dated November 1, 2018 and amended on November 8, 2018, with an effective date of September 18, 2018 on the Companys profile at www.sedar.com.

About the North Bullfrog & Mother Lode Projects, Nevada

Corvus controls 100% of its North Bullfrog Project, which covers approximately 86.6 km2 in southern Nevada. The property package is made up of a number of private mineral leases of patented federal mining claims and 1,057 federal unpatented mining claims. The project has excellent infrastructure, being adjacent to a major highway and power corridor as well as a large water right. The Company also controls 445 federal unpatented mining claims on the Mother Lode project which totals approximately 36.5 km2 which it owns 100%. The total Corvus Gold 100% land ownership now covers over 123.1 km2, hosting two major new Nevada gold discoveries.

The combined Mother Lode and North Bullfrog Projects contains a Measured Mineral Resource for the mill of 9.3 Mt at an average grade of 1.59 g/t gold, containing 475 k ounces of gold and Indicated Mineral Resources for the mill of 18.2 Mt at an average grade of 1.68 g/t gold containing 988 k ounces of gold and an Inferred Mineral Resource for the mill of 2.3 Mt at an average grade of 1.61 g/t gold containing 118 k ounces of gold. In addition, the project contains a Measured Mineral Resource for oxide, run of mine, heap leach of 34.6 Mt at an average grade of 0.27 g/t gold containing 305 k ounces of gold and an Indicated Mineral Resource for, oxide, run of mine, heap leach of 149.4 Mt at an average grade of 0.24 g/t gold containing 1,150 k ounces of gold and an Inferred, oxide, run of mine, heap leach Mineral Resource of 78.7 Mt at an average grade of 0.26 g/t gold containing 549 k ounces of gold.

About Corvus Gold Inc.

Corvus Gold Inc. is a North American gold exploration and development company, focused on its near-term gold-silver mining project at the North Bullfrog and Mother Lode Districts in Nevada. In addition, the Company controls a number of royalties on other North American exploration properties representing a spectrum of gold, silver and copper projects. Corvus is committed to building shareholder value through new discoveries and the expansion of its projects to maximize share price leverage in an advancing gold and silver market.

On behalf of

Corvus Gold Inc.

(signed) Jeffrey A. Pontius

Jeffrey A. Pontius,

President & Chief Executive Officer

Contact Information:

Ryan Ko

Investor Relations

Email: info@corvusgold.com

Phone: 1-844-638-3246 (toll free) or (604) 638-3246

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsTORONTO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kuuhubb Inc. (Kuuhubb or the Company) (TSXV: KUU), a mobile game development and publishing company targeting the female audience with bespoke mobile experiences, is pleased to announce that it has successfully soft-launched its new mobile game Recolor By Numbers.



Recolor By Numbers is the most recent addition to Kuuhubbs growing portfolio of female-focused gaming apps and aims to replicate the global success of its flagship app Recolor, with over fifty million downloads to date.

The color-by-numbers segment has traditionally focused on the childrens demographic, featuring simple, retro-style pixel designs. In contrast, Kuuhubbs Recolor By Numbers will appeal to an older audience, offering a significantly different experience. An extensive collection of rich and intricate designs and images, 2D and 3D objects will be available to paint in rich color palettes and numerous textures, all of which will be available in a subscription or ad-supported model.

Coloring apps have continued to be wildly popular for several years. We foresee that Recolor By Numbers will be a significant part of the newest number coloring craze. Our team can easily replicate the best hit features from our flagship title Recolor, enabling us to rapidly accelerate the update and development cycles, stated Kristoffer Rosberg, General Manager, Apps & Games at Kuuhubb.

The soft launch sees Recolor By Numbers currently available on the App Store for iOS devices in Canada, the Netherlands, Finland and Croatia. Kuuhubb anticipates the global launch of Recolor By Numbers by the third quarter of 2019.



Click to Visit Link: https://itunes.apple.com/fi/app/recolor-by-numbers/id1411398756?mt=8

Jouni Keranen, the CEO of Kuuhubb commented, Our team continues to create fun and immersive apps focused on the female lifestyle gaming segment. Recolor By Numbers incorporates many of the innovative designs and beautiful artwork that our flagship brand Recolor is recognized for, while adding easy to use color-by-number features for a relaxing and creative gaming experience.

The Recolor By Numbers team, located in the company headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, brings extensive experience developed in pioneering the work with Recolor. The team is comprised of industry veterans originating from Digital Chocolate, Armada and Rovio.

About Kuuhubb

Kuuhubb is a company active in the digital space that focuses mainly on lifestyle and mobile game applications for the female audience. Its strategy is to create sustainable shareholder value through acquisitions of proven, yet underappreciated, assets with robust long-term growth potential. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Kuuhubb has a global presence with a strong focus on developing U.S. brand collaborations and Asian partnerships.

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements relating to the potential success of the Recolor By Numbers game, future revenue and products and the development and growth of the Companys business) are forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, the possibility that results from the Recolor By Numbers game will not be consistent with the Companys expectations, risks related to the growth strategy of the Company, the possibility that results from the Companys growth and development plans will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, the early stage of the Company's development, competition from companies in a number of industries, the ability of the Company to manage expansion and integrate acquisitions into its business, future business development of the Company and the other risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated November 8, 2018 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is provided and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

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.

For further information contact:

Jouni Keranen

CEO - Kuuhubb Inc.

Email: jouni@kuuhubb.com

Bill Mitoulas

Investor Relations - Kuuhubb Inc.

Tel: +1 (416) 479-9547

Email: bill@kuuhubb.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/532cffac-ebfc-45d8-b982-51b51d60d296OMAHA, Neb., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods, Inc. has donated more than 18,000 pounds of protein to Food Bank for the Heartland . Smithfields contribution was part of the companys 2019 Helping Hungry Homes  donation tour. Helping Hungry Homes is Smithfields signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. The donation, equivalent to more than 74,000 servings, will help those affected by recent flooding fight hunger across the Midwest.



Thousands of families have been impacted by recent weather events, said Brian Barks, president & CEO of Food Bank for the Heartland. We value serving others with respect, integrity, and urgency, and this donation of nutrient-rich product aligns with our mission to care for in-need families in flood-ravaged communities across Nebraska and western Iowa. We are immensely thankful for Smithfields support during this trying time for our communities.

This is the 11th large-scale protein donation made by Smithfield to food banks across the country during its 2019 Helping Hungry Homes tour. Since the programs inception in 2008, Smithfield has provided more than 120 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts, and community outreach programs nationwide.

Our hearts go out to those affected by recent flooding in Nebraska and Iowa, including many members of our Smithfield Family. We are incredibly grateful for their safety and well-being as these communities recover, as well as for the tireless efforts of all the first responders, said Jonathan Toms, associate manager of charitable initiatives for Smithfield Foods. Recovery for the Midwest region will require an ongoing collective effort, and were honored to provide resources to our neighbors in need and in the communities we call home.

The Food Bank for the Heartland has implemented a three-step plan for recovery in the region, and encourages those interested in providing support to visit www.foodbankheartland.org/flooding/ to learn more. For more information about Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes initiative and a list of upcoming donation events, visit helpinghungryhomes.com .

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 .

About Food Bank for the Heartland

Food Bank for the Heartland is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Omaha, Nebraska that acts as a central clearinghouse distributing food to nearly 600 network partners across 77 counties in Nebraska and 16 counties in western Iowa. Food Bank for the Heartland has distributed approximately 22 million meals in FY 2018 helping thousands of children, families, seniors, veterans, and others in need. For more information, visit www.FoodBankHeartland.org .

Media Contacts:Denver, Colorado, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills, the acclaimed lifestyle brand headquartered in Portland, Oregon, are introducing a new, exclusive blanket to the American Indian College Fund Collection to honor the contributions of David Kennedy, the co-founder of independent creative advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. For nearly 29 years, Wieden+Kennedy, has been a creative partner of the American Indian College Fund and led an effort thats continued to raise awareness about the importance of higher education to ensure a better future for Native American people, their families, and communities. The agency, under the creative leadership of David Kennedy, has provided its public service media, creative design, and collaborative work with Pendleton Woolen Mills and the College Fund to design blankets for the American Indian College Fund Collection. Kennedy has also served as a member of the College Funds board of trustees.



Kennedy was presented with The Contemporary Pawnee Pathway blanket, designed by Bunky Echo-Hawk, an acclaimed Native American artist and longtime friend, at a reception in his honor at Wieden+Kennedys Portland offices on March 28.



The blanket is available at Pendleton retail stores and on their website at www.pendleton-usa.com. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the American Indian College Fund and student scholarships.



Echo-Hawk first met David Kennedy while employed by the American Indian College Fund. They continued their friendship as their paths intersected in the art world. Echo-Hawk relied upon his experiences as a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts, a tribal college alumnus, and a friend of David Kennedy to inspire his blanket design.



Echo-Hawk said, The blanket design is saturated in traditional Pawnee color theory and symbology, while also reflecting a contemporary flare. The blanket adheres to colors deemed sacred: red, white, yellow, black, and turquoise blue. The red, white, yellow, and black represent the four stages of life, from birth, to adolescence, to maturity, and finally, to death. But they also represent the four semi-cardinal directions (NE, SE, SW, & NW), as well as the four races of humankind. The four-pointed stars in the middle of the blanket represent the Milky Way, which is considered the Path of Departed Spirits in Pawnee culture. The repeating red and black elements are derived from Pawnee parfleche designs, specifically, from burden strap designs. According to our philosophy, life is an unending force, a path that we continue upon, persevering in education and accomplishment along the way, so that when we become ancestors traversing the Milky Way, future generations can look to us and learn.



Echo-Hawk said the paint splatters are a nod to the creativity of David Kennedy, and are not geometric or symmetric, mirroring our life path, which is winding and sometimes messy. The turquoise blue represents the heavens, which are present above us in each stage of life and all around us, as symbolized by the blue border.



Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, said, The College Funds national recognition inspires support for our missiontransforming the lives of American Indian students. We thank David Kennedy for the love and commitment that encourages others to give to our work so more Native students can go to college and so tribal colleges and universities can thrive. It is fitting that we are able to honor David on the 30th anniversary of the College Fund with a blanket that reflects his creativity, his generosity, and his belief that education is the answer.



For those wishing to honor David Kennedy, in addition to the blanket, the David Kennedy Endowed Scholarship has been established in his honor. Individual donations can be made at www.collegefund.org/David.



About Bunky Echo-HawkBunky Echo-Hawk (Pawnee/Yakama) is an internationally recognized visual and performing artist. His work is exhibited in national and international museum and gallery exhibitions. As a performance artist, he has performed in major venues throughout the country. His work is celebrated and widely collected and held in private and permanent collections globally. Echo-Hawk also enjoys commercial success as an artist, and has created work for non-profit organizations, corporations, and Tribal communities. He has created design work for Vans and has designed the Nike N7 Collection since 2010. As a muralist, Bunky is commissioned to install large public works of art throughout the country in various tribal communities, towns, and public places. Most recently, he has installed murals in American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, the home of the Miami Heat, and on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.



About Wieden+KennedyWieden+Kennedy, founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1982, is an independent, privately held global creative company with offices in Amsterdam, Delhi, London, New York City, Portland, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Wieden+Kennedy works with some of the worlds most innovative brands, including AB InBev, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, KFC, Instagram, Nike, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, and Spotify.



Wieden+Kennedy was recently honored as Adweeks US Agency of the Year and one of Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies in Advertising. Learn more at www.wk.com.



About PendletonSetting the standard for classic American style, Pendleton is a lifestyle brand recognized as a symbol of American heritage, authenticity, and craftsmanship. With six generations of family ownership since 1863, the company recently celebrated 156 years of weaving fabrics in the Pacific Northwest. Known for fabric innovation, Pendleton owns and operates two of Americas remaining woolen mills, constantly updating them with state-of-the-art looms and eco-friendly technology. Inspired by its heritage, the company designs and produces apparel for men and women, blankets, home decor, and gifts. Pendleton is available through select retailers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Australia; Pendleton stores; company catalogs; and direct-to-consumer channels including the Pendleton website, http://www.pendleton-usa.com.



About the American Indian College FundFounded in 1989, the American Indian College Fund has been the nations largest charity supporting Native higher education for 30 years. The College Fund believes Education is the answer" and provided 5,896 scholarships last year totaling $7.65 million to American Indian students, with more than 131,000 scholarships and community support totaling over $200 million since its inception. The College Fund also supports a variety of academic and support programs at the nations 35 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators and is one of the nations top 100 charities named to the Better Business Bureaus Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org.

AttachmentDutch English French

Today ageas SA/NV successfully placed its inaugural debt securities in the form of EUR 500 million Subordinated Fixed to Floating Rate Notes (the Notes) maturing in 2049 and with a first call date in 2029. The issuance generated substantial interest and was more than 7 times oversubscribed.

The Notes will be issued in denominations of EUR 100,000 with a fixed coupon rate of 3.25 % payable annually until the first call date (2 July 2029). As of the first call date, the coupon becomes payable quarterly at a 3-month Euribor floating rate increased with an initial credit spread and a 100 basis points step-up.

The Notes will qualify as Tier 2 capital for both Ageas Group and ageas SA/NV under European regulatory capital requirements for insurers (Solvency II) and are expected to be rated BBB+ by Standard & Poors and Fitch. Application has been made for the Notes to be listed on the official list and admitted to trading on the regulated market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The Notes are expected to be issued on 10 April 2019.

The net proceeds from the issuance of the Notes will be used for general corporate purposes, to optimise the capital structure and to strengthen the regulatory solvency of Ageas and its operating subsidiaries.

Ageas is a listed international insurance Group with a heritage spanning almost 200 years. It offers Retail and Business customers Life and Non-Life insurance products designed to suit their specific needs, today and tomorrow. As one of Europe's larger insurance companies, Ageas concentrates its activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the major part of the global insurance market. It operates successful insurance businesses in Belgium, the UK, France, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and long term partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors. Ageas ranks among the market leaders in the countries in which it operates. It represents a staff force of over 45,000 people and reported annual inflows of over EUR 34 billion in 2018 (all figures at 100%).

Disclaimer

The issue, exercise or sale of securities in the offering are subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. The information contained herein shall not constitute or form part of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. ageas SA/NV assumes no responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of offers to purchase or subscribe for, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. The securities referred to herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered, exercised or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. There is no intention to register any portion of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.

ageas SA/NV has not authorised any offer to the public of securities in any Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA). The securities referred to herein are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to, and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to, any retail investor in the EEA. For these purposes, the expression retail investor means a person who is one (or both) of (a) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014/65/EU, as amended (MiFID II) or (b) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2002/92/EC, as amended or superseded, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II.

This communication may only be communicated, or caused to be communicated, to persons in the United Kingdom in circumstances where the provisions of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 do not apply to Ageas and is directed solely at persons in the United Kingdom who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments, such persons falling within the definition of investment professionals in Article 19(5) of the FSMA (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the Financial Promotion Order) or (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Financial Promotion Order or other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as relevant persons). This communication is directed only to relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons.

The securities are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to, and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to, any consumer (consumenten/consommateurs) within the meaning of the Belgian Code of Economic Law (Wetboek van economisch recht/Code de droit economique), as amended.

The securities referred to herein may be held only by, and transferred only to, eligible investors referred to in Article 4 of the Belgian Royal Decree of 26 May 1994, holding their securities in an exempt securities account that has been opened with a financial institution that is a direct or indirect participant in the securities settlement system operated by the National Bank of Belgium.

AttachmentUnder current state law, parents can be charged with neglect for leaving children younger than 14 unsupervised for an unreasonable period of time. Parents can be charged with child abandonment if they leave children under the age of 13 alone for 24 hours or more without supervision by someone over the age of 14.NEW Zealands new-vehicle market backtracked for the second time in 2019 in March, with the third month of the years 13,271 sales representing a 5.4 per cent decrease over the corresponding month in 2018.

With January (13,938 units) down 6.0 per cent and February (11,699) up 1.5 per cent, the decline in year-to-date sales (38,908) has now softened by 3.7 per cent on the back of the third-strongest March result on record, behind 2018 (14,028) and 2017 (13,869).

The outturn for March 2019 was weaker than the same period on 2017 and 2018 but still strong compared to 2009 to 2016 period, said NZ Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive David Crawford.

However, it indicates that after a sustained period of growth, the 2019 market is likely to be down on last year.

Sales of passenger cars and SUVs were down 6.9 per cent, to 8425 units combined, while light-commercial vehicles also declined, with volume dipping 2.7 per cent, to 4846 units.

Mid-size SUVs were again the most popular type of new vehicle, with a 17.8 per cent market share, followed by pick-up/cab-chassis 4x4s (16.8%) and small SUVs (14.0%).

Despite being seriously battered and bruised, Toyota led from the front in March, with the lions share of its 1697 sales (-29.9%) coming from the third-placed HiLux ute (581 units, -36.5%) and eighth-placed Corolla small car (301, +4.9%).

While Ford (1328 units, -14.4%) also had a tough month, it once again finished in second position on the back of the NZs best-selling model, the Ranger ute (850, -6.8%).

The Blue Oval will be looking over its shoulder in the coming months, though, as Mitsubishi is in third position as one of the few brands defying the market downturn, with its 1225 sales in March up 11.0 per cent.

This impressive performance was largely thanks to the second-placed Triton ute (594 units, +55.5%), while the 11th-place Outlander mid-size SUV (261) also did some heavy-lifting.

Mazda also bucked the trend last month and recorded growth in fourth position, with its 1089 sales equating to a 7.1 per cent improvement. The seventh-placed CX-5 mid-size SUV (310 units, +2.3%) and ninth-placed BT-50 ute (284) were its best-selling models.

Holden ranked higher in NZ than Australia in March, claiming fifth position with its sales only slipping 5.8 per cent, to 1036 vehicles, as its fourth-placed Colorado ute (488 units, +14.3%) put in a strong effort.

Nissan was the biggest improver among the best-selling brands last month, with its 18.7 per cent increase to 814 sales enough to take sixth position. Crucially, this growth was achieved in a month when its sixth-placed Navara ute (324 units, +2.9%) was only a steady performer.

Honda (699 units, +9.9%) barely took seventh position over Hyundai (674, +6.8%), with the former buoyed by the 12th-placed Jazz light car (213) and 13th-placed HR-V small SUV (207), while the latter was led by the 13th-placed Tucson mid-size SUV (207).

A consistent Kia (626 units, +1.5%) was a little further behind in ninth position but staved off Suzuki (566, -7.1%) to round out the top 10. The formers fifth-placed Sportage mid-size SUV (379) was prolific, while the latters 10th-placed Swift light car (263) played its usual role.

In the year-to-date sales race, Toyotas 5618 sales and 14.4 per cent market share have it 1565 units ahead of second-placed Ford, which has the best-selling model in NZ, the Ranger (2384, 6.1%), driving its overall performance.



NZ top 10 makes March 2019

Ranking Brand Sales Share% 1 Toyota 1697 12.8 2 Ford 1328 10.0 3 Mitsubishi 1225 9.2 4 Mazda 1089 8.2 5 Holden 1036 7.8 6 Nissan 814 6.1 7 Honda 699 5.3 8 Hyundai 674 5.1 9 Kia 626 4.7 10 Suzuki 566 4.3

The Road to Recovery podcast seriesGrowing up in the time period we did, it was very difficult to grow up as a gay person, and to be able to see a person whos able to be elected as mayor whos a lesbian and married and has a child has been amazing, said Zielberg. It just is very meaningful. Im so excited for her. I cant wait to see what she can do with the city and where were going.Vancouver, April 3, 2019 - Medgold Resources Corp. (TSX-V: MED) is pleased to announce that further to its news release of January 16, 2019, Jeremy Crozier has been appointed as President, CEO and a director of the Company. In his role, Mr. Crozier will play a central role in the advancement of the Tlamino Gold Project in Serbia, including forthcoming drilling activities. Simon Ridgway remains on the Board of the Company in the capacity of Executive Chairman.

Mr. Crozier brings to Medgold nearly 25 years of exploration, discovery, business development, and operating experience gained in Europe, North America and Africa, and holds BSc and MSc degrees in geology. His other roles include those of President and CEO of Volcanic Gold Mines Inc. where he oversaw the definition of an extensive portfolio of mineralized targets at the Mandiana gold project in Guinea and active marketing of this venture in public capital markets. Mr. Crozier has also served as Exploration Manager for Taseko Mines Ltd., where he held responsibility for a portfolio of successful exploration and resource definition programs at all stages of development from grass roots to feasibility. He has also worked extensively as an independent mineral exploration and corporate development consultant on behalf of private high net worth clients on ventures in Europe and Africa.

About Medgold Resources Corp.

Medgold is a Serbia-focused, TSX-V listed, exploration company focused on the advancement of the Tlamino Gold Project. Run by an experienced management team with a successful track-record of building value in resource companies, Medgold is aiming to become a leading European gold exploration company.

Additional information on Medgold can be found on the Company's website at www.medgoldresources.com and by reviewing the Company's page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Simon Ridgway, Executive Chairman

For further information, please contact:

President and CEO

Jeremy Crozier (Vancouver), jeremy@medgoldresources.com, 604.801.5432

Investor Relations

Elina Chow (Toronto), ec@catchadvisorygroup.com, 416.845.8495

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the Company's business goals. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimate", "estimates", "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "upgraded", "offset", "limited", "contained", "reflecting", "containing", "remaining", "to be", "periodically", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

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 forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. 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: that the Company's stated goals and planned exploration and development activities will be achieved; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; 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.

Copyright (c) 2019 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.LIBERTY LAKE, April 03, 2019 - Hunt Mining Corp. (the Corporation or Hunt) (TSX VENTURE: HMX OTCQB: HGLD) announces the filing of the Corporations audited 10-K for year-end 2018 on EDGAR in the United States, as well as the MD&A and Financials on SEDAR in Canada, both filed April 1, 2019.The Corporation recognized a net loss of US$3.56 million in fiscal year 2018 on concentrate net sales of $3,961,399, given the costs associated with the shift from the Martha property to the La Josefina Gold / Silver Project initiated. In 2018, Hunts exploration and development team focused on metallurgical tests at the Ailin vein, a well explored part of the La Josefina Project, and one of numerous principal vein structures located on the Estancia La Josefina that the Corporation has owned since 2006. The Corporation has been encouraged by the results of the metallurgical test shipments and the way mineralized material has responded to flotation milling at the Martha mill.Hunt was pleased with how well the Martha infrastructure functioned in 2018 as a result of the capital improvements made in 2016 and 2017. The effectiveness of these improvements has surpassed managements original estimates.In calendar year 2017, Hunt Mining Corp. , through its wholly owned subsidiary, Cerro Cazador S.A. (CCSA), sold more than $9.2 million worth of silver-gold concentrate produced at the Martha flotation mill, partially from known remnants that came with the acquisition of the Martha property, yet largely resulting from the discovery of the Martha Oeste vein previously unknown.Martha - Ongoing activity at the Martha Project is being undertaken without established mineral resources or reserves and the Corporation has not established the economic viability of the operations on the Martha Project. As a result, there is increased uncertainty and economic risk of failure associated with these activities. Hunt filed an updated NI 43-101 Technical Report (Technical Report) for the Martha Project, dated October 12, 2018 titled Martha Silver and Gold Project, Santa Cruz, Argentina, which is currently available on SEDAR and on the Corporations website at:http://www.huntmining.com/sites/default/files/2018-10/MM%20TR_2018_HUNTMINING_12Oct18.pdfAdditional information on the Martha Project and other Santa Cruz, Argentina projects can be viewed on the Company website at: www.huntmining.com. To review the Corporations 2018 10-K, go to SEC.gov or http://www.huntmining.com/index.php/investors/reportsHunt Mining Corp. has continued to develop its properties as an active and aggressive explorer in Santa Cruz since 2006. During that time, Hunt's wholly owned subsidiary, Cerro Cazador S.A., has completed exploration activity including 62,000 meters of HQ core drilling, 416 line kilometers of Induced Polarization geophysical surveys and more than 20,000 surface soil, sediment, channel, chip, and trench samples, beyond the historical work previous to the same properties. Hunt also owns a 100% interest in the Martha Mine, located in the Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.Dean Stuart, Investor RelationsT: (403) 617-7609E: dean@boardmarker.netBob Little, Chief Administration OfficerT: (509) 290-5659E: blittle@huntmining.comNeither the TSX Venture nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Vancouver, April 3, 2019 - Max Resource Corp. (TSXV: MXR) (OTC Pink: MXROF) (FSE: M1D1) (the "Company") is pleased to report that, at the Special Meeting of Shareholders held on April 2, 2019, shareholders adopted a special resolution approving the transaction with Noble Metals Ltd. ("Noble") and its wholly-owned subsidiary Condoto Platinum Limited ("Condoto") (the "Transaction"). The Company has also received approval from the Board of Noble for the execution of the Transaction.

Transaction highlights include:

The acquisition by MAX of 100% rights to mineral claims and mineral applications held by Noble and, more importantly, the "Novita Agreement", an exclusive right of first refusal to the mineral rights and mining rights over 1,050 sq. km held by the Novita Higher Community Council as sole owners of the land and minerals.

The Novita Agreement area encompasses or is adjacent to the Company's Choco Precious Metals Project, which covers an area of 1,757 sq. km, located 100 km SW of Medellin, Colombia.

Established infrastructure, including a fully operation 30-man exploration camp at the town of Novita.

The Choco Precious Metals Project covers or is adjacent to historic surface production of 1.5Mozs of gold and 1.0Mozs of platinum by Compania Minera del Choco Pacifico between 1906 and 1990. (Source: R.J. Fletcher and Associates (2011) Review of Gold and Platinum Exploration and Production in Choco Province Colombia Part 3. Private Report for Condoto Platinum Ltd).

The Company advises that mineralization hosted on adjacent properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's Choco Precious Metals Project.

Brett Matich, Max's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Shareholder approval of the Noble Transaction represents a major milestone for the Company. This transaction secures a major ground position in a world class precious metals province."

The Transaction

The Transaction is described in a definitive asset purchase agreement (the "Transaction Agreement") dated effective February 8, 2019, pursuant to which the Company has agreed to purchase a bundle of resource exploration assets located in the Choco Department of Colombia between Noble, Condoto, a local Colombian branch of Condoto (known as a "Sucursal") and the Novita Higher Community Council. In consideration for these assets, MAX has agreed to pay the sum of C$500,000 and to issue to Noble 26,665,896 MAX common shares (the "Acquisition Shares").

At the Special Meeting, the Company's shareholders adopted an additional special resolution to approve Noble as a 'Control Person' of the Company as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company anticipates that Noble will become a Control Person when the Acquisition Shares are issued upon the completion of the Transaction because, at closing, Noble will hold 29.2% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company. The Transaction remains subject to conditions within the Transaction Agreement and the TSX Venture Exchange conditional approval letter.

About Max Resource Corp.

Max Resource Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the development of prospective projects in the rich mineral belts of Colombia. The Company has established significant exploration infrastructure and local community support for two very large prospective Colombian projects: the Choco Precious Metals Project, located 100 kms south of Medellin, which covers or is adjacent to historic production of 1.5Mozs gold and 1.0Mozs platinum and the Gachala Copper Project, located 60 kms east of Bogota.

The Company is led by a seasoned management team with a track record of significant discovery and exploration success.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MAX RESOURCE CORP.

"Brett Matich"

Brett Matich, CEO and President

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.maxresource.com

or the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com

If you would like to be added to Max Resources' news distribution list, please send your email address to info@maxresources.com

For more information contact:

Brett Matich, CEO and President Tel: (+1) 604 365-1522

info@maxresource.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements pertaining to completion of the Transaction and any approvals required in connection with the Acquisition. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in the price of commodities (particularly copper), unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general social, economic or geo-political conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/43855SPEED READ:

The Brookings Institution released a new Metro Monitor report.

Median earnings, poverty and employment rates largely recovered from the recession but have stagnated.

Most of the progress in narrowing racial gaps is in employment rates, not median earnings or poverty rates.

Racial Gaps

Outliers

Looking Ahead

In the decade since the Great Recession, most cities have recovered. But even in places that have bounced back -- some stronger than before -- many people are still struggling. new report by the Brookings Institution outlines how the economic expansion over the last decade has been a lopsided one marked by growing income inequality, wage stagnation and racial divides.The report's approach, says co-author Chad Shearer, is more holistic than most because it looks at not just growth and prosperity but how they translate to individuals.[America's] economic growth has benefitted some more than others, he says, so we think its important to focus on how inclusion metrics are changing by race and ethnicity.Inclusion metrics measure changes in median earnings, poverty and employment rates. Without accounting for race, those three metrics largely recovered from the recession by 2015, says Shearer, but they have stagnated since then.For example, Tulsa, Okla.'s median wage increased by nearly 15 percent between 2010 and 2015 while its relative poverty declined by 5.4 percent. Between 2016 and 2017, its poverty rate still improved, but median earnings fell.The main reason for this stagnation is that big increases in employment rates have usually come from job gains in low-paying sectors like retail and hospitality. While thats a positive for job growth, particularly for lower-skilled workers, these jobs tend to have lower wages.So as youre adding these jobs and improving your employment rate, youre lowering your median earnings, says Shearer. That kind of job growth can be a drag on the inclusion indicator.With respect to race, the Brookings report shows that dozens of places made progress in overall racial inclusivity over the last decade. But, the gains were largely limited to narrowing the racial gap between employment rates. The racial gap in median earnings decreased in as many areas as it increased; and the racial gap in poverty rates increased in 54 out of 100 metro areas.Narrowing the prosperity gap between whites and people of color has proven to be one of the most elusive tasks over the last decade. Silicon Valley is a classic example.The San Jose metro area scores among the nation's highest for growth in jobs, wages and economic output. But it scores dead last on racial inclusivity. When compared with people of color, whites in the region now earn nearly $9,000 more a year on average and have a lower poverty rate and unemployment rate.It's not surprising then that nearly two-thirds of Bay Area residents say the quality of life there has worsened over the last five years, according to a recent poll A few places are bucking these trends.The metro areas of Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tenn.; El Paso, Texas; and Los Angeles made consistent progress in all areas except entrepreneurship, according to Brookings. And Denver made across-the-board improvements for all types of economic growth -- the only metro area to achieve this over the past decade.The five cities have at least one thing in common: They tend to attract younger workers and are in states that rank high in Fitch Ratings measurements for working-age populations and productivity. Experts say growth in the working population -- particularly skilled labor -- is a key ingredient to economic growth.If cities want true, inclusive growth, Shearer says they need a long-term vision focused on making that happen through the development of industries that fuel growth.Denvers already thinking like that.For the past three years, local officials collected public input and used those comments to draft their 20-year plan for inclusive growth . The latest draft was released this month and is heavily focused on promoting health and social equity through land use and zoning, housing affordability, mobility and community amenities. Among other things, the plan calls for increasing access to healthy food through community-supported agriculture, farmers markets and incentives to build grocery stores in so-called food deserts.Its all psychological. It depends on how she plays it, but 74 percent is going to catch everyones attention, Mooney says, explaining there will be plenty of people who will see the race results and feel the pull to get on board with her agenda. Its a totally new world down there  its a new world for everybody. As mayor she has the opportunity to set the dynamics, to set the agenda. Who else is going to do that? If she doesnt, there could be a power vacuum, and it could be filled by an opponent who sets up a new round of council wars, he said, referring to the racially charged political battle between the citys first African-American mayor, Harold Washington, and a bloc of white alderman who did everything they could to stymie his agenda in the 1980s.Piles of paper used to build up on Lorenzo Lewis Jr.s desk. Applications for cash assistance. Mailed notices about changes in income. Renewal forms. As a public assistance caseworker in Hartford, Conn., Lewis had the job of combing through it all, which he tried to do whenever he wasnt taking phone calls from clients asking why they hadnt yet received their benefits. He was perpetually in catch-up mode.Lewis understands well the frustrations of citizens turning to the government for help. As a boy, he would come with his family to a similar office in Hartford to apply for food stamps. He remembers the bookletsnow replaced by electronic benefit transfer debit cardswith colorful paper coupons. It looked like island money or some other foreign currency, he recalls. With those memories informing his work, Lewis has always tried to treat his clients as he would a childhood friend or family member. No one should feel judged, he says. Built like a linebacker, Lewis fills up a quarter of his small, undecorated, white cubicle. As he goes through a battery of questions with a woman hoping to qualify for family cash assistance, he is sure to make eye contact with each question.Despite his sincere personal investment in the work, Lewis place of employment has a history of dysfunction. The federal government ranked Connecticuts Department of Social Services last in timeliness for processing food stamp applications in 2012. In recent years, the agencys payment error rate for food stamps hovered above 6 percentabout twice the national averageresulting in federal financial sanctions. In May, a U.S. District Court judge granted a preliminary injunction against the agency for losing paperwork and taking too long to process food stamp claims. As of July, a similar lawsuit over Medicaid applications was pending.Although Connecticut might be the extreme example, its problems represent a now common dilemma for any state or local agency serving the poor: How do you help more people in less time with a smaller staff and budget? One common answer these days is technologicalautomated call centers, self-service applications online and improved electronic databases, all of which should reduce some of the burden on staff.But some reformers argue that the most effective approach is also the most low-tech one. A simple reconfiguration of business practices is all it takes, they say. So the Connecticut Department of Social Services, starting with Lewis Hartford office, is now trying a more streamlined approach. In the new model, caseworkers specialize in tasks and share clients across an entire office rather than plodding along one-on-one as has been standard practice from time immemorial. And there is evidence that its working.The Hartford field office started using task sharing this spring. In late March, before the change, caseworkers reported a backlog of 20,084 unfinished applicationssome dating back to 2009.Ninety days into the reformed model, that backlog had evaporated to zero. Meanwhile, the percentage of emergency applications for food stamps completed on time rose from 64 percent in September 2012 to 77 percent in June. Today, piles of paper no longer clutter Lewis desk, and the 11 remaining offices in the stateworking with a national consulting firmare scheduled to adopt the same changes within the year.Midway through the recession, a new type of applicant appeared in the Hartford lobby: people from affluent suburbs like New Canaan, Simsbury and Avon; people who had recently been employed in real estate or construction; people with 401(k) savings accounts; people with little-to-no prior experience asking the government for help. In the past five years, demand for food stamps across the state has nearly doubled (see A SNAP Decision, page 58); for Medicaid, it is up about a third. At the same time, the agency in charge of the states safety net programsfood stamps, child care, family cash assistanceshed about 20 percent of its staff through layoffs and early retirement incentives. Even with expanded use of overtime, the spike in applications left the remaining caseworkers drowning. The situation called for a change.Up until Marchand for the better part of the past 40 yearsthe Connecticut Social Services Department operated on the same basic case management model as most states and localities. A person hoping to qualify for benefits would come into the lobby, fill out a form and wait to meet with an assigned caseworker. Oftentimes the caseworker would be booked all day with prior appointmentsa consequence of people not bringing in all the required paperwork the first time around. Backlogs would grow and keep growing. The traditional case management model worked fine when fewer people needed public assistance, says Roderick Bremby, Connecticuts commissioner of social services. For todays needs, the old way of doing business is too time-intensive and linear, with an over-reliance on paper and face-to-face interactions.Under the task-based approach, stages of the benefit application process get divided among caseworkers. For simplicitys sake, imagine a hypothetical office with 40 caseworkers, all previously trained to interview a client, determine eligibility and update benefits as the clients economic situation changed over time. Now imagine that the group of caseworkers becomes four teams of 10, each specializing in a stage of the process: initial applications, incomplete applications, renewals, or documented life changes that could affect benefits, such as fluctuations in income. Because the caseworkers specialize in one task, they work faster. Working faster, they stay on top of applications. And because the application flow is under control, managers have more flexibility to move workers around as the situation dictates. In the event of a surge, in which new applications suddenly outnumber renewals, for instance, supervisors can temporarily reallocate caseworkers from other teams. With the office free of the one-caseworker-one-client model of operating, clients dont have to wait for an assigned caseworker. Instead, they can meet with whichever caseworker is free that day, and more are free now thanks to an under-control workload.Meanwhile, the re-engineering of casework has led to a much more accurate picture of how the office is doing when it comes to timeliness. Under the old system, the caseworkers schedule dictated how quickly a client would receive services. If a caseworker was out sick, on vacation or booked with prior appointments, other caseworkers typically couldnt pick up the slack. Even if the system allowed for such flexibility, everyone was usually too swamped to step in. So caseworkers fell behind. In Hartford, when caseworkers fell behind, which most invariably did, they had no incentive to tell supervisors. To do so would only reveal their inability to finish cases in a timely fashion. As a result, no one knew how many cases were being cleared before the federal governments mandated deadlines. And so in the case of food stamps, for example, it would typically be 30 days before a supervisor knew a case was behind schedule, which put it squarely on the feds radar.That dynamic changed when the cases became the responsibility of the entire office. Tracking became easier because cases were handled in batches. Meanwhile, any delays were the entire teams delays, not blemishes on one caseworkers record. Now in Hartford, supervisors hold morning huddles with team leaders, where they get updates on staffing, volume of outstanding work and how much was processed the day before. When I first got here, it was a mess, says Lisa Wells, who became a supervisor at the Hartford office last November. Today its leaner, more organized, more seamlessits just not chaotic anymore.The concept behind the task-based approach isnt unique to Hartford. A report by the Urban Institute in 2010 analyzed process improvements in the eight states plus the District of Columbia that were experimenting with some form of the task-based approach. The shift to tasks is part of a broader movement to reexamine business processes within health and human services, says Uma Ahluwalia, director of Health and Human Services in Montgomery County, Md. A longtime advocate of smoothing out and integrating delivery of services, Ahluwalia argues that there are plenty of opportunities for doing that, it just takes a little observation and action. One small example from her shop: Staff noticed that employees were losing time waiting to print documents because of long print-job queues. By simply adding a few extra printers, they eliminated delays. You look at every single step, says Ahluwalia, Should we keep this, or is there another way that this step can be completed that is either more manpower- or time-efficient?The rewards, meanwhile, go beyond quantifiable efficiencies. First and most obvious, people in need are getting help faster. But its also a boon to office morale, says Valerie Nitti, who oversaw the transition to a task-based approach at the Tioga County Department of Social Services in upstate New York. As in Connecticut, Tioga County saw an uptick in demand for Medicaid and food stamps as a result of the recession, along with pressure on resources to deal with the increase. The caseloads were starting to get absolutely unmanageable, says Nitti. My staff was coming in here, working all day and working hard, but it just seemed like they were never caught up. I mean, they were crying at night. In Tiogas case, Nitti put together an in-house group to investigate and implement more efficient ways to do business. Under its version of a task-based model, which it adopted in 2010, Tioga County finishes more than 99 percent of its food stamp cases within the federally required deadlines. Employees leave the office knowing they dont have a backlog of cases to face the next morning. They can walk out the door, Nitti says, with a sense of accomplishment.Adjustments to business processes dont fully explain the new efficiency within the Hartford field office. At roughly the same time that Connecticut was adopting its new way of doing casework, the state added customer service call centers, document imaging software and a Web portal that allows people to submit their applications online. Automated systems are clearly part of the reason caseworkers are processing applications in less time. Modernization in the agency also gives caseworkers new tools for looking up files quickly online, and the problem of lost paper files is rapidly being solved.Indeed, technology is perhaps the biggest recommendation in favor of the task-based model. The Affordable Care Act will provide federal money to update state technology for accepting, tracking and updating applications online for Medicaid in 2014, and experts argue that it makes no sense to apply new tech to the old one-on-one way of doing business. Taking efficiency another huge step further, many states plan to integrate their health-care application systems with food stamps, cash assistance and other public benefits. If all goes as planned, people in the near future should be able to fill out one formeither online or in personand apply for multiple programs simultaneously, both in health and human services.Of course, no one in Hartford is calling its package of reforms a panacea. As of May, about 19 percent of regular food stamp applications still took longer than 30 days to process. Thats about the same as in September of last year. Some believe the real solution ought to be an increase in staff commensurate with the increased number of residents asking for benefits. The processing and technology changes, theyre good and we support them fully, says Sheldon Toubman, an attorney with the New Haven Legal Assistance Association, which is suing the department over Medicaid applications. My opinion is that they are trying to make a change, but theyre unwilling to even talk about the need for further hiring of staff. Toubman notes that even though the Department of Social Services hired 220 employees in the past two years, the additions merely restored department staffing to its 2003 level.The task-based approach does have its critics. A recent study by Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan health and human services research organization, looked at states that had revised their food stamp application processes and found that some caseworkers felt disconnected from their clients when they moved to a task-based approach.* Some clients also noted dissatisfaction. They wanted to be able to call my caseworker, says Lara Hulsey, a senior researcher at Mathematica. And they no longer had a my caseworker. The change can be scary for clients accustomed to working with one person through the benefits application process, says Lisa Grunigen, a supervisor at a social service office in Manchester, Conn., which is shifting away from traditional case management. Some people call their caseworker before they call 911, she says. Youre their lifeline.Lorenzo Lewis, the caseworker in Hartford, understands those concerns and acknowledges that the human connection is a key reason he got involved in social work. He wants to know hes helping people who need it. On the other hand, he also wants to do the job well. Lost paperwork and long delays only add up to poor service and lost confidence in the agency. I want to be effective, he says. The satisfaction comes from helping people.: A previous version of this story identified Mathematica Policy Research as a nonprofit organization. It is for-profit.The Mayors Personal Story

Identity, Not Issues

Chicagos Crisis of Civic Confidence

By winning election as Chicago's new mayor on Tuesday, Lori Lightfoot has made history. No black woman has led an American city as large as Chicago.The prospect of having an African American female in the third-largest city is pretty much of a big, big deal, says Karen Freeman-Wilson, a black woman who is mayor of nearby Gary, Ind.Lightfoots opponent in the runoff was Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, guaranteeing that a black woman would be elected to succeed Rahm Emanuel, who opted not to seek a third term.With the election of Kate Gallego in Phoenix last month, two of the nations five largest cities will now have woman mayors. There are very few women in the top 100 cities, let alone the top 10, says Andrea Benjamin, an expert on urban politics at the University of Missouri.Lightfoot also will be the first openly gay individual to lead a city as large as Chicago. Ive teased her about the fact that Ill be giving her the crown, says former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who had previously held that distinction. Parker now heads the Victory Fund, which supports LGBT candidates. Im excited about it. Records are made to be broken.Demographic breakthroughs aside, Lightfoot campaigned on the theme of bringing change to Chicagos city hall. In the first round of voting in February, Lightfoot and Preckwinkle both finished ahead of William Daley, the race's top fundraiser, whose brother and father had each served more than 20 years as Chicago mayor.When she entered the race, Lightfoot was a relatively unknown underdog, but she won a sweeping victory. She took 74 percent of the vote on Tuesday, carrying all 50 of the city's wards. Although turnout was a record-low 32 percent, Lightfoot claimed a "mandate for change" in her victory speech.She takes office at a time when city politics is operating under a series of dark clouds. On March 21, Alderman Willie Cochran pleaded guilty to wire fraud, bringing to 30 the total number of Chicago aldermen convicted of corruption since 1972.In January, Ed Burke, a longtime power broker on the board of aldermen, was charged in an extortion case. Another alderman, Danny Solis, is known to have worn a wire for two years as part of a federal investigation.All of them reinforced the theme of corruption and the need for change, says Dick Simpson, a former alderman who teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was a campaign about change over the status quo.Lightfoot has been active in Chicago legal and government circles for years, but has never before held elective office. She was able to position herself not only as a political outsider, but as someone who prosecuted an alderman as an assistant U.S. attorney.For the first time since 1983, when Harold Washington was elected mayor, a kind of remarkable outside figure has landed in the mayors office on the fifth floor of city hall," says Larry Bennett, a retired political scientist at DePaul University, referring to Chicagos first African American mayor.Preckwinkle, by contrast, has been running for office in Chicago for three decades and currently serves as the Cook County Democratic Party chair. Although never tainted by wrongdoing herself, she found herself having to answer questions about Burke hosting a fundraiser for her last year at his home and the county having hired his son for a job.Preckwinkle had to fight hard against the old Chicago Democratic machine to win a seat on the board of aldermen back in the 1990s, but she came to be seen as part of the establishment at a moment of change.Preckwinkle is by no means a product of the quote, Chicago machine, unquote, but shes gotten herself perceived that way, and thats hurt her, Bennett says.Lightfoots parents were Southerners who moved north to Ohio. Her father, who had worked as a sharecropper in Arkansas, fell ill and was in a coma when Lightfoot was born. Her mother was a housekeeper who won election to the local school board. Lori Lightfoot is able to tell this wonderful personal story, Bennett says. Shes a woman from a hardscrabble family in Massillon, Ohio.Lightfoot attended law school at the University of Chicago. She worked for the megafirm Mayer Brown but also served as a federal prosecutor and held city posts in the procurement and emergency management departments. Mayor Emanuel appointed her as president of the Chicago police board, as well as head of a task force that examined police practices following the murder of a black teenager named Laquan McDonald by a police officer.Lightfoots lack of elective experience was a subject of criticism for Preckwinkle and other rivals, who said that being mayor was not an entry-level job. That complaint didnt seem to resonate with voters ready for fresh leadership.In the end, Lightfoot was endorsed by nearly all of the dozen mayoral candidates who were outpaced in the runoff. None supported Preckwinkle, although she did win some endorsements from unions and local black leaders.Despite the negative and sometimes personal campaign between Lightfoot and Preckwinkle, there wasnt a lot of difference between them on issues such as affordable housing, police reform or spreading Chicagos wealth out from the lakefront to more distressed neighborhoods.Someone distributed homophobic fliers late in the campaign, though Preckwinkles camp denied any knowledge.The identity politics matter, says Benjamin, the University of Missouri political scientist, who followed the election in Chicago closely. In terms of issues, it was hard to distinguish them in some ways, which opens it up for these identity politics to come into play.Neither candidate had much of substance to say about whats likely to be the biggest challenge facing the new mayor, namely Chicagos ongoing budget problems. The citys budget shortfall is expected to be $252 million, and it is on the hook for $276 million in payments next year for its chronically underfunded pensions.Lightfoot chose not to get too specific during the campaign about the package of spending cuts and revenue increases the new mayor will likely have to present in her first budget. Its going to be painful, whatever combination is used to deal with the financial issue, says Simpson, the University of Illinois at Chicago political scientist.Later this month, the board of alderman will get to work, choosing its new committee chairs. An unusually large slate of progressive newcomers was elected to the board this year, although they wont make up a majority.The board as a whole, however, is not expected to practice the same brand of old guard resistance to the new mayor that Harold Washington faced, a racially-polarized battle of wills that became known as the council wars.I dont think Lightfoot is going to face any kind of opposition like Washington faced, an organized opposition that says we dont like you and we dont like your agenda, says Bennett, the DePaul political scientist.Lightfoot faces the difficult task of translating her promises of change into a governing agenda. The city faces not only structural deficit problems, but a crisis of civic confidence. Emanuel was accused of constructing a tale of two cities, with the Loop and the lakefront enjoying record investment even as neighborhoods in the citys southern and western edges suffered school closings and high murder rates.Lightfoot will have to square her desire to curb abuses by the police with the real need for protection in a city that saw more murders last year than New York and Los Angeles combined, although the numbers of killings and violent crime both came down. Lightfoot said during the campaign that her plan to help ex-offenders reintegrate into society had been informed by her own familys experience, since her older brother spent much of his life in prison.Despite its many areas of success, Chicago is the only large city in the country thats losing population. Knitting together its disparate communities and achieving a greater sense of equity among them, while trying to stop the fiscal bleeding at city hall, will keep Lightfoot busy for the next four years, at least.Just like the Harold Washington election was major in Chicagos history, I think this will be a major watershed, Simpson says. Not just because shes the first black woman gay mayor of Chicago, but the issues were confronting and the changes that will be made will be very massive.More than a dozen state lawmakers filed onto the stage, summoned by the smiling leader of their state: Ralph S. Northam, the governor of Virginia.On the governors right were a handful of House Democrats, who as a group in February said they were no longer confident in the governors representation of Virginians, after learning of a shocking racist photo on Mr. Northams medical-school yearbook page.On his left were mostly Republicans, including the speaker of the House, Delegate Kirk Cox, whod declared that Mr. Northams ability to lead and govern is permanently impaired.Some on stage were members of the legislative black caucus, which called the yearbook photo disgusting, reprehensible, and offensive and a complete betrayal.Even so, as Mr. Northam took out a pen at the event last week and signed bills to overhaul the states foster care system, the lawmakers of both parties stood behind him, grinning and clapping.This is the strange, suspended state of Virginia politics, just two months after scandal after scandal seemed to be devouring the states government from the top down.The chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, who abruptly announced his retirement this week, is among four top political and business figures charged in a corruption and bribery scheme, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.Robert Hayes, a former five-term congressman, is accused of trying to bribe the state's insurance commissioner in exchange for regulatory help for a multinational investment company owned by a major Republican donor, Greg Lindberg. Authorities also say Hayes lied to the FBI during a 2018 interview about the scheme.He and Lindberg appeared in court Tuesday with accused accomplices John Palermo, chairman of the Chatham County Republican Party, and John Gray, a consultant for Gray."The indictment unsealed today outlines a brazen bribery scheme in which Greg Lindberg and his coconspirators allegedly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for official action that would benefit Lindberg's business interests," Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement.The indictment states the four men created a scheme involving improper campaign contributions to convince the insurance commissioner, who holds an elected position, to take actions favorable to Lindberg's company, Eli Global.Authorities said the insurance commissioner, Mike Causey, reported the attempted bribes in January 2018 and agreed to cooperate with the investigation.The defendants offered Causey millions of dollars and other valuable items in exchange for the removal of the insurance department's senior deputy commissioner, according to the indictment. The deputy commissioner oversees regulation of companies like Lindberg's.The news comes one day after the North Carolina GOP announced Hayes would retire in June after four terms on the post. The party said Hayes had initially planned to seek re-election, but changed his mind because of recent health complications."Robin Hayes has been one of the most successful NCGOP chairs ever, leading Republican victories in North Carolina for the last two presidential elections and playing an instrumental role in bringing the Republican National Convention to Charlotte in 2020," U.S. Senator Thom Tillis said Monday in a news release about Hayes' retirement.Palermo, who's also an executive at Eli Global, even funded two corporate entities with $1.5 million to form a political action committee in support of the commissioner's re-election campaign, federal investigators allege."In order to conceal the scheme, the defendants took steps to anonymously funnel the campaign contributions to the commissioner in a manner to avoid publicly disclosing that they had come from Lindberg," the indictment states.During one of the meetings the commissioner had with Palermo, the defendant urged the official to hire him to replace the deputy commissioner, court records show. Palermo told Causey that Lindberg had offered Palermo "a substantial exit package" to make up for the salary reduction from Eli Global to the commissioner's office, according to the indictment.After recreational marijuana was legalized in California, prosecutors in Los Angeles County expected a "tsunami" of petitions from people looking to clear their old criminal records.But the process turned out to be cumbersome and difficult to navigate, so most people didn't even try."Frankly, very few people took the legal action required to clear their records," L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said at a downtown news conference Monday. "And yet, the will of the voters was clear."In a move to carry out that will, prosecutors in L.A. and San Joaquin counties announced plans to automatically dismiss or reduce some 54,000 marijuana-related convictions, part of a growing movement to offer a clean slate to Californians hamstrung by their past now that pot is legal.An estimated 50,000 convictions in L.A. County and 4,000 more in San Joaquin County are eligible. It's unclear how far back those convictions go, but many involve possessing a small amount of marijuana and could date back decades. Prosecutors and public defenders are still working out how to notify people of the changes to their records.The effort is part of a partnership with Code for America, a nonprofit tech organization that developed a computer algorithm to quickly analyze county data to determine which cases are eligible to be cleared under Proposition 64.Prosecutors said decades of drug enforcement disproportionately targeted minorities. Studies have shown that people of color are more likely to be arrested and punished in connection with marijuana offenses, even though whites, blacks and Latinos use and sell marijuana at similar rates. The result, critics say, is a cycle of poverty and incarceration that has kept many minorities from getting jobs, going to school or finding housing.A 2016 study found that although African Americans make up just 6% of California's population, they account for almost a quarter of those serving jail time exclusively for marijuana offenses."Those past harms were passed from generation to generation," San Joaquin Dist. Atty. Tori Verber Salazar said. "This allows us to go back and correct those mistakes."Salazar said her office slogged through a similar process without using technology to clear eligible convictions under Proposition 47, a 2014 law that reduced some low-level, non-violent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. It took four years to process 26,000 cases, she said, at a cost of $2.5 million.Code for America's algorithm, she said, mined through the data in 12 seconds. She estimated the technology would save the county $1 million in time and resources.At marijuana dispensaries in Southern California, Monday's announcement was well-received."Now people who will have their convictions cleared can go back to living a normal life," said Molly Collins, a 29-year-old budtender at Green Goddess Collective in Venice. "This is how we're seeing L.A. make better changes."In February, San Francisco became the first to take on such an initiative, pledging to clear 9,300 convictions dating back decades as part of a sweeping effort to rethink "the war on drugs."Talks are underway to expand the program to other California counties, as well as other states where marijuana has been legalized.Proposition 64 legalized, among other things, the possession and purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana and allowed people to grow up to six plants for personal use.Under the measure, people convicted of marijuana possession can petition to have those convictions expunged if they don't pose a risk to public safety. People also can petition to have some crimes reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, including possession of more than an ounce of marijuana by a person who is 18 or older.Nearly 60% of voters in Los Angeles County supported the measure.Lacey, who is up for reelection next year, said in the past that her office would not automatically dismiss or reduce marijuana convictions and that people seeking to clear their records should do so using the courts.But the Code for America software could prove useful as California continues to pursue criminal justice reforms, she said Monday.It was uncertain when all the marijuana convictions would be cleared. A measure signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last year mandates that the state compile a list of all Californians eligible to have crimes expunged under Proposition 64 by July 1, with the goal of having all past marijuana-related convictions reduced or cleared in the state by 2020.Code for America has its own goal -- to expand the pilot program to more California counties and clear 250,000 convictions by the end of this year. The organization has previously delved into the realm of criminal justice, in 2016 creating Clear My Record, an online application that connects people with lawyers to clear criminal records across California."We never intended to punish people for life for crimes that are this minor, or that we no longer view as crimes," said Jennifer Pahlka, founder and executive director of Code for America.As the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana has gained wider acceptance across the nation, lawmakers in a number of states have been wrestling with how to remove marijuana convictions from people's records.Missouri lawmakers are considering a bill that would expunge convictions for medical marijuana patients, as it is now legal there for medicinal use. In New York, where the governor has proposed legalizing recreational pot use, officials are exploring a means of possibly expunging or sealing conviction records.Priscilla Vilchis, owner and CEO of a medicinal and recreational marijuana cultivation company in Las Vegas and Lynwood, said the change will create more job opportunities."Many people have not been able to apply or even qualify for jobs in this industry," Vilchis, 32, said. "This helps not only the entrepreneur, but the people who will now be able to apply for these jobs. This is going to put food on their table."Were at #scc19 where @Ben__Levine just shared information about the Civic Innovation Challenge, which will be a collaborative effort that engages you - cities, communities, researchers - the whole civic ecosystem to advance smart and connected communities @NSF_CISE #NSFFunded  Civic Innovation Challenge (@NSFCIC) April 2, 2019

DENVER  To further explore the areas where smart city collaboration and partnerships between cities and universities can happen, the MetroLab Network announced its Civic Innovation Challenge.The initiative is an invitation for stakeholders to use science, data and technology to explore complex community challenges, while enhancing job growth and economic competitiveness, as well as addressing equity issues across communities.The effort will partner with the National Science Foundation and the Smart City Lab to leverage a national competition, Ben Levine, executive director of the MetroLab Network, told attendees at the Denver Smart Cities Connect Conference April 2.Research teams will work across geographies on common challenges, will learn from each other's findings, and will share best practices and approaches, said Levine. This collaboration will enhance the technical rigor of the research, and also better prepare projects for impact and deployment in communities.Second, it will engage stakeholders from across sectors in the civic ecosystem, including funders who are supportive of civic innovation activities and see research as a way to advance that cause, he added.The challenge also aims to bridge the gap between research interests and community priorities by supporting faster timelines than traditional research efforts, Levine said.The various concepts to be explored in the initiative will come from what MetroLab called its Ideas Competition, which asked teams from universities and their city partners to submit problem statements reflecting areas where partnerships could take shape. That process yielded some 100 submissions.We noticed a pattern emerge that reflected really strong interest in issues at the intersection of equity and mobility and resilience, said Levine. The ideas wanted to explore areas like using real-time data to inform decisions around system performance, severe weather incidents or better shore up the economic resilience of vulnerable communities following a natural disaster or other hugely disruptive event.Participants from the ideas competition are being called to attend an April workshop. That workshop will focus on scoping and defining the topics for the Civic Innovation Challenge, said Levine.(TNS)  In the next two weeks, city officials in Newport, R.I., are planning to unveil a new website they have developed over the past year-and-a-half while working with a Massachusetts-based website development firm."It really is a much more user-oriented website," said Tom Shevlin, the city's communications officer. "It's organized so the average user can navigate it easily."The design and functions of the website are ready for it to go public, and Shevlin demonstrated some of the features this week in city hall.Since the website will be interactive, allowing people to apply for licenses and permits online, pay taxes, and obtain death and birth certificates, the city has made the security of the website a priority."We were hoping to launch it last month, but it all had to be tightened up," Shevlin said. "We need to make sure everything is as secure as possible. If someone is sending us a PDF document, for example, we need to make sure it has no malware or anything else that could infiltrate our network."Mayor Jamie Bova, City Council Vice Chairwoman Susan Taylor and City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson Jr. participated in a "State of the City" presentation sponsored by the Alliance for a Livable Newport last week, when Bova said she had hoped the website could be unveiled at that event."I hated the city's website when I began using it," she said. "It was a block from thinking about and understanding what was going on in the city, even from just the most basic service level. For us as a city to have a clean, user-friendly website is something I am really excited about."Testing of the website was done with Alliance for a Livable Newport members in focus groups, Shevlin said. ALN is a neighborhood advocacy group."Their feedback was important help in directing us to the end result," Shevlin said.While the website will go public soon, it will continue to be refined, he said."This will be a phased rollout," he said. "Once launched, we will continue to add to it. We will never be done. We'll make changes where needed. For example, we'll integrate social media more than we have in the past, and use social media more."The city council awarded a $260,000 contract in July 2017 to Fuseideas LLC of Winchester, Massachusetts, to redesign the city's website to provide "best-in-class customer focused services and information."Shevlin has been working on the site development since he joined the city's management staff in September 2018, but he said the site development was led from the beginning by city Director of Information and Technology James O'Halloran and city Finance Department Budget Analyst Elizabeth Sceppa."She is a fantastic project manager," Shevlin said. "There is a lot to be said for people who know their way around spreadsheets."Different types of interest and related matters in the city have their their own sections and pages on the new website.For example, there is a separate page for the Cliff Walk, a much online searched feature of the city. The page includes photos, a map of the shoreline trail, access points and indicates where there is parking and restrooms. There will be a link to a virtual tour.There is also a separate page of Easton's Beach, which generates a lot of road traffic in the summer, but also a lot website traffic.People will be able to quickly learn how to rent the Rotunda Ballroom at the beach, a popular site for weddings and other social events, and what the rental rates are."We did an analysis of the most popular pages on the old site, and reacted to that," Shevlin said.Different features are grouped around sections called "Living in Newport," "Visiting Newport" and "Doing Business in Newport.""One of the most exciting features about the new website is that you will be able to do a lot more online," Shevlin said.Some of the functions like paying property taxes or parking tickets online were on the old website, but people had trouble navigating it. It was not as intuitive as the new one will be, he said, and the language of the new website was developed to be an easy-to-understand conversational tone with less jargon.On the new website, it is easy to see where to enter business registrations or guesthouse registrations or apply for victualing and liquor licenses, special event licenses, holiday selling licenses, sidewalk cafe licenses, tattoo licenses or film, television and photography licenses. And the list goes on.What is being done with GIS mapping is a whole new field. The maps showing every property in the city are interfaced with property records and data from Vision Appraisal like assessments, but much more.The website will show which ward and precinct the property is in and where the polling place is. Click on a polling place like Donovan Manor, and the user sees directions for getting there.GIS data for every property is still being developed, Shevlin said.The harbormaster division will have its own section that will have the mooring list people have been so concerned about recently.Every mooring, all 900 of them, is indicated by a red dot in the harbor on a map.People will eventually be able to click on each mooring dot and see who owns it, whether it is being used, size of the boat that can be tethered there, whether it is available for rental and so on.The GIS system already paid dividends during the gas outage in January, Shevlin said."We had every property affected by the outage highlighted with a red dot," Shevlin said.When technicians and police officers were going door-to-door, checking on each property, they could immediately put in for that property something like, "elderly homebound, needs assistance," which would pop up on the screen at the city's Emergency Management Command Center. Emergency personnel responded without delay.As soon as a house was secured, the red dot turned to green on the website."All these functions will be developed more over time," Shevlin said. "It's unbelievable."A commitment to delivering a customer-centric citizen experience: delivering an improved citizen experience drives every decision the successful CIO makes. This includes providing citizens with simpler, faster access to information and government services, to breaking down silos and leading government agencies in being connected and approachable. Decisions made by the state CIO also impact citizens mobility within a state. As urban populations rise, more services and systems are automated to keep towns moving. Now, connected communities and their infrastructure lie within the realms of the CIO.

Demonstrating excellence in brokering and relationship building: The 2018 NASCIO and Grant Thorntons study found that the role of CIO as communicator and relationship manager ranked highest in terms of successful traits. State CIOs have to broker shared services, connect agencies and build relationships with stakeholders, citizens, government agencies, state leaders, vendors and partners. NASCIOs report, State CIO as Broker, notes that, in todays marketplace for IT services, the CIO broker functions as an intermediary who arranges, organizes and orchestrates service fulfilment between many different IT service providers. Building strong, collaborative partnerships enables successful brokering, which unlocks value.

Capable of swiftly delivering change and gaining buy-in: Every leader must navigate an uncharted path. The state CIO must do this under scrutiny from employees, government agencies, citizens and stakeholders. He or she also must secure their buy-in for change to be a success. State CIOs evangelize change. They have to inform, educate, communicate and reinforce the changes they plan to deliver. Successful leaders take these actions with authenticity and credibility, with integrity, honesty and humility, and generate respect and buy-in as they do so.

Understanding the transformational role of data management and analytics: State CIOs are guardians of data. At a citizen level, they must take measures to collect and protect personal data in a robust and visible way. The data should be secure but accessible to the right functions, not held in silos, and connected across multiple agencies to deliver a streamlined, consistent citizen experience. The forward-thinking state CIO extracts insights and forecasts from data, using it to map, visualize and plan services. They must leverage this data and use it to deliver smart, effective solutions and accelerate responses.

Demonstrating precision in risk management: Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst is a sensible precautionary approach shared by todays state CIOs as they tackle a wide range of threats, from hurricanes, wildfires, cyberattacks and data breaches to opioid addiction and potential Medicaid fraud and abuse. Using data and technology to deliver robust risk management plays a crucial part in the effectiveness of the state CIOs role. For example, access to precise geographic data on areas prone to flooding, earthquake and wildfires enables state CIOs to pinpoint risk with accuracy. Access to relevant crime data enables effective resource allocation. This data facilitates effective contingency planning, securing citizen safety and ensuring access to essential systems is maintained in the event of a hazard.

A commitment to transparency: The days of all decision-making being carried out behind closed doors are thankfully almost behind us, and state officials are now far better at consulting and communicating with the public on relevant policies and processes. Initiatives and regulations have been made to improve open access to data, so citizens can access and understand information relevant to them. SaaS-based software is improving visibility into issues such as the maintenance and conditions of highways. States which have implemented advanced asset management software, for example, keep track of reported issues on their infrastructure in real time and respond quickly.

Possessing an ability to create and share a vision for the future: The successful state CIO must be visionaries. Their role is of a custodian, and although the new generation of state CIOs is less likely to be long-term (the average tenancy of a CIO is just 24 months or less), the decisions they make now will certainly impact the future of their communities. The balance between being pragmatic, fixing broken processes and technologies, yet still maintaining a future vision is not easy, but the state CIO must create a road map for new and emerging technologies. At the operational level, this could mean preparing for an agile workforce, ensuring a mobile-first approach for citizens, considering SaaS, AI and machine learning, and understanding the benefits of application programming interfaces (APIs) in delivering services to connected communities. At a more visionary level, according to NASCIOs 2017 State CIO Survey, state leaders aspire to have seamless citizen transactions, increase engagements, provide mobile services, establish common online identities, and enable crowdsourcing and digital assistants to help navigate services.

From 1997 to 2005, I had the pleasure of serving as the state of Connecticuts first CIO, a role which led to my involvement with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). This included a term as president in the tumultuous 9/11 timeframe. Back then, the pace of change was accelerating but had nowhere near the velocity it has today: In 1995, just 1.7 percent of the worlds population was connected to the Internet. Now, more than 55 percent of the global population is connected to the Internet, and 95 percent of Americans own a smartphone.In this environment, 21st-century state CIOs must deliver smart, efficient, effective government with integrity. As changemakers and visionaries, they are expected to lead rather than manage, to transform as well as reform, all while facing unprecedented socio-economic challenges and digital disruption.From my experience as state CIO, leading NASCIO and now engaging with state CIOs on a daily basis, Ive seen seven characteristics common to the most successful state CIOs  and when I say successful, I mean those leaders that have achieved what they set out to do, within budget and in the timescale they committed to, having made a real difference to the citizens they serve and to their future. The next generation of new CIOs must demonstrate these abilities if they are to succeed in this hugely important role:(TNS)  Jeff Krauklis, a technology systems specialist with Clay County Schools, said he e-filed his sons state and federal tax returns on Feb. 6.He had his federal refund in four days, Krauklis said Monday.Meanwhile, they waited and waited for his state refund.The return is not complicated  one employer, standard deduction, he said.Krauklis said he went to the Tax Department website to check the status of his sons return, and found an explanation for the long delay.On the webpages interactive tool to check refund status, Krauklis found this advisory: The West Virginia State Tax Department is responding to an increased risk of fraudulent filings, and is implementing enhanced security measures for your protection. As a result, expect significant delay of your tax refund. You should only call concerning your refund if it has been more than 10 weeks since filing your return.Krauklis said that, while he understands the need to address fraud, There are thousands of low-income families and individuals who are counting on their tax refund.While Krauklis is one of a number of readers who have contacted the Gazette-Mail about long waits for state tax refunds, Deputy Tax Commissioner Lydia McKee said the time it is taking to process returns this year is only slightly longer, on average.It does take time, but I think its worth it to maintain the integrity of the system, she said Monday.She said the Tax Department takes a number of steps to verify taxpayers identification and to single out possible instances of identity theft.There are several things that could flag a return, she said.We do have times when somebody will file, and we have to get in touch with that person and say, We already have a return in your name,  McKee said of fraudulent returns.McKee said the enhanced security measures are not new but that the department adds new safeguards each year.It does take a little longer to do refunds, but we think that its important, she said of security measures.She said one common reason why taxpayers receive federal refunds more quickly than state refunds is that many people file federal returns electronically but mail in the state return since many e-filing sites charge for state returns.We realize people are waiting on their refunds, she said, and were trying to do it as quickly as possible.(TNS)  Mark Zuckerbergs call for stepped up government oversight of the Internet met a skeptical response from privacy advocates and other critics who are frustrated with Facebook Inc.s repeated missteps and say that its billionaire chief executive officer shouldnt get to make the rules.I dont think its ultimately for Mark Zuckerberg to decide how much regulation Mark Zuckerberg is prepared to accept, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has lodged numerous complaints about the companys handling of personal data.Zuckerbergs policy gambit is likely to inflame the debate in Washington over how to rein in Facebook and other social media companies, including whether the U.S. should adopt the European standard as it drafts a national privacy law. It could also deepen rifts within tech industry ranks, especially if efforts arise to narrow the exemption from responsibility for content posted by users on their platforms that companies such as Alphabet Inc.s Google and Facebook enjoy.Zuckerbergs proposal over the weekend for government regulation of four broad areas  harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability  emerged as Facebook and other social media companies confront a crescendo of bipartisan criticism. Among other things, they are accused of exploiting personal data, allowing election meddling on their platforms and being slow to address online violence and hate speech.The companys founder unveiled his vision for regulation in a blog post just weeks after Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren urged the breakup of Facebook and other Internet companies. Warren, a Massachusetts senator, said the businesses have amassed too much power and are damaging the economy and American democracy.Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor whos now one of the companys loudest critics, said in an interview that Zuckerbergs proposal would mostly absolve it of responsibility without addressing the underlying causes of election interference, hate speech, disinformation and the various privacy challenges that have emerged.McNamee, who is the co-founder of investment fund Elevation Partners Inc. and the author of the book Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, pointed to the companys plans to merge the data sets of Instagram and WhatsApp with Facebooks, which he said would greatly complicate the task of protecting users privacy.Facebook is fighting multiple investigations around the globe, many of which were launched last year in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when it was revealed that the political consultancy with ties to Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign had obtained data from millions of Facebook users without their consent.Facebook has also been criticized for its failure last month to stop the spread of videos of an anti-Muslim massacre in New Zealand, which has spurred calls for content regulation. Its also been accused by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of enabling bias in housing ads.Mark Zuckerberg doesnt get to make the rules anymore, tweeted Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, who chairs the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, in response to Zuckerbergs blog post and Washington Post opinion piece. Facebook is under criminal and civil investigation. It has shown it cannot regulate itself. Does anyone even want his advice?Nick Clegg, Facebooks head of global affairs, told Bloomberg in an interview Sunday that regulators around the world should agree on common standards to avoid a patchwork of regulations that can create a compliance minefield for international companies.Theres good regulation and theres bad regulation, said Clegg, a former U.K. deputy prime minister. Theres sensible regulation and theres unwelcome regulation.But some saw Zuckerbergs effort as a ploy to punt the companys problems to the government and get out from under incessant bad publicity.They would very much like for people to stop being mad at them, and theyre willing to sacrifice any principle and make any compromise to make that happen, said Jesse Blumenthal, who leads technology and innovation policy for the libertarian Koch network.Blumenthal suggested Facebook was looking for a win-win. The company was inviting a large and complicated regulatory regime that would mollify angry policymakers, but ultimately protect the companys market position by overwhelming upstart competitors, he said.Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, tweeted that he was a no on Zuckerbergs plan. Outsourcing censorship to the government is not just a bad idea, it would violate the First Amendment, Carr said.Zuckerberg has said that Facebook would roll out controls to users worldwide required under Europes privacy rule, known as the General Data Protection Regulation. Some privacy activists said they hoped the executives promise would be a starting point to prompt lawmakers to push for tighter measures and reject other industry attempts to water down regulation.When lawmakers hear the head of Facebook say they would support a GDPR-style bill in the U.S., thats important, said EPICs Rotenberg.Rotenberg and Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, acknowledged the possibility that Zuckerberg could add momentum to a push for a national privacy law, but said that after years of scandals they have little faith in the companys credibility to set the course of U.S. policy and would need to hear more details about what Facebook is actually proposing.Zuckerbergs move also isnt the first time Facebook has broken ranks with its Internet brethren. In 2017, technology companies including Facebook and Google opposed an effort to curb online sex trafficking by making the companies liable when users posted content that facilitated sex trafficking on their platforms.In November 2017, though, Facebook moved to support a more nuanced version of the measure that ultimately passed, but the Internet platforms, which had once enjoyed a glowing reception in Washington as innovators driving economic growth, soon began grappling with tarnished reputations over their impact on society.Zuckerbergs bid for regulation sets Facebook on a more vocal course than Google and its other rivals over how to address harmful content or draft a federal privacy law. Industry groups are seeking a privacy measure that would be more palatable to U.S. companies than the European regulation Zuckerberg advocates.It puts Google and others in a difficult spot, said CDDs Chester. How can they call for less privacy rights for Americans if one of the industrys leaders says Congress needs to do better?The most contentious debates over privacy legislation in Congress center around a question that Zuckerberg didnt address head on in his weekend sortie  whether a federal law would override Californias restrictive privacy rules. Thats an issue that has drawn active lobbying by industry groups, including several that include Facebook.Is this just another Mark mea culpa that he makes at times of company crises? Chester said. The real proof is not what you put in print today, but what the company does on the Hill tomorrow, Chester added.An autopsy estimated that Piazza had consumed several times the legal limit for alcohol the night of the pledge event. He also suffered severe head and abdominal injuries. He ended up in the basement the next morning, but it took members 40 minutes after finding Piazza injured and unconscious before they summoned help.Aly Van Geystel checks silent auction bid sheets at a fund raiser for her to help human trafficking victims in Cambodia. - Cassandra Gleason photo

Aly Van Geystel, a cosmetologist at Main Street Salon in Grand Coulee, will be traveling to Cambodia for the month of May to help teach the trade of cosmetology to former victims of human trafficking.

The Grand Coulee Eagles Lodge helped raise funds for the cause at a March 30 spaghetti dinner, which included a silent auction of items. The spaghetti feed, combined with a yard sale Van Geystel held, raised about $2,500 she said.

"A huge thanks to the Eagles," said Van Geystel, who said community businesses donated to help make the event a success, such as gift certificates and wine from The Wine Bar, and a raffle for a recliner donated by Loepps Furniture.

Van Geystel found out about the opportunity to help victims of human trafficking last year.

"I first found out about it through a barbering class I went to in downtown Seattle that was actually a fundraiser for the Justice and Soul Foundation," she said.

The non-profit organization's website reads. "Justice and Soul empowers trafficked and at-risk young women and men to become confident and self-sufficient individuals through professional training in cosmetology."

"A lot of the time," Van Geystel said, "former victims from human trafficking escape sex trafficking as children, but they don't have any other way to make money so end up back in the sex industry because that's all they know how to do. What Justice and Soul is doing is giving them the opportunity to get back on their feet, learn a trade, and then place them in salons in either Cambodia or in Seattle."

Van Geystel said she leaves for Cambodia on May 1.

More info on the cause can be found at justiceandsoul.org"He had a friend who was getting evicted and he was like, 'Mom, my friend needs a place to live.' I'm like 'Ok, we'll send him back to his parents,' and he was like, 'No, he doesn't have a family. Can he move in with us? I'll share my bedroom with him.' So we moved him in with us and shared a bedroom with him."This is a very sad day for the Senate. At a time when Leader McConnell brags about confirming more judges than anyone has done in a very long time, he feels the need to invoke the terribly destructive and disproportionate procedure of the 'nuclear option' in order to fast-track even more of President Trump's ultra-conservative nominees to the federal bench," Schumer said.It was the start of a 20-year campaign to gain recognition and the right to bargain as Miller and her co-workers signed up people one at a time and collected union dues. In 2003, Miller and other personal assistants finally won the right to bargain collectively with the state and eventually were able to bargain for a 35 percent raise from $7 an hour in 2003 to $9.35 in 2007. Millers efforts have led to continuing gains in wages  now $13 an hour  training and health care coverage for more than 23,000 workers.So whos the mayor-elect who must confront all of this? The Ohio-born Lightfoot, 56, lives in Logan Square on the citys Near Northwest Side with her wife, Amy Eshleman, and their 11-year-old daughter. Lightfoot got into the race in May 2018 to challenge Emanuel, who had appointed her to two police oversight posts but who, she thought, wasnt addressing Chicagos underdeveloped neighborhoods or the exodus of residents from them. After Emanuel announced in September that he wouldnt run again, some higher-profile candidates  Preckwinkle among them  jumped in.GREENWICH  A 25-year-old man from Port Chester, N.Y., was arrested Tuesday on a felony charge of threatening, Greenwich police said.

He was charged in connection with an incident in Riverside in March. Bail was set at $100,000.



A 26-year-old man from Norwalk was charged with violating a protective order Monday at about 12:30 a.m. in Byram, police said.

An officer spotted an expired registration and pulled over his vehicle, according to the arrest report. The suspect was found in the presence of someone who had a court order prohibiting contact with him, police said. He was cited for motor-vehicle violations, as well as the protective-order charge. Bail was set at $5,000.



A 21-year-old woman from Easton was charged with driving while intoxicated March 22, police said. She was observed crossing the double-yellow line and hitting the sidewalk curb on West Putnam Avenue around 3 a.m., police said.

Besides the DWI charge, she was cited for driving infractions. Bail was set at $250.



A 32-year-old man from New York City was charged with trespass and interference with a police officer March 27.

He was attempting to enter a property on Swan Terrance and ran away from police, according to the arrest report. He was released without bail.



A 24-year-old man from Rye Brook, N.Y., was charged March 26 with threatening and violating a protective order, police said. Bail was set at $500,000.

 compiled by Staff Reporter Robert MarchantGREENWICH  When Western Middle School Principal Gordon Beinstein broadcasts success stories about his students, he is quick to highlight the enthusiasm and hard work of Westerns teachers.

And Westerns teachers, students and parents, plus district administrators, decided he, too, should get credit for the schools rising academic performance and improving culture. As a result, they nominated him for the Connecticut Association of Schools 2019 Middle School Principal of the Year program. On Tuesday night, the association announced that the longtime educator and leader in Greenwich Public Schools is its 2019 Principal of the Year.

Gordon leads by example, communicates regularly with parents, is responsive to their concerns, values input and builds open honest relationships with staff, students, parents and the community at large, his parent nominator said. His passion for education energizes and inspires others to do and be their best.

The Principal of the Year program honors middle and high school principals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and service to their communities.

You were chosen for this award from a group of skilled and dedicated administrators, thus giving testimony to your tremendous success as an instructional leader and building manager, Karen Packtor, assistant director of the CAS, said in her letter to Beinstein. You are a deeply respected and influential change-agent in your school and community.

Beinstein will be honored at the recognition dinner on Oct. 23 at Saint Clements Castle in Portland, Conn.

For a long time, Western trailed behind its eastern and central Greenwich counterparts and reflected a wide achievement gap between its wealthy and disadvantaged students. When Beinstein arrived in 2013, Western was the 147th ranked middle school in the state. But his nominators say Beinsteins arrival to Western Middle School in 2013 coincides with the schools growth and success in recent years. In 2018, it ranked 66th, according to information provided by the school district.

Based upon the state Department of Educations new Smarter Balanced Assessment, Western in 2017-18 ranked third in the Overall Accountability Index  a metric the state uses to measure schools based on 12 categories, including test scores, academic growth and fitness levels  fifth for ELA academic growth and 19th for math academic growth. The results were out of 270 middle schools across the state.

Supporters attribute the schools successes to Beinsteins focus on creating a culture of collaboration, innovation, data-driven goal-setting and open communication.

Mr. Beinstein is one of the most caring individuals that I have ever had the pleasure of working with in my 42 years of public education, Interim Superintendent of Schools Ralph Mayo said in a statement. There are no obstacles or problems that will impede him from reaching the goals that he has set for himself, his students, his staff or his administrative team.

Among students with high needs, those who are in special education, receive English language learning services, or qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch, WMS ranked seventh for ELA academic growth and 15th for math academic growth.

According to annual school climate surveys, 98 percent of responding parents look favorably on their childs experience at Western under Beinsteins leadership. Parent surveys also show that Beinsteins focus on student needs has an impact: 94.5 percent of WMS parents say their children enjoy coming to school; 94.5 percent feel their children are appropriately challenged academically; 96.5 percent strongly agree that staff know and care about their children; and 97.5 percent say their children feel supported by staff.

He has demonstrated that with the appropriate instructional strategies, and building culture and climate, all students can learn at high levels and achieve success, Mayo said. The district is extremely proud of Mr. Beinstein and congratulates him on this well-deserved recognition.

Beinstein began his career in education at Central Middle School in 1988. Over the next 14 years, he taught math, English language arts and social studies, and acted as team leader and social studies department chair at CMS. From 1990 to 2002, Beinstein served as the director for the town summer camp, Kamp Kairphree.

He then led and co-led middle schools in Redding, Darien and Milford. In 2013, Beinstein moved to Western.

Beinstein received a bachelor of science in history from the University of Connecticut in 1988; a masters degree in elementary education from the University of Bridgeport in 1992; and a sixth-year degree in educational leadership from Southern Connecticut State University in 1997.

Western has produced distinguished teachers as well. Michele Giorlando DeRosa, a Western educator, represented Greenwich Public Schools to the 2018 Connecticut Teacher of the Year competition.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.comAs anyone with even a passing familiarity with car commercials knows, major advertisers play heavily on emotion. Take the Subaru Forester commercial released earlier this month. While the key product takeaways are that the Forester is roomy, trustworthy and long-lasting, the ad doesnt waste much time getting into specifics.

Instead, it takes us on a journey: Were led by the family dog through scenes of a familys special moments over the years. What does the commercials imagery have to do with automobile features? Not much. What does it have to do with our purchasing habits? Everything.

As consumers, weve come to expect that advertising will play to our emotions -- but advertisers arent doing this only to be noticed or remembered among an endless sea of ads. Theyre doing this because emotion is a key driver of decision-making. In fact, most of our decisions as consumers come down to more than just product features or price.

There's scientific evidence behind that statement: Research conducted by Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman demonstrated that up to 95 percent of purchasing decisions may be formed in the subconscious mind. This is the part of the brain where logic takes a back seat and emotion grabs the wheel.

Additionally, a study published in the scientific journal Neuron showed that exposure to certain brand images (for the study's purposes, the brands Coke and Pepsi) will light up the part of the brain responsible for emotion, memory and motivation.

Related: 12 Great Resources for Diving Into Consumer Psychology

While emotional connection wont always overcome vast differences in quality or price, having an emotional bond with your customers can be just enough to tip the scales in your favor. You dont have to be a billion-dollar brand to reap the benefits of this phenomenon.

So, what can you as a business owner do differently? For one thing, you can stop focusing just on your product's features and benefits that could appeal to your customers rational mind. Because these factors are not enough. If you want people, to buy, your task is to make them feel something.

How do you do that? Here are three science-backed ways to help spark that emotional connection with your customers:

1. Tell stories.

Parents and teachers know that storytelling is a great way to help kids absorb a lesson, but its just as effective a tool for adults. In fact, stories are one of the best ways to tap into the part of our mind that inspires connection, conversation and, ultimately, action.

Not only do stories help us remember and internalize facts and ideas, but they serve as a bridge between people, uniting us through common values and universal experiences. Remember that dog in the Subaru commercial mentioned earlier? More than half of Subaru owners happen to be dog owners, a company marketing executive told Automotive News. By featuring dogs prominently -- sometimes as the hero of its stories -- Subaru speaks its customers' language.

Airbnb similarly takes a customer-led approach by featuring stories from its community. Hosts personal tales showcase the emotional and financial benefits of hosting. And, for the traveler, these stories underscore the uniqueness of the Airbnb experience: connection with other humans, and immersion into a new culture.

Related: The 5 Elements of Storytelling Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know

Think about your own brand narrative. What are some of the twists and turns of your life that led you to where you are today? You can weave your brand stories into social media content, blog posts and ads; you can share your origin story. Another place to go is your clients stories (share only with permission!).

Begin with general ideas youd like your audience to take away, then tell stories to illustrate these points. You likely have a lot more material than you realize.

2. Lead with values.

What does your business stand for? What does it stand against? Dont just say it -- live it! A values-driven focus can impact every area of your brands health, right down to customer loyalty and purchasing habits. A 2017 corporate social responsibility study conducted by Cone Communications found that 87 percent of people surveyed would purchase a product whose brand's values aligned with their beliefs.

As a brand strategist, one of the first steps I take with my clients is to help them identify and articulate their core values. From there, we think through how these values touch every aspect of their business, from their hiring process to their marketing, to their product or service delivery.

Related: How to Determine Your Business Values

Glossier is just such a company that leads with its values. By doing so, this still-young makeup and skincare company has made brand evangelists of its customers and made some major waves in its $445 billion beauty industry.

In this context, Glossier shines a spotlight on its values of `celebrating difference and individuality, skin first, make-up second and democratizing beauty. A quick scroll through its Instagram feed shows women and men of various ethnicities wearing Glossier products; in those images, skin, in its sparkling, dewy glory, takes center stage while "product" plays a supporting role.

The brand also strives to make customers feel theyre in the drivers seat; their opinions and feedback help to shape new product launches.

3. Be human.

Global agency C Space conducted a three-year study of close to 65,000 consumers and found evidence supporting the notion that brands that act human outperform those that dont. That makes sense: Humans connect more easily with something that feels  well, human.

Consider how your own brand sounds and acts. Make sure it has a clear personality and tone of voice, no matter how buttoned-up your industry may be. (No brand is too professional to have personality -- not even a brokerage firm.) Show that there are real people behind your logo. Show empathy by understanding your customers hopes, fears, beliefs and self-image; and speak to those things in your messaging.

Being human also means being responsive. Zappos has long been the standard-bearer for responsiveness and personality, but engaging with customers in a timely and human way is no longer going the extra mile -- its a necessity for brands. If youre not part of the conversation, youre missing out on a powerful opportunity for connection.

Related: 6 Ways to Make Your Customer Service Better

Above all, be consistent in your approach. As infants, we learn to trust caregivers who respond in an attentive, consistent and nurturing manner, according to an early-learning research group. The same could be said for the consumerbrand relationship. Trust is critical to emotional attachment, but earning it takes time and intention.

So, final word: Remember that true brand connection should begin and end with sincerity. The goal is never to trick, but rather to form an authentic and lasting bond. That will bring you the customers you seek.

Related:

How Brands Get People to Care. And How Yours Can, Too.

Why B2B Marketing Needs Emotional Storytelling?

Can You 'Feel' It? How to Use Emotional Decision-Making in Marketing



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedThis story was updated on April 4, 2019.

Global freelancing platform Upwork announced a sweeping policy change on Tuesday that will impact hundreds of thousands of freelancers -- particularly new and/or low-earning users.

Connects, the virtual tokens freelancers use to submit proposals for jobs, will no longer be free beginning sometime between May and June 2019. Instead, Connects will cost $0.15 each -- and depending on the job theyre submitting for, freelancers will need between one and six tokens to apply. For the most in-demand jobs, that translates to a little less than $1 per submission.

Thats a significant departure from the old model, which provided 60 free Connects as part of the Freelancer Basic plan. In an economy where three in 10 adults take on freelance or gig work -- generally as a supplemental source of income, according to a Federal Reserve report -- its a tough blow, especially in states such as Georgia, where the minimum wage is just $5.15. Upwork says that on average, most freelancers will spend about $5 or less per month on Connects, but the company didnt provide details on how it calculated that figure.

As for the reason? The freelancing platform, which counts companies including Dropbox, Airbnb, General Electric and Microsoft among its clients, wrote in an email to users: We want to help professional freelancers like you win more jobs. With paid Connects, we expect freelancers will submit fewer proposals, increasing your likelihood of winning projects and making it easier for clients to identify high-quality talent.

In the message, the company seems to acknowledge that the new pricing structure will deter a significant number of users from applying for jobs on the platform -- and implies that Upwork believes freelancers who can eat the new cost of tokens are inherently higher-quality talent.

In an online Q&A session about the policy change for users on Thursday, vice president of product Jessica Tiwari said, "I actually do not believe that this change will make it harder for new freelancers," mentioning that many of Upwork's clients had expressed feeling overwhelmed by the number of proposals they received in response to a posted project. Many projects receive between 50 and 100 proposals, she said, and many clients sort results to favor the amount of experience a freelancer has on the platform. Because of that, "those new freelancers are at a disadvantage immediately," Tiwari said. Upwork will also offer a free 20-pack of Connects to new freelancers on the platform.

In a statement to Entrepreneur, Upwork wrote, "Its worth noting that when a freelancer is invited to a job, there is no cost to submit a proposal. But there is a limit to the number of invitations that clients can send to freelancers. It's typically three per posted project, but Upwork says the exact number will vary based on the client and on the job itself.

The companys decision has incited controversy on social media and among its freelancers.

So, #freelancers, now that @Upwork is charging fees to apply for work on top of fees for contracts, what are your favorite Upwork alternatives? Looks like Ill be turning my attention to clients I can find elsewhere.  Holly Riddle (@TheHollyRiddle) April 2, 2019

I guess @Upwork have never heard the phrase dont bite the hand that feeds you. Outrageous changes on their way. Watch Freelance talent flee to competitive platforms in their droves. #upwork  Craig Rich (@craigrich) April 2, 2019

Wow. @Upwork just decided to start charging freelancers to apply for jobs. So not only are they collecting on each contract, they're collecting just from the applications for each contract. Unreal.  Eric Fadden (@ericfadden) April 2, 2019

When I was just starting out as a freelancer, I wouldn't have paid to apply for jobs because I had no leeway in my budget," wrote Jennifer Collins, an Upwork user, in a message to Entrepreneur, adding that the company already charges a 20 percent fee on new contracts. "Now, I have the luxury to walk away and not buy Connects, and I suspect that many expert freelancers are moving to do the same.

In Upworks annual investor report, CEO Stephane Kasriel wrote that now is the time for all of us to work together to ensure the best possible future for the billions of workers in the world, their families, and the generations to come. Having become a public company in 2018, Upwork is now privileged to play a larger role than ever in steering this future.

The companys 2018 public offering could be a driving factor behind the controversial change.

In the investor report, Upwork cites that it operates the largest online marketplace as measured by gross services volume (GSV), ending 2018 with $1.8 billion. But after digging into the concrete definition of that metric, Entrepreneur found that GSV doesnt just translate to client spend on marketplace offerings -- it also includes additional fees charged to both clients and freelancers for other services. That umbrella clearly includes the new policy change charging freelancers for every proposal they submit.

Upwork also clearly states in the report that its marketplace revenue is primarily comprised of service fees paid by its freelancers. Therefore, marketplace revenue is correlated to GSV, and we believe that our marketplace revenue will grow as GSV grows.

One clear consequence of the change: Freelancers will likely increase their rates across the board to offset the new cost of submitting a proposal. That directly translates into more GSV -- and more revenue -- for the newly public company.

Upwork may have taken that into account in its financial projections for investors. In its full-year results for 2018, the company reported $253.4 million in total revenue. It projects revenues of $298 million to $304 million for 2019.

For its part, the company denies that the move is a cash-grab. In Thursday's Q&A session, a significant amount of users asked about Upwork's profits from the policy shift. Tiwari cited the current policy -- that after users run out of free Connects, they can purchase additional ones for $1 each -- and said that a significant amount of freelancers already pay for extra tokens. Therefore, Tiwari said the move is "revenue-neutral" for Upwork. "If this was a revenue play, I think we would've come up with something different."

When asked if other user fees will be done away with to compensate for the new policy, Tiwari said there were no current plans to do so.

Many users asked about potential alternatives to charging freelancers for every Connect. For example, why not cap the number of proposals for each job and have the client open up the project for another batch of submissions if they're not happy with the results? Tiwari said that incentivized speed rather than quality.

"I am definitely afraid of scaring off talent with this new policy," Tiwari said. But she maintained that Upwork will continue to aim to have the best opportunities on its platform in order to retain users. Upwork also invited users to share their opinions on Upwork's community page and said that the team reads every post.

One Upwork user, Murtaza Amin, has created a survey for freelancers about the policy change and plans to send the results to Kasriel on April 19.

According to Upworks own 2018 study, commissioned in partnership with Freelancers Union, Americans spent 1.07 billion hours per week freelancing. Now, those hours will come at a higher cost.

Related:

Free Report: Solopreneurship and Thriving in the Gig Economy

Upwork to Charge Freelancers to Bid on Jobs, Further Squeezing Those Who Rely on the 'Gig Economy'

11 paginas web con opciones de trabajo para freelancers



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedThe tradition-bound Iowa caucuses are set to allow some online voting next year and among the likely beneficiaries are older voters, who'll press candidates to focus on issues such as prescription drug prices, Social Security and Medicare.

Boosted participation by those 65 and older -- a demographic that already accounts for more than a quarter of the Democratic turnout in the caucuses -- could provide even more incentive for presidential hopefuls to pitch to voters who otherwise might not venture out on a winter night to attend in person.

The plan by Iowa Democrats is for the virtual caucus meetings to generate roughly 10 percent of the delegates from each of the state's four congressional districts, no matter how many people actually participate. While remote participation could carry less voting weight than in-person caucusing, it will be a slice of the electorate that can't be ignored.

"Ten percent is not small potatoes and good campaigns will have to figure out how to turn that group out," said Brad Anderson, Iowa director for AARP and a former Democratic nominee for secretary of state. "They can't afford to ignore any voter, but a smart strategy for any candidate would be to make sure that they are addressing issues important to the 50-plus demographic."

It would be the most significant change to the Iowa caucuses since their inception in 1972, and is being made as many of the Democratic candidates are making direct appeals to younger voters, who overwhelmingly favor the party.

One of the beneficiaries is likely to be Joe Biden, who is still expected to declare his third bid for the presidency this month, despite statements from two women that his uninvited physical contact made them feel uncomfortable. The former vice president, 76, gets some of his strongest support from older voters, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77, who would be Biden's chief rival at this stage, relies heavily on younger supporters.

The Iowa Democratic Party and Democratic National Committee are expected to approve the proposed changes in the coming months, creating the first-ever form of absentee voting in the caucuses.

Once it's in place, Democratic voters will be able to cast ballots the week before the in-person meetings, with participants allowed to submit a list of as many as five candidates ranked by preference. In the past, they had to show up at school gymnasiums, fire stations, community centers and other gathering places to show their support for a presidential candidate. In 2020, there will be roughly 1,700 such precinct locations.

The Iowa chapter of AARP, the largest advocacy group in the U.S. for people 50 and older, is already preparing to train its members to participate in the virtual caucuses if they're unable to attend in person. Four of the six scheduled voting sessions are during the day, with the remaining two at 7 p.m.

"I believe the real winners are seniors," Anderson said. "Those are times that work really well for people who are older and retired."

Anderson said he expects there will be 60,000 to 75,000 AARP members participating in the 2020 caucuses. The organization has about 370,000 members in Iowa and is one of the largest statewide organizations.

Those 50 and older already typically account for the majority of participants in Iowa, the first state to winnow the field. That age group accounted for 58 percent of Democratic caucus-goers in 2016, according to entrance polls, while 28 percent were 65 and older.

Sanders only received 26 percent of the 65 and older Iowa vote in 2016, while Hillary Clinton was backed by 69 percent of those in that age group. Sanders did much better among younger voters, securing 84 percent from those 17 to 29 (people who are 17 can participate if they turn 18 by Election Day the following November). But they only represented 18 percent of the electorate.

Overall, Sanders nearly tied Clinton in the 2016 caucuses, and he is looking to improve on that performance to break away from other 2020 Democrats. Sanders, like other candidates next year, will have to adjust his strategy to target voters participating in person as well as those taking advantage of the virtual caucus system.

Dave Nagle, a former congressman who also served as chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said he expects both older and younger voters to most heavily take advantage of the new option. "You might see it on the ends of the spectrum," he said.

"The desire is still to get people in the room," said Scott Brennan, a member of the DNC from Iowa who has worked on the proposal and is helping guide it through the party approval process.

"I would be surprised if a particular demographic would really jump to the virtual caucus," he said. "It may just be a scattering. Once it is over, we will have some data and predictability for next time."

The Nevada State Democratic Party also recently released a plan that calls for two virtual caucuses in its Feb. 22 contest, after Iowa and New Hampshire hold their votes.

Weather is always a consideration for the Iowa caucuses, but it isn't likely to be much of a determining factor for whether people decide to participate in person or electronically. Registration for participation is expected to close more than two weeks before the actual caucuses. "If it turns out to be a snowy night, you still have to go out," Brennan said.

The record for participation in the Democratic caucuses -- about 240,000 people -- was set in 2008 on a very cold night when then-Senator Barack Obama scored a win that would set him on a path to the White House. Most political observers in the state expect that mark will be surpassed next year given the large number of candidates and strong opposition to President Donald Trump.

If the caucuses do skew even older, that could bolster complaints of party leaders from other states who say that Iowa is too rural, old and white compared with the nation as a whole to be given so much power in the nomination process. Some of that criticism is fueled by envy over all the attention the state gets every four years.

Iowa's population is 86.5 percent non-Hispanic white, compared with 61.5 percent nationwide, according to 2017 U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Those 65 and older represent 16.1 percent of the state's population, while nationally it's 14.9 percent.

The presidential campaigns and Iowa interest groups are already gaming out how to best take advantage of the new rules. Candidates will likely have to make voter-by-voter decisions on whether to push someone to attend the regular caucuses or the virtual ones.

"The people in the room are still the best example of your organizational strength," Brennan said, "but because of the size of the field you can't ignore it."Taiwans Electronic Times reports that both Qualcomm and Samsung have turned down the opportunity to supply 5G modems for Apple. Given the global patent war between Apple and Qualcomm, the San Diego companys snub is not a huge surprise.

Samsung, however, reportedly gave another reason  not enough supply of its Exynos 5100 5G modem. Even if Samsung could boost production capacity, it will have leverage over Apple in the negotiations (and Apple loves squeezing its component suppliers for better margins).

Apples current preferred source of wireless modems, Intel, just doesnt have a 5G modem yet  the XMM 8160 should be ready for 2020, but theres no way it will make it into 2019 iPhones.

Then theres Huaweis Balong 5000 modem. However, like the Kirin chipsets, Huawei is reluctant to sell its chips to other companies. UniSOC (which you may remember as Spreadtrum) is also working on a 5G modem (after parting ways with Intel), but its not clear how far along it is, so its not an option.

This could leave the door open for MediaTek, which has been angling to get the Helio M70 modem into iPhones, going as far as accelerating the shipping schedule by six months.

UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri published a report earlier today that paints an even grimmer picture. He says that the MediaTek chip isn't up to Apple standards and claims that Samsung is an unlikely option as well.

Worse still, the report suggests that Intel's timeframe for its 5G modem will be too late for next year's iPhones. With Apple's once-a-year release schedule, this will push the first 5G-connected iPhone to late 2021.

The impact of this delay will depend on the speed of the 5G rollout. Carriers are eager to push new data plans and are building out their networks and analysts believe there will be meaningful 5G availability next year. If consumers flock to 5G, Apple will be in a tough spot.

However, Arcuri posted a target price for Apple's stock that's 10% above the current trading price. A large part of Apple's user base is using older iPhones, so they'll still find value in upgrading to a new 4G model, he says.

Source 1 (in Mandarin) | Source 2By carefully and responsibly introducing the broader public to the idea of windmill-induced noise cancer, Trump is preparing Americans to embrace the importance of what I assume will be a crucial noise-cancer coverage clause in the TrumpCare law. We wont know exactly what the TrumpCare law says until after Trump is re-elected in 2020, which makes sense. Its worth it for Americans to live with the virtually unusable and worthless and dead and UNCONSTITUTIONAL Obamacare for another couple of years, because if Trump unveils the GOPs noise-cancer-covering health care law now, liberals will just try to steal it.



Haiti - Security : Haiti a country of transit of drugs dixit the Department of State





According to a report published in March 2019 entitled "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report" by the United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs "Haiti remains a transit point for cocaine originating in South America and marijuana originating in Jamaica, traversing the countrys porous borders en route to the United States and other markets. This traffic takes advantage of Haitis severely under-patrolled maritime borders and its extensive land border with the Dominican Republic [...]



Haiti is not a significant producer of illicit drugs for export, although there is cultivation of cannabis for local consumption. Haitis primarily subsistence-level economy does not provide an environment conducive to high levels of domestic drug use [...]



In 2018, the Haitian National Police (HNP) strengthened the BLTS with additional officers, and officials at the highest levels of the government have spoken about the need to fight drug trafficking. However, seizures of illicit drugs and smuggled cash declined and the government is unable to secure the countrys borders to stem the flow of illicit drugs.



The PNH and the Haitian government have recently begun to address the uncontrolled border crossings with the formation of a border police unit (POLIFRONT), based in Morne Casse, near the Ouanaminthe border crossing with the Dominican Republic in Haitis Northeast Department. POLIFRONT plans to expand to border crossing points at Anse-a-Pitre, Malpasse, and Belladere. The minimal maritime interdiction capacity of the Haitian Coast Guard (HCG) creates a low-risk environment for drug traffickers. While Haitis interdiction capacity has improved marginally, a largely ineffective judicial system continues to impede successful prosecution of apprehended drug traffickers [...]"



Also the report notes a reduction in supply "During the first 10 months of 2018, BLTS executed several operations that resulted in the seizure of 371 kilograms (kg) of marijuana and 28 kg of cocaine. In addition, the HNP arrested 76 suspects for drug-related crimes during this period [...]"



"[...] The Government of Haiti runs small-scale public awareness and demand reduction programs funded through the drug control policy commission (CONALD), but there is no data on these programs impact or usefulness," note de report, adding "The Haitian government as an institution does not encourage or facilitate illegal activity associated with drug trafficking, or the laundering of proceeds from illicit drug transactions. However, effective government action to fight corruption, particularly related to illicit drugs, is constrained by two major factors coupled with a lack of political will. The first is a historically weak legal framework [...]



The second constraining factor is systematically poor judicial performance, due to antiquated penal and criminal procedural codes, opaque court proceedings, lack of judicial oversight, and widespread judicial corruption. To date, there have been five successful convictions for drug trafficking, and only one conviction on corruption-related charges in Haitian courts. The Haitian Anti-Corruption Unit has advanced 32 corruption-related cases to the judiciary since its inception in 2005, but without tangible results [...]



"[...] The continued institutional development of both the HNP and BLTS is a positive trend that has helped improve public security and has marginally increased Haitis capacity to interdict drug trafficking. However, the dysfunctional Haitian judicial system drastically limits domestic prosecution of drug cases and thus reduces disincentives to trafficking operations. Drug seizures remain low, and Haitis minimal capacity to police its sea and land borders continues to be a particular point of concern. Continued U.S. engagement in support of BLTS operations and general HNP development will help Haitian law enforcement capitalize on marginal gains in drug interdiction capacity. The benefits of such gains will be limited, however, if the judicial system remains weak, corrupt, and fails to convict drug traffickers. Only the concurrent strengthening of political will, the judiciary, law enforcement, and border security will enable Haiti to make real progress in combating drug trafficking," concludes the report.



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Politic : Constitutional Amendment, Senate Committee Announces Consultations





On Monday, April 1 at a press conference, North West Senator Kedlaire Augustin (PHTK), Chairman of the Special Senate Committee on the Constitutional Amendment, said that "his Commission generally approved the Chamber of Deputies amendment proposals, but that in certain cases, there were nuances to consider [...]" He announced that consultations will soon be launched, around the 30 amendment proposals presented to Petion-ville last December by the Special Committee of the Lower House, chaired by Petion-Ville Deputy, Jerry Tardieu.



Augustine Kedlaire points out that the proposed amendments proposed by the Chamber of Deputies are "revolutionary" but that with 30 amended articles, should rather speak of a constitutional revision rather than an amendment of the Constitution.



Download the 30 Deputies' amendment proposals (PDF): https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/propositions-amendement-constitutionnel-haiti-aout-2018.pdf



The Senate Committee's consultations will be in four stages :



A social consultation of civil society among others;



An institutional consultation;



An inter-parliamentary consultation (senators and deputies);



A consultation with the vital sectors of the national life.



Moreover, he wants a compromise around the amendment of the Constitution, since it is an act guided by political interests.



The Senate Commission has about 6 months to finalize its work.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/article-25411-haiti-flash-les-10-erreurs-de-la-commission-tardieu-sur-le-projet-d-amendement-de-la-constitution.html (in french)

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25386-haiti-flash-proposed-amendments-to-the-constitution-in-favor-of-the-diaspora.html



TB/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Region of Palmes : New measures to increase revenue of the DGI





Tuesday, April 2, at the Louco Night Club of Petit-Goave, Ernst Jean Brice, Director of the Office of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) of Petit-Goave, Du Vallon Hippolyte the Director of the Office of the Insurance Agency Vehicle Counter Thirds (OAVCT), Police Commissioner of Petit-Goave Julbert Conseillant, and the Representative of the Commissioner of Police of Grand-Goave, Jean Panel Bourdeau among others, in the presence of among others Limongy Samson Jean Mayor of Petit-Goave and his deputy Delor Desgranges, Judge Bellande Dumerzier and the Deputy Commissioner of the Government, gave a press conference to inform vehicle and motorcycle owners of the new measures adopted in the application of the law, in order to increase revenues. DGI.



Ernst Jean Brice presented the 3 steps of these measures:



1) The technical inspection of vehicles and motorcycles at Petit-Goave police station;



2) The issuance of the Insurance Policy;



3) The granting of the License Plate.



In order to facilitate the successful completion of the technical verification operation, a schedule has been developed and vehicule and motorcycle owners will be required to report to the Region of Palmes from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm : Petit Goave, Grand Goave and Leoaaane according to the following alphabetical order:



Names beginning with:



1) A, B, C: April 15, 2019



2) E, F, G, H: 17 and 18, April.



3) L, M, N: 24 and 25 April.



4) O, P, Q, R: 26 and 29 April



5) S, U, V: 30 and 31 April.



6) W, X, Y: April 31st and May 1st.



After this period, sanctions will be taken against all offenders.



In addition, Police Commissioner Julbert Counselor justified the merits of these measures by explaining that the decision to equip vehicles, the motorcycles of license plate and insurance policies will allow the police to better carry out their duties of control and ensure the security of the commune.



HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave)

















Three months after moving back to the Hi-Line, Cass and Kent Pattison said they are ready to serve the community.

Cass Pattison earned her veterinary doctorate from Washington State University, and the couple is opening Pattison Veterinary Mobile Clinic while also farming on their familys land.

We are here to serve you and offer our services, Kent Pattison said, adding, I grew up in Havre and it is really, from my experience, a good community. There have been a lot of people, even to this day, that have helped us through. It would be good to give back and essentially that is what we are here for.

Cass Pattison said that the mission of the mobile clinic is to provide affordable, convenient pet health care for the Havre community. She said they are offering something different with the clinic, providing services to large and small animals, household pets and cattle. She said she is willing to work with clients schedules and drive to wherever they are needed.

They said that they enjoy working with each other.

Kent Pattison said that some people might not enjoy working with their spouse day and night, for them it is perfect.

He said that he grew up in Havre attending and wrestling at Havre High School. He and his wife first met in Great Falls while they were working on their undergraduate degrees at the University of Great Falls, now Providence University, and later got married.

They both lived in Havre after graduating from college, working on his familys farm. After eight months they moved to Washington so Cass Pattison could attend the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University.

He said they moved back in mid-January this year to work out on the family farm again.

It was just fun seeing everybody, he said. Its good to be back and see everyone again. You kind of miss it because you grew up on it all the time. You get back out here and you realize, once you get to working with other people, just how hard everybody works. Its kind of fun to be a part of that.

Cass Pattison said she first knew she wanted to be a veterinarian when she was six years old, growing up on a dairy farm in Idaho. She said she remembers when the vet would come by her home to perform pregnancy checks on her familys cattle. She would watch excited at what the vet was doing and ask her dad if she could do it, too.

I love working with animals, and people and their animals, and educating them, she said. I find it really rewarding when you can help something out that cant speak and tell you whats wrong. I like challenging cases, kind of being a detective sometimes; I like it.

Cass Pattison, who graduated from her veterinarian program with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, said she finds surgeries fascinating.

Its really cool what the body can do and how it can heal, she said.

At first they were not planning on a mobile clinic, she said. The original plan was for her working mainly out of a pickup truck. But after consideration, he said, they decided there was no reason they couldnt purchase a cargo trailer and remodel it into a mobile clinic. She added that the idea grew from just wanting to do house calls to making her full operation mobile.

Cass Pattison said she wanted something they could be flexible with, something they could work on while still farming. They also wanted something they could work on together if they needed to.

I like doing vet work, he likes farming, we like working together, she said.

Once they got the mobile trailer, she said, it went from zero to 100 quickly.

Kent Pattison said that they started to get their service operational right away, getting help from friends and family along the way.

Cass Pattison said they tried to shop local for the things they could, such as going to Western Trailer to have the heater installed and Frontier Electric to have the outlets and electrical work done.

Kent Pattison said that, in the end, they were able to build it for an eighth of the cost than if they had bought it already set up and were able to complete the project in a single month.

There were a lot of hands in making this work, he said.

Cass Pattison said that one thing which was difficult about building the mobile clinic was finding all of the equipment. As a recent graduate, purchasing equipment was a long strenuous process for getting all of the different pieces they needed, especially for anesthesia.

But, in the end, they were able to outfit the trailer with everything a classic brick-and-mortar clinic would, she said, adding that she and her husband worked together to make their logo and had Havreite Michael Marks make the decals for them.

Kent Pattison said they are thankful for all of the help they received with building the mobile clinic.

We are pretty blessed to be able to get it done in the time we did, he said.

Cass Pattison said that she is open to doing things with other programs and glad to help out wherever they can, however, she doesnt want to step on anyones toes.

She said she will be offering their services across the Hi-Line. She can take her mobile clinic to where the client is, traveling to a house for smaller household pets and farms or ranches to tend to livestock.

Pattison said they have the equipment and gear to work on a wide range of animals. They also provide a variety of services, such as animal wellness, vaccines, surgeries and treating infections.

The only thing they do not have set up is orthopedics, she said, but if they see a demand for it then they will add it.

We are flexible, she said.  Well see where the demand takes us.



For more information for Pattison Veterinary Mobile Clinic visit https://www.pattisonveterinary.com/.Editors note:

This version corrects some misreporting of comments by Hill County Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong that was introduced due to mistakes in editing by the editor.

Tuesday, Senate Bill 162, a bill which would allow verifying and counting absentee and mail-in ballots earlier, unanimously passed out of the Montana House State Administration Committee.

I think that it is a great step in the right direction, sponsor Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings, said Tuesday after the vote.  I think it will run smoother next elections season because (the clerk and recorders office) can do their job and are going to have the (election) results in a timely manner.

The bill allows election administrators to verify the validity of ballots three business days before Election Day  the Friday before.

Now, officials cant start processing them until one business day before the election.

What it does, is it allows them to prepare the ballots for processing on Election Day, Webb said.

It also allows election officials to begin counting the ballots a day before Election Day. Now, officials must wait until Election Day to start counting the absentee and mail-in ballots.

The big thing is it gets results out there in a timely manner, he said.

Hill County Clerk and Recorder and Election Administrator Susan Armstrong said allowing the bills to be verified the Friday before does not allow counting the ballots five days early. It allows her office to verify the validity of the ballots the Friday before Election Day. Her office will not be actually running the ballots through the ballot tabulator, it will be removing the ballots from the secrecy envelopes and making sure the received ballots match the received ballot reports.

The bill allows her office to begin the counting process a day before Election Day, however, if they do run the ballots through the tabulator early, it will not run any reports or release any information until the ballots from the polling places are ran through the tabulator and these totals will be combined with the absentee totals, which will be after 8 p.m. on Election Day.

She said the changes would help.

I agreed with it, she said. I know it will help everyone out and still be a very secure procedure.

Elections in general will look the same, Armstrong said. The process outlined in the bill will allow the clerk and recorders office to work fewer hours Monday night and to help judges with their supplies and check all polling places in a timely manner. They will have less hours on on Election night and be able to get the election results out earlier.

Its a very, very good and secure procedure, she said.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said that he has faith in the clerk and recorders office and thinks the bill is a positive thing. He added that absentee and mail-in ballots are important because they give voters more of an opportunity to educate themselves on what they are voting for.

He said that with more and more people taking advantage of the absentee and mail-in ballot system, and the bill was needed to compensate for the high number of those voters.

Webb said that Yellowstone Countys Elections Commissioner Bret Rutherford requested the bill because of the large number of absentee and mail-in ballots his office has to go through.

Last year, Yellowstone County processed 140,000 ballots, Webb said. Even with employees working 40-plus hour shifts to count all of the votes, the results still come out approximately two days after Election Day.

Its just not physically possible to (count them on Election Day), he added.

Webb said he was concerned someone was going to get sued eventually because they were not able to get the election results in a timely manner. Once the election officials begin the process of counting they cant stop, causing people to work longer hours which could lead to mistakes. He added that even the machines can only process so many ballots and could break down.

There is just too much to do in the window (of time) that the state requires them to do it in, and its just going to blow up on somebody, he said.

He said that when he first ran for office it took four days after the election until it was official he had won. This year, he said two candidates came to Helena and were unsure if they had won or not because of the delay in the system. People might get concerned something illegal may be happening, but the reason for the delay is because of the large number of ballots that come in, and a minimum number of staff who have a short amount of time to do their jobs.

It (is) a good bill, he said. We are able to help people do their jobs and the information is going to be available like it should.

Armstrong said Hill County has about 8,600 registered voters with about 5,200 voting absentee, which would qualify Hill County for the election law revision. She said when employees work longer hours there is a chance for errors due to stress. The bill will allow them to be able to take their time in a more relaxing manner and be able to assure everything is running smoothly.

The hours her office works during Election Day may seem like nothing compared to the bigger counties, Armstrong said, but her office is also open for normal Clerk and Recorder and Election hours the day before and the day of the election, which leads to interruptions and a slower process.

Implementing the bill, she said, they will be able to get a head start on balancing and sorting the ballots the Friday before, which will lead to her office having the ability to process the ballots more efficiently and quicker on election night.

Armstrong said with the additional time they will not be as rushed. They will still be putting in long hours but it will not be all in one night and hopefully fewer hours.

Our opinion is that this is a great bill. We have very secure procedures and voters do not have to worry about any results being released early, she said. It also will allow us to get results out earlier to the public.

Webb said that in the bigger counties absentee and mail-in ballots are what the public prefers, however, they have fewer people willing to get involved with counting the ballots than in previous years.

Young people just arent there, he said.

Peterson said that the clerk and recorders are great at their jobs and assure every signature and address matches the information they have. However, with greater voter turnout the need to find more election judges increases. He added that the public needs to get involved in their political system to assure it continues.

While the bill was in the House for the committee hearings, Webb said, representatives of clerk and recorder offices from across the state came out in support of the bill. The bills biggest opponent was the Secretary of States Office, Webb said.

The secretary of state was concerned with the integrity of the ballots, however the method and system used by the clerk and recorders assures the ballots are kept in a highly secure system, he said.

Its virtually impossible for anybody to monkey with these, he said. I dont know how much more secure we can get.

He added that during the hearing several people repeated the absence of voter fraud in the state of Montana.

To date, there has never been a report from the Secretary of States Office of anybody that has had a case of voter fraud, Webb said.Havre Daily News staff

Montana Highway Patrol reported Tuesday that Trooper Wade Palmer, hospitalized after receiving multiple gunshot wounds March 15, has regained consciousness and that his condition has been upgraded from critical to stable condition.

"We are immensely grateful for Trooper Palmer's progress," Col. Tom Butler, chief of the Montana Highway Patrol, said in a release issued this afternoon. "We remain hopeful as we see Wade continue to heal and make positive strides, however, we are fully aware that he has a long journey ahead of him. "We will be with him and his family every step of the way and we thank the public for their continued support and prayers."

Palmer, who was stationed in Havre as his first assignment before being stationed in Missoula, was shot in the neck, face, and head while near the Evaro Bar and Casino north of Missoula after locating the suspect involved in an earlier shooting that injured two and killed one in Missoula.

Palmer was transported to Saint Patrick Hospital in Missoula in critical condition and eventually flown to Salt Lake City where he continues to be treated.

The Highway Patrol release said he has been moved from the University of Utah Hospital's Neurological Critical Care Unit to the Neuro Acute Care Unit. All of his interactions have been non-verbal, but he has shown recognition of certain people and commands. He is scheduled for reconstructive surgery for jaw injuries Thursday.

Montana Highway Patrol has created a webpage at https://dojmt.gov/highwaypatrol/wade-palmer/ with information about the Palmer shooting. The page features:

 Updates on Trooper Palmer as they become available

 A list of all approved fundraisers that will continually be updated

 A synopsis of events

 Thank yous

 Photos integrated into the site from the "Back the Blue Wear the Green" campaign.The Lincoln Yards development should be a decision for the next mayor and the next City Council, she said in a Jan. 11 news release. And it should be a decision made with community input and a full understanding of the impact on population density, schools, traffic and other factors. All of these questions remain open at this time, and until they are answered to the satisfaction of the community, the development should not move forward.Tester helps secure $1.9 million in Title X funding, will help provide quality, affordable health care to Montana women and families

From the office of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester

The Montana Family Planning Program will receive nearly $2 million in federal grant money, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., announced, enabling the program to provide affordable reproductive health care to thousands of low-income Montanans.

The grant, worth $1.9 million, is administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and will help provide family planning and reproductive health services to women across Montana.

This funding will help provide Montana women and families with the quality, affordable health care they need, Tester said. Investing in Title X programs is critical to keeping Montanans healthy.

Title X funding supports 25 health centers across Montana and helps provide basic primary and preventive health care services  including contraception, breast exams and HIV testing  to approximately 20,000 Montanans each year.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester has led the charge to invest in this critical program, securing more than $280 million in Title X funding this year. Tester has also pushed back hard against the Trump Administrations efforts to limit access to Title X funding and helped defeat legislation allowing states to withhold this critical funding from certain womens health clinics.Senator delivers $9 million for community health care centers facilities in Billings, Great Falls, Hardin, Havre, Helena and Missoula

From the office of Sen. Jon Tester

Community health centers in Montana including Havres Bullhook Community Health Center got a big boost today, thanks to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.

As part of his ongoing mission to deliver affordable health care to all Montanans, Tester delivered grants worth more than $9 million to six different health care facilities that serve the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Fort Belknap and Rocky Boys Indian reservations as well as Native Americans living in urban areas. The grants will benefit Bighorn Valley Health Center, Bullhook Community Health Center, Helena Indian Alliance, Indian Family Health Clinic in Great Falls, Missoula Urban Indian Health Clinic, and Billings Urban Indian Health & Wellness Center.

For Montanans in rural areas and in Indian Country, community health centers are often the only way to access quality, affordable health care, Tester said. So these facilities are vital lifelines in keeping families and communities healthy, and this much-needed boost will help continue the delivery of accessible care that all Montanans deserve.

Montana has approximately 40 community health centers that serve over 100,000 patients each year. There are also five Urban Indian Health clinics across Montana that offer varying health care services to thousands of Indian and non-Indian patients.

Tester has been a steadfast supporter of community health centers. Last year he fought to renew long-term funding for these critical health centers, and he was recognized as a national champion for community health centers and an advocate for Montanas patients and medical professionals by the National Association of Community Health Centers for his efforts.

Earlier this year, Tester co-sponsored the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act to mandate annual increases in community health center funding for the next five years. He was the only member of Montanas delegation to vote to fund community health centers.

The grants awarded are as follows:

 Bighorn Valley Health Center, Hardin: $6,526,744

 Bullhook Community Health Center, Havre: $1,812,584

 Helena Indian Alliance, Helena: $164,373

 Indian Family Health Clinic, Great Falls: $202,550

 Missoula Urban Indian Health Clinic, Missoula: $179,731

 Native American Development Corporation, Billings: $200,000.UPDATE 4/5/2019: Heifer Nepal is providing relief for victims of thunderstorms that swept across Nepal Sunday night which proved deadly, as bamboo and grass huts provided little protection from flying debris and falling trees. The Bara District near the southern border with India suffered the most, but the neighboring Parsa District also saw losses.



The Heifer Nepal team has taken the following steps in order to provide relief for 550 families who were impacted by the destructive storms.

Informed governments about Heifers involvement in relief for the storm victims.

Conducted joint meeting with the Cooperative Board and project partner (JJYC) team and Heifer, and decided the roles and responsibilities. It was decided to implement the relief distribution through the local Heifer-supported cooperative.

Formation of purchase committee and distribution committee involving the ward president and other local stakeholders to make the process transparent and participatory.

List of affected families was verified and it was decided 550 families will be supported (in Heifer working areas).

Non-food relief materials like tarpaulins, mattresses, bed sheets, mosquito nets and flashlights have been purchased. Order has been placed for food items. Livestock medicinal needs have been listed and ordered. The materials have been planned to dispatch starting tomorrow morning.

Distribution of relief has been planned for Monday and Tuesday.

More upates are forthcoming when available. Read more about the impact of these storms and how you can help below.





High winds destroyed countless homes.

While the exact effects of the storm are not yet known, dozens of people were killed and at least 600 were injured. High winds blew a bus carrying 40 people off a highway. Electricity poles snapped, and walls toppled. Its estimated that thousands of homes collapsed in the high winds and driving rains, and thatched roofs blew away in the storm. Heifer Nepal will assist victims in the aftermath of the storm, and you can help.

Storm victims survey the damage.

A Heifer goat project in Bara, Strengthening Smallholder Enterprises of Livestock Value Chain for Poverty Reduction and Economic Growth in Nepal II, is helping farmers there grow and market goats for milk and meat. The scope of losses for Heifer project participants in Bara is not yet fully known.

Strong winds blew a bus off the highway.

There has been severe damage of houses and infrastructure and significant animal deaths. It is learned one of our [community veterinary workers] mother has expired, reports Padma Singh, Heifers senior director for Asia programs.

Heifer International works throughout Nepal, including in Bara, locus of the deadly storm.

First reports from the region indicate that stored grains and food have been ruined, along with many crops still in the fields. Electricity and phone services are down.

Many were left homeless after Sunday's storm.

Photos and information for this story provided by Heifer Nepal staff.Federal grand jury indicts state Republican chair

RALEIGH  A federal grand jury indicted N.C. Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes, political donor Greg Lindberg of Durham, and two Lindberg associates on charges of wire fraud, bribery and making false statements to law enforcement agents.

The four allegedly orchestrated a scheme in which they would give Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican elected in 2016, campaign contributions. In return, Causey would allow lax enforcement of regulations that would help Lindbergs insurance companies. The indictment, handed down in March, was unsealed Tuesday.



The four men pleaded not guilty at the federal courthouse in Charlotte. Each was released on a $100,000 bond, ordered to surrender their passports, and report any travel to probation officials, The News & Observer reported.



Hayes announced Monday he was retiring as chairman of the state GOP at the end of his term.



According to the indictment, Lindberg offered to give $2 million to support Causeys re-election campaign, using an independent expenditure organization and the state Republican Party as conduits. Hayes allegedly joined the scheme and lied to FBI agents when asked about it. Causey cooperated with the investigation from the outset, turning over to the federal government a $250,000 contribution Lindberg made and helping the FBI by recording phone calls and conversations.



Lindberg was the subject of a lengthy Wall Street Journal profile published in late February outlining the elaborate ways he bought nearly 100 companies by diverting $2 billion from life insurance companies he owned to underwrite his other businesses.



The sheer scale of Mr. Lindbergs use of insurance assets to invest in his own businesses has little precedent in recent decades, industry experts say, and exposes hundreds of thousands of policyholders to an unusual and potentially risky strategy, the Journal reported.



Lindberg also became North Carolinas largest campaign donor, providing $5.4 million in 2017 and 2018, primarily to Republicans, the Journal said.



The indictment says in February 2018 Lindberg and associates John Gray and John Palermo tried to ply Causey with campaign contributions, hoping the Department of Insurance would remove a senior regulator whose duties included overseeing GBIG, a company Lindberg owns. Lindberg said the regulator was deliberately and intentionally hurting [Lindbergs] reputation with other regulators. He wanted Causey to hire Palermo to replace the regulator.



Causey balked at the idea. Lindberg then suggested moving the regulator to a different division in DOI and replacing her with another division head. Causey didnt go along with that plan, initially, delaying the process for months until Lindberg wrote checks to the Republican Party and the independent expenditure group.



The indictment says Hayes was involved by May 2018. Causey asked the GOP chairman if he knew about Lindbergs plan to give money to the state party and divert the money to Causeys campaign. Hayes allegedly said, Yeah, we are, more than happy to help, so, when all that comes through well be glad to figure out the best way to do it.



Its against the law for a donor to give money to a political party and direct it to an individuals campaign. Former Gov. Mike Easley, who in 2010 accepted a felony plea for campaign-finance violations, was cited by the State Board of Elections because his 2008 campaign for governor entered a similar scheme.



According to the indictment, Lindberg gave $500,000 to the state GOP in June and July. The party transferred $250,000 from Lindberg to Causeys account by early August. The FBI began interviewing the four targets of the investigation later that month. The indictment says during an Aug. 28 interview with FBI agents, Hayes denied any knowledge of a campaign funding arrangement involving Lindberg and his associates to help Causeys campaign. Hayes also allegedly said he knew nothing about a plan to move around top officials at DOI.



Lindberg gave generously to both major political parties. The Wall Street Journal story noted his North Carolina political donations ramped up during the tenure of Causeys predecessor, Democrat Wayne Goodwin:



Mr. Lindberg held a February 2016 fundraiser for Mr. Goodwin at his Durham estate. Between that gathering and later donations, Mr. Lindberg, his employees, business associates, and some of his spouses and family members contributed about $125,000 to the commissioners campaign, or more than 10% of Mr. Goodwins total, elections records show. Mr. Lindberg also created a PAC that purchased ads in support of Mr. Goodwin and gave $425,000 to it, records show.



After Goodwin lost, Lindberg hired Goodwin as a consultant. Goodwin is chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party. He told the Journal he was cooperating with the investigation.



Greg Lindberg is innocent of the charges in the indictment and we look forward to demonstrating this when we get our day in court, said Anne Tompkins, Lindbergs attorney.



Tuesday afternoon, N.C. Republican Party counsel Josh Howard issued a statement:



Early this morning, the North Carolina Republican Party was made aware of several indictments surrounding the conduct of a major donor to both major political parties and two of his associates. The party has been cooperating with the investigation for several months, including staff members providing statements and responding to various document requests. The party, which has its day to day operations managed by professional staff under the direction of the NCGOP Central Committee, remains fully operational and focused on its mission at hand.However the runoff elections play out, the new mayor, Lightfoot, will face a 50-member council with several new aldermen who got elected with mandates to shake things up, as well as a larger group of returning aldermen who in many cases will be invested in trying to protect the power and prestige theyve built up over the years.Kaspers Serebryakous said he wanted to frighten the youths by firing the shots

A man who took the law into his own hands and fired blanks from an air pistol at a group of teens who were throwing stones at his home was the victim of persistent public order incidents, a court has heard.

Kaspers Serebryakous (35) claimed he fired the blank shots at the teens to frighten them away.

Unlawful

He admitted he regretted the entire incident and had overreacted, Swords District Court heard.

The father-of-two, who told the court there would be no repeat of his actions, may avoid a conviction if he comes up with 1,000 as a charitable donation.

The defendant, of Castleview Walk, Swords, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to being in unlawful possession of a 9mm calibre blank-firing pistol, a realistic imitation firearm and four 9mm calibre blank cartridges at Castleview Drive on November 12, 2017.

He has two previous road traffic convictions.

The court heard that gardai received a call from three youths who alleged they were shot at at around 7.30pm.

A report was also received of a public order incident where a gang of youths were throwing stones at houses in the estate.

Serebryakous's house was searched under warrant and he handed over the two blank firearms and cartridges to gardai.

He told officers that he used the guns to frighten the youths because of the stone throwing.

Defence solicitor John Hennessy said his client was the "victim of persistent public order events" and that a group of teens had been throwing stones at his house for a number of weeks.

The prosecuting garda agreed with Mr Hennessy and said ongoing complaints had been made by local residents about gangs of youths targeting houses.

Mr Hennessy said Serebryakous was "ignorant in regards to the law" for having the weapons without a licence.

"He had a licence for guns in his home country of Latvia but not here," said the solicitor, adding that the guns he had could not fire real bullets.

Shame

"There is nothing sinister about him. He's a family man and doesn't drink.

"He does regret the entire thing and admits he overreacted.

But in the context of all of this he has, at all times, expressed shame and regret," Mr Hennessy said, adding that the defendant assured the court there would be no repeat of it.

Judge Dermot Dempsey adjourned the case for the defendant to come up with 1,000 as a charitable donation if he wants to avoid a conviction.A fresh battle between the UK and Ireland is looming after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar insisted a border down the Irish Sea is back on the table as part of a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Varadkar is canvassing support among European leaders for an approach that ensures no hard border between the North and the Republic, but puts the pressure back on the UK government to abandon the DUP's "red lines".

The risky ploy was discussed by the Taoiseach during his meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris yesterday.

Failure

In a clear swipe at Westminster, Mr Macron warned: "If the UK isn't capable - almost three years after the referendum - of putting forward a solution that gets a majority, it will have decided itself, de facto, to leave without a deal, and we can't avoid that failure in place of the UK."

He added that France sees Ireland very differently.

"We'll never abandon Ireland and the Irish people, because that solidarity is the very sense of the European project," he said.

After the meeting, Mr Varadkar claimed he was the person to bring up the difficult question of how Ireland will protect the EU's single market if the UK crashes out.

Earlier, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said "options" for having checks away from the actual border were being probed.

Asked to outline these options, Mr Varadkar said none of them involve physical infrastructure.

"Some things, we know can be done electronically, and remotely, like the collection of taxes and tariffs - other things we know can't," he said.

"Physical inspections, animal inspections have to be done somewhere, and the backstop proposes that they be done at the ports, the ports in Northern Ireland. That is the right and best place for them," he said.

Pressed for more detail, he replied: "A lot of it will depend on the approach the UK takes and whether they will cooperate with the possibility of checks happening at the ports in Northern Ireland."

Mr Varadkar said Ireland must protect the single market because "it's in our interest".

Hormone

He said our economic model is "dependent on us staying a member of the single market and customs union".

Mr Varadkar added: "In the unlikely event that we have a no-deal and the UK were to do trade deals with the US or China and we had chlorinated chicken or hormone beef, or products made by child labour in Asian countries, the last thing we would want is that coming south of the border into the Republic of Ireland.

"We certainly wouldn't want it getting through the Republic of Ireland into the EU."

In London, prime minister Theresa May said yesterday she would ask the EU for a further delay to Brexit beyond April 12 to give her time to sit down with the opposition Labour Party in a bid to break the impasse over Britain's departure.

In a hastily arranged statement from Downing Street, she said she was seeking another short extension to Brexit.

"We need to be clear what such an extension is for to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way," Mrs May said."There is no doubt in my mind that in the coming days, and weeks at the most, we're going to see a series of indictments from my former colleagues at the U.S. attorney's office, and it is going to center around this issue of aldermanic prerogative, Lightfoot predicted in a debate with Preckwinkle. We need to be on the right side of history on this issue."All LDS missionaries accounted for in tornado region

Some of the most comforting words parents of mission-aged children can hear after a devastating natural disaster is all missionaries in the region are accounted for. That is what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Monday following a weekend of devastating tornadoes. While the LDS Church is still gathering information and evaluating its best options for helping, stories continue to flash on TV screens and online video streams of homes standing and 30 seconds later looking like match sticks. They are without water, bathroom facilities, clothing and shelter. ...Path of deadly 5-state tornado may go down as longest ever in USPOV: a master of an in-your-space intimacy of now-liability came in a wrong time, in a wrong era of his age.

Ref. ---- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/us/politics/joe-biden-women-me-too.html

His struggling to prevent a strength (his ability to connect via) from turning into a crippling liability

Gloria Steinem, the feminist icon, said politicians needed to set parameters: The way out is simple. Our bodies and voices belong to us  that should be the first step in democracy. Just ask before hugging.

This is stuff mostly that hes done in front of everybody, said David Axelrod, who was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama while Mr. Biden was vice president. Im sure his intent was benign, but through the lens of today, it looks like something different.

Verified account @patrickhealynytThis site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services, to personalize ads and to analyze traffic. Information about your use of this site is shared with Google. By using this site, you agree to its use of cookies. Learn more here

Grand Prize Winner: Donna Rickey Blog Winners: A Song for her Enemies by Sherri Stewart: Mary Ann Hake Spies & Sweethearts by Linda Shenton Matchett: Connie Ruggles Sword of Trust by DebbieLynn Costello: Brenda Walters Justice for Julia by Donna Schlachter: Natalya Lakhno Party Prize winners: Sherri Stewarts Winners A Song for her Enemies: Angie Pool Bottle of Dutch Syrup: Carol Koch Alscheff Corrie ten Boom book: Deb Gramie Burgess Linda Shenton Matchetts winners: $5.00 gift card to online retailer or choice (Kobo, B&N, AppleBooks, Amazon): Karen Hadley A Bride for Seamus: Carol Osterhouse Wotring DebbieLynn Costellos winners: Sword of the Matchmaker: Melissa Planas Sword of Forgiveness: Paty Hinojosa Gomez Shattered Memories: Charlene Zall Capodice Sword of the Perfect Bride: Licha Haney Donna Schlachters winner: Leather Journal: Lisa Turley

GIVEAWAY RULES

Winners must leave their email address and will be notified by email and the winners name will be announced in the days comments. No one under 18 can enter our giveaways. No purchase is necessary. All winners have one week to claim their prize. USA shipping only. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.Actor John Abraham returns as a spy in yet another patriotic film, Romeo Akbar Walter, this Friday. Directed by Robbie Grewal, the film is inspired by true events that took place during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. Ahead of RAWs release, weve compiled a list of our favourite Hindi spy thrillers in recent years -- this is a genre that has got a recent amount of airing in the recent years.

While Salman Khans Tiger franchise -- blockbusters Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai, Saif and Katrinas Phantom, Taapsee Pannus Naam Shabana and Johns excellent Madras Cafe get honourable mention, here are desi spy thrillers that are our absolute favourites but in no specific order. From gritty realism to machismo-fuelled espionage films, you will find everything here...

Alia Bhatt played an Indian spy named Sehmat in Raazi.

Raazi

Director Meghna Gulzars Raazi is sweeping the awards season and all for the right reasons.

Raazi is about a young woman from Kashmir who marries a Pakistani military official as India and its neighbour are on the cusp of the 1971 war. There, she has to find information on a threat looming large on India and do it all with great care and smartness. She hides the surveillance equipment in her trousseau and masks her operations as a spy in the coy smile of a bride.

Where Raazi stands taller than any other Hindi film about spies was in its human, rather than hyper-nationalist, treatment of the subject. It showed that lives are ruined on both sides of the border during a war. In the end, when people have been through so much loss and suffering, a spys successful mission may not be a moment to celebrate but a cruel reflection on the cost of it all.

Based on Harinder Sikkas book Calling Sehmat, the film also deserves praise for showing spies who put heir lives at risk for the country dont do so while wearing tuxedos and sipping martinis. More often than not, they are the ones hiding in plain sight. These spies could be running a simple grocery shop in crowded street of Pakistan, a flower kiosk next to a mosque or just a young bride sent to the lions den on her own with a little training and a lot of courage.

Akshay Kumar played the role of Ajay Singh Rajput in Baby.

Baby

When Baby released in 2015, audiences were taken aback by its realistic feel as much as its perspective. The Neeraj Pandey directorial, in many ways, was a departure from the historical Indian way of dealing with terror  of preventing terror strikes. With Baby, the fight was taken to the enemy camp  here was a bang of daredevil undercover agents, who would not simply prevent a terror act from occurring, but would actively seek to eliminate the masterminds.

In many ways, it also reflects new Indias irritation with status quo  it is unwilling to accept victimhood status and wants to take up the challenge head-on and finish it. To that effect, Baby served the purpose well. Hence, we saw a bunch of motivated undercover agents seek out the mastermind of a terrorist organisation from his hideout in another nation and bring him home for trail.

The film, more a police action drama than strictly an espionage thriller, saw measured performances by all its principle characters  Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, KK Menon and its support cast, including two Pakistani actors (Rasheed Naz and Mikaal Zulfiqar).

Of particular mention were the films stunts. For Akshay to pull them off with confidence was expected, but the surprise package was Taapsee Pannu, who trained in Israeli martial form Krav Maga and her sequence of a fist fight with Sushant Singh was as real as could get.

Baby was also a departure from the way action thrillers have been shot in India. Bereft of any song and dance and prominent romantic track, the film steered clear of melodrama and that was to be its calling card.

16 December stars Gulshan Grover, Danny Denzongpa, Milind Soman, Sushant Singh and Dipannita Sharma.

16 December

Directed by debutant Mani Shankar, 16 December opened to critical appreciation but failed to enthuse the audience. However, the film has acquired a niche following over the years. Starring Milind Soman, Aditi Gowitrikar, Depannita Sharma, Gulshan Grover, Sushant Singh and Danny Denzongpa in important roles, 16 December was about a plot to destroy Delhi with a nuclear bomb and how Indian officers foil the plan.

The film showcased some of the best tech devices and techniques used by spies. How the Indian revenue department officers trace a trail of money travelling through a Swiss Bank to a terrorist and then stop a nuclear attack just in time to save the city forms the main narrative of the film.

Gulshan plays the terrorist who plans to avenge Pakistans defeat in the 1971 war and the foundation of Bangladesh. A kitschy act, Grover brought a manic energy to the role, ensuring a thrilling experience.

Vishwaroopam also stars Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar and Shekhar Kapur in supporting roles.

Vishwaroopam

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan delivered one of the most gripping espionage thrillers in Vishwaroopam. He not just played the male lead but also wrote and directed the film. The film showed the actor as an undercover RAW agent and a Muslim by religion living under the guise of a Hindu Kathak dancer in the US.

It boasted of a well-knit, extensive plot that promised suspense and thrill from the very beginning. Kamal played a former Al Qaeda trainer who spied for India and led the US forces to their terror shells. The story goes back and forth in time to unravel a plot where in the terrorists are scraping radioactive material to build a dirty bomb in New York.

But the high point of the film was Kamals impeccable performance as a Kathak teacher Viz, which was poles apart from his spy avatar, Wisam. How the actor transcended effortlessly in between the two characters while not missing out on a single beat makes for an interesting watch. Kamal had already impressed his fans with his unimaginable role of a woman in Chachi 420 but he took it many notches higher by flipping between the two characters without any facial makeover.

Rahul Bose as Omar, the head of a terror group, Pooja Kumar as Kamals wife Nirupama, Shekhar Kapur as Kamals confidante and Andrea Jeremiah also played prominent roles in the film.

The film was opposed by many Muslim groups and even faced a complete ban in Tamil Nadu.

Rishi Kapoor in D-Day.

D-Day

Before I tell you everything that D-Day is, here is everything this superb spy thriller-action drama is not  there is no superhero starring in the film who swoops in and provides redemption to an entire country, the films central plot of bringing Indias most wanted man (heres looking at you Dawood) often is on the verge of coming undone and those holding the strings of the entire operation are flawed. Ergo, a human drama that is steeped in geopolitical reality of India and its neighbour where not all Indians are patriotic and not all Pakistanis are corrupt fools.

Director Nikhil Advani guides this ensemble film starring Irrfan Khan, Arjun Rampal, Huma Qureshi and Rishi Kapoor with a sure hand, it has been shot at real locations in Karachi and the performances are top-notch -- especially watch out for Kapoor as Goldman, a dead ringer for Dawood Ibrahim. D-Days biggest strength is that it always remains in the realms of possible.

Also read: Here are Ajay Devgns 28 finest films to celebrate his 28 years in Bollywood

Saif Ali Khan plays the title role in Agent Vinod.

Agent Vinod

Making movies that nobody else could (or more likely, would) was one of the founding philosophies of Saif Ali Khans production company, Illuminati Films, whose second movie was the big-budget action thriller, Agent Vinod.

It was a sleek movie - which like so many of Saifs films would have found a bigger audience online - directed with flair by AndhaDhuns Sriram Raghavan. If nothing else, revisit its phenomenal single-take action sequence on YouTube to get a sense of the kind of boundaries that film was pushing in mainstream Bollywood, while having great fun playing in the James Bond sandbox.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreThe Kalank trailer is finally out and we are charmed by the epic dance, drama and action. We are also struggling to keep pace with the many new details that came forth in the two-minute-long trailer. From the trailer, it is clear that Alia Bhatts Roop is in love with Varun Dhawans Zafar but ends up getting married to Aditya Roy Kapurs Dev Chaudhry due to one wrong decision on her part. The trailer begins with the voice of the Raazi actor saying, mere gusse me liye gaye ek faisle ne hum sabki zindagi barbad kardi (my one decision, taken in rage, has destroyed the lives of all of us).

So heres more that caught our attention in the trailer:

Kriti Sanons special dance number

Bareilly Ki Barfi actor Kriti Sanon can be seen in a song and dance sequence in the trailer. The actor can be seen grooving in a purple lehenga-choli amid a group of dancers which also include Varun Dhawan and Aditya Roy Kapur in green and black ensembles, respectively.

Kriti Sanon in a still from Kalank trailer.

A mujra by Madhuri

Madhuri Dixit had earlier hinted at having shot a solo dance number in Kalank. The actor can be seen performing a mujra in a red anarkali in the trailer.

Madhuri Dixit in a still from Kalank trailer.

Kunal Kemmu enters the scene

We also see a new character -- Kunal Kemmu who can be seen telling Varun, Jis aag ko humne phook di thi na, usi aag se ab main ye shehar jala dunga (the fire we started, I will now burn this city in the same fire). The actor can be seen leading a crowd of angry men holding swords,pperhaps headed to wreak havoc in the city.

Kunal Kemmu in a still from Kalank trailer.

Why did Dev marry Roop?

Aditya (Dev) can be seen telling Alia (Roop) ahead of their wedding night that there will be respect but no love in their marriage. So has he married her for kids or is there another reason behind this mismatched union - that remains the burning question.

Also read: Kalank trailer: Alia Bhatt is married to Aditya Roy Kapur, in love with Varun Dhawan in this film about grand passion

Be safe, Varun!

There is also a fight scene involving Varun who is seen beating masked assailants amid riots. A man is seen attacking Varun with a sharp weapon that hints that the actor may be grievously injured.

Varun Dhawan (left) in a still from Kalank trailer.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreShweta Tiwaris teenaged daughter Palak has made her acting debut, but in an advertisement. The ad was shared by Shweta on her Instagram page where she called herself a proud mother.

Sharing it, Shweta wrote: ME = Proud Mom !!! @palaktiwarii. The ad shows Palak having a conversation with her mother as her parents are having dinner. She too is seated on the same table but we are to presume that she is elsewhere. Soon the conversation begins: both struggle to talk as the call keeps dropping. Whenever voice does travel, it takes long. Palak, playing the daughter, keeps saying hello repeatedly.

18-year old Palak was expected to make her film debut opposite Taare Zameen Pe child actor Darsheel Safari in a film called Quickie. This was supposed to be the first film of Darsheel as an adult. However, in June last year, Shweta had taken to Instagram to refute the news and clear the air. She had categorically stated that Palak was in Class 12 and her education was of paramount importance.

Also read: After Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor shares sun-soaked pics from Maldives. See pics

She had written: For the past few months I was constantly bombarded with questions regarding Quickie, and Palaks debut. We really wanted quickie to be the way to go but the process was too protracted and Palaks 12th grade has now begun. Therefore we decided it would be best if we retracted ourselves from the project since Palaks education is of paramount importance at this point in time. We wish Oddball the very best, but sadly we had to come to this decision. However i assure you, Palaks debut is soon enough.

Palak is active on Instagram as well and keeps posting selfies and pictures. In one such post, she had been accused by some Instagram users that she had gone under the knife. A viewer had called her out for botox-filled lips, to which she had replied, saying: Im only 17, and not somebody whos a supporter of changing myself based on what the world May or May not like. So no Maam, thats a false accusation, and its because of such accusations that going under the knife is considered a trend, and is ultimately promoted . Im not for it maam. Sorry to disappoint you, have good night and best wishes.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ONThe Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed a central bank circular that had set strict norms for the resolution of bad loans, easing the concerns of some debt-laden companies and upending Indias fledgling bankruptcy resolution process.

A two judge-bench comprising justices Rohinton F Nariman and Vineet Saran said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) acted beyond its powers in issuing the February 12, 2018 circular. We have declared the RBI circular ultra vires, Nariman said.

The RBI circular directed banks to refer defaulters to bankruptcy courts if they were unable to find a resolution plan within 180 days for stressed accounts where the outstanding amount was more than 2,000 crore.

Tuesdays judgement said the Banking Regulation Act allows banks to initiate insolvency when there is an authorisation from the central government or when the RBI gives directions to banks for specific default cases.

There was nothing to show that these provisions were satisfied in issuing the circular, Supreme Court said, adding that the central bank does not have the authority to issue a general directive regarding bankruptcy cases.

RBI didnt respond to a request seeking comment till the time of going to press.

There is little clarity on whether the central bank will now come up with a fresh policy for banks to tackle the mounting bad debts on their balance sheets. RBI may throw some light on its plans when it announces the monetary policy on April 4.

RBI will have to come up with a new restructuring framework following the court order. Lenders are now free to initiate fresh bankruptcy proceedings against companies, which were otherwise mandatorily referred for insolvency resolution under the circular, said L Viswanathan, partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.

The Supreme Court order gives many corporate defaulters the breathing space they were looking for, saving them from having to submit to a time-bound insolvency processat least for the time being. Many cases already submitted to insolvency courts under the circular also may get a fresh lease of life. At the same time, banks will now be free to pursue insolvency proceedings against many defaulting companiesespecially power companieswhich were put on hold because of the Supreme Court hearings. The court also said that provisions of Section 45L(3) of the RBI Act (power of RBI to call for information from financial institutions and to give directions) were not adhered to in the framing of the circular. The impugned circular nowhere says that the RBI has had due regard to the conditions in which and the objects for which such institutions have been established, their statutory responsibilities, and the effect the business of such financial institutions is likely to have on trends in the money and capital markets, the order said.

Several companies and associations, including GMR Energy Ltd; RattanIndia Power Ltd, a Punjab-based textile company; Association of Power Producers; Independent Power Producers Association of India; Sugar Manufacturing Association of Tamil Nadu and a shipbuilding association from Gujarat, had challenged the RBI circular in different courts.

Now as a result of the Supreme Court judgement, banks can autonomously undertake a restructuring process that is best suited as a tool for an individual borrower. This attempt to issue an all-encompassing, firstof-its-kind circular was probably not the best approach, said Sapan Gupta, national headbanking and finance practice at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.Father Anthony Madassary, 46, who heads the Franciscan Missionaries of Jesus in Jalandhar, is no ordinary priest.

Anthony, who was detained by police and income tax officials with alleged unaccounted cash totalling 9.66 crore on Friday, runs a business with an annual turnover of 40 crore. He runs a private firm, Sahodhaya, with three other priests, Father Jose, Father Paul and Father Scara Shine, as partners. They supply books and stationery to over 45 schools of the diocese, besides having interests in construction business and security services.

The priest, who claimed the money to be business proceeds, created a flutter by accusing that of the total 16.65 crore taken from his house, the police declared only 9.66 crore and misappropriated the rest. An inquiry has been ordered by DGP Dinkar Gupta into his allegations.

Son of a small farmer in Keralas Kochi, the rise of Anthony, who came to Punjab 31 years ago, has been meteoric. He took over the Jalandhar Franciscan Missionaries of Jesus congregation in 2014 and started Sahodhaya to what he calls generate employment for needy people.

I had taken permission from the bishop to start the company in 2008. At present, more than 500 employees are associated with it. We pay our taxes, he said, claiming income tax payments of 70 lakh in 2017-18 and advance income tax of 50 lakh in 2018-19.

The priest, who lives in a big house with huge lawns at Pratappura village, said the money was kept at his house because company employees had refused to go and deposit it in the bank due to the model code of conduct in view of the parliamentary polls.

We have provided all relevant records to the income tax department, he claimed.

Though Anthony has denied the hawala transaction charges, this is the second major controversy involving the Jalandhar diocese. Last year, Bishop Franco Mulakkal was arrested by the Kerala police for allegedly raping a nun multiple times. He is currently out on bail granted by the Kerala high court.

Agnelo Grcias, acting bishop, Jalandhar diocese, in a statement said, Some of our priests are running Sahodhya in partnership with due permission. However, these firms are not run by our diocese. The venture is lawful.If voted to power, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has promised to replace the NITI Aayog with a lean Planning Commission peopled with economists and experts. Gandhi has offered little in terms of his critique of the Aayog and how a new lean Commission will address failings of the past. However, his statement does serve as a reminder that the Niti Aayog has failed to live up to its promise.

Dismantling the Planning Commission and replacing it with the Aayog was one of the most significant institutional reforms initiated by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government when it came to power in 2014. But five years later, the functioning of the Aayog raises far more questions about its relevance than it has answered.

The Planning Commission was in urgent need of reforms. The 1991 economic reforms had rendered the centralised plan process irrelevant. Moreover, in an era of coalition governments, the Commission provided a critical instrument through which New Delhi centralised policymaking. Central schemes (CS) that encroached on the states constitutional responsibilities and promoted a one-size-fits-all implementation model emerged as the dominant model for transferring plan funds to states.

States had long complained against this centralisation. Chief ministers deeply resented having to seek the Commissions approval for state plans and expenditures. As chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi was particularly vocal in his critique, even suggesting the 14th Finance Commission recommend devolution of 50% tax revenues to states so they have greater discretion over spending.

The Aayogs primary mandate was to address these failings and reshape the federal compact. The Cabinet resolution establishing the Aayog made the case. States of the Union, it argued, do not want to be mere appendages of the Centre. The Aayog and its Team India was now responsible for developing a shared vision of development priorities, fostering co-operative federalism and creating a platform that brought states together in the national interest. But, unlike the Commission, the Aayog was designed as a think tank expected to fulfill its mandate without financial powers.

This presented a new conundrum for Centre-state fiscal relations. In a federal system, national governments have a legitimate responsibility to ensure all citizens receive a minimum standard of public services such as health, basic education, and sanitation. These are national goals for which the center may need to provide specific funds.

In India, widespread regional disparities or what economist Vijay Kelkar defines as the development imbalance between states makes central funding of this nature particularly critical. For example, poor states like Bihar may require central funding to meet these goals more than richer states. Managing this expenditure was a crucial role filled by the Commission through plan funds. Schemes were administered by line-departments but the Commission played a critical policy coordination function linking schemes to state plans and determining resource availability. Moreover, states could broadly predict the quantum of plan funds they were likely to receive, enabling somewhat predictable expenditure. In the absence of financial powers, the question of who would fulfill this role became relevant. The challenge also lay in creating fiscal instruments that ensured autonomy to states and got away from the failings of the commissions administration of funds.

The Aayog had the opportunity to do this. Its first task was to create a chief ministers sub-committee to reform central schemes and give states flexibility. But the critical issue of coordination, prioritisation and fund allocation, absent in the Commission, was never addressed. In the resultant institutional vacuum, the finance ministry and central line ministries took over. They all but ignored the sub-committees recommendations and contributed to deepening rather than weakening centralisation.

The finance ministry insisted states increase their financial contribution to central schemes from 25% to 40%. An important mandate to induce flexibility by making 25% of scheme funds discretionary was ignored and, New Delhi continues to micro-manage micromanage implementation. Rather than reform scheme functioning, successive budgets re-ordered reordered schemes in to core of the core, core and optional and without five-year plans, states are left guessing their annual fund allocations. It is this institutional vacuum that has also enabled the finance ministry to prescribe terms of reference to the 15th Finance Commission that seeks to bias the panel towards linking tax devolution to the national government schemes and priorities.

But the biggest challenge to fulfilling the Aayogs mandate of reshaping the federal compact came from the prime minister and his centralising administrative style. From the Swachh Bharat mission to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, state governments are under severe pressure to meet performance targets set by the Government of India, resulting in an entrenched culture of overcentralisation rather than cooperative cooperation or, as former Reserve Bank of India Governor YV Reddy and GR Reddy suggest in their latest book, cooperative and competitive federalism may well be substituted by coercive federalism. The Aayog, which draws its institutional legitimacy directly from the Union government, with its indicators, ranking, and aspirational district programme, is the instrument for promoting this coercive federalism.

The Aayogs mandate of genuinely reshaping the Centre-state relation remains unfulfilled. But any attempt to reform or create a Planning Commission 2.0 will need to contend with the challenges of creating institutional spaces for genuine deliberation and political negotiation between the Centre and states and curbing New Delhis inherent tendency to centralise power. This is a challenge that will go beyond economists and experts. It is a political challenge. If Rahul Gandhi genuinely wants to reform the NITI Aayog, he needs to recognise this.

Yamini Aiyar is president and chief executive, Centre for Policy Research

The views expressed are personalAn 18-year-old man was killed on Monday afternoon when his throat was slit by a kite string while he was riding a motorcycle through a road in Timarpur, according to police who said they are now investigating if the string was of the sharp variety that has been banned for similar deaths previously.

The victim was identified as Ravi Kumar, who lived in Gandhi Vihar and worked at an auto parts workshop in Anand Parbat. He had set out in the afternoon for a market nearby. He was rushed to a hospital before police reached the spot, where they found a blood-soaked string hanging from a tree.

Prima facie it looks like a Chinese manjha. The string had blood on it. It has been preserved for a forensic examination, said deputy commissioner of police (north) Nupur Prasad, referring to a type of kite string that is banned.

Manjha is a type of kite string that is strengthened and coated with sharp shards, making it a hazard for motorcyclists. While the sources can be diverse, a bulk of such products originates in China.

In January, 2017, the government banned sale of manjha after a spate of deaths, including that of two children who were looking out of the sunroof of their car.

Police said that the cut was so deep that the mans windpipe was slit. The doctors said he bled to death.

During initial probe, we have found that the locals spotted the manjha lying on the spot. They said that it was hanging from a tree. We are yet to ascertain how the manjha got stuck around Ravis neck and slit his throat, an officer involved in investigations said.

Prasad said police could not spot anyone flying a kite. Locals are being questioned to zero in on the person who had left the manjha in a careless manner that cost the man his life. A case under IPC section 304A for causing death due to negligence and under section 336 for endangering life or personal safety of others has been registered against unknown person at Timarpur police station, she said.

Kumar is survived by his parents and five siblings. His father Ram Kishore, who used to run a road side street food stall, said he was the second eldest among four brothers and had started earning recently.After grand increase in the pass percentage and first divisions in the intermediate examinations, 2019 of the Bihar school examination board (BSEB), expectations are high about a repeat in the class 10 board exam results, which is expected within a week.

With nearly 25-lakh students failing in class 10 and 12 board exams in 2017-18 in the State, the teachers, the board as well as the government were under relentless attack from the opposition over quality of education in schools.

Last year also, there was increase in the pass percentage, which reached 68.89 % from an abysmal 50.12% in 2017 and 53.33% in 2016. However, in 2015, the pass percentage was 75%.

But phenomenal jump in the result in intermediate this year has raised hopes of a much improved performance in class 10 board also. Besides, early results would mean more opportunities to the students.

BSEB was among the first to organize the Class 10 board exams in 2018, which was completed on February 28 itself, but the objective of publishing early results could not be achieved. It was published in June-end and by that time admission process for many premiere institutions had ended.

This time again, the class 10 board exams had ended on February 28. Board sources said the results would be released within the next few days. Things are in an advanced stage and we hope to release the results within a week, said board chairman Anand Kishor.

He said that vastly improved results in intermediate would understandably raise hopes for better results in class 10 also. Wait for a few days and everything will be open. Out effort has always been to do the best for the students. If the results are released early, they will have plenty of opportunities to choose from. They will also get better options within state, he added.

Kishor said that the vastly improved results and smooth manner in which the entire examination process was carried out had prompted queries from other state boards also. Many of them have expressed their desire to visit Bihar board after the exam process is over in their respective states and study the good practices adopted here, he added.The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday issued a notification saying that the information circulated on Whatsapp about the re-conduct of Class 12 physics and economics examinations is fake or not correct.

The CBSE said it has come to the boards notice that fake information about the re-conduct of examinations of these two subjects is being circulated on Whatsapp.



It is come to the notice of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that a fake information regarding the re-conduct of examination of subject Physics and Economics of Class XII is being circulated on whatsapp. The date of this information is 28.03.2019 which has been signed by Sh. K K Choudhury, former Controller of Examinations. This is brought to the notice of Stakeholders that the news of re-conduct of Physics and Economics of Class XII is fake. All Stakeholders and public is requested not to give any heed to the rumors like the above said one and cooperate with the CBSE in the smooth and fair conduct of examinations.

The CBSE had conducted Class 12 physics examination on March 5 and economics examination on March 27.

Students coming out of HEMA higher secondary school after appearing in CBSE Class 12 economics exam in Bhopal on March 27, 2019. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT file)

Earlier in February too, the board had issued instructions to students and their parents urging them to be careful against any kind fake information spread on social media. The board had warned unscrupulous elements against spreading rumors by hosting fake videos/messages on YouTube, Face Book, twitter and other Social Media platforms. The board had said that it will take strict action as per provisions of law against such people. The board had also urged the public to cooperate with the board for the smooth conduct of the exams.Warner Bros released the first trailer of the upcoming Joker film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the popular Batman villain, a day after premiering it at the CinemaCon event in Las Vegas. I used to think my life was a tragedy, but its a comedy, says Arthur Fleck in the trailer.

As advertised, the film owes a great debt - visually and thematically - to Martin Scorseses Taxi Driver. Arthur is an outcast living in a 70s, New York City inspired Gotham, mocked by others, with only his mother for company.

There are several shots in the trailer that hint at an uncomfortably close relationship between Arthur and his mother, played in the film by Frances Conroy. It was previously reported that the role was offered to Frances McDormand. There are recurring shots of Arthur lying curled up on the floor, dancing on stairs, and others which highlight his grotesque physical appearance.

We see Arthur routinely getting harassed, beaten up, and left to fend for himself in a changing Gotham. There are also quick nods to the Batman (maybe?) and Arkham Asylum. We also see glimpses of his descent into madness, with brief shots of Arthur applying green hair dye and smearing makeup on his face. The film doesnt appear to be based on any previous comic book origin of the character, but instead seems like an amalgamation of several storylines.

Joker has been directed by an unusual choice for the material - The Hangovers Todd Phillips. Phillips described the movie as a tragedy at CinemaCon. But thats what happens when you set out to make an origin story about a character who doesnt have an origin, he said.

The film is slated for a prime awards season release date in October. The film also stars Scorsese favourite Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz. The Joker has previously been played in film by Oscar-winners Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and Jared Leto.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreFive leopard cubs were charred to death in a sugarcane farm in Ambegaon taluka of Pune district on Wednesday morning. According to forest officials, the cubs were killed after a farmer burnt trash suspecting there was a snake in it.

The cubs were around 10 days old. Forest officials said the farmer suspected there was a snake in the trash and decided to burn it. Farmers usually burn waste before the harvesting of sugarcane.

Forest officials believe that the mother of the cubs may have left them in the field when she went to search of food.

Prajot Palve, range forest officer of Ambegaon, said people have been deployed for night patrolling as the mother leopard may turn violent in her search of them.

The farm workers are afraid of going back to work fearing an attack from the mother leopard, said forest officials.

Decreasing forest cover means that leopards are often seen in sugarcane farms. Forest officials said leopards do deliver cubs in sugarcane fields and leave once the cubs grow up. If sugarcane harvesting starts before they grow up, there is a possibility of their death due to such farm fires, the officials said.

In March this year, two leopard cubs were rescued from the sugarcane fields in the same region.A holiday home in Lonavala, flats in Delhis Asiad Village, prime land in Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram are among 23 properties spread across 14 cities that national carrier Air India (AI) wants to sell to generate Rs 500 crore, two AI officials familiar with the matter said.

The loss-making airline has already issued a notice for an auction of these assets.

Last year, Air India had put up for sale its apartments in Bandra, Mahim, Khar, Colaba, Cuffe Parade, and Malad areas of Mumbai; in Indiranagar of Bengaluru; Navrangpura and Memnagar localities in Ahmedabad, as well as properties and land parcels in Kolkata, Pune, Bhuj, Goa, Gwalior, Thiruvananthapuram and Nashik. So far, the airline has generated about ~400 crore from the sale of these assets.

There are many properties which we will transfer to the government before the disinvestment process begins but the apartments and land parcels owned by Air India are being sold in a phased manner. We have tied up with MSTC Ltd, which specialises in conducting e-auctions, to divest the real estate assets. In Bengaluru and Chennai we are selling both land parcels and flats. In Delhi, five flats in Asian Games Village Complex will be sold, said one of the officials.

In December, the airline invited bids for its iconic 23-storey Nariman Point building in Mumbai.

According to the second Air India official, the money generated from these sales will go to special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Air India Asset Holding Limited (AIATSL) that was created by the civil aviation ministry in 2003.

The government has already decided to transfer Rs 29,000 crore of the total Rs 55,000 crore debt of Air India to this SPV, which is also tasked to raise money through land deals and other measures.

Once the debt of Air India is transferred, its annual interest liabilities will be around ~1,700 crore per annum against Rs 4,400 crore currently.Four people have been taken into custody and were interrogated by police in Varanasi after a Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student died after being shot at by unidentified motorcycle-borne men inside the campus on Tuesday evening, sources said on Wednesday.

Gaurav Singh, a second-year student of MCA, was talking to his friends in the evening when the men opened fire at him, police said. He had been suspended by the university administration last year for his alleged role in violence in the campus in December 2017 in protest against the arrest of a student. Gaurav was named in the case.

Station officer of the Lanka police station Bharat Bhushan Tiwari said that a case has been registered against five people by their names and three unidentified under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) following the complaint by Gauravs father Rakesh Prasad Singh and further investigation is on.

Police said Gauravs father filed the complaint against BHUs chief proctor Prof Royana Singh, Ashutosh Tripathi, Rupesh Tiwari, Mangalam, Vinay Dwivedi and three unidentified people in connection with his sons death.

They said Rakesh Prasad Singh alleged that Prof Royana Singh was involved in hatching the conspiracy to kill his son, while seven others including, Ashutosh Tripathi, Rupesh Tiwari, Mangalam, Vinay Dwivedi, fired indiscriminately at Gaurav.

Police said Singh suffered bullet injuries in the stomach and chest and was rushed to the trauma centre of BHUs Institute of Medical Sciences by his hostel inmates. He underwent surgery to remove the bullets but succumbed to the injuries during treatment.

Gauravs body was sent for a post-mortem examination after which it was cremated at the Harishchandra Ghat amid the presence of heavy police force.

The situation in the BHU campus is tense but under control, police said, as students carrying posters shut the main gate and demanded justice for Gaurav.

A heavy police force has been deployed at the trauma centre and BHUs main gate as a preventive measure, senior superintendent of police Sureshrao Anand Kulkarni said.

The BHU administration declared a holiday on Wednesday to express grief over Gauravs death. BHU spokesperson Dr Rajesh Singh said that the decision was taken in a late night meeting at the residence of BHU vice-chancellor Prof Rakesh Bhatnagar.The Calcutta high court will examine the legal validity of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act as well as that of the CBI which derives its power to investigate from the legislation.

Hearing an appeal by Chandan Biswas, sentenced by a special CBI court in 2018 for corruption, a bench of Justice Protik Prakash Banerjee directed that the matter be posted before Acting Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder for setting up a Constitution bench to decide the issue. A BSNL official, Biswas was convicted by a Special CBI court for criminal conspiracy and cheating and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

Justice Banerjees order came on amicus curiae Phiroze Eduljis submission that the case was related to an interpretation of the Constitution and therefore involved substantial questions of law. The order noted that the Constitution bench must examine the following questions arising in the case.

Whether the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, is a valid piece of legislation? Whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is an organ or a part of Delhi Special Police Establishment? In a Constitution having a federal form with distinct feels of legislation apportioned to the federal legislature and/or the federating legislature with corresponding executive power where law and order and their maintenance are part of the power given to the federating states whether a federal police force even for investigation can be made by Central legislation without following the procedure established by the Constitution for Central legislature making laws which would be enforceable in each of the states, said the order.

In 2013, a Gauhati High Court order held that the CBI was neither an organ nor a part of the DSPE and cannot be treated as a police force constituted under the DSPE Act, 1946.Ahead of the first phase of elections next week, a crisis hit the Odisha Congress on Wednesday with former MP and party candidate from coastal Jagatsinghpur district, Bibhu Prasad Tarai resigning from the party in protest against a murder accused being fielded as a candidate in the Assembly polls.

Tarai, the Congress candidate from Tirtol assembly constituency, sent in his letter of resignation after the party decided to field labour leader Arindam Sarkhel alias Bapi Sarkhel from the Paradip assembly constituency. In November 2016, Sarkhel was arrested along with noted businessman Mahima Mishra, for his involvement in the sensational murder of Mahendra Swain, an executive, in October 2016.

A labour leader in the port town of Paradip, Sarkhel has been involved in several controversies. In December 2011, he was arrested over the death of a labourer during a fight between villagers opposed to the now-shelved Posco steel project and labourers of a transport firm owned by him.

I am feeling ashamed that the party has given a ticket to a murder accused like Sarkhel. Besides, Congress seems to have signed a secret deal with the Biju Janata Dal by fielding weak candidates across the state to allow the BJD a easy victory, alleged Tarai.

Similarly, senior Congress leader and candidate from Pipili assembly constituency, Yudhistir Samantray said he would not contest as the PCC took too much time in the announcement of his candidature. PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik took money from others and delayed announcement of my name; I cannot organise my campaign within such a short span of time, he said.

Like Samantray, the son of three-time CM JB Patnaik too announced that he would not contest hours after the party decided on his candidature for the Begunia assembly constituency. Prithvi Ballabh Patnaik, son of late JB Patnaik, who earlier wished to contest from Begunia, said he had decided against it due to personal issues. Last month, Muktikanta Biswal, who was given a party ticket from the Rourkela assembly constituency following his 1500 km long walk to New Delhi for several demands of Rourkela, last year, returned the ticket.

In a separate development, several senior Congress leaders, including PCC general secretary Laxman Meher, former Bolangir district Congress committee president Bhagwan Bagarti and DeogaonPanchayat Samiti chairman Reena Meher resigned from the party expressing their discontent with leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra.

The dissidence in the party took a bitter turn after Odisha Pradesh Mahila Congress president Sumitra Jena on Wednesday hinting at stepping down from the post, protesting lack of tickets to women. Jena, who was eyeing a party ticket from Bhadrak district, said she would take a decision on his resignation from the Mahila Congress president post.

If we are not consulted on such matters at crucial times like the elections, I dont think that I deserve to stay in the post as a dummy president. I feel extremely sad that I have failed to fulfill the promises I had made to Mahila Congress leaders. I had recommended names of 52 women candidates for the upcoming elections, but most of them were not given due importance during the ticket allotment process despite having worked selflessly for the party. I think the president post of Mahila Congress is only a formality and has no real significance, alleged Jena, who two days ago was reportedly manhandled by a group of women workers at the partys state headquarters.The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) wants the appeal process in the 2G spectrum case to be accelerated, as telecom companies begin to seek international arbitration that could potentially result in awards for compensation worth billions of dollars, at least three officials aware of the PMOs intervention said. Over the past three months, the PMO held a series of meetings with the attorney general (AG), the cabinet secretary and CBI to express its concern over the slow pace at which the appeal process is moving, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

It asked that the process be speeded up and a strategy devised to avoid compensation payments sought under Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT).

The PMO and the office of the AG declined to comment on the matter. CBI did not respond to emails requesting comment.

Following PMOs directive, attorney general KK Venugopal held a meeting on March 1 with the cabinet secretary, the solicitor general and officials from the Department of Telecommunications, CBI and Enforcement Directorate, where he said the government needed to act with great sense of urgency, and ensure a dedicated team of lawyers adept in criminal proceedings are engaged so that the appeal by CBI and ED reaches a conclusion as swiftly as possible, according to the documents detailing the sequence of events of the meeting accessed by HT.

The attorney general has said that we should pursue the criminal appeal strongly and take it fast forward so that government doesnt have a situation where arbitration tribunal decision arrives before the criminal appeal [at Delhi high court] and it will have to pay huge compensation, a CBI officer, one of the officials cited in the first instance, said.

The PMO stepped in after Khaitan Holdings (Mauritius) Ltd, a company named by CBI and ED in the 2G case, invoked arbitration proceedings at the International Arbitral Tribunal (IAT) in The Hague against the government. A decision on the appeal is likely by December 2020, when the next date for hearing in the matter is scheduled at the IAT, officials from the DoT, CBI and ED, who were cited above, said. Officials say that other telecom companies may follow suit. Officials at DoT estimate that the government may have to pay over $2 billion, including interest, as compensation to Khaitan Holdings, which had a stake in Loop Telecom, for the cancellation of its 2G licence if its challenge is upheld.

IP Khaitan, chairman of Khaitan Holdings, and Kiran Khaitan (his wife and director of the company), who were named as suspects in the 2G case, have been acquitted by an Indian court as there had been no criminality in the way it had acquired 2G spectrum and license, the firm has argued.

Nalin Khaitan, vice-chairman of Khaitan Holdings, said, We have asked for compensation on the basis of investment made by KHML in India, including the interest and losses, and we hope to get it.

Khaitan Holdings Mauritius Ltd is a Mauritius-based company that invested in Loop Telecom, which had applied for 2G licences. Since Khaitan Holdings is a foreign investor, it has invoked a BIT with Mauritius and went into arbitration. A BIT is a reciprocal engagement, promotion and protection of investments in each others territories by companies based in either country.

A special CBI court in December 2017 acquittal all 21 accused by the CBI in the 2G case including former telecom minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader A Raja, DMKs Kanimozhi, corporate leaders, government officials and telecom companies, saying investigative agencies had miserably failed to prove charges of corruption in the 2008 allotment of second generation spectrum and licences.

The Supreme Court had in 2012 cancelled spectrum and licences granted to eight companies, finding that the whole process was illegal. Loop Telecom, Videocon, Etisalat DB and Unitech were among the companies that had their licences revoked.

The scandal dogged the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for much of its second term in office and was one of the contributors to its massive defeat in the 2014 general election. In 2010, a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report found a notional loss of 1.76 lakh crore of revenue to the exchequer because precious spectrum had been given away.

The CBI and ED challenged the acquittals in the Delhi high court in March last year.

The DoT has flagged that there have been eight hearings in the high court since then but nothing substantive has taken place.

At the current pace, unless emergent efforts are undertaken, it is likely that award from the Tribunal may be announced before the Delhi high court takes a view on the appeal in the 2G case, DoT recently wrote to the solicitor general, Tushar Mehta, according to the documents accessed by HT and cited above.

Any adverse decision against Republic of India in the arbitration matter may lead to filing of further cases by other claimants too, the DoT added.

After Khaitan Holdings began arbitration proceedings, the government may face four more similar proceedings at the IAT invoked by the companies whose licences were cancelled, according to government officials aware of the matter.

The PMO, the cabinet secretary, the attorney general and the solicitor general all agree that this needs to be pursued with the utmost urgency, said two officials in the CBI and the DoT. The DoT and the CBI are already in touch with the solicitor general to expedite the appeal in the HC, the CBI official cited above, said.

The government has argued that since IP Khaitan, the companys chairman, is an Indian citizen, he could not take advantage of the BIT between India and Mauritius, which is meant for adjudication of disputes between a genuine Mauritius investor and Republic of India and not an Indian citizen and the Republic of India. To this, Nalin Khaitan said, KHML is fully compliant with the BIT agreement. IP Khaitan has been an NRI (non-resident Indian) since 1992 and as long as an investor has fulfilled the legal requirements of Mauritius, then he/she is entitled for protection under the treaty.

Vyapak Desai, an international arbitration expert and head of the dispute resolution and investigation practice at legal firm Nishith Desai Associates, said: As part of bilateral investment treaty (BIT), which India has signed with 75 countries, it is governments obligation to protect the investment of foreign investors. So, if the government fails in its obligation, then the investor from a particular country we have a treaty with can invoke the arbitration because of governments action or inaction. In the 2G case, since the licenses were cancelled on account of arbitrary and illegal allotment of licenses by the government itself , it has become the basis of the claim by the foreign entity holding such license before international arbitration tribunal.Former chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and member of NITI Aayog, VK Saraswat, said on Tuesday he was misquoted by the media regarding his recent comments on the Anti-Satellite Missile Test (ASMT).

I mentioned that we had given a presentation on the issue to the then government. We informed the government that we were working on the system and we would be capable of testing the technology in the times to come, said the scientist.

I didnt claim that the government had not allowed us to develop this programme. Its a creation of the media, he clarified.

By [carrying out] the ASMT, we have demonstrated our capability. We can hit any satellite from any height between 300km, which is called the low orbit, and 800km in space, added Saraswat.

He also criticised those who have questioned the results of the surgical strike by the Indian Air Force after the terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, in February. Those who have raised questions on the surgical strike, which was a reply to terrorists, have no knowledge of missile technology. As a missile scientist, I can say it hit the target and did what it was meant for, said the former DRDO chairman.

Saraswat refused to comment on Congress president Rahul Gandhis statement on NITI Aayog. Rahul had said that he would close NITI Aayog and the Planning Commission would take over again if the Congress was voted to power.

The scientist, however, said, There happens to be a basic difference between NITI Aayog and Planning Commission. The commission used to evolve plans and those were implemented from top to bottom. It also decided on finances. However, NITI Aayog is doing just the reverse. Planning starts from the bottom and it is the government that decides on the finances.

On the Congress promise of 72,000 per annum to poor families, if voted to power, Saraswat said, I am not an economist, thus cannot comment.

Speaking of the role of technology in citizens lives, he said that in the past so many years, technology has given us several things, including luxuries, health care, and improved quality of life. He added, Now, we as responsible citizens must develop technologies that are environment-friendly and help save planet Earth for future generations.

He praised CIMFR for working on technological advances in different fields, such as coal gasification, coal liquefaction etc. Saraswat also addressed scientists of CIMFR on its 73rd foundation day.The Aam Aadmi Party which is contesting both Goas parliamentary seats has vowed to take up the issue of dual citizenship for the people of Goa, many of whom are eligible for Portuguese nationality, if they are voted to power.

The partys state convener and candidate for the South Goa seat Elvis Gomes said that the issue had been pending for several decades since the traditional parties have been taking our votes and not even bothering to look into this issue.

Claiming that Goa was a unique case Gomes said that nobody can take away the fact that Goans of a certain generation were Portuguese citizens by birth. Gomes said the party will definitely examine what could be done.

We have been Portuguese citizens by birth. Nobody can take it away from us. So here is a case-- its a unique case -- they were born in a Portuguese nation, born as a citizen of Portugal. Thereafter, when liberation took place, by adoption they are Indians, Gomes said.

The AAP will definitely examine this. We can look into this issue, we can examine what can be done and if there is a will, there is a way, Gomes said.

The issue is likely to strike a chord with Goas Catholic population which makes up a dominant chunk of the electorate in South Goa, from where Gomes is contesting. A majority of Goas expats hail from the coastal regions of South Goa.

Goa has seen several villages turning empty as over the years Goans, especially Catholic Goans, have chosen to migrate to Europe.

Unlike the British, Portugal considered its colonies in India -- Goa and the Union territories of Daman and Diu as integral parts of the republic and its citizens at par with the citizens in Portugal.

After the Indian army marched into Goa on December 19, 1961, they issued a decree stating that all residents of Goa would be deemed to have become citizens of India unless they voluntarily opt for the nationality of Portugal or any other country.

Portugal, however, continues to recognize the citizenship allowing those born before 1961 and children up to three generations to reclaim their Portuguese citizenship. However, since Indian laws do not recognize dual citizenship, those opting for Portuguese citizenship have to renounce their Indian citizenship and lose their voting rights among other privileges, something they would rather retain.

Claiming Portuguese citizenship is the preferred means for those wishing to migrate to Europe, especially to the UK, as a Portuguese passport helps those migrating to work without the need for going through the cumbersome process of applying for a work visa.

Gomes, a former bureaucrat, who quit his job to join the AAP, had also contested the 2017 state assembly elections but lost his deposit. He hopes that he and his party can do better this time.PATNA: Days ahead of the general elections, JD-U had to change its candidate from Sitamarhi after the earlier party nominee, Dr Varun Kumar, an eminent doctor, expressed his unwillingness to contest the polls. The reason for the sudden change of heart on the candidates part is not known.

Confirming this, JD-U state president Vashishtha Narayan Singh said Sunil Kumar Pintu would be the new candidate. Pintoo was the BJP MLA for four consecutive terms from 2003 to 2015. However, he will try his luck for the Lok Sabha elections on a JD-U ticket this time. The election in Sitamarhi is scheduled in the sixth phase on May 6.

Dr Varun Kumar has expressed his unwillingness to contest and we have selected a new candidate. Sunil Kumar Pintu, who was also a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, will contest on a JD-U ticket. He has formally been inducted into the party, Singh said.

According to sources, Dr Varun was in a dilemma after having had an initial brush with the rough and tumble of electoral politics. He had also not got the kind of response, he had expected from senior leaders, before deciding to contest.

He met chief minister Nitish Kumar and expressed his desire to return the ticket, honestly confessing that it would not be possible for him to contest. He was perhaps not getting full support from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders and being a greenhorn in politics, he decided to give up before filing his nomination, a senior leader said.

Dr Varun Kumar could not be contacted despite repeated attempts on his mobile number.

Pinu said that it was good news for him when he got a call early on Wednesday morning that the CM wanted to meet me.I had presented my candidature for my own party from Sitamarhi, but in the seat adjustment it went to JD-U. It is a kind of divine intervention. NDA has sizeable strength in Sitamarhi and its candidate had won both in 2009 and 2014, he added.

He said that in politics, it was not always easy for a newcomer to immediately settle, as it required one to be in constant touch with political activists. The rapport cannot be developed overnight. But it is good that he realized it in the nick of time, he added.

Sitamarhi MLA Sunil Kumar of the RJD, however, wasted no time in taking a potshot at Pintu. The NDA has been forced to change the wrestler after one gave up even before the bout. No matter who the wrestler is, Grand Alliance (GA) candidate Arjun Rai will romp home. Now, the Suri community, from which Dr Varun belongs, will also feel letdown, he added.

It was Sunil Kumar who had defeated Pintu in the 2015 assembly elections. Arjun Rai had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on a JD-U ticket, but had come in a distant third. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party candidate Ram Kumar Sharma had won the seat, while RJDs Sitaram Yadav finished second. Sharma did not get the ticket this time.Rai had won in 2009 on the JD-U ticket.

RJD leader and former MP from Sitamarhi, Sitaram Yadav who was once planning to contest as an independent nominee after having been denied a ticket, said he had decided not to fight the election this time. For a non-political man, it was always difficult to contest elections. Dr Varun is a good doctor, but in politics even his own party men were not supporting him, he added.

BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand said that whoever contested from Sitamarhi, the seat would be contested by the NDA. Pintu is a formidable candidate and has worked in the area for decades. It is an NDA seat and it will remain with us, he added.India and the US are planning to revive the Defence Policy Group (DPG) between the two countries after a four-year gap, with a discussion on the text of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) one of the key items on the agenda, according to senior officials familiar with the matter.

BECA will allow India to use US geospatial maps to get pinpoint military accuracy of automated hardware systems and weapons such as cruise and ballistic missiles. Along with Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), and Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), BECA is one of the foundational military communication agreements between the two countries.

LEMOA, which allows the Indian and American defence forces to use each others facilities and establishes procedures of easier access of supplies and services required by them, was signed in 2016.

COMCASA, which allows the US to transfer communication equipment to India that allow secure transmission of data and real-time information between the armed forces of the two countries, was sealed during last years Two-Plus-Two talks in Washington.

BECA is an important precursor to India acquiring armed unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator-B from the US. The Pentagon in 2018 was ready to supply Predator-B, which uses spatial data for accurate strikes on enemy targets, to India.

After speaking to officials in New Delhi and Washington, the Pentagon proposed to hold the DPG meeting this month, but a final decision is awaited by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The last DPG, co-chaired by Indias defence secretary and US Under-secretary of defence for policy, was held in 2015.

The decision to revive the DPG was taken in the Two-PlusTwo meeting between the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries last September.

If the DPG meeting is held in April, defence secretary Sanjay Mitra, who was involved in inking COMCASA, will be meeting US undersecretary of defence for policy John Rood.

According to officials in South Block, DPG will review the reports of existing sub-groups  Military Cooperation Group, Joint Technology Group, Senior Security Technology Group and the Defence Procurement and Production Group. However, the key item on agenda will be the BECA text. Although India initially had reservations to geospatial mapping on the grounds of national security, the Modi government has made up its mind to sign BECA provided its concerns are addressed.

DPG will also only lay the future roadmap for joint advanced exercises between two countries, and look at the prospect of technological cooperation in building military hardware under Make in India, the officials added.

India is looking to purchase from the US naval helicopters and multi-role fighters to make up for the depletion of combat jets ibn the Indian Air Force. The acquisition of aerial platforms is a key priority for India with China and Pakistan preparing to add more teeth to their military capabilities.Information on the elevation and non-elevation of judges should not be made public under the Right to Information (RTI) Act as it would open a Pandoras box and do great damage to the judiciary, attorney general KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court on Wednesday. He, however, favoured disclosure of information about the assets of judges.

A five-judge Supreme Court bench is hearing an appeal by the top courts registry against a 2010 Delhi high court judgment that held that the Chief Justice of Indias (CJI) office is a public authority. The high court said the office falls under the ambit of the RTI Act, which allows Indian citizens to seek information from the government on grounds of accountability and transparency. The high court also directed the registry to give information to an RTI activist on the assets of judges. The Collegiums (system of selecting judges) decision on January 10 recommending justice Sanjiv Khannas elevation to the top court triggered a controversy as his appointment entailed supersession of three Delhi high court judges.

Venugopal told the court that the moment the bar knows that a particular judge is to be elevated, 50 to 60 complaints are filed. Even rival judges ask people to file complaints.

Whether the judge is elevated or not, but if the information, including intelligence report regarding him, becomes public, he becomes the target of adverse remarks. His independence is affected and the public, too, loses confidence in him, said Venugopal, who appeared for the registry. Arguing against the disclosure of information available with the CJIs office on elevation and supersession of judges under the RTI Act, Venugopal said the disclosure of such information will be against public interest and would put an end to the Collegium system itself. The Collegium, which comprises the five most senior judges of the Supreme Court, selects judges to the higher judiciary.

Venugopal said the principle of larger public interest must be followed with regard to the disclosure of assets of judges.

As far as the information on assets is concerned, it is personal and private. One has to see if larger public interest is served, then the information can be disclosed. He cited examples of civil servants and Parliament members to drive his point home.

These people are public servants, and by the very nature of the functions they perform, there is a possibility that they can misuse their powers and acquire huge wealth

On a lighter note, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said, There are judges, who started very rich, but are poor now. How many people are interested in knowing this?

The court asked Venugopal whether the information on assets of members of Parliament is put in the public domain or it was just given to the Speaker of the House.A Lashkar-e-Taiba militant allegedly involved in stealing weapons from a Congress MLCs house last December, was arrested in Srinagar, police said on Wednesday.

Danish Haneef Wani, a resident of Azad Basti Natipora and an active LeT militant, was arrested based on a specific input about his movements near Kursoo, Rajbagh in Srinagar.

We were tracking him and he was arrested by a special police team, Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Haseeb Mughal said.

Gunmen had looted four AK47 rifles from the official residence of Congress legislator, Mohammad Muzuffar Parray at Jawahar Nagar in Srinagar after allegedly overpowering a security guard on December 30, 2018. The senior Congress leader was not present in his house then. He was in the winter capital Jammu along with his family at the time of the robbery.

Wani is the main accused in the weapons loot case. He had joined LeT soon after looting weapons from the MLCs house, Mughal said.

In January, Wanis pictures posing with a gun had gone viral on social media.

A police spokesperson said that the militant had been questioned regarding the theft of weapons on 30 Dec, 2018.

Further questioning of the arrested accused is on so as to advance the investigation in the case, he said.

The police had earlier arrested another LeT militant, Showket Ahmed Khan, a resident of Aarth-Narbal Budgam, in March this year. The second militant was also an accused in the same case.

Four police personnel, who were guarding the official residence of the Congress legislator when the weapons were looted, were dismissed from service for dereliction of duty.

There have been a number of weapon snatching cases last year. In October, unidentified gunmen snatched two weapons from policemen guarding a retired police officers house in Budgam.

Earlier on September 28, 2018, a personal security officer (PSO) had stolen seven rifles and one pistol from legislator Ajaz Ahmad Mirs residence in Srinagar. Mir was also not present at his residence and was in Jammu at that time. His SPO, Adil Bashir, later joined militant ranks. On September 30, militants had stolen an AK 47 rifle after attacking a police station in south Kashmirs Shopian district. A 23-year-old policeman, Saqib Mir, was killed in the attack.Life-saving medicines, including cancer drugs, worth several lakhs of rupees were siphoned off from the Army Research and Referral Hospital and sold in the open market, an Indian Army inquiry has found.

As many as 27 different kinds of critical medicines had been pilfered, according to the probe. The R&R, a super-specialty military hospital often considered the last word for treating critical ailments, annually buys medicine stocks worth ~ 200 crore and even supplies them to other army hospitals, when required.

The Army Headquarters has not yet ordered a wider probe into the racket  one of the recommendations made by the Court of Inquiry into the theft of drugs, meant for serving and retired soldiers, said a senior defence ministry official with knowledge of the matter. The army, however, did not comment on this aspect. The network operated with the help of private medical supplier spread across the country, the official said.

Last month, a similar drug pilferage network was unearthed in a military hospital in Mumbai.

In the present case, army authorities recovered 6 lakh in cash during searches of the premises of some soldiers, suspected to be involved in the siphoning of medicines. Diaries showing entries of distribution of the ill-gotten booty were recovered from their premises too, he added.The well-oiled ring of critical medicines first came to light in August 2017. Subsequently, a sample check of the R&R stores revealed a shortage of ~56 Lakh. A complete stock check was required to establish the total deficiency, the official cited above said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The summary of evidence  equivalent to framing of charges  is still not complete.

The inquiry completed in December 2017 found 12 soldiers  junior commissioned officers and other ranks  and private medicine suppliers based in Delhi to be involved in the racket. A report was filed with the Delhi Police on August 10, 2017, by the Drug Inspector of the Delhi government, which named a private supplier. The army inquiry revealed that only a portion of medicines ordered reached the stores, another defence ministry official, familiar with the development, said. The rest of the medicines never reached the hospital. They were allegedly sold in the open market. The army inquiry revealed that the shortage of critical medicines stocks at R&R was made-up by indenting additional supplies from military hospitals in Jaipur and Meerut. The additional supplies from the other military hospitals were removed from books, a third official said.

In response to a query on whether a Central Bureau of Investigation probe was recommended into the case, Colonel Aman Anand, spokesperson of the defence ministry, said no CBI inquiry was recommended in this case at any stage. Proceedings are still going on, he added.The US has sought to increase pressure on Iran by warning it is not looking to extend waivers on sanctions that apply to eight countries buying Iranian crude, including India, once they end on May 2.

The exemptions were granted in November when the US rolled out the second phase of sanctions re-imposed after President Donald Trumps decision to walk out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal. These sanctions are more severe than the ones imposed in 2017.

We are not looking to grant any exceptions to our campaign of maximum economic pressure, Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, said while responding to a question on extending the waivers during a briefing on the Trump administrations Iran strategy on Tuesday.

He argued the exemptions were granted in view of a very tight and fragile oil market in 2018, and because the US didnt want to drive up prices by creating new demand for non-Iranian crude.

There was no official response from the Indian government to Hooks remarks.

Indias purchase of Iranian crude has figured in recent discussions between Indian and American officials, including foreign secretary Vijay Gokhales interactions during his three-day visit to the US in March, people familiar with developments in New Delhi said.

New Delhis position on the matter will be shaped on the basis of the countrys energy security and national interests, the people said without going into details.

They added that Hooks remarks appeared to be aimed at increasing pressure on Iran and might not reflect the final position. US negotiators had taken a similar tough position in talks leading up to the November sanctions, but had later agreed to exemptions against significant reductions in imports.

Last November, the US granted waivers, called significant reduction exemptions (SREs), to India, China, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Taiwan, Italy and Greece from the secondary impact of sanctions for six months to enable them to cut their import of Iranian crude to zero in a phased manner.

Italy, Greece and Taiwan have reportedly stopped buying Iranian oil and experts believe the US is likely to extend the waivers for the five other countries while stepping up efforts to cap Irans crude exports to about 1.1 million barrels a day.

Experts also believe more pressure on Iran, coupled with the disruption of oil supplies from Venezuela, could drive up prices.Bahujan Samaj Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Wednesday hit out against both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress at a press conference in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.

The BSP supremo is on a two-day tour in Andhra Pradesh to campaign for Jana Sena Party headed by film star Pawan Kalyan, who forged an alliance with the BSP, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) to contest the polls in the state.

Polls for 125 assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats will be held on April 11. As part of the alliance, the BSP will contest three Lok Sabha and 21 assembly seats.

Mayawati criticised Congress manifesto released on Tuesday and said the party is not sincere in implementing its pre-election promises. When Indira Gandhi was alive, she came up with Garibi Hatao slogan and introduced 20-point formula for eradication of poverty. Has the poverty been eradicated in the country? said Mayawati.

She said both BJP and Congress duped people by making tall promises, including granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh, which they had not yet fulfilled. In 2014, Narendra Modi had promised to ensure that 15 lakh would be deposited in every bank account of the poor people. But he never bothered to fulfil the promise. Now, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is promising that every bank account would get 72,000 per year under minimum income guarantee scheme. We are not sure whether he will fulfil his promise, she said, adding, both had failed to award special category status to Andhra.

When asked whether she would choose to become PM, the BSP chief said, Let the elections be over first. The PM candidate will be decided only after elections. She also expressed confidence that if their alliance were voted to power, Kalyan would become the CM of the state.

In turn, the actor-politician said he wanted to see Mayawati as prime minister. If a chaiwala can become PM and if a chowkidar wants to continue as the PM, we want to see a lonely woman and lonely fighter for a social purpose as the PM, Kalyan said.

BJP KEEPS UP ATTACK ON CONG MANIFESTO

A day after the Congress released its manifesto, BJP president Amit Shah kept up the partys attack on it in two public rallies at Udhampur, Jammu and Dehradun, Uttarakhand on Wednesday.

The manifesto has promised to construct a more liberal political order, with checks on state power, including dropping the sedition law, reviewing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), holding police and district administrations accountable for negligence in case of riots and hate crimes and bringing in a law on privacy, among other things.

Lashing out at Congresss promise to remove the anti-sedition law, Shah asked Gandhi not to stoop so low for the politics of vote. He also slammed Congress for promising to revoke AFSPA which gives special powers to the armed forces saying the party was not bothered about safety of the countrys security personnel.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters in Delhi that the Congress manifesto is not in national interest and indirectly helps terrorists.

If elected to office, we promise to decriminalise those laws that should be civil violations, including defamation, and to delete the British Raj-era sedition law that governments too often abuse, Congress president Rahul Gandhi reiterated in a blog post on a social media platform on Wednesday.

(With inputs from agencies)Trinamool Congress lawmaker Abhishek Banerjees wife may have to do some more explaining to do. Days after she was stopped by customs officials at Kolkata airport triggering a huge political row, Rujira Naroola has been sent a notice by the Union Home Ministry in Delhi demanding that she explain discrepancies in the name of her father in the PIO card and OCI card.

The ministry has also threatened to cancel her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card if she does not reply within 15 days.

Hindustan Times is in possession of the home ministry letter dated March 29 and signed by deputy secretary Manoj Kumar Jha.

Naroola was issued a Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) card on January 8, 2010 by the Indian Embassy in Bangkok. The PIO card was converted into an OCI card on November 8, 2017 by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Kolkata.

While the PIO card mentioned her father as Niphon Naroola, her marriage certificate which was submitted as a supporting document for converting from PIO to OCI status, mentioned her fathers name as Gursharan Singh Ahuja. Abhishek and Rujira got married on February 3, 2013.

The two-page MHA letter also alleged that on November 14, 2009, Rujira Naroola applied for a Permanent Account Number (PAN ), mentioning Shri Gursharan Singh Ahuja as her father.

The central government has examined the matter and noticed the discrepancies mentioned above and is prima facie of the opinion that the registration of Ms Rujira Naroola as an OIC cardholder is liable for cancellation in the interest of general public under Sub Clauses (a) and (e) of Section D of the Citizenship Act, 1955, the letter said.

Rujira Naroola, an OCI cardholder, is hereby called upon to show cause as to why she has made a false representation and concealed material facts while submitting documents before the Competent Authorities to get her OCI and PAN cards. If no reply is received within 15 days from the date of issue of this notice then appropriate decision in the matter would be taken on merit on the basis of available records by the Central Government.

The letter also alleges that she applied for the PAN card while concealing her identity as a foreign national. A PIO card holder does not need a visa to visit India and is not required to register at the FRRO during his/her stay in India. An OCI cardholder can open special bank accounts in India, purchase non-farm property and obtain drivers license and PAN card.

Her husband Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and her heir apparent in the ruling party of Bengal. He is also the partys candidate from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency which he won in 2014.

Abhishek Banerjee and his media adviser did not respond to repeated calls and text messages.

On Wednesday, Communist Party of India (Marxist) central committee member Rabin Deb said, We welcome the Centres step. However, it remains to be seen what further steps the Centre eventually takes. We hope it (this matter) wont suffer the fate of the Saradha scam probe that seems to be heading nowhere, even after five years.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta said that none should get immunity from prosecution for providing the countrys authorities misleading information. We will wait to see what they (the Banerjee couple) have to say. Im sure the law will take its own course, if the investigation finds mala fide intentions, Dasgupta said.

Rujira Naroola hit the headlines a fortnight ago when she allegedly intimidated Customs officials at the Kolkata airport for stopping her while bringing gold into the country from Thailand on March 16.

That Naroola carries a Thai passport (AA5663757) became public only after the controversy at Kolkata airport on the intervening night of March 15-16, when Customs officers stopped her along with an associate, allegedly for carrying gold in three suitcases. They had landed by a flight from Bangkok at 12:40 am on March 16.

Mamata Banerjee has refused to talk about the airport incident saying it did not concern her. In a press conference on March 16, Abhishek Banerjee, had said the controversy at the airport was a personal matter and did not concern the TMC.This week on Grand Tamasha, Milan Vaishnav (Director of the South Asia programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) sits down with Roshan Kishore (data and political economy editor at the Hindustan Times). They discuss the Congress Partys newly unveiled manifesto and its economic centerpiece - a new minimum income support scheme called NYAY or Nyuntam Aay Yojana.

The two also discuss the tensions between the Congress and Left parties in light of Rahul Gandhis decision to contest elections from Wayanad in Kerala and the general travails of Left politics in India today.

Then, Milan speaks with Congress Member of Parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor, who took a short break from hectic campaigning in his constituency of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala to join the show.

Milan speaks with Tharoor about the Congress vision for 2019, the top concerns of voters in his constituency, and why the party has devoted so much energy to the issue of the controversy surrounding the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Milan also asks Tharoor about the future of secularism and why Tharoor has written about the need to reclaim Hinduism from Hindutva.In major jolt to the state government ahead of the of the general elections the Kerala High Court-appointed amicus curie submitted a report on Wednesday saying poor dam management led to last years devastating flood and recommended a judicial probe.

The opposition Congress has sought the removal of state power minister M M Mani and wanted the police to book him under murder charges. In the flood which ravaged the state last August, killing more than 400 people and displacing at least 15 lakh people.

Minister Mani should be booked on murder charges, said state opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala.

Mani refused to comment and vented his anger on reporters.

More than two-dozen petitions, including the one filed by Metro Man E Sreedharan, came up before the court last year and it appointed amicus curie Jacob P Alex to examine reasons that led to the worst flood in a century. The 49-page report also recommended formation of an expert committee comprising hydrologists, dam-management experts and engineers to come up with a blueprint to contain such tragedies in future.

The report is damning. It said no proper follow-up action and effective precautionary steps, especially for evacuating the affected and accommodating them in safe locations, were taken despite the red alert sounded by the disaster management authority and the Met office.

More shockingly, it said none of the 79 dams in the state were operated in accordance with flood control mechanisms. High reservoir storage and sudden release of water resulted in the tragedy. It said an inquiry by a former judge or expert is required to get into minute details.

Soon after the flood E Sreedharan had written to the state government to constitute an experts team for a technical study to find out reasons for the tragedy. He later approached the court when he failed to get any response. Many other petitions also said the government chose to sit quietly fearing the exposure of commissions and omissions of the higher-ups if a probe was ordered.

The flood devastated the road and rail networks in the state and even submerged the Kochi airport for a few days.

At the height of the floods when experts and scribes requested power minister Mani to open sluice gates of the Idukki dam he chided them saying shutters cant be simply opened for TV visuals.

Keralas finance minister Thomas Issac said the government will react after going through the report.The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was closed on Wednesday for a day amid tensions a day after unidentified motorcycle-borne men shot dead a 25-year-old suspended student on the campus, police and varsity officials said.

Gaurav Singhs murder triggered protests on the campus. A group of students staged a sit-in at BHUs main gate demanding the immediate arrest of the seven people, including the universitys chief proctor, Royana Singh, who have been named for the murder.

Varanasis Lanka police station in charge, Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, said Gaurav Singhs father, Rakesh Prasad Singh, who is an employee of the BHU, has named Royana Singh in his complaint along with four students  Ashutosh Tripathi, Rupesh Tiwari, Mangalam, Vinay Dwivedi. Three other accused have not been identified in the complaint.

Tiwari said Rakesh Prasad Singh has alleged that Royana Singh hatched a conspiracy to kill his son because of an old dispute and claimed the seven people fired indiscriminately on his son.

Royana Singh rejected the charges. The allegations against me are false and baseless. I have no idea why such charges have been levelled against me, she said. She added strict action should be ensured against those involved in the murder.

The students said they would continue their agitation until all the accused were arrested.

BHUs public relations officer, Rajesh Singh, said the decision to close the university was taken at a late-night meeting at the residence of vice-chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar. He said Gaurav Singh was under suspension since December 2017 for allegedly setting afire a bus in protest against a student leader.

Gaurav, a second-year Master of Computer Applications student, was shot dead as he was talking to his friends late on Tuesday evening.

Tiwari said Gaurav suffered bullet injuries in stomach and chest and was rushed to the trauma centre of BHUs Institute of Medical Sciences.

He underwent surgery for the removal of bullets but succumbed to injuries during treatment, he added.

His body was cremated at Varanasis Harishchandra Ghat amid heavy police presence after a post-mortem examination.

Police said Ashutosh Tripathi, Rupesh Tiwari, Mangalam, Vinay Dwivedi have been taken into custody for questioning in connection with the murder.Information on the elevation and non-elevation of judges should not be made public under the Right To Information (RTI) Act as it would open a Pandoras box and do great damage to the judiciary, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday. He, however, favoured disclosure of information about the assets of judges.

A five-judge SC bench is hearing an appeal by the top courts registry against a 2010 Delhi high court judgment that held that the Chief Justice of India (CJI)s office is a public authority. The high court said the office falls under the ambit of the RTI Act, which allows Indian citizens to seek information from the government on grounds of accountability and transparency. The high court also directed the registry to give information to an RTI activist on the assets of judges.

If the Collegium [system of selecting judges] is brought under the RTI regime, judges will not be able to function independently, Venugopal told the bench. They will not be able to sit back and have a frank and free discussion about a judge in the zone of consideration for elevation.

The Collegiums decision on January 10 recommending justice Sanjiv Khannas elevation to the top court triggered a controversy as his appointment entailed supersession of three Delhi high court judges.

Venugopal told the court that the moment the bar knows that a particular judge is to be elevated, 50 to 60 complaints are filed. Even rival judges ask people to file complaints.

Whether the judge is elevated or not, but if the information, including intelligence report regarding him, becomes public, he becomes the target of adverse remarks. His independence is affected and the public, too, loses confidence in him, said Venugopal, who appeared for the registry. Arguing against the disclosure of information available with the CJIs office on elevation and supersession of judges under the RTI Act, Venugopal said the disclosure of such information will be against public interest and would put an end to the Collegium system itself. The Collegium, which comprises the five most senior judges of the Supreme Court, selects judges to the higher judiciary.

Venugopal said the principle of larger public interest must be followed with regard to the disclosure of assets of judges.

As far as the information on assets is concerned, it is personal and private. One has to see if larger public interest is served, then the information can be disclosed.

He cited examples of civil servants and Parliament members to drive his point home.

These people are public servants, and by the very nature of the functions they perform, there is a possibility that they can misuse their powers and acquire huge wealthMadhya Pradesh home minister Bala Bachchan on Wednesday said the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had provided security to former RSS chief KS Sudarshan and not to the RSS office. The home minister clarified the issue amid controversy over withdrawal of police security from the RSS state headquarters in Bhopal.

Police personnel were withdrawn from the RSS office called Samidha on Monday resulting in the BJP accusing the Congress government of targeting its fountain head. As criticism mounted, the security was restored within 24 hours after Congress candidate from Bhopal, Digvijaya Singh, expressed his displeasure over the development. Chief Minister Kamal Nath also issued instructions to restore security to the RSS office.

Home minister Bala Bachchan said the security had been withdrawn as the Election Commission of India needed more security personnel in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. However, after it was brought to the notice of the chief minister, he ordered the security to be restored.

He said the BJP was unnecessarily making an issue about it and attacking the government. The RSS itself had made it clear that it did not have any problem whether the security was withdrawn or maintained. If we had any wrong intention, the government would have withdrawn the security in the past three months, he said.

RSS regional head (kshetra prachar pramukh), Narendra Kumar Jain, said it was the (then) state governments decision to provide police security at Samidha. The government withdrawing the security may have been based on its observation that security was not needed any more.

State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said the word RSS seemed to be haunting the Congress. Earlier, the Congress had targeted the RSS in its manifesto for state assembly elections. Later, the security was withdrawn from the RSS office.

After KS Sudarshan ceased to be the RSS chief in 2009, the RSS office in Bhopal was renovated and a lift was installed in the building for him as he stayed there. He died in September 2012 in Raipur. The security had been provided for him.

This was the second time in the past 5 months, when the Congress has been compelled to be on the back foot on RSS related issues.

In the run-up to the state assembly elections held in November last year, Congress in its manifesto announced that it would put a ban on RSS shakhas on government land and would withdraw the government order lifting a ban on participation of government employees in RSS shakhas. However, after the Congress came back to power, the government has not issued any such order.BJP president Amit Shah questioned Rahul Gandhi again on Wednesday over his partys promise to repeal the sedition law and amend the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, accusing the Congress president of indulging in vote bank politics.

This was the second time Amit Shah was lashing out at Rahul Gandhi on the two issues after he said on Tuesday that the proposals by the Congress party will bring a smile to terrorists and separatists and lower the morale of the armed forces.

Several Union ministers including Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Nirmala Sitharaman have slammed the Congress of redefining and diluting the idea of national security and making promises that made traitors and separatists happy.

Sitharaman on Wednesday said that Congress proposal to amend Afspa was insidious and aimed at weakening the armed forces. The defence minister said its manifesto clearly undermined the armed forces and if implemented would make the armed forces hands and feet tied so that they cannot function.

Rahul should answer who is he trying to save by promising to abolish the sedition law from CrPC (), Amit Shah said while addressing an election rally in Uttarakhands Uttarkashi district.

Also read: Lok Sabha elections 2019: Jaitley, Swaraj lead BJP charge, say Cong diluted national security

Is Rahul trying to save those who shouted the slogans Bharat Tere Tukde Honge Hazaar inJNU? Is he trying to save those who want to break this country by including the promise of abolishing sedition law in Congress poll manifesto released on Tuesday? he asked.

The Congress should not stoop so low for vote bank politics. There are other issues for politics, he said.

Shah also attacked Gandhi for his poll alliance with National Conferences Omar Abdullahs who on Tuesday demanded a separate prime minister for Jammu and Kashmir state.

Gandhi is standing with Abdullah and his party who demands a separate PM for Kashmir. He is standing with Abdullah whose party leaders raise slogans of Pakistan Zindabad. He should come forward and answer the public if he agrees with Abdullahs statement, Amit Shah said.

Also read: Omar defends statement on J&K wazir-e-azam, asks PM Modi to study history

Citing the Congress partys promise to remove AFSPA in its election manifesto, Shah also lashed out at Gandhi by accusing him of not wanting the security of army jawans.

By promising to do so, Congress is endangering the security of our jawans. I want to say the entire Congress party doesnt have the calibre to do so. The BJPs members would bet their lives to stop the Congress from endangering the lives of our jawans, he said.

He then went on to claim that only the Narendra Modi government an ensure the security of the country and help India grow among the top five economies of the world.

Earlier during his address, he claimed that after the February 14 Pulwama attack it was the Modi government at the Centre to launch the airstrikes on the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp in Pakistans Balakot.

First after doing the surgical strikes, Modi government did the air strikes as revenge to Pulwama attacks which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans. Congress would have never done that what the Modi government did, he said.

He also mocked Gandhi during his address saying that the entire country was celebrating after the IAF airstrikes except for Rahul Gandhi.

His upset face was similar to only the Pakistani PM, Shah taunted.

Continuing his attack on Congress party on their promise to alleviate poverty, he said the grand old party has failed to do so in the 60 years of their rule.

First it was Nehru who promised it, then Indira Gandhi raised a slogan of Gareebi Hatao. Then Rahul Gandhi said the same in English followed by his mother in Italian. And now, again he is making the same false promise. Only Modi government is capable of poverty alleviation, he added.

During his address, he commended chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat for his development work in the hill state and termed the all-weather road as the destiny line of Uttarakhand.

It would bring tremendous development for the people here and enable easy transport for the pilgrims coming to visit the four shrines collectively known as Char Dhams, he said.

The five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand will go to polls in the first round of voting on April 11. And, the result will be declared on May 23.Towards the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, a defining wall graffiti in Kolkata was the Maoist slogan Chiner chairman amader chairman (Chinas chairman is our chairman).

Painted on many walls of the city by ultra Left leaders at night, the slogan was written in Bengali.

Almost half a century later, the China connection to the political landscape of Kolkata has appeared in a completely different avatar and different context. Vote for Trinamool Congress has appeared in about a dozen walls written in Chinese in Tangra in east Kolkata where the citys Chinatown is located.

This is the first time a party has planned to campaign in Chinese in Kolkata to address a small population of people of the Chinese origin settled in the city.

The plan of West Bengals ruling party is, however, more ambitious than slogans written in Chinese. Local Trinamool Congress councillor Faiz Ahmed Khan said they will also print leaflets in Chinese and circulate them among the local population in Tangra.

If our candidate has time, we would also organise a street corner meeting, where our message will be delivered in the Chinese language. There are about 2,000 voters of Chinese origin in this part of Kolkata, said Khan.

Robert Hou, who owns a popular eatery at Tangra, painted the graffiti. In every election, political parties campaign in this area, but this is the first time that a party has got graffiti in Chinese script, 50-year-old Hou said.

This part of the city is within South Kolkata constituency where Mala Roy, a five-time councillor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, is the Trinamool candidate.

Almost all of them have a working knowledge of Bengali and Hindi but Trinamool leaders think that addressing them in their mother tongue may just lend extra warmth to the campaign.

The connection between Kolkata and the Chinese goes back a long way. Beginning with Yong Atchew, who came to Bengal in 1780 and set up a sugar plantation and sugar mill, Chinese workers started arriving in Kolkata in the late 18th century.

Traditionally they were engaged in tannery industry and later branched into footwear, dentistry, laundries, piggeries and eateries. In the 1951 census, their number in Kolkata was recorded at 5,710.

Dotted with eateries that often sport dragon-architecture and the rustle of red silk, Chinatown is a defining part of Kolkatas gastronomic heritage.

Till a couple of decades ago, the area also used to accommodate most of the citys 300-plus tanneries that have shifted to the citys outskirts following a Supreme Court order, lifting an overpowering mask of the stench from this area.

Voting in the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat will take place in the last and seventh phase on May 19. The result will be declared on May 23.

Abhijit Banerjee, head of China Bhavan the school of Chinese language in Visva-Bharati, said they have not heard of an election campaign in West Bengal in Chinese. Banerjee described it as a broad cultural message to the people of Chinese origin settled in the city.The Congress on Tuesday promised a separate agriculture budget, more loan waivers and decriminalisation of farm loan defaults as part of a string of interventions in a poll manifesto focused heavily on welfare and rural agenda.

The main issues in the country today are unemployment and farmer distress, said Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

The partys 22-point farm and rural agenda focuses on greater state intervention and public investment in the sector hit by a long spell of poor returns.

The Congress promised to make non-payment of loans by farmers a civil offence instead of a criminal one. This is in line with its sustained advocacy of a general loan amnesty to woo farmers, which has been central to the partys agricultural narrative.

The Congress promised farm loan waivers within 10 days of coming to power to address agrarian distress before wresting power from the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in December last year.

Debt is a civil liability and we will not allow criminal proceedings to be instituted against a farmer who is unable to pay his/her debt, the manifesto reads.

The party promised to double public investment in agriculture. Over a 33-year period, public capital formation in agriculture, a measure of investments, has declined from 3.9% of agri-GDP in 1980-81 to 2.2% in 2014-15, according to research by the think-tank, Icrier. However, subsidies on fertilisers, power, water and crop insurance etc have shot up from 2.8% to 8% during this period.

A recent study by economist Ashok Gulati showed that public investment had far greater reach in improving farm income than subsidies alone. For instance, every ~1 million (~10 lakh) invested on farm research potentially pulled 328 people out of poverty. Likewise, every rupee spent on agricultural R&D increased farm GDP by ~11.2.

The Congress, if voted to power, also proposes to establish a set of new institutions, including a National Commission on Agricultural Development and Planning. It indicated that it will rely on the Nehruvian model of statist planning in agricultural development. Asked what could be the benefits of a separate farm budget, economist Abhijit Sen said: Not much.

Sen, who oversaw agriculture at the erstwhile Planning Commission during the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, said: There are things like gender budgeting that usually are part of the main budget. But a separate agriculture budget is a bit of tamasha. The very simple reason is that agriculture is a complicated subject in which there is nothing much the Centre can do alone. A good agricultural programme cuts across many ministries and departments corresponding to these ministries in states.

Among other important measures, the Congress said it would redesign the countrys flagship farm insurance programme, set up a body focused on small farmers and free up agricultural trade. Increasing public investment is indeed the crying need from the perspective of a long-term solution to farm productivity and income, said economist K Mani of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University.Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised special status to states in northeast and an industrial policy for the region.

Addressing three election rallies, one in Nagaland and two in Assam, Gandhi lashed out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making false promises.

Five years ago, Modi made different promises in each of his public meetings. Do you remember he promised to put Rs 15 lakh in everyones bank accounts? Did you get any amount transferred to your account? he asked the public at a rally in Bokakhat in Assam.

Gandhi was canvassing for Gaurav Gogoi, the sitting Congress MP from Kaliabor seat. Gogoi is the son of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

Nearly 20% of our population earns less than Rs 12,000 per month. As soon as our government is formed we will put names of all these families in a list and will deposit Rs 72,000 each year into their bank accounts, he repeated the promise made in the Congress manifesto.

For those who ask us from where will we get the money to implement the scheme, let me tell you that the amounts would come from pockets of people like Anil Ambani who made Rs 30,000 crores of Indian Air Force money, added Gandhi.

The Congress president accused the NDA government of taking away special privileges provided by earlier Congress governments to the northeast and promised to bring them back.

There are 22 lakh government jobs which are lying vacant now. We will fill them in one year. We will also give special status to northeast states, an industrial policy for the region and a new planning commission, he said.

The slogan of acche din ayenge (good times will come) is passe. The new slogan is chowkidar chor hai (the watchman is the thief). The country is witnessing the worst unemployment rate in the past 45 years, Gandhi added.

Accusing the Centre of attacking northeast with the now-lapsed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the Congress president promised not to let the legislation pass in Parliament.

Citizenship Amendment Bill is an attack on your language, thought and independence. Congress will not let it pass in parliament. We do what we say, and dont tell lies like them (BJP), he said.

He said that the fight in the upcoming elections was a fight between two different ideologies.

On one side is Narendra Modi, RSS and BJP. They want to divide the nation. Wherever they go, they spread hatred. On the other side is the Congress, we unite the country and spread brotherhood and love. We strengthen the country. The fight is between these two, he said.

Earlier Gandhi addressed a rally in Dimapur to drum up support for KL Chisi, the Congress candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland. His third rally of the day was at Lakhimpur in Assam.Even as the Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is keeping the suspense alive over the possibility of contesting Lok Sabha elections, its raining offers for her from various parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leaders claim that the demand for her to campaign and contest the election is increasing with each passing day.

I havent seen such a craze for a long time, said Aradhana Mishra, a Congress lawmaker from UP, who had accompanied Priyanka on her three-day political campaign on the Ganga.

Wherever she goes there is a demand for her to contest elections, Mishra said, adding that Priyanka was expected to campaign for most of the party candidates.

The partys local units in Prayagraj and Ayodhya have already flagged appeals to the Congress leadership urging it to field Priyanka from these constituencies. Many within the Congress are even betting on her to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi constituency. This is the reason why the partys Varanasi unit has moved a formal proposal to the party leadership to field her from the key seat of east UP.

Priyanka had herself fuelled the buzz with her why not Varanasi quip while interacting with the Congress cadre who wanted her to contest from Rae Bareli, the constituency of her mother and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi. On March 28, when Priyanka was urged by her supporters to contest election from Rae Bareli or Amethi, she apparently responded in a lighter vein: Why not Varanasi?

The partys Allahabad unit has also passed a formal proposal urging the Congress leadership to field Priyanka from Phulpur, a traditional Congress bastion from where the countrys first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had contested and won.

The BJP leaders, however, laugh off any talk of Priyanka factor making an impression in Uttar Pradesh polls.

Brajbhushan Sharan Singh, BJPs sitting MP from Kaiserganj, said she should first consider contesting election against him. The Congress hasnt declared its candidate in Kaiserganj so far. Let the Congress field her from here, if they want, said Singh.

Also Read | Why Priyanka Gandhi contesting from Varanasi is not a smart idea for the Congress

Congress leader Devendra Pratap Singh, who is lobbying for a party ticket from Kaiserganj, said it would be a no-contest for Priyanka from any seat she chooses across UP.

Piyush Mishra, who was one of the coordinators of Priyankas Ayodhya visit, said the kind of response she was drawing in UP despite the fact that the party had been out of power in the state for three decades, was heartening.

Let the BJP laugh now. We will have the last laugh, a Congress leader said, adding that Priyanka had come to UP with a long-term goal that was beyond the Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP has also stepped up attack on Priyanka with chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who had so far been avoiding a comment on the Congress general secretary, launching a frontal attack on her in his election rallies.

He also took to Twitter to target Priyanka questioning why she didnt visit the makeshift Ram temple despite visiting Ayodhya.

One of the explanations I heard was that she avoided Ram temple because the matter is in court. Well, in that case does she also avoid meeting her family members who are out on bail? Adityanath tweeted.

UPs deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said they were observing Priyankas campaign while UP minister Mohsin Raza had said she was like a seasonal bird who would disappear after elections.As Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels across the length of Bengal on Wednesday to address two rallies, one in the north in Siliguri and the other in the south in Kolkata, the BJP would be hoping that the apparent enthusiasm of the party workers on the ground would convert into Lok Sabha seats.

Although the BJP has come a long way since the heydays of the Left when it was less than a fringe force, the rising votes may still fall short of that required by the party to win sufficient seats in the state where the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has a stranglehold.

But Modis party is in a hurry and party president Amit Shah has repeatedly emphasised that he will not be satisfied with anything fewer than 23 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

That the BJPs votes will increase in Bengal this time is widely acknowledged. But will that be enough to beat all opponents in the race and in about two dozen seats, is the moot question.

Over the past two Lok Sabha and two assembly elections in Bengal, the vote share of the party has remained at a level that is way behind that of the ruling TMC.

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is all set to take on the prime minister on her own turf. To counter Modi, she has tweaked her schedule and brought forward her rally at Dinhata by a day. Though her election campaign was to begin on April 4, she will now be addressing a rally today immediately after PM Modis address in Siliguri gets over.

While the PM will address the rally around 1 pm in Siliguri, Mamatas rally at Dinhata will begin at 3 pm. Dinhata goes to polls in the first phase.

The Chief Minister will address the rally at Dinhata on Wednesday at 3.00 pm, TMC Coochbehar district secretary Rabindranath Ghosh said.

In 2009 Lok Sabha elections the BJP won 6.14% of the votes and secured only one seat. Five years later, the figures climbed to 17.02% and two seats. In comparison, TMC secured 31.18% of the votes and 19 seats in 2009 which rose to 39.79% votes and 34 seats in 2014.

In the 2011 assembly polls, the BJP won 4.06% of the votes but failed to win a single seat in the 294-member state legislature. In 2016 assembly elections, the BJP won 10.16% votes and three seats. Mamata Banerjees party, on the other hand, won 38.93% votes and 184 seats in 2011 (in which it swept the 34-year-old Left Front government out of power). In 2016, its numbers rose to 44.91% of the votes and a whopping 211 seats.

These numbers indicate the uphill task the BJP is facing.

To win elections in Bengal, booth-level committees are important. These committees provide the base of the vote machinery and on polling day they try to ensure that faces who are known to be party sympathisers in the area can smoothly cast their votes.

But there are serious doubts whether BJP has been able to build a booth-level network, so crucial for turning fragmented support into solid votes for a candidate. West Bengal has about 77,000 booths and building a five-member team for each is a challenging task. Until a few years ago, state BJP leaders used to mention the need to build a booth-level committee, but over the past two years they have gone silent on this much-needed machinery in the state that was perfected by the Left and later assimilated by the TMC.

Political observers feel that the BJP leaders insistence on declaring all booths in Bengal hyper-sensitive and be manned by central forces is an indication that they lack the booth-level machinery which the TMC has. This is an organisational gap that the BJP has to overcome if it has to reach anywhere near its stated goal of 22-23 seats.

Political observers also feel that Narendra Modi is likely to focus on four points in his speeches. These are corruption, law and order, lack of industry and citizenship screening exercise.

In the past, Shah has alleged in public meetings that some scams in the state directly lead to the first family of the TMC. BJP leaders have been alleging deteriorating law and order situation in the state with the BJP national president claiming in a press conference in New Delhi that Bengal accounts for 26% of the political murders in the country in a year.

Lack of democratic space is another pet point for the BJP leaders. All of them invariably mention how muscle flexing by the ruling party resulted in TMC candidates winning more than one-third seats without a contest in the three-tier panchayat elections in Bengal in April-May 2018.

Lack of big-ticket investments in industry is believed to be a failure in Mamata Banerjees rule and Modi is likely to point it out.

Modi can also promise a citizenship screening exercise in Bengal to weed out infiltrators (read Muslims who have crossed over from Bangladesh to Bengal). He had earlier said that infiltrators were consuming a share of the economic pie.

Modi has another sentiment to tap. The Trinamool Congress government has been in power since May 20, 2011 and in the past eight years, anti-incumbency has started creeping in. The violence and strong arm tactics of the ruling party in the panchayat polls have added to pockets of discontent.

Some signs are quite evident. In roadside tea stalls and markets, whispers of ruling partys acts of omission and commission are growing louder.

But the BJP may not be able to capitalise on it because its own house is not in order. Some state BJP leaders also apprehend another factor that may be silently working against them  the discontent among a section with some of the candidates nominated from different seats. It was difficult to imagine BJP workers vandalising their district party office protesting against a Lok Sabha candidate  something that took place in Cooch Behar on March 22.

In Basirhat and Malda, party workers stuck posters and festoons criticizing the choice of candidates. A few district presidents openly admitted that they had no idea about who the candidate was. At least eight party candidates are those who have come from the TMC, Congress and the Left in the past few months.

With the party facing the formidable TMC machinery and Mamata Banerjees charisma, factionalism and half-hearted support for the official candidates are the last things that the BJP needs in Bengal.As a Bible-based, Christ-centered ministry, we are also required by scripture to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God, the ministry said in the statement, citing specific Bible passages. For more than nine decades (Wayside Cross) has been committed to empowering the afflicted and the powerless in collaboration with scores of local churches and hundreds of godly mentors. Recognizing that God is the source of our competence, we are called to help people like Thomas.When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Karnataka assembly elections in 2008, it was a landmark moment for the saffron party. Known for long as a north Indian party with little presence in the southern states, the poll win helped establish the BJPs claim as a national entity. A decade on, Karnataka remains the only southern state in which the BJP has a significant presence and where the party is considered a serious contender for power.

But this is also a state where the BJP was outmanoeuvred after assembly elections last year.

The BJP emerged the single largest party after the assembly elections in May, winning 104 seats in a 224-member assembly, but fell nine seats short of an outright majority. Even as the election results were coming in, the Congress pulled off a surprise. The grand old party, with 80 seats, swallowed its pride and offered unconditional support to the Janata Dal (Secular), which won only 37 seats, offering the chief ministers post to HD Kumaraswamy.

A bruising fight to prove its majority and a tense floor-test later, the Congress-JD(S) coalition came out on top. The partners used the swearing-in of Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara on May 23 as a platform to showcase a larger coalition across the country, inviting six chief ministers and many other senior United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leaders to the event in the state capital.

In the 10 months that followed, numerous reports of infighting and differences within the coalition surfaced. Kumaraswamy went on record and said he was willing to resign, and the dramatic resignation of four rebel Congress MLAs in January brought the administration to the brink of collapse.

But the government survived, and on the way, Kumaraswamy announced an ambitious ~45,000 crore farm loan waiver, among the largest in the country. The partners also did well electorally in by-elections to three assembly and two Lok Sabha seats, with the Congress snatching the BJP citadel of Ballari.

On the Congress side, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who disappeared from the political stage for a few months after losing one of his two seats in the assembly elections, has emerged as the partys most prominent leader in the state and a force to be reckoned with in the coalition. From allotting ministerial berths to naming chairpersons of boards and corporations, not just Congress leaders but also JD(S) ones acknowledge his increasing grip over the party.

In the BJP, after a failed attempt to grab power, former chief minister BS Yeddyurappas image has taken a beating especially after the Congress released a series of tapes in which he is allegedly trying to poach lawmakers, though he has denied the charges and called the tapes fake. Apart from that, he now holds the record for the shortest tenure for a Karnataka chief minister: three days.

While the BJP and the Congress have traditionally swapped power in the state elections, the saffron party has always done well in the Lok Sabha polls  in 2009, it won 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats despite doing poorly nationally, and it won 17 in 2014. This time, with the party likely to face losses in northern India, it is more important for the BJP to maximize its tally from Karnataka.

The combined onslaught of the Congress-JD(S) combine is expected to make it tough for the BJP, but the coalition strategy does not appear very robust. Their seat-sharing talks repeatedly ran into trouble. Being traditional rivals, their rank and file may not work for each other on the ground, said Narayana A, a professor at Azim Premji University.

STRATEGY WILL BE KEY

The Congress-JD(S) alliance is banking on simple arithmetic to ensure it garners a majority of the seats. The thinking behind this is that the combined share of the votes that the Congress, the JD(S) and the Bahujan Samaj Party received during the assembly polls (around 57%) would ensure that the alliance sails past the BJP, which got 36% votes.

However, significant constraints remain for such a strategy to work. First, the JD(S)s influence is limited to a few districts in southern Karnataka, and in these regions its direct rival is the Congress and not the BJP. The Congress and the JD(S) also have different vote banks, who might not be too keen to support a traditionally rival community.

The relatively low turnout of 54% in the Lok Sabha bypoll in Mandya in November indicated that the alliance between the two rivals remains tentative and that the rank and file of both parties are uneasy over the arrangement.

The Congress can count on the JD(S) strength only in parts of Vokkaliga-dominated southern Karnataka. Elsewhere, the Congress will have to fight a lonely battle with the BJP, said Narayana.

The coastal regions of the state, where communal tension had risen in the run-up to the assembly elections, were swept by the BJP in the polls.

In the Mumbai-Karnataka region ( the northwestern part of the state that neighbours Maharashtra), where the Congress and BJP will go head-to-head, the Congress has avoided any mention of the previous Siddaramaiah-led governments move to grant separate religion status to the dominant Lingayat sect.

The farm loan waiver was a significant highlight in the coalitions campaign in the state during the bypoll. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising the state over the alleged tardy implementation of the scheme, it is likely to be a central issue in the polls. The state is also facing a drought with 156 of the 176 taluks declared drought-hit. The BJP has claimed that political instability has forced the coalition to neglect farm issues.

For the BJP, the strategy is clear: to bank on the popularity of Modi - which was its strategy even during the assembly polls in May. Party president Amit Shah has said that the campaign will be centred on Modi and the party symbol and not on local leaders.

COMMUNITIES AND DISSIDENCE

Politics in Karnataka usually revolves around the Lingayats, who form 12% of the population, Vokkaligas, who form 8%, Dalits, who comprise 18% and other backward classes (OBC) who make up around 40%. The BJP has traditionally used a network of mutts and religious leaders to attract the Lingayat vote  Yeddyurappa is the tallest Lingayat leader in the state  while the Vokkaligas are a strong base of the JD(S). The Congress, which is the only party that enjoys support across the state, usually attempts to form a rainbow coalition of Dalits, Muslims and some OBC castes.

In this three-way split, an alliance between any two can leave the third party in a weak spot the continuation of the alliance between the JD(S) and the Congress could severely dent the number of seats the BJP can win in the parliamentary polls, said Narendar Pani, faculty at National Institute of Advanced Studies.

But the coalition has its own problems. The Ballari seat, for example, has seen dissidence among MLAs in the district, and two of the four rebel MLAs who resigned from the party are from this region. In Belagavi, again, the former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, a long-time Congressman, appears unhappy and has spoken out against the party.

Add to this is the fact that there may be significant backlash from the two dominant castes  Vokkaligas and Lingayats  to the Congress, which under Siddaramaiah sought to project the AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minority communities, backward classes and dalits) coalition. Whether the lack of chemistry between the alliance partners will undo the arithmetic advantage of the coalition will be clear only on counting day.The seizure of 1.8 crore from some vehicles in Arunachal Pradesh late on Tuesday night has set off a row after the Congress alleged that the money was found from cars linked to chief minister Pema Khandu and meant to bribe voters.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged the vehicles, from which the money was recovered, were part of the chief ministers convoy. The cash, he said, was being transported in vehicles from the Siang guest house at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.

The searches were carried out on the complaint of local Youth Congress members, he said.

Was this part of 80 lakh crore black money that the PM promised to bring back within 100 days of assuming power? Randeep Surjewala said.

Arunachals top election officer has confirmed the seizure but said that he hadnt yet received a formal report from district officials.

It is true that a cash amount of 1.8 crore were recovered on Tuesday night from some vehicles. But we dont have the exact details yet. Since the Deputy Commissioner and police superintendent of East Siang district are busy with the Prime Ministers rally in Pasighat, they have not sent a report yet about the recovery. We would be able to get a clearer picture once the report is available by late afternoon, said Arunachal Pradesh chief electoral officer Kaling Tayeng.

Also Read | Corrupt, eyewash: PM Modi shreds Congress manifesto

Tayeng also refuted reports appearing in social media about the recovery of 9 crore from some buses in Arunachal Pradesh as false.

Back in Delhi, Congresss Randeep Surjewala alleged, while showing two videos, the authenticity of which cannot be verified, that the money was recovered around 10.30 pm on Tuesday night from Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandus convoy.

The videos show the money being removed from a car and also shows the registration plates of two cars apart from various police officers.

Having played the videos, Surjewala said, The sensational disclosures and the two videos... prove a massive vote scandal... a midnight raid on a convoy of the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu led to the recovery of 180 lakh in 500 rupee notes.

Calling it a black day for democracy, Surjewala said, Cash was transported in certain vehicles parked at the Siang guest house at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh. Five vehicles were searched on the complaint of members of the Youth Congress.

He said that the cash was being counted in the presence of Election Commissions Expenditure officer Smrita Kaur Gill and DC Pasighat Kinny Singh and various police officers immediately after the raids.

Raising questions about the recovered money, Surjewala asked, Was this part of the 80 lakh crore black money that the PM had promised to bring back within 100 days of assuming power?

Raising questions regarding the origin of the recovered money, he asked whether the cash was to be used for the PMs rally and to influence the people.

He questioned whether the PM had knowledge and had concurred in trying to influence the people in coming to the rally and supporting the BJP.

Also Read | PM rally at 1 pm, Mamatas at 3 pm; Didi alters schedule to have last word

Citing the Peoples Representation Act, 1951, he said that a case should be registered against the PM, the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu and deputy chief minister as well as the state BJP chief Tapir Gao.

Demanding the immediate sacking of the Arunachal chief minister, Surjewala also called for the cancellation of the candidature of BJP candidate and state party chief Tapir Gao from West Arunachal seat.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a fresh attack on the Opposition from Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, drew comparisons between the Congress 60-year rule and his governments 60-month tenure while taking a dig at the partys poll manifesto.

People who ruled 60 years have done nothing I have been here for only 60 months, you can see for yourself, the Prime Minister said on Wednesday in Arunachal that is due for both Parliament and Assembly elections in weeks.

Taking a dig at the Congresss poll manifesto released on Tuesday, PM said it is corrupt, not a Ghoshnapatra but a dhakoslapatra (its not a manifesto but an eyewash).

Read: PM rally at 1 pm, Mamatas at 3 pm: Didi alters schedule to have last word

The PM, who was in Aalo on Saturday to campaign for union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju who is the BJP nominee for Arunachal West seat, was campaigning for BJP state chief Tapir Gao who is the contesting from Arunachal East, on Wednesday.

The prime minister cited the Congress manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, and said it had promised that every house would have electricity by 2009.

However, till 2014 around 18,000 houses were unelectrified... Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called hypocrisy document, not a manifesto, Modi said.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Tuesday released his partys manifesto for Lok Sabha polls, making jobs creation, addressing farm distress, bringing a single moderate rate of GST and giving 72,000 per annum to poor families as key focus if the party comes to power.

Read: Opposition ahead on numbers but may find it tough to rout BJP in Karnataka

The PM also asserted that the Congress was supporting those harming the country. The politically-bankrupt Congress is strengthening the traitors but your chowkidar is alert and will counter all these forces, the PM said.

We are not those who make one promise and keep it unfulfilled for decades. But we are those who work with full integrity to make your lives easier, he said.

We were not ones who sold dreams of a toilet in each house. But today that completion of that goal is very much visible. We didnt shout about ridding kitchens of our poor sisters of smoke, but today over 70 million homes have free gas connections, Modi added.

The PM spoke about Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme and mentioned how over 3 lakh people in Arunachal Pradesh have benefited with free medical facilities of up to 5 lakh.

Dwelling on the regional aspirations, Modi said his party had given importance to the region while the country that ruled for 70-years never bothered about the area.

Though Congress had ruled Arunachal Pradesh and in the Centre for decades they had forgotten northeast. Look at their manifestoes and budget speeches and you will see how much space they used to give to the region. Congress didnt give space to northeast in their dil (heart) or in Dilli (New Delhi), he added.

Seeking votes for his party in Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the PM said the double engine of lotus in Delhi and Itanagar will ensure development in the region.

Voting for the two Lok Sabha seats and all 60 assembly constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh will take place on April 11.Ramesh Pandit, 34, lost his workmanship in an ancillary factory of Kanpur following demonetisation and had to return to his native village Lachhuar, tucked away at the foothills of Jamui hill range. He struggled for 3-4 months before settling down for a job in the town, about 20 kms from the village, to eke out his living.

Yet, he feels Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves one more chance for the sake of the country. Forget the pain I had to undergo. I am at least in my village and living with my family. I will gradually improve. The country needs Modi, he says in a philosophical tone as he cycles down on a rugged village road connected with Sikandrajamui road.

Pandit, in fact, symbolises the mood in this part of Jamui Lok Sabha constituency dominated by the scheduled castes where Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) candidate Chirag Paswan is contesting to retain his seat that he won for the first time in 2014.

Chirag could have fought from his fathers bastion Hajipur, but he stuck to the constituency he calls his own. I am Jamuia son, he says, perhaps aware that the lines of Pandit would once again add Modi power to his own charisma to make him sail through.

Just as the sun begins to settle down on the western horizon, a convoy of six SUVs escorted by a police car enters Dharmpur village off Sikandra-jamui road under Sikandra assembly segment, a part of Jamui Lok Sabha seat.

A swarm of people, mostly women and children, some of them not eligible for vote, rush towards Chirag as he roars Jai Bajrang Bali at a small Hanuman temple of Dharmpur village, off Sikandra-Jamui road.

Please do come to hear PM Modi, who is coming to Khaira block to address an election rally, pleads Chirag with folded hands, as the villagers welcome him with garlands of marigolds. Women and girls tried to steal a glance, saying he was a pride of Jamui.

Rukmini Devi, a 30 year-old-woman, says Chirag often comes to the village, unlike his rival Bhudev Chaudhary of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP).

Kaithwara is a village of about 70-80 houses and a mixed population. The village appears united in its view that it will vote for Modi. The Modi government did not do anything good to the SC community. He makes false promises and resorts to rhetoric to win votes. Still, we want him to give him another chance, says Suresh Paswan, sitting on a muddy platform at the curve of paved road leading to the village.

An octogenarian, Triveni Singh comes out rushing when he sees a group of motorists zipping past his recently renovated house, leaving a trail of dust behind. They are like the leaders of Grand Alliance (GA), who are never seen twice. We saw Bhudev Chaudhary only this time after 2009 when he came begging for votes and became an MP, says Ram Padarath Singh, seconding Triveni Singh.

Dushyant Singh and other natives of Mallepur village, located in the outskirt of historic town of Jamui, appear a little amused by the promises made by the ruling alliance. Settled beneath a peepal tree near Shiv temple to play cards with his fellow villagers, Dushyant says Chirag would face a tough time this polls.

The current dispensation had let down all segments, farmers, students and working class. None of the promises were fulfilled. The government engaged in a calibrated war with Pakistan, knowing it would not come to power again. But everyone knows why a war hysteria was being created, says Dushyant, adding that extremely backward castes might not support the NDA candidate here.

However, Manik Lal Saw, a wholesaler of grocery items at Giddhor market, thinks NOTA could play a spoilsport for both the top rivals.

A section of youths of various communities are frustrated by both NDA and UPA leaders for shrinking job opportunities and growing social hatred. Voters preference here is generally based on caste lines. However, the number of electors opting for NOTA could grow further. Last time, about 20,000 people pressed NOTA in the last LS polls in Jamui, which could be decisive for any candidate, says Saw.Many in the opposition believe, and a few within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fear, that the 2019 elections could end up resembling the 2004 elections.

Going into the 2004 general election, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was popular; the BJPs publicity machine was in top gear; the opposition looked in tatters; all polls predicted a BJP return; and yet, the Congress emerged the single largest party, and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was born. The BJP was pushed out for a decade.

Fifteen years later, Modi is popular; the BJPs machinery and organisation are formidable; the opposition starts with a disadvantage; yet, could India reject the incumbent? The outcome of the elections is, of course, unpredictable. But the BJP itself is acutely conscious of the 2004 experience. And it seems to have drawn six lessons from the experience for the current polls.

No complacency

The BJP believes that success at the end of 2003 in the state assembly elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Chhattisgarh had infused a sense of complacency in the party. In fact, the wins prompted the late Pramod Mahajan to advise Vajpayee to call early elections, a decision that the then PM took, but was not entirely comfortable with. The party, much before polling took place, was already confident that it had won because of Vajpayees popularity. It did not take Sonia Gandhi seriously as an opponent either.

Cut to the present. The setback in the state elections at the end of 2018 made the BJP cautious, and pushed it back to the drawing board. It took a series of steps  from the 10% reservation for economically weaker sections to farmer income support  to plug holes. It also recognised vulnerabilities, focused on alliances, stepped up its campaign, and deployed Modi on the ground weeks before the elections were formally announced. Party insiders say the leadership is optimistic about returning, but this time, there is no overconfidence.

Coordination with the RSS

There is a view that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was not enthused in 2004; the differences of the Sangh leadership with Vajpayee were known; and the Sangh cadres did not actively work for the return of the BJP. A top BJP leader, however, rebutted this perception and said, It is not true that the Sangh did not work. But there were coordination issues. In either case, what is clear is that the members of the ideological family  either because they felt the Vajpayee government did not deliver on the cultural agenda or was disappointed with its economic policies or felt it did not get enough space and voice in the dispensation  stayed a little aloof.

This time around, as reports by Smriti Kak Ramachandran in HT over the past six months have shown, there remains very close coordination between the government, party and the Sangh and its various affiliates. There may be some differences on policies, but the Sangh leadership is clear that it would like to see Modi return. The Sangh has never got the kind of access to state power that it has done over the past five years; individuals inspired by its worldview have exercised power at various levels; issues dear to it  from cow protection to a hard stance on Pakistan  have found policy sanction. Modi and Amit Shah have sought to accommodate their concerns on personnel appointments; and saffron terror cases are things of the past. Expect the Sangh to invest all its energy in 2019.

Keeping core voter motivated

The third lesson the BJP drew from the 2004 experience is keeping its core voter motivated. Leaders say that many traditional supporters just stayed home  either because they felt Vajpayee would return in any case, or were not enthused enough by the governments performance.

This was a fear that many in the party had soon after the setbacks in state elections last year. Upper castes were reported to be unhappy, primarily because the government had restored the provisions of the Prevention of Atrocities Act.

They also pointed out that the BJP had done little for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Some had stayed home, some had exercised the NOTA option, particularly in MP.

The government, however, was quick to step in with its 10% reservation initiative to assuage the concerns of this constituency. Another core segment of supporters  small traders  were angry with the party for the disruption caused by both demonetisation and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The government claims it has addressed some of their concerns by rationalising GST substantially.

But beyond the specific policy measures, the BJP thinks that the Balakot strikes will galvanise its base.

With a strong upsurge in nationalist sentiment, the party believes its core voters  middle class in urban centres; small traders from the Bania community; upper castes in the heartland  will come back.

Deepening social base

The 2004 campaign rested on the plank of India Shining. There is now a consensus that this was a fatally flawed slogan. It came across as insensitive to the poor and to the deprived in rural areas, and was based on only a tiny segment of the metropolitan elite. It also gave an easy opportunity to the opposition to categorise the BJP as insulated, pro rich and anti poor.

This fear  of being perceived as pro rich and catering only to the elite  has haunted the BJP ever since it took office in 2014. And that is why since Rahul Gandhis suit boot ki Sarkar barb, Modi has actively sought to reposition himself as a leader of the poor. By constantly emphasising the governments work on rural housing, toilet construction, gas cylinders, electrification and health insurance, the BJP is sending out a message that it cares about the poor. Simultaneously, it has also worked to deepen its social base, and cultivate a large constituency of OBCs and Dalits.

The idea is to come across as a party that is sensitive to Indias social diversity (admittedly, this remains confined to the diversity within Hindu society, and does not cut across religions) and deprivation, rather than as an out-of-touch elitist outfit.

Alliances

In 2004, the BJP lost key allies, even as the Congress was able to stitch together a range of allies. The DMK in Tamil Nadu; Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janashakti Party in Bihar; the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi in Andhra Pradesh ended up adding great value to the Congress, even as the BJP lost some key allies. This had clear implications.

The UPA, post polls, had 218 seats, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was stuck with only 181 seats.

This time around, the BJP recognised that it must not repeat this mistake, and, if necessary, be as generous and accommodative to create an umbrella alliance of sorts.

So it cut down on its existing seats in Bihar to tie up with Janata Dal (United); shed past acrimony to rebuild bridges with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on almost equal terms; constructed a grand alliance in Tamil Nadu under AIADMK to ensure that the opposition does not sweep the state; and reached out to smaller parties in the Northeast. Whether these alliances will pay dividends is to be seen, but the partys motivation  of preventing the Congress from stitching a broad based alliance as it did in 2004  is clear.

Southern strategy

In 2004, the south catapulted the Congress to power. Between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the UPA won 88 seats. (The Left Front, which eventually supported the UPA, won another 21 seats from these four southern states). And so between them, the pre-poll UPA and Left Front together had 109 out of 129 seats from the region.

In 2019, the BJP knows that this region continues to be its weakest point across the country. But it has devised a three-pronged strategy here. The first will involve maximising seats wherever the patty does have a presence  this will be most visible in Karnataka, where the party will invest most of its energy. The second is becoming a part of alliances, which has the arithmetic to challenge the UPA  this is visible in Tamil Nadu. And the most important element of this strategy is to ensure that even if it cant win, ensure the defeat of the Congress and its allies. This has involved tacitly backing the TRS in Telangana and the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh to minimise the Congress and N Chandrababu Naidus seats. The BJP hopes that even if it cant do well in this region, it can prevent the 2004 kind of sweep by the UPA.

Elections are unpredictable and the BJP may well lose in 2019. But it will not be because of the mistakes it made in 2004. The lessons it has drawn mark an evolution.Alleging that Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee created obstacles impeding the speedy development that he delivered in other states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday described her as speed breaker Didi and urged the people to remove the hindrance from the way.

I have not been able to deliver development in Bengal at the pace that I have achieved in other states. This state has a speed breaker which is known as Didi, remarked Modi.

Incidentally, assembly elections will be held in Bengal in 2021 and BJP leaders have been saying in public rallies that the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will mark the beginning of the end for Trinamool Congress rule.

Modi alleged she (Didi) does not care about the poor. If poverty is removed, her politics will end. The same is true for the CPI(M), remarked the Prime Minister.

The BJP leader also stung Trinamool Congress leaders on the ponzi scams, alleging that they ran away with the money deposited in the schemes.

In a veiled threat apparently meant for state officials, Modi said, Those who are on the payroll of the TMC and are often found spreading terror, will soon be taken to task.

This rally in Siliguri was Modis fourth public rally in West Bengal this year and the first after the election dates were announced on March 10.

Modi also lashed out at the Bengal chief minister for pulling out of the Ayushman Bharat insurance project. He also accused speed breaker Didi for not implementing PM Kisan Samman Yojana in the state as well as the Real Estate Regulations Act that his government brought to protect the middle class investing their hard-earned money in apartments.

Modi also assured the Gorkha people that they will not be harmed if a citizenship screening exercise is conducted in the state. The crowd here indicates that the boat of the Trinamool Congress has capsized, said Modi.Congress poll manifesto insults Indias soldiers: PM Modi

Congress poll manifesto insults Indias soldiers, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Cong destabilising India, creating confusion in country: PM Modi

Cong destabilising India, creating confusion in country: PM Narendra Modi.

Will you give chance to those who seek to scrap sedition law: PM Modi targets Congress

Will you give chance to those who seek to scrap sedition law: PM Narendra Modi targets Congress

If by mistake these Mahamilavti people get power then naxals will get a big boost: PM Modi

PM Modi in Gondia,Maharashtra: If by mistake these Mahamilavti people get power then naxals will get a big boost. Congress has already promised in manifesto that sedition case will not be imposed on any urban naxal, they have promised to do away with sedition law, reports news agency ANI.

Last five years spent in rectifying mistakes of UPA regime: PM Modi

Last five years spent in rectifying mistakes of UPA regime: PM Narendra Modi.

People have not forgotten Balakot air strike: PM Modi

People have not forgotten Balakot air strike: Modi at rally in Maharashtra

We have still not forgotten 1962 war,how will we forget Balakot?: PM Modi

PM Narendra Modi in Gondia,Maharashtra: Some sitting in AC rooms in Delhi are saying its been long, people are now forgetting Balakot strike. You tell me, have you forgotten? We have still not forgotten 1962 war,how will we forget Balakot?

PM Modi addresses public meeting in Gondia, Maharashtra

PM Modi addresses public meeting in Gondia, Maharashtra.

I need to pull out the country from 72 years of despair and bring prosperity in the country: PM Modi

I need to pull out the country from 72 years of despair and bring prosperity in the country: PM Modi.

Leaders opposing Modi have become those opposing the interests of the nation : PM Modi

Leaders opposing Modi have become those opposing the interests of the nation : PM Modi.

Today some people in their hate for Modi have started speaking against India: PM Modi

PM Narendra Modi in Kolkata: Today some people in their hate for Modi have started speaking against India. Who raised doubts on airstrike? Who demoralized armed forces? Who had asked for count of bodies of terrorists? reports news agency ANI.

55 years of dynasty ruined this country. Its about time to get rid of this one-family rule: PM Modi

55 years of dynasty ruined this country. Its about time to get rid of this one-family rule: PM Narendra Modi.

Situation in Tripura was the same as West Bengal. But it was possible to make BJP govt in it and now its on path of development: PM Modi

The situation in communist ruled Tripura was the same as West Bengal. But it was possible to make BJP govt in it and now its on path of development: PM Narendra Modi .

The world is looking at India with pride, whether in matters of security or space exploration: PM Modi

The world is looking at India with pride, whether in matters of security or space exploration, says PM Narendra Modi.

If providing home and toilets to poor is a crime, then I have committed this crime: PM Modi

If providing home and toilets to poor is a crime, then I have committed this crime: PM Narendra Modi

Congress wants to weaken the forces, they want to compromise the national security: PM Modi

Congress wants to weaken the forces, they want to compromise the national security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress is determined to bring instability in the country: PM Modi

In their manifesto, the Congress has stated that they will dilute AFSPA.

This move will help Pakistan sponsored terrorist.

The Congress is determined to bring instability in the country: PM Modi

The only thing the country lacked was a resolute government: PM Modi

Our forces had the courage to carry out air and surgical strikes. The only thing the country lacked was a resolute government, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Whether its a surgical strike or strike in the space, the world is looking at India with pride: PM Modi

Whether its a surgical strike or strike in the space, the world is looking at India with pride, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

If the countrys political pundits have to guess the 23rd of May, they can guess from the wave that is coming from Bangland: PM Modi

If the countrys political pundits have to guess the 23rd of May, they can guess from the wave that is coming from Bangland. How big is the crowd at Brigade Parade? Can we compare with Mamatas rally in January? Prime Minister Narendra Modi

I havent seen a wave of masses like this before in Bengal. I bow to your this love and affection: PM Modi

I havent seen a wave of masses like this before in Bengal. I bow to your this love and affection: PM Modi in Kolkata.

India will soon be a super power: PM Modi

India will soon be a super power, says PM Modi.

PM Modi addresses public meeting in Kolkata

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses public meeting in Kolkata

Congress fields MLA Chavda against Amit Shah on Gandhinagar seat

The Congress has fielded its MLA C J Chavda against BJP president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, reports PTI.

The opposition party released a list of names late Tuesday night in which it mentioned four more candidates from the state, including Chavda.

With this, the Congress has so far declared 18 candidates in Gujarat, where the last date of filing of nomination papers is April 4.

Cong wont allow Citizenship Amendment Bill: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi said: If voted to power, Congress will not allow Citizenship Amendment Bill. Congress will restore special status of northeastern states. It will restore special status of northeastern states, bring in industrial policy to make region a manufacturing hub.

We do what we say, we dont lie: Rahul Gandhi

We do what we say, we dont lie...they always lie. We have committed to pay minimum wages in tea estates, we will fulfil it. This is a fight of ideologies. The RSS, BJP break the country but the Congress unites the nation. RSS and Nagpur are attacking Assam, its history, thinking and culture.

No permission would be needed for 3 yrs to start small businesses: Rahul Gandhi

We will change the GST and give you a simpler tax once we come to power. (Modi govt) has given Rs 30,000 crore to one person. Countrys youth want to start small businesses. But you need permission and give bribe to start business in Modis India. But we have promised that no permission will be needed for the first three years if you want to start small business.

Funds for NYAY will come from pockets of chor businessmen: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi says, Funds for NYAY scheme will come from pockets of chor businessmen favoured by chowkidar Narendra Modi.

Cong will put Rs 3,60,000 in five years in bank accounts of Indias poorest

Rahul Gandhi said: Modi ji made people unemployed in five years, we want to create a new line. 20% of people earn less than Rs 12,000 per month. The moment our govt is formed, we will make a list of all these people and the govt will put Rs 72,000 every year in the bank accounts of these people. Money will go into womens accounts. We will give Rs 3,60,000 in five years in the accounts of 20% of Indias poorest. This is our guarantee.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses rally in Golaghat, Assam

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is addressing election rally in Golaghat, Assam. Says, Chowkidar is always speaking lies. I decided to put the truth in front of the people. I asked Cong think tank to tell me how much money can the Congress govt put in peoples accounts? We worked for six months, spoke to worlds top economists, and planned. We came to the conclusion Rs 72, 000 every year in everyones account.

People on TMC payroll indulging in vandalism: Modi

People on TMC payroll are indulging in vandalism, I want to warn them to stop it, else the moment BJP comes to power, they will be taken to task: PM Modi

Didis ministers looted the poor: Modi on Bengal chit fund scam

PM Modi: In the Bengal chit fund scam, Didis ministers and MLAs fled with the money of the poor. They looted the poor.

Waiting for speed-breaker to go: Modi

I am waiting for this speed-breaker to go so development can gather speed: Modi tells BJP rally in Siliguri.

AFSPA is a protective shield for armed forces: Modi

AFSPA is a protective shield of countrys armed forces which enables them to take steps. But Congress wants to take it away from them: Modi on Congress manifesto

She demanded proof of Balakot strike: Modi on Mamata Banerjee

PM Modi: When our soldiers came back after exacting revenge in Balakot, those in Islamabad and Rawalpindi should have been shedding tears but Didi in Kolkata was pained. She demanded proof and questioned the IAF strike.

If poverty is eradicated, her politics will also finish: Modi on Mamata Banerjee

In a rally in Bengals Siliguri, PM Narendra Modi said that Mamata Banerjee doesnt worry about the poor. How can she work, after all she has to do politics over the poor. If poverty is eradicated, her politics will also finish.

Your chaiwala dedicated to tea estate workers: Modi

On the one hand is your chowkidar, on the other hand are daagdaar, says Modi.Your chaiwala is completely dedicated to the workers of tea estates.

Didi a speed-breaker in path of WB development: Modi

PM Modi addressing election rally in West Bengals Siliguri. Says,  NDA govt started the Ayushman Bharat scheme for the poor in the country. But, Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is a speed-breaker in the path of West Bengals development.. Says Didi has put a break on the development of over 70 lakh farmer families of the state.

Arunachal CM Khandu rubbishes Cong allegation on cash-for-vote

Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu has refuted Congress allegations of cash for vote in the state. Speaking to news agency ANI, Khandu said,  Its absolutely wrong. Cash for Vote is rather practised by Congress party. Investigation under Election Commission will reveal all the details. We have got the information that it has been recovered from a BJP candidates car.

Dont play with nations security for vote-bank politics: Shah to Congress

Amit Shah says, Yesterday, in its manifesto, the Congress said it would remove the sedition law from CrPC. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi not to play with the nations security for vote-bank politics. On Congress promise on AFSPA, Shah says the party doesnt have the nerve to go against the security forces, adds the BJP is standing with the armed forces like a rock.

Only Modi can keep India safe, make it a world power: Amit Shah

Only Narendra Modi can keep India united, keep it safe, make it a world power, a global power and one of the top five economies in the world: Amit Shah in Uttarkashi

Modi govt launched airstrikes on terror camps after Pulwama: Amit Shah

After Pulwama attack, your Modi government launched air strikes on the locations of the terrorists and destroyed them, says Amit Shah.

All-weather road will encourage tourism in state, says Amit Shah

The all-weather road in Uttarakhand will encourage tourism and provide employment to people here: Amit Shah. Adds, it is not just a brick-and-mortar road but connected with the faith of the people.

Modi govt decided to construct all-weather road: Amit Shah

Right after coming to power in 2014, the Modi government decided to construct an all-weather road in the state. Earlier, families of those visiting Uttarakhand used to be worried about landslides: Amit Sha

BJP president Amit Shah addresses rally in Uttarakhand

BJP president Amit Shah addressing election rally in Uttarkashi. Says, earlier there used to be discussions in Uttarakhand about scams, today the discussion is about development.

Congress manifesto will be interpreted as anti-national: Defence Minister

If you want to remove AFSPA, there is a system. Our govt has been removed in Assam, we have shown it can be removed. Congress manifesto on removing AFSPA will have a negative effect. Congress manifesto will be interpreted as being in favour of anti-nationals and separatists, even if indirectly; they are demoralising our forces: Nirmala Sitharaman

Congress is trying to remove sedition law: Def Min

Congress wants to dilute the AFSPA and demoralize the Armed forces, limit powers of a District Magistrate. Congress wants to remove sedition law: Nirmala Sitharaman

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticises Congress on AFSPA

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses media at BJP HQs . Says Congress manifesto is anti-forces. Says, Congress demand for amending AFSPA will be terrorist-friendly....asks Congress if it is right to amend it and who are they trying to help? Says, this is very insidious. Congress approach doesnt inspire confidence. Why it is assumed that power of central forces is opposed to human rights. This is an attempt to weaken the armed forces. Congs promise insidious. Says Congress is trying to weaken the armed forces.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti files nomination from Anantnag LS seat

PDP president and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti has filed her nomination from Anantnag parliamentary constituency for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections: ANI

Anantnag: PDP president and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti has filed her nomination from Anantnag parliamentary constituency for #LokSabhaElections2019. pic.twitter.com/Kavsqff68z  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

Ex-Karnataka CS Rathna Prabha joining BJP

Retired IAS officer and former Karnataka Chief Secretary Rathna Prabha says she has decided to join BJP as the PM has been striving to develop the country in a unique manner.; Talking to ANI, she said,  I wanted to do serve the nation and I felt this was one party apt for me to fulfil my desires to work for the people.

Waiting for report on recovery of cash: Arunachal poll chief

Reacting to Congress allegation of cash-for-vote against BJP in Arunachal, the chief electoral officer of the state Kaling Tayeng said, It is true that a cash amount of Rs 1.8 crore were recovered on Tuesday night from some vehicles. But we dont have the exact details yet. Since the Deputy Commissioner and police superintendent of East Siang district are busy with the Prime Ministers rally in Pasighat they have not sent a report yet about the recovery. We would be able to get a clearer picture once the report is available by late afternoon.

He refuted reports appearing in social media about recovery of Rs 9 crore from some buses in Arunachal Pradesh as false.

BJP candidate Jaya Prada visits religious places before filing nomination

Actor-politician Jayaprada, BJPs Rampur candidate, visited a temple and a mosque before filing her nomination papers from Rampur. She is up against SPs Azam Khan, who is supported by the BSP and RLD. I feel blessed. Being fielded on BJP ticket and getting to file nomination today is a special gift on my birthday, she said.

BJPs Rampur candidate at a religious place before filing her nomination in Rampur ( HT Photo )

Issue hushed up before PMs Arunachal rally: Surjewala

What is Election Commission of India and ED doing regarding this case? Why are they not taking any action? The issue is hushed up right before Narendramodis rally in Pasighat, Arunachal: Randeep Surjewala

Was Rs 180 lakh being used to lure Arunachal voters: Surjewala

Was the Rs 180 lakh being ferried in a BJP car convoy for PMs rally and for voters, asks Surjewala. If this cash was being used for BJP trying to lure voters, then is it not true that chowkidar is thief? Is it not a violation of Representation of Peoples Act? Shouldnt their be a case filed against the PM, CM and Arunachal BJP chief? : Surjewala

Congress addresses media in New Delhi

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala addresses media in New Delhi. Shows two videos. Says, cash-for-vote is Modis slogan. Is this the way Modi wants to win the election, says Surjewala.

Congress only remembers you for votes : PM Modi

Congress never gave the north east space in its heart or in Delhi. Only BJP did this. Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a separate ministry for the north east which this chowkidar has carried forward. Many of our ministers have made innumerable trips to north east in the past five years. Congress only remembers you for votes . Compare Congress 60 years with Modis 60 months and decide, says PM.

Is the Cong with India or anti-nationals: Modi

In Arunachal, PM pushes for lotus engine in both Itanagar and Delhi. Is the Congress with the nation or with anti-nationals? Will you ensure that Congress candidates lose their deposit? To save Arunachal, for its progress, it is necessary to strengthen the hands of Pema Khandu, and the BJP. Till the time this chowkidar is around, people who try to break-up the country will have to think a hundred times. : PM Modi

Their manifesto should be called dhakosla patra: Modi

In a dig at the Congress, PM says their manifesto an eyewash, full of lies. Their manifesto should be called dhakosala patra, says PM without naming any party. Like these people, their manifesto is corrupt, they are dishonest, their manifesto is a sham, says PM.

Launched worlds biggest health mission: Modi

We launched worlds biggest health scheme, Ayushman Bharat, which is benefitting a lot of people in Arunachal. Cleanliness was never discussed in our country. But we launched Swacch Bharat mission and with peoples cooperation, the reality is in front of the world.

We dont promise just one thing for decades: Modi

This servant of yours is always in your service. I am trying to improve things here. We dont promise just one thing and stretch it for decades. We are people who work sincerely to make your lives easy. We have provided free LPG connections, have worked for the farmers without making false promises. Be it roads in villages, national highways, railways or airways. We have done a lot of work to increase the connectivity: PM Modi

Aim to make Arunachal gateway for East Asia, says Modi

We aim to make northeast and Arunachal the gateway for East Asia, says PM Modi. My colleagues and I are here for that purpose today. This election is between promises and intentions.

Am always ready to take up all the challenges: PM

One family ruled India for 55 years but cannot claim they have done all that needs to be done. Ive been here only for five years, cannot claim the same. But I am ready to take up all the challenges, and am always ready to fulfil all the challenges. I believe in challenging all challenges : PM

All villages in Arunachal now have power: Modi

PM says his rally venue has become a grand stadium in a few years since he last came here. Earlier, it was a field. Says all villages in the state has power after 70 years.

PM begins election rally in Pasighat

PM begins addressing the poll rally in Pasighat. Says its with peoples cooperation, the government has been able to achieve a lot, complete a lot of projects in the state.

PM Modi to shortly address election rally in Arunachal

PM Modi is in Arunachal Pradesh today. He will shortly address an election rally in Pasighat. This is his first election rally of the day. He will be in West Bengal and Maharashtra.

Arunachal Pradesh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a public rally at Pasighat shortly. pic.twitter.com/kBRuPa6iLU  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

EC notice to I&B ministry on NAMO TV: ANI

The Election Commission of India has sought response from the I&B ministry on the 24-hour channel NAMO TV, based on complaint filed by the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party : ANI

EC seizes Rs 2.10 crore in cash near Perambalur in Tamil Nadu

Election Commission Flying Squad officials have seized Rs 2.10 crore in cash near Perambalur from a former VCK party district secretary during vehicle checks. The cash was concealed inside the car doors.After days of suspense and uncertainty, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the party was open and flexible to partnering with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Replying to questions from the media at the release of the Congresss election manifesto, Gandhi said there was no confusion on whether the party would go for an alliance with AAP in Delhi.

There is no confusion on this (the alliance). The situation is actually very clear on this issue. We have constructed alliances; we have been open to construct alliances. We have done it across the country and we are flexible about it, Gandhi said Tuesday.

AAP convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday told the media that Gandhi had said no to an alliance with the ruling party in Delhi.

Gandhi headed a meeting with Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit and state in-charge PC Chacko on Tuesday morning where the decision to go ahead with the alliance was finalised and communicated to the state unit.

After the meeting, Dikshit, who had been opposing the partnership, remained evasive about the decision, saying, You will know about it when it is announced.

In the meeting, Rahulji asked again what they (Dikshit and Chacko) feel on the tie-up with AAP. Chackoji was in favour of the alliance and Sheilaji maintained her earlier stand of being capable enough of fighting and winning the elections alone, said a senior Congress functionary who was privy to the proceedings of the meeting.

The leader said a decision was taken in favour of the alliance and an official announcement was likely to come in the next two days.

He said senior functionaries of both parties were still negotiating the seat-sharing ratio. Though discussions around distribution of seats were still underway, the Congress has shown interest in New Delhi, West Delhi and Chandni Chowk constituencies, leaving East, South, North East and North West Delhi seats for AAP.

Senior leaders Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad would be instrumental in finalising the deal on behalf of the Congress.

The negotiations will continue between the party leaders. The important aspect was the decision itself on whether the alliance will happen or not, a senior Delhi Congress leader said.The May 19 Lok Sabha election in Punjab will be a mid-term litmus test for the Congress which has completed two years in office in the state. With a patchy report card, the partys Mission-13 hinges more on the woes of faction-riven rivals, Akalis and AAP. But the partys worst fears stem from Modis trump card on national security.

A look at the five key members of Congress in the government and the party:

CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER

He has to keep up the good show after the most decisive mandate in favour of the Congress in states poll history. The 77-year-old ex-soldier has used the heating up of Indo-Pak tensions to be one up on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pakistan-bashing. It may have partly assuaged the Hindu vote bank which was growing anxious with the partys overly Panthic pitch on the sacrilege issue to throw Akalis off balance. The LS results will be a decider on the challenges he will face from within the party.

SUNIL JAKHAR, PUNJAB CONGRESS CHIEF

A prominent Hindu face of the Punjab Congress, Jakhar has bounced back even after he was a surprise loser in the 2017 assembly polls, thanks largely to his follow-up victory in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll. A trenchant critic of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, he is set to be again fielded from Gurdaspur which may be a tough nut to crack this time, if the Modi magic works in the Hindu-majority seat bordering Pakistan. Known to speak his mind, Jakhar has a clean image and penchant to make headlines. The outcome of Lok Sabha polls will influence Jakhars role in the states power politics.

NAVJOT SIDHU, LOCAL BODIES MINISTER

The most sought-after star campaigner of the Congress after partys win in three states in December last, Sidhus appeal knows no borders. But his friendship with Pakistan PM Imran Khan has lent an artillery to the opposition. After his controversial hug with Pak army chief, Sidhu walked away with accolades from Sikhs for championing the cause of Kartarpur corridor. His strident Badal-bashing appeals to Congress rank and file, a section of which accuse Amarinder of being soft on the Badals. Added to his profile is his proximity to the Gandhis. Liked and hated in equal measure, even his detractors admit that a few can rival Sidhus crowd-pulling abilities and flair for political punches. 2019 will decide his position in 2022.

MANPREET BADAL, FINANCE MINISTER

From being the flavour of 2012 state polls when his slogan of Arab spring in Punjab saw houseful rallies, Manpreet is now working behind the scenes. The Badal family rebel was left in political wildness after his breakaway faction failed. He is now keeping peace with those at the helm and has won high commands trust as partys poster boy against the GST. With the Congress waiting for the Akalis to declare if Harsimrat is staying put in Bathinda, a Badal versus Badal clash cannot be ruled out if party asks Manpreet to avenge his defeat in last elections.

PRATAP SINGH BAJWA, RAJYA SABHA MP

Pushed to political margins after he was upstaged as state Congress chief in 2016 by Amarinder Singh, Bajwa still holds sway in Gurdaspur which he won in 2009 Lok Sabha polls and lost in 2014. With Jakhar ensconcing himself on Bajwas turf, the Rajya Sabha MPs next political move will be dictated by the Congresss performance in Punjab.Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said he did not have petty imaginations of a Congress-mukt Bharat (Congress-free India). His remarks contradict the slogan Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party had used while campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

In his first major interview after the Sena and BJP announced an alliance, Thackeray told party mouthpiece Saamana, I never said anything about a Congress-mukt country.

Asked if the countrys problems would be solved if the Congress was routed, Thackeray said, I never said finish the Congress because the opposition is needed I do not have such petty imaginations. That said, the condition of the Congress today is bad. It does not have tall leaders like PV Narasimha Rao.

Targeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Thackeray said the Opposition party lacked the leadership that could take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance, of which it is part.

The Congress doesnt have the leadership. What exactly is Rahul Gandhi doing is the question sometimes he says something good, at times he makes a mess, Thackeray said in an interaction with Saamana executive editor Sanjay Raut.

His partys alliance with the BJP, announced in February rested on wont betray, dont betray motto. The alliance, he said, was the answer to the woes of the people of Maharashtra. Referring to his Sena rotted in the 25 years of alliance with the BJP statement, Thackeray said, After the alliance, we became lax. Shiv Sena chief (Bal Thackeray) had toured the entire state. But after the alliance, we became lax. Now, this wont happen.

He, however, did not elaborate on the power sharing dynamic between the parties for the Assembly elections. I think what the chief minister said during the alliance announcement is enough on the matter, that the responsibility and power will be equally shared. You can make sense of that statement, he said.

While announcing the alliance on February 18, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said both parties would have equal share in power and responsibility. Balasaheb Thackerays teachings have been that defeat is better than false promises, he said.St. Jules led the field of eight candidates with 56.4% of the vote, the unofficial final results show. Gonzalez, first elected to the board in 2011 and current school board president, had 47.2%, followed by Saperston, a Fermilab program administrator who was appointed to the board in June 2018, with 43.6%. Lathan, who was first appointed to the board in 2014 and elected in 2015, received 32.9%.Former J&K chief minister and PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said Kashmir would cease to be a part of India if the conditions on which Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India are removed.

Mehbooba Mufti made these remarks shortly after filing her nomination papers from the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat.

The PDP president was replying to BJP chief Amit Shahs statement that Article 35A would be repealed by 2020. I think he should be prepared that by 2020, Jammu and Kashmir will not be part of the country if the very conditions on which it had acceded to the country are removed. Then they should be prepared for a bigger fight and Mehbooba Mufti will be in the forefront of that fight. The year 2020 will then also be Jammu and Kashmirs deadline to the country, she said while flanked by her party workers and leaders.

Regarding a separate prime minister for Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP president said that NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah should have made that point when he signed the 1975 accord, and insisted on the restoration of the prime ministers post. After that, the National Conference had two-third majority for all these years, unfortunately they did nothing of the sort. Today, they are talking (about PM for J&K), if that happens why not.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said they will do everything to defend Article 370. The whole state is together on this.

The PDP president also said that the points about Jammu and Kashmir in Congresss manifesto, which was released by the party in Delhi, are similar to those of the PDPs Agenda of Alliance document with the BJP.

Later, Mehbooba Mufti also tweeted regarding filing her nomination from the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat. Filed my nomination from Anantnag constituency for #LokSabha2019. Was overcome with emotion since this is the first election Ill contest without my fathers guidance & support. But am confident that my people will restore their faith in PDP. Its an honour to fight for them, she tweeted.

In 2014, Mehbooba Mufti had won from the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat by defeating the National Conference candidate, Mehboob Beigh, who had later joined the PDP. The NC and Congress were contesting elections jointly at that time. In 2016, after Mehbooba Mufti won the assembly elections from the Anantnag assembly set and was elected chief minister, she resigned from her parliamentary seat. However, elections for the vacant seat couldnt be held due to volatile conditions in south Kashmir. Though, in 2017, Mehbooba Mufti had nominated her brother Tasaduq Mufti as the partys candidate for the Lok Sabha seat.

This time also the elections in the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat will be held in three separate phases in April and May. The elections on the other two seats of the Valley, Baramulla and Srinagar, will be held on April 11 and 18.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Congress over its stand on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), saying nobody can dilute it as the saffron party will be standing like a rock in support of security forces.

Addressing twin rallies in Udhampur and Sunderbani in Rajouri district in support of party candidates -- Union minister Jitendra Singh and sitting MP Jugal Kishore  Shah also lambasted former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti for advocating a separate prime minister for the state and threatening secession of J&K from India.

He particularly dared Omar, who is National Conference vice-president, to try to revert to pre-1953 status and re-establish the post of prime minister in Jammu and Kashmir.

Omar Abudllah, get it loud and clear. Whether the BJP is in power or in opposition, nobody will be allowed to snatch J&K from India, said Shah.

Omar had recently said that if Article 35-A was tinkered with, then J&K may think of going back to the pre-53 status when the state had its own prime minister, called Sadr-e-Riyasat. The contentious special status of J&K has been challenged via a string of petitions before the Supreme Court.

Congress and its leaders should be ashamed of it (announcing dilution of AFSPA and removing sedition act). Go drown yourself in a pool of water, Shah said, alleging the Congress manifesto promotes the interest of terrorists and anti-India forces.

Apart from AFSPA review, the Congress, has also proposed to omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code that defines the offence of sedition, saying it has been misused and become redundant because of subsequent laws. On the anti-sedition law, Shah wondered who the Congress was trying to protect.

Warning Pakistan, he said: If one bullet comes from there, we will send shells from here. We will give a befitting reply.

He also described the BJP as a party that follows the ideals of Syama Prasada Mukherjee who made the supreme sacrifice in Kashmir.

Taking a dig at the Congress, NC and PDP, Shah claimed these parties went into mourning after air strikes at Balakot. At a time when the entire country celebrated the counter terror offensive, there was grief in Pakistan and in the offices of the Congress, NC, and PDP, Shah claimed.After Prime Minister Narendra Modis campaign rally for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will hold three rallies in various parts of Vidarbha this week. On Thursday, he will address a rally in Nagpur and two rallies in Chandrapur and Wardha the next day. He will interact with college students in Pune on Friday morning.

Seven Lok Sabha constituencies from Vidarbha are going to polls on April 11. Rahul Gandhis first rally will be for party candidate Nana Patole, who is facing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and union transport minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur constituency. He will interact with youngsters in Pune on Friday on the various issues the country is facing today, said Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan.

After the interaction, expected to be at Bharati Vidyapeeth, headed by party MLA Vishwajeet Kadam, Gandhi will hold two more rallies in Vidarbha. He will address a rally in Chandrapur in the afternoon and then in Wardha in the evening. Suresh Dhanorkar, a Shiv Sena legislator who defected to the Congress, is the partys Chandrapur candidate.

State womens wing chief Charulata Tokas is the partys Wardha candidate. According to party sources, after the Nagpur rally on Thursday, Gandhi will hold meetings with party workers in Pune in the night and fly to Vidarbha again the next day.

Meanwhile, the party announced its candidates for Pune and Raver constituencies. Former party legislator Mohan Joshi has been fielded against BJP leader and state minister Girish Bapat. Maratha leader Pravin Gaikwad, who joined the party two days ago, was the likely candidate for the party, but the party chose not to field him as he could have been a polarising candidate owing to the caste factor. Besides, his remarks against the party leadership reportedly went against him. The Congress has fielded former MP Ulhas Patil as its candidate from Raver, which was contested by the NCP in the 2014 elections. After NCP conceded its seat to the ally Congress, the seat-sharing formula between the two parties has become 27-21 (Congress-NCP). Both the parties have given two seats each to the smaller parties in the alliance.The Chennai City Police and Flying Squad of the Election Commission (EC) seized 147 copies of a Tamil book on the alleged irregularities in the Rafale jet deal, ahead of its launch on Tuesday, on account of a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

In 2016, the Narendra Modi government signed a 59,000-crore deal with French firm, Dassault Aviation, for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets to be supplied in flyaway condition starting September. The Congress-led opposition alleged malfeasance in the deal.

The book was eventually released, with N Ram, chairman of The Hindu Publishing Group in attendance. The seized copies too, were returned at night.

Election Commission officials and policemen seized the books from the office of publishers Bharathi Puthagalayam in Teynampet. Manager Nagaraj said, The book is a compilation of material available in the public domain on the Rafale scam. It is written by S Vijayan.

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahu clarified that the EC had not ordered the seizure of the book nor banned its release. The District Election Officer will file a report.

City Police Commissioner AK Viswanathan said, The seized copies of the book have been returned and the book release event too, was held without any issues.The dates for the 14th Lok Sabha election have been announced and the Model Code of Conduct is in place. On May 23, we will come to know (most likely) who will form the government. The bigger question for me and people like me who work in the field of urban transportation is this: Will the outcome of this general election significantly change the way our cities work?

The reason why I am asking this question is because the 2018 revision of World Urbanisation Prospects by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) suggests that currently 55% of the worlds population live in urban areas. This is expected to grow to 68% by 2050. India, China and Nigeria will account for more than a third of this projected growth. Therefore, managing urban growth is going to be the most important challenge for this century, especially for the next couple of decades, in these countries.

The problem will be even more challenging in India. This is because apart from technical capacity, the country needs to address some of the structural issues as well. Lets highlight three issues pertaining to the same:

Share of urban population

As per 2011 census, about 31% of the population lives in urban India. However, a couple of years back, a World Bank report described Indias urbanisation as messy and hidden and estimated that Indias urban population in excess of 55%. The reason for this discrepancy was on account of the fact that cities, such as Delhi, have seen the maximum population growth on the fringe areas. What was interesting in this finding was the fact that a lot of such fringe areas were technically outside the administrative boundaries of the city. And hence, such areas may exhibit all the characteristics of an urban area but are not classified as urban as such. The census findings are widely used for planning, program design and outlay decisions at the national level. For example, the total allocated expenditure for the ministry of rural development for a particular year was around 41,765 crore as against 1,07,758 crore for the ministry of housing and urban affairs. This impacts the politics as well. Therefore, we need to take a fresh look at the process of documenting urban population and plan accordingly.

Representation in the political system

Currently, 91 seats in Lok Sabha are purely from urban areas. This means that one in every six seats or 16.5% of total seats in Lok Sabha are from urban areas. Out of this, seven mega cities represent 41 Lok Sabha seats, while the remaining 50 seats come from 41 cities that have a population ranging from 1 million to 4.5 million. Therefore, on one hand, there is an under-representation of urban voices in the parliament. On the other hand, the distribution is skewed and in the favour of mega cities. Delimitation, or the process of redrawing boundaries for constituencies is one of the reasons for this underrepresentation. Delimitation was suspended by the Government between 1976 and 2001. This was done so that family planning programmes done by states dont affect their political representation. This skewed the distribution of constituencies by size. Some of the constituencies are around 3 million, while some are around 50,000. The next delimitation exercise is scheduled for the year 2026. We need to make sure that it happens, and that it uses the latest population figures and not some old and outdated statistics.

Devolution of powers

The Indian constitution, like other federal constitutions, initially provided a dual form of government, i.e. the central government and the state government. The 73rd and the 74th amendment of 1992 added a third tier of government called the local government to the constitution. This is important because the decisions about a city should be taken at the city level. However, the ground situation is totally different. Majority of the municipalities in the country are in a bad financial health. They are dependent on the states and the Centre for financial assistance to carry out their programs. Those that have money enjoy a very limited autonomy to perform their function as cities are still controlled by states. Currently, there is no mechanism to check the sabotage of the 74th amendment by state governments. Neither the central government, nor the courts can empower the local government. Therefore, we need not expect a US like situation where states have dissolved a majority of their powers to cities. Even a modest urban empowerment will do wonders for cities.

City residents and local governments dont have much of a say in how the cities are run or managed and a lot of it is due to their underrepresentation in the political scenario. This is causing political neglect. It is time we give cities their fair representation in the political economy, else these engines of growth may come to a grinding halt, sooner than later.

(Amit Bhatt is director of integrated transport at WRI, India)The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to come out with a comprehensive bridge policy to ensure incidents like the collapse of Himalaya bridge near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) are not repeated. It also suggested that the civic body form its own team to independently inspect the bridges at regular intervals, in addition to getting the bridges structurally audited by private experts.

On March 14, six people were killed and 31 injured when a portion of the Himalaya foot overbridge (FoB) collapsed.

Have some policy in place for all the bridges, said the bench of chief justice Naresh Patil and justice Nitin Jamdar. Prescribe stringent qualifications for appointment of structural auditors, the judges told senior advocate Anil Sakhare, who represented the BMC. You must insist on quality, especially when you are spending crores of rupees on structural audit of these bridges.

The judges said the BMC may also get crowded bridges structurally examined by expert bodies like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI).

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), filed by RTI activist Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh. Shaikh sought inquiry by a retired HC judge into the Himalaya bridge collapse and joint audit of all bridges across the city, including bridges in railway premises, by a reliable agency like the IIT, Bombay.

Responding to the PIL, Sakhare submitted that the civic body has started a thorough inquiry into the incident. The preliminary inquiry found fault with the structural audit done in 2017/18 and also with supervision over the repair works done in 2013, he said. Action is being taken against the auditor as also the civic staff concerned, he said.

Sakhare informed the bench that of the 344 bridges within civic jurisdiction in Mumbai, structural audit of 296 has been done by three different auditors. Of these, 110 were found to be in good condition, whereas 61 required major and 107 required minor repairs. He said of the 18 found to be in poor condition, seven have been demolished. The remaining 11 are closed for public, and a proposal has been initiated to reconstruct all these bridges, he said.The leopard that was rescued from a residential building in Marol, Andheri (East) on Monday afternoon was released in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) later in the night.

Maharashtra forest department officials said that the animal, a male aged between one-and-a-half to two years, was released at an undisclosed location around 11.30pm. Forest officials said that the time between the rescue and release was less than 12 hours and could be one of the fastest post-rescue release of a big cat in the city. The animal, which had entered a housing complex in Vijay Nagar, Marol, at around 9am, had been tranquilised and taken away at 2.45pm.

Forest officials said they decided to release the cat early because keeping young leopards in captivity for long can cause behavioural changes. Jitendra Ramgaokar, deputy conservator of forest, Thane, said, Secondly, the leopards mother is in the vicinity and may turn aggressive on not finding her cub.

Leopard cubs are reared by their mother till the age of two and are often left in thick vegetation when the mother goes hunting.

SGNP veterinarians said the 22kg leopard was not injured during the rescue making it easier for them to decide that the animal should be released back in to the wild. All blood samples were tested and the animal was healthy. Leopards this age get anxious fast after being separated from their mother, said Dr Shailesh Pethe, senior veterinarian who shot the tranquilising dart while rescuing the leopard.

The leopard could have strayed in to the Marol housing complex from Aarey Milk Colony, which is less than 200m away. The animal was safely tranquilised when it took cover under the ground floor stairs of a building.

A recent census revealed the presence of 47 leopards across 140 sq. km area including SGNP and surrounding areas like Aarey Milk Colony, which is reported to be home to six adults and three cubs. The leopard rescued from Marol has not been documented by us but we are certain about the mothers presence in surrounding areas, said Nikit Surve, wildlife biologist, Wildlife Conservation SocietyIndia. Mondays rescue is a case study for other states facing human-animal encounters. Interdepartmental coordination, crowd management, and a well-strategised rescue helped defuse a ticking time bomb.

The rescue operation involved officials from the Mumbai and Thane forest ranges, Powai police, fire department and NGOs. Chief wildlife warden, Maharashtra, lauded the efforts. Credit goes to the field staff and officers that managed this operation smoothly, said Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), Maharashtra.A 27- year old man lost partial vision in his left eye after he was hit by a pellet from a rifle while walking across Azad Maidan on February 16. The pellet was fired by a group illegally practising rifle shooting on the ground.

The incident came to light after the hospital where the man is being treated for eye injuries held a press conference to announce the line of treatment.

Doctors said the X-ray report had revealed a 7 to 8 millimeter long metallic pellet was lodged in the retina. The high velocity and the impact of the hit completely damaged his eye. His retina was severely damaged, said Dr S Natarajan, managing director Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, Wadala, who operated on him. The retina is a thin layer of tissue at the back of the eye which converts light signals into neural signals and send them the brain for recognition.

The man, who did not want his identity to be revealed, works as a peon in an office near CST and on way to the station. He didnt realise what had happened until a passer-by pointed out that there was blood flowing out of his eye, Dr Natrajan added.

In the first round of surgery, doctors removed the pellet, repaired the sclera-white portion of the eye, and reattached the retina to the wall using silicone oil. At present the man has a vision range less than of one meter compared to an undamaged eye where the vision range is over 60 metres. Right now the man is only able to see close hand movements, when they are made very close to his face, said Dr Lanin Chen, surgeon at the hospital.

He will need another round of surgery for us to attach the retina. In many cases even after the retina is attached properly one cannot be sure if the patients will completely regain the vision, Dr Chen added. The mans colleagues are collecting funds for the surgery as it will cost anywhere between 50,000 to a lakh.Legislation aimed at stopping violent crime and acts of extremism from being live-streamed on the internet was passed by Australias Senate amid warnings from the legal profession and technology companies that the proposed law is flawed.

The bill, aimed at preventing the weaponizing of social media platforms by terrorists and criminals, cleared Parliaments upper house late Wednesday with no debate or amendments and is expected to come before the lower house Thursday.

The legislation, drafted in the wake of the deadly mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 people dead, carries penalties of up to 10 percent of a companys annual turnover and potential prison sentences for executives of social-media companies who fail to expeditiously remove abhorrent violent material from their platforms. Facebook Inc. came under sharp criticism for not taking down a video live-streamed by the alleged Christchurch gunman fast enough.

The Law Council of Australia says it is concerned the legislation is being thought up on the run without any proper consultation. The council says it is not clear whether companies would be fined according to their global annual revenue, or on turnover generated in Australia -- adding the legislation meant firms would be punished based on their size rather than the seriousness of the breach.

Such an approach to penalties, if used as a precedent for other areas of government regulation, could have a chilling effect on businesses investing in Australia or providing their services in this country, Arthur Moses, the council president, said in a statement.

Scott Farquhar, the billionaire co-founder of enterprise software company Atlassian, said the legislation should be properly scrutinized by a parliamentary committee.

In its blind rush to legislate, the government is creating confusion and threatening jobs, he said in a post on Twitter.China on Wednesday reiterated that it was working hard to resolve the matter of designating Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief, Masood Azhar, as a global terrorist and strongly criticised Washingtons statement about using all available resources to do so as counterproductive.

The US on March 27 had circulated a draft resolution within the powerful 15-nation UN Security Council (UNSC) to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

Washington took the direct route to the UNSC after China on March 13 put a hold on an international proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council.

China wasnt pleased with the US move and said that it would complicate the situation.

On Tuesday, the US State Department said it will utilise all available resources to ensure Azhar would be held accountable for terror attacks including the deadly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February.

Responding to a question on the latest US statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang expressed Beijings displeasure at the development.

China has been working hard with relevant sides and is making positive results. The US knows that very well. Under such circumstances, the US still insists on pushing the draft resolution, doesnt make any sense.

He reiterated that the US action was not consistent with UN rules and customary practice and set a bad precedent.

It only complicates the issue. It is not conducive to peace and stability in south Asia. China will continue to adopt a constructive and responsible attitude to participate in discussions and deliberations on the designation issue. We hope there will be a proper solution to this issue, he added.

China has so far blocked four bids at the UN to designate Masood Azhar a global terrorist.

On a separate question on Pakistan saying that so far no evidence has come out about JeMs involvement in the Pulwama attack in Kashmir, Geng said Beijings stand remains consistent: India and Pakistan should resolve disputes through dialogue.

On the recent incident in Kashmir, China has stated its position. We hope south Asia could maintain peace and stability and we hope India and Pakistan will engage in dialogue and through dialogue and consultation resolve outstanding issues, Geng said.Career technical education has been celebrated as a way to funnel young people into good jobs without the debt of a bachelors degree. But a new study finds that its not doing well enough at matching students with the jobs that pay well and are most plentiful.

A report released Wednesday by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute shows mismatches between the career-related courses that high school students are taking and the fields that offer a lot of good-paying jobs.

Making sure that high schools and colleges are training students for good-paying jobs nearby is particularly important now that demographic studies show Americans are sticking closer to home, the studys co-authors argue. They cited a 2015 New York Times analysis showing that the typical U.S. adult lives only 18 miles from his or her mother .

Since most students who dont attend four-year colleges will stay close to home, its critical that CTE coursetaking match local labor market opportunities, the Fordham study says.

See also: Pruning Dead-End Pathways in Career Technical Education

But the pattern of mismatches the authors found suggest that schools are missing an important opportunity.

Looking across the national landscape, the Fordham research team found that even though business management/administration, hospitality/tourism, marketing, and manufacturing account for half the countrys jobs, those fields make up only one-quarter of the career-tech-ed classes students take.

For instance: Only 2 percent of the countrys jobs are in information technology, but that field accounts for 19 percent of the CTE courses students take. On the flip side, the hospitality industry accounts for 12.5 percent of U.S. jobs, but only 5 percent of career-tech-ed courses.

When the research teamCameron Sublett, an associate professor of education at Pepperdine University, and David Griffith, a senior research and policy associate at Fordhamexamined links between local economies and CTE courses, the findings were a bit more contradictory.

They wanted to know whether students CTE course-taking was related to the local job supply. There, they found a positive relationship: A boost in job supply was likely to drive greater enrollment in CTE classes in that field. A simple 1 percentage-point rise in a regions information-technology employment, for instance, translated to a 10 percentage-point increase in the likelihood that students would take at least one IT course.

The Fordham researchers found a different dynamic, though, when they looked at links between the wages of local jobs and career-tech-ed classes. Students were actually less likely to take CTE classes in fields where local wages were higher. For example, a $1,000 increase in the wages of local information-technology jobs was associated with a 13.6 percentage-point decrease in the probability students would take one or more IT courses.

The co-authors wrote that career-tech-ed programs need to do a better job of connecting students with higher-paying jobs, and they recommended that high school, college, and local businesses join hands to better integrate whats taught with what their regional labor markets need.

Sublett and Griffith analyzed the jobs-and-coursetaking alignment patterns in 10 major metropolitan areas and found that while many regions are making progress, they are still struggling with low levels of CTE coursetaking in job fields that are experiencing high demand.

Misplaced Focus?

In focusing on job availability, Fordhams analysis overlooks a number of important points, said Kate Kreamer, the deputy executive director of Advance CTE, an organization that supports states and districts as they design career pathways.

If you look just at in-demand jobs, you end up with entry-level, low-wage, low-skill jobs, she said. We should be looking at the nexus of [jobs that are] high-skill, high-wage, and in demand.

The marketing jobs cluster might have a lot of retail jobs to offer, and the hospitality and tourism cluster includes many service jobs, she said. But that doesnt necessarily mean schools should increase their offerings in those areas.

Its not that those jobs dont have value, Kreamer said. But in an effort to reduce the risk of funneling students into dead-end jobs, the career-tech-ed field is increasingly emphasizing jobs with solid career ladders, not just jobs that are available.

Thoughtful design of CTE offerings, Kreamer argued, must bring schools and businesses together to build pathways to jobs that meet all three criteria: They pay well, they demand highly skilled workers, and theyre in growing fields.

The newest version of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act , which doles out federal career-tech-ed funds, reflects this thinking, Kreamer noted. In order to win Perkins grants, K-12 schools and colleges now must undertake a local needs assessment that identifies opportunities in job sectors that meet all three criteria.

Kreamer also noted that the Fordham study is based on a cohort of students who entered high school a decade ago. Many states have made big changes since then in their career and technical education systems, she said.

Get High School & Beyond posts delivered to your inbox as soon as theyre published. Sign up here . Also, for news and analysis of issues that shape adolescents preparation for work and higher education.I joined EPWNG about 8 years ago, and the membership has been extremely beneficial to my career. But even more significant, Ive embraced the groups giving culture; the desire to help someone achieve something she really wants, to guide her in the right direction, to celebrate a big accomplishment or maybe a milestone birthday, to be there if shes sick, to connect her to opportunities, or just to listen when she needs a friend. In other words, were all just a bunch of givers! I feel fortunate and honored to be part of this kind of positive energy.A quarter of the worlds health facilities lack basic water services, impacting 2 billion people, the United Nations said on Wednesday, warning that unhygienic conditions could fuel the global rise of deadly superbugs.

In the poorest countries, about half of facilities do not have basic water services  meaning water delivered by pipes or bore-holes that protect it from faeces  putting birthing mothers and newborns in particular danger, new data showed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Childrens Fund (Unicef) said more than 1 million deaths a year were associated with unclean births, and 15 percent of all patients attending a health facility developed infections.Hospitals are not necessarily points of care where you can heal, but points of almost infection. (We) are very alarmed by this, WHO public health co-ordinator Bruce Gordon said.

Worldwide, nearly 900 million people have no water at all at their local health facility or have to use unprotected wells or springs. One in five facilities also lack toilets, impacting about 1.5 billion people, the agencies said.

One of the development goals agreed by world leaders in 2015 was for all to have access to safe water and sanitation by 2030. A health care facility without water is not really a health care facility, said Unicef statistician Tom Slaymaker. Sick people shed a lot more pathogens in their faeces, and without toilets, staff, patients  this includes mothers and babies  are at a much greater risk of diseases caused and spread through human waste.

The agencies said good water and sanitation services were crucial to reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance, one of the greatest global health threats.The United States on Tuesday announced it had cleared the sale of 24 MH-60R Seahawk choppers to India . The multi-mission helicopters can detect, track and attack submarines and surface ships.

A defense department agency that deals with the sale of US military equipment to foreign countries has notified Congress of the sale that will cost $2.6 billion, including other supporting equipment and ammunition, such as 10 Hellfire missiles, 38 advanced precision kill weapons system rockets; and 30 MK 54 torpedoes.

The proposed sale will support US foreign policy and national security by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement.

Also Read | India seeks to buy anti-submarine choppers Romeo from US for $2 billion

The statement also noted that the helicopters will provide India the ability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay.

India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense, the statement added.

Lockheed Martins Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems will be the lead contractor on the deal.

India and the United States have been ramping up defense ties in recent years with joint military exercises, exchanges and exchanges. They held their first 2+2 ministerial last September, a simultaneous meeting for their defense and foreign ministers. They ended years of discussions and back-and-forth and signed two enabling agreement LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement) and COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in recent years to improve interoperability between their militaries. And they are likely to sign the third, BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) soon.

Defense trade between between the two countries has also shot up, and is expected to reach $18 billion this year from zero until a decade ago.

US department of defense leaders told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing last week that the strategic partnership with India had continued to advance at a historic pace and the militaries of the two countries were working to increase interoperability and information-sharing capabilities.

The United States and India are natural partners on a range of political, economic, and security issues, said commander of the US Indo-Pacific command Admiral Philip S Davidson.The referendum question voters responded to asked if the school district should build and equip additions to and alter, repair and equip existing buildings, including but not limited to renovating instructional spaces, restrooms and food service areas, installing school safety and security improvements, replacing roofs and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and constructing additions to eliminate mobile classrooms, improve school sites and issue $185 million in bonds to pay for it.I called Mrs. Sussman and congratulated her, Terson said. I am extremely proud of how close we came. We sparked dialogue and interest in our community at a level that I have never seen. I think a lot of the voices that supported me will continue to speak out in future elections, and encourage others to also participate in the process.Offer a personal message of sympathy...

By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account.A: My father is from Syria and when the crisis started there, I wanted to do something to help. I volunteer with the Syrian American Medical Society, which spreads awareness and raises funds in addition to sending doctors to help the refugees in Syria and the countries that surround it.Pipeline

3 April 2019

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Towa Real Estate Co. Ltd., an affiliate of TOYOTA Group, to develop a 120-key hotel at the Fuji Speedway, Japan's historic racing circuit. Slated to open in 2022, the project will be the first in Japan under The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand and the first hotel in the world to be built by Towa Real Estate.

Hotel amenities will include multiple fine dining restaurants and bars, as well as indoor pool, fitness center, spa and natural onsen hot-spring bathing facilities. The hotel interior will feature a car museum with an innovative presentation of the site's attractions that showcase the historic significance of Fuji Speedway. Items such as rare historic automobiles and other museum-worthy collections will provide an unconventional experience that guests would expect from The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand.

Location

In the foothills of Mount Fuji, the hotel's Fuji Speedway location will offer guests convenient access to motorsports events and the upcoming Motorsports Village facility, currently under development by Towa Real Estate in concert with the hotel development.

Situated on the grounds of Fuji Speedway, the hotel will offer unsurpassed views of Mount Fuji, in addition to housing a Motorsports Museum. The site's immediate proximity to the Oyama Parking Area Smart Interchange, scheduled to open in 2021, will make the hotel's location accessible to guests arriving from remote areas by car.

Guestrooms

The hotel will feature approximately 120 tastefully designed guest rooms and suites of at least 484 square feet (45 square meters) each, a flexible banquet room of 5,381 square feet (500 square meters), and a 2,152 square foot (200 square meter) conference room. These extraordinary facilities will position the hotel as an ideal venue for story-worthy meetings and events.Pipeline

3 April 2019

End 2019 NOVUM Hospitality opens her second niu hotel in The Netherlands. This time in the capital, Amsterdam. The hotel opens its doors in the Entrepothaven at the Cruquiuseiland. The hotel focusses on millennials and finds a connection with the lifestyle of the contemporary society. The three towers with a beautiful view of the water perfectly reflect the marine atmosphere of the hotel. The 245 rooms offer an ideal place for both business and leisure hotel guests. With its convenient ocation in relation to Schiphol and easy accessibility from Amsterdam Central Station, niu Fender is a good base for guests from home and abroad. In addition to the space for 200 boats in the harbour, there is sufficient parking space due to the large parking garage. The hotel fits into the four-star genre.

The location and immediate surroundings play an important role in every niu hotel. niu in Amsterdam is called niu Fender and owes its name to the buffer used in the harbour. The architects of Mulderblauw got their inspiration from this buffer and from other marine influences, it is noticeable from the moment that you enter the hotel. Also, typical elements of our capital can be seen in the hotel; industrial design, local colours and urban design.

niu Fender is located on the Cruquiusweg in the Eastern port area, next to the popular Harbour Club. The easily accessible location is less than 5 km from Amsterdam Central Station and less than half an hour's drive from Schiphol Airport. From the Zeeburg exit of the A10 highway, the driver can reach the hotel in less than 10 minutes. Furthermore, the center of Amsterdam is easy to reach.Appointment

3 April 2019

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB) welcomes Tracy Vaughan as the new Senior Vice President of Tourism & Travel Industry Sales. Starting on April 22, Ms. Vaughan will be responsible for the strategic leadership of the bureau's domestic and international transient sales efforts.

Prior to joining the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB, Ms. Vaughan served as director of global market development for the tourism division at the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) for four and a half years. In this role, she provided leadership in developing and implementing Georgia's global tourism sales and marketing plan. She built relationships with key international and domestic travel trade and international media to increase product and brand awareness, ultimately driving growth of inbound leisure travel to Georgia.

Prior to joining GDEcD, Ms. Vaughan advanced through the ranks at VISIT FLORIDA in a career that spanned over 22 years. As director, international marketing, she led the design and implementation of multiple strategic, industry-supported and cooperative marketing ventures which generated more than $3 million in revenue annually. Ms. Vaughan was also instrumental in the development and implementation of VISIT FLORIDA's air service development program designed to secure new international routes for the state.

Ms. Vaughan received her business degree from the University of Texas. She has been actively involved with the U.S Travel Association having served on the IPW advisory committee and currently is co-chair of the Domestic and International Travel Trade Professional Development Network at ESTO.This morning, Stephanie DeFalco accepted responsibility for the murder of her mother, Judith, States Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement released Wednesday. For those who knew Judith this is a devastating loss. For her family however, I cannot begin to imagine the pain and raw emotions they are experiencing as they not only must continue their lives without Judiths companionship, but also as they confront the fact that one of their own is responsible for her death.Supplier News

3 April 2019

ALICE, the hospitality industry's leading operations technology, expands its reach in Europe with the placement and hiring of several hotel technology sales experts in key markets across the continent. ALICE has grown rapidly worldwide, including 250 hotels signed in Europe in the last 12 months alone. This team will accelerate ALICE's already swift expansion throughout Europe and provide market guidance and support for key European regions.

Photo: ALICE

Jessica Kramer, ALICE's VP of Enterprise, has been relocated to Stockholm to help roll out the company's European operations. Her responsibilities will include hiring in-market Sales Directors and Customer Support specialists, connecting with hotel groups that need better operations and communication tools, and continuing to support major in-market accounts, including flagship client Nordic Choice.

ALICE's recent appointments in Europe include Gaston Richter, Director of Enterprise Sales based in Spain, Darren Panto, Director of Enterprise Sales based in London, and Colin Barnett, Director of Sales, also based in London.

ALICE is an ideal fit for regional brands, which the company has successfully partnered with in the United States, Mexico, and now increasingly in Europe. Europe's hotel market is comprised largely of independent hotels and regional brands that can be uniquely helped by ALICE's suite of operations and guest engagement solutions.

Hotel Partners

ALICE's flagship European group is the innovator Nordic Choice Hotels, one of the largest hotel groups in Scandinavia. ALICE is also currently piloting its technology with the region's largest hotel group.

Other prominent regional clients include: Yotel, numerous clients from Leading Hotels of the World and Preferred Hotels, and tens of Forbes Five-Star properties, alongside over 250 independent hotels.

Growing the Team

Gaston Richter, Director of Enterprise Sales, will focus on providing assistance and guidance to European hotel groups committed to enhancing the guest experience and staff efficiency. Gaston brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked in hospitality and travel for over 20 years for some of the biggest names in the industry, including Lastminute.com, Barcelo Hotel Group, Innwise, and TrustYou.

Darren Panto, Director of Enterprise Sales, is looking forward to offering European hotel groups a cutting-edge, efficient tool to be able to manage all hotel operations from one platform in a consistent way across hotels. Another veteran of hotel and hotel technology Sales, Darren has gained extensive knowledge of resorts, hotels, destinations and customer expectations, building successful business relationships from small independents to the largest global hotel companies. Darren joins ALICE from iRiS Software Systems, where he was most recently VP of Sales for Europe, delivering leading solutions for guest-facing technology.

Colin Barnett, Director of Sales, will continue to expand ALICE's presence in Europe, after a successful 18-year career in the hospitality, travel, and technology markets, most recently as GuestTek's VP Sales Europe.

ALICE's VP of Enterprise Jessica Kramer summarizes the regional opportunity: "Regional brands have been some of the greatest contributors to new ALICE functionality, from preventative maintenance to portfolio management tools to group reporting and filtering. I can't wait for our introduction of ALICE Housekeeping this year, which will provide transformative efficiency and cost savings for all of our hotels. I've been inspired by our rapid growth in Europe in the past year and I'm looking forward to accelerating further with a strong local team."

ALICE's Enterprise and Independent sales teams will be attending HITEC Mallorca, April 9-11. Email [email protected] to schedule a customized demo.Press Release

3 April 2019

As a leading investor in hotel properties in Europe, Covivio continually regenerates its portfolio and contribute to renewal the customer experience with lifestyle products. With a hotel portfolio now worth some 5.8 Bn, i.e. almost 400 hotels in Europe, Covivio continues to develop new partnerships and announces the signing of a deal with the lifestyle brand Room Mate.

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Room Mate Malaga: a new brand for Covivio in Spain

Room Mate has developed a hotel concept with a differentiated positioning, in the mid-market/upmarket urban segment: each hotel features a unique modern design with extra special care going to the guest experience by way of high-quality innovative services (higher-than-average room size for this segment, later check-out, breakfast service until noon, top quality bed linen). The hotel chain today boasts 25 hotels worldwide and high levels of recognition thanks, in particular, to the social networks.

Covivio has just signed a deal with Room Mate for the development of a 4-star hotel in Malaga with 169 guest rooms. Situated in the Spanish resort's historic centre, the hotel enjoys a prime location in one of Spain's most exciting markets. The two partners have signed a rental deal for a 20-year double net lease, of which 10 years firm. Delivery is scheduled for mid-2021.

The illustration of a new-generation hotel

International tourism today is having to adjust to an up-and-coming base of younger customers, who are more connected and looking for the real-deal tourist experience. In the face of these new challenges, the hotel trade is changing to make way for new so-called "lifestyle" concepts: multi-service, outward-looking and more user-friendly.

One of the features of these new-style hotels is the lobby, now serving a whole new purpose as a living space at the centre of the hotel. It now features a bar, a restaurant and relaxation areas. This means that the common areas are rearranged as open space, inviting guests to spend more time there than in their rooms. The Food & Beverage service is more extensive and attracts additional custom from outside. This, then, is how we define lifestyle hotels: a user-friendly concept with a distinct "home away from home" feel.

Being totally connected, these hotels have taken the full customer experience into the digital age: cashless establishments, touch-screen tablets managing guest room facilities, all-digital front desks. Last but not least, their popularity rating is higher than that of traditional hotels, with guests always keen to share their feedback on the social networks.

A hotel portfolio with innovative diversified concepts: an overview of the Covivio's lifestyle partners

Kimpton Fitzroy London: one of Covivio's first openings in the United Kingdom

In May 2018, Covivio acquired an iconic portfolio of 12 hotels in major cities across the United Kingdom and followed this up with long-term leases signed with the InterContinental Hotels Group to run the operational side. The operator chose to roll out its new design and lifestyle label, Kimpton, with one of the hotels located in London and also with other properties in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester.

Sporting a boutique-hotel concept, the Kimpton Fitzroy London clearly stands out with its facilities and slick high-end design mirroring the city of London's historic heritage. The hotel has retained its history and cachet whilst adapting to the modern codes of today's hotel trade.

The Kimpton brand is different in the services available to guests (yoga mats in each room, wine-tasting, bicycles provided to explore the city) but also in the extensive wining and dining facilities within one and the same hotel: 5 bars-restaurants spaces with a wide range of specialities (seafood, cocktail bar, tea room, coffee shop and a reception room for private functions).

Motel One Paris-Porte Doree: a new brand to renew the hotel offer in Paris

In September 2018, Covivio and VINCI Immobilier opened the first Motel One hotel in the city's 12th district.

Germany's number one chain of design hotels, Motel One offers guests an upmarket experience at attractive rates (79 per night over 300 days of the year). Motel One is located in Europe's most exciting cities and runs a network of 65 hotels with over 18,000 rooms. Clearly mindful of the urban environment of all its locations, hotels are always situated in lively parts of town with easy access. The Motel One Paris-Porte Doree, an establishment with 255 rooms, is styled and inspired by the neighbouring Bois de Vincennes with animal and plant-life motifs. For its first Parisian hotel, the chain invited a number of French artists to create illustrations in Art Deco style.

Meininger: sights set on Europe!

2019 will be a key phase in the partnership between Covivio and Meininger signed in 2014, marked by the opening of 3 hotels in Paris, Lyon and Munich, further to the Milan opening in August 2018. The Meininger concept is uniquely different as a hybrid hotel product that combines the service and comfort of a budget hotel, with international standards and original services such as a community kitchen and play areas. Its flexibility is also unprecedented: standard double rooms, private rooms with several beds, dormitories Meininger effectively reaches out to different types of guest, from school groups to backpackers, families and business travellers.

ABOUT COVIVIO

Thanks to its partnering history, its real estate expertise and its European culture, Covivio is inventing today's user experience and designing tomorrow's city.

A preferred real estate player at the European level, Covivio is close to its end users, capturing their aspirations, combining work, travel, living, and co-inventing vibrant spaces.

A benchmark in the European real estate market with 23Bn in assets, Covivio offers support to companies, hotel brands and regions in their pursuit of attractiveness, transformation and responsible performance.

Its living, dynamic approach opens up exciting project and career prospects for its teams.

Covivio's shares are listed in the Euronext Paris A compartment (FR0000064578 - COV) and the MTA market (Mercato Telematico Azionario) on the Milan stock exchange, are admitted to trading on the SRD and are included in the composition of the MSCI, SBF120, Euronext IEIF "SIIC France" and CAC Mid100 indices, in the "EPRA" and "GPR 250" benchmark European real estate indices, EPRA BPRs Gold Awards (financial + sustainability), CDP (A), Green Star GRESB, and in the ESG FTSE4 Good, DJSI World & Europe, Euronext Vigeo (World 120, Eurozone 120, Europe 120 and France 20), Euronext CDP Environment France EW Oekom, Ethibel and Gaia ethical indices.

Covivio is rated BBB/Positive outlook by Standard and Poor's.Press Release

3 April 2019

Central Hotels and UNICEF renewed their partnership to help some of the thousands of children fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East.

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"We are committed to support UNICEF 's campaign to 'Make a difference in a child's life, said

Abdulla AlAbdulla, Chief Operating Officer of Central Hotels and a member of UNICEF Gulf Area Office Leadership Circle of Champions for Children and Young People.

"Every initiative in this journey is a major advance in creating a better future for children by helping them achieve their full potential. We look forward to our collaboration with UNICEF as every life changed is a testament to the difference we can make by working together," he said.

ElTayeb Adam, UNICEF's GAO Representative: "We are very grateful to Central Hotels for joining us in our mission. Every child deserves a fair chance to life. By supporting UNICEF, you are not only making a difference to a child's life today, you are making the difference to children everywhere. Every dollar you donate helps children around the world to grow up healthy, stay protected from harm and to go to school."

The partnership between Central Hotels and UNICEF began in 2017 and demonstrates how private organisations can contribute to the welfare of the community. Central Hotels has been working closely with UNICEF to support the organisation's causes.

The money is raised through an optional 10 dirham surcharge on guests' bills.

UNICEF has been present in the UAE for more than 40 years. The Leadership Circle of Champions for Children and Young People is a network of UNICEF supporters and advocates committed to advancing the rights of children.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything it does. Together with its partners, the organization work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. The UNICEF Gulf Area Office works in the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain in partnership with the respective governments supporting national policy development, sector level strategies and approaches, and generating knowledge products for the survival, development and protection of children within the region. www.unicef.orgPress Release

3 April 2019

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) has announced that Datavision Technologies, which provides business intelligence for hospitality and a long-time exhibitor with HFTP, will become the exclusive sponsor for the upcoming European Entrepreneur 20X (E20X). The successful E20X pitch competition, featuring eight hospitality technology startups, will take place as a HITEC Europe pre-conference event on the afternoon of April 9. On the following two days is the third-annual HITEC Europe, produced by HFTP, featuring a full educational conference, an expo and networking party. HFTP's HITEC Europe is the first of three HITEC events planned for 2019, and will take place April 10-11 at the Palau de Congressos in Mallorca, Palma, Spain.

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Photo: HFTP

HFTP's Entrepreneur 20X is a pitch competition that provides hospitality technology start-ups a career-boosting opportunity with exposure to top industry mentors, investors, leaders and executives. The startups compete for two separate awards, including a cash prize, and much more in this thrilling competition series.

"We are grateful for our partnership with Datavision for supporting innovation in Europe this year," said HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe, CAE. "This sponsorship speaks directly to Datavision's commitment to moving the industry forward and assisting these entrepreneurs in taking their companies to the next level."

Companies participating in the E20X competition benefit from access to industry experts, mentorship from key hospitality executives and leaders, venture capitalists and experienced entrepreneurs. Datavision team members have previously served as mentors to E20X participants and enjoyed the experience.

"Datavision is honored to sponsor this vendor startup competition event, initially created by HFTP almost five years ago," said Sherry Marek, co-founder and vice president of Datavision Technologies. "HFTP supports technology and finance professionals in many ways: trade show venues, mentorships, certification, education opportunities, career centers and more. Sudharshan Chary, president of Datavision, welcomes the opportunity to assist other vendors in moving the idea from the back of a napkin to the front of the world."

In addition to HITEC Europe, in 2019 HFTP is producing the larger HITEC Minneapolis on June 17-20 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA and HITEC Dubai on November 12-13 in partnership with Naseba in Dubai, UAE. For more information about HITEC and HFTP's other global activities, contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at [email protected] or visit www.hftp.org and www.hitec.org.

About Datavision Technologies

Experience, Expertise and Customer Care... At Datavision, these are not just cliches - these are the basic rules by which we operate. From our offices in Miami, we have been working within the hospitality industry for many years. Since we work exclusively in hospitality, we have acquired an intimate working knowledge of hotels and resorts and fully understand the unique challenges facing our industry. We love data! We live, eat and breathe data. Our goal is to help our customers corral data that is distributed across multiple systems and provide a 360-degree view of the business - Helping run a more efficient operation. Our clients provide top notch service to their guests by understanding their needs. They expect nothing less from their business partners. Datavision is currently used around the world, including some of the very best resorts and multi-property companies. To learn more about our business intelligence modules, solutions and how our customers use Datavision in their daily operations, please visit our corporate website, www.datavisiontech.com, or contact Bonnie Wise at 1 (954) 299-7184, or [email protected]JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.



You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browserMonth-Long Campaign Kicks Off With a Demonstration of Solidarity from AHLAs 2019 Board of Directors

In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month this April, the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) is launching a month-long campaign along with member companies and national partners to raise public awareness about sexual assault and reaffirm the hotel industrys commitment to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all employees and guests. Today, AHLAs 2019 Board of Directors launched this campaign by uniting against sexual violence with an open letter in The Wall Street Journal, and by wearing jeans as part of a social media movement ahead of Peace Over Violences Denim Day on April 24.

AHLAs Sexual Assault Awareness Month campaign throughout April will feature the following:

Today, AHLAs 2019 Board of Directors issued an open letter in The Wall Street Journal to our valued guests, noting our long-standing commitment to raising awareness of sexual violence and providing hotel operators with new trainings, tools, and resources to educate employees on identifying and reporting sexual harassment and assault.

in The Wall Street Journal to our valued guests, noting our long-standing commitment to raising awareness of sexual violence and providing hotel operators with new trainings, tools, and resources to educate employees on identifying and reporting sexual harassment and assault. In addition to the public commitment announced in The Wall Street Journal, AHLAs 2019 Board of Directors dressed in jeans on April 2 and its board meeting to launch a social media campaign culminating in AHLAs sponsorship of Peace Over Violences Denim Day on April 24.

and its board meeting to launch a social media campaign culminating in AHLAs sponsorship of Peace Over Violences Denim Day on April 24. AHLA is proud to partner with prominent national organizations throughout the month of April. AHLA is an official sponsor of Peace Over Violences Denim Day activities on April 24 , and will join millions of individuals to wear jeans for the purpose of supporting survivors and educating others about all forms of sexual violence. AHLAs donation will allow Peace Over Violence to continue to lead and expand critical violence prevention education campaign throughout the Los Angeles metro area.

, and will join millions of individuals to wear jeans for the purpose of supporting survivors and educating others about all forms of sexual violence. AHLAs donation will allow Peace Over Violence to continue to lead and expand critical violence prevention education campaign throughout the Los Angeles metro area. AHLA will also participate in Raliance and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violences Sexual Assault Awareness Month Policy Briefing on April 3 to educate Congressional staff on the 1500 local agencies that provide the frontline response to the widespread and devastating problem of sexual assault in our communities.

to educate Congressional staff on the 1500 local agencies that provide the frontline response to the widespread and devastating problem of sexual assault in our communities. Additionally, AHLA provided a Sexual Assault Awareness Month resource toolkit to all its members to help raise awareness and encourage member engagement by utilizing a variety of national resources and Sexual Assault Awareness Month collateral, including educational table tents for member properties and pins to be worn throughout the month.

Safety is a never-ending challenge, and the hotel and lodging industry is committed to working with safety experts to continuously update protocols and procedures to better address the needs of employees, while also ensuring a safe environment for workers and guests, said Chip Rogers, President & CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association. This April, we look forward to working with our national partners, such as Peace Over Violence and National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, this month and into the future to help end sexual violence.

We commend the American Hotel and Lodging Association for their efforts to raise public awareness about sexual violence prevention and the important role that the hotel and lodging industry plays in promoting respect, safety, and equality for all employees and guests, said Monika Johnson Hostler, RALIANCE Managing Partner and President of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. It will take the commitment from partners in every industry to create workplaces free from sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse and we encourage other business and industry leaders to also champion this message throughout Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April and join us in the fight to end sexual violence in one generation.

The success of the Denim Day campaign is due in large part to the support of our partners, partners like AHLA. Peace Over Violence created the campaign in order for people around the world to actively engage their own communities to bring awareness about sexual violence and its impact. The sponsorship of AHLA enables POV to continue to reach people across the world with sexual violence awareness, demonstrating what it means to support survivors, and providing critical healing services and violence prevention programming to communities, said Patti Giggans, Executive Director of POV and Founder of Denim Day. If we want to see an end to sexual violence its going to take all of us, thats why are so grateful for the commitment AHLA has made to survivors through Denim Day during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Last year, AHLA was proud to join nearly 20 major hotel brands in membership on September 6, 2018 to announce the 5-Star Promise, a pledge to provide hotel employees across the U.S. with employee safety devices (ESDs) and commit to enhanced policies, trainings and resources that together are aimed at enhancing hotel safety, including preventing and responding to sexual harassment and assault.

Expanding on employee and guest safety, AHLA wants to send a loud and clear message that our industry will never tolerate the scourge that is human trafficking. Across the industry, numerous resources and training tools for hotel employees are being implemented with various engaged partners like Polaris, ECPAT-USA, the Department of Homeland Securitys Blue Campaign, and more. Every year thousands of employees are trained to spot and help stop trafficking incidences. We are voluntarily implementing employee training and awareness programs because it is the right thing to do. With resolve and commitment, we will win the war on human trafficking.

The hotel and lodging industry also has a strong legacy of training around other critical safety and security issues and we are working to accomplish this by broadening partnerships with wide-ranging national organizations that target sexual violence, sexual assault and trafficking and promote workplace safety, including the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, DC Rape Crisis Center, National Domestic Violence Hotline, Peace Over Violence, RALIANCE, RAINN, ECPAT USA, Polaris and BEST, and continue providing industry-wide training and materials development.

Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe

 2021 Hotel News ResourceJordan Brand's 2019 has been filled to the brim with some pretty incredible releases. From brand new colorways of already established Jordan sneakers, to OG rereleases, and even new silhouettes, JB has been killing the sneaker game so far. As we enter the second quarter of the year, there are already a plethora of rumors surrounding the next batch of Air Jordan releases. Of course, one of the most popular silhouettes, the Air Jordan 1, is getting the brunt of those rumors.

Instagram sneaker account @zsneakerheadz has posted yet another photoshop render of a potential new Air Jordan 1 High OG colorway that comes in some familiar colors. Many of you probably remember the "Blue Chill" colorway from February. This new model is very similar, except the toe box and sides are white. The overlays come in obsidian, while the back heel is UNC blue. The laces and Nike swoosh are also in obsidian blue.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvy1Yo7FMzL



According to the post, these kicks will be released on August 17th for the standard Air Jordan 1 price of $160 USD. This release is simply a rumor for now though so stay tuned for any updates regarding the sneaker.

Would you be interested in this brand new colorway or would it be a pass?Yesterday, Lauren London broke her silence regarding the death of her love and partner, Nipsey Hussle. The actress shared a photo of the rapper on Instagram with a tender message that simply reads, "I am completely lost. Ive lost my best friend. My sanctuary. My protector. My soul....Im lost without you. We are lost without you babe. I have no words." The couple share a young son and were together for five years before Nipsey was senselessly murdered in Los Angeles.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuJl52uFgDP



Since that time, London's famous friends have rallied around her, offering up words of support in the comment section of the post. "We love and support you and the kids. Wegotchu," wrote Gabrielle Union. Tameka "Tiny" Cottle said, "Praying for u Lauren... so so sorry for your loss! I could only imagine your pain!! May God give u peace & the strength to get thru this tragedy. We are here for u...love you."

"Sending you love and praying for God to give you and your family all the strength you may need during this time," wrote Jennifer Lopez. Alicia Keys added, "Soulmates forever! We are all Sending you, your babies and your family the brightest most protective and loving collective unified light beautiful sister."

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvxb8ZsFjPH



"May God be with you every step of the way along with him in Heaven. We are all lifting you and your family up in prayer at this difficult time. Stay strong mama," said Ciara. London's ATL co-star Evan Ross wrote, "Im praying for you sis. Brings tears to my eyes thinking about the pain you and your loved ones are feeling!! Im always here you."

There were so many others including Jill Scott, John Singleton Will Packer, Melanie Fiona, Nikki Murphy, Kimora Lee Simmons, Karen Civil, Tia Mowry, Angela Simmons, Vanessa Simmons, Marlon Wayans, Anthony Anderson, Marques Houston, Sean Kingston...the list goes on and on. Rest in peace to Nipsey Hussle, and we continue to give our condolences to Lauren London.Diddy's 21-year-old son Christian Combs celebrated his 21st birthday on Saturday. To mark the occasion, Diddy gifted his son a gold-plated jet ski. Before you wince at Diddy's offering to his son, consider this: Christian is DJ Khaled-levels inspired by watersports. Secondly, Diddy's son has just about every other vanity item imaginable, including jet skis in other colorways.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvzc9K7F5vC



It didn't take Christian long to put his new jet ski to use. By Tuesday, the drop was buoying over resplendent Ocean Water, the likes of which New York hasn't seen since the Waterfront commission went ballistic with major condo projects. Luckily for Christian, his birthday was held in Atlantic City, where the betting parlors are-a-plenty and open to anyone 21 and over.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvfR1_eHThg



Atlantic City's proximity to NYC, was within an acceptable radius of the final meeting spot, off the banks of Diddy's $40 million mansion in Miami. Diddy and his son Christian, known to rap fans as "King Combs" are the two leading figures within the clan to publicly mourn their mother/lover Kim Porter in the wake of her surprise death. Diddy's indulgence of a jet ski to his son doesn't heal their broken hearts, it does, however, give the Combs clan yet another reason to spend time together in the open sun. All the power to them.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1113358338077499392

Just when you thought that the beef between Ja Rule and 50 Cent was simmering down, the Murder Inc. rapper decided to gas things up once again. Over the last few days, hip hop celebrities have been paying their respects, publicly on social media, to the late Nipsey Hussle. The impact of Nipsey's death has been felt throughout communities worldwide, but 50's delayed condolences rubbed a few fans the wrong way, especially because the two rappers collaborated in the past. He put people in their place and let them know that he'd speak on Nipsey's death when he was ready, and earlier today was that time.

Fiddy shared a photo of himself rocking a blue suit with the caption, "To: Nipseys Real friends and family I send my Sincere condolences. Im sorry for your loss God bless." Never one to skip self-promotion, 50 also included a hashtag for his Le Chemin du Roi champagne, a tag that he pretty much includes on all of his Instagram photos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvw4u7YhHpb



TheShadeRoom shared 50's tribute on their Instagram page, and one of 50's familiar foes slid in their comment section to let the world know what he thought about the rapper's post. "What a BOZO..." Ja Rule wrote with a clown face emoji. These two have had a long-standing feud that, apparently, doesn't seem to be fizzling out. 50 Cent recently purchased the front four rows of Ja Rule's concert so his nemesis would perform to empty seats. Ja previously called 50 a "boot licking, ring kissing, c**n," and also once stated that fans chanting "f**k 50 Cent" at his concert was a "pleasant surprise."To see how Christmas has changed over the last century, Stacker explored how popular traditions, like food and decorations, emerged and evolved from 1920 to 2020 in the U.S. and around the world. Stacker also found when some of the most popular Christmas songs, movies, and books entered the canon of the holiday season and gifts that topped many Christmas lists over the years. Read on to discover how Christmas has evolved over the past century. Visit thestacker.com for similar lists and stories.It's been a tense few weeks for Kodak Black as he's verbally gone toe-to-toe with damn near everyone on social media, so the rapper is taking some time off for a Bahamian vacation. He shared a video on Instagram of a recent encounter with a fan as he was making his way to the beach with friends. "Is that Kodak?" a blonde woman says out loud before walking up to the rapper and caressing the back of his head.

She was speechless for a moment and then wrapped her arms around Kodak's neck in a close embrace. He hugs her back, but things get a tad awkward as she presses herself up against him. She finally lets Kodak go and asks if she can take a photo with him and he kindly obliges. "It's f**king Kodak Black!" she yells. "Holy s**t!" the young woman repeats as she jumps up and down.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvxfk2vFLMZ



She then takes him by the face and kisses him on the cheek. "I don't know if you're with a girlfriend but I wanted to kiss you." The two pose for the picture and once it's all over she struggles with saying goodbye. "Wait," she begins. "I love you." Koday replies, "I love you, too," which hits her somewhere in her feelings because she bear hugs him again, kisses him on the cheek, and runs off to tell her friends about the encounter.

With as much heat as the 21-year-old hip hop star has been catching lately, much of which he's walked right in to on his own, it's nice to see how the fans love on KB. Michael Rapaport may not approve, however.Mally Mall has been arrested after police conducted a raid on his San Fernando Valley home, TMZ reports. The producer, who's worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, was served a search warrant earlier today at his L.A. home by Los Angeles Police Department and agents from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs7aaIcH_ES



Capt. Patrick Foy of the California DFW said that Mally Mall's cotton-top tamarin monkey was seized during the raid. He said that an investigation began about eight to nine months ago after officials received a tip about Mally Mall's photos with his monkey. If you've followed Mally Mall on Instagram, he hasn't shied away from showing off his exotic pets. Officers reportedly received a clip that Mally posted on Instagram in January 2018 while he kicked it with Swae Lee.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeDYJ9DDa_u



The Health Department previously launched an investigation when the producer brought his pet monkey to the strip club as well as when he gifted Justin Bieber a pet monkey and an ocelot.

The raid was part of a double investigation on allegations that Mally Mall was apart of human trafficking and exotic animal trafficking. The human trafficking claims stem from allegations that he was involved in an escort service in Nevada. His Las Vegas home was previously raided in 2014 over human trafficking claims.Meek Mill's been fighting to create change within the criminal justice system ever since his release from prison last year. Meek's been plagued with probation for the entirety of his adult life. While he emerged out of prison being championed as a political prison, he used the attention to work with the state of Pensylvania to try and change the way the probation and parole system works. Earlier today, he and Van Jones introduced House Bill 1925 which has bipartisan support.



Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

Meek Mill was joined by REFORM Alliance co-chairs Van Jones and Michael Rubin, in addition to state representatives Jordan Harris and Sheryl Delozier to introduce House Bill 1925.

The bill which Meek announced is meant to keep parolees and probationers from returning to prison and being kept inside of the system with things such as reducing probationary periods, rewarding good behavior, and overall, minimizing the way technical violations could lead individuals back in the system.

"This proposed bill is the first step in changing the criminal justice system and its only right that we start in my home state, Meek said. "Ive lost too much time away from my son, my family, my friends and fans in Philly because of outdated probation laws, so I want to make sure people dont have go through what I did."

[Via]The Blast is wielding a personal fact sheet containing a list of Eric Holder's personal transgressions. Nipsey Hussle's killer was arrested on Tuesday after local police found him looming in Bellflower, California. The details of his capture were not revealed to the public.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

According to the dossier, Eric Holder was arrested back in the year 2012 on two felonies for carrying a loaded firearm, after which he is reported to have struck a deal to get his sentence reduced to 6 months in a Los Angeles County jail, a far cry from the solitary quarters he is currently locked under as he awaits trial.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1113176738031271936



As part of his plea deal, Holder was ordered to never own, use or possess any dangerous or deadly weapons, including firearms, knives or other concealable weapons," upon his return to civilian life. Before that, Holder was booked in 2009 on completely unrelated domestic battery charges, in which he planted the seed for his cooperative stance, cutting the first of several plea deals that saw his pending jail sentence reduced to an anger management course. Holder was also ordered to stay 100 yards from his baby mother at all times.

As of this writing, Eric Holder is currently seeking alternate means to defend himself, in a mental health facility, believed to be central to his pre-trial defense claims. If given the proper opportunity via psychological testing, Holden will seek a mental health defense in court, as he sits in solitary without the possibility of bail.Yesterday, we reported that Eric Holder, the primary suspect in Nipsey Hussle's murder, was captured twenty miles away from the crime scene. That development came minutes after a reported phone call between the press and Holder's getaway car driver, who stated that she was in the dark regarding the murder. With Eric Holder now confirmed to be in police custody, more information is coming out about Holder. As reported by Daily Mail, the man, who is nicknamed Shitty Cuz, was found outside of a mental health facility in Bellflower.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1113176738031271936



Prior to his arrest, LAPD had been urging Holder to turn himself in, noting that a hit had been put on his life by members of the Crips. Both Holder and Hussle had been members of the gang in Los Angeles and although it was initially believed to have been a gang dispute that led to Hussle's death, it is now assumed to have been a personal argument between the rapper and Eric Holder. In security footage released of the shooting, you can see Hussle and Holder get into an altercation outside of the clothing store before Holder walks off to grab a gun, shoots Hussle several times, and then kicks him in the head.

Several members of the Crips had given the "green light" to other California members to shoot and kill Eric Holder if they saw him in the streets. Nipsey Hussle was scheduled to meet with police to discuss ways to reduce gang violence the day after his death.

Read our memorial post for Nipsey Hussle here. We will continue to update you with any new developments.



MTV/TRL/Getty ImagesHip hop has been in a continuous state of mourning throughout 2019, including grieving the loss of battle rapper Tech 9 (not to be confused with Tech N9ne) last week. The 32-year-old's death on March 24 sent shockwaves throughout his hometown of Philadelphia and beyond, with rappers like Meek Mill, Lupe Fiasco, and Denzel Curry all expressing their condolences on social media.

A cause of death has yet to be announced, however, Philadelphia Magazine reports that the day after Tech 9, real name Akhiym Mickens, passed away, he was scheduled to be arraigned on charges of possession of child pornography, indecent assault, indecent exposure and corruption of minors, and other offenses. Mickens was reportedly arrested on January 5 and according to court documents, he was facing accusations from the daughter of a woman that he was dating.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhkbVe2ghZq



Philadelphia Magazine reports that the girl detailed the sexual abuse she allegedly endured by Mickens to investigators. She claims that Mickens demanded she undress in front of him before he would masturbate in front of her. She also told police that Mickens once forced his way into her bedroom by using a knife and then attempted to coerce her into touching his genitals.

Following Mickens' death, many on social media confused him with Tech N9ne, causing the masses to believe that the latter had died. Tech N9ne took to social media to clear up the rumors. Condolences to the battle rapper Tech 9, he said. Hes been battling for years. Ive observed many a battle of his. Condolences to the family...My family is calling my phone wondering if Im OK. Im OK. My condolences go out to the battle rapper, Tech 9. Philly, stand up."Things are shaking up in Hollywood with a massive boycott that is focused on the LGBTQIA community. According to reports, beginning on Wednesday, the oil-rich nation of Brunei is making adultery and homosexual sex illegal. The punishment for being found guilty of either act is by death, most likely by stoning. They will also begin publicly beating anyone who has had an abortion. The punishment for theft is amputation.

Celebrities have decided to take a stance against the Sultan of Brunei who owns nine luxury hotels, including the elite Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Famous figures including Elle DeGeneres, George Clooney, and Elton John have lent their voices to the cause, encouraging everyone from their Hollywood friends to their fans worldwide to mobilize in the boycott.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvxxfw0B0bA



You know T.I. was going to have something to say about this, especially because he's been met with so much resistance when trying to get the people, especially marginalized communities and hip hop culture, to rally against fashion labels who have been accused of using racist imagery. He continues to fight against Gucci, even attempting to school a stranger on the street that he saw wearing the brand.

Speaking on the recent Brunei boycott, Tip shared information about the news on Instagram while writing that if others can support "their" own, so can he. "See how people ride when you threaten THEIR CULTURE?!?!?! All I ask is that WE (Young Black, Latino, hip hop culture) should take the SAME AMOUNT OF ACTION against those who oppose US as the LGBTQ i, and Jewish communities take against those who oppose them!!!!"

"THATs ALL I ASK!!!!," T.I. continued. "Stand UP FOR OURSELVES AND DEMAND RESPECT!!!! Quit asking for it!!! WHAT POSITION SHOULD WE TAKE IF THEY STILL WEARING GUCCI, PRADA, BURBERRY, & MONCLER???"

Tip is never one to stand down from a social justice issue. He recently had a few words about the "f**kin' coward" who killed Nipsey Hussle and has been bringing attention to the controversial death of Taemon Blair.Tiffany Haddish didn't start 2019 on the best foot since the comedian bombed her stand-up set in Miami. It was apparently so bad that audience members got up and left while Tiffany slurred her words and received boos from the crowd. The Girls Trip star didn't makeup excuses for herself, tweeting the next day that, "Yes this happened. I wish it was better Miami. I prayed on it and I have a strong feeling this will never happened again."

Tiffany has now more recently paid a visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss the moment in her career, explaining how a friend urged her to go out that night noting that there would be "a lot of sexy guys there."



Gabe Ginsberg/WireImage

"I danced all night. I drank more than I've ever drank in my entire life," she explained. "I woke up. I thought I was dead. I definitely woke up dead." She detailed how the horrible hungover tied into her overworking herself from the whole year of 2018.

My soul just left my body," she said when describing her stepping on stage. "And I was like, Come back! She was like, Nah! Cause I dont know if you know this about Miami, but thats where the devil is, and he was trying to snatch my soul out of my body that day. He got it for a hot hour.

Tiffany will be headed back to Miami this summer and all fans who had tickets from her NYE show will get free admission.Legalized discrimination in the name of religious belief is an ancient license for bigotry that has led to horrible wars and human rights abuses.

If the Legislature approves any of the 18 theocratic bills that bless maltreatment of LGBT people, fundamentalists not only will ruin lives, they will severely damage the states economy.

We know discrimination when we see it, said Phillip Jones, CEO of Visit Dallas, the citys convention and visitors bureau. We know its bad for Texas communities, and we know its bad for the Texas economy.

More than 50 companies, chambers of commerce, professional associations and visitors bureaus held a news conference at the Capitol last week and called on lawmakers to reject discriminatory legislation. Among them were Amazon, Apple, Fidelity, PepsiCo and Unilever.

Republican leaders promised this legislation was dead, but the culture warriors have found a new rallying cry to punish and humiliate people for their nonheterosexual orientation or nonconforming gender identity. Discrimination is fine and dandy as long as you cloak it in religious liberty.

Hogwash.

America has been down this road. White Southerners argued that the Bible encourages racial segregation and said equal treatment of African-Americans was a violation of their religious liberty. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against them.

Every American school child knows that your liberty extends only so far as another persons civil rights.

Lubbocks state Sen. Charles Perry and Sen. Paul Bettencourt of Houston didnt learn this basic civics lesson. They are behind SB 17, the bigot bill that would allow state-licensed professionals to invoke their religious beliefs to deny services and discriminate.

Doctors, counselors, plumbers, hairstylists and 61 other licensed professionals could use religious beliefs to escape penalty for biased or hostile behavior while on the job. State agencies only would require emergency medical personnel and law enforcement officers to respect Texans civil rights.

Most Texans oppose the bigot bills. Recent polling shows that 66 percent of Texans favor nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people, said Jessica Shortall, executive director of Texas Competes, a business alliance opposed to the legislation.

Texans want LGBTQ people to have the same opportunities to live and work, the same access to services and to contribute to their communities as everyone else, and to be free from fear of discrimination, she added. A majority of people in every age group, every ethnic group, every faith group and every political persuasion feel this way.

Even after a hearing before the Senate State Affairs Committee, where most people testified against the bill, eight Republicans and one Democrat recommended it to the full Senate. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who says he is a Christian above all, brought the bill up for a vote Tuesday, and the Republican-majority passed it.

Patrick may think legalizing bigotry will make Texas a better place, but most Americans disapprove of state-sponsored discrimination, said Michelle Crowley, vice president for global growth at the international Professional Convention Management Association.

Organizations will not bring events to Texas if discriminatory bills become law, and most convention contracts allow organizers to cancel if such laws take effect.

Boards of organizations and corporations of all kinds are watching this legislative session and will cancel their meetings, she said. When an association comes to a city, it needs to be sure that their entire membership base is protected and that they feel welcome.

Merely talking about these laws makes it harder to attract top workers, said Jackie Padgett, communications manager at Silicon Labs, an Austin-based semiconductor company.

Talented workers have concerns about moving to, or staying in, a state that pursues discriminatory policies, she said.

In addition to SB 17, there are 17 other bigot bills. They include SB 1009, SB 1978, HB 2109, HB 3172 and HB 4512 which would allow discrimination around marriage. SB 85, SB 1107, HB 2892, HB 4357 would allow discrimination in health care and counseling services. Government officials would be allowed to discriminate under SB 2013 HB 1035 and HB 4041. While SB 880 and SB 2325 would allow discrimination in higher education.

Lastly, many observers believe the revised version of SB 15, which would ban local governments from imposing ordinances related to wages and benefits, also would strike down nondiscrimination ordinances that protect LGBT people.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Speaker Dennis Bonnen should know that discriminating against someone for how they were born is unacceptable in the public square. More importantly, they should know the Texas economy depends on upholding this fundamental freedom and kill these bills.

Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.

chris.tomlinson@chron.com

twitter.com/cltomlinsonPracticing different religions never stopped Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza, Rabbi Samuel Karff and Reverend William A. Lawson from standing side-by-side and working together for social justice.

In fact, theyve become the best of friends.

Were the Three Amigos, Rabbi Karff said. Ive had the good fortune to become good friends with them, and we were privileged to tackle certain issues together.

Martin B. Cominsky, CEO of Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, calls these heroes the three wise men. Theyve personally inspired him throughout his career  from his time creating the Serve Houston AmeriCorps program to his tenure as southwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League

They always stood up for causes that were important, he said.

Now Interfaith is holding the clergymen up as an example for Houston  opening the Brigitte and Bashar Kalai Plaza of Respect at its headquarters in Midtown, 3303 Main St.

Theyre wise people, Cominsky said. I think theyll inspire others for the future. I wanted them to not just be iconic characters from the past but to be living symbols of the value of respect.

Fiorenza, Karff and Lawson, all pillars of the community, will be honored as Pillars of Light in the plaza, which was dedicated and opened Tuesday.

More Information For information on the Brigitte and Bashar Kalai Plaza of Respect, visit www.imgh.org/plaza-of-respect. See More Collapse

Three monuments of dichroic glass  each bearing the resemblance and brief biography of the iconic faith leaders  will anchor the space. The vertical sculptures reflect light during the day and are illuminated at night.

The Peace Portal marks the entrance to the plaza, with three doorways representing the multiple pathways of faith in Houston.

A horizontal metal banner, placed along the top perimeter of the building, features the word respect in a number of languages, each carved from metal and illuminated from within.

Inside the plaza, a Wall of Faith stands like a clock, but with the names of faiths standing in place of time of day. In the center, a reflective circle and the word and will allow the viewer to contemplate his or her own place, spiritual journey and beliefs.

Cominsky said the Plaza of Respect reflects the uplifting spirit of Houston.

Its a wonderful space in the heart of our city to show whats in the heart of our city  respect, he said.

Cominsky said that having a safe space for all faiths is key, even in the planning stages.

At times, people feel very separated in their religions, and we wanted to have a place where everyone could gather and support each other, he said.

Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston had an ideal area to transform to fit this vision  an empty and often unused patio, ripe for a renovation. The building was once a Bell Credit Union.

That plaza was just a picnic area, he said. I kept looking down on it and saying there has to be a higher, more spiritual use for that area.

The concept for the Plaza of Respect was born.

In 2016, Cominsky started building the concept of extending Interfaiths Albert and Ethel Herzstein Building with an outdoor space for education and celebration of Houstons diverse faiths.

A year later, philanthropists Brigitte and Bashar Kalai donated $1 million to build the plaza.

We live in a great city, and Houston is such a diverse city, Bashar Kalai said. You see all walks of life living in harmony, working together to have success. Its all a result of that collaboration.

He said that he and his wife Brigitte are interested in doing whatever they can to add to that community spirit of unity.

We all have much more in common than different, Brigitte said. When they told us about the plaza of respect, we wanted everyone to have a chance to see how diverse our city is.

In addition, the couple wanted to support the work of Interfaith, a group that helps the elderly and refugees in Houston.

Moses, Jesus and Muhammad were all refugees at some point, Bashar said. Sometimes, people forget that. People have to be reminded.

Karff, Fiorenza and Lawson led their lives building bridges in all religions to make important changes, Bashar added.

He and his wife, who are both Muslim, wanted to be involved in celebrating the lives of the three clergymen.

Islam teaches us that God creates all humans equally and emphasizes that love is really the foundation of faith, Bashar said.

Interfaith raised an additional $1.7 million to complete the project. Now the Brigitte and Bashar Kalai Plaza of Respect is a reality, an outdoor reflective gathering place and venue for events. The design was created by Genslers Ryan Marchesi and Kristopher Stuart, as well as PBK Architects and the companys president Dan Boggio.

Cominsky envisions lectures, educational programs and even outdoor film screenings in the area. We want it to be a celebration space, as well as a place of solace, he said.

Each year, Interfaith will give a Spirit of Respect award, honoring an individual who shares the values of Archbishop Fiorenza, Rabbi Karff and Rev. Lawson.

The inaugural honoree will be Rabbi Roy Walter, the retired leader of Emanu El. He will be presented with the award at Interfaiths Tapestry Gala on April 30.

The event also recognizes the 50th anniversary of Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston. Cominsky said Fiorenza, Karff and Lawson are emblematic of the strength found in building interfaith connections and that their spirit of working for a common good should be carried forward.

The trio has been working together for the past three decades  and their job is by no means over.

Were still at it, Karff said. Were not young anymore, but we still have some energy. We certainly have the will to make a difference.

Their current efforts are focused on building resources for geriatric health care.

We still find our deepest meaning in helping those in need, Karff said. It doesnt stop when we meet one need. If we have the power to help, then by helping others, we continue to find meaning in our own lives.

Social justice has always been a part of religion for the Rabbi Emeritus at Houstons Congregation Beth Israel.

I felt it was not enough to study Jewish texts, he said. It was important to apply that knowledge to situations that face us in our immediate area.

Lawson holds a similar conviction. He established Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in 1962, at the beginning of the civil rights movement and soon became deeply involved in efforts to end of segregation in Houston and to uphold equality for all walks of life.

I always thought the church ought not to just be a place of worship, but also a place of drawing people to causes, Lawson said.

The reverend marched alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., helped the formation of the first African American Studies Program at the University of Houston, headed Houstons chapter of Southern Christian Leadership and is the namesake of the William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

Lawson found his soul mates in the social justice front when he united with Karff and Fiorenza, a Catholic leader who also marched with King and stood up for immigrants and human rights.

The trio united to fight homelessness and sat on the inaugural board for the Coalition for the Homeless.

There was a very serious homeless problem, and we came together for that, said Fiorenza, the former archbishop of the Galveston-Houston archdiocese. SEARCH evolved out of that. Each religious congregation in the city could take on homelessness in their area and promote well-being.

More and more causes became central to the three friends. Different projects came up and different groups asked us to help out, Fiorenza said.

Lawson said the three came together when Regina Rogers formed the Coalition for Mutual Respect, a group of religious and secular leaders who promoted understanding and interfaith interactions.

It was to bring people together of all ethnicities, of all faiths and all nationalities, Lawson said. Wed be advocates of respect for each other.

One of their first causes was to add a public defender to Houston.

Rev. Lawson called me and explained what was happening, Karff recalled. Harris County did not have a public defender. That means poor people got an attorney that was actually appointed by the judge in their case.

Lawson was already pushing for a local office. Harris County was one of the few large counties in the nation that didnt have one, the reverend recalled.

He asked the rabbi and archbishop to assist  and their insights helped with the formation of the Harris Countys Public Defenders Office, which was established in 2011.

Criminal justice remained a central cause for the three. They moved on to the school-to-prison-pipeline, the idea that children from disadvantaged backgrounds eventually become incarcerated.

The three clergymen helped start a pilot mentorship program in the Spring Branch school district, which has grown across the city, Karff said.

Regardless of the cause, Karff believes that the three leaders together could be a more persuasive force than any one alone.

Weve never been turned down to meet with anyone, he said. If we came singularly, just alone, to make those requests, we would have a percentage of rejections. The fact that we come from different faiths makes the three of us together have a mystique and that makes it very difficult to say no.

When Interfaith approached them about the plaza, they were honored and surprised, Lawson said.

We didnt think we were worth a plaza, he said. This is something in the center of Houston, and it will be there a long time after all of us.

Karff hopes the plaza will show that others can engage in the same work as the three amigos. People can come together to learn about each others faiths and learn to increase the spirit of respect in our community, he said.

Lawson agreed, Our hope is to at least become a kind of model, and that the notion of interfaith and inter-race will catch on. Our hope is to leave a legacy for others to pick up and carry.

Lindsay Peyton is a writer in Houston.MISSION MOON: Nearly 50 years have passed since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. Our special anniversary coverage explores how the country came together to fulfill President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the lunar surface by 1970, NASA's bold missions  and crippling tragedies  since that historic day, the future of space exploration and fate of Houston as America's "Space City."

***

First man on the moon Neil Armstrong was a self-described nerdy engineer. He loved flying and understanding the mechanics of it. He was passionate about education and encouraging younger generations to reach for lofty goals.

But most of all, he was humble  uncomfortable with the celebrity status that followed him for decades after the July 20, 1969, lunar landing until his death in 2012.

He was not interested in wallowing in his accomplishments and sitting on his laurels and having people adore him, said Greg Brown, experience coordinator at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in the moonwalkers hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio. He just wasnt wired that way. It just wasnt something he was interested in.

It was a difficult spot to be in for a man who became the first human to step on the moon  uttering arguably the most famous sentence in modern U.S. history  as 20 percent of the worlds population at the time watched and listened.

Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind, 600 million people heard Armstrong say. Buzz Aldrin followed him to the surface soon after.

SIGN UP FOR SPACE JUNK: Get Mission Moon updates delivered to your inbox each week

Armstrongs interest in flight began long before this monumental achievement. He had a pilots license by 16  even before he could drive  and studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University and aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California.

Before being tapped as an astronaut in 1962, Armstrong flew 78 combat missions in Korea for the U.S. Navy and was a test pilot for what would eventually become NASA.

He was one of the greatest human beings I have ever known, Chris Kraft, NASAs first flight director, has told the Houston Chronicle.

He was a great American, a great astronaut, a great teacher, a great pilot and one of my closest friends, Kraft said. We grew up together at (the space agency) and were always working toward a better future for aeronautical engineering and space.

NASA, Handout / Getty Images

In 1966, Armstrong commanded the Gemini 8 mission, in which two modules docked in space for the first time. During that mission, he was able to successfully bring the capsule home after it was knocked out of orbit by a rogue thruster.

And then, three years later in 1969, he commanded the Apollo 11 mission that took him to the surface of the moon.

Neil was a man of few words and enjoyed being the strong, silent type, Aldrin wrote in his book, No Dream is Too High, published in 2016 Neil was much more serious and dignified.

LISTEN: Our "Cigarettes & Rocket Fuel" podcast follows NASA's 1969 Apollo missions

But the celebrity was too much for Armstrong, who wasnt gregarious and outgoing like many of his colleagues, Brown said. He stayed on with NASA for a year in an administrative role before going home to Ohio and purchasing a farm just outside of Lebanon.

Thats where he spent a lot of his time because it allowed him to get away and stay out of the limelight, Brown said. He enjoyed that solitude.

In the decades after the lunar landing, he made few appearances and gave few interviews.

I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer, Armstrong said during a 2012 speech at the National Press Club.

He quietly taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati from 1971 to 1979  a school he chose because he didnt feel he had a right to teach Ivy Leaguers, Brown said.

Heres a guy whos so modest and humble that he walked on the moon, flew Gemini 8 and Apollo 11, was a successful test pilot and yet, he doesnt feel he should teach somewhere like (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or other Ivy League schools because he just had a mere masters degree, Brown said. But he wanted to contribute to the education of the youth, and he felt strongly about that.

After leaving the University of Cincinnati, he remained active in aerospace. He served as chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc. between 1982 and 1992. He also served as vice chairman of the committee that investigated the 1986 accident of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which blew up 73 seconds into flight and killed all seven crew members.

MISSION MOON: Apollo 11 lunar landing leaves lasting legacy 50 years later

But Armstrong also was passionate about the health of the Earth, said his son, Mark Armstrong, during a November auction of his fathers personal memorabilia. The family is creating an environmentally focused foundation where a chunk of the auctions proceeds will go. The November auction brought in $5.2 million, and two more events are planned for this year: one in May and another in November.

Even though he was a scientist, Dad was really environmentally conscious, he said. He always said Earth was our spaceship  We couldnt build a better one so lets take care of the one we have.

Melissa Phillip, Staff / Houston Chronicle

Armstrong died in 2012 of complications from cardiovascular procedures. He was 82. And though 12 men stepped foot on the moon between 1969 and 1972, Armstrong always will be the first.

As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankinds first small step on a world beyond our own, said Charles Bolden, NASA administrator at the time of Armstrongs death. Besides being one of Americas greatest explorers, Neil carried himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all.CHICAGO - Voters in Chicago made history on Tuesday by electing Lori Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, as the city's first black female mayor. Her commanding victory capped a grueling campaign that saw Lightfoot, who will become the city's first openly gay mayor, defeat more than a dozen challengers en route to winning her first elected office.

Lightfoot, 56, is now set to lead the nation's third-largest city as it continues to grapple with gun violence, alleged public corruption, ongoing efforts to reform the police force and an exodus of black residents. In the runoff election on Tuesday, she defeated Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, in a contest fraught with historic meaning, given that it featured two black women vying to succeed outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The Associated Press called the race less than an hour after polls closed, with Lightfoot leading Preckwinkle by nearly 50 percentage points.

In her victory speech, Lightfoot said she was committed to ending the broken political culture of Chicago."We can and we will break this city's endless cycle of corruption," she said, raising her fist in the air. "And never again, never ever, allow politicians to profit from elected positions."

The significance of the moment was not lost on the crowd at the Hilton hotel on South Michigan Avenue where Lightfoot's election party took place.

"I did not think I would see this in my lifetime," said Leslie Page-Piper, 60, of Englewood, who volunteered for the Lightfoot campaign. "And it happened just like that," he said, snapping his fingers. "I'm overwhelmed."

Lightfoot, who had previously led Chicago's civilian board handling police discipline cases and worked for the law firm Mayer Brown, had been an underdog during the mayoral race. A relative unknown seeking her first electoral victory, the campaign drew inevitable comparisons to Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor who ran a grass-roots campaign in 1983.

In a mirror of other campaigns that have unfolded on local and national levels alike, Lightfoot campaigned on promises of change as she sought to defeat Preckwinkle, a veteran elected official who has been president of the county board for nearly a decade.

Emanuel stunned observers last fall when he announced his decision not to seek a third term, which gave way to a crowded scrum of 14 candidates seeking to succeed him. Lightfoot and Preckwinkle emerged in February as the two final contenders from a group that included a former police superintendent, former state representatives and a man who was the son and brother of former mayors.

Preckwinkle, addressing supporters late Tuesday, said she was "disappointed" but "not disheartened." She also pledged to continue working for her constituents as president of the county board."This is clearly an historic night," she said. "Not long ago two African-American women vying for this position would have been unthinkable. While it may be true that we took different paths to get here, tonight is about the path forward."

On Tuesday, Monique Farren, 36, a teacher who voted for Lightfoot in the Albany Park neighborhood, said she would have been fine with either candidate, saying: "I feel like they're both on the same page."

Others saw it as a contest pitting experience against change, the establishment versus someone viewed as outside of it. For supporters of Lightfoot, they viewed her as a person who could push for reforms. For Preckwinkle's backers, her policies and background made her the choice.

"She knows the issues and has worked on them for years," Claire Terrell, 51, a teacher, said while voting for Preckwinkle in the Rogers Park neighborhood. "We've seen what happens when you elect someone who has never held political office before. Experience matters now more than ever, even in this city."

Lightfoot's inexperience in elected office gave no pause to Cesar Diaz, 36, who handed out literature urging people to vote for Lightfoot, who he supports even though the electricians union which he is a member of endorsed Preckwinkle.

"Even though she hasn't had a chance to make policy decisions, I want to give her a chance to show who she can be," he said of Lightfoot.

Julie Potratz, 33, a Chicago Public Schools teacher, voted after work for Preckwinkle because of her education background, but said the fact that a black woman would win regardless "is wonderful, it's really refreshing."

Mike Klonsky, a retired teacher who voted in Logan Square, picked Lightfoot, noting that she got into the race before Emanuel's announcement, unlike Preckwinkle and others who only jumped in after Emanuel dropped out. Klonsky also viewed her as a candidate who could take aim at the city's political machine.

"I want to get rid of the remnants of the old Chicago machine and open up the door to change in this city," said Klonsky, 75.

After making the runoff, Lightfoot went on to secure endorsements from several of those defeated contenders and picked up support from labor unions, state lawmakers and the city's two major daily newspapers. Preckwinkle's major endorsement came from the Chicago Teachers Union, which had turned comments Lightfoot made about letting the police utilize empty public school buildings against her. Preckwinkle's supporters used that suggestion to push the idea that Lightfoot cannot be trusted on police reform issues, a key topic for many residents.

The mayoral contest has played out amid lingering tensions over issues of violent crime and inequality. The next mayor will also have to deal with an ongoing effort to reform the police force, which in recent years was the subject of a Justice Department investigation that concluded with a scathing report saying officers routinely violate the rights of residents, particularly blacks and Latinos.

That federal investigation began after the city released video footage in 2015 showing a white officer shooting and killing Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, the previous year. The video set off intense protests and public anger. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, stood trial last year and was convicted of second-degree murder.

For Emanuel, who ran for mayor after years spent working in the White House, the controversy over McDonald and the police department lingered throughout his second term. Last fall, just a day before Van Dyke's trial began, he made the stunning declaration that he would not seek another term.

Policing issues were prominent in the campaign to follow him. Lightfoot had been president of the Chicago Police Board, which rules on discipline cases, and chaired a police task force that Emanuel assembled after the McDonald video was released. The task force's report criticized both the police department and its oversight system.

But Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., who endorsed Preckwinkle, lashed out at Lightfoot recently by saying, "If any young black male or female is killed by a police officer under a Lightfoot administration, then the blood would be on those voters' hands who elected her."

Lightfoot said Rush's words were hateful rhetoric and asked Preckwinkle to denounce them. Preckwinkle declined to do so, saying that Rush, who has served in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is "a pillar in the civil rights movement in this city and is more than capable of speaking on his beliefs."

Speaking to voters outside a subway stop in Logan Square not far from her home while ballots were being cast during the day on Tuesday, Lightfoot said she was "grateful and very hopeful." She also framed her possible election as momentous for what it would mean in a city with such entrenched political forces.

"The historic part of this election is if we win, we beat the machine," Lightfoot said. "That's the real historic possibility of today.

- - -

Berman reported from Washington. The Washington Post's Kari Lydersen in Chicago contributed to this report.Its hard to get people to even come out to vote or even to speak about supporting different candidates because they just have lost the trust all the way around, said Randle-El, who is running for alderman in Harveys 5th Ward. Were going to get something new, regardless, and hopefully we can restore that public trust and get our voter numbers back up.A Tarrant County man is suspected of killing his cellmate Saturday night in a Texas prison, officials said.

Robertson Unit staff discovered the slaying when they found 35-year-old Quinton Thompson lying on the floor of his cell unresponsive.

The Houston man died later that night in the prison's medical unit, according to a statement from Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel.

The slain prisoner's cellmate, George Badillo Jr., was put in restraints and taken away, and prison investigators with the Office of the Inspector General confirmed that he's the primary suspect.

"We have no reason to believe otherwise at this point," said Deputy Inspector General Joseph Buttitta. "We're not looking for any other suspects."

The slain man died of blunt force trauma, Buttitta said, though it's unclear what motivated the alleged killing and the full autopsy is still pending completion.

The 32-year-old suspect was denied parole in February, but could have otherwise been eligible for release Friday. He had a prison history dating back to 2008 and was serving an eight-year sentence for evading and theft, according to state records.

Badillo has not yet been formally charged in connection with Thompson's death, Buttitta said.

"But he's not getting out of prison any time soon," he added, "so we're not worried about that."

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.Voters in the North Palos Fire Protection District appeared to back a measure by the district seeking an increase in how much it can levy in property taxes, with the measure, if approved, adding a little more than $100 a year to the tax bill of the owner of a home having a market value of $200,000, according to the district, which covers all or portions of Hickory Hills, Palos Hills, Worth and areas of the Cook County Forest Preserve District. Voters in the district turned down a tax increase last November.The Mississippi man had been hiding out in a bare-bones apartment in Egypt for nearly three years when FBI agents tracked him down in connection with an elaborate campaign fraud scheme allegedly orchestrated by a former U.S. congressman.

Jason Posey, who had served as an aide to U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, ultimately flipped on his old boss, pleaded guilty and testified at Stockmans federal court jury trial in Houston about the multiyear $1.25 million scam that pilfered campaign funds from super-wealthy Republican donors. Stockman, 62, of Clear Lake, a right-wing firebrand who served two nonconsecutive terms in Congress, is now serving a 10-year term in a federal lockup after being convicted of 23 criminal counts, including mail and wire fraud, violating federal election law, making excessive campaign contributions and lying on a federal tax return.

CONVICTION: Former U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman convicted in massive fraud scheme

Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced the former aide Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison for wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering charges. Posey, 48, of Tupelo, Miss., will serve an additional three years of supervised release. He remains free on bond and was ordered to surrender to prison officials.

Prior to sentencing, Posey told the judge that he took responsibility for his choices.

I will carry that shame, embarrassment and humiliation with me for the rest of my life, the defendant said.

Prosecutor Robert Heberle asked the judge to consider that Posey provided valuable cooperation to the government about Stockman, but noted that he also obstructed justice and played a key role in a sophisticated scheme that cheated voters.

Poseys lawyer, Philip Hilder, said Stockman took advantage of Poseys abiding loyalty to a man he idolized and considered a father figure.

He followed him to Egyptwhy would anybody do that? Hilder asked. Hilder also reminded the judge of something Posey said on the witness stand, recalling a day the new congressional aides were going around introducing themselves and their jobs in the office. Posey said, Im Jason Posey and I just do what Im told.

The judge commended Posey for helping prosecutors try and convict his former mentor, adding that its also important that he be held accountable for his actions.

This was corruption, it was greed. Nothing fancy, Rosenthal said. The kind of political corruption that Mr. Stockman got Mr. Posey involved in and that Mr. Posey facilitated over an extended time in repeated ways does present a risk of corrosion in some of our basic institutions, and that matters.

In addition to his prison term, the judge also ordered Posey, who now works as a short-order cook, to repay $350,000 to the conservative Ed Uilein Family Foundation and another $214,718 to the companys CEO, Richard Uihlein. Another Stockman aide, Thomas Dodd, 40, of Houston, received an identical prison sentence for aiding in the scheme last year and is jointly liable to repay some of the same stolen funds.

Stockman represented a swath of East Texas in Congress before mounting an unsuccessful bid to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in 2013.

FRAUD ODDITIES: 34 surprising facts revealed during ex-Congressman Steve Stockmans fraud trial

Dodd and Posey offered crucial testimony in Stockmans jury trial last year, outlining for prosecutors how they helped cover deficits in the candidates campaign coffers by making bogus campaign contributions in their parents names. Stockman and his aides lied to executives at conservative foundations and funneled the donations through shell nonprofits and dozens of bank accounts, then the conservative lawmaker spent it on a variety of personal and campaign expenses.

Stockman blew the funds on a hot-air balloon ride, a shopping trip and tuition for a Christian summer camp, among other expenses.

Stockman left a well-documented trail of wire and mail fraud that prosecutors pored over with witnesses at trial.

Posey told the jury that in the aftermath of their risky donation scheme he agreed to spend years in Cairo because Stockman suspected that he and his staff were being investigated by law enforcement.

He knew he was being sent there to get him out of the investigators access, said Heberle, the prosecutor.

Posey had left rural Mississippi for Washington, D.C., in the 1990s to get an education in conservative ideals, his lawyer said. He met Stockman during his first term in office, and the lawmaker became a role model to the young man, Hilder said.

Stockman hired Posey during his second campaign for Congress.

Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and send her tips at gabrielle.banks@chron.com.Manuela Herrera used to flinch when she turned the corner to see her home.

She and her husband bought the house  their first  for just over $80,000 in October 2015, and it was nearly perfect, she thought, except for the exterior paint job in AstroTurf green that they couldnt afford to redo.

Then she found out about the lead paint.

After signing up for free testing at her childs elementary school, Herrera learned her 1946 home contained lead in the green exterior, the window sills and some inside trim. It was among more than 500,000 homes in Houston built before 1978, when lead paint was outlawed for residential use.

Today, though, thanks to a city program that has removed lead paint from thousands of homes in Houston, the Herrera family is back inside with both problems resolved  the lead is gone and Herrera finally got the black-and-white paint job shed always wanted.

I was so happy they came and fixed it, she said.

Its a problem

Since its inception in 1996, the citys lead abatement program has cleaned up 3,116 homes in targeted areas.

This year, a $3 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development  combined with $975,000 in city bond funds  will allow the Houston Health Department to remove lead from another 160 homes.

The program, which operates at no cost to families and also serves rental properties, is open to low-income families with a child under six or a pregnant woman in the household. For a family of four, the maximum income is $55,350; for a family of six, like the Herreras, the maximum income is $64,250.

The city Health Department has identified 16 high-risk areas for abatement in 80 targeted ZIP codes. Within those ZIP codes, about 60,000 houses were built before 1940, putting an estimated 270,000 children at risk.

Lead poisoning can have a severe impact on children, causing brain development problems and, in the worst cases, death. About 800 children under the age of six in Houston are found to have blood levels of lead that are considered concerning each year, and an additional 21,200 children each year have lower levels of lead detected in their system.

Although no lead level is considered safe, no child has died from lead poisoning in Houston in the last 10 years, according to the citys health department.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that almost all houses built before 1978 contain some form of lead paint or lead dust  about 24 million units in the country, 4 million of which have young children in them. As lead deteriorates, the dust coats other parts of the house.

Its a problem and I dont think people realize it, Raun said. We have never had a case that we know of of lead poisoning in a child in Houston from drinking water, which right now everyone thinks about. We do continue to have poisoned children  lead paint is one of the highest routes of poisoning.

How to sign up The city of Houston's lead abatement program will remove lead paint free of charge for homeowners within 80 targeted ZIP codes who fall within income guidelines. To sign up, call the Houston Health Department at 832-393-5141. See More Collapse

Although pediatricians are required to test children for lead levels, only about 10 percent of children in the high-risk ZIP codes get tested, she said. The Health Department initiated proactive screening and informational programs at public health fairs, and has trained community volunteers to canvass their blocks.

Removing lead paint from homes is key to helping children avoid exposure.

It has a bigger impact on their developing bodies, in brain and bone development, Raun said. These children are in poverty to begin with and we want them in school to do well. Were interested in making sure theyre in safe housing.

Home improvement

Herrera signed up for the program nearly two years ago at her youngest childs school. When she got a knock on her door a year-and-a-half later, she said, she couldnt remember signing up for the program.

Nonetheless, city workers spent four hours checking her home for lead. The tests came back positive, although none of the four Herrera children  who range in ages from 6 to 26  had elevated levels of lead in their blood.

Then came the removal. Two weeks before Thanksgiving 2018, the Herrera family packed up their belongings and went to stay in the Houston Inn & Suites on Wayside Drive. The city paid for the two-week hotel stay and for them to put their belongings in storage.

Qualified homes get new windows, new doors and a fresh paint job. When a worker came by with paint samples, Herrera said she needed less than a minute to pick out her black-and-white theme. Shed already painted the inside of the house that way, save for the kids rooms, which were blue-and-beige for the boys and pink-and-purple for the girls.

A home can really be improved by the program, which is really exciting for the family to see and live in a brand-new home, Raun said. And its free.

Happy to see my house

While the Herreras waited on the city to finish, Herrera made the kids tortas in their hotel rooms, slicing avocados and jalapenos with a plastic knife, and cooked bags of microwave popcorn.

The boys stayed in one room with her husband; she stayed in the other room with the girls. It was the first time she and her husband and slept apart in 13 years of marriage. But the kids, especially the three youngest, loved it.

To them, it was like a vacation, she said.

Two days before Thanksgiving, the Herraras got another call. The house was ready for move-in. They threw their belongings back into boxes and headed home the next day.

When Herrera turned the corner, she loved what she saw.

The outside of her house was painted bright white. The windows and the awning had black trim. It looked like new. Inside, the contaminated trim had been replaced and painted black. She had 17 new windows.

Im actually happy to see my house from a distance, because it looks pretty, she said. You turn the corner and look at the house  it pops now.

sarah.smith@chron.comIve often thought that our national debates over immigration, and border security, would be more productive if they were led by Texans.

The subjects fall under the purview of the federal government, of course, but Texans are disproportionately likely to take an interest in them and to have had personal or professional experiences that inform, and ground, their political perspective. Texas is a border state, after all, and roughly 5 million of its roughly 29 million residents are immigrants.

There are plenty of Republican elected officials in Texas who freely fearmonger about immigrants, to be clear, while harboring hawkish policy views on immigration. And the leaders of the state GOP mostly abandoned the pragmatism that distinguished leaders such as George W. Bush and Rick Perry, even before Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.

With that said, the people of Texas havent embraced Trumps approach to immigration, even if they are Republicans. Former first lady Laura Bush, for example, spoke out against the family separations.

And it would clearly be possible to have a reasonable debate about immigration, or border security, with someone like Julian Castro, the former San Antonio mayor and HUD secretary who is among the Democrats vying for his partys presidential nomination. This week, Castro rolled out his Putting People First immigration policy.

He also published a post, on Medium, explaining that his memory of his grandmother influences how he thinks about this issue, because she was an immigrant from Mexico.

Reading it was like applying an ice pack directly to my brain.

We must remember what immigration means to our national identity, and who we want to be as a country, Castro wrote.

His rivals for the Democratic nomination have taken issue with Trumps views on immigration and his approach to enforcing our immigration laws, but Castro is the first to roll out a detailed policy proposal of his own. This suggests that hes determined to try to fix our broken immigration system rather than just criticize Trumps handling of the issue.

Although Castro has a reputation for being cautious, his bold proposal suggests the opposite. He calls for a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants currently in the country, which many Democrats support, but doesnt leave it at that.

The truth is, immigrants seeking refuge in our country arent a threat to national security. Migration shouldnt be a criminal justice issue. Its time to end this draconian policy and return to treating immigration as a civil  not a criminal  issue, Castro wrote.

Its deeply disappointing that the states Republican leaders have been so accepting of the Trump administrations harsh approach to enforcing our nations immigration laws, in addition to turning a blind eye to the presidents vitriolic rhetoric on the subject.

And at this point it should be clear, even to those leaders, that their meekness in dealing with Trump, who this week threatened to shut down the nations southern border, isnt paying off.

Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals, tweeted the president, who of course launched his 2016 campaign by claiming that Mexican immigrants were bringing drugs and crime and included rapists.

Next step is to close the Border! Trump added recently. This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!

To Trumps point, shutting down the border would certainly affect Mexicos trafficking organizations. It would also take a catastrophic toll on Texass economy, among other things. But its not possible to have a reasonable debate about such tradeoffs with someone who hasnt even bothered to consider them.

And the boldness of Castros immigration proposal is compelling, after several years of an immigration debate defined by Trump.

erica.grieder@chron.comOne dead and seven injured. Millions in fines. Decades of lawsuits.

On Tuesday, the KMCO facility in Crosby became the latest Houston area chemical facility to be engulfed in flames. The company is also one of the regions worst offenders of environmental and workplace safety laws, according to the Harris County Attorneys office.

As long as Ive been doing environmental work for Harris County, Ive been involved in case with this company, either with the previous owner or the current owner, said Rock Owens, managing attorney for the Harris County Attorneys environmental section. And Ive been doing this for close to 30 years. This company has been around forever causing trouble.

DEJA VU: Area sees second chemical plant fire in two weeks

At least seven workers have been injured at the facility since 2009, in addition to the fatality on Tuesday.

The Harris County Fire Marshals Office said Tuesdays fire started when a line carrying isobutelyne, a flammable gas, ignited. One worker died and two were critically injured.

Now Playing: All campuses in Crosby ISD and Sheldon ISD are under a shelter in place. Crosby ISD has turned off their HVAC systems and it will not release students to parents or let them onto school buses until further notice. Video: Cassie Ann

On Christmas Eve 2010, a runaway reaction sent three employees at the plant to the hospital. Workers there couldnt lower the pressure in a reactor and, as they tried to fix a clogged line, they accidentally mixed a caustic solution with maleic anhydride, a normally stable chemical. The result was an explosion and fire. An explosion in 2011 sent two more workers to a hospital.

In a statement Tuesday, KMCO CEO John C. Foley apologized to residents near the facility. At a news conference, Foley elaborated.

We have a long track record of investing in the people, the systems, and the assets to operate safety, Foley said.

A history of violations

But the company has had consistent trouble staying within environmental and workplace rules. Since 2009, KMCO has paid out more than $4 million in fines or criminal penalties to local and federal regulators.

In 2017, the company pleaded guilty to criminal violations of the Clean Air Act filed by the Environmental Protection Agency and was ordered to pay $3.5 million. The violations were in connection to an explosion at its Port Arthur facility and air emissions at the Crosby plant.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued dozens of violations to KMCO since 2010 and fined the company about $250,000.

The facility is currently not compliant with the federal Clean Water Act. KMCO was in violation of the act for seven of the last 12 quarters, records show. It violated the Clean Air Act three times in the last 12 quarters. EPA data shows the facility also violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in February 2018. That law regulates how facilities handle hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste.

It has been about a year since the facilitys last inspection, according to EPA records.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has fined the company for more than a $150,000 for multiple violations since 2009.

KMCO is a subsidiary of an Austin private investment firm. The Owner Resource Group acquired KMCO in 2015. The Crosby facility produces coolant and brake fluid for the automotive industry and chemicals for the oilfield industry, according to a company press release.

DETAILS: What we know about the KMCO chemical company

The countys actions against the company started more than 30 years ago:

Harris County first sued KMCO in 1987. The company was ordered to pay $49,750 for violations of the Texas Water Code.

The county sued the KMCO plant in 2008 for spills and fumes that gave neighbors headaches. The lawsuit ended in 2009 with a permanent injunction requiring KMCO to pay $100,000 in civil penalties and to give investigators easy access to the facility and prompt notification of releases.

The county sued again in 2013; that case is still ongoing. Owens said the county attorneys office is still deciding whether to add Tuesdays incident to the existing case or bring a separate case against the company.

While theres been actions before, it hasnt been sufficient, said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, an environmental advocacy group. We should, in the 21st century, be able to prevent these kinds of things from happening.

High potential for harm

A Houston Chronicle report from 2016 found that theres a major chemical incident every six weeks in the greater Houston area.

The report, researched in coordination with Texas A&M University, evaluated facilities based on the potential dangers posed by chemicals on site and the number of people who lived nearby. That report found that the KMCO facility posed a high potential for harm, a 11.24 out of a 14-point scale.

KMCOs safety manager at the time, Kelly Nidini, said the company had significantly upgraded its facilities since 2013, won multiple industry awards and was planning on investing millions, primarily for safety and environmental concerns.

We have no higher priority than ensuring safe and compliant operations, Nidini told the Chronicle in 2016.

KMCOs Risk Management Plan states that its worst-case scenario involves a chemical called ethylene oxide. Theres a storage tank of 246,000 pounds of the chemical on the site. Ethylene oxide is flammable, toxic and reactive. Its a known human carcinogen. It does not appear to have ignited on Tuesday.

The Harris County Attorneys Office is going to make sure KMCO does not restart operations until it is safe to do so, Owens said.

matt.dempsey@chron.com

@mizzousundevilCROSBY  A massive explosion at a chemical plant in northeast Harris County on Tuesday killed one person and sent two others to the hospital in critical condition, sparking a blaze that sent yet another plume of dark smoke into the sky and forcing residents to temporarily shelter in place.

The fire, ignited by a flammable gas called isobutylene at the KMCO chemical processing plant in Crosby, marked the third time in 17 days that a smoggy cloud of smoke emanated from a Houston-area chemical facility.

It is the first chemical fatality at a Houston-area plant since 2016, when a worker died in an incident at PeroxyChem in Pasadena. In 2014, four workers died at a DuPont plant in La Porte.

Responders extinguished the KMCO fire late Tuesday afternoon, while on-scene investigators with the Harris County Fire Marshals Office began conducting interviews to determine where the fire started and what caused the gas to ignite.

Theres a lot of hot metal in there, said Rachel Moreno, a fire marshal spokeswoman. Until its safe for our guys to go in, theyll continue doing interviews of everybody that was at work.

The response will stretch Harris Countys resources, Moreno said, as the fire marshals office begins its second major investigation in less than three weeks. The site of an even larger conflagration at Intercontinental Terminals Co. in Deer Park less than 15 miles away on March 17 remains too unsafe for investigators to visit.

KMCO President John C. Foley apologized to the Crosby community during a news conference for the disruption and alarm the fire caused.

It is with great sadness I stand before you today mourning the loss of a cherished member of our KMCO family, Foley said. Our hearts go out to them and our loved ones.  Our number one priority is safety and compliance.

He declined to provide further information, including the identities of the employees killed or injured in the explosion.

KMCO, a subsidiary of an Austin private investment firm, produces coolant and brake fluid products for the automotive industry, as well as chemicals for the oil field industry. Its facility, which has a history of environmental and workplace safety issues, sits about 13 miles away from the ITC plant, where Harris County officials continued to detect carcinogenic benzene this week.

The KMCO plant is less than three miles from the Arkema facility where a series of explosions spewed chemicals and sickened residents after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

26-agency response

At the KMCO plant, responders from multiple agencies had yet to determine the full inventory of chemicals on site, though Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he was concerned about other fluids or chemicals in the complex.

KMCO spokeswoman Pilar Davis said the fire initially began when isobutylene caught fire, which spread to a warehouse containing ethanol and ethyl acetylene, which are used in the production of fuel additives.

Davis said the company has disclosed the sites chemical inventory to investigators, but declined to immediately share it with the Houston Chronicle.

The explosion, which occurred shortly before 11 a.m., reminded residents of the recent flare-up at ITC, though the ensuing fire and smog did not match the intensity of the prior smoke plume, which blanketed the Houston area for several days.

Still, the incident prompted a swift 26-agency response led by the fire marshals office. Officials ordered a shelter-in-place for all residents within a one-mile radius of the plant, and several nearby school districts followed suit.

Personnel at the Harris County Office of Emergency Management, already activated because of the ITC fire, turned their attention to the Crosby blaze.

It is disturbing and it is problematic that we are seeing this incident at a facility, especially on the heels of ITC, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said at a news conference.

Crosby ISD also turned off its heating, ventilation and air conditioning, while Houston ISD canceled outdoor activities at 53 schools in the north and east portions of the district.

The county and school districts lifted their shelter-in-place orders as the afternoon wore on. Sheriffs deputies enforced a perimeter around the plant as tanker trucks continued to haul water to the site, and crews used bulldozers to pour earth into drainage ditches to prevent runoff of the firefighting foam, which can contain hazardous chemicals, into nearby waterways.

As responders worked to contain the fire, the Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Harris County Pollution Control monitored air quality nearby for detectable chemicals. Shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday, officials had yet to detect chemicals that required action, according to the EPA.

It shook the whole house

Some employees working at the plant narrowly escaped danger. Contractors Brian Balcerowicz and Cesar Mendoza felt the blast from an explosion-proof control room located feet from harms way, Balcerowicz said.

Someone told the two contractors there had been a problem and ordered them to remain in the control room, Balcerowicz said. The explosion came about five minutes later.

Nearby, residents felt their homes rattle from the force of the explosion. Brandy Lyons, who lives less than a quarter-mile from the plant, at first thought someones car had slammed into her house. Nearby, Tawanna Johnson was feeding her 1-year-old son when she heard a big boom that shook her home on Rownita Street.

She called 911 after looking outside and seeing smoke rising from the plant and paper-size debris lofting into the air.

It shook the whole house, windows. It felt like something dropped on the house, Johnson said. We havent had anything like this since Arkema. It was scary but further away.

Harris County Sheriffs Deputy Gary Hendry said he felt like he had been struck by another vehicle when the explosion hit, rattling the windows of his patrol car.

My neighbor called me and told me that their pictures were knocked off the wall, said Hendry, who was the first to call in about the incident. There were about five or six more explosions (after). I know the explosion was central, so it was inside of a cluster of tanks. I do know that the fire team was on scene pretty quickly.

Mark Ragsdale said the explosion nearly knocked him out of bed. After spotting the plume, he went outside to investigate further. As a former firefighter, he recognized the smell as burning plastic and noticed there was no wind to carry the black smoke elsewhere.

I went to the fence, like an idiot, to talk to my neighbor and started coughing, Ragsdale said.

Several residents said they detected an unusual scent in the air. Ragsdales eyes began burning and his throat later became scratchy, he said. Lyons said the air left a weird taste in your month.

It smells pretty bad, she said as acrid smoke wafted into her backyard hours after the fire started.

TCEQ urged to act

In response, the Environmental Defense Fund called on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to inspect every single facility every single year.

Texas is failing to protect people from chemical fires and explosions and rogue releases of toxic air pollution, EDF senior director Elena Craft said in a statement. It is untenable.

KMCOs facility is not currently compliant with the federal Clean Water Act, and it has had dozens of OSHA violations since 2010. A runaway reaction there sent three employees to the hospital on Christmas Eve that year.

The blaze Tuesday was the third chemical fire in the Houston area in 17 days. The day before the ITC fire ignited, a fire at a motor gasoline unit in the ExxonMobil plant in Baytown burned for several hours.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtons office filed a petition late Tuesday in court seeking an injunction against KMCO for violations of the Texas Clean Air Act. Paxtons office filed a similar petition against ITC after the fire there.

Dug Begley, Jacob Carpenter, Matt Dempsey, Julian Gill, Nicole Hensley, Nguyen Le, Marissa Luck and Shelby Webb contributed to this report.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

zach.despart @chron.comMichael F. Barry, the assistant dean at St. Marys University School of Law in San Antonio, has been named president and dean of South Texas College of Law in Houston.

The school is a very successful and strong institution, and Im looking forward to working with the staff, faculty, students and alumni, said Barry, who will officially become the 11th president of the private downtown Houston law school on Aug. 11, four years ahead of its centennial.

His focus, he said, will be to continue the law schools mission of ensuring that its diverse student body receives an excellent education that prepares them to adapt to a changing legal market and landscape. Another goal will be to see to it that students pass their bar exams and obtain meaningful employment, Barry said.

My responsibility is to ensure that the entire organization continues to serve our students, our alumni and our community, and ultimately, the buck stops with the president and the dean to make sure that were doing that, Barry said.

Donald J. Guter, who has served as dean and president for the past decade, said in a statement that he is confident in Barry, describing him as a proven and successful leader, businessman, and scholastic innovator.

His impressive track record of integrity, leadership, and ingenuity will serve STCL Houston and its students well as they approach the law schools 100th year of excellence in legal education, Guter said.

Barry, who earned a law degree from Yale School of Law, worked at St. Marys for years, serving as dean and practitioner in residence. There, Barry designed and spearheaded several initiatives, including Law Success, a three-year program that aims to help students excel in law school, on the bar exam and in practice. He created a database that has tracked student performances and identified strengths and weaknesses to provide tailored programs.

Barry previously worked for legal and corporate companies such as financial services company USAA, for which he served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel, and Capital One Services, where he served as director, assistant general counsel, and associate general counsel while also teaching as an adjunct professor of law at University of Richmond in Virginia.

We look forward to implementing his forward-thinking ideas and strategic plans as we build on the strong foundation established by President and Dean Guter, J. Ken Johnson, chairman of the South Texas College of Law Houston board of directors, said in a statement.

brittany.britto@chron.comA judge has ruled that a north Texas wildlife refuge can keep the tiger seized from an east Houston home, according to police.

The Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison has been caring for the tiger ever since a pot-smoking 311 caller found the feline in a cage on Feb.11 in a foreclosed home at 9415 E. Avenue J. The tiger was taken to the refuge the same week.

Houston Police Department spokesman Kese Smith identified the presumed owner as Brittany Garza. She refused to answer questions elaborating on how she obtained the tiger to investigators or during a hearing Monday in Justice Court Precinct 6, he said.

Garza's lawyer, Jay Cohen, declined to comment on the decision because of "the ongoing nature of this case."

HALL OF FAME: The strangest things that have happened in Houston

HPD filed the civil suit alleging animal cruelty against the presumed owner on Feb. 12.

The judge also ruled that she would "pay $11,609.53 for food and boarding of the tiger, animal care staff, veterinary staff, medical supplies, animal care supplies and the security for the tiger," according to city officials. The big cat required $517 in food, $1,064 in medical supplies and $4,200 for a Henderson County Sheriff's Office deputy to watch over the feline from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to a document detailing the daily cost from Feb. 12 to March 29.

The case has been forwarded to the Harris County District Attorney's Office to determine whether Garza will face criminal charges.

An affidavit for the seizure of the male tiger  who was named Tyson  said the animal was confined to a small cage and forced to sit on a bed of hay and "its own waste.""Im really looking forward to working with the board and the new administration to continue the positive track that the village is on in all of their initiatives to spur development and to balance development against whats right for the existing businesses and residents, she said.Despite opposition from a coalition of businesses including Amazon, Google and Apple, the Texas Senate approved a controversial religious liberty bill on Tuesday that some civil rights groups say is the biggest threat facing the gay community in Texas during this legislative session.

State Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican, said Senate Bill 17 protects licensed professionals such as doctors, accountants, lawyers and counselors from disciplinary action from state boards when they act on their sincerely held religious beliefs in their places of business.

Perry said in the current political climate in America, he fears Christians can't practice their faith openly in the public square without facing consequences, which could include losing their ability to make a living.

Were waking up in an era where Christian faith, specifically, seems to be under attack, said Perry, who is an accountant.

Opponents are calling it the license to discriminate bill, and say it would allow those professionals to deny services to people who are gay or of different faiths.

What if somebody said, I am not going to provide a service because you are a gay couple? asked State Sen. Kel Seliger, an Amarillo Republican, as the bill was debated in the Senate. Doesnt this bill essentially provide a defense of that discrimination or discriminatory behavior?

RELATED: Apple, Google, Facebook rebuke divisive anti-LGBT bills in Texas Legislature

Perry, who says he is not trying to discriminate against anyone, refused to accept an amendment offered by state Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, that would have clarified that the bill would not allow a professional to decline clients based on their sexual orientation. That amendment failed by an 18-13 vote.

The bill was approved by the Senate on a 19-12 vote. It needs one more procedural vote to be sent to the Texas House, where it will face its real test.

Despite fervor from the Houses conservative wing in 2017, that chamber refused to pass a so-called bathroom bill that would have restricted the public restrooms transgender people can use.

Since then, Democrats have gained a dozen seats in the House. Newly elected House Speaker Dennis Bonnen has said he does not want to see another bathroom bill this year. He has derailed other red meat social issues by assigning legislation to committees where it will likely fail  which is what happened to a bill that would have banned an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which went to a committee chaired by a Democrat.

A companion bill to SB 17 that was filed in the Texas House, HB 2827, by Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, is being reviewed by the House State Affairs Committee, but it has not had a public hearing yet.

Tuesdays Senate vote brought condemnation from Equality Texas, the largest statewide organization for LGBTQ rights.

Religious freedom is a fundamental American value protected in our U.S. Constitution, said Samantha Smoot, the groups interim executive director, in a statement. But religious freedom was never intended to be a license to discriminate. SB 17 would create a religious litmus test, and open the doors to discrimination and to real harm to LGBTQ Texans.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Texas Senate, has declared the bill one of the 30 priority items for the 2019 Legislative Sessions.

Todays vote on SB 17 marks a dark moment for Texas: the passage of one of the most broadly discriminatory bills under consideration across the country, said Rebecca Marques, Human Rights Coalition Texas state director. This bill would allow state-sanctioned discrimination against many Texans, but would particularly impact the LGBTQ community.

Businesses, visitors bureaus and chambers of commerce from around the state last week came out in opposition to SB 17 and other bills that could discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.

Such measures are inconsistent with an innovative, forward-facing Texas that we can all be proud of, says a letter supported by Apple, Amazon, Google and more than a dozen other companies.

When asked about the opposition from the business groups, Perry responded: I dont pay homage to the almighty dollar.

Perry also said suggestions that he condones discrimination are hard to take. He said hes taught by his faith to be compassionate and understanding.

Its frustrating because thats not who I am, Perry said. Ill tell you my personal faith is this, I live under a rule thats very clear and sexual morality, murder and all of those things are outlined clearly for me.

Staff writer Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report.(Bloomberg) -- House Democrats voted Wednesday to authorize a subpoena demanding that Attorney General William Barr turn over Special Counsel Robert Muellers full Russia report and all the evidence behind it, potentially touching off a legal clash that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Constitution charges Congress with holding the president accountable for alleged official misconduct, Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York said before the 24-17 vote along party lines in the Judiciary Committee that he heads. Congress is entitled to all of the evidence.

A deal could still be negotiated between Democrats and Barr before the committee issues such a subpoena. I will give him time to change his mind, Nadler said. But if we cannot reach accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas.

The attorney general has pledged to provide Muellers report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and any links to President Donald Trump or those around him, by mid-April. But he has indicated that hell omit sections from its roughly 400 pages that deal with classified information and grand jury proceedings.

Republicans have said Democrats are flailing to keep alive their inquiries into Trump even though Barr already has said Mueller didnt find that the president or those around him conspired in Russias election meddling.

Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the Judiciary panel, said Democrats are desperately searching for something on the president.

Trump has tweeted that Democrats have become totally unhinged and would like to go through the whole process again.

According to a summary by Barr, though, Mueller didnt exonerate Trump on the question of whether he obstructed the investigation, finding evidence on both sides of the question. Nonetheless, Barr said that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that the evidence didnt establish obstruction.

Nadler said that we have reason to suspect this administrations motives. The Mueller report probably isnt the total exoneration the president claims it to be. He said it is our job, not the attorney generals, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office.

But Republican John Ratcliff of Texas, a former U.S. attorney, asked, Where in the special counsel regulation does it say the attorney general must turn over an unredacted, full special counsel report? The special counsel regulation doesnt say that. No law says that.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Wednesday on MSNBC that its inevitable that Bob Mueller is going to have to testify before Congress.

The Judiciary Committees hearing on a subpoena is part of a concerted push by Democrats who now control the House to move forward with investigations of Trump on many fronts.

On Tuesday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee served subpoenas in two inquiries: whether the White House improperly granted top-secret clearances over the objections of civil service workers, and whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross gave inaccurate testimony on the motives for placing a question about citizenship on the 2020 census.

The resolution approved Wednesday by the Judiciary Committee also authorizes subpoenas for documents from former White House Counsel Don McGahn, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, former communications director Hope Hicks, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former White House aide Ann Donaldson.

The Democrats insistence that Congress has a right to all of Muellers findings and evidence may be challenged on several legal grounds. The Justice Department regulation providing for special counsels requires that the attorney general inform Congress only of any action taken to block a special counsel from pursuing evidence, which Barr has said wasnt the case with Mueller.

While Barr has indicated that he isnt giving the White House an advance look at Muellers report, the attorney general or the presidents lawyers could assert that some information in it must be redacted to protect executive privilege.

Barr also told lawmakers in a letter last Friday that he may black out information that would be damaging to peripheral figures in the Mueller probe, a description that presumably wouldnt apply to the president or his top aides.

Some House Republicans -- who pushed successfully last year for Justice Department and FBI documents that they said showed anti-Trump bias in the Justice Department and FBI -- have acknowledged that they set a precedent for full disclosure of Muellers findings now.

Accepting that, at least in principle, the House voted 420-0 last month that Muellers full report should be released.

--With assistance from Terrence Dopp.

To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, John Harney

2019 Bloomberg L.P.A challenging math problem can make some students break into a cold sweat and others excited to wrap their brains around a puzzle.

A wealth of research suggests that a students academic mindset"whether she believes math skill is an inborn, fixed trait or that it can be grown through practicecan make the difference in how she engages with the subject. Now, a forthcoming study in the journal Trends in Neuroscience and Education gives some of the first biological evidence that presenting math in a way that encourages a growth mindset changes not just students motivation to learn, but the the way their brains tackle problems.

Researchers from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom used an EEG, which measures electrical impulses, to track brain activity as college students worked through either standard math problems or those previously shown in research from Stanford University researcher Jo Boaler to encourage a students growth mindset, such as approaches that:



Have multiple methods, pathways, and representations.

Give students opportunities to conduct their own inquiries.

Ask the problem before teaching the method to solve it.

Ask students to explain the math in a visual representation, such as a chart.

Use a task that can engage students of both higher and lower math ability.

Ask students to reason out and convince someone of their findings.

Unlike similar studies, researchers did not tell participants anything about the concepts of growth or fixed mindsets, but they did survey the students using mindset-related questions from the Program for International Student Assessment, such as I am strongly motivated to solve the problem, I intend to put in a good effort solving this problem, and Doing well at this problem means a lot to me.

Students who were given standard math problems were more accurate than those who saw the adapted problems, but they showed less and less interest in continuing the test as they answered more questions. By contrast, the students answering the adapted math problems became slightly more motivated as they worked.

At the same time, researchers found stronger patterns of activity associated with motivation and engagementshifting activity to the left side of the prefrontal cortexin the brains of students who were working through the growth adapted math problems. In prior studies, this pattern of motivation-related brain activity tends to decline when students work through challenging problems, but it increased with the growth-adapted questions.

By presenting mathematical problems formulated according to [math growth mindset] theory to learners, it is possible to increase learner motivation ... by engaging the brains stimuli reward pathways, the researchers concluded. This provides evidence that, by only making simple changes to how mathematical problems are presented, it is possible to increase the motivation of mathematical learners.Cunningham said the lack of mayoral races in the county is hurting voter turnout. The Elgin mayoral race between Mayor Dave Kaptain and challenger Carol Rauschenberger made Elgin voter numbers more competitive than in other cities, he said. Early voting sites at Gail Borden Public Library and Elgin Township collected almost 2,700 ballots, more than any other sites.Texans, especially those of us who live and work on the border, support President Donald Trump's efforts on border security. But here along the Texas border, where the Rio Grande River separates Mexico and Texas, a wall is unnecessary. Even worse, the recent threat to seal the border would have disastrous economic consequences on both sides.

Closing the border with Mexico, America's third-largest trading partner, would disrupt supply chains, trigger price increases and lead to immediate layoffs while having an imperceptible effect on illegal immigration.

According to a statement from Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. trade with Mexico exceeds $1.7 billion daily, and nearly a half million people legally cross the southern border every day as workers, students, shoppers, and tourists.

In Laredo, we'd rather see common-sense security solutions that deter illegal immigration and smuggling without such a detrimental impact to our economy. Yes, we need better security along the U.S.-Mexico border. We need it at our legal ports of entry, where drug smuggling and human smuggling occurs. And we need an unobstructed river with visibility in areas where Border Patrol and local law enforcement can stand between our Texas communities and violent cartels.

But what is most needed is reform of our legal immigration system. The surge in migrants arriving at the southern border can be addressed in sensible ways without a complete closure of our border.

We can set up tent cities on our military bases to provide shelter temporarily while also providing the personnel to quickly process asylum claims. Congress can modify the asylum laws to narrow legitimate claims and expedite the process.

With the recent spike in people crossing the border in search of asylum, border personnel resources have been diverted from the various ports of entry. This action has reduced staff at the ports and massively affected the ability of people and commerce to legally cross the border. Crossing times have jumped 200 to 300 percent in each port affected.

The inability to move through our legal ports of entry quickly and efficiently has already cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars. We cannot continue to be successful if we continue to impede cross-border trade. Given that trade crossing the border every day supports millions of U.S. jobs, we simply cannot afford to close the border.

Immigration reform is also critical in the long term when it comes to providing the human capital required to keep our growth rate at or above 3% a year. The U.S., like every other industrialized nation, is facing a demographic winter, a threat explained with mathematical precision by Jonathan V. Last in his book, "What to Expect When No One's Expecting."

When the total fertility rate  or birth rate  of a country falls below 2.1 children per female, that country's population will shrink, as it has in large parts of Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Without a rising number of workers to prime the economic pump, robust economic growth simply cannot be sustained. No people, no economy. Here in Texas, leaders in the food service, hospitality and agricultural industries say we already face a severe labor shortage that is starting to inhibit our growth potential.

We want President Trump to keep the wrong people out of Texas and the rest of the country. But we also want to keep our border open to the commerce and legal immigrants who have always contributed to making Texas and the United States an increasingly prosperous place.

Dennis E. Nixon is CEO of International Bank of Commerce in Laredo, and chairman of the board of International Bancshares Corporation. He was a state finance chair for President Trump's campaign.Regarding Metro pares planned rail lines to Hobby (City/State, Monday): A quote attributed to board member Jim Robinson unintentionally encapsulates Metros complex planning difficulties. It does not make economic sense to run two separate lines out there, he is quoted as saying.

Its funny. To me, Hobby Airport is in there. Probably half the region would think of Hobby as in, not out. I guess, to downtown-based planners, anything beyond Loop 610 is out.

Im pretty sure that mindset impacts the boards planning.

Walt Lind, Nassau Bay

Just hearsay

Regarding Sunday letters: Choosing vaccinations? (Letters, Sunday): I am a subscriber, but as an educated person, this may be enough to stop that. You cant just publish letters and say, Its one readers opinion. Even if [Dr. Tom] Coburn did say what the letter claims regarding the MMR vaccine, it was based on Coburns anecdotal evidence. It is journalistic malpractice to widely disseminate this conclusion without medical peer review.

Todd Lagus, The Woodlands

A place for migrants

Regarding In Morocco, Pope decries rise of anti-migrants politics (Belief , Sunday): Pope Francis clandestinely lays blame on the U.S. for our immigration policies and the misfortune that undocumented immigrants are now experiencing. He cleverly suggests that the U.S. and other industrialized nations are the root cause for this human tragedy. As a Catholic, I respectfully and obediently hold the pontiff in high regard, but, with all due respect, I question his naive solution to this vexing problem.

His anti-migrant commentary, by all accounts, should suggest that he tear down that vaunted Vatican wall and welcome any and all immigrants without restrictions or impediments. Only that would add validity to his argument  i.e., leading by example.

I am sorry for immigrants plight, but its not the U.S.s prime responsibility to care for the worlds poor and destitute. We already take in millions of refugees. Enough! Other countries, even the Vatican, need to take their share. May I suggest that the Vatican, for its part, take in more than the 12 Syrian refugees the pope ushered back to Rome after a recent trip to the Middle East?

Instead of laying blame on the U.S. and other countries on the receiving end of a tsunami of undocumented immigrants, the pope should condemn greedy, corrupt foreign government officials for exporting their unemployment, poverty, crime, disease and other social and economic maladies for other countries taxpayers to bear. Its their responsibility.

Mike Gonzales, Houston

Stop bickering

Regarding Fire chief lays out risks of Prop B layoffs (City/State, Friday ): The bickering among the mayors office, City Council, the Houston Fire Department and the union is becoming increasingly tiresome. Whether or not one believes that firefighters should be paid the same as police officers solely because of rank, regardless of the education required to hold a position, the value of retirement benefits received, the out-of-pocket personal expenses for uniforms and equipment, the personal risk on the job  it does not really matter. Prop B passed.

For better or worse, the voters have spoken. It seems silly now to have firefighters say that the vote was just to get the mayor to negotiate and that they believed there would be no layoff implications within their ranks with the increased costs. At least Mayor Turner and City Council acted rationally by not voting for an trash collection fee  a tax  to fund those costs.

The particularly disappointing and frustrating new information in the article was Fire Chief Sam Penas quote, that he could maintain current levels of service by cutting only 239 positions and that would save $15.8 million annually. As someone who should always be a good steward of the taxpayers money, Pena should have cut that $15.8 million well before now  and regardless of Prop B.

Mark Mallett, Houston

Give them credit

Regarding Texans don't have much incentive to invest in home solar (Chron.com, March 25 ): I take issue with the way youve characterized how homeowners with solar panels are credited for the electricity they produce. Its wrong to say that the credit they receive for the electricity they generate is an incentive. Its simply a fair way to account for the excess electricity their systems produce.

When a system produces more electricity than a home needs  during the day when the homeowner is away and not using lights or appliances  that excess electricity is sent back out through their meter to be used by neighbors. In most places, the homeowner will receive an electric bill credit based on how much electricity is sent out. This is called net metering. Texas electricity providers are not required to credit customers who export electricity, and the majority do not offer net metering to their customers.

But without this fair credit, the homeowners are less able to recoup the cost of their investment in solar panels. The electricity theyve paid for by purchasing the system is essentially given away to their neighbors. This discourages too many Texas homeowners from going solar.

Texas energy system is designed to let the free market flourish. Rooftop solar can play an important role in increasing competition. It enables homeowners to take control of where their electricity comes from by investing in their own power systems. Not crediting them for this electricity tilts the market in favor of incumbent players.

Robert Noel, Program Director, Solar United Neighbors, HoustonPete Buttigieg has some kind of magic right now. His campaign bio, Shortest Way Home, was the 25th-best-selling book on Amazon when I checked Monday. That put him just a few dozen places behind Michelle Obama, and thousands or tens of thousands of places ahead of Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and the other candidates who have campaign books out now.

In a recent Iowa poll he surged to third place. His campaign just announced that its raised an impressive $7 million since January. And I cant tell you how many Democrats in places as diverse as Nebraska, Indiana, New York and Washington have come up to me over the past few weeks, raving about the guy. I met a superfan in Frederick, Maryland, who says that every few hours she calls the campaign to give another $10.

This is the biggest star-is-born moment since Lady Gaga started singing Shallow.

Why are people so in love with the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who almost nobody had heard of until he did a CNN town hall March 10?

Its important to remember that when Democrats vote next year, theyll not only be choosing a policy alternative to Donald Trump, theyll also be making a statement about what kind of country they want America to be.

The Trump era has been all about dissolving moral norms and waging vicious attacks. This has been an era of culture war, class warfare and identity politics. Its been an era in which call-out culture, reality TV melodrama and tribal grandstanding have overshadowed policymaking and the challenges of actually governing.

The Buttigieg surge suggests that there are a lot of Democrats who want to say goodbye to all that. They dont want to fight fire and divisiveness with more fire and divisiveness. They dont want to fight white identity politics with another kind of identity politics.

They are sick of the moral melodrama altogether. They just want a person who is more about governing than virtue-signaling, more about friendliness and basic decency than media circus and rhetorical war.

Buttigiegs secret is that he transcends many of the tensions that run through our society in a way that makes people on all sides feel comfortable.

First, he is young and represents the rising generation, but he is also an older persons idea of what a young person should be. Hed be the first millennial president, but Buttigieg doesnt fit any of the stereotypes that have been affixed to Americas young people.

Young people are supposed to be woke social justice warriors who are disgusted by their elders. Buttigieg is the model young man who made his way impressing his elders  Harvard, Rhodes scholar, McKinsey, the Navy.

Young hipsters are supposed to flock to coastal places like Brooklyn, New York and Portland, Oregon. After college, Buttigieg returned to Indiana.

Young people are supposed to be anti-institutional, but Buttigieg is very institutional  his life has been defined by his service to organizations, not his rebellion against them.

Second, he is gay and personifies the progress made by the LGBTQ movement, but he doesnt do so in a way that feels threatening or transgressive to social conservatives. He has conservative family values; its just that his spouse is a husband, not a wife. He speaks comfortably about his faith and says that when he goes to church he prefers a conservative liturgy to anything experimental.

Third, he is a localist and a Washington outsider, but he carries no populist resentment and can easily speak the language of the coastal elite.

Buttigieg has spent his political career in Indiana, where pols are expected to go to county fairs and eat the catfish fillet and cheesecake on a stick. He wasnt alive when the Studebaker plant shut down in South Bend, but he has the trauma of Midwestern deindustrialization in his bones. He lives in a house near his mother where the mortgage comes to about $450 a month. On the other hand, he was friends with Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard, earned a first at Oxford and thrived as a corporate consultant.

Finally, hes a progressive on policy issues, but he doesnt sound like an angry revolutionary. Buttigiegs policy positions are not all that different from the more identifiable leftist candidates. But he eschews grand ideological conflict.

The whole point of politics is everyday life, he said in his CNN town hall. His book is mostly about how as mayor he faced problems like snow removal and fixing potholes. His big achievements were renaming city streets, repairing the sewer system and tearing down derelict buildings. He says hell do whatever works.

Ive only met Buttigieg once, when we were seated at the same table at a dinner in Detroit a few months ago. He was smart, modest and self-effacing, and I cant square that impression with his assumption that at 37 hes qualified to be president of the United States.

But maybe thats Buttigieg  he squares a lot of circles. He deftly detaches progressive policy positions from the culture war. He offers change without Sturm und Drang.

Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times.When Houstons mayor and City Council are elected later this year, well be lucky if one in five voters shows up at the polls. And if there are runoffs, even fewer will bother to have a say in who should lead the city.

Its not just Houston. Democracy at the local level is in crisis. Consider Chicago, where voters recently had 14 candidates to consider for mayor. It was such a fractured field that campaigns were contemplating legal challenges to voting tallies even before Election Day. Candidates were able to run in fairly narrow lanes. The two who made the runoff intensely targeted their base voters  progressives for the leader and union interests for the runner-up.

Its hard to see how the winner will represent the majoritys will, even after an expensive runoff.

Such deeply unsatisfying results should prompt us to look for a better way. What if runoffs were instant, and voters could detail their preference for various candidates in one visit to the polls?

There is a fix to make elections both more democratic and cheaper to administer. Such a system  called ranked-choice voting or preferential voting  is already in use around the country, and Houston should aim to lead the way in bringing it to Texas.

Heres how it works: Voters rank the candidates for an office in order of preference. They can rank as many or as few as they like. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is dropped, and his or her voters are redistributed to their second-choice candidate. This instant runoff continues until a candidate has a majority.

The system has been in place in several mid-size cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and Minneapolis for more than a decade. In 2016, political scientists at the University of Missouri-St. Louis found that ranked-choice voting results in more voter participation for runoffs than traditional, two-date elections.

This reform would offer several advantages to a large, diverse city such as Houston, which is already implementing new machines capable of handling it. For one, it might help entice more candidates to run, figuring theyd have a better chance if they dont have to fight through two rounds of expensive campaigning.

And the city needs a wider field of hopefuls. A recent report by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University found that most countywide and citywide races feature no Hispanic candidates. And nearly a third of City Council elections feature an unopposed candidate.

Research has found that ranked-choice voting makes for more civil campaigns, and thats associated with more candidates being willing to run. With more competition, as well as the need for candidates to appeal to a broader base of voters in hopes of being their second choices, Houston could be the opposite of Chicago. Instead of candidates running campaigns designed to crank up turnout among a candidates base, ranked-choice voting could spark more meaningful debates and draw interest from a larger number of voters.

Better representation means better governance. As the Kinder report noted, Hispanics make up nearly half the citys population, but low representation at the city level makes it harder for issues important to the group to get full attention.

Plus, ranked-choice voting saves money. Staging a second-round election cost the city about $1.7 million in 2015. Fewer voters usually turn out for a runoff than the first-round election, leaving the winner with even less of a claim on a mandate to govern.

Unless theres a heated race for mayor, you just don't have much citywide turnout, says Richard Murray, professor of political science at the University of Houston. Thats a pretty strong supportive argument for doing a rank or a preference, so that more people get a chance to express their desires other than just voting for one person.

There are obstacles to overcome. Texas election laws appear to bar ranked-choice voting, so the Legislature must act to allow Houston and other cities to experiment.

And, as Murray notes, bringing ranked-choice voting here will require selling stakeholders on it and educating voters. Particular care must be taken, he says, to win buy-in from minority leaders to ensure that confusion doesnt dampen turnout in their communities.

With a decent education campaign, though, confusion shouldnt be an issue. Voters in cities as large as San Francisco have used rank-choice balloting for a decade or more without major complaints. Last year, Maine became the first state to implement the system for congressional ballots.

Besides, for Houston, there isnt much to lose. A few years ago, two Wisconsin political scientists calculated that the typical turnout in a mayoral race in a large U.S. city is 25 percent. Our city can rarely even crack that  even with a hotly contested race in 2015, turnout barely beat 20 percent.

Lets leave that disappointing record behind and build candidate interest, voter investment and a chance at true majority will with ranked-choice voting.

Arnold is co-chair of Arnold Ventures, a Houston-based philanthropic organization.A Houston company helping diagnose patients with machine learning and artificial intelligence has raised $11.9 million in Series A venture capital financing.

Medical Informatics Corp. said Tuesday that Intel Capital and TMC Ventures, the investment arms of Intel Corp. and the Texas Medical Center, respectively, contributed to their fundraising that will allow the company to enter more hospitals and develop its AI for new clinical uses.

"This investment has really accelerated out ability to work across the country," Emma Fauss, co-founder and CEO of Medical Informatics, told the Chronicle.

The company's FDA-cleared product, Sickbay, is tackling two industry challenges. The first is collecting data.

At HoustonChronicle.com: Deal boosts medical device innovation in Houston

Currently, physicians working in a critical care unit must be physically in a patient's room to examine data on the monitoring devices, which can include a heart monitor, ventilator or intracranial pressure monitor.

Sickbay, however, allows physicians to access real-time data on their phone, tablet or PC. It can also provide access to years of historic data on the patient, a departure from monitoring devices that typically store data for no more than 72 hours.

These traditional monitors aren't connected to anything but the patient, so they don't have anywhere to send or store such massive amounts of information.

The second challenge is using data to detect symptoms faster than what could be diagnosed through observation.

Sickbay, for instance, is used at Texas Children's Hospital in a department that treats babies born with one ventricle in their heart. The body needs two ventricles because the right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs and the left ventricle pumps blood to the body's circulation system.

These babies must undergo a series of surgeries to reroute how blood flows through the body. And there's a higher chance of heart issues such as cardiac arrest between the first and second surgery.

At HoustonChronicle.com: 50 years later, artificial hearts still mesmerize

"They can deteriorate very quickly without any warning," Fauss said.

So Medical Informatics developed an algorithm that taught a computer to recognize patterns in heart rate, breathing and blood oxygen levels that occur before such heart issues. Fauss said it can detect heart problems one to two hours before a physician might observe the symptoms.

The company's $11.9 million venture capital raise was led by Data Collective Venture Capital, with offices in Palo Alto and San Francisco. And Medical Informatics was among 14 companies to receive a combined $117 million from Intel.

Fauss said Intel's focus on security was a major reason for partnering with the company. Intel can help ensure that Medical Informatics has strong cybersecurity and digital security protections.

She added that the data Medical Informatics uses is primarily managed by the hospitals and secured by the same procedures those hospitals use to protect other medical information.In addition to that, each of the districts five high schools would also offer up to 10 dual-credit classes at their buildings. Students would be able to take one or several dual-credit classes, although no decision has been made on which classes will receive dual credit.As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

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The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.Creators May Have Won Battle, But Lost War With EU Copyright Directive Passage

As the European Parliament finally pushes its long-contested Copyright Directive to passage (Article 13 included) many content creators are claiming victory over their tech overlords, but such immediate successes could overshadowed in the near future.

_____________________________

Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0

The European Parliament finally is about to finally pass its long-contested Copyright Directive that was so widely opposed by the large tech companies but heavily supported by the content creation industry. Especially important in the Directive was Article 13 (now renamed Article 17 after a number of modifications) which makes platforms such as YouTube liable for copyright infringement if user-generated content (UGC) illegally using copyrighted material is uploaded to their sites.

If the directive becomes law, it would end the so-called safe harbor immunity that platforms like YouTube and Facebook have operated under in Europe (and still do in the U.S.) since their inception. But while content creators and rights holders may claim victory now, it may ring hollow in the future.

This will end the so-called safe harbor immunity that platforms like YouTube and Facebook have operated under in Europe (and still do in the U.S.) since their inception. But while content creators and rights holders may claim victory now, it may ring hollow in the future.

The End Of Virility?

Its true that the intent of the Copyright Directive is a noble cause in trying to protect content creators, but there may be some unintended consequences as a result of the new law.

For one thing, if users are no longer able to upload content using their favorite song, for instance, that would seem to eliminate the possibility of anything going viral. Plus, UGC is actually a big moneymaker for artists and labels with viral content, as those videos now can be monetized, therefore earning more revenue for all involved. Thats going to be a lot harder to happen, if not impossible, now.

While its true that copyright holders like labels and publishers have long contended that finding videos using unauthorized content is a seemingly never-ending job, YouTubes automated Content ID does do a reasonable job of finding these videos. Regardless of how theyre found, these UGC videos can generate some big streaming numbers that turn into additional revenue.

The Real Issue

Speaking of revenue, it seems that the real crux of the issue has been glossed over, and thats getting YouTube to pay more. Article 17 requires that UGC platforms agree to fair remuneration license deals with rights holders, but doesnt state exactly what that means. The devil is in the details here. Fair remuneration can mean anything, and YouTube et al can claim that what its paying is already fair.

Its great to pass a law that gets creators paid more, but this one seems pretty toothless, at least from everything Ive read about it so far. Without a definition of fair remuneration, it seems like its going to take a good long time before rights holders see an increase in streaming royalties from YouTube, which is the thorn in the music industrys royalty side.

While the new Copyright Directive is only for EU countries (who knows what position the United Kingdom will eventually take if Brexit occurs), the music business is now truly a global industry, and a decrease in revenue because of the law will be hitting company bottom lines all over the world. In the confusion during the transition, you can bet that that will get a lot worse before it gets better.

What everyone has to watch for is the adoption of a similar law in other territories, especially the United States. That said, it took the EU four years to pass this Directive, and its hard to imagine that it would take any less time than that here.

Of course, there are many other controversial provisions of the Copyright Directive that will have a great effect on publishers and consumers alike (Article 11 and the link tax that includes payments for copyrighted material to publishers, for example), and its too soon to know how it will all shake out.

One thing seems to be sure though, if content creators were hoping for a windfall from Article 17, they shouldnt be holding their breath.

Share on:Based on a home valued at $200,000, library board President Michael Prokop had said if the new library ended up costing $8 million, a taxpayer could have a $151 yearly increase in taxes. If the project would be at $9 million, taxpayers could have a $170 increase yearly. This tax increase would continue for the next 20 years.Spotify Names Chaka Zulu To Head Artist Relations

Spotify has hired Chaka Zulu to head artist and talent relations. Zulu is the long term manager of rapper Ludacris and co-founder of the Disturbing Tha Peace label. He replaces Troy Carter who exited the streamer several months ago. He shared the news via a post on Instagram.

I am excited to share that I am joining the Spotify team as Head of Artist and Talent Relations, he said. With my background, expertise and passion for the music industry and artists, I look at this new position with Spotify as GROWTH, REPRESENTATION and SUPPORT for the artist community further building on what the team has done to foster strong relationships with creators. In my role, I will lead the strategy for how we interact with creators, identifying new and innovative ways to work together. I cant wait to dive into what is sure to be an exciting ride with an amazing and talented team.

Share on:Lost At Sea: play focuses on 'untold war o' man versus the elements'

by Nadine McBay

March 30,2019 | Source: The National

A theatrical tribute to Scotlands fishing communities premiers at Perth Theatre later in April before touring across the country.



Lost At Sea is inspired by the loss of playwright Morna Youngs fisherman father to the sea when she was a five-year-old child.



Featuring the words of real fishermen and their families, it spans the decades from the 1970s to the present day using music and the Scots language.



Outlander actor Tam Dean Burn will head a cast of nine as a skipper in a small fishing village where people know of the untold war oman versus the elements.



Young says that fishing remains the most dangerous job in the world during peacetime  and even went out on a fishing boat from her home village of Burghead in Moray.



Fishing towns and villages dot the north-east coastline, and Young says her choice of language in the play  what she describes as a colloquial version of north-east Scots  partly came from the many interviews she conducted with people involved in the industry.



Though inspired by the loss of her own father, she knew others had their own stories to tell. Widening the scope of Lost At Sea also put some emotional distance between her and the piece.



In addition to the interviews, Young took on a voluntary 15-hour shift on a small fishing boat out from Burghead to learn more.



At first the skipper was like: You can tell youre from a fishing family, youve got sea legs, she says. But five hours in and the combination of the movement and the stench of fish turned the world upside down. They are incredibly hard workers and there is an element of randomness, you dont know what will come up. Its always dangerous  youre at the mercy of the elements. Im amazed at what they do on a day-to-day basis.

 Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. A Gannett Company.

Theme(s): Others.US enviro groups will sue to protect sharks and manta rays from longlines, nets

by Jim Christie

April 03,2019 | Source: Reuters

Two environmental groups said on Tuesday they will sue the Trump administration for not protecting whitetip sharks and giant manta rays from being caught on longlines and nets used by U.S. fishermen in Atlantic Ocean fisheries.



The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife said in a statement the planned lawsuit that Earthjustice will press for them stems from their 2015 petition to the National Marine Fisheries Service to list the oceanic whitetip shark and giant manta ray under the Endangered Species Act.

 2019 Reuters

Theme(s): Others.Palmer said he would like ETHS to better track the trajectories of students after they finish high school to learn where they are and what theyre doing two to five years after graduation. He said that would help to learn more about what sets students on those paths.At about 5 a.m., officers went to the church and began searching the church after finding a door that had been forced open, Witz said. Three officers found a man, later identified as Orwick, in a basement closet with three handguns in his waist band, according to police. Police said they asked him several times to not move and show his hands. As it appeared to police that Orwick was going to take out one of his guns from his waist band, officers used a taser to stun him and knock him to the ground, allowing Orwick to be disarmed, police said.Imperial Valley News Center

Vice President Pence Meeting Family Members of Citgo Executives Currently Detained by Maduro Regime in Venezuela

Washington, DC - Remarks by Vice President Pence in Meeting with the Family Members of Citgo Executives Currently Detained by the Maduro Regime in Venezuela:

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much for being here. Its an honor to welcome all of you to the White House, but I know under very difficult circumstances for your families.

Before me, seated today, are six families whose loved ones are being illegally detained by the Maduro regime in Venezuela. And on behalf of President Trump, our entire administration, and all the American people, I want to assure you that were with you, and were going to stand with you until your loved ones are free and until Venezuela is free.

November 2017, at a Citgo meeting in Caracas, Maduros regime arrested six men: five American citizens and a legal permanent resident. The names of all of them deserve to be known to the world: Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, and Jose Angel Pereira.

Theyre still being held to this day. And I look forward to hearing their stories from each of you and giving  giving you the opportunity to tell the story of your loved ones.

Its important that the media know that the Maduro regime has denied repeated efforts by these families to meet with their loved ones. Theyve canceled 16 separate court hearings. Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power, and Nicolas Maduro must go. Nicolas Maduro has suspended due process and the rule of law. And these six families and their loved ones are a testament to the brutality of this regime.

We hear that, while you are separated from your loved ones, that many of them have been deprived of food and medicine and are now suffering severe health problems.

But let me  let me let these families tell their story. Veronica Weggemans father, Tomeu Vadell, is currently being held by the Maduro regime. Her mom and her sister are here with us today. But, Veronica, youve been a  youve been such a strong voice for your family and for all of these families. Tell us your story.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Well, first of all, I want to say thank you, Vice President Pence, and Trump, State Department, the Consular Affairs, for all your effort and support on this case, on this matter.

This meeting brings us faith and hope that our family members will hopefully soon be back with us.

Today marks day 497 of our loved ones not being here with us. Its been hard. Were concerned for their health and safety as Venezuelas situation continues to deteriorate. And we need all the help that we can get to bring them home.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And youve had  youve had no contact?

MS. WEGGEMAN: We havent had contact with our father for about four weeks now, since the initial blackout in Venezuela. They dont have power. Theyre in basements. They dont have A/C. Theres no light.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Where are they being held? Do you know?

MS. WEGGEMAN: Theyre being held in the  a place called DGCIM. Its the  its a counterintelligence military base, two floors down in a basement.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And what is he accused of?

MS. WEGGEMAN: Hes being accused of false  just bogus charges: corruption, traitor to, you know, the country or  just silly. Nothing that, you know, is real.

Our father and all these men are honest and hardworking men. Theyve all worked in the industry for over 20-something years.

And our family men all have been married for over 25-plus years  children, grandchildren  and were all extremely worried for them.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Did you have any prior warning? Did they have any prior warning, prior to the arrests?

MS. WEGGEMAN: No, not at all. They were summoned very quickly, about two days before, that they need to go to this emergency meeting and speak about budgets or something. Pretty out of the normal.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: They were summoned to Caracas?

MS. WEGGEMAN: Yes, sir.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: In November of 2017?

MS. WEGGEMAN: Yes, sir.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And they were arrested at the meeting?

MS. WEGGEMAN: They were arrested Tuesday, November 21st, the week of Thanksgiving. And we were not able to spend it with our family members.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Okay. Well, youve been very courageous, Veronica.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I know your family is very proud of you and so are we.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Thank you so much, sir.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Were with you.

MS. WEGGEMAN: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Were with you.

Carlos Anez, your father is being held, Jorge Toledo. Tell us about your dad and your experience.

MR. ANEZ: Well, my dad brought us to the United States back in January of 1997, and weve made a wonderful home here in the U.S. The country has given us so many opportunities to grow that we just wish to be able to pay this back throughout the rest of our lives.

My dad has worked for Citgo for almost 21 years. And, as Veronica mentioned, theyve been detained now for over 16 months in the basement of a facility with very little air circulation, now with no light, with absolutely no medical care. And we are just worried for their lives and we just want them home as soon as possible.

And if I may speak for the six of them: Were very confident in the administration, sir, with their track record on the recovery of American hostages and illegally detained citizens abroad. We are confident that, soon, youll be able to extend the same warm welcome to them.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Carlos. Thank you for your strong stand. And were with you.

ANEZ: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Were with your family.

I know the State Department today is hosting a conference you all have been a part of about Americans that are being imprisoned around the world, held against their will. But I wanted to take particular time to welcome you here to the White House to make sure that you know that were standing with your loved ones and were going to continue to stand with them.

The United States today calls for the immediate release of these six individuals: five American, one legal permanent resident of the United States of America. We call on the Maduro regime to release them immediately. We call on the Maduro regime to release all political prisoners.

Of course, we recognize that none of that will happen so long as Nicolas Maduro remains in power. Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power. The National Assembly, under the constitution, has recognized Interim President Juan Guaido as the legitimate President of Venezuela. And the United States was proud to be the first nation on Earth to recognize President Guaido. And now more than 50 nations around the world have stood with him.

Weve continued to bring economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on the regime, but we stand for the principle that for democracy to be restored, for the rule of law to be restored, Nicolas Maduro must go. And so we call not only on them; we call not only on the regime to release and free your loved ones. We call on this regime to free the people of Venezuela who are suffering under dictatorship and deprivation.

And I want to assure each and every one of you that President Trump and I and the American people are going to continue to stand firm, to stand firm for the freedoms of your loved ones, and were going to stand firm until liberty, freedom, and the rule of law is restored in Venezuela.

So thank you for being here. I look very much forward to hearing your stories and giving you the opportunity to tell your stories to the country and to the world.

WEGGEMAN: Thank you.

ANEZ: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.

Q Will the U.S. take any (inaudible) actions to help (inaudible)?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: The United States is going to continue to take strong action not only to isolate Venezuela, but also were looking at strong action against Cuba, which continues to provide personnel and support to the dictatorship in Venezuela and enables the oppression of the people of Venezuela.

At this point, this President is looking at a broad range of options. Theres a great deal more we can do, and were prepared to do it. But we call today on the regime to immediately release these five Americans and one legal permanent resident. Theyre being held illegally. But this regime should release all political prisoners. But to accomplish that, the rule of law has to be restored, democracy has to be restored, and Nicolas Maduro must go. Its time for a new day for Venezuela.

Q Can you talk about the health of Citgo as a business and how its affecting U.S. gasoline supplies? Is the U.S. able to keep track of profits from Citgo? That sort of thing.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, look, among the sanctions that we imposed were on PDVSA, the Venezuelan oil company. At this point, we remain absolutely determined to stand firm. We recognize the importance of energy for the United States. We recognize the importance of petroleum product in this country. But the price of oil around the world has been quite low for some time, quite competitive for some time, and were just going to continue to stand firm and bring even more pressure on this regime.

It is astounding to think  and I dont have to tell the families of oil executives  that Venezuela, by some accounts, has the largest oil reserves in the world and was the second wealthiest nation in our hemisphere. But through socialism, through dictatorship, through oppression and corruption, Nicolas Maduro has impoverished this nation. And so were  were going to continue to bring pressure on the oil industry. Were going to continue to bring pressure on countries in this hemisphere who are supporting the dictatorship in Venezuela.

But I just want these families to know, and the President wants them to know, that were going to stand with them until their loved ones are free, and were going to stand with the people of Venezuela until their nation is free.

Q Do you feel that these family members are hostages? And have you tasked, or has the administration tasked U.S. Hostage Envoy Robert OBrien to look into this? Is he working on this?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I would refer your technical question. But, look, we believe that these six individuals  five of which are American citizens and one of which is a legal permanent resident  these six individuals are being held illegally since November of 2017.

We just heard from Veronica that they were enticed to come to Caracas under the auspices of an emergency meeting, and then they were arrested, and now they are being held, many of them to great detriment to their health. And I can assure you that were going to use all means at our disposal to secure their release.

I appreciate Carlos mentioning the success that this President and our administration have had in seeing Americans freed from captivity around the world, whether that be in North Korea or other nations around the world. And as you heard at the State Department today, we remain determined to see Americans, who are being illegally held, freed.

Q Mr. Vice President, (inaudible) sanctions on Friday. When should we expect to see those?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: President Trump has made it clear theres a lot more we can do to bring pressure economically to bear on Venezuela, and were prepared to do it. Nicolas Maduro must go. And while all options are on the table, we have a whole range of economic sanctions that we can bring to bear, and were continuing to see support across the wider world grow for President Juan Guaido and for the reestablishment of the rule of law.

But the personal stories of these families are all emblematic of the story of a nation that literally is being held hostage by a regime. And were going to continue to stand firm until freedom is restored for their loved ones and freedom is restored for all the people of Venezuela.

Thank you all.Imperial Valley News Center

Remarks by President Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Before Expanded Bilateral Meeting

Washington, DC - Remarks by President Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Before Expanded Bilateral Meeting:

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Its great to have everybody with us. And Im honored to welcome the Secretary General of NATO on a very, very big birthday and anniversary  70th. Mr. Secretary General, congratulations on your extension  something that very important to us, and to me, and to everybody.

Over the past two years, the Secretary General and I have developed a very strong working relationship. Its been as good as it can be. Were both committed to ensuring that NATO can address the full range of threats facing the Alliance today. And there are many threats. And I think, also, weve had and really taken many great steps forward.

The United States alone accounts for the vast majority of NATO defense spending. And we really cannot rely on one nation to defend all. If you look at it, the disproportionality of what the United States is doing is really too great, but were working on that. Over $100 billion in new defense spending by the end of, actually, I think, this year, but it could be 220 [sic]. But I think, by 2020, I think well have at least another $100 billion spent by the Allies, the other countries, the 27 countries outside of ourselves.

As we discussed in our meeting just now, weve increased the member contributions. And that will help, really, with the pressing security challenges, including terrorism, which weve really increased the scope of NATO. We said, you know, we have a new world problem thats not so new anymore, but its called terrorism. Different than when you were originally founded. A much different problem. Its a horrible problem. Its people that dont wear uniforms and theyre hard to figure out. But weve been very successful in Syria. Weve got now 100 percent of the caliphate. We did it very rapidly; much faster than I was told it could be done. A lot of people did a fantastic job.

So I just want to thank you very much for being here, Mr. Secretary General. Its been an honor to work with you. I would like you to extend my thanks to all of the Allies. They have really put up a lot more money than they have in the past.

I was explaining inside that, if you looked at a chart  prior to our getting here  NATOs spending was going way, way down. It was just a one-way road down. And since I became President, and with the help of Mike Pence and everybody  a lot of the people at this table  the difference has been tremendous. Its been a rocket ship up, and we have to keep it that way.

So thank you very much. And, please, would you like to say a few words?

SECRETARY GENERAL STOLTENBERG: Thanks so much, Mr. President, and thank you for hosting me and my delegation once again in the White House. And its great to see you. Its great to be here. And thank you so much for your strong support and for your commitment to NATO and for your leadership, especially on burden sharing.

NATO is a strong alliance, but to remain a strong alliance, we have to be a fair alliance. And therefore, Allies have to invest more in defense. You have a very clear message on that, and your message is having a clear impact. Because Allies are now starting to invest more. After years of decline, weve seen all Allies are investing more in defense.

And since 2016, they have added more than $40 billion already. By 2020, it will be, as you said, $100 billion. And then we expect that to continue to grow. We need to do more, and therefore, burden sharing and the defense investments is a top priority for me in all my engagements with different NATO Allies.

We are also stepping up our fight against terrorism. All NATO Allies participate in the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIL. We have made, under your leadership, remarkable progress. But the job is not done. It is important that ISIL is not able to come back, and therefore, we think its extremely important to train Iraqi forces so they prevent ISIL from coming back again.

And then we also strongly believe that its important to support the U.S. efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis  or the war in Afghanistan. We support that. And then, we are also working closely together with you in the way we respond to Russia. We see that Russia has violated the INF Treaty, and NATO Allies have supported the U.S. position on that, strongly, throughout the whole process.

So its great to see you again and great to meet all the people around this table.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. And I will say  you mentioned Afghanistan. I think weve made a lot of great strides recently in Afghanistan. Its  we call it the endless war. Nineteen years. The real number is 19 years. Its unfortunate. Its ridiculous. And its been a very interesting period of time. But weve made a lot of strides. A lot of things are happening in Afghanistan that are very positive. So well see how that all comes out. And I appreciate your help.

And Vice President Mike Pence, would you say a few words, please?

VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Oh, thank you, Mr. President. And I want to also extend my congratulations to the Secretary General on the extension of your term to 2022. We welcome it. And your leadership at NATO has been a time of renewed strength in the transatlantic alliance, and as you responded to the leadership that the President provided.

From early on, President Trump made it clear to our Allies in Europe we couldnt care more about their security than they care about their security; that it was not a choice between whether were committed to the Alliance or whether we can demand that our Allies live up to the commitment in the Wales Agreement. We could do both.

And Mr. President and I  Ive witnessed the Secretary General in Europe, here in the States. I look forward to his remarks before the Congress tomorrow where you can unpack what American leadership has meant to really renew this NATO Alliance.

Seeing the number of countries that are on track to live up to their 2 percent commitment more than double $140 billion in additional defense spending for our common defense  youve given great voice to that. And I just wanted to express my congratulations and my appreciation for you recognizing the importance of this Alliance; for us all to be standing with each other, standing, living up to our word and recognizing that the Presidents leadership ultimately has resulted in a strengthening of the NATO Alliance.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: That is true. That is definitely true. Thank you, Mike.

Pat?

ACTING SECRETARY SHANAHAN: Yeah. Maybe just another big shout-out. Congratulations on your extension but also your important partnership with General Scaparrotti, as General Scaparrotti retires after 40 years.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

ACTING SECRETARY SHANAHAN: The partnership has been significant in taking the cash and converting it into real readiness plans. And I think well see that in the capacity and capability of your leadership there and then in keeping the coalition together as we fight ISIS and take on these violent extremist organizations.

So, welcome to Washington. And we look forward to your speech tomorrow.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We do indeed.

John Bolton?

AMBASSADOR BOLTON: Thank you, Mr. President. Congratulations. I think the work that you and the President have done to get the burden sharing more equitably spread to get closer to the 2 percent target that NATO Allies themselves agreed in 2014 is very important.

Now, of course, we all have the common challenge of making sure its spent efficiently and in connection with agreed-upon strategies.

So, a lot of hard work done, but a lot of hard work remains. We look forward to working with you on it.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Q (Inaudible.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: China is going very well.

Q Can you address the situation in Venezuela, specifically Russias involvement?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody.Imperial Valley News Center

USS Truman Gets Underway for Sustainment Exercise

Norfolk, Virginia - The Nimitz Class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) departed Naval Station Norfolk March 28 to participate in a scheduled sustainment exercise (SUSTEX) with Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 8 ships and squadrons.

"Since returning in December from our deployment to the U.S. Second and Sixth Fleets, our tasking has been to remain deployment-ready in every respect," said Commander, Carrier Strike Group Eight, Rear Adm. Gene Black. "This sustainment exercise will provide a realistic and challenging at-sea opportunity to refresh our skills, apply what we learned on deployment and ensure our teams are integrated and ready to take on any mission we may be tasked with."

The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) is in the sustainment phase of the Navy's Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP), conducting operations that directly support the strike group remaining ready to surge forward or redeploy if called upon.

Cmdr. Dan Walker, Harry S. Trumans strike operations officer, said this underway is critical for remaining a ready, deployable force.

SUSTEX is designed to test the integration capabilities of the Strike Group, said Walker. Its important because it allows for a full integration into hands-on training. We cant assume all the people that are here now were here on our last deployment.

Harry S. Truman and select ships from HSTCSG returned from the first-ever Dynamic Force Employment deployment Dec. 16, 2018.

The biggest change from this underway [SUSTEX] in comparison to others will be the sheer volume of personnel aboard, said Walker. Now that we have the entire complement of supporting units at our disposal, we are able to get a turnover for our new Sailors.

HSTCSG ships participating in SUSTEX include: the flagship USS Harry S. Truman, commanded by Capt. Nick Dienna; USS Normandy (CG 60), USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), USS Ramage (DDG 61), USS Lassen (DDG 82), USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), and USS Farragut (DDG 99).

Squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1 embarked on Truman include Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11 "Red Rippers," VFA-211 "Checkmates," VFA-81 "Sunliners," VFA-136 "Knighthawks," Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 137 "Rooks," Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 126 "Seahawks," Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 72 "Proud Warriors," Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 11 "Dragon Slayers," and a detachment from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40 "Rawhides." With support from the squadrons, the ship will perform carrier qualifications and cyclic flight operations to conduct training and increase proficiency.

Also participating in SUSTEX are embarked staffs from Destroyer Squadron 28, CVW-1, and CSG-8.Pacific Partnership Multinational Team Arrives in Micronesia

Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia - The multinational crew aboard Military Sealift Command expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) arrived in the Lower Mortlock Islands March 31 to support local communities' recovery from the aftermath of Typhoon Wutip as part of the Pacific Partnership 2019 mission to the islands.

The Pacific Partnership team, which recently departed the Marshall Islands, expanded the mission with activities in the outlying islands, providing support to the people of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in close coordination with local authorities, the U.S. Embassy and USAID.

Pacific Partnership is about working together, said Royal Navy Capt. Paddy Allen, director of mission for Pacific Partnership 2019. We have an adaptable mission, agile platform and amazing expertise that allows us to bring together a network of partners where and when they are needed.

The additional stops will leverage Brunswicks ability to maneuver in shallow waters along with expertise from military personnel from the U.S., Australia, Japan, Peru and the United Kingdom. The Pacific Partnership team will work in tandem with local experts on nearly a dozen islands within Weno, as well as the Lower Mortlock Islands and Northwest Islands.

During the stops, events are planned along Pacific Partnership's main focus areas. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief professionals will work with local experts to help develop local response capacities and help them prepare for future disaster scenarios. Engineering teams will work construction projects that support enhancing local community infrastructure. Medical personnel will conduct health care engagements side-by-side with local medical professionals.

The mission capabilities that Pacific Partnership and Brunswick bring allow us to support the people of Micronesia in the aftermath of the typhoon and help them prepare for future extreme weather events, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Marc Davis, mission chief staff officer aboard Brunswick. With our missions focus on working collectively with partner nations in enhancing regional interoperability and partner nation disaster response capabilities, we decided to review and modify our Pacific Partnership mission to provide support to FSMs recovery efforts.

Pacific Partnership began in response to one of the worlds most catastrophic natural disasters, 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.

Pacific Partnership, now in its 14th iteration, is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster response 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.USS Carney Departs Faslane for JW 19-1

Faslane, Scotland - Following a port visit to Faslane, Scotland, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) departed Her Majestys Naval Base, Clyde, en route to the coastal waters of the United Kingdom to participate in the Exercise Joint Warrior 19-1 (JW 19-1), March 31.

JW 19-1 is a biannual United Kingdom led exercise focusing on a maritime training environment in which allies and partners can improve interoperability and prepare forces for combined operations.

Other U.S. Navy units involved in JW 19-1 include: Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Porter (DDG 78); dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Medger Evans (T-AKE 13); two P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft (MPRA) from Commander, Task Force (CTF) 67; a KC-135 from 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England; two MH-60R Seahawk Helicopters from USS Gravely; and two MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22.

These types of exercises demonstrate the cooperation between Naval Forces Europe and our European allies and improve our overall warfighting proficiency, said Cmdr. Tyson Young, commanding officer of the Carney. The men and women aboard the Carney, and throughout the U.S. Navy, stand firm with our allies and are ready to work with our partners to confront todays challenges.

Other nations scheduled to participate in JW 19-1 include: Australia, Turkey, Germany, France, Canada, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

JW 19-1 is slated to run from March 31 to April 11, 2019.We've watched the robotic revolution ramp up over the years, into manufacturing, hospitals, even vending machines, and while there are plenty of barriers, they are being reduced by the day it seems. As more and more platforms grow up, stabilize, and provide support for new robotic-based opportunities to bloom, it seems important to look at is what this means for art, design, and creativity in entrepreneurship; aka robots not only taking a menial job, but a creative one, earning money at it, and then spending it to create more.

Robot Economics + Entrepreneurship

Aleksandr Kapitonov is a "Robot economics" academic society professor at Airalab. He is also an assistant professor of Control Systems and Computer Science at ITMO University, where he received his Ph.D. in industrial automation in 2014. With a heavy focus on navigation, computer vision, and communication for multi-agent systems, Kapitonov understands deeply the shifts we are seeing. This entanglement with high-technology led him from drone technologies to associating it all with blockchain, explaining how AI and blockchain solutions make economic freedom for machines a possibility. He seemed to be just the person to ask about this potential dark side of AI and the potential impact we might see in the world of innovation, entrepreneurship, and design.

It's Not About Replacement

This is not only a blockchain issue, or an AI issue... it's a social issue, a political issue even. This is something that people are talking about from the World Economic Forum to the oil rig workers off the Gulf Coast who are wondering if a robot will take their job away. We are seeing the expansion into areas where humans have been for generations and while this might be difficult to some, the real focus should be on growth rather than upset. This high level of technological integration will allow more people, just like Kapitonov, to grow the communication and information exchange between different autonomous systems like smart factories and the Internet of Things. The transparency and ledger we can build into these new systems is astounding... but is there a downside, and if so, what is it?

Automation and Artistry Collide

Creative algorithms are a living document of our progress in AI and high technology. But can computational creativity serve up the same level of aesthetic we search for in the world of art? Are robots capable of augmenting creativity? And is this the dark side of AI?

The Dark Side

Being a Rhode Island School of Design grad myself, the idea of focusing robots on art definitely perks my ears up. However, when this point came up in the conversation with Kapitonov, his reasons for pushing art and robotics was so different from my fear of what might happen. For Kapitonov and his team, the idea was to create a simple solution where a robot could produce the final product and sell it, and art falls easily into those parameters. From there, the infrastructure is meant to provide a robot with it's own wallet to allow an economy to grow.

Also, Let's Talk Data

Another interesting point we hear about constantly, but don't often discuss here is data; your data, my data, and all of the other data being constantly generated and mined every second of every day. "Right now, all power is concentrated in the single hand, the hands of service providers. For example, as you can see the situation with Facebook and what they are doing with your data. In our vision, with the blockchain technology, you can own your information by yourself. You can decide. Do you want to sell your information or not and what kind?"Dame Helen Mirren has criticised Netflix as the debate over cinema and streaming services continues.

The British actor, whose film roles include The Queen and Gosford Park, was attending a CinemaCon conference in Las Vegas when she said: I love Netflix, but f*** Netflix. Theres nothing like sitting in a cinema.

Mirren was promoting her new film The Good Liar, which she stars in alongside Sir Ian McKellen.

Her comments were undoubtedly met with approval considering the audience was comprised of cinema chain owners.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Steven Spielberg was leading the charge to block films released on Netflix from contention at awards ceremonies, including the Oscars.

The 65 best movie insults of all time Show all 65 1 /65 The 65 best movie insults of all time The 65 best movie insults of all time Avengers Assemble (2012) "This is my bargain, you mewling quim." Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) "Hey, where'd you get those clothes, the toilet store?" DreamWorks Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) "How could you sleep with Fat Bastard? No, I mean, literally, how could you do it? He's so fat, the sheer mechanics of it are mind-boggling." New Line Cinema The 65 best movie insults of all time Bad Moms (2016) "Well, you look like a bag of d***s" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Bad Santa (2003) Youre an emotional f***ing cripple. Your soul is dogs***. Every single f***ing thing about you is ugly. REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Blade: Trinity (2004) "You c*ck-juggling thunderc***!" New Line Cinema The 65 best movie insults of all time The Breakfast Club (1985) "Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?" Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) "If staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I'd rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein's arse." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Bull Durham (1988) "From what I hear, you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a f***ing boat." Orion Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Burn After Reading (2008) "I have a drinking problem? F*** you, Peck. Compared to you we all have a drinking problem." Macall Polay The 65 best movie insults of all time The Campaign (2012) "You know what the difference between your momma and a washing machine is? When I dump a load in a machine, the machine doesn't follow me around for three weeks." Warner Bros Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Casino (1995) "You horse manure smelling motherf***er, you." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time The Cat in the Hat (2003) "Do you know how hard it is telling people were related?" DreamWorks Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Closer (2004) "Go f*** yourself, you WRITER!" Columbia Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Clueless (1995) "Youre a virgin and you cant drive." Paramount Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Con Air (1997) "You're somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty." Buena Vista Pictures Distribution The 65 best movie insults of all time The Death of Stalin (2017) "You smell like rendered horse, you burning a**hole." eOne Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Donnie Darko (2001) "You can go suck a f***." Pandora Cinema The 65 best movie insults of all time Duck Soup (1933) "He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you  he really is an idiot." Paramount Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Easy A (2010) "Don't you think it's a little strange that your boyfriend is 22-years-old and still in high school?" Screen Gems The 65 best movie insults of all time Erin Brockovich (2000) "That's all you got, lady - two wrong feet and f***ing ugly shoes." Columbia Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Escape Plan (2013) "You hit like a vegetarian" The 65 best movie insults of all time The Favourite (2018) "You look like a badger." Fox Searchlight Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time A Fish Called Wanda (1988) "To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people." The 65 best movie insults of all time Full Metal Jacket (1987) "You climb like old people f***, Private Pile." ColumbiaCannonWarner The 65 best movie insults of all time Gangs of New York (2002) I dont give a tuppeny f*** about your moral conundrum, you meat-headed s*** sack. Miramax Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) "You're in more dire need of a blowjob than any white man in history" Buena Vista Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time The Hangover (2009) "You are literally too stupid to insult." Warner Bros. Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time His Girl Friday (1940) "Listen, you insignificant, square-toed, pimple-headed spy!" Columbia Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Home Alone (1990) "You're what the French call: 'les incompetents'." DON SMETZER/20TH CENTURY FOX/The Kobal Collection/WireImage.com The 65 best movie insults of all time In Bruges (2008) "YOU'RE AN INANIMATE F***ING OBJECT!" Universal Studios/Focus Features The 65 best movie insults of all time In the Loop (2009) "Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your a*** with a lubricated horse c***." IFC Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) "I should have had you wear double condoms. Well, we shouldn't have done it in the first place, but if you ever do it again, which as a favour to women everywhere, you should not, but if you do, you should be wearing condom on condom, and then wrap it in electrical tape. You should just walk around always inside a great big condom because you are s***!" CBS Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) Perry: "Look up 'idiot' in the dictionary. You know what you'll find?" : "Look up 'idiot' in the dictionary. You know what you'll find?" Harry: "A picture of me?" Perry: "No! The definition of the word idiot, which you f***ing are." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Knocked Up "Your face looks like Robin Williams' knuckles. The 65 best movie insults of all time The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) "Were you always this stupid or did you take lessons?" The 65 best movie insults of all time The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) "My great aunt Jennifer ate a whole box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be 102 and when she'd been dead three days, she looked better than you do now." Warner Bros. The 65 best movie insults of all time Matilda (1996) "Your mummy is a TWIT." TriStar Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time The Mist (2007) Ill tell you what. The day I need a friend like you, Ill just have myself a little squat and s*** one out. REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries." EMI Films The 65 best movie insults of all time National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, d***less, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey s*** he is." The 65 best movie insults of all time Parenthood (1989) "I wouldn't live with you if the world were flooded with piss and you lived in a tree." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Phantom Thread (2018) "Are you a special agent sent here to ruin my evening and possibly my entire life?" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Point Break (1991) "You're a real blue flame special, aren't you, son? Young, dumb and full of cum. What I don't know is how you got assigned here. Guess we must just have ourselves an asshole shortage, huh?" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time The Princess Bride (1987) "I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon." Vestron Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Roxanne (1987) "Is that your nose or did a bus park on your face?" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Say Anything (1989) "I got a question: if you guys know so much about women, how come you're here on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?" The 65 best movie insults of all time Scarface (1983) "Even if I were blind, desperate, starved and begging for it on a desert island, you'd be the last thing I'd ever f***." Universal Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time School of Rock (2004) "You're tacky and I hate you" The 65 best movie insults of all time Sexy Beast (2000) "You're the f***ing problem you f***ing Dr White honkin' jam-rag f***ing spunk-bubble!" REX The 65 best movie insults of all time She's All That (1999) "To everyone here who matters, you're spam. You're vapour. A waste of perfectly good yearbook space." Miramax Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Short Circuit (1986) "Hey laser-lips, your mother was a snowblower." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Shrek (2000) "You dense, irritating, miniature beast of a burden." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time The Silence of the Lambs (1991) You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but youre not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling?" Orion Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) "Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder." 20th Century Fox The 65 best movie insults of all time Step Brothers (2008) "You're not a doctor. You're a big fat curly headed f***." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time There Will Be Blood (2007) "You're just the afterbirth, Eli, slithered out on your mother's filth. They should have put you in glass jar on a mantelpiece." Paramount Vantage/Miramax Films The 65 best movie insults of all time Three Amigos (1986) "You dirt-eating piece of slime. You scum-sucking pig. You son of a motherless goat." Orion Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Toy Story (1995) "You are a sad strange little man, and you have my pity." Buena Vista Pictures Distribution The 65 best movie insults of all time Wayne's World (1992) "Benjamin is nobody's friend. If Benjamin were an ice cream flavour, he'd be pralines and d***." Paramount Pictures The 65 best movie insults of all time Whiplash (2014) "You are a worthless, friendless, piece of shit whose mommy left daddy when she figured out he wasn't Eugene O'Neill, and who is now weeping and slobbering all over my drum set like a f***ing nine-year old girl." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time The Witches of Eastwick (1987) "In the short time we've been together, you have demonstrated every loathsome characteristic of the male personality and even discovered a few new ones. You are physically repulsive, intellectually retarded, you're morally reprehensible, vulgar, insensitive, selfish, stupid, you have no taste, a lousy sense of humour and you smell. You're not even interesting enough to make me sick." REX The 65 best movie insults of all time Withnail & I (1987) "Monty, you terrible c***." HandMade Films The 65 best movie insults of all time The Wizard of Oz (1939) "You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk!" Loew's, Inc. The 65 best movie insults of all time The Women (1939) "You wanna see a bad facelift? Helen Danvers, two o'clock. She looks like she's re-entering the Earth's atmosphere." REX

The action was met from disapproval from several notable Hollywood figures, including Selma director Ava DuVernay.

IndieWire reported that Spielberg believes films that arent shown in cinemas for longer than four weeks should qualify for inclusion at the Emmys instead.A new poster for the eighth season of Game of Thrones has teased the death of every main character.

The grisly new image shows Daenys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Cersei Lannister (Lena Heady), and The Night King, among others, all deceased and spread out in the shape of the Iron Throne.

The new poster, which can be seen below, was released in unison with a new trailer, which teases the aftermath of a huge battle at Winterfell.

(HBO)

(HBO)As well as the Aftermath trailer debuting online, Tuesday (2 April) also saw the release of two new teasers, both of which contained new footage from the upcoming episodes.

The day before, Maisie Williams teased how her character was going to die during the final season  only to say the revelation was an April Fools joke.

Game of Thrones characters - ranked Show all 70 1 /70 Game of Thrones characters - ranked Game of Thrones characters - ranked 70. Rickon Stark Played by: Art Parkinson : Art Parkinson Easily the most annoying Stark child  an impressive feat next to Bran  Rickon was at least handed one hell of a death scene: taken out by an arrow courtesy of Ramsay Bolton. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 69. Robin Arryn Played by: Lino Facioli : Lino Facioli Robin Arryn is remembered by most Thrones fans as being the 10-year-old breastfed by his mother (still weird). That's about it. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 68. Renly Baratheon Played by: Gethin Anthony : Gethin Anthony The Rickon of the Baratheon brothers. His claim to the Iron Throne was tenuous, considering his older brother, Stannis, was still alive. When Stannis's shadow monster came to kill him, it was only good news for the show. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 67. Leaf Played by: Kae Alexander : Kae Alexander A lot of mystery may surround Leaf, one of the show's mythical Children of the Forest, but her noble sacrifice to save Bran, Meera and Hodor from a horde of wights robbed her of any worth. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 66. Tommen Baratheon Played by: Dean-Charles Chapman : Dean-Charles Chapman Another boring younger brother. Whereas Joffrey was pure evil, Tommen was innocent and, inevitably, very boring. His cat, Ser Pounce, was an asset to the show. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 65. Lysa Arryn Played by: Kate Dickie : Kate Dickie Lysa, the creepy sister to Catelyn Stark, was first seen with Robin Arryn, her 10-year-old son, latched to her breast. Her death  being pushed through the Moon Door  couldn't have come sooner. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 64. Benjen Stark Played by: Joseph Mawle/Matteo Elezi : Joseph Mawle/Matteo Elezi Having gone missing in season one, Benjen returned during season six to save his nephew, Bran. The moment was a surprise to TV watchers  book readers, however, had long speculated that Coldhands was an undead version of the Stark. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 63. Syrio Forel Played by: Miltos Yerolemou : Miltos Yerolemou The ill-fated Syrio's appearance way back in season one was a formative experience for one Arya Stark (Maisie Williams); he's the one who helped her on her way to becoming the vengeful assassin fans know and love today. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 62. Jeor Mormont Played by: James Cosmo : James Cosmo Father of Jorah Mormont, Jeor was an honourable leader of the Night's Watch  perhaps to a fault. After giving Jon Snow the sword Longclaw, Mormont inadvertently showed the Stark bastard that Valerian steel can cut through White Walkers. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 61. Roose Bolton Played by: Michael McElhatton : Michael McElhatton Let's be honest: it's hard to really like as scheming a character as Roose Bolton, the man who orchestrated the violent Red Wedding  the most infamous scene in the show's six-year history that saw the death of Robb, Catelyn and Talisa. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 60. Ellaria Sand Played by: Indira Varma : Indira Varma Ellaria Sand may have been a more enticing creation on the page, but in the series, her screen time regrettably amounts to reacting to loved ones being killed off in increasingly awful ways. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 59. Grand Maester Pycell Played by: Julian Glover : Julian Glover The secretly sprightly Pycell had seen a lot of things in his time, but there's an element of "unfulfilled potential" surrounding Glover's character whose late betrayal of Cersei Lannister saw a grisly end to his life of luxury at King's Landing. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 58. Three-Eyed Raven Played by: Max von Sydow : Max von Sydow Perhaps it was the casting of Max von Sydow that heightened anticipation for the Three-Eyed Raven in the series, but the half-hearted story arc left a lot to be desired. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 57. Gilly Played by: Hannah Murray : Hannah Murray Gilly's long journey from Craster's Keep to Winterfell sounds exciting on paper. But, unfortunately, she has been merely a passenger on Sam's journey for far too long. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 56. Daario Naharis Played by: Michael Huisman : Michael Huisman The man who won the heart of Daenerys Targaryen, only to be left behind in Essos. Ed Skrein originally played the character, but was soon replaced after the actor landed a role in Deadpool. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 55. Shae Played by: Sibel Kekilli : Sibel Kekilli Oh Shea. Her ill-fated betrayal  sleeping with Tywin (Charles Dance)  was a slap in the face not just for lover Tyrion, but the viewer also. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 54. Grey Worm Played by: Jacob Anderson : Jacob Anderson Leader of the Usullied, Grey Worm remains unmoved at all times  unless around Missandei. While their romance can be heartwarming, it's hard to invest in two characters who are so wooden. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 53. Talisa Maegyr Played by: Oona Chaplin : Oona Chaplin To be fair to Robb Stark's wife Talisa, should she have avoided being murdered in arguably the most horrific way during the Red Wedding, she would most likely have been higher on this list. Alas. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 52. Shireen Baratheon Played by: Kerry Ingram : Kerry Ingram All the Greyscale-suffering Shireen ever wanted to do was read stories in her chamber, but due to her impressionable power-hungry father, Stannis, she was tragically reduced to ashes after being sacrificed to the Lord of Light. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 51. Viserys Targaryen Played by: Harry Lloyd : Harry Lloyd Viserys wanted the Iron Throne at any cost, giving away his own sister in exchange for an army. Dany, though, had other plans. Her new husband, Khal Drogo, covering Viserys in molten gold made for one of the show's most memorable death scenes. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 50. Maester Luwin Played by: Donald Sumpter : Donald Sumpter The kindly Maester Luwin was one of the nicest characters in the first few seasons, becoming a stand-in father for Bran and Rickon while the Starks endured horrors elsewhere. He was eventually killed when Ramsay Bolton took over Winterfell. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 49. Thoros of Myr Played by: Paul Kaye : Paul Kaye Thoros spent the majority of his time on the show resurrecting Beric and was most recently seen wielding his flaming sword alongside Jon Snow beyond the wall. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 48. Mance Rayder Played by: Ciaran Hinds : Ciaran Hinds Ciaran Hinds brought an intensity to Mance Rayder, a character who would otherwise have got lost in the crowd. As a result, his death at the hands of Melisandre was unexpectedly affecting. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 47. Podrick Payne Played by: Daniel Portman : Daniel Portman Ever loyal, Podrick Payne has become a fan favourite for being surprisingly brave in the face of adversity. He and Brienne of Tarth make an excellent duo. HBO/Helen Sloan Game of Thrones characters - ranked 46. Euron Greyjoy Played by: Pilou Asbk : Pilou Asbk While Euron Greyjoy may have only joined the show in season six, his presence was immediately felt. A wildcard character, Greyjoy's cut-throat, power-hungry nature has proven exciting to watch. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 45. Jaqen H'ghar Played by: Tom Wlaschiha : Tom Wlaschiha Jaqen H'ghar  one of the Faceless Men of Braavos  had such promise, but ultimately ended up being the one responsible for sapping Arya's story of the energy she'd had seasons before, alongside The Hound (Rory McCann). HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 44. Missandei Played by: Nathalie Emmanuel : Nathalie Emmanuel Missandei has somehow managed to come up trumps within the new world order, being an advisor to Dany. However, her stilted nature can make for some awkward encounters  but at least she and Grey Worm are happy together. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 43. Ygritte Played by: Rose Leslie : Rose Leslie Ygritte  the Wildling lover of Jon Snow  will go down in Thrones lore for providing the series the with oft-quoted famous line: "You know nothing, Jon Snow." Spoken with a northern accent, obviously. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 42. Hot Pie Played by: Ben Hawkey : Ben Hawkey Has an actor ever been more suited to a role? Ben Hawkey, after all, has gone on to run a bakery of his own, even selling Thrones-themed goods. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 41. Walder Frey Played by: David Bradley : David Bradley One of the orchestrators of the Red Wedding, Walder Frey was a lurching, terrifying villain. When Arya unmasks herself and kills the old man, it's a sweet, sweet moment of revenge. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 40. Gendry Baratheon Played by: Joe Dempsie : Joe Dempsie The true heir to the Iron Throne. Gendry may have spent a few seasons rowing out at sea, but his return hints at big things to come for the Baratheon bastard. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 39. Robert Baratheon Played by: Mark Addy : Mark Addy Mark Addy brought a certain gravitas to Robert Baratheon, making him a believably world-weary king. Despite only having a few scenes, his character's presence is still felt on the show thanks to Gendry. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 38. Barristan Selmy Played by: Ian McElhinney : Ian McElhinney After being fired by the Lannisters, Selmy pledged allegiance to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), bridging the gap between two of the show's key characters. He was also a bloody good warrior. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 37. Yara Greyjoy Played by: Gemma Whelan : Gemma Whelan Lily Allen was initially wanted for the role of Theon's sister. However, she declined: 'I felt uncomfortable because I would have had to go on a horse and he would have touched me up and s***.' Seeing as Allen's brother, Alfie, had already been cast as Theon, it was probably for the best. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 36. Margaery Tyrell Played by: Natalie Dormer : Natalie Dormer Margaery Tyrell was one of Game of Thrones's biggest players, wheedling her way into the Lannister family politics and actually becoming Queen for a spell. Her number was up the moment she made an enemy of Cersei, and her fiery death, while underwhelming, was a huge moment. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 35. Samwell Tarly Played by: John Bradley : John Bradley There's a theory going around that Samwell Tarly, who trains as a maester, is actually the author of the Song of Ice and Fire  AKA the book series. In other words, Sam is George RR Martin. Go figure. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 34. Osha Played by: Natalia Tena : Natalia Tena The underused Osha was our very first wildling, an unpredictable knife-wielding danger to the characters we loved. Her subsequent evolution into Stark servant was interestingly played, which made the fact she was sidelined for multiple seasons, before being brought back just to be unceremoniously offed, a travesty. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 33. Ramsay Bolton Played by: Iwan Rheon : Iwan Rheon Ramsey cut off Theon's penis and sent it to the Greyjoy's father. He imprisoned and raped Sansa Stark. He killed Rickon Stark in front of his brother. And Ramsay eventually died by being fed to his own dogs. A terrifying death for a terrible human. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 32. Night King Played by: Richard Brake, Vladimir Furdik : Richard Brake, Vladimir Furdik The embodiment of evil. Why, exactly, the Night King marches South to destroy mankind remains somewhat a mystery. But, whatever the reason, he's a terrifying foe. Winter has, as the Starks say, finally come. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 31. Beric Dondarrion Played by: Richard Dormer : Richard Dormer Beric danced on the outskirts of the series until its third season when he surfaced as the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners. His introduction paved the way for the Lord of Light's ability to resurrect the dead, a mystical sub-plot that would become very important for Jon Snow. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 30. Bran Stark Played by: Isaac Hempstead Wright : Isaac Hempstead Wright It says a lot that Bran Stark has become marginally more interesting since he sacrificed his personality in favour of becoming the spiritualistic heart of the series. His role in the final season looks set to be a huge one what with the long-standing theory that he could become the fearsome Night King. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 29. Theon Greyjoy Played by: Alfie Allen : Alfie Allen While Theon starts as a cocky kid, after being neutered by Ramsay he becomes the annoyingly weak Reek. Thankfully, Theon comes back around again in the later seasons, but not without us still hating his guts for not saving Sansa sooner. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 28. The High Sparrow Played by: Jonathan Pryce : Jonathan Pryce While at first a seemingly wise old man, the High Sparrow quickly becomes a tactical villain, using his newfound powers under King Tommen to turn King's Landing into his own domain. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 27. The Mountain Played by: Hafor Julius Bjornsson : Hafor Julius Bjornsson The hulking Clegane brother known as The Mountain  now a zombie-esque servant to Cersei  may not have come face-to-face with lots of characters in the series, but his presence is known by all in Westeros. His biggest moment? Battering poor Oberyn's head into mush. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 26. Khal Drogo Played by: Jason Momoa : Jason Momoa To the world he's now Aquaman, but for a brief time, Jason Momoa was Khal Drogo, the beloved Dothraki husband of his Khaleesi, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 25. Jon Snow Played by: Kit Harington : Kit Harington Every show needs a hero, and they do not come more obvious than Jon Snow. Rising from discarded bastard to King of the North, his climb has been one of the show's best storylines. A shame, then, that Snow can be such a bland person, doing only what is right and seemingly having no faults. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 24. Stannis Baratheon Played by: Stephen Dillane : Stephen Dillane With his propensity to make tough decisions for the greater good, Stannis could have been a heroic warrior. However, the Baratheon brother's continual fall from grace  including sacrificing his own daughter and murdering his own brother  were horrendous decisions that eventually doomed him. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 23. Hodor Played by: Kristian Nairn : Kristian Nairn Once you get over the fact that Kristian Nairn was essentially getting paid to repeat the word "Hodor" over and over, it's hard to deny that Bran Stark's protector was a heartwarming addition to the show. His death  the breathtaking "Hold the Door" sequence  will go down as one of the show's most memorable moments. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 22. Tywin Lannister Played by: Charles Dance : Charles Dance Stannis was a horrible father. His two favourite children became incestuous lovers, and he blamed his youngest for the death of his wife. Without Tywin, though, the Lannister family would not be nearly as riveting as they are to watch. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 21. Tormund Giantsbane Played by: Kristofer Hivju : Kristofer Hivju Tormund has some of the best lines in the series, particularly when expressing his admiration for Brienne. Here's one of the least explicit: "I want to make babies with her. Think of it. Great big monsters. They'll conquer the world!" HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 20. Daenerys Targaryen Played by: Emilia Clarke : Emilia Clarke "Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons." Every time Dany meets someone new, she forces Missandei to read out her entire CV. I guess everyone would if theirs was as impressive. Dany really has had a great journey to the top  a shame she could not have come to Westeros slightly earlier. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 19. Olenna Tyrell Played by: Dianna Rigg : Dianna Rigg Olenna's scenes were always ones to cherish. The Queen of Thorns was as cunning as the best of them and seemed like she could worm her way out of any situation, all from the comfort of her own chair. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 18. Jorah Mormont Played by: Iain Glen : Iain Glen Poor Ser Jorah. Dany may be 25 years younger than him, but that never stopped the disgraced warrior from loving her. He even fought off Grey Scale to fight by her side. If that's not true love, then what is? HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 17. Davos Seaworth Played by: Liam Cunningham : Liam Cunningham Liam Cunningham's performance as the curt Davos Seaworth has quietly been one of the best things about the series since his introduction. As Jon Snow's kingly advisor, he's recently seen himself thrust into the heart of the series and, simply put, Game of Thrones would be a less enjoyable show without him. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 16. Melisandre Played by: Carice van Houten : Carice van Houten Lest we forget that Melisandre is actually a shrivelled old witch who has been manipulating men for hundreds of years. Her faith in the Lord of Light, though, could very well be misplaced. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 15. Oberyn Played by: Pedro Pascal : Pedro Pascal Few shows can bring in characters midway through their run that have such an impact as Oberyn. The Viper quickly became a fan favourite, and his death remains one of the show's most squirm-inducing moments. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 14. Eddard "Ned" Stark Played by: Sean Bean : Sean Bean Killing off a main character during a show's first season was practically unheard of before Game of Thrones. Yet, as dictated by George RR Martin's books, they cut off Sean Bean's head without a second thought, setting the tone for everything to come. No death has impacted the Thrones quite as much since. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 13. Varys Played by: Conleth Hill : Conleth Hill Early on in the series, it was hard to pin down Varys, a slippery eel of a character who has "little birds" fluttering around Westeros, feeding back crucial information. Going into the final season, his true intentions are clear: he's all for Daenerys taking the Iron Throne, even if he doesn't live to see the day (I have to die in this strange country, just like you," Melisandre prophesied last season). HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 12. Bronn Played by: Jerome Flynn : Jerome Flynn Perhaps the show's best wise-cracking side-kick, Bronn only has one loyalty: money. Paired with either of the Lannister lads, Tyrion or Jaime, Bronn makes for excellent company. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 11. Robb Stark Played by: Richard Madden : Richard Madden Before Bodyguard, Richard Madden was the extremely temporary king of Westeros. Robb was a man of honour, trying to bring light to the Thrones universe. He was a likeable presence who ruled with his heart, an act that ultimately saw him die during the infamous Red Wedding in season three. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 10. Brienne of Tarth Played by: Gwendoline Christie : Gwendoline Christie Brienne is a reassuring force of good in a world filled with scheming layabouts. She's also one of the most deadly. Her time on the series has been spent protecting the likes of Renly Baratheon, Catelyn Stark and Jaime Lannister, the latter of which made for an interesting turn as it put her at odds with her loyalty. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 9. Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish Played by: Aidan Gillen : Aidan Gillen There would be no Game of Thrones without Littlefinger. The silver-tongued manipulator had Jon Arryn killed, setting off a snowball that turned into an avalanche. As smart as he may have been, Littlefinger was finally outplayed by his own pupil, Sansa Stark. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 8. Sansa Stark Played by: Sophie Turner : Sophie Turner Sansa has perhaps had the most interesting story arc of any character on Thrones. Beginning as a cliched annoying teenager, she gradually became a stone-cold killer, capable of holding Winterfell and outsmarting even Littlefinger. With any luck, she could sit upon the Iron Throne when the war is over. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 7. Arya Stark Played by: Maisie Williams : Maisie Williams Arya Stark, arguably the greatest character of the first few seasons, was one of the biggest victims of the series overtaking George RR Martin's source material. Her limited screen time, due to being away from the central action, robbed us of classic moments that we're grateful she's been a part of in an otherwise lacklustre season eight. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 6. Sandor "The Hound" Clegane Played by: Rory McCann : Rory McCann From his regular delivery of the phrase"F** the king" to that chicken scene, The Hound is a reckless creation whose high ranking on this list can be attributed to the searing performance from Rory McCann. Most effective when paired with Arya Stark. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 5. Joffrey Baratheon Played by: Jack Gleeson : Jack Gleeson No character has been as hated by the fandom as Joffrey. His wicked ways and disgusting behaviour haunted the show's first four seasons. You never knew what was going to come next: whether he was about to behead your favourite character or start crying to his mother. It made for thrilling television. But, as The Hound says, "F**k the King". HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 4. Catelyn Stark Played by: Michelle Fairley : Michelle Fairley The lady of Winterfell, Catelyn Stark, became the show's honorary lead after the untimely beheading of her husband, Ned (Sean Bean) at the end of season one. As she tried to take control of spiralling events in the second and third run, Thrones was handed its most resilient character. Michelle Fairley's guttural cry of anguish before meeting her tragic end during the Red Wedding will always be the show's most horrific moment. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 3. Jaime Lannister Played by: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau : Nikolaj Coster-Waldau If the characters above Jaime in this list are the show's greatest characters, Jaime is the show's most disarming. The Lannister brother  the Kingslayer  started the series as a long-haired bad guy of the tallest order, but his humbling over the past few seasons have seen him inch his way into the hearts of viewers. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 2. Tyrion Lannister Played by: Peter Dinklage : Peter Dinklage Blamed for the death of his mother and hated for being a dwarf, Tyrion turned to drink and prostitutes to numb the pain. However, Tyrion has a fierce intellect, capable of outsmarting the toughest enemies (and offering cutting lines that George RR Martin says often take weeks to write). More importantly, despite being betrayed and cast away time and time again, Tyrion selflessly only wants the best for the people of Westeros. A true hero. HBO Game of Thrones characters - ranked 1. Cersei Lannister Played by: Lena Headey : Lena Headey The Mad Queen, alone on the Iron Throne. Cersei has, over the course of seven seasons, seen her three children die, driven her lover/brother away, blown up a church with a half dozen major characters inside, arranged the death of her husband (King Robert) and attempted to have her other brother (Tyrion) killed multiple times. Yet, thanks to Lena Headey's empathetic performance, you still feel sorry for the terrifying Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. As one of the most complicated character to have ever reached television screens, there's no denying her place as the best Thrones character to date. HBO

The final season of Game of Thrones reaches TV screens 14 April. The show will be available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK. Read everything you need to know about the forthcoming season here.Devastating heatwaves have caused the number of coral babies emerging from the Great Barrier Reef to drop by nearly 90 per cent, according to a new study.

Rising ocean temperatures resulting from climate change in the region have been linked with bleaching events and the largest die-off of corals ever recorded.

Scientists are concerned that with both adult coral and their larvae taking a massive hit, the reef is unlikely to survive a future of warming and extreme weather.

Following two devastating heatwaves that struck the reef over consecutive years, the scientists said the decline of larval coral was unsurprising.

Dead corals dont make babies, said Professor Terry Hughes of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at Australia's James Cook University, who led the study which was published in the journal Nature.

Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Show all 15 1 /15 Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Campaigners in Australia have today released photographs showing sharks in snared in hooks placed as part of the Queensland governments Shark Control Program HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Operating in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the program is intended to reduce the threat of attacks in Queenslands waters by capturing sharks with nets and drumlines, permanent fishing hooks buoyed off coast HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program A diagram showing the drumlines used by the Queensland government to catch sharks Queensland Government Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and Humane Society International (HIS) are calling for the immediate removal of the drumlines HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Though Queensland has seen a decline in fatal attacks since the program launched in 1962, campaigners argue that control measures are not proportional to the threat posed by sharks and lament the programs devastating effect on certain shark populations HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program For example, nearly 9000 tiger sharks have been caught since the program was launched HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Their numbers have dropped by up to three quarters says Dr Leonardo Guida, senior shark campaigner at Australian Marine Conservation Society HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Citing the findings of the recent official Australian Shark Report Card, Dr Guida continues numbers will keep dropping unless we make major improvements to the way they are managed HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program The government should not be sanctioning the culling of a species in such perilous decline HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program The release of this footage comes weeks before the implementation of a law that would make its capture illegal HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program The Queensland Governments Fisheries Amendment Bill 2018 outlaws being within 20 metres of shark control equipment on the grounds of public safety, but campaigners view it as a way to hide the impact of the Shark Control Program HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Nicola Beynon, head of campaigns at HIS says not only does the Queensland Government insist on slaughtering sharks, but it has recently passed legislation making it illegal to document the horror. The public has a right to see true cost of its Shark Control Program HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program A diagram showing the nets used by the Queensland government to catch sharks Queensland Government Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Tiger sharks are a particular concern for campaigners HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan Sharks in Great Barrier Reef threatened by government program Tiger sharks are a particular concern for campaigners HSI/AMCS/N McLachlan

The number of new corals settling on the Great Barrier Reef declined by 89 per cent following the unprecedented loss of adult corals from global warming in 2016 and 2017.

Professor Hughes and his team surveyed the numbers of young and old coral along the reef after these extreme events.

Despite their rocky appearance, corals are animals that produce tiny larvae, which then float at the ocean surface before settling on the reef and developing to adults.

Some species of coral were harder hit by the heatwaves, with those that remained closer to their parent reef more likely to survive than those that dispersed further into the ocean.

One of the worst affected groups was the Acropora  which includes key varieties such as table and staghorn coral that provide habitats for thousands of other species.

Historically, if one section of reef was damaged it would be seeded by larvae travelling from other neighbouring corals, but the scientists are concerned this ability is being lost.

The Great Barrier Reef has so far experienced four mass bleaching events since 1998, when heat-stressed corals expel the algae that provide them with energy they need to survive.

As global temperatures creep up, scientists think the gap between these events is likely to shrink.

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Its highly unlikely that we could escape a fifth or sixth event in the coming decade, said co-author Professor Morgan Pratchett.

When the heatwave struck in 2016, headlines began to emerge declaring the natural wonder  which stretches across 1,400 miles of Queenland coastline  was officially dead.

While those warnings were somewhat premature, there is no doubt that the reefs days may be numbered if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated.

In its most recent climate assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that if global temperatures were allowed to rise by 2C, 99 per cent of the planets reefs would be wiped out.

We used to think that the Great Barrier Reef was too big to fail  until now, said Prof Pratchett.Bitcoin cash has experienced huge price gains that have outstripped those made by its more famous rival bitcoin, amid a major revival of the cryptocurrency markets.

The bitcoin spin-off rose in value by around 45 per cent over the last 24 hours, taking its market cap above $4 billion for the first time since November 2018.

One unit of the cryptocurrency is now worth $262 (200), which is still a long way off the peak it reached in late 2017 of around $4,000.

Bitcoin's recent gains of around 25 per cent appear modest in comparison, though it still remains well up on its rival with a current value close to $5,000.

Bitcoin cash advocates claim the newer cryptocurrency, which launched eight years after bitcoin in 2017, offers improved functionality in terms of transaction times and its ability to scale.

Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins  the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices Lazlo Hanyecz Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Silk Road opens for business Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin Screenshot Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The first bitcoin ATM appears On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The fall of MtGox The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's big split On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's price sky rockets Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures What goes up... Bitcoin price crashes spectacularly, losing half of its value in a matter of days Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin plunges The cryptocurrency eventually bottoms out below $4,000 in 2019 before slowly rebuilding momentum to outperform more traditional assets Getty Images

"Bitcoin cash has more of the characteristics that make bitcoin bitcoin, than bitcoin core," Roger Ver, an early adopter of cryptocurrency who is one of the most prominent supporters of bitcoin cash, told The Independent last year.

"What matters is if it works as a peer-to-[eer electronic cash system  and bitcoin cash simply works better."

Other major cryptocurrencies have fared even less well from the market surge, with ethereum and ripple experiencing gains of around 10 per cent.

Theories for what caused the cryptocurrency revival range from a large bitcoin order by an anonymous buyer, to an April Fool's joke that inadvertently triggered trading bots to autonomously buy bitcoin.

Another idea is that by passing $4,200  the previous highest price bitcoin had reached in 2019  it triggered automatic trades that had been set at this level.

"Bitcoin is on fire at the minute as it punches through its previous resistance level. The break above $4,200 was critical, as the market had been watching that level for a while," said Simon Peters, an analayst at the online trading platform eToro.

"It's difficult to determine exactly what caused the jump, but it's most likely caused by short sellers covering their positions, adding to the upward pressure of the price. However, if we see the price hold above $4,200 going forward, it could be a sign that we are finally out of the bear market."Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to promote a bitcoin-style cryptocurrency called Dogecoin.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive posted a satirical news article about "crazy imaginary internet money" and a meme with the caption "Dogecoin rulz".

He also changed his Twitter biography to read: "CEO of Dogecoin".

Mr Musk's promotion of the cryptocurrency appeared to trigger a huge price surge for the alternative cryptocurrency,

Shortly after he posted them, Dogecoin's market capitalisation surged by $70m (53m) in less than an hour to take it to more than $400m (303m). This came amid a price resurgence for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins  the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices Lazlo Hanyecz Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Silk Road opens for business Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin Screenshot Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The first bitcoin ATM appears On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The fall of MtGox The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's big split On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's price sky rockets Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures What goes up... Bitcoin price crashes spectacularly, losing half of its value in a matter of days Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin plunges The cryptocurrency eventually bottoms out below $4,000 in 2019 before slowly rebuilding momentum to outperform more traditional assets Getty Images

It marked its highest point since its value tumbled from above $750m last October.

At its peak in late 2017, Dogecoin was one of the world's most valuable cryptocurrencies with a market cap close to $2bn.

The cryptocurrency was originally conceived as a joke by Australian technologist Jackson Palmer, who revealed in 2014 that he never intended it to be taken seriously as an alternative form of currency.

It was inspired by the Shiba Inu dog from the doge meme that was popular in the early 2010's and soon gained a cult following among fans of the meme who helped use it to fund the Jamaican bobsled team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Mr Musk's enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency came after the official Twitter account for dogecoin posted an online poll asking who should be the CEO.

"We have listened to your concerns," the tweet stated. "We have decided that dogecoin does need a CEO. Someone who can lead us into the future while maintaining the core values if what we are."

Candidates listed in the poll included notable cryptocurrency figures Vitalik Buterin and Charlier Lee but Mr Musk came top with almost half of the votes.

In response to the poll, Mr Musk tweeted: "Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It's pretty cool."

He subsequently changed his Twitter bio to "Former CEO of dogecoin".Buzz Aldrin has responded to the suggestion that someone should go to the Moon and pick up the faeces he left there.

When Aldrin and the other Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon, they left behind a host of honourable and iconic things: Neil Armstrong's footstep, and an American flag, which still wait there to this day.

But they were also forced to leave behind less noble things, too. Also waiting there are bags of human faeces, dumped waste generated as astronauts carried out their mission.

That led journalist Brian Resnick to suggest that humanity needs to go back and pick up those bags, and bring them back down to Earth. His suggestion came as the US government told Nasa it needs to send people back to the Moon within five years.

He argued the bags represent an unparallelled look at how life might be able to survive in space. Human faeces is full of life, including the bacteria that makes up roughly 50 per cent of that mass.

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

Scientists would be able to explore whether any of that life survived in the harsh environment of the Moon, in an attempt to understand how it would survive. As such, those toilet bags are life subjected to probably the most intense conditions known to man, and a major if accidental experiment.

Resnick had speculated that Aldrin's waste could be in one of those bags, waiting. But he said it wasn't clear whether any of the Apollo 11 astronauts had left any there, and that Aldrin had declined to comment on the story.

But he has now responded to the suggestion, and did not rule it out  but expressed his sympathy for the astronauts who will be heading there to find it.

"Well, I sure feel bad for whoever finds my bag," he wrote, as well as the poo emoji.The Duchess of Sussex celebrates her 40th birthday today, almost two months after having given birth to her second child, Lilibet, a baby sister for two-year-old Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the pregnancy on 14 February when they released an intimate black-and-white photograph with the duchess bump clearly visible, from their home in California.

They later revealed they were having a girl when they sat down for their interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Since stepping down as senior members of the royal family, the couple have chosen to eschew tradition. The delay in announcing Lilibets birth had been predicted by royal-watchers.

Privacy is of utmost importance to Meghan, who kept a low profile after giving birth to her son in 2019. However, she has spoken openly about her desire to become a mother on several occasions in the past and praised motherhood.

Here are all the times the duchess has opened up about motherhood:

Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks Show all 11 1 /11 Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 14 January 2019 In an unusual style choice for the Duchess, who traditionally favours neutral hues, this ensemble offers a vibrant twist on the colour-blocking trend with a red Sentaler coat, matching heels and a bright purple Aritzia dress. It was a playful choice for the royal couple's visit to Birkenhead Town Hall. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 30 January 2019 The Duchess wore head-to-toe blush for her visit to the National Theatre, where she is now a patron. The ensemble is by US designer Brandon Maxwell but the suede shoes are Aquazurra. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 1 February 2019 Oscar de la Renta can do no wrong when it comes to flirty patterned dresses. This theatrical bird and rose-covered number was an apt choice for the Duchess; visit to Bristol Old Vic. AFP/Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 7 February 2019 This Givenchy skirt offers some pizzazz thanks to its knee-high slit and its flattering waistline. Markle paired the look Aquazzura mules and a white collared shirt. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 12 February 2019 Who said you couldn't wear all-white everything? Markle paired her turtleneck Calvin Klein dress with an Amanda Wakeley coat for a gala performance at the Natural History Museum. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 23 February 2019 The Duchess was a lady in red for her visit to Casablanca, Morocco in this bespoke Valentino midi-dress, which she paired with nude court heels and a matching clutch. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 24 February 2019 Markle arrived at a reception hosted by the British Ambassador to Morocco in this full-coverage caped gown by Dior, which came in an opulent shade of champagne. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 25 February 2019 This billowing Carolina Herrera dress was the perfect choice for the Duchess' outing to brace the balmy climes of Rabat, Morocco, where she'd been visiting King Mohammed VI of Morocco with Prince Harry. This hypnotic sea blue gown was a custom-made number, obviously. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 8 March 2019 Proving that maternity hemlines needn't be restricted to one's ankles, Markle stepped out in this 1960s-inspired shift dress by high street label, Reiss. Paired with a black blazer and a pair of matching Manolo Blahnik pumps, it was a classic but delightfully retro look. AFP/Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 11 March 2019 The Duchess has a penchant for rich emerald green hues, and this ensemble exemplifies just how suited the shade is to her complexion. The outfit was designed by Erdem, which was a symbolic choice given she wore the Canadian designer's pieces to a Commonwealth Day Youth Event at Canada House in London. Getty Images Meghan Markle's best pregnancy looks 11 March 2019 For the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, the Duchess wore a cream chain-print dress by Victoria Beckham, which made its runway debut just a few weeks ago at London Fashion Week. The look was topped off with a matching pillbox hat, emerald green stilettos and a satin clutch. Getty Images

First days of motherhood

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle presented their son to the world two days after his birth on Wednesday 8 May 2019, giving royal fans the opportunity to find out exactly how the royal couple were adapting to parenthood.

"It's magic, it's pretty amazing," the new mum said while caressing her son's head in Prince Harry's arms in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle.

"I have the two best guys in the world so I'm really happy.

(AFP/Getty Images)

"He has the sweetest temperament, he's really calm."

Meghan later added that her son was a "dream" and that the first days of motherhood had been "special".

A family heirloom

While speaking to Hello! magazine in 2015, the duchess revealed that she plans on passing on a sentimental gift to her future daughter.

The Californian-born royal explained that when she discovered Suits had been renewed for a third season, the legal television drama she starred in from 2011 to 2018, she totally splurged on a 4,200 Cartier French Tank watch.

She had the piece engraved with the message To M.M. From M.M. to remind herself of the significance of the piece.

The duchess said that she planned to give it to her daughter one day.

Ticking off the bucket list

In 2015, Ms Markle was interviewed by Best Health magazine about her healthy living regime for the magazines May 2016 cover.

During the interview, the then-Suits actor also spoke about her plans for the future.

When asked whats on her bucket list, the duchess answered: I want to travel more and I cant wait to start a family, but in due time.

Leading a balanced life

In 2016, Ms Markle told Lifestyle magazine that her life is more amazing than she ever thought it could be.

I dreamt of becoming a successful working actress, which I can now very thankfully tick off the list. And I also dream to have a family, she said.

The duchess added that its all about balance, and that having a family would enable her to feel more grounded.

Raising a family will be a wonderful part of that, she explained.

Time for a bedtime story

While answering rapid fire questions for a 2016 interview, Ms Markle was asked what childrens book she couldnt wait to share with her future children.

The duchess gave The Giving Tree as her answer, a childrens picture book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein.

First published in 1964, the book documents the relationship between a young boy and a tree.

Taking an interest in baby products

Two months prior to their wedding, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle toured the Belfast campus of Northern Irelands next generation science park.

During their visit, the couple were introduced to a company called Schnuggle which makes hypoallergenic baby products.

Im sure at some point well need the whole thing, Ms Markle said, when perusing the companys range of products.

On being a working mother

While on tour in Capetown with Harry, Meghan said that juggling royal duties while looking after baby Archie was a lot but it was also all so exciting.

Speaking to Lara Rosmarin, chief executive of Cape Innovation and Technology and a mother of two, Meghan said: It must be a lot to juggle. Were only five months in right now. Being a working mum and travelling as well with a baby, my goodness its a lot, but its all so exciting.

There are days when its a lot to juggle but then you meet someone and you have an impact on them and you say ah-ha, and its so rewarding.

On her future daughter

Meghan made a virtual appearance at the Global Citizens VAX Live concert in May and delivered a speech in which she spoke about being thrilled to be welcoming a daughter.

Its a feeling of joy we share with millions of other families around the world. When we think of her, we think of all the young women and girls around the globe who must be given the ability and the support to lead us forward.Bad news at Boots, where the American owner has warned UK store closures and job losses could be on the way.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) talked of the need for decisive steps to reduce costs in the UK after what was described as the most difficult quarter since the groups creation.

This is not just another tale of high street woes, which we are becoming all too familiar with the boom in internet shopping, the squeeze on consumers wallets and the uncertainty wrought by the governments disastrous mishandling of Brexit.

Boots sells multiple lines, but by far its most important role is as the UKs biggest chain of dispensing chemists. Many people with long term health conditions rely on it.

But the role of a pharmacist goes beyond that. They are highly trained medical professionals and their outlets provide a place where people can drop in to get basic medical advice without having to wait weeks for an appointment with a GP or spend hours on end in their local A&E.

The Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA), which is the professions trade union, argues that the NHS should be making more and better use of them. The point is well made. Even now they take pressure off a healthcare system that is struggling under the weight of it.

We dont have any details about Boots plans yet. The official line is that no major closure programme is currently envisaged but that underperforming stores will be kept under review.

Thing is, retailers will often tell you that when it comes to their bricks and mortar shops, a third are profitable and another third are marginally so. As for the rest? If their fairy godmother offered three wishes, their first would be to get rid of them.

Thats not to say Boots is in that position. But if WBA swings the axe as a result of it getting caught up in the high streets malaise it will add to the pressure on the NHS by taking away a relief valve and cause very real problems for those that depend on its services.

The PDA, which fought a long and hard battle to achieve recognition at Boots, fears pharmacies could ultimately follow the example of banks, where access to branches and the services they offer has been progressively reduced as a result of the closure programmes enacted by the big players.

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.

Its concerns are justified.

The closure of bank branches has caused problems for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups who are less able to make use of telephone and internet-based services. It is not just a business issue. It is a societal one too.

The closure of pharmacies could have an even greater negative impact. Policymakers need to wake up to it, and fast. The warning by Boots owner could take us down a dangerous road.Some of the UKs wealthiest estates pay an inheritance tax (IHT) rate of just 10 per cent  a quarter of the official government rate, a study has found.

Estates worth 10m or more pay about half the rate of the merely very wealthy (2 to 3m) by employing advisers who use a kitbag of tricks to avoid IHT.

Inheritance tax is only paid by those who have assets of more than 325,000 when they die, which was the top 4 per cent in 2015-16.

There are numerous loopholes allowing people to avoid paying, and the new research shows these mean the system is regressive, with the wealthiest paying the lowest rates.

Some aspects of the system are ripe for reform, according to asset manager Canada Life which compiled the research.

The study found deep inconsistencies in the ways different assets are taxed, which allow the very richest families to avoid paying.

10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Show all 10 1 /10 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Luxembourg There are an estimated 2.5 trillion shares of mutual funds registered in the Grand Duchy, 1 trillion of which cannot be traced to an owner 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands contain 6% of the world's total banking assets, but just 0.000008% of its population 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Isle of Man David Cameron has said the Isle of Man, where there is no corporation, capital gains or inheritance tax, should not be considered a tax haven 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Jersey There are over 3.5 billion assets per square mile on the self-governing Channel Island 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Ireland Ireland made headlines last year when it emerged Apple was registered in the country in order to dodge over 40bn in taxes 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Mauritius The Mauritian government notionally charges corporation tax, but companies can easily make this back through generous tax credits for foreign businesses 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Bermuda Google holds more than 30bn in offshore cash reserves, primarily via Bermuda 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Monaco A popular domicile for super-rich private individuals, Monaco has the most expensive property in the world. 1 million will buy just 225 square feet 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Switzerland Switzerland has such secretive banking laws that it took until the 1990s to secure the release of Nazi cash reserves 10 of the biggest tax havens in the world Bahamas David Cameron's father ran an offshore fund which hired Bahamas residents to complete paperwork, thus dodging British tax bills

For example, some shares are given 100 per cent tax relief. Because estates with more than 10m to distribute have a higher proportion of shares, as opposed to property, for example, they pay a lower rate.

Neil Jones, wealth management and tax specialist at Canada Life, said: The relief was originally created to prevent a business being sold when the owner dies, and has since been broadened.

Not everyone will want to adopt high-risk strategies with savings built up over a lifetime, at a time they could be considering using these to supplement income in retirement.

In our view, IHT needs to be simplified. The basic principle is simple, however the piecemeal nature of the regulations can make it an uneven playing field.

IHT raised 5.2bn in 2015-16 and has been deeply unpopular, facing attacks from both sides of the political spectrum.

Critics have argued that a fairer system would tax the total value of gifts a person gives over their entire lifetime.

This would help prevent wealthy individuals evading IHT by giving away their fortunes before they die.Casey Ireland, 36, of Antioch, pleaded guilty to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, and one count of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to a statement issued Monday by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Illinois.The NHS will rapidly reach crisis point if it continues to lose staff and fails to attract more overseas workers because of Brexit, , MPs have warned in a new report.

Members of the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) accused the government of painting an overly positive picture of the state of the NHS when it knows staff and funding shortages could scupper badly needed reforms.

The NHS long-term plan was published in January, after the Government committed to increasing its budget by an extra 20.5bn funding per year by 2023-24.

However, official figures show there are currently more than 100,000 vacancies across the NHS, nearly one in every 10 posts, and this includes 40,000 nurse roles.

The NHS will not deliver against the [long-term plan] plan unless it addresses staffing shortages, the report warns. These staffing shortages present a major obstacle to the NHSs financial viability and we remain concerned about how the NHS can suitably address these workforce shortages.

NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Show all 18 1 /18 NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, addresses demonstrators following the march AFP/Getty NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary Reuters NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary EPA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary REUTERS NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary PA NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images NHS at 70: demonstration and celebration march to mark anniversary AFP/Getty Images

Should the NHS continue to lose staff at the current rate, or fail to attract enough employees from overseas, then the situation will rapidly reach crisis point.

A detailed workforce plan is expected this month but the plan released in January made clear that nurses and doctors raided from overseas would be vital to keeping the NHS afloat short term.

The government claimed that the NHS nearly balanced its budget in 2017-18, with NHS England, trusts and clinical commissioning groups reporting a combined deficit of 21m.

However the PAC said this hides warning signs that the NHSs financial health is getting worse, with increasing loans to support struggling trusts, growing waiting lists and slipping waiting times.

A lack of clarity on adult social care funding was another concern. The Independent, last week, revealed the government missed its own deadline to publish reforms for the sixth time since 2017.

Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the committee, said those working in the NHS were clear about the risks from the workforce crisis.

By July we expect to see evidence that Government has a plan to address them, she said.

Sara Gorton, Unison head of health, said: The committee has echoed the swelling chorus of concern about the staffing crisis engulfing the NHS. Ministers must ensure money is put aside to fund the supply of new staff with proper apprenticeship programmes, restored training budgets and better career support.

Any recovery plan requires significant investment and a commitment to fair pay rises for the future.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

An NHS Improvement spokesman said: The NHS has reduced the number of staff vacancies and the number of trusts in deficit over the past year. We are building on these achievements with our people plan, which will set out how we will deliver a 21st century NHS for our rising and ageing population by growing the number of doctors and nurses, as well as by giving trusts in deficit extra money and support from this month so that every hospital will return to financial balance within the next five years.

An NHS review on workforce is expected to be published after the 2019 spending review.

Additional reporting by Press AssociationIn a windswept army base in Georgia, in the shadow of the Caucasus mountains, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is meeting Georgian soldiers whove been wounded in Afghanistan. Most of them are amputees. One of them is blind. Gravely, sombrely, Stoltenberg thanks them for their service.

What you have done has been of very great importance for all of us, he says.

Behind him, the Georgian and Nato flags fly side by side. But Georgia isnt a member of Nato. So what on earth is going on?Mary Warnock was a philosopher and ethicist who confronted some of the biggest moral issues of our times. She made significant contributions to debates surrounding life, from assisted fertilisation and embryology to assisted dying.

Warnock, who died aged 94, was born Helen Mary Wilson in Winchester in 1924. Seven months earlier her father, Archie Wilson, a housemaster at Winchester College, had died. Growing up, she had little daily contact with her mother.

Speaking about her childhood, she recalled in her memoir: The routine was amazingly old-fashioned, even for the 1920s. Our pleasures and our security were entirely the result of the character of our nanny, Emily Coleman, who had been nanny to all of us.

The other great influence of her early life was her sister Stephana, with whom she shared a passion for words and for music. We both loved hymns, she remembered fondly, especially those that contained mysterious words like paraclete or Trisagion.

She was educated as a boarder at St Swithuns School in Winchester and went up to Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, in October 1942 to study mods and greats. When the war intervened she chose to teach at Sherborne School for Girls, discovering a love for teaching.

Warnock returned to Oxford after the war and was awarded a first in greats in 1948. She married the philosopher Geoffrey Warnock the following year. During the Fifties the couple had five children, Kitty, Felix, Fanny, James and Maria in quick succession.

The subject of ethics saw a resurgence in interest in the late Fifties and early Sixties. In Warnocks first book, Ethics Since 1900 (1960), she noted that much to her delight there were now signs that the most boring days were over. In her memoir, she celebrated that at last, the absolute barrier erected by logical positivism between fact and value had been breached, and moral realism began to be sniffed in the air.

With broadcaster Jenni Murray (left) and politician Shirley Williams (right) at the Southbank Centre in London in 2013 (YouTube)

Warnock returned to teaching in 1966, becoming headmistress of the Oxford High School, where she remained until 1972. She was appointed a member of the watchdog Independent Broadcasting Authority and became its chair in 1973, a position she held over the next decade. It was an absurd appointment, she commented, because I hardly ever watched television and had not listened to commercial radio since the days of Radio Luxembourg in the nursery.

In 1973, then-education secretary Margaret Thatcher announced that she would create a committee for the education of children and young people handicapped by disabilities of body or mind. Warnock was made chair of the Committee of Inquiry into Special Educational Needs, which held its first meeting in September 1974 with a large group of 27 members and a broad remit.

Writing in what became known as the Warnock Report, published four years later under a Labour government, Warnock described the scope of her review as extending well beyond the education service. She said: Our terms of reference required us to take account of the medical aspects of the needs of handicapped children and young people, together with arrangements to prepare them for entry into employment.

When the Conservatives returned to power two years later under Thatcher, the committees recommendations formed the basis of the 1981 Education Act, establishing new legal rights for disabled children and their parents. Todays practice of placing children with special needs into mainstream schools and assessing them by statementing of their needs exists thanks to Warnock and her committees work.

However, in an article in The Telegraph in September 2010  responding to a damning Ofsted report on special educational needs  she bemoaned the fact that children with special needs had been betrayed. Schools were, in her view, exploiting children to benefit their own financial needs. Distinguishing between good and bad teachers, she wrote that the latter gives up at the first setback and is positively encouraged by management to do so, for the sake of a cash injection, and so that her pupils need not be counted among those whose examination results will be made public.

Warnock was made a DBE in 1984 and joined the Lords in February the next year, taking the title of Baroness Warnock of Weeke, in the City of Winchester. She remained in the Lords until June 2015.

She chaired the Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilisation and Embryology, which looked at assisted fertilisation. The committee released the Warnock Report in 1984, recommending the establishment of a regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority (HFEA).

Rarely can an individual have had so much influence on public policy, said Dame Suzy Leather, chair of HFEA from 2002-06. The committee she chaired clearly appreciated the fundamental moral and often religious questions raised by assisted reproductive technology, and yet it produced a coherent set of proposals for their regulation that has stood the test of time. The fact is that almost 20 years later we are still working to the rules suggested by Warnock.

In 1986 she and her husband Geoffrey achieved an academic double when she became mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, while he was already master of Hertford College, Oxford, becoming the first couple to simultaneously head colleges at each of the two universities. Geoffrey Warnock retired from Hertford two years later and died in 1995. Warnock House at Oxford was named in their honour.

In 2010, Warnock was invited to contribute to the Commission on Assisted Dying, set up to consider if a change in law should be made. Two years earlier, Warnock had published the book Easeful Death, co-authored with Elisabeth MacDonald, which had explored the moral issues around the topic. Today, aiding or abetting suicide remains punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment under the 1961 Suicide Act. But a new bill, sponsored by Lord Falconer, had sought to change this and Warnock had encouraged its progress since its first tabling in the Lords in June 2014.

When Falconers Assisted Dying Bill was debated in the Commons during September 2015, Warnock  a secular churchgoer  was prompted to write the brief but poignant letter to The Observer: It would surely be more honest if those who believe that their religion forbids assisting the terminally ill to die were simply to say so.

Warnock was an outspoken commentator in other areas of public life. In 2014, for example, she said: There is nothing easier or less significant than apologising to former colonies for, centuries ago, having colonised them. Nothing more futile than now expressing regret for our ancestors actions that were then regarded as normal, though would now be condemned.

She also argued the Queen had been right to host a dinner attended by former IRA commander Martin McGuinness.

Her most recent book, Critical Reflections on Ownership, was published in August 2015. Here she examines the responsibility and love we have for things that are owned and goes on to investigate those things which we do not own, in particular the natural world.

Professor Karen Morrow of Swansea University, editor of the Critical Reflections series, told The Independent: Mary Warnocks philosophical thought has made its long made its impact felt in academia, but it has also proved hugely influential when applied to practical social and legal problems. It was therefore a delight when she agreed to write the first volume in the new series Critical Reflections on Human Rights and the Environment in which she turns her thought-provoking, clear-sighted and humane approach towards an important aspect of perhaps the most pressing issue of our time  the relationship between humanity and the environment.

Dame Mary Warnock (Helen Mary Wilson), philosopher, born 14 April 1924, died 20 March 2019A lone knifeman may have been stabbing people at random in the street in Edmonton, north London, police have confirmed.

As the five attacks that left one man fighting for his life and two others with potentially life-changing injuries were described by police as seemingly senseless and very unprovoked, at least one local school was reported to have initiated a lockdown procedure.

Police said all five victims appeared to have been selected at random, and stabbed from behind without any attempt to engage in conversation.

The public was urged to remain alert despite the arrest of one man in Edmonton Green on Tuesday morning.

Speaking after the arrest, Chief Superintendent Helen Millichap said: The actions of the suspect, the fact they are in a similar area, and the descriptions given, mean that we are potentially looking at just one individual perpetrator.

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However, until the investigation has developed further and we are in a position to speak with certainty about this, I have a duty to ask the public to remain vigilant and to please continue to report anything suspicious.

Recommended Manhunt launched after four people stabbed in north London

Police said the attacks began just after 7pm on Saturday evening, when a 45-year-old woman was stabbed in the back in Aberdeen Road. She was airlifted to an east London hospital, where she is still being treated for injuries that have been described as life changing.

The second attack happened about half a mile away, at a quarter past midnight on Sunday morning, when a 52-year-old man was stabbed in Park Avenue, Edmonton. The victim was later discharged from hospital after treatment.

The third attack is thought to have occurred in Silver Street. A 23-year-old man was found near Seven Sisters Underground station at about 3.55am on Sunday morning, and taken to hospital, where he was treated for stab wounds before being discharged.

At 9.43am on Sunday morning, a 29-year-old man was found with a stab wound to the back in Brettenham Road. He remains in hospital being treated for injuries that police described as not life-threatening, but potentially life-changing.

The fifth stabbing occurred so close to the location of the first that the victim was able to stagger to the police cordon to seek help before collapsing. The man, thought to be in his thirties, is said to have been walking with a friend when he was attacked in Fairfield Road at about 5.05am on Tuesday morning.

He was able to stagger to the cordon around the site of the first stabbing, in Aberdeen Road, and is now in an east London hospital, where his condition was described as critical.

 Police statement after a suspected knifeman arrested

At about 10am on Tuesday morning, police in Edmonton Green arrested a man in his thirties on suspicion of attempted murder. Prior to the arrest, they had issued a description of the suspected knifeman, saying he was a tall, skinny black man, wearing a hoody.

Witnesses to Tuesday mornings arrest, said the man was surrounded by six officers and appeared calm as he was detained, without seeming to say anything or make an attempt to get away.

Police said the man remains in custody at a north London police station.

Officers had previously made two other arrests, both on Sunday.

A man arrested on Fore Street, at 10.53am on Sunday morning has now been released under investigation in relation to the stabbings, but has been charged with separate, unrelated offences.

A man in his forties was arrested in the street in Edmonton at about 5pm on Sunday was released on police bail on Wednesday.

As Ms Millichap admitted the stabbings had caused a huge amount of worry and concern among the community, a Section 60 order remained in place to allow officers in Edmonton to stop and search anyone to prevent further violence.

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It was also reported that Maureen Cobbett, head teacher of The Latymer School, a state grammar in Edmonton, had informed parents by email: In response to the situation in Edmonton at the weekend  the school has a lockdown procedure in place.

For precautionary purposes students are not allowed to leave the school premises during break-time and lunchtime until further notice. Students should bring their own food to eat; they will not be able to order food or leave the building to purchase food.

Some local residents also admitted to feeling frightened, Mike Kalongi, 28, who lives near to the scene of some of the stabbings, admitted he had stopped walking to the gym at night, saying Its scary, really scary.A serial killer nicknamed Scarface who went on a bloody crime spree across Europe has been jailed for at least 20 years for his fifth murder.

Mane Driza, 41, beat and stabbed fellow Albanian Stefan Bledar Mone, 23, in June 1999 in London.

A jury found him guilty of murder at the Old Bailey on March 20 after just two and a half hours of deliberations.

He had already been found guilty of four fatal shootings and an attempted murder in Albania and Italy as well as making threats to kill.

Judge Sarah Munro QC sentenced Driza on Wednesday, giving him life with a minimum term of 20 years. His British sentence will not start until 2026 at the conclusion of his 30 year sentence in Italy.

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Driza, who was known as Tony Montana after the gangster in Al Pacino's movie Scarface, also has 25 years to serve in Albania for shooting a father and son dead in a blood feud.

Judge Munro said: "This is a very unusual, if not unique case."

She went on: "This was a brutal attack against a defenceless man in his own home who would have suffered very considerably before he died."

The judge said his actions deprived Mr Mone's girlfriend of her partner and her unborn son of a father.

Driza used a pick axe handle, lock knife and cheese knife to inflict more than 120 wounds on Mr Mone in at the victim's flat in Wembley, north London.

Mr Mone's six-month pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend Zoe Blay found his body the following day but could only identify him by his distinctive belt.

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Stonemason Driza had become furious that his flatmate had taken his wedding ring and given it to his partner.

He had moved in with him after his brief marriage to Brazilian cleaner Rosie Driza broke down.

Driza's attack on Mr Mone came two years after he shot a father and son dead in his home village and fled to Britain under the assumed name Sokol Drenova.

After killing his third victim - Mr Mone - he took a flight to Italy, where he shot and killed two men at a bar in Sicily six months later. He tried to kill a third man in the bar but his gun jammed.

While in prison in Sicily in 2000, he was interviewed by Scotland Yard about the killing in Britain.

In 2001, in Albania, Driza was convicted in his absence of two charges of murder along with his father.

In June 2002, he was convicted in Sicily of conspiracy to murder Maskaj Artan and Blushaj Albert, and the attempted murder of Maskaj Lefter.

Driza made no response as he was led away from the Old Bailey dock.

He is expected to return to Italy shortly to resume his jail sentence there.

Driza's wife later became involved with a 60-year-old immigration judge who referred to her as "real chilli hot stuff" in emails.

Following a high profile case in 2007, she was cleared of stealing two explicit sex videos from the male judge but was later deported.

Press AssociationCampaigners have won a major legal victory against a draconian injunction granted to fracking firm Ineos.

The measures were taken out to prevent persons unknown from trespassing or causing disruption at the energy giants shale gas sites.

While the company has argued it only intended to prevent unlawful activities, critics say the measures have had a very serious chilling effect on lawful and legitimate protest activities.

The Court of Appeal ruled the injunction had been granted unlawfully by the High Court, and ordered changes to preserve civil liberties and free speech.

The appeal was initially brought by anti-fracking campaigners Joe Boyd and Joe Corre.

This is a humiliating defeat for Ineos and a victory for campaigners and human rights, said Dave Timms, head of political affairs at Friends of the Earth, which provided support for the case.

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The ruling today confirms our view that Ineoss injunction was wrongly granted and unlawfully stifled protest.

Mr Corre said: This is a fantastic result and has restored my confidence in the British legal system.

The court struck out sections from the injunction that apply to protests against the companys supply chain, and those taking place on public highways, such as slow walking.

While the sections applying to trespassing at Ineos sites were maintained, the firm was ordered back to the High Court so they could be assessed against the Human Rights Act.

Ineos, founded by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britains richest man according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, is licensed to frack a larger area of land than any other company in the country.

Since it took out its initial injunction, similar terms have been applied in cases involving other fossil fuel companies including Cuadrilla, UK Oil and Gas, Angus Energy and IGas.

Concerns have been raised about this trend, which has seen a total of 16 protest sites across the country targeted since the end of 2017.

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Anyone caught breaching the injunctions faces fines, seizure of assets and even imprisonment.

However, lawyers described the injunctions as vague, unclear and confusing, and said protesters could easily end up breaking the rules without realising it.

Stephanie Harrison QC, who represented Mr Corre, had previously warned that if the Ineos injunction was upheld it was likely to be become the default position in protest cases.

Responding to the courts decision, she said: Todays judgement recognises the serious chilling effect of the Ineos injunction on civil liberties, particularly the broad, sweeping terms of the injunction against wide categories of persons unknown.

 Bird's eye view footage of Cuadrilla-run Preston New Road fracking site in Lancashire

The outcome of this case serves to underline the importance of the Human Rights Act 1998 as a safeguard for fundamental freedoms like free speech and the right to protest. These rights are the lifeblood of our democracy.

This judgement makes clear that the court will intervene to prevent powerful companies like Ineos using draconian injunctions to intimidate and deter people from participating in lawful protest against fracking, which is widely seen by campaigners and local people affected to be dangerous and damaging to the environment and their communities.

The most recent government figures show 35 per cent of people in the UK oppose fracking, with many concerned about the earthquakes that have been linked to operations in Lancashire.

Protests at oil and gas sites across the county have garnered broad support, both from green activists worried about climate change and local residents concerned about their impact on the surrounding environment.

Legal action is currently underway against a number of similar injunctions taken out by fossil fuel companies, which may now be compromised by the Ineos decision.

Tom Pickering, Ineos shale chief operations officer, said he was pleased the Court of Appeal had upheld elements of the injunction protecting people on and around our sites.

We respect peaceful protest but we must stand up to the militants who game the legal system with intimidation and mob rule. We stand for jobs and opportunity. They stand for anarchy in the UK, he said.

We are talking with our legal team about our next steps because we believe it is essential that the forces of law-and-order prevail. Close Brexit: MPs pass emergency law forcing Theresa May to seek further delay to avert no deal by one vote

A cross-party bid to block a no-deal Brexit has cleared the Commons after Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn met for last-ditch talks to break the deadlock.

In a series of late-night votes, MPs backed the bill, tabled by Labour's Yvette Cooper, which was rushed through in a single day to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal next Friday.

It comes after Ms May was hit by two ministerial resignations over her decision to hold talks with Mr Corbyn, which also sparked fury among Tory MPs.

Mr Corbyn said the meeting in the prime minister's Commons office was "useful but inconclusive", adding: "There has not been as much change as I expected".

Please allow a moment for the liveblog to loadA government minister has quit in protest at Theresa May making the calamity of a Corbyn government more likely, by asking him for help to secure a Brexit deal.

Nigel Adams resigned as a Wales minister and a government whip  the first walkout since the prime minister opened crisis talks with the Labour leader.

In a stinging letter, Mr Adams said Ms May faced two great challenges, to deliver the Brexit the people voted for and to prevent Mr Corbyn entering No 10.

Sadly, I fear that we are in danger of simultaneously failing in both, the MP for Selby and Ainsty, in Yorkshire, wrote.

He added: At cabinet yesterday, there was an opportunity to get on the front foot for once.

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However, by legitimising and turning to Jeremy Corbyn to assist you at this crucial stage, rather than being bold, is a grave error.

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It is clear now that we will end up in a customs union. That is not the Brexit my constituents were promised.

Earlier, Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, repeated his personal opposition to a customs union  but said there were no pre-conditions in the talks with Labour.

Although the prime minister did not say so, in her Tuesday night statement, Mr Corbyn is certain to insist on a customs union as the starting point for any Brexit truce.

No cabinet resignations have followed the marathon seven-and-a-half-hour yesterday, which ended with Ms May making her dramatic request to Labour.

It is expected that the fiercest opponents  defence secretary Gavin Williamson, Liz Truss, the Treasury chief secretary, and Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader  will wait to see what results.

However, after the Brexit deal was signed with Brussels last November, it was the following day before several ministers walked out of the government.

Meanwhile, Downing Street announced that the prime minister will meet Nicola Sturgeon, the Scotland's first minister, today as well as Mr Corbyn.

Mr Barclay told the Commons Brexit committee that he did not support a customs union, but added: Ultimately, if that is where the numbers in the House of Commons go, then the government would  in order to bring this to a resolution in the national interest  accept what the House voted for.

If no agreement was reached in the coming days, the UK would be faced with the unpalatable choice between a long delay to Brexit, and taking part in the European Parliament elections or no Brexit at all.The EU would refuse to open trade talks with Britain after a no-deal Brexit until the UK decided to sign up to the main elements of the withdrawal agreement anyway, the European Commission has said.

Speaking in the European parliament on Wednesday, Jean-Claude Juncker said the Irish border, citizens rights and the divorce bill would need to be agreed before any other negotiations could begin.

He also warned that no further short Article 50 extension would be possible, and that the UK would have to commit to European parliament elections and a longer delay if it wanted to put back its deadline again.

The announcement that the EU would refuse to back down after a no-deal pours cold water on Brexiteer hopes that the UK could get a better deal by refusing to pay the unpopular 39bn financial settlement or sign up to the controversial backstop and then negotiate a separate trade agreement.

The UK will be more affected than the EU because a managed or negotiated no-deal does not exist, any more so than a transition period for a no-deal, Mr Juncker told MEPs.

Whatever happens the UK will have to respond to the three main questions of the separation: one, citizens rights, they must be respected and protected. Two, the UK will have to continue to honour its financial commitments taken as a member state. And three, a solution will have to be found for the island of Ireland, preserving peace and the single market.

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

The UK must respect the spirit and the letter of the Good Friday Agreement. No withdrawal agreement does not mean no commitment and the three questions that I have just mentioned will not disappear overnight: they will constitute strict conditions for rebuilding trust and launching discussions on the future.

But in a small boost for Theresa May, the European Commission president also said member states should approve her request for a short extension until 22 May, but only if the United Kingdom is in a position to approve the withdrawal agreement with a sustainable majority before a planned summit next week.

Leaders had previously said the withdrawal agreement would have to be formally approved by 29 March to get the 22 May extension, but Mr Juncker said the prime ministers statement to the commons on Tuesday night had bought a few more days.

But he stuck to the EUs guns and warned: If it has not done so by then, no further short extension will be possible. After 12 April, we risk jeopardising the European parliament elections and so threaten the functioning of the European Union.

Mr Juncker, who heads up the EUs executive, said Brussels would do everything possible to prevent a disorderly Brexit, but that one was increasingly likely.

The only ones that would benefit from a no-deal are those that are against a world order based on rules, the only ones that would be strengthened would be the populists and nationalists, he said.

The only ones who will be delighted will be those who wish to weaken the European Union and of course, the UK.

Mr Junckers comments on Wednesday echo a similar warning by his chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Tuesday. EU officials worry that a no-deal Brexit is more likely than ever because of political deadlock in Westminster.Furious Conservative Party members are cutting up their membership cards after Theresa May asked Jeremy Corbyn to help her secure a Brexit deal that can get through Parliament.

Downing Street has hinted it wants an agreement with the Labour leader nailed down by the end of the week, in order to meet the EUs deadline for agreeing a further extension to Article 50 at a summit next week.

But the move was met with fury on Twitter by users claiming to be party members, many of whom have accused the government of treachery by ushering in what is likely to be a softer Brexit than they hoped.

Thats me finally done.. I couldnt now care less about voting for the next leader, Adam Brooks, an Essex publican, tweeted alongside an image of his membership card cut in half.

Jeremy Corbyn has no right to be involved after his behaviour over the last two years.

Another Twitter user, Alan Day, posted an image of cut up membership cards and tweeted: Another couple of the families membership cards bite the dust. Direct debits cancelled. This time a Scottish Tory member & GB Ulster Tory member #BrexitBetrayal.

Michael Worthington, who describes himself as an ex-Conservative Party member, posted a photo of a broken membership card and wrote: Also had enough. I no longer have interest in waiting to vote on leadership campaign.

 Faisal Islam asking a pro-Brexit protester why he feels it is appropriate to call the Prime Minister a traitor

Leave.EU, the unofficial Brexit campaign group, tweeted images of torn-up membership cards and wrote in reference to Mr Corbyn: "Grassroots Conservatives respond to Theresa May handing the Brexit keys to a communist terrorist-sympathiser."

The members' anger was echoed by government minister Nigel Adams, who quit in protest on Wednesday over Ms Mays strategy, describing it as making the calamity of a Corbyn government more likely.

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

Mr Adams resigned as a Wales minister and a government whip  the first walkout since the prime minister opened crisis talks with the Labour leader.

In a stinging letter, he said Ms May faced two great challenges she was in danger of failing; to deliver the Brexit the people voted for and to prevent Mr Corbyn entering No 10.

The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.I had a bag of figs, so I used those instead, Pollina said. Another member, who had never tried figs before, said she was glad to have the chance to sample the fruit in the scones. She said the scones were perfectly baked, but she might need to acquire a taste for figs.European politicians have reacted with relief at Theresa Mays move to hold talks with Labour on her Brexit deal, but warned that the short delay she wants to Article 50 may not be an option.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliaments Brexit coordinator, said it was better late than never that the prime minister had asked to sit down with Jeremy Corbyn to find a solution, and that it was good that PM is looking for a cross-party compromise.

But the message from Berlin was less welcoming. Norbert Rottgen, a senior ally of Angela Merkel who chairs the German parliaments powerful foreign affairs committee, said the EU should reject any request for a short delay.

In the current situation of deep institutional deadlock, there is no point in asking for another short delay of Brexit, he said.

The second meaningful vote has shown that further assurances in political declaration won't do the trick. EU should insist on long extension with participation in EU elections.

Recommended Macron says he is open to long Brexit delay for referendum or election

The German politicians comments echo those of senior EU officials in recent weeks, who have said that any further extension would have to be long  perhaps until the end of the year  to prevent a situation where the bloc was constantly having to agree to extend the deadline.

Dublin was more supportive of the idea, however. Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister, told state broadcaster RTE: "They will look for a short extension next week, and I think Ireland will support that.

"It is very unlikely that there will be any crash out at the end of next week with the prime minister looking for an extension with a plan to go with that."

All member states must unanimously agree an extension to Article 50, however  meaning that the most sceptical member states must be won over.

If MPs do not pass the Brexit deal before 12 April the UK will crash out without a deal, with substantial economic damage expected  but MPs have now rejected the prime ministers plan three times. A series of votes held over the last week failed to find another solution, though they showed there was significant support in parliament for a softer Brexit with a customs union, single market access  and even a second referendum.

The prime minister on Tuesday evening said she would take action to break the log-jam and sit down with the leader of the opposition and to try to agree a plan. Mr Corbyn said he would be very happy to meet the prime minister.

Guy Verhofstadt welcomed the talks (EbS)

In Brussels, the developments were met with caution. On the subject of a short extension, one EU official told The Independent: Lets first see what comes out of London in terms of request or an indicated way forward. Then it'll be for the EU27 to consider.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels yet again on Wednesday next week to consider the UK's request for an extension. The bloc has made clear that at the very least the UK would have to participate in European Parliament elections scheduled for April if it wants another delay.

The prime ministers overtures to Labour comes after senior EU figures, including chief negotiator Michel Barnier and French president Emmanuel Macron, said another extension to Article 50 could only be granted if the UK came up with a good reason for one.

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

Mr Macron suggested possible justifications for another extension might be new elections, a referendum or different selection to the future relationship such as a customs union.

Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister told reporters: I think we need to be open to any proposals that she [Theresa May] may bring forward to us.

Well need to consider how we may respond to any UK request for the extension. We want to avoid a rolling extension so any extension must have a clear purpose and a clear plan.Any Brexit deal agreed between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn would "make the country poorer", Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The Scottish first minister said a cross-party compromise plan would be a "cobbled together least bad option" that "satisfies nobody" and could be "unpicked" by a future Eurosceptic prime minister such as Boris Johnson.

It comes as the prime minister and the Labour leader prepare to meet to try to thrash out a Brexit deal that could secure parliamentary approval.

Ms May reached out to Mr Corbyn on Tuesday after her own Brexit plan was rejected three times by MPs and the Commons also failed to approve any of the proposed alternatives.

The prime minister will also meet with Ms Sturgeon on Wednesday as she adopts a new cross-party approach to Brexit.

Speaking before the talks, the SNP leader poured cold water on suggestions that a Labour-Conservative deal could provide a solution to the Brexit crisis.

She told the BBC: "I suppose [it's] better late than never but the real problem here is that time is out on this process and I think there's a danger that as the clock runs down over the next 48 hours or so, then if anything can come of this process now, what it will be is a cobbled together least bad option rather than the best option for the country.

"[It will be] an option that it won't take too long for people to realise satisfies nobody, makes the country poorer and potentially could be unpicked by a new prime minister such as Boris Johnson."

Ms Sturgeon said the prime minister should instead seek to "pause" Brexit by asking the EU for a long extension to the Article 50 process.

She said: "I think what really needs to happen now is a pause, a request for a long extension. The EU will ask two things: firstly, will the UK fight the European elections - and I think the emphatic answer to that should be yes - and secondly, what's the extension for.

"In my view the answer should be yes, by all means see if the House of Commons can put together a compromise option, but then put that to the people in another referendum so people after almost three years can decide: do they want some second best compromise or actually, all things considered, is it better to go for the best option, which is to remain in the EU?"

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

The talks between Ms May and Mr Corbyn come after the prime minister chaired seven hours of cabinet meetings and then delivered a statement in Downing Street on Tuesday night announcing the government's intention to seek a cross-party solution to the Brexit crisis.

She said: "Despite the best efforts of MPs, the process that the House of Commons has tried to lead has not come up with an answer. So today I am taking action to break the logjam: I am offering to sit down with the leader of the opposition and to try to agree a plan - that we would both stick to - to ensure that we leave the European Union and that we do so with a deal.

"The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a future relationship that delivers on the result of the referendum, that both the leader of the opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and which I could then take to next weeks European Council."

If the two party leaders could not agree on a way forward, Ms May said, then MPs will be asked to vote once again on a number of options. The government "stands ready to abide by the decision" made by the Commons, she added.Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg lost his customary cool during a live BBC interview after being confronted over his promotion of a far-right German leader.

The anti-EU Conservative had prompted anger after approvingly quoting the leader of the AfD, senior figures from which have called for refugees to be shot.

Asked on the BBCs Today programme about his decision to shine attention on the AfD remarks, he replied: Well I think this is typical of the BBCs obsession  dare I say it the Today programme obsession.

Challenged again, he told presenter Mishal Husain: Hold on. You must be patient and not interrupt because the answer needs to be given properly. The BBC does have this obsession.

Referring to what he said was a slur made by another BBC presenter about the European Research Group, which Mr Rees-Mogg chairs in the Conservative Party, he continued: When I quote someone and its not my view, thats a great shock, and that seems to be typical of the Today programmes leftie approach.

Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Show all 18 1 /18 Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well These billboards were plastered by campaign group Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well PA Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter Top politicians' Brexit tweets haven't aged well @ByDonkeys / Twitter

It follows widespread criticism of Mr Rees-Mogg last week, with Labour MP David Lammy claiming he was promoting Germanys overtly racist party. He added: Our countrys proudest moment was defeating the far-right.

Now we are supposed to sit back while xenophobes, nativists, nationalists and isolationists do their best to tear Europe apart again. We must not let them win.

In the video, Alice Weidel, the AfD leader in the Bundestag, goes on a rant about Germanys handling of Brexit stating: The nonchalance, the indifference displayed by Brussels and Berlin [to Brexit] in the face of such an enormous event verges on a pathological denial of reality.

In a segment highlighted by the Tory MP, she says: Is it any wonder the British see bad faith behind every manoeuvre in Brussels?

Founded in 2013, the AfD has provoked outrage in Germany with its stance on race and religion, and came under heavy criticism last year for posters that called for Islam-free schools.

In January this year, members of the far-right party also staged a walkout from the Bavarian parliament during a service remembering Holocaust victims.

Charlotte Knobloch, the former head of Germanys Central Council of Jews, had told MPs the AfD based its policies on hate and marginalisation, and said the party had downplayed the crimes of the Nazis and has close connections to the extreme right.

Speaking on LBC on Monday, Mr Rees-Mogg claimed he was not supporting the AfD and that his social media post was just pointing out that there is something worth watching.

I dont think retweeting is an endorsement of things that other people stand for, its just pointing out that theres something interesting thats worth watching, he added.Theresa May is to hold talks with Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to break the Commons deadlock on Brexit negotiations.

The Labour leader said he would be very happy to meet the prime minister and would not set any limits ahead of their discussions, but he vowed to ensure his partys Brexit priorities remained on the table.

Labour wants a softer Brexit than Ms Mays withdrawal agreement proposes.

Its priorities include a customs union with the European Union (EU), access to the single market, and protections for consumer, environmental and workers rights.

Were also very clear that there has to be an absolute guarantee that the Good Friday Agreement is maintained for peace in Northern Ireland, Mr Corbyn said.

Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Nigel Farage has spent his political career campaigning for the UK to leave the EU. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Boris Johnson's support for Brexit took many by surprise before the EU referendum. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises The UK and EU are yet to agree on a withdrawal deal. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises This was taken from a 2012 speech delivered by Mr Davis. He does not currently support a second Brexit referendum. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Boris Johnson now supports a hard Brexit and resigned from the cabinet in 2018 over Theresa May's strategy. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises The US recently issued trade negotiation objectives for future talks with the UK. The country made clear that it expects access to the UK's agriculture industry, reviving the debate about chlorinated chicken. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Nigel Farage does not support the current campaign for a second Brexit referendum. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Despite this quote, in February 2019 Boris Johnson said a no deal Brexit "may yet be the best option for the UK". Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises The UK and EU are yet to begin negotiating a deal regarding their future relationship. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Theresa May announced that the UK would be leaving the Single Market in her Lancaster House speech in January 2017. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Theresa May triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017. Her withdrawal deal is yet to be passed. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises A classic from the 2015 general election campaign. David Cameron resigned on 24 June 2016, following the EU referendum result. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises David Davis resigned from his post as Brexit secretary in July 2018 after disagreeing with Theresa May's negotiation strategy. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Michael Gove was one of the most influential Leave voices during the EU referendum campaign. Twitter/Led By Donkeys Brexit billboards: Campaigners remind MPs of past promises Jacob Rees-Mogg, a prominent backbencher, does not support a second Brexit referendum. He has called the use of this quote "fundamentally dishonest" as it was taken from a 2011 speech discussing the option of referendum before David Cameron entered negotiations with the EU. Such a vote was never held. Twitter/Led By Donkeys

In February, Mr Corbyn wrote to the prime minister pledging to throw his party's support being her Brexit deal if she agreed to five binding commitments.

Those were:

A permanent and comprehensive UK-wide customs union, including a say in future trade deals

Close alignment with the single market, underpinned by shared institutions and obligations

Dynamic alignment on rights and protections, so UK standards do not fall behind those of the EU

Clear commitments on UK participation in EU agencies and funding programmes

Unambiguous agreements on future security arrangements, such as use of the European arrest warrant and shared databases

Labour last year also outlined six tests by which it said it would judge the prime ministers Brexit deal.

Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said his party would vote against any withdrawal agreement that did not meet those criteria  which included delivering the "exact same benefits" as being in the single market and customs union.

It remains to be seen if Labour is will to give ground on any of its priorities as seeks to avert a no-deal Brexit.

Ms May's own red lines include making sure the UK is out of the customs union, while she has also ruled out a second referendum - something Labour would back to confirm to terms of the withdrawal agreement.

But a Number 10 source said "unless there is compromise on both sides, it is unlikely we can find a way forward".Furious Tory MPs have condemned Theresa May for opening Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn, branding him not fit to govern and a Marxist, antisemite.

Prime ministers questions was dominated by Conservatives lining up to attack their leader for turning to Labour in search of a compromise to end the crisis and pass a deal.

David Jones, a former minister, asked if Ms May still believed Mr Corbyn was not fit to govern  while Lee Rowley demanded to know what now qualifies him for involvement in Brexit?

Caroline Johnson asked where the prime minister stood on the relative risks of a no-deal Brexit and a Marxist, antisemite-led government.

And Nigel Evans, an officer of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, invoked Margaret Thatcher when he demanded Ms May say no, no, no to a long Article 50 extension.

The clashes came after Nigel Adams became the first minister to quit since the cross-party talks were announced  warning the calamity of a Corbyn government was now a real prospect.

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

In response, sometimes stumbling over her words, Ms May said the talks were necessary because the public want us to work across this House to find a solution that delivers on Brexit.

She argued there was common ground between the two parties, including on protecting jobs and workers rights  but declined to name any of Mr Corbyns policies that she would accept.

Ms May was forced to face the anger of her MPs before meeting Mr Corbyn in her office for around an hour, Downing Street anticipated.

She will be accompanied by her chief whip, Julian Smith, and Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay  with Mr Corbyn bringing their equivalents, Nick Brown and Keir Starmer.

Labour will also take Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, like Mr Corbyn a sceptic of a Final Say referendum on any Brexit deal.

Mr Corbyns spokesman brushed off a few insults here or there from Tory MPs  while laying down a harder line on backing a fresh public vote.

It would only be supported to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit or a no-deal outcome", he insisted, not on any agreement reached, as demanded by Sir Keir and Tom Watson, the deputy leader.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker ruled out another short Brexit delay unless a deal had been passed by the Commons by the crisis summit next Wednesday.

In the Commons, Mr Rowley pointed out that the prime minister had, last week, called the Labour leader the biggest threat to our standing in the world, to our defence, and to our economy" and asked: "In her judgment what now qualifies him for involvement in Brexit?

And Mr Jones, a former Brexit minister, asked: Does it remain the position of the Prime Minister that the leader of the opposition is not fit to govern?The pilots of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX jet that crashed last month had initially followed Boeing Cos emergency procedures but later deviated from them as they tried to regain control of the plane, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.

The crash killed all 157 people on board and led to a global grounding of 737 MAX jets and scrutiny of the certification process for the Boeing plane.

Boeing had issued guidelines to pilots on how to disable an automated anti-stall system after a deadly crash in Indonesia in October, that were followed by an emergency airworthiness directive by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The Journal report, citing unidentified people briefed on the matter, said the pilots had initially shut off the MCAS anti-stall system that was pushing the aeroplanes nose down shortly after it took off from Addis Ababa.

The pilots then cranked a manual wheel in an attempt to stabilise the plane, the report said, but they eventually decided to restore power to the usual electric trim on their control yokes, likely because the manual attempt did not achieve the desired results.

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

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Boeing declined to comment.

We are not commenting on an active accident investigation per international protocols, a Boeing spokesman said.

The plane manufacturer said on Monday a proposed software enhancement package to MCAS would be submitted in the coming weeks, having previously said it would deliver the fix for US approval by last week.

A 737 pilot told Reuters last week it was not physically easy to make large trim changes to correct, say, an MCAS input by using the wheel.

You  or more than likely the other pilot  have to flip out a little handle and wind, much like a boat winch, the pilot said.

The Ethiopian Airlines pilots appeared to have restored power to the electric system to cope with a persistent steep nose-down angle, the paper said.

Their actions reactivated MCAS and allowed it to continue its strong downward commands that they were unable to counteract using electric thumb switches, the paper said.

The FAA directive after the Indonesian crash had instructed pilots to use cut-out switches in the centre console to shut off the electric power to the system.

The switches should remain off for the remainder of the flight, the FAA directive said.

A preliminary report by Ethiopian investigators is due within 30 days of the March 10 disaster, according to international rules governing crash investigations.

Ministry of Transport spokesman Musie Yehyies said there were no plans to publish the report on Wednesday.

ReutersSouth Sudans president and opposition leader are expected to travel to the Vatican next week for what has been described as a spiritual retreat.

South Sudanese opposition officials have said is an effort to help implement the countrys peace deal.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti confirmed the visit on Wednesday.

He said the spiritual retreat was scheduled next week at the Vatican for the leaders of South Sudan, but he did not identify them.

The meeting comes a month after President Salva Kiir met with Pope Francis to discuss the peace process.

A deputy spokesman for opposition leader Riek Machar, Manawa Peter, said the April 10 Vatican meeting between Mr Machar and Mr Kiir would focus on confidence-building and helping to bring the two together.

A peace deal calls for a functional government by May.

Associated PressMale identical twins who allegedly tricked women by impersonating each other so they could sleep with as many people as possible must both pay maintenance for a child whose paternity could not be established, a Brazilian court has ruled.

The men had DNA tests but reportedly refused to say which of them was the father  in the mistaken belief they would escape the payments.

The tests proved inconclusive as the twins are so genetically similar.

Each has blamed the other, according to Brazilian news outlet Globo.

District judge Filipe Luis Peruca, at the Cachoeira Alta Court in the central state of Goias, said the brothers were denying the child the right to know her biological father.

World's smallest baby pictures Show all 4 1 /4 World's smallest baby pictures World's smallest baby pictures Five days after his birth in August 2018, weighing 268 grams Reuters World's smallest baby pictures A more recent, undated photo of the baby boy Reuters World's smallest baby pictures Baby boy on February 27 2019, at 3.2kg AFP/Getty World's smallest baby pictures Five days after his birth in August 2018, weighing 268 grams Reuters

He said both brothers must therefore be included on the girls birth certificate and ordered them each to pay maintenance of 30 per cent of the minimum wage  230 reais (45) a month.

It was clear they each used the others name, either to attract as many women as possible, or to hide betrayal in their relationships, the judge said.

The men have not been named for legal reasons, but in court they were called Fernando and Fabricio.

The mother told the court she had a brief relationship with the father of her daughter, who she believed to be Fernando.

She said in her testimony she had met the man at a party of friends they had in common.

He told me he had a twin brother, but I did not get introduced, she said. At the time, I did not suspect anything.

But as she learned more she later began to question the mans identity.

The strange thing about the day is that he presented himself as Fernando, but he was with the yellow motorcycle that he said was from Fabricio, she said.

One of the brothers, in bad faith, seeks to conceal fatherhood, the judge said.

Such behaviour, of course, should not receive a guarantee from the judiciary which, on the contrary, must repress clumsy behaviour, especially in the case in which the defendants seek to benefit from their own clumsiness, he said.

Given the peculiarities of the case, I believe the decision that most embodies the concept of justice is the one that honours the interests and rights of the child, to the detriment of the tortuous defendants, he added.A man has been charged with assault after he allegedly attacked a grocery store employee for packaging his items the wrong way.

Bradley Bower  who told police he simply was having an awful day  became frustrated when the cashier placed his crisps in the same bag as his canned goods, officials said.

According to the victim, Mr Bower quickly grew agitated and asked him: Do you have a problem with me? Because I have a problem with you.

Mr Bower grabbed the employee by his neck and shoved him into the register, calling him an idiot before he managed to escape and have a manager call the police, officers said.

The officers who responded to the incident noted Mr Bower admit he was wrong to attack the cashier, but this issue with the chips just sent him over the edge.

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The employee appeared to be shocked by the assault, telling officers he initially thought Bower was joking when he began confronting him over the placement of his food.

Bower told officers he was worried about several bags of crisps he had purchased and didnt want them to get all smashed up.

He also told police he had previously requested the cashier not to throw his groceries around.

A criminal complaint said the assault occurred 2 February at a Giant Food Store in Pennsylvania.

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The 55-year-old Mr Bower, who was with his wife at the time of the incident, was charged via summons.Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has expelled his ex-attorney general and another former minister from the Liberal Party, months before a general election is held in the country.

Citing repeated questioning of his leadership, Mr Trudeau also said it was unconscionable that former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould had publicised a secretly recorded conversation she had with Michael Wernick, Canadas top civil servant.

Jane Philpott, a former cabinet minister who stepped down from her role after she said she lost confidence in how the government has handled the affair, was also kicked out of the party.

Both had remained as members of Mr Trudeaus party in the countrys parliament after resigning but kept making remarks that damaged the prime minister and the party.

The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken, Mr Trudeau told the media shortly after informing his caucus about the expulsions.

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

He added that they could not be part of his team if they cant honestly say they have confidence in this team.

The pair were high-profile female ministers in Mr Trudeaus cabinet, half of which are women. Ms Wilson-Raybould was Canadas first indigenous justice minister.

Ms Wilson-Raybould tweeted that Mr Trudeau had removed her and she will not be a Liberal candidate in autumns election.

What I can say is that I hold my head high & that I can look myself in the mirror knowing I did what I was required to do and what needed to be done based on principles & values that must always transcend party, she wrote. I have no regrets. I spoke truth as I will continue to do.

She has previously claimed that she was demoted from her role as attorney general and justice minister to veterans affairs minister in January because she refused to give in to pressure to enter into a remediation agreement with a Canadian company accused of bribing officials in Libya.

Had it been criminally prosecuted, engineering giant SNC-Lavalin would have been prevented from receiving any federal government business for a decade.

The company which has 9,000 employees in Canada and more than 50,000 worldwide, has openly lobbied for an agreement that would allow it to avoid prosecution and instead face alternative penalties or measures, like a fine.

Ms Wilson-Raybould claimed members of Mr Trudeaus inner circle pressured her to cut a deal, and when she refused, she was removed from her position as justice minister.

The scandal has led to multiple resignations, including Gerry Butts, Mr Trudeaus top aide and best friend. And it has damaged the party.

In a letter released before her expulsion, Ms Wilson-Raybould pleaded with her colleagues to remain and acknowledged they are enraged but said she was trying to help protect the prime minister and the government from a horrible mess.

She said: I know many of you are angry, hurt, and frustrated. And frankly so am I, and I can only speak for myself. I am angry, hurt, and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to.

Mr Trudeau has been under pressure as a result of the scandal.

The secret recording Ms Wilson-Raybould made public features Mr Wernick telling Ms Wilson-Raybould that Mr Trudeau is determined, quite firm in finding a way to avoid a prosecution that could put 9,000 jobs at risk.

Ms Wilson-Raybould can be heard saying she regards the pressure as inappropriate.

Ms Philpott said neither she nor Ms Wilson-Raybould initiated the crisis now facing Mr Trudeau and the party.

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Rather than acknowledge the obvious  that a range of individuals had inappropriately attempted to pressure the former attorney general in relation to a prosecutorial decision  and apologise for what occurred, a decision was made to attempt to deny the obvious  to attack Jody Wilson-Rayboulds credibility and attempt to blame her, Ms Philpott said in posting on social media.

That approach now appears to be focused on whether Jody Wilson-Raybould should have audiotaped the clerk instead of the circumstances that prompted Jody Wilson-Raybould to feel compelled to do so.

Mr Trudeau said past civil wars within the Liberal party damaged the party. Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided, Mr Trudeau said to a loud ovation in caucus.By Sasha Jones

Every Friday, more than 100 students in three Indiana school districts take home two backpacks. One is packed with their usual school supplies. The second is an insulated backpack filled with eight frozen meals comprised of food that would have otherwise been thrown away.

The backpacks filled with weekend meals is one of the newest ways that schools are battling food insecurity and hunger among students. The districts in Indiana have partnered with a local nonprofit called Cultivate .

We loved the idea of the food rescue and we know that theres a huge need of food insecurity in our county, said Natalie Bickel, the supervisor of student services and the attendance officer of the Elkhart Community Schools in Elkhart, Ind. It just makes sense when you think of how much waste there is.

Food rescue is the main goal of Cultivate. The process encourages restaurants, grocery stores, and other community partners to donate edible food that would otherwise go to waste. The food that is rescued is not leftovers, but meals that were prepared, but never served.

The food is then brought to Cultivate in a refrigerated truck, logged, dated, and placed in a cooler. A team, consisting of three employees and 400 volunteers, then packages the food, including a protein, starch, and vegetable, into three compartment containers, along with labels that include descriptions of the meal, cooking instructions, and any potential allergens.

The weekend meals program began this year as a partnership between Cultivate and the South Bend Community School Corporation, where 70 percent of students received free and reduced lunches in 2017, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation . Funded by a grant from the Kelly Cares Foundation , the Madison STEAM Academy, the elementary school were the program is being piloted, pinpointed 100 kindergarten and 1st grade students who were food insecure and had larger families who would also benefit from participation.

When Monday rolls around, our kids are hungry. They cant wait to get breakfast, said Deb Martin, the principal of Madison STEAM Academy. When you have fights about food, or you have kids coming in and running to breakfast, then you know you have food insecurity at your school.

Of the students who were identified as needing the weekend meals, 10 did not have a microwaves to heat the frozen meals, according to Martin. The school was able to provide those families with microwaves through donations from Best Buy and the Kelly Cares Foundation.

The pilot program is being studied by researchers at The University of Notre Dame to see if it impacts student attendance and reading achievement. Martin said attendance has already increased.

Elkhart Community Schools started the program soon after South Bend with one change: rather than being funded by a grant, the district donates its cafeteria food to Cultivate three days a week.

In 2017, 62 percent of students in the Elkhart district received free and reduced lunch, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Millions of Children Are Food Insecure

Expanding participation to other schools is heavily dependent on donations, according to Randy Z, the general manager and co-founder of Cultivate.

Cultivate would love to be in every school, but for that to happen, the school corporations have to be involved and they have to get more of the community to be involved, Z said. We cant fix the world unless theyre going to contribute to us or find more food suppliers.

Cultivate also serves a small number of students at Madison Elementary School as part of its partnership with the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation.

Of the 15 million households that were food insecure at some time during 2017, 6.5 million children were food insecure, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture .

In Indiana, 19 percent of children under 18-years-old live in households that have limited or uncertain availability to nutritious food, according to Feeding America, a nonprofit that advocates for combatting hunger.

Lack of nutrition can harm cognitive development in children 3-years-old and younger, and can lead to an inability to concentrate, as well as social and behavioral issues in school-aged children, according to research by Feeding America.

In 2016, 59 percent of food-insecure households reported participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the National School Lunch Program, according to No Kid Hungry , an advocacy group.

However, according to Bernard Dreyer, the former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, additional federal programs like the School Breakfast program, Summer Meals program, and the Afterschool Meals program can help food insecure students better access meals.

Schools should also provide all kids with nutritional meals that follow the USDAs standards, Dreyer said.

Theres often the complaint that kids wont eat the healthy foods ... theres no good evidence that thats really the case, Dreyer said. I think thats a myth, an excuse that many schools will use to not try to upgrade the nutrition in their foods.

Nutritional standards for school meals related to sodium and whole grains that had been tightened by the Obama administration have been loosened under the Trump administration.

Non-nutritious foods may also be an issue for families with non-traditional work schedules, like parents who work shifts or at night, said Holly Donovan, the associate director of program innovation for the No Kid Hungry campaign.

There might be families where theres food in the house, but maybe its not the food that is healthy, Donovan said. The idea that theyre sending home meals on the weekend that are prepared is really important because its going to address the time barriers for families.

Cultivate hopes to expand to serve more students, as well as educate more community members about food rescue.

Theres a lot more than just the kids at my schools or the kids at Elkhart Schools, said Martin, the principal. I think that this is going to start a new movement of not wasting food.

Top Photo: In three Indiana school districts, frozen meals are packaged and sent home in an insulated backpack to more than 100 children whove been identified as food insecure.-- courtesy of Natalie Bickel, Elkhart Community Schools

Photo: Volunteers pack frozen meals into backpacks to send home with students over the weekend.-- courtesy of Natalie Bickel, Elkhart Community Schools

Related ReadingGrayslake officials also issued an advisory that several roadways in an around the village will be closed to traffic late Thursday morning to allow Ellis casket to be transported from an area funeral home to the College of Lake County, where a visitation is scheduled to run from 2 to 8 p.m.A British environmental activist has reportedly been found burned to death in Peru.

Paul McAuley, 71, was a Catholic missionary who had worked on behalf of the country's indigenous communities to battle powerful oil and mining interests.

His body was found by students in the Amazon city of Iquitos on Tuesday.

Authorities are questioning six indigenous youth who lived in the hostel he managed in a poor area of the city.

The religious order Mr McAuley belonged to, the La Salle Christian Brothers, said in a statement he had been burned to death.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Mr McAuley faced expulsion in 2010 when the government tried to strip him of his residency for allegedly inciting unrest after he fought attempts to open up the Amazon to drilling.

He denied breaking any laws, telling the BBC World Service: "Education is often accused of inciting people to understand their rights, to be capable of organising themselves to ensure their human rights.

"If that's a crime, then yes, I'm guilty. As a member of a Catholic order my life's been dedicated to human and Christian education."

In 2004, he founded the Loreto Environmental Network, a group that works on behalf of indigenous groups.

He and environmentalists opposed then-president Alan Garcia's moves to open up the Amazon to unprecedented mining and oil exploration and drilling.

They also complained Mr Garcia's government had done little to impede rampant logging, which they say threatens the existence of indigenous groups.

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Environmental activists paid tribute to Mr McAuley.

"What tough news. A great man who did a lot for indigenous communities, their rights and the forests," tweeted Julia Urrunaga, director of Peru Programs at Environmental Investigation Agency.A teacher who was fired after a male student got hold of a topless selfie of her without her consent is suing her former school for $3m.

Middle school teacher Lauren Miranda alleges that the school district said she was not a good role model because of the photo.

She said the selfie, which was taken in 2016, was only ever sent to another teacher she was dating at the time, according to her attorney John Ray.

By unknown means, a student obtained [the selfie]. The school district took possession of it, excoriated her, and fired her because her breasts were displayed, Mr Ray said.

This would never have happened to a male teacher.

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

Her claim alleges her firing was due to gender discrimination and says the South Country Central School District in New York refused to conduct a proper investigation.

My career has been ruined, my reputation has been tarnished, I have been stigmatised, she said at a news conference on Monday.

Everything I have worked so hard for since I was 18 years old has been stolen from me because of one innocuous selfie, she added.

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Court documents claim Ms Miranda, who taught maths at Bellport Middle School, was told that the photo had been discovered in January.

She was removed from her job last week after being placed on administrative leave.

School superintendent Joseph Giani told The Washington Post that the district would not comment on active ligation.

What is wrong with my image? Ms Miranda asked at a news conference. Its my breasts. Its my chest. Its my body. Its something that should be celebrated.

She added that she hoped her lawsuit would send a message to girls in the school who have had their photos Airdropped all over the high school and sent all over.

What message are we sending to them? she said. To roll over when your picture gets exposed without your permission or consent? So how am I now not being a role model to them?

Mr Ray echoed her comments, saying: When you look at [the picture], and compare it with a mans picture, theres no problem. The only distinction is that her nipples can suckle children, and his cant.

He also added that Ms Miranda was an excellent math teacher by all accounts and provided a positive teacher observation report to support his claim, allegedly from the South County Central School District.

Ms Miranda is asking to be given her job back or to receive $3m in damages from the school district, court documents show.The man trying to bring down Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her staff for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws during the 2018 midterm elections, is a devout partisan and proud Donald Trump supporter, known for his distaste for the very campaign finance regulations he is using to try and stir up controversy.

Dan Backer, a Virginia attorney, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Wednesday, alleging that Ms Ocasio-Cortez and her chief of staff Seikat Chakrabarti engaged in a scheme to undercut normal market value for campaign services for her and several other progressive candidates.

It is a complaint that Mr Backer says shows Ms Ocasio-Cortezs hypocrisy as an advocate for campaign finance reform, even if he does not personally agree with the underlying law. And, it is Mr Backers own duality on these issues that campaign finance experts say illustrates how easy it is for partisan complaints to be filed with the FEC and make news with little in-depth scrutiny.

I think much of what they set out to do SHOULD be legal, and the provisions restricting people from engaging in robust political activity in this way are likely unconstitutional, but its still the law, Mr Backer told The Independent in an email.

He continued: And its self-aggrandising reformers like [Ms Ocasio-Cortez] who seek to make the laws even more burdensome. I would be thrilled if the adjudication here resulted in overturning some of these restrictions, but until then its still the law and a self-professed reformer ought to follow the laws.

A request sent to Ms Ocasio-Cortezs office seeking comment on Mr Backers allegations received no reply. She has previously claimed the campaign finance allegations against her originated from a conspiracy machine.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greets fellow lawmakers ahead of the State of the Union address Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez participates in an event with Democratic members of Congress EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures The Democrat senator speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol January 30, 2019 Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow Democrat Rashida Tlaib AP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Senate chamber to watch two votes on January 24, 2019 Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives with Chellie Pingree at a House Democratic Caucus meeting Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez during Donald Trump's State of the Union address Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures New York State Assembly member Catalina Cruz with Ocasio-Cortez AFP/Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Nydia Velazquez talks with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez casts her vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez poses with a campaign worker during a whistle stop in the Queens borough of New York Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez outside the US Capitol AFP/Getty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio-Cortez after casting her ballot in the 2018 midterm general election at a polling site in New York EPA Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez looks on during a march organised by the Women's March Alliance in Manhattan Reuters Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the Democratic congresswoman in pictures Ocasio Cortez looks on at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 16, 2019 AFP/Getty

In the newest complaint, Mr Backer charges that Ms Ocasio-Cortez and Mr Chakrabarti controlled three overlapping entities  the Justice Democrats PAC, the Brand New Congress PAC and Brand New Congress LLC  with a goal to subsidise cheap assistance for Ocasio-Cortez and other candidates at rates far below market value.

The complaint details a string of allegations, with multiple different ways that Mr Backer says Ms Ocasio-Cortez may have violated campaign finance laws.

Dan Backer is a longtime actor in this space who has scored some notable victories. He has won, but he also has a reputation for taking a kind of kitchen sink approach, said Daniel Weiner, the senior counsel for the Brennan Centre for Justice.

He sues the FEC constantly and loses much more often than he wins, though he has won, Mr Weiner continued. Hes also, frankly, hes a very, very committed partisan. Not unlike many people in this bar. Hes also a committed  one might even say ferocious  opponent of campaign finance regulation generally.

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Mr Backers complaint was filed on Wednesday on behalf of the Coolidge Reagan Foundation, a conservative activist group that has challenged Ms Ocasio-Cortez for campaign finance violations on at least one other occasion.

The foundation is run by Mr Backer and by Shaun McCutcheon, a Republican donor and delegate for Mr Trump who once challenged  and won with Mr Backers help  the FEC over limits on aggregate campaign donations to federal candidates during a two year period.

In addition to his complaints against Ms Ocasio-Cortez, Mr Backer has been active in Republican politics organising against former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

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Mr Backer helped to establish the Stop Hillary PAC, for instance, which was highly critical of her handling of the 2012 attacks on US government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, where a US ambassador was killed. The PAC was later renamed following Mr Trumps election as the Committee to Defend the President.

Mr Backer was also involved in a complaint accusing the Clinton campaign in 2016 of campaign violations related to payments to Fusion GPS  the company that helped produce the dossier compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele.

With Mr Backers signature behind it, the Committee to Defend the President and a separate pro-Trump PAC called Great America PAC have already begun spending big to support the presidents re-election bid. By mid-February, for instance, those two groups had already spent $441,038 and $821,280, respectively, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics.She may not be running in 2020  but she isnt ruling out the idea of holding elected office at some point.

Angelina Jolie has told People Magazine that she is looking to others for leadership while noting we have to change laws that treat women as second-class citizens.

The A-list actress has become a prominent voice for human rights in her role on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in recent years, imploring countries to elevate more women into peacekeeping positions to combat sexual violence.

When asked about a possible run for office, Jolie replied: Never say never!

Jolie has mostly kept out of the Hollywood limelight in recent years, only returning to the press circuit to tease her upcoming film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The movie, which is scheduled for release in October, is Ms Jolies first in four years.

I try to speak for what I believe in, Jolie said in the interview.

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She added: If you look across the world, there are far too many women and girls who are not only not seeing progress, their rights are slipping away from them.

Jolie has six children with Brad Pitt, whom she divorced two years ago.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Speaking about her advocacy work, Jolie said, I feel very blessed in my work to have the opportunity to meet so many extraordinary people who spend their lives dedicated to others.Chicago became the largest US city ever to elect a black woman as its mayor as voters on Tuesday chose Lori Lightfoot, a former prosecutor, to replace Rahm Emanuel.

When she takes office in May, Ms Lightfoot also will be the citys first openly gay mayor.

Ms Lightfoot, 56, who has never held elective office, easily won the race, overwhelming a better-known, longtime politician and turning her outsider status into an asset in a city with a history of corruption and insider dealings.

She beat Toni Preckwinkle, a former alderman who is president of the Cook County Board and who had for years been viewed as a highly formidable candidate for mayor.

For Chicago, Ms Lightfoots win signalled a notable shift in the mood of voters and a rejection of an entrenched political culture that has more often rewarded insiders and dismissed unknowns.

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

For many voters, the notion that someone with no political ties might become mayor of Chicago seemed an eye-opening counterpoint to a decades-old, often-repeated mantra about this citys political order: we dont want nobody nobody sent.

As Ms Lightfoot took the stage in a downtown ballroom Tuesday night, she acknowledged the unlikeliness of her resounding victory, in which she appeared to win all 50 of Chicagos wards.

We were up against powerful interests, a powerful machine and a powerful mayor, she said. Nobody gave us much of a chance.

For some of Ms Lightfoots supporters, the significance of her victory was monumental, going beyond a single candidate or city.

Look, nothing personal, but its not the good old boys club anymore, said Kimberly Smith, 40, who was born and raised on the South Side and said she thought the election marked a turning point in Chicago politics. I feel empowered.

National advocates for gay rights celebrated Ms Lightfoots win.

Now young queer women and women of colour can see themselves reflected in a position of major political leadership, said Stephanie Sandberg, executive director of LPAC, an organisation that works to build the political power of LGBT+ women.

Ms Lightfoot is a lawyer who has served in appointed positions, including as head of the Chicago Police Board and as a leader of a task force that issued a scathing report on relations between the Chicago police and black residents, but she was not widely known around the city until recent months.

The New York TimesDonald Trump has falsely claimed his father was born in Germany.

The US president appeared to confuse his father with his grandfather during a meeting the Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House.

Mr Trump said he had "great respect" for Angela Merkel and Germany, as he suggested that the European nation should increase its military spending during a televised event.

My father is German, right, was German, he added. And born in a very wonderful place in Germany, and so I have a great feeling for Germany, but theyre not paying what they should be paying.

However, the president's father, Fred Trump, was in fact, born in New York City. Friedrich Trump, his grandfather, was born in Germany before emigrating to the US in 1885 aged 16.

Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Show all 20 1 /20 Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet Donald Trump's Cabinet is one the richest in American history, filled with billionaires, conservatives and several career politicians. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pence US Vice President Mike Pence has defended Donald Trump throughout his presidency while walking a fine line to avoid any public involvement in major scandals. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mike Pompeo Secretary of State Mike Pompeo replaced Donald Trump's previous appointment to the post, Rex Tillerson, and has led talks with North Korea in establishing high-profile summits between the president and Kim Jong Un. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Wilbur Ross Secretary of Commerce Wibur Ross raised controversy when he was accused of falsely claiming to have sold stock in a bank and violated a government ethics agreement. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Lighthizer US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been a fixture in Donald Trump's ongoing trade spat with China. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet William Barr Attorney General William Barr replaced Jeff Sessions as the nation's top cop in early 2019 and has refused to commit to recusing himself from the Russia probe despite an unsolicited memo he sent to the Justice Department decrying the investigation. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Rick Perry Energy Secretary Rick Perry has held his post throughout Donald Trump's presidency despite previously undermining the need for the agency he now leads in past public statements. Ken Shipp / United States Department of Energy Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Betsy DeVos Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has also held her post throughout the presidency, despite major backlash to her apparent undermining of the nationwide public school system and advocacy for charter programmes. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Steven Mnuchin Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has faced numerous controversies throughout his tenure as the head of Treasury, including costing taxpayers at least a million dollars in travel expenses. AP Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Veterans Affairs secretary Robert Wilkie was appointed after Donald Trump's White House doctor Ronny Jackson withdrew over allegations he provided prescription drugs to patients without prescriptions. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet David Bernhardt Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt took office in January 2019 after the resignation of Ryan Zinke after previously serving as Zinke's deputy. Before taking office Bernhardt worked for many years as a solicitor for the Department of the Interior. Tami Heilemann / United States Department of the Interior Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Elaine Chao Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has held her post throughout the presidency and has mostly avoided controversy, despite a report claiming her office has been in frequent coordination with her husband's, Mitch McConnell. AFP/Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Kevin McAleenan Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan took over from Kirstjen Nielsen after she resigned in April 2019. He previously worked as the executive director of the executive director of the Office of Anti Terrorism in the Customs and Border Protection agency United States Customs and Border Protection Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Ben Carson Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson was appointed shortly after Donald Trump took office and raised controversy over an exorbitant furnishing bill for his office. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Gina Haspel CIA Director Gina Haspel was appointed in 2018 and faced backlash surrounding her oversight of Guantanamo Bay. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Dan Coats Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats could be the next person to leave Donald Trump's administration over his refuting the president's claims surrounding ISIS. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Sonny Perdue Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has been dogged by ethics questions throughout his tenure and faced controversy when emails showed the agency appeared willing to eagerly work with lobbyists under his leadership. Reuters Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Alex Azar Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is a former pharmaceutical lobbyist and former drug company executive. Getty Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Mick Mulvaney Acting Chief of Staff and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has described himself as one of the most conservative officials in the White House. EPA Trump's inner circle: Meet the members of the US president's cabinet Robert Wilkie Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie has spent his career on Capitol Hill serving in various roles in foreign affairs and defence. He holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve. Gene Russell / United States Department of Veterans Affairs

It is not the first time Mr Trump has falsely claimed that his father was born in, or lived in Germany.

At last year's Nato summit in the Belgian capital of Brussels, he said: "I have great respect for Germany. My father is from Germany  Both of my parents are from the EU  despite the fact they dont treat us well on trade."

Last July during a trip to Scotland, he also told CBS News: Dont forget both of my parents were born in EU sectors  my mother was Scotland, my father was Germany.

In another interview with Fox News Sunday last year, he said: My parents were born in the European Union.

He added, I love these countries; Germany, Scotland, they are still in there, right?A far-right conservative Donald Trump is considering appointing as his administrations immigration tsar, has gone on the record suggesting creating camps for asylum seekers in the United States.

While appearing on Fox Business "Lou Dobbs Tonight," Kris Kobach proposed the US detain people who enter the country to claim asylum in camps and station them in confined processing towns.

Create processing towns that are confined, and so when someone comes in and falsely claims asylum, we dont release them for six months onto the streets of the United States, Mr Kobach, who is President Trumps top choice for immigration tsar, said on Tuesday.

We process them right there, in that camp, where they have the three square meals, theyre living in a nice mobile home, and then as soon as theyre done, as soon as the claim is rejected, theyre on the next plane back home, he added in his proposal where asylum seekers are concentrated  or interned  at camps.

Lou Dobbs, the host of the self-titled news programme, praised Mr Kobachs internment camp suggestion for asylum seekers. He chimed in saying that a camp detaining asylum seekers would bring all of that unused government property to use, effectively and at very little cost, if not no cost, in fact, to the Department of Homeland Security.

Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Show all 8 1 /8 Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Mishawaka, Indiana AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Washington DC AFP/Getty Images Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy New York Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks in Tornillo, Texas alongside the many other US mayors who have called for detained immigrant children to be reunited with their families AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Albuquerque Mayor Tim Kelle leaves a teddy bear as a gift for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti leave sandals as gifts for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy US embassy, Mexico City AFP/Getty Images Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA

Mr Kobach is known for his draconian views and policy proposals on immigration. He has been a vocal supporter of the Trump administrations zero-tolerance policy towards undocumented migrants and their children, and have repeatedly called for the implementation of a Muslim registry.

From 2011 to 2019, Mr Kobach served as the secretary of state for Kansas. Last year, he ran an unsuccessful bid for governor against Democrat Laura Kelly. While running for governor, Mr Kobach was accused of accepting campaign donations from white supremacist groups.A powerful House of Representatives congressional committee has voted to subpoena the justice department for special counsel Robert Muellers full report and its underlying evidence on the Trump campaigns ties to Russia, in an escalation of tensions that sets the stage for fresh conflict between congress and the president.

In addition to the Mueller report, the Wednesday vote also authorises judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler to subpoena several high-ranking former White House officials.

Those former officials include communications director Hope Hicks, strategist Steve Bannon, counsel Don McGahn, deputy counsel Ann Donaldson, and the presidents former chief of staff Reince Priebus. Their testimony could provide valuable insight into the inner workings of the Trump White House during the first two years of the administration, when Mr Trump repeatedly blasted the Russia investigation as a witch hunt and admitted to firing former FBI chief James Comey over the issue.

The Wednesday subpoena vote comes just a day after attorney general William Barr ignored a Democrat-set deadline to hand over the report to congress, and just weeks after Mr Mueller delivered his report to the Justice Department.

In a controversial letter to congress two days after receiving the report, Mr Barr declared that the investigation found no evidence of collusion between Mr Trumps campaign, and said that the Justice Department had decided against charging the president for obstruction.

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

Mr Trump and his allies, soon after the letter was made public, touted Mr Barrs decision as proof that he and his campaign had done nothing wrong  and argued that the findings validated his frequent claims that the Russia investigation was a partisan effort to derail his presidency undertaken by salty Democrats who could not get past a shocking 2016 electoral defeat. Since then, Mr Trump has hedged when it comes to releasing the report publicly, saying that no amount of evidence would ever satisfy his political enemies.

I think it is ridiculous, we went through two years of the Mueller investigation. We have, not only that, you read the wording. Who could go through that and get no collusion, no nothing? So theres no collusion, the attorney general now, and the deputy attorney general ruled no obstruction. So theres no collusion, no obstruction, and now were going to start this process all over again?, Mr Trump said on Tuesday when asked about Democrat efforts to make the report fully available to congress.

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But Democrats, outraged by Mr Barrs decision to give Mr Trump a pass  the report specifically said it did not exonerate Mr Trump, but did not provide a recommendation for charges  had immediately begun to question what evidence Mr Barr and the department may have ignored when he decided not to move forward with any charges. On Wednesday, Mr Nadler recognised that Mr Barr could still be working on further disclosures.

I will give [Barr] time to change his mind, Mr Nadler, a Democrat from New York, said during the committee hearing, indicating he plans on giving the attorney general the opportunity to send the report on his own accord. But if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials.

Republicans on the committee expressed outrage by the proceedings, suggesting that it would be illegal for Mr Barr to give congress an unredacted report and accusing Democrats of using the proceedings as a political prop.

The attorney general didnt comply with the democrats arbitrary 2 April demand deadline because he cant comply. Because the law precludes him from complying. Because the attorney general wasnt going to commit crimes to comply with that deadline, said Representative John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican and staunch supporter of Mr Trump. The attorney general has promised to provide as much transparency as he possibly can but Im afraid thats never going to be good enough for some in here.

The subpoenas, if used, are likely to set off a series of legal battles between the Justice Department, congress, and the White House.

While those former top White House officials are no longer employed by the executive branch, it is likely that the West Wing might argue in favour of executive privilege to keep sensitive information from getting to congress. Meanwhile, the Mueller report itself could contain any number of details that the Justice Department may find necessary to protect from being made public.The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, formed as the Cold War got under way, is on Thursday marking its 70th anniversary. Russia, after an attempt at detente, is once again the adversary under Vladimir Putin, but the alliance is also facing sustained attacks from an unexpected quarter  the US president.

The commemoration of this birthday would, at other times, have been a lavish occasion. But it will be a subdued affair this year when Nato ministers meet in Donald Trumps Washington with everyone fully aware that this American president regularly berates them while offering little criticism of Russia and none at all of Putin.

Western leaders have become used to the state of affairs.

At a Nato summit in Brussels last July, Trump hurled insults at member states and made false claims about personally forcing them to raise defence spending, before telling Theresa May on a visit to Britain to go for a hard Brexit  the European Union being another western body he dislikes.

Trump then went on to show an adulatory attitude to the Russian president at their summit in Helsinki, drawing widespread opprobrium.

Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures World leaders gather for Nato family photo Getty Images Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures British Prime Minister Theresa May arrives EPA Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures President Donald Trump talks to British Prime Minister Theresa May EPA Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures AP Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures US President Donald Trump and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attend a bilateral breakfast ahead of the Nato Summit in Brussels Reuters Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures President Donald Trump, right, gestures as he speaks to the media prior to his bilateral breakfast with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left AP Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures President Donald Trump, US Secretary of Defence James Mattis and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the bilateral breakfast with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg REUTERS Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures President Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo, left, are reflected in a mirror as they attend at a breakfast meeting AFP/Getty Images Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures President Donald Trump speaks during the bilateral breakfast EPA Nato leaders gather for summit: in pictures President Donald Trump gestures during the bilateral breakfast EPA

The extent of the fracture of relationship between the Trump administration and western allies was embarrassingly evident at the recent annual Munich security conference.

To all of you, I bring greetings from a great champion of freedom and of strong national defence ... I bring greetings from the 45th president of the United States of America, president Donald Trump, declared vice president Mike Pence as he waited for the applause, his head slightly bowed as if in homage to the leader. But instead of applause there was deafening silence.

After a painfully prolonged pause, the US vice president continued with his speech, at a gathering considered to be particularly important this year with the Middle East, Isis and terrorism, conventional and trade wars, cyberattacks and climate change all on the agenda.

We know the vice president was expecting evocation of Trump to be greeted with enthusiastic clapping  a copy of his prepared address provided by the White House marks the pause for applause after the opening lines.

Angela Merkel, in a combative response, warned of the dangers of American isolationism, staunchly defended multilateral institutions under threat from current US policy, and spoke up for the effort being made by Europe, as well as Russia and China, to save the Iran nuclear deal from attempts by Trump to destroy it.

The German chancellor spoke before 30 heads of government and 90 ministers. Her speech was greeted with a prolonged standing ovation in the packed auditorium.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, has taken a markedly more emollient stance with Trump, not rising to the diatribes at the Nato meeting, overlooking the presidents more fanciful claims, and maintaining the US president has created a new sense of urgency among member states on military spending.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister who has just had his tenure at Nato extended, met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

The president tweeted: Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, just stated that because of me NATO has been able to raise far more money than ever before from its members after many years of decline. Its called burden sharing. Also, more united. Dems & Fake News like to portray the opposite!

Trumps claim about his supposed personal achievement on Nato spending is untrue. But it does remain the case that successive American presidents have asked Nato countries to raise their defence budget to 2 per cent of GDP, with very limited success.

Germany, one of the wealthiest countries in the alliance, this month announced a goal to spend 1.5 per cent by 2024, only aiming an increase to 2 per cent following a subsequent lengthy period.

Britain is one of the few member states which claims to be have reached the 2 per cent benchmark, although there are accusations from some critics that this was achieved with a degree of creative accounting in Whitehall.

Natos 70th summit will take place in Britain in December. It is not often remembered that the idea of the alliance first came from this country, raised by Ernest Bevin, the foreign secretary in Clement Attlees Labour government in 1948, who then nurtured the vision to fruition through dialogue with European states and the US.

What we have is unprecedented, we are at the 70th anniversary but the first time where allies have doubted the commitment of the American president Doug Lute, US envoy to Nato under then president Barack Obama

The UK is, of course, scheduled to be out of the European Union by that time. Whatever happens on that score, however, would not affect Nato membership, although a post-Brexit government in London seeking a trade deal with the US may have to decide where it stands if the rift between Trump and European allies continues to grow.

Two former US ambassadors to Nato have described what they consider to be the real problem facing the alliance.

What we have is unprecedented, we are at the 70th anniversary but the first time where allies have doubted the commitment of the American president, held Doug Lute, who was one of the envoys under Barack Obama.

And Nicholas Burns, who served during the administration of George W Bush, commented: Nato is facing one of its most difficult crises in seven decades. While Nato has strategic challenges to meet, the single greatest threat is the absence of strong, principled American presidential leadership for the first time in its history.Donald Trump has mocked congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her plans to address climate change at a Republican party event, dismissing the left-wing Democrat a young bartender.

Speaking to the National Republican Congressional Committee on Tuesday night, Mr Trump attacked Ms Ocasio-Cortezs so-called Green New Deal proposal as the craziest thing, and suggested the Democrats were petrified of her.

The Green New Deal, done by a young bartender, 29 years old, he said, referring to her previous employment. A young bartender, wonderful young woman.

The insult followed Ms Ocasio-Cortezs attack on the White House security clearance process after a whistleblower claimed several individuals had received approval despite disqualifying issues.

The congresswoman said reports suggested that we are conducting foreign relations with folks with security clearances via WhatsApp.

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

She added: I mean, every day that we go without getting to the bottom of this matter is a day that we are putting hundreds, if not potentially thousands of Americans at risk.

What is next? Putting nuclear codes in Instagram DMs? This is ridiculous.

Her remarks were an apparent reference to evidence previously seen by the committee that the presidents son-in-law Jared Kushner used WhatsApp to communicate with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

A Democratic-led committee later voted to subpoena Carl Kline, the former White House security clearance chief, over allegations that the Trump administration inappropriately reversed career officials decisions to deny security clearances to some of the presidents advisers.

Whistleblower Tricia Newbold said the Trump administration overruled security experts to give questionable clearances to more than two dozen people.

Two sources familiar with the congressional investigation told Reuters that two of the senior officials whose clearances Ms Newbold said were initially denied were Mr Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump and Mr Kushner.

Trump addresses National Republican Congressional Committee annual fundraiser on 2 April, 2019 (C-SPAN)

Speaking at the Republican fundraiser event on Tuesday evening, Mr Trump did not address Ms Ocasio-Cortezs security criticisms, but did concede that the Democrats had a potential electoral advantage on one key issue: health care.

We have to take that away from them, the president said. Republicans should not run away from health care, he added. You cant do it. Youre going to get clobbered.

He also said some of the Democrats proposals could prove enticing to votes in the short term. He said free health care sounds very seductive. Dont underestimate the power of socialism to get a vote.

The president suggested Ms Ocasio-Cortezs climate change concerns were outside of the mainstream. If they beat me with the Green New Deal, I deserve to lose, he said.We would like to thank and extend our condolences to every individual and organization who has helped and supported us at this time, including the Illinois State Police, all extended law enforcement agencies, first responders, hospital staff, family, friends, neighbors, and all the individuals we have not had the chance to meet in person.Michael Cohens lawyer has revealed his client has more information on Donald Trump for prosecutors investigating the president.

Mr Cohen is fully cooperating with the Southern District of New York and is offering more information that hes now discovered when he retrieved back his cell phones and other documents from the Southern District, Lanny Davies told MSNBC on Tuesday.

He also has additional information for the Southern District involving criminal behaviour that needs to be looked into.

Prosecutors at the Southern District of New York are currently investigating the president over possible corruption related to his inauguration spending, as well as hush money payments given to two women who claim they had affairs with Mr Trump.

Cohen was sentenced last year to three years in prison, partly for his role in hush money payments to one of the women, former porn star Stormy Daniels. He is scheduled to report to jail next month.

Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Show all 7 1 /7 Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump made me threaten his high school Cohen disclosed letters that Trump directed him to send to the President's former schools, threatening them never to release his grades and SAT scores EPA Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump reimbursed me for the hush money Cohen disclosed a cheque from the President that paid him back for the money he paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about her affair with Trump during his presidential campaign Getty Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump directed the Trump Moscow negotiations Referring to the controversial business dealings with Russia that were ongoing during Trump's presidential campaign, Cohen stated "Mr Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations" Reuters Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump is a racist Cohen noted a number of racist remarks that Trump had made, including saying while driving through a poor neighbourhood of Chicago that "only black people could live that way" Reuters Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump knew about the Wikileaks hacks Cohen says Mr Trump knew Roger Stone was talking to Julian Assange about Wikileaks drops of emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign. AFP/Getty Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Nothing went on that Trump wasn't aware of Cohen stated that "nothing went on in Trump world" of the campaign without the President being aware of it AFP/Getty Racist. Conman. Cheat. The biggest revelations from Cohen's testimony Trump did not provide evidence for why he avoided the Vietnam draft Having long said that he was not drafted to Vietnam due to a medical issue, Cohen claimed that Trump could not provide evidence of this. Mr Trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery," Cohen told the hearing, he also stated that he told me not to answer the specific questions by reporters but rather offer simply the fact that he received a medical deferment" Sky

In February, Cohen provided during public testimony to Congress two $35,000 (26,600) cheques which he said were reimbursements for $130,000 (102,700) he gave to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

One of the cheques was signed by Mr Trump, the other by the presidents eldest son, Don Jr, and the Trump Organizations chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.

The writing of the $35,000 cheque signed by Donald Trump is evidence of a crime of conspiracy to violate the very crime federal prosecutors said was directed by President Trump, Mr Davies said.

He added: Donald Jr is not president, neither is Mr Weisselberg, why have they not been indicted?

Despite the payments to the two women, Mr Trump has denied the alleged affairs and insists the arrangements do not violate campaign finance laws.Donald Trump repeatedly struggled to say the word origin during a White House meeting with the Nato secretary general in which the US president made a number of false claims.

Taking questions from reporters while sat alongside Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office, Mr Trump railed against Democrats in congress providing oversight of him and called for an investigation into why the special counsels probe into Trump campaign ties with Russia was launched.

I hope they now go and take a look at the oranges, the oranges of the investigation, the beginnings of that investigation, Mr Trump said. You look at the origin of the investigation, where it started, how it started, who started it, whether its McCabe or Comey or a lot of them.

Where does it go, how high up in the White House did it go? You will all get Pulitzer Prizes, OK? Youll all get Pulitzer Prizes. You should have looked at it a long time ago and thats the only thing thats disappointing to me about the Mueller report.

The Mueller report I wished covered the oranges, how it started, the beginnings of the investigation, how it started. It didnt cover that, and for some reason none of that was discussed.

'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

Special counsel Robert Muellers report, which has yet to be made public, cleared the president of conspiracy of Russia, but did not rule on whether he obstructed justice. Mr Trump wrongly claimed it cleared him of both.

The president has repeatedly claimed he was the subject of an illegal witch hunt invented by senior government officials and even former president Barack Obama. He has never provided evidence to back his claims.

In a freewheeling press conference, Mr Trump also railed against immigration across the southern border, said he had to get rid of judges who deal with asylum cases, and falsely claimed only two per cent of immigrants detained by border agents under so-called catch and release attend court for their application hearing.

The true figure is at least 60 per cent, according to Justice Department figures.

Mr Trump also threatened to close large sections of the border  admitting it would impact trade but that security was more important  and said, without providing evidence, that Central American countries arrange these caravans the president has repeatedly cited as evidence of an emergency situation at the border.

Asked about Germanys contributions to Nato, Mr Trump accused Berlin of not paying their fair share before wrongly claiming his father was born in Germany.

My father is German, right? Was German, and born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany, he said. His father was in fact born in the US.

Later on Tuesday evening, at a National Republican Congressional Committee event, Mr Trump ventured into new territory when he untruthfully claimed wind turbines cause cancer.

 Donald Trump incorrectly says that his father was born in Germany: 'My father is German, was German. Born in a very wonderful place in Germany'

If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 per cent in value, Mr Trump told his audience. And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, OK? Rerrrr rerrrr!

There is no evidence the noise from windmills or turbines causes cancer.

He also revealed he had called authoritarian Chinese president Xi Jinping a king during a visit to Beijing in 2017.

He said, But I am not king, I am president. I said, No, youre president for life, and therefore youre king, Mr Trump said to laughter. He said, huh. He liked that. I get along with him great. Close Donald Trump incorrectly says that his father was born in Germany: 'My father is German, was German. Born in a very wonderful place in Germany'

The House Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas Wednesday for special counsel Robert Muellers full Russia report as Democrats pressure the Justice Department to release the document without redactions.

The committee voted 24-17 to give Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler permission to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for the final report, its exhibits and any underlying evidence or materials prepared for the investigation.

Mr Nadler has not yet said if hell send the subpoenas, which would be the first step in a potentially long fight with the Justice Department over the materials.

The Judiciary panel also voted Wednesday to authorise subpoenas related to five of Donald Trumps former top advisers, stepping up a separate, wide-ranging investigation into Trump and his personal and political dealings.

The vote further escalates the Democrats battle with the Justice Department over how much of the report they will be able to see, a fight that could eventually head to court if the two sides cant settle their differences through negotiation. Democrats have said they will not accept redactions and want to see the evidence unfiltered by Mr Barr.

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 letter last week, Mr Barr said he is scrubbing the report to avoid disclosing any grand jury information or classified material, in addition to portions of the report that pertain to ongoing investigations or that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.

Democrats say they want access to all of that information, even if some of it cant be disclosed to the public. Nadler said he will give Mr Barr time to change his mind on redactions, but if they cannot reach an agreement they will issue the subpoenas in very short order. He also said he is prepared to go to court to get the grand jury information.

Mr Trump is meanwhile being urged not to follow through on his threat to close the US border with Mexico as senior Republicans warn of the cost of prioritising security over trade and scramble for alternatives to tackling the illegal immigration crisis.

Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing, said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, a quote the president has since attacked The New York Times for publishing on Twitter.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load.President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at Puerto Ricos local lawmakers as grossly incompetent and singled out one of his favourite targets, Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, as crazed and incompetent.

Trumps latest invective towards the local leaders of an island devastated by a hurricane in September 2017 came in a torrent of tweets, which began on Monday night and spilled into Tuesday morning.

Trump was reacting after the Senate blocked billions of dollars in disaster aid for Midwestern states on Monday, in part because Democrats said a proposed $600 million (455 million) in nutritional assistance to Puerto Rico fell short of its needs.

Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their government cant do anything right, the place is a mess  nothing works, Trump wrote on Twitter.

He also stated, incorrectly, that Puerto Rico had received $91 billion (69 billion) in aid from the federal government.

Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Show all 20 1 /20 Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Crew chief Kenney shelters under the blade of an HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit preparing to take off during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Isla Grande, Puerto Rico, October 6, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico An HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit takes off behind Crew Chief Alexander Blake and his fellow soldiers during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, October 5, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Crew member Bynum stands in tropical rain as a HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit prepares to take off during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Isla Grande, October 6, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot Chris Greenway receives a hug from a woman thanking him for water as he works with the First Armored Division's Combat Aviation Brigade during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Verde de Comerio, October 7, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico A man carries a case of water away from an HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter after soldiers working with 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit dropped off relief supplies during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Jayuya, October 5, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Crew chief Alexander Blake from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit loads water into a helicopter during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Isla Grande, October 5, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Residents wait for soldiers in UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from the First Armored Division's Combat Aviation Brigade to deliver food and water during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in San Lorenzo Reuters Bringing aid to Puerto Rico An HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit lands in a field to avoid lightning during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Manati, October 5, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Residents hold their hands aloft to signal that they need water as UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from the First Armored Division's Combat Aviation Brigade fly past during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, near Ciales, October 7, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Tropical rain splashes on a runway as HH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit wait for weather to clear during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Isla Grande, October 6, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Pilot Eldwin Bocanegra Torres speaks with residents isolated by landslides in the mountains after unloading water and food from a helicopter during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, near Utuado, October 10, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Residents stand in front of wind-damaged trees as they wait for soldiers in UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from the First Armored Division's Combat Aviation Brigade to deliver food and water during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in San Lorenzo, October 7, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico The contents of a home are seen from the air during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria near Utuado, October 10, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Thomas looks out of the window of an HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit, loaded with relief supplies, during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria in Isla Grande, October 6, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico A message written on the rooftop is seen from the air during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria near Humacao, October 10, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico A HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit lands in a field during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria in San Sebastian, October 6, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Sergeant First Class Eladio Tirado, who is from Puerto Rico, looks for a landing spot for a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from the First Armored Division's Combat Aviation Brigade, during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria near Ciales, October 7, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Boys carry water away from an HH-60 Blackhawk helicopter after soldiers working with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit dropped off relief supplies during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Jayuya, October 5, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Sergeant First Class Eladio Tirado from the First Armored Division's Combat Aviation Brigade, who is from Puerto Rico, speaks with residents as he helps during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in San Lorenzo, October 7, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson Bringing aid to Puerto Rico Residents peek through a fence at helicopters from 101st Airborne Division's "Dustoff" unit that had parked in a locked field during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria, in Lares, October 6, 2017 Reuters/Lucas Jackson

In fact, FEMA and other agencies have so far distributed $11.2 billion (8.5 billion) in aid to Puerto Rico, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

Some $41 billion (31 billion) in aid has been allocated, while $91 billion (69 billion) is the budget offices estimate of how much the island could receive over the next two decades.

Gov. Ricardo A. Rossello of Puerto Rico, a Democrat, responded to Trump in a tweet of his own Tuesday.

Mr. President, once again, we are not your adversaries, we are your citizens, Rossello wrote.

Trump has long been sensitive when it comes to the subject of Puerto Rico, where the US governments response to Hurricane Maria was widely criticised as too slow.

Aides and allies said Trump had vented privately that Puerto Ricans had complained too much, and he had also noted privately that Hurricane Maria, which killed 2,975 people as a result of the storm and its effects, was not as bad as Hurricane Katrina, in which fewer people  1,833  were killed.

Trump has long hit back at Cruz, who during the disaster became the most outspoken critic of the federal response.

Recommended Trump complains about Puerto Rico hurricane victims receiving aid

On Tuesday, Trump seemed to imply in his tweets that Puerto Rico was not part of the United States, noting that local elected officials only take from USA.

Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, seemed to underscore the view in the White House that Puerto Ricans were not Americans when he twice referred to the island as that country during an appearance on MSNBC.

Trumps apparent disdain for the islands leadership has led to a breakdown of communication between local officials and the White House.

For weeks, Rossello has asked the White House for a private meeting with Trump to lay out the islands case for why it desperately needs federal funds for rebuilding after Hurricane Maria.

But his request has gone unanswered, and he has tried instead to communicate with the president publicly, saying in cable news interviews, in official appearances and on Twitter that he fears Trump has been misled about Puerto Ricos needs.

Rossellos fight may be an uphill battle with a president who has made it clear that he views more federal aid to Puerto Rico as throwing money away.

His advisers also view the pleas from local officials as part of a campaign to shift the blame for what they view as severe mismanagement of the supplies and money sent after the storm.

 Trump throws paper towels out to Puerto Rico hurricane victims

People familiar with Trumps thinking said he was sceptical that additional aid would not be used to pay down Puerto Ricos debt.

The acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, who has made it clear that he believes Puerto Rico will need to find its own way out of the debt crisis, is believed to be encouraging the presidents negative view of the island.

In Puerto Rico, however, Trumps stance is being viewed through the lens of race.

In an interview on Tuesday, Rossello mentioned, unprompted, that Puerto Ricos population was almost entirely Latino and said that historically, there have been ethnic undertones to the treatment of Puerto Ricans by Washington.

We dont want special treatment, he said. We just want equal treatment.

The governor also has bigger issues to deal with at home: the resignations of two power players in his Cabinet became public late Monday.

Julia Keleher, the education secretary, and Hector M. Pesquera, the public safety secretary, had been among the least popular members of Rossellos government.

Their departures dominated the headlines in the local news media, which made little reference to what is widely seen here as yet another episode of presidential bluster.

That is not to say Puerto Ricans necessarily disagree with Trumps criticism of the commonwealths leaders, even if many locals dislike the president himself, or the disdainful way he sometimes refers to the island.

We have a political caste that is opportunistic and extremely corrupt, said Eduardo Lalo, a well-known local novelist, humanities professor and opinion columnist who supports Puerto Rican independence.

What the president says, of course its clumsy and tremendously vulgar, and he says it for reasons of his own that are not substantive. But its also objective.

The truth is, he said, Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States, and therefore its hands are completely tied.

 Donald Trump calls government's response to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria a 'incredible unsung success'

At a bakery in the comfortable San Juan neighbourhood of Ocean Park on Tuesday, the morning crowd was hardly abuzz about Trumps comments, though people had noticed them.

One patron, Miguel Rodriguez, 54, pulled out his cellphone to show how, moments earlier, a friend had posted on Facebook that she agreed with the president for the first time in praising Puerto Ricans but labelling their leaders corrupt.

Rodriguez, the owner of a company that installs security systems, scrolled down to the comment he left under his friends post: We do not lack resources, we have too many thieves.

The government wants to keep demanding money from the government of the United States, Rodriguez said. But much of that help doesnt reach the people.

Politically, Rossello is in an unenviable position experienced by all of his predecessors: Puerto Rico cannot get funding even for its food stamp program without approval from Congress, but it has no congressional representation to make its case in Washington - Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, a Republican, has no vote in the House.

None of the previous governors, however, had to deal with the dire consequences of a devastating hurricane in the middle of a government bankruptcy.

Neither Trump nor any president of the United States nor any official in the United States has assumed the responsibility it has with Puerto Rico, Lalo said.

The great tragedy of the Puerto Rican people is that for 120 years, it calls Washington, and no one picks up the phone.

Rossello, who is up for re-election next year, has faced intense criticism on the island for trying to work cooperatively with Trump even as the president was repeatedly deriding Puerto Rican leaders.

Last week, the governor amped up his language against Trump, appearing to refer to him as a bully in an interview with CNN.

If the bully gets close, Ill punch the bully in the mouth, he said. It would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage.

He later characterised his comments as a metaphor.

Trump has refrained from going after Rossello by name, preferring to focus his attention on Cruz, his political nemesis since her outspoken comments criticising the Trump administrations failure to provide swift and meaningful help in the weeks after Hurricane Maria.

After Trump called Cruz crazed and incompetent on Twitter on Monday, she fired back, calling him unhinged.

He can huff & puff all he wants, but he cannot escape the death of 3,000 on his watch, she wrote. SHAME ON YOU!

New York TimesRacist graffiti was painted in the parking lot of a Tennessee social justice centre that hosted giants of the 1960s US civil rights movement, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, it said on Tuesday.

The Highland Research and Education Centre, whose main office burned down last week, was home to innumerable documents, recorded speeches and artefacts from the movement that were lost in the fire, it said on its website.

It described the graffiti only as a white power symbol painted on the parking lot.

While we do not know the names of the culprits, we know that the white power movement has been increasing and consolidating power across the south, the centre said in a statement on Tuesday. Now is the time to be vigilant.

Fridays fire was less than a week after another fire police say was race-driven arson at a Southern California mosque, where racist graffiti was left in the parking lot.

Charlottesville one year on Show all 15 1 /15 Charlottesville one year on Charlottesville one year on Mary Grace, from Durham, North Carolina, walks through the downtown mall area August 11, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville has been declared in a state of emergency by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as the city braces for the one year anniversary of the deadly clash between white supremacist forces and counter protesters over the potential removal of Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee and Jackson. A "Unite the Right" rally featuring some of the same groups is planned for tomorrow in Washington, DC. Getty Charlottesville one year on Chris Jessee (R) hands out placards to people visiting downtown Charlottesville as the city marks the anniversary of last year's 'Unite the Right rally' in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, 11 August 2018. On 12 August 2017, a bloody clash between white supremacists and counterprotestors in Charlottesville left three people dead and dozens injured Getty Charlottesville one year on A member of the Virginia State Police waits outside the park where a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is located August 11, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Charlottesville has been declared in a state of emergency by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as the city braces for the one year anniversary of a deadly clash between white supremacist forces and counter protesters over the potential removal of Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee and Jackson. A "Unite the Right" rally featuring some of the same groups is planned for tomorrow in Washington, DC Reuters Charlottesville one year on A woman displays a shirt ahead of the one-year anniversary of 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 10, 2018. Reuters Charlottesville one year on A sign reading "Strength, which was taken down at the request of police officers, hangs by the statue of Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee, ahead of the one-year anniversary of 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 10, 2018. Reuters Charlottesville one year on Law enforcement arrives ahead of the one year anniversary of 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 10, 2018 Reuters Charlottesville one year on A vendor displays wares on the mall as State Police lock down the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. The Governor has declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville AP Charlottesville one year on A Police bike patrol takes a break in the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. State and local authorities framed the weekend's heightened security as a necessary precaution. AP Charlottesville one year on State Police arrest a local resident, John Miska, in the locked down downtown area in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. Miska purchased razor blades, which are banned items, in a downtown drugstore. On the the anniversary of white supremacist violence, state and local authorities framed the weekend's heightened security as a necessary precaution. AP Charlottesville one year on State Police escort local resident, John Miska, red hat, after he was arrested in the locked down downtown area in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018. Miska purchased razor blades, which are banned items, in a downtown drugstore. On the the anniversary of white supremacist violence, state and local authorities framed the weekend's heightened security as a necessary precaution. AP Charlottesville one year on A group Anti-fascism demonstrators, march in the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, AP Charlottesville one year on A group anti-fascism demonstrators march in the downtown area in anticipation of the anniversary of last year's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., AP Charlottesville one year on People receive first-aid after a car accident ran into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, VA on August 12, 2017. A vehicle plowed into a crowd of people Saturday at a Virginia rally where violence erupted between white nationalist demonstrators and counter-protesters, witnesses said, causing an unclear number of injuries AFP/Getty Charlottesville one year on Alt-right rally members in Lee Park in Charlottesville, VA on Saturday August 12, 2017 White nationalist 'Unite the Right' rally, Charlottesville, USA Rex Charlottesville one year on A counter protester who got hit with a stick by alt-right member covered with blood on his face in Lee Park in Charlottesville, Rex

No one was injured in either fire.

The Jefferson county sheriffs office is investigating the Highland Centre fire as a possible crime, broadcaster NBC and other media have said.

A sheriffs spokesperson was not immediately available to comment to Reuters early on Wednesday.

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt called the incident abhorrent, media said.

Recommended Memorial to slaves defaced with urine and racial slurs at US college

The Highland Centre helped organise the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycotts of 1955 that were among the first major civil rights protests of the movement in the United States.

Protesters, mostly black residents, refused to ride city buses in a bid to defy racial segregation, after Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person.

The centre also helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a youth movement that worked with Martin Luther King Jr.s efforts to ensure voting rights and social justice for minorities, it said on its website.

ReutersWhile for many an extra-long holiday would be something to celebrate, Japans 10-day break to mark the emperors abdication has received a lukewarm response.

Japans parliament approved the break to celebrate the ascension of emperor-in-waiting Naruhito, which will begin on 27 April.

The holiday will then join with a regular national public holiday known as Golden Week, which runs until 6 May.

Although many have booked to travel abroad, others have expressed their concern about not knowing how to spend their time and over a lack of childcare.

A survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper found 45 per cent of Japanese people felt unhappy about the long holiday, compared to only 35 per cent who said they felt happy.

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

To be honest, I dont know how to spend the time when we are suddenly given 10 days of holidays, Seishu Sato, a 31-year-old finance industry employee, told AFP.

He added: If you want to go travelling, its going to be crowded everywhere and tour costs have surged I might end up staying at my parents place.

A travel agent told the news agency many of their tours had sold out last year and said many others were on the waiting list.

One parent tweeted: For parents in the service sector, the 10 days of holiday is a headache. After-school care, nurseries  everything is closed.

Another survey conducted by Expedia in October and reported by The Japan Times found many were not looking forward to the holiday due to the additional household chores they anticipate having to do while their partners and children stay at home.

 Japan's Prime Minister Abe explains its new era name Reiwa

Recreational spending is expected to increase as people rush to purchase items that are the last of [the] Heisei era and the first of the recently unveiled Reiwa era, which will begin with the ascension of the emperor-in-waiting.WhatsApp launched a new fact-checking service in India to help combat misinformation in the run-up to the general election.

The new hotline, called Checkpoint Tipline, replies to information sent over by message saying whether it is true, false, misleading, disputed or presently unverifiable.

Texts, pictures, links and videos in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Malayalam can all be sent to Checkpoint on +91-9643-000-888 to check their veracity.

The messaging service said its 200 million customers in India forward more messages, photos and videos than any other country in the world.

Indias elections are scheduled to begin on April 11, with final results expected on May 23.

12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Show all 12 1 /12 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Unsend messages You can unsend a message by tapping and holding it, hitting the Delete symbol and selecting Delete for Everyone. The feature works for all types of messages, but only if they were sent less than seven minutes ago. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Dodge the blue ticks WhatsApps blue ticks show when sent messages have been read, but you can disable them buy going to Settings > Account > Privacy > Read Receipts. However, bear in mind that, by doing so, youll lose the ability to see when your own sent messages have been read. Another, more fiddly way of reading your messages without triggering the blue ticks, is enabling Aeroplane Mode before opening your messages - just remember to close the app before switching Aeroplane Mode off again. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Hide your 'last seen' time Prevent your friends from finding out when you were last online by hiding your last seen time. Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Last Seen. As is the case with disabling read receipts, hiding your last seen time will also stop you from seeing anybody elses. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Limit data usage You can control how much data you munch through on WhatsApp by limiting the types of media you automatically download on a mobile connection. Go to Settings > Data Usage and choose the best option for you. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Customise notifications If youre expecting an important WhatsApp message from someone, set a custom notification for them by opening the chat, tapping their name at the top and hitting Custom Notifications. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Format your messages To jazz up any of your messages, simply highlight it by tapping and holding it, hit the More Options key on the pop-up menu and tap the formatting option you want - bold, italic, strikethrough or monospace. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Type hands-free You can get Siri or Google Assistant to type your WhatsApp messages out for you by saying either Hey Siri or Okay Google, followed by the name of the person you want to message and the actual contents of the message. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Mark chats as unread When youve read a message but cant reply to it straight away, you can set a visual reminder by marking it as unread. On Android, long-press the conversation, and on iOS, swipe from left to right on a chat. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Email entire conversations You almost certainly wont do this on a regular basis, but its a handy option to have. You can export entire conversations - complete with emoji and media attachments - by hitting More inside a chat a selecting Email Chat. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Mass-message contacts You can send the same message to lots of your contacts without lumping them all into one group, much like the BCC option on email, by hitting the New Broadcast option on the apps main menu. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Pin conversations You pin up to three contacts and groups to the top of your WhatsApp conversation list by tapping and holding a chat, then hitting the pin icon. 12 useful WhatsApp features you didnt know existed Make things easier to find You can easily mark key messages with a star, allowing you to find them easily when you need to. Just tap and hold a message and hit the star icon to save it, and return to it later by selecting Starred Messages in WhatsApps main menu.

Social media has come under fire for how fake news can spread over platforms, often in a manufactured attempt to sway public opinion.

Major Indian political parties have also accused each other of propagating fake news on WhatsApp.

Checkpoint is the latest move in a series of steps taken recently by Facebook Inc. to combat fake news in India.

Facebook has removed over 1,100 pages, groups and accounts from India and Pakistan for coordinated inauthentic behaviour or spam, the social media giant said on Monday.

An investigation found fake accounts were used to spread criticism of political opponents and inflate engagement.

Recommended WhatsApp update makes messages safer from prying eyes

687 pages and accounts linked to Indias opposition party, Congress, were removed. Congress tweeted that none of these were official or run by verified volunteers.

A fake recording during heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the Kashmir bombing heard the president of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) say: We agree that for election, we need a war. Facebook removed the post, but not until it had 2.5 million views and 150,000 shares.

WhatsApp changed its settings in India last summer after rumours over child abductions, sent via the application, led to dozens being lynched. It reduced the number of possible shares a message could have from 250 to five, as well as removing a button that lets users forward information easily.

WhatsApp said it was working with local startup Proto to classify messages sent to the service by users and build a database of content to help understand misinformation.

End-to-end encryption on the Facebook-owned WhatsApp ensures all messages are private, meaning the company cannot oversee the content on its platform.The Australian Senate has united in a scathing rebuke of a far-right member who made comments in the aftermath of the New Zealand mosque shooting, blaming the incident on Muslim immigrants.

Sitting for the first time since the 15 March attack, senators from almost every party made statements condemning the actions of independent Fraser Anning, leaving him no choice but to sit and listen.

Mr Anning received international criticism for a series of tweets in the aftermath of the shooting that killed 50 people at two Christchurch mosques. The senator claimed the attack showed the link between Muslim immigration and violence and later physically struck a 17-year-old boy who broke an egg over his head in protest.

The real cause of the bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration programme which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place, he said in a later statement.

The house on Wednesday debated a motion to formally censure Mr Anning for his actions, the first time such a procedure has been used in more than four years.

New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Show all 11 1 /11 New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Zakaria Bhuiyan People gather hoping to find out information about Zakaria Bhuiyan who is still missing after the mosques shootings in Christchurch. David Moir/AFP New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Mucad Ibrahim Three-year-old Mucad Ibrahim, the youngest known victim of the mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. Abdi Ibrahim via AP New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Nadeem Rasheed Nadeem Rasheed, brother of Pakistani Naeem Rashid who died alongside his son Talha Naeem, 21, who were killed in shooting at a Mosque in Christchurch, at their home town in Abbottabad, EPA New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Omar Nabi Omar Nabi speaks to the media about losing his father Haji Daoud Nabi, 71, in the mosque attack REUTERS New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Ash Mohammed Ash Mohammed, right, talks to a police officer about his father and two brothers who are missing near the Masjid Al Noor mosque AP New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Akhtar Khokhur Akhtar Khokhur, 58, shows a picture of her missing husband Mehaboobbhai Khokhar, 65. AP New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Wasseim Alsati A note is seen on a window of a door at the family home of Wasseim Alsati in Christchurch on 17 March 2019. AFP/Getty Images New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Haroon Mahmood Relatives offer condolences to nephew (centre) of Haroon Mahmood, a Pakistani citizen who was killed in Christchurch mosque shootings. AP New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Farid Ahmed Farid Ahmed (pictured) survived the Al Noor mosque shootings but his wife Husne was killed. AFP/Getty Images New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Syed Areeb Ahmed A relative shows a picture of Syed Areeb Ahmed, a Pakistani citizen who was killed the Christchurch mosque shooting. AP New Zealand shootings: Victims of Christchurch mosque terror attacks Naeem Rashid A relative looks at a picture on a mobile phone of Pakistani nationals Naeem Rashid and his son Talha Naeem (right) who died in the Christchurch shootings. AFP/Getty Images

The motion passed by a near-unanimous vote, a rare show of bipartisanship in the Senate, with only the anti-Muslim One Nation party ordering its two senators to abstain.

Mathias Cormann, the governments Senate leader, called Mr Annings comments ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place, he said.

Opposition Senate leader Penny Wong pointed at Mr Anning as she called him shameful and pathetic, describing him as a bloke who has never been elected. It was a reference to the fact Mr Anning only became a senator by default after another One Nation member was disqualified for holding dual citizenship. Mr Anning later quit the party.

This motion makes it clear he doesnt speak for us, she said. He doesnt speak for the senate. He doesnt speak for this nation. He doesnt represent Australian values.

Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistan-born Greens senator, produced an online petition to the Senate with more than 1.4 million signatures calling for Mr Anning to resign, arguing he should be suspended as well as censured.

There is no room for racism in Australia. Sadly, what Senator Anning said after the Christchurch massacre, however shocking isnt out of character, she told the house. Just a week before I joined this place, he gave a speech calling for a ban on people like me coming to this country.

It is terrifying that right-wing extremist groups have a found a mouthpiece in Federal Parliament, Ms Faruqi said.

There was an emotional moment when the Australian Labor Partys senator Pat Dodson, speaking in support of the censure motion, read a statement to the victims of the attack saying rest in peace in Arabic, and in Maori to New Zealand as a whole stating: We are sorry for your loss.

And Mr Anning finally walked out as Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young stood up and told him: You are a disgrace. Dont smile at me, dont smile at the rest of us, people lost their lives and you think its a joke.

Prior to leaving the chamber, Mr Anning had argued that the motion was an attack on free speech. He called it an exercise in left-wing virtue signalling of the worst kind.

One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson, who was absent, issued a statement saying that while Mr Annings comments were untimely and therefore deemed highly insensitive, the party could not endorse the motion because he still maintains a right to his opinion.

Senate president Scott Ryan advised members that, since a law change in 1980, suspending Mr Anning would be difficult and time-consuming because he would have the right to challenge it in court.

The censure motion, though lacking any practical consequences, acts as an expression of the Senates unified disapproval.

New Zealands prime minister Jacinda Ardern has previously called Mr Annings comments on the shootings a disgrace. On Tuesday, her deputy Winston Peters called him a jingoistic moron.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant has been charged with murder in relation to the shootings and is due to appear in court on Friday, when further charges are expected to be brought.Australia's prime minister has been mocked for attempting an impression of Borat, the Sacha Baron Cohen character, while discussing Kazakhstan during a session of the countrys parliament.

Scott Morrison criticised the carbon-reduction policies of the opposing Labor party by suggesting the central Asian country, which has an emissions trading scheme allowing carbon credits to be bought and sold, would be pretty pleased.

As federal elections loom in May the conservative Mr Morrison lambasted his opponents, who are proposing a string of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emission and promote renewable energy.

Im sure [Kazakhstan is] absolutely thrilled about this, he told MPs. Some may call this a carbon tax ... Im going to call it the Borat tax.

The Borat tax that will be put on by the Labor party with carbon credits to Kazakhstan. I know what Borat would think of the Labor partys policy on emissions reduction.

45 films you never realised were banned Show all 46 1 /46 45 films you never realised were banned 45 films you never realised were banned 45 films you never knew realised were banned Click through the gallery 45 films you never realised were banned All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) The ban on All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) was ordered in Germany by Adolf Hitler himself who disliked its anti-war message. This came after an initial run during which members of the Nazi Party disrupted screenings by releasing mice into the cinema and, at one stage, attacking Jewish audience members. Censors in Austria, Australia, Italy and France also banned the film in the early 1930s. Universal Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned American Sniper (2015) Many might find Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (2015) to be something of an insult, but Iran banned the war drama  based on the life of the US military's deadliest marksman  for being just that. Censors deemed it "offensive" to its nation. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Apocalypse Now (1979) The anti-war sentiment present in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now saw the film banned under President Park Chung-hee's regime in 1979. United Artists 45 films you never realised were banned Argo (2012) Ben Affleck's Best Picture-winning 2012 drama Argo was banned in Iran due to its negative portrayal of the country. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Battleship Potemkin (1925) Finnish censors believed that Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 Soviet silent film Battleship Potemkin would incite a Communist revolution, so gave the film an outright ban. Goskino 45 films you never realised were banned Beauty and the Beast (2017) Disney's live-action remake of its 1991 classic was banned in Kuwait due to homosexual references involving the character LeFou (Josh Gad). It evaded a ban in Russia after being slapped with a 16+ age certificate and in Malaysia after having the references cut altogether. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Ben-Hur (1959) China banned William Wyler's religious epic Ben-Hur in 1959 under the regime of Mao Zedong for containing "propaganda of superstitious beliefs, namely Christianity". While most films go on to have their ban lifted, the country has never given the Oscar-winner permission to be shown. Loew's, Inc 45 films you never realised were banned Borat (2006) It turns out there are some people who don't find Sacha Baron Cohen that funny, notably officials in all Arab countries (except Lebanon) who banned his 2006 comedy Borat for being "too offensive". 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned Brief Encounter (1945) Officials in the Catholic country of Ireland found David Lean's romantic drama Brief Encounter to be too accepting of adultery to be shown in cinemas. Eagle-Lion Distributors 45 films you never realised were banned Brokeback Mountain (2005) The homosexual relationship at the centre of Ang Lee's 2005 drama Brokeback Mountain saw the film banned in all Arab countries bar Lebanon, where it was released in a censored format. Focus Features 45 films you never realised were banned Child 44 (2015) The number of banned films in North Korea runs pretty high, but an unexpected feature on the list is the Tom Hardy-starring Child 44 (2015). Countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus all followed suit. Summit Entertainment Lionsgate 45 films you never realised were banned Christopher Robin (2018) Censors in China denied the release of Disney's Christopher Robin in 2008 because the character of Winnie the Pooh has become a symbol of resistance against the countrys ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned A Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick met a lot of opposition with A Clockwork Orange in 1971. While the film was never banned outright in the UK (it was withdrawn at the director's request after his family received death threats because of it), it wasn't shown in cinemas in Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea due to its depictions of violence and gang rape. It wasn't screened in the UK until after Kubrick's death in 1999. Warner Bros 45 films you never realised were banned The Da Vinci Code (2006) The high-profile adaptation of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code was banned in (take a deep breath) China, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa and Solomon Islands due to content deemed blasphemous. Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned The Danish Girl (2015) The Danish Girl, Tom Hooper's film inspired by the life of transgender painter Lili Elbe, was banned in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Malaysia on grounds of "moral depravity" in 2015. Universal Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Deadpool (2016) After it was decided that Deadpool couldn't be edited without affecting its plot, Chinese officials initially banned the film citing explicit content. Uzbekistan followed suit as the film "violated the country's societal norms", while it received heavy editing in order to be shown in India. 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned The Death of Stalin (2017) Armando Iannucci's 2017 comedy The Death of Stalin failed to make the cut in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan because of its perceived anti-Soviet theme. eOne Films 45 films you never realised were banned The Departed (2006) Martin Scorsese's crime thriller The Departed hit a nerve with China in 2006 thanks to a line of dialogue that suggested its government intends to use nuclear weapons on Taiwan, a sensitive issue for the country. The ban has never been lifted. Warner Bros 45 films you never realised were banned District 9 (2009) District 9, Neill Blomkamp's science-fiction film from 2009, was slapped with a ban in Nigeria due to accusations of being xenophobic and racist towards its citizens. TriStar Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) The adaptation of EL James's erotic drama Fifty Shades of Grey may not have been as raunchy as some were hoping, but it was considered too explicit for audiences in Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. Universal Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Funny Girl (1968) William Wyler's romantic musical Funny Girl was banned in Egypt because its male lead Omar Sharif  an Egyptian Muslim  is shown in a romantic storyline with the Jewish Barbra Streisand, who was vocal in her political support for Israel at the height of military tensions with Egypt in 1968. Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Ghostbusters (2016) Paul Feig's all-female reboot of Ghostbusters was denied a release in China due to censorship laws prohibiting the promotion of cults and superstitions. Not even changing the title to Super Power Dare-to-Die Team (yes, really) could help its cause. Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Goldfinger (1964) Sean Connery's third film as British spy James Bond, Goldfinger (1964), had been released in Israel for six weeks when it was revealed that one of its main actors, Gert Frobe, had a Nazi past. It had the ban lifted when a Jewish survivor came forward with the revelation that his life and his mother's were probably saved after being hidden from the Nazis by Frobe. United Artists 45 films you never realised were banned The Hunger Games (2012) The country of Vietnam deemed the numerous murders shown in blockbuster The Hunger Games too violent for teenage audiences and decided to slap the film with an outright ban. Lionsgate Films 45 films you never realised were banned Jules and Jim (1962) Francois Truffaut's beloved French drama Jules and Jim found itself at the centre of a ban in Italy for its "attitudes toward sex". The ban was quickly lifted. Gala 45 films you never realised were banned Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) Not many people enjoyed 2017 sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but the cinema censors in Cambodia sit top of that list. Thanks to the moment that sees the film's antagonist working from a lair in a Cambodian temple, the Colin Firth action film was handed an indefinite ban. 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned Mad Max (1979) It was a particularly gory death scene that saw Australian thriller Mad Max (1979) banned from being seen in New Zealand as it unintentionally mirrored an incident with a real gang shortly before it was released. The same scene saw the film banned in Sweden until 2005. Roadshow Film Distributors 45 films you never realised were banned Milk (2008) Milk, Gus Van Sant's 2008 Oscar-winning biopic about gay rights activist and US politician Harvey Milk, was initially banned in Samoa with no reason given, though it was eventually revealed the film had been deemed "inappropriate and contradictory to Christian beliefs and Samoan culture" for its depiction of homosexuality. Focus Features 45 films you never realised were banned Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) The religious satire featured in Monty Python's Life of Brian was considered blasphemous in countries including Ireland, South Africa and Norway. Director Terry Jones used the controversy to the film's advantage, putting up posters in Sweden with the tagline: "So funny, it was banned in Norway!" Cinema International Corporation 45 films you never realised were banned Modern Times (1936) Charlie Chaplin's classic 1936 film Modern Times was banned in Nazi Germany for advocating Communism. United Artists 45 films you never realised were banned Noah (2014) Darren Aronofsky's biblical drama Noah (2014) found itself the subject of a ban in China, as well as several Muslim countries, because it was perceived to contradict the teachings of Islam. Paramount Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Pulp Fiction (1994) Malaysia disregarded Pulp Fiction for release and banned the Quentin Tarantino film scenes featuring drug abuse, explicit nudity and sexual violence. Miramax Films 45 films you never realised were banned Rambo (2008) Sylvester Stallone's return as Rambo in 2008  which he also directed  was deemed offensive by censors in of Burma who opposed the way the film depicted its country's soldiers. Lionsgate 45 films you never realised were banned Sausage Party (2016) Officials in China were so worried that adults would assume animated film Sausage Party (2016) to be a children's film that they slapped it with an outright ban. On the flip side, France gave the film a 12-rating. Sony Pictures Releasing 45 films you never realised were banned Sex and the City 2 (2010) It's a wonder the first film of HBO series Sex and the City wasn't banned in Vietnam considering the critically-maligned sequel  released in 2010  was prohibited there due to a "conflict of cultural values". Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Shrek 2 (2004) Although brief, the ban on 2004 sequel Shrek 2 was incurred in Israel due to the Hebrew dub added to the film ahead of release. A particular joke aimed at Israeli singer David D'Or's high voice prompted the musician to take legal action, halting the film from being released until its removal. DreamWorks Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned The Simpsons Movie (2007) The Simpsons Movie was banned in Burma due to the "juxtaposition of the colours yellow and red", which is considered to convey support for rebel groups in the country. 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) Trey Parker and Matt Stone ruffled plenty of feathers with their big-screen South Park film, Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and the comedic depiction of Saddam Hussein saw it banned in Iraq. The duo's 2004 film Team America: World Police would later be banned by North Korea for its comedic depiction of Kim Jong-Il. Warner Bros 45 films you never realised were banned 300 (2006) Iran didn't take too kindly to Zack Snyder's depiction of the Persian military in his 2006 film 300. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned 2012 (2009) North Korea suppressed 2012 from release in 2009 because the film depicted what the government considered to be an important year for the nation in a negative light (it coincided with its first leader Kim Il-Sung's 100th birthday). According to reports, several people were arrested for viewing imported copies of the disaster film and were charged with "grave provocation against the development of the state". Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Despite permitting other Martin Scorsese films to make the cut, countries including Malaysia, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Kenya banned The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) for its profanities and depiction of sex and intense drug use. Paramount Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Wonder Woman (2017) Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot's past in the Israeli army sparked a campaign to boycott the DC film in Lebanon due to conflict with both countries. The 2017 film was later banned there as well as Qatar and Tunisia. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) Censors in Trinidad banned Kevin Smith's 2008 comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno out of fear that teenagers would mimic the plot and make their own porn movies. The Weinstein Company 45 films you never realised were banned Zoolander (2001) Ben Stiller's 2001 comedy Zoolander was deemed "unsuitable" for release in Malaysia due to its negative depiction of the country. Shockingly, Iran also banned the film over its perceived support of gay rights. Paramount Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Any film featuring Claire Danes Claire Danes' honesty regarding her time working in Manila came with a price. After telling Premiere Magazine the country "smelled like cockroaches", the council passed a motion to ban the Homeland star from the city and prevent her films from being shown. Although Danes issued an apology, Manila said they will lift the ban when they are "satisfied". 20th Century Fox

Giving a double thumbs-up and a big grin, he added: Very nice! Very nice!

When Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was released nearly 13 years ago, reaction in the titular characters home country was mixed.

Some were outraged by its portrayal of rural Kazakhstan, while others recognised its satirical portrayal of backward attitudes in the US.

The Kazakh government initially blocked the films website and many have suggested that referencing Borat in relation to Kazakhstan actually helps perpetuate offensive stereotypes.

Twitter users mocked Mr Morrison, saying they had genuinely never been more embarrassed to be Australian.

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I cant wait for the day he manages an Australian prime minister impression, said one, while another added: This is the worst Borat impression Ive ever heard.

A third said: Thats what happens when you try to fake being in touch with the common man. Hes clearly never watched it, just been fed this line by his genius muppeteers back at the office.Another baby has reportedly died as the result of a circumcision performed at home in Italy.

Italian news agency ANSA said the newborn died overnight near the port city of Genoa after his Nigerian mother and grandmother called for emergency medical help.

It comes after a 5-month-old baby died last month in Bologna after his parents performed a circumcision at home.

The prosecutors office in the northern province of Reggio Emilia opened a manslaughter investigation.

In December, a 2-year-old boy died of severe blood loss as a result of a botched circumcision in Rome. His twin brother also nearly died, but survived following intensive care treatment.

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

Circumcision is not practised among the majority of Italian citizens, who are Roman Catholic.

Many immigrants are Muslim and practise circumcision for both religious and cultural reasons.

However, they sometimes have trouble accessing the practice in hospitals either due to cost or because some doctors refuse to perform circumcisions until boys are at least four years old.

Around 35 per cent of circumcisions in Italy are believed to take place in peoples homes.Officials said that at the time of the Wadsworth shooting, Lopez had an active arrest warrant for escape after he failed to return to community-based corrections on April 13. He had been sentenced to 36 months of periodic imprisonment in connection with a June 2015 incident in Round Lake Beach, in which he was charged with burglary and battery.A Catholic priest in northern Poland who led a public burning of the Harry Potter books and other items parishioners claimed carried evil forces has apologised.

Rev Rafal Jarosiewicz expressed his regret on Facebook and said the burning of objects linked to magic and the occult was unfortunate.

Images from the burning ceremony at Gdansks Mother of Church parish on Sunday were posted on social media by the evangelical Catholic foundation SMS z Nieba (SMS from Heaven), led by Rev Jarosiewicz.

In the now-deleted pictures, an African wooden mask, figurines of elephants, books on magic and books from the famous series by JK Rowling were seen to have been consumed by the flames.

A priest and altar boys were captured watching the burning of the books and other items, all brought in by parishioners.

Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Show all 16 1 /16 Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Oliver Phelps and James Phelps in the Lestrange Vault PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The bank also features goblin tellers' desks PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Warwick Davis, the actor who played Griphook, at the opening of the new Gringotts Wizarding Bank PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Oliver Phelps and James Phelps, the actors who played the Weasley twins, in the great banking hall PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Warwick Davis in the Lestrange Vault PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Warwick Davis poses with gold galleons PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Warwick Davis poses with gold galleons inside Gringotts PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The newest attraction will open 6 April PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The attraction is 16,500sqft PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The main banking hall features three crystal chandeliers PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The prosthetics used for the goblins will be on display in the new attraction PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Warwick Davis at the opening of the new Gringotts Wizarding Bank PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank Visitors will be able to peer inside the Lestrange Vault PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The main banking hall is finished with real brass leaf PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The Lestrange Vault houses the Sword of Gryffindor PA Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour London: Gringotts Wizarding Bank The Weasley twins celebrate the opening of the new Gringotts Wizarding Bank PA

The foundation said the burning was intended to alert parishioners to the bad influence emanating from magic and the occult. In his apology, Rev Jarosiewicz claimed the gesture had not been aimed at books as such.

Comments under the original post condemned the act, recalling book-burning during Nazi rule in Germany before the Second World War.

One said: I have not met anyone yet who would rape, murder and steal in the name of Harry Potter. In the name of the Bible, yes. Bad news, gentlemen!

Cant you see how sick this is? What are your plans next, burning witches? another critic wrote. As a Catholic, I dont agree with you, burning books is stupid, another added.

The incident was condemned by the Rev Wojciech Parafianowicz, spokesman for the diocese of Koszalin, where the evangelical foundation is based. He said he did not like this form of priestly activity, which is wrong.

Rev Jarosiewicz was fined following the incident and an anti-smog group has contacted prosecutors about the open fire, according to the Associated Press.

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The book-burning comes as Polands influential Catholic Church is grappling with revelations about the scale of child abuse among its priests.

Last month, the Episcopal Conference of Poland released a report revealing that nearly 400 clergy in the country had been accused of sexually abusing minors over the last three decades.Nordic nations have disturbingly high levels of rape despite being gender equality trailblazers, according to a new report which also suggested they were failing victims.

Flawed legislation, prevalent harmful myths and gender stereotypes have given rise to endemic impunity for rapists across the region, Amnesty International found.

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden  four countries which are among the top-ranking countries in the world for gender equality  were all found to have high levels of rape and survivors of sexual violence are being let down by their justice systems.

In Finland, around 50,000 women each year experience sexual violence but there were only 209 convictions for rape in 2017. In the same year, 24,000 women were victims of rape or attempted rape in Denmark, but only 94 people were convicted.

Despite changes in law in Sweden, one in 10 people believe gender-based violence against women is provoked by the victim herself, the report found.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty Internationals secretary general, said: It is a paradox that Nordic countries, which have strong records of upholding gender equality, suffer shockingly high levels of rape."

Social stigma and a lack of trust in the justice system often mean that women and girls fail to report attacks, and those that do, are frequently failed by callous and prejudiced justice systems or outdated laws, she said.

One survivor told us she would never have reported her rape if she had known how she would have been be treated, and her story is typical in justice systems which are stacked against rape survivors," she added.

Ms Naidoo said that amending rape laws across the Nordic countries was a critical step towards changing attitudes and achieving justice, but much more was needed to effect institutional and social change.

She called on authorities to take steps to challenge rape myths and gender stereotypes at all levels of society. Professionals working with rape survivors need to get adequate ongoing training, she said, adding that broader sex education and awareness-raising programmes were needed from a young age.

Amnesty International noted that although the situation facing survivors of rape is not uniform across the four Nordic countries, there were disturbing parallels among them as their criminal justice systems ignore, deny and tacitly condone sexual violence against women.

The report entitled Time for change: Justice for rape survivors in the Nordic countries, found gender stereotypes and rape myths underpin attitudes of many people in the justice system in Norway.

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One regional public prosecutor told the authors: I have had a lot of student cases  decent young men who have done something stupid. It is not easy to convict a student who has come to this city to get a good education and who behaves well in court. He was drunk and horny and has done something stupid.

They also pointed to to a disturbing district court judgment in Finland they analysed where a judge acquitted the defendants in a case of multiple perpetrators.

They said: The fact that a sexual partner says no, I dont want to before sexual intercourse or between intercourses, is not always a sufficient signal to the other person that consent and willingness to continue sex is not present.Twitter has told the French government it will not run adverts promoting the Interior Ministry's campaign urging the electorate to vote, following a new law clamping down on misinformation and covert political advertising.

The campaign #Ouijevote, which encourages voting in Mays European Parliament elections, will not be able to post sponsored tweets on the site.

Twitter says it risks breaking regulations by posting adverts paid for by the French government, according to the Government Information Service (SIG)

Twitter has decided to follow an entirely hard-line approach which is to slash every campaign of a political nature, SIG, which co-ordinated the campaign with the French interior ministry, told Agence France-Presse.

This is a public information campaign, the SIG said. It is not a political or party campaign.

Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 Show all 20 1 /20 Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A Yellow Vest protester dressed as a Gaul takes part in an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris, on March 23, 2019. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A protester holds a placard reads in French ''Empire expires'' during a rally in Paris, Saturday, March 23, 2019. Yellow vest demonstrators gathered in Paris and other French cities for a 19th round of demonstrations as authorities issued bans on protests in certain areas and enhanced security measures in an effort to avoid a repeat of last week's riots in the capital. AP Photo/Michel Euler Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 Yellow Vest protesters hold a banner reading 'RIC (Citizen's Initiated Referendum)' during an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris, on March 23, 2019. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A Yellow Vest protester holds a placard reading 'my loved ones, dad protests to change your country', on Denfert Rochereau Square in Paris on March 23, 2019, during an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A woman holds her pet dog as French anti-riot police officers evacuate people during an anti-government demonstration called by the "Yellow Vests" (Gilets jaunes) movement near Garibaldi Square in Nice, southeastern France, on March 23, 2019. - Thousands of police fanned out across central Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Dijon, Rennes and Nice, on March 23, 2019 as 'Yellow vest' demonstrators are expected to hit French city streets again for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies. VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A protester wearing a yellow vest holds a placard reading 'the King is naked' in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on March 23, 2019, during an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A protester from the 'Gilets Jaunes' (Yellow Vests) wears a yellow vest reading 'Macron, do you feel the quenelle?' (gesture popularized by French activist Dieudonne M'bala M'bala evoking fisting practice) on the Esplanade du Trocadero during the 'Act XIX' demonstration (the 19th consecutive national protest on a Saturday) in Paris, France, 23 March 2019. To prevent a repeat of the last week riots, French authorities have banned demonstrations in a large area in the west of Paris, including the Champs-Elysees. Yellow vest organizers called on social media for protests in different places in Paris, including the Trocadero square. EPA Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 Yellow Vest protesters hold a banner reading 'unemployment rights for all', on Denfert Rochereau Square in Paris on March 23, 2019, during an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 Yellow Vest protesters gather on Denfert Rochereau Square in Paris on March 23, 2019, during an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A yellow vest protester holds a placard reading 'democracy? not a chance' during an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris, on March 23, 2019. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A protester waves a coloured flag during a protest by the anti-government "Yellow Vests" (Gilets jaunes) movement in the city of Nice, southeastern France, on March 23, 2019. - Thousands of police fanned out across central Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Dijon, Rennes and Nice, on March 23, 2019 as 'Yellow vest' demonstrators are expected to hit French city streets again for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies. VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 Yellow Vest protesters take part in an anti-government demonstration called by the 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) movement in Paris, on March 23, 2019. - Demonstrators hit French city streets again on March 23, for a 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest against the French President's policies and his top-down style of governing, high cost of living, government tax reforms and for more "social and economic justice." KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A man holds a placard as people attend the 19th week of Yellow vest demonstrations in Paris, France on March 23, 2019. Julien Mattia/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 People attend the 19th week of Yellow vest demonstrations as security forces stand guard in Paris, France on March 23, 2019. Julien Mattia/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 This picture taken early on March 2019, shows French police vehicles parked along the Champs-Elysees avenue in the French capital Paris in readiness for "Yellow vest" (Gilets jaunes) anti-governemnt demonstrators on the 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest. - Paris police have banned the protesters from a large area in the west of the city, including the famed Champs-Elysees avenue (which leads to the Arc de Triomphe), scene of last week's rampage by hundreds of anarchists, as well as the presidential palace and National Assembly. FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 Newly appointed Paris police Prefect Didier Lallement (C) speaks with police officers as he visits the Champs-Elysees avenue early on March 23, 2019 in the French capital Paris in readiness for "Yellow vest" (Gilets jaunes) anti-governemnt demonstrators on the 19th consecutive week of nationwide protest. - Paris police have banned the protesters from a large area in the west of the city, including the famed Champs-Elysees avenue (which leads to the Arc de Triomphe), scene of last week's rampage by hundreds of anarchists, as well as the presidential palace and National Assembly. FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 People attend the 19th week of Yellow vest demonstrations as they march in Paris, France on March 23, 2019. Julien Mattia/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 People attend the 19th week of Yellow vest demonstrations as they march in Paris, France on March 23, 2019. Julien Mattia/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A man holds a placard during the 19th week of Yellow vest demonstrations in Paris, France on March 23, 2019. Julien Mattia/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Yellow Vests Protest France March 2019 A protester from the 'Gilets Jaunes' (Yellow Vests) stands on the Esplanade du Trocadero, facing the Eiffel Tower during the 'Act XIX' demonstration (the 19th consecutive national protest on a Saturday) in Paris, France, 23 March 2019. To prevent a repeat of the last week riots, French authorities have banned demonstrations in a large area in the west of Paris, including the Champs-Elysees. Yellow vest organizers called on social media for protests in different places in Paris, including the Trocadero square. EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

In December 2018, French parliament passed a law forcing big social media sites and search engines to be more transparent about the sources of political advertising.

It obliges companies to publish how much they are paid for electoral advertisements, as well as providing an online register of who is behind sponsored political messages on its platform.

Twitter has not yet updated its services in France to provide the required transparency.

The new law aims to crack down on underhand targeted advertising aimed at shaping public opinion, a practice that came to light following US elections and the Brexit referendum.

However, interior minister Christophe Castaner has criticised Twitter for interpreting the law to encompass the campaign for voter registration.

Twitters priority should be to fight content supporting terrorism, he tweeted.

Not campaigns that encourage people to sign up for the electoral role in a democratic republic.

Mr Castaner said the subject will be discussed with the Big Four tech companies at the G7 summit with interior ministers on Thursday.

Google and Facebook have already introduced transparency settings for its sponsored advertisements.

Last year, Minister for Europe and Foreign affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, doubled down on the manipulation of information prevalent on the internet, which he called orchestrated campaigns spreading deliberately-fabricated fake or biased news for political purposes.Algerians who flooded the streets in celebration at news of long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflikas resignation, pressed for more dramatic changes to a military dominated regime that has overseen the country for nearly 67 years.

After weeks of mass rallies across the country against his continuing rule, Mr Bouteflika stepped down on Tuesday after 20 years in office.

I speak to you in farewell, and it is not easy to express my true, honest feelings towards you, he said in a letter that was read aloud by newscasters. He has not spoken publicly since suffering a stroke in 2013.

I am confident you will continue your new march of reform in a manner which would bring to our country greater welfare and security, he said.

His departure, ultimately demanded by the countrys army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, prompted celebrations but also questions about who will steer the country during a transition period.

Opposition leaders and civil society groups, including key labour unions, kept up the pressure, signalling that Mr Bouteflikas departure would not satisfy a swelling, leaderless protest movement that plans to take to the streets en masse again after noon prayers on Friday.

Algerians celebrate after the resignation Tuesday night of Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika (AP)

The resignation of Bouteflika from the presidential post is only a first victory achieved by the historic and unwavering mobilisation of the Algerian people, a collection of civil society groups said in a statement. We take note, but it is not enough as it offers no guarantees. Other victories are necessary. We have only travelled part of our path, but the journey ahead will be long.

Unlike other Arab autocracies, Algeria has had no idolised strongman as its ruler. Mr Bouteflika often appeared to serve as a front for various largely hidden networks of power controlling the countrys economy and security forces.

In recent years, Algerians have begun to forcefully demand more transparency and accountability, especially several large corruption scandals.

The next goal is getting rid of the entire cabinet, one analyst said of the protesters aims. There are emerging figures that could take up the reins of government.

The resignation of Bouteflika from the presidential post is only a first victory Coalition of civil society groups

After the reversal of the 2011 Egyptian parliamentary elections by military leaders, Algerians have also grown wary of their own armys interventions in politics.

If the end result of the army chiefs manoeuvring is the continuation of the deviousness and maliciousness with the aim of hegemony and control over power and the reproduction of corruption, there will continue to be peaceful political resistance regardless of the price, Abderazzak Makri, leader of the Islamist Movement of Society for Peace opposition party, was quoted as saying

Opposition leader Ali Benflis, a former regime insider who broke with Mr Bouteflika and leads his own political party, called for the exclusion of several key figures close to the president from the transition process.

He named Abdelkader Bensalah, speaker of the parliament who is set to become transitional president, Tayeb Belaiz, head of the Constitutional Council that is tasked with overseeing the handover of power, and Noureddine Bedoui, the prime minister named by Mr Bouteflika during his final weeks in power, as officials who should be barred from shaping the political process.

The leadership of the state must go to an unimpeachable figure, Mr Benflis said, according to local media.

The Confederation of Algerian Unions, an umbrella group of more than a dozen labour organisations, announced that it will boycott the Mr Bedouis cabinet as illegal, even as various ministers were taking up their tasks. It called for a nationwide 10 April strike targetting the education, healthcare, transport, and agriculture sectors.In a campaigning field inundated with some of the Middle Easts heaviest issues, from the threat of a new war with Gaza and the occupation of the Golan Heights, marijuana has emerged as a hot topic in Israel.

Legalised for medical use over 20 years ago, the drug was licensed for export earlier this year, and ahead of a general election next week, the question of recreational legalisation is now being used as a campaigning tool.

For Uri Zeevi, of Seedo, one of many entrepreneurial companies in Israel that are fast taking the global marijuana industry by storm, the topic entering the mainstream conversation can only be a positive sign of the inevitable decriminalisation of the drug.

Seedos product, developed in the city of Yokneam Illit in northern Israel, allows users to grow marijuana in small home labs, and follow through an app a live-stream of the cannabis plant growing, with its needs being monitored and met by artificial intelligence.

The company has specific growth plans for hundreds of strains of cannabis, a notoriously sensitive plant, as well as some leafy greens and vegetables.

The fridge-like containers, which control temperature, humidity, nutrients and lighting, learn from each growth cycle. The app crowd-pools information from all users to perfect the plan for each strand of the drug.

The company currently has over 3,000 orders from across the world for the $2,400 ($1,800) apparatus that can produce up to 400g of perfectly grown cannabis every 12 months.

Within the year youll make back your investment on the home labs, Uri Zeevi, chief marketing officer of Seedo, tells The Independent.

In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Show all 26 1 /26 In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man wears a marijuana leaf mask during the annual 4/20 cannabis culture celebration at Sunset Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia AP In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A lady smokes marijuana on Parliament Hill on 4/20 in Ottawa, Ontario Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies James Reed smokes a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People sign a 4/20 sign on Parliament Hill on in Ottawa, Ontario Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A woman smokes marijuana on Parliament Hill on 4/20 in Ottawa, Ontario. Polling released showed strong support in Canada for a government drive to legalise recreational use of marijuana, but many would like the proposed minimum age for consumption to be raised. Sixty-three percent of respondents told the Angus Reid Institute they support legalisation Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man smokes marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Reuters In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Demonstrators smoke marijuana during the '4/20 Santiago' rally in favour of legalisation in front of the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, as part of the Global Marijuana March which is being held in hundreds of cities worldwide Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People play with a mock marijuana joint during a 4/20 party to demand legalisation and to celebrate marijuana culture outside the Senate building in Mexico City, Mexico Reuters In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Adam Eidinger, co-founder of DCMJ, hands out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Police arrest Rachel Ramone Donlan after she handed out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC AFP/Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Police arrest Rachel Ramone Donlan after she handed out free marijuana joints to DC residents who worked on Capitol Hill as part of the 1st Annual Joint Session to mark '4/20' day and promote legalising marijuana on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Thousands of people gather to smoke marijuana during the '420 Santiago'rally in front of the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies People attend the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Kevin Barron and Lasean Moore of Raleigh, North Carolina, share a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Nic Ruhl takes a pull on a giant hand rolled joint at precisely 4:20pm MDT during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Various cannabis paraphernalia on display at a vendor's stall during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Mo Banez, of Austin, Texas, lights a joint during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies A man displays a large container of cannabis during the Denver 420 Rally at Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado. The rally, held annually, is a celebration of both the legalisation of cannabis and cannabis culture. Colorado is one of twenty-six U.S. states along with the District of Columbia that has legalised the use of cannabis either recreationally or medically AFP/Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Sitting in small groups on mats shaded by trees in the Rose Garden just across from the Knesset, participants lit up as the clock struck 4:20 for the local version of the traditional worldwide April 20 pro-marijuana events, known as '420' rallies Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies Sitting in small groups on mats shaded by trees in the Rose Garden just across from the Knesset, participants lit up as the clock struck 4:20 for the local version of the traditional worldwide April 20 pro-marijuana events, known as '420' rallies Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli girl poses with a mock marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current laws Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies aelis pass around a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current laws Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem during a rally at the Rose garden, to celebrate 420 and to express their defiance of current law Getty Images In pictures: 4/20 Marijuana world rallies An Israeli smokes a marijuana joint in Jerusalem on April 20, 2017 during a rally opposite the Knesset to celebrate 420 and express defiance of current laws AFP/Getty Images

Its hermetically sealed, so if youre in a Nepalese mountain climate or the Sahara desert your plant, your specific strand, will thrive.

Seedo is also in the process of producing industrial-sized stackable containers, allowing companies to create the highest-grade medical cannabis from anywhere, even the roofs of skyrises.

While medical cannabis is legal in Israel, the recreational use of the drug is still banned. Zeevi is part of a growing movement within the country which want that to change.

Once its legal here, the cannabis industry could produce a lot of jobs, and generate immense funds through taxes. Cannabis exists whether or not its legalised. The question is who is going to enjoy the revenues, the government or the black market? he asks.

The cannabis debate and the argument for its legalisation have for years been relegated to the fringes of left-wing political platforms in Israel.

It was the often-ignored rallying cry for small parties like Green Leaf, which since its foundation in 1999 has never managed to secure a seat in the Knesset.

But this year the familiar yet maligned multi-fronded plant has become the unlikely star of the Israeli elections, crossing party divides and most unusually becoming a campaign platform for the right.

Cannabis exists whether or not its legalised. The question is who is going to enjoy the revenues, the government or the black market? Uri Zeevi, CMO of <g class="gr_ gr_173 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" data-gr-id="173" id="173">Seedo</g>

Up until recently, the drug has been frowned upon in Israel, which has large conservative Jewish and Muslim communities.

Pot-smoking could in the past lead to Israelis being disqualified from military service.

Last month Israeli police arrested dozens of people suspected of using Telegrass, an encrypted messaging app that allowed Israelis to get marijuana delivered to the door of their homes.

But it is also not uncommon for people to smoke pot in public: even though it is technically illegal, law enforcement has been increasingly lenient.

Cannabis plant inside a Seedo portable lab (Bel Trew)

The medical use of marijuana has been permitted since the early 1990s, and has become increasingly popular across all strands of society, driving an interest in the drug.

The upcoming general election, taking place next week, has been intermittently overshadowed by the spectre of war with Gaza, and the possible indictment of sitting prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But beyond the international headlines and well-worn talking points, a lively debate around the drug is now taking centre stage at home.

In early 2019, the Israeli government finally approved the export of Israeli-grown medical cannabis, opening up the pioneering and bustling domestic market to the world.

This week the country edged one step further to legalising the drug for recreational purposes by decriminalising personal possession of it.

Use of it in a small amount in personal homes is now no longer an offence. Public consumption for personal use will result in a fine of just over 200 rather than a potential three-year jail sentence.

And now politicians like Netanyahu, who have largely ignored the drug in previous elections, are eyeing it as a way to draw in a younger electorate.

The head of the right-wing Likud Party said a few weeks ago that he would consider legalising the drug if he were to be re-elected. He vowed to increase the use of medical cannabis to one of the highest levels in the world.

His promise came after polls showed newly formed far-right Zehut party surging in popularity on the back of its promise to decriminalise the drug.

Polls initially predicted the libertarian group would be unable to pass the threshold to get a single place in the Knesset, but a poll this week from Channel 12 has the party securing five seats.

A supporter of the leader of the far-right Zehut political party Moshe Feigling smokes a fake inflatable joint during a meeting in Tel Aviv (AFP/Getty) (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Zehut, which means identity in English, is led by firebrand Orthodox settler Moshe Feiglin, once a Likud member of the Knesset himself. He is infamous for denying the existence of a Palestinian people and being arrested in the 1990s for sedition against the state for his protests against the Oslo Peace Accords.

His party members say he became an unlikely champion of cannabis after sick relatives of his relied on it for medical purposes.

In the last year Moshe was in parliament wanting to get full legalisation of cannabis, knowing that without full legalisation there will be people who need medical cannabis but who cannot access their medicine, says Libby Molad, fifth in Zehuts list and so a possible future MP.

There are probably more than 1 million leisure cannabis users in Israel and all of them are regarded as criminals. This is insane in a country of around 8 million. It is no different from liking a glass of wine, she adds, speaking to The Independent.

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She says that Israel could easily be at the forefront of cannabis production and research.

Think of the jobs it could create, the revenues, Molad adds.

And so it makes good business sense to put it at the forefront of a political campaign.

According to a recent report by Arcview Market Research, worldwide legal cannabis spending could hit $16.9bn this year and soar to $31.3bn in 2022.

The biggest market for production of cannabis is currently Canada, largely because the United States is unable to import or export the plant due to it being illegal at a federal level.

But the weather in Canada is not best suited for the production of cannabis, which is where Israel could find a global foothold.

Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry Show all 8 1 /8 Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591453.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591446.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591448.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591452.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591449.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591450.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591451.jpg Sam Adams Mile high city: Inside Denver's billion-dollar marijuana industry 5591454.jpg Sam Adams

Officials told Haaretz newspaper that estimated related trade deals could bring in as much as 1 billion shekels (or 208m) a year in tax revenues.

Many politicians are already cashing in.

Israels former prime minister and the countrys ex-Labour Party chief Ehud Barak has been labelled one of Israels marijuana millionaires by local media after he became chair of a company that owns cannabis developer Canndoc.

He was quoting as saying at a cannabis tech conference this week in Tel Aviv that Israel is the land of milk, honey and cannabis.

CEOs in the industry agree. Israel, known for its startups, agro-tech, research and good weather, appears well suited for the booming industry.

Israel has also been at heart of research into the drug. It was Israeli scientists Raphael Mechoulam and Yechiel Gaoni who first discovered Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis, in 1964.

There are probably more than 1 million leisure cannabis users in Israel and all of them are regarded as criminals. This is insane in a country of around 8 million. It is no different from liking a glass of wine Libby Molad, Zehut Party

Oren Shuster of International Medical Cannabis (IMC), which has been growing cannabis for a decade and has greenhouses near to the border with Gaza, says that producing cannabis in Israel is three times cheaper than growing in places like Canada.

Israels climate is the perfect condition for growing. Our cost structure is much lower because we are growing in greenhouses, we dont need additional heat or artificial lights. We have the greatest natural resource: good weather and sun, he tells The Independent.

IMC currently produces three tons of medical cannabis annually for a domestic market but is preparing to increase that capacity to 150 tons a year to meet expected international demand.

Shuster, once a critic of the drug, now hopes it will be legalised, claiming the drug has health benefits from skin to mental health. But multiple studies have shown that smoking marijuana can lead to the development of mental health problems.

Currently his farms are the only ones in the world in which post-harvest of the flower is fully automated. The use of robots specially designed in Israel makes savings of up to 90 per cent, he claimed.

I believe in a few years time Israel will be an empire in cannabis innovation and research. There is already a vibrant startup hive surrounding it.Between the smattering of stunning Secessionist-style architecture in the Old Town and its uplifting, easygoing vibe cultivated by students who attend the top-rated university, Szeged is one of Hungarys most inviting cities. Located in the southeast part of the country, close to the border with Serbia, Szeged is known for its tranquil squares, open-air theatre festival in the summer and the peaceful Tisza river.

When visiting Budapest, consider adding on a few days in this City of Sunshine, where theres plenty to be charmed by.

What to do

Immerse yourself in Art Nouveau

After the Great Flood of 1879 destroyed Szeged, the city was reimagined as an Art Nouveau haven. Take a self-guided tour of some of the eye-popping palaces that shape Szegeds alluring architectural personality. The New Synagogue and its impressive stained-glass works, the unusual three-sided Grof Palace, and Moricz House, graced with Zsolnay ceramics, are all worth a look.

Szeged city guide Show all 7 1 /7 Szeged city guide Szeged city guide Move over Budapest, it's time for Szeged Szeged Tourism Szeged city guide Swing by Szeged Votive Church to see the unique clocks Szeged Tourism Szeged city guide Get your architectural kicks from Reok Palace Szeged Tourism Szeged city guide Tiszavirag offers rich textiles in modern rooms Tiszavirag Szeged city guide Try Szegeds signature river-fish soup, halaszle Tiszavirag Szeged city guide Malata is one of the citys most popular brewhouses Facebook/Malata Szeged city guide Emmaroz is all about quality tailoring Emmaroz

Tell the time

On Dom ter, a striking musical clock dating from 1936 features hand-carved basswood figures. In a nod to medieval universities, twice a day, at 12.15am and 5.45pm, it depicts students graduating at the end of the year. Its found across from the main entrance to the twin-spired Votive Church, melding Roman, Gothic and Byzantine styles and starring a massive organ with more than 9,000 pipes.

Swing by Szeged Votive Church to see the unique clocks (Szeged Tourism)

Unwind in hot springs

Thermal baths play a significant role in Hungarian culture. Relax for a few hours amid the curative waters of Anna, which was built in 1896 with subtle Asian architectural references. Its soothing tiled pools remain open at night for post-dinner dips. Open 6am-12am Monday to Friday and 6am-8pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Where to stay

An 1860s house is the setting for Tiszavirag, where each of the 12 rooms are designed with materials like marble, velvet and linen. Guests can also detox in the Finnish sauna, steam cabin and salt and sea-climate rooms found on the lower level. Doubles from 98, room only.

Tiszavirag offers rich textiles in modern rooms (Tiszavirag)

Tiled showers, red nightstands and striped rugs are among the thoughtful elements that bring the small, cheerful Matrix Hotels 11 rooms to life. Doubles from 47, room only.

Where to eat

Even if you dont spend the night at Tiszavirag, indulge in a plush banquette at its upscale but chilled-out eponymous restaurant. Locals flock to the whitewashed dining room for dishes like beef tartare heightened by crispy buckwheat followed by free-range guinea fowl with Jerusalem artichoke. Open Tuesday to Saturday 12-3pm and 6-10pm.

Homey Vendeglo a Regi Hidhoz with its tchotchkes, brick accents and dangling paprika, offers classic, hearty Hungarian dishes, including pork medallions and Szegeds fiery river-fish soup, halaszle. Open 11.30am-11pm daily.

Try Szegeds signature river-fish soup, halaszle (Tiszavirag)

From-scratch breakfasts and lunches are the draw at Keleszto, a cosy cafe with doily topped tables. The menu is ever-changing, from fried eggs paired with bratwurst, pomegranate and watercress oil to bacon-studded broccoli cream soup and smoked trout with celery mousse. Open 7am-5pm Monday to Friday and 8am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Its hard to get a table, especially the pillow-festooned window seat, at the petite Suti nem suti because customers dont want to leave its enchanting confines. Conversation flows freely over the likes of homemade chocolate-passionfruit cake and apple pie bread pudding. Open 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and 10am-8pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Where to drink

Come summer, Malatas shady, lively courtyard is one of the citys most clamoured-for destinations. The laidback pub is sought out for its vast selection of craft beers, including those from Budapest favourites Monyo Brewing Co and First Craft Beer & BBQ. The burgers (try the pulled beef spiked with jalapeno) are a fitting accompaniment. Opens at 4pm Monday to Thursday; 2pm Friday; 12pm at weekends.

Malata is one of the citys most popular brewhouses (Facebook/Malata) (Facebook/Malata)

A socialist-era time capsule, Zapor Jozsef Kavezoja is a sprawling, subterranean bar kitted out with a portrait of Lenin, vinyl records and vintage radios. Settle into one of the mismatched sofas with a beer poured by one of the friendly barkeeps. Open Monday to Saturday from 5pm.

Kek Elefant, which means blue elephant, takes the craft of coffee seriously. Invigorate with a well-wrought cortado or AeroPress and set off for a day of sightseeing. The tiny space, hidden away in a courtyard, is aptly awash in touches of blue. Open 9am-6.30pm daily.

Where to shop

Quality tailoring is the mission behind Emmaroz, an airy, modern salon that serves gratis macarons to its guests. Here, custom dresses, skirts, trousers and blazers are dreamed up at affordable prices, while the welcoming shop provides a platform for Hungarian designers like Dora Abodi, Judit Takacs and Dori Tomcsanyi. Open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday and Saturday by appointment.

Emmaroz is all about quality tailoring (Emmaroz)

Architectural highlight

Reok Palace is the handiwork of architect Ede Magyar, whose standout structures such as the Ungar-Mayer House also enliven Szeged. Completed in 1907, this Art Nouveau beauty flaunts sculptural balconies and its white facade is adorned with pastel green stripes and lilac-hued water lilies. The former home of hydraulics engineer Ivan Reok, it now showcases a number of arts exhibitions. Explore them after an almond croissant or raspberry-laden tart in the elegant ground-floor cafe. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am-6pm.

Get your architectural kicks from Reok Palace (Szeged Tourism)

Szeged nuts and bolts

What currency do I need?

Hungarian forints, roughly 360 to the pound.

What language do they speak?

Hungarian.

Should I tip?

It is customary to tip about 10 per cent at restaurants and bars.

Whats the time difference?

Szeged is one hour ahead of the UK and flight times to Budapest, the closest international airport, average two-and-a-half hours.

Public transport

Szegeds city centre is compact enough to navigate by foot, but an extensive network of trams, buses and trolley-buses allows for further exploring.

Best view

Atop Viztorony, the water tower fashioned from reinforced concrete in Szent Istvan ter, visitors are treated to panoramic views of Szeged. This historic structure is only open to the public between 1 April and 31 October on the first Saturday of the month.

Insider tip

Although there are multiple trains that depart daily for Szeged from Budapests Nyugati railway station, an alternative is travelling via Oszkar. This app offers shared ride services from Budapests Nepliget station straight to Szegeds city centre in under two hours for about 6.Ellen DeGeneres has added her voice to the growing number of celebrities calling for a boycott of the luxury hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei.

The comedian called on her followers to spread the word and rise up in a boycott of the nine properties, which include The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, in protest at Bruneis strict new anti-gay laws.

The harsh new Sharia laws, which come into force today amid international outcry, include the death penalty for those found engaging in same-sex intercourse.

The nine hotels in the Dorchester Collection are owned by the countrys sovereign wealth fund, the Brunei Investment Agency.

DeGeneres follows George Clooney, who last week called for a boycott of the hotels in a column for film news site Deadline.

In his guest column, Clooney wrote: On this particular 3 April 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.

Elton John and David Furnish have also called on their followers to boycott the hotels.

The hotel group includes some of the worlds most luxurious properties, including the Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles and Le Meurice in Paris.

The Independent has asked the Dorchester Collection for comment.African nations face some of the planets toughest challenges. For example, despite contributing little to global warming, Mozambique suffered horrific destruction when Cyclone Idai tore through the country last month. At the same time, the countrys once-bountiful wildlife is under constant threat from poachers working for international organised crime syndicates.

Nearly half of Mozambiques elephants were killed for their ivory in the five years up to 2015, a crisis that saw the population plummet from over 20,000 to an estimated 10,300. Within Mozambiques largest national park- the Niassa National Reserve  one of Africas last remaining unspoilt wildernesses, the crisis struck a bit later and harder. The elephant population declined massively from an estimated 13,000 to 3,000 by 2018.

Since then it has largely been down to the work of those dedicated individuals on the ground to protect elephants and the landscapes they depend on. Derek Littleton, Conservation Manager at the Luwire Wildlife Conservancy - the largest of Niassa s fifteen private concessions  has along with his loyal indigenous scouts, been on the front line of this fight. .

Wildlife is my vocation, smiles Littleton. It is something that is worth fighting for. Niassa is one of the last big wildernesses we have left, but there are very few people who have been willing to fight for it.

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Niassa borders the southern Tanzanian border and at 42,000 square kilometres is twice the size of South Africas Kruger National Park and larger than the Netherlands and roughly the size of Massachusetts. Luwire forms its southern border. Niassas diverse ecosystems support many species - including globally important populations of elephant, lion, leopard, sable, zebra, hippo, and crocodile. Rhinos went locally extinct only in the last ten years.

Littleton has been working in conservation for 36 years, and for the past 18 of those he has led a small team caring for Luwire, representing over one million acres of pristine Niassa. Luwire is truly remote with limited tourism infrastructure. Its is one of the few remaining places on earth where you can walk for a week and see no human being!

Littleton is hard as nails but friendly and outgoing. He is Niassas answer to Crocodile Dundee after several close encounters involving the snap-happy reptiles. But crocodiles have been low down on Littletons list of high-stakes challenges in recent years. He has faced threats on his life and has regularly come face to face with armed ivory poachers. At one point, he had to temporarily base his partner Paula Ferro outside the Reserve.

During the height of the crisis we had frequent armed interactions with poachers, we were poorly armed and we had no indemnity, he says. We have our own law enforcement team of game scouts but our effectiveness is resource dependent. The commitment and courage of our team has never failed but funding and political will has not always been consistent. 

We have benefited immensely over the years from the support of Dubais Aujan Group  Luwire s concessionaire. But defending Luwire against poachers has raised the stakes and the costs. The Aujan Group can no longer be expected to carry the burden alone.

In the Government of Felipe Nyusi, we finally have a champion who can help us protect this countrys incredible natural assets. When poaching levels started to rise again last year, the Government sent in special police troops to work alongside the Luwire team and Reserve teams. Simultaneously, and to act as a deterrent, the judicial system was strengthened to increase sentences for wildlife crimes Luwire has been the finger in Niassas dyke, but it is President Nyusis intervention that has avoided catastrophe.

We are really lucky that we now have a President who understands conservation, says Littleton. President Nyusi has a genuine passion and hes very much involved. I hope that part of his legacy will be to make conservation more mainstream in Mozambique. On our side, we cant be complacent and have lots more work to do to make conservation work for local Mozambicans.

Third party verification of the new approach in Mozambique comes from Max Graham, Founder of African conservation NGO Space for Giants.

We have been watching Mozambique for some time and have noticed the sea change in attitudes towards conservation. Mozambiques Gorongosa National Park is an excellent proof of concept as to how key stakeholders (Government, NGOs and local people)  once appropriately funded  can come together to make nature work for Mozambicans. We are already working with Luwire in Niassa and hope to step up our involvement later this year.

Now that the countrys leaders are doing their bit to fight illegal wildlife crimes, the last big piece of the puzzle to save Niassa is to secure long term investment.

We need sustainable benefits for communities living in the Reserve. We need to transform the locals from consumers of nature into long term guardians of their natural heritage. We need to provide the initial spark in the form of education and jobs in security and eco-tourism.

In 2002, Luwire Safaris became the first legal operator to accept the challenges of pioneering safaris in Niassa. Luwire was set up as a hunting concession. Like many African nations, Mozambique still permits controlled hunting  but the hunting pressure is kept low, and ethics high. Further, one hundred percent of all hunting profits are recycled into conservation and all kills replace the hunting of and address the protein needs of local communities. Finally, the presence of hunters actually deters poachers.

Nonetheless, Littletons vision is to transition to a future that moves away from a financial reliance hunting.

Our overriding objective since inception has been conservation. Hunting has been a robust management and economic tool in a logistically remote region where the traditional photographic safari has struggled to take hold. Its still our intention to focus solely on conservation but we need secure multi-year donor funding to do so. Wildlife needs three things to flourish  food, water and protection. Conservation needs one more thing  reliable and consistent funding

As a conservationist it has become a rare privilege to work on this scale and open and develop a conservation concession from scratch. There is still a lot of work to do, but the potential is astounding. It would be great if Niassa became a better known reserve - simply having more focus offers protection of its own.

I hope we can hold on long enough for Niassa to receive more attention and for more hands to come on board to help us protect wildlife and the space it depends upon. The options for scale in conservation are rapidly disappearing."

For further information on Luwire and the Niassa Reserve or to visit Luwire, please visit www.luwire.org or email Niassas London based Chairman on pbuckley@luwire.org

Tax effective and tax deductible donations are highly valued and much appreciated . One hundred percent of all donations shall be directed to conservation. They can be made to Luwires UK and US foundations via www.luwire.orgThe destruction of Isis as many problems as it has solved  none more so than the plight of dozens of British women who travelled to Syria and Iraq on the promise of marriage and a new life in the caliphate.

The latest is the case of Tooba Gondal, 25, a so-called "Isis matchmaker", who helped stoke the trade in jihadi brides. Safe inside the terrorist stronghold, Gondal, a British resident in possession of a French passport, used social media to pour scorn on the West while also inviting like-minded young British Muslims to follow in her footsteps and travel to Syria to marry a brave fighter. She is one of the last few thousand recruits of Isis to fall into the hands of the Kurdish militias and Syrian Defence Force after the fall of Baghuz in northern Syria in recent weeks.

Today she strikes a penitent tone, pleading to return to the UK for a normal life.

Gondal told the Rojava Information Centre: "I feel British, but Britain refuses to take us. I know the British public, they are scared, they dont want to deal with us, but they must deal with us."

Her story is now a very familiar one and echoes that of Shamima Begum, the first of the so-called jihadi brides to put herself at the mercy of the British state.

Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 1 /19 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Timeline of the Isis caliphate ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex Timeline of the Isis caliphate On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines Timeline of the Isis caliphate The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the citys entrance and exit points AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA Timeline of the Isis caliphate Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty Timeline of the Isis caliphate Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syrias Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent Timeline of the Isis caliphate Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent

No one knows how many more British women will emerge from the Isis diaspora. Official government figures suggest that fewer than 450 British citizens travelled to Syria to answer the call of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But the real figure could be double this as so many slipped out of the UK outside the knowledge of the British security services.

Britain has responded harshly to the plight of the women who married foreign fighters and who now want to return. Sajid Javid, the home secretary, has revoked more than 100 passports, washing his hands of the problem. Government ministers have lined up to pander to popular opinion that condemns all those, including children, who once answered the call of the worlds most feared terror organisation. Those, like Gondal, who did more than dutifully serve their jihadi husbands, raise children and tend to a home will find it harder to defend their actions.

Isis relied on pliant Western propagandists to spread a message of hate against the West while corrupting the minds of vulnerable young people who sat at their computers hanging on every word of the call to jihad. Among the most notorious was Glasgow-born Aqsa Mahmood who is reported to have helped arrange travel and husbands for Shamima Begum and her two schoolfriends from Bethnal Green when they left for Syria in 2015. She instructed British women on the best routes to reach the caliphate and even offered advice on what to bring and wear, right down the thermal underwear for the cold Syrian winters.

The role of Sally Jones, a former punk rocker turned jihadi bride, was considered so critical to Islamist state that the Pentagon placed her on its kill list. Jones and her British husband, Junaid Hussain, set up social messaging services to urge British would-be recruits to carry out lone wolf attacks in the UK. Jones helped find suitable Western jihadi fighters to marry the young girls who made the perilous journey. Jones and Hussain were later killed in separate US drone strikes.

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The legacy of this Isis recruitment industry and trade in brainwashed young women is one that the West is now failing to come to terms with. Britain has led the way in burying its head in the sand, refusing to even help the innocent British children of the caliphate. Isis matchmakers, recruiters, brides and children all face the same fate  which is largely determined by the Kurdish authorities who control the refugee camps in the region.

Ministers appear oblivious to the wider influence this iron fist approach will have on the further radicalisation of young Muslims in Britain as they watch the tragedy unfold. Few will agree with the decision to travel to Syria to support the revolution, but many more will understand the motives that drove young women, searching for a new life in a paradise caliphate, into the arms of the terrorists. When they look to their government for a humane response they find a merciless state playing to the public gallery.

Gestures of retributive punishment dressed up as acts of national self-protection store up trouble for the future. Britain had the chance to demonstrate the power of mercy, but has instead chosen to condemn all those touched by Isis.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Support free-thinking journalism and subscribe to Independent MindsToday marks the three-year anniversary of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffes wrongful imprisonment in Iran on false charges. This sad milestone takes place just days after Mothers Day, the third Nazanin has spent apart from her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella. Currently living with grandparents in Tehran, Gabriella has been separated from both her parents for over half her life.

This is an injustice no innocent British family should ever have to suffer. An injustice that led to the British government granting this innocent mother from London diplomatic protection, a formal recognition by our government that Nazanins treatment fails to meet Irans obligations under international law and elevates this to a formal state to state issue. The travesty, as we have all seen, continues to this day.

Nazanin, like myself, is a naturalised British citizen. We were both born in countries with fewer freedoms than we have in the UK. Out of all the countries in the world, we chose to come to Britain, we chose to become British, we chose to build our lives and contribute to society here.

The inscription on my British passport reads: Her Britannic Majestys secretary of state requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures 2018 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hugs her daughter Gabriella, in Iran after she was allowed to leave the Iranian prison, she is being held in, for three days. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a holiday with her toddler daughter in April 2016. Iranian authorities accuse her of plotting against the government. Her family denies this, saying says she was in Iran to visit family. Free Nazanin Campaign/AP Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella. Nazanin is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly plotting to overthrow Iran's government. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures June 2016 Richard Ratcliffe's daughter Gabriella had her British passport confiscated and was stranded in Iran with her grandparents after her mother Nazanin was jailed. He left left a giant birthday card on the doorstep of the Iranian embassy in central London to mark her second birthday in June 2016. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Nazanin has spent some of her prison sentence in solitary confinement. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard and daughter Gabriella. Family Handout Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures July 2016 Richard Ratcliffe delivering a letter of petition with his mother Barbara Ratcliffe and MP Tulip Siddiq, to 10, Downing Street on the 100th day of her detention, on July 12, 2016. Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Supporters of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe held a vigil outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to mark her 707 days in captivity. Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures January 2017 Richard Ratcliffe holds a '#Free Nazanin' sign and candle during a vigil for for wife on January 16, 2017. The vigil, being held outside the Iranian Embassy in London marks one year since the Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and other US-Iranian dual-nationals were released from prison in Iran. Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Nazanin with her daughter Gabriella before they were detained by Iranian authorities. Change.org Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures September 2017 Gabriella, who is three-years-old in this picture, has now spent two years away from her mother. Richard Ratcliffe Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures November 2017 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meets with Richard Ratcliffe over Nazanin's case. They meet just days after Johnson told a parliamentary committee that she was in Iran "training journalists". WPA Pool/Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures November 2017 Actor Emma Thompson braved pneumonia to support Richard Ratcliffe in leading demonstrators before a march in support of Nazanin in November. Reuters Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures November 2017 Richard Ratcliffe after the march said: 'It is profoundly moving to see so many people here.' REUTERS Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures November 2017 A picture of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe shown on Iranian state TV as part of a report that made fresh allegations against her. They said she had been recruiting for banned broadcast services, as well as 'opposition cyber teams'. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures December 2017 Iranian president Hassan Rouhani greets British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at the presidential office in Tehran, Iran. Johnson visited Tehran to discuss the fate of detained Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. EPA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures December 2017 Photos of Richard Ratcliffe and his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on display at their home in north London. Mr Ratcliffe said he believed there was "still a chance" she may be released from an Iranian prison in time for a dream Christmas together. Unfortunately that didn't happen. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures February 2018 Richard Ratcliffe delivers a petition and a letter addressed to the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to demand her release, at the Iranian Embassy in London on February 21, 2018. He also left support letters for his spouse in the country's embassy, amid a visit by a deputy foreign minister. AFP/Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures August 2018 Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt meeting Richard Ratcliffe. Hunt has pledged to do everything possible to secure the release of a charity worker jailed in Iran Jeremy Hunt/PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe  in pictures August 2018 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hugs her daughter Gabriella, in Iran after she was allowed to leave the Iranian prison, she is being held in, for three days. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a holiday with her toddler daughter in April 2016. Iranian authorities accuse her of plotting against the government. Her family denies this, saying says she was in Iran to visit family. PA

When I first read this, I felt safe, I felt protected, I felt free. It never occurred to me that my British citizenship I so cherish would make me a target for foreign governments that had disagreements with mine  until Nazanin was detained in Iran.

If we allow this to happen to one of us, we allow this to happen to all of us. History has proven this to be true  which is why I campaign tirelessly to free Nazanin.

Nazanin and her family have been going through the worst period of their lives these last three years. Nazanins husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has been campaigning tirelessly to reunite his family while keeping Nazanins hopes up during their brief phone calls from Evin Prison, raising his daughter on Skype and going to work during the day to make sure they have a home to come back to. They need backup, they need caring people to come together and stand by their side, they need us.

And this is what we can do to help.

We need to keep contacting our MPs to make sure our government puts people before profit. At a time when Brexit is dominating the governments agenda and theyre looking to secure trade deals, we need to make sure our citizens come first. We need to make sure Nazanins release and safe return to the UK comes first before any trade deals with Iran.

Calling on the Iranian authorities to release Nazanin immediately and unconditionally is also one way we can effect change, especially if we dont let up. Sign the Change.org petition and share it with your friends and family.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Dont stop showing support for Nazanin and her family. Come along to vigils and protests, including the upcoming event at 5pm today in Fortune Green, West Hampstead where supporters will be hanging messages of what home means to them on Gabriella's favourite tree. Follow the FreeNazanin campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Let them know theyre not alone, that were here to help, that well be by their side until Nazanin is free.

Richard has some pointers too. Speaking to me, he said: A wise activist once told me: Love is a verb, not a noun. It is a doing word. What people do for Nazanin and Gabriella  signing petitions, letters to MPs, attending events  has not yet brought them home. But it has kept reminding us that beyond those prison walls there is also a world of care and kindness, that there will also be a different day. I am eternally grateful across the dark times to everyone who has helped keep that alive.

When we come together from all walks of life to embrace our common humanity, we give each other hope, we give each other strength, we become the light that outshines the darkness. Lets come together now to free Nazanin.The Willowbrook Sterigenics facility in DuPage County  which touched off our knowledge of the harm ethylene oxide can do to humans  was closed by the state on orders from Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The same should be done to the Medline Industries and Vantage Specialty Chemicals factories in Waukegan and Gurnee, respectively, which use EtO to sterilize a variety of products.A man his twenties has been arrested following a shooting incident outside a school in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

A man has been arrested following a shooting incident outside a school in Dublin.

The incident happened at about 3.40pm on Tuesday afternoon outside the Riversdale Community School on Blanchardstown Road North.

Gardai said a lone gunman appeared to target a man in his twenties who was waiting outside the school.

Nobody was injured in the attack.

The arrest was made on Wednesday afternoon after Garda carried out two searches in the Corduff area.

The man, aged in his twenties, is being detained at Blanchardstown garda station.

Gardai are appealing to anyone with any information to contact them.The highest ever number of patients waiting on trolleys has been recorded in an Irish hospital, according to a leading union.

A total of 81 patients were left on trolleys waiting for a bed at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on Wednesday, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisations (INMO) Trolley Watch.

Fifty-two were waiting in the emergency department, with 29 in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

81 patients were waiting for hospital beds in UHL this morning - the highest recorded daily figure for any hospital. Meanwhile, 17 much-needed beds have been closed. Sign the petition to get these beds re-opened for the safety of patients and staff. https://t.co/UOuyNekXdH pic.twitter.com/xvPlvYnNpQ  Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (@INMO_IRL) April 3, 2019

UHL is at the centre of another row with the union after a 17-bed ward closed last week, which the INMO says is contributing to the problem.

Ward 1A was used primarily for patients who require short periods of admission. The hospital said the closure would facilitate the completion of works on a new fracture unit.

Nationally, 594 admitted patients were waiting for beds  432 in emergency departments and 162 in other wards.

Limerick topped the worst-hit hospitals by a large margin, with 50 patients on trolleys at Cork University Hospital and 43 at University Hospital Galway.

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The INMOs industrial relations officer in Limerick, Mary Fogarty, who was attending meetings at UHL on Wednesday, said: Staff and patients are under intolerable pressure in Limerick today. This is the worst-ever figure weve recorded in an Irish hospital.

This comes less than a week after a 17-bed ward in UHL was shut. The beds that have been closed in UHL need to be reopened immediately.

We are calling on the minister to intervene and deal with the chronic overcrowding in the hospital as an urgent matter of patient and staff safety.

Sinn Fein TD for Limerick Maurice Quinlivan had previously condemned the plans to close the ward, which he predicted would cause a further trolley crisis.

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The decision to close this inpatient ward beggars belief, he said.

University Hospital Limerick is already the most overcrowded in the state, with people lying on hospital trolleys because there arent enough beds.

Our health service is in crisis and minister (Simon) Harris has failed to deal with the issues that are causing this emergency.

The Government should be working to address the systemic problems in the health service, rather than making the situation worse.

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A spokesman for UL Hospitals Group said that they sincerely regret that any patient has to face long waits during busy periods and any distress or inconvenience this causes to patients and their loved ones.

There has been a surge in presentations to emergency departments nationally in recent days.

The ED in UHL has also been exceptionally busy with high numbers of patients presenting, including many frail elderly patients with complex medical conditions.

While patients still face delays in the new ED, it provides for a much-improved patient experience compared to the old department and has resulted in improved patient outcomes, allowing for earlier diagnostics and treatment of the sickest patients, better isolation facilities, improved pathways for major trauma/critical care, and quicker door-to-needle times for stroke patients.

UL Hospitals Group notes the commentary in recent days in respect of the closure of the 17-bedded Medical Short Stay Ward 1A and again points out that 22 beds have opened elsewhere in the hospital in recent weeks.

The INMO has launched a petition calling for the closed ward to be reopened and for bed capacity and staffing to be increased.

They say the hospitals trolley crisis is bad for patients, nurses and all hospital staff.

The petition reached almost 1,000 signatures within a day.Ireland could be given money and other assistance from the European Union to help meet the challenge of carrying custom checks post a No Deal Brexit, the EU's Tax Commissioner has said.

Pierre Moscovici, the EU's Economic Affiars and Tax Commissioner, indicated Ireland could receive financial assistance while warning the customs checks would begin immediately post a No Deal Brexit.

Mr Moscovici repeated warnings that a No Deal scenario was becoming increasingly likely.

On the sensitive issue of the Irish border, Moscovici carefully avoided giving any clear answer.

Since Britain has told Brussels it wants to leave the EU's customs union as it leaves the EU, the bloc says controls on animals and goods will need to take place on the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

But both London and the EU want to avoid deploying elaborate border infrastructure on this island , fearing that it could become the target of violence and undermine peace in the province, which saw three decades of sectarian violence at the end of the last century.

"In a no-deal scenario, both the EU and the UK would face a challenge of protecting their single markets ... They would need to carry out the necessary checks," Moscovici said.

"We are working closely and intensively with Ireland to organise these checks in the least disruptive way possible, and as much as possible away from the border."

He added that the EU could give Ireland more money and other assistance to meet the challenge. He stressed that the EU expected Britain to live up to its obligations of guaranteeing an open Irish border under the Good Friday Agreement peace deal.

Other than Ireland, border checks would need to be applied immediately after post Brexit No Deal.

"The EU customs code would apply to all goods arriving from the UK," EU Economic Affairs and Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told a news conference. "We have to ensure full application of the EU customs code as soon as the UK leaves."

"If there is a no-deal scenario, new customs controls would have to be introduced ... That does not mean we would systematically check every single ... lorry ... We would be controlling (checking) goods on the basis of risk analysis."

He said EU companies trading with the UK had to be ready for additional costs and bureaucracy related to an increase in customs checks, while travellers and their luggage would also be subject to more checks than at present.

Moscovici said some EU members estimated their import/export customs formalities could grow by as much as half in the event of an abrupt no-deal Brexit. He said "complex calculations" of VAT reimbursements were also to be expected.

"This will have big impact on cash flow of businesses," he said. "Without an exit agreement, the activity of thousands of European businesses and travellers would be disturbed by reintroduction of customs checks."

Separately, British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she wants the UK to be able to leave the EU with an exit deal on May 22.

May had agreed with EU leaders to delay Brexit until May 22 if her Withdrawal Agreement with the bloc was approved by parliament by March 29 but MPs rejected her deal for a third time.

She is now seeking to thrash out a Brexit compromise with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"What I want to see now is us able to find a position where we can across this House (of Commons) support the Withdrawal Agreement and a deal which enables to leave on 22 May," she told parliament.Euro zone bond yields were lifted off recent lows on Wednesday with Germany's benchmark Bund heading back towards zero percent as hopes of a softer Brexit fuelled risk appetite and investors took heart from signs of progress in US-China trade talks.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she was seeking another short extension to Brexit beyond April 12, and offered to work with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to agree a divorce deal. Analysts say this suggests May is pivoting towards a softer Brexit.

"May has finally arrived at the point she should have begun the process at, by asking the entire house what sort of Brexit should be delivered," said Matt Cairns, rates strategist at Rabobank. "This is adding to the positive tone in the market."

Germany's 10-year government bond yield rose 3 basis points in early trade, heading back towards zero percent for the first time since March 25 after expectations of further monetary easing from the European Central Bank pushed it into negative territory. It was last seen at -0.02pc.

Analysts expect it to test zero percent during the session.

Markets were also lifted overnight by hopes of progress in China-U.S. trade talks, and stronger data earlier this week. Asian shares rose to seven-month highs, while oil approached the key $70 per barrel mark.

The United States and China "expect to make more headway" in trade talks this week, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday, while the Financial Times reported that Chinese and US officials have resolved "most of the issues" standing in the way of a trade deal.

US Treasury yields were 4 basis points higher in European trade to 2.52pc having risen over 10 basis points this week.

The turn in sentiment boosted euro zone government bond yields above from the 2-1/2 year lows seen last week after ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank was considering ways to alleviate pressure on banks. Most 10-year yields in the bloc were up to 4 basis points higher.

Analysts at Societe Generale expected the euro zone composite PMI for March to be revised upwards after a material drop in the flash estimate, which may also put some upward pressure on bond yields.Mobile operators in Ireland say that there will be no return to roaming charges for customers travelling to the UK after Brexit.

Threes chief executive Robert Finnegan today said that the network has made a commitment on the issue.

The roaming experience that [Irish Three customers] have in the UK today will continue after Brexit, whatever shape that takes, he said.

This will be regardless of which network a Three customer roams on in the UK.

A spokeswoman for Vodafone Ireland said that there would be no changes to the current roaming arrangement for its customers. We will continue to implement a full take your home tariff abroad policy for mobile customers, she said.

A spokesman for Irelands third largest mobile operator Eir (formerly Meteor) said that the company has no plans to introduce roaming after Brexit.

The move comes after British mobile operators said that they do not intend to reintroduce mobile roaming charges after Brexit, even in a no deal situation.

When the UK leaves the European Union, Irish operators will be legally free to reintroduce roaming charges for customers travelling north or to Great Britain.

Similarly, British telecoms operators will be free to leave the EUs roaming regulation requirements altogether.

However, doing so would require a rehaul of tariff negotiations between European operators, as well as technical adjustments. It would also leave operators open to being substantially undercut by domestic rivals who stick to the status quo.Theresa May will hold cross-party talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to break the Brexit logjam, delaying the UK's departure from the EU.

Mr Corbyn last night indicated he was happy to sit down with the British prime minister, even though "so far she hasn't shown much sign of compromise".

The development could sideline the DUP, which has held the balance of power in Westminster and helped make the Border backstop such a contentious issue.

Last night the DUP said Mrs May' announcement came as "little surprise". "Though it remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily," it added.

Mrs May said she needs to ask the EU for a second extension - but one that is "as short as possible" to avoid leaving the EU without a deal on the withdrawal terms.

It came as the Taoiseach and French president also had a "detailed" debate on the value of granting a further Brexit extension to the UK.

Mrs May's announcement outside 10 Downing Street followed a seven-hour Cabinet meeting that could dramatically change Brexit.

She also announced a significant softening of her Brexit terms, including trying to make an accord with the political opposition.

Her statement comes amid mounting concern that the country will leave the EU on April 12. That's the deadline the EU's 27 remaining countries gave for leaving the bloc or coming up with a new plan.

The House of Commons on Monday threw out four alternatives to Mrs May's Brexit deal, and rejected other options last week after defeating her deal a third time.

European Council President Donald Tusk is urging the EU to be patient as it considers its response to Mrs May's offer to compromise on her divorce deal. "Even if, after today, we don't know what the end result will be, let us be patient," he said.

The possibility of an extension was discussed by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris yesterday. Mr Macron is extremely wary of allowing the EU to be "held hostage" by the chaotic events in Westminster.

He said a lengthy extension would require a major shift in policy such as a general election, second referendum or a softening of UK attitudes towards remaining in the customs union.

"A long extension, implying UK takes part in European elections and European institutions, has nothing easy or automatic about it. I say that again here very strongly. Our priority must be the good working of the EU and the single market," he said.

The Taoiseach is understood to have urged his counterpart to keep an open mind to an extension rather than be seen to chase the UK out of the EU.

He confirmed afterwards that the Irish preference is for the existing Withdrawal Agreement, including the backstop, to be ratified - but if that can't happen an extension is the next option.

"But we can't have a rolling extension, there would have to be a clear purpose and conditionality to it," he said.

"There is no guarantee that the UK will get an extension at all, bear in mind an extension requires unanimity and any one of 27 countries could block an extension."

Yet in a clear swipe at Westminster, Mr Macron warned: "If the UK isn't capable - almost three years after the referendum - of putting forward a solution that gets a majority, it will have decided itself, de facto, to leave without a deal."

The two leaders also discussed what will happen at the Irish Border in the event of a no-deal.

A fresh battle between the UK and Ireland is looming after Mr Varadkar insisted a border down the Irish Sea is back on the table. Mr Varadkar is canvassing support among European leaders for an approach that ensures no hard border on the island.Sinn Fein has been accused of failing Northern nationalists by not taking its seven seats in Westminster, as MPs voted on potential options for a softer Brexit.

The party was criticised by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail as one proposal suggesting that the UK would stay in a customs union with the EU failed to pass by just three votes in the House of Commons.

However, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald was defiant, insisting her party's MPs were elected as abstentionists and that this policy wouldn't change if the chaos in Westminster led to a UK general election in the coming months.

Health Minister Simon Harris led the criticism, saying it's "hard to see how Sinn Fein contend that taking their seats would not change the outcome on Brexit" given the three-vote margin on Monday night.

His party colleague, Senator Neale Richmond, argued that the votes of seven Sinn Fein TDs could help the push towards a softer Brexit that "will allow the Withdrawal Agreement and limit the damage to our island". He accused the party of "abdicating their responsibility".

"Abstention simply doesn't cut the mustard," he said, adding that Sinn Fein previously changed its policy on taking Dail seats and "now is the time for Sinn Fein to put the country first".

Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne said the nationalist voice needs to be heard in Westminster and Sinn Fein members' refusal to take its seats represents a "complete failure on their part".

Ms McDonald said that Sinn Fein "will not swear an oath to a foreign power".

She said that she would be "astonished if critics like Mr Harris would be prepared to do so".

She said the party's MPs are "elected explicitly on an abstentionist mandate" and argued that "Irish interests in this Brexit debacle are not best advanced at Westminster".

Ms McDonald said that Westminster advances "British interests".

She suggested that Sinn Fein MPs entering the House of Commons would "only heighten the political temperature" and have the effect of "making things perhaps even more confused and more chaotic".

She responded to Fianna Fail's criticism, saying that it represents "precisely zero Northern nationalists".Despite the name, many veggie burgers found in supermarkets contain very few vegetables

The use of terms such as veggie burger and vegan sausage could be outlawed under new rules proposed by the European Parliaments Agriculture Committee.

In a vote on Monday, they proposed that names currently used for meat products and meat preparations shall be reserved exclusively for products containing meat.

These designations include, for example, Steak, Sausage, Escalope, Burger, Hamburger.

The text mirrors the a recent European Court of Justice ruling regarding on milk, which says that terms whey, cream, butter, cheese and yoghurt are reserved for dairy products and cannot be used to designate a plant-based product, such as soya or tofu.

The ECJ ruled that EU laws are in place to protect animal products, in a case referred to it by a German court and involving German food company TofuTown.

The company sells plant-based products with names including 'Soyatoo Tofu Butter' and 'Veggie Cheese'. It said customers were not misled, because its products' plant origins were clear.

A German association combating unfair competition however, took the view that promoting those products infringes the EU legislation.

TofuTown considered that its advertising does not infringe the legislation and noted that the way in which consumers understand those designations has changed considerably.

In its judgment, the court observed that, in principle, for the purposes of the marketing and advertising in question, the relevant legislation reserves the term 'milk' only for milk of animal origin.

That legislation reserves designations like cream, butter, cheese and yoghurt solely for milk products, that is products derived from milk.

ABP recently took criticism for its investment in plant-based foods. ICSA president Patrick Kent has said that he is shocked that ABP UK has got into the business of manufacturing meat-free burgers. He described their GBP250,000 marketing spend on a meat-free, plant-based food range, as outrageous.

This is an insult to beef farmers everywhere but particularly Irish beef farmers given the dire position the sector is in at present. ABP UK has prospered greatly off the backs of hard-pressed beef farmers and to throw this in their faces at a time like this is an utter disgrace.

Mr Kent suggested ABP UK should be more concerned with their core business and that the money would be better spent on paying a better price to beef farmers and promoting greater beef consumption.

The text approved by Agriculture Committee MEPs has to be scrutinised by the Parliament as a whole. This can happen only after the 23-26 May European elections. The Conference of Presidents (EP president and leaders of political groups) may decide then to forward the text to the full House. Otherwise, the new Agriculture Committee will have to look into the matter again.Glanbia Ireland (GI) and Kepak Group have today announced an ambitious and innovative new calf-to-beef programme.

Both companies state that the Twenty20 Beef Club will afford Members a guaranteed market for their heifers and steers with a predictable and transparent pricing formula at time of slaughter; a production blueprint supported by safe and secure high-quality farm inputs and leading-edge technical advice.

This year will be a pilot year for the programme, with a target of 6,000 calves from Glanbia Ireland supplier dairy farms in the Republic of Ireland.

Over the coming years Glanbia Ireland and Kepak have ambitious plans to rapidly expand numbers in the programme to 50,000 per annum.

Advanced payments

Glanbia Co-op has provided funding for the pilot phase to allow its Members of the Twenty20 Beef Club to benefit from an advanced payment of up to 770 per animal to provide cashflow during the animals lifetime.

This optional programme component, administered by Finance Ireland, will pay a Twenty20 Beef Club Member 35 per animal per month from months 3 to 24.

Glanbia Ireland and Kepak Group are in discussions with Finance Ireland whereby this advance payment option would be offered to all qualifying Club Members after the pilot phase.

The Twenty20 Beef Club is open to Glanbia Co-op Members and current Kepak suppliers.

Members can be either dairy farmers or beef finishers, with a minimum of 25 calves required per farm.

Suckler farmers that purchase dairy beef calves can also enroll qualifying animals bred and produced on their own farm that meet the Club criteria in the programme.

Bonuses

Animals enrolled in the first two years (2019 and 2020) of the Club will be paid the average market price, plus a Club Premium of 15 to 25 cent per kg, as well as a Club Protocol Bonus of 12 c/kg.

Club Members will also benefit from additional price support in the event of a weak market price (see examples in Appendix).

There will also be a seasonality bonus to promote the marketing of animals in April (+6c/kg), May (+10c/kg) and June (+6c/kg). Members of the Club will also be eligible for Angus or Hereford breed bonus payments, which are guaranteed at the point of entry for the pilot phase.

At an average market base price of 4.00/kg, a Twenty20 Beef Club Angus steer slaughtered in April 2021 will qualify for a net price of 4.43/kg; at a market price of 3.75/kg, the same animal would earn 4.28/kg.

To assure the feed and food safety credentials of beef from the Twenty20 Beef Club and to deliver the optimum animal performance, all relevant farm inputs consumed by Club herd will be sourced and supplied by Glanbia Ireland (GI).

GI and Kepak technical teams will provide farm support and nutritional advice to participating farmers.

Guidance on sire selection to optimise animal performance and eating quality, on meeting market requirements and on slaughter timings will be provided to Club Members by Kepaks agriculture team.

For the beef customer, this will create a high quality closed loop supply chain from animal genetics through to the market place.

Strict rearing programme

Members of the Club will be required to strictly adhere to a defined rearing programme  jointly developed by Glanbia Ireland and Kepak.

Glanbia Ireland and Kepak have designed the initial five-year Programme to meet ambitious economic and environmental performance targets. These include:

A reduction in the average age at slaughter of Club cattle - to 24 months on average;

A reduction in the average Carbon footprint of Club farms- through the use of methane reducing feed additives, reduction in the average age of slaughter, improved feed conversion efficiency, reduced feed waste and improved fertility across the herd;

An improvement in the eating quality attributes of the Club meat through a combination of better genetics; nutrition management and optimum processing techniques;

An increase in the proportion of dairy bred cattle meeting market specified targets;

An increase in beef output and sales value per hectare  through enhanced on farm efficiencies, breeding, feeding, grassland management, animal health/welfare and slaughter preparation and selection.

Reaction

IFA President Joe Healy said the Glanbia/Kepak Twenty/20 Beef Club represents much-needed new thinking for the sector.

He said the model on dairy beef could deliver greater certainty on beef prices and better cashflow on farms.

The IFA President said the contract-style pricing arrangement which Glanbia pioneered on dairy has worked well for dairy farmers and this move on beef could be a first step in a similar direction.

However, he said some of the detail needs closer examination.

"There would be concerns among farmers about having to purchase all of their inputs for all of their enterprises from Glanbia," he said.

IFA National Livestock Chairman Angus Woods said this move from Glanbia/Kepak involving greater certainty and reducing the risks on price is a new and important step forward for the beef sector.

Angus Woods said the reality is that for any beef system to be viable, including dairy beef, it must return a price above the cost of production and leave a margin for the farmer.

He said it is very important that beef farmers understand the precise details of the scheme, particularly the pricing model which is based on average quoted factory prices and the QPS (Quality Payment System) with additional bonuses.

Angus Woods said it appears that the ask from farmers in the scheme will evolve over time. Glanbia and Kepak must communicate this clearly and support farmers to generate the level of trust required for this scheme to progress and develop beyond the first two years of the pilot stage.

Key details

Requirements for Twenty20 Beef Club members

Must be Glanbia Co-op members (ROI) or Kepak suppliers.

Can be either dairy farmers, suckler farmers or beef finishers.

All dairy calves must come from Glanbia Ireland milk supplier farms

Calves must be finished on the farm of birth (Glanbia farmers) or after one movement to a finishing farm

Minimum calf/cattle number is 25. No maximum

All animal breeds (incl Friesian, Angus and Hereford) with the exception of Jersey and Jersey crosses.

Objective selection criteria applied if oversubscribed  including trading history with GI/Kepak and animal genetics.

Members must have the capability to adhere to strict production & farming standards.

Members must comply with contractual obligations

Advance Cashflow Package

An Advance Payment Package will be available to all Glanbia Co-op members participating in the Pilot Programme (2019); thereafter it be will available to all credit approved Club members (subject to funding being secured).

The finance package will allow the Club Members to be advance paid up to 770 per animal over the life span of the animal

Members will be paid up to 35/ head each month commencing in month three of the animals life and ending at month 24 (paid sooner if the animal is slaughtered earlier)

At the time of slaughter, Members will be paid the balance due on the carcases value in excess of 770 per animal; the 770 plus interest will at that stage be re-paid to the finance provider.

The Advance Payment Package will ensure a consistent cash flow to Club Members over the life of the animal.

An interest charge of 3.75% will be charged against the funds provided as an advance payment.

Market Price

The Market Price: Average weekly price for heifers and steers as quoted in the Agri Media (Average Quoted Price - AQP)

The AQP reflects the average weekly price quoted by ROI beef processors

The market price and relevant bonuses are paid subject to carcase weights falling within the range of 280kgs to 360kgs

Club Protocol Bonus

Club Protocol Bonus of 12c/kg

Bonus paid for adherence to the programme Blueprint including the Bord Bia SBLAS and Origin Green

For years one and two, Club Protocol Bonus will be paid regardless of carcase grading

Club Breed Bonus

The Club Breed Bonus will be reflective of commercial practices applying in the market

Capped at 10c/kg, and confirmed annually

For year one and two, Club Breed Bonus paid regardless of carcass grading

Club PremiumThe breeding season gets underway over the coming weeks. Many farmers have experienced a challenging market for dairy calves this spring which will influence their decisions during the upcoming breeding season.

Being able to sell calves quickly and easily is an important consideration with compactly calved and growing dairy herds.

Minimising the number of dairy breed calves will help in this regard. The three main questions that farmers are asking are:

How many replacement heifers do I need?

Which dairy cows and heifers will I breed?

How do I select suitable Beef AI sires?

How many heifers do you really need?

This depends on whether your herd size is static or growing, how fertile the herd is and how good you are at calving heifers at two years of age.

More than one third of dairy heifer calves born fail to calve at two years of age. Around half of these never calve and the remainder calve at around three years of age.

Many farmers need to up their game in this respect.

Have a look at your January 2019 Co-op performance report from AHI to see how you got on last season.

Calving over 90pc of maiden heifer calves born alive at two years of age is achievable.

Doing so will minimise the number of heifer calves required on your farm and the proportion of your herd that are available for breeding to non-dairy bulls.

Choosing DAMS for the next generation of replacements

Maiden heifers are ideal candidates to select when breeding the next generation of replacement heifer calves.

They usually have the highest EBI and can be manipulated to mostly calve in the first two weeks of the calving season.

The calves born are high EBI, early born and compactly calved. The choice of suitable AI sires for replacement heifers has increased over the last number of years without compromising on EBI.

Select then from within the dairy cow herd for cows that are early calving, high EBI and performing well.

In compactly calved herds that are not increasing in size, this means that a proportion of the mature cows can be bred to beef AI from the start of the breeding season.

Using the Dairy Beef Index (DBI) to select beef AI bulls

The DBI is a breeding goal to promote high quality beef cattle bred from the dairy herd with minimal consequences on the calving difficulty or gestation of the dairy cow.

The DBI ranks beef bulls, for use in the dairy herd, according to their genetic merit for calving and carcass performance traits:

Expressed in euros (), each 1 increase in DBI can be interpreted as a 1 expected increase in profit for that bull's progeny;for example, bull A has a DBI of 100 and bull B has DBI of 20. The progeny born to bull A are expected to generate 80 more profit compared to progeny sired by bull B. Calving traits account for 64pc of the average DBI value. The DBI selects for shorter gestation, easier calving and less calf mortality:

On the recommended bull file, lower values for all calving traits are more desirable;

If a bull's calving difficulty figure is 4pc then 4pc of his calves are likely to require considerable assistance at birth. Increasing calving difficulty indicates that more calves will require considerable assistance at birth.

Beef traits account for 36pc of the average DBI value. The DBI selects for higher carcass weight and conformation, and more animals that meet minimum factory specifications (280 kg, O=). The DBI also recognises that some breeds are paid a premium slaughter price and the DBI selects for reduced feed intake, as well as quieter and polled cattle.

On the recommended bull file, higher values for carcass weight and conformation are more desirable.

When selecting beef AI sires using the DBI it is important to consider what components are contributing to an individual sire's DBI value. For example the DBI, calving and beef sub-indexes of two similar DBI beef sires listed on the March 21, 2019 bull list are presented in the table.

Both sires have similar DBI values (84 and 83 respectively). However the calving value of Sire A is 69 while that of the Sire B is 49 reflecting his slightly more difficult calving figures. Sire A is more suited for use on dairy heifers while Sire B will be best used on cows with a proven track record of easy calving where he will sire calves of superior beefing merit.

Sire B however will produce calves that themselves have potentially more beef value. He can be safely used on dairy cows without compromising on the risk of increased calving difficulty.

Teagasc is collating lists of suitable sexed semen and well proven high DBI AI beef bulls for use on dairy cows and heifers this year. Contact your local dairy adviser for further information.

George Ramsbottom is a Teagasc dairy specialist based in Oak Park, Co CarlowGannon, a village resident who was a vocal critic of a controversial proposal to add a Life Time Fitness Center in Lake Zurich, campaigned with former Trustee Jeff Halen and Michael Paulus, who is the grandson of former village president Henry Paulus, under the Lake Zurich Values slate.A High Court action has been brought over an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to grant an industrial emissions Licence to a chicken rearing plant in Co Limerick.

Environmental activist Peter Sweetman is challenging the EPA's decision of February 6 last to grant a licence to Michael Noel O'Connor to operate a facility that rears 74,000 broiler chickens at Rathcahill West, Templeglantine, Newcastlewest, Co Limerick.

It is claimed the EPA's decision is flawed and should be set aside.

The EPA failed to consider relevant matters, lacked jurisdiction to make the decision and failed to properly take into account the EU Habitats, Waste Water and Environmental Impact Directives when it decided to award the licence, it is also claimed.

Mr O'Connor is a notice party to the proceedings.

Permission to bring the challenge was granted on an ex-parte basis (one side only represented) by Mr Justice Seamus Noonan who returned the matter to June.Two thirds of the Irish public believe the government should proceed with a state-subsidised National Broadband Plan, a new Red C poll says.

The majority is broadly consistent across rural and urban areas, the survey says, with 62pc approval in Dublin and higher support in non-urban locations.

The Red C survey was conducted among 1,000 adults in March.

The National Broadband Plan is the governments promise to roll out high speed internet access to 540,000 homes and businesses in areas with poor broadband infrastructure. Most of the areas identified for the state intervention plan are in rural locations. Over 1m people would be covered by the roll-outs population coverage.

However, the cost of the scheme is a consideration for some respondents. One in six say that the plan should only proceed if the taxpayer bill stays below 1.5bn. Most estimates put the final cost of the rollout at around 2bn.

The poll also said that the same number of people believe it should proceed at any cost (19pc) as believe it should not proceed in any circumstances (17pc).

The poll was commissioned by the price comparison site Bonkers.ie.

The National Broadband Plan is currently awaiting a recommendation from Communications Minister Richard Bruton, who said he intends to present the plan to Cabinet before Easter.

Opposition politicians continue to voice reservations about the plan, with Fianna Fail spokesman Timmy Dooley calling on the government to reconsider the roll-out.

Last week, the most senior civil servant working on the National Broadband Plan told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee that a fibre rollout was the best way to future proof rural homes and businesses for the next 25 years.

Mark Griffin, Secretary General of the Department of Communications, also said that while wireless solutions would likely play some part in reaching a minority of the most remote premises, it was not a preferred technology for a future proof rollout.

He said that initial estimates six years ago of 500m for the rural rollout cost were abandoned because they were based on a scheme that was not fit for purpose. The original plan, he said, was to run fibre to villages, from where it would connect homes over phone lines or wireless means. But while that might have provided a good enough service for email or basic internet activities today, it would likely not meet the requirements of a business or modern home in 10 years time.

However, Mr Griffin declined to say how much the National Broadband Plan would now cost for commercial sensitivity reasons.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently said that the plan would cost a multiple of the initial 500m estimate.

Mr Griffin said that the basic speed of a National Broadband Plan service would be 150 megabits per second, with 1,000 megabits per second for schools and businesses.

Asked about timelines, Mr Griffin said that his officials would finalise the evaluation work and bring a memorandum to government with a recommendation for the appointment of a preferred bidder but that there would be a number of contractual issues outstanding.

He said that if and when a preferred bidder is agreed upon, it would then take weeks or longer to sign a contract.

The current delay makes the possibility of connections to a new National Broadband Plan service unlikely in 2019.

Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy asked whether the competitive tendering process for the National Broadband Plan was at risk by only having one remaining bidder, Granahan McCourt, for the state contract.

Its not usual to have a single bidder although its not ideal, said Mr Griffin. If you look at the UK equivalent of the National Broadband Plan, there was only one final bidder, BT, after Fujitsu pulled out. But its always better if you have more bidders in terms of competitive tension.

Ms Murphy asked whether there were any parallels with the National Childrens Hospital from a cost analysis.

The fundamental difference between this and the National Childrens Hopsital is in how we reached a situation where a cost estimate was very different from what we thought at the start. The Childrens Hospital is an issue around how cost escalated when construction had commenced.Operating profit at the Kerrygold owner increased by almost 15pc to 40.4m in 2018

Ornua, Irelands largest exporter of dairy products, has recorded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of 60.5m for 2018.

This represents a 12.5pc increase on 2017.

Operating profit at the Kerrygold owner increased by almost 15pc to 40.4m, according to annual results from the group.

The increase in earnings and profit was achieved during what Ornua described as a period of significant and sustained investment across its facilities and brand portfolio.

Meanwhile, revenue was up marginally to 2.08bn.

The group, which sells 2.6 million packets of Kerrygold butter in the US each week, paid a total year-end bonus of 19m to its members, a 27pc increase year-on-year.

During the year 3.4 billion litres of milk equivalent was sold through its 110 global markets.

John Jordan, CEO of Ornua said he was pleased to report a strong trading performance.

This strong performance was achieved against a challenging global environment characterised by highly volatile butter prices, drought conditions in Europe, economic uncertainty due to Brexit and global trade wars.

He added that the groups key focus for 2019 is to drive growth for its full brand portfolio and food ingredients businesses across Ornuas 110 markets and to continue to deliver value for the 14,000 dairy farmers we represent.

On the matter of Brexit, Ornua said it has been preparing for the potential impact for over two years.

The group added that its primary focus has been working closely with key UK customers and suppliers to ensure security of supply and to minimise the short-term impacts on its businesses.

The UK remains a key strategic market for Ornua and any change in the status quo will create competitive challenges for Irish dairy exports.

Ornua has developed sales channels across a diverse range of markets and will continue to invest to minimise the potential impacts of any Brexit deal, the group added.President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi said a proposed law to control the operation of vulture funds could undermine financial stability.

A top Department of Finance official also claimed to the Oireachtas Finance Committee that the 'No Consent, No Sale' bill is disproportionate and "likely unconstitutional".

The bill, proposed by Sinn Fein's Pearse Doherty, will give mortgage holders a veto before their home loan is sold to a vulture fund.

But the ECB boss said that if the bill became law it could reduce economic capacity and have a big impact on mortgage pricing and availability.

Mr Draghi, in a letter to the committee, warned the bill would have "significant adverse effects on Irish credit institutions' ability to participate in Eurosystem monetary policy operations".

"In turn, this is likely to result in additional costs being passed on to other borrowers," he said.

"It could also result in a significant impact on mortgage pricing and availability, and even an increase in [non-performing loans], all of which are likely to impact financial stability, Irish taxpayers and ultimately the Irish economy."

If banks are not able to sell non-performing loans this would add new costs for banks, which would be passed on to consumers.

Mr Doherty said it was important to protect homeowners from vultures preying on them.Local Property Tax (LPT) rates for householders are to be frozen for another year the Government decided late last night.

Homeowners won't see any change in their LPT bills until 2021, and tens of thousands of householders who currently benefit from exemptions will continue to do so for another year. The decision means any changes to LPT will be pushed beyond the next general election which is expected by summer 2020 at the latest.

Fianna Fail's finance spokesman Michael McGrath argued it's "a classic example" of "kicking the can down the road". He claimed it was "about the electoral cycle" and was a sign of "weak government".

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe briefed Cabinet on his department's long-awaited review of the LPT. At present LPT rates are based on 2013 valuations.

There have been fears that the tax will increase significantly due to rising house prices if the way LPT is calculated is not changed. It was due to be re-evaluated in November.

The department's review group presented five alternative methods of calculation to the current regime, each of which would have different 'winners' and 'losers' in terms of how they would affect households. Mr Donohoe is referring the group's report to the Budgetary Oversight Committee for its consideration in a bid to get cross-party consensus. He last night said his aim was that any increases "should be modest, affordable and fair".A bill tabled to cap the level of insurance payouts for personal injury claims has passed second stage in the Seanad.

It received widespread support and will now go to committee stage.

The aim of the bill is to ensure the cost of insurance cover is reduced for motorists, businesses and farmers.

Called the Civil Liability (Capping of General Damages) Bill 2019, it is being promoted by Fine Gael Senator Tony Lawlor.

Speaking during a debate on the bill last week, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan described the insurance industry as highly profitable and said there was scope to cut premiums. He said jobs were at risk from soaring premiums and the inability of some companies to get cover.

The level of awards in personal injury cases was too high and needs to be addressed, the minister said.

Businesses, particularly those in the leisure and child activity sectors, are closing due to soaring premiums, with many unable to get cover.

Mr Lawlor's bill has the support of business groups Ibec, Isme, the Licensed Vintners Association, the IFA and Insurance Ireland.

The bill comes months after the Government-appointed Personal Injuries Commission found that award levels for minor injuries are almost five times higher than in the UK.Superdry chairman Peter Bamford, CEO Euan Sutherland and chief financial officer Ed Barker will leave immediately, the company said Tuesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Superdy co-founder Julian Dunkerton is returning to lead the UK apparel retailer as its board and top management resigned en masse following a lost shareholder vote.

Chairman Peter Bamford, CEO Euan Sutherland and chief financial officer Ed Barker will leave immediately, the company said Tuesday.

Mr Dunkerton will take over as interim CEO and join the board after stepping down about a year ago. He has been vocal in his criticism of the current management, launching a 'Save Superdry' website and knocking the company's move to expand beyond the coats and jackets it's known for into summer items like dresses and skirts.

Since his departure, the shares have lost more than two-thirds of their value and the company has issued repeated profit warnings. Superdry fell 8.8pc yesterday Tuesday in London.

BloombergA former soldier who stole a cash bag from a bookies in a moment of madness to repay a drug debt has been given a suspended sentence

Lawyers for Carlos Ghosn have asked a Tokyo court to try the ex-Nissan Motor Co boss separately from his former employer, arguing he would otherwise not get a fair hearing to fight charges of financial wrongdoing.

The request marks the first major legal manoeuvre by Mr Ghosn's new legal team since his release on bail last month, as he faces mounting accusations of financial misconduct during his time at the helm of Nissan and partners Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, one of the world's biggest groups.

The case has shaken the global car industry and marked a dramatic fall from grace for an executive once lauded for his rescue of Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy.

Tokyo prosecutors have indicted Mr Ghosn and Greg Kelly, a close associate who served as a director on Nissan's board, on financial-misconduct charges. Nissan is also included in the indictment for false disclosures in securities reports, for which the company has expressed regret.

"No matter how you look at it, having Mr Ghosn sit alongside Nissan at the trial would be peculiar, it would go against his right to a fair trial," said his main defence lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka.

Mr Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in November after Nissan told prosecutors its own investigation uncovered evidence of his wrongdoing. He spent more than 100 days in a detention centre before being released on 8m bail last month. Mr Ghosn, now ousted as chairman of Nissan, denies the charges, as does Mr Kelly.

Mr Ghosn faces criminal charges in Japan over failing to report around 73bn in salary from Nissan, and for temporarily transferring personal losses onto Nissan's books during the global financial crisis.

"It's right that his lawyers wouldn't want Ghosn to stand trial with Nissan. Nissan will plead guilty and that would clearly influence the mood of the trial," said lawyer Nobuo Gohara. Tokyo prosecutors were not immediately available to comment. Nissan said it could not comment on judicial procedures.

ReutersDeals: Ryanair chief executive Michael OLeary who is soon to become group CEO

Ryanair pilots in Portugal have voted in favour of a collective-labour agreement that covers the next four years. The move reduces the risks of summer strikes for the carrier.

Ever since it decided more than a year ago that it would recognise trade unions, Ryanair has been negotiating collective-labour agreements across Europe with pilots and cabin crew.

Last summer, the airline was hit by 24-hour stoppages by cabin crew in Portugal, but insisted at the time that the industrial action had a limited impact on its operations.

The cabin crew union in Portugal also claimed at the time that Ryanair management had instructed its cabin crew members outside the country that they would be in breach of their employment contracts if they refused to operate Portuguese flights.

The agreement just signed with directly-employed Ryanair pilots in Portugal covers pay and conditions for the next four years. Last October, Ryanair signed an initial deal with its pilots in Portugal that addressed issues such as home bases and seniority.

Last month, the airline also reached an agreement in relation to about 1,100 cabin crew in Germany.

Trade union Ver.di said that directly-employed and contractor Ryanair cabin crew in the country will receive 600 more in basic pay every month.

Ryanair has the lowest unit cost of any airline in Europe. However, it noted in its third-quarter results -released in February - that its non-fuel unit costs rose 6pc in the period as a result of higher staff costs, and other costs such as payments made to passengers under the EU261 directive for delayed or cancelled flights, as it shouldered the cost of air traffic control issues.

Ryanair said yesterday that its passenger traffic rose 5pc last month to 10.5 million. Its Lauda unit carried 400,000.Bill Hader, Finn Wolfhard, and Jessica Chastain, cast members in the upcoming film It: Chapter Two (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Warner Bros has doled out a Godzilla-sized serving of new footage in a marathon presentation at CinemaCon to promote its upcoming films including The Joker, It: Chapter Two and The Goldfinch.

The audience at the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners got some goosebumps after watching a scene from the It sequel where Beverly Marsh, played by Jessica Chastain, goes back to her fathers house and is surprised to find an older woman living there instead.

The young cast of It stood aside their grown Losers Club counterparts of It: Chapter Two on stage, including Chastain, Bill Hader, James McAvoy and Isaiah Mustafa.

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Sophia Lillis, who played the young Beverly Marsh in the first film, laughed that she had kind of predicted that Chastain would play the adult version of her.

She had worked with director Andy Muschietti and we kind of look alike, she said.

Director Todd Phillips, no stranger to Las Vegas or Caesars Palace, having filmed The Hangover there, was on hand to introduce the first teaser trailer for Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix.

The chilling teaser, to be released widely on Wednesday, shows a pre-Joker Arthur Fleck, working as a clown on the street, helping his mother take a bath, possibly attempting to date and generally veering toward madness.

Phillips said there has been a lot written about the film and not much has been all that accurate.

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But thats what happens when you set out to make an origin story about a character who doesnt have an origin, he said of Batmans nemesis.

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Plus, he would rather it be a surprise for audiences when it hits cinemas in October. He was even playing a little coy with his own studio, telling them he could not describe it.

When they asked for a genre, he said, Its a tragedy.

The studio also showed the first trailer for The Goldfinch, an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Donna Tartt, about a boy mourning his mothers death from director John Crowley.

I hope that people find a piece of themselves in the story, star Ansel Elgort said. I hope that whatever drew people to that book draws them to the movie. It hits cinemas in September.

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Tiffany Haddish and Melissa McCarthy came out to promote something unexpected for the two comediennes  a 70s-set mob drama called The Kitchen, from Straight Outta Compton writer Andrea Berloff in her directorial debut, which comes out in August.

Everyone knows very strong women in challenging positions but you dont often get to see that in film, McCarthy said.

Haddish added that she was excited to be in a film like this.

For me, this was a dream come true, Haddish said. Im from South Central Los Angeles. I grew up around gangster-like stuff. I always tried to join the gangs but they wouldnt let me, I was too goofy.

There were glimpses of the star-studded Motherless Brooklyn adaptation from Edward Norton, a very brief look at Wonder Woman 1984 and even the Harley Quinn spinoff Birds of Prey, starring Margot Robbie.

Also on hand to promote the Warner Bros films were a hologram Pikachu  with the voice of Ryan Reynolds  a very real Helen Mirren who had one choice expletive to describe her feelings about Netflix, and McCarthy in a fire-breathing dragon costume.Mercury Prize-winners Wolf Alice and rapper Mic Righteous are among the acts taking part in the upcoming Not The Eurovision gig in support of Palestinian rights.

Faithless guitarist Dave Randall is also on the bill for Not The Eurovision: Party For Palestine, with other acts set to be announced.

Organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the concert will take place in London on May 18  the day of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The organisers have said it is a bid to highlight and protest human rights violations experienced by Palestinians, arguing that Israel is deploying artwashing tactics by using Eurovision as a way to mask what they describe as its regime of apartheid and occupation, and put forward a progressive image to the world.

The concert is one element of the campaign to boycott the singing competition, led by the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement and supported by other organisations including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK.

As part of the campaign, nearly 40,000 people have signed a petition calling on public broadcasters to withdraw from Eurovision and endorsing the call from artists to boycott the event.

Huda Ammori, campaigns officer at Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: Israel cannot hide military occupation and apartheid behind the glitz and glitter of Eurovision.

We are organising this gig to show solidarity with the people of Palestine who are having their rights restricted and denied every single day by the Israeli state.

We are using our voices to amplify their story, and we call on all those who believe in freedom, justice and equality to join us.

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Alia Malak of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), said: The campaign to boycott Eurovision 2019 is growing every day.

Hundreds of artists and tens of thousands of people across the world have endorsed the call for public broadcasters and artists to withdraw from the event in support of Palestinian rights and against Israels blatant artwashing and pinkwashing of apartheid.

In 2005 Palestinian civil society called on the international community to use non-violent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions tactics against Israels regime of oppression until it ends its illegal occupation and realises the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people  this campaign is one crucial strand of that movement.Emma Mackey will return as Maeve Wiley in the second series of Sex Education (Ian West/PA)

Sex Education star Emma Mackeys mother enjoyed the hit Netflix show so much she binge-watched the first series in a single weekend.

Mackey appears as Maeve Wiley in the teenage drama starring Gillian Anderson as a sex therapist and Asa Butterfield as her son who starts his own sex advice clinic at school.

The 23-year-old, who was born and raised in northwestern France, told ES Magazine that friends and family had commended her for tackling a role that dealt with sex so explicitly.

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She said: They love it. Everyone I know of my grandparents generation said that they wished it had existed when they were younger.

Everyone in my family watched it. My mums best friend flew to France to watch it with her, and they binged it in the course of a weekend.

Netflix, which is famously secretive about viewing figures, previously touted the series saying it was on course to be watched by 40 million households within the first four weeks of streaming.

The cast are set to reprise their roles for the next instalment, while Laurie Nunn will return as creator and executive producer after the show was renewed earlier this year.

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Mackey said her upbringing had been nothing like that of her unpredictable and independent on-screen character.

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She said: It was really  nice. I went to a Catholic school and did loads of sport and I was really happy.

I loved studying and was very bookish. It was quite a sheltered existence.

She added that she had had to become a little more like her character when she moved to the UK to study at the University of Leeds.

I had to toughen up a bit, she said.

People made me realise I was quite innocent and oblivious to certain things.

I wanted to make people like me.

This is at odds to Wiley, with her pink hair, vintage denim jackets and devil-may-care attitude.

Read the full interview in this weeks issue of ES Magazine, out on Thursday April 4.They're Today FM's answer to Ant and Dec - and like the ITV duo, Dermot and Dave certainly always have each other's back.

With the pair on air every day from 9am to noon, their audience is familiar with the humorous hosts, even confiding in them when they have a personal problem.

Speaking to the Herald, Dave Moore said he and co-host Dermot Whelan had always had such a good relationship with each other that even if they are having a bad day they always boost each other's spirits.

"The connection with the audience is the main thing for us - they can come to us with anything," he said.

"Our job is to be entertaining, to have fun, no matter how we are feeling.

"And in the 17 years I've worked with Dermot I can't think of a day I wasn't already in a better mood when I got into the studio with him.

"He is my best friend in the world - it's not a job. We pick each other up and pick up the slack if one or the other of us is struggling.

"We've never had an argument - there are plenty of duos who hate each other but we get on."

The pair are hitting the road for a nationwide tour of Dermot And Dave Live this week, kicking off with a show in Vicar Street on Friday.

They aren't feeling the nerves though about coming face to face with their listeners, with last year's tour a positive experience.

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"We are very lucky. Most people are fans of the show and are excited to see you coming to their neck of the woods," said Dave (44).

"Traditionally we are in that Dublin media bubble so when you rock up to Castlebar or somewhere, people are really friendly.

"We were in Clonmel, I think it was on the last tour, and we were doing reviews of local chippers at the time.

"So we were walking down to the chipper, and the hotel was only about 10 minutes away from it.

"It was close to show time so people spotted us, rolled down their windows and asked us if we needed a lift."

As for the advent of podcasting, Dave sees it as a positive, as another way to attract listeners, rather than a competitor to traditional radio.

You saw it with music when streaming began, musicians werent sure but now it is just another way of getting an audience. Sometimes people want to listen to your show on FM, sometimes theyll go to the app later, he said.

What we are trying to do in Today FM is accept people consume in different ways and just make what we do as exciting as possible. We dont see it as an external threat but an opportunity. If we didnt, it wouldnt be long before we were shutting the doors.

With music a big part of their show, their Homegrown Hero feature celebrating Irish talent, its no surprise either they have an idea who will be the next big thing on the Irish music scene.

John Gibbons is doing phenomenally well, and there is a new girl Lyra from Cork  we had her on a few weeks ago and she is incredible, said Dave.

You have John Grey and of course it wasnt long since Dermot Kennedy was a homegrown hero and now he has been on The Ellen Show in the US.

Theres the success of Picture This  these are guys who would be doing what they do with success or not.

Wild Youth also just sent us in a song about eighteen months ago and then they were the most listened to act on radio.

Tickets for Friday's show are on sale via Ticketmaster, priced from 31.24.Armed gardai were sent to a race meeting in Punchestown to ensure a passport for a horse which had been seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) was handed back after the horse was allowed to run, a court has heard.

There were also fears that Grand National winning trainer Gordon Elliott could have come under pressure at the racecourse from a criminal gang over the horse.

The CAB was in the High Court to try to seize the racehorse Labaik, alleging he was bought for 28,000 by convicted Clondalkin drug dealer John Boylan with the proceeds of crime.

Labaik stunned the racing world when it won the Supreme Novice's Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2017.

The CAB was seeking to seize a bank account with winnings of almost 80,000, a mobile home, a house in Rathcoole Co Dublin, and a Mercedes car from Boylan.

Meanwhile, Boylan has made a counter-claim for loss of earnings from the horse after it was subsequently run at Punchestown while its ownership was frozen by CAB and suffered an alleged career-ending injury.

In court yesterday Ms Justice Carmel Stewart heard from CAB head Chief Superintendent Pat Clavin that Labaik's passport had been seized after his Cheltenham win when it had investigated his ownership.

The horse was being trained by Mr Elliott, who has no involvement in crime.

Boylan has a 90pc share in the horse, while Mr Elliott is said to have a 5pc share. Bloodstock agent Aidan O'Ryan, who has no involvement in crime, owns the remaining 5pc.

Chief Supt Clavin said the CAB was satisfied to have the horse's passport in its possession rather than the actual horse, and to leave it in the care of Mr Elliott.

The trainer had conveyed his wish after the passport seizure that the horse be allowed race at Punchestown.

"I could not see any legitimate reason to refuse Mr Elliot to run the horse and I decided I had no reason to do that," said Chief Supt Clavin.

"It was my decision to allow the passport to be at the racecourse at all times under the supervision of members of An Garda Siochana."

He said he might have been criticised and worse, the subject of litigation, had he decided not to allow the passport to be at the track.

"I feared the potential that Mr Elliott would come under pressure from the criminal gang. I had mitigated that risk by having armed members of An Garda Siochana at the racecourse," he told the court.

The case continues.Former INLA man Dessie O'Hare, who was known as "The Border Fox", told gardai that he was employed by businessman Jim Mansfield Junior to evict an employee and his family from his home, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

The three-judge court also heard during O'Hare's sentence hearing today that the employee pleaded with him to be given a few days to leave his property voluntarily but the defendant refused, saying: Get out right now.

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Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that despite O'Hare's counsel having made "a thought-provoking" plea in mitigation on his behalf, a non-custodial sentence was an unlikely outcome.

O'Hare (62), of Slate Rock Road, Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, admitted last January to assaulting John Roche, causing him harm, at The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, County Dublin on June 9th, 2015.

He also pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne at Rathcoole and Saggart on the same date.

The non-jury court was asked to take two counts of falsely imprisoning Mr Byrnes wife and son into consideration.

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At todays sentence hearing Detective Superintendent Colm OMalley summarised the facts of the case.

Det Supt OMalley told prosecuting counsel Shane Costelloe SC that Martin Byrne was employed by the well-known businessman and multi-millionaire Jim Mansfield Senior for almost twenty years.

Mr Mansfield Snr had run a number of prominent businesses before his death and Mr Byrne had provided a security-type arrangement for him and his extended family. A number of Mr Mansfield Snr's properties were in the process of or had been brought into NAMA by the time of his death, the court heard.

Jim Mansfield Junior had taken over the running of his father's business at this time and the portfolio of properties included a block of apartments called The Towers, which was close to Citywest. Mr Mansfield Jnr was having particular difficulty reacquiring control of of the apartments at The Towers, which was not under the control of NAMA and the subject of a dispute between him and other people.

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The court heard that Mr Mansfield Jnr asked Mr Byrne to accompany him to a business meeting in May 2015 with a view to seeing if his interest in the tower block could be reacquired.

Mr Byrne felt "uncomfortable" with the nature of the proposed meeting but Mr Mansfield Jnr insisted he go with him to a business park, where they were met by OHare and Declan Duffy.

Mr Byrne told the men at this meeting that he could not partake "in the conversation" as Mr Mansfield Jnr had his own interest in the proposed subject matter. Mr Byrne was perceived as the person who had called off the meeting and he left with his employer, Mr Mansfield Jnr. There was a deterioration in the two men's relationship after the aborted meeting which resulted in very little contact between them at this time, said Mr Costelloe.

The court heard that Mr Byrne and his family lived in two units at The Towers during this time , which was owned by Mr Mansfield Jnr.

Mr Mansfield Jnr contacted Mr Byrne to have a further meeting and they went to the same business park on June 9, where again OHare and Duffy were waiting in a room. At this point, Mr Mansfield Jnr left the room and five other men came in and Mr Byrne was blocked off from leaving.

Mr Byrne was told in no uncertain terms that he and his family had to vacate The Towers before he was brought to the courtyard of the building and placed into a car by the men. Mr Byrne pleaded with OHare to give him a couple of days to leave his home but the defendant refused and said: Get out now, before he was placed in a car.

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Three cars drove in convoy back to The Towers and Mr Byrne was assaulted by the men in the car until they arrived at the gates of The Towers. O'Hare was in a different car at the time.

Following this, John Roche came to the gate and asked to open it but he refused to do so and ran into the complex. Mr Byrne explained to the men that if they drove slowly at the gates they would open automatically.

Meanwhile, some of the other men went to look for Mr Roche and found him in a nearby house. Five men including the defendant dragged Mr Roche from his house and assaulted him on the ground by kicking and punching him. CCTV footage of the assault was shown to court.

OHare was seen kicking Mr Roche four times while the other men punched and kicked him. Men can be seen bringing Mr Byrnes wife and his son past the scene of the assault and towards the gates of the complex. Mr Roche and Mr Byrne were then brought to the same apartment but a resident at The Towers saw what was happening and placed a 999 call to Gardai who soon arrived, said Mr Costelloe. OHare and the other six men fled the scene at this point, the court heard.

According to Det Insp OMalley, an investigation commenced and arrest warrants were issued. OHare had returned to Northern Ireland at the time but he ultimately came back to the jurisdiction of his own volition and presented himself at Clondalkin Garda Station with his solicitor in January 2018. The defendant had prepared a pre-prepared statement to gardai.

Det Insp OMalley agreed with Mr Costelloe that OHare had cooperated as much as he could with gardai and acknowledged that he was at The Towers and had been employed by Mr Mansfield Jnr.

The three members of the Byrne family have since been placed in the Witness Protection Programme, the court heard.

OHare has four previous convictions which include possession of a firearm, which he received a five-year suspended sentence for at the Special Criminal Court in 1977.

OHare also received a six-month sentence for assaulting a guard in 1979 and began serving a nine-year sentence the same year for possession of a firearm.

In 1988, O'Hare was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for two offences; false imprisonment and assault causing grievous bodily harm. As a result of the Good Friday Agreement, he was released from that sentence in October 2008, said Mr Costelloe.

Mr Justice Hunt interjected at this point and asked the prosecution counsel if these previous offences have any consequences in terms of sentencing. I have no instructions, replied Mr Costelloe.

Under cross-examination, Det Sgt OMalley agreed with Sean Guerin SC, defending, that an arrest warrant had been issued for O'Hare but ultimately it was not necessary to pursue that process as he had presented himself by arrangement to gardai.

The detective further agreed with Mr Guerin that this has been OHares only matter before the court since his release from prison in 2008.

The court heard that OHare has been working full-time in a tarmac and surfacing business since his release. The detective agreed with counsel that O'Hare's last prison sentence was not just a long one but also a difficult one, served in different times when matters were more contentious.

The detective further accepted that OHare has real concerns about the consequences of returning to prison.

Mr Guerin told the court that a letter of apology, which was hand-written by OHare, was of value to the court and represented a very different approach to the court process than what would have been exhibited by him in former times.

In his submissions, Mr Guerin said that his client has a serious criminal record which dates back thirty years in terms of offending. However, Mr Guerin said that since his release he has shown himself to be capable of working and functioning in the community. Mr Guerin asked the court to see this incident as an isolated matter and not reflective of the character that he has shown over the last 13 years.

Mr Guerin asked the court to take into account that the long-term consequences of OHares imprisonment are enduring, serious and intrusive in his daily life.

The barrister asked the judges to be as lenient as possible when sentencing his client and to consider in mitigation that his past imprisonment has been difficult for him with long-term consequences.

Imprisonment in this case would be a particularly onerous and a harsh punishment for him and it would be difficult for him to bear, added counsel.

The court heard that another defendant in this case had received a fully suspended sentence and Mr Guerin asked the court not to close its mind to that possibility. However, the gravity of the offence may compel the court in a different direction, he added.

A letter from Crosswell Trust, who operate a reconciliation centre, was handed into court. A letter was also handed in from O'Hare's parish priest and his employer, who said OHare was remorseful for his actions as he had let a lot of family members down.

Mr Guerin said that mitigating factors were his clients guilty plea, his apology, the fact he had presented himself at a garda station, offered a voluntary statement and had complied with his bail conditions.

In conclusion, the lawyer asked the court to avoid the easy and attracting temptation to judge his client only by his previous convictions.

The court rose for a few minutes and when it recommenced Mr Justice Hunt said that while the plea in mitigation was thought-provoking, the non-custodial route was an unlikely outcome.

Mr Justice Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge Patricia Ryan and Judge Ann Ryan, remanded OHare in custody until April 11, when he will be sentenced.

Former Republican paramilitary Declan "Whacker" Duffy was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court to six years imprisonment last year after pleading guilty to assaulting John Roche, causing him harm, at The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, County Dublin on June 9, 2015. He also admitted falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne at Rathcoole/Saggart on the same date.

Three other men have also been jailed for the attack.A DUBLIN takeaway boss accused of torching his sister and nieces cars during an arson attack and wielding a meat cleaver at a toddler has been further remanded in custody.

Phuong Nguyen, 40, with an address at Templeview Row, Clarehall, in North Dublin allegedly caused more than 50,000 worth of damage during the incident on March 25 last.

He was refused bail last week and faced his second hearing today at Cloverhill District Court where he was further remanded in custody to appear again on April 17 next.

His solicitor Michael French has said there could be a fitness to plead issue in relation to Vietnamese-born Nguyen who moved to Ireland with his family in 1979.

His client was charged with arson of a his niece Hanh Dangs two-year-old Ford Focus worth 22,000 and a 182-reg Nissan Qashqui belonging to his sister Bich Nguyen.

Both vehicles were destroyed in the incident at Templeview Green, in Clarehall.

He was charged with criminal damage to a window of the Ford car, threats to kill Ms Dang and possessing a meat cleaver as a weapon in the course of a fight

Detective Garda Niall Gibbs had given evidence that the accused man replied, I say bulls*** to that to one charge and had no reply to the other three.

Opposing bail due to the seriousness of the case, he had said gardai received a 999 call and found the accused on a grass area at 300 yards away from the scene.

His sister allegedly made a statement that he was responsible for the damage.

His niece Hanh Dang, the owner of the Ford Focus, told gardai she was sitting in her car when the defendant approached and smashed the rear window in on top of her

She managed to escape but described the accused running at her with a really thick knife, like the knife they use in a butcher and shouting Im going to kill youse, Im f****** going to kill youse.

The court heard Ms Dang described her uncle Phuong Nguyen as roaring and crazy. Her husband also described how he swung the cleaver at his wife and their two-year-old daughter before they got in the door of their house.

Detective Garda Gibbs said it was likely the case would be sent to the Circuit Court with possible sentences of between 10 years and life.

He said there was footage of the incident filmed on phones.

He submitted that the man was a threat to witnesses and a possible flight risk.

Mr French told the court his client had indicated he would be pleading not guilty.

He had run a takeaway in his locality, Mr French said.A MIDDLE-aged man who suffered multiple stab wounds to his stomach died from acute blood loss before he could be rushed to hospital.

The inquest into the death of Timothy 'Timmy' Foley (44) was adjourned by Cork South Coroner Frank O'Connell after he was informed by Gardai that a person is currently before the courts in relation to Mr Foley's death.

Mr O'Connell was told by Gardai they were alerted to an incident at a house in Macroom at 1.40am on October 8 2018.

They attended the property at Dan Corkery Place and found Mr Foley seriously injured at the scene.

He was being treated by paramedics in a bid to stabilise his condition so he could be transferred to Cork University Hospital (CUH).

Tragically, they were unable to stabilise him and he was pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor shortly after 3am.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster conducted a post mortem examination at CUH the following day.

She found that Mr Foley died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple stab injuries sustained to the abdomen.

Gardai applied for the inquest to be adjourned on the basis someone is currently before the courts in relation to the matter.

Mr O'Connell adjourned the inquest until next year to allow all criminal proceedings to conclude.

Last year, a 46 year old woman was charged with the murder of Mr Foley.

Rita O'Driscoll of Bridge Street, Bandon, Co Cork indicated to the district court sitting, through her solicitor, that she would be pleading not guilty to the charge.

The court was told that, when cautioned and formally charged by Gardai with the murder, O'Driscoll replied: "I did not kill my husband - I stabbed him twice, not 28 times."A young Dublin man who burst his girlfriend's eardrum in a beating which left her vomiting for a whole night has been sentenced to four and half years.

A young Dublin man who burst his girlfriend's eardrum in a beating which left her vomiting for a whole night has been sentenced to four and half years.

Garda Ronan Goggin said at an earlier hearing that Aaron Nolan (21) had punched, kicked and pulled clumps out of his then girlfriend's hair as he dragged her over a green area and down a laneway.

The garda agreed with Brian Gageby BL, defending, that Nolan committed the assault on a baseless idea that his girlfriend had been texting another man.

The woman told gardai that every time she denied this Nolan got angrier and would assault her further.

Nolan, of The Glen, Woodpark, Ballinteer, in South Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of assaulting the then 19-year-old woman at Ballinteer Crescent, Ballinteer, on November 5, 2017. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Melanie Greally had adjourned the case last January having heard the evidence to allow for the preparation of a report from the Probation Service.

Today she suspended the final 18 months of the four and half year sentence on strict conditions including that Nolan be under supervision of the Probation Service for two years, have no contact with his victim for that time and attend a domestic violence perpetrator programme if deemed suitable.

She said the woman had returned home from the assault in an appalling state and was vomiting and experiencing extreme headaches. She said there was no doubt that his attack on her had an extremely damaging effect on her both emotionally and psychologically.

It came somewhat out of the blue. He had been someone on whom she had been dependent and she had no expectation that he was capable of this. No doubt it will take her some time to come back from it, Judge Greally said.

She said it was a succession of assaults over a prolonged period of time with extreme violence which was often concentrated on the woman's head and face.

Today Mr Gageby read from a letter from his client to the woman in which he expressed his remorse telling her he was so, so sorry and I hope you go back to your happy self.

In a letter to the judge, Nolan wrote that he was truly ashamed of what he had done.

I hope to tackle my demons head on when I get released from prison. The happiest years of my life were the seven years with her, Nolan wrote.

He said he had thrown away seven years of good times with her and he had only myself to blame.

Gda Goggin told Katherine McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, at the previous hearing that the woman described how Nolan had appeared very drunk when she initially met him at his friend's house to sort out the issue.

Nolan destroyed the woman's handbag items by ripping them up and scattering them about the green area and prevented her from seeking help at neighbouring houses with threats and violence.

At one stage during the assault another woman approached, but Nolan told this witness to mind her own business. Gda Goggin said another man recorded some of the incident on his phone and later handed this to investigators.

The attack ended when Nolan dragged the woman to his own family home and his relatives intervened.

The court heard the woman didn't recognise herself in the bathroom mirror of this house, because her face was so swollen, her hair was matted with blood and her nose and lip were burst.

She eventually went home and spent the remaining early hours and into the next day in her bedroom vomiting and in severe pain.

In a victim impact statement, read out by Ms McGillicuddy, the woman stated that she doesn't talk about what happened and is a lot quieter now. She revealed she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, neck pain and that her hearing is not the same.

She said she was happy and trusting  before that night but now she feels trapped in her own head with the memory and can't understand why the attack happened.

Gda Goggin said Nolan admitted in interview that he had been intoxicated and that he was shocked and ashamed and felt sick when he saw photos of the injuries he had inflicted. He told gardai he was heartbroken as he loved the woman.

Gda Goggin agreed with Mr Gageby that his client had been taking alcohol and cocaine on the night.

He agreed that Nolan had not attended for assessment by The Probation Service, saying this was a surprise given that he has abided by his bail conditions and made admissions. The garda said he thought Nolan seemed to be fatalistic about what was going to happen.A further judgment for a total US$133m (118.2m) has been obtained on consent against former billionaire Sean Quinn's five adult children.

It comes a day after the five children consented to judgments totalling 440m  88m each  as part of a settlement of their legal action against the former Anglo Irish Bank over liability for hundreds of millions of euro in loans.

The latest judgment, given this morning in the commercial division of the High Court, comes as part of the settlement of separate proceedings in which Anglos successor, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), sued the Quinn family over an alleged conspiracy to strip 455m worth of foreign property assets.

Anglo and later IBRC have been seeking to recover the assets since 2011 after the Quinn family empire collapsed under the weight of massive debts.

The court heard this morning that three of the siblings spouses have also consented to the US$133m judgment.

As was the case in the loan case settlement, a stay is being put on the enforcement of the judgments on condition the Quinns cooperate with IBRC's efforts to recover and liquidate former Quinn group assets.

IBRC is thought to have spent up to 170m seeking to recover various foreign properties, which include an 800-bedroom hotel in Prague, an office building in India, and properties in Moscow and Kiev.

The courts have previously heard how a scheme, which one judge said reeks of dishonesty and sharp practice, was put in place in 2011 to put the properties beyond the reach of IBRC.

The judgment for US$133m obtained this morning is against Sean Quinn Jr, his wife Karen Woods, Aoife Quinn and her husband Stephen Kelly, Ciara Quinn and her husband Niall McPartland, Brenda Quinn and Colette Quinn.

It is part of a settlement reached following a week of talks between both sides.

Both sets of litigation date back to 2011 when Anglo Irish Bank moved to take control of Quinn companies over debt of some 2.8bn, comprising about 2.34m corporate debt and more than 400m personal debt.

But the hearing of those cases was delayed due to various criminal trials involving former Anglo executives.

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The total value of former Quinn group assets recovered by IBRC, including assets in Ireland, is believed to be somewhere between 800m and 1bn.

But the recover has come at heavy price for State-owned IBRC and it is believed litigation and other recovery costs in Ireland and several other countries could be as high as 170m.

IBRC had alleged actions of the Quinns frustrated and delayed its recovery efforts and has substantially reduced the value of those assets, especially properties in Russia and Ukraine.

The net recovery sum will be applied to reduce the estimated 2.34bn debt of Quinn companies to IBRC.

In court this morning, Barry O'Donnell SC, for IBRC, told Mr Justice Robert Haughton it had settled against the Quinn defendants.

The settlement is confidential but includes the consent of the Quinn siblings and the three spouses to the US$133m judgment, counsel said.

He said the settlement provided for a stay on enforcement of the judgment with liberty to vacate the stay if there is failure to comply with the terms of settlement, which includes "non-interference provisions".

Under the agreement, injunctions are being sought, he said.

He said the agreement also provided for the discharge of receivers appointed in 2011 over the Quinn family members accounts and assets, except in relation to Peter Darragh Quinn, a nephew of Sean Quinn.

It had also been agreed that all costs orders made between IBRC and the five siblings and the three spouses in the proceedings to date would be discharged.

Sean Quinn Sr, to whom the US$133m judgment order does not apply, had also signed the settlement agreement, counsel said.

He said the parties had signed up to the settlement agreement at various times, including March 29 and 31.

IBRC anticipated the dispute with the remaining defendants in the conspiracy case would also be resolved, he said.

He said it was hoped agreement would be reached concerning IBRC's proposed applications to enforce judgments obtained in the Russian courts and an application would be made later in that regard.

Agreement had also been reached to make orders dismissing intended proceedings by the Quinn family against the Central Bank, Minister for Finance and various other parties, including former Anglo chairman Sean FitzPatrick and former chief executive David Drumm, counsel said. Solicitors for those parties consented to this.

After the judge made the various orders sought, counsel said IBRC was very grateful to the court for the time spent on dealing with multiple aspects of the litigation.

The judge replied: "It is our job to hear cases."The five adult children of former tycoon Sean Quinn have consented to judgments totalling 440.7m in favour of the former Anglo Irish Bank.

Each of the children will owe State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) more than 80m under a settlement - which brings to an end the long-running and at times bitter dispute between the Quinn family and Anglo's successor. However, the High Court was told a stay will be put on the execution of the judgments "on terms agreed between the parties".

The terms were not disclosed but as part of the deal the Quinns have co-operated with IBRC's efforts to recover and liquidate 455m worth of international property assets which were subject to an alleged asset-stripping scheme as Anglo moved to take over Quinn companies in 2011.

In a statement, IBRC said the Quinn family had provided it with "full disclosure" and would relinquish any entitlement to assets IBRC had a claim over. It said the Quinns acknowledged IBRC's security over the assets was "valid and enforceable". The settlement covers all litigation between the Quinns and IBRC, as well as a separate claim the Quinns had against the Central Bank.

The High Court last month began hearing legal actions taken by the five children, Sean Jr, Ciara, Colette, Aoife and Brenda Quinn, against IBRC and its liquidator over 410m in loan guarantees.

The children claimed on various grounds that loan guarantees and share pledges they gave in connection with 2.34bn in loans from Anglo to Quinn Group companies in 2007 and 2008 were invalid.

Expand Close Former tycoon: Sean Quinn was once Irelands richest man. Photo: AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former tycoon: Sean Quinn was once Irelands richest man. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

IBRC counter-claimed, seeking to recover 82m from each of the children.

The trial had been expected to last six months, but both sides entered settlement talks just over a week ago after opening submissions had finished. In a separate case, the IBRC was also suing the Quinns over the alleged asset-stripping conspiracy.

Yesterday, Bernard Dunleavy SC, counsel for the Quinn children, told Mr Justice Garrett Simons the outcome of the talks was that "all of the proceedings have been resolved".

He said his clients' proceedings against IBRC could be struck out with no costs order.

Paul Gallagher SC, for IBRC, said as part of the settlement, judgments in the sum of 88,157,351 could be entered against each of the children in favour of the bank, but that a stay would be put on the execution of the judgments.

Mr Justice Simons congratulated both sides on reaching an agreement, saying it was a "very sensible" outcome.

None of the Quinn children was in court for the announcement, which came just days after they suffered a significant setback in the case. Last Wednesday, the judge ruled they could not amend their statement of claim to include an allegation they were under the undue influence of their father when they signed off on loan guarantees and share pledges. A request to file supplementary witness statements was also refused.

The loans the children signed off on were predominantly used to cover losses made by their father during his disastrous speculation on Anglo shares.

The stock market bets would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Quinn Group and Mr Quinn's bankruptcy.

The children were the shareholders in the group and their signatures were required for the loans to go through.Dunne, born and raised in Downers Grove, attended the College of DuPage before obtaining bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Chicago, a masters from the London School of Economics and doctorate from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.Students who achieve a minimum H6 grade (40p-49pc) in higher level maths at Leaving Cert receive 25 bonus CAO points. This has been practice since 2012 and has had the desired effect of increasing the uptake of students taking the subject at 'honours' level.

Students who achieve a minimum H6 grade (40p-49pc) in higher level maths at Leaving Cert receive 25 bonus CAO points. This has been practice since 2012 and has had the desired effect of increasing the uptake of students taking the subject at 'honours' level.

Before the arrival of bonus points, many students dropped to ordinary level maths in the months before the State exams, partly because of workload and partly because of a fear of getting no points at all in the subject if they did not achieve at least 40pc.

Arising from more recent changes to the Leaving Cert grading system, candidates who achieve H7 (30-39pc) in higher level subjects are awarded 37 points. This is also encouraging students to take higher level. Students who scrape through a higher level maths paper with 40pc are handsomely rewarded as they will be awarded 71 CAO points, compared with a maximum 56 at ordinary level. Students may feel the need to stay with higher level regardless of how difficult they find the course.

But hanging on regardless of performance and against the advice of the teacher can have a detrimental impact on the student's other subjects, as well as their ability to cope with the stress of the Leaving Cert in general.

If students are now being advised by their teacher to drop from higher level to ordinary maths, they should give it careful consideration.

Maths is the most common subject to appear as an entry requirement for third level, although many courses will accept a H7. Students should check the maths requirement for every course they have listed on their CAO.

They should also consider how much of an impact the workload and stress of studying for higher level maths is causing. Is it taking away from other subjects? Students could end up performing worse overall by losing marks in other subjects because of their efforts in higher level maths.

If a student requires higher level maths for entry to a course, it may be worth questioning if that course is suitable for them. Generally, the maths entry requirement is a good indicator of how much maths will be on the course. If a student is struggling to meet the maths entry requirement, they are quite likely to struggle to cope with maths at third level.

My advice to students considering which level of maths to take this year is to listen carefully to the advice of their teacher - they do have students' best interests at heart.

If still unsure, the student should consider making an appointment with their guidance counsellor, who can assist in teasing out their feelings and the potential consequences of their decision.

Aoife Walsh is a guidance counsellor at Malahide Community School, Co Dublin

Q I am a fifth-year student and my guidance counsellor says I need to start thinking about my UCAS application now if I want to apply for medicine in the UK. This seems very early. What do I need to do?

A UCAS is the centralised applications agency for the UK and Northern Ireland. Anyone interested in applying for medicine must submit their application no later than October 15. The UCAS application is very different from the CAO: applicants must submit a personal statement and an academic reference, as well as some other details.

It is very wise to begin researching medical courses now. There are a huge number of courses when compared with the five undergraduate courses in the Republic. You could also use the coming months to visit campuses and attend open days or at least to plan your research. For example, the Queen's University Belfast Open Days take place on September 5, 6, and 7 - which is earlier than most Irish universities. You should also use this time to research which entrance test is required by your chosen college(s). Finally, you should begin working on your personal statement, which will benefit from being shared with a variety of people and redrafted.

If you have a query, email Aoife at aoifewalsh@independent.ie; Twitter @edguidance.A major teacher recruitment drive aimed at bringing Irish graduates back from the Middle East is being planned.

Instead of schools desperately trying to fill vacancies on their own, the new initiative is looking at marketing jobs in batches - outlining the spread of opportunities.

The plan is being worked on in the Department of Education, although it is understood officials may consider bringing in an outside agency with expertise in the field.

Education Minister Joe McHugh is planning a follow-up trip to the United Arab Emirates, probably in June.

As is usual for this time of the year, the department has done the sums on the overall number of teaching posts available in September, although only schools know what subject gaps they need to fill. While details are still being worked through, the intention is that a recruiter could go to the market with a range of jobs in a particular region or subject.

Time is of the essence, as spring is a period of high activity in teacher recruitment, in Ireland and elsewhere, as schools seek to fill their allocations for the academic year ahead.Invest is best: John Boyle says more funding is needed to sustain the high standard of primary schools in Ireland

As the nation emerges from recession, the damage is all too evident in schools across the country. If we are to retain our standing in the world and deliver a high level of primary education, now is the time to invest and secure our future.

Our primary education system makes it to the top of the class on a regular basis. International studies prove what parents around the country already know to be true - primary teachers in Ireland are among the best in the world.

Teachers rank among the top three most trusted professionals in Ireland and the academic standard of entrants to the teaching profession in Ireland was considered by the recent Sahlberg report to be in the same league as some of the best in the world.

But a quality education system cannot survive, let alone thrive, on praise alone. We need to put our money where our might is by investing in our teachers, our primary schools and, by extension, in the futures of our children.

Primary schools are the poor relation of the education system and fare badly compared to both second and third level. There are more than half a million children attending primary schools in Ireland and they deserve better.

During the recession, schools grants were cut by 15pc. These grants are supposed to cover the basic running costs of a school but, in many cases, fall pitifully short.

The Catholic Primary School Management Association found that parents are having to cough up over 40m a year to support basic school costs. We wouldn't expect our local GP clinic or garda station to host bake sales or bring and buys to pay the electricity bill, yet a constant cycle of fundraisers has become commonplace in our primary schools.

Primary school funding is less than 1 per pupil per day - far below international counterparts, and below the rate paid at second and third level. Unfortunately, for schools trying to balance the books, a heating or electricity bill doesn't ask whether eight-year-olds or 18-year-olds are benefiting from the utility. The cost of running a school is the same regardless of the age profile of the pupils.

When it comes to classes, size really matters. Individual attention and support becomes challenging the larger a class becomes. We need to cap classes at 20 pupils to ensure that children don't get crowded out of Irish education. Smaller classes have a particularly positive impact on younger pupils and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The projected demographic profile in our primary schools is changing, as the babies born in the boom of 12 years ago move on to secondary school. This offers a great opportunity to reduce our primary class sizes to EU average levels if the Government is willing to seize it.

Change is inevitable and our primary education system, like everything else, is constantly evolving and adapting. Improvements and progress are to be welcomed, but change needs to be managed and well-communicated.

It's easy to see schools as the salve for all that ails society, including, among other things, obesity, digital addiction and climate change. The intentions are good and a testament to the high value placed on the influential impact of teachers, but in the past few years, we have seen a seemingly endless stream of new initiatives and programmes introduced in our schools. This has led to frustration among teachers and principals who must still try to teach the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. I'm hopeful that the recently established Primary Forum on Workload will provide an opportunity to address these challenges and make the workload on our teachers and principals more manageable.

We have left the recession behind and we have great teachers, but we need to value them and invest in them. Minister Joe McHugh has called the pay inequality for teachers recruited since 2011 "unfinished business", while it's a matter of ongoing concern that primary principals are paid significantly less than their counterparts in post primary schools. It's time for these issues to be addressed. Let us look to the future and be ambitious. Our children deserve nothing less.

John Boyle was recently appointed General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO).Stage fright: Nativity plays are among the activities carried out in schools around Christmas. Stock Image

Schools have been accused of scaremongering over claims that switching from a Catholic ethos would mean they could no longer mark events such as Christmas, Shrove Tuesday and St Patrick's Day.

The row has broken out over moves to transfer control of one of eight Catholic schools in the north Co Dublin area of Portmarnock-Malahide-Kinsealy to a more multi-denominational ethos.

Fianna Fail education spokesperson Thomas Byrne reacted strongly to letters sent by two of the eight schools to parents.

The letters warned that change would effectively end their Christmas celebrations and other traditions that have their roots in religion but are observed by society at large.

"This thing about Christmas is straight off Fox News in the States. It's a huge exaggeration and I think the parents should simply dismiss those. I believe it was scaremongering.

"I have direct personal experience of multi-denominational schools and I have a lot of engagement with them and I can tell you even St Brigid's Day is commemorated in many multi-denominational schools - not in a Catholic way, but in the Irish tradition. Certainly Christmas," he said.

Paul Rowe, chief executive of Educate Together, the non-denominational patron body, described the schools' claims as "incorrect and misleading".

According to Educate Together, Christmas is marked in its schools, as are non-Catholic religious festivals such as Diwali and Eid.

The patron body said it was not interested in 'taking over' any schools and imposing an ethos against the will of local communities, adding that it had transferred a number of schools to its patronage - all of which were now thriving school communities.

Seamus Conboy, educational policy and development officer with Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), the patron body of multi-denominational community national schools, said it was imperative that information given to staff and parents in schools which were considering reconfiguration was accurate.

"Education and training boards are available to provide this information to other patrons and school communities if requested to do so," he said.

Labour education spokesperson Senator Aodhan O Riordain called for a Citizens' Assembly to consider changes to the Constitution to address religious control of the education system.

"The fact that such a process is being objected to highlights the fact that we are not yet at a point to bring communities with us on secular education," he said.Originality, depth of research and critical thinking were the hallmarks of the two winning entries in the annual ActionAid Speech Writing Competition on global women's rights issues.

Clodagh Boyce from St Joseph's Mercy Secondary School , Navan and Kirsten Soney-Ituen from Gaelcholaiste Cheatharlach, Carlow were selected from 10 finalists after delivering their speeches to a panel of judges. The competition, now in its fifth year, is part of ActionAid's women's rights programme, which works to end early girl marriage, prevent gender-based violence, gain land rights for women and help children receive an education. ActionAid Ireland uses a Behaviour Change approach to this work in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nepal, which has helped participating women and girls, men and boys, and traditional and cultural leaders to move away from damaging behaviours.

The programme is funded by Irish Aid, which promotes engagement with the Irish public to raise awareness about these issues. The winning students will visit ActionAid's new programme in Greece in June, accompanied by their teachers. There, they will learn more about ActionAid's Protection and Empowerment Programme, working with refugee women living in areas of Athens and visit the Athens support centre, which supports Greek people facing financial problems and social exclusion.

ActionAid Chief Executive Siobhan McGee said interest in the competition was growing every year and all finalists displayed excellent knowledge and understanding of the importance of championing women's rights across the globe.

The finalists were selected from more than 150 entries from students aged 14 to 17. Judges included Gavin Jennings of RTE's Morning Ireland, Aoife Ni Fhearghail of Irish Aid, and Moira Leydon, Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland.Gadai have arrested a man in relation the shooting outside a school in Blanchardstown.

The terrifying incident unfolded at around 3.40pm yesterday just as hundreds of pupils were preparing to leave Riversdale Community College in Blanchardstown, Dublin.

A gunman opened fire on a 23-year-old man and a 17-year-old youth as they arrived to collect a pupil.

Both escaped injury with the older man fleeing into the school grounds.

Gardai at Blanchardstown Garda Station investigating the incident said that they have arrested a man in his 20s in relation to the incident.

"Gardai carried out two searches in the Corduff area this afternoon and during the course of the operation the man in his 20s was arrested," a garda statement said this evening. "He is detained at Blanchardstown Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, and can be detained for up to 72 hours.

"We are appealing to any person in the vicinity of the Community College between 3pm and 3.40pm to contact Gardai at Blanchardstown Garda Station. In particular Gardai are looking for any person driving along Blanchardstown Road North or Corduff Grove who may have dashcam footage to make contact."

Gardai are also appealing for any person who observed any unusual activity in the vicinity of the Community College in recent days to make contact at Blanchardstown Garda Station at 01-6669700 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

The alert for students to stay in their rooms came over the intercom just as the school bell went to signal the end of the day. Pupils were brought to the school hall at around 4.15pm once the emergency was over and were allowed to go home.

The shooting is believed to be linked to an escalating dispute between two feuding gangs.

An eye-witness told independent.ie they heard two shots being fired and saw a man running in the direction of the school.

"Some of the parents were very upset," they said, adding that many were thanking the principal of the school for how well handled the incident was.

Teachers blocked classroom doors as their school was put into lockdown after a gunman opened fire outside.

Patron body the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board said that pupils and staff will be offered psychological support if needed.THE Minister for Health Simon Harris has rejected claims that he was advised by the former clinical director of CervicalCheck not to offer women a smear test outside of their three or five yearly schedule.

He was responding to a written communication to the Oireachtas health committee from Dr Grainne Flannelly that she warned the open invitation to women in late April last year would mean labs could not cope with the increase.

The offer was made as the CervicalCheck scandal raged and thousands of worried women were contacting GPs about their tests.

However, Mr Harris said he did not receive this advice and the decision was made with the support of the Chief Medical Officer and officials.

It was a response to the huge level of worry among women at the time, he insisted.

There is now a backlog of around 80,000 tests now with reporting delays of up to 33 weeks following the decision of thousands of women to avail of the free test.

Damian McCallion, head of the HSE screening service, said today he was optimistic that headway will be made in cutting the backlog in the near future and additional lab capacity has been identified which is currently being checked for quality assurance.

The issue of whether Mr Harris was told about Dr Flannellys advice was raised by Fianna Fail spokesman on health Deputy Stephen Donnelly at Oireachtas health committee today.

He said if Mr Harris had been informed the minister would have misled the Dail because he previously said no such advice was given.

Mr Harris said today: Let us remember the time. We had lost all confidence in management of Cervical Check, I had lost confidence, the Opposition had, certainly the women of Ireland had. We had sent in new management.

It would not have been fair if some worried women were able to pay for a test but others who were anxious , and could not afford it, lost out, he said. The fairest decision was to provide a free test to all after consultation with their GP.

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This comes as Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin, has launched a scathing attack on the Health Minister and challenged him to correct the record of the Dail about the circumstances leading to a 33-week delay in delivering cervical test results.

Mr Martin said it was clear that the head of the cervical test service had warned against offering free re-tests for women concerned when the controversy broke in spring 2018.

The Fianna Fail leader said the then-head of the service, Dr Grainne Flannelly, had warned that the offer of free re-tests would disrupt the service causing serious backlogs. He said the Government was still claiming that this warning was not relayed to the Minister or his senior officials.

The full truth must be told about the exact series of events, Mr Martin told the Dail. He added that he believed the Health Minister, Simon Harris, must be directed to come to the Dail and correct the formal record.

But the Taoiseach hit back saying the Fianna Fail leader had himself castigated the cervical test service leaders in May 2018  the same officials whose cause he was now actively championing.

You said they were cold, calculating, possibly involved in illegality and conspiracy, the Taoiseach recalled Mr Martin as saying. In that event, Mr Varadkar said, it was up to Mr Martin to correct the Dail record.

The Taoiseach said test result delays were now running at about 15 weeks  though in some cases this was up to 33 weeks which was unacceptable. Mr Varadkar said the scheme was overall successful in reducing deaths by helping earlier diagnosis of cervical cancer.

He added that part of the current delay was due to a greater uptake in the service, and more resources were being put into the system to speed things up.OVERCROWDING has reached chaotic levels at University Hospital Limerick where there are 92 patients on trolleys, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

At 8am there were 81 patients waiting for beds, however this increased to 92 by midday, confirmed INMO Indistrial Relations Officer, Mary Fogarty.

According to the nursing representative, it is the highest ever daily figure recorded in an Irish hospital.

There are no words to describe how bad this is. Trolleys are blocking pathways, as well as exits, and, there are doctors and nurses trying to offer care in corridors, Ms Fogarty said.

Ms Fogarty described the situation as being a dangerous environment for patients and staff.

UHL saw a 17-bed ward closed last week, which the INMO says is contributing to the problem.

However, a UHL spokesman stated Monday that the closure of 17 beds has been offset by the opening of 22 beds elsewhere in the hospital in recent weeks.

In addition, the Medical Assessment Unit has increased in capacity by two beds and moved from a five-day week, 12-hour service, to 24/7 since January, they added.

Ms Fogarty responded this Wednesday: If this has been done, why is it not working.

Staff and patients are under intolerable pressure in Limerick today. This is the worst-ever figure we've recorded in an Irish hospital, she said.

"This comes less than a week after a 17-bed ward in UHL was shut. The beds that have been closed in UHL need to be reopened immediately.

"We are calling on the Minister to intervene and deal with the chronic overcrowding in the hospital as an urgent matter of patient and staff safety.

The INMO has launched a petition, calling for the closed ward to be reopened and for bed capacity and staffing to be increased

The petition has gathered almost 800 signatures in the last 24 hours.

A UHL spokesman stated Monday, when 72 patients languished on trolleys in Limerick, that the hospital sincerely regrets that any patient has to face long waits in our Emergency Department (ED).

The ED at UHL is one of the busiest in the country and the numbers presenting continue to increase year-on-year. Attendances to the end of December 2018 were 71,824 representing an increase of over 6% on 2017.

The hospital has been asked for comment this Wednesday.

Limerick Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan has called on Simon Harris to intervene.

There is chaos at University Hospital Limerick today as the number of people on trolleys has reached a shameful new high. Eighty-one people on trolleys were recorded at the INMO count at 8am this morning, but this has already climbed to 92 people before midday, Deputy Quinlivan said.

This is absolutely appalling. This is the highest ever recorded at UHL. It is a shocking indictment of this governments health policy.

Patients and their families are being packed into this hospital like sardines, and nurses and doctors are being forced to treat sick patients on corridors and work in a dangerously overcrowded environment.

No patient should have to be treated on a hospital trolley when they are at their sickest, let alone 92 people already today. I have been informed that patients are waiting days to get a hospital bed.

The Government has allocated 2m for enabling works for a proposed 19.5m temporary 60-bed inpatient block at UHL.

Management has also sought funding for a permanent 96-bed unit, however the Government has yet to sign off on the plan.

Today, nationally, 594 admitted patients were waiting for beds - of which 432 were waiting in emergency departments, while 162 are on wards.

The second worst hit hospital today is Cork University Hospital where there are 50 patients on trolleys, and thirdly, University Hospital Galway with 43 on trolleys.Theresa May would not be granted a delay without a concrete plan. Photo: PA

Talks on a possible compromise Brexit deal are to continue on Thursday after a meeting between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn which the Labour leader described as useful but inconclusive.

The meeting sparked fury among some Conservatives, with two ministers quitting Mrs Mays Government and a string of backbenchers voicing their anger during Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons.

It followed Mrs Mays dramatic announcement that she was willing to reach out across the political divide to find a deal allowing her to obtain a short delay to Brexit at an emergency EU summit on April 10.

Mr Corbyn said the meeting in the PMs Commons office was useful but inconclusive, adding: There has not been as much change as I expected. But in formal statements, both sides described the talks as constructive.

A Labour spokesman said: We have had constructive exploratory discussions about how to break the Brexit deadlock.

And Downing Street said: The talks were constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.

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It is understood that a planning meeting was taking place in Parliament on Wednesday evening ahead of intensive technical discussions by negotiating teams on Thursday.

Mrs May has said she hopes to find a solution which both leaders can support, or failing that, a system of indicative votes which both will recognise as binding.

Finance minister Philip Hammond said this evening that Britain will ask the European Union for a Brexit delay that gives the option to leave as soon as a divorce deal is approved by parliament.

"The important thing now is that in any extension that we get from the EU, we have an absolute clarity that as soon as we've done the deal, we are able to bring that extension to an end," Hammond told ITV.

"So it's less about the nominal length of time of the extension and more about the mechanism for bringing it to an end once the deal is done," he said. "That would be our expectation."

Meanwhile, Senior DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson appeared to hold out the prospect of the party supporting Britain's membership of a post-Brexit customs union.

"We would have preferred a form of Brexit that enables the UK to negotiate new trade agreements with other countries," Jeffrey Donaldson, a Democratic Unionist Party lawmaker, was quoted as saying by BBC Northern Ireland Political Correspondent Enda McClafferty.

"That is part of the reason for Brexit and maybe a customs union might be a temporary staging post towards that objective," Donaldson was quoted as saying.

In a boost to the Prime Minister, MPs failed in a bid to take over the Commons timetable on Monday for a third round of indicative votes on Brexit alternatives, with Speaker John Bercow wielding his casting vote after MPs split 310-310.

MPs voted by a majority of one to allow a cross-party bid to pass legislation to block a no-deal Brexit in a single day on Wednesday, with a majority of five then agreeing to a second reading.

Wales minister Nigel Adams denounced the decision to meet Mr Corbyn as a grave error as he announced his resignation from the Government.

The Selby and Ainsty MP  a close ally of Boris Johnson who took part in planning for his abortive push for the leadership in 2016  told Mrs May in a letter: It now seems that you and your Cabinet have decided that a deal cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first is better than no deal. I profoundly disagree with this approach.

And Chris Heaton-Harris quit the Department for Exiting the EU with a warning that the PM was being badly advised over the risks of no-deal.

The Daventry MP, whose responsibilities included overseeing no-deal preparations, said the UK would swiftly overcome any difficulties caused by quitting the EU without an agreement.

Mrs Mays evident determination to avoid no deal had made his job irrelevant, he said.

In a letter of resignation to the PM, he said civil servants had moved mountains to ensure a no-deal Brexit could go ahead smoothly, adding: I do not believe the briefings you have received on these matters recently have reflected all they have achieved.

Disgruntled Tory MPs were expected to voice their anger at a meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee in Westminster on Wednesday evening.

Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with a known Marxist.

And normally loyal Caroline Johnson was among a clutch of Tory backbenchers at PMQs who spoke out against what she called the risk of letting down the country and ushering in a Marxist, anti-Semite led government.

Mrs May told MPs that the purpose of her meeting with Mr Corbyn was to look at those areas we agree on.

I think we both want to deliver leaving the EU with a deal, she said. I think we both want to protect jobs. I think we both want to ensure that we end free movement. I think we both recognise the importance of the Withdrawal Agreement.

What we want to do now is find a way forward that can command the support of this House and deliver on Brexit, deliver on the result of the referendum and ensure that people can continue to have trust in their politicians doing what they ask us to do.

She also met Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford.

Following the meeting, Mr Corbyn said he put forward Labours view that we want to achieve a customs union with the European Union, we want to have access to the market and, in particular, we discussed the dynamic regulatory alignment that is guaranteeing European regulations as a minimum on the environment as well as consumer and employment rights.

To the fury of some Tories who virulently oppose any involvement in a customs union, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said a softer Brexit was the remorseless logic of the numbers of the House of Commons.

Mr Barclay told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: If the Prime Ministers deal wont go through and no deal in law is taken off the table, then the consequence of that is either a soft Brexit or no Brexit at all.

He blamed hardliners in Tory ranks for the situation, saying: Its regrettable that what we have been saying for several months now is coming to pass, but that is the remorseless logic of not backing the Prime Ministers deal.

But Attorney General Geoffrey Cox suggested that it would remain possible for the UK to quit any customs union arrangement after successfully completing Brexit.

Mr Cox told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg: If we decided, in some considerable years time, that we wanted to review our membership of any such customs union if we signed it  and Im not saying we will  thats a matter for negotiation and discussion.

Theres nothing to stop us removing ourselves from that arrangement, so we cant look at these things as permanent straitjackets upon this country.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would accept an extension to May 22 if the UK had approved Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement by a viable majority before April 12.

But speaking in Brussels, he said a no-deal Brexit at the end of next week was becoming more and more likely, adding: April 12 is the final date for possible approval. If the House of Commons does not adopt a stance before that date no short-term extension will be possible.McCreery said she is looking forward to continuing three initiatives she has already been involved in as a trustee: Economic development and renewal in the village; seeing a proposal that will offer incentives to homeowners who remodel their homes come to fruition; and launching the Niles Design District, focusing on businesses that offer home improvement and design services.Irish universities rank among the best in the world in meeting global goals aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring peace and prosperity for all.

Five of Irelands seven universities are in the top 100 of the first ever international league table measuring their commitment to areas such as gender equality, climate action and sustainable cities and communities.

University College Cork (UCC) is the highest placed, at 21st, boosted by its best in-the-world rating for responsible consumption and its approach to sustainable use of resources.

UCC is followed by Trinity College Dublin (TCD), University of Limerick (UL), University College Dublin (UCD) and Dublin City University (DCU).

As well as featuring prominently throughout the list, Irish universities are a global second  behind Canada and ahead of Australia  based on average scores.

More than 550 universities in 80 countries were rated against 11 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the results are based on data collected from the universities themselves and the information analytics company, Elsevier.

It included looking at universities policies on academic freedom, their use of secure employment contracts and their share of senior female academic staff.

The University Impact Rankings are compiled by the UK-based Times Higher Education (THE) and represent a new way of looking at university excellence that goes beyond the teaching and research focus of traditional rankings.

New Zealands University of Auckland tops the table largely thanks to its scores for two of the goals including good-health and well-being, with Canadas McMaster University claiming second position.

UL ranked 35th and its president Dr Des Fitzgerald, said it was very heartening as the social and economic impact of a university had to be one of the most important performance indicators of any higher education institution globally.

UL was fourth worldwide in the Decent Work and Economic Growth category, which reflects the quality of the work environment at the university for all employees, as well as a focus on equipping students for employment.

Ellie Bothwell, global rankings editor at THE, said the rankings recognised  the fantastic work that universities do for the good of society to tackle some of our most pressing global issues  work that often goes unrecognised and undocumented.

The results in this inaugural edition shake up our very notion of what excellence looks like.Former justice minister Dermot Ahern said Isil bride Lisa Smith may be better off not returning to Ireland, because she will face "scrutiny and hostility".

Mr Ahern knew Ms Smith, from Dundalk, Co Louth, when she was a member of the Defence Forces, serving on the Government jet.

He said she had a "bubbly" personality and had made herself known to him, given they were both from the same Co Louth town.

Mr Ahern admitted his own neighbours are not supportive of her return and others would feel embittered about her return.

But he said the Government could not "forsake her" and her two-year-old daughter Ruqayya.

Mr Ahern's neighbours are related to Katie Healy and husband David Nolan, from Co Cork, who was shot during the Isil attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in 2015.

Mr Ahern said he didn't believe the Government should follow the British government by stripping her citizenship, as has been the case with British Isil bride Shamima Begum.

"One point of view is she would nearly be better not coming home, as she would be subject to a lot of scrutiny, hostility and examination," Mr Ahern said on RTE's 'Marian Finucane' show.

"She would be hounded, but I know behind her there's a family who are extremely worried, as are the Healys, who are worried about people like that being treated compassionately. My immediate neighbours are the Healys.

"Katie Healy, the daughter and her then boyfriend, now husband, David Nolan, were badly injured and he was particularly, in the Bataclan and I have to say the Healys...

"There are conflicting views.

"I see the Government view, particularly the fact there's a two-year-old child - they can't forsake her and the child - and say they will see to it she's brought home."

He added: "It's a difficult one. Generally Ireland showed compassion to people in difficulties abroad."

The politician said he remembered Ms Smith well as a Dundalk native on the Government jet, whom he'd shared jokes with and had a "relationship" with, especially given they both hailed from the same Co Louth town.

"She had a very distinct Dundalk accent and made herself known to me," he said.

"She was very bubbly and nice.

"We used to slag the rest of the staff and ministers on the jet, that the jet was taken over by people from Dundalk.

"It was only when I picked up the papers and saw her name, I said: 'Oh my goodness, she took a very funny turn in her career path.'"Irish Rail sent out a tweet asking anyone if they knew who owned the little black and tan male dog. Photo: Irish Rail

Irish Rail sent out a tweet asking anyone if they knew who owned the little black and tan male dog. Photo: Irish Rail

A brave and curious dog managed to make his way onto a train from Sallins, Co Kildare to Dublins Heuston Station early this morning.

He was found as he disembarked the busy 8.46 Sallins to Dublin commuter train alone by a member of the public.

Irish Rail sent out a tweet asking anyone if they knew who owned the little black and tan male dog.

They tweeted: Anyone lost their dog? We have this little fella in Heuston. He was found on the 8.46 Sallins to Houston. Help us find his owner.

They later tweeted: Our lost dog is sleeping soundly in Heuston right now but were still hoping to reunite him with his owner.

Scores of people took to social media to try to help and with offers to rehome the dog if its owner is not found.

One tweeted saying, microchip in your pet can be scanned by a vet or animal welfare person such as a dog warden, dog pound operator guard of other other trained individual. It might be an idea if no one claims.

Another added: I would happily re-home if owner is not found.

An Irish Rail spokesperson said: As far as we know the dog was on the train alone and was found after disembarking the train. by a member of the public.

He was brought to the information by this eagle eyed person. The little dog is being well looked after by two members of staff, one of whom works in a voluntary capacity with an animal rescue centre.

We are currently getting someone to see if he is microchipped but would love to re-unite him with his owner as soon as possible. He hasnt been given a nickname by us yet. The little dog is really feeling, the love by members of the public on social media who really want to help us.A CASH machine was stolen in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan earlier this morning.

Gardai are investigating after the ATM was removed from the wall with a digger at approximately 3am.

The ATM was then loaded onto a trailer, which was towed by a dark coloured jeep.

The jeep left in the direction of the Oram Road.

It is understood that the digger remained at the scene this morning.

A number of routes through Castleblaney town centre remain closed this morning as a result of the incident.

AA Roadwatch have warned motorists that Main St, Shercock Rd, York St and Muckno St are expected to remain closed until midday.

On Monday, the PSNI appealed for information after an ATM machine was stolen in Aghohill, Co Antrim.

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Police called for anyone with information to come forward after a "spate of ATM thefts across Northern Ireland".

"As in all of these ATM thefts, the actions of these criminals have not only caused immediate financial harm to the business that was targeted, but they have understandably caused fear in the community and impacted upon a vital service many local people rely on," Detective Chief Inspector David Henderson said.

"In areas where ATMs have been stolen, local people may have to travel considerable distances to find an alternative way to withdraw money and the livelihoods of the business owners who have worked for years to build up their businesses is also jeopardised.

"Theres also the loss of very expensive machinery, which cause delays in production, damage to the local economy and the likelihood of criminal finances being redirected back into funding further organised crime or terrorism.

"We need people to report anything suspicious, including seeing any unusual activity or people in areas close to ATMs. For example, if you hear machinery late at night or in the early hours please let us know.

"If you know who the culprits are let us know also.The return of 120 Irish troops from Syria delayed less than 24 hours before they were due home

Some 130 members of the Defence Forces are, for the second time in a year, unable to return home from Syria to their families tomorrow.

The troops are part of the UNDOF mission in the Golan Heights and were scheduled to fly out of Beirut and land in Dublin Airport at 11am Thursday morning.

In the last hour it has emerged that they will not be home as scheduled.

There are 130 troops effected and the flight was due home at 9.40am.

They have finished a six month tour of duty and the soldiers to replace them have already arrived.

One wife, who did not want her name used, said: Myself and the children are devastated, we have gone through a long arduous six months without him.

The kids were so excited about seeing their Dad in the morning and having to break the news to them was heartbreaking.

I know we are in a lucky enough position living [relatively] close to the airport, but some families will have travelled from around the country today to be in Dublin to collect their husbands/dads/sons in the morning.

Im also aware of a number of troops who have travel plans this weekend with their families. This is just another example today of the appalling treatment of our troops, she added.

PDFORRA confirmed they have just been made aware of an issue.

Ger Guinan said: We are absolutely gutted for their families and we are deeply disappointed this has arisen especially as it occurred last October too.

There was an issue last year with the delayed return, also from Syria, of soldiers.

A spokesperson for the Department of Defence said, "The United Nations is responsible for organising the rotation flights to transport the current UNDOF contingent back to Ireland."

"We have been advised by the UN that the Lebanese Authorities have not yet granted approval of the landing clearance in Beirut for the aircraft scheduled to transport the 59th Infantry Group."

"Defence Forces personnel on the ground are liaising with the local United Nations personnel, who are doing their utmost to resolve this situation."

"At the request of Minister Paul Kehoe, Ireland's Permanent Mission in New York is engaging directly at the highest levels with the UN in New York, with a view to resolving the situation as quickly as possible."

"Defence Forces personnel remain at their base at Camp Faoar in Syria pending resolution of the situation."

"Families have been informed of this delay by designated Family Liaison Officers, and further updates will continue to be provided as they become available," the spokesperson added.

MORE TO FOLLOWNURSES will move onto a higher pay scale in less than two years but face curbs on double-jobbing under a new contract offered to end a strike threat.

The Labour Court has rejected a HSE demand that nurses work for two years before they qualify to move onto the new scale.

Instead, they would move onto a new enhanced pay scale after a year and 16 weeks in their job.

In a new recommendation, the court also rules out the possibility of split shifts where a nurse might be required to go home for a number of hours before returning to work.

But the proposal specifies that legal limits on double-jobbing will be upheld.

"Work outside the confines of this contract is not permissible if the combined working time associated with this employment taken together with any other employment exceeds the maximum weekly working hours as set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act," it says.

The recommendation if accepted by unions in a ballot would give the HSE considerable flexibility in rostering. nurses and midwives

It says:

-nurses may be required to provide services at other places of work "on a regular or intermittent basis" as required by the employer

-rosters "may provide for a variety of shifts".

-It also mentions "measures" to ensure an "equitable distribution" of premium pay.

Health Minister Simon Harris said the recommendation is a "sensible" way forward,.

"I hope the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation can now proceed with its ballot but that is a matter for them," he said.

The court issued the recommendation to resolve the long-running dispute that led to crippling strikes earlier this year.

It deals with nurses and midwives location during shifts, their duties, hours of work and the qualifying criteria that will apply to move onto an enhanced payscale.

The threat of further industrial action re emerged recently when talks between the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and government officials on the terms of a new contract broke down.

Although nurses on the contract would benefit from higher pay, the union objected to HSE demands that would give it greater control over rostering.

This included an initial proposal to enable the employer to ask nurses to move to another workplace within 43km within a shift.

The INMOs Executive Council recommended that members vote to accept proposals aimed at resolving their recent strike.

This Labour Court recommendation is a total vindication for what the INMO has said about the governments draft contract. The governments proposals were completely unreasonable and we are glad to see the Court has recognised this," said the leader of the union for 40,000 nurses Phil Ni Sheaghdha.

There is no longer anything to fear in this new contract."

Siptu, whose 4,000 nursing members did not go on strike, said it s received the latest of two court recommendations aimed at resolving the dispute.

Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, said in the coming days it will convene a meeting of members of its National Nurses and Midwives Sector Committee.Police in Russia investigating death of Irish man after an apparent fall

POLICE in Russia are investigating the death of an Irish man who was found in a city street after an apparent fall.

The man is being named inlocal media sources as Sean Quinn (52), a finance executive working for a construction company involved in development near St Petersburg airport.

The man's body was discovered outside an apartment block in the Primorskey area of St Petersburg at 1am yesterday.

Police are said to be investigating what Mr Quinn was doing in the area, as he was staying in a city centre hotel an hours drive away from the location.

The deceased was in Russia on a working visa.

According to reports, there was no CCTV in the residential area where he died.

His body was sent for a post mortem while an investigation was launched into what happened.

A police spokesman told a local radio station: We are checking.

The Irish Sun reports there is no suggestion of foul play, although there have been a number of cases of individuals dying in building plunges in Russia in recent years.

Last August, Bruno Charles De Cooman, a Belgian working for Russian Group Novolipetsk Steel, was found dead outside his home in Moscow.

His mother has since claimed he was murdered, saying he asked his Belgian driver to wait for him outside while he went up to his ninth floor apartment.

The previous April, Russian investigative journalist Maksim Borodin fell from a fifth floor window in Ekaterinburg.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is aware of the case and providing consular assistance.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been forced to assure Garda Commissioner Drew Harris that the Government does not support Disability Minister Finian McGrath's controversial claims of political policing.

Speaking during a high-level security meeting in Government Buildings, Mr Varadkar told Deputy Commissioner John Twomey that he did not share Mr McGrath's views on the enforcement of new road safety laws.

At the scheduled meeting of Cabinet Committee F, which deals with national security, on Monday, Mr Varadkar said he did not believe gardai were carrying out unnecessary breathalyser checks because they oppose new drink- driving laws.

He also noted that Mr McGrath had retracted and apologised for his comments.

The Taoiseach is also understood to have emphasised that it was up to the Oireachtas to legislate and it was for gardai to enforce the law "fairly and proportionately".

Mr Twomey agreed to pass on the Taoiseach's remarks to the Garda Commissioner, who is currently away.

The deputy commissioner also said Mr McGrath's apology has been accepted by Garda Headquarters, according to Government sources.

Mr Twomey added that the matter was now closed.

Yesterday, Mr McGrath apologised directly to his Cabinet colleagues for his controversial remarks about gardai.

Sources said he made the "grovelling apology" to ministers and admitted he made a mistake in accusing gardai of political policing.

At a meeting of Fine Gael ministers, the Taoiseach defended Mr McGrath saying "everyone makes a mistake" and said the Government should move on.

His comments followed demands for Mr McGrath's resignation from the families of road victims and calls for him to apologise to gardai.

He came in for severe criticism after he claimed in a 'Sunday Independent' interview that gardai have become politicised and have been "over the top" in the implementation of tougher drink-driving laws.

He also claimed gardai were blaming Transport Minister Shane Ross for the laws when stopping motorists.

Mr McGrath withdrew his comments on Sunday evening and said they were "wrong" in the midst of a furious response from Government colleagues and gardai. He also apologised "unreservedly" to the families of road victims and gardai.

Mr McGrath said it was never his intention to cause hurt to anyone and insisted the victims of drink-driving and their families have always been his priority.TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has questioned whether the leader of the British Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, will rise to the occasion and help solve the UKs Brexit riddle.

Prime Minister Theresa May is meeting with the UK opposition leader today in a desperate bid to find a compromise that will see the country depart the EU in an orderly fashion.

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The two politicians have been firm enemies in the House of Commons since Mrs May took over as Conservative Party leader after the Brexit referendum.

But she has risked the ire of her backbenches by inviting Mr Corbyn to last ditch talks on the impasse.

In the Dail, Mr Varadkar described the efforts to find a compromise as timely.

But he added: I dont know if Mr Corbyn will rise to the occasion and show leadership. I hope he does.

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he Taoiseach also denied that EU superpowers like France and Germany are pressuring Ireland into drawing up plans for border checks in a no-deal scenario.

He said they have reasonable questions about how the EU single market will be protected.

But Mr Varadkar added: If there is no deal, they are very much seen as shared problems. Its not a question of a big stick or us being put under undue pressure.

Noting his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday, Mr Varadkar said he was heartened by the enormous support France continues to demonstrate towards Ireland.

Asked whether he believes EU members states will support an extension to the Brexit deadline of April 12, Mr Varadkar said his general sense was the European Council members are open to the idea.

But he said they dont want that to a licence for further indecision.

Mr Varadkar warned there is growing frustration among a majority of EU countries that Brexit is taking them away from other important matters.

That is worrying for us, he said.

Read more here:A: It is very humbling to me. I think the police department should get that award because they are my heroes. Those men and ladies are just great people, and I feel so bad they are not respected in our whole country and all over the world. Law and order is not respected like it should be.Two Irish authors have been shortlisted for the 2019 International Dublin Literary Award - the world's most lucrative literary prize for a single novel published in English.

Sally Rooney's Conversations with Friends and Bernard MacLaverty's Midwinter Break have made the 10-strong shortlist for the 100,000euro prize, which is now in its 24th year.

The shortlist, which was nominated by libraries around the world, also includes novels from France, Pakistan, the UK and the US.

Mayo author Rooney's 2017 Conversations with Friends was the 28-year-old's debut novel. She followed it up last year with the Man Booker longlisted Normal People, which won a slew of awards including the Costa Award Novel Award.

Midwinter Break, meanwhile, is Belfast-born and Glasgow-based MacLaverty's fifth novel, and was his first in 16 years. It won the Novel of the Year award at the 2017 Irish Book awards. The 74-year-old is also the author of Cal and Lamb, both of which he adapted for the big screen.

Dublins Lord Mayor, Niall Ring, patron of the Award, said last night: "The beauty of this award is that it reaches out to readers and authors worldwide, while also celebrating excellence in contemporary Irish literature represented on the 2019 shortlist by Sally Rooney and Bernard MacLaverty.

Last year, Mayo writer Mike McCormack won the prize for his novel Solar Bones.

The winner of the 2019 International Dublin Literary Award, which is entirely funded by Dublin City Council, will be announced on June 12.It's something that no parent ever wants to think about, never mind experience. When film makers Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds lost their son Josh (22) they were plunged deep into grief. Their way through it was to make a film that shines a spotlight on parental bereavement.

The Irish Hospice Foundation are bringing the film, A Love That Never Dies and its makers to Dublin for its Irish premiere later this week, hoping to spark a conversation about something that is rarely talked about because most of us don't know what to say to parents who have lost a child.

Making the film took Jane and Jimmy and their children, Joe (40) and Rosa (25), to Vietnam to visit the place where Josh was killed in a road accident in 2011. Jane says it was important that she look around and see the last things he might have seen.

Photos and film footage of Josh first as a baby and a toddler, then a gangly teenager and later as a young man making his way in the world are interspersed with Jane and Jimmy talking about how they travelled in search of what their son's death means. That journey also took them in search of other people whose children had died.

As a parent it's not easy or comfortable to watch and you do so with a growing sense of dread. Bearing witness to the grief of those whose children have died is heart wrenching.

But it's also hopeful. Jane talks about how much stronger she is because of Josh. Other parents speak of finding ways to honour their child, of coping and of living a full life again when they thought they could not.

Jane and Jimmy, who first met at film school, founded The Good Grief Project following Josh's death to help people like themselves move forward in an active and creative way through grief using tools like creative writing and photography. A Love That Never Dies is part of their response to Josh's death and it is as much a story about love as it is an exploration of grief.

Speaking from her home in Gloucestershire, Jane - a psychotherapist - says the work she and Jimmy do is all about finding a language for grief that's hopeful and positive. "It's trying to overcome the silence and the stigma. Grief changes you - you learn from it," she says.

She also believes some of the language around grief in words like "closure" as well as societal expectations of a time frame in which the bereaved person moves on are unhelpful.

"There shouldn't be a time frame around healing. You don't 'get over it'. The more you love, the more you hurt. You can't get around sadness - you have to go through it. We're saying let's be brave and strong and let's allow people to be open. Let's not apply rules".

While she says she will always grieve for her son, Jane says she is also satisfied and happy in lots of ways in her life. "I know more than ever before what's important. It's helped me become a much better therapist. I know you can't fix this kind of pain. You have to be alongside people courageously and not try to fix it or come up with cliches".

Striking at the loneliness that bereaved parents feel because the subject isn't talked about was also important, she explains.

"We felt we had to step up to this subject once and for all and encourage people to be honest. We're not saying it's for fixing but it is about communicating. We want people to talk to us wherever they are," says Jane.

And it's her hope that the film she and Jimmy have made will be shared in big cinemas and not be marginalised. "We want people to ask us questions. We're not afraid any more - we found the courage. What Josh has taught us is what's important and that is being honest and open about the things that really matter," says Jane.

According to Sharon Vard, CEO of Anam Cara, a support organisation for parents who have lost children, it's vital for parents who have been bereaved to connect with other parents who know what it feels like.

When her daughter Rachel died of brain tumour at the age of five in 2004, Sharon says she didn't know how her family would cope. "The loneliness is indescribable even in a room full of people. You just want your child back," she says.

"I couldn't be the person I was before - that person was gone. Up until then we were at our happiest. I didn't know it at the time," says Sharon who is mum to two, Dylan and Joyce, now in their 20s.

After realising the lack of support and services for bereaved parents, she and her husband Aidan along with a small group of other parents set up Anam Cara.

"These children leave a legacy and Anam Cara is about that legacy. Parents come to meet other parents. Eventually people get stronger - they grow around their grief," she says.

"Rachel is still a huge part of our lives. I still have a relationship with Rachel. It's a relationship I carry within me. I live my life now for the both of us.

"What I know now is love is way stronger than grief. The love is stronger if you let it come through.

"That's why it's so important to connect with organisations like us. We are not a counselling organisation - what we offer is a safe and comfortable place where parents can come," says Sharon.

Dr Susan Delaney, a clinical psychologist and bereavement consultant with the Irish Hospice Foundation, says even thinking about the death of a child leaves us feeling anxious. However, she says parents who have lost a child need people to show up in common humanity and try to help those who are grieving.

"Please don't isolate bereaved parents. It doesn't matter if you don't have the words. What words are there? You're not going to say anything that's going to make it alright. You can say, 'How can I help you?' You can make a meal or pick up children. But don't ever feel it's better to say nothing or feel it's too late. It's never too late," says Dr Delaney.

She explains that out of all bereavements, being bereaved of a child is a risk factor for getting stuck in your grief. "People have different coping skills. Some people find their way with the help of family and friends. Some find it difficult - those are the people we need to target for intervention," she says.

However, Dr Delaney says while it's not about 'getting over it' or 'moving on' it's important to acknowledge that we are hard wired to heal from grief.

"Finding a meaningful life and finding joy in your life is not mutually exclusive to missing your child. We know that grief reshapes to where you can remember your child with love rather than with pain".

Giving a voice to bereaved parents, letting them know there are services available to them and allowing them to hear from people who share their story and struggle are all important in terms of healing, she says.

Dr Delaney says Jane and Jimmy's film is about a message of hope and joy. And she says while we talk about broken bones mending, people should know that broken hearts also heal.

Jane and Jimmy will attend the Dublin premiere of A Love That Never Dies this Thursday at the Odeon Point Square cinema at the Point Village and audience members can participate in a Q&A afterwards. While the showing is sold out, the film is available on Amazon or Vimeo. See thegoodgriefproject.co.uk for moreHappy couple: Sergeant Pat Cassidy and Yvonne on their wedding day at Dublins McKee Barracks

A young Army sergeant who helped save three lives has been honoured as part of Organ Donor Awareness Week.

The family of Sergeant Pat Cassidy - originally from Athlone - joined with Defence Force members in a ceremony at McKee Barracks in Dublin.

Sgt Cassidy was 47 when he died following a heart attack - and he was the holder of an organ donor card. His lungs, kidneys and liver helped save three people.

His wife Yvonne said: "Pat would have been proud. We got married here and it holds so many special memories."

Pat had appeared fit and healthy before his death: "The decision to donate his organs was a hard one but was made easier knowing we were honouring his wishes."

The focus of Organ Donor Awareness Week is to remind individuals to talk to their families, carry the organ donor card, permit Code 115 to be included on their driver's licence and have the "digital organ donor card" app on their smartphone.It was a tale of two 'Zucks'.

The first, who turned up to speak to TDs behind closed doors, wore a suit with all of the sartorial awkwardness we've been accustomed to seeing.

The second emerged via a quick costume change into his more familiar grey sweater-shirt, ready to be mobbed by selfie-seeking workers at Facebook's expanding Dublin headquarters.

But both Mark I and Mark II had pointed messages to deliver to Dublin policy-makers and, by extension, the rest of Europe.

Flanked by ex-Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg (now one of Facebook's top advisers), 'Zuck' laid out a few home truths to would-be regulators and watchdogs.

Echoing some of what he had written in 'The Sunday Independent' and 'Washington Post' at the weekend, Mr Zuckerberg warned that Facebook alone couldn't decide what kind of "content" is harmful or not.

Instead, governments and regulators need to start being a little clearer as to what they mean when they say that Facebook "should do something", he said.

He had a similar line on the issue of political interference, admitting to TDs that Russia would likely again try to disrupt elections and that Facebook may sometimes need help from local authorities in dealing with it.

And on the matter of privacy, he repeated he wants European-style levels adopted in other parts of the world.

Basically, his message to decision-makers in Facebook's European base was: stop expecting us to decide everything ourselves, start creating and enforcing new laws on the stuff you complain about.

Mr Zuckerberg was far more forthcoming with TDs than he was with local media, with whom he restricted his comments.

He told TDs that he may appear before the Oireachtas in front of a cross-parliamentary committee to answer detailed questions in November.

This may turn out to be significant: he has repeatedly declined summonses to appear at Westminster. (He is also known to believe that testimony appearances before legislatures can descend into ill-informed circuses, as witnessed when he turned up at the US Houses of Congress.)

Mr Zuckerberg also candidly admitted that reclassifying 1.5 billion Facebook users as non-EU data subjects on the eve of the GDPR data privacy law was not a good look. Facebook did it, he told the TDs, for technical and "practical" reasons.

And the 34-year-old Facebook boss said that his company will not drop its appeal to the UK information commissioner's 500,000 (586,000) fine over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. He is said to have told the TDs he does not believe the company deserved the fine.

Mr Zuckerberg was meeting parliamentary TDs Eamon Ryan, James Lawless and Hildegarde Naughton in Dublin as part of an outreach exercise with an international 'Grand Committee', made up of politicians from the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Argentina.

The Facebook boss also toured the company's facilities in Dublin, which currently employs more than 4,000 people and is set to add another 1,000 this year.

Mr Zuckerberg also met journalists, but restricted his answers to pre-prepared remarks.

However, he was willing to put to bed one accusation frequently levelled at him. Asked whether Facebook or Instagram records voice conversations through smartphones to inform targeted ads, he said: "Absolutely not."

However, he again warned about Apple's "competing vision" for the internet, making a thinly veiled reference to the iPhone company when referring to data "stored" in countries like China.

"GDPR is as important for what it doesn't do, which is require companies to localise data and store systems data in a given country," he said, referring to Apple's compromise with Chinese authorities, where it stores data in servers located in that country. Facebook and Google are not allowed to operate in China.

"We can take this for granted in a country like Ireland or in the US where there's a strong rule of law and respect for human rights. But in a lot of the places around the world, those aren't a given.

"What we see is that there are some competing visions for how the internet goes and what the future of that will be.

"We see a lot of pressure in a number of countries localising data in a way that could put people's data more accessible to governments and in harm's way," he said.If the current state of British politics were personified, its exemplar would be Tory MP Mark Francois - gobby, cocksure and dense.

Once part of the lunatic fringe of the Conservatives, Mr Francois has hogged the limelight in recent months by making a series of belligerent and self-aggrandising statements.

Most recently, he launched a tirade against Chancellor Phillip Hammond, telling him "up yours" during one of his more measured radio interviews.

Also keen on comparing Brexit to World War II, Mr Francois has burned a letter from a German businessman on live TV to demonstrate "he will not be bullied" and vowed he would never surrender as he "was in the army" and "wasn't trained to lose".

In reality, he spent a few years in the territorial army in the 1980s and would be as much use in a real war as a fart in a tank.

It was once possible to ignore people like Mr Francois and write them off as useful idiots, but the malaise that he embodies has spread like a virus throughout his party.

At the weekend, 170 Tory MPs, including 10 cabinet ministers, sent a letter to Theresa May demanding Britain leave the EU on April 12 or soon after, with no deal if necessary.

They have done this despite a succession of catastrophic warnings about the impact of a no-deal outcome on the British economy and society - not to mention the collateral damage that would be wreaked on countries all over Europe.

The latest of those grim forecasts came from the most senior civil servant in the British government, Mark Sedwill, on Monday.

In a letter to the cabinet, he warned national security would be imperilled and the stability of the union would be threatened; companies that trade with the EU would collapse and the government would come under huge pressure to bail out struggling businesses; food prices would increase by 10pc with bigger increases for fresh produce; and direct rule would have to be reintroduced in Northern Ireland.

The current situation in Northern Ireland is particularly perilous as, due to the lengthy suspension of Stormont, there has been zero planning for a no-deal scenario.

Not that any of this matters to members of the Conservative parliamentary party, more than half of whom are willing to light the fuse of a bomb that will detonate the British economy.

Mrs May has been criticised for kowtowing to the most virulently Eurosceptic wing of her party, but the truth is there has been a coup and that faction has now assumed control of the Conservatives.

On Monday night, after parliament again failed to give majority support to any alternative to Mrs May's deal, former Tory minister Nick Boles, who had advocated a Norway-plus single market option, finally admitted defeat.

He dramatically resigned after the result of the vote was announced, stating he "had given everything in an attempt to find a compromise" and had failed "chiefly because my party refuses to compromise".

He is right. Parliament has been unable to find a path out of this mess because the vast majority of Tory MPs will not budge an inch from their preferred options - Mrs May's deal or bust.

There was almost no support among Conservatives for the alternatives that were put to the House of Commons on Monday night.

Just 37 of their MPs voted for a customs union, 33 voted for Norway-plus, 15 voted for a second referendum, while just 10 supported revoking Article 50 in circumstances where the only other option was no deal.

In total, 228 Tory MPs and 10 DUP MPs voted against every single alternative that was available to them. Those figures are stark. A maximum of just 11pc of Tory MPs were willing to countenance a compromise that could save the country from its Brexit madness.

This intransigence is not principled. Conservative MPs are petrified of softening their position for entirely selfish reasons. The national interest comes a distant second to their own careers.

They are worried if they were to support a softer Brexit they would suffer a fate similar to that of moderate MP Dominic Grieve, who was deselected by his local constituency association on Friday for the crime of advocating against no deal.

The tragedy of the British position is that even now, nine days before the Brexit deadline, they are not negotiating with Europe. They are too busy fighting among each other.

Since Mrs May announced her intention to resign after this stage of the Brexit process is completed, senior cabinet members have appeared more interested in jockeying for position than finding a solution to the impasse.

One of those pretenders to the crown, Liz Truss, gave an interview to the BBC on Monday in which she refused to accept the need to compromise, insisted the UK was ready for no deal and stated her preference was for the Withdrawal Agreement to be renegotiated - despite the EU repeatedly stating this was not possible.

Essentially, her pitch was to mimic exactly what Theresa May has been doing and saying for two years - while remaining supremely confident of achieving a different result.

With delusional public pronouncements like this from ministers, is it any wonder patience with Britain's warring politicians is rapidly evaporating across Europe?

What is all of this drama and high dungeon for? Even if people like Mr Francois get their dream of a no-deal Brexit, that result is not a final destination on their journey out of the EU.

If Britain crashes out, its politicians will eventually have to try to agree a deal with the EU - except they will be doing so from a position that is immeasurably weaker than their current beleaguered one.

When they do, they will face the same landmines that went off during the current talks - the question of the Irish Border, trade and the divorce bill. There is no escaping these issues. They will have to be addressed.

If the British were hoping that Ireland would be sacrificed on the altar of their Brexit ambitions, they were wrong. French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday again confirmed the EU "will never abandon Ireland or the Irish people, no matter what".

With 27 disparate EU countries managing to maintain a more coherent stance throughout these negotiations than the British themselves, the prospect of a positive outcome is looking more and more remote.

British politicians have led their people to the cliff edge. Unless something drastic happens soon, the only option available to them will be to jump.The Taoiseach may have been tempted to belt out a stave of the 'Sean Bhean Bhocht', that 1798 rebellion anthem anticipating the French soldiers landing and helping the insurgent Irish rout the "auld enemy".

"Oh the French are on the sea, says the Sean Bhean Bhocht...", it chimes in tones of hope surely to be followed by disappointment. President Emmanuel Macron's public message to the Taoiseach in Paris offered shades of all that and more.

"Nous n'abandonnerons jamais l'Irlande et les Irlandais. La solidarite est le sens meme du projet Europeen." It is best translated as: "We will never abandon Ireland and the Irish people. Solidarity is the very meaning of the European project."

If only political life could be reduced to such warm-hearted derring-do.

For Leo Varadkar, it is a case of yesterday President Macron, and tomorrow Chancellor Angela Merkel. It will be a huge uphill battle to get a long Brexit extension and the space to stave off a calamitous no-deal outcome in precisely nine days.

Such a hard Brexit will mean a hard Border in Ireland - the only questions will be about how and where controls will be imposed. Ireland's determination to avoid a visible Border in Ireland remains strong - but in the Dail yesterday Tanaiste Simon Coveney raised the prospect of another horror story.

This is the risk of Ireland being "dragged out of the EU single market" in the UK's wake via product controls being imposed on mainland Europe. It's serious stuff. Ireland's best hope is a delay which might allow a change of political weather in Britain.

But after President Macron's stirring Irish solidarity message he repeated his broadside directed at London. If, three years after the Brexit, they cannot agree what they want, they will be deemed to have chosen a no-deal crash-out by default. Any extension must have a convincing message of moving towards an early resolution.

Mr Macron has been driving this impatient message for weeks. Hours after his renewed warning there were signs from London of some semblance of realism creeping in.

Theresa May announced she was seeking "a short extension" and would work across all parties to seek an "agreed approach". She signalled that she will accept a unified approach by parliament, if such can be agreed. But that common stance cannot be taken for granted given ongoing divisions and time is beyond being short. EU leaders meet next Wednesday and an extension - even to May 22 - must get unanimous support and requires a commitment to hold European Parliament elections, which Mrs May does not want.

The Taoiseach will bank on the emollient skills of Ms Merkel as she comes to Dublin tomorrow. Up to now, she raised the strongest concerns about the single market being undermined via the Irish Border. But she is also "nice cop" to Macron's "nasty cop" when it comes to offering Mrs May an extension.Sean Quinn's five adult children began their High Court action against the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) last month hoping to avoid liability for 82m in loan guarantees they each faced.

They claimed the guarantees given to Anglo Irish Bank in 2007 and 2008 were invalid and could not be pursued by its successor, State-owned IBRC. But within days of the long-awaited action getting under way, it was clear things weren't going well for them.

Persuasive points were put forward by the IBRC when it opened its defence of the case.

And one of the Quinn side's key arguments, that they were under the undue influence of their father when they signed loan documentation, was blown out of the water by the trial judge last Wednesday.

By that stage, the writing already was on the wall for the Quinns and settlement talks were under way.

Both sides have spent the past eight years chasing each other through the courts.

In addition to the Quinn children's action against the IBRC, the bank had counter-claimed for 82m against each of the children. The IBRC was also pursuing the Quinn family over an alleged conspiracy to strip 455m in international property group (IPG) assets.

The agreement that emerged yesterday brought an end to all of these proceedings. It was greeted positively by both sides, but in reality the IBRC has come off much better.

As part of the deal, the Quinn children each consented to judgments of just over 88m, with a stay being put on the debts being registered. It is understood the stay is conditional on the children's continued assistance of the IBRC in its efforts to recover and liquidate the IPG assets.

The judgments will dangle over their heads like the sword of Damocles, threatening to fall if their co-operation with the IBRC is withdrawn.

The IPG was initially put together as a "nest egg" for the children. It included an 800-bedroom hotel in Prague, an office building in India, properties in Moscow and Kiev and hotels and pubs in Ireland.

But when Anglo moved to take control of Quinn assets in 2011, a plan was devised to put much of the IPG beyond the bank's reach. Mr Justice Peter Kelly would later remark the scheme was one of "mesmeric complexity" which "reeks of dishonesty and sharp practice". Another judge, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, would jail Sean Quinn and his son Sean Jr for being in contempt of court orders aimed at reversing asset stripping.

It has taken several years and tens of millions of euro in legal costs, but the IBRC now effectively has control of the IPG.

Despite this, the ongoing co-operation of the Quinns is seen as essential for the efficient sale of the assets.

The court cases may finally be over, but the IBRC is not done with the Quinns just yet.'Hovering too long in mid-air can only end in disaster; so let's hope this desperate last roll of the dice is not too little, too late' Photo: PA

There is not a playwright living or dead who could have devised a drama to incite as much fury, exhaustion and resignation as Brexit.

Its potential to do great harm is masked by the mannered banality of an afternoon soap opera.

All of its actors have been seduced by its spell into believing they can drone on drearily on an infinity loop; as the rest of the world screams "fire".

Even as no deal beckons ominously, the lethargy shows no sign of lifting.

In Dublin, Tanaiste Simon Coveney said the Government would not allow a situation where the UK, in leaving the EU without a deal, "drags Ireland out of the single market".

But he also said there is no plan for a no-deal Brexit.

The Government "is working one out" with the EU which he believed would be in place before that situation arose.

With nine days to go, and chaos near total in Westminster, we fervently hope it is.

The mood in Brussels is grim.

Michel Barnier has warned a long extension to the UK's current April 12 exit date carried "significant risks for the EU".

The strongest justification would be required before the EU would agree to a delay, he stressed.

But one wonders is anyone listening in London. Hope of redemption in the form of a host of indicative votes is slipping away.

The BBC has dubbed it a pantomime with no gags.

The cabinet has met for seven hours but the deadlock still holds. There is talk of an "irreconcilable split" in the executive.

The Tories seesaw between preferring no deal or a "softer" Brexit.

Theresa May has finally reached out to Labour. The belated move came only after MPs put forward a bill to prevent a no-deal departure.

If passed into law, it would compel Theresa May to plead for an extension of Article 50.

But she will only be granted one if a deal can be signed off on with Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who presented the delay bill, said MPs "have a responsibility to make sure we don't end up with a catastrophic no deal".

Hopefully the enormous economic and security risks of a messy break-up will finally be taken seriously. Mrs May has at last woken up to the fact she must either step up, or step out.

Ordinarily one might expect at a time of emergency, the opposition would move to get a hand on the wheel. But Mr Corbyn's Labour has shamelessly ducked responsibility until now. As one UK commentator put it: Labour is more an opposition in hiding, than in waiting. President Emmanuel Macron pointed out in France yesterday, whether an alternative plan involves a snap election, another referendum or a customs union, is for Britain to decide.

But hovering too long in mid-air can only end in disaster; so let's hope this desperate last roll of the dice is not too little, too late.When Dessie O'Hare was released in 2008 after serving half of a 40 year prison sentence for the kidnap and malicious wounding of a Dublin dentist, the country's most notorious terrorist tried to convince the world that he turned to God.

To prove his Damascene conversion the baby-faced psychopath spent a weekend meditating in the Glencree Peace and Reconciliation while on temporary release.

During another period of temporary release in 2008 he went with his wife on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.

But those who knew O'Hare best, knew that it was purely a ruse and that he would be up to his old tricks in no time.

Today the Special Criminal Court heard that the former INLA man, known as "The Border Fox", said that he was employed by businessman Jim Mansfield Junior to evict an employee and his family from his home. He also pleaded guilty to assault and false imprisonment of the same employee.

To the innocent observer O'Hare presents as soft-spoken and inoffensive, yet the Border Fox was one of the most notoriously violent and dangerous terrorists to emerge during the Troubles who is believed to have been responsible for a string of murders during his time.

He led a gang of like-minded thugs on a crime and terror spree along the Border carrying out armed robberies and sectarian shootings. On several occasions the gang opened fire on gardai and also exchanged fire with the Irish Army.

The Border Fox robbed weapons from a Provo arms dump in south Armagh and attempted to murder Official Unionist MP Jim Nicholson.

Expand Close Dessie O'Hare in the Glencree reconciliation centre. Exclusive picture;Gerry Mooney / Facebook

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The Provos were concerned that his erratic and unpredictable behaviour was jeopardising their own operations in the border area and they warned the INLA leadership that O'Hare would be shot if they didn't reign him in.

Born in County Armagh in 1958 he was a member of the IRA at the age of sixteen and quickly acquired a reputation as a ruthless and fearless killer.

In 1979 he switched sides and joined the INLA but was arrested by gardai south of the border after he and an associate had been chased by the RUC. He was convicted of possession of a firearm and sentenced to nine years in Portlaoise prison where he was described as a loner and general odd ball.

When he was released in October 1986, OHare told gardai that he had become a pacifist after studying the works of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Owen Sheehy Skeffington. But his pacifism did not last long.

On New Years Eve 1986 he shot and wounded a protestant neighbour, who was a part time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). The shooting victims 72-year-old mother was shot dead in the attack.

At the same time O'Hare became involved in a bloody internal feud which claimed several lives.

In February 1987 O'Hare abducted Tony McCloskey, a member of the Army Council Faction and used bolt cutters to cut off McCloskeys ear and some of his fingers. Then he and a female companion took turns pumping bullets into McCloskeys mutilated body.

O'Hare later told the Sunday Tribune that he was happy to give McCloskey a hard death.

In the bloodshed that followed OHare was blamed for killing another three members of the Army Council faction.

Shortly after the McCloskey incident and attracting the ire of the Provos, O'Hare was expelled from the criminal organisation.

It was then that he plotted the kidnapping of Dublin dentist John O'Grady.

While demanding a ransom of IR1.5 million O'Hare chopped off the dentists two little fingers which he then left in an envelope for his victims family behind a statue in Carlow cathedral.

After he was sentenced to 40 years for those crimes in the Special Criminal Court, O'Hare made a bizarre speech from the dock in which he declared:

The time has come for republican freedom fighters to turn their guns on members of the Irish establishment particularly the judiciary, members of the prison service, the Navy, the Army and the Gardai."Emily MacKeogh at The June Ball in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association at The Doubletree Hilton Hotel Dublin. Picture: Brian McEvoy

Emily MacKeogh at the third birthday of Ceira Lambert's Hair Consultancy at House in Leeson Street, Dublin. Picture: Brian McEvoy

MODEL and former Fade Street star Emily MacKeogh has been left devastated after the sudden death of her fiance in Dubai at the weekend.

Killian Roche, who proposed to Emily only two months ago, collapsed at a hotel in the Gulf city on Saturday.

It is understood he fell ill in the lobby and later died.

Consular assistance is being provided to the family following the tragedy.

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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of the case and providing consular assistance, a spokesman told Independent.ie last night.

The couple got engaged in February, with Emily announcing the news on her Instagram account.

My best friend asked me to marry him tonight and I said YES, she told her 10,700 followers.

She also uploaded a picture of her and Killian with the engagement ring.

Killian announced the news on his Facebook page with a photo of the couple kissing, saying: Today Emily MacKeogh made me the happiest Ive ever been.

Thank you so much and Im so happy that you said yes.

Expand Close Emily MacKeogh at the PrettyLittleThing.com 'Love From The West Coast launch at The Morgan Hotel Penthouse, Dublin. Picture: Brian McEvoy / Facebook

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Video of the Day

Killian popped the question while the couple were enjoying a getaway in the Swiss city of Zurich.

He died only days after the couple had moved to the United Arab Emirates to start a new life together.

Killian died on Saturday, a source said.

Emily is absolutely devastated. We are hearing it was either sudden adult death syndrome or a heart attack, but the autopsy is being carried out.

Killian wasnt unwell, there was nothing wrong with him. Its such a tragedy.

Emily (32) shot to fame when she was added to the cast of RTE reality show Fade Street in its second season alongside Roz Purcell.

She continued to model after the show wrapped and went on to set up her own jewellery businesses, Roxluna and Crystal and Co.Japan's long hours have increasingly come into the spotlight because of a growing number of deaths from overworking, known as karoshi (stock photo)

A new law capping overtime has come into effect in Japan in an attempt to tackle the nation's culture of long working hours.

The law limits extra work to 45 hours a month and 360 hours a year, with potential fines of 300,000 yen (2,400) for companies that violate the new rules.

The labour reform law, which initially targets only major companies, permits an extension of up to 100 hours a month and 720 hours a year in busy periods for a maximum of six months a year.

It will reportedly be expanded to include legal overtime caps for small and medium businesses in Japan from April next year.

Critics remain sceptical as to whether the new legal cap will succeed in transforming the deeply rooted culture of overworking in Japanese companies.

The pressures of corporate life are well documented, with many companies governed by hierarchical structures, strict protocol and widespread pressure for staff to work longer hours than their superiors.

Japan's long hours have increasingly come into the spotlight because of a growing number of deaths from overworking, known as karoshi.

As many as 190 people reportedly died from overworking, including suicide caused by work pressures, during the 2017 financial year, according to government statistics.

Around 90pc of deaths from overwork involved victims who had worked at least 80 hours of overtime during the previous month, with as many as half clocking up 100-plus hours. One example of a particularly high-profile case was 24-year-old Matsuri Takahashi who suffered a mental breakdown and committed suicide due to overworking at Dentsu, a major advertising firm.

Ms Takahashi reportedly worked more than 105 extra hours in a single month.

Government figures show deaths from overwork occur most frequently in the transportation and postal sectors, followed by wholesale, retail and manufacturing, with most victims reportedly in their 40s.

The overtime cap is one of three key pillars of labour reform masterminded by Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, who is grappling with a rapidly ageing, shrinking workforce in addition to a culture of overworking.

 Daily Telegraph, London

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, one of the landmarks of Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei (Vincent Thian/AP)

Members of Bruneis LGBTQ community have expressed their fears as new Islamic criminal laws took effect on Wednesday.

The new measures, which include punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death, have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nations shores.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Bruneis Shariah Penal Code.

UN Human Right Chief @mbachelet urges #Brunei to stop new penal code that seriously breach international human law  incl. death by stoning. Brunei retains death penalty in law but has been abolitionist in practice since 1957.



Learn more: https://t.co/BgWjo1o5Fb pic.twitter.com/Jx8J5bTPzK  UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 1, 2019

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim.

Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years.

The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays.

But under the new laws, which also apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim, those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped.

We feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they wantKun, a member of Brunei's LGBTQ community

Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second.

Living in Brunei, we already knew that our sexual identity is taboo and should not be expressed.

We already felt belittled before the law came to place, said a 23-year-old member of the LGBTQ community who wanted to be identified only as Kun out of fear of reprisal from the authorities.

Now with it, we feel even smaller and the ones who could potentially oppress us have more opportunity to harass us to say and do what they want, he said.

#Bruneis decision to implement Phases Two & Three of the Sharia Penal Code & associated penalties runs counter to its international human rights obligations. The U.S. strongly opposes violence, criminalization & discrimination targeting vulnerable groups including LGBTI persons. pic.twitter.com/AfVkCUWrR0  Jalina Porter (@StateDeputySpox) April 3, 2019

Celebrities including George Clooney, Sir Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boycott of nine hotels in the US and Europe with ties to Hassanal, who is still sultan.

Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? Clooney wrote on Thursday on Deadline Hollywood.

Clooney said that while you cant shame murderous regimes, you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them.

Customers at two prestigious Paris hotels owned by the sultan expressed their support for a boycott.

Outside the Le Meurice hotel, Philippe Menager said he was no longer comfortable going to the spa after being a regular customer for 15 years.

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I cant continue to be a frequent visitor of the hotels of this savage to preserve the jobs of the people who work at Le Meurice  who are very nice and I like them, he said.

A tourist from Norway, Anja Anderson, said she would have stayed at a hotel other than the Plaza Athenee had she heard about the boycott before making her reservation.

There has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties in Brunei, where the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority.

Public criticism of his policies is extremely rare in the country.

Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of special guidance from God and would be part of the great history of Brunei.

On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans.

The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalisation and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

Bruneis Southeast Asian neighbours, some of whom have laws banning sex between men, were silent.

But LGBTQ citizens of other nearby Muslim-majority countries were concerned about the broad penalties.

I am very worried that Indonesia or Malaysia may follow the lead, said a 24-year-old man from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysias capital, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Ludwig.

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I think people nowadays, especially the younger generation, are quite OK with LGBT, but those who are not make the loudest noise and they are the reason why it seems like everyone is against it.

Nearly two-thirds of Malaysias 32 million people are Muslim.

They are governed by Islamic courts in family, marriage and personal issues. Last year, two Malaysian Muslim women were convicted under Islamic laws and caned for attempting to have sex with each other.

Cruel and inhuman punishments such as death by stoning for same-sex sexual acts and amputation for robbery will come into effect in Brunei Darussalam next week.



The changes would allow stoning and amputation as punishments  including for children. https://t.co/dfQab55aF4  Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) March 28, 2019

Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Bruneis government to stop the entry into force of this Draconian new penal code.

Any religion-based legislation must not violate human rights, including the rights of those belonging to the majority religion as well as of religious minorities and non-believers, she said in a statement on Monday.

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called on the sultan to immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments.

Bruneis new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes, Robertson said in a statement Wednesday.

Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei researcher at Amnesty International, decried the vicious laws and asked the international community to condemn them.Britain's defence ministry said it had launched an investigation into a video circulating on social media apparently showing soldiers using a picture of opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn for target practice.

The video, posted on Snapchat, shows four paratroopers firing shots at the picture with the caption "happy with that".

"We are aware of a video circulating on social media," an Army spokesperson said. "This behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects. A full investigation has been launched."

A Labour spokesman called the behaviour alarming and unacceptable but said the party was confident the Army would investigate and act on the incident.

The soldiers have been widely criticised.

"Im shocked obviously that this sort of thing has happened," Corbyn said. "I hope the Ministry of Defence will conduct an inquiry into it and find out what was going on and who did that."

Referring to the threats against Rosie Cooper, who was the target of a neo-Nazi murder plot, and the atmosphere in British politics, Mr Corbyn said: "Yes people have disagreements and yes people have divisions.

"Conduct those divisions and disagreements in a respectful way. Don't descend into something ugly and violent."

Brigadier Nick Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said: "This is a serious error of judgment. Let me be clear - the Army is, and always will be, an apolitical organisation.

"We have 400 soldiers from the Brigade conducting force protection in Afghanistan, and working closely with both Nato and Afghan partners. These soldiers are doing an outstanding job out there."

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the video was "completely unacceptable", adding: "I am pleased by the leadership shown by the Army in acting quickly to launch an investigation into this.

"This behaviour is far from the high standards we usually see and expect of the Army at any time and it is right that they conduct a thorough investigation into the incident."

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practise what is called the "guardian angel drill" - a force protection tactic.

Theresa May's official spokesman said the incident was "clearly unacceptable", and that the Prime Minister was aware of the video's content but had not seen it.

Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith said the "appalling footage comes at a time when members of Parliament face an unprecedented level of threat to their personal safety".

The incident comes comes after far-right activist Tommy Robinson posted a photograph of himself surrounded by grinning soldiers in October - prompting another Army probe.

The former English Defence League leader also shared a video featuring Army personnel who cheered and shouted his name.

At the time, the Army said it was aware of the image and footage and was "investigating the circumstances", adding that a "far right ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the armed forces".The children of murdered Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi have received million-dollar houses in the kingdom and monthly five-figure payments as compensation for the killing of their father.

Current and former Saudi officials and people close to the family have also claimed Mr Khashoggi's two sons and daughters may also receive much larger payouts - possibly tens of millions of dollars each - as part of "blood money" negotiations expected to follow when the trials of their father's accused killers are completed in the coming months.

The previously undisclosed payments are part of an effort by Saudi Arabia to reach a long-term arrangement with the Khashoggi family, aimed at ensuring they continue to show restraint in their public statements about the killing of their father in Istanbul six months ago, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The Khashoggi siblings have refrained from any harsh criticism of the kingdom even as their father's death provoked global outrage and widespread condemnation of heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The delivery of homes and monthly payments of $10,000 or more to each sibling were approved late last year by King Salman as part of what one former official described as an acknowledgment "a big injustice has been done" and an attempt "to make a wrong right".

But the royal family is also relying on its wealth to help contain the ongoing fallout from the killing and dismemberment of the prominent Saudi journalist and 'Washington Post' columnist who was targeted for articles often critical of the government.

A Saudi official described the payments as being consistent with the country's long-standing practise of providing financial support to victims of violent crime or even natural disasters and rejected the suggestion that the Khashoggi family would be obligated to remain silent. "Such support is part of our custom and culture," the official said. "It is not attached to anything else."

As part of their preliminary settlement, the Khashoggi children were each given houses in Jiddah worth as much as $4m (3.6m).

The properties are part of a shared compound in which Salah Khashoggi, the eldest son, occupies the main house.

A banker in Jeddah, Salah is the only Khashoggi sibling who intends to continue living in Saudi Arabia, according to people close to the family. The others reside in the United States and are expected to sell their new Saudi properties.

Salah, who has been responsible for financial discussions with Saudi authorities, declined to comment. His desire to remain in Jeddah with his family has contributed to the siblings' deference to the authorities and caution in their public statements over the past six months.

In October, the Saudi government released photos of Salah shaking hands with Mohammed, an image that was meant to show the crown prince offering condolences but was widely seen as an indication of the coercive power the royal family was exerting on Mr Khashoggi's children.

The writer's two daughters, Noha and Razan, published an essay in 'The Washington Post' last year in which they described their father's hopes for changes in Saudi Arabia but emphasised he was "no dissident" and did not accuse the crown prince or other Saudi officials of being culpable in his death.

Noha did not respond to a request for comment, and Razan could not be reached.

The monthly schedule of payments and prospect of eventual multi-million dollar settlements would appear to give the Khashoggis a long-term financial incentive to remain quiet even as human rights organisations and critics of Saudi Arabia continue to demand accountability from the kingdom.

'Washington Post' publisher Fred Ryan issued a statement on Monday, six months after Mr Khashoggi's death, saying the Saudis "have adopted a strategy of evasion" that has "scapegoated expendable officials, seeking to quell international furore by staging a sham trial".

 Washington PostHong Kong: FS visits Central & Western

Financial Secretary Paul Chan visited startups and community facilities in Central & Western District today.

Mr Chan first toured a co-working space and spoke with young entrepreneurs operating social enterprises to learn about their experiences in achieving social objectives through cross-sector collaboration.

Mr Chan then walked along the Central & Western District Promenade.

He said the Government is committed to making Hong Kong a more ideal place to live by adopting a forward-looking approach in pursuing harbourfront enhancement and vigorously seeking to open up continuous and accessible harbourfront promenades.

He also chatted with members of a district youth network at the promenade and welcomed suggestions from young people on how to improve district facilities.

He said the Government aims to develop a diversified economy to create more opportunities for young people.

Before wrapping up his visit, Mr Chan met District Councillors to exchange views on livelihood and development issues.

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.The Sacramento, Calif., teachers union reached a contract deal last school year. But yesterday, the union announced that teachers would be going on strike April 11.

In the contract deal, which was ratified in December 2017, the school district agreed to give teachers a 7.5 percent salary increase, and to generate more money for schools by reducing health care costs. The union wants to use the savings for smaller class sizes and more support staff, but that was to be detetermined by further negotiations.

But the district and the union have not yet negotiated the health plans, so the savings have not materialized. The union also has accused the district, which is facing insolvency, of violating Californias open meetings laws and laying off hundreds of staff members in closed sessions, while growing the ranks of administrators and giving those officials large bonuses.

This really feels like a betrayal, said David Fisher, the president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, in an interview.

The strike will last for just one day. There are about 2,000 teachers and more than 40,000 students in the district.

See also: Where Have There Been Teacher Strikes and Protests? (Map)

In a statement, the Sacramento City Unified school district condemned the strike. According to the Sacramento Bee , the district is facing a $35 million deficit and a looming state takeover.

This strike is unnecessary and will only hurt students, families, and employees by putting the district on the fast track to a state takeover, the districts statement said . A state takeover will result in less money for our students and do serious harm to the citys public schools for many years to come.

But Fisher said the strike is purposely only scheduled for a single day to minimize harm to students and out of respect for the ongoing fiscal crisis, which he called self-inflicted. He pointed to the districts spending on administrators salaries and bonuses as part of the reason for the budget deficit. For example, the union says the average total compensation for district administrators is $158,702.

Teachers, Fisher said, are furious and disappointed that their contract deal has not been fully honored.

In a letter to the union , Superintendent Jorge Aguilar said he agreed that more money needs to be directed into the classroomscurrently, 91 cents out of every dollar is spent on employee benefits and salary. (The district has a very generous health benefits plan, according to the Sacramento Bee .) But the teachers union has not met with the district to negotiate health cost savings after the contract deal was reached, Aguilar wrote.

There hasnt been a teacher strike in the district for 30 years. The Sacramento strike will follow several other big-city strikes that happened in California and across the country this year: Teachers in Los Angeles , Oakland, Calif. , and Denver all went on strike and came away with some victories.

But Fisher said the situation in Sacramento could have national implications for what happens after the ink dries on the contract deal.

If a district can just throw up their hands and say, Yeah, we know we agreed, but now our budget situation has changed, so were not going to do it anymore, that sets a terrible precedent for what districts can do when they sign agreements, he said.

Correction: This article was corrected on April 4 to reflect the fact that the union and the district still need to negotiate to determine how to apply any savings generated by health-care cost reductions.Not only is it a comedy, its almost a farce. There are so many doors slamming and people running around  its a comedy of errors, Golbesky said. We had to put a lot of thought into it. This is one of the most difficult shows that I have worked on as far as movement around the stage. This whole show is more choreographed than any musical I have ever done. The timing is essential to make this comedy work. Its presented new challenges to both of us and its been a great learning experience.Police have launched a murder investigation after a pair believed to be a pioneering Concorde pilot and his wife were found dead near the village of Bucklebury. An official named the couple found in a property in West Berkshire on Tuesday evening as Tony and Paula Meadows, who were both in their 80s.

Police have launched a murder investigation after a pair believed to be a pioneering Concorde pilot and his wife were found dead near the village of Bucklebury.

An official named the couple found in a property in West Berkshire on Tuesday evening as Tony and Paula Meadows, who were both in their 80s.

Mrs Meadows had been chronically ill with dementia and was being cared for by her husband on the farm where their bodies were found, according to a family friend.

Detectives stressed to locals in the village where the Duchess of Cambridge's family have lived that there is no further threat and that they are not searching for a suspect.

Mr Meadows has previously written in the Mach 2 Concorde magazine that he was part of the flight crew during the supersonic jet's first passenger flight from Heathrow to New York in 1977. He also also a pilot for Princess Diana, and flew the Queen on Concorde in 1979.

Officers from Thames Valley Police were investigating at one of the homes on Hawkridge Farm in Chapel Lane, where a blue forensics tent has been set up.

A family friend said the Meadows lived alone in the farm house where they had been for 35 years and that she had spoken to one of their three "devastated" children on Wednesday morning.

"They can't understand it. They haven't been able to get their minds around it really," she said.

"Paula has dementia so she hadn't been very well for quite a while. But Tony always took care of her and looked after her very well, and took her for walks.

She added: "He's the type of person who would normally cope with any situation and it's really sad that it's happened.

Expand Close Police have launched a murder investigation after a pair believed to be a pioneering Concorde pilot and his wife were found dead near the village of Bucklebury. An official named the couple found in a property in West Berkshire on Tuesday evening as Tony and Paula Meadows, who were both in their 80s / Facebook

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Whatsapp Police have launched a murder investigation after a pair believed to be a pioneering Concorde pilot and his wife were found dead near the village of Bucklebury. An official named the couple found in a property in West Berkshire on Tuesday evening as Tony and Paula Meadows, who were both in their 80s

Neighbours in nearby Frilsham spoke of their shock over the deaths of the "nice couple".

"I think Paula has dementia because she asked the same questions," said one woman who did not want to be named. "Tony was a pilot."

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Howard described their deaths as "a tragic incident".

"We are currently investigating and have launched a murder inquiry but we are not looking for anybody else in connection with this incident," he added.

Asked about the former British Airways captain's death, the airline said: "Our thoughts are with their family and friends."

Several enthusiasts who knew Mr Meadows declined to comment, with one source saying: "I think everyone in the Concorde world is a bit raw about this just now."

Recounting the first time they flew the plane commercially to New York, Mr Meadows said they were met with "enormous" crowds amid a "euphoria".

Then, he was in charge of the aircraft on the way back to Britain.

"All the work had been worthwhile," he wrote in Mach 2. "We had successfully taken our first bite at the Big Apple."

The coroners' office in Reading identified the couple found dead in Bucklebury as Tony and Paula Meadows, saying they were both aged 84.

The duchess's parents Carole and Michael Middleton have owned an estate in the village, where they hosted their other daughter Pippa's evening reception following her society wedding to James Matthews.Illusionist David Blaine is the subject of an investigation over sexual assault allegations, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has said.

Detective Chief Dermot Shea confirmed Mr Blaine's involvement in the Special Victims Unit's investigation during a press conference.

NYPD detectives have taken statements from two women who accused the magician of sexual misconduct, but it appears that one of the claims might fall outside the statute of limitations. One of the women told the authorities that Mr Blaine (45) sexually assaulted her in his Manhattan apartment in 1998. Mr Blaine has not yet been charged with a crime. He said he has not yet been contacted or approached by the police.

The police did not comment on whether or not detectives will be looking into interviewing Mr Blaine.

Previously, a former model accused Mr Blaine of raping her in London in 2004, which he denied. Scotland Yard later declined to move forward with her case.US President Donald Trump took a step back on Tuesday from his threat to close the U.S. southern border to fight illegal immigration, as pressure mounted from companies worried that a shutdown would cause chaos to supply chains.

Trump threatened on Friday to close the border this week unless Mexico acted. He repeated that threat on Tuesday but said he had not made a decision yet: "We're going to see what happens over the next few days."

Closing the border could disrupt millions of legal crossings and billions of dollars in trade. Auto companies have been warning the White House privately that it would lead to the idling of U.S. plants within days because they rely on prompt deliveries of components made in Mexico.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying group, has been in contact with the White House to discuss the "very negative economic consequences that would occur across the country," said Neil Bradley, the group's top lobbyist, on a call with reporters.

Trump praised efforts by Mexico to hinder illegal immigration from Central America at its own southern border. On Monday, the Mexican government said it would help regulate the flow of migrants.

I really wanted to close it, Trump said on Tuesday night at a fundraiser for congressional Republicans.

The Mexican government has not published apprehension statistics, but a senior White House official said it had provided daily updates to the Trump administration, including specific apprehension numbers.

"They say they're going to stop them. Let's see. They have the power to stop them, they have the laws to stop them," Trump said earlier on Tuesday.

Trump has made fighting illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America a key part of his agenda, but shutting down one of the world's most used borders might be a step too far, even for many of his fellow Republicans.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in warning Trump against such a move.

"Closing down the border would have potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country and I would hope we would not be doing that sort of thing," McConnell told reporters on Tuesday.

A group representing General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said in a statement that "any action that stops commerce at the border would be harmful to the U.S. economy, and in particular, the auto industry."

Dozens of U.S. vehicle, engine, transmission and other auto parts plants could close because of a lack of components in the days after a border shutdown. It would also prevent thousands of vehicles built in Mexico from landing in U.S. dealer showrooms.

Automakers exported nearly 2.6 million Mexican-made vehicles to the United States in 2018, accounting for 15 percent of all vehicles sold in the country. Some, like the Chevrolet Blazer SUV, are only made in Mexico.

Retailers are also raising alarm bells, according to officials with two groups that represent hundreds of U.S. retail firms.

"It will be unprecedented self-inflicted pain," said David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation. "We are still nervous about this and we have been talking to some of our companies about maybe ramping up direct pressure on the White House by getting CEOs to call."

Senior U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said on Tuesday a recent redeployment of some 750 officers on the border to deal with a surge in migrants - mostly Central American families turning themselves in to border agents - had already led to a slowing of legal crossings and commerce at ports of entry.

"Wait times in Brownsville (Texas) were around 180 minutes, which were two times the peaks of last year," said a senior DHS official on a call with reporters. "We ended the day yesterday at Otay Mesa (California) with a backup of 150 trucks that hadn't been processed," the official said.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday that backups were delaying commercial traffic at the U.S.-Mexico border at several crossings. He said the government had not drastically changed its migration strategy following the shutdown threats.

DHS officials said border facilities had been overwhelmed by families seeking asylum, fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Manuel Padilla, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol, would now serve as the agency's coordinator on the border response.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimated that some 100,000 migrants were apprehended or encountered at the border in March, the highest level in a decade. "The system is on fire," a DHS official said.

Because of limits on how long children are legally allowed to be held in detention, many of the families are released to await U.S. immigration court hearings, a process that can take years because of ballooning backlogs.

To try to address the problem, the Trump administration in January started sending some migrants to wait out their U.S. court dates in Mexican border cities. On Monday, DHS said it would dramatically ramp up that program, despite court challenges.

The biggest priority for Nielsen is to seek action from Congress to change the immigration laws, said a DHS official. She sent a letter to Congress last week repeating many of the Trump administration's demands, including a request to quickly deport Central American minors that cross the border alone.

Under current law, minors who are not from the contiguous countries of Canada and Mexico are placed in the care of sponsors in the United States, which Nielsen called a "dangerous 'pull' factor" for migrants. Migrant advocates and some Democrats in Congress oppose the proposed legislative changes, saying they would send vulnerable children back to dangerous situations in their home countries.

Trump said he had spoken with "a few" Democrats on Tuesday about the administration's proposals and added: "They're changing their minds."The European Union will not grant Britain another short delay to Brexit if MPs fail to ratify the stalled divorce agreement by April 12, the head of the bloc's executive European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said.

Juncker spoke after British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Tuesday evening that she would request a second Brexit delay beyond the current cliff-edge date of April 12.

May is seeking to agree a deal with the main opposition Labour Party that would unlock ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement she negotiated with Brussels, which the British lower house of parliament has rejected three times.

"The best way forward is the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement," Juncker told the European Parliament.

"The 12th of April is the ultimate deadline for approval of the Withdrawal Agreement by the House of Commons."

"If it has not done so by then, no further short extension will be possible."

Expand Close Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker have a heated conversation at the European Commission Summit on Brexit (Credit: PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker have a heated conversation at the European Commission Summit on Brexit (Credit: PA)

"A 'no-deal' at midnight on the 12th of April is now a very likely scenario. It is not the outcome I want. But it is an outcome for which I have made sure the EU is ready," he said.

He said the bloc was ready to upgrade a proposed blueprint for new EU-UK relations after Brexit from the one already negotiated by May. Labour has said it wants a customs union in the future.

Juncker reiterated that Britain would not get a transition period after Brexit without ratifying the exit deal: "UK will be affected more than EU because there is no such thing as a 'managed' or 'negotiated no-deal' and there is no such thing as a 'no-deal transition'."

"I will work until the last moment to avoid a 'no-deal' outcome," he added.

But he also made clear that the EU would set firm conditions for restarting talks with Britain on new trade ties should the worst-case scenario materialise.

The bloc would make such talks conditional on the UK honouring its EU financial obligations, guaranteeing citizens' rights and agreeing on how to run the sensitive Irish border -- a key reason for UK lawmakers' rejection of May's deal.

Separately Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned that the risk of Parliament stumbling into a "disorderly" no-deal Brexit is now "alarmingly high".

Mr Carney said that "real progress" had been made in preparing the UK for the prospect of leaving without a deal, which is currently the default option on April 12, but it would still result in "lots of things to worry about".

The Bank's chief also took aim at the "absolute nonsense" suggestions from some Brexiteers that a no-deal departure could be managed using international trade rules to maintain tariff-free commerce.

Theresa May met with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and others today to try to find a consensus over Britain's future relationship with the EU to win support for her divorce deal, which has been rejected by parliament three times.

The Labour leader described the talks as "useful but inconclusive" and said "there has not been as much change as I expected".

The meeting sparked fury among some Conservatives, with two ministers quitting Mrs May's Government and a string of backbenchers voicing their anger during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

Following the meeting in the PM's Commons office, a Labour spokesman said: "We have had constructive exploratory discussions about how to break the Brexit deadlock.

"We have agreed a programme of work between our teams to explore the scope for agreement."

And Downing Street said: "Today's talks were constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.

"We have agreed a programme of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security."

It is understood that a planning meeting was taking place in Parliament later on Wednesday ahead of intensive technical discussions by negotiating teams on Thursday.

Mrs May has said she hopes to find a solution which both leaders can support, or failing that, a system of indicative votes which both will recognise as binding.

Meanwhile Britain's House of Commons rejected a plan to hold more indicative votes on Brexit on Monday.

MPs were tied on the amendment, voting 310-310 but Speaker John Bercow voted against in accordance with the conventions of the House.

"In accordance with precedent and on in the principle that important decisions should not be taken except by a majority, I cast my votes with the noes. So the noes have it," Bercow said.Many Democrats have already entered the race to be the partys 2020 presidential nominee but some are faring better than others in the all important task of raising the money needed to fund a campaign.

The totals for the first quarter, which ran through to March 31, are the first measure of how candidates are performing.

Details for the entire field will not be known until candidates file their required disclosures with the Federal Election Commission by April 15.

Expand Close Bernie Sanders is once again proving to be a formidable fundraiser (Jose Luis Magana/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Bernie Sanders is once again proving to be a formidable fundraiser (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Bernie Sanders, with former vice-president Joe Biden, is faring well in the polls but with Mr Biden yet to formally launch a White House bid, Mr Sanders is the early trailblazer in terms of campaign donations.

The senator from Vermont, who showed surprising fundraising ability in his challenge to eventual Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago, raised more than 18 million US dollars in the 41 days between his official campaign launch and March 31, giving him 28 million dollars cash to hand.

Those totals are expected to lead the Democratic field, putting pressure on other heavyweights, including Mr Biden, who is still deciding whether to run and who is navigating accusations that he has acted inappropriately toward women.

As promised, heres a more complete breakdown our Q1 fundraising metrics, including number of donors (158,550), average donation ($36.35), and the percent of our total raised that came in through contributions under $200 (64%) -- second half of video to follow. #PeteforAmerica pic.twitter.com/41gedmRiNW  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 2, 2019

Besides Mr Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris of California put up an impressive 12 million dollar haul.

Former US Representative Beto ORourke of Texas did not offer a fundraising total, but aides said he raised more than one million dollars over the weekend and previously said he raised more than six million dollars in his first 24 hours as a candidate.

Mr Sanders haul shows that his base is just as enthusiastic as it was four years ago.

Over the last two months, the response to our campaign has been inspiring:



- $12 million raised

- 218,000 individual contributions

- 99% of donors can give again



No corporate PACs. No federal lobbyists. A real, grassroots campaign  by the people and for the people.  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 2, 2019

In fact, it may be growing.

The senators campaign noted that of his 525,000 unique donors, about 20% are new, about 100,000 are registered independents and about 20,000 are registered Republicans.

As impressive as Mr Sanders fundraising has been, it is not as large as previous presidential contenders who were more reliant on big donors.

In her first quarter as a candidate ahead of 2016, Mrs Clinton topped 45 million dollars.

In 2007, when then-senator Barack Obama and Mrs Clinton were beginning their long battle for the 2008 nomination, the favourite Mrs Clinton opened with an initial fundraising quarter of 36 million dollars, while the underdog Mr Obama pulled in 26 million dollars.

Expand Close Air Force One takes off from Prestwick Airport (Andrew Milligan/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Air Force One takes off from Prestwick Airport (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Mr Sanders fundraising haul set the curve for all candidates and will give pause to some of the other perceived heavyweights in the field, particularly his fellow senators Ms Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Ms Harris is the only candidate of that group to release her fundraising totals.

But the biggest winner may be Pete Buttigieg, an unlikely headline-grabber even among a group of lesser-known candidates that includes governors and members of Congress.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised seven million US dollars, calling it a great look for our first quarter.

That might be an understatement.

Its the last day of the quarter and we need you to be like Reilys mom. Give $1 now to support a strong woman in the White House. https://t.co/iVg91M9DTq https://t.co/Lbxtz4YcUk  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) April 1, 2019

Such a sum ensures Mr Buttigieg can finance a legitimate campaign operation for months as long as he is not a profligate spender.

Mr Buttigieg said he has almost 160,000 unique donors, a mark that meets the new grassroots fundraising thresholds that the Democratic National Committee has set for candidates to qualify for the initial summer debates.

The eventual Democrat nominee will take on President Donald Trump in 2020.While we lost two candidates at the beginning, we also gained two, the mayor said. This is a good indicator that there is still an interest in the fire profession. It also is representative of the citys commitment to respond to the needs of the community.The Catawba Nation is facing more opposition to a homelands bill that paves the way for a new casino in North Carolina.

On Monday, the board of commissioners in Haywood County approved a resolution in opposition to S.790 , the bill that confirms the tribe's ability to open the casino. The resolution cites threats to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians , whose gaming operations are located in another part of the state.

According to the resolution considered at the meeting , the "establishment of a Catawba Indian Nation casino in North Carolina under S.790 would result in fewer jobs offered by the Cherokee casino resorts and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal operations, thereby affecting the unemployment rate in Western North Carolina, and the salaries, wages, and other investments recycled back into the local and regional economy."

It adds that the "establishment of a Catawba Indian Nation casino in North Carolina under S.790 would result in lost investments and revenue in Western North Carolina and most of the Catawba casino revenues going to South Carolina casino developers and a South Carolina Indian tribe."

The Eastern Band asked the county to oppose S.790, according to news reports. The tribe also has asked six other counties to do the same.

This is an issue we should treat as if this business was located in Haywood County and employed approximately 500 people in Haywood County, commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick said, The Smoky Mountain News reported.

The Catawba Nation plans to open the casino in Kings Mountain, a suburb of Charlotte, the state's most populous city. The area is about 130 miles east of the Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort and about 190 miles east of the Harrah's Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel

The Catawba Nation has been pursuing the project for more than five years. But the Bureau of Indian Affairs has yet to make a decision on the tribe's land-into-trust application for the gaming site.

If S.790 is enacted into law, the BIA would be "authorized" to approve the application. Notably, the bill does not use the word "shall" or similar language that would mandate the BIA to make such a decision.

However, the bill confirms that the tribe is eligible to conduct gaming on the site in North Carolina, pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act . That clears up any uncertainty about the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act , which bars the tribe from gaming on any lands in neighboring South Carolina.

The tribe is headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, about 47 miles from the gaming site. Despite the distance, the land claim settlement identifies six counties in North Carolina, including the one where the casino would be located, as the service area for the tribe.

S.790 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs . A hearing has yet to be scheduled.

The Eastern Band, incidentally, also has a homelands bill pending in the 116th Congress. H.R.453 , the Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act, would place lands in Tennessee in trust for the tribe. A prior version of the bill failed to get over the finish line during the last session.

SECTION 1. GAMING FACILITY AUTHORIZED. (a) Gaming Facility Authorized.The Catawba Indian Nation (formerly the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina) is authorized to own and operate a gaming facility on the land described in section 2 of this Act, in Cleveland County, North Carolina. (b) Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.The facility described in subsection (a) shall operate in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), except that section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2719) shall not apply to the land described in section 2. (c) Land In Trust.The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to take the land described in section 2 into trust for the purpose of conducting gaming, on behalf of the Catawba Indian Nation. (d) Rights Preserved.Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, nothing in this Act shall prevent any party from enforcing all rights, privileges, or prohibitions as contained within the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993 (Public Law 103116).

The pertinent text of S.790 follows:

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Related StoriesChallenging Mayor Allender: Natalie Stites-Means

Native Sun News Today Correspondent

RAPID CITY  Natalie Stites-Means is one of five Native American women who have stepped up to run for office in Rapid City; which includes four of the five wards for City Council and Mayor of Rapid City. This Rapid City leader answered the call to run for Mayor and her campaign has hit the ground running.

Native Sun News Today had the opportunity to ask Candidate Stites-Means a few questions as the election campaigns for both mayoral candidates begins in Rapid City. Her opponent: Mayor Steve Allender.

NSNT: Tell us about yourself, where you grew up and your tribal affiliation.

Natalie Stites-Means: I am an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe with ties to Rosebud and Crow Creek. My parents married while in the U.S. Army. So I was born at the Womak Army hospital in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during the Vietnam Era. My mother was an MP  Military Police and my father was Airborne.

After the army, my parents moved to California and I grew up in the City of Commerce, California, a working class, Mexican-American and Mexican immigrant majority community. Throughout my childhood, my mother, father and stepmother were all sheriffs with Los Angeles County and instilled within me a work ethic and ambition for the common man and woman that drives me today.

Just in case you might not know it, I heard my opponent has $13M in a political action committee. $13,000,000. Thirteen... Posted by Natalie Stites Means for Rapid City Mayor on Sunday, March 31, 2019

NSNT: What is your educational background? And why did you choose this field?

Natalie Stites-Means: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA in History, with a minor in American Indian Studies, and earned a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law with a specialization in Public Interest Law & Policy. After high school graduation, I put myself through community college while working fulltime to transfer to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) when I was 20 years old.

When I graduated, I was honored with a Chancellors Service Award for my service to the UCLA community at large, a community of over 70,000 students, faculty and staff. I was interested in community service, politics and government as means to reduce human suffering and increase education for a better world.

Soon after being appointed by the Governor and serving as a higher education policy advisor in his education office, I applied to and was accepted at the UCLA School of Law. I also completed coursework in the Masters program in American Indian Studies at UCLA, in hopes of preparing to return to my tribe and help my people here in South Dakota.

NSNT: What has your career been like so far? Tell us some of the highlights.

Natalie Stites-Means: I became the first Native American (tribally enrolled) to be awarded the Assembly State Fellowship in Sacramento California in 1999 after I graduated with my Bachelors degree from UCLA. After law school, I was awarded a clerkship with the Ho-Chunk Nation Trial Court in Wisconsin working on child protection, child support, trust fund and employment cases.

I then moved to South Dakota and began working for my own tribe the Cheyenne River Sioux as well as the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (my grandfathers tribe). This exposed me to tribal government and what it means to live in tribal and reservation communities. In 2010, I played a key role in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes emergency response to the Ice Storm incident that caused the energy and water systems of the reservation to fail for three weeks. Working tirelessly, we raised over $1M dollars and brought the storm to the attention of the national media.

Tackling issues like emergency disaster response or children exposed to violence in a reservation community or having to make unpopular workforce decisions or even rescuing the local domestic violence shelter from grant management ruin, these experiences have made for rich and unique professional and life experiences. After being tapped by a federally funded Tribal Youth training and technical assistance center with the University of Oklahoma medical school to work remotely with Tribes nationally, I moved to Rapid City with my two-year-old daughter.

Recently, the Center closed when the grant award ended, and I have found myself working again as a consultant. When I am not running for mayor, or technically I am trying to work while I run for Mayor but it seems almost impossible -- I consult with clients on programs relating to violence against women and children, and trauma-informed approaches to healing, safety and justice.

Its a historic time in Rapid City, South Dakota! Theres Lakota/Dakota candidates for City Council & Mayor!!! Its... Posted by Whitney Rencountre on Wednesday, March 27, 2019

A record five Native women are running for public office in Rapid City, South Dakota. From left: Natalie Stites Means for Mayor, Ramona Herrington for City Council (Ward 2), Cante Heart for City Council (Ward 5), Stephanie Savoy for City Council (Ward 3) and Terra Houskaa for City Council (Ward 1). Image: Whitney Rencountre

NSNT: What have you been working on as far as advocacy? Which social groups and causes have you worked for?

I have become an advocate for women and children in different ways, without an organization but rather a strong network of warrior women willing to defend motherhood and children. The bureaucracy monetizes peoples struggles and crises, profiting from problems instead of solving them and I think the facts support my perspective. For that reason, I have often stepped out of my professional role as a trainer or technical assistance provider in order to directly assist children and their mothers and help them navigate the systems they are in contact with and cannot get out of.

Occasionally, I have helped fathers or victims of domestic violence, but that is lot more uncommon. Concurrent to this type of advocacy since 2011, literally gaining probably a whole new associates degree worth of time spent studying and training to address violence in families and communities, I began to become conscious of the connection between all the violence being committed against women and children, and the use and exploitation of the earth, including water. I stood with the people at Standing Rock, camping at the Oceti Sakowin Camp among the Kul Wicasa Treaty Camp and my family camp. The family camp was the most common form of participation in that movement, a movement for the water and against pipelines that continues today.

The connection between fossil fuel development and missing and murdered Indigenous women cannot be underestimated is one conclusion I have come to through my advocacy, professionally and personally. I believe that we are smart enough and conscious enough to recognize that this way of fossil fuels and big oil does not include a future for anyone on this earth. We can do better. If you have ever seen an oil rig in real life, the raping-the-earth metaphor is quite fitting.

NSNT: How did you decide to run for Mayor of Rapid City? And when?

Natalie Stites-Means: I decided on March 4 after a City Council meeting regarding the anti-panhandlers ordinance they passed unanimously, that people with heart and compassion needed to run for office against the incumbents. And no offense to them, but they offended a number of us with their dubious theories of behavioral change and conclusions around what ails the Native American community, as though it is fundamentally different than any other impoverished or traumatized community or family in Rapid City.

I really question the notion that somehow non-Native people cannot comprehend historical trauma, because that does not comport with those non-Natives Ive worked with shoulder to shoulder on this campaign so far. I feel I have a strong understanding of non-Native and Native histories, cultures and civilizations. This is critical to leading Rapid City, especially as the current economic development plan calls for an immigrant workforce to increase for tourism and calls for military veterans to settle here in Rapid City.

I decided to run because after a few years of living here, I realized that it is not just the voices of women or children, the hungry or the houseless, the Native Americans and young people who are being excluded, it is all of us and more. All voices of Rapid City deserve to be heard in city hall.

Contact Native Sun News Today Correspondent Richie Richards richie4175@gmail.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today

Join the ConversationRuby Mountains: A Push to Drill, a Failure to Consult Native Peoples

A plan to lease oil and gas drilling rights on nearly a million acres of land near the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone illustrates the consistent lack of government consultation with tribes.

The Revelator

Its a frigid December morning when I meet Chairman Joseph Holley at the Te-Moak tribal headquarters in Elko, Nevada, seven hours north of Las Vegas. Holley, tall and round-faced, offers me a cup of coffee. He has the burly build of a man who worked 37 years in the areas gold mines, drilling aboveground and digging below the surface.

Holleys a relatively new tribal chairman, having served since November 2018. Im still catching up with a lot of things, he tells me. Hes following in the footsteps of father, activist Glenn Holley, Sr., who fought for aboriginal title to restore Te-Moak lands starting in the 1970s.

That heritage of activism may need to be invoked for the struggle that Chairman Holley and the Te-Moak now face. A major plan to lease drilling rights near the Ruby Mountains, including land bordering the Ruby Lake Wildlife Refuge, threatens not just the local ecosystem but the tribes very existence.

Mining the Mountains

The Ruby Mountains are a prime summertime destination for anglers and hikers, but for the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone, who have called the area home for tens of thousands of years, these are the Duka-Doya mountains. Here are pronghorn and bighorn sheep, mule deer and greater sage-grouse. The rivers run with mountain whitefish and native rainbow trout, while endangered Lahontan cutthroat trout swim in the lakes. Here the Te-Moak have gathered nuts and branches and tracked the pathways of wildlife, in tune with the changing seasons. Over millennia, the Te-Moak learned what plants grow where and when, and which animals come to drink in certain springs.

These are watering holes that  if oil and gas companies get their way  might dry up forever, bringing the Te-Moak cultural history to a close.

This June the Nevada Bureau of Land Management plans to auction oil and gas leasing rights on 934,244 acres of public lands in the Ruby Mountains area. Long in the works, the lease parcels were formally announced on February 19. In Elko the BLM will offer 49 parcels, comprising 75,005 acres. In the nearby Battle Mountain district, it will lease 123 parcels, amounting to 264,075 acres. The Ely district will see the largest amount leased: 291 parcels totaling 604,164 acres.

According to Holley, lands included for possible leasing are both within and adjoining the South Fork Band reservation at the foothills of the Ruby Mountains. (The Te-Moak have four bands: the South Fork, Wells, Battle Mountain and Elko colonies.)

Another 52,533 acres in the nearby Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest were expected to be similarly auctioned, but the U.S. Forest Service denied that lease request on March 14 following months of public outcry and data that showed the land had little drilling value.

When I visited Elko to talk with Chairman Holley and other residents, I found that many people were still unaware of the ongoing BLM leasing plans. Those who heard feared they would have devastating effects on the local land and peoples and expressed outrage at how little the tribe was consulted.

A map of Nevada shows the areas in which the Nevada Bureau of Land Management plans to auction oil and gas leasing rights. Image: The Revelator

Polluted Medicines

I meet Fermina Stevens in an Elko hotel/casino. Stevens served as chairperson representing the Elko Band on the Te-Moak tribal council from 2000-2003 and since 2012 has worked as a legal assistant for the Cavanaugh-Bill Law office, where shes assisted on cases of the Western Shoshone Defense Project.

As we sit at the casino bar, Stevens tells me shes concerned about public access. Specifically, tribal access.

Historically the Western Shoshone used a wide swath of land, travelling to seasonal camps and trekking to different sites to gather various foods and medicinal plants. That traditional land is now federally owned public land, with highly restricted access. Only 14,005 acres have been accorded to the tribal reservations.

We have to go to public lands to gather, Stevens explains. We gather willow across a wide area, which means we need wide access.

Red and green willow, which are used to create cradleboards and baskets, have particularly important cultural significance, she tells me.

Our culture is our gathering, our willow, our prayer. We come from the land. Other important plants include cedar, sage, and the doza root that grows close to sagebrush. In early fall, from September to October, the Te-Moak gather pine nuts.

And the Te-Moaks limited acreage doesnt protect many sites of spiritual and cultural significance. If tribal members wish to conduct a ceremony on BLM land  for example, at the summer and fall solstices, the points of the year of highest cultural significance  they must submit a request to the agency, including a map of the area to be entered.

Holley later tells me this raises a particularly difficult dilemma: How do they protect these areas of sacred significance without announcing them to the outside world?

He asks, what will happen when those sites the Te-Moak have been utilizing for centuries end up in private hands? How will the continuity of their culture be affected?

Stevens says she also worries about how the land itself will be affected by oil and gas development, particularly fracking.

Fracking pollutes our medicines, the water, the animals who are drinking the water, she says. Leasing the land, including fracking, affects us spiritually. Its a big loss. We need clean water and plants to conduct our ceremony.

Chairman Joseph Holley. Photo: Tiffany Higgins

Lost Lands

For the Western Shoshone, these lands have always been theirs.

The 1863 Treaty of Peace and Friendship at Ruby Valley acknowledged as Shoshone lands a wide swath from the Shoshone River Valley in the north, to the Smith Creek Mountains in the west, to the Colorado Desert in the south to the Great Salt Lake Valley in the east.

Holley asks: How will fracking affect those never-ceded lands, now held by BLM as a trustee of public lands?

If the pinon trees dry up because water-intensive fracking sucks springs dry, then how can the Western Shoshone teach their children about the history that happened at that spring?

Kids will lose their culture, tradition and history.

Holley has seen the pattern before with past mining projects. For example, the Newmont Mining Companys open-pit Lone Tree gold mine notoriously polluted the local water with arsenic, boron and other contaminants . BLM promised the Te-Moak that water sources would remain unaffected. However, according to Holley, the mine drew water down to where springs dont flow any more. It changes the whole landscape, everything that depends on the water, the grasses, the trees, the animals that drink from the springs.

More recently, Holley says, BLM permitted Newmont to dry up 63 springs near its Long Canyon Mine in Wells.

BLM assures us that it will be fine, that the water will be healthy, Holley says. It never is fine.

Kyle Hendrix, public affairs specialist for the Battle Mountain BLM district, later tells me that cleanup of mining waste by companies such as Newmont is voluntary.

In Elko Holleys jaw is set, eyes registering the memory of failed promises.

Thunderstorms near the Ruby Mountains near Elko, Nevada, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Photo by Michael Balen / U.S. Forest Service.

Contradictory Stories About Consultation

During and after my visit to Elko, Im told conflicting stories about whether and how tribes had been consulted on this leasing of public lands.

The Nevada BLMs Environmental Assessment report, dated February 13, states that consultation included letters, phone calls, e-mails, and visits with individual tribal/band Environmental Coordinators or other representatives.

Chairman Holley denies that, stating that aside from a February 4 letter informing the tribe of the June auction, the Te-Moak have not been contacted in other manners. According to Holley, authentic consultation has not happened.

Letters, he says, show little understanding of his peoples culture or policies. BLM and Forest Service consultation-request letters require a reply within 30 days, but the Te-Moak Council, which makes all decisions collectively, meets only once a month. Ironically, the very letter to invite consultation from the tribes imposes a timeline that ignores the tribal calendar.

When I contact all three BLM relevant districts (Ely, Battle Mountain and Elko), the claim to have visited tribal members appears to be more aspirational than accurate. Greg Deimel, public affairs specialist for the Elko district, says their districts tribal liaison Native American coordinator would have met with tribal councils in January were it not for the government shutdown.

Kyle Hendrix, public affairs specialist for the Battle Mountain district, tells me that the letters sent on February 4 are the only formal letter on consultation for the upcoming June sale.

Hendrix says the BLMs goal is to provide government-to-government consultation with the sovereign tribes, which is a little bit elevated and happens earlier than the more standard public scoping processes. Were looking to get early issues and concerns. If theyve got an area of tribal significance, cultural significance, within some of these areas that were looking at doing that, its the opportunity to say These are our concerns, and what can be done to include the removal of that parcel in that sale.

He adds, Weve got a great working relationship with the tribes. Its really a high priority for the Battle Mountain district.

But Holley objects to smaller BLM districts sending letters to the tribe, arguing that it doesnt constitute actual government-to-government consultation, which would be President-to-president, country-to-country. Get us to the top, somebody that can make changes, make adjustments. Meeting with his counterpart in the Nevada BLM at the state level, he says, would fulfill government-to-government consultation.

Federal Declarations on Consultation

Whats legally and culturally expected in tribal consultation?

International declarations require more than just consultation, says Matthew Campbell, attorney for the Native American Rights Fund. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 32, states that indigenous peoples must give free, prior, and informed consent to projects that will affect them.

In U.S. law, Campbell explains, the federal government has an obligation to consult with Indian tribes on matters that will have an impact on the tribes, their resources, whether its water resources or land, their traditional resources, cultural resources, within their traditional areas. He mentions directives issued by Presidents Clinton and Obama stating that the government needs to take its obligation to tribes very seriously.

Campbell says the federal governments responsibility to tribes is separate and apart from any obligation that it might have to the public. Tribes are not just mere stakeholders. Because they have the unique government-to-government relationship, the feds have a unique obligation to reach out, take affirmative steps to ensure the tribes understand what it intends to do and get the tribes position.

I mention Chairman Holleys contention that hes only received a letter from BLM, but no contact beyond that.

Campbell declined to comment on the specific case, but says in general, form letters should not be sufficient. They need to reach out to the tribes and ensure that they really understand what is taking place.

Headquarters of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians are located in Elko, Nevada.

How Are Cultural Resources Assessed? The Story Between the Stones

If the June auction goes through, any oil and gas companies winning leases would have to spell out their plans for the land. Its only at this point that the BLM would hire an archaeologist to survey the cultural resources on those particular parcels.

Holley objects to this process, saying an archaeologists assessment cant be called a cultural survey if the tribe isnt asked to consult on it.

The problem, Holley says, is that an archaeologist may identify art on stones and determine those areas to be worthy of protection. But without the storied past of the Te-Moak culture, the expert might be ignorant of a spring or other natural features of cultural significance, where the Te-Moak have passed on teachings through the generations.

They label archaeological surveys as cultural surveys, but they wont pay or invite us to be on site, he says. So its not a cultural survey. This happens quite regularly, all the time. Holley maintains that such surveys turn out to be rubber stamping what the company already intends to do.

Were much more than stones. Tell me what happened in between the stones, Holley insists. It is a declaration that resists the historical tendency of anthropology and archaeology to see native peoples as physical artefacts rather than living cultures whose oral histories are embedded in the land.

Holley prods, Who better to do such an assessment than the ones who live the story between the stones? To his mind the Te-Moak should be integrated into the beginning of any cultural surveys. And be paid for it.

Although Hendrix of the BLM Battle Mountain district later notes hypothetical instances where tribes might be paid for consultation services, he doesnt furnish any examples.

Holley also suggests that conducting an official ethnography  a scientific study of the customs of peoples and cultures  would go a long way toward recording, and perhaps protecting, traditionally used gathering sites. However, Holley describes struggling with BLM over who conducts the ethnography.

Ethnography should be part of the process of reviewing a plan  for example, for oil and gas leasing or mining, he says. But they always want to choose the ethnographer, which he says leads such reports to be biased. Hed like to raise funds to hire a non-BLM ethnographer, but so far the tribe hasnt found the money to do so.

Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountain Ranger District on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in northeastern Nevada. Photo by Susan Elliot / U.S. Department of Agriculture

Past Experience

I ask Chairman Holley if he has faith that BLM would, if properly informed, indeed remove places of tribal concern from the parcels to be leased in June?

No. I dont trust how they do business, he says. The tribes past experience has taught them differently.

When you come face to face with BLM, they dont hear a thing youre saying, he says. Its just frustrating. He mentions BLM district administrators who dont do what they say theyre going to do, and instead go just the opposite direction.

He challenges the BLM representatives to tell us where the cultural side, the medicinal side is, but despairs that they lack such knowledge and dont seem interested in learning.

His tone turns urgent, the buildup of decades of not having the Te-Moak cosmology and cultural practices truly heard or respected: Were a part of the land, we hunt, we gather medicinal herbs, we pray. This is whats required of us as human beings to give back to whats provided to us to live by.

He describes a relationship with the land and its denizens that is mutual. The land, which they call Newe Sogobia, requires humans humble tending. Its a worldview distinct from the Western view of land as the deliverer of economic resources  oil, gas, and minerals for companies to exploit.

So will the tribe answer the February letters from the BLM districts, particularly the inquiry regarding identification of places of tribal concern?

Yes, Holley replies; theyll answer the letters.

But in doing that, he says, they want the locations of their most significant places under lock and key. That hasnt happened in the past. Before development of the Tosawihi Quarries within the Waterton Mining Companys Hollister Mines, the Te-Moak identified and notified Elko BLM of ancient rock shelters that Holley says were used as blinds when gathering or hunting. Despite this notification, these cairns got kicked over by the mining company.

Another project saw workers drive right through a sacred site, which BLM reportedly blamed on its archaeologists GPS not synching up with the mining companys maps.

If BLM cant even ensure that their own people will protect our sacred locations, then how can they keep others from destroying them? Holley asks.

Theyre hoping that this time, history wont repeat itself.

Holding Out Hope for Consultation

On March 26, according to Holley, the tribe received a phone call from Elko District BLM Native American consultation coordinator/tribal liaison Jessica Montcalm. Theyve agreed that Montcalm, whose background is in industrial archaeology, will come to the April 3 tribal council meeting. Holley stresses that this classifies as information-gathering, not consultation. Shes not the boss, so she cant make the decision about parcels to be leased for oil and gas uses.

We always request to talk with the lead person in the agency. He acknowledges that, in the past, the BLM-Elko district has sent its district manager, Jill Silvey. But in general he hasnt seen the agency take steps allowing the Te-Moak to talk with someone who can make laws and regulations.

So far, he stresses, there has been no consultation. To begin true consultation, hed like to see BLM approach the tribe to propose adequate dates to meet with the Te-Moak tribal council  and then not just give information, but listen.

I ask him if he thinks the BLM and the Te-Moak tribe will actually get to that phase of consultation. Honestly, probably not. Theyre too overworked, theyre too busy, they have no time. But, lets see where it goes. Maybe they will.

As time winds down before the June lease auction, Holley holds out that slim hope.

Tiffany Higgins is a poet, translator and journalist writing on the environment and Brazil. Her writing appears in Granta, Guernica, the San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. In 2020 she will be the Annie Clark Tanner Fellow in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah. Follow her on Twitter @tiff_higgins

This article originally appeared on The Revelator , an online journal of environmental news and thought, on April 3, 2019. It is published under a Creative Commons license

Join the ConversationThis universe isn't a wish-granting factory and sometimes when you are not even prepared, it throws a curve ball. For Irrfan Khan, whose career was at an all-time high, the diagnosis of cancer came as a speed breaker.

Irrfan Khan, who is considered as one of the finest actors in the film industry has been battling cancer since a year. A few months ago, he shared the news and wrote,

"The unexpected makes us grow, which is what the past few days have been about. Learning that I have been diagnosed with the neuroendocrine tumor as of now has admittedly been difficult, but the love and strength of those around me and that I found within me has brought me to a place of hope."

He was in London for several months, where he was undergoing medical treatment for neuroendocrine tumor. While he battled cancer in London, all his fans and well-wishers in India were praying with a hopeful heart to see their favorite actor back in India.

Our faith in miracles and prayers got reinstated when he returned to India in March. Reports claimed that he is all set to begin shooting for the sequel of his hit film Hindi Medium. After several months, yesterday, he was spotted at the airport and he looked evidently comfortable with the paparazzi clicking him without his mask.

Today, Irrfan is again winning hearts and the reason is a note that he penned down for his fans. Thanking all his fans and close ones for sending across love and best wishes, Irrfan Khan penned down a note full of gratitude and love. He wrote,

He wrote:

"Maybe somewhere in the pursuit of winning we forget how much it means to be loved... In our vulnerability we are reminded. As I leave my footprints onto these steps of my life, I want to pause to be grateful for receiving your immense love and support. It soothed me in my process of healing. So, I travel back to you, thanking you from the bottom of my heart."

Irrfan's message is proof that even when life has not been fair to him, he has his heart in the right place and he is immensely grateful for all the love he has received ever since he broke this heartbreaking news to his fans.His stage name is Desmond is Amazing. He's 11 years old and already a published author, an LGBTQ+ advocate, model and influencer. How many of us could boast of such an extensive resume at such a young age?

Becoming 'drag kid'



Desmond Napoles was just two or three years old when he saw his mom watching RuPaul's Drag Race on TV. He dropped the toys he was playing with and came and sat next to her. Not much later, he would use sheets, cardboard, anything he could get his hands on to recreate the drag magic he witnessed on the telly that day. Desmond was in love with the princesses he had seen.

Desmond also realised he was gay at a very young age.

When we was younger, we thought that maybe he was trans because of his strong preference for girls toys and wearing girls clothes, Napoles mother Wendylou told Out. Desmond's outift, not much different from a rainbow, was what made him stand out in a video at the 2015 New York Pride Parade.

The LGBTQ community had found a friend and icon in Desmond, and they showered much love on him on social media. This love continues to grow. Today, he has 163,000 followers on Instagram alone.

Desmond's drag debut



At just seven years old, Desmond went on to make his drag debut in Jinkx Monsoon's "Bacon Shake" video. Monsoon was the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 5. It was a dream come true for the kid who had always loved to play dress up.

Desmond love for drag in no way discounts his love for fashion. After noticing a fashion sketchbook at a local diner, he asked his mom to get him one. When she did, he sat and filled all the templates. Today, his mother makes the outfits he designs and he pitches in when he can. He loves the colour magenta, has a long list of favourite fashion designers and loves walking the runways at NYFW.

Haus of Amazing

People should be able to be free and let themselves express how they want, whenever they want, Desmond told Out. Let them be [his or herself], and if you dont like how people are, you dont like yourself.

Desmond is amazing/Facebook

In October 2017, Desmond founded the 'Haus of Amazing,' the first ever drag house for youth. According to Desmond's website, his goal was to create a safe space online for drag queens, drag kings, youth and anyone who loved drag. He attempted to create a Facebook page for Haus of Amazing, but a lot of backlash later, he called off the attempt in 2017. Now, his parents are working on creating a separate network for it.

But what keeps him going is the love he receives from his 'amazies,' the LGBTQ+ youth.



Today I attended 2 courses in Queer history & a course on building a GSA. You are never too young or old to learn the history they don't teach you at school! Thank you @TrueColorsCT for having me this year!https://t.co/mituuF0rI1#desmondisamazing #lgbt #lgbtq #queer #dragkid pic.twitter.com/yYFaJcDB7X  Desmond is Amazing (@desmond_amazing) March 24, 2019

Roadblock

Desmond and his mother faced a minor hitch when New York City's Administration for Child Services (ACS) received over 200 complaints over Desmond's following performance at a New York City gay bar. Many were furious that a child was made to perform at a gay bar at such a young age.

A media frenzy followed, and Desmond's were even accused of exploiting their son and making him 'perform for paedophiles.' Wendy, Desmond's mother, told Yahoo, "They [ACS] would come at 3 in the morning even on school nights. They would visit Desmond at his school several times a week and pull him out of class. His grades went down, he thought it was embarrassing, he just started middle school. Its just been a really horrible experience."

Meanwhile at school...

Desmond's parents have asked for additional security given the harassment he's been facing following the allegations. But Desmond isn't fazed by any of it. "I don't let it bother me. I let my teacher know what happened and they usually talk to the kid that bullied me," he told Photobookmagazine.com.

Don't stop, kid. More power to you.February 14, 2019, will always be a black day for Indians. The nation is still mourning the death of over 40 brave CRPF jawans martyred in Pulwama. The attack was the deadliest after the 2016 Uri attacks. The pain and agony of the families were inexpressible and to support their families people donated money to them.

In another endeavour to collect funds for the Pulwama martyrs, CRPF sub-inspector Vikas Khadgawat sent out his wedding cards with the message - All cash gifted will be donated to CRPF funds.

Here is the wedding card:

Vikas Khadgawat

Vikas Khadgawat

In conversation with Indiatimes, Vikas said, "Dowry is a common thing in our town. My father is also a government official, but when he got married he made sure that if his child will be a boy he will never take dowry. My father first thought that we'll say no to gifts at the wedding but he thought how will he stop people from getting gifts? So we decided to donate all the money in the Bharat Ke Veer fund."

"The wedding will take place in Bikaner and the reception will be in Sri Ganganagar where all the relatives would come and give money to me and my wife, Komal. We'll place a box where the guests can put all of their money and then the money will go to the District Collector and then to the Bharat Ke Veer fund."

Upon asking if the bride's family were on board with the idea, he said, "She is the only daughter of her parents, so at first they said no to this but afterwards they agreed for it."

The wedding will be held on April 13 in Bikaner, followed by a reception on April 15 in Sri Ganganagar. Khadgawat is currently posted in Srinagar in J&K.

In a message to the youth of this country, he said: "People have that mentality that if my son is an officer then the amount of the dowry should be hefty, but I am setting an example in the society and the youth should follow this."Weeks after tweeting that Google is helping the Chinese military, but not the U.S. military, President Donald Trump March 27 announced that Google CEO Sundar Pichai (pictured) is totally committed to the American military and not Chinas. The Indian American executive is seen here testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)The third time that Greenberg visited Joshi, the agent asked for additional pills for his girlfriend, who he said had taken some, court records state. Joshi said technically you are not supposed to do that so dont tell me that, but gave Greenberg six extra pills that month, according to court records.Roselyn and Shalvinesh Sharma, a couple who have been missing since March 26, are feared dead after their tow truck flew off the Pioneer Bridge and into the Sacramento River in Sacramento, Calif. The Sacramento Sheriffs Department and the California Highway Patrol are continuing to search the waters around the point at which the vehicle went into the water. (Shalvin Sharma Facebook page photo)A European Union funded project is hoping to turn food waste into graphene, it was reported this week.

PlasCarb is researching ways of turning the biogas produced from rotting food into graphitic carbon by harvesting the carbon and cleaning off the impurities.

In other graphene news, scientists at Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) and Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea have discovered a new method of growing large area, single crystal wafer graphene.

"The new method () synthesises large-area graphene into a single crystal on a semiconductor, maintaining its electric and mechanical properties," Samsung said.

Previous attempts at growing large-scale graphene wafers were unsuccessful, Samsung explained, because they deteriorated some of graphenes key qualities.

Over the past several decades, the growth of the semiconductor industry has been driven by the ability to grow the area of a silicon wafer, while steadily decreasing the process node. In order to commercialise graphene to displace the industrys reliance on silicon, it is vital to develop a new method to grow a single crystal graphene into a large area, Samsung said.

On the natural graphite front, ASX-listed Archer Exploration Ltd has announced Australia's largest JORC graphite resource of 8.55m tonnes at an average grade of 9%C, based on cut-off grade of 5%C, for 770,800 tonnes contained graphite. The deposit carries substantial exploration upside as the Waddikee Reserve has seven dditional graphite prospects and numerous electromagnetic targets yet to be drill tested, the company said.

A composite reverse circulation (RC) sample from the oxide zone of the Wilclo South graphite deposit produced extra large, large, medium and fine flake graphite at grades of 91-93%C. Small scale laboratory tests inferred that 42-55% of the graphite is recoverable as flake products.





Results of a short scout drilling programme designed to identify those Waddikee graphite prospects capable of delivering large flake graphite are expected this quarter.

Fellow Australia-based Valence Industries has signed memoranda of understanding for graphite volumes exceeding 29,000 tpa over periods between two and three years, CEO Christopher Darby announced this week. Production is being progressively increased at the Uley Graphite plant in South Australia to accommodate this.

The existing plant has a nameplate capacity of 14,000 tpa processed graphite, with a production target of ~8,000 tonnes graphite product in the first year.

The new phase two plant is designed to increase production in stages to 64,000 tpa by 2018-2019, with an initial increase to 39,000 tpa capacity in 2016. Construction of the second phase is expected to commence in Q2 2015. The company is looking at project finance options to support this.

Sales contracts have been signed with six customers in Europe and in the Asia Pacific. The average pricing across full range of traditional flake graphite products is A$1,667/tonne ($1,300/tonne*), said Darby.

TSX-V-listed Graphite One Resources announced the release of revised assays of samples from its Graphite Creek project in Alaska, US, after the original results in December last year showed some variances.

The results of the final ten diamond core holes include 42.81 metres grading at 6.27%C, including 6.78 metres at 9.14%C and 9.86 metres at 12.46%C; 24.56 metres at 6.76%C, including 18.31 metres at 8.11%C; and 38.8 metres at 7.8%C including 17.92 metres at 13.37%C.

The company intends to develop Graphite Creek as North Americas largest known large flake graphite deposit. Based on drilling 4.8km of an 18km strike length, Graphite Creek has an NI 43-101 inferred resource of 284.71m tonnes at 4.5% graphite.

Berkwood Resources has received geologist recommendations for the next stage of fieldwork programmes on the companys Lac Gueret South and East Graphite Properties in northeastern Quebec, Canada. A fieldwork programme has also been recommended to take advantage of the high potential for graphite mineralisation.

ASX-listed Malagasy Minerals has completed a maiden diamond drilling programme on four targets at the company Maniry graphite project in southern Madagascar. The results confirm the presence of thick high-grade graphite horizons, the company said.

Exploration at Maniry has identified a series of large, high-grade outcrops of graphite mineralisation within a broader graphite trend covering an area of approximately 8km by 4km. This initial work was followed by more detailed systematic rock chip sampling across the interpreted strike of the graphite lenses to determine the continuity of grade across the width of these graphite lenses.

Mozambi Resources has signed an option to acquire two graphite licences in the Balama Montepuez region of Mozambique. The licences are presently under application with the Mozambique Mines Ministry and their grant is expected in the near future. Mozambi plans to start the work programme immediately after the licences have been granted.

Mozambi's executive director, Alan Armstrong, said: "We are very excited about the potential this area holds in an emerging basin for graphite and vanadium."

"The board is extremely pleased with the quick turnaround time we have seen from the start of negotiations through to this point. The smooth way in which we have been able to conduct this transaction is testament to the emerging mining industry in Mozambique."

Montreal-based Group NanoXplore has carried out a C$2.725m ($2.18m) non-brokered private placement to finance its continuing development of the production and application of graphene. The investors include a number of high net worth Canadian individuals with strong backgrounds in chemical and industrial markets, the company said.

"Over the last year we have seen strong interest in our graphene products, especially for applications in smart textiles and Li-ion batteries, as well as lubricants, paints, and polymers", said Dr Soroush Nazarpour, CEO of NanoXplore.

NanoXplore is a privately held advanced materials company focused on the large-scale production of high quality graphene and the integration of graphene into real world industrial products.

Zenyatta Ventures has found that results of tests on ore from its Albany graphite project appear to be in the range of materials used presently for lithium-ion batteries.

The company held conversations with more than 35 graphite end-users, academic labs and third party testing facilities in Europe, North America and Asia to initiate validation of Albany graphite in high purity graphite applications. The organisations were provided a small amount of purified graphite material produced at SGS Canada Lakefield site in order to screen Albany graphite for suitable applications while gathering feedback from the end-users and testing facilities.

Information from this initial test programme will be used to further define the Company's product and market strategy and set the stage for next steps in development.

*Conversions made February 2015We now offer lithium prices and coverage free for reference. Click here to read all about it. Join our growing community of participants who want to learn more about electrification and how this market is developing.Insurance fraud seems like it might be an easy thing to do. Insurance companies are often so huge, one wonders how they might not even notic...Participants first saw images of scenes together with one of two objects. Later they only saw the scene images and were asked to remember which object was associated with the particular scene.  Cognitive and Clinical Neurophysiology Group/Uni Bonn

The researchers presented participants with a number of different scene images. Importantly, they paired each scene image with one of two different objects, such as a raspberry or a scorpion.

Participants were given 3 seconds to memorise a given scene-object combination. After a short break they were presented with the scene images again, but now had to reconstruct the associated object image from memory.

At the same time, we examined participants brain activation, explains Prof. Florian Mormann, who heads the Cognitive and Clinical Neurophysiology group at the University of Bonn Medical Centre. We focused on two brain regions  the hippocampus and the neighbouring entorhinal cortex.

The hippocampus is known to play a role in associative memory, but how exactly it does so has remained poorly understood.

The researchers made an exciting discovery: During memory recall, neurons in the hippocampus began to fire strongly. This was also the case during a control condition in which participants only had to remember scene images without the objects.

Importantly, however, hippocampal ativity lasted much longer when participants also had to remember the associated object (the raspberry or scorpion image). Additionally, neurons in the entorhinal cortex began to fire in parallel to the hippocampus.

The pattern of activation in the entorhinal cortex during successful recall strongly resembled the pattern of activation during the initial learning of the objects, explains Dr. Bernhard Staresina from the University of Birmingham.

Indeed, the similarity between recall and learning was so strong that a computer algorithm was able to tell whether the participant remembered the raspberry or the scorpion. We call this process reinstatement, Staresina says: The act of remembering put neurons in a state that strongly resembles their activation during initial learning.

The researchers think that such reinstatement is driven by neurons in the hippocampus. Like a librarian, hippocampal neurons might provide pointers telling the rest of the brain where particular memories (such as the raspberry and the scorion) are stored.

Looking into the brain of Epilepsy patients

The brain recordings were conducted at the University Clinic of Epileptology in Bonn  one of Europes biggest epilepsy centres. The clinic specialises on patients who suffer from severe forms of medial temporal lobe epilepsy. The goal is to surgically remove those parts of the brain that cause the epileptic seizures.

In order to localise the origin of the seizures, some patients are implanted with electrodes. These electrodes are able to record brain activation. Researchers can use this rare opportunity to closely monitor the brain while it remembers.

This is also what the current study did: The 16 participants were all epilepsy patients who had small electrodes implanted in their medial temporal lobe. With these electrodes we were able to record the neurons response to visual stimuli, Prof. Mormann explains. These methods allows fascinating insights into the mechanisms of our memory system. They might also be used to better understand the causes for memory deficits.

Dr. Bernhard Staresina

School of Psychology

University of Birmingham

Tel.: +44 (0)121 414 8690

E-Mail: b.staresina@bham.ac.uk

Prof. Florian Mormann, MD, PhD

Dept. of Epileptology

University of Bonn

Tel.: +49 228 287 15738

E-Mail: florian.mormann@ukbonn.de

Bernhard P. Staresina, Thomas P. Reber, Johannes Niediek, Jan Bostrom, Christian E. Elger und Florian Mormann: Recollection in the human hippocampal-entorhinal cell circuitry; Nature Communications; dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09558-3Switch the Market flag

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for targeted data from your country of choice.Roxas is described by police as a 28-year-old Asian woman who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She is described as having brown eyes, brown hair and a medium complexion. Officers do not know what clothes she might be wearing.The funds would also be used to make certain all of the districts school buildings offer ADA accessibility, and would pay for renovations to outdated classrooms, gymnasiums and other learning and gathering spaces for students, Kocanda said.Read more: Done deal  JLT sale to Marsh receives approval

To their credit, John Doyle, president and CEO of Marsh, and Lucy Clarke, president of Marsh JLT Specialty (both pictured above), were willing to put themselves front and centre to answer the tough questions  literally surrounded by a semi-circle of journalists at a media briefing in London. For those keeping score, it took just two questions for the issue of jobs to reach the top of the agenda. Clarke herself admitted that its a topic of conversation  indeed back in September last year it was announced that overlap between the two firms could lead to around 3,750 job losses from the combined business.

Based on this preliminary evaluation, MMC expects a potential headcount reduction of between 2% and 5% of the total combined group workforce across all geographies, including in the UK, Continental Europe, Asia, North America, the Middle East, Latin America and the Pacific, and from a broad range of job categories, was the statement at the time.

Read more: Marsh and JLT confirm specialty business merger

Doyle insisted that target was still in place  and that, as outlined previously, job cuts were likely to come in function areas like IT, HR, operations, legal and administrative support staff, and so on.

Combination is about growth  its not a cost cutting exercise for us, said Doyle. Having said that, there will obviously be some duplication of roles as a result. Both of us have been thoughtful and careful leading up to the close, using natural attrition to help us get at some of the objectives weve set. For the most part, the redundancies are likely to exist in staff function areas in places all over the world and well need to manage the transition to get the best of both.

We always have attrition  thats normal and quite healthy. So far, the attrition linked to the combination is very, very limited around the world.

We need to create a compelling environment for our colleagues to want to work here. That didnt start yesterday [the official day of approval for the merger] for Marsh and it didnt start yesterday for JLT  we have more than 30,000 people that come to work at Marsh and were quite excited about the opportunity. We wont take our people for granted.

So what then will the merger mean for the combined firms brokers? How will it impact their day-to-day operations, Insurance Business asked.

Today they wont see a huge difference  weve had to be very careful about any pre-close activities, said Clarke. Finally, yesterday they could really talk and share plans. So, theres going to be a lot of traffic between our buildings and well be looking to bring those two groups together in the next couple of months and being physically together that quickly will have a dramatic impact on how theyre able to work together.

We have a lot of experience in M&A and we think co-locating the teams as quickly as possible is really important, added Doyle while admitting it wouldnt be a small undertaking especially in locations like London, Sydney, Melbourne and parts of Asia.

One change, however, has already been made  it was revealed in March that Gallagher would be buying the JLT aerospace business.

Read more: Gallagher to buy JLTs global aerospace operations

That move, Clarke outlined, was prompted by the European Commission and Marsh would remain committed to the aviation sector going forward.

They were two of the strongest aviation businesses in the market  Marsh and JLT, she said. Having a remedy requested by the European Commission wasnt totally shocking  so now Gallagher has a great aviation team and we have a great aviation team.

Its an important part of our business and we will continue to invest there, Doyle added.

For the sector as a whole its a massive deal too  Marsh was already the worlds biggest broker before making the swoop and now the competition, while still vast, is lighter. Doyle however, insisted that competition makes us better and the firm was focused not on being the biggest, but being the best. To achieve this, the focus has to be on delivering for clients.

Weve made it clear to everyone who works for us that were redoubling our efforts and our focus on clients, said Clarke. Also, to speak to clients about the integration in so far as theyre interested  we dont want to bore them with things that theyre not interested in.

Weve just made undertakings with our clients that were not mandating any team changes, your best interests continue to be our priority and your resources are greater not less. Most clients, think great, got it.

We do customer surveys all the time and two things come up every time, added Clarke. Clients want to deal with people who understand their business  deep knowledge, expertise and experience, and clients want people who provide them top class service. So, from that perspective, the combination of the two groups is addressing those two key issues.Read more: Flood mitigation is nation building, says ICA

Were disappointed the federal government has ignored recommendations from the Productivity Commission to invest $200 million a year on these programs, said Clare Hunter, RACQ spokesperson. Currently, around 97% of disaster funding goes to clean up and recovery, yet just 3% is allocated to prevention.

Hunter said Queensland urgently needed the flood mitigation funding more than any other state.

Sixteen of Australias most flood affected electorates are in Queensland, Hunter said. The electorate of Herbert, which includes Townsville, tops that list. We agree with the ICA that a significant portion of the Emergency Response Fund should have been invested to reduce the impact of natural disasters rather than patching up communities in the aftermath.Suncorp has facilitated a two-way dialogue on the important issues impacting their clients and consumers as part of its Consumer Advocate Day celebration.

The event brought together senior leaders and team members from Suncorps insurance, banking and wealth, and customer marketplace divisions, as well as representatives from National Australia Bank, Uniting Kildonan, Financial Counselling Australia, Legal Aid, and Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).Exclusive Features

Outdated systems and processes are holding insurers back from offering a first-rate motor claims experience in line with consumers' expectations, say Steve Chapman and Daniel Lukich of loss assessor AAMC. They tell IB what can be done to improve the processCommercial property coverage with limits up to $120 million per location, with an enhanced cause of loss form that has built-in equipment breakdown and inland marine coverages, as well as crime coverage

General liability with base limits of $1 million to $6 million, with even higher limits considered

Employment-related practices liability (EPL) insurance

Commercial umbrella

Our goal is to become a One Stop Shop for our agents and their insureds, said Berkshire Hathaway GUARD CEO Sy Foguel. We continue to expand our portfolio to supply our network of independent agents with quality products that enable them to grow.

Foguel added that while the commercial package is only being offered in Pennsylvania, there are plans to launch the product in more states.

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD executive vice-president Lyle Hitt explained that the package is designed to complement the companys current businessowners policy by addressing the insurance needs of larger, more complex operations or businesses with multiple exposures.

Hitt noted that the commercial package product primarily targets light-to-medium manufacturing, wholesalers and distributors, truck stops/travel plazas, resorts, and country clubs with plans to expand into additional markets.Authorities said that Causey reported the bribery attempt to law enforcement officials and cooperated with the investigation.

Insurance executives John Gray, 68, and John Palermo, 63, were also implicated in the scheme  they are associates of Lindberg. The four were each charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Hayes was also charged with lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

All four men have pleaded not guilty.

The indictment said that the four men promised to spend millions of dollars on Causeys reelection if he would remove a deputy insurance commissioner who was investigating Lindbergs Durham-based business. The four allegedly said that they would create independent campaign committees that would spend $1.5 million on Causeys re-election bid, with an additional $250,000 payment through the state Republican party.

Hayes supposedly asked the others to transfer the money in modest amounts to avoid suspicion, the indictment said.

The four defendants turned themselves in yesterday and made their first appearance in US District Court in Charlotte, NC, Wall Street Journal reported.

Lindberg is the founder and owner of Eli Global; he is also the owner of Global Bankers Insurance Group  the insurance business at the heart of the controversy. Neither company was charged, Reuters reported.Never one to shy away from new and interesting opportunities, Lynch made what she describes as a crazy, life-changing, leap of faith decision to take a producer role at Willis Towers Watson in Oregon  and the rest is history. After 15 years in the industry, Lynch has progressed quickly into a senior leadership role, serving today as president of the energy practice at Beecher Carlson, a Brown & Brown company.

Read next: I defied Mad Men by wearing pants  and I have a book of business to die for

When Willis Towers Watson hired me, I had no experience in insurance and no experience in sales. My dad, who was a great sales professional, told me early on he thought I should go into sales. He was a great mentor and a great support to me, so when this opportunity arose, I was confident enough to take it, Lynch told Insurance Business. The first thing I had to do was learn everything I needed to know about insurance  that was a big evolution. I was fortunate to have a lot of mentors at Willis Towers Watson who believed in me, supported me, and provided a path for me to learn and excel in insurance and in my specialization of energy. I feel very lucky that they took a chance on me even though I was breaking the mold in that time and that geography.

Lynch was the only female producer in her office when she first joined the insurance industry 15-years-ago. There were no women in senior leadership positions and hardly any female mentors and role models. This was quite a stark difference to the journalism sector, where Lynch said she worked alongside many strong female leaders and mentors.

Dont miss: Women in Insurance Atlanta  on April 11

I recognized early on that there just werent many women in senior leadership positions in insurance, she said. For me, it felt like a bit of a tri-sector: a lack of women in insurance sales; a lack of women in leadership positions in insurance brokerage; and a lack of women in the energy sector. This actually motivated me and made me want to play my part in changing that on every professional level.

Read more: Trailblazer helps you navigate a career crossroads and maximize your strengths

After a couple of year at Willis Towers Watson, Lynch joined Beecher Carlson, a large account risk management broker and wholly-owned subsidiary of Brown & Brown. Over the past 12 years, she has become a vital part of the brokerages thriving energy practice. She took presidency of the unit two-years-ago and joined Beecher Carlsons executive leadership team. As a practice leader, one of Lynchs goals has been to promote, mentor and support female employees.

When I took on my leadership role in energy, we worked really hard to reorganize the practice, and Im really proud of the fact that we now have five women in our energy practice leadership team, Lynch commented. Im really proud and really in awe of how much progress weve made in the past 10 years in respect to our energy practice, but also the brokerage industry as a whole. I believe strongly that the tide is shifting and its really positive for the evolution of the industry. I think men and women bring different skillsets, tactics and strategies to the workplace, and when were on an equal footing, working together and respectfully contributing to common goals, I think were personally and professionally better off for it.

Beecher Carlson has implemented a number of strategies to attract, engage and retain a diverse workforce. An important part of the solution, according to Lynch, is modeling and mapping out success for prospective and current employees. For women who want a successful professional career while also prioritizing family, its all about finding, encouraging and supporting people to have a healthy work/life balance, she added. Furthermore, in an attempt to engage future generations, Beecher Carlson has set up a robust internship and college outreach program.

There are more opportunities than there has ever been, both in the insurance brokerage sector as well as the energy sector. I couldnt be more motivated by the opportunities that my female counterparts and I are getting day by day, and it feels really exciting to be paving the way to a brighter future for the insurance industry, Lynch added. This has been a really exciting and rewarding career for me and weve reached a moment in time where it can be a fantastic career path for women and for young leaders. The next step for us is really advancing more women into leadership roles in the brokerage sector, and Im excited to continue to drive that initiative at Beecher Carlson.A New York judge last week dismissed portions of a lawsuit filed by former Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine against the company last year.

Levine was the Mets 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 last week 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.

Levines lawyer, Edward J.M. Little, said he was encouraged by the decision to uphold the one defamation claim.

The Met didnt 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.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Claims New YorkSpain's Teatro Real (Royal Theater) and China's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) have signed an agreement on exchange of audiovisual materials through an online platform, Palco Digital.

The accord, signed on Monday by the Managing Director of the Teatro Real, Ignacio Garcia-Belenguer, and the President of the NCPA, Wang Ning, will allow consumers to view material on demand.

"The NCPA will offer one opera and four concerts live, as well as five documentaries to present them in the Palco Digital platform. Following the launch of this project, viewers from several countries will be able to view them on the internet," Wang Ning told Xinhua

The NCPA president also said the accord was positive for both institutions because "culture is connected."

"We are going to present the classical operas of the world to the Chinese audience, but we also want to introduce some Chinese operas to the world to help integration and exchange between cultures. It doesn't matter if it is from the East or the West, art has a common character," he added.

"I think this cooperation is very important, especially under the influence of the Road and Belt initiative," said Wang Ning.

For Garcia-Belenguer, the agreement is another step towards greater collaboration between the two institutions which have enjoyed a close relationship for several years.

He said the relationship between the Teatro Real and China had received an important boost following the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan to the theater on Nov. 28, 2018, during their official visit to Spain.

"We are working to take Flamenco to China, to carry out joint university projects and exchange initiatives so our respective employees can see how each other works," he commented.

The Royal Theatre, which opened in 1850, is now considered to be the most important center for classical music, opera and ballet in Spain.Hub International Ltd., the Chicago-based insurance broker, announced that it has acquired Del Fisher Insurance Inc.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Del Fisher Insurance is an independent insurance broker providing personal and commercial insurance solutions, including home, auto, business and contract bonding to area residents and businesses since 1981. Del Fisher Insurance represents some of the largest and most respected insurance companies in Canada, said Hub.

Jeff Alderman, office manager/partner of Del Fisher Insurance, will join Hub International Barton Ltd. and will be a member of the Prairie Arctic leadership team. John Dewit, president/partner of Del Fisher Insurance, and L.M. (Mike) Santiago, vice president/partner of Del Fisher Insurance, will be retiring.

Source: Hub International Ltd.

Topics Mergers Agencies CanadaThe root of the Brexit crisis is not, as you might think, the failure of the hard-Brexit Tories to compromise. Rather, its that no good compromise exists. For three years Britains politicians have refused to face this, arguing endlessly and pointlessly about how to split the difference between Remain and Leave, imagining they can find a palatable soft Brexit. The underlying problem is that theres simply no such thing.

In the end, with or without a further extension of the Brexit deadline, MPs might end up splitting the difference after all. Its still possible theyll vote for Prime Minister Theresa Mays muddled and three-times-rejected withdrawal agreement (involving a financial settlement, transitional arrangements, and steps to avoid reintroducing a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). On Tuesday, the prime minister said shed seek the Labour Partys help in adjusting the nonbinding political declaration that goes with the deal, in an effort to get Parliaments backing.

If MPs do finally go along, theyll soon find that their compromise doesnt work, and that Britain hates its new relationship with the European Union even more than the old one.

Deep down, most of the countrys politicians understand this, I suspect, but cant bring themselves to confront the implications. Their preference for denial explains why, after years of agonizing, and just nine days away from a chaotic unplanned exit, the House of Commons has not only rejected Mays deal over and over, but has also just said no to 12 other motions positing a way out of the mess.

Its telling that the compromises that came closest to passing in two rounds of so-called indicative votes  such as the idea of attaching a permanent customs union to Mays plan  are disliked even by the people sponsoring them. The House of Commons is divided between committed Leavers and Remainers, each side convinced that the other is wholly wrong. Most of the people calling for compromise are Remainers, but their goal is not to move Britain to an arrangement the country would like better than the one it has; its to lessen the damage they think will be done when Britain stupidly quits.

The instinct to compromise is certainly valuable. In a democracy where people disagree about big questions  such as whether to remain part of an emerging United States of Europe  its right to look for a middle way that most can live with. The mistake is to assume that a workable compromise is always there to be found. Once in a while, a hard choice cannot be finessed: It just has to be made, and the consequences lived with. This is such a case.

Consider what many see as an appealingly soft Brexit: so-called Norway-plus, or Common Market 2.0. The idea is to preserve the economic benefits of EU membership by remaining a member of Europes single market and customs union, while retrieving some political sovereignty by stepping away from EU integration in areas such as justice and home affairs.

Nick Boles, one of the plans authors, stepped down as a Conservative MP on Monday when the Commons again rejected this approach. I have given everything to an attempt to find a compromise that can take this country out of the European Union while maintaining our economic strength and our political cohesion, he said. I have failed chiefly because my party refuses to compromise.

The Boles plan could have been a workable temporary arrangement. It might have been a good long-term plan, as well, if Europe would allow single-market members that arent part of the EU a full say in developing the markets rules. But Europe wont countenance that. (For some reason, advocates of Norway-plus dont seem to mind.) The proposed arrangement would therefore leave the U.K. as a powerless rule-taker across a wide and ever-widening span of trade and economic policy.

Recall that support for Brexit comes chiefly from resentment at Britains lack of control over the policies that affect it. Norway-plus would make that problem vastly worse. Norway has a looser form of association than the one proposed in the Boles plan (it isnt a member of the EUs customs union), yet much of the countrys politics is devoted to butting heads with the EU over successive policy innovations over which it has no say.

The idea that a Boles-style compromise, in concert with an unreformed EU, could be the long-term basis of a satisfactory Brexit is ridiculous. Ive seen no serious attempt to defend the claim. All one can say for the plan is that it would avoid the short-term disruption that Brexit would otherwise cause  at the cost of building a new wave of anti-EU sentiment and, in due course, demands for Brexit 2.0.

One day Europe might be willing to contemplate a more flexible structure for its project of political integration. Until then, Britain has two workable choices. It can stay and make the best of it, while continuing to press for reform from within. Or it can leave, meaning all the way out, and negotiate a comprehensive free-trade agreement of the kind that Canada has with the U.S.  one that treats both parties as sovereign nations, and does not condemn the smaller economy to formally entrenched second-class status. Nothing in-between will stick.

Mays divided government committed itself to Leave without really believing in it, then failed to plan for that second course  an unforgivable mistake. Parliaments Remainers failed the country too, and are still failing, by supporting broken compromises that they know will sooner or later collapse, instead of saying what they think and championing the outcome they believe is best for the country.

The result could hardly be worse. Three years in, Britains politicians are flailing helplessly. A lasting resolution is nowhere in sight. In fact, the Brexit trauma may be only just getting started.

Clive Crook is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and writes editorials on economics, finance and politics. He was chief Washington commentator for the Financial Times, a correspondent and editor for the Economist and a senior editor at the Atlantic.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Europe UkFinancial firms in Britain continue to shift business to new European Union hubs and wont stop unless Brexit is canceled, a think tank told British lawmakers on Wednesday.

William Wright, head of New Financial, said its study published on March 11 showed that 275 financial firms were moving some of their business, staff or assets from Britain to hubs in the EU to avoid Brexit disruption.

Since the report was published we have found another 14 firms have set up new entities, Wright told a House of Lords committee.

Moves out of Britain would continue under any Brexit outcome that fell short of canceling Britains departure from the bloc as firms sought to end trading uncertainty, Wright said.

Andrew Pilgrim, an associate partner at consultants EY told lawmakers there was no going back for the big banks that have spent millions of euros setting up and staffing new EU hubs.

For most people, they are beyond the point of no return, Pilgrim said.

Britain was due to leave the EU on March 29 but departure has been delayed until at least April 12.

The prospect of Britain remaining in the EUs customs union has increased, a step Pilgrim said would not give financial services market access to the bloc.

Brexit is also a catalyst to review business models and accelerate longstanding shifts in back office staff from Britain to cheaper locations like Poland, and to be closer to key customers, Pilgrim said.

Germanys foreign banking association said on Wednesday that up to 5,000 new jobs in its member institutes would be created in the next 12 to 18 months due to Brexit.

The Bank of England expects about 4,000 banking and insurance jobs to have moved by Brexit Day, a fraction of the early estimates from consultants in the aftermath of Britains vote in 2016 to leave the EU.

If Britain leaves the EU with no deal, financial business could flow immediately from Britain to Singapore and the United States as they have access to the bloc, Pilgrim said.

Wright said there was now only scope to pause but not stop the flow of financial services business from Britain to the EU, unless Britain remained in the single market, a step the government has so far ruled out.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Jan Harvey)

Related:

Topics Tech Europe UkAmeriprise Financial is selling its Ameriprise Auto & Home (AAH) division to a subsidiary of Madison, Wisconsin-based American Family Insurance Mutual Holding Co. (American Family Insurance), the companies announced.

Ameriprise will receive gross proceeds of $1.05 billion in cash in the deal. After a payment to an affinity partner, the net proceeds are approximately $950 million, subject to certain post-closing financial adjustments. Current AAH customers will retain their policies with no change in coverage or service.

Ameriprise Auto & Home is based in De Pere, Wisconsin, and has 1,800 employees. AAH sells auto, homeowners, renters, umbrella and some specialty insurance lines in 43 states and District of Columbia through partners. For 2018, AAH reported $789 million in surplus, $1.8 billion in assets and $1.1 billion of annual direct premium written. Approximately 70 percent of the companys premium is from auto insurance sales.

American Family reported that a significant majority of AAHs policies are sold through a partnership with Costco, which offers Ameriprise Auto & Home policies to its members through its website. American Family and Costco have entered into a letter of intent to continue that partnership.

AAH also sells its products through referrals from Ameriprise Financial advisors, a relationship that also will continue after the acquisition.

American Family said the two Wisconsin companies share similar cultures, values and customer focus. The transaction also broadens American Familys business on a geographic basis.

AAHs largest premium state is California. For 2017, AAH reported direct premium written of $377 million in the state. Of that, more than 80 percent is auto premium. American Family currently does relatively little business in California, the company said.

A multi-line mutual insurance group, American Family Insurance serves customers in 19 states through exclusive agents, and nationally through subsidiaries that sell products through the internet, call centers, affinity partners and independent agents.

The group reported 2018 results of $9 billion in equity, $27.5 billion in assets and $9.6 billion of direct premium written. The group employs 12,000 people through its various companies, with American Family-brand products sold through 2,500 independent contractor exclusive agents.

Ameriprise Financial said it had conducted strategic review of the AAH business and determined it is the right time to sell. The sale also is consistent with Ameriprises strategic focus on its core growth areas: advice and wealth management; and asset management.

In its media release, Ameriprise Financial said there will be no contingent liability associated with this transaction for Ameriprise Financial, except for certain post-closing financial adjustments and customary indemnification obligations in a transaction of this type. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2019.

Insurer rating firm A.M. Best said its financial and credit ratings for American Family Insurance Group remain unchanged following the announcement.

A.M. Best added that it believes that the addition of Ameriprise P&C Companies, with significant premium writings in California and Texas, may contribute further to the growing geographic and distribution diversification of the American Family enterprise.

Credit Suisse Securities acted as financial advisor and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom acted as legal advisor to Ameriprise in the transaction.

America Family was advised on legal matters by Foley & Lardner and on financial matters by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Source: Ameriprise Financial Services Inc., American Family Insurance Mutual Holding Co.

Topics Mergers California Auto WisconsinSynergy Professional Associates, in partnership with Tokio Marine HCC  Professional Lines Group, has expanded its lawyers professional liability programs focusing on small law firms into Colorado, Florida and New Jersey.

The new facilities target small law firms from one to 35 attorneys. The programs are written by U.S. Specialty Insurance Co., an admitted carrier, in Colorado, Florida and New Jersey. The program is also available in Arizona and Texas.

Limits available up to $5 million/$5 million with deductibles starting at $1,000 per claim.

The policy features coverage for disciplinary proceedings, as well as subpoena assistance, public relations reimbursement, and network security and privacy liability sub-limits. Synergy writes lawyers professional liability on both a standard and surplus lines basis.

Synergy Professional Associates, Inc. is a program manager, managing general agent, and surplus lines broker specializing in professional liability working with producers throughout the United States. Synergy operates on an open broker basis with duly appointed producers.

Tokio Marine HCC is the marketing name used to describe the affiliated companies under the common ownership of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., a Delaware-incorporated insurance holding company. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Tokio Marine HCC is a specialty insurance group with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Tokio Marine HCC is a member of the Tokio Marine Group.

The Professional Lines Group, a member of Tokio Marine HCC, provides protection against claims arising from professional negligence, which can lead to financial losses, expensive litigation and staggering jury awards. The group offers miscellaneous professional liability for all kinds of professionals, businesses and consultants.

Topics USA Professional LiabilityNationwide said it has expanded 24-hour access to more types of small business for its Commercial Digital Direct online commercial insurance platform.

Now, 30 different business types can access the platform, which enables Nationwide to sell and service its commercial insurance products and services in an entirely digital way that the insurer bills as fast, easy and efficient.

Businessowners can typically get a quote in less than 10 minutes, Nationwide said.

The kind of innovation Commercial Digital Direct brings saves business owners time and money and empowers them to control their experience even off-hours for greater confidence in their decision-making process, Tony Fenton, vice president of Nationwides Underwriting, Product and New Product Development, said in prepared remarks.

The types of office, service and retail businesses that can now use the platform include business consultants, legal practices, beauty/barber salons, photographers, coffee shops and clothing stores. Right now, Commercial Digital Direct is available to business owners in Illinois, Arkansas, Connecticut and Indiana, and Nationwide said it expects to add additional states through the 2019.

Nationwide said that many of its business owner-clients expect low-cost customization when purchasing commercial insurance direct versus tailored coverage and services while working with a trusted agent.

Mark Berven, president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Property & Casualty, explained in a recent Carrier Management article that Nationwide tries to anticipate small business needs through both avenues, giving them options for direct access via digital platform or the ability to work with independent agents.

We are investing in technology that allows a customer to research their insurance needs and purchase direct if they so choose, Berven said. But we also have trusted advisers and agency partners across the country who can provide guidance and advice if the customer wants that.

Berven also noted that Nationwide now serves more than 1 million small businesses, which it defines as those with fewer than 50 employees, less than $20 million in total insured value and less than $20 million in sales. These clients also tend to have less than $2 million in payroll and under 20 vehicles, he said.

In terms of expanding the Commercial Digital Direct option, Nationwide touts the platform as having a number of speedy and self-service features, which Nationwide said it found in a recent study were important to both small and micro business owners. Those options include completion of an online commercial policy purchase within minutes using pre-fill data and automated underwriting; easy bill-payment options that integrate into business software; policy information and document lookup and certificate of insurance request.

Source: Nationwide

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Small BusinessResidents in six southeastern Louisiana parishes will get some relief from backwater flooding thanks to a new floodgate.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced this week that the states Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is pledging $80 million to build a permanent floodgate across Bayou Chene.

The money comes from a revenue-sharing agreement called the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act that gives gulf states money from oil and gas developments off their shores.

The floodgate will help Morgan City and other communities in the area that are prone to backwater flooding that happens when the Atchafalaya River is running high and water backs up north up Bayou Chene.

Backwater flooding in St. Mary and neighboring parishes has increasingly been a problem over the past decade as the Mississippi River and in turn, the Atchafalaya, has reached flood stage, the governor said in a news release. Thanks to heroic, emergency efforts by the St. Mary Levee District, the worst was averted in both 2011 and 2016. Today, we are investing in this flood protection project to provide a permanent, long-lasting solution for the people of St. Marys Parish and the surrounding region.

Over the years the area has relied on stopgap measures to hold back the water such as sinking a barge in the Bayou. St. Mary, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Martin, Assumption and Iberville parishes have all been affected.

In 2016, it took 15 days to design, bid, build and install the temporary barge. It did the job but it wasnt cheap and it had to be removed after the flood threat passed because it was blocking navigation. Having a permanent structure we can open and close is a better, smarter solution, said St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff in the news release.

The structure will have a 400-foot barge gate that can be swung into place and then sunk during high waters.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Louisiana FloodThe Georgia Department of Insurance has unveiled a new program called Open Checkbook on its website that details how the agency spends its funds.

According to a statement from Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck, Open Checkbook includes details of how the agencys approximately $21 million budget is spent so taxpayers can see where their money goes.

I ran for this position promising new levels of transparency. Taxpayers fund 100 percent of our operations and they should be able to see how we are being stewards of the resources entrusted to the Department. I am hoping by offering this unprecedented public access to our finances we can reinforce confidence in our department, Beck said.

GADOI is currently running the first version of Open Checkbook features spending by category to give taxpayers a more granular view of where the department spends. Beck noted the initiative would be an ongoing process that he expects to provide even better information as the department continues to work on it.

We want to offer even greater levels of detail and more of a dynamic model so you can see the transactions as they happen, Beck said. That is going to take some time to get right, but we didnt want to wait to begin to lift the curtain on the finances of our office.

Beck said he believes the people of Georgia have a right to know how their tax money is being spent and added I am grateful to our team here at the department for helping me to post our finances online for the public to view any time of day.

Source: Georgia Department of Insurance

Topics Georgia Training DevelopmentTax Disputes image 320 x 215

Tax disputes, audit prevention and information management are no longer an after-thought for companies trying to comply with their tax obligations worldwide. They instead form part of the core tax strategy that helps a business ensure it has a robust tax policy that helps prevent unwanted audits, disputes and reputational damage.

In anticipation of ITRs Tax Disputes Summit on April 30, some of the speakers and attendees talk to Anjana Haines about what trends they are witnessing across Europe.

What tax dispute trends are you seeing in your jurisdiction(s)?

Martin Phelan, head of tax at William Fry in Ireland

I am seeing an increased number of aspect queries being raised by Irish Revenue concerning tax refunds  across all tax [areas] but VAT in particular  together with more timely periodic reviews of tax returns as filed. Irish Revenue is increasingly proactive in this area.

Aspect queries are followed up on and escalated to audits in cases where the answers are unsatisfactory or require further review.

In the VAT field, I am noticing that Irish Revenue is keeping on top of developments at an EU level and challenging any Irish arrangements that they deem anti-abusive/contrary to EU law. I am also seeing a rise in mutual agreement procedures (MAPs) and competent authority reviews and challenges.

Revenue is also being more aggressive in the tax litigation area and is not afraid to issue tax assessments that might garner publicity in the media  a case in point being the recent media reporting of the assessment of Perrigo for corporation tax of 1.6 billion ($1.8 billion).

Stephanie Li, tax director at Acer EMEA, based in the UK

Transfer pricing audits are still the focus by EU tax officers and there is no sign of abating.





Damon Lambert, head of tax EMEA at Swiss Re, based in the UK

Increasing focus on minor taxes, other than VAT and corporate tax

Focus on accuracy of accounting

If anything, less focus on transfer pricing as established agreements are left to run





Tania Carvalhais Pereira head of tax at CAAD, the Portuguese Centre for Administrative Arbitration

In Portugal, tax disputes, particularly stamp duty, corporate tax and VAT disputes, are increasing in both volume and complexity.

We are still experiencing the consequences of the tax burden increase from the crisis period.

Meanwhile, we are also experiencing new tax challenges such as the implementation of the OECDs base erosion and profit shifting [action plan], or the emergence of cases such as double VAT taxation.

Erik Knijnenburg, global head of tax and transfer pricing at H&M, based in Sweden

Given the new OECD developments/proposals and the business developments of going into OMNI models [omni-channel concepts], there is an increasing unwillingness for authorities to step into all-inclusive advance pricing agreements (APAs) and/or controversy settlement.

Kim Boylan, partner and global head of tax, and Brian Gleicher, partner and head of the transfer pricing practice, White & Case in the US

The most significant trend that we are seeing is an increase in audit activity with respect to international and, in particular, transfer pricing matters. This, in turn, is causing taxpayers to become more proactive, including by seeking APAs and appropriately documenting their transactions so that contemporaneous facts are memorialised.

We also see continuing vigorous audits of purely domestic activities.

Johanna Waal, head of the large taxpayers office, Finnish Tax Administration

In the last few years, the biggest trend in the Finnish Tax Administration/Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) has been the strong investment in developing pre-emptive measures. The goal is to resolve tax issues in advance and avoid disputes. The LTO is offering a co-operative compliance programme for our large business customers. The LTO also promotes the possibility for a pre-emptive discussion for the large business customers. In a pre-emptive discussion, a customer discusses their tax issue with the LTO in advance to receive guidance that is binding for the LTO. In 2019, the pre-emptive discussion was extended to SMEs.

Moreover, the LTO has introduced a new, international tool for resolving cross-border tax issues in advance  the cross-border dialogue (CBD). In the CBD, a cross-border tax issue can be discussed between a large business and two or more tax administrations, in order to resolve the issue in both relevant jurisdictions at the same time. The CBD is a lighter and faster method than e.g. APA and suitable for all cross-border tax issues.

Nina Legaard Kristensen, head of unit, Danish Ministry of Taxation

In Denmark, we see an increasing number of disputes relating to cross-border transactions, including transfer pricing cases. During later years, the Danish tax authorities have, among a range of other control activities, made a considerable effort to ensure that the largest groups of companies (including MNEs) are correctly paying their taxes in Denmark.

In terms of audit prevention and dispute resolution, what is keeping you busy at the moment?

Erik Knijnenburg, H&M

Not so much on audit prevention, but rather focusing on dispute resolution for the moment.

Disputes are settled more and more using a kind of a unilateral safe harbour approach. Less attention for the content and specifics of the case at hand, but an increased negotiation attitude towards settlements.

Stephanie Li, Acer EMEA

Keeping abreast of new tax requirements, re-assess tax risks and necessary changes in business operations/structure.

Damon Lambert, head of tax EMEA at Swiss Re

Time delays in internal sign-offs in tax authorities.

Also, ensuring clear audit trails  simply being neat so tax authorities are presented with accurate and clear information.

Kim Boylan and Brian Gleicher, White & Case

In the context of international tax disputes, we remain busy in negotiating APAs and resolving issues through the competent authority process set forth in bilateral income tax treaties.

On the domestic front, we continue to represent taxpayers at all stages of the dispute resolution process, with an emphasis on obtaining resolution at the IRS Office of Appeals.

Martin Phelan, William Fry

I am seeing an increasing level of second reviews or health checks being requested by taxpayers.

Depending on the circumstances of the case, this could be a review of a tax plan or tax position taken or about to be entered into by a taxpayer.

In an era where Irish Revenue is taking a more aggressive approach in tax litigation matters, i.e. the recent media reporting of the assessment of Perrigo for corporation tax, I am seeing boards of directors, CFOs and heads of tax seeking tax reviews of historic filing positions to ensure that they are as robust and defensible as the taxpayer believes them to be.

Tania Carvalhais Pereira, CAAD

The volume of tax arbitration cases presented before the CAAD keep me busy.

The tax arbitration regime is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism available to taxpayers concerning most tax disputes organised under the CAAD.

For the last seven years, the majority of cases submitted to tax arbitration are related to stamp duty (28%), corporate income tax (24.3%) and VAT (10.1%).

Tax arbitration has become the fastest route to solve tax disputes in Portugal and one of the fastest routes in Europe to obtain a European Court of Justice ruling.

Nina Legaard Kristensen, Danish Ministry of Taxation

Taxation legislation often entails great complexity and is subject to continual amendments. Effectively ensuring legal certainty and the taxpayers rights are therefore central matters when dealing with dispute resolution in relation to taxation. This is a high priority of the Danish Minister for Taxation, which has resulted in a range of initiatives to underline and support this agenda. Those initiatives include, among others, reintroducing the reimbursement scheme covering the expenditures of companies disputing decisions made by the tax authorities. Under this scheme, individuals and companies are eligible to get a full reimbursement of their costs, should their appeal be found to be well founded by the administrative or ordinary courts. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the taxpayer is still eligible to a reimbursement amounting to 50% of the costs.

How do you think tax disputes will evolve over the coming year?

Johanna Waal, Finnish large taxpayers office

With the heavy focus on pre-emptive measures, there are already fewer disputes in the large business sector of the Finnish Tax Administration than a couple of years before. However, situations can occur where the customer disagrees or does not follow the guidance of the LTO. In this case, tax control is needed, which can lead to tax disputes.

Erik Knijnenburg, H&M

Given the assumed way forward, whereby we will see a mix of apportioned calculations on top of residual approaches, this will not get easier. Combine this with a unilateral attitude of tax authorities and you a have a mix for increased scrutiny of facts and findings.

Kim Boylan and Brian Gleicher, White & Case

Transfer pricing is a significant area of the disputes that we handle. We expect that it will remain so for the coming year.

We also believe that purely domestic issues will continue to face the same level of scrutiny in the near term.

Stephanie Li, Acer EMEA

Double taxation [is] on the rise, and means that resolving cross-border disputes [will] remain ineffective in practice. An increase in country-by-country reports-induced tax audits and tax data-driven VAT and TP audits. Compliance and tax disputes costs will spiral. Tax offices that fail to invest in tax technology will feel the pressure from their more advanced peers.

Damon Lambert, head of tax EMEA at Swiss Re

Tax authorities will grow in aggressiveness given the overall climate and need to raise funds. This may mean time-consuming challenges, not necessarily well-founded in law.

Tania Carvalhais Pereira, CAAD

In my opinion, tax disputes will become increasingly complex due to the nature of operations  international transactions, triangular transactions, etc.  and the increasing pressure on tax authorities to demonstrate theyre collecting the right amount of tax.

Martin Phelan, William Fry

I expect to see more tax litigation over the coming year. Because of a number of well-publicised EU state aid cases  and one in particular involving Ireland on which William Fry had an advisory role  the Irish Revenue has restricted the circumstances in which it will provide tax rulings.

That said one cannot expect the state to provide tax opinions for clients  surely that is why clients engage the services of a tax practitioner.

Nina Legaard Kristensen, Danish Ministry of Taxation

We will hopefully see the effects of an increased focus to limit the number of disputes. For instance, in the area of transfer pricing, the Danish tax authorities have introduced the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme in transfer pricing cases which is inspired by the success achieved in the UK in a similar scheme. The ADR scheme is an alternative measure to handling conflicts between the Danish tax authorities and the taxpayer without resorting to the administrative or ordinary courts. Rather, a third party assists the parties in reaching a solution. In 2017, four cases were successfully solved by use of the ADR scheme.

Attention could also be drawn to the tax governance project, which was introduced by the Danish tax authorities in 2013. The objective of this project is to offer a possibility for the larger groups in Denmark to engage in a formalised and extended co-operation with the tax authorities. Participation in this project requires the groups to commit themselves to share relevant information relating to matters of uncertainty with the authorities. In exchange, the authorities commit themselves to respond quickly and give specific guidance to the taxpayer, where relevant. This helps the taxpayer to comply with the applicable rules and minimises the risks of mistakes.

What do you think is the toughest challenge in gaining tax certainty, and why?

Stephanie Li, Acer EMEA

Hasty introduction of new tax laws makes planning difficult and also damaging when these tax measures lead to double taxation or additional financial burden. This problem is likely to stay much longer than one would expect. Persistent tax uncertainty is the only certainty.

Erik Knijnenburg, H&M

To attract the right attention and understanding for the case at hand with a fair recognition of both elements is present in the debate right now. This being a more global balanced approach of allocating income and taxation towards market countries and at the same time respecting the entrepreneurial functions and their value to the case.

Damon Lambert, head of tax EMEA at Swiss Re

Avoiding double taxation, in a timely basis, where there are cross-border transactions, both from a direct and indirect tax perspective.

Speed of tax dispute resolution remains lengthy.

Tania Carvalhais Pereira, CAAD

The toughest challenge nowadays is to grant transparency and accountability at an international level.

Kim Boylan and Brian Gleicher, White & Case

Transfer pricing has continued to be a focus for tax authorities and it presents challenges in obtaining certainty because the rules are complex and the disputes are inherently factual.

Moreover, tax authorities may have differing views, and even within a specific tax jurisdiction there may be differences in opinion as to how transfer pricing rules should be applied. For example, while the competent authority within a tax jurisdiction may be focused on how its treaty partner would view a transfer pricing adjustment, the audit team proposing the adjustment may not consider its foreign impact.

Martin Phelan, William Fry

A constant internal pressure is Ireland's general anti-avoidance legislation, which effectively operates such that there is no statutory time limit for the review of transactions that breach it.

The number of tax rulings issued by the Irish Revenue has decreased over the last few years. However, such rulings never provided much certainty anyway as they had no legal effect in Ireland  and, in any case, one would not like to be relying solely on a legitimate expectation argument before a court of law.

Developments in international tax at OECD (BEPS) and EU (ATAD) levels have caused the implementing domestic legislation to be more "grey" in application, which has lead and will lead to increases in the issues to be considered and resolved.

In my capacity as Secretary General of the CFE in Brussels, I see a lot more interaction with policymakers in Europe, but it is important that the policymakers understand that taxpayers require certainty in the field of taxation. A case in point is the recent OECD digital economy consultation. I inputted on Taxands response to the OECD. It is clear that the new OECD proposals concerning the allocation of profit from the digital economy seem conceptually simple but they are legally and technically complex and could lead to more uncertain tax positions and a rise in disputes and double taxation.

Johanna Waal, Finnish large taxpayers office

International tax legislation environment today is constantly undergoing significant changes. At the same time, digitalisation is affecting the both the businesses and the tax administrations, bringing new demands for data collection, use and analysis. It is a tough challenge for the tax administrations to keep up with these developments, ensuring both adequate tax certainty for the businesses and reliable tax collection for the state.

Nina Legaard Kristensen, Danish Ministry of Taxation

Based on my personal experience, I would point to combating tax/VAT fraud and evasion as the toughest and most urgent challenges.

From individuals to the largest companies, everyone must pay their fair share of taxes contributing to our vital public services. The reason why this continues to be the toughest challenge - even despite an increasing awareness from policymakers and tax authorities across the world - is that organised fraud and evasion occurs not only within a country but also across countries both within the EU and globally. The increased globalisation and digitalisation unfortunately also paves the way for new types of organised fraud. It is therefore vital that the tax authorities in the EU and OECD countries continue to work closely together by, for example, sharing relevant information at the right time and developing practices to tackle tax/VAT fraud, evasion, avoidance and non-compliance.

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Share this articleScottsdale, Arizona - April 3, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Dash, the leading cryptocurrency for payments and e-commerce, has announced an integration with Daexs, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Colombia. Through the integration, Daexs users will now be able to easily acquire Dash through the Dash-Colombian Peso pairing. As part of the launch, the Daexs team in cooperation with Blockchain Center Colombia will organize meetups in Bogota and Medellin.

Ryan Taylor, Dash Core Group CEO, said: "The integration with Daexs greatly increases Dash's accessibility and allows users to access Dash throughout Colombia and Latin America. The partnership also heavily aligns with our growth strategy in the region, especially with our continued efforts in Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and other countries. We look forward to being able to continue offering an alternative and reliable payment method in Latin America and globally."

The Daexs exchange is currently the first and only digital assets exchange operating in Colombia, and allows users to buy and sell digital assets such as Dash, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Sebastian Cortes, Daexs Tech CEO, said: "We are honored to list Dash on our exchange. Dash represents an outstanding alternative and reliable payment method worldwide. This partnership allows us to serve the growing Dash community in Colombia and this will contribute to the massive use of Dash not only in this country but also in adjacent economies like Venezuela, Peru, and Panama. Daexs is permanently enhancing its services, ensuring the adoption of digital assets based on blockchain technology in Latin America."

In order to promote this new partnership, Daexs will have a zero fee promotion from April 3 until May 3.

For more information on Dash, visit www.dash.org. For more information on Daexs, visit www.home.daexs.com.

Ryan Taylor, Dash Core Group CEO, and Sebastian Cortes, Daexs Tech CEO, are available for interview

About Dash:

Dash is the leading e-commerce and payments-focused digital currency, and the rising alternative to bitcoin. Experiencing significant growth since its beginnings in 2014, Dash is now accepted at more than 4,800+ merchants, including 2,500+ in Venezuela, in addition to being accessible via 860+ ATMs and 100+ exchanges worldwide - making it one of the few offering safe, decentralized financial solutions to real world problems. Dash offers a form of money that is portable, inexpensive, divisible, and fast. It can be spent easily and instantly online at merchants across the globe, at much lower fees than credit and debit cards. With over 60 members on the core team and a unique blockchain mining and treasury model, Dash is the only major self-funded, self-governed organization in the cryptocurrency industry. This allows for constant development and funding for the entire project.

About Daexs:

Daexs is a company that promotes the digitalization and decentralization of the economy in Latin America through technological solutions that bring a fast, easy and safe environment for the exchange of cryptocurrencies and other assets based on the distributed ledger technologies between people, merchants and investors. Currently we operate the fastest growing cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America and our goal is to become the platform that aggregates the greatest number of users and transactional volumes in the region, with a presence in more than 5 countries by 2020. To learn more about Daexs, visit https://home.daexs.com/.

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Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.aspHu Min took a bit of dough, shaped it into a three-centimeter-long column, pressed one of the ends flat, and cut four small openings in a row on the flat end, then turned it into a delicate hand with his nimble fingers in a matter of seconds.

The 35-year-old craftsman demonstrated at his stand how he makes the most delicate part of one of his dough figurines, one of China's four ancient beauties Yang Yuhuan, on April 1.

The Third International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Roads (IYF3) kicked off in Changsha, Hunan province on March 31. Youth delegates from 85 countries discussed creativity and cultural heritage. Hu's stand was one of the several stands which featured dough figurines at the high-level forum of the IYF3.

Adding creative flair

Made of strong flour, the figurines on Hu's stand represented many well-known historical or cartoon figures in China and abroad. Besides Yang Yuhuan, there was also Guan Yu, a general from the Three Kingdoms period (220-280) and widely revered by the Chinese. The popular cartoon character Peppa Pig also appeared on the stand.

Hu learned dough figurine skills from a master teacher, but he mentioned that the teacher only taught some fundamental skills. "The skills are traditional, but I must keep up with the trends and be more creative.

Apart from the latest cartoon figurines, Hu took one-month last year to produce a boat scene named Batu Hitam. As Changsha is positioning itself as a key location in China's Belt and Road Initiative, Hu looks to incorporate more Belt and Road elements into his crafts.

After the discovery of the Batu Hitam shipwreck, which was found off the Belitung Island, Indonesia in 1998, people noticed that among all the porcelain wares rescued from the shipwreck, a total of 56,500 were from Tongguan Kiln. The Tongguan Kiln is one of the three largest kilns for exports in China's Tang Dynasty (618-907); it is located in Tongguan Kiln Town, Changsha, where the forum was held.

The set of the Batu Hitam dough figurines is a prosperous trade scene between Chinese and Arabian merchants at a port. Hu said, in doing so, he tried to note down the history with the crafts and promote Changsha.

In addition to being creative, Hu said the skills of traditional crafts have also improved with time. For example, the craftsmen would improve the formula of the figurine dough with their experience.

In the past, these figurines were used mostly in sacred ceremonies, but now, they have become art wares or souvenirs that people would like to keep for longer, so more food additives such as preservatives are added to the dough.

Hu said some dyes and pigments are being used now, replacing food coloring which was used in the past; the dough figurines may not be edible, but can be preserved for longer and look more vibrant.

Inviting the community to join

When Hu was a kid, he liked to play with mud to create various kinds of figurines. When he grew older, he bought many dough modeling books to educate himself. In 2005, he received systematic training.

Hu admitted that inheriting the handicraft skill was not easy. It takes a long time for a person to master the craft, and bring few instant material rewards, he said, adding that many people quit along the way.

Hu turned his hobby into his career and founded his workshop in Changsha in 2015. This leap forward in his life also won him an award in an entrepreneurship competition in his hometown Ningxiang, a township under the administration of Changsha city.

Hu said making dough figurines is a hobby for him, which is why he can go this far.

Now, he often goes to teach dough figurine classes to kids in kindergartens, students in primary and middle schools, and people in communities. He teaches the community, in the hopes that more people will admire the craft and carry it forward in the digital age.

"Making dough figurines is an activity that can cultivate their ability to focus, to discover and make beautiful things, and to create, especially for kids," Hu said, adding that as schools are putting more emphasis on cultural experiences, more classes and workshops on such intangible cultural heritage are becoming available to students; dough figurines are gaining more popularity among the kids.

"The awareness of the general public to value handmade products is also increasing," Hu said, highlighting that as the government attaches more significance to intangible cultural heritage, more exhibitions and promotional events are being held.



April 3, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Peter Epstein of Epstein Research discusses the market for cobalt and profiles one company whose shares he believes could be at an attractive entry point.

The market for natural resources remains subdued, but there are pockets of strength. In the uranium sector, Energy Fuels, IsoEnergy and Appia Energy are up an average of ~150% from their respective 52-week lows. In copper, Trilogy Metals and Pacific Booker are up an average of ~250%. Good things are happening, but not in cobalt, at least not yet.

Could This Pure-Play, North American Cobalt Junior Shine Again?

However, when natural resource stocks gather steam, other sectors will join the party, and select cobalt names will be invited. That doesn't mean they all will; many companies are broken beyond repair. Last year there were over 100 cobalt juniors listed in North America alone. Most are still listed, but many can't raise a penny to move projects forward. I believe there are fewer than 10 cobalt names worth looking at.

One of 2017's blue chip cobalt juniors that I think has ample room for upside (again) this year is First Cobalt Corp. (FCC:TSX.V; FTSSF:OTCQX; FCC:ASX). The company just raised C$1.6 million. Sell-side analysts peg the stock price in a range of C$0.70 to C$1.00. Yet, the current price is C$0.145. Without going into the analyst's methodologies, (I have not seen the reports), I can see why they're bullish. But before continuing, we need to discuss the pink elephant in the roomcobalt prices. You may have noticed that they are down quite a bit.

But, What About the Cobalt Price?

That's a big problem, but only for readers who believe that cobalt will remain below US$15/lb. If one does not believe the price will rebound, then First Cobalt Corp. is not the stock for you. I'm not suggesting the price will soon soar, but a near doubling in the price to US$25/lb in the next year could propel the best positioned companies higher, perhaps a lot higher. The price was >US$40/lb less than 12 months ago, and at US$25/lb less than three months ago.

For those fearing that cobalt is being engineered out of electric vehicle (EV) batteries due to high cost and/or security of supply concerns, they are only partially correct. I defer to industry experts Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. In February, Simon Moores said, "As the energy storage revolution continues to pick up pace, cobalt demand is set to rise 4 times by 2028." That would be a 15% CAGR. The 8.1.1 chemistry is nickel-manganese-cobalt in the ratio of 8:1:1.

Experts That I Trust See Strong Cobalt Demand Through 2028

Cobalt was designated a strategic mineral in the U.S. and in many other countries. I believe it will remain in strong demand, and that North American sources will be highly sought after. There's growing discussion about the 2021 and 2022 EV model years being a global tipping point. Security of supply dictates that cobalt needs to be locked up by end-users well before then. The U.S. is not low on cobalt supplyit has NO domestic cobalt supply!

In addition to controlling ~45% of the past-producing Cobalt, Ontario, Cobalt-Silver camp, First Cobalt owns 100% of a fully permitted, primary cobalt refinery. It can produce cobalt sulfate or metallic cobalt products and is the only one of its kind in North America. Management believes it could be up and running in 1824 months. (See Corporate Presentation.)

Very Few Cobalt Juniors Have Hard Assets, like a Permitted Cobalt Refinery

Mining services firm Hatch estimated the refinery's replacement value at US$100 million = C$133 million. That figure does not include the time value of money, the four to six years it might take to get a new refinery designed, permitted, funded, constructed and commissioned. Compare that to the company's Enterprise Value [market cap + debt  cash] of ~C$43 million. The estimated replacement value of the refinery alone is three times First Cobalt's entire Enterprise Value! There are few options outside of China to produce cobalt sulfate for the battery market, and management says there's no other near-term refining prospect in North America.

How much revenue could the refinery generate? At the company's base case of 1,000 tonnes/year, at US$20/lb, that's roughly US$44 million = ~C$59 million in revenue. Energy Fuels, an established uranium/vanadium producer, trades at 11.8x trailing 12-month revenue. SQM, a large lithium producer, trades at 4.8x. Bushveld Minerals, a vanadium player, trades at 6.2x, Katanga Mining, a copper-cobalt producer with operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, trades at 6.4x. Those companies average ~7x trailing revenue. All have refineries or processing facilities. I'm not saying that First Cobalt will or should trade at 7x revenue. However, one can see the potential value of owned and operated hard assets.

In the bare bones analysis above, I estimate what revenue the refinery could generate operating 90% of the days in a year and 90% of the hours in a day. Combined, that's 81% annual capacity utilization. I assume a 28% cobalt concentrate feedstock, and a 90% recovery of cobalt. At a price of US$20/lb, annualized gross revenue would be ~C$117 million. At US$25/lb, it would be ~C$146 million, and at US$30/lb, gross revenue would be ~C$175 million. Although US$30/lb cobalt seems high today, it might not be in two years. As mentioned, the price was > US$40/lb less than 12 months ago. However, to be clear, there's no guarantee of a meaningful rebound in price.

I fear that investors are treating the estimated replacement value of the refinery like they would the Net Present Value (NPV) of a mining project. That would be a mistake. The estimated value of a hard asset is more reliable than the NPV of a project, especially if the NPV comes from a PEA or PFS. Management says the refinery can be monetized (cash flowing) in 1824 months. By definition, a NPV is the present value of future cash flows stretching out decades.

First Cobalt's Refinery Has Estimated Replacement Value of US$100 Million

First Cobalt is trading at ~0.33x the estimated replacement value of the refinery alone. That means investors today get the company's flagship project in the U.S. for free, plus 50 past-producing mine sites in Cobalt, Ontario, with a large margin for error embedded in the estimated value of the refinery.

There's considerable risk for mining projects at PEA or PFS-stage. First Cobalt's refinery simply does not carry that kind of risk. Management needs to arrange funding to get it into production, that's the primary risk. And, a higher cobalt price would be nice. However, unlike for mining projects, the company does not need to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. It needs ~US$25 million (includes a 30% contingency). That funding should be achievable through a combination of debt, equity, streaming/royalty financing, and/or selling a portion of the asset.

U.S. Project Iron Creek Has 45 Mlb Cobalt and 175 Mlb Copper, with Substantial Upside

Nearly 1,000 words in and I haven't discussed First Cobalt's flagship project, Iron Creek in Idaho (U.S.). There are very few primary cobalt projects in the world. This one has a resource (26.9 million tonnes) that will be upsized by up to 50% (my guess only) this quarter. The existing resource contains an estimated 45 million pounds Cobalt plus 175 million pounds copper. Importantly, there's no arsenic, which means simpler processing and permitting. The grade is low, so I asked CEO Trent Mell about that. His response,

"One can certainly point to some high-grade cobalt drill results that have been released over the past couple of years, but these are typically vein-style deposits that struggle to hold together in resource modeling. In other words, grade is worthless without sufficient tonnage. By contrast, there are a number of Australian nickel-cobalt deposits that have the tonnage but lower grades than we have at Iron Creek."

The rule of law, plus strong access to infrastructure, plus superior proximity to U.S. markets, make Iron Creek a desirable project compared to the dozens of projects and mines in Africa, a continent that accounts for up to 75% of global supply. Sourcing cobalt from North America is becoming more important by the day. It will be interesting to see the size of the new resource and how much larger still the resource could become next year.

Iron Creek remains open in all directions. That suggests the possibility of a much larger resource. If the company could double the size, that would greatly enhance the indicative economics of a PEA or PFS. In addition, CEO Trent Mell has mentioned the potential contribution from copper. He said that up to one third of Iron Creek's revenue could come from copper. That would be a tremendous credit against the primary cobalt production costs. I'm a big fan of copper, the world cannot have an energy revolution (clean/green renewable energy sources), or the electrification of passenger and commercial transportation, or the building and rebuilding of critical infrastructure, without Copper.

Conclusion

I said that there are 10 or fewer cobalt juniors worth looking at. First Cobalt (TSX-V: FCC) / (OTCQX: FTSSF) / (ASX: FCC) is high on the list. It has a lot of boxes checked, but at the same time, is still relatively early stage. So, there's high return potential, with commensurate high risk. As more boxes get checked, like the upcoming resource update at Iron Creek, ongoing metallurgical testing, lining up feedstock and funding sources for the refinerythis de-risking should get noticed by the market. That, and the estimated value of the refinery being three times larger than the company's entire Enterprise Value, suggest today's share price could be an attractive entry point.

See Corporate Presentation.

See latest Press Releases.

Peter Epstein is the founder of Epstein Research. His background is in company and financial analysis. He holds an MBA degree in financial analysis from New York University's Stern School of Business.

Disclosures: The content of this article is for information only. Readers fully understand and agree that nothing contained herein, written by Peter Epstein of Epstein Research [ER], (together, [ER]) about First Cobalt Corp., including but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts, calculations, etc. is not to be considered implicit or explicit investment advice. Nothing contained herein is a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. [ER] is not responsible under any circumstances for investment actions taken by the reader. [ER] has never been, and is not currently, a registered or licensed financial advisor or broker/dealer, investment advisor, stockbroker, trader, money manager, compliance or legal officer, and does not perform market making activities. [ER] is not directly employed by any company, group, organization, party or person. The shares of First Cobalt Corp. are highly speculative, not suitable for all investors. Readers understand and agree that investments in small cap stocks can result in a 100% loss of invested funds. It is assumed and agreed upon by readers that they will consult with their own licensed or registered financial advisors before making any investment decisions.

At the time this article was posted, Peter Epstein owned shares of First Cobalt Corp. and the Company was an advertiser on [ER]. Readers understand and agree that they must conduct their own due diligence above and beyond reading this article. While the author believes he's diligent in screening out companies that, for any reasons whatsoever, are unattractive investment opportunities, he cannot guarantee that his efforts will (or have been) successful. [ER] is not responsible for any perceived, or actual, errors including, but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts & financial calculations, or for the completeness of this article or future content. [ER] is not expected or required to subsequently follow or cover events & news, or write about any particular company or topic. [ER] is not an expert in any company, industry sector or investment topic.

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Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.aspApril 3, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Sector expert Ron Struthers examines the market forces surrounding the drone delivery industry, and recommends a Canadian firm that is flying high.

Amazon Prime Air is mostly hot air.

Working with regulators is the key to progress.

Google and Drone Delivery Canada Corp. (FLT:TSX.V; TAKOF:OTCQB) are leading the charge.

Early movers will own the flight paths.

I believe three important elements have contributed to Amazon's great success overall:

Choice with a wide selection of goods;

Prices that are very competitive with other online or brick-and-mortar stores;

Delivery that is consistent and quite fast.

Kantar Consulting's 2018 report ranked Amazon at number three in sales among the top retailers, behind Walmart and Kroger, based on 2017 numbers. The Top 100 Retailers have changed very little over the past several years. Last year Amazon was No. 7, and the nine other retailers in the Top 10 remained the same. Five years ago, Amazon was in 11th place, and eight of the Top 10 retailers were the same as this year: Walmart, Kroger, Target, Costco, Home Depot, Walgreens, CVS and Lowe's. In 2008, that same solid eight held the top of the chart, while Amazon was ranked no. 25. Amazon is not far behind Kroger, and just might overtake it when the 2018 numbers are final.

Amazon has been climbing steadily, and that is more impressive when you consider that only 9.1% of U.S. retail sales were online as of December 31, 2017, shown from ycharts.com (below). Amazon has been taking advantage of this trend and is no doubt a leader in e-commerce sales.

There is a new disruption on the way that will level off this graph in the next few years. We have come from "bricks and mortar" to "online" shopping, and the next wave of change I have dubbed "mobile shopping." Thanks to the higher power of smartphones, and better and higher speed networks, shoppers' mobile devices will allow them to experience both the online as well as bricks and mortar shopping experience at the same time. Shoppers will no longer have to sit in front of the computer screen at home to shop online. New companies that nobody has heard of will lead this chargeprivate companies like Heelo. Heelo has started to deploy its proximity marketing solutions and will likely be a top contender in this new category.

That aside, currently Amazon is a leader in e-commerce sales. However, it is struggling to keep its delivery costs under control. It is obvious from the chart below, from Statista, that Amazon's shipping and fulfillment costs have been rising steadily, from around 17% of net sales to over 25%.

These rising costs are a real challenge. Amazon is making progress with warehouse automation and gaining more control over its delivery process, but its approach with delivery drones has had a serious flaw from the onset.

On December 21, 2018, the Chicago Tribune reported that Amazon will lease 10 Boeing 767 planes, bringing its total fleet to 50, with the goal of getting orders to people faster and more reliably.

Amazon's fleet of planes is far smaller than that of UPS and FedEx, whose planes number in the hundreds But Amazon has pushed in recent years to close that gap, which will gain it more control over deliveries.

Amazon acquired Kiva Systems for $775 million back in 2012, and since then has been steadily investing in a robotic future. According to a September 2018 interview with Brad Porter, VP robotics at Amazon, there has been great progress: "Today we have more than 100,000 drive units deployed throughout our global fulfillment network. But many forget those aren't the only robots we have. We have deployed around 30 palletizer systems, and another popular robot you might see in our fulfillment centers is called RoboStowa 6-ton robot that has the ability to move pallets of products up to 24 feet high and directly onto the larger drive units. "

One can find some good results with robotics and inventory management at Amazon, but when it comes to Amazon Prime Air, it is just talk and little results.

Amazon Prime Air is a conceptual drone-based delivery system that Amazon announced in 2013. From Amazon's website: "We're excited about Prime Aira delivery system from Amazon designed to safely get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using unmanned aerial vehicles, also called drones. Prime Air has great potential to enhance the services we already provide to millions of customers by providing rapid parcel delivery that will also increase the overall safety and efficiency of the transportation system."

As of January 2019, Amazon's latest update is that the company is working on a flight management system. "We will always prioritize safety first within our system," said Roth. "People both on the ground and in the air are the most important to protect. We're building a traffic management system with this as our guiding principle."

I call Amazon Prime Air "hot air"because I believe the company took the wrong approach. Flying drones is not just another technology that you can develop in any way you see fit to meet your plans or dreams. This is what Amazon has doneannouncing how t wants to use drones, but forgetting the most important aspect. Flying delivery drones falls under the mandate of controlled airspace run by the FAA. This is the most heavily regulated industry on the planet, as it can take years just to get in-flight eating utensils approved.

Amazon's drones will have many more challenges as well. Drones have to make controlled landings in nicely spacious areas. City dwellers and those of you in blocks of flats are going to have some issues. Then there are obstacles such as telephone wires, people, birds and narrow streets. The lack of a private landing area is another issue. By the time you get down to the communal courtyard, chances are a drone-tracking crook will have commandeered your abandoned package.

Drones also have a performance-restricting flaw called battery life, which is a potential problem for the airborne devices. Amazon's debut drone features a 15-mile range. That's 7.5 miles there and the same back, so if you are not close to a distribution center, forget it. There are weight restrictions too, on what the drone can carry, and that is 5 pounds with Amazon's current drone.

Drone deliveries could really help cut Amazon's costs, but don't expect any airborne deliveries from Amazon in the next few years. This is re-enforced by the video on the company website, as it is just delivering to a couple of rural customers in the UK at this time.

While Amazon Prime Air is a long ways off from flying, Google and a small Canadian company are far more advanced, and could be a great blueprint for Amazon. Perhaps much easier for Amazon would be just to buy the small Canadian company and integrate it into what Amazon is working on.

Drone Delivery Canada (TAKOF): Market Cap US$147 Million

Not to confuse its name with the drones, I will call the company TAKOF.

TAKOF took a very different approach. Its first targets were more remote communities, where there were less obstacles to overcome. TAKOF's other approach is depot-to-depot deliveries. This made for simpler logistics, so the company could advance all aspects of the platform more quickly and cost effectively. In Canada, remote First Nations communities have a need for drone delivery services; it is not just a nice convenience. This also opens up government funding assistance to the benefit of these communities and TAKOF.

While Amazon is still working on a Flight Management System. TAKOF already has a working flight system (FLYTE) that encompass numerous levels of security, redundancy and resiliency. Utilizing industry-leading software, customization and patent-pending architecture, TAKOF has a group of applications that come together under an umbrella to provide a complete solution for the delivery industry. The flight systems cover all aspects of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), from the operational component to the logistics integration. The operational platform, according to the company, includes "full operational guidance, route planning, geo-fencing, alerts, telemetry, maintenance, logs, full preventative maintenance scheduling and tracking." I saw a demo of this system at the company's office last year, and it was quite impressive. The company also tracks other aircraft with feeds from the relevant Flight Information Region.

TAKOF is integrating next-generation super materials into its drone designs, including graphene and carbon fiber. Its prototyping and design platform also utilizes 3-D printing systems to expedite concept designs that are patent-pending. TAKOF does not plan to be a drone manufacturer but will vend out manufacturing of its approved drone models as commercial demand increases.

TAKOF now has a fleet of four different capacity drones called:

The Sparrow X1000, payload 5 kg, travel range 30 kilometers;

The Robin X1400, payload 12 kg, travel range 60 kilometers, tethered delivery;

The Falcon, payload 22.5 kg, travel range of 60 kilometers;

The Condor, payload 180 kg, travel distance of 200 kilometers.

The Sparrow X1000 was the first drone that TAKOF developed, and was used for all its tests and certifications. It was the first cargo delivery drone of its kind to be accepted under the Transport Canada, Compliant UAS program in December 2017.

In June 2017, TAKOF was the first drone delivery company to achieve BVLOS flights under Transport Canada's oversight. The systems that were tested predominantly include TAKOF's proprietary FLYTE management system, its avoidance technology and communications platform. During the flights,TAKOF's Mission Control Centre in Toronto, 2,500 kilometers (2,500 km) away, successfully monitored and record telemetry in real time for each flight.

Robin X1400

In August 2018, Transport Canada granted TAKOF a SFOC (special flight operations certificate), approving the company to commence testing its Robin X1400 cargo delivery drone in Canadian skies. According to the company, the "Robin X1400 is fully integrated with Drone Delivery's proprietary Flyte management system and is capable of both larger payloads and greater flight ranges, of up to 60 kilometers."

In addition, the "Robin X1400 will utilize a state-of-the-art dual payload deployment system, which would allow both static and tethered cargo deployments. DDC believes the tethered deployment system is the future for delivery in urban settings. With the tethered solution, the drone never lands. It simply deploys its payload by tether while hovering above at a height of approximately 100 feet in the air," the company states in a press release.

The Falcon

TAKOF is leaping ahead of any competition with a new long-range and heavy-payload drone called the Falcon, with a lifting capability of 50 pounds of payload and a travel range of 60 km. TAKOF announced on Jan. 30, 2019, that it has commenced test flights in southern Ontario that have been approved by Transport Canada.

The Falcon has a wingspan of approximately 12 feet and is anticipated to travel 60 km at a speed of 50 km/hour. The multi-package payload compartment is designed to carry approximately 5 cubic feet of cargo and will be weather resistant.

"In response to market demand driven by the burgeoning e-commerce industry, our engineering team was given the task of building out our fleet of cargo drones to address the need for a multi-package payload compartment solution which is applicable in many different geographies. The Falcon is the newest edition to DDC's fleet and meets this particular niche which is being requested by DDC's customers," commented Tony Di Benedetto, company CEO.

The Condor

TAKOF announced its Condor on Feb. 19 this year. It has a payload capacity of 180 kilograms or 400 pounds, and a potential travel distance of up to 200 kilometers. The Condor pushes the limits in both cargo capacity and distances powered by a next-generation gas propulsion engine.

The Condor measures 22 feet long, 5.1 feet wide and 7 feet tall. It has a wing span of approximately 20 feet and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing. It is equipped with DDC's proprietary FLYTE management system, which is the same platform used in all of DDC's cargo delivery drones. This is also the same management system that was used in the fall of 2018, during the company's operations in Moosonee and Moose Factory, Ontario, in support of Transport Canada's Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) pilot project.

DDC will be working closely with Transport Canada to secure the necessary approvals to begin flight testing the Condor in Q3 of 2019, according to the company.

On Dec. 5, 2018, TAKOF executed a commercial agreement with the Moose Cree First Nation to deploy its drone delivery technology platform with the Moose Cree First Nation communities of Moose Factory and Moosonee, Ontario, approximately 19 km south of James Bay.

TAKOF is permitted to commercially operate its drone delivery platform with its compliant Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC), which permits the company to conduct drone operations in all Canadian provinces and territories. TAKOF will start with the Sparrow drone, capable of a five-kilogram payload, to transport goods between the communities including letters, general parcels, medical supplies and other general necessities.

Financial terms of the agreement were CA$2.5 million for year one, with the potential to expand services in following years. TAKOF expects that revenues will begin to be received late in Q2/19, once federal funding is received by the Moose Cree First Nations. There are approximately one thousand remote communities in Canada, and, almost all face similar infrastructure and logistics challenges that contribute to a high cost of living. If TAKOF captures 10% of this market, it could equate to CA$250 million in annual revenue.

"We have worked closely with DDC for nearly two years and see the many benefits of DDC's Drone Delivery Technology to our community as well as many others like us. Where infrastructure is weak, or at times nonexistent or accessible, DDC's drone delivery platform is a valuable solution to connect remote communities and provide fast and efficient deliveries that were once not possible," commented Stan Kapashesit, director of economic development of the Moose Cree First Nation.

In many cases you can relate drone delivery to infrastructure. It can be far more efficient and cheaper than building bridges, roads, rail and commercial air deliveries. The remote communities market is only one segment of the overall total addressable market in Canada, but I see it as a logical place to start with drone deliveries in Canada, and in the remote areas of other countries.

In addition to Canada, TAKOF is working with other customers around the globe to license its FLYTE software and drone delivery technology. For example, TAKOF is collaborating with Toyota Tsusho Canada (trading affiliate of the Toyoto group of companies). Collectively, the two groups will look to commence flight testing and identify other international markets to deploy TAKOF's proprietary drone delivery platform as a transportation solution.

"This agreement with TTCI is expected to open international markets for us as a company," commented CEO Di Benedetto. "Working alongside a global industrial leader such as Toyota Tsusho also provides us quick access to a very extensive international global network and a breadth of commercial skills."

I recently met with TAKOF and asked Di Benedetto what puts his company ahead of the competition and those coming up the ranks? "Ron, we have developed a very unique solution which has been actively tested for a number of years, successfully executing thousands of flights. We are starting commercial operations this year, and 2019 is the year we move out of the lab and into the sky. We have signed commercial agreements with customers. Our capabilities now extend to 400-pound cargo capacity and flight distances in the hundreds of kilometers."

TAKOF just completed a CA$10.02 million oversubscribed financing at $1.20 per unit. The stock is currently trading below this price, and at the lowest level since the company got started in 2017. I believe it is excellent timing to take a position.

For Amazon and Google, drone delivery is not a material part of their business, so they do not divulge as much public information as TAKOF must do. That said, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) has been advancing dramatically with its drone delivery solution, and looks to be a major player in the field. This is some of what I could dig up on them.

Project Wing is an autonomous delivery drone service aiming to increase access to goods, reduce traffic congestion in cities, and help ease the CO2 emissions attributable to the transportation of goods, according to the company. Wing is also developing an unmanned traffic management platform that will allow unmanned aircraft to navigate around other drones, manned aircraft and other obstacles like trees, buildings and power lines. Light, energy-efficient design enables the drones to fly up to 20 km/hour, driven entirely by an all-electric power system with zero carbon emissions. The most recent drones can carry up to 5 pounds.

"Wing completed its first real-world deliveries in 2014 in rural Queensland, Australia, where it successfully transported a first-aid kit, candy bars, dog treats and water to farmers, "according to the company. Then, in September 2016, the team delivered burritos to students at Virginia Tech in what was, at the time, the largest and longest drone delivery test on U.S. soil. Since 2014, Project Wing has flown tens of thousands of flights and it has been refining its aircraft design and communications tools.

Wing started with a similar approach as TAKOF, focusing at first in rural areas of Australia. Most recently, it has completed hundreds of deliveries to the yards of several homes in the Australian Capital Territory and Queanbeyan regions of Australia. The goal is to determine how to find the best route to a home and how to find a safe delivery spot in the yard. "The Wing team is also learning how drone delivery might be useful in people's everyday lives by transporting meals, groceries, medicine, and even spare car parts in the event of a breakdown," according to the company.

"Wing's UTM platform is designed to support the growing drone industry by enabling a high volume of drones to share the skies and fly safely over people, around terrain and buildings, and near airports."

The company also states, "Wing is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) system in the United States and with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Australia to develop federated, industry-led solutions to safely integrate and manage drones in low-altitude airspace. Last May, the U.S. Department of Transportation selected Wing as one of ten teams to push the limits of drone technology in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program."

Wing will also go commercial this year, with plans to launch its first European delivery service in Finland in the spring of 2019. Wing plans to start with a small service trial in the Helsinki area and hopes to expand as time progresses. The drones are quite small and can only carry 1.5 kilograms with a round-trip range of 20 kilometers. More detail can be found at www.wing.com.

Conclusion

We are not going to see hundreds of drones in cities delivering pizza and Amazon parcels for many, many years. Amazon is dreaming, or perhaps its strategy is to build a drone patent portfolio. Drone companies will have to establish a safety track record of tens of thousands of flights or more before aviation authorities will consider deliveries in densely populated areas.

Drone delivery will be a heavily regulated industry, like all of aviation. What most investors do not realize is that early movers such as TAKOF and Wing are going to establish drone flyways, where they have exclusive rights for their drones on those flight paths. That is going to add considerable value to these companies, like owning freight railways in the sky.

On a commercial basis it is ironic, because thousands of Amazon parcels will be delivered by drones from companies like TAKOF and Wing long before Amazon delivers its first one. Amazon and Google are not a very good play for investors to gain leverage to the disruptive drone technology, whereas a company like TAKOF provides great exposure here.

I expect TAKOF will be bought out by another major company in the delivery business, like FedEx, UPS, Amazon or Air Canada Cargo, to name a few. Alphabet could eventually spin out Wing with an initial public offering.

Ron Struthers founded Struthers' Resource Stock Report 23 years ago. The report covers senior and junior companies with ample trading liquidity. He started his Millennium Index of dividend stocks in 2003 - $1,000 invested then was worth over $4,000 end of 2014 and the index returned 26.8% in 2016. He retired from IBM after 30 years in customer service, systems and business analyst, also developing his own charting software. He has expertise in junior start-ups and was a co-founder of Paramount Gold and Silver.

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1) Ron Struthers: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Drone Delivery Canada. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company currently has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: None. Additional disclosures below. I determined which companies would be included in this article based on my research and understanding of the sector.

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3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy.

4) 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.

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Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.aspPeople living in Dublin have a disposable income that's over 18% higher than the State average, according to CSO figures.

Based on 2016 data, the average Dublin-resident had after-tax income of 24,431, 18.4% higher than the nationwide figure of 20,638.

The disposable income gap between Dublin and the State had been 8% in 2010 but is set to grow to 22.1% in 2017, according to preliminary CSO estimates.

Those estimates forecast the disposable income figure growing to 26,122 in Dublin for 2017, compared to the estimated State average of 21,397.

The only other counties to exceed the State average in 2016 were Limerick (21,979) and Kildare (20,860).

Wicklow (20,174), Cork (20,125) and Waterford (20,101) also exceed a per person disposable income of 20,000.

The poorest regions are the border counties with 17,370 disposable income per person (15.8% below the State average) and the midlands, at 17,717 (14.1% below the State average). None of the nine counties that make up those regions have ranked above average in the past decade.

Donegal continues to be the county with the lowest disposable income per person, at 15,892, a position it has maintained throughout the 2007-2016 period covered by these figures.

Offaly (17,039) and Roscommon (17,145) are the next lowest.

The report also revealed that the State's average disposable income figure has reached its highest level since 2009, with Dublin regional incomes increasing by 982 (4.2%) in 2016 while border incomes, the lowest in Ireland, increased by 538 (3.2%).

Average disposable income by county in 2016

Carlow: 19,943

Cavan: 18,102

Clare: 18,145

Cork: 20,125

Donegal: 15,892

Dublin: 24,431

Galway: 19,046

Kerry: 18,567

Kildare: 20,860

Kilkenny: 18,928

Laois: 17,684

Leitrim: 18,738

Limerick: 21,979

Longford: 17,542

Louth: 18,359

Mayo: 17,650

Meath: 19,670

Monaghan: 17,639

Offaly: 17,039

Roscommon: 17,145

Sligo: 19,277

Tipperary: 19,880

Waterford: 20,101

Westmeath: 18,430

Wexford: 18,921

Wicklow: 20,174The EU ordered the UK to claw back illegal tax breaks designed to lure multinationals  in a timely reminder the EU still calls the shots on competition rules until Britain leaves the bloc.

The European Commission said the British gave certain multinationals a selective advantage by granting them an unjustified exemption from UK antitax avoidance rules. This is illegal under EU state aid rules, Margrethe Vestager, the EUs competition chief, said. The UK must now recover the undue tax benefits."

While the commission said the exemption was partly justified and didnt specify which firms unduly benefited from it, at least 52 have come forward since the probe started in 2017.

They estimated their tax liabilities at about 1.19bn (1.4bn). The final bills may now be much lower because the EU didnt outlaw the entire programme. The ruling from the EU comes as Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to confront her most senior ministers with the potentially explosive option of delaying Brexit by months, as the UK and its parliament struggle to find a plan for leaving the EU.

The UKs group financing exemption, introduced in 2013, allowed companies active in the country to pay little or no tax on financing income received from a foreign unit via an offshore subsidiary.

The EU regulator said it considered the derogation illegal when such financing income stemmed from UK activities. The exemption to controlled foreign companies rules was modified at the end of last year in a way that no longer raises concerns, the EU said.

We are clear that all multinationals operating in the UK must pay their fair share of tax, the U.K. Treasury said.

Our Controlled Foreign Company rules are part of a robust package of anti-avoidance measures that prevents UK profits from being artificially diverted overseas.

"We will carefully consider the commissions decision, it said. The EU watchdog has now been branching out and in addition to how a single company is taxed, it also has been looking at tax rules in several countries that affect a group of firms.

BloombergMandy Johnston, a former government press secretary and adviser to the taoiseach, has been appointed chief executive of the representative organisation for the Irish oil and gas exploration sector.

Ms Johnston, who advised Bertie Ahern when he was taoiseach, will lead the Irish Offshore Operators Association (IOOA) at a time of both unprecedented exploration interest in Irish waters, but also heightened opposition to offshore drilling activity.The price of crude oil rose to almost $70 a barrel, a level last breached in November, as global crude supplies tightened, while hopes for an end to the US-China trade impasse lifted financial markets.

Brent crudes rapid recovery this year  with the biggest quarterly gain in almost a decade  is a victory for the production cuts made by Opec and its allies.

Yet by preventing the re-emergence of a supply glut, the group has stoked the ire of US President Donald Trump and heightened the risk of legal moves against it.

Rising prices may also influence White House decision-making on sanctions against cartel members Iran and Venezuela. Oil added as much as 0.9% in London, a fourth daily increase. Crude rose along with equities, which gained as US and Chinese officials prepared to resume negotiations in Washington to resolve differences over trade.

Though US industry data indicated that the USs crude stockpiles increased last week, a fourth month of lower production from Opec is tightening global supplies. The $70-a-barrel price level is within striking distance, said Norbert Ruecker, head of macro and commodity research at Julius Baer in Zurich. The market seems eager to recoup this level.

Brent for June settlement rose 24c to $69.61 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, having earlier climbed to $69.96.

Chinese vice premier Liu He will resume negotiations with his US counterparts in Washington as both governments push for an agreement to end their protracted trade dispute.

Officials from the two countries have resolved most of their issues but are still haggling over enforcement mechanisms, says the Financial Times.

On the supply side, Russian output has dropped to 190,000 barrels a day below October levels, the countrys energy minister said in a statement  falling short of the 228,000-barrel-a-day cut pledged under the so-called Opec-plus deal. That was offset by Saudi Arabias reduction to a four-year low of 9.82m barrels a day.

Opecs efforts have allayed concerns over an American Petroleum Institute report that was said to show a 3m-barrel weekly increase in US crude stocks. There is an assumption that the pull-through from the products will more than overcome the crude surplus, said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets Asia Pacific in Sydney.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramcos bond prospectus revealed its giant Ghawar oil field can pump 3.8m barrels a day  well below the more than 5m that had become the conventional wisdom in the market.

BloombergSterling fell against the euro but continued to trade higher in the week, as investors placed their hopes on MPs forcing through legislation banning the UK from leaving the EU with no deal.

That helped push up Ftse-100 stocks which benefit from weaker sterling, but undermined Irish shares and bank shares, in particular.

After MPs failed on Monday night to agree on a way forward, investors were focusing on the chances of plans by some MPs today to outlaw a crash-out Brexit.

Capital Economics in London said the chances of an early UK general election had increased.

The next election is not due until 2022, but the betting markets now think theres a 50% chance of one this year. This could happen in one of two ways. First, Theresa May could be ousted if more than half of MPs were to vote against her in a no-confidence motion... Second, Mrs May could call an election, which would require two-thirds of MPs to vote for it. She could use this threat to get MPs to back her Brexit deal in a fourth vote, the economists said.

Online broker IG said political events have seen the extraordinary turn into the ordinary, markets are becoming more blase about any further indicative or meaningful votes. Unfortunately, with Mays deal seemingly dead in the water, she is left with precious few options as we creep towards a no-deal Brexit.

French president Emmanuel Macron said a long Brexit extension is not evident or automatic.

However, he said he is open to new British proposals on the way forward, including new elections, a referendum, or a different future relationship, such as a customs union with the EU.

We cannot spend months working out the modalities of a divorce, said the French president, who has tended to be among the most hardline leaders in discussions on Brexit. We cannot be held hostage to a British political problem.

The UK parliaments failure to find a new consensus puts us on a path to hard Brexit, President Macron said in Paris, speaking alongside Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Mr Varadkar, echoing Mr Macron, as well as comments from the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier, said changes can be made to the agreement covering the future relationship as a way out of the impasse.

Additional reporting BloombergThree in five small businesses are failing to implement digital technology such as cloud computing, a UCC study has found.

The report on businesses that have up to nine employees found a quarter had ambitions to grow into a national or international business, but that almost three-quarters were content to stay at their current scale.

While adding digital technology was on par with UK small firms and considerably higher than those in the US, just 40% were using the likes of cloud computing and accountancy-based software to enhance their business, the report said.

Just over a third of small firms did business online, it found, while a quarter had not adopted any digital technology.

More than three-quarters of small businesses are family-owned, and the ratio of male to female owners is 2:1, the report said.

Co-author and economist at Cork University Business School in UCC, Jane Bourke said: These business play an important role in the fabric of Irelands national and local economy.

This study lifts the lid on their ambitions, innovation and growth aspirations and presents an in-depth economic picture of where Irish microbusiness are, versus their international competitors.

Government policy is to grow small business but this may not be what small business want.

Dean of Cork University Business School, Thia Hennessy said the report emphasises the importance that micro-businesses, due to their scale and access to technology, should not be left behind larger businesses in the global digital revolution.Louis Walsh, who is currently on the judging panel of Ireland's Got Talent and whose wildcard Bary D'Arcy from Cork is competing in this weekend's semi-final, joined Ray D'Arcy on RTE Radio 1.

Speaking about the range of acts on the show, he said that the dance groups this year were particularly talented and revealed that he himself cannot dance and that he would never appear on the likes of Dancing with the Stars.

He also spoke to Ray about managing Westlife, his time on Irish television, his move to British television and working with Simon Cowell.

Simon's a really good friend of mine, he kind of changed my life because I did Westlife for 20 years and I used to talk to him every single day Ray and then he put me on TV in England.

"He was on Pop Idol and I was doing some Irish TV.

"It started for me here.

"I knew Simon and he knew I knew about music and he wanted people he liked so it was me, him and Sharon Osbourne. That was about 13 or 14 years ago on XFactor.

Louis said that he no longer speaks to Simon as regularly as he previously had because he doesn't own a mobile phone.

"He doesn't have a phone, no, but I know how to get in touch with him.

"I have an email and I have the housekeepers number, I have his PA's number and his girlfriend's number," he said.

On working alongside Simon, he said that he is an amazing force to work with.

Saturday's semi final we're ready for you  and so is Fionn McMorrow who'll be hoping he can dance his way to the final! #GotTalentIRL https://t.co/gqv1p7AzcZ  Ireland's Got Talent (@GotTalentIRL) April 3, 2019

"If you've got Simon on your side you work, but he has to believe in you."

Louis told Ray that he believes singing shows are dying but that variety shows such as Ireland's Got Talent are still very popular.

People don't want to watch every singer, they want variety, they want dancing, they want magicians.

Ireland's Got Talent semi-final airs Saturday at 7.30pm and the final airs Sunday at 7.30pm on Virgin Media One.

Listen to the full interview here:It's officially Spring! We even witnessed some warm temperatures for about three days last this week so things are looking up.

But for those days when interchangeable weather sees us four seasons in 24 hours, we need a backup plan that can substitute for that walk around the park.

Fear not because Netflix has gone and revealed its releases coming to the streaming site this month and there is some good'uns to look forward to.

The long list of new releases includes Netflix original series, comedy specials, documentaries and family friendly options.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Part 2

Release date: April 5

Part 2 finds Sabrina exploring her darker side, curious to learn more about her heritage, while struggling to maintain her friendships in the mortal world.

Romantically, Sabrina is caught in an unholy love triangle with between sexy warlock Nicholas Scratch and salt-of-the-Earth mortal Harvey Kinkle. Meanwhile, The Dark Lord, Madame Satan, and Father Blackwood continue to conjure chaos in the Spellman household and the town of Greendale.

And they arent the only ones trying to raise hell. Everything is in questionrelationships, identity, true intentionswhen the devils work is at hand.

Quicksand

Release date: April 5

After a tragedy at a school sends shock waves through a wealthy Stockholm suburb, a seemingly well-adjusted teen finds herself on trial for murder.

Starring Hanna Ardehn, Felix Sandman and William Spetz.

Tijuana

Release date: April 5

When a prominent politician is murdered in cold blood, intrepid local journalists risk their lives to uncover the truth.

Persona: Collection

Release date: April 5

An eclectic exploration of different personas in a collection of four short films directed by critically acclaimed Korean directors.

Roman Empire: Caligula: The Mad Emperor

Release date: April 5

Once beloved by the troops and people alike, Caligula shocks Rome by ruling with the cruel depravity and debauchery that make him infamous.

You vs. Wild

Release date: April 10

In this interactive adventure series, you'll make key decisions to help Bear Grylls survive, thrive and complete missions in the harshest environments on Earth.

Black Summer

Release date: April 11

A prequel set in the Z Nation universe, BLACK SUMMER is a new series introducing all new characters from every walk of life.

As what's left of the old world order collapses around them, a group of survivors encounter the best and worst of humanity in the darkest hours of the Zombie Apocalypse.

Huge in France

Release date: April 12

"Huge in France" would be an autobiographical look at Gad's experience reinventing himself in the US.

It would be 80% in English, 20% in French, and would focus on Gad's career, dating life, and rediscovery of his identity in the absence of the fame he's become accustomed to.

Special

Release date: April 12

A gay man with mild cerebral palsy decides to rewrite his identity as an accident victim and finally go after the life he wants.

My First First Love

Release date: April 18

Due to various personal reasons, a group of Yun Tae-os friends move into his house, where they experience love, friendship, and everything in between.

Samantha!: Season 2

Release date: April 18

Samantha tries to forget her childish antics and become a better actress and parent, but her mother-in-law and ex-bandmates don't make it easy for her

Bonding

Release date: April 24

A New York City grad student moonlighting as a dominatrix enlists her gay BFF from high school to be her assistant.

The Protector: Season 2

Release date: April 26

Facing formidable odds against the resurgent Immortals, Hakan and the Loyal Ones must forestall sinister plans to destroy the city -- and all humans.

Yankee

Release date: April 26

The story of Edgar Valdez, a young man from Texas who, instead of heading off to University with his friends, decided to cross the Rio Grande to become one of the most bloodthirsty assassins in the history of Mexican drug trafficking.

NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Suzzanna: Buried Alive

Release date: April 4

After a pregnant woman is murdered, her spirit seeks revenge against her increasingly terrified killers, who are determined to finish her off for good.

Unicorn Store

Release date: April 5

Kit (Brie Larson), a twenty-something dreamer, receives an invitation that would fulfill her childhood dreams.

A Land Imagined

Release date: April 12

A cop in Singapore investigates the disappearance of a Chinese migrant construction worker who spent sleepless nights playing a mysterious video game.

The Perfect Date

Release date: April 12

To save up for college, Brooks Rattigan creates an app where anyone can pay him to play the perfect stand-in boyfriend for any occasion.

The Silence

Release date: April 12

When the world is under attack from terrifying creatures who hunt their human prey by sound, 16-year old Ally Andrews (Kiernan Shipka), who lost her hearing at 13, and her family seek refuge in a remote haven.

But they discover a sinister cult who are eager to exploit Allys heightened senses.

THE SILENCE is directed by John R. Leonetti (ANNABELLE) and stars Stanley Tucci, Kiernan Shipka, Miranda Otto, John Corbett, Kate Trotter and Kyle Breitkopf.

A Fortunate Man

Release date: April 19

A gifted engineer flees his austere roots to pursue wealth and success among Copenhagen's elite, but the pride propelling him threatens to be his ruin.

Music Teacher

Release date: April 19

Burned by his past, an emotionally troubled, small-town music teacher risks everything he has to reconnect with a now-famous former student.

Someone Great

Release date: April 19

Aspiring music journalist Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) has just landed her dream job at an iconic magazine and is about to move to San Francisco.

Rather than do long distance, her boyfriend of nine years (Lakeith Stanfield) decides to call it quits.

To nurse her broken heart, Jenny gathers up her two best friends Erin (DeWanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow) for one outrageous last adventure in New York City.

From writer/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (creator of MTVs Sweet/Vicious) SOMEONE GREAT is a hilarious and heartfelt story of friendship, love, and what it means to let go of your twenties and enter adulthood.

Aurora

Release date: April 25

A fatal shipwreck spurs an islander innkeeper and her sister to recover the missing victims' bodies -- until the dead come seeking shelter themselves.

NETFLIX ORIGINAL COMEDY SPECIALS

Kevin Hart: Irresponsible

Release date: April 2

Kevin Hart brings his sold-out comedy tour, Kevin Hart: Irresponsible, to a global audience for his first original Netflix standup special.

The one-hour special was filmed in front of a sold-out live audience of over 15,000 people at the O2 Arena in London, England. Hart touches upon his friends, family, travel, ... and a year filled with Irresponsible behaviour.

Ricardo Quevedo: We All Hold Grudges

Release date: April 3

From how social media can ruin relationships to the perils of buying a gift for a woman, comic Ricardo Quevedo dissects life's trials and tribulations.

Whindersson Nunes: Adulto

Release date: April 29

Brazilian YouTube sensation Whindersson Nunes revisits his humble beginnings in a series of playful stories and peculiar songs.

Liss Pereira: Reteniendo liquidos

Release date: April 10

A pregnant Liss Pereira shares hilariously uncomfortable truths about sex, love, attraction and the lies we tell in modern relationships.

Francesco de Carlo: Cose di Questo Mondo

Release date: April 12

In a stand-up set at Milan's Santeria Social Club, Francesco De Carlo veers from unhealthy habits to religion, politics, dirigibles and beyond.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

Release date: April 23

In this new sketch show, Tim Robinson and guests spend each segment driving someone to the point of needing -- or desperately wanting -- to leave.

Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward

Release date: April 30

Everyone knows there is no topic Anthony Jeselnik can't conquer, and he doesn't disappoint in his second Netflix original comedy special Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward.

Following his 2015 special Thoughts and Prayers, the comedian's critical and biting style weaves through societal taboos without hesitation.

NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARIES

Our Planet

Release date: April 5

Exhilarating visuals and stunning footage of rarely-seen animals mix with sombre truths about humanity's impact on the planet's habitats and species.

Brene Brown: The Call to Courage

Release date: April 19

Best-selling author Brene Brown discusses what it takes to choose courage over comfort in a culture defined by scarcity, fear and uncertainty.

Grass is Greener

Release date: April 20

It lit up jazz and hip-hop -- and ignited a war on drugs steeped in racial injustice. Experts explore America's complicated relationship with weed.

Street Food

Release date: April 26

From the creators of Chef's Table, Street Food takes viewers to some of the world's most vibrant cities to explore the rich culture of street food all over the globe.

Season one explores nine countries across Asia, from the hawker stalls of Singapore to the food carts of India.

Each episode highlights the stories of perseverance and culture that bring life to each country's cuisine.

ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads

Release date: April 26

Robert Johnson was one of the most influential blues guitarists ever. Even before his early death, fans wondered if he'd made a pact with the Devil.

NETFLIX KIDS & FAMILY

A Land Imagined

Release date: April 12

A cop in Singapore investigates the disappearance of a Chinese migrant construction worker who spent sleepless nights playing a mysterious video game.

Big changes lie ahead for Lucky and her friends in an eventful final season -- from new babies at home to a faraway boarding school.

Trolls: The Beat Goes On!: Season 6

Release date: April 9

The trolls face a day without a holiday, Biggie accidentally starts a fun-tastic new dance craze, and Guy turns a camping trip into a "glamping" trip.

Mighty Little Bheem

Release date: April 12

An innocent toddlers boundless curiosity -- and extraordinary might -- lead to mischief and adventure in his small Indian town.

No Good Nick

Release date: April 15

A family finds their lives turned upside down when a young, street-smart grifter appears on their doorstep, claiming she's a distant relative.

Super Monsters Furever Friends

Release date: April 16

On the first night of spring, the Super Monsters and their families gather for food, fun and games in the park -- and meet their adorable monster pets!

Pinky Malinky: Part 2

Release date: April 22

Pinky Malinky is on a roll! Catch up on this joyful hot dog boy's continuing adventures as he spreads fun and positivity with best friends Babs and JJ.

So there you have it, a hefty list of potentials for a rainy day or just a lazy duvet day. Happy Netflix-ing!Mai Jia (center), who is celebrated for his spy-themed novels, reveals his upcoming book and shares his ideas about how to better promote Chinese literary works overseas at Tencent's Neo-Cultural Creativity Conference in Beijing on March 24. [Photo provided to China Daily]

After an eight-year hiatus, master author Mai Jia has dropped the spy genre entirely to focus on his vision of propelling Chinese literature to the top of the global stage, Wang Kaihao reports.

Despite having his books translated into 30 languages worldwide, China's best-known spy writer Mai Jia has not published a new work in eight years. Yet his latest novel, Ren Sheng Hai Hai (Life is Like a Vast Ocean), which is due to be released in mid-April, has nothing to do with espionage.

But for his new novel, Mai says he wanted to stretch himself, he tells the audience attending the Neo-Cultural Creativity Conference organized by internet giant Tencent in Beijing on March 24.

"My old mother realized that I hadn't published a new book in eight years," he smiles. "She thought I was about to go bankrupt.

"However, I'm bidding farewell to the spy genre, which won me huge acclaim. It's difficult to go beyond yourself, but if you keep on repeating yourself and don't move ahead, you will perish."

Mai adds that the upcoming novel will explore the twists and turns in its protagonists' life and his ambivalence to identity.

"The new book will try to decode human nature and people's hearts," the author explains.

Yet the 55-year-old writer still managed to add an air of secrecy to the proceedings when he admitted that only 22 people had read the book so far, and revealed few details about its plot.Sheep farmers are gaining from an early taste of a possible Brexit halt to the annual cross-border imports of nearly 500,000 sheep from the North.

Numbers in Northern Ireland have fallen for the first time since 2013, ahead of the possibility of a no-deal Brexit cutting off access to the processors south of the border who buy about 50% of the Norths lambs.

The Brexit threat comes on top of a difficult 2018 lambing season in the North, which together have left the hogget lamb throughput in Northern Ireland processing plants for 2019 to date at 56,311, down 22% year-on-year, up to mid-March.

The scarcity has also reduced shipments south of the border for direct slaughter by 21%, to 69,194 head in 2019 to date.

Processing plants in the Republic are an important outlet for the Northern Ireland sheep sector, and have traditionally taken about half of the lambs produced in the North.

But, while the Brexit trend has hurt northern farmers, it has left southern farmers benefiting from the reduced supply of lambs from the North, and taking advantage of what IFA has described as a solid trade.

IFA National Sheep Chairman Sean Dennehy said this week the lamb trade had improved slightly, with farmers getting up to 5.60/kg (compared to 6.20 12 months ago), with lambs in very scarce supply. Ewes were making up to 3/kg.

He confirmed the national kill of 38,098 (week ending March 24) is down 31% year-on-year.

But the supply is likely to fall much further, if a no-deal Brexit completely stops the supply of lambs from the north.

World Trade Organisation tariffs would then apply to lambs coming south for slaughter.

The expected tariff for live sheep is 80.50/100kg liveweight. At about 35 per head, it would end the cross-border trade.

A tariff of this level would effectively shut off this important market outlet for the Northern Ireland sheep sector, according to the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMCNI).

Meanwhile, Northern Irelands Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has released the preliminary results of the December 2018 Agricultural Survey which indicated a 4% decline in breeding ewe numbers and a 9% decline in ewe lambs that were tupped, compared to December 2017 levels.

This is the first time that sheep numbers in Northern Ireland have recorded a decline in the December Agricultural Survey since 2013, according to the LMCNI.

This decline in the breeding flock is most likely a reflection of the current uncertainties being faced by the Northern Ireland sheep sector, and will go some way to offset any gains from reduced mortality on sheep farms this spring, according to the LMCNI.

Despite the likely effect of a reduced supply from the North, Teagasc has estimated that a disorderly Brexit could cut southern sheep farm incomes by more than 20% (similar to the impact on dairy and tillage farms, but about half of the beef impact).

It could stop UK exports of lamb to the EU-27, thus removing Irelands main competitor on EU lamb import markets.

But the no-deal tariff proposals recently announced by the British Government include a full tariff on sheepmeat imports, designed to protect the UKs home market.

That would cut off an important outlet for Irish exports.

The dependence of Irish sheep farms on CAP direct payments, and how trade with non-EU countries such as New Zealand is managed, could also have an important bearing on the overall outcome, if there is a disorderly Brexit.Farmers have welcomed the launch of Glanbia Ireland and Kepaks new Twenty20 Beef Club, offering members a guaranteed market for their heifers and steers.

The club is open to Glanbia Co-op members and current Kepak suppliers. Year ones initial pilot programme has a target of 6,000 calves from Glanbia Ireland supplier dairy farms in the Republic of Ireland, rising to 50,000 calves by 2022.

Jim Bergin, CEO, Glanbia Ireland, said: It provides our farmer suppliers the opportunity to produce beef in a model focused on ensuring both economic and environmental sustainability.

Members can be either dairy farmers or beef finishers, with a minimum of 25 calves per farm. In the sample provided, a 335kg Angus calf slaughtered in April at a 4/kg market price would be worth 1,484 to the farmer, with the club bonus.

In a world-first in the beef sector, farmers have the option of an advanced payment of up to 770 per animal to provide cashflow during the animals lifetime, payable at 35 per animal per month from months three to 24.

The club has been praised for bringing certainty to farmers, and for setting key economic and environmental performance targets with the five-year programme.

The club aims to reduce the slaughter of its cattle to 24 months on average. It is aiming to reduce carbon footprint by using methane-reducing feed additives, to improve feed conversion efficiency, to reduce feed waste and to improve fertility across the herd.

ICOS president, Michael Spellman, said: The programme provides a valuable, additional outlet for calves from the dairy herd, with significant cashflow benefits and a structure that gives a form of guaranteed future pricing. Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, said the Twenty20 Beef Club will benefit both beef and dairy farmers.

IFA president, Joe Healy, said said the club represented much-needed new thinking for the sector.

ICMSAs livestock chairman, Des Morrison, said that it was a positive step that recognised the value of dairy beef production.A 14-month-old boy has died following an accident in Co Wexford.

The infant was pronounced dead at Wexford Hospital yesterday afternoon after being brought from Clonroche.

It is understood the boy fell down the stairs.

Gardai are treating the incident as an accident and say that no further details are available.

A file is being prepared for the coroner.

A garda spokeswoman said: "Gardai in Wexford are investigating the sudden death of an infant male who was pronounced dead at Wexford Hospital yesterday afternoon after being brought from Clonroche.

"Gardai are preparing a file for the coroner. The death is not believed to be suspicious. No further details are available."

Councillor John Fleming, a local representative for New Ross, said there was "a dark cloud hanging over the area".

"The local community are in absolute shock," he said.

"The family have great neighbours friends and relations close by who will rally around them at this sad time and offer some bit of comfort."

Cllr Fleming offered his condolences to the parents of the young child.A 61-year-old man died after he became trapped by a container he was directing onto a ferry at Dublin Port.

Thomas Breslin from Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, sustained crush injuries after he was pinned between a container and a metal vent on the top deck of the freight and passenger vessel, the European Endeavour.

He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy revealed the man had a blood alcohol reading of 164 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Mr Breslin had just returned from his lunch break on June 22, 2017, when the incident happened at 1.25pm.

The container was being reversed into position by a tug driver who was being directed by Mr Breslin.

The tug driver was reversing slowly and waiting for a whistle signal from Mr Breslin to indicate the container was in position when another crew member raised the alarm.

I heard no whistle, I didnt know what was going on. Im totally blindsided from the man at the back (Mr Breslin), Im dependent on the whistle, tug driver Pascal Smullen said in his deposition.

Dublin Coroners Court heard that P&O Ferries has made changes to its workplace safety measures following Mr Breslin's death.

Operators previously stood in a danger zone behind containers as they were being moved into position.

New safety measures require operatives to avoid danger areas where containers are being moved into position and remain in safe zones clear of moving containers.

The whistle notification system was tested and remains in place as the most simple and effective method of communication between crew members working on deck.

Mr Breslin was rushed to the Mater Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2.09pm.

The cause of death was due to severe crush injuries.

A Health and Safety Authority report found the system of work required Mr Breslin to move from a danger zone into a safe zone and for whatever reason that day, he did not.

The HSA found the safety systems in place on June 22, 2017, could be improved upon.

The jury returned a verdict of misadventure and recommended that all employers and stakeholders be informed of the changes made by P&O Ferries.

The jury endorsed the companys zero-tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol which includes random testing of employees for both.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said she would make the jury's recommendations known to the Minister for Transport and offered sympathies to the family.

Its very difficult for you to have had to bring those events back to mind, the coroner said.Workers in Cork have less disposable income per capita than the national average including their counterparts living in Dublin and Limerick.

Data compiled by the Central Statistics Office examines income up to 2016 and finds that workers from Cork have more disposable income than they did in 2015 but have yet to reach the heights of 2008 - though the trends are moving in the right direction.

From 2015 to 2016, average disposable income increased in all regions, according to the CSO report. The state average, per capita, went from 20,064 in 2015 to 20,638 in 2016.

The Dublin region - city and county - had the highest average disposable income per person in 2016. At 24,431, it was 18.4% higher than the State figure of 20,638 and 4.2% higher than the 23,449 average that people in Dublin had in 2015.

Of the remainder of the country, only the mid-west (20,306 - 3.6% increase on 2015) and the mid-east (19,911 - 0.6% increase on 2015) had an average disposable income per person close to the state average of 20,638.

The border region was the lowest, with an average of 17,370, approximately 15.8% below the State average. In 2015, the border region had been 16.1% below the state average so the gap was narrowing, slightly.

The midland region was second lowest, with an average disposable income of 17,717.

At county level, Dublin, Limerick, Kildare and Wicklow are the only counties where per capita disposable income exceeded the state average in 2016. Cork, Carlow and Waterford are just below this threshold.

In Cork, disposable income was 20,125, the highest it had been since 2009 when people had an average disposable income of 21,637. It is not yet at the highs of 2008, when people had 23,207.

Limerick, at 21,979, was at its highest level since 2008 when people averaged 22,300. In Waterford, people averaged 20,101, more than Tipperary (19,880), Kerry (18,567) and Clare (18,145).

The report also includes estimates for disposable income for 2017. The State average is due to increase to 21,397. Dublin residents exceed this by 22% with an average disposable income of 26,122.

In comparison, those in Cork are still below the national average - 20,761, roughly 3% less. Limerick (22,515) and Kildare (21,850) are the only counties estimated to have also exceeded the national average in 2017.

Average disposable income by county in 2016

Carlow: 19,943

Cavan: 18,102

Clare: 18,145

Cork: 20,125

Donegal: 15,892

Dublin: 24,431

Galway: 19,046

Kerry: 18,567

Kildare: 20,860

Kilkenny: 18,928

Laois: 17,684

Leitrim: 18,738

Limerick: 21,979

Longford: 17,542

Louth: 18,359

Mayo: 17,650

Meath: 19,670

Monaghan: 17,639

Offaly: 17,039

Roscommon: 17,145

Sligo: 19,277

Tipperary: 19,880

Waterford: 20,101

Westmeath: 18,430

Wexford: 18,921

Wicklow: 20,174New directly elected mayors will take over decision-making and administrative functions currently carried out by chief executives under new proposals put forward by the Government.

Voters in Cork, Limerick, and Waterford will be asked to vote on the establishment of the position in a plebiscite which will be held at the same time as the local and European elections on May 24.

It is one of the most significant changes to local government structures in recent years, with the directly elected mayor taking on the role in a five-year-term if approved. The first holder will enter office in 2022 on a shorter term before the period increases with the local electoral cycle in 2024.

The policy proposal issued by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government describes the role as a representation of 'the entire local authority area at local, national and international level.'

The estimated cost of the position is 941,748 per annum - 313,916 per local authority.

It accounts for a mayoral salary of 129,854, the same as a minister of state, with a mayoral vouched allowance of 16,000 available. There would be allocations of 66,741 each for both a special advisor's salary and a programme officer's salary, as well as 34,580 for a driver.

The department said the establishment of a directly elected mayor, similar to those in cities such as London, "could enhance local authority accountability, visibility, democracy or responsiveness, among other possible benefits".

The department warned against wholesale adoption of the role from overseas territories as it 'is not necessarily appropriate to the context of Irish cities' but that the role tends to 'have grown within specific national and local contexts, needs and circumstances'.

A public information campaign will be launched in the local authority areas by the end of next week at the latest to deliver information on the what the role would entail.

A large number of duties would be allocated to the new directly elected mayor, with existing chief executives continuing to exist with changed duties. Some of the duties may include:

- Housing: All local authority housing-related executive functions, including application and assessment processes for social housing, the adoption of traveller accommodation programmes, and maintenance programmes.

- Planning and development: Articulating a strategic vision in terms of 'proper planning and sustainable development.'

- Finance: Drafting a budget and working to achieve its adoption by council.

The mayors would not be able to allocate social housing, approve planning applications or commence planning enforcement practices, or grant licences and permits. These would all remain executive functions.

The directly elected mayors would face scrutiny and oversight by the elected council and the Oireachtas, if appropriate. They will face questioning on pre-prepared matters, similar to leaders' questions in the Dail, and would be scrutinised by the Local Government Audit Service, NOAC and SIPO, as chief executives and councillors currently area. Councillors would have the power to commence removal procedures against a directly-elected mayor, if deemed necessary.

No directly elected mayor would be allowed to sit for more than two terms and the title in Cork City Council would remain 'Lord Mayor', as has historically been the case since 1900. In other areas, the title will be mayor.The chief clinical director of University of Limerick Hospital, Professor Paul Burke is disputing the claims of the INMO about the number of patients on trolleys in the hospital today.

He also denied a claim by INMO representative Mary Fogarty that trolleys are blocking fire exits.Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has insisted that the property tax is "here to stay" and any rises will be affordable and modest when decided on in a year's time.

He was speaking in the wake of a government decision to defer any changes to the tax, a move that has been deemed akin to cute hoor politics".

Mr Donohoe outlined how a report on the tax had recommended almost 60% of property owners hit be with bills with rises of 200 or more.

The minister said he would now engage with the Oireachtas and parties over the coming months to look at relatively stable increases for property owners.

The property tax would play a large role in tax policies in the future, he added.

He said he favoured a widening of the bands for the tax and rate changes. Local authorities would still have the discretion to reduce amounts for their areas, he said.

I do believe that it is very feasible that we will end up with a change here, that maintains the base of the properties that are covered by this and the low numbers of exemptions. We can end up with an LPT that does not deliver an increase to the majority of taxpayers in this country. And for those that do experience an increase, the majority of those will only see an increase of one band.

Local property tax increase to be deferred, confirms Donohoe

By Vivienne Clarke

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has confirmed that an increase in Local Property Tax (LPT) will be deferred for a further year.

People will now know where they stand until 2021, he told RTE radios Morning Ireland.

Mr Donohoe said he wants to keep and reform the local property tax but he also wants to make sure that homeowners don't see sudden significant increases to their bill.

The decision to postpone any decision on property tax kicks the politically contentious question past the local elections and also probably past the next general election.

The report on the future of the LPT was commissioned by the Department of Finance.

Mr Donohoe said that the levy will continue to be based on the value of the property, but he maintains that most people will not see much of an increase, while who those who have their LPT increased, will move up only a band.

He denied that the deferral was in response to fears expressed by people in South County Dublin. This was a national issue and one that was very complicated, but it was important that everyone pay their share, he said.

Basing the tax on the market value of the property was the safest way, he added.

Mr Donohoe pointed out that it had always been a case that any increase would have been after the local elections and he believed it would be after a general election too.

He said that work on budget 2020 is getting underway.

"I am working on getting ready for budget 2020. That work is underway. In two weeks time we will be bringing into cabinet an update on our economic forecast now for the coming years.

"Convicted fraudster Peter Conlon is practising "transformative meditation", Kriya yoga, and doing 25,000 steps a day after spending a year in a Swiss prison, the High Court has heard.

While the former boss of a collapsed charities fundraising service does not have the money to pay for treatment for mental and physical problems he experienced since leaving jail just before Christmas, he is undertaking this physical exercise and meditation, he says.

Mr Conlon, who founded the collapsed Pembroke Dynamic fundraising platform business, refers to these and other health matters in an affidavit he sent by email to the court which was sworn in a notary's office in Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French Riviera on April 1.

He describes himself as an "entrepreneur of no fixed abode" and gives a Stanford University alumni address for correspondence.

Myles Kirby, the liquidator of Pembroke who wants to find out what happened to some 3.8m allegedly misappropriated by the Dublin firm, says Mr Conlon has not identified exactly where he is and has offered to meet him but only in the south of France. Mr Kirby wants to meet him in Dublin.

Mr Conlon (64), whose family home is in Ballsbridge, Dublin, was jailed in Switzerland last November after he pleaded guilty to embezzlement there to using almost 4m - intended for charities - to fund his technology company.

He was jailed for four years, with three suspended, and, as he had already spent a year in prison before the trial, he was released on December 22.

The Leitrim-born man claims he only confessed to the Swiss authorities after he says he was held in 23-hour lock-up for nearly a year. He says he was put under severe mental pressure to confess "which I eventually did when it became apparent to me my pre-trial detention in solitary was consistently being extended with this in mind".

He says as a result of the denial of his human rights and "prosecutorial misconduct" by the Swiss, a report is being prepared for submission to the Irish Government and the European Commissioner for Human Rights.

In the meantime, the liquidator Mr Kirby has repeatedly been in the High Court seeking to get him to co-operate with his investigation.

Mr Kirby says Mr Conlon has been looking for court papers and they have been made available, but he has not collected them. Mr Kirby wants him to swear a more substantial affidavit to address matters raised in the liquidator's case.

While at home in January, he attended his family doctor in Ballsbridge who wrote a letter on his behalf saying he had hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and, because of his time in jail, was suffering "low mood symptoms suggestive of post traumatic stress disorder". The doctor believed he was unfit for work or "to attend to matters requiring intensive concentration".

Mr Conlon says that despite being prescribed drugs for his conditions and counselling, he does not have the financial resources to do so but was engaging in yoga and physical activities.

Today, when the liquidator's case was back before the court, Gerard Meehan BL, for Mr Kirby, said his client did not accept Mr Conlon's request for a further adjournment because of his lack of resources and state of health.

Mr Meehan, who previously said Mr Conlon was "playing hide and seek" with the court, argued today that if he was well enough to make a case to the EU commissioner about his human rights, he could also swear a more substantial affidavit.

Mr Conlon was "very careful" not to say where he was. Counsel said it was not possible to comply with his request the court papers be emailed to him because of the volume of material involved - but Mr Conlon disputes this.

The liquidator was now prepared to set up a "drop box" arrangement whereby he could pick them up, counsel said.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds said if that was done, he could have no further complaint about not having received papers. She adjourned the matter for nine weeks.Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that there is a lot more the social network can do to regulate social media content that is harmful to children.

Mr Zuckerberg denied that his recent call for governments to take a more active role in regulating the internet was an effort by the company to absolve itself of responsibility.

The firm's founder and chief executive was in Dublin on Tuesday to visit the technology giant's offices.

Facebook's European headquarters is in Dublin.

"Either way we're going to have responsivity for making sure that we can police harmful content and gets it off our services," Mr Zuckerberg told RTE News.

"I think these days a lot of people don't want tech companies or any private companies to be making so many decisions about what speech is acceptable and what this harmful content that needs to be gets taken down.

"So I think there is a role for a broader public debate here and I think some of these things would benefit from a more democratic process and a more active government role."

The Facebook boss said he could not guarantee that the social media giant would be able to stop its platforms being used by malicious actors trying to influence the outcome of the European Elections.

Mark Zuckerberg has said he cannot give a guarantee that Facebook will be able to stop its platforms being used by malicious actors trying to influence the outcome of the European Elections. | https://t.co/19SBgASq5C pic.twitter.com/2Wf92vYrO0  RTE News (@rtenews) April 2, 2019

"We've certainly made a lot of progress in building defences to protect the integrity of elections," he said.

"But no, I don't think anyone can guarantee in a world where you have nation states [that] are trying to interfere in elections there is no single thing that we can do, and say okay, we have now solved the issue.

"This is an ongoing arms race."

Mr Zuckerberg met with senior Irish politicians during his visit to the Republic and assured them that he would work with governments to establish new policies in a bid to regulate social media.

He discussed his plans to regulate the internet with Hildegarde Naughton, James Lawless and Eamon Ryan - three members of the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News - at a hotel in Dublin.

Mr Zuckerberg told the politicians that issues around child protection and age verification are of "huge concern" to him.

He refused to answer questions from the media about online child safety as he left the Merrion Hotel.

Ms Naughton described the meeting as "positive and constructive".

"We went through a number of issues including child protection and the need for a robust age verification system," she said.

"He said it was an area of huge concern to him and that he is looking forward to working with law enforcement agencies and legislators in relation to that. We have to balance the state of privacy of users as well as safety.

"He stated he had a lot more work to do.

"Our committee is working on a number of pieces of legislation including an online safety commissioner as well as looking at and protecting democracy.

"I mentioned the importance around age verification because you have right now paedophiles online lying about their age and preying on young children and grooming them.

"This is something he acknowledged, he knew it was a problem and he stated that he wanted to work with law enforcement agencies and policy makers to make more robust laws."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaving The Merrion Hotel in Dublin after a meeting with politicians to discuss regulation of social media and harmful content. (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

The International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News is made up of international parliamentarians and investigates issues like data privacy, safety, security and sharing.

The three TDs, who are also members of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, have been vocal in demanding the regulation of social media platforms in recent years.

Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has a number of inquiries ongoing into Facebook and associated organisations.

The TDs, who described Mr Zuckerberg as "quiet, unassuming, pleasant and smart", held an hour-long meeting with him days after he called for increased government oversight of the internet in areas like harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.

Mr Lawless said: "Our focus was also on electoral integrity and what has been happening around the world on the rules in managing election campaigns.

"He agreed legislation is needed, he is working on those internationally to be able to see who is running campaigns, who is paying for campaigns and who is being targeted.

"It shouldn't be about the private companies dictating what goes online when it comes to democracy and child protection and safety, we as legislators have responsibilities to put in place rules that we think should be followed and dictating to companies about how behaviours are conducted online."

Mr Ryan said: "I pressed him about the article he wrote on regulation and I made the point that it can't be self-regulation it has to be European regulation and that has to include funding journalism and having a courts procedure rather than a self-appointed board to look at difficult decisions."

PAThe State inquiry examining decades of alleged physical and sexual abuse of a seriously disabled woman known as Grace has uncovered hundreds of very revealing documents into the case.

The Farrelly Commission confirmed the development in its latest update report, saying it has received 6,000 pieces of correspondence in recent months which are helping it with its investigation.

In its fourth report on the work of the behind-closed-doors investigation, senior counsel Marjorie Farrelly said the inquiry has interviewed 101 witnesses in an attempt to uncover what happened.

Ms Farrelly also said that a number of witness statements and interviews have had to be rearranged on a number of occasions due to issues of ill health, frailty, and other private matters affecting those involved.

The State investigation is examining why Grace was left in a foster home in the south-east for more than two decades despite consistent evidence that she, and potentially other vulnerable children, were being physically and sexually abused.

The investigation is also examining what monitoring of the placement, if any, was made by gardai and health service officials, what impact political representations by the family had on Grace not being removed, and if key information was suppressed.

Ms Farrelly said the inquiry has also been given more than 6,000 pieces of correspondence since its last report in September, with the disclosures proving to be an onerous task but a very rewarding one.

While the 10-page update report did not provide any details on the exact nature of the new information being uncovered, Ms Farrellys report stated that progress has been made on a number of matters, including:

Why the family at the centre of the alleged abuse were cleared to become foster parents;

The role of the gardai;

The fostering process;

The care of Grace;

Why Grace was not removed from the family when concerns were raised in the mid-1990s;

What occurred after July 2009.

[/factbox]

In addition, the report said the commission is seeking to speak with more witnesses. The report is the latest in a string of updates on the progress of the Grace inquiry, which is due to be concluded in a number of months.

The State inquiry was launched in 2016  delaying the general election by 24 hours  on the back of a series of reports by the Irish Examiner uncovering the case in 2014 and 2015.Update: The HSE has been trawling the world to find extra screening capacity for cervical smears, the head of the health authoritys national screening service told the Oireachtas health committee.

The health authority's national director of screening services, Damien McCallion, said there is currently a backlog of 79,500 slides, with some samples taking up to 33 weeks to be reviewed.

We would always have around 20,000 slides working through the system if things were on an even keel, said Mr McCallion.

Significant improvements had been made in turnaround times for tests at two laboratories - it was three weeks at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin and seven weeks at the US-based Quest Diagnostics.

They are working on a solution for the third laboratory - MedLab in Sandyford, Dublin where the turnaround time is 33 weeks.

Clearly that is a major concern and that has deteriorated, he said.

We have literally have had to trawl the world - from Australia to America, through Europe, to try to find capacity, said Mr McCallion, who added that a full quality assurance process was completed before any new contracts were signed with a new laboratory.

Mr McCallion said a public laboratory at the Coombe Hospital would be built. Funding was received this year but the project would take time.

In the short term, we have to avail of capacity in other jurisdictions to try and help us get out of the problem that we are in at the moment.

Replying to Sinn Feins Louise OReilly said Mr McCallion said the quality assurance process involved on-site visits.

He also described recent reports of slide tests expiring as "misinformation". There was always a percentage of samples that would expire for a variety of reasons and they monitored the situation very closely.

There was an issue around October/November last year and that was addressed with the laboratories and the rate was within the norms that we would always have, he said.

There has been no change in that normal rate that any screening programme would have around that.

Ms OReilly said that given the backlog she was concerned that the numbers were going to be quite high but Mr McCallion said the numbers would still be "minuscule".

In terms of expired sales and vials - in a typical month it could be about 40 to 50. Over a year, between expired samples and expired vials, you are looking at around 500 to 600 a year.

Clinical director of CervicalCheck, Dr Lorraine Doherty, said they could not give a fixed date for when primary HPV screening would start.

But we certainly anticipate that we would certainly be looking at no longer than early next year to introduce this programme, she said.

Earlier: Harris to blame for 'crisis of confidence' in CervicalCheck, says Fianna Fail

Health Minister Simon Harris bears the brunt of the blame for the crisis of confidence in the CervicalCheck programme, according to Fianna Fails Stephen Donnelly.

Mr Harris had been warned weeks in advance that the case of campaigner Vicky Phelan was going to emerge and it was likely to cause a crisis in confidence.

Despite being warned, no preparations were made, Mr Donnelly told a meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee.

Within 48 hours the minister expressed no confidence in the management team of CervicalCheck without meeting them, said Mr Donnelly.

That was largely taken as the Government having no confidence in the CervicalCheck programme, he said.

And having created anxiety and fear then an offer of a free test was made, said Mr Donnelly, who is the party's health spokesperson.

But they now knew that there was very strong clinical advice not to do that.

Dr Grainne Flannelly

The former clinical director of CervicalCheck, Dr Grainne Flannelly, has revealed that the Government went ahead with the offer despite her raising concerns with HSE officials.

In a submission made to the committee, Dr Flannelly said she warned the repeat smear tests would fundamentally undermine the screening programme.

Mr Harris announced the free tests in April last year following the CervicalCheck scandal.

It was the mishandling of the situation by Mr Harris that caused the crisis of confidence in CervicalCheck, said Mr Donnelly.

They now knew that the offer of the free tests had caused a huge backlog of slides and, as a result, officials could not give a date for the introduction of the new HPV test.

I think largely this mess was created by the minister and the Government aided and abetted by the Oireachtas. There was certainly loose language in the Oireachtas that was very unhelpful as well.

Earlier, Mr Donnelly said Dr Flannellys submission to the committee directly contradicts the ministers position. What she said suggested that he misled the Dail.

She predicted what would come to pass and what we are all dealing with today, he added.

Chief clinical officer with the HSE, Dr Colm Henry, said he only became aware of the advice last night.

It was, he said, reasonable, looking back to judge any decision in the context of the time, the anxiety that prevailed and the misinformation and misunderstanding about screening.

Clinical director of CevicalCheck Dr Lorraine Doherty said the organisation was dealing with a "very difficult situation" in relation to confidence in the programme.

Dr Doherty said the medical benefit of an out-of-cycle smear could cover a range of issues including psychological.

In this scenario, the decision was taken collectively in government to offer women to avail of a free smear test, she said.

Sinn Feins Louise OReilly said it was very clear" that advice was given that should have made its way to the minister and it was a serious issue" if expert advice was being ignored by health department officials.The INMO has recommended that their members accept proposals aimed at resolving their recent strike.

The Executive Council of the nurses and midwives union is recommending its nurses vote in favour of proposals aimed at resolving their dispute with the government over pay and staff shortages.

The deal they will vote on includes guarantees that new nurses and midwives can reach a higher pay scale in less than two years.

It also rules out the possibility of split shifts where members might be required to go home for a number of hours before returning to finish out their hours.

40,000 members took part in three days of strike action in February, before suspending their action following a Labour Court recommendation.

However, the union was unhappy with elements of the new contract, including redeployment and shift duration.

Tonight, the INMO says there is no longer reason to fear the contract, after the Labour Court ruled in its favour on disputed elements, including split shifts and the length required for new entrants to reach a higher pay scale.

They will now put the deal to their members in a ballot, beginning on April 8.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: This Labour Court recommendation is a total vindication for what the INMO has said about the governments draft contract.

The governments proposals were completely unreasonable and we are glad to see the Court has recognised this. There is no longer anything to fear in this new contract.

The nurses and midwives of our Executive Council have now decided to fully recommend this deal to members. It does not resolve all our issues, but we believe it is a significant step forward for nurses, midwives and patients across Ireland.

This deal gives our health service a real chance to recruit and retain nurses and midwives and compete with international recruiters. The deal includes safe staffing levels, increases in take-home pay, and more promotional opportunities," she said.A young Dublin man who burst his girlfriend's eardrum in a beating which left her vomiting for a whole night has been sentenced to four and a half years.

Garda Ronan Goggin said at an earlier hearing that Aaron Nolan, 21, had punched, kicked and pulled clumps out of his then girlfriend's hair as he dragged her over a green area and down a laneway.

The garda agreed with Brian Gageby BL, defending, that Nolan committed the assault on a baseless idea that his girlfriend had been texting another man.

The woman told gardai that every time she denied this Nolan got angrier and would assault her further.

Nolan, of The Glen, Woodpark, Ballinteer, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of assaulting the then 19-year-old woman at Ballinteer Crescent, Ballinteer, on November 5, 2017. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Melanie Greally had adjourned the case last January having heard the evidence to allow for the preparation of a report from the Probation Service.

Today, she suspended the final 18 months of the four and half year sentence on strict conditions including that Nolan be under supervision of the Probation Service for two years, have no contact with his victim for that time and attend a domestic violence perpetrator programme if deemed suitable.

She said the woman had returned home from the assault in an appalling state and was vomiting and experiencing extreme headaches.

She said there was no doubt that his attack on her had an extremely damaging effect on her both emotionally and psychologically.

It came somewhat out of the blue. He had been someone on whom she had been dependent and she had no expectation that he was capable of this.

"No doubt it will take her some time to come back from it, Judge Greally said.

She said it was a succession of assaults over a prolonged period of time with extreme violence which was often concentrated on the woman's head and face.

Today, Mr Gageby read from a letter from his client to the woman in which he expressed his remorse telling her he was so, so sorry and I hope you go back to your happy self.

In a letter to the judge, Nolan wrote that he was truly ashamed of what he had done.

I hope to tackle my demons head-on when I get released from prison. The happiest years of my life were the seven years with her, Nolan wrote.

He said he had thrown away seven years of good times with her and he had only myself to blame.

Victim didn't recognise herself after attack

Garda Goggin told Katherine McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, at the previous hearing that the woman described how Nolan had appeared very drunk when she initially met him at his friend's house to sort out the issue.

Nolan destroyed the woman's handbag items by ripping them up and scattering them about the green area and prevented her from seeking help at neighbouring houses with threats and violence.

At one stage during the assault, another woman approached, but Nolan told this witness to mind her own business.

Garda Goggin said another man recorded some of the incident on his phone and later handed this to investigators.

The attack ended when Nolan dragged the woman to his own family home and his relatives intervened.

The court heard the woman didn't recognise herself in the bathroom mirror of this house because her face was so swollen, her hair was matted with blood and her nose and lip were burst.

She eventually went home and spent the remaining early hours and into the next day in her bedroom vomiting and in severe pain.

In a victim impact statement, read out by Ms McGillicuddy, the woman stated that she doesn't talk about what happened and is a lot quieter now.

She revealed she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, neck pain and that her hearing is not the same.

She said she was happy and trusting" before that night but now she feels trapped in her own head with the memory and can't understand why the attack happened.

Garda Goggin said Nolan admitted in interview that he had been intoxicated and that he was shocked and ashamed and felt sick when he saw photos of the injuries he had inflicted. He told gardai he was heartbroken as he loved the woman.

Garda Goggin agreed with Mr Gageby that his client had been taking alcohol and cocaine on the night.

He agreed that Nolan had not attended for assessment by The Probation Service, saying this was a surprise given that he has abided by his bail conditions and made admissions.

The garda said he thought Nolan seemed to be fatalistic about what was going to happen.

- Additional reporting by Sonya McLeanChina's centrally administered state-owned enterprises have taken the lead in building the Xiongan New Area over the past two years.



On April 1, 2017, China announced plans to establish the Xiongan New Area, about 100 km southwest of Beijing, in what an official statement called "a strategy that will have lasting importance for the millennium to come and a significant national event."

The following is a timeline of some key moments of centrally administered SOE participation in building the new area:

-- On Feb. 28, 2018, the building of the Beijing-Xiongan intercity railway started, with the participation of China Railway Group, China Railway Construction Corporation and China Communications Construction. The high-speed railway, set to be operational by 2020, will cut commuting time to 30 minutes.

-- On March 1, 2018, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Xiongan New Area to jointly build a smart city management model.

-- On June 29, 2018, China Southern Airlines announced plan to set up a subsidiary in the new area, with an investment of 10 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars).

-- On July 4, 2018, State Grid Corporation of China launched the State Grid Xiongan Financial Technology Group, the first fintech enterprise in the area.

-- On July 18, 2018, Sinopec Capital Co., a subsidiary of Sinopec Group, was unveiled in Xiongan New Area, becoming the area's first investment and operation platform of a central SOE.

-- On Dec. 7, 2018, China State Construction completed the building of and put into use the Xiongan citizen service center, which consumes about 70 percent less energy than traditional buildings thanks to green technology.The owners of a large childcare facility near Killarneys town centre have clashed with local residents over their plans for an expansion of the facility.

Locals living near the Montessori House of Children on Countess Rd, Killarney, have lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala against the recent decision of Kerry Co Council to grant retention permission for an increased number of children and longer opening hours at the creche.

It is the latest chapter in a long-running legal battle between the owners of the creche, Sean Buckley and Carol Dempsey, and residents over the use of the house, Bradgate, as a childcare facility.

Last year, the planning appeals authority blocked the planned expansion of the facility, which had been approved by Kerry County Council, following objections by Countess Rd residents.

Montessori House of Children had applied to increase the number of children it cared for, extend opening hours and move the creche to a bigger adjoining property, also owned by Mr Buckley and Ms Dempsey.

However, An Bord Pleanala upheld the challenge of local residents and ruled the plans by the creches owners would seriously injure the amenities of other properties in the area due to excessive noise, on-street parking and traffic, as well as endangering public safety.

Under the latest proposal, the creche wants to secure retention permission for having increased the number of children permitted from 15 to 35 as well as extending opening hours from 8am-2pm to 6pm.

It said conditions imposed relating to the number of children and hours of operation in the original grant of planning permission in 1993 were antiquated and no longer relevant.

The creche said it has reduced the proposed scale of the facility in response to last years decision to refuse planning for a larger project.

The creche said it no longer had plans to use the neighbouring property to accommodate the nursery, while it had introduced staggered drop-off and pick-up times, to reduce traffic during the peak period of 8.45am-9.15am by 50%.

It has received support from a number of groups, including the Irish Wheelchair Association, the Killarney Immigrant Support Centre, and Fossa National School, parents of several children with special needs and some local residents. However, objectors claimed that accommodating increased numbers in the premises was unsustainable and would create a traffic hazard.

They also argued that staggered drop-off and pick-up times were unenforceable.

Some objectors also called on the council to take enforcement proceedings to ensure the creche complied with existing planning conditions and warned they would take High Court proceedings, if necessary, to ensure compliance. A ruling in the case by An Bord Pleanala is expected by mid-July.Mary Lowry's son has described murder accused Pat Quirke as "in control most of the time, grumpy some of the time" and said he went around his mother's farm "as if he kind of owned the place".

Giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court 19-year-old Jack Lowry spoke about his mother's relationship with Bobby Ryan and his memories of the accused.

Mr Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight. Mr Ryan went missing on June 3, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry's home at about 6.30am. His body was found in an underground run-off tank on the farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by the accused at Fawnagown, Tipperary 22 months later in April 2013. The prosecution has claimed Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with Ms Lowry (52).

Mr Lowry told prosecution counsel David Humphries BL that he lived with his brothers and mother in Fawnagowan until April 2013. His father had passed away in 2007 when the witness was eight years old.

Mary Lowry

Following his father's death he remembered Mr Quirke leasing the family farm from his mother. He knew all of Pat's children and got on well with Alan, who died in a tragic farm accident in 2012.

Mr Lowry said Alan, who was one year younger than him, would come to Fawnagowan with his father most days and they would play together around the farm.

When he was younger he got on with Mr Quirke, he said, adding:

"I have nothing against him." He later said that Mr Quirke was "in control most of the time, grumpy some of the time. He went around the farm as if he kind of owned the place."

He recalled going with his mother and brothers to Portugal and Spain with the Quirke family where they rented a villa with a private pool. They all got on, he said.

When his mother started seeing Bobby Ryan the witness "felt weird about it" at first and used to "slag him off about being bald". He said he thought Mr Ryan was taking over his father's role.

He also remembered Mr Ryan taking him and his brothers to Tramore in Waterford where he brought them on carnival rides and into the arcades. His mother and Mr Ryan seemed happy together, he said. He added: "My mother was happy when he was around."

When Mr Lowry was 11 years old Bobby Ryan bought a 1987 Toyota Corolla for the witness's older brother Tommy so he could practice driving. This witness said he was in it when Tommy drove it but at that time he was too young to drive it himself. He didn't drive it until he was 14 or 15 years old.

The day Mr Ryan went missing the witness remembered coming home from school and seeing his uncle Eddie, which was strange. He found out that Bobby was missing but doesn't remember who told him. He didn't know of the tank where Bobby Ryan's body was found but he had previously noticed the concrete slabs that covered the top.

Under cross examination he told Lorcan Staines SC for the defence that he could not remember what happened when he spoke to gardai in 2011. He said he spoke to gardai again in February of this year after a garda approached him to make a statement.

He has no memory of Bobby Ryan calling to the house on June 2, the day before he went missing. He said he also has no recollection of ever going to his grandmother and complaining that his mother was not home.

He said he was "100 per cent sure" that the Toyota Corolla car was bought for Tommy to learn to drive and that he, Jack, did not drive it until he was older.

He told Mr Staines: "I could barely reach the pedals. I didn't even know how to start a car at that at that age." Mr Staines told the witness that Tommy had previously told the trial that the car was for both of them and asked him if he wished to reconsider his evidence. He replied: "No."

Bobby Ryan

Referring to the tank where Mr Ryan's body was found he said he knew there was concrete there because it "stood out" in the middle of the field. But he was young so he took no notice of it.

In reexamination Mr Humphries asked the witness if he remembers ever being left unminded at home and he replied that his grandmother, Rita Lowry, was always there.

Mr Humphries also today read to the court a deposition given by Rita Lowry, Jack's 91-year-old grandmother. Ms Lowry is also mother-in-law to Pat Quirke and Mary Lowry. In her deposition Ms Lowry told prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC that she had lived at Fawnagowan since 1958 and was married to John Lowry. They had four boys and four girls.

Martin, Mary's husband, was the eldest boy and became principal heir to the farm when John passed away in 1993. Martin married Mary and they built an extension to the house where they lived with their three boys before Martin passed away in 2007.

Mary was "very upset," she said, adding: "Really upset. She was grieving after it." She remembered that Pat Quirke helped her and that his cattle started grazing the land at Fawnagowan. He would be there nearly every day, arriving around 12pm. She said Mary and Pat were great friends.

Rita met Bobby Ryan only once or twice but said she wouldn't have really known him. She was happy that Mary had met someone and she said that Bobby got on with Mary's children.

The night before Mr Ryan went missing she was out playing cards and arrived home about 11.30pm. It was a normal night, she said. She went to bed and slept soundly. The following morning was also normal - Mary Lowry dropped her into town to meet her daughter as she would every Friday. She got home about 3pm and saw Mary crying and "very, very upset".

Ms Lowry told defence counsel Bernard Condon SC that she remembered telling gardai that Jack, her grandson, came to her one morning and said his mother wasn't home. A short time later Mary drove in.

Prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC told the jury of six men and six women that the prosecution evidence is likely to finish tomorrow and the case will formally close on Friday morning. Ms Justice Eileen Creedon presides.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris have been forced to deny CervicalCheck officials warned them offering free smear test rechecks would severely damage the service  accusing critics of being involved in revisionism.

Mr Varadkar and Mr Harris rejected the claims and accused others of causing the damage after CervicalChecks ex-clinical director insisted she and her officials told the Department of Health of the risk hours before the plan was announced.

At the height of the cervical cancer tests crisis last year, the Government said any woman who believed s he may have been given an incorrect test result would be able to receive a second test for free. While the move was intended to address widespread national concern at the scale of the crisis and was broadly welcomed at the time, it has since been the subject of repeated claims the level of tests has severely damaged the existing service.

At the Oireachtas health committee ex-Cervical Check clinical director Dr Grainne Flannelly, who was forced to step down over the original tests scandal, said she told the department of the dangers of the free tests roll-out.

Dr Flannelly specifically said she warned the department that GPs would not be able to be paid, labs used by CervicalCheck would not have the capacity to cope with demand, and that the free tests plan would fundamentally undermine the service.

However, despite Dr Flannellys confirmation that the Government was urged not to go ahead with the plan, Mr Varadkar and Mr Harris yesterday rejected the fresh allegations.

At a media briefing in Dublin, Mr Harris said the facts dont change and insisted he was never told not to go ahead with the free smear test rechecks scheme.

He said some individuals are taking part in revisionism to avoid any blame for what happened, before later clarifying he was referring to politicians and not Dr Flannelly or CervicalCheck officials.

Theres a lot of revisionism going, respectfully in the media and by politicians. Lets remember the time that this was. We had lost all confidence in the service. Ive no interest in engaging in tit-for-tat. When were talking about revisionism were talking about politicians who called for repeat smear tests, he said.

In the Dail, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin raised Dr Flannellys committee comments, telling Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that his and Mr Harriss positions have been undermined.

Mr Martin said the evidence shows the decision by the Minister for Health to offer free tests has now clearly damaged the programme. He called on Mr Varadkar to order Mr Harris to appear before the Dail to answer more questions.

However, Mr Varadkar rejected the demand, saying: The damage to the programme wasnt done by the Minister, but by the non-disclosure scandal. Those officials you quoted were at the centre of it... Remember what you said about these people on May 1, you said they were cold and calculating, may have been involved in a conspiracy.A judge has warned the public coming to court that mobile phones will be confiscated unless they are switched off in his court room.

A ban on mobile phone use by the public was introduced last November, but breaches of the direction still occur.

Yesterday, two mobile phones were confiscated from members of the public sitting in Killarney District Courtroom after the phones rang loudly during proceedings at the regular first Tuesday sitting of the court, which is part of District Number 17.

Last November, the chief justice, Frank Clarke, announced a ban on texting or using social media in courtrooms. Phone use is confined strictly to bona fide members of the press and lawyers.

A spokesperson for the courts service said the direction applies to all courts and mobile phone use by members of the public is banned in all courts.

Bona fide members of the press were allowed phone use because they knew the rules that applied to court proceedings and court reporting and what they can and cannot tweet, the spokesman said.

Most people coming into court made sure phones were off, the courts service spokesman said. However, phones going off and interrupting the court still occurs in Kerry during court proceedings, at both district and circuit court levels.

Yesterday two phones were confiscated in the District Court in Killarney after Judge David Waters ordered gardai to seize the loudly ringing phones.

The judge then issued a general warning to the public to switch the phones off or they would be confiscated.

Dont text or look at phones in court, said Judge Waters.

The confiscated phones were handed back at the end of the proceedings.Two further judgments, for a total US$133m and for a total 72m Russian roubles (about 1m), have been obtained on consent against some members of businessman Sean Quinn's family and some of their spouses.

A stay applies on enforcement of all of the judgments as long as the Quinns co-operate with State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation in its continuing efforts to recover assets from the Quinns' international property group.

The judgment orders are part of the settlement of IBRC's case alleging a conspiracy by various Quinn family members, allegedly assisted by a number of companies, to strip 455m assets from the IPG.

The orders were made today, a day after the five adult Quinn children consented to judgments for a total 440m, 88m each, in favour of IBRC under a settlement of their own case against the bank disputing the validity of loans of some 2.34bn made by Anglo Irish Bank to Quinn companies.

A stay applies on execution and registration of those judgments on similar conditions.

Today, Barry O'Donnell SC, for IBRC, got judgment orders for a total $133m, on a joint and several basis and subject to the stay, against the five Quinn siblings - Aoife, Brenda, Ciara, Colette, and Sean Junior - and against three of their spouses - Karen Woods, Niall McPartland, and Stephen Kelly.

That $133m relates to assets and rents which IBRC says it has not recovered from the Quinn family's international property group as a result of a scheme to put some 455m worth of assets beyond the bank's reach.

Later in the day, Mr O'Donnell also secured judgment for a total sum of about 72m Russian roubles against Aoife Quinn and her husband Stephen Kelly, Ciara Quinn and her husband Niall McPartland, Karen Woods (wife of Sean Quinn), and Colette Quinn arising from salaries paid to them by IPG companies in 2011 and 2012.

Judgment was entered against each of the six for sums ranging from some 10m to some 12m roubles.

Both the family's case and the IBRC case date back to 2011 when Anglo Irish Bank moved to take control of Quinn companies over debt of some 2.8bn, comprising about 2.34bn corporate debt and more than 400m personal debt.

The litigation was rooted in a battle between the Quinns and IBRC, into which Anglo was nationalised following its collapse, for control of valuable assets of former Quinn companies, including assets in Russia, Ukraine, and India.

The total value of former Quinn group assets recovered by IBRC, including assets in Ireland, is believed to be somewhere between 800m and 1bn.

The costs of recovering some of the assets, including litigation costs here and in several other countries, could be as high as 170m.

IBRC alleged actions of the Quinns frustrated and delayed its recovery efforts and, especially in relation to assets in Russia and Ukraine, has substantially reduced the value of those assets.

The net recovery sum will be applied to reduce the estimated 2.34bn debt of Quinn companies to Anglo.

At the Commercial Court today, where the conspiracy case was listed for mention, Barry O'Donnell SC, for IBRC, told Mr Justice Robert Haughton it had settled against the Quinn defendants.

The settlement is confidential but includes the consent of the Quinn siblings and the three spouses to the $133m judgment, counsel said. He said the settlement provided for a stay on enforcement of the judgment with liberty to vacate the stay if there is failure to comply with the terms of settlement, which includes "non-interference provisions". Under the agreement, injunctions are being sought, he said.

He said the agreement also provided for discharge of receivers appointed in 2011 over the Quinn family members' accounts and assets, except in relation to Peter Darragh Quinn, a nephew of Sean Quinn.

It had also been agreed all costs orders made between IBRC and the five siblings and the three spouses in the proceedings to date would be discharged.

Sean Quinn senior had also signed the settlement agreement, counsel said.

IBRC anticipated the dispute with the remaining defendants in the conspiracy case would be resolved, he said

Agreement had also been reached to make orders dismissing intended proceedings by the Quinn family against the Central Bank, Minister for Finance, and various other parties, including former Anglo chairman Sean Fitzpatrick, and former CEO David Drumm, counsel said.

After the judge made the various orders sought, counsel said IBRC was very grateful to the court for the time spent on dealing with multiple aspects of the litigation. "It is our job to hear cases," the judge said.Update 9.10pm: Gardai in Blanchardstown have condemned the reckless attack which took place outside a secondary school in the Corduff area.

At around 3.40pm this afternoon, a lone gunman appeared to target a man in his 20s who was waiting outside Riversdale Community College on Blanchardstown Road North.

No one was injured in the incident and the gunman fled the scene in the direction of Corduff Grove.

Gardai arrested a number of people at the scene who were released following searches.

Searches were carried out this evening in the Corduff area with the assistance of the Emergency Response Unit and Armed Support Units.

No further arrests have been made at this time.

Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

The attack took place in broad daylight at a time when school was about to finish and students would have been exiting the building and parents were arriving to collect their children.

Superintendent Noel Carolan is appealing for anyone who was in the vicinity of the Community College between 3pm and 3.40pm to contact Blanchardstown Garda Station.

In particular, Gardai are looking for anyone who may have dashcam footage from Blanchardstown Road North or Corduff Grove.

They are also appealing for any person who observed any unusual activity in the vicinity of the Community College in recent days to make contact at Blanchardstown Garda Station at 01-6669700 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

Calls for greater support for gardai following 'traumatic' shooting incident at Blanchardstown school

Update 7.30pm: Two men narrowly escaped injury this afternoon after a gunman fired shots outside a secondary school in Blanchardstown.

The gunman approached the two men at around 3.30pm and fled the scene after missing his target.

There are reports that the incident could be related to an ongoing feud in the area.

Gardai conducting searches in Corduff following shooting incident this afternoon. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Responding to this afternoon's incident, local Fianna Fail TD Jack Chambers said that it "marks a very alarming precedent".

"This latest incident will have proven traumatic for parents and students who were in the immediate vicinity, there is no doubt that innocent people felt frightened."

Deputy Chambers called for national resources to be deployed to provide back up for local Gardai.

When gangland tensions heightened in the inner city in 2016, there was a very specialist Garda response to contain violence and protect the broader public.

For such an incident to occur in a residential area within yards of a school in the middle of a weekday afternoon is not normal and should not be treated as a normal part of everyday life.

Sinn Fein councillor for Mulhuddart Paul Donnelly urged anyone with information to speak to An Garda Siochana.

"It beggars belief that a person would put the lives of school children in danger like this," said Cllr Donnelly.

Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Two men escape uninjured after attempted shooting outside Blanchardstown school

Update 5.20pm: Two men have narrowly escaped injury after a shooting outside a secondary school in West Dublin.

It happened outside Riversdale Community College when the gunman approached the men just after 3.30pm this afternoon.

He missed his target and fled the scene.

Gardai from Blanchardstown, who are at the scene, say their investigation is still live.

Gardai have confirmed that they were alerted to a shooting incident in the Corduff area (Blanchardstown Road North) at approximately 3.40pm.

They said that no persons were injured during the incident.

According to RTE, gardai believe that a man who was waiting to collect a student from the school was the intended target.

There are reports that the incident could be related to an ongoing feud in the area.Cork County Council has invited tenders from voluntary and community organisations to support the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the county over the next two years.

The tender process is open for the next three weeks, with the local authority stating that "the main objective of this initiative is to support recently arrived refugees who will be resettled in the Cork area."

According to the tender document: "Cork County Council has been requested to act as the lead agency supporting the resettlement of refugees in Cork. The resettlement will be steered and monitored by a local resettlement interagency working group that includes representatives from statutory, voluntary and community groups. This project is funded by the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration and the European Union.

"This invitation is a call for tenders from voluntary and community groups with experience of working in partnership with local service providers in the provision of services to vulnerable communities. It is intended that the project will run provisionally from May 2019 to April 2021."

The value of the tender is placed at 280,000 and those behind the winning tender will be expected to partner with Cork County Council to support the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the county.

The responsibilities include:

- recruiting resettlement support workers to act as the point of contact for the Syrian community

- ongoing support and supervision of the resettlement support workers and intercultural workers in the implementation of their duties

- developing a range of initiatives to promote the resettlement and integration of refugees at a local level.

- training local volunteers who will assist with the refugees in the long term

- recording any issues that arise and working in partnership with local service providers to support the inclusion of the refugees in mainstream services.

The tender states: "The Housing Support Service(s) will be commissioned to cover the County Cork area."

Settlement of Syrians under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme in Ballaghaderreen was largely successful although the contract there expired last December.

The government's efforts to widen its base of Direct Provision centres hit difficulty with arson attacks at sites of proposed DP in Rooskey in Co Roscommon and in Moville in Co Donegal.The national director of the HSEs screening service will be quizzed today about the 33 week wait for the return of cervical screening results.

Damien McCallion is due before the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee where Fianna Fail health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly intends to take him to task over growing delays.

The HSE said the 33-week wait poses a very low risk to women when taking into account the "natural history" of the disease which normally takes 10 to 15 years to develop.

The HSEs comments are in the wake of it revealing that delays in screening test results have increased substantially, from 27 weeks in February to 33 weeks, at a time when there is a backlog of 78,000 samples.

In January, the HSE confirmed that 1,000 smear tests expired due to the CervicalCheck backlog, and that women affected need to be retested. The delays are linked with Medlab Pathologies, which processes c45% of CervicalCheck smears.

The HSE said it is making every effort to improve this situation including extensive efforts [globally] to source additional laboratory capacity.

The HSE also said it has agreed with MedLab that they employ HPV (Human papillomavirus) co-testing in order to prioritise women who are HPV positive, as they are considered to have the highest clinical needs.

However, the Government and Health Minister Simon Harris came under severe attack in the Dail over the increased delays for women who had to be retested.

Fianna Fail's Lisa Chambers said the situation has gone beyond serious: The Minister for Health single-handedly caused this backlog and he has failed to get to grips with it. MedLab treats patients and deals with women in rural Ireland, so women in all of those constituencies in rural Ireland wait much longer than other women.

Ms Chambers said:

Women are being told their tests have expired and must come back in for another repeat smear, having sought the repeat test in the first place because they were worried.

Solidarity TD Joan Collins called for answers since it emerged any of the women facing delays are being forced to seek private medical care in order to get a timely response.

Tanaiste Mr Coveney said the HSE has sourced additional capacity abroad and he had a note that suggests it has secured capacity and is trying to finalise contractual arrangements.

In 2018 c370,000 women presented to CervicalCheck, an increase of 90,000 on 2017. The increase was a result of the uptake of out of cycle smear tests and more women presenting to the programme, in the wake of the CervicalCheck scandal, when Mr Harris offered free repeat smears.

Sinn Fein health spokeswoman, Louise OReilly said we assumed that the Minister had established that the capacity existed to do this before the offer was made".

Unfortunately, the delivery on this commitment has been nothing short of a catastrophic failure."

Mr Donnelly said "the repercussions of this free test offer cannot be overstated".

"Were up against a ticking clock here and time is running out before many tests simply expire."

In the past, results would have been available in four to six weeks.The director of University Hospital Limerick has denied the hospital is in the midst of a crisis despite reports of record numbers of patients lying on trolleys yesterday.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), there were 92 patients waiting for beds. It was the highest ever daily figure recorded in an Irish hospital. The HSE disputed the figure, claiming that 39 patients were counted during its own morning time count.

Mary Fogarty, INMO industrial relations officer, described the situation as dangerous for patients and staff:

Trolleys are blocking pathways, as well as exits, and there are doctors and nurses trying to offer care in corridors.

Professor Peter Burke, chief clinical director of UHL, disputed the claims that patients were blocking fire exits. He conceded the hospital was very busy.

It is not a crisis, this is something we deal with all the time, he said.

The record-breaking day at UHL follows on from the declaration of a black escalation at Cork University Hospital on Monday night. Patients were told those entering faced an average waiting of 12 hours which was likely to lengthen over the night. Black escalation status, according to HSE guidelines, means the hospital is in a critical position and clinically unsafe.

The black escalation was removed by yesterday morning. The INMO said there were 50 people on trolleys at CUH yesterday compared to 70 on Tuesday morning.

Health minister Simon Harris and junior minister Jim Daly held crisis talks with senior Cork University Hospital officials after the incident. Mr Harris told the Irish Examiner a teleconference phone call took place between the two politicians and CUH management on Tuesday evening.

Asked about the situation yesterday, Simon Harris said while problems have since reduced at the unit he is concerned about the development at CUH.

Paramedics working in Cork reported lengthy delays in accessing the hospital all week. One paramedic, who asked not to be named, said that ambulance crews had been hit with delays of six to six-and-a-half hours outside the hospital with patients.

They were sitting with patients in ambulances, unable to do their job, they said.

Crews reported two to three-hour delays in the days prior to the black escalation this week, including one incident where a crew sat for more than two hours with a patient in an ambulance before being redirected to the Mercy University Hospital.

It was reported that crews didnt finish shifts unti hours after they were due to do so as they were unable to hand over patients. SIPTU organiser Sharon Cregan confirmed that they will be writing to hospital management to seek clarification on contingency plans if such a situation arises again.

It has a massive effect on patients and staff, she said. It is overwhelming, it is critical and we are very concerned about it.China's sharing economy has a newcomer  shared kitchens. They provide restaurants with a place to cook their food and pass it to deliverymen as fast as possible. The business model has got lots of attention both in China and abroad.



Panda Selected is one of the three major shared kitchen operators in China. It has over 40 shared kitchens in Shanghai alone, and even more in Beijing. Martin Xiao, COO of the company, said that a shared kitchen is like a lower cost restaurant.

"Restaurants don't have to pay for decoration here, and we can also offer lower rents because we get a larger space and the unit price is lower than renting a smaller space," he said.

As a result, the shared kitchens have two main types of customers  one is big-name restaurant chains that don't have enough space to deal with delivery orders in their own restaurants, and the other is small restaurants that have just started out or which only take delivery orders.

Some 406 million people in China ordered food deliveries last year, creating a market worth over 200 billion yuan (about 29.75 billion U.S. dollars). That booming food delivery market is the backbone of the country's popular shared kitchens.

Major players in China's shared kitchen business are riding on investment capital. Professor Liu Guohua at the School of Business and Management at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) noted that the location of the shared kitchens is always in business districts, but how to cover the rental fees after financing rounds remains a big challenge.

Apart from operating costs, some others said the business model of shared kitchens here is not really that cost-efficient. Tong Qihua, the founder of a dim sum restaurant chain in both China and the U.S., pointed out that China's business model is different from the U.S.

"Shared kitchens in China have the same problem as traditional kitchens, which are only used during peak hours, and the rest of the time it's empty. So the capital world will face the problem that their investment cannot optimize the efficiency of the kitchens," Tong said.

However, Xiao from Panda Selective said these concerns can be addressed. He commented that apart from offering a kitchen for restaurants, they also take care of all the food processing and safety licenses, provide marketing and online operations, and even sort out supply chain services. So far the market is on the way up, and it is estimated that there are more than 200 shared kitchens in Shanghai and Beijing.Three young children were found in a highly distressed and dirty state at a house party in Carrigaline where gardai found many empty beer cans and drug paraphernalia, including needles, tinfoil, and burnt spoons, on the floor.

The father of the three children, aged two, four and six, was prosecuted for child neglect at Cork District Court yesterday arising out of the investigation. He did not appear in court.

Gardai responded to a call to the house from neighbours at 3.30am who were concerned about the sound of children crying inside the house.

Gardai discovered the childrens father and two other men in a highly intoxicated and aggressive condition, so much so that Carrigaline gardai had to call for the back-up of colleagues from stations at Togher, Bishopstown, Gurranabraher, and Anglesea Street.

The children were taken into care by the gardai, who brought them to their mothers home in Cork City. They were described as being happy and relieved to be brought to their mothers house, which was clean and suitable for children.

A bench warrant was then issued for the arrest of the 41-year-old man, who cannot be named, and who was convicted by Judge Con OLeary on a charge of neglecting one of the children.

Gardai Colm Aherne, Philip Moore, and Aisling Murphy responded to a call to the house in Carrigaline at 3.30am on August 3, 2017.

Upon arrival, we could hear young children crying loudly and we could hear males shouting loudly, said Garda Aherne.

Gardai called to the front door and two drunken men came to the door and refused to admit them.

The Child Care Act had to be invoked so that gardai could get into the house. They went upstairs to find three children in a bedroom.

The room could be best described as squalor, said Garda Aherne. There was no adequate bed clothing. There were empty cans of beer strewn around the bedroom. The defendant was intoxicated and not in a fit state to mind children.

The youngest was wearing a heavily soiled nappy. The children were all wearing dirty clothes.

One child was sleeping with a towel as a bed sheet. The two males downstairs had signs of fighting. One had a fresh black eye.

"All three males became highly confrontational when told the children were going to be taken into care.

When Garda Aherne said the accused had come to the house for a house party, defence solicitor Michael Quinlan challenged this and said the defendant had come there for a childs party in the afternoon and had ended up staying in the house because someone left him down for a spin home.

Garda Moore corroborated Garda Ahernes evidence and added: It was absolutely not a safe place for those children.

Garda Murphy said one of the girls was half naked with a towel wrapped around her.A man who sent the mother of his children a photo of a knife and of her front door telling her I'm going to do something bad tonight has been sentenced to five years for threatening to kill her.

Luke Murphy, 32, of Abbey View, Monkstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making a threat to kill or cause serious harm on dates between February 12 and 13, 2018. He has two previous convictions for drug offences.

Judge Melanie Greally suspended the final two years of a five-year term on strict conditions including that Murphy engage with the Probation Service and attended for treatment in a domestic violence perpetrator programme if he is considered suitable and comply with conditions of his barring order.

The judge had adjourned the case having previously heard evidence. She said today that the offences represented a breach of trust and were of an extremely menacing nature.

She said they had been accompanied by pictures and a very concrete suggestion that they would be carried out.

The judge also noted that Murphy was in close proximity to the woman when he issued the threats and said they had caused enormous trauma and fear to his former partner and children as evident in the victim impact statement.

Garda Aaron Bradshaw told Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, at the earlier hearing, that the woman got a protection order against Murphy on January 2, 2018, having received threats via phone the previous day that she would end up in hospital and he would throw acid in her face.

On January 28 he then sent her aggressive text messages having found out that she had gone out the previous night.

He called to her home to question her and an altercation broke out. Four days later Murphy called to the house again and took the woman's phone and her son's phone.

He searched through the phones. Over the next few days he continued to send abusive and threatening messages which resulted in a second altercation on February 6, 2018, during which she was injured after she scratched Murphy's face.

Garda Bradshaw said five days later the woman received a message from Murphy saying he was going to kill her.

You watch, he said before he threatened their son saying he would leave him f**king blue.

Over the next two days she refused to answer a number of calls that came from Murphy.

He messaged her in response saying; You have me f**kin' blocked. You are adding fuel to the fire. You are f**king dead when I get my hands on you. You are f**king dead.

The woman replied telling Murphy to leave her alone. Later that day she got a message with a picture of a knife saying that's for f**king you, I'm going to do something bad tonight. I am outside. Answer the f**king door.

Garda Bradshaw said Murphy then rang the woman three times before he also sent her a photograph of her front door.

The garda said he responded to a call about a domestic disturbance that day and met with the woman who told him about the messages and showed him her phone. Murphy was arrested that night and taken in for questioning.

Garda Bradshaw said Murphy made admissions, outlining their relationship and said he was just pissed off and angry. He said he didn't intend to hurt the woman and said he would not go back to the house.

Garda Bradshaw agreed with Marc Murphy BL, defending that his client's previous convictions were consistent with having a cocaine and cannabis problem. He accepted his mother died in a house fire when Murphy was quite young.

He accepted that he was not on the garda radar previous to this and was anxious to maintain contact with his children.

He accepts the relationship is over but he is extremely anxious to stay in contact with the children, Mr Murphy told Judge Melanie Greally.The case can be made that Queens of the Stone Age in their pomp were among the last great monsters of rock. In their mid 2000s prime the California mega-group could call on an all-star roster of players  Dave Grohl on drums, latter day bluesman Mark Lanegan on vocals.

Yet its arguable that nobody was more essential to their primordial stomp and the take-no-prisoners face they presented than bassist Nick Oliveri. With his Satanic beard and wild stare he looked as if hed beamed in straight from occultist Aleister Crowleys dungeon  making him the perfect fire-and brimstone wingman to QOTSA leader Josh Homme. But the story did not have a happy ending. In 2004, at the peak of the bands popularity, Homme and Oliveri had a falling out.

The sundering of the bromance led to the latters departure from QOTSA whilst they were still surfing the wave of mainstream acclaim flowing from their 2002 masterpiece Songs for the Deaf.

Fifteen years later, Oliveri, now 47, is philosophical as he looks ahead to an acoustic Irish tour that will include a Cork date at Cyprus Avenue next Tuesday.

Im super proud of all that stuff, he says of his QOTSA days. Some of that time was a blur. I wish I was more together for a lot of it The whole band was a little blurry  we were all a little out of focus. But we were having a great time being out of focus.

He has particularly warm memories of recording Songs for the Deaf, with Grohl on drums and Lanegan in the studio as auxiliary vocalist to Homme.

I knew we were going to trip people out. And we did. It was undeniably brilliant. Grohl on drums, Mark coming in to sing. I was super-excited to be part of that. I would be part of a band like that right now if I could.

Oliveri cut an intense figure during Queens of the Stone Age  one rumoured reason for his eventual falling-out with the no-less highly strung Homme. But, now living in the blissful high desert community of Joshua Tree, California, he feels he has chilled out to a conspicuous degree.

Its all mellow, he laughs. Ive certainly mellowed. I still enjoy a good hardcore show. Im not old. Im 47. As a musician I havent mellowed. But in my personal life yeah quite a bit. But were still the loudest people up here. I can play music really loudly and nobody complains. Its fantastic.

He says he cant wait to visit Ireland and is particularly looking forward to getting out of Dublin (the Irish-born clerk at his local music store recommended he visit the Aran Islands when hes in Galway).

The new tour will see Oliveri performing QOTSA material, as well as songs from his time with cult punk outfit Dwarves, QOTSAs predecessors Kyuss, the punk metal crossover act Mondo Generator and his own solo compositions.

Its harder to play acoustically than with a band. If youre acoustic and youre not singing halfway decent, people can tell. Also, with a band, once youre done you can leave. When its just you, if someone requests a song and you know it, then you really have to play it.

More than a decade since QOTSA does he look back on that time nostalgically?

I go through different emotions, he says. Often I laugh. Sometimes it might bum me out a little. Thats all good  music is supposed to do that to you. Your past should definitely make you feel things. Because when youre feeling stuff, I can come out in your own playing. Plus when youre performing acoustically you cant go through the motions. When its just you up on the stage theres no hiding.

Nick Oliveri plays Cyprus Avenue Cork, Tuesday, April 9; Dolans, Limerick Weds, April 10; Roisin Dubh, Galway, Friday April 12; Button Factory, Dublin, Saturday, April 13; Crown Live, Wexford, Sunday, April 14Amazing life-sized puppets are at the heart of a superb stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgos War Horse novel, writes Ed Power.

A horse and a boy go to war. Thats the premise of Michael Morpurgos 1982 childrens bestseller War Horse. Against the backdrop of the First World War and the killing fields of Flanders, Morpurgo wrought an intensely moving meditation on friendship, loyalty, our place in this world and the ways in which fate can grab us by the scruff and shake us violently.

That same sensibility  universal and visceral, profound and poetic  is conveyed by the 2007 stage adaptation by Nick Stafford, which has run constantly around the world and now returns to Dublins BGE Theatre. War Horse, from Britains National Theatre, is a gripping reimagining of the novel, elevated by incredible life-size horse puppets created by South Africas Handspring Puppet Company.

We convince you very, very strongly that this is a living, breathing, thinking, feeling horse, says Gareth Aled, puppetry director of the touring Ireland and UK production.

The quality of the work and the detail are astonishing.

Each of the horses  including main protagonist Joey  are cane and aluminium configurations operated by up to three puppeteers. Before a matinee performance in Stoke recently, I was somewhat sceptical of Aleds assertion that by the end the puppeteers, who are fully visible throughout, would dwindle into the background. Yet this proved absolutely the case. After only a few minutes, the horses become characters in their own right  seemingly as alive as the actors with whom they shared the stage.

We operate with some key principles of puppetry, explains Aled. The first is focus  we ask the puppeteer to focus on the puppet. If a puppeteer is holding a puppet but looking away we as humans start to see the person on stage and not the puppet. The second thing is that all our puppets breathe.

That rhythm of the breath suggests it is alive. The final thing is something called fixed point weighted muscularity. Our horse puppets dont weigh the same as real horses. But through the way we manipulate the puppets, whether its walking or trotting or galloping, we convince you there is great muscle and weight. When really its just cane and bungee [cord]. We can strongly suggest life. You the audience forget the puppeteers exist.

The Mane Attraction: Joey the central character from the acclaimed production WAR HORSE surprised children from 5th class at St. Andrews College, Booterstown, Co. Dublin. Photograph: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

World War I is an oft trod subject especially in the UK where the conflict has become entwined in the national story and to this day tinges its relationship with Europe. With the 100th anniversary of the end of the conflict just passed and Britain in ongoing paroxysms over Brexit, the contemporary resonances are obvious, says production director Charlie Kenber.

It has all those layers to it, he says. It is really unusual for a play to run as long as it has. Usually its musicals that do that. War Horse shies away from big crowd pleasing moments. But it has a bit of everything. You have these mass battle sequences that are astounding aesthetically.

IMAGE OF WAR

As well as a chance meeting with a war veteran, Morpurgo was inspired to write the novel after coming across a painting of a soldier riding a horse into battle. It was a very frightening and alarming painting, not the sort youd want to hang on a wall. It showed horses during the First World War charging into barbed wire fences. It haunted me, he says.

He expanded on the image to create the story of a young farmhand, Albert Narracott, separated from his beloved steed, Joey, as the animal is requisitioned for the First World War.

But when Albert too joins the conflict their fates become once again entwined in ways sure to tug at the heartstrings. In between, there are calvary charges, death and devastation on a mass scale and a reminder that kindness, to humans and animals, was not exclusive to the Allies. Its a nerve-flensing, incredibly moving, parable. By final curtain in Stoke a fair chunk of the room were discreetly dabbing their eyes.

For the author, telling the story of a horse  one among the hundreds of thousands to see service on the frontline  was a way to interrogate attitudes towards WWI whilst side-stepping cliches about life in the trenches or going over the top into the Kaisers guns.

War Horse, he would write of the stage adaptation. Is not simply a show or a play about a war, a horse and a boy. It is an anthem for peace and reflects, I think, a universal longing for a world without war.

It avoids things weve heard a lot about regarding the war, agrees Kenber. You see it through the side view. Amongst the huge numbers of people dying, all these horses [being killed] is forgotten. They didnt sign up, they didnt volunteer. They had no choice in the matter.

HARD HITTING

Morpurgo is said to have mixed feelings about Steven Spielbergs schmaltzy 2011 movie adaptation. The film has undoubtedly raised awareness of the play.

Yet those who take their seats expecting a retelling of the Spielberg saccharine-fest are often surprised by the sheer gut-level punch of Staffords take (parents are advised to use their judgement as to whether to bring young children  there is a great deal of death, of both man and horse).

Its loud, its not comfortable, says actress Jo Castleton, who plays Alberts long-suffering mother in the new production. Thats important. You think, wow thats what it must have been like. A lot of people have come because theyve seen the movie.

And you have that wonderful magical moment of, wow  this can be done on the stage. Once youve seen these extraordinary puppets, its more moving really isnt it?

As Morpurgo has stated, the message of War Horse is that, regardless of the flag the men fought under, they were united in their hopes and dreams. You see in the good in British and German sides, says Castleton.

You see the German story as well, which is so tragic and devastating. The horses bring out the good in all these different people. You really observe the war through their [the horsess eyes]. Its very powerful.

War Horse runs at Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin from April 1027A new app is teaching children and their parents sign language, through the power of reading, writes Ciara McDonnell.

Its Friday evening, and the Whelan family are gearing up for a busy weekend of sport and family activities. Rebecca, aged 7, and her sister Gemma, 12, are full of energy, alternating between giving me a personal lesson in mastering The Floss (spoiler alert  I fail), and introducing me to StorySign, a new app from Huawei in partnership with the Irish Deaf Society, that Rebecca has been road testing since December.

Rebecca and Gemma were born profoundly deaf, and both girls have bilateral cochlear implants, which enables them to hear and communicate like any hearing girls their age.

While the spoken word is their primary source of communication, the family have incorporated Irish Sign Language as their second language, used in times like when the implants are charging, during bath time or in the swimming pool changing room. Like all bilingual families, learning two languages takes work, and thats where StorySign comes in.

Giuseppe and Nuala Whelan with their daughters Rebecca and Gemma at home near Kinsale Picture: Eddie O'Hare

The free app reads selected childrens books and translates them into sign language with the help of an animated avatar called Star.

Its aimed at children who are learning to read, and was developed in conjunction with animation specialists Aardman  the company behind Wallace & Gromit  and in partnership with local charities affiliated with the European Union of the Deaf and publishing partner Penguin.

Some 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, most of whom dont know how to sign. Just like English spoken in Ireland will have different nuance and syntax to English spoken in England, so too does Sign Language.

Irish Sign Language is the official indigenous language of the Deaf community here, boasting its own complex linguistic structure, rules and features. It is the preferred language of 5,000 deaf people in Ireland and approximately 40,000 people communicate in ISL every day.

The StorySign App is a fantastic aid to regular sign language classes, says the girls father, Giuseppe Whelan.

Weve been learning Irish Sign Language for a while, but I still forget some words when we are signing to each other.

"Books are the key to maintaining and expanding your vocabulary, and this app bridges the gap. It helps to learn the sign as well as the word at the same time.

For Rebecca, StorySign offers a way of expanding her reading ability while improving her sign language. I love the app, she says. Its funny and its easy to use.

With an interface that is easy to navigate and Star, the apps Avatar who cheerily guides children and parents through a selected childrens book, translating it into perfect sign language and signing along to the story in real time, StorySign makes sign language  and reading  fun.

Research carried out by Huawei shows that lots of deaf children grow up struggling to read, as they cant hear their parents reading stories to them and they cant hear their teachers repeating sentences from textbooks, which are both a fundamental part of learning how to read. Despite these challenges, the tech giants research also shows that in Ireland, parents of deaf children spend more time reading to their children each day than parents of hearing children.

Watching Rebecca navigating her way through the app, scanning the pages of Where Is Spot by Eric Hill and copying Star as she signs the sentences back at her, the challenges in translation from written word to sign are clear. Where one written sentence may take up seven words on a page, it may only require two signs to translate it. Thats the thing about sign, explains Giuseppe. It leaves the little words out of the sentence.

Sign Language is unique to every area in which it is spoken. In Ireland, we have gender sign language, meaning that men and women know different signs for the same word, because they traditionally would have been educated in separate schools.

This is where StorySign is really clever; each country has an avatar schooled in the sign dialect of that area. Star will sign dog in Irish Sign Language, but may make a whole other sign for dog in French Sign Language.

For a bright, interested seven-year-old like Rebecca Whelan, StorySign gives her the autonomy to read a book and its corresponding signs as she pleases. She takes sign language classes twice a week, and in between classes will top up with sessions on StorySign. Its fun, she says, and like any seven-year-old, the opportunity to borrow her parentss phone for a little while is a bonus.

Huawei are at the beginning stages of StorySign, but theyre committed to exploring the potential that the app has to become a wider educational tool, ultimately enabling families with hearing and non-hearing children to master sign language as an additional communication tool.

While the app currently offers one book in its arsenal, Huawei have pledged 440K to its partnership with the European Union of the Deaf. As part of its continued commitment, the company will also fund an additional four new books to add to the StorySign library in 2019.

StorySign is a wonderful addition to your toolkit if you have a deaf child, says Giuseppe Whelan. For the Whelan family, it acts a fantastic aid alongside help offered by groups like Cork Deaf Association, which acted as a lifeline for the family when the girls were newly diagnosed.

We understand that not everyone wants to reach out to groups in the early days, he says, but The Cork Deaf Association has offered us community and support for the entirety of the girls lives. Technological advances like StorySign are a truly brilliant addition to the services that are already available and wed recommend it to any family with children who are at a reading age. If you have a newly diagnosed child and are learning sign language for the first time, it will really help to augment regular sign language lessons.

StorySign can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store and the Huawei App Gallery in ten markets across Western Europe. For more information on how to get involved, please visit https://consumer.huawei.com/ie/campaign/storysign/.All the main parties in Israels election are playing a game of hawkish one-upmanship that spells trouble for any hope for a peace in the divided country says Daoud Kuttab

A bizarre election campaign is heating up in Israel. The incumbent prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has become the first candidate in the countrys history to seek reelection while facing criminal indictments.

Meanwhile, the most important topic  the occupation of the Palestinian territories  has not been mentioned, with candidates instead competing over who can be tougher on the Palestinians.

The biggest threat comes from Netanyahu. As he fights for his political life amid charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust, fears are rising that he will misuse the enormous power he wields (he also serves as defence minister), escalating tensions both within and around Israel in order to strengthen his own position.

Far from quelling these fears, Netanyahu has been stoking them. He has once again ordered the closure of Bab al-Rahmeh in the Al-Haram Al-Sharif/Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, Islams third-holiest site. Part of a Unesco World Heritage site, the compound has been administered by Muslims for more than 14 centuries.

There is no legal justification for closing Bab al-Rahmeh. The building was sealed off in 2003, because it was being used as a headquarters for the Islamic Heritage Committee, led by a hardline Islamic sheikh (and Israeli citizen), Raed Salah.

A man works on a Likud party election campaign billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, and his party candidates, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Monday, April 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

But that reasoning is no longer relevant: Salah hasnt set foot in Al-Aqsa for more than a decade, and the Islamic Heritage Committee has long since been disbanded. For Netanyahu, however, any flimsy excuse will do. His radical supporters want to take Israel one step closer to building a synagogue on the site of Bab al-Rahmeh.

Netanyahu is acquiescing to these extremists in an effort to boost his political capital among a key bloc of voters. In the same vein, Netanyahu may find it politically convenient to trigger conflict in other areas, such as Gaza, south Lebanon, or with Iranian or Iran-backed forces in Syria.

Unfortunately, Netanyahus main challenger, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, is not a much more desirable option.

The former head of the Israeli Defense Forces, Gantz leads a right-of-centre coalition. But he has also touted his anti-Palestinian credentials, such as how in 2014, under his command, the IDF sent parts of Gaza back to the Stone Age during a campaign that left thousands of Palestinians dead, injured, or homeless.

Then there is the recently created Hayamin Hehadash party, co-chaired by the outgoing education and justice ministers, Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, respectively. Bennett has declared that he wants to annex over 60% of the occupied West Bank. Shaked also wants to annex most of the occupied West Bank.

And, in a bizarre attack on supposed judicial activism by Israels Supreme Court, she recently released a mock advertisement for Fascism perfume, which she declares smells like democracy to [her].

All of the main parties running in Israels election seem to know what they do not want: an end to the occupation, the division of Jerusalem, Palestinian statehood, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return.

But beyond intensifying the occupation and annexing territories, none of them has offered any vision for the regions future, let alone a road map for peace with the Palestinians.

This plays into the hands of those who never want the conflict to be resolved.

After all, while government policy can diverge from campaign promises, winning an election based on hawkish one-upmanship could tie the hands of the eventual prime minister, even if he did decide to pursue peace.

Israeli leaders are not alone in their lack of interest in, let alone vision for, ending the decades-long military occupation of nearly four million Palestinians.

The US under Trump has decided, for the first time in over five decades, to drop the term occupied from references to Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights in its annual human-rights report. These territories are, the US government now claims, simply controlled by Israel.

This approach will only further weaken Israeli leaders motivation to find solutions. By recognizing Israels annexation of the Golan Heights, Trump even went further and legitimized, for the first time since the Second World War, the acquisition of land by force.

The Israeli general election should have given Israelis an opportunity to choose between war and peace. Instead, Israelis will have a choice between war and more war, between occupation and more occupation, even if the candidates avoid using those terms.

And the fact remains that, without a two-state solution or a power-sharing deal within a single state in which all citizens have equal rights, the region is doomed to remain locked in its cycle of violence.

Daoud Kuttab is a former Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019.Finian McGrath is an able cynic, not an amiable fool, writes Gerard Howlin

We have the worst prime minister since Anthony Eden; the worst leader of the opposition in the entire history of the Labour Party; and the worst parliament since Oliver Cromwell, said the former deputy leader of the Conservative Party, Ann Widdecombe, on BBCs Newsnight on Monday.

She has had a magnificent political afterlife and proves Susan Sontags view that pure Camp is always naive. Widdecombes salsa on Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 was her career transformation from a Tory MP of predictably strict and Brexit views to becoming an enjoyably loose cannon.

Camp which knows itself to be Camp (camping) is usually less satisfactory, said Sontag.

That contrived knowingness spotlights Finian McGrath, the Independent Alliance minister of state who sits at the cabinet table. There is nothing naive about McGrath. He is an able cynic, not an amiable fool. His attack last Sunday on the politics of breathalysing for drink driving was a deep dig into a staple of Irish political populism. Gardai did enough self-harm to create the stereotype which the minister then happily reused.

He knows that Fine Gael in Government sees his Independent Alliance ally, Shane Ross, as a bugbear politically in rural constituencies. A scapegoat was required. Politicalised policing was pointed to. Worse was the functional use of an immediate apology, countermanding views which he voiced veritably in his previous breath.

McGraths aptitude for functionality was more seriously deployed in Irelands ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In a knowing way he has mastered to make it look almost like innocence, he promised ratification, before the legislative basis was in place. He positioned himself not as the minister responsible for ensuring Ireland is compliant, but as the politician determined to have the kudos of ratification, regardless of how reality free it is.

So, because he insisted, and those around the cabinet table who knew better, wouldnt face him down, we did ratify. But we havent complied. Required mental health legislation protecting the rights of people who are involuntarily detailed is still deep in the ether. It is an essential pillar of the ratification McGrath insisted on, but utterly lacked a sense of responsibility as a minister with collective responsibility to deliver on.

On the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Ireland is occupying a parking space for which we dont have a permit.

My legislation (No consent No Sale) to be voted in Dail in January will make it mandatory for banks to get permission from borrowers before they can sell their loans on the vulture funds. pic.twitter.com/4CBV70KGN2  Pearse Doherty (@PearseDoherty) December 28, 2018

Amid Irish hubris about Britains difficulty, and I admit it is a test of restraint, another conniving knowingness looms into focus. If the State is so able at Brexit, why is it so awful at almost everything else? This bent-out-of-shape wire hanger is brought from the back of the wardrobe to rehang its authors single transferable political position that we are the victims of a failed state. We are let down repeatedly. No matter that we move on from one apology to the next with such regularity that we can arrive at the fluency of a Finian McGrath. We are held to own innate victimhood and there is a they who are the them who can do Brexit to beat the band, but cant give us a country we can be proud of. That level of cynicism almost allows a McGrath genuinely enjoy naivete.

The connivance required is to enable the commentator perfectly imitate the politicians he excoriates, by adapting the same populism they deploy. Except it is vulgarised by an intellectual overlay and poisoned with censorious contempt. There is nothing of the happy warrior which some politicians have the self-awareness to know and shamelessness to enjoy. That at least makes them good company. There is the redeeming fact, too, that every politician must be elected. But from those who as a class professionally scorn them, their scent is the perfume of self-regard.

A deeper truth is that Irish governance, perhaps bizarrely, is marked by conspicuous success.

Why?

The truth that wont be faced is that, by and large, we, the Irish people, have gotten exactly what we asked for. If the consequences are often appalling, its a bit rich now to package it up in hindsight and, unbelievably, as a failure of governance. Failures of governance are symptomatic. Our democratic choices are the systematic cause. If another apology is called for, it should be from the people to politicians, who force them, for fear of eviction from their seats, to tell half-truths because it is as much as we are prepared to digest.

Yesterday, the joint committee on finance discussed Sinn Feins No Consent, No Sale Bill. It has a catchy title and passed second stage in the Dail. It means mortgages cant be sold from one financial institution to another without the consent of the debtor. It is to protect the vulnerable from the vulture, apparently. But the facts are more complex.

Borrowers contracts explicitly allow the lender to sell on mortgages. Unpaid mortgages are paid for by every other variable rate mortgage. In putting assets out of reach of lenders, in this case, Irish banks, who internationally would then lend to them? Those Irish banks who could lend if this bill is passed will factor the additional cost on top of what are already high Irish variable mortgage rates.

What this is, like opposing water charges and Finian McGraths political policing and grandiose ratification of UN charters, is not politicians failing the people, but appeasement of them. This is how Brexit began. A culture of commentary around versions of a failed state, the EU there and our republic here, and nonsense about lions led by donkeys led us via Widdecombes demarche from parliament to dancing to her damning analysis on Monday.

If destabilising the mortgage market in a housing crisis is this weeks example, think of last weeks. Brid Smiths bill to ban all further exploration for oil and gas in Irish waters, from people who oppose carbon charges on you and I and which had been bottled up in committee, was unleashed again.

And as I write, a report from RTE suggests the Cabinet is considering postponing for yet another year a review of the local property tax. Its less than 1% of our tax take. In a country with no water charges, no effective carbon charges yet, and a burgeoning but top-heavy tax base dangerously revolving around dependency on corporation tax, this is, in truth, more about us failing our politicians, than them failing us.

But, if in a republic you put responsibility where it lies, on the people, you would have to abandon your old tropes about failed republics and tell home truths. But who would first, remove the beam out of your own eye so that then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brothers?

Brexit too will pass, or at least eventually become past tense. It is a long stultifying interlude, however. Hubris is not patriotism. Neither is offloading responsibility for our wrong on politicians we delegate to do our bidding.An Australian senator has been censured by his colleagues for seeking to blame the victims of last month's mosque shootings and vilify Muslims.

Senator Fraser Anning was the target of widespread condemnation for blaming the attack in New Zealand on immigration policies.

He faced more criticism later for physically striking a teenager who cracked a raw egg on his head in a viral incident in Melbourne.

On Parliament's second sitting day since the March 15 attack, in which 50 people died, government and opposition politicians moved the censure motion against Mr Anning for divisive comments "seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people".

"Senator Anning's comments were ugly and divisive.

"They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place," Government senate leader Mathias Cormann told the Senate.

Mr Anning dismissed the censure motion as an attack on free speech.

"It is also an exercise in left-wing virtue signalling of the worst kind," he told the Senate before the vote.

He sits as an independent politician after defecting from the anti-Muslim One Nation party, whose two senators abstained from the censure vote.

One Nation Senator Peter Georgiou read a speech on behalf of party leader Pauline Hanson, who was absent.

Ms Hanson said, while Mr Anning's comments were "untimely and therefore deemed highly insensitive, he still maintains a right to his opinion".

"If One Nation endorses your action to censure Senator Anning, your freedom of speech as elected members of this chamber will be removed," the speech said.

A day after the Christchurch attacks, Mr Anning faced more criticism for physically striking the teenager who cracked an egg on his head at a Melbourne public appearance, 17-year-old Will Connolly, who became known around the world as Egg Boy.

Mr Anning criticised prime minister Scott Morrison for saying at the time that Mr Anning should "be subject to the full force of the law" for his retaliation against Will.

Police investigated the altercation but no charges have been announced.

"It might have only been an idiot with an egg this time, but there is a continuum that begins with this and ends with a fanatic with a gun or a bomb," Mr Anning said.

"But apparently, according to prime minister Morrison, that's OK, as long as the victims are conservatives," he added.

The minor Greens party later failed to win majority support for a motion for the Senate to suspend Mr Anning.

Fraser Anning does not deserve to be in parliament.



I have no doubt the community will make sure he is not re-elected in May and I will be doing everything in my power to consign his awful views to the history books where they are so clearly from and where they truly belong. pic.twitter.com/CUrTNx6wFY  Mehreen Faruqi (@MehreenFaruqi) April 3, 2019

Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistan-born Greens senator, produced an online petition to the Senate with more than 1.4 million signatures calling for Mr Anning to resign.

She argued that he should be suspended as well as censured.

"It is terrifying that right-wing extremist groups have a found a mouthpiece in Federal Parliament," Ms Faruqi told the Senate.

An Irish-born politician who criticised British policy toward his homeland in 1920 became the only Australian legislator to be expelled from Parliament by a vote of colleagues.

Senate President Scott Ryan warned that laws had been tightened in the 1980s so that suspending Mr Anning could be challenged in the courts.

After New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern previously called Mr Anning's comments on the shootings "a disgrace", her deputy Winston Peters on Tuesday called Mr Anning a "jingoistic moron".

Mr 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 programme which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place," he said in a later statement.

Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant has been charged with murder in the shootings and is due to appear in a New Zealand court on Friday.

PAVisitors view a vehicle displayed at the booth of Chinese tech company Huawei at Hanover Fair 2019 in Hanover, Germany, April 1, 2019. Over 1,400 Chinese exhibitors attended the fair, the second most just after the host country Germany. [Photo/Xinhua]

The most advanced networking and artificial intelligence technologies from Huawei, Haier, and other leading manufacturers from China are on show at the Hanover Fair, the world's largest industrial exhibition, in Germany. The five-day exhibition opened on Sunday with 6,500 exhibitors from 75 countries and regions displaying their latest industrial technologies.

The Hanover Fair highlights the industrial use of 5G and artificial intelligence (AI), laying the ground work for the future of manufacturing, Koeckler Jochen, the chairman of the managing board for the trade fair, said on its opening day.

Over 1,400 exhibitors from China are at the fair, the largest national contingent after the host country.

Huawei is showcasing its new 5G solution LampSite. It is also launched its intelligent computing platform Atlas for the first time in Western Europe. And Haier has brought its industrial Internet platform COSMOPlat to Germany. First launched in 2017, the platform can be used to deliver solutions in a wide range of industrial sectors including smart logistics.Latest: A decision by soldiers to shoot at an image of UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a serious error of judgment, a senior UK military commander has said.

Footage captured in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows personnel from 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment using a picture of the Islington North MP for target practice on a Simunition range.

Brigadier Nick Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said the Army is conducting a full investigation and wants to get to the bottom of what happened.

Video has emerged of soldiers on a shooting range in Kabul firing at a target of Jeremy Corbyn. MOD confirms it as legit: pic.twitter.com/qOr84Aiivj  Alistair Bunkall (@AliBunkallSKY) April 3, 2019

This is a serious error of judgment, Brig Perry said. Let me be clear  the Army is, and always will be, an apolitical organisation.

We have 400 soldiers from the Brigade conducting force protection in Afghanistan, and working closely with both Nato and Afghan partners. These soldiers are doing an outstanding job out there.

There was no immediate response from the British Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, today as an Army spokesman said they are aware of the clip circulating on social media.

This behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the army expects, a full investigation has been launched, he added.

The video shows a number of soldiers taking aim down the range and firing their weapons  the camera then focuses on the target and zooms in on an image of Mr Corbyn.

With a graphic of happy with that across the screen throughout, a number of marks can be seen peppered across Mr Corbyns face.

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practise what is called the guardian angel drill  a force protection tactic.

Theresa Mays official spokesman said the incident was clearly unacceptable, and that the British Prime Minister was aware of the videos content but had not seen it.

Commons speaker John Bercow also condemned the footage and said he would be horrified if service personnel behaved in such a way towards an MP.

- Press Association

Use of Corbyn image by soldiers for target practice is alarming, says Labour

Update 11.35am: The behaviour of British soldiers who used an image of UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for target practice is alarming and unacceptable, a party spokesman has said.

In the wake of the video being shared on social media  showing personnel shooting at a picture of Mr Corbyn  the Army has confirmed an investigation has been launched.

The footage captured in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows personnel from 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment using the Islington North MP for target practice on a Simunition range.

In response, a Labour party spokesman, said: This behaviour is alarming and unacceptable. We have confidence in the Ministry of Defence to investigate and act on this incident.

An Army spokesman said they are aware of the video circulating on social media.

Screenshot of soldiers firing side arms at an image of Jeremy Corbyn. Pic: Twitter

This behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects, a full investigation has been launched, he added.

The video shows a number of soldiers taking aim down the range and firing their weapons  the camera then focuses on the target and zooms in on an image of Mr Corbyn.

With a graphic of happy with that across the screen throughout, a number of marks can be seen peppered across Mr Corbyns face.

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practise what is called the guardian angel drill  a force protection tactic.

Shameful and utterly unacceptable. This goes against the values and standards of @BritishArmy. I welcome the @DefenceHQ investigation into this video and trust it will be resolved quickly. https://t.co/kDBTG0UgDx  Dan Jarvis (@DanJarvisMP) April 3, 2019

Former soldier and Tory MP, Johnny Mercer, tweeted that every organisation has good people who make serious misjudgements.

He added: Its how it polices itself that matters, and an inability to do that correctly has caused so many problems of late (IHAT). I look forward to a robust response.

Labour MP, Dan Jarvis, who is also a former Paratrooper, said the incident is shameful and utterly unacceptable.

This goes against the values and standards of the British Army. I welcome the Ministry of Defence investigation into this video and trust it will be resolved quickly, he added.

Labour MP Lucy Powell said she is absolutely shocked, and that the behaviour of the personnel is a total disgrace and utterly unacceptable.

Absolutely shocked. This is a total disgrace and utterly unacceptable.

Not least emerging the day after someone was convicted of trying to murder an MP. https://t.co/5Gns58tYbg  Lucy Powell MP (@LucyMPowell) April 3, 2019

Not least emerging the day after someone was convicted of trying to murder an MP, she added.

It comes after far-right activist Tommy Robinson posted a photograph of himself surrounded by grinning soldiers in October  prompting another Army probe.

The former English Defence League leader also shared a video featuring Army personnel who cheered and shouted his name.

At the time, the Army said it was aware of the image and footage and was investigating the circumstances, adding that a far-right ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the armed forces.- Press Association

British army investigating after video of soldiers shooting Jeremy Corbyn image surfaces

Update 10.25am: The British army has confirmed it is investigating after a video was shared on social media showing soldiers shooting at an image of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Footage captured in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows personnel from 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment using the Islington North MP as target practice on a simulation range.

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

An Army spokesman said it is aware of the video circulating on social media.

"This behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects. A full investigation has been launched," he added.

Shocking and completely unacceptable. Right that the Army is carrying out a full investigation. https://t.co/qeiLQvoQ7w  Nia Griffith MP (@NiaGriffithMP) April 3, 2019

The video shows a number of soldiers taking aim down the range and firing their weapons  the camera then focuses on the target and zooms in on an image of Mr Corbyn.

With a graphic of happy with that across the screen throughout, a number of marks can be seen peppered across Mr Corbyns face.

It is understood it was a non-lethal hardened wax substance aimed and fired at the image instead of metal bullets, with the incident taking place in the past few days.

The range is designed for and used by personnel to practice what is called the guardian angel drill  a force protection tactic.

In response, shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith slammed the video on Twitter, describing it as shocking and completely unacceptable.

Right that the Army is carrying out a full investigation, she added.

Absolutely disgraceful, l hope the investigation will be conducted thoroughly and the conclusions made public. Political tensions are heightened at the moment and this type of behaviour is wholly inappropriate and unacceptable, we expect much better from our Army and soldiers. https://t.co/zA53JnsTsf  Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) April 3, 2019

Labour MP, Luke Pollard, added that the actions of the soldiers is disgusting and wrong and that he hopes the Ministry of Defence takes action swiftly.

The armed forces need to be outside of party politics. They serve the Government of the day  whoever that may be  and rightly so, he added.

Shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, also criticised the video and incident, branding it as absolutely disgraceful.

She added: I hope the investigation will be conducted thoroughly and the conclusions made public.

Political tensions are heightened at the moment and this type of behaviour is wholly inappropriate and unacceptable, we expect much better from our Army and soldiers.- Press AssociationInterview Journalism is Threatened by Populist Governments, the Corporate World

Attendees gather for a photo at the World Journalists Conference held in Seoul, Korea in March 2019. / Journalists Association of Korea

SEOUL, South Korea More than 70 journalists from 50 countries attended the World Journalists Conference 2019 in South Korea, held in the last week of March, with the theme of The Role of Journalists in Ensuring Peace on the Korean Peninsula. At this annual international conference hosted by the Journalists Association of Korea, journalists, editors, and media workers from across the globe contributed to discussions about the most pressing challenges and threats journalists are facing globally and regionally, as well as the future of journalism.

The Irrawaddy spoke with two senior executive committee members of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), a global organization of journalists representing 187 unions and associations in more than 140 countries, who attended the conference, on the current status of press freedom, freedom of speech and the safety and protection of journalists worldwide.

Sabina Inderjit, elected vice-president of the IFJ

We are here at the World Journalists Conference. Journalists and different media outlets are discussing and sharing their thoughts on the role of media and the challenges and threats posed to their work. What do you think of the current situation of press freedom around the world?

Journalism has changed over a period of time. Earlier there was print journalism. It changed to electronic. Now it changed to digital. And journalism as a public service, unfortunately, has been impacted because with competition, with the growth of the media, the corporate world has gotten involved in the ownership of the media across the world. It can be different from [country to country] but it has got involved. Now journalism has changed its role from a public service to a business model. Its role as the fourth estate or as journalists building public opinion gets diminished because business interests take over. Now what we are seeing is with this competition and with this growth of the media what happened is journalistic ethical standards have had a blow. Newspapers are competing with television. The television is competing with digital media. Everybody is in a rush, so the quality of the journalism has gone down. More importantly, maybe it should be the first [point] is that press freedom has been impacted. Lets say countries like the United States and India, the largest democracies in the worldthey both would claim they have press freedom. In reality, thats not the case today. There are pressures on the media. Government control is not there at the front but it is [acting] from behind the scenes.

And the third thing, which again is frightening, is that journalists are being targeted. Journalists across the world are being killed for their reporting. When there is an attack on the journalist, it is not only an individual, we see it as an attack on freedom of speech and expression.

The other thing that concerns us today is social media, fake news. Social media can play havoc in countries or in cities [and it] can lead to protests. Wrong news can evoke emotions. We have seen in [India] something on social media can create a lot of problems. I dont understand why we call it social media. We cant call it media. We shouldnt call it media because it is not media. It does not verify the facts. It is not giving the facts.

On these concerns and challenges including on fake news and business models in journalism that you mentioned, how do you see the future of journalism in a decade?

Well, it has to be corrected. I still do have faith that we will complete a full circle. I dont know whether you find this in your country, but in my country and amongst my journalist friends, we are having this feeling of dissatisfaction. We are getting frustrated in our profession because there is the clampdown. And its not spoken out. I think together we have to fight. It is easier said than done, but you have to stick your job to ensure that you can write and speak whatever you want to. But, it must change. I am optimistic. Maybe in a decade to come, there will be a change.

Fake news is also botheringnot just journalistsbut it is bothering people. At some stages it is even bothering governments. I think there will be a solution.

There are many controversial laws used to arrest journalists for their reporting. Most governments dont appreciate the role of journalists. They only care when the election is near. What you would like to say to the governments which keep those repressive laws?

I think the message to the government is very clear: the press is not your enemy; media is not your enemy; media is your go-between [connecting] you and the people so you have to allow the media to have a free run because media is going to inform you of your functioning. It is going to tell you what the priority areas you should have are. Media should be allowed to function freely and responsibly. Laws which clamp down on media are [not good]. They must refrain from [using them] because if they genuinely want to serve the people, they must allow the media to speak for the people.

And we also have a responsibility. I am not blaming the government alone. There is private media and channels which are now taking sides. We also have problems with the credibility of media. I do still remember when I said I am a journalist 30 years ago my friends would say, Wow, you are a journalist. Such a great profession. But today when you say you are a journalist there is a big question mark. I mean they are not impressed by you. You have 20 channels and the same incidents are reported with different content, so people really dont know who to believe. The credibility of the media also is a big issue. We have to go back to good standards, to ethical journalism. Not this cut-throat competition. We are not selling jeanswe are disseminating news. So this cut-throat competition is impacting our reputation even as journalists.

There are now many women journalists working in the field as well as in the war zones. What you would like to say in regards to their rights?

Women journalist are [emerging] in various countries. We have seen there is the movement of women journalists in the profession. But we do find survey [results] suggesting that the women journalists find it difficult to reach the top posts in their newsroom. It is very difficult. The second thing we are facing is the sexual harassment of women journalists by their seniors. It wasnt spoken about before, but with the #MeToo movement happening, now even the IFJ has a campaign on against violence towards women. It doesnt happen in my country but a large number of countries pay women less than a male colleague for the same work she does. So gender equality is a concept which IFJ is fully involved in.

I only have one regret. Women have joined the profession of journalism, but very few join trade unions. What they say is they have [difficult] meeting times. Some of the men are drinking while we have to look after our family and home. But you have to join the trade unions because the more women in the trade unions, the more women-related issues the union will pick up. We have to be part of it. We have to make our place there. And it is not that difficult. I have done it.

Paul Murphy, adviser to the IFJ

How do you see the current situation of press freedom?

I think there are many threats to press freedom around the world. The situation has become more dangerous for journalists in recent years because we have seen the growth of governments around the world dont value journalists, dont respect journalists and journalist organizations. That, I think, has been made worse since the election of Donald Trump in the United States. Because the United States was always seen as a champion of free press, free speech, liberal democracy. His attacks on the media and his attacks on journalists, I think, encourage other governments around the world to do the same. Thats seen many journalists imprisoned. Many journalists facing threats. Unfortunately, many journalists being killed all around the world, including in Asia-Pacific.

With journalists facing greater threats and dangers, how does this affect the right to information and democracy internationally?

I think we have seen democracy go backwards in a lot of countries in the West and in the Asia-Pacific since the rise of politicians that are very populist. They have populist right-wing agendas and they seek a way to get power by dividing the country, by turning one part of the population against another. When journalists and organizations call them to account, and call out what they are doing, [journalists] find themselves in the firing line from attacks by governments, from attacks by police and security forces.

What can the IFJ do to improve that situation?

The IFJ works very closely with all their affiliates to provide practical support to journalists facing threats, to lobby governments around the world for the protection of journalists. Weve also just launched the campaign for a new United Nations convention on the safety of journalists and media professionals because we are concerned that the current UN conventions dont recognize the situation we are in. At the moment, the UN conventions in warzones provide the same sort of protection to journalists as it provides to citizens. That doesnt recognize the fact that increasingly journalists are becoming a target for violence. Combatants in war zones are targeting the journalists. We believe that there needs to be a stronger UN convention to put requirements on governments to provide greater protection to journalists and media workers.

The IFJ is proposing the establishment of an Asia-Pacific federation of journalists. Do you see any differences or a worsening of press freedom in the region?

The Asia-Pacific region has some of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. In Afghanistan, the situation remains very bad. Pakistans situation is very bad. Obviously, weve got concerns about the position of journalists in Myanmar. At the moment Philippine President Duterte seems to have no respect for the role of journalists and democratic forces. We think a more active federation of journalists in the Asia-Pacific can play an important role in supporting journalists and protecting their safety.

What would be your message to the governments of the Asia-Pacific region regarding journalism and press freedom?

Journalism is a fundamental part of a democratic system. Its almost impossible to have a proper, functioning democracy without the free press and without the journalists who report fearlessly to bring to light corruption and mistreatment to their fellow citizens. Journalists have to be respected in their role and there has to be respect for truth. Thats something the governments, all governments, should recognize and protect.Shibadong village, a once destitute backwater in central Hunan province, is setting a good example in poverty alleviation.

The village, located in Huayuan county, Xiangxi Tu autonomous prefecture, has 225 households and 939 residents, most of whom had been afflicted by poverty for years.

Things started to turn around after President Xi Jinping visited the village in November 2013 and called on governments at all levels to lift the impoverished villagers out of dire straits through "targeted" measures.

In early 2014, a work team stationed in Shibadong broke poverty-alleviation policies down into specific actions, and 136 households with 542 people were identified as impoverished.

The village, which is endowed with rich natural and cultural resources, has been built into a multiple-industry base covering tourism, kiwi planting and Miao embroidery. The kiwi even tapped into markets in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Long Jinbiao, 27, a villager who once worked in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, has been impressed with the tremendous changes over the past few years.

"I came back to the village every two years to visit my parents during the Spring Festival holiday. But I chose to stay in 2017 because of the promising future here," he said.

Long is now chairman of the village's tourism cooperative, which was established in September.

Sun Zhongyuan, Shibadong's Party secretary, said the diversified industries have brought more jobs.

"Before 2013, about two-thirds of the villagers were out of work. That has decreased to one-third now."

According to a news release on the province's website, the average income per capita in the village increased to 10,180 yuan ($1,490) in 2017 from 1,668 yuan in 2013.

The targeted poverty alleviation in Shibadong village also inspired neighboring areas in the prefecture.

Longbizui village, about 60 miles from Shibadong, is the traditional home of 3,195 people, with 90 percent of its dwellers being of ethnic minorities such as Miao, and 568 trapped in poverty.

The village used Shibadong as an example and took anti-poverty measures focused on rural tourism development based on its natural resources.

So far, 124 households with 513 people have been lifted out of poverty.

Shi Chengyuan, a 64-year-old from Longbizui who has heart disease, was in a financial predicament after his two sons died of illnesses years ago.

Shi now works for the village's travel company, earning 1,500 yuan per month cleaning the river.

"Thanks to the village's booming tourism, my wife also got a job selling tea, earning 1,500 yuan every month," he said.

Zhong Haowang, assistant to the village director, said that about 520 jobs were created for villagers last year, of which 148 positions were given to people who were impoverished.

He said the village received more than 1 million visitors in 2018, generating revenue of 150 million yuan for the village and strongly driving the poverty reduction work.

Ye Hongzhuan, Party secretary of the province's Xiangxi Miao autonomous prefecture, said targeted and specific poverty alleviation work has been introduced in the prefecture's impoverished areas and has received encouraging feedback.

As of the end of last year, 874 of 1,110 impoverished villages had shaken off poverty, with more than 550,000 people lifted out of poor financial conditions, he said. Disposable income per capita rose to 9,183 yuan last year from 4,229 yuan in 2012.Asia Thailand Prepares Masks for ASEAN Meeting Due to Air Pollution

People wear masks as they commute after work in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 30. / Reuters

BANGKOK  Thailand is preparing face masks for an upcoming regional finance minister and central bank summit after pollution shot air quality to alarming levels, an official said on Tuesday.

The air quality index (AQI) in Chiang Rai, where Thailand will host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting this week, reached levels considered unhealthy at 240 to 250, government data shows.

Masks have been prepared, Nadhavudh Dhamasiri, a senior Finance Ministry official, told Reuters.

Some 300 officials are expected for the meeting, with some already arriving. There are no plans to change the meeting venue or schedules, officials said.

The dust situation is improving and has not affected the meeting schedules, Nadhavudh added.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha traveled north to inspect the situation and said after a meeting on the pollution that he had ordered agencies to alleviate the problem within seven days, starting with 1,900 spots across nine provinces, including Chiang Rai.

The government has already given out nearly 2 million masks to residents in the area, Prayuth said.

The smog problem in nine northern provinces is due to agriculture burning in forests, which happens every year, Sate Sampattagul, Head of the Climate Change Data Center at Chiang Mai University, told Reuters.

The smog is worse this year because of a drought and more illegal burning, he added.Asia U.S. Says it Will Not Send High-Level Officials to China's Silk Road Summit

The sign of an international forum on the Belt and Road Initiative is pictured in Beijing, China, on July 2. / Reuters

WASHINGTON  The United States will not send high-level officials to attend Chinas second Belt and Road summit in Beijing this month, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday, citing concerns about financing practices for the project.

Chinas top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, said on Saturday that almost 40 foreign leaders would take part in the summit due to be held in Beijing in late April. He rejected criticisms of the project as prejudiced.

The first summit for the project, which envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with massive infrastructure spending, was held in 2017 and was attended by Matt Pottinger, the senior White House official for Asia.

There are no such plans this year.

We will not send high-level officials from the United States, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said in answer to a question from Reuters.

We will continue to raise concerns about opaque financing practices, poor governance, and disregard for internationally accepted norms and standards, which undermine many of the standards and principles that we rely upon to promote sustainable, inclusive development, and to maintain stability and a rules-based order.

We have repeatedly called on China to address these concerns, the official added.

Chinese President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative has proven controversial in many Western capitals, particularly Washington, which views it as a means to spread Chinese influence abroad and saddle countries with unsustainable debt through non-transparent projects.

On Saturday, Yang called such criticisms prejudiced, saying China has never forced debt upon participants and the project was to promote joint development.

On Saturday, he did not name the 40 leaders he said would attend, but some of Chinas closest allies have already confirmed they will be there, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The United States has been particularly critical of Italys decision to sign up to the plan this month, during a visit by Xi to Rome, the first for a G7 nation.

Washington sees China as a major strategic rival and the Trump administration has engaged Beijing in a tit-for-tat tariff war.

The worlds two biggest economies have levied tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bilateral trade since July 2018, raising costs, disrupting supply chains and roiling global markets.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Tuesday said the countries expect to make more headway in trade talks this week, while the top U.S. business lobbying group said differences over an enforcement mechanism and the removal of U.S. tariffs were still obstacles to a deal.Burma Anti-Corruption Commission Sues Gold Mining Firms Staff for False Bribery Claim

A gold mine in Moehti Moemi, Mandalay Region / National Prosperity Gold Production Group Ltd. / Facebook

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday opened cases against gold mine operators who allegedly fabricated a bribery case with the intention of defaming civil servants.

A complaint was filed at Naypyitaws Zabuthiri Township Police Station against U Tun Aung Soe, the managing director of National Prosperity Gold Production Group Co. Ltd. under Article 59 (fabricating with false information) of the Anti Corruption Law, while two company employees, U Myo Aung and U Sonny, were the subjects of complaints under Article 59 and Article 63 (abetting).

Under a 2018 amendment to the law, those convicted under Article 59 face a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment and a fine.

In a separate case, the company owner was charged last August with failing to pay taxes.

This is the first time the ACC has filed cases accusing suspects of a false bribery complaint. The commission has taken action against other government officials and civil servants for violating the ACC Law. On Monday, the managing director of the governments mining enterprise was charged with corruption, while a series of arrests, detentions and charges have ensnared a number of others including former Tanintharyi Chief Minister Daw Lei Lei Maw.

The ACC investigated complaints raised by U Tun Aung Soe that mining officials and police took bribes from eight companies and illegal gold miners at a restricted gold mine in the Moehti Moemi area of Yamaethin Township in Mandalay Region. The company made complaints alleging that illegal gold mining in the mines main Adit (1) caused losses to the company. It also held a press conference announcing its allegation in Naypyitaw in early January. Based on witnesses testimony, the commission found the companys complaints to be false, said U Kyaw Soe, the spokesman of the commission.

He said the gold mining company intended to harm the serving mining officers. But he did not reveal the names of the companies or the witnesses involved in the investigations.

The ACC said the companys managing director and two staff were found to have fabricated the bribery case with the intention of harming police and Mining Ministry officials.

According to a statement issued by the commission on Wednesday afternoon, on Jan. 16, U Tun Aung Soe sent his two employees to Yamaethin Prison to meet U Aye Ko and nine other detainees who were charged under Article 6(1) of Public Properties Protection Act after being arrested at a locked mine entrance.

U Kyaw Soe said company staff convinced U Aye Ko and others to lie about the bribery by saying that the gold miners paid the mining officials and police to be able to mine there. The two staff also promised U Aye Ko and accompanies that they would help them with their cases.

The director of the commission, U Kaung Zaw Thant, acted as plaintiff and the police accepted the cases.

So far only the companys managing director is in custody, according to a police lieutenant at Zabuthiri Police Station.

Moe Moe contributed to this report from Naypyitaw.Burma Govt Needs Hotels' Consent to Raise Lease Rates, Mandalay Mayor Says

Mandalay Palace. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

MANDALAY  Mandalay Mayor U Ye Lwin told local lawmakers on Wednesday that the government could not raise lease rates on hotels that cut sweetheart deals with the previous administration without the hotels consent.

At a session of the Mandalay Region Parliament, lawmakers raised questions about three hotels  Mandalay City Hotel, Hotel Mandalay and Minthargyi Hotels leasing land at very low rates, following an auditor report that revealed what they were paying.

Responding to the lawmakers, U Ye Lwin said the municipal department responsible for leasing the land was in negotiations with the hotels.

Since 2017 we have been working under instructions from the Presidents Office to negotiate with hotels that have contracts with unreasonable prices to amend the contracts, the mayor said.

However, there are laws that we cannot amend on our own. We should not break the law while we are still negotiating with the hotels, he added.

U Ye Lwin said the government did convince Minthargyi Hotel to up its annual lease rate from 5 million kyats to 300 million kyats during negotiations last month.

Agreements with Mandalay City Hotel and Hotel Mandalay have not been reached yet and we cannot do it [raise rates] without agreement from their side, he said.

The 2017-2018 fiscal year audit stated that monthly income from leasing land to Mandalay City Hotel, Minthargyi Hotel and Hotel Mandalay was 800,000 kyats, 630,000 kyats and 500,000 kyats, respectively.

Although the contract terms range from 20 years to 70 years, lawmakers said the deals were nonetheless out of synch with local market rates, which start at 2 million kyats for 100 square feet.

Mandalay City Hotel is leasing 1.327 acres in the heart of the city, while Hotel Mandalay sits on 1.69 acres and Minthargyi Hotel on 6.25 acres.

Mandalay City Hotel has a contract for 20 years, Mandalay Hotel for 30 years and Minthargyi Hotel for 70 years.

Minthargyi Hotels contract was renewed on March 29, 2016, two days before a new national government administration took office.

Lawmakers said they have been raised the issue in Parliament since April 2017 and that a committee to tackle it led by the deputy mayor has since been formed. But the audit report showed no signs of change.

After Wednesdays session, lawmaker U Myint Aung Moe, to raised the issue, said he still had many questions.

We are not blaming the government for the slow progress, but we want to end the unreasonable contracts while we are in power. There are still questions about whether the previous government signed those contracts accordingly to the law and why they did so just before stepping down, he said.

The Irrawaddys Myat Pyae Phyo contributed to this story.Burma Police Lieutenant Shot Dead by Junior Officer in Northern Rakhine

Members of the Rakhine State Police Force in Sittwe. / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  A police lieutenant in northern Rakhine States Kyauktaw Township was shot to death on Tuesday by a junior officer who also wounded a sergeant.

A constable at the Kyauktaw police station said the shooting occurred inside the compound of the Kan Sauk police regiment, which sits in a rural area far from the townships urban center, and that the lieutenants body was taken to Kyauktaw General Hospital on Wednesday morning. He declined to comment further and directed additional questions to the Apauk Wa police station.

Kyauktaw resident and activist Ko Zaw Win said he went to see the body at the hospital and identified the victim as Maung Maung Lay, who was recently transferred from Tin Ma Village to the Kan Sauk police regiment.

The police officer was shot with about six bullets and died on the spot. Another sergeant was shot twice but he is now receiving medical treatment at Sittwe Hospital, he said.

Rakhine State police chief Col. Kyi Lin and Kyauktaw Township police chief Saw Aye Lwin declined to comment.

Rakhine State lawmaker U Maung Than Sein, of the Arakan National Party (ANP), said he spoke with a village administrator who lives near the Kan Sauk police regiment compound who confirmed the shooting but did not know why it occurred.

The cause of the shooting remains unclear.

A police officer with the Kyauktaw police told The Irrawaddys Sittwe correspondence under condition of anonymity that some police officers had had a dispute on Tuesday and that a corporal shot two of his superiors at about 4 p.m. The officer identified the shooter as Kyaw Aye Sein and said he was taken into custody by Kyauktaw police.

The Myanmar armys Light Infantry Battalion 539 and an artillery unit are currently stationed at the foot of the Kan Sauk mountain range along with the police regiment.Burma Two Boys (8) Killed at Monastery in Pa-O Self-Administered Zone

--

Two eight-year-old ethnic Pa-O boys were killed on Sunday in Si Sai Township, southern Shan State when a member of the local militia force, the Pa-O National Army (PNA), shot them allegedly on mistaken identity.

Phra Khun Sein, village leader of Lon Pho Village where the incident took place, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that a member of the PNA shot the boys and that the organization had already paid compensation to their families.

He drank alcohol first. Then he went to the monastery when he was drunk. He went crazy. He says he [thought he] saw his enemies coming so he shot two boys who were asleep in their room, said Phra Khun Sein.

A Buddhist monk from the monastery tried to stop the gunman, telling him that there are no enemies in the monastery, he added.

The two boys were studying at the monastery, and both were shot on the head. The funeral is being held on Wednesday, according to Phra Khun Sein.

Si Sai Township is located in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone in southern Shan State and the PNA control the area which is under the command of the Myanmar military.

Khun Si Thu, a rights activist from Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, said that his organization, Kaung Yaw Youth, plan to issue a statement condemning the killing.

The abbot of the monastery where they killings took place had previously declared a village-wide ban on drinking alcohol. However, the gunman got drunk and he went to make a problem for the abbot, according to Khun Si Thu.

The PNA paid a total of 16 million kyats in compensation to the victims families, according to Khun Si Thu and confirmed by Phra Khun Sein.

The incident has been officially declared an accident but the compensation agreement documents have been widely shared on social media by groups condemning the murders, including by PaO Youths Voice, an online media group which focuses on news from the Pa-O community.

On the groups Facebook page, they questioned how it could have been an accident if the killer came to the monastery to kill the boys.

When The Irrawaddy called Col. Khun Zaw Pyan, an information officer for the PNA, for his comments on the incident, he did not answer the phone. The PNA previously served as the armed wing of the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), but since the armed group agreed to a ceasefire with the Myanmar military regime in 1991, they have been serving as a local militia acting as a security force in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone. The PNA is led by U Aung Kham Hti, the patron and former chairman of the PNO.Analysis Wariness Over BRI as State Counselor Prepares for Beijing Forum

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (left) smiles at Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan during a welcome ceremony for leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2017. / Reuters

YANGONNearly three dozen national leaders will land in Beijing late this month to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum. Among them will be Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is expected to negotiate agreements on at least six projects as part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.

Upon signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) in September last year, the Myanmar government officially became a partner in Chinas ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China has proposed 30 projects as part of the BRI.

Chinese President Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy, the BRI is a grand vision to revive the historic Silk Road trade route and create a 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. These would create a network of trade routes from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia. Unveiled in 2013, the BRI will ultimately encompass nearly 70 countries and two-thirds of the worlds population.

However, for the past two years the BRI has faced resistance from a number of countries. Some have decided that while participation could help their development, they want to seek a renegotiation of the terms.

Some key countries lying on Beijings signature routes, whose involvement is needed to build highly ambitious infrastructure projects, have declared they will reconsider all the agreements to ensure there is no risk of a debt trap and that all terms and conditions are fair.

Concerns in SE Asia

Last year was a rocky one for the BRI after Malaysia elected a new government led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who canceled US$18 billion (more than 27 trillion kyats) worth of BRI projects comprising a rail link and two gas pipelines being constructed by a Chinese company, a move he said was necessary in order to avoid a huge debt trap. He also called for the renegotiation or cancellation of unfair deals with Beijing authorized by his predecessor, Najib Razak, who now faces prosecution involving a massive financial scandal.

Pakistans government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to review and revise all the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects due to their perceived unfairness to Pakistani companies. In the Maldives, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who beat a pro-China president in the countrys recent election, is renegotiating BRI project-related debt. And the West African country of Sierra Leone recently canceled a $400-million, Chinese-funded project to build a new airport outside the capital Freetown to avoid a heavy debt burden.

As a precautionary measure before joining the forum, the leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia recently publicized the terms and conditions for Chinese investors aiming to secure BRI agreements. Indonesia has announced that Chinese investors must abide by the four conditions: to use only environmentally friendly technologies; to maximize the use of local labor; to transfer technical knowledge to local partners through training programs; and to ensure that the projects create added value for Indonesian industries to reduce the countrys dependence on extractive industries such as mining and to benefit the countrys economy in the long term.

Last month, when asked by the South China Morning Post for his views on the BRI before joining the forum, the Malaysian prime minister warned other countries to make sure that the money flowing into their country is not borrowed from China. He emphasized that countries that do become mired in debt traps must accept some responsibility for their predicament. He explained this was why Malaysia preferred direct investment over projects funded by Chinese loans. He said he welcomed Chinese investment and economic resources, but was not receptive to its control or influence.

MyanmarEasy Prey?

In Myanmar, the CMEC will stretch for 1,700 km, starting in Chinas Yunnan Province and going through Myanmars major economic citiesMandalay in central Myanmar and the commercial capital of Yangonand reaching the coast at the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. The proposal includes upgrades to three major roads through Mandalay and Muse on the Myanmar side of the border with China, and some other roads in Shan State.

Mandalay Region Finance and Planning Minister U Myat Thu, a member of a joint committee on the BRI, told The Irrawaddy that Myanmar has agreed to speed up the progress of nine major projects among the 30 proposed by China. However, the minister didnt identify the nine projects.

The government hasnt officially announced the list of CMEC projects yet except for construction plans for three economic cooperation zones along the Myanmar-China border in Shan and Kachin states.

However, under the CMEC, Myanmar has also signed an MoU for the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port, a potential hub for China that would give it direct access to the Indian Ocean and allow its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca. It also serves Beijings goal of developing Chinas landlocked Yunnan province.

In Yangon, the multi-billion-dollar New Yangon City project is a part of the CMEC plan. A framework agreement was recently signed for the project, which is envisioned as a complex of new towns, industrial parks and urban development projects.

Despite warnings from critics that the project could burden Myanmar with unsustainable debt and provoke more armed conflict in the project areas, in October two state-owned companiesChina Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (China Railway Group Ltd) (CREEG) and Myanmar Railwayssigned an MoU to conduct a feasibility study on the Muse-Mandalay high-speed railway.

A project that will link two economic centers in Myanmar with Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwestern China, the project is part of Beijings grand infrastructure plan for the region. The Muse-Mandalay railway is also the initial stage in a strategic railway link that Beijing plans to build, with a parallel expressway, from Ruili in Yunnan province to Kyaukphyu in Rakhine, along with a separate road running through northern Myanmar, Indias northeastern states, and Bangladesh.

However, Myanmars leaders have been silent on their plans and policies for BRI projects amid rising resentment toward China due to its efforts to revive the controversial Myitsone Dam on the countrys lifeline river, the Irrawaddy. On the other hand, experts, including from the World Bank, have pointed out that Myanmars growth will largely depend on major BRI infrastructure projects that get underway this year.

The Irrawaddy has learned that the Myanmar government is drafting a master plan relating to the CMEC. This includes some significant conditions, including that identified projects are to be selected through a public tender process, and that Myanmar should be allowed to borrow from multiple sources if debt financing is required. However, the content of the master plan is very broad in terms of debt policy, the public tender process and labor rights. Experts have pointed out that it is difficult to obtain loans from other countries for China-related projects. In terms of the open tender process, critics say that even if there are a few competitors, it is highly unlikely that a non-Chinese company would win a BRI project.

Deputy Planning and Finance Minister U Set Aung said the projects under the CEMC must be in line with the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) drawn up by the current government to achieve genuine, inclusive and transformational economic growth.

The head of the China desk at the Institute of Strategy and Policy (ISP)-Myanmar, Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, told The Irrawaddy that while there is nothing wrong with the strategies outlined in the MSDP, the government has still not disclosed how it plans to implement them on the ground.

The government doesnt have the necessary mechanisms to implement the MSDP with regard to the CMEC, Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee said.

The MSDP obliges the government to listen to the publics voices and wishes when it comes to implementing or making decisions related to the projects. She pointed out that the public has received little information about the CMEC projects since the government signed the agreement.

When the public is not given general information about the agreement, how can we say there is transparency? she asked of the governments lack of effort to publicize information on the projects.

Experts have suggested that as a developing country, half of whose existing foreign debt is held by China, Myanmar should implement individual rules and regulations relating to BRI projects, such as requiring counter-project proposals; inviting experts to review mega-projects; and adopting international standards for environmental issues and debt policies.

In March 2018, a report by the Washington-based Center for Global Development said China was putting many countries under the BRI at financial risk through a series of aid activities and huge amounts of lending.

Myanmar can learn from other countries that became highly indebted from BRI projects, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, an associate professor at the Institute of Security and International Studies in the Faculty of Political Science at Bangkoks Chulalongkorn University, told The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar can set up a debt law, which puts a ceiling on how much [in] foreign loans the country can take out and be sustainable based on macroeconomic conditions, such as international reserves, export growth, and GDP expansion, he said.

Cooperation, Not Confrontation

Led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmars BRI steering committee comprises 25 members including 18 Union ministers (from ministries ranging from Home Affairs to Hotels and Tourism); five chief ministers (from Kachin, Mandalay, Rakhine, Yangon and Shan); the foreign affairs permanent secretary; and the chairman of the Naypyitaw Council.

According to U Aung Naing Oo, the director general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, projects under the BRI must be reviewed by the BRI steering committee and cleared by the Myanmar Investment Commission.

Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee said, They should invite experts who can negotiate at the table with Chinas representatives.

The government only considers CMEC projects based on Chinas proposals, when in fact it should propose counter projects based on what will benefit the country and meet the peoples needs, she said. For example, while China has proposed BRI projects, the Indonesian government has proposed nearly 30 projects worth US$91.1 billion based on the countrys own strategic plans.

Whenever we discuss Chinas irresponsible manner of investment practices, they tell me that we follow the Myanmar governments rule and regulations. That shows we dont have enough rules and regulations in line with international standards, she said.

She pointed out that the updated version of Myanmars investment law fails to expressly require maximum use of local workers in foreign investment projects.

Despite public wariness surrounding Chinese investment in the country, the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine has pushed Myanmar back into the hands of the Chinese.

At the countrys first investment forum in late January, while talking about infrastructure challenges, U Thaung Tun said he wants to take advantage of Myanmars strategic location at the intersection of two of the worlds most important emerging markets, China and India.

He emphasized that Myanmar is central to the BRI, saying that If you look at the BRI you will find that Myanmar is in the middle of all of it. Because the Maritime Silk Road must pass through Myanmar.

The minister stressed to the audience that the rise of China should not be seen as an obstacle, as he believes all countries can benefit from BRI projects.

We can do cooperation rather than confrontation. It will help development not just in the region but also the world, he said, adding that Myanmar could be a transport hub for Asia under the BRI.

As China continues its global infrastructure financing push across the developing world, allegations of debt diplomacy keep arising. According to media reports, when the BRI was first announced, Chinas foreign currency reserves stood at around US$4 trillion. During the past five years, the reserves have fallen to US$3 trillion as Beijing seeks to offload pressure on the yuan and provide contracts for Chinese companies that take an interest in spending some of those reserves overseas.

According to the American Chamber of Commerce, Chinese companies are under pressure from U.S. tariffs, and factory activity in China has been steadily contracting, with export orders falling at rates not seen since the financial crisis a decade ago. As a result, experts speculate that Chinese companies will be saddled with debt and find it difficult to run foreign projects like those under the BRI in the near future.

According to the media reports, more than 270 out of 1,814 BRI projects undertaken since 2013 in the Indo-Pacific region have been halted due to concerns over practicality or financial viability.

Daw Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee said, Both sides should negotiate and implement [projects] in a manner that is fair, transparent, and to the benefit of the host country, not just the investor.

Before we make further agreements with China, we should have a certain master plan or rules and regulations that can assure benefits for the people of Myanmar, she said.Guest Column May I Help You? The Police and National Reconciliation

Myanmar Police Force members during a crowd-management training exercise in 2015. / The Irrawaddy

The four main responsibilities of the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) are to ensure domestic security and regional tranquility, to uphold the rule of law, to prevent and tackle the narcotics trade, and to serve the public interest. The phrase May I Help You? appears on the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) website, and in every police booth in the country, catching the eye of every passer-by. However, given the MPFs history of abusing its power and using violence both to suppress public protest and in its daily policing tasks, May I Help You, which on the surface suggests a spontaneous offer of assistance to anyone in need, conveys an extreme ambiguity, even notoriety, among the general public.

Yet, the MPFs notoriety comes as no surprise if one looks at the organizations history. The police force has never enjoyed public support. During both the British and Japanese colonial eras, police were viewed by the general public with disdain as corrupt law-enforcing servants of the ruling administrations, which the public resented. Public perceptions of the police have yet to improve. Ironically, the oppressed minorities and the dominant Bamar ethnic group, which often hold contradictory political views, stand united in their perceptions of the police in Myanmar; and this shared perception stems from their shared experience of the polices indiscriminate brutality and violence against civilians across the country. This shared perception suggests the existence of a certain pattern concerning policing.

Not so long ago, the Saffron Revolution of 2007, which was predominantly led by the Bamar ethnic group in Yangon, saw police brutality against students, monks, nuns, passers-by and demonstrators. While soldiers played the major role in the ruthless crackdown on the peaceful demonstrators, the policeespecially the Lon Htein, or riot policeabused their power to violently wield batons against the crowd, beating and detaining non-resisting demonstrators. Even one of my friends who was a passer-by received his share of violent baton punishment from the police. Many other innocent individuals and peaceful demonstrators had excruciatingly painful atrocities inflicted upon them during their detention and imprisonment.

In 2012, during a protest in the Letpadaung mining area, 10 Buddhist monks were burned when a grenade containing highly flammable white phosphorus was allegedly thrown at them, and two of them sustained severe injuries. And in December 2014, another civilian, Daw Khin Win, was shot and killed on the spot, and two others were injured, by police during a demonstration against the Letpadaung copper mine operated by the Chinese government-backed Wanbao company.

In Kachin States Hpakant, where many state-owned and Chinese government-backed companies excessively mine jade, killings of civilians by security guards are not uncommon. Myanmar police armed with guns usually serve as security for those companies. To cite a few examples, jadestone picker Ko Zaw Wai was shot and killed in the presence of six policemen led by Sergeant Myo Min Oo at the Wakyae Jade mine in Hpakant in early June of 2017 (as reported by RFA on June 26, 2017). In November 2018, Ko Aye Than from Rakhine State was killed by security personnel from the Jade Leaf Mining Company (Irrawaddy, Nov. 20, 2018). Again in 2019, U Kyaw Zin Phyo was shot in the back of the head and killed at the San Hkar Mine in Hpakant (Myanmar Peace Monitor, Feb. 6, 2019). While it is surprising to learn that Myanmar police hire out their services as a security force to Chinese government-backed mega mining companies, from whose operations Myanmar citizens almost never benefit, it is also appalling that civilians are killed almost at will and with impunity. Leaked videos showing police involvement in capturing, interrogating and torturing members of the Rohingya minority during military clearance operations following ARSA terrorist attacks also reveal the degree of police involvement in atrocities, brutality and violence against civilians with impunity.

During a police crackdown on peaceful ethnic Karenni demonstrators who were protesting the controversial placement of a statue of General Aung San in Loikaw, 21 youths sustained injuries from rubber bullets used by police. Many were shocked and disturbed to see images of a Karenni youth with a bloody rubber-bullet wound to his face. Yet, the perpetrators have not been brought to justice.

In September 2016, a video showing Police Lieutenant Soe Zaw Zaw wildly pointing his pistol at and threatening participants at a meeting in Hpakant went viral online (Irrawaddy, Sept. 9, 2016). Yet details of the legal action taken against the officer for his outright power abuse and misconduct remain largely unknown to the public. Although the officer may be explained away as just a one bad apple in the barrel, the other above-mentioned incidents are too numerous to dismiss as isolated occurrences; instead they portray a consistent pattern of police brutality and violence, of committing crimes with impunity across the state.

With recent attacks on police in Rakhine State claiming several lives, it may be time for the MPF to reevaluate its four main responsibilities. In the aftermath of the Yoetayote Police Station attack on March 9, police chief Kyi Lin commented in an interview with The Irrawaddy that the general public is also responsible for the attack in some respect the public has become weak in information sharing. While it may not be deemed wise or responsible of the police chief to blameeven to the slightest degreethe general public, whose trust the police have yet to earn, it is worth noting the importance of collaboration between the police and the general public in response to issues that disrupt social order and challenge domestic stability and regional tranquility. Yet, police chief Kyi Lins comment clearly demonstrates the publics distrust of and reluctance to collaborate with the police force.

Given the incidents discussed above and the comment in the aftermath of the Yoetayote Police Station attack, one does not need a highly sophisticated knowledge to see the breadth of police brutality committed with impunity, and the resulting lack of trust in the policeand the lack of will to collaborate with policeamong the general public. The perpetrators of these acts must be prosecuted at the individual level, but the incidents also demonstrate the need to address the long-existing practice of police brutality against citizens. This would allow the MPF to redirect its energies to truly serve the interests of the public and gain its trust.

In order for the police to establish a positive image and secure positive collaboration from the public, the initiative must come from the police force itself. In addition to formulating mechanisms to prosecute individual perpetrators of police killings and violence, the MPF also needs to question the state of the barrelthe system itselfthat has consistently been riddled with so many bad apples. And this proactive move may be the best way to gain public support given all the suffering inflicted upon the general public.

The continuation of police abuse of power, brutality, violence and killings will only lead ethnic minority groups to show greater support for their respective armed or civil forces; this could in turn escalate armed clashes between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and ethnic armed organizations. Moreover, the police could become easy targets for ethnic armed groups, which would gain greater support from their respective ethnic groups. Attacking police may also be viewed as easily justified in the minds of the armed groups by giving to them the tag of being traitor(s) to the public.

Such a vicious circle would further hinder domestic security and the reconciliation process. The rise of Rakhine nationalism serves as the one of most recent living testimonies to the consequences of police brutality, violence and killings. However, the desirable results of the re-evaluation of police misconduct and mistreatment of civilians would be three-fold: the achievement of the polices objectives; reducing the vulnerability of the police in armed conflict zones; and a significant contribution to domestic security and national reconciliation.

Kyaw Htut Aung is a pseudonym for a Kachin analyst doing his masters degree in education abroad.On This Day Mandalay Came Under Heavy Attack from the Air 77 Years Ago Today

Japanese troops enter Mandalay in the first week of April 1942.The Beijing Haidian District Administration for Market Regulation launched an AI customer service operator on April 1.

The operator, referring to itself as Robot Xiaoshang, services the registration hotline of the Haidian District Administration for Market Regulation at the number 51321502. It is the first AI operator of a government customer service hotline in Beijing.

Zhu Dan, a person visiting the Haidian District Administration Center, gave the AI operator a try with her company errand. She said the AI operator answered her inquiries to her satisfaction.

"I've just tried the AI customer service and deliberately challenged it with tough questions," Zhu said. "Unexpectedly, it gave me right answers. After I hang up the phone, the robot even sent me web links for the related services."

According to the Haidian authority, the AI operator could handle more than 600 calls per day, twice that of a human operator. The AI operator also handled calls 24/7 as opposed to the normal weekday working hours of a human operator.

According to the authorities, the AI operator is also backed by big data and capable of analyzing a caller's voice, conducting multi-intention understanding, and performing dynamic analysis prediction and deep reasoning to respond to different scenarios before producing an answer.

At the same time, Xiaoshang has a strong learning ability. It conducts real-time analysis of the frequently asked questions so that the work team can timely identify user needs, and quickly update the database.

In addition, the Haidian District Administration for Market Regulation is seeking to establish a three-dimensional intelligent consulting system comprising online robots, voice customer service robots, and virtual portrait robots. A company can now seek for counseling services from the administration's website, WeChat account, and the virtual portrait robot in the hall.

Nevertheless, on occasions when the AI operator cannot answer a question, the caller will be transferred to a human operator to continue the inquiry.Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019 (12:29 pm) - Score 6,533

A new survey of around 6,500 respondents has revealed that most UK consumers who haggled for a lower price with one of the largest fixed line broadband ISPs or mobile network operators were successful in saving money. Sky Broadband (Sky TV) appeared to be the most likely to give a discount.

Its of course no secret that bit of haggling could save you a lot of money, although one survey from last year suggested that only around 10% of consumers do this (here). Generally if youre happy with the service then negotiation should be your first port of call before switching, unless the ISP doesnt traditionally offer big discounts to new customers (like a lot of smaller ISPs) as they may be less open to this sort of approach.

Otherwise the best time to haggle is usually around the end of your contract or following a price hike and you can find some helpful advice for doing this in our Retentions Tips article. On top of that a new consumer survey from MSE has provided a useful indication of which providers might be more amenable to such an approach.

Apparently TalkTalk and Vodafone both dropped out of this years table, which in TalkTalks case might be partly because theyve made it a lot easier for existing customers to re-contract back onto one of their Fixed Price Plans (i.e. these are available to both their new and existing customers). Sadly MSE doesnt publish a more extensive list (limited sample size) of providers.

We should point out that not all ISPs are the same. Some adopt fairly standard pricing and avoid discounts, which means that haggling wont get you very far because both new and existing customers will already be paying the same. However most consumers tend to use larger providers, where first year style discounting is much more common and this can result in a wide cost difference between new and old subscribers.Real-time customer data orchestration vendor Tealium is collaborating with Monash University to help drive its multi-channel personalisation project, and to develop one-to-one relationships with its audiences, including students.

Monash University is focusing on maturing and automating its customer intelligence to better nurture audience relationships, creating a multi-channel personalisation solution employing Tealiums Universal Data Hub (UDH),

Tealium says Monash University will gain insights into the online life cycle of students, from initial searches to evaluation, through to final selection.

Employing Tealiums UDH solution to create a 360-degree view of a single student by orchestrating both existing and real-time data from multiple touchpoints allows Monash University to provide relevant educational information and a positive experience during a students selection process.

Nic Dennis, APAC vice-president and general manager at Tealium, said, Were excited to be working with such a well renowned, data-led institution and looking forward to see how Monash uses Tealiums Universal Data Hub to help deliver an improved audience experience. Monash Universitys Strategic Marketing and Communications (SMC) and eSolutions teams are focused on maturing their data and automating both existing and prospective audience intelligence.

With more than 70,000 students, 160,000+ alumni, 10,000+ staff members and various interactions with researchers and industry partners, this was a large data set that required advanced technology to help create the single view of the audience that Monash required.

Tealiums Universal Data Hub has helped deliver this vision through data orchestration, and enrichment by providing an all-in-one solution for cross-device data collection and activation.

Monash University is looking forward to working with Tealium to bring this work to life so we can deliver the best possible audience experience for all our audiences, combining the virtual, digital and the physical environments, said the university's chief marketing officer, Fabian Marrone.John Lord: "[Huawei] has become embroiled in national security debates through inference and accusation, rather than fact or proof."

Huawei Australia chairman John Lord has called on the Australian Government to adopt the path of cyber diplomacy in its dealings with the company he heads, rather than resorting to confrontation.

Delivering a keynote address at the International Conference on Theory & Practice of Electronic Governance at RMIT University on Wednesday, Lord warned that Australia's decision to ban Huawei from the rollout of its 5G networks would disadvantage the country both in terms of increased cost and would also erode global trade norms for overseas investment and trade.

He said Huawei had suddenly found itself in the midst of a global technology war, with Australia issuing the ban and the US trying to make the company's business collapse.

"It [Huawei] has become embroiled in national security debates through inference and accusation, rather than fact or proof," Lord told his audience. "From this singular perspective, the West must reject eastern technology and deny access by the East to western technology."

For nearly two years, the US has been pushing countries it considers allies to avoid using equipment from Chinese companies, Huawei foremost, in 5G networks. But the US has produced no proof to back up its claims that these products could be used to spy for China.

Only Australia and New Zealand have fallen in line with Washington's dictates, but Wellington has indicated that the initial refusal for telco Spark to use Huawei gear is not the end of the matter. That stance was reiterated by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a one-day China visit on Monday. Huawei sued the US on 7 March, seeking to be reinstated as a telco supplier in the country.

Lord pointed to the approach adopted by the UK and Germany which were evaluating the company's products in Huawei-funded labs. "This is a risk mitigation strategy to any perceived cyber risk in the use equipment in national infrastructure," he said. "However, this does not mitigate the risk from all suppliers, so [it] is only a partial solution. All equipment going into the national infrastructure should be evaluated in a consistent manner, within a framework applicable to the whole of industry."

He said there was no one country that could provide all parts that went into equipment these days and Huawei was no exception. "A broad rule of thumb for Huaweis supply chain is 30% from the US, 22% from Taiwan and Asia, 30% from China, [and] about 15% from Europe. But it is worth it, this diversification  the benefits of global sourcing enable us to produce better products, more economically."

Australia had set out a International Cyber Engagement Strategy last year, but was not using it. "At no point in the continuing attacks on Huawei have we seen cyber diplomacy come into play," said Lord, a former rear admiral in the Australian Navy. "Even today, with a panel on cyber diplomacy at this UN conference, Australia has no representation."

He pointed out that Australia had its own version of the Common Criteria evaluation scheme adopted by the Five Eyes nations in the 1990s - known as Australasian Information Security Evaluation Program.

"We, Huawei, have enthusiastically adopted the Common Criteria scheme for key products. However, even with recognised Common Criteria certification, we find ourselves unable to supply Australias telecommunications infrastructure. Clearly the Common Criteria scheme is not working to achieve its intended outcome," he said.

Lord outlined a three-step process for Australia to take a cyber diplomacy approach to technologies from China and other countries. "Firstly, Australias Cyber and International Cyber Engagement Strategies are fine pieces of work and reflect a positive contribution by Australia in helping address some of the global cyberspace issues through diplomacy. Lets see them come to life in an Action Plan that drives towards enabling a technologically rich future, enabling all to have access to the latest advances in technology irrespective of country of origin."

Secondly, he suggested that both Australia and China build on the agreement they had signed to prevent cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets or confidential business information.

And, finally, Lord called for the Prime Ministers Advisory Council on Cyber Security to be involved in decisions such as the one that affected Huawei. "...Real issues need to be discussed and advice given to government. This group was not consulted, not asked for any advice prior to the decision being made by the Australian Government to restrict access to build the Australian 5G infrastructure," Lord said.

"The decision was made without government, service provider, vendor and industry dialogue. It was an internal decision by government alone and its effectiveness in the long-term needs to be questioned."The Federal Government's release of a hosting strategy last week appears to be an attempt to prevent the issue of data sovereignty being raised as an election issue.

A statement from the Digital Transformation Minister Michael Keenan  who will be retiring from active duty at the election  said the strategy "provides a new framework that strengthens data sovereignty, supply chain and data centre ownership provisions to increase security, protect privacy and improve resilience of data infrastructure".

And, further, "This includes a requirement that data centre facilities that host high-value government data achieve certification as sovereign or assured data centres."

There was no mention of the fact that cloud providers, both Australian and from other countries, duly certified by the Australian Signals Directorate, can host government data of the highest security classification provided they have obtained Protected status.

Two American companies  Microsoft and are among the six firms that can bid to store sensitive classified data. The others are Vault, Macquarie Government and SlicedTech (all Australian) and Dimension Data (South Africa).

Since the hosting strategy seemed to cut across the ASD's role as well, iTWire contacted the agency for clarification, asking: "On Friday, the government announced a new whole-of-government hosting strategy. It says, in part, 'This includes a requirement that data centre facilities that host high-value government data achieve certification as 'sovereign' or 'assured' data centres.

"How does this tie in with the certification of providers that ASD/ACSC does, giving them Protected and other status to host classified government data?"

The ASD's response was: "ACSC [the Australian Cyber Security Centre] has referred your inquiry to the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) as best placed to respond directly to your questions in consideration of the whole-of-government hosting strategy."

When DTA was contacted and the same query posed, the agency did not provide any answer for the record.

iTWire understands that the push for a whole-of-government hosting strategy came about after a Sydney data centre, Global Switch, accepted Chinese investment for its parent company, Aldersgate Investments, back in 2016.

Aldersgate owns two data centres in Ultimo where it stores classified Australian government material, including sensitive Defence and intelligence files.

Both these data centres have secure gateways certified by the ASD and can be used for secure access by government offices.

According to a story that surfaced in 2017, the Australian Defence Department decided to end its relationship with Global Switch due to this.

Reliable sources in Canberra have told iTWire that a decision on a hosting strategy has been hanging fire since then, and was finally rushed through  like many other government initiatives which have been pinging the email inboxes of journalists over the past few weeks  with Prime Minister Scott Morrison signing off on it a few days before the news was announced.

And, say these sources, the media release was sent out late on Friday afternoon so that it would not attract much attention  an old ploy practised by politicians of every shade.

However, this strategy would bring the DTA into conflict with the ASD sometime down the track. The latter has certified both Microsoft and AWS to host sensitive classified government data  do they fit in with the profile delineated by the hosting strategy where it says "This includes a requirement that data centre facilities that host high-value government data achieve certification as 'sovereign' or 'assured' data centres?"

Adding to the problems, the DTA statement said a "new Digital Infrastructure Service will be established to manage data centre certification and ensure the ecosystem is supported by an effective and efficient network infrastructure. DTA will also work with industry to develop a genuine strategic partnership that recognises government as a single customer".

Looks like many hands will be trying to do the same work.

Microsoft has two data centres in Canberra and has been given the okay by the ASD to have staff from outside the country handle administrative IT tasks without security clearances. It serves its cloud platform Azure and the office suite, Office365, from these centres. But when it comes to Active Directory, a service which government also uses, this is served from Singapore.

Would a data centre in Singapore meet the requirement of being one that qualifies as sovereign or assured?

There are three aspects when it comes to data sovereignty  there is the physical aspect, the operational aspect and the legal jurisdiction aspect. Physically, the data that conforms to the hosting strategy would have to be stored within Australia.

AWS does not conform to this requirement, having told the ASD in advance that it would be offering only the same commercial service that it offers to everyone else. In the US, AWS has built an isolated service that meets all sovereignty requirements that the US Government demands.

In operational terms, too, there would appear to be an issue as personnel from outside Australia, who have no Australian security clearance, would be handling Australian data structures for both Microsoft and AWS.

And there is an added conundrum: the ATO has been using Global Switch as well, and will be ending its relationship with the company in 2020. But when it moves to AWS  as it is expected to  which uses the very same Global Switch data centre, would that conform to the requirements of the hosting strategy?

Once again, DTA was asked about this, but the agency again did not provide an answer for the record.

The government appears to be uncomfortable with foreign-owned data centres, but what would the reaction be if one of the ASD certified clouds was purchased by a Chinese consortium? Why does Australia not have sovereignty requirements for clouds like other nations? These are probably questions for the next government.

But at the moment, the party that is likely to form that next government is keeping mum. Efforts to extract an answer from Labor Shadow Minister for Human Services and the Digital Economy, Ed Husic, about the hosting strategy were unsuccessful.

Husic was asked the same question as put to the ASD and the DTA. A reply was promised, but never came.

The only takeaway from this is that there are lots of questions, a number of close-mouthed government agencies, politicians and businesses  and a lot of taxpayer money is being wasted in the process. But then isn't that the normal state of affairs in Canberra?The second Digital China Summit will be held in Fuzhou, capital of South China's Fujian province from May 6 to 8, 2019, according to a press conference at the State Council Information Office of China (SCIO) on Tuesday.

With an overarching theme of "New Dynamics, New Development, New Achievements Empowered by Information," the summit aims to promote a modern economic system countrywide through high-quality development, modernization of the national governance system, strength in cyberspace, building a digital nation and a smart society, said Yang Xiaowei, deputy director of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

Speaking at an April 2 press conference, Yang stated that this development will allow the public to share the fruits of reform and opening-up.

The second Digital China Summit aims to serve as a platform to issue China's policies on IT development, display the achievements of e-government and digital economy, and exchange theoretical and practical experiences in building a digital China, said Yang.

The summit will consist of forums, an exhibition and an innovation contest, Yang said, naming sub-forum themes including digital health, network technology, satellite applications, digital ecology, and industrial internet.

The summit is co-organized by the CAC, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Fujian People's Government.



Linux kernel developer Christoph Hellwig has ended his legal fight against cloud computing and platform virtualisation software and services company VMware, over alleged violation of the GNU General Public Licence version 2 under which the kernel is distributed.

Hellwig, the maintainer of the kernel's SCSI sub-system, said in a statement that his appeal against the decision issued by the Hamburg District Court on 7 August 2016 had been dismissed by the Hamburg Higher Regional Court.

He added that, after conferring with his lawyer, Till Jaeger, and the Software Freedom Conservancy, which bankrolled the litigation, that no further appeal would be lodged.

The subject of the complaint I filed was the question of whether the distribution of the software Hypervisor vSphere VMware ESXi 5.5.0 software is copyright infringement because VMware has no permission to create a derivative work from Linux under the GNU General Public Licence," said Hellwig.

His decision may have been prompted by VMware'sto start work on a multi-year project to remove vmklinux from its vSphere product. The company said it hoped to achieve this in a future major release.

In his case, Hellwig had claimed that VMware had been using his code right from 2007 and not releasing source code as required. The Linux kernel, which is released under the GNU GPL version 2, stipulates that anyone who distributes it has to provide source code for the same.

When the case was knocked back in August 2016, the court said that Hellwig had failed to prove which specific lines of code VMware had used, from among those over which he claimed ownership.

The case was unusual in that the question of using proprietary code with the Linux kernel did not come under examination. Rather, the VMware case revolved around the allegation that the company had used a module which was released under GPLv2 with its own proprietary kernel, known as vmkernel. The central question was whether this made the module a derivative work.

The Linux kernel itself does contain proprietary blobs, but as long as these do not fit the definition of derivative works, the GPLv2 is not violated, and the code for the blob in question is not covered by the licence.

In his statement, Hellwig claimed that neither the court which rendered the judgment nor the one that had knocked back his appeal had dealt with the substantive matter of his complaint.

The Hamburg Higher Regional Court "dismissed the appeal just like the first instance because of insufficient proof of the right ownership or the copyright protection capability of the components taken over from Linux," he said.

"The requirements imposed by the court were extraordinarily high and make it very difficult for individual Free Software developers to assert their rights alone."

Hellwig added that the courts may have been influenced by the acts of Patrick McHardy who had approached companies on his own, to enforce rights he claimed due to his having contributed code to the kernel. McHardy claimed these companies were using his code in violation of the GPL.

Software Freedom Conservancy executive director Karen Sandler said: VMware knew what they were doing was wrong, but continued to generate revenue by infringing copyrights in Linux, while only slowly working toward non-infringement.

As we have always said, we simply want companies to follow the rules and do the right thing when they incorporate GPL'd code into their products.A former chief technology officer of the Mozilla project  which produces the open source Firefox browser and the Thunderbird email client  says he was harassed by US Customs and Border Protection agencts at San Francisco International airport on his return from a trip to Europe in December 2018.

Andreas Gal, an American citizen of Hungarian descent, said though he had travelled widely, he had never experienced fear during his travels, as he did at San Francisco.

In a post on the Medium website, Gal said he had signed up for the Global Entry program, that allows people to bypass queues using an electronic kiosk, years ago due to his frequent travel.

"On this trip, the kiosk directed me to a Customs and Border Protection agent who kept my passport and sent me to secondary inspection," he said. "There I quickly found myself surrounded by three armed agents wearing bullet-proof vests.

"They started to question me aggressively regarding my trip, my current employment, and my past work for Mozilla, a non-profit organisation dedicated to open technology and online privacy."

Gal said the agents searched his luggage and demanded that he unlock his smartphone and laptop. He was reluctant to do so as both belong to his current employer, Apple, and contained unreleased software and proprietary information.

When he asked the agents whether he could speak to his employer or a lawyer before unlocking the devices, they told him he had no rights to do so, despite being an American citizen. And they added that failure to comply with their demand was a violation of the federal criminal code 18 USC 111.

"I wasnt sure what the legal definition of an unreasonable search and seizure was, but three armed men detaining me, threatening me, and refusing to allow me to consult with an attorney definitely felt like one," Gal wrote.

He said he continued to insist that he wanted to speak to a lawyer and refused to answer any further questions. Finally, the agents let him go and let him take his devices as well. But they kept his Global Entry card as punishment.

"As I have learned since, my experience was not unique. While CBP has a long history of mistreating foreigners, immigrants, and asylum seekers entering the US, more recently CBP has also started to aggressively question, unlawfully detain, and in some cases physically assault US citizens crossing the border," Gal wrote.

"These so-called border searches are not random. NBC recently reported that CBP maintains dossiers of US citizens and targets lawyers, journalists, and activists, and monitors social media activity of US citizens. My past work on encryption and online privacy is well documented, and so is my disapproval of the Trump administration and my history of significant campaign contributions to Democratic candidates. I wonder whether these CBP programs led to me being targeted."Ahead of its annual Security Analyst Summit which begins in Singapore next Monday, security firm Kaspersky Lab has upgraded its security app for Android so that it will detect common commercial apps that are known to be spying on users.

The updated app was not yet available in the Google Play Store when iTWire checked at 5.30am AEDT.

Apple does not allow any anti-virus apps in its App Store and hence the Kaspersky product will not be available for the iPhone.

Kaspersky Lab said in a statement that it had upgraded Kaspersky Internet Security for Android with Privacy Alert and this added feature would detect when private information was being monitored by commercial spyware.

Starting April 3 we've assigned a special group of detectable objects for stalkerware #Android threats. Our users will be notified if their devices contain commercial surveillance software. Details: https://t.co/TsMntA5NAc pic.twitter.com/79spI4oQNC  Eugene Kaspersky (@e_kaspersky) April 3, 2019

Commercial spyware has been in the news recently, with a Reuters reportabout how the United Arab Emirates tracked Al Jazeera officials and other Arab media personalities.

There are numerous other cases, too many to list, where governments and even private organisations have used spyware or stalkerware to track people perceived as enemies and exfiltrate information from their mobile devices.

Alongside its announcement of the new feature, Kaspersky Lab has also released a detailed blog post on stalkerware.

The company said that it had been flagging potentially harmful apps that are not malware for years with a specially created "not a virus:Monitor" notification. But the increase in stalkerware and spyware had led to a re-evaluation on how threat information was communicated to users.

Kaspersky Lab security researcher Alexey Firsh, who did the study on spyware and stalkerware, said: "We were following what some media organisations and Nos like the Electronic Frontier Foundation were doing to enhance privacy and security for vulnerable populations around the world, and to eliminate the threat that stalkerware poses.

"We were inspired by their activities so much that we decided to review how our own products treat such software. As a result, we now flag commercial spyware with a specific alert which warns users of the dangers stalkerware poses.

"We believe users have a right to know if such a program is installed on their device. Our new alert will help them to do that and assess the risk properly,

The app can also block dangerous sites and links when one is online, provides protection against phishing and also has an app lock to let a user add a secret code to access private messages and photos. But these three features only come with the premium version which has to be bought.

The company offered the following tips to users:

Only install mobile applications from official app stores, such as Google Play.

Block the installation of programs from unknown sources in your smartphones settings.

Never disclose the password or passcode to your mobile device, even if it is with someone you trust.

Never store unfamiliar files or applications on your device, as they could harm your privacy.

Change all security settings in your mobile device if you are leaving a relationship. An ex may undertake attempts to acquire your personal information in order to manipulate you.

Get control of programs running in the background and disable suspicious activity.

Screenshot: courtesy Kaspersky LabRebecca Schot-Guppy: "We continue to say it, the R&D tax incentive is incredibly important for the growth of the fintech ecosystem and technology sector."

The Federal Government has cut another $1.35 billion from its research and development tax incentive over the forward estimates, according to the Budget papers.

This adds on to a sum of more than $2 billion that was cut in the previous budget, with that instrument aiming to save $2.4 billion on the scheme over the following four years.

The R&D tax incentive is the main vehicle for the government to reward innovation and there has been a reduction of more than $4 billion in the last two budgets.

Last week, the head of the Australian Information Industry Association, Ron Gauci, said the lack of an effective Research and Development Tax Incentive was one of the factors holding back the local ICT industry.

He said if an effective R&DTI program were in place, it would create an environment that would encourage innovation, commercialisation and export of high-quality Australian AI products and services.

The creation of a favourable business environment where Australian industries are empowered to innovate, develop and deploy AI solutions, and contribute to Australias overall productivity, is essential to Australias continued economic growth," he said.

Asked for comment about the cuts to the R&D tax incentive, the general manager of FinTech Australia, Rebecca Schot-Guppy, said: "Fintechs and start-ups will be disappointed by this budget. Its supporting the jobs of today, but not the jobs of tomorrow. Whatever happened to Australia becoming the innovation nation?

"We continue to say it, the R&D tax incentive is incredibly important for the growth of the fintech ecosystem and technology sector.

"Easy access to it consistently polls as the number one issue for growing a fintech in Australia. Now, fintechs will be forced to compete with major companies for a dwindling pool of capital. Considering all the turmoil this policy has gone through, this could not be a worse outcome.

"We are heartened however to see progress on the e-invoicing front, expansion of the export development grant and [we] also support further tax cuts and the increase to the asset write-off. All of these initiatives are great for emerging businesses."

Another person who was disappointed at the R&DTI cuts was Michael Capocchi, chief executive of mobile satellite device designer Beam Communications.

He said he had hoped the government would do more to support Australian innovators like his company who hire highly skilled local engineers to design mobile satellite equipment.

"Beam Communications has actively utilised the R&D program with great success as it has enabled to be at the forefront of developing and launching many world first products utilising local talent and resources," Capocchi said. "The R&D grants drive innovation as well as encourages the employment of local talent and I think its a missed opportunity for the Federal Government not to offer more support in this area.

I was also hoping that the government would offer more support for us to export our products, particularly now as we are about to launch a new range of satellite and 4G devices.

"While its great that the government is putting aside $60 million in export grants, we cant apply for any of it as there is a cap on the number of Export Market Development Grants we can apply for, and weve used them up for our existing portfolio of products.Today

Some clouds. Low 48F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 48F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunny early then partly cloudy and windy later in the day. High 71F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.In a recent announcement, the State Council of China declared the extension of the May Day holiday from three to four days, starting from May 1 to May 4. This announcement has generated a great deal of discussion among netizens across China, reflected in numerous WeChat and Weibo posts. Many believe that the government did this to stimulate domestic consumption and boost tourism across the nation.



According to the online travel booking site Ctrip, trip searches and the number of online bookings surged by almost 50 percent following the announcement of the extended May Day holiday. The company estimated that almost 150 million trips will be made by Chinese people during this period. It is expected that Thailand, Japan and Indonesia would be the most popular overseas destinations, while Chongqing, Hangzhou and Shanghai would be the most popular domestic hotspots during this period. About 147 million trips were made by Chinese nationals during the three-day May day holiday last year. However, this number was much higher during the week-long National Day holiday with almost 726 million trips, according to the China Tourism Academy.

The Lunar New Year and National Day holidays are the most popular periods for traveling and consumer spending among the Chinese masses. This year, the total number of domestic trips made by Chinese people during the Lunar New Year was 415 million, which was a 7.7 percent year-on-year increase. The revenue generated from these trips totaled almost 513.9 billion yuan (US$76.2 billion), almost 8.2 percent higher than last year's figures.

The burgeoning middle class has also been playing a key role in boosting economic activity. In the last few decades, China's urban population grew from just 19 percent of the total population in 1980 to almost 58 percent in 2017, according to ChinaPower of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In the near term, the number of urban dwellers is only expected to continue growing. In addition, China's huge import numbers, boosted by the surging middle class -- which amounted to almost US$1.95 trillion in 2017 -- is expected to reach US$10 trillion in the coming five years. Similarly, the internet penetration rate in the country has increased over five times, from a paltry 10.5 percent in 2006. Factors such as the growing middle-class, the prevalence of the internet and smartphones, along with the government's efforts to shift the economy from an export-driven to a consumer-led one, is boosting consumption levels, especially during the holidays.

Notably, local consumption in China has swelled in the last few years to become the biggest driver of China's economy, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics. In 2018, domestic consumption contributed almost 76 percent to the country's economic growth, almost 18 percent higher than in 2017. In addition, the market research firm, eMarketer, found that China will surpass the U.S. to become the largest retail market in the world by the end of this year. The firm's projection states that this year's total retail sales figure would reach an estimated US$5.6 trillion (7.5 percent increase) vs the U.S.' retail sales of US$5.5 trillion (3.3 percent increase). In 2007, China's online retail trade reached US$8.3 billion and has maintained an upward momentum since. Moreover, as indicated in a report by Forrester, an American market research company, China's online retail market is expected to reach up to US$1.8 trillion by 2022, more than double the size of the U.S. market of US$713 billion. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of room for growth as currently only 38 percent of the Chinese population shops online.



The Chinese government has also been working to create a conducive environment for foreign businesses, which are producing and selling products in the local market. The first China International Import Expo was organized last year to improve the country's imports and provide greater market access to foreign firms. Recently, the Chinese government also passed new laws to strengthen and protect the rights of foreign businesses and safeguard the intellectual properties of foreign enterprises. These laws are aimed at creating a more level playing field for foreign companies and attracting more foreign investment.

Although there has been some slowdown in sectors such as auto, real estate, etc. in the first quarter of 2019, the government's recent moves that include tax cuts, the new foreign investment law, extended holidays, etc. to boost consumer spending and to reinvigorate the economy seems to be a prudent one. Also, looking at the overall trend of the Chinese market, it seems that 2019 will yet again witness significant revenue from domestic consumption and tourism, thereby helping China achieve its 6-6.5 percent GDP growth target for the year.

Rachana Gupta is an active blogger, poet and freenlance content writer.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, 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.Thanks to the great weather and numerous policies which now encourage travel, more people are choosing to go on trips during the upcoming Qingming Festival. More than 110 million tourists are expected to travel during the holiday, according to data released by Ctrip, China's leading online travel agency.

Sanya, an international tourist city in Hainan island, which is famous for tropical coastal scenery, is expected to top the list of travel destinations during the Qingming Festival.

The data showed that China received 101 million tourists during the Qingming Festival in 2018, up 8 percent year-on-year, with a total tourism revenue of 42 billion yuan (US$6.25 billion).

Research specialists at Ctrip said that tourists who travel during the Qingming Festival can enjoy a host of benefits such as ticket discounts on various attractions, the opening of more high-speed rail lines, more air routes and more visa-free or visa-on-arrival destinations.

The top 10 cities in terms of the strongest consumer spending power in China are Beijing, Qingdao, Chengdu, Shanghai, Wenzhou, Nanchang, Chongqing, Kunming, Nanjing and Hangzhou.

In addition, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are expected to be the most popular destinations for outbound DIY travelers, according to Ctrip data.

Let's take a look at the top 10 hottest destinations during the Qingming Festival:

10. XishuangbannaYou are here: World

 Flash

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his resignation on Tuesday, weeks before his presidential term expires on April 28, official APS news agency reported.

The Constitutional Council, however, is due to hold an urgent meeting to validate Bouteflika's resignation before making it official, APS said.

First elected to the presidency in 1999, Bouteflika was re-elected in 2014 for a fourth five years of term.

When Bouteflika announced his decision to seek a fifth term in February, mass protests erupted across Algeria demanding his withdrawal of this decision.Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. Areas of patchy fog. High 68F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 43F. Winds light and variable.TORONTO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX:AGI; NYSE:AGI) (Alamos or the Company) is pleased to announce that its Mulatos mine produced its two millionth ounce of gold in March 2019. This milestone also marks the end of the 5% NSR royalty that the operation has been paying since the start of production in 2005. At the current gold price, this represents a savings of approximately $65 per ounce, which has already been incorporated into previously disclosed guidance.

This past week also marked the completion of a voluntary relocation of residents of the town of Mulatos to Matarachi which began in 2016. Alamos worked closely with the community during this relocation, investing in several projects that will provide long-term benefits, including the construction of 21 new homes, as well as a new education centre, church, and medical clinic. The Company is proud of these investments and this past week participated in an opening ceremony for these new facilities with the community of Matarachi and several key government officials including Jorge Vidal, Secretary of Economy of the State of Sonora representing the Governor Claudia Pavlovich; Yvonne Stinston, General Director of Mining Development of the Federal Government; and Berenice Porchas, Mayor of Sahuaripa.

The Mulatos operation has been an incredible success story. It started producing gold in 2005 with approximately a seven-year mine life and 14 years later, the mine still has six years of reserves ahead of it. We would like to acknowledge all our employees, the local communities, and elected officials for their continued support in helping us achieve this significant milestone. The Mulatos District still holds great potential and we look forward to many more years of profitable production, said John A. McCluskey, President and Chief Executive Officer.

About Alamos

Alamos is a Canadian-based intermediate gold producer with diversified production from four operating mines in North America. This includes the Young-Davidson and Island Gold mines in northern Ontario, Canada and the Mulatos and El Chanate mines in Sonora State, Mexico. Additionally, the Company has a significant portfolio of development stage projects in Canada, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States. Alamos employs more than 1,700 people and is committed to the highest standards of sustainable development. The Companys shares are traded on the TSX and NYSE under the symbol AGI.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Scott K. Parsons

Vice President, Investor Relations

(416) 368-9932 x 5439

All amounts are in United States dollars, unless otherwise stated.

The TSX and NYSE have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note

This news release contains statements which are, or may deemed to be, forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws (forward-looking statement(s)). All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, which address events, results, outcomes or developments that Alamos expects to occur are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", is expected "believes", "anticipates", "will", "intends", "estimates", "forecast", "budget" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at the time of making such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, legal, political and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Such factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining and maintaining necessary licenses, permits and authorizations; changes to current estimates of mineral reserves and resources; fluctuations in the price of gold; changes in foreign exchange rates (particularly the Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar); the impact of inflation; expropriation or nationalization of property; availability of and increased costs associated with mining inputs and labour; contests over title to properties; changes in national and local government legislation (including tax legislation), controls or regulations and risk of loss due to sabotage and civil disturbances.

Additional risk factors affecting the Company are set out in the Companys latest Form 40-F/ Annual Information Form and MD&A, each under the heading Risk Factors, available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov., and should be reviewed in conjunction with this. The foregoing should be reviewed in news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.HIGHLIGHTS

Northisle and its farm-out party, Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc., are launching a second exploration campaign on the Pemberton Hills target

The Pemberton Hills target is a 3.5km by 1.5km area of advanced argillic alteration similar to that observed at Northisles 100%-owned Hushamu and Red Dog copper-gold deposits

In 2018, the exploration first program consisted of approximately 13km of Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical survey which was then followed by 3,400m of drilling consisting in 7 holes

For 2019, the initial exploration program will consist of approximately 24km of IP surveying as well as geological, geochemical and clay studies designed to define drill targets for a second phase of drilling later in the year

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northisle Copper and Gold Inc. (TSX-V:NCX) (Northisle or the Company) is pleased to announce the launch of its second exploration campaign at its Pemberton Hills Property, located in British Columbia, subject to a farm-out agreement with Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. (Freeport).

John McClintock, President and CEO of Northisle stated: We are very pleased with the progress made on our Pemberton Hills Property following the 2018 commencement of its venture with Freeport in early 2018 and with the technical support they have provided. We believe that Freeports decision to continue with a second exploration campaign in 2019 demonstrates Freeports continued interest in our tenements. Pemberton Hills is one of several early-stage exploration targets on our extensive property holdings in this extensive copper-gold district.

As shown in the figure above, the geophysical program will test the northern and eastern extensions of advanced argillic alteration located within the same geological terrain that extends west-northwest from BHP Billitons past producing Island Copper Mine. The alteration at Pemberton is very similar to that at the nearby Hushamu and Red Dog deposits and in porphyry copper systems found elsewhere in the world.

The initial 2019 exploration program will consist of approximately 24 kilometres of Induced Polarization surveying as well as geological mapping, geochemical and clay studies designed to identify drill targets for a second phase of drilling later in the year.

ABOUT THE PEMBERTON HILLS PROPERTY FARM-OUT AGREEMENT

A farm-out agreement was entered into with Freeport in early 2018, dividing the initial property held by Northisle as illustrated in the figure above. Under the terms of the agreement, as announced on February 26, 2018, Freeport may, at its election, earn up to a 65% interest in the Pemberton Hills Property by funding a total of $23.9 million in exploration expenditures, while Northisle retains a 100% interest in its Hushamu and Red Dog copper-gold deposits and surrounding areas, for which a Preliminary Economic Assessment was published on September 13, 2017. As at December 31, 2018, Freeport spent $1.5 million on the portion of the property subject to its earn-in agreement.

ABOUT THE 100%-OWNED HUSHAMU PROJECT

The 100%-owned Hushamu Project consists of the Hushamu and nearby Red Dog deposits, with Mineral Resources summarized in the below table.

Table 1: Hushamu Project Resources as at December 31, 2018

Tonnes,

'000 Grade Contained Metal Cu, % Au, g/t Mo, % Re, ppm Cu Eq, % Cu, B lb Au, Moz Mo, M lb Re, Kg x 1000 Cu eq, B lb Au eq, Moz Red Dog Indicated 36,568 0.27 0.38 0.005 0.52 0.22 0.45 4.0 0.42 0.99 Inferred 1,774 0.20 0.30 0.003 0.39 0.01 0.02 0.1 0.02 0.04 Hushamu Indicated 305,180 0.24 0.28 0.008 0.54 0.43 1.62 2.75 53.8 165 2.92 6.97 Inferred 189,640 0.19 0.24 0.007 0.35 0.36 0.79 1.46 29.3 66 1.49 3.56 Total Indicated 341.743 0.24 0.29 0.008 0.48 0.44 1.83 3.2 57.8 165 3.34 7.96 Inferred 190,788 0.19 0.24 0.007 0.35 0.36 0.80 1.48 29.4 66 1.51 3.60 Mineral Resource estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") definitions standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The NI 43-101 reports co-authored by P Burt PGeo and B Game PGeo documenting the resource estimate available on the companys website and filed on SEDAR. Reported tonnage and grade figures have been rounded from raw estimates to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate. Minor variations may occur during the addition of rounded numbers. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Copper and gold equivalent calculated using US$3.10/lb Cu, US$1300/oz Au and US$9.00/lb Mo and is not adjusted for mining and metallurgical recoveries as these remain uncertain. The formula used is as follows: CuEQ = (Cu% x 22.0462 x 3.10) + (Au g/t x 1300.00/ 31.1035) + (Mo% x 22.0462 x 9.00)/22.046x3.1. AuEQ =(Cu% x 22.0462 x 3.10) + (Au g/t x 1300.00/ 31.1035) + (Mo% x 22.0462 x 9.00)/(1300/31.1035). Rhenium values have not been used in the cut-off grade or Cu or gold Equivalent calculations.

In September 2017, Northisle published the results of a PEA which demonstrated the potential technical and economic viability of the project constructed as an open-pit mine, with a concentrator processing nominally 75,000 tonnes/day (27Mtpa) with the results summarized in the below table.

Table 2: Hushamu Project PEA Summary

LIFE OF MINE PHYSICALS Mine life, years 22 years Strip ratio, w:o 0.72 Throughput 27.4Mtpa Mining inventory 600Mtpa Copper grade 0.18% Gold grade 0.24g/t Molybdenum grade 0.01% Pyrite grade 9% LOM production Copper 1.9B lb Gold 1.8Moz Molybdenum 55M lb Pyrite 17B lb Copper equivalent, M lb pa 3.1B lb Gold equivalent, koz 7.4Moz AVERAGE ANNUAL PRODUCTION Copper, M lb 82M lb Gold, koz 79koz Molybdenum, M lb 3M lb Pyrite, kt 0.64Kt Copper equivalent, M lb 141M lb Gold equivalent, koz 335koz AVERAGE ANNUAL PRODUCTION COSTS Copper C1 Cash Costs net of by-products, US$/lb $0.88/lb Copper AISC net of by-products, US$/lb $1.22/lb Copper equivalent AISC, US$/lb Cu eq $2.00/lb Gold equivalent AISC, US$/oz Au eq $840/oz ECONOMICS After-tax NPV 5% , US$M $757m After-tax NPV 8% , US$M $413m After-tax IRR, % 14% The commodity prices used are as follows: US$ 3.10/lb Cu, US$ 1,300/oz Au, US$ 9.00/lb Mo, US$ 9/t Py with a CAD/USD of 0.75. For more information, please consult the 2017 PEA available on SEDAR under the Companys profile or on Northisles website.

For more information on Northisle please visit the Companys website at www.Northisle.ca.

John McClintock, P. Eng is the Qualified Person who reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release.

On behalf of Northisle Copper and Gold Inc.

John McClintock

John McClintock, P. Eng

President, CEO and Director

www.northisle.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon the reasonable beliefs of Northisle and its management as of the date of this news release; however, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based upon factors that may change and assumptions that may prove, with the passage of time, to be incorrect as a result of exploration and other risk factors associated with mineral exploration and development that are beyond the control of Northisle. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon such statements. If factors materially change or assumptions are materially incorrect, the actual results, performance or achievements of Northisle may be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Northisle does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Northisle Copper and Gold Inc. | 15th Floor, 1040 West Georgia Street | Vancouver, BC | V6E 4H1

www.northisle.ca | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Flash

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tuesday he was "100 percent" ready to close the southern border if no deal is reached with Congress on immigration reform.



"If they don't or if we don't make a deal with Congress, the border's going to be closed. A hundred percent," Trump told the press at the White House.

Trump said the United States is "maxed out" in processing illegal immigrants, and that it was "a very unfair thing."

The U.S. president blamed the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador for failing to check the stream of immigrants traveling into the United States, threatening to cut off aid to these countries.

"They don't do anything for us ... we're giving hundreds of millions of dollars to these three countries," Trump said.

"They arrange these caravans, and they don't put their best people in those caravans," Trump said. "We're not going to have it anymore."

Trump's remarks fortified speculations that the United States may take the drastic measure despite risking undermining the economy.

Earlier Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said closing the southern border is possibly the "best decision."

"It may be that it's the best decision that we close the border," Sanders told the press. "Democrats are leaving us absolutely no choice at this point."

Neither Trump nor Sanders mentioned a timeline for such a move, although Trump previously suggested that it could be as early as this week.

The threats are a continuation of a prolonged campaign from Trump to tackle illegal immigrants entering the United States, a centerpiece of his presidential campaign promise. Over the past two years, he has clashed with the Democratic party over related issues such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the border wall, and immigration reform.LIBERTY LAKE, Wash., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hunt Mining Corp. (the Corporation or Hunt) (TSX VENTURE: HMX OTCQB: HGLD) announces the filing of the Corporations audited 10-K for year-end 2018 on EDGAR in the United States, as well as the MD&A and Financials on SEDAR in Canada, both filed April 1, 2019.

The Corporation recognized a net loss of US$3.56 million in fiscal year 2018 on concentrate net sales of $3,961,399, given the costs associated with the shift from the Martha property to the La Josefina Gold / Silver Project initiated. In 2018, Hunts exploration and development team focused on metallurgical tests at the Ailin vein, a well explored part of the La Josefina Project, and one of numerous principal vein structures located on the Estancia La Josefina that the Corporation has owned since 2006. The Corporation has been encouraged by the results of the metallurgical test shipments and the way mineralized material has responded to flotation milling at the Martha mill.

Hunt was pleased with how well the Martha infrastructure functioned in 2018 as a result of the capital improvements made in 2016 and 2017. The effectiveness of these improvements has surpassed managements original estimates.

In calendar year 2017, Hunt Mining Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Cerro Cazador S.A. (CCSA), sold more than $9.2 million worth of silver-gold concentrate produced at the Martha flotation mill, partially from known remnants that came with the acquisition of the Martha property, yet largely resulting from the discovery of the Martha Oeste vein previously unknown.

Martha - Ongoing activity at the Martha Project is being undertaken without established mineral resources or reserves and the Corporation has not established the economic viability of the operations on the Martha Project. As a result, there is increased uncertainty and economic risk of failure associated with these activities. Hunt filed an updated NI 43-101 Technical Report (Technical Report) for the Martha Project, dated October 12, 2018 titled Martha Silver and Gold Project, Santa Cruz, Argentina, which is currently available on SEDAR and on the Corporations website at:

http://www.huntmining.com/sites/default/files/2018-10/MM%20TR_2018_HUNTMINING_12Oct18.pdf

Additional information on the Martha Project and other Santa Cruz, Argentina projects can be viewed on the Company website at: www.huntmining.com. To review the Corporations 2018 10-K, go to SEC.gov or http://www.huntmining.com/index.php/investors/reports

About Hunt Mining

Hunt Mining Corp. has continued to develop its properties as an active and aggressive explorer in Santa Cruz since 2006. During that time, Hunt's wholly owned subsidiary, Cerro Cazador S.A., has completed exploration activity including 62,000 meters of HQ core drilling, 416 line kilometers of Induced Polarization geophysical surveys and more than 20,000 surface soil, sediment, channel, chip, and trench samples, beyond the historical work previous to the same properties. Hunt also owns a 100% interest in the Martha Mine, located in the Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.

For more information contact:

Dean Stuart

Investor Relations

T: (403) 617-7609

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bob Little

Chief Administration Officer

T: (509) 290-5659

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the TSX Venture nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Battery Metals Ltd. (formerly Redzone Resources Ltd.) (the Company or Global Battery Metals) (TSXV: GBML) announces that it proposes to complete a non-brokered private placement (the Offering) of up to 3,125,000 units (Units) at a price of $0.16 per Unit to raise aggregate gross proceeds of up to $500,000. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company (a Common Share) and one-half of one share purchase warrant, with each whole share purchase warrant entitling the holder to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.24 for a period of 2 years. Insiders of the Company may subscribe for up to 25% of the Offering. The Offering remains subject to the receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals. The Company may pay a finders fee to certain eligible registrants assisting in connection with the Offering in an amount to be determined.

We are delighted to have the confidence and support of a new strategic group of investors as we move forward with our corporate strategy, stated Michael Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Battery Metals. This investment accelerates our goal of becoming a world class resource company working to supply the raw materials that make up the battery supply chain and the timing could not be better.

It is anticipated that this private placement is currently fully subscribed. The funds will be used to begin drilling at the Fortner Boyd Lithium property in Arizona, where a drill permit and bond are in place. The Company expects to be drilling in short order. Additionally, the Company plans to do more work on its North West Leinster property in Ireland to allow it to decide about whether or not to exercise its purchase option.

About Global Battery Metals Ltd.

Global Battery Metals is a mineral exploration company with a focus on metals that make up and support the rapid evolution to battery power. Global Battery Metals currently has three projects: (1) Fortner-Boyd lithium project in Arizona, (2) North-West Leinster lithium property in Ireland and (3) a 55-per-cent stake in the Peru-based Lara copper property, which has over 10,000 metres of drilling.

Michael Murphy, Global Battery 1-604-649-2350

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sherman Dahl, Pretium Group 250 -558 8340

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

Forward Looking Statements  Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties including without limitation, the risk that the Offering may not be completed, as to the size of the Offering, whether it will be fully subscribed, insider participation and proposed uses of proceeds. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, dependence upon regulatory approvals, and the availability of financing. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.TORONTO, April 3, 2019 /CNW/ - First Cobalt Corp. (TSXV: FCC)(ASX: FCC)(OTCQX: FTSSF) (the "Company") today announced it has successfully produced a battery grade cobalt sulfate using the First Cobalt Refinery flowsheet. This significant milestone brings the Company closer to recommissioning the only permitted primary cobalt refinery in North America. With this information, discussions currently underway with automotive companies, cobalt miners and capital providers can now move to a more advanced stage.

Highlights

Product assayed 20.8% cobalt, surpassing the reference grade for sulfate pricing

Product classified as "high purity", achieving over 99.9% purity

Test work carried out in single batches, offering ample opportunity to improve product specifications to meet offtake partner requirements through process optimization

Potential to produce up to 2,000 tonnes of cobalt in product per annum as the process excluded use of autoclave circuit, allowing for increase in plant throughput

Near term cash flow potential 18-24 months from sourcing of feedstock, milestone advances these negotiations, as well as offtake discussions

Trent Mell, President & Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Producing a battery grade cobalt sulfate is one of our most significant accomplishments as the majority of refined cobalt for the electric vehicle market is produced in Asia. With no cobalt sulfate production in North America today, First Cobalt stands to become the first such producer for the American electric vehicle market.

"For our shareholders, this development brings us closer to cash flow and will be our top priority in the year ahead. Third party studies have confirmed that the permitted facility could be recommissioned in 18-24 months. Furthermore, the cobalt hydroxide used in these tests is currently sold at approximately 60% of the prevailing cobalt price which could offer good margin opportunities based on the findings of the previously released restart study.

"We are encouraged by the interest shown in this strategic asset by cobalt miners and EV companies alike and intend to move swiftly to secure long-term feed supply and offtake contracts. We are currently exploring a number of non-dilutive financing options for the capital requirements to restart the facility. We intend to have further updates on all aspects of the project over the next quarter as we complete these discussions."

Image 1. Cobalt sulfate produced using First Cobalt Refinery flowsheet





Henrik Fisker, First Cobalt Director and Chairman and CEO of Fisker Inc., also commented:

"Electric vehicle demand in North America will keep growing as companies such as Fisker Inc. continue to introduce new, affordable EV models to the market. Automakers and battery manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure any materials we use in our batteries are sourced in an ethical way. The First Cobalt team is dedicated to ensuring projects maintain the highest standards of ethical mining practices and environmental protection. The restart of the First Cobalt Refinery is an important step towards producing battery materials in America with a clean record from mine to machine."

The First Cobalt Refinery is the only permitted primary cobalt refinery in North America and is ideally suited to treat North American arsenic-rich mine concentrate. Given the abundance of this higher grade material in the market, the Company has been testing third party cobalt hydroxide as an alternative source of feed.

Today's results confirm that the existing processes in the First Cobalt Refinery are indeed capable of producing a high purity, battery grade cobalt sulfate.

SGS Canada was engaged to test cobalt hydroxide using the processes in the current refinery flowsheet to assess its suitability as feedstock (see November 8, 2018 press release). Tests simulated the existing circuits to determine the ability to produce a cobalt sulfate heptahydrate ("cobalt sulfate"), a critical component of lithium-ion batteries.

The current Refinery flowsheet includes an autoclave circuit as well as a number of solvent extraction ("SX") lines for treating various elements, followed by product precipitation and filtration stages. Test work concludes that processing cobalt hydroxide feed would not require the reactivation of the Refinery's autoclaves, providing an opportunity for higher production potential than projected in an independent study prepared by Primero Group. The cobalt hydroxide feed tested in this program had head grades in excess of 20% cobalt. By contrast, many other sources of cobalt hydroxide have head grades approaching 30% cobalt, providing yet another opportunity for higher production.

Commissioned in 1996, the refinery is located in Ontario, Canada, a few hours north by road or rail from the US border. Once operational, the Refinery would become the only North American producer of refined cobalt for the North American EV market.

Given the strong cash flow projections derived from the Primero Group study, the Company believes that a restart of the refinery could be financed by non-equity sources of capital, limiting dilution for shareholders and generating a steady source of cash flow to fund future activities at the flagship Iron Creek Project in Idaho, USA. The Company has received significant interest from miners and automotive companies and today's results will allow these discussions to advance to the next stage. First Cobalt's objective is secure a long term feed purchase agreement, offtake for the sale of refined cobalt and financing for the capital requirements. It is estimated that the refinery could be operational 18-24 months from the selection of a feed source.

Image 2. Refinery is located 600km north of Canada-U.S. border

The Company has engaged Ausenco, a global consulting, engineering, project delivery and asset operations, management and optimization solutions firm to the minerals & metals, oil & gas and industrial sectors to work in partnership with SGS Canada on this next phase. The next step towards a potential restart of the First Cobalt Refinery will include detailed engineering to assess further refinements to the flowsheet and circuit optimizations to maximize potential output.

First Cobalt Refinery

The First Cobalt Refinery is a hydrometallurgical cobalt refinery in the Canadian Cobalt Camp, approximately 600 kilometres from the U.S. border. The First Cobalt Refinery has the potential to produce either a cobalt sulfate for the lithium-ion battery market or cobalt metal for the North American aerospace industry or other industrial and military applications.

In late 2018, the Company released the results of three independent studies undertaken to estimate capital requirements, operating costs, permit renewal timelines, potential feedstock options and offtake opportunities. At a 24 tonne per day feed rate and using the current flowsheet, the capital cost of the restart is estimated at US$25.7M (including a 30% contingency) and a permitting review concluded that a restart is possible within 18 months of selecting a feedstock.

The Company is engaged in discussions with companies specializing in the marketing and sourcing of concentrates to secure sources of ethically produced cobalt as feedstock for the First Cobalt Refinery.

Image 3. Exterior and property footprint of the First Cobalt Refinery

A corporate video featuring the First Cobalt Refinery in Ontario, Canada is available on the Company's website at: Click Here.

A final decision on whether to put the Refinery back into production has not been made at this time and any decision is contingent on the outcome of the foregoing studies as well as the Company's ability to source viable feedstock.

Refinery Restart Studies

On October 10, 2018, the Company announced the results of three studies supporting a restart of the First Cobalt Refinery. Primero Group, an Australian engineering firm with an office in Montreal, Canada, was engaged to conduct a desktop study to estimate the capital and operating costs to operate the First Cobalt Refinery in its current configuration at various throughput rates, available at: Click Here.

As part of their study, Primero estimated the replacement value of the refinery building at various throughput rates, including the existing nameplate capacity of 24 tpd and an expansion scenario at 50 tpd. Primero's results ranged from US$53M to US$143M, inclusive of a 30% contingency (see Table 1). In both instances, replacement estimates were limited to the refinery building and did not include site level infrastructure, including roadways, power lines and the tailings management facility. The value of the permits was also excluded for purposes of this exercise.

Table 1. Replacement Value of First Cobalt Refinery (excluding site infrastructure) DESCRIPTION COST (US$ MILLION) 24 TPD

(Base Case) 50 TPD Mechanical Cost 17.99 30.41 Discipline, Infrastructure, Buildings 30.04 50.79 Total Direct Cost 48.03 81.20 Indirect Cost 16.87 28.52 Total Direct and Indirect Cost 64.90 109.72 Contingency (30%) 19.47 32.92 Total Project Cost 84.37 142.64

The Company's base case scenario would be to resume refinery operations at a rate of 24 tpd, for which Primero has estimated a capital cost of US$20M plus a US$6M contingency (see Table 2). This estimate is subject to review once the Company has selected a feedstock, which could entail minor modifications to the flowsheet.

Table 2. Restart Capital Estimate (3Q18, -30%/+50%) DESCRIPTION COST (US$ MILLION) 24 TPD

(Base Case) Mechanical Cost 3.88 Discipline, Infrastructure, Buildings 11.33 Total Direct Cost 15.22 Indirect Cost 4.57 Total Direct and Indirect Cost 19.78 Contingency (30%) 5.94 Total Cost with Contingency 25.72

Primero estimated annual operating costs for the Refinery based on similar projects, with amendments to match the First Cobalt Refinery flowsheet. Annual operating costs under the 24 tpd base case scenario were estimated at US$6.8M per year (see Table 3).

The costs presented in the report are a factored estimate, designated as an FEL 1 and AACE Class 5 (order of magnitude) estimate with an indicative accuracy range of -30%/+50%, and are based on previous historical data metrics from similar projects. Costs are typically based on first principles but as feed characteristics are undecided at this time, the operating costs provided in Table 3 are indicative only.

Table 3. Operating cost estimates (3q18, -30%/+50%) COST ITEM ANNUAL COST (US$) 24 TPD

(Base Case) Sulphuric acid 126,144 Lime 331,128 Sodium Hydroxide 118,260 General Reagents/Consumables 462,758 SX reagents 262,636 Water and water treatment 61,183 Assay/Laboratory consumables 96,251 Grid power 740,151 Natural Gas 77,000 Labour 1,383,283 General expenses 1,685,052 Maintenance Materials 1,112,590 Contract Services 288,752 Total 6,745,188

Image 4. First Cobalt Refinery Aerial View

For purposes of Primero's baseline study, it was assumed that North American arsenic-rich feed stock would be used to produce a cobalt carbonate product. However, as First Cobalt is now considering cobalt hydroxide feed for the production of battery grade cobalt sulfate, the flowsheet would be modified to include a cobalt crystallization circuit at an additional capital cost estimate of US$2.5 million. The base case operating scenario in the Primero study and the modified operating scenario anticipated with a cobalt hydroxide feed is outlined in Table 4.

Table 4. Operating Scenarios at 24 tpd1 Cobalt Concentrate (Primero Base Case) Cobalt Hydroxide2 (30% cobalt grade) FEED PROCESSED TONNES 8,760 8,760 HEAD GRADES CO % 15.0 30 NI % 10.5 - AVAILABILITY % 90 90 RECOVERIES CO % 90 90 NI % 90 - PRODUCTION CO TONNES 1,064 2,129 NI TONNES 745 -

1 Concentrate metal content fed into the First Cobalt Refinery will vary dependent upon feed source. A range of potential production rates for each option is provided. A mass pull to concentrate of 6% has been assumed. 2 The cobalt hydroxide scenario has been modelled by swapping out concentrate for hydroxide on a tonne-for-tonne basis. The company has not completed any detailed engineering studies at this time.

The Company engaged a third party permitting and environmental consultant to review the state of current permits and timeline for a restart. The review found that the Refinery would require a new permit to take water but that all other major permits are in place. Subject to certain modifications and amendments, it is believed that an 18 to 24-month period would be sufficient to renew and amend all necessary permits to restart the refinery. An order of magnitude cost estimate for the approval process is estimated at approximately $1 million.

With respect to existing tailings capacity, it was noted that the autoclave pond has not been fully constructed and has an estimated 40,000 m3 (approximately 70,000 tonnes assuming a specific gravity of 1.74 tonnes per cubic metre) of remaining permitted capacity yet to be constructed. Operating at 24 tpd, the autoclave pond would reach capacity after eight years. Thereafter, the Company could avail itself of 80 acres to the north of the Refinery for additional tailings storage capacity. The primary settling pond is also not yet constructed to its full capacity and it was noted that doing so would improve discharge water quality through additional retention time and increased capacity for water storage.

Image 5. Tailings Expansion Area  Partial View

First Cobalt also engaged a leading cobalt market research company to advise the Company on (1) indicative commercial terms for a variety of feedstock options for the refinery, and (2) potential offtake terms for cobalt products after the refining process is completed. The report identified three primary sources of potential feedstock and highlighted the high quantities of ethically-sourced cobalt hydroxide material. The study considered offtake markets for final product as the refinery could produce a cobalt sulfate for the battery market or it could produce cobalt metal for the aerospace, military and industrial sectors. Current indications are that pricing for cobalt sulfate is generally in line with cobalt metal.

Detailed Test Results  Cobalt Sulfate

The first stage of metallurgical testing was intended to determine leach characteristics of the hydroxide sample and to closely track deleterious elements. The cobalt hydroxide sample graded 23.2% Co, 3.45% Mg, 3.27% Mn, 2.4% Fe, 1.6% Cu and 1% Si, while all other deleterious elements graded significantly less than 1% each. The sample leached well, easily leaching 98% of cobalt from the cobalt hydroxide under atmospheric conditions.

The second stage of testing aimed to improve the quality of the leach liquor through the removal of deleterious elements using an impurity SX step. Work primarily focused on reducing Mn, Mg, Ca, and Zn while preserving Co.

The third stage of testing involved cobalt SX and, as expected, higher cobalt loadings were achieved at higher pH levels, with 96% of the cobalt being loaded in a single contact at pH 5.5 and achieving a concentration of ~7 g/L. The organic was then scrubbed to remove deleterious elements that were co-loaded on the organic along with the cobalt. The scrub tests successfully removed approximately 90% of the loaded Mg in a single pass.

Once scrubbed, the organic was stripped of cobalt with H 2 SO 4 until stable, at approximately pH 2.55-2.75. Copper in the strip liquor was addressed through ion exchange using XUS 43578, an ion exchange resin, which reduced Cu in the liquor to less than 0.2 mg/L. Finally, Mn was further reduced through Caro's acid precipitation. Mn in the liquor dropped from 136 mg/L to 3.69 mg/L effectively removing ~97% of the Mn in the very first round.

Finally, the remaining strip liquor was boiled down and cooled to allow cobalt sulfate heptahydrate crystals to form.

All tests were done as single batches providing ample room for optimization of operating parameters and process improvements as would be experienced in a continuous operation like the First Cobalt Refinery.

Qualified and Competent Person Statement

Peter Campbell, P.Eng., is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 who has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Mr. Campbell is also a Competent Person (as defined in the JORC Code, 2012 edition) who is a practicing member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario (being a 'Recognised Professional Organisation' for the purposes of the ASX Listing Rules). Mr. Campbell is employed on a full-time basis as Vice President, Business Development for First Cobalt. He has sufficient experience relevant to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code. The term "Competent Person" is not recognised by Canadian securities regulatory authorities, and the term is used by the Company with reference to the JORC Code, and to ensure compliance with the ASX Listing Rules and applicable reporting requirements in Australia.

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 studying 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.Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. (TSXV: MXR) (OTC Pink: MXROF) (FSE: M1D1) (the "Company") is pleased to report that, at the Special Meeting of Shareholders held on April 2, 2019, shareholders adopted a special resolution approving the transaction with Noble Metals Limited ("Noble") and its wholly-owned subsidiary Condoto Platinum Limited ("Condoto") (the "Transaction"). The Company has also received approval from the Board of Noble for the execution of the Transaction.

Transaction highlights include:

The acquisition by MAX of 100% rights to mineral claims and mineral applications held by Noble and, more importantly, the "Novita Agreement", an exclusive right of first refusal to the mineral rights and mining rights over 1,050 sq. km held by the Novita Higher Community Council as sole owners of the land and minerals.

The Novita Agreement area encompasses or is adjacent to the Company's Choco Precious Metals Project, which covers an area of 1,757 sq. km, located 100 km SW of Medellin, Colombia.

Established infrastructure, including a fully operation 30-man exploration camp at the town of Novita.

The Choco Precious Metals Project covers or is adjacent to historic surface production of 1.5Mozs of gold and 1.0Mozs of platinum by Compania Minera del Choco Pacifico between 1906 and 1990. (Source: R.J. Fletcher and Associates (2011) Review of Gold and Platinum Exploration and Production in Choco Province Colombia Part 3. Private Report for Condoto Platinum Ltd).

The Company advises that mineralization hosted on adjacent properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's Choco Precious Metals Project.

Brett Matich, Max's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Shareholder approval of the Noble Transaction represents a major milestone for the Company. This transaction secures a major ground position in a world class precious metals province."

The Transaction

The Transaction is described in a definitive asset purchase agreement (the "Transaction Agreement") dated effective February 8, 2019, pursuant to which the Company has agreed to purchase a bundle of resource exploration assets located in the Choco Department of Colombia between Noble, Condoto, a local Colombian branch of Condoto (known as a "Sucursal") and the Novita Higher Community Council. In consideration for these assets, MAX has agreed to pay the sum of C$500,000 and to issue to Noble 26,665,896 MAX common shares (the "Acquisition Shares").

At the Special Meeting, the Company's shareholders adopted an additional special resolution to approve Noble as a 'Control Person' of the Company as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company anticipates that Noble will become a Control Person when the Acquisition Shares are issued upon the completion of the Transaction because, at closing, Noble will hold 29.2% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company. The Transaction remains subject to conditions within the Transaction Agreement and the TSX Venture Exchange conditional approval letter.

About Max Resource Corp.

MAX Resource Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the development of prospective projects in the rich mineral belts of Colombia. The Company has established significant exploration infrastructure and local community support for two very large prospective Colombian projects: the Choco Precious Metals Project, located 100 kms south of Medellin, which covers or is adjacent to historic production of 1.5Mozs gold and 1.0Mozs platinum and the Gachala Copper Project, located 60 kms east of Bogota.

The Company is led by a seasoned management team with a track record of significant discovery and exploration success.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MAX RESOURCE CORP.

"Brett Matich"

Brett Matich, CEO and President

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.maxresource.com

or the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com

If you would like to be added to Max Resources' news distribution list, please send your email address to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more information contact:

Brett Matich, CEO and President Tel: (+1) 604 365-1522

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Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements pertaining to completion of the Transaction and any approvals required in connection with the Acquisition. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in the price of commodities (particularly copper), unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general social, economic or geo-political conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.Provides Insight into Corporate Strategy and Outlook

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2019) - Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF) today says it has recently shifted focus to look for more innovative methods of financing exploration that do not dilute shareholders' interests in the Company. This approach, and other aspects of the Company's corporate strategy and outlook, are outlined in the Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") released today together with the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018.

In its 2018 MD&A, the Company says that the resource market has lately improved somewhat, especially for base metals, and copper in particular.

"However, given the ongoing scarcity of funds available to finance mineral exploration, over the past year the Company has raised modest amounts of capital (with the goal of minimizing shareholder dilution), through the limited use of convertible debentures and a small private placement. Work on the Company's properties in 2018 was consequently constrained by a lack of funds."

More recently, the Company says, Quaterra has shifted focus to look for more innovative methods of financing exploration that do not dilute shareholders' interest in the Company. The recent sale of certain primary ground water rights by Quaterra's Yerington, Nevada-based subsidiary, Singatse Peak Services LLC ("SPS"), for $6.02 million is an outcome of that strategy.

"In addition to providing non-dilutive funds for ongoing exploration, the price achieved in the recent sale has the added advantage of placing a value of about $20 million on the Company's remaining primary ground water rights, which should go some way to placing a floor under the Company's market capitalization," the Company says in the MD&A. SPS retains about 6,700 acre-feet per year of primary ground water permitted for mining and milling at its 51-square-mile Yerington property. In addition, SPS also has substantial decree, supplemental and storage water rights associated with private land that it has under option.

The Company has focused on initiating a prefeasibility study at the MacArthur open-pit, copper oxide deposit located in the north of its Yerington property. This decision has been driven by an independent review of opportunities to optimize the near-term production potential at MacArthur as laid out in a 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") prepared by M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation of Tucson, Arizona, and the identification of several areas for potential improvement. Better market fundamentals, a better understanding of the geology at Yerington, and investor appetite for near-term oxide-leach projects also played a role in the decision to focus on MacArthur.

Although the initiative at MacArthur is currently the foremost component of Quaterra's strategic plan for its collection of Yerington assets, the longer term goal remains to investigate, consolidate and de-risk the over-all Yerington property by:

Maintaining and further consolidating its large and prospective land position in the historic copper district. The company renegotiated option agreements with certain private land-holders reducing option payments significantly and extending the option period. Additional initiatives are underway to further this goal.

Protecting its remaining 6,700 acre-feet of primary water rights that are already permitted for mining and milling, and the decree, supplemental and storage water rights associated with private land that it has under option.

Continuing, where feasible, targeted exploration of the property, specifically the sulfide system underlying the MacArthur oxide cap, and the large Bear porphyry deposit.

Retaining key staff to advance the company's efforts in the district.

Exploring opportunities for district cooperation and consolidation.

Negotiating an agreement with Atlantic Richfield Company ("ARC") that will allow ARC to complete its remedial activities at the old Yerington mine site, and the Company to move forward with development of the site.

The Company says that as part of its mandate for discovery, Quaterra continues to identify and assess exploration opportunities, provided they can be acquired on reasonable terms, and without the obligation of long-term financial commitments. The focus on exploration opportunities has recently been reinforced by indications that the improvement in commodity markets may be becoming more deeply rooted, bringing prospects for a longer term firming in the price of copper, Quaterra's key underlying commodity.

The financial statements and MD&A are available at www.quaterra.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. This news release should be read in conjunction with those documents. All dollar amounts herein are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.

About Quaterra's Yerington Copper Project

Quaterra's 51-square-mile Yerington Copper Project is located in the historic Yerington Copper District, a mining-friendly jurisdiction with a history of copper production and good infrastructure, about 70 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada. Assets on the property consist of the MacArthur oxide-leach and sulfide copper deposit; the Yerington pit sulfide and oxide deposit previously mined by Anaconda; the Bear porphyry copper system; and several untested exploration targets. The Company has reported oxide and sulfide resources at both MacArthur and the Yerington pit, and the 2012 PEA at MacArthur, all prepared under National Instrument 43-101. Quaterra also owns valuable water rights in the district.

About Quaterra Resources Inc.

Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF) is a copper exploration company with the objective of advancing its U.S. subsidiary's copper projects in the Yerington District, Nevada. Quaterra also holds an option to earn a 90% interest in the Groundhog copper prospect, a 40,000-acre property situated on an established copper porphyry belt 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, and immediately north of the large Pebble copper-gold porphyry project. The Company continues to look for opportunities to acquire copper projects on reasonable terms that have the potential to host large mineral deposits attractive to major mining companies.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Thomas Patton, Chairman & CEO

Quaterra Resources Inc.

For more information please contact:

Karen Robertson, Corporate Communications, 778-898-0057

Gerald Prosalendis, President and COO, Quaterra Resources Inc., 250-940-3581

Thomas Patton, Chairman & CEO, Quaterra Resources Inc., 604-641-2758

email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

website: www.quaterra.com

Disclosure note:

Some statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements under Canadian securities laws and within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified in this news release by words such as "believes", "anticipates", "intends", "has the potential", "expects", and similar language, or convey estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives, potential outcomes, expectations, or goals. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. In particular, forward looking statements in this news release include that the Company will continue to receive funding, that near term opportunities exist to enhance value, that a pre-feasibility study will be completed supporting the development of the MacArthur project, that value can be placed on the Company's remaining water rights, that exploration drilling will be undertaken, that results will define further mineralization or high grade zones; that historical and new exploration will support a resource on the property; and that the Yerington assets have the potential to support mining operations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. A summary of risk factors that apply to the Company's operations are included in our management discussion and analysis filings with securities regulatory authorities, and are publicly available on our website. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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.JUSTICEINFO.NET IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS Philip Gourevitch

Journalist at The New Yorker and author

For the first time Rwandans can look at being in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide with the genocide somewhat behind them, says journalist and writer Philip Gourevitch. How has coexistence on the hills evolved over the past 25 years? What has been the impact of gacaca justice? What does reconciliation and forgiveness mean after mass murder? These are some of the themes Philip Gourevitch discusses in this first part of an interview with JusticeInfo.net.

1  THE LIFE AFTER

JUSTICEINFO.NET: You wrote extensively on the aftermath of the genocide that took place in Rwanda between April and July 1994. Then came the first trials, followed by a mass-scale, extraordinary justice process of community-based courts called gacaca, and an official policy of accountability and reconciliation. 25 years after the genocide of Rwandas Tutsis, we now seem to be in the aftermath of the aftermath. How much of the past still invades the present?

PHILIP GOUREVITCH: We are in a period that I sometimes call the apres-gacaca. Gacaca formally ended in 2012 after ten years. In the minds of many of the communities that went through it, it took a little while to feel that it was not the immediate past. But lets say that, starting then, you went for the first time into a period in which there are still formal structures and attitudes and patterns for describing, discussing, and confronting the past, but there isnt a program that everybody in the country is confronting each other in.

Until the end of gacaca, the genocide was literally still before them. They were going to have to face it. And a lot of the tensions that it created in post-genocide society were overlaid heavily with questions of legal culpability or accountability.

In a sense its the first time where people could just look at being in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide with the genocide somewhat behind them. So thats a big change.

Now, sometimes people say strange things. I had a killer who said to me: It felt very good after I got out of prison from gacaca  he had killed a lot of people  because now I was finished with this business of 1994. And I thought: not so fast, monsieur! That was too easy: you pay a few fines but you still killed thirty people And the survivors are not done. They are still brutally racked and are still reckoning with something else, which is that gacaca, in its complexity, made many trade-offs. Just for one, the motto of the gacaca courts was: truth heals. And the fact is, of course, that the truth also wounds.

Then you go to gacaca and that person decides to confess and gives you a blow by blow description of how they killed these persons.

When I interviewed people in the late 1990s, they might say: I know that so and so killed most of my family  everybody knows in the community. Then you go to gacaca and that person decides to confess and gives you a blow by blow description of how they killed these persons. Suddenly you have this extreme violence re-enacted and reiterated. And, you know, even those survivors who saw extreme violence, by the nature of their survival, most of them were not physically present at the killing of their family members. And so, somebody suddenly tells you: I brutally murdered your mother, I came down the hill, I found her here, I took a club, we smashed her, dragged her over here and threw her in the toilet. Then we went over and there were two little kids

And this is when you are asked to forgive the person.

And this is when you are asked to forgive the person. Its totally re-traumatizing. At that point, you may be ready to say: look, I know this person did it and I am grateful that they are not denying it anymore. But that extra layer of truth took a lot of time to digest.

Since late 1996, you have been going back to the same commune of Taba, in the center of the country, talking to the same people, victims and killers, living side by side, at times some were even under the same roof. In 2009, you wrote that Rwanda is the only nation where hundreds of thousands of people who took part in mass murder live intermingled at every level of society with the families of their victims. Ten years on, how do they live with it, and how do they live with each other?

Aspects of it remind me of individual grief. When somebody unexpectedly loses a dear family member and theyre truly devastated and its all consuming, ten years on, if you meet them, its unlikely they would bring it up. If it was a murder and you bring it up, they might sort of say: weve dealt with that.

Now you hear people who come to Rwanda and say: people never talk about the past. As if an unwillingness to talk to a foreigner youve met for the first time and who asks you about the most traumatic personal, political and societal wounds, necessarily means that you are avoiding it. I find, in fact, that they do talk about it. Its there. Some talk about it quite a bit. But even then, of course, everyone has a limit before they have to pull back and say  well, so  and that always strikes me as sane and healthy, not some kind of fear and silence.

Of course its different for perpetrators and survivors. For perpetrators, the word that is often used instead of trauma is shame. Shame is what has to be managed, after the guilt is. Its an obstacle between you and others. Just like the guilt is.

When you see people who are living together, seemingly all right, does that mean they have really dealt with it or does that mean they havent?

There are plenty of social divisions and social tensions in Rwanda, and some of them map directly onto the genocide, but many of them dont. So the question in a way  and this is the eternal, unanswerable question that I have been wrestling with there  is: when you see people who are living together, seemingly all right, does that mean they have really dealt with it or does that mean they havent?

And you cant tell.

You cant tell. Not in a generalized way. You can tell sometimes, by talking to someone a lot, and by going back to them periodically. But then they say there are things they have dealt with, and others they havent dealt with. And that changes, too, with time: dealt with things can become undealt with again and vice versa.

The fact that a lot of the energy in Rwandas reconstruction has been in public health and economic development, that the circumstances are improving, means people see a purpose in pressing on, they see a reward. And it is more egalitarian on a Hutu/Tutsi level. This is not to say that there isnt a Tutsi elite, and complicated social strata, including by the way a lot of prosperous and influential Hutus. But for instance among the people I visit in Taba, in the extended household of one of the large Hutu families, the generation that was in its thirties and forties in 1994 all took part in the genocide and went to prison, and none of them had ever been to college. Their children go to college  some of them, even with mother or father in prison for genocide. One of the killers told me, before the genocide for petits Hutus like us, that was unthinkable. If the kids do well on the test, they have a chance. If they go to the clinic, theres decent health care. This isnt to say that Rwanda is a paradise by any means or that there arent lots of resentments. It means that social experience today, social possibility, is not simply based in gacaca, or in dealing with ones genocide inheritance, and that makes them feel that some things have changed towards to make things less unfair.

2  THE PRAGMATISM OF RECONCILIATION

A survivor in Taba, Evariste, told you ten years ago: All this reconciliation and the confessionsthats the program of the state. And when a killer comes and asks your pardon you cant do anything else. You pardon him, but you dont really know if it comes from your heart, because you dont really know about the killerif he is asking forgiveness from his heart. And you wrote: Still, Evariste believed that it was better to fake it than not. What is the meaning of reconciliation after genocide?

I was very skeptical. It seemed impossible. Look at the country I come from: the civil war has felt quite unreconciled in the last few years. That was a hundred and fifty years ago, and theres nobody with a living memory, and this is a country where you might say that the South and the North are fairly integrated and reconciled  and yet all these fault lines are there, in our politics, in our society, in our minds and our hearts.

Twenty, never mind twenty-five years ago, the odds that Rwandans would be where they are now within my lifetime seemed very hard to imagine.

Twenty, never mind twenty-five years ago, the odds that Rwandans would be where they are now within my lifetime seemed very hard to imagine. People say: youre just painting a rosy picture and saying theyre all reconciled. That is the last thing Id ever say.

Evariste is the brother-in-law of a killer. The killer was married to his sister, so a Tutsi. In 2009, when I saw Evariste, he said he was very happy as long as the guy was in prison. But now the guy has just come out of prison. Suddenly he is back! Evariste was scared of him still. Then he realized that he is no longer that scary. A big thing to remember here is that unlike killers in normal times who when they get out of prison everyone says uh-oh when will he do it again, the genocidaires did not kill simply of their own impulse when it was prohibited, but only when it was licensed by the state. Some killed afterward to eliminate witnesses who could incriminate them. But it took everyone there a while to realize  oh after trial or prison we dont have to fear them unless they were to retake power. So Evariste said, fine OK, I pardon you, but he wanted nothing more to do with the guy. When I wrote that story that was the truth about where they were at.

Later I went back, many times, and at one point somebody told me: those two now get along, they go and drink together at the market. I asked Evariste: Really? youre drinking with your brother in law? He said yeah. I said: Wait a minute, what about what you told me in 2009? He said: Yes, that was true in 2009.

This is the apres-gacaca that I was talking about. What happened in gacaca did not only happen in gacaca. It happened later. Evariste watched his brother-in-law for a few years; he sees his sister is in a better place than shes ever been; that this guy is no longer the bully of the home and the hill; he is now a cautious guy who tries to help his wife out in the household; he is treating his kids all right; he is not hanging out with the other genocidaires; and hes come back repeatedly asking for forgiveness. So Evariste accepted him. Other survivors told me: Well, thats the brother-in-law, he has family relations, hes got to deal with it  not me, no way.

Is reconciliation an exercise in pragmatism?

Its conceived that wayit demands a kind of pragmatic civility. When you say its a policy of the government, that sounds like saying it is the official story, as if to say immediately that its false.

Thats how the victims seemed to be feeling about it in your 2009 piece

They did, but that also gave them some protection, from themselves. When they said, were only doing this because the state requires it, they didnt say it was wrong  but that they were not reconciled inside themselves to the reconciliation they were enacting on the outside. They didnt physically resist, but their hearts and minds were resistant  they struggled with it. Look, we have taboos on racial slurs in our culture, right? What was normal for many people to say fifty years ago, now at the very least they better say it privately if thats what they still believe, like: I have no choice, its the governments policy, I cant be a racist anymore. At first, people say its PC [politically correct], its social control, its not freedom, its fake, a masquerade  its being suppressed therefore it will come back only stronger. But in fact many people, within a decade of adhering to the taboo, if they heard somebody using the racist word, would have flinched and been offended. Their attitude has changed, their feelings have changed, as a result of policy  and not just their language, which is the outward enactment, but the inner feelings that go with that language.

People live so locally. This is Taba, and they dont care about Akayesu. They care about the guy next door whos still there. Thats how they experienced it.

So there are aspects of this policy that Rwandans accepted and came to appreciate even while they resented its imposition. And this is another interesting thing: people live so locally. This is Taba, and they dont care about Akayesu [the former mayor of Taba, sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1998]. He rarely comes up. They care about the guy next door whos still there. Thats how they experienced it.

Even in 2015/2016, you would ask people about how they dealt with the gacaca and its aftermath, and they would often say: For me, I cant stand seeing this guy, it causes me pain every day, its the government policy, but in general, in the overall community, things are much better. I started to notice people say: Me, Ive still got plenty to complain about, I am still unsettled, but the society as a whole is moving in a much better direction. So I thought thats an interesting perception, especially the fact that it seems consistent. It means youre saying: that killer of my family, or that victim of my family, I cant deal with him; but somebody who may be the killer or victim of somebody else whom I dont know, if I encounter him without having that framework, I can deal with it. But I couldnt in 1994. I couldnt in 2005. So what was a social-political crisis moves toward being a private personal wound to manage, which is still intense, but as a pattern in this post-genocide dynamic that seems to me on the whole preferable to things moving the other way.

Does it mean reconciliation plays out at different levels and changes over time?

Yes, and naturally the government keeps saying its a success, because thats what governments have to do. At one point I talked to Domitille Mutankaganzwa [former Executive Secretary of the National Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions] who was in charge of the whole gacaca court system, and she said: once we get through gacaca we can start having reconciliation. Officially the whole program she was in charge of was supposed to be an instrument of reconciliation. But realistically she understood that what it meant was that it was an instrument laying a groundwork.

Today people can talk to each other about the past, not only in an accusatory or confessional form directly, but in much more social and reconciliatory terms.

Today people can talk to each other about the past, not only in an accusatory or confessional form directly, but in much more social and reconciliatory terms. Theyre dealing with things at a different level than they were fifteen years ago.

3  THE STRUGGLE OF FORGIVENESS

Another major theme that transpires from your writing is forgiveness.

Its inescapable.

In 2009, another survivor, an old lady you had met and interviewed over many years, said: Forgiveness came from a Presidential order. She said that Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, was the one who pardoned them.

A lot of survivors said to me that the formula in gacaca was basically that youre asking forgiveness from the state, first.

So what is asking for forgiveness or granting it in post-genocide Rwanda? How do Rwandans make sense of it?

Its been the hardest question for me. It stumped me for years, and I dont think Ill ever get it entirely. I go back sometimes just to try and understand that a little more  what they think it means to forgive, or to be forgiven for, such offenses. And its not like all Rwandans understand it the same way. Of course, they have very different ideas about it.

I dont know if pardon carries quite the same meaning in French  literally, to give or give up for, a trade-off, and if you ask for what, well, the opposite of forgiving is punishing. And certainly the concept of forgiveness is often entangled with religion. There is much more religious writing about forgiveness than there is secular or legal writing, and either way, the literature really doesnt address certain topics that in Rwanda are routine, like: forgiving your neighbor who was your lifelong friend until the day he hacked your mother and children to bits, and walked home wearing your flip-flops.

You dont have to trust someone to forgive them, restoring trust is an entirely separate question from forgiveness.

What was being asked Rwandans was so extreme. And one thing that took me a while to realize is that they have a very modest idea of what forgiveness means. To me the idea of forgiveness, especially when it was talked about in connection to reconciliation, always sounded like it meant going back to some kind of relationship like the status quo before. But Rwandans say, no no, that requires trust  you dont have to trust someone to forgive them, restoring trust is an entirely separate question from forgiveness. OK, so what does forgiveness require? Pretty much everyone I asked in Rwanda told me the same thing: The most fundamental basis of forgiveness is an internal decision, by the forgiver, to forego revenge  literally to let go of the idea of getting even. I called this modest, a sort of bare minimum, but think about the scale and scope of the offenses and injuries were talking about, and what it would mean for Rwandans not to forgive, and you see its no small thing.

This still leaves many questions: Should you and can you forgive somebody if they dont ask for forgiveness? Doesnt penitence have to come first? What does it mean to forgive somebody who doesnt ask for it? How can you forgive someone for killing someone else  lets say your mother? Can you do that without betraying her?

All this was at play in Rwanda.

There was the formal, or semi-legal, state-driven version of it. And then theres the individual reckoning, which took longer and was a real struggle. In other words, when Evariste says that its better to fake it than to be in conflict, I think the premise that many Rwandans shared and kept going back to when they were angry with these programs and felt they were being pushed to hard, was: the alternative is unacceptable.

Rwandans often say: we have no choice. And this makes them sound both oppressed and fatalistic.

Rwandans often say: we have no choice. And this makes them sound both oppressed and fatalistic. I talked to some people who worked on reconciliation policy in the Rwandan establishment who said: Yes, that means we have been too heavy-handed, we shoved it down their throat too much, because they should feel that it is their choice. And so this is their way of asserting themselves, by saying: We have no choice.

But really, what does no choice mean? It means: we know what the alternative to coexistence is, and thats not an option.

But really, what does no choice mean? It means: we know what the alternative to coexistence is, and thats not an option. So now were stuck with this situation.

And then, slowly, that can lead  in different rhythms and relationships and different people  to ways to find their way back into accepting one another more freely.

One thing that people said to me a lot around that time in 2009 was that it feels terrible to everybody. The killers didnt like to see the survivors, the survivors didnt like to see the killers. But I kept hearing the same thing: its better if we say hello when we pass each other than if we go to the other side of the street, because then were in conflict, we fear each other, we are suspicious and were still enemies. We dont have to be friends, but if were not a threat then other things can, maybe, happen.

Look, all of this is very unfamiliar to me  such extremity in such proximity  and I have to say that it has taken me a long time to accept or believe that these relationships arent essentially so false psychologically  so against the human grain  that they cant be real. As opposed to the idea that they are fragile, manufactured, dependent on a lot of complicated political, social pressures and balancing acts, but also can acquire reality over time.

4  TALKING THE NATION THROUGH WAR AND GENOCIDE

There is a lot of literature on the power of talking about the violence that took place. Rwandans were asked to have an incredible conversation about the crimes committed within their communities, over a very long period of time  about twenty years. Was it liberating for them to talk, or have they just exhausted themselves talking about it?

Thats not necessarily a bad thing  to exhaust it. Like in any relationship when you have a genuine conflict, you either talk about it until you talk yourselves into a new heat, and talk yourselves apart, or until you say this is as far as were going to get, its good enough, and you leave it alone. Is that liberating? Compared to where you started out, yes, but saying good enough hardly feels that way at the time.

Rwandans often complain  not surprisingly  about all that is unsaid. You hear it also from outside commentators, that there is all this non dit, unspoken silences and taboos. And I dont know. I mean, Holocaust survivors didnt speak about the Holocaust even in their own families for the first twenty years. Here, they talked about it a lot.

In a culture where it is said that hiding thoughts and emotions is a cultural value

In most places people bury it totally, and separate physically. And here they havent. Of course it has required the heavy hand of the state. In most cases, it also takes that to bury it.

I dont believe that. I think that Rwandans have been told that to the point that they believe it. I sometimes ask people there who say that: What do you think other people do in the rest of the world? That everybodys running around being incredibly, brutally honest? That in other places that have had devastating communal violence theyre all having touchy-feely encounter groups all day long? And taking each other home for meals? No! In most places people bury it totally, and separate physically. And here they havent. Of course it has required the heavy hand of the state. In most cases, it also takes that to bury it.

It has meant that certain things are talked about less than others. For instance, the war. The genocide happened in the middle of a decade of civil war. The war in Rwanda didnt just last from October 1990 to the genocide, it resumed almost immediately and continued until about 2000-2001 in the Northwest, when you finally had the entire national territory under a single military control again without any internal armed challenge.

When you and I first met in Rwanda, in 1995, people spoke of the war and the genocide. Of course perpetrators tended to speak of the war and not the genocide as if the genocide was only a feature of the war, which was a way of denying it. But most people spoke about both. Their experience of the war years were not eclipsed by the genocide.

That war memory is very little spoken about now. The genocide is, of course, the defining experience, and the history surrounding it is intensely contested and charged, but I think it would be healthy if there was more of a way for Rwandans to talk about that whole larger history more complexly. Some people says its completely taboo, or its totally covered up. I have not found that to be so. If I bring it up, its not difficult to talk to people about it. A lot comes out. But there is no public discourse about it. Some people say thats because the RPF [Rwandan Patriotic Front, the rebel movement that took power in July 1994] committed atrocities during that war and afterwards, and that they dont want to answer for them. No doubt that is a factor. But interestingly, for what its worth, there has been no such reckoning with Hutu Powers atrocities and massacres in the war period before or after the genocide, either. And quite a number of Hutu political and military figures who were very much anti-RPF, and more broadly anti-Tutsi, have been not just been reintegrated into society, but into government and the Army. Some pretty senior people even. As long as there are not inescapable genocide accusations against them from 1994, the attitude is: let it go  if we want peace, we have to make it with our enemies.

Do you see this missing part of the conversation  the fact that Hutus could not speak about crimes committed by the RPF during that period  as a time bomb, or an impediment to the stability of Rwanda in the future?

I think a lot of people do recognize that there was a war, that there was a genocide, that the genocide did not justify all the horrors of the war and the killings that may have occurred in the course of the war, but that it didnt happen outside that context.

I dont know. I dont see it as an inevitable time bomb. And I am not sure that if there are time bombs thats the big one. Because I think a lot of people do recognize that there was a war, that there was a genocide, that the genocide did not justify all the horrors of the war and the killings that may have occurred in the course of the war, but that it didnt happen outside that context.

One thing to remember is that Rwandans experience of the RPF from 1990 to 1994 was, like everything else in Rwanda, very local. That war was overwhelmingly in the North, and until 1993 there werent even the massive displacements from the war zone that gave the war a broader physical presence. But even then there were large parts of the country  the South, the Southwest  that the war never touched directly, and where there was no war-time experience of the RPF. The fact of the war, combined with the political crisis of 1990-94 was a national trauma, but for most of the country, through most of that time, the war had no physical presence.

The genocide, on the other hand, consumed the whole country.

Then, after 1994 there were, broadly speaking, two wars that had two theatres: there was Congo, and there was the Northwest of Rwanda. Again, much of the country was very aware of it, on edge and polarized because of it, but not actually feeling the brunt of RPF combat. And though the fighting in the northwest ripped through communities, it did not for the most part involve communal violence, in the sense of neighbors having at neighbors. That doesnt make it less deadly, less of an offense, less of a crime in some cases. A lot of civilians were killed by both sides. But the fighting was done by combatants. And that makes it easier to think of it as the war in contrast to the genocide. It depersonalizes it in ways that can be very explosive, for sure, but its a different experience, and that matters perhaps even more when it comes to resuming life in the aftermath.

I dont know, for instance, to what extent people who experienced RPF violence in their communities identify it with particular individuals. Its hard to know for the obvious reason that if they do they might think its best not to talk about it. But Ive talked about that period with a number of the FDLR guys [Forces democratiques de liberation du Rwanda, an armed group created in the Congo by Hutu refugees and former genocidaires], whove been reintegrated. Many of them fought the RPF in the northwest in those years, and they dont seem afraid to talk about it, although theyre not always big on naming names. Most of them dont seem to think  at least they dont say it to me  that this history is so volatile in those communities, a time-bomb as you say.

I have asked people in the RPF and the government: why dont you guys get ahead of this issue and put up some war memorials that are separate from genocide memorials, and say, at least: there was a war here that caused all Rwandans great pain? Their answer is: There can be no equivalence. They mean between the war and the genocide. So I ask: Are you saying you cant address the war in a way that doesnt invite that equivalence? And if so why is that? Basically the answer Id get was: Well, because the forces against us are like that  they will exploit it that way.

Its a weakness when you have to make certain forms of expression taboo. And theyre like: Yeah! This is a weak society! Were strong, but look what happened here  were dealing with a weak fabric.

Obviously, they perceive the issue as a threat, or a weakness  even though they look, and like to tell you, theyre very strong. Its like with some questions of free speech. I say: its a weakness when you have to make certain forms of expression taboo. And theyre like: Yeah! This is a weak society! Were strong, but look what happened here  were dealing with a weak fabric.

So, I make no predictions.

Interviewed by Thierry Cruvellier.Four Kansas State University faculty recognized for excellence in undergraduate teaching



Wednesday, April 3, 2019

MANHATTAN  Four Kansas State University faculty members have been named recipients of the 2019 Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Undergraduate Outstanding Teaching Award.



Steven Copp, assistant professor of exercise physiology; Jessica Nelson, instructor of special education, counseling and student affairs; Marcella Reekie, instructor of technical writing; and Elizabeth Yeager, associate professor of agriculture economics, will receive the award and a $2,500 honorarium from the Commerce Bancshares Foundation and the W.T. Kemper Foundation. They will be recognized at the All-University Awards Ceremony at 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, in the Alumni Center Ballroom.



"Commerce Bank and the William T. Kemper Foundation are proud to continue our tradition of partnering with K-State to honor four exceptional educators," said Shawn Drew, market president and CEO of Commerce Bank. "The partnership began over 20 years ago and continues as a wonderful way to recognize teaching excellence. Our heartfelt thanks and congratulations go out to this year's recipients."



Copp teaches the undergraduate courses Physiology of Exercise and Neurological Exercise Physiology. He also is co-director of research in the Cardio-Oncology and Autonomic Physiology Laboratory in the kinesiology department. He is the recipient of a National Institutes of Health grant to research blood pressure control in cardiovascular disease. Copp's philosophy is that his classroom is an extension of his research laboratory, and he makes it a point to bring new and cutting-edge information to his students. He also is a member of the American Physiological Society and the American Heart Association.



Nelson teaches Exceptional Student in the Secondary School, Exceptional Child in the Regular Classroom and High Incidence Practicum. She also is co-advisor for the university's Council for Exceptional Children group and is a member of the College of Education's Student Affairs Committee. She serves as co-chair and planning committee member for the Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavioral Disorders' master teacher group and is a planning committee member for the Richard L. Simpson Conference on Autism. She also is a reviewer for ReThinking Behavior magazine and member of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.



Reekie teaches Written Communication for Engineers, which prepares upper-level engineering students to gather, use and present technical information in a professional setting. She received an Open/Alternative Textbook grant to develop a free textbook for the course. In addition to her teaching, she serves on technical writing and award committees, participates in national writing conferences and aids in reviewing accreditation standards for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. She also is a recipient of the English department's faculty award for excellence in undergraduate teaching.



Yeager teaches Farm and Ranch Management, Commodity Futures, Introduction to Computer Decision Tools for Agribusiness and Optimization Techniques for Agriculture Economics. She also advises about 30 undergraduate students each semester. In the College of Agriculture, she is co-advisor for the Student Council, co-chair of the Academic Standards Committee and serves on the Alumni Board. She is the recipient of a Gold Quill Award from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and a Teaching for Tomorrow Fellowship Award from Purdue University. She is a member of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, serving on the leadership of the Teaching, Learning and Communication Section and the Agricultural Finance and Management Section, and was named an Outstanding Young Scholar by the Agriculture Finance and Management Section of the association.





Registration opens for international livestock conference at Kansas State University

Wednesday, April 3, 2019



Kansas State University will be the first U.S. host of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Meeting Sept. 9-13. The U.N. organization's annual meeting gathers leaders from government, NGOs, academia and industry to discuss innovative approaches to sustainable livestock production | Download this photo.





MANHATTAN  Invitations are being sent around the world for high-profile leaders to travel to Kansas State University in September to help shape the future of livestock production.

Livestock producers worldwide face complex questions about innovating in sustainable ways to meet growing global demand. Those questions deal with feeding nearly 10 billion people in the coming decades, environmental stewardship, business concerns, dependable systems for grain and feed, disease prevention, technology adaptation and more.



The Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock, or GASL, annually convenes Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Meetings to initiate open discussions from varied perspectives so these questions can be answered.



Hosted by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization based in Rome, GASL shares good practice and policy and promotes the sustainability of the global livestock and agri-food sector. Its main principle is that all livestock production systems can be more sustainable, no matter where they are.



GASL's ninth Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Meeting, titled "Innovation in Sustainable Livestock Systems," will take place in Manhattan Sept. 9-13 to discuss science and policy around four sustainability domains, with plenary sessions for each that will be open to the public: Food Security and Nutrition, Livelihoods and Economic Growth, Animal Health and Welfare, and Natural Resources and Climate.



More than 350 invited attendees from around the world are expected to attend, making Manhattan the epicenter of the global livestock industry for the week. This year will mark the first time this meeting of influential political leaders, industry executives, NGO representatives and academics will be conducted in the United States and the first time it will be hosted by a university.



"Innovations are key to maintain and further improve sustainability in livestock-based value chains," said Fritz Schneider, chair of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock. "Kansas State University is an important innovator both in the USA and globally. GASL is privileged to partner with K-State for its ninth Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Meeting in September 2

Anyone with an interest in sustainable livestock systems is welcome and encouraged to attend. Non-members of GASL may register and attend the meeting as well.



The schedule for the Manhattan event includes a specific focus for each day:

 Monday, Sept. 9, Science Day  featuring plenary sessions on GASL's four sustainability domains.

 Tuesday, Sept. 10, Policy Day  roundtable discussions and panels.

 Wednesday, Sept. 11, Field Tours  five tours of regional agricultural production operations.

 Thursday, Sept. 12, Action Day  action plan discussion, guiding group meeting and closing ceremony.

 Friday, Sept. 13, Business Meetings  closed member meetings, planning for next events.

With discussions centering on this year's theme, attendees will share perspectives on how innovation goes beyond the invention and development of technologies to include economic, behavioral, technical and policy aspects of bringing new approaches to bear on the issue of sustainable livestock systems.



All eight previous meetings over the last seven years were organized by the host countries' governments. Last year's meeting was in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Previous meetings were in Ethiopia, Panama, Colombia, Canada, Kenya, Thailand and Brazil.



Because of livestock's primary importance to the lives and livelihoods of people in developing counties, much of GASL's work is focused on smallholder and even subsistence farming. With a university in the heartland of the U.S. hosting this year's event, some of the information sharing will include demonstrating how larger-scale livestock operations incorporate sustainable innovations and how those practices can be adapted and adopted.



"Sharing innovations, from on-the-farm practices to genetics and technology, will allow us to collectively meet a growing world demand for animal-sourced proteins while balancing the protection of natural resources, ensuring a safe food supply, and protecting animal health and welfare," said Ernie Minton, interim dean of the university's College of Agriculture.



The university's standing as a leader in agricultural research and its collaborative efforts all over the world already have made it a recognizable destination for GASL participants.



"The strong roots of many of the Kansas State University faculty in practical livestock production makes a dialogue between the university and civil society organizations very valuable," said Pablo Frere, a member of the GASL guiding group and a coordinator for Redes Chaco in Argentina.



Another member of the GASL guiding group, Marcelo Gonzalez, vice minister of livestock in Paraguay's Ministry of Agriculture, said his country is committed to specific actions to keep its livestock production sustainable. "In tune with the existing academic agreement between Kansas State and Paraguay, the Multi-Stakeholder Partnership meeting will lead to many important innovations in livestock production in Paraguay," he sai





 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar in Beijing Tuesday.

China and Mongolia, having maintained the diplomatic ties for 70 years, are facing important opportunities for further development of bilateral relations, Wang said.

The two sides should maintain close high-level exchanges, align the Belt and Road Initiative with Mongolia's development strategy, carry out aid projects regarding development and people's livelihood, facilitate the implementation of major projects on energy and mineral resources, and deepen cooperation in various fields, Wang said.

Mongolia is willing to work with China to push forward cooperation projects on agriculture and animal husbandry, mining, energy, transportation and infrastructure within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to continuously enhance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Tsogtbaatar said.GRANTS PASSPortland Meadows is reportedly on the verge of being sold, and that development is set to have big ramifications for Grants Pass Downs.

If the Portland track were to close, commercial horse racing in Oregon would need a new home and Grants Pass Downs has positioned itself to fill the void.

Even if it's not sold, TMB Racing has acquired a commercial racing license and plans on hosting races in southern Oregon this fall.

"The bottom line is, Grants Pass has a track," TMB founder Travis Boersma said. "With Portland Meadows going away, where can you best have a meet? The best option in the state today for that commercial horse race meet to occur is Grants Pass."

Boersma is also the chief executive of Dutch Bros. Coffee, and on March 27, his group was awarded a three-year commercial racing license and simulcasting rights.

The non-commercial summer races at Grants Pass Downs will go on as they always have, but theres now the likelihood of seven straight weeks of commercial racesthe first commercial races in Grants Passstarting in mid-September.

As part of the application for the commercial license, Boersma proposed renovations to the track that include expanded grandstands, lights for night racing, a wider racing area and a longer chute.

Rebecca Anderson, vice president of the Southern Oregon Horse Race Association, anticipates the commercial races having a ripple effect on the local economy.

"It's another reason for people to get off I-5 and to come to town and while they're here, 'Oh by the way why don't you go have dinner in one of our great restaurants?'" she said.

"It's something that's pretty nostalgic, it's something that's pretty family friendly," Boersma said. "It's part of our community, it's part of our history and it's really part of the state's. I just want to help where I can. I think we're going to have a product that's better than it's ever been in the state of Oregon."WASHINGTON (AP) - Trump administration officials are exploring actions to satisfy President Donald Trump's call for a strong response to a surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says she's creating an emergency operations center and having a veteran official manage the response within the department.

A person on a conference call Tuesday night tells The Associated Press that Nielsen said border issues would be treated "as if we have been hit by a Category 5 hurricane."

Meanwhile, Trump eased up on his threats to close the southern border, saying Tuesday that he was pleased with steps Mexico had taken in recent days.ASHLAND, Ore. -- The state of Oregon is facing a major budget deficit. The states budget predicts the deficit is predicted to worsen each biennium until 2025.

The Joint Committee on Ways and Means proposed budget cuts several things, including the state's education funds. The proposed budget for the next two years cuts about $141 millon from Oregon education.

Teachers in Ashland told NewsWatch12 with every new biennium, education faces new funding cuts. Teachers at Ashland High School say they are worried about several things, including potential layoffs and increased class sizes.

"Most of the funding in the Ashland school district comes from the state of Oregon," Kate Kennedy, a science teacher at Ashland high school, said.

If the proposed budget is adopted, the Ashland School district could lose 7% of its funding. The proposed budgets' goal is to reduce long-term deficits and increase future stability.

"So it actually gives us less resources than we have right now, and at the current time, schools in Oregon are under-funded," Kennedy said.

If schools lose more funding, teachers could be laid off and classes would be forced to combine, so class size will increase. The National Education Association (NEA) says Oregon has one of the largest average class sizes in the nation. NEA officials recommend 18 students or fewer in each class. In the last 30 years, Kennedy says her student count has nearly doubled.

"It's not about just having more students," Kennedy said. "It's about not being able to provide the individual attention and the adjustment to the curriculum every student needs."

In addition to larger class size, programs might be cut and support personnel, like counselors and school nurses, might lose their jobs. Records from the Oregon Department of Education show Oregon schools already don't have enough nurses or counselors for the number of students at each school. Some school counselors have caseloads double the recommended size.

Ashland teachers plan to host a rally Friday at 5 p.m. during the First Friday Art Walk in Ashland to demand increased funds for K-12 education.GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- The case Watson v Walmart is heading to trial.

The case stems from Tyler Watson, of Gold Hill, suing Walmart after the company refused to sell him a gun because he was under 21 years old. Watson sued Dick's Sporting Goods for the same reason.

The companies changed their policies to only sell to adults older than 21 after the massacre in Parkland, Florida in February 2018. Watson sued the companies in March 2018; he was 20 years old at the time.

Attorneys for both parties argued in court today over a 2015 amendment to the Oregon Accommodation Act that allowed companies to sell marijuana to people over 21 years old.

Walmart argued the amendment raises "the age where discrimination occurs to age 21," according to court documents.

Watson's attorney, Max Whittington disagrees, saying it doesn't allow companies to discriminate against 18 to 20-year-olds in other areas.

The trial is scheduled for April 23 - 25.

The case against Dick's was dismissed with prejudice in November, meaning it can't be fought again. Whittington declined to release details of the agreement.15 Shares Share

You ever work with vets? asks the young man sitting across from me in the hospital waiting room.

Hes been sitting there all morning. So have I. Since 5:30 a.m., my father-in-law, 88, has been undergoing surgery to remove a tumor in his lung. The surgeons just sent word that theyve finished, and my wife and her mother have gone to the post-op room to see him.

Waiting for them to return, my wifes sister and I have been talking about her son, whos thinking of joining the Airforce.

Warn him about the recruiters and their shiny promises, I say. Tell him theyre all a bunch of liars.

Thats for damn sure, the man says.

We smile at each other and chat for a bit, then my sister-in-law starts messing with her cellphone, opting out of the conversation.

The man tells me that he was in the army for 20 years, including combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As we talk, he says things like You know all about that, dont you? and You know how the army works.

Ive never been in the military, I say. He looks surprised.

What do you do?

Im a hospice social worker.

Thats when he asks whether I work with vets.

Lots of them, I answer.

Combat?

Yeah.

Do they talk about it?

Some do, some dont.

He gives me a hard look. Bet youve heard some bad shit, eh?

I nod.

He looks around to make sure no one is listening. My sister-in-law is absorbed in her cellphone. An older guy snores in the corner.

The man leans toward me. I see hes starting to sweat; his hands are getting shaky. Hes carrying something, wondering if its safe to share it.

Youre right, Ive heard lots of rough stuff, I say. But it can help to talk with someone who knows how to listen.

I have a counselor at the VA, he says, skepticism edging his voice. I tell the guy the same stuff every time I go in  I dont know why I cant shake those memories.

Traumatic memories are different from ordinary memories, I say. Is talking with your counselor helpful?

I dont know, he says. Funny thing is, the stuff that eats me up the most is more about what didnt happen than what did.

I ask if hes talked with any of his buddies about it. He says no, only his counselor. I think he thinks Im nuts.

What do you think? I ask.

He looks around again, feet nervously tapping the floor like hes ready to bolt.

Can I tell you something?

I nod and inwardly start grounding myself, so I can hear whatevers clawing to get out of him. If he senses that I cant handle it without flinching or judging, the moment  and maybe an opportunity for some kind of healing  will be lost.

The story he tells isnt what Im expecting.

I was a gunner for a Humvee crew, he says. We were bringing up the back of a caravan that was running through a stretch of desert. I saw the dust cloud of a car that was racing toward us.

He tells how he trains his gun on the car and starts praying for it to veer away. He calculates how close to let it get before he opens up with his 50-caliber machine gun. He waves the car away, shouting, Back!

It keeps coming.

He feels his finger tighten across the trigger, watches the car cross that invisible line where his training kicks in and tells him to blow it away. But he doesnt. He holds fire, then sees the drivers face  its a woman. She suddenly realizes what danger shes in and slams on the brakes, sending a couple of kids in the back seat tossing forward.

When he gets done talking, hes rocking back and forth, sweating and tapping a fist into his thigh. Im puzzled, wondering whats got him so jacked up.

I lean toward him, take a deep breath, then say, in a way that could be taken as either a statement or a question: Its as intense now as it was then?

He nods. Cant shake it. Think about it all the time.

As we unpack it, he acknowledges that things worked out. He and his buddies were safe; the woman and her kids were safe.

Why do you think it keeps hooking you?

If Id followed my training, Id have killed them. I didnt do my duty.

If youd followed your training, I say, the woman and her kids are dead, and youve got another kind of memory chasing you day after day.

He pauses, then says: My buddies were counting on me. I couldve gotten them killed. I let them down.

As we talk, it becomes clear that he walks around with a near-constant awareness that life  everything he knows  can change in a heartbeat. Maybe you have time to act. Maybe you dont. Even if you have time to act, there are things you cannot know, control or predict. If the car had been carrying attackers, holding fire might have gotten him and his buddies killed. But if hed opened fire, thered have been a horrific bloodbath.

Some might explain his hesitation as intuition or some kind of providential intercession; others might chalk it up to nerves. For this guy, the whole thing is arbitrary.

The dice roll one way, youre screwed, he says. They roll the other, and your life goes on. I was lucky that time, thats all. Maybe next time my luck will run out. Clearly, the incident has seared into his mind how quickly the bottom can fall out of everything.

I have lots of other stories, he adds. One time a mortar shell landed right next to me, but it turned out to be a dud. Another time, a guy I knew was sick on the day when his unit got ambushed. Several of them got killed  including the guy who was working the radio in his place. Its a game of inches, man. It can all change, just like that. He snaps his fingers for emphasis. The life you know could be gone.

Saying this last line, he motions toward post-op. I turn and see my wife and mother-in-law heading our way.

We stand up, still talking, then reach out and shake hands. As we do, he says, nervously, My wifes in surgery right now. Its not good.

He looks worried. I feel my throat clench.

I think about saying, These folks here are a crack team, man. Everything they can control, they will. Shes in good hands.

But I dont. On one level, its true; on another, its the kind of easy reassurance people offer to keep from admitting that hes right  there are always things we cant control.

I want him to know that hes not carrying it alone: When I walk away, Ill be taking some of it with me. So, rather than saying anything, I give him a knowing look.

He holds out his arms. We hug, then I walk off with my family to meet with the surgeon wholl tell us what he found during the operation.

As we head down the hall, I think about my father-in-law and wonder which way the dice will roll.

Scott Janssen is a social worker. This piece was originally published in Pulse  voices from the heart of medicine.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com22 Shares Share

Physicians have quietly shared stories about sexual harassment and microaggressions from patients for years. This year, Medscape published their first Patients Sexually Harassing Physicians Report, where they found that one in four physicians had been sexually harassed by a patient in the past 3 years. In the wake of #MeToo, some physicians have shared their personal stories of harassment by patients in the medical literature, and there have been calls to better protect physicians from these incidents.

As physicians and authors of this post, all of us have experienced sexual harassment by patients. Medicine is our passion, and we continue doing our jobs. We have a calling and obligation to care for people despite harassment and bias that we may encounter and we recognize that typical workplace protections may not apply to our occupation. We think about the fact that we wield privilege with our medical degrees, and our patients may experience significant barriers such as mental illness and prior traumas. We recognize that many patients may not intend to harass us, yet their actions and microaggressions still have significant impact on our daily lives, safety at work and formation of our identities as physicians. We echo the calls for all types of systemic protections and supports for all physicians experiencing these incidents, as well as better supports for patients who may harass physicians.

One of the reasons why the #MeToo movement has been so impactful is the individual stories that men and women have been brave enough to share. In this spirit, we, a group of female physicians at the University of California, San Francisco, started the SHARE (Sexual Harassment and REporting) collaborative to give all physicians the opportunity to anonymously contribute their own stories around experiences of sexual harassment by patients and their families.

We believe that gathering individual stories around sexual harassment of physicians by patients can help peers and institutions better understand the circumstances where sexual harassment is likely to occur, how it affects the physician experiencing harassment and how physicians cope after an incident. While not intended to replace formal reporting of incidents we encourage you to share your story with us. If you are a physician interested in contributing your story to the SHARE collaborative, please anonymously tell us your story.

Shirin Hemmat is an internal medicine resident. Anjana Sharma is a family physician. Elaine Khoong and Urmimala Sarkar are internal medicine physicians. The authors would like to thank Sarah Lisker for her contributions to this blog post.

Image credit: Shutterstock.comEUGENE, Ore. -- From Hayward Field to new apartment complexes, construction in Oregon is booming, and Eugene isn't missing out.

Gale Krumenar with the Oregon Employment Department told KEZI 9 News that construction is the fastest growing job sector in the state.

In Eugene, Riley Wessel with Stedman Sheet Metal said he's been working nonstop on many different projects, including a new dentist's office on Cresent Avenue.

"There is a lot of construction over at U of O," Wessel said. "There is student housing and Hayward going on right now, and then lots of little stuff like this, so it's a lot of hopping back and forth a lot."

Since the start of 2019, public records from the City of Eugene show the city has approved 68 new building permits. Twelve of them for apartments that have a total of 84 units.

The city approved 337 new building permits in 2018 and 455 in 2017. While the city approved fewer permits in 2018 compared to 2017, the total value of the combined projects went up from $131,673,157 to $163,484,389

One new project that developers hope to do in the future is a new apartment complex on Goodpasture Loop. The Seattle developer has submitted plans that call for 14 new buildings that will hold 117 apartments.

One person who lives next door to the proposed development said she's worried the new complex could lower her property value. However, Holly Shillington who also lives nearby said she's excited to see construction booming in Eugene.

"Eugene is a thriving young city, and I really like seeing the new growth here," Shillington said.

Below is an early design for the proposed Goodpasture Loop apartment complex:Local councillors have agreed to write to the Minister for Health Simon Harris calling for an extension to the scheme for the provision of the cancer drug Pembrolizumab.

The decision to do so arises in part from the efforts of the local campaign group, John Needs Pembro. After persistent lobbying, the Pembro was made available through the HSE for those who suffer from cervical cancer. However, others who have cancer, and are deemed suitable for treatment with it, do not receive it through the State.

A Notice of Motion was brought by Cllrs Malcolm Noonan, Pat Fitzpatrick, Melissa O Neill and Patrick O Neill at the March meeting of Kilkenny County Council. It calls on the Minister for Health to extend the scheme for the provision of the cancer drug Pembro, which was previously granted to cervical cancer patients, to other cancer patients who have been determined, through medical testing, to be compatible with and responsive to the drug.

The motion recognised the substantial efforts of the local campaign, which has been raising funds for John Holmes treatments.

We recognise and acknowledge the efforts of the John Needs Pembro campaign in Kilkenny and that it is an injustice that communities are forced to voluntary fundraise for lifesaving medication which should not be prohibitive on cost grounds and that equality of access and treatment should be available to everyone in the Irish State, it reads.

The Notice of Motion received support from the members and was agreed.

The John Needs Pembro fundraising committee has said the motion means a tremendous amount to John and his family, and is a first official recognition that his life is being jeopardised by the Governments exclusionary policies.

We have a very long road ahead of us but we hope this motion represents the opening salvos in a battle for equality of access not just for John but for citizens throughout the country, said Kieran Conway of the committee.

Fundraising

Meanwhile, the campaigns fundraising efforts continue this month, with a collection in MacDonagh Junction on April 19/20 and a table quiz on Holy Thursday in the Orchard House. On April 26, the Infusion Gig takes place in Langtons, with bands, a disco, and DJs til late. There will be an auction and spot prizes. Tickets (10) are available from Rollercoaster Records and Langtons.Kilkenny man, Eoin Corcoran, a PhD candidate in Dublin City Universitys School of Biotechnology, has been announced as the winner of the DCU Allergan Innovation Award for 2018/19. The award will provide Eoin, a former student of St Kierans College, with a bursary of 5,000 to further his research into the role of stem cells and a process called glycosylation in the development of heart disease.

Complex sugar chains coat the surface of all our cells like a thick frosting on a cake, and when these sugars are added to key proteins in stem cells, this process is known as glycosylation. Eoins research will increase understanding of how this sugar coating interacts with the stem cell and causes it to change to a specialised cell-type that contributes to the development of artery-hardening diseases such as atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and hypertension.

Glycosylation is a new frontier in the quest to identify potential pharmaceutical treatments for heart disease. Under the guidance of Principal Investigator, Professor Paul Cahill, Eoin is examining whether particular sugars in the coating cause the cell to change, and if removing or altering individual sugars can prevent the cell mutating in a way that causes heart disease. Ultimately, Eoin hopes to identify a sugar which can be targeted through the development of a new drug to prevent the onset of heart disease.

Speaking at the announcement of the award, Eoin stated: It is an honour to be selected for this award which will enable me to significantly expand the depth of my research. The kits, re-agents and chemicals that I am using to mutate the cell DNA and remove one sugar at a time can be quite expensive. With this funding, I will be able to purchase more of the supplies that I need and to carry out more mutations, more quickly.

Speaking at the award presentation, Professor Paul Cahill, Research Convenor in DCUs School of Biotechnology and Eoins supervisor commented: The funding provided by the Allergan Innovation Award is invaluable for an early career researcher like Eoin to complement his core research funding. It will enable him to be more aggressive and innovative in his approach in an effort to translate his research into a therapy for cardio-vascular disease.

The Allergan Innovation Award Programme was launched by Allergan in March 2017 to mark 40 successful years of business in Ireland. DCU is one of six Higher Education Institutions that Allergan is partnering with in Ireland to provide funding to accomplished scholars who wish to advance innovative research studies in the field of life sciences.

The award was presented to Eoin by Dr Francis Bates, Vice President Global Solid Oral Dosage Manufacturing at Allergan, and the Plant General Manager at the manufacturing facility at Clonshaugh in Dublin. Speaking at the award presentation, Francis said:

We are delighted that the Allergan Innovation Award Programme will allow students, such as Eoin, to further advance their exciting research in the field of Life Sciences. For a company such as Allergan, innovation is truly the lifeblood of our industry, so we hope that this Innovation Award will inspire more students who wish to establish themselves within this field. Collaborating with a prestigious university, such as DCU, is an exciting initiative for all involved, and we look forward to the positive results and experiences it will bring for students and our industry.Three peoples lives were saved thanks to the decision of a Kilkenny-based army sergeant to donate his organs when he passed away.

Sergeant Pat Cassidy , who was stationed in Kilkenny and lived in Paulstown with his family, passed away five years ago at the age of 47, following a heart attack. He received a full military funeral in recognition of his bravery in life and death.

Sgt Cassidy was a blood donor, and also held an organ donor card. His wife Yvonne and their children honoured his wishes, and as a result, three lives were saved with a donation of his lungs, liver and kidneys.

On Monday, representatives of the Defence Forces (Army, Naval Service and Air Corps) stepped out along with the late Sgt Cassidys family in support of Organ Donor Awareness Week, which runs from March 30 to April 6. CAOGA, which supports its members in the Defence Forces in the event of the untimely passing of a key family member, organised the event in partnership with the Irish Kidney Association to mark the beginning of the week.

Its a very special day for myself and my family to be asked to help highlight Organ Donor Awareness Week alongside members of the Defence Forces and CAOGA, said Sgt Cassidys wife Yvonne: Pat would have been proud.

"We both came from military families and I grew up in the army married quarters here at McKee Barracks as my father was a Company Sergeant, while Pat, was the son of an army Corporal at Custume Barracks in Athlone. We got married here and this place holds so many special memories."

Representing CAOGA Comdt. Ciara Murray said: We are delighted to be here today in recognition of a former colleague and a gentleman Pat Cassidy and all the other deceased organ donors who have saved lives through transplantation and to be able to support the Irish Kidney Association in highlighting Organ Donor Awareness Week."

Organ Donor Awareness runs until this Saturday. Its purpose is to remind people to talk to their families about their organ donation wishes, and keep reminders available by carrying the Organ Donor Card, permitting Code 115 to be included on their drivers licence and having the digital organ donor card APP on their smartphone.

Organ Donor Cards can also be obtained by phoning 01-6205306, Free text the word DONOR to 50050, or download the free app to your smartphone.ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL The Korean War, The Forgotten War should be called The Forgotten Victory. Why?The next time you meet with your financial adviser, you may be asked to supply a trusted point of contact, which is a relative or friend to call if the adviser has a reasonable belief that you might be a victim of financial exploitation. Perhaps youve suddenly decided to liquidate your conservative investments and deposit the money overseas. Or a niece you never had much contact with is back in your life, asking for money. Your adviser also could put a temporary hold on a suspicious disbursement request from you, so your money is safeguarded until the concern is investigated. Typically, once money leaves an account, its difficult to get back. These changes are included in several new laws and regulations to protect seniors and their money. For older adults, financial exploitation is a growing problem. AARPs Public Policy Institute reported in 2016 that one in five older Americans falls prey to financial exploitation each year. Victims lose $3 billion annually, and seniors with well-funded retirements are prime targets for scammers, says Mark Bauer, a Stetson University College of Law professor who specializes in consumer law. Some people may have a certain naivete about fraudsters, along with good manners, he says. That combination can make people susceptible to scammers who play on their trust, Bauer says.

Mild cognitive impairment can cause older adults to miss red flags for fraud, says Michael Pieciak, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), which represents state securities regulators. The ability to gauge risk may be diminished, Pieciak says. Social isolation plays a role, with vulnerable seniors home during the day and likely to answer the phone when a fraudster cold calls. Scams range from bogus investments to alleging that an electric bill is overdue and threatening to turn off the heat and power unless a senior withdraws money and sends it immediately. Sometimes callers tell seniors they have an unpaid traffic ticket and their drivers license will be revoked if they dont pay. Its scary for anyone, but especially for a senior, Pieciak says. Congress, state regulators and lawmakers, and the financial services industry have approved new laws and rules recently to help safeguard seniors and their assets, based on the idea that financial institutions and professionals are on the front lines of spotting elder financial abuse. The changes are meant to protect seniors and to shield financial professionals from liability for reporting exploitation. Concerns over violating privacy laws by contacting law enforcement or adult protective services made reporting violations difficult in the past. Acting on Suspicions of Financial Abuse The regulations and training benefit the industry, but financial professionals are doing whats in their clients best interests as well, says Lori Neidel, a Columbia, Mo., compliance lawyer. An investment adviser trained in spotting elder abuse, for example, might be the first to notice suspicious changes in how an older adult is handling his money.

On the federal level, Congress in 2018 passed the Senior Safe Act, which protects financial services professionals from being sued over privacy and other violations for reporting suspected elder financial abuse to law enforcement, as long as they have been adequately trained. The law encourages banks, credit unions, investment advisers, broker-dealers, and insurance companies and agents to provide the proper training for employees by giving the firms and employees legal protections in return. So, in the future, if a bank teller notices an elderly customer confused about withdrawing money or making puzzling transactions, the teller could flag that behavior to a superior, who could contact authorities, if necessary. The law is a good first step, but more needs to be done, says Bauer. Details on the training and reporting still need to be figured out, he says. Its also unclear when the new law will take effect. On the state level, 19 states so far have adopted some version of a NASAA model act that gives guidance to registered investment advisers and broker-dealers on notifying a trusted point of contact and putting a temporary hold on a clients account to investigate financial fraud. Details differ by state; click the Contact Your Regulator button at nasaa.org for your state. Five more state legislatures are considering similar rules this year, Pieciak says. Were trying to get to the halfway mark, he says. The trusted contact is different from a durable power of attorney; your adviser cant use that contact to transact any business, for example, and the power of attorney supersedes it. But if the adviser notices worrisome signs leading him to believe you may be a financial exploitation victim, such as sudden withdrawals from your account, he can reach out to your trusted point of contact. He also must report suspected financial abuse to adult protective services, law enforcement or securities regulators. And, if the adviser believes that contact may be the source of the exploitationan adult child, perhaps, who may be targeting your moneythe adviser can bypass the contact and go to authorities directly.

If an elderly client talks about a guaranteed investment he saw on T.V. and wants to withdraw all his money, an adviser might consider that as a possible basis for a temporary hold. But advisers arent trained in diagnosing cognitive decline. If they notice a client confused about his money, they would reach out to the trusted point of contact, Pieciak says. State laws differ on the time limits on the temporary account hold, but they range from a maximum of 10 to 30 business days. Your adviser will allow legitimate distributions, such as a mortgage payment, from the account during the temporary hold. If no fraudulent activity is found, the hold is lifted. In Texas, which adopted its law in 2017, advisers have referred 100 cases and 25 investigations were opened, Pieciak says, including one involving an 88-year-old who was about to be scammed out of $30,000. The law is already paying off, and its working the way we wanted it to, he says. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or Finra, a self-regulator for the brokerage industry, was the first to create national standards to protect senior investors. Finras two rules went into effect last year and cover broker-dealers only. The rules were established after Finra found from calls to its senior help line that investment scams targeting seniors were on the rise, says Jim Wrona, a Finra vice president. (Call the help line for concerns about your brokerage accounts and investments at 844-574-3577.) The rules include a trusted point of contact, which Finra requires broker-dealers to obtain when clients open new accounts or update existing ones, and the ability for broker-dealers to do a temporary account hold. The trusted contact rule also is aimed at helping older clients keep track of their accounts, which can be a problem when they suffer cognitive decline. Sometimes broker-dealers cant reach older customers when they lose their phones, Wrona says.At 0700 GMT the rand was up 0.53 percent at 14.1350 per dollar compared with a close of 14.2100 in New York.

Demand for emerging-market currencies grew after the Financial Times reported China and the United States had resolved most of the issues standing in the way of a trade deal. The rand had reached a six-week high of 14.0750 after Moody's struck a surprisingly positive note in a credit opinion on Tuesday, following the agency's decision on Friday to delay a review that might have removed South Africa's last investment-grade rating.

The rand lost steam late in the session as concern resurfaces over Eskom, the struggling state power company.

"Although the rand posted additional gains after Moody's comments, these were short-lived as comments from the African National Congress that it did not wish to see job losses at Eskom, despite previous comments to the contrary, saw the markets turn cautious," analysts at Nedbank said in a note.

Demand for Pretoria's bonds was benefited from Moody's benign view, with yields on the benchmark 10-year government bond reaching a one-year low 8.42 percent. In early trade on Wednesday, the bond traded at 8.515 percent.

(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana, editing by Larry King)The Los Angeles Times has named Shani Hilton a Deputy Managing Editor for news. Hilton will report to Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine and Managing Editor Scott Kraft.

Hilton is currently Vice President of News and Programming at BuzzFeed News, where she has been an editorial executive for the past six years. Shell join The Times in June.

Shani Hilton comes to The Times with a reputation for principled journalism, and for management, leadership and collaboration. Pearlstine said. Were thrilled that Shani will be returning to California where she will play a critical role in the newsroom while also working with colleagues across The Times.

The Los Angeles Times is in the midst of a renaissance and Shani will play a key role in our renewed commitment to distinctive journalism, Kraft said. We are truly fortunate to welcome such a gifted industry leader to the team as we ramp up our efforts to reach ever-larger audiences.

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At BuzzFeed, Hilton has overseen news programming and U.S.-based news operations, including structuring the news team, overseeing special projects, managing a staff of over 200 journalists, and maintaining the companys editorial standards. Additionally, Hilton led efforts to diversify BuzzFeed News revenue through shows and programming with a large focus in live video, including AM to DM on Twitter and PROFILE on Facebook Watch, and developing original programming.

The L.A. Times is a critical voice in our national and global journalistic landscape, Hilton said. Its team of reporters and editors, supported by its owner and leadership, is more needed than ever as we look to the future of the business of journalism, the 2020 election and beyond.

As a journalist, I couldnt be more excited about joining The Times at this huge moment of transition and opportunity. And as a Californian, Im thrilled to be heading back to the best coast.

Hilton grew up in Fontana and Stockton and then moved to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University, where she studied journalism and worked at the campus newspaper. After graduating college, she worked in publications and communications at Princeton University. She then held editorial roles at the Center for American Progress, Washington City Paper and NBC4 in D.C., before joining BuzzFeed as Deputy Executive Editor in 2013. While at BuzzFeed, Hilton was named to Forbes Magazines 30 Under 30  Media list in 2015, and the next year The New York Observer named her one of 10 Players in Media You Must Hire.

The Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune and their community publications in Southern California were purchased by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong in June 2018. Since then, The Times has been rebuilding and expanding its newsroom. Hilton is the latest hire in an eight-month period that has seen 30% growth of The Times editorial staff.

For recent hiring announcements and company news, visit latimes.com/press.Its a strange, unsettling kind of beauty that only people who have spent much time in oil towns are familiar with  the lights of the refineries, bright and ghostly, that light up the area around them all night long, bathing the houses and nature nearby with an eerie glow.

Ilya, the 15-year-old protagonist of Los Angeles author Lydia Fitzpatricks remarkable debut novel, Lights All Night Long, has never known a world without them. They illuminated the small Russian town where he grew up; they cast a constant light on the Louisiana town where hes moved as an exchange student.

Lights All Night Long is both an expertly crafted mystery and a dazzling debut.

Ilya was initially excited to leave his hometown to strike out for America, but hes found himself unable to enjoy his time in the new country  shortly before he moved, his brother, Vladimir, was arrested in the deaths of three young women in their community. Ilya believes Vladimir to be innocent, despite his brother having confessed to the slayings.

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In America, Ilya does his best to navigate high school, all the while nursing a crush on Sadie, the oldest daughter of his host family, who is enigmatic, separate from her family. Self-contained. He feels a kinship with the teenage girl but is wary of getting too close: He wasnt deluded enough to think that they were together in their separateness, but at least they were similar for it.

L.A. Times Festival of Books is back! Check out the lineup for our massive literary event launching April 13 and 14 at the USC campus. 

Ilya initially keeps his brothers arrest hidden from his host family, eventually telling Sadie, who shares with the young man a secret of her own. He enlists her help in trying to prove his brothers innocence, even as he grapples with unresolved anger over his drug-addled brothers life choices: He was angry at whoever had killed the girls. ... But most of all he was angry at Vladimir, for becoming the sort of person who got addicted, convicted, who confessed to things he hadnt done, because no one would believe the truth from him.

Fitzpatrick does so many things right in Lights All Night Long, its hard to believe its a debut novel. As a mystery, its paced perfectly, with the novel moving seamlessly back and forth in time between Ilyas life in Russia and his new one in America. Fitzpatrick proves to be an expert at building suspense; its hard not to read the book in a single sitting.

She also avoids falling into well-worn tropes or cliches of fiction. Ilya undergoes understandable culture shock when he trades the frozen plains of Russia for the humid bayous of Louisiana, but Fitzpatrick doesnt cast him as a fish-out-of-water archetype; she handles both cultures, and Ilyas transition between them, with intelligence and sensitivity.

Similarly, Fitzpatrick treats the blossoming relationship between Ilya and Sadie with admirable realism  its a realistic depiction of two young people at loose ends, turning to each other to try to stave off the desperation thats threatened to take over their lives. But shes at her best when depicting the uneasy love that Ilya and Vladimir have for each other. Its tricky to capture the specific, sometimes difficult language that brothers use to let each other know they care, but Fitzpatrick manages to do so perfectly, and it makes their relationship all the more beautiful and affecting.

A book jacket for Lydia Fitzpatricks Lights All Night Long. (Penguin Press)

Lights All Night Long is both an expertly crafted mystery and a dazzling debut from an author whos truly attuned to how families work at their darkest moments. Fitzpatrick does a beautiful job transporting the reader to Russia and Louisiana, and into the lives of young people whose hearts are near bursting with both love and anxiety. Its an excellent novel from an author who seems to be at the beginning of an impressive career.

::

Lights All Night Long

Lydia Fitzpatrick

Penguin Press, 352 pp., $27

Lydia Fitzpatrick at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Fitzpatrick appears at 3 p.m. April 13 in conversation with David Francis, Janet Fitch and Rebecca Makkai.

Schaub is a writer in Texas.Two female employees sued Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday, alleging the company is violating the states equal pay act and paying women less than men doing similar work.

The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by San Francisco law firm Andrus Anderson.

The firm, which has filed similar cases against other businesses including Intel and Farmers Insurance, is seeking class action status for the lawsuit, covering people who worked for Walt Disney Studios in roughly the last four years.

As Disney nears its 100th year in existence, it needs to catch up with the times, attorney Lori Andrus said in a statement. The gender pay gap addressed by this lawsuit is all too familiar, and women are fed up with being treated as cheap labor.

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Disney said the lawsuit was baseless. In a statement, the company said it maintains robust pay equity practices and policies and has a specialized team of compensation professionals and lawyers to address the matter. We are confident that they [the claims] will be found to be meritless when tested against the evidence, rather than the rhetoric of the complaint.

The lawsuit was brought by Southern California Disney employees LaRonda Rasmussen and Karen Moore. Rasmussen works as a manager in product development for Disney in Glendale. In 2017, Rasmussen raised the issue that she was not being compensated fairly, the lawsuit said. At the time, Rasmussens base salary was $109,958. Six other men who held the same title were paid $16,000 to nearly $40,000 more, according to the lawsuit. Five months after she brought up the issue, Rasmussen said, Disney asserted that her salary amount was not due to gender, but in November 2018, the company boosted Rasmussens pay by $25,000, the lawsuit claims. Even with the pay adjustment, Rasmussen believes she is still making less than men doing similar work.

Moore works as a senior copyright administrator in the Disney Music Group in Burbank. She says she was discouraged from applying for a manager position that was later changed to a senior manager role and given to a man. The lawsuit claims that he is making significantly more than Ms. Moore even though they are both performing the same or substantially similar work.

Businesses have expected more lawsuits regarding compensation to pop up after a tougher pay equity law was signed by the governor in 2015. The law requires companies to pay women and men equally for similar work.

Already, companies including Google have faced lawsuits alleging pay discrimination against female workers.

Earlier this week, 13 companies, including Apple, AT&T, Salesforce and Airbnb, signed up to participate in a state initiative promoting equal pay, agreeing to a companywide gender pay analysis.

Times staff writer Ryan Faughnder contributed to this report.

wendy.lee@latimes.com

Twitter: @thewendyleeHollywood is keeping a nervous eye on the widening feud between the Writers Guild of America and the major talent agencies as the two sides are expected to negotiate down to the wire on a deal that would prevent writers from taking the extraordinary step of firing their agents.

Writers and agents have until Saturday to hammer out a new franchise agreement that would address the contentious issues of packaging fees and agencies growing involvement in TV and movie production. The guild is arguing that agents have prioritized packaging over client representation and face conflicts of interest if they employ a client on a show while also representing the same client.

Both sides have engaged in aggressive publicity campaigns, looking to sway the narrative to gain the most leverage. In their latest move, WGA members voted overwhelmingly this week in favor of a code of conduct that would limit agency practices, though no agencies have so far agreed to the terms.

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How do Hollywood insiders really feel about the dispute? The Times spoke with writers and agents on condition of anonymity, inviting them to expound on their concerns and personal anxieties, without fear of repercussions from guild leaders or agency executives. What follows are excerpts from those conversations.

Feature film writer

Im a captain for the guild  Im part of the apparatus pushing for the vote. I have spent way more time composing emails to my group than I have writing, which is probably not the best for my career. But you know how it is. Its work I find valuable so Im happy to do it. Honestly, its been a total [expletive] show.

Its been scary, anxiety producing. Its tough to go through this with people who are your close friends. Im close friends with my agent. Hes been instrumental in getting me good jobs. But he understands. He has a granular understanding what its like to be a writer. I dont want to leave him, but he knows Im going to go if the guild says its time to go. I think its tearing him up. Hes fighting for some way for his agency to work things out.

Showrunner on a premium cable series

Were in the middle of staffing season. To not have an agent when entering staffing season is not a good place to be. Im a showrunner and employed so its a little different. For me its more symbolic than anything else. I signed the petition because I wanted young writers to know that Im on their side and I take their anxieties seriously. Were fighting to protect the weakest in our herd. They need to be nurtured, fed and paid for their work. I have one story editor and she feels passionately that the union has protected her and she doesnt believe agents will negotiate in good faith.

At one point, we had agents come talk to us  to hear it from their perspective. They didnt make a great case. They said its like drilling for oil, that they dont make money on a lot of packages and that theyre taking a risk too. But most projects are like that in Hollywood.

Agent at a major Hollywood talent agency

If I had to sum it up, its comfortable, awkward and embarrassing because as much as people like to think that agents are swimming in a room full of money, the majority of us are grinders who are working so [expletive] hard to get these deals. Now, writers are probably the most underappreciated talent in the whole ecosystem. Theres been this history of using and abusing writers. So I feel they are taking it out on the agents. But we are fighting on your behalf, so its ridiculous.

I wish writers were more educated in the history and how packaging came about. Theres a long, long history. The majority of writers are cheap  they dont want to pay their 10% commission. The writers are delusional if they think the studios will pay them more [if packaging is eliminated]. Theyre dreaming. The studios are going to pocket the money aggressively. Theyre not going to give writers better deals on the back end. Ill tell you right now  its not going to happen.

TV and film writer

Ive been with my agents 13 to 14 years. My agents have done right by me. It took me by surprise when I sat with [guild leaders]. After 15 minutes, their goal was to have us all leave our agents and to re-create the business. Under no uncertain terms. It felt like I stepped into an alternate universe. It feels like a rogue band has been hurt by packaging and has taken over the guild. The smartest writers I know arent going to leave their agents. This is a skewed perspective. I think, mostly, writers are happy. But there have been some people who are unhappy. It feels like the WGA wants to drive us off a cliff, but they dont know where the landing is.

TV writer-producer for a show on a major streaming service

I created the show with someone else. My agency will make more than I will on that show. Its supposed to be 10% of what you make. Now they are getting more than I am. It only incentivizes them to keep the show budget lower to give them more profits. In the past 10 years, demand for writers has been huge. But instead, writer budgets have stayed the same and salaries have trended downward.

When it comes to a conflict of interest  it shouldnt be there in the first place. Agencies creating their own studios is very concerning.

Have an opinion on the subject? Contact david.ng@latimes.com.A faulty sensor on a Lion Air 737 Max thats been linked to the jetliners deadly crash in October and a harrowing ride the previous day was repaired in a U.S. aircraft maintenance facility before the tragedy, according to investigative documents.

Accident investigators in Indonesia, home of Lion Air, and the U.S., where Boeing Co., the planes manufacturer, is based, have been examining the work that a Florida repair shop previously performed on the so-called angle-of-attack sensor, according to briefing documents prepared for Indonesias parliament.

Erroneous signals from that sensor triggered the repeated nose-down movements on the Oct. 29 flight that pilots struggled with until the jet plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people aboard, according to a preliminary accident report by Indonesian investigators.

The Lion Air crash and a similar one about five months later involving an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max together prompted the grounding of Boeings bestselling jet March 13 and touched off a global rebellion against U.S. aviation regulators. Investigators have focused on the sensors role in the two disasters.

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Full coverage: Boeing 737 Max planes grounded in U.S. and around the world following 2 deadly crashes 

Documents obtained by Bloomberg show the repair station, XTRA Aerospace Inc. in Miramar, Fla., had worked on the sensor. It was later installed on the Lion Air plane on Oct. 28 in Bali, after pilots had reported problems with instruments displaying speed and altitude. Theres no indication the Florida shop did maintenance on the Ethiopian jets device.

The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee is seeking data from repair station in Florida where the unit was worked on, the investigative agency said in a briefing to parliament in November and contained in a presentation.

Our thoughts and condolences are with all those who have lost loved ones in the recent 737 Max 8 accidents, XTRA Aerospace, a unit of Wencor Group, said in a written statement. The company, it said, is fully committed to supporting any investigations into this matter.

Nurcahyo Utomo, lead investigator at the Indonesia NTSC, said the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board was conducting a review of the work performed on the sensor, but hasnt yet reported back on its findings.

The sensor was made by Rosemount Aerospace Inc., of Minnesota, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. United Technologies declined to comment, citing the investigation.

The sensor involved in the crash wasnt working from the time it was installed, according to the NTSCs preliminary report on the accident.

Angle-of-attack sensors, which operate like a wind vane on the side of a jet, are designed to show how air is flowing relative to where the nose is pointed and alert pilots of a too-steep climb that could result in an aerodynamic stall. In the case of the Lion Air flights, the left-side sensor was showing the nose pointed about 20 degrees higher than was actually the case.

It was that erroneous reading that caused an anti-stall computer system to assume the plane was in danger of losing lift and to repeatedly try to push down the nose on the final flight and the one that preceded it, according to the preliminary report that cited information from the planes crash-proof data recorder.

XTRA Aerospace is certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to perform repairs on multiple Boeing and Airbus SE models, according to its website.

U.S. teams assisting the Indonesian investigation reviewed the work by the company to ensure that there werent additional angle-of-attack sensors in the supply chain with defects, said a person familiar with the work. They didnt find any evidence of systemic issues on other sensors the company may have worked on, said the person, who wasnt authorized to comment on the work and asked not to be identified.

Representatives of the NTSB, which is assisting Indonesia and Ethiopia in their crash investigations, and the FAA, which is also participating, said they couldnt comment on a foreign accident investigation. A spokesman for Lion Air didnt respond to a request for comment left after business hours.

Much of the concern by regulators and lawmakers after the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes has focused on Boeings design of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, which was programmed to push down a planes nose to help prevent aerodynamic stalls in some situations. But the preliminary report by Indonesia on the Lion Air crash shows that maintenance and pilot actions are also being reviewed.

Its common for licensed repair stations to overhaul older parts so they can be resold, said John Goglia, a former member of the NTSB who earlier worked as an airline mechanic. Airlines can save money buying used parts and U.S. regulations require that the parts meet legal standards, Goglia said.

If the sensor was repaired at XTRA Aerospace, it would have to go through what the manual says to overhaul it, he said. That means all the steps.

The Indonesian preliminary report doesnt say what went wrong with the device but indicates that the planes maintenance is a subject of the investigation.

Even if it was improperly repaired or damaged in transit, the procedure for installation on the plane should catch any problems with the device, according to Charles Horning, chairman of the Department of Aviation Maintenance Science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

There would definitely be a return-to-service test to verify the installation, Horning said. That would be the goal of the test, provided the test was done properly.

When Goglia was a mechanic working on the 737 and other models, there was a procedure to move a new angle-of-attack sensor on the side of the plane and then check to see if readings in the cockpit were correct, he said. With todays electronic cockpits, mechanics would probably use a testing device that plugs into a computer system, he said.

So far, it isnt clear why that required test didnt identify that the part wasnt functioning properly.

The 737 Max that crashed in Ethiopia on March 10 also apparently had issues with the same type of sensor, which triggered a safety system on the plane that was driving down the planes nose, according to people familiar with the accident. In that case, investigators are still attempting to locate one of the sensors to help determine why it malfunctioned, the people said.

A preliminary report on that crash has not yet been issued, and it could not be learned if the sensors had been previously repaired. Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Tewolde GebreMariam has said there were no indications of maintenance issues before the flight.In another bizarre plot twist in Carlos Ghosns long-running legal troubles, the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman may be rearrested on fresh charges just as he was preparing to tell his side of the story.

The drama surrounding the former auto czar reignited Wednesday when he tweeted that hes planning to hold a news conference April 11 to tell the truth about accusations against him for alleged financial crimes. Soon after, the Sankei newspaper reported that Ghosn would be rearrested by prosecutors in Tokyo on a new charge of breach of trust.

Ghosn, whos been free on bail for almost a month, tweeted from a newly created and verified Twitter account without specifying a time or place. The former auto executive, who has been preparing for his trial on charges of financial misconduct, has vigorously denied accusations of transferring personal trading losses to the automaker and underreporting his income. He was arrested Nov. 19 and jailed for more than 100 days.

I'm getting ready to tell the truth about what's happening. Press conference on Thursday, April 11.  Carlos Ghosn  (@carlosghosn) April 3, 2019

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The new charges sound more substantive and serious than the two outstanding criminal charges, said Stephen Givens, a professor of law at Sophia University in Tokyo. Things could change for Ghosns prospects if it turns out he was actually embezzling Nissan money.

The sudden arrest of the car titan destabilized an alliance between Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Then last month, the three automakers announced a new governance structure designed for smoother and more equitable decision-making. A rearrest is unlikely to affect the manufacturers but could put Nissan and Renault under closer scrutiny. Thats because the new charges may be related to improper payments made to a Ghosn acquaintance in Oman, according to Sankei.

Renault and Nissan have uncovered payments made under Ghosn that allegedly went toward corporate jets, a yacht and his sons start-up, leading the French carmaker to alert authorities about potential wrongdoing, people familiar with the matter have said. The transactions were revealed in investigations and amounted to millions of euros to companies in Oman and Lebanon that may have then been used for the personal benefit of Ghosn and his family, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details arent public.

Another question is whether a rearrest might result in Ghosn being put back in jail. Prosecutors may choose to do so if they think they need to question him in detail over the new charges.

Since the court, by releasing him, has already determined that he is not a risk to flee or destroy evidence, it will be interesting to see if the new arrest leads to a new detention, Givens said.

The prospect of being detained again may spur Ghosn and his lawyers to hold a news conference earlier than April 11. His lead lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, had spoken on his behalf until now, most recently this week. The length of Ghosns detention and peculiarities of Japans legal process have cast global attention on the archipelagos criminal justice system. Thats also created an incentive for Ghosn to try his case in the court of public opinion.

Until Wednesday, Ghosn had never tweeted under a personal account. The Twitter handle @carlosghosn says he joined in April 2019 and describes him as Father, Husband, Former Chairman and CEO of Nissan Motors, Renault, Former Chairman of Mitsubishi Motors, Former Chairman and CEO of the Alliance.

Within the first hour of the inaugural tweet, the account amassed more than 800 followers and as of 2 p.m. Pacific time had 34,000 followers, who were posting gifs and memes in response to his tweet about telling the truth.

The account evolved in real time, initially lacking Twitters blue check mark indicating a verified account, but that popped up later. Then, Japanese characters appeared next to his name and a background image of the former auto executive gazing over a Japanese temple was added.

The account features a picture of a thinner and grayer Ghosn standing in front of cherry blossoms, currently blooming in Tokyo.

Stevenson writes for Bloomberg.The Trump administration plans to shift much of the power and responsibility for food safety inspections in hog plants to the pork industry as early as May, cutting the number of federal inspectors by about 40% and replacing them with plant employees.

Under the proposed new inspection system, the responsibility for identifying diseased and contaminated pork would be shared with plant employees, whose training would be at the discretion of plant owners. There would be no limits on slaughter-line speeds.

The new pork inspection system would accelerate the federal governments move toward delegating inspections to the livestock industry. During the Obama administration, poultry plant owners were given more power over safety inspections, although that administration canceled plans to increase line speeds. The Trump administration in September allowed some poultry plants to increase line speeds.

The Trump administration also is working to shift inspection of beef to plant owners. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are scheduled next month to discuss the proposed changes with the meat industry.

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These proposals, part of the Trump administrations broader effort to reduce regulations, come as the federal government is under fire for delegating some of its aircraft safety oversight responsibilities to Boeing, which developed the 737 Max jets involved in two fatal crashes over the last six months. Federal Aviation Administration certification of the two aircraft involved in the crashes took place under the Trump administration, but the major shift toward delegating key aspects of aviation oversight began during the George W. Bush administration.

Pat Basu, the chief veterinarian with the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service from 2016 to 2018, refused to sign off on the new pork system because of concerns about safety for both consumers and livestock. The USDA sent the proposed regulations to the Federal Register about a week after Basu left, and they were published less than a month later, according to records and interviews.

Look at the FAA. It took a year or so before the crashes happened, Basu said. This could pass and everything could be OK for a while, until some disease is missed and we have an outbreak all over the country. It would be an economic disaster that would be very hard to recover from.

Basus top concern is with giving plant workers the responsibility to identify and remove live diseased hogs when the hogs arrive at the plants. He said that job should remain with trained USDA veterinarians so they can identify contagious diseases like foot and mouth, which can maim and destroy livestock, profoundly affecting the economy. One analysis by Kansas State University researchers determined such an outbreak could cost producers and the public $188 billion and state and federal governments $11 billion.

The National Pork Producers Council, the association for the $20-billion pork industry, said the new system will create a more symbiotic relationship with USDA workers who will partner with the pork industry to better ensure safe products are entering the marketplace, according to an issues paper the trade group distributed on Capitol Hill.

USDA officials declined interview requests, saying they would not speak publicly about the new regulations until they are final. The proposed regulations have been published in the Federal Register.

In the past, officials in the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service have defended their efforts to transfer more of its oversight control to the pork industry. They said federal inspectors will spend less time assessing the quality of the pork, which will give them more time to look for disease and contamination.

Food-borne illnesses, they said, typically come from microscopic pathogens that are best detected through testing.

More emphasis will be placed on preventing contamination rather than reacting to it afterwards, said William James, the head veterinarian in the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service from 2008 to 2011, who helped develop the regulations.

These [inspection] systems have evolved since the 80s, and they will continue to do so, he said. We cannot do things the same ways weve always done them.

However, USDA officials confirmed they have no plans under the new system to test for salmonella -- for which USDA once tested. The agency will rely heavily on pathogen testing by plant owners, but those results will not have to be publicly disclosed. The hog plants also will no longer be required to test for E. coli, records show.

Joseph Ferguson is a former USDA hog inspector who retired in 2015 after working 23 years under the traditional inspection system as well as with a trial program that created the new proposed system. He said federal regulators lost control when plant workers supplanted them. Hog carcasses whizzed by him and the plant-paid inspectors at speeds so fast that fecal contamination -- an important indicator for E. coli and salmonella -- could not be detected.

All the power gets handed over to the plant, Ferguson said. I saw the alleged inspections that were performed by plant workers; they werent inspections. They were supposed to meet or exceed USDA standards -- I never saw that happen.

The proposed hog slaughter rule is based on a study that began 20 years ago, ultimately including five large plants. Efforts to expand the program have sputtered under past administrations, but Trump administration officials have told industry trade groups that they expect the proposed regulations to soon become final. They say 40 of the 612 hog plants not already using the new system will begin using the program. Collectively, agriculture officials say, these plants will produce 90% of the pork produced in the United States.

An analysis by the USDA of 35 of the 40 plants estimated that the number of federal inspectors would shrink from 365 to 218. That same analysis estimated that the new system will save $6 million annually and that large plants -- by increasing their line speeds by more than 12% -- will increase their profits annually by more than $2 million. The current cap on line speed is 1,106 hogs per hour, or 18 hogs per minute.

Food safety advocates say giving more control to plant owners is a step away from the overhauls that gave federal inspectors authority over food safety in slaughterhouses in the first place. In 1906, Upton Sinclairs novel The Jungle was published, describing the high rate of rotten and contaminated meat being processed in a Chicago meatpacking plant. Public outrage fueled the passage of a federal law that year requiring meat to be slaughtered under sanitary conditions and under the supervision of federal inspectors.

Although there have been huge advances in food safety in meatpacking plants, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 500,000 people become ill and 82 die each year from consuming pathogen-laced pork products. Hog plants produce about 11 million tons of pork products annually, with 75% eaten in the United States, according to industry statistics.

The proposed inspection program has faced harsh criticism by government auditors and investigators.

In May 2013, the USDAs inspector general issued a report that found three of the five plants in the trial program had numerous health and safety violations. Safety records at those three plants were worse than those at hundreds of other U.S. hog plants that continued to operate under the traditional system, auditors found.

A separate September 2013 Government Accountability Office report determined that the five-plant trial program was too small to provide reasonable assurance that any conclusions can apply more broadly to the universe of 608 hog plants in the United States.

No independent government assessments of the program have been done since the 2013 reports.

When it comes to worker safety, USDA said in its proposed regulations that the plants in the trial program -- which use the faster line speeds -- experienced a drop in worker injuries.

The National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit that advocates for worker safety, questioned those findings. Meat slaughter and meat-processing jobs have high injury rates that occupational experts attribute to the fast, repetitive motions workers perform throughout an eight- to 10-hour shift.

Illness rates for people who work in the meatpacking business -- including carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis -- are 16 times higher than for workers in other industries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The USDA did not make its analysis or data public. The National Employment Law Project obtained it through a public information request. Two Texas State University researchers who specialize in quantitative methods and statistics analyzed the data and concluded that it is impossible for [the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service] to draw any statistically valid conclusion about worker injury rate differences.

The analysis by Texas researchers got the attention of Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the second-ranking Senate Democrat. Durbin recently sent a letter signed by 16 other Democrats to the USDA inspector generals office, asking for an investigation. Especially egregious, Durbin said, is that it appears that the USDA intentionally kept the analysis out of public view until it was forced to disclose it, and only after the public comment period had passed for the proposed inspection system.

Using flawed data, the USDA is rushing to approve a rule concerning slaughter rates on hog farms, and it could jeopardize worker safety for a job that already comes with considerable risks and dangers, Durbin said in a statement to the Washington Post. The safety of tens of thousands of workers in pork processing plants should be USDAs priority, and right now it clearly isnt.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service responded that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, not the inspection service, has the statutory and regulatory authority to promote workplace safety and health.

Kimberly Kindy is a reporter for the Washington Post.The family that controls OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has asked for the dismissal of a Massachusetts lawsuit that alleges the company fueled the opioid epidemic. The suit relies on false assertions, the Sackler family argues.

In a motion delivered Tuesday to Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Maura Healey, lawyers for members of the Sackler family argue that Healeys lawsuit contains misleading and inflammatory allegations and takes internal company emails out of context in alleging that the Sackler family and Purdue deserve accountability for the addiction and deaths that opioids have spread across the country.

We are confident the court will look past the inflammatory media coverage generated by the misleading complaint and apply the law fairly by dismissing all of these claims, Sackler family members said in a statement Tuesday.

Healeys lawsuit, filed in June, alleges that individual members of the Sackler family engaged in acts of deception and misconduct to make as much money as possible from sales of OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller. Healey accuses the family of disregarding addiction and safety in the name of profit. She alleges that members of the family directed sales representatives to push high doses of the drug while knowing its potential dangers.

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The family says it acted in a routine way for members of a corporate board: reviewing voluminous documents including budget presentations, spreadsheets and reports about Purdues nationwide operations.

Not a single document shows an individual director engaging in any unlawful conduct regarding the sale of prescription opioids or ordering anyone else to do so, the Sacklers motion says, noting that there were no examples of the board engaging in unlawful conduct or directing others to do so.

The Sacklers lawyers also say portions of emails Healey used to show allegedly egregious conduct were taken out of context and do not reflect what she alleges in the lawsuit.

Healeys lawsuit says that at an OxyContin launch party in 1996, Richard Sackler told the crowd to imagine natural disasters, such as a hurricane or blizzard. The launch of OxyContin Tablets will be followed by a blizzard of prescriptions that will bury the competition, Healey alleges Sackler said, according to an email quoted in the documents.

The Sacklers say the remarks were an allusion, referencing his delayed arrival at that event due to the well-known Blizzard of 1996.

Healeys lawsuit also contends that the Sackler family considered a plan called Project Tango that would have allowed the company to get into the business of selling drugs aimed at counteracting opioid abuse. The family says in court papers that Project Tango was a plan floated by a third-party private equity firm that was subsequently abandoned.

The Sackler family is facing increased scrutiny and legal claims surrounding its alleged role in the opioid crisis; Purdue Pharma made billions of dollars in the last two decades as its popular opioids were heavily prescribed, and many of the companys pills were diverted to a thriving black market.

The New York attorney general asserted in a lawsuit filed last week that the Sackler family steered hundreds of millions of dollars away from Purdue and into personal offshore accounts. Members of the Sackler family paid $75 million in personal funds as part of a $270-million out-of-court settlement between Purdue and the Oklahoma attorney general last week. The Sacklers were not personally named as defendants in that case.

Healeys suit is among a number of recent lawsuits to accuse the Sackler family, and not just Purdue, of wrongdoing. Her office plans to oppose the dismissal motion.

Our complaint makes clear the role that Purdues executives and directors played in creating and profiting from the opioid crisis, Healey said in a statement. Their motions are an attempt to avoid accountability. We will continue our work to expose the conduct that hurt so many families in Massachusetts.

The Sacklers have donated massive amounts of money to philanthropies and art institutions around the world, many of which are now dealing with blowback and protests because of the allegations regarding the familys role in the opioid crisis.

The familys philanthropic trust announced last week that it would stop making donations after the National Portrait Gallery and Tate galleries in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York announced they would no longer take money from the Sacklers.The ever-worsening scourge of robocalls is receiving renewed attention in Congress, where top Democrats and Republicans are set to take an early step this week toward cracking down on scammers who prey on people via phone.

The newly revived effort in the Senate takes aim at those who disguise their attempts to steal Americans personal information, often by using phone numbers that appear similar to those theyre trying to target. These fraudulent, illegal calls constituted roughly a quarter of the 26 billion robocalls placed to U.S. mobile numbers last year, according to one industry estimate.

Under bipartisan legislation, called the TRACED Act, the U.S. government would gain more power to slap these lawbreakers with bigger fines, while prodding AT&T, Verizon and other carriers to improve their technology so people can more easily figure out if calls are real or spam. The first test for the bill arrives Wednesday, when it is scheduled to come before the tech- and telecom-focused Senate Commerce Committee for an early vote that its expected to pass.

We absolutely must target these scammers as they present a unique, pernicious threat to tens of millions of unsuspecting consumers they seek to defraud, said Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who wrote the bill with Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.).

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The Senate proposal has broad support from some wireless carriers, public-interest advocates, the makers of popular call-blocking smartphone apps and state attorneys general. They see the TRACED Act as a long-overdue attempt to grant the population a robocall reprieve, even if it is limited in scope and wont alleviate a national telecom nightmare overnight.

But the bills drafters and their allies face their toughest challenge in Congress, where lawmakers long have been faulted for acting too slowly to tackle some of the digital ages most intractable problems, even in the face of widespread consumer disgust.

I think theres enough bipartisan frustration with the way things are, and enough feedback from constituents, that the time for action is now, Thune said in a recent interview.

In the absence of federal action, robocalls have skyrocketed in recent years as scammers try to trick people into surrendering personal information, especially during major national events, such as tax deadline day. In record numbers, robocall recipients have complained to the two U.S. agencies that keep watch over the industry: the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, each of which has issued major fines to the worst offenders in recent months.

But critics say the FCC, as the nations chief telecom regulator, still has not acted aggressively enough to halt the deluge. Asked if the agency has been too slow to adopt new rules, Thune replied in an interview: I would say thats probably a fair assessment.

In response, the bill he drafted with Markey would give the FCC more time to investigate robocall scammers and make it easier to levy bigger fines. Under existing law, the agency is hamstrung: It currently has a year to conduct such an investigation and take legal action, a short statute of limitations that the FCC has said has hurt enforcement efforts.

The FCC also often cant issue financial penalties for illegal robocalls until it has given a legal warning to fraudsters who, by nature, arent likely to listen in the first place  a requirement the Senate bill would eliminate.

The proposed law would also set regulators sights on carriers  including the big four, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile  giving the companies 18 months to incorporate new technology in their networks that can verify if a call is coming from a real, operable number. The system, known to industry insiders as STIR/SHAKEN, could result in wireless carriers displaying more useful warnings to customers whenever a suspicious call comes in.

All four carriers have pledged to adopt the technology, but consumer groups fear their timing could slip into 2020 or beyond unless theres a mandate from Congress. The technology alone isnt likely to stop robocalls entirely, experts say, but lawmakers still hope to speed it along  and ensure that smaller phone operators across the country do too.

This is something weve been calling on the FCC to do for years, to require phone companies to implement this technology, said Maureen Mahoney, a policy fellow for Consumer Reports.

Nothing now prevents the FCC from mandating that the countrys telecom carriers adopt technology to authenticate calls, but so far FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has issued only a warning to the telecom giants that his agency would consider regulatory intervention if companies dont deploy it by the end of the year.

Asked Monday about the FCCs approach, Will Wiquist, a spokesman for Pai, said it would be slower if the FCC acted instead of Congress to mandate the carriers adopt call authentication technology. FCC action opens the door for litigation that could further delay progress, Wiquist said.

A report last week from the Wall Street Journal only added to the FCCs headaches, revealing that government has failed to collect on some of the multimillion-dollar fines it has announced against illegal robocalls. Wiquist said it is up to the Justice Department to follow through and collect those penalties.

Pais approach drew a sharp rebuke from Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who said in a statement this week that the agencys robocall efforts have barely moved the needle. Urging her fellow commissioners to act more aggressively against robocalls, she said of the new legislation in Congress: Theres no doubt more authority from this act is a good thing  and I welcome it.

Even the bills backers, however, concede the proposal wont end unwanted robocalls outright. Technology to authenticate calls isnt likely to stop scammers who buy real phone numbers and use them to assault consumers. Nor does the measure address the credit card companies, student lenders and other legitimate businesses that also ring consumers smartphones and landline numbers  legally, if undesirably  throughout the day.

Limiting those calls would require a wholesale rethinking of the nations telecom laws, experts said.

In the House, one bill  introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)  would give consumers new power to stop debt collectors from contacting them. But Pallone, the leader of the Houses top telecom-focused committee, declined via a spokesman to be interviewed. The spokesman did not give a firm timetable for the bill.

The issue also has been teed up at the FCC. Debt collectors and others have urged the agency to grant them greater ability to call consumers en masse. The FCC declined to comment on its timing, despite seeking public comment on robocall reforms over the last year.

Aaron Foss, the founder of call-blocking app Nomorobo, said the TRACED Act at least gives people a little bit of hope, for a little bit of time.

I really think everybody should come together and look at the problem holistically, he added, and, in many ways, hit the reset button.The crashes were brutal. With no warning, the front wheel on the three-wheeled BOB jogging strollers fell off, causing the carriages to careen and even flip over. Adults shattered bones. They tore ligaments. Children smashed their teeth. They gashed their faces. One child bled from his ear canal.

Staff members at the Consumer Product Safety Commission collected 200 consumer-submitted reports from 2012 to 2018 of spontaneous failure of the stroller wheel, which is secured to a front fork by a quick-release lever, like on a bicycle. Nearly 100 adults and children were injured, according to the commission. The agencys staff members investigated for months before deciding in 2017 that one of the most popular jogging strollers on the market was unsafe and needed to be recalled.

The danger that was there was just so obvious, said Marietta Robinson, a former Democratic commissioner who was still at the agency when the injury reports surfaced. It was appalling.

But BOBs maker, Britax Child Safety, refused the agencys request in 2017 for a voluntary recall of nearly 500,000 strollers. The company said the strollers were safe when used as instructed and met industry standards for safety.

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The agency didnt back down. It sued to force a recall in February 2018. Britax kept fighting. That was unusual. Companies normally want to avoid public clashes with safety regulators, according to past and current agency staff members.

But the leadership of the safety agency was about to change. And that meant Britax might not have to recall the BOB after all.

The untold story of the Britax case shows how changes in the safety agencys leadership under President Trump influenced the handling of a product that the commission believed had injured consumers. The case was even more striking because it unfolded as Republicans assumed day-to-day control of the agency, eventually earning a majority on the agencys oversight commission for the first time in more than a decade.

According to a review of documents by the Washington Post and interviews with eight current and former senior agency officials, the agencys Republican chairwoman kept Democratic commissioners in the dark about the stroller investigation and then helped end the case in court. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity because of agency rules against discussing cases.

These events occurred with little notice amid other, higher-profile deregulatory moves by the Trump administration. But consumer advocates said changes at the Consumer Product Safety Commission could be a worrisome sign of regulators pulling back at an agency that oversees safety in 15,000 everyday products, including toys and dressers as well as lawn mowers and table saws.

The agency has historically been a leader in protecting children, passing strict limits on lead in childrens toys and ending the sale of deadly drop-side cribs. Its lawsuit against Britax ended in November with a settlement, approved by a 3-to-2 commission vote reflecting the new Republican majority. In a rare written dissent, the panels two Democrats called the settlement aggressively misleading for seeking to downplay the risks to consumers.

Under the terms of the settlement, Britax needed to launch a public-safety campaign and offer replacement parts or discounts on new strollers to affected users who requested them. But, as the company noted in a news release, it was pleased to announce a resolution that didnt include a recall or formal correction plan. Company President Robert McCutcheon explained in a statement to the Post that Britax contested CPSCs action to request a recall of BOB strollers because there is no defect in these products.

Their strategy worked, said Rebecca Weintraub, general counsel at the advocacy group Consumer Federation of America. But the settlement is incredibly weak and fails to protect consumers.

- - -

The stroller was a gift from her mom.

The BOB  as its fans call it  seemed like a perfect choice for Tess Sawyer, an avid runner and a first-time mom living outside Cleveland.

Her BOB Revolution could really move on its three air-filled tires. It looked rugged, like a stroller SUV. Marketing materials showed it being pushed along dirt trails and park paths. Baby stores and outdoor shops such as REI sold the $400-to-$600 stroller.

In September 2016, Sawyer said, she went for a run with her daughter strapped into her BOB. She was sprinting down the sidewalk with the stroller and all of the sudden the wheel falls off, Sawyer, now 26, recalled. No indication. No red flag.

The front of the stroller dipped forward. The back wheels lifted off the ground. Sawyer struggled for control. She wasnt hurt. Her daughter, not yet a year old, was rattled but fine.

It freaked me out, Sawyer said.

The front wheel of Tess Sawyers BOB jogging stroller with quick release. (Dustin Franz / For the Washington Post)

When she returned home, Sawyer contacted Britax. The company sent her a new front wheel, Sawyer said, same as the first one. But that was it.

They gave us no reason to believe that something was wrong with the stroller, Sawyer said. It was like it was just a crazy accident.

But BOBs wheel problems were well documented by then. Even BOBs corporate site carried a review by a mother claiming her strollers wheel fell off while she was running with her son. Her posts headline: Scary moment.

BOB had produced a special online video in 2013 to instruct users on its use. A few months later, it added a hang tag to its strollers that warned about the dangers of incorrectly using the device.

But the front-wheel accidents kept happening  and, according to the agencys later lawsuit, the company failed to disclose many of these incidents to regulators. This prevented the agency from learning early on about the scale of the problem, according to two people familiar with the agencys thinking.

Britax said in a statement it complied with all legal and regulatory reporting requirements.

The quick release is a metal skewer with a curved handle on one end and a metal nut on the other that tightens the wheel to the stroller fork. The strollers instructions told parents that less than a half turn of the quick release can be the difference between safe and unsafe clamping force.

Problems with other quick-release mechanisms have led to voluntary recalls by other companies, including recalls of bicycles by 18 different brands. More than 2 million bicycles were recalled in 2015.

In 2016, Pacific Cycle agreed to recall its jogging stroller, telling consumers to stop using the stroller until the quick release was replaced with a screw attachment.

That same year, Britax announced it had redesigned the BOBs quick release for added safety and usability, according to a news release.

The new design had a closed stroller fork and modified quick release, so the wheel couldnt fall out as easily. But that left nearly 500,000 BOBs with the original design. And they were continuing to cause problems.

As recently as October, a father reported to the agencys consumer complaint database that his BOB double-seat stroller lost its wheel while he was jogging, causing his two children to fall face first to the ground as he flipped over the stroller and landed on top of them.

- - -

The most powerful position at the Consumer Product Safety Commission is the agencys chair. The chair  filled by presidential appointment and confirmed by the Senate  heads the agencys five-person commission in which the presidents political party often holds a voting majority.

Trumps election meant the commission would swing to the Republicans for the first time in more than a decade. Ann Marie Buerkle, a Republican, was named acting chairwoman in February 2017. Trump has nominated her to take on the role permanently.

Buerkle, who has served on the commission since 2013, was the only commissioner to oppose proposed portable-generator rules aimed at reducing carbon monoxide poisoning in 2016. She was again the lone vote that year against a then-record $15.45-million penalty for a company accused of making humidifiers prone to catching fire.

Buerkle declined to be interviewed by the Post.

In Buerkles first two years as chairwoman, the number of companies fined for misconduct declined to five in 2017-2018 from 12 in 2015-2016. Public voluntary recalls fell about 13% during the same period, resulting in about 80 fewer recalls, according to agency data. Last year, the number of public recalls fell to its lowest level in a decade, consumer advocates say.

One month into Buerkles tenure as chairwoman, in March 2017, agency staff members took the first step toward recalling the BOB with a preliminary determination that the strollers front wheel constituted a substantial product hazard.

They had been studying the issue for nearly a year. They compiled in-depth injury reports. They collected epidemiological data. They ran engineering tests, even taking the stroller out in the Washington area to understand why the wheel failed, according to two people familiar with the agencys findings.

The agencys health sciences division determined children could suffer potentially life-threatening injuries from front-wheel detachments, according to the same two people.

Staff members tried for months to get Britax to agree to a voluntary recall. But the company declined. Months passed with no action, with Britax insisting the steps taken to inform consumers about the quick release were adequate to ensure the strollers were safe.

The case was not moving and hit a roadblock, one senior agency official said.

Ordinarily, at this point, staff members might seek to pressure a reluctant company into agreeing to a voluntary recall, but Buerkle refused to allow staff members to do this, according to the eight officials who spoke to the Post.

Buerkle disputed that. The chairwoman sees her role as helping staff do the best job that they can and not standing in their way, added agency spokeswoman Patty Davis.

While Buerkle had the power to direct the staff, the Democratic commissioners still held a 3-to-1 voting majority  with one vacancy  as two Republican replacements waited for Senate confirmation.

But Buerkle had considerable control over the flow of information about what staff members were investigating. Democratic commissioners, who are less involved in day-to-day activities, did not know about the stroller inquiry.

That changed when longtime Democratic Commissioner Robert Adler found out about it in late 2017. He told others that a little birdie had informed him, according to five officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.

Adler seemed alarmed because it appeared the investigation had been hidden from him and the other commissioners, said these same officials.

Buerkle disputed that she did not tell the other commissioners about the inquiry. Davis added that staff members gave commissioners regular briefings on cases. But two people familiar with the briefings said staff members never mentioned the stroller case.

Adler then approached the two other Democratic commissioners, Elliot Kaye and Robinson. They demanded Buerkle arrange a commission-wide briefing on the stroller investigation, according to five officials familiar with the commissioners thinking. Buerkle also disputed this without elaboration.

On Jan. 10, 2018, a closed-door hearing to discuss a compliance matter was held at the agencys headquarters in Bethesda, Md., according to the agencys public calendar. The agencys compliance staff members were unanimous and unequivocal about the need for a BOB recall, said Robinson, who, at the time, had only a few months remaining on the commission.

The agency scheduled a vote on whether to file a recall lawsuit. The next month, the commission voted 3 to 1 in favor of suing Britax. The three Democrats voted for it. Buerkle was the lone no vote.

But the commissions makeup was about to change.

- - -

The agencys lawsuit filed in administrative court said children and adults were injured because the defective design of the Strollers allowed the front wheel to detach suddenly while the Stroller was in use.

The agency wanted the defective strollers to be repaired or replaced at Britaxs cost and for the company to launch a campaign to warn the public about the strollers dangers. This is how recalls are typically handled.

The lawsuit was the agencys first in six years. But Britax was not backing down.

There is no defect in these products, Britax said in a statement on the day the lawsuit was filed.

Britax  the U.S. subsidiary of Britax Childcare, a U.K. company that bought BOB, originally called Beast of Burden, in 2011  also spent $40,000 to hire a lobbyist last year to make its case on Capitol Hill and at the safety agency, according to disclosure documents. It was the first Washington lobbyist it had hired in recent history, the documents said.

The heart of Britaxs defense was that the stroller met the agencys safety standards, so it could not be defective. The company was right about the standards. The BOB had passed a test that required the removable front wheel to stay on after a strong pull.

The company argued that a product defect required the violation of a safety standard.

That was the point Britaxs attorney, Timothy Mullin, made during a prehearing meeting in May about the litigation, according to a transcript obtained by the Post. The tires didnt come off during testing, even with the quick release unlocked, Mullin told a judge, because of small indents that create a secondary retention system.

Thats correct, replied assistant general counsel Mary Murphy, the agencys attorney. The stroller passed a test in the lab. But, she said, it does not replicate what happens in real life, which is what were seeing when we have these defect scenarios.

Murphy continued, The fact that there is a standard is not a bar to a defect finding.

Tess Sawyers BOB stroller was the subject of a Consumer Product Safety Commission case. (Dustin Franz / For the Washington Post)

Other companies have voluntarily recalled products that havent violated a product standard, said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger. They passed the standard, too, Cowles said. The standard simply didnt keep up.

Soon after that meeting with the judge, the balance of power on the commission swung to the Republicans. Robinson was replaced by Dana Baiocco, a Republican attorney who joined the commission from a Boston law firm where she defended companies against product liability claims.

The commission was now split 2 to 2 by political party. That change proved critical when the agencys attorneys tried to subpoena three former BOB employees to discuss the quick release. The subpoena needed the commissions approval.

Kaye and Adler, the two Democrats, voted for it. Buerkle and Baiocco voted against it. A tie vote meant the subpoena was denied.

I just didnt think it complied with the federal rules. Period, Baiocco said in an interview with the Post. She said the subpoena was an undue burden.

The decision appeared to sink the agencys case, according to several agency officials.

- - -

The last vacancy on the commission was filled in September by Republican Peter Feldman, a former Senate staffer.

Two months later, just two days before Thanksgiving, Britax and the agency announced an end to the recall lawsuit with a settlement, which required the company to run a public safety campaign and offer replacement parts or discounts on new strollers to some users in what was clearly not a traditional safety recall. The commission voted 3 to 2 along party lines to accept it.

Feldman said in an interview he doubted going to trial would have been able to bring back anything nearly as strong.

I think it was good for consumers, Baiocco added.

Buerkle said in a statement that she recognized that it was a compromise, but that the deal advances consumer safety.

Adler and Kaye, who voted against the deal, wrote a dissent that questioned why Britax felt so strongly about avoiding the term recall. They also worried the agreement would become a model for settling future product disputes.

Robinson, the former commissioner, said the deal was a sign of what Britax had anticipated all along. The only way this can be explained, she said, is they knew they could do whatever they wanted once the majority changed.

We fully respect the CPSC and its mission and we strive to work collaboratively with them, but we could not agree to recall a product that is not defective, McCutcheon, Britaxs president, said in his statement to the Post.

In January, the company launched its information campaign instructing users how to correctly operate the quick release. At the heart of it was a safety video that ran more than nine minutes.

Britax also offered consumers different ways of securing the front wheel  a bolt or a modified quick release  or a 20% discount on a new stroller. The offer was limited to certain strollers made before October 2015 and was available for a single year, features that consumer advocates say make safety efforts less effective.

By the end of March, the Britax YouTube video had 195 views. Kaye was not surprised.

Information campaigns are usually garbage, Kaye said. When one is genuinely seeking to protect consumers and the public, you almost never rely on an education campaign to do the job.

Kaye worried more companies would want to avoid recalls with information campaigns. Already he detected companies were taking a harder line with the safety agency, and staff members were having a harder time getting their calls returned.

Sawyer, the mother in Ohio, didnt know about the BOBs quick-release problems until a Post reporter contacted her in February.

She didnt know about Britaxs information campaign. She didnt know about the potential fixes being offered.

Now, shes afraid to use her BOB. She doesnt want to take it out for a run. She doesnt want to put her daughter in it, and she cant imagine selling the stroller to someone.

Britax won its fight against a recall, she said. But it lost something, too.

The trust, she said, is gone.

Todd C. Frankel writes for the Washington Post.Goldman Sachs Group Inc.s David Solomon is on his first trip to Saudi Arabia as chief executive, the latest sign that Wall Streets skittishness about doing business with the kingdom is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Solomon, who became the firms CEO in October, is making a renewed effort to strengthen business ties in the country. Hes the first head of a global U.S. bank known to have traveled to the country since an international furor erupted last year over the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley have softened their public stances toward Saudi Arabia, which recently has offered some of the worlds largest transactions, including a $70-billion deal last week. In October, Goldman Sachs joined those rivals in canceling appearances by top executives at the nations marquee investment conference in response to Khashoggis killing and dismemberment at a consulate in Istanbul.

Inside Goldman Sachs, senior executives have indicated Saudi Arabia offers a more promising environment for growing the investment banks business than other parts of the Middle East, according to one senior Goldman banker. Dealings with Qatar have become more complicated amid its diplomatic clashes with Saudi Arabia. And the bank has been publicly spurned by Abu Dhabi.

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A bank spokesman confirmed that Solomon was in the region to see longstanding clients of the firm. While the Saudi kingdom may seem promising for deals, it has proved politically fraught.

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs (Andy Wong / AP)

The boycott of the October event, dubbed Davos in the Desert despite having no affiliation with the World Economic Forum, was one of the industrys only visible rebukes to what happened, but it quickly faded. Ever since, banks have been signaling plans to move on.

By the time the real Davos began in January, bank CEOs were no longer turning a cold shoulder. Morgan Stanleys James Gorman spoke alongside two Saudi ministers. JPMorgans Jamie Dimon and HSBC Holdings John Flint attended a party thrown by Saudi oil giant Aramco, a person present said at the time.

Goldman has been making a renewed push to expand in the country where finding local talent with international experience can be at times challenging. It hired veteran Morgan Stanley banker Ammar Al-Khudairy last year as the non-executive chairman for the bank in the country and also said it plans to deploy its own money on deals in the kingdom for the first time.

The bank is a relative late entrant to the country, where other lenders such as JPMorgan and HSBC have had a much stronger presence for years.

Goldman already has a slate of significant deals in the works in the country. It was an advisor to the Public Investment Fund in Aramcos agreement last week to buy a majority stake in local chemical giant Sabic from the Saudi sovereign fund.

The oil producer just this week disclosed that its the most profitable company in the world  a lucrative client for any investment bank. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan are leading its first-ever international dollar-bond sale, which could raise $10 billion, and a dozen other banks have been added as co-managers.

Goldman is also advising Riyad Bank, a $20-billion lender, on its merger with Saudi Arabias largest lender, National Commercial Bank. Solomons firm also advised HSBC Holdings Saudi Arabian unit on its $5-billion acquisition of a local rival part-owned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been seeking to avoid further alienating the international investors he needs to transform the economy into a financial powerhouse.

For Goldman, the country offers opportunities to bolster earnings while contending with pressures elsewhere. In neighboring Abu Dhabi, the firm has been blacklisted by the emirates main wealth fund amid a legal dispute tied to the banks role in Malaysias 1MDB corruption scandal. That scandal has also dragged the bank into a criminal probe in the key Asian hub of Singapore.

Solomons trip wont end in the Middle East, as he heads to London with Brexit looming. The U.K.s inability to strike a deal to withdraw from the European Union is forcing global banks such as Goldman Sachs to restructure their businesses, shifting assets and personnel to the continent.Tens of thousands of public servants have applied to have their federal student loans forgiven through a temporary relief program run by the U.S. Education Department. Fewer than 300 have had success.

Now, one of the lawmakers who championed the initiative wants to know what happened.

We authorized $700 million dollars to help ensure public servants  including firefighters, teachers and nurses  receive the loan forgiveness they have earned, and its maddening that the Trump administration is letting it go to waste, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in an email.

Kaine and other Senate Democrats have said the Education Department created eligibility criteria that are far more rigid than Congress envisioned. The measure in the fiscal 2018 budget that set up the onetime expansion, based on legislation introduced by Kaine and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), directed the agency to develop a simple way for borrowers to apply for forgiveness. Instead, lawmakers say, the Education Department has restricted access with a litany of rules.

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It has been about a year since the Education Department launched the temporary expansion of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, with $700 million from Congress to spend over two years. The goal was to give public servants enrolled in the wrong repayment plan another shot at having the balance of their debt erased after 10 years of on-time payments.

In response to an inquiry from Kaine, the Education Department disclosed last week that 38,460 people had submitted requests for forgiveness as of Dec. 28 under the new program. Most of those, 28,640 people, were immediately rejected because they had not previously filled out a formal loan forgiveness application  one of the many criteria of the relief program.

Of the 9,820 applicants who cleared the first hurdle, 1,184 are still under consideration. The rest were rejected for myriad reasons. Of the applicants who cleared the initial hurdle, 40% still had years to go before hitting the required 10-year mark. Nearly a quarter were ineligible because they were paying less money in the wrong payment plan than they would have in the correct one.

Others were turned away for having the wrong type of federal loan  those originated by private lenders through the now-defunct Federal Family Education Loan Program. Some had not made enough on-time payments or had not had at least 10 years of full-time employment certified by a qualifying employer, according to the department.

The Department thoroughly evaluates, approves, and denies requests for consideration for Temporary Expanded Loan Forgiveness based on the criteria Congress established, Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill said in an email.

Only 262 people have jumped through all the hoops required for their loans to be discharged. A total of $10.6 million in student loans has been forgiven, a small fraction of the $700 million provided to cover canceled loans.

Were talking about thousands of people who have given a decade of service to our country, and the Education Department is leaving them out to dry, Kaine said Tuesday.

Senate Democrats wrote to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in June urging her to let people submit an application to be processed under the new loan forgiveness program regardless of whether they had already applied for public service forgiveness. The department agreed to the recommendation.

But lawmakers say they have heard from borrowers who had no idea they needed to fill out an earlier application for public service loan forgiveness before requesting forgiveness under the new program, which could account for some of the high rate of rejections. Frustrated borrowers also say they have not received an explanation for the denial of their requests.

The Education Department pushed back against accusations of poor communication with borrowers. Rejection letters contain a list of possible reasons for denial, as does an agency web page about the temporary expansion initiative, according to the department. The agency said it has turned to social media, hosted a webinar and sent targeted emails to public servants to raise awareness of the program.

Congress carved out money for the temporary expansion after lawmakers said they heard too many stories from constituents about receiving inconsistent and unclear guidance about Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The earlier program, introduced in 2007 by the administration of President George W. Bush, requires borrowers to be enrolled in specific repayment plans, primarily those that cap monthly loan payments to a percentage of their income. But some borrowers say loan servicing companies led them to believe they were making qualifying payments when they were not.

People have complained to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about the company overseeing the program, FedLoan Servicing, processing payments incorrectly or botching paperwork. Those mistakes could lead to additional years of payments or rejected applications. FedLoan has rebutted the claims and contended it is working within the confines of the program.

Nearly 99% of applications submitted under Public Service Loan Forgiveness have been denied, for many of the same reasons the Education Department cited in rejecting requests under the temporary initiative.Senior White House officials are exploring ways to exempt commercial trade from President Trumps threat to shut down the U.S. border with Mexico, three people briefed on the discussions said, amid warnings that blocking the flow of goods between the two countries would have severe consequences for the U.S. economy.

In brief remarks, Trump on Tuesday again threatened to close the border but would not definitively say whether he would do so, and he has not divulged his plans even to some of his closest aides. But the White House is bracing for the possibility and internal planning has reached an advanced stage, according to the three people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the deliberations.

Trump plans to visit the Mexico border Friday in California, where some aides are bracing for a possible announcement. Even though White House officials had begun deliberating, business groups expressed skepticism that any plan might work in a way that limited potential problems.

As Trump has escalated his threats to close the border in recent days, top aides have launched a two-pronged strategy in preparation for a decision.

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One approach has been to study ways to minimize the economic impact of shutting the border with the United States second-largest trading partner, in part by allowing trains and trucks to continue bringing goods across the border.

The second prong has included a series of internal warnings to Trump about what might happen if the border is sealed, messages delivered by National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow and Kevin Hassett, head of Trumps Council of Economic Advisors.

Were watching it and looking for ways to allow the freight passage, Kudlow said in an interview with CNBC. Some people call it truck roads. And there are ways you can do that, which would ameliorate the breakdown in supply chains.

Many U.S. manufacturers rely on the import of parts and equipment from Mexico in order to complete production and ship machinery, cars or other goods.

At the Brownsville, Texas, border crossing last year, nearly 800 trucks crossed the border each day, according to data from the Department of Transportation.

Senate Republicans have also begun sounding alarms about what might happen if Trump follows through on his threat, focusing on the economic effect because that often resonates with Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has also expressed concerns that shutting down the border would hurt the economy, according to an advisor who requested anonymity to describe private discussions.

Closing down the border would have a potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country, and I would hope that we would not be doing that sort of thing, McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said shutting down the border could cost the U.S. economy $1 billion or $2 billion each day.

Avocados on display at a grocery store in San Francisco. The CEO of Mission Produce said the U.S. avocado supply could be depleted in three weeks if Donald Trump follows through on his threat to shut down the border with Mexico. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

In a possible sign of things to come, a gauge of avocado prices is having its biggest gain in almost a decade as consumers weigh Trumps latest rhetoric. The Mexico City Hass price from Michoacan, the heartland of Mexican avocado production, jumped 34% on Tuesday. That would be the biggest one-day gain since April 13, 2009.

The increase may reflect growing demand in anticipation of a border shutdown, said Rabobank analyst Roland Fumasi. Mexican avocados account for 75% to 80% of U.S. consumption, and California for about 16%, according to data from the Haas Avocado Board. Chile and Peru supply most of the rest.

Trumps vow to close the border comes after several tense months in U.S.-Mexico relations. The Mexican government last year agreed to restructure the North American Free Trade Agreement after Trump threatened to rip up the 1994 deal. But the new agreement has bogged down in Congress, in part because Democrats want more assurances on how certain provisions will be enforced.

And Trump earlier this year declared the situation at the Mexico border to be a national emergency, a designation that he has said allows him to redirect taxpayer money to expedite the construction of a wall.

But the recent surge of families and other migrants trying to cross into the U.S. has led Trump to call for even more immediate steps, with his focus in recent days shifting to closing down the border.

The president said on Tuesday that he is more focused on security concerns than the effect closing the border would have on the U.S. economy.

Sure its going to have a negative impact on the economy, he told reporters, while saying it was possible that only certain sections of the border could be closed. Security is more important to me than trade.

Trump has also been told by some advisors that it would be extremely difficult to operationally shut down the border, but he has told them to move forward with looking at ways to achieve the feat.

As of Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had not been instructed to prepare for the possibility of shutting down the border, according to a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen cut short a trip to Europe this week and returned to Washington early Tuesday morning to manage the agencys response at the border, department officials said.

At least 545 blue-uniformed Customs and Border Protection officers have been redeployed to help Border Patrol agents detain and process Central American families arriving in record numbers. Diverting those officers and other resources away from U.S. ports of entry along the Mexico border is already leading to increased wait times and logjams for commercial trucks and vehicles entering the United States.

Wait times for vehicles trying to cross the border in Brownsville extended to three hours on Monday, a senior Department of Homeland Security official told reporters Tuesday. At the Otay Mesa crossing in San Diego, one of the borders busiest for cargo, 150 commercial trucks were stuck in line Monday, officials said.

Despite the logistical and economic concerns, White House aides have said this week that Trump is serious about closing the border even if the timing remains unclear.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders softened Trumps threat to close the southern border by the end of the week, saying that such a move was not the presidents first choice and that he does not have a specific timeline.

Eventually it may be the best decision that we close the border, Sanders told reporters at the White House, adding that Mexico has taken some concrete steps to slow the flow of migrants coming into the United States, as Trump has demanded.

Hes hoping that Mexico will continue to step up, like weve seen them do over the last couple of weeks, Sanders said. We hope that that continues, and that we can work with them so we dont have to [close the border].

Trump has told advisors that he would close the ports of entry and reallocate the Border Patrol agents to other parts of the country. In Trumps mind, the closure is about leverage  forcing people to think hes about to do it, and just might do it, to get other concessions, current and former aides said.

Trump has used a similar approach before with trade negotiations and even in the run-up to the government shutdown last year. Sometimes he backs down at the last moment, and sometimes he follows through.

But the fact that White House officials are looking at ways to address the fallout of his latest threat shows how real the option has become, at least internally.

Completely shutting down the U.S. border with Mexico, as Trump has threatened, could halt all U.S. automotive manufacturing within a week, affecting at least 1 million jobs, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research. She said virtually all U.S. auto production relies on some key parts from Mexico or Central America, and these products are brought into the United States on trucks or trains.

The building of vehicles requires 100% of the parts to be there, she said, adding that seat belts, engines, transmissions and wiring harnesses are all brought across the U.S. border.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce began raising alarms last week about Trumps threat to shut down the border, saying it could have a crippling effect on the U.S. economy. But Trump has so far refused to back down.

Mexico is the U.S. second-largest trading partner, meaning that any disruption at the U.S. border could have immediate consequences for the economy. U.S. companies imported $314.3 billion in goods from Mexico in 2017, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. And U.S. companies exported $243.3 billion in goods.

The top imports from Mexico are automobiles, electrical machinery, medical instruments and mineral fuels. The U.S. also imports more agricultural goods from Mexico compared with any other country, with $11.5 billion in fresh fruit and vegetables brought into the U.S. each year.

Bloomberg contributed to this report.Judith Jamison has devoted most of her adult life to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: She performed with the company for 15 years, led it as artistic director for more than two decades, and now at age 75 serves as the artistic director emerita  and one of the few remaining links to the late Ailey himself.

When it becomes necessary, Jamison said, she goes in to nip and tuck, to make sure that if were doing Mr. Aileys classic works, that we stay true to his integrity.

One such work is Aileys signature Revelations, a suite of spirituals expressing the trials of black people in the U.S., which the company will perform as part of the 60th anniversary celebration tour coming to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Wednesday.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: What makes Alvin Aileys Revelations an American classic? 

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The West Coast premiere of the companys first two-act ballet, Lazarus, is part of four distinct programs to be presented through Sunday. Created by street-dance choreographer Rennie Harris, Lazarus is inspired by the life of Ailey and the struggles of the civil rights movement. Other works include Wayne McGregors Kairos, set to a reimagined The Four Seasons by composer Max Richter, and Ronald K. Browns The Call.

The thread running through all these works is the message of shared humanity, Jamison said. Its the type of work Ailey choreographed after founding the company in 1958 to create opportunities for black dancers on the concert stage.

If youre a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, its always going to be for bodies that can move exquisitely. Judith Jamison

At nearly 6 feet tall and graced with long limbs and a magnetic presence, Jamison caught the attention of Ailey during an audition for a TV spot. Even though she didnt land the role, Ailey offered her a position in the company just days later.

Jamison joined the company in 1965, and the fledgling modern troupe had already graduated from what its founder called station wagon tours. The group toured the country in buses filled with costumes, props, lighting, luggage and dancers. Jamisons L.A. memories with Ailey: performances at UCLAs Royce Hall and the Wiltern, and staying in a very funny little motel on Wilshire Boulevard.

Although the company received early critical acclaim, in some cities dancers faced blatant racism. We couldnt actually get decent food because it wasnt being served to us, she said. And it was being served with attitude  you know, like sour milk and cold coffee.

Despite the rampant discrimination in the outside world, Jamison said, within the company Ailey created a welcoming space for dancers of all ethnicities. Everybody calls us a black dance company  but this company has always been a multicultural, mixed company.

Mr. Ailey used to say, I dont care if youre green with polka dots. If you can dance, if you love what youre doing, if you are committed to this, you are welcome. 

Jamison became the companys star dancer, rocketing to fame with Cry, a solo choreographed by Ailey in 1971 dedicated to black women. Ailey created other works for the modern dancer including 1976s Pas de Duke, showcasing Jamison with ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov. She danced with the company until 1980, leaving to perform on Broadway and pursue her own choreographic projects.

Before his death in 1989, Ailey asked Jamison to take over. She led the company through a 50-city global tour celebrating its 50th anniversary and passed the torch to her successor, Robert Battle, in 2011.

More than 50 years after joining the dance company, Jamison says its still challenging to be a black dancer. But instead of being treated poorly in restaurants, it happens more subtly, she said. There are still ways black dancers are slighted. The sense of non-recognition is still pervasive.

Alvin Ailey performs Lazarus, a work choreographed by Rennie Harris. (Paul Kolnik)

Its always very difficult to get our history straight as African Americans, as black dancers. Thats part of whats so important about celebrating 60 years of Alvin Ailey, because were still here to tell the truth about what was in his mind.

No matter the decade, dance will always be tough, she said. If youre a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, its always going to be for bodies that can move exquisitely. Whats beautiful about the repertory is it engages everyone.

Thats the quality Battle attributes to the companys longevity: accessibility.

Battles vision for the company is maintaining Aileys legacy through honoring iconic repertory and presenting fresh work.

Modern dance can be a hard thing for some people, he said. Alvin Ailey in his choreography, in his vision is very much about accessibility, and so people who come to see the Ailey company may not go to see dance all year round.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Eifman Ballet, Night of 100 Solos and more spring dance picks 

Jamison finds joy in the new class of Ailey dancers and leadership and in her new role. Now I can actually sit back and observe, which I do without twitching, she said. I dont have to carry the burden of the artistic directorship because Roberts doing such a fabulous job.

If Ailey were still alive, Jamison believes he would be pleased with his company, particularly its extensive outreach and community programming. We didnt call it outreach back then, Jamison said. But way back in the day when the company started, we were always doing what he had done all along  going out into the communities that you serve, because youre not dancing in a vacuum.

People now flock to Aileys 87,000-square-foot building in New York because they feel that openness, she said. Its the heart of Ailey.

Those of us who actually knew him know that this is what he was always about, she said. We are an extension of his brilliant vision.

         

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When: Seven performances Wednesday-Sunday

Tickets: $34-$138

Info: (213) 972-7211, musiccenter.orgIts going to be a Stravinsky spring, right?

The Los Angeles Philharmonic is about to kick off a two-week Stravinsky festival, Esa-Pekka Salonen celebrating Stravinskys association with the orchestra as part of its vast centenary season. In June, the Ojai Music Festival recalls its own historic Stravinsky relationship with a production of his opera, The Rakes Progress.



For the record: An earlier version of this review said Transfigured Night was played in a rare string trio version. It was played in a piano trio version.

But what about Schoenberg? Both composers emigrated to L.A. in the 1930s. But while Stravinsky has always been far and away the more popular and imitated composer, Schoenbergs influence on music and our institutions was greater.

Tuesday night at Piano Spheres  the uniquely imaginative series of piano recitals begun by Schoenbergs assistant, Leonard Stein, and his four most exceptional pupils  honored Stein and his association with Schoenberg. Stein had opened the series in 1994 playing all of Schoenbergs solo piano music. Seven years later, the pianist asked Susan Svrcek to join him in a performance of Schoenbergs two-piano arrangement of his Second Chamber Symphony, for which Stein had been one of the pianists in the 1942 premiere.

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This time around, Svrcek asked one of her former students, and now a second-generation Piano Spheres pianist, Nic Gerpe, to join her in the piece for a very different all-Schoenberg program. One of Schoenbergs sons and his grandson were on hand to speak about the composer. Schoenbergs most popular piece, Transfigured Night, a string sextet and later string orchestra piece, was played in a rarer piano trio version. Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School did not even look half-full.

No matter, Schoenberg creep is all around us. The L.A. Phil season-long Fluxus Festival, which has included such figures as Yoko Ono, would have been unthinkable were it not for Schoenberg. John Cage, who inspired the anarchic Fluxus art movement, was a classmate of Steins in Schoenbergs classes at USC and UCLA. La Monte Young, a crucial figure in the formation of Minimalism whose music will be played by violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja at the Getty on Saturday afternoon, had been a student of Steins at Los Angeles City College in the 1950s.

The Piano Spheres program had the subtitle of Schoenberg Reimagined, in that these were piano arrangements of works for larger forces. But the subtext, whether intended or not, was the fascinating focusing on Schoenberg the Romantic, rather than the composer who pioneered atonality and invented the 12-system of treating all notes in the scale as equal.

The Six Pieces for piano hands, with which Svrcek and Gerpe began, were written in 1896 when Schoenberg was 22. They are warmed-over Schumann. Had I been a critic back then, I would have written him off as a pallid reactionary and probably would have had little interest in hearing the Transfigured Night sextet three years later. Is there any composer in history who has made such leap?

Here revolutionary harmonies, a mysterious atmosphere and voluptuous writing for strings  inspired by a poem by a Richard Dehmel, full of angst, eroticism and transcendence  signifies Romanticisms next step into the modernist 20th century.

The Second Chamber Symphony is a curiosity that feels very relevant. It was begun a decade later as the composer was, with each piece, tearing apart traditional harmony and form. But something was holding him back. His melodic ideas were were terrific but retrogressive, and he thrice broke off writing it before abandoning the work seemingly for good.

But in 1939 in L.A., with the Europe of his past in terrible crisis, he was gripped by a desperation of nostalgia and refashioned the symphony anew as a work of apprehension. The second of its two movements begins, for instance, with high spirits that break apart. In a new coda that Schoenberg added is the gloomy flip side of the Transfigured Night making this the most unsettling of all World War II symphonies, stronger than Stravinskys Symphony in Three Movements or Shostakovichs Leningrad, and one that deserves to be better known.

In its two-piano version, Schoenbergs brilliantly colored scores loses much of its allure, but not its power, which Svrcek and Gerpe brought out greatly. Svrcek was also the illuminating pianist in the Transfigured trio, for which she was joined by violinist Elizabeth Hedman and cellist Kate Dillingham.

And now theres more Schoenberg on the way, if again just a little under the radar. The last three of his four string quartets will be played in reverse order in coming weeks: No. 4 at an L.A. Phil chamber music concert April 30, No. 3 in one of violist Richard Yongjae ONeills chamber music programs at the Broad Stage on May 26, and No. 2 with the JACK Quartet and soprano Barbara Hannigan at the Ojai festival June 7.So Cat Deeley doesnt think she can dance. Actually, she doesnt just think it; shes sure of it.

Ive been asked that question loads of times, Can you dance? And I cant, she says, having described herself as completely uncoordinated. But that doesnt make me not appreciate it when somebody does, and someone does it so brilliantly. I mean, theyre like Greek gods, some of these kids. They just do some of the most incredible things and my mind explodes. I get goose pimples and chills and still  14 years in  I get quite emotional about it.

Despite her inability to punish the parquet herself, Deeley has hosted 14 seasons of the hit Fox show So You Think You Can Dance. Sitting down for an Emmy Contenders chat in the Los Angeles Times video studio, she gives the strong impression of still enjoying the gig.

Ive been doing it a very, very, very long time, and Im very, very grateful, says the disarmingly ebullient Englishwoman. Cause its not very often you get to do a job you love, and I go to work and I absolutely love it. I love the people I work with. I thoroughly enjoy the show. I hope it comes across how much I do enjoy it. And also, I love what the kids can do. Im always amazed and in awe.

Deeley has received five Emmy nominations for her work. Shes quick to point out with a smile that she has yet to win. But if she hasnt cleared that hurdle yet, she jokes that being the hurdle herself could get her over the top:

Last season, I did this thing where I allowed one of the dancers to jump over my head on live TV. Now bear in mind that in a pair of heels, Im approximately 6-foot-2. This guy was, I think, 5-foot-2, she says. In the routine  he presses on [his partner] Laurens shoulders and split-jumps over her head. Now, Lauren is approximately 5-foot-1  I said, Wow, that was amazing. And [judge Nigel Lythgoe] said, What Id really like to see is him do it over your head. I was like, OK  maybe thisll get me an Emmy! 

The statuesque Deeley came from a small town in England, Sutton Coldfield, and claims she was awkward and not considered cool in high school. Perhaps those beginnings contributed to her uncanny knack to chat with just about anyone in a down-to-earth way, as an equal.

Everybody just wants to be listened to and heard, she says. So it doesnt make any difference, really, who youre talking to; you just talk to everybody the same. And if you give Beyonce the same gravitas as you give the normal kid thats auditioning on the show, then youre never going to go wrong.

As a pop-music interviewer early in her career, she sat down with the likes of the aforementioned Queen Bey, Paul McCartney, and the artist who was then the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. Despite admonitions from the diminutive Minnesotans team to, for instance, avoid eye contact, the self-described nosy chatter couldnt help but engage.

 Faced with the challenge of asking the Artist Formerly Known as Prince what the heck was up with that symbol with which he had replaced his name, Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance) came up with a novel way to get to the question.

He sat down, he was being miked up, and I saw hed got a pair of boots on, like, snakeskin boots. And they must have had a heel on kind of like this, she says, indicating her 3- or 4-inch heels, but they were Cuban ... I said, Hey. Did no one tell you youre not allowed to wear heels higher than me on this show?  And he kind of looked at me over the top of [his] sunglasses  and then he laughed. and I was like, OK, this is going to be OK. 

Deeley confesses to failing to get through Hulus The Handmaids Tale (she was pregnant; that particular show is probably not the best choice for such a time) and having a terrible crush on Tom Selleck when she was a child. Despite being a former model and a longtime television host, she comes across as anything but posh.

Im very rarely shiny and polished, she says. My thing is, I actually really love people. I like finding out about them, I like knowing what makes them tick  human beings can be pretty great. Most of the time.

To see the entire interview, click on the video below.

AdvertisementTheres been a lot of chatter about what this film is and what it isnt, Todd Phillips said before unveiling the first look at Joker. And most of it hasnt been very accurate.

So what will the writer-directors take on the iconic DC villain look like exactly? Phillips told movie theater owners at CinemaCon on Tuesday that he views the film starring Joaquin Phoenix as an origin story about a beloved character that has no origin. But he said hes found it difficult to categorize the film to the Warner Bros. marketing team, ultimately labeling it as a tragedy.

The first teaser trailer  which will go online Wednesday  did veer towards darkness, with many in the audience comparing its tone to Taxi Driver. In the story, the Joker is painted as a fragile, mentally unwell man who turns to evil after years of being mocked by society.

 Joaquin Phoenix stars in Joker, with Robert De Niro and Zazie Beetz.

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He begins as a street clown  noting his mother told him his lifes purpose was to bring laughter and joy to the world  where hes bullied by locals. On the train, dressed in his costume, hes deemed a freak by fellow passengers and beaten up. As he grows tired of the bullying, he sits in front of a mirror, forcing his lips into a smile. I used to think my life was a tragedy, he says, but now I realize its a comedy.

Phoenix, who slimmed down for the role, seems to have taken a more somber approach to the character  a contrast to the maniacal, raving mad portrayals given in the last decade by Heath Ledger (who won an Oscar for The Dark Knight) and Jared Leto (in Suicide Squad).

The film, due out in October, was one of the most highly anticipated featured during the Warner Bros. slate presentation. After a somewhat awkward kickoff by studio chairman Toby Emmerich  who presumably took over introductory duties after CEO Kevin Tsujihara stepped down last month amid a sex scandal  the studio brought out the likes of Melissa McCarthy, James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain to impress exhibitors.

Todd Phillips, director of the upcoming film Joker, discusses the film during the Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon 2019. (Chris Pizzello / Invision)

Helen Mirren, on hand to promote her twisty new Bill Condon thriller The Good Liar, played to the crowd by dissing theatrical exhibitors biggest rival: streaming platforms. I love Netflix, but [screw] Netflix, she said, using an expletive. Theres nothing like sitting in the cinema and the lights go down.

The studio showed off a variety of films, from their lucrative horror franchises (It: Chapter Two) to big-budget blockbuster fare (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) and potential Oscar bait (The Goldfinch). On Tuesday night, the studio will screen Blinded by the Light  a film about a Pakistani outsider who connects with Bruce Springsteens music  which it acquired at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

amy.kaufman@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @AmyKinLAThere is more to Fonda Mixcoac than machetes.

But youre here, in Anaheim, four miles but a world away from the tourist hotels and chain restaurants of Disneylandia, for the machetes. A staple of Mexico City street stalls since at least the 1960s, they are the freak show cousins of quesadillas and huaraches: roughly the length of a Louisville Slugger, a folded-over surfboard of masa stuffed with two or three meals worth of cheese-smothered meats and veggies.

Fonda Mixcoac is run by several members of the Villegas family, a multi-generational clan who routinely trade off kitchen duties. The elder Villegas, Jose, opened the restaurant about five years ago with a vision that was simple and twofold: to carve out a niche for machetes in Southern California, where they are still relatively hard to find  and to make machetes bigger than those in Mexico City.

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A machete gets its turn on the griddle at Fonda Mixcoac. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

To that end, Fonda Mixcoac makes 29-inch machetes  griddle-crisped behemoths so long they barely fit on the restaurants tables. (A 12-inch, junior-size version called a machetito is also available). Im told it took the family years to fine-tune a masa recipe sturdy and stretchy enough to withstand the dishs exaggerated proportions. Theyre stuffed with the standard guisados: thin sheets of the marinated beef called cecina de res; slinky, gooey pork skins of chicharron prensado; juicy, slightly spicy nubs of homemade chorizo. You can configure a vegetarian machete from wilted, buttery flor de calabaza (squash blossoms); smoky rajas with epazote; or a thick spread of huitlacoche, the earthy, jet-black corn fungus thats been a culinary staple in Mexico since pre-Columbian times.

Review: Madre in Torrance goes deep on mezcal and wide on Oaxacan classics 

Your machete is bulging with melted Oaxaca cheese, finely chopped iceberg lettuce and rivulets of crema fresca. It lands on the table with a whiff of head-turning fanfare, wrapped in the perfume of clean, hot oil. You whip out your smartphone to take pictures. Someone gently raises the baby cradled in their arms next to the machete for a sense of scale (the machete is bigger). It takes three or four adults to polish off one 2-plus-foot-long machete. Someone else wisely carves into the dish, divvying it up into smaller, more manageable sections. Hot cheese dribbles out of every loose end. When you take a bite, the fried corn shell splinters against your teeth with a sharp crunch. Stretchy ribbons of cheese and quivering flaps of meat threaten to splatter onto the table. You devour your piece in one unseemly breath, nearly smashing it into your mouth to avoid spillage.

The menu at Fonda Mixcoac serves Comida Mexicana, not Mexican Food. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Review: Tsubaki in Echo Park is a modern izakaya with a serious sake obsession 

Beyond machetes, the cafes wide-ranging menu hews closely to the foods that Jose Villegas grew up eating in Mexico City, and his devotion to home-style Mexican cooking is broadcast loud and clear on the menu. COMIDA MEXICANA, the cover declares in all-caps typeface. No Mexican Food.

My dad always says that if you want Mexican food, go to Taco Bell, Jose Villegas son, Erick, explains. But if you want comida Mexicana, come here.

So, in place of Doritos Locos Tacos, there are pambazos, plump, chile-stained French roll sandwiches stuffed with a cheesy blend of chorizo and potatoes. Theres beefy alambre, a platter of chopped steak, ham, peppers, onions and bacon fused together with lavish amounts of melted cheese, served with short stacks of hot corn tortillas. Huaraches, smeared with black beans and blanketed with queso fresco, are crisp and massive. Try the huarache azteca, furnished with thin, salty scraps of cecina, grilled onions, nopales, avocado and a drizzle of fresh salsa verde.

1 / 9 The huarache azteca with salsa, grilled nopal, onions, avocado, queso fresco and sour cream. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 9 The alambre has steak, poblano pepper, onion, bacon, ham, chorizo and cheese. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 9 The 29-inch machete can feed a few people. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 9 The machete, clockwise from top, alambre and huarache at Fonda Mixcoac. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 9 Maria and Erick Villegas prepare food inside Fonda Mixcoac. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 9 Maria Villegas prepares a 29-inch machete. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 9 A machete is assembled. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 9 Erick Villegas and his family own Fonda Mixcoac restaurant in Anaheim. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 9 Pablo Villegas, left, Guadalupe Navarro, Erick Villegas, Anny Villegas, Maria Villegas and Jose Villegas at their Fonda Mixcoac restaurant in Anaheim. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

There are tacos made with nubbins of gently charred carne asada, or loosely packed with a creamy, spicy choriqueso. The al pastor is altogether unremarkable, but there is always cecina de res, air-dried beef that has something of the clean, thin-sliced, salty appeal of prosciutto.

On weekends, the restaurant slow-cooks large quantities of lamb barbacoa, a city version of rural Hidalgos famous pit-roasted barbecue. The meat is shredded into flossy, slightly chewy tendrils that are gently charred around the edges on the grill and piled into aluminum to-go containers. If you order the family-style barbacoa package, it comes with a large bowl of consomme, a deep, musky aromatic broth filled with stewed garbanzo beans. You splash the meat with some of that lovely, meaty broth, and eat it with hot tortillas and salsa roja.

But a half-pound of lamb is probably not why you wandered into Fonda Mixcoacs sunny, bare-bones dining room in the first place. You came for the same reason that people pile into small, sun-baked boats off the coast of Baja California every spring to see the blue whales that pass through the Sea of Cortez: to spy for yourself a rare colossus thats impossible to forget once youve seen it in the flesh.

Fonda Mixcoac

(Clockwise from top) A machete, alambre plate and huarache from Fonda Mixcoac restaurant in Anaheim. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The Villegas family highlights Mexico City antojitos, including massive machetes, in Anaheim.

LOCATION

10660 Magnolia Ave., Anaheim, (714) 816-3055, orderfondamixcoac.com.

PRICES

Machetes $14-$21; entrees $12-$16; barbacoa de borrego $3-$22; tacos $2-$2.75.

DETAILS

Credit cards accepted. Lot parking. No alcohol. The dining room and restroom is wheelchair accessible.

RECOMMENDED DISHES

Machetes; barbacoa de borrego; alambre; pambazos

patricia.escarcega@latimes.com

Twitter: @piescarcegaThe University of Bristol and the National Composites Centre (NCC) are delighted to welcome Professor Ole Thybo Thomsen as NCC Chair in Composites Design and Manufacturing.

This joint appointment between the University and the NCC cements the partnership between the two organisations as a world leading authority on composites. In his new role Prof Thomsen will lead composites manufacturing and design research activities at Bristol Composites Institute (ACCIS), the collaboration between the University and the National Composites Centre and with the EPSRC Future Composites Manufacturing Research Hub (CIMCOMP).

Prof Michael Wisnom, Director of Bristol Composites Institute, added: We are delighted that Prof Ole Thomsen is joining us, and look forward to the contributions he will make to our research and to strengthening the relationship between Bristol Composites Institute and the NCC.

Dr Enrique Garcia, the NCCs Chief Technology Officer, said: With his extremely strong academic and industrial experience Prof Thomsen will most certainly contribute to developing a seamless delivery of technology from the fundamental understanding of composite materials to industrial impact, joining the work at the University and CIMCOMP with the work at the NCC.

Previously Prof Thomsen was Professor of Structures and Materials at the University of Southampton where he was also Head of the Infrastructure Research Group. His experience includes positions at Aalborg University, Denmark; the European Space Agency, European Space Research and Technology Centre, the Netherlands. In addition, he has held visiting professor positions with the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware and Israel Institute of Technology.

Prof Thomsen has a distinguished record of research in composites design and methodologies that bridge design, manufacturing, modelling, validation and certification. He is Principal Investigator of the recently awarded 6.7M EPSRC Programme Grant Certification for Design - Reshaping the Testing Pyramid.

I look forward to starting my new joint position at the University of Bristol and NCC, said Prof Thomsen. Together the Bristol Composites Institute and the NCC represent one of the strongest centres of excellence in research and application of composite materials in the world, and I consider it both a privilege and a unique opportunity to join the teams at both places. The world needs composite materials to address many of our most complex challenges related to sustainability and climate change, and Bristol Composites and NCC are uniquely placed to address these and deliver industrial and societal impact.A heavy thunderstorm Tuesday night inundated the Northern California city of Chico, flooding streets, homes, businesses and buildings at Cal State Chico.

Jeff Ranieri, chief meteorologist at NBC Bay Area, tweeted that from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. a long-lasting thunderstorm, probably a supercell, produced 3 to 5 inches of rain.

Roads around a Chico hospital were completely flooded and barely passable on Tuesday night. The Chico Police Department received several hundred calls for service.

Jeramie Struthers, a watch commander with the Chico Police Department, said the amount of flooding was unprecedented, and in his 17 years living in the area hed never seen a storm like it.

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The citys drainage system was overwhelmed, forcing manhole covers to pop out and water to flow back out of the system, he said.

The storm was somewhat of a surprise, Struthers said.

There was a weather forecast alert earlier, in the 5 oclock range, because there was a possible tornado event, and that was the only thing I heard  there was no, like, Watch out, here comes Noahs ark, he said.

Chico Fire Chief Steve Standridge said his department spent the evening helping stranded motorists and, in one case, helped residents leave their home from the second story using ladders.

It wasnt supposed to be that bad, Standridge said. We had a tornado warning about 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and then after that, probably around 7 oclock, it started raining hard, and it just hit for about a two-hour period.

Because floodwaters werent particularly swift, some residents spent time outside in kayaks and pool floaties; one opted for a large inflatable duck.

At Cal State Chico, some campus buildings experienced flooding, and a full assessment and cleanup was underway, the university said on Twitter on Tuesday night. It wasnt yet known what impact the flooding would have on classes or the campus Wednesday.

The rain lasted about five hours, stopping about 9:30 p.m. Overnight, the main concern was water draining out of the city west into small streams and culverts, potentially flooding nearby rural areas.

A flash-flood warning is somewhat unusual  theyre not issued very often, said Karl Swanberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. This was a bad one, and it was a very slow-moving thunderstorm complex, and Chico just happened to be strongly affected by it.Authorities seized a serval cat and a spider monkey Wednesday after serving search warrants at two San Fernando Valley homes as part of an exotic animal trafficking investigation, officials said.

One of the homes belongs to hip-hop producer and Love and Hip Hop star Mally Mall, according to law enforcement sources.

Patrick Foy, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, could not immediately confirm that anyone had been arrested or cited in connection with the searches.

Malls attorney, Steve Sadow, said that his client wasnt arrested but confirmed that authorities seized Malls serval cat. Mall has papers from Nevada for the exotic feline and should be able to get the animal returned, Sadow said.

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Investigators began searching the homes in the 4000 block of Grimes Place in Encino and the 22000 block of Summit Ridge Circle in Chatsworth about 8 a.m., Foy said. Shortly before noon, authorities walked out of the Encino home with the cat. The spider monkey was taken from the Chatsworth home.

Mally Mall, whose real name is Jamal Rashid, owns the Encino home, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Authorities have not confirmed who lives in the Chatsworth home, but the animal rights organization PETA said in a statement Thursday that the search stemmed from its tip to officials about rapper Swae Lee possessing a monkey.

PETA commends California wildlife officials for acting on our complaint by seizing a monkey from Swae Lee, and we hope this animal will now be sent to an accredited facility, where he or she will never again be used as a rappers sidekick or social media fodder, said PETA official Brittany Peet in the statement.

Mall has worked with artists such as Chris Brown, Justin Bieber and Snoop Dogg. In 2013, Mall reportedly gave Bieber a capuchin monkey for his 19th birthday and his Instagram page includes photographs of wild cats, monkeys and other exotic animals.

The investigation that led to the searches began at least six months ago after a member of the public reporting seeing social media images of the Encino homeowner with an exotic animal, Foy said.

It was one of a wave of tips that came in after Brown was charged in December with two misdemeanor counts of possessing a capuchin monkey without a permit, Foy said.

Foy said Wednesdays searches were not connected to the Brown case.

Spider monkeys are native to Mexico and Central America and some species are considered vulnerable.

Servals are native to Africa and can grow to about 3 feet long and weigh up to 40 pounds, according to the L.A. Zoo.

The maximum penalty for illegally owning an exotic animal is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandraMore than 80 women have filed a lawsuit against Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa alleging they were secretly recorded while undergoing medical procedures in labor and delivery operating rooms.

Patients were filmed without their consent in three private rooms from July 2012 to June 2013, according to the lawsuit filed last week in San Diego County Superior Court. The women allege hidden cameras filmed approximately 1,800 patients undergoing medical procedures  including births, dilatation and curettage to resolve miscarriages, and hysterectomies.

There are images contained within the multitude of images of women undergoing operations of a very personal, private nature, unconscious and in states of exposure depending on the operating being performed, the lawsuit alleges.

Allison Goddard, the lawyer representing the 81 plaintiffs, said one video shows a patient being wheeled into an operating room for an emergency caesarean section. Goddard said the video shows the woman being prepared for surgery with her gown tucked under her breasts. It shows her exposed stomach and thighs and, after the delivery of the baby, a nurse massaging the womans uterus to expel any blood clots.

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The women, who are seeking unspecified monetary damages, say they suffered anxiety, humiliation, embarrassment, shame, depression and feelings of powerlessness after they learned of the recordings.

The lawsuit claims the hospital was grossly negligent in managing the recordings, which were allegedly stored on desktop computers that could be accessed without a password. The hospitals parent company, Sharp HealthCare, also destroyed some of the recordings, but cant say when, how, or if the appropriate steps were taken to make sure the files were properly deleted and unrecoverable, according to the lawsuit.

In a statement, the hospital said that it installed motion-activated cameras in each of Sharp Grossmont Hospitals three Womens Center operating rooms between July 2012 and June 2013 as part of an internal investigation into theft of drugs from anesthesia carts.

The hospital said that while patients were not the focus of the recordings, they were often picked up in the background.

Although the cameras were intended to record only individuals in front of the anesthesia carts removing drugs, others, including patients and medical personnel in the operating rooms, were at times visible to the cameras and recorded, the hospital said in a statement.

Transgender man sues Eureka hospital for turning him away minutes before gender-confirming surgery 

Goddard said a class-action lawsuit against Sharp HealthCare and Sharp Grossmont Hospital alleging privacy violations involving the recordings has been pending since 2016. After the class-action suit wasnt certified, Goddards team moved forward with the new lawsuit.

Goddard said the first patients who learned they were secretly recorded were notified by Sharp HealthCare after their images were released to third-party personnel as part of a 2016 proceeding before the Medical Board of California involving the doctor accused of stealing from the hospitals carts.

In a declaration from that 2016 proceeding, attorneys for the hospital noted the video clips depicted patients in their most vulnerable state, under anesthesia, exposed and undergoing medical procedures  in an area that is not open/accessible to the public.

We sincerely regret that our efforts to ensure medication security may have caused any distress to those we serve, the health care provider said in a statement, adding the surveillance methods used for the 2012-13 investigation have not been used again.The two-day manhunt for the suspect accused of shooting Nipsey Hussle ended on a nondescript street in Bellflower on Tuesday morning.

Eric Holder, 29, is accused of killing the famed rapper and wounding two others Sunday in an attack that shocked Los Angeles and brought widespread mourning.

Here is what we know about the dragnet:

The attack

Hussle was a huge figure in South L.A. A successful rapper, Hussle was also a community activist who was working to revitalize his community and reduce gang violence. He had planned to meet with L.A. police officials this week.

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Hussle made no secret of his early life in a street gang, saying in a 2014 interview with YouTube channel Vlad TV that he had joined the Rollin 60s, a notorious Crips gang clique, as a teenager.

We dealt with death, with murder, he told The Times in 2018. It was like living in a war zone, where people die on these blocks and everybody is a little bit immune to it. I guess they call it post-traumatic stress, when you have people that have been at war for such a long time. I think L.A. suffers from that because its not normal yet we embrace it like it is after a while.

Just before the shooting, Hussle tweeted: Having strong enemies is a blessing.

He was outside his shop on Slauson Avenue when a man approached and opened fire. Hussle was fatally wounded and two others were also shot.

The video

Authorities looked at various videos from local businesses.

Graphic video from a surveillance camera shows a gunman walking up to Hussle and two other men in front of the shop the rapper owned in a Slauson Avenue strip mall. The gunman opens fire, and Hussle falls to the ground as the other men run from the gunfire.

Detectives talked to witnesses as well as people in Hussles circle to get a sense of what happened and a possible motive.

On Monday, police identified the suspect as Eric Holder, 29. They urged the publics help to locate him.

Authorities allege Holder got into a dispute with Hussle on Sunday. After a conversation with Hussle at the store, Holder left, then returned with a handgun, spraying Hussle and two other men with bullets, police said.

The driver

Witnesses had told authorities that after the gunman fatally shot the rapper, he raced into a waiting vehicle and sped away.

On Sunday, police believe this was a getaway car waiting for the gunman.

On Tuesday, a woman who was driving the car turned herself in to authorities.

According to sources, she told police she didnt know the gunman had just shot Hussle when she picked him up. She was released from custody without charges.

The capture

A resident in Bellflower told authorities a man matching the description of Holder was walking down Artesia Boulevard. Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies raced to the scene and found Holder standing in a parking lot of a business.

Confronted by deputies, he offered no resistance and surrendered without incident, according sheriffs spokeswoman Nicole Nishida.

Holder was handcuffed and searched and put into the back of a sheriffs cruiser.

Los Angeles police detectives went to the sheriffs Lakewood station, where they confirmed the man they identified was in fact Holder.

The suspect

Holder was an aspiring rapper. He went by the moniker Fly Mac. His Instagram handle was ima_god_in_da_streetz. He sang of body bags, 38 gun blasts and bloody homicides.

Holder is also believed to be a gang member, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said. But police do not believe the shooting had anything to do with gang rivalries.

Holder was convicted in 2012 of carrying a loaded firearm and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years of probation, court records show.The Justice Department said Wednesday that Alabama is violating the Constitution by failing to protect prison inmates from violence and sexual abuse and housing them in unsafe, overcrowded facilities.

The department gave Alabama 49 days to begin to correct the violations or possibly face another federal lawsuit.

Our investigation found reasonable cause to believe that Alabama fails to provide constitutionally adequate conditions and that prisoners experience serious harm, including deadly harm, as a result, said Assistant Atty. Gen. Eric Dreiband, who leads the departments civil rights division.

Gov. Kay Ivey responded with a promise to work together on an Alabama solution.

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The scathing report released Wednesday condemns virtually every aspect of prison operations, chronicling a broken system beset by poor staff training, an inability to prevent drugs and weapons from entering, and a high level of violence that is too common, cruel, of an unusual nature.

Because the prison system has failed to turn over certain investigative files it subpoenaed, the Justice Department said, the level of violence may be even greater than that which we report.

It lays out in stark detail a culture of violence across the states 13 prisons for men, which together house roughly 16,000 inmates in some of the nations most overcrowded conditions.

The report describes inmates brutally attacking one another with knives and other weapons, and a management system that undercounts homicides and fails to protect prisoners even when there has been warning of a problem. Staffing shortages, it says, are at a crisis level.

Investigators reviewed more than 600 reported inmate-on-inmate sexual assaults from late 2016 through April 2018, and did not identify a single incident in which a correctional officer or other staff member observed or intervened. Rapes happen day and night in all corners of the prisons  dormitories, cells, showers and recreation areas  the report said.

In February 2018, one prisoner was killed the day after telling prison officials hed been threatened in a dispute over a cellphone. In another prison that month, an inmate who had been repeatedly disciplined for knife possession fatally stabbed another prisoner in a fight.

In a single week in September 2017, two inmates stood guard at a dormitorys doors while two others repeatedly stabbed a prisoner who eventually bled to death. Another inmate was stabbed and had to be evacuated by helicopter, and a prisoner in a dorm reserved for inmates with good behavior was attacked with a sock filled with metal locks.

The prison system documented 24 prisoner homicides between January 2015 and June 2018, but the Justice Department said that high number was an undercount: It identified three more, and said the state sometimes classifies violent deaths as arising from natural causes.

This is especially concerning given that these incident reports are used for public statistical reporting as required by law, the letter said.

I dont think there is any dispute that the conditions in Alabama prisons are desperate. They are the worst Ive seen in 35 years. Attorney Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative

Alabamas prisons also have a high suicide rate, and a federal judge in 2017 ruled that the state has provided horrendously inadequate care to mentally ill inmates.

The Justice Department hopes to work with Alabama to resolve the Departments concerns, Dreiband wrote. The letter included dozens of recommendations, including the immediate hiring of 500 new corrections officer and eventual addition of 1,500 more.

Ivey said she appreciates the open lines of communication and said the state has already been trying to address problems, citing her proposal to build three new mega-prisons for men.

Over the coming months, my Administration will be working closely with DOJ to ensure that our mutual concerns are addressed and that we remain steadfast in our commitment to public safety, making certain that this Alabama problem has an Alabama solution, the Republican governor said in a statement.

That statement of cooperation is undercut by something else in the letter: The department says it still cant determine whether Alabamas prisons are protecting prisoners from excessive force and sexual abuse from staff, because its petition to enforce its subpoena for relevant documents remains pending in court.

Alabama has been trying to address crowding through sentencing reform, but the threat of a federal lawsuit will force the state to address other issues such as sexual assaults, said Republican state Sen. Cam Ward, who chairs a legislative prison oversight committee.

We dont have much of a choice. Something has got to happen, Ward said.

This investigation opened in 2016 at the end of the Obama administration, which launched wide-ranging investigations of troubled police departments and corrections systems. Some led to agreements to make changes under federal oversight. The Trump administration has been more hands-off, and former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, a longtime Alabama senator, limited the use of such consent decrees before he left office.

I dont think there is any dispute that the conditions in Alabama prisons are desperate. They are the worst Ive seen in 35 years. There is an immediate need for reform, attorney Bryan Stevenson said. His Equal Justice Initiative asked the Justice Department to investigate the mens prisons after the department intervened in Alabamas only prison for women.

Stevenson said state officials need to act with urgency, given the fact that people are being murdered on a regular basis, that people are being stabbed and raped and assaulted on an almost daily basis, that there is the level of corruption and abuse that weve seen among staff.A judge has sentenced three former Penn State fraternity members to jail in the 2017 death of a pledge, the first defendants ordered to serve time behind bars in a case that rewrote Pennsylvanias anti-hazing law.

Centre County Judge Brian Marshall sentenced former Beta Theta Pi members Tuesday for hazing surrounding the death of sophomore engineering major Tim Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, N.J.

Piazza drank heavily the night of a pledge bid acceptance ceremony and was fatally injured in a series of falls, his agonizing night captured on the houses elaborate video security system. The four men sentenced Tuesday were generally involved in providing alcohol to pledges and pressuring them to drink, prosecutors said.

Piazzas brothers  repeatedly encouraged and caused more and more alcohol consumption until his judgment and physical control of his body became severely impaired, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. This directly resulted in his slow and painful death.

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The sentences ranged from a minimum of 30 days to a maximum of nine months for Michael Bonatucci, 21, of Georgia; Luke Visser, 21, of Encinitas, Calif.; and Joshua Kurczewski, 20, of Erie, Pa. A fourth defendant, Joseph Sala, 21, also from Erie, received three to 10 months of house arrest.

Each was also fined and given a probation term. They were all sentenced for hazing and conspiracy to commit hazing, and Kurczewski also pleaded guilty to furnishing alcohol to minors.

Kurczewski defense attorney Jeffrey Veitch said they can apply to do their time on home monitoring, but it will be up to the judge to determine whether they are eligible. Lawyers for the three others did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Visser and Kurczewski set up a beer pong station as part of a series of drinking events known as the gauntlet. Sala led pledges into the drinking courses start, prosecutors wrote, and Bonatucci handed out beer.

An autopsy estimated that Piazza had consumed several times the legal driving limit for alcohol the night of the pledge event. He suffered severe head and abdominal injuries, and ended up in the basement the next morning. But it took members 40 minutes after finding Piazza injured and unconscious before they summoned help.

Twenty-eight members of the now-disbanded fraternity have faced charges, although the most serious allegations of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed or withdrawn. Most pleaded guilty to hazing- and alcohol-related counts and received probation and community service, or were enrolled in an alternative sentencing program designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

A lawyer for Piazzas parents, Jim and Evelyn, who two months ago sued former fraternity members and a security company hired to enforce alcohol regulations, called the sentences a significant step toward justice.

Jim and Evelyn, in the courtroom for the sentencing, remain committed to the cause of eradicating hazing and the beneficial deterrent effect of the enforcement of anti-hazing laws throughout the country, said the lawyer, Tom Kline.

The states new anti-hazing law, named for Piazza, took effect in November.

Two former Beta Theta Pi members, who served as president and pledge master, face charges that include reckless endangerment, hazing and alcohol violations. Their case is on hold while state prosecutors appeal an order that evidence from their cellphones cant be used.

Another member is accused of evidence tampering related to the security camera footage, and his case is in the preliminary stages. Two others are scheduled to be sentenced April 15.The U.S. Constitution doesnt require much of a presidential candidate. He or she must be at least 35 years old, a natural-born U.S. citizen and a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years. But since the 2016 election, more than two dozen states, including California, have considered adding another requirement for those who want to be included on the 2020 presidential primary ballot: They must disclose their federal tax returns.

Releasing ones tax returns has been a tradition of modern presidential candidates, and President Trumps stubborn refusal to share his during the 2016 presidential race rightly prompted an outcry from those who believe voters deserve a full picture of a candidates finances before the election. It also prompted the California Legislature to pass a bill requiring presidential candidates to release five years of tax records or be excluded from the states ballot  but then-Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it. He was right to do so then, and Gov. Gavin Newsom should do the same if the Legislature passes a new version of the bill this year. That goes for governors in Washington, New Jersey and other states considering mandatory tax return legislation as well.

Of course, presidential candidates should release tax records. Voters should demand it of them. But states should not make it the law. Not only is there a real constitutional question about whether states may impose such a litmus test on presidential candidates, but it would open the door to additional requirements, some of them objectionable and politically motivated such as the one passed by the Arizona Legislature in 2011 (and then vetoed) to require candidates provide birth certificates. When Brown vetoed Californias bill, he asked: What would be next? Five years of health records? A certified birth certificate? High school report cards?

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

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If the Legislature has its way, tax returns might not be the only new requirement for candidates who want a place on the presidential primary ballot. Another bill, sponsored by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, would apply new standards to ensure that only serious candidates appear on the primary ballot. SB 505 would set uniform standards for presidential primary candidates. Thats not a bad thing in theory, but the bill seems unnecessarily exclusive. It lays out five criteria  including qualifying for matching federal funds, appearing in a party-hosted national debate and being qualified for the ballot in one other state. Candidates would have to meet two of the five.

One former Peace and Freedom Party candidate in California told a state Senate committee that such requirements would most likely keep his partys candidates from appearing on the primary ballot.

It is true that throwing the door open wide lets in a lot of candidates who dont have a chance of winning an election. But elections should err on the side of openness and inclusion.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookOf course it is difficult not to savor the irony in a White House whistleblowers claim that the Trump administration improperly granted security clearances to more than two dozen individuals. As a candidate, Donald Trump claimed that Hillary Clintons use of a insecure private email server to transact State Department business was corruption on a scale we have never seen before. Now, after all those years of lock her up chants, Trumps own administration stands accused of playing fast and loose with the nations secrets.

But the complaint by Tricia Newbold, a career employee, that the White House overrode the recommendations of her and her colleagues is more than just ironic; it is alarming in itself. Newbold, an adjudications manager in the White House Personnel Security Office, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the clearances were granted despite disqualifying issues including foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use and criminal conduct.

Speculation that the clearance process has been politicized predates Newbolds accusations. In February, the Washington Post reported that Trump ordered John F. Kelly, then his chief of staff, to grant Trumps son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance, despite the concerns of career intelligence officials. (Whats most remarkable, frankly, isnt that Kushner received a clearance; its that such a novice has been entrusted by his father-in-law with responsibility for fashioning a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.)

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute 

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Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the chairman of the Oversight Committee, complained this week that the administration has been unforthcoming as his committee has sought to investigate the security clearances. On Tuesday, the committee voted to authorize a subpoena for Carl Kline, who served until recently as the personnel security director at the White House.

As Cummings conceded, the president has the authority to grant security clearances. But Cummings noted that Congress had an oversight interest in monitoring who has been given access to our nations secrets, how they obtained that access, the extent to which national security has been compromised, among other things.

This isnt a partisan concern. Last year, Cummings Republican predecessor as chair of the committee, Trey Gowdy, sent a letter to Kelly seeking information on the security clearance process. The White House should stop stonewalling and cooperate with the committee if it wants to dispel the impression that it has doled out security clearances irresponsibly to individuals who dont deserve them.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand FacebookFormer Vice President Joe Biden, facing a crisis that could hobble his 2020 presidential campaign even before it is launched, stepped up damage-control efforts and, for the first time, personally responded to complaints from women who say they were uncomfortable with his tendency to touch and hug people he meets in politics.

Social norms have begun to change; they have shifted, Biden said in a two-minute video posted on Twitter. The boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset and I get it. I get it.

I will be more mindful and respectful of peoples personal space, he added.

Social norms are changing. I understand that, and Ive heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. Thats my responsibility and I will meet it. pic.twitter.com/Ya2mf5ODts  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2019

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The controversy about what Biden himself has called his tactile approach to politics has buffeted his campaign-in-waiting for days, underscoring the new political dynamics in the first presidential campaign of the #MeToo era. It also laid bare the generation gap between the 76-year-old Washington veteran and many women  especially younger women  who are a crucial constituency in the Democratic Party.

Biden may have more to say on Friday, when he will make his first public appearance since the storm broke  a speech to a labor union conference in Washington.

The storm began for Biden when Lucy Flores, a former Nevada assemblywoman, wrote in a New York Magazine post that she felt demeaned and disrespected when Biden touched her offstage at a 2014 campaign rally. She said she felt Bidens hands on her shoulders and froze.

At least three other women have since reported having felt similarly uncomfortable with Bidens behavior. His staff has issued written statements denying he acted inappropriately but showing respect for the womens right to speak out about their experiences.

But even Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the House speaker and a Biden ally, has said he needed to do more.

He has to understand in the world that were in now that peoples space is important to them, and whats important is how they receive it and not necessarily how you intended it, she said at a Politico event Tuesday.

Bidens supporters welcomed his statement  an unpolished, simple video of him alone speaking straight into the camera  saying it was important for him to address the issue directly.

The most important thing you can do in these situations is own the moment and express a willingness to learn, said Steve Schale, a longtime supporter in Florida. He did that in the video.

But it is far from clear whether the video response will be enough to put the issue to rest.

The catchphrase of the day is authenticity, said Rose Kapolczynski, a Democratic political strategist who is neutral in the 2020 primary. Voters are rightly cynical about politicians, and what they say and believe and what they promise. The bar is very high to convince voters that you get it.

While Biden explained his hands-on way of greeting and comforting people as an expression of his compassionate desire to connect with people  Politics to me has always been about making connections, he said  he did not apologize.

It was definitely important that he come out and say something in his own words, said Jess McIntosh, a Democratic strategist who was an aide to Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. But the fault I find is that he deflects responsibility. He blames changing social norms. I would have liked to hear an actual apology.

McIntosh compared the statement to the way Biden has seemed to disavow responsibility for the Senate Judiciary Committees handling of Anita Hills sexual harassment allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991. Critics say the committees hearings were demeaning to Hill and didnt take her allegations seriously enough.

Although Biden was chairman of the committee at the time, he said last week at a charity event in New York, To this day I regret I couldnt come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved.

Biden has not yet officially joined the crowded field of Democratic candidates for president in 2020, but he has been expected to do so in late April or May.

Whos running for president and whos not 

People close to Biden say they do not believe this controversy will tip the balance against him running.

He hinted at his imminent entrance in his Wednesday video when he began, Folks, in the coming month I expect to be talking to you about a whole lot of issues, and Ill always be direct with you.

But the issue underscores one of his biggest potential liabilities. His four decades in politics appeal to people looking for an experienced nominee, but much of the energy in the party is coming from young progressives.

His explanation that social norms have begun to change is a reminder that Biden, who was first elected to the Senate in 1972, is a man of another political era.

The challenge for any older candidate is the country moves forward and not backwards, said Democratic pollster Peter Hart. Tactically speaking, I just think hes got a lot more problems ahead of him than opportunities. It is just the year and the direction Democrats seem to be in at this stage.

Times staff writers Eli Stokols and Mark Z. Barabak contributed to this report.

The latest from Washington Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen put down her pen, stood up and hugged the officials from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, thanking them for their work on what she hailed as a historic pact to target unauthorized migration.

Within hours, President Trump had accused the Northern Triangle countries of doing nothing and threatened not only to cancel aid to all three, but to close the U.S.-Mexico border entirely.

Were not paying them anymore because they havent done a thing for us, Trump declared.

For Nielsen, that incident last week was only the latest example of being publicly undercut by the president.

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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

Fifteen months into her tenure as head of the governments third-largest department, Nielsen embodies a paradox: She has succeeded in holding on to her job, defying numerous reports that Trump had decided to fire her, but has done so by becoming the public face of controversial policies that havent worked as planned  and in some cases have backfired.

Despite being publicly berated and rejected by Trump, the 46-year-old Nielsen, soon to be one of only four female Cabinet members, is one of its longest-serving members.

And one of its most embattled.

She faces House subpoenas and some two dozen investigations by the Homeland Security inspector generals office over immigration and security policy. Record numbers of asylum seekers and Central American families have flooded the border.

And Trump has considered naming an immigration czar to coordinate the response, a move that Nielsen supports even though it would further dilute her authority.

In a Fox News op-ed Monday, Nielsen blamed outdated laws, misguided court decisions, and a massive backlog of cases for the increased migration and said she told Northern Triangle partners last week: Time is up.

Real action is needed  now, she wrote. As a nation, we cannot stand for this.

In an effort to try to stop Central Americans from claiming asylum in the U.S., the Trump administration has taken a series of controversial steps: separating children from their parents, sending roughly 6,000 troops to the southern border, detaining asylum seekers in tent cities and barbed-wire pens, and forcing asylum applicants to remain in Mexico while they await a U.S. court ruling that could be years away.

None of the deterrents has succeeded. Instead, the number of asylum applicants has soared. Customs and Border Protection estimates that apprehensions of border crossers will near 100,000 in March, topping Februarys 66,450 arrests  more than almost any month in the last decade. The numbers will probably continue to rise as warmer weather brings a seasonal increase in migration.

We face a system-wide meltdown, Nielsen wrote to lawmakers on Thursday, requesting emergency powers such as the ability to more quickly deport unaccompanied Central American minors.

Outside critics and the departments inspector general say the administrations policies have worsened the crush at the border.

A move to limit access at ports of entry, for example, has given people an incentive to cross elsewhere. The administrations refusal to seriously consider expanded cooperation with and aid to the Central American countries the migrants are fleeing all but guarantees the problem will worsen.

Two years into his administration, Donald Trump has failed to scare these migrants away because they are fleeing desperate circumstances, said Leon Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2014 to 2017. Unless they think about this in a different way, and dont just keep dialing up on enforcement, nothings going to change.

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....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019

Trumps latest threat, to close the border to all traffic, would risk serious damage to U.S. businesses. Administration officials want Mexico to work more aggressively to keep migrants from reaching the U.S.  a dicey bet given that countrys historical ambivalence about American migration policies and its limited resources dedicated to enforcement.

Nielsen serves two important roles for a president who sees political combat in the Twitter trenches as central to winning in 2020: He expects her to turn some of his highest-profile promises into policy, but also to take the heat when theyre met with controversy.

Her staunch defense of those policies  at the cost of her credibility with some members of Congress  pleases a president who prizes loyalty, even as it complicates her future, according to current and former officials who spoke with The Times.

....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 Homeland Security Department did not make Nielsen or another official available, nor provide comment.

I think shes being a good soldier, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Shes just trying to keep her job.

A senior White House official conceded there were moments when Nielsen was on the outs, but said that especially with her defense of the presidents national emergency declaration in February, her stature in the administration has only risen.

Shes still in the position of defending some of the less popular administration policies, the official continued, requesting anonymity to speak about internal personnel matters. Id say that is going to consistently be her challenge; shes going to be one of the administration officials whos called to the Hill the most in this era of very heavy Democrat oversight.

....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

Immigration policy was once claimed as being a major victory for Trump. Early in his tenure, the number of people crossing the border without authorization dropped precipitously. As the numbers fell to a 45-year low, administration officials brushed aside suggestions of a temporary lull and proclaimed that Trumps mere presence in office had changed everything.

But last weekend, two years later, U.S. officials detained hundreds of men, women and children underneath an international bridge in El Paso behind fencing and barbed wire.

As officials have long warned, the increase in Central American families seeking asylum has overwhelmed a U.S. immigration system designed decades ago for single Mexican men who could be promptly returned across the border.

The numbers remain below the highs from the 1980s into the mid-2000s, when U.S. agents routinely arrested more than 1 million people a year at the Mexico border. In fiscal 2017, officials arrested 303,916; in fiscal 2018, which ended Sept. 30, U.S. agents arrested 396,579 people, closer to the levels seen in the last years of the Obama administration.

But being well below the historical peak provides little comfort to Trump and his aides  including domestic policy advisor Stephen Miller and John Bolton, the presidents national security advisor  who talk of asylum seekers as invaders.

I dont get the sense that most people are satisfied with the status quo, the senior White House official said.

Nielsen entered this difficult arena with much less experience than her predecessor as Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly  a retired Marine Corps four-star general who headed the militarys Southern Command before joining the administration.

As a young lawyer, three years after Sept. 11, 2001, Nielsen worked on President George W. Bushs Homeland Security Council and managed legislative policy at the Transportation Security Administration. She then spent more than a decade in private-sector security consulting before volunteering to help serve as the sherpa guiding Kelly through his confirmation.

She followed him to Homeland Security as his chief of staff in early 2017, and to the White House when he became Trumps chief of staff six months later.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and others listen to President Trump as he vetoes the House resolution striking down his national emergency declaration at the border. (Shawn Thew / EPA/Shutterstock)

In October 2017, Trump nominated Nielsen to replace Kelly as head of Homeland Security, whose more than 240,000 employees handle not only immigration and border security  Trumps signature issues  but also cybersecurity, safeguarding elections and hurricane response.

She brought to the job a deep knowledge of policy, according to those who know her. Shes literally an encyclopedia, said Blain Rethmeier, who worked in the Bush White House with Nielsen and helped her and Kelly navigate their confirmations.

Still, Trump has viewed Nielsen with suspicion because of her association with the Republican establishment. And she has worked hard to show her dedication to a president who prizes loyalty.

Like Kelly, she has publicly backed, or declined to condemn, a number of Trumps more extreme statements.

Shortly after takingthe helm at Homeland Security, Nielsen dodged questions from senators on whether Trump had described Haiti and some African countries as shitholes  stating a preference for immigrants from nations like Norway.

In July 2018, she echoed Trumps claim that both sides were to blame after deadly violence between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., the year before, saying: Its not that one side is right, one side is wrong.

Through repeated controversies, shes stuck with the administration line.

Shes tenacious, Rethmeier said. A lot of people in this political environment wouldve tucked tail, resigned and gone to the private sector.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen speaks with Honduran Minister of Security Julian Pacheco. (Orlando Sierra / AFP/Getty Images)

Last year, with Trump incensed by reports of a large group of Central American migrants traveling north, he berated Nielsen for over half an hour in a Cabinet meeting.

In June, Nielsen stood at the White House podium and took ownership of the controversial tactic of splitting up migrant children and their relatives. Two days later, the president undercut her when, amid growing public outcry and bipartisan pressure, he signed an executive order to stop family separation.

Both Congress and the Homeland Security Departments inspector general are investigating how the family separation policy came about  and whether Nielsen had been truthful in her testimony about it.

Then in October  standing before a border barrier bearing a plaque commemorating the president  Nielsen touted the first miles of Trumps promised wall, though the newly erected replacement fencing in Calexico, Calif., was planned back in 2009.

Weeks later, just after deploying troops to the border ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm election, Trump canceled a trip with Nielsen to the Texas border, saying hed decided to fire her.

In an interview with The Times just before he left the White House, Kelly, who declined to be interviewed for this story, said hed warned colleagues not to take credit for drops in border crossings that would inevitably go back up.

As for Nielsen, he said, She is her own woman; she is not a protege.  Its a very, very difficult job.

molly.otoole@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollymotooleGov. Gavin Newsom left California on Monday for a vacation with his family, but his office is staying quiet about where the governor will be while away from the state.

In addition to an upcoming official trip to El Salvador, Newsom will be out of state for nine full days, leaving Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis to serve as acting governor until April 10.

Though the governors office announced Monday that Newsom had left the state, it declined to provide additional information about his travel schedule, where he would be while on vacation and whether he was traveling in the United States or abroad.

Consistent with the policies of past Administrations, our office will continue to publicly disclose any time the Governor leaves the state, notify the acting Governor and, when its a matter of official business, provide relevant details, spokesman Nathan Click said in an email.

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Though communications styles have varied over past administrations, recent California governors have traditionally informed the media about their general vacation plans when leaving the state. Former Gov. Jerry Brown did not publicly announce his vacation plans, but officials in his administration often briefed news reporters about Browns whereabouts. And former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger operated in much the same way, though it was difficult for him to travel without being noticed because of his celebrity, said Rob Stutzman, who served as Schwarzeneggers communications director.

Stutzman said governors deserved to have some privacy, especially when on vacation with their families.

Hes on vacation. Leave him alone, Stutzman said of governors taking personal time.

Newsoms spokesman said the governor decided to get away for a few days because his young children were on spring break from school.

Family is very important to the Governor. His kids are on spring break, and he is traveling outside the state with the first family, Click said. He is still making time each day to work remotely and has a number of issue briefings and calls scheduled throughout the week.

California law dictates that a governor must be in the state to have the powers of the office. Newsom has left the state three times since taking office in January, officially transferring the job of governor to Kounalakis during his departures.

A spokesperson for the lieutenant governor said Kounalakis would be in California throughout Newsoms absence, but if she had to leave the state, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) would be the next in the gubernatorial line of succession.

A governors absence from the state rarely proves consequential, but there have been some exceptions.

When the Loma Prieta earthquake hit the Bay Area in 1989, then-Gov. George Deukmejian was in Europe, leaving Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy to handle disaster-relief efforts. During Browns first tenure as governor in the 1970s, Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Curb appointed a judge to the state appeals court while Brown was away. Brown reversed the appointment upon his return.

Vacations can draw criticism for politicians at all levels of government. While serving as mayor of San Francisco, Newsom was criticized for a trip to Hawaii shortly after a 58,000-gallon oil spill near the Embarcadero in 2007. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also caught heat for flying to Washington for a fundraiser in 2015 amid demonstrations in the city over a police shooting that killed 25-year-old Ezell Ford. Garcetti said the primary reason for the trip was to seek federal funding for homelessness programs.

After his election in November, Newsom and his family were reported to have spent a few days at a resort in the Bahamas, where Newsoms in-laws own a home.

phil.willon@latimes.com

Twitter: @philwillonBurbank officials may turn to residents in November to see if they would support a sales tax that could pull the city out of its financial hole.

The City Council unanimously voted during a meeting on Tuesday to direct staff to draft ordinances to place a three-quarter-cent sales tax on the upcoming November ballot, as well as develop a civilian committee to oversee the use of the funds generated, should voters support the initiative.

Cindy Giraldo, the citys financial services director, told council members that city staff members think going with a general-purpose sales tax would be the most effective way to address Burbanks recurring deficit, which is expected to reach $9.5 million during the 2022-23 fiscal year.

She said the sales tax, if approved, is projected to generate about $20 million annually, which would supplement Burbanks existing 9.5% sales tax that generates about $33 million each year.

The budget deficit was originally projected to be about $30.5 million  caused by increasing pension costs and a backlog of needed capital-improvement projects  if city officials had done nothing. Instead, the City Council took several steps to bring that figure down.

One of the main factors was the passage of Measure T during the statewide primary election earlier this month. That ballot measure, which allows the city to continue transferring up to 7% of Burbank Water and Powers gross electric sales to the General Fund, was approved by more than 81% of local voters.

The city had been making the transfers since Burbank voters approved them in 1958.

The recent vote of approval resulted in the city maintaining the roughly $12.5 million in annual General Fund revenue from the city-owned utility, which helps pay for street-lighting maintenance and other city services.

Burbank was in jeopardy of losing that funding when Burbank resident Christopher Spencer sued the city in 2016, alleging that the transfer was illegal and violated Propositions 26 and 218, which aim to prevent hidden taxes.

In September 2017, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary H. Strobel ruled in favor of Spencer and recommended city officials clarify the citys charter to clearly state the practice had already gained voter approval.

In addition to the recurring $12.5 million Burbank will be receiving from the electric-sales transfer, the City Council approved several labor-cost-saving initiatives, which Giraldo said are expected to save the city $9 million annually.

Some of the policy changes include asking employees to pay half of their pension costs, adjusting employee compensation to the market rate and implementing a fee recovery schedule for city services.

Should Burbank voters approve a three-quarter-cent sales tax, maintain its electric sales transfers and continue its labor-cost-saving initiatives, Giraldo said the city would have about $11 million left over and could be used to address many projects that have been put on the back burner, such as infrastructure repairs, street paving and safety enhancements.

To ensure the money generated by the proposed sales tax is put to its intended use, Councilman Bob Frutos said it was important to have some type of civilian oversight committee.

Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy said the funds should be audited on an annual basis.

City staff is expected to come back to the City Council during its July 17 meeting with the appropriate ordinances to place the sales tax measure on the November ballot.

The deadline to place a measure on the upcoming general election ballot is July 31, Giraldo said.

There is a sense of confidence among city staff that a sales tax would be supported and approved by voters.

Burbank contracted research firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates last year to poll residents on whether they would support a general-purpose sales tax measure if it was placed on the November ballot.

In late January, the firm reported to council members that out of the 2,635 Burbank voters polled in late 2017, about 69% said they would vote for a three-quarter-cent sales tax measure.

Though she said the data is a bit stale, Giraldo told City Council members the research firm is finishing up an updated survey, which is expected to be presented during the July 17 meeting.

Though council members went forward with a proposed sales tax measure, they were presented with several other revenue options that could be viable for the city.

Vice Mayor Sharon Springer and Councilman Jess Talamantes said they were interested in learning more about raising the citys transient-occupancy tax for hotels, which is currently at 11%.

Giraldo said if the city were to up the tax to 12%, it is projected to generate about $1.2 million annually.

Gabel-Luddy and Talamantes asked staff to bring back more information on a possible cannabis business tax, which would be placed on marijuana sales.

California voters approved the recreational use of marijuana during the November 2016 election. However, Burbank has prohibited cannabis businesses from opening in the city.

In order for Burbank to consider a tax on such businesses, Giraldo said the city would need to change its policy on the issue.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpioKartik Hosanagar was ready to turn his home into one of the future. He was looking forward to connecting his thermostat, television, light bulbs and other internet-enabled smart devices and control all of them with a phone, tablet or just his voice.

Hosanagar, a technology and digital business professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, had everything hooked up and the new arrangement went fine for several months  until one day his television started turning itself on and off.

It turned out that a friend who had helped Hosanagar set up his smart home still had access to his home and was inadvertently controlling his TV from his home.

Sometime during the setup, we switched to his phone and used the TV app to set it up, Hosanagar said. So when he was trying to turn on his TV, he would accidentally turn mine on and off.

It was at that point when the technology professor took a step back and reconsidered if he even needed a smart home, and on a grander scale thought about what it meant to have algorithms and artificial intelligence be a part of his day-to-day life.

Hosanagar will be at the Buena Vista Branch Library in Burbank at 7 p.m. Wednesday night for a free event to discuss his book, A Humans Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control, which dives into the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence and the algorithms that run them.

He said algorithms show up in various applications. Theyre used whenever someone uses Amazons Alexa or Google Assistant, or when someone scrolls through Netflix or Spotify and new movies, shows, artists or songs are suggested based on their viewing or listening habits.

Look at dating apps like Tinder. Nearly all the matches come from algorithmic recommendations, Hosanagar said. If you go to the workplace, recruiters are asked to consult algorithms to figure out which applications to shortlist and who to invite.

Even doctors use algorithms to help make better decisions on how to treat a specific patient, he added.

While using algorithms can be beneficial for consumers and businesses, Hosanagar said its getting to the point where there are downsides to using artificial intelligence.

Hosanagar said Facebook was known for replacing its human editors who curated trending news feeds with an algorithm because the humans were accused of being politically biased. However, the artificial intelligence that replaced them was not very good at sorting out fake-news stories.

In 2010, the stock market crashed by nearly a trillion dollars in a day due a single trade that spoofed automated trading algorithms used by traders.

Were starting to see that algorithms are capable of not only the failings we see in some human decisions but also a lot of subjectivity we see in humans, like race bias or gender bias, Hosanagar said.

To ensure that humanity gets a hold of these algorithms before they consume their users, Hosanagar outlines in his book what he calls the Algorithmic Bill of Rights  a set of rules to adhere to when developing programs and artificial intelligence.

One idea would be to require transparency from businesses on how they use consumers data to develop their algorithms or simply telling someone an algorithm was used to make a decision.

Hosanagar said Google is a good example of this rule after the company introduced its Duplex technology during its I/O keynote in 2018.

Thousands of people saw Google Assistant call a hair salon and schedule an appointment, witnessing an artificial intelligence interact with the caller on the other line as if it were a real person.

The conversation between the artificial intelligence and human both amazed and concerned the public, mainly due to the lack of transparency. Google officials have since said that whenever this feature is used, Google Assistant will start the conversation by notifying the person on the other end of the line that they are talking to a program.

Were moving toward a certain type of AI or machine learning thats more and more like a black box, where even the developer cant tell you the logic behind the programs decision, Hosanagar said. I think that push for transparency will force the developers to think about interpretability of the models they use.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpioIn the midst of strong debate over the removal of historic statues deemed offensive by some members of the public, vandals in August painted the word murder on a statue of California Mission founder Junipero Serra in the Mission Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The recent incident was not the first act of vandalism against representations of Serra, who was named a saint by Pope Francis in September 2015. A monument dating from 1891 was beheaded in Monterey in October 2015, and Saint of Genocide was scrawled on a headstone at the mission in Carmel that year.

Activists accuse the Roman Catholic missionary of leading an oppressive charge against Native Americans during Spanish exploration of California, but others, including historian Dennis Copeland, view Serra as an important historical leader and a man who worked to help the native inhabitants of the region.

Its really unfortunate because Father Serra, aside from being a religious figure, was also the co-founder of Monterey, Copeland said.

Similar differences in opinion regarding statues of Confederate and other leaders have brought national attention, and many cities have agreed to remove longstanding monuments under pressure from community members who claim they cause offense.

Q. Where do you stand on the debate over monuments to controversial historic figures, in particular to religious leaders like Serra?

..

I believe its wrong to rewrite history, whether by inventing people or events that never existed, or by denying those that really did.

Monuments commemorate history. Let the statues stand and learn from history. A person who made a significant contribution to the welfare of a nation, or a region, should not be made a pariah simply because he or she was a person of faith. Intellectually, thats sticking ones head in the sand. And those whose contribution was more notorious than noble can stand as a warning that evil is sometimes tolerated by the majority and must always be guarded against.

In the end, right always stands out as right, and the statues of negative examples dont tempt us to follow. They make us recoil in disgust. They remind us that people can be grossly misguided and cruel. They also expose the darkness in the hearts of those who consider them worthy of praise.

Interesting, isnt it, and telling that so much effort has been made lately to remove the symbol of the cross from public view. The cross endures as a testimony of the greatest love and the greatest act of compassion ever accomplished. No matter what monument men construct or tear down, eternity will resound in praise of the one who bore the cross for our sakes.

Pastor Jon Barta

Burbank

..

These lawless vandals of public property shouldnt be respected. Most arent educated enough to make pronouncements regarding Serras morals or crimes. Neither do they know the hearts of other historic note-worthies who followed a path taking moral cues from scripture.

In our current, perpetually offended environment, fools are desecrating their own history. Consider the Civil War combatants, for instance. There were myriad reasons for taking opposing sides, even though officers graduated from the same West Point. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee wrote, slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil in any country, yet he fought for states rights on the losing side. Vandals see only a Confederate and clamor for his likeness to be toppled.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred and ninety two, and ever since, Americans commemorate his discovery. Suddenly, hes called a devil, when in reality he was a man of conscience who voyaged for the increase and glory of the Christian religion, according to his own journal. Recently, the Los Angeles City Council trashed everyones Columbus Day observance for their own Indigenous Peoples Day! Now, instead of celebrating the coming of civilization and salvation, were forced to commemorate a hunter-gatherer-stone-age peoples day. Great.

Then theres Junipero Serra. While Im no Roman Catholic, Ive read enough to know that Serras intention was to save the naked natives, and to bring their illiterate culture out of superstition and into the light. How history pans out is often painful, and back-seat revisionists love it to exploit. But how many today, of Mexican and otherwise native descent, would curse God for their salvation? Would they really want to go back to the days of ignorance and darkness? Certainly their ancestors bore the brunt of their cultures transition, but all of our cultures have done no less. Fact is, Serra was a religious figure who had in mind to aid the indigenous, and he did so as a fatherly figure because his mission field was rife with idolatry, human sacrifice, polytheism and generally ignorant paganism.

Look, were all one people sired by the same couple that the Bible reveals. Deny it, and you reopen a can of worms regarding degrees of humanness while further inflaming the racial supremacists. Our historic monuments represent us all, and they invite discussion and remembrance, but vandals today are of different sorts: those illegal, and those who collude to ramrod political correctness while sitting in session. I think they should leave our monuments and memorials alone, lest everything imaginable comes tumbling down and we no longer share a common history that peacefully unites us.

Rev. Bryan A. Griem

Tujunga

..

Standing before a monument memorializing any historic figure, I like to see actual history presented. I see no need for heroic renderings of a general who led a war for a despicable, failed cause. Lies and omissions of facts do not serve us well or honor our past.

Monuments in public spaces belong to the community, and it is in the finest American tradition for people to organize to press for community standards on those spaces. We have had an exemplary local case recently here in La Crescenta. Contextual and factual signage was agreed to by the community and added at Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park, explaining the history of the section formerly named Hindenburg Park.

Father Junipero Serra founded major church outposts and a California city, so say that, but also say he played an important part in a conquest that set out deliberately to eliminate the native population. A recent New York Times piece has a good summary of the attempted genocide of Californias native people.

We must acknowledge this murderous history, which puts vandalism of statutes in historic perspective.

Roberta Medford

Atheist

Montrose

..

Its been a long time coming. The current fervor to remove statues that celebrate colonialism, racism and those who fought in defense of slavery has been brewing for decades. Such efforts are the result of changed interpretations of history that have created a sharper understanding of the crimes committed by some who were once lionized as icons of regional versions of American civil religion.

The American Historical Assn.s recent Statement on Confederate Monuments argues that monuments and commemorations represent one interpretation of the past. The AHA states, A monument is not history itself; a monument commemorates an aspect of history, representing a moment in the past when a public or private decision defined who would be honored in a communitys public spaces. The AHA also advocates the preservation of monuments, away from sites that give them a place of honor, as artifacts that can help the public understand how interpretation of the past has changed over time.

I think the same principles apply to statues of Father Serra. Whereas the Catholic Church considers him as a saint because he helped spread Catholicism in Spanish-controlled territories, his legacy is not worthy of honor on public property. Not only did Serra have a hand in the oppression of the native inhabitants he encountered, his penchant for self-flagellation raises questions about his mental stability. Continuing to honor such a self-destructive person in public spaces should certainly be the subject of debate.

Vandalism is not usually the best way to make a point because, much like erecting statues that ignore the sentiments of many citizens, it is not accountable to democratic process. There have been many campaigns to shape historical commemoration that have achieved positive results through debate and collaboration. Then again, the Boston Tea Party was a form of vandalism that is rightly celebrated in history textbooks as an effective act of civil disobedience. When individuals take destructive actions to make a point, it is up to the rest of us to build a process in which such concerns can be constructively addressed.

David L. Hostetter, Ph.D.

President, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills (UUVerdugo)Its a party that has now been seen around the world: Newport-Mesa students crowded around a table Saturday night with red cups arranged in the shape of a swastika. Some are doing the Nazi salute. The photos  most were initially posted on Snapchat and then publicized  have since sparked outrage. Heres whats happened and whats been said about that weekend party.

What happened Saturday night?

Newport Beach school officials on Sunday said they were investigating images posted on social media from the previous night appearing to show a group of partying students  arms outstretched in a Nazi salute  gathered around red plastic cups arranged in the shape of a swastika.

German rage cage, one partygoer captioned a photo, presumably referencing the popular drinking game before posting it on Snapchat.

Ultimate rage, another wrote.

This image from Twitter shows Newport-Mesa students toasting over a swastika made from red plastic cups. (Photo from Twitter)

The party occurred in Costa Mesa, according to Newport Beach police spokeswoman Heather Rangel. District officials said they sent a letter to parents on Sunday.

We were recently made aware of social media postings involving some students who created inappropriate anti-semitic symbols, and possible underage drinking, the letter said. While these actions did not occur on any school campus or school function, we condemn all acts of anti-semitism and hate in all their forms.

Whats happened since then?

School and district officials met Sunday to discuss the incident and were working with law enforcement officials and others to determine appropriate disciplinary action.

One student who posted a photo of the swastika surrounded by students told another student in an online conversation that you are stupid if you think we actually support what Hitler did. It was a joke. None of us are  Nazi supporters.

A parent, who did not want to be identified, said that on Sunday he invited a Holocaust scholar to his home to speak with nine students who had attended the party. Some students who had defended the conduct did not accept invitations to his home, but the students who did go expressed remorse and decided to write apology letters. The parent released the letters on Monday evening.

At least one of the students has received a death threat, the parent added.

These are children who made a big mistake, he said.

At Costa Mesa High School on Monday morning, Principal Jacob Haley told the campus over the public address system that he was disappointed that some of his students attended the party. At Estancia High School, some teachers lectured on underage drinking.

On Monday at Newport Harbor, students wore blue as an act of solidarity with the Jewish community.

A group of Newport Harbor High School seniors wore blue to school on Monday, as did many other students, after a social media campaign urged students to wear blue in solidarity with the Jewish community and to denounce anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry. (Julia Sclafani)

In Costa Mesa, the mother of two students who went to the party said she was very upset about their presence. The woman, who declined to give her name, said she wasnt aware there was a planned gathering of teenagers and that alcohol would be served.

On Monday night, administrators in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District held a public forum to address what transpired at the off-campus party attended by sophomores and juniors from area high schools. Students have said teenagers from Newport Harbor, Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools were present.

What are students saying about it?

Soon after the photos surfaced, community members weighed in and said they werent surprised.

Josdel Hernandez, a junior at Newport Harbor, said shes seen incidents of more casual racism at school: A student doodling a swastika on a desk, for example, or cracking a joke about Nazism.

As jarring as the photos were, Jocelyn Navarro, another junior at Newport Harbor, also said she wasnt surprised when they surfaced on Snapchat and Twitter on Sunday morning.

Every one of them was laughing, said Jocelyn, 16. They all had smiles on their faces.

Student leaders took to social media to condemn the incident.

As an organization dedicated to representing the students of Newport Harbor High School, we and the school administration denounce and condemn all acts of anti-semitism and hate in any form, representatives of the schools Associated Student Body said in a statement on Instagram. Any negativity due to any type of persecution is utterly wrong, unacceptable and will not be tolerated. ... With all of the bad out there, we encourage everyone to turn to goodness, kindness and respect over hatred.

Several Jewish students said the anti-Semitism displayed over the weekend was no unexpected spasm of hatred but the outgrowth something more entrenched  literally etched into the desks and bathrooms of their school.

1 / 8 Students, parents and other members of the community listen to a town hall-style discussion Monday night at Newport Harbor High School concerning pictures that emerged from an off-campus party that showed students saluting a swastika made of red cups. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 2 / 8 A member of the audience reacts to a discussion at Newport Harbor High School on Monday night concerning pictures from a student party showing teenagers saluting a swastika made of red plastic cups during a drinking game. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 3 / 8 Newport Harbor High School sophomore Gina Leaman speaks during Mondays town hall-style meeting at the school. She told of social and racial divisions on campus that foment a culture in which racial and anti-Semitic prejudices rarely are challenged. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 4 / 8 Rabbi Reuven Mintz of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life addresses the audience during Mondays community meeting at Newport Harbor High School concerning pictures that emerged from a party showing students saluting a swastika made of red plastic cups. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 5 / 8 Rabbi Reuven Mintz of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life shakes hands with Newport Harbor High School Associated Student Body President Jack Rogers during a town hall-style meeting Monday night at the school to discuss an off-campus weekend party where students were pictured saluting a swastika made of red cups during a drinking game. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 6 / 8 Newport Harbor High School seniors Ben Kwong, left, and Max Drakeford speak during Mondays community meeting at the school to address Nazi symbolism that some area students used during an off-campus party over the weekend. What we need to focus on is educating people to the point that they arent ignorant enough to commit something like this, Drakeford said. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 7 / 8 Newport Harbor High School students Gina Leaman and Max Drakeford embrace after she spoke at Mondays town hall-style meeting at the school. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer) 8 / 8 High school principals, Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials and other community members give a standing ovation to a Holocaust survivor who attended Monday nights discussion concerning pictures that emerged from a weekend party showing students saluting a swastika made of red plastic cups. (Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

I pee in stalls with swastikas written on them. I write on desks with swastikas carved in them, Maxwell Drakeford, a 17-year-old senior, said at the town hall meeting Monday. Ive had kids throw change on the floor and say, Pick it up, Jew boy. 

Kaitlyn, a 17-year-old student at a private Jewish school in Irvine, helped bring the photos to light after she saw them on Snapchat.

How can these kids who have been educated about [the Holocaust] still find it funny? she said.

What are others saying?

The Daily Pilot received several letters to the editor soon after news of the party broke.

Among the messages weve heard: As our news feeds filled with images of the party  the red cups arranged in the sign of hate, the swastika, the kids hands raised in salute  our mouths gaped and our hearts sank. I request our school district set a date aside in the next few weeks where every student in grades 7-12 is required to watch Schindlers List. A swastika and Nazi salute are viewed by most people as pure evil. It was this very evil that killed young Anne Frank during World War II.

Los Angeles Times columnist Robin Abcarian wrote about the party, whats come after it and how its already affected people.

Rachel, 16, told me she grew up thinking there was little to no anti-Semitism in her world, Abcarian wrote. But in the last couple of years, she said, its all started coming up. It has rocked her.

Lastly, local leaders and representatives have given statements or have taken to Twitter.

While these actions did not occur on any school campus or school function, we condemn all acts of anti-Semitism and hate in all their forms, Newport-Mesa Supt. Fred Navarro said in a statement.

I am heartsick and disgusted seeing kids in our community engage in anti-Semitism, Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach) tweeted.

Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon and Mayor Pro Tem Will ONeill said in a joint statement that they were appalled and saddened by the incident and that it was not acceptable and not reflective of our communitys collective character.

Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) tweeted on Monday, I condemn this display of a hateful, anti-semitic symbol and call on parents and community leaders to redouble our efforts to educate young people about the history of violence against Jewish people worldwide. This has no place in Orange County.

There is no place for hateful symbols of swastikas and Nazi salutes in our community, Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley said on Twitter. We need to seriously address why teens in our community might think these types of hateful symbols are acceptable or funny & worthy of selfies.The owner of a proposed hotel in Glendales Riverside Rancho neighborhood has filed a lawsuit against residents living next to the development site. Those residents are appealing the proposed project. On top of all that, the city has filed a suit against the proposed hotels owner for failing to maintain the property.

It hasnt been an entirely smooth process to bring the three-story, 64-room hotel, planned to go up at 1633 Victory Blvd., to the semirural neighborhood.

Jayesh Kumar, developer of the proposed Victory Hotel, filed a more than $60,000 trespassing lawsuit in early March against a married couple living next to the development site.

The couple, Phillip and Amy Marks, are leading an appeal of the citys decision in January to approve the project.

Less than a month before Kumar filed his suit, the city filed an unrelated criminal lawsuit against him for failing to properly maintain the planned hotel site, according to Yvette Neukian, senior assistant city attorney.

To have the suit dismissed, Kumar must finish by May 1 a mostly complete cleanup of the site that had been deemed unsanitary because of trash and graffiti found on its premises, Neukian said.

Residents alerted a neighborhood services authority about the sites previously unkempt state, which in turn contacted the city, according to Neukian.

In Kumars suit against the Marks couple, he alleged they improperly parked their blue Honda Accord on his property from Sept. 19, 2017, until Feb. 21 of this year, at which point the car was towed.

With the plaintiff estimating the storage value at $115 per day, the cars presence on the lot for those 520 days amounts to $59,800, the suit alleges. Factoring in the $200 it allegedly cost Kumar to tow the car and continue to store it at an unknown location for $115 a day, the suit pegged the total damage at $60,950  a figure that grows every day the car is unclaimed.

Each of them [has] been unjustly enriched by obtaining the unauthorized use and enjoyment of Kumars property, the suit states, referring to Phillip and Amy Marks.

Phillip Marks said he has no idea where his car has been taken, receiving no answer to questions about its whereabouts from Kumar or his representatives. He said he thinks he is being targeted because of his vocal opposition to the proposed hotel.

Other vehicles were confiscated on the lot, and to my knowledge no one else has been sued, Phillip Marks said. I think this points to a little special treatment for the guy whos appealing the project.

Kumar did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The Markses have filed a response denying any wrongdoing and asking for a dismissal of the case. A hearing is set for April 3.

According to Phillip Marks, he had been storing the car at the property on the northwest corner of South Victory Boulevard and Winchester Avenue with permission from a person who had subleased the property long before Kumar purchased it. That tenant, who operated an auto sales company on the lot, failed to honor the lease and left the property by Oct. 25, 2017, according to the suit.

This past Jan. 10, the citys Design Review Board unanimously voted to support the hotel project, which would occupy most of the approximately 21,647-square-foot lot, and would include a two-level subterranean parking garage and second-floor pool deck.

By Jan. 25, Phillip Marks, with support from fellow neighbors, appealed the decision on the grounds that there was insufficient environmental review of the proposed hotel project and that a study on how the project would impact nearby residences exposure to sunlight, which was commissioned by the developer, was also riddled with errors.

According to Phillip Marks, he and other residents are not just being NIMBY [not in my backyard] for NIMBYs sake.

Had the developer proposed a smaller project, We would have said, A hotel wouldnt be our first choice, but welcome to our neighborhood, Phillip Marks said.

Until the appeal is resolved, the project cannot move forward, Neukian said.

lila.seidman@latimes.com

Twitter: @lila_seidmanTwo art forms will take center stage at La Canadas Lanterman Auditorium Saturday as the Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra and Woodbury University Fashion Design department team up for a free Fashion Meets the Phil concert at 8 p.m.

The 29th anniversary gala concert will include works by Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini and Debussy (with assistant conductor Michael Stanley) and will begin with Los Angeles Times columnist Chris Erskine guest conducting musicians in the national anthem.

Its some of the greatest music ever written, all coming up in one performance, said Steven Kerstein, founding musical director and conductor for the Burbank Phil and longtime La Canada resident.

For a visual treat, soprano Esther Tonea and harpist Alyssa Katahara will be outfitted in customized gowns created especially for them by Woodbury University students in the schools fashion program.

Kerstein said the partnership began five years ago after his teenage daughter recommended incorporating fashion into the annual concert as a way to engage a broader audience.

Since then its been mutually beneficial for the students, who get to work with real-world clients and showcase their work, and the performers, who walk away with pieces tailored to their movements, instruments and personalities.

The fashions have to not only be beautiful, which they are, but they also have to be functional, Kerstein said. So the students listen to the music the performers are going to perform and incorporate the music in their designs.

Anna Leiker chairs Woodbury Universitys Fashion Design program and works with students to plan and execute the concert creations. This year, Woodbury junior Katrin Divinets was selected to work on Khataharas gown, while fellow junior Ahad Alshaea worked with Tonea to create a custom piece for Saturdays show.

Its a wonderful civic engagement program that brings two art forms together, Leiker said. Our students learn from this program the full real-world design experience. And they have a real customer in mind.

Its also a lot of work. Students not only consider the mood and sound of the musical compositions, but work over the course of months to create muslin dress patterns, schedule fittings and respond to musicians feedback.

This year, while Tonea was out of state, Leiker and Alshaea mailed her a dress pattern to try on and conducted a video-conference fitting via FaceTime in order to build a dress form to Toneas exact measurements.

Its always a gamble, but everything looks beautiful, Leiker said.

Lanterman Auditorium is located at 4491 Cornishon Ave., in La Canada. For more information visit burbankphilharmonic.org.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardineCalifornia Sen. Dianne Feinstein called for the suspension of races at Santa Anita until an investigation into what has caused 23 horses to die at the track since late December is complete.

In a letter sent to California Horse Racing Board chairman Chuck Winner on Tuesday, the Democratic senator wrote she is appalled that almost two dozen horses have died in just four months.

I believe that racing at Santa Anita should be suspended until the cause or causes of these deaths can be fully investigated, Feinstein wrote. I also ask for more information about what the California Horse Racing Board is doing to both investigate this matter and address some of the concerns that these incidents have rightly raised.

Feinstein asked the CHRB whether it was considering other changes to improve the safety of horses after it agreed to phase out race-day medications and limit the use of whips on horses.

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While these are positive initial steps, please let me know whether the Board is considering other actions that have been proposed by trainers and animal welfare advocates, including the complete elimination of medications such as Lasix and the use of synthetic track surfaces, Feinstein wrote. In your view, would these or other steps be reasonable measures to prevent horse injuries and death?

The CHRB set its next meeting for April 12 at Santa Anita. Among the agenda items is a discussion, and possible action, to determine if the board has the authority to reassign race dates from Santa Anita, should it be necessary. A similar item was on the agenda of the last meeting. The CHRB is a regulatory agency and does not have the sweeping powers to enact change that a league or commissioners office might have in other sports.

Rep. Judy Chu (D) called for a congressional hearing and investigation into the treatment of horses Monday, a day after Arms Runner became the 23rd horse to die at Santa Anita since the start of the tracks winter/spring meet on Dec. 26. The track reopened Friday after being closed to racing for nearly a month after 21 horses died over a 10-week span.

Races are scheduled to resume Thursday ahead of Santa Anitas biggest race  the $1-million Santa Anita Derby on Saturday.

Times staff writer John Cherwa contributed to this report.

Sign up for our daily sports newsletter Theres still time to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas before it closes. Plans to shut the resort next fall and turn it over to Virgin Hotels have been postponed until February. In the meantime, Hard Rock is opening a lounge and restaurant for those who want to visit the Strip resort.

Virgin now expects to start renovations in February with a hotel opening in November 2020 after election day.

I didnt want to compete with the distraction of the campaign, with the state of Nevada and Las Vegas playing a pivotal role in the election, Virgin Hotels President and CEO Richard Boz Bosworth told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. This is a grand opening of a new hotel, and we dont want to get lost in that distraction.

Game of Thrones takes over fountains at Bellagio Las Vegas 

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An artists rendering shows what Virgin Hotels Las Vegas will look like after the renovation of the Hard Rock Hotel property. (Virgin Hotels and Rockwell Group)

The cost of the revamp, which includes expanding the five-acre pool area and upgrading all 1,500 guest rooms, has climbed from $150 million to $200 million, the article said.

With about 10 months left before it closes, the Hard Rock on Wednesday opened Craft + Community, a relaxed restaurant emphasizing comfort food. It also plans to open the Breathe Pool Lounge on Friday, which will feature two swimming pools that will double as a trendy club venue Fridays through Sundays until autumn.

The Hard Rock Hotel on almost 17 acres at Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road opened in 1995. In 2009, it opened the popular rock club called the Joint (which also will be redone by Virgin).

Info: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravel- Former governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has said that President Buhari would perform better in his second term in office

- Uduaghan said the president would do more for people of Niger Delta in his second coming

- The ex-governor also noted that Buhari's victory is a proof of how the people of the region love him

Emmanuel Uduaghan, the immediate past governor of Delta state and Delta south senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just concluded general election, has urged Niger Deltans to expect more dividends of democracy from President Muhammadu Buhari.

Vanguard reports that Uduaghan who made the disclosure through his aide, Prince Gabriel Udemude, commended Nigerians, especially the people of Niger Delta for voting massively for President Buhari, thereby returning him for second term in office as the president of Nigeria.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Legit.ng gathered that he said as a hard-working president, Niger Delta people should expect more democratic dividends from him in the next four years of his administration.

He said: As a hard-working President, Niger Delta people should expect more democratic dividends from him because an adage says, to whom much is given; much is expected.

Therefore, the people should be calm as government put machinery in place to address the issues bothering the youths of the region.

''The victory of Mr. President is a proof of how the people of the region love him, and he will not let them down.

Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta south senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), sought the cancellation of the districts senatorial elections held on Saturday, February 23, saying it was massively rigged.

In a petition to the state REC, by his lawyer, E. Otaru, he said there was massive election malpractices perpetrated through voter intimidation, where voters were compelled to vote against their conscience by thugs, who were openly brandishing various dangerous weapons.

READ ALSO: Over 30,000 IDPs in acute need of shelter, food protection and medical care in Borno - MSF

It was reported that Uduaghan provided videos of some persons being intimidated with woods by thugs allegedly at polling units 5, 6, 7, 8 in Ogbe Ijoh ward One, Warri south west LGA, parts of Bomadi, four wards in Warri south west and part of Warri north.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better.

INEC announces Buhari as 2019 election winner, Nigerians react | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng- A married man has been nabbed for stealing his wife's underwear

- The man was accused of taking some of his wife's underwear to his pastor for ritual purposes

- It was gathered that the incident occurred in Ikpoba Hill, Edo state

A Nigerian man has been caught while he was stealing his wife's underwear inside their compound. The married man was accused of giving his wife's underwear to his pastor for ritual purposes.

The middle-aged man was reportedly caught on Friday, March 29, in Ikpoba Hill, Benin area of Edo state.

According to reports, the married man had stolen some of his wife's underwear earlier. He had allegedly given them to his pastor.

Man caught while stealing wifes underwear in Edo state Source: Instablog9ja video

Source: Instagram

READ ALSO: Furious dad storms Babcock University to flog his son for wasting his money

It was gathered that he was caught when he tried to steal some more. The pastor was said to have been caught alongside his assistant, and the three culprits were later handed over to the police.

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

He was caught with his wife's underwear Source: Instablog9ja video

Source: Instagram

READ ALSO: The Meghan Effect: 10 Brands Whose Sales Skyrocketed In Recent Years Because Of Meghan Markle

In a video recorded after they were caught, it could be seen that the three men were tied together as residents interrogated them. People were heard shaming the pastor for doing bad after claiming to be a man of God.

PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group

Watch video below:

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported a similar story of a pastor caught in Edo state with fetish items. The Edo pastor had been caught by local security men with a bag filled with ladies' underwear.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

My daughter's husband used her for money rituals' - Nigeria Street Gist - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ngA Lehigh County man is accused of sexually assaulting a fellow patron at the Bethlehem YMCA.

City police said the incident occurred March 6 at the YMCA, 430 E. Broad St. On Tuesday, charges of indecent assault and harassment were filed against Paul Rouland, 53, of the 400 block of Ostrum Street in Fountain Hill.

Summonses were issued Tuesday and a preliminary hearing for Rouland is scheduled for May 6. A phone number was not listed for him or his address, and an attorney has not yet entered an appearance in the case.

Police said they were called at about 6 p.m. March 6 for a sex offense report at the center.

The victim reported he was in the sauna when a man asked the victim if he was busy.

The victim responded he was always busy, when the man approached him and touched his penis while saying Busy makes you sexy, according to police.

The victim yelled at the man to get out, and the man was not there when police arrived.

Police said based on the victims description, they developed Rouland as a suspect in the incident. The victim identified Rouland from a photo as the man who assaulted him.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.New Jerseys top law enforcement officials denounced a speaker who led a crowd in a call-and-response using the words of fugitive cop killer Assata Shakur during a conference featuring 2020 Democratic presidential contenders.

Speaking at the We the People summit, NAACP Vice President of Civic Engagement Jamal Watkins called Shakur a leader.

Assata Shakur, who was born with the name Joanne Chesimard, was convicted in the 1973 slaying of NJSP Trooper Werner Foerster. The FBI Most Wanted killer escaped from a womens prison and has been harbored from justice in Cuba.

None of the candidates were on stage during the Watkins speech that evoked Shakur.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., speaks during the We the People Membership Summit, featuring the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, at the Warner Theater, in Washington, Monday, April 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)AP

Watkins led the crowd in a chant quoting the troopers killer, Fox News reported.

I'm gonna actually have you participate with me in repeating some words from a leader by the name of Assata Shakur. So if you could stand up...but I want you to repeat after me, Watkins said.

It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains, he continued, citing words Shakur wrote while in prison.

There are many inspirational leaders. Assata Shakur is not one of them, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said on his Twitter account.

There are many inspirational leaders. Assata Shakur is not one of them. To invoke her words is to dishonor the @NJSP State Trooper she was convicted of murdering.



To learn more about Assata Shakur a/k/a Joanne Chesimard, click here: https://t.co/ANGihGmw3x  AG Gurbir Grewal (@NewJerseyOAG) April 2, 2019

State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan responded to widespread reports of the chant on the agencys Facebook page Tuesday.

It is an affront to every man and woman who wears the badge that someone would choose to evoke the words of a convicted cop killer and fugitive from justice at a political conference, Callahan said. The men and women of the New Jersey State Police will never forget the sacrifice made by Trooper Werner Foerster on May 2, 1973 nor will we forget that the person convicted of his murder remains a fugitive for nearly 40 years.

A statement from the New Jersey State Police in response to the recent Fox News story.... Posted by New Jersey State Police on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

The conference features 2020 hopefuls U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Sen, Elizabeth Warren, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Julian Castro and Beto ORourke, Fox News reported.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newslettersPennsylvanias attorney general said he believes there are more victims of the now-former Carbon County police chief and his friend who are each accused of child rape.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro is encouraging any additional accusers to come forward.

This investigation is ongoing, and my office believes there may be other victims, Shapiro said in a statement Wednesday. We encourage anyone with information about this case to call a special Carbon County Sexual Abuse hotline that my office has set up at 267-768-3957. You dont have to be afraid to come forward -- we want to hear from you.

Brent Getz, 27, and Gregory Wagner Jr., 28, both of Lehighton, were arrested March 27 by the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office, following an investigation that initially began in 2012.

A message left for Wagners attorney, Adam Weaver, was not immediately returned. No one answered the phone at the office of Brian Collins, Getzs attorney.

The pair were each arraigned on charges including rape of a child and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, and each sent to prison in lieu of $250,000 bail.

At the time of his arrest, Getz was the Weissport Borough police chief; he has since been fired, according to media reports.

Prosecutors said the girl was 12 when she reported to a teacher that Wagner was sexually assaulting her. The teacher reported it to police in Franklin Township, a neighboring municipality of Weissport in the Lehighton area. After an investigation, no charges were filed at that time, the attorney generals office said.

In 2015 the case was reassigned, and police filed a criminal complaint charging Wagner with various crimes, prosecutors said. The complaint was dismissed by a district judge due to a paperwork error and the charges were not refiled.

Last August, a Franklin Township officer revisited the case and interviewed the victim. It was at that time the girl disclosed Getz, Wagners friend, had sexually assaulted her as well.

The girl alleged Wagner repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted, starting when she was 4 until she was 11 years old. Getz would allegedly join in on the assaults.

Agents raided Wagners residence on March 27 and reportedly found numerous electronic devices, including his cellphone that had Google searches of terms indicative of child pornography.

Wagner was interviewed and reportedly admitted to sexually abusing the victim over the course of several years, prosecutors said. He also allegedly admitted that Getz sexually abused the victim, and that they would do so together.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.A CH-47 Chinook helicopter is scheduled to land Thursday at East Stroudsburg University, and itll be open for the public to check out for three hours, the school said Wednesday.

The twin-rotor aircraft is taking part in ROTC training at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education university in East Stroudsburg.

Its scheduled to land about noon on the ESU Rugby Field (A7 on this university map).

The public availability is scheduled noon to 3 p.m., followed by ROTC training from 3 to 4 p.m.

Afterwards, 28 cadets from ESU, the University of Scranton and Kings College along with two instructors will board the helicopter and depart for the Pennsylvania National Guards training site at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County for four days of training, according to the university.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Seven people died in 2018 from crashes in Lehigh Township, police Chief Scott Fogel said in a recent television interview.

In an effort to promote safe driving, the township last month adopted its Vision Zero 2019 Plan and Tuesday was prime example of how that plan will be implemented.

Vision zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. It aims to achieve a highway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic in the Lehigh Township, according to a website explaining the plan. The goal is safe mobility for all.

For five hours on Tuesday on Coordinated Traffic Enforcement Day in Pennsylvania, township police, working with Walnutport police, conducted multiple simultaneous traffic enforcement details on Route 145 and Route 248 in the township, Fogel said in a news release.

Eighty-one citations were issued, including 77 for speeding, Fogel said. The top speed recorded was 94 mph on Route 145, he said.

Three citations were issued for not wearing seat belts and one for failure to obey traffic control devices, Fogel said.

The enforcement detail was funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, police said.

But this isnt a one-day effort for township police, Fogel said.

The two biggest areas that we have problems with are aggressive driving and speeding, Fogel said on the website. They will see us out there more, they will see us out there certainly enforcing a very zero tolerance towards speeding and aggressive driving.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Northampton County Senior Judge Leonard Zito intends to retire within two months, according to the countys president judge.

President Judge Michael Koury confirmed Zito submitted his resignation letter April 1, 2019. The letter says he intends to return to the practice of law by June 1. He will step down after concluding his duties as the administrator for the criminal docket during the May court term, the letter says.

For more than a decade, Judge Leonard Zito has served the citizens of Northampton County as a judge with distinction and honor, Koury said in a statement.

Koury noted Zitos service as a U.S. Navy veteran, and as a former county solicitor and chief public defender. He said Zito never forgot what it was like to practice as a lawyer and treated all litigants with respect and courtesy.

Zito was appointed in 2004 to fill a vacancy on the bench. He fulfilled a promise to step down and not seek election after 18 months on the bench. But he was appointed again to fill a vacancy in 2008. This time he made no such promise, ran for re-election and won. Zito took senior status in 2013 due to his age. Senior judges work part-time, although Zito had a reputation for taking on a massive caseload.

He created and administered an efficient and effective criminal case processing system, and through his tireless efforts we have been able to swiftly and fairly dispense justice to the citizens of Northampton County, Koury said.

Koury said he will take on Zitos duties as administrator of the criminal court docket.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.JZ Flowers and Aldi Ireland have agreed a new 70 million contract that will see JZ Flowers provide 33 million fresh flower stems annually to Aldi stores nationwide.

The five-year deal represents a major commitment by the retailer to the Naas-based flower supplier, underlining Aldis approach to developing long term supplier partnerships.

Having sold almost 4.2 million bouquets in 2018; Aldi is Irelands biggest retailer of fresh cut flowers, with one in four flower stems sold in Ireland purchased from Aldi. Aldi has captured 21.1% value share of all flower sales across the country  the highest of any retailer.

The deal is the culmination of a significant expansion for JZ Flowers, which recently opened a new 1.3 million state-of-the-art packing facility in Naas, on the strength of its growing relationship with Aldi. The 51,000 sq. ft. facility, which employs 54 full time staff, is solely dedicated to supplying Aldi Irelands 137 stores with fresh cut flowers.

Considered the most technically advanced flower packing facility in Ireland, it features the latest refrigeration and packing technologies, as well as the largest Vase Life testing room in Ireland to ensure customers get the longest possible time from their purchase at home. As a result of this advanced technology, Aldi provides a freshness guarantee date on each of its core range flower products.

JZs facility also includes an enhanced Aldi Design Centre where Aldi experts choose the best designs for each season to suit Aldi shoppers and current colour trends.

John Curtin, Group Buying Director Aldi Ireland said; Aldi Irelands five-year contract with JZ Flowers supports our strategy of long-term partnerships with suppliers. We now work with over 175 Irish suppliers and these relationships allow us to provide our customers with the very best products at unbeatable prices day-in, day-out. In turn, our suppliers receive the security they need to invest in their businesses to lower costs and improve quality for Aldi and our shoppers.

Wayne Rowlatt, JZs Director, said; We are delighted to be one of Aldis long-term suppliers in Ireland. Aldis unique partnering and sourcing model provides the confidence to invest in and develop our Irish operations. Were immensely proud of our new facility in Naas and our dedicated team that supply fresh flowers daily for Aldis customers throughout Ireland.

JZ Flowers and Aldi Ireland have partnered since 1999, with JZ Flowers initially supplying Aldis Irish stores from its original production facility in the UK. Over 10 years ago, Aldi Ireland approached JZ Flowers and asked them to consider moving operations to Ireland due to the unprecedented growth of Aldis Irish business. JZ Flowers subsequently opened its first packing facility in Naas in 2006 to manage the growing volume of Aldi orders.

Sales of fresh cut flowers at Aldi have continued to grow in 2019.

Aldi is now the biggest seller of Fairtrade roses from Ethiopia, with all its Fairtrade roses purchased from the Herburg farm, one of the largest Ethiopian flower growing farms. Sales of Aldis roses help fund workers access to vital medical services and reduced prices for staple foods. Aldi sold 2.6 million stems of Fairtrade roses in 2018.The Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR), representing all 26 Irish racecourses, today pledged an annual financial contribution of 123,000 to support the Irish Injured Jockeys (IIJ) over a three year period.

Building on the existing positive relationship between racecourses and the Irish Injured Jockeys, all 26 racecourses have committed to this scheme which will cover the running costs of the charity. This will allow all donations and fundraising efforts to go directly to the IIJ service users. The racecourse donations are on a scaled basis, depending on the racecourse grade.

Conor ONeill, Chairman of the AIR and CEO of Punchestown Racecourse, said: Jockeys are the cornerstone of racing and providing racegoers with great days out and brilliant racing memories, however, we are acutely aware that it is a high risk sport and the extraordinary physical demands our jockeys face for our sporting pleasure. All 26 racecourses have a brilliant relationship with jockeys and greatly value the time they give us to promote our wonderful sport. In recognition of that, the Association of Irish Racecourses is delighted to formally demonstrate our commitment with 123,000 per year for the next three years to support the incredible work the Irish Injured Jockeys do.

Ruby Walsh, Champion National Hunt Jockey and IIJ Chairman, commented: On behalf of the Irish Injured Jockeys, I would like to sincerely thank and acknowledge the 26 racecourses for their support. This three year financial commitment is ground-breaking for IIJ and testament to the great relationship we have with the racecourses. Their support will allow us to continue the important work we do and expand our services to riders.Sinn Fein MEP, Matt Carthy, has written to the Minister for Planning, Eoghan Murphy, asking him to provide assurances to communities in the vicinity of a proposed wind farm at Croagh, Co Leitrim that their concerns will be listened to.



Carthy contacted the Minister following a meeting he held with local residents recently where they raised concerns regarding the manner in which Coillte is proposing to develop a commercial scale wind farm located on the northeastern slopes of Carrane Hill, Garvagh, Killavoggy.



Speaking this week Carthy said: Everyone accepts that there is a need to develop renewal energy. But, the manner in which Fianna Fail and Fine Gael governments have pursued this objective has been sloppy and haphazard. They have allowed the agenda to be dictated by private corporations while sometimes state companies have been used to facilitate these multinationals. All the while local communities have been ignored and the model which works best internationally, of public and community ownership of the process, has been disregarded in place of a process where local communities are essentially side-lined from the entire process.



When I joined Deputy Martin Kenny TD and Cllr Padraig Fallon to meet with residents concerned with the Croagh proposal I was surprised to learn that the planned wind turbines are significantly larger than the conventional types, many of which are already in place in this area. Specifically, concerns have been raised with us regarding the close proximity to heritage bog land areas, and the threats posed to species such as the Hen Harrier and Corncrake, which attract bird watchers from Ireland and beyond and which are endangered species.



The residents we met with are also frustrated with what they consider the lack of genuine consultation embarked by Coillte which is, of course, a state-owned company.



Considering the genuine fears that have been expressed regarding the general well-being of the community and the potential impact of this development on homes, wildlife, habitats, bogs and waterways I have written to Eoghan Murphy, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government requesting that he provide assurances that the concerns of local communities will be taken into consideration before any planning is granted as to the proposal for the Croagh Wind Farm.



If renewable energy targets are to be met then communities must have ownership of the process, they will not tolerate being ignored.Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

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Support our mission and join our community now.Fianna Fail TD for Sligo-Leitrim, Eamon Scanlon, has urged the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government and the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to instruct their Departments to prioritise the Irish Water application which can bring about a solution to the boil water notice currently live in Sligo.

A Boil Water Notice was removed from the Lough Talt area in November 2018 but was put back in place on Friday January 11, 2019 following a detection of cryptosporidium during routine sampling at the water treatment plant.

Business customers in the Lough Talt area have been informed they will receive a 40% rebate on the cost of the supply of water to their businesses for the duration of the boil water notice and this will be back dated to February 5, 2018.

Deputy Scanlon said, There are currently 13, 600 homes and businesses across Sligo on boil water notices due to traces of cryptosporidium in the water. This has caused much hardship for the residents, restaurant and hotel owners, and the many others who have to boil water before using it. Once again, I have raised with the Minister the urgent need for this to be fixed and clean, safe drinking water returned to the area.

Irish Water had applied for planning to Sligo County Council, who have done everything they can to grant this application, however it has been sent to the Department for Housing, Planning, and Local Government. This has dragged on and has been held up in the Department due to the IROPI legislation it comes under. This legislation is unique to planning issues which can only be granted by the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government.

The Minister must make this matter a priority for the nearly 14, 000 people who remain on boil water notices today, stressed Deputy Scanlon.

Affected areas

The Lough Talt water supply Scheme normally serves a population of 13,046. Currently 12,576 people are affected including the towns of Tubbercurry and Ballymote and a large rural hinterland including the villages of Annagh, Aclare, Bellaghy, Curry, Lavagh, Ballanacarrow, Carrowneden, Kilmacteige and Coolaney.

Group water schemes



The Boil Water Notice also includes consumers supplied by the Ogham Group Water Scheme and the following areas in Co, Mayo: Cloontia, Doocastle and Quarryfield.

The Lough Talt Water Treatment Plant is currently on the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL) for both cryptosporidium and THM risk.

Boil Water Notice Advice



Customers are reminded to continue to boil water before consumption including the washing of teeth, making of ice and in the preparation of food that is not cooked. It is imperative that people adhere to the boil water notice.

Water must be boiled for:

- Drinking

- Drinks made with water

- Preparation of salads and similar foods, which are not cooked prior to eating

- Brushing of teeth

- Making of ice - discard ice cubes in fridges and freezers and filtered water in fridges. Make ice from cooled boiled water.

What actions should be taken:

- Use water prepared for drinking when preparing foods that will not be cooked (e.g. washing salads)

- Water can be used for personal hygiene, bathing and flushing of toilets but not for brushing teeth or gargling

- Boil water by bringing to a vigorous, rolling boil (e.g. with an automatic kettle) and allow to cool. Cover and store in a refrigerator or cold place. Water from the hot tap is not safe to drink. Domestic water filters will not render water safe to drink

- Caution should be taken when bathing children to ensure that they do not swallow the bathing water

HSE advice for making up infant formula:

- Where a Boil Water Notice is in place, you can prepare infant formula from tap water that has been boiled once (rolling boil for 1 minute) and cooled beforehand.

- Bottled water can be used to make up infant formula. All bottled water, with the exception of natural mineral water, is regulated to the same standard as drinking water. It is best not to use bottled water labelled as Natural Mineral Water as it can have high levels of sodium (salt) and other minerals, although it rarely does. Natural Mineral Water can be used if no other water is available, for as short a time as possible, as it is important to keep babies hydrated.

- If bottled water is used to make up infant formula it should be boiled once (rolling boil for 1 minute), and cooled in the normal way.

- Ready-to-use formula that does not need added water can also be used.

Health advice



- Anyone suffering from diarrhoea for more than two days should contact their general practitioner and provide a stool sample for testing. They should continue to drink plenty of boiled or bottled water.

- Great care should be taken with boiled water to avoid burns and scalds as accidents can easily happen, especially with children.

Further Information

You can call the Irish Water customer care team on Callsave 1850 278 278 or visit Twitter (www.twitter.com/IWCare) for any queries on this notice.Come and join Leitrim Design House in celebrating European Artistic Craft Day on Saturday, April 6 for a Meet the Maker event from 2-4pm.

Everyone is welcome to drop by to meet local textile artist Catherine Gray, hear her story and watch her process.

European Artistic Craft Day (EACD) is celebrated across Europe during the first week of April.

It was established to derive value from each nations enormous intangible assets as a way to highlight its living heritage.

It offers communities the opportunity to learn more about their region and brings people together through the prism of the arts and crafts, sharing, exchanging, and learning skilled craft makers in action.

Leitrim Design House have invited Catherine Gray to share her extensive experience in textiles.

Catherine, who lives in her native town of Carrick-on-Shannon, studied in the school of Art and Design Sligo in the late 70s; where she specialised in fine art.

In the 80s Catherine worked with a freelance designer in New York designing and creating knitwear for the American market.

With more than 20 years experience working with textiles, she has explored a variety of media and loves the tactile qualities of combining these techniques together.

She describes her approach as follows: My landscapes come from memory. I allow my surroundings to develop in my mind where the colours and textures intensify and exaggerate. The mixture of random and controlled elements in my work means the finished piece may have a totally unpredictable outcome.

Some of my pieces are made from treasured fabrics which hold a history of family memories. These works progress from my reflection of the fabrics owners feelings and their stories. This brings a whole new dimension to the work.

Why not enjoy a leisurely Saturday afternoon observing this talented textile artist at work and browse the beautiful craft gallery.

You might leave inspired! For further information follow on Facebook/TheLeitrimDesign House or drop into the stunning showroom at Leitrim Design House, The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim or call: (071) 9650550.MARY Lowry's son has described murder accused Pat Quirke as in control most of the time, grumpy some of the time and said he went around his mother's farm as if he kind of owned the place.

Giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court this Wednesday 19-year-old Jack Lowry spoke about his mother's relationship with Bobby Ryan and his memories of the accused.

Mr Quirke, 50, of Breanshamore, County Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight.

Mr Ryan went missing on June 3, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry's home at about 6.30am. His body was found in an underground run-off tank on the farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by the accused at Fawnagown, Tipperary 22 months later in April 2013.

The prosecution has claimed Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with Ms Lowry, 52,.

Mr Lowry told prosecution counsel David Humphries BL that he lived with his brothers and mother in Fawnagowan until April 2013. His father had passed away in 2007 when the witness was eight years old.

Following his father's death he remembered Mr Quirke leasing the family farm from his mother. He knew all of Pat's children and got on well with Alan, who died in a tragic farm accident in 2012.

Mr Lowry said Alan, who was one year younger than him, would come to Fawnagowan with his father most days and they would play together around the farm.

When he was younger he got on with Mr Quirke, he said, adding: "I have nothing against him." He later said that Mr Quirke was "in control most of the time, grumpy some of the time. He went around the farm as if he kind of owned the place."

He recalled going with his mother and brothers to Portugal and Spain with the Quirke family where they rented a villa with a private pool. They all got on, he said.

When his mother started seeing Bobby Ryan the witness "felt weird about it" at first and used to "slag him off about being bald". He said he thought Mr Ryan was taking over his father's role.

He also remembered Mr Ryan taking him and his brothers to Tramore in Waterford where he brought them on carnival rides and into the arcades. His mother and Mr Ryan seemed happy together, he said. He added: "My mother was happy when he was around."

When Mr Lowry was 11 years old Bobby Ryan bought a 1987 Toyota Corolla for the witness's older brother Tommy so he could practice driving. This witness said he was in it when Tommy drove it but at that time he was too young to drive it himself. He didn't drive it until he was 14 or 15 years old.

The day Mr Ryan went missing the witness remembered coming home from school and seeing his uncle Eddie, which was strange. He found out that Bobby was missing but doesn't remember who told him. He didn't know of the tank where Bobby Ryan's body was found but he had previously noticed the concrete slabs that covered the top.

Under cross examination he told Lorcan Staines SC, for the defence, that he could not remember what happened when he spoke to gardai in 2011. He said he spoke to gardai again in February of this year after a garda approached him to make a statement.

He has no memory of Bobby Ryan calling to the house on June 2, the day before he went missing. He said he also has no recollection of ever going to his grandmother and complaining that his mother was not home.

He said he was 100 per cent sure that the Toyota Corolla car was bought for Tommy to learn to drive and that he, Jack, did not drive it until he was older.

He told Mr Staines: I could barely reach the pedals. I didn't even know how to start a car at that at that age.

Mr Staines told the witness that Tommy had previously told the trial that the car was for both of them and asked him if he wished to reconsider his evidence. He replied: No.

Referring to the tank where Mr Ryan's body was found he said he knew there was concrete there because it stood out in the middle of the field. But he was young so he took no notice of it.

In reexamination Mr Humphries asked the witness if he remembers ever being left unminded at home and he replied that his grandmother, Rita Lowry, was always there.

Mr Humphries also today read to the court a deposition given by Rita Lowry, Jack's 91-year-old grandmother. Ms Lowry is also mother-in-law to Pat Quirke and Mary Lowry.

In her deposition Ms Lowry told prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC that she had lived at Fawnagowan since 1958 and was married to John Lowry. They had four boys and four girls. Martin, Mary's husband, was the eldest boy and became principal heir to the farm when John passed away in 1993.

Martin married Mary and they built an extension to the house where they lived with their three boys before Martin passed away in 2007.

Mary was very upset, she said, adding: Really upset. She was grieving after it. She remembered that Pat Quirke helped her and that his cattle started grazing the land at Fawnagowan. He would be there nearly every day, arriving around 12pm. She said Mary and Pat were great friends.

Rita met Bobby Ryan only once or twice but said she wouldn't have really known him. She was happy that Mary had met someone and she said that Bobby got on with Mary's children.

The night before Mr Ryan went missing she was out playing cards and arrived home about 11.30pm. It was a normal night, she said. She went to bed and slept soundly. The following morning was also normal - Mary Lowry dropped her into town to meet her daughter as she would every Friday. She got home about 3pm and saw Mary crying and very, very upset.

Ms Lowry told defence counsel Bernard Condon SC that she remembered telling gardai that Jack, her grandson, came to her one morning and said his mother wasn't home. A short time later Mary drove in.

Prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC told the jury of six men and six women that the prosecution evidence is likely to finish on Thursday and the case will formally close on Friday morning.A RAHEEN man has criticised contractors who chopped down mature trees in the areas industrial estate.

Steven McDonagh said he was extremely surprised when driving through the Raheen Industrial Estate to find that a considerable number had been felled.

This is a lovely estate and very well maintained and I could not understand why these trees were cut down explained Mr McDonagh.

His comments come with National Tree Week in full swing.

The trees were near the entrance to the estate, on the left hand side, as you drive in the one way system.

Mr McDonagh has raised the issue with local councillor and metropolitan mayor Daniel Butler.

He said that he was surprised at this day and age that trees would be cut down like this.

Local councillor Sean Lynch, who describes himself as a lover of trees, acknowledged the plants perhaps needed to be chopped for health and safety reasons.

Hopefully they will plant one or two to replace them to replace the 20 that have been felled. If they cannot replace them here, perhaps as a gesture of goodwill, plant them in some other area, he added.

An IDA spokesperson confirmed it is not the agency who was responsible for the chopping, with the only trees cut on a tenant site.

National Tree Week is a yearly festival run by the Tree Council of Ireland.UNIVERSITY of Limerick Student Life sabbatical officers are this week attempting to live on 38.80 to highlight the fierce restrictions on the autonomy of residents living in direct provision.

As the university marks Sanctuary Week from April 1 to 7, three officers from the student representative body are standing in solidarity with people in direct provision by living on the weekly allowance they receive.

The challenge is an opportunity to cast a spotlight on just one aspect of what living in Direct Provision is like, said UL student welfare officer Lorcan ODonnell, who is taking part in the challenge.

Obviously were speaking from a very privileged standpoint and if we go over the 38.80 it really isnt the end of the world for us as individuals, he added.

On Monday, both Mr ODonnell and UL Student Life president Ciara Jo Hanlon took part in a Sanctuary Run around the UL campus, a regular sporting initiative that sees a group of asylum seekers, refugees and Irish citizens running as one in solidarity.

UL has offered fifteen Sanctuary scholarships each year since 2017 to those from refugee and asylum-seeking communities, which include support towards the costs of higher education.

(The challenge) is going to give us perspective and it comes back to what we take for granted, Ciara Jo Hanlon said.

I cant go and get a coffee that I want because I have to really think about things that I need which is what our Sanctuary students have to do on a constant daily basis.

While students can work with very tight budgets, those in direct provision constantly must think about what they need, Ms Hanlon added. They cannot work, they simply dont have the same luxuries that we do.

A number of events and initiatives are taking place across the university campus this week for staff and students as part of Sanctuary Week, including a photographic exhibit, a concert and a film screening.

UL Student Life and the university hope the weeks opens further discussion on life in direct provision.

Id like people to try and educate themselves on what life is like for our Sanctuary students and for people in general who are seeking international protection, Mr ODonnell said. Id also like for them to use this new knowledge going forward in local elections that are coming up and make sure that Direct Provision is something thats on their candidates agenda.AN internationally renowned games designer has initiated High Court proceedings against the University of Limerick, alleging the university subjected her to unlawful gender discrimination.

Brenda Romero, a Bafta-award winning game designer originally from New York, has filed High Court proceedings against UL that claim she was subjected to unlawful gender discrimination and that the university breached its obligation under the Universities Act.

An application for damages and losses in relation to her professional reputation has also been submitted, the Leader understands.

Highly respected for her design work on 47 video games, Ms Romero was previously given a Fulbright scholarship to study the fledgling gaming industry in Ireland. She moved to Ireland with her family in 2015.

She co-owns Romero Games based in Galway. During the course of her career Ms Romero has received a Bafta special award for her work and has been named as one of the most influential women working in the industry.

She began working with the University of Limerick in 2017 in the Faculty of Science and Engineering where she was involved with the MSc in Game Design and Development.

Louise Howard, Ms Romeros Galway-based solicitor said: Brenda is a longtime, tireless advocate of women and girls in STEM and has won awards for her work in this regard. For my client, this matter is of the utmost importance.

When contacted for a statement, a UL spokesperson said: UL takes a firm stand against discrimination of any kind, and all members of the UL community of staff and students are encouraged to report any instances of discrimination of any kind, that they may witness or encounter.

UL has long been a leader across Irish higher education institutions with the highest percentage of female professors of any HEI at 33% and as one of the two first institutions in Ireland to be granted Athena Swan Bronze award in 2015 for advancing gender equality.MANAGEMENT at Castletroy Town Centre say they are heartbroken, frustrated, angry and withered at the denial of planning permission for its multi-million euro expansion.

An Bord Pleanala refused an appeal by the vendors of the shopping centre to effectively double in size at its site near the Kilmurry roundabout, a move which they say is putting shackles on the areas development.

Under the proposals, two main anchor tenants would have been brought in, with 10 smaller outlets, four service units and a cafe.

A two-storey car park with more than 600 spaces, plus 97 surface spaces were also on the cards.

But the national appeals body has backed up Limerick councils decision to not allow the development to go ahead.

In an impassioned post to the social network Facebook, the town centre referred to the judgment that the centres expansion would do damage to the heart of Limerick.

It doesnt have to be like this. A growing city needs growing suburbs and Castletroy is just that. It is not us against them, it never was, we come from Limerick. We all want Limerick to prosper. We love Limerick and understand the importance of the city buzzing and people shopping them. But you are making it us against them when you say Castletroy cannot be invested in until the city is fixed, and better footfall generated. When will this happen? 2022, 2025, therefore no more growth at Castletroy for three years or six years, the post states.

The post also calls on local and national politicians to show great leadership and find a solution which supports both the city and Castletroy.

Lets be very clear, we want Limerick city and all its suburbs to prosper. We want more investment in Limerick city and we want people shopping there. Everybody wants that  but our community wants this expansion too, the centre concluded.

Although the expansion could have brought with it up to 100 new positions, there was controversy in the urban area to the plans.

Several local businesses objected to the proposals, including the Limerick Chamber.

It remains to be seen what move Castletroy Town Centre makes next, having exhausted its avenues of appeal in the planning context.

At present, the anchor tenant in the shopping complex is Supervalu, while there are also branches of Starbucks and Hook and Ladder.A man who admitted robbing a handbag from an elderly woman as she was walking in broad daylight was arrested after gardai after they found him hiding under a bush.

When arraigned at Limerick Circuit Court, Shane Ryan-Casey, aged 24, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to a single charge of robbery relating to an incident which happened at St Nessans Road, Dooradoyle, on September 12, last.

The defendant approached the 69-year-old victim as she was walking at St Nessans Road, Dooradoyle  near the Crescent Shopping Centre  at around 3pm.

He took hold of her handbag and ran across the road to Ballykeefe Estate, Detective Garda Paul Crowley previously told Limerick District Court when opposing a bail application.

The pensioners handbag contained cash, a mobile phone, keys and various bank cards and the defendant was located hiding under a bush with the assistance of other members of the public.

The woman was not physically injured during the incident.

Previously Limerick District Court was told the defendant is a volatile and dangerous individual with a history of violence.

Last month Mr Ryan-Casey, who has more than 130 previous convictions, was fined 150 after he admitted having a mobile phone at Limerick Prison on September 24, 2018.

After his client pleaded guilty to the robbery charge, Brian McInerney BL sought an early sentencing date. Judge Tom ODonnell adjourned the matter to June 19, next.



Doctors, teachers, and complete strangers from across the Bay Area, California,U.S, are rallying behind Atsade Nigese from Ethiopia, who survived a brutal act of domestic violence when her husband poured acid all over her face and body.

Speaking through her friend who served as an interpreter, Nigese says her husband, who was a federal police officer in Ethiopia, regularly beat her and broke her teeth.

But one night, a year ago, after she told him she wanted a divorce, she said he threw acid on her.

Nigese is now blind with scarred skin. Her body is disfigured and even her own son initially rejected her, saying he knew her by her voice but could not identify anything else about her.

Menbere Aklilu of Richmond said she wanted to help. Two years ago, she helped another Ethiopian woman, who had also been burned by acid, something she said her ex-fiance had thrown on her.

Because of that experience Akilu, who also survived an abusive relationship, knew how to get Nigese a visa. And she flew to Ethiopia to retrieve Nigese and invited her to live with her and get some medical help. Akilu said shed love it if Nigese could one day see again.

I want her to get her vision, thats my dream, Aklilu said.

For nearly seven months, Nigese has been living with Aklilu. The two women, both from Ethiopia, share another special bond, one they dont wish on anyone else. Both have survived domestic abuse.

I see myself through her, Akilu said. Im lucky I run from him. So today I have the ability to help others.

In her short time living in the Bay Area, Nigese is slowly learning to become independent once again. Shes learned to get around using a cane. Three hours a day, five days a week, Nigese learns Braille and English, with volunteers at her side.

On top of that, doctors from the University of California at San Francisco are donating their time and talents to reconstruct her ears, eyelids nose and mouth.ATLANTA  Drinking coffee has been linked to a slew of health benefits, such as a longer life span, and a decreased risk of conditions including depression, heart attacks and certain cancers.

But a new study suggests that there may be a downside to your morning brew: Researchers found that drinking two or more cups of coffee or tea may increase a person's risk of lung cancer.

The findings were presented on March 31, here at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. [10 Things You Need to Know About Coffee]

Of note, the link was even true for nonsmokers. Because people who smoke cigarettes are also more likely to drink coffee and tea, it was difficult in previous studies to disentangle the effects of these drinks from those of smoking, in developing lung cancer, said lead study author Jingjing Zhu, a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

In the new study, an international group of researchers analyzed data from 17 different studies that included a total of 1.2 million participants in the U.S. and Asia. The studies noted whether participants drank coffee or tea or smoked cigarettes. About half were nonsmokers.

The participants were tracked for an average of 8.6 years. During that time, more than 20,500 participants developed lung cancer.

The researchers found that nonsmokers who drank two or more cups of coffee a day had a 41 percent higher risk of lung cancer than those who didn't drink coffee. Similarly, nonsmokers who drank two or more cups of tea a day had a 37 percent greater risk of lung cancer than non-tea drinkers. (Because data was taken from multiple studies, the exact definition of a cup varied.)

The study also found that a person's risk didn't change significantly between ages, races or the type of coffee people drank  both decaf and caffeinated coffee seemed to be associated with similar risks. In fact, decaf coffee was associated with a 15 percent higher risk than caffeinated coffee, Zhu said.

Still, Zhu noted that "this [was] only an observational study" and didn't prove cause-and-effect. But the researchers hypothesize that it isn't caffeine that's behind the link. Instead, it may be that something in the roasting process is driving the link between coffee and lung cancer risk, Zhu told Live Science.

The study had several limitations. For example, although the participants were tracked for years after the studies started, data on smoking and coffee and tea intake was measured only one time, at the beginning of the studies. So if people changed their behaviors throughout the years, it could have skewed the results, Zhu said.

What's more, if nonsmokers were exposed to second-hand smoke  which wasn't accounted for but could also increase lung cancer risk  that could have also skewed the results, she said.

Dr. Julie Fisher, an oncologist at the Levine Cancer Institute in North Carolina who was not part of the study, said that the findings were "interesting" and "compelling," but noted that because it's an association finding, she "certainly would not draw conclusions based on this."

However, though there's still much more research needed, Fisher told Live Science that she agreed that "maybe there's something in the [coffee brewing] process" that's driving the link.

Other coffee findings presented at the meeting were more comforting: Drinking coffee wasn't associated with an increased risk of glioma or colorectal cancer in men and women; nor was it associated with bladder cancer or renal cell carcinoma in male smokers. Coffee was found to be associated with a lower risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women and tea with a lower risk of glioma in women. In both men and women, decaf coffee was found to be associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer.

The findings have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Originally published on Live Science.Alarmed, an anonymous caller alerted the Medical Examiner's office, which halted the digging and looked at the bones. But these bones weren't from the recently departed, the examiner found. They were historic  some dating to the 1700s  and from the First Baptist Church burial ground, one of Philadelphia's first cemeteries.

Despite its colonial history, Philadelphia has no overarching laws regulating such finds, especially those on private land, according to forensics scientist Kimberlee Moran, who read about the discovery in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2016. [See photos of the Cemetery Excavation in Philadelphia]

With no governing laws, the bones were getting damaged, with some haphazardly collected once the construction restarted.

Moran, an associate teaching professor and director of forensics at Rutgers University-Camden in New Jersey, had spent nine years working as a forensic scientist in the United Kingdom. There, construction workers commonly find historic human remains. After reading about the discovery, "I was like, 'Oh, I want some bones! I'll do a little project, I'll maybe connect a couple students to it and everyone will be happy,'" Moran told Live Science.

Little did she know the enormous undertaking that awaited her.

Researchers and volunteers worked as fast as they could to excavate the remains from the cemetery at 218 Arch Street in Philadelphia. (Image credit: Evi Numen)

Digging for bones

Thousands of people were buried at the First Baptist Church's burial ground from about 1702 until 1860, when the cemetery was allegedly relocated. However, when the church moved its cemetery because it was turning into a local garbage dump, the Philadelphia Board of Health gave it only three months that year  from Jan. 1 to April 1  to move the graves.

This was a tremendous undertaking, and although some of the graves were relocated, the majority were not, Moran said. The fact that the church left behind so many bodies wasn't publicized, and it wasn't until 2017 that the extent of the burials was realized, she said.

In all, the remains of at least 3,000 people were still buried there, according to historical records. Moran and her colleagues have since found about 500 of them where the luxury condominium now sits, at 218 Arch Street.

After visiting the site with Anna Dhody, a forensic anthropologist at the Mutter Museum of Philadelphia, Moran was given a box holding 113 bones, mostly long bones from people's arms and legs. Dhody and Moran offered to help excavate or oversee the project, but they were politely brushed aside, Moran said.

Researcher Chelsea Cordle organizes remains in anatomical order. (Image credit: Kim Moran)

But six weeks later, in February 2017, the developer, PMC Property Group, had a change of heart. Construction workers continued to find bones, and they didn't know what to do with them. "We came back to the site, and we found very obvious voids in the soil that had wood sticking out of them," Moran said. "It was obvious that this was a coffin that had been disturbed by the heavy machinery. And someone's legs were sticking out."

So, Moran, Dhody and Ani Hatza, a forensic anthropologist at Temple University in Philadelphia, struck a deal with the developer. The scientists would supervise the backhoe work, and if they saw any bones, the backhoe would stop so the scientists could excavate the spot. "It was pretty rough and ready," Moran said. "They didn't let us do a meticulous job or anything."

It wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing, Moran said. "For the next two weeks, the three of us just rearranged our lives to try to make sure that somebody was there every single day." [Photos: Time Capsule from 1795 Reveals Pieces of American History]

At that time, the scientists still didn't realize the cemetery's immense size. That changed when construction workers came across an even denser part of the cemetery. "Eventually, we got to a point where there were multiple burials stacked on top of each other," Moran said. Dhody put her foot down; the scientists needed to do this properly, she told the developer.

Finally, PMC Property Group agreed to give the scientists one week in that particular area to excavate the graves. The women immediately got to work, recruiting students, colleagues and volunteers  anyone who could help excavate the cemetery and follow archaeological standards, which included mapping the graves, taking photos and sketches and treating the bones with respect.

Within a few days, despite people signing nondisclosure agreements, the media got wind of the dig. But this allowed Moran to talk freely about the excavation, raise awareness and share the history with Philadelphians. And, eventually, the city pressured the developer to hire an engineering firm to excavate the site, she said.

What they found

Despite the number of bodies, scientists have figured out the names for just three by looking at headstones, bones and historical records. These are Benjamin Britton, a baker and slave owner who died in 1782 at age 78; Israel Morris; and 3-year-old Sarah Rogers, according to The New York Times.

Most of the wooden coffins are simple, although many have unique handles, which help date many of the burials to the 1720s to 1790s, Moran said. One coffin even had handles made by a local cabinet maker, who likely made the coffin, too, she said. These coffins held few artifacts  although some had grave goods, such as a pair of scissors, a comb, fake gold rings, broken pottery and fragments of fabric.

Kimberlee Moran (left) and Allison Grunwald (right) on the last day of internal coffin excavation. (Image credit: Gerald Grunwald)

Jared Beatrice, an assistant professor of anthropology at The College of New Jersey, is leading the effort to assess each body for its sex, age at death, stature, ancestry and any signs of trauma or disease. It's clear that nutritional deficiencies were widespread. Already, the scientists have found evidence for yellow fever, chlamydia, tuberculosis and leprosy, Moran said. (The scientists wear protective gear, so they're not in danger of catching these diseases.) [Tiny & Nasty: Images of Things That Make Us Sick]

Researchers are also looking at dental plaque on the remaining teeth, which can reveal what the people ate and where they originated. Moreover, they're analyzing the bacteria, or the microbiome, in the pelvic cavities (where the organs used to sit), and have even discovered a few mummified brains. A lipid (fat) analysis of these brains may help scientists determine the year in which these people died, Moran said.

In addition, 15 of the dead may be of African descent, according to burial records, the researchers said. But they have yet to actually find these people's remains, Moran noted.

A skull found at the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia's burial ground. (Image credit: Claire Gold)

As the research continues, Moran and her colleagues keep in touch with the First Baptist Church, which still exists, albeit with a smaller congregation. And they have to work fast; the researchers have until only 2023 to study the bodies, which then have to be respectfully reburied in Mount Moriah Cemetery, where the cemetery relocated to in 1860, according to Philadelphia's Orphans' Court, which manages unmarked graves and cemeteries.

In the meantime, the scientists plan to present some of their findings at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology next week, and apply for grants so they can fund their research on this pivotal find.

"You think a skeleton is just a skeleton, but the more that we study each individual, that's really what they're proving to be; they're all individuals," Moran said. "And we're seeing evidence of that life from what's been left behind."

Originally published on Live Science.Archaeologists have found the traces of posts and a wooden palisade (the diagonal mark from lower left to upper right) that date from around the time of the Pequot attack in 1637.

A violent conflict between English colonists and Native Americans almost 400 years ago grew into a war that ended with the near extermination of an entire Indian tribe.

Now, archaeologists in Connecticut are investigating the town at the center of the conflict  the scene of an attack by Pequot warriors concerned by the burgeoning population of English settlers in the area.

The attack on Puritan colonists in 1637 at Wethersfield, Connecticut, was smaller in scale than the Jamestown attack in Virginia in 1622  just nine settlers were killed, while hundreds were killed in Jamestown. But the Wethersfield conflict grew into the Pequot War in New England, and it resulted in the Mystic River Massacre in May 1637; during that massacre, an army of colonists and their Native American allies killed about 500 people and effectively wiped out the Pequot tribe. [See Photos of the Remains of the Pequot War]

The conflict instilled a deep fear among European settlers of Native American tribes that would last for centuries and would influence the treatment of Native Americans in the years that followed, said Charles Lyle, the director of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield.

Excavations at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield, Connecticut, have revealed artifacts of occupation dating back to the early 17th century. (Image credit: Charles Lyle/Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum)

"That is when this whole fear of Indian attack really took over, and it took over for the rest of the 17th century in New England. People were really fearful of the Indian attacks," Lyle told Live Science.

The museum comprises three historic houses built in the 18th century. But now archaeological investigations of the grounds of the museum have revealed traces of occupation that date back even further, to the time of the Pequot attack more than 100 years earlier.

The finds include window glass, household pottery, iron clothing hooks and buttons, as well as trade items, including Native American pipe stems and about 20 pieces of the shell beads known as wampum, which were used by both the Native Americans and settlers as currency.

The excavations also revealed pieces of a defensive wooden palisade that was built on the property around the time of the Wethersfield massacre in 1637, an indication of the growing tensions between the English settlers and the Native Americans of the area, Lyle said.

Pequot War

At the time of the Pequot attack, the Pequot were particularly worried about the growing numbers of English settlers in the region, and the land they were taking for their homesteads, fields and herds, he said.

Historians note that food supplies in the area had been badly disrupted by a severe hurricane a few years earlier  what is now known as the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635.

Artifacts excavated from the museum site span more than 300 years, from the early 17th century to the 1920s. (Image credit: Charles Lyle/Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum)

"I think there were some problems in this area with having a reliable food supply during this period," Lyle said. "The Indians in the early period were helping the settlers by trading with them, in providing corn and venison." He added, "But the [English] settlers were planting fields now and weren't trading with the Indians like the Dutch were  they were trying to establish their own crops and their own herds of domesticated cattle."

The friction came to a head on April 23, 1637, when about 200 Pequot warriors attacked the settlement at Wethersfield  one of the earliest colonial towns in New England.

According to historical accounts, six men and three women from Wethersfield were killed, and two girls were kidnapped; the Pequot warriors also deliberately killed dozens of horses and cattle, in what has been seen as a warning to other settlers.

Although the girls were later returned through the intervention of Dutch traders, the Pequot killings at Wethersfield resulted in the Mystic Massacre and the Pequot War. The war lasted until September 1638, when the few remaining Pequot fled the area.

Colonial artifacts

The finds on the grounds of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum push back the archaeology of the site to the time of the earliest historical accounts of colonial European settlement in North America, said Ross Harper, senior historical archaeologist for the Public Archaeology Survey Team, which is carrying out the excavations.

The 17th-century artifacts excavated at the site include diamond-shaped panes of glass (center), a piece of window lead, and two brass tacks. (Image credit: Ross Harper/PAST)

"This is a period that we really just don't know a lot about," Harper told Live Science. "Sites of this period, in New England especially, are very rare, so it is a very important discovery."

"The excavations have been carried out ahead of the construction of an education center at the museum. The construction will go ahead this year, while archaeologists continue to excavate other parts of the property, Harper said.

The work so far has been funded by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, which owns the Webb-Dean-Stevens Museum, and the state of Connecticut.

The excavations also revealed traces of trading activity at the site, although the archaeologists can't tell if the trading happened before or after the Pequot attack in 1637. Several small colonial coins have been found  including a farthing from the reign of James I, minted in the early years of the 17th century  as well as what were once strings of wampum shell beads.

"The English were extraordinarily dependent on Native Americans at this early period, particularly for foodstuffs," Harper said. "[But] the Native Americans didn't want coins, they wanted wampum or some other kinds of trade goods that they valued."

But he said that the remains of the 17th century palisaded wooden wall on the property also showed that the settlers were concerned about attacks by Native Americans.

"We can't really say if it was [built] before or after the Pequot War, but that whole period, 1630 to 1640, was a very challenging and violent and difficult period for the people involved, for Native Americans and all the different European groups," Harper said.

"It's hard to say if it was built in response to the war or before the war, but that's a question we may very well be able to answer when we do more work."

Original article on Live Science.A painting of a scantily clad sea nymph graces the storefront of an ancient fast-food joint in Pompeii.

Before Mount Vesuvius blasted Pompeii to smithereens in 79, it was possible to grab a bite to eat there at a "fast-food" joint decorated with a handsome sea nymph.

Archaeologists recently uncovered this ancient eatery, known as a thermopolium  a snack bar that served drinks and hot, ready-to-eat food  during an excavation in the ancient city.

And it's far from the only thermopolium. In fact, archaeologists know of about 80 such eateries in Pompeii already  showing that the folks of ancient Pompeii enjoyed munching on easily accessible, savory goodies, just as we do today. [Preserved Pompeii: Photos Show a City in Ash]

"Even if structures like these are well-known at Pompeii, discovering more of them, along with objects which went hand in hand with commercial and thus daily life," helps researchers learn more about daily life in ancient Pompeii, Alfonsina Russo, the interim director at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, the group that did the research, said in a statement.

This particular thermopolium sits at the intersection of two alleys: Vicolo delle Nozze d'Argento (Silver Wedding Alley) and Vicolo dei Balconi (Alley of the Balconies), which were excavated only recently. The excavation is part of the Great Pompeii Project, which is uncovering and studying a poorly examined area within the city.

A painting on the thermopolium of a scantily clad sea nymph, known as a nereid, immediately caught the eye of archaeologists during the dig. This nereid, who is riding a horse with a sea dragon-like tail, likely served as the eatery's shop sign, the archaeologists working on the project said.

Next to the nereid are paintings of a plant and a man working in a cafe, likely an illustration of a busy day at the snack bar.

The paintings of the plant and the man working in a thermopolium. (Image credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii)

Archaeologists also found clay jugs, known as amphorae, in front of the counter. These amphorae look just like the ones in the thermopolium illustration, the excavators noted.

The discovery of this thermopolium "transport[s] us to those tragic moments of the eruption," Russo said.

Archaeologists found amphorae, which look just like the ones in the painting, in front of the eatery. (Image credit: Archaeological Park of Pompeii)

Life didn't end after Mount Vesuvius erupted. The catastrophe likely killed about 2,000 people, but new research indicates that the rest of the city's 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants likely settled in nearby cities, including Naples and Cumae. Hopefully, these refugees found more thermopolia in their new neighborhoods.

Originally published on Live Science.Boy Swallows Universe

By Trent Dalton

Harper. 464 pp. $26.99

---

Set in Australia, "Boy Swallows Universe" is a sprawling novel about a thoughtful boy's premature journey into manhood. At age 12, Eli Bell has grasped the last idyllic strands of innocence. He is catapulted reluctantly out of his youth after he discovers the depth of his mom and stepdad's involvement with local drug traffickers. The only option for Eli and his brother, August, is to move in with their estranged father, an alcoholic whose mind "operates with as much order and predictability as the insides of our lounge room vinyl beanbag."

As a narrator, Eli is a casual philosopher who takes in the glory and consequence of the smallest quotidian details, and his acute observations are often refracted through his singular lens of farce and surrealism. When witnessing a neighborhood bully stab a local priest's car with a samurai sword, for example, he sees "an old warrior about to ritually end the life of his best friend, or his favourite Australian suburban getabout motorcar."

Any preteen might get up to such preposterous mischief, but Eli's high jinks have much higher stakes and potentially catastrophic consequences. His first brush with the heroin trade sets him on an inescapable path, a nightmare that follows him to the edge of adulthood. As he turns 18, he dreams of becoming a journalist, he falls in love, he struggles to understand what it is to be a good man, and still the monsters of Eli's childhood haunt him.

Eli keeps his sense of humor but the years of his adolescence pass, and he gets battered by life and circumstance; inevitably some of his fanciful whimsy gives way to anger and a bleak pragmatism. His loss of innocence comes in narrative sucker punches, plot turns that evoke stomach-clenching terror and sickening grief.

What makes these experiences so affecting is they happen to Eli and August, two immensely and immediately lovable characters. Almost from the first page, Eli's lolloping descriptions reveal each brother's stark individuality, but also a compelling fraternal devotion and understanding. They remain each other's only constants throughout a young adulthood littered with traumas large and small.

"Boy Swallows Universe" hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. The events of Eli's life are often fatal and tragic, but fate and tragedy do not overpower the story. Eli's remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. They enable him to carve out the best of what's possible from the worst of what is, which is the miracle that makes this novel marvelous.

---

Morton is a writer in Los Angeles.One person has died and two were critically injured in a fire Tuesday morning at KMCO chemical plant in Crosby, the second significant fire at a chemical plant in the Houston area within three weeks.

The fire at the KMCO plant on Ramsey Road, just northeast of town, erupted about 10:55 a.m. Firefighters extinguished the blaze late Tuesday afternoon, the fire marshal's office said in a tweet about 4:20 p.m. Responders are continuing to monitor the scene and put out "hot spots," the office tweeted, while investigators are conducting interviews at the scene and seeking to determine where the fire started and what caused it.

"We are working with the company to determine exactly what chemicals are on site and in the warehouse that is on fire," said Harris County Fire Marshal's Office spokeswoman Rachel Moreno..

Moreno said the company believes the fire began when a transfer line carrying isobutelyne, a flammable gas, ignited.

HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM INVESTIGATES: Dangerous chemicals and a serious lack of information at plants around Houston.

She said helicopter ambulances transported the two injured workers to the hospital, where they are in critical condition.

"My heart and our hearts go out to the families of those who were injured, and the person who passed away as a result of the situation," said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who joined Moreno and Sheriff Ed Gonzalez at the news conference, held at a gas station near the facility.

KMCO has activated its incident command center and dispatched its emergency response team to help first responders extinguish the fire, president and CEO John C. Foley said in a statement.

"We are deeply saddened to confirm at this time that there have been injuries and one fatality," Foley said. "Those injured have been transported for medical treatment. Our hearts and prayers go out to the individuals involved, as well as our first responders, employees, and our community."

The blaze at KMCO comes almost three weeks after a tank farm at a petrochemical holding facility in Deer Park also caught fire. Investigators have yet to get to determine a cause for the blaze at Intercontinental Terminals Inc., where 11 of 15 tanks in the farm caught fire, sending up a plume of smoke and stoking concerns about air quality in the area.

No serious injuries in that incident were reported and daily press briefings ended on Monday.

"Texas is failing to protect people from chemical fires and explosions and rogue releases of toxic air pollution. It is untenable," said Elena Craft, senior director for climate and health at the Environmental Defense Fund, in a written statement following Tuesday's blaze. "The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must inspect every single facility every single year. That should be a bare minimum."

WITNESSES WEIGH IN: KMCO contractors, deputy describe chemical fire explosion in Crosby

In the KMCO fire, Matt Loesel of the federal Environmental Protection Agency said real-time air monitoring using aircraft and a bus-mounted mobile unit have not found any hazardous readings of any substance.

The incident prompted several school districts to issue a shelter in place. Emergency officials also issued a shelter in place for residents within a 1-mile radius. They have been lifted.

Houston ISD canceled all outdoor activities Tuesday afternoon at the following campuses located in the northeast portion of the district: Robinson, Oates, Hilliard and Elmore elementary schools; Furr and North Forest high schools; and Fonwood Early Childhood Center.

KMCO contractors Brian Balcerowicz and Cesar Mendoza were in the control room when the explosion happened about 10:55 a.m.. That meant they were just a couple of feet away from danger, the former observed.

"They said there had been a problem and stay in the control room," Balcerowicz said. "About five minutes later we heard and felt the explosion."

The operator then told everyone to leave the premises. Balcerowicz noted that the control room was a safe place since it was explosion-proof.

KMCO OWNERS: What we know about the company, at HoustonChronicle.com

Corey Prantil, 31, felt his house shake at about 10:55 Tuesday morning.

From his location about two and a half miles northeast of the KMCO plant, the ground shook, his windows rattled and it sounded like someone was trying to break in through the front door.

"I thought 'Oh Jesus,' went outside and drove down the road to the plant," Prantil said. "I got down there saw where lab was, and the plant was on fire."

Prantil said he had not been contacted by any local authorities to shelter-in-place but knew the local schools were shutting off their HVAC systems and keeping students inside as a precaution.

He watched smoke fill the sky from his back porch about an hour after the blast, looking to see whether the wind was pushing the black smoke closer to his house. It was.

The conflagration reminded him of what happened at the Arkema plant during Hurricane Harvey, when several of their tanks caught fire after the site was flooded by torrential rains. As a state trooper who responded to that blaze, he was troubled by that company's refusal to answer basic questions about the chemicals they had on hand and how much fluid was leaking into nearby floodwaters and neighborhoods.

STATEMENT ISSUED: Chemical company president apologizes for fire at Crosby facility

Prantil said the Arkema incident, coupled with the fire at an Intercontinental Terminals Company plant in Deer Park in late March, should prompt local officials to take more action to police Houston-area chemical facilities.

"It seems like Houston is the capital of plants blowing up recently," Prantil said. "I think Harris County needs to step up on enforcement. a whole lot doesn't get said by these companies, and I don't think that's right."

Ernest Roder lives across Clara Wilson Road from the plant. Roder, 71, was working with his son on a tractor in his metal farm building when they felt a concussion.

"My first thought was a sonic boom," Roder said as he waited out the commotion in his house.

"But it was too loud. My son thought something dropped in the shop. When we walked outside we saw the smoke and knew exactly what it was."

Roder, who has lived on the street for nearly 50 years, said he wasn't alarmed by the fire, figuring if he needed to evacuate someone would tell him.

"It never has bothered me," Roder said of the plant. "Unless it gets worse we'll just wait it out inside the house."

About a mile west of the plant, flecks of soot and charred debris laid sprinkled across Lacy Roberts yard.

She put on nitrile gloves and picked them up so her dogs would not try to lick them, placing the black and gray flakes inside a freezer-sized plastic bag. Still, she's worried about what she and her dogs may have already been exposed to.

"It could be anything; they haven't said what it was yet," Roberts said. "If I find more I'll add it to the collection."

Jasper Scherer and Julian Gill contributed.

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.The man who was fatally shot over the weekend at a west Laredo apartment complex was identified Tuesday as a decorated Texas Army National Guard soldier, authorities said.

Laredo police identified him as John Lydell Tyler, 28, of Beaumont. He was a member of the Texas Army National Guard, military officials said.

"We want to offer our sincerest condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time," said a Texas military department spokesman.

The case remains open as no arrests have been made. LPD logged his death as the city's second homicide of this year.

READ ALSO: Authorities seeking information in fatal shooting of 28-year-old man in west central Laredo

To provide information, call police at 795-2800 or Laredo Crime Stoppers at 727-TIPS (8477). Information provided through Crime Stoppers and leading to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward.

Laredo police officers responded to the shooting at about 5:20 a.m. Sunday at an apartment in the 4300 block of Santa Maria Avenue.

Laredo Fire Department paramedics said they found a man, who was later identified as Tyler, behind the apartments. First responders said he was alert and oriented.

He had a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to the fire department. He was administered advanced life support and taken to Laredo Medical Center, where he later died.

Service record

Tyler was assigned to Operation Guardian Support in Laredo.

Operation Guardian Support's mission is to fill vital, non-enforcement roles, such as pilots, aerial observers, intelligence analysts, communications specialists, camera operators and vehicle mechanics, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Tyler joined the Texas Army National Guard in November 2009, according to military officials.

Tyler's service record included the following awards: National Defense, Army Service Ribbon, Humanitarian Service Medal, Texas Humanitarian Service Ribbon, Texas Homeland Defense Service Medal and the Adjutant General's Individual Award.A routine traffic yielded about 25 pounds of cocaine and landed one woman behind bars, according to the Webb County Sheriff's Office.

Patricia Abigail Benavides, 54, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with possession of a controlled substance. She was later released on bond, Webb County Jail records show.

"I congratulate my patrol division for keeping our streets safe. These drugs could've ended in our children's path. We remind the public to join the fight against crime and report any suspicious activity by calling 956-415-(BUST) 2878," said Sheriff Martin Cuellar in a statement.

Deputies said the seizure unfolded at about 2:38 p.m. when they observed a Ford F-150 traveling erratically on Chihuahua Street in central Laredo. When deputies tried to catch up to the Ford, the driver allegedly committed other traffic violations.

READ ALSO: LPD: Man accused of punching elderly woman after she refused to take him to buy drugs

Deputies pulled over the vehicle in the intersection of Chihuahua and Tilden Avenue. Authorities identified the driver as Benavides.

She stated she was on her way home from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. During the interview, deputies said they noticed her "acting nervously" when she was asked if there were narcotics inside the vehicle.

Benavides allegedly allowed deputies to search the Ford. A deputy then noticed bundles in the center console area.

Benavides was then taken to a Sheriff's Office substation for questioning. There, authorities discovered 10 bundles of cocaine that had an estimated street value of $300,000.Tuesday night, hundreds of mourners gathered in a New Jersey park on the eve of Samantha Josephson's funeral to say goodbye.

They lit candles and shared memories of their friend, a college student who was killed in South Carolina last week after police say she mistakenly got into the wrong vehicle, thinking it was an Uber ride. Hours later, she was found dead in a field by hunters; a 24-year-old named Nathaniel D. Rowland has been charged in connection with her death.

Her story has gripped the country for days, but the loss was felt most acutely in Robbinsville, New Jersey, the town where she grew up.

"I am so thankful for the years that we had with each other, and I will miss her each and every day," a friend, Jess Samuel, told WABC7.

Hundreds of family and friends packed a Jewish synagogue for her funeral in New Jersey, according to WABC7.

Her death has heightened calls to improve the safety of ride-hailing services.

One of the loudest calls for action came from Josephson's father.

"What he did, I don't want anyone else to go through it as a parent," Seymour Josephson said Tuesday. "We want something to change."

The South Carolina state House on Tuesday introduced legislation, named in her honor, which, if passed, would add new safety requirements to ride-hailing vehicles.

The Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Safety Act would require drivers to clearly identify their ride-hailing vehicles by displaying an illuminated sign at all times when active. Current South Carolina law requires drivers to apply a reflective "signage or emblem" to their vehicle.

The legislation also would require drivers to return the illuminated sign when they stop working for a ride-hailing app.

"I'm just sick about this," state Rep. Seth Rose, D, one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, told the State.

A representative from Uber, one of the most popular ride-hailing services, told a Columbia NBC affiliate through a statement that the company was "devastated" by Josephson's death and that the company has been working with police and college campuses about how to educate the public about how to avoid fake rideshare drivers.

The University of South Carolina, where Josephson was a senior, sent safety tips to students urging them to "be aware of their surroundings" and to "exercise best practices" when using ride-hailing services.

Early on Saturday, Josephson said goodbye to her friends after a night at the Bird Dog bar in Columbia, South Carolina. It was just past 2 a.m. when she called an Uber to take her home. But the car she got into was not her ride, police said.

Surveillance video showed her getting into a black Chevrolet Impala, which had pulled up beside her, police said.

Her friends reported her missing 12 hours later, and not long after that, two hunters found her body in a field about 70 miles from the bar where she was picked up.

Autopsy results released Monday show Josephson had died of "multiple sharp force injuries."

About 24 hours after she disappeared, police spotted a car matching the description of the one Josephson had gotten into. An officer pulled the driver over and asked him to step out of the vehicle, but the man fled. He was later apprehended.

When they inspected the car, authorities said they discovered antibacterial wipes, bleach, window cleaner, Josephson's phone and blood that tests later revealed to be hers. The driver, Rowland, was arrested and charged with murder and kidnapping. He will appear in court later this month.

On Tuesday, friends and family gathered in Robbinsville chose to use the vigil to celebrate her life. They shared anecdotes and "Sammyisms," which told of a girl who loved to sing, laugh and spend time with her friends.

"She would want us to toast her, not cry for her," said neighbor Barb Samel, according to the Asbury Park Press. "If my family and I learned anything from Sammy it was how to laugh often, love much and to be yourself no matter who was watching."WASHINGTON - The National Park Service is parsing through a mountain of responses it received to a question it posed last year: Should the agency seek to recover the costs of supporting protests in Washington?

On Wednesday, members of Congress had another chance to weigh in.

With the number of demonstrations on the rise, stretching the department's resources, Park Service acting Director Dan Smith said the agency wanted to test the waters of public opinion, but he said no decision has been made as to how the Park Service might recover costs.

More than 180,000 people responded during a public comment period last year. Of those, Smith told members of the House Natural Resources Committee, more than 71,000 were "substantive," including multipage letters of opposition from civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Park Service should have a verdict on how to proceed in the next three months, Smith said.

Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., asked Smith about the likelihood that activists would need to pay back the government for the cost of supporting protests. She noted that organizations with various political ideologies opposed the proposal.

"Yesterday, this committee received a letter from a broad coalition of stakeholders, from the Charles Koch Institute to the ACLU, condemning the administration's attempt to limit First Amendment protests in D.C.," Haaland said. "It isn't often that we see such divergent groups agree."

The letter Haaland referenced was signed by a coalition of eight organizations that joined to speak out against the proposal, which also would limit where demonstrators could gather in D.C.

"Our organizations do not agree on all issues, but one principle we unreservedly support is our right to gather together to express ourselves," the letter said. "We are very concerned that, should these rules go into effect, they will chill speech and harm our national discourse."

Several groups said they hoped Smith would commit to abandoning the proposal during Wednesday's hearing, but he said the idea is still in the "review phase."

"It was a proposal to just ask for how people felt about trying to recoup some type of money for the unbelievable cost it is for these demonstrations," he said.

About 750 First Amendment demonstrations converge on the National Mall annually, according to the Park Service. Large rallies, such as the Women's March and March for Life, often require additional support from Park Service personnel and U.S. Park Police to ensure safety and limit harm to federal land.

The agency does not track how much it spends to support demonstrations, though spokesman Mike Litterst said, on average, processing permits alone cost the Park Service about $700,000 annually in staff time.

"We're not trying to do anything to take away First Amendment rights in this country, but we do look for ways to manage it," he said.

The hearing was a review of the Park Service's budget, which had been cut to 2010 levels despite having 28 new parks and 5 million additional acres of land to oversee, lawmakers said.

Smith said the cost of such events - rallies, protests, vigils and other demonstrations - has been "unbelievable." As a result, the agency has found itself pulling from emergency funds to cover the cost of security, permit processing and cleanup.

"Despite these increases, the administration has imposed a fiscal year 2020 budget with 3,500 fewer full-time equivalent employees," Haaland said. "In short: The National Park Service's fiscal year 2020 budget proposed by the Department of the Interior is reckless and irresponsible."

The idea of being asked to repay costs has alarmed activists and civil rights groups, who say the charges would probably limit large-scale demonstrations to a few groups that could afford to incur the costs - violating the First Amendment guarantees of every American's right to assemble.

Demonstration organizers are not required to pay for a permit to host a rally in the District of Columbia, according to Park Service policy. However, protesters do cover other costs, such as on-site emergency medics, trash cleanup and portable toilets.Republican lawmakers in Virginia blame Democrats for preventing a public hearing into allegations made by two women who say Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, D, sexually assaulted them years ago.

In a statement Tuesday, House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, said that Republicans had made several attempts to negotiate terms with Democrats over what would be an unprecedented public hearing but that the minority leader, Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, "has made clear that she will not agree to a bipartisan General Assembly hearing of any nature."

"There should be no mistake about what has happened here: the alleged victims are seeking a bipartisan hearing; Republicans are seeking a bipartisan hearing; Democrats in the House of Delegates are refusing to allow that to happen," Cox said.

Filler-Corn, in a March 31 letter to Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, called the allegations against Fairfax serious and noted that House Democrats have called on him to resign. But she said that the matter was best left to law enforcement professionals and that a public hearing could "easily be exploited for political purposes."

This is an election year in Virginia, when all 140 seats in the legislature will be on the ballot. Republicans have already seized on the Fairfax allegation and two other scandals, involving Gov. Ralph Northam, D, and Attorney General Mark Herring, D, in arguing that voters should back Republicans.

Earlier Tuesday, Meredith Watson, one of two women who have accused Fairfax of sexual assault, urged the legislature to hold a public hearing during her first televised interview.

"I want action from the Virginia legislature," Watson told interviewer Gayle King on "CBS This Morning." "There is no amount of money that could ever compensate what he did to me or what I live with every day. I want the people of Virginia to know the truth, and I would like the Virginia legislature to do the right thing."

Watson says Fairfax sexually assaulted her in 2000 when both were undergraduate students at Duke University. Her television appearance came a day after the CBS program aired an interview with Vanessa Tyson, who accused the lieutenant governor of forcing her to perform oral sex during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Fairfax says both encounters were consensual.

In a statement, Fairfax said he is a "strong proponent of the rights of women in our society - among them equal rights, reproductive rights, economic rights, the right to be heard and respected, the right to fair access to the criminal justice system, and right to be free from disrespect, harassment, and assault."

"At the same time, I also believe that we must find a way to ensure that our justice system and even the court of public opinion provide due process and fairness both to accusers and the accused," he said. "I, for one, stand accused of crimes that I did not commit."

The women made their allegations public in early February when it appeared Fairfax might succeed Northam, who was considering resigning after a racist photo from his past came to light and he admitted that he wore blackface as a young man for a dance contest.

Through his aides, Fairfax, a 40-year-old lawyer, said he voluntarily took and passed two polygraph tests that prove the allegations are false.

Both women want the legislature to hold a public hearing in which they and Fairfax would testify under oath. Republican lawmakers said in late February they would invite the women to testify, but Democrats and Fairfax have resisted the idea. Cox said they tried again in March but could not reach agreement with Democrats.

Lawmakers return to Richmond on Wednesday for a one-day session to finish legislative work.

Watson, a Maryland resident, said in the interview that she went public with her story after Tyson came forward, in a show of solidarity.

"It happened to her after it happened to me," Watson said, fighting tears. "Had I had the strength or courage to say something in 2000, maybe it never would have happened to her. . . . Nobody should have to go through this. And I feel awful. I feel awful."

Watson said she was "very good friends" with Fairfax at Duke.

She said Fairfax invited her to hang out in his room but then locked the door and turned off the light before advancing on her while she was on a couch.

"He did things that you shouldn't do to someone without their permission, and I tried several times to get up and leave and was pushed back down," Watson said. "He forcibly sexually assaulted and raped me."

Watson pushed back on Fairfax's contention that the encounter was consensual.

"If you have to hold someone down, it's not consensual," she said.

Watson said she told two of her closest friends at the time that Fairfax assaulted her.

A former Duke student told The Washington Post that Watson described an assault in the spring of 2000 and named Fairfax. Watson's attorney also provided a 2016 email exchange in which Watson declined an invitation to a Fairfax campaign fundraiser from a friend from Duke, saying he raped her in college.

There is no statute of limitations for felony sexual assault in North Carolina. The Durham district attorney, Satana Deberry, reached out to Watson's attorney in February, but Watson's team has said she is not interested in filing a criminal complaint.

"She has no interest in becoming a media personality or reliving the trauma that has greatly affected her life," Nancy Erika Smith, Watson's attorney, said in a February statement.

Fairfax has invoked race while defending against the assault allegations, likening himself to lynching victims at times. Watson and Tyson are black.

Watson said she felt some pressure to keep quiet, so as not to damage the reputation of a black public figure.

"You are seen as betraying your race. You are seen as betraying black men," Watson said. "But there's no recognition that a black man has betrayed you."AL-HOL, Syria - A humanitarian crisis is erupting in northeastern Syria as tens of thousands of people who fled intense fighting in last month's decisive battle against the Islamic State are flooding into a desperately overcrowded tent camp atop a rocky hill here.

More than 73,000 people, mostly women and children, are now packed into the sprawling al-Hol camp, under the control of U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. The camp, which opened in 1991 to host Iraqi refugees from the first Gulf War, was originally designed to hold barely half that number.

Amid a sea of white tents, thousands sleep in communal spaces, and children defecate outside. The war wounded are often left untreated. Thousands more are malnourished. There are just three mobile clinics at the camp, and local hospitals are swollen with patients critically wounded in the war. Those with injuries that don't threaten life often are given painkillers or antibiotics and sent on their way.

Last week, 31 people died on the way to the camp or shortly after arriving due to traumatic injuries and malnutrition, according to the International Rescue Committee, bringing the total number of such deaths to 217.

Along the camp's dusty roads, recently muddied by a downpour, amputees struggle without wheelchairs or crutches. Children, who make up 65 percent of the camp's residents, haul injured or elderly relatives in makeshift carts fashioned from tarp.

The massive and rapid influx of civilians - including Syrians, Iraqis and thousands of other foreigners who flocked to the Islamic State's self-described caliphate - caught aid agencies and local authorities off guard. Now, they say, they are scrambling to respond.

"It's an emergency, an acute crisis. There are a lot of people arriving at the same time, lots of people we didn't anticipate, and we're needing to rapidly scale up," said a senior aid official coordinating international assistance who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive nature of operations at the camp.

Kurdish-led fighters - known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF - declared military victory over the Islamic State last month after a brutal offensive to capture the militant group's last holdout in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz. While that village was just a small sliver of the once vast "caliphate," there were an estimated 66,000 people still under the militants' control there.

During the military operation in Baghouz, the SDF set up screening centers to separate the men, including suspected Islamic State militants, and sent them to detention centers in cities in northeast Syria. Women and children were transported to al-Hol.

Foreign women and children are housed in a separate annex at the camp, where they are watched over by armed guards and must be escorted when they visit other areas of the camp. The segregation was imposed because of tensions between the foreign women, who are seen as more radical, and the camp's Syrian and Iraqi residents, many of whom fled the Islamic State.

"While hostilities in Baghouz appear to have ended, the crisis is far from over," Corinne Fleischer, a U.N. official in Damascus, said in a statement. "We still don't know whether more people will arrive."

The United Nations this week announced an additional $4.3 million in funds for "life-saving assistance" for al-Hol, including tents, blankets, personal hygiene items and other supplies for medical care. There are also plans to build at least one field hospital.

But the enhanced medical facilities may not come soon enough.

"Please, look, my child is very sick. She needs to go to the hospital," pleaded a veiled woman, Nazila Arkan, as she clutched her emaciated daughter. Arkan, 30, said that she was from Turkestan, a term used to describe parts of Central Asia and Muslim areas of western China, and that she was recently displaced from Baghouz.

Camp officials say they fear many ills, including the spread of infectious diseases, sexual violence against minors and hostility from camp residents still loyal to the Islamic State.

"We need to get the solid-waste management, sanitation (and) water situation under control to avoid any public health risks," the senior aid official said.

"But the biggest challenge we have is just this very frustrated population. There's no clarity about their movements or how to leave," the official said, adding that the foreign women at the camp pose a particular challenge for aid workers and authorities.

"They are superangry because there's no solution in sight," the official said of the roughly 9,000 foreigners, who come from countries such as France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine. "It's a big, ticking time bomb."

Many of those who recently arrived at the camp are still die-hard followers of the militants' ideology, and some have refused help or attacked security forces and staffers. Western donors, too, are concerned about providing families linked to the Islamic State with cash and other assistance, aid officials and camp authorities say.

"Some NGOs have said, 'We won't help them,' " said Dilovan, a Kurdish security official at al-Hol, who declined to give her full name for security reasons.

"So there are constant shortages - of food, water, medicine," she said. "These shortages have an impact, and people get angry. And they cause us security problems."

Perhaps the biggest challenge is still ahead: figuring out where all of these people ultimately will go - and when.

But in the meantime, every day poses myriad emergencies.

A kerosene heater ignited a fire in one of the canvas tents on a recent day, and three Iraqi children were severely burned. They were transferred to a bare-bones hospital in the city of Hasakah about 20 miles away. As their mother wept, doctors said they might not survive.

"It's a disaster," said Aydin Khalil, the chain-smoking director of the People's Hospital in Hasakah, describing the al-Hol camp.

The camp itself has been transformed into a midsize city. At its heart is a bustling market, where those residents who have cash or vouchers can buy diapers, fish, spices, plastic toys and more, all brought in from nearby towns and cities. But that variety is deceptive.

Amina Ahmed, who was shopping in the market, had choice words to describe her life since she arrived.

"Go look at the toilets," said Ahmed, 24, from the Syrian city of Aleppo. "See for yourself how we live."

With bright brown eyes and a chesty cough, Ahmed says she is caring for six children. Three of them are her brother's. He was killed in an airstrike.

"His daughter, she has broken legs and needs a wheelchair," Ahmed said. "But it seems no one cares."With a majority of states in the country enacting medical marijuana laws, cannabis in the workplace has become a hot button issue for business owners seeking to fashion appropriate workplace regulations for lawful cannabis users. These issues become particularly tricky for employers to navigate because cannabis remains illegal under federal law, and each state has different laws addressing the treatment of medical marijuana users in the workplace.

Recently, states with medical marijuana programs have trended towards providing protection under disability laws to employees who are registered as patients in that states medical marijuana program. Naturally, there exists a substantial correlation between medical marijuana users and an entitlement to disability accommodations under applicable law. Employers with Draconian cannabis and drug testing policies may face significant litigation risk from employees who suffer an adverse employment action attendant to their protected status as a medical marijuana user.

The recent case of Whitmire v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. from the federal District Court of Arizona may be a bellwether for how states will treat medical marijuana use in the workplace. The court found that Walmart could not fire an employee for being impaired at work merely because marijuana metabolites were found in her urine. Notably, the affected employee was a medical marijuana cardholder for approximately five years who claimed to only smoke before bed and never at or before work. The court found that Arizonas Medical Marijuana Act prevented adverse employment action based solely on the presence of marijuana in a lawful users system. Instead, the employer would need to demonstrate through expert testimony that the employee was impaired at work -- a much higher burden.

Related: Move Aside, CBD: New Data Finds THC Is the Real Medicine in Medical Marijuana

Other jurisdictions have reached similar conclusions when evaluating claims of adverse employment action against medical marijuana users. For instance, Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC reaffirmed Massachusetts protections for medical marijuana users who can perform their essential job functions without impairment. Similar to the Arizona case, the employee at issue utilized medical marijuana only at night and never during work hours -- a critical distinction at this nascent juncture for how courts address employees treating with medical marijuana.

Other states are moving in this direction as well, with Rhode Island courts finding that prospective employees cannot be denied employment if they are holders of a medical marijuana card and would fail a pre-employment drug test, and the New Jersey legislature considering a bill which would provide protection to medical marijuana cardholder employees. Notably, employers may be able to use an applicants criminal record for cannabis-related convictions as a basis for refusing to hire an employee -- provided the employer does not issue a complete ban on hiring reformed convicts -- subject to the laws applicable to that jurisdiction related to criminal convictions in employment contexts.

An important take away from the above is that marijuana protections generally apply only to its medical use, not to recreational users in legalized states. Indeed, the type of carve-outs which protected the Arizona employee from termination specifically do not provide protection in circumstances wherein the employee possesses, uses or is impaired at the workplace. Thus, at this early stage of cannabis jurisprudence, employers need not concern themselves with testing for the extent of impairment at work as an employee who partakes at work or is impaired to any degree is subject to appropriate discipline as a result of that conduct. Most states with medical marijuana programs explicitly provide that employers need not tolerate employees who are under the influence at work, therefore drawing a clear demarcation between preventing discrimination against medical marijuana users and accommodating the use of medical marijuana, particularly on-site or during work hours.

Related: How Will Businesses Handle Legalized Marijuana in the Workplace?

With these precepts in mind, multi-state employers will need to ensure their cannabis policies are flexible to adapt to developing guidance from the Courts. Furthermore, employers in states where medical marijuana is legal should avoid so-called zero tolerance policies -- unless the employer is a federal contractor -- which could lead to litigation if improperly applied to employees protected by a states medical marijuana program. Policies that focus on impairment rather than prescribing a blanket prohibition on use are generally favored. Employers should ask medical marijuana using employees to acknowledge they will not consume the product during work hours or onsite and will not perform work functions while impaired. Furthermore, employers must consider the scope of the employees job functions and proactively examine whether a safety risk would arise if an employee treating with medical marijuana is permitted to perform certain job functions.

Many employers are concerned with their liability for any tortious conduct an employee may engage in while under the influence of cannabis. Notably, each state has different laws imposing different standards governing the employee/employer relationships in this context. Preliminarily, employers should be careful to restrict employees who are medical marijuana users from performing tasks which create significant safety hazards. Generally speaking, an employer will be liable for the actions of an employee who is acting within the scope and course of his or her employment at the time of the tortious conduct. Although this a developing area of law, employers can look to the laws of their state, and particularly how theyve treated similar circumstances such as employees under the influence of alcohol, to determine the likelihood that the employer can be held liable for tortious conduct while under the influence of cannabis.

Furthermore, although some employers may be concerned about absenteeism or similar problems in a state with medical cannabis, recent studies have shown as much as an approximately 10 percent drop in sick leave taken and absenteeism in states with less restrictive medical cannabis laws. While more research is needed, it appears that employers should not be overly concerned with an increase in absenteeism as a result of cannabis legalization.

Related: Is Drug Testing Employees Required in Legal States?

Importantly, it is critical for employers to ensure that their policies relating to cannabis and drug testing, including policies related to hiring and retention of medical cannabis users or cannabis related criminal offenders, are compliant with applicable state laws and that these policies are clearly and fully explained to all employees. Consult legal counsel in crafting appropriate cannabis workplace policies and defending cannabis use litigations.

Related:

Managing Medical Marijuana in the Workplace

Why Will Health Insurers Reimburse You for Opioids but Not for Medical Marijuana?

This Week in Weed: Not in New Jersey!



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedJERUSALEM - Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel have been hit especially hard by the country's yearlong measles outbreak, which has spread to some ultra-Orthodox communities in the United States.

The reason, health officials say, has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with the ultra-Orthodox way of life and public health services that don't meet the needs of large families.

"Most rabbis encourage vaccination based on the Torah commandment to protect one's life," said Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, founder and head of the ethics department of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization in Israel. "In Judaism, the majority has the right to dictate what takes place in the public space to ward off danger."

Still, "there is no pope in Judaism, and no one can force you to vaccinate," Cherlow said.

In 2018, Israel's Health Ministry reported 4,000 cases of measles, compared with 30 the year before. In the United States this year, 387 cases have been reported through March, compared with 372 during all of 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccination rates among ultra-Orthodox Jews in both countries have risen in recent months, following calls by prominent rabbis for their community's children to be vaccinated and even bans on unvaccinated individuals from schools and synagogues.

But new cases are being reported in some particularly insular ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel, New York and New Jersey, where rabbis believe more in the will of God than in the authority of health officials.

In late March, Ed Day, county executive of Rockland County, New York, declared a state of emergency intended to bar unvaccinated children and teenagers from public places. About 6,000 unvaccinated children, many of them ultra-Orthodox, attend schools in the county.

In 2018, three outbreaks in New York state, New York City and New Jersey occurred, mostly among unvaccinated people in Orthodox Jewish communities, associated with travelers who brought measles back from Israel, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite outbreak clusters, the majority of American Jews, like their Christian and Muslim counterparts, have been vaccinated, said Joshua Williams, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado who studies the role of clergy in the vaccination process.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to vaccinate their children "tend to cite secular concerns about the safety of vaccines, the risk of autism and side effects, and not religious doctrine," Williams said.

Rafi Goldmeier, a blogger who writes about Orthodox life, said few Jews refuse to be vaccinated on religious grounds "because being anti-vax has nothing to do with Judaism."

If anything, Goldmeier said, "among the extreme haredim (ultra-Orthodox sects), it's due to a lack of trust in the government. If they see something like vaccination promoted by the government, they may refuse to do it."

Hagai Levine, head of the environment health track at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, said vaccination refusal in the Israeli ultra-Orthodox community is "very rare" and that about 96 percent of Israeli children are vaccinated.

That number rises to nearly 100 percent in Israel's Christian and Arab Muslim communities, which generally follow the recommendations of their leaders.

When ultra-Orthodox parents do not vaccinate their children, it's usually because health services aren't tailored to their specific needs, Levine said.

"We know from research from past and current measles outbreaks that in families with many children, where the mother is out working and the father is studying Torah full time, it's very difficult to get all the children immunized on time. They are not anti-vax," he said.

In Israel, where the average family has three children, ultra-Orthodox families have seven children on average, though having 10 or 12 is not uncommon. Half of ultra-Orthodox Jews live below the poverty line due to the community's high birthrate and the fact that Torah study for men is often valued over workplace participation.

While the first child or the first few children are vaccinated at the proper time, "the 10th child is not well vaccinated," Levine noted.

Levine said Israel's universal health care system could do more to prevent measles. He would like to institute home visits for the purpose of vaccination or, at the very least, extend the hours of operation for clinics.

Prevention in the tightknit ultra-Orthodox community is vital, Levine said, because of its overcrowded conditions and the high percentage of babies too young to be vaccinated.

"Because measles is so contagious, a vaccination rate of 80 to 85 percent isn't enough to contain it," he said.

One young American Israeli mother who requested anonymity because she does not want to create discord in her family, said she was fearful when her son underwent a bris, or ritual circumcision in Israel, a few months ago.

"There's been a big measles outbreak in Israel, and my husband is from a huge ultra-Orthodox family," she said. "Some of his siblings don't vaccinate their children, so when it came time to invite people to the bris, I didn't want to invite the nonvaxxers."

She said she decided to host the entire family to keep "shalom bayit" - peace in the home - but kept her baby away from relatives.

Levine emphasized that Israel's measles outbreak is fueled by outbreaks in other countries such as Ukraine and in Europe.

"The problem didn't start with us, but we weren't protected enough, and now we have an outbreak," he said. "Now it's our obligation to increase our efforts and vaccinate more people."ROME - Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta has accepted Pope Francis' offer to become the new archbishop of Washington, according to two sources familiar with the process, finalizing a monthslong effort to find a leader for an archdiocese that has been upended by accusations that its last leader mishandled cases of sexual abuse by clergy and his predecessor carried out abuse.

A formal Holy See announcement will come Thursday, one of those sources said.

With the new position, Gregory, 71, the only living African-American US archbishop, will become one of the most visible Catholic leaders in the country.

The leader of the high-profile D.C. seat traditionally is made a cardinal, and Gregory would be the first black American to hold that position, and to thus be eligible to vote for the next pope.

He replaces Cardinal Donald Wuerl, 78, who resigned in October but stayed on in a temporary caretaker position.

In Gregory, Pope Francis has selected one of the American church's most visible Catholic leaders on the problem of sexual abuse, a man who helped write the U.S. church's first guidelines on ending the abuse scandal, to helm an archdiocese tarnished by the crisis.

However, advocates are more pleased than inspired by his record; he is seen as having done far more than his peers at the time, but he has not escaped some criticism.

Neither Gregory nor a Vatican spokesman responded to requests for comments. An Archdiocese of Atlanta spokeswoman did not respond to numerous messages, nor did the Washington archdiocese. The offer to Gregory was first reported Thursday by the Catholic News Agency.

The previous two Washington archbishops have found themselves, in different ways, at the center of the Roman Catholic Church's renewed crisis over clerical sexual abuse and the failure of higher-ups to stop it. Theodore McCarrick, who served as archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006, was forced to step down from the College of Cardinals last summer amid accusations that he had abused minors and young adults earlier in his career.

He was defrocked in February, becoming the highest Catholic official to ever face such serious punishment for abuse. And Wuerl resigned in October, following a Pennsylvania grand jury report that mentioned him more than 200 times and alleged he protected some abusers within the clergy while serving as bishop in Pittsburgh.

As these events unfolded, Gregory wrote in a letter last year that a "cloud of shame" hung over the church. "People are angry, as well they should be, that our Church is once again viewed as a haven for criminal deviant behavior," Gregory said.

As president of the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference between 2001 and 2004, Gregory played a leading role in helping the U.S. bishops draft a new charter for abuse prevention. Those guidelines succeeded in drawing up zero tolerance guidelines for priests, but they did not improve oversight for bishops who failed to report abuse. Gregory worked in drafting the Dallas charter with McCarrick.

When McCarrick was removed from ministry last year, Gregory said that he "never knew or suspected the hidden side of a man whose admired public persona concealed that of a violator of foundational Christian morality and of young people who trusted him."

"I now stand dumbfounded that I was so unaware and naive," Gregory said.

His archdiocese was not ahead on the issue of releasing names of accused priests.

The Atlanta archdiocese recently released the names of 15 priests and other religious figures accused of sexual abuse of a minor. The list, Gregory wrote, covers the period since Atlanta became a diocese in 1956.

Terry McKiernan, whose abuse-tracking site BishopAccountability scrutinizes the actions of U.S. bishops, praised Gregory for his leadership in the early 2000s. "I feel positive about the guy," said McKiernan, though he said Gregory's early record was not perfect.

"He was put in the hot seat because he was president [of the USCCB] when everything broke, and I think he did in general an admirable job. He rode herd on bishops, many of whom were extremely reluctant to take any measures in 2002. . . . Some mechanisms came out of that meeting [in Dallas] and Wilton Gregory deserves some credit for that, I think."

But in 2004, the Illinois diocese that Gregory was leading was held in contempt of court for refusing to release the mental-health records of a retired priest accused of abusing three children. Gregory had removed the priest from ministry nine years earlier, but the diocese fought the civil case brought by one of the victims.

In a statement released last week, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, noted that Gregory has a reputation as a reformer. "In truth," SNAP said, "his track record on abuse is poor."

Wuerl, a trusted ally of Pope Francis known for his cautious leadership style, was given a fond send-off by the Vatican. He was permitted to keep his position in the Roman Curia, and praised by the pope in a letter for his "nobility."

Wuerl said at the time that new leadership was needed in Washington so the church could "begin to focus on healing and the future."

Since then, Wuerl's actions have come under further scrutiny. When the accusations against McCarrick first surfaced publicly, Wuerl suggested he was unaware of any complaints of wrongdoing. But The Post reported that Wuerl had learned of an account of misconduct with a seminarian against McCarrick in 2004 and reported it to the Vatican.

In a letter to priests in the Washington archdiocese, Wuerl subsequently apologized and said it was "never the intention to provide false information." Wuerl wrote that he had forgotten that he was told in 2004 about the complaint against McCarrick.

"Only afterwards was I reminded of the 14-year-old accusation of inappropriate conduct which, by that time, I had forgotten," Wuerl wrote. "Nonetheless, it is important for me to accept personal responsibility and apologize for this lapse of memory."

Until the breakout of the McCarrick and Wuerl scandals, the Washington archdiocese was considered to be largely controversy-free in recent years.

Longtime watchers of the archdiocese say the biggest challenge for a new archbishop will be restoring trust.

"Public credibility is a huge issue" for the new archbishop, said one Catholic who has worked in D.C. Catholic life for many years but didn't want to be named for fear of looking like they were piling on. "The moral voice of the church is really diminished. The next person has to focus on rebuilding trust."

Any Washington-area archbishop has to decide whether that means wading into the issues that are always at close proximity on Capitol Hill. Do they want to be seen as a non-news-making moderates, as Wuerl and McCarrick did? Or do they take vocal positions on hot-button issues like gay marriage, abortion and a border wall?

Gregory has long been rumored as one of the leading candidates to replace Wuerl. He has spent 14 years as the archbishop of Atlanta, where the diocese includes 1.2 million Catholics. Born and raised in Chicago, he performed his graduate studies in Rome, then returned to Illinois where he served before being named to the post in Atlanta by Pope John Paul II.

Gregory has spoken admiringly about Pope Francis - notable given the climate of the U.S. church, which is divided over the pontiff's reformist ideas. Gregory was described by a well-known arch-conservative Catholic blog as having a "long history of pro-gay initiatives" after he invited as a speaker an American Jesuit who has advocated for the church to welcome LGBT members with more compassion.

Gregory also faced pressure last year when an online petition was started with the goal of removing a pastor who counseled survivors of sexual abuse and who was described as being pro-LGBT. Soon after, Gregory was quoted in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution as defending the pastor, saying he was "following the admonition of Pope Francis to accompany people on the periphery of society."

Gregory has encountered other kinds of controversy within Atlanta, and was forced to apologize in 2014 after the archdiocese built a $2.2 million with money earmarked for charitable causes. Gregory at the time said he would sell the home.

Washington is not one of the country's biggest dioceses, but it is among the most prominent. The archdiocese sits next to the U.S. government and a slew of faith-based non-profits that advocate on issues ranging from abortion and health care to poverty and school vouchers. The D.C. region is home to some of the U.S. church's most visible institutions, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; their university, Catholic University of America; the Basilica of the National Shrine (the country's biggest Catholic church) and huge charities including Catholic Relief Services (in Baltimore) and Catholic Charities USA.

While McCarrick was a known schmoozer, ostensibly influencing Catholic lawmakers at the highest levels, Wuerl was less visible. The church wound up in a clash with the Obama administration's health-care law requirement that employers cover birth control. And there has been friction between the church and the Trump White House over immigration, poverty and environmental issues.

Still, Washington's new archbishop inherits a healthy Catholic community, particularly in comparison with many dioceses in the country's northeast, where the church is shrinking.

The archdiocese, which includes the District and five suburban Maryland counties, has a growing Catholic population, in good part due to the D.C. area's economic boom and the influx of heavily Catholic Latino immigrants. Catholics make up around one-fifth of the region's population.

There are 655,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, 139 parishes and missions and 93 Catholic schools serving 26,000 students.

Like other parts of the U.S. church, Catholic school population is down, which experts say is connected to things like how many people become priests and religious sisters. Wuerl early in his tenure was praised for turning over to the charter school system several Catholic schools, and in recent years in a couple of spots Catholic parents whose needs weren't being met by the archdiocesan system launched independent Catholic schools of their own.

Wuerl launched one of the few new seminaries in the United States, which has a small but steady population. The incoming archbishop will have to work to continue Wuerl's legacy as an educator of seminarians while freeing himself of the anger some seminarians feel about how Wuerl and McCarrick treated the D.C. church.Spare a thought for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's scheduler - and maybe another for Trudeau himself.

On Tuesday night, Trudeau announced his party was ousting two prominent female leaders - Jody Wilson-Raybould, the once-rising star who until January served as Canada's first indigenous attorney general, and Jane Philpott, the respected former president of the Treasury Board - after they challenged his handling of an ongoing political scandal.

On Wednesday, Trudeau attended a previously scheduled event for young female leaders who aspire to leadership positions like the cabinet roles that Wilson-Raybould and Philpott held. Later, he kept an appointment with Inuit leaders working to improve relations with the government.

As he addressed the women in Canada's House of Commons, about 30 tuned their backs on him.

"He's not acting as a true feminist," said Deanna Allain, a first-year student at McMaster University who attended. "He is not lifting up women in politics."

The protest says much about the challenge facing the 47-year-old prime minister.

The telegenic son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau swept to power in 2015 promising a new era for Canada in which government would be transparent, women would be equal, and Canada would take painful but important steps toward reconciliation with indigenous communities - and became a global icon along the way.

But as he heads into the federal election in October, the political controversy that led his Liberal Party to expelWilson-Raybould and Philpott is threatening his standing among the very people he boldly promised to include, promote and represent.

Though his government is taking pains to cast the ouster of the women as a matter of party discipline and the scandal as a misunderstanding, his handling of the crisis is raising questions about his commitment to inclusion - questions that will likely hurt him at the polls.

"The prime minister has taken a massive personal hit on his brand," said Nik Nanos, a Canadian pollster.

Among female voters, a key Liberal constituency, Trudeau once enjoyed a 10 to 20 percentage point advantage, Nanos said. That margin has shrunk to perhaps 5 points.

"The primary driver is disappointment," Nanos said.

The controversy rocking Ottawa didn't start as a matter of gender or indigenous equality. But that's how it's now playing out. And that's a dangerous development for the Liberals.

At the heart of the scandal are allegations that Trudeau and his office pressured Wilson-Raybould as attorney general to defer the prosecutionof SNC-Lavalin, an engineering firm from Trudeau's home province that was accused of bribery - and demoted her to a lesser cabinet role when she resisted.

Canadian authorities charged the Quebec firm in 2015 with paying bribes to secure business in Moammar Gaddafi's Libya. Under deferred prosecution, a legal tool used by authorities in several countries, firms that are charged with crimes may avoid convictions if they admit wrongdoing, pay fines and commit to stricter compliance rules.

Wilson-Raybould told a parliamentary committee in February that Trudeau, top aides and government officials pressured her inappropriately, resorting to "veiled threats" to get her to offer the company such a deal.

Trudeau moved Wilson-Raybould in January from attorney general and minister of justice to minister of veterans affairs. It was widely viewed as a demotion. She resigned from veterans affairs in February.

Trudeau and his aides have denied any improper pressure. They say it's normal for the prime minister's team to discuss legal matters with the attorney general.

If SNC-Lavalin were convicted, the firm would be prohibited from federal contracts in Canada for 10 years. Avoiding a trial, Trudeau's team says, was about saving Canadian jobs.

No one is alleging that money changed hands or laws were broken.

But in the months since emerged in February, the conversation has shifted from a debate about the relationship between the executive and the judiciary, to a conversation about who in Canadian society really holds power.

Trudeau, a self-proclaimed feminist, put together Canada's first gender-balanced cabinet, stocking his team with talent from outside the Ottawa establishment - including Wilson-Raybould, an indigenous lawyer from British Columbia.

Now her account has cast doubt on Trudeau's commitment to stated principles.

In her testimony, Wilson-Raybould described being undermined and bullied by a predominantly white male team. She reminded her peers that Canada had a long history of using the law against indigenous communities, and said - forcefully - she would not be cowed.

"These are the teachings of my parents, grandparents and my community," she told the House of Commons justice committee. "I come from a long line of matriarchs and I am a truth teller in accordance with the laws and traditions of our Big House."

Soon, Philpott resigned in solidarity.

Some saw sexism or racism in the way the crisis was handled and the story was covered. After Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet, a Canadian Press piece sourced to unnamed Liberal insiders cast her as uncooperative and selfish.

"Trudeau's team has tried to explain it as 'She's not a team player,'"said Priscilla Settee, a professor of Indigenous studies and women and gender studies at the University of Saskatchewan. "It's an argument that men always use against women, that they are not team players, they don't understand how it works."

"As a First Nations woman, it seems like things can only so far and then, it falls back to he large structures, to political domination, to colonialism."

University of Toronto political scientist Sylvia Bashevkin said it's too late for the Liberals to change leaders before the October election, and too early to say whether women who supported Trudeau in the last election will vote for a different party this time around.

But she said there's no question that expelling Wilson-Raybould and Philpott could hurt Trudeau's prospects. Now that they've been ejected from the Liberal caucus, the pair may feel more inclined to speak freely about their experiences in Trudeau's cabinet, uninhibited by the demands of party loyalty.

"They've been martyred."China Aviation Daily | Apr. 02, 2019

Welcoming the fact that civil aviation continues to deliver important direct and indirect benefits to Middle eastern States in terms of local and regional economic growth, ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, while delivering opening remarks to the Global Ministerial Aviation Summit being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, appreciated how regional tourism figures were up 10% since last year, and that the very significant Central Southwest Asia to Middle East passenger route group was expected to grow at a compound growth rate of 6.5% annually from 2015 to 2045, according to the latest ICAO long-term traffic forecasts.

He also expressed the collective gratitude of the senior officials present to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting the timely Middle east aviation event under His patronage, and highlighted how aviation in Saudi Arabia now supports over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs, while contributing US$34 billion or almost 4.6% in national GDP.

"All of these indicators strengthen our appreciation of the extensive policy guidance which has been developed through ICAO in support of air transport liberalization and harmonization here in the Middle East, covering such critical connectivity priorities as traffic rights, airport and air navigation charges, consumer protection, competition, and air transport taxation," Dr. Aliu noted.

Focusing on a key topic at the Summit, Dr. Aliu stressed that it was important to recognize that the Region's increasing reliance on the safety, speed, and economic benefits of air transport also increases its exposure to aviation security risks and the increasingly concerning area of cyber-attacks.

"With respect to cyber threats more specifically, I wish to emphasize that a sweeping transformation is now underway as aviation evolves more rapidly from traditional analogue to digital communications."

The ICAO President commented that transitions always carry with them a number of risks, opportunities and challenges for aviation and its national regulators, noting that by continuing to drive globally-harmonized solutions for all concerned ICAO could play an important role, notably through the new digital trust framework which the 13th Air Navigation Conference asked ICAO to begin exploring.

"It is important to ensure that all aviation stakeholders can take advantage of cost-effective communication links in the future which are fully secured, and establishing secure identities for all senders and receivers of aviation data is critical to this outcome," Dr. Aliu emphasized. "Accordingly, ICAO recently signed an MOU with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, better known as ICANN, to help explore if and how ICAO can eventually serve as a single-source 'digital identity trust-broker' for global aviation.

The preliminary analysis indicates that this approach could generate significant security and cost- benefits for operators, manufacturers, suppliers, basically anyone wishing to exchange information in our network," he explained.

President Aliu drew attention to the recent and important Riyadh Declaration adopted at The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's2016 World Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation, underscoring how it "has been key to the accelerated development of the MID Region Security and Facilitation Plan."

Dr. Aliu added that "ICAO's Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP), which was approved by the ICAO Council in 2017, has been very influential to these improvements in terms of Regional threats and global solutions."

He concluded by enjoining his high-level audience to take note of ICAO's 2019 Global Aviation Security Symposium (AVSEC2019) and AVSEC Industry Engagement Day being held this September, immediately followed by the UN agency's aviation technology Innovation fair and Exhibition which will be part of its 2019 World Aviation Forum.

All of these events take place just before ICAO's 40th Triennial Assembly this 24 September, when thousands of high-level government and industry officials will be present at its Montreal Headquarters.

Accompanied by several Representatives on the ICAO Council, the Director of ICAO's Air Transport Bureau, Mr. Boubacar Djibo and by the ICAO Regional Director for the Middle East Office in Cairo, Mr. Mohamed Rahma, the President held a series of bilateral meetings with senior government officials, including with the Honourable Minister of Transport of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency, Dr. Nabeel M Al-Amudi.

Contributed by ICAOA Bexar County grand jury has indicted three people in connection with the death of King Jay Davila, an 8-month-old San Antonio boy whose body was found in a backpack in a field in January.

Christopher Davila, 34, was indicted on a raft of charges, including injury to a child causing severe bodily injury, a first-degree felony, the Bexar County District Attorneys Office said in a statement released Wednesday.

Davila, his cousin, Angie Torres, 45, and his mother, Beatrice Sampayo, 64, were indicted on a charge of tampering with evidence for what authorities say were their roles in covering up the babys death with a fake kidnapping three months ago.

Besides the injury and evidence tampering charges, the indictment charged Davila with possession of a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On ExpressNews.com: Im so hurt by my actions: King Jays father speaks from jail

Torres was arrested Jan. 7 on an unrelated charge. Davila and Sampayo were arrested Jan. 10. All were previously charged with the offenses listed in Wednesdays indictments, but the grand jury did not indict Davila on a child endangerment charge leveled at him when he was arrested, according to the District Attorneys office statement.

And it added a new one: tampering with evidence by concealing a human corpse, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. It alleges Davila knew a missing person investigation was in progress and intentionally concealed the childs body with the intent to impair the investigation.

All three are awaiting arraignment.

On ExpressNews.com: Thats my blood: Man who says he is King Jays dad

Copies of the indictments were not available for release Wednesday. The District Attorneys office statement said one of them alleges Davila had assumed care, custody and control of the child when he struck the baby with an unknown object, struck the baby against an unknown object, or by an unknown manner, and that Davila failed to seek medical treatment for the baby.

Bexar County medical examiners in February ruled that King Jay died from a blunt force trauma injury and ruled his death a homicide.

Sampayo has been out on bond, while Torres remains in jail on a $250,000 bond, online records show. The evidence tampering charges are third-degree felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Police reports indicate Davila called police Jan. 4 to say his car had been stolen from a convenience store in the 300 block of Enrique Barrera on the far West Side. He told authorities he left the car running with the child inside while he went into the store, police said.

Meanwhile, investigators said, Davilas cousin, later identified as Torres, was dropped off at a nearby street at the same time Davila arrived at the gas station. Video surveillance showed the woman entered the car and drove off.

Investigators said Torres drove the car to an intersection near Rodriguez Park, where she walked away with a car seat, leaving the vehicle behind.

A week later, amid a public outcry and extensive search efforts, Davila led police after his arrest to the childs body, left in a backpack in a Northeast Side field.

Davila remains in the Bexar County jail, his bail set at $1.25 million.

On ExpressNews.com: King Jays death is tearing us apart, his great-uncle says

In a letter sent to the Express-News in mid-February, Davila said he left the child unsupervised in an unbuckled car seat on the edge of a bed while he smoked marijuana in his garage for back pain. He stated his son died accidentally after Davila lay back on the bed and the child fell from it.

Davila was engaged to Jasmine Gonzales, 24, the childs mother. Last month, Martin Gonzales III, a San Antonio man who is serving a four-year prison term at a Northeast Texas prison, said he believes he is the childs father and was shocked to learn that his estranged wife, Jasmine Gonzales, sought to divorce him and declare Davila, her fiance, as the boys father.

If convicted of the child injury charge, Davila faces up to life in prison.

Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863A Bexar County Jail inmate who was released today without a required GPS monitor is back in custody after he was found on the Northwest Side, officials said.

Thomas Ray Furlow Smith was somehow released before the device could be put on him, according to the Bexar County Sheriffs Office. The incident marks the sixth inmate-related error this year.

Smith was apprehended at 6:50 p.m. in the 9200 Block of Ridge Post by San Antonio Police Department officers without incident.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Authorities said Smith is being transported back to the sheriffs office for further questioning and to be processed for GPS monitoring so he can be released properly.

An administrative investigation is underway into the events leading up to his release, officials said in a statement. Disciplinary action will follow, authorities said.

Smith was charged with several misdemeanors, including evading arrest, burglarizing a coin-operated machine, theft of a vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

Its unclear how Smith was released without the GPS monitor, but the jail staff has struggled with a number of issues in recent months.

RELATED: Bexar County sheriff submits jail plan to regain compliance with state commission

The jail was deemed noncompliant by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in Feburary, after inspectors discovered issues with record keeping, inmate recreation practices and using non-sworn employees to book and release inmates.

The findings came after an in-house evaluation of the jail that was conducted by the sheriff offices internal audit unit.

The audit found that jail staff are operating on an antiquated system of handwritten notes on operational documents.

Additionally, this paperwork is not being thoroughly reviewed on a consistent basis, it read.

The audit unit determined that the problem would be fixed within 60 days.

RELATED: Two high-ranking BCSO deputies forced out of leadership positions in administrative shakeup

Jail staff are also working under new management after Sheriff Javier Salazar fired Deputy Chief Ruben Vela.Vela oversaw the jail but was terminated after in light of current and pervasive issues, Salazar said in a news release announcing the move on Feb. 27.

Vela was succeeded by Deputy Chief Avery Walker, who had served as the acting jail administrator since January.

Inmates were erroneously released under the leadership of both Vela and Walker, and the incidents have seemed to dog the sheriffs office since the beginning of the year.

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China Aviation Daily | Apr. 02, 2019

Finavia aims to expand the selection of flight routes available at its airports, thus providing its customers with good connections all around the world. Three new airlines will be welcomed in Finland during the summer season 2019. In addition, Helsinki Airport and Turku Airport will celebrate the opening of new routes.

Three International Airlines Will Commence Operations in Finland

Air Serbia, Tibet Airlines and Juneyao Air will start operations at Helsinki Airport in 2019. Air Serbia will link the capitals of Finland and Serbia by starting to fly from Helsinki Airport to Belgrade three times a week, starting in June. The Chinese carriers Tibet Airlines and Juneyao Air will strengthen Helsinki Airport's Asian connections. Tibet Airlines will commence flights from Helsinki to Jinan in April, and Juneyao Air will open a year-round connection to Shanghai in June.

"We are constantly looking for new partners for Finnish airports to ensure comprehensive flight connections for both Finnish and international passengers. Helsinki Airport already has the most flight routes to Asia from Northern Europe, and the new carriers further solidify Helsinki's position", says Petri Vuori, Vice President, Sales and Route Development at Finavia.

Airlines make decisions about new routes based on thorough analysis, where the most important criterion is demand. From airlines' point of view, the advantages of Helsinki Airport include excellent direct connections to other airports, as well as reliable and cost-efficient services.

"We want to be the best airport partner in Northern Europe for our customers, both new and existing ones. The role of Helsinki Airport as a crossroads for international air transport has grown significantly and, in 2018, the share of transfer passengers of all departing passengers exceeded 35 per cent. For example, for Asian travelers, Helsinki Airport serves as a gateway to Finland and as a transfer airport on the way to other parts of Europe", Vuori explains.

New Routes from Helsinki Airport and Turku Airport in Summer 2019

In spring 2019, Finnair will start the majority of the new routes: it will launch flights from Helsinki Airport to five new destinations. In Europe, the new summer destinations are Porto and Bordeaux, where Finnair will be flying twice a week from Helsinki, and Bologna, with three flights a week. In addition, starting from late April, there will be seven flights a week to Hanover. For the summer season, there is also a new service from Helsinki to Los Angeles, operating three times a week.

In April, Norwegian will start summer season flights from Helsinki to Pisa, Italy and Tivat, Montenegro, operating once a week.

Wizz Air will fly from Turku to Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, twice a week, starting from July. Additionally, the airline's new routes include Turku-London and Turku-Krakow, expanding Turku's network of European cities.

New Routes in Summer 2019

Airline Airport Destination Start date Aircraft Departures a week Season Air Serbia Helsinki Belgrad 1.6.2019 A319 3 Year round Finnair Helsinki Porto 21.6.2019 A319 2 Seasonal Finnair Helsinki Bordeaux 11.5.2019 A319 2 Seasonal Finnair Helsinki Bologna 10.4.2019 A319 up to 3 Seasonal Finnair Helsinki Hannover 29.4.2019 A320 7 Year round Finnair Helsinki Los Angeles 31.3.2019 A350 3 Seasonal Juneyao Helsinki Shanghai 28.6.2019 B787-900 7 Year round Norwegian Helsinki Pisa 6.4.2019 B737 1 Seasonal Norwegian Helsinki Tivat 16.4.2019 B737 1 Seasonal Tibet Airlines Helsinki Jinan 8.4.2019 A330-200 2 Year round Wizz Air Turku Skopje 3.7.2019 A320-200 2 Year round Wizz Air Turku London 2.7.2019 A320-200 3 Year round Wizz Air Turku Krakow 1.5.2019 A320-200 2 Year round





Added Flights for Existing Connections

Finnair increases flights for its existing routes from Helsinki Airport. Starting next summer, there will be two flights a day between Helsinki and Hong Kong, and a total of 10 flights a week between Helsinki and Kansai. During the Japanese Golden Week in April, there will be three flights per week, instead of two, between Helsinki and Narita. There will be one additional daily connection on the Helsinki-London route. In addition, a larger aircraft will be used on the afternoon flights, which, together with the new daily connection, will bring more than 20 per cent more seats on the route. During the summer season, there will be up to seven daily flight from Helsinki to London.

AirBaltic has added four new flights on the Turku-Riga route per week starting April 30, which increases the number of flights to 11 in total.

Contributed by FinaviaThe following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka.

Saturday, March 30

11:10 p.m. -- Officers responded to a hit-and-run crash in the 600 block of East Meadowbrook Drive.

10:17 p.m. -- A 43-year-old woman reported that her 48-year-old husband stole $2,000 in horse tack from their marital home. The female was advised to document the incident and take pictures of everything at the home. The couple recently filed for divorce. The woman was advised to contact her attorney and give them the documentation for court filings.

10:04 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Mount Haley Township residence in reference to a 42-year-old man finding a peddle bike on the side of the road near his driveway. The man said he did not see anyone near the bike, so he found it suspicious. The deputy checked the area but did not locate anyone walking. The bike was not of much value, and the caller said he would put the bike in his garage if it was not picked up in the next day.

9:32 p.m. -- Emergency service teams and the Midland County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to an assisted living home in Jerome Township in reference to a 79-year-old deceased woman. There was nothing suspicious about her death. Funeral arrangements were made through Ware Smith Woolever Funeral Directors.

9:16 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Porter Township residence for a report of gunfire from a neighbor hitting a 42-year-old man's garage roof. There was no damage to his property. The deputy contacted the 19-year-old man who was shooting, who said he did not realize there was a residence through the woods. Deputies spoke to the 19-year-old about knowing where his projectiles are landing, and safety concerns about shooting guns in a semi-residential area.

8:52 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a report of shots fired near Cassiday Stark roads in Hope Township. The area was checked and all was quiet. Contact was attempted at the residence where the shots were alleged to have come from, but no one was home.

2:45 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a vehicle crash resulting in minor injuries in Mills Township.

2:32 p.m. -- $55.01 in gas was taken from a Village of Sanford gas station by a unknown person in a brown GMC Sierra pickup truck. A valid license plate was not obtained but it is believed that it had a handicapped plate.

2:10 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Homer Township.

9:45 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to the area of North West River Road near Maynard Road for the report of a single-vehicle traffic crash. A UD-10 report was completed and the driver was issued a citation for violation of basic speed law - accident, and for no proof of insurance.

1:02 p.m. -- A 53-year-old Lee Township woman was assaulted by her 53-year-old boyfriend at their residence. The male was arrested and transported to the Midland County Jail. A report has been forwarded to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for review.

Friday, March 29

11:47 p.m. -- Officers responded to a loud party in the 3800 block of East Patrick Road.

11:22 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to an area in Lincoln Township in reference to a complaint of a vehicle driving recklessly. The deputy found the vehicle and observed no violations.

10:58 p.m. -- Officers responded to a case of minors in possession of alcohol on Hedgewood Drive near North Saginaw Road.

9:55 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Jerome Township gas station in reference to a possible drunk driver. The caller said a woman smelled of alcohol. Contact was made with the 61-year-old woman, who was returning beer cans. Alcohol was not a factor.

9:37 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Homer Township.

7:20 p.m. -- Officers responded to a hit-and-run crash in the 1200 block of Joe Mann Boulevard.

4:21 p.m. -- Officers responded to a property damage crash in the area of Washington Street and East Ashman Street.

3:32 p.m. -- Deputies assisted a case worker from the Michigan Department of Human Services Child Protective Services in regards to a complaint about alleged sexual and drug abuse by a Lee Township parent. The incident is under investigation.

2:38 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a store in the City of Midland in reference to a Personal Protection Order violation. A 25-year-old Lincoln Township woman reported that her 34-year-old ex-boyfriend had violated the PPO by calling her. A report was forwarded to the Midland County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

2:35 p.m. -- Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 1000 block of Eastman Avenue.

11:18 a.m. -- A 20-year-old woman was arrested on two warrants in the City of Midland.

11:15 a.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to the area of East Tittabawassee Road near South Sasse Road for the report of a two-vehicle hit-and-run traffic crash. The deputy spoke with a 36-year-old woman who said an unknown man rear-ended her vehicle while she was at a stop sign then left the scene. She said the driver was a male who was about 19-25 years old.

10:34 a.m. -- Deputies responded to a car-turkey crash in Warren Township.

9:38 a.m. -- Officers and deputies collaborated in performing a warrant arrest in the 700 block of Village East Drive.

12:40 a.m. -- Deputies performed a traffic stop on a 42-year-old Saginaw man for a speeding violation in Greendale Township. The man did not have a valid Michigan driver license. He was arrested for no license and the two valid warrants out of Saginaw County. The male was lodged at the Midland County Jail without incident. The male was issued a verbal warning for the speeding violation.

Thursday, March 28

8:48 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a Lincoln Township residence for a report of an unwanted male subject. The man left the residence prior to deputies arriving The 25-year-old female caller said that her 34-year-old ex-boyfriend came onto the property and is not supposed to be in contact with her due to a Personal Protection Order. Deputies discovered the 34-year-old male had not yet been served the PPO.

8:21 p.m. -- A deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle with defective exhaust in the City of Midland. The deputy arrested a passenger, a 27-year-old Homer Township man, for a child support warrant out of Isabella County. The male was transported to the Midland County Jail where he bonded out for his Isabella warrant. The 34-year-old Homer Township driver of the vehicle was cited for a minor traffic infraction.

8 p.m. -- Deputies responded to a harassment complaint in Homer Township involving a 70-year-old woman. She told deputies a vehicle pulled into her driveway and an unknown woman yelled at her regarding trespassing signs that were posted by the 70-year-old. Deputies checked the area for the unknown woman in a black car and were unable to locate her.

6:45 p.m. -- Officers responded to a larceny in the 200 block of East Patrick Road.

6:32 p.m. -- Officers performed a warrant arrest in the 100 block of Fast Ice Drive.

9:07 a.m. -- Officers responded to a suspect driving while license suspended in the area of a Bay City Road and Waldo Avenue.

8:53 a.m. -- Officers responded to an animal complaint in the 1600 block of Denver Street.Every year, the city of San Antonio through its SASpeakUp program surveys its residents to find out their top budget priorities. Year after year, thousands of residents ask us to invest more in streets, sidewalks and public safety. Yet, the state of Texas is still threatening to cap cities ability to protect public safety and other critical and basic needs.

The proposals outlined in the Legislatures House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 2 impose arbitrary revenue caps that would cost the city of San Antonio millions per year, while saving the average homeowner just a few dollars per month.

Revenue caps severely limit what cities can spend on police, firefighters, streets, economic development and other quality-of-life needs that residents demand and that attract both the employers and workers at the heart of the Texas Miracle.

Like all of us, legislators are concerned about property taxes, and the city of San Antonio has been committed to supporting meaningful property tax relief for our residents. Our states inadequate funding system for public schools creates an unsustainable financial strain on local taxpayers. Thats why it is imperative for Texas leadership and Legislature to increase education funding and create real property tax savings for homeowners.

Revenue caps will not result in meaningful property tax relief. Instead, provisions of House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 2 impose a 2.5 percent cap on what cities can raise from property taxes. This cap would make it impossible for cities to maintain existing services. It will put more pressure on our existing resources, which are already stretched thin to provide for a growing city.

If the Legislature insists on imposing revenue caps, it must allow exemptions for public safety, streets and other basic priorities that the city and state share. HB2 and SB2 have no such exclusions. Instead, just in San Antonio, had these bills been in place for the past decade, it would have resulted in the loss of more than $303 million in cumulative revenue. This years general fund budget would be $80 million less than it is today. When it comes to vital city services, $80 million amounts to 800 police officers or three-quarters of the citys street maintenance budget.

For context, nearly two-thirds of the general fund is dedicated to public safety. In fiscal year 2019, the city of San Antonio will spend $794 million on public safety (police, fire/EMS, parks police), but collect only $362 million in property taxes and even less under the proposed laws. In other words, the city of San Antonios entire property tax collection doesnt even cover half the cost of providing public safety.

In average years, such low caps would trigger budget crises. But even in relatively good years, the most fiscally conservative city leaders would feel pressured to raise taxes in ways that create a cushion to protect residents in less-prosperous times.

Even worse, to negate the damage that caps cause, Texans in every community would have to go to the polls year after year, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, just to protect their own communities. Such election schemes create tremendous uncertainty for San Antonio. They undermine our credit rating by making it impossible to make long-term commitments.

San Antonio will welcome 1 million more residents to the area by 2040. Cities like San Antonio propel the states economy. State leaders often talk about the people and companies moving to Texas  cities and counties provide the basic services that allow for that growth. Through targeted investments in our citys infrastructure and public safety resources, weve created a safer city with a better quality of life for all residents and a place we are all proud to call home.

HB2 and SB2 would endanger all of that. Revenue caps will negatively affect our residents, especially without exemptions for public safety and other necessities. Contact your legislators and state leaders  tell them public safety and basic needs must be protected.

Councilman Rey Saldana is chairman of the San Antonio City Council Intergovernmental Relations Committee.Tejshree Thapa, a human rights lawyer who helped to expose the scope of mass rapes in the war-torn Balkans and South Asia and to build the legal arguments for the prosecution of those rapes as crimes against humanity, died Tuesday in New York. She was 52.

Her family said she died at Mount Sinai Hospital of multiple organ failure.

Thapa, who was born in Nepal and based in The Hague, had spent the past 15 years as a senior researcher with the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch. In 2017, she was among the first human rights workers to travel to the Bangladesh-Myanmar border and document the Myanmar militarys ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

She made her mark in the 1990s as an investigator with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She headed a unit that investigated mass rape and sexual enslavement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and helped win the landmark Foca cases, named for the Bosnian town where sexual crimes were committed against Muslim women in 1992 and 1993.

Her work resulted in the convictions and imprisonment of eight Serb paramilitary leaders and their supporters. The Foca convictions upheld a precedent set in 1998 by a similar tribunal after the Rwandan genocide, which established rape as a crime against humanity, and they expanded the definition of crimes against humanity to include sexual enslavement.

At the time, there was not a lot of established legal doctrine in this area, John Sifton, an advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said in a phone interview. With the Foca cases, rape and sexual slavery were recognized as atrocities, among the most reviled of human behaviors. It was her work with victims and witnesses that helped make that happen.

Thapa also helped build the case against Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Yugoslavia and later of Serbia who was known as the Butcher of the Balkans. He was tried on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and other atrocities but died in 2006 before a verdict was returned.

After 15 years at the tribunal, Thapa joined Human Rights Watch in 2004. One of her early successes there was to help force the United Nations to acknowledge what it called its systemic failure in protecting civilians during the 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka, which left at least 100,000 people dead, including as many as 40,000 in the last five months of 2009, when the war ended.

Her work in documenting and revealing that failure helped lead to an internal U.N. investigation and a report with the blistering conclusion that many senior U.N. staff simply did not perceive the prevention of killing civilians as their responsibility.

The investigation prompted Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to establish an initiative called Human Rights Up Front, which emphasized the importance of responding early to human rights violations as a prevention of genocide.

As an acknowledged expert on Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, Thapa wrote numerous reports regarding atrocities, disappearances and travesties of justice. Many of those reports were released under the banner of Human Rights Watch, but Sifton said she was often the anonymous author.

In addition to the civil war in Sri Lanka, Thapa reported extensively on the 10-year civil war in Nepal, documenting widespread war crimes, crimes of sexual violence and other abuses perpetrated by both sides. She interviewed hundreds of witnesses, and her reports helped persuade Washington to cut its military aid to Nepal over human rights concerns.

She was able to connect with families in an extraordinary way, said Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia director for Human Rights Watch. She handled them with so much empathy. At some point, most people in her position walk away. She never walked away.

Tejshree Thapa was born on Nov. 10, 1966, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Her mother, Dr. Rita (Basnet) Thapa, established maternal and infant care clinics in Nepal and campaigned for womens reproductive rights. Her father, Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, held several positions in Nepals government, including foreign minister and ambassador to India and to the United States. Her parents survive her, as does her daughter and sister.

Katharine Q. Seelye is a New York Times writer.Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

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Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

View ResultsYou likely havent given it much thought, but the truth of the matter is that The Logan BannThere was profound shock locally following a suspected stabbing incident in Longford town on Monday afternoon which resulted in a man being airlifted to hospital.

The victim, who is in his 20s, sustained wounds to his ear and arm after he was allegedly assaulted in a car park just off Killashee Street at around 2pm.

He was later flown by air ambulance to St James' Hospital in Dublin for treatment to what have been described as serious but non-life threatening injuries.

At the time of writing, no arrests had been made though gardai carried out a number of searches on Monday evening in a bid to further the investigation.

As part of their inquiry, gardai have appealed for anyone who may have been in or around the retail park on Killashee Street between 1.30pm and 2.30pm to contact them.

They are also appealing to anyone who may have dashcam footage around that time to similarly come forward as this may help the investigation.

Gardai have so far declined to comment on the precise nature behind Monday's incident.

The Leader understands, however, that the row may have stemmed from an internal family feud.

As the investigation continues, local people have expressed their shock and horror about the incident which occurred in the middle of the day in one of the town's busiest areas.

Read more: Man in serious condition after Longford stabbingOn October 21, 20011, the lives of Maura Casey and her four-month-old son John changed forever when Maura's husband Joseph suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Joseph was placed on life support and his organs were donated to five transplant recipients, all of whom have been able to live life to the fullest.

In the run-up to Organ Donor Awarenss Week, which runs this week until Saturday, April 8, Ms Casey was eager to share her husband's heroic story.

Peoples lives have been transformed through organ transplantation. There are approximately 550 people in Ireland awaiting an organ transplant and hopefully these peoples lives will be changed through organ transplantation, she told the Longford Leader last week.

Read more: Organ Donation: A Longford man's story

Joseph, as an organ donor, helped to save the lives of five other people after he died.

He donated a kidney to a 23-year-old male who had been two years on a kidney machine prior to his transplant.

Joseph's second kidney was given to a 43-year-old lady who had been six years on dialysis awaiting a suitably-matched kidney.

Both kidney transplants were performed in Beaumont Hospital. The heart transplant, which was for a 47-year-old man, took place in the United Kingdom, while Joseph's lungs were given to a 62-year-old man in Manchester.

Joseph's liver was also retrieved and transplanted very successfully in St Vincent's Hospital. The recipient was a 48-year-old married man with a family.

All five transplant recipients have done very well since their surgeries and, in a letter to Ms Casey after the transplants were carried out, Beaumont Hospital expressed huge gratitude for her kindness and thoughtfulness for others, even in her time of grief.

I would encourage everyone to discuss organ donation with their family members. The legacy of organ donation by deceased donors is profound, Ms Casey said.

Read more: It is just a fantastic thing for people to do, says sister of Longford donor

Thanks to the gift of organ donation, almost 4,000 people who have received transplants in Ireland at the moment are enjoying extended lives.

The focus of organ donation awareness week is to remind individuals to talk to their families about their organ donation wishes and to keep the reminders of the decision visible by carrying the organ donation card and permitting the code 115 to be included on their drivers licence.

It gives me great solace that Joseph lives on in other people. He never lived to see his son, John, grow up as John was only four months old when Joseph passed away.

Many people will remember Joseph from his time working as an architect in EJ Pettits here in Longford and Noel Heavey Architechts in Athlone.

He was also a very talented set designer and was the recipient of an All-Ireland award with Backstage Theatre Group in 1990 for his set design on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

He gave unselfishly of his time and expertise to many other local drama groups in the area.

He also had a passion for photography and was very proud of his selection of photographs covering events of Mary McAleese's presidency, including many unpublished candid images of her inauguration. Mrs McAleese and her husband Martin were close friends of Joseph and his family.

Organ Donation Awareness Week runs until this Saturday, April 6. For more information, see www.organdonation.ie.

Read more: HSE and An Post launch national awareness campaignThe Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) asked the local community in Longford to be a strong voice to improve the quality of life of people who have disabilities.

There are 5,916 people living in Longford with a disability or chronic illness. This represents 15% of the entire population of the county.

Every person in Longford, living with a disability is a family member  a son, daughter, sibling, or parent. The lack of supports and services for people with disabilities encompasses a far larger percentage of Longfords population than assumed.

Four out of every five people with disabilities acquired their disability during their working lives. This year alone, over 56,000 people nationally will be diagnosed with a disability for the first time.

Longford County Council is responsible for services that are of crucial importance to those with disabilities. They include housing, planning, public facilities, education and training. The Disability Federation of Ireland is asking the local community and local public representatives to put supports for people at the disability at the top of the public agenda.

Mr PJ Cleere, Disability Federation Ireland Support Officer for Co. Longford said:

People with disabilities are a core element of community life in Longford. Their voice must be heard. Providing necessary supports to enable Longford people with disabilities to live as equal citizens will benefit every one of us.

In the forthcoming local elections, we will be asking all aspiring local government representatives to embrace the needs of people with disabilities and reflect this in the priorities they put before the electorate. People with disabilities, their families and supporters are a sizeable electoral demographic and they will remember those candidates who place disability at the centre of their political agenda.

Since 2008, there has been a steady erosion of services and supports for people with disabilities. As a result, people with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty than others.

Ireland officially exited recession in September 2013. However, people with disabilities in our community are in a far weaker position than before the recession, PJ said.

Today, 26% of adults in Ireland with a disability live in consistent poverty. People in Longford, who care about living in a fair society, are gravely concerned.

Locally, access to services, including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, personal assistants and other key supports are totally insufficient. Furthermore, people with disabilities are not entitled to participate in many employment programmes and are further excluded from the labour market.

Census statistics show that of people with a disability age 15 years and over in Longford, 18% were at work compared to 48% of the general population of the same age.

The Disability Federation of Ireland is calling on Longfords local election candidates to set out their plans in their election manifestos for improving the lives of the constituents of Longford who have disabilities.

For more information:

https://www.disability- federation.ie/Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 03 2019

Cornell Bozier and Co-Conspirators Stole More than $500,000 Through Bid-Rigging Schemes, officials say.

Hempstead, NY - April 4, 2019 - A federal jury in Central Islip returned a guilty verdict today against Cornell Bozier, the former Chairman of the Board of Commissioners at the Village of Hempstead Housing Authority (VHHA) on four counts of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and federal program bribery. The verdict followed a two-week trial before United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack. When sentenced, Bozier faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Christina Scaringi, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Region (HUD-OIG), announced the verdict.

As found by the jury, having been trusted to serve the residents of low-income housing as a Village of Hempstead public official, Bozier instead lied, cheated and stole federal funds for himself, stated United States Attorney Donoghue. If, like Mr. Bozier, you betray the public you are hired to serve, expect to find yourself in a courtroom facing the consequences.

Plain and simple, this is a case of greed; Bozier and his co-conspirators engaged in public corruption for personal gain, said HUD-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Scaringi. We are not talking about the abstract here, this is a case involving real money that should have been used to improve the lives of those living within the public housing authority that these offenders were entrusted to serve.

The evidence at trial established that between March 2011 and November 2012, Bozier engaged in schemes with his co-conspirators  contractors James Alimonos and Peter Caras  to defraud the citizens of the Village of Hempstead (the Village) and the VHHA by soliciting and accepting bribes and kickbacks in exchange for Bozier using his official position to ensure that the Board of Commissioners (the Board) accepted fraudulently submitted bids for VHHA construction projects. The VHHA is responsible for providing and maintaining safe and affordable low-income housing in the Village. As chairman, Bozier controlled the Board and could bypass HUD regulations for bidding and for awarding construction projects.

The Totten Avenue Intercom Project

In August 2011, Bozier fraudulently obtained an emergency designation from the Board for repair of the intercom system at a VHHA on Totten Avenue in the Village without the public bid requirement to ensure that the contract was awarded to the lowest qualified bidder. Alimonos then directed another co-conspirator to submit a falsely inflated bid of $95,740 to replace the intercom system. Alimonos paid Bozier approximately $30,000 for securing the Boards acceptance of the fraudulent bid.

The Yale Street Roof Project

In September 2011, the VHHA received four proposals from companies controlled by Alimonos to replace the roof of a building on Yale Street in the Village. Bozier accepted a bid of $248,000, although the bid lacked the required paperwork. Bozier then secured the Boards approval, and the VHHA paid a total of $273,900 for the project. Thereafter, Alimonos hired another construction company to replace the roof for $23,000. In return, Bozier received a kickback of approximately $55,000 from his co-conspirators.

The Gladys Avenue Piping Project

In July 2012, the VHHA received two proposals from companies controlled by Alimonos to repair the boiler piping system at a building on Gladys Avenue in the Village. Bozier ensured that the $164,000 contract was awarded to a company established in the name of Alimonoss wife, although the bid lacked the required supporting information. Alimonos then hired another construction company to do the repair work for approximately $26,000. In return, Bozier received approximately $30,000 in kickback payments from Alimonos and Caras.

Alimonos and Caras previously pleaded guilty to honest service fraud conspiracy and testified at trial against Bozier. Both are awaiting sentencing.Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 03 2019

Constantine Giannakos, 51, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Singas says.

Mineola, NY - April 4, 2019 - Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a disbarred attorney from Hicksville pleaded guilty to stealing $40,000 from a Hicksville couple selling their home.

Constantine Giannakos, 51, pleaded guilty yesterday to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a D felony) before Judge Robert Bogle. If the defendant provides $40,000 restitution at the time of sentence on May 10, he is expected to be sentenced to five years probation; however, if the defendant does not pay restitution, he is expected to be sentenced to one to three years in prison.

Instead of faithfully representing his clients, this defendant stole $40,000 from them and spent it at the Home Depot and on personal credit card payments, DA Singas said. When an attorney abuses their clients trust and steals from them, my office will hold them accountable for their crimes.

DA Singas said that in early 2017, a Hicksville homeowner and her ex-husband hired the defendant to represent them in the sale of their home. The complainants and their home purchasers entered a sales contract on February 4, 2017.

At the time of the contract signing, the buyers attorney provided a $40,000 down payment check made out to Constantine Giannakos, as attorney that was deposited into Giannakos escrow account and held there until the closing.

Between February 4 and the scheduled closing date of September 27, the defendant and one of the complainants met at public locations including a Dunkin Donuts on Newbridge Road in Hicksville. The defendant claimed he had an office in Syosset, but in fact, did not.

Following the closing on September 27, the defendant was supposed to remit the $40,000 down payment to his clients but never did so. The complainants made several subsequent requests for the money via phone and text messages but never received the money.

The NCDA received the case on October 24, 2017, after receiving a complaint from the homeowners. A review of the escrow account showed Giannakos spent the $40,000 at Home Depot, on credit card payments, department stores, mortgage payments, and unrelated business expenses.

Giannakos was disbarred for another matter on August 21, 2012.

Since 2012, the NCDA has prosecuted more than 20 attorneys for misconduct.

If you believe you may have been a victim of an unscrupulous attorney, please call the NCDAs Tip Line at 516-571-7755. Anyone interested in hiring an attorney is encouraged to check that persons standing and registration with the Office of Court Administration.Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 03 2019

Jose Ulisiz Ortiz-Trochez, 18, is charged with Murder 2nd Degree, cops say.

Hempstead, NY - April 4, 2019 - The Homicide Squad reports the April 3, 2019 arrest of Jose Ulisiz Ortiz-Trochez of Hempstead, 18, in connection with the death of a male victim that occurred on Friday, March 29, 2019 at 12:07 A.M. in Hempstead.

According to detectives, police responded to a call of a stabbing victim who was found lying in the parking lot of the Laundry Palace located at 416 Clinton Street, Hempstead. The victim, Juan Gabriel Chic Sian, 35, with no known current residence, was transported by Nassau County Police Ambulance to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 1:07 A.M.

Jose Ulisiz Ortiz-Trochez is charged with Murder 2nd Degree and will be arraigned on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 in First District Court, Hempstead.

Detectives request that if anyone has information regarding the above crime to contact the Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.Officials: Pedestrian Struck and Killed by Two Vehicles While Crossing Hempstead Street

Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 03 2019

The male, 38, suffered serious injuries and was pronounced a short time later an an area hospital, cops say.

Hempstead, NY - April 3, 2019 - The Homicide Squad is investigating a Fatal Vehicular Accident involving a pedestrian that occurred on Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 9:02 pm in Hempstead.

According to detectives, while attempting to cross South Franklin Street at Elm Avenue in Hempstead, a male pedestrian was struck by a 2014 Nissan Altima that was traveling southbound on South Franklin Street. The male victim was then stuck by a second vehicle, a 2009 BMW X-5, also traveling south on South Franklin Street.

The male, 38, suffered serious injuries and was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced a short time later by a hospital physician.

Operators of both vehicles were not injured and remained at the scene. The vehicles were brake and safety checked.This content is from: Features

Paul England of Taylor Wessing says there are two Brexit possibilities that pharma and medical devices companies really need to be aware of. Here he explains what their impact is likely to be on patents and regulatory rightsWhen Chaokee Calderons daughter turned 4-years-old she faced one of her fears - sending her child to school for the first time.

I was extremely nervous and overprotective of my daughter, said Calderon at an announcement for $15 million funding of universal pre-K for Bostons youngest students Tuesday. Her fears were fueled by horror stories in the news that led Calderon to believe 4-year-old Khailee was safer at home.

Calderon said she tried to teach her daughter colors and numbers, but she wasnt progressing.

Being a full time working mom, it was hard for us to do these little things, she said.

She applied too late for the Boston Public Schools pre-K program, and her daughter was not accepted.

Thats when she applied for a spot in the Head Start program ABCD Walnut Grove in Dorchester.

Since being at Walnut Grove - Khailee has learned so much, Calderon said. She knows how to write her name. She knows her letters. She knows the letters of both her parents names. She counts to 20. She counts to 10 in Spanish. She knows all of her colors, and is even doing simple math using her fingers.

Head Start is a United States Department of Health and Human Services program that provides early childhood education in some cities.

Calderon said her only regret was not getting her child a spot earlier.

City leaders lifted up Calderon, who spoke at a press conference at the Dorchester school Tuesday, as an example of the partnership required by nationally recognized pre-K programs, Boston Public Schools, and community-based organizations to make access to classrooms for 4-year-olds possible.

Mayor Marty Walsh announced a $15 million investment that would expand access to free pre-K classrooms for all 4-year-olds in Boston, a cornerstone of his campaign in 2013. The money aims to close the gap in high-quality pre-K seats in the next five years.

The money will be included in the citys 2020 budget, which will be announced next week, Walsh said.

In the Boston program all pre-K teachers will have a have a degree in early childhood education, will be prepared to teach in inclusive classroom settings, and will earn the same starting salary for a Boston Public Schools teachers. The classroom ratio will be two educator for every 20 students, and the program is accredited by a national early childhood body, according to Walshs office.

We need to make sure Boston is a place where every young person can succeed and start at the very beginning. As soon as a child is born they need high quality resources and a place to call home, Walsh said. When they set foot in a classroom we need to make sure they have a strong foundation that is going to set them on a pathway to success.

Since taking office, Walsh added 750 high-quality pre-K seats for Boston kids. The latest infusion of money would add another 750 seats and place all the citys 4-year-olds in accredited classrooms within the next five years.

The rollout is the product of thousands of hours of conversation with educators and city leaders, he said. He said every study about pre-kindergarten points to increased success for kids who enter the classroom earlier.

This is a game changer for the young people of our city, Walsh said.

This is true for Khailee, her mother said at the news conference.

In just seven months this has helped my shy child turn into a little social butterfly, she said.SPRINGFIELD  Inspired by similar health fairs Brian P. Lees hosted as a Republican state senator from East Longmeadow, state Sen. Eric P. Lesser, D-Longmeadow, introduced his first Thrive After 55 event in 2017.

Its become a blockbuster event that drew 1,000 people last year," Lesser said. "People have started asking me when is the next one and we are telling people now to mark their calendars: June 21, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Springfield College.

Past events have been jammed packed with hundreds of people 55 and over almost as soon as the doors opened.

Last year, it was moved to a larger location and this years fair will be at an even larger one  Springfield Colleges Field House, ironically where the school holds its commencements, to accommodate what are already more than 70 participating organizations with services addressing the needs of seniors at the other end of life.

I stand at the entrance and shake hands. I get a lot of thank yous and a lot of people give me an earful and that is OK. That is the job, said Lesser who sees the fairs attendees as a reflection of the needs and diversity of seniors across the country.

We invite the whole Western Massachusetts legislative delegation, mayors, city councilors, county-wide elected officials and I am there the whole day so people can get access to their elected officials and share what is on their mind.

Retirement, Lesser said, is an exciting time of life, but also brings quite a lot of challenges.

It is getting harder in retirement, Lesser said.

The cost of health care keeps going up, the cost of prescription drugs. This puts strains on seniors in a tough economy.

Lesser said he suspects on final count there will be 100 vendors participating in this years fair offering a spectrum of resources across income levels.

Information offered will include help accessing housing, health insurance and veteran services as well as information provided about estate and financial planning.

Seniors are the fastest growing demographic in Western Massachusetts and from a policy perspective we need to think about what that means in terms of housing, transportation and health care, Lesser said.

There will be representatives at the fair from the Springfield Department of Elder Affairs, Pioneer Valley Transport Authority, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Others listed on the Thrive After 55 site include Big Y Nutrition, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and OConnell Care at Home.

Lesser said presenters back by popular demand include Attorney Todd Ratner of Bacon Wilson whose legal expertise includes elder law and estate planning, as well as Sheila Magalhaes, owner of Heartsong Yoga in East Longmeadow, and a master yoga instructor, who will do chair yoga.

There is also a box lunch, coffee all day as well as water and lots of raffles throughout the day, said Lesser of the fairs popular perks.

Health New England, a nonprofit health insurance plan whose parent is Baystate Health, and Springfield College are joined as sponsors this year by the Center for Human Development, a nonprofit that delivers social and mental health services to more than 18,000 people annually in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The event at the college, 263 Alden St., is free but registration is requested by calling Lessers office at (413) 526-6501 or online.A Springfield District Court judge has allowed the attorneys for Springfield police officers charged with beating four men in 2015 to subpoena arrest records of the alleged victims from local police departments.

Officers Daniel Billingsley, Jameson Williams, Anthony Cicero, Christian Cicero, Igor Basovskiy and Jose Diaz have been charged in district court with counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and conspiracy. They and eight other current and former Springfield officers, along with a co-owner and manager of Nathan Bills Bar and Restaurant, were also indicted last week in connection with the alleged beating.

On Monday, Judge Bruce Melikian allowed a motion by Shawn Allyn, Billingsleys attorney to seek arrest records for two of the alleged victims, Paul Cumby and Michael Cintron, from police departments in Springfield, Holyoke and Palmer.

This is a significant ruling by the Court. My client will now have an opportunity to show the past violent convictions of the so called victims and their continued propensity for violence," Allyn said in a statement. "This ruling changes the dynamics of this case and the perception of the public based on past media reports. As I have previously stated, Dan Billingsley looks forward to his day in court.

Allyn has previously portrayed Billingsley as a victim in the case, accusing Cumby and the other civilians allegedly assaulted that night of being the aggressors in the altercation.

Michelle Cruz, Cumbys attorney, took exception to Allyns description of her client.

To state that my client, Mr. Cumby, has a propensity for violence is a gross mischaracterization and not an accurate representation of the facts, Cruz wrote to MassLive. These alleged incidents occurred over 20 years ago. Prior to the attack, Mr. Cumby had spent over 20 years as a hard working family man.

Attorney Joe Smith, who represents Cintron and the other two alleged victims Jozelle and Jackie Ligon, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Allyn is seeking records of several arrests of Cumby, all of which occurred before the year 2000, according to his motion. The arrests include assault and battery, violation of a protective order, larceny and assault and battery on a police officer. The motion also seeks records relating to Cintrons 2005 arrests for drug possession and home invasion.

The public will soon learn the facts of this case. The facts will tell a very different story than what has been portrayed by the government in the media," said Dan Hagen, Williams defense attorney.

In a January 2018 interview with MassLive, Cumby said he had two convictions on his record from the 1990s: A motor vehicle infraction and a disorderly person charge, which he said he pleaded guilty to after being falsely accused of assaulting a police officer. The other charges against him were dropped, he said, and he has no charges on his record since 2000, according to a CORI report reviewed by MassLive.

Seven men, including six off-duty Springfield police officers and Nathan Bills co-owner John Sullivan, were indicted by a statewide grand jury on allegations of participating in the alleged attack.

The remaining people indicted are accused of lying about or covering up the attack.

The indictments came nearly four years after the initial incident, following a year-long grand jury convened by the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.SPRINGFIELD  Arson investigators have determined that a fire Wednesday morning at 281 Belmont Ave. was started by embers drifting over from the two-alarm fire hours earlier at 306 Belmont Ave., according to a fire official.

The fire on the roof of 281 Belmont was spotted and quickly extinguished by Springfield firefighters who were still on the scene from the earlier fire, said Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi.

The damage was estimated at $20,000, which was significant enough to have the entire building condemned by the city Building Department, he said. A total of 21 residents, or seven adults and 14 children, were displaced. It will not be habitable until repairs are made.

Investigators with the city Arson and Bomb Squad and the state fire marshals office are still trying to determine what started the fire at 306 Belmont.

Flames from 306 Belmont also spread to the apartment building next door at 298 Belmont, leaving firefighters to battle two structure fires simultaneously.

The three fires displaced a total of 48 people, Leger said. There were at least 15 residents in the four units at 298 Belmont and 12 residents in the six apartments at 306 Belmont, he said.

The American Red Cross has been called into provide temporary assistance, he said.

The heaviest damage was at 306 Belmont, which has a collapsed roof. Estimated damage there is in excess of $200,000, but the actual figure may be well beyond that.

Damage to 298 Belmont was estimated at around $100,000.SPRINGFIELD -- An Easthampton lawyer accused of stealing $453,695 from two clients and lying to federal agents was arrested on multiple charges on Sunday and is now being held in jail.

Phillip R. Williams, 49, appeared in U.S. District Court in Springfield on Monday and was detained pending a hearing scheduled for Thursday, said Christina DiLorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.

He was indicted on three counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, two counts of tax fraud, making false statements to a federal official and two counts of engaging in financial transactions greater than $10,000 of proceeds derived from criminal activity, she said.

If found guilty, Williams could face more than 20 years in prison and fines of $250,000 apiece on three of the different charges, she said.

According to the indictment, Williams maintained an Interest on Lawyers Trust Account in a Massachusetts bank to hold funds for the benefit of clients. Investigators allege between Jan. 29 and Dec. 31, 2014 he stole money from a total of $950,000 which two clients transferred into the fund.

"As part of that scheme Williams stole $453,695 of these funds for his own benefit, his family members, and two associates," DiLorio-Sterling said in writing.

The indictment also alleges that Williams failed to report the money that he took from the trust account to the Internal Revenue Service. In September 2015 he did amend his tax return and increased his adjusted gross income from $44,439 to $282,000. In addition, it alleges in July 2015 he told federal agents he reported $300,000 of the stolen funds on his tax return, she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Lellings Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case. It was investigated by agents for the Internal Revenue Services Criminal Investigation, the FBI and Lellings office.WESTFIELD  Eight people were displaced after a fire broke out in an apartment complex on Southampton Road Tuesday afternoon.

One firefighter received minor injuries while extinguishing the fire at the complex at 810 Southampton Road. All the residents escaped safely, Interim Fire Chief Patrick Egloff said.

The fire was reported shortly before 3 p.m. When firefighters arrived there was heavy smoke coming from the center of the complex. Before they could start pouring water on it, windows broke and flames came out of the front, he said.

B Group did a great job knocking down the fire and limiting property damage, Egloff said.

Fire damage was limited to two apartments in the middle of the single-story complex. There was heavy smoke damage in the remaining five apartments, he said.

The fire is under investigation. We dont have a cause or an origin yet, Egloff said.

A total of 20 firefighters responded to the blaze and remained at the apartment complex at 5:30 p.m., cleaning up and securing the scene. Police also responded and assisted in directing traffic on the busy road.

One lane of Southampton Road was closed for a brief time. Because fire equipment is parked on the breakdown lanes, traffic is backed up on the street.

The American Red Cross of Pioneer Valley has been called to assist the residents, Egloff said.CHICOPEE  A foundation with a long-term commitment to a country where nearly half the population lacks access to essential health services has awarded a Catholic college here with a history of mission service and an established nursing program a $750,000 grant to improve those services.

Elms College School of Nursing has received a $750,000 grant from the Michigan-based W.K. Kellogg Foundation to improve health outcomes in Haiti through nursing faculty development beginning this summer.

According to the United States Agency for International Development, there are as few as six health care professionals per 10,000 people in Haiti and health spending represents only six percent of all government expenditure with heavy reliance on international aid to improve access to health care.

An earthquake in 2010 killed more than 200,000 people in Haiti while displacing more than 1 million and caused extensive damage to the infrastructure and economy in the country, a former French colony in the Caribbean that includes the western third of the island of Hispaniola.

The country subsequently suffered its first cholera outbreak in a century and the Zika virus is a concern throughout the Caribbean.

Because to many we in the U.S. represent the gold standard of nursing, I believe we have an obligation to share our expertise and contribute to global nursing and healthcare, said Kathleen Scoble, dean of the colleges nursing school, in a prepared statement.

She added the college, whose president, Harry E. Dumay, is a native of Ouanaminthe, Haiti, is honored to have the opportunity to make a difference through nurse faculty development, which we hope will become a program for replication.

After all, in my international nursing experiences, nursing and the human condition are universal despite language and geographical differences, Scoble said.

The Elms nursing faculty will gain as much or more than the Haitian nurse faculty they are teaching and mentoring as they learn this new culture and environment of practice.

The grant will allow the Elms to train approximately 40 faculty from approved Haitian nursing schools as well as clinical educators from hospitals there to be skilled nurse educators.

Participants will complete a graduate certificate transferable to a masters degree program in nursing.

The Elms, founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, has had a nursing program since the 1980s that has graduated more than 1,700 nurses.

It also has master's degree program in nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program.

Students at the liberal arts college go on mission trips to Nicaragua, Honduras and Jamaica where Sister of St. Joseph Maureen Kervick has lived and worked since 2010.

In February, the U.S. State Department and Canada advised travelers to avoid Haiti due to crime and current protests against the government of President Jovenel Moise whom the countrys Senate has accused of misappropriating billions of dollars of funds targeted for reconstruction.SOMERS -- A man attempted to break into a bank ATM by ramming the kiosk repeatedly with his truck Monday night.

Connecticut State Police are now asking for help to identify the suspect and his vehicle, which is a full-sized grey Chevrolet or GMC pickup. The rear quarter panel and the rear left taillight of the truck were damaged in the attempted break-in, police said.

The man drove up to the United Bank ATM kiosk, at 287 Somers Road, at 10:44 p.m., and rammed the kiosk repeatedly with his truck.

He then exited the vehicle to try to steal money from the machine. Despite the damage, he still could not access money, police said.

A witness called police to report the incident, but by the time troopers arrived the man had already driven away, police said.

The structure where the ATM is installed was badly damaged by the truck, police said.

Bank cameras did capture the image of the suspect and the truck on video. Anyone who can identify the suspect or who has any information about the crime is asked to contact Trooper Ryan Cloukey at 860-896-3200. Calls can be made anonymously, police said.NEW MILFORD, Conn.  Philanthropists and former Big Y Foods executives Michele and Donald DAmour have donated $1 million to Canterbury School to be used toward construction of a new student center there.

The Commons, an $18 million development at the New Milford school, is expected to open in January 2021. The DAmour Center for Faith, Service, and Justice will be located on the upper floor of the 22,000-square-foot Commons.

The more than century-old independent boarding and day school is grounded in the Catholic faith. It enrolls 320 students representing 15 states, 17 countries, and a broad range of backgrounds and beliefs.

The DAmours are the parents of two Canterbury graduates and grandparents of two current students.

The DAmour familys devotion to Canterburys mission and values, which are firmly rooted in our Catholic heritage, speaks to their integral role in the Canterbury family, their generosity of spirit, and their enduring commitment to a life of service, said Head of School Rachel Stone. The creation of our new Center for Faith, Service, and Justice will allow the DAmour name to inspire generations of students as they wrestle with questions, weave service throughout their lives, and embrace a life lived in response to something greater than themselves. We are deeply grateful for Michele and Dons extraordinary generosity to our students and our school.

The DAmour Center will house the Canterburys campus ministry office and provide a home for service activities, retreats, guest speaking events, discussion groups, and prayerful meditation throughout each day. The current center is situated in a repurposed classroom.

"Two of our children learned what is true and what is good at Canterbury School. Now two of our grandchildren are there, not only to attain college and career readiness but in the pursuit of truth to become individuals who will enter adulthood and embrace becoming citizen-leaders, said the DAmours in a statement. We have long been supporters of schools that understand that faith and reason are compatible. Canterbury has not lost its focus in this regard but has chosen to strengthen its core mission and demonstrate that commitment in a concrete fashion through the Center for Faith, Service, and Justice. We are proud to help continue that legacy.

Donald DAmour is the retired chairman of the board and CEO of Big Y Foods, Inc. and Michele DAmour previously served as the companys educational partnership administrator.

The DAmours philanthropy has assisted Assumption College in Worcester; the Michele and Donald DAmour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield; Community Music School of Springfield; Springfield Rescue Mission; DAmour Cancer Center in Springfield; Pope Francis Preparatory School in Springfield; and the California-based Parents Television Council.SPRINGFIELD  The City Council on Monday provided another major infusion of funds to the Police Department  $700,000 for retirement payouts to 21 officers, including $234,222 to former Commissioner John Barbieri.

The funds were approved, but not without some parting shots from Councilor Orlando Ramos, chairman of the Public Safety Committee.

Barbieri abruptly retired in February in what was described by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno as a mutually accepted decision. The $234,222 payout to Barbieri included six months pay ($99,374.16) for the city not giving Barbieri six-months notice of nonrenewal of his contract.

Ramos criticized what he called a nice parting gift to Barbieri from the city and wanted to delay payment temporarily until councilors could have a closed door meeting to discuss Barbieris contract and payout.

Barbieri retired amid controversy including multiple officer misconduct cases and an ongoing federal civil rights investigation of the Police Department. He had a 31-year career with the department including the past five years as commissioner.

The $700,000 appropriation covers 21 officers who have retired since July 1, 2018. It was approved by an 11-1 vote, with Ramos casting the no vote.

Several councilors said the amount for Barbieri was mandated by contract.

During a verbal exchange between Ramos and City Solicitor Edward Pikula, Ramos questioned why the city let the six-month notice requirement lapse with Barbieri, "and so he walks away with a nice parting gift from the taxpayers of the city of Springfield."

"No, he walked away with what he was entitled to under a contract that was binding," Pikula said.

Sarno and Barbieri intended to negotiate a contract extension when the notice deadline lapsed, he said. The commissioners five-year contract was set to expire May 31, 2019, and thus the six-month notice of nonrenewal was due at the end of November.

The notice could have been given "if someone could have had a crystal ball and knew that the negotiations were not going to go forward and that there was going to be a retirement," Pikula said.

Other councilors said they understood Ramos concerns, but believed that the retirement payouts to him and to the other 20 officers were mandated by contract or by law and should not be held up. It includes money owed to the officers such as unused vacation time.

Councilor Kenneth Shea said it appeared there was no indication of Barbieri leaving when the notice was due. He said officials should review future contracts that might contain such generous language.

Ramos and Councilor Kateri B. Walsh said they, and they expected other councilors, were getting a lot of questions from residents about the Barbieri payout.

Barbieris payout included: unused vacation pay ($46,629.38), salary through May 31, the end of his contract ($57,331.20), previously accrued comp time in lower ranks ($30,887.19), and the six months notice payment.

He is also receiving an annual city pension of $134,754, according to the city Retirement Department.

The $700,000 in retirement payouts to the police officers follows various other large transfers of funds approved by the City Council on Monday and at prior meetings to avoid deficits in the police budget.

Timothy J. Plante, the city's chief administrative and financial officer, said the Police Department faced multiple deficits during the fiscal year "due to a 'perfect storm' of events."

The factors included high attrition of officers including retirements, newly approved contracts for patrol officers and supervisors including years of retroactive pay raises, and a new police academy. The council approved budget transfers from surplus funds to avoid budget deficits.

The council on Monday also approved $1.3 million in retroactive pay raises for police supervisors, dating back to 2016, and last month approved $1 million for pay raises for patrol officers, with both transfers related to newly approved contracts.

In addition, the council approved $2 million for the Police Department in March, including $1.4 million for additional overtime costs that was blamed in large part on attrition being higher than usual, Plante said.

The balance of the transfer was $577,050 for a police academy being conducted this fiscal year. A current police academy began with 23 recruits for the Springfield Police Department and is now down to 19 recruits, a police spokesman said. The class graduates in July.

A city hopes to have a new academy in September, possibly with 40 recruits, that could help alleviate vacancies in the department and reliance on overtime, Plante said.

The funds were taken from the citys surplus from fiscal 2018. That years surplus was initially $7,453,246 but is now approximately $1.5 million after transfers made to the police budget and other city departments.

Typically, the Police Department can absorb financial challenges through salary savings from vacancies, but the confluence of all the big budget items made it necessary to secure funds from the surplus, Plante said.AMHERST  Porta, an East Pleasant Street pizzeria that opened in March, is facing legal problems  locally and from out of state.

V.M.S. Pizza I, doing business as Porta, will be the subject of a public hearing Friday before the Amherst Board of License Commissioners over potential violations of town permits and serving alcohol to minors, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Commissioners are scheduled to convene at Town Hall at 1 p.m.

Problems were found during an investigation by Amherst Police Department, according to an agenda item for the hearing.

In addition, a lawsuit filed against restaurant owner Richard Annunziata in U.S. District Court in Springfield seeks to block him from using the name Porta.

Pink & Red, LLC of New Jersey is seeking a permanent injunction barring Annunziata and his Amherst restaurant from using Pink & Reds intellectual property  including their trademark PORTA restaurant names, that are located in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Jersey City; New Jersey; and Philadelphia.

The complaint charges Annunziata is seeking to steal for their own Plaintiffs entire brand, goodwill and consumer recognition that it has developed for many years.

Lawyers for Annunziata, on Monday, filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying the federal court does not have jurisdiction, adding the plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be given.New Hampshire state and federal investigators armed with jackhammers Wednesday turned up no evidence in the 2004 disappearance of University of Massachusetts Amherst student Maura Murray.

New Hampshire Associate Attorney General Jeffrey Strelzin said state police and the FBI searched a home in Woodsville but came up empty-handed. He said there was no credible evidence connecting the home to Murrays disappearance.

The home has become the target of increased speculation by private citizens, he said, speaking at a news conference at Grafton County Superior Court.

"We did contact homeowners and they graciously allowed us, gave us consent, to search the home ... (They found) absolutely nothing other than a small piece of what looks to be pottery and maybe old piping, Strelzin said.

Murray, a Hanson resident and junior nursing student, disappeared on Feb. 9, 2004. The 21-year-old packed up her dorm room and emailed her professors to tell them she was going home for the week because of a death in the family, but there had been no death in the family.

She disappeared on Route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire, after a single-car crash, officials said. A witness told police Murray was unharmed in the accident, but when police arrived minutes later she was gone.

Attorney General Gordon MacDonald said a single-family home near the crash site was searched Wednesday with the cooperation of the homeowners. Multiple sources reported that law enforcement officials were at the property with jackhammers and evidence collection suits.

Murrays father, Fred Murray, previously said he had been unable to look for clues in the house until recently when new owners bought it. Two cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar suggested there were human remains buried under concrete in the basement, he said, according to published reports.

Strezlin said Wednesday the ground-penetrating radar indicated areas of disturbed ground, but not human remains or other evidence.SPRINGFIELD  The City Council has scheduled a hearing on Monday at the Rebecca M. Johnson School to give the public another chance to weigh in on a proposal to ban single-use plastic checkout bags at local stores.

The councils General Government subcommittee and the Sustainability and Environment subcommittee will conduct the joint meeting at 6 p.m., at the school at 55 Catharine St., in the cafeteria.

The council was considering final passage of the ban in March after multiple public meetings. However, councilors agreed to delay the vote to seek additional public input from residents and businesses as well as to provide information about the proposed ordinance and answer any questions.

The lead sponsor, Councilor Jesse Lederman, joined in agreeing to the meeting in the spirit of community education and having the best ordinance possible.

More than 90 communities in Massachusetts including Boston have approved some type of ban on the so-called, single-use plastic bags. Supporters say the ban helps protect the environment and reduce litter.

Under Springfields proposed ordinance, checkout bags provided by retail stores must be either a recyclable paper bag, a compostable and marine-degradable plastic bag, or a reusable checkout bag. Customers could also choose to bring their own bags.

Lederman, who is chairman of the sustainability and environment committee, said the drafted ordinance follows best practices established in other communities, and incorporates input from the community.

It will build on efforts to reduce the amount of single use plastic "going into the waste stream and littering our streets and waterways, Lederman said.

As more and more communities step up it is important for us to do our part as the third largest city in Massachusetts," Lederman said. "As we approach a final vote, we want to be sure the public is well informed on the ordinance and hear any final feedback and recommendations from residents and the business community.

Under the ordinance, retailers would be required to stop the distribution of most single-use plastic bags at the register, councilors said.

All bags distributed by stores will be sold to customers for no less than 5 cents, under the ordinance.

Plastic bags used to wrap meat, produce, or similar products, bags used to contain loose items within the store, newspaper bags, and pharmacy bags are exempt from the ordinance, and exempt from the fee, the ordinance states.

The ordinance would go into effect 12 months after final passage for large retailers and 18 months after implementation for stores under 10,000 square feet.

The ordinance does not regulate private ownership of plastic bags, trash bags, or pet waste bags, councilors said.

Many cities and entire states have taken this step because of the clear data that shows the negative impact of this product on the environment around us, said Councilor Melvin Edwards, chairman of the General Government committee. As Springfield moves in that direction we want to incorporate as much community input as possible.SPRINGFIELD  The city on Wednesday released the Community Police Hearing Boards annual report for 2018, which showed a decrease in police calls, arrests and citizen complaints compared to 2017.

The statistics show that CPHB is helping to ensure that all complaints are investigated thoroughly and fairly, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said in an accompanying news release. No complaint has been swept under the rug.

A total of 56 citizen complaints of police misconduct were received during the 2018 calendar year, the city said. In 2017, the Police Department received 81 citizens complaints, according to the report for that year.

In addition to the 56 citizen complaints in 2018, there were 72 complaints generated internally by Police Department personnel, the report stated.

The report states there were 276,181 calls for service and 4,208 arrests in 2018. In comparison, there were 280,753 calls for service and 4,405 arrests in 2017.

The Community Police Hearing Board reviewed 95 complaints in 2018, with some cases carrying over from one year to the next. Ten complaints were sustained and 85 were not sustained, the city said.

The department has faced controversy in recent years regarding multiple police misconduct allegations and an ongoing federal civil rights investigation.

The Community Police Hearing Board also reported on litigation related to police misconduct claims, with a table of all cases from 2006 to 2018. The summary indicated there were 61 lawsuits filed during those years against the city or its police officers alleging a deprivation of civil rights through police misconduct.

Of those, 54 have been disposed of, with 22 cases resulting in judgments entered by the court and 31 by settlement, the city news release said. Settlements and judgments over the 13-year period totaled $4,819,900, the report said.

As to the 22 judgments, only 2 resulted in liability against the city or its officers while 20 of the judgments have been entered in favor of the city and/or its officers, the city said in the news release.

The Community Police Hearing Board, which was created by Sarnos executive order in 2010, reviews and conducts hearings on internal and external complaints investigated by the departments Internal Investigation Unit. The board can choose to sustain or not sustain a complaint, and provides recommendations to the police commissioner on discipline.

It consists of Chairman Ernesto Castillo and members Robert C. Jackson, Albert Trangese, Gail Hill and Gary Berte.Abortion Laws Reflect Nation's Divisions

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Catholic League

April 2, 2019



NEW YORK, April 2, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on new state abortion laws:

There is a wave of new state abortion laws being introduced, or already passed, that reflect how divided the nation is on the subject. Most are quite restrictive but some are quite liberal.

Three abortion bills recently passed legislative committees in Texas, and have been sent to the full Senate. On March 27, a Senate panel passed a bill that would ensure protection for a child born alive following a botched abortion. Another bill is aimed at denying state and local funding of abortions. The third bill clarifies an existing statute on providing information to a woman contemplating an abortion.

Illinois went the other way. One proposed bill is an open-ended license to terminate all pregnancies right up until birth; there are zero restrictions. The other bill being considered would repeal a law requiring parental consent before a minor can abort her child. In other words, state lawmakers are weighing whether to allow children to authorize the killing of their children without their parents knowing anything about it.

The Illinois Catholic Conference opposes both bills and Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich has denounced them in harsh terms. Mary Beth Miller, nurse director at St. John's in Springfield, said, "The youngest baby in our hospital...was delivered at just 22 weeks and six days gestation.I am stunned at how the proposed legislation...flatly states that an embryo or fetus has no independent rights."

Illinois has not only become abortion crazy, legislators there are considering a bill that would force all private health insurance plans to cover abortion, making no exemption for religious organizations.

If they were to get their way, a requirement mandating Catholic hospitals to perform abortions would clearly be contested in the courts, with little likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court would affirm such a drastic assault on the First Amendment. But it proves just how maniacal some are in the pro-abortion community.

Last week, a federal judge declared a North Carolina law banning abortion after 20 weeks, in most instances, to be unconstitutional. Yet in Utah, a bill was signed into law last week that bans abortions after 18 weeks.

In Ohio, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers were put on notice that the state may no longer pay for elective abortions. Also in Ohio, a bill passed the Senate requiring women who have an abortion to choose either burial or cremation for the remains of their babies; the bill now goes to the House.

Protection for babies with Down syndrome may be underway in Pennsylvania as lawmakers consider a bill that would restrict abortions based solely on a diagnosis that there is a possibility that the baby carries this condition.

Mississippi and Kentucky recently outlawed most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is about 6 weeks into pregnancy. A similar bill passed the Georgia senate; the House will now take up this measure.

The bill in Georgia sparked a strong reaction from Hollywood celebrities who are active in the pro-abortion camp. The Writers Guild of America threatened to boycott the state if the "heartbeat" bill becomes law.

Ashley Bratcher, who lives in Georgia, and who stars in "Unplanned," the movie based on Abby Johnson's workplace experience at a Planned Parenthood clinic, responded to Alyssa Milano's support for Hollywood retaliation against Georgia. Bratcher told Milano "you're forgetting about the right of women within the womb. If feminism is all about equal rights, then where are her rights?"

Bratcher got personal. "I can't help but think how you would feel in my shoes. Having just learned months ago that my life was spared on an abortion table, it definitely put a few things in perspective for me. You had the privilege of being born in 1972. My generation was not so lucky. Over 61 million lives never reached their full potential."

While the nation is divided on abortion, the good news is that pro-life lawmakers are moving ahead faster than their abortion-happy colleagues. Moreover, they don't have to run from controversy the way New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has to. He championed a law this year that allows for selective infanticide, denying human rights to babies born as a result of a botched abortion.

The sonogram allows everyone to see the undeniable, and the pictures don't lie. Technology allowed for sanitized abortions; it may yet allow for its legal death.



SOURCE The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights



CONTACT: Media Office, 212-371-3191, pr@catholicleague.org



Related Links



www.catholicleague.org

SPRINGFIELD  Residents of as many as a dozen apartments were displaced after a massive fire in a four-story building spread to the neighboring one Tuesday.

Two residents who escaped the blaze were brought to Baystate Medical Center for smoke inhalation, said Dennis Leger, executive assistant to Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi.

The fire is creating heavy smoke that is blanketing the neighborhood, spreading as far as the North End of the city.

The fire started at about 5:30 p.m. at 306 Belmont Ave. The first crews arrived within five minutes of receiving the first 911 call and found the back porches of the apartment building on fire, Leger said.

When they arrived, Springfield Police officers who also responded to the call were actively evacuating residents from the two buildings, he said.

The porches from the first through the fourth floors were engulfed in flames. One minute after arrival, firefighters called for a second alarm to get more firefighters on the scene, he said.

The wind had also spread the flames to the adjacent apartment building at 298 Belmont Ave. and caught those porches on fire as well, he said.

The first firefighters on the scene concentrated efforts to keep the fire contained. Still the fire spread into the interior of the second building and caught the kitchens of the second- and third-floor apartments on fire, he said.

Firefighters initially tried to attack the fire from the interior of the building but were ordered to evacuate at 6:05 p.m. when commanders determined it was unsafe, he said.

The fire is burning in a 2 foot space between the roof and the ceiling, he said. It is always stubborn and difficult to fight, especially from the exterior.

At about 7:30 p.m. firefighters were seen entering the upper floor through exterior ladders. The fire was still burning at 8:30 p.m. and Leger said he expects firefighters to be on scene throughout the night.

Firefighters also were working from the roof of the third-story building at 308 Belmont Ave. Leger said they were using the spot as a way to reach the fire. The fire had not spread to that building.

The Pioneer Valley chapter of the American Red Cross has responded. They initially handed out blankets and gloves to residents, some of whom ran out without coats and shoes, and then started trying to find them places to stay overnight.

All I heard was everyone get out, there is smoke in the building, said Michael Ortiz, who lives on the third floor. I dont know what happened.

He woke up his wife, Waleska Rivera, who works third shift, and they grabbed shoes, coats and their two pet birds and ran out of the building.

Ortiz put his two cockatiel birds under his jacket and wrapped a blanket around him to try to keep them warm. He said they mean a lot to him and he rescued them right after he woke up his wife.

At least two people said they are missing their cats. Firefighters have not been able to enter the building to search for any missing pets.

Part of Belmont Avenue is expected to be closed for most of the night due to the fire.

At least four businesses, located on the first-floor of the two buildings, were also damaged in the fire. They are Ponce Barber Shop, Mamuchy Grocery Store, Hoi Learning Center and LFF Variety.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad and Massachusetts State Police, Leger said.NORTHFIELD  A new college campus opening here in the fall will host an open house Sunday afternoon, April 7.

Thomas Aquinas College, founded in 1971 at Santa Paula, California, currently enrolls nearly 400 students at the home campus. It was given 103 acres of former Northfield Mount Hermon property that included several buildings, by National Christian Foundation in 2017.

The college now boasts on its website: One Program, Two Coasts.

"We are very excited to open our second campus this fall, and we are eager to introduce ourselves to our new neighbors, said Admissions Director Jon Daly in a statement. We offer this day as a way for friends, both old and new, to come learn about how, for nearly 50 years, we have offered our highly rated program of Catholic liberal education in California, and how we now plan to do the same in New England.

Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the arts-and-crafts retail chain, purchased the 217-acre core Northfield campus in 2009, with the goal of giving the property to a Christian educational institution. Franklin County records show Hobby Lobby paid $100,000 for the property.

The National Christian Foundation has pledged $5 million over 5 years to help the college in renovating campus buildings.

The event will begin with Mass at 1:30 p.m. in the campus chapel, offered by Rev. Michael Casey, a chaplain at Central Connecticut State University.

Following the Mass, college officials will lead guests on a tour of the grounds. The groups will then gather in the Moody Auditorium, where they will hear from the colleges president, Michael F. McLean, and the associate dean for the New England campus, Thomas J. Kaiser, as well as from Thomas Aquinas College alumni, parents, and admissions counselors.

The day will conclude with light refreshments in Merrill-Keep Hall.

This is a great way to learn about Thomas Aquinas College, New England, and to meet members of the community, Daly said. We encourage those who may be interested to come join us  and also to pass along this invitation to anyone whom they think it could benefit.

Guests are asked to RSVP online at thomasaquinas.edu/admission/april-7-open-house-rsvpSPRINGFIELD  A soldier is a soldier, no matter the gender, according to Staff Sgt. First Class Karen Kendra Holmes, who was born 62 years ago in Silver Springs, Maryland as Tony Holmes.

Speaking at Western New England University of School of Law on Wednesday, Holmes told the story of her decades-long transition from Tony  a depressed and tortured teenage boy  to Karen, a strong, happy woman and recipient of the Soldier of the Year award from the Maryland State Guard Association.

She argued that President Donald Trumps ban on transgenders in the military is a policy will rob the nation of thousands of talented and committed people who want to serve their country.

Holmes, now a U.S. Government Safety Officer and member of the U.S. Veterans Reserve Corps, said Trumps position that transgenders in the military adversely affects readiness is wrong.

We are ready, she said. I have always had great support from the soldiers in my unit.

She said that Trump doesnt understand the bond among soldiers because he never served in the military.

He doesnt know what its like to have a battle buddy, Holmes said. We always have each others backs.

The Pentagon announced last month it will enforce the presidents policy banning most transgender people from serving in the military beginning April 12.

Western New England law professor Jennifer Levi moderated Holmes talk before an audience of about 80 students and law professors.

Levi noted that there is incredible talent in the transgender community.

"At the moment, there is nothing keeping the government from instituting the transgender ban," Levi said, even though there has been a extensive nonpartisan review that has determined that openly gay and transgender military members would in any way weaken the military.

On the contrary, they have served with honor and distinction," she said.

There is overwhelming support from the public for transgenders' right to join the military, Levi said.

Although Trump's ban would not affect transgender military members who are currently serving, the ban would affect thousands of people who are preparing to enlist through programs like ROTC, Levi said, adding that it would cause chaos in individual lives while de-stabilizing current military forces.

Holmes and other transgender activists will continue to speak out about the value of transgenders in the military.

Holmes said she experienced tremendous support from co-workers, family and friends as she prepared for full transition through gender reassignment surgery completed five years ago.

She joined the service after the surgery.

In 2013 when she received the NCO Soldier of the Year by the Maryland State Guard Association," not even the female soldiers knew I was transgender," she said, adding that the women praised her for doing a great job and doing it for them.

When they learned that she was transgender, they were just as proud, she said.

Holmes said her father's only concern when she told him of her decision to become a woman was that she keep her last name, which she never intended to shed.

Her mother was also more supportive and loving than Holmes imagined.

When Holmes said she had chosen to replace her birth name with the name Karen, her mother told her, it was the name she had picked out if Tony had been a girl.

Karen is really who I always was, she said.When the board of Wynn Resorts first learned of a settlement involving Steve Wynns sexual relationship with an employee, members dismissed it as part of the ongoing vitriol between Wynn, his ex-wife and the board, according to one board member.

I cannot emphasize just how bad the vitriol, animosity and hostility was between the parties, board member Patricia Mulroy said Wednesday in testimony before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. I walked into a war zone.

The board was never told by a company attorney that there had been other settlements.

Mulroy joined Wynn Resorts board in October 2015. In 2018, after the Wall Street Journal reported on allegations of sexual misconduct against Wynn, Mulroy was appointed to lead a special committee at Wynn Resorts that investigated the allegations.

The Gaming Commission is determining whether Wynn Resorts is suitable to hold a Massachusetts casino license, in light of Wynns conduct. Wynn has since left the company.

In 2005, Wynn reached a $7.5 million settlement with a manicurist at his hotel, Wynn Las Vegas, who accused Wynn of raping her and fathering her child. Wynn denied the allegations and said the manicurist initiated sex. Wynn set up a limited liability company to pay the settlement, which he paid from personal funds, so it could not be traced to him or his company.

The settlement was first mentioned to the board in early 2016 as part of a document filed in a court case by Elaine Wynn, Steve Wynns ex-wife, who said Wynn had engaged in conduct that left him open to extortion.

The board and its outside attorney asked company general counsel Kimmarie Sinatra about the settlement. Sinatra said it related to sexual wrongdoing, according to an investigative report by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Mulroy, in her public testimony, revealed how little was told to the board, and why the board declined to investigate the allegations.

Mulroy said Sinatra, who left the company in 2018, repeatedly told the board the incident was an outlier event, that it was old and cold and that the settlement was paid by Wynn with no liability to the company.

Asked whether the board knew the allegations involved sexual assault, rape or pregnancy, Mulroy said no. The word rape was never said, Mulroy said.

Mulroy said the lawyer told the board that the settlement involved a consensual sexual relationship.

Asked why the board did not investigate further, Mulroy said the board did not believe the allegations because they were mentioned in a lawsuit by Elaine Wynn, and there was enormous board animosity against her. Mulroy said the board was extremely chagrined and extremely angry that Elaine Wynn sat on the board for years and did not inform them about the incident.

Mulroy said none of the companys attorneys advised them to investigate. The environment of acrimony shrouded everybodys judgment, Mulroy said.

Everything was seen through the filter of litigation and animosity to Mrs. Wynn, Mulroy said. I could kick myself from here to China that I didnt speak up, that I didnt say who cares whos making the accusation. I let myself get sucked into the vortex of that vitriol. I am furious at myself.

Mulroy said the board adopted protocols in 2016 requiring that they be notified of any similar settlements. She said the board asked Sinatra numerous times if there were other settlement agreements. The board was told that there were not  even though Wynn or the company paid settlements to cocktail servers in 2006, 2008 and 2014 over allegations of Wynns sexual misconduct.

Mulroy said she only found out about the additional settlements through her work chairing the 2018 investigative committee.

I was furious, Mulroy said. When we found out there were other settlements, when we found out about other incidents in the salon and spa, I was shaken to my bone. I was absolutely shaken to the core.

Sinatra was let go from company in August 2018, and Wynn Resorts paid her nearly $10 million in severance pay. That is $1 million less than what was provided for in her contract, according to Wynn officials.

Company president and CEO Matthew Maddox said similarly, in testimony before the Gaming Commission, that he only became aware of the allegations involving Wynn from the court filing in 2016, and he was told the relationship was consensual. He first heard the word assault in connection with the affair when he was being prepared for a deposition in the case in late 2017.

At the time, Wynn Resorts was preparing to go to trial in a nasty seven-year case involving Wynns forced redemption of stock from its major shareholder and co-founder due to allegations of corruption by the shareholder. Maddox said the company, as the Wynn allegations surfaced, was consumed with litigation, which he saw as make or break for our corporation. His attorneys warned him that the other side would plant information in the press to make Wynn look bad.

In hindsight, I should have paid more attention to it, Maddox said of his learning of the allegations in 2017. I should have thought of it as something other than a really tough litigation strategy, because thats how it was positioned.

Maddox said he was aware of a 2008 settlement with a cocktail server, which occurred when Maddox was Wynn Resorts chief financial officer, but he was told the settlement was to take care of a long-term employee who fell on hard times, not that it related to the servers sexual relationship with Wynn.

Until Wynn stepped down, Maddox said he believed the accusations were about litigation strategy.

I understand how ridiculous that looks, Maddox said. But, he said, When crisis hitsI think almost everybodys immediate reaction unless you have cold hard facts is typically denial.

When Maddox learned about additional settlements, he said he felt betrayed and upset for the victims and a real commitment to trying to make things better.

This story was updated with information about Sinatras termination from the company and about Maddoxs testimony.Local, state and federal authorities are involved in a search for clues connected to the disappearance of a student at the University of Massachusetts more than a decade ago.

Members of the New Hampshire State Police and New Hampshire Attorney Generals Office arrived Wednesday in the area of Route 112 in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. WMUR reports investigators were seen bringing jackhammers into the area, others wearing evidence collection suits.

The 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst disappeared 15 years ago after crashing her car into a snowbank in the northern New Hampshire community.

Classmates described her as a really nice girl, but really, really quiet, in a 2004 interview with The Republican. She worked part-time jobs at a campus art gallery and on the universitys security staff while maintaining a spot on the deans list.

Within days of her disappearance, Murrays father, Fred, sought the help of federal authorities in the search, which expanded across multiple states.

The case drew national attention in years since, featured on 20/20 and Disappeared as well a series on the Oxygen network.

Family members were nearby during the search Wednesday.

Theres always a level of uncertainty with something like this, Kurtis Murray, her younger brother told WMUR. I am optimistic that we may have finally found her. Thats the only thing I can pray for. But its a waiting game at this point. Its tough, because answers are hard to come by. We can only be told so much, and thats been the story for 15 years.SPRINGFIELD  A Chicopee woman testified Tuesday that James J. Martin was appointed as her lawyer but ended up indecently assaulting her in his car in an alley.

Martin, 41, of Amherst, is charged in Hampden Superior Court with four counts of indecent assault and battery. His jury-waived trial before Judge Constance M. Sweeney continues Wednesday.

Martin was convicted by a different judge in January of three counts of indecent assault and battery involving another woman. He is now serving six months in jail, to be followed by two years probation. Last month the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers temporarily suspended Martins law license.

After this trial, Martin will face a set of charges including rape involving a third alleged victim.

Tuesday, under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Eileen Sears, the Chicopee mother of four testified she went to Springfield District Court in May 2016 after being charged with possession of cocaine, operating after license suspension and driving an uninsured vehicle. She testified the van she was driving when pulled over by police belonged to a friend.

She said that after the arraignment Martin met with her and her fiance in a consultation room outside the courtroom. Within a week he called her and set up an appointment in his Springfield office.

The woman said she began to be uncomfortable during the last part of the long meeting, when he told her she was beautiful and said he was surprised her husband let her go out in the shirt she was wearing.

The next day she got a text from Martin asking if she was busy, and she told him she had a doctors appointment. Screen shots of more than two dozen texts from Martin to her were introduced at the trial.

They ranged from, Im sure I could make you feel better to wanting to share my dirty thoughts. One said that since she left his office all he thought about was all the ways I could pleasure you.

The woman testified she felt panicked by the texts. She said she kept telling him she was busy and was at her fathers house in Holyoke. She gave him the address when he asked.

The woman testified Martin texted her he would be right there. When he parked nearby her fathers house she went to his car and he told her to get in, which she did, she said.

Martin drove to an alley, stopped the car, took off his seat belt, put himself on me and started kissing her and putting his hand on her breast and down inside her pants, she said.

The woman said he told him to stop. When her phone rang she answered it and told him she had to go home to her son, she said. Martin took her to her fathers house.

She said she next saw Martin at her court date, but at that time she got another lawyer. She did not report the incident to police until Aug. 24, 2016, she said.

The district court case against her was dropped when she was assessed fines and put on probation, she said.

When defense lawyer Alan J. Black cross-examined the woman, he repeated some of Martins texts and said over and over to the woman, But still you got in the car with him.

She answered, I did.

In spite of all those texts you did that, Black said.

Its fair to say it was not unclear as to what he wanted to do, Black said. She said that was correct.

Sears asked, Why did you get in the car? The woman said because Martin was her lawyer and represented authority.

State Trooper Thomas Sullivan testified he located the texts from Martin on the womans old style flip phone, but none of her replies were there.

The woman testified her texts are automatically deleted when there are too many. Sullivan testified the woman told him she deleted her own texts.

In the next case pending against him, a woman alleged Martin forced her to perform oral sex after she went to his office on June 6, 2016, to discuss her upcoming divorce.

In the previous case Martin was convicted of assaulting a woman on Nov. 9, 2015. She testified Martin was advising her on her foreclosure problems at Westfield District Court but then followed her to her car and indecently assaulted her.

Conditions of Martins probation in that case include registering as a sex offender, wearing a GPS monitor, sex offender treatment and mental health evaluation and treatment.SPRINGFIELD  Hampden Superior Court Judge Francis E. Flannery on Monday sentenced a 34-year-old city man to six to seven years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to having three guns, eight large capacity ammunition clips, heroin and cocaine.

Flannery adopted the sentence recommendation agreed upon by prosecution and defense for Bienvenido Escalera, who was represented by Joe A. Smith III.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher F. Bourbeau said police stopped Escalera in his car at about 1:10 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2017. They found 31 bags of heroin, two rocks of crack, two bags of cocaine and three loaded handguns. Police obtained a search warrant for his residence at 29 Spring St., where they found 331 bags of heroin and multiple high capacity magazines. Some held 31 rounds and the rest held 10 rounds, Bourbeau said.

Escalera pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, three counts of carrying a firearm without a license and eight counts of possession of a large capacity feeding device.

He agreed to forfeit the $6,290 found by police when he was arrested.SPRINGFIELD  Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney on Wednesday acquitted suspended lawyer James J. Martin in a case charging him with four counts of indecent assault and battery.

The verdict comes after Martin was convicted by a different judge in January of three counts of indecent assault and battery involving another woman. He is now serving six months in jail, to be followed by two years probation. Last month the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers temporarily suspended Martins law license.

In the case decided Wednesday, a Chicopee mother of four testified Martin was appointed as her lawyer at her arraignment in Springfield District Court in May 2016.

She said Martin texted her repeatedly one afternoon with inappropriate messages and and later groped her in a car.

In his closing argument, defense lawyer Alan J. Black said the woman knew what Martin was planning, and consented to the activity hed described by getting into his car. He said Martins texts were explicit in explaining he wanted a sexual encounter.

Clearly she knew what she was getting into, he said. He said there were inconsistencies between what the woman told the grand jury and what she said in trial testimony.

Assistant District Attorney Eileen Sears said the woman testified she was saying no and trying to push Martin away when he was on top of her in the car.

There was not consent, Sears said. She said the woman testified she felt she had to get in the car with Martin because he was in a position of authority and was her lawyer.

There is one case remaining against Martin. In that case, he is accused of rape and indecent assault and battery based on the complaint of a woman who was his client.The name of Wormtowns second IPA, Dont Worry is a logical choice considering the first brews name Be Hoppy.

The genesis of the second IPA to join their main lineup becomes a bit more cloudy, not unlike the appearance of Dont Worry.

David Fields, a co-founder of Wormtown, remembered first hearing the name last August on a boat in Webster Lake during a work retreat. Co-founder and brewmaster Ben Roesch was also there. One of the staff suggested Dont Worry to compliment Be Hoppy.

"We literally looked at each other and stopped, Fields said. And said Weve been thinking about this for two months. How did we not come up with that?' We green-lighted it that very minute.

When Fields broke the news to his wife, Dacia, who was also on the boat, she was equally shocked.

She looked at me and said, typical of you as a husband. Ive been telling you for two years to name a beer Dont Worry, and its like youve never heard it before.

So at home, Dacia developed the name. At 72 Shrewsbury St., Evan Monast gets the credit. Either way, Dont Worry was officially released to the public Tuesday. Unlike Be Hoppy which is mostly served on draft, Dont Worry will be primarily available in 16-ounce cans.

It represents the largest rollout to date and the first IPA since Be Hoppy.

Theres a lot of people who like to switch up and drink different beers, Roesch said. When youre an IPA drinker and youre having some Be Hoppy and you switch up to another IPA, youre not going to choose another Wormtown because we dont have another for them to switch to naturally.

That changed with Dont Worry."

Wormtown first brewed a 15-barrel batch of Dont Worry in December. They couldnt push forward, though, until packaging and distribution were set.

It debuted a day after Wormtown moved distribution into Connecticut. The brewery will host a number of events the next couple of days.

Roesche wanted to develop an east coast IPA to pair with Be Hoppy, which he refers to as a West Coast brew. He described Dont Worry as an East Coast," silky, hazy, mouth-feel, visually cloudy with a tropical fruit profile.

With todays consumer, theyre bouncing from drink to drink to drink, Fields said. Lots f consumers dont want to drink the same IPA twice and we wanted to capture that.Irish whiskey (and gin) fans, we bring you good tidings. Sliabh Liag Distillers has unveiled plans for its new Ardara Distillery in Donegal  yes, Ireland looks set to get another whiskey maker!

The company has acquired the Show Field in Ardara, and will be formally submitting a planning application to Donegal County Council for the new distillery this week. This is the beginning of its ambitious plan to return whiskey distilling to Donegal for the first time in 177 years. Now thats a long old time. Company directors James and Moira Doherty and James Keith stated that the construction of Ardara Distillery is scheduled to start later this year (subject to planning approval, of course), and if all goes to plan distilling operations will commence in 2020. Exciting stuff!

The brand already produces some familiar names, including Dulaman Irish Maritime gin, and also The Legendary Silkie Irish whiskey. The company is also planning to create a number of new brands at the new distillery. We can expect to see a couple of peaty treats, such as Ardara and Sliabh Liag single malt and pot still whiskeys, which will remain faithful to the style of 19th century whiskeys from the county.

With a 6 million investment, Ardara Distillery will employ at least 40 people, and will have the capacity to produce 400,000 litres of pure alcohol a year. Thats the equivalent of around 1,700 filled casks, and over 1.2 million bottles of whiskey. Our mouths are already watering.

Its not just the whiskey itself which is impressive here. The company has put a lot of thought into the design of the new Ardara Distillery building, with a particular focus on how best to complement the village and its natural surroundings. CornerStone Architecture has been called on for the task, and has designed a building that will make use of traditional shapes and materials. It will be truly unique but will look very much part of the town, according to Gavin Shovelin of CornerStone.

The An Dulaman gin still, named Meabh, currently resides just outside the village of Carrick at the existing production site, and will be moved to the Ardara Distillery so whiskey and gin are both under one roof. A visitor centre has also been planned, and featuring a Poitin museum, exhibition space, tasting bar and shop. In a rather interesting but admirable move, there will be no cafe or restaurant, as the directors wanted to encourage visitors to make use of all that the local village has to offer.

The design of the development is a mix of contemporary and traditional finishes which complement the village of Ardara, said James Doherty, Sliabh Liag Distillers managing director.

It is important to us that local businesses benefit from the foot fall, and if we can get visitors walking in the village, increasing their dwell time, then its so much the better for the entire community. We wholeheartedly agree. As well as supporting the village itself, a large portion of the land surrounding the new distillery will be kept as an open green space for anyone to enjoy. Sliabh Liag Distillers clearly has huge respect for its natural surroundings and community, and its great to see a company so invested in preserving both.

There was a public consultation in Ardara yesterday (2 April) and the Planning Application is due to be submitted tomorrow (4 April). Well keep our fingers crossed!Competitive Analysis

The growth of the market is moving in a promising direction due to new product introductions or intensifying gross revenue of the players in the market. Increased conformity of market players to new customers and market trend inclinations are boosting the growth curve of the market and will persist in the forecast period. The expansion of a strong value chain is additionally motivating the development of the market. The vertical supplements and product tactics of the market are advancing the potential of the market players. The tactical goals intended for the market are buoyed due to advantageous product differentiation carried out by market contestants. Substantial cuts in administrative costs are inducing further expansion of the market. The effective implementation of strategies is likely to stimulate the market in the coming years.

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The central contenders in the autoinjectors market globally are Eli Lily and Company, AbbVie, Inc., Ypsomed, Amgen, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Owen Mumford, Consort Medical, SHL Group (Scandinavian Health Limited), Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., Unilife Corporation, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis International AG, Antares Pharma, and Bayer AG.

Segmental Analysis

The autoinjectors market has been segmented on the basis of therapy, type, region, and distribution channel. On the basis of type, the autoinjectors market has been segmented into reusable autoinjectors and disposable autoinjectors. Based on therapy, the market for autoinjectors has been segmented into multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, anaphylaxis, and others. On the basis of distribution channel, the autoinjectors market has been segmented into hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and others. The autoinjectors market includes regions such as Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Africa.

Auto-Injectors Market- Overview

Auto-injectors not only allow the automatic injection of a syringe but also have a visual indication that confirms the deliverance of the full dose, hence, these are preferred over the traditional syringes involved in the needle-based drug delivery devices. Affirmations stating that the auto-injectors are entirely safe and reliable for the self-administration of drug delivery are driving the growth of the market.

Moreover, the Increasing development and use of biological drugs (biologicals) & vaccines are expected to increase the market size from 2017 to 2022. Besides, factors such as the rising need for targeted and sustained drug delivery in the treatment of chronic diseases and the need for cost-efficient delivery of high-priced medications are fostering the growth of the market.

Additional factors propelling market growth include the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and the augmented demand for intensive care for patients in critical conditions. Moreover, the proliferation of home healthcare-based medical devices that are embedded with sensors is supporting the market allowing patients to self-administer the doses. These advantages are fostering the growth of auto-injectors market to a great deal. Furthermore, the increasing geriatric populace and rapidly changing lifestyle propel the growth of the market.

Industry Updates

Nov 2018 The FDA has approved Genentechs single-dose, prefilled autoinjector ACTPen 162 mg/0.9 mL of tocilizumab (Actemra) for patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 2 forms of juvenile arthritis.

Detailed Regional Analysis

The regional analysis of the autoinjectors market finds that the Americas is estimated to control the global autoinjectors market due to a mature healthcare sector, increasing incidence of autoimmune and chronic diseases, and rising healthcare spending. Moreover, the promising reimbursement scenario in this region adds to the growth of the market. The European region is projected to be the second major market in the autoinjectors market globally.

The market expansion in this region is credited to the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, the availability of funds for research, and growing healthcare expenses. The Asia Pacific is estimated to be the speediest rising region in the market owing to the incidence of a huge patient population, incessantly developing economies, intensifying prevalence of diseases, and escalating government funding for the healthcare sector. Conversely, the Middle East and Africa region has the minimum share of the market. The majority of the market of this region is anticipated to be controlled by the Middle Eastern region due to a sophisticated healthcare sector and mounting government initiatives for the healthcare sector.

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Major TOC by Auto-Injectors Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2022

1 Introduction

1.1 Definition

1.2 Scope Of Study

1.3 Research Objective

1.4 Assumptions & Limitations

1.5 Market Structure:

2 Research Methodology

2.1 Research Process

2.2 Primary Research

2.3 Secondary Research

3 Market Dynamics

3.1 Drivers

TOC Continued.!

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comCorneal Surgery Devices Market Segmentation:

Global Corneal Surgery Devices Market is segmented on the basis of devices types, into diagnostic devices, corneal surgery devices, vision care. Diagnostic devices are further segmented into fundus cameras, keratometers, corneal topographer, ophthalmic ultrasound imaging systems and other.

Key Players for Global Corneal Surgery Devices Market:

Alcon Laboratories Inc. (Switzerland), KeraMED (Canada), Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (U.S.), Bausch & Lomb, Inc. (U.S.), Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (Germany), Haag-Streit AG (Switzerland), Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG (Switzerland), Topcon Corporation (Japan), Essilor International S.A. (France), Johnson & Johnson Private Limited (U.S.), Nidek Co. Ltd. (Japan), Cooper Vision (U.S.).

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On the basis of transplantation type, market is segmented into deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty, penetrating keratoplasty, synthetic corneas, and other. Synthetic corneas are further segmented into boston keratoprosthesis, alphacor, osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis.

On the basis of procedures, they are segmented into pre-operative examination, penetrating keratoplasty, and lamellar Keratoplasty. On the basis of end users, they are segmented into ophthalmic clinics, hospitals and other.

Corneal Surgery Devices Market Overview:

The Worldwide Corneal Surgery Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% during forecasted period 2018-2023. Corneal surgery is a surgical procedure where a damaged or infected cornea is treated by transplantation of corneal tissue. There are two major types of transplantation namely, penetrating keratoplasty and lamellar keratoplasty. An unhealthy or damaged cornea affects the vision by scattering or distorting light and causing glare and blurred vision. Corneal eye disease is the fourth most common cause of blindness after cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

Causes of damaged cornea include infections such as eye herpes or fungal keratitis, trichiasis, Fuchs dystrophy, advanced keratoconus, complications from LASIK surgery, chemical burns of the cornea or damage from an eye injury, edema of the cornea, graft rejection following a previous corneal transplant and others.

According to World Health Organization, in 2014, worldwide 285 million people estimated to be visually impaired in which 246 had low vision and 39 million were completely blind and 82% of people living with blindness are aged 50 and above. Increasing prevalence of ophthalmic diseases and increasing aging population is the major factor for the growth of the market.

Moreover, continuous developments and high advancement in the corneal surgery devices, increasing incident of diabetes, and increasing number of corneal surgeries has provided fuel for the growth of the market. Whereas, high cost of treatment and risk of infection due to devices has hampered the growth of the market. The risk of infection is very high since the cornea has no blood vessels and it derives its nutrients from the aqueous humour. Thus, prophylaxis treatment is an important part of the treatment even if there is no infection.

Cornea rejection, occurs in about 20% of cases. Graft failure can also occur at any time after the cornea has been transplanted, even years or decades later. These complications are the greatest barriers for the global corneal surgery market.

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Corneal Surgery Devices Market Regional Analysis:

Global corneal surgery devices market is dominated by America due to increasing geriatric population and well developed healthcare sector. Additionally, the greater number of hospitalization procedures due to greater healthcare penetration in the U.S. and Canada drives the urethritis market. The high concentration of the major hospitals in the developed countries of this region coupled with good reimbursement rates is adding fuel to the market growth. The consolidation of large healthcare players in the U.S. also causes the growth in the market due to increase in buying power of the healthcare players which results in the economies of scale.

Europe accounts for the second largest market which is followed by Asia Pacific. The growth of Europe market is majorly driven by the increasing number of ophthalmic clinics and other health care organization. Europe is the second largest market in the world due to growing healthcare industry and healthcare penetration. The European market growth is led by countries such as Germany and France. Germany is expected to be the fastest growing market over the assessment period due to its large pharmaceutical industry.

Asia Pacific has the fastest growing market due to the increasing number of patients suffering from visual impairment, and increasing demand for better treatment options. China and India are likely to lead this market due to fast growing healthcare sector and large unmet needs over the forecast period. South East Asian countries such as China, India, and Malaysia are projected to contribute highly to the market growth. The growing penetration of healthcare industry in the Asia Pacific region is expected to drive the future urethritis market in the region.

Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are estimated to drive the Middle East & African market. Other Middle East nations to watch out for are Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Iran. The African region is expected to witness a poor growth owing to poor economic and political conditions, and poor healthcare development. Other regions are expected to be laggards due to poor social development and tribal identities such as sub Saharan Africa.

Major TOC of Global Corneal Surgery Devices Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023:

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 DEFINITION

1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY

1.2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

1.2.2 ASSUMPTIONS & LIMITATIONS

1.2.2.1 ASSUMPTIONS

1.2.2.2 LIMITATIONS

1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE:

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 RESEARCH PROCESS:

2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH

2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH:

3 MARKET DYNAMICS

3.1 DRIVERS

3.2 RESTRAINTS

3.3 OPPORTUNITIES

3.4 MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS

TOC Continued.!

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comRadiation reduction continues to be an important goal in electrophysiology labs, cath labs, and other interventional rooms. To advance this mission, the FDA just gave clearance to Omega Medical Imaging, a company out of Sanford, Florida, for its FluoroShield radiation exposure reduction system.

The FluoroShield uses a very fast collimator coupled with a bunch of artificial intelligence image processing tricks to perform Region of Interest (ROI) solution for radiation reduction. In tests using the companys platform, the system was able to reduce the emitted radiation by up to 84% in many cases. Of course, in the real world the results will vary.

Since the overall emitted radiation is minimized, the effect benefits both patients and the nearby staff, while the clinical workflow isnt affected much.

Product page: FluoroShield

Via: Omega Medical Imaging

Extra: Radiotherapy Market Report, Size, Share 2019, Global Industry Analysis, Technology Advancement, Business Opportunities, Top Company profile, Regional Forecast to 2023

WIRED Health, now in its sixth year, returned to Londons Francis Crick Institute. The event was opened by Crick Institute director Paul Nurse who introduced the institute and its mission to understand the fundamental biology of human health and disease. The team at the Crick, consisting of 1500 researchers and three Nobel Prize winners, make up Europes largest biomedical research facility with an already impressive slate of research, despite being only two years old. The theme of WIRED Heath and the venues vision was perfectly summarized by Sir Paul, who closed his address with the charge from this crucible the discoveries of the future will come.

Openwater CEO Mary Lou Jepsen led the mornings talks with the showcasing of her companys light-based imaging technology, which is capable of capturing brain vasculature and detecting tumors. Openwaters vision is to democratize safe and cheap diagnostic imaging in a world where three-quarters of the population does not have accessm due to scanner and equipment costs running thousands to millions of dollars. Enabled by exponential increases in sensor microchip performance, Mary Lous team utilizes ultrasound-guided near-infrared holography to detect pathological changes in fat, muscle, and tissue. This creates an imaging protocol that costs less than a dollar to implement and that has no cancer risk from ionizing radiation.

Poppy Crum, a neurophysiologist from Dolby Labs challenged the crowd to find optimization, autonomy, and greater freedom from the increased abundance of sensors in our lives. By utilizing the detailed and personalized data streams from sensors, the Dolby team hopes to adapt technology to individual needs and begin the journey of understanding the radically different mental responses we each experience to identical stimuli. In a talk that drew on Hollywood movies and resonating spiders, Poppy shared fascinating work on how our brains subconsciously work in groups. These findings have huge implications for effective medical treatment and can even help us understand other kinds of social behavior, such as why there is something magical about seeing a show with an audience.

Descending into the inhospitable and uncharted territory of caves has given Naowarat (Ann) Cheeptham a unique perspective on the worlds vast population of microorganisms. We are living through the perfect microbial storm of global travel that transports bacteria across vast distances, and leaves cross-species infections and antibiotic resistance looming on the horizon. Against this backdrop, Ann and her team are discovering new organisms, thriving in environments otherwise thought toxic, that could hold the key to the novel antimicrobial therapies of the future. Her talk closed with a poignant reminder of the fundamental link between human, animal, and environmental health, and how new understanding can benefit us all.

The first session of the day ended with Dean Mohamedally, from UCL Computer Science, showcasing projects that resulted from matching computer science students skills with Great Ormond Street Hospital clinicians who have a vision but dont know how to build or create a solution. With a mission of future-ready and open data built on a foundation of interoperability, the UCL computer science team has been involved in healthcare projects as diverse as bed allocation systems, smartphone app accessibility, real-time sensing IoT, and chatbots for trainees and clinicians.

Throughout the day, a parallel EY Health Access Stage hosted founders pitching a diverse range of exciting start-up companies addressing dementia detection, providing low cost ultrasound, improving menstrual health, and aiding those with visual impairment. Networking breaks were filled with demonstrations of emerging technology, rapid in-vitro diagnostics, wearables, and even a chance to tour the blood vasculature, where participants could battle cardiovascular risks in virtual reality.

The morning continued with the worlds most watched surgeonShafi Ahmedsharing his experiences of healthcare education and implementation in Bolivia. The story of Bolivias vision to build a future-focused healthcare system that is more efficient and equitable is inspiring, despite the country having some of the most limited healthcare resources in the world. Shafi is now the namesake of soon-to-open hospital in Bolivia, that has been designed from the ground up to increase healthcare access with technology and to begin to realize healthcare as a right.

By representing basic molecules in high-dimensional models of function, shape, and properties, Noor Shaker and her start-up company, GTN, are using AI to rapidly accelerate the process of drug discovery at a fraction of current costs. GTNs team of quantum mechanics and video game and machine learning experts has already discovered commercially available molecules from first principles in a matter of days.

Austin Burt and his lab at Imperial College are setting themselves the task of genetically engineering the perfect mosquito to tackle one of the worlds greatest heath burdens: malaria. By leveraging the commonplace biological processes of selfish genesDNA repair and reproductionthe team is pioneering a genetic innovation built on the same principles as a vaccine. If Burts labs models of how these mutations will spread in the populations of mosquitoes near African villages are correct, there could be 99% reduction in mosquito population in only handful of insect generations. After extensive field testing, the team hopes to deploy the innovation as one of the tools that helps eradicate malaria.

Paola Bonfanti from the Crick Institute ended the first half of the day with a talk covering the history and state-of-art of stem cell research. Paola drew an arc from the first cell therapy (blood transfusions) and the first stem cell therapy (bone marrow transplants) that saved millions of lives, to the incredible contemporary techniques that are capable of regenerating entire organs. She shared the impressive results of a lab grown esophagus that was then successfully implanted into a mouse; raising the possibility of personalized implants that trigger no immune reaction and are capable of growing along with growing children.

Over lunch EY and networking breaks throughout the day, the EY Health Access Stage also hosted a number of excellent panel discussions on hot topics in biotech and medicine, including the aging population, the future of cell therapy, and the challenges of personalized medicine underpinned by big data. The afternoon sessions began with a fireside chat, where Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies shared wisdom based on her career as both a practicing clinician and national policy maker. In a discussion that covered Dame Sallys key role in founding both Genomics England and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), as well as her experience with anti-vaxers, public health, and fake news, she charged the audience to be boldbut be based on good science.

Moorfields Eye Hospital and Google DeepMind representatives Pearse Keane and Alan Karthikesalingam took this theme of boldness into their talk with a live demonstration of the AI-enabled diagnostic platform they have developed for macular diseases, a leading cause of blindness worldwide. As one of the busiest ophthalmology centres in the world, Moorfields produces an average of 1,000 diagnostic retinal scans a day, which presented a huge challenge to both efficient diagnosis and sufficient clinician-patient contact time. This large volume of data did, however, present the ideal foundation for an automated diagnostic aid, based on neural networks, that can distinguish the clinically urgent from the mundane with the same accuracy as a specialist with twenty years experience.

The session closed with the big picture perspectives of Martin Cowie and Jane Metcalfe . Martin, a cardiologist at Imperial College, encouraged the audience to invest in their vascular health with a tour of the risk factors underpinning otherwise-invisible cardiovascular disease. He also shared exciting research suggesting that repurposed common medications could be used to control inflammation response in the vascular system and reduce long-term risk of stroke and heart attack. Jane, founder of WIRED magazine and latest venture NEO.LIFE , gave a glimpse of what the future of humanity may look like with longevity hacking and genome editing challenging the paradigm of when repairing our bodies strays into manipulating them in the interest of improvement and enhancement.

The final session of the day was opened by Karyn McCluskey (Community Justice Scotland), who shared Scotlands experience of being the first country in the world to declare violence a public health concern. By approaching the problem of violence in this way, and starting from the premise that life chances are not created equally, Karyn has led a program to interrupt the spread of violence, change the behavior of those involved, and create a new normal of a violence-free environment. The results of the program speak for themselves, and they were bolstered by Karyns infectious enthusiasm to improve peoples lives at every levelto live a day-to-day that is comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful.

Professor of immunology and best-selling author Daniel Davis introduced the audience to the historic building blocks of the immune system and the immunotherapy revolution that we are set to experience in our lifetimes. Working from the premise of what actually triggers an immune response in the body, Daniel shared fascinating research on immune cells receptors and antibodies that can be harnessed to create new and more effective cancer treatments. The scope of such treatments and number of emerging technologies are both vast and stretch beyond cancer to autoimmune diseases.

Samiya Parvez from Andiamo told the story of how her late son Diamos experiences of poorly designed orthotics spurred Samiya and her husband Naveed to start 3D-printing patient-specific braces and other orthotic devices. Andiamos creations are lighter and fit better than common current devices. They are also produced rapidly enough that children have not had the chance to grow out of the device originally measured for them, a common problem with current orthotics. Samiyas touching personal story and Andiamos mission to help all children globally with their orthotic needs underscored her message to the audience: empathy creates radical disruption.

The session was energetically and entertainingly closed by Rory Sutherland from Ogilvy, who shared his experiences from the advertising world of how to effectively transform the way people think and act. Challenging the audience to consider the positive power of placebos in medicine, Rory also asked the provocative question: when it comes to getting humans to act in ways beneficial for their health, do we care if theyre doing it for the right reasons?

The exciting and feature-packed day ended with the announcement of Erin Smith, founder of FacePrint, as the start-up pitch winner. Erin, a teen entrepreneur hailing from Kansas, wowed the audience with her innovative idea of using emotional distance when smiling and laughing as a biomarker for early onset of Parkinsons disease. Erins app is now in development, having completed an initial survey to gather data on facial expression response to differentiated between diseased states.

WIRED Health returns to the Francis Crick Institute on March 25thand 26th 2020.

Flashbacks: Notes from WIRED Health 2018 at Francis Crick Institute; WIRED Health 2017 London: Looking Into The Future of HealthcareRobotics Prosthetics Market Information: By-Products (Prosthetic Arms, Prosthetic Feet/Ankles), Technology (Bluetooth, Myoelectric Technology) Application (Lower Body, Upper Body Extremity) And End Users (Hospitals, Clinics)  Global Forecast till 2027

Robotics Prosthetics Market  Scenario

Robotic prosthetics are artificial limbs which combine the prosthetics with robotics to offer fully functional prosthetics which allow patients to carry out normal functions with their artificial limbs. This factor alone has boosted the robotic prosthetics market. Market Research Futures survey of the global robotics prosthetics market has found that the growth of the market is anticipated at a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period from 2016 to 2027.

To Get Free Sample Copy of Report visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1316

Robotics prosthetics represent immense promise for advanced medical technology, which is in high demand. Medical advancements are being achieved at a rapid pace, and the ability of robotics prosthetics to promote normal limb function after the loss of a natural limb is in high demand. The increasing prevalence of various chronic diseases which can result in limb loss is a key factor driving the growth of the global market. The expanding geriatric population is another driver of the global robotics prosthetics market  increasing cases of fragility fractures combined with an increase in awareness regarding innovative medical technology. Increasing spending on healthcare as well as investments in R&D in the advancement of existing technology are some other factors contributing to the growth of the market.

Robotic prosthetics are not well covered in insurance reimbursement policies which has been a challenge to the adoption of robotic prosthetics. Moreover, robotics prosthetics are expensive, which makes them inaccessible, thus restraining market growth.

Regional Analysis

The Americas which comprise of North America and South America are also subdivided into various country level markets. Among these, the U.S leads growth for the Americas regional robotics prosthetics market. The regions high prevalence of orthopedic diseases has resulted in the high demand for robotic prosthetics. High healthcare investments and the presence of a developed healthcare sector which has an affinity toward the adoption of advanced technology are some other factors driving market growth. Notably, Mexican Americas have a high risk for osteoporosis and as such are vulnerable to bone issues that may result in a need for robotic prosthetics.

Europe is a significant market which has a strong affinity toward R&D as evidenced by government support, via encouraging regulations. The high availability for funds toward investments in R&D is driving the growth of the robotics prosthetics market.

The Asia Pacific is a highly promising market due to its sheer size. The region has an immense patient population with growing awareness regarding advanced medical technology. The presence of a rapidly expanding geriatric population is a key driver of the market. The regions healthcare sector is undergoing heavy reforms as well as witnessing increasing investments. Increasing demand among patients for high-quality treatment options is driving international market players to focus on the region. The region also significant in the medical tourism market and as such is likely to attract more patients as the quality of healthcare improves.

Market Segmentation

The Robotics Prosthetics Market has been segmented in MRFRs report on the basis of product, application, technology, end-user, and region. Products available in the robotics prosthetics market include prosthetic hands, prosthetic legs & knees, prosthetic arms, prosthetics feet/ankles, and others.

Technology employed in robotic prosthetics include Bluetooth, microprocessor knees, myoelectric technology, prosthetic foot materials, and others.

Applications of robotic prosthetics are divided between lower body extremities and upper body extremities.

End users of robot prosthetics include hospitals, clinics, and others.

Key Players in the Robotics Prosthetics Market:

The Global Robotics Prosthetics Market is highly fragmented with the presence of many local players and international players. The main focus of these players is cost reduction and innovation to ensure sustainability. In addition, the international players implemented growth strategies through collaborations and partnerships to expand their overall market share.

SynTouch, LLC, Transenterix, Inc., Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Touch Bionics Inc., Mazor Robotics Ltd., Stryker Corporation, HDT Global Inc, Medrobotics Corporation, Hansen Medical, Inc., KUKA Roboter GmbH, ZOLL Medical Corporation, Smith & Nephew, ReWalk Robotics, Aethon, and Shadow Robot Company

Some Brief Table of Contents of Report

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope Of The Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.2 Restrains

4.3 Opportunities

4.4 Challenges

4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators

4.6 Technology Trends & Assessment

Chapter 5. Market Factor Analysis

5.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis

5.1.1 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers

TOC Continued

Do You Have Specific Requirement? Ask To Our Experts https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1316

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Robotics Prosthetics Industry Synopsis, 2017-2027

Table 2 Global Robotics Prosthetics Market Estimates And Forecast, 2017-2027, (USD Million)

Table 3 Global Robotics Prosthetics Market By Region, 2017-2027, (USD Million)

Table 4 Global Robotics Prosthetics Market By Products, 2017-2027, (USD Million)

Table 5 Global Robotics Prosthetics Market By Technology, 2017-2027, (USD Million)

Table 6 Global Robotics Prosthetics Market By Applications, 2017-2027, (USD Million)

Table 7 Global Robotics Prosthetics Market By End Users, 2017-2027, (USD Million)

Continued

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

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Phone: +1 646 845 9312by Sara Guaglione , April 2, 2019

Create & Cultivate has launched a membership program today to give businesswomen audience exclusive access to premium content, as well as other perks, like networking opportunities, monthly career mentor sessions and entrepreneurial resources.

The Insiders annual membership costs $140 a year, or $15 a month.

Create & Cultivate is an online platform and experiential company that offers women tips, tools and resources to create and cultivate their dream careers, covering topics from entrepreneurship to life as a working woman.

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The audience demographic is 21 to 40 years old, but the bulk is young female entrepreneurs from 25-35. They range from those in corporate careers to those who own small businesses or start-ups.

Create & Cultivate puts on over 50 conferences a year, including three large-scale conferences and multiple free events around the country. They attract hundreds of attendees  up to 1,500 at the larger ones  and celebrities, such as Jennifer Hudson, Kim Kardashian and Jessica Alba.

Sponsors at the conferences include Google, Microsoft and Amazon.

Offline and experiential is the heartbeat of the business, CEO-founder Jaclyn Johnson told Publishers Daily. The bulk of our revenue comes from brand sponsors and partnerships.

Before the age of 30, Johnson launched and sold her first business, a digital marketing company called (No Subject).

I was a solo female entrepreneur and I went through a lot of trials and tribulations that you go through as a young female founder, Johnson said. But nothing online looked or spoke to me as a millennial women. Everything was outdated or skewed to a male audience.

Seeing a space in the market for a company that could bring businesswomen together and offer resources and networking opportunities, Johnson decided to go out and build it.

Membership is a way to now scale the Create & Cultivate business further.

We have this audience, but we are not monetizing them long-term, Johnson said. "Membership was really a solution."

Create & Cultivate reaches 1 million people monthly across its platforms, including its site, newsletters and social. But just a portion of that audience is attending Create & Cultivates events.

Not everyone can afford a plane ticket or the conferences," Johnson said. "So how do we close that gap and give everyone access to these events?

The new membership offering gives Create & Cultivates audience unlimited access to videos of all of its digital panels throughout the year at every event, from your living room, Johnson said, and at a price point that felt super accessible.

It also offers monthly digital mentor sessions from a range of people, such as PR executives, lawyers and inspirational motivational speakers, to get members questions asked and answered, she said.

Members also get unique content, such as downloadable guides on how to create their own LLC, as well as pre-sale tickets to Create & Cultivate conferences and front-of-the-line passes.

This gives access and education to women nationwide, Johnson said. This is for someone who cant attend the conferences but wants access to information and an extra layer of access to diehard Create & Cultivate fans.

Last year, the brand introduced its first book and podcast. This year, in addition to the new membership program, Create & Cultivate will announce the launch of its first direct-to-consumer product.by Rob Williams , April 3, 2019

This week, Vogue returned to Greece after a seven-year absence as the Mediterranean countrys economy enters its third year of growth after bottoming in 2016.

The fashion magazines reappearance is a sign that its OK for Greeks to be glamorous again. Following the 2008 financial crisis, Greece went through a hellish eight-year recession that erased 25% of the countrys per capita output and drove up unemployment to 28%.

The latest incarnation of Vogue Greece aims to reach tech-savvy millennials with a strong focus on digital, social media and events.

Dear Vogue Greece, welcome back again, Anna Wintour, Vogues editor-in-chief since 1988, writes in the comeback edition that features model Bella Hadid on the cover. Your return after years of absence fills us with joy.

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Natassa Bouterakou was named publisher of Vogue Greece last year. Conde Nast International licensed the title to media company Kathimerines Ekdoseis SA. A monthly edition of the fashion magazine will be distributed in the Sunday edition of its Kathimerini newspaper.

The relaunch marks the second time in about 20 years that Vogue has entered Greece.

Vogue Hellas originally appeared in 2000, published by Lyberis Publications, which also produced trend-setting titles such as Status, Life & Style and Glamour. Lyberis collapsed in 2012 amid a dearth of advertising as Greeces economy shrank.

The latest incarnation of Vogue Greece aims to reach tech-savvy millennials with a strong focus on digital, social media and events.

Thaleia Karafyllidou, a native of Thessaloniki whos getting a Ph.D in intellectual property law from the University of Manchester, is the editor-in-chief of Vogue Greece. At age 29, shes the youngest editor-in-chief of a Vogue print title.

We are bringing the Vogue brand back to the country in a new era where luxury has been redefined, she said in a profile of the new magazine. Its not just about a beautiful pair of shoes or a handbag  now luxury is your free time and the time that you spend offline.

Vogue Greece joins a market that includes Elle, Harpers Bazaar and Marie Claire.

Despite Greeces economic woes, the country of about 11 million people has its share of wealthy people to fuel luxury spending. As of last year, Greece had about 66,000 millionaires, a population forecast to grow 6% to about 70,000 by 2023, according to the Knight Frank World Wealth Report.

Greeces economy grew by 1.9% last year and its unemployment rate has fallen to 18%, which is high compared with the 6.5% rate for the European Union. The recovery is spurring interest from investors.

Im super optimistic about the Greek economy, Joseph Oughourlian, founder of the $1.8 billion Amber Capital hedge fund, told Bloomberg. Its got all the catalysts in reverse, versus a lot of countries -- not just in Europe, in the rest of the world. Its got populism receding, it has the economy in a very, very strong footing, its got incredibly strong fundamentals.Perhaps signaling things to come for WhatsApp users around the world, the Facebook unit is now letting folks in India fact check content on the fly.

In partnership with local startup Proto, WhatsApp is endeavoring to categorize messages shared among users as true, false, misleading or disputed.

Although WhatsApp boasts roughly 200 million users in India, the country is also home to some of the services biggest critics. One reason: WhatsApp has been used as a tool to facilitate mob violence in India.

WhatsApp has long considered India to be a testing ground for security and content-quality features.

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Last year, WhatsApp put limits on the ability of users in India to forward messages to others, while removing the quick-forward button next to media messages.

Separately on Tuesday, Facebook said it removed hundreds of accounts and Pages in India and Pakistan for engaging in what it called inauthentic behavior and spreading spam.

Top U.S. social networks remain the target of government-led misinformation specialists around the world.

On multiple occasions over the past year, both Facebook and Twitter said they uncovered coordinated efforts to flood their platforms with false and misleading information.

More broadly, WhatsApp is still trying to regain its footing following a slew of executive departures last year.

In an especially damaging blog, Neeraj Arora, Chief Business Officer, WhatsApp, announced plans to leave the unit last November.

A key player at WhatsApp, Arora was the fourth employee to join the messaging service seven years ago -- well before Facebook bought the company for nearly $20 billion in 2014.by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 2, 2019

The ad industry is urging a California lawmaker to retreat from her proposal to allow consumers to sue companies that violate the state's new privacy law.

The California Consumer Privacy Act, passed last year and slated to take effect in 2020, gives consumers the right to learn what information has been collected about them by companies, the right to have that information deleted, and the right to prevent the sale of that data. The law also allows requires companies to take reasonable data-security measures.

The bill in its current form only allows state residents to sue over data breaches caused by a company's failure to implement reasonable security. But last month, state Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson introduced SB 561, which would also allow consumers to sue companies that fail to provide consumers with their information, don't honor requests to refrain from selling the data, or violate other provisions of the law.

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That expanded right to sue would encourage frivolous lawsuits by empowering consumers to sue even when they haven't been injured by the alleged activity, the Association of National Advertisers, Interactive Advertising Bureau, American Association of Advertising Agencies, American Advertising Federation and Network Advertising Initiative say in a letter sent Tuesday to Jackson. They are asking her to reconsider her proposed legislation.

Without a requirement to suffer some harm or injury from a violation of the CCPA, there will be nothing to stop individuals and plaintiffs attorneys from filing frivolous lawsuits against companies for violations that have no impact on privacy, the organizations write.

But others, including state Attorney General Xavier Becerra and digital rights groups, say consumers should be able to sue over privacy violations.

Ordinary technology users should have the power to decide for themselves whether to bring a lawsuit to enforce their statutory privacy rights, the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation said earlier this year in a blog post discussing the California Consumer Privacy Act.

The California Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to take up Jackson's proposal April 9.by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, April 3, 2019

Austin-based YouEarnedIt and HighGround have merged to rebrand as Kazoo. The combination of the two companies reflects their commitment to integrated people management aimed at increasing productivity, as well as recognition and rewards platform for employees.

Paul Pellman has stepped in as the combined companys CEO. Marketers may remember Pellman as the CEO of Adometry, which focused on click-fraud protection and attribution. Pellman formerly served as the director of Google Analytics.

Google acquired Adometry in May 2014.

The new name celebrates the combined companies. Its a bit provocative and reflects a platform that supports a purposeful workplace, Pellman said. In early October he joined the company, but didnt officially announce his appointment until today.

Im a startup guy and just want to get back to running a business, he said, adding that to be successful you must have a great company culture -- the aspect of building an evangelical company, where youre selling something new in the marketplace.

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Kazoos tagline -- "We took a word and made it mean something new. Something bolder" -- boasts supporting customers like Hitachi, Kia, Kaiser Permanente, Meredith and Patagonia, among others that will eventually extend this platform to the companys customers. Kazoo also will add behavior bonuses and analytics.

YouEarnedIt, which launched in 2011, enabled companies to provide recognition and rewards for their employees. Former CEO Autumn Manning led the company through multiple investments and the acquisition of HighGround, a human relations software firm, last year.

On Wednesday the company rebranded to Kazoo, added the tagline "when work is working," and named Pellman as the new CEO. YouEarnedIt and HighGround had previously operated as separate businesses.

If the company was around when I was running Adometry, I would have acquired the platform in a heartbeat, a New York minute, he said. I saw for four years while at Google, how they have a major emphasis to make sure people are happy and aligned.

Retention and motivating employees has become so important the lower unemployment becomes, he said, and thats a lot of what Kazoo does.by Sara Guaglione , April 3, 2019

After serving as Politicos editor-in-chief since cofounding it in 2007, John Harris is stepping down.

Matt Kaminski, currently Politicos global editor in Europe, will take on the role of editor-in-chief next Monday. Kaminski joined Politico in 2014 after working at The Wall Street Journal for over a decade.

Harris cofounded Politico, the politics and policy media company, with Robert Allbritton, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei. While Allbritton remains publisher at Politico, Allen and VandeHei left to create Axios in 2016.

Harris will continue to serve as chairman of the editorial oversight committee at Politico, as well as editor-in-chief of Politico Europe. He will also write a new column about the national and global issues affecting the 2020 election.

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As I looked out at our newsrooms in the United States and Europe, I saw journalists having impact on the important stories and wondered enviously: I think those guys might be having more fun than I am, Harris wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday. No longer.

Additionally, Harris will join the corporate board overseeing Politico.

"It is simply inconceivable that we could have a publication with anything like Politicos current success if not for John's own judgment and values," Allbritton wrote to staff Tuesday. "I am glad he will continue to be by my side."

Under Harris' leadership, Politico went from a newsroom of about 30 to over 300 reporters and editors.

In an email to Politico, Harris wrote: "No one should want to organize a career around looking backward at a fading old order; far better to face the future with determination to create a compelling new order... I think we did that. We need to keep doing it. The question of 'What's next?' seems every bit as engaging and even more urgent now than it did 12 years ago.



Separately, the Los Angeles Times has named Shani Hilton deputy managing editor for news. She will join the newspaper in June, reporting to executive editor Norman Pearlstine and managing editor Scott Kraft.

Hilton is currently vice president, news and programming at BuzzFeed News, where she oversees U.S.-based news operations. She has been with BuzzFeed for six years. Previous work stints include Washington City Paper and NBC4, also in D.C.

Pearlstine stated Hilton had a reputation for principled journalism, management, leadership and collaboration.

The Los Angeles Times is in the midst of a renaissance, and Shani will play a key role in our renewed commitment to distinctive journalism, Kraft added, noting the newspaper is ramping up efforts to reach a larger audience.

Hilton is the paper's latest hire. Its editorial staff has grown 30% since Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the LAT and San Diego Union-Tribune.



by Sara Guaglione , April 3, 2019



Conde Nast Italias food magazine La Cucina Italiana will be available in the U.S. and U.K. this year.

Based in Milan, Italy, the brand will expand with a website for the U.S. market this September. A site, events and a magazine will come to the U.K. starting in November, according to WWD, which first reported the news.

According to a post on food blog Chowhound, some readers received letters early last year announcing an upcoming U.S. launch, with recipes, travel features and restaurant reviews on Italian food, wine and culinary lifestyle.

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Once available as a subscription in the U.S., the offering was discontinued by 2016.

Conde Nast Italia, the Italian arm of publisher Conde Nast, bought the magazine in 2013 from owner Lapo Niccolini.

The 90-year-old magazine brand, which already has a presence in the Czech Republic, Turkey and Serbia, also has its eye on Germany, France and Spain for future expansions, according to WWD.

La Cucina Italiana's Italian site attracts 3.4 million unique users each month (as of January 2019), a 45% increase year-over-year, according to the brands media kit. Over 150,000 copies of the magazine are distributed, with a largely female audience of professionals and culinary enthusiasts.

La Cucina Italiana also operates a cooking school based out of Milan.

Francesca Airoldi, sales and marketing general director of Conde Nast Italia, told WWD the goal behind the expansion into foreign markets is to export the excellence of made-in-Italy cuisine and food, as well as to work with Italian brands efforts in other markets.

La Cucina Italianas English-language websites will be made up of 30% original and local content and 70% adapted from the Italian content.

Conde Nast Italia also publishes Vanity Fair, Glamour, Vogue, GQ, Wired, AD and Conde Nast Traveller in Italian.by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, April 3, 2019

Just days after Vrbo changed the pronunciation of its name to the way many already perceived it, the company -- a HomeAway division of Expedia Group -- launched a new advertising campaign and new feature reflecting the nickname that consumers gave it years ago.

The television campaign -- which includes search engine optimization, paid-search and retargeting ad campaigns -- pays tribute to the companys roots by matching families and groups of friends with their ideal vacation homes. The site offers information on more than two million unique properties worldwide across its online marketplace.

Thousands of travelers search the site daily. Now there are new features too, such as Pinterest-like boards.

The mobile and desktop tool, called Trip Boards, allows travelers to create custom boards with their favorite properties by saving them in one place. Users can share Trip Boards with friends and family, who can vote, comment and help to choose the perfect place to stay together.

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For example, they can vote to stay at a summer beach getaway or a place to hold an annual family retreat. And a new app push-notification allows users to stay up to date on Trip Board activity in real-time.

The site has offered a Ranking Metrics page, which is designed to help those listing their properties make more informed decisions about the listing.

The data provides insights on the listing's performance within a specific market, which is the location most often searched by travelers to find and book a property. Those listing properties can impact the search position by focusing on where to improve the listing's market ranking in each of the Ranking Metrics, according to Vrbo.

The push to rebrand Vrbo began on March 27, when the company introduced a new logo. The new advertising campaign comes complete with quirky visuals and rollicking choreography set to an iconic Broadway tune.

Todd Strauss-Schulson from Prettybird, who is director of Isnt It Romantic, created Vrbos campaign -- which depicts three groups of families and friends being matched with vacation homes that fulfill their unique needs.

The 30-second spot highlights Vrbos new pronunciation, VER-bow, with the opening line "Ver-bow or Ver-bow I must get away."

The ad, which currently runs online, will begin airing April 15 on a mix of national networks and category-specific cable networks, like HGTV, Travel Channel and TLC.

The commercial is scheduled to appear during "Good Morning America," "Today Show" and "Saturday Night Live," as well as home, family and travel-related programs, such as "Fixer Upper," "Property Brothers" and "Bizarre Foods."by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 3, 2019

Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee say they are concerned over the possibility of serious inaccuracies in the Federal Communications Commission's upcoming report on broadband.

Given the importance of the report to policies pursued by the Commission, it is critical that the underlying data be accurate and carefully vetted, Rep. Donald McEachin and 11 other lawmakers say in a letter to the FCC.

The elected officials are also urging the FCC to immediately correct any faulty deployment data or flawed analysis.

The letter comes several weeks after advocacy group Free Press noted that a summary of the upcoming report appeared to contain a serious error that inflated the availability of broadband.

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The FCC said in February that it had circulated a draft report concluding that broadband deployment is improving, both in terms of availability and speed. The report draws on filings by carriers twice a year.

Several weeks later, the advocacy group Free Press said its independent analysis of the data revealed errors in the report. Specifically, Free Press said the report reflected errors made by broadband provider BarrierFree, which said in a December 2017 filing that it offered fiber-to-the-home and fixed wireless service at speeds of nearly 1 GB to Census blocks containing almost 62 million people.

Free Press said it found that report suspect, given that BarrierFree said earlier in 2017 that it served zero Census blocks. BarrierFree publicly acknowledged last month that its December 2017 filing was erroneous, and said it's working with the FCC to correct the data.

Free Press says the incorrect information from BarrierFree resulted in a massive over-statement of the change in broadband deployment at the national level during 2017.

The FCC draft report concludes that 19.4 million Americans lacked broadband access in 2017, down from 26 million who had no broadband access in 2016. But if BarrierFree's figures are removed, 21.3 million Americans lack broadband access.

The lawmakers now say the FCC's apparent reliance on BarrierFree's data raises serious questions as to what steps the Commission is taking to validate the data it receives from providers.

McEachin and the other representatives are also asking the FCC to answer a host of questions, including when it learned that BarrierFree's report was incorrect. The lawmakers also want to know how the FCC evaluates data submitted by internet service providers, and whether it has reason to believe any other reports by ISPs are incorrect.

The lawmakers have given the FCC until April 23 to respond.PET scans that can detect changes in the brain relating to Alzheimers disease could improve the diagnosis and medical care of people with dementia and similar symptoms. Share on Pinterest An innovative type of brain scan may improve care for people with Alzheimers disease, dementia, and other forms of cognitive impairment. Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing the early results of a study that is examining the clinical impact of a new type of scan called amyloid PET imaging. The study is a nationwide trial involving more than 11,000 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia symptoms who enrolled at 595 sites across the United States. It is the first investigation of its kind, and all the participants are beneficiaries of Medicare, the U.S. federal health insurance plan. The results of the first phase of the trial, which now feature in a JAMA paper, reveal that providing doctors with amyloid PET scan results can affect the medical management of people with dementia symptoms. In almost two-thirds of cases, doctors changed their minds about medications, counseling, and other medical decisions after seeing the amyloid PET imaging results. Also, in more than a third of cases, doctors altered their diagnosis of the cause of the symptoms. We are impressed, says lead study author Gil D. Rabinovici, who is a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, by the magnitude of these results, which make it clear that amyloid PET imaging can have a major impact on how we diagnose and care for patients with Alzheimers disease and other forms of cognitive decline.

Dementia, Alzheimers, and cognitive impairment Dementia refers to a group of symptoms that includes a decline in the ability to remember, think, reason, and relate to others. The symptoms can worsen over time until the person can no longer take care of themselves and live independently. According to a 2018 report from Alzheimers Disease International, there are close to 50 million people worldwide with dementia, and this figure is set to triple by 2050. Two-thirds of people with dementia have Alzheimers disease. The rest have vascular, mixed, Lewy body, or frontotemporal dementia. All of these conditions affect the brain and involve the loss of brain cells. In the U.S., where Alzheimers is the sixth leading cause of death, the Alzheimers Association estimate that there are about 5.8 million people with the disease and that this figure is set to rise to almost 14 million by 2050. MCI is a condition in which a person can experience symptoms that are similar to those of early dementia. For instance, they may have some memory loss, find it difficult to carry out familiar tasks, be unable to recognize places and people, and struggle to make decisions. Although MCI often precedes dementia, not everyone with MCI will develop dementia. The underlying cause might not be a progressive disease that kills brain cells. It could, for example, be a result of drug side effects, depression, or a lack of vitamin B-12.

Brain plaques and amyloid PET imaging One of the distinguishing features of Alzheimers disease is the buildup of toxic plaques of amyloid protein in the brain. Until recently, the only way to detect this hallmark was through postmortem tests on brain tissue. Now, thanks to amyloid PET imaging, doctors can detect Alzheimers brain plaques in living people. With this type of medical imaging, the individual receives an injection of a chemical tracer before they undergo the scan. The tracer travels to the brain and sticks to any amyloid plaques that might be present. These then show up on the scan. Although there is no cure for Alzheimers disease, the ability to diagnose it more accurately in the early stages can help doctors prescribe the correct treatment and give patients and their families time to prepare for the future. It can also improve the selection of suitable candidates for Alzheimers drug trials. If the amyloid PET scan can rule out Alzheimers disease as the cause of a persons dementia symptoms, doctors can then evaluate other causes, some of which might even be reversible, such as medication, sleep disturbance, or mood disorders. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved the use of the chemical tracers that amyloid PET scans require for diagnosing dementia. However, health insurance schemes do not currently cover their cost, putting them out of reach for most people. Study co-author Dr. Maria C. Carrillo is chief science officer of the Alzheimers Association, one of the studys sponsors. She states that the study offers highly credible, large-scale evidence that amyloid PET imaging can be a powerful tool to improve the accuracy of Alzheimers diagnosis and lead to better medical management, especially in difficult-to-diagnose cases. It is important, she adds, that amyloid PET imaging be more broadly accessible to those who need it.

First phase of IDEAS trial The study is the first phase of the Imaging Dementia  Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) trial. The researchers examined data on 11,409 people to analyze how amyloid PET imaging changed doctors diagnoses and their choice of medical treatment. The primary measure was changes to decisions about prescription drugs and about counseling patients and their families on safety and planning. The secondary measure that the team evaluated was whether amyloid PET scans caused doctors to change their diagnoses. The team also explored how the scans affected referrals to Alzheimers drug trials. The results showed that in the case of more than 60 percent of participants, amyloid PET scans caused doctors to change their minds about medical management. This was more than twice the number that the investigators had been expecting. Also, doctors were twice as likely to prescribe Alzheimers drugs to participants with MCI if their PET scans showed significant evidence of amyloid plaques. There were also cases in which doctors who had previously prescribed Alzheimers drugs discontinued them when the participants PET scan showed scant evidence of amyloid deposits.We envision this new technique as a low-cost office procedure done under local anesthesia, says one of its lead developers, Michael Hill, Ph.D.

However, the new technique would do away with almost all of these inconveniences, according to the developers.

Such procedures involve cutting through live tissue, carving into cartilage, suturing the skin, and potential scarring after the intervention, as well as a long recovery period.

The research team  from Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA, and the University of California in Irvine  explains that, as it stands, much of reconstructive surgery, such as interventions to reshape the nose or ears, are invasive and may lead to scarring.

The originators of the new technique described it yesterday at the Spring 2019 National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society in Orlando, FL. The method suggests an innovative way of reshaping cartilage and other tissue containing collagen easily  and without scarring.

A new, quick and easy technique for reshaping cartilage and other living tissue could change the way surgeons carry out certain reconstructive interventions, such as repairing septum deviations.

Ears and parts of the nose contain cartilage, a type of tissue consisting of loose strands of collagen fibers that special macromolecules hold together. If you picked [this structure] up, the strands wouldnt fall apart, but it would be floppy, Hill explains.

Moreover, different kinds of cartilage contain negatively charged proteins and positively charged sodium ions, which are present at different densities, determining whether the cartilage is tougher or softer.

Through various experiments, Hill and colleagues found that if they delivered electrical current at a constant voltage through cartilage, this would determine the water in that tissue and split it into its components  oxygen and hydrogen ions or protons.

When this happens, the positively charged protons neutralize the negatively charged proteins, which renders the cartilage softer and easier to reshape. As Hill puts it, Once the tissue is floppy, you can mold it to whatever shape you want.

To test the effectiveness of this method, the researchers decided to try it out on a rabbits ear, working on an ear that usually sits upright, and aiming to reshape it so that it stayed bent.

The procedure involved the team applying a local anesthetic, then using microneedles to insert tiny electrodes into the tissue, and applying constant electrical current for a few minutes. Once they had softened the cartilage, it took the form of a premade 3D mold in the shape they desired.

In the rabbit model, once the researches turned off the electrical current and removed the mold, the ear cartilage was able to harden, maintaining the new, bent shape.

This new technique, the team says, does not cause the pain and scarring of a typical remodeling intervention.

While the method could apply to cosmetic procedures, the researchers emphasize that it would also come in handy for people who, for instance, have a septum deviation that affects their breathing, or who have to deal with immobile joints.

The researchers also believe they could adapt this method to reshape the cornea, the front, outermost layer of the eye that also contains collagen. When the cornea is too curvy, it can cause nearsightedness, and so finding a way to adapt this minimally invasive technique for eye surgery would make cornea corrective procedures much easier.

At the moment, Hill and colleagues are looking at licensing their innovative technique with dedicated companies that create medical devices. However, they acknowledge that, before these procedures become available for humans, they must first pass safety and effectiveness tests in clinical trials.WASHINGTON

April 3, 2019

the United States

Dublin

Cork

Dublin

27 April 2019

10:00 GMT

27 April 2019

15:00 GMT

28 April 2019

10:00 GMT

Gilbert Mottla

John Waterstone

the United States

the United States

Ireland

Amanda Segal

Dublin

Cork

/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Shady Grove Fertility (SGF), home to the largest donor egg treatment program in, will be hosting three complimentary patient seminars in, Portlaoise, andto discuss their collaborative International Donor Egg Program. Theevent will take place onatat Ballsbridge Hotel. The Portlaoise event takes place onatat Midlands Park Hotel. The third event will take place at Cork Fertility in Lotamore House, one of Waterstone's four centers throughout the country, onatDuring the three seminars, Shady Grove Fertility's Ireland Program Director, Dr.and Waterstone Clinic physician, Dr.will outline the donor egg treatment process and discuss the specifics about this integrated program that enables patients from Waterstone Clinic to access fertility treatment in. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about success rates, traveling abroad for treatment, and what's involved in choosing a donor. In addition, a former Shady Grove Fertility international patient will share her experience and journey to parenthood.Attendees will also learn about two of Shady Grove Fertility's exclusive financial programs that make donor egg treatment affordable: Shared Donor Egg Program and Shared Risk 100% Refund Program for Donor Egg Treatment. Patients can qualify for Shady Grove Fertility's Shared Donor Egg and Shared Risk 100% Refund Programs. Combined, these programs offer patients up to six donor egg cycles for one flat amount. If the patient does not take home a baby or chooses to opt out of the program before reaching six cycles, a full refund will be given. Shady Grove Fertility's Donor Egg Program provides patients with a highly effective treatment to overcome infertility, with 50 percent delivery rate per embryo transfer.Shady Grove Fertility has the largest donor egg program in. Through their streamlined program,patients are able to work locally with Waterstone Clinic, with just two visits to the U.S., while gaining access to Shady Grove Fertility's donors through their donor registry. Through this program, couples and individuals will have the ability to choose a medically, genetically, and psychologically prescreened donor who is ready to cycle and donate, without the wait. Shady Grove Fertility's donor process is anonymous but completely transparent, as the donor database provides patients with a wealth of information about each donor.To learn more about Shady Grove Fertility's Donor Egg Program in America, reach International Patient Liaison,at Amanda.Segal@sgfertility.com or 301-545-1322. Register for the, Portlaoise, andseminars to learn more about overcoming infertility through this partnership.About Shady Grove Fertility (SGF) SGF is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence with more than 50,000 babies born and counting. With 34 locations throughout MD, PA, VA, D.C., GA, and FL, we offer patients individualized care, accept most insurance plans, and make treatment affordable through innovative financial options, including treatment guarantees. More physicians refer their patients to SGF than any other center. Call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com.SOURCE Shady Grove FertilityOn a very basic level, dreams are what we experience as images, sounds and other sensations, resulting from an internal mental process that happens when we are asleep.

Dreams that we have while we sleep can be pleasant, scary, funny, exotic, sometimes extremely personal and sometimes very far-fetched. No matter what, our dreams have never failed to intrigue us, puzzle us, sometimes even embarrass us, and we often wonder if our dreams have a bearing on something in our real life.

Most of us wish to sleep on, more so when someone tries to wake us up in the middle of a pleasant dream. Or, we wake up with a jolt, sometimes sweating profusely and extremely relieved that it was after all a bad dream that thankfully came to an end.

Dream Symbols and Meanings

Though prophetic, telepathic and other paranormal interpretations of dreams abound in traditional cultures from time immemorial and have even extended into modern societies, there is no solid scientific evidence that can support any of these claims of dream interpretation. Books and websites claiming to offer expert interpretation for every kind of dream can never be taken too seriously because dream experts never seem to agree upon a common code to crack dream symbols.

Dreams may have symbolic meaning but no one can claim to draw an authentic list of dream symbols because dreams are very personal. Symbols and their reference can differ from person to person. For example, dreaming of a snake has been interpreted variously as repressed sexuality, a healing or transformation process, unsettling emotions, an inner conflict-the list can go on depending on whether the dream had one/two/many, yellow/green/black snake (s) that chased/bit/killed someone or you.

Freuds Dream Theories vs Modern Dream Research

Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist was the prominent forerunner of psychotherapy who developed the school of psychoanalysis and put forward dream theories and interpretations. Dubbing dreams the royal road to the unconscious, Freud described dreams as emerging from a persons suppressed areas of mindmost often a reflection of repressed childhood memories or associations, especially driven by unconscious sexual desire. Though modern dream research based on an understanding of human sleep cycles is putting forward more theories, there is no definitive answer to the question, 'Why do we dream?'

REM Sleep and Dreams

People who have a healthy sleep pattern at night have a particular stage of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) that lasts for about 90 minutes and can happen 3 to 4 times each night. REM sleep is the time when the brain is more active resembling a period of being awake. Experts have identified this REM period as the time when a person has dreams with story-like sequences, rich in content, action and emotion. A person tends to remember the dream if awakened during the REM sleep. Dreams during other stages of sleep may not be as vivid or memorable.

The Dream Process

Some experts in Sleep Medicine prefer to begin with the neurophysiological process of dreaming, to understand dreams. An EEG record of electrical signals from the brain while a person is asleep would show rapid-low-voltage brain activity during a dream and slow-waves between dreams.

The waves are connected to a memory consolidation process that the brain does each day as it arranges all thoughts of the day and arranges them according to the strength of emotion attached to each and the frequency with which each occurred. This process repeated daily and done throughout a lifetime helps us retain strong memoriesobvious or hidden, while weaker memories fade away.

The part of the brain that dreams is aware of the review of memories and researchers theorize that the brain tries to arrange strong, emotional memories as simple stories that are played during REM sleep.

Just as pleasant experiences are sometimes replicated in dreams, it is quite possible for dreams to reflect stress patterns, our anxieties and fears. Many of us have had dreams that relate to our current concerns and situations or events that troubled us in the past. Students anxiously preparing for exams tend to dream of examination halls or of sitting with a blank answer sheet or even have a nightmare where they seem to have forgotten all answers. People who had felt stressed while preparing for exams when they were young tend to dream of exam halls even in their sixties or even after they have retired from office work!

Wet Dreams

A wet dream or a nocturnal emission happens when there is a spontaneous orgasm involving the release of semen during sleep for a male or a wet vagina for a female. An erotic dream can result in nocturnal emission and you may or may not remember the dream sequence when you wake up. Wet dreams can be common in adolescents and young adults and there is nothing a person can do to control it. It does not happen as a result of conscious masturbation. Some teenagers who find wet dreams worrisome need to understand that it is a normal occurrence that's part of growing up. If it still disturbs, you can see a psychologist.

Some dreams can make you happy, refresh you, energize you, give you a new lead and set you on a new course of action when you wake up. Some dreams can puzzle you even frighten you. The worrisome ones, you can dismiss them as just dreams. But if certain recurrent dreams or nightmares continue to disturb, frighten, or distress you, visit a psychiatrist who can detect an inner conflict and perhaps counsel you and set your mind at ease.We all experience stress on a day-to-day level," National Award winner and three-time Filmfare awardee, Rajkummar Rao is also aware of other critical conversations. He wants to actively participate in the discussion around mental health in the country today; and in a candid conversation, after our cover shoot in Mumbai, urged to normalise such dialogues.

After all, he belongs to a crop of actors that embodies the radical change in guard, atop the Bollywood summit. At 34, he's currently basking in the glory of a series of successful performances and box-office hits, with close to half-a-dozen releases in 2019 as well.

And while every other interview of his has romanticised his counter-nepotism story, we sat him down to discuss his learnings on this journey, and open up about the flipside of being a genius at his craft: the side that dives deep into mental wellbeing, beyond his enigma as one of the best actors of his generation.

Rajkummar Rao: Mad Genius

Don't get me wrong, he's an exceptional individual when it comes to mental fortitude. His passion for cinema is comparable to Olympian dedication. He uses it as his armour against afflictions on the inside and out, and his experience thus lends perspective to a wider range of issues.

Right now my stress is a different kind of stress: finish one film and move on to the next film, and [prepare for] what character I have to play, he says, and adds, My most difficult time was when I lost my mother, around three years back. I couldn't cope with it; I still can't [completely] cope with it. That was very painful for me. But I kept myself immersed in work, and that helped me a lot.

Work, technology, social media, family, friends, love, validation, stress, anxiety, depression, peace  there's no odd one out; the part sum of these keywords recapitulates our existence in this day and age. Experts say that the 'sense of self' of the global population, and especially that of India  with more than half our country aged under 25  is still in its adolescence. Our existence is thus based on skyscraping aspiration, which is albeit the harbinger of unprecedented existential crises and mental illness.

This conversation is imperative, and remarkably poignant, coming from an Indian public figure (the likes of Deepika Padukone have made remarkable efforts in raising awareness, but the male demographic remains largely untouched), given the taboos and ignorance surrounding mental wellness in our society. India's contribution to global suicide deaths, according to the government, has increased from 18.7 percent to 24.3 percent among men since between 1990 and 2016. As many as five crore people in India suffer from depression, according to a report by the World Health Organisation.

With barely 5,000 psychiatrists and under 2,000 psychologists for 1.2 crore-plus people, only 10 percent of the patients get treated. Limited access to treatment only worsens the intrinsic apology for psychological disorders.

Wearing Deconstructed Suit by Gaurav Khanijo

Bollywood is a fitting microcosm. Out of the thousands who aspire for a breakthrough in the industry, the number of 'success stories' can literally be counted on the fingers of one hand. The rest: they either attempt careers as assistant directors (with a success rate of under five percent), or resort to odd jobs, or take extreme measures.

I used to work with aspirants [early on in my career]; I also auditioned with a lot of people who had been in the city for many years and then decided to quit. Having spent 8-10 years of your life doing something and then having to leave everything is extremely tough. But I respect them for their sheer courage in choosing to attempt a career in the industry, says Rao.

As one such Bollywood 'outsider,' his own life has been nothing short of spectacular. Born in Haryana, he grew up in Gurgaon as the youngest of three siblings; his father is a retired government servant. He graduated from Delhi University; and there he did something serious about his interest in acting for the first time, by appearing in a play at Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts in 2002. His perception towards cinema and acting changed during his time at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), in Pune. But that didn't ensure immediate success in Bollywood. It took him no less than two years of auditioning and perseverance to land his first role. What kept him afloat during that struggle?

I didn't treat it as some sort of pressure, he tells me. I was really enjoying being in my dream city, and the process of auditioning. It's because there was no plan B like 'I will try for 2-3 years and if nothing works out, I'm gonna move on.' What kept me going was that for those two years of no work there was still lots of acting. I used to come home, rehearse with friends and jam on ideas; I would be extremely delighted with just that, thinking I at least acted today. I was doing what I loved the most, so that kept me very happy, and also kept me going. My family, my mother was always there for me; they were always very supportive (sic).

Wearing Kimono-Shirt by Rajesh Pratap Singh & Trousers by The Uomo Co

The kind of fire Rao has in his belly is rare. His work is his retreat; it's his therapy; it's his obsession. But as the actor puts it himself, not everyone functions like that. So, what simple stress-relieving hacks can one employ?

I meditate. I also try and pray for everyone. Whenever I have the free time, I spend it with my loved ones. That's where I find my happiness. Also, [one should] travel whenever you have the time. If you can't go to a foreign country, travel within India; it's a beautiful country. Backpack; go out; take a train; have a budget holiday, he says.

***

India's consumption habits of mass media at present has spiralled thought patterns into loops of anxiety and grief, believes clinical psychologist Dr Sujatha Sharma. With decades of experience, she has been involved in the production of several programs on mental health awareness and counseling, both in print and electronic media. Most notably, she was the brain behind the Doordarshan show Mann Ki Baat (yes, it was the name of a mental health show before it became the Prime Minister's pet podcast), a 78-program series on preventing mental illnesses and promoting mental health.

The optimum use of news is not happening right now. The focus is on petty issues and with more aggression, TV channels are trying to exploit the minds of the masses to take specific stands, she says and warns, It has a huge impact on the mental health of people, especially those who are not responsible enough yet. It leads to biases in perception, frustration and hopelessness, and ultimately depression. Kids are getting increasingly anxious; they then become insecure and scared. All these gory images, being repeatedly fed to them as a part of a propaganda machinery, can also lead to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) without actually being in the scene of action.

Wearing Shirt by Dhruv Vaish & Trousers by Hermes

On the other hand though, she believes that film as a medium has become more sensitive in India. The content has evolved from being larger-than-life to a more slice-of-life approach that we often see on the big screens today.

Rao has built a career on playing identifiable yet aspirational real life characters. In Citylights, he personifies our breakdowns as Mumbai's hopeful citydwellers, while he restores one's faith in the light at the end of the tunnel via the titular real-life slain lawyer and human rights activist, Shahid Azmi, in Shahid. Watching Trapped, in a relatively quiet cinema hall, made me feel claustrophobic; and then my gut churned at the injustice that his character experiences in Newton. Even in his latest outing Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, he is suitably over-the-top as the 'filmi' writer trying to be artsy (and failing, both as a person and an artist), according to film critic Raja Sen.

It's good to see that films are taking up serious subjects and treating them better. It represents a change in conversation, says Sharma. [With the success of Rajkummar, Vicky Kaushal and Ayushmann Khurrana], the message is loud and clear: anybody can make it. There is a sense of equal opportunity now. They play real characters who make mistakes and can also be wrong, just like real people.

Wearing Double-Shirt Blouson by Dior

Till two decades ago, you wanted to be like one of your heroes, writes my friend Arnesh Ghose after he interviewed Rajkummar Rao last month; movies have been robbed of their escapistic quality. People want to see films that look like them now.

He says that the advent of social media has given access to nearly every nugget of information about them; their mystique has now been humanised. Even on social media, they are addressed to as friends and not revered like their predecessors. They are congratulated, but also made fun of, abused and trolled. But doesn't that - given that 'Facebook depression' is now a term clinically referred to in psychology, come with its own share of anxiety?

You shouldn't take social media seriously, man, Rajkummar Rao treats it like a thorough professional, as we connect again on phone after our on-set meeting in Mumbai.

You have to do what you have to do; you can't take everybody's opinion seriously. My formula is I write what I want to write [on my handles]. I don't really read too much into how people are reacting to it. It is my handle to express what I think. If my friends tell me that people are commenting in a negative way on something, I say that these trolls have no life. Trolls have no face, and you can't take faceless people seriously.

The actor, who will be seen in at least three new releases this year  Mental Hai Kya with Kangana Ranaut, Dinesh Vijayan's Made In China, and either of Hansal Mehta or Anurag Basu's next project  argues in favour of more compassion and empathy. As our conversation progresses, he unabashedly claims to be a feminist, speaks dotingly of his partner of eight years Patralekha, and urges all men to respect women as equals.

I think it's [an outdated] thought that boys don't cry. I'm a boy; I'm a man, and I cry. It's very human to cry. When you feel low, talk to your friends and talk to your family. Don't let it build up inside your heart. Feel free to talk about it to someone; no one will judge you.

It's great to have an amazing, emotional support in your personal life. It's amazing to know somebody is out there to hold you back in case you fall. It's a great feeling in being a lovely relationship. Patralekha is a very strong girl and I feel very fortunate to have her in my life.

It's a beautifully maddening age of chaos and turmoil to be a part of. You hear of folks dying almost every week in the process of clicking selfies, but the internet also takes you inside a five-million strong country that shuts down in support of ghastly attacks on a community that comprises just one percent of its population. We might be a generation making near-apocalyptic choices, but the silver lining is that we're trying, falling and, even if not at breakneck speed, learning lessons.

Work, technology, social media, family, friends, love, validation, stress, anxiety, depression, peace  there's no odd one out. At this point, what most of us need are sobering influences. Some may think Rajkummar Rao represents that at least for Bollywood.After the most anticipated wait in cinematic history, 'Avengers: Endgame' is finally around the corner and we can't wait to book our tickets already!

Recently John Russo, one of the directors of 'Avengers: Endgame' was in the country, Mumbai to be precise, for the launch of the Marvel anthem composed by A.R Rahman and he revealed some interesting trivia he knows and keeps on Bollywood.

 TOI

Bollywood has a cult following across the world now. With its stark flamboyancy, colours that can give you a headache and songs that can probably mesmerise you, it's no surprise that Hollywood looks towards the East to draw some parallel inspiration every once a while.

Well, Russo does the same. In an interview with a popular publication, Russo revealed how he loved watching Bollywood cinema when he found the time and that his favourite movies were 'Dabangg' and 'Robot'. This was definitely something we didn't expect. The Marvel Cinematic Universe director watching 'Dabangg'? Really? But he revealed that he loved the way the action sequences were shot and that he was a Salman admirer (like we don't have enough around already!)

 Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd

When Russo was asked where he caught these films, he said over the years he'd been watching a lot of fun stuff in the edit rooms, but these movies were mostly seen when he was on an aeroplane, off to his travels.

For the last seven years, I have been able to watch a lot of stuff other than these movies in the edit room. But when I get into airplanes and I have to travel a lot, I like to catch up on movies, especially global cinema, he said.

I remember reading about 'Dabangg' so when I got into the plane, it was on there and I watched it and I loved it. I loved the camera work and the tone. It's very entertaining. It reminded me of some of the work we did in Community,

 Twitter

He also mentioned how Rajinikanth's 'Robot' influenced 'Avengers: Age Of Ultron' and that's the kind of revelation every Bollywood filmmaker needs to hear!

Well, post this revelation from his end, he was asked the most pertinent question ever. Since he'd seen both Rajinikanth and Salman in action, he was asked what characters they would play best from the Avengers and to that he took no time to say Rajinikanth would perfectly fit the bill as Iron Man and Sallu would play the Hulk for sure!

I mean wow, he'd probably envisioned the two as Stark and the Hulk when he saw their movies, in all probability. While I agree Rajini would kill it as Tony, Sallu's a little too damaged to fit into any superhero profile, even if it's the Hulk! But Russo knows best I guess.

 Twitter

While Russo met all his fans in India, he had come alone and not with the 'Endgame' ensemble. However, Chris Hemsworth who plays Thor, Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man and Josh Brolin who plays Thanos sent rather endearing messages to all their fans in the country and expressed their wish to be here with the director.

 Walt Disneys Atudio Motion pictures

'Avengers: Endgame' is out on the 26th of April 2019 and it will be the end of a decade-long journey the Avengers have had and hence, it's the most anticipated film of the year. We're gearing up for the big release already, are you?At the 1st Greece-North Macedonia High-Level Cooperation Council, an Action Plan was signed covering all areas of cooperation between the two countries as well as individual agreements and memoranda of cooperation.



Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou signed an Agreement on the establishment of a border transit point between the two countries, which will link Promachoi in Greece with Majden in North Macedonia. In addition, the Alternate Minister countersigned the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat for European Affairs of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia for accelerating the accession process of North Macedonia to the European Union.



In addition, it was announced that the two countries are proceeding with the establishment of Embassies, as provided for by the Prespa Agreement, which will replace the Liaison Offices that have been operating until today.

Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou stated, inter alia, that: The Prespa Agreement is an paradigm of historical importance, not only on a national level but also in the entire Balkan region, as well as the European continent, while stressing that the visit is of great historical and political importance. The Alternate Minister also referred to the importance that the implementation of the Action Plan will have for the deepening of bilateral relations and referred to Greece's support of North Macedonias EU prospects and accession course. Finally, Ms Anagnostopoulou stressed that  the signing and entry into force of the Prespa Agreement demonstrates the political will for a common future marked by peace and solidarity.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The Finance department on Wednesday insisted the government has never defaulted on any foreign loan.

This comes amid the claim of Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio that the country in 1983 was subjected to an "event of default" after it declared a moratorium on its foreign debt repayments.

"In 1983, the Philippines declared a moratorium on its foreign debt repayments because the central bank did not have sufficient foreign exchange to service its foreign debts," Carpio said in a statement Tuesday.

Carpio said under Article 7.1(6) of the Chico River loan agreement, there is an "event of default" when "the borrower stops or suspends repayment to its creditors generally."

"So, it is not correct to say that the (Philippines) never defaulted on its debt because the mere suspension of repayment, like declaring a debt moratorium, is already an 'event of default,'" the magistrate added.

But in the weekly economic media briefing in Malacanang Wednesday, Finance Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino stressed that the 1983 case cannot be considered a "default" since the government was still able to pay off the loans.

He added there was a prior agreement between the foreign lenders and the government to extend the payment period.

"It was an extension of the repayment period agreed upon between the government and the lenders," Lambino told reporters.

The Finance official argued that defaulting on a loan implies a "unilateral decision" from the borrower to stop loan payments.

Lambino also pointed out that 1983 was a "difficult time" for the Philippine economy resulting in the inability to pay debts that fell due.

"It was very tumultuous and the economy was affected by many events that were happening this was before the EDSA revolution," Lambino said.

Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez on Tuesday earlier called out critics of the government's loans with China, saying that they have "no faith" in the country.

Detractors and netizens have called out the current administration for its China-funded project agreements such as the Kaliwa Dam Project and the Chico River Pump Irrigation project, saying the loans are onerous.

Carpio earlier warned the government that in case the country defaults in repaying loans, "China can seize, to satisfy any arbitral award in favor of China, patrimonial assets and assets dedicated to commercial use." These may pertain to oil and gas resources in the exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

CNN Philippines' Ina Andolong, Alyssa Rola, and Chad de Guzman contributed to this report.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  A mayor in Metro Manila on Wednesday recounted his city's anti-drug achievements after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to send him to jail if the city is not rid of drugs in a month.

"We deeply appreciate the President's concern about the drug situation here in Malabon City but our record speaks for itself," Malabon City Mayor Antolin "Lenlen" Oreta said in a statement.

He cited data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), which takes lead role in the government's war on drugs. He said nine out of 21 barangays in Malabon or 40 percent have been declared "drug-cleared," adding that Malabon was named the "city with the highest number of anti-illegal drug programs in the whole of Metro Manila."

"PDEA can attest to the fact that Malabonians do not and will never tolerate drug abuse," he said, adding that the goal is for Malabon to be one of the first drug-cleared cities in Metro Manila.

Oreta issued the statement after the President gave him a month to "clean up" the city's drug problem. "Mayor, linisin mo ang Malabon mo. Bigyan kita isang buwan. Pag hindi, sabihin ko kay Ricky (Sandoval) sorry na lang ha pahuli mo mayor ninyo. Itapon ko sa Manila Bay," Duterte said during a campaign sortie of the ruling PDP-Laban party in Malabon Tuesday night.

[Translation: Mayor, clean up your Malabon. I give you a month. Otherwise, I will tell Ricky, I'm sorry, have your mayor arrested. I'll throw him into Manila Bay.]

READ: Duterte warns Malabon mayor: Clean up drug problem or face arrest

Ricky Sandoval is running for representative for the lone Malabon district under the President's party. His wife, current Vice Mayor Jeannie Sandoval, was endorsed by the President in her mayoralty bid against Oreta, who is seeking reelection under the opposition Liberal Party.

In March 2018, PDEA and the Regional Peace and Order Council in Metro Manila acknowledged Malabon as the local government with the most number of anti-drug interventions, next to Quezon City. After a month, authorities dismantled in in the city a clandestine laboratory manufacturing the party drug ecstasy. PDEA said it was the first time it shut down an ecstasy lab.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  At least 18 people were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat, Wednesday afternoon.

Major Arvin Encinas, spokesperson of the Philippine Army's 6th Infantry Division, said the IED went off in front of a restaurant in Barangay Kalawag 2 at around 3 p.m.

There were no fatalities in the incident.

The injured individuals were immediately brought to the nearest hospital. Two of them underwent surgeries.

Authorities have recovered parts of 9-volt battery and cell phone, several pieces of 1-inch concrete nails, and disintegrated parts of plastic container at the blast site.

The military's Joint Task Force Central (JTFC) expressed sympathy to the casualties and vowed to tighten security in the town.

"We will strengthen further the security measures in Isulan and other parts of the AOR. We will also exert our best efforts to apprehend the perpetrators and give justice to the victims," JTFC Commander Major General Cirilito Sobejana was quoted as saying in a statement.(CNN)  Reported cases of cholera have risen to more than 1,000 in cyclone-stricken areas of Mozambique, as authorities scramble to contain the spread of the highly contagious, largely waterborne disease.

Almost 1 million doses of oral cholera vaccine were due to arrive in the southeast African country Tuesday, according to the World Health Organization, in anticipation of a mass vaccination campaign throughout the coming days.

Rob Holden, an incident manager with the WHO, told CNN from Mozambique that the teams were ready to begin the campaign as soon as the medical supplies arrives.

"The logistics are in place, and we will start straight away," he said by phone.

"Speed is of the essence, we know how effective the vaccine can be. We are as ready as we can be, will be pushing it out as fast as we can."

He added that the vaccination teams would be administering single doses of the vaccine as an "emergency measure," and that the WHO has a "targeted plan" to hit cholera hotspots and vaccinate the largest number of people as possible.

More than two weeks after Cylone Idai, the World Health Organization estimates that up to 120,000 people currently living in temporary shelters across the country remain at "high-risk" from cholera and other diseases.

"The next few weeks are crucial and speed is of the essence if we are to save lives and limit suffering," Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said in a statement.

"We must do everything we can to protect the people of Mozambique from a disease outbreak or other health problems caused by lack of access to essential services," she added.

Holden, who is in Beira, said that there is a risk of a second death toll if adequate steps to prevent disease from spreading are not taken.

"If we don't reconnect people to clean water, get health services running, get supplies out to people, the impact this could have on public health is not to be underestimated," he said.

"It is uppermost in everybody's mind. What we must do is ensure we don't have a second disaster from a public health perspective."

The WHO said it has deployed an emergency team of 40 experts, including "epidemiologists, logisticians and disease-prevention experts," on the ground to assist in medical efforts.

Beira, a coastal city of more than a half-million, accounted for "the vast majority"  between 70% and 80%  of the total cholera cases, Holden said.

The WHO said that the damage done to clinics in the city had made the job of preventing outbreaks of diseases and illnesses harder, and made the WHO's mission there more urgent.

"I saw the pediatric ward of Pontagera Health Center (in Beira) had been completely destroyed, the roof had been torn off and the equipment and supplies ruined by water," said Moeti.

The WHO is also preparing for a possible outbreak of malaria in the flooded areas, and is sending 750,000 insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets to the region.

The Category 2 storm made landfall shortly after midnight on March 15 in Beira, a port city on the coast of Mozambique, with 175 kph (109 mph) winds that brought huge rains and submerged villages as it moved inland towards Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The organization estimates that the cost of medical relief operations in Mozambique over the next three months could hit $40 million.

As of March 29, the United Nations confirmed that the death toll in Mozambique, which was worst hit by the cyclone, was 493 people. A further 259 lives have been lost in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "WHO steps up response as Cyclone Idai cholera cases skyrocket."UPPER THUMB -- The CEA Carnival will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 4 at Cross Lutheran School.

There will be games, prizes, calk walk, a bounce house, face painting and raffles.UBLY  School safety has been a point of emphasis for schools across the state of Michigan.

The Michigan State Police recently announced that 135 public school districts, 66 non-public schools, 20 public charter school and nine intermediate school districts/regional educational service agencies will receive $25 million in state grants from the 2019 Competitive School Safety Grant Program.

The $25 million will be used to improve safety and security of students, staff and school buildings through the purchase of technology and equipment.

Safety for our children should always be a top priority, said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a press release from the MSP. Every parent should have the peace of mind that their children are receiving an education that allows them to achieve their dreams under the safest possible conditions.

Three local schools  Our Lady of Lake Huron (OLLH) in Harbor Beach, Cross Lutheran in Pigeon, and Ubly  were recipients of grant money through the Competitive School Safety Grant Program.

OLLH received $6,027; Cross Lutheran received $20,088; and Ubly received $61,291.

Were very excited about it, said Ubly Superintendent Joe Candela. We sat and talked with the MSP and the Ubly police about things that we can do and its really starting to pay off.

Ubly is required to match the grant money at 25 percent, which means nearly $80,000 will be dedicated to improving school safety at the district.

Candela told the Tribune the grant money will be used to help secure entryways at the school, and the instillation of a panic alarm, which is similar to a fire alarm, but used when there is a potential threat to the school, among other safety-related upgrades.

I think its going to work out really well, Candela said. And its a nice time for us to do it, since we are already working on our bond projects. Weve made our school a much more secure place to learn for our students. Were doing all that we can do and were going to continue to do all that we can.

Other Upper Thumb schools awarded grant money include Millington ($48,770), Peck ($18,045), Croswell-Lexington ($205,448), Carsonville-Port Sanilac ($82,437), and Vassar ($194,761).

Grant applications were reviewed by a committee that included representatives from the MSP, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, Michigan Sheriffs Association, Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools and other school safety professionals.

In total, 366 applications were received, requesting over $46 million in funding for security enhancements. Per the appropriation, priority was given to applicants who had not received school safety grant funds in the past.BRANFORD - A cast of student performers from Branfords Walsh Intermediate School (WIS) will tell a timely story of home, identity, and tolerance in the musical Honk!

Based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling, Honk! tells the story of Ugly, a baby swan who is mistaken as an ugly duckling when he falls into the wrong nest.

Rejected by everyone because of his differences, Ugly sets out on a journey to find his family. The British songwriting duo of George Stiles (music) and Anthony Drewe (book and lyrics) developed the musical, which had successful runs both on Broadway and in the West End of London.

Winner of several awards, Honk! has been seen by more than 6 million people all over the world in over 8,000 productions in more than 20 languages.

More than 60 WIS students are involved in the production of this year's show. Students between the ages of 10 and 14 make up the cast, stage crew, and technical crew.

The production is really coming together thanks to the hard work and dedication of our students and parents, said WIS science teacher Jeffrey Rizzo, who is in his seventh year as Director of the WIS musical. We are so proud of the work that our school community has put into Honk! We look forward to sharing this production with our families, friends, and the Branford community - we know they are going to love it.

Cast members toured Branfords elementary schools in March to perform a sampling of songs, giving the towns youngest students a sneak preview of the show.

Joining Rizzo in guiding the students are music director and pit orchestra conductor Gavin Hartney, choreographer Paola Rarick, and rehearsal accompanist Cathyann Roding. Vladimir Shpitalnik is the set designer, working with committee chair Pete Bocciarelli. Costumes are designed by Allison Nerone with committee co-chair Lauren Lenox, and Tracy Izzo is the show's producer.

The principal cast includes Jade Bocciarelli as Ida; Lucas Johnson as Drake; Alex Lenox, Michael Steinman, Dylan Kealey and Connor Zeitlin as the ducklings; and Ryder Kropiwnicki, as Ugly.

There will be three performances of Honk!; Friday evening April 5, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday April 6, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Reserved seating is available on the auditorium floor; general admission seating is available in the lecture hall. All tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling 203-418-7529.MIDDLETOWN  The Celtic rock band Tempes and the Mulcahy Academy Dancers present a show to benefit Oddfellows Playhouse and the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Oddfellows Playhouse is a youth theater company; the Buttonwood Tree is a community arts center. Guests can enjoy games, food, beverages and fun and the lively dancers of the Mulcahy Academy of Irish Dance.

The concert will be held at First Church of Christ, 190 Court Street, Middletown. The space is handicap accessible with free parking off Court Street, Broad Street and Washington Street. Food and beverages will be available for sale.

The members of Temples include Lief Sorbye on vocals, mando guitar, acoustic & electric mandolines; Adolfo Lazo on drums; Kevin Florion on guitars; Kathy Buys on fiddle; and Mirco Melone on bass

Hear the band here: https://youtu.be/aflI7TUjGw8

Since forming in 1988, Tempest has delivered a globally-renowned hybrid of high-energy Folk Rock fusing Irish reels, Scottish ballads, Norwegian influences and other world music elements. The last 30 plus years have seen the San Francisco Bay Area based act release seventeen critically acclaimed CDs and play more than 2,500 shows.

Signed to Sony-distributed Magna Carta Records, Tempests releases are acclaimed worldwide. This year, the group celebrates its 30th Anniversary with the latest studio CD, Thirty Little Turns, a collection of inspired new original and traditional material  with a cheeky surprise or two.

Lief Sorbye, the founder of Tempest, has introduced unusual instruments into their own blend of world folk music. Keeping the spirits of the audience and the band uplifted through energetic and entertaining performances that span the spectrum from Celtic and Folk Festivals to Rock Clubs has always been the ultimate goal for Tempest.

For information, go to buttonwood.orgJulieta Cervantes / Contributed photo

The Book of Mormon, which earned nine Tony Awards  including Best Musical and Best Score  is headed to Connecticut. The national touring production will be at The Palace Theater in Waterbury, Tuesday, April 9, through Sunday, April 14.

The show features book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez. Parker and Stone are best known for creating the animated comedy, South Park. Lopez is a co-creator of Avenue Q, and has co-written music for films such as Frozen, among others.Trouble in River City? Lets hope so.

Trouble leads to 76 Trombones, The Wells Fargo Wagon and Till There Was You.

On a sunny day recently in East Haddam, Broadway and regional theater veteran Edward Watts has just come from trying on his custom-made suit for Goodspeeds first production of much-loved The Music Man, running from Friday, April 12, to June 20. The costume, worn this day for publicity photos, is that last piece to get you into the character, he said in a phone chat.

Watts returns to Goodspeed Musicals to play Harold Hill, after appearing in Thoroughly Modern Millie and 1776 at The Goodspeed and The Girl in the Frame at The Terris Theatre.

He has no problem with the tight quarters of Connecticuts iconic Goodspeed, which he said will always occupy a soft place in his heart.

I love the fact that this is a much more intimate place, said Watts, who called 1776 probably the best marriage Ive ever experienced between a show and the theater in which it was produced.

This Meredith Wilson musical story, familiar to many via the 1962 film with Robert Preston as Hill, hits the rails running, with one of Watts favorite opening numbers grabbing audiences, the 1950s rap Rock Island.

More Information The Goodspeed, 6 Main St., East Haddam. April 12-June 20, various times. $79-$35. 860-873-8668. Goodspeed.org See More Collapse

Its just so beautifully written, and the thing I like about it most is... everybodys got to be in sync as the song itself is sort of the orchestration, and the train and the steam from the train... It takes a long time to get that right. Were in our third week of rehearsal now ... Even the physicality of creating the bouncing train and the curves and everything. Its a big task.

Based in New York City, Watts seems to be ideal casting since he was born in Iowa, his family quickly moved to Kansas for four years and then Ohio, where he spent his formative years, he said. As an actor, he knows of travel from town to town, he has middle American marquee looks and diction, and he understands its values.

Of course, East Haddam is sort of Connecticuts River City, where the architecture evokes memories for Watts.

My wife and I, actually, we met and bonded over just walking through neighborhoods and seeing old homes together, he said. She, as a matter of fact, loves to come up here. Its one of the reasons Im always happy to take an offered job from up here.

Watts said he was surprised to learn it was Goodspeeds first time doing The Music Man, but its not his first time. His first professional (Equity) job in acting was as Harold Hill.

It took a long time to learn the role, especially these wordy, patter songs (but) once I learned all of it ... its never left my body, knock on wood.

As hard as it is to put your own stamp on an iconic character, Watts said hes not alone; the rest of the cast is bringing their own thoughts, feelings, ideas, choices to these roles.

The cast includes Ellie Fishman as Marian the Librarian, D.C. Anderson as the blustery mayor and Juson Williams as Marcellus Washburn. Watts said director Jenn Thompson, who helmed Bye Bye Birdie and Oklahoma at Goodspeed, is very much an actors director.

While the arts often reflect issues of the times in some way (immigration, for example), The Music Man is more of a feel-good period piece. Or is their a lesson?

The one thing I could certainly point to, and this is part of of the theme for me... youve got the stubborn Iowans who have their own walls up, and you have Harold Hill, whos got his set of walls, said Watts. And one of the great things about this show, and the reason it works, is by the end, hes accepted... Theyve listened to each other, and they sort of bridge a gap, come over their own walls to at least listen a little bit.

If youve never seen it, said Watt, this is such a fun, energy-filled show... Theres a lot of great comedy and its also a really great story, from my characters point of view anyway, of someone making a change in their life and making a difference in other peoples lives.

jamarante@nhregister.com; @Joeammo on TwitterMIDDLETOWN  Deliberations in the Whiting Forensic Facility abuse case will resume Thursday morning.

The six-member jury met behind closed doors for four-and-three-quarter hours Wednesday before being sent home at 4:32 p.m. by trial judge Jose A. Vasquez.

They are due to resume their deliberations at 10 a.m. Thursday in Superior Court in Middletown.

The jury is weighing accusations that Mark Cusson, a supervisory forensic nurse at Whiting, physically and emotionally abused William Bill Shehadi, a now-frail 60-year-old patient at the facility, on several occasions in March 2017.

Late Wednesday morning, the jury asked to hear a read-back of the testimony of three character witnesses for Cusson.

Their testimony appeared to cut both ways, however.

The three  Jennifer Lockery, Bert Henry and Joan Telemaque  praised Cussons character and his efforts to develop techniques to de-escalate outbursts by the seriously mentally ill Shehadi. Those techniques included touching Shehadi with their feet, an interaction he called the dap.

But the two women said they had not heard of scissoring Shehadi  wrapping their legs around him  nor had they been given any training in using that technique or in swaddling him, they said.

The prosecution contends scissoring was a form of restraint not permitted by the hospital administration.

They also testified they had heard of or been taught to throw Shehadis mattress onto the floor as a distraction, as Cusson has acknowledged he had done. He has denied hurting Shehadi intentionally.

Cusson has been free on a $75,000 bond since his arrest in 2017.

Nine other employees of Connecticut Valley Hospital, which then oversaw Whiting, faced charges in connection with the alleged abuse.

Nearly three-dozen other Whiting employees were placed on leave or otherwise disciplined in what became a major stain on the reputation of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, which now oversees Whiting directly.

jmill@middletownpress.comMIDDLETOWN  Avid cyclist and bike racer David Hoyle lost his life on the trails he knew and loved well  at the very start of the sports spring season.

Hoyle, 33, of Middletown, was found dead at Wadsworth Falls State Park Monday at about 7:20 p.m. in an apparent mountain biking accident, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

More for you Body found in Wadsworth Falls State Park

He sometimes rode the three or so miles from work to the trails off Laurel Grove Road to bike 10 or so miles before riding home to his wife, Nicole, said Aidan Charles, founder of the CT Cycling Advancement Program , where Hoyle was executive director.

A lot of people say somebody is a great person after the fact, but he was absolutely  bar none  the most genuine, kind, nice person most of us who met him will ever meet in our lives, Charles said. He was an incredible person.

Hoyle had been with the company since its inception five to six years ago, when he came aboard as development director, Charles said. His companys mission is to ensure Connecticuts youth and their families have access to an organized, statewide youth cycling league.

Hoyle was very familiar with the Wadsworth park terrain, not only from his own activity on the trails, but from the junior travel team practices he led for youth 14 to 18, Charles said.

He would ride 100 miles on the weekend, and not think twice about that, said Charles.

Hoyle was a pro-am athlete racing at a top level in this country for the last six to eight years.

In his work role, Hoyle was ambassador to the cycling community and raised funds for CCAP.

No task was beneath him. He wore every hat, really, Charles said.

In the last couple of years, Hoyle found his passion after he began focusing on taking the junior travel team all over the country to inspire those kids to do the same thing, Charles said.

The two athletes and friends traveled all over the East Coast together and beyond, racing domestically against professional-level teams and riders as an amateur. He didnt make it as a professionally licensed rider, but he was competing with those pros, said Charles, who alerted the cycling community on the groups Facebook page late Tuesday.

Theyre just crushed. He passed away so early: From a health and character standpoint, he was the last person we would ever expect it to happen to, he said.

Dave had been a critical member of our team since CCAPs inception. His friendship, leadership, and passion for CCAP will be missed tremendously, Charles wrote.

More than 100 people have commented on the post, saying Hoyle was a mentor to the youth he guided.

The cycling community, and the world, is less today than it was yesterday, one Facebook user said.

Several parents shared how Hoyle had a striking effect on their teenagers love of the sport.

Dave Hoyle is the reason our son rides a bike. He taught him to win with modesty and lose like a gentleman. He never yelled and didnt have to punish. Dave made kids want to perform simply by being the most perfect example of quiet, hard work. The amount of time, love and guidance he provided our son and countless young people is immeasurable. Dave was quite possibly the nicest guy in the world, wrote Laura Jones.

Robert Schoff expressed a similar sentiment. Every time I talked [with] Dave Hoyle, I remember thinking how lucky am I that he is a prominent figure in my sons life. It was like I won the mentor lottery.

I also remember thinking its only a matter of time before some large company scoops him up. He was a natural-born leader, and you felt it. He gave so much and asked for so little. You will forever be missed, Schoff wrote.

DEEP Environmental Conservation Police said the death was not suspicious and is being investigated as an accident.MIDDLETOWN  The fate of a former senior nurse at the Whiting Forensic Facility is in the hands of the jury.

The six-member jury was given the case against Mark Cusson at 12:23 p.m. Tuesday.

The panel, four men and two women, chose a foreperson and immediately began deliberations.

Just after 1 p.m., the jury sent a message to Middlesex Superior Court Judge Jose A. Suarez asking to review some of the surveillance video that is at the heart of the case.

They continued their deliberations until 4:45 p.m., when Suarez sent them home for the night. Deliberations are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Jurors earlier Tuesday heard closing arguments from Assistant States Attorney Jeffrey Doskos and Cussons defense attorney Norm A. Pattis.

At issue is whether Cusson mentally and physically abused William Bill Shehadi, a 60-year-old beset by an array of mental illness and physical ailments.

Shehadi has been a patient at Whiting since 1995 when he was found not guilty of murdering his father due to mental disease and defect.

Over the course of the trial, the jury has heard Doskos present the argument that Cusson had abused Shehadi in Room 631 in Unit 6 at Whiting.

He is accused of kicking Shehadi, pinning him down and mopping his head with a urine-stained mop.

Pattis and his law partner and co-counsel Kevin Smith countered that Cusson was using unique techniques to try avoid Shehadi from having verbal and physical outbursts during which he would kick, bite and/or scratch.

The two defense attorneys argued Whiting was chronically mismanaged and failed to provide Cusson with the training necessary to deal with Shehadi, who even his own brother acknowledged is not easy on himself, or those around him.

Much of the alleged abuse was caught on an overhead surveillance camera in Shehadis room.

However, the video is murky at best.

The jury saw the excepts three times over the course of the trial: once with no narration; then again with Cusson serving as a guide and narrator during direct testimony on Friday; and finally again on Monday when Doskos presented his version of the events.

Despite a reputation for lashing out, Doskos repeatedly stressed that none of the video showed Shehadi as the aggressor.

Doskos also pointed out that in the daily notes Cusson submitted about Shehadis treatment there was no mention of any confrontations that Doskos says took place in the Shehadis room.

Whats more, handed copies of the reports he had submitted, Cusson had trouble reading his own comments.

Welcome to Hell, Pattis said in his closing argument, as he began sharing his vision of Shehadis room and which Cusson shared with him every hour every day.

Shehadi was so starved for human interaction, so desperate that he welcomed Cusson sitting on his bed so he knows he is not alone, Pattis said.

Pattis at times kept his voice to a whisper, then suddenly shouted, jarring jurors and others in the courtroom as he tried to demonstrate the abrupt changes in Shehadis behavior.

When Shehadi unleashed those outbreaks, what should Mark Cusson have done, call room service? This Hell; it isnt a Hilton, he said.

Cusson put his safety on the line to care for Shehadi, Pattis said, spending more time with Bill than he did with own family.

Cusson did his best under difficult circumstances, Pattis continued, with an uncaring administration that knew what was going on but did provide either the necessary training or support.

And now that very administration, indeed the state of Connecticut, is trying to punish Cusson for trying to help Shehadi, Pattis said.'Truly Not Alone': Air Force Spouse Trying to Improve Mental Health for Military Families on Okinawa

Mental Health Peer Alliance meets at Kadena twice a week for activities like art therapy, exercise for mothers and small...Members of the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron were accustomed to the conflict conditions of Afghanistan, in which airstrikes aren't often carried out in close quarters.

But one A-10 Thunderbolt II unit summoned into the dense, urban environment of Raqqa, Syria, where Islamic State fighters and snipers hid within buildings, found itself testing new ways to support U.S.-backed militia on the ground, contributing to the city's liberation in late 2017.

For that, the 74th EFS, out of Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, recently received the Gallant Unit Citation, becoming the first individual squadron to receive the recognition. It marks only the fifth time the Air Force has given the award since creating it in 2001, according to a news release.

Gen. Mike Holmes, head of Air Combat Command, presented the squadron the award for its deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) during a ceremony at Moody on March 14.

"The Gallant Unit Citation is the second-highest honor that can be bestowed on an Air Force unit," Holmes said. "How many ... have lived up to that since we created it? You're the fifth one. It's quite an award, and it's something you can be really proud of as a team," he said, according to the release.

Related content:

The Cold War-era A-10 is known for its iconic gun designed to shred tanks and its tough titanium armor designed to take hits and keep flying. But during this six-month operation, the pilots tried to strike snipers in "this dense, urban city" sometimes without eyes directly on the hidden fighters, said Lt. Col. Craig Morash, 74th EFS commander. That included fighters weaving through buildings and narrow roadways.

Precision was critical to avoid friendly or civilian casualties.

"We all thought we knew what we were getting into, [but]  I'm getting nine lines [radio calls from Joint Terminal Attack Controllers] saying, 'Hey I need you to drop this four-story building in a city,' which is fundamentally different from what we, or what I expected, certainly," added Maj. Michael Dumas, an A-10 pilot with the squadron, in a video segment explaining the mission.

The 74th, one of Moody's two combat-ready A-10C units known as the "Flying Tigers," was deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, between July 2017 and January 2018, the release states. During that time, the unit flew more than 1,600 sorties and 10,000 hours, striking nearly 2,500 targets.

On his third combat run over enemy territory, Capt. Matthew Underwood, an A-10 pilot and team lead, said he and his wingman "ended up shooting a maverick [missile] into a building to get the sniper team that was firing" on the Syrian Democratic Forces below, allowing the pilots to witness just what the A-10 can do, even against larger structures. Taking out ISIS fighters' hiding spots became a way to protect friendly forces.

The service estimates that the unit's airstrikes killed 3,100 ISIS fighters, according to the release.

"Danger-close engagements, typically a rarity, were the daily norm," Morash said in a separate news release. "As close-air support pilots, we would rather put our lives on the line than risk injuring a friendly on the ground. To avoid our greatest fear, we had to be perfect on every weapons pass  all 4,100 of them."

According to the award citation, using only 12 A-10 aircraft throughout the deployment, "the 74 EFS struck 44 percent of all targets in OIR, which resulted in the liberation of Raqqa, the decimation of ISIS war-making revenue streams, and the elimination of ISIS from 99 percent of Iraq and Syria."

That said, Airwars, a London-based non-profit group that tracks air conflicts against ISIS and other groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya, estimates the assault on Raqqa alone may have killed at least 1,800 civilians.

The Gallant Unit Citation is awarded to units that exemplify "extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy of the United States while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force on or since 9/11," according to the Air Force.

"The 74th ... eagerly launched on every mission knowing they were going to be strapped into their jet for over 10 hours under difficult circumstances," Morash said. "They fought ISIS courageously, never turning from a fight and frequently asking to be extended to provide whatever support possible to friendly forces. They upheld the legacy of the Flying Tigers and succeeded at one of the most difficult missions I have witnessed."

Related Video:

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.The deputy commander of Army Futures Command told lawmakers recently that he expects the competition to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle to be highly competitive.

The Army recently released the request for proposal (RFP) for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle-Optional Manned Vehicle (NGCV-OMFV), the second-highest priority in the service's new modernization strategy.

The new vehicle will be designed to maneuver a squad of soldiers through dense urban terrain as well as wooded areas and deliver "decisive lethality" in close combat against a near-peer foe such as Russia, according to the RFP the Army released in late March.

"We believe there will be between three and five [manufacturers] competing on that," Lt. Gen. James Richardson, deputy commander of AFC, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee's Airland subcommittee Tuesday. "We have had 12 industry days up until this point, and we believe the outcome will be very positive. We believe we will get a fair price for a great vehicle."

Subcommittee chairman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, seemed more concerned during the hearing about whether the Army intends to keep the name NGCV-OMFV.

"You have something called the NGCV-OMFV. I hope Army has plans to give all of these new systems cool names that soldiers want to use and ride in," Cotton said.

Army officials first joked about Cotton's name being under consideration for a new vehicle name, but then said the service will likely come up with a name as meaningful as the Bradley's. It is named after World War II Gen. Omar Bradley.

They said that it is crucial for the Bradley replacement to have the option to be unmanned, so commanders can keep soldiers out of danger whenever possible.

Army officials also want the vehicle to be equipped with a main armament that's more powerful than the Bradley's 25mm cannon. The RFP calls for a primary weapon system up to 50mm for "precision direct fire capability for early/forcible entry operations."

The vehicle will also likely be equipped with some type of artificial intelligence to provide driver assist, 360-degree situational awareness and computer-assisted targeting and acquisition capabilities, service officials say.

The Army is also developing a new Mobile Active Protection System (MAPS) to go on future vehicles so the service is not tied to proprietary APS systems, such as the Israeli-designed Trophy system currently being installed on M1 tanks, Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, told lawmakers.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.For 17-year-old Ahmad Perez, vice wing commander of his Air Force JROTC unit, the MS-13 gang violence plaguing his Long Island community of Brentwood became more of a challenge than a drawback.

"Although there is a gang presence, unfortunately  we really do our best to overcome that and show the world essentially that we're a lot more than just gang violence," he said in an interview Monday. "It really just made us stronger."

In November, Perez was named a finalist in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search for his work on the erosion of Long Island salt marshes, which serve as natural barriers to storm surges.

He cited the value of service above self, instilled by his JROTC unit at Brentwood High School, led by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Kaelin, as a factor in his success.

"It helped me become the person I wanted to be in the future," he said.

Perez, who is of Moroccan and Puerto Rican heritage, said he had an interest in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps since sixth grade, when he saw cadets in uniform doing volunteer work in the community.

As part of the Brentwood High School unit of 300 cadets, the largest JROTC unit on Long Island, Perez said he did tutoring at the local library, visited hospitalized veterans, participated in community cleanups, and was a member of the color guard in drill competitions.

MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha), originating in El Salvador, was an ever-present menace, he said.

"The community is very much a minority community," he said. "Lots of kids aren't given the same opportunities when they come from Central America."

He added, "There's a lot gang violence. That's the reality I have to face in my school district. A lot of kids actually don't go to school at times because they're afraid of the environment. There have been murders in the school; there have been children who have literally been reported missing."

President Donald Trump has repeatedly cited the MS-13 presence in Brentwood and surrounding communities to bolster his arguments for a restrictive immigration policy and new construction on the southern border wall.

In his January 2018 State of the Union Address, Trump cited the murders of two Brentwood teenagers and close friends, Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, who allegedly were beaten and hacked to death by MS-13 members.

"Here tonight are two fathers and two mothers: Evelyn Rodriguez, Freddy Cuevas, Elizabeth Alvarado, and Robert Mickens," Trump said of the parents seated with first lady Melania Trump in the House gallery. "Six members of the savage gang MS-13 have been charged with Kayla and Nisa's murders. Many of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as unaccompanied alien minors and wound up in Kayla and Nisa's high school."

In his last State of the Union address in February, Trump cited MS-13 again, saying they had expanded operations to at least 20 different states.

The MS-13 threat on Long Island has reached the point where the New York City Police Department in February issued a warning to officers who live on Long Island that MS-13 could be targeting them to gain "street cred."

"They undeniably have a presence," Perez said of MS-13. "I could have easily let that affect me, but I decided to rise above that. I wanted to focus on school and through that I focused on research. If I let that get to me, I would never be here now."

In November, Perez was selected as one of the 40 finalists from among more than 2,000 students nationwide in the science competition, sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology firm, and the non-profit Society for Science & the Public, which is dedicated to research and STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) education.

Perez was not among the three finalists chosen for the top prizes, but his selection as a finalist came with a $25,000 award.

His selection brought pride to his town and high school.

"Ahmad's accomplishment is ground-breaking for Brentwood High School, and it is a testament to the collaboration between the administrators and educators, and the district's investment in classroom resources," Islip Town Board Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in a statement.

Perez' project was titled "What is Happening to Long Island Salt Marshes" and focused on the effects of climate change on the Timber Point Salt Marshes in Great River, and Crab Meadow in Northport. The project also outlined a method of regeneration through the use of biopolymers.

Perez has been accepted by Boston University, with a guarantee for a transfer to Cornell for a major in environmental economics.

He hasn't yet decided whether he will join the military. Through JROTC, Perez said he developed "a definite interest in joining the military and serving our country. I'm keeping the idea of doing ROTC in college at the back of my head, but I'm not really sure at this moment. It's definitely a possibility right now."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.Retired Col. Mark A. Smith, who wrote dozens of letters praised for their compassion and eloquence to the families of his Marine Reserve battalion during a deployment early in the Iraq War, was remembered this week as a "Marine's Marine."

A 32-year veteran of the Marine Corps -- including his time in the Reserves -- and an Indiana State Trooper for 24 years until his retirement in 2014, the 54-year-old father of two daughters died last week following a battle with lung cancer.

Many who served in the Chicago-based 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment he commanded during the Iraq deployment were traveling to Indianapolis to attend funeral services on Wednesday.

Smith was a man of deep faith and strong convictions who often spoke out about what he believed in, said Sharon Semrow, the wife of a retired Marine who served with Smith. "That's why we loved him ... he didn't mince words," Semrow said in a telephone interview.

Semrow got to know Smith while serving as a volunteer liaison between 2nd Battalion's Milwaukee-based Fox Company and the Marines' families during the unit's 2004-2005 deployment. Her duties involved distributing Smith's weekly letters, which she said are now "priceless" to her.

"He was well-loved and well-respected by every family member because of that," she said of his letter-writing. "It was ... sometimes the only news that we got. It was comforting."

Leader-warrior'

Made up of five companies from Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, the 1,200-Marine battalion carried out operations in northern Babil province, south of Baghdad, in a restive area dubbed the Triangle of Death.

Its ranks of reservists included teachers, carpenters, truck drivers, doctors, lawyers and computer technicians and more than 70 police officers, among others, helping battle the insurgency that arose shortly after the U.S.-led invasion.

Not content to lead from behind a desk, Smith frequently made the rounds among the Marines, said Darrick Sewell, who was a lance corporal working in the combat operations center on the deployment.

"He was a leader-warrior," said Sewell, who was also driving from Wisconsin to Indiana on Tuesday afternoon. "He rarely slept. He was just go, go, go."

Even after lengthy operations or days without sleep, Smith could be found in the headquarters at Forward Operating Base St. Michael in Mahmudiyah each Thursday "at zero-dark-thirty ... writing away" on the weekly letter, Sewell said.

The messages also found their way to reporters with local and national news organizations, bloggers and others outside the command. Some can still be found on the military blog BlackFive.net.

After quoting one of his dispatches in late 2004, the New York Times described Smith as "a rambunctious fellow -- driven, intolerant of half-measures, profane in his language" but with an infectious spirit.

With a mixture of pride, patriotism, pain and philosophy, his letters illustrate what the Marines endured and often sought to explain why they did it.

Smith wrote that his challenge wasn't deciding what to write, but what to omit.

Hundreds of strangers would email Smith weekly to say they were touched by his writings, Smith told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2005.

Mayhem from the heartland'

After recovering the body of Lance Cpl. Daniel Wyatt, the first of 12 of the battalion's Marines killed during the seven-month tour, Smith wrote of the "soul touching sight of combat hardened Marines, encrusted with weeks of sweat and dust, who have daily been engaged in combat, coming to complete and utter solemnity and respect in the handling of the body of one of their own."

In another dispatch, he shared a photo of his troops providing candy, toys and hygiene items to an Iraqi woman and her child, expressing his deep hope that such exchanges would help end cycles of hatred and violence. But he did not spare families descriptions of some of that violence.

"Everywhere you go the ground is subject to explode in a milli-second of ear shattering violence and a cloud of lethal dust," he wrote in one email. "Everything you do is subject to being interrupted by the thump/boom of rockets and mortars and their deadly payload."

The Marines of 2/24 endured regular mortar attacks, car bombings and firefights, Sewell said, describing a harrowing deployment in which "even our cooks ... everybody in [the administrative shop] got combat action ribbons."

The battalion earned the nickname "the Mad Ghosts" for operations that kept the insurgents off-balance, including frequent night raids, Sewell said.

Smith, who went by the callsign "Mayhem 6," often included the motto "Mayhem from the heartland" in his letters.

But for all his toughness and bravura, Smith was not afraid to show his emotions.

"The tears are literally falling on to my desk. I love every one of these guys," Smith told the Journal Sentinel in a satellite phone interview in January 2005.

A final battle

Sewell, who now runs a security contracting company and a classic car export business, served in the Marine Reserve for about a decade after returning from Iraq, but said his time under Smith's command is among his most memorable experiences.

"I don't have any words to describe what we lost -- he was just a true, great leader," he said.

A nonsmoker, the retired colonel had long battled lung cancer, which he attributed to exposure to smoke from oil fires during Desert Storm and burn pits in the Iraq War more than a decade later.

He'd been diagnosed with "asthma-like symptoms" from the Persian Gulf War and later received the cancer diagnosis in 2012 as he was preparing to retire from the Marine Corps, he said in a 2013 American Lung Association of Indiana video.

Following radiation, chemotherapy and surgery, he received a good prognosis in late 2013, he said in the video.

Semrow last saw Smith at a reunion for the Marines of that Iraq deployment, some 60 of whom gathered in Milwaukee in November.

Sewell last saw Smith earlier this year at a more somber occasion, the funeral of Milwaukee police officer Matthew Rittner, a Marine veteran of the 2004 deployment who was killed while serving a search warrant in February.

In late March, Smith posted on Facebook that he'd been hospitalized, and his daughter later said he had been admitted to the intensive care unit, but his death still came as a surprise, Semrow said.

"He seemed invincible," she said. "I didn't think he'd ever die."A Marine Corps major is joining a growing chorus calling on the service to develop a clear identity and to stop being everything to everyone.

Maj. Leo Spaeder, a Marine air-ground task force planner at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, wants the general officer nominated to lead the service to end what he calls an ongoing identity crisis. Lt. Gen. David Berger was tapped to be 38th commandant of the Marine Corps in March; his confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.

In a commentary he wrote for War on the Rocks titled "Sir, Who Am I? An Open Letter to the Incoming Commandant of the Marine Corps," Spaeder said he's confused by his service's attempt to organize, train and equip before it has developed a clear identity.

"At Headquarters Marine Corps, I have heard and read a dizzying array of what we are doing, pursuing, and becoming," the major wrote. "... Not much of it is coherent: general purpose force, expeditionary advanced base operations force, paced against a specific threat, no pacing threat, applicable to all combatant commands, urban/megacities, jungle, sea control, forcible entry operations, amphibious, expeditionary, naval, crisis responders, contact force, blunt force, surge force, heavy, light, etc.

"I could go on, but it's starting to feel absurd."

Spaeder, who could not immediately be reached for comment, is not the only one calling on Marine Corps leaders to develop a clear mission. Last month, Dakota Wood, a retired Marine officer now with the Heritage Foundation, wrote a 60-page report highlighting what the service must do to prepare for a near-peer naval battle.

"The ability to project ground combat power by sea is what differentiates the Corps from the Army," Wood said. "Without this capability, there is not much reason to maintain a Marine Corps."

And last year, Congress called for assessments on the service's ground forces when it comes to deterring near-peer enemies and the feasibility, plans and investments in the Marine Corps' ability to operate in contested littoral environments.

Like Wood, Spaeder said the Marine Corps "can stop creating redundant capabilities," such as Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command or Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. Those are services already provided to the joint force, he said. (Wood argued something similar about MARSOC, though it proved unpopular with some in the special operations community.)

If confirmed to serve as commandant, Berger should choose what Spaeder calls a single-core attribute. Marines need to know whether they should be focused on being a general-purpose force, one that fights small wars, one that fights in the littorals, or something else, he said.

"Next, name two or three distinguishing attributes that -- in accordance with the National Defense Strategy -- differentiate the Corps from the other services," Spaeder added.

The Marine Corps should still be able to conduct other outlying mission sets that complement those missions, he said, but they should be Marines' lowest priorities when it comes to investing time and resources.

"I pose a single question to drive our identity: Are we naval in character or purpose?" Spaeder asks. "If it's the former, then we can continue to be anything we want and just continue using funny words for windows, walls, and water fountains."

But if the Marine Corps continues doing a bunch of other missions at the same time -- training for an arctic mission in Norway, providing land-based crisis response in Africa and the Middle East, and spending more on support elements than it does on infantry units -- the service will continue its march to irrelevance and eventual extinction, he warned.

The Marine Corps has no more time to be everything to everyone, Spaeder added. It can't dabble in modernization, he said, without a clear vision behind it. Now that the National Defense Strategy has been released, Berger should leverage it to decide the service's next steps.

And those who aren't on board with his vision should retire, Spaeder added.

"A clear identity is now possible and represents a once-in-a-century chance to re-invent the Marine Corps," he wrote.

Berger oversees Spaeder's command in his current role as head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.The military services' top attorneys are holding the line against a renewed push by lawmakers to remove commanders from the process of deciding to prosecute sexual-assault cases.

Speaking at a House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing on the role of commanders in sexual-assault cases, the service attorneys said Tuesday that an 18-month review of the Pentagon's handling of sex crimes and subsequent "Report of the Response Systems to Sexual Assault Crimes Panel," completed in 2014, concluded that Congress should not "further limit the authority of the [commanders] under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to refer charges for sexual-assault crimes to trial by court-martial."

Although Congress ordered the Pentagon to form the panel to study the issue in 2013, several Senate and House Democrats have revived the issue. They say they're concerned that the number of assaults remains high while reporting rates are still low.

"A culture of endemic retaliation and doubt persists" in the military, said Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who leads the subcommittee. "Too many of our service members live and work in toxic cultures characterized by pervasive, unrelenting harassment and assault."

"I'm incredibly disappointed that after years of fighting this problem, after so many incremental changes in the law, that we're still in the exact same place," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, during a hearing on the same subject March 7. "Sexual assault in the military is still pervasive. It's still hurting our military readiness. It's still causing thousands of our service members to suffer. ... We need a fundamentally different approach to how these crimes are being prosecuted."

Testifying Tuesday, the attorneys insisted that the system works as-is, with commanders involved in decisions on whether to prosecute.

Army Lt. Gen. Charles Pede said that while there is much to do to address sexual assaults in the ranks, commanders must be the "fulcrum to any solution." He pointed to the recent military housing scandal caused by the Pentagon hiring private companies to manage base housing, effectively allowing commanders to relinquish oversight of the program.

"Who do our families look [to] for solutions? Who do you look [to] to drive change? Soldiers look to their commanders ... the notion that stripping commanders of authority over serious crimes will reduce crimes, result in more prosecutions or higher conviction rates is not supported by empirical evidence," Pede said.

The Response Systems to Sexual Assault Crimes Panel was comprised of nine members, including five appointed by the Pentagon and four named by Congress. The group included retired military officers, legal experts and a former member of Congress.

The panel concluded that changes previously made by Congress, including restricting a commander's ability to grant clemency to perpetrators and changes to Article 32 hearings, were sufficient. The members concluded that removing convening authority from commanders would not reduce sexual-assault incidence rates or increase reporting.

The panel made the decision, with two members dissenting, after a review that involved 65 meetings, 14 public hearings, site visits to military bases, hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents.

Navy Vice Adm. John Hannink said that his service's Victims Legal Counsel Program members agree with the panel's recommendations.

"Based on their work, they don't think that the removal of convening authority is a significant barrier to reporting," Hannink said.

Military personnel filed 6,769 reports of sexual assault in 2017, and personnel surveys show that nearly 15,000 active-duty troops experienced a sexual assault the previous year. But in 2006, the estimated number of troops who were sexually assaulted was 34,000.

While the attorneys all said that one sexual assault is one too many, they said recent changes to the UCMJ are improvements that will help increase prosecution rates and reporting.

"The military justice system might be the most studied criminal justice system in the past decade. We welcome this scrutiny," Hannink said.

According to retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, president of the Protect Our Defenders advocacy group, conviction rates for prosecutions have declined significantly. Citing data provided by the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigations, Prosecution and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces, Christensen said less than a quarter of "penetrative offenses" that went before a judge in fiscal 2017 resulted in a conviction. And just 3.6% of contact offenses, which include unwanted touching, groping or kissing, were convicted before a judge.

Christensen said the services need to improve their investigative teams that respond to sexual assaults.

"This needs to be something that is a career track," he said. "Let investigators be investigators for their entire career."

Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi, the subcommittee's ranking Republican, said much "remains to ensure that every sexual-assault perpetrator [in the military] is held accountable." But he warned against making changes to the UCMJ before reforms that went into effect Jan. 1 take root.

"I would caution against additional major changes to the commander-centric justice system when we have not even seen results from the reforms instituted just 90 days ago," said Kelly, who also serves in the Army National Guard.

The Defense Department Inspector General in March found that one of the reforms of the past five years -- a provision in the fiscal 2015 defense law that required DoD officials to ask sexual-assault victims about whether they would prefer the offense to be prosecuted by court-martial or in a civilian court -- was not being followed.

In 77 of 82 cases the IG reviewed, officials did not ask about or did not document that they asked about preference. Of the 77 cases, 21 victims weren't asked about preference, and in 56 cases, if victims were asked, their preference was not documented.

Christensen's group, Protect Our Defenders, called the UCMJ in sexual-assault cases "a broken military justice system exemplified by the obvious failure to hold offenders accountable."

Speier said she favors leaving convening authority within the military system, but would prefer the decisions be made by an independent prosecuting authority rather than the commander.

"Something here is fundamentally broken. We need to act," she said.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, the nominee to head U.S. Africa Command, said Tuesday that the presence of Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic is part of the effort by President Vladimir Putin to regain influence for Moscow in the Sub-Sahara.

"They concern me greatly," Townsend said of the mercenaries from the shadowy organization known as the "Wagner Group," now operating in CAR, one of the world's poorest countries, which has been mired in Christian-Muslim sectarian violence since 2012.

At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Townsend said that the Russians are using the mercenaries "to guard the head of state there [President Faustin-Archange Touadera]. They're using them to train some of the local armed forces."

"Some of that could be benign; some of that is probably less than benign," he said in response to questions from Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan.

Townsend noted that Russian paramilitaries believed to be from the Wagner Group, dubbed "little green men" in the so-called "hybrid warfare" directed by Moscow, were used in Crimea and eastern Ukraine to provide Putin with a semblance of deniability that the Russian military was involved.

"They're quasi-military and, as we saw play out in Crimea and Ukraine, little green men running around not necessarily following the rules of behavior we would expect from a proper army," he said.

Peters said that Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the current commander of AFRICOM, cited the presence of the Wagner Group in the Central African Republic in testimony before the committee last month.

What risk, Peters asked, do the mercenary groups pose to the U.S. and its interests in Africa?

"Senator, I have some experience with these [Russian mercenaries] ... from my time in Syria," Townsend said, referring to his former post as commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria.

In February 2018, Russian mercenaries combined with the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an attack on an outpost in Syria's eastern Deir al-Zour province, which was held by U.S. troops and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

The attack was repelled by troops on the ground from U.S. Special Operations Command, Marine artillery and U.S airstrikes.

In testimony in March 2018 to the House Armed Services Committee, then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said U.S. intelligence saw enemy forces massing for the attack with tanks and artillery.

"The Russian high command in Syria assured us it was not their people," he said.

He directed Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Joint Chiefs chairman, "for the force, then, to be annihilated. And it was," Mattis said. Documents later obtained by The New York Times indicated that as many as 300 of the enemy were killed.

In his opening statement at Tuesday's hearing, Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, the committee's ranking member, said that Russia is "building upon historic alliances in places like Libya to ensure access to the southern Mediterranean and forging new partnerships in places like the Central African Republic in order to extract resources and gain new allies."

"Russians have moved into Central African Republic, advising them, which seems to be an attempt by Putin to return to the great power influence that they enjoyed under the Soviet Union," Reed said.

For its part, Moscow has made no secret of its designs on Africa. Since 2014, Russia has signed 19 military cooperation agreements in sub-Saharan Africa, including with Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, according to its foreign and defense ministries and state media, Reuters reported last month.

The Central African Republic has not ruled out letting Russia set up a military base in the country. Last month, Defense Minister Marie-Noelle Koyara of CAR told Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency that "we haven't yet talked about developing the base specifically, but this possibility is not excluded" in the framework agreement signed with Moscow last August.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.Veteran caregivers enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs' stipend program and students using the Fry Scholarship can now get a free year of LinkedIn Premium, thanks to a newly extended partnership between the company and the VA.

LinkedIn's Premium accounts typically cost $29.99 per month, or $299.88 if you sign up for a full year, and bring access to a variety of features, including career courses, upgraded connections to recruiters and the ability to view who is looking at their profile.

Those users join a list of other troops and military family members who were given the free service over the past several years.

Veterans verified using the ID.me service can get the account upgrade for a year on a one-time basis. About 2.4 million veterans use that program, LinkedIn officials said last year.

And military spouses going through a permanent change of station (PCS) can access the free upgrade within six months of a move or within six months of transitioning out of military life. That one-year upgrade, announced last year, is available once for each PCS and can be accessed through Military OneSource.

To get access, caregivers must be actively accepted to and enrolled in the VA's Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. That program provides a stipend to spouses or other military caregivers who provide home health assistance to a veteran.

Fry Scholars are military spouses or the children of troops killed in the line of duty who are using education benefits through the VA.

To request a LinkedIn Premium upgrade, caregivers should email their full name and the full name of the veteran for whom they are caring to CaregiverLinkedIn.VBANYN@va.gov.

Fry Scholars should email a request with their full name and contact information to 223D.VBAVACO@va.gov.

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.

Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life

For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, sign up for a free Military.com membership and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox.ANN ARBOR, MI -- The judge raised the handcuffed defendants inches-thick criminal file in the air.

This explains my level of disappointment, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Archie Brown told 30-year-old Marcus Claybron, a parole absconder who fled an Ann Arbor police traffic stop and instigated a 12-hour standoff at an Eli Road home from Feb. 24 to Feb. 25.

Brown explained that hes presided over multiple criminal cases involving Claybron that have resulted in 14 felony convictions and 14 misdemeanor convictions since 2007.

Claybron was granted parole in 2017 after serving six years prison on 2010 convictions of felony assault, felony firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of less than 25 grams of cocaine and third-degree fleeing and eluding.

He pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 3 to new counts of resisting, assaulting or obstructing a police officer and third-degree fleeing or eluding of a police officer.

A plea agreement reached with the Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office calls for Claybron to serve a year in the Washtenaw County Jail for the standoff and fleeing police, after completing any additional jail time for violating parole.

Claybron, whose neck tattoo reads Lifes a gamble, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records, was paroled in February 2017.

He failed to charge his electronic GPS tether on Feb. 5 of this year, causing him to be listed as an absconder, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz said.LANSING, MI -- A Macomb County man noticed the Fantasy 5 jackpot was a little higher than usual so he decided to buy a ticket. Lucky for him, that observation led to a $100,234 win as he split the jackpot with another winner for the drawing held on Monday, Mar. 29.

Nassar Mansour, of Centerline, bought his winning ticket at the BP gas station, located at 24524 John R Road in Hazel Park. He matched all five numbers drawn  08-21-27-36-39  to win half of the $200,468 jackpot.

I saw the jackpot was over $200,000, so I decided to buy a Fantasy 5 ticket, Mansour said. I checked my ticket early the next morning and saw all five of my numbers.

All I could do was think: Theres no way this is real! I called for my dad to come double check my ticket and when I saw the look on his face, I knew Id won.

Mansour visited Michigan Lottery headquarters Tuesday to claim his prize. With his winnings, he says he plans on helping his family.

Winning is incredible. Its going to help me and my family live a little bit better, Mansour said.A deadbeat dad failed to pay nearly $29,000 in child support despite living a lavish life that included buying million-dollar homes and traveling with Eminem, according to Michigans Attorney General.

Richard Slone, 45, failed to make the payments to a southeast Michigan woman and their 14-year-old daughter over the course of 10 years, Dana Nessels office said today in a news release announcing the recovery of the child support money.

A well-regarded artist from the United Kingdom, Slone has painted portraits of Nelson Mandela, Hugh Hefner, Donald Trump, Eminem and more, according to his website.

Hes also created official artwork for million-dollar fights involving Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De la Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and others.

According to Nessels office, hes earned tens of thousands of dollars on his portraits, allowing him to purchase million-dollar homes in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where he currently lives, and travel with the likes of Eminem and Emanuel Stewart.

Despite this, Slones daughter and her mother have relied on state aid to get by, the state said.

The AGs office initiated an investigation and subsequently prosecuted Slone after he consistently failed to make child support payments. Failing to pay child support is a felony in Michigan.

We believe in bringing deadbeat parents to justice and collecting the child support payments vulnerable families are owed, Nessel said.

Those seeking to shirk their responsibility as parents should heed this warning: This office will do everything we can to find you and make certain your families are properly supported.

To date, the Michigan Attorney General has collected more than $270 million on behalf of 19,000-plus Michigan children whose parents failed to support them, according to a news release.A debate over what role local governments and law enforcement should play when dealing with immigrants living in their communities illegally is set to reignite next week in the Michigan legislature.

As introduced, House Bills 4083 and 4090 state counties and other municipalities would prevent counties, cities and other local governments from preventing or limiting law enforcement from contacting federal immigration authorities.

The language states local governments shall not enact or enforce any law, ordinance, policy, or rule that limits or prohibits a peace officer or local official, officer, or employee from communicating or cooperating with appropriate federal officials concerning the immigration status of an individual in this state."

The bills are sponsored by Republican Reps. Beau LaFave, R-Iron Mountain, and Pamela Hornberger, R-Chesterfield Twp., and are scheduled to be discussed in the House Military, Veterans and Homeland Security Committee - which LaFave chairs - at noon Tuesday, April 9. Previous versions of the legislation cleared a House panel last session but did not get taken up for a vote by the full House.

The legislation taps into a long-simmering debate thats pitted immigrant rights advocates - many of whom believe local governments should do more to shield their citizens from federal immigration enforcement - against those who want to see stricter enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Some communities around the country have billed themselves as sanctuary cities, which generally means a municipality has policies to limit interaction with federal officials when it comes to detaining immigrants who are in the country illegally. Currently, no cities in Michigan label themselves a sanctuary city, although a handful have developed pro-immigrant local policies, such as directing law enforcement and city staff not to ask a persons immigration status or declaring the community a Welcoming City."

LaFave said the latest versions of the set of bills are meant to protect police officers from punishment by a local municipality if they feel the need to involve federal authorities in immigration cases.

A police officer, in my opinion, has enough of a target on their back already - they shouldnt have to worry about local politicians using them as a tool for their political career," he said. The only thing this bill does is say you cant handcuff law enforcement or threaten to fire them for calling ICE or any other federal immigration official.

An officer with concerns could file a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General or bring a court action to have the state policy enforced if the bills pass, LaFave said.

Language in House Bill 4083 as introduced also stipulates a court could assess a civil fine between $2,500 and $7,500 against a local official it deems knowingly and willfully enacted or enforced a law, ordinance, policy or rule in violation of this act. That language does not appear in House Bill 4090, the bill that would impact counties.

Immigration advocacy groups are concerned the bills could have a stifling effect on community trust in law enforcement across Michigan, and could create more confusion when a police officer is confronted with a potentially sensitive immigration situation.

Allowing any officer to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement at any point in an investigation leaves room for significant errors, said Diego Bonesatti, director of legal services for the group Michigan United, pointing to a recent case in Grand Rapids where U.S. citizen Jilmar Ramos-Gomez was detained by ICE for three days.

Diverting more local resources to immigration enforcement could also hinder or delay other crucial police work, and would likely deter many people from reporting crimes out of fear they or their families could be detained, Bonesatti said.

I think the legislations bad news, he said. Its not the work that local law enforcement is supposed to do.

In written testimony on the bills submitted to the committee March 19, ACLU of Michigan Policy Counsel Kimberly Buddin said the legislation is unnecessary and based on inaccurate and incomplete information that perpetuates discrimination against the immigrant community.

These bills are an overreach that go beyond the federal immigration laws and inappropriately regulate the day to day practices and policies of local governments, Buddin continued.

If the House panel votes out the bills, they would head to the House Ways and Means Committee for further review under a new system implemented this year. The legislation would need to pass the full House and Senate and be signed by the governor to become law.While gas prices in Michigan remained mostly stagnant for the past week, they still remain some of the most expensive in the U.S. and about 10 cents more than the national average.

The average cost for a gallon of self-serve unleaded gasoline in Michigan is going for about $2.82 as of Wednesday morning, April 3. This actually represents about a 4 cent decrease from last weeks average, but prices still sit 34 cents higher than this point last month.

On the national side of things, prices are still on the rise with another spike of 3 cents bringing the average up to about $2.70 per gallon as of Wednesday morning. This represents a whopping 18-cent spike in the last month across the U.S.

Three months ago motorists could find gas for less than $2.50 at 78 percent of gas stations, Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson, said in a news release. "Today, you can only find gas for that price at one-third of stations, which is likely giving sticker shock to motorists across the country.

Gasoline stocks have been steadily decreasing since early February causing spikes at the pump that are likely to continue for the coming weeks.

GasBuddy reports as of about 10 a.m. Wednesday that the cheapest gas in Michigan can be found at $2.35 per gallon at the Circle K in Woodhaven. Outside of that, a handful of stations in Sturgis have prices listed at $2.39 and $2.40.

HEADS UP: #GasPrices are likely to rise soon in the #GreatLakes due to price cycling. Fill up soon, shop around for low prices now.  Patrick DeHaan  (@GasBuddyGuy) April 2, 2019

Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at the fuel-tracking website, says that this represents the seventh week in a row for a national rise and that the price sits at its highest levels in 142 days. GasBuddy reports that it compiles its data from more than 135,000 gas stations.

The run-up this spring has felt worse than prior years, and thus far, the national average is up nearly 50 cents per gallon from our 2019 low," he said in a blog post. "Unfortunately, this a rut well be stuck in yet for at least a few more weeks.

President Trump, as much as hed like to control oil and gasoline prices, has not be able to successfully convince OPEC to respond, with oil prices last week closing above $60 per barrel, a fresh 2019 high. What the President may not realize is that while oil prices have been a minor piece of the pie of rising gas prices, the bulk remains EPA mandates during the summer months that coincide with refineries doing work ahead of the intense demand during the summer in which most run near capacity.

AAA Michigan gas map as of April 3

See below for a full rundown of average gas prices across the state:A grand jury in South Dakota has indicted a man who allegedly killed and dismembered a woman before driving to Michigan and dumping her in an Upper Peninsula river.

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg announced Monday that Stephen R. Falkenberg, 45, of Yankton has been indicted on first-degree manslaughter and second-degree murder in the March 1 death of Tamara LaFramboise, 46, of Yankton.

Second-degree murder is punishable by mandatory life imprisonment.

Woman dumped in U.P. river was dismembered, taken from South Dakota by alleged killer

Falkenberg is accused of killing LaFramboise in Yankton, where they both lived, before driving to Menominee County where he grew up and throwing her body in the Little River, a tributary of the Menominee River.

Two boys found parts of the body on March 16.

A probable cause affidavit says Falkenberg told his sister he argued with LaFramboise, pushed her and she hit her head and died, according to the Associated Press.

Defense attorney Clint Sargent says Falkenberg plans to plead not guilty, the AP reported.

The investigation is being spearheaded by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Yankton County Sheriffs Office, and the Yankton Police Department, the FBI, and Michigan authorities.The Michigan Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on a request to consider the constitutionality of legislation that substantially altered citizen-initiated paid sick time and minimum wage proposals.

In an order released Wednesday, the court set an oral argument hearing on the matter for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 17. The court invited members of the House and Senate to submit briefs on whether an advisory opinion should be issued, and whether the adopt-and-amend strategy legislative Republicans took when changing two 2018 citizen-led ballot initiatives was constitutional.

The court also requested Attorney General Dana Nessel to submit separate briefs arguing both sides of these questions. Its unclear whether the Michigan Supreme Court will issue an advisory opinion, as initially requested by the Michigan House and Senate.

Legislative leaders in the House and Senate asked the states highest court to weigh in on the constitutionality of the legislation in February in the hopes of circumventing what they see as an inevitable legal fight. The controversial changes to voter-initiated state minimum wage and paid sick time laws took effect last week.

Nessel is currently considering a request for an opinion from state Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, who asked for a formal opinion on whether it was possible for the legislature could enact and amend a voter-initiated law in the same legislative session, and whether the actions taken to change the minimum wage and paid sick time efforts in 2018 were unconstitutional.

Both the minimum wage and paid sick time proposals were citizen-led ballot initiatives. The original minimum wage proposal brought tipped employees into the regular minimum wage rules and raised minimum wage to $12 by 2022, and the paid sick time proposal put different requirements in place for large and small businesses, but let workers earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.

Instead of letting those proposals go to the ballot, the legislature adopted them with the intent to change them later on, and in December, then-Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law significant changes to the original language.

The new minimum wage requirement leaves tipped workers separate and raises the general minimum wage to $12.05 by 2030, a far longer time horizon than was originally proposed. Tipped workers will be at 38 percent of the regular minimum wage, and make a minimum of $4.58 per hour by 2030.

The new paid sick leave requirement applies only to businesses with 50 or more employees. Workers will earn one hour of sick time for every 35 hours worked, instead of 30 hours under the original proposal, and could accrue 40 hours of paid sick leave. Under the original proposal, workers could have earned 72 hours per year of paid sick time if they worked at larger businesses or 40 hours per year if they worked at small businesses with under 10 employees.The state health department says that Michigans current measles outbreak is its worst since 1991, as 34 cases have been confirmed as of Tuesday, April 2.

The Department of Health and Human Services says it has confirmed four additional measles cases in Oakland County. Of the 34 reported outbreaks in Michigan, 33 are in Oakland County and one in Wayne County, the department said in a news release.

The news doesnt get any better on a national level as 387 measles cases have been confirmed across 15 states. This represents the second largest outbreak in the U.S. since measles was declared eliminated in 2000, according to the CDC.

Related: CDC says measles outbreak is 2nd largest since 2000

Michigans health department points out that from 2001 to 2012, there were only about 60 measles cases on average each year in the entire U.S.

Measles is described as a vaccine-preventable disease that is spread by human contact, and through the air by an infected person. The virus can live up to two hours in the air where the infected person coughed or sneezed, and symptoms usually show up a week or two after exposure.

Key symptoms to look out for include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes, tiny white spots in the mouth and a red rash on the face that spreads to the extremities.

Did you know Measles is a vaccine preventable disease? You can protect yourself and your infant with the MMR vaccine. Learn more about this highly contagious disease and the MMR vaccine from @CDCgov at https://t.co/qQJ8IkH9Bk. pic.twitter.com/DOm2xuY25o  Michigan HHS Dept (@MichiganHHS) March 25, 2019

See below for a list of recently identified potential exposure spots in Southeast Michigan:

April 1:

Yeshivas Darchei Torah School, 21550 West 12 Mile Road, Southfield between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

March 29:

Congregation BNai Israel: 15400 W. 10 Mile Road, Oak Park between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m.

Bais Haknesses Hagrah, 14561 W. Lincoln Blvd., Oak Park between 7 and 10 a.m.

Beaumont Medical Building, 1st Floor: 3535 W. 13 Mile Road, Royal Oak between 2:30 and 5 p.m.

Yeshivas Darchei Torah School, 21550 West 12 Mile Road, Southfield between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

March 28:

Bais Haknesses Hagrah: 14561 W. Lincoln Blvd., Oak Park between 7 and 10 a.m.

Yeshivas Darchei Torah School: 21550 West 12 Mile Road, Southfield between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Congregation BNai Israel: 15400 W. 10 Mile Road, Oak Park between 5:30 and 8 p.m.

Related: What you need to know about Michigans measles outbreak

The measles vaccine is highly effective and very safe. A single dose of measles vaccine protects about 95 percent of children, but after two doses, almost 100 percent are immune, the state health department writes in its release.

A second vaccine dose is given before the start of kindergarten. For international travel, infants as young as 6 months should be vaccinated against measles. Measles vaccine, or other acceptable documentation of immunity to measles, is recommended for all persons travelling internationally."

Michigans measles outbreak dates back to March 13, when the health department reported that the first case came from someone visiting from Israel following a stay in New York.

The number of reported measles cases in the U.S. in 2019 is the second highest since 2000. (Courtesy Center for Disease Control)

Related: Number of measles cases in Southeast Michigan now up to 30

The Oakland County Health Division is offering vaccinations at its offices from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m on Monday and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Southfield and Pontiac. It will also offer vaccinations from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 3 and 4 at Young Israel of Oak Park, 15140 W. 10 Mile Road.

Wayne Countys health department offers walk-in vaccinations at its location at 33030 Van Born Road. For more information, call 734-727-7101.

Rite Aid also reports that it is offering the measles vaccinations at its locations upon request. According to a news release from the company, no appointment is necessary. To find a location near you, click here.ANN ARBOR, MI - Chicago has elected its first black, female mayor, becoming the largest U.S. city to do so, and she is a University of Michigan alum.

Lori Lightfoot also made history by becoming the first openly lesbian candidate to run for the office. Chicago is now the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor.

Lightfoot defeated Toni Preckwinkle, who served on City Council for 19 years before becoming Cook County Board president, according to the Associated Press.

Lightfoot promised to rid City Hall of corruption and help low-income and working-class people, whom she said had been left behind and ignored by Chicagos political ruling class. Chicago will become the largest U.S. city to elect a black woman as mayor when Lightfoot is sworn in May 20, according to the AP.

Lightfoot earned a bachelors degree in political science from UM in 1984, graduating with honors, before earning a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago.

Former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade supported Lightfoot, who was McQuades resident adviser at UMs Bursley Hall in 1983-84.

Hey, Chicago! Heres your chance to elect a tremendous leader, @LightfootForChi. I have known and respected Lori Lightfoot since she was an RA in Bursley Hall at @Umich. She solved problems with great integrity then, and has spent 3 decades learning and serving. Vote for Lori. https://t.co/iG2hcymCsT  Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) March 31, 2019

After receiving a full scholarship to the UC Law School, Lightfooot moved to Chicagos Hyde Park neighborhood. With the exception of a one-year clerkship on the Michigan Supreme Court in Detroit, she has lived in Chicago since 1986, according to her bio.

Most recently, Lightfoot served as a senior equity partner in the Litigation and Conflict Resolution Group at Mayer Brown LLP before announcing her candidacy for mayor in May 2018.

She served as president of the Chicago Police Board from 2015 to 2018 and was co-chair of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force in 2016. As president of the Chicago Police Board, Lightfoot led a 9-member independent civilian body charged with deciding disciplinary matters involving allegations of police misconduct.

Prior to that, she was first deputy procurement officer for the Chicago Department of Procurement Services in 2005 and chief of staff and general counsel for Chicagos Office of Emergency Management and Communications.ANN ARBOR, MI  With a net covering his beard and an apron around his waist, Pat Elkins peers beneath the brim of a ball cap as he pours a fresh pot of red syrup into a plastic squeeze bottle.

Its a carefully concocted mixture infused with cannabis, and its about to be drizzled into round molds stamped with stylized pot leaves. Theyll be chilled to form a batch of cherry-flavored gummy candies.

I love my job a lot, says Elkins, who works at Arbor Kitchen, a marijuana bakery hidden away in a nondescript building near downtown Ann Arbor. I love working with cannabis.

Arbor Kitchen is one of a handful of medical marijuana processing facilities operating in Ann Arbor.

Its associated with the Arbors Wellness retail dispensary on Liberty Street, and it keeps the shops shelves stocked with locally made goods like pot brownies and shortbread cookies, as well as medicinal tinctures, capsules, balms and candies.

Gummies are our most popular, far and away, said Brian Doelle, co-owner of Arbor Kitchen and Arbors Wellness.

They are delicious, scratch made. Everything out of the kitchen is scratch made.

Operating in a space that once housed a catering company, Arbor Kitchen has three full-time employees. Last July, it became Michigans first officially licensed medical marijuana processor, while Arbors Wellness became the first licensed dispensary.

Elkins explained the cooking process as he and another baker were at work in the kitchen.

Were going to start most of the time with a distillate marijuana concentrate, and were going to be working with that and infusing it into coconut oil and other fats and sugars, he said.

They also make products for people who dont want sugar or are looking for vegan options, including products for people with Crohns disease and other gastrointestinal issues.

Doelle, of Birmingham, worked in advertising and marketing for 25 years before he decided to join cannabis entrepreneur James Daly in his Ann Arbor venture in late 2017.

They opened Arbor Kitchen out of necessity, since it was difficult for the dispensary to find a reliable supply of edibles with consistent doses of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, Doelle said.

We needed to be able to supply patients with stuff that we thought was of the highest quality and consistency, he said.

And what weve always been known for is that, if you get a 50-milligram gummy, it is exactly 50 milligrams.

The gummies retail for $10 a piece.

On the citys west side, another marijuana bakery known as the Detroit Fudge Co. is making similar types of edibles in a kitchen associated with the Peoples Choice dispensary off Liberty Street.

A team of eight people on a recent Tuesday was busy making and packaging green gummies and red lozenges stamped with a D logo, as well as other products like 200-milligram pot brownies. The kitchen has 11 employees.

We make all the fun stuff, so rice crispy treats, cookies, fudge dips, candy, said co-owner Rachel Pell, noting they also make 200-milligram chocolate bars.

Other cannabis-infused products the company lists for sale include peanut butter, honey, olive oil and cough syrup.

Detroit Fudge products are now sold at about 35 locations across Michigan. In addition to supplying Peoples Choice next door, theyre sold wholesale to other dispensaries online.

The company is still working on getting state licensing approval.

Once we get licensed and we can kind of get through that part of it, we can put our energy and focus into new product development, Pell said. Weve got several things on the horizon that were going to start pushing, and I think secure transport will be a big deal.

We want to try to have this be a hub for lots of different products, lots of processors and growers. Wed like to be able to offer on our website everybodys products. You know, like Amazon, but for edibles.

Pell said her company is merging with KTC Industries in Omer, Michigan, and she wants to see the Detroit Fudge brand continue to grow.

So why name an Ann Arbor company after Detroit? Pell, who lives in Canton Township, has often been asked that.

My dad is part of this company and he was born and raised in Detroit, she explains.

Ann Arbor has been a great place to operate, Pell said, calling it a safe haven for marijuana businesses.

Ann Arbor has been really super helpful and I think that theres a lot of room for growth, she said.

I dont think weve reached the all-time high yet. We have recreational coming and I think theres a lot of different cool things and other businesses that are going to stem from this.

Arbor Kitchen is primarily focused on supplying its own dispensary for now, but it does supply some others.

The same people behind Arbor Kitchen and Arbors Wellness, also known as Cannarbor Inc., are working on opening a 500-plant grow facility on the citys west side, and making preparations for a few other dispensaries, including two on West Stadium Boulevard and one by the 7-Eleven on South Main Street.

Theyre expecting the market to expand as recreational marijuana sales become legal next year.

But state regulations, including safety-compliance requirements for lab testing and third-party secure transporting, have driven up costs, Doelle said. For instance, just to have a batch of the kitchens products moved less than a mile to the dispensary in a licensed secure-transporter van can cost $500 or more.

And because of batch testing requirements, Doelle said, if the kitchen doesnt make its gummies and other products by the thousands, it can significantly increase the cost per item.

You really have to run large quantities to be economical, he said, noting that limits product variety. Thats why all of our production runs have gotten much, much larger.

Thats not to say there shouldnt be safety-compliance testing, Doelle said, noting the company had its products tested even before it was required. But the current requirements, he said, are stringent.

The cost to test flower has gone up from about $60 to about $400, he said. Then to go from that flower to test a concentrate, thats adding anywhere from $750 on the batch up to about $4,500.Farmers in Michigan may not have to wait until 2020 to plant their first crop of industrial hemp.

The 2018 Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp in December 2018 -- but the U.S. Department of Agriculture has not yet written its industrial hemp program.

State governments are now scrambling to react.

It wont be until 2020 until a state government can have a state plan for raising industrial hemp in their state, said James Averill, deputy director for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

However, theres a provision in the previous U.S. Farm Bill, passed in 2014, that allows research universities or state governments to authorize industrial hemp programs. Previously, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency requirements made the states direct involvement in industrial hemp programs difficult -- but the new Farm Bill has changed that, Averill said.

Averill said Michigan is considering a way to help farmers plant hemp sooner rather than later.

For putting seed in the ground this year -- we have to work off the 2014 Farm Bill and that is a conversation that were continuing to have with the administration, Averill said.

The clock is ticking for Michigan officials to come up with a plan. Farmers want to put seed in the ground by late May or early June, said Josh Colton, a lawyer who runs The Hemp Law Group.

Hemp is related to marijuana, but is genetically different and contains 0.3 percent THC or less. Its valued for its fiber -- but the entire plant can be used to make a variety of products including fabric, carpeting, insulation, livestock feed and plastics. It is also a source of a hot product in the alternative therapy market -- cannabidiol, or CBD oil. CBD oil can also be extracted from marijuana, which makes its regulation difficult for officials.

Michigan legalized industrial hemp in November 2018, when voters passed the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act.

But some states have laws that still consider hemp as an illegal substance. Ohio is in the process of legalizing industrial hemp, as is Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma and Connecticut. North Dakotas governor recently refused to decriminalize hemp.

States like Kansas and Florida are writing rules to regulate the industry; while eager investors in California are impatiently awaiting direction from the state. Kentucky and North Carolina were early adopters of industrial hemp programs prior to the 2018 Farm Bill, as were Oregon and Colorado. Virginia recently legalized hemp.

Delaware has already launched a pilot hemp program for 2019, to allow farmers to grow hemp on a small basis. Farmers will be limited to 10 acres per operation, and will only be able to see off their crop if research requirements are met, according to state officials.

-- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical and recreational marijuana.ANN ARBOR, MI  As a lab technician in a white coat slides a marijuana sample underneath a microscope, a magnified image of dozens of sparkling crystals appears on a computer screen.

Theyre trichomes, oozing with therapeutic cannabinoids, meaning its probably some pretty good bud.

But the tiny bugs found among the crystals are another story.

Its just another afternoon at PSI Labs, a state-of-the-art facility in Ann Arbor where a team of 13 scientists and technicians use high-tech equipment to conduct quality-control testing for Michigans cannabis industry.

The lab offers full-service testing for retail dispensaries, processors, growers, patients and caregivers.

One of the first two medical cannabis safety-compliance facilities licensed by the state last July, it tests marijuana flower, concentrate and edibles for both potency and contaminants such as mold, mildew, fungus, pesticides and heavy metals.

The company was started by Lev Spivak-Birndorf and Ben Rosman, two buddies who grew up together in Birmingham.

Today is just a time where information about what you consume is highly sought after by consumers, and so theres no reason why cannabis should be any different, Spivak-Birndorf said.

Spivak-Birndorf is a research scientist with expertise in trace chemical analysis, and Rosman is an attorney.

Im a Ph.D. chemist in geology, so I spend a lot of time working with mass spectrometers and doing chromatography, which is a separation science, said Spivak-Birndorf, the labs chief science officer.

He and other lab workers are using complex analytical methods to look for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

Walking through rooms filled with scientific instruments and digital screens, Spivak-Birndorf explained the science behind each process. For instance, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, used to detect traces of toxic metals.

You can see theres a plasma flame going right now, so thats an argon torch, he said, pointing inside a boxy piece of equipment.

Thats 6,000 degrees Celsius, the same as the surface of the sun. And when samples get introduced to that in an acid solution, they just get rid of their electrons and kind of freak out and get turned into an ion.

By manipulating them in a mass spectrometer, its possible to measure any trace metals.

This room is just a lot of destruction of cannabis in various ways to get it ready to go, Spivak-Birndorf explains in another room.

What we do here is put cannabis in these vessels with acid and just literally obliterate all the organic components, leaving behind the metallic content so we can measure that.

In another room, Spivak-Birndorf explains liquid and gas chromatography.

This is all organic chemistry, he said, pointing to a column where samples are injected and vaporized, turning into gas.

One by one, we separate out complex mixtures and very precisely measure their components, Spivak-Birndorf said, noting they look for both the good and the bad in each sample.

Thats Delta-9 THC, Spivak-Birndorf said, pointing to a live readout on a screen. Thats usually the main cannabinoid of interest.

Rosman and Spivak-Birndorf opened PSI Labs in May 2015, seeing opportunity in a budding industry, particularly in Ann Arbor, which has a rich cannabis history. They both live here now.

I was working in criminal defense with a medical marijuana specialty, so I sort of had a feeling for the industry a little bit, and I also have epilepsy so Im a patient, Rosman said.

When we grew up in Birmingham in the 90s, we always looked to Ann Arbor as this really cool place that you could go that had sort of lax rules toward cannabis and it just hasnt changed.

Spivak-Birndorf also is a patient, using medical cannabis to treat symptoms of Crohns disease.

When he was finishing up his post-doctoral research fellowship in metal isotope geochemistry at Indiana University, hed visit Rosman and theyd go to a dispensary together to check things out.

Hes one of the smartest guys that I know, and we just started kicking around the idea together of starting a lab, Rosman said.

They were ahead of the curve, initially helping cannabis producers with research and development, and business is quickly accelerating now that the state is requiring safety testing.

Anything thats sold through a licensed provisioning center has to be tested through a lab like ours, Rosman said.

Their lab, one of only a handful like it in the state, is now running tens of thousands of tests per year, sometimes as many as eight to 10 tests per sample. They visit sites where cannabis products are created and take representative samples back for testing.

After starting as a two-person operation, theyve already outgrown their first location on Ann Arbors west side, and they may outgrow their 6,300-square-foot facility on Varsity Drive.

And I really didnt see that happening. When we moved in, it seemed way too big for us, Rosman said.

Its really amazing to see what its grown into, Spivak-Birndorf said. Were just in a very exciting expansion period for the whole industry.

They believe the required testing is improving the Michigan cannabis industry as it transitions to being comprehensively regulated, helping to eliminate contaminants from the supply chain.

Folks didnt really want to do the tests, and now theyre being forced to, Rosman said. And so I think when people get this data back, it forces them to improve their methods.

How often does a sample fail?

Pretty regularly, Spivak-Birndorf said. I mean, its starting to change. Youve sort of seen this evolution.

Mold and bacteria are still pretty common, as well as pesticides, particularly in concentrates.

The process of concentrating the THC also can concentrate the pesticide, so it can really create a lot of areas there where you can get bad fails, Spivak-Birndorf said.

Then well see stuff that doesnt have any pesticides and its just riddled with mites, Rosman added.

Occasionally, samples fail due to heavy metal contamination, usually in flower.

A good number of dispensaries in the area now go through PSI for testing, which can cost about $400 per sample. Ann Arbor dispensaries typically have high-quality product, Spivak-Birndorf said.

Ann Arbor, I would say, absolutely has always had sort of a higher quality across the board from their retail scene here. Its been very -- just always conscious of that, he said. Testing has been done a lot in this area compared to some of the other places  so I think theyve recognized sort of where the markets going.

In addition to high standards among local cannabis businesses, Ann Arbor has been a great town for a lab because of the science community and talent pool coming out of the University of Michigan, Spivak-Birndorf said.

Its just kind of an exciting and inspirational place to set up to try and change and bring out a new form of science that we should have been doing for decades now, he said.

It couldnt be a better place, as well as being centrally located to a lot of the cannabis activity in the state, as well. Were sitting not far from most of the hubs where provisioning centers and grows are starting to populate the area a bit more these days.

Kyle Meyer, who received his Ph.D. from UM last year, said he didnt think hed end up working at a cannabis-testing lab when he went to school for chemistry. He was focused on climate science before, but hes been thankful for the experience at PSI Labs.

Its been a phenomenal learning opportunity, he said. Most of my work was centered around this form of mass spectrometry, and from here Ive been able to accrue so many different skills, including help spearheading the development of our microbial testing platform. Its been an incredible insight into one of the few true growth industries.GENESEE COUNTY, MI  The Genesee County Health Department is saying there are no confirmed measles cases in the area.

The statement Wednesday morning from the county health department comes less than 24 hours after Davison Community Schools issued a letter to parents and guardians of a suspected measles case involving a Siple Elementary student.

A follow-up letter sent out April 3 to parents and guardians notes the county health department recommended sending a letter home with children to provide complete transparency so families were made aware of the situation.

The county health department followed up with the district about the issue and is communicating that at this time there are no confirmed cases of measles in Genesee County, reads the letter.

Officials with the health department could not immediately be reached for comment.

Michelle Edwards, Davison schools spokeswoman, said extra crews came into Siple Elementary after school on Tuesday for deep cleaning in classrooms, common areas and the bus the student rode.

The precautionary measures are taking place after a measles outbreak began in southeast Michigan, with 33 confirmed cases in Oakland County and one case in Wayne County and those infected ranging from eight months to 63 years old.

Its the highest rate of cases in the state since 1991, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. The outbreak dates back to March 13, when the health department reported that the first case came from someone visiting from Israel following a stay in New York.

To help prevent further spread of the disease, the Genesee County Health Department is urging residents to make sure they are up-to-date on their vaccinations, reads an April 3 county health department statement on the issue.

Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that can have lifelong health complications. Measles is spread by direct person-to-person contact and through the air when an infected person breathes coughs or sneezes, per the health department.

The virus can live up to two hours in the air where an infected person was present, with an infection rate of up to 90 percent for those coming in contact with a person carrying the virus unless they are vaccinated or immune. A person is considered immune if they have had the disease, been vaccinated or born before 1957.

Measles symptoms usually begin 7-14 days after exposure, but can appear up to 21 days after exposure and may include:

-High fever (may spike to over 104F)

-Cough

-Runny nose

-Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)

-Tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums, and roof of the mouth (Koplik Spots) 2-3 days after symptoms begin.

-A rash that is red, raised, blotchy; usually starts on face, spreads to trunk, arms and legs 3-5 days after symptoms begin.

-Infected individuals are contagious from four days before the rash appears until four to five days after the rash appears.

Those at highest risk for severe illness and complications from measles include infants and children younger than 5 years, adults 20 years and over, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems

The county health department states vaccination is the best defense against measles. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine requires two doses, with one given to a child between 12 and 15 months old and a second dose between 4 to 6 years old.

Infants 6 to 11 months old are recommended to receive a dose of the MMR vaccine prior to international travel. The vaccine is effective within 72-hours of exposure to prevent illness.

The Immunization Clinic at the countys Burton Branch, 3373 S. Saginaw St., provides MMR vaccinations.

Fact sheets, immunization office hours at the Health Departments Burton Clinic, and additional information on measles can be found at www.gchd.us.

Additional information about Michigans current measles outbreak can be found at www.Michigan.gov/MeaslesOutbreak.GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Two ex-girlfriends of a man accused of killing his current girlfriend wrote about being afraid for their lives.

The girlfriends both filed for personal protection orders against 31-year-old Jamar Terrelle Purdle, one in 2012 and another in 2015, and describe their fears in court petitions.

Purdle is charged with murder in the death of Mikeya Sheniece Day, who died at an area hospital Sunday evening, March 31. Day arrived at the hospital with what police said appeared to be a gunshot wound, and died a short time later.

In the 2012 personal protection order, a woman described how Purdle has threatened to kill me.

He tells me I better watch my back. He says if he sees me anywhere he going to hurt/kill me. He has a huge temper. Im scare for my life.

She later wrote that Im tired of the mental and physical abuse.

In the 2015 order, another woman described how Purdle was very abusive toward me.

He has beat me numerous times like i was a man, punched me in the face while I was holding my child. He urinated and spit on me, she wrote.

She ended the petition with Please help me. I dont want to die.

Purdle was arraigned Tuesday, April 2 in Grand Rapids District Court.

Police received a 911 call shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday from a resident in the 800 block of Hancock Street SE. The caller said a woman covered in blood had been banging on their door. At the end of the call, the caller indicated that the woman left the residence in a vehicle.

A short time later she showed up at the hospital.GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A Grand Rapids police officer granted a birthday wish for a 9-year-old that he will never forget.

The chance meeting between the police officer and boy from Grand Rapids Southeast Side last week started with Thomas Daniel missing his bus to school and finished the next day with a special party put on by police officers.

Daniel now calls Grand Rapids police officer Austin Lynema a hero and credits him for a memorable birthday.

The special bond began being formed on Feb. 26, when Daniel was walking to his bus stop. It was his ninth birthday and he was day dreaming of his birthday party later that day and all of his friends he invited that he hoped would celebrate with him.

As Daniel was approaching his bus stop, he realized the bus was driving away and attempted to flag down his only source of transportation to school, but he was too late.

I was sad I missed the bus, I just wanted to go to school, Daniel said. I started crying when it drove away.

Lynema witnessed what happened and offered to help the young man.

I saw him running down the sidewalk trying to chase his bus, he was in tears. I tried to stop his school bus for him, Lynema said. He informed me he never missed a day of school. I wanted to make sure I could help him as much as I could.

The police officer walked Daniel back to his apartment. On the way, the officer learned that it was Daniels birthday. Daniel invited all the GRPD police officers to his birthday party because he was afraid no one would be coming because he said he was being bullied at school, Lynema said.

After Lynema received permission to drop off Daniel at school, he made sure to provide a grand entrance, just for Daniel. As he pulled into the school parking lot, Lynema flashed his lights and sirens.

When he said he wasnt sure if anyone would be at his party I wanted to be sure that somebody was going to be there, Lynema said.

Daniels family and Grand Rapids police officers attended his party that evening.

When Austin came over, no one was at my birthday party because everybody had to go somewhere  to their friends houses to play, Daniel said of the people he invited. I just love Austin, because hes the coolest guy Ive ever met in my life"

The day after Daniels birthday, Lynema and other members of the Grand Rapids Police Department decided to surprise Daniel with a birthday party he would remember for birthdays to come.

Police brought personalized Krispy Kreme donuts that spelled out Happy Birthday," a Grand Rapids goodie bag with toys, shirts, hats and more, along with a singing quartet.

People at school are happy for me because Austin  he never lets kids down, hes a hero, said Daniel. Ill never forget this until the day I die.WYOMING, MI -- The human skull found late last month in northern Kent County belongs to the man shot and decapitated in 2014 by the Craigslist killer, police say.

Police announced Wednesday, April 3, dental records identify the skull found near 6 Mile and Kenowa Avenue as that of Charles Oppenneer, the 25-year-old man who was killed, decapitated and dumped in the woods near Gezon Park on July 12, 2014.

His killer, 31-year-old Brady Oestrike, then abducted Oppenneers girlfriend, 18-year-old Brooke Slocum, and chained her up in the basement of his Taft Avenue house in Wyoming.

The pair met with Oestrike that day in Gezon Park to exchange sex for cash. The three had corresponded via Craigslist.

Oestrike tortured Slocum for five days before killing her. She was eight months pregnant.

Oestrike was never tried for the killings. He killed himself during a chase with police the day he killed Slocum.

Oppenneer's skull was found March 26 on a private property in a rural area of northern Kent County.

Using dental records, Joseph Hefner, a forensic anthropologist and professor at Michigan State University, was able to positively identify the skull as belonging to Oppenneer.

Signs of trauma to the skull, along with evidence from the homicide scene, indicate Oppenneer was likely killed by gunshot, Wyoming Department of Public Safety Capt. James Maguffee said in a press release announcing the identification.

We continue to extend our deepest sympathies, our thoughts, and our prayers to family and loved ones of Charlie Oppenneer and Brooke Slocum, Maguffee wrote.

Maguffee thanked Hefner, MSU and the Kent County Sheriffs Office for their work on investigating and identifying Oppenneers remains.

The day Oestrike killed Slocum, July 17, 2014, he was supposed to fly to Las Vegas to see a woman he found on a fetish website, Wyoming police reports stated.

He had her cancel the flight a day before, telling the Las Vegas woman he couldnt get work off. Then, the day he killed Slocum, he asked her to book another flight as soon as possible.

She tried but later needed more information from him and tried to call him. He did not respond to her. When she looked him up on Facebook, she found a news article about his death and the slayings that preceded it.

Just a month before the killings of Slocum and Oppenneer, another woman kept chained in Oestrikes basement escaped.

The woman met Oestrike through a personal ad she posted on Craigslist seeking friendship and sex. She later agreed to move in with him, in mid-May 2014.

He asked her to be his sex slave, she told police at the time. He kept her chained to the basement floor when he left for work and physically and sexually abused her, she told police.

She said she feared for her life.

After escaping and then coming back, she left again in late June 2014. She told police Oestrike beat her, but did not want to press charges.ALLENDALE, MI -- Two Grand Valley State University students told police a man pointed a gun at them on campus after a traffic incident.

GVSU officials issued a notification about the report Tuesday, April 2. The said road-rage is believed a factor.

The students said they were in a vehicle and another vehicle began to follow them on campus just before 4 p.m.

At the corner of Lake Village Drive and Pierce Street, a man in the other vehicle pointed a black handgun out his window at the students.

The students said they then drove on and stopped in a campus parking lot. The man again followed them, exited his vehicle and attempted to confront them about a traffic incident.

The students drove away again and did not have any further encounters with the man.

The man was driving a charcoal gray Jeep Patriot four-door SUV

Anyone with information about the incident can call Grand Valley police 616-331-3255 or Silent Observer at 877 887-4536.GRASS LAKE TWP., MI  William Lester had a proposition for two of his sons as they considered starting a business in the late 1970s.

He had a dump truck and a garbage truck for sale. His sons could take one, and hed sell the other.

Obviously we chose the dump truck. Theres been a lot of days I wish we would have chosen the garbage truck, son Bill Lester said jokingly.

Forty years later, the Lester Brothers business has blossomed into a household name in Jackson County, offering excavating, trucking and septic maintenance. William Lester died March 29 at 89 years old.

After the funeral on Wednesday, April 3, the processional took a detour to the Lester Brothers business at 3405 E. Michigan Ave. There were 78 trucks and other heavy equipment from various businesses lined up to honor William Lester.

I hope itll be something my dad would be proud of, Bill Lester said. My dad always like trucks, was always a trucker and always enjoyed being around trucks, so thats why were doing it for him. Its our last honor to him."

William Lester retired from truck driving in 1985, but kept helping his sons with their business.

He was always there to help, grandson Jimmy Lester said. He was helping us here  hed come work every damn day up until the stroke (in March).

He wasn't the kind of guy to put his feet up, family members said. Besides coming to the office, William Lester helped deliver portable toilets in the summer, had cattle to take care of at home and put in hardwood flooring in his kitchen last month.

"He's just a hard-working, good guy," Bill Lester said.

William Lester, a Korean War veteran, is survived by his sons Bill, James and Steve as well as eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.GALESBURG, MI -- Galesburg has opted out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses in the city.

At a Galesburg City Council meeting Monday, April 1, the council voted 5-1 to block recreational marijuana businesses from locating inside the small city, located just east of Kalamazoo.

Before the meeting, the city held a community forum to hear feedback on the issue from local citizens.

Galesburg Mayor Lori West said the council took community comments very seriously. Ultimately, West said, a lack of information from the state and Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs was a key factor in the councils decision.

Its just an unknown land at this point," West said. "We still dont have regulation from LARA and until we know exactly the pros and cons, we really cant make an informed decision.

Michigan officials writing the rules for the states new adult-use marijuana industry expect to have drafts done by June.

The state government needs to set rules before it can accept any license applications. Without licensed businesses, there can be no retail sales of marijuana for recreational use -- even though voters legalized it nearly five months ago. The new rules have to be in place by December, per state law.

Council member Beckie Harmon cast the lone no vote at Mondays meeting. Since the state is in the midst of establishing those rules for recreational marijuana businesses, Harmon said, she sees no point in the Galesburg City Council taking action now.

We will have more information by June, which is only a few months away, so I just thought we could wait," Harmon said. Thats why I voted no.

After the community forum, Harmon said she expected the board to discuss the issue further before taking any action.

There was no discussion," she said. "There was a motion right away.

Harmon said she attempted to abstain from the vote entirely, but was told she could not.

The council is always provided time to discuss an agenda item before a motion, as stated in the city councils agenda, West said. Members are also provided information on agenda items before each meeting, she said. West declined to comment on Harmons criticism of a lack of discussion before the vote.

Marijuana is not a new issue for Galesburgs city leaders, who have previously made decisions about whether to allow medical marijuana facilities in the city.

Galesburg City Council voted to opt-out of allowing medical marijuana facilities in February 2018, reversing an earlier decision. The council had previously voted to allow medical marijuana facilities in the city.

The city opted to allow medical marijuana businesses in the city for a period of time while researching the medical marijuana industry and mapping out where a marijuana business could feasibly locate in Galesburg, City Clerk Karen Bresson said. The proximity to schools and residential neighborhoods within the small city were taken into consideration by the council in its final decision, Bresson said.

We couldnt really find an applicable area were it could be, she said.

In early 2018, resident Mark Howland bought a property in downtown Galesburg, hoping to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the city. Howland was disappointed when the council chose to opt out in early 2018.

They are a very close-minded group, which is sad, he said.

While he said he understands the councils choice to opt out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses while state guidelines are still being drafted, Howland said he wants the council to revisit whether medical marijuana facilities would be allowed in the city.

Whats really sad is they didnt opt in to the medical, because if we dont have the medical license, well have to wait two years before we can get a rec license, Howland said.

When he bought the property in downtown Galesburg, Howland said, he understood the risk. He now plans to open a CBD store in the bottom floor of the building and turn some of the remaining space into offices.

Cannabidiol -- or CBD-- is oil is extracted from marijuana or hemp, but does not produce the psychoactive effects of marijuana because it contains very little of the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Walgreens and CVS recently started carrying CBD products at certain stores, and Martha Stewart recently announced she would be launching her own CBD product line.

While Howland is excited to open his store, he said he still would like to open a dispensary in the building and will continue to approach the council about changing its stance.

It is what it is. Well see what happens," he said. I have the patience to wait and see what Galesburg does.

Galesburg has joined many other municipalities in the county and across Michigan in its decision to opt out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses to set up shop locally.

Other municipalities that have opted out in Kalamazoo County include Ross Township, Charleston Township, Portage, Texas Township, Prairie Ronde Township and Brady Township.KALAMAZOO, MI  The Kalamazoo City Commission voted to delay a decision on a proposed change to a city ordinance that would make it so party goers could face jail time and a $500 fine for attending a nuisance party."

The change is being considered among other potential updates to a section of city ordinances, which also include reducing some existing violations from misdemeanors to civil infractions.

The nuisance party ordinance is meant to combat parties such as the roving vehicle X-train parties and large unruly college parties, according to a recommendation the city attorneys office presented to the Kalamazoo City Commission on Monday, April 1.

The nuisance party amendment is meant to hold accountable the people in control of property where a nuisance party is held and also those in attendance, the recommendation states. A violation would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a maximum fine of $500.

A nuisance party is defined in the ordinance as a social gathering or party, whether static or mobile, conducted on any public or private property within the city and which, by reason of the conduct of those persons in attendance, results in any one or more of the following conditions or events occurring on public or private property:

(1) The unlawful sale, furnishing, possession, or consumption of alcoholic beverages;

(2) Urination or defecation on neighboring public or private property, or on the premises in view of another person;

(3) Unlawful deposit of trash or litter;

(4) Destruction of property;

(5) Unlawful vehicular traffic, or the unlawful stopping, standing or parking of vehicles, obstruction of the free flow of traffic or interference with the ability to render emergency services;

(6) Unlawful parking of vehicles within the public streets, alleys, or sidewalks, or upon private property;

(7) Unreasonably loud noise under the circumstances which disturbs the comfort, quiet or repose of one or more members of the neighborhood;

(8) Conduct or a condition which injures any person;

(9) Conduct or a condition which endangers the safety of persons or property in the neighborhood;

(10) Conduct or a condition which results in the indecent exposure of a person, or the display of graphic sexual behavior, whether real or simulated, to a member of the public not attending the social gathering or party;

(11) Unlawful sale, furnishing, manufacture, use, or possession of a controlled substance as defined by federal or state law.

Bystanders step in to break up a fight during the 2015 House Crawl near the WMU campus in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Saturday April 11, 2015. (Christian Randolph/Kalamazoo Gazette) CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH,CHRISTIAN RANDOLPH

City Attorney Clyde Robinson said the nuisance party idea came from the city attorney in Big Rapids, the location of Ferris State University. He said he thought it may also have merit in Kalamazoo.

Hopefully it wont affect the average citizen, Robinson said. Its going to happen to those people who sometimes dont understand there are limits to civilized society.

The ordinance update is meant to help police disperse a crowd when the conditions for a nuisance party are met, Robinson said.

The city has not had a big party that has gotten out of control in recent years, besides X-trains, he said. But that doesnt mean they cannot happen, Robinson said.

In April 2014, the annual party organized by Western Michigan University students known as House Crawl started peacefully on a Saturday morning. But as the crowd grew to an estimated 2,000 people, fights began breaking out, police said at the time. Tear gas was used shortly after 5 p.m. to disperse the crowd, and one person was arrested after throwing bottles at an officer, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety told MLive in 2014.

Meanwhile, the 2019 House Crawl is planned for the afternoon of April 13.

The purpose of house crawl is to provide a fun and safe event to celebrate warm weather, college, friends, and good ol alcohol, states the public event page for the event.

It lists a number of rules for the event, such as no underage drinking, no throwing items, no climbing, no fighting, no weapons and a requirement for attendees to respect traffic.

The proposed ordinance changes came before the board the day after Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers arrested two men who took part in a Kalamazoo "X-Train on charges of driving while intoxicated and carrying a concealed weapon, police said in a news release on Sunday.

Police also wrote several citations to drivers involved in the X-Train, including tickets for reckless driving, careless driving and various license status violations.

The proposed ordinance amendments could also change city enforcement of other nuisance issues including graffiti, blight and weeds.

The recommended changes would add graffiti to the list of nuisances, making a violation publishable by civil infraction.

With these amendments, City staff will now have the ability to abate the nuisance and/or charge property owners with civil infractions in order to exert more control over the graffiti problem in the City, the recommendation states. The Citys administration plans to hold itself accountable for removal of graffiti from City property.

Graffiti at the Upjohn Park skatepark in Kalamazoo, Michigan. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com

In the past, the city has distributed graffiti removal supplies to the core neighborhood associations and made other efforts to address the issue, but has continued to struggle to address graffiti on private property, the recommendation states. Designated graffiti art will not be subject to the ordinance.

The proposed amendment would also make these changes:

The height that grass is considered a nuisance would be reduced from twelve inches to 8 inches.

Make it a civil infraction to have upholstered furniture and other materials left on porches and decks, and allow the city to abate the nuisance if the property owner does not.

Noise violations reduced to municipal civil infractions.

The changes bring nuisance violations into one place, Robinson said, instead of being scattered throughout the code

We wanted to put them in the same place so they would be convenient to find, he said.

During Mondays meeting, the city commission decided to push back final consideration of the issue until its next meeting, scheduled for April 14.KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo Public Schools recently received more than $400,000 from the state for safety and security improvements at school buildings.

Planned technology upgrades funded by the grant are in addition to $4 million in planned safety and security improvements at the district, which will be paid for through the $96 million bond passed by voters in May.

The Michigan State Police Office of School Safety announced this week the local district was among the recipients of its 2019 Competitive School Safety Grant Program. The school was awarded $442,773 for improvements in safety and security, according to the Michigan State Police.

The funds will provide new tools for campus-wide communication and radios that allow the district to speak directly with law enforcement and emergency personnel, according to a press release from the district.

The district will be adding exterior speakers at entrances, playgrounds and bus areas at its middle and elementary schools. The current speaker system is only inside the buildings, the release said. The grant will also fund the installation of a new public address system inside and campus-wide exterior paging systems at Kalamazoo Central and Loy Norrix high schools, the release said. Similar to the exterior speakers, these systems will be designed to cover the larger high school campuses.

The grant-funded projects must be completed by June 1, 2020, the release said.

Communication is the most important factor in any safety situation, said Don Webster, chief of campus safety at KPS.

Upgrades made possible by the grant will allow district safety officials to communicate across the district in a lockdown or evacuation-type scenario, Webster said.

Having good communication allows us to keep students safe, he said. The district has always put safety and security of our students and staff at the forefront."

This grant gives the district more tools to do that, he said.

A recent $96 million bond passed by voters in May 2018 includes a budgeted $4 million in planned safety and security improvements throughout the Kalamazoo school district.

The bond funds the construction of 15 secure entrances throughout the district, Superintendent Michael Rice said. Seven of those 15 new entrances will be completed this summer, he said.

Changes to secured building entrances will direct visitors to the school office before they are able to enter the rest of the building.

Security was a topic for discussion at the Board of Education meeting Thursday, March 28, after a student brought a loaded handgun to Kalamazoo Central High School on March 19.

During the meetings public comment period, parent Jamie DeLeeuw Balint asked the board when the bond money promised for security improvements would be spent, and whether changes would be made to increase student safety.

DeLeeuw Balint, who ran for a seat on the school board in May but withdrew from the race before Election Day, said it was a concern for her that visitors who are buzzed in walk by classrooms before reaching the office in some of the districts schools.

I dont understand why we cant make those changes a little bit more quickly when our childrens safety and security are at jeopardy," DeLeeuw Balint said. As we know, children cannot learn if they do not feel safe. That is one of the basic needs.

Rice said the construction of the secure entrances, including the seven planned for completion this summer, will address that concern.

In recent years, the district also implemented Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate training and Adverse Childhood Experiences professional development for staff, the release said.

ALICE training, which began last summer, is active shooter training for teachers and staff. Other professional development includes trauma-informed training and restorative practices, an alternative form of discipline which helps restore students to the classroom.

Former Gov. Rick Snyder announced the creation of the competitive grants as part of a larger initiative to increase school safety. Legislation passed during his term in office created the Office of School Safety, overseen by the Michigan State Police. The office is tasked with establishing best practices for keeping students safe and assessing local districts emergency plans.

Schools are awarded grant money in two categories. Schools who match 25 percent in spending on security and safety can be awarded up to $500,000. Districts that do not match spending can be awarded up $250,000, according to the 2019 grant application.

Schools awarded grant money are required to have an emergency operations plan that includes information like notification procedures, an emergency supplies checklist and provides for training of the plan.

Other local school districts also received funding through this years grant program. Portage Public Schools was awarded about $44,000 and Mattawan Consolidated School will receive about $43,000, the website said. The Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency was awarded $131,316, according to the Michigan State Police website.MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI  Monte Scott never expected to gain fame when he set out last week with a shovel and a bucket of fresh dirt to fill several gaping potholes along neighborhood streets in Muskegon Heights.

Since then, the 12-year-old Oakview Elementary School students actions have gone viral, garnering attention from national news outlets and state lawmakers in Lansing. His hometown is no exception, as the Muskegon Heights City Council on Monday, April 8, plans to recognize his community service.

But despite the sudden limelight, Monte said he did it all to help his neighbors avoid the infamous, treacherous cavities known not-so-lovingly as Michigan potholes.

Theyre horrible, Monte told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle. They need to be fixed. They mess up peoples cars, and theyre deep. I (took) action on my own because the city wasnt doing nothing about the potholes.

On March 27, Monte had a half-day at school. He was sitting around playing video games when he decided he could be doing more. Days earlier, Monte noticed that crews from the city of Muskegon Heights had been filling potholes on Maffett Street in front of his house, but had skipped other nearby streets.

I decided to do it because I feel like the problem (wasnt being addressed), Monte said. I got some dirt in the back yard from a pond me and my grandma started last year and this year we started working on.

So I just got the dirt and started filling up the garbage can, took it down the street with the shovel and started putting in there and patting it down.

His neighbors took notice almost immediately. Several people stopped to ask Monte what he was doing. Then they thanked him. A man driving by stopped to give him some money while a female passenger in the car pulled out her phone and recorded the encounter.

His mother, Trinell Renee Payne, was at her day job as an employment specialist with Goodwill Industries of West Michigan when she heard Monte was outside packing potholes on his own accord.

Payne said she wasnt surprised.

It wasnt a big shock to me ... because hes always doing something to help somebody, Payne said. From him snow-blowing the neighbors snow or helping them at the senior citizen complex over there. Thats just what he does."

What was shocking, however, was how fast people outside the neighborhood caught on to the Muskegon Heights Pothole Kid.

The video? That went viral with 84,000 views, 1,000-plus reactions and more than 1,300 shares on Facebook.

Some community members said on social media that a 12-year-old was doing more to fix the roads than local leaders and state lawmakers. One commenter even joked that Monte should apply for Muskegon Heights vacant city manager position.

Then CNN and Fox News came calling. Even representatives from Gov. Gretchen Whitmers office have reached out to Monte, Payne said. They are planning a meet and greet between Whitmer and the young man who went about fixing the damn roads by himself.

Its been overwhelming, Payne said. It just warms my heart that the young lady riding past took the video and people now can see that all kids in this area are not bad kids.

Hes getting the spotlight right now, but its other kids in this community thats just like Monte and have big hearts and do a lot of things for our community, Payne added. Im glad that it was portrayed that way in the video.

Monte said hes happy to help and hopes to inspire others to do the same.

Just start helping, Monte said. "If you see a pothole, fill it up.

The same goes for Whitmer and her colleagues in the state Legislature.

They need to start taking action faster ... They need to deal with the stuff that they need to deal with, Monte said. "I want them to tighten up.SAGINAW, MI  A monster walleye netted on the Tittabawassee River Tuesday, April 2, weighed in at 16 pounds, just shy of the state record.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials shared a photo of Dave Fielder, a fisheries research biologist out of Alpena, holding the whopper on the DNRs Facebook page Tuesday afternoon. Fielder was working with DNR crews on an annual jaw-tagging study when some of his colleagues netted it.

We could see right away that it was an exceptionally large fish, Fielder said.

Fielder said they dont routinely weigh fish as part of that study, but they put it on a scale just out of curiosity.

He said a typical walleye weighs one to two pounds, but they routinely see 10- to 12-pound walleye as well. This one was even bigger.

We collected it as part of our annual jaw-tagging study. We put tags on these fish and they get reported by the anglers and that helps us understand how the fishery is operating, Fielder explained.

To capture the walleye, researchers use a technique called electrofishing to temporarily stun the fish, which are then netted, tagged and released back into the water.

According to the DNRs website, the largest walleye caught in Michigan, on record, weighed 17.19 pounds, and measured 35 inches long. It was caught with live minnow for bait in 1951 in Manistee Countys Pine River.

The fish just shy of the record was netted on the Tittabawassee, a few miles downstream from Dow Dam, Fielder said. Dow Dam is just southeast of Midland.

That fish was tagged as part of our operation and we released it back in the river, so shes still out there somewhere," Fielder said. If she survives and grows another year, she might be close to that state record or past it."

Michigan Department of Natural Resources release a 16-pound walleye back into the Tittabawassee River after netting and tagging it Tuesday, April 2, 2019.Courtesy | Dave Fielder

Fielder said anglers are encouraged to report tagged fish when they catch them, about 10 percent of which come with a $100 cash prize. Marked and tagged fish can be reported to the DNR here.

Weve been working for several decades to restore the walleye population, Fielder said, noting that officials met their walleye recovery target in 2009. It collapsed back in the middle part of the 20th century due to a variety of reasons."

Fielder said a walleye fingerling stocking program, water quality laws and the absence of invasive alewives all contributed to the walleye comeback, which he called a "big (fisheries) management success story.Classified documents related to weapons deals were misplaced by an Israeli security official ahead of a trip to India, Haaretz reported. The sensitive docs were discovered at a restaurant where the Israeli delegation had dined.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Meir Ben Shabbat travelled with a delegation to India in January, where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian security officials. The trip, however, reportedly got off to a bumpy start. Before getting on the plane, one of Shabbats aides left documents related to possible weapons deals with New Delhi at a restaurant where the group had dined.

The classified information was discovered by a waiter, who by chance had a friend whose mother works for the Israeli Embassy in India. The waiters friend then flew to New Delhi and gave her mother the documents, which she then passed on to the security officer at the embassy.

Also on rt.com Real-life GTA: Daring thief seizes IDF attaches car with secret files inside (VIDEO)

An investigation into the embarrassing oversight found that the temporarily-lost documents had not damaged Israels security. The aide accused of losing the documents was issued a warning.

The incident was taken care of immediately, a security investigation was carried out and lessons were learned, the Israeli Prime Ministers Office told Haaretz.

Israel has had a streak of bad luck when it comes to protecting state secrets. In July, a thief drove off with a car belonging to an IDF military attache. The car was later abandoned, but several items from inside the car had been stolen  including a laptop containing sensitive data.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!Austrias federal government has proposed levying a tax of as much as five percent on advertising revenue of big-tech corporations like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Alibaba.

The tax, which is much higher than the levy proposed by France earlier this year, is aimed at preventing the unfairness of internet giants that have routed their sales via subsidiary units in EU members with a low taxation base, according to Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, as cited by AFP.

Also on rt.com France could earn hundreds of millions by taxing tech giants

The proposed levy will be applied to big internet corporations with annual worldwide revenue of at least 750 million ($843 million), of which at least 25 million ($28 million) is generated in Austria. The government is also planning to introduce mandatory registration for online booking platforms, such as home-sharing giant Airbnb.

In March, Paris announced a similar plan for the so-called GAFA tax, an acronym representing the US companies it targets: Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. The levy will impose a three-percent revenue tax on digital firms with global revenues above 750 million and above 25 million in France. The government expects to raise 500 million ($562 million) annually as a result of applying the levy retroactively from January 1, 2019.

Also on rt.com Google routed $23bn to Bermuda in 'legal' tax avoidance scheme

According to Austrian Finance Minister Hartwig Loeger, the country opted to impose a higher levy in order to get compensation for the years that internet giants avoided taxes. Similar tax schemes are currently being considered by other countries, including Britain, Spain, Japan, Singapore and India.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business sectionManila seeks to maintain close ties with Beijing despite any potential tensions in the disputed South China Sea, President Duterte said, emphasizing that the Philippines and China have no issues that cant be resolved politically.

If I go to war my Navy will be crushed in a matter of minutes. If I wage a war with China, in seven minutes their missile will reach Manila, Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday, defending his good relationship with Beijing, despite recent tensions over the presence of a large number of Chinese vessels off Thitu Island in the South China Sea.

Also on rt.com Philippines wont go to the dogs: Duterte says Chinas Xi wont allow him to be ousted

Speaking in Malabon City the day after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) kicked off their massive annual military exercise with the United States, Duterte stressed that Beijing also remains committed to friendly relations with Manila. The special bond, Duterte believes, flourished after China (as well as Russia) answered Manilas calls to supply the country with armaments to fight Islamist insurgency, after Washington halted military shipments over human rights concerns.

China just wants to be friend with us. They gave us arms, ammunition. I went there because America failed to deliver what we ordered.

It was only when I went there and talked to them and Russia that the Americans started to take notice, Duterte said.

China, which constantly faces US pressure over its expanding military presence in the South China Sea, continues to focus on diplomacy rather than coercion when it comes to solving territorial disputes with the Philippines.

Also on rt.com Duterte rejects imposed friendship & questions US reputation as 'peerless' arms supplier

You dont have to worry about whether there would be any kind of outbreak of conflict or not, Zhao Jianhua, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, stressed on Monday, after the Philippines lodged an official protest over the presence of hundreds of Chinese vessels in the disputed waterway in recent months. Furthermore, Beijing promised to investigate Manilas complaint and offered to solve the issue through the bilateral consultation mechanism.

Washington, in the meantime, has been assuring Manila that it stands ready to defend the Philippines against China in the South China Sea. Just on Monday, the Pentagon expressed willingness to increase interoperability and to support the Philippines military modernization plans, in order to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!Young Muslims in the Netherlands are increasingly influenced by radical Islamic boosters as they attend after-school classes in Arabic and Islam, the Dutch intelligence service has warned.

The lessons, which are at first sight accessible and innocent, risk becoming a breeding ground for jihadist converts, the Dutch intelligence and security service AIVD warned in its annual report for 2018. They are concerned that some new eloquent preachers have emerged who do not necessarily reject violent jihadist ideology.

Children and young people are alienated from society by this interpretation of education, and may be hindered from their participation in society. This is caused by the intolerant and anti-democratic views of the initiators.

Radical Islam in the Netherlands was on the rise last year, the new report suggests. Dutch intelligence lists 500 people as active members of a jihadist movement in the country with several thousand sympathizers.

In 2018, the Netherlands saw an increased number of attacks led by people motivated by jihadist or other radical Islamic ideology. One of the most striking incidents occurred on August 31, when a 19-year-old Afghan with a German residence permit stabbed and seriously injured two people at Amsterdams main train station. The offender claimed he was seeking vengeance for the Prophet Mohammed as Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders proposed to hold a competition for cartoons depicting the prophet.

Also on rt.com Western-born Muslims more likely to be drawn to extremism and violent ideas  study

Countering the Islamist threat wasnt the only thing mentioned in the report. Dutch intelligence also raised concerns about digital espionage. It believes China, Russia and Iran are targeting the countrys sensitive data. According to AIVD, Moscow is trying to get access to details of the MH17 investigation and NATO-related documents. Beijing is also involved in economic espionage, the report claims, saying the countrys key companies  including high-tech, energy, life sciences and health firms  are at risk.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!European parliamentary committee backs visa-free travel for UK citizens after Brexit

European parliamentary committee backs visa-free travel for UK citizens after Brexit

A European Parliament committee on Wednesday backed giving Britons the right to travel to the European Union without visas after Brexit. The move followed weeks of controversy over the way draft legislation dubs Gibraltar a UK colony, Reuters said. Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain after an 18th century war. As the EU prepares for Brexit, Madrid insisted that the UK territory be described that way in the draft law, which has upset London. The committee voted 38 to 8 in favor of the law, which still calls Gibraltar a UK colony. Some lawmakers said the legislation was ludicrous and accused the Spanish government of intransigence ahead of national elections later this month.Source : RT - Daily newsFrom April 1 to 5, the German city of Hannover is hosting HANNOVER MESSE, one of the worlds largest trade fairs, which is showcasing the latest technology and innovations in intelligent manufacturing.

This year its lead theme is Integrated Industry  Industrial Intelligence with a focus on artificial intelligence technologies, which improve manufacturing.

Over the five days, 6,500 companies from 75 countries are taking part in the exhibition including 10 companies from Russia: Unitel Engineering, ZETO, Yelets Foreign Trade Company, Navigine, Prosoft Biometrics, ART-UP industrial design studio, ETESIAN, APIK Technology, Clover Group, and EN.RU. Exhibited at the Russian Export Centers (REC) stand (Hall 27, Stand E18), each is showing their latest technologies and products.

The REC stands opening ceremony on April 1 welcomed representatives from the REC in Germany, Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Germany, Kaluga Region Government Representative Office under the Government of the Russian Federation, organizers of the Deutsche Messe AG exhibition, and Russian companies. The next day hosted a presentation on the new initiative called Russian-German Trade Contact Bureau. Chairman of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce Matthias Schepp, Russian exhibitors, and German companies interested in cooperation with Russia showed up.

Russian companies are organizing meetings and business negotiations during HANNOVER MESSE using an online service called MatchMaking. Users can search for contacts, arrange and manage meetings, analyze how productive they were and assess their business potential. For convenient negotiations the RECs stand has a special business zone with negotiating tables.

Why HANNOVER MESSE?

Within the effort to expand our business in Germany, we are visiting the worlds leading industrial exhibition HANNOVER MESSE every year, says Alexey Panyov, CEO of Navigine, which is showcasing its innovative platform for indoor and outdoor navigation. HANNOVER MESSE gives us a great opportunity to present our technology, which allows to track the movement of equipment and stuff within factory buildings. The exhibition helps to establish connections with new clients and expand our network of European partners.

Alexey Kutyayev, CEO of ART-UP industrial design studio, is also at the event.

Participating in international fairs in Germany, Italy, Turkey and South Korea weve seen a great deal of interest towards our products and services from representatives of foreign business, he says.

Thats why we consider it promising and economically viable to expand our activities to foreign markets. This is true not only for our company but for all Russian industrial companies in general.

ART-UP offers industrial design services, full-cycle product development, and mass production. The company specializes in end-to-end projects, starting with the initial concept to the production of the final product, including every stage of its creation and development.

What Russian companies have to offer?

Among the key technologies that Russian companies are showing off this year is Unitel Engineerings teleprotection equipment for electric energy, oil and gas, mining, and metallurgy industries. The companys solutions allow protective relays to trip a circuit breaker as soon as possible when a fault is detected, and isolate faulty equipment from other elements of the system.

Another Russian company  Prosoft Biometrics  offers advanced biometric solutions for access control, time and attendance control at work, and information security using fingerprint and palm vein recognition technologies. At HANNOVER MESSE the company is presenting its own line of biometric identification products called BioSmart.

Another interesting solution from Russia is APIK Technologys hydroponic systems, which make it possible to grow plants without using soil. The company itself is focused on working on high-tech products for microelectronics, electro energy, medicine, manufacturing, agriculture, and avionics. Their hydroponic systems provide the most eco-friendly and fastest way to grow plants and ensure a year-round harvest.

Russian-German cooperation on the rise

HANNOVER MESSE is also one of the most effective platforms for strengthening Russian-German trade ties. Over the last few years the relationship has developed.

Germany is an old and strategically important economic partner for Russia, says Vasiliy Osmakov, Russias deputy minister of industry and trade. Despite the sanctions, the trade turnover between our countries in 2018 grew by 19 percent and reached $59 billion. This is a clear sign that the interest of German business towards Russia isnt falling.

Indeed, compared to 2017, in 2018 Russian exports to Germany increased by 32.5 percent and reached $34.1 billion. Russia exported ferrous and non-ferrous metals, wooden products and paper, tires, lasers and various devices, fertilizers, and rubber. Germany has also received Russian-made aviation components, power tools, auto parts, confectionary, furniture, washing machines, and even beer, and is looking to develop all areas of export, especially with high added value.

The share of non-primary exports from Russia to Germany has also increased in 2018 compared to 2017: they amounted to 25.6 percent of overall exports and are estimated to be worth $8.7 billion.

We have set an ambitious goal to increase non-primary exports to $250 billion by 2024, notes Osmakov.

Russian participation in HANNOVER MESSE expands our international cooperation network and this will help our competitive products reach foreign markets.

According to the General Director of the REC Andrei Slepnev, Germany is Russias most significant trade partner after China.

The quality of many Russian products in a range of industries is not worse and sometimes even better than that of Western analogues, but the price is lower, he explains.

And this is not only true with respect to final products, but also to components that are used in manufacturing. With this in mind, the REC will continue to develop our relationship with German partners to promote Russian exports. HANNOVER MESSE presents an opportunity to do that and we are showcasing the achievements of high-tech companies with high export potential.

Another effort in facilitating trade with Germany is a new project titled Russian-German Trade Contact Bureau, which has been launched by the REC and the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce. This project is focused on promoting cooperation, identifying potential demand in Russian goods in Germany, and establishing contacts with prospective partners.

At the same time, the REC aims to identify more specific areas for Russian exports working together with partners from the East Committee of German Economy, German Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics, and Russian-German Chamber of Commerce within the Procurement Initiative in the Russian Federation. The latter is focused on integrating Russian component-producers into the production chains of German manufacturers, as well as selecting Russian exporters and arranging their supplies to German partners.

Given the positive dynamic of Russian-German economic cooperation and the growing interest of Russian companies to expand in Germany, the REC is also planning to open bureau points in Berlin and Frankfurt, which will ensure that Russian exporters and their foreign partners will receive all necessary support from the REC and the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Germany. This support will include providing information and insight into potential support tools, matching relevant partners, facilitating participation in relevant fairs and business events, implementation of joint projects in Germany, Russia, and other countries.

HANNOVER MESSE 2019, in this respect, is one of the platforms that will open new opportunities for Russian companies on German markets and also globally, showcasing their latest technologies, establishing connections with new business partners, and expanding to new markets.

The REC is a state-owned development institute established by the government to support the development of non-commodity exports. It offers a wide range of financial and non-financial support tools and aims to improve export conditions and break down existing trade barriers.

REC Group incorporates the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR JSC) and Eximbank of Russia JSC and aims to offer comprehensive integrated services to the export-oriented companies. REC offers its services to all exporters of non-commodities products, goods and services with no industry restrictions. It aims to provide the companies with continuous support from the proposal and planning phase all the way to the successful completion of the export contract and implementation and beyond  including the e-commerce channels.The Senate transportation committee is seeking answers from the FAA after a number of whistleblowers alleged that the agency inspectors whod evaluated the Boeing 737 Max had lacked proper training and valid certifications.

In light of recent 737 crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, the committee is investigating any potential connection between inadequate training and certification of Aviation Safety Inspectors who may have participated in the FSB evaluation of the 737 MAX, Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation, wrote to the Federal Aviation Administrations Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell on Tuesday.

After reviewing available documents and information obtained from whistleblowers, Wicker assessed that the FAA might have been aware of these deficiencies as early as August 2018, two months before the first deadly accident with the brand-new plane. The committee believes that potential lack of training may have led to an improper evaluation of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which resulted in two fatal crashes of the Boeing flagship aircraft, last October and in March of this year.

Also on rt.com Airline regulators knew about Boeing 737 MAX nosedive issue 2yrs ago

In light of this, Senator Wicker asked Elwell to answer a number of questions concerning the allegations and what actions the FAA has taken to address the potential deficiencies. While Elwell has yet to issue a response to the letter, the civil aviation watchdog did note that it welcomes external review of our systems, processes, and recommendations.

Also on rt.com Doomed Boeing 737 Max missing 2 key safety features that were sold as optional extras

After a total of 346 people were killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes within a five-month period, the company is currently working on a software fix for the planes flight control systems. Investigators believe the MCAS system  which adjusts the tail to keep the planes nose level in flight  are to blame for the tragedies. Until the issues are resolved, Boeings best-selling jets remain grounded worldwide.

Also on rt.com Captain of doomed Ethiopian airliner had ZERO hours of 737 MAX 8 simulator training  report

If you like this story, share it with a friend!Emmanuel Macron is known as an advocate of combating pollution globally, but did he succeed in doing so in France? RT visited one of Europes largest industrial zones, where noxious fumes are putting peoples lives at risk.

Fos-sur-Mer looks like an idyllic seaside city in southern France, but it accommodates a sizeable port and industrial facilities, including oil refineries, chemical factories and steel plants. Day and night, all of these are releasing toxic fumes into the air, RTs Charlotte Dubenskij reported. Residents claim that these compounds are having a devastating effect on their health, with the number of cancer, diabetes and asthma patients higher than the national average. The main problem comes from the industrial port area which emits ultrafine particles that get into our lungs and blood streams, said Daniel Moutet, president of a local environmental group. READ MORE: Hypocrite: Macron takes heat over Twitter post on pollution deaths in France Moutet, who has diabetes, explained that the high rate of diseases could have been lower if noxious waste was disposed of properly by Fos-sur-Mer factories. Just 50km from here, none of this is happening, so this is a local problem, he added. Local industries maintain that they meet the highest environmental standards possible. The Esso refinery, for instance, which produces seven million tons of petroleum products a year, said it halved its sulfur emissions over the past 10 years while reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by two-thirds, according to AFP.

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President Emmanuel Macron has consistently urged world leaders to take a stand against pollution and climate change. We are killing our planet. Let us face it: we have no planet B, he famously said last year. And a year earlier, he derided Donald Trumps decision to walk out from the Paris Climate Accord, saying: We all share the same responsibility  make our planet great again.

These statements dont seem to play well with people in Fos-sur-Mer, however. Its only promises, he hasnt done anything yet, a local man told RT. Theres plenty of work to be done, another said. You know about the Yellow Vest movement, and one of their [demands] is to improve the environment.

Environmental concerns are likely to become a major issue in the upcoming European Parliament elections in May. Many green parties have joined the race in the hope of performing better than they did in national elections.

to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media wont tell you.

Locals slam Macron for empty promises on environment as RT visits French city plagued by pollution

Locals slam Macron for empty promises on environment as RT visits French city plagued by pollution

Source : RT - Daily newsViktor Orban has hit back at claims made by Jean-Claude Juncker that he is racist, quipping that the European Commission heads appearance at a ceremony celebrating Karl Marx gave him no right to lecture others about xenophobia.

The Hungarian prime minister was responding to comments made by Juncker to Italian television on Sunday over the ongoing feud between the pair. Juncker said that while he didnt care about being placed on billboards critical of the EU by Orbans Fidesz party ahead of EU elections in May, he was bothered by Orbans xenophobia and hostility towards foreigners. The EC president added that Orbans particular brand of nationalism and disregard for others leads to war.

Hitting back at the claims, Orban told local media: Someone who unveiled a statue of Marx shouldnt be lecturing anyone about xenophobia, adding that the master of xenophobia was none other than Karl Marx.

His reference to Marx refers to the series of exhibitions dedicated to the German philosopher for his 200th birthday in 2018 in Marxs hometown of Trier. The celebrations were opened by Juncker, which included the unveiling of a huge bronze statue of Marx donated by China.

Orban didnt expand further on his xenophobic remarks but he may have been referring to Marxs thoughts on Irish immigration to England. In his 1870 discussion on the Irish Question, Marx wrote that Ireland constantly sends her own surplus to the English labor market, which forces down wages and lowers the position of the English working class.

The right-wing Fidesz party has been increasingly at odds with senior EU officials, after it erected a series of billboards at home that implied the European Commission and Juncker are influenced by billionaire George Soros and his pro-immigration policies.

Also on rt.com Orbans party suspended from European parliament bloc over ongoing feud with Brussels

The confrontation resulted in allies from the center-right European Peoples Party bloc (EPP), demanding that Fidesz halt its fake news campaign against Juncker, suspending the party from the group until it met its demands.

Orban later hit back at Brussels bureaucrats who had lost touch with reality. He insisted Fidesz would continue to fight dictations from Brussels and urged voters to back his party in Mays election to show the EU that what is happening in Hungary is what Hungarians want.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!Military tensions seem to have mounted again in contested Kashmir after Pakistan claimed its forces befittingly returned fire from Indias side of the border, killing seven Indian troops and injuring 19 others on Tuesday.

The Pakistani Armys response has caused heavy damage on the Indian side, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the militarys media wing. The exchange of fire has damaged many Indian posts, [and] killed seven Indian soldiers, while 19 [were] injured.

New Delhi did not comment on the statement. The Indian Defense Ministry said, however, that a border guard officer and two civilians, including a five-year-old girl, were killed on Monday in a Kashmir skirmish. At least 18 others, including four personnel, were also wounded, it added.

Also on rt.com 3 troops killed, 1 injured as Indian forces open unprovoked fire in Kashmir  Pakistani Army

Earlier on Tuesday, the ISPR claimed that Indian forces had targeted Pakistani positions near the border town of Rakhchakri in Kashmir, killing three of their soldiers, and injuring one in action.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived for the opening ceremony of a Mercedes-Benz factory in Moscow Region that will assemble premium class passenger cars for the domestic market.

The new plant, built by German automaker Daimler AG on an 85-hectare plot of land, is located at the Esipovo Industrial Park, about 40 kilometers north of Moscow. The production line is equipped with full flexible assembly technology that enables manufacturing of a large number of vehicles on a single assembly line. The plant covers all production stages, from the paint shop to the final assembly.

Also on rt.com Volvo stops truck assembly in Iran due to US sanctions

Construction of Daimlers new plant began in the middle of 2017 shortly after the automaker signed the guaranteed investment contract (GIC) with the Russian authorities. The agreement, which is seen as a form of government support, provides favorable tax environment with tax burden to remain the same during an in-force period.

Total investments in the project reportedly amounted to 15 billion rubles (about US$250 million). The new plant will assemble E-Class, S-Class, A-Class model sedans as well as ML and GL models. The factory is planning to produce about 25,000 cars annually for the domestic market. The enterprise has reportedly created over a thousand of jobs for the local population.

Also on rt.com Trump tells Germany to buy American automobiles, Germany to Trump: 'Build better cars'

The German automaker currently operates a joint venture with KAMAZ, which produces trucks under the Mercedes-Benz brand in Russias Republic of Tatarstan. Daimler owns a 15-percent stake in the enterprise. The company also owns an assembly line for Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Classic minibuses at the Nizhny Novgorod facilities of Russian auto maker GAZ Group.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business sectionA superyacht purchased with money pilfered from the Malaysian state fund 1MDB has been sold to casino operator Genting Malaysia Berhad.

The 91.5-meter luxury yacht Equanimity was bought on Wednesday, according to Malaysias Attorney General Tommy Thomas as cited by the Star newspaper.

The price offered by Genting was the best it had received since the yacht was put up for sale last year, he said. Genting will pay for it by end of the month.

This judicial sale at USD$126 million (RM514.14 million), is historic, by any measure, said Thomas. The deal records a high-water mark for our judicial system in ensuring that market value is secured for a vessel sold through the processes of Court, without any discount.

He added that It is even more commendable that this is achieved in a very sophisticated high-end superyacht sale, where the pool of buyers is extremely small.

Also on rt.com Malaysia reportedly seeking $7.5 billion from Goldman Sachs over looting of state fund

Equanimity was among assets allegedly bought by Malaysias fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his associates with money stolen from the fund. It was allegedly purchased for $250 million and was outfitted with a helipad, swimming pool, movie theatre, spa and sauna.

The US has filed forfeiture lawsuits against $1.7 billion of assets that were allegedly acquired with money embezzled from 1MDB, including a $1.29 million heart-shaped diamond and a $3.8 million diamond pendant that Low gave to Australian model Miranda Kerr. A $3.2 million Picasso painting was gifted by Low to actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Both celebrities have since handed the gifts over to US authorities.

Low, who has repeatedly maintained his innocence, faces charges including money laundering in Malaysia. He has been charged in absentia amid suspicions that he is hiding out in China.

The scandal with the Malaysian state fund has been making headlines for years and is being investigated in at least six countries. It involves high-ranking Malaysian officials including former Prime Minister Najib Razak who have been accused of helping to loot billions from the fund.

Malaysia also wants $7.5 billion in reparations from Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, which it accuses of covering up the looting of the nations state fund. Malaysia filed criminal charges against the US bank and two of its key bankers, accusing them of misappropriating money, bribing officials and giving false statements when helping to arrange bond sales for 1MDB. The bank has denied the allegations, claiming it fell victim of the previous corrupt Malaysian government.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business sectionThree of the eight importers granted waivers by Washington to buy oil from Iran have now cut their shipments to zero, according to US envoy for the Islamic Republic Brian Hook.

He told reporters on Tuesday that improved global oil market conditions would help reduce Iranian crude exports further.

In November, we granted eight oil waivers to avoid a spike in the price of oil. I can confirm today three of those importers are now at zero, Hook said, without identifying the countries.

Also on rt.com United States squabbles over new Iran sanction waivers

There are better market conditions for us to accelerate our path to zero, he added. We are not looking to grant any waivers or exceptions to our sanctions regime.

According to the official, Washingtons oil sanctions against Tehran have removed about 1.5 million barrels of Iranian oil exports from the market since May 2018.

This has denied the regime access to well over $10 billion in [oil] revenue  a loss of at least $30 million a day, he said.

US-based analysts at Eurasia Group said earlier that China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey are likely to be given waivers that could cap Irans crude oil exports at about 1.1 million barrels per day. That would remove Italy, Greece and Taiwan from the waivers list.

Also on rt.com Irans oil exports drop ahead of US waivers decision

A decision on whether to extend the waivers will be made in due course, said Hook. With oil prices actually lower than they were when we announced our sanctions and global production stable, we are on the fast track to zeroing out all purchases of Iranian crude.

A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Monday that Washington was considering additional sanctions against Iran, which would target areas of its economy that have not been hit before.

Also on rt.com Switzerland & Iran developing payment channel to bypass US sanctions

According to Hook, more than 26 rounds of US sanctions against the country have restricted Irans cash flow and constrained its ability to operate in the region.

Washington re-imposed sanctions on Tehran after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers. With a goal of completely halting Irans oil exports, Washington granted temporary import waivers to China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to ensure low oil prices and avoid disruption to the global oil market.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business sectionThe US lawmakers have demanded answers from the Energy Secretary Rick Perry who allowed a number of US firms to share sensitive nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia, under the public radar.

Secretary Perry had issued seven so-called Part 810 authorizations to US companies, allowing them to export unclassified civil nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. The details of the deals, however, have not been made public out of fear that they might reveal proprietary business information.

While the Department of Energy stressed that no enrichment or reprocessing technology was shared with the Gulf kingdom, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have written a letter to Perry, giving him until April 10 to provide them with details of the authorizations, Reuters and The Washington Post have learned.

Also on rt.com Trump accused of seeking to sell US nuclear secrets to Saudis so why is this Russias fault?

In their letter, Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla) reminded Perry that the US does not have the so-called 123 agreement with Riyadh which would allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license the export of nuclear material, equipment and components. Such an agreement can only be approved with the blessing of Congress, following a thorough review process by the Departments of Defense, of Commerce and by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

We are particularly concerned about this mechanism being used right now with Saudi Arabia, the Senators wrote, according to the WP, stressing that they fear Riyadh could use the American nuclear know-how to acquire nuclear weapons.

Also on rt.com Straight out of Dr Strangelove: Analysts slam Trumps plan to trade nuclear secrets with Saudis

Earlier reports indicated that President Donald Trumps adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner had engaged in secret dealings for the transfer of nuclear technology to build dozens of power plants in the Saudi desert. Amid the negotiations, it was reported that Riyadh refused to agree to restrictions on enriching uranium and processing plutonium, which would allow the Kingdom to eventually produce nuclear weapons.

Many in Congress, therefore, worry that Saudi Arabia's interest in someday producing its own stocks of nuclear fuel  despite the fact the Kingdom could purchase fuel on the international market more cheaply  could lead to it to divert fuel to a covert nuclear weapons program, they wrote.

We... believe the United States should not be providing nuclear technology or information to them at this time.

Considering that the US Congress is in the process of reevaluating the US-Saudi relationship, following recent deeply troubling actions and statements by the kingdom, the lawmakers advised Perry to stop any information-sharing with the Saudis.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!A well-organized criminal syndicate that uses bribes and false promises is responsible for the nearly 60,000 African migrants who arrived in Spain last year, filmmaker Laura Southern told RT.

Southerns latest documentary, Borderless, features a rare interview with a human trafficker who helps ferry migrants from Morocco to Spain. The man explained that each client pays between 2,000 ($2,248) and 4,000 ($4,495) for the trip  a business model which Southern described as incredibly lucrative.

Imagine how much money youre making. Its 130,000 per boat. Ten boats in a day? Youre making $1.3 million. Why is no one talking about this massive criminal syndicate?

The filmmaker revealed to RT that she was told multiple times by people on the ground that smugglers bribe members of the Moroccan Coast Guard in order to ensure that certain waterways remain unpatrolled. The sophisticated smuggling operation clashes with what is often portrayed as a purely humanitarian crisis, Southern argued.

This is quite an intelligent business. This isnt just a few people fleeing their country, desperately getting on dinghies trying to get to Spain. This is a very structured business.

While Southern casts doubt over whether most African migrants could be considered legitimate asylum seekers, she said that in some respects, they are still victims. Those who attempt the perilous journey to Spain are often fed false promises of European citizenship and a good job by opportunistic smugglers, she noted. To make matters worse, the smugglers encourage their clients to destroy their passports before arriving in Spain  making them essentially non-persons in the eyes of the EU, thus making proper integration virtually impossible.

Also on rt.com ISIS & drugs everywhere: Refugees face violence in notorious Moria camp, new doc shows

They are not looking to help people, Southern said of the smugglers. She added that she doesnt foresee the traffickers slowing down any time soon. In 2018 alone, nearly 60,000 migrants crossed into Spain by sea  a record year.

Southern, a Canadian-born filmmaker and journalist, has generated considerable controversy with her work and activism. Often labeled as far-right, her critics have accused her of Islamophobic fearmongering. Last year, she was briefly detained by the British authorities  for distributing racist material  and was barred from entering the country.In the next few weeks, Foxconn Technology Group will start trial production of Apple's latest iPhone models in India, sources told Bloomberg. This trial comes before Foxconn starts assembling iPhone X at its Chennai factory.

Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in Bengaluru has already started manufacturing iPhone 6s, SE and iPhone 7 models. This is the much-needed push to 'Make in India' that the government was vying for.

Local manufacturing will help Apple avoid import duties of 20 percent. The iPhone maker will be able to open its own stores in the country if it complies with the government's local sourcing rules for single-brand retailers.

"Seen from Cupertino, the India market looks miniscule so Apple's strategy has been myopic. They haven't capitalised on the ground. India will cross half-billion smartphone users this year," Neil Shah, Research Director at Counterpoint, told the wire agency.

Apple is witnessing a falling market share in major markets like China and the US as trade relations between them deteriorate. Therefore, the company is shifting its focus to other markets.

Of the 140 million smartphones sold in India in 2018, only 1.7 million were iPhones. Chinese phone maker Xiaomi rules the market by offering advanced features in its models at lower prices. In the March quarter also, Apple is expecting a 50 percent drop in shipments to India.

Foxconn has two assembly units in India, one in Andhra Pradesh and one in Tamil Nadu, where it produces Xiaomi and Nokia models.live bse live

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Jet Airways now has 26 planes in its fleet, down from its original strength of 119 a few months back. The distressed airline on April 2 said it had grounded 15 more aircraft after failing to pay its lessors.

This is the airline's smallest fleet since the turn of the century. It had begun operations in 1993 with a fleet of four planes.

The 26-aircraft fleet now include 10 B737, seven B777, three A330 and six ATR aircraft, sources told Moneycontrol.

In a statement to the BSE on April 2, the airline said it has grounded 15 more aircraft "due to non-payment of amounts outstanding to lessors under their respective lease agreements."

Clarifying on doubts if it can operate international routes, Jet Airways on April 3 said: "As informed to the regulator (DGCA), the airline is operating a curtailed schedule with sufficient number of aircraft and is compliant with applicable guidelines."

Apart from the truncated fleet, the airline is also struggling to retain its pilots. While the pilots union had deferred its strike to April 15 after salary dues of December 2018 were cleared by the airline, many pilots have joined rivals such as IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet.

The pilots had originally planned to go on a strike on April 1. They are yet to receive salaries for the last three months, starting January.

Jet Airways has offered many of them to go on a 'long break". Offering a six month sabbatical to its pilots, the airline on April 2 shared a new roster for its Boeing 737 aircraft crew.

"Due to changes in operational requirement, B737 flight crew will be assigned a five-day working and three-days off roster from April 11 to April 26," the airline said, adding: "Additionally, flight crew seeking a long break/sabbatical between April-September may put in their requests to the fleet office for approval."

Earlier, the management had asked its expat pilots to go on leave of absence from April 1.

Around 200 pilots are said to have written to CEO Vinay Dube, calling for urgent action. The company had a pool of a little over 1,500 pilots before the crisis began.

Though the airline plans to get back 75 of its aircraft from lessors over the next two months, this will depend on the funding that its lenders have promised. Led by State Bank of India (SBI), the lenders were expected to transfer Rs 1,500 crore to Jet Airways, but that is yet to happen.Online furniture market place Pepperfry is banking on an omni-channel strategy to achieve the target of gross merchandise value (GMV) of $1 billion (Rs 6,845 crore) by 2021, says Ashish Shah, Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Pepperfry. To put that number in perspective, the startup had ended FY18 with a GMV of Rs 1,500 crore.

As part of it, the company intends to launch small format stores of less than 1500 sq ft, which will be 3D technology-enabled. This is in addition to the larger stores, named Studios, that the company operates.

In an interview to Moneycontrol, Shah said, Pepperfry has entrenched its position as a leader in the home and furniture segment, with an online traffic market share of over 60 percent. It have evolved into a full-stack provider in the home and furniture segment. Urban Ladder is its nearest competitor.

Pepperfry was founded by former e-Bay executives Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah in 2011. Since then, it has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 83 percent, with a 20 percent year-on-year growth. The company clocked a revenue of Rs 308.47 crore in FY18.

So far, it has raised around $200 million in six rounds of funding.

Currently, Pepperfry has a portfolio of over one lakh products that range from furniture, decor, and kitchenware to bed & bath, lights and cleaning supplies.

While 80 percent of the companys current revenue is generated from furniture, 70 percent volume of transactions is recorded in the decor and utility segment.

The Mumbai-based firm pioneered the omni-channel model in the home and furniture industry through the launch of its first Studio in Mumbai in 2014. At present, Pepperfry has 43 Studios in 18 Indian cities. Of these, 12 are franchises. Each of its stores are located in key catchment areas.

Studios are essentially offline experiential centres for discerning Pepperfry customers, who are seeking design inspiration through touch and feel of the products, Shah said.

For a big-ticket category such as furniture, he feels it is essential to engage the consumer through multiple touchpoints, especially in niche markets.

Consumers from these markets have a high purchasing power and aspire to acquire branded, design-forward furniture. However, their access to it is limited in Tier II markets, he stated.

Its Studios business currently contributes 30 percent revenue and Shah expects it to contribute 45 percent sales by 2021.

Though Pepperfry's consumer base is rapidly evolving and is embracing the online buying trend, customers still prefer to touch and feel in the pre-purchase process, especially before ordering big-ticket products such as furniture. This has prompted Pepperfry to expand its Studios footprint through the franchise network, across niche markets such as Indore, Goa, Thiruvananthapuram and Imphal.

Our franchise model is a truly unique business model, with immense potential to scale, thus making it lucrative for potential partners. Unlike any franchise business in the country, it does not require the partner to hold product inventory and is based on 100 percent price parity, Shah said.

Shah said there has been a notable shift in consumer buying behaviour from brick-and-mortar outlets to online channels.

He pointed out that while this is predominant in certain categories like gadgets and fashion, there is a surge in online demand for non-standardised categories as well, aided by availability of a wide variety of products at compelling prices at the convenience of a click.

Consumers seek a seamless purchasing process, right from an easy site-navigation to varied payment mechanisms, last mile delivery and after-sales service. Personalised marketing and addressing specific needs further aids the process, Shah explained.

In a dynamic industry like furniture, Shah feels having a mono-channel model may have its limitations.

He said a slew of consumers are choosing to purchase online due to the availability of an array of products that meet their specifications.

However, he was quick to add that an online-only model may often leave potential consumers apprehensive of the quality and finished form of products due to the lack of touch and feel, especially when it comes to non-standardised commodities or large ticket products.

On the other hand, physical stores offer customers the luxury of touch and feel and the ability to seek real-time inter-personal information on the product or service from the brands personnel.

But a brick-and-mortar model is limiting both geographically and in terms of the SKUs (stock-keeping units) the store can hold, therefore restricting the companys reach and the consumers' options.

Shah recognised the need to have multiple touchpoints and provide consumers a hassle-free and convenient shopping experience and that is when Pepperfry pioneered the omni-channel approach.Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is likely to get up to 10 years time to reduce its stake in IDBI Bank. Sources told Moneycontrol the life insurer has been given adequate time to help turnaround the bank before it is required to bring down its stake to 15 percent.

"Lot of work is still to be completed at the bank level. LIC needs adequate time to clean up the books," said a senior official.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had in June 2018 made an exception when it allowed LIC to hold 51 percent in IDBI Bank. Insurance regulations state an insurer can hold only 15 percent equity stake in an entity to ensure there is no concentration of risks.

In January 2019, LIC completed the deal with IDBI Bank. However, the approval for the LIC-IDBI Bank deal had been on the condition that the stake will eventually be brought down to 15 percent.

IDBI Bank board had on February 4 approved a proposal to change its name subject to a no objection from Reserve Bank of India, shareholders as well as name availability by Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

While IRDAI has not specified by when LIC will have to bring down its stake in IDBI Bank, it is understood it will take at least four to five years. Whether it will be brought down gradually or at once is to be seen.

With IDBI Bank, this is LICs foray into the banking sector. Their idea will be to expand operations and engage in a full-fledged banking business. The mandate of reducing stake to 15 percent in the future could be a dampener in their plans.

LICs first mission is to help IDBI Bank manage its losses and also offer support to the bank against non-performing assets. IDBI Bank's third quarter loss widened sharply to Rs 4,185 crore, nearly a three-fold increase compared to a loss of Rs 1,524 crore posted a year-ago due to higher provisions.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, fell by 18.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,357 crore in the quarter ended December 2018 with 17 percent degrowth in loans.

However, their gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of total assets declined to 29.67 percent in Q3 against 31.78 percent in Q2FY19 and net NPA also dropped to 14.01 percent against 17.30 percent sequentially.

The bank has also sought additional capital infusion from LIC to spruce up its balance sheet and make adequate provisions for bad debt. IDBI Bank may need Rs 10,000 crore in the near to medium time to improve its financial position.The Lion Air Boeing 737 Max crash in October 2018 was linked to a faulty censor in the plane, which was apparently repaired in a US aircraft maintenance facility just before the unfortunate incident, according to a Bloomberg report.

Investigators based out of Indonesia and the US have examined the repair shop based in Florida where the faulty 'angle-of-attack' sensor was worked on. The sensor sent erroneous signals leading to repeated nose-down movements on the flight, which the pilots could not reverse and the plane ultimately plunged into the Java Sea. All 189 people on board were killed.

This crash, followed by Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash on March 10, brought intense trouble for Boeing as the 737 Max planes were grounded worldwide.

The repair service in Florida has been asked report information to the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC). The US National Transportation Safety Board was also conducting a review on the facility, findings of which have not been published yet.

This sensor was manufactured by Rosemount Aerospace Inc, based in Minnesota. The preliminary report of Indonesia NTSC suggests that the sensor was not functional when the flight took off. The main function of these sensors is to show how the wind is flowing relative to where the nose of the plane is. It tells the pilots if the plane is going too steep.

The investigative agencies have checked to ensure that more faulty sensors were not supplied to other airlines. Other sensors on the flight were found to be operational.

Charles Horning, chairman of the Department of Aviation Maintenance Science at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, said that even if the sensor was damaged in transit or improperly repaired, the anomaly should have been caught during installation on the plane.live bse live

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What a day for Indian markets! The tussle between the bulls as well as the bears continued for the second day in a row but the good part is that both Sensex and Nifty closed above their crucial support levels which is a positive sign.

The trend is likely to continue but if Nifty closes below 11655 levels in Wednesdays trading sessions there is a higher possibility of further profit booking.

The initial public offer of state-owned Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd was subscribed 48 percent on the third day of bidding Tuesday.

In a shocking judgment, the Supreme Court has struck down the central bank's directions on the resolution of bad loans under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), saying it is beyond the banking regulator's authority to issue such a mandate.

The big sectors to benefit is the power sector which has an exposure of nearly Rs 2 lakh cr. The power sector that has been grappling with huge debts scored a victory against the banking regulator in the country's highest court of law on April 2, said a Moneycontrol report.

While the judgment has bought them more time to deal with sticky sectoral issues, it will take at least six months to a year for the reforms to kick in and take effect, it added.

The rupee on Tuesday recovered from the day's low to finally settle at 68.74 against the US dollar with gains of 40 paise amid sustained foreign fund inflows and heavy buying in domestic equities.

On the institutional front, FPI were net buyers in Indian markets for Rs 543 crore while DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 437 crore, provisional data showed.

Big News:

Global investment banks such as BNP Paribas as well as Goldman Sachs upgraded India to Overweight citing attractive valuations, continuity of flows, and recovery in earnings trajectory as well as stable government at the center.

BNP Paribas upgraded India to overweight from neutral on April 1 and also raised its December-end target for Sensex to 42,000 from 40,000 earlier while Goldman Sachs sees Nifty50 hitting 12500 in the next 12 months.

Under the BNP Paribas Asia Model Portfolio, the global investment likes Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Titan Company, and ITC in the discretionary space; under financials top picks include stocks like HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, and IndusInd Bank; under the TMT space HCL Technologies is the top bet, and under energy space, BNP Paribas bets on RIL.

Goldman Sachs is of the view that Value and Cyclical parts of the markets will perform better in coming months with investors rotating out of safe haven or quality stocks as political uncertainty continues to fade.

Under the theme Value stocks within cyclical sectors that are rated buy include stocks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, L&T, M&M, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, and Ashok Leyland.

Technical View:

Nifty formed a Doji kind of pattern for the second day in a row

The index registered a Doji kind of indecisive formation on the back of negative advance-decline ratio which is a cause for concern going forward

Weakness shall get materialised once bears manage to pull down the Nifty below last Monday's gap zone of 11,64411,630 levels on closing basis, suggest experts.

Three levels: 11655, 11729, 11760

Max Call OI: 12000, 11800

Max Put OI: 11700, 11500

Stocks in news:

Drug firm Strides Pharma Science on April 2 said it has received establishment inspection report (EIR) from the US health regulator for its Singapore facility.

With its fleet down to less than 35 aircraft, Jet Airways has offered a six-month sabbatical to its pilots. Jet Airways now has a little over 30 aircraft in its fleet, down from 119 planes. More aircraft were grounded after default on payments to lessors.

Tata Power on Tuesday said it has signed a pact with Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) for setting up rooftop solar projects in the country. While Tata Power is India's largest integrated power utility, IGL is country's largest CNG distribution company.

Technical Recommendations:

We spoke to YES Securities and heres what they have to recommend:

L&T Technology Services Limited: Buy| LTP: Rs 1632| Target: Rs 1760| Stop Loss: Rs 1550| Upside 7.8%

Torrent Power Ltd: Buy| LTP: Rs 263| Target: Rs 285| Stop Loss: Rs 251| Upside 8%

Delta Corp: Buy| LTP: Rs 272| Target: Rs 292| Stop Loss: Rs 252| Upside 7%

: 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A day of ups and down for D-Street. The S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50 touched fresh record highs on April 3 supported by stable global cues, but the momentum didnt last long as traders preferred to book profits at higher levels.

The S&P BSE Sensex snapped its 4-day winning streak and fell by about 400 points from its record high of 39,270.14 while the Nifty50 also failed to hold on to 11,700 and fell by more than 100 points from its life high of 11,761.

The final tally  the S&P BSE Sensex closed 179 points lower at 38,877 while the Nifty50 dropped 69 points to close at 11,643. The Nifty50 took support at its 5-days EMA placed at 11,629.

Traders preferred to book profits ahead of the outcome of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee meeting's outcome on April 4. Skymet forecast on monsoon rains could have also afected the sentiment.

Skymet Weather has predicted that monsoon rains will be below normal this year. The reason behind a deficient monsoon will be the developing El Nino phenomenon, which means a rise in temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

All sectoral indices ended in the red with the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index leading losses largely on account of high crude oil prices, followed by BSE Telecom index that was down 1.5 percent, and the Capital Goods index which fell 1.3 percent.

The broader market indices underperformed as BSE Midcap & Smallcap closed with losses of 0.8 percent, and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Experts feel that the consolidation is likely to continue in the near-term, and RBI monetary policy would provide further direction to the markets.

We have seen a strong run-up in indices and ahead of the RBI and Skymet forecast on monsoon could have fueled fear among participants that led to profit taking in the market. However, investors should take the Skymet prediction with a pinch of salt because it is still not defined as a warning, Yogesh Mehta, VP, retail research at Motilal Oswal Securities told Moneycontrol.

In terms of RBI event, most market participants expect a rate cut of 25 bps that is already priced in. It looks like traders preferred to book profits rather than booking profits once the event is over, he said.

Stocks in news:

Shares of Suzlon Energy declined more than 4 percent after CARE ratings revised the ratings of the company.

Larsen & Toubro fell 2 percent after the company said it will sell its stake in the joint venture with Kobe Steel.

Amara Raja Batteries fell 6 percent after the agreement between Galla Family and Johnson Controls (JC) was terminated.

Surana Telecom tumbled more than 5 percent after the company divested 100 percent equity stake in its wholly owned subsidiary Globecom Infotech Private Limited.

Kamdhenu rallied nearly 17 percent after the company more than doubled the production capacity of its steel plant in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

Jet Airways slipped 5 percent after an additional 15 airlines were grounded, making it the smallest operating pan-Indian carrier.

Global Updates:

European markets are trading higher as investors are monitoring developments in US-China trade talks.

Asian markets closed higher on April 3 as Hang Seng index gained 1.19 percent at 29,986.39, Shanghai Composite added 1.24 percent to 3,216.30 and Nikkei rose 0.97 percent at 21,713.21.live bse live

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Auto ancillary and defence company Bharat Forge shares fell 1 percent after a sharp decline in Class 8 truck orders in North America.

The stock lost nearly 29 percent in the last one year. It was quoting at Rs 510.05, down Rs 4.25, or 0.83 percent on the BSE, at 0915 hours IST.

North American Class 8 truck orders for March continued to weaken for a third straight month at 15,700 units, falling sharply by 66 percent compared to the corresponding month last year, FTR Transportation Intelligence said.

In March 2018, Class 8 truck orders stood at 46,248 units. On month-on-month basis, orders declined 7 percent.

Any fall in North America orders is a big negative for Bharat Forge as that adds 15 percent to turnover.Here are stocks that are in the news today:

IPO: Metropolis Healthcare opens for subscription on April 3. It is an offer for sale by promoters, which will close on April 5. The price band for the IPO has been fixed in the range of Rs 877-880 per equity share.

Marico: Company sees improved operating margin in Q4 on easing costs, and sees stable demand in Q4 and healthy growth in offtake.

Indraprastha Gas gets authorization for development of CGD network

Infosys: Subsidiary gets order from Kuwaits Ahli United Bank for automation services.

Surana Telecom and Power: Company divested the 100 percent of equity stake held in Globecom Infotech Private Limited, wholly owned subsidiary.

DB Realty: In respect of creation of pledge on 77.5 lakh equity shares of DB Realty which were pledged by one of the promoters with Anand Rathi Global Financial Ltd. (lender) in connection with financial facility of Rs 6.00 crore given by the said lender to LLP.

SREI Infra to raise up to Rs 1,500 crore via issue of NCDs

TCS BaNCS for Core Banking has been successfully deployed at Harbin Bank, a full-service commercial bank in China

completes divestment of Wipro's Workday and Cornerstone Ondemand business

Board to consider Q4 results on April15-16 and recommendation of final dividend

HUDCO achieved loan sanctions of Rs 34,453.8 crore and loan releases of Rs 31,008.6 crore for the financial year 2018-19.

Biocon to sell and transfer drug substance business for Rs 33.3 crore

Mahindra Lifespaces' CFO Jayant Manmadkar resigns

Rushil Decor - GPCB allow comapny to operate Laminate sheet manufacturing unit at Gandhinagar upto July 01, 2019 as per conditions stipulated therein

Forbes & Company: Company handed over 50 percent of the business undertaking in project Vicinia to Paikar Real Estates Private Limited towards completion of the transaction.

Mastek: Company appointed Dennis Badman as chief business officer of Mastek Group.

Jet Airways: Company makes new roster for Boeing 737 pilots from April 11-26 - CNBC-TV18 Sources.

Lumax Auto Technologies closed its PCB manufacturing unit in Haryana from April 1

HEG board approved proposal to increase the stake of HEG in Bhilwara Energy from 29.48% to 49%

Karnataka Bank: Bank ties up with Bharti Axa Life Insurance company for life insurance business.

Magadh Sugar & Energy: CARE revised company's rating on long term bank facilities to BBB+:Stable, from A-:Negative.

Geetanjali Credit and Capital: Paresh G Patel, Managing Director of the company resigned.

Goa Carbon: Dara P Mehta resigned as Non- Executive Independent Director of the company.

Arvind Fashion's CFO Kannan Soundararajan resigns w.e.f. April 2

Virtual Global Education: Kamal Poddar Kishor has resigned from the post of the Chief Financial Officer of the company.

Kamdhenu: Company installed all requisite machinery for increase of capacity of its steel plant at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan from 72,000 MT to 1,56,000 MT per annum.

JK Tyre - India Ratings revises long term rating revised from IND A+ to IND A

Mcleod Russel - ICRA revised long term rating from ICRA AA- to ICRA A

Essel Propack received an amount of Rs 30.7 crore towards repayment of outstanding dues of Inter corporate deposit

Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings

DCM Shriram: Company's officials will meet White Oak Capital on April 3.

Ramco Industries: Board meeting is scheduled on May 23 to consider audited annual accounts for FY19 and to recommend dividend, if any.

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company: Board meeting is scheduled on April 27 to consider the audited financial results for FY19 and recommendation of final dividend.

Gujarat Hotels: Board meeting, on April 15, to consider financial results for FY19 and recommendation of dividend.

: Company's officials will meet analysts/institutional investors on April 3 and 4.Representative image

Moneycontrol News

Paytm Payments Bank launched its second branch on Wednesday, almost two years after setting up its first branch in May 2017. With over 4.4 crore savings account and Rs 2,000 crore in overall customer deposits, the company claims to be having 35-40 percent of the market share in the payments bank space. In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Satish Kumar Gupta, chief executive officer talks about the vision of the payments bank and the company's recent issues with the Reserve Bank of India.

Q. How many savings account are you targeting by March 2020?

Satish Gupta: We have a target of taking this 4.4 crore to 10 crore by March 2020. We also have 26 crore wallet customers. That will also go to somewhere around 40 crore.

Q. Out of 4.4 crore saving accounts, how many are zero balance accounts?

Satish Gupta: There may be a good number of them but it doesnt actually mean that they are the zero balance accounts. They connected to the money and used the money. So most of these accounts are like that. So we cannot call them really zero balance accounts. There are good number of transactions happening on those accounts although balance may not be much. We believe more in transactions than in balance size.

Q. What led to the delay in the launch of the second branch? The first one was launched in May 2017.

Satish Gupta: We believe in the theory of do it yourself. Our customers can download the app and enable themselves to do a KYC at a nearby location and they are good to go. So this is a branch that we have opened after a lot of thinking is to just get an experience. We believe in digitization and the branches come with a lot of cost. It is an experience we are trying to get with this branch on whether we need other branches or not. We will decide that after we see the performance of this and the need of the people.

Q. So how many more branches will up set up by March 2020?

Satish Gupta: May not be much.

Q. What is your vision with Paytm Payments Bank?

Satish Gupta: So the brand is already well received by people and the plan is to bring half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy. Bringing half a billion does not mean that we will open their accounts. It means that we will enable them to do financial transactions. We will enable them to do cashless transactions. We will enable them to grow the economy when the economy goes cashless, the economy grows because each transaction has a trail.

Q. Paytm Payments Bank had some troubles last year when RBI barred you from on-boarding new customers. What was the whole issue? How did it impact the company?

Satish Gupta: May be those were the primitive days when we got opened in 2017 and RBI found that probably there were a few violations. Certainly at the end of it when we explained to the RBI, they allowed us to start operations. And unlike other payments bank our submission was accepted by the RBI and there was no fine put up on Paytm Payments Bank for violations unlike others. All other (payments bank) where there were violations and restrictions, they were lifted after the inquiry and fine was put on to them. But for us, they accepted our submission, they allowed us the operations but there was no fine.

Q. Is KYC back in full swing now?

Satish Gupta: No it was not in full swing, but now it will be because in the meantime the RBI judgement on the Aadhaar came, by the virtue of which we could not do the eKYC of the customers and the speed went down. But now we are picking up. Now eKYC is permitted by the government of India through an ordinance. They have enabled it only in March. Now we are ramping up the numbers.

Q. We were told that Paytm Payments Bank was supposed to open salary accounts as well. Even the salaries of its own employees were to be disbursed through these accounts.

Satish Gupta: That has already started. Paytm Payments Bank has 1,300 onroll employees, all of them get their salaries in their accounts. We have started opening the salary accounts as well. We have already opened 30,000 salary accounts. There is a good growth expected there currently. I may not be knowing the exact numbers immediately but (we would have tied up with) over 100 (corporates). We target to have more than a million accounts by March 2020.

Q. We get to learn that RBI was not happy with the close connection Paytm Payments Bank had with One 97 Communications. Over the last few months what measures have been taken to keep these two companies at arm's length?

Satish Gupta: That was the issue highlighted by the Reserve Bank of India. We have taken several steps. First and foremost, we have moved into an independent building where all the staff sits. All functions of the bank are done by the bank's people. There is no access that One97 Communications has to any of the bank's data. The bank is operating independently through the wise board which we have. There is a complete arm's length that has been created.Angel Commodities' report on Crude Palm oil

MCX Apr CPO edged higher to climb to 2-week high on Tuesday tracking higher prices in Malaysia futures. Prices have rebound from near 12-week low. India's palm oil imports in 2018/19 is expected to jump about 10% on year to a record high due to sharp fall in the prices. This made importers in India more attractive compared to rival soyoil and sunflower oil. For first half of Apr, tariff value for CPO and RBD Palmolein cut by 24 and 4 dollar to 529 and 567 dollar per ton. According to SEA monthly update, import of Crude palm oil down 9% on year in February to 4.98 lt but RBD palmolein imports surged by more than 19% by to 2.41 lt mainly on reduction in duty difference. According to USDA monthly report in February, palm oil consumption for India is forecast at 10.6 mt, up 16.7% on year.

Outlook

CPO futures expected to trade on positive note tracking strong Malaysia prices. However, lower tariff value and higher import figures may pressurize prices. Higher edible oil stocks by 20% compared to last year ports may pressurize prices of edible oil.

For all commodities report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read MoreShares of oil marketing companies slipped 2-4 percent on April 3 as Brent crude oil price inching towards USD 70 per barrel mark.

Oil prices rose for a fourth day with support from OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions overshadowing an industry report showing an unexpected rise in US inventories last week.

Brent futures rose 35 cents, or 0.5 percent, to USD 69.72 a barrel, the highest since November 12 and within touching distance of USD 70.

At 14:55 hrs Hindustan Petroleum Corporation was quoting at Rs 261.95, down 4.55 percent, Bharat Petroleum Corporation was quoting at Rs 364.65, down 4.18 percent.

Indian Oil Corporation was quoting at Rs 154.75, down 2.18 percent.Suzlon

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Shares of Suzlon Energy declined 4.3 percent after CARE ratings has revised the ratings of the company.

CARE Ratings has downgraded company's long-term rating to D from BB (Negative), company said in BSE release.

J.P.Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer, Suzlon Group said, "The company has been maintaining "Current" status on all its accounts with the lenders since May 2015. Prolonged transition in the industry resulted in significantly sub-optimum volumes since past almost 2 years. And unfortunately, on account of a temporary mismatch in cash flow, the company was unable to fund its scheduled repayment obligations to its lenders."

The company has been actively working with its lenders towards a sustainable solution for its overall debt and significant debt reduction by various measures, he added.

At 13:18 hrs Suzlon Energy was quoting at Rs 6.55, down Rs 0.27, or 3.96 percent on the BSE.

For more market news, click hereIndia has stressed on the need for nations to look beyond immediate relief and rehabilitation and focus on "build back better" after a natural catastrophe, emphasising that a "disaster resilient world" demands "disaster resilient infrastructure."

India's remarks came as Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi struggle to recover after the devastating Cyclone Idai. Cyclone Idai has killed more than 700 people and destroyed over 100,000 homes and half a million hectares of crops. It has also rendered thousands of schools and dozens of health facilities unusable.

"It is urgent and critical to anticipate, plan for and reduce disaster risk in order to more effectively protect persons, communities and countries, their livelihoods, health, cultural heritage, socioeconomic assets and ecosystems, and thus strengthen their resilience," India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Nagaraj Naidu said on April 2.

Participating at an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting on the response to Cyclone Idai, Naidu said "going forward, we need to look beyond immediate relief and rehabilitation. We need to try and see can the challenges of this disaster be transformed into an opportunity for action."

He emphasized that there has been thinking that it's important to focus on affordable Climate Resilient Infrastructure. "While we should seek to make 'build to last' becoming the norm, we should try and build back better' after this disaster."

Citing the recent devastating floods in Kerala, Naidu said the effort in the aftermath has been not simply to rehabilitate the areas devastated by floods but to build back better. ?

"The way we build our infrastructure today will either build risk or resilience for future generations. The path of resilience is open to us  if we so choose?," he said.

Naidu also cited former freedom fighter and first Education Minister of Mozambique Graca Machel's comments that 90% of the infrastructure of Port Beira in the southern African nation has been hit by Idai and the consequent flooding. Beira will go down in history as having been the first city to be completely devastated by climate change.

"It raises the issue of how can we disaster proof a world that lives under serious existential threat. A disaster resilient world demands disaster resilient infrastructure," Naidu said.

He pointed out that the Resilience and Adaptation track of the UN Secretary General's Climate Action Summit in September 2019 can try and see if they can set up a coalition of the willing to work on a concrete example of helping any or all of these States in building back better.

Naidu highlighted the widespread humanitarian assistance India provided to the three nations in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai.

In response to a request from Mozambique, the Indian Government late last month launched 'Operation Sahayata' or 'Operation Assistance', which diverted three Indian Naval ships namely, INS Sujata, INS Shardul and INS Sarathi to provide immediate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to the affected people ?in coordination with local authorities and the High Commission of India, Maputo.

The Indian Naval Crew rescued more than 204 people and medical assistance has been provided to 1381 people in medical camps set up by the Indian Navy. Indian Naval helicopter Chetak in coordination with disaster management officials of Mozambique took several sorties to facilitate aerial survey for evacuation of people and for air dropping food and water packets in cyclone affected areas. Indian Naval ships also provided fresh water in relief camps, undertook community service including clearing of debris and repairing damaged roads.

Naidu told the meeting that in view of the evolving crisis in Mozambique and to sustain Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, a fourth Indian Naval Ship Magar loaded with relief materials has been sent to Mozambique. In addition, 500 kg of epidemic related medicines from Apollo Group of Hospital and 250 tons of rice has also been loaded on the ship, which is expected to reach Beira next week.

The Indian Navy was the first responder in evolving humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of cyclone IDAI that hit Mozambique. The indomitable spirit, humane approach and professionalism of the Indian crew have received wide acknowledgement from the Government of Mozambique and the people of Mozambique as well as the international agencies including the UN staff involved in HADR operations in Mozambique, he said.

Malawi has declared a state of national disaster in 13 districts and has appealed for assistance in terms of emergency relief material including food supplies and medicines. India is in the process of expediting the supply of 1000 MTs of rice and medicines worth $2 Million to Malawi, Naidu said.

In response to request from Zimbabwe for medicines, the Indian Government is sending the first tranche of medicines, which is expected to reach its destination by mid April.Worried about dissidence within hampering prospects of the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress is going all out to find a 'via media' solution to differences between local leaders of the parties in old Mysuru region,especially Mandya.

The alliance is facing a backlash at several places, including Tumkur, Mandya and Hassan, where Congress workers are not actively participating in campaigning for JD(S) candidates, unhappy over the seat arrangements.

With a cold response from local leaders and workers, Congress is now worried about a similar response from JD(S) in constituencies like Mysore, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Bangalore North and Bangalore Rural, where its candidates are in the fray.

With transfer of votes between Congress and JD(S) crucial for them to outperform the BJP, there is now worry that this dissidence may affect their performance.

Following the recent diktat from the party high command, including its national President Rahul Gandhi, to ensure support of Congress workers to JD(S) candidates, the state leadership has now pitched into damage control mode.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao, along with CLP leader Siddaramaiah late on Tuesday night met party leaders from Mandya, where the dissidence between both parties is more visible and asked them to campaign for JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

According to Congress sources, party leaders in Mandya told Rao and Siddaramaiah about their difficulty in supporting JD(S), which is their arch rival in the district.

Also citing Kumaraswamy himself not seeking their support as one of the reasons for staying away, theyhave also expressed strong opinion against certain recent statements by the Chief Minister on a section of Mandya Congress leaders.

However, Siddaramaiah pacified them and said Congress may have to face repercussions in constituencies like Mysore,where their candidates are in the fray and JD(S) has a strong presence, sources said.

Several Mandya Congress leaders like NCheluvarayaswamy, P M Narendraswamy and Ramesh Bandisidde Gowda among others, had not even attended Nikhil's nomination filing. "I, along with our CLP leader, have discussed with our leaders in Mandya...we have discussed on how to manage things. I have confidence that that things will get resolved," Rao told reporters on Wednesday.

Asked if all former Congress MLAs and leaders would take part in campaigning for coalition candidate, hesaid "with CLP leader Siddarmaiah and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda jointly campaigning in Mysore, Mandya, Tumkur, Bengaluru soon, all our leaders will have to be present, so I'm confident that things will be resolved."

Also, stating that small differences in Mysore have been resolved with the Congress leadership speaking to district-in-charge minister G T Devegowda of JD(S), Rao said there is no problem now for JD(S) leaders to campaign for the Congress candidate. In the days to come "you will get to know that things are positive. "Whether it is Mysore or Mandya, both parties will support and strengthen each other in all constituencies of southern Karnataka to ensure the victory of coalition candidates," he said.

Adding that Rahul Gandhi has given clear orders that Congress workers should ensure JD(S)' victory in constituencies where it is contesting.

G T Deve Gowda, who has the credit of defeating former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from Chamundeshwari in the assembly polls, did not campaign for Congress candidate Vijayashankar in Mysore, which has caused some worry among the party leadership about JD(S)' support in the polls.

"We will discuss with Kumaraswamy and resolve all the issues....they were all in the same party (JDS) earlier, so we have found a via media solution. There will be satisfactory developments in the days to come," he said.

Though Congress leaders in Mandya have remained silent during campaigning, according to reports several of them through their supporters are working in favour of independent candidate and multilingual actress Sumalatha Ambareesh.

Sumalatha, wife of late actor-turned politician M H Ambareesh, decided to contest as an independent after Congress, the party from which her husband represented Mandya in the past, denied her the ticket, citing coalition compulsions.

Pointing out that Sumalatha is a BJP supported candidate, Rao said"....we will take necessary action (against party workers supporting her). They can quit theparty and work for anyone, but being in the party no one goes against its decisions, it will not be tolerated."

According to the seat sharing arrangement Congress and JD(S) have decided to contest in 21 and seven Lok Sabha seats respectively.Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday took a jibe at NCP chief Sharad Pawar who recently announced that he would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, contrary to indications that he might enter the poll arena.

Addressing a rally at Gondia in east Maharashtra with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on dais, the chief minister, without taking name of Pawar, said the captain of the team against the BJP has already refused to play.

"The BJP is fighting such opponents in Bhandara-Gondiya (Lok Sabha constituency) whose captain has refused to play at the very beginning," he said.

Fadnavis was apparently referring to Pawar's decision to not contest the elections amidst speculations that he might enter the poll fray from Madha seat.

"Similarly, the so-called vice captain Praful Patel has also refused to play. (NCP) supporter Nana Patole is now contesting from Nagpur from where he is set to lose badly and forfeit his election deposit," he said.

Patole is facing Union minister and BJP heavyweight Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur constituency.

Patole had won the 2014 general elections from Bhandara-Gondiya seat on the BJP ticket by defeating NCP stalwart Patel.

However, he resigned later and joined the Congress. In the bypoll held in 2018, the NCP wrested the seat from the BJP.

The NCP has fielded Nana Panchbuddhe against the BJP's Sunil Mendhe from the seat which will vote on April 11.

In his address, Fadnavis also took swipe at the NCP over its election manifesto, which was released recently.

"The BJP tried to resolve various issues facing farmers and those pertaining to Nazul rights in Bhandara-Gondiya. The Congress-NCP had purchased paddy worth Rs 1300 crore in 15 years of their rule whereas the BJP bought paddy worth Rs 3500 crore in the last five years," he said.

The CM said the NCP's manifesto "welcomes Pakistani terrorists in India to kill people and soldiers".

"The NCP manifesto talks about a dialogue with Pakistan. Should we go and talk to Pakistan? Shame on those people who ask for a dialogue with Pakistan at a time when our soldiers are getting killed in terror attacks," he alleged.

He added, "This is Modi's India. If anyone tries to attack us, he will be killed by our soldiers in his own territory".

Speculations over Pawar's candidature grew when he said that party workers are asking him to contest.

However, days later Pawar, who had last contested Lok Sabha elections from Madha in 2009, clarified that he was not keen.Indian Army on Tuesday destroyed seven Pakistani military posts across the Line of Control in retaliation to the continued ceasefire violations by them for the fifth day, said officials. This inflicted several casualties also on Pakistani troops, they added.

Seven Pakistani posts across the LoC in Rakhchakri and Rawalkot forward areas of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) were destroyed, they said, adding there have been several causalities also on the Pakistani side.

Three Indian villagers too were injured at Shahpur border area in Poonch district Tuesday in the shelling by the Pakistani army, the officials added.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations admitted three casualties among their troops at Rakhchakri in Rawalakot of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

An Indian Defence spokesperson said the Pakistani army began violating ceasefire early Tuesday.

The spokesperson said the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire at 11.30 am with mortar and artillery shelling and firings by small arms along the LoC in Nowshera sector in Rajouri district.

This violation was replied befittingly, he added.

"At about 1700 hours Tuesday, the Pakistani army again initiated unprovoked shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along the LoC in Shahpur & Kerni sectors in Poonch district," said the Defence spokesperson.

"The Indian Army too is retaliating befittingly," he said.

Pakistan's ISPR too, in a release, said three of their soldiers were killed Rakhchakri in Rawalakot Tuesday in retaliation by Indian forces along the Line of Control.

The ISPR identified their slain soldiers as "Subedar Muhammad Riaz, a resident of Jhang, Lance Havaldar Aziz Ullah from Noshero Feroz and Sepoy Shahid Mansib from Abbotabbad."

The ISPR added one of their soldiers too was injured in the retaliation by Indian Army.

A BSF inspector and a five-year-old girl were among three persons killed while 24 others were injured Monday as Pakistani troops heavily shelled forward areas along the Line of Control in Poonch district, prompting the Indian Army to retaliate "befittingly", said officials.

As a precautionary measure, all schools along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rajouri districts have been closed by authorities in view of the Pakistani shelling.

With Pakistan using heavy weaponry and 120 mm mortar bombs targeting civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch, people have been advised to stay indoors, the officials said.The Delhi government on Wednesday sought before a court here a month's time to decide whether to grant sanction to prosecute JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the 2016 JNU sedition case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat directed the AAP government to file a "proper reply" citing a definite time-frame.

DCP of Special Cell of Delhi Police, Pramod Kushwaha, had earlier told the court that the agency has already sent a request to the Delhi government seeking sanction and added that sanction was an administrative action and the charge sheet can be filed without that.

The Delhi Police had earlier told the court that authorities were yet to give requisite sanctions to prosecute Kumar and others in the case, and it would take two to three months to procure sanctions.

On January 14, 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 February 9, 2016.Union minister and senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday described BSP chief Mayawati as a "merchant of tickets" and alleged that she does not give her party tickets to anyone without taking money.

Maneka Gandhi, who is contesting from Sultanpur parliamentary constituency, also accused the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister of not being loyal to anyone.

"Mayawati does not spare her own partymen then how will she spare the country and the state. She can't do without (currency) notes. She does not give her party's tickets to anyone without taking money. Mayawati is a saudagar (merchant) of tickets," she said addressing a meeting here.

"Mayawati is not loyal to anybody (Mayawati kisi ki nahi hai). Her (party's) ticket cannot be obtained without currency notes," she alleged.

In 2016, two BSP MLAs accused the party leadership of demanding "huge sums" for allotting tickets for the 2017 UP Assembly polls, prompting the party to suspend them hours after they levelled the allegation.

The lawmakers -- Palia MLA Romi Sahni and Mallawan MLA Brijesh Verma -- later joined the BJP.The Election Commission is learnt to have issued a showcause notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his 'Modi ji ki sena' remark made during a poll rally at Ghaziabad earlier this week. Sources in the poll panel said, prima facie, Adityanath has violated the EC's advisory of keeping armed forces away from political campaign.

A functionary said Adityanath has been asked to reply by Friday evening.

The EC took the decision based on a video clip submitted by the Ghaziabad district magistrate which shows Adityanath making the remarks at the election rally there on Sunday.

Adityanath, who addressed election meetings in Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Sunday, had lashed out at the Congress for what he called was its "soft approach towards terrorism and terrorists".

"Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modiji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. (Congress leaders 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 (JeM chief) Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," Adityanath had said at the Ghaziabad election rally.

The BJP leader was campaigning for sitting MP and Union minister V K Singh.

The Election Commission had on March 19 asked political parties to "desist" from indulging in any propaganda involving actions taken by defence forces during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns.

The advisory was issued days after the poll panel asked parties and their candidates against using pictures of defence force personnel in their campaign material.

"...parties/candidates are advised that their campaigners/candidates should desist, as part of their election campaigning, from indulging in any political propaganda involving activities of defence forces," it had said.

Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas had Monday said he would approach the Election Commission against Adityanath for his remarks and claimed that many veterans and those in service were upset over it.The Lok Sabha elections are almost upon us. This is the final lead-up to the polls, and the kind of cross currents visible around the country are testimony to the fact that this election is quite unlike the previous ones. Till the 2014 elections, it was essentially between two large forces, with smaller parties for assistance. But 2014 proved that the Congress was no longer the force it had been since Independence. In fact, its tally of 44 reduced it to the level of a regional party, an aslo-ran. It left the Bharatiya Janata Party as the sole power, pointing to a unipolar party scenario in India.

However, by all indications, the BJP has not been able to convert it huge advantage, when on its own it had a simple majority, something that no party had managed for decades. It virtually swept the Hindi heartland and Gujarat and Maharashtra. It was the kind of performance that proved extreme muscularity. However, as time went on, it became more and more obvious that it was going to be difficult to replicate such a strong showing. This meant that the almost certain losses in these strongholds would have to be made up in other states and regions. To put it simply, most of these gains would have to come from the south, east and northeast.

This election has curiously become a one versus many contest. It is the BJP on one hand and the others on the other. The situation looked like the BJP versus a mega coalition, especially given the common goal of the opposition to get rid of the BJP. Or, that is how it was talked about as late as a year ago. However, things have changed now, and the BJP too is stitching up an alliance  a wide-ranging alliance  something of slightly less maha-gatbandhan. Meanwhile, the mahagatbandhan of the opposition itself has meandered somewhat purposelessly, making this is multi-lateral fight in a lot of states.

What this means is that the dynamics within each state will need tweaking, or in some cases, recalculating. Among the larger states, multilateral contests will be seen in Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telengana. Kerala does not belong in this group, if only for the fact that it has always been the Communist Party of India (Marxist) versus the Congress, with nobody else at a national level in the reckoning. This time, however, the BJP is expected to shake things up in at least two constituencies, becoming in effect the third front.

Traditionally, Uttar Pradesh has been the state that has been in the best focus. After all, it has the largest electorate and the largest number of Lok Sabha seats. After the bifurcation, UP has remained the largest, though not by as much of a margin as before. UP, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have by far the biggest say, as far as individual states are concerned. With strong regional parties, these states demand that there be an electoral understanding for national parties to make a mark.

Let us look at Uttar Pradesh. It has always attracted the most attention in Lok Sabha polls, and quite naturally, because of the hugely disproportionate number of seats.

A little bit of recent history is more than useful here. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had literally swept the Hindi belt  Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Chattisgarh. It had also swept Gujarat, winning everything, and performed exceedingly well in Maharashtra along with the Shiv Sena. Most of its seats had come from these states. In the Hindi heartland, the BJP won 191 out of 226 seats. If that wasnt a sweep, its allies won a further 11 seats, for a total tally of 202 for the National Democratic Alliance. With such an overwhelming performance concentrated in these few states, it is expected that the party will not be able to hold its predominant position and has to lose a few seats. The question is only of how much.

In Uttar Pradesh, things are very different from 2014, when the BJP decimated every other party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was blanked even though it contested all the 80 seats. The 2014 election saw a massive wave against the status quo, with the BJP complementing its Hindutva agenda with a new narrative of inclusive economic growth, wiping out corruption, and bringing a new dawn for the nation. The people identified with this package, especially in the north. In Uttar Pradesh, this enabled the BJP to win 71 of the 78 seats it contested. Its NDA ally, Apna Dal, won the two seats it contested. In 2019, this narrative is no longer as relevant, with agrarian distress and unemployment taking centre stage. The change in mood was shown up well in the assembly elections and some of the key byelections. Except for gaining the north-east, the BJP has done rather poorly in most other places. In Karnataka, the gains were not so visible, and even though the BJP emerged as the single largest party, it was pipped at the post by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) stitching together a post-poll alliance and the Congress taking the strategic decision of ceding to the lesser partner.

The BJP also lost the important heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the Congress, even if by the smallest of margins in the first two. This was a huge turnaround, considering that the BJP had more or less wiped out the Congress in these states. But, as far as Uttar Pradesh is concerned, it was what happened before these assembly elections that gives a pointer to the prevailing mood, and to the possible voting pattern in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In March 2018, byelections were held in Uttar Pradesh to two Lok Sabha seats and one State Assembly seat. In a scenario where one party had swept the elections previously, byelections would naturally be of great interest, as some kind of litmus test of whether the party retained its hold over the electorate. In this case, there was even more attention on the bypolls because the constituencies were Gorakhpur and Phulpur, perhaps the two most important seats at the time. These two seats went for polls after the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, and his deputy, Keshav Prasad Maurya, had vacated the seats to helm the state government.

This was also the time when Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav had sunk their differences, and the BSP and SP had gone into the byelections as a united front. From that point of view, it would also be a test of whether a united opposition would make a difference at the hustings. A lot hinged on the results of these two seats.

As it happened, the BJP lost both these seats to the BSP-SP combine. The Gorakhpur seat, which Adityanath had held from 1998, and had won in 2014 by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes, lost by over 20,000 votes. This was like a foretaste of things to come, and a warning to the BJP about the public mood. Yogi Adityanath admitted as much, conceding that his party had been overconfident and had not understood the import of a combined opposition.

This essentially is the setting in which Uttar Pradesh goes to the Lok Sabha polls too, with the BSP and SP holding on to their alliance, which for the moment seems to be a winning one.

The question that comes up in Uttar Pradesh is about the Congress, which has chosen to go it alone after the mahagatbandhan talks failed. The discussion was set to fail, what with the BSP-SP alliance offering the Congress two seats. So, the situation is that the Congress is set to contest all 80 seats in the state.

However, in UP, the Congress was not a meaningful force in 2014, getting a measly 7.5 percent of the votes in 2014.There is little to indicate that the situation has changed dramatically. So, the fact that the Congress is going it alone in the state and might end up splitting the anti-BJP vote is not substantial. In fact, there is even the reading that the Congress voters, seeing the improbability of the party putting up a good show, might even end up voting for the BSP-SP combine, leading to less fracturing of votes.

In the byelections of 2018, the vote swing against the BJP was more than 8.5 percent, indicating substantial change in its popularity index. Since those bypolls, when the aftermath of the demonetization and GST implementation could be considered reasons for the reversal, the ground situation has changed  in what direction and by how much is still not definitely known. The factors of unemployment and agrarian distress have come in, the second of which showed its strong hand in the assembly elections of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The BJP has got a fillip from the tragic attack at Pulwama, enabling it to shift to the nationalism and national security narrative. The Hindutva agenda continues to be strong. But how sticky will these be, and can they override the economy-based issues? That remains to be seen.

Coming back to the matter of vote swing. Former psephologist and political analyst Yogendra Yadav, is of the opinion that the 2014 showing of the BJP in the north is an outlier, something of a black swan. Extrapolating from the byelection results, he says that with a similar swing of 8.5-9 per cent across Uttar Pradesh, the BJP will get pretty much decimated, to end up with a tally of 12-13 seats. But considering that is quite unlikely that this extent of vote swing can happen across the entire state, one might look at swings of 6 and 3 per cent; in these cases, too the BJP is set to lose a number of seats. Yadavs numbers say that with a 6 percent swing, the seat count would be about 23 and with a 3 percent swing it would be around 34-35.

The reason one might forward for a higher swing in UP is that it is an overwhelmingly rural and agrarian state. The BJPs traditional strength is the urban areas. With the promised jobs not happening and the furthering of the agrarian problem, it could be argued that BJP will do more badly than expected. This argument would also be buttressed if the results of the Gorakhpur and Phulpur byelections are taken to show that Adityanaths actions can impact Lok Sabha seats. Adityanath has not really done much for the state that can be effectively showcased. On top of that are the memories of lynchings, the anti Romeo squad, and inflammatory speeches. The Ayodhya issue, with the BJPs promises remaining more or less that, is also to be considered, with the ability to make a few of the more heavily invested Hindutva loyalists frown.

Uttar Pradesh in a sense holds even more importance than normal. Its mood can be part of a widespread feeling across the Hindi belt. And if this feeling is negative, substantially negative, then it becomes imperative for the BJP to make up the shortfall in other places, which are those regions and states where the party has traditionally been weak.

If the relative unpopularity of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is accepted, then the BSP-SP combine could come out of the election with 40-60 seats. If the BJP-led NDA is unable to get the required numbers, this would give the alliance enormous bargaining power in the scenario of a non-NDA coalition forming the government at the Centre.

With opinion polls becoming more and more unpredictable, it comes to the exit polls after election day, which are generally more reliable. Whatever the outcome, this election promises to be as absorbing as the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.(Image: PTI)

BJP President Amit Shah, while speaking at an event organised by a Hindi news channel, gave a rather surprising clarification about the party's stand about Robert Vadra - also the husband of Congress Party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi.

Shah, after being questioned about why Robert Vadra is still not behind bars, denied that the BJP ever called for putting him in jail. Shah immediately came up with a follow-up statement that clarified the confusion.

Here's what he said, We never said we would put Robert Vadra in jail. We said we would put corrupt people in jail. We also said Robert Vadra has indulged in rampant corruption. But the two statements should not be taken together.

Shah was a part of a TV programme where he explained the party's stance to the audience. You can watch the video here. The conversation on Vadra starts after 32 minutes.

Shahs clarification left the audience baffled as he agreed that Vadra is involved in rampant corruption but refused to admit that the party ever stated that they will put Vadra in jail.

The comments came at a time when Robert Vadra was granted anticipatory bail in a case the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is pursuing against him.

The ED believes Vadra and his associates had received kickbacks in a petroleum deal struck between state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and Samsung Engineering during the UPA regime.

The proceeds of this transaction were allegedly spent on buying plush properties in the UK, including one worth 1.9 million pounds.

The investigating agency had also alleged that there are chances that Vadra would tamper with evidence, given he is an influential person.Representative image

The forthcoming Andhra Pradesh assembly polls has ended a 260-year-old rivalry between two royal families, as descendants of both families have come together to fight for the victory of Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

According to The Hindu's report, the rulers of the Vizianagaram and Bobbili kingdoms had been rivals since centuries. The historic Bobbili battle that took place on January 24, 1757, widened the gap between the two families, which resulted in bitter rivalry.

After India got Independence, princely states went out of existence but the rivalry continued. The royal spat turned political with members of the two families joining different parties in the state. Former Union Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju won on TDP ticket for the Vizianagaram Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 elections, while Sujayakrishna Rangarao of the Bobbili family successfully contested from the Bobbili Assembly constituency on YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) ticket.

Also Read | As allies turn rivals, Andhra Pradesh heads to a multi-cornered fight

Although Gajapathi Raju managed to win the seat, he faced difficulty in the Bobbili segment, a part of the Vizianagaram parliamentary constituency.

Ahead of the upcoming polls, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu invited Rangarao to join his party, suggested the report. The invitation was accepted by him. The decision was initially objected by Gajapathi Raju, but later he was persuaded by Naidu.

Know Your Leader | Strong, committed Jagan Mohan Reddy turns nemesis for CM Naidu in Andhra Pradesh

He has now welcomed Rangarao, who is seeking re-election from Bobbili seat. Rangarao is also bringing full support to Raju from Bobbili segment.Taking a swipe at the Congress over its proposed NYAY scheme, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on April 3 said the party which has a "DNA of maximum corruption" is talking about giving minimum income to the poor.

Naqvi, addressing a public meeting in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, alleged that the Congress and the SP-BSP want to make a "coalition of crime" in Uttar Pradesh.

Canvassing for Jaya Prada, the BJP candidate from Rampur Lok Sabha seat, Naqvi said those who failed in the Congress-SP alliance in UP Assembly polls, are now undertaking the "acid test" through the SP-BSP alliance.

"But neither their chemistry nor their physics match," Naqvi was quoted as saying by a statement from his office.

This alliance will also fail disastrously, the minority affairs minister claimed.

Terming the Congress a "history-sheeter" in "making mockery of poverty", he said the party should realise that "mountain of slogans" cannot get votes for it.

Despite being in power for decades, the Congress did nothing for the poor, he alleged.

Naqvi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked for the welfare of the poor during the past five years.

The Modi government has worked with a commitment to economic empowerment of the poor, he said.

"The Congress, which has a DNA of maximum corruption, is now talking about minimum income," he said, slamming the opposition party.

On April 2, the Congress promised in its election manifesto to roll out a minimum income guarantee scheme  called Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), under which Rs 72,000 crore would be deposited in the bank accounts of the poorest 20 per cent families in India, annually.

"The Congress, which considers the country's poverty as a political property will not allow the poor to come out of poverty," Naqvi alleged.

He claimed that the so-called mahagathbandhan wants a "contract prime minister", and not a "perfect prime minister like Modi.

They want a prime minister who can be "remote controlled", he alleged.

The people of the country don't want a prime minister on "rotation and contract" for 6 months and then another prime minister for next 6 months, he said.

The entire country knows Modi is the perfect prime minister for the progress, prosperity and safety of the country, Naqvi said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tore into the Congress, terming its manifesto as a "hypocrisy document" which was "full of lies".

Addressing his second rally in Arunachal Pradesh within a week, the prime minister cited the Congress manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, and said it had promised that every house would have electricity by 2009.

"However, till 2014 around 18,000 houses were unelectrified... Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called hypocrisy document, not a manifesto," Modi said.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Tuesday released his party's manifesto for Lok Sabha polls, making jobs creation, addressing farm distress, bringing a single moderate rate of GST and giving Rs 72,000 per annum to poor families as key focus if the party comes to power.

The prime minister also charged that the Congress was fooling farmer in the name of votes, whereas the BJP government has always been with them.

"We never committed the sin of betraying farmers but we introduced the mechanism from seed to market," the PM said.

Modi said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be about the choice between "trust and corruption, and about resolution and conspiracy".

Simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly will be held on April 11.A city court asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury to appear before it on April 30 to respond to the charges of defaming RSS by allegedly linking it to journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder.

The civil defamation case, seeking a token compensation of Rs one from Gandhi and Yechuri was filed by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Vivek Champanerkar, who has claimed the duo "defamed" the RSS by linking it to the killing of Lankesh.

Civil Judge J S Bhatia, who is hearing the case, ordered issuance of summonses to Gandhi and Yechury asking them to appear in the court.

The summonses are returnable on April 30.

In his prayer to the court, Champanerkar said Gandhi and Yechury are in the habit of blaming the RSS for any act of violence and this needs to be stopped.

He urged the court to direct them to stop linking the RSS with such incidents.

Champanerkar's counsel Aditya R Mishra said his client filed the civil complaint in the court against the two leaders last week.

Lankesh was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru in September 2017, allegedly by the members of a right-wing extremist group.

A Mumbai metropolitan magistrate's court is also hearing a criminal defamation case against Gandhi and Yechury, filed by another RSS activist over the same issue.

In the criminal defamation case, complainant Dhrutiman Joshi, an RSS worker and lawyer, has cited some purported remarks made by Gandhi and Yechury against the RSS after the killing of Lankesh, a strong Hindutva critic.

"Statements made by the accused and their respective political parties are in utmost sense defamatory and belittle the RSS in the eyes of common public.

"There was a definite move by the accused to tarnish the image of the RSS without citing any proof," Joshi had said in his complaint.

The Congress chief is also facing another defamation case in a court at Bhiwandi in Thane district over his alleged comments against the RSS regarding Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling

Moneycontrol News

Sikkim's 'common man' Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling first assumed the post in December 1994. Many of those who will be voting for the first time in 2019 weren't even born then.

This year, Chamling completes 25 years in power, a distinction previously held only by the late Communist chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu.

A number of factors seems to have worked in Chamling's favour ever since he took over the top post, and even before that. As chief minister, Chamling is said to have a strong connection with the people of Sikkim, a small hill state with a population of over 6.19 lakh people, as of 2011.

Chamling, and his party, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), won 22 out of 32 seats in the state during the last election. The party increased its tally in the assembly after opposition lawmakers switched to the SDF, taking the total number of MLAs to 29.

In one of his fortune-changing moments in politics, Chamling reportedly lit a candle in the Sikkim assembly to 'search for democracy' in 1992. This was seen as a dramatic act of rebellion against his mentor and former CM Nar Bahadur Bhandari.

Chamling was then a member of Bhandari's party, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP), on whose ticket he contested and won in the 1985 Assembly polls. Four years later, as a display of his popularity, over 96 percent votes were cast for him from the Damthang assembly constituency.

According to observers, Bhandari, who passed away in 2017, should have recognised Chamling's threat in 1989 itself. For, four years later, Chamling would go on to launch his own party, and grab power a year after that, never to look back.

Also Read | Sikkim Assembly Polls 2019: Pawan Chamling eyes 6th term as CM amid fractured challenge

Chamling's rise, however, had started way before that, beginning 1982, when he was elected unopposed as the president of Yangang Panchayat.

Chamling has not only dominated the political discourse, but also the electoral politics in Sikkim, winning 31 seats during the 2004 polls and sweeping all seats in 2009.

While challenges in the form of allegations of corruption and autocracy something that Chamling himself had alleged against Bhandari when he had rebelled remained, one in the form of a political rival arrived in 2013, when Prem Singh Tamang, a legislator in SDF, rebelled.

Tamang, better known as PS Golay, floated his own party  the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), which won 10 seats in the last assembly polls. This was a feat considering Chamling and SDF's total hold over the state for years. The SKM also recorded a vote share of 40.80 percent.

In 2015, however, seven SKM MLAs defected to the ruling SDF. A year later, Golay was disqualified as a member of the Assembly after his conviction in a corruption case.

Observers state that Chamling has worked his charm to bring about a constructive change in Sikkim. In January, the SDF government announced that it would roll out the Universal Basic Income in the state, becoming the first state to do so. Moreover, according to reports, poverty has been reduced to a great extent, with population below poverty line in the state recorded at 8 percent. This is a massive improvement from 40 percent in 1994, when Chamling took charge. He has also been praised for continued GDP growth of Sikkim, which has consistently been above national average.

Also Read | Naveen Patnaik: Known as 'Mr Clean', Odisha CM gunning for 5th straight term

A farmer-turned-poet-turned-politician, Chamling has often been associated with the environment, an asset that he has turned to his advantage in governance and politics. Chamling is often called the 'greenest chief minister of India', and he lived up to his name by starting the country's first green mission. It reaped benefits when Sikkim became the first organic state in India in 2015.MK Stalin, who will lead Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for the first time in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, has huge shoes to fill.

Son of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, Stalin was formally appointed as chief of the party in 2018 after his fathers demise. As party president, he has two big tasks to accomplish  one, to carry the burden of a legacy that comes from being a son of the popular leader, and two, defeat the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) to gain power in the state again.

In the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Stalin will have to exhibit what he learnt from his father, one of the shrewdest politicians of the country.

Early life

Stalin was born to Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal on March 1, 1953, and was named after Soviet Communist leader Joseph Stalin.

His name was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Karunanidhi, who was attending the condolence meeting of Joseph Stalin. As someone informed him about the birth of his child, Karunanidhi instantly named him after the Russian Communist party leader.

Entry in politics

At the age of 14, Stalin jumped into politics by campaigning for his fathers party in 1967. However, his official entry into the party was made in 1973 when he was inducted into the DMKs general council.

Road ahead

The way after his induction into DMK was not easy for Stalin. In 1976, the DMK government was dismissed on charges of corruption and Stalin was arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for protesting against the Emergency, spending a year in prison.

In 1988, Stalin also tried his hands at acting. He did two movies (Ore Raththam, Makkal Aanayittal) and two television series. He stopped his acting career after this.

Also Read | In first polls sans Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, battle of legacy in Tamil Nadu

Political resurgence

A political revival for Stalin and DMK came in 1989, when the party won by a handsome margin and Stalin secured a massive victory at Thousand Lights in Chennai. The leader was then titled as Thalapathy or Commander.

In 1996, Stalin was made Mayor of Chennai. Following this, people were so impressed with his work that he was referred to as Managara Thanthai or 'Father of the City'.

Stalins efforts, however, could not bring victory to the party and J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK gained power in Tamil Nadu in 2001. However, Stalin and his party did not give up and came back to power in 2006.

Controversies

Stalin has an old relation with controversies, starting with his arrest during Emergency. Another big rumour about Stalin was regarding the abduction of TV news anchor Fathima in the late 1980s. The reports were, however, denied by the anchor in 2018.

Also Read | AIADMK wants EC to restrain Stalin from making remarks on Jaya probe panel

In 2001, he, along with his father Karunanidhi and uncle Murasoli Maran, was arrested in a midnight raid and charged in the Chennai flyover scam.

2019 Lok Sabha polls

Ahead of the April 11 polls, DMK is straddling on Stalins back to ride to victory. The party, with Stalins experience and its alliance with the Congress, the CPI, the CPI (M), the VCK, the MDMK, the IUML, the KMDK and the IJK, is looking to gain a major chunk of 39 Lok Sabha seats.you are here:NCP chief Sharad Pawar cited his mother's influence and said he would not resort to attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally, despite the latter having done so.

Launching the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance's poll campaign in Maharashtra at a public rally in Wardha on Monday, Modi had made a stinging attack on Pawar claiming the NCP chief had withdrawn from the Lok Sabha polls as he had realised the situation was not favourable.

Modi went on to say Pawar was losing his grip on the Nationalist Congress Party and was weakened by family feuds led by his nephew.

"Modi is launching personal attacks wherever he goes. But I will not do so as I am influenced by my mother. Personal criticism does not fit in our culture," Pawar said Tuesday, adding that the prime minister need not be bothered about family feuds in the NCP.

Pawar was speaking at a meeting organised here for Swabhimani Paksha MP Raju Shetti, who is the opposition alliance's candidate from Hatkanangle, and Kolhapur contestant Dhananjay Mahadik.

"It was expected of the prime minister that he would make new announcements at the Wardha rally. But instead, he presented the picture of the NCP before people. He talked about wrong differences with Ajit Pawar," the NCP chief said.

"He talked about wrong differences with Ajit Pawar. Ajit Pawar's is a tadafdaar (dynamic) leadership and he is loyal to the party," the former Union minister said.

Praising the Nehru-Gandhi family, he said four generations had sacrificed their lives in the service of the country.

"Indira Gandhi worked for removing poverty. Rajiv Gandhi worked for bringing modernisation and technology to the country. Many people thought Sonia Gandhi would leave the country after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, but she stayed back due to her commitment towards it," he said.

"Now the fifth generation from the family is serving the nation. The Gandhi family has never compromised on its principles. The country's PM, however, continues to attack only one family," Pawar claimed.

He added that Modi was attacking opponents to divert attention from the failures of his government.

"In Maharashtra, 15,998 farmers committed suicide in the last four years. They have been suffering because of lack of fair prices for farm produce. This government came to power promising jobs but, far from creating employment, jobs have been lost due to demonetisation and GST," he alleged.

"Fifteen lakh people in Maharashtra and one crore people in the country lost their jobs after demonetisation," the former Union agriculture minister claimed.

Accusing the government of not being bothered about farmers, Pawar claimed his party was backing farmers.National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a good actor who had surpassed several established actors and a magician who performed many tricks.

He also alleged that the BJP-led central government had failed on all fronts and was "milking" the situation in the aftermath of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack to hide its "failures".

"The incumbent Modi government failed on all fronts. However, they saw a way out in hiding behind the Pulwama attack. When many CRPF jawans were killed in Chhattisgarh, Modi did not go there. The sacrifice of the CRPF men in Chhattisgarh did not move him, he remained unfazed.

"Not just that, when the bodies of the slain CRPF men (in the Pulwama attack) were brought to Delhi, Modi was busy in a shooting. The bodies of the slain CRPF men were kept waiting for the tributes, which were to be paid by him," Abdullah told a rally in Ganderbal.

The former Union minister alleged that the Centre took no time after the Pulwama attack to "milk the situation" in order to hide the "farmer distress, price-rise, foreign policy failures and falling economy".

"I have not seen such an actor. His (Modi's) eminence in theatrics has surpassed all actors like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Shahrukh Khan. He is such a magician that I cannot tell you...he plays so many tricks.

"He has been doing nothing but lying to people since he took the reins of power. He squandered the mandate of the people. Besides, he wasted the precious time of the nation and its people," Abdullah said.The opposition RJD in Bihar took potshots at Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar, who shared stage at an election rally at Gaya, wondering whether the prime minister privately expressed regret to the chief minister over the infamous "DNA" remark.

"Hope the DNA episode were discussed. And explanations offered that the words had been uttered unwittingly," RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told reporters here when asked what he thought of the rally where Modi, Kumar and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan put up a joint show of strength for the NDA.

Yadav was referring to Prime Minister Modi's remarks made during the 2015 assembly polls, which the RJD fought in alliance with Kumar's JD(U) besides the Congress.

Modi, whose projection as the prime ministerial candidate by the BJP had led Kumar to snap JD(U)'s 17-year-old ties with the BJP, had attacked Kumar over the removal of Jitan Ram Manjhi as the chief minister.

He had also quipped that the manner in which "a Mahadalit was insulted" indicated that there was "something wrong with the political DNA" of the JD(U) leader.

Kumar had taken strong exception to the remark, insisting that it was tantamount to insulting the entire population of Bihar.

The bitter rivalry between the two leaders, however, took a back seat over time and Kumar returned to the NDA in 2017 after ending his short-lived alliance with the RJD over the issue of corruption allegations against Tejashwi Yadav, who was then the deputy chief minister.

At the Gaya rally, the two leaders showered praises on each other.

Modi lauded Kumar for getting all villages across Bihar electrified and said, "I can say from experience (as Gujarat chief minister) that this is no mean feat".

Kumar, in his address, thanked the Modi government for extending full cooperation for the state's development including a Rs 50,000 crore aid for building roads.

He also urged the people of the state to vote in large numbers for the NDA and help Modi return to power.

Tejashwi Yadav, however, maintained that Modi's promises like generous central assistance for development of Gaya a renowned Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage town into a tourist spot where the footfall would exceed that at the Taj Mahal in Agra were far from being realised.

Interestingly, Manjhi who had been at the centre of the 'DNA episode' left the NDA last year and is now a part of the "Mahagathbandhan" led by the RJD and comprising the Congress, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP and Mukesh Sahni's VIP.

The former Bihar chief minister who floated Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) after quitting JD(U), is the Mahagathbandhan candidate from Gaya.

Not known for being active on Twitter, the HAM president took to the micro-blogging site accusing the prime minister of pursuing "politics of hate".

"You are welcome to the holy city of Gaya. This land has been made pure by luminaries like Buddha and Mahavira. Your politics of hate will find no takers here," tweeted Manjhi.

Manjhi's message came in reply to a tweet from Modi earlier in the day in which the prime minister had mentioned that he would be holding two rallies in Bihar - at Jamui followed by Gaya.Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in addition to his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will file his nomination by 11 am on Thursday, senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala said. Gandhi might be accompanied by his sister and AICC in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress sources told PTI.

They said the Congress chief will board a helicopter to Wayanad, about 90 km from here, to file his nomination.

"A roadshow will be held tomorrow, before the filing of nomination papers, in which thousands of party workers will take part," Chennithala told reporters here Wednesday.

Senior Congress leaders, including Mukul Wasnik, K C Venugopal, Mullappally Ramachandran, and Indian Union Muslim League leader K Kunhalikutty are in Kozhikode to make arrangements for the event.

Tight security is in place in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts in view of the high-profile visits.

A senior district police official told PTI that the Congress chief will arrive at 8.30 PM on Wednesday.

"He will stay at the guest house and will leave for Wayanad in the morning. Time and logistics are yet to be finalised," he said.

He said he cannot divulge the details due to security considerations.

The Congress announced on Sunday that Gandhi will contest from Wayanad constituency, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Gandhi has claimed people in South India "feel hostility" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he decided to contest from Wayanad to send out the message that he stands with them.The Congress on April 3 alleged that a "cash for votes" scam was busted in Arunachal Pradesh with the recovery of Rs 1.8 crore in cash from Chief Minister Pema Khandu's convoy and asked the poll panel to register a case against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as the chief minister and his deputy.

Accusing the BJP of using "money power" to woo voters in the northeast, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Rs 1.8 crore was allegedly recovered from the chief minister's convoy in Pasighat around midnight, hours before Modi was to address a rally on April 3 morning.

Khandu and his deputy Chowna Mein should be immediately sacked, he said and also sought the termination of the candidature of Tapir Gao, the BJP's Arunachal Pradesh president who has been fielded from the Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency.

Surjewala showed two videos purportedly showing the cash being recovered in the presence of officials of the Election Commission, the local administration and the police.

The party did not vouch for the authenticity of the videos, saying they were available on social media. It also claimed the raid was conducted after Youth Congress workers complained to authorities in Pasighat.

There was no immediate comment available from the BJP or the EC on the recovery of the cash in a midnight operation.

Alleging a cash for votes scandal in Arunachal Pradesh, Surjewala said, "Facing imminent defeat, a desperate BJP is resorting to 'money power' in the northeast.

"A midnight raid on the convoy of BJP's Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, Deputy CM Chowna Mein and BJP Arunachal President Tapir Gao has found Rs 1.8 crore in stacks of hard cash that exposes the brazen corruption and poll violation, as PM Modi holds a rally in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh."

He said the party demands that a case be registered against the prime minister, the chief minister and the deputy chief minister.

"Why is the Election Commission sleeping and not taking action in the matter and not registered a case so far. Why is the case being hushed up?" he asked.

According to the Congress leader, the videos emerged on social media and showed the cash being counted by police officers in the presence of Election Commission's Expenditure Officer Samrita Kaur Gill. Pasighat Deputy Commissioner Kinny Singh is heard talking in the video and stacks of cash are visible, he said.

"Was Rs 1.8 crore of hard cash being transferred for the rally of PM Modi in Pasighat today, personally in the CM's convoy and in the safe hands of BJP president. Where did such a large amount come from?" Surjewala asked.

Surjewala also asked whether this cash was reportedly transferred for Modi's morning rally in Pasighat.

"Isn't concealing and hoarding cash during an election a 'corrupt practice' and a serious violation of law under Section 123(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 and Section 171 B of the IPC and a solid ground for termination of candidature?" he sought to know.

Surjewala alleged the BJP is trying to hush up the matter and sought to know whether the prime minister knew about the stacks of cash being "transferred".

"If yes, an FIR should be immediately filed against PM Narendra Modi, Arunachal CM Prema Khandu and BJP's Arunachal Pradesh President Tapir Gao," he said.Representative image

The Shiv Sena on April 3 accused the Congress of spreading the word "Hindu terror" during its rule, saying it encouraged terrorists from Pakistan to carry out their activities in India.

It also criticised former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah over their stand on Article 35-A of the Constitution, saying if such voices are not curbed, the border state will remain in the grip of unrest and instability.

The remarks of the Sena, a constituent of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress, accusing it of insulting "peace-loving" Hindus by linking them to terrorism.

"The word 'saffron terror' or 'Hindu terror' was spread when the Congress was in power at the Centre. Besides allegations, false cases were also filed against Hindus in the Samjhauta train blast and Malegaon bomb blast cases," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It claimed that "gross injustice" was meted out to Swami Aseemanand (in the Samjhauta blast case), and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit (both accused in the Malegaon case).

"The spread of the term 'Hindu terror' encouraged terrorists from Pakistan. Pakistanis put the onus of terror strikes on Hindu extremists... now, a court has found Swami Assemanand not guilty," the Marathi daily said.

It noted that Modi, during his rally at Wardha in Maharashtra on Monday, slammed the Congress for insulting the Hindu religion worldwide and blotting the country's 5,000-year-old culture by linking Hindus to terrorism.

"Modi has aggressively played the Hindutva card in the 2019 battleground. Some say 40 per cent of the ground (at Wardha rally) was empty during Modi's speech. But, it is important that 60 per cent was filled with people in the extremely hot weather conditions," it said.

By raising a voice for it, Modi and the BJP have proved that "Hindutva cannot be separated from politics," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

Further slamming the Congress, it said the party earlier claimed that late ATS chief Hemant Karkare, IPS officer Ashok Kamte and senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar were not killed by terrorists during the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, but were victims of "Hindu terror".

"This was unfortunate for the country and brought disrepute to it. Pakistan's hand in the attack could be proven as terrorist Ajmal Kasab was captured alive...otherwise the Pakistan connection would have remained hidden...," it said.

The Sena also hit out at PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah over their stands on Articles 370 and 35-A of the Constitution.

Mufti recently warned that any tampering with Jammu and Kashmir's special status would "undermine and nullify" the state's accession to the Union, while Abdullah sought a separate Prime Minister for Kashmir.

The Sena said both the leaders have openly challenged the Constitution and the law of the land.

"If such worms are not crushed in time, then Kashmir will always remain unstable and in unrest. Only the roar of Hindutva can provide a shield for the country. However the issue should not be forgotten after elections," it said.

Petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of Articles 370 and 35-A, which grant special status to Jammu and Kashmir and special rights and privileges to its "permanent residents", respectively.BJP wins Muslim women's hearts with triple talaq initiatives but not their votes. The issue of triple talaq is trapped in the gender binary that divides conservative Muslim society across western Uttar Pradesh, with many women giving the government a thumb's up for its efforts to criminalise the practice but shying away from voting for the BJP because of loyalty to their husbands.

The she-says-maybe-he-says-nay syndrome may hinder the BJP from winning Muslim votes in the western Uttar Pradesh belt that goes to the polls in the first phase on April 11 as most men in the community say they don't want the government to interfere in their religion.

Kaisar Jahan, a homemaker in Muzaffarnagar, typifies the dilemma of a woman caught between self-assertion and tradition that dictates she bows down to her husband.

Triple talaq is an atrocity which should definitely be criminalised. I like BJP for thinking about us, said the mother of a six-year-old boy.

She quickly added that she will not vote for the BJP as her husband does not want it to win.

I will vote where my husband wants me to. He does not want BJP, so I will not vote for it, Kaisar told PTI while standing outside a shop.

Don't interfere in our religion. Keep politics out of it, snapped her husband Aslam who came and took her away.

The pattern was visible in Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Baghpat, which votes in phase one along with Saharanpur, Bijnor, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.

Rabia, 35, resident of Kairana, said, "Triple talaq is a wrong practice but we are not for the BJP. We will vote for anyone fielded by Akhilesh ji (SP chief Akhilesh Yadav) as my husband says."

About 35 percent of the more than 1.5 crore voting in round one are Muslims, said J P S Rathore, vice president of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP.

Most Muslim women in the region hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing triple talaq under the spotlight, saying it was a step towards empowering Muslim women.

Triple talaq, also known as 'talaq-e-biddat', is the practice of instant divorce in which a Muslim man can legally divorce his wife by pronouncing 'talaq' three times in one go.

My husband divorced me and married another woman. I had no choice but to accept the decision. I live with my four-year-old son now. Triple talaq is a heinous practice. Don't we Muslim women have rights? asked Farzana, a resident of Muzaffarnagar.

Her outrage found echo in the small town of Kairana nearby.

Saba was divorced by her husband through triple talaq and is now living with her maternal family.

"My husband divorced me within two years of our marriage. I was just 18. We do not have any rights. I am illiterate may be that's why I could not fight. Luckily I did not have a child to look after. Triple talaq is a crime and men should not be allowed to do it," said an anguished Saba.

While most of the women supported criminalising triple talaq, there were also women who felt their Allah would take care of everything and the government was trying to get in the way.

Like 23-year-old Faiza, a resident of Baghpat who got married a year ago, and feels triple talaq is a personal matter which no political party should interfere in.

In a landmark verdict, the apex court in August 2017 set aside the 1,400-year-old practice on several grounds, including that it was against the basic tenets of the Quran and violated the Shariat.

The government issued a triple talaq ordinance in September 2018, making the practice a penal offence for Muslim men.

Most Muslim men blame the BJP for polarisation of society and for interfering in Islam.

If at all the government wants to do anything for Muslims, it should be to not incite violence, said many of the men.

According to Faisal Khan, who runs a cigarette shop in Meerut, the Modi government made a calculated political move to win Muslim votes but it would not turn out that way.

Triple talaq is in our Islam. Who are they to interfere? We can take care of our women and don't need the government for it. We will not let BJP win again, Khan said.

Mohammad Aamir Arshad, 30, a truck driver with a transport company in Kairana, agreed with him.

All these years, the BJP polarised Hindus and Muslims. Now they are trying to divide men and women in Islam. They are showing that it is a very positive step but in fact it's only an interference in our religion, Arshad said.

Standing with him were five other Muslim men who voiced the same opinion.

In Baghpat, a Muslim doctor added that religion is a private affair and the government has no role to play in it.

There are bigger issues to look at. Why are they getting into our personal issues. Our women are our responsibility. We will see what has to be done, said Asad, a general physician.

In 2014, all eight seats went to the BJP. There was a bypoll held in Kairana subsequently that went to the RLD.Representative C5 Aircross

The French company Citroen is set to debut in India soon with its C5 Aircross-based SUV. While this is a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) car, the company also has plans of selling its electric vehicles in India under the Ambassador brand.

As per a report in carandbike, the Ambassador brand will exclusively house the electric vehicles to be sold in India only. The sub-brand will be the PSA familys first new addition. The range of electric Ambassadors is likely to make a debut in India only after 2022 and it is still unclear whether it will have a standalone dealership or not.

The company has reportedly chosen the Ambassador moniker to resonate with Indian emotions around the world. The cars are also expected to have right-hand drive and could incorporate the powertrain from the upcoming DS3 Crossback E-Tense.

It is expected that the first in line will be a compact SUV or a crossover-based car, which will be followed with a premium hatchback. Both are expected to share their platform and some components with similar-segmented cars from Citroen for economic manufacturing.

The PSA group acquired the rights to the Ambassador brand from Hindustan Motors for Rs 80 crore following two Joint Ventures with the company in January 2017. The two companies have set up a vehicle and engine manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

PSA Peugeot Citroen, Frances largest carmaker, will make its India debut in late 2020 with the launch of the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV that will compete against current generation models like Hyundai Creta, Tata Harrier, Jeep Compass and Mahindra XUV500.

The group, which is the last of the big international automotive names to come to India, has promised to launch one new model every year after its first year. These models will be made and launched in India before being introduced in other parts of the world.

Speaking at its first press briefing in India, Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the managing board, Groupe PSA said, India is an important next step for Groupe PSA as part of the Push to Pass plan to increase our international footprint and revenues. With the introduction of Citroen, our aim is to be be Indian in India and our association with the CK Birla Group will be important to become a major player in the Indian automotive market.

Known rather for its small car, Citroen which has largely remained a European brand will be focusing on the mainstream market segment where volumes play a key role in determining profitability. Unlike Honda, Nissan and Toyota who have preferred to remain premium in India the PSA Group has decided to allow Citroen to compete in the mass market segment.

PSA is looking to grab two percent market share in India within four to five years of its debut. We dont wish to declare that we have an aim of grabbing five percent of the market and not achieve it within the timeline. We would rather realistically target of two percent."

The group will make use of the 100,000 units a year production capacity in Tamil Nadu which will not just serve the domestic market but export market as well. The group will also establish a network for sourcing components and supplying them to its group operations worldwide.

Senior executives of the group also promised a highly localised operation in India where an average of 95 percent of the vehicle will be made in India from components sourced within the country. These will include powertrain (engines and transmissions) having a local content of 90 percent.

Until two years ago most international car companies had a local content of a maximum of 60 percent which forced them to price their products higher than competitors such as that from Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors.

Ambassador update

The group is still unclear about the future of the decades-old brand Ambassador which it bought from Hindustan Motors two years ago for Rs 80 crore.

We are still reflecting on how do we use the brand Ambassador and are yet to take a decision on it. We would rather use it where it should be rightly used rather than use it just like that considering the iconic status it has, said Linda Jackson, CEO, Citroen brand, Groupe PSA.

Competition

Like the PSA Groupe, other manufacturers are pulling up their socks with regards to the Indian market. Volkswagen Group, Kia Motors and MG Motors have already announced investments of more than Rs 15,000 crore in product and market expansion over the next few years. Homegrown heavyweights like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors too are leaving no stones unturned to woo the future customers.

The Renault-Nissan combine had to repeatedly push forward their market share target of five percent in India due to intense competition from rivals. The Franco-Japanese association is still struggling with its target also resulting in a failed attempt to push the formerly defunct brand Datsun into the market without much success.Addressing a rally at Kolkata's iconic Brigade Parade Ground, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 3 took a dig at the United India Opposition rally, saying leaders from various states had com together with just one purpose  to dethrone Modi.

"Some people had said 'Modi hatao' from here some months ago. They had abused Modi, and they had gathered everyone from different states, just to say 'Modi hatao'," the PM said.

The PM was referring to the January 19 rally in Kolkata, where leaders from over a dozen opposition parties came together to put up a united fight in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"What crime has Modi committed? Is it a crime to provide homes to the poor? And if it is a crime, then I have committed that crime," Modi said.

Earlier during his speech, in another apparent dig at the Opposition rally, Modi said he had not seen a bigger crowd before at the venue.

"If the political pundits of this nation want to guess what will happen on May 23, they can estimate what will happen by looking at the wave (of support for BJP) in West Bengal," Modi said.

Targeting the Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "committing the sin of asking evidence of surgical strikes", Modi accused the Opposition of "letting down the Armed Forces".

"Tell me, who was asking evidence of air strike? Who was doubting air strike? Who was letting down the Armed Forces? Who called 'Mission Shakti' a drama? Didi and her friends are talking in anti-national voices because their chair is shaking," Modi said.

Modi also accused the Congress of trying to destabilise the nation and playing with national security. "Congress is promising something that will help the terrorist bosses sitting in Pakistan," Modi said. The Prime Minister was referring to the Congress manifesto, which was released on April 2.

Drawing parallels with the government in Tripura, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed to power in 2018, Modi said the BJP government will implement the 7th Pay Commission in West Bengal just as it did in Tripura.

"You have the opportunity to get rid of this culture of violence of the TMC and the Left," Modi said, adding that the "bua-bhatija" duo is looting the resources of West Bengal. Modi's reference was apparently directed towards Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, a Member of Parliament (MP).Recently, an Air India flight got delayed. Instead of being annoyed, passengers had nothing but praises to heap on the crew. Were sure your reaction would be no different if you learnt that the flight was delayed because the aircrafts crew went the extra mile to look for an elderly womans passport bag, which she forgot at the security gate.

Notably, the elderly passenger had taken a connecting flight and did not realise her bag was missing until the time she boarded the plane.

The incident came to light after veteran journalist Vir Sanghvi tweeted about it; he was travelling by the same flight. Describing the heartwarming gesture in retrieving the bag, the scribe tweeted: On a @airindiain flight. Ready to take off but an elderly passenger just realised she forgot her passport bag at security. Annoying to wait but heartwarming to see the staff run back to look all over for it.

After minutes of a diligent search, the staff found the womans passport and the bag, and returned it to her. Lauding this effort, Sanghvi tweeted: It is an airline with a heart, adding, Could have been your mom or mine.



Every time one gets annoyed with @airindiain  by the compulsory (bad) vegetarian food, or delays or that they gutted their once excellent IFE  comes a reminder of how wonderful the crew and ground staff are. I try not to fly any other airline if I can help it.

 Siddharth (@svaradarajan) April 1, 2019



There is something special about Air India but we have lost sight of it since it started making losses. So much so it lost confidence in itself as well.

 Pritish Nandy (@PritishNandy) April 1, 2019



If only the government didnt give it the step motherly treatment. They deserve to be nurtured and are indeed the pride of India. I have been flying them since the erstwhile Indian Airlines was in existence and still think there is no better....   :  (@wandur_lust) March 31, 2019





same happens with me when i left one bag to counter. Thanks Air india. @airindiain https://t.co/juND5MG3F4

 Shekhar (@Shekhar_gangaur) March 31, 2019



I was super late once for the flight and almost into tears coz the counters had closed. I had a conference to organise the next day. They checked me in to #businessclass to accommodate me. This was my #TheMomentofGreatCustomerExperience @airindiain https://t.co/k29m2VDsLj

 Tamanna Gupta (@TamannarGupta) April 1, 2019



I love this tweet. Yes, my experience with our national carrier has always been very good https://t.co/rkVSQ4aJRS

 Syed Ata Hasnain (@atahasnain53) April 1, 2019



My compliments to the airline. Age takes its toll and spares no one. We must realise this universal truth and adjust our responses accordingly.

May God reward the Airlines.

Have a good day friends https://t.co/LuVdQ9LrcQ

 RD Vinayak (@RDVinayak) April 1, 2019



Similar experience with me during my last visit to India .. flight to Patna was delayed by few minutes to power bank in my checked in baggage. Air India staff were awesome... thank you guys once again https://t.co/2TmlLc9P4v

 SUNIL OJHA (@suojha) April 1, 2019

Soon, netizens took cognizance of the tweet and started sharing their own experiences with Air India, aside of heaping praises on the national carrier.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will skip a meeting of Group of Seven ministers this week in France, the State Department said Tuesday, amid persistent tensions between Europe and President Donald Trump.

Officials did not explain Pompeo's absence. But the move comes amid a long list of disagreements, including the US rejection of international agreements on ending Iran's nuclear program and fighting climate change.

The State Department said that Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan would represent the United States and be joined by David Hale, the top-ranking US career diplomat, at the talks Friday and Saturday in Dinard on the coast of Brittany.

Sullivan "will engage in discussions on a broad range of issues, including the deteriorating situation in Venezuela, destabilising Iranian behaviour in the Middle East, the responsible conduct of states in cyber space and the final denuclearization of North Korea," a State Department statement said.

Asked to explain Pompeo's absence, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino gave no specific reason but said: "Trans-Atlantic alliances are stronger than ever." Pompeo has "full faith" in Sullivan "and his ability to advance America's national security interests," Palladino said.

Pompeo will already be seeing several of his G7 counterparts Wednesday and Thursday in Washington at a 70th anniversary gathering of the NATO alliance, but he has no announced conflicting engagements later in the week.

The Group of Seven is the longstanding club of major industrialized democracies, with their summits often steering the global agenda. Besides the United States and France, the group includes Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan.

French President Emmanuel Macron is hoping to push an ambitious agenda at the G7 summit in August in the resort of Biarritz, for which the foreign ministers meeting is meant to prepare.

The French hosts are no doubt mindful of lessons from the last G7 in Canada, where Trump refused to sign the final communique and openly criticised his host, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, over trade policies.US President Donald Trump said on April 2 his pressure on NATO nations to pay more for their defence is leading to tens of billions of dollars more in contributions, but the allies may need to boost their budgets even more.

Trump used a well-worn script about burden-sharing with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in talks at the White House. The meeting came a day before NATO foreign ministers sit down in Washington for what is expected to be a session dominated by concerns about Russia.

Trump, who has ruffled feathers among European allies by repeatedly saying that NATO nations needed to pay more and ease the burden on the United States, said his tactics have paid off.

"Since I came to office it's a rocket ship up. We've picked up over $140 billion in additional money, and we look like we're going to have at least another $100 billion in spending by the nations...by 2020," he said.

The US president said he would like to see NATO members pay more than 2 percent of their gross domestic product for defence. Trump told NATO leaders last year to increase defence spending to 4 percent of GDP. He said the United States pays 4.3 percent of its GDP to NATO.

Trump singled out Germany for not doing enough, while praising German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"Germany honestly is not paying their fair share," he said. "They're not paying what they should be paying. They're paying close to 1 percent."

The White House, in a statement, said that Trump met with Stoltenberg to mark NATO's 70th anniversary and reaffirm US support for the alliance. The White House said the two leaders "reviewed NATO's unprecedented progress to increase burden-sharing" and also discussed "ongoing efforts to fight terrorism (and) check Russian aggression."

"WE'LL GET ALONG WITH RUSSIA"

Trump said a stronger NATO provides a bulwark against Russia, but that he believed relations with Moscow will be fine. As has been his norm, Trump was reluctant to criticize Russia.

I hope we have a good relationship with Russia, he said. But I think well get along with Russia.

Stoltenberg, who is to address a joint meeting of the US Congress on Wednesday, singled out Russia for "violating the INF treaty," the Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty.

Trump in February announced plans to withdraw the United States from the INF treaty this summer, saying Russia was in violation of it.

Russia is sowing discord in the alliance by selling to NATO member Turkey the S-400 air defence system. The United States has halted delivery of equipment related to its F-35 fighter jets to Turkey over its S-400 plans.

"We have very serious concerns about its stated plans to proceed with the acquisition of the S-400 missile defence system and there will be potential consequences, within sanctions law and the F-35 program if they continue," said a senior State Department official who briefed reporters.

The United States says that Turkey's purchase of the Russian air defence system would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft, which is built by Lockheed Martin Corp.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, said the gathering would discuss all elements of the military threat posed by Russia, including in the Black Sea, as well as the Afghan peace process and members' budget contributions to the alliance.

The official said the NATO allies would seek to agree on a package of measures to bolster NATO's military presence in the Black Sea, which has become a flashpoint with Moscow over its seizure of Ukrainian ships last year.

"The focus is on the defence and deterrence posture of the alliance in the Black Sea region," said the official, adding that a plenary session on Thursday would focus on Russia, including what Washington sees as Moscow's breach of the INF treaty.Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May

UK opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would be "very happy" to sit down with Prime Minister Theresa May and discuss a joint Brexit policy that could resolve the current impasse.

Corbyn's comments came after May decided to seek a further "short" Brexit deadline extension from the European Union to give her time to forge a new approach and get her current deal with Brussels approved by parliament.China on April 3 hit out at the US for threatening to use "all available resources" to designate Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a 'global terrorist', saying Washington's move is complicating the issue and not conducive to peace and stability in South Asia.

After China put a hold on a French proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council, the US on March 27 circulated a draft resolution to the powerful 15-nation Council to blacklist Azhar and subject him to a travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here that China is adopting constructive and reasonable stand on the issue to resolve it properly.

He was responding to a question about State Department spokesman's assertions that the US will use all "available resources" to blacklist Azhar.

The US on April 2 reportedly said it will utilise all available resources to ensure Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Azhar, was held accountable.

The State Department was responding to China criticising the US, France and the United Kingdom for moving a draft resolution at the UNSC as not a constructive move and that it set a bad example.

China, on April 1 criticised the US for directly taking the issue of listing Azhar as global terrorists to UN Security Council after it had put a technical hold on the US, UK and French resolution earlier to declare him a global terrorist in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee dealing with counter-terrorism issues.

On April 1, Geng claimed "positive progress" has been made to resolve the vexed issue and accused the US of scuttling its efforts.

China has so far blocked the move to designate Azhar as a 'global terrorist' four times in recent years.

On April 3, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said vast majority of the UNSC members believe that efforts should be made under the 1267 Sanctions Committee to solve this designation through dialogue and consultation instead of pushing the draft resolution at the UNSC.

Also China has been working hard with relevant sides and is making positive results. The US knows that very well. Under such circumstances the US still insists on pushing the draft resolution, doesn't make any sense," he reiterated.

He said the US' action is not consistent with the UN rules and customary practice and sets a bad precedent.

It is only complicating the issue and not conducive to peace and stability in South Asia," he said.

China will continue to adopt constructive and responsible attitude to participate in discussions and deliberations on the designation issue," he said.

We hope this issue will finally be resolved properly, he said.

To another question that no evidence has come about the involvement of JeM in the terror attack in Pulwama and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Geng said, On the recent incident in Kashmir, China has stated its position. We hope South Asia could maintain peace and stability and we hope India and Pakistan will engage in dialogue and through dialogue and consultation resolve outstanding issues."

India handed over a dossier to Pakistan 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.

Pakistan has already said that it has not found any link between the JeM and the Pulwama terror attack and demanded more information/evidence from India.The politically connected Adani Group made news in February by wining projects to develop, operate and maintain five airport projects at Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Guwahati, on a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) basis. This also made news because the Adani group has no previous experience in operating or managing airports.

A Right to Information (RTI) application, filed by activist Sanjay Shirodkar with the ministry of civil aviation on 19 March 2019, reveals that the projects have been announced without even waiting for Cabinet approval. The RTI response says, The ministry is still in the process of obtaining approval of the cabinet for awarding the projects in this regard.

The reply further indicates that the finance ministry has not framed any rules that require a business house to have relevant prior experience before applying for the projects.

Mr Shirodkar, who has been relentlessly pursuing the issue of privatisation of airports through the last one and a half decade, filed an RTI application seeking a true copy of the approval granted by the minister of civil aviation for the five airport projects named above, to the Adani group.

In the same application, he also asked for a true copy of rules framed by the Central government in 2007 stating that tenders for sector-specific infrastructure projects do not require firms to have prior experience in that sector in order to participate.

The CPIO (chief public information officer), civil aviation, forwarded the RTI application to Manoj Kumar Madholia, deputy director in the department of economic affairs (PPP cell) , who replied on 1 April 2019 to say that the PPP cell of department of economic affairs has not formulated any rules as indicated in point 7 of the RTI request. Therefore, as per Section 6 (3) of the RTI Act, the application is transferred back to the ministry of civil aviation to collect the desired information from the department of expenditure, ministry of finance, which deals with public procurement legislation and rules, notifications, and order.

Mr Shirodkars RTI application also asked for the following details:

1. Provide a true copy of reservations expressed by the ministry of corporate affairs (MoCA) on this issue (award of five airports to Adani group).

2. Provide a true copy of the contract agreement signed between MoCA/GoI and Adani Enterprises for the five airports.

3. Provide a true copy of mandatory consultations done by MoCA/GoI with the states and the public before awarding the five projects to Adani Enterprises.

4. Provide a true copy of correspondence between your office (civil aviation) and prime ministers office for the period 1 April 2018 till date on the said subjects.

The civil aviation ministry has rejected information on all these issues citing Section 8 (1) of the RTI Act. The CPIO said, Your points from 1 to 6 are exempted under the provision of 8(1) of the RTI Act.

This is a wide Section that has been frequently abused to deny information to the public under eight sub-sections detailed in this link: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1001313/

Interestingly, the digital and video magazine, Newclick, in an investigative report published on the 27th March, had reported that, The Union ministry of civil aviation has conceded in the Rajya Sabha, that the prescribed procedure (of) public consultation or consultation with the state governments (which) are mandatory for leasing out the Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports through (the) PPP (public private partnership) mode were not adhered to.

This was in response to many objections raised to the grant of the project.

Newsclick had also reported that cabinet clearance, which is necessary for the transfer of airports from the AAI (Airport Authority of India) to the Adani group, had not yet come through and such a clearance seemed unlikely to happen since the model code of conduct, in the run up to the general elections had already been announced.

Newsclick also said that it had documents to show that the government had violated various laws and procedures while arriving at its decision to privatise the six airports that are currently owned and operated by the AAI. In addition, the recommendations made by the department of economic affairs (DEA) in the ministry of finance and the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on the technical, financial and legal aspects of the bidding process were ignored. Instead, conditions were set up that apparently favoured the Adani group.

In the context of his RTI application, Mr Shirodkar says, How can such a huge national asset, in the form of five airports be handed over to a private party without the approval of cabinet secretariat?

He also questioned the legality of the very tender asking for bids to develop, operate and maintain Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Guwahati Airports under the PPP mode.

On denial of information on the deal, he says, any national asset which goes under the PPP mode should be in the public domain and disclosued transparently on a suo moto basis, without waiting for a RTI application.

Instead, he says, time and again information on PPP projects is denied, under provisions of Section 8 of the act. This is a big infrastructure fraud by the government.

Mr Shirodkar says he is astonished to know that the department of economic affairs in the ministry of finance has not formulated any rule on allowing private parties, which have no business experience to apply. Then on what basis did Adani Enterprises qualify for these tenders, he asks.

Moreover, unlike the Delhi and Mumbai airports, wherein the GMR and the GVK groups have entered into a 74:26 joint venture (JV) with AAI and have to share profits, the Adani group will be handed over the airports completely for itself for 50 years under the PPP model.A commotion broke out here on Tuesday after police baton charged a large number of ICT school coordinators holding a sit-in demonstration demanding "justified salary" and clearing of "pending remuneration".

The protesters accused the private implementing agency - a group company of the crisis-hit Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) - of depriving them of "justified salary" under the [email protected] scheme.

"As per the government order, a sum of Rs 3,49,356 in a year was allotted per school in West Bengal on account of maintenance of capital infrastructure, and operational expenses and others. We, as ICT school coordinators, are drawing a remuneration of about Rs 4,600 per month which is too low as compared to the government's allocation. We demand justified salary and clearing of pending remuneration," West Bengal ICT School Coordinator Welfare Association President Swapan Pan said.

The company which has been "entrusted with the responsibility of recruiting us and giving us salary is paying less than what we are entitled to", they alleged.

Some computer teachers including women were agitating and had come to submit a deputation demanding increase of their salaries before the implementing agency's office at city's Minto park area.

According to locals, police carried out a baton charge to disperse the agitators after traffic flow was partially affected because of the gathering.

A senior police official said the police tried to push them back when they forcibly tried to enter the office.

Under the centrally sponsored scheme, many state government aided schools were approved by the centre in 2011-12 for implementation of the scheme in West Bengal under Build Own Operate and Transfer model.

For the implementation of the project, state government undertaking Webel Informatics had been engaged for consultancy, management and evaluation of the scheme, which, in turn, selected the private implementing agency through open bidding process.

Refuting all the allegations, an IL&FS Group official said: "We are compliant with all the conditions of the contract with the state government."

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.Solar Industries India (Solar) makes industrial explosives (packaged emulsion explosives, bulk explosives and explosive initiating systems) and had a market share of about 24% in India, in FY17-18. It also has the worlds largest facility for packaged explosives. Solars revenues have been growing steadily at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.04% for the past five years with an...A battle is on in the Supreme Court to save landowners from predatory land-grab practices of the government, in the name of the public good. Surprisingly, the practice under the British raj was much more just and humane than one finds in todays regime.

The Supreme Court of India is examining cases on the lapse of land acquisition under the new Act of 2013. The current law suffers from certain flaws due to which the landowners whose land is acquired by the government for state projects may be deprived of the compensation due to them.

This issue is dealt with in Section 24(2) of The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. It states as follows:

24. Land acquisition process under Act No. 1 of 1894 shall be deemed to have lapsed in certain cases. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, in any case of land acquisition proceedings initiated under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894,

(a) where no award under section 11 of the said Land Acquisition Act has been made, then, all provisions of this Act relating to the determination of compensation shall apply; or

(b) where an award under said section 11 has been made, then such proceedings shall continue under the provisions of the said Land Acquisition Act, as if the said Act has not been repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), in case of land acquisition proceedings initiated under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894), where an award under the said section 11 has been made five years or more prior to the commencement of this Act but the physical possession of the land has not been taken or the compensation has not been paid the said proceedings shall be deemed to have lapsed and the appropriate Government, if it so chooses, shall initiate the proceedings of such land acquisition afresh in accordance with the provisions of this Act:

Provided that where an award has been made and compensation in respect of a majority of land holdings has not been deposited in the account of the beneficiaries, then, all beneficiaries specified in the notification for acquisition under section 4 of the said Land Acquisition Act, shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

During January 2014, in the Pune Municipal Corporation & Anr vs Harakchand Misirimal Solanki case, the bench headed by Justice RM Lodha and comprising Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph, held that if compensation is refused by the landowner the acquiring body should deposit the same in Court and once it is deposited in the Court, the acquisition shall not lapse. Merely depositing the compensation back to the treasury account (i.e., governments own account) does not absolve the responsibility of the acquiring body to the land owner. Various land acquisition proceedings were held to have lapsed under this judgement.

However, in the Indore Development Authority vs Shailendra, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Mohan M Shantanagoudar held this judgement to be per in curium stating that the land owner, after refusing the compensation cannot take advantage of his own wrong.

Pune Municipal Corporation Lays Down the Correct Law

In my view, considering the wide variety of procedural abuse by government acquiring bodies (no proper notice, no copies of award, delay in payment) the process put in place by Justice Lodha is practical and in the true spirit of the law.

It is also consistent with the land acquisition procedure even envisaged by the British in the Land Acquisition Manual by FG Hartnell Anderson. In the Manual, Mr Anderson says:

11. Though it would not be correct to describe the Act as confiscatory, still it undoubtedly causes hardship to individuals because it restricts them to the market value of what is taken from them. Although all the pecuniary losses, even the cost of moving and the loss on earnings resulting from interference with the good-will of business and the like, are taken into account and paid for, there are many sentimental losses which cannot be paid for, because they have no market value. The Act does not commit what is known as reinstatement under which a man losing a property artistically improved at great expense and enjoying advantages of secenery (sic.) etc., might claim to be reinstated in another property, at however great a cost, possessing the same amenities. This is not what the Act offers but only the current prosaic market value. The owner whose land is notified is in the same position as if he were compelled to sell by some sudden reverse of fortune. He cannot stand out for a reinstatement value, but only for what a fair-minded purchaser will offer him in the existing state of the market. It is the legitimate aim of all officers administering land to secure for the public all land required for the use of the State at the least burden to the tax paying public; on the other hand, no one should be deprived of his property even on account of State necessity without giving him at least as much as a prudent private purchaser would pay. Since the Act therefore imposes a burden on those whose land is taken, it must be interpreted like penal statutes strictly in favour of the private party and every irregularity prejudicing him is fatal to proceedings thereunder. It is most incumbent on all A. Os. [Acquiring Officers] in the issue of notices and in giving facilities to parties to be heard, to bear this general principle in mind.

In every case, the utmost consideration, consistent with fairness to both sides, should be shown to the wishes and feelings of people who have to suffer for the public good.

This is but a mere glimpse into the rigour Mr Anderson applied in balancing the need of the State and the right of the landowner. We must not forget that this was a British civil servant developing procedure for acquiring Indian lands for the British Government.

This precise ethos of the law has been lost since Indira Gandhi introduced socialism into the Indian Constitution. After the constitutional amendment, Indian courts approach towards the Indian landowner has been lamentable.

Controversy

The Indore Development Authority judgement created a bigger controversy within legal circles. While it may be summed up as a storm in a tea cup, it upset the judicial procedure in a number of ways. Some commentators point out that a three-judge bench overruling another three-judge bench is not good judicial discipline.

Technically, the Indore judgement side-steps the Pune judgement by claiming it is per in curiumpassed overlooking some other law. But proper discipline would have required the Indore judgement to refer it to a larger bench.

However, controversy was further aggravated when two of the judges from the first bench, i.e., Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Kurien Joseph were confronted with the Indore Judgement. These judges sitting in the division bench (two-judge bench) directed the High Court to keep cases under Section 24(2) pending till the matter is settled by a larger bench.

While this was proper, it has resulted in delays of more than two years in disposing such cases.

In Sum

The Indore Development Authority judgement has allowed officers of the government acquiring bodies to falsely record and allege that the compensation was refused. The Indore judgement has taken a hyper-technical approach to the law itself. In the process, it tries to defeat the spirit of the very law it was trying to protect. I hope the Supreme Court upholds the Pune Municipal Council judgement at the earliest.At time of writing, there have been broad-based gains for blue chip stocks and the ASX 200 is up 39.2 points.

Amongst the highlights were respective gains of 1.55% and 2.03% for BHP Group Ltd [ASX:BHP] and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd [ASX:FMG], as iron ore prices continue their renaissance.

Additionally, all of the Big Four banks gained ground, barring National Australia Bank Ltd [ASX:NAB] which is down 0.65%.

Wesfarmers Ltd [ASX:WES] and CSL Ltd [ASX:CSL] also extracted gains of around 1% from this favourable environment.

This comes on the back of the release of the Federal Budget and better than expected retail sales data out of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Free report: Aussie stock picker Sam Volkering (with gains as high as 1,431% in the last 18 months) reveals what he believes are his next four big potential winners.

ASX is up on two factors

The Federal Budget release provided greater clarity for investors with a tax offset of up to $1,080 available to those taxpayers who earn between $48,000 and $90,000.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg argued that this measure will lift household incomes, ease cost of living pressures and boost spending at local businesses.

Beyond the immediate jolt that tax cuts provide, there was other good news in the form of retail sales data.

The ABS released its report on retail turnover today, indicating an increase of 0.8%, well above expectations of a 0.3% increase.

Retail sales had been sluggish over December and January, so it was a welcome reprieve for markets.

The Chief Economist of CBA is quoted by Business Insider as saying, perhaps consumers are spending their tax cuts in advance!

Outlook mixed, despite a good day for the ASX

The good news is somewhat dampened by data out of the Australian Industry Group.

Their Performance Services Index (PSI) tracks key metrics for the services sector, which is the largest employer in the country.

A reading above 50 indicates improvement and a reading below 50 indicates activity levels are getting worse.

The reading for the month stands at 44.8 and the trend line is beginning to look worrisome:

Source: Australian Industry Group

As a result of this data, the outlook for the Australian economy is increasingly mixed, with greater downside risks.

The Sydney Morning Herald quotes Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets and Stockbroking, who points to the worrying recent fall in bond yields as contrasting with:

Recent stronger reads on global manufacturing and the consequent rally in shares, crude oil, copper and iron ore. This conflict between markets must be resolved. There is heightened potential for a violent adjustment, and Friday nights non-farm payrolls data could trigger significant market moves.

If this violent adjustment were to occur, then we may once again see a rise in the price of gold.

Alternatively, it could be wise to shift your attention to small-cap stocks that have a higher beta (i.e. they dont move with the markets).

We have a more in depth look at gold, and the best way to invest in it, in our free report which is available here.

If small-caps have greater appeal, Sam Volkering reveals his top four picks for 2019, in this report.

Regards,

Lachlann Tierney,

For Money MorningIron ore spot prices are up again, close to a multi-year record on weather disruptions in China and Australia.

According to Business Insider, benchmark 62% fines rose by 1.4% to $89.89, while 65% fines were up by 1.4% as well to $102.40.

Lower grade 58% fines remarkably scaled fresh heights to $75.07, a jump of 1.6%.

Get research on our Top 10 Mining Stocks for 2019. Download here (free).

BHP shaves iron ore production estimates

On Tuesday, BHP Group Ltd [ASX:BHP] announced that after cyclone Veronica interrupted its operations last week, its iron ore production estimates would be reduced by sixeight million tonnes.

While this pales in comparison to the 75 million tonnes that Brazils largest miner, Vale SA, wiped off its estimates, the BHP production cut is still significant.

It could also add further to prices going forward.

BHPs share price largely shrugged off the news yesterday, down only marginally by 0.05%.

The share prices of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd [ASX:FMG] and Rio Tinto Ltd [ASX:RIO] may well continue their stellar run.

Chinese weather leads to further iron ore production curbs

Meanwhile, weather in China is also having an impact on iron ore prices, with production curbs once again reinstated at steel mills in Tangshan and Handan.

Both located in Hebei province, these are two of the biggest steelmaking cities in the country.

For reference, heres the outlook of air quality in Tangshan province:

Source: aqicn.org

Air quality improves on Monday, but Tuesday it gets worse so the current production curbs could be extended.

Finally, heres a quick look at the May 2019 Dalian Commodity Exchange iron ore futures contract:

Source: barchart.com

As the most traded iron ore futures contract, it is thought to be a leading indicator of where iron ore prices may go in the future.

In late trade, it rose as much as 4% to $98.86 a tonne (664 yuan), the highest amount on record since China set up iron ore futures in 2013.

As a result of all these factors, prices could well remain buoyant for a sustained period of time.

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.Over at Money Morning Trader, we dont issue specific trade recommendations.

Instead, we look at the background of listed companies and profile their stories. This provides information on useful trading ideas and charts for your own study and risk analysis.

Theres an old fable about the high cost of litigation.

Two men were walking along the beach when they spotted an oyster. They both wanted it and each man declared ownership. They were about to come to blows when a lawyer came along and offered to solve the problem.

The men gratefully accepted his offer and waited for his decision.

The lawyer bent down and picked up the oyster. He opened it, popped the juicy morsel into his mouth and then handed each man half of the shell.

When people speak about lawyers, one of the first things that comes to mind is that theyre highly paid individuals. You can picture meetings where sage advice is given in plush offices with oak-panelled walls.

Most law firms are privately-held partnerships.

Free report: Aussie stock picker, Sam Volkering (with gains as high as 1,431% in the last 18 months) reveals what he believes are his next four big potential winners.

Slater & Gordon made legal and corporate history

In 2007, Slater & Gordon Ltd [ASX:SGH] boasted legal and corporate history as the first law firm to go public and list on the stock market. It soon became a market darling. The share price rose more than fourfold in the three years until 2015.

That year, Slater & Gordon announced revenue of $521.9 million. It produced EBITDA of $121.6 million at a healthy margin of 24.5%. Profit and revenue seemed sufficient to cover net debt of $623 million that gave the company a gearing ratio of 43%.

Then things began to unravel.

The company made an ill-fated decision to further expand offshore with the purchase of assets from the UKs Quindell business for 637 million. The deal was wrapped up in May 2015 and Managing Director Andrew Grech called it a once in a generation opportunity.

A few months later in August, Quindell revealed a large scale of accounting inaccuracies in prior years. The UKs Serious Fraud Office announced an investigation into the business.

Slater & Gordon was forced to write down the value of its Quindell assets by 450 million. Lenders demanded a quick solution. The UK assets were stripped out and transferred to an entity wholly owned by the companys senior lenders.

The stock is now a shadow of its former self. After reaching a valuation of $2.8 billion in 2015, the market cap is now $137.6 million. The company is attempting to rebuild and focus on its Australian operations. It reported a net loss after tax of $10.3 million for the half-year to 31 December 2018.

Another group of listed law firms operate in a specialised field.

People and businesses that come up with valuable new ideas need protection from others who might steal them. The legal term for this type of protection comes under the umbrella of intellectual property.

There are four types of intellectual property (IP) under the law.

Most inventions and new ideas start out as trade secrets. These are not registered with a government body and all you need to do to establish a trade secret is to treat it like one.

Ideas covered in mediums including books, movies, photos, articles and software are all protected by copyright. It can be registered, but its also automatic and lasts for a long time. Protection by copyright now lasts for the authors life plus 70 years after death.

Trademarks protect the name and style of a brand associated with a product or a service. No other company is allowed to use Coca-Colas name, the style of its bottles or its Coke nickname.

Patents protect the functional aspects and design features of new ideas. They follow complex procedures and are more expensive to obtain. Depending on the type of patent, they have a limited term of 15 or 20 years.

Three listed groups intellectual property law firms on the ASX

There are three listed groups of intellectual property law firms on the ASX. Between them, they hold around 52% of the IP market share in Australia. Theyre all involved in a battle to consolidate the market.

The largest is IPH Ltd [ASX:IPH]. Its a holding company for various intellectual property companies that offer a wide range of services and products in the field.

These companies include Spruson & Ferguson, Practice Insight, Pizzeys Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys and the New Zealand-based AJ Park.

Lets bring up the daily chart over the last year or so:

Source: Optuma

[Click to open new window]

The share price recently broke out to higher levels and has now more than doubled in the last year. IPH is the largest Australian company in its field with a market cap of $1.39 billion.

QANTM Intellectual Property Ltd [ASX:QIP] is valued at $183.6 million while Xenith IP Group Ltd [ASX:XIP] has a market cap of $170.3 million. The two companies were looking to merge in an all-scrip deal. Xenith shareholders were originally scheduled to vote on a scheme of arrangement today, but the meeting was postponed.

IPH is looking to quash the deal. In February, it picked up a 19.9% stake in Xenith. The move is designed to block the proposal for a merger.

Last month, IPH went hostile with a full bid to acquire Xenith. Its offering cash and scrip in a 65/35 split. The upward recent move in IPHs chart shows that investors back the idea.

The Xenith board is backing the merger with QANTM. It said the unsolicited offer from IPH is not a superior proposal, so its game on.

Both deals attracted the attention of competition watchdog, the ACCC. The agency said it will not oppose the proposed merger or the acquisition. It believes theres sufficient competition from independent firms and the party left out of any completed deal.

This is a field with strong cash flows that attract investors.

Well continue to watch and see how it plays out.

Regards,

Terence Duffy,

Editor, Money Morning Trader

PS: Download your free report and learn our three favourite small-cap stocks right now. Click here for more.This week Woolworths Group Ltd [ASX:WOW] announced it would be closing around 30 Big W stores across Australia, blaming tough competition in the retail industry. The Group also announced a $1.7 billion off-market buy-back.

At the time of writing, the Woolworths share price is trading a little lower at $30.76.

As reported by the ABC, the slashing of around 16% of Big W stores is costing Woolies approximately $370 million and is set to negatively impact this years profit results.

Related: The next generation of Aussie income superstars revealed. Hint: its not the banks. Read more about it here for free.

Woolworths loses profit to boost profit

Woolworths is set to focus on improving the profitability of the remaining Big W stores.

In an analyst briefing on Monday, the companys chief executive, Brad Banducci, said selling the Big W brand wasnt off the table and that Woolworths was open to alternatives. Mr Banducci stated:

As foreshadowed at our half year 2019 results, while the recovery in trading for Big W is encouraging and there remains further opportunity for improvement, the speed of conversion to earnings improvement is taking longer than planned.

This decision will lead to a more robust and sustainable store and distribution centre network that better reflects the rapidly changing retail environment.

And in this environment, the biggest uncertainty comes for Big W employees. In the past, Woolworths redeployed the affected workers when the company collapsed its Masters Hardware chain.

Big W has 18,000 staff between Australia, Hong Kong and Bangladesh, and stores will operate as normal until the closure is decided  in relation to the terms of the lease agreements with landlords. Mr Banducci further stated:

We understand the impact that the store closures will have on our team and will endeavour to provide affected team members with alternative employment options within the Woolworths Group where possible.

The planned closures will not target regional areas.

Mr Banducci could not give a number on the amount of people that would be affected, but said each would be dealt with on a case by case basis.

So far, as reported by the ABC, the Monarto distribution centre in South Australia will shut at the end of its lease in 2021, followed by the Warwick Big W in Queensland, closing in 2023.

Woolworths share price 2019 outlook

In other news, Woolworths revealed its completion of sales of its UK EG group service stations, giving returns of $1.7 billion in a share buyback to investors.

Eligible shareholders will need to go through an off market tender process, opening Tuesday, 16 April 2019.

Investors shouldnt fret too much over the impending Big W closures, as they will offer improvements in conversion to Woolworths earnings.

This, along with running a stronger and more sustainable store, may likely help Woolworths share price in the long run.

Regards,

Ryan Clarkson-Ledward,

For Money Morning

PS: Take a look at these in-house small-cap stocks that Money Morning experts are watching in 2019. Read more about it here and claim your copy today for free.April 03, 2019

No Chinese Troops Arrived In Venezuela

Commentator Horsewhisperer pointed to a piece by the former Indian ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar that claims that Chinese soldiers arrived in Venezuela:

The reported arrival of Chinese military personnel in Venezuela last weekend is undoubtedly a major event in world politics. Unlike Russia, which has a history of force projection abroad, this is an extremely rare Chinese move. Although vital Chinese interests are at stake in the war against terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Syria, China refrained from publicising any such deployment. The reports mention that the group of Chinese military personnel is 120-strong and arrived on the Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea off the Venezuelan mainland on March 28 to deliver humanitarian aid and military supplies to the government forces. After delivering the humanitarian supplies, the Chinese PLA troops were apparently transferred to a Venezuelan military facility.

The "reports" are likely false. There are no Chinese soldiers in Venezuela.

M. K. Bhadrakumar piece was published yesterday on his blog Indian Punchline and today republished on NewsClick. It is based on a claim made by Al Masadar News, a site in Lebanon which at times has real news from Syria, but is otherwise amateurish.

Al Masdar wrote on April 2:

BEIRUT, LEBANON (7:00 A.M)  A group of Chinese soldiers arrived in Venezuela on Sunday as part of a cooperation program between Beijing and Caracas. According to reports, more than 120 soldiers from the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army arrived at Venezuelas Margarita Island to deliver humanitarian aid and military supplies to the government forces. The arrival of the Peoples Liberation Army in Venezuela comes just days after the Russian armed forces deployed to the country to install a military helicopter training facility.

While Al Masdar says "according to reports" none are linked. A search turns up zero such reports. The only source seems to be the Twitter account @I30mki pictured in the post. That account posts mostly mil-porn around the Russian fighter jet Su-57. It is probably run by some Russian or Indian teen.

The seemingly sole source of Al Masdar tweeted about the alleged Chinese soldiers in Venezuela on April 1. Two of the attached photos show a Chinese B-747 commercial cargo plane and the third picture shows some soldiers.

The Chinese cargo plane indeed brought aid to Venezuela. Ruptly provided video of the welcome cermony and unloading. Only civil personal, no soldiers, are seen in that video. Text to the video, published on March 29, says:

A plane carrying the first batch of humanitarian aid from China arrived at Simon Bolivar International Airport in the northern Venezuelan city of Maiquetia on Friday.

Maiquetta is not on Venezuelas Margarita Island but on its mainland. It is unlikely that 120 soldiers would travel on a long range commercial cargo plane which is neither equipped nor licensed for human transport.

The third picture attached to the tweet shows five soldiers smiling for the camera.

On his blog Bhadrakumar claims that the picture shows "Chinese PLA personnel pose with members of Venezuelas National Bolivarian Armed Forces, March 29, 2019". While the aid delivery was on March 29 the claim that the picture was taken on the same day is likely false.

Two of the soldiers wear ammunition carrier vests with FANB written on the left breast pocket. It stands for Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana, which is the name of the Venezuelan army. The other three soldiers have digital pattern uniforms in three different color schemes. These are Chinese Type 07 combat uniforms and the color schemes are "ocean", "universal" and "urban" used respectively by the Chinese navy, army and air force. All soldiers in the picture are probably 30 to 40 years old. One of the Chinese soldiers is a Major, another is Lieutenant Colonel. The ranks of the other men are not visible.

That three Chinese officers from three different branches of the Peoples Liberation Army are in a picture with two Venzuelan officer makes it likely that it was taken during some type of friendly officer exchange program or visit. It is unlikely to have been taken during the aid delivery. Why would middle rank officer from the navy, air force and army take part in some relief flight?

The tweet and its pictures make no sense. All that we are left with are the unsourced claims by some site in Lebanon:

According to reports, more than 120 soldiers from the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army arrived at Venezuelas Margarita Island to deliver humanitarian aid and military supplies to the government forces.

Why some 120 Chinese soldiers would land on the tourist Margarita Island instead of the mainland is left unexplained. Militarily it would not make any sense and there is zero evidence that it happened.

The fakenews piece by Al Masdar was picked up by Zerohedge, Sott.net and dozens of other such trash sites. That Bhadrakumar and other regular Moon of Alabama readers failed for it is sad.

Posted by b on April 3, 2019 at 18:26 UTC | Permalink

Comments

next page Baby Boston has been labelled 'hair goals' on social media and regularly stops strangers in their tracks when he is out and about all thanks to his gorgeous mop of luscious, thick locks that adorn his head.

It stops people in their tracks, Boston's mum Tara told news.com.au. He really causes a stir wherever he goes.

Mostly people are in complete shock because hes so little, they cant believe the hair is his. But it is.If you've ever found yourself struggling to sleep at night, a new study has revealed a super simple trick that will help almost anyone doze off quicker.

Reasearch done by Baylor University in Texas monitored the sleep of just under 60 people.

The people were split into two and assigned a task each before they went to bed - one group was to write about the tasks they had completed over the last few days, while the other had to write about everything they needed to remember to do over the next few days.



Those who were in the 'to do' group fell asleep around 16 minutes after the lights went out, while those in the 'completed' group dozed off aver an average of 25 minutes.

Lead author and the study's leader Dr Michael Scullin said that writing the list of things to remember allowed people to "offload" their thoughts - which ultimately reduced their stress, letting them sleep soundly.

He added:

We live in a 24/7 culture in which our to-do lists seem to be constantly growing and causing us to worry about unfinished tasks at bedtime.

Most people just cycle through their to-do lists in their heads, and so we wanted to explore whether the act of writing them down could counteract nighttime difficulties with falling asleep.

There are two schools of thought about this.

One is that writing about the future would lead to increased worry about unfinished tasks and delay sleep, while journaling about completed activities should not trigger worry.

The alternative hypothesis is that writing a to-do list will offload those thoughts and reduce worry,Dr. Roger E. Stevenson receives Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award from ACMG Foundation

Renowned medical geneticist Roger E. Stevenson, MD, FACMG is the recipient of the 2019 ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Stevenson, 78, is senior clinical and research geneticist at the Greenwood Genetic Center in Greenwood, South Carolina, where he holds the Curry Chair in Genetic Therapeutics. He is honored for his vision in founding the Greenwood Genetic Center, his groundbreaking research that identified the genetic basis of numerous forms of X-linked intellectual disability, and his leadership in establishing in South Carolina the first statewide program to prevent neural tube defects.

"When I think about Roger I think about his attitude and general approach to his life's work. I can think of nobody with more brilliance and even greater doses of commitment, integrity, humility, and sheer willingness to put in the countless hours it takes to complete the tasks Roger has taken on," said Dr. Michael J. Friez, director of the diagnostic laboratories at Greenwood Genetic Center. "And perhaps more importantly, the manner in which he goes about bringing out the very best in those around him. Faculty, staff, and trainees all hold equal status with Roger--each with their own special contribution to moving us as an institution, and as a field, forward. I would also like to acknowledge Roger's dedication to his family and community where he also commits significant time and energy. He is a true role model on every front."

ACMG Foundation President Dr. Bruce R. Korf said, "Dr. Stevenson has been a guiding light in bringing the advances of medical genetics to patients in his region and has established an example that is admired internationally. As such, he is a role model for medical geneticists, reflecting the high standards set by Dr. Rimoin, who is memorialized in this award. We congratulate Dr. Stevenson for his career-long achievements and contributions to our field and to our patients." "Dr. Roger Stevenson's visionary brilliance is reflected in his founding of the Greenwood Genetics Center, a not-for-profit institution that became home to critical research and exceptional mentoring for young geneticists," said Ann Garber, Dr. Rimoin's widow. "As a new concept in 1974, the Greenwood Genetics Center has been an exciting setting for the identification of many X-linked disorders and the prevention of neural tube defects. The Rimoin family is inspired by Dr. Stevenson's mission to move the field of medical genetics toward treatment options for patients suffering from genetic disease and is particularly grateful for his example of leadership through compassion, integrity, and mentorship with his patients and students. We offer Dr. Stevenson wholehearted congratulations as the recipient of the 2019 David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award."

Upon learning that he had received the David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Stevenson said, "To me, this is personally overwhelming, but more important is the recognition of the Greenwood Genetic Center's accomplishments over the last four decades. This small institution in rural South Carolina has brought genetic diagnostics and research to the state. What has been challenging to achieve in many states, the Greenwood Genetic Center has accomplished for South Carolina. In some respects, this award is also an acknowledgement that medical genetics need not be contained exclusively in a university setting; that it can exist and thrive in other settings and that students, residents and fellows can thrive in an environment that is not based in a university, be well trained, and take their careers out into the world to be part of the genetics workforce."

Dr. Stevenson's work in medical genetics began more than a half century ago at Bowman Gray School of Medicine--now Wake Forest University School of Medicine--in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Of his time at Bowman Gray, Dr. Stevenson said, "It was there that I had my first contact with a 'card-carrying' geneticist, Harold "HO" Goodman. Dr. Goodman was from the lineage of American pioneer geneticists William Allan and Nash Herndon. He adopted me early in medical school and allowed me to set up a chromosome lab in his closet, the first chromosome lab at the university, in the early 1960s. The first report of a chromosome abnormality from the university came out of this lab. Other faculty members at Bowman Gray were also supportive, allowing me to study the effects on babies of mothers with phenylketonuria (PKU)."

During his fellowships in metabolism and genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Stevenson worked with Drs. Victor McKusick, R. Rodney Howell, and George Thomas, and changed his focus to metabolic diseases, specifically lysosomal storage diseases. "These mentors adopted me and pushed my career along," said Dr. Stevenson. After leaving Hopkins, Dr. Stevenson spent two years working for Dr. R. Rodney Howell on the faculty of the newly formed pediatrics department at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, Texas--now the John P. and Katherine G. McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Dr. Stevenson then made what he describes as one of the largest changes of his career, which was to leave academia and establish the Greenwood Genetic Center with longtime colleague Dr. Harold Taylor. "Hal set up the lab technologies while I set up the clinical services," said Stevenson. Of this endeavor, Dr. Charles E. Schwartz, senior research scholar at Greenwood Genetic Center said, "Dr. Stevenson returned to his home state of South Carolina in 1974 with the idea of creating a private, non-profit genetic center that could bring the advances in genetics he was exposed to as a fellow under Dr. Victor McKusick to the people of South Carolina. At that time, there existed almost no genetic services in the state. Within a decade, his vision to establish the Greenwood Genetic Center gave rise to an institution much respected for human genetics in the southeast. In the years since, the Greenwood Genetic Center has expanded its reach beyond the borders of South Carolina and is now recognized both nationwide and worldwide, which would not have been possible without Roger's desire to move current advances in medical genetics into the clinical practice of the Greenwood Genetic Center."

"Of all Roger's accomplishments and previous accolades, none stand taller than the Greenwood Genetic Center and the mission for which it stands. As a private, not-for-profit institution in a relatively under-privileged state, Greenwood Genetic Center is a reflection of everything good that Roger stands for and has created for the benefit of the citizens of South Carolina," said Dr. Michael Friez.

Dr. Stevenson is also known for his work to delineate the genetic basis of X-linked disorders that are associated with intellectual disability. As he recalls, "I had the great privilege to be associated with Dr. Charles Schwartz, a molecular geneticist, who wanted to go back to the original families including the family described in the 1940s by William Allan and Nash Herndon, and others described later by Hans Renpenning and John Optiz. Over the years, we had the privilege of seeing almost all of these original families, all with named conditions that had been reported prior to 1980 and were able to map these disorders to the X chromosome and find the genes." Of working with Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Schwartz said, "Roger has always exhibited tremendous empathy for any family or patient with whom he has contact. He always makes the family relaxed and they know that he understands their situation which can sometimes be quite dire. Roger has always been one who believed that collaborating with others was the most effective way to achieve the best results for his patients."

Dr. Stevenson is also credited with establishing in South Carolina the first statewide program to prevent neural tube defects. Of this achievement, Dr. Steven A. Skinner, director of Greenwood Genetic Center, said, "One of Roger's most notable successes and passionate projects has been in the area of birth defects prevention. He began the South Carolina Birth Defects Prevention program in 1992 and since that time the program has led to a 60% decline in neural tube defects within South Carolina and has been hailed as a model prevention program."

On a personal note, Dr. Skinner said that Dr. Stevenson "was an extraordinary mentor. His scholarship in the field, most notably in the areas of X-linked intellectual disability and birth defects, is unparalleled and under his tutelage and guidance, I and many other genetics fellows and residents have developed a passion for the field as well as a compassionate and caring manner in working with patients and families. He sees his work as that of a servant providing care and hope to families struggling with difficult circumstances. He actively avoids the spotlight but is quick to point out the contributions of others. Though he would disagree, those of us who are privileged to work with him on a daily basis understand that it was his vision that created the Greenwood Genetic Center and his persistence, will, and sheer determination that has turned it into the success it is today."

Looking forward, Dr. Stevenson has great aspirations for the field of medical genetics. "The most exciting part of all is where we are going. We need to move from a diagnostic specialty to a treatment specialty. For every disorder we are involved with, we should think of how to treat, cure, or prevent it. The mindset of our specialty has to incorporate the ability to treat every genetic disorder, and this will be even more exciting than diagnosis," he said, with gratitude that the Greenwood Genetic Center will allow him to devote the rest of his career to moving in that direction. To achieve this goal he said, "will require worldwide collaboration to develop treatments and places like the Greenwood Genetic Center to bring those treatments to patients."

Of those with whom he has worked, Dr. Stevenson said, "I have had many great mentors in my career, but one thing that has been very important to me has been the contact I've had with students, residents and fellows who have influenced me throughout my career." To all the young geneticists just beginning their careers, Dr. Stevenson offers this, "Taking on this vow of getting us to treatments for genetic disorders is a very important thing. We cannot forget diagnostics because if we do not know the cause of a disorder it is difficult to dream up treatment, but our mindset as geneticists must also include how a condition can be treated."

"Dr. Roger Stevenson's visionary brilliance is reflected in his founding of the Greenwood Genetics Center, a not-for-profit institution that became home to critical research and exceptional mentoring for young geneticists. As a new concept in 1974, the Greenwood Genetics Center has been an exciting setting for the identification of many X-linked disorders and the prevention of neural tube defects," said Dr. Ann Garber, David Rimoin's surviving spouse. "The Rimoin family is inspired by Dr. Stevenson's mission to move the field of medical genetics toward treatment options for patients suffering from genetic disease and is particularly grateful for his example of leadership through compassion, integrity, and mentorship with his patients and students. We offer Dr. Stevenson wholehearted congratulations as the recipient of the 2019 David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award."

The David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious award given by the ACMG Foundation. A committee of past presidents of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics selects the recipient following nominations, which come from the general membership.

###

About the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine

The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (ACMGF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics and genomics in healthcare. Established in 1992, the Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics' (ACMG) mission to "translate genes into health"; to foster charitable giving, promote training opportunities to attract future medical geneticists and genetic counselors, to share information about medical genetics, to sponsor important research, and much more. To learn more and support the ACMGF mission to create "Better Health through Genetics," please contact Nicole O. Bell, ACMG Foundation Manager, at nbell@acmg.net or (301) 718-9604 or visit http://www. acmgfoundation. org .

About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG)

Founded in 1991, ACMG is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics. The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (http://www. acmg. net ) provides education, resources and a voice for more than 2,200 biochemical, clinical, cytogenetic, medical and molecular geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals, nearly 80% of whom are board certified in the medical genetics specialties. The College's mission is to develop and sustain genetic initiatives in clinical and laboratory practice, education and advocacy. Three guiding pillars underpin ACMG's work: 1) Clinical and Laboratory Practice 2) Education and 3) Advocacy. Genetics in Medicine, published monthly, is the official ACMG peer-reviewed journal. ACMG's website (http://www. acmg. net ) offers a variety of resources including Policy Statements, Practice Guidelines, Educational Resources, and a Find Genetic Services tool. The educational and public health programs of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics are dependent upon charitable gifts from corporations, foundations, and individuals through the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

Note to editors: To arrange interviews with experts in medical genetics, contact Kathy Moran, MBA, ACMG Senior Director of Communications and Public Relations at kmoran@acmg.net.

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.Abnormal Activity

In 2006, Congress passed the Pension Protection Act, which, among other provisions, encouraged 401(k) plan sponsors to offer automated-enrollment programs and expanded the use of target-date funds. Since that bills passage, though, Congress has effectively ignored retirement issues.

At long last, that is changing. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill out of the Ways and Means Committee. The Senate followed suit, releasing a similar proposal from its Committee on Finance, co-sponsored by Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Ron Wyden. With the House and Senate operating in unison and prominent members of both parties in support, passage seems likely.Our real estate market should be used for housing people, not for laundering the proceeds of crime. Thats why we asked our expert panel to review our rules and regulations, and to offer concrete actions that we can take to clean up our real estate sector, Finance Minister Carole James said, as quoted by The Canadian Press.

The second, which is by former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German, looked at criminal involvement in the real estate, luxury car, and horse racing sectors.

Attorney General David Eby, who received Germans latest report, assured that he is working to get the study released to the public as soon as possible.

We have to go through and make sure that were not inadvertently disclosing information that could compromise a law enforcement investigation, that we're not inadvertently defaming someone, Eby explained.

We're doing that as quickly and as responsibly as we can, because one of the reasons we commissioned this report was so that the public would know whats been happening in British Columbia.The redevelopment of downtown Vancouvers old Canada Post building into a new high-tech office space has invited both celebration and trepidation.

Last year, Amazon announced that it would be taking over a part of the complex, which is slated to be revamped into The Post, a mixed-use building that will play host to the e-commerce leaders largest office in Vancouver.

As of late March, builders are already hard at work in the old structure to pave the way for the construction of The Post.Morgan County

Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Sierra J. Miller, 24, of 1003 E. Lafayette Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 11:37 p.m. Monday on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended.

 Steven D. Cunningham, 53, of 741 N. Main St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 1:55 a.m. Tuesday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

 Kyle W. Lowder, 28, of Modesto was booked into the Morgan County jail at 3:08 a.m. Tuesday on a charge of criminal damage to property after police say he broke a window of a home in the 800 block of Doolin Avenue.

South Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Galan L. Blanton, 50, of 916 Lafayette Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on charges of driving while license is revoked or suspended and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

 Earl T. Bennett, 39, of 1820 S. Main St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 5:26 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of criminal damage to property.



Jersey County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Jason M. Herder, 40, of Jerseyville was arrested March 26 on charges of unlawful possession of weapons by felons, possession of firearm without requisite firearm owners identification and illegal possession of ammunition/FOID.

 Joshua L. Champlin, 41, of Grafton was arrested March 25 on charges of aggravated battery and obstructing justice.

 Matthew A Militzer, 35, of Godfrey was arrested March 23 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 William H. Guyer III, 29, of Jerseyville was arrested March 25 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.



Pike County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Nicholas J. Adams, 22, of West Peoria was arrested at 4:36 p.m. Sunday on charges of speeding and possession of cannabis.

 Clayton M. Deeder, 38, of Pleasant Hill was arrested at 12:20 a.m. Sunday on a charge of driving under the influence.

 Angelica R. Woody, 22, of Pearl was arrested at 11:56 a.m. Friday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

 Zachary P. Banfield, 25, of Lebanon, Tennessee, was arrested at 3:51 a.m. Friday on a petition to revoke supervision and two warrants accusing him of failing to appear in court.

 Darren L. Saxbury, 50, of Perry was arrested at 8:41 p.m. Thursday on a predatory criminal sexual assault charge.

 Michael G. ONeill, 56, of Pittsfield was arrested at 11:20 p.m. Thursday on a charge of driving under the influence.

 Patrick L. Anstedt, 42, of Pittsfield was arrested at 5:07 p.m. Thursday on charges of residential burglary and possession of a weapon by a felon.

 Caroline E. Burkemper, 21, of Louisiana, Missouri, was arrested at 7:18 p.m. March 27 on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance.

 Shyannah M. Michael, 21, of Pleasant Hill was arrested at 2:54 p.m. March 27 on a domestic battery charge.

 Jill M. Michael, 57, of Pleasant Hill was arrested at 2:54 p.m. March 27 on a domestic battery charge.

 William K. Poor, 23, of Pittsfield was arrested at 4:32 p.m. March 27 on an aggravated battery charge.

 Robert O. Goin, 27, of Curryville, Missouri, was arrested at 4:21 p.m. March 27 on a petition to revoke.

 William B. Stolte, 40, of Pittsfield was arrested at 4 p.m. March 25 on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer and Samantha McDaniel-OgletreeTwo new aldermen will join the ranks of the Jacksonville City Council after Tuesdays consolidated election.

Ward 2 incumbent Tony Williams and Ward 5 incumbent Don Cook held their seats, while appointee Michael Bartlett earned his first full term as an alderman. Newcomer Brandon Adams won the Ward 3 two-year unexpired term, defeating Karen Day-Mudd, who had held the seat since her appointment in September.

First-time alderman Eren Williams and Aaron Scott, who was appointed for Ward 4 in 2016, ran in uncontested races.

Adams won the Ward 3 two-year unexpired term with 160 votes, 56.54 percent, over Day-Mudds 123 votes, 43.46 percent.

Adams campaigned on being a new, different voice among the alderman representing Jacksonville. He said Tuesday night that he was glad to see the people he hopes to represent  low-income and working families, and the poor and disabled  turn out to elect him.

I assured people I wasnt part of the good old boys club because I live at Beecher High Rise, he said.

Adams grew up in Jacksonville after his parents, David and Jan Adams, moved to the city to be teachers.

Formerly a welder, Adams is retraining through the Ticket to Work and Division of Rehabilitation Services of Illinois vocational training program. He plans to become a welding inspector.

Adams hopes to work with new and current aldermen to find ways to ease the impact of property taxes on low-income residents. With the goal of helping Jacksonville residents and generating prosperity for the city, he thinks the city should consider a minimum wage increase that would take effect ahead of the Illinois minimum wage increases passed earlier this year by the General Assembly.

People that I know need that money now, Adams said.

Adams has also served as the 9th Precinct committeeman.

Bartlett took home 145 votes, 52.16 percent, over Nicole Rileys 133 votes, 47.84 percent, in Ward 3.

Serving on the city council since his appointment in September, Bartlett had gotten a sense of what its like on the council before being elected for his first full term.

Thought its not unique to his ward, Bartlett said sidewalks, infrastructure and property maintenance are topics he has been hearing about from residents.

And thats not just in Ward 3, I think thats throughout the city that people have those concerns, he said.

Bartlett campaigned on maintaining city services and public safety, while remaining fiscally responsible.

A graduate of Illinois College, Bartlett is retired from leadership of the Illinois Association of School Boards and previously worked for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Bartlett lives in Jacksonville with his wife of 45 years, Nancy. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.

In Ward 2, Williams received 76 votes, or 70.37 percent of the vote, over opponent Benjamin Coxs 32 votes, or 29.63 percent.

Williams, a 14-year veteran of the council, said he was elated that the community entrusted him with another term in office.

Its always been in my heart that Jacksonville is the place that I wanted to see do the best, he said.

Williams lives in Jacksonville with his wife of 22 years, Jan. He has four daughters, 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He is a retired director of the Department of Corrections Training Academy and is a training consultant.

Cook received 201 votes, 53.17 percent. over Louis H. Eason III, who received 177 votes, or 46.83 percent, in Ward 5.

Cook was unavailable Tuesday night. He is a MacMurray College graduate, Vietnam veteran and served Jacksonvilles Police chief for 13 years. He was first elected to represent Ward 5 in 2011. In a Journal-Courier questionnaire, he said issues he is most focused on are finances, public safety and infrastructure and property maintenance.

He lives in Jacksonville with his wife Patricia. He has five children and six grandchildren.

Eren Williams received 60 votes in an uncontested Ward 1 race and Aaron Scott received 75 votes in the uncontested Ward 4 race.A former Bexar County jailer who was accused of collecting drug debts for an inmate she allegedly fell in love with was arrested for a second time Tuesday in connection with the same incident, according to the sheriff's office.

Rita Alvarez, 33, was arrested by the sheriff's office's fugitive apprehension unit Tuesday on suspicion of engaging in organized criminal activity.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Alvarez was first arrested on Aug. 2, 2017, after sheriff's deputies became aware of her alleged behavior at the jail, but those charges were dismissed in November 2018.

"There was a problem with the previous indictment for Rita Alvarez, so the case was dismissed in 2018," according to Christian Henricksen, the chief of litigation in the Bexar County District Attorney's Office. "Earlier this year, the case was reviewed. It was presented to a grand jury today and Alvarez was indicted on a charge of engaging in organized criminal activity."

Sheriff Javier Salazar said he and District Attorney Joe Gonzales are committed to holding public servants accountable if they've done something illegal.

"District Attorney Joe Gonzales and I are in constant contact regarding anticipated cases that pertain to public servants," Salazar said. "Both he and I share the same stance of holding everyone accountable, especially public servants who have made the decision to break the law."

Alvarez was given a dishonorable discharge and resigned from the sheriff's office after her initial arrest.

She was taken into custody after a months-long investigation into a suspected drug dealing operation allegedly led by Cristobal "Buddha" Perez, who was arrested after authorities said they found more than 400 grams of block tar heroin and 200 grams of cocaine and hashish at a stash house in the 100 block of Monclova Alley.

READ MORE: Court records reveal new details about alleged drug ring conspiracy involving Bexar County deputy

Officials said Alvarez and Perez spoke on a regular basis while she was a jailer, and she allegedly even professed her love to him.

On July 1, 2017, Alvarez collected a $1,000 drug debt owed to Perez, deputies said. Investigators believe she used half of the money to buy fireworks for her children and the other half was placed in Perez's commissary account.

Alvarez posted her $20,000 bail and was released from jail Tuesday afternoon, jail records showed.

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | fsabawi@mysa.com|@FaresInSADozens of women were captured on video without their knowledge while receiving medical attention  including having surgery and giving birth  at a California hospital, according to a lawsuit filed last week in a state Superior Court. A lawyer for the women said 1,800 patients may have been recorded.

The lawsuit alleges that motion-activated cameras were set up in three operating rooms at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, California, as part of an effort to catch a possible medicine thief.

But between July 2012 and June 2013, the cameras also recorded female patients at the hospitals Womens Health Center as they consulted physicians, got undressed, underwent examinations and went under anesthesia for operations, according to the complaint.

ALSO: US health officials alarmed by paralyzing illness in kids

Eighty-one women were named as plaintiffs and more were expected to join, said the lawyer, Allison Goddard. She said that the videos did not appear to include audio but that some womens faces were visible.

A class-action lawsuit against the hospital, also regarding the recordings, has been pending since 2016. The new complaint, naming individual plaintiffs who learned about the videos beginning in December, was filed Friday. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages.

Its universal shock from the patients, and disgust, Goddard said, adding that the hospital was still in possession of thousands of videos. They dont know how their videos might be used or who may have seen them because Sharp didnt make sure that that would be taken care of.

Hospital employees set up the cameras in 2012 because they were investigating reports of stolen medication. In a statement about the case, Sharp HealthCare, which is based in San Diego, said some powerful drugs had gone missing from the operating rooms.

The three cameras were installed and operated to ensure patient safety by identifying the person or persons responsible for the removal of the drugs, the statement said. Although the cameras were intended to record only individuals in front of the anesthesia carts removing drugs, others, including patients and medical personnel in the operating rooms, were at times visible to the cameras and recorded.

ALSO: Video: 85-year-old antiabortion activist assaulted outside San Francisco Planned Parenthood

The complaint alleges that in addition to invading the womens privacy, the hospital was negligent because the videos were stored on computers used by multiple people, and not all of the computers were password protected.

They were reckless, to say the least, Goddard said.

It seemed that Sharp Grossmont could have found less intrusive ways to investigate the missing medicine, said I. Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law School and an author of the casebook Health Care Law and Ethics. He noted that he did not have information about the hospitals defense.

It appears they kept at least some of the videos for some time, Cohen said, and one would think the right thing to do, even on the hospitals own rationale, would be rapidly review them and destroy them right after if they didnt show any evidence of the drug theft.

The fact that they failed to do even that is quite troubling.

Sharp HealthCare said in its statement that the company and the hospital continue to take extensive measures to protect the privacy of our patients.

The surveillance methods in the 2012-13 investigation were used for this particular case only and have not been used again, it said. We sincerely regret that our efforts to ensure medication security may have caused any distress to those we serve.

John Cihomsky, a spokesman for Sharp, said that only a handful of authorized people in Sharp HealthCares security, legal and clinical departments had reviewed the videos in connection with litigation or investigations. He noted that some videos were handed over in response to subpoenas or court orders associated with the lawsuits.

The videos themselves are, and have always been, securely maintained, he added.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.A San Antonio man accused of fatally shooting his 14-year-old son last year is facing prison after entering a plea of no contest Wednesday.

Andres Delgado III, 45, was charged with manslaughter in the death of his son, Andres Delgado IV. The teen was shot as he slept in his home on the East Side.

At a hearing Wednesday before Judge Ron Rangel, Delgado entered a plea of no contest to the manslaughter charge and faces up to a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. He has applied for probation.

RELATED: 14-year-old boy shot and killed inside S.A. home identified

It was around 6 a.m. on March 14, 2018, when San Antonio police arrived at home in the 100 block of Denver Boulevard near Mesquite Street to investigate a shooting. The elder Delgado was holding his son in his arms when first responders got there. Shot once in the abdomen, the boy died about an hour later.

The father told authorities he heard glass breaking in his daughters room, that he saw an armed gunman there and that someone fired two shots in the room.

Using three handguns, an AR-15 and his shotgun, Delgado told police he returned fire in defense of his family, an arrest affidavit stated.

Investigators said at the time that Delgados story of a break-in and a shot being fired into the home did not match up with evidence at the scene. They found suspected narcotics, more than 50 live rounds of handgun, rifle and shotgun ammunition inside the home, along with several bullets and bullet fragments in almost every room of the house, an arrest affidavit stated.

RELATED: Indictments issued in death of S.A. baby King Jay

After investigators concluded the father recklessly shot the different weapons (and) accidentally shot the victim, according to the affidavit, Delgado was arrested March 27, 2018.

Delgado is expected to be sentenced by Rangel on May 3 after a sentencing hearing in the 379th state District Court.

Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863Dear Aunty Lisa

I am 18 years old, and I am attending evening school. I dropped out of high school because I got pregnant. I dont know for sure who is the father.

My mother keeps the baby so that I can go back to school. I am not dunce. I catch on easily, but I started to fool around with different guys when I was in high school.

I had other friends who were doing the same thing, so I was following the crowd, and then we would talk about how many guys we went with and what we did.

Soon after Chiwengas coup in 2017, I met a guy who told me that he lives in Botswana but that his folks are from Zimbabwe. When I met him, he was about to go back.

We talk to each other every day. I asked him who his relatives were in Zimbabwe, and he would not tell me. He said that was his secret. He doesnt want to introduce me to his relatives.

He is 29. I asked him if he has children and he said he has one girl, but he and the mother broke up two years ago and since that time he hasnt had a girlfriend.

Do you think that a man can be without a woman for two years? He said he has not had sex since he broke up with his childs mother.

I asked him for some money and he sent it to me, but I am afraid to get close to him because I dont know if he is telling the truth. Why doesnt he want to tell me who his relatives are?

My parents are poor, and I would like to go away and send money to help them. I dont know what to do, so please give me advice.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsA 62-YEAR-OLD woman from Jambezi outside Victoria Falls died on the spot at her homestead when a stray bullet fired by a ranger in an attempt to kill a problem elephant hit her on the head.

Ms Irene Munsaka died on Monday night at her homestead in Chenamisa village, about 13km from Cross Mbizha along the Hwange-Victoria Falls road.

Rangers from Hwange Rural District Council (HRDC)s Community Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (Campfire) had visited the area between Jambezi Centre and Chikandakubi to drive away problem wild animals that have been terrorising villagers.

Elephants, buffaloes, lions and hyenas visit human settlements in search of water and food as human-wildlife conflicts escalate in communities adjacent to game parks because of drought.

With a majority of water sources in areas bordering Hwange National Park in Matetsi area drying up, wild animals visit Chenamisa village to drink water from a spring shared by the community and their livestock.

She was in her yard around 8PM when she was shot on the head and died on the spot. The rangers shot at an elephant but missed it. A bullet strayed into her homestead and hit her on the head. What we dont know is why the rangers shot in the direction of the homesteads when the elephants should have been on the side of the fields, said Chenamisa village head Mr Frazer Munsaka who is also the now deceaseds younger brother.

He said villagers alerted Campfire officers immediately after the incident happened.

Another relative, Mr Emmanuel Tshuma, accused Campfire officers of negligence adding that the family wants compensation.

This shows that they didnt take precautionary measures to make sure they dont harm villagers.People have lost crops and livestock to these wild animals and now we have lost a person because of negligence. Investigations should be done and they have to compensate us, he said.

Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Mr Tinashe Farawo confirmed the incident but said the wildlife authority was not directly involved.

We received such a report but you should know that its not our rangers. Zimparks gave powers to Campfire to deal with problem animals in communities and the matter has been reported to the police as investigations continue, he said.

HRDC chief executive officer Mr Phindile Ncube said the incident was an accident.

Were aware of the issue. They didnt shoot at a person but a bullet strayed, he said.

Police took Ms Munsakas body to Victoria Falls Hospital mortuary yesterday.

 Chronicle

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsSuffering Voices of Zimbabwe (SVZ) vice president Wellington Shumba, claims a video of him showing off his stay at a five star hotel on government expense was doctored by the Nelson Chamisas MDC.

The little known politicians video went viral on social media in the past few days after he was filmed boasting about spending government money while citizens moan about hardships.

Ironically Shumba did not contest in the 2018 presidential election but came representing the New Patriotic front (NPF) lead by Tendai Munyanduri.

That is a political opponent who is fighting me and probably Mnangagwa himself or the current government.

They want to tarnish my name, my political career and that of President (Emmerson Mnangagwa), said Shumba in an interview with NewZimbabwe Tuesday.

And to be very open mwana wamai (my brother) that video was doctored. I suspect that there were division among ourselves (political leaders) whereby some were in favour of a local convener, while some wanted a foreign convener, I was totally against that.

President Mnangagwa has had meetings with fringe opposition parties in a bid to find common ground and convince the world Zimbabweans are on the same page. However his call to dialogue has been snubbed by the main opposition MDC party lead by Nelson Chamisa.

Shumba added: And I am suspicious of the MDC Alliance or whoever may have infiltrated us to the point of making me an enemy of the people and an enemy of the State.

I am not even happy, someone may have even hacked my WhatsApp, I am not even on Twitter and doctored that video and to look as if it was me.

Shumba claimed he was businessman and can afford to look after himself well.

Why would I do that? I have got my own money. I own a mine for your own information. I am a big business man so handingabude ndichitaura zvinhu zvemarara zvakadaro, (I cant record myself saying such nonsense), an animated Shumba said.

I have nothing to do with that video, am not on Twitter. Check the origin of that video is not even known. I am still to find an expert kuti andiratidze kuti (to help me find) who doctored that video and what was the purpose.

 NewZimbabwe

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsBy Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Readers, politics is a little light because I spent too much time on Boeing. Ill add a bit more shortly. lambert UPDATE All done!

Trade

Exclusive: Chinas huge Airbus order padded by old or incomplete deals  sources [Reuters]. A landmark order from China for 300 Airbus jets signed during a state visit last week was bolstered by repeat announcements of dozens of existing deals and advance approval for deals that have yet to be struck, two people familiar with the matter said. Echoing an umbrella order for 300 Boeing jets awarded during a visit to Beijing by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017, the headline figure for the new framework order for European jets was partly driven by political considerations, the people said.  Film at 11!

Politics

But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? James Madison, Federalist 51

They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery. Frank Herbert, Dune

2020

Biden: 2020 presidential election: Joe Biden advisers smell a conspiracy [Axios]. Joe Biden advisers believe coverage of allegations of inappropriate behavior is being stoked by rival Democrats  a dynamic that could actually fire up the vice president at a time when others see success as increasingly improbable. Why it matters: Several around Biden think advisers to Bernie Sanders are at least partly behind the anti-Biden campaign. One prominent backer thinks Biden will run, and is ready to kill Bernie. I got this text last night from a source close to Biden: VP directed staff this evening to reach out to supporters and donors with a simple message  full steam ahead.'  If you read the quote carefully, you can see that Biden might have any number of reasons to kill Bernie. Festival of Buttigieg today: Buttigieg (D) (1): Buttigieg Says Flooding in the Midwest Is Not Big Deal, Just a Small Fraction of Years Rainfall [CEPR]. That is not quite what he said, but it is pretty much in the same spirit as what Buttigieg said about trade and jobs, according to the Washington Post. The post told readers: Buttigieg has said six times as many jobs were lost because of automation as trade from 2000 to 2010. This is more or less right in the same way that Nebraska will get far more rain over the course of 2019 than the rain that caused the recent flooding. And, the assertion makes about as much sense in the context of the floods as in the context of jobs lost to imports.  Looks like Mayor Pete is trying to drive in Yangs lane? Buttigieg (D) (2): After Gaza slaughter, Buttigieg praised Israeli security responses as moving and faulted Democrats for easy judgment [Mondoweiss]. Buttigieg is a quick study; and what leaps out from these remarks is how completely the Rhodes Scholar imbibed the official pro-Israel version of events, and showed contempt for Palestinian understanding. There is no sense in Buttigiegs remarks that Israel is a militarized, rightwing country that adores Donald Trump and that is led by a strongman and that answers resistance to the existing order with overwhelming force that international human rights organizations said at the time of his remarks were likely war crimes. Buttigieg did not meet with AIPAC last week; but we can expect Buttigieg to take a centrist pro-Israel position in opposition to the Democratic base, which is highly critical of Israel. Buttigieg (D) (3): Have You Heard? Pete Buttigieg Is Really Smart [Jacobin]. For the upper professional-managerial class (PMC), guys like this represent a dreamy ideal of human supremacy. Thats because for them, all of life is an Ivy League application. Well-rounded smartness is everything, even in the wake of recent news that this is not necessarily what elite college admissions are based upon. As a result, BOOTedgedge has been the focus of a media frenzy, despite polling far behind Sanders and Biden (even 538 is skeptical of his recent much-ballyhooed jump in Iowa). CNNs Chris Cillizza finds his resume remarkable. Some call him bookish. Queerty.com exults that he represents the best and brightest of our country. A New Republic headline uses the word Genius.'  Best and brightest without irony? Really? And, as usual, see Thomas Frank on smart. Buttigieg (D) (4): South Bend mayoral candidate says her code violations will help a push for equal protection' [South Bend Tribune]. [Common Council Member Regina Williams-Preston] claims the city targeted her and her husbands properties, and those of their neighbors, with aggressive code enforcement to further two goals: Mayor Pete Buttigiegs pledge to address 1,000 vacant and abandoned homes in 1,000 days, and the West Side Main Streets Plan, which calls for revitalizing the neighborhoods between Western Avenue and Lincoln Way West In light of her mayoral campaign, Williams-Preston sought to frame the discussion more broadly than her case, saying the citys aggressive code enforcement  a revitalization tool in which the city gradually buys up and consolidates properties to give or sell cheaply to developers  ended up hurting many African-Americans during the 1000 Homes initiative. She argues that many of the owners were local African-Americans who had inherited dilapidated houses from their parents and wanted to fix them up but couldnt afford to.  Hmm. Second story on Black intergenerational wealth Ive seen in the last week. Gravel (D): We are in the midst of a crisis of the everyday: people do not have access to healthcare, housing, or clean water; we devote trillions to unending wars in places most couldn't identify; the people's will is an afterthought. Don't be afraid to say it: this country is broken!  Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) April 2, 2019 Sanders (D) (1): This should cause a liberal Democrat extracranial splatterfest: INBOX: FOX News to host Town Hall with Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders pic.twitter.com/kLw7NiOBrk  Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) April 3, 2019 Sanders (D) (2): Takeaways from the first 2020 presidential fundraising numbers [CNN]. As expected, Sanders set the early pace in fundraising, with more than $18 million raised from 525,000 individual contributors who gave, on average, $20 Sanders has a massive existing list from his 2016 campaign, and in that race, demonstrated his appeal in the online giving world. (He raised an unbelievable $228 million for his primary against Hillary Clinton, a number that still boggles the mind.) Still, just because Sanders number isnt surprising, it also shouldnt be taken for granted. Sanders fundraising ability  and the fact that he rarely if ever holds fundraisers to collect cash  is a major advantage for his campaign as we move forward into the rest of this year and into 2020 when voters start voting.  I like the Sanders average contribution has dropped. It means the 90% are donating. Sanders (D) (3): Sanders launches mega volunteer program [Politico]. Bernie Sanders campaign will unveil a slate of top hires and kickoff events Wednesday  the latest sign that he plans to harness his record-breaking grassroots army earlier and more strategically than he did during his first run for the White House. More than 1 million people have signed up to volunteer for his campaign, aides said, and the Sanders team will ask them Wednesday to host house parties across the country on April 27, a date that will double as the official launch of Sanders 2020 organizing program.  Looks like [lambert preens] I was right: There are three carefully assembled strategic assets for the Sanders campaign: From 2016, the list (not available to other Democrats); from 2018, the media empire (not available to other Democrats); and for 2020, the canvassing operation (not available to other Democrats). Expect continued volatility as liberal Democrat power brokers and media assets discover they dont have the power they are accustomed to having. Trump: Trump says Biden accusations are work of Dem socialists' [Politico]. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that former Vice President Joe Biden is being taken care of pretty well by the socialists, suggesting that a recent wave of criticism of the potential 2020 presidential candidate is the product of attacks hatched by his own partys left wing.  Liberal Democrats agree! (Personally, I think Putin planted the clips in the C-SPAN video library.) Warren: Elizabeth Warren: Corporate executives must face jail time for overseeing massive scams [WaPo]. we should enact the Ending Too Big To Jail Act, which I introduced last year. That bill would make it easier to hold executives at big banks accountable for scams by requiring them to certify that they conducted a due diligence inquiry and found that no illegal conduct was occurring on their watch. This would force executives to look for wrongdoing or face prosecution for filing false certifications with the government. The proposal would also create a permanent and well-funded unit dedicated to investigating financial crimes.  Thats the stuff to give the troops! Although oddly, or not, Warren focuses on Wells-Fargo, and not not on Holder and Obamas miserable record of non-prosecution after the Crash. Black leaders blast Dem war on super PACs [Politico]. In a letter obtained by POLITICO, The Collective PAC  which helps elect black candidates to office  asked major liberal groups like Indivisible and Democracy for America to stop calling for Democratic presidential contenders to distance themselves from single-candidate super PACs. Such groups play an important role in electing candidates of color, they argued, especially in primaries, when the Democratic establishment has often overlooked black contenders and left it to outside donors to bolster their campaigns.

RussiaGate

List: Attorney General William Barr Summarizes Famous Broadway Musicals  McSweeneys Internet Tendency [McSweeneys Internet Tendency]. Little Shop of Horrors: Man feeds plant.

Realignment and Legitimacy

How a Petty Tyrant Turned a Functional DSA Branch into a Church [Benjamin Studebaker]. In the beginning, Pittsburgh was a great branch. As recently as six months ago, there were 1,000 dues-paying members. There were four elected officials in Pittsburgh who had won with the aid of the branchs endorsement and hard work, and the branch was running a wide array of issue-based campaigns in the city on labor, housing, and more. The success of the branch in the 2017 elections led many more candidates to seek its support in 2018. Everything was looking up. Today the chapters membership is decimated. Only around 50 members attended the February 2019 general meeting.  Due to the clique. More: I admit to feeling a certain degree of sympathy. These [the clique] are clearly deeply alienated people who have been forced to retreat into political organising to find the meaning and community they cannot get outside it. Capitalism regularly creates miserable people, and miserable people lack the psychological resources to put the needs of the community or the movement ahead of their own. They are themselves emotionally under-resourced, and we cannot expect people with this much pain inside them to protect others from their pain.  My first thought was to be reminded of the problem (unrealized (unrealizable?) opportunity) the homeless posed for Occupy. My second thought was to reread the piece and note that the head of the clique was previously expelled from the Israeli Communist Party for internal subversion.' Or, in LeCarres world, so they say. This is an excellent piece of reporting, well worth read. An absolutely horrifying anecdote of the Obama administration. Thread: For the fourth time, Ive come across a Democrat involved in stimulus negotiations in 2008-2009 saying some version of we could have done nothing and let things get worse, like FDR did. FDR didnt do that. You guys should own your own mistakes.  Eric Rauchway (@rauchway) March 29, 2019 Chris Arnade returns, and very good thing, too (via Brindle): (Open twitter, clear throat) 1. So many people dying from drugs & it keeps going up & it is an absolute national disgrace. It isnt just a white thing, or a rural thing  it is happening in communities of every race in every place  Chris Arnade (@Chris_arnade) April 2, 2019 Nancy Pelosi Believes in Nothing [Jacob Bachrach, Truthout]. There is a curious void at the heart of Democratic politics. It isnt necessary to believe in some absurd, magical notion of willpower to note that at its highest level, the party seems to lack an essential, motivating will. Instead, it views itself as something more akin to a professional membership organization that has a convention in a nice hotel every few years. They are not so much an emperor without clothesthat grand, ridiculous figure for the delusions of poweras they are clothes without an emperor; a lot of nice fabric blown away in a breeze and borne aloft on someone elses hot air.  Taking office but not taking power.

Stats Watch

ADP Employment Report, March 2019: ADP estimates that private payroll growth in Fridays employment report for March will rise, but below consensus [Econoday]. [A] sharp upward revision to February in Fridays data is a possibility, as this month. And but: This month the rate of ADPs private employment year-over-year growth is on the low side of the tight range seen over this year. However, the rolling average of the year-over-year rate of growth remains unchanged for the last 7 months. Last months employment numbers were revised upward [Econintersect]. ADP employment has not been a good predictor of BLS non-farm private job growth. And: Below the consensus forecast [Calculated Risk].

Institute For Supply Management Non-Manufacturing Index, March 2019: Forecasters were leaning the right way but just not enough as ISMs non-manufacturing index moderated more than expected [Econoday]. Volatility like this is not the norm for this composite index where monthly change is usually muted. But backlogs and employment are offsets to exports and inventories. Altogether and despite the swing lower for the headline index, this report is probably consistent with stable and healthy conditions for the bulk of the U.S. economy which may or may not have slowed at quarter end.  The future lies ahead! And: This suggests slower expansion in March than in February [Calculated Risk].

PMI Services Index, March 2019: [A] solid pick-up in composite activity [Econoday]. The report describes order growth as solid including for exports, something that underscores what remains strong foreign demand for U.S. services. Yet business confidence isnt improving, slipping now to its least optimistic showing since December 2017. On the price front, the results are softening with pressure in costs and traction for selling prices easing.

MBA Mortgage Applications, week of March 29, 2019: The big drop in mortgage rates isnt going unnoticed by homeowners who filed refinancing applications in droves [Econoday]. And: Now that mortgage rates have fallen more than 50 bps from the highs last year, a number of recent buyers are able to refinance [Calculated Risk]. According to the MBA, purchase activity is up 10% year-over-year.

Commodities: A Key to the Arctics Oil Riches Lies Hidden in Ohio [New York Times]. The deck: The findings of a test well drilled in Alaska three decades ago have been a closely guarded secret. We found answers in a Cleveland courthouse.  Spoiler alert: Its a dry hole.

Commodities: The Biggest Saudi Oil Field Is Fading Faster Than Anyone Guessed [Bloomberg]. Now the market finally knows: Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest conventional oil field, can produce a lot less than almost anyone believed. When Saudi Aramco on Monday published its first ever profit figures since its nationalization nearly 40 years ago, it also lifted the veil of secrecy around its mega oil fields. The companys bond prospectus revealed that Ghawar is able to pump a maximum of 3.8 million barrels a day  well below the more than 5 million that had become conventional wisdom in the market.  Oopsie.

* * *

Boeing 737 MAX:

Manufacturing: Lithuanian man flies alone on commercial plane to Italy [Associated Press].  A Lithuanian man flying to Italy got a pleasant surprise when he boarded the plane: He was the only passenger on the Boeing 737-800.. The Novaturas travel agency said it had chartered the plane to fly a group home from Italy, and to avoid flying empty, one-way tickets were sold. Only one person bought one.  I wonder why?

Manufacturing: Between Two Boeing Crashes, Days of Silence and Mistrust [New York Times]. In the days after the crash, American aviation officials visiting Jakarta cast aspersions on their Indonesian counterparts, even as they refused to speak on the record: Which was more reliable? An airplane manufacturer that was one of the most respected companies in the United States, or a low-cost carrier with a long history of shocking safety lapses operating in a country troubled by corruption and weak regulation?  A country troubled by corruption and weak regulation.

Manfacturing: Whistleblowers in 737 Max Case Say FAA Was Lax in Inspector Training [Bloomberg]. Multiple whistleblowers provided the committee with information alleging that numerous FAA employees, including those involved in the Aircraft Evaluation Group for the Boeing 737 MAX, had not received proper training and valid certifications, Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, said in a letter to the FAAs Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell Tuesday.

Manufacturing: U.S. Air Force Again Halts Delivery of Boeings Tanker Over Debris [Bloomberg]. Amazing quotes: Elaborating on the trash left behind by workers, [Secretary Heather Wilson] told the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee later in the day that it was a  manufacturing discipline  issue on the assembly line where we saw a breakdown.  If you drop a wrench you have to find a wrench , she said. You have to wipe down surfaces so you dont have pieces of aluminum that over time get in the midst of things and cause serious problems. The latest delivery halt was prompted after the service opened up some closed compartments, such as inside wings, and found flaws, she said without elaborating.  Sounds like a demoralizes workforce, to me. I sure hope there arent loose wrenches sliiding around inside the wings of civilian aircraft, because that would be bad.

Manufacturing: Pontifications: I dont know what to make of this [Leeham News]. One cant help but think, a lot, about the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes and the facts that Boeing created the system, linked it to one sensor, not two, didnt tell the airlines pilots about it, didnt include it in pilot manuals, didnt have a safety alert system as standard equipment, initially blamed the Lion Air pilots and reportedly lobbied Donald Trump not to ground the airplanes.  And self-certified the system too, let us remember. More: Four concurrent commercial airplane programs (the KC-46A being a hybrid between commercial and military) each had trouble. Two of their last four airplanes have been grounded by regulators. A third airplane had such poor quality control the customer stopped taking delivery. Three of the four were years late. Whats going on here? Boeing resources were clearly stretched too thin. Billions of dollars were going out the door in cost overruns. Were bad management decisions made by the bean-counting McNerney regime? Was there something systemic happening? Or just a run of bad luck and bad timing?  Good questions. Well worth a read.

Manufacturing: Disaster and the Boeing CEO [Crains Chicago Business]. Though [Boeing CEO Dennis] Muilenburgs career will be defined by the 737 Max, [Leehams Scott] Hamilton and [Cowens Cai von Rumohr] say the crisis is unlikely to end it. That would require a game-changing development, like federal prosecutors discovering that executives misled regulators about safety.* But [Erik Gordon of the University of Michigans Ross School of Business], who views Muilenburgs performance in the hot seat less favorably, is less sure. He is particularly critical of Boeings decision after the crashes to make standard on the Max a safety feature that was previously optional and cost extra. He argues that the move makes it appear as if safety were optional. It has negative PR consequences in the way that punching a guy in the face has PR problems: The real problem is that you punched someone, Gordon says. Dennis mistakes are glaring such that, if I were on the board, I would be holding side meetings saying, Do we have alternatives for a CEO? ** Ironically, the crisis Muilenburg faces is largely of McNerneys making. Decisions about the Maxs design and budget, as well as to rush production to beat competition from Airbus, happened on McNerneys watch. The first Max test flight came seven months after Muilenburg became chief executive in 2015. By then, Hamilton says, the die was already cast.  Yup. Boeing stumbled with the 787, but still kept moving forward, though off balance. Then, with the 737, it fell. NOTES * MCAS was self-certified by Boeing, and filed the tech doc with the FAA late. Perhaps thats what the criminal investigation is looking into. ** So, Im not the only one.

* * *

Manufacturing: Daimler CEO: Boeing safety debate highlights challenge for autonomous tech [Reuters]. What is very important is the psychological dimension. If you look at what is happening with Boeing then you can imagine what happens when such a system has an incident, Zetsche said, commenting on the motor industrys efforts to develop autonomous cars. Half of U.S. adults think self-driving vehicles are more dangerous than those driven by people, while two-thirds would not buy a fully autonomous vehicle, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found this week. In the same poll, about 63 percent of respondents said they would not pay more to have a self-driving feature on their vehicle, and 41 percent of the rest said they would not pay more than $2,000.  Dont worry. Silicon Valley will be programming ethics into the robot car AIs.

Tech: Microsoft announces it will shut down ebook program and confiscate its customers libraries [Boing Boing]. Microsoft has a DRM-locked ebook store that isnt making enough money, so theyre shutting it down and taking away every book that every one of its customers acquired effective July 1. Customers will receive refunds. This puts the difference between DRM-locked media and unencumbered media into sharp contrast. I have bought a lot of MP3s over the years, thousands of them, and many of the retailers I purchased from are long gone, but I still have the MP3s. Likewise, I have bought many books from long-defunct booksellers and even defunct publishers, but I still own those books. When I was a bookseller, nothing I could do would result in your losing the book that I sold you. If I regretted selling you a book, I didnt get to break into your house and steal it, even if I left you a cash refund.  Well, thats why we need DRM, right?

Tech: Toyota to allow free access to 24,000 hybrid and electric vehicle tech patents to boost market [Japan Times]. Toyota said it will offer around 23,740 patents related to electrification technology, with the grant period running from Wednesday to the end of 2030. Toyota also hopes that opening up its technology for motors and batteries, which are key components of electric and fuel-cell vehicles, will increase their supply and help it to cut costs in developing such vehicles. But it remains uncertain whether the use of Toyota patents will be as widespread as the carmaker hopes, observers said. Toyota said in January 2015 it will offer patents related to its fuel-cell vehicles but it has only led to a dozen contracts.

Tech: The ugliness of photorealism [Wireframe]. The issue of photorealism in games is a matter of personal taste, a question of aesthetics. Id argue that what people are responding to is the technical mastery. That weve been conditioned to believe more polygons, more particles, newer more advanced shaders are what is crucial and amazing. Beauty can rise up out of ugliness. It is possible. But I cant help but find the reflexive need to fall over these massive commercial ventures and characterise them as beautiful extremely distasteful. We should know better. Most, if not entirely all, game developers who work at triple-A studios dont enjoy many protections from abusive crunch practices: massive layoffs (as weve just seen at Activision Blizzard) to make earnings calls sound better, or the ability to petition for the kinds of bonuses or residuals they deserve from shipping a title that sells. We know that labour conditions in this industry suck because we know how quickly people burn out and leave.

Transport: Filling the Friendly Skies With Hot Air [Bloomberg]. In 2016, Lockheed Martin Corp. won a nearly $500 million order for as many as a dozen of its hybrid-electric LMH-1 airships (operational in 2020 or 2021) from a buyer who plans to lease their 20-tons of freight capacity to Arctic oil and gas companies. Leasing an airship is cheaper than building new roads across permafrost melting due to climate change, and roughly seven times cheaper per ton than using heavy-lift helicopters. As China and the rest of the world extend their search for raw materials into ever-more remote regions, airships are likely to become crucial links in logistics chains.

The Biosphere

What can bees teach economists about how markets work? [BBC]. In the 1830s, a bee-rights movement emerged in the US, with the motto: Never kill a bee.'  Time presses, and I cant summarize this article. But its full of facts and interesting twists and well worth a read, especially for how Nobel [sic] Prize-winning economist James Meade used bees as an example of positive externalities, when he didnt know anything about bees!

Fossil Fuel Industry, Corporate Lobbyists & Neoliberal Economists Push Carbon Pricing Schemes to Attack Green New Deal [Little Sis]. Steven Rattner  the ex-Obama official, longtime private equity investor, and overseer of Michael Bloombergs vast wealth  is the latest big name establishment figure to go after the Green New Deal.  Heres a handy map of some of his connections:

Whenever you hear one of these grifters use the word common sense, check your valuables.

Can we truly think about climate change at all? [The Outline]. The deck: Part one of a three-part series on how philosophy contends with our possible annihilation. Not sure about this one, but I am pleased that the culture hasnt completely rotted. Here are the first paragraphs:

In Butlers 2017 video installation, On Exactitude in Science, is one of the most remarkable things Ive seen in the last few months. The work consists of two screens. On the left plays Godfrey Reggios Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out Of Balance, the 1982 stoner classic of slow motion and time lapse footage of cities and landscapes; complete with pulsing, shimmering Philip Glass soundtrack. On the right: Butlers shot-by-shot remake, in which he has  somehow, marvelously, painstakingly  reproduced the film in its entirety by modding Grand Theft Auto V. On paper, reproducing Koyannisqatsi in GTA form sounds like it would be an impressive technical feat  surely nothing more. But when you actually sit down and watch the thing, it turns out to be utterly spellbinding. For long stretches, it can be hard to remember which screen is which: Butlers land- and city-spaces are so unerringly accurate that I found myself checking left and right to keep my bearings, miming writing with my dominant hand to confirm. But then every now and then  and as the film develops, increasingly often  a human face will enter, and the difference becomes bluntly, laughably obvious. On the left, commuters walk briskly. People  builders, waitresses, fighter pilots  stand by machines, looking into the camera intently, often slightly uncomfortably. On the right, their doubles simply mill about, almost at random; their faces, at any rate generic, have nothing in them.

Impressive. Do we have any philosophers in the readership who can venture into the piece for several more paragraphs?

Guillotine Watch

A MAP OF RECENT EVENTS

Green arrow = legal representation

Red arrow = alleged blackmail or criminal setup

Orange = pursued case against In a green box = not in legal trouble

Red box = definitely in trouble

Yellow box = maybe in trouble

Orange = "not charged but not exonerated" pic.twitter.com/P3khPVpp9k  Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) March 27, 2019

Class Warfare

Paging Upton Sinclair:

Lerner was absolutely right. This is from "The National Debt and the New Economics," by Seymour Harris, 1947. The critique of Functional Finance boils down to: 'Lerner may be right, but people won't get it so we can't do it.' pic.twitter.com/DYXQfTuE4T  Deficit Owls  (@DeficitOwls) April 3, 2019

News of the Wired

Fun with large machines (1):

When using the large GUI based Linux app for something simple that can be done with the CLI easily  pic.twitter.com/othzXv7Nno  The Best Linux Blog In the Unixverse (@nixcraft) April 3, 2019

Fun with large machines (2):

Wearable Raspberry Pi by Jason Benson on flickr, who is clearly living in 3018 https://t.co/Eb7Pit5lBM pic.twitter.com/mqYGcBUnLx  Masque of the Red Death (@doctorow) April 3, 2019

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Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, (c) how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal, and (d) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. Todays plant (JU):

JU writes: A foot wide goliath mushroom of some sort, from a distance it had the look of a folded Carhartt jacket, I couldnt figure out what it was.

* * *

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So do feel free to make a contribution today or any day. Here is why: Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know Im on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of small donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals. So if you see something you especially appreciate, do feel free to click this donate button:











Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated. Because its new and improved, Ill leave it up for a few days:

If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!Because my cat is sick and probably dying, this wont be much of a post.1 I have to take him to the vet in a few hours, which will be his third visit this week. Apologies.

Theresa May appeared to make a major change in course yesterday by starting the process of striking a cross-party deal with Labour on a softer Brexit. However, May also said she wanted to petition the EU to have an extension to May 22..to approve her Withdrawal Agreement. As well discuss shortly, its inconceivable that the EU would agree to that. Or as Richard Smith put it, More cretinism from May:

"This debate, this division cannot drag on much longer It is doing damage to our politics"  UK PM Theresa May confirms she is seeking further "short" extension to departure from EUhttps://t.co/zEeFMMJz94 #Brexit pic.twitter.com/xtLA1CVwDk  BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) April 2, 2019

For those of you who are not deep into Brexit details, May is giving a big raised middle finger to the EU with this proposal. The UK came as a petitioner to the EU seeking an extension, which the EU was in no way obligated to give. The EU rejected Mays request for an extension to June 30 and instead gave her two alternatives: if she got her Withdrawal Agreement approved by March 29, the Government could have an extension to May 22 to pass enabling legislation. If not, it had until April 12 to indicate a way forward with Brexit [that is acceptable the EU] and take the steps necessary to participate in the European Parliament elections.

Mays new bright idea was not on offer, and for good reason. Without belaboring the details, having the UK in the EU after April 12 risks having UK citizens claim the right to vote in European Parliament elections. Not acting accordingly has the potential to throw the legality of the new Parliament in question. Even if that risk is arguably remote, the consequences would be dire. An even more pressing reason is they dont want to risk a no deal dominating the election:

Hasn't taken EU diplomats long to spot this whacking great bear trap. They're already telling us no way will they grant UK an extension to May 22 without it taking part in EP elections. To do so would create a legally unavoidable cliff edge the day before voters go to the polls. https://t.co/MAFwfcr8RH  Nick Gutteridge (@nick_gutteridge) April 2, 2019

So an open question is whether this is May being dragging around her Withdrawal Agreement corpse because shes incapable of coming up with another approach, or is this one of her idiot-savant displays, where she is steering the UK to a no deal Brexit if she cant get her way with the Withdrawal Agreement, and trying to make Labour own that outcome too?

The rumors are that 14 of her 27 Cabinet ministers were opposed to her plan. Richard North provides more scuttlebutt:

She had, she said, just come from chairing seven hours of Cabinet meetings where, if we are to believe what we are told, acrimonious ministers were split between wanting a no-deal Brexit and opting for a customs union, with the no-dealers holding the majority.

Mind you, Mays statement came after a round of panic and confusion. May had her ministers surrender their phones during a seven hour session. The House entertained scheduling something called the Cooper-Letwin bill for Wednesday in place of the previously planned indicative votes. Most observers thought meant the UK was on a just-about certain path to crash-out.but then the indicative votes were back on! So Brexit-watchers were already overstimulated when the Prime Minister made her announcement of her seeming change in direction.

But my take is that Mays move is a variant of her standard run the clock out play, which hasnt worked for her so far (save for keeping her in No. 10). If nothing else, talking to Labour creates more moving parts, more complexity, and therefore more opportunity for failure.

The reason for doubting any sincerity to Mays moves is not simply that that would be out of character. Its that when the idea of a second referendum came up last fall, May was willing to consider it only as a way to have voters decide between her deal and no deal. She was not willing to entertain Remain as an option. Leaks in recent days have indicated that May prefers a crash out to no Brexit.

Thus there is every reason to think that May believes the widespread antipathy among MPs for a crash out gives her leverage to force approval for her deal. She likely believes that her failure to achieve that end is because MPs believe they can still get another sort of Brexit. She may also believe that the EU is more afraid of a no deal Brexit than it is.

So if May were to get her short extension to May 22, it would make a long extension possible and cut off pretty much all Brexit escape routes. The only risk she runs is that Parliament could work up the nerve to back revoking Article 50.

Recall that Richard North caught on to the significance of May saying that any Brexit deal required the approval of her Withdrawal Agreement. Shes making that a requirement of her talks with Labour. From the Financial Times:

Theresa May on Tuesday inflamed the Conservative civil war on Europe after she offered to work with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to end the Brexit impasse, opening the door to a softer exit deal that could include membership of a customs union with the EU. After a cabinet meeting lasting more than seven hours, the UK prime minister made clear she was willing to face down Eurosceptic Tories, announcing she would seek a further delay to Britains exit from the EU as she tried to forge a new cross-party approach with the Labour leader on future ties with the EU. But she added that any joint plan would have to endorse the 585-page exit treaty she has negotiated with the bloc.

Ian Dunt reads this the same way I do:

That is the May deal vs no-deal territory. The words about working with opposition and indicative votes are welcome, but look past that at the actions she is taking.  Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) April 2, 2019

More details from his post:

It all sounded so reasonable. A realistic timetable. Cross-party cooperation. It was like a whole new prime minister. But then came the dangerous part. She got to that bit in her statement where, if you were looking hard enough, you could see the tactical sleight of hand. The government would then bring forward the withdrawal agreement bill, she said, referring to the domestic legislation enacting the deal with Brussels. We would want to agree a timetable for this bill to ensure it is passed before the 22nd of May, so the UK need not take part in European parliamentary elections. And thats when the alarm bells started ringing. That is the bit that will define if this is a real attempt to turn the page on how she approaches Brexit or another cynical trap based on deception. The European elections are a crucial moment in the Brexit process. The EU has been clear that if the UK does not take part in those elections, it cannot remain inside, because it would mean that the European parliament would potentially be illegally constituted. The danger was always that May would use this fact to pivot parliament into a place where it had to choose between her deal or no-deal.

This is way too late to be workable. Notice how May called for working up new indicative vote options in case the round tomorrow fails. May may figure her gambit doesnt increase the odds of anything passing and could lower them, or lead the vote to be pushed back a day or two for Conservative-Labour canoodling. Any time loss at this juncture increases the odds of a crash out, which May clearly believes increases leverage for approving her deal. And even though the EU is no doubt unhappy with yet another display of Mays pig-headedness, if she were to manage to get her deal approved by next Wednesday or Thursday, the EU would grant an extension to May 22 for the UK to tidy things up legally.

To look at this another way, even if May actually had a Damascene conversion, shes not capable of working with Labour. It would be difficult for even a more skilled PM given the very short runway and the lack of prior engagement. So her offer is a ruse whether by accident or design. From our vlade:

The latest from May is a bear trap for Corbyn IMO. May has shown in the last two years to be constitutionally incapable of compromise and not-agreement-capable. She had three years (more, because of the dumb triggering of A50) to do what she now says she wants to do in less than

a week. So unless we find out that all that time she was really just looking for a dominant partner who tells here what to do, and found one in Corbyn, I cant see how this can lead to anything. Of course, the other option is that shes just incredibly canny, and this is all just a part of a long term plan. Muahahahah.

And Richard Murphy:

Of course that is too late. And likely to fail. She has no record in success. Thats the biggest reason for failure. She simply does not know how to deliver anything else. But it does throw Corbyn a difficult scenario. And Labour cannot walk away. For that they would be blamed. And they know it. And so too do the Cabinet. Thats why I think there have been no cabinet resignations.

Richard North more charitably sees Mays move as a last gamble to get her deal through; by implication, the rest is optics:

If this plan has any chance of working, it has to be done swiftly. Although the European Council is on the 10th  next Wednesday  when any decision will be made as to whether to extend the Article 50 period, the General Affairs Council is the day before. Since it is there that the preparatory work is done, at the UK end, whatever is to happen but be done and dusted by the end of business on Monday, in order to get the result to the General Affairs Council. Presumably, when it comes to the offer to the Westminster parliament, Mrs May will want to stick to the existing text of the political declaration, expecting Mr Corbyn to gamble on parliament voting to include a specific reference to a customs union. Whatever is agreed will then have to be bundled into a final motion which allows the Withdrawal Agreement to be ratified, this time with the support of Labour  by Monday at the latest. There are considerable odds of it getting as far as the vote though. Although Mr Corbyn has agreed to talks, he would walk out at any time  having stage-managed his departure to ensure that Mrs May takes her share of the blame. The temptation for him to do this will be strong, as he will be looking to an opportunity to pursue a general election. Coming to the prime ministers rescue has never been on his agenda.

The Ultras were predictably outraged.

Just talked to two ERG MPs. Angry doesnt quite cut it. This is serious stuff. She has fucked our party. She is fucking brexit. She is fucking the country.  Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) April 2, 2019

The DUP is not happy either:

The governments life-or-death agreement with Northern Irelands DUP has never been under the strain it is tonight. Read pic.twitter.com/dhaWBIUBx8  Robert Peston (@Peston) April 2, 2019

As Politicos morning newsletter pointed out:

NO DEAL? The EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has upgraded the risk of a no-deal Brexit to very likely. This assessment may have been based on the most recent round of votes on potential versions of Brexit in the House of Commons Monday. But its also a case of situational awareness: As of this morning, Brexit day is nine days away  and no deal is the default and only option that requires no action by the hamstrung British parliament.

The UK is clearly in time is of the essence mode if the goal is to avoid a crash out. Yet we remain in the dark as to what Mays true aims are.

_____

1 My cat Gabriel had 2 episodes of incontinence in 48 hours. Trust me, when a cat pees to send a message, they pee a ton. This was not that.

I took him to the vet on Monday, the day after the second incident. He has a large mass on his bladder, so large that his bladder can barely hold anything, hence him leaking. His kidney readings are also poor but that may be due to the bladder backing up into the kidneys.

This came out of the blue, since aside from getting very fussy about his wet food (as in over time pretty much no longer eating it) he seemed fine. And now that he is on antibiotics and an anti-nausea drug (same stuff as people take OTC, its not strong), hes chowing down food and seems perfectly normal. The vet was also disconcerted by how healthy he appears to be versus his actual condition.

Bladder cancer is very rare in cats, and the vets are trying to determine what the mass is. But Gabriel is 14. Even if the mass is not cancer, removing it may not improve his kidney function much. So even good news will present me with a difficult choice: do I put an old cat through surgery that may not benefit him much in terms of longevity? (It would improve the quality of his life once he recovered by getting his bladder back to normal which was also contributing to his acting like he was interested in eating but then turning away from food).Yves here. Yasha Levine describes the hypocrisy of liberals who almost certainly consider themselves woke, or at least not racists, engaging in precisely that sort of behavior with respect to Russians. Weve seen another case study in double standards, with Democrats defending Joe Bidens habit of putting his hands on women in subordinate positions when theyd be calling for the head of a Republican who did the same thing.

By Yasha Levine, the author of Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet. Originally published at Substack

This bigotry isnt coming from the lower-classes that liberals love to mock so much, but from very top  the creme de la creme of our media and political class.

Ive been trying to write about the liberal xenophobia that undergirds so much of todays elite panic about Russia and the Russians. Since Trumps election, the usual stereotypes and tropes about Russians have morphed into an all-encompassing racist conspiracy. Its become totally fine  and even respectable  in American liberal media circles to bombard viewers and readers with all sorts of conspiracies that see shadowy Russian interests infecting our society and lurking behind everything thats going wrong in America and around the world.

As a Soviet-born Jew who grew up in America, its been impossible for me not to notice just how similar these conspiracies are to old antisemitic fantasies about Judeo-Bolsheviks and the Elders of Zion  deadly fairytales about degenerate easterners wielding total power in secret, and plotting from the shadows to dominate and exploit white, Christian civilization.

The liberal journalists, academics, media personalities, Hollywood stars, and New York Times documentary filmmakers whove been screeching about the Russians for the past three years may not be aware that theyre serving up reheated racist fantasies, but they are. And this bigotry isnt coming from the lower-classes that liberals love to mock so much, but from very top  the creme de la creme of our media and political class. One day you get Rachael Maddow working herself into paranoid seizure about a supposed Russian plot to cut power lines and freeze millions of Americans in their sleep. On another, you can watch the screenwriter of Mrs. Doubtfire take to the Internet to theorize about how the Russians are plotting to take down Joe Biden (and I guess to covertly boost Bernie Sanders) by getting an American politician to highlight the creepy and demeaning way Biden treats women.

Its gross, and it goes to show that the respectable liberal opposition to Donald Trump is no less racist and paranoid than he is  it just operates in a different xenophobic market demographic.

Anyway, I say that Ive been trying to write about this because, well, its such a gross and unpleasant topic that its hard to find the words. So far, the only way Ive been able to process it is to tweet  to tweet and to draw.Nature has manufactured the perfect machines. Only the fastest, toughest, and most cunning creatures have endured. We examine how animals have evolved and how we can benefit from their evolution.

Sundays from 8:30pm AEDT.On the eve of the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Washington D.C., a NATO Engages conference took place on Wednesday (3 April 2019) to discuss the Alliance at 70. Addressing the conference, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pointed to a "paradox": while questions are being asked about the strength of the transatlantic bond, Europe and North America are actually doing "more together than in many decades". Pointing to the historic success and enduring value of NATO, Mr. Stoltenberg also stressed the importance of Allied unity in addressing security challenges ranging from terrorism to a more assertive Russia.

US Vice President Mike Pence provided a keynote address earlier in the day, and Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller opened the conference, pointing to the evolution and increased diversity of the Alliance over time. "NATO is evolving and NATO is adapting. And NATO looks a little bit different than it did on April 4th of 1949," she said.

The "NATO Engages" format was launched during NATOs Brussels Summit in July 2018, and also featured at the Munich Security Conference in February 2019. It is the result of a successful partnership with the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund, the Munich Security Conference, and other partners, to reach out to new audiences  particularly women and young people.

NATOs Foreign Ministers are meeting in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday (3-4 April 2019) to celebrate 70 years since the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, and to ensure that NATO remains a modern Alliance fit for modern challenges.(Natural News) High-altitude flights could cause you to experience painful bloating and embarrassing flatulence throughout the trip. This gastrointestinal syndrome is called high altitude flatus expulsion (HAFE). Understanding the primary causes of HAFE can show you how to reduce the chances of this gut problem popping up during your next long flight.

The best-known reason for HAFE is that air pressure goes down as the altitude increases. The reduction in pressure allows gases to spread out and take up more space than usual.

Now, your gut always contains gas. The exact composition depends on what you have eaten, drunk, or swallowed. Some food and drinks  like carbonated beverages  increase the amount of gas in your gut.

During a flight, these gases expand as the aircraft rise into the sky. As more gas come into contact with the bowel walls, they begin pushing on the intestine. This produces an unpleasant feeling of internal pressure that is known as bloating. (Related: Contaminated air in commercial aircraft is poisoning passengers and crew.)

Rapid changes in altitude could also cause bloating and flatulence

The aforementioned increase of gas pressure in the bowel used to be the only recognized reason for increased flatulence during air travel. But in 2013, a new study conducted by the Mansfield Medical Clinic came up with an additional reason for HAFE.

The Australian researchers suggested that rapid transitions from low altitudes to greater heights could force the movement of carbon dioxide into the bowel. The influx of more gas could lead to a higher rate of flatulence.

In their study, the researchers brought a group of healthy volunteers to a ski resort. The resort was located on a mountain at an altitude of 5,900 feet. Eighteen hours before starting the trip, the volunteers jotted down data like the number of times they passed gas. The participants did this every hour until 18 hours after arriving at the resort.

The Mansfield researchers reported that the number of flatulence incidents almost doubled during the 18-hour period after the participants arrived at the high-altitude resort. The greatest amount of flatulence was recorded eight to 11 hours after arrival.

Based on their findings, the researchers did not think that existing gases in the gut were solely responsible for the huge jump in flatulence. They suggested that the simultaneous increase in altitude and reduction in air pressure caused carbon dioxide dissolved in the blood to move toward the bowel.

How to avoid HAFE during high-altitude flights

HAFE cannot be completely prevented. But it can be mitigated through straightforward means without using drugs.

Skip foods that have large amounts of FODMAP carbohydrates for at least one day before your flight. Foods like beans, cashews, dairy foods, cruciferous vegetables, fiber bars, garlic, onions, and ice cream with inulin fiber or sugar alcohols produce more gas in the gut, which increases the chance of bloating and flatulence.

Refrain from consuming carbonated beverages during the trip. The fizz in soda drinks are carbon dioxide gas that could enter your gut and cause your bowel to distend more than usual.

If the flight is a very long one, stand up and walk around the passenger cabin a couple of times. Remaining still in a cramped seat for many hours could hamper the movement of gases through the bowel. This could cause gas to build up inside the intestine, which is another cause for HAFE.

On a related note, holding in the gas only makes bloating worse. But if you find the stink of a fart too embarrassing, you can put charcoal filters in your clothes or put on underwear with charcoal liners. The charcoal will absorb the odor and make things easier for you and your neighbor.

Read WeirdScienceNews.com for more true stories about weird science.

Sources include:

Health.USNews.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov(Natural News) In the aftermath of a recent federal court ruling striking down as unconstitutional a California law limiting gun magazines to 10 rounds, firearms owners throughout the state have flooded suppliers with purchases.

Following the ruling, many online gun suppliers began selling magazines of all sizes to gun owners in California. One of them, Rainier Arms, has seen purchases of its Magpul Gen2 30-round AR-15-style magazines soar to the point that the sales/payment processing server went down for a time, Ammoland reported.

We received such an overwhelming surge of sales over the weekend, it actually crashed our merchant services, the website was fine, but our payment services were so overwhelmed it crashed, said Aristotle Bartolome of Rainier Arms, the gun news site reported.

With that said, we closed out a very strong weekend, and even with the chaos, were currently 48 hours behind on getting all of the weekend orders caught up and adjusting staffing to better support our customers getting their orders quicker.

Another retailer, Brownells, also reports they are selling magazines like crazy to California buyers. More to the point, the company says that buyers in the Golden State appear to be stocking up on AR-15 magazines especially (Brownells is one of the biggest firearms and gun suppliers online).

Ammoland reported further:

California residents are in a rush to buy up magazines before the state can appeal U.S. District Judge Roger Benitezs decision to the Ninth Circuit Court. The judges decision stunned the California Attorney General and the gun community as well. It went further than either side anticipated.

One California resident, Adelaide Golden, told me that she thinks that all gun owners in the state need to take advantage of the opportunity to purchase standard capacity magazines while they are shipping to the state.

How many rounds are too many?

In a national and local environment that is increasingly hostile to responsible gun owners, its important to take advantage of opportunities that present, Golden said. With the overturn of unconstitutional limits on magazine sizes, I, as a California resident, can finally have standard size magazines that can make a small difference at the range and a huge difference if Im ever forced to defend myself or my home.

And thats a great point, by the way  the ability to defend oneself and their home.

First of all, as The National Sentinel noted recently, the Second Amendment is clear in that the gun rights shall not be infringed. Limiting the amount of bullets a person can place into a bullet feeding device is an infringement, period, therefore unconstitutional in its face (so the federal court ruling is correct).

Secondly, who decided that 10 rounds were enough? Why 10? Why not 11? Or six? Or nine? Or 12? Thats like liberals trying to implement a minimum wage; what criteria is used? Is there data behind the 10-round number? How many studies have been done to determine the correct, necessary, and safe number of bullets guns should have?

Also, as Breitbart News reports, Democrats bullet limitations dont have any effect whatsoever on gun homicides, according to a new study. The research, titled, The Impact of State Firearm Laws on Homicide and Suicide Deaths in the USA, 19912016: a Panel Study, found specifically that magazine bans and bans on assault weapons do not reduce firearms-related deaths.

Californias ruling Democrats will no doubt appeal the federal courts ruling because Democrats cannot stand to see any of us armed and independent. But clearly, even if the ban is reinstated, scores of California gun owners are stocking up on a valuable firearms commodity just in case they are ever needed to defend other rights.

See more news about the growing resistance to globalist government tyranny at Resist.news.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

Ammoland.com(Natural News) Once it became crystal clear that the Deep State operatives loyal to Barack Obama and to the preservation of the Washington political establishment had conspired against POTUS Donald Trump in an unprecedented attempt to remove him from office, we began using the T word to describe their behavior.

T as in treason. What else do you call it when members of your own government secretly plot to overthrow you?

But up to now, only this publication and precious few others dared to use the T-word to describe the actions of James Comey, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Andrew McCabe, Bruce Ohr, Loretta Lynch, James Clapper, John Brennan, and even President Obama himself in launching Spygate.

That has changed. POTUS Trump himself has now used the word in an interview with reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the president was asked what he thought about the recently-released report from special counsel Robert Mueller, who cleared him of Russian collusion allegations (because it was always a hoax devised by Obama, Comey, et. al).

As The Gateway Pundit reported, POTUS addressed the issue for about six minutes, hitting, especially, Democrats who remain in denial after Muellers findings, continuing to insist  at risk to our countrys political stability  that the president did collude.

At the end of his remarks, the president declared, People did things that were very, very bad for our country and very, very illegal. And you can even say treasonous.

Trump also lashed out at Democrats who are now demanding that, after two years of this witch hunt, the entire Mueller report should be released in full, unredacted  which violates the law and current Justice Department policies especially because doing so could expose untold numbers of people to embarrassing invasions of their privacy. (Related: Blatant TREASON: FBIs probe of President Trump after he fired crooked James Comey was an obvious COUP attempt.)

Trump has now used the word so its time for prosecutions

Its a disgrace, the president said, adding that he has total respect for Attorney General William Barr, who must now decide what portions of the report to release and in what form.

Anything we give [Democrats] will never be enough, POTUS continued. Its a 400-page report, right? We could give them 800 pages and it wouldnt be enough.

Trump noted that the Spygate plot has actually gone on longer than two years, adding that its been percolating in various forces since he came down the escalator at Trump Tower in New York City in June 2015 to announce his candidacy. He also mentioned the insurance policy discussed by Page, Strzok, and McCabe, which testimony has indicated was the plot to oust Trump in case he beat Hillary Clinton.

A reporter, off-camera, actually brought up a good point: He noted that back in the 1990s, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is now chairman of the House Oversight Committee, was opposed to the unredacted release of then-independent Counsel Kenneth Starrs report on the various scandals involving Bill and Hillary Clinton  but now he says the full Mueller report should be released.

Trump then noted that Nadler, House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and other Democrats were disappointed by the Mueller report, but he added:

I guarantee you they go into a room, between Nadler, Schiff and the group, and they laugh like hell at how they kept this thing going for two years. They laugh like hell. And I hope that this investigation now, which is finishedI hope they now go and take a look at the origins [of the Mueller probe]where it started, how it started, who started itwhether its McCabe or Comey or a lot of themhow high up in the White House did it go

Now that the president has used the T-word to describe the Deep State coup attempt against him, its time for AG Barr to prosecute them all for what they tried to do. America cant be turned into a banana republic with stealth bombers and nuclear weapons.

Sources include:

GoodGopher.com

TheGatewayPundit.com

TheNationalSentinel.com(Natural News) Students attending Yale University who were eager to have 24/7, on-campus access to birth control pills, condoms, lubrication, and other emergency contraception items and devices from vending machines were disappointed to learn recently that the plan has now been scrapped because it would have violated Connecticut state law.

Reports indicate that Yales first wellness-to-go vending machine, which was supposed to be installed at Silliman College late last year as part of a campus-wide pilot program, was put out of commission before it was ever even delivered and installed  forcing students who just cant resist the urge to have immediate sex whenever they feel like it, even without protection, to actually plan out their sexual escapades a little more in advance.

While Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart had earlier indicated that students at the school would very soon have on-demand access to the birth control paraphernalia of their choice, the state of Connecticut quickly reminded the school that over-the-counter medications cant be legally sold in vending machines  let alone handed out for free, as Yale intended to do with Plan B and other anti-pregnancy pharmaceuticals.

They are not supposed to be sold by vending machine, and its a regulation that was put in effect in 1999, said Lora Rae Anderson, a spokeswoman for the states Department of Consumer Protection, in a recent statement to the New Haven Register.

Because several other colleges and universities across the country are reportedly already vending birth control pills and condoms to students, Yale leadership had hoped and assumed that it could do the same thing on its campus  that is, until the letter of the law got in the way.

Connecticut is one of two or three states in the entire nation that has that law, Anderson added, noting that the little-known law was discovered at a very late stage in the process of vetting a partnership between Vengo Labs, the company that makes the vending machines, and both lawyers and administration at Yale who were working feverishly to implement the vending machine.

For more related news, be sure to check out CampusInsanity.com.

Yale responds to Connecticuts law by offering free emergency contraception via Yale Health, instead  no clinician consultations necessary

After learning that its progressive vending machine proposal would not be allowed to proceed, Yale leadership immediately changed campus rules that had previously required students to first meet with a clinician before being prescribed Plan B medication.

Now, students will go to Yale Health [and] all theyll have to do is show their Yale identification, Anderson told local media, adding that Yale students dont even need a university health plan in order to access the morning-after pill  which, by the way, was made available over-the-counter as opposed to only through prescription under the Obama regime.

Before, it required one or a series of conversations that a student would have to have with Yale Health nurses or clinicians, she added.

In other words, Yale still wants to hand out all sorts of contraception and pregnancy-killing pills like candy to whomever wants them, even if doing so through vending machines is no longer a legal option.

After all, Yale needs to keep up with its forward-thinking counterparts like Stanford University, Pomona College, Brandeis University, the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, all of which have successfully installed Plan B vending machines in recent years.

Abortions from a vending machine  I wouldnt expect anything less from a liberal college, wrote one New Haven Register commenter about the situation.

Why not emphasize keeping ones pants zipped up? asked another. Oh yeah, that wouldnt make any money for Yale.

Sources include:

APNews.com

YaleDailyNews.com

NHRegister.com

NaturalNews.com(Natural News) An organism that has plagued Florida waters since 2017, bringing an assault of toxic green algae and red tide blooms, is finally disappearing, according to a report released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The announcement was made a few weeks after marine scientists observed that Karenia brevis, the microscopic algae responsible for the harmful blooms, are no longer present in samples collected from different parts of the state.

While satellite photos still reveal red tide blooms in southwest Florida, the concentrations of K. brevis are still declining even in those areas, according to Vincent Lovko of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.

Weve seen a much-reduced number of cell count samples that have elevated Karenia brevis, Lovko added in an NPR report. That does seem to indicate that the bloom has largely dissipated.

The report comes as a relief for those living on the Gulf Coast, especially in communities that have been hit the hardest by the red tide blooms. In particular, tourism in areas affected by the red tide has significantly declined over the past years because of the situation.

The usual suspects

Indeed, it is great news that the state is finally recovering from the disastrous effects brought about by these algal blooms. But if youre looking for whos responsible for this environmental disaster, it could either be anyone or no one  depending on who youre asking.

According to the FWC and Mote, the two algae outbreaks that devastated that state arent linked to nutrient pollution. The Florida government, in their website for red tide monitoring, also echoed that no link exists between nutrient pollution and red tides caused by K. brevis.

A study made by the University of Marylands Center for Environmental Studies, however, says that these two outbreaks are connected. In particular, K. brevis  the algae responsible for red tide outbreaks along the southwest coast  use the cyanobacteria in the blue-green algae outbreak as a food source. The latter is mainly caused by man-made pollution, especially from the following sources:

Urea nitrogen from shore-based sewage spills and discharges

Septic tanks that leak urea nitrogen, as well as those from lawn applications

Cattle ranches, farms, and neighborhoods that release nitrogen and phosphorus into Lake Okeechobee

The end result is a chain reaction: Nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich runoffs feed the cyanobacteria in green-algae, which become fodder for the red tide-causing K. brevis. (Related: Florida battling dual ecological disasters  What arent they telling residents about the connection between the toxic green algae and red tides?)

How it affects humans and the environment

Red tide blooms are notoriously harmful to marine life, as K. brevis contain brevetoxins that can harm the nervous system of those that feed on them. The toxins are potent enough to kill fish, seabirds, turtles, and even marine mammals. A person exposed to the harmful bloom will experience respiratory irritation  which includes wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath  as well as irritation in the eyes, nose, and throat. People with severe or chronic respiratory conditions are advised to avoid getting near beaches with red tide blooms as it can lead to serious complications. If you have been swimming in waters infested by red tide, rinse thoroughly with fresh water.

Consuming shellfish from waters affected by red tide is also harmful, as these contain concentrated amounts of brevetoxins. If a person eats contaminated shellfish, he may experience neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, a condition marked by severe stomach problems and a tingling sensation in the fingers and toes.

Learn more about the dangers brought about by red tide blooms at Environ.news.

Sources include:

NBCNews.com

NPR.org

GreenMedInfo.com

ABCNews.go.com(Natural News) If youre one of those urban homesteaders who raise livestock, you might have had the experience of having an angry mob with pitchforks (or smartphones for that matter) at your front door.

Animal rights activists fight for the proper care of animals. But rallying up in front of urban farmers homes might be a bit too much, especially since these self-sufficient folks only want to reap the benefits of their hard days work. Not everyone is a vegetarian, and not everyone can manage living off of plants alone.

The fallout started in a city farm called Urban Adamah in Berkeley, run by Adam Berman. Animal rights activists caught wind of a public chicken slaughter workshop, called shechita. Thirty people signed up for the event, but it was later canceled due to the landlords fear of having an out-of-hand protest. The city farm still continued with the slaughter, and animal rights activists were enraged.

This urban farm follows Jewish traditions, such as the aforementioned shechita. It is a Jewish religious and humane method of slaughtering poultry for food by a shochet, a Jewish person who has years of training in humane slaughtering. A guide on shechita explains that this process is utterly religious and humane, using extra-sharp knives so pain wont be felt by the animal. Workshops conducted by the shochet had been performed in the past, where the participants are asked to pluck and clean the chickens, salt them, and cook them as well. None of the participants are asked to wield the knife, since it takes a qualified and trained person to execute a clean and painless butchering.

Another upside to this is that the food created by this farm serves the underprivileged. Urban Adamah practices proper animal care, and teaches its students and staff the farms core values of kindness and compassion to all living things. The chickens raised here provides compost for the 18,000 pounds of fresh greens the farm produces. Aside from providing a source of food for the unfortunate, it also provides a sense of community through education on food and nutrition.

For most animal rights activists, like the United Poultry Concerns, In Defense of Animals, and Jewish Vegetarians of North America, any kind of animal slaughter for food is considered highly unethical. They declare that farms should switch to veganic farming practices and eliminate the need for slaughtering livestock. Some people believe that these animal rights activists should be focusing more on the giant companies and corporate cartels that mass-produce meat. More often than not, these big meat groups practice unethical animal husbandry and vile livestock-raising methods that would turn a meat-eater against them. Urban farmers who slaughter a less than a handful of chickens simply wish to eat what they grow.

However, not everyone in the city wishes to live beside a noisy farm. Old MacDonald had a city farm and all his animals made everyone stay up late at night. While the image of pigs snorting and chickens cock-a-doodling early in the morning may haunt you, it isnt as bad as it seems. Most urban farmers keep their animals at bay by providing them sufficient space to roam and move freely, and have proper housing for these animals that keep them safe and quiet at night. There is a nice benefit to growing your own food  you get to see what it is you are really eating.

Compared to factory meat, which sounds really awful, fresh meat matters a lot when it comes to taste. The transportation time between slaughter and market/grocery sale lowers down the quality of the meat, and makes it grounds for dangerous bacteria. Besides, you really never know what goes on in a meat factory, and you probably wont want to know. Like freshly plucked ripe fruit, time also matters when it comes to the freshness and overall quality of any kind of meat.

Sources include:

ModernFarmer.com

ShechitaUK.org(Natural News) Democrats are working overtime in states and in Congress to chip away at Americans gun rights, mostly by adopting silly gun licensing and storage requirements, the imposition of red flag laws (which violate the constitutional requirement of due process), and bans on the number rounds a firearm magazine can hold.

The latter regulation has been popular for several years now, having been adopted by blue state legislatures as a way to ostensibly limit the carnage during mass shootings.

But a new study has found what most everyone with more than a pair of brain cells to rub together realized long ago: Arbitrary bullet limitations dont have any impact whatsoever on fatal shootings.

As Breitbart News Awr Hawkins reports that a newly released study on state gun control laws around the country that ban high-capacity rifle and handgun magazines as well as so-called assault weapons dont lower homicide rates.

Led by Boston University School of Public Healths Michael Siegel; a second listed study author was Harvard University gun control advocate David Hemenway.

The news site noted further:

The study, The Impact of State Firearm Laws on Homicide and Suicide Deaths in the USA, 19912016: a Panel Study, isolated four states to study ten different types of gun control to see if certain gun controls were successful in reducing homicide and/or suicide rates. Via their research, they discovered that high-capacity magazine and assault weapons bans do not lower homicide rates.

Although I completely understand the desire to ban assault weapons, I just dont see empirical evidence that such bans have any substantial impact on homicide rates. These bans are most often based on characteristics of guns that are not directly tied to their lethality, said Siegel in an interview.

He added: Laws regulating the sale of assault weapons are unlikely to have a large impact on homicide rates because these weapons are used in only a very small proportion of homicides. The vast majority of firearm homicides in the United States are committed with handguns.

What part of shall not be infringed do Democrats not understand?

Theres more. The study found that changes in household gun ownership were not found to be significantly associated with homicide or suicide rates.

But this finding is completely counter to the Democratic Lefts unending claims that a gun in the home puts everyone in it at far greater risk.

Anyone whos followed this issue for any length of time knows that the current study really just reaffirms previous research that found assault weapons and gun magazine bans are non-factors in gun-related homicides, again because handguns are most often used to kill. And theres this fact as well: By far most gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides, not homicides  and that fact hasnt changed in decades.

What has changed is the number of people killed by guns: That figure dropped last year.

But theres more to this issue that gun research and falling death rates.

When our founding fathers wrote the Second Amendment, they inserted a provision  shall not be infringed  believing that it would be self-explanatory.

Given that the Constitution places limitations on government(s) and not individuals, their intent was obviously to prevent future congresses and presidents from enacting any laws that would restrict a citizens right to keep and bear arms in any manner whatsoever.

After states ratified the 14th Amendment following the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the amendments due process clause applied to states as well. That established the doctrine of incorporation, meaning that all of the Constitutions recognition and protection of rights applies to the states as well.

That includes the Second Amendment, much to the angst of the Democratic Left. Its time we reestablished the shall not be infringed provision as an inviolable constitutional mandate, or Democrats will continue to use faulty logic and politics  not science  to limit our gun rights.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

Investors.com

TheTrace.org

NewsTarget.comCORVALLIS, Ore. - A groundbreaking two-year study in southern Oregon found greater abundance and diversity of wild bees in areas that experienced moderate and severe forest fires compared to areas with low-severity fires.

The study, published today in the journal Ecosphere by researchers in the Oregon State University College of Forestry, is the first to demonstrate that wildfire severity is a strong predictor of bee diversity in mixed-conifer forest.

Bees are the most important among the Earth's pollinators, which combine for an estimated $100 billion in global economic impact each year. Oregon is home to more than 500 species of native bees.

Animal pollinators enhance the reproduction of nearly 90 percent of the Earth's flowering plants, including many food crops.

The pollinators are an essential component of insect and plant biodiversity. Bees are the standard bearer because they're usually present in the greatest numbers and because they're the only pollinator group that feeds exclusively on nectar and pollen their entire life.

Scientists led by OSU forest wildlife ecologist Jim Rivers in 2016 began trapping bees at 43 sites in forests burned by the 2013 Douglas Complex fire that scorched nearly 50,000 acres north of Grants Pass.

They collected bees with blue-vane traps, which attract the insects by reflecting ultraviolet light, and used satellite imagery to determine fire severity.

"Twenty times more individuals and 11 times more species were captured in areas that experienced high fire severity relative to areas with the lowest fire severity," said Sara M. Galbraith, a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Forestry. "We detected a large number of bees in recently burned forest patches. The bees represented five families and a large subset of Oregon's wild bee species."

At low-severity sites, flames were mostly confined to low-growing vegetation.

"If you weren't looking for the markers of fire, in the low-severity spots you wouldn't know that they had burned," Galbraith said. "The canopy is more closed, and there wasn't a lot of visible evidence of fire except for blackened areas on the tree trunks."

In contrast, some of the high-severity sites had a completely open canopy.

"There were many more flowering plants in the understory because the light limitation was gone," she said. "The flowering plants and another critical habitat component for maintaining bee populations -boring insect exit holes used by cavity-nesting bees - both increased with fire severity."

And the two most abundant genera among the trapped bees, Bombus (bumblebee species) and Halictus (sweat bee species), each responded positively to high fire severity despite having different foraging ranges.

"This research adds to the evidence that there is high biodiversity in early seral forests - the beginning stages of forest development - and moving forward, the amount and location of this habitat could have an impact on services like pollination in the landscape overall," she said. "Half of Oregon is forested, yet we know very little about bees in forests, especially managed conifer forests. With this fundamental information, we can begin to understand the best management actions that can promote pollinator populations within managed forests."

Previous studies primarily just considered, "did it burn or didn't it burn?'" Galbraith said.

"Our study took into account the mosaic of habitats that you find after fires in many regions of the world," she said. "We found that burn severity is really useful for predicting where the bee habitat will be after a fire. It makes sense that some organisms would have evolved to do well after severe burning in this fire-adapted landscape."What to Know Attorneys for Kevin Spacey are seeking surveillance footage, text messages and other records they say they need to defend their client.

Spacey's lawyers also want documents from the accuser's civil attorney, including fee agreements with the accuser's family.

Last year, former WCVB-TV news anchor Heather Unruh publicly accused Spacey of groping her son at a Nantucket restaurant in July of 2016.

Attorneys for Kevin Spacey are seeking surveillance footage, text messages and other records they say they need to defend the disgraced actor against accusations that he groped a young Massachusetts man at a Nantucket bar in 2016.

Kevin Spacey's lawyers asked the judge in court documents filed this week to order the accuser to turn over his cellphone so they can retrieve messages, photos and other data.

They also want documents from the accuser's civil attorney, including fee agreements with the accuser's family.

The lawyers say they believe the accuser intends to file a civil lawsuit against Spacey, which they say would bolster the defense's argument that the accuser has a "substantial financial motivation to falsify his claims."

Spacey pleaded not guilty last month. A hearing is scheduled for Monday, but the judge said Spacey doesn't have to attend.

Sex assault resources are available at the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673. Since it was first created in 1994, the National Sexual Assault Hotline has helped more than two million people, according to its website.A Bay Area woman with ties to an accused Chinese spy is at the center of a massive, nation-wide visa fraud scheme, according to court records obtained by NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit.

Federal prosecutors in Illinois charged Weiyun Kelly Huang with conspiracy to commit visa fraud in an 18-page criminal complaint filed last week. Shes accused of exploiting the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for foreign students with F-1 visas, which allows visa-holders to stay in the country for at least 12 months of additional temporary employment directly related to a students area of study.

Findreams website describes the company as an IT consulting company that provides knowledge training, web development, QA test, data analyst, business consulting, management consulting and coding platform services.

But federal agents say the business is a sham, just a front for Huangs visa fraud operation. According to the complaint, even the photos of Findreams employees were stock photos found online.

The true nature of Huangs business, according to the complaint, is more accurately described on the Chinese website Chineselookingforjob.com, also operated by Huang.

It appears that the entire purpose of Chineselookingforjob.com is to provide false verifications of employment for Chinese nationals who are F-1 visa holders seeking to continue their stay in the United States via the OPT program, writes a federal law enforcement officer in the criminal complaint. Indeed, the website characterizes OPT affiliation as pretend employment, and specifically indicates the intent to convince the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) that the individuals status is legal.

Chinese nationals seeking services from Chineselookingforjob.com, according to the complaint, would be told to list Findream as their employer on visa documents.

The extent of the alleged fraud is widespread. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services records, Findream ranked tenth among all U.S. companies employing Optional Practical Training students between 2003 and 2017, ahead of huge companies such as Facebook, IBM, and Apple. By comparison, the listed headquarters for Findream, LLC is inside a shared workspace building in downtown Mountain View, where a receptionist told NBC Bay Area they rarely see anyone from the company.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

But according to immigration records, the company claims to have employed thousands of foreign students in recent years.

Approximately 1,900 F-1 visa-holders have listed Findream as an employer on their OPT forms, the complaint states.

A search of LinkedIn by NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit found hundreds of active profiles listing Findream as a current or former employer. Many list China as their home country.

Huang herself, according to the complaint, originally came to the United States from China on an F-1 Visa in 2009 to study at the University of Mississippi. In 2014, she was issued a 24-month L-2 visa to accompany her husband during his sponsored employment in the United States. She listed Findream as her employer on the visa application.

Federal investigators, based on a review of subpoenaed records, say Huang deposited more than $1.5 million into her bank accounts between 2013 and 2018, including nearly $1 million received via peer-to-peer payment services, such as PayPal and Venmo.

An attorney representing Huang said he could not comment on the charges when reached Tuesday morning by NBC Bay Area.

Of the 1,900 F-1 visa holders who listed Findream as their employer, one name in particular stands out: Ji Chaoqun, who was arrested last year and accused of spying on behalf of China.

Ji, according to federal agents, arrived in the United States from China on an F-1 visa in 2013 to study at a University in Chicago. In 2015, he submitted a form seeking authorization to stay in the country for Optional Practical Training. He listed Findream as his employer, where he claimed to work 25 hours per week. A Findream employee certified under penalty of perjury that Ji was employed by the company. According to the criminal complaint, federal agents believe Huang to be the Findream employee who signed off on Chaoquns documents.

A search warrant served on Huangs email account found two documents pertaining to Jis alleged employment at Findream, including an employment offer letter and an employment verification letter dated January 9, 2017. Ji listed his employment address at a purported Findream Chicago branch, but when agents visited the address, building employees said there were no records of Findream having office space there.

The criminal complaint says Jis bank records show a $900 payment to Findream in 2016, which agents say appeared to be a payment for the verifications of employment contained on JIs OPT forms.

In September, 2018, Chaoqun was arrested and charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government. According to court records in that case, Ji conducted background checks on a group of Chinese nationals working as engineers and scientists in the United States at the behest of Chinese intelligence officers.

Ji, according to court records, also enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program in 2016, a specialized program for foreigners deemed vital to the national interest living in the United States legally. In his application, he denied any involvement with a foreign government.

The criminal complaint against Huang doesnt say whether she was aware of Jis alleged activities as a foreign agent, and does not accuse her of being a Chinese agent herself. The complaint does not give the identities of the remaining 1,900 or so Chinese nationals who listed Findream as their employer for Optional Practical Training.

Huang is due in court Wednesday for a detention hearing. NBC Bay Area will continue to update the story as more information becomes available.A Navy SEAL charged in the death of an Iraqi war prisoner was reunited with his family after he was moved from the brig to the barracks at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Saturday.

Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was able to see his wife and son during this time, according to a Facebook post by "Free Eddie Gallagher  Navy SEAL Chief."

The post thanked President Donald Trump, who announced the move 15 hours earlier in a tweet.

Gallagher is accused of killing a teenage Islamic State fighter under his care and then holding his reenlistment ceremony with the corpse. Navy prosecutors also accuse Gallagher of shooting two civilians in Iraq and opening fire on crowds. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

In Trumps tweet, the president said the move was in honor of Gallaghers past service to the country.

The tweet came after 18 Republican members of the U.S. House sent a letter to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer raising concerns about the conditions of Gallaghers confinement at the Navy brig in California.

Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was moved from the brig to the barracks at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar after President Trump said he would step in to help. NBC 7's Bridget Naso has more.

In their March 18 letter to Spencer, the House members said Gallaghers family and friends reported that he had not had sufficient access to his defense attorneys. They also said they got reports he was not receiving enough food or adequate medical care.

Housing prisoners such as Gallagher who are awaiting trial with those who have completed their trials may be to blame for some of those problems, they said, and they called on Spencer to review that practice.

Following the transfer, the Facebook post claimed he "was finally moved into conditions that will allow him to receive the medical care he needs and deserves, and also the opportunity to adequately and fully prepare for his trial with his legal team."

Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher pleaded not guilty to the accusations of premeditated murder for the stabbing death of a teenage ISIS fighter. NBC 7s Alex Presha has more on the unfolding trial.

NBC 7 reached out to Gallagher's attorney, Phil Stackhouse, who said his team is also "very thankful" to the president for Gallaghers release from pretrial confinement.

Stackhouse also thanked U.S. Reps. Duncan Hunter, Ralph Norman, and Dan Crenshaw in an email to NBC 7.

NBC 7's Bridget Naso spoke to the SEAL's attorney about the charges hours after the Navy confirmed the SEAL will face a Court-Martial

Now that the President has directed Chief Gallagher's release, we look forward to the Navy expeditiously releasing him to his command, Stackhouse wrote.

A military judge last month postponed Gallaghers trial by three months after defense lawyers asked for more time to go over the prosecutions evidence.

The trial was reset for May 28.

President Trump said a Navy SEAL charged with murder will be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits trial. NBC 7's Bridget Naso has more.Law enforcement agencies in California must release police misconduct records even if the behavior occurred before a new transparency law took effect, a state court of appeals has ruled.

The 1st District Court of Appeal's decision released Friday settles for now a debate over whether records created before Jan. 1, when the law took effect, were subject to disclosure. Many police unions have sued to block the records release, while public information advocates argued the records should be disclosed.

The ruling applies to police agencies statewide, including the attorney general's office, unless another appellate court steps in and rules differently, said David Snyder of the First Amendment Coalition.

"These records are absolutely essential for the public to be able to see what the police departments are doing with respect to police misdoubt," said Snyder, whose group intervened in the case. "These agencies have enormous power over Californians and so transparency of those agencies is absolutely essential in order to be able to hold them accountable."

Attorneys for the Walnut Creek Police Officers Association, who sought to block the records, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

California lawmakers voted last year to require police agencies to release records on police shootings and officer misconduct to the public. Police unions had sought to block old records, with some law enforcement agencies even destroying them. Attorney General Xavier Becerra also declined to release records from his office, saying the intent of the law was up for debate in the courts.

For now, the appeals court has settled it, first ruling on March 12 but only making the opinion public Friday.

The rulings by a panel of three justices said the old records can be released because the action triggering their release  a request for public information by reporters or others  occurs after Jan. 1. The justices also noted the release of the records does not change the legal consequences for officers already found to have engaged in misconduct.

"The new law changes only the public's right to access peace officer records," the justices wrote.With a severe shortage of affordable housing in California, state lawmakers want to take control and change the rules by allowing higher density units near public transit whether cities like it or not.

Some San Francisco supervisors say they dont want state law telling them what kind of housing is allowed but under SB50, multi-unit buildings between three and five stories tall would be allowed in neighborhoods.

The so-called "More Homes Act," which passed its first committee hearing Tuesday, is getting mixed reactions as the plan has the potential to change the citys landscape.

"SB50 is not going to help our housing affordability crisis in SF," said Supervisor Gordon Mar, who is sponsoring the opposing plan. "It's going to make it worse and we believe it will override our local policies to increase density."

Though Mar said that six other supervisors also oppose the plan, Mayor London Breed and Laura Foote from non-profit YIMBY Action, which advocates for affordable housing, have expressed their support.

"Members are desperate for housing," Foote said. "We have people living in cars, people who have been displaced."

She said California cities have failed to build housing and now its time to address the crisis.

"We need state intervention to be sure people are doing their part."

If passed, the proposal would impact cities all over the Bay Area.A Catholic priest at a church in Fremont has been charged with 30 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child for allegedly molesting a boy over about 18 months in 2016 and 2017, Alameda County prosecutors said Tuesday.

The Rev. Hector David Mendoza-Vela, 42, also known as Hector David Vela, had served as a priest in Alameda County since 2013, first at St. John's Catholic Church in San Lorenzo and most recently at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Fremont, according to the district attorney's office.

Mendoza-Vela was set to appear in court for arraignment Tuesday afternoon in Dublin.

Last Thursday, sheriff's detectives learned of the allegations and contacted the victim, a boy who was 14 and 15 years old when the molestation occurred between June 2016 and December 2017, according to court documents filed for the charges.

The abuse occurred at the boy's home in unincorporated Hayward, an Alameda County sheriff's spokesman said.

During a pretext phone call to Mendoza-Vela by the boy that investigators were monitoring, he allegedly admitted to touching the boy inappropriately.

Detectives later went to the church in Fremont and arrested the priest, who confessed in an interview to touching the boy inappropriately. He also wrote the victim's family an apology letter, according to court documents.

Mendoza-Vela was parochial administrator at the church in Fremont, but Oakland Bishop Michael Barber wrote in a letter posted on the church's website that the defendant "may not present himself in public as a priest or engage in any priestly ministry" while the case is investigated.

Mendoza-Vela was born in El Salvador before coming to the U.S., where he is a legal resident, according to the Diocese of Oakland that oversees the churches where the priest served.

The district attorney's office has set up a confidential hot line at (510) 272-6395 for anyone who may have been victimized by the priest.A San Jose man who was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in her own bedroom last week had been in custody just six days earlier on assault charges but was released by a judge.

Richard Hernandez, 25, faces felony charges of sexual battery, sexual assault with intent to commit rape and burglary after he attacked a 28-year-old woman in her home early Thursday morning, police said.

San Jose PD

Six days earlier, a judge went against the wishes of prosecutors to keep Hernandez locked up on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after an attack with large sticks and rocks at a gas station.

A San Jose man who was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in her own bedroom last week had been in custody just six days earlier on assault charges but was released by a judge. Ian Cull reports.

Nilesh Bhadani, owner of the gas station, was shocked that Hernandez was even on the streets after what he did.

It was very scary to see him doing what he was trying to do," Bhadani said.

Bhadani has video of Hernandez holding wooden sticks and waving them around while hes cussing at employees. He said Hernandez was upset theyd called the cops on him a few days earlier, claiming he was acting crazy. Hernandez even threw the wooden sticks at the employees.

Moments after he left the store, he returned with rocks, shattering the store windows, the video shows. The same employees held him down until police arrived.

Police arrested Hernandez on three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. In a court document, the prosecutor recommends Hernandez be held in jail. But another document shows the judge ordered him released on supervised own recognizance, meaning bail.

"I didnt know the judge would do that, with what weve seen with the video," Bhadani said. "It showed you he shouldnt be roaming around in the streets."

Six days later, police arrested Hernandez in the sexual assaulting of a woman in her home on Ironwood Drive.

"This sort of thing frustrates me," said Walt Hoskins, the woman's neighbor. "You should be safe in your own home. And the judge has a responsibility to protect us. He protects criminals more than he protects the citizens."

Court records show Hernandez has been in and out of mental health court for the past seven years.Fed up with parking? Theres an app for that. A pair of South Bay entrepreneurs have created an Airbnb like service for parking.

The app called Parkstash matches cars with a nearby driveways to rent, which means less circling when trying to find a spot. At San Jose State University, looking for parking could be a Spartan-like task.

"Its kind of a nightmare at times," said SJSU alum, Sameer Saran. "I missed classes and I missed exams because of it."

So when Saran graduated from SJSU, he did something to try and ease the parking issue.

"When I was walking down the street, I saw empty driveways and carports, I started realizing, these people can share this valuable resource with students and staff," Saran said. "We could actually solve the problem of parking."

For $2 an hour or weekly and monthly rates, drivers can park in nearby driveways listed on the app.

Neighbours in the community were concerned about inviting college students into their driveways.

"The fear of neighbours is, college kids were parking and trashing the neighbourhood," said neighbor Christy Stevens.

Once Stevens allowed them to use their driveway, she realized the students were simply part of the community.

As "Parkstash" continues to build trust in the community, Saran said they are reaching out to malls and concert venues that might have extra parking spaces that drivers can rent.Authorities have arrested a man suspected of crashing his car into two girls playing in the front yard of a Georgia home, then fleeing the scene, NBC News reported.

One of the girls, 9-year-old LaDerihanna Holmes, was seriously injured in the hit-and-run crash Friday evening. Video of the scene showed a black sedan speed through a stop sign, on the the yard and into LaDerihanna and her friend.

Gabriel Jabri Fordham, 28, was arrested Tuesday and faces a felony charge of serious injury by vehicle and four misdemeanor charges, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office said.

A family attorney told NBC affiliate WXIA that LaDerihanna's family knows she's lucky to be alive. The car "didn't just hit her, it threw her through a brick wall," he said.A handful of Democratic presidential candidates are touting the amount of money they've raised in the first fundraising period of a 2020 primary fight that will last into next spring. The totals for the first quarter, which ran through March 31, are the first measure of how candidates are faring.

Details for the entire field won't be known until candidates file their required disclosures with the Federal Election Commission by April 15, but here are some takeaways from what the campaigns have released so far:

BERNIE REALLY IS A FRONT-RUNNER

Bernie Sanders joins former Vice President Joe Biden atop many polls of prospective Democratic primary voters. But Sanders has something Biden doesn't have (yet): a campaign operation raking in cash.

The senator from Vermont, who showed surprising fundraising heft in his upstart challenge to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton four years ago, raised more than $18 million in the 41 days between his official campaign launch and March 31, giving him $28 million cash on hand.

Those totals are expected to lead the Democratic field, putting pressure on other heavyweights, including Biden, who is still deciding whether to run and who is navigating accusations that he's acted inappropriately toward women.

Besides Sanders, Sen. Kamala Harris of California put up an impressive $12 million haul. Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas didn't offer a fundraising total Tuesday, but aides said he raised more than $1 million over the weekend and previously said he raised more than $6 million in his first 24 hours as a candidate.

Sanders' haul shows that his base is just as enthusiastic as it was four years ago. In fact, it may be growing. The senator's campaign noted that of his 525,000 unique donors, about 20% are new, about 100,000 are registered independents and about 20,000 are registered Republicans.

As impressive as Sanders' fundraising has been, it's not as large as previous presidential contenders who were more reliant on big donors.

In her first quarter as a candidate ahead of 2016, Clinton topped $45 million. In 2007, when then-Sen. Barack Obama and Clinton were beginning their long battle for the 2008 nomination, the favored Clinton opened with an initial fundraising quarter of $36 million, while the underdog Obama pulled in $26 million.

EXPECTATIONS GAME: MAYOR PETE WINS

Sanders' fundraising haul set the curve for all candidates and will give pause to some of the other perceived heavyweights in the field, particularly his fellow senators Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. (Harris is the only candidate of that group to release her fundraising totals.)

But the biggest winner may be Pete Buttigieg, an unlikely headline-grabber even among a group of lesser-known candidates that includes governors and members of Congress.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, raised $7 million, calling it "a great look for our first quarter." That might be an understatement.

Such a sum ensures Buttigieg can finance a legitimate campaign operation for months as long as he's not a profligate spender. (Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker learned in the 2015-16 Republican presidential campaign that being an early fundraising leader is no guarantee of success; he spent big, ran out of money and dropped out before the Iowa caucuses.)

Just as important as the bottom line: Buttigieg said he has almost 160,000 unique donors, a mark that meets the new grassroots fundraising thresholds that the Democratic National Committee has set for candidates to qualify for the initial summer debates.

SMALL DONORS RULE THE DAY

It's a new day in Democratic politics, with small donors carrying the day.

Sanders touts that he's held zero traditional fundraisers and has an average donation of $20  less than 1% of the $2800 maximum. Sanders' campaign says the senator got 88% of his money from donors who contributed $200 or less.

Buttigieg said his average contribution is about $36, with 64% of his total coming from those donating $200 or less. Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur who's never held political office, has raised just $1.7 million, but his campaign says it's come from about 80,000 donors averaging less than $18 per contribution.

This shift largely reflects politicians reacting to a progressive base that looks with suspicion and distrust on big-money donors.

For example, Warren is among the perceived favorites in the field but has promised she'll be financing her campaign without leaning on traditional donors.

Harris isn't eschewing high-dollar fundraisers. In a recent stop in Atlanta, she held one small-dollar event but also a high-dollar gathering sponsored by bundlers who'd pulled together at least $28,000 for her campaign. Yet when her campaign aides released fundraising totals for the first quarter, it wasn't the big checks they touted. Rather, they emphasized that 98% percent of her contributors gave less than $100.

Gordon Giffin, a former Canadian ambassador under President Bill Clinton, recently hosted a fundraiser for Klobuchar in his metro Atlanta home. Traditional fundraising isn't going away, Giffin said in a recent interview, "but that grassroots money can more than make up for it, and candidates have to prove they can do that."

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke says he raised $9.4 million in donations during his first 18 days of campaigning, taking in more than $500,000 a day. The ex-Texas congressman didn't release his total number of contributions but announced Wednesday that 98% of his donations were less than $200 and 99% came online.

He says the average donation was $43.Aides to Joe Biden struck a more aggressive tone on Monday as the former vice president faced scrutiny over his past behavior toward women.

In a statement, Biden spokesman Bill Russo blasted "right wing trolls" and "smears" from "the dark recesses of the internet" for conflating images of Biden embracing acquaintances, colleagues and friends in his official capacity during swearing-in ceremonies with uninvited touching.

The move came on a day in which a second woman said Biden had acted inappropriately, touching her face with both hands and rubbing noses with her in 2009. The allegation by Amy Lappos, a former aide to Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, followed a magazine essay by former Nevada politician Lucy Flores, who wrote that Biden kissed her on the back of the head in 2014.

The developments underscored the challenge facing Biden should he decide to seek the White House. Following historic wins in the 2018 midterms, Democratic politics is dominated by energy from women. The allegations could leave the 76-year-old Biden, long known for his affectionate mannerisms, appearing out of touch with the party as the Democratic presidential primary begins.

Lappos told The Associated Press that she and other Himes aides were helping out at a fundraiser in a private home in Hartford, Connecticut, in October 2009 when Biden entered the kitchen to thank the group for pitching in.

"After he finished speaking, he stopped to talk to us about how important a congressional staff is, which I thought was awesome," Lappos said.

She said she was stunned as Biden moved toward her.

"He wrapped both his hands around my face and pulled me in," said Lappos, who is now 43. "I thought, 'Oh, God, he's going to kiss me.' Instead, he rubbed noses with me." Biden said nothing, she said, then moved off. She said the experience left her feeling "weird and uncomfortable" and was "absolutely disrespectful of my personal boundaries."

The Hartford Courant first reported Lappos' assertion.

Russo didn't directly respond to Lappos, instead referring to a Sunday statement in which Biden said he doesn't believe he has acted inappropriately during his long public life. The former vice president said in that statement: "We have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will."

Biden hasn't made a final decision on whether to run for the White House. But aides who weren't authorized to discuss internal conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity said there were no signs that his team was slowing its preparations for a campaign.

Asked by the AP about the accusations against Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "I don't think that this disqualifies him from running for president, not at all." She declined to elaborate.

Biden's potential Democratic rivals haven't rushed to back him up. Over the weekend, presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand came closest to calling out the former vice president. Warren said Biden "needs to give an answer" about what occurred. Gillibrand said, "If Vice President Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic he'll have to engage on further."

Ultraviolet, a women's advocacy group, tweeted: "Joe Biden cannot paint himself as a champion of women and then refuse to listen and learn from a woman who says his actions demeaned her. Good intentions don't matter if the actions are inappropriate. Do better, Joe. And thank you @LucyFlores for coming forward."

Julie Pace contributed to this report.For the first time in history, Chicago has elected an African American woman to be the city's next mayor.

Lori Lightfoot claimed a resounding victory over Toni Preckwinkle to win the runoff election Tuesday night, with the Associated Press calling the race in her favor at 7:45 CST, just 45 minutes after polls closed.

"Today, you did more than make history. You created a movement for change," Lightfoot said in a victory speech before a crowd of supporters.

Lightfoot won 74% of the vote, compared to 26% for Preckwinkle, with 97% of precincts reporting as of 10 p.m., election results showed.

Early returns showed that Lightfoot won all 50 wards in a clean sweep across the city, including a victory in Preckwinkle's home base of the 4th Ward on the city's South Side. As one of 14 candidates in February's election, Lightfoot won just 11 wards outright, largely on the city's North Side.

Lightfoot's victory is historic in another way, as she will also be the city's first openly-LGBTQ mayor once she is sworn in in May. A political outsider, Lightfoot has never before held elected office and entered the race before outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in September that he would not run for a third term.

"When we started this journey 11 months ago, nobody gave us much of a chance," Lightfoot said Tuesday night, quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. on the faith it took for her to enter thep race. "We were up against powerful interests, a powerful machine and a powerful mayor."

"Look at where we are today," Lightfoot continued. "We still have faith. We're still determined and with this mandate, now we're going to take the next steps together."

Lightfoot and Preckwinkle both advanced to the runoff over 12 other candidates in the most crowded field of mayoral hopefuls in Chicago history, a field that exploded after Emanuel bowed out.

Lightfoot is the former president of the Chicago Police Board. Emanuel appointed her to head the board in 2015, and to chair the Police Accountability Task Force in 2016, in the wake of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. A former federal prosecutor from 1996 to 2002, Lightfoot has also held various roles in city government, including as chief of staff for Chicagos Office of Emergency Management and Communications in 2005.

She most recently was a partner at Mayer Brown LLP and entered the race in May, before Emanuel dropped out  criticizing the candidates, including Preckwinkle, who launched their bids after his announcement. A late surge, seemingly fueled by an endorsement from the Chicago Sun-Times and other candidates' perceived ties to the so-called "machine," was enough to put Lightfoot at the top of the Feb. 26 election.

In that election, Lightfoot earned 17.5 percent of the vote, compared to Preckwinkle's 16%. If no candidate earns more than 50% of the vote, according to Chicago election law, the top two vote-getters advance to a second runoff election.

After the first round of voting, several key figures threw their support behind Lightfoot, including five of the mayoral candidates who did not advance: Willie Wilson, Paul Vallas, Gery Chico, Jerry Joyce and Susana Mendoza.

Lightfoot gained steam at just the right moment to lift the former prosecutor over Preckwinkle, the current Cook County Board President and chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, in a resounding victory.

Long seen as one of the most viable challengers to Emanuel, Preckwinkle has been board president since 2010, and prior to that was elected to five terms as alderman of the 4th Ward on the city's South Side. In April 2018, she became chair of the Cook County Democratic Party. Throughout the mayoral race, she enjoyed significant support from organized labor, particularly Service Employees International Union Local 1 and the Chicago Teachers Union.

Her loss brings the strength of the city's so-called "Democratic machine" into question, as the chair of the party was unable to deliver the race for herself. Still, she will remain in office as head of Cook County Board, in a capacity where she will work with Lightfoot moving forward.

The race between the two was contentious from the start, with both candidates on the attack as each touted her progressive credentials. Lightfoot painted Preckwinkle as a politician entrenched in the "machine," while Preckwinkle highlighted Lightfoot's background as a "wealthy corporate lawyer" who's worked for Wall Street.

But it appeared as though the two were able to put the race, ugly at times, behind them nearly as soon as the votes were tallied.

"While I may be disappointed, I'm not disheartened," Preckwinkle said in her speech to supporters after calling Lightfoot to concede. "Not long ago, two African American women vying for this position would have been unthinkable, and while it may be true that we took different paths to get here, tonight is about the path forward."

"In this election, Toni and were competitors. But our differences are nothing compared to what we can achieve together," Lightfoot said, echoing Preckwinkle's sentiment in her victory speech. "Now that it's over, I know we will work together for the city that we both love."

Now, Lightfoot - who has never before held elected office - will have to shift her focus from being a first-time campaigner to the work of governing.

Among the issues she will face nearly as soon as she is sworn in in May is the upcoming summer, when violence, particularly shootings, tends to spike across the city. Lightfoot has said she plans to meet with Supt. Eddie Johnson to discuss the department's plans for the summer but that she would hold off on making a decision on whether to replace him until after the summer is over.

She will also head to the bargaining table when the Chicago teachers' contract is up roughly a month after she takes office - with some questioning if perhaps the change means another strike might be on the horizon.

Lightfoot will also be walking into a tenuous financial situation. The city's operating budget is at least half a billion dollars in the red, and the four city-obligated pension funds combined are currently funded at 27% - well below what's considered healthy at 80%.

She's said she plans to look into structural reforms like combining each of the pension plans' administrative functions to cut down on costs, plus advocating in Springfield for "progressive revenue sources."

But in facing these issues, Lightfoot - who painted herself as a reform-minded outsider - will also seemingly be working with a City Council full of new aldermen.

Ald. Pat O'Connor, Emanuel's floor leader and the chair of the powerful Finance Committee, lost his bid for re-election to newcomer Andre Vasquez Tuesday night. Ald. Joe Moore was ousted in February, and Ald. Ricardo Munoz retired - meaning three of Chicago's four longest-serving aldermen, with a combined 90 years in office, will no longer serve on City Council.

Lightfoot touched on some of the challenges she will face in her victory speech Tuesday night, with a refrain that "we can and we will" achieve the goals of safer streets and access to high-quality education, among other aims.

Still, Tuesday night was a celebration for Lightfoot before she looks to tackle the work ahead of her.

"Out there tonight, a lot of little girls and boys are watching. They're watching us. And they're seeing the beginning of something, well, a little bit different," Lightfoot said.

"They're seeing a city reborn, a city where it doesn't matter what color you are and where it surely doesn't matter how tall you are," she continued, joking about her own short stature.

"Where it doesn't matter who you love, just as long as you love with all your heart," Lightfoot continued.When she entered the race in May 2018, Chicago's new Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot was a long shot, even by her own admission - and relatively unknown in comparison to some of her opponents.

Now, Lightfoot has a low profile no longer. After a resounding victory in which she swept all 50 wards, Lightfoot will be sworn into office in May as Chicago's first black female mayor and the city's first openly-LGBTQ mayor as well, an historic election by several measures in the country's third-largest city.

A native of Massillon, Ohio, Lightfoot will also be the first elected mayor since Anton Cermak, in office in the 1930s, who was not born in Chicago. Lightfoot touched on her upbringing in her victory speech Tuesday night, giving a brief but emotional glimpse into the people and experiences she said made her who she is today.

"My parents didn't have it easy," Lightfoot said. "My dad got really sick and slipped into a coma for a year, a whole year, and woke up without the ability to hear anything."

"He lived the rest of his life with his disability," she continued. "He worked as a barber and a janitor and put up with the racism in our small, segregated steel town."

Lightfoot had previously said that her father's disability and its impact on her family "profoundly shaped" her views on social justice.

"My mom worked low-wage jobs in mental hospitals and nursing homes. My parents didn't have much money but they had their dignity and their dreams. Dreams for their children. Dreams for me," Lightfoot said.

"They taught me the value of honesty, decency, hard work and education and they gave me faith - the faith that put me where I am today."

"My mom is watching this tonight, with more than a little pride in her little girl," she added. After Lightfoot finished first in the Feb. 26 election to make the runoff, she told reporters that her 90-year-old mother had called her the next morning to share her hope that her daughter would open doors for others.

"She said, and I agree, I hope that my candidacy demonstrates to young people, particularly young people of color who look like me, maybe growing up in circumstances like me, that with hard work, anything is possible," Lightfoot said the morning after the February election.

As for her father, Lightfoot grew emotional Tuesday night.

"My dad isn't with us anymore, but Dad," she said, pausing seemingly to collect herself, voice wavering ever so slightly. "Wherever you are, look at your daughter. And look at everyone here. And look at our great city."

"Thank you, Dad. Your sacrifices have been born anew. We made it," Lightfoot continued.

Lightfoot left Ohio to complete her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, then after two years working as a legislative aide in Washington, D.C., earned a full ride to attend law school at the University of Chicago.

She's lived in Chicago since 1986, save for a one-year clerkship on the Michigan Supreme Court, and since she moved to the city she's been a federal prosecutor from 1996 to 2002, and held various roles in city government, including as chief of staff for Chicagos Office of Emergency Management and Communications in 2005.

Lightfoot is the former president of the Chicago Police Board, a position to which Emanuel appointed her in 2015, and which she resigned before launching her mayoral bid. Emanuel also tapped Lightfoot to chair the Police Accountability Task Force in 2016, in the wake of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald that rocked the city and sparked a U.S. Department of Justice investigation in the Chicago Police Department. Most recently, Lightfoot worked as a senior equity partner at Mayer Brown LLP.

Celebrating the new chapter in her career and for the city on Tuesday night, Lightfoot credited her wife and 11-year-old daughter - featured prominently in her light-hearted closing television ad - for her victory.

"I sure wouldn't have made it without my wife Amy and our daughter Vivian," she said, gazing at her family onstage as the crowd chanted her wife's name. "I want to thank you both for your endless inspiration, your support at the toughest times and your undying love. You are my all, my everything."The mayor of Aurora doubled down Tuesday on his comments in a Facebook post condemning a ministrys decision to take in a recently freed convicted killer and said he has heard much outcry nd discontent from thousands of residents.

Just steps away from the heart of downtown Aurora, Thomas Kokoraleis now calls the Wayside Cross Ministries home--and Mayor Richard Irvin wants him gone.

"The citizens of Aurora dont want this individual living in our city," Irvin said.

Frightening to some is that within weeks, after completing the required 30 days in the transitional facility, Kokoraelis could be walking the streets of Aurora. While he is required to register as a sex offender, some restrictions do not apply.

"When you think about sex offenders or predators who cant come near playgrounds or be around children, most of those occurred after he was convicted," said Aurora police Sgt. Bill Rowley.

Kokoraleis was convicted as part of a sadistic four-man group that preyed on young women in the early 1980s. The gang abducted, tortured and sexually mutilated their victims as part of a satanic cult. They are thought to be responsible for murdering as many as 18 women.

Chloe Sanchez is a student in Aurora.

Being a female--a younger female--knowing what he did, its definitely scary," she said. "I would be really worried if I had children."

Curtis Spivey also lives in the city--the second most populated in Illinois next to Chicago.

"If he werent to go here where else would he go?" he asked. "Conceivably some other city or town or municipality would have the same issue."

Kokoraleis was released Friday after serving half of a 70-year prison sentence for the murder of 21-year old Lorry Ann Borowski.

"If you go on the Illinois State Police website, he (Kokoraleis) is characterized as a murderer," said Irvin's chief of staff Alex Alexander. "That has sent shock waves through our community, rightfully so."

Representatives from Wayside Cross Ministries says they understand the mayors concern but had a moral obligation to take Kokoraleis in.

We hope the mayors office will also appreciate what we stand for and allow us to stay true to our mission in empowering the afflicted and the powerless through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the ministry said in a statement.

The mayor says he understands Waysides perspective. But while he believes in the power of rehabilitation, Kokoraleis living in Aurora, he says, is a risk his city should not have to take.The funeral is set for an Illinois State Police trooper killed when she was struck by a truck during a traffic stop.

Services for Trooper Brooke Jones-Story are planned Wednesday afternoon at Warren High School in the northern Illinois town of Warren near the Wisconsin border. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office says he will attend.

Jones-Story died Thursday in the crash along Route 20 near Route 75 in Freeport. She was a 12-year veteran of the state police. The 34-year-old is one of three Illinois troopers killed in traffic crashes so far this year.

An Illinois State Police trooper was killed Thursday afternoon in a crash on Route 20 near Freeport, the department said. Trina Orlando reports.

Jones-Story's family remembered her as a "strong woman" who "had a passion for service." They say she worked with rescue animals on her farm, was a Chicago Cubs fan and liked working out and Disney movies.Illinois Lottery officials say that two players are holding tickets worth $175,000 after Tuesdays Lucky Day Lotto drawing.

The winning tickets, which will split the $350,000 jackpot that was awarded in the midday drawing, were sold in suburban River Forest and in downstate Champaign, according to the agency.

The River Forest winning ticket was sold at Franks Deli, located in the 7900 block of West Lake Street, according to the Illinois Lottery. The American Food Mart, located in the 900 block of North 4th Street, in Champaign sold the other winning ticket.

Each retailer will receive a bonus check for $1,750, or one percent of the winning amount.Indiana health officials say warmer temperatures increase tick activity, and they encourage Hoosiers to protect themselves from tick bites.

The Indiana State Department of Health said Friday that recent field sampling found adult and immature ticks carrying the bacterium that causes Lyme disease in several counties, particularly in the northern, west central, and south central parts of the state. Maps displaying the tick infection data are available online.

It says ticks can also transmit other diseases including Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

The department says people can reduce their risk of tick bites by wearing long-sleeved shirts and light-colored pants while in grassy or wooded areas, using insect repellents, and conducting frequent tick checks while outdoors.What to Know Three ex-Beta Theta Pi Penn State fraternity members have been sentenced to jail on hazing charges in connection to a pledge's death.

Timothy Piazza had consumed a large amount of alcohol on pledge bid acceptance night and was fatally injured in a series of falls.

Michael Bonatucci, Luke Visser and Joshua Kurczewski all previously pleaded guilty to various charges related to Piazza's death.

A judge has sentenced three former Penn State fraternity members to jail in the 2017 death of a pledge, the first defendants ordered to serve time behind bars in a case that rewrote Pennsylvania's anti-hazing law.

Centre County Judge Brian Marshall sentenced former Beta Theta Pi members Tuesday for hazing surrounding the death of sophomore engineering major Tim Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, New Jersey.

The sentences were 30 days to six months for Michael Bonatucci, 21, of Woodstock, Georgia; two months to six months for Luke Visser, 21, of Encinitas, California; and three months to nine months for Joshua Kurczewski, 20. A fourth defendant, Joseph Sala, 21, received three months to 10 months of house arrest. Kurczewski and Sala live in Erie.

Each was also fined and given a probation term. They were all sentenced for hazing and conspiracy to commit hazing, and Kurczewski also pleaded guilty to furnishing alcohol to minors.

Kurczewski defense attorney Jeffrey Veitch said they can apply to do their time on home monitoring, but it will be up to the judge to determine if they are eligible. Lawyers for the three others did not immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Piazza drank heavily the night of a pledge bid acceptance ceremony and was fatally injured in a series of falls, his agonizing night captured on the house's elaborate video security system. The four men sentenced on Tuesday were generally involved in providing alcohol to pledges and pressuring them to drink, prosecutors said.

"Piazza's 'brothers,' including defendant Visser, repeatedly encouraged and caused more and more alcohol consumption until his judgment and physical control of his body became severely impaired," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. "This directly resulted in his slow and painful death."

Prosecutors said Visser and Kurczewski set up a beer pong station as part of a series of drinking events known as the "gauntlet." Sala led pledges into the drinking course's start, prosecutors wrote, and Bonatucci handed out beer.

An autopsy estimated that Piazza had consumed several times the legal limit for alcohol the night of the pledge event. He also suffered severe head and abdominal injuries. He ended up in the basement the next morning, but it took members 40 minutes after finding Piazza injured and unconscious before they summoned help.

Twenty-eight members of the now-shuttered fraternity have faced charges, although the most serious allegations of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed or withdrawn. Most pleaded guilty to hazing- and alcohol-related counts and received probation and community service, or were enrolled in an alternative sentencing program designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

A lawyer for Piazza's parents Jim and Evelyn, who two months ago sued former fraternity members and a security company hired to enforce alcohol regulations, called the sentences a significant step toward justice.

"Jim and Evelyn, in the courtroom for the sentencing, remain committed to the cause of eradicating hazing and the beneficial deterrent effect of the enforcement of anti-hazing laws throughout the country," said the lawyer, Tom Kline.

The state's new anti-hazing law, named for Piazza, took effect in November.

Two former Beta Theta Pi members, president Brendan Young, 23, of Malvern and vice president and pledge master Daniel Casey, 22, of Ronkonkoma, New York, face charges that include reckless endangerment, hazing and alcohol violations. Their case is on hold while state prosecutors appeal an order that evidence from their cellphones can't be used.

Another member, Braxton Becker, 22, of Niskayuna, New York, is accused of evidence tampering related to the security camera footage, and his case is in the preliminary stages. Two others are scheduled to be sentenced April 15.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.

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.

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.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.

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.What to Know Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad were responsible for a series of shootings that killed 10 people and seriously wounded six others

Malvo is challenging two life sentence imposed by Virginia, claiming the sentences were unconstitutional because he was a juvenile

He cited a 2012 US Supreme Court ruling that struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a lower court ruling that requires a new sentencing hearing for Lee Boyd Malvo, one of two snipers who terrorized the Washington, D.C area in 2002.

Malvo and a man who was 25 years older, John Allen Muhammad, were responsible for a series of shootings that killed 10 people and seriously wounded six others. Muhammad received the death penalty and was executed in 2009. Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.

Malvo is challenging two life sentence imposed by Virginia for the murders of Linda Franklin and Kenneth Bridges and the attempted murder of Caroline Seawell. He claimed that the sentences were unconstitutional because he was a juvenile  17 years old  at the time the crimes were committed.

He cited a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles. In 2016, the Supreme Court said its ruling was retroactive, applying to sentences imposed earlier. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond agreed that he should be re-sentenced. New constitutional rules treat juveniles differently for sentencing, the appeals court said.

Virginia defends Malvo's punishment. Toby Heytens, the state's solicitor general, argued in court papers that there's a difference between mandatory life sentences for juveniles, which the court struck down in its 2012 ruling, and discretionary life sentences imposed by juries, such as the punishment imposed in Malvo's case.

The state also says that when the Supreme Court announces a new rule and makes it retroactive, it should apply only to cases working their way through the legal system at the time, not to sentences that are appealed later, such as Malvo's. Such a rule, the state argues, would promote finality in the courts.

But Malvo's lawyers say little about Malvo's sentence was discretionary, because the jury was forced to choose between only two possible sentences  death or life without parole. They say the Supreme Court intended life sentences for juveniles to be imposed only for "the rare juvenile offender whose crime reflects irreparable corruption."

The Supreme Court said in its prior rulings that juveniles are less responsible for their acts because they lack maturity and are more susceptible to outside pressures. Such was the case with Malvo, his lawyers say, physically abused during his childhood and later under the control of Muhammad, who became became a surrogate father.

Malvo, who is now 34, is also challenging life without parole sentences he received for the sniper shootings in Maryland. Those cases are pending in the lower courts.

The Supreme Court will hear the Virginia case during its next term, which begins in October. For now, Malvo remains in prison and has not yet been re-sentenced.Jeff Quinn had to cancel his gym membership before his contract ended due to a job change and said he was told he could do so at any time. But when he couldnt get a refund on the remaining months, the Durham man turned to NBC Connecticut Responds for help.

Quinn works out three to four times a week but wanted to push himself even more, so he joined Club 24 and signed a nine-month contract to take classes at the gym.

The goal is to do a high-intensity workout for, for an hour, Quinn said, I really liked this gym and I have great respect for the class, the trainers. They have excellent equipment.

Quinn said a manager informed him that he could cancel the class at any time. He would, however, be required to pay for the following month.

I was travelling and I just didnt have the time to do it, said Quinn.

After five months, Jeff said, he cancelled the contract, but the recurring monthly charges still showed up in his bank account.

Quinn filed a complaint on Club 24s website, sent a number of emails and even cancelled in person.

He spoke with the district manager who told him he was bound to contract.

I was disappointed. I was very upset, said Quinn.

Thats when Quinn contacted NBC Connecticut Responds. Club 24s District manager, Joseph Longley, agreed to sit down with NBC.

We do our due diligence and we talk to who we need to talk to. We look at the paperwork and there was no signature of cancellation, said Longley.

Longley confirmed Quinns nine month agreement, which allows him to pay monthly after the contract ends.

When asked whether that would allow someone to cancel at any time, Longley replied: Unlike most gyms, we actually are pretty flexible.

According to Longley, gym members can cancel for medical reasons with a doctors note or if they move 25 miles away from the gyms locations and provide proof of residency.

After sharing Jeffs story with the owner, Longley said they thought it was best to give Quinn a refund as a goodwill gesture but they were under no obligation to do.

Longley stressed that they want to maintain a good relationship with their clients.

Were trying to be much, much better and were always trying to come up with new systems to make that just easier for the client, said Longley.

Club 24 refunded $560 back into Quinns account.

I would welcome anyone who has complaints to reach out to you guys. You did a great job, said Quinn.Former Mayor of Hartford Eddie Perez sat down with NBC Connecticut's Keisha Grant on Wednesday to announce he is running for mayor again.

Perez served as the mayor of Hartford from 2001 to 2010. He resigned from office after being convicted by a jury on felony corruption charges.

In his first television interview since his conviction, Perez acknowledged that he made serious missteps while in office.

"I made a big mistake, very big mistake," Perez said. "I am sorry."

Perez was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to three years in prison for taking a bribe from a contractor in the form of home improvements and attempting to extort $100,000 from a developer. The State Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2016, saying the two incidents were improperly combined into one trial.

Perez pleaded guilty to bribery and larceny by extortion charges in 2017 rather than face new trials. He was given a suspended prison sentence.

Perez told Grant Wednesday he wanted to remind the residents of Hartford about his accomplishments while mayor.

He said he plans to focus on bringing the city together.

"The city is divided," Perez told Grant. "When any neighborhood feels like they are left behind, we pay the price."

Hartford's current mayor, Luke Bronin, issued a statement about Perez's challenge.

"We've come a long way in the last few years, and I'll be working hard every day to make sure we can keep Hartford moving forward. Hartford's heading in the right direction for the first time in a long time, and this isn't a time to slow down or go back."

Perez has already filed the paperwork to run and is scheduled to make his formal announcement Thursday at 5 p.m.A $250,000 lottery prize is providing a ray of light for a North Carolina man battling stage 4 cancer.

Richard Beare, of Charlotte, told the North Carolina Education Lottery that he rarely plays the lottery. But when Beare's wife asked him to buy a Powerball ticket two weeks ago when the jackpot "was so high," the retired mechanic decided to get some scratch-off tickets as well.

He asked the clerk for four Carolina Black tickets.

"The fourth one was the winner," Beare said in a news release from the states lottery. "When I saw that I had matching numbers, I asked her, 'What does it mean if I match the numbers?' She said it meant I won a prize. I told her, 'Well, I guess we just won $250,000 then.' She was in shock and just kept looking back and forth to me and the ticket."

For Beare, who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer, the cash prize is "such a relief." He told the N.C. lottery he is planning to travel the world.

"I want to travel while I can still enjoy myself," Beare said. "My wife has always wanted to go to Italy, since thats where her descendants are from. Now I can take her."

According to the N.C. lottery, Beare took home $176,876 after state and federal tax withholdings.

The $5 Carolina Black tickets launched in March with four top prizes of $250,000. The N.C. lottery said two prizes remain.For years, executives at Wynn Resorts concealed allegations of sexual misconduct against company founder Steve Wynn, according to a long-awaited report by Massachusetts casino regulators released Tuesday.

The 200-page report by the state Gaming Commission doesn't make a recommendation about the fate of the company's Massachusetts casino license or its nearly $3 billion Boston-area resort slated to open in June.

But it concludes by saying recent reforms touted by the company  notably the resignation of Steve Wynn as CEO and the ousting of every official who knew about the allegations but failed to report them  do not "erase the fact that the corporate failures revealed in this investigation are significant, repetitive and reflective of the company's historical governance practices."

"Inaction and failures," the report concluded, contributed to a culture "where employees were reluctant to report allegations against Mr. Wynn to management."

Steve Wynn wasn't in attendance Tuesday, but Brian Kelly, a Boston-based lawyer who represents him, said that the report does not address the truth of the allegations against his client.

"Mr. Wynn denies all allegations of nonconsensual sex and nothing in this report changes that," he said in an emailed statement. "In fact, the Commission and its investigators have acknowledged today that it's not their role to decide the truth or falsity of those allegations and that Mr. Wynn's conduct is not the focus of their hearing."

The report was released as the commission opened a series of hearings on whether Wynn Resorts can continue to hold a state casino license. The hearings have implications for Encore Boston Harbor, the company's Everett casino.

Wynn Resorts didn't dispute the facts of the report and said in a statement that it represents a "complete review of matters related to the company's founder."

"The presentation by the IEB provided a detailed and thorough review of the findings of its report to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. The findings are consistent with the investigation conducted by our own Special Committee of Independent Directors as well as that of the Nevada Gaming Control Board," Wynn Resorts said in a statement.

Matthew Maddox, who took over as CEO after Steve Wynn resigned, told the commission Tuesday he's "deeply remorseful" for the harm inflicted on the accusers.

"I am sorry that our company did not live up to its values," he said in brief opening remarks.

Maddox became emotional at the hearing, apologizing to the women Wynn is accused of sexually assaulting.

"They felt that they didn't have a voice  that if they were to speak up, they could be retaliated against, or if they did, it wouldn't be investigated," Maddox said. "For that, I am truly sorry."

Steve Wynn did not submit to interviews with investigators but acknowledged in a statement to them that he had "multiple consensual relationships" with employees while leading the company, said Karen Wells, head of the commission's investigations unit, as she reviewed the report with the five-member gaming commission Tuesday.

"Certain executives, with the assistance of outside counsel, took measures to conceal allegations against Mr. Wynn that came to their attention," Wells testified.

The state commission launched an investigation last year after The Wall Street Journal published a report chronicling allegations of sexual misconduct against Steve Wynn, many by former cocktail waitresses and spa and salon workers at the casino's flagship casino, Wynn Las Vegas.

Investigators homed in on what company officials were aware of and how they responded rather than the nature of the allegations.

Many of the incidents detailed in the Tuesday's report were reported by The Wall Street Journal and a subsequent investigation by Nevada casino regulators, who recently handed down a record $20 million fine to Wynn Resorts but allowed the company to keep its casino license.

Similar to Nevada's findings, Massachusetts regulators found company officials were aware of the allegations but failed to report them to internal investigators or take other steps mandated in the company's sexual assault and harassment policies.

Company officials also failed to disclose to regulators settlements reached with some of the accusers as part of the state's vetting of the company for a casino license in 2013, the report found.

"Their efforts at secrecy made it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for gaming regulators to detect potentially derogatory information through typical regulatory means," the report stated.

Among the incidents the company failed to disclose was a $7.5 million settlement in 2005 that Steve Wynn had paid to a former salon employee who alleged she'd become pregnant after Wynn raped her.

Steve Wynn also paid a cocktail server $975,000 in a private settlement after she alleged he'd pressured her into a non-consensual sexual relationship from 2005 to 2006.

And the company reached a $700,000 settlement with another former cocktail server over a sexual relationship she had with Steve Wynn in 2008. That settlement was paid through corporate funds, investigators found.

Wynn Resorts has said it's taken a range of reforms since the allegations came to light, including elevating more women to key leadership posts, such as positions on the company's board of directors and president of Wynn Las Vegas. The company also ousted every official who knew about the allegations but failed to report them and created an independent committee to review sexual harassment claims led by a former Boston police commissioner.

Regulators were expected to review those reforms and other issues in the coming days.

On Tuesday, they heard testimony from an outside expert on the state of the company's finances in the wake of the scandal. Drew Chamberlain, of HLT Advisory, said the allegations don't appear to have negatively impacted company's financial stability.

The company traded at more than $200 a share prior to The Wall Street Journal's story last January. It dipped to a low of $90 following the scandal but now sits at about $135 a share.The Trump administration is pulling the plug on a decades-old nuclear arms treaty with Russia, lifting what it sees as unreasonable constraints on competing with a resurgent Russia and a more assertive China. The move announced Friday sets the stage for delicate talks with U.S. allies over potential new American missile deployments.

In explaining his decision, which he had foreshadowed months ago, President Donald Trump accused Moscow of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with "impunity" by deploying banned missiles. Moscow denies it is in violation and has accused Washington of resisting its efforts to resolve the dispute.

Democrats in Congress and some arms control advocates criticized Trump's decision as opening the door to an arms race.

"The U.S. threat to terminate the treaty will not bring Russia back into compliance and could unleash a dangerous and costly new missile competition between the United States and Russia in Europe and beyond," the private Arms Control Association said. It argued that Washington had not exhausted options for drawing Russia back into compliance.

Trump said in a statement that the U.S. will "move forward" with developing its own military response options to Russia's banned deployment of cruise missiles that could target western Europe.

"We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other," Trump said. Other officials said the treaty could still be saved if Russia reverses course and returns to compliance, but that window of opportunity will close in six months when the American withdrawal is due to take effect.

The Trump decision reflects his administration's view that the arms treaty was an unacceptable obstacle to more forcefully confronting not only Russia but also China. China's military has grown mightily since the treaty was signed, and the pact has prevented the U.S. from deploying weapons to counter some of those being developed in Beijing.

Leaving the INF pact, however, risks aggravating relations with European allies, who share the administration's view that Russia is violating the treaty but who have not endorsed a U.S. withdrawal.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to reporters after Trump's statement, said Russia will be formally notified on Saturday that the U.S. is withdrawing from the treaty, effective in six months. In the meantime, starting Saturday, the U.S. will suspend its obligations under the treaty.

Pompeo said that if, in the coming six months, Russia accepts U.S. demands that it verifiably destroy the cruise missiles that Washington claims are a violation, then the treaty can be saved. If it does not, "the treaty terminates," he said.

Administration officials have dismissed concerns that the treaty's demise could trigger a race to develop and deploy more intermediate-range missiles. U.S. officials have emphasized their fear that China, which is not party to the treaty, is gaining a significant military advantage in Asia by deploying large numbers of missiles with ranges beyond the treaty's limit. Whether the U.S. will now respond by deploying INF noncompliant missiles in Asia is unclear. In any case, it seems unlikely Beijing would agree to any negotiated limits on its weaponry.

Russia accused the U.S. of unilaterally seeking to neuter the treaty.

"I 'congratulate' the whole world; the United States has taken another step toward its destruction today," said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia's upper house of parliament.

INF was the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 500 kilometers (310 miles) and 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles). At the time, in the late stages of the Cold War, the U.S. and its allies were mainly concerned by the perceived threat of Russian medium-range nuclear missiles that were targeted at Europe. The U.S. deployed similar missiles in response, in the 1980s, leading to negotiations that produced the INF treaty.

Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington state Democrat and new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, blasted Trump for raising the risk of nuclear war.

"The administration's ideological aversion to arms control as a tool for advancing national security is endangering our safety, as well as that of our allies and partners," Smith said. "The risk of miscalculation or misunderstanding is already higher than at any point since the end of the Cold War, and this decision only makes it worse."

U.S. officials say they have little reason to think Moscow will change its stance in the next six months.

"We have raised Russia's noncompliance with Russian officials  including at the highest levels of government  more than 30 times," Pompeo said. "We have provided Russia an ample window of time to mend its way. Tomorrow that time runs out."

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press that Russia can still save the treaty by returning to compliance before the U.S. withdrawal takes effect.

"But at the same time, we have started to assess the consequences, look into options," Stoltenberg said. "We need to make sure that we respond as an alliance, all 29 allies, because all allies are involved and all allies are affected."

Trump said his administration will move forward with developing military response options. But senior Trump administration officials said they don't expect any immediate testing or deployment of weapons that are banned under the treaty. The current Pentagon budget includes $48 million for research on potential military responses to the alleged Russian violations, but U.S. officials said the options do not include a nuclear missile.

The officials, speaking after Trump's announcement, said the U.S. is not in position to flight test, let alone deploy, INF noncompliant missiles as a counter to Russia any time soon. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

One official said allies will be consulted before any decisions are made on responding to any Russian missiles.

Leaving the treaty would allow the Trump administration to counter the Chinese, but it's unclear how it would do that. U.S. security concerns are complicated by what U.S. intelligence officials earlier this week called efforts by China and Russia to expand their global influence, particularly in Asia and the Middle East.

"China and Russia are more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s, and the relationship is likely to strengthen in the coming years as some of their interests and threat perceptions converge," Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in testimony Tuesday to Congress.

Associated Press writer Lynn Berry contributed to this report.The new honorary mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont  a 3-year-old goat named Lincoln  was officially sworn into office this week.

Lincoln was dressed in a sash reading "Mayor" for the Tuesday ceremony at the Fair Haven town offices. Town Clerk Suzanne Dechame and the select board were present to deliver the oath of office.

Fair Haven, a town of about 2,500 along the border with New York just west of Rutland, does not have an actual mayor.

Town Manager Joseph Gunter says the honorary pet mayor idea was conceived as a fundraiser for a playground, but it turned into a civics lesson for kids.

On the way out of the offices, the honorary mayor defecated on the floor  leaving clean-up to the police chief and other attendees.We spent a lot of the past few days speculating about how "Scandal" would end.

While we made a lot of jokes about jam-making and sun-standing, most of our speculations ended with everyone in jail, because after all, most of them deserve it -- even Charlie, who for some reason was the whole reason behind this plan for everyone to testify. We expected something less happy, at least. But for the most part, that was just about the best way that could have ended for almost everyone.

We got a wedding (congratulations, Charlie and Quinn! Or Bernard and Lindsay?), an impassioned speech (thank you David Rosen, Attorney General of the United States), a major death (RIP David Rosen, Attorney General of the United States), a Papa Pope showdown and a potentially beautiful future of this fictional USA.

We Ranked Shondaland's Best Couples--All 63 Of Them!

Originally, the plan was for all of OPA to testify against B613 and go to jail, with David Rosen to back them up. Olivia asked her dad for help as well, but he had no sympathy for her or her plan. He gave her a trust fund and the deed to his house and planned to skedaddle completely, but then David Rosen turned up dead of a "heart attack."

In reality, he was murdered by Cyrus with a poisoned drink, and then a pillow over the face.

That pretty much killed the plan, and while OPA would all go to jail, Cyrus would still get the Oval Office. Then, Papa Pope stepped up.

He faced down the congressional committee with the most Papa Pope speech to have ever been spoken, asking to testify as Rowan, his kill name.

He took responsibility for basically everything ever, preached on the race and privilege that created his role and the roles of the men in front of him and scared that committee so bad that all the other testimonies were redacted and Jake was arrested, put behind bars for pretty much ever.

Cyrus escaped unscathed, but Olivia essentially forced him to sign a resignation letter, banishing him from the government and his dreams of being president.

Olivia and Mellie then chatted on the White House balcony, wondering what they would do next. The answer was basically "Whatever you want." Mellie would go on to be the president she always wanted to be, and we saw her officially dating Marcus and signing a bill controlling assault weapons. Charlie got out of jail and rejoined his new wife and baby, and Abby and Huck mourned at the grave of David Rosen (Attorney General of the United States). Fitz' official portrait was unveiled, and then he met up with Olivia

All through the final scenes, we saw these two young black girls walking through the National Portrait Gallery, finally arriving at one incredibly impressive picture of Olivia Pope, painted upon the Constitution.

How "Scandal's" Olivia Pope Became a TV Icon

And that's how it ended, with a poster we're going to need to hang up on the mantel we don't yet have in our living room and a few questions we may never get answers to. Were those girls just some extremely inspired young girls or Olivia's future daughters? What did Olivia go on to do that merited a portrait in the National Portrait Gallery?

Will Abby find something else to do with her life besides mourn David Rosen, Attorney General of the United States? Will Huck get to have a real life now? Can Quinn and Charlie manage to stop torturing people? What will become of all of Olivia's luxurious sweaters and coats? Can we have them?

"Scandal" aired on ABC.He's about as conservative as you get in Texas politics, a farmer with a flair who is seldom seen without his cowboy hat and boots.

So one might not think these words would come out of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller's mouth:

"You just watch. There is going to be more hemp grown (in Texas) than we could ever process."

That's right, hemp, aka cannabis, a word that can strike fear in some political circles because, to some, that's just another way to say marijuana  the "devil's lettuce."

But before you begin to think the world, or at least Texas, has gone to pot, Miller means he is excited about the prospect of growing hemp here  with little or no THC -- to make CBD.

The growing CBD health craze has, in its own way, confounded some lawmakers and law enforcement officials in Texas, including Tarrant County, who believe the concoction is illegal.

But when it comes to supporting the passage of laws that clearly define CBD as legal in the Lone Star State, Miller is sticking to his guns:

"If CBD oil will help you physically, I'm for it," he said.

"Anything that medically can take away someone's pain, or relieve their tensions, or whatever they are taking it for, we should use it for any type of medical use," Miller added.

NBC5 Investigates interviewed the colorful AG commissioner exclusively, a day after state lawmakers heard testimony that overwhelmingly supported the passage of laws that would court CBD business to Texas.

"Not only do we want our farmers to be able to grow hemp, we want the processing facilities to be located here in rural Texas, and bring those jobs to rural Texas," Miller said.

Several bills are pending in the legislative session to declare, without question, that hemp and CBD are legal in Texas.

But similar attempts in the past have failed, with some lawmakers questioning the optics of legalizing the industrial growth of hemp  the cannabis cousin to marijuana  even though it would contain little, or no, THC  the ingredient that produces a high.

In his interview with NBC 5 Investigates, Miller shrugged off the skepticism.

"No, no, no. Listen, if you are a pothead, this is not going to help you, okay," he said.

And, if marijuana were found in a field of Texas hemp, "We'd have to destroy the crop," Miller promised.

He also promised Texas would not move in the way that some other states have in legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

"No, no. Potheads, don't get too excited," Miller said.

He said he doesn't know whether there is enough support in this legislature to pass bills legalizing hemp and CBD.

"One person can turn the wagon over and spill the whole thing. And we lost the legislation," Miller said, adding: "but so far, there's little opposition."

If this session does prove fruitful for the hemp and CBD industry, Miller said he would apply the same minimum standards as set by the federal government.

"We wont put any extra burden on the farmers or the processors," he said. "We don't want any extra regulation. We are not for that."A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at a Texas plant Tuesday, killing one worker, critically injuring two others and sending panicked employees fleeing over a fence to safety.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed the fatality in a tweet and said the two injured had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. The two injured were in critical condition, said Rachel Moreno, spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.

Authorities shut down a roadway near Tuesday's fire at a KMCO chemical plant in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston, Gonzalez said. Fire crews battled the blaze for about 5 1/2 hours before they extinguished it, according to the fire marshal's office.

All residents within a one-mile radius of the plant were ordered to stay indoors or shelter in place for about four hours. It was not immediately known how many residents were affected by the shelter in place. Crosby has about 2,300 residents. The fire sent a large black plume of smoke into the air.

The fire erupted about two weeks after a March 17 blaze at a petrochemical storage facility in Deer Park , located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Crosby. That fire at a facility owned by Intercontinental Terminals Company burned for days and triggered air quality warnings. Crosby also is where an Arkema chemical plant was inundated by water during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some chemicals eventually caught fire and partially exploded.

"It is disturbing and it is problematic that we're seeing this incident in a facility, especially on the heels of" the fire in Deer Park, said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county's top administrator.

Samantha Galle lives less than a mile away from the plant and said she heard and felt an explosion Tuesday.

"It shook everybody's house around here," the 23-year-old said.

Gonzalez said a transfer line at the KMCO plant ignited in the area of a tank of isobutylene -- a flammable colorless gas used in the production of high octane gasoline -- which then caught on fire.

The fire spread to a nearby warehouse where dry chemicals are stored.

Moreno said the Environmental Protection Agency has been testing air samples from the area around the plant and has not found any harmful readings.

Worker Justin Trahan told Houston television station KPRC that he heard "some panic on the radio" but no alarms sounding before the plant caught fire.

"We didn't think anything of it -- we didn't think it was anything severe," he said.

Trahan said employees began running after "the tank ignited."

He said that he and other colleagues had to jump over a fence to escape because all the gates were locked.

Pilar Davis, a product manager with KMCO, said none of the emergency evacuation points at the plant were blocked during the fire.

At a news conference late Tuesday afternoon, John C. Foley, chief executive of KMCO, said a cause of the blaze is still being determined.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation ... and take steps to ensure this doesn't happen again," Foley said.

Davis said the fire initially ignited with isobutylene but was fueled by ethanol and ethyl acrylate. All three are chemicals and solvents used to make fuel additives at the plant.

Davis declined to comment on the worker who was killed and the two who were injured, only saying they were part of KMCO's operations department.

KMCO, which was founded in 1975, is a chemical company that offers coolant and brake fluid products and chemicals for the oilfield industry.

The Crosby, Sheldon and Channelview school districts asked students and staff to shelter in place at all their campuses. But later Tuesday afternoon, all three districts lifted those orders to shelter in place.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said that it has dispatched emergency response personnel to conduct an initial assessment of the fire.

Foley said his company's number one priority "is safety and compliance."

"We have a long track record of investing in the, people, the systems and the assets to operate safely," he said.

KMCO has had environmental violations in the past, according to a review of records.

In 2016, KMCO's corporate agents pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge of violating the Clean Air Act. A plea agreement document stated that a plant employee made false entries in logs of air testing of tanks that were known to be leaking chemicals. Another employee then used those falsified logs to submit reports to the federal and state environmental authorities. The document says the violation went on between 2008 and 2012.

A year earlier, the EPA cited KMCO for failing to comply with regulations on its risk-management plan for the plant, but settled with the plant for a $2,700 penalty.

Texas has served the plant with three notices of violation of a federal clean-air law since last August, the EPA website shows.Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations arrested more than 280 people at an Allen business Wednesday, ICE officials say.

HSI officials told NBC 5 that a search warrant was executed at the business as part of an ongoing criminal worksite investigation.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, ICE officials said the employees were unlawfully working in the US and were arrested on immigration violations.

"As far as immigration related arrests, this is the largest ICE worksite operation at one site in the last 10 years," said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, HSI Dallas.

HSI said the investigation began after officials received multiple tips dating back about a year that the company, which repairs and refurbishes electronics used in telecommunications, may have knowingly hired people living in the country illegally and that many of the employees were using fraudulent identification documents.

An audit undertaken in January of the company's I-9 forms indicated numerous hiring irregularities, officials said.

From Texas Sky Ranger, ICE agents could be seen searching and handcuffing a number of people outside CVE Group on Enterprise Boulevard and placing them onto one of five large buses.

"Businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens create an unfair advantage over their competing businesses," said Berger. "In addition, they take jobs away from U.S. citizens and legal residents, and they create an atmosphere poised for exploiting their illegal workforce."

Wednesday night, dozens of families impacted by the raid took advantage of legal advice offered by LULAC at United Methodist Church in Allen.

Dora Hernandez said her daughter-in-law has worked at CVE for more than a decade. She was arrested when about 200 federal officers executed a search warrant at the business this morning.

"[I'm] very sad because she is like a daughter to me," Hernandez said.

"Some of these people have family members that have been working here for 10 and 15 years. So these are not people who have not just arrived. These are people who have been with this company for years, and have been in this country for years. It's sad because I understand that most of the people here are women and they are leaving behind their children," said Hilda Ramirez-Duarte, LULAC representative. "I talked to a young lady who is a teenager and she says, 'My mom is leaving myself, my brother, and two younger babies.' She's the only breadwinner in the household, so what's going to become of this family of four? We have similar situations all across the board."

The raid sparked protests in Allen and Dallas, where about a dozen people chanted and held signs outside an ICE field office.

"These are hardworking people. These are not criminals, rapists, or anything of that nature. They are hardworking people earning a living," Ramirez-Duarte said.

In Garland, Wendy Armas arrived home after spending hours in ICE custody.

Armas, a Guatemalan national with two teenaged children, said she's worked at CVE since arriving in the U.S. five years ago. She was arrested, but released Wednesday night after making a promise to appear in court in May.

"The hardest thing was when the bus started taking off. It reversed out and then there was a long moment of silence, people crying, people saying, 'I'm going to leave this country and go back to my own,'" Armas said.

HSI said all of those arrested and detained Wednesday were interviewed by ICE staff to determine if they remain in custody or considered for humanitarian release. In all cases, HSI said, all people living in the country illegally will be fingerprinted and processed for removal from the United States.

Consulates for Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, as well as ICE, have set up numbers for people to call if they believe their family member was arrested.

A 24-hour toll-free detainee locator hotline is available for family members of those arrested. The hotline is designed to answer questions, in both English and Spanish, about those detained, their location and status. That number is 1-888-351-4024.

Mexican Consulate -- 1-855-463-6395

Honduran Consulate -- 214-424-9679 or 214-650-4175

Salvadoran Consulate -- 469-441-3556

NBC 5's Courtney Gilmore contributed to this report.The Minnesota Legislature braced Wednesday for its first hearing this session on gun control, with testimony scheduled on bills to require universal criminal background checks for gun purchasers and to let families and police ask courts to take guns from people judged to pose a threat to themselves or others.

The hearing before the House public safety committee was set for 7 p.m. at the Capitol. The committee chairman, Rep. Carlos Mariani, tried twice to schedule it at schools to highlight public concerns over recent school shootings. But the St. Paul Democrat had to back down after gun owners pressed the Edina and Hopkins districts to allow them to carry their weapons into the hearing.

Mariani said he intended for his committee to pass both bills Wednesday night, but would take them up again Thursday evening if need be.

The two bills are high on the new House Democratic majority's agenda, and Gov. Tim Walz reaffirmed his support in his budget proposal last week. But it's not clear if they'll get anywhere in the Senate, where Republicans hold a three-seat majority and some rural Democrats oppose gun control.

The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus staged a rally in the Capitol Rotunda on Saturday to show its opposition to the bills. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka told the cheering crowd that he could say with confidence that background checks "ain't gonna happen."

And the Nisswa Republican vowed that while the House is likely to pass the "red flag" bill allowing authorities to temporarily confiscate guns, "the Senate Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the Senate will stop it."

But the lead Senate sponsor of the proposals, St. Louis Park Democrat Ron Latz, said Tuesday that he's not ready to give up. Domestic violence-related deaths, deaths of police officers by firearms and suicide deaths all have fallen in states with similar laws, he said. And he said there's strong public support for the legislation.

"I think it would be a mistake for any political leadership to get out front and say we're going to stand in the way of all of it," Latz said in an interview, adding that he's ready to try to force a vote if the Senate leadership won't schedule a hearing or floor vote.

"We're going to have a vote of some sort in the Senate on these bills before the end of session," he said. "We'll use whatever procedural mechanism we have available to us to get that."

Latz tried to force a vote on similar legislation last year but his procedural move failed. Flipping suburban Republican senators in districts where Democrats captured House seats last November will be the key this time, he said, adding that gun control has become a "decision point" in how suburban mothers vote.

"It might ultimately come down to the ballot box in November 2020," he said.

Also Tuesday, Walz repeated his condemnation of remarks at the rally by Rep. Cal Bahr , who told the crowd it was "time to start riding herd" on people who would roll back gun rights, adding: "They will not go quietly into the good night. They need to be kicked to the curb and stomped on and run over a few times."

The East Bethel Republican on Monday claimed that by "they" he meant the bills, not people, but Walz didn't buy it.

"My pro tip of the day is, when you make a mistake like that just own it and say 'I'm sorry,'" the governor told reporters.A redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's 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.

Barr's 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 Friday he shares a desire for Congress and the public to be able to read Mueller's 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 Mueller's "principal conclusions."

Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign coordinated 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 Mueller's 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 Mueller's 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 week's letter detailing Mueller's "principal conclusions" was not intended to be an "exhaustive recounting" of the special counsel's investigation.

Barr described Mueller's report as nearly 400 pages long, not including the tables and supporting materials, which he said sets forth Mueller's 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 public's interest for me to attempt to summarize the full report or to release it in serial or piecemeal fashion."

Asked about Barr's commitment to release a redacted version of Mueller's report, Trump said he has "a lot of confidence" in Barr "and if that's what he'd like to do, I have nothing to hide." He spoke at Mar-a-Lago, his private estate in Florida.

Barr's 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 Barr's 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.The Texas Senate approved a resolution supporting President Donald Trump's assertion that there is an immigration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The non-binding language was introduced on the floor by Houston Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt on Tuesday.

Outnumbered Democrats said they were blindsided and complained bitterly during hours of heated debate  but they didn't have the votes to stop it.

The ceremonial resolution stated that the "Texas Senate supports the president in his efforts to move forward with emergency action" on the border.

Still, lawmakers had previously largely avoided thorny immigration debates, despite Texas' 1,200-mile border with Mexico.

The U.S. House and Senate voted against Trump's use of emergency power to build a border wall, but he vetoed the resolution and Congress was unable to override him.Millions of taxpayer dollars sitting around for years may finally be used.

A cumulative $28 million has been sitting in accounts for two, five, and even ten years in some cases.

The cash is supposed to go to things that many Los Angeles residents would agree need help in Southern California, such as more affordable housing and ways to reduce traffic troubles.

The city administrative officer has been working with city departments to move some of this money, and millions could soon be spent.

The latest move comes after the controllers findings last year, and a follow-up report in February, which called for city leaders to create a system where cash can be spent.

Traffic Upgrades

From a centralized control center, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation is trying to ease the ever-present slow, traffic-clogged drive.

The technology used monitors traffic in real time and adjusts signals at thousands of intersections

The department says the system can reduce travel time by 12% and help increase traffic safety.

The City Controllers office says more than $3 million previously unused money will go to make upgrades.

Teen Drug Treatment

Thousands of dollars are expected to help with a residential teen drug treatment program in South Los Angeles.

Homeland Security

Nearly $2 million would go to Homeland Security.

Affordable Housing

Millions more would go toward creating affordable housing. Specifically, the money would help offset developers costs so they could offer cheaper rents.

Some of this money can be moved around without any approval. Other funds will require the city council and Mayor Eric Garcetti signing off.

On top of all this, the controller is suggesting a new process with more oversight from his office, and a time limit for any money that sits unused for too long now and in the future. The city council budget and finance committee is expected to take up that part.

"This is definitely positive movement and we hope that the city council will continue to partner with my office to implement a new management structure for all special funds soon, said city controller Ron Galperin.A Corona man accused of killing his 8-year-old son and trying to conceal the evidence using acid and other products pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and torture charges.

Bryce Daniel McIntosh, 32, was initially arrested about two weeks ago and charged with child abuse in connection with the disappearance of Noah McIntosh.

An amended complaint was filed against the defendant last week after Corona police detectives procured additional evidence pointing to McIntosh's alleged perpetration of a homicide.

The defendant was slated to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice on the murder count, as well as a special circumstance allegation of torture. However, deputies informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge O.G. Magno that medical staff at the Robert Presley Detention Center infirmary had not cleared McIntosh to go to court.

The type of treatment McIntosh was receiving, or whether he's under observation as a suicide risk, was not disclosed. Magno rescheduled the hearing for this morning. McIntosh is scheduled to appear in court on April 16 for a felony settlement conference, court records show.

An arrest warrant affidavit filed by Corona police Detective Mario Hernandez last week laid out a timeline suggesting that Noah, whose 9th birthday would have been this past Sunday, went missing on March 2, when he was last seen by his mother, Jillian Marie Godrey, who is charged with child endangerment and is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Riverside jail.

Godfrey, 36, waited until March 12 to report Noah missing, Hernandez said.

According to the detective, the woman had documented instances of alleged abuse, including "Bryce admitting to putting Noah in hot water, Noah being placed in cold water for approximately 2 1/2 hours, Noah being put in a tub of cold water for over six hours, and ... Noah in Bryce's bathroom with his feet tied up."

The last time she saw her son, Godfrey told investigators, McIntosh had taken Noah into the bathroom of his apartment at 4637 Temescal Canyon Road, and the boy asked his father "why he was hurting him," according to the affidavit.

Investigators spoke with Bryce's 11-year-old sister, Chloe, and she acknowledged assisting her father on one occasion, holding "Noah's legs down" in a bathtub full of cold water, Hernandez said.

McIntosh refused to speak with detectives. A search warrant was obtained and served at the defendant's apartment on March 13, resulting in his arrest for alleged child abuse. He was booked in lieu of a $1 million bond.

Investigators seized McIntosh's computers and mobile phone.

They also found handcuffs, zip ties, yellow towels "with stains" and purple latex gloves, according to the affidavit.

After accessing the data on the defendant's phone, detectives discovered that McIntosh had sought information via the internet on "normal heart rate for 8 year old," "how exactly sodium hydroxide works,'' "sodium hydroxide to water," "what exactly is sulfuric acid," "what does sulfuric acid do to aluminum" and "what kind of plastic can stand (muriatic) acid," Hernandez wrote.

He said detectives also confirmed McIntosh had purchased the following items from a Corona Home Depot on March 4: long-cuffed gloves, 24-inch bolt cutters, four gallons of muriatic acid and a 128-ounce bottle of drain opener.

Later that same day, the defendant also purchased from a Lowe's Home Improvement Center in Corona a 32-gallon trash can and a 32-ounce bottle of sulfuric acid drain opener, according to court papers.

Data extracted from McIntosh's mobile phone showed that he made a trip on March 4 to remote Wilson Valley Road in Aguanga -- more than 50 miles east of his residence -- as well as to Squaw Mountain Road in Temescal Valley the next day, according to the affidavit.

Corona police officers and FBI agents visited the locations, and at the first one, they found a trash can, a paper with "Noah M." written on it, purple latex gloves, a plastic bag with blood residue, parts from a kitchen blender, empty bottles of drain cleaner, blankets and yellow towels, Hernandez said.

During a news briefing Wednesday, police Chief George Johnstone said Noah's loss "tears at the heart of every person who has touched this case."

Johnstone would not disclose a possible motive.

He said McIntosh's black BMW 330i is a key element in the alleged killing.

The license plate is California 5MKE807. Anyone who may have seen the vehicle during the period in question was asked to contact detectives at (951) 279-3659.A shooting that happened at a homeless encampment just a few feet from a day care center in a West Los Angeles neighborhood is rattling residents who are worried about the homelessness epidemic in Southern California.

Residents of Mar Vista said the shooting captured on video Monday is just the latest example of the kind of crime they now put up with 24/7 because of a growing homeless encampment in their neighborhood.

They said theyre worried about one day being caught in the crossfire, and they cant understand why the city of Los Angeles isnt doing more to protect them.

Homeless encampments in LA have become an everyday sight, like the one on Venice Boulevard and the 405 Freeway.

In the video of a shooting at that encampment, a black car is seen pulling up. Someone inside points a gun and fires a shot at a homeless man standing in the encampment. A puff of smoke is seen before the car takes off.

"I dont feel safe!" resident Roman Samiley said.

Samiley and his family live just a few doors from the encampment where the shooting took place.

"I do not know how to answer my kid when she says, 'Daddy, I do not feel safe here. I do not want to live here anymore,'" he said.

As the NBC4 I-Team interviewed Samiley, someone from the encampment passed out just across the street from his house. In the past year, there have been other shootings at the encampment, including one last July.

When asked if residents think police are aware of the homelessness problem and violence, residents said they know police are aware.

"There is a big threat for our lives," George Frem said.

Frem owns a high end auto repair shop right across the street from the growing encampment. He said his customers are afraid to come to his shop because of the constant crime.

"People are doing drugs and selling drugs outside and thats kind of OK with the city, as long as its happening outside our business," Frem said.

Even though LA has a law that forbids tents on sidewalks during the daytime, the LAPD doesnt strictly enforce it.

That's a stark contrast to what is seen across the street in Culver City.

Just across the street from the Mar Vista encampment where the shooting occurred, there are usually no tents.

Thats because in Culver City, authorities don't tolerate tent cities.

When a homeless man began to pitch his tent in Culver City as NBC4 covered this story, officers made him move it right away.

Frem said he wishes he could move his business to just across the road.

The LAPD says its investigating the encampment shooting. A captain said the victim appears to be a homeless person living at the encampment. They've assigning an additional officer to check out the area, because of all the drug activity.What to Know NYC is set to become the first major U.S. metro to employ congestion pricing; the goal is to ease traffic, cut pollution + lift mass transit

The plan details still have to be worked out; it would use a network of license plate readers to bill vehicles for using certain roads

About 717,000 vehicles a day enter the Manhattan zone (anywhere south of Central Park) considered for the program, a recent city study said

New York City is set to become the first American metropolis that seeks to ease traffic congestion, cut pollution and boost mass transit by charging people a hefty toll for the privilege of driving into its most crammed areas. So can it work?

If the experience of other cities around the world that have tried it is any indication, the answer appears to be yes. London, Singapore and Stockholm have all reported that "congestion pricing" systems similar to the one now being planned for Manhattan led to initial reductions in traffic and improvements in air quality, while creating a steady stream of revenue to support public transit and other infrastructure.

"New York is a prime example of cities where it tends to work, which is very high density, with relatively good public transportation" or at least the skeleton of a good system, said John Rennie Short, professor of public policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

But critical questions still to be resolved that could determine what the experiment ultimately looks like and whether it is successful, experts said.

New York has to work out details of the plan, which would use a network of license plate readers to bill vehicles for using surface roads anywhere in Manhattan south of Central Park. That includes the cost of the toll, which is likely to be more than $10.

Will the tolls raise enough money to make the city's strained mass transit system reliable? Is there enough alternative transportation for commuters who decide to give up their cars? How will the tolling system affect the delivery trucks, taxis and ride-hail vehicles that now comprise a big proportion of Manhattan traffic? And will so many vehicles be made exempt from the tolls that the effect on travel patterns is minimal?

Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University, predicted that in the end the city might see only a modest decline in traffic, as people either absorb the cost and keep driving, or switch to services like Uber and Lyft.

"We're not going to see people abandon their cars to get into the subway," he said.

Primarily, he said, the system is likely to benefit the public transportation system, which now has a new source of revenue for much-needed repairs and upgrades.

"This is a terrific victory ... for the mass transit ridership and for New York's capacity to respond to the crisis of its mass transit system," he said.

New York state legislators approved a conceptual plan Monday for the tolling system, which would supplement an existing network of bridge and tunnel tolls that charge $9.50 to $15 for vehicles coming into Manhattan via seven of the 20 bridges and tunnels leading onto the island.

A panel will now be convened to set the toll prices  one recent proposal suggested around $12 for passenger vehicles  and create possible exemptions or credits for some drivers. That could include discounts for motorists already paying a toll enter Manhattan. The earliest the tolls could begin is Dec. 31, 2020.

One model for the system has existed since 2003 in London, which offers evidence that the system could work  and a cautionary note for how it may need to adapt over time.

Initially, London charged drivers 5 pounds, or about $6.50, to come into the central part of the city during the workweek.

The toll initially had a considerable effect. In its first year, congestion dropped 30%, buses got 6% faster and there was a 12% reduction in emissions.

In recent years, however, congestion has dramatically worsened, despite the fee rising to 11.50 pounds, about $15, per day. Officials say that was due in large part to the flood of app-based for-hire vehicles like Uber, which were initially exempt from the tolls. As a result, the city is lifting the exemption starting April 8.

In Stockholm, a pilot program that was put in place with less-than-enthusiastic public support in 2006 became much more popular as people saw immediate drops in congestion and air pollution, so much so that residents voted to make it permanent in 2007. Singapore's system has been around since the 1970s.

About 717,000 vehicles a day enter the Manhattan zone considered for the program, a recent city study said. One estimate said a congestion pricing plan with an $11.52 toll could reduce traffic by 13 percent and raise gross revenues of $1.1 billion per year, much of which would go to support trains and buses after expenses.

"Even a small reduction in traffic can have a substantial impact on the larger traffic network," said Kate Slevin, senior vice president of state programs and advocacy at Regional Plan Association, an advocacy organization that supports the congestion toll.

Asked about concerns over whether such a beleaguered transit system could even handle more riders if people decided not to drive into Manhattan, Slevin pointed out that transit officials have almost two years to take steps that will help, like redoing bus routes.

"The good news is there's going to be a couple of years before the congestion toll is turned on," she said.Joe Biden on Monday forcefully rejected comparisons of his embrace of colleagues, friends and their families during swearing-in ceremonies as vice president and the 2014 allegation he says he can't recall involving a Democratic candidate in Nevada.

The questions about whether Biden's long history of physical expression, with heightened scrutiny in the #MeToo movement, prompted Biden to defend his actions, arguing he doesn't believe he ever acted inappropriately.

But Biden's team likened associating images of Biden hugging or leaning in to speak to colleagues, friends and their family members to "smears" by "right wing trolls."

Biden has defended his interactions with women, saying he doesn't believe he's ever acted inappropriately.

But a Nevada politician's assertion that Biden's kiss on the back of her head made her feel uncomfortable prompted some Democrats to question whether the 76-year-old is too out of step with his own party to run a successful 2020 presidential campaign.

The episode, recounted by Democrat Lucy Flores , highlighted an aspect of Biden's persona that has been publicly known for years: the affectionate whispers, hugs and shoulder squeezes he has long doled out to women, often on camera and at high-profile public events. In a moment of national reckoning over sexual harassment and the treatment of women by powerful men, some Democrats said Biden's actions have taken on a new light.

"It looks different in 2019," said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist. Cardona said that while Biden's behavior is not automatically disqualifying for the presidency, "it all depends on how he continues to respond to this. He has to acknowledge that his behavior made some women uncomfortable."

In a statement on Sunday, Biden said it was never his intention to make women feel discomfort and if he did so, "I will listen respectfully."

And in light of photos circulating of Biden embracing or leaning in toward women during official ceremonies as vice president, Biden's team forcefully pushed back on comparisons to them and what Flores' alleged.

"In other words, the familiar characterizations of these two photos that have been uncritically perpetuated, turn out to be very false," Biden spokesman Bill Russo said in a statement.

Several women who worked for Biden stepped forward over the weekend to vouch for his character. And Stephanie Carter, the wife of former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, disputed characterizations of her interactions with Biden during her husband's swearing-in ceremony. Pictures of the then-vice president whispering in Carter's ear and placing his hands on her shoulders ricocheted across the internet at the time.

"The Joe Biden in my picture is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which I will always be grateful," Carter wrote in a post on the website Medium.

Flores' account of the 2014 incident comes at a crucial moment for Biden. He's been wrestling for months with a final decision on whether to run for president, blowing through several self-imposed deadlines. Advisers are now eyeing an announcement later in April.

But the Democratic primary has sped on without him, with more than a dozen candidates in the race, including a record number of women and minorities. Veterans like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have shown surprising strength, while newer White House hopefuls like California Sen. Kamala Harris and Texan Beto O'Rourke have drawn big crowds and displayed early fundraising prowess.

Biden still leads most early polls, buoyed by broad name recognition and the goodwill he generated during eight years as President Barack Obama's No. 2. Given his experience and appeal with white working-class voters in Midwestern battleground states, he's also seen by some Democrats as the best-positioned candidate to defeat President Donald Trump.

Nancy Bobo, an Iowa activist who was among Obama's earliest supporters in the state, shares that view. She fears the episode with Flores suggests Democrats may try to tear down their most-qualified candidate.

"I can just see what's coming at him," Bobo said. "And it's going to come at him from the Democrats."

None of Biden's potential rivals defended him following Flores' allegations. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she believed Flores and that Biden "needs to give an answer" about what occurred. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said, "Lucy Flores felt demeaned, and that is never okay. If Vice President Biden becomes a candidate, this is a topic he'll have to engage on further." Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said, "I believe it's important to listen and take seriously any incident like this."

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Flores was "quite bold" to "go up against the highest levels of her political party" with the allegations and suggested that Biden should consider apologizing to Flores. Conway deflected questions about the numerous women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, allegations he denies.

Flores, a former Nevada state representative and the 2014 Democratic nominee for Nevada lieutenant governor, told The Associated Press on Sunday that she had been mulling coming forward for years. She said she approached New York Magazine about publishing her story and that the magazine had fact-checked her piece after she submitted it.

According to Flores, the incident with Biden occurred in 2014 as the two were waiting to take the stage during a rally in Las Vegas.

"I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. 'Why is the vice president of the United States touching me?'" she wrote. "He proceeded to plant a big slow kiss on the back of my head."

Spokesman Russo said the former vice president doesn't remember kissing Flores.

The AP tried to contact several advisers and aides from Flores' 2014 campaign but was unable to obtain any independent verification of her account.

Flores, who endorsed Sanders in the 2016 campaign, said Biden's team has not been in touch with her since her story was published. She said she would be satisfied if Biden simply acknowledged the discomfort the episode caused her.

Biden has been warned by advisers that his past statements and actions, including his long history of hugging and showing affection to women, would face fresh scrutiny in the 2020 campaign. In some cases, Biden's policy positions, such as his support for the 1994 crime bill that is blamed for mass incarcerations of minorities, are out of step with a party that has shifted to the left. But at other moments, like when he touts his ability to forge compromises with Republicans, he can appear to be speaking about a political era that many Democrats believe no longer exists.

Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, said Biden's team needs to answer a key question before launching a White House bid: "Do they feel confident in their ability to understand this electorate and campaign in 2020, which is already different than 2016?"

Even before Flores made her allegations, some Democrats were wondering whether Biden was meant for this moment. His team was widely panned following reports that they were considering tapping a younger Democrat or a minority like 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams as a running mate early in the primary in an attempt to counteract questions about Biden's age.

While Biden's team denied that he was considering that step, Biden did float the idea to Abrams over a recent lunch, according to a Democrat with knowledge of the discussion. The Democrat was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity.

Democratic strategist Rebecca Katz said that while Flores' descriptions may feel familiar to those who have watched Biden hug and hold hands with women for years, she put the focus on the women who were on the receiving end of his affections.

"What Lucy Flores so bravely did is say, 'This is the way he made me feel,'" Katz said. "No one has ever done that before with Joe Biden."

Read Biden's full statement below:

"In many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.

I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will.

I will also remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women. I will fight to build on the work I've done in my career to end violence against women and ensure women are treated with the equality they deserve. I will continue to surround myself with trusted women advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own. And I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won."

Associated Press writer Stephen Braun contributed to this report.

In the first address to Congress by a NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance and called for bigger defense budgets to cope with global challenges such as Russian assertiveness, the core reason NATO was created in Washington 70 years ago this week.

"We have to be frank," Stoltenberg said before a joint meeting of Congress. "Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences."

The NATO secretary general credited President Donald Trump with compelling allies to spend more on defense, without noting that Trump also has questioned the value of the alliance and suggested that some members are freeloaders.

Trump's criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington to be its leader. Stoltenberg's speech provided a diplomatic counterpoint to Trump's sometimes derisive rhetoric, and the enthusiastic reception he received from both parties in the House was testament to an enduring pro-NATO consensus in Congress.

"The secretary general delivered to Congress a powerful affirmation of the value of the NATO alliance," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was NATO's top commander from 2009 to 2013, called the Stoltenberg address a high point in recent U.S.-European relations.

"Given the president's evident and frequently vocalized skepticism of the alliance, it is clear that Congress  on a bipartisan basis  wants to put the full weight of the legislative branch behind NATO," Stavridis said. "We will never find a better pool of allies in the world than the Europeans, and this address underscores the importance of the trans-Atlantic bridge, which has been creaking a bit lately."

Trump's criticisms are not NATO's only source of friction. The alliance also is at odds with long-time member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defense system that is not compatible with the allied air defenses. The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest U.S. fighter jet, the F-35, if the Turks go through with their plan to buy Russia's advanced S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

Escalating that fight, Vice President Mike Pence scolded Turkey at a NATO 70th anniversary event following Stoltenberg's speech. He said the Russian S-400 system "poses great danger to NATO," and suggested that Turkey needs to decide between NATO and Russia.

"Turkey must choose," he said. "Does it want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world, or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?"

Stoltenberg made a point of highlighting the benefits to the United States of having NATO allies. He noted, for example, that in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, NATO invoked Article 5 of its founding charter to come to the aid of a member under attack. He said allies also provide the U.S. with valuable military support in peacetime, from tracking submarines in the Arctic to providing bases in Europe from which the U.S. can project power.

"Our alliance has not lasted for 70 years out of a sense of nostalgia or of sentiment," he said. "NATO lasts because it is in the national interest of each and every one of our countries."

Stoltenberg on Thursday will lead a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to mark 70 years since the alliance's founding charter, the North Atlantic Treaty. The alliance has grown from its original 12 members to 29, with the Republic of North Macedonia about to become the 30th member country.

Stoltenberg, a two-time former prime minister of Norway, is the first head of NATO to address a joint meeting of Congress. He touted the alliance's long record of partnership but also noted it has a history of coping with internal divisions, including strong opposition by France, Germany and other members to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

"Open discussions and different views is not a sign of weakness," he said. "It is a sign of strength. So we should not be surprised when we see differences between our countries. Today there are disagreements on issues such as trade, energy, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. These are serious issues with serious disagreements."

Trump has sharply criticized other NATO members, including Germany, for not meeting spending targets. On Tuesday, he praised the generally upward trend among the European allies, but hounded them to pay even more because he believes America still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

In a meeting at the White House, Trump and Stoltenberg had kind words for each other. But in the past, Trump has called NATO "obsolete" and suggested he might pull the U.S. out of the alliance if member nations didn't significantly boost defense spending.

"We've worked together on getting some of our allies to pay their fair share," Trump told reporters. "At some point, it's going to have to go higher."

Trump took credit for the increased spending. However, spending by NATO countries, which dropped after the end of the Cold War, has actually been rising since 2014, before Trump took office .

After Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, member countries agreed to boost defense budgets and "move toward" spending 2% of their gross domestic products on defense by 2024. The U.S. spends about 3.4% of its GDP on defense.

Since Trump took office, European allies and Canada have added $41 billion to their defense budgets. By the end of next year, this is scheduled to reach $100 billion, Stoltenberg said. Germany remains the main target of Trump's ire because it plans to spend 1.5%, below the 2% guideline, by 2024.

Stoltenberg has said the 2% guideline was not invented by the United States and was a target the 29 allies set in 2014.

"The allies are really stepping up," Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Associated Press.A Miami doctor is facing action against his medical license based on the way he performed the Brazilian butt lift procedure on two of his patients.

The Florida Board of Medicine will decide on Friday whether Dr. Arnaldo Valls will face a reprimand against his license. He's also facing a $15,000 fine, a medical records course, and being prevented from performing the Brazilian butt lift procedure until his technique is evaluated by another physician.

State health officials say one of his patients was hospitalized and another died after undergoing the popular procedure.

The NBC 6 Investigators first reported on the death of Kizzy London in December of 2017. The 40-year-old mother from Louisiana traveled to Miami to undergo the Brazilian butt lift procedure. That's when fat is removed through liposuction from unwanted parts of the body and re-injected into a patient's backside. The medical examiner said London went into cardiac arrest during the operation and she died from a fat embolism.

State officials say another one of Dr. Valls' patients was hospitalized in 2016 after they say he hit the 26-year-old's small intestine with a medical instrument during the procedure. The woman from Boston was hospitalized for a month and survived.

In response to both administrative complaints filed, Dr. Valls responded to the Florida Department of Health disputing the allegations.

Shortly after London's death, Dr. Valls released a statement.

"We send our deepest condolences to the loved ones of our patient who tragically underwent a cardiac arrest during a procedure yesterday afternoon, December 14th," Dr. Arnaldo Valls said in a statement. "Cosmetic surgeries, like all surgeries, carry some degree of risk for pain, bleeding or other complications; we take great precautions in running numerous exams to assure the safety of the patient. All standard pre-operative procedures were administered."

The Florida Board of Medicine combined both the cases and is expected to vote on a proposed punishment during a hearing on Friday where both sides will present its case.

The NBC 6 Investigators will be there to let you know what happens.

The NBC 6 Investigators have uncovered the deaths of at least ten women since 2010 who have died after undergoing a Brazilian Butt Lift procedure  at different clinics, with different doctors.

Now a proposed bill in the Florida Senate would allow the Department of Health to have more regulation over the industry and take action against doctors and clinics in the case of serious injury or death.

The proposed changes include requiring all surgery centers to be registered to a designated doctor. As it stands now, anyone can own a plastic surgery center in Florida. If passed, the changes would also include allowing the state's board of medicine to revoke a center or doctor's registration in the case of serious injury or death, and requiring a clean record for five years before anyone can open a surgery center.

The deaths uncovered by the NBC 6 Investigators led to a worldwide study in 2016 that caused doctors to issue new recommendations on how the Brazilian Butt Lift procedure should be performed. Also, in 2017, the reporting done by the NBC 6 Investigators led a group of surgeons from around the country to travel to Miami to study cadavers to learn additional steps to make the industry safer. Their findings are expected to be released later this year.A man is expected to plead guilty to drunk driving following a wreck that killed a mother just weeks after she gave birth to a daughter who was later killed in a horrific, unrelated beating.

Lawyers in Miami announced Tuesday that 24-year-old Leonardo Morciego will plead guilty to DUI manslaughter and other felonies next week in Miami and get a five-year prison sentence.

The Miami Herald reports the June 2016 crash killed Rachel Foster and seriously injured her boyfriend Yovahnis Roque.

Roque later took infant daughter Savanna to Orange, Texas. Authorities say 26-year-old Roque bludgeoned the 2-year-old to death in February and now faces capital murder charges.

Mother and daughter are buried side-by-side in Miami, which Rachel Foster's mother Delia Foster calls a "blessing" after the double tragedies.Authorities say a former salesman at a Florida Porsche dealership scammed more than 30 customers out of about $2.2 million by selling them non-existent cars.

Records show 44-year-old Shiraaz Sookralli made his initial appearance Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court. He faces mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges.

A criminal complaint says Sookralli, who had been a salesman at Champion Porsche in Pompano Beach, created a shell corporation with a similar name in 2017. Investigators say Sookralli then made bogus sales orders for non-existent future exotic Porsche models and took deposits with his shell company's bank account.

Champion Porsche, which did not authorize the transactions, contacted victims and cooperated with law enforcement after learning of the scheme.

A message seeking comment from Sookralli's attorney wasn't immediately returned.A Tennessee social justice center that has hosted iconic civil rights leaders was destroyed in a fire and a "white power" symbol was found on the site, the center said and NBC News reported.

The symbol, which officials did not describe but said was connected to the white power movement, was discovered after the main office was completely destroyed in a fire last week, the Highlander Research and Education Center said in a news release Tuesday. It was spray-painted on the parking lot connected to the main office.

Highlander, 30 minutes east of Knoxville, has provided training and organizing efforts for emerging social justice movements in the South since 1932, when Myles Horton founded the Highlander Folk School. Famed civil rights leaders and social activists including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy and Peter Seeger attended training events at the Highlander center.

Highlander's main office was home to decades' worth of documents, speeches and memorabilia that were lost in the fire, the center said on Facebook.What to Know Jaden Jordan, 3, was taken to a hospital unconscious on Nov. 28, 2016 after an apparent beating by his mother's boyfriend

He had a fractured skull and was on life support for nearly a week; the toddler died on Dec. 3, 2016; the case sparked ACS reforms

The boyfriend, Salvatore Lucchesse, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison; he had pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter

A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in the beating death of his girlfriend's 3-year-old son, a brutal killing that exposed grave inadequacies in the city's Administration for Children's Services and led to sweeping reform.



Jaden Jordan was beaten into a coma by Salvatore Lucchesse, a 26-year-old man who was the boyfriend of Jordan's mother at the time the child died. The toddler spent nearly a week on a ventilator following the Nov. 28, 2016 attack.



Lucchesse pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter last month. Investigators said Jordan's mother left the boy home alone with Lucchesse when she went to work that day. Jordan was with the boyfriend for about seven and a half hours, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and defecated on himself at some point during the day. It was at 4:30 p.m. that Lucchesse called 911 to report Jordan unconscious.



The boy was taken, soiled and unresponsive, to a hospital. Jordan had suffered a fractured skull and a lacerated spleen and liver by the time ACS workers got to his Gravesend home that Monday. He died a few days later, on Dec. 3, 2016, when he was removed from life support.



"This was a senseless death of a helpless little boy who was left in the defendants care," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in announcing the sentencing Tuesday. "There is no excuse ever, under any circumstances, for beating a child. Todays sentence is a small measure of justice for Jaden and his devastated family."



The case exposed disturbing inadequacies in ACS' emergency unit, according to a blistering Department of Investigation report released about a month and a half after Jaden died.

The DOI report ripped ACS for failing to get to the boy sooner, saying its investigation found that "the depth of errors over a two-day period was so significant, and the errors involved the overall implementation of policies so basic, that they go to the heart of ACSs core mission of protecting children and implicate high-level, systemic problems."

The DOI looked at hundreds of documents, interviews and computer forensics amid its probe into ACS' handling of Jordan's death, and its summary report on the matter indicated ACS workers did have access to databases that would have given them the right address for Jordan sooner.

Specifically, the report blasted ACS's Emergency Childrens Services (ECS) unit, which handles cases during nights, weekends and holidays, as wholly inadequate in terms of staffing, case practice, supervision and training.



After Jordan's death, the ACS doubled the size of the emergency response team from 61 workers to 120 after concluding it was dangerously overburdened.What to Know Teen arrested for falsely reporting a hostage situation in NY last year, among other countrywide "swatting" incidents, authorities say

A 17-year-old Ohioan boy faces 73 counts, which include 40 felonies and 33 misdemeanors, in Mahoning County, Ohio

The teen allegedly went on "swatting" rampage across US, which also included a fake emergency call made to Putnam County authorities

An out-of-state teen was arrested for allegedly falsely reporting a violent hostage situation in upstate New York last year, among other countrywide "swatting" incidents, according to Putnam County officials.

A 17-year-old Ohioan boy faces 73 counts, which include 40 felonies and 33 misdemeanors, in Mahoning County, Ohio. While the charges were filed Feb. 27, the Putnam County Sheriffs Office made the announcement Monday.

The charges against the teen boy stems from an incident that allegedly took place on the evening of Aug. 11, 2018, when the Putnam County Sheriffs Office received a report of a hostage situation at a house on Ressique Road in the Town of Kent.

The caller alleged that he had an AR-15, had shot his wife and was now holding his son hostage, according to the sheriffs office. The call prompted law enforcement departments to respond to the scene.

Members of the Sheriffs Department were able to get in contact with the homeowner who said he was out of state with his family and that the house should be unoccupied, the sheriffs office says. A neighbor was allegedly able to provide a key to the home.

Law enforcement officials eventually entered the residence and confirmed that it was unoccupied and there was no hostage or other emergency situation, according to the sheriffs office.

A subsequent investigation produced information about the phone used to make the alleged fake emergency call. Investigators learned that there were similar incidents in other jurisdictions around the country, according to the sheriffs office.

Putnam County investigators in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies from around the country, identified the caller and determined that the calls originated in Mahoning County, Ohio.

The Mahoning County Prosecutors Office agreed to handle charges related to the crimes.

Putnam County Sheriff Robert L. Langley, Jr. said he hopes the charges will dissuade others from trying this type of activity.What to Know The owner of a drone that ran out of gas and hit a police officer's head during a huge funeral for a well-known rabbi has been arrested

The officer was left with a minor injury when the drone fell out of the air, hitting her in the face

Another police officer at the funeral was injured when a car in the procession ran over his foot after he fell down

A man who was flying a drone that ran out of gas and hit a police officers head during a huge funeral for a well-known rabbi in Brooklyn has been arrested, the NYPD said.

Drone owner Yehiel Rosenfeld, 36, of Monsey in Rockland County, has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, assault and violation of local law, police said.

His attorney information wasn't immediately available Wednesday.

A police officer suffered a minor injury when a drone flying above the crowd of mourners gathered for the funeral in Borough Park on Tuesday lost power and fell out of the air, hitting her in the face, the NYPD said.

There was a drone that came out of the sky and hit a police officer, NYPD police commissioner James ONeill said at a press conference after the funeral.

The drone apparently ran out of gas and it landed on the officers head, he added.

Another police officer working crowd control at the funeral suffered minor injuries when a car in the procession ran over his foot after he fell down, police said.

ONeill on Tuesday said the officer may have broken his ankle.

The funeral was for Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Portugal, who died at the age of 95. He was born in 1924 in Romania to Rabbie Eliezer Zusia Portugal who founded the Skulen Hasidic dynasty.

Father and son settled in Bucharest following World War II and in 1959 they were imprisoned for teaching Torah and helping Jewish children, according to Assembly Member Simcha Eichenstein.

They left Romania for the United States in 1960 after intervention by the U.S. State Department and Sen. Robert Scoop Jackson, Eichestein said.Editorial

Labor-Libs on the nose

The NSW state elections, held on Saturday March 23, witnessed a growing trend towards the rejection of the traditional parties and emergence of extreme right forces. The Coalition parties were lucky to scrape in with a majority of two in the Legislative Assembly, allowing it to form government.

At the time of writing the Coalition and Labor had a combined first preference vote of just over 60 percent in the Legislative Council as voters turned their backs on them. The Australian Greens had ten percent, leaving almost 30 percent being directed to minor parties, mostly reactionary ones.

Voters followed a growing and global trend of disillusionment with and distrust of major parties, looking for an alternative to declining living standards, corruption and wholesale destruction of the environment and failure to act on climate change.

The re-election of the Berejiklian Coalition government with such a slim majority in the Legislative Assembly cannot be described as a ringing endorsement of the Liberal/National Coalition or the Premier.

The government was on the nose but the electorate had not forgotten the corruption-ridden Labor government it threw out in 2011.

Long waiting lists for public hospitals; poorly maintained and over-crowded public schools; public transport chaos, lack of regional services; developers given a free-hand and necessary infrastructure lacking; privatisations; rising electricity prices; long waiting lists for public housing; and so on. The list goes on.

In regional areas the anger is palpable over neglect of the needs of farmers and communities. They are sick of government failure when it comes to education, health, water management, communications and other services and the refusal to address climate change. Many people felt they were taken for granted, in particular by the Nationals, who claim to represent people in the bush.

So much so, that the Nationals lost the seat of Barwon in the western region of NSW to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (SFF) after holding it for 69 years. It took a 21.6 percent swing to break the Nationals 69-year strong-hold on the seat. Local issues such as water quality and millions of dead fish in Menindee played an important role in the swing.

The SFF also took the regional seat of Murray off the Nationals. For similar reasons. Labor scooped one inner Sydney seat from the Liberals and other country one from the Nationals.

Labor does not offer an appealing alternative.

They have Labor leader Michael Daley to thank for not being able to capitalise on the Coalitions unpopularity. A video released just days out from the election of him making racist comments about Asians was widely met with shock, particularly following the Christchurch massacre.

Likewise, reports that Labor was exchanging preferences with the SFF in some seats, raised the prospect of Labor supporting a loosening of gun laws if elected.

While counting for the upper house is far from complete, it is clear that the former Labor leader and ultra conservative Mark Latham, with strong backing from the reactionary and powerful radio shock jock Alan Jones, has won a Legislative Council seat for One Nation.

To pass legislation which is opposed by Labor and the Greens in the 42-seat upper house, the Coalition will need to make concessions with the likes of SFF, One Nation, Liberal Democrats and Christian Democratic Party.

NSW has a rough time ahead of it, with more of the same neo-liberal policies and the possibility of the extreme right increasingly dictating much of the agenda. The SFF and One Nation have been mainstreamed by much of the media with the Greens almost blocked out of media coverage.

Unless the left and progressive forces can unite and build a political alternative capable of attracting voters, the working class in particular, the door will be opened wider to the extreme right. We only need to look at developments across Europe and in the US to see the rise of the neo-fascists and closer to home, the Christchurch massacre.The White House security specialist who told Congress that at least 25 officials received security clearances despite opposition from career staffers says she felt humiliated by what she considers an act of retaliation from her boss.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Tricia Newbold said her supervisor moved files to a shelf beyond her reach after she complained about the decision to grant security clearances over the objections of senior staffers.

"It was definitely humiliating," said Newbold, a manager in the White Houses Personnel Security Office who has a rare form of dwarfism. "...But it didnt stop me from doing what was right."

Newbold's allegations were detailed in a letter that House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., released Monday after she spoke to the committee in a private interview in March.What to Know A 20-year-old soldier died during a live-fire exercise 15 years after his father was also killed during an Army training exercise.

Spc. Nicholas Peter DiMona III, of Medford Lakes, New Jersey, died during a live-fire training exercise in Alaska's interior.

DiMona's mother wants answers as the Army continues to investigate.

Melissa DiMona remembers the last thing she said to her son, Army Spc. Nicholas Peter DiMona III, before he took part in a live-fire training exercise in Alaska's interior.

"I just said, 'Please Nick. Just be careful. Just be careful. I love you Nick. I love you,'" the heartbroken mother told NBC10. "And he's like, 'Mom, I love you, too. I'm always careful.'"

Two hours after the phone call, she saw two men in uniform at her front door in Medford Lakes, New Jersey.

"I saw their faces," Melissa DiMona said. "I just knew. I knew that look."

It's the same look she saw in 2004, when her husband, also a soldier, died during a training exercise. Their son, Nick, was 5 years old at the time. On Saturday, 15 years later, Nick was shot during an early-morning drill at the Donnelly Training area near Fort Greely.

Officials say medics at the scene provided care to Nick DiMona III. He was flown to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was 20-years-old.

"That is my heart," Melissa DiMona said. "It's like somebody took my heart and soul and just took it somewhere and it's just gone."

The widow said her son always wanted to be like his father. After he graduated from Shawnee High School in Medford Lakes, he joined the Army in 2017 and became a specialist and paratrooper. He was based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

U.S. Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell said the investigation will look at anyone responsible for firing the fatal round.

Pennell said the exercise is part of ongoing readiness training. He didnt know of any similar deaths in Alaska during exercises.

As the investigation continues, Melissa DiMona said she wants answers.

"Why were they using live rounds near him?" she asked. "Why would they put him in a proximity where he could be shot? When my husband got killed, it was a training accident. Now this is another training accident."What to Know Nicholas Flacco, 20, died after being shot in the chest inside FDR Park on Saturday. Police said his friends dared the gunman to shoot.

Tyquan Atkinson, a.k.a. "Fats," was arrested Wednesday in connection to the shooting. He faces murder charges.

Police say the gunman may have been summoned to the park by a woman who got into a fight with another group of girls.

The suspect in the killing of a Philadelphia Police Department chief inspector's son remains jailed facing murder charges.

Tyquan Atkinson, 19, was arrested around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after trying to flee U.S. Marshals by going onto the roof of a fireworks store on the 800 block of Upland Avenue in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Early Thursday, a Philadelphia judge arraigned Atkinson on murder, criminal conspiracy and weapons charges in connection to the shooting death of Nicholas Flacco at FDR Park after a Phillies game.

Philadelphia Police Department / NBC10

Atkinson was held without bail.

Police identified Atkinson as the suspect Wednesday afternoon and urged the teen to seek legal counsel and turn himself in.

Flacco, a student at Penn State's main campus in State College, was visiting home Saturday to celebrate his 20th birthday. He is set to be laid to rest Thursday after a funeral Mass in Huntingdon Valley.

Flacco was with a group of people who had tailgated during Saturday's Phillies-Braves game. They started in the Jetro parking lot before moving across Broad Street to FDR Park.

While they were there, two groups of girls got into a fight inside the park. Philadelphia Police Homicide Capt. Jason Smith described the encounter as "random" and said it ended with one woman threatening "to call her man" before adding that "they should be afraid."

A gunman, who police identified as Atkinson, arrived in a car a short-time later, had a verbal exchange with Flacco's friends, and fired a shot into the air, investigators said.

Two of the friends confronted Atkinson and dared him to shoot them, according to police.

Atkinson allegedly fired another round from his revolver into the ground. But the group still wasn't fazed as he stormed off inside the South Philadelphia park, police said.

Ten minutes later, however, Atkinson allegedly walked back to the group, pointed at Flacco's chest and opened fire.

Flacco, the son of Chief Inspector Christopher Flacco, the head of the Philadelphia Police Internal Affairs Division, was dead by the time he reached Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in a police car.

Police said they are bewildered by the dare and why the group chose to stay in the park after two shots were fired.

"I think this is a matter of intoxication by alcohol, because who in their right mind would dare someone to shoot them," Capt. Smith said at a news briefing on Monday.

Police don't believe Flacco was involved in the argument or any altercation prior to the shooting.

Detectives have interviewed some of Flacco's friends, but are still searching for the woman who made the threat. Smith asked that she come in to be interviewed. She could face charges, he added. Police have not yet confirmed whether or not the girl and Atkinson know each other.There were more than 100 stab wounds on a South Carolina university student from New Jersey who was allegedly killed by a man who attacked her after she mistakenly thought his car was her Uber ride, a pathologist testified Monday.

There was also so little blood left in 21-year-old Samantha Josephson's body  20 milliliters (1.3 tablespoons) when a body typically has at least 4 liters (1 gallon)  that workers at her autopsy struggled to get enough blood for routine testing, said Dr. Thomas Beaver, who conducted the examination of the woman after her death.

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The murder and kidnapping trial of Nathaniel Rowland entered its second week Monday as Beaver spent an hour methodically detailing the roughly 120 separate stab wounds on Josephson's body. He said he didn't have an exact number because there were so many.

It gets to a point where it really doesnt add much to the report," said Beaver, a pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Beaver said almost all the stab wounds were to Josephson's head, arms, chest and back -- and several of the wounds would have penetrated into her brain or neck and been fatal. He took 170 photos and 13 X-rays.

There were a lot of injuries," Beaver said.

Josephson got into Rowland's car in March 2019 thinking it was her Uber ride back to her house, prosecutors said. Instead, the University of South Carolina student from Robbinsville, New Jersey, found herself trapped in the back seat because Rowland had the childproof lock on, investigators said.

Prosecutors have taken a methodical approach to the entire trial. Before Beaver took the stand, they linked Josephson's blood to areas all over Rowland's Chevrolet Impala, a knife with two blades and cleaning supplies in the trash behind his girlfriend's home and on a sock and bandana owned by Rowland.

The prosecution has introduced a mountain of other scientific evidence, from matching a footprint found on a rear window of Rowland's vehicle to Josephson, to cellphone data showing he was in the area where her body was found some 65 miles from where she was last seen in Columbia's Five Points entertainment district.

Another witness said DNA found under Rowland's fingernails matched Josephson's genetic material.

In previous testimony, Rowland's attorneys have pointed out scientists weren't absolutely certain Rowland's DNA was on the knife and his genetic material wasn't in other places it might be expected.

Their questioning has also shown that while Josephson appeared to fight her attacker  she had several stab wounds that went all the way through her hands  none of Rowlands DNA was found on her or under her fingernails and no visible marks were found on Rowland after his arrest.

Beaver testified he was certain the knife with two blades taken from the trash can of Rowland's girlfriend was used to kill Josephson. But on cross-examination, Beaver told a defense attorney that he Googled hundreds of pictures of knives after the autopsy to figure out what could have caused the unique wounds and sent investigators a photo of a different-looking weapon.

Rowland faces up to life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors did not choose to seek the death penalty.

Josephsons death turned a national spotlight on ride-hailing safety and led to some changes, including more prominent displays of drivers license plates. It is being streamed across the country by Court TV.What to Know The oldest reform school in the country has announced plans to lay off about 250 staff members at the Pennsylvania campus.

State officials ordered an "emergency removal" of all children after a Philadelphia Inquirer report detailed decades of abuse allegations.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered a review of allegations of abuse at Glen Mills Schools last month.

The oldest reform school in the country has announced plans to lay off about 250 staff members at the Pennsylvania campus amid multiple state probes into allegations of child abuse.

Glen Mills Schools spokeswoman Aimee Tysarczyk said the school and its board of managers made what she called "the difficult decision" to begin layoffs. She said 80 people from various departments were notified Tuesday and more layoffs are to continue this week.

The statement said many had "tirelessly served the school for decades" and lauded their commitment to Glen Mills' mission and "helping to pave the way to a new path in life for countless young men."

State officials last week ordered an "emergency removal" of all children after an investigation by The Philadelphia Inquirer detailed decades of alleged abuse and cover-ups at the Delaware County campus about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Philadelphia.

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered a review of allegations of abuse last month. Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller urged any former students, families or staff with information to come forward so officials can "understand the full scope of incidents and mistreatment that occurred at this school."

The Philadelphia Inquirer investigation published last month described a culture of physical abuse at the school and alleged that school leaders turned a blind eye to beatings and failed to vet or train counselors. In the last five years, at least 13 staffers at Glen Mills have been fired and dozens more have been retrained or reprimanded over assaults on 15 students at the school, the newspaper reported.

Glen Mills, established in 1826 as the Philadelphia House of Refuge, said it took the allegations very seriously and had "zero-tolerance for violent behaviors against students." The school noted it is regulated and licensed each year, and staff deals with extremely challenging young people and are trained in handling potentially violent behaviors.The University of Texas at Arlington on Wednesday announced it has suspended all social activities at its 31 fraternities and sororities.

UTA Greek organizations will be banned from "social events and functions, including brotherhood and sisterhood events, philanthropic events, new member showcases and social mixers," said university spokesman Joe Carpenter.

The decision was based not on a single event but, "due to concerns regarding the culture of the fraternal community both at UTA and nationally," he said.

Business meetings are still allowed, he added.

At least two UTA fraternities got in trouble last year for serving alcohol to minors.

Alexander Fuentes, a UTA Junior and member of Beta Theta Pi, said he doesn't understand the crackdown.

"One minute everything seems pretty OK and then next thing you know, all social events are getting canceled," he said. "I'm just shocked. I don't know what else to think of it."

More than 800 UTA students belong to a fraternity or sorority, Carpenter said. According to the school, nearly 42,000 students were enrolled in spring 2017.

The university will assemble a task force to "review the state of affairs" within the Greek system and "recommend steps to effect a positive shift in the community culture," he said.

In the meantime, fraternities and sororities will be allowed to remain open.

Becky Upchurch lives right behind UTA's Greek row.

"I just wonder what happened," she said. "I didn't think this was a real major party school. I walk here everyday and I've lived here a long time and I just don't see it."His border shutdown went from imminent to uncertain. A major health-care push was declared and then delayed. Funding cuts were inserted in his proposed budget and just as quickly taken out.

President Donald Trump has been exploring the art of the climb-down.

Trump pivoted on two big policy fronts this week, easing up on his threats to quickly close the southern border and deciding that a fresh effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act should wait until after the 2020 election.

The moves came as Republicans, outside groups and aides expressed anxiety about the potential economic and political fallout from Trump's proposals.

The president's swift backpedaling underscored his off-the-cuff style and suggested that more such drama is likely ahead as he tries to sync his policymaking with his re-election campaign.

To many, the Washington whiplash was another reminder that Trump tweets first and governs later.

"Most presidents and even most CEOs, when they make a decision that is going to have financial impact or personnel impact, you seek a lot of input," said Republican strategist Rick Tyler. "He doesn't do that. Even his own communications staff says he goes by his gut."

The president's pronouncements and social media blasts are often surprise attacks. They can vanish as quickly as they emerge if political expedience warrants a different tack.

His announcement last week that the GOP was going to take on health care again despite a bruising and unsuccessful effort in 2017 stunned most in his own party, and seemed driven in part by a lingering desire to fulfill his oft-repeated 2016 campaign promise to repeal "Obamacare."

He surprised his own education secretary with the declaration that he was reversing a plan to ax federal aid for the Special Olympics after the proposed cuts sparked a public outcry.

Few working for him ever want to get out in front of a Trump announcement for fear it will change at the last minute.

Trump's latest policy twists come after the conclusion of the special counsel's Russia investigation and as the president is turning his attention to his 2020 campaign.

His loose style also reflects his current leadership team. Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney is viewed as a less-controlling figure than previous chiefs, seeking to provide Trump with analysis and information, but not trying to restrict his conversations or steer his decisions.

After threatening last week to seal the border if Mexico did not immediately halt all illegal immigration into the U.S., Trump on Tuesday appeared to be laying the groundwork for a delay, saying he was happy with steps taken by Mexico and that he would like to see Congress pass legislation revising the immigration system. Still, he held open the possibility of a border shutdown, saying: "I'm totally ready to do it."

Trump has been threatening the closure privately for months, but his staff has been trying to slow him down with data about the economic impact and suggestions on ways to lessen the financial hit.

The president acknowledged the economy was on his mind Tuesday, but played down those concerns, saying, "Let me just give you a little secret: Security is more important to me than trade."

On health care, Trump plunged into the fight again last week, prompted by a court deadline. But his motivations were always as political as they were legislative, with the president not wanting to cede a 2020 campaign issue to Democrats. And allies stressed Tuesday that the president had never laid out a timeline for legislation.

With his tweet Monday night, Trump made clear there would be no vote until after the 2020 election, though he insisted a GOP plan still was in the works.

His downgrade came after pressure from congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said he told Trump "we were not going to be doing that in the Senate."

Asked if he was acting at McConnell's behest, Trump insisted: "I wanted to delay it myself."

Heading into 2020, Trump sees border security and health care as key issues for his political base and he is expected to keep pushing them even if he dials back specific threats.

Speaking Tuesday night at the National Republican Congressional Committee's spring dinner, he declared that Republicans "should not run away from health care."

"If we stay away from that subject, we're going to lose," Trump said.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.A man pleaded not guilty to killing his wife in court Tuesday after her body was discovered in her City Heights home in early March.

Abdiaziz Kerow, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Muna Salad Kuri, 36.

No remorse at all, he doesn't have a heart. He's the devil, Kuris sister, Amiina Salad, said. He's mocking us -- he literally is, and I know his face. I know the type of person he is, so he's being like, I did it, so what?

Dozens of people crowded the hallway outside the courtroom  many of whom said they knew the victim and hoped for justice.

Salad found her sister dead just before 9 a.m. on March 4 at Kuris City Heights apartment on Van Dyke Avenue. Salad said she visited her sister because she grew concerned when she didnt show up to the daycare center where she worked.

"I just found my sister in a house, blood everywhere on the bed... no pulse, no nothing, just laying there cold," Amiina Salad said in March. "I didnt believe it. It feels like a dream."

Muna Kuri was found dead in her apartment by her sister, and now police are trying to figure out what happened. NBC 7's Rory Devine has more.

Kuri had traumatic injuries to her head and was pronounced dead at the scene, officers said.

The San Diego Police Department named Kerow, who was initially nowhere to be found, a person of interest the day after Kuris body was discovered. Two weeks later, Kerow was found in Panama, arrested, and brought back to San Diego to be booked into county jail.

Kuri, a Somali, came to the United States from Kenya in 2000 and married Kerow in 2014.

Kerow's bail was set at $5 million.

He is expected to return to court on April 12.Rally and march

Freedom and Democracy for Sudan

On Saturday March 23, the Sudanese community of Perth held a rally and march in Forrest Place to protest the brutal repression by the Sudanese dictator Omar Al Bashir who has imposed a State of Emergency on the country since December 2018. Al Bashir came to power through a coup in 1989 and has since then tried to impose Islamist and Jihadist rule upon the people of Sudan who have opposed and resisted his brutal and repressive regime.

In Australia and around the world protests have been organised to bring pressure on governments to withdraw their support for the regime and demand Al Bashir step down.

The rally  organised by the Australian Sudanese Human Rights Activists Group WA  is a response to the call by the Sudanese people of Perth. It was attended by over 100 people and called on the Sudanese government to: end the emergency decree which has suspended many rights of ordinary citizens and community organisations; not use teargas and rubber bullets on protesters; stop detention of activists including students and union leaders, and release those protesters who have been detained for peaceful protests.

The first speaker was Janine Freeman, the State Parliamentary representative (ALP) for the seat of Mirrabooka, where many of the Sudanese community of Perth live. Freeman said that Australia itself has often struggled to recognise its own history of frontier violence and wars which has left a legacy of racism and intolerance today.

Freeman said, We should be able to question our leaders and challenge their views and the assumptions under which they operate. In the same way, continued Freeman, it is right and proper to protest in Sudan where a regime kills its own people who challenge or criticise their rule.

Australia is in the lead up to a federal election in May and now is the time to petition and demand from all political forces that they take a firm position on the repressive regime of Al Bashir  which is to call for him to stand down and to face his 2009 indictment in the International Criminal Court.

The next speaker was Sam Wainwright, Fremantle City Councillor and member of Socialist Alliance who recognised the bravery of the opposition political forces in Sudan who have been facing the brutal repression of the last three months in Sudan. Wainwright also noted the lack of commentary and the silence of Western governments in regard to the situation in Sudan.

This contrasts with the early 2000s when the West had tried to force Al Bashir from power. Now, however, Sudan is supporting Saudi Arabia in their war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is an ally of the United States and Israel. This contrasts with the position by the US with its allies which is pursuing the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

Greg Stitt from Amnesty International said that Al Bashir imposed his emergency decree in December 2018 as a result of opposition to his governments budget austerity measures. These included price increases to food and other essential items. The people rose up across several parts of Sudan which saw lethal force being used against them causing 45 deaths, 180 injured and 2,600 people being arrested for politically motivated offences.

Stitt said laws had been imposed which allow immunity from prosecution for security forces when dealing with protesters. In addition, in September 2013, live ammunition was used on protesters resulting in the deaths of 180 people and 800 people being arrested and tortured.

Women have played a significant role in the protests as they seek a more secular society rather than a more restricted role in an Islamist state. They have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence. Security forces also deployed masked men in cars without licence plates to violently intimidate and harass protesters and other activists.

Amnesty International joins in the demands of the rally calling for an immediate release of all protesters and access to their lawyers, the upholding of the right of assembly and protest and an end to the state of emergency.

The final speaker was Richard Titelius of the Communist Party of Australia who said the CPA supported the struggle of the Sudanese people to regain their liberty and democratic control of their country and communities. Titelius also noted Al Bashir had outlawed the activities of trade unions in Sudan making it difficult for the workers to insist on their rights and working conditions.

The Communist Party of Australia joins with the Communist Party of Sudan in calling for an end to the regime of dictator Omar Al Bashir, not just the resignation of Al Bashir, and for a revolutionary program of economic and social change, for the Sudanese people.A La Mesa woman who was missing for nearly 24 hours after leaving her home was found and reunited with her family, police confirmed Wednesday.

The La Mesa Police Department said Conception Connie Bibo, 89, was last seen at leaving her home on Alamo Way at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. When her family came home at around 2:30 p.m., they discovered Bibo was gone, and so was her car. The hours passed, and she never came home.

https://twitter.com/CHPAlerts/status/1113325399407091712

The California Highway Patrol activated a Silver Alert Tuesday, the agencys quick-response system designed to issue and coordinate alert the disappearance of an elderly person.Beer lovers, rejoice! Plans are brewing for the mecca of beer museums to land in San Diego.

The founders say this isn't your parents museum. The San Diego Museum of Beer will be Instagram-able and interactive, all in an effort to promote San Diego's craft beer industry.

While enjoying beers at Amplified Aleworks in the East Village, Ashley Wyzykowski and her buddies toasted news of plans to build the museum in America's Hoppiest City by 2020.

I think that would be wonderful in a city that's so beer-centric," said Wyzykowski.

Renderings show what the proposed 12,000-plus square-foot museum could look like. To get things rolling, co-founder Mike Kociela says itll cost them about $2 million.

Founders plan to use a mix of their own money along with investors. Theyre also crowdfunding on Indiegogo and are offering a wide variety of perks to donors.

Kociela, whos also a co-founder of the National Blues Museum in St. Louis, is just one of the hop heads behind the Museum of Beer.

Hes teamed up with Anthony Ridenhour, executive director at the San Diego Model Train Museum.

Five to 10 years from now I want it to be the gathering place for everyone to come together and learn and have a good time," Kociela explained.

For people looking to quench their thirst for beer knowledge, the museum will have eight core exhibits. Many of them interactive, paying homage to the history of San Diego's billion-dollar-plus craft brewing industry.

Youll learn how to pour, taste and smell beer, Kociela said.

Want to be a virtual brewmaster? There will be an exhibit for that. And if you're a museum traditionalist, it will also spotlight artwork from the canvas to the can.

Interested in beers from around the globe? There will be a sensory map to teach you regional colors and flavors. And of course, there will be 66 beers on tap from micro and macro breweries from the San Diego Brewers Guild.

San Diego is by and far the number one craft beer city in the world. We are the mecca. You want to come experience it, thats what were doing. Were hoping to elevate everybody and put them out to a worldwide audience, Ridenhour said.

Sipping on a beer, Francisco Uriah said he couldnt wait to tap into whats brewing once the museum opens.

I think it will be great. I'm always a student so its a great way to learn about different types of beers and to pair them with different foods I eat," Uriah said, referring to the beer and food pairings the museum plans to have.

The museum project still has to go through the licensing and permitting process.

While the founders have decided on East Village as a general location, theyre still deciding between three specific locations. And, the project still has to go through the licensing and permitting process.

Once it opens they plan on charging $28 per ticket. Yes, that will include tastings. A 50 cent surcharge will be tacked on to support California State University San Marcos brewing program, the San Diego Brewers Guild and a college scholarship the museum plans to start.President Trump announced on Tuesday that he is 100 percent ready to shut down the southern border in order to block migrants from entering the country.

The Presidents threat is now worrying travelers.

I was really sad and I was really worried when we heard it, said Daniela Mendoza.

Newlyweds Daniela and Edgar Mendoza are worried they would lose out on their honeymoon if the border shut down.

I thought that if we weren't ready this morning that we wouldn't be able to cross the border, said Daniela, a U.S. citizen living in Tijuana.

The couple got married this weekend in Tijuana and were excited to head to Miami to catch a cruise for their first trip together as husband and wife.

But, their excitement changed to nerves following President Trump's threat to the southern border.

I was afraid to lose all my plans and all my expectation to the honeymoon because we were planning this for a long time, explained Edgar.

The newlyweds decided to cross the border hours earlier in case they were denied access to the U.S.

The couple is related to a colleague at NBC 7s sister station Telemundo 20.

Its crazy because theres lines and it takes super long to cross the border already so with this everyone is trying to cross right now, so it gets crowded, said Daniela.

The couple is among the thousands of tourists that frequent the southern border.

Along the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Tuesday there were dozens of spring breakers returning from trips and other tourists who feared getting stuck in Mexico.

That would've cost me a lot of money and possibly my job if I had to stay here two weeks waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court or something, said Curtis Blankinship.

Blankinship was visiting Tijuana from Oregon and said this uncertainty is making him think twice about future trips.Work will begin in September on refurbishing a Maryland playground soon to be renamed in honor of the members of the Gemmell family who died after a planes wing crashed into their home in December 2014.

Bill Lavin, founder of Where Angels Play, the company in charge of the project, said Ken Gemmell reached out to to his company to honor his wife, Marie, and his two sons, Cole and Devin.

The three family members died of smoke inhalation Dec. 8, 2014, after a jet crashed next to their home and the wing filled with jet fuel hit their house, setting it on fire. The jet clipped a tree and landed in the driveway of the neighboring home, killing all three onboard, as it attempted to land at Gaithersburg Airpark. The Gemmell family dog also perished.

Ken and his daughter, Arrabelle, were not home at the time. Arabelle will be the on-site supervisor for the refurbishment project, according to Lavin.

Where Angels Play has constructed 49 playgrounds across the United States, Canada and Rwanda in communities that have been struck by tragedy. It began in 2013 with the Sandy Ground Project, a series of playgrounds built in honor of each of the victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The playground is adjacent to Griffith Park in Gaithersburg. Lavin said it will be designed for children 2-5 years old. Gemmells sons, Devin and Cole, were 7 weeks and 3 years old, respectively, when they died.A 28-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly filming dozens of men and at least three juveniles at a Fairfax County spa, police in Virginia say.

Newport News Police arrested Kwame Anderson on Wednesday morning. Anderson is facing three felony charges for unlawfully filming a minor, one misdemeanor for unlawfully disseminating videos and one misdemeanor for unlawfully filming an adult.

Police said an investigation that began in May 2018 found 152 videos of 81 victims who were unknowingly filmed while naked at Spa World, located at 13830 Braddock Road in Centreville.

According to police, the investigation began after a man discovered a nude video of himself for sale on a social media website. Police said the man recognized the location as Spa World and told staff about the video of himself and of videos of other people.

Detectives found evidence dating back to 2012, while the videos from Spa World started in 2014. They also learned that Anderson was selling the videos online, police said.

Police said they found similar videos of 84 additional victims that were not taken at Spa World. Police are working to identify the victims and locations.

Anderson is suspected of filming at least three minors during that time, police said.

He is being held without bond at Newport News City Jail.

Police ask for anyone who believes they encountered Anderson at Spa World to call 703-246-7800.Metro is putting its downtown D.C. headquarters on the market for a long-term ground lease, the transit agency announced Tuesday.

Metro said it will leave the Jackson Graham Building for a new location near L'Enfant Plaza by 2022. The long-term ground lease offer is "extremely rare" and an opportunity to redevelop the site for future high-density office, residential, hotel or mixed-use development, Metro said in a news release.

"Maximizing the value of our downtown property is in the best interest of Metro, the District, our employees and our riders," said Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld. "While the Jackson Graham Building has been our home for more than 40 years, the revenue that will be generated by the redevelopment of this property is an investment in Metro's future."

Since Metro would remain the owner of the Jackson Graham Building under a long-term lease, Metro said this would allow the transit organization to get more revenue to support bus and rail operations, keep fares affordable and contribute to the transit agency's long-term financial stability.

The 1.1-acre building has been Metro's hub for 45 years, sitting across from Capitol One Arena. The building has never undergone a major renovation and is inefficient, Metro said.

The current building does not meet current fire and life safety standards or Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The cost to repair the building was "deemed prohibitive" and pushed Metro to purchase its new headquarters.

In October, Metro purchased a building on 7th Street NW near L'Enfant Plaza for its new headquarters.

As part of a broader consolidation effort by Metro, other employees and jobs will be relocated to new regional headquarters sites in Maryland and Virginia and will reduce Metro's 10 current locations to seven.

The effort will save tax payers an estimated $130 million over the next 20 years. The locations will be announced in upcoming weeks, Metro said.Jaden Smith's foundation and a church are working to bring cleaner water to Flint, Michigan.

The rapper's organization and First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church on Friday announced they'll deploy a mobile water filtration system known as "The Water Box" that reduces lead and other potential contaminants.

The 20-year-old's JUST goods company collaborated with the church to design and engineer the system. He is the son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.

The church has distributed over 5 million bottles of water to residents, but bottled water donations are on the decline.

Flint has been replacing water lines after lead-tainted water was discovered in 2014. Lead began leaching from pipes after the city tapped the Flint River for drinking water without properly treating it to reduce corrosion.What to Know Meek Mill and several state lawmakers unveiled new legislation aimed at reforming Pennsylvanias probation and parole system.

The bill would reduce probationary periods and minimize restrictions on technical violations.

A local lawmaker said they hope to have the legislation written and filed within the next few weeks.

Philly hip hop star Meek Mill and several state lawmakers unveiled new legislation aimed at reforming Pennsylvanias probation and parole system.

Mill, along with 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, news commentator Van Jones, state Reps. Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) and Sheryl Delozier (R-Cumberland) announced the proposed bill Tuesday afternoon outside the municipal services building in Center City.

"I'm only here to use my platform and my voice to speak for the people who dont have a voice," Mill, born Robert Rihmeek Williams, said. "It's a lot of young men actually locked behind the walls and stacked up with probation and trying to do well with themselves and move forward, but they cant because the odds are so great against them.

The legislation would prevent the courts from sentencing a person to consecutive probation sentences, prevent the court from extending a persons time on probation or parole due to nonpayment of fines and fees and establish a system of incentives that would reward good behavior.

The bill would also ensure that people under supervision wouldnt be re-incarcerated for testing positive for marijuana, associating with someone with a criminal history or traveling outside their jurisdiction, unless it was proven they were trying to escape supervision.

Mill was jailed for violating his probation and has become one of the most famous faces behind the criminal justice reform movement since his release. Both he and Rubin are co-chairs of the REFORM Alliance, a collective aimed at passing probation and parole bills at the state level to reduce the number of people under the criminal justice system.

With this proposed legislation, we want to put people on probation and parole in positions to succeed  not to wind up back in prison and perpetuate an ongoing cycle, Jones, the CEO of the REFORM Alliance, said.

The issue of how long those convicted of a crime should spend in the justice system outside of prison has received scrutiny across the country. Its an issue all too familiar with Philadelphia native Darrell Briddell.

If you go and do how many years you have to do, that should be your debt to society, Briddell said.

Briddell is under supervised release after serving time in federal prison for bank robbery. He told NBC10 it could impact his job with a demolition company.

Lets say my job says weve got a job in Pittsburgh. I cant just pick up and go with the job to Pittsburgh, Briddell said. Now I have to call my PO. Listen, I have a job in Pittsburgh, this that and the third. Shes going to have to do her diligence for me to be able to go to Pittsburgh, and to her it might be like, Its not worth it. No, you cant go. Now that eliminates me from working at this job.

A local lawmaker supporting the bill told NBC10 they hope to have the legislation written and filed within the next few weeks.Rates rising of children in care

The rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children receiving child protection services across the nation has continued to rise at a higher level than for other children, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

And, a separate piece of research by academics, including Telethon Kids Institute patron and former Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley, confirming Aboriginal children are now 10 times more likely than other children to be placed in out-of-home care, has prompted researchers to call for urgent action to prevent further intergenerational trauma.

The AIHW report Child Protection Australia 2017-18, presents statistics on state and territory child protection and family support services.

It showed that the number of Indigenous children  who were already massively overrepresented in child protection figures  receiving child protection services rose from 140 to 164 per 1,000 between 2013/14 and 2017/18.

The rate for other children over the same time frame was from 19 to 20, meaning that Indigenous children are eight times more likely to be subject to children protection.

David Braddock, head of the Child Welfare Unit at the AIHW, said Indigenous children were also six times more likely than other children to be the subject of a substantiation  where an investigation has concluded that there is sufficient reason to believe the child has been, is being, or is likely to be abused, neglected, or otherwise harmed.

Overwhelmingly, the most common substantiation was emotional abuse, followed by neglect.

A range of factors could be contributing to the rising rate of children receiving protection services, Braddock said. Increased public awareness and reporting, legislative changes and inquiries into the child protection processes all play a part, as well as potential rises in the rate of child abuse and neglect.

Tim Ireland, chief executive of AbSec, the peak body for Indigenous children in NSW, acknowledged that fewer Aboriginal children in that state entered care in 2017/18 compared to the previous year.

Around 15,765  or about 1 in 6  Aboriginal children in NSW received child protection services in 2017-18. In the same period 817 Aboriginal children entered out-of-home care  a decrease of 261 from the previous year.

However, the gap between Aboriginal and other children continues to widen, he said. Governments need a clear focus on Aboriginal children and families to make sure they are not left behind.

Its time for governments to make a change and commit to Aboriginal-led solutions which we know achieve the best possible outcomes for Aboriginal children, families and communities. Only then will we close this gap.

The other study, which was published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, reviewed national data following anecdotal reports from the Aboriginal community that child protection authorities had increased the removal of Aboriginal infants from their families in recent years.

They found the number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care increased 21 percent from 2012-2017, while the number of Aboriginal infants in out-of-home care increased by 17 percent between 2013 and 2016.

Professor Stanley said the impacts of the Stolen Generations were still present three generations down the track  and the numbers of Aboriginal children being taken into care would only continue to get worse unless urgent action was taken to break the cycle of trauma.

Co-author Professor Rhonda Marriott, pro vice-chancellor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership and research director of Ngangk Yira, Murdoch University Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, said the findings showed little had been learned from previous inquiries and royal commissions, all of which had made recommendations  largely unheeded  aimed at healing the epidemic of intergenerational trauma.

Its a travesty that we have got to this point and people still arent asking the questions as to why and how should we be doing things differently, Professor Marriott said.

Key risk factors leading to child or infant removal from Aboriginal families in particular included substance use, mental health issues  well-recognised legacies of the intergenerational trauma brought about by the forced removal of children in the past.

Koori MailGovernment officials, aid workers and activists in Central America are mystified by U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to cut off nearly $500 million in aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in response to what he calls an immigration crisis. Over time, they say, it will only worsen the problem.

At risk of falling on the chopping block are development programs that work to tackle the root causes driving migration: poverty, inequality, violence and corruption. These include outreach to at-risk youth to combat forced gang recruitment as well as programs to address gender-based violence and support education, workforce development and the uphill fight to root out endemic graft.

"It's illogical and it's irresponsible. ... You're talking about long-term challenges that are going to require long-term, sustainable solutions," said Adriana Beltran, a Central America specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America. "So rather than helping to stabilize the situation and try to address these long-term challenges, the cut in assistance will only make the situation worse."

"Gutting important programs," she added, "will eventually lead to more migration, more insecurity, more corruption, more impunity in these countries."

It's still not clear exactly what, when or how much could be cut.

Trump said last week that "we were paying them tremendous amounts of money and we're not paying them anymore because they haven't done a thing for us," and mentioned a figure of $500 million.

State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said Tuesday that the amount affected by any aid cut would be $450 million from fiscal year 2018 as well as an as yet undetermined amount from 2017.

"The president has made clear that the decision is aimed at securing the United States borders and protecting American citizens," Palladino said. "These programs have not effectively prevented illegal immigration from coming to the United States, and they've not achieved the desired results."

The aid is meant to promote democracy-building, good governance, trade, agriculture, education, health, public safety and law enforcement. Experts say all of those areas play a direct role in whether people feel they can get by or even survive in their home countries.

Reaction from the three governments has been muted so far, perhaps for fear of angering Trump.

Both Honduras and El Salvador pointedly said they had not been formally notified of any specific cuts in U.S. aid. Honduran Defense Minister Fredy Diaz said cooperation with the United States on security is "unchanged," while the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the relationship has been "solid, close and positive."

Salvadoran Vice President Oscar Ortiz said Tuesday that an aid cut would not solve the migration problem but have the opposite effect. "The best way to tackle the issue of migration ... is not with this type of decision," he said. "The best way to tackle the issue is to keep working together."

Guatemala, the source of much of the recent migration from the region, was particularly circumspect, with presidential spokesman Alfredo Brito saying simply that the official response was not to comment for the time being.

But those carrying out the boots-on-the-ground work are concerned.

Rick Jones, who works in El Salvador as the youth and migration policy adviser for Catholic Relief Services, counsels young people to keep them out of gangs and help them get jobs. He also runs behavioral therapy for inmates to deter them from returning to crime  all things that have "a positive impact to help guys think about and change their behavior," he said.

It's seen as unglamorous but badly needed work, especially in a place like El Salvador, which has a homicide rate that is among the world's highest at more than 50 per 100,000 people last year.

But all $38 million that Catholic Relief Services gets from U.S. government agencies to run programs in the three countries  including ones on education and jobs  could disappear if the cutoff goes through.

If that happens, "it will be sending the message, 'Help is not on the way ... and you're going to be left on your own,'" Jones said. "And basically people left on their own are going to be more desperate and more people are going to leave."

Likewise, Vicki Gass, Oxfam America senior policy adviser for Central America and Mexico, said that axing funding for programs that have been running for years, would, in many cases, "waste U.S. taxpayer dollars that have already been invested" and "foster the same instability that is making people flee in the first place."

Some government programs aimed at persuading Central Americans not to emigrate have been put in place, in part in response to Trump's earlier criticism about the migrant caravans that brought thousands trekking toward the U.S. border, and the threatened aid cutoff does not take that into account, officials say.

"This goes against what we have seen in reports that show there have really been some decreases in migration, and that they are the result of the efforts being made on this issue," said lawmaker Yanci Urbina of the left-leaning FMLN party in El Salvador, the least populated of the three countries and a distant third in terms of how many migrants are heading for the U.S.

Salvadoran Treasury Minister Nelson Fuentes said U.S. aid in his country includes $20 million in technical and fiscal funding over five years, and the government has not gotten word of any cuts. Another $200 million to spur growth and employment is managed in tandem with the World Bank, and it remains to be seen whether this will be reduced. Finally there are direct donations from Washington to the Salvadoran government and private organizations.

Fuentes said aid for security and migration could be affected, but that actively funded contracts should not be.

In Guatemala, the most significant aid comes in security assistance to fight drug trafficking  and that has already come under scrutiny recently over questionable use of armored vehicles donated by Washington. Other funds through USAID go to help programs on things like agriculture and education in poor rural communities, plus training for prosecutors, who have waged a high-profile fight against corruption in recent years, or for judges.

Honduran political analyst Omar Garcia called U.S. aid to his country "vital" and said the threatened cuts show that Washington is "an unreliable ally for Honduras."

Like Guatemala, Honduras has backed the Trump administration on key issues such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and on the political crisis in Venezuela. It remains to be seen whether such support could waver.

"A sense of nationalism is surging in this country ... and that could be a good thing," Garcia said.

Beltran noted that most of the assistance now in jeopardy does not go directly to the three countries' governments but to agencies, NGOs, church groups and others.

She predicted that an attempt to cut aid could face pushback in Congress if funds are reprogrammed without lawmakers' consent. Particularly in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, members and committees could try to place holds on money in the next funding bill, she said.

"It is going to ensue into a battle," Beltran said, "because it is Congress that at the end of the day has the power of the purse."

Associated Press writers Sonia Perez D., Freddy Cuevas, Matthew Lee, Mark Stevenson and Peter Orsi contributed to this report.Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax says he's asked prosecutors in Boston and North Carolina to investigate sexual assault allegations two women have made against him.

Speaking at a Wednesday news conference, Fairfax again said the allegations are untrue and the sexual encounters he had with the women were consensual.

Fairfax says he'll cooperate fully with prosecutors in Boston and in Durham, North Carolina, where the women say the assaults took place.

"I knew that the allegations against me were false from the moment I first heard them," he said.

Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson brought their accusations against Fairfax in February. Tyson says Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex in 2004. Watson says Fairfax raped her in 2000 when both were students at Duke University.

The Associated Press typically does not identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but Tyson and Watson stepped forward voluntarily and have expressed a desire to testify in public.

Fairfax says Tyson got her dates wrong about a 2004 sexual encounter at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. He says he hadn't arrived in Boston on the date the alleged assault took place.

Fairfax says he's confident the investigations will reach the same conclusions as a polygraph test he said he's releasing that shows he's innocent.

In a statement Monday, he said in part: "I feel so strongly regarding my innocence that I submitted myself to polygraph tests for each of the accusations against me. I passed those tests because, as I have maintained from the very beginning, I did not assault either of my accusers." (See Fairfax's complete statement here.)

Tyson's attorney released a statement Wednesday renewing a call for the Virginia General Assembly to hold a bipartisan hearing.

"Given the General Assemblys inaction, Dr. Tyson decided to appear and answer questions about the incident in a national television interview," the statement said.

"CBS This Morning" aired a tearful interview with Watson earlier this week in which she said she had been friends with Fairfax for more than a year before he locked her in a room and raped her.

"I completely trusted him," she said. "It was a huge betrayal. He was my friend. I don't understand how you do that to someone that you've been a friend to."

She rejected Fairfax's claim the sex was consensual, saying Fairfax held her down during the attack. "If you have to hold someone down, it's not consensual," she said.

The women brought their allegations against Fairfax at a moment when he seemed poised to ascend to the governor's post. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was facing numerous calls to resign after a racist photo showing a person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan costume was found on his medical school yearbook page.

In an interview aired Monday with CBS News, Tyson criticized Fairfax for comparing himself to lynching victims when he defended himself in a speech on the state Senate floor in February.

"Never was it two black women lynching black men," Tyson told interviewer Gayle King. Both Tyson and Watson are African American; so is Fairfax.Grand Canyon National Park officials say they are investigating whether anyone was exposed to radiation at unsafe levels while samples of uranium ore sat in plastic buckets in a park research building.

Three 5-gallon (18.93-liter) buckets have been removed from a building about a half mile (8 kilometers) from the South Rim that houses the park's archives and artifacts. About 550 people tour the collections each year, mostly by appointment.

The National Park Service is working with Arizona health and workplace safety officials on the investigation. The agency also plans to set up a hotline for anyone concerned about potential radiation exposure, said spokeswoman Vanessa Lacayo.

"One of the important pieces is looking and determining the level of exposure and risk," she said.

The Arizona Republic cited the Grand Canyon's safety director, Elston "Swede" Stephenson, in saying the park failed to warn workers or the public of the potential harm that existed for years. Stephenson did not return messages left by The Associated Press at his work email and on social media. A call to a number listed for him in a park directory went unanswered.

Uranium is naturally occurring in northern Arizona and was mined for decades, including at the Orphan Mine on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon that ceased operations in 1969. A temporary ban prohibits the filing of new mining claims within 1 million acres (0.405 million hectares) outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. The Navajo Nation no longer allows uranium mining after it left a legacy of death and disease on the reservation.

Still, companies have active claims that weren't affected by the ban and could resume mining.

Lacayo said the area where the plastic buckets were stored was not a part of the tour of the building known as the Museum Collection, though people did walk past the area.

Stephenson told the Arizona Republic the buckets were near a taxidermy exhibit where children sometimes stopped for presentations, and the lid on one bucket wasn't sealed.

Jani Ingram, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Northern Arizona University, said it's not uncommon for uranium ore to be used in research. But, she said, it's typically sealed in a metal container so that radon gas and dust aren't released into the air.

Uranium can be harmful to people's health depending on the amount and grade of ore, how people interact with it and the exposure time, she said. Geiger counters can be a good, initial indication of the presence of radiation but further study would be needed to determine the risk.

"You can't say, 'oh my gosh, all those kids are going to develop cancer in five years' because you just don't know how close they were, how long they were there," she said. "But that open bucket was probably the most concerning. It seemed that maybe whoever it was didn't understand what they had."A new migrant caravan of about 2,500 people was making its way through southern Mexico on Tuesday, headed for the U.S. border, facing greater heat  and a much cooler welcome  than last year's caravans.

The caravan walked past the city of Huixtla in the southern state of Chiapas on Monday, but police were lined up to keep them moving along a highway outside of the town, and did not let them enter  a contrast to last year, when caravans were allowed to stay in the city center.

The city said in a statement that it offered water and medical help to the caravan of 2,466 people, mainly from Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. It said the caravan included many children in the caravan, and some were suffering in the area's near-100-degree heat.

Such caravans aren't getting as a warm a welcome as they did last fall, when local governments and church groups handed out food, water and clothing and police sometimes helped the migrants get rides.

Activists said that the Mexican government was trying to wear the caravans out, or stop them from trying to reach the United States.

"It is a strategy to break them up ... to stop the caravans," said Irineo Mujica of the aid group Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which accompanied last year's caravans and the ones this year.

This year, the Mexican government abruptly stopped issuing "humanitarian" visas at the border with Guatemala. The visas had given migrants legal status while they made their way to the U.S. border.

That decision led a group of migrants, including many Cubans, to rush immigration offices near the border last week. The immigration agency closed those offices in response to the scuffle.

And, following the recent disappearance of 19 migrants in the northern border state of Tamaulipas, police and immigration agents have been increasingly detaining and deporting migrants there. Migrants in Tamaulipas generally use smugglers and are not part of caravans.

In February, a caravan of about 1,600 Central American migrants was confined to an improvised shelter at an old factory building in the northern state of Coahuila.

Migrants were allowed to move freely through Mexico last fall. But Mujica said Mexico had changed its policy "to comply with the expectations of (U.S. President Donald) Trump."We get a one-two punch of wind in New England Wednesday.

This morning, a powerhouse noreaster is racing northward, passing about 200 miles east of Boston Wednesday morning. This storm-generated wind gusts past 50 mph near the beaches in eastern Massachusetts, as well as a burst of rain and April snow for the morning commute.

The wintry mix shuts down by 9 a.m. in southern New England, but may go through noon in parts of Maine. For most of us its just heavy, wet snow that melts very quickly. But in some of the hilltops, we may get a couple to several inches on the grassy surfaces that will last a little longer.

Most of the roadways are just wet, but visibility is poor.

This storm is moving so fast that the sun should be out for most of us by mid-morning, if not sooner. Wind from the north will ease in eastern New England, but theres more to the weather map than just this ocean storm.

Theres also a significant low-pressure system in southeastern Canada pushing a front into northwestern New England Wednesday afternoon. Ahead of that front, the air is much warmer. High temperatures will be near 60 degrees, including areas that will have snow Wednesday morning.

As the front comes in, wind will pick up and gust from the west past 45 mph. There is a wind advisory for much of New England Wednesday afternoon and into Wednesday night. Also with that front, we may see a few rain or snow squalls in the mountains of northern and western New England.

Cooler and drier air blows in Wednesday night, with temperatures once again down to freezing by Thursday morning. High pressure from Canada brings us a nice Thursday with plenty of sunshine and light wind. Highs then will be close to 50 degrees.

Things are moving very quickly in the weather department, and another system is on our doorstep early Friday. It is a warm front that will bring in clouds and a wintry mix of rain and snow to southern and western New England during the morning.

[NATL] Extreme Weather Photos: Record Heat Threatens Europe

Once again we may get a coating of snow in higher elevations. Otherwise, it looks like a few hours of rain, with temperatures in the 40s to near 50 degrees at lower elevations.

If all works out just right, we should get a mild high-pressure system in here for the weekend, with plenty of sunshine and highs both Saturday and Sunday near 60 degrees.

It gets complicated once again early next week, as a deep trough will move into the eastern United States. Rain and probably warmer air will be here for Monday, and perhaps Tuesday for the home opener at Fenway Park. But there will also be many spring showers, and enough cold for rain to change to snow in the mountains before it dries out around Wednesday.

Stay ahead of it with our First Alert 10-Day Forecast.McDonald's patrons and employees in Wakefield, Massachusetts had their breakfast time interrupted when a car crashed into the fast-food restaurant on Wednesday.

Police received a call about the wayward vehicle shortly after 7 a.m. and responded to the McDonald's on Main Street. There, a 2019 Subaru Forrester could be seen lodged in the building with debris scattered.

The driver, reportedly a 67-year-old woman, crashed into a large freezer, destroying about a week's worth of food, according to an employee. Authorities say she was assisted by restaurant employees and was escorted into the restaurant by the time they arrived.



The woman was checked for injuries at the scene and was reported to have no major wounds. She was taken to Winchester Hospital for further evaluation.

No other injuries were reported in the crash and a freezer truck is being deployed to supply food to the restaurant until their freezer is fixed.

The restaurant itself was not impacted and was given clearance to remain open by building and health inspectors.



The crash is under investigation by the Wakefield Police Department.The Vermont Air National Guard will mark the end of an era this weekend, with its 158th Fighter Wing scheduling the final flight for its F-16s for Saturday.

Theres going to be tears, said Master Sgt. Terry Tracy, wholl say goodbye to the last of the F-16 fighter jets he helped maintain for more than 30 years. Its going to be an awesome departure for an awesome new beginning for the 158th.

More than 20 jets have gradually been reassigned to other bases around the country because Vermont was chosen to start flying the F-35 Lighting II, which the military has called its future fighting force in the air.

The F-35s are expected to arrive in Vermont this fall.

I would say its bittersweet, Lt. Col. Dan Finnegan, who will pilot one of the departing F-16s during Saturdays farewell flights, said of the end of the era for the familiar jets.

F-16s first landed in Vermont in 1986.

Green Mountain Boys provided security in the skies following the 9/11 attacks, and have deployed for several overseas combat missions in the war on terror.

When we look back at the 33 years, weve got a lot to be proud of, Finnegan told necn.

Some in the Burlington area remain worried about whats coming after the F-16s leave.

Lets celebrate the sound of silence now, said retired Air Force Col. Roseanne Greco, who has long been critical of the F-35s expected noiseand how that may impact the quality of life around the air base in South Burlington.

Greco also believes her concerns over the F-35s safety werent given enough high-level attention.

When you cant question your government and the decisions they make and the military weapons systems they produce, were going down a really dangerous road, Greco said.

Finnegan insisted he and colleagues will work to mitigate noise during F-35 training flights, to maintain good community relationships.

We have over the years felt a significant amount of support from the communities, Finnegan said.

For now, ahead of the F-16s final take-off, the Guard is thanking the hundreds and hundreds of men and women whove been a part of the 158th Fighter Wings mission for so longand wholl stay a part of it for the next chapter.Nearly 300 high school students in Wellesley, Massachusetts, walked off campus Tuesday, advocating for improved race relations in the community's schools.

Many minority students say they've felt various forms of racism routinely over multiple years in the school system.

The walkout was inspired in large part by a Wellesley High School teacher receiving a racist email. The letter is now under investigation by school officials.

It's undetermined if a parent or student wrote the letter.

The teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, states the letter attacked her character and teaching ability. The school's principal, Dr. Jamie Chisum, said none of his teachers should be subjected to that type of treatment.

Students who have formed an organization called "Young Educated Scholars" tell NBC10 Boston they now plan to address their concerns with the superintendent.A Maine state trooper, originally from Easthampton, Massachusetts is dead after an incident investigators are calling, bizarre.

According to Maine State Police, 31-year-old Detective Ben Campbell was helping a stranded driver whose car spun out on the southbound side of I-95 in Hampden, Maine, just south of Bangor.

The weather at the time was snowy and Campbell had requested another trooper assist him.

Around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, with that help en route, the detective was walking back to his police vehicle when two wheels broke off an axle of a tractor-trailer truck that was passing by and changing lanes.

Both wheels had been attached to the trailer portion of the truck.

The drivers side wheel flew into a median, while the passenger side wheel struck and hit Campbell.

In an emotional press conference Tuesday afternoon, Maine State Police Col. John Cote described Campbell as gravely injured by the wheels impact and though he was treated for injuries at the scene and taken to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, he succumbed to those injuries at the hospital.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, identified by police as 52-year-old Scott Willette of Patten, Maine did stop at the scene of the incident.

In the time since, police say they have questioned Willette, tested him for substances, had a commercial vehicle unit assess the condition of his truck and have released Willette.

In his remarks, Col. Cote revealed the focus of most troopers following what happened was finding a way to support Campbells immediate family including his wife and six-month-old son, who live in Millinocket, Maine.

Campbell also still has family in Massachusetts and was a Westfield State University graduate.

His family in the Bay State are being escorted to Maine by Massachusetts State Police and have asked that Campbell is given full line of duty death honors.

At the same time, Maine first responders were expected to escort Campbells body from the Bangor area to the state medical examiners office in Augusta.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the scene of Campbells death, which happened just off the Colebrook Road exit on I-95 South had been cleared.

Five miles of the highway had been closed for hours after the detective died as police assessed the scene and began their investigation and drivers were forced to detour on local roads around that stretch most of the day.

Asked about Campbells demeanor, Col. Cote, recalled the detective as one of the best and one of the best polygraph detectives on the Maine State Police force.

He added that Campbell, had a textbook smile  and always found the good in every situation.

The grief among troopers he said, visibly moved, was raw because Campbells death was so sudden and happened just days before his 32nd birthday.

No funeral arrangements were disclosed by Cote during his remarks Tuesday.The Berlin Wall, 30 years later

The bourgeoisie turns everything into a commodity, hence also the writing of history. It is part of its being, of its condition for existence, to falsify all goods: it falsified the writing of history. And the best-paid historiography is that which is best falsified for the purposes of the bourgeoisie.

This year will be the 30th anniversary of the destruction of the Berlin Wall. No doubt this will be accompanied by an ideological onslaught by the capitalist media on the German Democratic Republic (GDR), with a few obligatory mentions of the Stasi thrown in.

It will not be necessary to inform readers that this fawning over freedom and democracy is laughable, given that the same voices have the gall to portray themselves as democrats, despite their support for the neo-Nazis and other fascists in government in Ukraine, Hungary and Poland and their support for the fascist Bolsonaro in Brazil and his counterparts in the Venezuelan opposition.

However, it is worth pointing out some historical facts on the GDR from a working-class viewpoint.

The creation of the GDR was a reaction to the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, after the Western-controlled sectors of Berlin introduced a separate currency so as to undermine the economic stability of the Eastern side. Contrary to what is taught in the capitalist education system, the Soviet Union and its allies never wanted a partitioned Germany, instead favouring a unified but neutral state. But in 1952 the Soviet proposals for German reunification were rejected by the West, under its chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. West Germany was later armed and financed by the United States.

The GDR was created in an area that composed only a third of German territory, had little heavy industry, and had suffered immense damage in the war, with a population who were indoctrinated with Nazi propaganda. Up to 30 percent of industry in the east was given to the USSR as reparations for the war, which had cost 26 million Soviet lives.

By necessity, the new ruling party of the GDR, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), was unashamedly a party of veteran anti-fascists, some of whom were Jewish. Otto Grotewohl, the first prime minister of the GDR, had been imprisoned by the Nazis several times. Walter Ulbricht was a former joiner; his successor, Erich Honecker, was a former roofer who had spent ten years in a Nazi prison.

Albert Norden, a member of the Central Committee of the SED, was the son of a rabbi. Herman Axen was from a Jewish family and had survived internment in both Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Hilde Benjamin, the GDRs first woman minister, was also a Jew, who had lost her right to practise law under the Nazis, while her husband was murdered in Mauthausen slave-labour camp.

In sharp contrast to this, the West German state was filled with former Nazis. Hans Globke was a Nazi who not only worked under Adolf Eichmann but jointly wrote the infamous Nuremberg Laws and later became adviser to Adenauer.

The West offered financial incentives to citizens of the East should they move to the West. Of course these incentives, such as housing and interest-free loans, were not offered to all but only to those among the professional classes. This resulted in a brain drain, which massively affected the GDR. This, along with acts of sabotage and blatant espionage by the likes of the CIA, BND (the West German secret service), and MI6, led the East German state to close its borders. The result was the anti-fascist protection barrier, erected in 1961.

The wall came down in 1989, and not long afterwards the GDR was annexed by the West.

The Berlin Wall may not be a glamorous historical topic for communists, but we should always approach history in a principled way, and see what we can learn from it. Border walls are seldom a nice thing, but we should always ask, Who benefits? Who benefits from the walls in Palestine? Who benefits from the peace walls in Belfast, keeping our class divided?

And we must also ask, Who benefited from the GDR? Certainly the working class did, as did women. Its not surprising that those in the East continue to say in poll after poll that they regret the fall of their state. They had a universal health service, universal education and public housing, more theatres than any other state on earth, a collective sense of belonging that is alien to anybody in a capitalist society, and equality for women, including child care and access to abortion, that was unashamedly working-class feminism. All this while the GDR kept up its international obligations, providing support for revolutionaries in Mozambique, Angola, and elsewhere.

Considering the hand the GDR leadership was dealt, and its anti-fascist credentials, we should keep an open mind on the more unattractive aspects and always approach things with an open mind.

Socialist VoiceA police chase in Rhode Island ended with an allegedly stolen car crashing into the gate of a home that reportedly belongs to Taylor Swift.

According to Hopkinton Police, an officer saw a car with no license plates around 1 a.m. Tuesday on Main Street. The officer said the driver took off, swerving across lane lines and making his way into Westerly, where he eventually crashed into the wall and the gate of a Bluff Avenue home.

NBC affiliate WJAR reports that the site of the crash was Swift's home. Police said the crash caused heavy damage to the gates.

Police said the car was determined to have been reported stolen from Hartford, Connecticut.

An open alcohol container and marijuana were found in the car, as well, according to police, who reported smelling a strong odor of marijuana as the car sped away.

The driver of the vehicle is facing a reckless driving charge, but he is noted to be suspected of using drugs. Police said additional charges were possible.A retired Seekonk, Massachusetts Police Lt. was charged with larceny for allegedly making a fake claim for payment, according to the Bristol District Attorney's Office.

David Dyson of Rehoboth, Massachusetts is accused of receiving about $1,000 after he misrepresented the time he worked on detail projects. The suspect was allegedly overcompensated for detail hours on five separate occasions between March 2016 and October 2017.

Dyson was charged with larceny over $250 and five counts of public employee standards of conduct violation.

He is expected to be arraigned May 1 in Taunton District Court. It is unclear if he has an attorney.Wynn Resorts' board of directors was under scrutiny Wednesday as it defended its actions after learning in 2016 of founder Steve Wynn's settlement with a woman accusing him of sexual misconduct.

Every member of the board testifying in a Massachusetts Gaming Commission hearing to decide the fate of its Everett casino license said they were shocked by the 2018 Wall Street Journal report detailing multiple sexual assault allegations against the casino mogul.

Board member Patricia Mulroy was asked if she was aware in 2016 that the allegations against Wynn involved a sexual assault or rape. She said she was not.

"To say that I was disappointed would be very much an understatement," said board member Jay Johnson. "It rocked my boat."

Mulroy testified that the settlement came to their attention in a claim Elaine Wynn brought against her ex-husband, but the board was assured by then-General Counsel Kim Sinatra that it was an "outlier."

One commissioner pressed Mulroy, saying, "You said the board was angry at Elaine Wynn, why weren't they angry at Steve Wynn?"

Mulroy responded, "Because they didn't believe Elaine Wynn."

A gaming commission investigation found Elaine Wynn notified the general counsel about the settlement years earlier.

But Mulroy testified the board was under the impression it was a personal matter between the Wynns in their legal battles against each other.

"I could kick myself from here to China that I didn't  that I didn't speak up," Mulroy said.

The hearing continues for a third and final day Thursday, when Elaine Wynn is expected to testify.The U.S. said late Monday that it is pulling its last remaining diplomats from Venezuela, saying their continued presence at the country's embassy in Caracas had become a "constraint" on U.S. policy as the Trump administration aggressively looks to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

The announcement came from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet shortly before midnight comes as Venezuela struggles to restore electricity following four days of blackouts around the country.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of State updated its Travel Advisory on Venezuela  at "Level 4: Do Not Travel" since late January  by stating "U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Venezuela should depart."

The U.S. has led an international effort to replace Maduro with opposition leader Juan Guaido, who vows to hold a new presidential election. Guaido is backed by some 50 countries, while Maduro maintains support from countries such as China, Russia and Cuba.

Maduro ordered all U.S. diplomats to leave Venezuela in late January because of its support for Guaido, but he later retreated and allowed them to stay. The U.S. still withdrew the bulk of embassy personnel, leaving a skeletal staff led by career foreign service officer James Story.

Pompeo said the remaining diplomats would be out of Venezuela by the end of the week but gave no indication of future policy steps despite past warnings that "all options"  including the use of military force  are on the table for removing Maduro.

The move came after another day of chaos as power outages that began Thursday evening continued to cause problems for Venezuelans, leaving them with little power, water and communications.

People converged on a polluted river to fill water bottles in Caracas, and scattered protests erupted in several cities

A 3-year-old girl with a brain tumor languished in a Caracas hospital, awaiting treatment after doctors started surgery but then suspended the operation when nationwide power outages first hit on Thursday, said the girl's fearful mother, who only gave her first name, Yalimar.

"The doctors told me that there are no miracles," said Yalimar, who hopes her daughter can be transferred Tuesday to one of the few hospitals in Venezuela that would be able to finish the complex procedure.

The girl's story highlighted an unfolding horror in Venezuela, where years of hardship got abruptly worse after the power grid collapsed. On Monday, schools and businesses were closed, long lines of cars waited at the few gasoline stations with electricity and hospitals cared for many patients without power. Generators have alleviated conditions for some of the critically ill.

President Nicolas Maduro said on national television Monday night that progress had been made in restoring power in Venezuela. He also said two people who were allegedly trying to sabotage power facilities were captured and were providing information to authorities, though he gave no details.

Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled congress, and the United States say Maduro's claims that the U.S. sabotaged the power grid with a "cyberattack" are an attempt to divert attention from the government's own failings.

There have been acts of kindness during Venezuela's crisis: People whose food would rot in refrigerators without power donated it to a restaurant, which cooked it for distribution to charities and hospitals.

The blackouts also have hit the oil industry. The country hasn't shipped $358 million in oil since the power failures started, and "the whole system is grinding to a halt," said Russ Dallen, a Miami-based partner at the brokerage firm Caracas Capital Markets.

Two large tankers are sitting empty at the Jose offshore oil-loading dock, and at least 19 other ships are waiting their turns there, Dallen said.

Engineers have restored power in some parts of Venezuela, but it often goes out again. There have been a few protests in Caracas and reports of similar anti-government anger elsewhere. Guaido tweeted about reports of looting in some cities, but details were difficult to confirm.

Security forces in the city of Maracaibo dispersed "criminals" trying to take advantage of the power cuts, Mayor Willy Casanova told local media. However, numerous videos posted on social media that purported to be from Maracaibo showed crowds roaming the streets and people running from looted, damaged buildings with no police in sight.

In Caracas, some people reported more sightings of "colectivos," a term for armed groups allegedly operating on behalf of the state to intimidate opponents.

The mood in Caracas was desperate.

Marian Morales, a nurse working for a Catholic youth group, and several colleagues handed out diapers and food from a car parked near a hospital. Police and men in civilian clothing ordered them to leave, saying they didn't have permission.

Morales said the needy are cautious about approaching to collect the handouts because of the presence of security forces.

Early Monday, an explosion rocked a power station in the Baruta area of Caracas. Residents gathered to look at the charred, smoldering equipment.

Guaido said three of four electricity transformers servicing the area were knocked out. He has blamed the blackouts on government corruption and mismanagement.

Winston Cabas, the head of Venezuela's electrical engineers union, which opposes the government, disputed government allegations that the country's main hydroelectric dam was sabotaged last week. He blamed a lack of maintenance as well as the departure of skilled workers from the troubled country over the years.

"The system is vulnerable, fragile and unstable," he said.

Spain's airline pilots union asked for Spanish airline Air Europa to stop flying to Venezuela after one of its crews was attacked at gunpoint in Caracas. The Sepla union said two pilots and eight more crew members of a flight from Madrid were assaulted on Saturday while going from the airport to their hotel in the Venezuelan capital. None of the crew members was injured.

Air Europa responded by ordering the crews of flights to Venezuela to not spend the night in the country, according to the union.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on a Moscow-based bank jointly owned by Russian and Venezuelan state-owned companies, alleging it tried to circumvent U.S. sanctions on the South American country. The U.S. said it is targeting Evrofinance Mosnarbank for supporting Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state oil company previously targeted by sanctions in January.

Evrofinance said it was carrying out its activities normally despite the announcement and pledged to "meet its obligations to the clients and partners in full."

The U.S. and the other governments that recognize Guaido as Venezuela's interim president say Maduro wasn't legitimately re-elected last year because opposition candidates weren't permitted to run. Maduro says he is the target of a U.S. coup plot.

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Torchia contributed to this report.Tributes have been paid to amazing St Georges Norwich parishioner and former Test cricketer, Eileen Ash, who was Norfolks oldest woman and has died at the age of 110.

Tributes have been paid to amazing St Georges Norwich parishioner and former Test cricketer, Eileen Ash, who was Norfolks oldest woman and has died at the age of 110.

Dereham church celebrates Christmas with wreaths Lyn Milns from Dereham Baptist Church has been developing a Christmas wreath festival in the church and through the town. Read more

Car Park Christmas for Sheringham church Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham has held two of its Christmas services in the open air, including a joint carol service with Sheringham Salvation Army band. Read more

Kingsley gifts support Lowestoft Christmas lunch Kingsley Healthcare has presented gift bags to the Salvation Armys Lowestoft Citadel to be given out at the churchs Christmas Day lunch this year. Read more

The Wonder performed just for Norfolk school Pupils and teachers from The Clare School were treated to a special performance of The Wonder, Soul Church's Christmas spectacular, on Wednesday 8th December. Read more

YMCA Norfolk needs a Project Lead  Wellbeing Matters YMCA Norfolk is looking for a Project Lead  Wellbeing Matters, to build relationships of trust with vulnerable and marginalised parents and families across Norfolk. Read more

Norfolk author sheds light on US abortion debate A book about respect for life, written by a parishioner from St Johns Cathedral in Norwich, sheds light on the current US abortion debate being considered by its Supreme Court. Read more

Music outreach boost for South Norfolk church St Marys Church in Attleborough has been awarded a grant from Youth Music to employ a music outreach worker for two years as part of the churchs music and building project. Read more

Christmas news and opening times at Revelation Merry Christmas from the staff, volunteers and trustees at Revelation Christian resource centre in Norwich. Read more

The joy of getting a booster! Andrew Frere Smith reminds us how much a word of encouragement can boost our spirits. Read more

Sister Wendy gives a voice to Julian of Norwich A recording of Sister Wendy Beckett reading Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love has been released to the public 28 years after it was first made. Read more

Could you support Yarmouth area youth outreach? As they go through a period of change, East Norfolk Youth for Christ are urging people to support them, both in prayer and by getting involved. Read more

Christmas and Advent events in Norfolk A roundup of some of the Christmas services, carol services, Christingles and other festive events organised by Norfolk churches this month. Read more

Festive highlights at Norwich Cathedral this Christmas From Christmas concerts to Midnight Mass and Carols in the Cloister, there is lots to look forward to at Norwich Cathedral this festive season. Read more

Norwich Youth for Christ jams for Christmas Norwich Youth for Christ is organising a Big Jam to launch their Christmas content. Nick Blanch reports. Read more

Care home careers at MHA Cromwell House, Norwich MHA Cromwell House in Norwich has career opportunities for a Care Assistant and Senior Care Assistant. Read more

Salvation Army in Diss gives out Christmas Toys and Tins As the countdown to Christmas begins, people in Diss are being asked to support The Salvation Armys annual Toys and Tins Appeal. Read more

The light shines in the darkness Philip Young urges us to remember how much God loves us as we light our Advent candles this year. Read moreVMwares introduction of x86 server-virtualization technology was a game-changing event in the history of enterprise computing. But if you look at VMwares corporate messaging today, its almost as if server virtualization has been scrubbed from the lexicon. Instead, VMware highlights its multi-cloud strategies, software-defined data centers, networking, hyperconverged infrastructures, security, SD-WAN, containers, blockchain, IoT and more.

So, whats going on with VMware? If you created a nearly $6 billion industry, had more than 75% market share and didt really face much in the way of direct competition, why not just keep doing what youre doing? Is VMware just trying to latch onto all the latest buzzwords, or is there a method to the madness?

According to analysts, its been clear for some time that the server virtualization market is approaching a saturation point. Gartner reported that license revenues for x86 virtualization declined for the first time ever in the first quarter of 2016, with most enterprises reporting data-center virtualization levels of 75% or higher. And by 2017, Gartner declared the server-virtualization market so mature that it stopped doing its annual server-virtualization Magic Quadrant reports altogether.

Meanwhile, the threat to VMware goes beyond companies having virtualized pretty much every workload that can be virtualized. In a bid to reduce capital expenditures and increase business agility, organizations are trying to downsize their data centers and shift existing workloads to the cloud, either on SaaS platforms or cloud infrastructure from AWS or Azure. And as companies decide to go cloud-native for all new applications, they are turning to cutting-edge approaches like containerization, micro-services and serverless computing, which dont require a traditional VM.

In short, VMware is a classic case of a company facing the innovators dilemma, according to Jason Bloomberg, president of the analyst firm Intellyx. The decision boils down to whether to just keep milking the cash cow, or whether to try to catch the next wave of innovation and expand into new markets, even if that might mean cannibalizing the primary revenue stream.

VMware, through a clever combination of targeted acquisitions and internal product development, has taken the innovation route, Bloomberg says, putting together an overarching VMware everywhere strategy with a broad product portfolio designed to help companies write, secure, manage and optimize applications wherever they are located.

Or, as Chris Wolf, vice president and CTO, global field and industry, at VMware puts it: Applications and data are becoming increasingly distributed, with organizations operating across a number of data centers, public cloud providers, branch offices, edge locations, and more. Our strategy focuses on ensuring consistent infrastructure and consistent operations anywhere apps and data may reside and doing so while preserving a native developer experience.

VMware expands virtualization in the data center

Having pioneered x86 server virtualization, VMware set its sights on a broader range of virtualization opportunities in data center infrastructure. After software-defined compute, it was clear to us early on that the rise of software-defined storage and network virtualization were only a matter of time, Wolf says.

The company introduced vSAN storage virtualization in 2014, then used vSAN technology as the core of its VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) appliance. VMware leveraged the acquisition of Nicira into its NSX network virtualization and security product. Armed with a fully integrated stack of virtualized compute, storage and networking technologies, VMware layered on management, automation and orchestration capabilities to create what it calls a software-defined data center. This is a highly automated data-center-as-a-service offering that can be deployed in a private-cloud, pubic-cloud or hybrid-cloud scenario.

But VMware wasnt done there. It bought AirWatch to extend application and data management, as well as security features, to end-users mobile devices. It bought SD-WAN vendor VeloCloud to bring software-defined technology to branch offices that needed to connect to the cloud. It enhanced its cloud management capabilities with the recent purchases of CloudHealth Technologies and Wavefront, which monitors cloud applications running in containers. And it recently purchased Kubernetes player Heptio as part of its strategy to enable DevOps teams to write applications on the platform of their choice.

Forrester analyst Chris Gardner gives VMware high marks for not sitting on their laurels. The move into hot new markets is showing results, he says, noting that the NSX business is already a major contributor the companys revenue stream. And he said that VMwares recent partnership with Amazon to offer software-defined data centers on AWS is an exciting development with strong growth potential. With VMware Cloud on AWS, companies can migrate and extend their on-prem VMware environments to the AWS bare-metal cloud infrastructure.

Gardner does caution that in its push to develop new offerings, VMware sometimes goes a bit too far. They tend to have multiple solutions to every problem, he says, which can be confusing to customers. We believe software vendors need to be opinionated, to come to the table with a recommendation, not a Cheesecake Factory menu, Gardner says.

VMware has other challenges as well. By expanding into new markets, VMware faces entirely new sets of competitors. Its going up against Nutanix in the HCI market, Cisco and Silver Peak in SD-WAN, Cisco again in the software-defined networking (SDN) market, and Microsoft and IBM in cloud-system management.

In addition, analysts say VMware has been a little late to the cloud and containerization parties, and its strategy has not always been clear and consistent. For example, VMware at one point tried to offer its own cloud platform but torpedoed that effort and more recently teamed with Amazon to offer software-defined data centers on AWS. This enables companies that have a VMware-based data center or private cloud to extend that enterprise-grade environment to the AWS bare-metal cloud infrastructure with no heavy lifting. Similarly, VMware wants customers to run containers inside its own virtual machines, arguing that it can provide a development platform with the security, orchestration, integration and management features that organizations are accustomed to.

Customers who spoke to Network World say they are taking a pragmatic approach to VMwares rapidly expanding product lines, evaluating each new VMware offering on a case-by-case basis. They seem generally pleased, even surprised at how well VMware has been able to anticipate their evolving needs, and they say VMwares ability to integrate its products gives it a leg up over point solutions.

VMware customers grow into vSAN, NSX and SDDC

Ryan Fay, executive vice president and global CIO at ACI Specialty Benefits, began using VMwares virtualization products in the early 2000s when he was at a different company. Its been exciting to see what VMware has been able to do, he says. The company stuck with its core competency but continued to innovate into new areas at the same time, he says.

In 2009, Fay was hired at ACI, a provider of corporate-benefits packages, to lead a digital-transformation initiative. ACI had recently acquired four companies, its data footprint was growing at 300% a year, it had security, compliance and data governance issues, and the data center needed modernization.

The first step was a basic server hardware consolidation effort that led to the creation of 40,000 virtual machines, a move that saved the company an estimated 30 to 40 percent in CAPEX costs per year and helped with HIPAA and PCI compliance efforts.

When Fay wanted to automate data center functionality, VMware was there with its software-defined data center. When encryption for sensitive customer data became a priority, VMware had just released a new version of VSphere with built-in encryption. When his software developers wanted to move to containers, VMware had its Pivotal Container Services product.

And when VMware bought SD-WAN vendor VeloCloud, it just so happened that Fay was already a customer. At one point, Fay says he went with another vendor for hyperconverged infrastructure but switched back to VMware because its platform was the most mature and had the most functionality.

Fay says he appreciates other aspects of his relationship with VMware. There is no vendor lock-in in terms of the underlying hardware. For example, NSX plugged directly into his Cisco networking gear. The result: You can have network functions virtualization pushed over any content-distribution node you want, anywhere in the world. That was a paradigm shift, because youre no longer just managing the network, youre using it to drive innovation.

Fay says he is keeping his eye on VMwares cloud offering on AWS. The only thing holding him back right now from a full production deployment is the lack of availability zones. And hes looking forward to other VMware initiatives in areas of blockchain, edge computing and 5G.

Similarly, Adam Alicea, director of enterprise engineering at VITAS Healthcare Corp., began his relationship with VMware through a server virtualization project. Eight years ago, when he joined the largest hospice care company in the U.S., VITAS was moving its data center from Miami to Smyrna, Ga., and his task was to migrate the companys 70 applications onto virtualized servers. After a 17-hour day, about 80 percent of the companys applications  many of them mission-critical apps related to patient records  were running on the virtualized infrastructure, he says. And the companys footprint had been reduced from nearly a full cage in a colocation facility to 11 server racks. Today, thats down to six racks.

Four years ago, when the in-house electronic medical records system was pushing the companys SAN to the limit, Alicea switched to a VMware vSAN. Latency dropped from seconds to microseconds and the company realized a nearly 50 percent reduction in storage-hardware-acquisition costs. Everybody was wowed, Alicea says, and he was given the green light to develop and implement a five-year plan that included deployment of a full software-defined data center.

On the networking front, Alicea began re-designing the core network, moving from Cisco gear to white-box switches running the Cumulus Linux OS, boosting the network backbone from 10Gps to 40Gps and adopting a spine-leaf architecture for increased resiliency.

The next step was adding VMwares NSX, which integrated with the storage- and server-virtualization systems to provide a single view of the entire data-center stack. In addition, NSX provided network micro-segmentation for security, as well as load balancing. It all made sense, Alicea says.

He is working with VMware in other areas as well, implementing virtual desktop infrastructure with VMwares Horizon View technology on NSX clusters. But hes also sticking to the best-of-breed approach. For example, after evaluating VMwares SD-WAN technology, he decided to stick with his current implementation.

VMware's Dell EMC connection, future plans

No discussion of VMware can be complete without mention of its somewhat convoluted ownership situation. Storage vendor EMC bought VMware in 2004 for $625 million and sold 15% of the company to the public via an IPO. In 2016, Dell, which was then privately held, borrowed $67 billion to buy EMC in a deal that stands as the largest ever in the industry. As part of that transaction, Dell issued something called tracking stock, a separate stock based on VMwares performance. Then, in December of 2018, Dell announced it was going public again and bought back the VMware tracking stock.

None of these machinations seem to have had much impact on the ground, according to both analysts and customers. Any efforts by Dell to increase synergies between the companies can only be good for customers, and these corporate changes havent slowed down VMwares continued push into new markets. For example, Dell just announced an aggressive product roadmap for its HCI product line that features VMwares VxRail technology.

And at the latest VMworld conference, the company announced several new initiatives. Project Dimension is a managed service that will bring software-defined data-center infrastructure- and hardware-as-a-service to on-premises and edge locations. Project Magna is aimed at leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to build self-optimizing virtual infrastructures. And Project Concord is VMwares blockchain initiative.

But there is always a concern that if debt-laden Dell hits a few rough quarters, it might scale back new -echnology investments at VMware.

So far, however, the overall strategy seems to be working. Revenue for the latest quarter was $2.2 billion, up 14% from the same quarter of the previous year, and the company increased its full-year revenue projections to nearly $8.9 billion. Quarterly earnings of $1.56 a share beat analyst estimates. And VMware stock, which dipped to a low of around $50 a share in 2016, is now above $150 a share.

Industry analysts are impressed. Forrester listed VMwares HCI offering as one of the leaders in the fast-growing data center in a box market. IDC says VMware is the market leader in cloud management software at more than $900M in annual revenue, and is the market leader a new category called IT automation and configuration management. And Gartner puts VMware in a leadership position in WAN edge technology.

Wolf, not surprisingly, is bullish on VMwares future:

We will be global leaders in infrastructure, networking, data management, end-user computing, and we will revolutionize how applications and data are secured. We will empower customers to take open source projects into production, providing the reliability, scalability and operational consistency they require. Finally, we expect to continue to be a major force in cloud operations and management.New Turkey-Iran-Qatar axis

A new alliance being formed by Qatar, Turkey, and Iran, with the potential to receive the backing of Russia and China, is a major concern to the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. The aftermath of over eight years of war in Syria has changed the regional dynamics in a way almost certainly never envisioned by the United States and its allies. Through leaked documents, we have known for some time now that Washingtons interim goal was to, at the very least, destabilise the Assad government in the hopes of scaling back Iranian influence. (Its ultimate goal was quite clearly regime change, which was very close to fruition during at least one stage of the war).

This anti-Assad strategy has, of course, backfired to the point where Iranian-backed forces have essentially amassed along the Syria-Israel border, threatening Washingtons most beloved ally in the region. The other notable  and realistically, most important  development is that Russia, not the United States, emerged out of the rubble of Syria as the major power-broker and military tactician.

However, it seems as though the aftermath of Syria is just the beginning of a tectonic move in a massive direction away from the status quo. Eight years on since the war in Syria broke out, and we are now beginning to see some other major concrete shifts within the regional alliances which has Washingtons traditional allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, starting to tremble.

As of now, Qatar, Iran, and Turkey are forming a regional alliance, which is irking Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States. After Saudi Arabia led a coalition of nations that attempted to bully Qatar into submission and accept a long list of inconceivable demands in June 2017, Qatar soon found it could rely on some key partners to weather the Saudi-led storm. These partners are now openly forming a new alliance, which will up-end the entire balance of power in the Middle East.

The strengthening of ties between this axis of nations is quite remarkable, when one considers that they each held completely paradoxical positions regarding the Syrian conflict. The horror of this shift from a Western perspective can be seen brilliantly in an Asia Times article entitled Americas Syrian humiliation is worse than it looks.

When Saudi Arabia blocked Qatars only land border and the UAE in turn blocked shipments from its ports to Doha, Qatar quickly found friends in Oman, Turkey, and Iran to bypass this nonsensical blockade. Qatari flights were rerouted over Iranian airspace and Turkey upped the ante on its military presence in the country as a sign of strength and commitment.

Eventually, daily life in Qatar could continue quite reasonably. This is not to say that Qatar didnt experience difficulties, particularly regarding oil prices, real estate prices, tourism, and the slowdown in economic growth. Then again, Qatar was able to draw from its reserves to counter the effects, minimising the damage done by its neighbours.

By the end of 2017, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan had all increased bilateral trade with Qatar, benefitting all four countries. In the less than six months since the Qatar crisis had begun, trade between Iran and Qatar reportedly increased by 117 percent. At the time, experts studying the crisis predicted that commercial relations between the two countries would remain intact, even following the closure of the Saudi-led Qatar crisis.

Iran, Qatar, and Turkey also signed a land transportation pact in August of that year which would help reduce the cost and transit period for the exchange of goods. Seeing as Saudi Arabia effectively blockaded the flow of goods into Qatar, it should not be hard to see that even this agreement alone bore major significance.

Qatar for its part has invested heavily in Turkey, well over US$20 billion in total. As explained previously by Al Jazeera, this is the second-highest in terms of value by any country, demonstrating the importance these two nations have given to each other.

By most accounts, the Gulf States need Turkey on their side in order to contain Iran. A recent report published by Middle East Eye revealed how Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt hatched a plan with Israel to scale back the regional influence of Turkey and Iran, with Turkey deemed to be the biggest military threat to these Gulf states interests.

As it transpires, the Qatar-Turkey-Iran axis could potentially provide a major buffer to the so-called Arab NATO, which will be headed by Saudi Arabia. While Saudi Arabia appears to have managed to bring Pakistan on side, it still remains that Pakistan shares a border with Iran and relies heavily on China, another key ally of Iran. Islamabads anti-Iran stance can therefore only stretch so far.

The fact is that this alliance on the face of it will likely bear the support of Russia and its military will also be of a major concern to the anti-Iran alliance. As it stands, Russia, Iran, and Qatar provide over half of the worlds known gas reserves. Not to mention that Iran and Qatar share the worlds largest gas field, another major concern for the Saudi-led bloc.

Saudi-owned media has already voiced its opposition to this newfound alliance, which can be seen most openly in an article in Al Arabiya entitled How Iran, Turkey use Qatar to undermine regional security and US interest. According to Al Arabiya, there is a risk of Qatar breaking away from the Arab orbit and posing a serious threat to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The Qatar-Iran entente, previously concealed, is out in the open, the article also notes.

To put it simply: 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.

At around the same time, Qatar had called for a new alliance to replace the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), further demonstrating this shift in perspective.

According to Russian think tank Katehon, the new Qatar-Iran-Turkey axis is already well underway and has the power to control Asia, west India and Pakistan and challenge the demonic trio of the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

Do not underestimate the role of small Qatar in this triple alliance with latent empires, the think tank is cited as saying. The fact is that the huge financial resources, as well as the successful geographical location of the emirate, allow it to resist even the all-powerful Saudi Arabia, which also claims regional domination.

Thus, international pressure and economic restrictions prompted three completely different states, despite geopolitical differences, to begin rapprochement in the economic sphere. How this will turn out in the future depends primarily on the actions of the United States, which, undoubtedly, will try to break up the emerging triple alliance.

RT  Russia TodayCampaign aims to break taboos about menstruation and provide girls with sanitary products

A CAMPAIGN to break the stigma surrounding menstruation and empower young girls with greater access to sanitary products in school has been launched in West Berkshire.

The Red Box Project aims to support young girls in schools during their periods by providing red boxes  containers filled with free sanitary products.

Founded in 2017, the national initiative aims to address period poverty  when women cannot access sanitary products due to financial constraints.

The scheme is now being championed by a Hermitage resident determined to increase awareness around periods and ensure that menstruation isnt used by young girls as an excuse to miss out on education.

Hollie Gavin said her own tendency to skip school when she was on her period inspired her to become involved with the project with the help of Jo Thomas from Newbury Academy Trust.

The former Theale Green pupil is aiming to put a red box in every school across the district over the next year as part of a growing momentum to end period poverty, as well as tackling the social and cultural restraints imposed upon girls during menstruation.

She received support from a Reading-based business whose employees donated a huge number of period-friendly items last December, along with pupils from Bradfield College, who have thrown their weight behind the scheme.

Theale Green was the first in the district to receive a red box, while six others have since benefitted from the scheme, including Calcot Junior School, which received one last Wednesday.

Free sanitary products will be provided in secondary schools in England from September.

However, it is the unexpected uptake from primary schools which has lead Mrs Gavin to focus on helping schoolchildren.

Im seeing such a demand from primary schools in the district, said Mrs Gavin, who added that while most girls start their periods at the age of 12, some can begin menstruating as young as eight.

Its quite common for girls to have their very first period in a primary school environment  the girls panic and they dont know what to do.

Teachers are funding sanitary protection for them  when it feels like girls are asking for a favour.

It shouldnt be like that.

While West Berkshire may be considered a more prosperous part of the country, schoolgirls in the district are not immune to social and cultural constraints faced during menstruation, Mrs Gavin said.

One former West Berkshire school pupil hid her periods from her family for three years after she started menstruating aged 11, out of fear that her friends would know.

As someone from a traditional Muslim community, in which women were required to wear headscarves once they had started their periods, she used dinner money to buy sanitary towels to prevent people from finding out.

She said: On occasions where I didnt have anything to use, I would use scrunched up toilet roll, which would often lead to leaks.

When this happened, I would say I was unwell and in secondary school would usually go home.

Had a box like the one this scheme provides been available in my school, Im confident periods would have been talked about more openly.

I would have probably spoken to teachers about it and realise I didnt need to be scared.

According to Mrs Gavin, that girls experience transcends the financial paradigms so often associated with period poverty.

She said: People will read this and think Oh, sanitary towels are like 2 a packet, what are you talking about?.

Her story is another example that this isnt just financial  its cultural, personal and religious, too.

West Berkshire is an affluent area of the country, but the proportion of family income is significantly going on rent or mortgage repayments.

Girls have contacted me to tell me they arent being provided with the products due to finances being spent on other things.

As the scheme grows, Mrs Gavin will be tasked with replenishing stock in boxes already in schools, such as St Bartholomews and Trinity, where the project has been entirely pupil-driven.

But to achieve this, more donation points are needed in local communities  like Thatcham Library  where sanitary products are collected in the same way that unwanted food is donated in supermarkets.

Sanitary pads are a priority  which are often more suitable for younger girls to use  while tights, pairs of new knickers in a range of sizes and tampons are also welcome.

Money can be also donated to help buy the items or even the boxes themselves, which Mrs Gavin has so far self-funded.

She said: Girls should have products available in the same way you would expect toilet paper to be provided in bathrooms at school.

These arent luxuries, but essentials that girls should be able to obtain, for whatever reason.

To donate money to The Red Box Project West Berkshire, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/redboxwestberksThe new wave band that gave us Only the Lonely and Suddenly Last Summer is on tour. Martha Davis and The Motels will perform an intimate concert at Daryls House Club in Pawling, New York, on Friday, April 12.

A guitarist and vocalist, Davis said fans can expect a fun evening. The Motels released their powerful new album, The Last Few Beautiful Days, last spring. Among its memorable tunes is Punchline. The haunting song with a driving beat was inspired by Davis efforts to repair a relationship with an important person in her life.

Well play some new tracks but we will not neglect the oldies and goodies, Davis said in a phone chat from her home on a farm in Oregon.

The first album we play a lot of songs off of is 40 years old this year, yep. So we might drag out some songs ... which reminds me, I need to practice, she said with a laugh. My band is an extraordinary band; we have stellar players. Although the lineup has changed at times, Davis said the current group has been together 15 years.

The original band came to be after Davis joined The Warfield Foxes, from Berkeley, California, back in 1971. In 1975 they moved to Los Angeles and decided to call themselves The Motels. By 1985 theyd released five albums, including the Top Ten hits, Only the Lonely and Suddenly Last Summer.

Those two songs couldnt be more opposite, she said. With Only the Lonely I picked up my guitar and (the tune) was sitting there (as if it wrote itself). I played Only the Lonely bada-boom, bada-boom.

Suddenly Last Summer percolated for years. The song, written after her parents had died  her mom by suicide and her dad from illness  is a reflection on those moments in life when things are changing, like when its a beautiful sunny day and a cold wind blows and you know the end of summer is coming.

Davis was young when she lost her parents. She had no safety net. She also had few skills, since shed left school at 15. I took the inheritance and turned it into some (musical) gear... I was like Jack and the Beanstalk, well take this cow and see what happens.

Looking back on those early years, she said, The saddest part of the whole thing was I had two children. Everything was a challenge. I was scared all the time, scared for my kids.

More Information Daryl's House Club, 130 Route 22, Pawling, N.Y. Friday, April 12, 8 p.m. $40, $25. 845-289-0185 See More Collapse

But she was also determined, so she kept working on her music  bringing her children from rehearsal to rehearsal. I was born in 1951 and our first gig was 1971, so I must have been a whole whopping 20. It wasnt until 1979 that we got signed.

Aside from Davis, the current lineup features guitarist Clint Walsh, drummer Eric Gardner, bassist Nic Johns and, as of 2011, original member Marty Jourard. (Rachael Sage will be their guest artist.)

The Motels have performed on Saturday Night Live and American Bandstand. Davis said shes grateful she was able to follow her heart into music. She shared that her mothers diary revealed she had wanted to be a writer, but never got the chance. Davis said shes always loved music and that having it in her life is a great gift.

lkoonz@newstimes.com; Twitter: @LindaTKoonzTORRINGTON  A commercial business saw minor damage after a fire Tuesday, officials said.

Fire units were sent to Detail Unlimited and Cycle Addiction, 99 Winsted Road, around 5:30 p.m. for a reported of a fire in the back of the business. The first fire units on scene came from the North End Station, just around the corner, and reported an exterior fire with smoke inside.

Firefighters were able to get the blaze out quickly and begin the search for any hotspots or additional fires in the roof or walls.

There was minor damage to the structure from firefighters looking for extension, according to Deputy Fire Chief David Tripp. Smoke did some damage to the two businesses.

The occupants were able to get out of the fire without any injuries. No firefighters were injured.

The caus eof the fire remains under investigation.KENT  The community is rallying to support a local family of six that lost their home and their dog, Rhino, in a fire Sunday.

A five-bedroom, Colonial-style house on Tamshell Drive was the home of Kim and Marika Coolbeth and their four children. None were home at the time of the fire, however, the fire killed the family dog.

When the scene was under control and hose and gear was picked up, the Coolbeth familys home was a total loss, watching from the sidelines with only the clothes they were wearing, the Kent Volunteer Fire Department posted on Facebook on Tuesday.

By Tuesday afternoon, though, a GoFundMe page for the Coolbeths, started by Michelle Mott, principal of the Kent Center School, had raised more than $13,000 for the family.

Mott wrote that the family has been part of the Kent community for many years.

The Kent Center School is collecting gift cards for the family, according to the volunteer fire department.

First Selectman Bruce Adams said the family is staying at a relatives house nearby.

Adams daughter, Sarah, who lives across the street from the Coolbeths, has started a Meal Train so the family doesnt have to worry about food.

Firefighters responded to Tamshell Drive around 4:40 p.m. Sunday, where they found a working fire with heavy smoke.

Several nearby towns sent mutual aid to the scene of the fully engulfed, 4,000-square-foot home, including New Milford, Roxbury and Washington.

The first selectman said firefighters were on the scene for about eight hours, and they were called back early the next morning after the house flamed back up.

No injuries were reported, he added.

Fire Marshal Stanley MacMillan said the fire was caused by misuse of a work light.

I know from personal experience that work lights can get very hot, Adams said. I dont know exactly what happened, but perhaps it was left too close to paper or something.

kendra.baker@hearst.comDANBURY  Its that time of year again when roadways are littered with potholes  and motorists are not happy.

The News-Times asked readers to report potholes in their home towns. According to the responses  theyre all over the place.

Potholes were reported across the city of Danbury  from Franklin and Main streets in city center to Westview Drive on the east, and Joes Hill Road on the west.

One person described a pothole on Westview Drive as a crater [that] shows up every year. Another said Brushy Hill Road is a continuous series of potholes.

One motorist said she almost got hit head-on by a driver avoiding potholes on West Redding Road.

The entire eastbound lane is full of potholes, forcing drivers to cross the yellow line into oncoming westbound traffic, she said.

Another motorist said the area near the corner of Brushy Hill Road and Old Post Road is in horrendous condition.

Mayor Mark Boughton said the city has six crews  as well as a weekend skeleton crew  that work throughout the pothole season.

We also have a truck that we share with Bethel that drives around, fixing potholes, he said.

When you have warm days and cold nights, along with a bunch of moisture, its not uncommon to get ... buckling of roadways, Boughton said.

The citys biggest problem right now is that hot asphalt is not available this time of year  and it wont be for a couple weeks, he said.

Hot asphalt plants usually dont open up until mid- to late-April, said Boughton, so the city is left with cold patch material to fill the holes in the roads.

The cold patch is not the best material, he said. Its really a temporary fix, and it can wash away in a bad rainstorm or something like that.

The mayor said there are several ways in which the city finds out where pothole work needs to be done.

We have foremen in each each sector of the city who drive around and observe; drivers will tell us, the public notifies us  we pretty much get it from everywhere, he said. We get tips and leads on them, and then we go out and fill them as soon as we can.

As far as he knows, Boughton said, there is no pothole-preventing alternative to asphalt that can be used on roadways. I wish there was, he plaintively said.

Boughton said Danbury has a really busy paving season coming up and he encourages people to report potholes they see. We do everything we can to get out there as fast as we can, he said.

Two months ago, the mayor announced that he wanted to spend $1.7 million  received through a state grant last year  to get an early start on the citys annual road paving program this spring.

The $1.7 million will supplement the $3.7 million the city already set aside for paving in its current budget and give crews more funding to begin drainage and prep work in April and May for paving this summer.

New Milford

Potholes were reported on 10 New Milford roadways, including huge, unavoidable ones on Grove Street and potholes big enough to swallow [a Honda] Civic on Route 109.

They were also reported on Lovers Leap Road, Still River Drive, Carmen Hill Road, Candlewood Lake Road South, Mist Hill Road and Wellsville Avenue in New Milford.

The town has spent about $20,000 on cold patch this winter, said New Milfords highway foreman, Michael Boucher.

Weve ordered probably almost double than what wed normally order in a winter because its been cold and wet, and the holes have opened up a lot more than usual, Boucher said.

New Milford recently got a new pothole truck that will go into use starting next week.

The truck is equipped with a 300-gallon hot emulsion tank and a machine that blows emulsion and stone out of the truck, Boucher said.

Its high volume, low pressure, so it presses it in real tight, he said, adding the truck can be used in all four seasons.

Other towns

In Bethel, potholes were reported on Payne and Taylor roads.

A New Fairfield resident reported potholes on Gillotti Road that vehicles have to swerve [to] just get around. She said her car is in need of a four-wheel alignment because of them.

One Newtown motorist said there are potholes all across town, and the streets are horrible for the taxes they pay. Potholes were also reported between 25 Hundred Acres Road and Phyllis Lane and the entire length of Boggs Hill Road.

There are numerous potholes on Poverty Hollow Road in Redding, according to a resident, who described the road as a narrow and dangerous one thats traveled by many get to and from Joel Barlow High School.

Ridgefield residents reported potholes on Whipstick, Ridgebury and Long Ridge roads. According to one resident, the entire stretch of Long Ridge Road is torn up, causing drivers to cross [the] yellow line into oncoming traffic.

kendra.baker@hearst.comSome people collect and sell antique cars, others collect guns.

That was the point Mark Albin, 49, tried to make this week after he was charged with possession of 16 assault weapons, 76 unregistered high-capacity magazines, and six silencers.

Albin also faces one count of manufacturing an explosive device in his Tackora Trail home and one count of disorderly conduct.

Most of the guns I bought when I was younger, Albin said Monday. Just like an antique car, they go up in value.

Albin, a mechanic who works at the Limestone Service Station on Danbury Road, said he built some of the guns and silencers.

Of the assault weapons included in a photo released by the Ridgefield Police Department, Albin said between five to seven were guns he assembled at home from parts he ordered online.

Theyre legally made, homemade guns, he said. Thats what blew a gasket with the Ridgefield police.

Theyre not 3D-printed ghost guns, he added.

Albin said he also assembled the six silencers from parts he bought off of Amazon.

The devices are made to look like solvent traps, he said.

Maybe I should have registered the high-capacity [magazines], but they never left my house, he said, noting that he has 10-round magazines  the legal limit in Connecticut  that he brings to the shooting range.

Albin said one of the other rifles included in the photo  a Norinco AK-47 he purchased in the late 1980s for $700, is now worth between $10,000 and $20,000, because the gun was manufactured prior to the 1994 federal ban on assault weapons.

According to Albin, the assault weapons made at home were not registered because home-built guns do not have a serial number.

Albin said all of his guns were stored in a safe.

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.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi said the issue was not about whether the guns were stored correctly, but that they were unregistered and therefore illegal.

The worry is what happens when a cache like this one gets into the wrong hands? said Marconi. All it takes is the wrong person to get their hands on these types of weapons.

Tear-gas grenade

Last Thursday, police responded to a disturbance call at Albins residence after his son called police during an argument between Albin and his wife.

We were having a loud argument and my kid got scared and called 911, he said. Nothing physical happened. She didnt want me to leave the house is all, and I didnt want to stay.

An officer who responded to the scene told Albin they would have to hold his guns.

He said because youre a registered handgun owner, I need to collect your handguns, Albin said. I gave him access to everything.

According to a press release from Ridgefield police, officers discovered illegal firearms, high capacity magazines, and an explosive device.

Albin was charged and released after posting $50,000 in bail for the weapons charges, and $500 for a disorderly conduct charge for the disturbance. He is due back in court on April 11 for the weapons charges, and May 7 for the disorderly conduct charge.

The explosive device found in the home was made up of parts Albin had purchased to build a tear-gas grenade.

He said the grenade could have been fired from a 3-mm flare launcher, also in his possession and seized by police.

Besides the 16 assault weapons named in the arrest, he estimated he turned over around 40 other firearms to police, including shotguns he uses for hunting.

Reputation

Since his arrest, Albin said he has received death threats made by phone.

A car pulled in my driveway and [the driver] called me baby killer at one oclock in the morning, laying on the horn, he said.

During an interview Monday in the parking lot of a closed Norwalk gun store, Albin declined a call on his cellphone from an unknown number in Newtown.

Thats where I get calls from, I dont even answer, he said.

Several residents defended Albins reputation.

He is a local mechanic  an honest, reputable guy, said John Miceli, who owns a tree-cutting business. Hes fixed several cars for me over the years.

Albin said hes been laid off from his job as a mechanic at the service station. The owners said Friday, that Albin had not been fired, but had been asked to take a few weeks off.

Chris Patterson, a town resident who attended school with Albin, said he is a solid guy.

Albin said hes never threatened anyone with a gun.

Ive never pointed a gun at anyone in my life, Ive only ever pointed at targets, he said.

Additional reporting by Kendra Baker and Stephen Coulter.WASHINGTON  Rep. Rosa DeLauro is optimistic the third time actually will be the charm for her Paycheck Fairness Act, which passed the Democratic-controlled House last week for the third time since 2008 but faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.

We are on our way, she said to cheers at a meeting of the Democratic Womens Caucus at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. It is about giving women the power to gain economic security for themselves and their families.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal to pay unequal wages to women for the same job held by men. DeLauros Paycheck Fairness Act, which she has introduced 12 times dating back to 1997, would close loopholes that employers use to pay women less than men who perform the same work.

DeLauro cited U.S. Census data that women are paid 80 cents for every dollar earned by men in the same positions.

So many Americans are stuck in jobs that do not pay them enough to live on, DeLauro said. Its not a partisan issue. It is a matter of right and wrong, and simple fairness.

Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., introduced DeLauro as the Godmother of pay equity. In her 15th term on Capitol Hill, DeLauro has proposed a laundry list of bills aimed at uplifting workers  particularly women  on the lower rungs of the economic ladder.

Among them are paid family medical leave, paid sick days, and schedules that work  a bill that would bring greater predictability and stability to low-wage workers subject to abrupt and disruptive work-schedule changes.

Tuesday was Equal Pay Day, calculated each year to mark the day on the calendar when the average woman finally is paid the total of what an average man earned in the previous year for the same work

The National Committee on Pay Equity started observance of the day in 1996.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would allow workers to compare notes on salaries without fear of retaliation.

It would also prohibit employers from requiring prospective workers to provide salary histories, or screening applicants based on salary history. It would also give women charging pay discrimination new legal leverage to challenge employers in court.

Women filing wage-discrimination claims would the same remedies as plaintiffs charging racial or ethnic discrimination under federal civil rights law.

Among those at the meeting Tuesday was Hollywood star Michelle Williams, who entered the fray on pay equity after finding out that a male co-star, Mark Wahlberg, made $1.5 million for reshoots of a film ironically titled All the Money in the World. Williams was paid $80 a day.

Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, Williams said. This is a critical moment. Please dont let it pass unpassed.

The House last week approved the bill by a vote of a vote of 242-187, with eight Republicans voting yes.

But passage of the bill in 2008 and 2009 did not result in enactment. In 2009, the measure got dropped at the last minute from the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which overruled a Supreme Court decision that restricted the time period allowed for filing wage-discrimination complaints.

Notwithstanding House passage this year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., may choose not to bring it to a floor vote at all.

Even so, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., spoke on the Senate floor on Tuesday in favor of the Senate version, which she introduced.

Its outrageous that we still dont have equal pay for equal work in the United States in the year 2019, Gillibrand said.The betrayal of Madrid

A coup against the Republic led to the fascists marching on Madrid unopposed  and by refusing to correct his most famous work, George Orwell knowingly misleads his readers to this day.

Next week we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Spanish Civil War (SCW). After nearly three years of heroic resistance the republican forces succumbed, facing as they did the combined might of Francos army supported with copious supplies of armed and trained soldiery provided by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

The Internationals  United with the Spaniards We Fight the Invader, artwork by Parrilla, from The Palette and Flame  Posters of the Spanish Civil War, International Publishers, New York.

Until the end of February 1939 Prime Minister Juan Negrin and his only reliable allies, the Communists, were determined to fight on despite a series of crushing military defeats in Catalonia. The Republic still controlled a large area of central Spain and had over 500,000 men under arms. It was Negrins belief that if the Republican side could hold on for a few more months, it was just possible that the gathering war clouds over Europe would force the Western powers to take military and diplomatic action against Franco.

The alternative, an outright victory for Franco was unthinkable given Francos track record of vengeful violence and his total disregard for human rights, civil liberties and international law. The following months and years were to prove that Negrins forebodings were well justified.

In early March under the leadership of Colonel Casado, appointed commander of the Republican Army of the Centre the previous year, a group of renegade Republican military and political leaders, including well known socialists and anarchists, formed the Consejo National de Defensa (CND) with the intention of deposing Negrin and the elected Popular Front Government.

The renegades actions were informed by virulent anti-communism. They justified their treachery by claiming that the Communist Party, backed by Negrin and the Soviet Union, was about to take control of all levers of power in the republican zone and that Spain was about to fall under a Stalinist dictatorship. Given that Francos victory was by that time inevitable these claims were absurd.

The CND began arresting Madrid Communists and their supporters. When these actions were forcibly resisted a civil war within the Civil War broke out. For the first few days Communists held the initiative and were on the verge of defeating Casado coalition troops. But with a nod and a wink from Franco, the 14th Division of the Republics Popular Army, controlled by the anarchists and under the direction of General Mera, left an active front in the war against Franco to march on Madrid in order to confront the Republican loyalists.

Faced with insurmountable odds the Communists were forced to leave their strongholds and retreat. Over a thousand Communists and supporters were killed in their last ditch and failed attempt to save the Spanish Republic.

Some two weeks later Francos army marched unopposed into Madrid  all attempts to negotiate favourable peace terms came to nothing as Franco ruthlessly pressed home his military advantage.

At the time many saw Casados coup as a cowardly betrayal. George Orwell, author of Homage to Catalonia, easily the most popular account of the war, took a contrary view. In a review of Casados memoirs published in January 1940 Orwell wrote in his usual omniscient style, Considering the actual military situation it is difficult not to feel that Casado was right.

Yet those on the spot, or at least those who remained loyal to the Republic and saw the dangers inherent in a fascist victory, thought otherwise. Even Orwell came to recognise the error of welcoming Francos victory. Less than a year after his original review he declared that Francos victory was a disaster for the Spanish people.

In the early 1940s, probably influenced by discussions with Negrin who was at the time in exile in Britain, Orwell had second thoughts on other matters too, contrary to Homage to Catalonia. He conceded that the war was not lost because of divisions on the left and the suppression of the Poum by the Popular Unity Government. By 1943, writing in Looking back on the Spanish Civil War, he had come to the view that the Trotskyist thesis that the war could have been won if the revolution had not been sabotaged was probably false. The fascists won because they were stronger [militarily]. No political strategy could offset that.

But Orwell made little, if any, attempt that future editions of his famous book reflected his true views on the Poum and the real reasons for the Republics defeat.

He and his publishers preferred to retain the anti-communist and anti-Soviet views expressed in the book knowing that these were in line with the Cold War positions which found favour in the late 1940s with the political establishment of both Britain and the United States.

Although the Republican side was defeated, the stand taken by democratic Spain showed that it was possible to confront the growing threat of expansionist fascism. Notwithstanding the adverse balance of military forces, the example of the Spanish Republican Army aided by the International Brigades and supported by the Soviet Union, was to inspire the resistance movement throughout Nazi-occupied Europe.

In many respects the war was the first battle in the struggle to defeat Nazism. That the second world war was won owes much to the stance taken by the Spanish people and the International Brigades who showed that it was necessary and possible to stand up to the fascist war machine thus showing up the futility of the appeasement strategy of the Western powers before 1939.

But the fruits of this victory were not passed on to the Spanish people. Over the next 35 years many thousands were to die in Francos prisons while the Western democracies stood aside, seeing Franco as an important ally in the Cold War against the spread of socialism and national liberation.

For the truth, I recommend Spains Left Critics by Daily Worker editor JR Campbell  a demolition of the ultra-left delusions which infected a section of the British left at the time and a refreshingly partisan and contemporary account of the struggle to organise solidarity with the Spanish Republic. Many years later Bill Alexander, who was commander of the British Battalion of the International Brigade, wrote George Orwell and Spain to counteract the damage that George Orwells mendacious and highly unreliable Homage to Catalonia did to historical truth.

My introduction to the new edition of Spains Left Critics provides a valuable context to the period and discusses George Orwells political views and the revelations that he ended his life as an informer to the British government who denounced his literary and political contemporaries to the British secret police.

Morning StarThe Community Culinary School of Northwestern Connecticut, based in New Milford, is accepting applications for its next session.

The next 12-week program will start April 22 at St. Johns Episcopal Church along Whittlesey Avenue.

If you love to cook and are interested in an exciting new career opportunity, you may be a good candidate for the Community Culinary School, said Dawn Hammacott, executive director of the school.

The New Milford/Danbury area has more than 500 businesses that employ food service personnel, Hammacott said.

The industry is always in need of reliable, trained employees, she said.

The school trains people ages 18 and older for jobs in food service.

Instructed by Chef Blythe Roberts, the students will learn a range of cooking techniques in a full-scale kitchen.

The school also arranges internships for all students, trains them in the life skills necessary to getting and keeping a job and assists with job placement.

Additionally, the meals students prepare are distributed to those in need through the New Milford Food Bank.

If you love to cook and are ready to turn your life around then enrollment in the Community Culinary School can offer you an opportunity to train for a career that will give you a chance for a better life for you and your family, said Hammacott.

Tuition is free for qualifying candidates.

The school was established in 2007 to provide unemployed and underemployed men and women with the skills they need to find jobs with career paths in the food service industry.

Classes will be held Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at St. Johns Episcopal Church, 7 Whittlesey Ave.

The school is modeled on the Community Kitchen program of the anti-hunger organization Feeding America.

It relies largely on donations and grants, and has received support from the Connecticut Community Foundation, the Harcourt Foundation, the Meserve Memorial Fund, Union Savings Bank, Savings Bank of Danbury, Diebold Foundation, Womans Club of Danbury/New Fairfield, and other area foundations and civic organizations.

For more information, call Dawn Hammacott at 203-512-5791 or email culinaryschool@sbcglobal.net.HARTFORD  A ruling by the state elections board blocking candidates from using public campaign grants to pay for child care has Connecticuts governor calling on the legislature to take action.

Although a growing number of states have decided child care is a generally permissible campaign expense, the all-male State Elections Enforcement Commission ruled Wednesday public campaign funds from the Citizens Election Program cannot be used to pay a babysitter while a candidate on the trail.

Candidates who do not get public grants may use their campaign funds to pay for child care, but office-seekers who receive public monies are subject to stricter expense restrictions.

We dont have the authority to automatically change our regulations, said Commissioner Stephen Penny. Frankly, sending this particular matter with our recommendation to the legislature would be faster. It will be more open to the public.

Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz urged the General Assembly to respond to the ruling with legislation. Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killing, who chairs the legislative committee that oversees elections, promised Wednesday afternoon to put language in a bill that will state child care is a permitted campaign expense.

We should be doing more to encourage women to run for office, and that is why I am urging the General Assembly to fix this wrong, said Lamont. Send me legislation clearly stating that child care is a permitted campaign expenditure, and I will sign it into law.

The Wednesday ruling was sought by Caitlin Clarkson Pereira, a Fairfield Democrat who ran for state representative in 2018, but was not elected. She brought her 4-year-old daughter Parker with her to hear the decision.

Frustrated and disappointed, Clarkson Pereira said she may appeal to the courts or try to get the legislature to raise a bill next year, she said.

This is not the end of this road, she said.

This ruling highlights the need to appoint women and diverse candidates to the State Elections Enforcement Commission, Bysiewicz said.

We will choose qualified, competent women and people of color to serve on boards and commissions, said Bysiewicz. We will definitely take that into consideration as positions come open on the SEEC.

Bysiewicz submitted comments to SEEC backing Clarkson Pereira prior to the ruling. She felt a personal connection to the issue because she ran for state representative in the 1990s with a 5-month-old daughter. She would not have been able to campaign if her mother-in-law had not volunteered to babysit for her daughter in the evenings, she said.

For months, Clarkson Pereira has been challenging the state on the question of campaign funds and child care. She has also worked with candidates from other states seeking rulings on the same issue.

Responding to a query from the Democrat, the SEEC issued an informal opinion in August stating Clarkson Pereira could not use campaign money to pay for a babysitter. In October, Clarkson Pereira appealed and filed a petition for a declaratory ruling.

The Federal Election Commission allows Congressional candidates to use campaign funds to pay for child care. Ellen L. Weintraub, chairwoman of the FEC, submitted comments to the State Elections Enforcement Commission urging the group to permit public campaign funds to be used to pay for child care.

Connecticuts pathbreaking Citizens Election Program has served as a model for the nation. The country would be well-served if the federal government followed Connecticuts lead on public financing of elections, Weintraub wrote. The citizens of Connecticut and the nation would benefit if you led on the childcare issue as well.

Liuba Grechen Shirley, who ran for Congress in New York, and sought the FEC ruling on child care costs also sent a letter to the SEEC urging them to back Clarkson Pereiras request.

Former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted her support in March.

I'm so happy to see candidates winning the right to use campaign funds for child care, Clinton wrote. We need more moms in office.

Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Alabama, and Arkansas permit campaign funds to be spent on child care. The Utah legislature also approved the idea.

In Connecticut, candidates who are not receiving public campaign monies can use their campaign funds to pay a babysitter as long as the child care need is a direct result of campaign activities, the cost is reasonable and the payment is properly documented.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunsonLies, lies and more lies

On Friday, April 13, 2018, the Trump-led triumvirate of US, France and Britain launched 100 missiles against targets in the sovereign state of Syria. It was probably the most provocative piece of foreign aggression upon the Syrian government in the whole civil war, and if Syria or Russia hadnt responded in kind (as, according to international law, they had every right to do), we all would have been engulfed in World War III, and faced annihilation.

BBC TV producer, Riam Dilati, concluded: I can prove without a doubt that the Douma hospital scene was staged. No fatalities occurred at the hospital.

The justification for this incredible piece of brinkmanship was simple: in colour and available for all to see with their own eyes ...

According to Trump a massacre in the Syrian town of Douma was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons used by that very terrible regime. He added, for good measure, The evil and the despicable attack left mothers and fathers, infants and children thrashing in pain and gasping for air. These are not the actions of a man, Trump said, referring to Assad. They are crimes of a monster instead.

Some days earlier, the Syrian Arab Air Force was charged with dropping toxic chemical weapons on sites in Douma, where Jihadist rebels were dug in amid innocent civilians. They were about to be overrun by Syrian government forces and it seemed their defeat would soon be inevitable.

But now proof of the chemical atrocity immediately emerged from a source named Raed al Saleh, head of the renowned White Helmets, reputedly a volunteer rescue force but in reality an integral part of Jaish al Islam, a Jihadist group aligned with Al-Qaeda and trained in terror by Britains MI6. It was armed by all three of the angry alliance who wanted to punish Syrias Assad for war crimes: France, Britain and the USA. The evidence went viral.

The White Helmet video showed the heroes dealing with unspeakable agonies: rushed images of people gasping for air, children foaming at the mouth, dead bodies in basements and people of all ages being hosed down while commentaries spoke of nerve gas and sarin symptoms, and victims being treated in panicked conditions at an overcrowded hospital.

Estimates of victim numbers varied wildly: 70 people suffocated to death was one claim that had been reduced from an earlier tweet of 150. Those who had suffered the effects fell from 1,000 to 500 and then to 50. By the time Trump was winding up to unleash fire and fury (carefully directed and monitored, of course), the number had dropped to between 40 and 50 casualties.

The really, really Fake News

In reality, the whole chemical attack at Douma was a staged event to draw the US and its fellow illegitimate Middle East invaders further into the conflict, into Damascus, in fact. The video was replayed over and again by the BBC, Fox News, CNN and every puppet network in Australia, including the ABC and SBS. The more Trump ramped up the avenging rhetoric, the more it was repeated.

In a desperate attempt to stall the forthcoming attack, Syria and Russia invited the UN affiliated Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate the alleged sites of the chemical massacre, but it was too late.

Every major news and media network around the globe had jumped on the evidence and rushed to confirm it, without checking the sources. Right on cue, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Coventry, England, immediately confirmed hundreds of victims; the Union of Medical Relief Organisations, a Paris-based charity that works in Syrian hospitals told the BBC that Damascus Rural Specialty Hospital had confirmed 70 deaths, presumably, from toxic gas. It had done nothing of the sort.

The OPCW, despite being held up for two weeks by Jihadist snipers, were finally able to carry out their mission in Douma, beginning on April 21. Forensic testing on all the relevant sites could nevertheless find the truth and their final report has just been released (March 1, 2019) though you would hardly know it given the media silence on the issue.

Already their interim report had stated no organophosphate (sarin) nerve agents or their degradation products were detected in the environmental samples or the plasma samples taken from the alleged casualties.

The Report confirms there was no residue anywhere of any kind of nerve agent or sarin gas at any of the alleged sites.

Some traces of chlorine were found. It is a chemical commonly used as a cleaning agent in kitchens and suburban swimming pools so it is not on the list of banned chemical weapons that warrant a missile revenge attack that did kill scores of people.

BBC Admission

Chlorine gas can cause serious lung damage and collapse  it was claimed the children admitted to Damascus hospitals and seen on the video breathing through oxygen masks were suffering the effects of chlorine gas. Following interviews with staff at all the relevant levels of treatment, however, the OPCW Fact Finding team found that all diagnoses related to standard explosive dust and smoke and lack of surrounding oxygen. These explosions could have come from any source.

The most damning assessment however, has come from the horses mouth itself. A senior BBC TV producer, Riam Dilati, set out to discover the full story and arrived at the following conclusion: After almost six months of investigations I can prove without a doubt that the Douma hospital scene was staged. No fatalities occurred at the hospital.

Dilati found the sources that had (successfully) stampeded the worlds media were in a variety of other places around the Middle East but not in Damascus. They were aided, encouraged and ramped up in their disinformation by intelligence agencies and media heavyweights to achieve escalated international tensions and protect favoured terrorists.

One might think that after their exposure by a courageous whistleblower and the findings of the OPCW there might be some form of apology, recompense or restitution to the Assad government and the Syrian people, but in all irony we neednt hold our collective breath.

In a press conference after the US strike, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull expressed his strong support for Trumps action, adding  The use of these weapons, under any circumstance, is illegal and abhorrent. It is a violation of international law. It is a war crime. It is a blatant contravention of basic principles of humanity.

So, Australia has been complicit in reinforcing the big lie, and failing to see the irony of cravenly backing, yet again, the biggest violator of international law on the planet. On a humanitarian level, its difficult to see Scomo the Arrogant uttering even a feeble, mumbled sorry to a world denied any skerrick of integrity by its news providers.Research summary: 10-minute read time.

Scientists investigating childhood cancer rates in children conceived naturally and those conceived via in vitro fertilization have discovered a notable link between cancer development and IVF.

Phonlamai Photo | Shutterstock

Comprising 275,686 children conceived via IVF and a cohort of 2,266,847 children conceived naturally, researchers at the University of Minnesota monitored the children for ten years.

Dr. Logan Spector, who has authored previous studies investigating the health risks associated with children born via assisted reproductive technology, led the study.

The statistics showed that incidence rates of hepatic tumors were significantly higher in children conceived via IVF, with the rates standing at 18.1 for IVF conception against 5.7 for natural conception. Hepatic tumors cover a number of both malignant and benign subtypes of masses in the liver.

Infertility in women comprises 70 percent of cases

IVF is a huge undertaking for couples struggling to conceive a child. Undergoing IVF treatment is not only financially taxing, but it can also be an emotionally challenging time for both prospective parents.

Increasing age impacts both male and female fertility, with lifestyle factors including excess weight, smoking, and high alcohol consumption affecting male fertility as well, contrary to popular belief.

Generally, infertility is defined as the inability to conceive in 12 months of regular, unprotected sex according to an article published in the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners journal Australian Family Physician.

It goes on to state that a male factor is responsible for infertility in couples in approximately 50 percent of cases, with sole responsibility in 30 percent of cases and a co-contributing female factor in 20 percent of cases.

IVF is an important step for many couples

IVF increases the number of eggs for fertilization and consists of several steps. The first step is ovarian stimulation, in which injections of the follicle-stimulating hormone that encourages egg growth are administered.

The second stage includes oocyte pickup, in which the eggs are collected through a narrow needle. After eggs have been successfully collected, in vitro fertilization is carried out.

Alternatively, a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection is carried out, where the embryologist directly injects sperm into the cytoplasm of every egg collected.

An embryo culture follows, where embryologists are able to tell the patients how many eggs have been successfully fertilized, which will then be kept at body temperature until an appropriate embryo can be transferred back to the womb.

There were over 1,100,000 IVF treatment cycles carried out in the UK between 1991 and 2016 according to the independent regulator of fertility and research Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, and over 6.5 million babies have been born via IVF worldwide.

Contradicting this University of Minnesota study, one UK-based study that comprised 106,013 children born via IVF, which was the largest cohort in a study on this subject, found no association between increased cancer risk and IVF conception.

The results were only marginally significant

Although the results of the study first appear alarming, researchers involved in the University of Minnesota study said:

We found, at most, a small, marginally significant association between IVF and overall cancer in childhood.

Additionally, they were unable to produce an association of specific modes of IVF treatment or indication for IVF with overall cancer or embryonal tumors.

Despite the large size of the study, these results do not definitively establish an association between IVF and embryonal tumors

An increased cancer risk is plausible

Profesor Alastair Sutcliffe, Professor of General Pediatrics, University College or London spoke on whether the source of the increased cancer risk is the genetic nature of infertility in the couple, or the IVF process itself.

The boom of fertility by IVF is a great thing for some couples and use year on year is rising  with 1.7 percent of births in the USA, 2.2 percent in the UK, 5 percent in France.

Consistent with work performed in the UK involving, this excellent study [] likewise suggested that certain tumors were of higher risk after IVF conception, namely the exceptionally rare hepatoblastoma.

It is indeed plausible that this slight increase in hepatoblastoma is an effect of IVF process rather than the genetic nature of subfertility.

Some experts have rejected the claims

Dr. Jane Stewart, Chair of the British Fertility Society rejected the idea that the study suggests the IVF process causes higher cancer rates and highlighted limitations in the study that may skew perceptions of the results themselves.

The researchers were not able to consider other factors that might lead to childhood cancers in this group. As with other similar studies, an association between IVF and cancer is found but it is impossible to say what the cause is.

Despite this, the study claims that continued follow-up for cancer occurrence among children conceived via IVF is warranted even though the association of IVF conception and childhood cancer is small and limited to rare tumors.Scientists have identified a way to provide more detailed information on malaria transmission both locally and across borders, according to two new papers published today in eLife.

The studies, from collaborators in the US, UK, Thailand, Bangladesh, Namibia and Norway, suggest that combining data on parasite genetics and human movement can provide greater insight on how malaria spreads among populations. This approach, applied to data from Southern Africa and Bangladesh, could allow malaria control programs to strengthen their local and regional efforts for eliminating the disease.

A global decline of malaria in recent decades has led to a push for complete elimination of malaria parasites in 21 countries by 2020. But malaria transmission differs among countries and policy-makers must focus on reducing transmission in locations where the disease remains, while protecting areas where it has been controlled from imported infections that threaten to reintroduce parasites. This is a particular concern for countries that share an international border with those that have high-transmission rates.

"Countries and regional blocs are working to identify where parasite importations are common and to pinpoint the sources of imported cases to develop more effective and targeted malaria interventions," explains Sofonias Tessema, a postdoctoral scholar at University of California, San Francisco, US, and co-first author of the Southern Africa study. "But routinely collected data, such as malaria case counts obtained from health facilities, may not provide much information on importations. Malaria cases are often classified as either having been infected locally or imported based on the patient's self-report of recent travel. With only travel history data, it can be difficult to assess accurately whether malaria parasites were acquired locally or during travel."

To address this, the team used parasite genetic data to estimate the contribution of importation and compared it with human-mobility data to identify relevant sources of malaria parasites in Southern Africa.

"We found that parasites from cases near to each other were much more likely to be closely related genetically, providing evidence that the majority of malaria cases were from local transmission," says co-first author Amy Wesolowski, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, US.

Using genetic data from malaria parasites, the team also identified more detailed evidence of parasite connectivity over hundreds of kilometers than the other data sources, within Namibia and across the Angolan and Zambian borders. While these data are not yet routinely collected, they suggest the need to strengthen local interventions and regional coordination to successfully eliminate malaria from a critical region of Southern Africa.

Meanwhile, for the second study, researchers measured the spatial spread of malaria parasites in southeast Bangladesh. To do this, they analysed epidemiological surveillance data, travel surveys, parasite genetic data and anonymised, aggregated mobile data from their collaboration partners at Telenor Research and Grameenphone, both part of Telenor Group, Norway. "Our combined method gave us detailed insight into the direction and intensity of parasite flow between locations," explains co-first author Hsiao-Han Chang, Research Associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, US.

Contrary to current beliefs, the team found that frequent mixing occurs in low-transmission areas in the southwest of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, and elimination will require interventions in addition to reducing imported infections from forested regions. "Unlike risk maps generated from clinical case counts alone, our method also distinguished areas of frequent importation as well as high transmission," adds Richard Maude, Head of Epidemiology at Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), and a co-senior author of this study.

Altogether, the findings suggest that the ability to gather useful information from genetic data, using new methods, provides a strong case for the coordinated collection of regional data on parasite genomics in areas where importation of malaria is a potential concern, and where efforts are being focused to eliminate the disease.A Lancaster PhD student is investigating the effects on older people's health of chronic exposure to low level carbon monoxide (CO).

Beth Cheshire from the Faculty of Health and Medicine's Centre4Ageing is working with West Midlands Fire Service to investigate the links between household appliances like cookers and heaters and accidental exposure to carbon monoxide.

She said: "Currently, there is a knowledge gap regarding 'safe' levels of carbon monoxide exposure and whether chronic exposure to low-levels of carbon monoxide are associated with neuropsychological effects.

"Working alongside West Midlands Fire Service, my PhD is examining the health and cognition effects of such exposures within an older adult population and will hopefully make a valuable contribution to scientific knowledge in this research area, as well as an impact on policy and real lives. "

Beth attended 'The Brain and CO' roundtable organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group (APPCOG) sponsored by the Gas Safety Trust. The APPCOG brings together parliamentarians in order to raise the important issue of CO safety through discussing CO poisoning prevention, improvements in government policies, and raising public awareness.

The group works alongside CO campaigners, charities and energy industry companies dedicated to reducing the mortality rate and morbidity associated with CO poisoning. The APPCOG also includes working groups of medical, healthcare, science and research, and communications professionals.

The roundtable, chaired by MP Chris Bryant, brought together parliamentarians, members of the Gas Safety Trust, acquired brain injury campaigners and academic and medical professionals to discuss:

Recognising CO poisoning as an acquired brain injury

Differentiation between the neuropsychological effects associated with acute and chronic CO poisoning

Improvements in diagnosis and treatment pathways

Reducing the number of CO related poisonings through increased awareness and preventative measures.

Some of the outcomes of the roundtable included:

NHS England to improve diagnosis and awareness through investing in training for healthcare professionals and for GPs to be provided with CO testing equipment to aid diagnosis.

NHS England to work with research institutions in order to develop a specialised clinic for CO poisoned patients with neuropsychological effects.

Government should introduce preventative measures in order to reduce CO poisoning incidents such as mandating CO alarms in the home and promote CO awareness and safety.

Source: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/campaign-to-improve-carbon-monoxide-safety-in-the-homeMyriad Genetics, Inc., a global leader in personalized medicine, today announced that its Myriad Womens Health business unit will present results from two important studies at the 2019 American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting that highlight the performance of its prenatal tests. The key findings are that the Foresight Carrier Screen identifies 45 percent more couples at risk for having a child with cystic fibrosis than current guideline-based testing, and that the Prequel Prenatal Screen provides reliable results to 99.9 percent of patients spanning the entire spectrum of fetal-fraction levels.

Our studies demonstrate the outstanding clinical performance of our tests in a general population of patients undergoing carrier and prenatal screening. We believe these data will help inform medical guideline updates, support decision making and lead to better outcomes for couples. James Goldberg, M.D., Board Certified Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist, Medical Geneticist and Chief Medical Officer, Myriad Womens Health

The key data are summarized below. Please visit Myriad Womens Health at booth #1218 to learn more about our leading portfolio of womens health products. Follow Myriad on Twitter via @myriadgenetics and @MyrWomensHealth and keep up to date with meeting news and updates by using the hashtag #ACMGMtg19.

Foresight Carrier Screen

Title: Sequencing as a First-Line Methodology for Cystic Fibrosis Carrier Screening

Presenter: Dale Muzzey, Ph.D., Myriad Womens Health.

Date: Friday, April 5, 2019, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Location: Poster 880

This study evaluated the performance of sequencing-based cystic fibrosis (CF) screening using the Foresight Carrier Screen compared to genotyping. Three carrier screening strategies were evaluated: 1. Genotyping 23 guideline-recommended genetic variants (CF23); 2. Sequencing all coding bases in the CFTR gene (NGS) using Foresight; and 3. Sequencing plus large copy-number variant identification (NGS+CNV) also using Foresight. The results show that among the 13,080 couples screened, 58 were determined to be couples at risk for a pregnancy affected by CF: 40 were detected by CF23-only screening, 17 additional couples by NGS, and one couple by NGS+CNV. Importantly, these findings demonstrate that using Foresight would increase the detection of at-risk couples by 45 percent relative to current guideline-based testing. Of the couples at risk for CF who were identified, 89 percent said they planned or pursued actions to reduce the risk of having a pregnancy affected by CF, which underscores the clinical utility of the Foresight Carrier Screen to provide actionable information to prospective parents.

Current medical guidelines for cystic fibrosis recommend carrier screening via targeted genotyping of 23 frequent variants but that approach may miss many couples at risk, said Goldberg. Our findings suggest the CF guidelines should be updated to allow for modern NGS and variant interpretation that will enable more effective screening and better detection of at-risk couples.

Prequel Prenatal Screen

Title: Avoiding Unnecessary Trade-Offs: Clinical Experience for a Noninvasive Prenatal Screen with Both Low Test Failure Rate and High Accuracy

Presenter: Susan Hancock, CGC, Myriad Womens Health.

Date: Thursday, April 4, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location: Poster 911

This study retrospectively analyzed data from 58,105 women screened with the Prequel Prenatal Screen, which uses a whole genome sequencing approach to noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS). Importantly, while Prequel measures fetal fraction, samples are not routinely failed due to fetal fraction being below a predetermined threshold. The results demonstrate that Prequel provided a test result for 99.9 percent of patients, meaning that only one in 1,000 received no result. In the cohort, a total of 572 cases tested positive for an aneuploidy or suspected aneuploidy and the clinical sensitivity and specificity levels were comparable to those observed for NIPS offerings with much higher failure rates. Critically, the study shows that performance would not be improved with the use of a fetal-fraction threshold. Rather, applying such a threshold to Prequel would serve only to cause thousands of women to receive a test failure and would unnecessarily delay the identification of a number of affected pregnancies.

What this data demonstrates is the high accuracy of the Prequel test below a fetal fraction of four percent, meaning more patients receive reliable results the first time, said Goldberg. We believe the ability of the Prequel test to perform at any fetal-fraction level is unprecedented and makes it the most effective noninvasive prenatal screening test for aneuploidy available to clinicians today.Routine scaling and polishing of teeth should be stopped as the NHS dental budget would be better spent elsewhere, experts warn.

A study, led by Newcastle University, UK, shows that the NHS dental budget is not being spent in the most efficient way and must be better allocated to avoid oral health inequality and meet patients' needs.

Presenting their findings today at a policy briefing in London, the team says public money used for NHS dentistry in England is based on historical demands rather than evolving with the needs of patients.

Their study reveals that funds should be much more focused on prevention of decay and gum disease and more accessible services.

Changes in investment

The findings include opening new NHS high street practices, greater provision of dentistry in care homes, allowing direct booking of dental appointments from the NHS helpline, and having more oral health measures built into contracts for local authority services.

The trade-off, say the team, would be a reduction in the amount of orthodontics the NHS provides - by not treating those with moderate need and not providing adult orthodontics - and stopping routine scaling and polishing of teeth.

Dr Chris Vernazza, Clinical Senior Lecturer at the School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, led the RAINDROP project, which has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

He said: "Public money used for NHS dentistry is not being spent in the most effective way to ensure that patients are given the best care possible.

"Our RAINDROP project shows much of the dental budget is spent on high street dentistry but significant amounts are also spent on specialist oral surgery and orthodontic services, with very little spend on oral disease prevention.

"We estimate the current NHS dentistry budget includes only a tiny provision for prevention of oral disease, less than 5%, and this is not enough.

"We have recommended a specific set of services we would like to see new investment in and a set of services that should have funding reduced to allow this investment."

Better system

The RAINDROP project was set up to identify a better system for making decisions around changing how the NHS dental budget is spent, trying to satisfy multiple criteria, including determining public views in a way that represented the whole of society.

A panel of patient representatives, dental network chairs, dental lead commissioners, dental public health consultants and an academic assessed the current funding model and services, exploring more effective models of care.

Currently, NHS dental budgets are set regionally, but the funding arrangements often maintain historic allocations, partly due to lack of resources to review current allocations.

Each panel member scored a variety of dental services - such as examinations, oral surgery, out of hours, restorative and orthodontics - to identify the changes needed to dental health budgets.

The team have presented their findings to the Office of the Chief Dental Officer and others at NHS England, who will now consider the resource allocation recommendations.

Dr Vernazza said: "Major changes, such as those we have recommended, are often difficult to implement at a national level.

"It may be that any changes need to be made as part of ongoing and emerging processes, such as dental contract reform which is currently scheduled for roll out next year.

"In addition, at regional level, opportunities may present which would allow implementation of parts of our recommendations.

"The focus is on improvements for the whole population, so individual patients may see different levels of benefit. The sooner changes are made, the sooner the potential benefits can be realised."

The RAINDROP team are now embarking on a series of engagements with key stakeholders to explain and explore the project and its findings.The number of informal caregivers who look after older adults with cancer is on the rise. Caregivers could be relatives, partners, or even friends who provide assistance to people in order to help them function.

Most older people with cancer live at home and are dependent on informal caregivers for support with their cancer treatment, symptom management, and daily activities. Caregiving itself can also take a toll on a caregiver's own physical and emotional well-being, which makes it important to ensure the proper supports are in place.

Until now, no large study has evaluated whether or not caring for older adults with advanced cancer is linked to caregivers' emotional health or to their quality of life. Recently, researchers studied a group of adults aged 70 or older who had advanced cancer (as well as other challenges). This study used information from older patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers from local oncology practices enrolled in the "Improving Communication in Older Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers" study conducted through the University of Rochester National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program Research Base between October 2014 and April 2017. Results from the study were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The researchers learned that the health problems of older patients with cancer were linked to a poorer quality of life for their caregivers, including poorer emotional health. This fact is confirmed by many other studies, which show that caregivers may even experience more emotional health challenges (such as anxiety, depression, and distress) than the people they care for, the researchers added.

What's more, poorer patient health (measured by a geriatric assessment) was also associated with higher levels of caregiver distress.

The average caregiver in the study was 66 years old, though 49 percent of the caregivers were aged 70 or older. The majority of caregivers were female and white (non-Hispanic), and 67 percent were the patient's spouse or partner who lived with them.

Close to 40 percent of the caregivers had serious chronic illnesses of their own. Nearly half (43.5 percent) said they experienced moderate to high distress, 19 percent reported having symptoms of depression, and 24 percent were anxious.

Interestingly, older caregiver experienced less anxiety and depression and better mental health, said the researchers. However, they were in poorer physical health. Being female was associated with experiencing less distress. An income of more than $50,000 a year also was linked to having better physical and mental health.

The researchers concluded that caregivers for older patients with advanced cancer are a vulnerable group. Thankfully, there are strategies caregivers can incorporate into their routines to help keep their own health and well-being top-of-mind. Talk with a healthcare provider about your own stress related to caregiving. If you prefer, you can ask to talk privately, without the person you care for present. Your healthcare provider may suggest ways to address the burdens you may experience with caregiving. There are strategies that have been found to help with specific tasks and challenges, decrease caregiver stress, and improve quality of life. You can learn more--and take a free and private assessment of caregiver health--at HealthinAging.org.Iban Ubarretxena, an Ikerbasque Researcher and Director of the Biofisika Institute (CSIC-UPV/EHU), participates in a piece of research that has enabled new inhibitors to be identified and which could be used to develop drugs to combat Parkinson's. The research has been published in the prestigious journal Cell Research.

Parkinson's is the most common, chronic neurodegenerative movement disorder affecting 1% of the global population over seventy years of age. Right now, there is no cure for this disease and the available treatments focus on addressing its symptoms but not its progression.

Although most cases of Parkinson's are sporadic, the inheritable variants of the disease are mainly associated with mutations of the gene that encodes the LRRK2 enzyme. In 2004 an international research team, in which researchers from the Basque Country participated, established the link between one of the mutations in this enzyme and patients diagnosed with the disease.

So the LRRK2 enzyme, which is also known internationally by the name "dardarina", the Basque word that means tremor, has become one of the most attractive therapeutic targets for developing new drugs to combat inheritable Parkinson's. Neurotoxicity, or the pathogenic effects as a whole associated with LRRK2, is mainly due to the fact that pathogenic mutations increase the kinase activity of this enzyme, which has prompted an international race to develop inhibitors. Right now, specific, powerful inhibitors of the kinase activity of LRRK2 do in fact exist. Yet many of them cause undesirable side effects or produce very unclear clinical results.

This research conducted by Iban Ubarretxena, the Ikerbasque researcher and director of the Biofisika Institute (mixed centre of the CSIC-Spanish National Research Council and the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country) at the UPV/EHU's Science Park (Leioa-Erandio Area), together with an international research team, has revealed that AdoCbl, one of the active forms of vitamin B12, acts as an inhibitor of the kinase activity of LRRK2 in cultured cells and brain tissue. It also significantly prevents the neurotoxicity of the LRRK2 variants associated with Parkinson's in cultured cells of primary rodents, as well as in various genetically modified models used to study this disease. The results of the research have been published in the prestigious journal Cell Research.

So according to the study, vitamin B12 has turned out to be a new class of modulator of the kinase activity of LRRK2, which, as Iban Ubarretxena pointed out, "constitutes a huge step forward because it is a neuroprotective vitamin in animal models and has a mechanism unlike that of currently existing inhibitors. So it could be used as a basis to develop new therapies to combat hereditary Parkinson's associated with pathogenic variants of the LRRK2 enzyme".

Source: https://www.ikerbasque.net/en/news/new-inhibitor-key-enzyme-hereditary-parkinsons-disease-has-been-identifiedA student at the University of California, Riverside, presented research results at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, or AACR, in Atlanta showing that surgery is associated with higher survival rates for patients with HER2-positive stage 4 breast cancer compared with those who did not undergo surgery.

The protein HER2, or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, can play a role in the development of breast cancer.

"Between 20% and 30% of all newly diagnosed stage 4 breast cancer cases are HER2-positive," said Ross Mudgway, the study's lead author and a third-year student in the UCR School of Medicine. "This form of breast cancer once had poor outcomes, but in recent years, advances in targeted therapy have led to improved survival."

Mudgway explained at the meeting that in recent years, most patients with HER2-positive breast cancer have been treated with systemic therapy, which could include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or endocrine therapy.

"Surgery is sometimes offered to these patients, but previous research on whether surgery improves survival has yielded mixed results," he said.

According to Mudgway and senior author Dr. Sharon Lum, a professor in the Department of Surgery-Division of Surgical Oncology and medical director of the Breast Health Center at Loma Linda University Health, HER2 status has been reported in large registry data sets since 2010, but the impact of surgery on this type of breast cancer has not been well documented across hospital systems. The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of 3,231 women with HER2-positive stage 4 breast cancer, using records from the National Cancer Database from 2010-12.

They found that 89.4% of the women had received chemotherapy or targeted therapies, 37.7% had received endocrine therapy, and 31.8% had received radiation. Overall, 1,130 women, or 35%, received surgery.

The researchers found surgery was associated with a 44% increased chance of survival, assuming the majority also had systemic treatment.

"This suggests that, in addition to standard HER2-targeted medications and other adjuvant therapy, if a woman has stage 4 HER2-positive breast cancer, surgery to remove the primary breast tumor should be considered," Lum said.

The study also examined factors associated with receipt of surgery and found that women with Medicare or private insurance were more likely to have surgery and less likely to die of their disease than those with Medicaid or no insurance. White women were also more likely than non- Hispanic black women to have surgery and less likely to die of their cancer.

"These results suggest disparities in health care due to race and socioeconomic factors, and these must be addressed," Mudgway said.

According to Mudgway and Lum, numerous factors may contribute to a physician's decision about whether to recommend surgery, including other chronic diseases in the patient, response to other forms of treatment, and overall life expectancy.

"Our findings should be considered in the context of all other factors," Mudgway said. "For patients, the decision to undergo breast surgery, especially a mastectomy, can often be life- changing as it affects both physical and emotional health. The patient's own feelings about whether or not she wishes to have surgery should be considered."

Mudgway was invited to discuss the research project at a press conference held at the AACR meeting. The conference received more than 5300 abstract submissions. Mudgway's abstract was one of only 17 selected for the press program.Long censored expose makes a comeback

Published in London in 1935, but never re-issued until now, Hollywood Cemetery is one of five novels by Liam OFlaherty banned by the Irish State under the Censorship Act. In the 1930s, OFlaherty was one of Irelands most censored authors; in fact, his Galway novel The House of Gold was the very first book banned there in 1929.

Hollywood Cemetery departs from his more familiar Irish settings of the rural West of Ireland or Dublins slums. It is OFlahertys fictionalised satirical account of his encounter with an industry that embodies the American way of life and exposes the core of Hollywood film-making.

For readers of Peoples World, there is a very special aspect of interest to this, OFlahertys only US-based novel: He puts this papers precursor, the Daily Worker (called Proletarian Power in the novel), at the moral centre, and it is from this papers analysis that the novel takes its name. Liam OFlahertys brother Tom was a daily columnist of the Daily Worker from the start, and so reference to the paper of the working class was no accident.

As the reader is reminded in Hollywood Cemetery, the American film industry had similar decency stipulations to those of the Irish Censorship Board, under its new Production Code Administration. Both bodies attacked realist representation. Predictably, this resulted in anti-realistic idylls that had nothing whatever to do with the reality of peoples lives. While the rest of Hollywood was staggering under the clerical attack on indecent films, Mortimer, the fictional film producer of Flahertys novel, had hurriedly produced a picture called Little Virgin, which was a colossal success. Within three months, it had flooded all the capitals of the world, outside of pagan Moscow, with the tears of the multitude. It had poured a profit of four million dollars into the bank account of World Films Inc.

Into this general context, OFlaherty sets his satire. Based on his observations in the filming of his novel The Informer, he exposes how Hollywood operates, the allure of incredible salaries and resulting prostitution of its employees for money. OFlaherty appears of sorts in the character of Brian Carey. This modern Irish author is part of a beauty-spotting operation in Ireland along with a US film crew, to seek out a glamour girl suitable for the filming of his story The Emigrant. This achieved, the idea of a realist film about poverty in Ireland is speedily relinquished in favour of Hollywood illusion. Hollywood Cemetery is both hilarious and frightening.

Hollywood acts as coloniser, just as American slave owners, or British Anglicisers of Irish names, adapt the names of their underlings to perceived US, or British, tastes. Thus, Biddy Murphy becomes Angela Devlin. Such use of US-friendly aliases for actors/musicians from Mexico, Puerto Rico, etc, continues to this day. In fact, OFlaherty unerringly pinpoints such cornerstone aspects of the Hollywood way, then in its infancy.

Apart from the imposition of Hollywood-friendly names and appearances, he exposes the use of cosmetic surgery, drugs, screenplay factories, power battles, and sexual harassment as intrinsic to the industry. While these are now slowly becoming more obvious to the public, along with their toll on the mental health of those involved, OFlaherty recognises them clearly and exposes their early roots.

Here, it is a struggle to hold on to ones own identity and integrity. Power and money swallow everything, without regard for human life. Apart from the narrator, who frequently ironises himself, only the Communist Party newspaper, Proletarian Power, reveals this: Hollywood is a cemetery where the remains of present-day bourgeois intellectuals are buried, after being fattened like the sacrificial victims in ancient Mexico on enormous salaries, only to have their hearts plucked out and eaten by the Moguls of modern mammon.

This is what OFlaherty must have experienced with the filming of his own novel The Informer by his distant cousin John Ford. Instead of staying true to his original, set in the slums of Dublin, Hollywoods celluloid manifestations of his two central female characters are sophisticated, elegant, and photogenic, mocking their originals. Instead of making a film based on the Dublin working-class experience, Ford and his script-writer Dudley Nichols, along with the entire machinery, cleansed the novel of its deeper political texture to make a film that presents stereotypes as seen by those who have no interest in the inhabitants of tenements beyond their monetary value.

While in Hollywood, OFlaherty began thinking about his masterpiece, the historical novel Famine. This novel is the first major artistic grappling in Ireland with the nations 19th-century colonial holocaust. OFlaherty presents a differentiated panorama of the starving peasantry, the famine-profiteering gombeen men, clergy with and without a spine, and deeply inhuman British colonialists.

OFlaherty hoped that Ford would make Famine into a film after it appeared in 1937. Had Ford taken on this material, and resolutely portrayed this liquidation of a large part of the Irish nation, along with its resistance, it could have made a significant contribution to a cultural acknowledgement of colonialism in all its inhumanity. This did not happen and Hollywood Cemetery is a part answer as to why not.

Fightback, the assertion of humanity even when confronted with great adversity, is always a theme in OFlahertys work. Significantly, the two Irish characters in Hollywood Cemetery rebel. The novel also features women whose intelligence flies in the face of the gender role assigned to them by Hollywood. A gender-fluid character is another aspect to the novel in which OFlaherty seems to anticipate our own times and is surely far ahead of his own.

OFlaherty had started the book while still in the US and finished it in France during the summer of 1935. His first draft was returned to him by his London publisher Gollancz as too outspoken. Following its revision, it was finally published on November 18, 1935. Nuascealtas republication of Hollywood Cemetery over 80 years later is a major cultural event. It is available from Amazon and online.

Editors note: Readers may also wish to read something about the background to Man of Aran, a documentary about Western Ireland from the same period.

Peoples WorldGamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn moreHow did Venom become Venom? Find out in the new prequel series Lethal Protector

Time to go back to the early days of VenomSorry!

This content is not available in your regionNew Delhi:

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Monday reported marginal increase in total vehicle sales in March to 13,662 units, compared with 13,537 units in the same month of 2018.

In the domestic market, the company reported sales of 12,818 units last month, up 2 per cent as compared with 12,539 units in March 2018, TKM said in a statement. Consumer spending has weakened in the pre-election phase and the business sentiments have dampened temporarily, TKM Deputy Managing Director N Raja said.

Recently, the Japanese automaker announced that it will increase prices of some of its products from next month in order to offset rise in input costs. Recently, Japanese carmaker Toyota slashed its full-year net profit forecast after profits tumbled nearly 30 percent in the first nine months. The maker of the Camry sedan and Prius hybrid now expects annual net profit of 1.87 trillion yen ($17 billion) instead of 2.3 trillion yen it projected three months ago.

The new forecast represents a 25-percent plunge from the last year. Its net profit for the nine months to December came to 1.42 trillion yen, down 29.3 percent from the same period the previous year. Operating profit rose 9.5 percent to 1.94 trillion yen on sales of 22.5 trillion yen, an increase of 3.1 percent.

TKM exported 844 units last month as compared with 998 units in March 2018.

For the 2018-19 fiscal the company reported 7 per cent jump in domestic sales at 1,50,525 units from 1,40,645 units in 2017-18, it added.

Innova Crysta and Fortuner have been maintaining the growth trajectory and continue to be leaders in the segment. All new Camry Hybrid electric vehicle has already crossed 500 bookings since its launch in January this year, he added.Tokyo:

Tokyo prosecutors are considering pressing a fresh charge on former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, local media said Wednesday, which would be the latest twist in the auto tycoons dramatic downfall. Investigators are eyeing a possible aggravated breach of trust charge related to at least USD 32 million in Nissan funds transferred to a distributor in Oman, according to local news agency Jiji Press.

Some of the money is believed to have been used to buy a luxury boat allegedly used by Ghosn and his family, according to a source familiar with the matter.

If Tokyo prosecutors were to move forward with the case, it would be the fourth criminal charge against the 65-year-old former high-flying auto executive, who denies all allegations.

Ghosn already faces three charges of financial misconduct over allegations he under-reported his compensation and sought to transfer personal losses to Nissans books.

Tokyo district prosecutors are discussing the case with more senior colleagues before deciding whether to proceed, Japanese media said.

If prosecutors were to file new charges, it would not necessarily mean Ghosn returns to the detention centre where he spent more than three months before winning bail on March 6, according to a local lawyer.

The prosecutor can hit Ghosn with new charges without sending him back to prison. Prosecutors would need to again justify a detention by saying he was a flight risk and could destroy evidence and the chances seem fairly slim, said the lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous.

The news came after it emerged that lawyers for RenaultNissans parent company that Ghosn also ledhave handed over documents to prosecutors showing millions of euros in payments to the firms distributors in Oman.

An internal probe by Nissan, which is cooperating with prosecutors, has found Ghosn had approved over $30 million in payments to a distributor in Oman, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP.

Some of this money ended up in personal accounts, or used for purchases and investments by Ghosnmainly to buy a yacht and make investments via his sons firmaccording to this person.

In a bolt from the blue that rocked Japan and the business world, Ghosn was arrested on November 19 after prosecutors stormed his private jet at a Tokyo airport and took him into custody.

He spent more than 100 days in detention with limited access to lawyers before being released on bail of nearly USD 9 million.

Nissan swiftly removed him as chairman and is also expected to remove him from the board at an extraordinary shareholders meeting slated for Monday.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Wednesday faced yet another legal battle to prevent a consortium of Indian banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) getting access to nearly 260,000 pounds in a UK bank account. The 62-year-old is contesting an interim debt order obtained by the Indian banks in January this year, which relates to funds in the former Kingfisher Airlines boss' current account with ICICI Bank in London.

At a hearing before Master David Cook at the Queen's Bench Division of the court, Mallya's legal team sought a dismissal of the interim order. A judgment in the case is expected at a later date.

"The hearing concerns an interim third-party debt order obtained by the banks in January and relates to funds worth just short of 260,000 pounds in Dr Mallya's current account with ICICI Bank in London," said a spokesperson for TLT LLP, the law firm representing the Indian banks.

"This is part of the banks' ongoing efforts to enforce the [Indian] Debt Recovery Tribunal judgment against Dr Mallya in the UK. Dr Mallya is opposing the application and asking that the court discharges the interim order. If it is made final, the funds will be released to the banks," the spokesperson explained.

The case is part of wider efforts by SBI and 12 other Indian banks -- Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd -- to recover some of the funds owed to them as a result of unpaid loans by Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. In a ruling in May last year, a UK High Court judge had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and upheld an Indian court's ruling that the consortium of 13 Indian banks were entitled to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds.

TLT LLP has been representing the banks in their efforts to recover their dues as part of the worldwide freezing order, including a bankruptcy petition aimed at seizing his assets to recover dues filed at the end of last year. Mallya had been granted 20,000 pounds in weekly allowance as a result of the worldwide freeze order after his legal team made representations to the court to hike the initial 5,000 pounds weekly allowance.

Mallya, meanwhile, remains on bail after his extradition was ordered by Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in December last year and signed off by UK home secretary Sajid Javid in February. He has since filed an application in the UK High Court seeking leave to appeal against that order, with the papers now awaiting a judge's ruling on whether it should be rejected or can move to a hearing stage.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Gaurav Singh, whoA was shot at by unidentified motorcycle-borne attackers in front of his hostel on the campus on Tuesday evening has succumbed to his injuries. He was a Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student. The Police have arrested four people in connection with the case. "We have arrested four people. It was a case of personal enmity," news Agency ANI quoted Anil Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Varanasi Cantonment as saying.

Varanasi: MCA student at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Gaurav Singh, who was shot at in front of Birla hostel yesterday, has succumbed to his injuries. Anil Kumar Singh, Circle Officer, Varanasi Cantt says, "we have arrested 4 people. It was a case of personal enmity" pic.twitter.com/pqsJTg8xI1 a ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 2, 2019

The incident occurred in the evening, when Gaurav Singh, pursuing his masters in the university and residing in its Lal Bahadur Shastri Hostel on the campus was standing outside his hostel, talking to his friends. Gaurav had sustained bullet injuries in his stomach and was rushed to the trauma centre of the BHU's Institute of Medical Sciences.

For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

In a shocking incident, a Delhi man allegedly murdered his wife in sleep as she had failed to bear a child in their 14 years of marriage. According to a Times of India report, the accused identified as Vijender Kumar allegedly smothered his 34-year-old wife after a heated argument. Sunita, the victim, had complained to her parents that Kumar used to torture her repeatedly over the issue. According to the report, DCP (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal was said that a case of murder and destruction of evidence has been filed against Kumar.

The crime took place on Friday night and was discovered by Kumars alert neighbours on Saturday when the accused was taking Sunitas body to a local crematorium for hurried last rites. When confronted, Kumar reportedly told his neighbours that Sunita died of heart attack. He also said that the body must be cremated quickly as it had started decomposing. The neighbours were not convinced and some of them reported the matter to the police.

Later on Saturday, a team of Kalindi Kunj Police Station took away the body and sent it to for autopsy, which revealed the exact cause of the womans death. When confronted, Kumar remained adamant over the heart attack lie. However, doctors concluded that Sunita was smothered and didnt die of heart attack. The TOI report also quoted a neighbour who said that the couple got married in 2003. But soon, things turned sour over the child issue. Later, Kumar married another woman and was forcing his first wife for a divorce. We didnt protest then fearing the stigma of society. We thought it was a mere marital discord," the neighbour was quoted as saying by TOI. After intense interrogation, the Bihar native admitted that he had a fight with his wife after which he strangulated her in sleep.

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, Delhi remains most unsafe among 19 major cities, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of rapes , 33 per cent of crimes against women and the highest crime rate in 2016. A total of 236,476 cases were registered in 2018, with an increase in the number of murders (3.25 per cent) and thefts (7.7 per cent), particularly of vehicles (12.98 per cent), even as street crimes such as robberies and snatching came down from the previous year.

For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

UK couple Luke Morgan, 26, and Emma Cole, 22 reportedly on trial for allegedly smothering their 9-week-old baby, Tyler to death in their two-bedroom flat in Burntwood, Staffordshire have now been charged with the murder. According to The World News, the couple who are accused of smothering their baby during the early hours of April 29, 2014 is now charged with the heinous crime.

A court hearing on Tuesday said that the couple had intentionally smothered or had the babys chest depressed.

The parents are now accused of murdering baby Tyler after an alcohol-fueled argument ensued about not having enough sex. The court hearing reported by Daily Mail read, "Tyler was born on February 27, 2014, by caesarean section. He was born well. Luke Morgan is now 26, he was 22 at the time. Emma Cole is 22 and was 18 at the time. Tyler had an unremarkable history, he had suffered from a little colic but that was under control. There were suggestions that the defendant's attitude was not always shown to medical professionals."

The statement further revealed, "Emma Cole had said they had bathed Tyler cool water to keep him awake as warm water made him sleepy. Their preferred pattern was for Tyler to fall asleep at times that were convenient to them. Luke had put lemon juice on Tyler's tongue, it may have been some chilli crisps though. There was also an instance where Luke would play air drums with Tyler's arms, something Luke knew that Tyler was too young to do and he appeared to have hit him on his back too hard on one occasion. The relationship may have had some tensions that did not show to the outside. "

Jurors at Stafford Crown Court were told how neighbours heard the couple arguing on the night leading up to the baby's death about being short of money. They also said that Morgan was angry because he wanted to have sex with Cole but had been prevented because of baby Tyler. Paramedics were called to the couple's home at 2.42am and found the child unresponsive.

Tyler was reportedly rushed to Walsall Manor Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 4 am on that fateful day.

For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has notified Class 12 candidates to not pay heed to fake news of re-conduct of Physics and Economic paper that is being circulated through WhatsApp. According to the board's public advisory, the information dated March 28, 2019 and signed Sh. K.K Choudhury, former Controller of Examinations is fake and created by miscreants.

"This is brought to the notice of Stakeholders that the news of re-conduct of Physics and Economics of Class XII is fake. All Stakeholders and public are requested not to give any heed to the rumours like the abovesaid one and cooperate with the CBSE in the smooth and fair conduct of examinations." read the advisory.

CBSE had organised Class 12 Physics paper on March 5 and Economics paper on March 27 and the students expressed their dissatisfaction with the question paper asking for re-examination.

The board has earlier located fake links on YouTube that falsely claimed to have access to Class 12 question papers on subjects which are yet to be conducted.

The board is keeping a constant vigil and bringing unwanted activities to the notice of police immediately so that suitable and strict action against miscreants can be taken under provisions of IPC and IT Act. More uploads have been located on YouTube falsely claiming to have access to the Class 12 original question papers of subjects which are yet to be conducted, a CBSE notification read.

FIRs have already been logged with against persons circulating fake news regarding paper leak and availability of question papers prior to the examinations, the notification further read.

The CBSE has also appealed to students and parents not to react to such fake news in circulation and to join hands with the board for fair and smooth conduct of examinations. The board has been approaching the Delhi Police in connection with the circulation of fake news about paper leaks following which several FIRs have been registered. It had in February advised students and parents not to panic and to be aware of any rumours on social media ahead of board examinations.

The CBSE Class 12 exams began on February 15 and will conclude on April 3. Class 10 exams began on February 21 and ended on Friday.New Delhi:

Bihar Board has begun the applications for scrutiny of 12th Result 2019. Students who wish to apply for scrutiny of their Bihar Board 12th Result can visit the official websites of the board i.e. biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or bsebinteredu.in, and apply for the same. The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) had announced the BSEB Intermediate Result 2019 on March 30. The BSEB 12th exams were conducted from February 6 to February 16, 2019.

Bihar Board 12th Result Scrutiny  Heres how to apply

Step 1: Visit the official websites of the board - biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or bsebinteredu.in.

Step 2: Click on the link provided for Scrutiny application.

Step 3: Click on Scrutiny registration link.

Step 4: Fill in roll number, registration number and security answer. Click on Submit.

Step 5: Login using roll number and roll code, and submit your application.

This year, a total 79.76 per cent students passed the BSEB Inter 2019 examination. The pass percentage for Arts, Science, and Commerce is 76.5%, 93.02%, and 81.20% respectively.

The BSEB Inter exams were held across 1.339 centres in 38 districts. The results were declared much earlier than previous years to allow students to apply for admission to colleges in universities for further studies.

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:

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday dropped its sitting MP Kirit Somaiya, whose name was opposed by ally Shiv Sena, as its candidate from Mumbai North East. The Shiv Sena had been bitterly opposed to Somaiya's candidature. And the BJP's decision to replace him with Manoj Kotak underscores its keenness to keep its Hindutva ally in good humour.

Somaiya, an old BJP hand and one of its leading speakers on economic issues in Parliament, had been a trenchant critic of the Sena.

Somaiya, 65, has been the BJP MP from Mumbai North East for twice. Siv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray refused to forgive Somaiya's attacks, even though they were mainly in response to the Shiv Sena's criticism of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the past few years.Some of the reasons for changing the sitting MP include their shortcomings, his performance in Parliament as well as during the various events organised by the party in the last five years, the BJP leader said.

Somaiya has been facing a stiff opposition from the Shiv Sena for his continued tirade against Thackeray and his family, the BJP functionary said. Sena workers have already opposed the candidature of Somaiya and also warned of voting against him if he is renominated, he said.

"Very happy that Manoj Kotak ji standing with me here has got the ticket. We all will support him and ensure he wins. Ultimately our aim is a second term for Modi ji. Responsibilities within the party keep shifting, nothing new in it," said Somaiya.

Maharashtra accounts for the second highest Lok Sabha seats - 48 - after Uttar Pradesh, which has 80.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the two saffron parties along with their allies had won 42 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra. The BJP had bagged 23 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena had emerged victorious in 18 constituencies. The BJP later lost a Lok Sabha seat in a bypoll.Asked about the benefits of joining hands with the Sena, which has been constantly criticising the BJP and its central leadership, the BJP office-bearer said, "Both the parties have their dedicated cadres, which means those voters will always vote for the party nominated candidates."

"The alliance also means both the parties will get each others' votes. We have secured at least 70,000 to 1,20,000 votes in each constituency at present because of this alliance," the official said.

(With PTI inputs)New Delhi:

The BJP on Wednesday tore into the Congress manifesto with Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging it is a dhakosla patra (sham manifesto) full of lies and the party chief Amit Shah and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying the promise to review AFSPA would pose a threat to the national security.

The pledge to scrap the British-era sedition law that is reviled by activists was also slammed with Shah asking the Congress who was it trying to protect. He said the Congress leaders should "drown" themselves in a pool of water, as he pledged his party's support to the forces and sanctity of the AFSPA.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman alleged that various provisions in the opposition party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls are a threat to the country as it favours separatists and terrorists and will demoralise the armed forces.

The AFSPA gives the armed forces certain protection from legal action in carrying out their operations in disturbed areas.

BSP supremo Mayawati also termed the Congress manifesto as a "showoff" and an "illusion" and said there was no credibility of the promises made by the party due to its past.

Addressing his second rally in Arunachal Pradesh within a week, PM Modi referred to the Congress manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and said it had promised that every house would have electricity by 2009.

"However, till 2014 around 18,000 villages in the country were still to be electrified... Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called 'dhakosla patra' (sham manifesto), not a manifesto," PM Modi said at the rally in Pasighat, 220 km from the state capital Itanagar.

The prime minister also brought up the Congress manifesto while launching his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal with rallies in Siliguri and Kolkata.

He accused the Congress and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of being sympathisers of Pakistan who wanted to "break the morale" of India's security forces and make them "helpless" in the fight against terror.

"I saw this 'dhakosla patra' released by the Congress. It is meant to break the morale of our security forces.

"It promises removing AFSPA from disturbed areas like Kashmir. This is an attempt to render our brave soldiers helpless in the fight against terror, have their hands and feet tied," PM Modi told the rally in the north Bengal town of Siliguri.

He accused the Congress of being "soft" on terror because of its "appeasement" politics, which was reflected in its governments scrapping tough anti-terror laws like TADA and POTA.

"We too scrapped over 1,400 obsolete laws from statute books. We have also withdrawn the AFSPA from some areas after peace returned there. The Congress' election promise will help those peddling terror from Pakistan," he said in Kolkata, accusing the Congress party of "playing with national security and trying to destabilise the country".

The prime minister said the manifesto showed that the Congress had no faith in the security forces and the law of the land.

"This chowkidar stands as a wall between the sham manifesto of the Congress and national security. This manifesto has come with an expiry date--May 23 (the day poll results will be announced). On May 23, both the Congress and its 'dhakosla patra' will be gone," he said.

Lashing out at the Congress for promising to remove the anti-sedition law from the CrPC in its manifesto, Shah asked, who was the Congress trying to protect.

"Who do you want to protect? When anti-India slogans like 'bharat tere tukde honge' were shouted in JNU you stood with them in the name of right to freedom of speech. Do you want to protect those booked under the anti-sedition law?" the BJP president asked at a rally in Dehradun.

Advising the Congress president not to "stoop so low for the politics of vote", Shah asked him to stop playing with the country's security.

He also slammed the Congress for promising to revoke the AFSPA which gives special powers to the armed forces saying the party was not bothered about the safety of the country's security personnel.

"Rahul baba, it is not within the powers of your party to revoke AFSPA which is for the security of our armed forces. BJP stands like a rock against your designs. We cannot risk the lives of our armed forces. We can't demoralise them," he said.

"The Narendra Modi government stands like a rock with the armed forces," Shah added.

Sitharaman told reporters in Delhi that the Congress manifesto is not in national interest and indirectly helps terrorists and others working against the country.

She insisted that her party was not against withdrawing the AFSPA, if situation permitted it, but the Congress' promise to tweak its provisions, if voted to power, will allow terrorists and their friends to target security personnel with manufactured allegations.

The Modi government in tandem with respective state governments has withdrawn AFSPA from Meghalaya and Tripura and most parts of Assam, she said, asking that from how many places did the Congress remove it when it was in power during 2004-14.

On the Congress' stand that powers of armed forces and human rights should be balanced, she said it should not be presumed that the former is against the latter.

"It does not portend well for unity of the country and the morale of armed forces," she said.New Delhi:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made a new poll promise for former soldiers, saying the party would allow qualified ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the civil services. "Our Ex-Servicemen are Indiaas pride & must be given the respect they deserve. We will allow qualified Ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the Civil Services. The Central Armed Police Forces will be opened up to Ex-Servicemen under the age of 40," Gandhi tweeted.

Our Ex-Servicemen are Indiaas pride & must be given the respect they deserve.



We will allow qualified Ex-Servicemen lateral entry into the Civil Services.



The Central Armed Police Forces will be opened up to Ex-Servicemen under the age of 40. a Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 3, 2019

The latest announcement came in addition to the Congress's manifesto which was released on Tuesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.A Senior party leader P Chidambaram asserted that "wealth and welfare" is the manifesto's central theme.



The Congress made a slew of promises, including giving Rs 72,000 each to five crore poor families under the 'Nyay' scheme, filling up 22 lakh government vacancies, bringing a separate budget for farmers and fixing a single moderate GST rate.

A The 55-page document titled 'Hum Nibhayenge' (We will deliver) focused on addressing the issues of joblessness, farm distress, safety of women and boosting the rural economy, with stress on building a narrative on "real issues" faced by people.New Delhi :

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP's ideological mentor RSS for trying to attack the "history and culture" of Assam and promised that his party won't allow the Citizenship Amendment Bill if voted to power. Addressing an election rally in Assam's Golaghat, the Congress president also promised to restore the special category status of northeastern states and bring industrial policy for the region.

"Congress will not allow the Citizenship Amendment Bill if voted to power. We will restore the special status of northeastern states and bring an in industrial policy to make the region a manufacturing hub," Rahul Gandhi told a gathering in Golaghat.

Terming the 2019 Lok Sabha election a battle of ideologies, the Congress chief accused the ruling BJP and its ideological mentor RSS of attacking the history and culture of Assam. "This is a fight of ideologies. The RSS and BJP break the country but the Congress unites the nation. RSS and Nagpur (where RSS headquarters are located) are attacking Assam, its history, thinking and culture," Gandhi said.

Speaking about his ambitious NYAY scheme, Gandhi said that the Congress party worked for six months and spoke to world's top economists for the planning of the scheme that promises minimum income guarantee to the poor families.

"I asked Congress think tank to tell me how much money can the Congress govt put in peoples accounts? We worked for six months, spoke to worlds top economists, and planned. We came to the conclusion that Rs 72, 000 every year will be deposited directly to everyones account," he said.

Informing about the sources of funds for the scheme, the Congress leader said that they will come from the pockets of 'chor' businessmen who were "favoured" by 'chowkidar' Narendra Modi. "Funds for NYAY scheme will come from pockets of chor businessmen favoured by chowkidar Narendra Modi," he added.New Delhi:

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought a report from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on the sudden launch of NaMo TV. The channel was launched after the Model Code of Conduct came into effect.

Some people are claiming that it is owned by the ruling BJP. However, its ownership is still unclear.A

Based on complaint filed by Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, Election Commission of India has sought a response from I&B ministry on 24-hour channel 'NAMO TV'. pic.twitter.com/16Jj4AtKIZ a ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2019

Earlier on Monday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wrote to the poll panel complaining against the 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.

"Can permission be granted to a party to have its own TV channel even after the Model Code of Conduct is enforced? If no permission was given by the ECI, then what action has been taken," the AAP said in its letter to the Election Commission.

The party also asked if the ruling party had approached the Media Certification Committee, established to certify the contents and cost of a telecast. "If not, why show-cause was not issued for the violation of the MCC," asked the letter sent by the AAP's legal cell.

The party also asked if the ruling party had approached the Media Certification Committee, established to certify the contents and cost of a telecast. "If not, why show-cause was not issued for the violation of the MCC," asked the letter sent by the AAP's legal cell.#

The Congress in Madhya Pradesh has also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission demanding suspension of NaMo TV channel telecast.

State Congress spokesman Neelabh Shukla said 'NaMo' television channel would be telecasting speeches of the PM, his rallies, besides the statements and programmes favouring the BJP.

"NaMo is the abbreviation for Narendra Modi. With general elections round the corner, the BJP has started this channel which amounts to violation of the model code of conduct. We demand that the election commission immediately stops broadcasting on the channel," Shukla told reporters.New Delhi:

Senior Congress leader and party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala has demanded an FIR against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Arunachal Pradesh cash controversy. In an exclusive chat with News Nation, Surjewala said that the police should file an FIR against the PM and the Lokpal must take cognizance over the issue. Even as PM Modi addressed an election rally in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh today, a sensational Cash for Vote Scandal is exposed where authorities found Rs. 1.8 crore from the convoy of BJP CM Pema Khandu and BJP Arunachal Pradesh President Tapir Gao, Surjewala said in a press conference in Delhi earlier in morning.

However, Khandu outrightly rejected the allegations and said, it's absolutely wrong. Cash for Vote is rather practiced by Congress party. Investigation under Election Commission will reveal all the details. We have got the info that it has been recovered from a BJP candidate's car.

In a detailed statement over the issue Congress taled about some local media reports also. A midnight raid on the convoy of BJPs Arunachal Pradesh, CM Shri PemaKhandu, Deputy CM, Shri Chowna Mein and BJP Arunachal President, Shri Tapir Gao has found Rs 1.8 Crore in stacks of hard cash that exposes the brazen corruption and poll violation, as PM Modi holds a rally in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh at 10:00 AM today. Sensational Videos on Social Media have emerged where cash is being counted by police officers in the presence of Election Commissions Expenditure Officer Smt Samrita Kaur Gill (IRS. The cash was being reportedly transported in certain vehicles parked at the Siang Guest House, Pasighat.

The Grand Old Party raised some blistering questions over the issue. Was this cash reportedly transferred for PM Modis morning rally in Pasighat today? Is it not a clear cut case of Chowkidar becoming Chor, asked the party. What is the BJP trying to hush up? Did PM Modi know about these stacks of cash being transferred, asked another question in the statement. Arunachal Pradesh goes to poll on April 11 in the first phase of the Lok Sabha Elections. In 2014, Arunachal East was won by the Congress, whereas Arunachal West seat was won by the BJP.New Delhi:

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 21 released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. The list featured candidates for Jammu and Kashmirs five Parliamentary constituencies including that of Srinagar. BJPs Khalid Jehangir will be contesting against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and PDPs Agha Mohsin. An ex-journalist, Khalid joined the BJP in 2014 in a rally where PM Narendra Modi himself welcomed him." "I don't know whether the friends in media pay attention towards this news today my friend Khalid Jehangir has joined the BJP, he has craved niche in International journalism and I am proud of him and welcome him in BJP," PM Modi had said at that time. "An alumnus of prestigious Burn Hall school, Khalid worked with ARD News of Germany as a correspondent. For four years, Khalid also represented India at the Human Rights Commission at the United Nations.



Speaking with News Nation, Khalid said that he is hopeful of winning polls. I want to be a goodwill ambassador of Kashmir in New Delhi and erase the evil picture of India being painted in the state. My sole aim is to bring Kashmiri youth closer to Delhi and end this unnecessary alienation, he said. In 2014 Assembly Elections, BJP had won 25 out of 37 seats in Jammu making it the second largest party in the state after PDP.



My politics is based on truth and not deceit like that of NC and PDP who enjoy everything from the Centre and are not even as loyal as Hurriyat is to Pakistan. These Gupkar-based parties praise Pakistan here and turn patriotic in New Delhi. The mainstream parties are habitual of making hollow promises but they cant fool people for a long. This upcoming election is going to be a referendum, Khalid said.





Speaking about the Jammu and Kashmirs special status, Khalid said that people are being misinformed on the issue. This is just a blackmailing tactic played by the mainstream parties to lure voters. This needs to be discussed whether this article has benefited the state or just a few families only. Everyone knows this Article 370 was tampered upon by Congress. History is a proof how Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah surrender before Indira Gandhi. Article 370 became one of the rallying agendas for the BJP and continues to be a political point for the party even today.



New Delhi can only assure us peace, we need to bridge this with them. Like it used to be, BJP is no more being seen as an alien party in Kashmir. We have fully gained in Jammu and trying our best at the grassroots to establish our party in Valley. We are here to provide basic facilities to people and not to promise sky, he said.



Revisiting former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 'Insaniyat (Humanity), Jamhooriyat (Democracy) and Kashmiriyat (Identity of the people of Kashmir), Khalid said that the former Prime Minister continues to rule hearts of Kashmiris and PM Modi is no different. He is best connected to the youth even Opposition agrees to this. PM Modi gave youth a platform to speak against dynasts which is not going well with some, he said.



Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 and polling would be held over seven phases through May 19, followed by counting of all votes on May 23. The assembly elections in four states  Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh  will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will not be held along with the general elections. Since the Jammu and Kashmir has been dissolved, the EC is bound to hold fresh polls there as well within a six-month period, which will end in May. The Centre and the state administration, being managed by the Centre-appointed Governor, are against holding the two elections together.New Delhi:

NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar has reportedly issued a clarification to the Election Commission over his remarks against Congressa ambitious NYAY scheme for Indiaas poorest. According to news agency ANI, Kumar has said that he made the comments against the minimum income scheme as an aeconomista and not as a bureaucrat in the current administration. Kumar had drawn flak over his tweet against Congressa minimum income promise. The Election Commission has reportedly slapped a notice and demanded an explanation from Kumar over his social media posts. On March 25, the day Congress chief Rahul Gandhi announced the scheme, Kumar took to Twitter and slammed the Grand Old Party of India for making false promises to win elections. aTrue to its past record of promising the moon to win elections, Congress President announces a scheme that will burst fiscal discipline, create strong incentives against work and which will never be implemented,a Kumar said in a series of tweets. Kumar has not deleted the tweet.

A

True to its past record of promising the moon to win elections, Congress President announces a scheme that will burst fiscal discipline, create strong incentives against work and which will never be implemented. (1/2)#MinimumIncomeGuarantee @PMOIndia @FinMinIndia a Rajiv Kumar YY (@RajivKumar1) March 25, 2019

Complete with the Tricolour and a blue tick, Kumaras Twitter bio reads, aVice Chairman @NITIAayog | Founder @PahleIndia | Senior Fellow @CPR_India | Economist, Author, Columnist who loves travel, sufi music and sahaja yoga meditationa. And this is what has drawn the Election Commissionas ire that how can a current member of an official agency talk like a politician.

According to PTI, sources in the poll panel said, since Kumar is part of "bureaucratic executive", such remarks may be violative of the model code. "It is not a case of one politician attacking the other or one party attacking the other," said a functionary.

He had also tweeted, saying "The proposed income guarantee scheme fails the economics test, fiscal discipline test and execution test".

In another tweet, Kumar had claimed that, "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 made similar remarks in an interview also.

At a press conference in New Delhi recently, Rahul Gandhi had 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.A

A aCongress party promises that India's 20%,most poor families will get yearly 72,000 rupees in their bank accounts under minimum basic income guarantee scheme. 5 crore families and 25 crore people will directly benefit from this scheme. All calculations have been done. There is no such scheme anywhere else in the world,a Gandhi said during a party press conference in Delhi.This was sort of a formal announcement of partyas mega poll promise. Earlier, in a rally in Dehradun, Gandhi had spoken extensively about his plan to provide dignity to the poor of the country. The announcement comes at a time when Narendra Modi government launched ambitious aPM-KISAN schemea during its last Budget. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) was announced in the interim Budget 2019-20 on February 1, 2019. Under the Scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given per year to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding/ownership of up to 2 hectares. The amount will be given in three installments of Rs 2000 each.Mumbai:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the last five years of the BJP-led government were spent in "rectifying mistakes" of the UPA regime.

Addressing a poll rally here, PM Modi also said he never claimed to have completed all the works (promised in 2014) in five years, but added several important ones have been completed.

"I have come here to thank you for your trust and blessings in the last five years and to seek them for the next five years," PM Modi said.

Recalling the action against terror camps in Pakistan, PM Modi said, "People have not forgotten the Balakot air strike, despite many saying that they have as months have passed after the action".

PM Modi termed the Congress poll manifesto a "hypocrisy document" which was "full of lies".

Attacking Congress over its sedition law or Section 124A removal promise, PM Modi said, "Is Congress with country or traitors?"

"Will you give a chance to those who seek to scrap sedition law," PM Modi asked the crowd at the rally.

This was Modi's second poll rally in the state ahead of this month's Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra. The first one was at Wardha on April 1.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi, while addressing a rally in West Bengals Kolkata, tore into the Congress saying its "dhakosla" (hypocritic) manifesto will expire on May 23 (the date of the Lok Sabha election results) and accused the opposition party of speaking the language of Pakistan as it sought to dilute AFSPA in terror-affected areas.

The opposition party had a history of going soft on terror, PM Modi said and cited the repealing of anti-terror laws such as TADA and POTA by Congress governments in the past.

PM Modi also hit out at opposition leaders for using "anti-India" language and said it was due to the fear over their unsteady political ground.

He slammed both the Congress and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal for asking for proof of the Balakot airstrike.New Delhi:

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling her a speed breaker in the path of West Bengals development, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday described the former as Expiry Babu and dared him to participate in a direct debate with her.

Refuting PM Modis claim of the TMC government stonewalling development in West Bengal, Banerejee said that she did not tell lies as she was not PM Modi.

Income of farmers increased three times in Bengal, while 12,000 farmers committed suicide during Modi rule, said Banerjee while addressing a rally in Dinhata.

She further hit back at the prime minister for taking potshots at her as well other opposition leaders for expressing doubts over Balakot airstrike, saying: we are nationalists, not fascists.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi accused the Congress and the TMC of being sympathisers of Pakistan who wanted to "break the morale" of India's security forces and make them "helpless" in the fight against terror.

Kicking off his campaign for the Lok Sabha election in West Bengal with rallies in Siliguri and Kolkata, PM Modi also trained his guns on Banerjee, calling her the "speedbreaker" in the path of the state's development who wanted poverty to stay so her "politics of poverty" can flourish.

At both the rallies, Modi slammed opposition parties for seeking proof of the damage done by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan's Balakot where terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's training camps were targeted to avenge the killing of 40 CRPF troopers in Kashmir's Pulwama.

"While your chest swelled with pride and you held your head high, some people began crying and shouting here," he said.

"When the wound has been inflicted there (in Pakistan), why do you (the opposition) feel the pain. The 'didi' sitting in Kolkata felt the pain more than it was felt in Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi," Modi said, taking a swipe at Banerjee, who had demanded proof of the extent of damage inflicted during the IAF raids in Balakot.New Delhi:

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday slammed Congress for its election manifesto promising to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act a AFSPA. aIs this right? It is an effort to weaken the armed forces. They are trying to dilute the immunity of our security forces,a she said while addressing a press briefing in the national capital.

The Defence Minister said the Congress also proposes to 'dilute' the powers of the district magistrates and maintained in such an eventuality, it will be difficult for administration and the law enforcement agencies to control the situation anywhere.

'I feel..... this will be several times terrorist-friendly and people can claim every such arrest is accompanied by sexual harassment or torture,' Sitharaman said, adding a complainant will always mention all these as the new law proposed by Congress will give them relief.

#ElectionsWithNewsNation | It is an effort to weaken the armed forces. Congress is trying to dilute the immunity of our security forces, says @nsitharaman on Congress's manifesto promise to amend AFSPA.



More updates: https://t.co/MDYu9OvWDO pic.twitter.com/J040rzOxn0 a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) April 3, 2019

"If AFSPA has to be removed, there is a process. It is done in coordination between the states and the Centre,' she said, adding such norms were adopted in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura after due consultations with the states.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Congress released it's manifesto for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, stressing that dialogue was the only way to understand the aspirations of the people of the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir to find an honourable solution to their issues.

It also promised to review the AFSPA and sedition law among others.

In its 54-page manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Congress promised to review the deployment of armed forces, move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely, reduce the presence of the Army and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the Valley and entrust more responsibility with the Jammu and Kashmir police for maintaining law and order.

"The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and the Disturbed Areas Act in Jammu and Kashmir will be reviewed," the BJP had said, adding that suitable changes would be made in the text of the laws to balance the requirements of security and protection of human rights.

In a statement, BJP chief Amit Shah had hit out at the opposition party over its promise to repeal section 124A (sedition law) and review the AFSPA, saying it was bringing a smile to terrorists and separatists while lowering the morale of the armed forces.New Delhi:

Ahead of the much-anticipated release of the Narendra Modi biopic, lead actor of the film Vivek Oberoi has slammed those raising issue against the political drama. I don't understand why some people are overreacting like this. Why are such senior and famous lawyers like Abhishek Singhvi ji and Kapil Sibal ji wasting time on filing a PIL on such a modest film? Don't know if they are scared of the film or of Chowkidar's 'danda', Oberoi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

On the portrayal of the Prime Minister on the silver screen, Oberoi said that, We are not projecting Modi ji as larger than life, he already is larger than life. We are not projecting him as a hero, he already is a hero ,not only for me but for crores of people in India and abroad. Its an inspirational story which we brought to the screen.

Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi director Omung Kumar had earlier said that he expected the biopic to be subjected to opposition, but the negativity around the film does not disturb him. Several political parties have asked to delay the release of the film as it violates model code of conduct. "I have blinkers. I don't look at what is happening or what people are saying. It is for producers to look into it. I don't let it bother me. When we took it on we knew it is a big film and people were going to talk about it, irrespective of whether we release the film during elections or not.

"We knew people will oppose it in some way. So I am not shaken or disturbed. I am not bothered about the trolls, there are people who are liking it and some are not," Omung told PTI in an interview.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court had refused to interfere with the release of the Vivek Oberoi-starrer biographical drama on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar noted that the Election Commission (EC) has already issued a notice to the makers of the film 'PM Narendra Modi' over allegations of breach of the model code of conduct in view of the Lok Sabha elections.

"The Election Commission has already taken note of the issue and shall deal with it," the court said. The bench disposed of a Public Interest Litigation filed by Satish Gaikwad, national president of the Republican Party of India (I), who said the film, if permitted to be released for public viewing, would violate the model code of conduct imposed by the EC.

The plea questioned the timing of the film's release and said if released, it was likely to earn the prime minister electoral mileage.

The petitioner urged the court to pass orders ensuring that it is not released this Friday, April 5, as scheduled. The EC, however, told the court that it had already sought replies from the filmmakers.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the court, through its counsel Advait Sethna, that it had already granted requisite certificates for the film's trailer on March 20.

He submitted that the film is scheduled to be examined for certification this Wednesday and would be cleared for release, if it meets all the requisite criteria.

Advocate Birendra Saraf, who appeared for the film's producers, argued that biopics on several politicians have been released for public viewing from time to time, and there would be no breach of the code of conduct if the movie was released.

The biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, featuring Vivek Oberoi, is set to release on April 5, ahead of Lok Sabha polls.New Delhi:

Taking a sharp dig at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday dubbed its manifesto as a hypocrisy document which was full of lies. The prime minister was addressing a rally in Arunachal Pradeshs Pasighat. Talking about the Rahul Gandhi-led partys manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha Election that had promised that every house would have electricity by 2009, but till 2014 around 18,000 houses were unelectrified. Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called hypocrisy document, not a manifesto, Modi said.

The prime minister also charged that the Congress was fooling farmer in the name of votes, whereas the BJP government has always been with them.

We never committed the sin of betraying farmers but we introduced the mechanism from seed to market, the PM said. PM Modi said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be about the choice between trust and corruption, and about resolution and conspiracy.

The Congress party on Tuesday released its much-awaited manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Terming the manifesto a marriage of "wealth and welfare", the Congress party said that it will "address the concerns of the farmers, youth, women, industries, minorities, healthcare, foreign policy, national security among others." In the manifesto, which was prepared after taking inputs from over 62 lakh people, the Congress party announced a separate budget for farmers. "The manifesto is a massive step for Congress. When we started this process a year back, I told them that this manifesto should reflect the wishes of the people and whatever is present in the document should be truthful, Rahul Gandhi said during the launch event.Kolkata:

After launching a no-holds barred attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address another high-voltage public meeting at the Brigade Ground in Kolkata.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi said that Banerjee is a "speed breaker" in the path of West Bengal's development and insisted that she has to go to make way for the betterment of the state.

Claiming that Banerjee has put a spanner in several central schemes for the uplift of the poor, PM Modi said that speed breaker Didi has not allowed people of Bengal to benefit from Ayushman Bharat scheme.

16:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The situation in communist-ruled Tripura was the same as West Bengal. But it was possible to make BJP govt in it and now it's on path of development, says PM Modi.

16:46 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In If providing home and toilets to poor is a crime, then I have committed this crime, says PM Modi in Kolkata.

16:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress has always bowed down against terrorism due to its policy of appeasement for vote bank, says PM Modi.

16:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress wants to weaken the forces, they want to compromise the national security, says PM Modi.

16:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In their manifesto, the Congress has stated that they will dilute AFSPA. This move will help Pakistan sponsored terrorist. The Congress is determined to bring instability in the country, says PM Modi.

16:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In their manifesto, the Congress has stated that they will dilute AFSPA. This move will help Pakistan sponsored terrorist. The Congress is determined to bring instability in the country, says PM Modi.

16:37 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Our forces had the courage to carry out air and surgical strikes. The only thing the country lacked was a resolute govt, says PM Modi.

16:35 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In You tell me who was raising questions on the airstrikes. Who was seeking evidence on airstrike? Who was trying to suppress the morale of the Army? Who was insulting the brave soldiers?: PM Modi

16:32 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I haven't seen a wave of masses like this before in Bengal. I bow to your this love and affection, says PM Modi.

16:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In If the countrys political pundits want to predict about May 23, then they can get an idea from the wave of masses here, says PM Modi.Kozhikode:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, will file his nomination around 11.30 am on Thursday.

Rahuls sister and AICC in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi would accompany him to Wayanad, according to Mukul Wasnik, senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala.

The Congress president arrived at Kozhikode on Wednesday night to a tumultuous welcome by hundreds of party workers. Priyanka, who came separately, reached there shortly before her brother arrived.

A large number of young party workers holding Congress and ally Indian Union Muslim League flags were seen lustily cheering as Rahul Gandhi came out of the airport. He waved at them.

The Congress chief was received by Chennithala, Oommen Chandy, Mullappally Ramachandran, IUML leaders P K Kunhalikutty and E T Muhammed basheer and others.

Later he and Priyanka left for the guest house through a secure route from airport.

"Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka have already left for the guest house. Rahul might meet the senior leaders tonight. UDF workers are excited over his candidature," Chennithala said.

Chandy said Rahul's candidature in Wayanad will lead the UDF to a complete victory in the April 23 polls.

Rahul, who earlier in the day addressed a series of election meetings in Assam and Nagaland, reached Karipur Airport here around 9.30 PM.

After overnight stay at the guest house here, the two leaders will leave for Wayanad Thursday morning.

"The Congress chief will embark on a massive road show at around 9.30 AM before filing the nomination papers," Chennithala said.

Wasnik claimed the announcement of Gandhi's candidature in Wayanad has enthused the people of the constituency and made a major difference in other states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

"It will get reflected in the voting," he said.

Earlier, sources said the Congress chief would board a helicopter to Wayanad, about 90 km from here, to file his nomination.

Tight security is in place in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts in view of the high-profile visits.

The Congress announced on Sunday that Rahul would contest from Wayanad constituency, besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Rahul has claimed that the people in South India "feel hostility" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he decided to contest from Wayanad to send out the message that he stands with them.New Delhi:

Disgruntled AAP MLA Alka Lamba on Wednesday asked the people outside Jama Masjid in New Delhi whether she should resign from the Aam Aadmi Party as her "party people" were "repeatedly demanding" her resignation.A Her visit to Jama Masjid followed a bitter Twitter spat with party lawmaker Saurabh Bharadwaj, who had taunted her to resign from the party.A

Addressing a large crowd that gathered around her, Chandni Chowk MLA said the AAP was repeatedly demanding her resignation and sought to know from the people.A "I am fighting against the BJP but some people are fighting with me. My party people are repeatedly asking me to resign. I want to know what is my fault. Why should I resign? I want the people of my constituency Chandni Chowk to decide whether I should resign from AAP or not," Lamba said.

She also said the only way to defeat the BJP is that the AAP and the Congress join hands. Lamba said this was the second time her party had asked her to resign after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought her resignation in December last year.A

03-04-2019 MLA alka lamba ji Chandni Chowk VidhanSabha jama masjid mai apni peyari janta kai sath .jai hind.. pic.twitter.com/UwJLTajY2t a Danish Ansari... (@Danishshabnama1) April 3, 2019

She said she was asked to resign as she had opposed the AAP's move to pass a resolution demanding the revocation of the Bharat Ratna honours, conferred to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"On one hand, Kejriwal said he wants coalition with the Congress to defeat the BJP but on the other hand, he makes such statements. What does he want?" she said.

Soon after the public outing, Lamba tweeted that if the AAP and the Congress come together the figures in Delhi would be AAP-2 seats, Congress-2 seats, BJP-3 seats but if there is no alliance, then it will be the AAP-0, the Congress-0 and the BJP-7. Earlier, Lamba and Bhardwaj got into a verbal spat on Tuesday after the Congress released its manifesto.A

It all began when Lamba questioned the possibility of an alliance between the AAP and the Congress after the latter released its manifesto without any mention of giving full statehood to Delhi.ANew Delhi:

The hearing of Salman Khan's appeal against Rajasthan High Court's verdict in the blackbuck poaching case has been adjourned for the day and the Jodhpur Court has set a new hearing date for a fresh hearing on July 4. In February this year, the 'Dabangg' actor filed a plea challenging the verdict of the court and the hearing of the case has been scheduled today on April 3. In his appeal, the actor had challenged the Rajasthan High Court's verdict against his 5-year jail sentence for killing blackbucks and had appealed to the sessions court.

Salman Khan was sentenced to 5-years imprisonment in the 1998 Blackbuck poaching case for killing the endangered species Blackbuck in Kankani near Jodhpur in the year 1998. when he was shooting for the film Hum Saath Saath Hai with co-stars Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam.

Last year, while his co-stars and a local named Dushyant Singh was acquitted of all charges by the court, Salman Khan, however, was charged under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and others under Section 51 read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code and was sentenced to 5 years in jail and a fine of Rs 10, 000.

Last year when the punishment was announced, Salman Khan's lawyer Anand Desai said in a statement, "ln the present case the Hon'ble Court has acquitted all the 5 co-accused which would imply that Salman was out hunting alone in the middle of the night in a remote area outside Jodhpur. We have preferred an appeal to the Hon'ble Sessions Court and applied for an urgent hearing today ."

The superstar was later granted bail in a couple of days on a bond of Rs.50,000 and two sureties of like amount. The Jodhpur District and Sessions Court in May granted permission to Salman Khan to travel outside India.

On the work front, he will be next seen in Bharat that releases on June 5 and also stars Katrina Kaif, Disha Patani, Tabu and Sunil Grover in key roles.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

There will be a no civilian traffic movement on most part of the 300-km long National Highway on Sunday and Wednesday from 4 am to 5 pm every week till May 31, 2019, in view of the possibility of terror attack on security forces' convoys during the Lok Sabha elections. The prohibition on movement of civilian traffic on these two days of each week would be from Baramulla through Srinagar, Qazigund, Jawahar-Tunnel, Banihal and Ramban till Udhampur, an official government statement said.

The statement added that in the event of any requirement for local traffic movement for any emergency or for other purpose, the local administration and police would evolve necessary procedures for this as is done during curfew days.

On February 14, a CRPF convoy, on its way from Jammu and Srinagar, was attacked by a suicide car bomber on the National Highway in Pulwama district, killing 40 personnel. The Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed the responsibility.

After the attack, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, during his visit to Kashmir, had announced that no civilian traffic movement would be allowed during the convoy days.

On March 30, there was a possible 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack on another security force convoy at Banihal when an attempt was made to trigger an explosive-laden vehicle.

"Keeping in view the large movement of security forces on the national highway during the Parliamentary elections and associated possibility of any 'fidayeen' (suicide) terror attack on security forces' convoys, the state government has notified specified days in a week for the movement of security forces from Srinagar to Jammu," the state government statement said.

To mitigate the inconvenience to the civilians by this move, the government has notified two dedicated days in a week i.e, (Sunday & Wednesday) exclusively for movement of security forces Convoys and there would be a complete ban on civilian traffic on the National Highway during these two days from 4 AM to 5 PM.

This prohibition would be from Baramulla through Srinagar, Qazigund, Jawahar-Tunnel, Banihal and Ramban till Udhampur, it said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

PDP worker Abdul Majeed was shot at by suspected terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam on Wednesday. He has been shifted to a hospital.

In a similar incident, a 40-year-old PDP worker was gunned down by terrorists in Srinagar in October last year. Mohammed Amin Dar, a resident of Gangbugh, was an associate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former minister Syed Altaf Bukhari.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi :

The Defence spokesperson on Wednesday rejected reports claiming air space violation by Pakistan along the line of control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri sector. "Today, there was no air space violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Rajouri & Poonch," Defence spokesperson, Jammu was quoted by news agency ANI.

Earlier in the day, there were reports that Indian Air Force jets scrambled again to push back Pakistani fighter planes over airspace in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch. A report by Republic TV had claimed that Pakistan tried to violate Indian air space but failed after India scrambled its fighter jets. This was claimed to be the second such incident in 72 hours.

Earlier on Sunday, India had reportedly scrambled its fighter planes after four Pakistani jets were detected flying aggressively close to the international border in Punjab.

As soon as radars captured the Pakistani F-16 jets flying near the border, Indian Air Force scrambled Sukhoi-30 and Mirage-2000 fighter jets. The Pakistani jets were reportedly flying with a surveillance drone to detect Indian troops deployment.

After the February 26 air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Pakistan's Balakot, the armies of India and Pakistan - two nuclear-armed neighbours - came on the brink of war. The strike, which was carried out by Indian Air Force's Mirage-2000 jets, was part of India's anti-terror operation after the February 14 Pulwama attack in which over 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

In response to India's action, Pakistan also scrambled its fighter jets and targeted Indian military installations in Kashmir. However, the attempt was foiled by IAF which shot down one of their F-16 jets.

In the fierce battle between the IAF and PAF, one of the Indian jets was also drowned and the pilot, who ejected after the plane took a hit, was captured by Pakistan. Two days later, Pakistan released the pilot - Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The release cooled down the tensions between the countries but Indian armed forces were asked to remain on alert.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

After NASA branded Indias Mission Shakti as a "terrible thing" that had created 400 pieces of orbital debris and led to new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station, the US State Department on Wednesday said that the US has a strong strategic partnership with India and it will continue to pursue shared interests in space.

Robert Palladino, US State Department spokesperson said, As weve said previously, we have a strong strategic partnership with India, and we will continue to pursue shared interests in space, in scientific and technical cooperation, that includes collaboration on safety and security in space. On NASAs comment on Mission Shakti, Palladino said, Now, the issue of space debris, that's an important concern for United States, and I would say that we took note of Indian governments statements that the test was designed to address space debris issues.

NASAs comments came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week announced that India successfully test-fired an anti-satellite missile by shooting down a live satellite, describing it as a rare achievement that puts the country in an exclusive club of space superpowers. The test made India the fourth country in the world after the US, Russia and China to acquire the strategic capability to shoot down enemy satellites.

Not all of the pieces were big enough to track, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine explained. "What we are tracking right now, objects big enough to track -- we're talking about 10 centimeters (six inches) or bigger -- about 60 pieces have been tracked."

The Indian satellite was destroyed at a relatively low altitude of 180 miles (300 kilometers), well below the ISS and most satellites in orbit.

But 24 of the pieces "are going above the apogee of the International Space Station," said Bridenstine.

"That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris at an apogee that goes above the International Space Station," he continued, adding: "That kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight." "It's unacceptable and NASA needs to be very clear about what its impact to us is."

The US had said it has taken note of Indias anti-satellite missile test but expressed concern over the issue of space debris.

Mission Shakti was led by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, was aimed at strengthening Indias overall security. 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 on Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Security had met at the Prime Ministers residence.



For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Washington:

More bad news for US aviation giant Boeing: the US Air Force said Tuesday it had halted for a second time the acceptance of new KC-46 tankers due to ongoing quality issues. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson revealed the March 23 decision -- another setback in the already delayed air tanker program -- during a budget hearing in Congress.

"The Air Force again halted acceptance of new KC-46 tanker aircraft as we continue to work with Boeing to ensure that every aircraft delivered meets the highest quality and safety standards," Wilson told the panel. She said that Air Force inspectors had discovered "foreign object debris" in the new planes that should not have been there as well as other areas "where Boeing did not meet quality standards." The problems were "unrelated to design or engineering specifications," she noted.

But it was the second time this year Boeing faced the same criticism. The Air Force took its first KC-46 in January, more than one year late.

Currently they have seven KC-46 aircraft in service. The Air Force plans to buy 179 KC-46s over the course of the program. Based on the airframe of the Boeing 767, the aerial refueller is to replace the Air Force's aging line of KC-10 and KC-135 tankers, many of which were manufactured during the Cold War.

The Air Force chose Boeing to build the tanker over Airbus in 2011 after a furious battle between the two companies over the massive contract.

Boeing is already facing trouble over its 737 MAX aircraft used by several civil airlines across the world following two deadly accidents involving Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air.

Recently, a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by Southwest Airlines made an emergency landing 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.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

UK opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Tuesday he would be "very happy" to sit down with Prime Minister Theresa May and discuss a joint Brexit policy that could resolve the current impasse. This came after May decided to seek an extension from the European Union to give her time to forge a new approach and get her current deal with Brussels approved by parliament.



Earlier, Theresa May had said she will resign as Prime Minister once Brexit is delivered, according to a Conservative Party lawmaker in a meeting with her. She will not be in charge for the next phase, she told Conservative MPs. She did not give a date for her departure.



James Cartlidge, one of the MPs present at the private meeting at Westminster in London, told reporters, "She (May) said she would not remain in post for the next phase of the negotiations, the implication being that once the Withdrawal Agreement has passed, she would make way for someone else."

The latest development comes as MPs seize control of the Commons agenda to hold votes on alternatives to the deal.

In a major blow to May, MPs had voted through the debate earlier this week to seize control of the business of the House away from the government and set a new precedent in order to weigh up alternatives to the British Prime Minister's twice-defeated EU divorce bill through a set of "indicative" non-binding votes.

She faced further humiliation on Wednesday as the MPs' motion passed with 331 to 287 votes -- a majority of 44 -- setting the stage for votes on a series of Brexit alternatives later in the day.

May has already declined to commit herself to backing any option thrown up as a result of such a vote as it could prove undeliverable.

I must confess that I am sceptical about such a process of indicative votes. When we have tried this kind of thing in the past, it has produced contradictory outcomes or no outcome at all...No government could give a blank cheque to commit to an outcome without knowing what it is," she told MPs.

However, she is under mounting pressure from all sides of the House, with her own party demanding her resignation as a price for backing her withdrawal deal and the Opposition Labour Party accusing her of failure by running down the Brexit clock to leave MPs with very little time to debate options.

In the current scenario, the Commons entered into uncharted territory on Wednesday when it first debated a business motion put forward by former Conservative Party minister Oliver Letwin, who is being dubbed "Prime Minister for the day" as he is in charge of setting the course for the debate.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), the operator and managing body of Bahrain International Airport (BIA), yesterday welcomed the arrival of the inaugural Air India Express flight from Kannur, India to Bahrain, following the commencement of a new service.

As the first direct flight from Kannur to Bahrain, it opens up many new opportunities for tourism and trade between the two countries, sources said.

A BAC delegation led by Chief Commercial Officer, Ayman Zainal received the inaugural flight alongside Indian Ambassador to Bahrain, Alok Kumar Sinha, Air India Express Country Manager, Saket Saran, and other officials.

The airline, a subsidiary of Air India, will operate a service between Kannur International Airport and BIA twice a week. The route from BIA includes one stopover in Kuwait.

Mr. Zainal said: We hope that the introduction of this new route will further strengthen bilateral relations and serve the needs of the large expat community in the Kingdom.WASHINGTON  Rep. Jahana Hayes has not yet cleared her first 100 days in office, but shes already the target of a political attack ad.

A new group called Freedom Project USA released a YouTube video Tuesday attacking Hayes, D-5th District, for her support of the Green New Deal, an aspirational Democratic proposal that aims to combat climate change and work toward social justice.

The 30-second spot flashes a picture of Hayes - and of the Green New Deals House sponsor, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - with a voiceover that says the Green New Deal could cost $93 trillion.

The ad compares the Green New Deal to the FYRE festival, a music festival in the Bahamas whose organizers were totally unprepared for the customers they lured to the island.

Dont be fooled again. The Green New Deal is just another scam, the ad says. Defeat Socialism. Defend Freedom.

Hayes said, I am not at all concerned.

It is no surprise that an organization which seeks to privatize education would see me as an adversary, she said. My uncompromising advocacy of public education and my belief that all schools in all communities have value could be viewed as a threat to an organization such as this. I am confident that my work in Congress will ensure my constituents in CT-05 that I am not a fraud.'

Matt Wylie, president of Freedom Project USA, is a Connecticut political consultant who worked on the former Republican Rep. Chris Shays failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Wylie also worked on the 2016 U.S. Senate campaign of Republican August Wolf, who like Shays was defeated at the states Republican convention.

Wylie said his organization was formed to promote the free market and constitutional principles.

He said his group will create additional attacks ads aimed at other Democrats, mostly in New England.

Jahana Hayes was just a good first target because she did not campaign as a socialist, Wylie said. When someone is engaged in such an obvious scam, its never too early to talk about it.

Freedom Project USA is classified as a a 501(c)4 education organization by the Internal Revenue Service and does not have to identify its donors. Wylie declined to identify them, too, saying the group is funded by several private donors who live both in Connecticut and outside the state.

Like Wylies group, Republicans in Washington D.C. have used the Green New Deal, which they call an economy busting socialist manifesto, to try to bludgeon Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell held a vote on the Green New Deal in the Senate last week to put Democrats  especially the many in the Senate who are running for president  on the record regarding the controversial plan.

The vote failed after all Republicans voted no and most Democrats voted present, including Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy.TORRINGTON  City resident Charles Giampaolo survived the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas during which his father-in-law was killed and two other relatives were shot and this week he sued his former employer, Elevator Service Co, alleging he was mocked, discriminated against and effectively fired because of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Giampaolos father-in-law, Kurt Van Tillow, was killed in the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Giampaolo said he began experiencing panic attacks, claustrophobia, sleeplessness and anxiety after the shooting, according to the complaint, then was diagnosed with PTSD.

He told his boss, company owner Steve Roth, and Roths wife, Linda Roth, about his diagnosis in the months after the shooting, following a work party that had triggered his symptoms.

After he shared his diagnosis with leadership, ESCO began a campaign to force him out of the company. For the first time in Mr. Giampaolos nearly three-year tenure, Mr. and Ms. Roth accused Mr. Giampaolo of being different and having a bad attitude, attorneys Nina Pirrotti and Amanda DeMatteis said in the complaint.

Steve Roth declined to comment on the suit Wednesday.

Steve and Linda Roth allegedly cut his commission because of the alleged change in his attitude, demoted him and told him to suck it up, according to the complaint. Employees allegedly mocked him for leaving work when he went to therapy.

Giampaolo contends he did not miss a beat at work after returning, but began to struggle emotionally and physically as the criticism mounted.

On April 11, 2018, Giampaolo met with Steve and Linda Roth, according to the complaint. The day before, Steve Roth had told him to leave the building after he used a curse word in complaining about his diminished commission.

During that meeting, Mr. Roth berated Giampaolo for his terrible attitude and lack of focus. Mr. Giampaolo again expressed that his work environment drastically changed for the worse since he returned from the mass shooting, Pirrotti and DeMatteis said in the complaint.

Linda Roth likened Giampaolos situation to her battle with breast cancer  she had gotten over it and come back to work; he should do the same  then stormed out, according to the complaint, alleging he had a personality disorder.

Stephen Roth demoted Giampaolo at that meeting, according to the complaint, then said that if he did not perform in the new role, he would not see a dime of his previously-earned commission.

Giampaolo walked out the door within 30 minutes , according to the complaint. His PTSD symptoms worsened in the days afterward.

Giampaolo claims that Elevator Service Co. discriminated against him because of his disability, created a hostile work environment and retaliated against him, all in violation of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act.

Mr. Giampaolos constructive discharge was the product of a concerted campaign by Mr. and Mrs. Roth and their subordinates to force him out after he informed them he was suffering from PTSD, Pirrotti and DeMatteis said in the complaint.

He is seeking economic and compensatory damages; attorneys fees, and any other just and proper remedy, according to the complaint.

Elevator Service Co. is not yet represented by an attorney and has not responded to the claims in Giampaolos lawsuit, according to judicial records.

The company has an office on Water Street.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.comBy now, legalized cannabis is old news. Ten states allow recreational usage, 33 have medical marijuana and cannabis was legalized across all of Canada a few months ago. But in spite of all that, theres still one very big taboo topic in all these jurisdictions: pot at work.

As the founder of a tech startup, I thought by now Id be seeing cookie jars of bud popping up next to the beer fridge in office kitchens. After all, alcohol has long been an accepted (though not encouraged) part of the modern workplace. It makes sense that employers should see pot that way as well, right?

Not so. Despite the fact that nearly a quarter of North Americans say they use cannabis recreationally, and more are open to trying it as laws change, the majority of users still arent comfortable talking about it at work. That, no doubt, is the result of decades of fear-stoked social stigma. As a consequence, employers have responded to legalization by ignoring the issue altogether, or implementing top-down policies aimed at limiting liabilities. Some have even banned employees from consuming cannabis on their own time.

Certainly its not easy to navigate this shifting legal and cultural landscape as an employer. But ignoring the issue, or taking a super hard-line stance against it, not only risks alienating a sizable portion of your workforce, its increasingly leading to legal challenges.

I definitely dont have all the answers, but as the CEO of an ecommerce agency in a jurisdiction where cannabis was recently legalized, Ive realized there is middle ground to strike -- and it starts with including your team in decisions around how to handle weed at work.

Related: 10 Super Successful People Who Don't Care That You Know They Enjoy Cannabis

Get your team aligned around an internal policy.

Our office culture has always encouraged openness and mutual respect. This applies to everything from sharing weekend plans to voicing personal or professional challenges. As legalization approached, I knew we needed to talk about what that would mean for our workplace. Ahead of the laws changing, we held a town hall meeting to test the waters around cannabis tolerance in our office.

Admittedly, were a pretty liberal bunch. Even so, not everyone was on board with the idea of allowing cannabis in the workplace. Some people had concerns about the telltale pot smell, others about the effect on productivity. But starting the conversation at a high level gave everyone permission, and freedom, to air their feelings in a safe and non-judgmental space. We found that encouraging our team to talk about cannabis allowed people with opposing views to work out differences among themselves. They were able to voice their fears, suggest limitations and feel heard by the group.

In the end, we came up with a plan that reflected our values as a team: we treat cannabis the same way we treat alcohol. Theyre both legal substances and when it came down to it, most people felt we should allow both or none at all. Basically, as long as it doesnt harm anyone or interfere with their work, people can use cannabis, or alcohol, however they want.

To be clear: our office is not a free-for-all. We expect people to act responsibly like adults. But if its not a big deal for someone to crack a beer in the office at the end of the day, should it be an issue for someone else to step outside and smoke a joint? As long as people are not impaired at work, our feeling was no, not at all.

Related: We Have a Problem: The Cannabis Industry Is Losing Women Leaders

Set a pot protocol for dealing with customers and prospects.

Of course, as a millennial CEO, I realize my attitude around weed at work is likely more lax than older generations, and the tech industry tends to be more accepting of unorthodox policies than more conservative sectors.

As ecommerce consultants, what happens in our office isnt necessarily anyone elses business, as long as were acting legally and ethically. Still, I know our stance on cannabis has the potential to affect client relationships. Were a digital company that works across borders and the varied, often vague, laws surrounding cannabis in different jurisdictions require an abundance of caution.

Cannabis remains illegal in most U.S. states, as well as federally, and there have been cases of cannabis professionals in Canada being banned from crossing the border. Given the moving target of cannabis legislation, our policies  internal and external  are likely to evolve overtime. But so too will our cultural understanding and tolerance.

For example, the increasing availability of cannabis in forms like edibles and oils will combat stigma by eliminating the signature smell that inevitably gives users away. And as we develop a more sophisticated understanding of the science around cannabis, well be able to better address public safety concerns, like long-term health effects, or safe consumption limits for drivers.

In the meantime, however, cannabis as a workplace issue is here, now, and it will only become more pressing in the years ahead. Whether its accommodating those who use it for medical reasons or just for fun, employers have the power, and the responsibility, to create a culture where people dont need to live in secrecy or shame.

Adapting to cannabis legalization is about finding a balance between professionalism, workplace safety and respecting the legal rights of adults that work for you. Theres no doubt its an ongoing process, but employers who put in the effort -- and, importantly, include their teams in the conversation -- will be ahead of the curve in creating a more honest, accepting culture, and consequently, a more engaged workforce.

An office where theres a bowl full of pot gummies in the kitchen next to the craft beer? Id allow my team to consider it.

Related:

We Need to Clear the Smoke About Cannabis in the Workplace

12 Common Workplace Distractions and How You Can Stay Focused Anyway

Why You Shouldn't Be Thinking About Induction on Day One



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedThe following editorial appeared in Wednesday's Japan News-Yomiuri:

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There is no road map yet in sight for Thailand's return to civilian administration from military rule that has continued for close to five years. It is safe to say that there are many problems to be cleared on the way to steady democratization and stability.

A general election has been held in Thailand. With the 2014 general election judged to be invalid, the latest election sought the judgment of the people for the first time in eight years. Although a pro-junta wing and a faction connected to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra vied for the position of dominant party in the House of Representatives, both will likely fall short of gaining a majority of lower house seats.

Successive Thai prime ministers have been chosen by the lower house. Due to a constitutional revision under the military junta, 250 members of the Senate and 500 members of the House of Representatives will choose the prime minister. As upper house members will be appointed, in effect, by the military government, interim Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led a coup five years ago, is expected to stay on.

Given that Thailand has a setup to continue the military-led rule, it is difficult to say that a new administration will be based on the will of the broader public. Seven parties, including the pro-Thaksin forces, have confirmed they will cooperate to oppose such an administration.

Unless pro-junta forces win a majority of lower house seats, it will be even more difficult for the new government to take charge of the administration.

Turmoil due to the antagonism between the pro- and anti-Thaksin parties lasted for more than 10 years, resulting in the military coup.

The two parties' failure to improve their showing in the election, combined with a certain measure of popular support gained by pro-junta parties, seemingly prove that voters sought an end to the futile strife and wanted political stability.

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn has issued a royal command for Thaksin to be stripped of his royal decorations. The king criticized Thaksin, who was previously convicted, for continuing his flight from the country, calling it "extremely inappropriate."

The decision by the royal household, in which the Thai people place great confidence, is certain to deal an additional blow to the pro-Thaksin forces.

The pro-junta party has come out with measures to aid low-income people, with a view to collecting votes in rural areas, a support base for the pro-Thaksin forces. The antagonistic relationship between urban and rural districts in Thailand can destabilize their society and hinder the country's economic growth. How should the conflict be resolved? This is a problem facing the new administration.

Another pressing task is to promote democratization in the country. Until just before the general election, political activities had been prohibited and freedom of the press restricted. Due to the junta's ulterior motives, the election schedule was postponed several times.

Protracted political confusion in Thailand, a major country in Southeast Asia, could adversely affect its neighbors.

This year, Thailand will serve as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and in June, it will participate in the summit meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in Osaka. Thailand should realize that the world will pay more attention to it than in other years.

A large number of Japanese-owned companies are operating in Thailand, with more than 70,000 Japanese living there. The Japanese government must continue to urge Thailand to achieve a smooth shift to civil administration.President Donald Trump has gone after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, threatening to close the border if Lopez Obrador didn't stop the movement of Central Americans north. He called out Central America's leaders as well, announcing an end to hundreds of millions in aid for their supposed recalcitrance.

Yet Trump's bullying tactics will not lower the number of women, children and men leaving El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for the United States. If anything, the aid pullback will undermine the tenuous ability of these nations to mitigate these migratory flows.

To be sure, Trump's tough stance is diametrically opposed to that of Lopez Obrador, who campaigned on protecting rather than incarcerating migrants, promising visas instead of deportation orders. His first bilateral step as president-elect, laid out in a long love letter to President Trump, was an ambitious $30 billion plan for Central America to take on the root causes of the regional exodus.

Yet Lopez Obrador quickly came around to the more punitive U.S. take. While his government has offered some 12,000 humanitarian visas, it has also deported just under 20,000 migrants in the first two months of 2019, continuing the practices of his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto. And he is now amassing police to stop the next wave of caravans heading north. Even so, in February alone, 76,000 migrants were apprehended at the U.S. southern border through Mexico.

Trump asserts that "Mexico is tough. They can stop them." If only. Lopez Obrador's track record reveals instead his nation's incapacity to deal with the migration crisis on its own.

The biggest weakness lies in governmental institutions. Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) is, to be diplomatic, not known for professionalism. An internal investigation revealed it to be riddled with corruption, with agents prone to extort or abuse their migrant charges. The Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), which handles asylum cases, is overwhelmed, unable to process even a quarter of the 30,000 requests it received last year, to say nothing of the 12,000 more applications it has already received in 2019 (on track to top 50,000 by year end). Yet rather than build up the capacity of these two bureaucracies, the government has cut their budgets by 20 percent.

The government's broader disorganization and dysfunction compound this ineffectiveness. When Lopez Obrador acquiesced to Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, which seeks to park Central Americans across the border until their applications for asylum are adjudicated, the new INM head told the media he hadn't been consulted or even informed beforehand. A prominent migration scholar, he then enumerated the plan's deep flaws: U.S. officials would have to conduct interviews on Mexican soil, hundreds of thousands of Central Americans would wait for months or even years along the border, and if and when the U.S. rejected their asylum claims, they would enter legal limbo.

The government's suspicions of civil society have led to further disarray. Lopez Obrador's government is shredding funding for NGO-run programs; support for women's shelters is already ending. This hostility toward independent humanitarian efforts will make it harder to cope with the migration crisis.

The lack of federal organization, planning and funding has left Mexican municipalities largely on their own. In Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and other border cities, shelters are full, food is scarce and locals are turning against these desperate but stuck sojourners. Organized crime, and not a few police and migration officials, prey upon the vulnerable. Some mayors are so desperate they are chartering buses to move the migrants along.

Central America's capacity to stop the human tide is even more limited. With tax intakes often less than remittances, these governments are both dependent and unaccountable, feeding a vicious cycle of poverty, violence and corruption that leads more to leave.

Stopping aid won't change their behavior, as much of the money Trump is pulling doesn't go to governments. Instead it funds independent NGOs that keep kids in school and provide alternatives to the street in the afternoons, set up local health clinics, give microcredit loans, and prop up subsistence farmers. Such initiatives can shift the individual, family and community calculus between staying and going. Much of the money directed to Central American governments goes to security and anti-gang initiatives, a professed priority for Trump.

Trump may holler and even carry out his threat to shut (or more likely slow) the border and end Central American aid. Yet the reality is that Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras can do little to curb migration without this support.

If Trump truly wanted to staunch these flows, he'd invest a big part of the more than $20 billion spent on border enforcement back where these kids and families come from. He'd get behind the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, and its counterpart Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, successful experiments in building democratic institutions to replace the corrupt ecosystem that drives citizens north. But perhaps he has another motive: If Trump instead wanted to exacerbate the crisis at the U.S. southern border, this would be the way to do it.

- - -

Shannon O'Neil is a senior fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.ALBANY NY -- Confused about when (or if) recreational marijuana will be legal in New York? Interested in starting up a cannabis-related business? Looking for info on the legal, security and licensing issues?

NY Cannabis Insider Live is a business- and entrepreneur-focused day of panel discussions, networking opportunities and more aimed at those interested in the cannabis business takes place May 15 at The Egg in downtown Albany.

The agenda includes:

 Where we stand today: An update on the current state of New York State law and plans for regulation

 Local/municipal panel: What mayors, health departments, code enforcement officers need to know

 Getting into the business: What is the field like for small business operators? What are the opportunities for micro-licensing?

 Professional panel: The legal, employment, insurance and security issues needed for a cannabis business.

There will be plenty of time built in for networking and discussion.

Guest speakers include Carol Gabel, a small business consultant who has helped clients looking to get into the cannabis industry, and Barry Lefkowitz, an expert in government regulatory issues and a lobbyists involved in the creation and expansion of medical cannabis dispensaries in New Jersey.

While New York state currently has a medical marijuana program, efforts to legalize adult recreational use have hit some snags since Gov. Andrew Cuomo championed the idea earlier this year. Advocates are still hoping a bill legalizing the possession and sale of limited amounts of marijuana can be approved before the state Legislature adjourns for the year in June.

EVENT DETAILS

When: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 15

Where: The Egg, 1 Empire State Plaza, S Mall Arterial, Albany.

Tickets are $70. Buy now.

More information at www.cannabisliveny.com

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.New York State Police will stop releasing mug shots to the public beginning immediately.

State lawmakers banned the release of mug shots, also known as booking photographs, as part of the 2020 executive budget, approved by both the Senate and Assembly this weekend.

The bill is awaiting Gov. Andrew Cuomos signature, according to the Senate website. Once signed, the ban goes into effect immediately for all police agencies in the state.

State troopers said in an email notice today they would immediately stop releasing the photos.

Until now, New York State Police have routinely released multiple mug shots a day in press releases, in response to media requests and on the organizations news website. On the day troopers announced the new policy, a press release went out that included two booking photographs of men arrested in a drug bust in Utica. The photos were removed within 15 minutes.

A state police spokesman said officials may continue to release mugshots from time to time when it serves a law enforcement purpose. Examples might include when investigators are searching for a missing or wanted person.

Gov. Cuomos office initially proposed banning the release of other booking information collected at the time of a persons arrest, calling it an unwanted invasion of personal privacy. The legislature ultimately decided to only ban mug shots.

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government, education and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992SYRACUSE, N.Y.  Nearly 110,000 Central New Yorkers, enough people to fill more than two Carrier Domes to the rafters, would lose their health insurance if the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was scrapped.

The Trump administration told a federal appeals court last week the entire law should be thrown out.

If that happened and the law was not replaced  it would have undeniable dramatic effects in New York, said Bill Hammond, a health policy expert with the Empire Center, an Albany think tank.

While enrollment in Obamacare has declined in many states amid legal and political uncertainty about the laws future, it increased 10 percent in New York during the open enrollment period that ended Jan. 31.

The Trump administrations Department of Justice had been pushing to remove the laws protections for people with pre-existing conditions, but had not argued in court that the entire law should be struck down.

But the administration changed its position last week when it said a December ruling by a district court judge in Texas which declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional should be affirmed. The district court ruled that a 2017 change in federal tax law eliminating a penalty on uninsured people invalidated the entire health law.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday Republicans are working on a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, but did not provide any specifics. Trump tweeted Monday that Congressional Republicans wont vote on a GOP replacement for Obamacare until after the 2020 election.

Mick Mulvaney, Trumps chief of staff, said in an interview no one will lose their coverage if the Trump administration succeeds in getting the Affordable Care Act invalidated. He also said Republicans support preserving coverage of pre-existing conditions.

Hammond said he thinks it is unlikely the Texas judges ruling will be upheld.

The Texas judges decision had no effect on 2019 Obamacare coverage. Experts say the fate of the Affordable Care Act may ultimately be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Heres a look some of the potential consequences for New York if the law is scrapped:

*Nearly 3 million people statewide would lose their insurance. That includes about 1.9 million people on Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

The federal Affordable Care Act gave states the option of changing Medicaid eligibility rules so more people can qualify. New York was one of the states that did that by offering Medicaid to residents with income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The federal government pays most of the additional cost for newly eligible enrollees. If the ACA were struck down and the old eligibility rules reinstated, the state estimates those 1.9 million New Yorkers newly enrolled in Medicaid would fall off the programs rolls.

*In Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties, 109,869 people would lose coverage.

That includes:

77,535 people in the states expanded Medicaid program;

21,165 people enrolled in the Essential Plan which provides low-cost coverage to people with income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level;

And 11,169 people enrolled in private health plans, many of whom receive federal tax credits to lower their insurance costs.

Heres a breakdown by county of the number of people who would lose coverage:

Cayuga: 8,262

Cortland: 4,980

Madison: 6,431

Oneida: 27,144

Onondaga: 49,372

Oswego: 13,677

*Killing the Affordable Care Act could hurt hospitals, health insurers and other businesses. The Affordable Care Act has been a multibillion dollar source of money for the New York health care industry, Hammond said.

A recent analysis by the Empire Center shows most Central New York hospitals saw big increases in Medicaid revenues after the Affordable Care Act allowed the state to expand Medicaid eligibility.

Heres how much Medicaid revenues increased between 2012 and 2016 at Central New York hospitals:

Community Memorial, Hamilton: 55 percent

St. Josephs, Syracuse: 46 percent

Auburn Community, Auburn: 41 percent

Cayuga Medical Center, Ithaca: 29 percent

Oneida Health Care Center, Oneida: 25 percent

Upstate University, Syracuse: 18 percent

Crouse, Syracuse: 8 percent

The Affordable Care Act also has been a boon for insurance companies that sell Obamacare plans through New Yorks health insurance exchange.

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, for example, collected more than $87 million in 2018 selling private Obamacare plans to individuals through the exchange.

*Health insurance could become unaffordable for people with costly pre-existing conditions like cancer, according to Hammond.

People with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage or charged more by insurers under the Affordable Care Act. New York has prohibited insurers from doing this since 1993 and that protection would stay in place if the Affordable Care Act was jettisoned.

But if federal premium subsidies that make insurance more affordable disappear, the pre-existing condition protection could backfire by driving up costs for younger, healthier consumers, prompting them to leave the market, according to Hammond.

That would leave the market with a preponderance of older, sicker people with pre-existing conditions who require costly care. That in turn would prompt insurers to raise premium rates, setting off the same kind of insurance death spiral New York experienced before the Affordable Care Act.

In 2013, the year before the Affordable Care Act took effect, New York had the nations highest insurance rates. New Yorkers were paying $1,000 or more a month for individual coverage.Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.

Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.

A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.Intel Capital announced new investments totaling $117 million in 14 disruptive technology startups. The startups are creating powerful artificial intelligence (AI) platforms; new ways to see and analyze materials for the built world and our bodies; more efficient and greener manufacturing technologies; and disruptive new approaches to chip design.

Intel invested $13 million into Untether AI. Untether AI is developing a powerful new AI chip that eliminates the data movement bottleneck that costs energy and performance in traditional architectures.

More details on Intel Capitals new investments in 14 disruptive startups:

Disrupting Artificial Intelligence

Untether AI* (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is developing ultra-efficient, high-performance AI chips that will be the foundation for the next wave of innovation in AI. Untether AI has invented an entirely new type of chip architecture that is specifically designed for neural net inference by eliminating bottlenecks in data movement. This unique architecture moves data 1,000 times faster than traditional architectures, resulting in extreme performance and efficiency. The company was founded by a team of scientists, engineers and experienced entrepreneurs who have successfully brought to market more than 1 billion chips.

Cloudpick Limited* (Shanghai, China) is a smart retail technology provider. With proprietary computer vision, deep learning, sensor fusion edge computing technologies, Cloudpick enables highly digitized, intelligent, cashier-free stores with grab-and-go shopping experiences. has collaborated with e-commerce companies, traditional retailers and payment partners worldwide to upgrade many brick-and-mortar stores shopping experiences.

SambaNova Systems* (Palo Alto, California, U.S.) is a rapidly growing Silicon Valley-based company building an advanced systems platform to run AI applications. Founded by industry pioneers and experts in systems hardware and software design from Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Stanford University, SambaNova Systems mission is to bring AI innovations discovered in deep research to enterprises and organizations in all industries around the world, creating AI for everyone, everywhere.

Zhuhai EEasy Technology Co. Ltd.* (Zhuhai, China) is an AI system-on-chip (SoC) design house and total solution provider. Its offerings include AI acceleration; image and graphic processing; video encoding and decoding; and mixed-signal ULSI design capabilities. Its AI SoCs targeting video, automotive and smart devices will enter mass-production in late 2019.

Disrupting Communications

Mighty Networks* (Palo Alto, California, U.S.) is designed for brands and businesses to bring people together by offering community, content, online courses and subscription commerce in one place. The company is unique in serving a new breed of digitally native creators with a purpose selling experiences, connections and expertise to their followers  an emerging category of digital services called Experiential Commerce.

Pixeom* (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) is redefining how enterprises manage hybrid cloud resources with its edge computing software platform that re-creates and orchestrates cloud functionality on-premise. It makes it easy to deploy and manage large-scale, geographically distributed infrastructure and workloads.

Polystream* (Guildford, U.K.) is a deep-tech startup fundamentally changing how video games and demanding 3D applications are delivered via the cloud. Polystreams technology enables interactive graphics content to be streamed at unprecedented scale, with truly global reach.

Tibit Communications* (Petaluma, California, U.S.) is developing next-generation devices to provide a broadband onramp to the home, office or cell site, managed virtually from the cloud to the user. Tibit replaces dedicated hardware boxes in carrier and enterprise networks with a small module connected to a standard Ethernet switch  providing significant savings of cost, power and space.

Disrupting Healthcare

Medical Informatics Corp.* (Houston, Texas, U.S.) is a software-based monitoring and analytics company. Its revolutionary Sickbay* platform archives, aggregates and transforms otherwise not-recorded, high-resolution waveform data across disparate devices to enable anywhere, anytime remote monitoring across the continuum of care. The same platform can then be leveraged to use machine learning and AI to deploy real-time, predictive, critical care analytics that get ahead of deterioration and risk and enable data-driven medicine and patient-centered care.

Reveal Biosciences, Inc.* (San Diego, California, U.S.) is creating a new generation of data-powered pathology to improve global healthcare. ImageDx, a proprietary deep-learning platform, delivers pathologists and scientists a novel class of actionable, quantitative data to accelerate research and enhance patient care.

Disrupting Manufacturing

Landing AI* (Palo Alto, California, U.S.) provides AI-powered SaaS solutions and corporate-level AI transformation programs to turn enterprises into AI companies. Founded by Dr. Andrew Ng, the Landing AI team enables companies in industries, including manufacturing and agriculture, to develop and execute cohesive AI strategies.

OnScale* (Cupertino, California, U.S.) offers on-demand scalable engineering simulation software, empowering engineers to accelerate innovation across multiple industries, including next-generation technologies such as MEMS IoT, 5G, biomedicine and autonomous vehicles. OnScale combines powerful multiphysics solver technology, used and validated by Fortune 50 companies for over 30 years, with the speed and flexibility of cloud high-performance computing (HPC). By removing the constraints of legacy simulation tools, OnScale allows engineers to dramatically reduce cost, risk and time to market for cutting-edge technologies.

proteanTecs* (Haifa, Israel) develops revolutionary Universal Chip Telemetry* for electronic systems throughout their entire lifecycle, increasing their performance and reliability. By applying machine learning to novel data created by embedded agents, proteanTecs provides meaningful insights unattainable until today, leading to new levels of quality, reliability and scale.

Qolibri, Inc.* (Roseville, California, U.S.) is a creative technical company developing breakthrough proprietary solutions that address problems in semiconductor subfabs. The Qolibri team has extensive expertise in semiconductor capital equipment technology and renewable energy. Qolibri technologies will change the landscape of the subfab, leading to substantially reduced chip manufacturing costs with positive environmental impact.

We believe in these companies and are excited to help them disrupt their industries by putting the weight of Intel behind them, Brooks said. Our investment is just the start of our work with each of them.

SOURCES- Intel, Untether AINASA concluded that a mission profile in which Falcon Heavy places Orion, a service module, and an ICPS upper stage in orbit in a single launch may be the only option for a near-term commercial alternative for Orions first operational test flight.

Above is rendering from Brickmat of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy with the Orion and ICPS upper stage.

NASA Administrator Bridenstein said It would require time, it would require cost, and there is risk involved, but guess what? If were gonna land boots on the Moon in 2024, we have time, and we have the ability to accept some risk and make some modifications. All of that is on the table. There is nothing sacred here that is off the table, and [FH+ICPS+Orion/ESM] is a potential capability that could help us land on the Moon in 2024.

The Orion spacecraft, its ESM, and a fueled ICPS boost stage would weigh 56,000 kg (~123,000 lb) at launch. An expendable Falcon Heavy can place 64,000 kg (140,000 lb) into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Another excellent render from @brickmack, showing what SpaceX's Falcon Heavy might look like in the (unlikely but not impossible) event that NASA decides to launch Orion's EM-1 test flight on commercial rockets instead of SLS. Looks sorta normal, tbh.https://t.co/9VEPMlcqP9 pic.twitter.com/5SlDRJNRCz  Eric Ralph (@13ericralph31) March 22, 2019

Yes, its true. The NASA administrator, @JimBridenstine, really did seriously discuss today launching astronauts to the Moon by 2024 inside Orion, on a Falcon Heavy rocket, with an ICPS upper stage. It marked a true wow moment. Details:https://t.co/7hz6o1y3Gv  Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 1, 2019

SOURCES- Twitter, NASA, Ars Technica

Written By Brian WangLaoyaoba reports that Tesla production equipment will be installed in the Shanghai Gigafactory in May 2019. Some Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory production lines will be start mass-production by the end of 2019. This is reported from statements made at a Tuesday meeting with Tesla President of Automotive Jerome Guillen and Shanghai Deputy Mayor Wu Qing. They described the progress of the Gigafactory 3 buildout in the Shanghai Lingang Industrial Zone.

Tesla will start the installation of production equipment while still building other parts of the building.

On March 20th, the Tesla Gigafactory had two sets of steel structures for the roof grid successfully completed. The current Tesla construction project in China is progressing smoothly. The pile foundation construction has been completed and the steel structure construction of the plant has begun. The relevant project construction will be completed in May 2019.

SOURCES- Laoyaoba

Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.comDoctors and patients at Neurological Specialists P.C. will have a new place to call home in coming months.

The neurology and neurosurgery practice, which has been in Stratford for more than 30 years, is preparing to move across town, having newly signed a 10-year lease at the Merritt 8 Corporate Park, 99 Hawley Lane.

We are very excited about the move because its going to be a new facility, built (out) from scratch with all the modern things that need to be set in a medical facility, so we are really psyched about it, said Dr. Yaniv Chen, partner at the practice, alongside, Philip Barasch, Lawrence Beck, James Butler, Lisa Webb and Azimuddin Kazi.

The practice will occupy roughly a 5,700 square-foot space on the main floor of the building, joining large-scale tenants like Yale New Haven Health Services and New York Life Insurance Company.

Chen said he and his partners spent the past year searching for a modern office space where they could upgrade their services for patients. The practice was also seeking to save on operational costs by combining two offices into one in an easily accessible location, according to a press release by Norwalk-based Avison Young, which facilitated the deal.

Avison Young associate Eva Kornreich negotiated the lease on behalf of Neurological Specialists while building owner Merritt 8 Owner LLC was represented by Joseph Coci of Mountain Development Corp.

Kornreich negotiated the purchase of the Neurological Specialists current Stratford office at 2590 Main St. in 2016.

Demand for medical space is a bright spot in commercial real estate leasing in Connecticut, she said in a press release. Medical tenants want upscale, modern space that communicates a state-of-the-art approach to healthcare.

The building offers convenient access to the Merritt Parkway, Route 8 and Route 108 and is directly across the street from Hawley Lane Mall and the Trumbull Marriott.

Construction of the office, which is slated to be completed no later than July, will feature roughly 11 exam rooms, nine offices and a waiting room, among other amenities. In addition to a full medical office build-out, the landlord will add a handicap ramp and ADA electric doors to the main building entrance. Handicap accessible restrooms will also be part of the tenants space.

Neurological Specialists will consolidate its Stratford operation and its Shelton-based satellite office at Merritt 8 Corporate Park.

They also have another satellite office in Fairfield, which Chen said will remain unchanged.

We are looking forward to becoming more efficient and making things more comfortable for our patient population, he said.

Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.comMark Zaretsky / Hearst Connecticut Media /

EAST HAVEN  The Town Council this week unanimously approved a new three-year contract for the union representing many town clerical and administrative workers.

Under the terms of the contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 2018, union members will receive three successive annual salary increases of 2.5 percent: 2.5 percent as of July 1, 2018, an additional 2.5 percent on July 1, 2019, and another 2.5 percent on July 1, 2020.GUILFORD  Police have identified the person hit and killed by a train Tuesday as 55-year-old George Whitney.

An autopsy will be done on Whitney, of Guilford, to determine the cause, mechanism and manner of death, police said Wednesday.

Shorrly after noon on Tuesday, Guilford police responded to the area of Leetes Island Road and Sam Hill Road to help Amtrak police investigate a fatality on the train tracks. Police said Whitney was found along Route 146, south of Sachems Head Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Guilford paramedics.

The circumstances of why he was on the tracks is still being investigated, said a Guilford police news release from Tuesday.

More News Man killed in Guilford train accident; service suspended

Those circumstances were not provided by police Wednesday.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Nursick said Tuesday that the person killed was trespassing on the tracks and was hit by a work train near the Guilford train station.

There were no passengers on the train that hit the man.

After the man was hit and during the course of the investigation, Shore Line East train service was suspended. Amtrak Northeast tweet that a train was stopped in New Haven and another west of Providence, R.I., because of a trespasser incident.HAMDEN  Many residents are adamant they dont want to see uniformed police in schools.

In the first public hearing on the town budget, people came out to oppose Mayor Curt B. Lengs proposal to fund two school resource officer positions in next years budget.

More than 300 people have signed a petition fighting against putting SROs in Hamden elementary schools started by the Hamden Progressive Action Network, which defines itself as a grassroots alliance designed to educate (and) organize residents on town, state (and) national progressive issues.

One of the organizations founders, Jennifer Pope, said adding SROs to the budget is a terrible idea, speaking to the council. Its not the best way to spend money.

Pope said SROs are not effective at making schools safer while minority student groups are negatively impacted by their presence, according to national data, and the town shouldnt be adding more positions when taxes are likely to increase next year.

There is one SRO at Hamden Middle School and two at Hamden High School, but this would be the first time that SROs would be in the elementary schools.

Just before the public hearing, the Legislative Council heard from Acting Chief John Cappiello about the police departments budget. Councilwoman At Large Lauren Garrett questioned him specifically about the role of SROs.

Asked whether SROs get social-emotional training or something specific to working in schools, Cappiello said police go through an initial 40-hour course when they are assigned as SROs and get retrained every month throughout the year on all police procedures and professional standards with a focus on de-escalation, dealing with people who have disabilities or mental health issues, and conflict resolution.

All of our officers are dealing with mental health issues more than they are active shooters, Cappiello said.

Additionally, officers recently were trained by the Ani-Defamation League about unconscious bias and hate bias as mandated by the Police Officers Standards and Training Council.

Whatever training is available we give them from day one, Cappeillo said, but noted that available training can be limited.

Pope said shes concerned that officers dont get enough training where it matters most  dealing with schoolchildren.

It may be true that SROs are doing a good job at the middle school and high school, but its not appropriate at the elementary school level, she said.

Garrett also asked how SROs interact with students in the middle school and high schools and how many instances of arrest and detention occurred in the last year. Cappiello said he didnt know exactly how many students were arrested, but that it was a very small number.

If we had to arrest someone, it would happen whether an SRO was there or not, he said. We have an understanding with schools that (SROs) dont go there to arrest people. We really try to separate law enforcement and minor disciplinary actions  thats handled by the administrators.

Leng has said SROs work in cooperation with principals and support staff and can be very positive forces for good in our schools, serving as informal counselors and mentors, educating students on dangers from internet to guns, helping prevent violence big and small and serving when needed as law enforcement.

Whatever reason police are supposed to be there, some students feel afraid at schools, parent Rhonda Caldwell said. Caldwell said parents dont need police to mentor their children so the funds proposed for the SROs should be redirected to pay for school psychologists to help special-needs students.

Kathleen Kiely, who has taught at Bear Path elementary school for 12 years, said teachers and administrators werent asked whether SROs are something schools needed or wanted.

As a resident I firmly belive community policing is the way to go, she said. I dont believe, however, putting a police officer in a school has a connection to their neighborhoods.

Instead of assigning SROs to be at the schools all day, Keily suggested having them there for part of the day toward the end, then having officers meet parents and students as they get off the buses, so police get to know the communities theyre patrolling and vice versa.

Marnie Hebron, who has a grandchild attending Hamden Middle School, said even though her husband is a police officer, her children and grandhildren are intimidated by police.

SROs arent there to protect the students or mentor, she said. Theyre there to police the children, and from my experience, that doesnt help the community. It speaks volumes that my children and grandchildren are intimidated by police and they were raised by (a) police officer.

Other residents who spoke to the council begged the body to do something about the mayors proposed tax increase, saying people are stuck in Hamden because of the rising taxes and young families are possibly regretting ever moving to town.

Leng proposed a 1.6 percent tax increase, which would raise an additional $2.8 million in tax revenue and mean $105 more for the median homeowner in Hamden.

mdignan@hearstmediact.comNEW HAVEN  Child care providers, several pushing large strollers with toddlers wondering what happened to their morning routine, had a message for United Way and Gov. Ned Lamont.

They made it clear that they need to get paid having waited up to four months for the agency to approve Care4Kids child care subsidy applications.

With their incomes cut off and children not able to access the care, providers and parents said they are finding their credit destroyed and bills unpaid. Parents cant work without child care and the providers find their businesses in jeopardy.

Queen Freelove, president of the Childcare Provider Council, rallied the group outside the United Way of New Haven offices on James Street Wednesday morning. Fair pay, no delay, Freelove shouted. United Way, where is our pay?

The workers however, at United Way of Greater New Haven, have nothing to do with administration of the program, which is run by United Way of Connecticut, a group that has offices in Rocky Hill.

The backlog is attributed to a 40 percent increase in applications for the subsidy for low-income families, as well as renewals of existing approvals.

Those factors came at the same time the state was switching to a new $10 million computer system that hasnt been able to process approvals in a timely manner.

After several providers had spoken Wednesday, Ben Phillips, the communication director for CSEA, SEIU Local 2001, said it had filed a lawsuit against United Way of Connecticut that morning seeking back pay for the delays.

United Way is a subcontractor for the state hired to process the applications, while Deloitte is the technology contractor for the new eligibility platform that will be able to interact directly with the state Department of Social Services, eliminating paperwork.

Georgia Goldburn, who runs the Hope Child Development Center in New Haven, said it took the state three months to just explain to the providers what was going on.

She called on Gov. Ned Lamont to come through for these parents and providers, as the state came though for federal workers living in Connecticut when they were laid off after President Donald Trump closed numerous federal agencies for a month in a budget fight.

Goldburn stressed the importance of quality child care in licensed facilities to businesses and family incomes.

Parents are losing jobs all over Connecticut, because parents have to wait four months to see of they are eligible. Our mortgage will not wait four months. How many people wait four months for a check? We do. We try to take care of the kids, but we cannot wait any longer, a provider said at the rally.

Freelove said some providers are having their lights turned off, their cars repossessed.

You spent millions of dollars on a system that is not accurate. You did not put in enough time, enough people. We cannot delay their care (the children), so we should not be delayed payments, Freelove said.

The problem goes back to the decision by the state to shut down the Care4Kids program for 15 months until December 2017. There was a spike in enrollment when the program reopened, all of which are now up for renewal. The state Department of Social Services put in the new technology platform in late 2018.

Merrill Gay, who heads the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, said they first heard about this issue in November.

It is not acceptable that our state child care subsidy program is not paying providers, Gay said. He said there is no reason why the providers are not held harmless until the administrative snafu is worked out.

When federal workers were not being paid because of the shutdown, our state government rushed in to solve that problem for federal workers who lived in Connecticut with low interest loans, Gay said.

Where is the urgency here? We have to start to see child care as part of the economic infrastructure of the state, Gay said. It is as important for parents who depend on child care so they can go to work, as the roads and bridges they travel on to get to work.

Beth Bye, the new commissioner of the Office of Early Childhood, on Tuesday said to speed up the process and reduce the backlog, there will be an automatic continuation of cases whose eligibility was up in December, January and February.

A total of 2,597 cases will now be approved for a period of time going forward.

Bye described the backlog as unacceptable.

New applications and redeterminations have decreased from 5,385 as of February 28 to 2,743 by this month, her office said.

United Way of Connecticut Care4Kids also has increased case manager staffing by 33 percent to handle the case backlog with staff working nights and weekends, Richard Porth, the CEO of the agency said..

Porth said he understands how urgent the issue is for both parents and providers. We know the hardship this has caused, he said.

Porth said these technical problems have never been experienced before by the agency. This is the not the norm, he said. Porth said the integration of Care4Kids, Medicaid and other programs on one platform will ultimately be a plus for the public.

He said the agency can show that it is making real progress and agrees with Bye that the delays are unacceptable.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com:203-641-2577NEW HAVEN  The Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy Committee may consider a resolution to declare a climate emergency and to unite with other cities to act on global warming.

Alder Darryl Brackeen, D-26, submitted the resolution in January following activism from a coalition called the New Haven Climate Movement. The text of his resolution matches the groups Safe Climate Emergency Resolution, which calls for the city to end community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by Dec. 21, 2030, to educate the public about climate emergency and the broader ecological crisis and to partner with local organizations to create green jobs and focus on environmental justice and public health.Contributed /

NEW HAVEN  Alder Darryl Brackeen Jr. has been named district executive director of the new Hamden/North Haven Y and New Haven YMCA Youth Center, according to a release from the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA.

In the role, Brackeen will be responsible for leading annual campaign fundraising efforts, strategic development of the board of managers and building community partnerships, the release said.NEW HAVEN  It wasnt a debate, but they were in the same room.

Mayor Toni Harp came to the East Rock Community Management Team Monday with her finance team, who presented a primer on the citys $643.8 million budget request that keeps taxes steady even as New Haven holds the unenviable status as the municipality with the most tax-exempt property.

That amounts to more than $7 billion in value that doesnt help the grand list, while the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) the state sends to the city as a way to mitigate that loss is only some 31 percent of the lost revenue.

At the end of an hour-plus discussion of the budget, something the administration has been presenting to the management teams for months, Justin Elicker, one of four residents running for mayor as Harp seeks a fourth term in office, spoke up.

The campaign is getting off to a slow start as both sides have spent the last few months raising money, but the budget and the citys finances in general, will be a large part of the dialogue through the September Democratic primary, and likely through the general election.

I dont want people to leave this room thinking that we are in good shape. I feel that this presentation has given the impression that the citys finances are under control, Elicker said.

He told the dozens of people crowded into the small conference room at mActivity that he doesnt feel the city has the fiscal discipline to change to a two-year capital fund, borrowing $70 million. Elicker questioned the new positions added to the budget and said some underlying assumptions in the plan were questionable.

The city is counting on a 7.75 percent return on its investments to feed its under-funded pension plans, set by its actuaries. How many people have that kind of return on their own investments? Elicker asked.

He said the refinanced debt should have been an opportunity to have additional money so we can start addressing some of the structural problems and that is not being done in this budget. We are going in the wrong direction.

Daryl Jones, the citys controller, and Michael Gormany, the budget director, offered the rebuttal.

Jones said the city is being fiscally responsible as it works on its five-year plan and is projecting a surplus this year of some $8.9 million, which also covers the school boards $5.2 million current deficit.

He told Elicker that last year its pension investment return was 10 percent and it is increasing its pension contribution annually to cut into its unfunded liability.

As for the two-year capitol budget, Jones said they will save between $500,000 and $700,000 in borrowing costs by not having to bond in the second year.

The controller said the rating agencies look at how the city maintains its assets. Part of being strategic is addressing those issues, he said, particularly around a state of good repair for its $1.2 billion school buildings.

Harps cumulative 5-year tax rate increase is 3 percent.

It was steady at 41.55 mills for three years through 2017; dropped to 38.68 mills in a revalue year in fiscal 2018 and then jumped to 42.98 mills, or up 11 percent, in fiscal 2019 after the city lost almost $9 million in state aid halfway through the year.

When the state sneezes, we get pneumonia, Jones said of Connecticuts budget problems in fiscal 2018. Trying to make up $9 million in a fiscal year, is like trying to turn a tanker ship on a dime.

The proposed general fund budget of $556,641,051 represents a 1.76 percent increase over last year.

Several of the questions from the audience were directed to the school budget and if the $750,000 increase would be sufficient given that Supt. of Schools Carol D. Birks projected a $30 million shortfall next year, in one scenario, although in another, she cut that to $10 million.

Where did this arbitrary number come from? Alder Anna Festa, D-10, asked Jones.

Gormany said when they put the budget together they focused on the fixed costs of pension contributions, health care, education, debt service, workers contracts, while encouraging cuts in the departments.

We are making a cultural change in the city. We are trying to be more efficient, he said. The $750,000 was what was available as an increase to the schools after the city balanced its budget without a tax boost.

Jones and Gormany said they meet weekly with the superintendent to mitigate the education deficit. We are working as a team, Jones said.

Jones said he is moving the city side from a decentralized system to one that is centralized where the purchasing agent reviews all purchases and picks the lowest bidder on a preferred list. He said they are looking at common contracts for city and school board services and goods.

He mentioned small things like going to paperless invoices and not paying by checks. We write 20,000 checks a years. he said at a cost of $77 each to process.

Jones said he is working closely with Yale University. He said the university has an ArcGIS Hub, a powerful software tool that the city wanted. but did not purchase. Instead they will collaborate with Yale on using it to come up with the best approach to saving trees in the city that are vulnerable to disease.

Every chance I get, I meet with the head of Yale IT, Jones said. He said when the university has to tear up the streets to lay fiber optic cable, the city will follow to lay the cable it needs.

Jones said they have a good relationship with the university and they are also working with Yale New Haven Hospital on saving money on employee health costs.

One resident asked if the state delegation is working hard to get a better return on the PILOT payments. She was answered by another woman who explained that the senators and representatives from the urban centers are out-voted by the majority of towns from the suburbs when it comes to such issues.

Festa praised the delegation for the grants it obtains for New Haven.

There is some tension between the delegation and the administration over the cuts with state Senate Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, saying the city was warned that they were coming and could have budgeted differently.

The second public hearing and first workshop on the city budget will be held on April 8 at 6 p.m. at Career High School, 140 Legion Ave.

The Finance Committee will ask questions to the following departments about their proposed budgets: Board of Alders, mayors office, corporation councils office, finance department, assessors office, city/town clerk, registrar of voters, Fair Rent Commission, youth services, and persons with disabilities.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com: 203-641-2577NEW HAVEN  Leaders from all of the citys emergency response agencies and the Board of Education spent about three hours Wednesday making sure they could get the first 15 minutes right in case of a school shooting.

Weve been working since the Parkland shooting to actually strengthen our planning process, said Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana. We didnt want to make all new plans; we wanted to strengthen what we had.

What has changed since Parkland, when 17 students and educators were shot and killed at a Florida high school, is that New Havens schools completed its Board of Education Security Alarm Fire Emergency Response program last summer. The program, which was funded mostly by state bonding, has synchronized security systems in the schools with emergency response systems, making school surveillance and security remotely accessible to police.

Superintendent of Schools Carol Birks said she feels supported by our partners.

Not in every city is there such a coordinated effort, she said.

The school districts decision to increase security following Parkland while eliminating school counselor positions because of a budget deficit had been criticized by some community members, and a similar nationwide trend was criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union.

In brief remarks Wednesday, Mayor Toni Harp acknowledged lagging mental health supports in modern society after recalling how she learned of the Sandy Hook shooting while at the state legislature.

We are in a different point in time where we recognize our mental health delivery process perhaps is not the best it can be, she said.

Terry Cooper, emergency response coordinator in the Office of Emergency Preparedness, gave a hypothetical scenario to city officials, which officials have planned since August 2018.

Fontana said the exercise was intended to run through the established protocol, ensuring everyone knew what to do in case of an emergency, and to exploit and repair any gaps in knowledge or procedures. There was no discussion of ways to assist a high school junior described in the hypothetical scenario as a bullied loner who has been more withdrawn at school and at home with a father who died within the last few years and who made a threat that his name would be remembered once hes gone.

As the hypothetical scenario began, Cooper asked school officials what they would do if an armed intruder entered a city high school. District Chief Operating Officer Michael Pinto said the district would call for a full lockdown, call 911 to deliver information and to inform the districts head of security, an assistant superintendent and himself. According to the answer key, Pintos answer covered all the steps required of the school board in the first two minutes after an intruder entered a school.

As the scenario continued, multiple victims were shot, including a teacher, three minutes into the hypothetical intrusion. Police, fire, command center and American Medical Response officials discussed ways they would communicate with one another to establish a perimeter, get resources to the school, control the incident and establish a staging center. Within 12 minutes in the hypothetical scenario, the city neutralized the shooter, after which police, fire and school officials would communicate in the aftermath and take the citys schools out of lockdown.

Its my fervent hope we will never, ever have to experience this in New Haven, said Fire Chief John Alston.

However, he said, whats important that the city departments be connected like they were on Wednesday. It takes looking around and knowing faces and names.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.comPolice in Seattle are asking for help to identify the man who allegedly raped a woman south of Seattle after pretending to be her rideshare driver.

On Dec. 16, 2018, a woman left a bar in Ballard after her friend called her a rideshare home, the King County Sheriff's Office said in a news release obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A man in a black vehicle, "possibly a Dodge Charger," told her he was the rideshare driver.

"So she went up to a couple of drivers and asked if they were her rideshare and finally one of drivers said, 'Yup  Im your rideshare, go ahead and get in,'" Sgt. Ryan Abbott with the King County Sheriffs Office told KOMO. Instead of taking her home, he took her to an area in White Center off Fifth Avenue South and he raped her."

Ninety minutes later, the man returned the woman to her home. In the surveillance video the man can be seen giving her back keys and a phone.

Surveillance footage from the sheriff's office shows the man they need help identifying.

He had not been associated with any rideshare companies, the sheriff's office said.

Last week, a college student in South Carolina was killed after she mistakenly got into a vehicle she thought was her Uber.

Its really important that you confirm that the same license plate on the car is the same license plate that is picking you up, said Abbott.

Anybody with information was urged to contact the sheriff's office at (206) 296-3311.NEW HAVEN  You know you love New Haven apizza when....?

Of course theres no need to answer that question because there is little doubt there is anyone reading this who does not love New Haven pizza, or would not love it, should they get a chance to try it. (and its apizza - yes, pronounced ah-BEETS)

Either way, as the folks from New Haven Museum note, whether your favorite slice comes from Sallys, Modern, or Pepes, or one of the newer Elm City pizza joints, you are likely to find passionate pizza devotees and lively discussion at Colin Caplans upcoming free presentation, Pizza in New Haven at the museum.

Yelp reviewers weigh in on the best pizza in New Haven

Based on his book by the same title, Caplans in-depth, history-focused presentation is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. April 23 and be followed by a book signing, the release said.

Related: New Haven pizza rises from humble beginnings to superstardom

Related: Jon Lovett pokes fun at Connecticut pizza and officials fire back

The book Pizza in New Haven is the culmination of over 140 years of Italian cultural and culinary influence in this storied Yankee industrial city, the release boted. Caplan captures a legendary past showcasing the toils of immigration and factory work and the bonds created through preparing family recipes.

For a sneak peek: During his presentation, Caplan will outline New Haven as one of the earliest and most influential pizza-making cities in the country and how hardworking families built a culinary industry around their shared passion for their native comfort food, the release said. The same coal that supplied the world with New Haven's factory fare cooked the delectable pizza that fed mill workers, produce farmers, politicians, college students and townies alike.

Related: Cocktail Museum in New Havens Ordinary looks at citys spirited past

Related: Top 50: New Haven a food destination with something for everyone

About Caplan, according to the museum:

- He is a New Haven native, architectural designer, historian, author, tour operator and pizza guru

- He graduated with a masters in architecture from Tulane University and worked under a number of notable architecture firms

- His food focus began when he founded Taste of New Haven culinary tours and events, which merged with his passion for writing and telling stories

- He has spent countless hours researching, writing, interviewing, studying and eating his way through the epoch of pizza in New Haven.

The New Haven Museum is at 114 Whitney Ave.

For more information visit www.newhavenmuseum.org or Facebook.com/NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.Two men have been arrested on charges they set a 27-year-old friend on fire while he was asleep on a couch in what police described as a prank that went terribly, terribly wrong."

Brandon Perez, 23, of Hammonton, and David Sult, 24, of Mays Landing, face charges of aggravated arson, aggravated assault and conspiracy, police in Hamilton, Atlantic County said Wednesday.

The Brigantine man was sleeping at Sults home on the 2900 block of Cologne Avenue in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton on March 15 when Sult and Perez intentionally lit him on fire, police said. Family members took the man to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City to be treated for severe burns. He was later moved to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, police said.

Perez was arrested March 25 and Sult was taken into custody on Monday. Both were sent to the Atlantic County jail. The U.S. Marshals Service assisted in the investigation.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.Gym class has been relocated in eight Washington Township schools as district officials weigh what could be a $3.2 million plan to replace rubber flooring thats been emitting a mercury vapor into the air.

The school board in Gloucester County will hold a special meeting Wednesday night address concerns about mercury contamination in eight of the townships 11 schools. The mercury had been used during the installation of rubberized flooring before 2000 and several years thereafter. Deteriorating floors are emitting mercury vapors which can be hazardous, officials said.

The floors are located in gym and recreation rooms, including a dance studio at the high school.

Remediation of the threat could cost as much as $3.2 million, officials said. It could involve removing the rubber flooring and some layers of whatever is underneath, typically concrete.

The school board meeting Wednesday will begin the process of selecting a contractor to do the work. The district wants to have it completed by the beginning of the next school year in the fall.

Due to the prospect of fair weather now that spring has arrived, and with an abundance of caution, all gym classes at our six elementary schools, Bunker Hill Middle School, and Washington Township High School will be relocated both in and out of the building to continue to provide health and physical education instruction and dance instruction, School Superintendent Joseph Bollendorf said in a letter the district released this week.

Although the test results and data presented by our District engineer and certified industrial hygienist indicate that our gyms tested well below the (state Department of Health) guidelines, and that the continued use of the gyms does not present any short- or long-term health risk based on the most advanced air quality testing, we feel this prudent step will put the minds of our community, our staff, and our students at ease.

Washington Township is not likely alone in this problem. The New Jersey Education Association recently warned its member teachers about the hazard.

Although NJEA and WEC issued an alert in 2017, only 11 locals have asked for help with mercury in gym floors, a statement on its website last month said. The union suspects there are more mercury-laced floors out there, and some tests have had high results.

An engineering report for the district concluded that boosting ventilation to the affected areas keeps levels from exceeding state standards for mercury emissions.

The mercury was used to cure the installation of the rubber to the floor and was not required to be cited as a material used in construction before it was banned by the federal government in 2000, district officials said.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Ask Alexa for New Jersey newsQ. If someone has to pay the exit tax, but if the home actually sells at a loss so youll get the money back, do you have to wait for the end of that tax year to file the nonresident tax return? Or can you file sooner?

 Selling

A. We know the term exit tax really gets peoples blood boiling.

The term sounds like a tax an individual must pay to in order to leave New Jersey for another state, but its not.

Its actually a pre-payment of estimated taxes paid on or before the date of the closing to prevent non-residents of New Jersey from evading income tax attributable to the sale of their New Jersey home, said Jennifer Presti, an attorney with Mandelbaum Salsburg in Roseland.

It is not an additional tax.

For tax purposes, non-residents of New Jersey are defined as individuals who do not reside in New Jersey as their permanent residence on or after the date of the real estate closing, Presti said. Persons who reside in New Jersey for only a portion of the year are also considered non-residents.

She said the tax payment required is 2 percent percent of the selling price of the home or 8.97 percent of the net gain from the sale of the home, whichever is greater.

Now for the kind of case youre asking about.

Even if the non-resident sellers of a New Jersey home recognize no gain from the sale, an amount equal to 2 percent of the sale price must still be paid on or before the date of the closing, Presti said.

The seller can wait until the end of the tax year and file a New Jersey Non-Resident Gross Income Tax Return to obtain his or her refund of the tax paid, she said. However, the seller can immediately file a Claim for Refund of Estimated Gross Income Tax Payment (A-3128) form with the New Jersey Division of Taxation in order to expedite the payment of the refund.

Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com.

Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.The federal government is reviewing an investigation that cleared a South Jersey police officer in the 2018 shooting death of a shoplifter who allegedly tried to run him down with an SUV.

An official with the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office revealed the investigation for possible civil rights violations in a letter to lawyers representing LaShanda Andersons family, who was shot to death June 9, 2018, in Deptford Township.

Anderson, 36, of Philadelphia, and two others were fleeing an aborted shoplifting at a Marshalls store. Deptford Sgt. Kevin A. Clements fired three shots at the SUV, killing Anderson.

The lawyers for Andersons family had requested a copy of the complete investigative file on the prosecutors review of the case. The prosecutors office denied that request, but in doing so, First Assistant Prosecutor Paul D. Colangelo acknowledged the federal review.

Note also that the Federal Government is reviewing my offices investigation to determine if Sgt. Clements committed any civil rights violations in his use of deadly force that resulted in Ms. Andersons death, he wrote.

The prosecutors office released details of its findings about the shooting in November, after a grand jury reviewed the case and declined to indict Clements.

Police were alerted to the shoplifting when a loss prevention officer at Marshalls called 911 to report that three people were trying to leave without paying for merchandise. During the call, he indicated that one of the shoplifters was wanted for a homicide. That turned out to be false.

As Anderson and two other alleged shoplifters, Chanel Barnes and Raoul Gadson, tried to leave with more than $3,000 in merchandise, they scuffled with store security before abandoning the goods.

As police arrived, Anderson and Barnes ran for the trios Nissan Armada and Gadson ran from the area.

Capt. William Bittner pulled his gun and ordered Anderson out of the vehicle, but she accelerated and hit him with the door after he had re-holstered his weapon and began approaching the SUV.

Bittner ran after the vehicle and threw his expandable baton at the rear window, shattering the glass, in hopes of making the vehicle easier to identify after the driver fled, according to investigators.

Deptford Police Sgt. Kevin A. Clements

Clements was standing between 12 and 25 feet in front of the vehicle and drew his firearm as he ordered Anderson out of the vehicle.

The SUV accelerated toward him and fearing for his life, he fired three shots in rapid succession, striking Anderson twice, prosecutors said. Barnes and Gadson were both charged for their roles in the shoplifting.

Stanley King, the lawyer for Andersons family, said word of federal involvement in the case was news to him, adding that he was concerned about the conclusion reached by the prosecutors office.

I was disappointed, quite honestly. I think that the version of events that the prosecutor stated happened doesnt comport with some of the eye witnesses that we interviewed, he said.

Gloucester County NAACP Chairwoman Loretta Winters said she had heard a few weeks ago that members of the FBI had visited the prosecutors office regarding the case and said that visit was confirmed by the prosecutor.

At this point, its a waiting game to find out what the FBI is going to come up with, Winters said. She added that she plans to ask the prosecutors office to publicly release whatever conclusion the feds reach in the review.

The county NAACP sought an independent investigation of the incident, which was conducted by former police officer Terence Jones.

Jones concluded in a letter sent to Deptford Township in February that Clements used excessive force and placed himself in imminent danger when he ran in between the parked cars and suddenly appeared in front in front of the SUV (after it made a right turn) to prevent Ms. Anderson and Ms. Barnes from leaving the area.

Jones is one of the founders of Absolute Justice, a Philadelphia-based organization that investigates police brutality and wrongful convictions nationwide.

Complicating this investigation was the fact that Deptford police dont have body or dashboard cameras.

Jones said two witnesses who were not called to appear before the grand jury stated that the SUV was facing away from the police and that the officers ran after the vehicle. In an interview with Jones, Barnes said that Clements appeared in front of the SUV and fired a shot without warning into the front windshield on the drivers side then fired two more shots after he stepped out of the path of the vehicle.

In addition to reviewing this shooting, Jones said he looked at other allegations of excessive force filed against Clements by two women involved in other incidents. Based on his findings, he said he was surprised the Deptford Police Departments internal affairs unit didnt flag the officer.

Its obvious that the police cant police themselves and the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office are not holding violent police officers accountable for using excessive force, he said.

They botched this whole investigation, Jones said of the Anderson case. It was not fair. It was not impartial. It was not a search for the truth.

The truth, Jones said, is that Clements took Andersons life for no reason. He should be arrested and charged with killing LaShanda Anderson.

Jones said he is also filing a complaint against Clements with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Newark.

Clements documented five use of force incidents between 2012 and 2016, according to NJ.coms Force Report. Four of those involved use of compliance holds on suspects, while the fifth involved using pepper spray. No injuries were listed for any of these incidents.

GCPO officials declined to discuss the Anderson case Wednesday.

The pending review of this matter precludes any further comment from the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office at this time, a spokesman said in a statement.

Deptford police did not respond to a request for comment about Clements current status with the department.

Anderson, Barnes and Gadson were known to Marshalls from prior shoplifting incidents, and Anderson was wanted by Delaware police following thefts from Marshalls stores in that state.

Her extensive criminal history included an attempted murder charge in 2015 following a shooting at a Philadelphia laundromat. The attempted murder and weapons charges against her were dismissed after a mistrial. She received probation after pleading guilty to possessing a criminal instrument.

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.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.The man charged with raping and strangling a jogger in Jersey Citys Lincoln Park had already been deported twice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

Jorge Rios, who was identified by ICE officials as Jorge Alberto Rios-Doblado, is from Honduras and has been removed from the country on two prior occasions, in 2003 and 2004, according to ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operation (ICE-ERO) in Newark. ICE officials also said Rios initially entered the country illegally.

ICE-ERO said that it has placed a detainer on Rios following his arrest on Sunday on charges the 33-year-old kidnapped, raped and murdered Carolina Cano, 45, of Gautier Avenue in Jersey City, on March 24. The nannys body was found in the lake near the Casino in the Park building that day.

The ICE-ERO spokesman said "ICE maintains that cooperation by local law enforcement is an indispensable component of promoting public safety. ICE will seek taking custody of Rios at the conclusion of his criminal proceedings, despite limited cooperation in the state.

If Rios is convicted of the charges against him, he will have to serve his prison term first before a possible third deportation. The charge of murder carries a possible sentence of 30 years to life in prison upon conviction.

Rios, formerly of Belmont Avenue in Jersey City, was arrested in a Jersey City restaurant on Sunday and is being housed at the Hudson County jail in Kearny. The state has filed a motion to detain him through the course of his prosecution.

Following Canos death, Jersey City Police Department Emergency Services Unit divers have returned to the lake at least twice to scour it for further evidence. Divers were most recently in the water on Monday.

Rios was spotted on surveillance video in the area the womans body was found around the time police believe she was murdered, a law enforcement source said.

Cano is from Peru and worked as a nanny. A resident of the building where she lived off West Side Avenue said she had been in the United States for about two years. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has said that it appears Cano and Rios were strangers.

Rios was at the Belmont Avenue building to visit residents of his former first floor apartment on the weekend Cano was raped and killed, one resident of the building said. Little is known about Rios, who authorities said Wednesday works at a Jersey City company that cleans stores.

A manager at the cleaning company, USA Steam Cleaning, said Rios applied for work in November and said he had citizenship documentation. He said Rios came back several times but never provided his documentation and as a result, never worked for the company.

We told him to bring paperwork and he didnt have it, said Rolando Velazquez, an accountant for the company. This is not uncommon. It happens once or twice a month.

Meanwhile, a resident of the Belmont Avenue apartment where Rios had lived said he often appeared to be intoxicated.

A spokesman for ICE-ERO would say only that Rios was previously removed from the United States due to immigration violations. At a meeting with residents Tuesday night, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said Rios has no previous criminal record.JERSEY CITY  Representatives of a family that reportedly owns more than $1 billion in real estate and a city with a $595 million budget haggled in court Tuesday over a $113,659 legal bill.

The parties were Jersey City and Kushner Companies, the development firm run by the family of President Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner. They are locked in two separate legal battles, one in federal court over the companys stalled One Journal Square project and the other in Hudson County Superior Court regarding a multitude of documents the firm requested last year from Jersey City and hasnt received.

The public records case was front and center on Tuesday in Judge Francis B. Schultzs fourth-floor courtroom in the Brennan courthouse in Jersey City. Kushner Companies already won the central dispute  Schultz ordered the city in December to hand over the requested documents  and on Tuesday the judge heard Kushner Companies arguments that the city should pay its $113,659 legal bill. The state Open Public Records Act allows prevailing parties in records disputes to seek reimbursement for legal costs.

Schultz did not rule on the legal bill during Tuesdays hourlong hearing but he questioned the figure. Kushner Companies' attorneys, Sills Cummis & Gross, says it worked over 200 hours on the case, with one attorney making $695 an hour and another making $595 an hour.

Thats a lot of money, Schultz told Kushner Companies attorney Joseph B. Fiorenzo. The rates were rather on the high side.

We put in the time and effort necessary, Fiorenzo said. In my firm we dont skimp.

City attorney John McKinney called some of the charges outlandish, citing a claim that one of the Kushner attorneys spent 77 hours on the companys initial legal filing, for a total of $38,500. That filing and its supporting documents total 150 pages.

Kushner Companies and one of its partners, KABR Group, filed the federal lawsuit in June, alleging Mayor Steve Fulop, the city and its redevelopment agency are blocking One Journal Square because of Fulops animus toward President Trump. Fulop, a Democrat, has denied that claim.

Fulop threw the future of the two-tower project in doubt when he announced in 2017 that he would not support the developers request for a 30-year tax abatement and millions in city-issued bonds.

Kushner Companies filed its first OPRA request with the city on June 26, the day before it filed its federal lawsuit. It asked for all applications for tax abatements sought by the previous owners of the One Journal Square site; emails between Fulop and council members about tax abatement requests; all executive orders regarding abatements; and more.

The city denied the request, saying it would take so much time to fulfill it would cripple city operations. Schultz minimized that claim on Tuesday, saying the requested documents are sitting in town hall somewhere. The judge also chided the city for not handing over any documents to Kushner Companies after he ordered the city to do so in his Dec. 28 ruling.

On Tuesday the city asked Schultz to halt enforcement of the December ruling until it appeals the decision. He denied that request and signed a second order that requires the city to deliver the requested documents to Kushner Companies.

The judge warned the city about not heeding the second order. If he has to issue a third one, he said, things can become unpleasant for the city.

McKinney said the city would begin collecting the documents on Wednesday.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.Curious Matters celebrates 10 years

Artists Meg Atkinson and Ben Pranger have made the question of space an aspect of their work. How vast is it? How do we understand it, measure it, and depict it? To shed some light on these questions, contemporary art gallery and project space Curious Matters, 272 Fifth St., Jersey City, is celebrating its 10 year anniversary with a two-person exhibition featuring the works of Atkinson and Pranger, To Some Point True and Unproven," with its opening reception taking place on Sunday, April 7, from 3 to 6 p.m. The exhibits title comes from a poem by Rita Dove.

Mathematicians, scientists, and artists have grappled with the question of space for ages. Doves poem suggests a theorem that blows apart the space where our ideas reside until any old notion we previously held explodes and flutters away. The artists in To Some Point True and Unproven, Atkinson and Pranger, have taken up the challenge to tame space and make it a subject of their work.

Atkinsons paintings are a callback to graffiti in the New York City subways from the 70s and 80s as well as painter Stuart Davis. An unapologetic tinkerer, she often returns to her canvases to add more depth to them. Prangers sculptures protrude out of a wall like an insect hive or grow from a base like a termite mound, often giving the impression that the work is still growing with each viewing.

Still time to see this Jersey City artist

Jersey City artist Mark Finne had a private opening reception for his latest art show, spring aw8kening," on March 20 at the Acuworx Acupuncture Studio. If you couldnt be at the extravaganza, you can still make time and check out the show at Vito A. Lofts, 190 Christopher Columbus Dr., Studio 3A, Jersey City, where Acuworx Acupuncture Studio is located.

Finnes work will be on display and for sale from now through June. Eight additional pieces of his work are featured in the main lobby of Vito A. Lofts. Ten percent of all sales will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties. For more information on viewing, purchasing, or commissioning artwork, visit Finneland.com. Hours for Acuworx Acupuncture Studio are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Wednesdays to Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

Grab a glass of wine for this exhibit at 313 Gallery

A new collection of work by artist Hellen Cha-Kim, Diffused Delight, will open on Saturday, April 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Gallery 313, 313 3rd St., Jersey City. Guests can view the new collection of work, meet the artist, and enjoy a glass of wine while theyre at it.

Cha-Kim became interested in abstract figure painting while studying figure. Cha-Kim is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and studied at the Art Students` League in New York City. She became a full-time artist in Jersey City after teaching art education.EDITORS NOTE: Entrepreneurs everywhere are eyeing the billion-dollar legal weed industry, an economic opportunity unrivaled in modern N.J. history. NJ Cannabis Insider features exclusive weekly content geared toward those interested in the marijuana industry. View a sample issue.

Marijuana legalization in New Jersey could happen as soon as next month, or it could be much later.

But the state lawmaker behind the legal weed bill said it was not a matter of if  but a matter of when  legalization happens in the Garden State.

At an event hosted by NJ Cannabis Insider, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, said that the goal is to to have the state Legislature vote on the measure in May, but that it would only happen if the votes were in place. If not, he said, the vote would be delayed again.

Last week, a vote on legalization was canceled because there wasnt enough support in the state Senate for the bill. In the days after, lawmakers and Gov. Phil Murphy said they were now aiming to hold the vote in May.

Scutari said he spoke with Murphy, a fellow Democrat, and his team on Tuesday and that they were still working to secure the votes to legalize marijuana.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, had previously said that if legal weed wasnt done by the spring, he would push the vote until after the election in November. So now its a waiting game to see if lawmakers can gather support in the coming weeks.

Murphy and the two leaders of the Democratic-controlled Legislature  Sweeney and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex  have downplayed the setback of last weeks vote being canceled and said they would make another go at passing the bill. They just havent publicly specified when.

History is rarely made at the first attempt, Murphy said during a news conference after the vote was scuttled last week. History is often a bumpy road of fits and starts and setbacks.

Sources have told NJ Advance Media that they are short just one or two votes in the Senate.

But how Murphy and legislative leaders try to get those final votes will be crucial. Its unclear whether theyll have to make major alterations to the bill or simply amp up negotiations with lawmakers leaning no or on the fence.

Scutari on Wednesday said that he doesnt think the legalization bill will need major changes, echoing what the governor said last week.

My gut tells me its more tweaking than not, the governor said at an unrelated news conference in Newark.

The next day both the Senate and the Assembly will hold voting sessions at the Statehouse in Trenton is May 13, meaning lawmakers have a month and a half to swing the last few votes.

Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion.

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Are you interested in the N.J. cannabis industry? Subscribe here for exclusive insider information from NJ Cannabis Insider.In front of a sea of supporters at a vigil in Robbinsville Tuesday night, the family and friends of the late Samantha Josephson spoke about the young woman they all called Sammy. In between their tears, they also smiled while sharing memories of the countless times the 21-year-old had them giggling or downright hysterical with her Sammyisms.

From when she was a young girl playing house, to a teenager having living room dance parties complete with penguin belly slides across the coffee table, Sammy made every occasion a party, they said.

Shes as kooky and as laughable and as light-hearted and one of the best kids youll ever meet in your whole life, her father, Seymour Josephson, said at the vigil at West Town Center Lake.

Seymour Josephson also told the crowd of hundreds that his daughter was murdered. He noted that some people didnt like that word being used, but it was important to him to name what happened to his daughter when she got into a strangers car in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday after mistaking it for her Uber ride.

I want it out there because he was a monster. What he did, I dont want anyone else to go through this as a parent, her father said.

Police said Samantha Josephson got into the vehicle of Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, and Rowland kidnapped and murdered her, dumping her body more than 60 miles away. He was arrested when a cop stopped his car, and police later found her blood and cell phone inside the vehicle, authorities said.

Samantha Josephson, a student at the University of South Carolina who is from Robbinsville, was found dead. (Columbia Police Department)

Her death devastated not only her loved ones in her hometown of Robbinsville, but also the community at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where she was set to graduate with a political science degree in May. She had been accepted into law school at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

She was the love of my life, her boyfriend, Greg Corbishley said at the vigil, his sentence cut off by a sob. And I was on the phone tracking her, through all this just to make sure she got home safely and I immediately knew something was wrong. Unfortunately I was two hours away. Id do anything, do anything, to go back.

Like he did at a vigil at USC, Seymour Josephson took the opportunity Tuesday to tell people that something needs to happen to make sure people using ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft are getting in the right vehicle. He wants the apps to come up with better ways to identify the right car, and wants people to be more careful to not travel alone.

He said he hates the cliche about finding making something good come from something awful because, I didnt want this.

But thats what we want. We want something to change, he said.

Nathaniel David Rowland is charged with kidnapping and murder of Samantha Josephson of Robbinsville. (Columbia Police Department)

As the sun set Tuesday night, a steady stream of Samantha Josephsons close friends took the microphone to describe their beloved friend, from her caring nature to her clumsiness that had her constantly breaking phones, laptops and bones.

Sammy will be known for her selflessness, her wit, her infectious laughter, her bright, beautiful smile, and her ability to fill a room with her vibrant energy, said her life-long friend, Jess Samel.

Other friends recalled countless sushi meals shared with Sammy, and summer trips to Long Beach Island. Or the time that she and her friends decided at 17 to take a beginner tap dancing class, and ended up performing a dance at a recital alongside 7-year-olds. Others described her youthful obsession with Justin Bieber, remembering attending the concerts together and camping out in front of Rockefeller Center for a chance to see him when he was on the Today Show.

When I try to think of the words to describe Sammy all I can think to say is, Well, shes just Sammy, and I think we all know what that means," Samel said. "Its impossible not to be happy and laughing with Sammy.

Josephsons funeral takes place at noon Wednesday at Congregation Beth Chaim in West Windsor.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.They came by the hundreds to say goodbye to Samantha Sammy Josephson, the fun-loving and adored 21-year-old college student from Robbinsville who was kidnapped and killed last week in South Carolina after getting into a car she mistook for her Uber ride.

For more than an hour Wednesday, family and friends streamed up the walkways to Congregation Beth Chaim in West Windsor for Josephsons funeral and embraced as the wind whipped their black clothes around them. The street was shut down and cars were parked two-wide for a half-mile around the synagogue.

Josephson was stabbed to death Friday by Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, after she got into his car that she mistook for her Uber ride after a night out in Columbia, South Carolina, police said. The senior political science major was ready to graduate in May and had been accepted to law school at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

A cousin, Seth Josephson, told reporters outside the funeral that what happened was the senseless killing of a wonderful girl.

Josephson went missing Friday near her college campus in Columbia, South Carolina. Saturday morning her father said she was dead.

The sadness that is being suffered will never end. It may wane in the future, but will always leave a hole in the hearts of [her] fun-loving, generous and kind parents and sister, Seth Josephson said. Today, they dont know and cant contemplate how they will think of the future.

At an emotional vigil in Robbinsville Tuesday night, hundreds more gathered around the Josephson family with candles to hear remembrances of Sammy, a sweet, caring girl who cared deeply for her family and friends. They called her silly, recalled her giggling antics as Sammyisms and said you couldnt help but love and laugh with her.

Her father, Seymour Josephson called her as kooky and as laughable and as light-hearted and one of the best kids youll ever meet in your whole life.

Her boyfriend, Greg Corbishley called her the love of his life and lamented that he was hours away when she disappeared Friday. And I was on the phone tracking her, through all this just to make sure she got home safely and I immediately knew something was wrong, he said at Tuesdays vigil.

Outside the funeral Wednesday, Seth Josephson said the family thanks the community, local law enforcement and Congregation Beth Chaim for all the support and help this week. He also thanked police in South Carolina.

Their pursuit to find the animal who took Sammy from us, those efforts wont soon be forgotten, he said.

Like Seymour Josephson, he took the opportunity to call for change in the ride-sharing industry to make sure that the mistake Samantha Josephson made will never happen again. Her father suggested Tuesday that there should be more official ways, like a special license plate or a barcode that can be scanned by the app to make sure a customer is getting into the right car.

Education and laws need to be put into place to protect people and the ride-share industry, Seth Josephson said. With the millions of dollars it earns, the Ubers and Lyfts should be compelled to adjust its business model, better ensuring its riders safety. The rules and regulations must be changed to create accountability in this industry.

Lawmakers in South Carolina have already introduced a bill that would require ride-share drivers to have illuminated signs on their vehicles.

Surveillance video obtained by South Carolina news site The State showed Samantha Josephson waiting alone by the curb, and then climbing into the black Impala that pulled up before driving away. Hunters found her body 60 miles away on Saturday and police arrested Rowland hours later. They found her blood and cell phone in his car, according to authorities.

12 Candlelight vigil for Samantha Lee Josephson

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.An Indian national who entered the U.S. illegally and was arrested in Middlesex County was deported on Monday to his home country, where he is reportedly wanted in a plot to kill two filmmakers, officials said.

Ubaidullah Abdulrashid Radiowala, known as Obed Radiowala, was sought in India on charges including attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, extortion, forgery and weapons offenses, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Officers with ICEs Newark division arrested Radiowala Sept. 20, 2017, in Iselin, federal officials said. An immigration judge ordered Radiowala deported and the 46-year-old lost an appeal to stop his removal.

This individuals long list of criminal charges in his home country, including attempted murder, show that he was a danger to the community here in the U.S., John Tsoukaris, field office director with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Newark, said in a statement. The courageous and targeted efforts of our officers show our ongoing commitment to public safety.

Officers from ICE's Newark division removed Obed Radiowala April 1, 2019 (Photo: ICE)

Working at the direction of reputed Indian gangster Ravi Pujari, Radiowala was allegedly part of a scheme to kill filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Karim Morani in 2014, according to a report from Indian newspaper Hindustan Times.

The plot stemmed from a dispute over the rights to a Bollywood film, Mumbai-based newspaper The Indian Express reported.

Authorities issued a worldwide alert to find Radiowala, according to Indias Central Bureau of Investigation website.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newslettersA man wanted for the murder of his girlfriends father in Connecticut last year was recently arrested at the Jersey Shore.

The New Jersey State Police arrested Quahzier Bouie, 24, at a home in Neptune last Wednesday, the agency said in a news statement.

Bouie and girlfriend Jessica Keene, 24, are charged with the murder of her father, Michael Keene, at an apartment in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

He was reported missing after being last seen on Nov. 11 last year, the Windsor Locks police said. On Nov. 27, officers were called to the apartment for a report of a body stuffed in a plastic storage bin.

They later learned it was Keene, who had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and neck, police said. His daughter was arrested a few days later at a motel in Hartford and charged with murder, according to the local NBC news station.

The state police arrested Bouie and placed him in the Monmouth County Jail on a fugitive from justice charge. He is awaiting extradition to Connecticut to face charges of murder, murder conspiracy and tampering with evidence.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.A 28-year-old New York City woman struck a Port Authority police officer with her car on Tuesday and led police on a more than 20 mile chase that ended in Somerset County when she pulled off a highway and surrendered, authorities said.

The officers injuries were minor, a Port Authority spokeswoman said.

New Jersey State Police said they were notified by Port Authority police around 5:30 p.m. that the woman was fleeing west on Interstate 78 in Union County. Troopers spotted the woman near milepost 52 in Union Township and multiple units began pursuing her with lights and sirens on through rush hour traffic at varying speeds," Trooper Alejandro Goez said.

The woman, Angelina Salas, of Jackson Heights, New York, exited the highway at the Scenic Overlook in Bridgewater, where she was taken into custody, Goez said.

State Police charged Salas with eluding and possession of crack cocaine with Port Authority police expected to file additional charges.

Goez deferred other questions about the incident to the Port Authority, which hasnt disclosed where the officer was struck.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.Three years ago, Nicholas DiMona III carried a Gold Star banner during the NJ Run for the Fallen to honor his father and namesake, who was killed in an Army helicopter crash during a training accident in 2004. He enlisted in the Army the next year.

Now, DiMonas name will join his fathers on the runs Wall of Honor after he was accidentally shot and killed in a live-fire training exercise in Alaska on Saturday.

Spc. DiMona, 20, of Medford Lakes, was assigned to the Armys 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and was with his unit near Fort Greely when the accident occurred. The incident is under investigation, army officials said.

DiMona graduated in 2016 from Shawnee High School. The loss of his father, Chief Warrant Officer Nicholas P. DiMona, II, inspired his decision to pursue a career in the Army, according to a statement released by the school.

He always wanted to serve our country even though his family endured the tremendous loss of his father, said Jenn Pulliam, a teacher at Shawnee and his neighbor.

Nicholas P. DiMona died on March 30 after he was accidentally fatally shot during a live-fire army training in Alaska. (Courtesy NJ Run For the Fallen)

Shawnee High School counselor Kevin Looney said DiMona expressed interest in joining the Army early in his high school career.

In working with students, we often discuss potential plans for the future," Looney said in the statement. With Nick it was easy, I think he told me the first time I met in his freshman year that he was going to be a soldier in the U.S. Army. Thats what he always wanted, and what makes this terrible news even more heart breaking.

While Shawnee doesnt offer a JROTC program, DiMona accepted an award in 2015 on behalf of his father at the schools Annual Armed Services Awards Ceremony, which honors students entering the military or family members that have served.

When he enlisted in 2017, DiMona shared proud photos of him in uniform with his friends on social media.

Congrats Nick, reads a friends comment on a 2017 photo. Good job buddy so proud of you. Im sure your father is smiling down at you and is so proud also.

DiMonas father, Nicholas P. DiMona, II died when his his Apache Longbow helicopter crashed during a night training flight in Georgia on June 22, 2004. He had flown in the Iraq War and was a lead pilot during the first combat mission of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. He was 32.

DiMona II was memorialized during Waterford Townships War Memorial Committees Honor and Remember Flag Presentation dinner in 2017. The family honored their fallen father and husband several times a year, including at the NJ Run For The Fallen they would annually attend, president of the run Mike Simpson said.

Nick came out and ran with our team for his fathers hero mile in 2016, Simpson said. His younger sister ran in 2018, he said.

DiMonas training death on Saturday was felt across the community, particularly at the local YMCA, where his mother Melissa works and DiMona had served as a lifeguard.

We, at the YMCA of the Pines, are heartbroken at the untimely and tragic death of 20-year-old Nick DiMona III," the organization wrote on Facebook. Nick practically grew up here, starting out as a camper and then joining the staff as a junior counselor, counselor, lifeguard and member of the Schools Out staff.

Parents left dozens of comments on the post, noting how their sons were in DiMonas group and would come home raving about him. Others left prayers for his younger sister and mother.

Funeral services for DiMona have not yet been announced.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.A probation officer who was charged with sexually assaulting a woman he supervised while she was on probation was arrested again on Monday after he violated the terms of his release by making contact with her, prosecutors said.

Henry C. Cirignano, 48, of Wall Township, was charged with witness tampering, terroristic threats and contempt of court for violating his pre-trial release order, according to a release from the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office.

Cirignano was originally arrested on Feb. 4 and charged with two counts of sexual assault, one of which involved the coercion of the woman and the other stemmed from his supervisory capacity over her, the release stated. He was charged later that week with official misconduct.

He was released from Ocean County Jail on Feb. 11 after a hearing and over the States arguments and was was ordered to not leave his home and not have contact with his alleged victim, prosecutors said in the release.

Monmouth County Prosecutors Office Spokesman Chris Swendeman said he could not comment on what exactly Cirignano was accused of saying to the woman, whose name was not released by prosecutors.

Cirignano was taken to Monmouth County Jail pending his upcoming court appearance.

He faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted on his new charges and up to 25 years if he is found guilty of his original charges.

He earns a salary of over $88,000 and has been in state pension system for 18 years, according to online records.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.The Force Report is a continuing investigation of police use of force in New Jersey. Read more from the series or search your local police department and officers in the full the database.

Every time I wake up, I feel my blackness," Zellie Thomas told a room full of residents in Paterson. "I walk the streets not knowing if Ill make it home or not.

Thomas, a Black Lives Matter activist, was one of several people Tuesday who told their stories of living with police bias against black residents. We need to rebuild a new system that serves us and not white supremacy, he said.

Salvation and Social Justice, a coalition of black faith leaders and activists, organized the meeting at the Bethel AME church as part of a series to discuss The Force Report, an 18-month investigation into police use of force by NJ Advance Media that found broad racial disparities in how police hit, pepper spray and use other types of force against residents.

Marie Ligon from Center of Grace in Paterson said she was breaking up a fight among 13- and 14-year-olds outside a McDonalds when an officer approached the group. The kids said, Dont mace the preacher,' she said. He just started macing all of us.

Ligon ended up in the emergency room with high blood pressure while her granddaughter went around the corner to a friends house to rinse the spray from her eyes. Ligon said she reported the incident to Internal Affairs, but the department said the security tape from McDonalds was lost.

Jameek Lowery was on the minds of many who came to the podium. Lowery filmed himself at the police station saying he was afraid for his life on Jan. 7. He arrived at the hospital shortly after with broken bones and bruises and was soon pronounced dead. Paterson police said he died of meningitis. No autopsy results have been released to the public.

Lowerys mother, Patricia, was in attendance, and those who came to speak expressed suspicion of the official story of what occurred. The route from the police department to the hospital is three to five minutes, Thomas said. You said you used a compliance hold on him, and he died just five minutes later? Experts consider compliance holds to be the lowest level of force.

The Paterson police department did not return a request for comment about Lowerys case and other allegations by publication time.

Others continued to share how they had witnessed force used against black people. Angela Godfrey said cops shot her cousin with his son standing next to him. Now, he doesnt want to be next to his father, she said.

Ashante Bynum said the police beat her stepfather until his eye popped out of his socket. I havent seen a lot of happy in my life, she said.

The Rev. Charles Boyer, executive director of Salvation and Social Justice and the organizer of the meeting, said the attorney general asked them to participate in the offices listening sessions. But the reverend refused. Well hear from our folks what needs to be done and go and tell you, he said. You cant expect a slavemaster to bring about a more humane system.

Speakers advocated for better bias training, better screening of officers and a civilian review board to investigate complaints. But Thomas said he doesnt want to meet with the police. They know the solution: Stop killing black people, he said.

Salvation and Social Justices meetings will continue April 16 in New Brunswick and conclude with a May 21 meeting in Pleasantville.

Erin Petenko may be reached at epetenko@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @EPetenko. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A Maplewood man whose family sued the municipal police department after he said he was marched out of town and beaten by officers during an Independence Day celebration in 2016 has settled the suit.

Jason McDougall, who was 17 when the lawsuit was filed in 2017, reached the settlement with town on Feb. 20, according to an order by the U.S. District for the District of New Jersey.

McDougall reached amicable settlement with the town, local advocacy group Black Parents Workshop said Tuesday

The terms and details of the settlement where not disclosed by the group which pushed for justice for McDougall and the other teens who were part of the incident.

We are pleased to learn that a modicum of justice has been received by Mr. McDougall, a young person from our community, for the treatment he received on July 5, 2016," Black Parents Workshop Chairman Walter Fields said in a release. "Nothing can compensate for the indignities Jason suffered on that night, in his own community. We stood by this young man from the beginning because we believed then, and do now, that Black youth in our community deserve to be treated with respect and afforded the courtesies extended to any citizen. We are encouraged that the new leadership of the Maplewood Police Department will continue to make efforts to reform police practices in the community.

Police at the time said a fight broke out among several teens following the townships fireworks show near the Maplewood-Irvington border. Police tried to move the crowd into Irvington and four juveniles were arrested.

Fields said that the video showed that there never was a fight and that the teens were assaulted.

McDougal has said he was complying with the officers commands but was still beaten, pepper sprayed and kicked in the head by officers.

Fields said that the polices treatment of McDougal was the most egregious part of the night and led to the lawsuit.

Residents complained to Maplewood officials about the incident and accused the police of racially profiling the black youths, leading to an investigation by the Essex County Prosecutors Office, which was eventually handed back to the town.

Following the release of the video of the incident and a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that deemed police video could be part of the public record, the Maplewood Township Committee called for the resignation of Maplewood Police Chief Robert Cimino and Captain Joshua J. Cummis.

Cimino and Cummins then left the department after negotiating their exit, according to the release.

The prosecutors office investigation did not find evidence to charge the officers involved, but 10 were disciplined during a Maplewood Police internal investigation.

The town also hired a firm to look at its police reform measures on the permissibility of citizen input on police oversight under current statutes and practical measures to improve police-community relations, according to the Black Parents Workshop release.

The Force Report, a 16-month investigation by NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, showed that police in Maplewood use force at more than three times the state rate.

The report also found that a use of force report for the 2016 incident was never recorded and Maplewood Police Chief James DeVaul, who was promoted after the resignation of Ciminio, confirmed that no forms were filed following the melee.

DeVaul and Mayor Victor DeLuca could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.Weve heard enough from crazed conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the man who terrorized the parents of 6-year-olds murdered at Sandy Hook.

One of the grieving fathers he harassed, Jeremy Richman, just killed himself. Naturally, Jones sees a scam in that too.

At the same time, the shock-jock radio host now blames psychosis for all his reckless rhetoric and nut-job theories, including that this mass shooting was staged by the government to take your guns away.

Hes been cornered by lawyers for the families. Hes finally being called to account, after a judge ordered that he answer questions in a deposition, as part of the defamation suit they filed against him.

But what about all the prominent conservatives who bolstered or defended Jones and his breathless website, InfoWars, over the years, like Matt Drudge or Tucker Carlson? Whats their excuse?

Start with the President of the United States.

Your reputation is amazing, Donald Trump gushed to Jones while on the campaign trail in 2016. I will not let you down.

Its not just that Trump heaped praise on this man. Its that he acts like him, peddling misinformation for personal gain. Take our pop quiz: Who said it  Jones, on his crackpot platforms, or the President?

Barack Obama wasnt born in the United States and may be a secret Muslim. Routine vaccines are dangerous, but banned asbestos is actually safe.

Climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese to hurt our manufacturing. There was never any drought in California, it was all just a government plot to protect a three-inch fish.

Ted Cruzs father was involved in the murder of John F. Kennedy. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia may not have died of natural causes; he, too, could have been assassinated.

Obama officials planted a bug in Trump tower during the 2016 campaign. Millions of unauthorized immigrants voted illegally for Hillary Clinton in the last election.

Thousands and thousands of Muslims publicly celebrated the 9/11 attacks in New Jersey. And the media is the enemy of the people.

The answer, in all cases, is Trump  or both. Some of the presidents batty theories originated from Jones. Others get rehashed and further promoted on his website or radio station.

Its like an echo chamber: Trump repeats Jones attack on the media, then Jones broadcasts it all over again, but louder, telling his millions of listeners that mainstream reporters are the enemy, and to get their battle rifles ready.

Both men have a persecution complex. The deep state government and big institutions are out to get them. Both spread dangerous quackery, but in response to any criticism, are quick to claim that they are the victims of an unjust smear campaign.

Both have found ways to monetize their deceptions, whether its by selling snake-oil nutritional supplements to millions of InfoWars listeners, or a fake degree from Trump University.

Heres the key difference: Only one of these con men is now being deposed, under oath, at the risk of serious legal penalties. This is what prompted Jones to say he has a mental disorder.

Whether you believe him, or think that he deliberately sowed false fears to gain more followers and make himself rich, what does that say about the president?

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.By Alberto Arroyo and Debra Coyle McFadden

These days, New Jersey plays a major role in the multibillion dollar e-commerce economy.

The workers who make this economy possible deserve a fair shake.

E-commerce warehouses that support online retailers, national chain stores, and top apparel brands are expanding in New Jersey because of our large ports, our highway system, and our proximity to millions of customers in the New York City metro area.

As the governor looks to reform our state subsidy programs, New Jersey should attach enforceable labor standards to the incentives that warehouse operators, e-commerce companies, and logistics firms receive for doing business here in New Jersey.

In the last five years, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has awarded around $230 million in tax credits to warehouse distribution centers, with more than $140 million awarded in 2018 alone.

In light of the comptrollers damning audit of NJEDA tax incentive programs its urgent that these subsidies receive additional scrutiny.

When New Jerseys taxpayers and communities subsidize warehouse facilities for e-commerce, they often receive few public benefits in return. Currently, there are no requirements for warehouse owners or operators receiving state subsidies to meet decent standards regarding wages, benefits, health and safety conditions, the need for permanent, full time jobs, or to address other issues impacting warehouse workers.

In other words, we have been subsidizing corporations without requiring that they create the kinds of jobs that New Jersey residents need.

Thats a problem Gov. Phil Murphy should fix, especially as he looks to tackle income inequality, and reform how state subsidies and tax incentives are used to boost job creation.

More than 50,000 workers are employed in warehouse distribution jobs in New Jersey. Warehouse employment is projected to grow by an additional 42 percent through 2026, according to the states Department of Labor. The state government should ensure that this growth generates good-paying, safe, secure jobs for New Jerseyans.

Yet a recent research report from Warehouse Workers Stand Up shows that warehouse distribution jobs here are often dangerous, underpaid, and in need of more scrutiny and regulation from state government.

Many of these workers still earn low-wages and face erratic schedules as part-time, seasonal, or temp workers. They lack decent benefits and a path to full-time jobs and careers. And they are subject to unsafe working conditions.

This past October, 44-year-old Jose R. Caba, a Macys warehouse worker in Edison, fell more than 30 feet from a cargo lift to his death. Then, in December, dozens of workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville were sent to the hospital from an exploding can of bear repellent.

These workers, overwhelmingly immigrants, women, and people of color, are struggling to survive and support themselves and their families in our high-cost cities and towns. The e-commerce boom should not leave them high and dry.

Warehouse facilities and distribution centers that receive tax incentives and other subsidies should be required to implement a Code of Conduct that protects workers on the front lines of New Jerseys e-commerce sector. It should include provisions for workplace safety, living wages, fair schedules, permanent, full time employment, the right to organize, affordable health care and safe production quotas for workers in this rapidly growing field.

The NJEDA can monitor compliance with these criteria whenever a company applies for a subsidy to open or operate a warehouse distribution center. To keep taxpayers informed, the agency should publish an annual report evaluating how each company is implementing the Code of Conduct for warehouse workers, and any other commitments made to the NJEDA.

If a company fails to live up to its commitments, they should be required to forfeit the subsidies.

Too often, dangerous, low-wage warehouse jobs are a path to working poverty, instead of lifting workers up and putting them on a path to the middle class.

As more companies apply for subsidies to open new warehouse distribution centers and expand e-commerce, New Jerseys message to them should be: we want you here, but we need you to create better quality, full-time jobs and careers for warehouse workers.

Otherwise, whats the point?

Alberto Arroyo is international vice president of Workers United. Debra Coyle McFadden is executive director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newslettersBy Jon S. Corzine

When California Governor Gavin Newsom suspended executions in his state, he took a momentous step in our nations long journey toward justice. The importance of his action - at this moment of awakening to the undeniable influence of race in our justice system - cannot be overstated. His example, as the leader of the state with the largest death row, laid the foundation for the next chapter on ending capital punishment.

The history of the death penalty in the United States is long and shameful. Governor Newsom, in announcing his order, cited well-documented racial bias in death sentencing and the prevalence of wrongful convictions. He joins other state leaders from both parties over twenty years who have shown tremendous moral conviction in standing against capital punishment, which has repeatedly been unjustly and unequally applied.

I well recall the roots of this new era on capital punishment. It was 19 years ago, in January 2000. I was soon to enter the U.S. Senate after running on a platform that included working to end to the death penalty. A spate of innocent people who had been sentenced to die had been released after evidence of their innocence came to light. Thirteen of them were from Illinois, and the specter of coming close to executing one of them shook Illinois Governor George Ryan to his core. Ryan, a Republican, announced that he was suspending executions. It was an unprecedented action for a Republican governor  or any governor  at a time when public support for the death penalty was high.

Governor Ryan cited fairness and justice as the basis for his action, which sparked the beginning of the end of the death penalty in America. Today, we stand on the precipice of finishing the job.

The DPIC released its 2018 annual report on Dec. 14, detailing the year in the death penalty (DPIC)

Two years later, Maryland instituted the countrys second executive moratorium, and then in 2005, New Jerseys legislature followed suit with a bipartisan bill that also created a blue ribbon commission to study the issue. Members included families of murder victims, sitting prosecutors, a police chief, faith leaders, and other leaders in our state. After months of careful study and public hearings, the commission concluded that capital punishment must end in New Jersey.

By 2007, as governor of New Jersey, I was honored to promote and then sign our nations first bill to repeal the death penalty in the modern era of capital punishment. I will always be grateful to those who fought for that day, including the lead bill sponsors: Senators Christopher Bateman (R), Raymond Lesniak (D), and Robert Martin (R), and Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo (D). These public servants stood up for their ideals, and New Jersey is better for their leadership.

The night of the bill signing, the Coliseum in Rome was bathed in light to honor the step forward for our nation. The next day, editorials from red states and blue states alike proclaimed the act historic, and presciently predicted more states would follow.

In fact they did. New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington have all ended the death penalty since then. Executions are suspended in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and now California.

The movement to end this injustice continues to be bipartisan. This year, Wyoming came within a few votes of repealing the death penalty with strong Republican support. In previous years, strong bi-partisan votes have emerged in Utah, New Hampshire, and Louisiana. A little over a year ago, a national group called Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty released a report finding that Republican sponsorship of death penalty repeal legislation had skyrocketed in recent years.

The death penalty is gasping its last, egregious breaths. Death sentences and executions have plummeted. Just a fraction of states and counties use the death penalty. Exonerations based on DNA and other evidence continue to demonstrate how broken the system is.

All Americans should applaud Governor Newsoms actions to bring California in line with this national trend towards fairness, justice, and human rights. Ending the death penalty is an essential reform on the way to a criminal justice system that is worthy of our great nation. It fails by every measure of justice and distracts from the needs of those who have been harmed. This failed policy should end.

Jon S. Corzine is the former governor of New Jersey. He co-chairs the lawyers committee for the Judge John J Gibbons Fund for Justice at Equal Justice USA (EJUSA), which funds EJUSAs program to end the death penalty.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.By Hal Wirths

The saga of marijuana legalization failures is an example of politics at its worst. For over a year medical marijuana expansion for thousands of people has been held hostage by attempts to legalize recreational marijuana.

The Democrats political machine isnt working because it doesnt know how to make a good product. Now, Gov. Phil Murphy set a May deadline to pass marijuana legalization after there werent enough votes in the legislature to put the bills on his desk.

Murphy needs to realize that he doesnt have the power to set deadlines. Every time he has attempted to put pressure on the legislature, the deadlines pass. The Assembly and Senate are their own card game, each playing with a different deck called legislators.

The Democrat machine makes it seem like they care about those who need marijuana most: the patients. But when push comes to shove, their true intentions show.

Assemblywoman Joann Downey seemed sincere in her advocacy for medicinal cannabis, but she was front and center with Speaker Craig Coughlin when they announced there would be no vote because their priority is people who want to use marijuana recreationally. Until then, people who rely on it medically will have to wait.

I saw parents testify in committee, and it was extremely powerful. It brought some legislators to tears. For any legislator to change their tune after that is shameful.

That testimony should be enough for anyone to immediately pass the medical marijuana legislation named after Jake Honig, whose use had a remarkable impact improving his fight against cancer.

Jakes father said it best: We are putting patients in New Jersey behind pleasure-seekers. We are putting our own personal agenda ahead of the terminally ill child.

And when you dig into the medical marijuana bill, the state is no better than a pharmaceutical company that jacks-up prices. Medical marijuana in New Jersey is the most expensive in the entire country, and it will continue to be so.

Currently, it costs a patient $100 to be registered. No other prescription requires a $100 registration fee; not even the opiates that are devastating our state and nation.

Then, to buy an ounce, it would cost at least $340, without tax. Almost half the people in the state cannot afford a $500 emergency cost, and they are half the people who may need it.

After the registration fee and exorbitant costs that arent covered by insurance, patients still have to pay the state sales tax - another exclusive requirement. No other prescription is taxed. In the bill it will be taxed for five more years. That tax should be eliminated immediately, as my colleague Assemblyman John DiMaio has proposed but Democrats have ignored.

They ignored it because their true intent of marijuana legalization isnt to help people. It is to increase revenue for the government because it is another thing that can be taxed. The people of New Jersey are taxed more than enough. The least we can do is stop taxing peoples medicine.

Governor Murphys May deadline is too far away for people who have a daily need for medical marijuana and cant access it because it is either too expensive or they dont yet qualify. We need to help patients now, and stop with the politics that have held New Jersey back and continues to make life more difficult for the people we are supposed to represent.

We need to represent the interests of the people of New Jersey. Instead, the Democratic machine is prioritizing their political interests. What a shame that is.

Harold Hal Wirths was state labor commissioner from 2010 to 2016 and a small-business owner for almost 20 years. He is a state assemblyman for the 24th legislative district, representing Sussex County and parts of Warren and Morris counties.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.I was out in the woods for a run the other day when I came to a realization about the primary cause of our current immigration crisis:

The Rio Grande just aint that grande.

I came to that conclusion after I took a selfie by the mouth of the Manasquan River where it exits the deserted village at Allaire State Park.

I then compared it to a photo that photographer Andre Malok took of me along the banks of the Rio Grande in Texas, when we traveled there in January to report on the border crisis.

I posted the two pictures side by side on Facebook and asked readers to guess which of these narrow little rivers was which. The comments were about evenly divided.

There lies the problem. The Manasquan separates Ocean County from Monmouth County. There are no border crossings.

But the Rio Grande separates the United States and Mexico. That creates a lot of complications.

In March, about 100,000 people were apprehended crossing the border illegally, mostly in Texas, according to the Border Patrol. If the current trend continues, apprehensions will exceed a million a year.

The narrowness of the Rio Grande is a prime cause. Anyone who can make it across the river can surrender to the Border Patrol and claim asylum.

They are then entitled to a hearing to determine whether their claims of persecution in their home countries are legitimate. They can be released to await that hearing

President Trump has responded to the crisis by stating that he intends to cut off foreign aid to Guatemala,Honduras and El Salvador, the three Central American countries that are contributing the most refugees.

Of the three, only Guatemala shares a border with Mexico. At the moment, both are turning a blind eye to what Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff recently termed a conveyor belt of charter buses headed to the U.S. border from southern Mexico.

So it certainly makes sense to put pressure on that country and Mexico to halt the flow of migrants. But a more comprehensive solution is needed from Congress. At the moment the Democrats arent inclined to cooperate on finding one.

Former congressman Beto ORourke of Texas, who is in the running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, recently called for the hundreds of miles of current border walls to be taken down. That would cause complete chaos, especially out west where theres no river on the border.

Columnist Paul Mulshine at a river that is either the Manasquan or the Rio Grande; compare this to the photo above and guess which is which

In 2005, Bill Richardson, the Democratic former governor of New Mexico, declared a state of emergency in New Mexico because of illegal crossings on its border with old Mexico.

"Recent developments have convinced me this action is necessary - including violence directed at law-enforcement, damage to property and livestock, increased evidence of drug smuggling and an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants," said Richardson, who is partly of Mexican descent.

He was joined by the Democratic governor of neighboring Arizona, Janet Napolitano, who later headed the Department of Homeland Security in the Obama administration.

Their target was President George W. Bush, who was notoriously soft on border security.

The roles are reversed these days. Its the Republican president who has threatened to shut down the border crossings with Mexico unless the flow of immigrants is cut off.

That probably wont work, said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.

The stuff the president is talking of is stuff he can do for himself, said Krikorian. But the real problem is what has to be done with Congress.

Krikorian said Congress should change the asylum law so that those seeking asylum would be required to ask for it in the country or countries they pass through on their way to the U.S.

No one whos passed thru Mexico or through a European airport should even be allowed to apply for asylum, said Krikorian. We have to get an agreement with Mexico to take back people who cross illegally.

That makes sense. But as a student of Latin-American politics, I would advise the president that threatening Mexicos government officials is the absolute worst way to get them to do what you want.

But then maybe the current chaos is what Trump wants. It could well be the horse he rides to a second term.

As for the Democrats, they might want to put in a call to Richardson, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2008.

If the Rio Grande were as wide as the Mississippi, they might be able to pull this off.

But as long as its no wider than the Manasquan, they could use his advice.

BELOW: This is a video of some wannabe migrants crossing the narrow Rio Grande to return to Mexico after photographer Andre Malok and I surprised them at a spot along the Rio Grande where there is no border wall.WASHINGTON  A nonprofit with ties to House Republican leaders wont let the controversy over a Democratic lawmakers use of anti-Semitic tropes to criticize supporters of Israel die out.

The American Action Network on Wednesday launched a digital ad against Rep. Tom Malinowski and three other Democratic freshmen members, calling on them to demand that fellow first-term Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The ad urges viewers to call Malinowski and tell him to support" removing Omar from the committee. Its time to stand up to hate," the narrator said.

A former U.S. assistant secretary of state, Malinowski, D-7th Dist., , sits on the committee. He ousted Republican Rep. Leonard Lance last November. He is one of five Jersey Democrats on the House GOPs 2020 target list.

Malinowski spokeswoman Amanda Osborne cited the lawmakers earlier comments.

I woke up this morning to news that House Democrats are divided on Israel. That's strange -- in countless meetings I've attended since taking office, I've not seen any member advance a substantive proposal to change our Israel policy. (1)  Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) March 6, 2019

Debate about policy is totally in bounds. Propagating anti-Semitic stereotypes, or any other racist tropes that still inspire disturbed people to commit violence in our country, is totally out of bounds. (3)  Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) March 6, 2019

Omar, one of two Muslims elected to the House last fall, supports Palestinian rights and has been critical of Israeli policy. She has faced bipartisan blowback after implying that Jews paid off Congress to back Israel and that supporters of the Jewish state carried dual loyalties, allegations regularly used by anti-Semites.

This is a matter of right and wrong, AAN President Dan Conston said. Ilhan Omar is an anti-Semite and it is time for Tom Malinowski to take action against her hatred. Omar should not be on the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee and Representative Malinowski needs to step up and support her removal."

Attempts to pass a resolution condemning anti-Semitism faced blowback from some in the House Democratic Caucus, who instead backed a larger measure that also singled out attacks against Muslims. The resolution passed with only 23 dissenting votes, including that of Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, the partys No. 3 leadership position.

Our nation is having a difficult conversation, but we believe this is great progress. pic.twitter.com/gSua9a8mki  Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) March 7, 2019

AAN, which does not disclose its donors, gave $26.4 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super political action committee with ties to the House Republican leadership for the 2018 elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group. The super PAC spent $4.5 million against Malinowski last year.

The American Action Networks six-figure ad buy is the latest attempt by Republicans to weaponize anti-Semitism against the Democrats, even though the GOP has had to play defense on the issue as well.

Donald Trumps closing presidential campaign ad showed pictures of prominent Jewish Americans while a narrator intoned about these people that dont have your good in mind,'' and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California accused three Jews of trying to buy the 2018 midterm election in a now-deleted tweet.

The ad came just days after Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive and national director of the Anti-Defamation League asked McCarthy and the other House and Senate leaders of both parties to stop the growing partisan weaponization of anti-Semitism.

Attempts to use anti-Semitism for political gain, both within and between our political parties, risk undermining efforts to join together to combat anti-Semitic incidents and violence and other forms of hate, Greenblatt wrote.

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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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.She has our support.

That was the message from a half-dozen supporters of an embattled Gov. Phil Murphy official who has come under fire for her hiring practices at at state agency.

Lizette Delgado-Polanco, head of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, was hailed as a champion of good government and somebody who deserves to remain in her job by a group of pastors and other well-wishers.

Speaking during the public comment session of SDAs regular board meeting, the group lambasted news reports that suggested she unceremoniously fired former state workers to help make room for family and friends.

Delgado-Polanco has denied the claims and referred to them as distractions.

Were 100 percent supportive of Lizette and her team, the said Rev. Amir Khan, of Camden, referring to to the published reports as fake news.

Former SDA employees have called for Delgado-Polanco has been to step down and have prompted legislators to consider launching an investigation into the SDA hires, or even do away with the authority altogether.

At least two former employees were also at the meeting and again called on her to step down.

The continued backlash is in response to reports showing nearly three-dozen new jobs at the SDA were filled by people with close ties to her.

Fourteen of the new hires were brought on at salaries that top six figures and reach as high as $170,000. At least 10 of those top earners either worked with Delgado-Polanco in the past or at companies represented by unions Delgado-Polanco worked for, or had other close ties to her.

One of the new hires is the mother of Delgado-Polancos grandson and another, who resigned after a sexual harassment claim from a previous job surfaced, is her second cousin.

Delgado-Polanco has argued the people she hired are all qualified for their positions.

Sameer Shah, who worked at the SDA for nearly 16 years before he was let go in the wave of firings after Delgado-Polanco took control of the group, held a resign now sign as he told the packed conference room he had a good review and was promoted just weeks before he was ousted.

I just want you to step up and stop the hostile (work) environment, Shah told Delgado-Polanco.

Murphy, who has ordered a review of all state authorities hiring practices in response to the SDA headlines, has so far stuck by his political ally who supported him during his gubernatorial run and is the current vice chairperson of the state Democratic Committee.

But lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, have called for a legislative investigation. Some have also called for the SDA to be disbanded altogether when its funding dries up by the end of this year.

For the future of the organization, if it has one, a lot of these issues need to be cleared up, state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, said Wednesday.

The SDA manages about $11 billion in construction projects for schools in the states poorest areas.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.Playwright Mark Harelik titled his play The Immigrant, now onstage at George Street Playhouses temporary home at 103 College Farm Road in New Brunswick through April 7, in the singular with good reason. Although America has been the new home of millions of immigrants from everywhere in the world, his play is primarily about one, his own grandfather, and that mans struggles and accomplishments in building a new life as the only Jew is a little Texas town.

The play has been around since 1985 and, in 2000, was made into a four-character chamber musical by Steven M. Alper and Sarah Knapp which had a well-received off-Broadway production in 2004 which was recorded by Ghostlight Records. What struck almost every reviewer of both the play and the musical was how much the story of the plays main character, Haskell Harelik, has been true for so many immigrants, not only in 1909 when the play begins but since then as well.

The play presents one example from an almost forgotten program to relocate incoming Jews to places in the United Sates other than Manhattans Lower East Side, which had become overcrowded with European Jews escaping the poverty and problems in their various homelands. The Galveston Movement, funded in large part by New York financier Jacob Schiff, was an immigration assistance program operated by several Jewish organizations between 1907 and 1914, diverting Jewish immigrants away from already overcrowded East Coast cities. About 10,000 European Jews passed through Galveston, Texas, many met and guided by Rabbi Henry Cohen of Bnai Israel who helped them find other places where they could begin resettlement. The plays title character was one of them.

Benjamin Pelteson, who cites the role of Louis in a Philly production of Angels in America as one of his favorite roles, plays that title character, and to play Haskell Harelik, he researched the conditions in Europe that his character would have endured as well other examples of anti-Semitic violence, especially through first-hand accounts. He also had to learn to speak Yiddish, Haskells native language, since in early scenes of the play, Haskell, ignorant of English, speaks only Yiddish. He credits his language tutor, Motl Didner, with his success and with advising him about lessening Haskells accented English as the play progresses over three decades.

Haskell is a Russian Jew who flees pogroms in his native country, said Pelteson, and he arrives in Galveston and starts life as a banana peddler, living hand to mouth, eating the leftover rotten bananas to stay alive. He then travels to a central Texas town called Hamilton where a banker and his wife, Ima and Milton, take him in, and he begins to plant roots. Since hes the only Jew there until he can afford to bring his wife Leah over from Russia, he has to make certain adjustments in his life.

In order to survive, continued Pelteson, Haskell had to relax many of his restrictions and customs especially regarding the practice of his religion. Like many people, he had to decide what he had to give up and what he had to hang onto. For over a year, he saved up money to send back to Russia to get his wife out, and, for her, it was not as easy to give up the language and practices she had known all her life up until then, and they have several disagreements about how much of their previous culture and religious customs that they would give up.

The first act takes place in 1909 and 1910 when Haskell sets up his first business with the help of that banker who befriends him, said Pelteson, and the second act takes place just before World War II. We find out how successful Haskell and Leah have been and about their three sons who dont actually appear in the play because, besides the Hareliks, the only other characters onstage are Ima and Milton with whom they remain friends until an unfortunate argument in the second act. Haskell and Leah also have discussions about bringing over their relatives who are having problems with rising tensions in Eastern Europe, helping those people as others had helped them, said Pelteson whod someday like to play Shakespeares Richard II.

Lauriel Friedman plays Leah, and she, like Pelteson, is making her GSP debut. She explained that Leah is based on the playwrights grandmother, and, since her husband couldnt afford to bring her here for the first year he was in Texas, Leah does not appear until about halfway through the first act.

Especially at the beginning, said Friedman, Leah struggles with how to maintain her identity as a Jewish woman in a place where shes the only Jewish woman and, ironically, where she is free from the persecutions she felt before, but, being there, she has to let go of so much. Over time, shes assimilated and becomes a modern Jewish woman. The play doesnt tell us much about her previous life in Russia, but thats where I used my own imagination.

For Friedman, her favorites moments in the play include a scene where Leah and Ima (played by Gretchen Hall) are working together in Imas kitchen. These two very different women share their stories and hopes and dreams and find that perhaps they have more similarities than differences, said Friedman.

George Street assigned the directors chair to Jim Jack whos usually found in the office of the GSP Education and Outreach program but who has had great success with previous GSP productions of Trying in 2018 and My Name Is Asher Lev in 2016 and has directed numerous productions elsewhere. Hes very proud of the current Outreach production of a musical called Anytown about how young people can get caught up in the current opioid crisis. The show has been seen in over 50 local schools.

What struck me about the talkback sessions we had with audiences for previews and a few early performances, said Jack, was how many elements of the play resonated with them. People shared their own stories or the stories of their relatives and ancestors. One older woman found herself singing along with a lovely song thats in the play and told me afterwards that she hadnt heard that song since she heard her mother sing it decades ago. Its a timeless play really, and, since immigration is such an important issue today, so is Haskells story.

IF YOU GO

The Immigrant

Where: George Street Playhouse, 103 College Farm Road off Route One, New Brunswick

When: through April 7, Wednesday to Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.

How much: Tickets are $25 - $109 with student discounts available

Contact: 732-2467717 or Georgestreetplayhouse.org

Follow NJ.com on Twitter @njdotcom. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Police are seeking to arrest two women  including one accused of attempted murder  in connection with a New Orleans East attack involving a box cutter, the NOPD said Tuesday (April 2).

Antrell Scott, 18, who is suspected of wielding the box cutter during the attack, is wanted on charges of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault.

Jerrianca Maxwell, 22, is wanted on a charge of simple battery.

According to police, the attack occurred around 1:40 p.m. Saturday, as Scott was arguing with the victim, a 36-year-old woman, in the 7500 block of Bullard Avenue.

During the argument, Maxwell began to punch the victim, the NOPD said. Scott then took out a box cutter and cut the victim more than once, police said.

The victim was taken to a local hospital via EMS. The NOPD has not provided details on her injuries.

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According to Orleans Parish court records, Maxwell has pending charges of simple criminal damage to property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and domestic abuse battery. She was formally charged last November, and a warrant was issued for her arrest after she missed her arraignment in December and a court appearance in January.

Maxwell also has a prior conviction for aggravated assault in connection with a cutting reported in November 2016, also in New Orleans East.

In that attack, Maxwell, then 20, was involved in a physical fight with a 14-year-old boy in the 7600 block of Star Street. She armed herself with a knife striking the victim several times before fleeing, police said in an initial report. The boy was treated and released on the scene.

Maxwell pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in September 2017 and received a six-month deferred sentence with six months of inactive probation, court records show.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Antrell Scott or Jerrianca Maxwell is asked to call NOPD 7th District detectives at 504-658-6070 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.

Laura McKnight covers crime and breaking news for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and can be reached at 504-655-6571 and lmcknight@nola.com.The Jefferson Parish district attorneys office formally charged a man with sexually abusing a 4-year-old boy who attended the in-home Metairie daycare run by the mans mother more than 20 years ago.

Man arrested in 2 Marrero shootings within 3 days that left 1 dead, 2 injured

David Rees, 49, of Metairie, was charged March 14 with molestation of a juvenile and oral sexual battery, according to Jefferson Parish court records. The state also charged Rees with seven counts of possession of pornography involving juveniles under the age of 13.

Rees pleaded not guilty.

The case began as an investigation into child pornography possession. The Louisiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip that Rees was storing sexually explicit images of young children on electronic devices and other internet storage accounts, authorities said.

Task force agents served a warrant at Rees Aurora Avenue home in January where Rees confessed to downloading the images, authorities said.

When asked during questioning if hed ever touched any children, Rees eventually admitted inappropriate contact with a young boy who attended an in-home daycare run by Rees mother, authorities said. The contact occurred more than 20 years earlier, he said.

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Rees was arrested and booked with 500 counts of child pornography possession, likely one count for each image discovered.

Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office detectives took over the investigation into the molestation confession and discovered a December 1996 complaint filed with the department in which a woman reported that Rees sexually abused her then-4-year-old son, authorities said.

Investigators tracked down the victim, who is now 26, the Sheriffs Office said. Rees is accused of separating the boy from the other children at the daycare whenever Rees mother would leave the house to run errands.

Rees molested the boy and told the child it was their fun secret, a game that no one else was special enough to play, according to authorities. The boys mother discovered the abuse because her son shared the secret.

The Sheriffs Office turned the case over to the Jefferson Parish district attorneys office for review in 1997, but the case was refused.

The male victim told detectives in February that he wanted to proceed with charges against Rees, the Sheriffs Office said. The mans mother also spoke with investigators earlier this year and revealed that the abuse had had a profound effect on her son, authorities said.

Rees was being held Wednesday (April 3) at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna in lieu of a $75,700 bond. He returns to court on May 9 for a pre-trial conference.A former New Orleans Police Department officer fired in July after internal investigators found he and a fellow officer beat up a man outside a bar in Mid-City was sentenced Wednesday (April 3) to a year of probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to the victim.

In a written statement read aloud in court at John Galmans sentencing hearing, the man who was beaten, Jorge Gomez, said he now fears police and finds it difficult to have a normal life.

I feel like it has made me want to go outside and around people less, Gomez said of the attack in a written statement, which Orleans Parish District Attorney spokesman Ken Daley said was read aloud at the hearing. Im afraid of police now, and feel like I should move away from New Orleans because it is very difficult for me to be here because of the attack.

Galman, 27, pleaded guilty Feb. 13 to a charge of simple battery. Municipal Court Judge Bobby Jones also sentenced him to 30 days in the Orleans Justice Center jail, which the judge suspended, and ordered him to the Restorative Justice Center for discussions with victim advocates and minority representatives over the impact of this crime upon the community, according to the DAs office. He would also have to participate in discussions with the victim, under supervision, if Gomez requests it. The judge issued an order barring Galman from contacting Gomez.

The simple battery case against Galmans codefendant, Spencer Sutton, 25, is still pending.

Galmans attorney Townsend Myers said after court on Wednesday his client was determined to satisfy the terms of the sentence ordered by Jones.

Judge Jones went to considerable lengths over the course of this case to listen to all parties involved, and to fashion a sentence that was just and fair to all sides, Myers said in a statement.

An NOPD police report states Galman and Sutton, both rookie NOPD officers at the time, were drinking at Mid-City Yacht Club while off duty on July 24, at the same time as Gomez. An NOPD police report on the beating cited Gomez and witnesses who said the then-officers questioned Gomez, inside the bar, about his military service, and Galman pulled Gomez hat off his head. The bartender told investigators both officers were drinking heavily, though Sutton told police he and Galman had a few beers, each.

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Gomez was hospitalized for serious injuries. NOPDs Public Integrity Unit responded to the scene and both officers were fired the following day.

Gomez, who identified himself as the victim of the beating in interviews with local media, said he was wearing camouflage clothing when the officers called him over and began harassing him. Gomez was born in the United States, raised in Honduras and returned to New Orleans, his attorney Stephen Haedicke has said. He said Gomez served overseas as a member of the Louisiana National Guard.

Gomez told WVUE Fox 8 his attackers called him a fake American when he said he had served in the military, and then beat him. Galmans NOPD application paperwork states he served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2010-2015.

Man beaten in brawl with NOPD officers says he was called 'fake American:' Fox 8

Gomez lost consciousness during the fight and suffered a concussion, he states in his victim impact statement. He remained in pain for about two weeks after the attack, and had to go back to the hospital a second time for treatment. Physical effects have lingered, he wrote: pain in his left ear and left side of his head; buzzing and ringing in his left ear; back and neck pain; and some loss of hearing.

Sutton told investigators that before the fight, Gomez pulled his truck in front of them outside the bar and, armed with a stick, threatened them. Then NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison, however, said at the time investigators gathered multiple video accounts and eyewitness statements to determine that our officers were the aggressors in this incident.

Galman and Sutton both graduated from NOPDs training academy in December 2017 and were still on probationary employment status, a routine designation for new officers, at the time they were fired.

At the time of Galmans arrest, the Public Integrity Bureau already had two separate internal investigations pending on him. One of the previous complaints lodged against Galman alleged he initiated a vehicle chase that was possibly unauthorized, Arlinda Westbrook, NOPDs deputy chief in charge of PIB, said at an August New Orleans City Council meeting, when council members questioned NOPD about the two recent hires. Details of the second disciplinary complaint were unclear, though Westbrook did say the complaint did not allege a criminal act and was related to Galmans conduct while on duty.A New Orleans police officers body worn camera recorded a frantic Widner Flow Degruy III screaming on the perimeter of yellow crime scene tape surrounding a shot-up car that contained the bodies of his friend and friends brother on Bright Drive in New Orleans East on Memorial Day 2015.

Theatrics is how prosecutors described Degruys reaction to the scene at the start of his trial Tuesday (April 2) on two second-degree murder charges connected to the May 25, 2015, shooting that killed brothers Kendred and Kendrick Bishop.

Assistant District Attorneys Alex Calenda and Irena Zajickova alleged Degruy was one of two gunmen who killed the brothers. Degruys defense attorney, Gary Wainwright, questioned why a successful musician with a budding rap career would kill a friend hed recorded music with and that mans brother.

Degruy was signed to Lil Waynes Young Money record label and was scheduled to leave town to go on tour the morning of the murders, Wainwright said.

The Bishop brothers  18-year-old Kendred, who went by the name Kirby, and 22-year-old Kendrick, a rap artist signed to Degruys record label who performed as MuddyCupBuddy  were gunned down inside a black Kia sedan in the 4800 block of Bright Drive around 5:45 a.m.

The motive, Calenda said in opening statements, was retaliation for Degruys belief the brothers stole guns and a significant amount of cash from his vehicle a week earlier.

The second accused gunman, Jonathan Lil Joe Evans, pleaded guilty in 2015 to manslaughter in exchange for a 20-year sentence. Evans has cooperated with investigators and is expected to testify against Degruy.

Key witness

Wainwright warned jurors they should listen critically to testimony from Evans, a now 22-year-old who starting selling drugs at age 12 and pleaded guilty to participating in two murders that left three dead.

Evans told investigators he was with Degruy and the Bishop brothers at Harrahs casino a week before they were killed. When he and Degruy left, they discovered the window to Degruys vehicle was smashed in and the $8,000 in cash and two guns were missing.

Calenda said people in the area told him two guys did it, and Degruy assumed the Bishop brothers were to blame.

Thus, in Mr. Degruys mind they had to die, Calenda said.

Wainwright said that story was a lie. They never went to Harrahs, he said, and police didnt check the casinos security tapes to corroborate Evans story.

The night Evans claimed the four were at Harrahs, Wainwright said Evans and Degruy attended a Dipset concert at the Howlin Wolf, then went to an afterparty at Republic.

Evans saw Kendred Bishop and told Degruy, hes one of my ops, which Wainwright explained meant was an opponent whom Evans intended to kill. Degruy told Evans he was mistaken, that Bishop is living the right life, Wainwright said.

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A week later, on the day before the Bishop brothers were killed, Degruy, Evans and two others drove to Mobile for a Lil Wayne concert. Kendred and Kendrick Bishop drove separately to the show in a rental car  the black Kia Cadenza they were killed in.

Degruy and Evans rode back to New Orleans with the Bishops.

Think about this, Wainwright said. You got those guys all the way in Mobile, Ala., and youre planning a murder. You dont take them out of the car on the side of the road in Mobile and kill them. You dont kill them in Mississippi. You dont kill them in Slidell. You take them around the corner from your mothers house?

Person of Interest

NOPD Officer Joseph Chase heard Degruy yelling and saw him running toward the homicide scene around 6 a.m., he testified. Degruy said the Bishop brothers had just dropped him off at his moms house, and were going to the corner store to get a cold drink. Degruys statements were recorded on Chases body worn camera and played for the jury.

He told Chase he was with the brothers in Mobile the night before at a Lil Wayne concert, and another person was in the car with them. Chase said he felt Degruy was implying the other person in the car had something to do with the shootings.

Degruy then is heard on the video saying, Sir, thats my (expletive) phone right there. I dont know why my phone right there. Chase said he kept a close eye on Degruy, who he considered a person of interest at that point, as Degruy was testing the security of the perimeter to try to get his iPhone out of the crime scene tape.

Chase said Degruy, who identified himself as Aaron Parker, continued to talk freely and willingly, and his story changed over time. Initially, Chase said Degruy acted as though he discovered the murders when he walked up on the crime scene investigation. Degruy later said he heard gunshots, then ran to the scene and back to his moms house where he told her to call the police, Chase said.

Calenda said Degruy gave another conflicting statement in an interview with homicide Detective Rob Barrere at NOPD headquarters.

Hes not a murderer

Wainwright told jurors in opening statements Degruy has already pleaded guilty to the crimes he committed in connection to the Bishop murders: obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation and conspiracy to obstruct justice in a homicide.

He obstructed justice, Wainwright said. He didnt tell the police the truth about the people who murdered his friends. But hes not a murderer.

Evans also has pleaded guilty in the case, along with Degruys girlfriend, Jamya Brady, and his mom, Chantell Edwards. Both women are awaiting sentencing.

According to testimony Tuesday, Brady was spotted driving around the crime scene with Evans in the back seat. Edwards got rid of the assault rifle and handgun used in the murders after she found them on Degruys bed under a pile of clothes, Calenda said.

Stupidity, arrogance and ego pervade this whole case, Calenda said. He doesnt share the stage with Lil Wayne anymore. Hes now sharing the stage with the state of Louisiana. That adoring audience he built up through his music  is now a jury of his peers to decide whether he will spend the rest of his life in Angola, a long way away from the lights and fame of the rap game.A male teacher at Live Oak Manor Elementary School in Waggaman has resigned after officials received a complaint that he inappropriately touched a student, according to the Jefferson Parish Public School System.

Registered sex offender arrested in Harvey accused of making, uploading child porn

Administrators at the school, located at 220 Acadia Drive, Waggaman, sent home a letter to parents informing them about the allegation, said Ted Beasley, spokesman for the school system.

The teacher in question has resigned, according to Beasley, who did not identify the man.

School officials learned of the complaint on Friday and notified human resources, Beasley said. They conducted an investigation, interviewing children, and turned over their findings to the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office.

The Sheriffs Office received the complaint Tuesday, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the department. The investigation is in its early stages, he said.

We are going to continue to cooperate with JPSO, Beasley said.

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Read the full text of the letter sent to parents here:

Dear Live Oak/Rillieux Parents,

The safety of our students and employees is our top responsibility, and we take all reports of inappropriate behavior seriously. The purpose of this letter is to inform you that we received notice on Friday afternoon of an allegation of inappropriate touching by an employee.

We immediately notified the Human Resources (HR) Department who began an investigation on Friday. Representatives from HR interviewed students regarding the allegation and turned over all documentation to the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office (JPSO).

At this time the Sheriffs office is continuing the investigation. Our Social Workers will support students by offering counseling sessions throughout the day.

If you have any information regarding any inappropriate behavior, please contact JPSO at 364-5300. I am available to meet with you if you have any questions.

Sincerely, Ms. Myrtle WeberMembers of the New Orleans City Council along with the New Orleans Health Department and other community organizations are hosting a series of meetings with residents to discuss the links between violence and school discipline.

Officials between April and March plan to attend four events, known as Freedom from Violence: Advocating for our childrens education, in order for parents to share their experiences with school discipline practices, according to a news release. The first meeting took place Tuesday (April 2) in the 7th Ward at Nora Navra Library, where Councilmember Helena Moreno was present.

The organized events follow the release in March of a Tulane University study that found the citys public school expulsion rates increased after Hurricane Katrina. The increase decreased shortly thereafter due to lawsuits and public pressure, the study stated.

New Orleans public school reforms increased expulsion rates: Tulane study

New Orleans officials recently have taken several steps to address violence and how it affects school children. Last July, the City Council unanimously approved a resolution calling for the city's public and private schools to address the role of trauma in the lives of their students. Since then, the Orleans Parish School Board has partnered with several organizations in an effort to create programs to improve behavioral health supports for their students.

City officials at the meetings also plan to provide parents with tools to keep children in school and to prevent youth from getting caught up in the criminal justice system. A study released last December by the National Bureau of Economic Research claims Louisiana students who repeat 8th grade are more likely to be convicted for a violent crime by age 25.

Equity in All Places, Families and Friends of Louisianas Incarcerated Children, Gulf South Communities in Schools, Center for Restorative Approaches, Urban League of Louisiana, Louisiana School Psychological Association, and the Orleans Public Education Network have also partnered with the city to host each meeting. See below for information on the meetings.

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.St. Charles Parish Public Schools has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. The foundation says St. Charles has made an outstanding commitment to music education.

St. Charles is the only parish in Louisiana to gain this recognition this year, according to a foundation news release. The foundations program for the last 20 years has honored schools and school districts for the efforts of teachers, administrators, parents, students and the community leaders who have made music education part of the core curriculum.

St. Charles Schools was selected based on survey results which included questions about funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards, and access to music instruction, as reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas, according to the NAMM Foundation in a statement Monday (April 1).

A national study released in 2018 by the Education Commission of the States found music students do better in English, math, and science than their peers without music education. The report also stated more classes in music and the arts correlate with fewer dropouts and suspensions.

Edna Karr High School wins $10,000 in Class Got Brass competition

The number of school districts gaining this honor has grown from fewer than 100 in 1999 to more than 600 this year, NAMM stated. The foundation last week recognized 623 school districts in 41 states out of more than 13,000 districts nationwide.

However, according to a statement from NAMM Foundation executive director Mary Luehrsen, the sad reality is that music programs in many secondary schools are mainly funded by candy sales and other fundraisers rather than a school or district budget.

Elementary schools are less able to raise funds for music programs, and, as a result, thousands of elementary schools lack music teachers and music programs, Luehrsen stated.

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St. Charles last year dropped to a B letter grade under the states more rigorous accountability system, but its performance score still surpasses the overall statewide average. St. Charles would have maintained its long standing as an A school system under the old formula.

In a statement, St. Charles schools superintendent Felecia Gomez-Walker stressed the arts are an essential part of education. Ginny Medina-Hamilton, director of gifted, talent and the arts for St. Charles Schools, told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune that the districts music educators are degreed and certified in their field.

Lafon Performing Arts Center opens as beacon to students in river parishes

St. Charles students in kindergarten through 5th grade take a music class every week, and 4th graders are allowed to choose to participate in choir, band, or remain in general music classes, Medina-Hamilton stated. Middle school students can continue to take band, choir or general music. St. Charles high schools offer multiple ensembles in vocal music and instrumental music, Medina-Hamilton added.

The honor bestowed upon St. Charles comes months after the district opened the doors of the Dr. Rodney R. Lafon Performing Arts Center in August. Medina-Hamilton stated the new space gives students an opportunity to interact with the cast and crew of arts performances through workshops and events free of charge thanks to ticket holders and the community.

Medina-Hamilton stressed the district hopes providing students exposure to all forms of arts presentations will ignite their interest in the arts, and encourage their participation in school arts programs.

The school board and school system have placed an emphasis on the arts and recognize the importance the arts play in the success of a child. We are excited about receiving this distinction, and look forward to expanding and enhancing arts opportunities in the school system and community with the newly opened Dr. Rodney R. Lafon Performing Arts Center in Luling, Gomez-Walker stated.

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles."Girls Trip" producer Will Packer is returning to New Orleans for his next film. "The Photograph," a Universal-backed romantic drama starring Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield, will begin filming April 25 in New Orleans, according to the state film office.

Budget figures were unavailable. Also unclear is how long the local shoot will last.

Little has been announced about the film's plot other than that it "centers on intertwining love stories in the past and present."

Stella Meghie ("The Weekend") will direct from a script she wrote, with Packer producing alongside James Lopez, Variety is reporting. Co-stars reportedly include Courtney B. Vance.

Where was 'Girls Trip' filmed? A rundown of New Orleans shooting locations

The project doesn't mark a return to New Orleans for only Packer, whose long list of previous credits include "Night School," "Think Like a Man" and the forthcoming "Little." It'll also be a return trip for Rae ("Insecure"), who filmed the Paramount-backed comedy "The Lovebirds" in town earlier this year with co-star Kumail Nanjiani.

"The Photograph" is part of a recent surge in local film and TV production activity. In addition to the recently wrapped comedy sequel "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" and Universal's about-to-wrap thriller "The Hunt," a slew of TV projects are shooting in town or preparing to shoot in town, including the fifth season of CBS' "NCIS: New Orleans," the fourth seasons of OWN's "Queen Sugar" and USA's "Queen of the South," the third season of TNT's "Claws," the second season of USA's "The Purge," the Hulu limited series "Looking for Alaska," and the Fox pilot "Filthy Rich."

Mike Scott is the movie and TV critic for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. He can be reached via email at mscott@nola.com or on Twitter at @moviegoermike.Three Asian Festivals are upcoming in April, the APAS Asian Festival on April 6, Songkran/Food Festival on April 14, and The Indian Arts Circle concert on April 18.

With the theme, Love, Peace, & Understanding, the 2019 Asian Heritage Festival, presented by the Asian Pacific American Society, will be held April 6, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Audubon Zoo.

The festival will feature the information booth, the cultural booth, the craft booth, the childrens booth and more.

Performances of music, dance and martial arts of different Asian nations will be presented on the central stage.

Asia has a vibrant tapestry of distinctive dances that come from the history and the heart of the people, telling their stories and legends. The Asian folk dances reflect the lives, societies, geographic and beliefs, particular to its many different cultures.

Besides the use of pentatonic scale, Asian music share the ideas of an emphasis on melody, and a focus on individual instruments. Martial arts is a traditional system of exercises for physical, mental and spiritual development, as well as for self defense.

Food will add flavor and joy to any festival. At this festival, the food booths will feature Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, and cuisines from other Asian areas. The Asian food is often praised for the balance of the different flavors.

Certain ingredients have been grown in Asia for many years and were inaccessible to the west.

Judy Villa is the APAS President who leads all APAS activities. Sula Kim, WDSU -TV anchor, will be the MC, and Gerlie San Agustin, the second MC at this festival.

The annual APAS Asian Festival brings together performers and spectators to celebrate the different cultures in the Asian Pacific Rim, while enjoying the different cuisines of Asia. APAS invites everyone to come and celebrate its 40th anniversary and enjoy our heritage and culture, said Raj Pannu, event chair.

For further information, visit www.apasnola.com.

The 2019 Songkran/Thai Food /Festival will be held April 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Wat Wimuttayaram, 1601 Stanton Road, New Orleans. The Thai street food stalls will serve from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Songkran, April 13-15, is the traditional zodiac New Year of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and other Asian areas. It is also known as the Thai Water Festival. Thai people will clean the Buddha statutes with water and sprinkle water on the monks, elders, and one another. The sprinkling or pouring of water on people at Songkran symbolizing the cleansing of the body and soul.

Preserving and continuing of the Thai tradition, the Songkran/Thai Food Festival will feature morning worship, alms giving, blessing the monks and elders, and sermons in the morning.

At noon, food is offered to the monks first and then the people, followed by splashing of water, cultural shows, music, dance and more.

The Food Festival will offer various Thai cuisine. Harmony is a guiding principle of Thai food. It is a harmonious blend of the five primary flavors  hot, sour, sweet, salty and bitter. It is also a combination of different spices.

Dance is an integral part of the culture of Thailand at all levels. It is a combination of elegant body movements, elaborate costumes and soft rhythms. The Thai music reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China and India, and reflects the trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Kohima.

Thai classical music is synonymous with stylized court ensembles and repertoires that emerged into their present day unique forms. Much more popular than Thai classical music is songs of the children of the fields, a type of Thai country music that originated in rural central Thailand. Also popular are modified versions of western pop, rock and rap music.

I would like to invite everybody to join us for such a great event, which has no boundary of nation, religion, culture, and language and you will experience Thai culture even though you are in the USA. See you there, said Luksamee Premakasikorn, committee secretary of the Wat and coordinator of the event.

As the president of Wat Wimuttayaram and representative of Thai and Laotian communities in Louisiana, I cordially invite you to join in our celebration of Songkran Festival. It is the best opportunity to learn about the Thai culture and to meet the Thai people. If you plan to visit Thailand in the future and wish to know about the land and people, please come to see us and let us guide you to make your trip fun and meaningful.

If you love Thai food, come to join the event and taste authentic Thai street food. If you wish to learn about Buddhism and to observe the Buddhist worship, please do not miss the event. We proudly present you the value of Buddhism and the meaningful religious services, said Ven. Khotwong.

Ven. Khotwong has served as President and abbot of the Wat Wumittyaran, 2013-present.

Born in Thailand, Ven. Khotwong has studied Buddhism since age 7, at different Thai temples. He was ordained in 1997 and earned B.A. in Buddhist study from a Thai University. He passed the Overseas Dhammduta Bhikkhus in 2001.

Prior to his present position, he served as abbot at Wat Mungmesrisuk, North Carolina, and as abbot of Wat Rattanavanaram, South Carolina.

The Wat Wimuttayaram gives instructions in chanting, and meditation to members of the Thai community and teach Thai language to the children and grandchildren of the local members.

For information of the Songkran/Thai Food Festival and /or for Wat Wimuttayaram, call 504-394-3599 or go to Facebook: Wat Wimuttayaram Buddhist Temple of Louisiana, Inc.

The Indian Arts Circle will present Music of the MysticSitar of Ustad Usman Khan on April 18, at 7:30 p.m., at the Pharmacy Auditorium of Xavier University.

Khan was born into a life of music and started to learn Sitat at age 6. He is known for combining vocal and instrumental techniques on the Sitar. He has said that music has its source in the divine. Being a musician allows me to offer my work and my music as a prayer, as contemplation and meditation.

He has toured throughout India, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, Switzerland, the USA and other places.

Khan will be accompanied by Shyam Kane, a popular Tabla accompanist, who is known for the balance, clarity and creativity of his work. He has played in India, North America, Europe and other places.

The tickets are $50, sponsor; $20, general, and $10, students with ID. For information, go to www.iacneworleans.com.

Tina Soong writes about people and events of interest to the Asian American community. To reach her, email tsoongtotherim@aol.com.The cancellation of the Hulu series The First was bad news for fans of the Sean Penn space drama, but good news for young performers at Chalmette High, as many of the costumes from the television show were utilized in the schools recent production of Guys and Dolls.

Jason Waggenspack, the Head of Possibilities and CEO of the Ranch Film Studios in St. Bernard, helped make the donation happen.

In early January, the show was cancelled by Hulu, so the company decided to cut their losses and sell off all of the current assets. The assets included set pieces, equipment, props, set decorations, office products, wardrobe, vehicles and many other miscellaneous things, Waggenspack explained.

After the asset sale, there were still an enormous amount of costuming and set pieces that needed to be gone before the next production moved in, so Waggenspack reached out to Charles Cassar and the Chalmette High Theatre program as ideal recipients of the donations.

Upon seeing the breadth of what was available, Cassar quickly arranged to have a number of clothing racks transported to the Chalmette High School Cultural Arts Centers. Cassar valued the vintage clothing and accessories at $10,000 and said the timing of this generous gift was perfect.

We are so grateful for the wonderful clothing and costumes that we received, Cassar said. Almost all of our characters from Guys and Dolls wore dress shirts from the collection, and certainly, most of the suits, dress slacks and sport coats.

In addition to the donated clothing, several pieces of furniture that were part of the mission control set for The First are now in the three middle schools, serving as anchor desks for the morning news broadcast.

Jack Jackson, the programmer for the districts cable access television studio, said the student reporters were excited by the new edition.

Each school does a morning news show, and the donated set pieces really help enhance the look of the broadcast. Its nice that they will be used and seen each day.

Waggenspack also reached out to other St. Bernard nonprofit groups as well, including the Council on Aging, the Battered Womens Shelter, the Voices Foundation and the Meraux Foundation.

He said giving back to the community is an important, but often overlooked part of the film industry.

Before I started The Ranch, I was a location manager on some of the biggest movies to land in this great state, he said. I can not tell you the millions of dollars I saw pumped into residential, commercial and parish properties across the state.

We donated $25,000 to the Childrens Hospital on one film, and we pumped approximately $250,000 into a section of downtown New Orleans in location fees and business interruption fees on another.

NCIS New Orleans has set up charities events, food drives, neighborhood clean up programs and donated money to several nonprofits in their six years calling this city home.

Waggenspack said, in 2016, St. Bernard Parish made over $200,000 on movies leasing its properties. He said the support of Governor John Bel Edwards, and of the leadership of St. Bernard has also help to grow the industry.

The state of Louisiana is a hotbed for film and television once again, he said. Our phones are ringing off the hook and I am seeing more and more film activity all over the GNO area.

The Ranch was the home for several recent projects including the TNTs new series Tell Me Your Secrets, as well as two Netflix movies  the newly released Motley Crue biopic, The Dirt, and the Kumail Nunjiani movie, The Lovebirds.

There are also a number of new streaming and television series coming to the facility this summer.

Waggenspack said he looks forward to expanding The Ranchs campus and to producing more of its own content.

I want to see more of the local stories and the local artists getting the opportunity to partner with the large studios to tell great stories and produce great content of all mediums. Content can come in many different forms, and I want The Ranch to play a bigger part in all of it.

Charles Cassar said he is excited by the possibilities for future creative collaboration between the performers at the high and the professional film makers. He also expressed his gratitude for the thoughtful donation.

I sincerely want to thank Jason and all of the people who were a part of this generous gift. It was not only kind, but incredibly timely since our show opened a few weeks later. These folks came into our lives at just the exact time.

Barry Lemoine writes about people and events in St. Bernard Parish. To reach him, email barrylemoine@gmail.com.Two lawmakers are bringing bills this year to ban non-disclosure agreements from being included state government legal settlements over sexual harassment claims.

Louisiana had two high-profile sexual harassment agreements last year that contained language prohibiting or discouraging the parties from speaking openly about the allegations. State Rep. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge, and Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, said they received complaints from constituents about the way the cases were handled.

An employee who sued former Secretary of State Tom Schedler over alleged sexual harassment eventually settled out of court with the state and Schedler for $167,500. As part of the settlement agreement, none of the parties, including the attorneys who represented the alleged victim and Schedler, were allowed to talk about the case publicly.

Language that could have discouraged public statements about sexual harassment allegations against Johnny Anderson, a former aide of Gov. John Bel Edwards, was included in a settlement struck earlier in 2018. Juanita Washington accused Anderson of asking her for sexual favors when he was her boss in the Edwards administration. As part of that settlement, the governors staff, Anderson and Washington agreed not to make disparaging remarks about one another.

The payment to Washington and legal fees associated with the case eventually cost the state $108,000.

The non-disparagement language in Washingtons settlement was included at the request of Andersons attorney, according to Matthew Block, the governors general counsel. Unlike the Schedler settlement, it did not prevent Washington from publicly speaking about the facts of her case, Block said.

Tom Schedler sexual harassment settlement requires silence from parties

Foils legislation, House Bill 197, would prohibit the state from including language in sexual harassment and assault settlements to require the alleged victim to stay silent.

I dont think a victim of sexual harassment, when public funds are paid, should have to keep it secret, Foil said in an interview. I want to leave it to the victim to have the option if they want to come forward.

Block said Foils proposal would have blocked the nondisclosure language included in the Schedler settlement, but not the non-disparagement language in Washingtons deal. He said the governor is considering backing Foils measure.

Hewitts legislation, Senate Bill 182, includes a similar stipulation and would go further. She also calls for the state to attempt to recoup any public dollars spent on sexual harassment settlements from the accused through civil lawsuits.

A legislative audit Hewitt ordered last year found Louisiana spent at least $5.2 million on 84 lawsuits involving sexual harassment claims from mid-2009 to February 2018.

The audit began to open my eyes that there was a lot of taxpayer dollars being spent on this, Hewitt said in an interview Monday. My constituents were also reaching out to me to tell that taxpayer dollars shouldnt be used on those sorts of things.

Louisiana's legal bill reaches $108,000 for sexual harassment case against Edwards staffer

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Hewitts legislation would also keep the name of the alleged victim out of settlement documents that become public record.

I dont think we want to be the ones revealing the names of the victim. I think it is up to the victim to do that, she said.

Anti-sexual harassment advocates are generally in favor of the prohibition around non-disclosure agreements that Foil and Hewitt propose.

[A gag order] is usually being used to silence a person who wants to come forward, said Morgan Lamandre, legal director of the Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response organization based in Baton Rouge. She is running for the Louisiana House of Representatives against incumbent Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge.

Jill Craft, the attorney who represented Washington and the woman who accused Schedler of sexual harassment, also said she is in favor banning gag orders from those types of agreements. Government should operate in the open and not behind closed doors, she said in a text Tuesday.

In an interview, Washington said the hardest part about signing her settlement documents was that they contained language saying she couldnt disparage Anderson.

It delayed the signing of the agreement for about a week. It was the toughest part, Washington said.

Lamandre and Washington also agreed with Hewitts proposal to redact the names of complainants from settlement documents made public. Lamandre said privacy concerns are one reason why victims dont come forward about sexual harassment in the first place.

Louisiana has spent about $5.2 million on sexual harassment lawsuits since mid-2009

Lamandre did have concerns with Hewitts push to have the state recoup funds spent on sexual harassment settlements through civil lawsuits. Its not just the harasser who is responsible for the behavior, but also the state, which may not be doing enough to discourage it, she said. If sexual harassment allegations didnt cost the state financially, officials might not be as vigilant about pushing back on problematic behavior.

The suit against the state is typically about their failure to act against the sexual harassment, Lamandre said. I dont think the state will be as motivated to actively prevent sexual harassment from happening, if Hewitts law passes.

Lamandre also questioned whether having the attorney general go after alleged sexual harassers in civil court wouldnt be more expensive for the state in the long run. State employees often dont have deep pockets, and the state might end up spending more money on additional legal fees than they end up recouping, she said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to language in Washingtons settlement as a gag order. The settlement included a non-disparagement clause, not a non-disclosure agreement.A motorist was fatally injured Tuesday afternoon (April 2) when she crossed the center line and opposite lane, hitting a vehicle stopped on the shoulder of Louisiana 1 in Assumption Parish, according to Louisiana State Police Troop C.

Terri Ganel, 52, was killed by the crash, which occurred about 1 p.m. just north of Louisiana 998, state police said.

Ganel was headed south on Louisiana 1 in a 2006 Hyundai Elantra when, for unknown reasons, she crossed the center line and northbound lane while in a right curve of the highway. Her car then struck a 2016 Jeep Wagoneer that was stopped on the northbound shoulder of Louisiana 1.

Ganel, who was unrestrained at the time of the crash, was taken with critical injuries to a local hospital, where she died.

The Jeeps driver, a 58-year-old Donaldsonville woman, was also unrestrained and suffered minor injuries in the crash, state police said. She was also taken to a hospital by ambulance.

The 58-year-old woman submitted to a breath test, which showed no alcohol present.

Alcohol or drug involvement is unknown on the part of Ganel. A standard toxicology report is pending.

Laura McKnight covers crime and breaking news for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and can be reached at 504-655-6571 and lmcknight@nola.com.The huge Port Marigny development proposal in Mandeville has been revived in the settlement of a lawsuit developers brought against the city after it shot down investors plans in 2017.

The settlement, called a consent judgement, was filed into the record in federal court in New Orleans late Tuesday (April 2). In its broadest sense, it opens the door for the controversial project under an ordinance the Mandeville City Council adopted late last year.

When the council unanimously adopted that ordinance in November, council members said it was not a settlement of the Port Marigny suit. But the consent judgement makes clear that the ordinance set the framework for the agreement. (Read the ordinance here.) It sets parameters for the nearly 77-acre sites development and spells out the city approval process.

Under terms of that ordinance, the number of residential dwellings at the mixed-use development is capped at 350, but says that number is not an "entitlement,'' meaning there could be fewer residences if certain conditions are not met. It also authorizes up to 36,000 square feet of commercial space, including restaurants, and spells out various approvals developers must receive from the Mandeville Planning and Zoning Commission.

The consent judgement notes that the ordinance sets building heights at 35 feet to 48 feet, depending on where its built. Buildings up to 65 feet high would be allowed in some spots with Planning and Zoning Commission approval. The consent judgement also gives the developers five years to obtain a city building permit and says the court will resolve future disputes.

Port Marigny development ordinance adopted

While Mayor Donald Villere said in a news release late Tuesday that the judgement relieves the city of paying damages, the consent agreement says the citys insurer will pay a certain sum of money ... as directed by the plaintiffs attorneys" to the developers.

City Councilman David Ellis on Wednesday (April 3) acknowledged that the consent judgement is likely to be criticized by some who think the city is giving in. When the council adopted the ordinance last year some in the audience argued it gave too much power to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

But Ellis said the council will still have oversight on some key matters, such as if developers sought more than 350 residences. The consent judgement also does not include a hotel.

"Theres going to be some arguments, he said. "But I think its a win for all.''

Ellis said the new guidelines allow fewer homes and a smaller commercial footprint, which were two of the most pressing concerns he heard citizens voice.

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The Port Marigny development has steeped in controversy since it was pitched in 2015 for the former Pre-Stressed Concrete industrial site, long dormant, that stretches from Monroe Street to Lake Pontchartrain. The owners, Drs. Michael and Marcus Pittman, unveiled one of the largest developments in the citys modern history: a $180 million residential-commercial project with businesses, a hotel and more than 400 residences modeled after a traditional neighborhood.

But opponents urged the council to shoot down the brothers proposal over concerns about density, traffic and potential flooding of its lower elevations. The City Councils thumbs-down of the development prompted the lawsuit from the Pittmans and two-year period of legal wrangling.

The settlement, which an attorney for the city acknowledged last week was in the works, came just as the case was to go to trial in U.S. District Judge Carl Barbiers court in New Orleans.

In separate news releases and interviews Tuesday evening, Villere and the developers said they were happy to put the litigation behind them.

I am grateful to have this matter concluded and to end the considerable expenditure of legal expenses this controversy has caused our city," Villere said.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reported last September that the city had been billed more than $400,000 for legal representation in the Port Marigny matter during the two-year period ending April 2017. Once the suit was filed, the citys insurer covered legal fees stemming from the citys defense of the lawsuit.

In a subsequent interview, the mayor acknowledged there likely would be criticism of the settlement from some of residents who had stridently opposed the development. I think youll have mixed feelings just as youve had all through the process," Villere said.

The developers, in a news release, noted that consent judgement allows them to move forward in compliance with city requirements and still with review by the Planning and Zoning Commissions.

Port Marigny will be a good thing for the city and for the people of our community," said Dr. Michael Pittman, who with his brother has owned the site for more than 30 years.

James Hartman, a spokesman for Port Marigny, said Tuesday that developers are happy to comply with the citys regulations and that construction could begin in a couple years.The mayor of New Orleans could make a case for taking a trip to Cuba. The city has long historical and cultural ties there.

Before the United States embargo on trade with Cuba began in 1962, New Orleans was one of the biggest U.S. trading partners with the island nation.

But Mayor LaToya Cantrell didnt even try to explain why shes in Cuba this week. She didnt announce the trip at all.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is in Cuba this week

And when NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reporter Kevin Litten found out about it, city officials didnt provide an itinerary or the cost of the trip.

The lack of transparency of this administration is astounding. In fact, its a lot like Cuba.

While Mayor Cantrell was slipping off to Cuba during her birthday week, New Orleanians were finding out the city had quietly changed the threshold for tickets issued from speed cameras. That wasnt announced, either. Tickets just started showing up in mail boxes across New Orleans. It turns out the change was made in February, and the Cantrell administration purposefully didnt inform the public.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune was able to get documents prepared by a travel agency for prospective participants for the Cuba trip. The preliminary itinerary indicated Mayor Cantrell would depart Tuesday and have dinner at a private restaurant in Old Havana that night.

Wednesday was to include a tour of Old Havana and the Africa House museum and visit to a community art project. Thursday events included a tour of the Mariel Port Special Development Zone, according to the suggested itinerary.

Cuba likes Louisiana connections, and they know we have tried to reach out. Im glad the mayors doing it. I think its an important thing to keep the lifeline going, Romi Gonzalez, chairman of New Orleans International Cuba Society, said in an interview. Many of the things we produce here or come down the river are items Cuba needs and doesnt produce.

Fair enough.

But why wouldnt Mayor Cantrells office have announced this trip and explained the potential benefits to New Orleans?

Then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco had the foresight to go to Cuba in March 2005 to try to make sure Louisiana was in line to do more business if trade opened up between our nations. Although the embargo still exists and President Donald Trump has tightened travel restrictions, Louisiana has a sizable share of the exports that are allowed, which include rice and poultry.

In 2014, the World Trade Center of New Orleans said Louisiana was the top state of origin for Cuban-bound exports, with 30 percent of the share. So, Gov. Blancos trip was a smart and timely move.

That wasnt the case when then-Mayor Ray Nagin took an entourage to Cuba six months before the end of his term in office.

Mayor Nagin and the city bureaucrats who spent $29,000 of the public's money on the six-day junket in 2009 claimed they were on a "disaster preparedness exchange mission." But most of them were gone the next May  weeks before the next hurricane season began.

Mayor Cantrell is still in the first year of her first term, so there could be a reasonable purpose for this trip.

But, if so, why didnt she share it with New Orleanians?After getting dropped by its first consultant, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board has settled on someone new to redraw the boundaries of its election districts  but not before a rancorous vote and mudslinging by the two consultants still inNew anti-distracted-driving legislation has hit the S.C. Senate.

Senate Bill 723, the South Carolina Hands-Free Act, was introduced on Thursday and was handed off to the Transportation Committee.

State Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, is the bill's primary sponsor.

The South Carolina Hands-Free Act, if signed into law, would create a distracted-driving offense and make it illegal to, among other things, hold a phone, call, text, watch a video, email or use the internet while driving.

Exemptions are made for first responders, utility workers and those reporting a traffic hazard, crime, fire or any other sort of emergency. Phones and electronics could also be used by those legally stopped on the side of the road, parked or using voice commands and dictation.

Violators would be on first offense fined $100; subsequent violations would carry a $300 fine and two points. A portion of each fine would go to the state Department of Public Safety to help fund public awareness campaigns and hands-free education.

Police, according to the bill, would not be allowed to search a person's phone or vehicle based solely on a distracted-driving violation.

The South Carolina Hands-Free Act is effectively the sister of state Rep. Bill Taylor's Driving Under the Influence of an Electronic Device  DUI-E for short  legislation.

Taylor's attempt to curb distracted driving, what he calls an epidemic, last legislative session did not make much headway. His attempt this legislative session was referred back to a committee after debate on the S.C. House floor.

Taylor, an Aiken Republican, last week said "legislative trial lawyers" and the ultimate referal likely killed his bill.

"You can never predict the legislative process, but I'm not encouraged," he said at the time.

Taylor said he connected with Young shortly after. Both are members of the Aiken County Legislative Delegation.

A texting-and-driving ban went into effect in South Carolina several years ago.Eighteen months after Google launched the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, the company has now pulled the old flagships off from its store shelves. Both devices saw massive discounts over the past three months, but it would appear that Google is getting set for its upcoming releases, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.

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Google released the Pixel 2 phones back in 2017 and followed them up with the Pixel 3 duo a year later. The company has apparently decided that the old flagships have had enough time in the spotlight, and have now removed the phones from their official online store.

Its not particularly surprising that sales of the devices have ended, since most OEMs usually end sales of their flagships around this time in the life cycle of the devices. Apple is, of course, a notable exception, since it sells older flagships even years after they were launched.

Google is expected to debut the Pixel 3a and 3a XL sometime in the coming months, and this is likely a move to ensure that sales of the mid-range phones arent cannibalized. The Pixel 4 phones will likely be launched around October, too.April 2, 2019 Arlene Jackson , 970-589-9493 Alicia Lafever , 970-858-3617 x364

Fruita, CO  April is a great month for getting out and visiting Colorado National Monument. Here is the lineup of special programs for the month.



Star Gazing with Western Colorado Astronomy Club

Friday, April 5th - Saddlehorn Picnic Area

8:00 p.m.  10:00 p.m.

Awe and wonder Bring your curiosity and warm clothes. The Western Colorado Astronomy Club brings the telescopes. This event will be shifted to April 6th if there are significant clouds or rain. No registration necessary.

Saturday, April 6th Saddlehorn Visitor Center

2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Talk- Ranger Alicia will talk about the importance and legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the CCC with an executive order on April 5, 1933. The CCC left a huge mark on the nation through their hard work with flood and erosion control, road building, creating trails, erecting buildings, planting trees, and so much more. Rim Rock Drive in Colorado National Monument, as well as many buildings are here for us to enjoy today because of the CCC. Reservations recommended due to limited space in the theater. Please call 970-858-3617 ext. 360.

1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Photo Exhibits- There will be two displays which include photos of CCC men in Colorado National Monument. Local historians, Steve and Denise Hight, will share some of their CCC photos and Monument volunteer, Terri Ahern, will be showing us her Then & Now photo display.

Flutes: History and Construction

Saturday, April 13th Saddlehorn Visitor Center

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Greg Dillon is a retired architect, in addition to his architectural projects, he has been a builder of boats, airplanes, models, and recently, Native American- type flutes. He teaches classes on how to make and play flutes. This presentation will explore flute making from 45,000 years ago to present with examples of flute making from around the world with emphasis on two-chamber flutes that are similar to those made by Colorado Native Americans. This is an invitation to discuss flutes and all are welcome. He will bring a collection of flutes for display and will even provide a short concert. 20 person limit, so please call 970-858-3617 ext. 360 to register.

April 20th is National Junior Ranger Day and a Fee Free day. Spend the day at the monument. Explore Rim Rock Drive, take a hike on one of the many trails and stop by the visitor center for a variety of activities for Jr Rangers of all ages.

-www.nps.gov-

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 419 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.

Spring hours are now in effect at Colorado National Monument. The visitor center is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. For additional information please visit www.nps.gov/colm or call 970-858-3617, ext. 360.Jodi French-Burr

April 1, 2019

Contact: Julena Campbell, 304-640-0724

Glen Jean, WV  New River Gorge National River Superintendent Lizzie Watts announced today that spring operating hours will be in effect at park facilities April 1  May 23, 2019. During this time, the Canyon Rim Visitor Center in Lansing will remain open seven days a week, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Sandstone Visitor Center will be open four days a week, Friday through Monday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Grandview Visitor Center will be closed for April but will reopen for four days a week, Thursday through Monday, from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm in May.



All other park facilities are open for the spring including the campgrounds, parking lots, boat launches, roads, and most trails. The park is normally open 24 hours a day, although certain access roads or areas may be temporarily closed due to hazardous conditions such as flooding or storms. Long-term and most temporary closures are posted on the parks webpage under Alerts, or at www.nps.gov/neri/ planyourvisit/conditions.htm, or through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.



Spring also brings the annual New River Gorge Wildflower Weekend, set this year for April 26-28. The weekend is a great way to learn more about the diversity of the regions blooms, birds, and more on free guided walks and talks at local, state and national parks. Visit www.nps.gov/neri/ planyourvisit/wildflower- weekend.htm for more information.



Fun guided hikes, bike rides, and other outdoor activities will also be offered this spring as part of the popular Get Active in the Park series. Follow Get Active in the Park on social media for more information about these free activities. A calendar of park events is online at www.nps.gov/neri/ planyourvisit/programs.htm.



Lastly, spring is the perfect time to work on the Love Your Park Challenge, which is co-sponsored by Friends of New River Gorge National River. Participants choose from over 50 activities to earn points by exploring or by helping out in the three national parks of southern West Virginia throughout the year. Every finisher earns a prize, with additional prizes going to the first 100 finishers. The challenge ends on December 31, 2019, and all finishers will be entered into a drawing to win a grand prize from Friends of New River Gorge National River. A list of challenge activities and log sheet is at www.nps.gov/neri/getinvolved/ love-your-park-challenge.htm.Ham radio operators at the preserve Jim Andera

Strong City, KS - On Saturday, April 13, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve will be making waves that will be heard around the country--and maybe even around the world. Amateur radio operators associated with the Santa Fe Trail Amateur Radio Club, Olathe, will be operating two amateur radio stations from the park. These ham radio operators or simply hams as they are often called, will exchange greetings with other amateur radio operators around the country, calling attention to this piece of the Kansas prairie that that has been preserved for everyone to enjoy.



Most of the communications on that Saturday will be conducted using voice, but visitors may also be treated to seeing and hearing Morse code used for communications. Ham radio operators may be found operating from their home, car, truck or RV most anyplace in the world. Some may operate from an airplane, boat, mountain top or a remote island in a distant ocean. On April 13, this group of hams will be operating from the historic three-story limestone barn located just north of the parks visitor center. The operation is expected to begin about 10 a.m. and run until about 2 p.m.

Amateur Radio is an educational and enjoyable hobby that lets participants communicate near and far, generally without a dependency on any man-made infrastructure such as the internet or telephone system. Ham radio operators in the US are licensed by the FCC, and among many other activities, are known for being able to provide communication in the aftermath of disasters when other communicants fail or become overloaded. This tallgrass operation will be part of a Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) program that encourages portable amateur radio operations from national, state, and provincial parks. This in turn helps provide radio operator training and public awareness of amateur radios emergency communication capabilities.

If you have an interest in learning more about amateur radio or are just looking for an excuse to visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, mark April 13th on your calendar. In the event of severe weather on the 13th, the event would be postponed until May 4th.

The Santa Fe Trail Amateur Radio Club website is http://sftarc.org and will have more details about club news and events. Information on POTA can be found at https://parksontheair.com/

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve invites you to discover the meaning of national parks, how your park inspires you  both in personal connections and memorable experiences. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located two miles north of Strong City on Kansas State Highway 177 (the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway) and is a unique public/private partnership between the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy. For additional information about Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, please visit www.nps.gov/tapr, email tapr_interpretation@nps.gov, call the preserve at (620) 273-8494, or visit the preserves Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NPS.TallgrassPrairie. To learn more about The Nature Conservancy in Kansas, visit the Conservancys website at www.nature.org/Kansas or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TNCKansas .

-NPS-

April 2, 2019You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person.



Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else.A major ivory trafficker who activists say has fueled the slaughter of more than 10,000 elephants dating to the 1970s has been arrested in Togo, the countrys environment minister, Dede Ekoue, said Wednesday. The suspect, Emile NBouke, was found to have more than 1,500 pounds of ivory on Tuesday afternoon at his shop in Lome, the capital, Mr. Ekoue said. Mr. NBouke, 58, known locally as the Boss because of his seniority in the countrys ivory trade, said he had been trading ivory since 1983 and had managed to obtain a special permit. But the environment minister said that was untrue and vowed that Togo would crack down on the ivory trade more aggressively.Philippines: The government has been ordered by the countrys top court to submit police reports relating to thousands of deaths in President Rodrigo Dutertes drug war.

Canada: A proposed Quebec law to bar public-sector employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols has set off a backlash. An elementary schoolteacher who wears a head scarf and aspires to become a principal said: What right does the Quebec government have to stop my career?

China: A woman from China carrying a malware-infected thumb drive was arrested after entering Mar-a-Lago over the weekend during President Trumps visit.

Boeing: Government officials, aviation experts and company executives described a climate of distrust and lack of communication after the crash of a Lion Air 737 Max 8 jet in Indonesia in October, making it difficult to share information about what went wrong.

Climate: More than 40 governments have adopted a price on carbon dioxide emissions, but many of the programs are still too weak to drive truly deep cuts in emissions. We took a look at the different ways the system is used.

Italy: A whale was found dead in Sardinia with 48 pounds of plastic in its body, the latest in a grim international collection of whale carcasses burdened by dozens of pounds of plastic trash.

Jewel heist: The Italian police have recovered precious jewels that were stolen six years ago from the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia in Rome. But investigators still wonder who was behind the audacious theft.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

What makes you different from your friends?

That question, posed in January to members of Generation Z  people born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s  by editors at The New York Times, drew an immediate response.

In a call-out on nytimes.com, readers were asked to identify themselves however they wished and invited to submit a self-portrait.

Within 48 hours, there were over 2,500 submissions from people in all 50 states.

Im the only person I know at my college that pays their own rent, Jess from New York City, who described herself as a Korean/Caucasian female, wrote.[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has faced its greatest challenge in a generation as officials have struggled to modernize New York Citys failing subway. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has responded by promising bold solutions to fix the troubled agency and regain the trust of angry riders.

But here are the changes Mr. Cuomo and state lawmakers unveiled this week as part of the new state budget: A reorganization plan due in June, a forensic audit of train cars and signals, a group of outside experts who will review major projects and a debarment process that would ban contractors who do not finish projects on time.

And even though state leaders have vowed more transparency, the authoritys new chairman  among the most powerful positions in New York government  was confirmed by the State Senate around 2 a.m. on Monday when most New Yorkers were asleep.



Transit advocates have praised Mr. Cuomo for persuading state lawmakers to approve congestion pricing, which will raise billions of dollars for the subway by establishing tolls to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan. But they were less enthusiastic about his changes at the transit agency, which appear to be more of a bureaucratic reshuffling than a radical transformation.I also get the resentment of Brits at having regulations set by faceless E.U. bureaucrats in Brussels. And I get their resentment at the globalized urban elites, who those in the rural areas here believed looked down at them. And I get the squeeze on middle-class wages here that gets blamed, unfairly, on the E.U. and immigrants the way President Trump blames Mexicans. I get all of that.

But I also get what it means to be a leader in the 21st century. And it sure doesnt mean asserting your sovereignty over all other considerations or breaking out of the giant E.U. market, where the U.K. sends over 40 percent of its exports, without a serious national discussion of the costs and benefits.

What do the most effective leaders today have in common? They wake up every morning and ask themselves the same questions: What world am I living in? What are the biggest trends in this world? And how do I educate my citizens about this world and align my policies so more of my people can get the best out of these trends and cushion the worst?

So what world are we living in? For starters, were living in a world that is becoming so interconnected  thanks to digitization, the internet, broadband, mobile devices, the cloud and soon-to-be 5G wireless transmissions  that we are becoming interdependent to an unprecedented degree. In this world, growth increasingly depends on the ability of yourself, your community, your town, your factory, your school and your country to be connected to more and more of the flows of knowledge and investment  and not just rely on stocks of stuff.

Over centuries, notes John Hagel, who currently co-heads Deloittes Center for the Edge, business has been organized around stocks of knowledge as the basis for value creation. The key to creating economic value has been to acquire some proprietary knowledge stocks, aggressively protect those knowledge stocks and then efficiently extract the economic value from those knowledge stocks and deliver them to the market. The challenge in a more rapidly changing world is that knowledge stocks depreciate at an accelerating rate. In this kind of world, the key source of economic value shifts from stocks to flows.

The companies that will create the most economic value in the future, Hagel says, will be the ones that find ways to participate more effectively in a broader range of more diverse knowledge flows that can refresh knowledge stocks at an accelerating rate.Some start-ups, like Kick Health, sell blood pressure pills or other prescription drugs for unapproved uses like calming the symptoms of performance anxiety.

One drug, Addyi, which can cause fainting if taken with alcohol, arrived without the necessary safety warning protocols created by the drugs manufacturer.

Much like Uber, which argues that it is not a transportation company even as it connects drivers and passengers, the drug sites argue that they are tech platforms, not health providers. The sites connect consumers  and often process their payments  to doctors who may prescribe drugs and pharmacies that can ship the medications.

To comply with state laws, the doctors work for separate companies that cater to the sites. The doctors are typically paid for each health consultation, or by the hour, not the number of prescriptions written. The sites generate revenue for themselves by charging service or processing fees to consumers, the doctors or both.

Kick, Roman and Hims each said they complied with laws and did not influence the doctors prescribing decisions.

Zachariah Reitano, the chief executive of Ro, the owner of Roman, said his site encouraged people to tend to their health who might not otherwise have done so.

It provides more convenient, higher-quality, more affordable care for certain conditions and saves people a lot of time and energy, Mr. Reitano said.A wild-haired spirit who calls herself Care has come to taunt and haunt the avaricious Faust. Spending his days with Mephistopheles doesnt ruffle him a bit, but Care? She is freaking him out.

Is anyone there? Faust asks the air, unnerved.

Thank you for your question, Care says, appearing, and with this simple line  imbued with mocking humor by the wondrous, mellifluously voiced Karen Kandel  Mabou Miness Faust 2.0 bursts into life.

Her scene with Faust (Benton Greene) is just a cameo, really, and she delivers her half on video. But even as Care multiplies, surrounding Faust on several screens at once, there is no question that she and he are in the same space, in dialogue with each other, however fraught.

In her thrilling intensity, Ms. Kandel overcomes the trouble that hamstrings the rest of Sharon Ann Fogartys complexly ambitious production at the theaters new home at 122 Community Center: mixing a live cast of six actors with more than 20 who appear on flatscreens arrayed around the handsome nouveau-medieval set. (Scenic design is by Jim Clayburgh; video design, by Jeff Sugg.)This was as stripped-down as it gets  in more ways than one.

CHRISTOFFER BOHMAN, deputy police chief in the district of Rinkeby in Stockholm, praising an off-duty Swedish police officer who arrested a fugitive he recognized sitting next to him in the sauna.Ms. Lightfoots rise was unexpected only weeks ago, when 13 other candidates were vying to run the nations third-largest city, many of them far better known  with decades of experience in Chicago politics and with dynastic names like Daley. Ms. Lightfoot is a lawyer who has served in appointed positions, including as head of the Chicago Police Board and as a leader of a task force that issued a scathing report on relations between the Chicago police and black residents, but she was not widely known around the city until recent months.

Ms. Lightfoot  Chicagos 56th mayor  arrives at a pivotal moment for a Democratic city that has for the past eight years been led by Mr. Emanuel, who surprised many residents when he chose not to seek re-election.

Chicago, a city of 2.7 million residents, is wrestling with dueling realities: Tech jobs and convention business have poured into its shimmering downtown while public schools have been shuttered on the South and West Sides, and thousands of black residents have moved away. Mr. Emanuels administration made strides to shore up the citys fiscal woes but residents have complained about mounting taxes and fees. Chicagos new mayor still must come up with an additional $1 billion in the next four years to continue pulling the city out of a pension crisis.

And the city says its crime problems have been improving over the past two years, recording about half as many murders this year as it did during the same period in 2016. Still, gun and gang violence are pervasive and the city had more than 550 homicides in 2018, more than in the nations two larger cities, New York and Los Angeles.Nearly five years ago, Lesley McSpadden appeared distraught before the world after finding out that a grand jury had declined to indict a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in the fatal shooting of her teenage son, Michael Brown, who was black.

She stood on top of a car, surrounded by a sea of supporters. Ive been here my whole life; I aint never had to go through nothing like this, she said before sinking her face into her hands.

Ms. McSpadden, 39, came up short on Tuesday in an attempt to turn that sorrow and anger into an elected post. She lost the three-way race for a seat on the Ferguson City Council to Fran Griffin, a black woman who has been deeply involved in reform efforts in Ferguson since the death of Mr. Brown, who was 18.

Ms. McSpaddens election bid was her latest effort to effect change in the name of her son. She made appearances with other black mothers who lost their children to violence, including on stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. She also testified before the Missouri State Legislature.WASHINGTON  House Democrats formally punted on releasing a budget blueprint on Tuesday, instead unveiling a bill that would increase military and domestic spending caps by more than $350 billion over the next two years.

The proposal frustrated fiscal hawks on both sides of the aisle and Democrats on the partys left flank who balked at the prospect of increasing military spending. It also meant that House Democrats, without a blueprint to counter the one the Trump administration released last month, had effectively opted out of outlining their own budget priorities in the face of a divided government and division within their caucus.

Several Democratic lawmakers and aides argued that with a Republican-controlled Senate and White House, it would be futile to release a budget resolution, a nonbinding document that usually serves as a statement of priorities as opposed to actual policy. There is little chance that the budget proposals put forward by the Trump administration and the Senate Budget Committee could prevail in the House.

By moving this bill forward, we will bring responsible governing back to the budget process, avoid uncertainty and the unrelenting threats of a government shutdown, and meet our obligations to the American people, said Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky, the chairman of the House Budget Committee and a chief sponsor of the bill.Ms. Newbold, a 39-year-old employee who has worked in the White House for 18 years under both Republican and Democratic administrations, said she decided to go to the committee after attempts to raise concerns with her superiors and the White House counsel went nowhere, according to the Democratic staffs account.

Shes begging us to do something, Mr. Cummings said during the meeting. Because she simply wants her government to work the way its supposed to work.

Republicans on the committee argued against the subpoena because Mr. Klines lawyer indicated that Mr. Kline was willing to appear before the panel voluntarily. In their own memo summarizing Ms. Newbolds comments to the committee, they presented her concerns as overblown and depicted her as a disgruntled federal employee.

Were going to subpoena a guy who just sent us a letter saying hes willing to come here voluntarily, said Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committees top Republican. Ive been on this committee 10 years; Ive never seen anything like this.

But Mr. Cummings said that Mr. Kline, who now works at the Department of Defense, refused to answer questions from the committee about specific federal officials and clearance decisions during a voluntary appearance. Mr. Cummings said that the White House refused two committee requests to interview Mr. Kline and that Mr. Kline did not respond to two separate requests sent directly to him since January.

In a letter to Mr. Cummings, dated Tuesday, Mr. Driscoll wrote that his client was willing to appear but that the White House Counsels Office deemed some of the proposed topics as an infringement upon President Trumps rights as the chief executive. Mr. Driscoll called a subpoena an extreme and unnecessary step.

Mr. Cummings said he planned to seek testimony from other senior White House officials as well.

Most of the Republican members of the committee also opposed the majoritys proposal to subpoena testimony from a top Justice Department official, John Gore, about adding a citizenship question to the census.WASHINGTON  Joseph R. Biden Jr. came up in politics as an old-school backslapper whose greatest strength was his ability to connect. He doled out handshakes and hugs to friends and strangers alike, and his tendency to lavish his affections on women and girls was so central to his persona that it became fodder for late-night television jokes.

But the political ground has shifted under Mr. Biden, and his tactile style of retail politicking is no longer a laughing matter in the era of #MeToo. Now, as he considers a run for president, Mr. Biden is struggling to prevent a strength from turning into a crippling liability; on Tuesday alone, two more women told The New York Times that the former vice presidents touches made them uncomfortable.

For Mr. Biden, 76, the risks are obvious: the accusations feed into a narrative that he is a relic of the past, unsuited to represent his party in the modern era, against an incumbent president whose treatment of women should be a central line of attack. Mr. Biden has denied acting inappropriately but has said he will listen respectfully.

So far, no prominent Democrat has suggested he not run, and the women complaining about him have not claimed sexual harassment or assault. Other women have stepped forward to say Mr. Bidens touches were welcome. But the accusations lodged against Mr. Biden have raised questions about when a tactile politician crosses the line into inappropriateness.PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela  A pro-government lawmaking body installed by President Nicolas Maduro voted on Tuesday to strip the opposition leader Juan Guaido of parliamentary immunity, paving the way for his potential arrest.

The move by the Constituent Assembly represents the governments latest effort to raise the pressure on Mr. Guaido, who declared himself interim president in January in the biggest challenge that Mr. Maduro has faced in six years in office.

In recent weeks, the government has barred Mr. Guaido from traveling, frozen his bank accounts, begun investigating him on terrorism accusations, and prohibited him from running for office.

But thus far the government has stopped short of detaining Mr. Guaido. The United States has repeatedly said that any attack on Mr. Guaido would draw a severe reaction.OTTAWA  After promising an open and collaborative way of doing politics, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Tuesday axed from his party two prominent former female cabinet ministers who have been at the center of a festering political crisis about his handling of a criminal case.

Trying to divert the countrys attention from the controversy, Mr. Trudeau was in a tough spot politically.

The two women were seen by many as symbols of his progressive feminist government. But within his Liberal Party, they were seen as untrustworthy backstabbers who kept the firestorm alive for weeks with new morsels of information feasted upon by the press and opposition parties.

The problems began two months ago when accusations surfaced that Mr. Trudeau and his aides inappropriately pressured Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former justice minister and attorney general, to settle a criminal corruption case against SNC-Lavalin, a major corporation based in Montreal. A criminal conviction would bar the company from government contracts for a decade.WASHINGTON  He flew across the ocean to celebrate NATOs 70th anniversary with the largest and most important member of the military alliance. So to outsiders it appeared to be an awkward moment on Tuesday for Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, as he sat stiffly by while President Trump criticized German defense spending and predicted that the United States would get along with Russia.

I accept there are differences, but when it comes to defense spending we all agree, Mr. Stoltenberg said in an interview after his meeting with Mr. Trump, putting a positive spin on the situation.

He said the president had helped push member states to budget an additional $100 billion in defense spending and credited Mr. Trump with having a real impact.

I say that because it is a fact, Mr. Stoltenberg said. Allies are now really stepping up.

But not all. Germany will most likely slow the growth of its defense spending  meaning that Europes economic powerhouse will defy a spending target set by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. And other member states are struggling to reach the current goal of spending 2 percent of their economic output on the military by the end of 2024.With his wife and artistic partner, Jeanne-Claude, the artist Christo has wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin and monuments in Milan  even a coast in Australia. Now, for the first time since her death in 2009, he is returning to their signature style.

On Wednesday, Christo announced that he had received permission from the French government and the countrys Center for National Monuments to wrap the Arc de Triomphe, one of the most famous landmarks in Paris, next year from April 6 through 19.

Jeanne-Claude was so close to me all my life, Christo, 83, said in a telephone interview. Of course there is some irony and sadness that she is not here. But I am eager to go ahead with my life and do my work.

The project, LArc de Triomphe, Wrapped (Project for Paris, Place de lEtoile-Charles de Gaulle), will involve covering the arch with a silvery blue recyclable polypropylene fabric  nearly 270,000 square feet of it  held together with about 23,000 feet of red rope.The show centers on a series of workstations, each holding videos related to the type of labor done there. At one generic desk feebly personalized with a plant and pictures, a video playing simultaneously on two computer monitors delves into Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online marketplace where people perform menial tasks for minuscule pay. The right side displays the screen of someone turking; on the left, workers answer questions about why they do it, often saying they need the money before admitting how little they make. (Mr. Wallace found his respondents through the platform, paying them $2 each to make a 2-minute video.) The piece offers an intimate, human view of a phenomenon that is distinctly dystopian.

The retail and technology giant Amazon isnt the shows only target, but it is a focal point for Mr. Wallace, who, as part of his investigation, founded a research-and-development start-up called Amazing Industries. The companys logo appears throughout Floating Factory (2018), a video that takes viewers on a virtual tour of a sci-fi megafactory in the sky thats based on a real patent by Amazon. Conveyor belts cut through the vast factory like slides, alongside orbs that connect laborers to the apparatus as they package not only goods but ideas about the future.

What keeps Mr. Wallaces work from falling into preachiness is its canny and unsettling blend of installation, video, documentary, fiction and advertising  what feels like foreboding one moment becomes promotional the next. Many of us know, in theory at least, the human cost of our technological age, but Mr. Wallace reminds us how seductive it is to conflate convenience with progress, usually at someone else's expense. JILLIAN STEINHAUER

Jackie Gendel

Through April 6. Thomas Erben Gallery, 526 West 26th Street, Manhattan; 212-645-8701, thomaserben.com.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. If youre interested in hearing from The Times regularly about great TV, sign up for our Watching newsletter and get recommendations straight to your inbox.

There Is No Plan to Make a Plan

After briefly trying to revive the push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, President Trump agreed on Monday to put aside the idea until after the 2020 elections. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, had told Trump firmly that Congress would not be willing to take up any such legislation before then.

Stephen Colbert crowed about the news, reminding viewers that Republicans have repeatedly been unable to come up with a successful plan to replace the health care bill that they spent years criticizing under President Barack Obama.Kate Browns Manual for Survival has a different style and emphasis. Its aim is to be an expose of the attempts to minimize the impact of Chernobyl. The disaster was less an accident, says Brown, a historian at M.I.T., than an exclamation point in a chain of toxic exposures that restructured the landscape, bodies and politics. Unscears publications were cover-ups, and radiation-related maladies are a dark horseman riding wild across the Chernobyl territories. Brown undertook the book so as not to become one of those duped comrades who found out too late that the survival manual contained a pack of lies.

Around 2014, Brown began interviewing people in the affected areas, and sought measurements of radioactivity in such things as wool, livestock and swamps. Her stories are affecting, yet it is hard to evaluate memories and anecdotes. It is also hard to evaluate measurements. These are meaningful only within the tangled web of factors that radiation epidemiologists consider  including type and time-span of dose, pathways through the body, susceptibility of individual tissues and background radiation  as well as health issues like alcohol, obesity and stress.

Radioactivity is present in different amounts in everything from muscles to masonry. Higginbotham notes that the granite in the United States Capitol is so radioactive that the building would fail federal safety codes regulating nuclear power plants. Brown writes that permitting an annual dose of five millisieverts (a dose unit) in one Chernobyl region is cruel and implies that its inhabitants should be relocated. Yet thats less than the background radiation in many populated areas. According to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, the average annual radiation dose in the United States (including medical diagnostics) is 6.2 mSv, while many studies put the annual dose in Denver at over 10 mSv, with no noticeable increase in cancer rates. Brown plays down reports of relocations psychological and social effects. Immigrants and refugees may have a different perspective.

One wonders about Browns suggestions of conspiracies. She writes darkly that the medical section of the U.S. Army report on physical damage in Hiroshima is missing in the U.S. National Archives. Given that so much data is now available online, isnt it possible this is due to incompetence or sloppiness? Are Unscears sometimes flawed publications cover-ups, or do they indicate the difficulties of incorporating changing data of varying degrees of reliability into the best available models? Brown endorses the work of antinuclear activists like Ernest Sternglass, many of whose claims that radiation causes everything from high infant mortality and crime rates to low SAT scores have been discredited. Brown is credulous of sources that share her opinions, skeptical of those that dont. This gives the book the flavor of a polemic. Not all accusers of the scientific infrastructure are holy. Their claims need to be evaluated with the same diligence that scientists do theirs.

Neither book is about nuclear power. The Chernobyl story is indeed as little about nuclear power as the Bhopal catastrophe is about the pesticide industry. Yet the issue looms, for the fossil fuel alternative has disastrous long-term effects. Brown notes that the founders of Kiev built the city on a bluff to repel invaders. Its a haunting image. Todays threats are pollutants that cannot be stopped by bluffs, and we create these threats ourselves to drive the turbines that sustain our towns. To keep these modern invaders at bay requires separating fact from fiction, and depending on expert advice. Will we avert catastrophe by honestly judging the benefits and risks of each energy source without hiding their costs  and will politicians have the guts to act on those judgments? Not yet.Google said Tuesday it will require staffing companies it works with to pay workers at least $15 an hour and give them health benefits.

A technician passes by a logo of US internet search giant Google during the opening day of a new Berlin office of Google in Berlin on January 22, 2019. [File photo: AFP/Tobias Schwarz]

The company has faced pushback from employees and contract workers for paying contractors less than full-time employees.

Google did not say how many contractors and temporary workers it has, but reports say it is many thousands of people. Staffing companies will have until January 2020 to implement the minimum wage requirement, and January 2022 for the health care requirement.

Google's new rules will require contractors, who are usually employed by third-party companies, to also get 12 weeks of paid parental leave and a $5,000 tuition reimbursement each year for classes to learn new skills.

Contract workforces are common in the tech industry and often get paid less and have fewer perks than full-time employees working for tech giants. Microsoft also implemented a requirement for contractors to get paid parental leave last year.

Many Google employees have banded together in the past year and demanded the company change various policies, prompting Google to examine issues from its handling of sexual misconduct claims to a military contract.Were it not for immigrants, the labor crunch would be even more intense. In 2016, immigrants accounted for one in four construction workers, according to a study by Natalia Siniavskaia of the home builders association, up from about one in five in 2004. In some of the least-skilled jobs  like plastering, roofing and hanging drywall, for which workers rarely have more than a high school education  the share of immigrants hovers around half.

The need for labor has set off a scramble for bodies that is spilling across industries and driving up wages. A lot of our landscape companies are upset because their guys are coming into construction because they can earn more, said Alan Hoffmann, who builds energy-efficient homes in Dallas.

For all the fears of robots taking over jobs, some economists are worrying about the broader economic fallout from a lack of low-skilled workers. And businesses across the economy are complaining that without immigration they will be left without a work force.

It is good for wages to go up, but if labor is at a point where employers cant hire, it is reducing growth, said Pia Orrenius, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Theres also considerable wage pressure in small towns and cities that are depopulating, but that is a sign of distress, not of rising productivity.

The labor crunch is likely to persist for some time. The Pew Research Center projects very little growth in the working-age population over the next two decades. If the United States were to cut off the flow of new immigrants, Pew noted, its working population would shrink to 166 million in 2035 from 173 million in 2015.

Immigration has been padding the labor force for years. Over the last two decades, immigrants and their children accounted for more than half the growth of the population of 25- to 64-year-olds, according to Pews analysis. Over the next 20 years, they will have to plug the hole left by the retirement of the baby boom generation.TOKYO  The Nidec Corporation likes to say it makes everything that spins and moves, from the intricate motors that whir in hard drives to the hulking ones used on oil rigs.

In recent years, things had been going well for the company. Global demand for precision engineering, especially from China, increased sales for Nidec and other Japanese companies, helping to lift long-sluggish Japan out of its economic doldrums.

Then sales to China plunged in November and December as the countrys economy slowed. Nidec, which counts on China for about 40 percent of its revenue, slashed its profit projections by more than 25 percent.

Ive been in management for 46 years, the companys founder and chief executive, Shigenobu Nagamori, told reporters in January, and seeing our monthly orders plummet like this is a first.Jones Day, one of the worlds largest, wealthiest law firms, was sued on Wednesday by six former female associates who accused it of engaging in gender and pregnancy discrimination by underpaying them, thwarting their advancement and pushing them out once they had children.

In their lawsuit, the women say that although Jones Day hires male and female associates in roughly equal numbers, the best work goes to men and that men are paid better and promoted more often even when their legal skills are notably deficient.

In Jones Days fraternity culture, the complaint says, male brotherhood is affirmed and strengthened by comments and conduct that derogate women, leaving female associates to choose between capitulation and exclusion.

The lawsuit is the latest effort in a continuing fight to prevent employers in many fields from penalizing female workers for having children.Droga5, which was founded in 2006 by David Droga, has become one of the best-known independent ad agencies in the United States. (The 5 was appended because Mr. Droga, 50, grew up as the youngest of five brothers.) Droga5 last reported annual revenue for 2017, when it exceeded $200 million.

Some of its notable campaigns include Under Armours with the dancer Misty Copeland; Anna Kendricks almost-Super Bowl commercial for Newcastle Brown Ale, a digital campaign in which the beer company imagined the mega-huge football spot it would have made if it could have afforded one; and this years Game of Thrones surprise Super Bowl ad with Bud Light. Droga5 is also responsible for The New York Timess ad campaign featuring the motto The Truth Is Hard.

Being subsumed into a larger consulting firm represents a sharp turn. Other prominent independent agencies have steadfastly maintained their autonomy. In 2017, Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, Ore., which is best known for its work with Nike, backed a new agency in Austin, Tex., on the condition that it would remain independent. Colleen DeCourcy, Wieden & Kennedys co-president, said at the time, Our whole abhorrence of controlling interest in anything is that you lose the independence to put the work first.

Mr. Whipple pushed back at the notion that consultants did not understand creativity the way that traditional agencies did, saying that the cultures of Accenture Interactive and Droga5 were more similar than people might expect.

Accenture Interactive has its own culture that is really in no way consulting-like, but I will say if it were to have elements of that, I think thats a good thing, he said. Its offices arent full of people in suits and ties talking about financials, he added.

Accenture Interactives revenue rose 30 percent, to $8.5 billion, for the year that ended Aug. 31, accounting for about a fifth of Accentures overall revenue. The unit, established in 2009, has acquired dozens of firms in recent years, but Droga5 is its biggest purchase and is expected to give Accenture Interactive new clout in North America.

Mr. Droga, who will remain the agencys creative chairman, said that while he had fielded acquisition offers before, he felt Accenture and his agency complemented each other.The measles outbreak that led to a state of emergency in New Yorks Rockland County began far away: in an annual Hasidic pilgrimage from Israel to Ukraine.

It is emblematic of a series of fierce, sometimes connected measles outbreaks  in places as diverse as Indonesia, the Philippines, Madagascar and Venezuela  that have shaken global health officials, revealing persistent shortcomings in the worlds vaccination efforts and threatening to tarnish what had been a signature public health achievement .

In 2001, the United Nations declared war on measles. With help from the federal government, the American Red Cross and big donors like Ted Turner and Bill and Melinda Gates, the U.N. began the Measles and Rubella Initiative and created Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Together, they poured billions of dollars into buying vaccines and helping countries deliver it safely, which meant building refrigerated storage facilities, supplying clean needles, training vaccinators and countering other logistical obstacles common in poor countries.Stem cells are cells that can develop into a variety of specialized forms, like tissue or blood. Many of these clinics offer treatments billed as novel stem cell therapies that are derived from cells in the blood, fat or birth tissue.

While legitimate research on stem cells has tremendous promise, some bad actors are trying to cash in on patients hopes with purported therapies, according to a statement by Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the F.D.A. commissioner, and Dr. Peter Marks, director of the agencys biologics center. The proliferation of rogue clinics has long been a concern of Dr. Gottlieb, who announced his resignation last month and will leave his post on Friday.

In the past year, the statement said, the F.D.A. has sent regulatory correspondence to 45 manufacturers and health care providers that market stem cells. The agency also said two lawsuits were pending. One is against U.S. Stem Cell Clinic of Sunrise, Fla., where three patients lost their sight after having stem cells injected into their eyes.

The other lawsuit is against the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, with locations in Rancho Mirage and Beverly Hills, and the Cell Surgical Network Corporation of Rancho Mirage, which treated cancer patients with a stem cell product made with smallpox vaccine. The F.D.A. said the product was risky.

The latest warning letter, five pages long, went to Syed M. Raheel, identified by the F.D.A. as the president and owner of Cord for Life, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The agency says the company makes unapproved products from umbilical cord blood and sells them in platinum, gold and silver categories. The letter stated that the company had violated federal laws by not obtaining F.D.A. permission to market its products.ALBUQUERQUE  Mention the border with Mexico these days and dystopian images might come to mind: Agents detaining children in a holding pen, blimps hunting drones, the corpses of border crossers marking the frontier.

But even as President Trump presses ahead with his cry for a wall along the entire border  implying, yet again, that neighbors to the south threaten the richest and most powerful country on Earth  history offers other perspectives.

The photographer Tomas van Houtryve had in mind the nuanced past of what is now the American West when he set out on the border.Some batches were oilier than others. Some batches softer. Manzke liked the bars especially tender and chewy, packed with fruit and nuts. And as she refined the technique, based on the basic recipe in the pamphlet, more and more orders came in from her friends, and her friends parents, and her parents friends. She baked every day to keep up. It was a lot of trial and error, said Manzke, who noticed that creaming the butter too much, or using a light hand with the dates, would push the bars toward a more caky texture. Like any pastry chef in the making, she was now in a sweet, ongoing competition with herself, comparing each batch with the previous ones, and slowly moving toward an ideal.

Manzke went on to culinary school, then moved to Los Angeles to work in restaurant kitchens. She sells her perfected date-and-walnut bars at Republique, the Los Angeles restaurant and bakery she runs with her husband, Walter, where the pastry case is packed each morning with strawberry-pistachio tarts, banana-Nutella crostatas and big chocolate-chip cookies. If you cant get there, you can make them at home: Cut the dates nice and big. Keep an eye on the butter and sugar, so the mixture doesnt get overly pale and airy. And dont skimp on the fruit and nuts. If you follow Manzkes simple techniques, youll get the chewiness that makes the bars so special on your very first try.

Recipe: Date-and-walnut barsAfter all, the gossip column called the news a wild rumor flying around the TV industry and published it on April Fools Day.

Others, like Monica Klein, a political consultant who once worked for Mayor de Blasio, saw it as another reminder that the city has never elected a woman to its top office. In contrast, yesterday Chicago elected Lori Lightfoot as mayor, becoming the largest American city to ever choose a black woman as its top official.

In New York, Mr. Zucker joined a list of men who have been named as potential 2021 mayoral candidates: City Comptroller Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

(Letitia James, the former city public advocate, was thought to be a promising candidate before she became the state attorney general.)

The question in New York isnt so much who could run and win as a woman, but what does the fact that we only have an all-male field tell us about the lack of developing female leadership in this city? Ms. Klein said.Lyle Tuttle, a tattoo artist who found his own kind of international fame by catering to celebrities while helping to move tattooing, as he put it, from the back alley into mainstream acceptability, died on March 26 at his home in Ukiah, Calif., where he had grown up. He was 87 (and practically covered in tattoos himself).

Danielle Boiardi, the curator and manager of the Lyle Tuttle Collection, said Mr. Tuttle had been in hospice care after an inoperable growth was discovered in his throat about two weeks before he died.

These days tattoos are commonplace, inspiring clothing lines and museum shows and adorning people from all walks of life, most publicly actors, athletes and musicians. But when Mr. Tuttle first took up the needle in the late 1940s, tattoos were practically unheard-of in polite society, more associated with sailors, criminals and sideshow freaks.

Mr. Tuttle had been a tattoo enthusiast  both as an artist and as a recipient  since he was a teenager. He was mentored in the 1950s by storied tattooists like Bert Grimm, and he worked in the trade in California and in Alaska before he opened his own shop in San Francisco in 1960, wanting to get tattooing out of the back alley, as he told The San Francisco Chronicle in 2002.MOSCOW  Natalia V. Fileva, the longtime Russian airline executive who died on Sunday in a plane crash in Germany, was credited with consolidating splinter companies of the former Soviet aviation giant Aeroflot into a viable and profitable airline.

Ms. Fileva, along with her husband, Vladislav Filev, founded and ran S7 airline, Russias second-largest passenger carrier after the national flag airline, which is still called Aeroflot. She was chairwoman and co-owner of the company. The couple also ventured into the private space launch business.

Ms. Fileva was flying with her father in a small propeller plane when, en route from Cannes, France, it crashed in a field a few miles from an airport in Egelsbach, in southern Germany, Russian and German news media said. Her father, identified by some news organizations as Valery Karachev, and the pilot were also killed. An investigation was underway, said Roman Trotsenko, a longtime business partner of Ms. Filevas.

Known for her tenacity in the face of setbacks, including fatal crashes of her companys planes, Ms. Fileva was outspoken about the Russian governments heavy hand in business; last year she chided officials for speaking at a conference about ending corruption while wearing thousand-dollar suits to the event.Overlooked is a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. The project began in 2018 with a focus on women, but its widening its lens this year.

In 1955, Satya Narayan Goenka, a successful Burmese industrialist, began experiencing intense migraine headaches. Conventional medicine didnt provide relief, so, at the suggestion of a friend, he sought out a meditation teacher.

At the time in Burma (now Myanmar), it was uncommon for everyday people to meditate, an activity typically reserved for Buddhist monks and nuns. But Goenka took to the practice, studying with his teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, for 14 years.

Then, in 1969, Goenka renounced his business, moved to India and began teaching meditation full time, focusing on a style known as vipassana, or insigh t meditation.

Instead of teaching monks and nuns, Goenka aimed to teach lay people, like himself. Even more, he was radically inclusive for his day, accepting students regardless of caste or gender.We arrived at the border at Calexico, Calif., on Dec. 31. Despite appealing for help, I was turned away by the Border Patrol agents. Desperate to reunite our family, I found us a way across in the early morning hours of Jan. 1.

We were caught by agents after we crossed and taken to one of the detention centers known as hieleras, or iceboxes, because they are kept so cold. There I learned that Kevin was taken to the same detention center with Grethshell and she had been separated from her father . Two fellow migrant women told me that five agents held him down while they ripped her from his arms. Other migrant women were asked to watch her.

When I and my two other children were released on Jan. 2, my uncle confirmed what the women had told me. Kevin was charged with a felony for returning to the United States after having been deported. He was taken to jail, while our daughter was sent to a shelter for migrant children in San Antonio.

The family separation was not reported to the court on his charging documents. The charges against him were dropped, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still using those initial charges as an excuse to keep him detained indefinitely while he fights for asylum.

I was told I would be reunited with my daughter in a week, but first I needed to fill out paperwork. Then I was told to provide a credit card with up to a $4,000 credit line for her flight, an impossibility for me. Officials refused to say who was looking after her. Finally I got fed up and went to the press. Grethshell was finally put on a plane and brought to me after I threatened to go to the address I had for the shelter manager and get her myself.

When a social worker put my daughter in my arms on Jan. 30, she was inconsolable. My whole body shook as I held her and tried to soothe her, telling her that everything would be O.K. She was so sick I had to take her to the doctor the next day. For three weeks she resisted me, fearful, when I tried to hold her. She still cries out for her father at night.

I know I am not alone. There are around 311,000 immigrants who have requested asylum after escaping violence in their home countries like us. Our future is uncertain. My children and I were just evicted from the home we shared with six other people. Im trying to survive as a single mother of three. I dont know if well be granted asylum or sent back to our deaths at the hands of the gangs.His father was the prominent human-rights lawyer Ahmed Seif El-Islam Hamed. His sisters  Mona and Sanaa Seif  are both staunch activists. And his mother, Laila Soueif, is perhaps Egypts most recognizable face of the left.

Of my many memories from the uprising of 2011, one of the most precious was finding Ahmed and Laila, sitting hand in hand one afternoon on a ledge in Tahrir Square. Alaa stood over them talking and laughing, a water bottle in hand; Mona and Sanaa were not far away, giving out fliers.

A lot has changed during the five years that Alaa was in prison. Many people we know in common have left the country, as immigrants or asylum seekers. Activists, journalists and human rights defenders have been put in jail or disappeared. Some have been released. Friends have had breakdowns. An activist couple who met in Tahrir Square have married and had their first child. But an Italian student and researcher was brutally murdered, found dead on the side of a street with torture marks  that fact lingers. The cost of living also has shot up, after the government lifted fuel subsidies and floated the Egyptian pound to save itself from debt.

As we lived our lives on the outside, in relative freedom, we never forgot Alaa  the hashtag #freealaa was sustained. And yet at some point we began to fail him.

I couldnt forget how the protests calling for Alaas freedom started out sizable in the initial weeks, even months, of his detention, and then slowly began to shrink. I remember the day that I found myself not responding to such a call and followed the gathering on Twitter instead  on the streets, were just a handful of supporters, headed by Alaas ever-stoic mother.

I began to question my lack of political stamina, my will, my occasional paralysis over even writing, and was riddled with a sense of defeat. It was perhaps my guilt that caused me to work a character inspired by Alaa (Dido) into my novel. By the end of the book, Dido is in prison, and he says to his writer-cousin that he doesnt blame her for not making activism her life, telling her that it doesnt take an entire population to change the course of things and that everyone has his and her own calling.

In a letter from 2016, Alaa wrote, I spent most of 2014 in prison yet I still had lots of words. And then, a few lines later:

But by early 2015, as I heard my sentence, I had nothing left to say to any public. I could only write personal letters. The revolution and, indeed Egypt itself, would slowly fade out even from those letters, and by fall 2015, even my personal words dried up. Its been months since I wrote a letter and more than a year since Ive written an article. I have nothing to say: no hopes, no dreams, no fears, no warnings, no insights, nothing, absolutely nothing.When it comes to explaining why Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have become hotbeds for extremism, propaganda and bigotry, theres a tendency to overcomplicate things.

Thats understandable. The algorithms that govern the platforms are unknowable trade secrets. There are, in some cases, billions of users to account for. There are meaty issues of free speech and copyright law playing out in real time across borders. Technology is confusing!

And, yes, its true that the tech companies are dealing with thorny problems that most likely have no universally satisfying outcome. Big Techs problems are indeed dizzying and manifold, but the last few years have taught us that theres an Occams razor quality to any explanation of the toxicity of our online platforms. The original sin, it seems, isnt all that complicated; its the prioritization of growth  above all else and at the expense of those of us who use the services.

The most recent example came on Tuesday morning when Bloomberg News published a story chronicling YouTubes struggles to quash misinformation, conspiracies and incendiary content. According to the report, current and former YouTube employees said that the company had ignored warnings to change YouTubes recommendation engine and that they were, in some cases, discouraged from seeking out videos that might violate YouTubes rules to preserve a sense of plausible deniability.The election of Donald Trump, followed by his withdrawal from the nuclear deal and renewed American sanctions against Iran, has brought Mr. Rouhanis reformist momentum to a halt. Instead, a sense of betrayal by the United States and of a threat to the countrys territorial integrity appears to be emerging among Iranians.

Iranian hard-liners have sensed the beginning of a change in the popular mood. Two weeks ago, Kayhan, a daily newspaper known for its close ties to the supreme leader and the Revolutionary Guards, declared The End of the Western Illusion as the greatest achievement of the last Persian year, which ended on March 20. Iranian elites who once galvanized society and received votes with the promise of better relations with the United States now simply repeat the angry anti-American rhetoric of their conservative rivals.

These days, Javad Zarif, Irans once-smiling foreign minister and the chief nuclear negotiator, sounds more like the former hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Even Ali Akbar Salehi, the M.I.T.-educated head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and nuclear negotiator, recently said that everyone from the proponents to the opponents of the regime and from the revolutionaries to the anti-revolutionaries have come to believe that the United States is our enemy.

In taking away Irans nuclear leverage, reimposing the sanctions and heavily arming its regional rivals, the United States has intensified anxieties about national security in the republic. Consequently, a national security discourse that brings the elites and the masses together is being constructed, and the Trump administration is providing credibility for it.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has survived not just because of its security apparatus but also because its leaders have been able to manage public sentiments and intra-elite conflicts. And Irans leaders have found that President Trumps hostility toward Iran is helping to rally otherwise resentful citizens behind the regime and create a new cohesive Islamist-nationalist ideology.

This could have a demobilizing effect on Irans underground but still vibrant civil society and further boost the Revolutionary Guards influence over foreign policy. There is less and less popular and elite opposition to Mr. Khameneis claim that if the Revolutionary Guards did not fight terrorists in Damascus, it would be fighting them in Tehran. It is likely that many will consider investment in the regime an investment in their own and their homelands security. What was once considered regime security is increasingly seen as national security.

For four decades, the American and Iranian governments have simultaneously pursued a system of reward and punishment against Iranian citizens for opposite goals. Washington has hoped to foment public uprisings leading to regime change; Tehran has sought compliance and regime durability.On the whole, my life has been lucky and blessed. But womanhood has also come with new threats. One night, outside a bar in Waterville, Me., a would-be suitor grabbed me roughly by the wrist and said, I tell you what, Jenny, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. (I escaped from him, but I think about that night sometimes, and what might have happened if I had not.)

I can assure you that no one transitions from male to female to get a better deal. And yet, even at its harshest, the world I live in now feels like the one for which God made me.

Has my experience of womanhood been identical to that of other women my age? Of course not. I speak, sometimes, with a hint of a foreign accent, a vestigial trace of the country where I was born.

As Zadie Smith writes in her novel White Teeth, This is the other thing about immigrants (fugees, emigres, travelers): They cannot escape their history any more than you yourself can lose your shadow.

Im all too aware of the way my past informs my present, and there are plenty of times when I long to have lived a life unburdened by the past.

And yet, just because I began my life somewhere else, I am no less a citizen of the country I have made my own. My womanhood is not a matter for debate. What it is, above all, is a fact. It is, however, a fact that cannot possibly be understood without imagination.

When members of the present administration claim that people like me should be erased, are they not saying, in so many words, Build that wall? Are they not echoing the cries of every xenophobic bigot throughout history in furiously demanding that I Go Back Where I Came From?A historical lens may help us see things with a bit more dispassion. The media obsession with a specific set of gotcha issues, the conviction that they warrant an expenditure of vast journalistic resources, dates to the years after the Vietnam War and Watergate. Chastened by those national traumas, Americans, including journalists, concluded that they had sprung from the debauched or deformed characters of President Johnson and especially President Nixon. Character became the watchword in politics.

But character was defined at once too vaguely and too narrowly. The imperative to evaluate character was too broad in that it gave journalists license to vet aspirants for the presidency (as well as for the Supreme Court, Cabinet appointments and other offices) by prying into their personal lives.

Yet it was also too narrow, because the peculiar foibles that the press fixated on were hardly sufficient to adequately judge someones integrity or maturity or temperament. The issues of sex, drugs, and Vietnam loomed large for reporters of the Baby Boom generation because they provided an arena in which to work through unresolved feelings about the cultural transformations of the 1960s.

Eventually, the maturation of Generation X  whose members were largely unfazed by tales of sex, pot and draft dodging  diminished the potential of the boomers pet issues to blossom into scandal. More broadly, the public was wearying of hyped-up controversies that, it was becoming clear, had little or no relevance to how a politician performed his or her job.

Recently, though, America experienced another trauma. The election of Donald Trump  a rank misogynist and confessed sexual assaulter  over a woman seemingly destined to be Americas first female president jolted many voters. Among its other effects, Trumps election helped spark the explosion of womens activism we have seen since 2016, including the long-overdue insistence that we call sexual harassers and assaulters to account. If Mr. Trump couldnt be stopped, others guilty of like offenses would be policed with new vigor.

As many people recognize, however, for all the big shots, predators and cads rightly brought to justice, there have also been moments of excess  of sober judgment suspended. Most infamously, in late 2017, following multiple claims of inappropriate touching, the Senate peremptorily cast out Minnesotas Al Franken, before an ethics investigation could even occur. Mr. Franken denied that his actions amounted to sexual harassment, and apologized for them anyway. But when two new stories were posted to the internet in early December, his senate colleague Kirsten Gillibrand led a parade of lawmakers who demanded he give up his seat.

Like Gary Hart, Mr. Franken cannot blame others entirely, since he chose to step down. But a lot of Americans had and still have grave qualms about the lack of due process he was afforded. Clearly, both the media and the political class bore some responsibility for ratcheting up the pressure on him, instead of calling  as they could have  for cool deliberation to determine what actually happened, how severe his offenses were, and whether they should overshadow the many reasons his constituents might wish him to keep serving (as polls suggested they did).While Democratic support among Hispanics has improved over the past decade, from the low 60s to the high 60s, there is evidence suggesting that those gains cannot be relied upon in future elections.

In the midterm elections, Florida became the prime example of such unreliability, as Republicans demonstrated they could buck state and national trends to make substantial gains among Hispanics.

Republicans won two close statewide races in Florida in 2018, one for senate and one for governor  despite the gradual erosion of Republican support among Cuban-Americans in the state and despite the continuing influx of pro-Democratic Puerto Ricans in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, formerly the New Democrat Network, a pro-Democratic think tank, wrote, In All Important Florida, Democrats Lose Ground With Hispanic Voters a month after the 2018 election:

In an election where Democrats had one of their best years ever with Hispanic voters across the country, Florida Democrats saw their Hispanic numbers decline. Nationally, Democrats went from 62-36 (26 pts) in 2014 to 69-29 (40 pts) this election. In Florida, Democrats went from 58-38 (20 pts) in 2014 to 54-44 (10 pts) this year.

As Rosenberg pointed out, this shift occurred despite the fact that Trump did everything possible to alienate Latinos, along with undercutting Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, the winning Republican candidates for Senate and governor.

Rosenberg noted that Trump had

relentlessly attacked immigrants and Hispanics in particular. He grossly mismanaged the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, sending hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans fleeing to Central Florida. He revoked the temporary status of many immigrants in Florida. Given all this, one would have imagined the environment for Democrats to make gains among Hispanics was present in Florida this year, gains which were made elsewhere. Yet we fell back.

By all accounts, Scott and DeSantis campaigned almost daily in Hispanic precincts, while their Democratic opponents, Bill Nelson and Andrew Gillum, took the Hispanic vote for granted.

We had no infrastructure, Christian Ulvert, Gillums director for Spanish-language media, told Politico:

And honestly, Democrats have been playing catch-up on Hispanic outreach for two decades, because Republicans have invested in it. You cant close that gap overnight.

Politico described Nelsons bid for a fourth term as a uniquely lazy campaign that made laughably ineffectual attempts to engage with Hispanics.

Melissa Michelson, a political scientist at Menlo College in California and president of the Latino caucus of the American Political Science Association, described in an email the changing political orientation of Floridas Cuban-Americans.To the Editor:

Re Trump Directs State Dept. to End Aid to 3 Central American Countries (nytimes.com, March 30):

The Republicans latest move on immigration is to halt foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. This move is 180 degrees off the mark.

People are leaving Central America because life there is dangerous. Life is dangerous there because local governments cannot govern. Local governments cannot govern because they are outgunned and corrupted by the drug cartels.

A solution that is politically feasible for the United States is to create centers of economic power in Central America much as President John F. Kennedys Alliance for Progress envisioned. The Republicans have just moved in the opposite direction.

Michael Evan Gold

Ithaca, N.Y.The first place a parent brings a sick child is usually the pediatricians office, and we did not want to run the risk of exposing a new baby to a virus that can remain airborne for hours. It turned out those conversations I overheard about flexible and understanding pediatricians in our new community came in handy; we crossed off their names from our list immediately.

But if vaccines are so important to my family, Ive come to ask myself how intellectually honest it is for me to turn a blind eye and continue to allow my kids to socialize with families who are putting us all at risk.

Thats the problem with vaccine refusal: It is not an individual choice. It is a choice that endangers everyone, especially those too young or sick to be vaccinated.

Right now, the only solution to the anti-vaccine public health crisis on a legislative level is to eliminate nonmedical exemptions for children entering school, and it is a policy that should be instituted and tightened in every state, as it is in California. This is an important step that states need to take, but it is only part of the solution as more and more families opt out of the system.

Thankfully, government intervention isnt the only tool we have to address this crisis. Pediatricians should refuse to treat patients who refuse to vaccinate, leaving parents who would expose a waiting room to the measles with a choice: Do I vaccinate to make sure my child can be also treated for normal childhood ailments like ear infections and strep throat? One should not come without the other, not when other patients are put at unnecessary risk.

Home-schooled kids dont exist in a bubble, and they dont stay exclusively at home during the learning process. Our children, for example, attend classes at nature centers, the local zoo, a childrens gym and more. In the case of these programs, especially ones organized by government entities like the county parks department, there should be a requirement to show proof of immunization to register. Departments of Health in many states, including New York, require proof of vaccination for summer camp; any organized program that children participate in should require the same.

Home-school families like mine may be at the front lines of this crisis, but the unvaccinated kids I know go to the same supermarkets, churches, synagogues and movie theaters your kids do. Rocklands decision to bar unvaccinated children from public places may be an unenforceable edict, but that doesnt mean we shouldnt be using every possible means to pressure members of the herd to act responsibly.The mark-to-market idea is similar in principle to the reassessment of home values for property-tax calculations. As Ive noted before, the property tax is an annual tax on the largest asset for most middle-class families. But the very rich dont face an annual tax on their largest holdings.

Their largest holdings often include stocks. Which means that the lower tax rate on capital gains, combined with the deferral of taxing them, has enormous financial consequences, as Steve Wamhoff, of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, explains on JustTaxes.org. Wealthy households, who already own the most in assets, can defer paying tax and grow their wealth much more rapidly, while income most of us earn from work is taxed annually, Wamhoff writes. This is a massive tax break for the wealthy, and mark-to-market taxation would bring it to an end.

Lily Batchelder and David Kamin, both N.Y.U. professors and former Obama administration officials, noted that the Wyden plan would also raise significant amounts of revenue for the federal government. That money could be used to reduce the deficit or pay for programs such as preschool or middle-class tax cuts.

Critics of the Wyden idea (as you can see here) claim that revaluing assets each year is too complicated to be feasible and that the plan will harm economic growth. I dont buy either claim.

On the economic effects: Its not as if the American economy has been performing well in recent years. As wealth inequality has risen, economic growth has repeatedly missed forecasters expectations.

On the complexity: All taxes have some complexity. But its certainly feasible for the government to become more aggressive about taxing top incomes and wealth.

I dont know whether the Wyden plan will ultimately make more sense than Warrens more sweeping proposal to tax large fortunes each year or the proposals from Harris and Sanders to increase the inheritance tax. But this is the right time for the debate.

The next time the country has a president whos worried about inequality and middle-class living standards, it will be time to increase taxes on extreme wealth.

If you are not a subscriber to this newsletter, you can subscribe here. You can also join me on Twitter (@DLeonhardt) and Facebook.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.That may be so, and it certainly would be a great relief for Venezuela to be rid of the leader who inherited a broken country from his revolutionary mentor Hugo Chavez and has continued to push it to utter ruin, creating a humanitarian disaster atop the worlds largest oil reserves. But how long that transition might last, and what horrors it may yet visit on people hovering on the edge of starvation, are open questions.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly warned that any move to arrest or harm Mr. Guaido will draw a significant response. But then Mr. Trump has frequently rattled his sabers  all options are on the table  and there are no suggestions that any military action is being seriously contemplated. And despite bellicose warnings from both Mr. Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Russia has shown no sign of pulling back its advisers or halting its support for Mr. Maduro, if only in hopes of recovering some of the large sums it has lent him.

In effect, what was intended as a swift operation to pry out a nasty despot has turned into a stalemate while Venezuela further disintegrates, lately with long, debilitating blackouts.

That is not to argue that Mr. Trump should become more aggressive. Mr. Maduro and his patron in the Kremlin may have called Washingtons bluff for now, leaving the American president with his own red-line moment, as David E. Sanger wrote in The Times, reminiscent of President Barack Obamas failure to follow up on his threats against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. But a military intervention in a country bigger than Texas would be ugly, even if Russia did not get further involved, and nearly all the other nations backing Mr. Guaido firmly opposed one.

The reality is that Mr. Trump has no real option but to wait. It is hard to conceive that Mr. Maduro will hang on indefinitely, or that his generals will not see the writing on the wall as the situation becomes ever more dire. Vladimir Putin, for all his longing to prop up a rare ally in Latin America and to stick it to the United States, cannot project serious power halfway around world, or risk the serious response this could provoke.Originally from the Midwest, he was eager to dip his toes in saltwater after moving to New York in 2002, but found the Connecticut coast too rocky, and Fire Island too exclusive.

In Long Beach, where the family bought a two-bedroom co-op in 2012 for $325,000, the people were friendly and the sand soft, he said. And his daughter can surf. There is just some kind of peacefulness that you dont get anywhere else, Mr. Stoller said.

What Youll Find

Stretched like taffy across about two square miles, the city of Long Beach has 33,657 people, according to 2017 census figures. In summer, the average daytime population, including renters and day-trippers, can push 50,000, officials say.

Image 96 MINNESOTA AVENUE | A three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom house with a garage, built in 2014 on 0.04 acres, listed for $888,000. 516-432-4900 Credit... Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

In any season, though, the city is dense. Minuscule 30-by-60-foot lots checker the West End, where hipped-roof, single-story bungalows alternate with three-story structures that appear to have more decks than interior space.

Some may not appreciate the houses shoehorn-tight spacing; by the looks of it, a snorer might keep the neighbors up at night. But central air-conditioning, residents say, allows for closed windows.

Many tall houses got that way because of Hurricane Sandy, which inundated pancake-flat Long Beach, although no one was killed. Public funds reimbursed owners for lifting buildings, a tab that can reach $100,000 with new foundations, said Kelly Gunn, the chief financial officer of DRG Construction, which has hoisted some 250 houses.In return, the journals demand fees they had not previously disclosed that can be as high as several thousand dollars, the F.T.C. said. When authors ask to withdraw their papers, they often are refused. And some academics who are described as editors on the journals websites in fact are not editors, and are not even aware that their names are being used.

These practices stand in sharp contrast to those of legitimate scientific journals, where editors send papers to experts for review, a process that can take weeks or months, and often ask for extensive revisions. Those that charge authors clearly publish their fees.

And no editors are listed without their knowledge. Legitimate journals also are indexed  listed in places like PubMed, run by the National Library of Medicine  giving them a stamp of approval. Predatory journals claim to be indexed but are not, the F.T.C. said.

Over the years, academics have tracked predatory publishers with a blacklist, first published by Mr. Beall and now published anonymously. In one sting operation, a fictitious researcher with fake credentials applied to be editor at a list of journals. She was accepted enthusiastically by many predatory journals, and spurned by legitimate ones.

Academics often get daily solicitations from these journals. On Wednesday, James DuBois, director of the Center for Clinical Research Ethics at Washington University in St. Louis, forwarded to The Times an email he had just received.

It is learnt that you have published a paper titled The Role of Culture and Acculturation in Researchers Perceptions of Rules in Science in SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ETHICS and we are impressed by the subject, the email said. So we wish to invite you to contribute other precious papers of related topics to the journal.Name: Stefania LaVie Owen

Age: 21

Hometown: Born in Miami and raised in Pauatahanui, New Zealand, a small town north of Wellington.

Now lives: In her familys home in New Zealand and, most recently, a room in her friends three-bedroom apartment in the East Village of Manhattan.

Claim to fame: Ms. Owen is a young actress and fashion plate in high demand, whether shes appearing off Broadway with Lucas Hedges in Yen, or touted by Vogue as a young starlet on the rise. Her self-effacing nature defies young Hollywood typecasting. Coming from New Zealand, I never had the idea that I would be an actor or that it would be a job, she said. It was just something that I thought was really fun.

Big break: As a student at the Chilton Saint James School, a private all-girls school in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, she was recognized for her precocious acting talent. She made her professional debut at 11 in The Lovely Bones, a 2009 film directed by Peter Jackson, a fellow New Zealander.Michael R. Bloomberg may have forgotten that hes not running for president.

Wearing a Ralph Lauren stars-and-stripes sweater under a blazer with a flag pin, the former mayor was pumping hands with everyone at the Shed, the new arts center at Hudson Yards that his administration was instrumental in creating.

Mr. Bloomberg helped guide the citys $75 million contribution, and his personal foundation gave another $75 million (garnering him naming rights for the main Bloomberg Building).

He was joined by fellow billionaires Kenneth C. Griffin (whose $238 million pied-a-terre on Central Park South is Americas most expensive home), who gave $25 million, and Stephen M. Ross, the chairman of the Related Companies, which developed Hudson Yards .

At times, the founders dinner on Sunday, which kicked off a week of opening festivities, resembled a campaign rally.In this series for T, Emily Spivack, the author of Worn Stories, interviews creative people about their most prized possessions. Here, the architect Charles Renfro, a partner in the interdisciplinary design firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which is behind such developments as the High Line, the Broad and Bostons ICA, describes the childhood toy that shaped his career. Renfro became a partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro in 2004, and his work with the firm has been exhibited worldwide at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Pompidou. The firms latest project, the Shed in New York Citys Hudson Yards, opens April 5.

[Coming later this spring: the T List newsletter, a weekly roundup of what T Magazine editors are noticing and coveting. Sign up here.]

I was 8 years old and I already knew I wanted to be an architect. My mom gave me my first Kenner Girder & Panel building set in 1972. Its a cousin of Lego, Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets, but Kenner was a particular system that was about making corporate office towers. It was first made in the 1950s, around the time that the Seagram Building and Lever House were being completed. You could buy sets to make thinly disguised versions of skyscrapers by all the major architects  Mies van der Rohe, Gordon Bunshaft, Le Corbusier, Philip Johnson. There I was, a little boy living in the suburbs of Houston, copying these buildings I had only seen in pictures, embracing worldliness through an imagined future.Update, 4/21/20: Wirecutter, a product review site owned by The New York Times, asked Ellen Bennett to share more details on the organizational methods and tools she relies on in her own kitchen, from the hooks and pegs on which she hangs her aprons to the trays and baskets she uses to separate pantry staples like vitamins and tea. For the full list of the tools she recommended, visit wirecutter.com.

In kitchens the world over, the French culinary phrase mise en place has come to mean everything in its place. In practice, its a codified philosophy among chefs in which every mixing bowl, every spice and every tool consistently returns to a designated shelf space. For Ellen Bennett, the Los Angeles-based founder and C.E.O. of the culinary and lifestyle brand Hedley & Bennett, that system is a way of life. An exacting standard of organization, she learned as a line cook at restaurants like Los Angeless Baco Mercat and the two-Michelin-starred Providence, is what keeps fast-paced kitchens running smoothly. When you have a place for everything, you dont have to think twice, she says, because theres no searching for what you need. Its about not having to do the extra work.

[Sign up here for the T List newsletter, a weekly roundup of what T Magazine editors are noticing and coveting now.]

Today, Bennett no longer works in restaurants. Almost seven years ago, she launched Hedley & Bennett under the simple premise of giving cooks more dignified workwear, swapping out the standard cheap synthetic aprons for top-grade linens and canvas. She now sells to thousands of restaurants and countless aspiring home cooks, retailing at shops that include Whole Foods and Sur La Table. (Next up, shell serve as the Creative at Large for Downtown Los Angeless forthcoming Firehouse Hotel.) Despite turning her culinary experience into a multimillion-dollar business, Bennett still retains the discipline and know-how she learned from working back-of-house  and continues to abide by the codes of mise en place in the kitchen of her own sunny Echo Park home.SAN FRANCISCO  At least 25 prominent artificial-intelligence researchers, including experts at Google, Facebook, Microsoft and a recent winner of the prestigious Turing Award, have signed a letter calling on Amazon to stop selling its facial-recognition technology to law enforcement agencies because it is biased against women and people of color.

The letter, which was publicly released Wednesday, reflects growing concern in academia and the tech industry that bias in facial-recognition technology is a systemic problem. Some researchers  and even some companies  are arguing the technology cannot be properly controlled without government regulation.

Amazon sells a product called Rekognition through its cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services. The company said last year that early customers included the Orlando Police Department in Florida and the Washington County Sheriffs Office in Oregon.

In January, two researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a peer-reviewed study showing that Amazon Rekognition had more trouble identifying the gender of female and darker-skinned faces in photos than similar services from IBM and Microsoft. It mistook women for men 19 percent of the time, the study showed, and misidentified darker-skinned women for men 31 percent of the time.Two hallmarks of American economic policy under President Trump are a reflexive aversion for regulation and go-it-alone nationalism.

But in technology policy, that stance is changing.

In September, the Trump administration abandoned its hands-off approach and began working closely with the 36-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to create international guidelines for the design and use of artificial intelligence.

The administration has also started to discuss a new law to protect privacy in the digital age, seeking consensus domestically and common ground internationally. It has fielded more than 200 public-comment filings from advocacy groups, corporations and individuals.

There is a real desire in the United States to see leadership at the federal level, said David Redl, a senior Commerce Department official helping to guide the administrations privacy effort.The $200 version of the AirPods includes a new case that can be charged wirelessly. That means you can place the case on a wireless charging pad, which uses an electrical current to generate a magnetic field, creating voltage that powers up the case. This method relieves the Lightning port of eventual wear and tear.

The new case worked well with several wireless charging pads I tested. But because you will have to spend about $20 on a charging pad, I recommend buying the AirPods with the special case only if you already own other devices that support wireless charging, like newer iPhones.

Like the first-generation AirPods, the new ones last about five hours when you listen to music. But for phone calls, they can now go about three hours, up from two hours previously. When you return the earbuds to the case, it has enough juice to recharge them multiple times; as a result, you will get about 24 hours of listening time before having to replenish the case. Over a week of testing, I recharged the case only once.

The audio quality of the new earbuds is about the same as the first generations. Music sounds O.K. through them, good enough for playing podcasts and songs on your commute. But if you want wireless earphones that sound louder and richer with deeper bass, consider earbuds from Jabra or some of the other recommendations from Wirecutter, a product review site owned by The New York Times.

The AirPods also include a new chip that lets people use them to interact with Siri, Apples virtual assistant. To summon the assistant, you say, Hey, Siri, followed by a command like Play some music or Schedule meeting for 3 p.m. on Thursday.

While thats a neat feature for tasks like adding items to your calendar, I couldnt get in the habit of talking to Siri via AirPods  especially in public, where I still occasionally get dirty looks from people just for wearing the earbuds.So I travel with a laptop and a backup iPad with a keyboard, so there is always a way to write. I take two phones  and two booster battery packs. I carry an AT&T portable hot spot, and still Ive had to fall back at times on the built-in Wi-Fi hot spot on my iPhone. Oh, and a Logitech camera that allows me to do TV hits over a Skype connection without using the built-in pinhole camera in the laptop.

So my backpack weighs plenty  and my wife and our sons think carrying it everywhere is faintly ridiculous. Until they run out of cellphone power.

Youd think that belt-and-suspenders approach would cover everything. It doesnt. In Hanoi, Vietnam, this year for a summit meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, we were, as my colleague Edward Wong put it, comms cursed.

Lots of things failed. It didnt help that I was staying in the Metropole hotel, where the meeting was being held, and security personnel blanketed the lobby with a cellphone suppression technology that keeps terrorists from detonating bombs remotely. Turns out it also keeps reporters from updating their stories on the web.

You published your third book, The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age, last year. Its a geopolitical look at how nations are using cyberweapons, and not just for espionage. Ever been a target?

Im afraid that if you are in my line of work  writing about the intersection of technology, spying, cybersabotage and national power  you attract attention from intelligence services.

In Beijing in 2017 with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, I made the mistake of looking up something about the Tiananmen Square massacre from my hotel room, over a portable hot spot. Big mistake. The hot spot stopped working. I couldnt revive it in Japan, or back at home. We later determined that Chinese intelligence had fried the firmware.Kunene and the King, produced by the R.S.C. and the Fugard Theater in Cape Town, is set in the present, 25 years after the end of apartheid  which did not, Mr. Kani suggests, mean the end of racism or injustice.

It tells the story of the relationship between Lunga Kunene, a black nurse taking care of Jack Morris, a famous white actor, who is terminally ill, but nonetheless preparing to play King Lear.

Its the second time Mr. Kani and Mr. Sher have performed together; in 2008 and 2009 they played Caliban and Prospero in The Tempest, also directed by Ms. Honeyman.

Following a preview performance of Kunene, Mr. Kani and Mr. Sher talked about their relationships to South Africa, and Shakespeare as a unifying force. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.

How long have you known each other?

Antony Sher In 1995, I was part of a workshop run by the National Theater studio at the Market Theater in Johannesburg, and I remember many conversations and meals. We had known one another a bit before, but that was the real meeting.

John Kani Tony was well-known in South Africa because he was this famous English actor. We were proud of him! Then in 2008 and 2009, we had the chance to work on The Tempest. During that time, I had an idea about a two-hander for us, and we talked about it. Life went on, I didnt think about it, and then last year, the idea suddenly came back to me. I felt: We need to look at South Africas democracy. We are littered with incidents, issues and geographical segregation that prevent us from becoming a united society. I wanted to write a story about two men who seem to be happy with whats going on, but when you bring them together, the rifts quickly surface.Over all, 80 percent of American counties encompassing 149 million people experienced a decline in the number of residents ages 25 to 54 between 2007 and 2017, according to the paper, which was written by Adam Ozimek of Moodys Analytics and Kenan Fikri and John Lettieri of the Economic Innovation Group.

They project that the trends will continue, and that by 2037, two-thirds of American counties will have fewer adults of prime working age than they did in 1997, despite overall population growth in that period. (Their projections tried to take into account undocumented immigrants.)

Policies to encourage American families to have more children would help over the long run by increasing the supply of potential workers in the future. So could efforts to ensure that even struggling cities have the kinds of amenities young families desire, particularly good schools.

The population of different places is always fluctuating, and economists have traditionally viewed that as a mostly healthy process. Workers make their way to where they will be the most productive, enabling the overall economy to adapt and grow.

But people who study regional economies are increasingly concerned that some aspects of this wave of demographic change make the pain more severe for places left behind  which can get stuck in a vicious cycle.

Theres a possibility that once local areas start on this downward spiral, its self-reproducing, said Timothy Bartik, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

A shrinking supply of working-age people can prompt employers to look elsewhere to expand, making it harder for local governments to raise enough taxes to pay for infrastructure and education, and encouraging those younger people who remain to head elsewhere for more opportunity.All right. Its game time. A 56-year-old former federal prosecutor whos never held elected office  We must break from the past.  has made history in Chicago. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Lori Lightfoot is the first black woman, and the first openly gay person, to become Chicagos mayor. So, who is she? Lightfoot is a lawyer and former president of the Chicago Police Board. The relationship between citizens all over the city and our police department is severely damaged. She sold herself as a political outsider, the remedy to the citys eight-year mayor, Rahm Emanuel. But the two werent always on opposite sides. In 2015, Emanuel picked Lightfoot to help mediate the biggest crisis hes faced as mayor. Protesters wanted him to step down, after a Chicago police officer was charged with the murder of Laquan McDonald. Laquan McDonalds death was totally avoidable. Lightfoot led a review of the case and the report resulted in a scathing indictment of Chicagos police force. Many people said that they believe that the police that they encountered were fundamentally racist. And where does she stand on other issues? Lightfoot has said that shed put a freeze on new charter schools, which were greatly expanded under Emanuel. Shes also vowed to shake up the Chicago Police Department, with a focus on systemic reforms and accountability. Its an opportunity for us to speak our values and really, frankly, break from the broken political machine. And she wants to use her status as a rookie politician to tackle corruption. The machine has been in decline for a while. But it still has a grip on certain things. What does Lightfoots win mean for Chicago? Her lack of political experience means shes a relative unknown. Lightfoots platform of beating the machine and cracking down on gun violence seem to have paid off. But will she deliver on promises to tackle issues that have plagued Chicago for decades?The center, which was founded as the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tenn., in 1932, originally focused on organizing unemployed and working people and brought union organizers together for interracial workshops. But it soon became an incubator for the civil rights movement.

In the 1950s, it developed a literacy program that taught thousands of black people to read and write in an effort to help them register to vote.

In 1955, Ms. Parks attended a civil rights workshop at Highlander, just a few months before she refused to give up her seat on a bus, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott in protest of segregated seating. In 1957, with Ms. Parks in attendance, Dr. King gave closing remarks at a conference marking the Highlander schools 25th anniversary.

The unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement, We Shall Overcome, also has ties to the Highlander center. The schools music director learned an original version of the song from tobacco workers and taught it to Pete Seeger, whose adaptation spread around the country.

The schools policies, theories and association with high-profile civil rights figures often drew the attention of the authorities. It was investigated for Communist ties in the late 1950s and later shut down in 1961 by the state of Tennessee for holding integrated classes, among other complaints.

The school reopened the next day as the Highlander Research and Education Center, according to the centers website. It has been at its current campus in New Market since 1972.WASHINGTON  House Republicans are expected as soon as Thursday to try to add an amendment on anti-Semitism to a Yemen war resolution, giving Democrats a wrenching choice: Vote down the amendment amid charges that their party is coddling anti-Semites, or approve it and kill a hard-fought resolution aimed at ending American involvement in Saudi Arabias war.

While Republicans are keeping a close hold over their plans, Democrats and Jewish groups are convinced that the minority will try the maneuver to derail the Yemen resolution and embarrass Democrats in one maneuver. In February, a similar last-minute procedural motion to condemn anti-Semitism caught Democrats off guard, and knocked the Yemen resolution off its fast track to President Trumps desk.

But this time, Democrats are prepared  and are already laying the groundwork to accuse Republicans of a cynical attempt to weaponize anti-Semitism. In a closed-door meeting this week, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat and a vocal supporter of Israel, implored members to oppose any Republican motion.

If anybody thinks that Im not supportive of an anti-Semitism resolution, you dont know much about my history, and Im going to tell that to the members on the floor, Mr. Hoyer later told reporters. This is about Yemen. This is not about some extraneous, maybe very important, but extraneous and undermining amendment.The House Intelligence Committee has asked one of the top contractors to President Trumps inaugural to provide it with documents about the event, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, opening up a new line of inquiry into the planning and financing of the ceremonies.

The committee asked for documents from and an interview with Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who had been a close friend of the first lady, Melania Trump, and who had helped plan the celebrations and parties around the inaugural, the person said. The request was disclosed by a lawyer for Ms. Winston Wolkoff in a letter this week to the inaugural committee.

It is unclear what was requested, or why the intelligence committee is now involved. But it adds a new layer to the existing federal investigations into the inaugural committee, which was run by Thomas J. Barrack, a close friend of the president, with help from some former Trump political aides. They include Rick Gates, who previously pleaded guilty to charges brought by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, and who has been cooperating with various investigations for more than a year.

In February, federal prosecutors issued a subpoena to the inaugural committee demanding that it turn over documents about donors, finances and activities. The subpoena sought documents related to all of the committees donors and guests; any benefits handed out, including tickets and photo opportunities with the president; federal disclosure filings; vendors and contracts.WASHINGTON  The House voted Wednesday to condemn the Trump administration for pushing a federal appeals court to obliterate the Affordable Care Act, and it urged the Justice Department to defend the law in court.

The vote, 240-186, was nonbinding, but it documented the Houses support of the health law, which was passed nine years ago without the votes of any Republicans. With the resolution, Democrats sought to put Republicans on the record for failing to come to the defense of the health laws most popular provisions, such as protecting people with pre-existing medical conditions and mandating coverage for essential health benefits, like mental health coverage, prescription drugs, emergency services and maternity care.

Eight Republicans voted for it. One Democrat opposed.

The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, and it is the responsibility of the Justice Department and the administration to defend the law of the land in court, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said. What are they doing? Just the opposite. Why? Because they dont believe in governance. That is why they are happy to shut down government.

The resolution, which expresses the sentiment of the House but is not subject to approval by the Senate or by President Trump, states, The actions taken by the Trump administration seeking the invalidation of the A.C.A.s protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and later the invalidation of the entire A.C.A., are an unacceptable assault on the health care of the American people.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.[Read Mr. Neals letter to the I.R.S. commissioner.]

The move by Mr. Neal came as other panels controlled by House Democrats were flexing their muscles. The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning authorized its chairman to use a subpoena to try to force the Justice Department to give Congress a full copy of the special counsels report and all of the underlying evidence used to reach his conclusions on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

And the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee said that he would soon ask for a vote on a subpoena of his own to compel Mazars USA, an accounting firm tied to the president, to produce a decades worth of Mr. Trumps financial records.

They have told us that they will provide the information pretty much when they have a subpoena, the chairman, Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, told reporters. And well get them a subpoena.

Unlike the chairmen of other committees, Mr. Neal is not relying on a subpoena or standard congressional processes. Instead, he is invoking an authority enshrined in the tax code granted only to the tax-writing committees in Congress that gives the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee the power to request tax information on any filer.

Mr. Neal gave the agency until April 10 to comply with the request, and if he receives the information, he will then confidentially review it with his committee staff.WASHINGTON  The NATO secretary general gave a strong defense of the 70-year-old military alliance between Europe and the United States, using a high-profile appearance before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday to urge allies to stand up to a more assertive Russia.

While the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not looking for a new Cold War with Moscow, the alliances leader, Jens Stoltenberg, said it was important to not be naive about the Kremlins intentions. Proffering a long list of Russian actions that threaten NATO allies, including the annexation of Crimea, the use of a nerve agent in Britain and Moscows interference in democratic elections, Mr. Stoltenberg cited a pattern of Russian behavior that calls for the alliance to be more united than ever in its response.

NATO will always take the necessary steps to provide credible and effective deterrence, Mr. Stoltenberg said at the Capitol. He was in Washington for a meeting of foreign ministers from NATO member states.

But his remarks came in the middle of a poorly timed squabble between two of the alliances fractious members  the United States and Turkey  with Russia as the potential beneficiary. Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that it was halting the delivery of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Turkey because Ankara is pursuing plans to buy S-400 missile defense systems from Russia.WASHINGTON  The cooling saucer of the United States Senate keeps going into the microwave.

For the third time in six years, the majority party in the Senate detonated the so-called nuclear option on Wednesday to unilaterally change years-old rules of the chamber with a simple-majority vote. This time, to work through a backlog of President Trumps judicial and administration nominations, Republicans cut the time between ending debate and a final confirmation vote on executive-branch nominees and district court judges from 30 hours to two.

The change was a provocative step that reignited a bitter partisan fight over presidential nominations that has raged for a decade and spanned presidencies from both parties. Democrats dwelled at length over the blockade that stopped Judge Merrick B. Garland from ascending to the Supreme Court in the final year of Barack Obamas presidency to angrily question how Republicans could complain about the handling of Mr. Trumps nominees.

Theres no other word but hypocrisy, said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.

The majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, justified his actions on the Garland nomination, saying Democrats would have done the same thing to a Republican Supreme Court nominee. And he said Democrats started the process in 2003, when they began routinely filibustering a Republican presidents nominees.On Election Day in 2016, the Republican Party was divided against itself, split over its nominee for president, Donald J. Trump.

In Ohio, a crucial battleground, the state party chairman had repeatedly chided Mr. Trump in public, amplifying the concerns of Gov. John Kasich, a Republican dissenter. In New Hampshire, the party chairman harbored deep, if largely private, misgivings about her partys nominee. The Republican Party of Florida was listing, hobbled by local feuds and a rift between donors loyal to Senator Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush and those backing the man who humiliated both in the primaries.

Those power struggles have now been resolved in a one-sided fashion. In every state important to the 2020 race, Mr. Trump and his lieutenants are in firm control of the Republican electoral machinery, and they are taking steps to extend and tighten their grip.

It is, in every institutional sense, Mr. Trumps party.

As Mr. Trump has prepared to embark on a difficult fight for re-election, a small but ferocious operation within his campaign has helped install loyal allies atop the most significant state parties and urged them to speak up loudly to discourage conservative criticism of Mr. Trump. The campaign has dispatched aides to state party conclaves, Republican executive committee meetings and fund-raising dinners, all with the aim of ensuring the delegates at next years convention in Charlotte, N.C., are utterly committed to Mr. Trump.It has long been believed that a man named Cudjo Lewis was the last living survivor of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the United States. Now a researcher at Newcastle University in Britain says she has discovered testimony from someone who may have lived even longer  a woman named Redoshi.

The new findings, published last week in the journal Slavery & Abolition, are likely to be subject to scholarly debate, because there are few records documenting the lives of the last Africans to be captured and brought to the United States on slave ships.

Regardless of Redoshis precise historical status, the researcher, Hannah Durkin, has pieced together accounts from different sources and census records to carve out the remarkable life of a woman who survived the treacherous Middle Passage voyage at age 12, was sold as a child bride, and lived through the Civil War and the Great Depression. According to Dr. Durkin, Redoshi died in 1937; Lewis died in 1935.

[For more coverage of race, sign up here to have our Race/Related newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox.]And yet, as the bribery cases have made clear, the campus remains a place of pervasive wealth, where celebrity, money and status are still a part of daily life. This is the campus of choice for Dr. Dre, who boasted last month about his daughter being admitted on her own merit, without mentioning that he had donated millions for a school building named in his honor. Wealth is so closely associated with U.S.C. that when a recent Saturday Night Live skit spoofed the admissions scandal, it opened with a shot of U.S.C.s central library.

On the sun-streaked campus, students said conversations focused on a mix of envy and judgment for those with more. Students of all backgrounds said they often silently worried that they were being judged by their peers  either for having too much or not enough.

Mr. Bentley was raised by a single mother in Menifee, a small working-class city about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. When he arrived on campus, he expected to feel comfortable quickly, but instead said he was completely alienated because he did not have enough money. Most of his friends now, he said, come from similar backgrounds, lower middle class or just poor.

Undoubtedly, there are benefits to attending a private university with a $5.5 billion endowment: gleaming new buildings, access to premier technology, smaller classes. And wealthy students are a fixture at elite colleges across the country  the challenges at U.S.C. are similar to issues faced by students at many top private universities.

We know when low-income students get to these elite schools, they have a large problem with fit, said Jessica Thompson, the director of policy and planning at the Institute for College Access & Success. These schools have built reputations in the world that they are operating to erase class lines, but they are actually sort of hardening the types of inequity they claim to eliminate.

But whether because of the students it attracts or because of its place in glittering Los Angeles, the campus exudes a kind of singular flashiness. There are also signs that the university understands the buying power of students. In the campus bookstore, one wall is filled with pricey Kiehls bath products and an Abercrombie & Fitch welcomes students in U.S.C. Village, a $700 million residential and retail development opened by the university in 2017.Mr. Johnson, recently elected to the post, cited what he described as a real possibility that conviction on even those lesser charges would be overturned on appeal. He also said that statutes of limitations made it impossible to pursue charges against anyone else.

And he expressed frustration with the course of the case, saying that there could have been real accountability for the shootout if his predecessor, Abel Reyna, had done a better job. But he said Mr. Reyna had failed to focus on the people most responsible for the carnage and bring them to trial with charges tailored to fit their individual culpability.

Mr. Johnson said Mr. Reyna should have used the available time and resources to charge only those offenses where the admissible evidence would support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. And he added, In my opinion, had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences.

Only one defendant was ever tried: Jacob Carrizal, the president of the Bandidos chapter in Dallas. The case was declared a mistrial in 2017 after a majority of jurors voted to acquit him.

Mr. Johnson defeated Mr. Reyna in a Republican primary last year after sharply criticizing Mr. Reyna for the conduct of the shootout prosecution.WASHINGTON  Pope Francis has named Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta as the new Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, hoping to end a tumultuous period for a pivotal diocese whose recent leaders have been at the center of the churchs sexual abuse crisis in the United States.

Archbishop Gregory, 71, becomes the first African-American bishop to lead the archdiocese, a position that puts him to in line to become the countrys first African-American cardinal. He has led the archdiocese of Atlanta since 2005.

The archdiocese of Washington has been without an official leader for nearly six months, and the appointment replaces one of Pope Francis closest allies in the American church. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who became archbishop of Washington in 2006, resigned in October after he was named in a Pennsylvania grand jury report that accused church officials of covering up sexual abuse.

Theodore E. McCarrick, a former cardinal and the archbishop of Washington before Cardinal Wuerl, was defrocked in February after church officials found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians over decades. It was the first time an American cardinal has been removed from the priesthood.For weeks, millions of protesters filling Algerias streets have demanded the end of President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas 20-year rule, as well as the System of cronyism and corruption he oversaw. On Tuesday night, the wheelchair-bound, 82-year-old president was finally forced from power.

The final push came from the army chief of staff, Ahmed Gaid Salah, a former ally who belatedly came around to the protesters view that the president was physically unable to perform his role, and was being used by a tight circle of family members and businessmen to preserve their privileges.

The countrys constitutional council ratified the resignation on Wednesday, formally ending the rule of a man who had locked down Algerias politics for a generation, but leaving the country on the threshold of new uncertainties.

Even though the protesters remarkably succeeded in removing Mr. Bouteflika from office without a single life lost or shot fired by the security services, the standoff is far from over.KAMPALA, Uganda  An American woman touring one of Ugandas most popular safari destinations was kidnapped with her local guide on Tuesday evening and held for $500,000 in ransom, the authorities said.

Ugandan security forces said on Wednesday that they were searching Queen Elizabeth National Park, the site of the abduction, for the two victims and their kidnappers.

The kidnapped tourist is Kimberly Sue Endicott, and the guide is Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, according to an official with Wild Frontiers, the safari company with which they were traveling.

The park, home to more than 600 bird species and some 2,500 elephants, is generally regarded as safe for tourists.A harsh new criminal law in Brunei  which includes death by stoning for sex between men or for adultery, and amputation of limbs for theft  went into effect on Wednesday, despite an international outcry from other countries, rights groups, celebrities and students.

Brunei, a tiny monarchy on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, based its new penal code on Shariah, Islamic law based on the Quran and other writings, though interpretations of Shariah can vary widely.

Bruneis new penal code is barbaric to the core, imposing archaic punishments for acts that shouldnt even be crimes, Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, a nongovernmental organization, said in a statement on Wednesday.

He called on the nations ruler, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, to immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments.BEIJING  A man wielding a knife killed two students and injured two others at an elementary school in central China on Wednesday, according to the local authorities.

The attack occurred early Wednesday morning at Baijiaping Township Wanquan Elementary School in Ningyuan County, Hunan Province. A brief statement issued by Ningyuan County on its official WeChat social media account said that the two injured students had been taken to a hospital. Reached by telephone, an official surnamed Feng at the public security bureau of Ningyuan County said the injured students were in stable condition but declined to offer more details.

The statement said that the suspect, a 31-year-old man surnamed Zheng, had been taken into police custody. Officials offered no details on the motivation behind the attack. The incident is still under investigation.HONG KONG  After business groups had criticized a plan to ease rendition of fugitives between Hong Kong and jurisdictions including mainland China, the Hong Kong government pulled back, a little.

Last week, the Hong Kong authorities dropped from their proposal nine economic crimes that could prompt an extradition.

But on Wednesday, the government of Chief Executive Carrie Lam showed that it has no intention of stopping its broader push to overhaul its extradition laws, and introduced legislation intended to help Hong Kong send fugitives to jurisdictions that it does not have rendition agreements with.

John Lee, the Hong Kong secretary for security, said that the legislation would block loopholes in the overall system of cooperation on criminal justice.BERLIN  Germanys most notorious far-right politician, Bjorn Hocke, a man who has called the Holocaust memorial in Berlin a monument of shame, was furious when he woke up one morning to find a section of the memorial built to scale outside his bedroom window.

It was November 2017. Mr. Hocke sued the artist who had secretly rented the neighboring property and prepared the stunt over many months. He tried to have him evicted. He even launched criminal proceedings against him. But to no avail. The rental lease is open-ended.

And the replica of the Holocaust memorial remains.

But where civil and criminal proceedings have failed, a state prosecutor has stepped in, it emerged Wednesday. The prosecutors office in Mr. Hockes eastern home state, Thuringia, is investigating the artist, Philipp Ruch, on suspicion of forming a criminal association, a legal provision known as Paragraph 129, which gives the state far-reaching surveillance rights and is normally applied to criminal groups and suspected extremists.

The investigation, which was revealed in the answer to a routine parliamentary question, is now raising questions about whether the law is being leveraged by far-right sympathizers to crack down on their opponents. Mr. Hockes party, the far-right Alternative for Germany, the countrys third-largest party in Parliament, is particularly strong in the former Communist East of the country.The Irish backstop, a portion of the agreement for Britains planned withdrawal from the European Union, has been a near constant point of tension since the country began the Brexit process.

But the two players most affected by the potential outcome of this particular element of the exit  Ireland, an independent nation that will remain a part of the European Union after Britains exit; and Northern Ireland, a region that is part of the United Kingdom and is set to leave the bloc  often get left out of the conversation.

So what do Ireland and Northern Ireland want as Britain heads toward the next Brexit deadline? And can both be satisfied?

What is the backstop and why is it a factor?

Ireland and Northern Ireland have recently enjoyed cooperation across their shared border, which for decades had been a pressure point in sectarian struggles known as The Troubles.LONDON  The British Army said on Wednesday that it was investigating a video showing soldiers using an image of Jeremy Corbyn, the opposition Labour Party leader, for target practice.

The cellphone footage was first posted on Snapchat, according to the British broadcaster Sky News. It later migrated to Twitter, and shows four soldiers lining up with guns and firing paint rounds at a larger-than-life portrait of Mr. Corbyn, according to Sky News and the BBC.

A caption on the video reads, Happy with that.

It was unclear when the video was made, but according to the BBC, the soldiers were from the Third Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, known as 3 Para.

Alistair Bunkall, a defense correspondent for Sky News, wrote on Twitter that the footage had been taken at a range in Kabul, Afghanistan, where soldiers carry out guardian-angel drills, practicing to protect top officials. Pictures of other celebrities appeared at the range, but not for target practice.A graduate of a prestigious physics faculty, Mr. Deripaska rose to wealth in the 1990s, strong arming his way to a virtual monopoly over the Russian aluminum industry. When it placed sanctions on him and his companies last year, the Treasury Department cited his links to the Russian government, saying he profits from the countrys malign activity around the globe.

Even while keeping a low profile, he pursued a costly lobbying and legal effort to assert his innocence. Initially, this revolved around sanctions on his businesses, and with the help of a global influence-buying operation he did persuade the Treasury Department to lift sanctions on his aluminum empire in January.

Mr. Deripaska now wants to escape the personal sanctions, which hinder his ability to do business in the United States. Last month, he filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of those sanctions, which he claims have cost him $7.5 billion.

The conclusion that members of the Trump campaign had not colluded with Russians, Mr. Deripaska said, suggested the tide was shifting in campaigns of innuendo and guilt through leaks to the news media. If so, he said, the American justice system might also eventually clear him of other accusations never proven in court, such as ordering a contract murder.

I always believe in justice, said Mr. Deripaska, whose lawyers have frequently fought to keep suits from being brought in American courts, saying they have no jurisdiction. For us outside the United States, Mueller signals that the U.S. legal system is still alive, it still exists.

Mr. Deripaska had faced scrutiny for financial entanglements with a former Trump campaign chairman, Paul J. Manafort, who in July 2016 reportedly asked an associate to offer Mr. Deripaska a private briefing on the presidential race, in hopes of settling a $26 million lawsuit stemming from a failed investment venture. The two had been business associates a decade ago. Mr. Deripaska had denied receiving the offer, but had not addressed these matters in detail while the investigation continued.DUBLIN  With Westminster deadlocked over Britains departure from the European Union, one small party is potentially positioned to rescue Britain from its self-induced paralysis  but it refuses to vote.

Having won seven seats on an anti-Brexit platform, the partys support would have reversed Mondays three-vote defeat for a proposal to keep the United Kingdom in the European Unions customs union, ending the risk of a catastrophic no-deal Brexit.

The party is Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army, which does not consider itself British and has formally renounced any involvement in Westminster politics.

This week, despite renewed criticism in Ireland, Sinn Fein repeated that it has no intention of ending its Westminster boycott. Its a matter of principle. We are a party that is for a United Ireland, for Irish independence, said the partys president, Mary Lou McDonald, on Tuesday.JERUSALEM  Israeli politics is not subtle. Threats are always existential, opponents are out to destroy everything voters hold dear, and the enemies aiming rockets at residential neighborhoods from the Galilee to the Gaza periphery can seem only scarcely more menacing than the supposed enemies within.

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu polling neck and neck against Benny Gantz, a former army chief, riling up the base is as important as persuading anyone still on the fence. Right-wing parties talk tough about terrorists and liberal jurists; left-wing parties vie to sound like the most authentic peace-loving progressives; and centrists try to show that the parties to the left and right of them are unreasonable.

Just take a look at the commercials targeting voters on social media as the election next Tuesday draws near. They are in Hebrew and Arabic, but much of what is shown in the ads requires little or no translation. Lets move from the political right to the left.JERUSALEM  The remains of an Israeli soldier who went missing nearly 37 years ago in a calamitous battle with Syrian forces in Lebanon have been repatriated, the Israeli military said Wednesday, healing a long-festering wound to the national psyche and handing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a unifying achievement just six days before he seeks re-election.

The soldier, Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel, a 21-year-old tank driver who was born in Brooklyn, emigrated to Israel with his family in 1970. He was lost and believed killed a few days into the 1982 Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, in the chaos after his brigade was ambushed near the village of Sultan Yakoub, in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Israels military and intelligence services never stopped searching for him, and two others who remain missing. One key breakthrough came in 1993, during the Oslo peace talks, when half of an identification tag belonging to Sergeant Baumel was delivered by Yasir Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization chairman, to an emissary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

In 2016, Russia returned to Israel, at Mr. Netanyahus request, a tank that had been seized in the Sultan Yakoub battle, sent by Syria to Moscow and kept on display at the armored corps museum there.Solana Pacific sixth grader Lorenzo Lesmes Courtesy

Solana Pacific sixth grader Lorenzo Lesmes placed in the top 14 among more than 100 semifinalists at the 2019 California State Geographic Bee, which was held at Fresno State University on Friday, March 29. Lorenzo is a two-time GeoBee champion at his school, but this year was his first time qualifying for the state finals. At the State GeoBee he obtained a perfect score in eight preliminary rounds, and advanced to the tiebreaker round along with 13 other students.

The California GeoBee is part of the National Geographic GeoBee, which tests the geography knowledge of students in grades four through eight from nearly 10,000 schools across the United States. More than 500 California schools participated. School GeoBee champions took a qualifying exam in February, and the 103 top-scoring students advanced to the State GeoBee as semifinalists.A small-business owner on an island in the Philippines has become a local hero for pushing back at the growing number of international travelers who introduce themselves as influencers as a way to get free food, drinks and lodging.

He made his stand on Siargao, a tear-drop-shaped island long popular with surfers. In recent years it has also drawn a large number of travelers who believe that their vacations should be free so long as they make Instagram stories, according to several local business owners.

Last week, Gianluca Casaccia, 40, the manager and co-owner of the White Banana Beach Club, decided it was time to take action after opening his inbox and finding yet another message containing the phrase: I am an influencer.

Since May, when Mr. Casaccia, who is Italian, and his wife, who is from Manila, opened their cocktail bar overlooking the turquoise Philippine Sea, they have received about 100 of these messages, he said.This is Part 2 of a three-part story. Go back and read Part 1.

8. The highest standards of corporate conduct

In a matter of months, Rupert Murdoch had married a former supermodel, led Britains historic vote to break with the European Union and played a pivotal role in the American election. He now had a close relationship with the British prime minister, Theresa May, and an even closer one with the incoming American president, Donald J. Trump. But his media empire was more vulnerable than ever. Netflix, Amazon, Apple and a host of other new technology companies were streaming content directly to consumers and were growing at unabated rates across the globe. It was an overwhelming existential challenge to legacy media companies like 21st Century Fox. Once viewed as a global colossus, Murdochs empire was now in danger of being too small. He desperately needed international scale to compete. The answer seemed obvious: The Murdochs had to take full control of Sky.

With annual revenues of some $16 billion, Sky was the largest pay-TV provider in Britain and across Europe. The Murdochs currently owned only 39 percent of it, and that share already generated the company three times the revenue of Fox News. Whats more, Sky had its own 24-hour news channel in Britain, Sky News, which could be built into a global news network to take on the Murdochs longtime rival, the publicly financed BBC.

Murdoch at a news conference in 1993. John Stillwell/PA Images, via Getty Images

For James, who would be leading the Sky acquisition, the potential deal also represented something more personal: an opportunity for redemption. He tried to buy Sky five years earlier, in part by forging a close alliance with David Cameron, then a Conservative member of Parliament who was eyeing the prime ministership. What began with Camerons dropping by a Murdoch family vacation near the Greek isle of Santorini turned into a mutually beneficial friendship between James and the candidate. The aims of both parties were clear. Cameron wanted the support of the Murdochs. James wanted Ofcom, the British regulatory agency that would rule on whether the Murdochs were fit and proper operators of Sky, out of his way. With the 2010 election approaching, Cameron publicly promised that under a Conservative government, Ofcom as we know it will cease to exist. Not long after, James summoned Cameron to the George, a private club in the Mayfair area of London, to tell him that The Sun would reverse 12 years of support for the Labor Party and endorse him. (James and Cameron have each denied that there was any quid pro quo for the endorsement.) But just as James was getting all of the pieces in place, the phone-hacking scandal broke. He and his father were hauled in front of Parliament, and James was forced to withdraw their $12 billion bid for Sky. Ofcom survived.

[Read 6 takeaways from this story.]

Lachlan and others inside 21st Century Fox were concerned about Jamess leading this second Sky bid, given how closely associated he had been with the hacking scandal and with the familys first failed attempt to gain full control of the satellite company. But James, who knew the company best, was adamant, and in December 2016, he struck a new deal with the owners of Sky. The lawyers for 21st Century Fox, Allen & Overy, sent a lengthy memo to Karen Bradley, Britains secretary of state for culture, media and sport, detailing why this bid was different from the earlier one. Not only had the Murdochs shut down The News of the World, the newspaper that had been found guilty of widespread hacking; they had also divided the empire into two different entities: News Corp and 21st Century Fox. The company that would be purchasing Sky, 21st Century Fox, had thus been separated from the familys newspapers. Further, the lawyers wrote that the companys culture had changed substantially since the hacking scandal: It has adopted strong governance measures and controls to ensure it meets the highest standards of corporate conduct. James expressed similar confidence on a conference call with Wall Street analysts: We do think that this passes regulatory muster, he said.

One other factor made the proposed deal especially attractive. Thanks to Brexit, the Murdochs would be getting full ownership of Sky at the steeply discounted price of $14.8 billion if the deal went through. The British government was paralyzed, unable to reach an agreement to implement the break with the European bloc. Foreign companies were pulling out of Britain, destabilizing the countrys job market and the economy and, in turn, significantly depressing the value of the English pound  and with it, the price of Skys shares.

Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain on the day of the vote about Brexit in March 2019. Jessica Taylor/Xinhua News Agency, via Redux

All that needed to happen was for the government to approve the deal. With the Sky bid once again pending before Ofcom, James embarked on a campaign of contrition and humility designed to convince the British establishment that he and his family business could be trusted to own Sky.

9. Trumps Aussie mates

Even as James was pursuing his bid to take full control of Sky in Britain, the companys Australian division  Lachlans domain  was closing a much smaller but still significant deal for the family to take full control of a different Sky subsidiary: Sky News Australia, which it jointly owned with two Australian media companies. It was the countrys only 24-hour cable news channel and an unexploited opportunity for influence on another continent.

The Murdochs newspaper holdings accounted for some 60 percent of the Australian print market, and included the countrys sole national general-interest paper, The Australian. As the face of this continental newspaper empire, Lachlan wielded an enormous amount of political power in the country. Over the previous decade, Murdoch papers helped push out two different prime ministers, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. When Gillards treasurer, Wayne Swan, was worried that the Murdoch attacks were hurting the national economy, he sought out Lachlan to make an appeal, Swan told us. Lachlan built alliances, too, drawing close to Tony Abbott, a member of Parliament whose right-wing politics and confrontational style had earned him frequent comparisons to Newt Gingrich. When Abbott served as prime minister, from 2013 to 2015, he would discuss legislation with the Murdochs editors  and occasionally the Murdochs themselves  before introducing it, the former editor of The Australian, Chris Mitchell, wrote in his memoir.

Now Murdochs Australian empire was expanding into cable news. The countrys dominant broadcaster was the Australian Broadcast Corporation, a publicly financed institution modeled after the BBC. Its reporting was similarly straight and sober. Sky News Australia  which also airs in New Zealand  was, notionally, a competitor, but its audience was small, even by Australian standards. Still, the network offered Lachlan his own opportunity for redemption: After his split with his father, he presided over the implosion of the Australian TV network Ten. His failed efforts to save it included giving a reality-TV dance show to his wife and signing off on a weekly show for a controversial right-wing firebrand, Andrew Bolt. A columnist at the Murdoch-owned Herald Sun, Bolt had impressed Lachlan years earlier at a company retreat in Pebble Beach, Calif., when he aggressively questioned Al Gore after Gore presented his slide show on climate change. When Bolt was awarded his show on Ten, he was facing charges for violating the countrys Racial Discrimination Act by writing that light-skinned Aborigines were claiming indigenous status for personal gain. (Bolt was found guilty, and the publisher was forced to print a lengthy statement acknowledging the offense.)

With the acquisition of Sky News Australia, Lachlan would have a second chance. The Murdochs won full control of the network in December 2016, while Jamess Sky deal in Britain was still pending. Sky News Australias programming had historically been politically balanced. But as the Murdochs takeover approached, the network began increasing the amount of right-wing commentary it broadcast during prime time.

Not long before the deal closed, Lachlans old Ten host Andrew Bolt was brought in to do a nightly political program. Immediately after the purchase, Sky signed up as a host and commentator Caroline Marcus, a columnist for The Daily Telegraph of Sydney who had supported a ban on burkinis in France and lamented what she described as reverse discrimination against whites in cultural debates. Ross Cameron  a former member of the Australian Parliament prone to anti-gay slurs who later spoke at an event hosted by a far-right organization that describes itself as Australias leading anti-Islamic group  co-hosted a program called The Outsiders. He and his fellow hosts described themselves as Trumps Aussie mates and half-joked that their show would provide absolutely no balance whatsoever. After one host, Mark Latham, was fired for making a series of offensive comments, including a homophobic remark about a high school student who participated in a video for International Womens Day, he ran successfully for state office as a member of One Nation, the countrys far-right anti-immigrant party. Soon after Lachlan took over, an old political ally, Tony Abbotts former chief of staff, Peta Credlin, became a prime-time host on Sky. Still closely allied with Abbott, she used her platform to argue that Australia should slow down its efforts to combat climate change, take a stricter line on immigration and resist the liberal drift of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a bitter Abbott rival.

Known as Sky After Dark, the opinion-heavy, almost-uniformly right-wing lineup was an entirely new phenomenon in Australian TV. Its nighttime ratings spiked as the network quickly became required viewing for the countrys political class.

10. You love the action, dont you?

By the early months of 2017, Murdochs interim leadership of Fox News, which started with Ailess ouster before the election, was now beginning to look permanent. He installed beneath him two of Ailess loyal deputies: Jack Abernethy, who was in charge of operations, and Bill Shine, a close friend of Hannitys who had been overseeing the opinion lineup but would now also run the entire news operation. Neither was known for his independent thinking. A rival executive called Shine the butler because of his uncanny tendency to appear at Ailess side to address his needs. Even as Murdoch was elevating Shine, numerous accusations  some of them in lawsuits against Ailes  were surfacing that Shine had protected and even enabled Ailes during his years of allegedly sexually harassing women at the network. (Shine has denied any wrongdoing.)

After the election, Murdoch moved even more forcefully to support Trump. When Greta Van Susteren, a former CNN host and a somewhat ideologically unpredictable presence in the Fox lineup, left the network, Murdoch enthusiastically endorsed the idea of replacing her at 7 p.m. with Tucker Carlson  a conservative writer and a founder of the Daily Caller website who was earning praise from white nationalists heading into Trumps election. Murdoch marked the occasion by taking Carlson out to brunch with Jerry Hall in New York. When Megyn Kelly, who sealed her fame by clashing with Trump, left Fox in early 2017, Murdoch opted not to replace her with another Trump antagonist.

Sean Hannity interviewing President Trump before a campaign rally in Las Vegas in September 2018. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Murdoch also kept in close touch with the White House. He and Kushner had always spoken frequently, but now he was in regular contact with Trump too. Trump enjoyed getting his calls. As someone who prized wealth and power, Trump had long admired Murdoch; for decades, it had invariably been Trump who called Murdoch, asking for help. Now it was Murdoch reaching out to Trump on a regular basis. Rupert, Rupert! Trump would say, talking on the phone with Murdoch in the Oval Office, according to a former White House official who overheard the conversations. You love the action, dont you? You cant get enough of this shit.

Trump was also spending a lot of time on the phone with Hannity, who regularly called the president after his show. Trump had often found him to be too much of a supplicant for his purposes: He preferred his more combative interviews with Bill OReilly, which he felt better showcased his pugnaciousness, according to a former White House official. But Trump appreciated Hannitys loyalty. The Fox host had effectively been a member of his campaign team, for instance pressing Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to be on the lookout for former girlfriends and employees who might make trouble for the candidate ahead of the election, two people familiar with the interactions told us. (Hannity, through a Fox representative, denies having done so.) His show became a nightly hourlong campaign infomercial. Hannitys audience was Trumps most devoted base. In an interview with The New York Times, Ailes once described Hannity as presiding over a segmented show whose appeal was limited to hard-core conservatives. Now he was the networks biggest star. He set the tone for the rest of Foxs opinion lineup, which quickly became a nightly counterpoint to the mainstream medias coverage of Trump.

As a former media adviser, Ailes recognized that the Fox News brand depended on the perception that it was a credible alternative to the liberal media. He would even sometimes rein in his opinion hosts when their rhetoric threatened to undermine that perception. Ailes also thought that presenting a monolithic view night after night was bad television. He was careful to make sure that the network always had some hosts who challenged Republican orthodoxy at least occasionally.

These were matters that did not appear to concern Murdoch. Some of the networks news anchors could deliver at times stark counterprogramming to opinion hosts like Hannity. Shepard Smith became increasingly pointed in his critical coverage of Trump, expressing disbelief at the lie after lie after lie coming from the administration; the Fox anchor Chris Wallace emerged as one of the toughest interrogators of Trump surrogates and officials on television; and Bret Baiers straight coverage regularly infuriated Trump. But the networks prime-time lineup is its biggest draw, and by the fall of 2017, that lineup was notably more pro-Trump than it was under Ailes, with Carlson at 8, Hannity at 9 and the right-wing radio star Laura Ingraham at 10. They were joined, of course, by the morning hosts on Fox & Friends, the show with which Trump always started his day.

11. People just dont trust you

Years earlier, when James was fighting in Britain for the first failed Sky deal, he expressed contempt for government meddling in the medias affairs and impugned the nationally esteemed BBC as a chilling media monolith. The only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of independence, he said in a lecture at the annual Edinburgh International Television Festival, is profit. In the spring of 2017, as James made the rounds with civic and business leaders in London, he took a far more conciliatory tack. He praised the BBC and assured former critics that he respected Britains strict regulations designed to ensure impartiality in Englands news coverage. At an annual conference held by the influential media analyst Claire Enders, a leading critic of his first Sky bid, James professed an aspiration for us to be better and promised to behave in the way that we imagined we would want to and be expected to in the future.

Even as James was in the midst of this campaign, the companys behavior was once again threatening to jeopardize the Sky deal. In April 2017, The New York Times reported that the Fox News host Bill OReilly and the network had doled out some $13 million to address multiple complaints from women about OReillys lewd comments and unwanted advances and that Fox had nevertheless renewed his contract for $25 million. Ofcom was soon receiving submissions from OReillys victims. Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing one of his accusers, drew a direct link between Foxs sexual-harassment scandals and the phone hacking: Both, she wrote, revealed a lack of oversight, intervention and decency.

After James and several other senior executives from 21st Century Fox were grilled about the companys culture by Ofcom regulators in the agencys headquarters overlooking the Thames, the Murdochs scrambled to protect their Sky bid. They quickly fired OReilly, giving him a $25 million exit package. When rumors started circulating that Ailess once-loyal lieutenant, Shine, might be next, Hannity tried to protect him, sensing that his old friend and ally was about to become a victim of the Murdochs broader global agenda: Somebody HIGH UP AND INSIDE FNC is trying to get an innocent person fired, he tweeted, presumably referring to James. Shine was pushed out, too.

In June 2017, Ofcom finally issued its report on the acquisition: It recommended that the deal be reviewed by yet another regulatory body. The Competition and Markets Authority would investigate whether Sky would give the Murdochs too much influence over the British media.

The decision set off still more scrambling. To prevent any potential problems with the British regulators, Fox executives directed a furious Hannity to dial down his coverage of the death of a Democratic National Committee staff member named Seth Rich, which had spurred wild conspiracy theories and wide public criticism, as well as an advertiser boycott. The Murdochs also pulled Fox News off the air in Britain, where it had been the subject of several formal complaints of unfair and inaccurate content. (A separate investigation by British regulators found that Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson had violated British impartiality standards: Hannity for ridiculing critics of Trumps proposed travel ban without presenting a full version of their views or giving them an opportunity to respond, and Carlson for allowing Nigel Farage to make baseless claims that British officials had failed to protect thousands of underage girls from rape and abuse by Muslims.)

In September 2017, James delivered the keynote address at the Royal Television Societys annual convention in Cambridge, using the occasion to make the case for the Sky deal and to sketch out his vision for the future of the global media company that he still hoped to run. He ticked off some of 21st Century Foxs better-known brands  National Geographic, FX, Fox Sports, Sky Atlantic  and described how these and other outlets had explored the opioid epidemic, gender identity and race relations and told powerful stories of slavery in America, the rights of women in Pakistan and the coming and inevitable exploration of Mars. Absent from his list, and from his entire address, was one of 21st Century Foxs best-known brands, Fox News. In the question-and-answer session that followed, an interviewer speculated about why the deal was taking so long. I wonder if the message that comes through, she said, is that you presided over this rotten culture at News International and, again, at Fox News, and that people just dont trust you. Is that what you think the message is?

That November, a bipartisan coalition of British members of Parliament took their concerns about the deal to a hearing in Victoria House on Southampton Row, the headquarters of the Competition and Markets Authority. They were led by Ed Miliband, a former leader of the Labor Party and a supporter of antimonopoly media legislation who had tangled with the Murdochs a couple of years earlier, when The Sun fulminated against his candidacy for prime minister, dubbing him Red Ed and Shameful Mili. They highlighted Foxs promotion of the Seth Rich conspiracy and its airing of false claims that there were zones in London controlled by Shariah law. If the Murdochs gained full control of the satellite broadcast company, the M.P.s warned, they could transform its 24-hour news channel, Sky News, into a British version of Fox News. The question of the Murdochs influence over the media led, inevitably, to the question of the Murdochs influence over the countrys politics. I know Rupert, Ken Clarke, a member of Parliament, said. The idea that Rupert is interested in a detached influence in the politics of the countries where he owns his media  anybody who knew him, you could not put that proposition to them without them breaking into a very broad smile.

In January 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority issued its ruling on 21st Century Foxs acquisition of Sky: Full ownership of the company would give the Murdochs too much control over news providers in the U.K. across all media platforms (TV, radio, online and newspapers) and therefore too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda. It was a full-blown repudiation, setting up a final ruling that no member of the Murdoch family should ever be allowed to serve in any capacity at Sky  not even on the companys board. It would be an especially harsh blow to James, who was serving as Skys chairman at the time.

For Lachlan, it was a validation of his view that James was the wrong public face of the campaign for Sky, reminding the public of the hacking scandal and all the hostility toward the Murdochs it had stirred up. For James, the failure of the deal was a bitter vindication of his view that his familys empire could not survive its own politics and culture.

12. And Lachlan?

In early August 2017, Rupert Murdoch invited Robert A. Iger, the chief executive of Disney, to Moraga, his $28.8 million Tuscan-style vineyard estate in the hills of Bel Air, and offered him a glass of wine. The two moguls commiserated about the threat they both faced from the new breed of tech giants and what they could do to confront it. Disney also wanted to get bigger. Talk about combining some of their assets soon evolved into something much more significant: a conversation about Igers buying 21st Century Fox, the Hollywood studio that Murdoch wrested away from the Colorado oilman Marvin Davis in 1985. For 65 years, Murdoch had been ruthlessly expanding his empire. He was now thinking about doing the most un-Murdochian thing imaginable: He was going to shrink it.

James Murdoch (left) with the Disney chairman Robert A. Iger in 2012. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg, via Getty Images

It was, in a sense, an admission of defeat. Murdochs ambitions had been subverted, finally and definitively, by his own failings  the family squabbles, the reactionary drift of Fox News, the Sky News debacle. But he had a new plan. He would cleave off the Hollywood studio that was responsible for about two-thirds of the companys revenues and keep his main tools of influence, his newspapers and Fox News. James would move on, perhaps following 21st Century Fox to Disney, and he and Lachlan would run the remaining leaner, scrappier company together like a pirate ship.

The decision was driven not only by the imperatives of the business but also by those of the Murdoch family. Joint custody of the empire wasnt working. It was easy for the companys senior executives to see which one Murdoch preferred  Murdochs face would light up when Lachlan would roll his chair nearer to him at meetings  and they quickly learned which son to go to with questions and requests. (And Lachlan? Murdoch would ask, whenever executives told him that they had spoken to James about something.) As James saw it, his brother was mainly interested in the unique fringe benefits and trappings of power that came with the job. He bristled when Lachlan built a rock-climbing wall on an old soundstage on the studio lot and hired a private security guard to accompany him everywhere. Lachlan, meanwhile, chafed at Jamess fixation on corporate governance, which he felt was inconsistent with the companys swashbuckling spirit.

Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan in Adelaide in 2003. Bryan Charlton/Fairfax Media, via Getty Images

The Trump presidency was also exposing a deeper divide between the brothers. James was becoming increasingly troubled by Fox News. He didnt object to the idea of a conservative news network, but he did object to what he felt it had evolved into at certain hours: a political weapon with no editorial standards or concern for the value of truth and a knee-jerk defender of the presidents rhetoric and policies. After Trump issued his executive order banning immigration from some Muslim-majority countries in early 2017, James pushed his father and Lachlan to agree to write a companywide memo reassuring its Muslim employees in the United States and abroad. James wanted the note to forcefully and unequivocally establish their opposition to the policy and to tell employees who felt threatened by it that the company would do everything in its power to protect them. Lachlan wanted it to be less confrontational and to not specifically mention Trump or the Muslim ban, which Fox Newss opinion hosts were defending night after night. Even getting Lachlans approval for the watered-down version that ultimately went out was like pulling teeth, James would later say privately, according to people close to him.

Months later, when Trump blamed both sides for the violence at a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., saying that there were some very fine people among the white supremacists, Kathryn insisted that they write their own open letter of opposition, without consulting with his brother or father first. If were not going to say something about [expletive] Nazis marching in Virginia, when are we going to say something? she told James, according to a person familiar with the conversation.

Kathryn had historically kept her complaints about the network and the business inside the family, in accordance with the unofficial Murdoch code of conduct. But Fox opinion hosts embrace of nativism and white nationalism during Trumps rise had eroded her restraint. Her frustration with the family business occasionally broke through on her Twitter account. She wrote supportive replies to posts from the Parkland shooting survivor and gun-control activist David Hogg  who had been taunted by Laura Ingraham over his college rejections and was leading an advertising boycott against her show  as well as from Never Trump Republicans like Bill Kristol who had left the network. And she complimented a Washington Post opinion article that noted that the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer had praised Carlson for covering all our talking points.

13. You will not have a son!

The resentment that had been steadily building between James and Lachlan over the past two and a half years exploded in the fall of 2018, as the Disney deal became a possibility, then a probability and then a reality.

James instantly seized on the idea, seeing it both as a way out of the family business and as a possible route to the biggest job in the media. He started speaking with Iger separately over lunches and meetings, discussing among other things what role he might play at Disney. Iger was in his late 60s; his contract was set to expire in the summer of 2019, and the company had not yet named a successor. A top job in Disneys corporate hierarchy could put James in the running to take over. It had long been his dream to run his familys empire, but Disney, when combined with 21st Century Fox, would be more than three times its size  the largest media conglomerate in the world, one with no ideological baggage to prevent it from growing and evolving further. James immediately championed the deal during his conversations with fellow 21st Century Fox board members.

Rupert Murdoch and his son James in England in 2010. Max Mumby/Indigo, via Getty Images

Lachlan was furious. His father was talking about dismantling the empire not even three years after coaxing him back from Australia to run it, an empire that had taken a lifetime to build. He argued that 21st Century Fox was big enough to compete as it was. The smaller piece of the empire that he would be left with  a network with an aging audience in the increasingly anachronistic business of cable television  was hardly a growth business. As the talks with Iger progressed, Lachlans opposition hardened. Why the [expletive] would I want to run this company? he told people close to him. Lachlans anger at his father boiled over during a dinner in Manhattan in the fall of 2017, three people who were familiar with the incident told us. If you take one more call on this deal, you will not have a son! he threatened. I will never talk to you again. (Representatives for Murdoch and Lachlan denied that he made these threats.)

Over the course of our reporting, we spoke to a dozen people with direct knowledge of the Disney negotiations. What emerged were two diametrically different narratives of how the next act in the history of the Murdoch dynasty unfolded. Those closer to James say that Lachlan saw his birthright slipping away and tried to undermine the deal, even encouraging a rival bid from a different company that wouldnt buy as many of 21st Century Foxs assets. Those closer to Lachlan say that James was pushing the deal forward to advance his own career ambitions and was ready to settle for less than they could get for their fathers lifes work. Lachlans perception was affirmed, they said, when his father told him that he had received a call from a banker on the deal, reporting that James was trying to make his future at Disney part of the negotiations. Murdoch personally assured Iger that it wasnt. (People closer to James say that there was no attempt to make the deal contingent on his role at Disney and that his primary concern was reaching the best agreement for the family and the shareholders.)

The familys dysfunctional dynamics were readily apparent to Iger. Seeing James as a strong champion of the deal, he kept him close during the negotiations but never committed to offering him a specific, high-level position; publicly, he said only that he was considering the issue.

Negotiations nearly fell apart in October, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, when Murdoch called Iger to say that Disneys valuation of the company was inadequate and that talks should cease. But they kept talking, meeting in London  Iger had come for the premiere of Disneys Star Wars: The Last Jedi  to iron out more details. On Dec. 13, 2017, they announced an initial deal valued at $52.4 billion.

Donald Trump during the first Republican presidential-primary debate in 2015. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg, via Getty Images

Accompanying the announcement was a photograph of Iger and Murdoch, their arms placed awkwardly on each others shoulders, standing on the rooftop of a London building, St. Pauls Cathedral looming in the background. It was a peculiar image: the mogul who built the countrys most polarizing, rage-stoking political brand beside the one who presided over a media conglomerate whose very name was synonymous with equanimity and uplift. Inside the Murdoch empire, the incompatibility of Fox News and 21st Century Fox had long been a source of private complaint and ironic humor: The Simpsons, a Fox show, once parodied Fox News with a rolling news ticker featuring headlines like Do Democrats Cause Cancer? and Study: 92 Percent of Democrats Are Gay. Showrunners on the West Coast would press the Murdochs to get the network under control when a Fox News host would say something they considered offensive, for instance during the networks coverage of the Charlottesville rally. But for many 21st Century Fox executives, the offenses had become a nightly occurrence during the Trump era, as the networks opinion hosts fueled white resentment and anti-immigrant furor. Now, 21st Century Fox would be merged into a company that famously and assiduously avoided politics.

As for Fox News, the network would have one fewer corporate impediment preventing it from giving its viewers what they wanted.

Continue reading Part 3, when the Disney deal enriches the Murdochs and strips their empire down its essence: a hard-core right-wing news machine.When Sean Hannity of Fox News appeared onstage at a rally with President Trump  and called the press corps fake news from the podium  it was the culmination of the networks shift from its fair and balanced founding days to a post-Ailes MAGA messaging machine.

When Sean Hannity of Fox News appeared onstage at a rally with President Trump  and called the press corps fake news from the podium  it was the culmination of the networks shift from its fair and balanced founding days to a post-Ailes MAGA messaging machine. By Jim Rutenberg, Robin Stein, Margaret Cheatham Williams, Whitney Hurst and Jonah M. Kessel

Rupert Murdoch, the founder of a global media empire that includes Fox News, has said he never asked a prime minister for anything.

But that empire has given him influence over world affairs in a way few private citizens ever have, granting the Murdoch family enormous sway over not just the United States, but English-speaking countries around the world.

A six-month investigation by The New York Times covering three continents and including more than 150 interviews has described how Mr. Murdoch and his feuding sons turned their media outlets into right-wing political influence machines that have destabilized democracy in North America, Europe and Australia.

Here are some key takeaways from The Timess investigation into the Murdoch family and its role in the illiberal, right-wing political wave sweeping the globe.

The Murdoch family sits at the center of global upheaval.

Fox News has long exerted a gravitational pull on the Republican Party in the United States, where it most recently amplified the nativist revolt that has fueled the rise of the far right and the election of President Trump.

Mr. Murdochs newspaper The Sun spent years demonizing the European Union to its readers in Britain, where it helped lead the Brexit campaign that persuaded a slim majority of voters in a 2016 referendum to endorse pulling out of the bloc. Political havoc has reigned in Britain ever since.

[Read the complete investigation into the Murdoch family.]

And in Australia, where his hold over the media is most extensive, Mr. Murdochs outlets pushed for the repeal of the countrys carbon tax and helped topple a series of prime ministers whose agenda he disliked, including Malcolm Turnbull last year.

At the center of this upheaval sits the Murdoch family, a clan whose dysfunction has both shaped and mirrored the global tumult of recent years.

The Times explored those family dynamics and their impact on the Murdoch empire, which is on the cusp of succession as its 88-year-old patriarch prepares to hand power to the son whose politics most resemble his own: Lachlan Murdoch.

A key step in that succession has paradoxically been the partial dismemberment of the empire, which significantly shrunk last month when Mr. Murdoch sold one of his companies, the film studio 21st Century Fox, to the Walt Disney Company for $71.3 billion.

The deal turned Mr. Murdochs children into billionaires and left Lachlan in control of a powerful political weapon: a streamlined company, the Fox Corporation, whose most potent asset is Fox News.

Mr. Murdoch nearly died last year, making the succession question an urgent one.

Succession has been a source of tension in the Murdoch family for years, particularly between Mr. Murdochs sons Lachlan and James.

His two sons are very different people. James wanted the company to become more digitally focused and more politically moderate, while Lachlan wanted to lean into the reactionary politics of the moment.

[Read the complete investigation into the Murdoch family.]

The brothers have spent their lives competing to succeed their father, and both men felt as if they had earned the top job. When Mr. Murdoch decided to promote Lachlan over James, it was Lachlan who delivered the news to James over lunch, souring the already poor relationship between the men.

James briefly quit the company in protest. But he was lured back by a carefully crafted compromise that put Lachlan in charge but allowed James to save face by maintaining the public illusion that he was the heir.

But all of these succession plans  as well as the lucrative Disney deal  were thrown into chaos last year when Mr. Murdoch broke his spine and collapsed on a yacht.

He was rushed to a hospital, and appeared to be so close to death that his wife, the model Jerry Hall, summoned his children to say their goodbyes.

Mr. Murdoch survived, but his brush with death only highlighted the instability in his family  and at the heart of his empire.

The Murdoch empire has been a cheerleader for the American president and helped overthrow an Australian prime minister.

Mr. Murdochs media outlets have promoted right-wing politics and stoked reactionary populism across the globe in recent years.

During the 2016 campaign, the Fox News host Sean Hannity advised the presidents former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, to be on the lookout for ex-girlfriends or former employees of Mr. Trump lest they cause him trouble, according to two people who know about the interactions (Hannity denies offering such advice). Mr. Cohen was later sentenced to three years in prison for paying hush money to two women who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump.

[Read the complete investigation into the Murdoch family.]

The Murdoch empire has also boldly flexed its muscles in Australia, which was for many years Lachlans domain.

In Australia, Lachlan expressed disdain for efforts to fight climate change and once rebuked the staff at one of his familys newspapers, The Australian, for an editorial in support of same-sex marriage (He says through a representative that he is in favor of same-sex marriage). He also became close to the politician Tony Abbott, whose 2013 election as prime minister was given an assist by Murdoch newspapers.

The Murdoch family changed Australian politics in 2016 when it took control of Sky News Australia and imported the Fox News model. They quickly introduced a slate of right-wing opinion shows that often focused on race, immigration and climate change. The programming became known as Sky After Dark.

Last year, Mr. Turnbull and his staff accused Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch of using their media outlets to help foment the intraparty coup that thrust him from office in August. Mr. Turnbull, a moderate and longtime nemesis of his friend Mr. Abbott, was replaced by the right-wing nationalist Scott Morrison.

The Murdochs have denied any role in Mr. Turnbulls downfall.

James Murdoch thought Fox News was toxic to the company.

James Murdoch became disillusioned with the family empire in the years before Lachlan emerged as heir. He came to see Fox News, in particular, as a source of damaging ideological baggage that was hobbling the companys efforts to innovate and grow.

But Lachlan and Rupert did not share that belief. When Roger Ailes, the chief executive of Fox News, was ousted in 2016 amid a sexual harassment scandal, James wanted to revamp the network as a less partisan news outlet. He even floated the idea of hiring David Rhodes, a CBS executive.

[Read the complete investigation into the Murdoch family.]

His proposals went nowhere. Lachlan and Rupert opposed any change to what they saw as a winning formula and decided to stick with Foxs incendiary programming.

But James believed he had seen firsthand the damage that outlets like Fox News were doing to the company.

He was the face of the Murdoch empire in Britain during a 2010 attempt to take over British Sky Broadcasting, in which the company owned a minority stake.

That bid was blown to pieces by the 2011 phone hacking scandal, which forced James and his father to appear before Parliament to explain why their employees hacked into the voice mail of private citizens, including a dead 13-year-old girl. The scandal forced the Murdochs to abandon their bid for Sky.

Five years later, facing pressure from digital rivals like Netflix and Amazon, the family made a second bid for Sky. James again acted as the empires public face. The bid again collapsed in a humiliating scandal.

This time it centered on the culture of Fox News, where sexual misconduct allegations and millions of dollars in secret settlements led to the departure of Mr. Ailes, the star host Bill OReilly and Bill Shine, an executive who later went to work for President Trump.

The behavior of Mr. Hannity, who used his show to spread conspiracy theories about the death of a Democratic National Committee staff member named Seth Rich, also fed concerns in Britain over the ethics of the company.

After months of review by regulators  and scrambling inside 21st Century Fox  the British government issued a withering rebuke to the Murdochs last year.

Not only did Britain block the companys bid for Sky, it also ruled that no member of the Murdoch family could serve at Sky in any capacity, including on its board. At the time, James was serving as Skys chairman.

It was a deep humiliation that convinced James once and for all that the family empire could not survive its own politics and culture. Lachlan instead saw it as validation of his belief that James, having failed to acquire Sky once, had been the wrong man for the job.

Either way, by putting a much-needed revenue stream permanently outside the familys grasp, it helped make the sale of 21st Century Fox inevitable.

The Disney deal worsened a family rift.

James and Lachlan were bitterly split over the prospect of selling 21st Century Fox to Disney. James pushed hard for the deal, which was completed last month, and Lachlan fiercely opposed it.

Lachlan vociferously opposed the deal because it substantially shrank the company he returned from Australia to one day lead, people closer to his brother said. He felt so strongly that at one point he warned his father he would stop speaking to him if he continued to pursue the deal. Mr. Murdoch ignored that threat. (Lachlan denied making the threat.)

[Read the complete investigation into the Murdoch family.]

Lachlans opposition was also fueled in part by his suspicion that his brothers judgment had been clouded by personal ambition, people closer to Lachlan said. He thought James was willing to sell 21st Century Fox for less than it was worth because he wanted the deal to include a job for himself at Disney.

The deal transformed Disney into a media colossus, and a job there might have enabled James to position himself as a successor to its chief executive, Robert A. Iger. It would also let him escape the family company, its political baggage and the prospect of working for Lachlan.

The two brothers clashed over everything. When James wanted to respond to President Trumps 2017 travel ban with a statement reassuring their companys Muslim employees, Lachlan strenuously resisted. When James bought their fathers Beverly Hills mansion for $30 million, Lachlan, who had also wanted the house, got so upset that their father gave him some of its antique furniture. James thought he had bought that, too.

During the Disney negotiations, Mr. Murdoch grew concerned enough that Jamess ambitions might interfere with the deal that he decided to assure Mr. Iger that it was not conditional upon Disneys hiring his son. In the end, the sale went through, but James did not get a job. Today, the two brothers are barely on speaking terms.

Three of the Murdoch children wanted out, and Lachlan might too.

After the Disney deal, the commitment of Mr. Murdochs children to what remains of his media empire has been called into question.

The Disney deal made all of them an enormous amount of money: Mr. Murdoch received $4 billion and his children received $2 billion each. As executives at 21st Century Fox, Lachlan and James got an additional $20 million in Disney stock plus golden parachutes worth $70 million each.

[Read the complete investigation into the Murdoch family.]

Mr. Murdoch had structured his companies, 21st Century Fox and News Corporation, so that the Murdoch Family Trust held a controlling interest in them. He held half of the trusts eight votes, and the remaining four were divided up among his four adult children. They were barred from selling those shares to outsiders.

James struck out on his own at the end of 2018. To make a more complete break with the company, he and his sisters Elisabeth and Prudence offered to sell their shares to Lachlan.

Mr. Murdoch embraced the idea and urged Lachlan to buy out his siblings. Then father and son would own the company together.

Bankers drew up documents to execute the sale, but Lachlan backed out; he said that it was not financially doable, though the decision raised questions about his commitment to the company.

People close to James said they believed Lachlan was not sure he wanted to stay at the company after the Disney deal was complete. They said he might even want to go back to Australia.CANADA RUSSIA U.K. AUSTRALIA Pacific Ocean U.S. Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean FRANCE White extremist attacks, 2011-17 NEW ZEALAND North America Europe Oceania CANADA RUSSIA U.K. AUSTRALIA Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean U.S. White extremist attacks, 2011-17 NEW ZEALAND Europe North America Oceania CANADA RUSSIA U.S. AUSTRALIA Europe Oceania North America CANADA U.S. White extremist attacks, 2011-17 North America RUSSIA Atlantic Ocean Europe AUSTRALIA Pacific Ocean NEW ZEALAND Oceania

Update Authorities have confirmed the alleged gunman in a mass shooting in El Paso, Tex., on Saturday wrote an anti-immigrant manifesto that was posted online just minutes before the rampage. The document claims to draw inspiration from the March attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The following article, published in April, examines global connections among white extremists.

In a manifesto posted online before his attack, the gunman who killed 50 last month in a rampage at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, said he drew inspiration from white extremist terrorism attacks in Norway, the United States, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

His references to those attacks placed him in an informal global network of white extremists whose violent attacks are occurring with greater frequency in the West.

An analysis by The New York Times of recent terrorism attacks found that at least a third of white extremist killers since 2011 were inspired by others who perpetrated similar attacks, professed a reverence for them or showed an interest in their tactics.

The connections between the killers span continents and highlight how the internet and social media have facilitated the spread of white extremist ideology and violence.

In one instance, a school shooter in New Mexico corresponded with a gunman who attacked a mall in Munich. Altogether, they killed 11 people.

Many White Extremist Killers Were Inspired by Earlier Attacks Circles show the number of people killed in deadly attacks since 2011. Highlighted circles and lines show connections from later attackers to the earlier attackers who influenced them. 2019 Christchurch attacks Killed 50 Tallahassee shooting Killed 2 The Christchurch shooter said he was inspired by the Norway attacker. 2018 Toronto van attack Killed 10 Aztec High School shooting Killed 2 Finsbury Park van attack Killed 1 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting Killed 6 These two shooters corresponded directly. Munich mall shooting Killed 9 2016 Murder of Jo Cox Killed 1 Sweden school attack Killed 3 Umpqua Community College shooting Killed 9 2015 Charleston church shooting Killed 9 Four killers made statements online supporting the Isla Vista attacker. 2014 Isla Vista massacre Killed 6 Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting Killed 3 2013 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting Killed 6 2012 Norway attacks Killed 77 2011 2019 Christchurch attacks Killed 50 Tallahassee shooting Killed 2 2018 The Christchurch shooter said he was inspired by the Norway attacker. Toronto van attack Killed 10 Aztec High School shooting Killed 2 Finsbury Park van attack Killed 1 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting Killed 6 These two shooters corresponded directly. Munich mall shooting Killed 9 2016 Murder of Jo Cox Killed 1 Sweden school attack Killed 3 Umpqua Community College shooting Killed 9 2015 Charleston church shooting Killed 9 Four killers made statements online supporting the Isla Vista attacker. 2014 Isla Vista massacre Killed 6 Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting Killed 3 2013 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting Killed 6 2012 Norway attacks Killed 77 2011 The Christchurch shooter said he was inspired by the Norway attacker. Christchurch attacks Killed 50 2019 Tallahassee shooting Killed 2 2018 Toronto van attack Killed 10 Aztec High School shooting Killed 2 Finsbury Park van attack Killed 1 2017 These two shooters corresponded directly. Quebec City mosque shooting Killed 6 Munich mall shooting Killed 9 2016 Murder of Jo Cox Killed 1 Sweden school attack Killed 3 Umpqua Community College shooting Killed 9 2015 Charleston church shooting Killed 9 Four killers made statements online supporting the Isla Vista attacker. 2014 Isla Vista massacre Killed 6 Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting Killed 3 2013 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting Killed 6 2012 Norway attacks Killed 77 2011

One object of fascination for the Christchurch killer and at least four other white extremists was Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right extremist who killed 77 in a bombing and mass shooting in Norway in 2011.

Mr. Breiviks lengthy manifesto offered a litany of grievances about immigration and Islam  and the attacks became a model for future ones.

I think that Breivik was a turning point, because he was sort of a proof of concept as to how much an individual actor could accomplish, said J.M. Berger, author of the book Extremism and a research fellow with VOX-Pol, a European academic initiative to study online extremism.

He killed so many people at one time operating by himself, it really set a new bar for what one person can do.

Shortly after the Norway massacre, a prominent American white supremacist named Frazier Glenn Miller wrote on a white supremacist forum that Mr. Breivik had inspired young Aryan men to action. Mr. Miller opened fire on a Jewish retirement home and community center in Kansas a few years later, killing three.

Mr. Breivik was not the only mass killer to inspire copycats. The Christchurch shooter also paid tribute to a Canadian man who opened fire inside a Quebec City mosque in 2017, writing his name on one of the guns used in his attack.

That Canadian gunman read extensively about Dylann Roof, the American who killed nine worshipers at a black church in South Carolina in 2015.

At least four white extremist killers made statements online praising Elliot Rodger, a racist and misogynist who targeted women in a 2014 spree, before carrying out their own attacks.

All these attacks occurred amid a surge of white supremacist and xenophobic terrorism in the West that has frequently targeted Muslims, immigrants and other minority groups, the Times analysis found.

The Rise in White Extremist Terrorism Attacks In Europe, North America and Australia. A large share of attacks in 2015 targeted migrants in Europe. 135 88 65 22 16 12 9 2011 2013 2015 2017

The analysis was based on data from the Global Terrorism Database and identified nearly 350 white extremist terrorism attacks in Europe, North America and Australia from 2011 through 2017, the latest year of available data. We also examined preliminary data on attacks in the United States in 2018.

The database is a project of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland. It relies on news reports and other records to capture episodes that meet its definition of terrorism: the use of violence by a non-state actor to attain a political or social goal.

Over this period, white extremism  an umbrella term encompassing white nationalist, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, xenophobic, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic ideologies  accounted for about 8 percent of all attacks in these regions and about a third of those in the United States.

Erin Miller, who manages the database, said the increase in white extremist terrorism parallels a rise in hate crimes and bias episodes in the West and that deadly attacks are occurring more often.

Theres a common framing of far-right terrorism or domestic terrorism as being terrorism lite and not as serious, she said. Its an interesting question given that far-right attacks can be quite devastating.

Xenophobia Drives Violence in Europe

In recent years, Europe has seen a surge in far-right and xenophobic violence amid an influx of migrants and refugees from conflicts in the Middle East and Africa.

FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. POLAND GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. POLAND GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN 2011 Norway attacks July 22, 2011, killed 77 U.K. RUSSIA POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN 2011 Norway attacks July 22, 2011, killed 77 U.K. RUSSIA POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN 2011 Norway attacks July 22, 2011, killed 77 U.K. POLAND GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN 2011 Norway attacks July 22, 2011, killed 77 U.K. POLAND GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA Multiple retaliations in London POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA Multiple retaliations in London POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. Multiple retaliations in London POLAND GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. Multiple retaliations in London POLAND GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA POLAND London GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA POLAND London GERMANY UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. POLAND London GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. POLAND London GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN Stockholm Gothenburg U.K. RUSSIA Malmo Berlin Dresden UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN Stockholm Gothenburg U.K. RUSSIA Malmo Berlin Dresden UKRAINE FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN Stockholm Gothenburg U.K. Malmo Berlin Dresden FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN Stockholm U.K. Malmo Berlin FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE Munich mall shooting July 22, 2016, killed 9 FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. RUSSIA POLAND GERMANY UKRAINE Munich mall shooting July 22, 2016, killed 9 FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. POLAND GERMANY Munich mall shooting July 22, 2016, killed 9 FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles FINLAND NORWAY SWEDEN U.K. POLAND GERMANY Munich mall shooting July 22, 2016, killed 9 FRANCE ITALY SPAIN GREECE 300 miles









Lone Wolf Crusader Ignites a Trend

Mr. Breivik killed 77 people in the 2011 Norway attacks and set a new bar for white extremist violence, inspiring a number of imitators. Retaliation Attacks

Retribution was suspected to be a motivating factor in at least 19 attacks. White extremists responded by attacking mosques after two Muslim men killed a British soldier in 2013. Similar retaliations took place after terrorism attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper by Islamic extremists, and a wave of attacks in Paris in November 2015. Targeting Muslims

About a quarter of white extremist attacks in Europe targeted Muslims and mosques. These attacks increased significantly starting in 2015 along with a wave of xenophobic violence reacting to the migrant crisis. Attacks on mosques, Islamic institutions and Muslim individuals 2011-14 2015-17 Anti-Migrant Attacks Spike

Xenophobia was behind the spike in attacks Europe saw in 2015. At least 86 attacks that year specifically targeted refugee shelters and migrants, and dozens more followed in 2016 and 2017. 2016 Munich Attack

The deadliest of these was a shooting at a Munich mall in 2016. The teenage gunman studied school shooters, admired Adolf Hitler and wrote a manifesto railing against foreign infiltration. The police said he most likely planned his rampage for the fifth anniversary of the Norway attacks.

Attacks in North America Are More Deadly

In North America, the ideologies of older white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan have mixed with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment and the fresh-faced fascism of the alt right to give rise to a more lethal terror.

CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto New York San Francisco Washington, D.C. UNITED STATES Los Angeles 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto New York San Francisco Washington, D.C. UNITED STATES 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto New York San Francisco UNITED STATES 300 miles CANADA UNITED STATES 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto Multiple attacks in New York San Francisco Washington, D.C. UNITED STATES Los Angeles 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto San Francisco Multiple attacks in New York UNITED STATES 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto San Francisco Multiple in New York UNITED STATES 300 miles CANADA UNITED STATES New York CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting Aug. 5, 2012, killed 6 San Francisco Washington, D.C. UNITED STATES Los Angeles Charleston church shooting June 17, 2015, killed 9 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting Aug. 5, 2012, killed 6 San Francisco UNITED STATES Charleston church shooting June 17, 2015, killed 9 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Toronto Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting 2012 | Killed 6 San Francisco Charleston church shooting 2015 | Killed 9 300 miles CANADA Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting 2012 | Killed 6 New York Charleston church shooting 2015 | Killed 9 CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Umpqua Community College shooting Oct. 1, 2015, killed 9 Toronto New York San Francisco Washington, D.C. UNITED STATES Isla Vista massacre May 23, 2014, killed 6 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Umpqua Community College shooting Oct. 1, 2015, killed 9 Toronto New York Washington, D.C. Isla Vista massacre May 23, 2014, killed 6 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City Umpqua Community College shooting 2015 | Killed 9 Toronto New York Washington Isla Vista massacre 2014 | Killed 6 300 miles CANADA Umpqua Community College shooting 2015 | Killed 9 Isla Vista massacre 2014 | Killed 6 CANADA Vancouver Quebec City mosque shooting Jan. 29, 2017, killed 6 Portland train attack May 26, 2017, killed 2 Toronto Manhattan sword attack Mar. 20, 2017, killed 1 San Francisco University of Maryland stabbing May 20, 2017, killed 1 Olathe, Kansas, shooting Feb. 22, 2017, killed 1 UNITED STATES Aztec High School shooting Dec. 7, 2017, killed 2 Charlottesville car attack Aug. 12, 2017, killed 1 Los Angeles Baton Rouge attacks September 2017, killed 2 300 miles CANADA Vancouver Quebec City mosque shooting Jan. 29, 2017, killed 6 Portland train attack May 26, 2017, killed 2 New York University of Maryland murder May 20, 2017, killed 1 San Francisco Olathe, Kansas, murder Feb. 22, 2017, killed 1 Aztec High School shooting Dec. 7, 2017, killed 2 Charlottesville car attack Aug. 12, 2017, killed 1 Baton Rouge attacks September 2017, killed 2 300 miles CANADA Quebec City mosque shooting Killed 6 Vancouver Portland train attack Killed 2 Toronto San Francisco Virginia car attack Killed 1 Aztec High School shooting Killed 2 Baton Rouge 300 miles CANADA Quebec City mosque shooting Killed 6 Portland train attack Killed 2 Aztec High School shooting Killed 2 CANADA Pittsburgh synagogue shooting Oct. 27, 2018, killed 11 New York San Francisco Washington, D.C. Kentucky Kroger shooting Oct. 24, 2018, killed 2 UNITED STATES Los Angeles Tallahassee shooting Nov. 2, 2018, killed 2 Santa Fe High School shooting May 18, 2018, killed 10 Parkland school shooting Feb. 14, 2018, killed 17 CANADA Toronto Pittsburgh synagogue shooting Oct. 27, killed 11 New York Washington, D.C. Kentucky Kroger shooting Oct. 24, killed 2 UNITED STATES Los Angeles Tallahassee shooting Nov. 2, killed 2 Santa Fe High School shooting May 18, killed 10 Parkland school shooting Feb. 14, killed 17 300 miles CANADA Pittsburgh synagogue shooting Killed 11 New York Kentucky Kroger shooting Killed 2 UNITED STATES Los Angeles Tallahassee shooting Killed 2 Santa Fe High School shooting Killed 10 Parkland school shooting Killed 17 CANADA Pittsburgh synagogue Killed 11 Kentucky Kroger store Killed 2 Los Angeles Tallahassee yoga studio Killed 2 Santa Fe High School Killed 10 Parkland Killed 17









Attacks on Places of Worship

There were at least 38 attacks that targeted places of worship, like churches, synagogues and mosques across North America. Mosques and other Islamic institutions Other places of worship Until last year, the deadliest of these attacks in the United States were a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in 2012 and a shooting at a black church in South Carolina in 2015. Online Radicalization

An attacker who voiced his hatred of women and people of color in a manifesto before killing six people in California in 2014 signaled a new type of terrorist. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, called the attacker the first alt-right killer. Several more attackers who fit this profile killed over the next few years. Rising Violence

Then in 2017, attacks jumped in a tense post-election political environment. Nine of these proved deadly. Deadly attacks Other attacks in 2017 Preliminary 2018 data for the United States shows five additional deadly white extremist attacks, including mass shootings at high schools in Florida and Texas and at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Deadly attacks Mail bombing attempts Other attacks in 2018

The Global Reach of White Extremism

There were five white extremist attacks in Australia from 2011 through 2017, all of which were attacks on mosques and Islamic centers. There were no such attacks in New Zealand during that same period.

Then the massacre of worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15  the deadliest shooting in modern New Zealand history  helped put the global nature of white extremism into relief. The shooter was an Australian man who said he was radicalized during his travels in Europe and designed his attack to draw an American audience.

Experts say the same broad motives are at play whether the target is a mosque in Perth or an asylum seekers shelter in Dresden or a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Attackers who identify as white, Christian and culturally European see an attack on their privileged position in the West by immigrants, Muslims and other religious and racial minorities.

The difference now is that it is easier than ever for extremists to connect both domestically and across continents, according to Mr. Berger, the Extremism author. The entry point for radicalization is less narrow than it was during earlier waves of white supremacist action, when finding ideological fellow travelers typically required meeting in person.

This is a particularly strong wave, Mr. Berger said, and I think its being fueled by a lot of political developments and also by the sort of connective tissue that you get from the Internet that wasnt there before thats really making it easier for groups to be influenced and to coordinate, or not necessarily coordinate but synchronize over large geographical distances.

Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Centers Intelligence Project, said that given these international connections, its important to reconsider the nature of the threat. We conceive of this problem as being a domestic one, she said. But thats not the case.

The challenge for law enforcement will be to buck a sometimes myopic focus on Islamic extremism as the only driver of international terrorism.

It may also require rethinking the legal framework for what constitutes terrorism: from violence that arises from a command and control structure to a looser definition that can account for a wider range of violent actors who share a common ideology.

They don't see themselves as Americans or Canadians, very much like the Christchurch killer didnt see himself as an Australian; he saw himself as part of a white collective, Dr. Beirich said.

It has never been the case that these people didnt think in a global way. They may have acted in ways that looked domestic but the thinking was always about building an international white movement.Del Mar Highlands Town Center has announced the first tenants that will be a part of its $120 million expansion project including boutique fitness studios, breweries and a book store.

The center on El Camino Real and Del Mar Heights Road is celebrating 30 years in the Carmel Valley neighborhood with the addition of The Collection, centered around a brand new JimbosNaturally with a mix of 40 shops, an elevated dining experience on the Sky Deck and new spaces to work, play and lounge.

We are thrilled with the array of tenants who will be the first in calling The Collection and The Sky Deck home at Del Mar Highlands Town Center, said Pat Donahue, chairman and chief executive officer of the centers owner and operator Donahue Schriber. Serving the community for 30 years, we know our customers well, and that knowledge allowed us to bring this vision to life. Everything is designed with convenience in mind. You can get your groceries, enjoy a fitness class, and discover a new dining experience all-in-one-place.

The bigger, state-of-the-art Jimbos is set to open this summer on the ground floor below the new Sky Deck, a restaurant collective experience inspired by El Nacional in Barcelona, Spain that is slated to open in early 2020.

The Sky Deck will feature eight to 10 full-service dining destinations in one large airy space under a skylight-filled roof around a central cocktail bar by Scott Slater, the founder of Slaters 50/50. There will also be an outdoor brewers deck featuring craft beer from Northern Pine Brewing out of Oceanside, another well-known San Diego brewer as well as a Kombucha purveyor.

Dining and cocktail concepts that will make their debut in the Sky Deck include Thai Extraordinary, Ambrogio 15, Le Parfait and a Mediterranean concept by Beeside in Del Mar.

Additional Collection tenants, opening in 2019-20 include OH! Juice; Cascade Spa; Perlman Wellness Center; Head Lettuce, a brand new experience in healthy dining; and Diesel, a Brentwood-based book store. CeramiCafe will also relocate to The Collection.

The Collection will also be home to a fitness row which will have a Stretch Lab and Row House, an indoor rowing studio. Club Pilates will also open a new, larger space in the fitness row, which is expected to open in 2020.

The centers multi-level parking structure recently opened which has increased parking by 800 stalls.The center also offers curbside restaurant pick-up, valet parking and free charging stations for electric vehicles.

Over the last year, the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board has been reviewing a new signage plan for the center as Del Mar Highlands works to be in compliance with Carmel Valleys unique signage guidelines. There are concerns that the new plan would allow a total of 80 new tenant signs to be placed on five monuments on the streets around the center, almost doubling the total number of tenant signs in the entire center.

The issue is expected to come before the board again at its April 25 meeting.Be sure to browse through A Growing Boy's Wine Diary , with 10+ years of tasting notes!A 40-year-old Oregon has been arrested for allegedly staging an elaborate home invasion to cover up the theft of his daughters Girl Scout cookie sales.

On March 6 the Forest Grove Police Department responded to a 911 call for a possible break-and-enter and assault. When officers arrived at the scene of the alleged crime, they found 40-year-old Brian Couture, the person who had made the emergency call, unresponsive. The man later told police that an unknown individual had entered his home through a sliding glass door, and despite his attempts to restrain him, the burglar managed to escape. A special K9 unit was dispatched in the neighborhood to search for the suspect, which reportedly caused panic among residents.

Photo: carol/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)

There were cops from all over, dogs, the forensic team, they had crime scene tape up everywhere, one local woman told KGW8. We put sticks in all of our doors and I started setting the alarm during the day because I was afraid to be home by myself during the day.

Police failed to find the alleged burglar, and also noted several inconsistencies in Coutures recollection of events during their investigation. After confronting him, the home owner, who had to be hospitalized for undisclosed injuries, admitted to staging the home invasion.

Couture admitted to Forest Grove Police investigators that the alleged incident was staged, Forest Grove Police said in a statement. Investigators believe that Couture staged the incident in order to conceal the theft of money belonging to a non-profit organization, that was spent inappropriately.

Police say Brian Couture called 911 earlier this month, saying he fought a robber who broke into his home. Turns out, he made the whole thing up. https://t.co/mzy8ydns1j  ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) April 1, 2019

While police didnt disclose the name of the non-profit, KGW8 reports that the organization in question is the Girl Scouts of America. A spokesperson for the organization confirmed that Brian Couture is the father of one of their Girl Scouts and that approximately $740 of her cookie sales were unaccounted for.

Since the March 18 arrest in this case, we have been in contact with the Forest Grove Police Department and are working with them to resolve the matter, the Girl Scouts spokesperson said in a statement. At this time, Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington is following our normal procedure to collect on funds owed. The stewardship of Girl Scout troop funds is a top priority for our organization, and that is our focus in this matter.

Brian Couture was arrested for making a fake emergency call and staging the alleged theft. Despite his reported admission, the man pleaded not guilty to the charges, during a hearing on Friday.Champion Management Group has signed on as PR agency of record for Dog Haus, a restaurant chain specializing in gourmet hot dogs, sausages, burgers and chicken sandwiches. Dallas-based Champion began working with Dog Haus in 2017, assisting at the local market level with multiple new restaurant openings across the country. The agencys scope of work will now expand to cover the entire companys public relations support, franchise development and local restaurant marketing. Dog Haus has more than 30 locations nationwide and over 20 in development. The company says it plans to double its size in 2019.

Red Fan Communications has picked up AOR relationships with three Central Texas brands: ClearCorrect, Jalisco Norte and Parker Jazz Club. Red Fans duties for the new clients will include media relations, content strategy for company thought leaders, event support and social media recommendations. ClearCorrect is a clear aligner manufacturer whose products are intended to help dentists and orthodontists grow their practices. Jalisco Norte is a Dallas restaurant featuring Mexican cuisine and Parker Jazz Club is a music venue that focuses on jazz.

Zapwater Communications is now public relations agency of record in the US for Travel Manitoba, the provinces tourism marketing agency. Zapwaters scope of work will include media relations, influencer engagement, partnerships and events. The agency will build on Manitobas Canadas Heart Beats brand in order to increase awareness of the provinces geographic landscapes, cities, wildlife, history and more. In addition to Travel Manitoba, Zapwater represents La Paz Baja Sur Tourism Office, National Tourism Office of Serbia, Tourisme Montreal, Visit Finland and others.An Offaly election hopeful and Green party representative, Pippa Hackett, has said the government needs to put farmers and struggling farm families first ahead of big agri.

As Teagasc warn against the problem of greenwashing, the Green Party are highlighting the fact that family farms are struggling under the current agriculture model and the government need to acknowledge that.

"We need to overhaul the Origin Green programme and a re-write of future food strategies is vital if the Irish family farming model is going to survive. With the continued uncertainties of Brexit and a new Common Agricultural Policy on the horizon, its time Minister Creed takes off his rose-tinted glasses and takes a proper look at the Irish agri-food sector and its effect on Irish family farms and our environment," the party says.

Speaking today, Green Party Spokesperson on Agriculture Pippa Hackett, said: We have long been critics of the Origin Green Programme from Bord Bia, and Fine Gaels food policies (Food Wise2025 & Food Harvest 2020). With a new food policy in development for 2030, it is crucial that a radical approach is taken in how we produce food  both domestically and for export."

Even Teagasc has cautioned against greenwashing our agri-food sector, and that the industry needs credible indications to back up its claims. Unfortunately, many of the Origin Green claims are not backed up by evidence. Instead, we have rising GHG emissions, and poor environmental outcomes for our water, air, soil, biodiversity, and animal welfare," Pippa added.

Fine Gael food policies have failed miserably to support the vast majority of primary producers. Bord Bia is a taxpayer subsidised marketing agency for multi-nationals with multi-billion euro turnovers. While their profit margins grow year on year, farmers on the ground face higher production costs, lower prices, and are essentially caught in a limbo, with few options, and no proper supports to improve farm incomes. Others have been plunged into large borrowings, that may well be generational in nature."

Climate change and environmental breakdown cannot continue to be ignored by this Government. It is long past the time that these issues are mainstreamed into all decisions made, particularly when it comes to farming and food. Rural Ireland depends on it," she concluded.Fianna Fail TD for Offaly, Barry Cowen, has met with Irish Rail representatives and conveyed the concerns of constituents in the Offaly area who commute to Dublin.

Deputy Cowen was speaking following a surge in representations from constituents in commuter towns such as Clara, Tullamore and Portarlington in relation to the frequency of services and the issue of overcrowding.

Deputy Cowen explained, I was glad to get the chance to meet with Irish Rail officials and inform them of some of the issues which constituents raise with me on an almost daily basis. Chronic overcrowding, a lack of mobility handles and grab rails and general safety matters are just some of the concerns which commuters have."

I asked Irish Rail to examine the feasibility of adding extra carriages to the fleet and whether or not they would consider piloting a late night train given that the last train out of Dublin in the evening is 6.30pm and 7.30pm for Clara and Tullamore respectively. From listening to constituents, there is a huge demand for a late night train service and it would most certainly be utilised."

I accept that there has been an upsurge in commuters and huge pressure on rail services and public transport in general. I believe it is a matter of urgency that extra capacity is found as quickly as possible. Commuting in unsavoury conditions is turning people off using public transport and forcing them into their cars, thus adding to congestion and pollution, concluded Deputy Cowen.South Korea on Wednesday returned 10 more remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

South Korean soldiers hand over caskets containing the remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War to Chinese soldiers during a ceremony held at the Incheon International Airport, South Korea, April 3, 2019. It is the sixth batch of remains of Chinese soldiers returned following a handover agreement signed by the two countries. [Photo: VCG]

The transfer ceremony was held at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, west of the capital Seoul, to hand over the remains of 10 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the war.

During the ceremony, South Korean troops handed over the coffins, covered by China's national flag, to Chinese soldiers who carried them into an airplane.

Chinese soldiers carry caskets containing the remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War during a handover ceremony at the Incheon International Airport, South Korea, April 3, 2019. It is the sixth batch of remains of Chinese soldiers returned following a handover agreement signed by the two countries. [Photo: VCG]

It marked the sixth hand-over ceremony. South Korea had transferred the remains of 589 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the Korean War, including 437 in 2014, 68 in 2015, 36 in 2016, 28 in 2017 and 20 in 2018 each.

China and South Korea have consulted every year on the hand-over of the Chinese soldiers' remains found in South Korea. The transfer has been usually made days before Tomb-sweeping Day, the Chinese holiday for commemorating the dead, in early April.

South Korea returns the remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War to Chinese soldiers during a handover ceremony at the Incheon International Airport, South Korea, April 3, 2019. It is the sixth batch of remains of Chinese soldiers returned following a handover agreement signed by the two countries. [Photo: VCG]

The South Korean defense ministry said in a statement that the transfer ceremony was a part of efforts to heal the scar of the war and conveyed the message of peace to enhance regional peace and stability.

The ministry vowed to maintain cooperative relations with its Chinese counterpart and continue the transfer of the Chinese soldiers' remains for the development of the bilateral relations.

Chinese soldiers carry caskets containing the remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War during a handover ceremony at the Incheon International Airport, South Korea, April 3, 2019. It is the sixth batch of remains of Chinese soldiers returned following a handover agreement signed by the two countries. [Photo: VCG]

The Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) fought alongside the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) army in the Korean War against the South Korean army and the United States-led UN forces between 1950 and 1953.A-SAT debris will burn out in 45 days, says DRDO official on NASA's concerns

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Apr 03: A day after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s claimed that India's anti-satellite missile test had increased collision risk to the International Space Station, a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official, who did not wish to be named, said that the debris of A-SAT will disappear in 45 days.

"The test was calibrated keeping in mind the debris issue. The world should know that debris from two Chinese tests is still floating whereas those created by the Indian test will disappear," he added.

On Tuesday, Tapan Misra, senior advisor to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman, said that India would not conduct any actions to deliberately cause accidents in space, as reported by The Indian Express.

ASAT technologies indigenously developed, says DRDO; NSA gave final clearence

Misra was former director of Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre (SAC), a crucial arm of ISRO that is working on India's plans for human space flight Gaganyaan.

His statement came a day after NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said that the test had created 60 pieces of orbital debris big enough to track and 400 pieces of debris in total. Of these, 24 pieces rise higher than the International Space Station's orbit around Earth, Bridenstine had said.

"That is a terrible, terrible thing, to create an event that sends debris in an apogee that goes above the International Space Station," Bridenstine had said. "And that kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight that we need to see happen."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the test, known as Mission Shakti, was successful. His announcement, however, was criticised and described as a violation of the Model Code of Conduct by many.

The International Space Station was launched way back in 1998 and has been seen over 54 crewed missions. Jim had said that a similar test conducted by China in 2007 had posed greater risk than the recent Indian test.

Debris from China's 2007 anti-satellite missile launch is still floating around in space. The test created nearly 3,000 pieces of debris, AFP reported. The United States military is currently tracking 23,000 objects in space, of which 10,000 are debris.Ajay Maken refuses to contest Lok Sabha elections if Cong doesn't finalise alliance with AAP

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Apr 03: Former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken has expressed his unwillingness to contest the Lok Sabha elections unless the party stitches up an alliance with AAP in the National Capital, media reports said.

Maken's latest move probably won't go down too well with Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit who has been quite vocal about her opposition to any alliance with the AAP.

Ajay Maken had earlier expressed his support for the alliance and offered to give up his traditional New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, which he represented twice and lost to BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi in 2014, for "larger interest of the alliance" if need be. He had been campaigning in the area ever since he gave up the post of Delhi Congress chief.

Dilli Gupshup: Ajay Maken to be elevated for getting out of way of Congress-AAP alliance

The Congress and AAP have been working on the possibility of an alliance in the Lok Sabha polls but are yet to announce the final decision.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 12:09 [IST]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

Ample evidence there to suggest Hurriyat-Terrorist link: Supreme Court

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 03: The Supreme Court while cancelling the bail of Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, a Kashmiri businessman, in a terror funding case said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has collected ample evidence to show linkages between the Hurriyat leaders of Jammu and Kashmir and terror organisations as also their activities to wage war against India.

The bail was granted by the Delhi High Court to Watali arrested by NIA for his alleged role in a terror-funding case involving Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.

"Ample material has been collected to show the linkages between the Hurriyat leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir and terrorists/terrorist organizations and their continuous activities to wage war against Government of India," said a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Ajay Rastogi.

NIA, ED, IT probe suggests Kashmir separatists sat on a pot of gold

The judgement assumes significance in the light of the government's recent crackdown on separatist outfits based in the state.

The verdict came on an appeal filed by the NIA against the high court's September 13, 2018 judgement granting bail to Watali.

Cancelling the relief granted to Watali, the bench said the high court "adopted an inappropriate approach" while considering his bail plea by discarding all the material and evidence placed on record before it by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The court said the high court ought to have taken into account the entire material on record as it is and formed an opinion on the basis of it, instead of weighing the evidence.

"The elaborate examination or dissection of the evidence is not required to be done at this stage (of grant of bail). The court is merely expected to record a finding on the basis of broad probabilities regarding the involvement of the accused in the commission of the stated offence or otherwise."

"From the analysis of the impugned judgment (of the high court), it appears to us that the high court has ventured into an area of examining the merits and demerits of the evidence," the bench said.

It said that after analysing documents and statements which form part of the charge sheet and other redacted statements on record, it disagreed with the conclusion of the high court that there was no prima facie material to show that Watali was involved in the conspiracy to raise funds for terrorist activities.

"In our opinion, taking into account the totality of the report made under section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the accompanying documents and the evidence / material already presented to the court, including the redacted statements of the protected witnesses recorded under section 164 of the Code, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accusations made against the respondent (Watali) are prima facie true," the court said.

How Indian agencies are hitting anti national Kashmir separatists in a sustained manner

The bench said the high court, "ought to have taken into account the totality of the materials/evidences which depicted the involvement of the respondent in the commission of the stated offences and being a member of a larger conspiracy, besides the offence under Section 17 for raising funds for terrorist activities."

The court said it agreed with the June 8, 2018 decision of the special NIA court which had declined to grant bail to Watali.

"Accordingly, this appeal succeeds. The impugned judgment and order (of the high court) is set aside and, instead, the order passed by the Designated Court (NIA court) rejecting the application for grant of bail made by the respondent herein, is affirmed," it said in its 89-page verdict.

NIA in its appeal had contended that the high court had virtually conducted a mini trial and even questioned the genuineness of the documents relied upon by the agency.

Watali was arrested on August 17 last year by the NIA.

Watali, Hafiz Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahudeen and nine others have been accused by the NIA of "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir valley.

In its charge sheet, the NIA has alleged that Watali received money from accused Syed, ISI of Pakistan, the Pakistan High Commission here and from a source in Dubai.

The money was then remitted to the leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of 26 political/social/religious organisations whose agenda is to create an atmosphere conducive to the attainment of their goal in J&K of secession from the Union of India and to separatists and stone-pelters, the NIA alleged. Further, the separatist leaders have been accused of taking a cut of the money.

Syed has been accused of using Watali's services for passing on money to the separatists and some individuals, who were actively indulging in stone-pelting in the valley.

The NIA has chargesheeted Pakistan-based terrorists Syed and Salahuddin, besides 10 others, with criminal conspiracy, sedition and provisions of the UAPA.

Besides Syed, Salahuddin and Watali, the agency has named hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh and Bashir Ahmad Bhat in the charge sheet.

Hurriyat Conference leaders Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Mohammad Akbar Khanday and Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal have also been chargesheeted by the agency in the terror-funding case.

Barring, Syed and Salahuddin, the rest of the accused are currently in judicial custody.

Two of the accused -- freelance photojournalist Kamran Yusuf and Javed Ahmad Bhat -- both accused of stone-pelting, were earlier granted bail by the court.

(With agency inputs)Cong AFSPA amendment promise attempt to demoralise armed forces, says Nirmala Sitharaman

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Apr 03: Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a press conference, attacked the Congress over its manifesto alleging that the party wants to dilute the AFSPA and want to remove the immunity that the law gives to our forces because they are siding separatists.

" On one hand Congress says that they will declare the Pulwama victims as martyrs but on the other they want to dilute the powers of AFSPA," she says. "The Congress is siding terrorists," she adds.

The Congress, which released its election manifesto on Tuesday, promised to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or the AFSPA, that grants special powers to the Indian armed forces in 'insurgency-hit areas', if the party came to power after the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

Congress promises big spend on defence, says national security not about chest thumping

The Congress said that the AFSPA Act and Disturbed Areas Act in Jammu and Kashmir will be reviewed if the party came to power after the polls.

Apart from J&K, the AFSPA Act is applicable in Nagaland and Manipur and some parts of north-eastern states.

According to The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976, once declared 'disturbed', an area has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of three months.

Under AFSPA, the armed forces are given powers to arrest, use force and even open fire on anyone who violate the law. But over the years, civilians have levelled allegations of army excesses in the insurgency-hit areas.

Human right groups have been demanding the scrapping of the AFSPA act, claiming the law gives "sweeping powers" to the soldiers to act against civilians. Activists have also alleged extra-judicial killings in those areas where AFSPA is in force.

Notably, renowned Manipuri activist Irom Sharmila launched an indefinite fast for 16 years (2000-2016) in protest against the controversial act.

(with agency inputs)Amit Shah credits Modi for UN move on Azhar, Cong 'disappointed' at no mention of Pulwama

Rahul Gandhi has not said a word': Surjewala on 'collusion with BJP' remark

Congress accuses BJP of indulging in cash for votes in PMs Arunachal rally

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Apr 03: The Congress on Wednesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was indulging in cash for votes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that money had been distributed among the people ahead of the PM's rally.

In an unverified sting video, Surjewala said that on Tuesday night, around 10.30 pm, during a raid on Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu's convoy, the police recovered Rs 1.80 lakh in Rs 500 notes.

Congress promises big spend on defence, says national security not about chest thumping

The video show the money being removed from one of the cars in the Khandu's convoy and also shows the registration plates of two cars apart from various police officers.

Cash of Rs 1.8 crore was also recovered last night from Arunachal BJP president Tapir Gao's vehicles at the Siang Guest House.

Surjewala said, "The sensational disclosures and the two videos prove a massive vote scandal... a midnight raid on a convoy of the AP CM Pema Khandu led to recovery of Rs 180 lakh in 500 rupee notes." The authenticity of the videos have not been verified so far.

"If this cash is for PM's rally and influencing the people, does it not prove that the chowkidar is a thief?" he said.

INC COMMUNIQUE



Press release by @rssurjewala, I/C, AICC Communications, on cash for vote scandal in Arunachal. pic.twitter.com/nlfcwcqdiL  INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) April 3, 2019

Citing the People's Representation Act, 1951, he said that a case should be registered against the PM, the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu and deputy chief minister as well as the state BJP chief Tapir Gao.

"It is true that a cash amount of Rs 1.8 crore were recovered on Tuesday night from some vehicles. But we don't have the exact details yet. Since the Deputy Commissioner and police superintendent of East Siang district are busy with the Prime Minister's rally in Pasighat they have not sent a report yet about the recovery. We would be able to get a clearer picture once the report is available by late afternoon," said Arunachal Pradesh chief electoral officer Kaling Tayeng.Election expenditure: How much did BJP, Congress, DMK, CPI, TMC, AIADMK receive funds and spent during polls?

Opposition front not possible without Congress: Shiv Sena leader Raut after meeting with Rahul Gandhi

Mamata Banerjee's TMC gives yet another jolt to Congress in Meghalaya; 11 members switch sides

Congress manifesto gives fillip to BJP 's nationalism plank

India

oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi

New Delhi, April 3: The Congress is upbeat after the release of its election manifesto on Tuesday. The Congress leaders believe that the party has covered almost all the possible points to beckon voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi released party manifesto titled 'Hum Nibhayenge' (We will deliver) here in the presence of former prime minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and senior leader P Chidambaram and others.

The 55-page document makes a slew of promises, including giving Rs. 72,000 each to five crore poor families yearly, under the Nyuntam Aay Yojna (Nyay) scheme, filling up 22 lakh government vacancies, bringing a separate budget for farmers and fixing a single moderate Good and Services Tax (GST) rate.

Lok Sabha Election 2019: Takeaways from Congress manifesto

The manifesto committee, which was chaired by P. Chidambaram, was divided into 20 different subgroups for different issues like economy, agriculture, education and industry, etcetera.

The party held 121 consultations in 24 states and three Union Territories at over 60 locations, non-resident Indian (NRIs) from 12 countries were consulted, and five sessions with farmers, teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, and economists were held.

A Congress source tells OneIndia that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will now be under pressure after the Congress released its manifesto, which has left no scope for other parties to match it.

However, a section within the Congress is concerned that the party has inadvertently provided the BJP its favourite tool called 'nationalism'.

Talking about Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress manifesto says, "We also acknowledge the unique history of the State and the unique circumstances under which the State acceded to India that led to the inclusion of Article 370 in the Constitution of India. Nothing will be done or allowed to change the Constitutional position."

It is notable that the demand of abrogating Article 370 and Article 35A got momentum in the country during the last five years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule.

J&K derives its special status from two key constitutional provisions- Article 370 and Article 35A.

The BJP has been holding first Congress prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru responsible for Kashmir issue by granting special status to J&K under Article 370.

Introduced in 1954 by a Presidential Order, the Article 35A has a provision under which the President of India can make certain "exceptions and modifications" for the benefit of 'State subjects' of J&K.

The Article 35A is already challenged in the Supreme Court on the grounds that it was unconstitutionally added to the Constitution as the President is not empowered to add or change existing provisions of the Constitution without the approval of the Parliament. In the case of Article 35A, the provision was added without getting a nod from the Parliament.

The Congress manifesto also promises to review the deployment of armed forces, move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely, reduce the presence of the Army and Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) in the Kashmir Valley, and entrust more responsibility to the J&K police for maintaining law and order.

There has been a demand in Kashmir Valley to reduce the footprints of the armed forces from civilian areas.

The manifesto also says the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act [AFSPA] and the Disturbed Areas Act in J&K will be reviewed.

"Suitable changes will be made in the text of the laws to balance the requirements of security and the protection of human rights."

Congress releases manifesto for 2019, focus on NYAY, farmers and jobs

The demand to dilute the AFSPA and Disturbed Areas Act is decades old in Kashmir but even the Congress-led UPA government after 2004 till 2014 could not muster the courage to do it.

As soon as the Congress released its manifesto, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched a scathing attack on the grand-old party by saying that it appears that some important points related to J&K were drafted by party chief Rahul Gandhi's friends in 'Tukde Tukde' gang.

He was referring to Rahul Gandhi's visit to Jawaharlal Nehru University in solidarity with protesting students against the arrest of the student union leader Kanahiya Kumar, who was nabbed after slogans like Bharat Tere Tukdey Hongey (India will be broken into different parts) were allegedly raised on the campus.

Jaitley dubbed the manifesto as "dangerous and unimplementable", saying it was aimed at "balkanisation" of India.

"The manifesto says Section 124-A will be removed from IPC, which means committing treason is no longer a crime. The party that makes such announcements is not entitled to a single vote," he said.

Congress insiders, who are concerned after Jaitley's attack, admit that the party has given an issue to the BJP which may diminish other highlights of the manifesto.

"The BJP under Prime Minister Modi is going in the elections mainly on the issue of nationalism, a feeling that is high among the majority of Indians after the Pulwama attack and military standoff between India and Pakistan. The party has given a fillip to the BJP's nationalism. Jaitley has hinted how the BJP is going to attack the Congress during the Lok Sabha elections,"says a party insider.

"Unfortunately the BJP understands a fact better than the Congress is that Kashmir is a very sensitive issue for the common Indians. It will be foolish to deny a fact that the killing of top terrorists in Kashmir under Modi rule has sent a sense of satisfaction among Indians who were early depressed due to the hegemony of terrorists in the Kashmir Valley," adds the insider.

It seems the Congress has made promises regarding J&K considering the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections in the state without applying mind how they could be used against the party in rest of India.Todays events: Opposition to hit the streets and counting for MLC polls to be held

PMs photo on vaccine certificate: Why are you ashamed as Kerala HC

'Document of lies, hypocrisy': PM Modi on Congress manifesto

India

oi-Deepika S

Itanagar, Apr 03: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tore into the Congress over its manifesto for the upcoming elections, calling it a document of lies and hypocrisy.

Addressing a rally in Arunachal Pradesh, Modi said the Congress sided with people who support the "tukde tukde" gang and not those who say "Jai Hind".

"However, till 2014 around 18,000 houses were unelectrified... Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies. Therefore, it should be called hypocrisy document, not a manifesto," Modi said.

Cong AFSPA amendment promise attempt to demoralise armed forces, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Tuesday released his party's manifesto for Lok Sabha polls, making jobs creation, addressing farm distress, bringing a single moderate rate of GST and giving Rs 72,000 per annum to poor families as key focus if the party comes to power.

The prime minister also charged that the Congress was fooling farmer in the name of votes, whereas the BJP government has always been with them.

"We never committed the sin of betraying farmers but we introduced the mechanism from seed to market," the PM said.

Modi said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be about the choice between "trust and corruption, and about resolution and conspiracy".

Simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly will be held on April 11.As vigil along LoC gets tight, terrorists move towards International Border to sneak in

Security forces get go ahead to shoot down drones on International Border

Fully prepared to face any challenge from Pak: BSF

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Apr 03: Border Security Force (BSF) DG Rajni Kant Mishra said that his force is fully prepared to meet any challenge posed by Pakistan which is continuously violating the ceasefire by targeting forward areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the Indian forces are giving a befitting response to the unprovoked mortar shelling and firing by the Pakistan army, while maintaining that there was no ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB) in the state.

Talking to reporters after the wreath-laying ceremony of Inspector T Alex Lalminlun at the BSF frontier headquarters here, Mishra said all the 365 days of the year pose a challenge for the border guards.

How India will monitor its border with Pakistan with this exclusive satellite

"We have accepted the challenge and are prepared for it," the director general said when asked about the preparations of the BSF along the IB and the LoC in view of the upcoming five-phased Lok Sabha polls, scheduled to begin in the state on April 11.

The BSF DG, who arrived on a two-day visit to Jammu on Monday to review security situation, especially along the forward posts, said Pakistan is targeting civilian areas which is very unfortunate.

However, he said the BSF is giving befitting replies to Pakistan.

On the casualties suffered by Pakistan in the retaliatory action, he said, "We are waiting for the feedback to ascertain the casualties suffered by them."

Besides the BSF inspector, a woman and a five-year-old girl were killed and 24 others were injured in intense shelling by Pakistan in various sectors of Poonch district on Monday.

Terming the killing of 35-year-old officer as "unfortunate", Mishra said he was posted with the 168th battalion and was manning the 471 forward defence location (FDL) post when a mortar shell landed at his picket.

"He suffered critical splinter injuries and achieved martyrdom, while four of his colleagues were injured but their condition is stated to be stable," the DG said.

Asked about the message for the troopers on the ground, he said, "Do not get demoralised and we are solidly behind you."

J&K: BSF officer killed in sniper fire from Pakistan in Samba sector

Earlier, Mishra joined other ranks of the force and Inspector General of Police, Jammu region, M K Sinha and Jammu SSP Tejinder Singh to pay floral tributes to the martyred officer whose body was brought to the BSF headquarters for the wreath-laying ceremony.

The Inspector General of BSF, Jammu frontier, N S Jamwal and other officers also laid wreath at the tricolour-wrapped coffin containing the mortal remains of the officers.

The body of the inspector is being flown to his home town in Manipur for last rites, a BSF spokesman said.How electoral bonds fund Indias political parties

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 03: Who funds India's political parties. It is an important question to ask amidst the electoral heat ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Indian law allows donors of amounts below Rs 20,000 to remain anonymous. In the 2017 Union Budget, the government announced an electoral bond scheme that allowed large scale anonymous donations. As a result, more than half of all the income of national parties in India is derived from unknown sources, says a detailed report by the Association for Democratic Reforms.

For the six national parties, excluding the Communist Party of India (Marxist), 53% of funding or Rs 689.44 crore was from unknown sources in 2017-'18. Known donors contributed Rs 467.13 crore or 36% of party income. The rest 11% came from other known sources such as sale of assets or membership fees.

What Electoral Bonds have done:

While analysing donations above Rs 20,000 for national parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party garnered an incredible 93% share or Rs 437.04 crore in 2017-'18. The Congress came a distant second with Rs 26.66 crore or 5.67% of the total known donations to national parties.

While 51% of all unknowns funds were donations below Rs 20,000 (which can be anonymous as per law), as much as 31% were made using the new instrument of electoral bonds.

Mumbai, Kolkata topped purchase of electoral bonds

An electoral bond is a promissory note similar to a bank note. It can be purchased from State Bank of India branches in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore.

Unusually for an instrument that permits such large amounts, electoral bonds can be anonymous.

Individuals and companies can make donations to a party without having their identities disclosed to the Indian voter.

The BJP dominates electoral bonds, garnering 95% of the total value of bonds purchased in 2017-'18.

That electoral bonds allow large-scale anonymous donations to parties is seen to be a significant step back in setting up a transparent system of political funding. Former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla pointed out that the electoral bond scheme has actually emerged as a "greater method of camouflage" when it came to the use of black money in politics.

Electoral bonds have been available since January 2018. Their impact was immediate, pushing up the share of income of national parties for 2017-'18 (even though the bonds had been available for only three months of that financial year).

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 15:33 [IST]State vs national issues: Key lessons for the BJP to learn in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana

In UP's Maharajganj, daughters of two influential families pitted against each other

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Lucknow, April 03: With the Lok Sabha elections nearing, daughters of two influential families have returned to the badlands of eastern Uttar Pradesh to reclaim the political legacy of their fathers.

The Congress party has fielded TV anchor Supriya Srinet, who is a daughter of late Harsh Vardhan the two-time Congress MP from Maharajganj and a member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Defence, from Maharajganj seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Soon after the announcement of her candidature, Supriya Shrinate, who formerly worked with business news channel ET Now, tweeted, "I will be taking an active plunge in politics, am grateful to @INCIndia @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @JM_Scindhia 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."

[After Modi calls Mamata Banerjee 'speedbreaker', Didi says he is 'expiry babu']

Surpiya Shrinate has done her schooling from Loreto Convent in Lucknow, after which she went on to do her graduation from Lucknow University in political science, history and economics.

While, Tanushree Tripathi, daughter of former MLA and strongman Amar Mani Tripathi, who is currently serving a life term in connection with the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla, is representing Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party.

Tanushree , possesses a Master's degree in international relations from London. She is all set to get married later this month but is nevertheless contesting elections from the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat.

Tanushree's brother Aman Mani Tripathi is an independent MLA from Nautanwa Assembly segment in Maharajganj district. He is also an accused in the murder of his wife Sara Singh and the CBI is investigating the matter.

In 2017, when Aman Mani contested the Assembly elections from jail, it was Tanushree who campaigned for him along with her sister Alankrita.

Meanwhile, the sitting BJP MP Pankaj Chowdhary is confident of winning the seat a sixth time. Earlier, he won the seat in 1991, 1996, 1998, 2004 and 2014. In 2009, Pankaj faced defeat at the hand of Harshwardhan Singh, who had won his first election from the seat on a Janta Dal ticket way back in 1989. His daughter, Srinet, a TV anchor, is tasked with wresting the seat back from the BJP.

However, this is the first time that women candidates have taken centre stage in Maharajganj which remains steeped in backwardness.JKSSB SI Recruitment 2021: Last date to apply for 800 Sub Inspector posts, direct link here

J&K: PDP worker shot at in Kulgam

India

oi-Vikas SV

Srinagar, Apr 3: Suspected terrorists allegedly shot at PDP worker Abdul Majeed in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam, said reports. Majeed has been rushed to the hospital. Exact details about his condition are not known yet.

On March 14, terrorists have shot at a worker of the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir' Bijbehara. The NC worker was identified as one Mohammed Ismail Wani who was the Block President National Conference.

Last year in October, a 40-year-old PDP worker, Mohd. Amin Dar, was gunned down by militants in Srinagar. Mohd. Amin Dar was a resident of Gangbugh.

Last year several incidents of terrorists shooting dead police personnel also took place. Even on an Id day in 2018, three cops were shot dead in a single day.

[J&K: Suspected terrorists shoot at a NC worker]

In June 2018, senior journalist and Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari and his PSO were shot dead by terrorists outside the newspaper's office in the heart of Srinagar.

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 20:20 [IST]Jet's revival looks bleak as Anil Agarwal pulls out of race for acquiring cash-strapped airline

Less than 15 aircraft of debt-hit Jet Airways currently operational: Govt

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 03: Less than 15 aircraft of Jet Airways are currently operational, Civil Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said on Wednesday. The SBI-led consortium of lenders had taken over the management of the cash-hit Jet Airways last month.

Asked about the active fleet of the beleaguered airline, the Civil Aviation Secretary said here that "yesterday, it was 28".

On the airline informing stock exchanges on Tuesday evening that 15 more aircraft have been grounded, Kharola said the current fleet "would be less than about 15".

Jet Airways salary crisis: Pilots defer decision not to fly, sets April 15 deadline

The airline has around 119 aircraft in its fleet. In the last few weeks, the airline has been grounding its aircraft in tranches due to non-payment of dues to lessors. Regarding funding issues of the airline, Kharola - who was speaking on the sidelines of an event - said, "The issue is between bankers and Jet management.

So they are discussing with each other. The private carrier on Tuesday said it has grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment of rentals to lessors.

Till last month, the Mumbai-headquartered airline, which is now under the new ownership, had taken 54 planes out of operations due to lease rental defaults.

On March 25, Jet Airways' board approved a resolution plan formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders. Under the plan, lenders decided to take control of the airline and make a fund infusion of Rs 1,500 crore.

PTITMC brings its fight against BJP to Delhi; party MPs meet Amit Shah after sitting on dharna for 4 hrs

TMC moves privilege motion against Justice Gogoi, says he is in contempt of Rajya Sabha

MHA notice to Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjees wife for discrepancy in official documents

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Apr 03: The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to Rujira Naroola, the wife of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee for discrepancy in documentation while she had applied for a PAN Card and conversion of PIO card to OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card.

The MHA notice issued by the Foreigners Division on March 29 claims that Rujira Naroola, a Thai national was issued a PIO card by the Indian embassy in Bangkok in 2010 where Niphon Naroola is mentioned as her father.

Will the BJP's Bengal gambit rattle Didi in her bastion?

The notice comes days after the Centre told the Supreme Court that the West Bengal Police "intimidated" customs officials at the Kolkata international airport on March 16, after they held Naroola for carrying excess gold without a declaration.

Banerjee has said the charges filed against his wife are "false" and are intended to malign her image and the TMC.

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 14:04 [IST]Only 'Tai' can admonish me in BJP: PM Modi praises Sumitra Mahajan

Never sought ticket in three decades says Sumitra Mahajan

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

New Delhi, Apr 03: As suspense continued over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s nominee from Indore constituency, Lok Sabha Speaker and local MP Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday said she never sought poll ticket from the party in the last three decades.

Asked about the delay in announcing her candidature, the eight-time MP from Indore told PTI that BJP leaders might be having "something" on their mind.

The BJP has not fielded many of its veterans, including former presidents L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, in the Lok Sabha elections.

Indore LS ticket suspense continues, Sumitra Mahajan skips PM event, hints she is ready to contest

There is speculation that Mahajan, who turns 76 on April 12, may also not be renominated.

Advani (91) and Joshi (85) were not renominated from their Lok Sabha seats, Gandhinagar and Kanpur, respectively. Advani has been replaced with BJP chief Amit Shah and Joshi with Rajendra Kumar Pachauri.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

NPF to support Congress Lok Sabha candidate in Nagaland

India

oi-PTI

Kohima, Apr 03: Naga Peoples Front (NPF) president, Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu Wednesday said the NPF will support the Congress candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland.

"In order to defeat the BJP alliance partner NDPP's candidate, the NPF party has decided to extend issue based support to the Congress in Nagaland," Liezietsu said at the consultative meeting of the NPF Kohima Division at Central office here.

He said the NPF took decision not to field its nominee and divide the secular votes and give advantages to the NDPP candidate.

'Document of lies, hypocrisy': PM Modi on Congress manifesto

Liezietsu said the NPF was supporting the Congress candidate as the Congress is also against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).

He said BJP president Amit Shah in his public address in Assam recently stated that if BJP comes to power it will tbe bring the Citizenship Amendment Bill at the earliest.

PTI

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 17:40 [IST]As Mamata Banerjee takes swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Cong says such posturing for personal ambition will help BJP

What exactly is home ministry doing: Rahul Gandhi slams Centre over Nagaland incident

Farmers should be given rights, compensation, jobs: Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha

Rahul Gandhi in centre of Cong posters for Jaipur rally; call for him to become party chief again

NYAY money will come from pockets of chor businessmen you shielded: Rahul to Modi

India

oi-Deepika S

Dispur, Apr 03: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying money for the grand old party's proposed NYAY scheme would come from the pockets of the "thieves" he shielded.

Addressing an election rally in Golaghat, Rahul said that the money for NYAY will come from the pockets of all the businessmen they shielded.

" Its time to turn the narrative of this country towards the truth. Earlier the slogan was 'Acche Din' but now it is, 'Chowkidar Chor Hai'," he added.

'Skirt wali bai': BJP lawmaker slammed for sexist remark on Priyanka Gandhi

Claiming that India was witnessing its worst unemployment scenario, Rahul said that the Congress will ensure facilities for youths to start own businesses.

"Congress, if voted to power, will not allow Citizenship Amendment Bill," Rahul Gandhi said.

He also said that the party will restore special status of northeastern states, and bring in industrial policy to make the region a manufacturing hub.

Launching a direct attack on Congress for its minimum guarantee scheme for the poor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Congress remembers poor only during elections.

'Speedbreaker' Didi only cares about politics and not poor: Modi in Siliguri

The NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) scheme - announced recently by Congress President Rahul Gandhi - guarantees Rs 6,000 per month for the poor.

Rahul Gandhi has said that the NYAY scheme will benefit poorest 20% families of the country and the Congress will implement this scheme if it wins the Lok Sabha election. Dubbing NYAY a "revolutionary" scheme, the Congress president had said that it "will change the face of India".

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 16:11 [IST]Todays events: Opposition to hit the streets and counting for MLC polls to be held

PMs photo on vaccine certificate: Why are you ashamed as Kerala HC

'Speedbreaker' Didi only cares about politics and not poor: Modi in Siliguri

India

oi-Deepika S

Kolkata, Aprl 03: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, calling her the "speed breaker" of development.

Referring to Banerjee as 'speedbreaker didi', Modi accused the Bengal CM of obstructing BJP's welfare schemes meant for the state and ecouraging poverty in order to win elections.

"The Saradha chit fund scam looted the people of Bengal, but when the BJP tried to intervene, speedbreaker didi didn't let us," said Modi.

'Document of lies, hypocrisy': PM Modi on Congress manifesto

The Prime Minister also attacked Banerjee for pulling out of the central health scheme, Ayushman Bharat.

Claiming that Banerjee has put a spanner in several central schemes for the uplift of the poor, Modi said "speedbreaker Didi" has not allowed people of Bengal to benefit from Ayushman Bharat scheme.

"I am waiting for this speedbreaker to go so development can gather speed," he said.

Modi also took on the Congress over its manifesto that talks about reviewing some clauses of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), saying it acts like a "shield" for the security forces in the fight against terrorists.

"They (the Congress) want our defence forces to be helpless...their hands and feet tied," Modi said and accused the Congress and its allies of sympathising with Pakistan.

Cong AFSPA amendment promise attempt to demoralise armed forces, says Nirmala Sitharaman

PM Modi will address another rally in Kolkata later this afternoon.

Mamata Banerjee has advanced her campaign schedule, by a day so she could respond to PM Modi's attacks. The Chief Minister was expected to launch her poll campaign in Cooch Behar in north Bengal on Thursday. Instead, the rally will be held today.

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 15:08 [IST]Life of Indian child born today shortens by over 2 Years

India

oi-Ajay Mohan Verma

Bengaluru, April 3: Recently Gurugram city topped the list of most polluted city in the World, where as Delhi emerged as the most polluted Capital in the globe. Now one more report has unearthed a bitter reality about India. According to a new global study - State of Global Air 2019, eposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to over 1.2 million deaths in India in 2017. Not only this the exposure to household burning and outdoor air pollution has shortened the life of a South Asian child, including Indian, born today by over 2 Years. Well, Indian government has initiated major steps to address pollution sources. And among them Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ujjwala Yojana has been appreciated by the World forum.

Global life expectancy has been reduced by 20 months in last two years. Same is happening with the Indian citizens also. But at the same time, India has initiated major steps to address pollution sources: the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Household LPG program, accelerated Bharat Stage 6/VI clean vehicle standards, and the new National Clean Air Programme are the schemes of Modi government which have been appreciated by the global bodies working towards clean environment.

Along with this the Global report praised the initiatives of China and Ghana governments as well. China banned the use of coal for household cooking and heating in municipalities around Beijing. Where as the Government of Ghana has worked to promote adoption of LPG for three decades.

Vice President of Health Effects Institute Robert O'Keefe said that these and future initiatives have the potential, if fully implemented as part of a sustained commitment to air quality, to result in significant health benefits in coming years.

State of global air has released the latest report which revealed many facts, which everybody should know. The study was done in collaboration with Health Effects Institute.

India on High Risk due to Air Pollution

Worldwide, air pollution is responsible for more deaths than many better-known risk factors such as malnutrition, alcohol use, and physical inactivity, according to the annual SOGA2019 report and Health Effects Institute. In India, air pollution is the 3rd highest cause of death among all health risks, ranking just above smoking; each year, more people globally die from air pollution related disease than from road traffic injuries or malaria.

Overall, long-term exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to nearly 5 million deaths from stroke, diabetes, heart attack, lung cancer, and chronic lung disease in 2017. Out of these 3 million deaths are directly attributed to PM2.5, half of which are from India and China together. South Asian countries - Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan - led the world as the most polluted region, with over 1.5 million air-pollution related deaths.

The analysis found that China and India together were responsible for over half of the total global attributable deaths, with each country facing over 1.2 million deaths from all air pollution in 2017. China has made initial progress, beginning to achieve air pollution declines. For the first time this year's report and website include worldwide estimates of the effect of air pollution on how long people live, or life expectancy.

Worldwide, air pollution reduced life expectancy by an average 20 months in 2017, a global impact rivaling that of smoking; this means a child born today will die 20 months sooner, on average, than would be expected without air pollution.

Key highlights from the report:

Exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to over 1.2 million deaths in 2017 in India

On a global average, the life span of a baby born today is shortened by 20 months, growing up in the current levels of air pollution. In South Asia due to the combined impacts of household and ambient air pollution, the life expectancy loss is increased to 2 years 6 months.

In India, air pollution is the 3rd highest cause of death among all health risks, ranking just above smoking, globally it ranks 5th

Each year, more people globally die from air pollution related disease than from road traffic injuries and malaria

Each year, more people globally die from air pollution related disease than from road traffic injuries and malaria Overall, long-term exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to nearly 5 million deaths from stroke, diabetes, heart attack, lung cancer, and chronic lung disease in 2017.

South Asian countries - Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan - led the world as the most polluted region, with over 1.5 million air-pollution related deaths.

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 9:31 [IST]We will oust every single infiltrator if voted to power again: Amit Shah

India

oi-Vikas SV

Srinagar, Apr 3: Asserting that the party will never compromise with the national security, BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday said infiltrators are eating the country like termites and assured that the BJP government would oust every single infiltrator if voted to power again.

"If you choose Narendra Modi govt, in next 5 years we will oust every single infiltrator from the country. Infiltrators are eating our country like termites. They want to change demography of Jammu. As long as there's BJP government, we will not let this happen," said Amit Shah in Sunderbani, Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah also lashed out at Rahul Gandhi and said the Congress president is unable to digest the Balakot air strikes.

"Airstrike Rahul baba ko hajam nahi ho raha hai...Unke guru Sam Pitroda kehte hain 'kuch logon ki harkaton ke kaaran desh pe hamla nahi karna chahiye.' Kyun, aapke chachere bhai lagte hain kya? (Rahul Baba is unable to digest air strikes. His guru Sam Pithroda says that because of the activities of some people, a country cannot be attacked. Why? Are they related to you)," the BJP chief said.

Earlier today, speaking at a rally in Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, Shah slammed NC leader Omar Abdullah for advocating a separate prime minister for Jammu and Kashmir and asked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to clarify his stand on the issue raised by his electoral ally. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president also asserted that his party, whether in power or in opposition, would never let such let such a demand get fulfilled.

[Lok Sabha Elections 2019 LIVE: PM Modi trains gun at Congress over Sedition Law promise]

"Omar Abdullah says there should be a separate prime minister in Jammu and Kashmir. His associates are shouting pro-Pakistan slogans and Congress is silent," Shah said at a rally in Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand where Lok Sabha polls will be held on April 11.

"Congress is having an electoral alliance with the party. I want to ask the Congress president to clarify to the nation whether or not he agrees with his ally's demand," he added.

The National Conference (NC) vice-president had on Monday said that his party would not allow any attacks on Jammu and Kashmir's special status and would seek restoration of terms of accession of the state, including the provision for 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' (president) and prime minister posts.

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 21:17 [IST]TMC delegation to meet Election Commission in Delhi today; To request for early bypolls in Bengal

Yogi served notice over 'Modi ki sena' remark, EC seeks reply by April 5

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Apr 3: The Election Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for referring to the Indian Army as 'Modi ji ki sena' at an election rally in Ghaziabad on Sunday. The Commission has asked the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to file a reply by April 5.

The Election Commission on Monday took cognizance of Yogi's remark and the district magistrate of Ghaziabad has been asked to furnish a report in this regard.

The chief minister was campaigning for sitting MP and Union minister V K Singh when he made the controversial remark.

"Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the 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 said at an election rally in Ghaziabad on Sunday.

[CPI demands action against Yogi Adityanath over 'Modiji ki sena' comment]

The Election Commission had on March 19 asked political parties to "desist" from indulging in any propaganda involving actions taken by defence forces during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns. The fresh advisory came days after the poll panel asked parties and their candidates against using pictures of defence force personnel in their campaign material.

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 22:39 [IST]UP Police nab one suspect in connection with threats to Mahesh Bhatt

Man who plotted killing of Mahesh Bhat deported from US

International

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Anuj Cariappa

Washington, Apr 03: An Indian national, wanted in his home state on charges including attempted murder, extortion, theft and possession of illegal firearms, was removed from the US and turned over to Indian authorities, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Ubaidullah Abdulrashid Radiowala, 46, also known as Obed Radiowala, is a key accused in the 2014 cases of alleged conspiracy to kill Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt and firing on film-maker Karim Morani.

An Interpol Red Corner notice was also issued on the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2015 after a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Obed Radiowala.

UP Police nab one suspect in connection with threats to Mahesh Bhatt

"He was wanted in India on charges of attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, extortion, forgery, cheating, theft, abetment, use and possession of illegal firearms, and transmission of information by using the internet to form an organised crime syndicate," the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a press release.

Obed Radiowala was arrested by the Newark's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in September 2017 from Iselin, New Jersey for illegally staying in the US. He was later ordered to be removed to India by an immigration judge, the release said.

He was held in detention by the ERO Newark, until his removal and handing over to Indian authorities on Monday, following the dismissal of his appeal by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the release said.

"This individual''s long list of criminal charges in his home country, including attempted murder, show that he was a danger to the community here in the US," ERO Newark field office director John Tsoukaris said.

A total of 256,085 aliens have been removed or returned in fiscal year 2018 by the ICE, the release said.

The proportion of FY18 removals resulting from ICE arrests increased by nearly 17 per cent over the previous fiscal year, and the number of ICE interior removals in FY18 increased by nearly 14,000 from FY17, it said.

The ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation''s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.Pakistan could be blacklisted by FATF due to lobbying by India: Shah Mahmood Qureshi

International

oi-PTI

Islamabad, Apr 03: Pakistan could be blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) due to "lobbying by India", Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said as he estimated that the country could suffer $10 billion in losses annually if it remains in the terror financing watchdog's grey list.

In June last year, the Paris-based FATF had placed Pakistan on the "grey list" of countries whose domestic laws are considered weak to tackle money-laundering and terror financing.

The FATF has told Pakistan to reassess the operation of terrorist groups in the country, already under intense international pressure to rein in terror groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) after the Pulwama terror attack.

Act or face FATF wrath, Pakistan's finance secretary warns

"The Foreign Office is calculating the annual loss if Pakistan is pushed in the black-list by the FATF as India is lobbying for this," Foreign Minister Qureshi told reporters in Lahore on Monday. He said the government has calculated that Pakistan will face $10 billion loss annually if it remains in the "grey list".

A group of experts from the FATF visited Pakistan last month to review whether Islamabad has made enough progress on global standards against financial crimes to warrant its exclusion from the grey list.

A delegation of the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on money laundering, a regional affiliate of the FATF, expressed serious reservations over insufficient action on ground against terror groups to block flow of funds and activities.

The team members reportedly raised questions over specific and on-ground actions against each of the eight terror groups proscribed under international requirements. It wanted break-up of suspected transaction report against each terror group and specific actions taken against each entity.

The team members said that activities of the terror groups and related non-profit organisations are still unchecked at the provincial, district and grass roots level where they can still raise funds and hold meetings and rallies.

The FATF noted that Pakistan had revised its terror financing risk assessment but did not demonstrate a proper understanding of the terror financing risks posed by the ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), Falah-i-Insaniat (FIF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Haqqani Network and people affiliated with the Taliban.

The next FATF review would take place in June in Washington and before that Pakistan will have to show compliance on 16 points that have been agreed for May in addition to three issues that were left out in the last review.

India on Friday last summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and conveyed concerns over the presence of a leading Khalistani terrorist in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur corridor project.

India has long maintained that Pakistan must end giving shelter to terror groups on its soil. Masood Azhar, chief of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, is in Pakistan; the group had claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that killed 40 CRPF soldiers.Crime branch of J&K Police to probe JKPCC scams

Jammu

oi-PTI

Jammu, Apr 03: Jammu and Kashmir administration Tuesday handed over the investigation of major scams in Jammu & Kashmir Projects Construction Corp (JKPCC) to crime branch of the state police, which will register an FIR soon, an official spokesman said.

This is a major step towards eradication of corruption in the organisation, stopping and eliminating backdoor appointments and bringing in a culture of transparency, probity and efficiency, he said.

After receiving numerous complaints about the functioning of JKPCC, particularly relating to corruption in civil contracts, illegality in appointments at multiple levels and excessive cost and time overruns, the government appointed a fact finding committee to look into all these allegations, he said.

Ample evidence there to suggest Hurriyat-Terrorist link: Supreme Court

The committee looked into the manner of awarding contracts to contractors often on a nomination basis without following transparent tendering procedures, diverting funds from one project to another leading to a large number of incomplete projects, he said.

Apart from these, it also looked into irregularities in appointments at various levels, including that of the Managing Director, inefficiency in functioning and huge time and cost overruns in project implementation, reasons for estimates for construction being much higher than those of the PWD, he said.

The committee submitted a voluminous report bringing out in detail large irregularities in the operation of the JKPCC and recommended on improving the organisation, the spokesman said.

"There are many elements in the findings and observations in the report which are quite alarming and a cause of serious concern," the committee said in its report.

For an organisation which is over 50 years old, its operations seem to be riddled with ad-hoc functioning, absence of rules and a lack of systematic procedures, it said.

Keeping in view the seriousness of the matter and the findings of the committee, the government has decided a probe by crime branch into execution of construction works and irregular procedures in violation of government orders, the spokesman said.

The government has decided to handover the investigation of all works executed or contracted out by the JKPCC to the crime branch, he added.

Based on the enquiry of the crime branch, further action against individuals will be taken after registration of FIR, he said.

PTI

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 11:01 [IST]JKSSB SI Recruitment 2021: Last date to apply for 800 Sub Inspector posts, direct link here

CTET December 2021 admit cards to be out shortly: How to download

4 held for trying to rob ATM machines in Delhi's Dwarka

New Delhi

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 03: Four men were arrested for allegedly trying to rob ATM machines in Dwarka's JP Kalan area in the night hours, police said on Tuesday.

The accused were identified as Jaibir (23), Sagar (19), both residents of JP Kalan, Chirag (19), a resident of Najafgarh, and Arjun (20), a resident of Dhansa Village, they added.

On March 19, the police had received information regarding damaging of ATM machines of Corporation Bank and Axis Bank near the Rawta More, a senior police officer said.

Robbers flee with entire ATM machine

The burglars fled the spot after taking the CCTV camera of Corporation Bank. During investigation, CCTV footage was taken from both the banks, in which two to three persons were seen, the police said.

On Sunday evening, a police patrolling team apprehended three men from the JP Kalan area after noticing that they were riding a stolen bike, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said.

The police also noticed that the features of one of the apprehended men -- Jaibir -- were similar to a person seen in the CCTV footage of ATM robberies. During interrogation, the three men confessed to their involvement in the incidents, along with one Arjun (20), the DCP said.

SBI YONO Cash facility for customers: Check How to Withdraw Money without ATM Card

Subsequently, Arjun was also arrested and the stolen CCTV camera was recovered from his possession. The accused told the police that they worked as drivers and helpers in Gramin Sewa vehicles.

One mobile phone, one motorcycle and a CCTV camera were recovered from the possession of the accused, the police said.

PTI

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Story first published: Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 10:53 [IST]Delhi: Alka Lamba asks public if she should resign from AAP after Twitter spat

New Delhi

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 3: Disgruntled AAP MLA Alka Lamba on Wednesday asked the people outside Jama Masjid here whether she should resign from the Aam Aadmi Party as her "party people" were "repeatedly demanding" her resignation.

Her visit to Jama Masjid followed a bitter Twitter spat with party lawmaker Saurabh Bharadwaj, who had taunted her to resign from the party.

Addressing a large crowd that gathered around her, Chandni Chowk MLA said AAP was repeatedly demanding her resignation and sought to know from the people.

"I am fighting against BJP but some people are fighting with me. My party people are repeatedly asking me to resign. I want to know what is my fault. Why should I resign? I want the people of my constituency Chandni Chowk to decide whether I should resign from AAP or not," Lamba said.

She also said that the only way to defeat the BJP is that AAP and Congress join hands. Lamba said that this was the second time her party had asked her to resign after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought her resignation in December last year. She said she was asked to resign as she had opposed the AAP's move to pass a resolution demanding the revocation of the Bharat Ratna honours, conferred to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

[Alka Lamba asked to quit AAP in row over Rajiv Gandhi resolution]

"On one hand Kejriwal said he wants coalition with Congress to defeat BJP but on the other hand he makes such statements. What does he want?" she said.

Soon after the public outing, Lamba tweeted that if AAP and Congress come together the figures in Delhi would be AAP-2 seats, Congress-2 seats, BJP-3 seats but if there is no alliance, then it will be AAP-0, Congress-0 and BJP-7.

Earlier, Lamba and Bhardwaj got into a verbal spat on Tuesday after the Congress released its manifesto. It all began when Lamba questioned the possibility of an alliance between the AAP and Congress after the latter released its manifesto without any mention of giving full statehood to Delhi.

PTICora, a San Francisco, CA-based womens wellness brand whose product portfolio includes natural and organic tampons, pads, and other personal care, raised $7.5m in Series A1 funding.

The round was led by Harbinger Ventures, with participation from existing investors Cambridge SPG.

The company will use the funds to support brick-and-mortar expansion at Target, including broader in-store product offerings and to accelerate product innovation.

Co-founded by Molly Hayward and Morgen Newman, Cora offers both innovative products and accessories like a chic storage container and travel case for women to manage their period through busy days. Combining their innovative and holistic period care solution with a comprehensive social impact model, Cora has provided five million pads to girls in need in India and Kenya, and 100,000 products to women in need in the U.S. to ensure they can experience their periods with the health and dignity they deserve.

The products are available via subscription at cora.life, at Target or on Amazon.

FinSMEs

03/04/2019FirstElement Fuel, Inc., an Irvine, CA-based retail hydrogen network, secured $24m in growth funding.

Backers included Mitsui Groups U.S. based subsidiary Hy Solution, Inc. and Air Liquide, with each company providing $12m.

The company intends to use the funds to grow its True Zero Hydrogen Network of retail stations in California, from the ability to serve 7,000 fuel cell electric vehicles to more than 28,000 vehicles.

Established in 2013 by Joel Ewanick, CEO, FirstElement Fuel provides a network providing retail hydrogen to customers of fuel cell electric vehicles. The company is the developer, owner and operator of the True Zero brand of retail hydrogen stations spanning from San Diego, throughout Orange County, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and out to Santa Barbara and Lake Tahoe.

Since the opening of its first station in January 2016, the True Zero Network has completed over 300,000 successful fills, replaced more than 65 million gasoline miles with zero emission fuel cell miles, and avoided over 41 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions (in CO2 equivalence).

FinSMEs

03/04/2019Intechnica, a Manchester, UK-based technology business focused on fight against cyber bots, raised 2.85m in funding.

The round was led by Mercia. 2.0m came from NPIF  Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia Fund Managers and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. An additional 750k was invested by Mercia Technologies PLC and 100k by existing private investors as part of the funding round.

The company intends to use the funds to grow its cyber security division, Netacea, in the UK, North America and other international markets, and expand its consultancy services.

Founded in 2006 by Jeremy Gidlow and Andy Still, Intechnica offers services including digital transformation, technical due diligence for investors or corporate finance advisers, and a new Data Science as a Service (DSaaS) offering, while Netacea protects companies from automated bot threats, such as account takeover, using machine learning to prioritise genuine human traffic.

Clients include major retailers such as Hobbs, Ted Baker, Ao.com, Cath Kidston and Nisa.

FinSMEs

03/04/2019(CNN)  The prices of iPhones in China are falling thanks to a tax cut that took effect Monday.

Apple cut the prices on iPhones, iPads and other products on its official Chinese website.

The cuts followed a three percentage-point drop in the rate of value-added (sales) tax that kicked in on April 1, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

Apple reduced the price of some products, such as the iPhone XS, by even more than the 3% tax cut.

The latest 64GB iPhone XS now costs 8,199 yuan ($1,220), making it 500 yuan ($74), or 5.8%, cheaper for Chinese buyers. The iPhone XR dropped in price by 300 yuan ($45), or 4.6%.

Apple declined to comment on the price changes.

The company raised alarm bells in January when CEO Tim Cook warned investors that "more severe" economic conditions in China weighed on iPhone sales last year.

Cook later told Reuters that Apple would lower iPhone prices in some markets outside the United States to offset the strong U.S. dollar.

But the iPhone had already been struggling in China, even before the country's economy showed signs of slowing and the weak Chinese yuan bumped up prices.

Apple's smartphone sales in China have been declining for more than three years and plunged by 20% last quarter, according to market research firm IDC.

The California company faces stiff competition from domestic rivals like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi, which all offer cheaper, high-end smartphones tailored for the Chinese market.

"Even with this price reduction, these iPhones are still more expensive than the competing ones from those such as Huawei," said Kiranjeet Kaur, an analyst with IDC.

Still, China remains a key market for Apple, accounting for more than 15% of total sales. Revenue from the Greater China region  which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan  fell about 27% to $13.2 billion last quarter compared to the same period a year earlier.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Apple cuts iPhone prices in China."Pagaya, a New York and Tel Aviv, Israel-based global financial technology company using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve asset management, raised $25m in Series C funding.

The round was led by Oak HC/FT with participation from seed investor Viola Ventures, Clal Insurance Ltd., GF Investments, Harvey Golub (Pagaya board member and former Chairman and CEO of American Express), and Siam Commercial Bank (through its Digital Ventures arm).

The company intends to use the funds to develop its technology further and pursue new asset classes, such as real estate and other fixed-income assets like auto loans, mortgages and corporate credit.

Founded in 2016 by Gal Krubiner, CEO, Pagaya is a financial technology company reshaping asset management using machine learning and big data analytics to manage institutional money. With a focus on fixed income and alternative credit, the company offers a variety of discretionary funds to institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies and banks.

Its asset management team of 30 data scientists and AI specialists uses proprietary machine learning techniques to conduct the most comprehensive bottom-up analysis and risk management of assets. Pagaya analyzes hundreds of millions of data points and captures economic and market data to perform asset underwriting and improved risk assessment compared to what traditional asset management firms can achieve.

In the three years since launch, the company has grown to manage $450 million for banks, insurance companies, pensions funds, asset managers and sovereign wealth funds all looking to find new sources of attractive risk-adjusted returns.

FinSMEs

03/04/2019Red Points, a Barcelona, Spain-based online brand protection company, raised $38m in funding.

The round, which brought total capital raised to $64m, was led by Summit Partners, with additional participation from existing investors Northzone, Mangrove, Eight Roads Ventures and Banco Sabadell.

The company intends to use the funds to further expand the technology and global presence with the goal of empowering brands worldwide to protect their valuable assets online.

Led by Laura Urquizu, CEO, Red Points offers a SaaS solution for detecting and enforcing online IP infringements, including online counterfeiting, piracy and distribution fraud. The company protects a diverse set of brands from baby products and cosmetics, to software and wind turbine manufacturers.

Red Points proprietary software currently removes more than 100,000 incidents of illegal products and content from the web monthly, across over 100 online marketplaces and social networks.

The companys solutions are used by over 550 brands worldwide including Bang & Olufsen, MVMT and DOPE.

Red Points has also opened US headquarters in New York.

FinSMEs

04/04/2019As Solomon Islanders go to the polls today, the police commissioner has called for an election the country can be proud of.Polls open at 7am in Solomon Islands for the general election.There are 333 candidates contesting 50 seats in parliament and over 350,000 registered voters. The Electoral Commission said everything was in place for the ballot but it said voters should make sure they attended the correct polling stations.Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday night, the police commissioner, Matthew Varley, urged Solomon Islanders to behave responsibly and vote wisely.Ask yourself the question about how much is your vote and your voice worth and stand up for that, Varley said.The second thing is - let's have a safe and peaceful evening and polling day.It's an alcohol-free zone, a campaign free zone, let's make it a violence free zone and a good turn out for the polls that makes this nation proud for the future.Unlike previous elections, ballot boxes would be transported to provincial capitals for counting,Varley said.SOURCE: RNZ PACIFI/ONEPNGBiG Africa Comes Off with Resounding Ambience for Unique Networking

Published April 3, 2019 by Lee R

The 6th edition of BiG Africa expanded promoter Eventus' mission of aligning regulation internationally.

BiG Africa organiser Eventus has officially crowned the 6th edition in South Africa a success on all levels, leaving delegates empowered with key new contacts and insights into the regional gaming conference far more effectively for the coming year.

Conference Accomplishment

Eventus organisers agree that the 6th Annual BiG Africa Supershow 2019 set the tone for Africa to remain competitively strong and for operators to keep players engaged for 2019 and beyond.

Thankor-Rankin's Warm Welcome

The warm welcome by Eventus head Christina Thakor-Rankin certainly played a pivotal role, as the event set the tone for the two day proceedings by highlighting key challenges and opportunities in the African region.

Lavish FashionTV Event

A series of insightful presentations and thought provoking panels were launched, with the first day capped magnificently by FashionTV Gaming Group's Fashion Show party complete with models showcasing local designs and dancers performing a range of dance styles.

BiG Africa Awards

Day 2 saw delegates return to the conference room for more insightful discussions, including a lunch-time Eventus International BiG Africa Supershow Awards ceremony recognising the biggest contributors and most impactful members of the 6th Annual BiG Africa Supershow.

The Landscape

Big Africa has evolved as the gateway to Africa's gaming market, with new competitors entering annually for a share of the $37 billion Africa region market and BiG Africa serving as the primary method for updating all stakeholders with cutting edge technological advancements and regulatory changes.

Satellite

More Eventus conferences include aligning global regulation in Kampala, Uganda from 9-10th April; Nicosia, Cyprus from 9 - 10 April 2019; Cyprus, Nicosia from 20 - 21 May 2019; before hitting the US in New Jersey from 18 - 19 June.

Outlook

Eventus is playing a key role in aligning regulation across regions, and BiG Africa is the first step in larger scale integration for 2019 and beyond, leaving a generation of empowered regional operators and stakeholders in its wake.South Korea ECG Market Size Worth US$7.69 Million by 2025 | Key Industry Players - Bionet, Hill Rom Holdings, Mediana, Medtronic, Schiller

South Korea ECG Market

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/south-korea-ecg-market?utm_source=openpr_ss

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https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/south-korea-ecg-market?utm_source=openpr_ss

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According to Allied Market Research South Korea ECG Market was valued at $2.99 million in 2017, and is projected to reach $7.69 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 12.3% from 2018 to 2025.Electrocardiograph (ECG) devices are used to record the heart activities through electric signals. These devices are amplified on the ECG monitor. These are essentially adopted across various medical set-ups to diagnose different types of heart diseases and arrhythmias in people; thereby, assisting the appropriate therapy for patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases (CVD).Download Sample @The key factors that drive the market growth include increase in number of CVD patients across South Korea and rise in demand for monitoring systems and portable cardiac rhythm management. In addition, surge in the geriatric population and favorable government regulations regarding the ECG devices supplement the market growth in South Korea. However, high costs associated with sophisticated ECG devices and increase in threat of market saturation are the factors anticipated to restrict the market growth. Conversely, increase in development of wireless communication and cloud computing is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the growth of the market.The South Korea ECG market is segmented into product, lead, and end user. Based on product, the market is divided into resting ECG, stress ECG, and Holter monitors. The Holter monitors are further bifurcated into wired and wireless Holter monitors. Based on lead, the market is classified into single lead, 3-6 lead, and 12-lead. Based on end user, it is categorized into hospitals & clinics, home settings & ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), and others.The hospitals segment led the market with more than two-thirds of the market share in 2017. Electrocardiographs devices majorly find application in most of the hospitals, as they are a useful modality. Sophisticated monitoring systems equipped with high-definition display systems have revolutionized the medical sector, especially wearable ECG systems, by enhancing monitoring efficiency and portability.Flat 20% Discount on All License Type...* Offer Valid Till 20th April 2019Key Market Players: Bionet Co. Ltd. Hill Rom Holdings Inc. Koninklijke Philips N.V. Mediana Co. Ltd. Medtronic Plc. Mindray Medical International Limited Nihon Kohden Corporation OSI Systems Inc. Schiller AGKey Findings of the ECG Market: Based on product, the resting ECG segment accounted for approximately half of the market share in 2017. Based on end user, the home settings & ambulatory surgical center segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 14.3% from 2018 to 2025. Based on lead, the 3-6 lead ECGs segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR of 12.9% during the forecast period. Based on lead, the hospitals and clinics segment contributed to two-thirds of the market share in 2017.Browse More Details @About Us:Allied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Allied Market Research provides one stop solution from the beginning of data collection to investment advice. The analysts at Allied Market Research dig out factors that help clients to understand the significance and impact of market dynamics. The company amplies clients insight on the factors, such as strategies, future estimations, growth or fall forecasting, opportunity analysis, and consumer surveys among others. As follows, the company offers consistent business intelligent support to aid the clients to turn into prominent business firm.Contact:David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Top Color Cosmetics Industry Trends for 2019-2025 with Major Beauty Brands - Revlon, Johnson & Johnson, Beiersdorf and Avon Products.

Color Cosmetics Market

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Color cosmetics are the products that are used for personal care that assist to improve the way human looks. Color cosmetics are mentioned as cosmetic elements and colorants are used for make-up, skin care, oral care, hair care, fragrance and personal hygiene.Cosmetic or beauty products industry is one segment that usually stays unaffected despite the fluctuations in the economy. Cosmetic sales are maintaining a definite volume through their total products. The sale can be accredited to surging and continuous use of products, specifically by women and men. Companies of personal care are making their products accessible online at economical expenses. The Internet is impacting each business category be it shaving products or deodorant. Customers are enthusiastic to buy the goods that come directly by online retailing.Get more insights @Global color cosmetic market trends are the use of multifunctional makeup, organic and natural cosmetic products, effective distribution channels, a high invention in color cosmetic products, growth in the inclination for eco-friendly cosmetic products and high demand for high-end color cosmetic products specifically in emerging economies. Advanced developments are affecting increasing demand for convenience and customization resulting in the expansion of new products in color cosmetics.Key factors affecting the growth of the color cosmetic market are:Rise in the awareness of beauty products is the main factor trending the color cosmetic market.A huge number of women workers are appreciating the surging financial independence and economic power is the main driver for the growth of the color cosmetic market.Value for the branded color cosmetic products like LVMH, Estee Lauder, LOreal and more are resulting in the quick growth rate of the market based on value.Color cosmetic market of Asia Pacific is increasing at a high rate based on volume, substituted to growing per capita income of customers and rising population.Browse complete report @Increasing awareness of customers and expenses in color cosmetics is the factor fueling the growth of color cosmetics market growth. People are more conscious about their appearance, important for the invention of the new product. Color cosmetics are extensively used for decreasing the skin issues related to age and better life quality. Increase in awareness for fashion trends in women is developing the market for color cosmetics. A current study of the market trends of color cosmetics specifies the growth for the requirement for looking appealing by the female population. Another factor is social media encouraging fashion bloggers and instructing the masses.Global color cosmetics market is segmented based on the distribution sector, product type and region. Based on the distribution sector, the market is divided into online stores, superstores, specialty stores and hypermarkets. Based on the product type, the market is divided into lip-care, eye make-up, face make-up and nail-care.Topographically, the regions of global color cosmetics market are Brazil, Latin America, India, Japan, China, Asia Pacific, Germany, France, UK, Europe, U.S., North America and Middle East & Africa. China is leading the market in the region because of the augmented presence of western culture and the value for branded cosmetic products. The Asia Pacific subsidizes the major share in the color cosmetic market. LOreal is leading the color cosmetic market in China because of the huge awareness for the brand and the effective network distribution. The other leading market in the Asia Pacific in India, owing to the increasing demand from tier 2 and 3 cities.Key manufacturers involved in the color cosmetics market are Revlon, Johnson & Johnson, Beiersdorf and Avon Products.Enquire for buying Global Color Cosmetics Market Report @Adroit Market Research is an India-based business analytics and consulting company incorporated in 2018. Our target audience is a wide range of corporations, manufacturing companies, product/technology development institutions and industry associations that require understanding of a markets size, key trends, participants and future outlook of an industry. We intend to become our clients knowledge partner and provide them with valuable market insights to help create opportunities that increase their revenues. We follow a code Explore, Learn and Transform. At our core, we are curious people who love to identify and understand industry patterns, create an insightful study around our findings and churn out money-making roadmaps.Ryan JohnsonAccount Manager Global3131 McKinney Ave Ste 600, Dallas,TX75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: USA: +1 (214) 884-6068 / +91 9665341414X-ray Security Scanner Market Trends with Business Opportunities 2025 - Top Companies are Gilardoni, OSI Systems, Kromek Group, Smiths Detection, NUCTECH COMPANY LIMITED, ADANI

X-ray Security Scanner Market

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The "X-ray Security Scanner Market Analysis to 2025" is a specialized and in-depth study of the X-ray Security Scanner industry with a focus on the global market trends by by Product Type (Body Scanner and Baggage Scanner), and End-user (Air Transport, Land Security, Commercial Malls & Multiplexes, Government & Banks, and Postal Items). The overall market size has been derived using both primary and secondary source. The research process begins with an exhaustive secondary research using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the market. It also provides the overview and forecast for the global X-ray security scanner market based on all the segmentation provided with respect to six major regions including, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and South America.The major players operating in the market of X-ray security scanner include Astrophysics, Inc., ADANI, Eurologix Security Group, L3 Security & Detection Systems, NUCTECH COMPANY LIMITED, OSI Systems, Inc., Gilardoni S.p.A., Kromek Group plc, Smiths Detection Inc., and TELEDYNE ICM.Get Sample PDF Copy @Key Benefits-- To provide detailed information regarding the major factors (drivers, restraints, opportunities, challenges, and trends) influencing the growth of the global X-ray Security Scanner Market.- To forecast the size of the market segments with respect to four major regional segments, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (Latin America and the Middle East & Africa)The sales of X-ray security scanner is largely influenced by numerous factors. On the basis of product type, baggage X-ray security scanner is dominating the global X-ray security scanner market owing to enhanced security requirements at places with large mass population such as airports, shopping malls, stadiums etc. Further, government buildings, customs, and borders need improved safety equipment to evade the risk of terrorism, illegal immigrations, and transfer of contrabands.Asia Pacific is the leading region in the X-ray security scanners market. The e-commerce industry of Asia Pacific region is flourishing attributed to the presence of several in the developing countries in the region. Further, the rising proliferation of internet connectivity and increasing penetration of smartphones is another factor driving the demand for e-commerce in Asia Pacific. Further, the increasing government spending on the infrastructure sector of the region is propelling the deployment of X-ray security scanners in the region.X-ray security scanner market is growing globally with increasing development of infrastructure. Airports, being the biggest end-user of these systems, are noticing high investments in their infrastructure. Almost all the countries across the globe are investing in their airport infrastructure by either expanding the existing facilities or constructing new airports. Also, a growth has been noticed in the commercial infrastructure of emerging economies, resulting in construction of new shopping malls, hospitals, stadiums, and other commercial buildings. The deployment of X-ray security scanners in these buildings and airports, is expected to boost the market growth.E-commerce industry is growing rapidly across the globe, with each passing day, a new e-commerce market is coming into existence and the established markets are reaching new heights. E-commerce sales globally is expected to grow fiercely in 2017, it is expected that the market will account for one-tenth of total retail sales worldwide. China and the U.S. are expected to lead the industry with a share of US$ 1.6 Tn in 2017, which is approx. 70% of total e-commerce market. Furthermore, this will increase the growth of cross-border transfer of goods.Buy Now @Further, the market heavily depends on the changing government standards and budgets. For instance, the EU has recently passed a legislation mandating every airports in the region to update their baggage screening systems to comply with standard 3 of ECAC by 2020. However, for U.K. airports, the deadline in 2018. Also, in 2011, EU banned the use of X-ray full-body scanners across all the airports in the region, followed by the U.S. and China.About Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.Contact usThe Insight partners,Phone: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comElectric Scooters Market 2018-2025 Opportunities with Strategic Growth and Top Players - ECCITY Motocycles, Hero Eco (Hero Electric), Gogoro, GOVECS GmbH, Vmoto Limited, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Terra Motors Corp.

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Electric scooter are defined motorized bicycles propelled by human power or by a combination of human power and electric motor, capable of propelling the vehicle not more than 30 Mph on level ground. The vehicle consist of two wheels and a motor which triggers at a certain speed. These scooters offers high efficiency in comparison to conventional scooters at the expense of slightly reduced performance. Technological advancement have these scooters as a perfect commuting option without the hassle of traffic and crowded public transportation.Increasing disposable income on the consumer end and government push to adopt environmentally safe solutions, these vehicles have witnessed significant growth rate in the recent years. For instance, the government of China has announced the subsidy of US$ 100-1000 on the purchase of electric or hybrid scooters. In U.S. the administration is offering tax credits amounting to a maximum of US$ 7,500 over the purchase of battery for hybrid vehicles. However complex regulations regarding vehicle speed, consumer focusing over performance rather fuel efficiency are expected to inhibit the growth of the market.Request for sample report@Some of the important players in Electric Scooter market ECCITY Motocycles, Hero Eco (Hero Electric) , Gogoro Inc., GOVECS GmbH, Vmoto Limited, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Terra Motors Corp., Piaggio & C. SpA, BMW Motorrad, and Jiangsu Xinri E-Vehicle Co., Ltd.The objectives of this report are as follows:-To provide overview of the global Electric Scooter market-To analyze and forecast the global Electric Scooter market on the basis of product type, battery type, and technology.-To provide market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Electric Scooter market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) , Middle East and Africa (MEA) , and South America (SAM) , which are later sub-segmented across respective major countries.-To evaluate market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend.-To provide exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions.-To profiles key Electric Scooter players influencing the market along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies.Purchase this report@:Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Key Takeaways3. Electric Scooters Market Landscape4. Market - Key Industry Dynamics5. Electric Scooters Market Analysis- Global Analysis6. Electric Scooters Market Revenue And Forecasts To 2025  Product Type7. Market Revenue And Forecasts To 2025  Battery Type8. Market Revenue And Forecasts To 2025  Technology9. Market Revenue And Forecasts To 2025  Geographical Analysis10. Industry Landscape11. Competitive Landscape12. Electric Scooters Market, Key Company Profiles13. AppendixAbout us:Premium Market Insights is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers.We provide best in classcustomer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries. Our commitment to customer service is best exemplified by free analyst support that we offer to our clients which sets us apart from any other provider. We also offer enterprise subscriptions which provide significant cost savings to our clients.Contact us:Premium Market Insights,Contact Person: Sameer JoshiEmail: sales@premiummarketinsights.comWashing Machine Market Key Players Analysis | Electrolux AB, LG Electronics Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Whirlpool Corporation

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The growing demand for products which bring convenience to consumers is a key factor fueling the demand for washing machines. The growing changes in lifestyles, increasing disposable income, and the availability of advanced technology are also boosting the growth of the global washing machines market. One of the trends seen in the washing machine market in recent times is the use of technology that reduces the use of water for washing. The growing scarcity of water worldwide and the realization that water is a limited natural resource have compelled manufacturers to devise a technology that minimizes the use of water. In addition to this, smart washing machines have also gained traction in recent times on account of the increasing penetration of IoT and smartphones. The convenience offered by smart washing machines such as ability to operate remotely, control functions of the washing machine by using smartphones, and receive notifications is expected to increase the popularity of these machines in the future.Get Brochure of the Report @The washing machines with higher capacity load are witnessing more demand in the last few years. In addition to this, consumers are increasingly transiting from semi-automatic washing machines to fully automatic washing machines. Technological advancements will continue to drive the growth of this market. Increasing replacements made from conventional washing machines to advanced and latest machines will ensure a growth of the market in developed nations. The increasing population and improvement in economy will drive the growth of this market in the developing nations.Global Washing Machine Market: OverviewThe world washing machine market is prognosticated to rake in ample amount of demand from the residential sector as consumers find a heated inclination toward smart and connected products. Vendors in the market are taking to products which can be managed and controlled with a few touches on the consumers smartphone. Commercial dryers could gain traction as manufacturers introduce heat pump technology in the wake of energy consumption rising to an alarming level. Moreover, government initiatives to support controlled energy consumption, digitalization, and a large demand in developing economies are expected to add to the growth of the market.The segmentation part of the report presented here could include an expert analysis on the basis of important classification groups such as capacity, technology, product, application, and end use. Commercial laundry equipment are envisaged to appeal to government, hospital, and hospitality sectors with outsourcing deemed as a powerful trend of growth.The publication compiled on the global washing machine market sheds light on the critical factors of growth, market opportunities, restraints, market value chain, and more aspects to help analyze the industry at a professional level. Report buyers can access a customized evaluation of the global market to take confident strides toward a realistic growth.Global Washing Machine Market: Trends and OpportunitiesAs a result of the advent of innovative solutions in the laundry sector, the commercial washing machine market is expected to accept a transition. This could push the need for increased automation in laundry services, which is foreseen to prepare a fine ground for the global washing machine market to build on a robust growth. One of the notable revolutions in the laundry sector is the shift from coin laundries to card-based or digital laundry payment services. As a favorable consequence, the demand for smart connected washing machines is foretold to intensify even more with swiftly changing lifestyle of consumers and mushrooming preference for convenience.For the forecast period, the international washing machine market could invite an optimistic impact as newer technologies take precedence to address the demand for water and power efficient, next generation products. In order to control the consumption of energy, governments especially in North America are asking consumers to prefer energy-efficient appliances with smart grids. This is foreseen to aggravate the manufacturing efforts to develop technologically sophisticated products.Global Washing Machine Market: Regional OutlookThe regional demand in the international washing machine market is predicted to augment with the rising preference for smart connected and fully automatic products in the developing countries of Vietnam, India, and Indonesia. The demand is anticipated to swell further as the populations in these countries falling under the middle-income bracket see a rise. The washing machine market in China could experience a high level of penetration of different types of products, thus allowing the market to increase its growth. In 2015, Asia Pacific took hold of a whopping share in the global washing machine market.North America is forecasted to not fall behind by much distance from Asia Pacific, owing to the rising want for smart washing machine to replace their traditional counterparts. In the U.S., the demand has grown dramatically with the elevating awareness of products bearing the ENERGY STAR certification.Global Washing Machine Market: Companies MentionedMost manufacturers in the world washing machine market are counting on the formulation of holistic distribution mediums with a view to widen their clientele base. Some of the interesting strategies adopted by the top vendors in the global market are substantial focus on supply chain management through vital investments and improvement of product assortments. Among others, Electrolux AB, LG Electronics Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Whirlpool Corporation are deemed to be the leading players in the market.Get TOC for Detailed Facts and Numbers @Highlights of the report:A detailed analysis of key segments of the marketRecent developments in the markets competitive landscapeDetailed analysis of market segments up to second or third level of segmentationHistorical, current, and projected future valuation of the market in terms of revenue and/or volumeKey business strategies adopted by influential market vendorsOutline of the regulatory framework surrounding and governing numerous aspects of the marketGrowth opportunities in emerging and established marketsRecommendations to market players to stay ahead of the competitionAbout Us:TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Contact Us:Rohit BhiseyHead Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050EcoSmart Solution, LLC, an energy service provider integrating sustainable infrastructure technology in Master Planned Communities, received an investment from Shell New Energies.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

A subsidiary of Taurus Investment Holdings, LLC, a global real estate private equity investment firm, EcoSmart delivers a streamlined platform for builders to craft net-zero energy capable homes. Solutions include energy efficient insulation, rooftop solar photovoltaic power, energy saving appliances and home automation products.

The platform also enables homeowners to realize savings in heating and cooling costs through the GeoGrid, a shared geothermal loop field energy system, owned and operated by EcoSmart.

EcoSmarts vision and capabilities are demonstrated at the 2,000-acre Whisper Valley community in Austin, Texas, a Taurus development. At full build-out Whisper Valley includes 7,500 affordable and sustainable homes, two million square feet of commercial space, two schools and the 600-acre Whisper Valley Park. Each home is connected with EcoSmarts centrally installed GeoGrid, a community-wide geothermal loop system, developed prior to the land development process. The system provides clean geothermal heating and cooling. In addition, every house includes a high-quality geothermal Heatpump, a Solar PV-System, Smart Home technology and a connection to the superfast Google Fiber 1 GB network.

FinSMEs

03/04/2019Moringa Leaf Powder Market 2019-2026 growing vigorously with top key players like Santan India, Green Virgin Products, Kuli Kuli

Moringa Leaf Powder Market

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A new business intelligence report released by Up Market Research on Global Moringa Leaf Powder Market. Report provides a comprehensive market analysis with future prospects to 2026. Report focuses on the major drivers and restraints providing analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @The report contains 92 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Moringa Leaf Powder Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Moringa Leaf Powder Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 20192026.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.For More Information On This Report, Please VisitThe generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with topexecutives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Moringa Leaf Powder Market analysis & forecast 2019-2026 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Global Moringa Leaf Powder Market Segmentation Includes:Region-wise Analysis covers:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaOther regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)The Major players include:Ancient GreenFieldsMoringa AgroAayuritz Phytonutrients Pvt.LtdSantan IndiaGreen Virgin ProductsKuli KuliSattva VedaMoringa Oleifera GmbHOrganic VedaKV Natural IngredientsProduct Type Analysis:Conventional Moringa leaf powderOrganic moringa leaves powderApplication Analysis:Green juice or smoothieCapsuleOthersGet Sample Copy Of This Report @Moringa Leaf Powder Market Analysis and Forecast 2019-2026 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Key Reasons to Purchase:- To gain insightful analysis of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Moringa Leaf Powder Market and its commercial landscape.- Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations.- To understand the future outlook and prospects for Moringa Leaf Powder Market analysis and forecast 2019-2026.Avail Discount On This Report @Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.Pediatric Nutrition Market Competitive Strategies And Key Companies Reckitt Benckiser Group, Nestle S.A., Abbott Laboratories, and Groupe Danone

Pediatric nutrition

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Furthermore, Companies such as Mead Johnson Nutrition have operated with very high gross margins accounting for 64.2%, 64.3%, and 61.4% in 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively. This in turn, indicates lucrative opportunity for market players in this market, which in turn is increasing the entry of large players. Due to the high gross margins, new manufacturers are competing with leading players by selling their products at a reasonable but profitable price.The global pediatric nutrition market was valued at US$ 35,211.6 million in 2016 and is expected to witness a CAGR of 6.4% over the forecast period (2017  2025).Lactose intolerance, allergy to cows protein milk, maple syrup urine disease, phenylketonuria, and insulin resistance are some of the most common health complications faced by infants and children. These children require special nutrition, which can be provided by nutritional products. Mead Johnson Nutrition (acquired by Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc) developed a separate category of products specifically designed for children suffering from such diseases. These products include Mead Johnson BCAD, for children suffering from maple syrup urine disease and Mead Johnson PhenylFree, for children suffering from phenylketonuria.Download the PDF brochure:Other players such as Nestle S.A. and Abbott Laboratories also sell product for children with special needs. Increasing number of products to serve this special population coupled with increasing awareness about such diseases is expected to support growth of the global pediatric nutrition market. Furthermore, companies are focusing on development of products that may serve as nutrition enhancer or taste modifier, for the general population. Such products include ChocoMilk and Cal-C-Tose, which when added to milk enhance its nutritional value.The four leading players holding a dominant position in the market are Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, Nestle S.A., Abbott Laboratories, and Groupe Danone, owing to a spree of market consolidation. Manufacturers are focusing on inorganic growth strategies such as mergers and acquisitions to strengthen their foothold in the global market. For instance, in 2012, Nestle S.A. acquired Pfizer Inc.s infant nutrition business. In June 2017, Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc acquired Mead Johnson Nutrition, a leading player in pediatric nutrition.Increasing per capita income in emerging economies of Asia Pacific, emergence of new player in the market, and increasing investment from leading players such as Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, Nestle S.A., Abbott Laboratories, Groupe Danone, and Royal FrieslandCampina, in high demand countries such as India and China are major drivers for growth of the market. In the age of significantly lower birth rate in developed economies such as Germany, Canada, U.S. and UK, countries like India, with higher birth rate, presents an opportunity for the player in the market. Moreover, continuous effort from non-government organizations such as WHO, Save The Children, UNICEF and other similar minded organizations to end malnutrition has resulted in formulation of policy that recognizes the importance of nutritional products at very early age, and hence, supports this. For instance, National Nutrition Strategy formulation by Government of India in 2017. These favorable policies is expected to support growth in adoption rate for pediatric nutrition products which in turn will result in growth in the market.Request A Sample Copy Of This Report:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.comMitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment Market to Reach USD 33.6 Million by 2020, Registering 9.82 % of CAGR; Asserts MRFR

Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment Market

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The Report of Global Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment Market by Market Research Future Covers the Information like Global New-Born Screening Market Growth, Prominent Players, Upcoming Trends, Business Analysis, chapter-wise Description followed by various user perceptions.Market Overview:Many of the genetic defects that cause this disease have been identified; animal models are created and used to knowledge them. Although MM is relatively rare & a genetic defect, some of its risk factors like heart problems, seizures, and diabetes are fairly prevailing in the general population. Therefore, adopting a healthy lifestyle certainly does help to ease the conditions.Get Free Sample Copy atConsidering all these factors, the market for mitochondrial myopathy diagnosis & treatment is expected to reach $ 33.6 million by the end of 2020, this market is projected to growing at a CAGR of ~ 9.82 % during 2017-2020. Mitochondrial Myopathy (MM) disease refers to the major muscular problems, caused by changes or mutations in genes. Hence, understanding the genetic defects that cause MM opens up the possibility of developing treatments for this disease. There have been many novel medicines & therapies developed to treat symptoms of MM. Unfortunately, these treatable symptoms of Mitochondrial Myopathy are often the most life-threatening complications.Researches to fully understand and treat the diseases have achieved significant progresses. In one of the unique progress is experimenting with infusing donor stem cells into patients with MNGIE disease, is expected to restore normal metabolic conditions and halt damage to the mitochondria. Many such researches undergoing simultaneously, define the growth the Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment market perceives today.Acknowledging the exponential growth the market perceives currently and gauging the potential the market holds to grow in the future; Market Research Future (MRFR), in its recently published market forecast asserts that the global Mitochondrial Myopathy will grow to USD 33.6 million by 2020, registering a striking ~ 9.82 % CAGR throughout the forecast period (2017  2020).In addition to the prevalence of MM disease with the prevailing chronic diseases like diabetes and heart problems, other factors contributing the market growth include increasing population & urbanization along with the growing awareness about the treatments of MM, across the world. Improving economic conditions that enable access to the quality life & to the improved healthcare worldwide are providing impetus to the market growth.Key Players:Centogene AG, GeneDx, Ixchel Pharma, Khondrion BV, Mitobridge, NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB, Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Stealth Biotherapeutics.Industry/Innovation/ Related News:April 18, 2018  NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB (Sweden), one of the leading global companies in mitochondrial medicine announced that its investigative compound NV556 has proven to be having therapeutic potential for the treatment of mitochondrial myopathy.Recently the company had conducted a preclinical study in collaboration with researchers at KarolinskaInstutet (Sweden) one of the world's leading medical universities. The Investigative Compound NV556, demonstrating the d promising results, was proven to be a breakthrough treatment for the mitochondrial myopathy in animals compared to placebo.October 07, 2017  Stealth BioTherapeutics (US), a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company announced that FDA has granted orphan drug status to its elamipretide (Bendavia), an investigational medicine for the treatment of PMM (primary mitochondrial myopathy).Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment Market - Competitive AnalysisThe global market of Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment appears to be fiercely competitive with the several well-established and small players operating in the market. These players incorporate collaboration, acquisition, expansion, strategic partnership, & technology launch. Top players are investing heavily in R&D and clinical trials to develop effective drugs.Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment Market - SegmentationsGlobal Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment Market is segmented in to 4 Key dynamics for an easy grasp and enhanced understanding.By Types: Comprises - MELAS (Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy, Lactic Acidosis, &Stroke-Like Episodes), PEO (Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia), MERRF (Myoclonic Epilepsy With Ragged Red Fibres), MNGIE (Mitochondrial Neurogastrointestinal Encephalopathy Syndrome), KSS (KearnsSayre syndrome), MDS (Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome), NARP (Retinitis Pigmentosa), Pearson Syndrome, Neuropathy, Leigh Syndrome, and Ataxia.By Diagnostic Tests:Genetic Tests, Muscle Biopsy and Biochemical Test among others.By Therapies:Supportive Therapy and Targeted Therapy among others.By Regions: Europe, North America, APAC and Rest of the World.Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment Market - Regional AnalysisGlobally North America leads the global market of Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment with the largest market share. The North American market is expected to grow to USD 116.7 million by 2020 at a CAGR of 19.39% during 2016 to 2020. This growth attributes to the favourable reimbursement scenario and greater expenditure on healthcare. The rapid uptake of new technologies in the US is also an important driver for the regional market growth.Europe is expected to be the second-largest market for Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment which is expected to grow at a considerable CAGR. Improving economy in the region is expected to foster the regional market growth.While Asia Pacific market for the Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment is expected to perceive the growth of USD 4.4 million by 2020 at a CAGR of 9.94% during 2016 to 2020. The market growth will be led by China and India owing to the huge population and the availability of low-cost drugs for the treatment. Moreover, the fastest growing healthcare sector coupled with the large unmet needs over the forecast period will provide impetus to the market growth. Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia among the other South East Asian countries are projected to contribute significantly to the regional market growth. Besides the growing penetration of healthcare insurance is expected to drive the Mitochondrial Myopathy Diagnosis & Treatment market in the in the Asia Pacific region.Get Full Report atAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comGlobal Managed Cyber Security Services Market : Key Players, Growth, Analysis 2018 to 2024

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Advanced Security to Promote Growth in the Managed Cyber Security Services Market Over 2018 To 2024Increasing demand for advanced security services in the sectors such as information technology, telecommunication, and BFSI are the major factors driving the growth of the managed cyber security services market. The government in various countries are introducing stringent regulations to secure the companys sensitive information is resulting in the increasing number of companies electing for managed security services. Additionally, increasing demand for exposure and threat management is projected to boost the demand for managed cyber security services market. Moreover, unwillingness to share sensitive data and varying customer demand regarding security package is anticipated to hinder the growth of the managed cyber security market during the forecast period.Furthermore, the adoption of managed cyber security is estimated to remain high among hotel chains, distributed organizations, restaurant groups, and franchises. This, in turn, is anticipated to create several growth opportunities for the key players in the managed cyber security services market. On the other hand, the surge in demand for scanning and testing to detect malware is anticipated to contribute its growth towards the global managed cyber security services market significantly.For More Details Get Free Sample Pages of this Research Report@Infinium Global Research has produced a new premium report Managed Cyber Security Services Market. The report covers the analysis of global as well as regional markets of Managed Cyber Security Services. The objective of the study is to identify market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values for the next six years. The report also deep dives into the sub-segments of Managed Cyber Security Services Market by deployment type (on-premise and cloud), security type (network security, endpoint security, application security and others), service type (identity and access management, firewall, encryption, and others) and end-user (BFSI, healthcare, discrete manufacturing, telecommunication, and others) through main geographies in the Global Market such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW.The report covers market changing aspects including drivers, restraints, opportunities, and trends expected to encourage the expansion of the Managed Cyber Security Services Market during the said period. The report also provides market attractiveness analysis, by geography, and market share analysis, by key players respectively. Some of the prominent participants in the Global Managed Cyber Security Services Market are IBM, ATOS, Symantec, Wipro, Accenture, HCL, Fujitsu, SecureWorks, Hitachi Systems Security and Cipher.North America region to contribute to growth in the global managed cyber security services market over the upcoming yearsNorth America is anticipated to dominate the global managed cyber security services market while Asia Pacific excluding japan is projected to emerge as the most lucrative region. Mr. Omkar Harane a research analyst at Infinium Global Research quoted that the rising awareness about the need for cyber security services as well as increased incidences of cyber-crimes is set to grow in the Asia Pacific regions. Pooja Baragale further quoted that Countries like China and Japan are focused on developing IT infrastructure for increased deployment of the private and public cloud. Furthermore, stringent regulations are pertaining to information security hence, the number of service providers is growing in the North American regions. Moreover, regions such as the Asia Pacific excluding Japan and Europe are also expected to present growth opportunities for service providers during the assessment period.Browse Detailed TOC, Description and Company Mentioned in this Premium Report@A key development to drive the growth in the Managed cyber security services marketLeading market participants profiled in Managed cyber security services market include Tata Consultancy Services, Secure works, Symantec, CNS Group, Proficio, IBM Corporation, Optiv, Accenture, Honeywell, and Assyria. Moreover, Owing to the lack of knowledge on the managed security services, most of the vendors in the developing regions rely on their partners to provide the service.IBM to Acquire Agile three SolutionsIn Jan 17- IBM Planned to Acquire Agile 3 Solutions to help executives manage their critical data. IBM and Agile 3 have been strategic business partners for several years and, in that time, have helped organizations around the world bring the C-suite into the security decision-making process and take action to protect their business-critical data.Atos acquires Air-Lynx; an innovative start-up specialized in private LTE networksIn April 18-Atos acquired Air-Lynx, a French manufacturer of next-generation professional radio networks based on 4G LTE market standards. This acquisition will allow Atos to complement its existing portfolio of professional mobile radio and LTE tactical solutions and play a leading role in the expanding market for professional mobile radio evolution to the LTE and 5G standard.Infinium Global Research and Consulting Solutions is started with a single motto of being a business partner of the first choice. We at Infinium work on the strengths of our clients to ensure we help them consolidate their market position. We firmly believe in the fact that if you are able to develop newer opportunities then you find there is no dearth of opportunities for you. With our strategic research approaches and deep dive in the market segments, we try to find out new opportunities that our clients can encash with their existing resources. Our experts with over 100 years of cumulative experience in research offer the best in the industry services to our clients to ensure that they achieve their business goals.Infinium Global ResearchOffice No. 04, 06, Ganadhish Empire,Rahatani Corner, Pune, MH 411027Email: info@infiniumglobalresearch.comWebsite:Opportunities in Business Tourism Market 2019 witness to huge Industry Growth and Demand: Jet2 Holidays, Cox & Kings Ltd, Lindblad Expeditions, Travcoa, SOTC, TUI Group

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The Global Business Tourism Market was valued at USD XX million in 2017, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of XX% by 2025. Factors driving the business tourism market are the increasing trend which are closely related to the overall economic development manifested worldwide with the opening of new markets and international contacts of all kinds.For Sample Copy of this Report @Increase in globalization of businesses and continued growth of SMEs wouldsupplement the growth of this market owing to an increase in infrastructural investment by regional governments. High internet & technology penetration in densely populated countries is an opportunity for the growth of this market.The main challenge of the business tourism market is to identify the competitive trends, and meet business travellers' needs for both efficiency and relaxation.Geographically, Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest business tourism market in the world, owing to strong economic growth and boost in business activities such as client meetings, business expansion, employee training, and amongst others.The market can be segmented on the basis of component, organization size, end user and region.Key company profiles: Thomas Cook Group Gold Business Tourism The Business Tourism Company Jet2 Holidays Cox & Kings Ltd Lindblad Expeditions Travcoa SOTC TUI Group Exodus TravelsInquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Key benefit insights in this report: Global, Regional, Country, Industry , and Application Market Size and Forecast from 2014-2025 Provide attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities Detailed market dynamics, industry outlook with market specific PESTLE, Value Chain, Supply Chain, and SWOT Analysis to better understand the market and build strategies Identification of key companies that can influence this market on a global and regional scale Expert interviews and their insights on market shift, current and future outlook and factors impacting vendors short term and long term strategies Detailed insights on emerging regions, Application & Industry , and competitive landscape with qualitative and quantitative information and factsTarget Audience: Business Tourism providers Traders, Importer and Exporter Raw material suppliers and distributors Research and consulting firms Government and research organizations Associations and industry bodiesGet Direct Copy of this Report @Research MethodologyThe market is derived through extensive use of secondary, primary, in-house research followed by expert validation and third party perspective like analyst report of investment banks. The secondary research forms the base of our study where we conducted extensive data mining, referring to verified data sources such as white papers government and regulatory published materials, technical journals, trade magazines, and paid data sources.For forecasting, regional demand & supply factor, investment, market dynamics including technical Growth Scenario, consumer behavior, and end use industry trends and dynamics , capacity Applicationion, spending were taken into consideration.We have assigned weights to these parameters and quantified their market impacts using the weighted average analysis to derive the expected market growth rate.The market estimates and forecasts have been verified through exhaustive primary research with the Key Industry Participants (KIPs) which typically include: Original Equipment Manufacturer, Growth Scenario Supplier, Distributors, Government Body & Associations, and Research InstituteAbout UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on the World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact Us:Ruwin MendezVice President  Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (415) 830-3727 | UK: +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn:Global Coal Handling System Market Inclination Highpoints Contribution of Prosperous Economies to Push Growth Between 2018-2028 // Thyssenkrupp AG, Famur SA, FLSmidth Co., A/S and Metso Corporation

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The coal handling system market is a fragmented landscape with presence of major and small scale players across the globe. The top six companies, including ThyssenKrupp AG, FLSmidth & Co. A/S, Metso Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., FAM Forderanlagen Magdeburg and IHI Transport Machinery Co. Ltd., collectively account for over 35% share in Coal Handling System Market.Request a Free Sample Report-Presence of leading market players is majorly concentrated in the European countries. These major players in the coal handling system market are focusing on tapping Asia Pacific region owing to its high potential in the thermal power space. The main strategy of these key players includes sales of coal handling system through contracts and agreements, and strategic partnerships with local players. For instance, in 2016 Metso Corporation extended its agreement with Sever Minerals in a bid to strengthen its presence in Russia.HELE Plants Gain Momentum, Creating Lucrative Avenues for Coal Handling System ManufacturersCoal Consumption continues to remain robust in power generation, characterized by their low price/calorific value, thereby sustaining sales of coal handling systems worldwide. Imperativeness of coal handling system in effective management of operations in power generation plants has spurred the emphasis of relevant industrialists on efficiency and emission control apropos of coal-based power.HELE (High Efficiency Low Emission) technology has witnessed an increased adoption in the recent past, as the technology has been deemed to enhance capacity of the plant, while keeping the carbon dioxide emissions in check. Relatively lower consumption of coal per unit of electricity produced, reduced environment footprint, and favorable results apropos of coal-fired power generations efficiency, are key attributes of HELE plants which are likely to foster their future penetration into the industry.Automation in Coal Handling Systems Picks PaceCoal handling system being a central aspect in material flow in plants, attention toward optimization of coal handling system has been witnessed recently. Companies are now involved in enhancing the overall coal supply chain by adopting new technologies in a bid to provide efficient coal handling system that feature low power consumption.To know more about the Coal Handling System Market Visit the link-Coal handling system advancements include pile visualization, monitoring, material tracking and automated stockyard management, to name a few. Automated stockyard management can offer a real-time information on quality of coal stacked on conveyor belts and other coal handling system that can result in safe and efficient supply of coal to coal-fired power plants.Lucrativeness of Asia Pacific for Coal Handling System Sales PervasiveThe demand for coal handling system in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in the emerging economies such as China and India, is expected to be on an upswing on the back of growing port capacity expansions. For instance, existing coal handling operations at Mormugao Port are being pushed further enhancing the coal handling capacity of the port. Likewise, the expansion of Matarbari port is the offing. The coal terminal in Matarbari port would handle huge amounts of coal owing to growing coal-powered plants in Bangladesh. This factor continues to remain instrumental in driving the demand of coal handling system, enhancing the lucrativeness of the Asia Pacific region.In addition, sale of coal handling system in Asia Pacific is also influenced by rising coal production in South East Asian countries that are home to huge coal reserves. Majority of coal reserves are located in Vietnam, India and Indonesia. Against this backdrop, development of new power plants are being commissioned in the region. For instance, India has commissioned 13 GW thermal plants since January 2017 till august 2018 regardless of pollution concerns. In light of these events, coal handling system manufacturers can grasp potential growth opportunities in Asia Pacific in the forthcoming years.Shift toward Renewable Energy Sources to Limit Adoption of Coal Handling SystemGrowing inclination toward renewable sources of energy such as solar power, wind energy and biomass on back of rising concerns regarding greenhouse emissions is likely to challenge the growth of coal handling system market. Countries are largely focusing on using these sources to meet their energy requirements. For instance, China is at the forefront of the renewable sector, with large annual investment in renewable sources as compared to United States and EU combined. An additional investment of US$ 360 billion has been pledged by Chinese government in renewable sector before 2020. The shift toward renewable sources is expected to reduce the use of coal, eventually creating challenges for coal handling system manufacturers in the coming years.The report on coal handling system market includes detailed analysis on key players involved in the coal handling system manufacturing and distribution. The competitive landscape section of the report covers key facets such as SWOT analysis, coal handling system product portfolio analysis, key coal handling system developments, strategic alliances, strategies and financials. The coal handling system market report has profiled key companies such as Thyssenkrupp AG, Famur SA, FLSmidth Co., A/S and Metso Corporation.Companies in the coal handling system market are focusing on tapping Indian market owing to increasing power projects in the region. For instance, in July 2018, Thyssenkrupp AG has made a contract with Doosan Power Systems India to provide coal handling system for two major thermal projects in Uttar Pradesh, with coal handling system order totaling US$ 115 million.Sale of coal handling system is largely carried out through new contacts and agreements based on project requirements. Coal handling system manufacturers are signing new contracts with mining companies in a bid to enhance sales of their respective coal handling systems. Thyssenkrupp AG signed a contract with Rainbow Rare Earths, a mining company, in 2017. Likewise, Famur SA signed an agreement with Polish Development Fund for expanding energy and mining sector in Poland and strengthen its position in the Polish market.Ask an Analyst-About FactMRFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market insights reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:Read Industry News at -Industrial Ethernet/IP Market 2019: Share, Demand, Size, Trends, Development, Opportunity, Growth by Top Key Players (Beckhoff, HMS, Moxa, Rockwell Automation, RTA etc.)

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Industrial Ethernet/IP Market 2019 Global Research Report Presents industry overview, revenue, opportunities, key manufacturers share, emerging trends, regional demand, competitive structure and forecast to 2024. This report also gives in-depth valuable information about companys policy, development plans, investment structure, value chain, economic situations, marketing strategy and SWOT analysis with historical data.Get Sample Copy of This Report atTo understand all of it, this well-researched report will reveal the market situation in general for you, along with the future forecast of the market.In this report, we analyze the Industrial Ethernet/IP industry from two aspects. One part is about its production and the other part is about its consumption. In terms of its production, we analyze the production, revenue, gross margin of its main manufacturers and the unit price that they offer in different regions from 2014 to 2019. In terms of its consumption, we analyze the consumption volume, consumption value, sale price, import and export in different regions from 2014 to 2019.At the same time, we classify different Industrial Ethernet/IP based on their definitions. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What is more, the Industrial Ethernet/IP industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.This report is exclusive to Orian Research and encompasses in-depth analysis and insights on Industrial Ethernet/IP Market. What you will get by reading the report is not just charts, bars, analytical data but also a better understanding of the market which will in turn help you make decisions in the better interest of your organization.Key players in global Industrial Ethernet/IP market include: Beckhoff HMS Moxa Rockwell Automation RTAFinally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Market segmentation, by product types:Factory automationSupervisory controlMarket segmentation, by applications:Discrete industriesProcess industriesIndustrial Ethernet/IP Highlights and Forecasts:Whether you are a market analyst, an industry expert or some other key person, if you want to understand the Industrial Ethernet/IP market in and out then this report is for you. We will cover every possible prospect and influential detail of the {Market] market, of which the following will be our primary areas of focus:Current estimation of the market1. User consumption on the basis of geographical divisions2. Top and mid-level manufacturers3. Revenue generation based on production4. User application5. Sales volume of products6. Statistical DataThe major years that will be considered to estimate the market size of Industrial Ethernet/IP are as follow: History year: 2014-2018 Base year: 2019 Estimated year: 2019 Forecast year 2019 to 2024Place a Direct Order Of this Report @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Industrial Ethernet/IP2 Industry Chain Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP3 Manufacturing Technology of Industrial Ethernet/IP4 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP5 Global Productions, Revenue and Price Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP by Regions, Manufacturers, Types and Applications6 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Industrial Ethernet/IP 2014-20197 Consumption Volumes, Consumption Value, Import, Export and Sale Price Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP by Regions8 Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP9 Marketing Traders or Distributor Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP10 Global and Chinese Economic Impacts on Industrial Ethernet/IP Industry11 Development Trend Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP12 Contact information of Industrial Ethernet/IP13 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP14 Conclusion of the Global Industrial Ethernet/IP Industry 2019 Market Research ReportAbout UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on The World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact UsRuwin MendezVice President  Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (415) 830-3727 | UK: +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.comGraphite Materials Market Stratview Research Market Report

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As per the latest market intelligence report published by Stratview Research, the Graphite Materials Market is anticipated.The research studies Graphite Materials Market in the trend period of 2010 to 2015 and forecasted period of 2016 to 2021 under five segments by Form (Electrode, Block, Powder, Carbon Fiber, Flake, Amorphous, and Vein and Others), by Application Type (Electrode, Refractory, Lubricants, Foundry, Battery, Frictional Products, Parts & Components, and Others), by End Use Industry (Metal, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Photovoltaic, Electricals & Electronics, Industrial, and Others), by Sales Channel (Direct Sales and Distributors), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2016-2021The study finds  Synthetic graphite market is likely to remain the largest graphite type during the forecast period. Refractory and electrodes are expected to remain the largest applications for natural graphite and synthetic graphite markets respectively. Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the growth engine of the global graphite market. Emerging economies, such as China and India will drive both synthetic as well as natural graphite market over the next five years.Click here to read the detailed descriptionGo through the TOC:Graphite Market: HighlightsGraphite has two principal types: Synthetic Graphite and Natural Graphite. They have their own set of applications and generally do not compete with each other. They have no relationship with each other except the name graphite.Synthetic graphite is a man-made substance manufactured by high temperature treatment (2,500 to 3,000 degree Celsius) of amorphous carbon materials. Synthetic graphite has four types; electrode, block, powder, and fiber. The largest type of the synthetic graphite is graphite electrode that is predominately used in producing electric arc furnaces for melting steel & iron and producing alloys.Synthetic graphite blocks are produced from isostatic, extruded, die molded, and vibration molded process. Synthetic blocks are used in a large variety of applications ranging from polysilicon production for photovoltaic industry to high temperature reactors in nuclear industry. Most of the leading companies are heavily investing in China to meet the local demand. Despite significant capacity expansion by local as well as international players in the last ten years, some portion of synthetic graphite demand is met through import.Request free sample here-Carbon fiber offers high specific strength, light weighting, good fatigue strength, and excellent corrosion resistance than the competing materials, which makes it a preferred material in the high performance applications. High focus on fuel efficiency, low carbon emission, weight reduction, comfort and passenger safety, and government regulations, such as CAFE standards are driving the increasing penetration of carbon composite structures in aerospace & defense, automotive, and wind energy segments. Carbon fiber is likely to experience double digit growth in the next five years.The second type, natural graphite, is a form of carbon where atoms are arranged in the layers that have weak bonds between each other. It is subdivided into three types: Amorphous, Flake, and Vein. Natural graphite production is mainly from small underground mines in China. China is the world's largest producer of natural graphite for both amorphous and flake graphite, and accounts for more than 65% of total global natural graphite production. Approximately 70% of Chinese production is amorphous graphite while 30% is natural flake. The majority of Chinese graphite mines are small and many are seasonal. Other countries with good natural graphite production include Brazil, North Korea, Canada, India, Romania, Ukraine, Mexico, Madagascar, Austria, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the only country that produces high quality vein graphite.Currently, refractory is the largest application of natural graphite. However, it has continuously lost market share during 2011  2015 and is expected to lose further in the next five years. The decline is due to the reduced demand of refractories from steel industry and slower economic growth in China.Battery is currently the hot topic in the graphite market. All of the major graphite producers are discussing about the growth potential of graphite in the batteries for the automotive and other industries, such as consumer goods. Battery is an application where both natural and synthetic graphite are used and truly compete with each other. There will be a continuous shift in graphite market away from amorphous natural graphite towards flake and synthetic graphite as emerging applications like batteries typically require large flake and high-purity grades.The graphite market offers a robust growth opportunity during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021. Synthetic graphite market is likely to remain the largest graphite type during the forecast period, driven by demand of electrodes, blocks and carbon fibers. Natural graphite is expected to experience an overall higher growth than synthetic graphite in the next five years.During the forecast period, refractory and electrodes are expected to remain the largest applications for natural graphite and synthetic graphite markets respectively. Battery is expected to experience the fastest growth with double digit growth rate in the next five years.Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the growth engine of the global graphite market. Emerging economies, such as China and India will drive both synthetic as well as natural graphite market over the next five years.The key graphite manufactures are SGL Carbon SE, Tokai Carbon, Toray Industries, Toho Tenax, Mistubishi Rayon, GrafTech International Holdings Inc, South Graphite, Nacional de Grafite, Mersen Group, Graphite India, Nippon Graphite Industries, Asbury Graphite Mills, and Focus Graphite. New product development, regional expansion, and capacity expansion are the key strategies adopted by the key players to gain competitive edge in the market.Report FeaturesThis report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum input to the entire value chain of Graphite Materials Market. The key features of the report are - Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis Market trend and forecast analysis Market segment trend and forecast Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities Emerging trends Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players Key success factors.Stratview follows a rigorous process for conducting business research from primary and secondary sources to understand the entire market ecosystem. It has several high value market reports in the chemicals and materials industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through the reports:Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the AdvancedMaterial Industry:Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm offering a wivde range of services including syndicated market reports, consulting, sourcing intelligence, and customer research.We have a strong experienced team of industry veterans and research analysts with a perfect blend of wisdom, knowledge and attitude. We have been serving multiple clients across a wide array of industries.400 Renaissance Center,Suite 2600,Detroit, Michigan, MI 48243United States of AmericaIndustrial Ethernet/IP Market 2019: Growth Opportunities, Demand, Size, Share, Innovation, Top Companies (Beckhoff, HMS, Moxa, Rockwell Automation, RTA etc.)

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Orian Research has recently published a report named Market Trends and Forecast of Industrial Ethernet/IP Market: 2019-2024 focusing on the Industrial Ethernet/IP industry. This report intends to study the development status, market share, global demand, regional scope, technology innovation and future prospective data. We also make a prediction of its production and consumption in coming 2019-2024.Get Sample Copy of This Report atTo understand all of it, this well-researched report will reveal the market situation in general for you, along with the future forecast of the market.In this report, we analyze the Industrial Ethernet/IP industry from two aspects. One part is about its production and the other part is about its consumption. In terms of its production, we analyze the production, revenue, gross margin of its main manufacturers and the unit price that they offer in different regions from 2014 to 2019. In terms of its consumption, we analyze the consumption volume, consumption value, sale price, import and export in different regions from 2014 to 2019.At the same time, we classify different Industrial Ethernet/IP based on their definitions. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What is more, the Industrial Ethernet/IP industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.This report is exclusive to Orian Research and encompasses in-depth analysis and insights on Industrial Ethernet/IP Market. What you will get by reading the report is not just charts, bars, analytical data but also a better understanding of the market which will in turn help you make decisions in the better interest of your organization.Key players in global Industrial Ethernet/IP market include: Beckhoff HMS Moxa Rockwell Automation RTAFinally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Market segmentation, by product types:Factory automationSupervisory controlMarket segmentation, by applications:Discrete industriesProcess industriesIndustrial Ethernet/IP Highlights and Forecasts:Whether you are a market analyst, an industry expert or some other key person, if you want to understand the Industrial Ethernet/IP market in and out then this report is for you. We will cover every possible prospect and influential detail of the {Market] market, of which the following will be our primary areas of focus:Current estimation of the market1. User consumption on the basis of geographical divisions2. Top and mid-level manufacturers3. Revenue generation based on production4. User application5. Sales volume of products6. Statistical DataThe major years that will be considered to estimate the market size of Industrial Ethernet/IP are as follow: History year: 2014-2018 Base year: 2019 Estimated year: 2019 Forecast year 2019 to 2024Place a Direct Order Of this Report @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Industrial Ethernet/IP2 Industry Chain Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP3 Manufacturing Technology of Industrial Ethernet/IP4 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP5 Global Productions, Revenue and Price Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP by Regions, Manufacturers, Types and Applications6 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Industrial Ethernet/IP 2014-20197 Consumption Volumes, Consumption Value, Import, Export and Sale Price Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP by Regions8 Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP9 Marketing Traders or Distributor Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP10 Global and Chinese Economic Impacts on Industrial Ethernet/IP Industry11 Development Trend Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP12 Contact information of Industrial Ethernet/IP13 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Industrial Ethernet/IP14 Conclusion of the Global Industrial Ethernet/IP Industry 2019 Market Research ReportAbout UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on The World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact UsRuwin MendezVice President  Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (415) 830-3727 | UK: +44 020 8144-71-27Email: info@orianresearch.comGlobal Option and Evaluation Market Insights, Industry Player (Actavis, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Baxter, Bayer), Key County Analysis (North America, United States, Europe, Japan, India) and Forecast 2014-2019

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The global market status for Option and Evaluation is precisely examined through a smart research report added to the broad database managed by Market Research Hub (MRH). This study is titled Global Option and Evaluation Partnership Terms and Agreements in Pharma, Biotech and Diagnostics 2014-2019, which tends to deliver in-depth knowledge associated to the Option and Evaluation market for the present and forecasted period until 2019. Furthermore, the report examines the target market based on market size, revenue and geography; making it quite useful for the readers.Get Sample Copy of This Report @The Global Option and Evaluation Partnering Terms and Agreements in Pharma, Biotech and Diagnostics 2014-2019 report.This report provides details of the latest option and evaluation agreements announced in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic sectors. Fully revised and updated, the report provides details of option and evaluation agreements from 2014 to 2019.There are two major forms of deal term that allow a party to a deal to secure rights to an asset subject to a future event namely, option and evaluation.Evaluation agreements allow a party to the deal to obtain rights to a technology or compound, subject to a period of time to evaluate the quality, scope and applicability of the technology to its intended endpoint.Normally the technology is at an early stage and/or unproven and the partnering companywishes to assess the technology as part of the due diligence process in advance of signing a long term licensing agreement.Evaluation agreements have been a mainstay of technology licensing from the earliest days.An option agreement differs in that the option is often an integral part of an agreement already entered by the parties, providing the party with the option right to retain or extend certain rights to the technology already partnered.Option agreements are becoming increasingly popular as they create additional flexibility within a deal for additional rights that the parties do notwish to commit at the outset of the agreement.This report focuses on option and evaluation agreements and clauses within broader agreements between big pharma-big pharma, big pharma smaller company, and smaller company-smaller company, providing a detailed insight into all such deals.The report provides a detailed understanding and analysis of how and why companies enter option and evaluation deals. The majority of deals are multicomponent whereby the licensor retains either a option and evaluation right to the resultant product of the research collaboration. There are also numerous pure option and evaluation deals whereby the products originator takes on a partner in order to advance the product or compound to a point where the licensee might seek to proceed to a licensing deal.Understanding the flexibility of a prospective partners negotiated deals terms provides critical insight into the negotiation process in terms of what you can expect to achieve during the negotiation of terms. Whilst many smaller companies will be seeking details of the payments clauses, the devil is in the detail in terms of how payments are triggered contract documents provide this insight where press releases and databases do not.This report contains a comprehensive listing of all option and evaluation deals announced since 2014 as recorded in the Current Agreements deals and alliances database, including financial terms where available, plus links to online copies of actual option and evaluation contract documents as submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission by companies and their partners.Contract documents provide the answers to numerous questions about a prospective partners flexibility on a wide range of important issues, many of which will have a significant impact on each partys ability to derive value from the deal.The initial chapters of this report provide an orientation of option and evaluation dealmaking and business activities. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the report, whilst chapter 2 provides an analysis of the trends in option and evaluation as well as a discussion on the merits of the type of deal.Chapter 3 provides an overview of the structure of option and evaluation deals. The chapter includes numerous case studies to enable understanding of both pure option and evaluation deals and multicomponent deals where option and evaluation forms a part.Chapter 4 provides a review of the leading option and evaluation deals since 2014. Deals are listed by headline value, signed by big pharma and big biotech and most active of all biopharma companies. Where the deal has an agreement contract published at the SEC a link provides online access to the contract via the Current Agreements deals and alliances database.Chapter 5 provides a comprehensive listing of the top 50 most active option and evaluation dealmaker companies. Each deal title links via Current Agreements deals and alliances database to an online version of the full deal record, and where available, the actual contract document, providing easy access to each deal record on demand.Chapter 6 provides a comprehensive and detailed review of option and evaluation deals signed and announced since 2014 where a contract document is available. Contract documents provide an indepth insight into the actual deal terms agreed between the parties with respect to the option and evaluation deal.In addition the report includes a series of appendices containing a comprehensive listing of all option and evaluation deals announced since 2014.Each listing is organized as an appendix by company A-Z, stage of development at signing, and therapeutic area. Each deal title links via hyperlink to an online version of the deal record including, where available, the actual contract document.The report includes deals announced by hundreds of life science companies including big pharma such as Abbott, Abbvie, Actavis, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Baxter, Bayer, Biogen Idec, BMS, Celgene, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GSK, J&J, Kyowa Hakko, Merck, Mitsubishi, Mylan, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Shire, Takeda, Teva, and Valeant, amongst many others.BROWSE Full Report NOW @Executive SummaryChapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Trends in option and evaluation dealmaking2.1. Introduction2.2. Difference between option and evaluation deals2.2.1. Types of option agreement2.3. Trends in option and evaluation deals since 20142.3.1. Option and evaluation dealmaking by year since 20142.3.2. Option and evaluation dealmaking by phase of development since 20142.3.3. Option and evaluation dealmaking by industry sector since 20142.3.4. Option and evaluation dealmaking by therapy area since 20142.3.5. Option and evaluation dealmaking by technology type since 20142.3.6. Option and evaluation dealmaking by most active company since 20142.4. Option-based deals2.4.1. Attributes of option-based deals2.4.2. Reasons for entering an option-based deal2.4.3. Uptake of option exercise2.4.4.The future of option-based deals2.5. Co-promotion options2.5.1. Attributes of co-promotion in multi-component deals2.5.2. Reasons for including co-promotion options in a deal2.5.3. Uptake of co-promotion rights2.5.4. Co-promotion rights as bargaining chips2.5.5. The future of co-promotion as part of multicomponent deals2.6. Company acquisition options2.6.1. Case study 1: Cephalon Ception2.6.2. Case study 2: Endo Indevus2.6.3. The future of option to acquire dealsChapter 3 Overview of option and evaluation deal structure3.1. Introduction3.2. Option and evaluation agreement structure3.2. Example evaluation agreements3.2.1.a. Case study 3: Idenix Pharmaceuticals Janssen Pharmaceuticals3.3. Option agreement structure3.3.1. Example option agreements3.3.1.a. Option to licenseCase study 4: Biogen Idec Isis Pharmaceuticals3.3.1.b. Option to extend/expand applications/territoriesCase study 5: Novartis Prometheus3.3.1.c. Option to financeCase study 6: Amarantus BioSciences Power3 Medical Products3.3.1.d. Option to co-promoteCase study 7: Teva OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals3.3.1.e. Option to manufacture/supplyCase study 8: NPS Allelix Nycomed3.4. Option to acquire agreement structure3.4.1. Example acquisition option clauses3.4.1.a. Case study 9: ViroPharma Meritage Pharma3.4.1.b. Case study 10: Nuvasive Progentix OrthobiologyMore Information@@@About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like pharmaceuticals market research and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.comTru Optik, a Stamford, Conn.-based provider of an OTT data management platform, closed a $10m funding round.

The round was led by Mithera Capital, with participation from TransUnion, Connecticut Innovations, Arab Angel Fund, and Progress Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to increase its sales and marketing activity, accelerate international growth, expand its proprietary OTT Household Graph.

Led by Andre Swanston, CEO, Tru Optik powers targeted connected TV (CTV) / Over-The-Top (OTT) advertising by enabling buyers and sellers to transact at scale with consistency and simplicity in an open environment. The Tru Optik OTT Marketing Cloud is an audience measurement and data-management platform that works across the entire OTT ecosystem, including all connected-TV devices.

The company partners with many of the worlds largest media companies, brands, and agencies and is the founding member of OptOut.TV, a consortium of OTT publishers, ad-tech companies, and data providers dedicated to providing consumers effective privacy options in the connected TV advertising space.

FinSMEs

03/04/2019Vector Network Analyzer Market 2018-2023 Global Leaders: Anritsu, Keysight Technologies, Transcom Instruments, National Instrument, OMICRON, GS Instrument, AWT Global LLC

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Market Research Future published a research report on Vector Network Analyzer Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2023.Market Scenario:Vector network analysis is an approach used by electronic component manufacturers to test the veracity, performance, and other parameters of devices to radio frequencies (RF) of various ranges. Vector network analyzers (VNAs) are the perfect tool for analyzing mixers, modules, amplifiers, etc used in RF designs. They are used in testing component specifications and new prototypes before being launched commercially. As per a comprehensive report prepared by Market Research Future (MRFR), the global Vector Network Analyzer Market is projected to enjoy growth at a 3.74% CAGR during the assessment period (2018-2023).The development in communication networking technologies can act as a bellwether for further future use of VNAs. The high penetration rate of smartphones and the changing work culture habits can portend a massive growth during the forecast period. The huge volume of data traffic is expected an upsurge owing to emergence of wireless wide area networks (WAN) and metropolitan area networks (MAN). Introduction of VNAs in radiofrequency sandbox units for students can act as a revenue source for the market.Get Free Sample of Report @The integration of internet of things (IoT) in industrial and residential settings for faster access to information and expedited production will be instrumental for the market. Furthermore, the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend in conglomerates is anticipated to bolster the market demand in the coming years. But substitute technologies for testing and measurement such as scalar network analyzers can pose a challenge to the market.Key Players:Prominent players in the vector network analyzer market include Keysight Technologies Inc. (USA), Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG. (Germany), Anritsu Corporation (Japan), Transcom Instruments Co., Ltd. (China), Copper Mountain Technologies (US), National Instrument Corporation (US), OMICRON Lab. (Austria), GS Instrument Co. Ltd. (Korea), Chengdu Tianda instrument Equipment Co., Ltd. (China), HUBER+SUHNER. (Switzerland), AWT Global LLC (US).Report OverviewThe report covers the latest factors affecting the market to provide the most accurate forecasts and predictions. By correlating the historical data with key market dynamics, our analysts are able to make highly astute projections. MRFRs report includes a thorough analysis of the global vector network analyzer market segmented on the basis of frequency type, application, and region. Trends and opportunities are highlighted coupled with the market share of companies as well as their valuation in the market. It analyzes new revenue sources for players and outlines the various strategies implemented by players.Segment OverviewThe types of frequencies covered in the market report include 0.26  5 GHz, 26.5  40 GHz, 40 - 50 GHz, 50  67 GHz, and 67  110 GHz. VNAs in the 40-50 GHz range are expected to dominate the market during the forecast period, but the 67-110 GHz range of VNAs possess the latent potential for maximum growth during the aforementioned period to meet the challenges of high-speed devices.Major market applications of vector network analyzers include medical, agriculture, education, automotive, transportation, electronic manufacturing, IT and telecommunication, and aerospace & defense. The IT & telecommunication segment is projected to showcase robust growth followed by the electronic manufacturing segment.The segments and sub-segments covered in the report are analyzed under four major regions  Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Rest-of-the-World (RoW), with respective country-level market sizing. The benefits of the product vector network analyzer is included in the report for a comprehensive understanding of the market. The report discusses the various players involved in the supply and value chain to evaluate future opportunities within the market by delivering an unbiased growth assessment.Regional OutlookGeographically, the vector network analyzer market has been studied for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW).The vector network analyzers are in huge demand in North America on account of the increasing adoption of RF and microwave sensing technologies. VNAs find a broad range of applications in several industries such as IT and telecommunication, transportation, automotive, and electronics. The United States (U.S.) stands at the top in terms of adoption of vector network analyzers in the automotive and electronics industry for real-time component testing, device testing, and scattering measurements.The market in Asia Pacific is presumed to expand at a high rate owing to adoption and implementation of RF and microwave technology in numerous industries. Furthermore, the advancements in IoT and wireless communication in this region will positively impact the growth of the VNA market in countries such as China, India, and Japan in the coming years. Moreover, the market in the region is maturing steadily with the investors being highly optimistic about the potential the region exhibits. This leads to intense completion among regional market players and propels the market growth immensely. Also, thriving industries such as automotive, aerospace and defense and electronic manufacturing can push the demand for these devices to a large extent in the region.The Europe market is surging ahead at a healthy growth rate due to strong economic growth and rapid industrialization. Constant technological innovations and product enhancement by market players prove to be beneficial to the market growth in the region.Get Complete Report @Intended Audience Educational Institutes Semiconductor Manufacturers Aerospace and Defense Equipment Vendors Medical Device Manufacturers Automotive Equipment Manufacturers Electronic Manufacturing Companies Government Agencies Agricultural Equipment Manufacturers IT and Telecommunication ProvidersAbout Us:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comDiisostearyl Fumarate Market to Showcase Vigorous Demand during the Period until 2026 // PHOENIX CHEMICAL INC., The Lubrizol Corporation, Alzo International Inc., Dow Corning Corporation, BOC Sciences

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For instance, esters of pelargonic acids and diisostearyl malate which possess identical characteristics as diisostearyl fumarate. They have similar applications such as skin conditioner and moisturizers. Thus, the presence of substitute with similar applications can impact the growth of diisostearyl fumarate market globally.Request TOC of this Report-Diisostearyl Fumarate is an ingredient in cosmetics and is derived from diesters of isostearyl alcohol and Fumaric Acid. It is an emollient that functions as a wetting agent and binder for pigments and powder. Diisostearyl fumarate is best for applications which require target area delivery including eye area products and lip care treatments. It also has applications in products including face powder, blusher, and face makeup. The global market of diisostearyl fumarate is expected to witness substantial growth in the forecast period.The diisostearyl fumarate market is primarily driven by the rising adoption of cosmetic products by millennial and trends in skin care, hair care, and cosmetics globally. Rising awareness of self-grooming, luxury products, and lifestyle is influencing diisostearyl fumarate market globally. Diisostearyl fumarate is expected to witness lucrative growth in the forecast period and find new opportunities in the coming future.Rising Demand for matte cosmetic compositionMany cosmetics such as lipsticks, foundation and powders are designed to provide a matte finish to lip and skin. Cosmetics with gloss and shine tends to highlight wrinkles and fine line, whereas matte finish smoothens such imperfections and give the perfect finish. Besides, shiny and glossy skin is undesirable by many consumers. Thus, manufacturers are demanding for ingredients which provide matte finish. Therefore, there is a need for matte composition in cosmetics that provide matte finish with comfort and perfect look. Diisostearyl fumarate is demonstrated as a desired ingredient by manufacturers to reduce the gloss and shine and is used by well-known cosmetic brands including Estee Lauder, Avon and many more. This need leads to high demand for diisostearyl fumarate.Growing skin issues to increase demand for skin conditionerRising skin diseases such as psoriasis and eczema are observed across the globe. Laser and topical treatments treat various skin diseases such as psoriasis, eczema, dryness and other skin allergies. However, these treatments are expensive leading to the adoption of topical therapies for skin treatments. Topical therapies include usage of creams, lotions, gels, and other. Diisostearyl fumarate is proven for severe psoriasis treatment by dermatologists, and hence, the manufacturer is focusing on products based on diisostearyl fumarate ingredient. Dermatologist prescribes products involving diisostearyl fumarate for skin treatments. Moreover, it has enormous opportunities for diisostearyl fumarate market globally.High Threat of substituteDIisostearyl fumarate market can face a severe threat from its substitutes, which can affect the growth of the market in the coming future. There are numerous ingredients which have similar benefits and features as diisostearyl fumarate. For instance, esters of pelargonic acids and diisostearyl malate which possess identical characteristics as diisostearyl fumarate. They have similar applications such as skin conditioner and moisturizers. Thus, the presence of substitute with similar applications can impact the growth of diisostearyl fumarate market globally.Browse Full Report with TOC-Diisostearyl fumarate has witnessed immense popularity in the North America region, due to rising consumer awareness about the benefits of diisostearyl fumarate in cosmetic and personal care products. High disposable income and penetration of multiple brands also drives the diisostearyl fumarate market in this region. Moreover, Asia Pacific will witness fastest growth in the forecast period due to the booming economy and growing focus on the cosmetic industry by countries like China, Korea and Japan. On other hand, Europe will have steady growth in the diisostearyl fumarate market, with increasing investment in research and development and various brand equity in this region. Middle East and Africa has reported significant growth over the past few years and are continuously adopting newer technologies to expand its diisostearyl fumarate market.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 of Diisostearyl Fumarate. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.Request Brochure of this Report-About FactMRFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market insights reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Blog:Read Industry News at -Feed Enzymes Market 2019 Exclusive Analysis by Renowned Players | Novus International, Azelis Holding S.A., Adisseo France SAS, Behn Meyer Holding AG, Etc.

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Market Definition:The global feed enzymes market is predicted to grow at an alluring 9.2% CAGR over the assessment period (2017-2023). Feed enzymes may either be chemical ingredients or plant-derived and is integral for increasing the feed ingredients nutritional value, improve the environment, reduce feed costs and maintain or improve animal performance. The feed enzymes help in stimulating and secreting digestive enzymes that help in boosting up the immune response. Enzymes are catalysts or chemicals that the cells release in order to boost up the speed of the specific chemical reactions. It is released in the digestive tract that helps the food to get digested. These enzymes today can be effectively made and mixed in animal feeds as feed enzymes. Generally, there are three types of enzymes that are utilized in poultry feeds namely proteases, carbohydrase and phytases.Get a Free sample of This Report @Market Scenario and Growth Factors:There are many factors that is driving the growth of the feed enzymes market. Some of these factors as per the Market Research Future (MRFR) report include increasing use of feed enzymes in feed industries, rising consumer awareness, increasing trend in healthy lifestyle, increasing meat consumption, demand for quality feed, industrialization of livestock, disease prevention in the livestock, demand for feed products rich in protein, advanced processing technologies and methods, increasing opportunities in the developing countries, high nutritional benefits and product enhancement. On the contrary, factors such as regulatory structure, interventions, and stringent protocols and rules concerning food safety and animal welfare may hamper the growth of the feed enzymes market.Key Players:Leading players profiled in the Feed Enzymes Market include Alltech, Inc. (U.S.), Rossari Biotech Ltd. (India), Novus International, Inc. (U.S.), Azelis Holding S.A. (Belgium), Adisseo France SAS (France), Behn Meyer Holding AG (Germany), Koninklijke DSM N.V. (the Netherlands), Associated British Foods plc (U.K), E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (U.S.), and BASF SE (Germany).Industry Updates:Sep 2018- Novozymes and DSM have jointly developed a novel enzyme product, Balancius. This feed ingredient has been specially designed for removing bacterial cell debris present in the animals gut thereby helping in optimizing digestibility and nutritional absorption. The breakthrough innovation possesses the potential of improving the feed industrys efficiency through enhanced feed utilization, digestibility and weight gain.Market Segmentation:Market Research Future report offers an all-inclusive segmental analysis of the feed enzymes market on the basis of grade type, livestock and form.Based on type, it is segmented into phytase, protease and others. Of these, phytase enzyme will have the largest share in the feed enzymes market followed by protease enzyme due to the existence of phosphorus content which is helpful in reproduction and improving animal metabolism.Based on livestock, the feed enzymes market is segmented into aquatic animals, ruminants, poultry, swine and others. Of these, poultry will lead the market over the assessment period. Such additives are utilized for processing ruminant feed that plays a pivotal part to improve animal health, utmost use of nutrients, digestibility and minimize the impact on the environment.Based on form, it is segmented into liquid, dry and others. Of these, the dry form will rule the feed enzymes market owing to excellent thermal stability and ease of handling.Regional Analysis:Based on region, the feed enzymes market covers growth opportunities and latest trends across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. Of these, North America will have the largest share in the feed enzymes market with the APAC region grabbing the second largest share due to rising need for nutritive feed products that are protein-based amid the regions developed countries. The key importers of such feed enzymes include China, the US, the UK, Germany and Canada. Besides, bourgeoning demand for poultry products especially in Mexico, Canada and the US is anticipated to drive the growth of the feed enzymes market in North America over the assessment period. Additionally, the key players are involved actively in the R&D of the product complying with the regulations in North America for fortification of feed with feed enzymes.Access Complete Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.ContactMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comFood Safety Testing Market Trends Analysis By top Key manufactures SGS SA, Eurofins Scientific, Intertek Group plc, Bureau Veritas SA, ALS limited, TUV SUD, AsureQuality Ltd., DNV GL, Bio-Rad Laboratories 2018-2025

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According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, Food Safety Testing Market by Contaminant, Food Tested, and Technology: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025, the global food safety testing market size was valued at $13,144 million in 2017, and is estimated to reach $23,204 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 7.3% from 2018 to 2025. In 2017, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology segment accounted nearly half of the total food safety testing market share.Download Sample Report @Food fraud is committed when food is deliberately altered for financial gains with the intention of deceiving consumers. The food standards agency (FSA) specifies two main types of food frauds namely, sale of food that is unfit and potentially harmful and deliberate misdescription of food.Increase in economically motivated adulteration (EMA), owing to high competition and rise in incidence of food frauds globally, is the prime factor that is expected to boost the growth of the global food safety testing market during the forecast period.Various regulations on food safety particularly in the developed economies, growth in instances of food fraud, and rise in economically motivated adulterations (EMAs), owing to high competition among food producers, drive the food safety testing market.However, high cost of food safety testing, lack of food control infrastructure in the developing economies, complexity in testing techniques, and lack of harmonization of regulations are expected to hamper the food safety testing industry growth.In 2017, the processed food segment was the leading revenue contributor to the global food safety testing market. The processed food segment includes numerous processed products, such as infant formula, packaged food, wine, bakery & confectionery, and other processed food products; hence, there is a large possibility of food adulteration.Send Enquiry on this report @key Findings of the Food Safety Testing Market : In 2017, the pathogen testing segment dominated the global food testing market, and it is likely to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. The processed food segment dominated the global food testing market in 2017, and it is anticipated to grow at a lucrative CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period, that is, 2018 to 2025. The meat & meat product segment by the food tested category is anticipated to witness the fastest CAGR of 7.9% in terms of value during the forecast period. North America led the global food safety testing market in 2017, and is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 6.3% during the forecast period, in terms of value. By technology, the PCR-based assay segment dominated the food testing market in 2017, and is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR of 7.7% during the forecast period, in terms of value.The major companies profiled in this report are SGS SA, Eurofins Scientific, Intertek Group plc, Bureau Veritas SA, ALS limited, TUV SUD, AsureQuality Ltd., DNV GL, Bio-Rad Laboratories, and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings.Flat 20% Discount on All License Type .. **Offer Valid Till 20th April 2019Food Safety Testing Market Key Segments:By Contaminant Pathogen Genetically modified organism (GMO) Chemical & toxin OthersBy Food Tested Meat & meat product Dairy & dairy product Cereal, grain, & pulse Processed food OthersBy Technology Agar culturing PCR-based assay Immunoassay-based OthersAbout usAllied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP,provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small &medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies andachieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1(855)550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Perfusion Systems Market: On-Going Trends, Industry Growth, Future Prospects and Forecast 2025: Medtronic, Nipro Corporation, Getinge AB, Livanova PLC, Terumo Corporation etc.

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This report provides in depth study of Perfusion Systems Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The Perfusion Systems Market report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.GET SAMPLE OF THIS REPORT SPREAD ACROSS 112 PAGES AND 12 COMPANIES ATThe study objectives are to provide the Perfusion Systems market trends, future opportunities, SWOT analysis, development, key drivers, top players and their analysis etc. Major regions covered in this report are as United States, Europe, Central & South America, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India.The Global Perfusion Systems Market focuses on global major leading industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and its Competitors. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out.Key Players covered in this report are Medtronic, Nipro Corporation, Getinge AB, Livanova PLC, Terumo Corporation, Repligen Corporation, Spectrum Laboratories, Merck KGaA, Harvard Bioscience, ALA Scientific Instruments, Lifeline Scientific, Xvivo Perfusion.Perfusion Systems Market is analyzed by Technology like Cardiopulmonary Perfusion, Ex Vivo Organ Perfusion, Cell Perfusion and by type like Bioreactor, Microfluidic.Perfusion Systems Market is also analyzed by Application like Hospitals, Clinics.PURCHASE THIS PREMIUM REPORT ONLINE ATThe study objectives of this report are:To study and analyze the global Perfusion Systems market size (value & volume) by company, key regions, products and end user, breakdown data from 2014 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.To understand the structure of Perfusion Systems market by identifying its various subsegments.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).Focuses on the key global Perfusion Systems companies, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape and recent development.To project the value and sales volume of Perfusion Systems submarkets, with respect to key regions.Table of Contents:1 Study Coverage2 Executive Summary3 Market Size by Manufacturers4 Perfusion Systems Production by Regions5 Perfusion Systems Consumption by Regions6 Market Size by Type7 Market Size by Application8 Manufacturers Profiles9 Production Forecasts10 Consumption Forecast11 Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis12 Market Opportunities & Challenges, Risks and Influences Factors Analysis13 Key Findings in the Global Perfusion Systems StudySubmit your details and specific interests for all customization needs HereAbout 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.For all your Research needs, reach out to us at:Address: 6400 Village Pkwy suite # 104, Dublin, CA 94568, USAContact Person: RohanEmail: sales@inforgrowth.comUS: +1-909-329-2808UK: +44 (203) 743 1890Bladder Cancer Market Highest CAGR of 12.5% Till 2023 | By AstraZeneca Plc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Celgene Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Novartis International AG, Sanofi S.A., Accord Healthcare Etc

Bladder Cancer Market

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Market Research Future (MRFR) Has Launched a New Study on The Global Bladder Cancer Market. The Global Bladder Cancer Market is Expected to Exhibit a Robust 12.5% CAGR Over the Forecast Period From 2017 to 2023.Competitive AnalysisLeading players in the global bladder cancer market include AstraZeneca PLC, Celgene Corporation, F. Hoffman-La Roche AG, Novartis International AG, Sanofi SA, Accord Healthcare, Bedford Lab, Merck & Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Eli Lilly and Company, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.Exclusive Sample Copy @Bladder Cancer Market  HighlightsBladder cancer is cancer of the urinary bladder, which is a temporary reservoir for urine as it passes out of the body. The kidneys, where urine is produced, are connected to the urinary bladder, which further releases urine into the ureters and out through the urethra. Bladder cancer can be brought on by recurrent bladder infections, exposure to radiation on a consistent basis, and consumption of tobacco in either chewed or smoked form. The global bladder cancer market is likely to be driven by the growing prevalence of smoking around the world, as smoking tobacco is seen to be the strongest causative agent for bladder cancer.The growing research into cancer treatment is likely to be a major driver for the global bladder cancer market over the forecast period. Bladder cancer is the ninth most prevalent cancer in the world and is mostly found in adults over the age of fifty. Males are more likely to get bladder than women, although this ratio may differ in various countries.Worldwide Segmentation AnalysisThe global bladder cancer market is segmented on the basis of type, treatment, diagnosis, end user, and region.On the basis of type, the global bladder cancer market is segmented into transitional cell bladder cancer, invasive bladder cancer, superficial bladder cancer, squamous cell bladder cancer, adenocarcinoma, and others.On the basis of treatment, the global bladder cancer market is classified into chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, and others. Chemotherapy is classified into Valstar (valrubicin), Javlor (vinflunine ditartrate), Mitomycin C, Gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy (GemCis), and others.On the basis of diagnosis, the global bladder cancer market is classified into urine lab tests, cystoscopy, biopsy, imaging tests, and others. The urine lab tests segment is further classified into urinalysis, urine cytology, urine culture, and urine tumor marker test. The imaging test segment is further divided into intravenous pyelogram (IVP), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and bladder ultrasound.On the basis of end user, the global bladder cancer market is classified into hospitals, clinics, cancer care centers, and others.Industry UpdatesIn January 2019, researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine developed a new, highly sensitive diagnostic test for bladder cancer detection.Browse Complete 85 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 80 Respective Tables and Figures atRegional AnalysisThe global bladder cancer market is segmented into the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa on the basis of geography.The Americas is the leading geographical segment of the global bladder cancer market and is likely to hold on to the top position over the forecast period due to the increasing prevalence of bladder cancer and the rapid development of innovative, advanced cancer therapies. The developed healthcare sector in this region has led to the development of targeted therapies and other innovations, which is likely to be a major driver for the bladder cancer market in North America over the forecast period. Considerable research efforts have also been directed at enabling early diagnosis of bladder cancer, so that the treatment can have more efficacy.Europe is also a major regional player in the global bladder cancer market and is likely to remain a leading contributor to the global bladder cancer market over the forecast period due to the presence of a highly advanced healthcare sector, especially in Western Europe. Asia Pacific is likely to exhibit strong growth in the bladder cancer market over the forecast period.About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comWhat are the Growth Drivers of Automotive Camera Market? Automation Engineering Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Continental AG, Aptiv PLC, Stonkam Co., Ltd., Mobileye N.V., Autoliv Inc

Automotive Camera

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The global automotive camera market was valued at $11,401.6 million in 2017, and is projected to reach $24,092.1 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 9.70% from 2018 to 2025.Automotive camera is specifically designed to increase drivers situational awareness and for improving road side safety. The cameras can detect, identify, and analyze objects such as pedestrians, cars, bicycles, and others. Moreover, they enhance the overall driver experience and reduce the risks of accidents. They are used in numerous parts such as front, rear, side, and in-vehicle for a number of applications; for instance, driver drowsiness detection, side & rear view, lane departure & park-assist system, and other warning & detection functions.Request for a sample copy of this report @The automotive cameras market is segmented by application, technology, vehicle type, and region. By application, the market is categorized into park assist system, lane departure warning system, adaptive cruise control system, driver monitoring system, autonomous emergency braking system, blind spot detection, and others. Based on technology, the market is segmented into infrared camera, thermal camera, and digital camera. On the basis of type of vehicle, it is segregated into passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, and heavy commercial vehicles.Region wise, the market is studied across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.The key players profiled in the report are Automation Engineering Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Continental AG, Aptiv PLC, Stonkam Co., Ltd., Mobileye N.V., Autoliv Inc., Magna International Inc., OmniVision Technologies, and Valeo.Enquiry Before Buying @KEY BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERSThis study comprises an analytical depiction of the global automotive camera market with current trends and future estimations to depict the imminent investment pockets.The overall market potential is determined to understand the profitable trends to gain a stronger coverage in the market.The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities with a detailed impact analysis.The current market is quantitatively analyzed from 2018 to 2025 to highlight the financial competency of the market.Porters five forces analysis illustrates the potency of the buyers and suppliers.KEY MARKET SEGMENTSBY APPLICATION: Park Assist System, Lane Departure Warning System, Adaptive Cruise Control System, Driver Monitoring System, Autonomous Emergency Braking System, Blind Spot Detection, OthersBY TECHNOLOGY: Thermal Camera, Digital Camera, Infrared CameraBY VEHICLE TYPE: Passenger Vehicle, Light Commercial Vehicle, Heavy Commercial VehicleBy Geography: U.S., Canada, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Spain, Romania, China, Japan, India, Lamea, Latin America, Middle East, Africa.Access Full Summery @Table of content:CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYCHAPTER 3: MARKET OVERVIEWCHAPTER 4: AUTOMOTIVE CAMERA MARKET, BY FILTER TYPECHAPTER 5: AUTOMOTIVE CAMERAMARKET, BY APPLICATIONCHAPTER 6: AUTOMOTIVE CAMERAMARKET, BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNELCHAPTER 7: AUTOMOTIVE CAMERA MARKET, BY REGIONCHAPTER 8: COMPANY PROFILESSimilar Related report:Global Automotive Cameras Market Research Report 2012-2025More summary:About Us:Big Market Research has a range of research reports from various publishers across the world. Our database of reports of various market categories and sub-categories would help to find the exact report you may be looking for.We are instrumental in providing quantitative and qualitative insights on your area of interest by bringing reports from various publishers at one place to save your time and money. A lot of organizations across the world are gaining profits and great benefits from information gained through reports sourced by us.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive, #205, Portland,OR 97220 United Statescall answer Direct:+1-971-202-1575call answer Toll Free:+1-800-910-6452email help@bigmarketresearch.comAutomotive Powertrain Market Expected To Achieve A Sustainable Growth Over 2026 | Key Players are Volkswagen Group, Hyundai, Toyota, BorgWarner Inc., JTEKT Corp, etc.

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FactMR has published a new research report titled Automotive Powertrain Market Expected To Achieve A Sustainable Growth Over 2026 | Key Players are Volkswagen Group, Hyundai, Toyota, BorgWarner Inc., JTEKT Corp, etc. to its online database that tries to unveil the various scenarios prevailing in the automotive powertrain market. This assessment delivers a smart compilation of primary and secondary data which provides a clear insight about the future plans expected to impact the Automotive Powertrain Market. This study comprises of prominent data which makes it a beneficial source for investors, analysts and industry experts to acquire necessary knowledge associated to the fundamental market trends, opportunities and growth drivers during 2017-2026.Request 100 Page Sample Report from Here -Growing need for comfort, safety and performance is becoming a major concern in the automotive industry. In order to generate power in the engine, rev up acceleration, gain traction and the high towing capacity, manufacturers are increasingly integrating powertrains in the vehicles. In addition, the manufacturers in the automotive industry are also focusing on incorporating the powertrain sensors and actuators in the vehicle for enhanced transmission system. Surge in demand for enhanced transmission system will continue to fuel demand for automotive powertrain globally. Imposition of government regulations regarding emission of carbon dioxide will further continue to impact growth of the global automotive powertrain market positively.As government in various countries are increasingly focusing on developing smart cities, demand for the electric vehicles is bound to increase globally. In order to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide in the environment, government in various countries are increasingly imposing regulations regarding the level of carbon dioxide emitted in the country. Growing need to reduce the level of emission and control the pollution level has led to increasing demand for electric vehicles. Surge in demand for electric vehicles will continue to rev up demand for the automotive powertrain globally.In order to reduce the consumption and fuel emission, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on incorporating engine downsizing in the vehicles. Increasing integration of engine downsizing will continue to remain a major trend in the automotive industry globally. In addition, manufacturers are also focusing on integrating engine management sensors to improve the efficiency of the engine and optimize the fuel economy. Moreover, companies in the automotive industry are further concentrating on offering vehicles equipped with sensor clusters and smart actuators. Growing need to integrate automotive components such as transmission, smart actuators and sensor clusters will continue to fuel demand for automotive powertrain globally. Manufacturers are also focusing on integrating leading technological features such as combustion control to ensure effective prevention of the environmental pollution. Bound to these factors, the global automotive powertrain market is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period.Request automotive powertrain market Report with TOC Here -Growing need for power in all the wheels of the vehicle is expected to rev up demand for all wheel drive in the automotive industry. On the basis of position type, the all-wheel drive segment is expected to represent the highest revenue growth, accounting for a value of over US$ 80 Mn by the end of 2026. Moreover, the all-wheel drive position type segment is expected to register a robust CAGR throughout the forecast period.Based on vehicle type, the light commercial vehicle segment is expected to generate significant revenues, recording a value of over US$ 30 Mn by the end of 2017. However, the mid-sized vehicle type segment and the compact vehicles segment is expected to register a significant CAGR through 2026. By powertrain type, the gasoline segment is expected to witness a significant revenue growth, accounting for a value of over US$ 100 Mn by the end of 2026. In contrary, the battery electric vehicle powertrain type segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.Competition TrackingLeading market players operating in the global automotive powertrain market include General Motors, Ford Motors, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai, Toyota, BorgWarner Inc., JTEKT Corp., GKN plc., Magna Powertrain Ltd. and Delphi Automobile LLP.Ask Any Questions to Our Experts -About FactMrFactMR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFactMR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400, Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Subcutaneous Biologics Market Analysis by Industry experts | Genentech Inc., Biogen Idec, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Amgen, Inc., Eisai, Inc., AbbVie, Inc., Pfizer

Subcutaneous Biologics

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Subcutaneous route of drug administration are highly effective in administering biologics such as vaccines, proteins, peptides, antibodies and other large and complex molecules.In terms of geography, the global market for subcutaneous biologics is segmented into four major regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (RoW). There is huge healthcare spending in countries such as United States and Canada, and high prevalence of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and breast cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that the current prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (nearly 50 million Americans in 2012) will increase to 78 million by 2040. The disease also affects nearly 300,000 children in the U.S.Get a PDF Sample of Research Report @According to RheumatoidArthritis.org. In the European region, EU-5 countries (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain) are the most potential market owing well established economy of these regions. Convenient drug delivery format is also in demand in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America where therapy compliance is a major issue. Large undiagnosed population, inadequate access to medicines and affordability issues hinder the market growth for subcutaneous biologics in developing regions.The global market for subcutaneous biologics will be expanding under the influence of factors such as:Advantages over other routes of administrationIncreasing trend of self-medicationIntroduction of innovative drug delivery devices such as auto-injectors and prefilled syringesGrowing incidence and prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis and breast cancerGrowth in the biosimilars marketRequest for Customization of Research Report:Some of the major companies operating in the global subcutaneous biologics market include Genentech Inc., Biogen Idec, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Amgen, Inc., Eisai, Inc., AbbVie, Inc., Pfizer Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. and Bristol-Myers Squibb.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.1001 4th Ave,, #3200, Seattle, WA 98154What are the Growth Drivers of Assisted Reproductive Technology Market? Cook Medical, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Cooper Surgical Inc., Genea Limited, Hamilton Thorne, Irvine scientific, Merck, OvaScience Inc., Vitro Life

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Market Study Report LLC adds 2019-2024 Global Assisted Reproductive Technology market report that offers an exhaustive coverage of the industry with brief analysis, data charts, figures, statistics that help take business decisions, company profiles and more.Germany assisted reproductive technology market will reach 2.2 billion by 2024, owing to high technology adoption coupled with rising awareness about ART procedures in the country. Delayed child bearing is major driver for assisted reproductive technology market growth in Germany. Growing demand and adoption rate of ART will drive industry growth during the forecast timeframe.Request a sample of this premium report at:Assisted Reproductive Technology Market will reach over USD 32.5 billion by 2024; as per a new research report. Increasing number of people suffering from infertility issues coupled with rising awareness about assisted reproductive technology (ART) will drive ART market over the forecast timeframe. Furthermore, changing social factors and rising disposable income should positively impact industry expansion.Procedures such as in-vitro fertilization are offered at low cost in developing countries such as India, hence many people having trouble with getting or staying pregnant opt for this treatment in developing countries, leading to business growth. Growing awareness about ART procedure and its success rates will further lead to industry growth during the forecast period.Delayed child bearing is one of the dominant factors for increasing adoption of assisted reproductive technology. Numerous initiatives such as the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE), an exclusive task force of scientists and clinicians, engaged in fertility management and ART in the region should support industry growth. However, high cost associated with ART treatment will hamper industry expansion to certain extent over the coming years.India assisted reproductive technology market will witness lucrative growth rate of 6.9% during the analysis period. High adoption of in-vitro fertilization in the country coupled with low cost of ART procedures should drive Indian ART market during the forecast period. Increasing number of medical facilities such as fertility clinics and several initiatives undertaken to create awareness about assisted reproductive technology should further stimulate business growth over the coming years.Embryo/egg banking procedure segment is estimated to reach over 5.8 billion by 2024. Embryo banking preserves couple?s reproductive future. Moreover, cryopreserved eggs/embryos can be thawed later and utilized for in-vitro fertilization will drive segment growth. More than 1,000 children are conceived with the help of embryo banking in Southern California alone.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:Frozen embryo replacement (FER) technology segment will witness significant growth of 6.1% during the forecast period. FER technology has high success rate as compared to fresh embryo transfer cycles as well as it offers better planning for transfer of embryo. Nearly 85% of embryos survive thawing procedure, reducing need for repetitive procedures. All these factors will drive segment growth during the forecast period.Hospitals end-use segment accounted for 6.8 billion in 2017. Rising prevalence of infertility problems coupled with growing awareness about assisted reproductive technology and its success rate should drive segment growth during the forecast period. According to CDC data, around fifteen states in the U.S. provide insurance coverage for infertility treatment should positively impact market growth.Few notable players operating in global assisted reproductive technology market are Cooper Surgical, Hamilton Thorne, Irvine scientific, Merck and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Industry players are investing heavily in developing cost-effective products to gain competitive edge in lucratively growing markets of developing regions such as Asia Pacific. Companies are adopting strategies such as acquisition and partnership with local players of these regions to consolidate their market position.Table of Content:Chapter 1. Methodology1.1. Methodology1.2. Market definitions1.3. Forecast parameters1.4. Data sources1.4.1. Secondary1.4.1.1. Paid sources1.4.1.2. Unpaid sources1.4.2. PrimaryChapter 2. Executive Summary2.1. Assisted reproductive technology industry 360 degree synopsis, 2013 - 2024 (USD Million)2.1.1. Business trends2.1.2. Procedure trends2.1.3. Technology trends2.1.4. End-use trends2.1.5. Regional trendsChapter 3. Assisted Reproductive Technology Industry Insights3.1. Industry segmentation3.2. Industry landscape, 2013 - 20243.3. Industry impact forces3.3.1. Growth drivers3.3.1.1. Rising prevalence of infertility3.3.1.2. Demographical shift3.3.1.3. Rising awareness about assisted reproductive technology3.3.2. Industry pitfalls and challenges3.3.2.1. High cost of procedures3.3.2.2. Social barriers and lack of advanced infrastructure in emerging countries3.4. Growth potential analysis3.4.1. By procedure3.4.2. By technology3.4.3. By end-use3.5. Porter's analysis3.6. Competitive landscape,20173.6.1. Strategy dashboard3.7. PESTEL analysisChapter 4. Assisted Reproductive Technology Market, By Procedure4.1. Key segment trends4.2. Fresh donor4.2.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)4.3. Fresh nondonor4.3.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)4.4. Frozen donor4.4.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)4.5. Frozen nondonor4.5.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)4.6. Embryo/Egg Banking4.6.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)Chapter 5. Assisted Reproductive Technology Market, By Technology5.1. Key segment trends5.2. In-vitro fertilization (IVF)5.2.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)5.2.2. IVF with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)5.2.2.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)5.2.3. IVF without ICSI5.2.3.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)5.3. Artificial Insemination - Intrauterine Insemination (AI-IUI)5.3.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)5.4. Frozen Embryo Replacement (FER)5.4.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)5.5. Others5.5.1. Market size, by region, 2013-2024 (USD Million)For more information on this report at:Related Report:United States Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Market Report 2018In this report, the United States Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) market is valued at USD XX million in 2017 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2017 and 2025.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:US Real Estate Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts 2021- CoreLogic, Real Matters, Wells Fargo & Company, JP Morgan Chase & Co

US Real Estate Market

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"The US Real Estate Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2017-2021)" provides an in-depth analysis of the US appraisal market by value, by volume, by segments, by number of AMCs, appraisers tenure, etc. The report also gives an insight of the Canada addressable appraisal market opportunity.The competition in the US Real Estate Appraisal Market is very fragmented, with several local and regional players procuring major share of the market. Further, key players of US real estate appraisal market, CoreLogic, Inc., Real Matters, Inc., Wells Fargo & Company and JP Morgan Chase & Co. are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Company CoverageCoreLogic, Real Matters, Wells Fargo & Company, JP Morgan Chase & Co.Get sample copy of the Report:Mortgage is a loan in which the house functions as the collateral. The banks or the mortgage lenders, loan a large chunk of money that is around 80% of the price of home that the borrower is required to pay back with interest over a set period of time. On failure of repaying the loan, the lender takes the home through a legal process known as foreclosure.The mortgage lending process includes Lenders, Appraisal Management Companies (AMC), Appraisers, Title & Closing Companies, Title Agents, and Title Insurers.An appraisal is a document that establishes an opinion of value for a property. Appraisals can be performed for a variety of reasons, although the most common reason is to help a lender establish the value of the collateral that is associated with a mortgage loan. In the US, most mortgage transactions require an appraisal, which needs to be performed by a certified appraiser. Financial crises have played a critical role in shaping the relevant regulations to the appraisal process. The appraisal of a property could be done either in-house or through third-party known as Appraisal Management Company (AMC).An AMC serves as a co-ordinator between the bank and a panel of independent third-party appraisers, who do the actual appraisal work.The US Real Estate Appraisal market has been on a declining trend since 2012; due to increased regulations in the industry, as a result of which several appraisers switch to other fields of work within a span of five years.The US Real Estate Appraisal Market is further expected to depict a downward trend from 2017-2021 due to significant barriers to entry, low technology penetration in the industry, restricted demand for appraisers based on the region, etc. Yet there are certain trends in the industry such as US mortgage market scenario, poor working relations of AMCs with the appraisers, fragmented market share of mortgage lenders, etc.Table of Contents:1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Mortgage Industry: An Overview2.1.1 History of Mortgages2.1.2 Mortgage Lending Process2.2 Appraisal Market: An Overview2.3.1 Comparison of AMCs2.3.2 Type of AMCs2.3.3 Type of AMCs: A Comparison3. The US Market Analysis3.1 The US Mortgage Origination Market: An Analysis3.1.1 The US Mortgage Origination Market by Value3.2 The US Appraisal Market: An Analysis3.2.1 The US Appraisal Market by Value3.2.2 The US Appraisal Market by Volume4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Increasing Penetration in the Less Mature Regions4.1.2 Increased Dependence on AMCs for Appraisal4.1.3 Rising Technology Penetration in the Appraisal Industry4.2 Challenges4.2.1 Obstacles in the Appraisal Industry4.2.2 Significant barriers to entry.5. Competitive LandscapeKnow more about Report:About us:ReportsWeb is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers.Contact us:Phone : +1-646-491-9876E-Mail : sales@reportsweb.comExtruding Machines Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Rate, Trends and Forecast 2019-2025: Milacron Holdings Corp. (US), Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd. (Japan), The Japan Steel Works, Ltd

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Global Extruding Machines Market Report 2019 Report provides information on Products, Services, Trends, Top Companies, Verticals, Countries, Technology, Application, and Consumer Needs globally.#Download Sample Pages of Report @ReportsnReports.com aims to bring the best research material to its esteemed and scholarly clients looking for a complete and detailed analysis of market reports. This report Focus on all major factors like Key Players, Demand for Products, End User & Applications, Future Growth & Forecast.# The key manufacturers in the Extruding Machines market include Milacron Holdings Corp. (US), Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd. (Japan), The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. (Japan), Coperion GmbH (Germany), Battenfeld-Cincinnati (Germany), Davis-Standard, LLC (US), Leistritz AG (Germany), Clextral (France), KraussMaffei (Germany), Presezzi Extrusion SPA, NFM (US), Presezzi Extrusion S.P.A, Theysohn Group, Everplast Machinery Co., Ltd., Breyer GmbH, Reifenhauser GmbH & Co. Kg Maschinenfabrik, Gneuss Inc., Jingu Group, Useon (Nanjing) Extrusion Machinery Co., Ltd., SML Maschinengesellschaft Mbh, Extrudex Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH, Kabra Extrusion Technik Ltd., Cheng-Hua Machinery Co., Ltd.Complete report on Extruding Machines market spread across 126 pages, profiling 23 companies and supported with tables and figures is now available @Extruding Machines Breakdown Data by Type- Single Screw Extruding Machines- Twin Screw Extruding Machines- Ram Extruding MachinesExtruding Machines Breakdown Data by Application- Building & Construction- Transportation- Consumer Appliances- OthersThis report presents the worldwide Extruding Machines market size (value, production and consumption), splits the breakdown (data status 2014-2019 and forecast to 2025), by manufacturers, region, type and application. This study also analyzes the market status, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porters Five Forces Analysis.The report focuses on global major leading industry players of Extruding Machines market providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Extruding Machines market development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.Order a copy of Global Extruding Machines Market Report 2019 @The Extruding Machines market was valued at xx Million US$ in 2018 and is projected to reach xx Million US$ by 2025, at a CAGR of xx% during the forecast period. In this study, 2018 has been considered as the base year and 2019 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Extruding Machines.With tables and figures helping analyze worldwide Extruding Machines market, this research provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Major Points from Table of ContentsCharpter 1  Extruding Machines Market OverviewCharpter 2  Global Extruding Machines Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and ApplicationCharpter 3  United States Extruding Machines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Charpter 4  China Extruding Machines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Charpter 5- Europe Extruding Machines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Charpter 6  Japan Extruding Machines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Charpter 7  Southeast Asia Extruding Machines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Charpter 8  India Extruding Machines (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Charpter 9  Global Extruding Machines Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales DataCharpter 10  Extruding Machines Maufacturing Cost AnalysisCharpter 11  Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersCharpter 12  Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersCharpter 13  Market Effect Factors AnalysisCharpter 14  Global Extruding Machines Market Forecast (2019-2025)Charpter 15  Research Findings and ConclusionCharpter 16  AppendixA discount can be asked before order a copy of Extruding Machines market report atAbout Us:ReportsnReports.com is your single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 95 leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets.Tower B5, office 101,Magarpatta SEZ,Hadapsar, Pune-411013, India+ 1 888 391 5441sales@reportsandreports.comProgrammable Stage Lighting Market (2018-2026) Analysis with Key Players - Altman Lighting Co., PR LIGHTING LTD., Guangzhou Yajiang Photoelectric Equipment CO. Ltd, Chauvet & Sons Inc.

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A fresh report has been added to the wide database of Market Research Report Search Engine (MRRSE). The research study is titled Programmable Stage Lighting Market  Valuable Growth Prospects and Future Insights till 2026 which encloses important data about the production, consumption, revenue and market share, merged with information related to the market scope and product overview.Global Programmable Stage Lighting market is experiencing growth owing to the factors such as need for more versatile lighting solutions, increase usage of LED stage lighting, need for quality as well as reliability of lighting solutions, increase in the number of stage shows and events across several regions and Increasing demand for smart wireless lighting controls. Since programmable stage lightings is digitally controlled, major light shows and events can be easily programmed and run by laptops and computers. Moreover, with the feeling of enchanting experience, increase in demand and growth of designing and technological advancement are witnessing to match the requirements of the programmable stage lightings, which is expected to positively support the growth of programmable stage lighting market during the forecast period.To Get Sample Copy of Report, Click here @Programmable Stage Lighting market is segmented by light type, technology, product type, application and region. On the basis of light type, the programmable stage lighting market is segmented into LED light, laser light, halogen and others. On the basis of application, the global programmable stage lighting market is segmented into entertainment places, theatres and others. The application of programmable stage lighting in entertainment places dominated the market in 2016. LED fixtures have dominance over old fashioned ones that make them attractive in stage lighting. Based on technology type, the programmable stage lighting market is further segmented into Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and others. On the basis of product type, the market is segmented into moving head lights, strip lights, PAR can lights and others. The use of flexible strip lights is rapidly rising in modern lighting design around the world due to an increase in efficiency, color options, brightness, and ease of installation.The global market is being dominated by North America followed by Europe due to the increase in number of stage shows performed by renowned artists frequently. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to emerge as the one of the fastest growing market in coming years due to developing entertainment industry in economies such as China, India and Japan. The new industry also is in a stage of rapid development in developed countries, such as India.The market overview section of the report showcases the market dynamics and trends such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of this market. The report also provides the value chain analysis and key market indicators for the programmable Stage Lighting market. The Programmable Stage Lighting market data estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological, and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the market growth. The report provides in-depth segment analysis of the global market, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels.Browse Complete Report with TOC @The report also includes competitive profiling of the key players associated with the programmable stage lighting market around the globe. The important business strategies adopted by them, their market positioning, financials, SWOT analysis, and recent developments have also been identified in the research report. The competitive landscape section of the report also gives an overview about the major contributing regions/countries by these key players in order to strengthen their market position in the future.Some of the major players in the global Programmable Stage Lighting market are: Altman Lighting Co., PR LIGHTING LTD., Guangzhou Yajiang Photoelectric Equipment CO.,Ltd, Chauvet & Sons, Inc, Guangzhou GTD Lighting Technology Co., Ltd, Martin Professional, General Electric Co., Clay Paky S.p.A., ADJ Products, LLC., ROBE lighting s. r. o., Brand Lighting and Robert Juliat among others.The global programmable stage lighting market has been segmented into:By Light TypeLaser LightLED LightHalogenOthersBy Product TypeMoving Head LightsStrip LightsPAR Can LightsOthersBy ApplicationEntertainment PlacesTheatresOthersBy TechnologyBluetoothWi-FiOthersBy GeographyNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeGermanyThe U.K.FranceRussiaRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaRest of Asia PacificMiddle east and AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East and AfricaSouth AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaEnquire about this Report @About Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWell Intervention Market Detailed Analysis & Focusing on Key Leaders are Schlumberger Limited, Baker Hughes Incorporate, Weatherford International Ltd., Trican Well Service Ltd., Superior Energy Services Inc.

Well Intervention

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Well intervention refers to any operation that is carried out during the productive life of an oil and gas well. Depletion in oil reserves backed by increasing demand for energy is leading to improved production activities to extend the life of the well. Reduction in well pressure, sand production, flow restriction of oil, mechanical failure, change in reservoir condition, scaling and numerous other oil, and gas field issues results in the need to perform well intervention operations, which in turn is driving growth of the well intervention market.Download PDF Brochure :Increasing energy demand, increase in production activities of oil and gas wells and establishment of new oil and gas wells are giving rise to well intervention activities in the existing and new wells, thereby, driving this market, globally. However, harsh downhole environments such as high pressure and temperature, increasing water depths and the increase in the number exotic trajectories or well profiles pose are the major challenges in growth of well intervention market worldwide.Owing to the E&P feasibility, onshore segment dominated the well intervention market in 2016 as large companies majorly focused on onshore production activities. However, technological advancement has allowed major players to explore untapped reserves in the offshore regions over the past few decades. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2015 the Global onshore crude oil production was 71% and that of offshore was 29%.Global Well Intervention Market OutlookNorth America held the largest market share in well intervention market in 2016. Increasing onshore exploration and production activities with shale gas boom has drastically driven growth of the well intervention market in this region. Moreover, increasing offshore oil and gas production activities in Gulf of Mexico and the presence of major players in the U.S. such as Halliburton Co., Baker Hughes Incorporated, Basic Energy Services, Inc., Schlumberger Limited and others, has further driven the well intervention market in North America.Asia Pacific accounted to have a prominent growth in this market, owing to the increasing exploration and production activities backed by increasing energy demand from emerging economies such as China, India, and Indonesia in this region. For instance, in 2013, Petronas, planned to spend more on E&P activities in Malaysias oil and gas sector.Middle East and Africa are witnessed to have a fast growth rate in well intervention market over the forecast period. Rise in oil production in Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, and Egypt has immensely contributed to the growth of well intervention market in Africa.Global Well Intervention Market TaxonomyGlobal Well Intervention market is segmented on the basis of service, application, and category:By Service:Wellhead and Christmas Tree MaintenanceLogging and Bottomhole SurveyCoiled TubingTubing/packer failure and repairWell ControlRemedial CementationZonal IsolationRecompletionFishing servicesSand Control ServicesStimulationArtificial LiftReperforationOthersRequest For Customization of Research Report :About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comGrowth factors of mHealth Market pinned by the year 2015 - 2020 : AMR Report

mHealth Market

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Global mHealth market Report, published by Allied Market Research, was valued at $10.5 Billion in 2014 and is predicted to reach at a CAGR of 33.5% during the forecast period 2015-2020.Mobile health provides health service and information through mobile communication devices to address the health priorities and concerns. The advanced mobile and wireless technologies have transformed the face of healthcare services across the globe and are rendering the growth of mHealth market. Moreover, the continued growth in coverage of mobile cellular networks, rapid advances in mobile technologies & applications, increasing lifestyle diseases and growing awareness among patient population in emerging economies, are some of the key factors fostering the growth of mHealth market. On contrary, the lower accuracy of the devices, technology's infancy in middle and lower income economies, weak reimbursement coverage, uncertainty in government regulations in certain regions, and low adoption among ageing population is hampering the market growth to a certain extent.Key finding of mhealth Market: Blood glucose meters are projected to be the fastest growing segment in mHealth devices market registering a CAGR of 41% during the forecast period United States continueto be the leading market in the North America mHealth market throughout the forecast period Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing mHealth market registering a CAGR of 35.9% during 2015-2020 United Kingdome, France and Germany collectively accounts to 45% share in the Europe mHealth device market in 2014 Cardiovascular and diabetes mHelath application market remains the lucrative market segment for manufacturersCurrently mobile penetration is more than 100% in developed markets and is expected to increase in developing markets such as Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa. Additionally, increasing exposure to smartphones along with 3G and 4G networks will further increase the use of mobile platforms in most of the sectors, especially in the healthcare systems.Download Sample Report @The growth of mHealth device market is mainly attributed to the high revenue generated from blood glucose meters, cardiac monitors and BP monitors, which collectively accounted for 5/7th of the global mHealth devices revenue in 2015. This is attributed to the growing number of cardiac and BP disorders. BP monitors is the highest revenue generating segment in global mHealth devices market, whereas, blood glucose monitor is the fastest growing segment. Cardiac monitors market is the third largest segment growing with a CAGR of 37.5% during the forecast period.Global mHealth services market consists of diagnostic services, monitoring services, treatment, prevention and wellness & healthcare system strengthening solutions. The global mHealth service market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 32.2% during the analysis period. The growth of mHealth services market is attributed to rising revenues generated from monitoring services market. The rising adoption of monitoring services for chronic disease management, post-acute care management as well as aging population are supporting the monitoring services market growth. Going forward, diagnosis services and wellness & healthcare system strengthening solution collectively accounted for about 48% of global mHealth services market. The growth of these segments is attributed to the increased awareness about fitness & general wellness, growing government initiatives and rise in physicians acceptance. Geographically, North America is expected to be the largest revenue-generating region for monitoring services market followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Monitoring services are largely adopted in developed regions such as North America and Europe; however, Asia Pacific will generate significant level of revenue by 2020. This is mainly due to the increase in awareness of diseases and higher penetration of mobile platform in Asia Pacific region.mHealth stakeholders market consist of mobile operator, healthcare providers, application/content players and device vendors. Mobile operators are the most crucial players in the overall mHealth stakeholders market. North America is expected to be the largest revenue-generating region, mainly due to well-penetrated healthcare system.Global mHealth market further segmented into applications, which consists of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory diseases, neurological diseases and others. Cardiovascular segment was the largest revenue-generating segment, whereas, Diabetes, is the fastest growing segments registering a CAGR of 35.4% during the forecast period.For More Info on mhealth Market Visit @Geographically, North America and Europe constitute the two largest markets for mHealth and collectively accounted for 67% of the market revenue in 2014. They are expected to continue its hold on the global market throughout the forecast period. Early adoption of innovative technology, large patient population and high capacity to pay for services are some of the key factors responsible for the growth of mHealth market in these regions. However, the market outlook across developing economies is looking favorable and strong owing to the increasing awareness of chronic diseases, favorable government regulations and increased healthcare expenditure. Philips healthcare, Bayer Healthcare and Sanofi are some of the key companies enjoying a strong foothold in mHealth market, especially in Asian countries. Key players profiled in this report include - Philips healthcare, Omron HealthCare Inc., Bayer Healthcare, LifeWatch, Cardionet Inc., Masimo Corporation, Sanofi, Boston Scientific, AT&T Inc., and Johnson & Johnson.Key Benefits mHealth Market: The report covers a quantitative analysis of the current market scenario, size and estimations through 2014-2020 for mobile health market. The data would enable the stakeholders to capitalize on prevailing market opportunities as a result of health information systems. The mobile health market scenario is comprehensively analyzed based on key regions The report profiles the prominent market players and highlights their key strategies to stay ahead in the mHealth industry which helps in understanding the competitive outlook of the market. Extensive analysis of the mobile health market size is conducted by closely following key product positioning and monitoring the top contenders within the market framework Comprehensive analysis of factors that drive and restrict the growth of the m-health market is provided in the report Exhaustive analysis of the mHealth industry, by device type, helps in understanding the types of devices that are presently used, along with the variants that would gain prominence in futureFlat 20% Discount on All License Type..*Offer Valid Till 20th April 2019About usAllied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Allied Market Research provides one stop solution from the beginning of data collection to investment advice. The analysts at Allied Market Research dig out factors that help clients to understand the significance and impact of market dynamics. The company amplies client's insight on the factors, such as strategies, future estimations, growth or fall forecasting, opportunity analysis, and consumer surveys among others. As follows, the company offers consistent business intelligent support to aid the clients to turn into prominent business firm.Contact:David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1(855)550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Telecom Millimeter Wave Market Size to Reach $5,869 Mn By 2026 | Industry Participant: Siklu Communication Ltd., Farran Technology Ltd., Millitech, Inc., NEC Corporation, E-Band Communications, LLC and others.

Telecom Millimeter Wave Market

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The Telecom Millimeter Wave Market is anticipated to reach around USD 5,869 million by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. In 2017, the E-band frequency band dominated the global telecom millimeter wave market, in terms of revenue. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global market revenue during the forecast period.Request for sample of this research report @The growing need for bandwidth intensive applications coupled with growing mobile data traffic has boosted the adoption of telecom millimeter wave. The rising penetration of mobile devices, and rising adoption of mobile-connected devices further support the growth of telecom millimeter wave market. Additionally, the increasing demand of telecom millimeter wave in small-cell backhaul networks has supported market growth over the years. Increasing investments by vendors in technological advancements, growing demand from consumer electronics, and exoanding applications in security applications would accelerate the adoption of telecom millimeter wave during the forecast period.However, adverse environmental impact, and range issues are expected to hinder the telecom millimeter wave market growth. Growing demand from emerging economies, increasing adoption in autonomous vehicles, and use in 5G technology are expected to provide numerous growth opportunities in the coming years.Browse summary of this report with TOC @North America generated the highest revenue in the market in 2017, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. The presence of established telecom and cloud infrastructure in this region, and growing demand for mobility services drive the market growth in the region. The rising penetration of mobile devices, and technological advancements further support market growth in the region. The high penetration of 4G LTE, and the testing of 5G technology is expected to support market growth in this region during the forecast period.The companies operating in the telecom millimeter wave market include Siklu Communication Ltd., Farran Technology Ltd., Millitech, Inc., NEC Corporation, E-Band Communications, LLC, Bridgewave Communications, Inc., Sage Millimeter, Inc., Keysight Technologies, Inc., LightPointe Communications, Inc., and Smiths Group PLC. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers.Inquire before-buying @About Polaris Market ResearchPolaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to our customers.Contact usMr. RohitCorporate Sales, USAPolaris Market ResearchPhone: 1-646-568-9980Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.comWeb:Organ-on-Chip Market to Witness Huge Growth from 2013-2025 and Focusing on Top Key Players - CN Bio Innovations, Emulate, TissUse, Mimetas, Nortis, Insphero, Tara Biosystems

Organ-on-Chip Market

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An organ-on-a-chip (OOC) is a microfluidic cell culture device, which is developed using microchip manufacturing methods that contain continuously perfused chambers inhabited by living cells arranged to simulate tissue- and organ-level physiology. This chip develops a narrow channel for the blood and air flow in organs such as lung, gut, liver, heart, and others. Such devices produce multiple levels of tissue and organ functionalities, which are not feasible using conventional 2D and 3D culture systems. Organ-on-chip offers a wide range of applications such as diseases modelling, patient stratification, and phenotypic screening.The scope of organ-on-chip market includes potential opportunities for market players to enter the organ-on-chip market. The report provides in-depth market analysis of organ-on-chip market and outlines current trends, key driving factors, and potential areas for product investments.Check out For Download Sample Report Here:Top Key Players in the Organ-on-Chip Market: -CN Bio Innovations, Emulate, TissUse, Mimetas, Nortis, Insphero, Tara Biosystems, AxoSim Techologies LLC,The deployment modes of organ-on-chip devices applied in the industry are discussed in this report. The organ-on-chip market is consolidated by the presence of major key players such as Emulate, Organovo, and others. The report highlights the competitive landscape of these players to increase their market shares and sustain the intense competition in the industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and classifications. Then, the report explores the international and regional major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and regional total market of Organ-on-Chip industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, and supply/demand and import/export details.The scope of Organ-on-Chip Market:This report focuses on the Organ-on-Chip in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Major Types of Organ-on-Chip Market covered are:Lung-on-ChipHeart-on-ChipLiver-on-ChipIntestine-on-ChipKidney-on-ChipMajor Applications of Organ-on-Chip Market covered are:PharmaceuticalsResearch OrganizationsOthersHave any Questions? Ask here @Table of Content1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.5 Market by Application1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Organ-on-Chip Market Size2.2 Organ-on-Chip Growth Trends by Regions2.3 Industry Trends3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 Organ-on-Chip Market Size by Manufacturers3.2 Organ-on-Chip Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Organ-on-Chip Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Organ-on-Chip Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Product4.1 Global Organ-on-Chip Sales by Product4.2 Global Organ-on-Chip Revenue by Product4.3 Organ-on-Chip Price by Product5 Breakdown Data by End User5.1 Overview5.2 Global Organ-on-Chip Breakdown Data by End UserGet Complete Report @Lastly, this report covers the market scene and its development prospects over the coming years, the Report likewise short manages the item life cycle, contrasting it with the significant items from crosswise over ventures that had just been popularized points of interest the potential for different applications, examining about late item advancements and gives a diagram on potential territorial pieces of the pie.About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comGotquestions.org Versus The Truth About Eternal Security And Backsliders Offered By Evangelical Outreach Director Dan Corner

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Once Saved Always Saved is a controversial idea that raises a multitude of very important questions for Christians. In an article by gotquestions.org entitled "Is a backsliding Christian still saved?, Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS) teacher, S. Michael Houdmann, wrote: "Yes, a true Christian who falls back into sin is still saved...." Evangelical Outreach Director Dan Corner believes there is considerable danger in this type of thinking. In an article available on his website, he had this to say:Though Houdmann wasn't specific, he believes such "sin" could include: adultery, drunkenness, theft, homosexuality, murder, swindling, slander, idolatry, blasphemy, etc. and even be "willful, continuous and unrepentant sin," as he explained in his flawed version of the sin unto death. Such an image of a child of God is violently opposed to God's word, which describes the Christian as: a saint (1 Cor.14:33; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:4; etc.), a self-denying follower of Jesus (Lk. 9:23; etc.), one who puts into practice God's word (Lk. 8:21), a doer of the will of the Father (Mt. 7:21), one who obeys God (1 Jn. 2:3,4) and lives holy (1 Thess. 4:7,8; 2 Pet. 3:11,12; etc.), etc.Undoubtedly, eternal security teachers have distorted and smeared the true image of a Christian and reduced him into a spiritually weak and sinful person. They believe the saved can act the same detestable ways as the sin-addicted children of the devil and they even allow for continuous unrepentant sin unto death. In order to smokescreen conceal their license to sin, the eternal security teachers sometimes teach a double message and say if a professing Christian turns to the type of sins as specified above, then "He was never saved to begin with". Such a message, however, is inconsistent with their belief about King David, who turned to both adultery and murder. They all teach that David retained his salvation, while in those heinous sins in defiance to God's word (Ezek. 33:18; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Eph.5:5-7; Rev. 21:8; etc.). OSAS proponents believe the same about Solomon remaining saved, who turned to the vilest kinds of idolatries (1 Kings 11:1-8).Eternal security teachers want it both ways - teaching an outrageous backslider is still saved, then "he was never saved" if he does backslide. These glaring inconsistencies are already enough to reveal their error and license to sin, but there is even more with the teaching of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32). The prodigal deliberately departed from the Father into wild living and to be with the prostitutes. He finally turned away from those sins (repented) to return to the Father to serve him again. The Father said to the sorrowful and repentant prodigal, "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate" (Luke15:24).Luke 15 clearly shows backsliders do indeed become spiritually dead and lost just like the prodigal did when he turned to wild living. This stark reality of a change in spiritual identity is in contrast to Once Saved Always Saved dogma. Remember that is Jesus' teaching about backsliders, that is, that they are spiritually dead and lost. Luke 15:24 also shows the prodigal became "alive again," which proves (1) backsliders can return to salvation via repentance and (2) the prodigal had salvation before he died spiritually when he departed into wild living. Those truths are essential and prove eternal security is an incontrovertible false teaching and a license to sin. All such OSAS teachers must argue (if consistent to their doctrine) that the prodigal retained his salvation when with the prostitutes, thereby inferring there are Christian whoremongers! If that extreme is not a license to sin, then what is? This, however, is the image of a Christian they have created and want us to accept.It is critical for backsliders to know they must repent for salvation's sake, but that truth is also sadly denied by Once Saved Always Saved. Moreover, the unnamed incestuous and adulterous man of 1 Cor. 5:1-5, who was committing sin which even pagans wouldn't do, is said to have been a Christian by many OSAS teachers. Eternal security teacher, David J. Stewart of jesusissavior.org, has also openly admitted, "I am going to Heaven, regardless of how I live. But you say, that's crazy! No! That's Bible! So do Christians have a license to sin? Yes, if you want to view it that way."Furthermore, multiple divorced Hal Lindsey stated, "I'm sad to say that some of the worst sins I ever committed have been after salvation." By stating that, Lindsey is saying a Christian can be more vile and wicked than before his salvation, yet retain his salvation through it all.Just believing the OSAS doctrine itself sets one up for arrogance (Rom. 11:19-22) and a spiritual fall (1 Cor. 10:12). Such occurs because the proponents think they are standing firm even to the point that their salvation is now irrevocable, irreversible and unalterable, and they see no need to fear being cut off. They don't believe their salvation can be imperiled by anything they do or don't do or anything they believe or don't believe, regardless of what it is.The unspoken goal of the eternal security teacher is to convince others that a Christian can stray and become wildly immoral, grossly sinful and flagrantly disobedient and still retain his salvation while unrepentant and only jeopardize his rewards, fellowship, etc., but never his salvation and relationship with God. Those who object to that observation with their "never saved to begin with" sophistry and inconsistencies are immediately silenced by King David and the OSAS errant version of the sin unto death. The eternal security teachers calculatingly declare their OSAS doctrine is under and linked to the gospel, grace, the blood of Christ, infinite work of Christ, imputed righteousness, etc. when it has nothing to do with any of these basic truths of Christianity.The OSAS teachers also further distort the Christian opposition as teaching a works salvation, legalism and being cultic. One of the primary proof texts for Once Saved Always Saved is John 10:28, which states the subjects will never perish and no man can snatch them out of God's hand. The OSAS teachers say those promises apply even to the backsliders, but the context shows those wonderful promises only belong to the continuous tense followers of Christ (John10:27), which excludes backsliders.S. Michael Houdmann of gotquestions.org also wrote, "The Bible tells us that if a person denies Christ, he never truly knew Christ to begin with." Is it possible that Houdmann, and others like him, are unaware of Peter's thrice denial of Christ (Mt. 26:33,34)? When Peter's denial (Mt.26:70,72) is examined with Mt. 10:33, the same Greek term (arneomai) is found which pulverizes OSAS beyond repair. Why? Because Jesus did disown Peter as he warned his apostles, "But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven" (Mt. 10:33). Therefore we know, since Peter disowned Jesus, Jesus likewise disowned Peter. Afterwards, Peter repented and turned back to God (Lk. 22:32), but the point is one is no longer saved if Jesus disowns him, as happened to Peter at that time. That fact alone is another certain deathblow to OSAS.The full version is available at Corner's website.Dan Corner, a former pastor, is the author of a number of books including 'The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted', 'The Myth of Eternal Security' and 'Is this the Mary of the Bible?'. He also provides a massive amount of information on his websites.Ex Catholic Dan Corner is available for media interviews, including debates, and can be reached using the information below or by email at eternallifeblog@gmail.com, by phone at 724-632-3210, by mail at PO Box 265, Washington, PA, 15301 or through his websites.After graduating from college, Dan Corner got saved by reading the Bible. For over four decades, he has diligently served the Lord Jesus. Dan Corner's pastoral, apologetic, counter cult and street evangelism experiences have equipped him to contend for the faith and win souls to Jesus from many backgrounds.He is an ordained minister and director of Evangelical Outreach who pastored for almost seven years and has authored hundreds of Christian articles, answered thousands of emails and letters and has written several books of vital importance in our day.Press Contact:Dan CornerPO Box 265Washington, PA, 15301724-632-3210eternallifeblog@gmail.comInSb Global Market Research Report 2025

InSb Global Market Research 2025

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Needle-Free Devices Report by Material, Application, and Geography Global Forecast to 2022 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).Access more details about this report at:The report firstly introduced the Needle-Free Devices basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Purchase a copy of this premium research report at:The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) Basic Information;2.) Asia Needle-Free Devices Market;3.) North American Needle-Free Devices Market;4.) European Needle-Free Devices Market;5.) Market Entry and Investment Feasibility;6.) Report Conclusion.Inquire further details about this report at:About Research 2 Reports:Research2Reports Market Research Company offers custom syndicated market research reports with market analysis, consulting services Market research reports by Research2Reports depends on survey analysis covers a magnitude of factors, industry research, market size, forecasts, financial growth, pricing trends, competitive insights of market segmentsContact Us:Organization: Research2reportsOffice No. 212/213, B Block 2nd Floor,Parmar Chambers,Sadhu Vaswani Road, Pune  411001Phone Number: 020 - 2612 6969Email: info@research2reports.comRead More Industry News:Research 2 Reports offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Office No. 212/213, B Block 2nd Floor,Parmar Chambers,Sadhu Vaswani Road, Pune  411001Optical Interconnect Market Share 2019 By Global Leaders: Acacia Communications, Amphenol FCI, Broadcom Limited, Finisar Corporation, Fujitsu, Infinera Corporation

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Global Optical Interconnect Market is accounted for $4.38 billion in 2016 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.9% to reach $16.62 billion by 2023. Power consumption and bandwidth requirements in data centers, growing communication bandwidth, emerging mobile cloud computing applications and rising demand for data securities are fuelling the market growth. However, high initial investment and slow commercialization of optical interconnection-related technologies are hindering the market growth. In addition, conversion delay due to bandwidth requirement and absence of appropriate practical optomechanical technology are the challenges faced by the market.Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try copy pasting it in other browsers.North America is anticipated to dominate the market due to huge internet penetration resulting in higher usage of data center networks. In addition to this, presence of huge internet based business like Facebook and Google among others driver the market. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market owing to rising technological advancements in China, Japan, South Korea and India.Top Industry Players:Some of the key players in Global Optical Interconnect market are Acacia Communications Inc., Amphenol FCI (AFCI), Broadcom Limited, Finisar Corporation, Fujitsu Ltd., Infinera Corporation, Juniper Networks, Inc., Lumentum Holdings Inc., Mellanox Technologies, Ltd., Molex, LLC, Oclaro, Inc., Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. and TE Connectivity Ltd.Request Discount on this repots @Note: If this link doesnt work in Internet Explorer, kindly try copy pasting it in other browsers.Market Segments:Based on product, Optical Transceiver is used in an optical network to convert electrical signals to optical signals and optical signals to electrical signals. Testing of key optical parameters: transmitter optical power and receiver sensitivity is a big deal. High-speed serial transceivers form the backbone of networks. Communications, servers and many other electronic systems depend on high-speed serial transceivers. There is increased demand for 40G Quad Small Form Factor (QFSP) pluggable optical transceiver.Interconnect Levels Covered: Chip- & Board-Level Interconnect Board-To-Board Level Metro & Long Haul Optical Interconnect Rack-Level Optical InterconnectFiber Modes Covered: Single-Mode Fiber Multi-Mode FiberProducts Covered: Connectors Optical Transceivers Free Space Optics, Fiber and Waveguides Silicon Photonics PIC-Based Interconnects Optical Engines Cable AssembliesApplications Covered: Telecommunication Data CommunicationEnquiry 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Latest Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market In-Depth Analysis and Trends With Key Players Strategies Hella, TE, GE Lighting, Etc.

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A new business intelligence report released by Up Market Research on Global Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market. Report provides a comprehensive market analysis with future prospects to 2026. Report focuses on the major drivers and restraints providing analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @The report contains 98 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 20192026.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.For More Information On This Report, Please VisitThe generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market analysis & forecast 2019-2026 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Global Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market Segmentation Includes:Region-wise Analysis covers:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaOther regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)The Major players include:HellaTEGE LightingMagneti MarelliValeoStanley ElectricSMROSRAMProduct Type Analysis:LED Ambient LightingOLED and LaserXenon lightingOthersApplication Analysis:High-end luxury vehiclesOthersGet Sample Copy Of This Report @Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market Analysis and Forecast 2019-2026 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Key Reasons to Purchase:- To gain insightful analysis of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market and its commercial landscape.- Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations.- To understand the future outlook and prospects for Vehicle Ambient Lighting Market analysis and forecast 2019-2026.Avail Discount On This Report @Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.Vehicle Front Airbag Market Detailed Report WithGrowth Opportunity by MajorPlayers  Autoliv, Hyundai Mobis, Takata, Etc.

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Up Market Research added a new Vehicle Front Airbag Market research report for the period of 2019 2026. Report focuses on the major drivers and restraints providing analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @The report contains 95 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Vehicle Front Airbag Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Vehicle Front Airbag Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 20192026.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.For More Information On This Report, Please VisitThe generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Vehicle Front Airbag Market analysis & forecast 2019-2026 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Global Vehicle Front Airbag Market Segmentation Includes:Region-wise Analysis covers:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanIndiaSoutheast AsiaOther regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)The Major players include:AutolivHyundai MobisTakataTRW Automotive HoldingsKey Safety SystemsNihon PlastToyoda GoseiProduct Type Analysis:Passenger Car Front AirbagsLCVs Front AirbagsApplication Analysis:Driver Side AirbagsPassenger Side AirbagsGet Sample Copy Of This Report @Vehicle Front Airbag Market Analysis and Forecast 2019-2026 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Key Reasons to Purchase:- To gain insightful analysis of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Vehicle Front Airbag Market and its commercial landscape.- Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations.- To understand the future outlook and prospects for Vehicle Front Airbag Market analysis and forecast 2019-2026.Avail Discount On This Report @Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.2019 Waterproof Earphones Market By Leading Players: Apple Inc., Audio-technica, Bose Corporation, Creative Technology Ltd.

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Waterproof Earphones Market report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, the challenges and the risks faced by key players and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development.This report also presents a comprehensive overview, market shares and growth opportunities of Waterproof Earphones market by product type, application, key companies and key regions.Request for Sample Copy of this Report @This report researches the worldwide Waterproof Earphones market size (value, capacity, production and consumption) in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (China, Japan) and other regions.Top Key Players reported in the market include: Apple Inc. Audio-technica Bose Corporation Creative Technology Ltd. Harman International Industries, Incorporated JVCKENWOOD Logitech International S.A. and MoreWaterproof Earphones Breakdown Data by Application Sailors Swimmers Fishermen OthersWaterproof Earphones Breakdown Data by Type Wired Wireless With Microphone Without MicrophoneObjectives of this Report are: To focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth. To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market. and MoreClick Here For More Details @Table of Content:1 Study Coverage1.1 Waterproof Earphones Product1.2 Key Market Segments in This Study1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.5 Market by Application1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Waterproof Earphones Production2.1.1 Global Waterproof Earphones Revenue 2013-20252.1.2 Global Waterproof Earphones Production 2013-20252.1.3 Global Waterproof Earphones Capacity 2013-20252.1.4 Global Waterproof Earphones Marketing Pricing and Trends2.2 Waterproof Earphones Growth Rate (CAGR) 2018-20252.3 Analysis of Competitive Landscape2.3.1 Manufacturers Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)2.3.2 Key Waterproof Earphones Manufacturers2.4 Market Drivers, Trends and Issues2.5 Macroscopic Indicator2.5.1 GDP for Major Regions2.5.2 Price of Raw Materials in Dollars: Evolution3 Market Size by Manufacturers3.1 Waterproof Earphones Production by Manufacturers3.1.1 Waterproof Earphones Production by Manufacturers3.1.2 Waterproof Earphones Production Market Share by Manufacturers3.2 Waterproof Earphones Revenue by Manufacturers3.2.1 Waterproof Earphones Revenue by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.2.2 Waterproof Earphones Revenue Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)TOC Continued!About Us:We have a strong network of high powered and experienced global consultants who have about 10+ years of experience in the specific industry to deliver quality research and analysis. Having such an experienced network, our services not only cater to the client who wants the basic reference of market numbers and related high growth areas in the demand side, but also we provide detailed and granular information using which the client can definitely plan the strategies with respect to both supply and demand side.Contact Us:Email- sales@supplydemandmarketresearch.comPhone Number: +1-276-477-5910Global Molybdenum Market  Segmented by Type, Product Type, and Geography (2019 to 2024)

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The recent study on the global molybdenum market covers in-depth analysis of the market on the basis of product, end-user industry, and geography. The report also covers the country level analysis within the regions as well. Additionally, the report covers the key trends in the market along with drivers and restraint during the forecast period 2019-2024. The report has segmented the global molybdenum market by product (molybdenum concentrate, molybdenum oxide, molybdenum powder, molybdenum plates, and others), end-user industry (Steel, oil and gas, chemical, automotive, energy and power, building and construction, aerospace and defense, and others), and by geography (North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific). Molybdenum is a valuable alloying agent as it contributes to the hardening and toughness of quenched and tempered steels. It improves the strength of the steel at high temperature. Growing demand for steel in various industries is driving the demand for molybdenum. Rapid urbanization in emerging economies is leading to increased infrastructure development that is augmenting the demand for steel. This is creating a positive environment for the molybdenum market to flourish in the upcoming years. Thus, the market is expected to grow at a good rate over the forecast period owing to burgeoning steel industries in countries such as China, Japan, Europe, etc.Request Sample:Molybdenum Oxide holds a significant share in the marketMolybdenum oxide holds a significant share in the market as it is widely used for glass, optic, and ceramic applications. The market is expected to grow at a steady pace owing to its increasing usage in modern displays such as OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes).Steel industry holds a major share in the marketSteel industry holds a major share in the market as molybdenum is widely used to produce steel alloys and stainless steels for various industries such as chemical processing, power generation, building and construction etc.The Asia Pacific holds a significant share and is expected to grow at a good rate over the forecast period.The Asia pacific molybdenum market holds a significant share owing to widespread demand for steel in industries on account of growing industrialization and urbanization in the region. Growing Chinese steel industry is driving the demand for molybdenum in the country. The demand for steel in China has increased at a rate of approximately 18% during the period 2000-2017.Some of the major players discussed in the reports are CODELCO, KGHM, China Molybdenum Co., Ltd., Centerrra Gold Inc., Climax Molybdenum, Rio Tinto, Collahuasi, Jinduicheng molybdenum group co., ltd., Jinzhou new hualong molybdenum industry Co., Ltd., and Antamina.Request customization or place an order:Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence (KSI) is a market research and consulting organization based out of India. KSI publishes research studies spanning across ten industry verticals. KSI has a team of experienced and young professionals with a singular focus on delivering high-quality research services to enterprises, non-government organizations, government agencies, and research institutes and organizations. We publish hundreds of reports per year centering on niche and latest technologies. We engage with key decision makers and stakeholders across the value chain to provide clients with a detailed analysis and birds-eye view of the market with whole market dynamics, statistical forecasts, competitive analysis, key trends, market drivers and challenges and strategic recommendations for making informed decisions. Our success lies in the effort of our analysts who strive to meet client expectations by delivering quality work within the stipulated deadlines.Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence LLP,406, 4th Floor,H-140, Sector 63Noida, U.P., India - 201301Global Sodium Sulfate Market Growth 2019-2024

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Sodium sulfate, or sodium sulphate (Na2SO4); is one of the basic raw materials used in detergent, paper, glass, textile and chemical industries and used in all types of detergents (except liquid detergents) as a filling material. Further, it is one of the ingredients of the frit in the glass industry. Sodium sulfate is widely used for the manufacturing of pulps in the paper industry, for the textile dyeing in the textile sector and for the various chemical substances in the chemical sector as well as animal feeding stuff.The Sodium Sulfate Industry is dominated by China. China is the largest production and consumption region. It is because that there are inland salt lakes located in China. Most of products in China are natural product. In 2017, China produced 12581.7 K MT sodium sulfate, which takes about 79.2% production market share in the world. Europe takes 14.7% production market and its the second largest production area. And Spain is takes most of the production of sodium sulfate in Europe. China and Spain are the leaders of the global market. China's products are cheap. China is the world's largest exporting country. In 2016, China exported 3634 K MT of sodium sulfate. Brazil, Southeast Asia, India, Africa and the Middle East are the main import regions. Spain is the second largest exporting country. Each year, more than 80% of the sodium sulfate is exported to Europe inland and South America.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report :Sodium sulfate has many applications in many industries. Among the applications, detergent and cleaning agent are the most popular one. Glass industry, cellulose and paper industry, textile and leather industry are also important applications of sodium sulfate. Other applications like feed and pharmaceutical industry only take a small share of total consumption.Overall economic performance will continue to be the best indicator of future demand for sodium sulfate. Demand in most downstream markets is greatly influenced by general economic conditions. As a result, demand largely follows the patterns of the leading world economies.China is the largest consumption region and it consumed 9126.4 K MT of sodium sulfate, which takes about 57.4% of total consumption share. Europe consumed about 9.3% of the total sodium sulfate in 2017, which is about 1478.3 K MT. Southeast Asia and South America takes 6.88% and 3.42% of total consumption market share in 2017.The US consumption market is smaller. In the past 20 years, the US consumption market is almost stagnant. In Europe, Portugal, Britain, France, Germany and Poland are the main consumption areas. In Southeast Asia, Thailand, Indonesia is the main consumer country. In South America, Brazil and Argentina are the main consumer areas. Brazil holds more than 75% of South America's consumer market.At present, Chinese enterprises have large-scale excess capacity. The continued expansion of Chinese companies has led to a bad form of the industry. In the past two years, the Chinese government has established a strict environmental protection policy for this industry, which has caused the price of sodium sulfate to start rising.According to this study, over the next five years the Sodium Sulfate market will register a 2.5% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ 1440 million by 2024, from US$ 1240 million in 2019. In particular, this report presents the global market share (sales and revenue) of key companies in Sodium Sulfate business, shared in Chapter 3.This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of Sodium Sulfate market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions and countries.This study considers the Sodium Sulfate value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments:Segmentation by product type: breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2024 in section 11.7.Natural Product Sodium SulfateByproduct Sodium SulfateOther SwitchesSegmentation by application: breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2024 in section 11.8.Detergent and Cleaning Agent IndustryGlass IndustryCellulose and Paper IndustryTextile and Leather IndustryOtherThis report also splits the market by region: Breakdown data in Chapter 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.AmericasUnited StatesCanadaMexicoBrazilAPACChinaJapanKoreaSoutheast AsiaIndiaAustraliaEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalyRussiaSpainMiddle East & AfricaEgyptSouth AfricaIsraelTurkeyGCC CountriesClick to view the full report TOC, figure and tables:The report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/manufacturers in the market. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in in Chapter 3.NaFine Chemical Industry GroupJiangsu Yinzhu ChemicalSichuan Union Xinli ChemcialHuaian Salt ChemicalHongya Qingyijiang Sodium SulphateGrupo Industrial CrimidesaMINERA DE SANTA MARTAAlkim AlkaliLenzing GroupS.A. SULQUISASichuan Meishan Tianhe ChemicalSaskatchewan Mining and MineralsHunan Light Industry & Salt Industry GroupPerstorpCordenkaAdisseoAvail Discount On This Report :In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, the challenges and the risks faced by key manufacturers and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development.Research objectivesTo study and analyze the global Sodium Sulfate consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data from 2014 to 2018, and forecast to 2024.To understand the structure of Sodium Sulfate market by identifying its various subsegments.Focuses on the key global Sodium Sulfate manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.To analyze the Sodium Sulfate with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).To project the consumption of Sodium Sulfate submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.About Us-Researchgoal Market Insights is a leading market intelligence company that Sales reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Researchgoal Market Insights also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Researchgoal Market Insights provides you the full spectrum of services related to market research, and corroborate with the clients to increase the revenue stream, and address process gaps.Contact Us:-Accurate Research Goal LLPOffice SNO62/1/1A , BanerPune, MH, India - 411027.Tel: +91 9260000035Email: sales@researchgoal.comWebsite:Office SNO62/1/1A Shree Apartment, Pimpale Nilakh RoadpuneRapid Growth of Infertility Treatment Market 2019 - 2023 | International Top Key Player - Cooper Companies, Vitrolife, Thermo Fischer Scientific, Irvine Scientific

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Global Infertility Treatment Market Report 2019 explores future trends for supply, demand and market growth rate, market size, prices, trading, competition and value chain as well as Key Players of the industrys information with forecast from 2019 to 2023.Global Infertility Treatment Market Synopsis:According to Market Analyst, The Global Infertility Treatment Market is expected to grow at an impressive Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2019 to 2023 owing to declining global fertility rate; rising number of fertility clinics worldwide, technological advancements; and increasing public- private investments, funds, and grants.Apply For Premium Sample of Global Infertility Treatment Market @Infertility is a condition where couples are not able to conceive naturally due to various factors, such as medical conditions in women, low sperm quality and count, etc. These factors do not support the meeting of sperm and ovum that leads to infertility. Infertility can be observed in men and women and is caused by various medical conditions and lifestyle patterns.According to market Research Analysis, Infertility can be diagnosed in men and women both with the help of various diagnostics procedures, such as physical examination, ultrasound, checking sperm count and quality, etc. It can also be treated with the help of various techniques, such as ART (Artificial reproductive technology) and artificial insemination. Infertility generally depends on various factors in both males and females.Global Infertility Treatment Market has been segmented on the Basis of Type, Application and Region. Based on Type, Infertility Treatment Market can be divided into Clomiphene, Metformin, Hormone injections, Other. Based on Application, Market can be sub segmented into Hospitals, Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies, Other.Regionally, Asia Pacific is expected to account for the largest share of the global infertility treatment market during the forecast period. The large share of this market can be attributed to the rise in medical tourism in Asian countries, rapid increase in healthcare expenditure, and declining fertility rates in these countries, thereby propelling the growth of the infertility treatment market in Asia Pacific.This report focuses on Infertility Treatment volume and value at the global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents the overall Infertility Treatment market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. At the company level, this report focuses on the production capacity, ex-factory price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covered in this report.Complete report on Infertility Treatment Market spread across 125 Pages and No. of Table of contents. Buy Research @The Market is segmented and projected on the basis of major key players:1 Cooper Companies2 Vitrolife3 Thermo Fischer Scientific4 Irvine ScientificMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers:1 United States2 Europe3 China4 Japan5 Southeast Asia6 IndiaExclusive Discount Available @Key Questions Answered in this Report:1 What is the global market size for Infertility Treatment market in different countries?2 Which key developments are expected to have a long-term impact on the Infertility Treatment market?3 What will be the global Infertility Treatment market size in 2023?4 Who will be the top vendors in Infertility Treatment market?5 Whats going to be the growth speed?6 Which are the most potential countries and markets?TABLE OF CONTENTS1 Infertility Treatment Definition2 Global Infertility Treatment Market Major Player Share and Market Overview3 Major Player Infertility Treatment Business Introduction4 Global Infertility Treatment Market Segmentation (Region Level)5 Global Infertility Treatment Market Segmentation (Type Level)6 Global Infertility Treatment Market Segmentation (Industry Level)7 Global Infertility Treatment Market Segmentation (Channel Level)8 Infertility Treatment Market Forecast 2019-20239 Infertility Treatment Segmentation Type10 Infertility Treatment Segmentation Industry11 Infertility Treatment Cost Analysis12 ConclusionAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune  Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940Hookah Tobacco Market Analysis 2019-2025: Segmentation by Type, Application and Geography

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The Hookah Tobacco Market is very concerted market; the revenue of top eight manufacturers accounts about 86% of the total revenue in 2016. The high-end products mainly come from USA and Middle East.Hookah tobacco (also known as waterpipe tobacco, maassel, shisha, narghile, or argileh) is smoked with a hookah (waterpipe). Hookah tobacco comes in different flavors, such as apple, mint, cherry, chocolate, coconut, licorice, cappuccino, and watermelon.Geographically, the US hookah tobacco market has been segmented into Pacific, South Atlantic, Northeast, East North Central, West South Central and other. The Pacific region held the largest share in the US products market, its revenue of the market exceeds 24% in 2016.The global Tobacco and Hookah market is valued at xx million US$ in 2018 and will reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the Tobacco and Hookah market based on company, product type, end user and key regions.Download Sample Report @This report studies the global market size of Tobacco and Hookah in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Tobacco and Hookah in these regions.This research report categorizes the global Tobacco and Hookah market by top players/brands, region, type and end user. This report also studies the global Tobacco and Hookah market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels and distributors.The following manufacturers are covered in this report, with sales, revenue, market share for each company:StarbuzzFantasiaAl FakherSocial SmokeAlchemist TobaccoAl-Tawareg TobaccoHaze TobaccoFumariMarket size by ProductFruit FlavorMixed FlavorHerbal FlavorMarket size by End UserOffline SalesOnline SalesMarket size by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of Central & South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaThe study objectives of this report are:To study and analyze the global Tobacco and Hookah market size (value & volume) by company, key regions, products and end user, breakdown data from 2014 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.To understand the structure of Tobacco and Hookah market by identifying its various subsegments.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).Focuses on the key global Tobacco and Hookah companies, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape and recent development.To project the value and sales volume of Tobacco and Hookah submarkets, with respect to key regions.To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.Get Complete Report Details with Detail Tables and Figures @Table of Contents1 Study Coverage1.1 Tobacco and Hookah Product1.2 Market Segments1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered1.4 Market by Type1.4.1 Global Tobacco and Hookah Market Size Growth Rate by Product1.4.2 Fruit Flavor1.4.3 Mixed Flavor1.4.4 Herbal Flavor1.5 Market by End User1.5.1 Global Tobacco and Hookah Market Size Growth Rate by End User1.5.2 Offline Sales1.5.3 Online Sales1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Executive Summary2.1 Global Tobacco and Hookah Market Size2.1.1 Global Tobacco and Hookah Revenue 2014-20252.1.2 Global Tobacco and Hookah Sales 2014-20252.2 Tobacco and Hookah Growth Rate by Regions2.2.1 Global Tobacco and Hookah Sales by Regions2.2.2 Global Tobacco and Hookah Revenue by Regions3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers3.1 Tobacco and Hookah Sales by Manufacturers3.1.1 Tobacco and Hookah Sales by Manufacturers3.1.2 Tobacco and Hookah Sales Market Share by Manufacturers3.1.3 Global Tobacco and Hookah Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Tobacco and Hookah Revenue by Manufacturers3.2.1 Tobacco and Hookah Revenue by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.2.2 Tobacco and Hookah Revenue Share by Manufacturers (2014-2019)3.3 Tobacco and Hookah Price by Manufacturers3.4 Tobacco and Hookah Manufacturing Base Distribution, Product Types3.4.1 Tobacco and Hookah Manufacturers Manufacturing Base Distribution, Headquarters3.4.2 Manufacturers Tobacco and Hookah Product Type3.4.3 Date of International Manufacturers Enter into Tobacco and Hookah Market3.5 Manufacturers Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion PlansContinued!About Us:SupplyDemandMarketResearch.com have a strong network of high powered and experienced global consultants who have about 10+ years of experience in the specific industry to deliver quality research and analysis.Having such an experienced network, our services not only cater to the client who wants the basic reference of market numbers and related high growth areas in the demand side, but also we provide detailed and granular information using which the client can definitely plan the strategies with respect to both supply and demand side.Canada Office:302-20 Misssisauga Valley Blvd, Missisauga, L5A 3S1, TorontoGlobal - +1-276-477-5910Email - info@supplydemandmarketresearch.comMilitary Power Solutions Market Groeth, Emerging Trends and Outlook 2018-2023 | Raytheon, Saft Groupe, Enersys, Arotech, Sfc Energy, Eaglepicher Technologies, Denchi Power, Advanced Conversion Technology etc

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Military Power Solutions MarketThe study report on Global Military Power Solutions Market throws light on the crucial trends and dynamics impacting the development of the market, including the application, rising technology, growth, restraints, drivers, opportunities, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players. The defense forces in developed countries, as well as developing countries worldwide, are investing significant amount in the development and procurement of advanced power solutions in recent times. The advanced power solutions play a critical role in the safety and security of the military bases. One of the major factor driving the military power solution market heavily is the innovation and adoption of renewable power sources such as solar panels. These solar panels have a longer lifespan and require minimum maintenance and are cost effective. These advantages of solar panels are increasing the interest among the defense forces, which in turn is boosting the military power source market.Download a Sample Copy @Market Segment by Manufacturers:Raytheon, Saft Groupe, Enersys, Arotech, Sfc Energy, Eaglepicher Technologies, Denchi Power, Advanced Conversion Technology, Concorde Battery, Energy Technologies.A number of analysis tools such as SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis have been employed to provide an accurate understanding of this market. The report provides both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the Military Power Solutions Market with respect to each of the regions and countries involved in the study.Market Segment by Type, covers- Portable- Non-PortableMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into- Air- Land- NavalMajor Regions play vital role in Military Power Solutions Market are:North America, Europe, China, Japan, Middle East & Africa, India, South America, Others.Get Discount for this report:Fundamentals of Table of Content:1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.5 Market by Application1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Military Power Solutions Market Size2.2 Military Power Solutions Growth Trends by Regions2.3 Industry Trends3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 Military Power Solutions Market Size by Manufacturers3.2 Military Power Solutions Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Military Power Solutions Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Military Power Solutions Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans4 Breakdown Data by Product4.1 Global Military Power Solutions Sales by Product4.2 Global Military Power Solutions Revenue by Product4.3 Military Power Solutions Price by Product5 Breakdown Data by End User5.1 Overview5.2 Global Military Power Solutions Breakdown Data by End UserGet More Information @About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comExtensive Analysis of Augmented Reality (AR) Market Along with Key Drivers, Business Insights, Trends and Top companies | SAMSUNG, MICROSOFT, GOOGLE, Facebook, Carl Zeiss, Baofeng, Sony, Razer, and HTC

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"The latest trends, such as increased convergence between AR, wearable devices and GPS, will boost the augmented reality market," said Market Research analysts. The main reason for the adoption of the augmented reality market is the high penetration rate of tablets and smartphones. User Interface (UI) restrictions can hinder the development of the augmented reality market. It also shows technical inefficiencies in determining various physical issues due to lack of data in view management that hampers the increased real-world market. One of the responsible reasons for the development of the market reality market is the various initiatives of market participants.The global augmented reality market was capitalized at almost USD 3.33 Billion in 2015 and is likely to cross almost USD 133.78 Billion by 2021, developing at a CAGR of slightly more than +85% from 2019 to 2026.With some vital changes in the Worldwide Augmented Reality (AR) Market, the need to contemplate its advancement has turned out to be prospective. Explores on this market have ended up being persuading. The methods utilized by experts amid the examination are question to layered approach as they reason to give fantastic and unrivaled outcomes utilizing the statistics they have gathered. They have worked carefully with administration bodies, exchange partnerships, news and magazine bodies, and furthermore with different bodies related to the Augmented Reality (AR) Market. Both inward certification administration and web driven examines are utilized to go to a powerful statistical surveying finding.Get sample copy of this report at:Significant Key Players in this report are: SAMSUNG, MICROSOFT, GOOGLE, Facebook, Carl Zeiss, Baofeng, Sony, Razer, and HTCThis exploration influences utilization of main and subordinate sources to extensively cover the state of Augmented Reality (AR) to showcase. Industrialists, providers, temporary workers, dealers, end-clients and market pros and so on. Were alluded to authenticate the data of the examination. Other information gathered together incorporates inclinations, challenges and analyses, advertise drivers, showcase experience, strategies and developments of the business. This information demonstrated to have an impact on the development of the Augmented Reality (AR) Market. Every one of these components are estimated and analyzed in detail to go to a reasonable presumption.Get discount at:The report unveils advertise theories and conjectures which can help measure the present remaining of the Augmented Reality (AR) Market in the worldwide plan. These outcomes can be utilized to anticipate the business sectors improvement in the five years. There is an almost no uncertainty that the examination results assume a dubious part in deciding the business abilities of the Augmented Reality (AR) showcase, its present practices, sensible power and standard terms.The Worldwide Augmented Reality (AR) Market's position is legitimize and fortified by various archives and studies. Regardless of whether it maintains its position or not, is to be solid disapproved by the market patterns and its Compound Yearly Development Rate (CAGR). Whatsoever be the situation, there's little difference against its achievement.For more enquiry:What our report offers: Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments Market share analysis of the top industry players Strategic recommendations for the new entrants Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations) Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsAbout QYReports:We at, QYReports, a leading market research report published accommodate more than 4,000 celebrated clients worldwide putting them at advantage in todays competitive world with our understanding of research. Our list of customers includes prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SMEs and private equity firms whom we have helped grow and sustain with our fact-based research. Our business study covers a market size of over 30 industries offering unfailing insights into the analysis to reimagine your business. We specialize in forecasts needed for investing in a new project, to revolutionize your business, to become more customer centric and improve the quality of output.Jones JohnContact number :+(1) 786-292-8164204, Professional Center,7950 NW 53rd Street, Miami, Florida 33166sales@qyreports.comThe Current evolution of customer behavior, generating the era of aggressive competition to drive banks to reshape their traditional customer engagement and business models. By transforming their business models to digital, with a mission of extraordinary user experience through powerful and innovative next-generation digital banking platforms, Banks are facing challenges to avail their services through the Multitude of Digital Channels especially Mobile Banking in a consistent and powerful manner. To overcome those PetShop.co.uk, the subscription-based pet supply store, has grown from a family-run business to one of the largest online pet shops in the UK with NetSuite. With NetSuite, PetShop.co.uk has been able to scale its critical business systems as it has rapidly grown in the UK, diversifying its services to include new subscription-based models and expanding internationally into France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Nordic region.

Started by Adam Taylor and his now-wife Lexi Taylor in their London home in 2009, PetShop.co.uk comprises an online store as well as the first ever subscription pet food service, Bottomless Bowl. As it has grown by 50 percent each year to become a company that now stocks over half a million pounds worth of merchandise and a range of over 10,000 products, PetShop.co.uk has used NetSuite to manage its business and minimize complexity. To build on its success and backed by the recent award of a 400,000 Productivity Grant from the UK Government, PetShop.co.uk has plans for further expansion, including an increased focus on its subscription business and international customer base.

In 2010, as we started to scale, we set out to find business software that would support our entrepreneurial spirit and allow us to focus on our growth, said Adam Taylor, CEO, PetShop.co.uk. As we have grown, NetSuite has always helped us punch above our weight and stay true to our promise of saving customers time when buying pet food and supplies. What I really like though is that NetSuite frees up enough of my time so that I can still personally write all of our customer communications. Being able to focus on delivering such a personal service is so important to us.

NetSuite has enabled PetShop.co.uk to increase efficiencies and control across financial, supply chain and marketing operations by eliminating manual and time-consuming processes and providing a real-time, consolidated view into key business data. By streamlining order management, invoicing and supply chain operations, NetSuite is helping PetShop.co.uk tap into the rising demand for subscription-based services, a market expected to be worth 1 billion by 2022. In addition, NetSuites marketing platform, Bronto, has helped PetShop.co.uk personalize the customer experience and achieve retention rates of up to 80 percent, while NetSuites OneWorld functionality enables seamless currency calculations and foreign language translations direct from the platform.

Like many of our high-growth customers, PetShop.co.uk has achieved remarkable success by offering a new customer experience in a traditional market, said Nicky Tozer, VP of EMEA, Oracle NetSuite. We have provided a business platform that can scale with it, giving the company real-time visibility and control even as it expands across international markets. By implementing NetSuite, PetShop.co.uk has been able to react quickly to new business opportunities, while maintaining the personal aspect of customer service for which it has become known.WASHINGTON -- Senior White House officials are exploring ways to exempt commercial trade from President Donald Trumps threat to shut down the U.S. border with Mexico, three people briefed on the discussions said, amid warnings that blocking the flow of goods between the two countries would have severe consequences for the U.S. economy.

In brief remarks, Trump on Tuesday again threatened to close the border but would not definitively say whether he would do so, and he has not divulged his plans even to some of his closest aides. But the White House is bracing for the possibility and internal planning has reached an advanced stage, according to the three people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the deliberations.

Trump plans to visit the Mexico border Friday in California, where some aides are bracing for a possible announcement. Even though White House officials had begun deliberating, business groups expressed skepticism that any plan might work in a way that limited potential problems.

As Trump has escalated his threats to close the border in recent days, top aides have launched a two-pronged strategy in preparation for a decision.

One approach has been to study ways to minimize the economic impact of shutting the border with the United States' second-largest trading partner, in part by allowing trains and trucks to continue bringing goods across the border.

The second prong has included a series of internal warnings to Trump about what might happen if the border is sealed, messages delivered by National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and Kevin Hassett, head of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers.

"We're watching it and looking for ways to allow the freight passage," Kudlow said in an interview with CNBC. "Some people call it truck roads. And there are ways you can do that, which would ameliorate the breakdown in supply chains."

A senior White House official said Trump has been bombarded with a number of advisers warning against closing the border and that the current plan is not to close it during his Friday visit.

"People are getting a plan in place so if he orders it done, it's not the end of the world," the official said.

Many U.S. manufacturers rely on the import of parts and equipment from Mexico in order to complete production and ship machinery, cars or other goods.

At the Brownsville, Texas, border crossing last year, nearly 800 trucks crossed the border each day, according to data from the Department of Transportation.

Senate Republicans have also begun sounding alarms about what might happen if Trump follows through on his threat, focusing on the economic impact because that often resonates with Trump.

"Closing down the border would have a potentially catastrophic economic impact on our country, and I would hope that we would not be doing that sort of thing," McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said shutting down the border could cost the U.S. economy $1 billion or $2 billion each day.

Trump's vow to close the border comes after several tense months in U.S.-Mexico relations. The Mexican government last year agreed to restructure the North American Free Trade Agreement after Trump threatened to rip up the 1994 deal. But the new agreement has bogged down in Congress, in part because Democrats want more assurances on how certain provisions will be enforced.

And Trump earlier this year declared the situation at the Mexico border to be a national emergency, a designation that he has said allows him to redirect taxpayer money to expedite the construction of a wall.

But the recent surge of families and other migrants trying to cross into the U.S. has led Trump to call for even more immediate steps, with his focus in recent days shifting to closing down the border.

The president said on Tuesday that he is more focused on security concerns than the impact closing the border would have on the U.S. economy.

"Sure it's going to have a negative impact on the economy," he told reporters, while saying it was possible that only certain sections of the border could be closed. "Security is more important to me than trade."

Trump has also been told by some advisers that it would be extremely difficult to operationally shut down the border, but he has told them to move forward with looking at ways to achieve the feat.

As of Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials had not been instructed to prepare for the possibility of shutting down the border, according to a DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen cut short a trip to Europe this week and returned to Washington early Tuesday morning to manage the agency's response at the border, DHS officials said.

At least 545 blue-uniformed CBP officers have been redeployed to help Border Patrol agents detain and process Central Americans families arriving in record numbers. Diverting those officers and other resources away from U.S. ports of entry along the Mexico border is already leading to increased wait times and logjams for commercial trucks and vehicles entering the United States.

Wait times for vehicles trying to cross the border in Brownsville extended to three hours on Monday, a senior DHS official told reporters Tuesday. At the Otay Mesa crossing in San Diego, one of the border's busiest for cargo, 150 commercial trucks were stuck in line Monday, officials said.

Despite the logistical and economic concerns, White House aides have said this week that Trump is serious about closing the border even if the timing remains unclear.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders softened Trump's threat to close the southern border by the end of the week, saying that such a move was not the president's "first choice" and that he does not have a "specific timeline."

"Eventually it may be the best decision that we close the border," Sanders told reporters at the White House, adding that Mexico has taken some concrete steps to slow the flow of migrants coming into the United States, as Trump has demanded.

"He's hoping that Mexico will continue to step up, like we've seen them do over the last couple of weeks," Sanders said. "We hope that that continues, and that we can work with them so we don't have to (close the border)."

Trump has told advisers that he would close the ports of entry and reallocate the Border Patrol agents to other parts of the country. In Trump's mind, the closure is about leverage - forcing people to think he's about to do it, and just might do it, to get other concessions, current and former aides said.

Trump has used a similar approach before with trade negotiations and even in the run-up to the government shutdown last year. Sometimes he backs down at the last moment, and sometimes he follows through.

But the fact that White House officials are looking at ways to address the fallout of his latest threat shows how real the option has become, at least internally.

Completely shutting down the U.S. border with Mexico, as Trump has threatened, could halt all U.S. automotive manufacturing within a week, affecting at least 1 million jobs, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research. She said virtually all U.S. auto production relies on some key parts from Mexico or Central America, and these products are brought into the United States on trucks or trains.

"The building of vehicles requires 100 percent of the parts to be there," she said, adding that seat belts, engines, transmissions and wiring harnesses are all brought across the U.S. border.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce began raising alarms last week about Trump's threat to shut down the border, saying it could have a crippling effect on the U.S. economy. But Trump has so far refused to back down.

Mexico is the U.S.'s second-largest trading partner, meaning that any disruption at the U.S. border could have immediate consequences on the economy. U.S. companies imported $314.3 billion in goods from Mexico in 2017, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. And U.S. companies exported $243.3 billion in goods.

The top imports from Mexico are automobiles, electrical machinery, medical instruments and mineral fuels. The U.S. also imports more agricultural goods from Mexico compared with any other country, with $11.5 billion in fresh fruit and vegetables brought into the U.S. each year.The epicenter of Oregon horse racing could move to Grants Pass as Portland Meadows heads toward a future as a massive distribution center.

It appears increasingly unlikely the North Portland race track will see another season. It hasnt been sold, but a sale is pending, and plans filed with the city last year call for its redevelopment.

But more telling is that Dutch Bros. Coffee chief executive Travis Boersma has secured a commercial racing license for a track in Grants Pass, including the rights for off-track betting and to simulcast races held elsewhere, a major money-maker for tracks.

The Oregon Racing Commission approved a three-year license for Grants Pass Downs last week without hearing a word of objection from Portland Meadows owners, said Jack McGrail, the commissions executive director.

The decision wouldnt preclude Portland Meadows from seeking a renewal of its own license, which expires in June. But its unlikely Oregon could sustain two tracks through split simulcasting revenue, said McGrail said.

Portland Meadows General Manager JT Corrales confirmed the pending sale in an email but said that nothing is for certain.

We are currently business as usual, including the Kentucky Derby Party coming up," he wrote, adding, The deal is not done.

Nonetheless, Boersmas TMB Racing is preparing for a fall meet in September and October, the first commercial race event at the expanded Grants Pass Downs.

In the meantime, the group will expand the grandstands and concession areas, add nighttime racing lights and make other improvements, according to its application to the racing commission.

Boersma, a horse racing fan who as a child attended fair meets at Grants Pass Downs, said commercial racing at Portland Meadows  and in particular the simulcasting and off-track betting  has historically helped support racing events at smaller venues like Grants Pass, as well as Pendleton, Tillamook and Burns.

Theres no way to replace Portland Meadows, or what it was once, he said. The thing I think is really important is to keep horse racing alive in the state.

And the Grants Pass operation could turn out to be an interim measure, Boersma said.

Hes spoken with the owners of Churchill Downs Racetrack, which hosts the Kentucky Derby, about their huge interest in building a new horse track between Portland and Salem, he said. That would be a venture with a price tag around $100 million, he said, and it could take years to come together.

Boersma has also sought a manager to run the Grants Pass operation. Among the applicants, according to Boersma: The Stronach Group, the part-owner and manager of Portland Meadows.

The prospective Portland Meadows buyer is Prologis, a San Francisco-based company thats one of the worlds largest owners of warehouses and distribution centers. A spokeswoman didnt return a message seeking comment.

Plans filed last year by the Portland engineering firm Mackenzie call for nine or 10 buildings for warehousing, distribution or light manufacturing. Its continued to refine the proposal with a new filings, the latest on March 20.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.An unfinished four-story condominium building in Wilsonville did not yet have sprinklers, siding or other safety measures designed to keep flames from spreading when a three-alarm fire ignited there early Sunday and burned it to the ground, authorities said Tuesday.

Sixteen structures in total, mostly residential buildings, were damaged by the blaze. Six of those buildings were a total loss, city building official Dan Carlson told a crowd of about 250 area residents that filled the gym at Lowrie Primary School, about a mile from where the fire started, for a community meeting.

City, police and other officials held a community meeting at the school to update residents about the fire investigation and share information about insurance, mental health services and other resources. The fire occurred in Wilsonvilles Villebois neighborhood, a 500-acre community of densely packed, recently built condominiums, townhomes and single-family houses on the west side of the city.

Construction crews were about three weeks away from installing sprinklers and other fire suppression materials in the 36-unit, wood-frame condominium building before it went up in flames, Carlson said. The city requires a sprinkler system in the units built in that neighborhood.

The building, in my opinion, was ripe for something like this to happen, Carlson said.

Police and fire officials said Tuesday that the fire doesnt appear to be criminal in nature, although the cause remains under investigation.

Carlson said city officials began assessing the fire damage earlier in the day. Its not yet clear how many people suffered damaged homes. No one was injured.

The flames engulfed the 11000 block of Southwest Collina Lane and spread to other buildings on Collina, Valencia and Campanile lanes. The flames also destroyed 14 cars and trucks.

Cement and wood sidings at nearby homes helped protect some buildings from heavy damage, Carlson said.

Neighbors, including off-duty firefighters, knocked on doors and urged people to leave their homes, said Deric Weiss, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue assistant chief and resident of the Villebois neighborhood. He said he believes that contributed to no one getting hurt.

The fire was reported at 1 a.m. Sunday. The first fire crew arrived eight minutes later, Weiss said.

On Tuesday, a faint smell of charred wood lingered near the fire site. Fencing and yellow caution tape cordoned off the rubble. Caution tape also surrounded several nearby residential buildings that were still standing, some with windows bordered up on one side. Torched cars remained parked on the street in other areas.

Members of Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office, Oregon State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were among the emergency responders still on the scene.

The fire is being treated as a crime scene as a precaution to ensure all evidence there is preserved, said Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Fire Marshal Steve Forster, who said emergency responders plan to leave the area by Friday.

Weiss called the blaze an anomaly, and said hed only seen at least two of a similar size in his more than 25 years as a firefighter. All of those fires involved under-construction residential buildings, he said. The Wilsonville condominium site was essentially a big, tall pile of wood, he said.

And when it burns, its going to burn fast, Weiss said. Its going to burn hot and its going to put off a lot of heat.

Travis and Christine Moore, who have lived a townhome on the corner of Collina Lane and Paris Avenue since September, said firefighters were able to stop the flames before they reached their residence. The fire did break their windows and cause other heat damage.

Travis Moore said hed just arrived home from work when he saw the towering flames. He said he took a few moments to process what was happening and then ran inside to awake his wife and her parents, who were visiting from Alaska.

Moore said his wife, still groggy from sleep, didnt immediately react to what he was saying, so he opened their bedroom window and showed her the bright orange glow outside.

The heat was so intense, he said. It was the largest fire Id ever seen in my life, it was a whole city block. There were cars on fire in the streets, people in their underwear running out of their homes. Ive never seen anything like it.

The couple said the fire spread quickly and the four-story condominium building was engulfed by the time the first fire crews arrived.

Travis Moore said he and his wife grabbed chairs off their porch at some point, went a block away from their home, sat down and hoped theyd have somewhere to return to.

They said they were able to go back home around 4 a.m., but the power was temporarily shut off. They havent been able to sleep much since then.

They said they spoke to a representative from Polygon Northwest Homes, which built their home and the four-story condominium building, and were told the company would repair the damages to their house.

We were very lucky that were still able to live in our home, Christine Moore said. Some of our neighbors arent."

Resources for affected area residents

Clackamas County Sheriffs Office tip line:

503-655-8211

For claim filings (via Polygon Northwest Homes)

800-235-8784 (ask for Sedgwick and reference the Villebois/Wilsonville fire)

Consumer advocate (via Oregon Insurance Commissioners Office)

888-877-4894

Clackamas County Mental Health Crisis Line

503-655-8585

-- 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.A Lake Oswego man pleaded guilty Wednesday to shipping fentanyl to a Wisconsin man and causing his overdose death in October 2017.

Joseph Richard Caruso, 34, entered a guilty plea to one count of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin said hell recommend Caruso spend seven years and three months in federal prison for the charge when Caruso is sentenced in July. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Defense lawyer Conor Huseby can argue for a lesser sentence under the plea agreement.

Three other charges, including unlawfully importing a controlled substance and possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, were dismissed.

Caruso came to the attention of authorities when postal inspectors intercepted a suspicious package addressed to him from China in 2017. The package label suggested it held a knitting needle, but an inspector noticed the small yellow padded envelope appeared to hold powder, according to a federal complaint.

Investigators opened the envelope and discovered a heat-sealed package that contained a white powdery substance that tested positive for Cyclopropyl fentanyl, a new version of fentanyl responsible for several recent overdose deaths in the Portland area, according to Guy Gino, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Further investigation showed that six packages were mailed to Caruso from China between October 2016 and November 2017. The imported goods were labeled as containing a "knitting needle,'' "samples of cosmetics,'' a doll or toy.

The Wisconsin man had ordered fentanyl online from Caruso, Kerin said.

Drug packaging material found near the victims body in Green Bay was similar to the packaging material found in Carusos home. The victim was identified in court only by the initials "B.S.''

The case against Caruso is the latest federal prosecution in Oregon involving fentanyl or a derivative of it sold on the dark web, a secretive Internet forum designed to shield the identities of vendors and shoppers.

Caruso went by the aliases "Daddygreenjeans'' and "MrCandy'' on dark web sites such as "Alpha Bay,'' and "Dream'' and was responsible for at least 800 sales of fentanyl or its derivative, according to court records.

The unique drug packaging material found in Carusos condo depicted a cartoon-like blue stick figure waving its arms with a clock in the belly on a blue Ziplock bag, the prosecutor said. Carusos IP address was linked to the drug parcel that was sent to the deceased victim, Kerin said.

The victim also had looked up daddygreenjeans on the dark net before buying the drugs and just before his death, according to the prosecutor.

Court records also indicate that federal investigators found the equivalent of $753,356 in virtual currency that Caruso held. Under the plea deal, Caruso has agreed to forfeit that money, as well as a 2013 Audi seized by investigators.

Caruso will be sentenced July 11 before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.A Newberg man accused of making online threats to a college in California in 2017 now is accused of threatening a mass shooting at Lake Oswego High School and trying to make a similar threat to McMinnville High School, according to court records.

A federal complaint, filed in court Monday, accuses Vasiliy Barbiyeru Jr., 24, of making threats via interstate communications.

Barbiyeru is accused of making a call to Lake Oswego High School on March 1 that led to a school lockout. During the two-hour call, he told a staff member that he liked school shootings and mass shootings, referenced guns, chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, FBI agent Daniel L. McLaughlin wrote in an affidavit.

Seven days later, Lake Oswego police arrested Barbiyeru on a disorderly conduct allegation.

During the course of the Lake Oswego police investigation, a forensic examination of Barbiyerus cellphone turned up evidence that he had tried to phone McMinnville High School around the same time of his March 1 call to Lake Oswego High, McLaughlins affidavit says.

Further evidence revealed Barbiyeru had researched both high school locations and searched for gun stores near him, McLaughlin wrote.

Barbiyeru had a history of school threats, according to the FBI.

He was arrested in June on an allegation of second-degree disorderly conduct, accused of making online threats to kill students at Deep Springs College in California in October 2017. That allegation was dismissed in Yamhill County Circuit Court because of the new federal charge, court records indicate.

Although he was ordered to have no contact with the college after his arrest last year, Barbiyeru sent a donation to the college in January, asking how much hed need to donate to be accepted to the college, according to Yamhill County court papers.

Barbiyeru is now being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center on a federal hold. He made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon and was ordered to remain in custody.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman cited Barbiyerus alleged escalation of his violent behavior and mental health issues as reasons for his continued detention as a danger to the community and risk of flight.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.While the Portland Police Bureau struggles to recruit officers to fill dozens of vacancies, its effort to hire new civilian public safety specialists to respond to low-level calls also has hit a big snag.

Of more than 100 applicants, the bureau did background checks on 61 prospective candidates -- and only three passed, Assistant Chief Chris Davis reported to the City Council this week.

Of the three, one person took a job elsewhere, leaving only two viable candidates.

Why are applicants failing Portland police background checks?

The two biggest factors: past drug use and dishonesty uncovered in the investigations, Davis told the council.

Anyone who wants to be a Portland cop must not have used marijuana within the prior year. For non-sworn applicants, they must not have used marijuana within the prior four months.

I think I just discovered where our problem is everybody, Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said, drawing chuckles during a police budget work session.

Davis said its not just marijuana use, but other drug use thats eliminating both the specialist and police applicants during their background checks, and its not Portlands problem alone but common among police departments nationwide.

Because marijuana use is still a federal crime, the bureau cant legally transfer a gun to a drug user." With guidance from the City Attorneys office, the bureau interpreted drug user as meaning someone who had used drugs in the year before. Because the specialists wont carry guns and are not sworn officers, the limit was lowered for those applicants, he said.

The bureau wont start the six-week training of public safety specialists until it has at least six people on board, Davis said. The city gave the bureau the green-light in December to hire 12 new civilian employees, who would be armed with pepper spray, to help relieve patrol officers by responding to nonemergency calls that dont require police authority.

Police recruiting in general is at a critical stage, Mayor Ted Wheeler and Police Chief Danielle Outlaw said. In February and March, the bureau lost 44 people due to retirements, leaving 120 sworn officer vacancies and another 39 non-sworn support staff vacancies.

The Oregonian/OregonLive previously reported that new hires are washing out of the bureau at double the rate as in the past. And the bureau is losing candidates to other police agencies hiring in Oregon and nationally.

Working here in Portland is unique, Outlaw told City Council members Tuesday. We deal with demonstrations, protests, crowd management. We catch a lot of headlines.

Many applicants, frankly, would rather go for more money elsewhere and less scrutiny, the chief said.

The climate here in the city is a lot different, which agencies across the country are recognizing, Outlaw said.

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty pressed the chief to be creative and consider reducing the number of command staff or restricting officers secondary private jobs.

Outlaw said there might be a way to flatten the police hierarchy but the bureau needs to maintain a certain span of control and accountability, as sought by the U.S. Department of Justice in its settlement agreement with the city after finding a pattern of excessive police force against people with mental illness. Outlaw said she believes some more positions could be made into civilian positions.

During a wide-ranging budget work session Tuesday, commissioners also were critical of the failed Police Bureau records management system that has left Portland police paying millions of dollars to cover the share of regional police agencies that once were partners in the system but pulled out.

The bureau is asking the council to approve $1.4 million for fiscal 2019-2020 and another $1.52 million for fiscal 2020-21 to cover the gaps, plus about $5 million set aside to create a new, more affordable system for Portland police. That would happen once the contract with Canada-based vendor Versaterm Inc. expires in July 2021.

Hardesty said she was concerned the bureau was asking the council to fund its mistake.

Thats not acceptable, she said. I think the Police Bureau should be responsible for fixing that mess.

The chief and mayor clarified for Hardesty that a past City Council approved the project. Remarkably, Wheeler added, the contract has no opt out clause for the city of Portland, which is forced to pay off the contract.

We will never sign a contract like that again, Wheeler said.

Sample HTML block

Among other interesting information from the public safety work session:

-- The bureau receives about 103 officer applications a month, Davis said. Thats up from earlier years but still isnt going to get the bureau where it needs to be to fill its vacancies.

-- In 2018, the Bureau of Emergency Communications received 37,753 calls relating to an unwanted person in Multnomah County. Portland accounted for the majority of those calls, with 32,961.

-- The Fire Bureaus average response time is 7 minutes, 19 seconds, beyond the goal of 5 minutes , 20 seconds.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.A 64-year-old man who retired in Oregon after working for nearly three decades as a tax litigator for a firm in Hawaii pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of tax evasion in federal court in Portland.

Bruce L. Lamon, dressed in a gray suit and standing beside an assistant federal public defender, said, "Guilty, your Honor,'' when asked how he pleaded to the single felony charge.

Lamon failed to pay $744,000 in federal income tax for calendar years 2008 through 2013, Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Uram told the court. Hes agreed to pay that amount in restitution as part of a negotiated plea agreement.

After retiring in 2012, he withdrew all the money in his retirement account  approximately $395,000 and moved to Hillsboro, according to the government.

He was accused of using cashier checks to pay for cars, but placing the titles for the cars in his ex-wifes name. Hes also accused of buying three rental properties in Beaverton, Hillsboro and Portland using the name of a Hawaii-based company, Ward Hill LLC, to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service, Uram said.

The prosecutor told U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez that he may seek a sentence ranging from two years to three years and one month.

Lamons defense lawyer, Ruben Iniguez, said hell argue for a sentence of less than two months in prison, citing Lamons age and absence of a prior criminal record.

Lamon already spent about two weeks in jail after he ducked a summons to appear in court on the tax evasion indictment in December. In an unusual development in the case, he went off the grid for six weeks and had to be located by federal agents through a GPS tracker obtained for his cellphone, Uram said in court late last year.

Lamon, who was never licensed to practice law in Oregon, will be sentenced July 9.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.Have you settled in to watch The Umbrella Academy, Russian Doll or Queer Eye only to see a notice from Netflix that the cost of your monthly subscription is going up? Its the latest shoe to drop in the Netflix price hikes that were announced earlier this year.

Back in January, Netflix announced that it was raising prices, with increases going into effect immediately for new subscribers. Existing Netflix customers had the price hike to look forward to, as the streaming media company would be phasing in the increases for its longer-term subscribers.

As a recent email announced, many existing customers will now be seeing their Netflix bills go up, starting in May. For example, subscribers with a Standard plan (2 screens at a time + HD) will soon pay $12.99 a month.

As a reminder, here are the price increases: That bump in the Standard plan reflects the monthly subscription price going from $10.99 to $12.99. The Premium plan, which provides up to four Ultra HD streams, goes from $13.99 to $15.99; the Basic plan (one non-HD stream) increases from $7.99 to $8.99.

The price raises come at a time when Netflix is spending millions of dollars on original programming, from TV series to movies. As Variety reports, analysts have projected Netflix will rake in around $1 billion in additional top-line revenue in 2019 from the rate hikes in the U.S. alone. As of the end of 2018, Netflix reported 58.5 million U.S. streaming customers (out of 139 million worldwide).

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.Chuck Eggert, co-founder and majority owner of Pacific Foods, agreed in 2017 to sell his Oregon natural food business to Campbell Soup Co. for $700 million, but now he faces a $30 million lawsuit accusing him and his new company of siphoning away valuable employees.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court says Eggert and his company, Keystone-Pacific, have hired at least eight former Pacific Foods employees -- in violation of an agreement not to recruit those Pacific Foods employees for five years.

Eggert and his late father-in-law, Ed Lynch, founded Pacific Foods in 1987. The Tualatin-based company grew into an empire of soups, hummus, almond drinks and other products before finalizing its sale to Campbell Soup in December 2017.

Eggert didnt immediately return messages seeking comment Wednesday.

Pacific Foods co-founder Chuck Eggert. (Campbell Soup Co. via the Associated Press)

Although the lawsuit doesnt say exactly what the recently acquired employees are doing for him, Eggert has been busy with new ventures, including opening his first Basics Market store in the Hollywood neighborhood of Northeast Portland last September. The small-format grocer focuses on healthy local produce, meat and dairy products.

Among the former Pacific Foods employees that the suit claims Eggert hired are a director of research and development, three engineers, a quality assurance manager, the vice president of operations and supply chain, a maintenance technician and a box truck driver.

All eight are critical to the operations of Pacific Foods, the suit states. For example, the engineers were responsible for installing and maintaining Pacific Foods complex production lines, according to the suit.

About seven months after Campbell Soup bought Pacific Foods, it learned Eggert had hired five long-term employees, the suit says. When a lawyer for Campbell Soup sent Eggert and others a letter warning them that the hiring must stop, a lawyer for Eggerts Keystone-Pacific responded that the company hadnt violated the sales agreement.

The original letter and its response are attached to the lawsuit.

(T)here has not been any effort to solicit, target, or pursue any Pacific Foods employees, the response read. The few employees who now work at Keystone-Pacific each independently contacted Chuck Eggert directly and on his or her own initiative.

That, Keystone-Pacifics lawyer wrote, doesnt violate any agreement with Pacific Foods new owners.

The lawsuit, filed by a subsidiary of Campbell Soup, states that after that exchange of letters, Eggert and Keystone-Pacific continued this past February to hire Pacific Foods employees, which the lawsuit again says violates the sales agreement.

Portland attorneys Sarah Crooks and Kristina Holm filed the lawsuit on behalf of Campbell Soup. Read the lawsuit here.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.A 47-year-old man was convicted Tuesday of second-degree intimidation, a hate crime under Oregon law, for threatening to kill a gay man in Southwest Portland.

Scott Wayne Smith changed his plea to no contest as his trial was scheduled to start. Smiths sentence includes 21 days in jail with credit for time already served, two years of probation and a list of conditions, including staying away from the victim and the apartment complex where the crime occurred and preparing an apology letter.

A Portland police investigation showed Smith approached two men sitting outside a residence on Aug. 13 to ask for a cigarette and started using homophobic language and threatened to kill the men when they didnt respond, according to the Multnomah County District Attorneys Office.

The residence is part of a treatment community that involves people diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, and many of the people living there are gay, the District Attorneys Office said in a news release.

Smith is a neighbor of the apartment complex and has previously threatened to bomb it, the prosecutors office said.

"Everyone deserves the right to feel safe in our community. Scott Smith took that right, and the sense of security, away from the victim as well as the other residents living at this particular apartment complex, said Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero, who prosecuted the case.

We believe this is an appropriate resolution that holds Mr. Smith accountable for specifically targeting the victim based on his sexual orientation, which is a protected class in Oregon," Marrero said.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLiveThe FBI has rebuffed a formal request from Oregons senior U.S. senator and wont turn over information it might have about a growing number of cases where students from Saudi Arabia vanished while facing criminal charges around the country.

The bureau delivered its decision several weeks after Sen. Ron Wyden asked Christopher Wray, the head of the FBI, about the cases during an open congressional hearing and later inquired in writing if the agency had evidence that the Saudi government provided assistance to the suspects. Their alleged crimes have included rape, manslaughter and felony assault.

The FBI takes seriously the concerns you raised with FBI Director Wray  and in your letter, regarding allegations that a foreign power may have unlawfully assisted individuals in the United States to escape or avoid prosecution, wrote Jill Tyson, the bureaus assistant director of congressional affairs.

The bureau, however, does not comment on the status or existence of any potential investigative matter, Tyson said.

The response, dated March 7 but released Tuesday, is the latest received by Wyden, who has also asked detailed questions to the U.S. Department of Justice, State Department and Customs and Border Protection about the disappearances. All but Customs and Border Protection have issued short, written statements that provide little insight into a subject thats generated national and international headlines.

I have pressed on the administration in public and in private to explain this pattern of Saudi fugitives leaving the country, Wyden, a Democrat, said in a statement. With the exception of Customs and Border Protection, it appears no agency is willing to explain to Oregonians or the American people whats being done in response to at least nearly two dozen individuals who have fled U.S. justice.

Wyden began pressing the Trump administration for information after The Oregonian/OregonLive revealed criminal cases involving at least five Saudi nationals who disappeared from Oregon before they faced trial or completed their jail sentence, including those who had surrendered their passports to authorities.

The news organization has since found similar cases in at least seven other states  Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin  and Canada, bringing the total number of Saudi suspects who have escaped prosecution to 25.

At least 22 of the suspects were attending universities in the U.S. and Canada. The Saudi Arabian government provided bail and legal fees to nearly all of them.

Federal law enforcement officials told The Oregonian/OregonLive in December they believe the Saudi government helped at least one of these suspects, Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, return home before his 2017 trial in the hit-and-run death of a Portland teen. Prosecutors in Ohio allege Saudi officials helped orchestrate manslaughter suspects disappearance in 1988.

The Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington, D.C., has previously said that, as a policy, the Saudi government will cover the cost of bail for any citizen jailed in the U.S. who asks for assistance. The kingdom also has denied playing any role in helping Saudi citizens escape prosecution in the U.S.

Though longtime allies, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia dont share an extradition treaty. That makes the return of any Saudi suspect who has left the U.S. unlikely if not impossible without diplomatic or political pressure.

During a February meeting, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan informed Wyden that his agency and others within the Trump administration had begun investigating how these suspects left.

It remains unclear to Wyden, however, what the size and scope of that investigation might look like, or if it will lead to any concrete results.

The State Department in February told him that it was unlikely to play any role in trying to secure the return of Noorah, the man accused of killing 15-year-old Fallon Smart in Portland, suggesting it would not seek diplomatic measures.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department said in a letter to the senator last month that federal law enforcement options are limited when it comes to Saudi nationals accused of crimes in the U.S. who have returned to their country.

It is astounding that an administration so devoted to demonizing innocent refugees, Wyden said, is apparently unconcerned that people suspected of violent crimes were able to leave the country without consequence.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.

Read other stories from this series:

He was accused of killing a Portland teen. Feds believe the Saudis helped him escape

Gone: More cases emerge of Saudi students vanishing while facing Oregon charges

Saudi students who vanish before trial span states, decades

Oregons Merkley and Wyden seek to punish Saudi Arabia over students who vanished before trial

Oregons Wyden prods FBI director for answers about Saudi role in student disappearances

Not just Oregon: Saudi students in at least 8 states, Canada vanish while facing criminal charges

Feds launch investigation into disappearance of Saudi students facing U.S. charges

State Department says it wont intervene after manslaughter suspect returns to Saudi ArabiaBy Peter Rose

Peter Rose is a renter and director of property management for Bristol Urban Apartments.

As a renter and employee for a property management firm in Portland, I strongly urge members of City Council to consider the full scope of the proposed rental screening ordinance presented by Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, which is both ill-conceived and dangerous. While the policy seeks to reduce barriers to housing for Portlanders living on the margins, the negative consequences are considerable.

First, as a renter myself, I count on my buildings management company to properly vet my neighbors. But Eudaly is proposing changes that force landlords to choose one of two terrible options: Either follow the low-barrier screening criteria that she lays out, which eliminates basic protections that ensure all renters are safe; or go through an individualized screening process so onerous that landlords would need lawyers to help screen each and every applicant. Neither achieves the goal of better protections for existing and future renters.

Under Eudalys low-barrier screening criteria, landlords would be forced to accept convicted felons (including those found guilty of sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence, burglary, vandalism and murder), if the felon was sentenced more than seven years ago.

Given the high rates of recidivism in this country, my concerns about safety are warranted. A 2014 study of 400,000 released prisoners in 30 states found:

Within three years of release, about two-thirds of released prisoners were rearrested.

Within five years of release, about three-quarters of released prisoners were rearrested.

Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half were arrested by the end of the first year.

Property offenders were the most likely to be rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property offenders arrested for a new crime.

Furthermore, with the new state law restricting landlords ability to terminate leases after 12 months, property managers have little recourse to remove a resident for committing a crime. I know that seems odd. If a neighbor commits a crime, they can be removed for cause, right? But to utilize a legal eviction, another resident must testify against the offender. If I were in that position, I would move rather than testify against a potentially violent neighbor. This is an additional cost to renters and creates unstable housing for law-abiding residents.

I am also a property manager for Bristol Urban Apartments, a locally owned firm specializing in management and historic preservation for the past 29 years. As a property manager, I find it hard to believe that it is in a renters best interest to lower the income requirement to 2 or 2.5 times the monthly rent, as Eudalys low-barrier screening criteria demands. It is common knowledge that any household should not spend over 30 percent of their gross income on living expenses. Requiring many management companies to lower this benchmark increases risk that residents will be evicted for not being able to afford rent, which would increase their barriers to housing in the long run.

Sure, landlords could refuse the low-barrier approach and choose to conduct individualized assessments of each tenant. But thats not really a viable option considering the unfeasible hurdles set forth in the policy which would require lawyers to navigate.

Finally, this eight-page ordinance would create an extensive bureaucracy, made apparent in the incredibly complex flow chart released by Eudalys office that supposedly instructs landlords on the process. In reality, landlords will need legal advisors to comply, which increases costs and ultimately rents too.

As a renter and someone working in the industry, I appreciate our council members working to combat the housing crisis. But I implore them to fully vet these policies rather than just accepting an idea.By Jim Bauer

Bauer is president of the Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Recently, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden announced his intention to sponsor legislation addressing corrupt admissions practices at elite colleges. He is proposing to end the tax benefit for donations made to postsecondary institutions before or during the enrollment of the child of a donors family.

We share Wydens disgust over these allegations of bribery and corruption. However, the Oregon Alliance of Independent Colleges and Universities, which represents the interests of 16 private, nonprofit, independent colleges and universities in Oregon, is deeply concerned about this possible legislation.

Access to higher education is both a right and a privilege. A college degree has, for generations, opened the door to a meaningful and productive life for countless students of all socioeconomic backgrounds. The Department of Justice is right to prosecute the crimes allegedly committed by and for some of our countrys most privileged and wealthy individuals. But Wydens proposal will not stop millionaires from giving bribes; rather, his proposal will have a crippling financial effect on higher education institutions.

Legal and ethical charitable gifts to private colleges and universities benefit more applicants than just the child of the donor. These gifts help the institutions in our association provide a high-quality educational environment and options for their students. These gifts endow chairs, fund student scholarships, create new academic programs, support facilities and more. These gifts boost our successful education model which, in turn, generates economic activity in the communities, improves the livability of their neighborhoods and provides a workforce of skilled and talented graduates for Oregon.

Were concerned that Wydens proposed bill will discourage critical alumni gifts, thus harming nonprofit private colleges. Private colleges receive little funding from tax dollars, unlike our public university counterparts. As such, our institutions depend on charitable gifts from parents, alumni, and friends to support their missions and improve affordability, access, and scholastic success for our students. Discouraging individuals from making modest gifts to our institutions may adversely impact our efforts to increase scholarships and aid intended to make private college more affordable for underrepresented students.

The collective reputation of our nations colleges and universities are being called into question by the admissions scandal. In practice, private colleges and universities are compassionate and thoughtful in their admissions processes. The disgraceful actions of a small number of individuals should not sully the principled work of higher education professionals , or the selfless and generous contributions of individuals wishing to support higher education. We implore our elected officials to support policies that encourage individuals to continue making gifts to colleges and universities, like those in our alliance, as we offer a unique education while also supporting families, students, and local economies across Oregon.By Jamila Singleton Munson

Munson is pursuing her doctorate in education at Lewis and Clark College and previously ran for the Portland School Board. She works at Teach For America managing national Institute for incoming new teachers focused on culturally relevant pedagogy.

Activism is defined by some as survivors organizing against harm. For example, the advocacy of renowned activist Tarana Burke, the founder of the #metoo movement, demonstrates how advocacy can support community members by elevating the voices of those who experience sexual violence and trauma.

Who are our local activists protecting our black children across Portland Public Schools from the trauma of racism in failing a school system? Racism is a structured condition and an institutional relationship with power, as noted by Zeus Leonardo, an associate education professor at the University of California at Berkeley. This structured condition results in people of color experiencing marginalization, limitations and lowered chances for success in schools. While everyone is experiencing a resource-strapped environment in Oregon schools, black children are experiencing the trauma of crisis and failure with disproportionate outcomes.

According to the Black Student Success Plan developed by the Oregon Department of Education, black middle school students are two times more likely to experience punitive discipline than white students in Oregon schools. We need to fully fund our school system to ensure resources are distributed more meaningfully to support students and education professionals. But another critical shortage comes in the lack of diversity in our locally elected governance, with no black representation.

The local Portland School Board has the authority to set policy and provide supervision to Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero and support or challenge his vision and direction for student learning. Student learning is arguably the most important priority the Board must consider and is contingent on practices and policies related to discipline, curriculum, assessment, and teacher professional development. We need our board members to be accountable for student outcomes. Black activism must be at the table to advocate for policies that protect black children from further victimization in our school system. Black activism that disrupts the silencing and marginalization of the black community. With recent accounts of botched community engagement, and hurried decisions regarding law enforcement in schools, and school calendaring, board officials were forced to question their priorities and acknowledge their impact. Loud voices of community members, black community members brought attention that resulted in rescinded policy decisions and apologies from board officials. It is time we have a loud voice on the PPS Board going forward, looking out for the black families within PPS.

Black students need more support against harm. How does the board address the disproportionality of discipline and punishment and keep black students in class? How do we keep black students in school and address chronic absenteeism? Why are black students currently performing disproportionately to white students for reading and math, with low growth and low achievement as measured by the winter administration of the standardized assessment (MAP assessment-Measure of Academic Performance) as communicated at theMarch 12 PPS Board meeting? How do we know that the districts Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum will meet the needs of black students?

Our neighboring school districts  Clackamas, David Douglas, Centennial,Parkrose, and Beaverton  all have black community members with a seat at the school board table. It is time to open the door for black activism on the PPS Board. I acknowledge how critical it is for black students and families that the incumbent, Paul Anthony has stepped aside and opened the door for one of the three black candidates in Zone 2 to step into governance for Portland schools.

From my own personal experience, running a city-wide campaign in Portland is expensive, which limits who from the community can run. When I ran in 2017, my campaign raised more than $100,000 to reach voters across the city. Then there is fear. In addition to raising a great deal of money, black candidates face the compounded challenge of liberalism that creates gatekeepers who claim they are not racist but will tar and feather candidates publicly, as community members did to me during my 2017 campaign for my employment with Teach For America and previous employment with charter schools.

This time around, liberal- and progressive Portland, our black candidates are stepping into this campaign and we as community members can demonstrate behaviors, attitudes and actions that reinforce how much we want and need them as elected in our community. Our behaviors can support and listen to their narrative and provide them the opportunity to shape their own story. Limit the gatekeeping and maximize the space for the civic engagement of our diverse community.

And I encourage you to come out to the community organized Black Voices Candidates Forum on April 13th at Marantha Church to hear the candidates speak to questions and engage with and alongside our black community as they approach this important transition in PPS governance.By David Rogers

Rogers is executive director of the ACLU of Oregon

District attorneys and their prosecutors are the most powerful actors in the criminal justice system. How they go about their job can fundamentally impact peoples lives for better or for worse.

DAs and their staff are making choices on a daily basis about who they charge, the severity and number of charges, who gets access to treatment and diversion programs and who doesnt, which victims get access to services and support, and whether prosecutors are paying attention to reducing racial disparity.

In November 2016, and again in 2018, the ACLU of Oregon submitted public records requests to all 36 of Oregons district attorney offices in order to better understand what written policies were shaping their work. It took two years and hundreds of dollars to get a partial but insightful glimpse of what exists. What we learned through this research left us deeply concerned.

Only 13 of the 36 DA offices demonstrated that they have a meaningful set of written policies for the core functions of their office, while 15 others have no written policies all.

What is even more concerning is that 11 district attorneys refused to respond to either our 2016 request, our 2018 request or both of them in direct violation of the states public records law.

A basic set of policies that guide the core functions of every district attorney office in Oregon shouldnt be seen as a luxury. Such policies serve many critical purposes. Clear and formal policies help ensure there is consistency to how attorneys in their office prosecute people. They set standards for behavior and expectations on critical issues where there is no guiding law. Policies create mechanisms for holding DAs and their staff accountable while providing clarity of expectations and critical information for victims, defendants, other justice system stakeholders , and the public at large.

Basic district attorney policies should be easily available to the public, but, in fact, they are quite difficult to access. Collecting these policies required public records requests and, in some cases, money to cover staff time for producing these documents. Meanwhile, a surprisingly large number of district attorneys, who have sworn to uphold the law, are ignoring the states public records law in a blatant disregard for governmental transparency.

We have seen the publics trust in the criminal justice system erode in recent years, which is a damaging trend that severely limits the effectiveness of our system. A lack of transparency is a major contributing factor to that disintegration of public confidence.

We compiled some of our related research and analysis in a report available on the ACLU of Oregons website called A Peek Behind the Curtain: Shining Some Light on District Attorney Policies in Oregon.

The report examines the tremendous discretion DAs and their prosecutors have within the justice system. The law provides DAs with an incredible amount of room to maneuver. This means that the vision, values, and understanding of the best public safety strategies of individual district attorneys have lasting impacts.

How each district attorney is applying and interpreting the law is clearly different from county to county, and those differences affect Oregonians in profound ways. It can determine whether a young person is thrown into the adult system, whether someone struggling with addiction gets treatment or a felony conviction, or whether a defendant who also happens to be an undocumented immigrant will face deportation proceedings and be separated from his or her family.

As the most powerful actors in the criminal justice system, the policies that inform how prosecutors offices are run and how they make decisions shouldnt be a mystery. Every DA office should have them, and those policies should be easily available to the public. Neither is currently the case.

The Oregon Legislature can help fix this. House Bill 3224 would require every district attorney office in the state to develop a baseline set of policies, make them easily available to the public and update them every five years.

Just trust us is not good enough. With no state requirements, DA offices can essentially operate in the dark, outside of public view, without any pressure to evolve and update their priorities and procedures to reflect best practices and improve outcomes.

I hope each of the 36 elected district attorneys supports this bill as an earnest and needed attempt to modernize the states criminal justice system and become more transparent, effective, and accountable.

This post was updated to clarify that 11 district attorneys did not respond to one or both of the ACLUs queries.The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, Oregon AFL-CIO and many leading unions agree with Frank Albys op-ed, Ban plastic bags, but dont charge for paper (March 31).

If House Bill 2509 passes with a paper bag fee, it will cost Oregon good, family wage jobs and hurt working families.

We share Mr. Albys concerns about the report from Californias experience with their version of HB 2509. Retailers circumventing protections for individuals on social assistance programs and the quick call for even higher fees should concern us all. However, one of the most alarming data points in the California report shows that paper bag usage dropped 61 percent in the first six months after they passed a 10-cent bag fee.

Such a drop in paper bag usage would be devastating on manufacturing jobs, forest product jobs and local economies. Many of the paper bags used throughout the country are made in Oregon. The pulp and paper portion of the industry alone provides nearly 4,300 jobs and over $370 million in annual payroll income in Oregon. Another high percentage reduction in the use of fully recyclable and completely reusable paper bags will injure our industry and eliminate jobs.

Oregon stores already offering free paper bags where plastic has been banned show us that type of fee is an unnecessary gift to grocery store profits on the back of working families. For jobs, for consumers and our environment, legislators must take the mandatory paper bag fee out of HB 2509.

Gregory Pallesen

Pallesen is president of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper WorkersWILLITS, CALIF. -- Sarah Hart had a toxic level of Benadryl in her system when the SUV carrying her family plunged off a California cliff last year, the doctor who performed her autopsy testified Wednesday.

At least three of her children also had elevated levels of the drug in their systems, but their levels were less than toxic, Dr. Greg Pizarro said during the first day of a coroner's inquest into the deaths of Sarah and Jennifer Hart and their six adopted children, ages 12 to 19.

The proceedings will continue Thursday when the lead investigator testifies about the evidence he has compiled in the months after the crash.

A tourist tipped off authorities to the wreckage of the familys GMC Yukon at the bottom of an oceanside cliff on March 26, 2018. Emergency responders discovered five bodies in or near the overturned SUV at the edge of the surf.

The SUV was found below a wide scenic lookout point less than 15 miles north from where Jennifer Hart was last spotted buying food in the city of Fort Bragg. It remains unknown whether authorities ever learned the exact reason she drove over the cliffs edge.

Emergency responders found the mothers' bodies and those of Markis, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14, soon after the crash. They found 12-year-old Sierra's body in the weeks after the crash. A foot belonging to 16-year-old Hannah was found later that spring. No trace of Devonte, 15, has ever been found.

Pizarro, a forensic pathologist who has autopsied hundreds of bodies for Mendocino and other California counties, discussed his autopsies of Jennifer and Sarah Hart and four of their children. He said he found no injuries to indicate that anyone except Jennifer Hart was wearing a seat belt when the SUV slammed into the rocks.

He said he believes all died almost instantly after the crash from spinal injuries they received upon impact. The body of the Harts youngest daughter, Sierra, was found two weeks after the crash and was too decomposed to make a conclusive determination, he said.

Mendocino County deputies began investigating the crash as a crime after they observed there were no skid marks where the car went off the cliff.

The case has brought national attention to Mendocino County, a county of 88,000 a two hour's drive north of San Francisco. Mountain ranges dot the terrain and open up to the Pacific Ocean coastline where the Hart family died.

About 30 people, almost all police, attorneys and reporters, attended the first day of the inquest at the Willits Justice Center, a building that also houses the towns police force and sits next to the city hall. More than 300 people tuned in to the testimony being livestreamed on YouTube.

Officials expect the proceeding to conclude by Friday after a jury of 14 people returns with eight separate conclusions about the manners of death for each family member.

The inquest also has another purpose: to make public the evidence gathered during the investigation. It is the first public forum in which authorities plan to tie together evidence collected by three different law enforcement agencies in two states.

Attorney Matthew Guichard, hired to oversee the hearing, guided the testimony of six officials by asking a list of questions he wrote after reading police reports.

In addition to Pizarro, two California Highway Patrol officers, a Mendocino County sheriff's deputy, the county's search and rescue coordinator and a detective from Clark County, Washington, testified about what they found in the days and weeks after the crash.

The family lived in the Portland area during the final five years of their lives, first in Wilsonville and then in rural Clark County north of Vancouver.

Clark County Sheriffs Office Detective Adam Beck discussed the evidence that his agency had previously disclosed in response to public records requests. He also disclosed that searches of the familys bank records turned up nothing significant that would indicate they were planning to take a long trip.

Three more investigators will take the stand tomorrow. No one has yet said what information was found on the laptops, iPad, flash drives and at least one cell phone authorities collected after the crash.

Pizarro, the forensic pathologist, revealed toxicology results from the five first Hart autopsies he conducted, but not from his examination of Sierras body, as it had spent weeks in the ocean. Any evidence that she had diphenhydramine, the active ingredient of Benadryl, in her system would have washed away, he said.

Her siblings Markis, Abigail and Jeremiah, who were found near the SUV, all had levels of the drug in their system that was significantly higher the therapeutic range, Pizarro said.

He described the level of Benadryl in their mother Sarah Harts system as toxic. She may have been drowsy, hallucinating and experiencing heart palpitations or tremors, Pizarro said.

Toxicology tests showed Jennifer Hart had an elevated level of alcohol in her system, 0.102 percent, above the legal limit for driving, Pizarro said.

Days before the crash, Washington child welfare officials were called to the familys home to investigate reports that food was being withheld from the children.

In reference to a question about Markis and Abigail, Pizarro said he did not see any signs the children were malnourished.

They didnt look like they were emaciated, he said.

He did not state the childrens heights, nor did he note that Markis and Jeremiahs weights put them in the bottom 10 percent of young men their ages and that Abigails weight was too low to be listed on the growth chart for girls her age.

He described all of the childrens injuries as consistent with being in a high-speed, rollover crash.

Jennifer Hart also had many external injuries, he said. Its impossible to know what injuries she sustained in the crash and what injuries occurred after her body fell out of the SUV onto the rocky coastline as authorities towed it up the cliff, Pizarro said.

Mendocino County Deputy Sheriff Robert Julian said he saw Jennifer Hart's body and a backpack fall out of the wreckage. The bag contained at least one cell phone, flash drives and credit cards belonging to the couple, he said.

Sarah Hart's body was pinned inside the wreckage between the passenger seat and the roof, said California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Covington.

In the next days, dozens of volunteers returned to the coast to search for the bodies of the three children that were missing, said Jared Chaney, commander of Mendocino Countys search and rescue team.

Searchers worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to estimate where the bodies had likely floated. At one point, more than 85 people from search and rescue teams across California collectively combed a miles-long expanse. The crews used high-powered telescopes, drones, divers and people specially trained to climb dangerous terrain. They also used dogs trained to find people and human remains.

Ocean waters washed new debris onto the beach and out to sea every day, Chaney said, complicating the search. "Every tide period would reset the beach," he said.

Crews never found any human remains. Chaney said beachcombers found the body of Sierra Hart on a beach north of the crash site. Another person located a foot belonging to her sister Hannah Hart more than a month later.

At first, the person thought they had located a shoe attached to part of a pair of pants. But that persons dog would not leave the objects alone, and officials later discovered the foot inside, Chaney said.

This story was updated with additional information about Wednesdays testimony.

-- Molly Young

myoung@oregonian.comThe U.S. Senate has launched an investigation into a national corporations homes for people with disabilities in response to a report in The Oregonian/OregonLive about substantiated abuse at one of the companys Oregon facilities.

The newsroom reported in January that Oregon regulators shuttered a Mentor Network home in Curry County following extensive evidence that a client had been severely neglected. State regulators found that managers repeatedly ignored caregivers concerns about the disabled persons festering pressure wound, including that it smelled of rotting flesh.

When vulnerable Americans are abused or even killed in the care of a taxpayer-funded care provider, that organization must be held accountable, Sen. Ron Wyden, D.-Ore., the committees ranking member, said in a statement Tuesday.

The Senates Committee on Finance, chaired by Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent letters Tuesday to the Oregon and Iowa branches of the The Mentor Network, demanding copies of a raft of compliance records by months end. The company operates in 36 states, serving about 13,000 people in group homes and 19,000 in non-residential settings.

The director of Mentor Networks local company, Mentor Oregon, confirmed she received a letter from the committee.

We take our obligation to do all we can to ensure the health and well-being of those we serve extremely seriously, Yvette Doan said in a written statement.

The U.S. Senates investigation comes on the heels of renewed oversight by state regulators who have been closely monitoring Mentor Oregon since finding problems in Curry County in late 2017. This marks the second attempt by the Department of Human Services to force Mentor Oregon to make its facilities safer for residents.

Three business days after the newsrooms Jan. 10 report about the Curry County home, state officials took the rare step of ordering surprise inspections of all Mentor Oregon homes.

Lilia Teninty, director of the state division responsible for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, said the review was prompted by the discovery of neglect at a Curry County group home in January. Its the most aggressive step the agency has taken in her four and a half years at the agency against any company, she said.

Officials have since found systemic low-level violations at 15 of the companys 24 group homes. They are investigating a death at a Klamath County home that the department said could have been caused by neglect.

Alarmed by those findings, state regulators in February prohibited Mentor Oregon from accepting any new clients in its homes pending substantial improvements. The agency also suspended a Winston group homes license this month after discovering eight violations.

There is reliable evidence of systemic abuse and neglect by Mentor Oregon, the agency wrote in a Feb. 15 letter to Doan.

The company had the most confirmed cases of abuse and neglect in 2018 of any company with homes for people with disabilities, according to data provided by the agency.

Oregon previously prohibited all Mentor facilities from accepting new clients in November 2017 in response to problems identified at the home in Curry County. Regulators then lifted the sanctions piecemeal through December 2018, when the company agreed to shut down its home in the city of Brookings.

We fully expected that the actions that we took should have resulted in improvements in quality of care, Teninty said of the year-long effort to improve conditions in Mentor homes.

Mentor told Oregon it had changed training practices and taken other steps to ensure clients were safe. Doan told the newsroom in December that the company developed an extensive quality improvement plan, trained staff and worked closely with health officials to improve services.

Yet in January, just one month after closing the Brookings facility, regulators found more problems at a different home in Curry County.

A quadriplegic client had a bedsore and smelled foul to the point of gagging, according to a report Mentor Oregon staff filed with officials at the time. Staff didnt bathe the person often enough because the home was short-staffed, the facility manager told officials, according to a state report.

The group homes report to the state also said Mentor staff ignored a second resident for hours at a time, and allowed the person to stand in feces while staff washed the person down after using the bathroom.

Mentor Oregon now has one month to provide extensive documentation about its operations to the Senate committee. Grassley and Wyden have requested six years of abuse reports and state investigations, the names and positions of staff, staff-to-client ratios in each facility and training records.

The Committee on Finance oversees the federal Medicaid program, which pays for the vast majority of people in group homes. Committee staff have had three conversations with Teninty in recent months to ask about state oversight, she said.

The committee demanded similar records from The Mentor Networks Iowa branch, citing reports that clients had been sexually abused.

This is the committees second investigation involving The Mentor Network. The previous one examined the companys for-profit child foster care homes. Investigators found that children in the companys care died at a rate 42 percent higher than the national average.

Have a tip about disability services in Oregon? Get in touch.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.SALEM - Oregons newest secretary of state, Bev Clarno, ceremonially took the oath of office on Wednesday at the state capitol. She succeeds Dennis Richardson, who died in February of brain cancer.

Clarno was appointed by Gov. Kate Brown. She was sworn in by Martha Walters, the chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.

Surrounded by family and friends, Clarno thanked the governor for appointing her. I am honored by the confidence you have placed in me, Clarno said.

Ray and Bev Clarno of Redmond and two of their great-grandsons.

The event was purely ceremonial, as the 83-year-old officially took the reins at the Secretary of States office on Sunday, when she was sworn in during a private ceremony.

That gave Clarno the authority to fire three top-level staffers in the office on Monday, including Deputy Secretary of State Leslie Cummings, who had been serving as the Acting Secretary of State in the time between Richardsons death and Clarnos appointment.

Clarno did not address the personnel changes during her remarks but praised the remaining employees who will work under her. I think I shook hands with 200 people yesterday, she said. Im telling you, theyre wonderful, dedicated people.

In an interview, Clarno explained the personnel changes. I think anytime youre going to go into a position like this where you have a lot of responsibilities, you want to build your own leadership team, and thats what I intend to do, she said.

Like Richardson, Clarno is a former Republican state lawmaker. She served as speaker of the House and later as the Senate Republican leader.

Brown was required by law to appoint a Republican in the wake of Richardsons death. Brown served alongside Clarno for about eight years in the Oregon legislature.

Clarno will be the fifth woman to serve as Oregon secretary of state. Her appointment means that for the first time, Oregon has four statewide officeholders who are women. The others are Brown, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle.

Brown had said she would only appoint someone as secretary of state who promised not to seek election to a full term. The appointed term runs until January 2021.

Ray Clarno, from left, Bev Clarno and Kerry Tymchuk

I will not be running, Clarno confirmed. I hope to be able to do the best job I can in this position, and that is my goal.

She said Brown did not bring up the question of whether Clarno would seek a full term when the governor interviewed her for the job. The one-on-one interview with Brown came after three previous interviews with the governors staff.

Prior to entering politics, Clarno was a pig farmer in central Oregon. As the speaker of the Oregon House, Clarno famously boasted to a male colleague that she had castrated as many as 200 hogs in one day.

Its not something shes done recently. Clarno hasnt castrated a hog since 1974, she said. But, she added, Its not something you forget.

Clarno said in her new role, shell listen closely to Oregon lawmakers, county clerks and citizens. My goal in listening is to ensure that the Secretary of States office is fulfilling its responsibilities in a professional and non-partisan manner, and that the tax dollars that fund our office are spent in the most cost-effective way possible, she said.Oregon regulators have disclosed the deaths of two children in licensed day care in 2011 and 2012, bringing to three the number of fatalities the state failed to report publicly until being pressed by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Last month, the newsroom reported that regulators chose to withhold from the public the August death of 9-month-old William Cannon by citing an ongoing criminal investigation by Eugene police.

Now the Office of Child Care concedes it did not disclose deaths involving children cared for by Little Rascals in Portland on Jan. 25, 2011, and by Annies Kids in Clackamas on Aug. 21, 2012.

A spokeswoman for the agency, Melanie Mesaros, said Tuesday she could not immediately provide the age or gender of the children or the circumstances of either death.

The most recent disclosures mean a total of 12 children in licensed Oregon child care facilities died since 2008, up from nine that the state reported prior to The Oregonian/OregonLives reporting.

Mesaros said the Office of Child Care did not intend to mislead the public. She blamed the states failure to provide accurate fatality statistics on changes the state made in 2013 tracking child welfare cases.

There is not a deliberate effort underway to not report fatalities, she said in a statement. Mesaros added that the agency has gaps in data, and we have tried to resolve these as we have been made aware of issues.

State licensing records show Little Rascals was renamed but closed by 2015. Annies Kids remains licensed. A message left Tuesday evening was not immediately returned.

No state or federal rules were in place years ago requiring the Office of Child Care to publicly disclose deaths from 2011 or 2012.

But The Oregonian/OregonLive requested the information explicitly in December 2016. As part of an investigation into child care safety, the newsroom asked the state agency for an annual breakdown of all serious injuries and deaths since 2006.

State officials responded with data that did not include the 2011 or 2012 fatalities. The newsroom subsequently published a front-page story that spotlighted deaths and injuries in day cares based on the data.

The admission that Oregon failed to report the two deaths represents the latest blemish for embattled child care regulators. Gov. Kate Brown and her hand-picked early learning administrator, Miriam Calderon, pledged sweeping reforms following the newsrooms coverage in 2017.

But problems have continued. On Saturday, for example, the newsroom reported that the states chief medical examiner did not conduct a forensic autopsy in Williams death, leaving state and county officials pointing fingers about who was to blame.

The states decision to withhold information about Williams death prompted Oregon House Republicans last month to call for independent investigations into whether the decision was politically motivated. Williams death occurred during the contentious 2018 gubernatorial campaign and just days after Brown, the Democratic incumbent, fought attack ads labeling her soft on day care regulations.

Greg Stiles, a spokesman for House Republicans, said Tuesday that the revelation of more unreported deaths points to broader problems within the Early Learning Divisions Office of Child Care.

Theres something severely wrong in that department, he said.

The states failure to accurately quantify child care deaths stems from two distinct issues: one involving law enforcement, and the other poor data management by the state.

Officials say they did not disclose Williams 2018 death because of guidance from the Eugene Police Department, which is investigating the case.

Prompted by the states failure to report Williams death, The Oregonian/OregonLive asked state regulators if any other fatalities had not been disclosed since 2011. Four weeks later, the regulators told the newsroom about the 2011 and 2012 deaths.

Mesaros, the child care spokeswoman, said the state wasnt consistent in how it electronically documented day care deaths prior to 2013, when the Early Learning Division was formed.

She said officials have not reviewed records from earlier than 2011 to identify if other deaths have not been publicly disclosed.

Our priority is to focus on having quality systems that provide accurate information on the portal, she said of the states website.

Oregons governor last month directed a policy board for the Early Learning Division to evaluate how the state can share more accurate information online with parents. Formal recommendations are due Nov. 1.

The Office of Child Care already has updated its website to list the two deaths it discovered in response to questions from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Mesaros emphasized Tuesday that the state is trying to be as transparent as possible, going above and beyond federal requirements.

Under a 2014 federal law, Oregon and other states must publish online the aggregate number of child care deaths in licensed facilities each year. The state lists deaths at day care fatalities dating back to 2008, even though federal rules require only three years of aggregate data.

But in the interest of transparency, she said, we have been trying to include past information when it is available.

Reporter Molly Young contributed to this report.

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oregonian.com

503-294-7628

@_brad_schmidtThe Multnomah County employee who blew the whistle on mistreatment of patients at Legacys Unity Center for Behavioral Health has sued the county for retaliation and is seeking $1.1 million.

Greg Monaco, who worked as a county mental health investigator for nearly 30 years, alleges he was pressured to retire early after raising numerous concerns of abuse. He is also suing Legacy Health, the Unity Center and Chris Farentinos, the centers vice president, who resigned Feb. 1.

The suit, which was first reported by the Portland Tribune, was filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. In it, Monaco says he repeatedly told his bosses and county auditors about his concerns about understaffing, poor management and risks to patient safety at the Portland areas main mental health facility. Monaco also informed them of what he said was a culture of retaliation against nurses who expressed safety concerns.

Monaco says superiors and co-workers pressed him repeatedly to retire early and eventually he did, retiring a year and eight months earlier than he had planned. Monaco felt that the public interest required him to report and elevate the continuing serious health and safety issues that he learned of concerning Unity, the suit says.

Monaco concluded that the only way he could be free to report the dangerous and unlawful conduct at Unity and other facilities was to resign his employment.

Due in part to his whistle-blowing, patient deaths and other adverse patient outcomes were reported by many Portland news outlets, including The Oregonian/OregonLive, and outside investigations were launched.

Federal and state investigation of Unity ultimately revealed that two people died in preventable ways while at Unity as well as other instances of violence, sexual assault and poorly trained staff.

The top two Multnomah County officials overseeing Unity, including a safety official Monaco spoke to directly, have both been replaced. County officials refused last month to say whether they had been fired.

Monaco is being represented by Thomas Doyle of Bennett, Hartman, Morris & Kaplan, a firm that often represents labor unions and their members.

-- Betsy HammondIntels new chief financial officer is George Davis, who had been CFO at rival Qualcomm since 2013.

Davis, 61, is the first big hire for new Intel chief executive Bob Swan, who had been Intels CFO before getting the top job in January.

Under Swans predecessor, former CEO Brian Krzanich, Intel broke with a tradition of promoting internal executives and often went outside the company to fill significant openings. Swan went the same way Tuesday in picking Davis.

Intel and Qualcomm are heated competitors in the wireless chip market. Coming from a financial role, Davis may not bring a lot of technical expertise with him to Intel. But hes an industry veteran, having spent six years as CFO for key Intel supplier Applied Materials before joining Qualcomm.

Intels headquarters are in Silicon Valley but the companys largest and most advanced operation are in Washington County, where the chipmaker has 20,000 employees. An Oregon executive, Intel finance vice president Todd Underwood, had been serving as Intels interim CFO since the company promoted Swan to CEO.

On Wednesday, Intel said it will pay Davis up to $9 million in cash and stock annually, plus a hiring bonus valued at $14 million in cash and stock. He will be eligible for additional stock awards and stock purchase options, too.

Qualcomm valued his pay at $7.6 million in cash, stock awards and other compensation during 2018.

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699UPDATED 5:25 a.m. Thursday, April 4: Edilima Beatriz Morales Ramirez has been found safe, authorities said Wednesday night.

***

Washington County sheriffs deputies are asking for help finding a missing, endangered 17-year-old girl.

The county sheriffs office said Edilima Beatriz Morales Ramirez was last seen Tuesday evening at her aunts home near Southwest Tualatin Valley Highway and 331st Avenue, which is between Hillsboro and Cornelius. She is from Guatemala, deputies said, and has been in the U.S. for approximately three weeks.

The teen left without money or her phone. She doesnt have any known friends or other family in the area and doesnt know how to use public transit.

She was last seen wearing light blue jeans, a pink shirt and black and white Converse shoes.

Deputies ask anyone who has information about her location to call 503-629-0111.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.Midland native Evan Mills is returning to the area for a night of laughs and music. Mills will be featured Saturday in the Midland Center for the Arts' Made in Michigan series.

Performing arts have been a large part of Mills' life. He watched musicals growing up and made home movies with his friends.

"I loved the world of film and theater and wanted to know everything about it. I auditioned for my first musical my junior year of high school, and ever since then I knew I loved performing. I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do in life," he said.

Mills graduated from Midland High School in 2008 and after attending Delta College for two years he studied film at Columbia College Chicago. Two years later, he discovered The Second City, an improvisational theater troupe.

"I became fascinated by the world of improv and sketch comedy," Mills said. "I worked as a host, and I would pick up as many shifts as possible so I could watch these shows and study the actors, sometimes six times a week. I began taking classes and learning everything I could about the comedy world."

Mills found work as a bartender at the Annoyance Theatre & Bar, run by Mick Napier and Jen Estlin. The Annoyance Theatre became Mills' home, where Napier mentored him and encouraged him to try new things.

"It was the first theater that let me put up original work and let me try new things. I grew as a performer there, and it allowed me to find my voice as an artist."

As his interest in improv piqued, Mills auditioned for The Second City's Conservatory program, an advanced six-part improvisation course. While he didn't make the cut initially, Mills was successful on his second attempt. He then auditioned for The Second City's Bob Curry Program in 2017 and was one of 16 people to be accepted. Mills explained how that experience opened doors for him; he was offered a job with The Second City at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for a resident show and became a touring company understudy. He now performs weekly in "Legendary Laughs" at The Second City and has worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in its "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra."

"I still have a long way to go, but I am incredibly grateful for every single opportunity that has come my way since moving out here," he stated.

His is currently working on a musical, "Queer Eye: The Musical Parody," which he wrote and is performing in. The show is based on the Netflix series of the same name, has a cast of 11 and runs through April 27, with a possible reprise in June for LGBT Pride Month.

"I could not be happier with how it turned out. We are incredibly fortunate to be working with such a talented cast and production crew."

Mills encourages young prospective actors to set short-term goals; he personally establishes goals every six months. He also advised to not take on too much work and to pursue what you're truly passionate about.

"When you work hard, it will pay off. And when things start to get harder, work harder. It doesn't just happen overnight, and if you really love what you're doing, it will never feel like work."

On Saturday, Mills will perform some of the work he has done in Chicago, including singing original songs and featuring his comedy music duo Evan & Mary-Jane, as well as a number with Midland friends.

"It will be a night of comedy through music."

Mills will perform at MCFTA at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6. Tickets are $19 and can be purchased at www.mcfta.org, by calling 989-631-8250 or in person at the Ticket Office.La Union (CNN Philippines Life)  In 2014, I moved out of Manila to live in San Juan, La Union  the Surfing Capital of the north. In the five years since Ive left the city, Ive learned that getting out was the easy part. Quitting jobs, saying goodbye, and packing your entire life into boxes so you could change addresses  these belonged to the honeymoon stage of moving. The real work began much later.

On the first year, my days were filled with the rosy tinge of seaside living. I could wake up and walk to the beach. I enjoyed the flexibility of freelance work while learning new skills like brewing specialty coffee. The best part was that eight months out of 12, I got to surf my heart out.

The skills that I honed in the city  copywriting, social media management, and a bit of design  proved to be useful in a place that was still developing its creative workforce. The more my Manila skills were utilized here, the more I realized just how necessary it was for Manila to disperse its talent pool. If more city-trained individuals could make the progressive move to the province, we could raise the competitive quality of work in our countrys less populated places.

In 2017, an opportunity to run a business arose for Pilar. But the business demanded daily attention, and before she knew it, her entire routine revolved around nothing but work. Photo courtesy of CAMILLE PILAR

If you looked at Urbiztondo Beach on a map, you would see that it was but a short stretch in the entire La Union region. Yet the bulk of development gravitated to the surf towns creative energy and cool coastal lifestyle. In two years, we felt an upswing in tourism. More houses were turned into hostels and homestays. Residential areas gave way to roadside shops and beachfront cafes. It was the beginning of a new era. Little did I know that the city life that I had left behind was slowly catching up to me.

In 2017, during my third year in La Union, the opportunity to put up a business arose. My parents had always urged me to take up an MBA, and there I was, learning the ropes of entrepreneurship straight from experience and not from a classroom. But I didnt want to do just business. I also wanted to address the sad reality that more tourists in La Union also meant more trash on the beach.

Together with my business partners, we turned our beachside coffee shop into a platform for upholding beach cleanliness. We worked to show guests and other businesses that progress could be balanced with preservation. For example, we took a risk when we decided that Clean Beach Coffee would not carry single-use takeout cups. Today, our reward is seeing our guests bring their own tumblers and mugs.

Pilar started Clean Beach Coffee, a coffee and food shop that advocates for reducing waste in La Union. Photo by EM CELERA

When Pilar was running her business, she barely had time for friends or for her hobbies. She burnt out. "Did I want to leave La Union now that it wasnt the sun-kissed story I was sharing on Instagram on my first year here?" Photo by MIKKI EDUARDO

Running the business demanded daily attention, and before I knew it, my entire routine revolved around nothing but work. It turned out that I didnt leave my workaholic tendencies back in Manila after all; I had carried them over to La Union. I missed surf sessions and sunset strolls because I couldnt pry myself off of a spreadsheet. On most days, I would be too tired from work to join my friends for drinks. I had no time for my hobbies, no energy to just spend time with myself, and I even lost the willpower to clean my house.

Working for bigger causes  such as fighting plastic pollution and protesting the proposal of a coal-powered plant in a neighboring town  drained my energy faster than I could recharge. I also contracted an airway disease that jolted me awake in coughing fits every night. Literally, I had forgotten how to breathe. I wasnt getting any sleep.

Did I circle right back to the same point that compelled me to leave Manila in the first place? Did I want to leave La Union now that it wasnt the sun-kissed story I was sharing on Instagram on my first year here?

Many reverse-migrants like me have sought to build a new life in the bustling tourist town in the last five years. However, only a handful have decided to stay for good. If anything was now evident to me, it was that leaving Manila did not promise a life without struggle.

So why move at all?

"When things dont go as scheduled, and even when the waves dont come as forecasted, the only thing to do is walk on the beach and enjoy the sun," writes Pilar. Photo courtesy of CAMILLE PILAR

Beyond living by the beach, learning how to run a business, and garnering a better understanding of myself, I was building a new support system, a second family, here in La Union.

At the peak of my burnout phase, moral support from other people poured in. A friend offered to help me clean my house while another expressed her concern by baking muffins. Other friends sent me poems and playlists to help uplift my heavy heart while others made me laugh until I forgot why I was sad in the first place. All along I thought I was losing control of my life that I failed to see all these people pushing me back up.

Today, I can finally admit that Ive been a control freak my entire life. My anxiety was self-induced because I was so used to thinking I could do everything on my own. I trusted nobody but me. I was never a good team player until now.

We change when we move to new places. We change even when we think we dont have to change. And those times that we least expect it are when we need to change the most.

Manila conditioned me to have everything so figured out but La Union taught me to be vulnerable again. Ive learned to trust the worlds inherent timing and it isnt something I should be adjusting according to my plans. When things dont go as scheduled, and even when the waves dont come as forecasted, the only thing to do is walk on the beach and enjoy the sun.Paducah, KY (42003)

Today

More clouds than sun. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 64F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low around 55F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.Contributed photo

Paducah police are seeking help identifying this man, who may have information about a theft that occurred in January. Anyone with information can contact police at 270-444-8550.Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA)  Tanzania risks to be engulfed in a constitutional crisis following a resolution by parliament on Tuesday to stop working with the countrys Controller and Auditor General (CAG)Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The European Union (EU) on Tuesday handed over a Cessna 208 reconnaissance aircraft to the Malian Ministry of Security and Emergency Preparedness to beef up security operations in the central Mopti region which has been under frequent terror attacks besides inter-communal conflictsPort-Louis, Mauritius (PANA)  Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, will make an official visit to Mauritius from 8 to 12 April, accompanied by a delegation that includes several ministers, official sources said on Wednesday in the Mauritian capitalDuring a While House meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday, President Donald Trump gave one of his most nonsensical press conferences to date, making numerous false claims (which well get into further down) and failing to pronounce the word origins. Instead, he swapped it for his favorite color in the crayon box, orange.

Since Attorney General William Barrs summary of the Mueller report was released, Trump has heralded it as exonerating him from collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice. In truth, the obstruction question is yet to be answered. The Independents Tom Embury-Dennis reported on Trumps comments, a number of which were criticisms of the Mueller probe into the presidents alleged connections with Russia:

I hope they now go and take a look at the oranges, the oranges of the investigation, the beginnings of that investigation, Mr Trump said. You look at the origin of the investigation, where it started, how it started, who started it, whether its McCabe or Comey or a lot of them.

Where does it go, how high up in the White House did it go? You will all get Pulitzer Prizes, ok? Youll all get Pulitzer Prizes. You should have looked at it a long time ago and thats the only thing thats disappointing to me about the Mueller report.

The Mueller report I wished covered the oranges, how it started, the beginnings of the investigation, how it started. It didnt cover that, and for some reason none of that was discussed.

Later on, when addressing Germanys contributions to NATO, Trump brought up his fathers German heritage.

My father is German, right? Was German, and born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany, he said  except for the fact that his dad was born in the U.S. In fact, his father Fred Trump greatly benefited from cheap housing loans from the U.S. government, which gave him the footing to begin his real estate empire.

It wouldnt be a Trump press conference without some sort of attack on science or the efforts to combat climate change. He lied and said that wind turbines caused cancer, which is a claim with zero evidence to back it up. The president also mistakenly called the turbines windmills. No word on if Trump thought he had suddenly been dropped into the Netherlands wearing wooden clogs and brandishing handfuls of tulips.

If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75% in value, he declared, according to the Independent. And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, okay? Rerrrr rerrrr!

Honestly, this would all be hilarious if Don Quixote here wasnt sitting in the Oval Office.

Finally, Trump had yet another authoritarian fanboy moment when discussing Chinese president Xi Jinping. Apparently, during a 2017 visit to Beijing, he called the leader a king.

He said, But I am not king, I am president. I said, No, youre president for life, and therefore youre king. He said, huh. He liked that. I get along with him great, Trump shared.

Its no secret that Trump goes gaga over rulers whose countries have limited freedom of speech and freedom of the press, where strongmen get to wield power with little-to-no oversight. His positive attitudes towards Brazils far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte (who has incited the deaths of thousands of Filipinos, mostly the urban poor), as well as his fruitless talks lending legitimacy to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, underscore Trumps true desires. Thats what he thought the presidency would be likeunbridled power, an unchecked exertion of his willand that is what hes attempting to do daily.Gina Priano-Keyser, residing in New Jersey, has filed a lawsuit against Apple. According to the formal complaint, "The Watches all contain the same defect and/or flaw, specifically, swelling lithium-ion batteries, which in turn causes Apple Watch screens to crack, shatter, or detach from the body of the Watch through no fault of the wearer, oftentimes only days or weeks after purchase. Gina's attorneys are pursing class action status as described in the 'Nature of the Action' below.

Nature of the Action

According to the formal complaint filed with the court, "The Plaintiff brings this action individually and on behalf of the proposed class (the Class), for the benefit and protection of all current and former owners of the Second Generation ("Series 2") and Third Generation ("Series 3") models of the Apple Watch (collectively Watch or Watches) purchased in New Jersey.

Plaintiff brings this class action on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated persons to obtain damages, restitution, as well as injunctive and other relief.

Apple started selling the Watches in April 2015, when it introduced its "First Generation" Apple Watch. Since April 2015, Defendant has released additional "generations" of the Apple Watch: the Series 1 and Series 2 Watches; and the Series 3 Watch; and the Series 4 Watch.

The Watches all contain the same defect and/or flaw, specifically, swelling lithium-ion (or "li-on") batteries, which in turn cause Apple Watch screens to crack, shatter, or detach from the body of the Watch (the "Defect"), through no fault of the wearer, oftentimes only days or weeks after purchase. Upon information and belief, the Defect is caused by aging or otherwise faulty li-on batteries, or by defective internal components of the Watches that regulate temperature, electrical currents, charging, and other mechanisms that could affect the Watches li-on batteries.

Apple knew that the Watches were defective at or before the time it began selling them to the public. Furthermore, consumers complained to Apple about the Defect almost immediately after Apple released the Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Watches.

Apple began to sell its Series 1 and Series 2 Watches in September 2016. Very shortly thereafter, consumers who purchased the Series 1 and Series 2 Watches complained that the screens on their Series 1 and Series 2 Watches had cracked, shattered, or completely detached from the body of their Watches. These consumers took their defective Watches to Apple Stores, contacted Apple Support, and posted their complaints on the Communities forum on apple.com.

Apple has persistently denied any widespread issue with Series 1 or Series 2 Watches, but, in April 2017, Apple acknowledged a swelling battery defect in certain first-generation Watches and extended its Limited Warranty for qualifying first generation Watches from one year to three years. Similarly, in April 2018, Apple acknowledged a swelling battery defect in certain Series 2 Watches and extended its Limited Warranty for qualifying Series 2 Watches from one year to three years.

Apple started selling its Series 3 Watch in September 2017. Shortly thereafter, consumers who purchased the Series 3 Watch reported that the screens on their Watches were cracking, shattering, or detaching from the body of their Watches, and lodged their complaints about the Series 3 Watches with Apple in the manners described above.

Since 2015, Apple has sold millions of Watches with the Defect throughout the United States, and either knew, or should have known, that the Watches contain the Defect and are not fit for their intended purpose. Nonetheless, Apple has actively concealed and failed to disclose the Defect to Plaintiff and Class members prior to, at, or after the time of purchase.

The Defect also poses a significant safety hazard to consumers, as it has caused a number of putative Class members to suffer cuts and burns in connection with the screens cracking, shattering and/or detaching from the body of the Watches. Notwithstanding the safety issues with the Watches, Apple did not disclose the defect to consumers.

Further, Apples conduct, when confronted with the Defect, indicates that its internal policy is to deny the existence of the Defect, claim the Defect is the result of accidental damage caused by consumers, and then refuse to honor its Limited Warranty on those grounds. Consumers that are refused coverage under the Limited Warranty are forced to incur the significant expense of repairing or replacing their defective Watches.

Apple knew that purchasers of the Watches would reasonably expect the screens to function in a predictable and expected manner during normal use, and Plaintiff and other consumers have precisely that expectation. Apple was also aware that purchasers of the Watches would reasonably expect that they would not pose a safety risk, and Plaintiff and other consumers have that expectation. Further, Apple knew that purchasers of the Watches would reasonably expect that the Defectwhen it manifested itselfwould be covered under its Limited Warranty, and again, Plaintiff and other consumers did have that expectation.

Had Plaintiff and other Class members known about the Defect at the time of purchase, they would not have bought the Watches, or would have paid less for them.

As a result of the Defect in the Watches and monetary costs associated with repair, replacement, or lost use of the Watches, Plaintiff and Class members have suffered injury in fact, incurred ascertainable loss and damages, and have otherwise been harmed by Apples conduct.

This action is brought to remedy violations of New Jersey consumer protection law in connection with Apples misconduct, including its conscious effort to conceal material facts concerning the Defect during the distribution, marketing, sale and advertisement of the Watches, as well the consumer and warranty as a result of Apples conduct performed with respect to the Watches.

Plaintiff and the Class allege violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act N.J.S.A.  56:8-1, et seq., ("CFA"), and breach of express and implied warranty as a result of Apples conduct."

For more details in this case, review the full Class Action lawsuit filings below provided to you courtesy of Patently Apple.

Case 2:2019cv09162 PRIANO-K... by Jack Purcher on Scribd

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.Patna: Dozens of people were injured, including a college girl, when riot broke out between Patna University students protesting the result of the last Students Union election and the police on duty during the swearing-in of the new President, Vice President, and other cabinet posts at the Wheeler Senate Hall on Monday.

{gallery}newsimages2018/apr/040918{/gallery}Amid the chaos outside, President-elect Divyanshu Bhardwaj, Vice President-elect Yoshita Patwardhan, Treasurer-elect Nitish Patel, General Secretary-elect Sudhanshu Jha and a few Councilors were sworn in by the PU election officials.

A number of elected students, however, boycotted the swearing-in ceremony to protest the assault on students by the Patna police.

As reported, minutes before the swearing-in ceremony was slated to begin at the Wheeler Senate Hall on Monday morning, hundreds of students protested the outcome of the election saying the High Court was wrong in overturning the university's decision to cancel the election of Bhardwaj and Patwardhan. Both were accused of providing false information or failing to disclose certain facts to the electoral body of the university that led the Vice Chancellor to declare their victories null and void.

However, last week the Patna High Court reversed the VC's decision declaring their election valid thus making room for today's swearing-in ceremony.

Protestors on Ashok Rajpath blocked the busy road and pelted stones at the police who were then ordered to use force to disperse the mob. The rowdy crowd also damaged a city bus full with passengers.

Cops then rained batons on the protestors outside the Wheeler Senate Hall. Several students, including Bhagya Bharti, a Magadh Mahila College student representing the All India Students' Federation (AISF) who was elected for the post of Councilor, received injuries.

Reports said Bharti passed out after being hit by the police baton and had to be rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) for treatment.

In protest against today's lathi charge, Azad Chand, the Joint Secretary-elect, tore up the oath paper saying he could not, in good conscience, go through the ceremony when many of his colleagues were the victims of police brutality.Patna: After delivering his speech in Jamui on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi headed straight to Gaya where he joined Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other NDA leaders in addressing a large crowd at the local Gandhi Maidan and thus officially kicking off the election season in the state.

Using the term Chowkidar to describe himself, a far cry from his previous slogan of Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi that was made popular during the 2014 campaign, the Prime Minister said that the publics chowkidar (sentry) had accomplished quite a bit in the last five years and whatever was left from his previous agenda, the chowkidar was up for the challenge to keep his promise in the second term.

Taking shots at his opponents, Modi said that while the chowkidar had the blessings of his Indian brothers and sisters living in India and abroad, two kinds of people, namely Maha-milawati (highly-contaminated)  a term coined by the Modi team to describe Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar and elsewhere; and terrorists were angry and annoyed at the chowkidar for keeping India safe.

Reminding people of the 2014 serial bomb blasts in Bodh Gaya, Patna, Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Hyderabad, the Prime Minister said that terrorists were earlier having a field day in India but once the NDA government came into power, all terrorists went into hiding.

Its the same police and the same intelligence as the last government so changed in the last five years? Modi did not do anything special, it was your vote that made the difference. Your votes sent the chowkidar to Delhi and now the results are in front of you. Congress leaders were branding Hindus as terrorists and were giving pass to the actual terrorists from Pakistan. Now that the chowkidar is using everything in its might to crush terrorism in India, these same people are now hurling abuse at the chowkidar, Modi said in his inimitable style of delivering speech.

The Prime Minister also praised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for bringing rapid development in the state while also taking credit for development in Gaya and Aurangabad.

Gaya and Aurangabad had been left behind in the race for development. Our government launched many schemes to allow them to catch up with other districts in Bihar. Today, these two are in the top five districts in the nation in terms of development, he said.

Earlier in Jamui, Modi addressed those asking for evidence of surgical strike on Pakistani terror camps as the spokespersons of Pakistan.

People of India will teach them a lesson in the coming elections, he said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in his speech, reminded people of the accomplishments of his own government including complete electrification of Bihar, the state being free from open defecation, improved road condition, free gas connection, free medical treatment up to Rs. 5 lakh to people living in poverty, Rs. 6000 to poor farmers each year, astronomical rise in state budget, the Seven Resolves by the government, drinking water at all households, and the plan to build metro train in Patna and airports across the state.Lenovos ThinkPad L390 Yoga is in many ways the quintessential work laptop. Its chunkier than many other thin-and-light laptops in its price range, but it also packs a lot of enterprise-friendly features, such as temperature and shock resistance and a variety of connection ports.

At the same time, the L390 Yoga has some nice touches to help it stand out from the enterprise pack, most notably a keyboard that feels great to type on and one of the best clicking mechanisms youll find on any trackpad today. If youre not planning to do much work outsideand can therefore tolerate the L390 Yogas limited screen brightnessthis might be your next workhorse.

Tech specs

We reviewed a $1,079 version of Lenovos ThinkPad L390 Yoga, which has a 13.3-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8265U processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, and Windows 10 Pro. True to Lenovos Yoga branding, the L390 has a 360-degree hinge so you can flip the screen around and use it like a tablet.

The exact configuration can vary depending on retailer, though. Staples and CDW, for instance, sell a $1,120 version of the L390 Yoga with an infrared camera for face recognition, but Lenovos website does not. You can also configure a model on Lenovos website for as little as $899, with 128GB of storage, no keyboard backlighting, no fingerprint reader, and Windows 10 Home instead of Windows 10 Pro. Conversely, you can build a fully-loaded laptop with a Core i7-8565U processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD for $1,893.

Design and display

The ThinkPad L390 Yoga isnt exactly thin and light. Weighing in at 3.44 pounds and measuring 0.74 inches thick, it feels more like a modernization of yesteryears hefty ThinkPads than a peer to svelte laptops like Dells XPS 13 and Lenovos own IdeaPad 730S.

Adam Patrick Murray/IDG Like other Lenovo Yoga laptops, the ThinkPad L390 can turn into a tablet or stand up in tent mode.

That feeling is reinforced by the ThinkPads display bezels, which measure 0.6 inches along the sides, with a 0.7-inch upper bezel and a 1.5-inch chin under the screen. Thick borders like those are common among convertible laptops, but we have seen some exceptions, such as HPs Spectre x360 13. Then again, those slicker laptops havent been subjected to the various shock, vibration, dust, and extreme temperature tests that the L390 Yoga has gone through.

The display itself is an IPS panel with great viewing angles, but its also one of the dimmest screens youll find on a laptop in this price range, maxing out at 258 nits brightness. By comparison, the aforementioned HP Spectre x360 13 reaches 350 nits, Microsofts Surface Pro 6 reaches 378 nits, and Lenovos IdeaPad 730S hits 317 nits. In practical terms, the L390 Yoga requires almost full brightness to use comfortably in well-lit rooms, and outdoor computing sessions can be frustrating.

Touchpad and keyboard

While the display is a letdown, Lenovo does put the ThinkPad L390 Yogas bulk to good use, with a keyboard that affords plenty of travel and feels snappy instead of mushy. You can type for hours on the ThinkPads shield-shaped keys without discomfort. In a typing test, I average 102 words per minute on the ThinkPad L390 Yoga, versus 105 words per minute on my usual mechanical keyboard, and I never felt uncomfortable going through the barrage of tests. (Apple could learn a thing or two from Lenovo at this point.)

Adam Patrick Murray/IDG The ThinkPad L390 Yogas keyboard is the star of the show, though wed like to meet someone who actually uses the TrackPoint nub.

Lenovo also manages to pack in more keys than usual for a laptop of this size, including an extra-wide Escape key and dedicated keys for Home/End/Insert/Delete. The arrow keys are all roughly the same size, with Page Up/Down keys placed comfortably above the left and right arrows. Theres even a bit of spacing between each cluster of four Function keys. The only nitpick is Lenovos continued insistence on putting the function key on the bottom-left corner of its ThinkPads, where most Windows laptops put a Control key instead. Flipping the Fn and Ctrl keys around requires a trip to BIOS settings, and leaves you with mislabeled keys.

The ThinkPad L390 Yogas luxurious feeling extends to the touchpad. With most laptops, I prefer tapping, because the clicking mechanism is too loud and rigid. Clicking the L390s trackpad almost feels like pressing a key on the keyboard, and I found myself using tap-to-click less often as a result. While the touchpad could be larger, it uses a mylar coating thats easy to glide around on.

Of course, the Yoga L390 also retains the ThinkPad lines iconic TrackPoint nub at the center of the keyboard, along with dedicated left- and right-click buttons above the touchpad. Ill never get used to the former, which now feels more like an aesthetic flourish than a useful input mechanism, but keeping one hand on the touchpad while using the other hand for button clicks can be efficient when youre not typing.

Ports and stylus

Beyond the keyboard and trackpad, the ThinkPad L390 Yoga justifies its hefty design by including plenty of ports.

This is the first time Lenovo has abandoned its proprietary ThinkPad charger, instead opting for three USB-C ports (two on the left side, one on the right). All three are USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, meaning they support transfer speeds up to 5Gbps. I was thankful for the change, especially after a recent trip in which I used a single charger for the laptop, an Android phone, and a Nintendo Switch. Lenovo also boasts of anti-fry protection on its USB-C ports, which can guard against damage by poorly-designed third-party charging cables.

Adam Patrick Murray/IDG The ThinkPad L390 Yoga trades proprietary charging for USB-C at last.

The ThinkPad doesnt mandate USB-C for every connection, though. The laptops left side also has USB-A and HDMI ports, while the right side packs a second USB-A port, along with a headphone/microphone jack, a MicroSD card slot, an ethernet extension connector, and a hole for security locks. It wouldve been nice to have a proper ethernet port, a full-sized SD slot, and Thunderbolt support, but the port arrangement still feels generous at a time when USB-C is starting to replace everything.

Its easy to miss, but the ThinkPad even includes a small active stylus with 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, tucked into the laptops bottom-right edge. Its no replacement for, say, a Microsoft Surface if youre looking to do serious drawing or graphic design work (Microsofts Surface Pen has twice the pressure sensitivity and is much larger), but its good enough for handwritten notes in OneNote, or document markup in Drawboard PDF.

Adam Patrick Murray/IDG Dont forget about the stylus parked near the L390 Yogas front-right corner.

Audio, webcam, and security

Surprisingly enough for a business laptop, a fingerprint reader is optional on the ThinkPad L390 Yoga, though its included with all but the cheapest configuration. Unlike earlier ThinkPads, it also stores fingerprint data within a chip on the sensor module itself, which is more secure than sending data to the systems host processor for authentication. The webcam is less state-of-the-art, though, providing just 720p resolution for photos and videos. The lack of face recognition on most models is a downer.

As for audio, the ThinkPad L390 Yoga taps Dolby Audio for speaker tuning and equalization. The result is decent sound quality for movies or music, especially at moderate volumes, though its still a little on the thin side overall.

Performance

Because the Lenovo ThinkPad L390 Yoga is a work machine, PCMarks Work 2.0 test is arguably the most important benchmark, simulating a battery of productivity tasks such as word processing and video chat. A score of 2,000 or better indicates satisfactory performance. Fortunately, the ThinkPad L390 Yoga came out near the top of the pack, no doubt assisted by Intels new Whiskey Lake Core i5-8265U processor. Performance was nearly the same as Lenovos IdeaPad 730S, which features the same CPU, and was predictably behind HPs Core i7-based Spectre x360 13.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG Surprise, surprise: Work laptop does well on work benchmark.

In other tests, the L390 Yoga falls roughly back into line with other laptops in its price range. Cinebench, for instance, measures a brief burst of CPU activity as it renders 3D graphics, and has the ThinkPad L390 Yoga came out slightly behind other Core-i5 laptops.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG Bursty performance is less of a selling point for the L390 Yoga, as seen in its Cinebench score.

The L390 Yogas score in HandBrake, which encodes an MKV video file to the MP4 format, was also nothing special. This is a quad-core laptop, so were not surprised that it handled the encoding in closer to one hour than two hours.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG HandBrakes extended test can show how a CPU handles itself under workload and heat pressure. The ThinkPad L390 Yoga posterd a middling score compared to similar systems.

The ThinkPad L390 Yoga may be aided by its larger design from a thermal perspective, but its single grille underneath the laptops back-right side isnt doing anything unique to keep the laptop cool over long periods.

One area where the L390 Yoga clearly lagged behind similar laptops was in 3DMarks Sky Diver benchmark, which tests GPU performance. Given that other laptops in this class cant handle modern 3D games anyway, this isnt a major loss, and the L390 Yoga can play some 2D indie games like the new Toejam & Earl without issue. (Doing so with the Yoga folded into tent mode on a coffee table or kitchen counter is actually quite pleasant.)

Melissa Riofrio/IDG Another non-surprise: You wouldnt want to use the L390 Yoga for 3D games.

The only real letdown here was battery life, with the ThinkPad L390 Yoga averaging 7 hours and 34 minutes in our video rundown test. This is one of the worst scores weve seen among modern thin-and-light laptops.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG The Lenovo ThinkPad L390 Yogas battery life is a disappointment.

However, its not out of line with some other ThinkPads like the L480 (8 hours and 13 minutes) and the X1 Tablet (7 hours and 6 minutes). At least the new USB-C charger can bring the L390 Yoga back to 80-percent of a full charge in an hour.

Should you buy the Lenovo ThinkPad L390 Yoga?

While the Lenovo ThinkPad L390 Yoga isnt most attractive laptop you can get, it compensates for its lack of style with a killer keyboard, a satisfying trackpad, and lots of ways to connect with external devices. You may not enjoy lugging it around or using its dim display outdoors, but it could make work a bit more bearable when youre stuck at your desk.Rapper Nipsey Hussle, 33, was gunned down Sunday his troubled South Los Angeles neighborhood. Yet his killing has sparked an ugly graffiti spree now marring a Pa. town on the other side of the country.

As the Citizens Voice reports, the graffiti either mourning or memorializing the murdered rapper has been showing up nearly everywhere in Wilkes-Barre: on school buses, brick buildings and walls all over the Luzerne County city.

Among the targets was a sign at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and the Student Transportation of America facility, where 10 school buses were tagged with phrases such as NIP$EY HU$$LE, the newspaper reports, adding:

The rash of graffiti now marring Wilkes-Barre began appearing across the city Sunday night, just hours after a Los Angeles rapper known for his anti-violence efforts was gunned down.

Details from the Citizens Voice:

Janelle Davison, the terminal manager for the busing facility, said she discovered the vandalism Monday morning. The front of the STA facility  which provides busing service for the Wilkes-Barre Area School District  had been tagged along with two garage doors, she said.

Davison also discovered 10 school buses had been vandalized.

I was angry. I was in disbelief, Davison told the newspaper Tuesday afternoon, adding that the company was still able to bus students that morning. Had they done it to more than 10 buses, that would have affected the entire school day.

Wilkes-Barre police Chief Joseph Coffay said the vandalism was reported and is under investigation but that police had no suspects.

(Story continues below)

Nipsey Hussle Was At His Store to Help Just Released Ex-Con Pal https://t.co/3XBZbDgnHk  TMZ (@TMZ) April 3, 2019

The bus terminal manager had a message for the spray-painting offenders:

If youre going to honor the man, you dont do it with vandalism, Davison told the Citizens Voice. He was the opposite of that.There are 66 hand-carved, wooden horses on the Hersheypark Carrousel.

How many of them have closed mouths?

The center horse is the only one with a closed mouth on the carrousel at Hersheypark. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

Just one.

Hersheypark this year is celebrating the 100th birthday of the carousel. It was built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1919, making it one of the oldest carousels in the country, according to Hersheypark.

The Carrousel is designated PTC 47  the 47th carousel made by the company.

Guests ride the carrousel at Hersheypark, circa 1944-1950. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

All of the original, hand-carved wooden horses on the carousel are still on it today.

Situated in four rows, the elaborately designed Carrousel horses are the staple of this classic ride at Hersheypark. Guests can choose between 42 jumping horses (meaning they go up and down), 24 stationary horses and two magnificent chariots, according to Hersheypark.

The original carrousel pavilion at Hersheypark. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

The ride includes circus horses, prancing hunters and a horse painted brown and gold in honor of Milton Hershey School.

The Milton Hershey School horse on the carrousel at Hersheypark. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

According to Hersheypark, the Carrousel operated in two other amusement parks, in Maryland and New York, before moving to Hersheypark in 1945.

The first ride in Hersheypark was a used merry-go-round built by Herschel Spillman. A new, larger carousel by William H. Dentzel Co. took its place in 1913. The Dentzel carousel was sold to a park in Ohio and later sold to Knotts Berry Farm in California where it is still in operation.

A close up of one of the horses on Hersheypark's carrousel, 1990. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

When the current Carrousel arrived at Hershey, it was installed in a pavilion along Spring Creek where it stayed until 1971. It was then renovated and moved to Carrousel Circle  and therefore was safe from the damage of Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972.

It was housed underneath a large metal canopy painted red, white and blue that paid homage to the time period it was built, according to Hersheypark.

Carrousel circle at Hersheypark, 1973. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

The Carrousel is still there but will be moved to the new front entrance in the summer of 2020 as part of Chocolatetown.

The Carrousel is periodically restored. According to Hersheypark, the organ that produces the music was restored. The 153-duplex Wurlitzer Military Band Organ has 164 pipes, 54 keys and 16 bells. It was recently restored again for the 2019 season and 100th anniversary.

An undated photo of one of the horses on the carrousel at Hersheypark. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

Hersheyparks Springtime in the Park runs for three weekends: April 6-7, 13-14 and 19-21. Hours are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Regular admission is $38.95 for guests ages 9-54, $27.95 for children ages 3-8 and seniors 55 and older. Children 2 and younger may enter for free.

Springtime in the Park parking for cars is $10 ($20 for campers or other large vehicles) and free for Hersheypark season pass holders.

The carrousel at Hersheypark. (Photo provided by Hershey Community Archives and Hersheypark)

The summer season at Hersheypark begins on May 3. The new Reeses Cupfusion interactive gaming ride will debut during this summer. The ride will be a dark ride gaming experience, where guests score points by shooting targets with attached light guns.

The Boardwalk at Hersheypark and all of its numerous water attractions - including last years new ride debuts, Whitecap Racer and Breakers Edge - will open May 25.

New food at the park includes Chik-fil-A, Nathans Hot Dogs and Keepin It Kosher food trucks.

Good Morning, Pennsylvania

Sign up now for Good Morning, Pennsylvania, and get the most important headlines delivered free to your inbox by 6 a.m. Monday-Friday.From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to The Old Farmers Almanac, several of last falls long-range predictions for winter 2018-19 were surprisingly accurate for Pennsylvania overall.

There were a few exceptions, notably PennLive.coms deep dive into wildlife-related weather-forecasting folklore, which missed the mark by a mile.

Heres a look at those pre-winter outlooks from last fall, and a weather summary for winter 2018-19.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration foresaw wetter and warmer than average December through February. NOAA did not specify how much of that wet would come in the form of snow.

Accuweather predicted mild temperatures during the first month of winter, but colder in January and February, with a few big snowstorms likely.

The Weather Channel forecast normal to slightly above normal temperatures in November and December, and then trending down slightly in January, but no major deviations from average.

Weather Direct said most of Pennsylvania would see a few snowstorms, but the state's northern tier and northeast section could see blizzards.

Weather Decoded looked ahead to more precipitation than normal in the central and eastern sections of Pennsylvania, but did not calculate how much of that precipitation would be in the form of snow.

Snowbirdbob, an Internet-based prognosticator, tends to concentrate more on the Southern states, but also placed Pennsylvania under his "Snowy Winter" stripe.

The Old Farmer's Almanac looked ahead to winter temperatures well above normal and precipitation a bit above normal, but expected those temperatures to mean a lot of that precipitation would fall as rain and the state would see near-normal to below-normal amounts of snow.

Looking at the wild things of Pennsylvania last fall, I noted that based on cumulative wildlife-related weather folklore  woolly bear caterpillars seemed to forecast a mild winter, paper wasps indicated that deep snows were on the horizon and mammals appeared to be preparing for a long, hard winter  the forecast was for a severe 2018-19 winter.

PennLives Paul Vigna provided more details on all those pre-winter forecasts late last October. Check out his Now that fall has arrived, here are the forecasts for winter 2018-19: Which one do you want to believe?

According to NOAAs National Centers for Environmental Information, with the exception of a few really cold snaps and a few storms, winter temperatures across most of Pennsylvania were above average  not much above average, but still above average  and precipitation was above average in most of the state but much above average across the center of the state through most of the winter.Keith Ori never imagined Zombie House Flipping would lead to international stardom.

He encountered it while traveling last November in Australia. Someone recognized the real estate investor at an Avis car rental counter.

It got me completely caught off guard, said Ori, a Hummelstown native. I was completely shocked. Its funny how that works.

Now entering its third season, Zombie House Flipping pushes house flipping to the extreme. The reality show premiered in early 2016 and airs 9 p.m. Wednesdays on A&E.

The show, shot in and around Orlando, Florida, has attracted an international fan base and airs on various channels in about 35 countries. (Word is some of its biggest fans live in Turkey.)

Certainly, watching Ori and his castmates, including house flipper Justin Stamper, builder and designer Peter Duke and realtor and designer Ashlee Casserly-Greenberg, transform dilapidated, foreclosed and abandoned homes is entertaining.

But Ori, a 1987 graduate of Lower Dauphin High School, has his own take: Florida is sort of an aspirational environment worldwide.

Since the first season, Zombie House Flipping concentrates on the Orlando real estate scene. The city, best known as the home of Disney World, led the nation in foreclosed homes between 2010 and 2016.

Ori and his castmates were all working in Orlando when they were tapped to do the show. It originally aired on FYI Network until this seasons prime time debut on A&E.

Ori lives in Orlando with his wife and their three children. He arrived in Florida in 1997 after traveling around the nation working for SkyTel Company following his graduation from the University of Southern Mississippi. He still visits his parents, David and Carol Ori in South Hanover Township.

The shows cast, who are all longtime friends, comb downtown neighborhoods in search of vacant, foreclosed homes in major disrepair. Unlike other reality shows about dramatic house transformations, Zombie House Flipping targets some real diamonds in the rough. Zombie house is an industry term for a vacant, foreclosed house.

Ori admits it has become harder to find suitable homes.

The market has tightened up and the supply of available houses has shrunk. It hasnt made it impossible but made us be a little smarter about what we do, he said.

This season they tackle renovating a historic 1920s craftsman in Delaney Park, a house Ori described as a monster. They stripped walls, pulled and re-leveled floors and rewired electric. Along the way they found an original 1925 plumbing inspection sticker.

We have been given sort of a bigger license to take risks, Ori said of the third season. This season is full of us reaching pretty high with some of our ambitions.

Also, viewers also will see the cast removed from typical home makeover show tasks like hammering nails and working on drywall. In one episode, Ori and Duke visit a racetrack in Georgia to settle a bet on who is the fastest driver and, in another episode Stamper risks skydiving if he loses a bet.

Unlike past seasons, Ori said viewers will get a better glimpse into the casts personalities. Season two was about the cast finding themselves while this season everyone has been completely generous," with no disagreements, he said.

That part has been very liberating. It really has been. The cast has been really amazing with one another, Ori said.HOUSTON (AP)  A tank holding a flammable chemical caught fire at a Texas plant Tuesday, killing one worker, critically injuring two others and sending panicked employees fleeing over a fence to safety.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed the fatality in a tweet and said the two injured had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. The two injured were in critical condition, said Rachel Moreno, spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.

Authorities shut down a roadway near Tuesdays fire at a KMCO chemical plant in Crosby, about 25 miles northeast of Houston, Gonzalez said. Fire crews battled the blaze for about 5 hours before they extinguished it, according to the fire marshals office.

All residents within a one-mile radius of the plant were ordered to stay indoors or shelter in place for about four hours. It was not immediately known how many residents were affected by the shelter in place. Crosby has about 2,300 residents. The fire sent a large black plume of smoke into the air.

The fire erupted about two weeks after a March 17 blaze at a petrochemical storage facility in Deer Park, about 20 miles south of Crosby. That fire at a facility owned by Intercontinental Terminals Company burned for days and triggered air quality warnings.

Crosby also is where an Arkema chemical plant was inundated by water during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some chemicals eventually caught fire and partially exploded.

KMCO plant worker Justin Trahan told Houston television station KPRC that he heard some panic on the radio but no alarms sounding before the plant caught fire. We didnt think anything of it  we didnt think it was anything severe, he said.

Trahan said employees began running after the tank ignited. He said that he and other colleagues had to jump over a fence to escape because all the gates were locked.

Pilar Davis, a product manager with KMCO, said none of the emergency evacuation points at the plant were blocked during the fire.

At a news conference late Tuesday afternoon, John C. Foley, chief executive of KMCO, said a cause of the blaze is still being determined. We will conduct a thorough investigation ... and take steps to ensure this doesnt happen again, Foley said.

KMCO, which was founded in 1975, is a chemical company that offers coolant and brake fluid products and chemicals for the oilfield industry.

By JUAN A. LOZANO, The Associated PressAfter a fire burned down the main building of a storied civil rights center in Tennessee last week, the organization has said that a symbol associated with the white power movement was found in the parking lot next to the ashy rubble of the former building.

The Highlander Center, which hosted civil rights figures like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Stokely Carmichael in the 1950s and 60s, made the disclosure on its Facebook page Tuesday.

No one was injured, but the fire destroyed the office, which housed what the center said was decades worth of historical documents, speeches, artifacts and other memorabilia from its history, including the era of the civil rights movement. The Wisconsin Historical Society, which is the center's official archivist, said that a majority of its archives are safe.

"While we do not know the names of the culprits, we know that the white power movement has been increasing and consolidating power across the South, across this nation, and globally," it wrote.

The center, which comprises about 10 buildings on a 200 acre campus in New Market, a town 20 miles east of Knoxville, was the site of a blaze that was sparked in the early hours of Friday morning. By 6 a.m., the centers main office building was engulfed in flames.

The fire is still being investigated by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and state fire investigators, and no determination has been made about its origin.

This Friday, March 29, 2019, photo provided by the New Market Fire and Rescue Team shows a fire at the main offices of the Highlander Education and Research Center in New Market, Tenn. (Sammy Solomon/New Market Fire and Rescue Team via AP)AP

Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Coffey, who did not return a request for comment, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that the graffiti was a hashtag-like symbol discovered at the scene Friday.

"It's not a traditional, throw-it-in-your-face symbol that you would immediately recognize," Coffey told the newspaper. "But it has been used by individuals in the past. We have seen this symbol associated with different groups."

The Churchchrist, New Zealand, mosque shooting suspect has the symbol, which looks like a tic-tac-toe board with extra lines, tattooed on his arm, the Sentinel said.

White supremacist groups have made incursions into Tennessee, according to the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, which tracks hate groups. A rock on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where students are encouraged to paint, has been defaced by white supremacist graffiti multiple times in recent years. And prominent white nationalists have looked to grow their fringe movement among the school and its student body.

And the state has been the target for several white supremacist rallies, events and conferences in recent years, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

This Friday, March 29, 2019, photo provided by the New Market Fire and Rescue Team shows a fire at the main offices of the Highlander Education and Research Center in New Market, Tenn. The center is a social justice center that trained the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. Representatives of the center said Tuesday, April 2, 2019, that a white power symbol was also found spray painted on the parking lot near the building. (Sammy Solomon/New Market Fire and Rescue Team via AP)AP

The Highlander Center was founded in 1932 as the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle in southeastern Tennessee with the purpose of organizing unemployed and working class people, according to its website. It also fought segregation in the labor movement in the 1940s, which expanded into a broader fight against segregation in the 1950s. But those activities made it a target - of both federal and state investigators during an era of Communist paranoia, as well as segregationists, and racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Rosa Parks attended a two-week workshop at the center on school desegregation in 1955 just a few months before she sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which helped strike down segregation in public facilities in the South.

"It was my very first experience in my entire life going to a place where there were other people, and people of another race, and where we were all treated equally and without any tension or feeling of embarrassment or whatever goes with artificial boundaries of racial segregation," Parks told interviewer Studs Terkel in 1973. "And I would like to say, too, that [Highlander founder] Myles Horton along with his staff and others there on the mountain did give me my first insight on the fact that there were such people who believe completely in freedom and equality for all."

A book published by author John Glen about the center's history noted that it faced consistent harassment, that peaked at its location in Knoxville in the 1960s.

"Staff members endured ... a KKK parade past the center, repeated vandalism, firebombs, burglaries, gunshots, and taped telephone messages branding Highlander as a malignant organization whose red spiders taught hate, violence, and riots.

The center, which did not return a request for comment, opened in its current location in 1972.

(c) 2019, The Washington Post  Eli RosenbergBALTIMORE  The Maryland state prosecutor has opened an investigation into Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pughs sales of her self-published childrens books, Pughs lawyer said Tuesday.

The mayor will be cooperating with that investigation to the fullest extent possible, attorney Steven D. Silverman said in an email.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan asked State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt on Monday to start an investigation of Pughs $500,000 sale of the books to the University of Maryland Medical System while she was on its board. Several members of the Baltimore City Council, all Democrats, said Monday that they supported Hogans request.

Silverman revealed that the investigation was underway after The Baltimore Sun asked for details about other sales of Pughs books to health insurer Kaiser Permanente and nonprofit Associated Black Charities.

As this matter is now being investigated by the state prosecutors office, I am not in a position to comment, Silverman, a criminal defense attorney, said.

Pugh, a Democrat, said Monday she was going on leave from her job as mayor to recover from pneumonia. City Council President Bernard C. Jack Young, also a Democrat, is filling in as mayor.

The purview of the state prosecutors office includes investigation of political corruption and violations of election laws. The office said Tuesday that it does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.

Pugh is the second Baltimore mayor in a decade to be investigated by the office; it convicted former Democratic Mayor Sheila Dixon in 2009 of embezzling gift cards meant for the poor.

Pughs book deals began in 2011 when she was a state senator. In a no-bid deal, the university medical system paid Pugh $100,000 in each of five transactions in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 to purchase 20,000 copies of her self-published Healthy Holly books at $5 per copy.

She acknowledged last week that printing of the fourth batch of books was delayed and she is only now delivering books for which the medical system paid her $100,000 in 2017. She has returned $100,000 to UMMS intended for a fifth book.

James Cabezas said Pughs failure to disclose the UMMS book sales on her General Assembly ethics forms while serving as a state senator could amount to perjury or misconduct in office. Cabezas said in his complaint that omitting information on mandatory disclosure forms can result in perjury charges, if prosecutors can show that the official filling out the disclosure knowingly left something off.

Former Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance was indicted for lying on similar disclosure forms he filed with the school system about money a system contractor paid him.

On Monday, Kaiser Permanente and Associated Black Charities confirmed they paid Pugh a further $200,000 for copies of the books. Pugh had previously said that UMMS was the only organization that paid her for the books.

The Kaiser Permanente sales came as the insurer successfully sought a $48 million contract to provide health care for city workers and retirees. Pugh voted in favor of the contract as a member of the citys spending board, which she controls.

By Ian Duncan, The Baltimore Sun (TNS)Multiple federal lawsuits prompted by an infection scare at two central Pennsylvania medical centers are among the legal battles set to be resolved via a just-announced $225 million settlement with a major international medical equipment manufacturer.

The accord announced by LivaNova covers about 75 percent of lawsuits filed throughout the U.S. over the companys 3T Heater-Cooler. U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III oversaw that nationwide litigation.

LivaNova, based in London, England, agreed to the settlement even though it continues to deny there are any defects in its machines. In a statement, the firm vowed to vigorously defend against suits not covered by the settlement.

These were complicated cases and the patients involved with this litigation have difficult medical histories. Protracted litigation was in no ones interest, as the plaintiffs could benefit from settlement proceeds today, said Sol Weiss, lead counsel for the executive committee for the Americans who sued LivaNova. We especially appreciate the guidance from U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III.

One of the central Pennsylvania lawsuits against LivaNova was filed in 2016 over infection scares involving open heart surgery patients at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and WellSpan York Hospital. Officials at both medical facilities alerted thousands of patients about the infection risks in late 2015.

The plaintiffs in that case, Edward Baker and Jack Miller, both of York County, contended faults with the 3T machines exposed at least 3,600 patients to drug-resistant and potentially fatal bacteria. Those machines regulate blood temperature for those undergoing open heart surgery.

Miller and Baker claimed in their suit that a design flaw in the 3T machines allowed a dangerous bacteria known as NTM to grow within the devices. Their claims mirrored those in other midstate suits.

Several patients at WellSpan and Hershey were diagnosed with NTM infections and at least five died, Miller and Baker said. In December 2015 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issues a warning letter to LivaNova regarding the contamination concerns. An alert also was issued to medical facilities by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

The Miller/Baker suit sought $5 million in compensation for patients who underwent open heart surgery at WellSpan between Oct. 1, 2011 and July 24, 2015, and for patients who had the same procedure at Hershey between Nov. 5, 2011 and Nov. 5, 2015.About $3.5 million in upgrades are coming to three area ski resorts.

The owners of Roundtop Mountain, Liberty Mountain and Whitetail resorts on Tuesday announced the major snowmaking upgrades and other improvements. Officials with Peak Resorts, which made the purchase last year for $76 million, say work will begin in the coming days and continue through the summer and fall.

Liberty, Whitetail, and Roundtop are each known for their snowmaking prowess, which is critical when operating here in Pennsylvania, Jesse Boyd, Senior VP of Operations at Peak Resorts, said in a press release. The summer projects will serve to modernize and upgrade these snowmaking systems, allowing us to open earlier and with more terrain than ever before. Well be able to better take advantage of favorable early-season temperatures, as well as strengthen our ability to more rapidly bounce back from whatever Mother Nature throws at us.

The improvements include pumping and system upgrades, the installation of new state-of-the-art fan guns and low-energy snow guns for energy efficiency.

Some skiers were not happy with the new price structure, which will be more expensive for many families, but Peak Resorts says its Peak Pass has the added bonus of allowing skiers to ski at any of the companys resorts.

The early-bird specials for the Peak Pass, which include a payment plan, are available until April 30. After that, prices will increase.

The upgrades and improvements are expected to be in place for the 2019-2020 ski season.Even with nobody living there, Centralia continues to find its way into the news. This time, its for a scientific reason.

The one-time thriving coal town in Pennsylvanias Columbia County saw its history and legacy change dramatically in 1962 when a trash fire near an abandoned strip mine ignited what was left of the 25 million ton coal seam beneath the town.

That fire never stopped spreading and, as it did, released noxious gas and opened up sinkholes. Eventually, the town became uninhabitable, with the population shrinking from more than 1,000 residents in 1980 to 63 by 1990. Two years later, Pennsylvania condemned the borough, and 10 years after that the postal service discontinued the towns zip code. In October 2013, officials reached an agreement with the last seven residents to live out their lives there.

Now, its largely an eerie destination for those who are curious.

But theverge.com reported that its science crew joined an assistant professor at Michigan State University there to observe her research. According to the story, Ashley Shade and her team has been studying the changes in soil temperature in Centralia and the effects on the communities of microbes living there.

These microbes, called thermophiles, live at super hot temperatures and, unlike humans, have found a home in some of the vent zones in Centralia. In just a few decades, some of those have gotten as warm as nearly 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heres a link to the full story, which features the video shown above.

More on Centralia:

This story has been updated.A former West Manchester Township police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to child pornography possession, according to the state attorney generals office.

Chad Howell, 38, pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility in the York County Court of Common Pleas, the AGs office said. The charge requires Howell to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

Howell was arrested in February 2017 after an investigation found he possessed several nude photos of girls ranging from 8-15 years old. Photos were found in Howells Pinterest account through the app on his personal phone, the AGs office said.

Howell was a police officer at the time of his arrest, and one of his Pinterest usernames included his badge number, the AGs office said. He was put on unpaid administrative leave after his arrest and was fired shortly after. He had also been employed by the York City Police Department at one time.

The defendant was a police officer, but instead of protecting the people he was sworn to serve, he was participating in the online exploitation of children," Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement. "As a result of the hard work of our Child Predator Section, he no longer holds a position of public trust and will have to register as a sex offender.

Howell is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29th, after an evaluation by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board.A gunman convicted of opening fire in a homeless shelter, killing one employee and injuring another, had his life prison sentence upheld Wednesday when a state court panel deemed his appeal to be wholly frivolous.

John Brock, who was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Philadelphia jury in 2017, failed to sway the Superior Court judges even though he claimed to have been the victim of a dozen misapplications of the law.

As Judge Judith Ference Olson noted in the state courts opinion, Brock walked into the Station House Transitional Shelter around 6 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2016 and shot employee Edward Barksdale five times, killing him. Police said Brock, who had lived at the shelter for two months, then chased and shot another worker, seriously injuring that man.

Multiple witnesses identified Brock as the shooter, Olson noted.

The shooting at the shelter occurred just six days before Brock, now 35, was to be tried for another nonfatal shooting that happened in 2003. He faced an attempted murder charge in the 2003 case, but in 2017 was convicted of aggravated assault, court records show.

In denying Brocks appeal of his conviction for the shelter shootings, Olson rejected his claim that his trial should have been delayed so he could prepare to represent himself. That request was untimely, the judge found, because Brock made it on the day his trial was to begin.

Brocks claims that his life sentence lacks a statutory basis and that the charges against him were defective, didnt sway Olson, either. Nor did Brocks contention that his case wasnt heard by a jury of his peers because none of the jurors actually lived in his neighborhood.

Olson found Brocks claim that the witnesses against him were inconsistent to be baseless because those who saw the shooting all identified Brock as the gunman. Every witness who identified (Brock) as the shooter testified that they had a clear view of (Brocks) face at the time of the shooting and no witness equivocated on the identification, the judge wrote.Quantum Communications, Ltd., based in Harrisburg, says it is owed money for assisting one of the late Phyllis Schlaflys conservative organizations, Eagle Forum, in promoting her legacy.

A suit was filed by the firm in September 2017 in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania alleging breach of contract. The Eagle Forum, and Ed Martin, a Missouri politico, were named in it.

The parties are working toward a settlement and have a conference call scheduled Friday, April 5.

Court documents show that Martin acknowledged the work Quantum Communications completed  including a video documentary  but, he didnt pay the bill of $130,000. The firm says it was engaged to protect and enhance Eagle Forums reputation.

Senior members of the public relations firm  Charlie Gerow, Ed Rollins and Kevin Harley  said they agreed to a contract that would pay a $20,000 per month retainer. Gerow is the founder of Quantum Communications; Rollins is a regular contributor on Fox News and political strategist; and Harley is Republican Gov. Tom Corbetts former communications director.

Schlafly, who died in September 2016 at the age of 92, founded Eagle Forum. Martin headed it briefly, but following political disagreements, he later created another organization named Phyllis Schlafly Eagles.

When Martin discovered he was named in the suit, he pushed back and said a binding agreement had never been established. Martin is a former Missouri Republican Party chairman, and a former CNN contributor.

Martin was quoted in the St. Louis Post Dispatch in 2017, calling the Harrisburg public relations firm DC swamp consultants.

Anne Cori, Schlaflys daughter, who runs Eagle Forum, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch, she believed Ed Martin is purposefully trying to confuse the name of Eagle Forum in the marketplace.A red flag warning is in effect for all of central Pennsylvania.

The warning, in effect from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday, includes the counties of Franklin, Columbia, Perry, Dauphin, Schuylkill, Lebanon, Cumberland, Adams, York, and Lancaster.

Red Flag Warning: Central PA

Dry, early springtime conditions & gusty winds contribute to critical wildfire risk

Outdoor burning is not recommended

Properly discard 

Keep  off dry grass

https://t.co/sWdoqNl0sP@DCNRnews @penn_fire #PAwx pic.twitter.com/4RSrl83nvs  NWS State College (@NWSStateCollege) April 3, 2019

A red flag warning is issued when conditions are ideal for wildfires.

Winds are expected to gust as high as 45 mph in some areas.

As a result of the red flag warning, the Derry Township Police Department has announced a burn ban until further notice.Four Penn State fraternity brothers who pleaded guilty to hazing-related charges in the death of 19-year-old Timothy Piazza were sentenced on Tuesday, according to reports.

WTAJ and the Centre Daily Times both reported that Michael Bonatucci, 21, Joshua Kurczewski, 20, Joseph Sala, 20 and Luke Visser, 21, all appeared in court.

Bonatucci was sentenced to between 30 days and six months the Centre County Correctional Facility, a $1,500 fine and no contact with the Piazzas, WTAJ reported. Bonatucci is also prohibited from speaking about the hazing case on social media. He was facing three counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing.

The Centre Daily Times reported Kurczewski was sentenced to between three and nine months in the Centre County Correctional Facility. Kurczewski was also sentenced to one-year of probation, a $2,250 fine and 100 hour community service, WTAJ reported.

Kurczewski was sentenced on one count each of of conspiracy to commit hazing, hazing and furnishing alcohol to minors.

Sala was sentenced to three months of house arrest, two years and seven months of probation and $1,500 fine and 100 hours of community service, WTAJ reported. Sala was sentenced on charges of one count of conspiracy to commit hazing and three counts of hazing.

Thomas Kline, attorney for Jim and Evelyn Piazza, said Visser was sentenced to between two and six months in the Centre County Correctional Facility, beginning May 17th. Visser will spend time on probation after his prison sentence and be required to to 100 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Visser was sentenced on six counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing.

Restitution amounts for all four are still to be determined, according to Kline.

Today was a significant step forward in the long road to justice for the parents of Tim Piazza with the sentencing of three individuals to prison for admitted conspiracy to haze their son," Kline said in and email, "Jim and Evelyn, in the courtroom for the sentencing, remain committed to the cause of eradicating hazing and the beneficial deterrent effect of the enforcement of anti-hazing laws throughout the country.

These men were just four more than a dozen who have faced charges in connection with Piazzas death.

Piazza, from Lebanon N.J., was pledging the fraternity on Feb. 2, 2017 when he fell down the stairs while highly intoxicated. From there, Piazza did not get the proper treatment and the lack of medical attention is pointed to as why he died at Hershey Medical Center on Feb. 4., 2017.

Christine Vendel contributed to this report.In Pennsylvania, the land of cheap gas-fired power, should we all pay a little extra just to keep nuclear power around?

Yes, says Lancaster County state Sen. Ryan Aument, who argues that a new bill introduced Wednesday will keep nuclear in a diverse, all-of-the-above energy pool for years to come at a cost of about $1.50 per month for the average residential users electric bill.

Auments bill is the second introduced this year to help higher-cost nuclear energy plants stay competitive - and in some cases, alive - in an energy marketplace that has been revolutionized by the Marcellus Shale fracking boom and slower overall growth for energy demand.

Supporters of nuclear, which currently powers about 40 percent of Pennsylvanias electric supply, argue it is the best way to buy long-term energy reliability, protection against price surges in one sector of the market or another, and preserve what happens to be the biggest provider of zero-emissions energy as we intensify the fight against climate change and the greenhouse gases that contribute to it.

But opponents, who see themselves as footing the bill, are already lining up to fight it.

Handouts to a profitable industry in Pennsylvania that includes a Fortune 100 company will force Pennsylvania residents, businesses, school districts and others to pay higher electric bills for years, said Michael Peters, president of the Pennsylvania Energy Consumer Alliance, a coalition of businesses, manufacturers, colleges and other organizations that are heavy electric users.

Some advocates are calling this legislation a bailout. It will be a handout to some of the richest energy companies in the world.

The essence of Auments bill is that the free market cant be trusted to help solve issues like climate change.

The help for nuclear would come in the form of adding nuclear power to a 2004 state law that requires power companies to buy a certain amount of their generation - or credits deemed equal to it - from carbon-free emissions sources.

His new Tier 3 category would bundle nuclear with renewable energy generation sources including solar, wind, hydro-power and geo-thermal.

Electric companies would have to get 50 percent of their power - or buy credits to match that generation - from the Tier 3 sources, with nuclear accounting for somewhere between 38.5 percent and 41.5 percent, and the renewables accounting for the rest.

Aument says that lets nuclear get paid for the value of its clean energy, while giving the renewables a sure chance to grow beyond the 8 percent (by 2021) slice of the market that Pennsylvanias current AEPS program already reserves for them.

The very ambitious goals that many people in this building have with respect to reducing carbon emissions, from my perspective, cannot be accomplished without nuclear energy playing a significant role, Aument said in an interview at his Capitol office Wednesday.

"I do also recognize there are many folks that are very interested in increasing opportunities and future growth for solar and wind, and I think by allowing them to compete within Tier III were accomplishing that.

I think this accomplishes both goals. It recognizes the clean energy attributes of nuclear energy, and provides a path for expansion and greater innovation (in renewables).

Auments proposal is likely to continue to run into strong opposition from the states natural gas and coal producers. Together, those fossil fuel resources produce about 56 percent of Pennsylvanias electricity at present.

Auments bill wouldnt strictly prohibit power companies from buying more gas and coal, keep in mind. But with income from the new credits, nuclear would receive a hand-up in its ability to compete on the wholesale power market.

Nuclear plant operators seeking to participate in the program would have to commit to continued operation of their plants for at least six years. That requirement could be lifted in the case of an emergency that forces a shutdown, the enactment of a carbon tax or other policies, or the expiration of a plant license.

Why are we talking about this now?

As Pennsylvania and other states have tapped into their vast Marcellus Shale gas reserves, gas prices have lowered and energy companies have begun switching from coal to gas as the primary source for their power plants.

Coupled with a stagnant demand for power since the Great Recession, the resulting dip in energy prices has made power generated by some of the states five nuclear power stations less competitive.

So much so that Three Mile Island, operated by Chicago-based Exelon Corp. - the largest nuclear power generator in America - has operated at a loss since 2015.

Exelon has said it will start taking steps to close the plant by this summer in the absence of state help. A second plant, Beaver Valley in western Pennsylvania, is also being targeted for a 2021 retirement by its operator, First Energy.

If those plants came off line, Pennsylvania would lose 26.8 percent of its nuclear generating capacity.

Do we need it?

From a strict keeping-the-lights-on perspective, probably not.

But the question is more complex than that.

Nuclear energy also happens to be the nations largest source of carbon-free power, which means that it is kind of a foundational piece in the building fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the effects of climate change.

Supporters of the subsidy effort here note that at present, nuclear provides 93 percent of the all the zero-carbon energy produced in Pennsylvania.

Any near-term drop in that nuclear generation would most likely be picked up by burning more natural gas which, while cleaner than coal, is still a fossil fuel and would add to Pennsylvanias carbon loading and undermine progress the state has made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the last decade.

"I personally do think its important to keep these plants on line for the zero-carbon power they produce, said Christina Simeone, senior fellow with the University of Pennsylvanias Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

At the end of the day, if were talking about de-carbonizing our power sector were going to need these resources.

That is the heart of the case nuclear subsidy supporters are making: American energy markets as structured today simply dont appropriately value the benefit of the carbon-free nature of nuclear energy even as tax credits and other incentives have been used to increase the affordability of renewables.

Other subsidy supporters say they like having nuclear around because of its proven reliability (accidents at TMI, Chernobyl and Fukishima notwithstanding) and simply for the fact of preserving a long-term diversity of energy sources as a protection in the case of natural gas price spikes.

And if you retire a nuclear power station, its next to impossible to bring it back.

Our energy market has worked well because you had diversity" in the supply, said Sen. Robert Tommy Tomlinson, a Republican from Bucks County who is leaning in favor of the subsidy proposal. But as coal dwindles and nuclear struggles, he worries Pennsylvanias traditional three-legged stool of power sources may be turning into more of a natural gas pillar.

And I am very concerned that if you end up with a monopoly of one, then they can call whatever price they want, Tomlinson said.

Opponents - including an array of rate-payers ranging from businesses whose usage dwarfs residential accounts, and the state chapter of AARP - counter that nuclear operators are really trying to leverage the struggles of a few plants to get a payday for the industry as a whole.

They shouldnt, they argue, have to pay more do that.

According to an economic analysis prepared for PJM Interconection last fall, all but three of the 18 nuclear plants in its grid should be profitable over the next four years. The three that project at a loss, including TMI in Pennsylvania, are all single-reactor sites that have higher operating costs per megawatt hour than multiple-reactor plants.

In other words, some argue, doing nothing wont be a death knell for the overall nuclear industry.

I have a hard time saying that somebody thats making $640 million (the estimated net profit of the five Pa. nuclear plants in 2018) needs help from the government, said Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport and the chair of the Senate Environmental and Energy Resources Committee.

Some so-called Green Dog Democrats in the legislature, meanwhile, have said they will only consider a nuclear assist if the market carve-out for renewables - a sector where Pennsylvania has lagged the rest of the nation - is pushed to something more along the lines of 30 percent over the next decade.

Simeone, as an independent observer of the debate, said Wednesday that in her view a more general carbon pricing policy would be preferable to Auments proposal.

These bills recognize carbon benefits for a single industry (nuclear), largely ignoring other zero or lower carbon resources," she said. "In addition, these bills anticipate retaliatory action from federal regulators that will contribute to cost increases to consumers.

Simeone explained as single states line up to offer credits to nuclear power, it is increasingly likely the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will take counter-measures to preserve competitiveness in the wholesale energy markets, which operate on a regional level.

That could add additional cost to consumers. In addition, she fears the policy could further delaying the broader implementation of true carbon pricing by placating the most powerful zero carbon industry.

Auments bill joins a companion piece introduced this winter by Rep. Thomas Mehaffie, R-Dauphin County, in the state House. The first in what is expected to be a series of public hearings on the issue is scheduled Monday before the House Consumer Affairs Committee.

With the threatened shutdown of Three Mile Island looming, the issue is expected to become a top tier agenda item for Gov. Tom Wolf and the legislature this spring.April. Its the month of showers that lead to May flowers. The month that usually (but not always) leaves winter for dead and puts us on the doorstep of summer.

Depending on the year, its a transition month that seemingly cant make up its mind what season it wants to be. Look at the record highs for each of Aprils dates and youll see that the temperature, at one time or another, has hit the 90 degree mark. You can find the last breaths of winter, too, as temperatures have fallen into the teens a couple times in April and into the 20s as late as April 26.

Last April, it seemed like spring would never get here, with temperatures topping the average of 62.4 degrees on only 11 of the months 30 days. Maybe you also remember that almost 4 inches of snow fell on April 2, adding to the amount on the ground.

With that in mind, heres a look at April by the numbers, weather-wise, offering a glimpse at how petulant the month can be.

This map from the National Weather Service posted on April 5, 2018, when snow was forecast for the upcoming weekend. In the end, the storm missed hitting the Harrisburg area.

So whats normal in Harrisburg for the month of April?

On average, the high is around 62 degrees and the low is 42. More than 3 inches of rain usually falls during the month.

There was nothing normal about last year.

The month overall, according to preliminary data by the National Weather Service, ranked it as the 20th coldest recorded at Harrisburg International Airport. On five days, temperatures never got out of the 40s. The average high for the month was 58.9 degrees, more than 3 degrees below normal. Nighttime lows, on average, were also around 3 degrees below normal, with the temperature bottoming out at 25 on April 8.

That it rained more than usual that month turned out to be a signal of what was to come during the summer and fall. Almost 4 inches of rain fell, nearly an inch above normal, with more than an inch and a half of rain recorded on April 16.

Summer sneaked in for a two-day appearance, with a high of 83 on April 13 and 85 the next day. By April 15, the high was only 59, and temperatures remained below average for the next seven days.

Snow on tulips in Lower Paxton Township. The snow came down fast and hard on much of the region with projected accumulation totals of 3 to 6 inches expected by morning, April 2, 2018.

Amid all that precipitation was four days when snow was recorded, including the storm on April 2 when a plowable snow fell. A trace of snow fell on three other days, the last on April 17.

So it happens, but not too often. In fact, you had to go back several decades to find the last time it snowed appreciably during the first week of April. Roughly 6.3 inches of snow fell in 1982 on April 6, and in 1924, the region saw 8 inches of snow on the ground on April 1, National Weather Service at State College meteorologist Rob Radzanowkski said in an April 1, 2018, story that many wish had been an April Fools joke.

Its getting pretty late in the year in the lower Susquehanna Valley to see a decent amount of snow, he said. If it happens, it will be a noteworthy event.

Heres a video of late-winter snows that colleague Deb Kiner put together last March.

The almost 4 inches of rainfall that fell last year made for some miserable weekends but didnt come close to setting any records.

In fact, it would have had to rain more than twice that much to even come close to the record.

Almost 9.5 inches of precipitation was recorded in 2011, a year that saw even more rain than last year around here. While other Aprils the past couple decades havent been as soggy as those two, the amount of rainfall has been trending up. In fact, since 2002, above average rainfall has fallen in 11 of the last 17 Aprils.

So well see whether that trend continues this year.

Temperatures last April spent more times at the lower end than the upper end of the thermometer.

Generally, we like our Aprils somewhere near the average, giving us a chance to forget about winter but getting our bodies ready for the heat and humidity of summer.

Last year, as mentioned, it felt like summer on consecutive days in the middle of April. Otherwise, it was chilly, averaging several degrees below normal and serving as an anomaly when compared to, say, the past 10 years.

Here are the average high temperatures for the month of April in Harrisburg during the past decade:

2018: 58.9 degrees

2017: 69.0 degrees

2016: 62.7 degrees

2015: 64.7 degrees

2014: 62.6 degrees

2013: 63.3 degrees

2012: 63.3 degrees

2011: 63.9 degrees

2010: 68.3 degrees

2009: 63.8 degrees

What made it so warm in 2017? How about 11 days when the temperature hit at least 70 and three when it reached or topped 80.

In fact, summer-type temperatures are almost a given for at least a couple days every April. The high-temperature record for every date in April in Harrisburg tops 80, and on 13 days it equals or exceeds 90.

All-time records for the month are 93, on April 22, 1985, and April 25, 1915.

Tornadoes remain fairly rare across central Pennsylvania, but they sweep through the area with just enough frequency to get our attention when a watch or warning is issued.

The video above was taken in April 2015.

You also can click on this link to look at the results of the Tornado Project, which lists by Pennsylvania counties when tornadoes were officially recorded between 1950 and 2012. Youll see that a handful of them struck in April.

One of the more memorable took place on April 5, 1977, when an F2 tornado touched down in Swatara Township. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), six homes were destroyed, 20 homes were damaged and 50 people were left homeless.

Its just like what I saw in The Wizard of Oz. I couldnt believe it," Lee Myers told a reporter from The Patriot-News. Myers was driving west on Chambers Hill Road around 5 p.m. that day when she saw it. I thought it was my imagination.

Heres more on the tornado, documented in a PennLive.com story that marked the 39th anniversary of that storm.

As for this April, the script already is a bit different. Windy conditions, with gusts to 40 miles per hour, are forecast throughout Wednesday, prompting a fire weather watch. Thats a fairly unusual event around here. But it happens occasionally, just like a lot of other weather extremes that through the years have marked April as one that can throw a lot of surprises our way.Send me another image, or I will send what I have to your whole school . . .

Send me a nude photo, or I will get you in trouble with your boss . . .

Do this sexual act, or I will evict you for being late with rent . . .

Sext with me, and I will give extra hall passes and privileges at school . . .

Meet up with me for sex, or I will share your photos with your wife . . .

Do these sexual acts, and I will offer you lighter penalties for an alleged crime . . .

Send me explicit images, and I will get you that job . . .

Sexual extortion is a serious sex crime happening everywhere in Pennsylvania.

Offenders target vulnerable Pennsylvanianschildren, teens, and adults. Children with developmental or cognitive disabilities are often targeted, as are children who have been subjected to sexual abuse or family abuse at home. As technology advances, so do the number of victims.

Acts of sexual extortion are not illegal in Pennsylvania, due to gaps in current law. It is time to close this loophole and pass legislation that holds offenders accountable for this devastating conduct.

The Department of Justice refers to sexual extortion as by far the most significantly growing threat to children with the highest child-to-offender ratio of all child sex crimes.

The case of Richard Finkbiner presents one example: he harmed 153 young victims and obtained 22,000 video files and 47,000 images before authorities were able to stop him.

Cases from around the country and here in Pennsylvania show anyone can be vulnerablenot only children and teens, but also adults in vulnerable positions such as employees, tenants, victims of natural disasters, parents involved in custody cases, college students, and people dating online.

Perpetrators abuse their power to coerce sexual acts, images, or videos from victims. It is sadly common for one offender to have hundreds of victims in our current digital age. They stalk social networking and dating sites. They hack computers and webcams.

They create fake profiles to join a victims network. They manipulate and deceive to obtain images and videos of a victim and then threaten to release those images unless the victim sends them more.

Victims are severely impacted by sexual extortionsimilarly to victims of other sex crimes. They feel haunted, not knowing when or where their images will surface, or when their abuser will demand more.

They lose concentration at school or work. They are unsafe at home, due to the offenders relentless harassment, threats, and stalking. They fear the perpetrator will harm them or someone they love.

And perpetrators are relentless. When one victim told her offender that his sexual extortion made her feel like killing herself, he replied, glad I could help you out. As explained by one 17-year-old sexual extortion victim, I felt like I was being raped through a phone.

Current law focuses on extortion by theft and does not include sexual acts, images, or videos as a thing of value. Our existing laws do not adequately address sexual extortion, nor do they sufficiently address the complex ways technology facilitates these offenses.

The end result? Prosecutors are left trying to piece together statutes that do not measure up to the full scope of these offenses. And victims are left with little to no recourse.

These are serious offenses that must be held accountable and ultimately prevented. Whether it is a child or adult, online or in-person settingsexual extortion always involves coercion and an intentional abuse of power that must be addressed.

It is time to expressly criminalize sexual extortion in Pennsylvania.

Last week, the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee convened an informational meeting on sexual extortion, where Chairman Robert Kauffman expressed his interest in prioritizing this legislation.

The next day, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously supported a bill (Senate Bill 337: Senators Schwank & K. Ward) that would criminalize sexual extortion in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR), Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA), and Legal Momentum applaud the Chairs and members of these Committees for their leadership in prioritizing this issue.

Recent efforts to raise awareness have brought sexual extortion out of the shadows. Since 2016, ten states have expressly criminalized sexual extortion. It is time for Pennsylvania to join as the 11th state in passing legislation.

Pennsylvanians need this protection and a criminal justice system that can effectively hold perpetrators accountable.

PCAR, PDAA, and Legal Momentum urge the General Assembly of Pennsylvania to pass, and Governor Wolf to sign, legislation that will criminalize sexual extortion this session.

Karen Baker is Chief Executive Officer, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape; Richard Goldinger is president, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, and Jennifer M. Becker is Deputy Legal Director and Senior Attorney, Legal Momentum the Womens Legal Defense and Education Fund.Transformational journey: Boyne Highlands Resort unveils plans for future

Boyne Highlands Resort announced its 2030 transformational journey during an event on Thursday at the Highlands.Landry set an Arkansas team record for top 10s in only three seasons. But after graduating in 2009, he toiled on mini-tours in his first four seasons as a pro. He started to see the light when he began driving seven hours each way to Austin to work with swing instructor Chuck Cook. Nevertheless, he signed up for Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament in 2014, telling himself this was his last chance. He and fellow Arkansas grad Austin Cook (no relation to Chuck) roomed together at second stage in Panama City, Fla. Landry opened with rounds of 75-76 and his chances of advancing looked bleak. But Landry refused to quit, perhaps because of his blue-collar upbringing, McMakin says. Landry's father is a FedEx delivery man and his mother is a school teacher.

"His father cut grass to help pay his entry fees," McMakin said. "I can tell you this: there were multiple times where his parents came to watch him play college tournaments and they slept in their car. He saw that and he wasn't going to let them down. He just had that in his blood."

Needing to go low in the third round, Landry and Cook prayed together at dinner. The next day, Landry fired a 64, three strokes better than anyone else the entire week.

"He told me he had to pull over on the side of the road because he was crying," Cook remembered. "It was such a big round for him that he had to take a minute and reflect on what had happened."

Landry advanced to final stage and finished second to earn his Web.com Tour card. Money was still tight for Landry. In 2015, he had only had $1,500 left in his bank account the week of a Web.com Tour event in Cartagena, Colombia. None of that mattered when he found the ring he wanted to get his now-wife, Elizabeth. He put $500 down on the ring and headed to the tournament with only $1,000 to his name. He won that week and was on his way to earning a PGA TOUR card. As a rookie, he made his mark at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, holding the 36-hole lead before ballooning to a final-round 78 and finishing T-15. The big takeaway: he needed to focus on his approach shots, especially from 160-170 yards.

"I was hitting a lot of 8-irons where (eventual U.S. Open champ) Dustin Johnson was hitting wedge," Landry said. "I better be good from there if I'm going to compete."

At last year's Valero Texas Open, Landry outperformed the field by +1.923 strokes on all approach shots, ranking first for the week, and also ranked eighth in Strokes Gained: Putting (+1.291).

"I did everything pretty awesome last year," Landry said.

It didn't hurt that he gained extra motivation when he overheard the caddie of one of his playing competitors, Zach Johnson, ask his player before the third round, "Who's this guy we're playing with?"

Landry set out to make sure caddie Damon Green would remember his name the next time they met. Landry carded 67-68 on the weekend for a score of 17-under 271, which marked the lowest winning total since the tournament moved to TPC San Antonio in 2010.

"When Green popped into a port-a-potty, he had to restrain himself from tipping it over," McMakin said of Landry. "That's him though. If I was in a bar fight, I'd want Landry with me even though he's 5'5" 160 pounds. He'd be the guy that would be there for you. He's never been afraid to play anyone, anywhere."The former International Presidents Cup team member says the toughest part is actually having to have the limits.

I miss the grind to be honest. I miss the practice and the grind to get better, he says.

But he knows not to push things too hard. He continues rehab four times a week and at this stage he hopes to be making a comeback in his home country late in the year. He will attempt to procure some sponsors invites and play in late November and through December.

Bowditch lost his PGA TOUR card before the injury revelation and as such doesnt fit under a medical exemption. As a result he will hit the 2020 Web.com Tour season from where he is hoping to find his way back to the TOUR.

It might sound silly but coming back via the Web is even better in my eyes, Bowditch  who also boast two Web.com Tour title  says.

Its where my PGA TOUR career began and the best avenue to climbing my way back.

It really is going back to the start with my golf. As much as I want to be on TOUR the Web should be a great spot to recalibrate my game and get my swing in order. There are also so many mental barriers that Ill need to pass coming back off an injury.

Seeing 80-time PGA TOUR winner Woods make a successful return from the surgery is also a bonus for Bowditch.

His swing has changed a fair bit post-surgery so seeing that is a good thing in my eyes  knowing that it wont be the same, but that it can be done, he says

I guess for all athletes in any sport coming off an injury  whether its an ankle, a knee or whatever it is  you might be having doubts your speed and power is still going to be there under the gun  It is all part of the process I am going through now.

While recovery is never easy Bowditch has found a serious silver lining in his time out of the game  the ability to be at the coalface of fatherhood.

Bowditch and his wife Amanda have a young daughter Kelly Anne and the now two-year-old has given him plenty of happiness amongst the recuperation process.

Even when I was stuck in bed for six to eight weeks and only up and about for an hour or so each day  just to see her daily growth, her mannerisms change  it was a neat experience, Bowditch beams.

Most people with families know how tough it can be when youre working nine to five, particularly if you have travel. It always takes a team effort, and Im lucky to have a great team around me, but you want to be around for the little things. The talking and the first walking and that kind of stuff. It has definitely worked out great to be around to watch her grow.

If this was ever going to happen, Im lucky that it happened at this time, in this way, so I can be part of these years.At a distribution facility, boxes filled with orders for AmerisourceBergen Corp. customers descend conveyor belts, headed for loading docks. The firm was called out by New York's attorney general for allegedly failing to report suspicious opioid orders. Read more

This story has been updated.

The three pharmacies all supplied opioid prescribers who were later convicted or indicted, and the stores all got painkillers from Chesterbrook-based drug distributor AmerisourceBergen, a new lawsuit says.

One of the convicted doctors supplied multiple drug rings with prescriptions for oxycodone, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Another was essentially a drug dealer masquerading as a doctor," who was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.

To New Yorks attorney general, these examples are just part of what it has termed the most extensive lawsuit to date against wholesale drug distributors for their role in the opioid epidemic. In addition to its focus on the Sackler family behind Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma, the suit filed last week outlines new details on the alleged failures by drug distributors to keep tabs on the addictive painkillers they supply to pharmacies.

While the distributors are little-known to consumers, the so-called Big Three that corner the market are among the top Fortune 500 companies. AmerisourceBergen generated $167.9 billion in revenue last year. Its competitors McKesson and Cardinal Health had 2018 revenues of $208.4 billion and $137 billion, respectively.

The one area in which Amerisource has consistently stood out as compared to its major competitors, the lawsuit says, is its unwillingness to identify suspicious orders, even among customers that regularly exceeded their thresholds and presented multiple red flags of diversion.

In a statement, the company said: the allegations made in the New York State Lawsuit are exactly that  allegations. The simple truth is that AmerisourceBergen reports directly to the DEA the quantity and receiving pharmacy of each order of opioids it ships, as well as reporting suspicious orders and refusing to serve customers where appropriate.

As more than 2,000 municipalities, tribes, and other groups have sued manufacturers and distributors, including dozens of Pennsylvania counties and towns, AmerisourceBergen and the other companies have defended against accusations that they fueled the opioid epidemic.

AmerisourceBergen spent $61.5 million on litigation costs, mostly related to opioids, in fiscal 2018. The companys gross profit last year grew 1.5 percent, to $4.6 billion.

Distributors buy medications from drug manufacturers, and then sell them to customers such as pharmacies and hospitals, which in turn sell those prescriptions to patients. Federal and state regulations require distributors to identify and report suspicious orders, meaning those that are unusual in size and frequency, and deviate substantially from a normal pattern.

Everyone in the pharmaceutical distribution chain has a responsibility for monitoring for suspect behavior, said attorney Bill McGoldrick, a former vice-chairman of the American Bar Associations advisory board on substance use disorder. Without a sound corporate compliance program in place, it enables people to take advantage, and do unnecessary prescribing," which can feed pill mills, he said.

AmerisourceBergen, the attorney generals suit says, had numerous customers who showed common signs of suspicious activity: scoring above the 90th percentile, in a given region, in terms of total opioid orders, percentage of patient doctor-shoppers, and percentage of cash payments.

At a pharmacy in Queens, according to the suit, 77 percent of prescriptions between 2013 and 2017 were written by prescribers who were eventually indicted or convicted for pushing opioids. In 2014 alone, that corresponding figure was 90 percent. Amerisource appears to have only stopped shipping in 2017, the suit says.

About half of the opioid prescriptions dispensed by a Bronx pharmacy, from 2013 to 2015, were filled by prescribers who were later convicted, the lawsuit says, including physician Robert Terdiman, who pleaded guilty in 2015, and agreed to forfeit more than $350,000. He was involved in a ring of two-dozen doctors, clinic employees, and drug traffickers who distributed more than five million oxycodone pills, federal prosecutors said at the time.

"As of 2018, this pharmacy was still a customer of Amerisource, according to the New York suit.

The company said, The lawsuit contains no accusations that AmerisourceBergen shipped opioid products to pharmacies that were not registered by the DEA and licensed by the New York State Board of Pharmacy. AmerisourceBergen is not a law enforcement agency and therefore lacks the authority of those agencies.

Each of the Big Three distributors in recent years have settled government suits over the flow of controlled substances. And last year, Congress grilled distributors executives on Capitol Hill. CEO Steve Collis testified to a congressional committee that his company doesnt control how many opioid medications are prescribed, dispensed, or ultimately used.

He also said AmerisourceBergen devotes significant resources" to its anti-diversion program, and has continually improved its order monitoring program to respond to drug abuse trends, and use data-driven analysis.

The company has previously said that it believes its process produces reports that are highly precise and actionable for the DEA, whereas other distributors may submit a higher volume of reports.

New York contends that AmerisourceBergens complex, automated approach...increases ordering flexibility for its customers rather than limits it, and doesnt meet state obligations for reviewing suspicious orders.Hahnemann University Hospital on Thursday plans to lay off 175 as part of an effort to stanch monthly losses of $3 million to $5 million, officials said Wednesday. Read more

Hahnemann University Hospital, on a financial precipice and facing closure if monthly losses of $3 million to $5 million at the Center City institution continue, plans to lay off 175 nurses, support staff, and managers on Thursday, hospital officials said.

We are in a life-or-death situation here at Hahnemann, said Joel Freedman, chief executive of American Academic Health System LLC, which early last year bought Hahnemann and St. Christophers Hospital for Children from Tenet Healthcare Corp. for $170 million.

Were not Tenet with endless cash. Were running out of money, said Freedman, a Californian whose background is in investment banking. He said he would do everything he could to preserve St.

Christophers, but emphasized that Hahnemann needs help from government, insurers, and its academic partner, Drexel University, to survive.

Thursdays layoffs of 65 nurses, 22 service and technical employees, and 88 nonunion workers and managers are effective immediately for most. The cuts follow the elimination of 30 management jobs in January and the decision to close three primary-care offices, in Chinatown, Fishtown, and South Philadelphia. The moves are expected to save $18 million a year.

Hahnemann, which opened in 1848 as a homeopathic medical college, employs 2,700 people. St. Christophers, where 45 jobs in the doctors practices were cut last August, employs 1,300. The two hospitals have $600 million to $700 million in annual revenue, down from $790 million when Freedmans company bought them.

The number of patients in the 496-bed hospital has fallen to a range of 200 to 250 a day, down from the high 200s in early 2018, Freedman said.

Freedman, whose health-care investment firm is Paladin Healthcare, said Hahnemanns financial condition was much worse than expected when he took over in January 2018, which forced him to immediately start conserving cash. Weve kept up as well as we could, Freedman said, referring to payments to vendors.

Since American Academic took over, Freedman said, Hahnemann has been dogged by information technology problems that make it impossible to get the performance data that management needs quickly enough to make a difference.

The hospital has had profound problems with the documentation of patients conditions, which means that 15 percent of claims are being denied by insurers. Hahnemann officials say that figure should be no more than 2 percent or 3 percent. The hospital has an extremely high rate of so-called observation stays, which pay far less than regular inpatient stays.

American Academics ownership of the hospitals has been marked by management turmoil. In October, Freedman announced the departure of Barry A. Wolfman, American Academics president when the deal was announced and a Tenet veteran who ran the companys Philadelphia-area operations in the early 2000s.

Suzanne Richards, with experience in Southern California, took over in January as chief executive for both facilities but was fired two months later, leaving Freedman in charge. Freedman said the managers he appointed did not perform well.

As Freedman and his current management team work on a plan to keep Hahnemann in business, health-care executives farther north on Broad Street, at Temple University Health System and Einstein Healthcare Network, are contending with similarly difficult financial conditions because they also serve a large percentage of patients with Medicaid insurance, which does not cover the full cost of care.

Temple is in exclusive talks with Thomas Jefferson University over the potential sale of Fox Chase Cancer Center as part of a restructuring designed to strengthen its core North Philadelphia operations for the long term.

Einstein agreed last year to become part of Jefferson Health, but that deal is still pending. Meanwhile, Moodys last month downgraded Einsteins credit rating to junk bond status, citing lower levels of liquid financial assets. Fitch had already downgraded Einstein to junk a year ago.

For patients, the shifting sands at Hahnemann can be distressing.

Lifelong Fishtown resident Paul Morawski, 72, said he learned last week from his Hahnemann primary care physician, Keino Johnson, that the office would close this month. Morawski, who switched doctors about a year ago when his family doctor retired, said he doesnt know about going to an office at Broad and Vine, where Johnson said he will practice.

Its a trip, he said, not like the eight-minute walk he has to the doctor now.A new version of Pennsylvanias contentious nuclear rescue proposal would steer as much as $541 million of ratepayer subsidies annually to clean-energy power producers, though in a nod to environmentalists, not all of it would go to nuclear generators.

State Sen. Ryan P. Aument, (R., Lancaster), who has led a two-year bipartisan legislative effort exploring a nuclear rescue, introduced a bill on Wednesday that is similar in scope to a House rescue package unveiled last month by State Rep. Tom Mehaffie (R., Dauphin), but different in several critical details.

The General Assembly will need to act in the next few months if it wants to avert a threatened closure of Three Mile Island Unit 1, which owner Exelon Generation says is losing money. Aument, in an interview Wednesday, framed the bill as a means to prevent the early closure of zero-carbon power producers, which would largely be replaced by pollutant-emitting fossil-fuel plants.

The goal is not to bail out Exelon, he said. The goal is not to bail out an industry. The goal is to do all we can in Pennsylvania to promote innovation and clean energy resources.

Pennsylvania is the fifth state to take up a proposal to support nuclear power plants, which have struggled to compete in energy markets where low-cost natural gas has driven down the price of electricity. The nuclear rescues are opposed by some environmentalists, consumer advocates, and the natural gas industry, whose production of new shale-gas resources has fundamentally reshaped energy markets in the last decade.

Both the Senate and the House nuclear rescue proposals would amend the states 2004 Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act (AEPS) to add a category of zero-emission power reserved largely for nuclear producers that would supply 50 percent of the states electricity demand.

Aument said his proposal, Senate Bill 510, differs from the House bill by imposing penalties on power producers that fail to meet their clean-energy commitments, by creating a procedure for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to audit compliance and by allotting some of the new zero-emission credits to renewable producers, such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric plants.

This is not just a nuclear bill, said Aument. The broader policy goal is promoting innovation, clean energy, and carbon reduction.

The proposal would add 0.3 to 0.37 cents per kilowatt hour to customer bills, or up to $1.83 a month for a residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours. A customer using 875 kWh monthly, the average usage for all residential customers including those who heat with electricity, would pay up to $38.28 more a year.

The costs are unlikely to win over advocates of price-sensitive customers, such as large manufacturers and the AARP. But Aument said the costs of allowing nuclear power plants to close prematurely, and reducing the states entrenched nuclear industry, are greater than the subsidies.

We certainly believe there would be a far greater costs in the future to consumers if the premature retirements of these plants were to take place and there would be a lack of diversity in the market, Aument said.

Critics say all of the states nuclear power plants except Three Mile Island are currently profitable (though First Energy Corp. has announced it plans to shut down its twin-unit Beaver Valley Power Station in 2021). Aument said the legislation intentionally does not include a financial test for power producers to receive support.

I did not want this bill to be a bailout, to be a financial rescue, he said. I wanted it to be about the broader policy goal.Thomas Jefferson University Provost, Mark Tykocinski (right), a molecular immunologist, is being honored Wednesday night by the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. He stands here with Thomas Jefferson University Chancellor Stephen Spinelli, left. JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer. Read more

Its spring, so corporate Philadelphia is hosting foreign diplomats and fund-raisers. For example:

Support your local police

Patches of Center City Philadelphia will turn blue tonight, Wednesday, April 3, with Cira Centre, the FMC Tower, and other Brandywine Realty Trust properties switching their lights to the police color as the nonprofit, business-led Philadelphia Police Foundation marks A Night for Blue.

The group started by business leaders, including corporate lawyer and Temple board chair Patrick OConnor and real estate broker John Binswanger, lists a string of its projects to fund police equipment, training, and programs not covered by the city budget, at www.phillypolicefoundation.org

The group also holds its yearly Night for Blue gathering Wednesday evening in the Ballroom at the Ben Franklin House, 834 Chestnut St., featuring specially created experiences to give silent-auction winners a taste of police operations and training.

And backers including Mayor Jim Kenney, Brandywine boss Gerry Sweeney, PREIT CEO Joseph F. Coradino, publicist A. Bruce Crawley, Drexel president John Fry, and others will honor Charlie Pizzi, the former Chamber of Commerce chief who, as chief executive of Tastykake, got a state loan to build its modern plant built in South Philadelphia, ensuring that the company would remain a city employer after its 2011 sale to Flowers Foods of Atlanta.

Separately: Philadelphia may have lost its old role as a diplomatic center  only the Mexican and Italian consulates survive as full-service foreign offices, though Chile and Panama also have trade bureaus  but at least two area ethnic and national business groups have made the city a regular stop for home-country ambassadors who try to rally interest in events back home and prosperous two-way relations:

This year in Jerusalem

The Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce said it has sold more than 450 tickets, a record, to its annual gala at the Crystal Tea Room on Wednesday night, where Israels New York consul  Ambassador Dani Dayan  and business leaders from both countries plan to honor three local institutions or leaders for sponsoring joint ventures in Israel:

-Mark L. Tykocinski the molecular immunologist who is Jeffersons provost and medical school dean, for his role establishing the Jefferson Israel Center in Tel Aviv last year;

-West Pharmaceutical Services Inc., Exton, whose Israeli team in Raanana developed a new drug delivery platform, SmartDose, in 2016;

-Evolve IP, the Wayne cloud computing and communications company that in 2017 added a team in Herzyliya, headed by Yehuda Reuven, to provide technical support for EvolveIP call centers. (EvolveIP acquired Austin, Texas-based Jog.ai, a speech analytics and natural language tech firm, marking EvolveIPs 15th acquisition as it builds out its network of cloud strategy services and its geographic base.)

Next parish is Dublin

The Irish American Business Chamber & Network on March 1 summoned more than 600 to pack the Union Leagues Lincoln Room for its yearly lunch, awards, and an address by Irelands ambassador to the U.S., Daniel Mulhall.

Mulhall urged closer trade ties and cited Irelands improved position as an English-speaking business center for Europe (as neighboring Britain wrestles with leaving the European Union). And he pledged to urge Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to follow his predecessors to Philly. Maybe next year.

Irish American business people, including Wayne-based Teleflex CEO Liam Kelly, gave the groups Taioseach (Big Chief) award to builder Daniel J. Keating III (now of Gilbane Building Co.) and Sarah P. Keating of Keating Environmental Management. The groups Uachtaran (President) award went to Col. Tom Manion, USMC, and his daughter Ryan Manion for the Travis Manion Foundation, the Doylestown-based veterans support group named for Ryans late brother, First Lt. Capt. Travis Manion, USMC , who was killed in Iraq leading a counterattack in 2006.

Business groups focused on Canada, China, France, Italy, India, the U.K., and other large nations that are significant trading partners for local companies also meet regularly in Philadelphia, but Im not aware of any that have built bigger networks or gather more people at single events events than the Irish and the Israelis.There is something inspiring about watching Phoebe Bridgers, one of the fastest rising stars in indie rock, team up with one of her heroes, former Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst, in a musical partnership filled with genuine chemistry.

You cant help but feel excited for Bridgers, who has been launching project after project  first her own solo career with the critically acclaimed 2017 debut album Stranger in the Alps, followed by another critically acclaimed collaboration with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus in 2018 with boygenius  since she exploded onto the scene. And while Oberst has pursued different projects following the retirement of Bright Eyes in 2011, most notably his Omaha-based punk rock band Desaparecidos, Better Oblivion Community Center combines his songwriting prowess with Bridgers ethereal, gut-wrenching style to create something truly special.

On Tuesday night, the pair took the stage for a sold-out concert at Union Transfer. The crowd pressed eagerly into the stage, impatient after waiting for nearly two hours. The phrase It will end in tears glowed above a painted doorway on their backdrop, promising emotional catharsis.

While it was enjoyable to watch Bridgers and Oberst play high energy rock renditions of both their collaborative and solo material  Dylan Thomas and a reworked version of Bridgers Funeral were crowd favorites  the most powerful moments of the show came during the slower moments. The audience, a mixture of older indie rock fans attached to Obersts earlier work with Bright Eyes and younger fans who were clearly there to see Bridgers, was particularly captivated by Service Road, a folk number about Obersts brothers death in 2016. The duo indulged the crowd with a cover of the Replacements Cant Hardly Wait.

When Phoebe and I started this band, we wanted it to sound like the Replacements, Oberst joked. But clearly we sound nothing like the Replacements.

And while Bridgers solo work dominated the non-Better Oblivion tracks during the set, Oberst brought out a Bright Eyes number, Easy / Lucky / Free, during the encore to the crowds delight. Unfortunately, they chose not repeat their cover of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gagas Shallow," which they debuted a day earlier at their Brooklyn show.

It will be interesting to see where this partnership goes in the future. After Bridgers went on the record with the New York Times earlier this year about enduring abuse by Ryan Adams after he reached out in 2014 offering to help her with her music, its particularly powerful to watch her thrive alongside Oberst, whom she admires deeply. From the gigantic smiles on their faces and light-hearted banter between songs, its safe to assume that the pair isnt quite done yet.In Diane, the 70-something title character ends up at a small-town bar, weaving unsteadily in front of the jukebox, in a way that suggests shes drunk, or suffering from dementia or  best case scenario  not an accomplished dancer.

The bartender, whos not taking any chances, picks up the phone and calls for assistance. No more tequila, he tells the waitress.

Diane (Mary Kay Place) is sober enough to be slightly offended.

I used to be a regular.

Its a line that goes to the heart of Diane, a movie about used-to-bes.

Diane is starting to feel her own mortality, living in a town thats seen better days, looking in on a dwindling roster of friends and family who comprise a way of life that will die when they do.

That sounds depressing, and the movie might hit some people that way, but the tone (as engineered by writer director Kent Jones) is one of heartfelt elegy, and the movie exists to quietly celebrate the kind of a woman who goes uncelebrated in our culture.

Kent made the movie as a tribute to the women who raised him in rural Massachusetts (set in the foothills of the Berkshires), and they are determined, loving, flinty, fearless, complicated, and worth knowing.

We first see Diane standing watch, with a kind of tender resolution, at the bedside of a terminally ill cousin (Dierdre OConnell), until she leaves to look in on her son (Jake Lacey)  a chore that her friends (Andrea Martin) regard with embarrassed silence or a knowing roll of the eye, because hes a junkie, and 30, and shes still bringing him cooked food and clean laundry.

Shes past worrying if shes an enabler, and talks frankly of the futility of her actions, which she now looks upon as extended funeral preparation for a kid who may effectively be gone already. When thats out of the way, she goes to the soup kitchen, dishing out mac and cheese to people who no longer have enough money for food.

Diane is sometimes guilty of spelling things out, but not often, and mostly we have the rare pleasure of listening to what is unsaid. There was a factory here, and now its gone, and so are most of the young people, and so are most of the men, done in by whatever toxic by-products came with the good jobs that kept the families fed and the houses repaired and cars gassed up.

And people like Diane, who used to be regulars, keep on. Theres a scene of neighbors (most over 60) gathered around a table, where the elliptical conversation speaks to mingled histories. Somebodys child climbs into Dianes lap, and she puts her hands on his tiny shoulders, the way she surely used to touch her son when he was young and full of promise.

In a less subtle moment, an elderly gent says that helping Diane, and being helped by her, makes him feel sanctified, and there is the danger here of positioning Diane as some kind of saint. Kent pulls back from that, offering a backstory that reveals Diane as fully human, with all of the faults that come with it. Even her margarita binge suggests something she might have bequeathed to her son.

The way Diane imparts this information is daring and to my mind entirely successful  at the movies midpoint, there are startling changes to the way the story is told, marked by abrupt leaps forward in time. The effect is of a rush of impressions that contribute to the movies poetic feel, and to its sense of what awaits Diane and her little town as it slowly empties of the people who gave it shape.

Pulling us through all of it is Place, who imbues her character with a touching persistence, and gives striking depth and dimension to this regular woman, who used to be a regular.

Diane. Directed by Kent Jones. With Mary Kay Place, Jake Lacey, Andrea Martin, Estelle Parsons, and Dierdre OConnell. Distributed by IFC Films.

Running time: 1 hour, 36 mins.

Playing at: The Ritz at the Bourse, Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

Parents guide: Not rated.When Deadpool grappled with the ill-tempered Cable last year, he wondered if his resolutely grumpy adversary might have wandered in from the wrong corporate franchise.

Youre so dark. Are you sure youre not from the DC Universe?

It was an astute question. For years, DCs idea of a good time was to give us movies with a Pet Sematary-style Superman and a Batman so off-putting hes been passed around disinterested Hollywood leading men like a not-so-hot potato.

Lately, though, DC has begun to grasp that there is value in not taking its properties too seriously. First with the far-out and Aquaman, and now with Shazam!  a highly family-friendly movie with the feel of a 1980s adventure comedy.

The story follows Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a Philadelphia teen in foster care who ends up being selected by a subterranean wizard (Djimon Hounsou) to be given superpowers. Rather than deliver this absurd backstory with a straight face, director David Sandberg encourages us to chuckle. When Hounsous character, in his plummiest wizard voice, tells Batson he can summon superpowers by saying the word shazam, Batson cracks up, and so do we.

Even funnier  the incantation actually works. Batson says the magic word and transforms into a red-suited muscleman (Zachary Levi) impervious to bullets, and able leap small buildings in a single bound after a certain amount of practice. These skills come in handy at school, where Batson/Shazam deals with the bullies who are making life miserable for his disabled foster brother Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer).

Shazam must learn about his powers as he goes, and for that he must rely on Freddy, a comic book fanatic well-grounded in superhero templates. Grazer plays Freeman as an ingratiating motormouth whos just shy of a busybody, and his chemistry with Levi is good. So good you dont much mind that Levis bulked-up version of Batson, energized and bubbly, is a completely different character than the rather sullen teen that Asher is playing.

The movie builds on the good vibes created by Levi and Grazer, and benefits from the likable characters who comprise Batsons foster family, who live in an approximation of Philadelphia. Its actually Toronto, but there is there is a great deal of second-unit Philly scenery, and locals will get a kick out of the way CGI artists make use of William Penns statue and the LOVE sculpture. Or the way Shazam and Freddy discuss possible superhero names, like Mr. Philadelphia, rejected on the grounds that it sounds too much like cream cheese.

A few of our landmarks get trashed as Shazam does battle with a super-villain (Mark Strong) bent on usurping his superpowers. This occurs during the extended finale, which is the only thing the movie gets wrong  adding 10 empty minutes to a movie that, at over two hours, doesnt need them.

On the other hand, the climax occurs during an awesome-looking winter carnival called Chill-Adelphia, which Im not sure actually exists, but probably should.

The movie itself is chill. The filmmakers were going for (and mostly achieve) the 1980s Amblin Entertainment feel of a movie out to have an unpretentious good time  a welcome throwback to days before comic books movies became gargantuan and grim.

Shazam! Directed by David Sandberg. With Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mark Strong and Faithe Herman. Distributed by New Line Cinema.

Running time: 2 hours, 12 mins.

Parents guide: PG-13 (intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material)

Playing at: Area theatersThe new Zoo Keys that are returning to the Philadelphia Zoo, in conjunction with the "Creatures of Habitat" exhibit. Read more

Therese Fox fondly remembers thrusting through the throng of red plastic elephant-wielding 6-year-olds at the Philadelphia Zoo, elbowing her way to the front of the all-out stampede of fellow first -graders on a singular mission.

The year was 1969, and the reward for the first to reach the talking box was high. After all, to the speediest 6-year-old went the spoils of inserting the plastic pachyderms key-shaped trunk into the story box, spouting a fun fact on the animal kingdom for all to hear.

Thats the magic of the Zoo Key; you just had to run to the box faster than the other kids, she recalled.

Today, five great-nieces and -nephews and countless zoo trips later, Fox still dangles the 50-year-old red elephant Zoo Key from her house key ring, a happy reminder of the past.

Every time I look at it, it just brings me back, Fox, 55, of Philadelphia, said. "It was the first class trip wed ever gone on, and it was just such a magical day for me.  Its a memory in a key, and, you know, every time I look at it, it brings smiles.

Now, as Zoo Keys return to the Philadelphia Zoo on Saturday, Fox hopes to pass down the magic of the Zoo Key to the young children in her family. (But, really, she added, it doesnt matter how old you are, its the zoo.)

Back by popular demand and operated by the turn of colorful animal-shaped plastic keys, the Philadelphia Zoos 20 new, solar-powered storybook boxes resemble those that previously occupied the park, with a few additions.

Stationed throughout the park at both live and life-size Lego animal exhibits  part of the zoos Creatures of Habitat" display, also opening Saturday  the new, bilingual boxes feature not one but two keyholes, where children can choose to listen to tales of the animal kingdom from Philadelphia zookeepers in either English or Spanish.

And while your old keys from class field trips will still work in the updated story boxes, the new batch of Philadelphia Zoo Keys are made from recycled plastic, and are available for $3 each in red and purple lions, bears, and gorillas. Members will receive one complimentary green alligator key per household, and 10 percent off additional keys.

In celebration of the keys debut, 30 life-size animal sculptures of "Creatures of Habitat are posted throughout the zoo, crafted from hundreds of thousands of Lego bricks and ranging in scale from a polar bear to a dainty golden tamarind monkey.

One of a handful of U.S. zoos to use fact-filled storytelling machines, Philadelphias Zoo Keys were available for nearly half a century until 2007, when the park cut the program to embark on new initiatives, Amy Shearer, zoo chief marketing officer, said.

"What we realized was, wow, these Zoo Keys are so important to peoples memories and visits to the zoo, so we are thrilled to bring them back, she said.

Shaped like an elephant with a key-shaped trunk used to unlock the talking story box, the original novelty Zoo Key was patented by childrens television host, puppeteer, and father of the modern hotel magnetic key Bruce Sedley in 1960  the same year the keys made their debut in Philadelphia.

For dedicated collectors like Mark Lyons, the novelty of the Zoo Key is equal parts nostalgia and history.

Its like a classic car, Lyons, 64, said. If your dad had a 1950 Ford Mustang, youre going to want one, too.

Although he bought his first Zoo Key more than five decades ago on a fourth-grade field trip to the Detroit Zoo, Lyons said he didnt become "serious about collecting until after eBay came about in the late 1990s.

Today, he estimates hes amassed between 350 and 400 of the plastic keys from zoos across the country.

And though the beastly keys generally sell wholesale for a couple of dollars, in online bidding wars among collectors like Lyons, its not unheard of for a rare and unusual Zoo Key  like a limited-edition golden Komodo dragon from Philadelphia  to sell for upwards of $225, he said.

A locksmith by trade and collector of handcuffs and Zoo Keys by passion, Lyons, whose cell and home phone numbers both end in 5397 (T9 text for KEYS), runs a Facebook page dedicated to all things Zoo Key from his home in Encinitas, Calif.

People look at me like, You sure do collect some weird stuff,  Lyons, who is also a prolific collector of M.C. Escher art and Three Stooges paraphernalia, said. But when youre with people in your element, its like bliss.

So far, more than 350 people have found that nostalgic bliss on Lyons Zoo Key page, with good portion of that fan base located in Philadelphia, according to his Facebook metrics.

Among the nostalgic: Didi Strubeck. When the 27-year-old originally from Collingswood heard the keys were coming back to Philadelphia, Strubeck knew exactly where she could find her white alligator from second grade.

I sent a picture [of the key] to my mom and best friend right away," she said. Now living in Sonoma County, Calif., Strubeck said the plastic piece of reptilian nostalgia survived two decades and a move west.

I had one around [age] 6 or 7 and held on to it for all these years. I remember being in a group of kids and running to the boxes to turn the keys, and wanting to be the first person to do it.

When Strubeck returns to New Jersey to visit with family in May, she said, a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo is now a must.

I was trying to tell my husband, the Philly zoo is a special zoo. Its the first zoo in America, and you know, the zoo keys are such a novelty," she said. "It just brings you back.

Creatures of Habitat will be on exhibit from April 6 until Sept. 30 at the Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia. Zoo tickets are $24 for adults (12 and older) and $19 for children 3 to 11. Keys cost $3 each. 215-243-1100, philadelphiazoo.org.Franco Buscemi, owner of Thin & Crispy Pizza, pulls a Vegetarian Delight large pizza out of the oven at his pizzeria on Trenton Avenue. Read more

Franco Buscemi had no money for advertising when he opened his Kensington pizza shop, Thin & Crispy, in February 2017. But later that year he joined Slice, a website and mobile app designed to steer customers to local, independent pizzerias and away from chains like Dominos. At first, Buscemi said, he got maybe 60 orders a month through the service. Now, he typically gets close to 400.

For me, it is the same as advertising, said Buscemi, who was previously affiliated with Francos Pizza in Kensington. We never send menus to doors. But we keep getting the new customers.

Digital sales are increasingly replacing phone orders, according to pizza shop owners and industry experts. As a result, many shops feel pressure to join services like GrubHub, Caviar, UberEats, and Slice, even when that means losing a piece of each sale to a commission.

A 2017 report from PMQ Pizza Magazine, an industry publication, noted that 60 percent of Dominos and Papa Johns sales that year came from digital orders. Though independent pizza shops make up 55 percent of the market nationwide, they drive only 41 percent of sales. The same report noted that 42 percent of all pizzerias didnt offer online ordering in 2017.

The large chains offer online ordering through their own websites and mobile apps, meaning they dont have to pay a third party. But many smaller pizza shops with bare-bones websites or no online presence at all dont have that option.

In the Philadelphia region, many pizza shop owners now acknowledge they were slow to catch on when it came to online ordering. Some said once they did, they saw their sales grow.

Even at Petes Famous Pizza at 116 N. 21st St., a Center City fixture for decades, owner Pete Kada said sales are up since the shop went digital.

Its definitely more now than it was five years ago, he said. We still get a lot of phone calls, but its the new customers we get online.

Buscemi has worked in the pizza business for more than 40 years and is proudly old school. He said Slice persuaded him to join by offering to promote his shop at 2563 Trenton Ave. And he prefers Slices $1.95 per-order flat-fee commission over platforms like UberEats and GrubHub, which take commissions that can range from 5 percent to 15 percent of sales.

Buscemi has made few concessions to the changing times, opting to receive online orders via a fax machine that spews out pieces of paper. And, like any independent pizza shop owner, he would always prefer a customer order directly via phone. But Slice orders now make up about 40 percent of his overall sales, and he said that for him, the platform has been good for business.

More than 200 pizza shops in Philadelphia are listed on Slice, which was founded in 2010 by Ilir Sela, the son of a Staten Island pizzamaker. So far, its rollout has been in major cities only; it launched in Philadelphia in

summer 2017 and has since driven $25 million in revenue to local pizzerias, said Lena Geiser, a spokeswoman for the company.

Evans Pizza at 4311 Locust St., a West Philly mainstay for 18 years, also has seen its customer base grow with online orders. But Yianna Evans, who owns the shop with her family, said the commissions paid to third-party delivery services often outweigh the benefits.

The shop still gets phone orders from loyal customers, and Evans said the online platforms were particularly helpful when it comes to new residents of the neighborhood, like freshmen at the University of Pennsylvania.

The big businesses, it might not hurt so much. For us, it increases the sales but takes a lot, she said. But we have to have it. Because this generation, they dont want to talk. No phone calls. They want to use a screen. And if we dont give them that, another business will."Tom Giangiulio, right, with wife, Carin, underwent an unusual heart transplant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 2017: the organ came from a donor who was infected with hepatitis C. Shortly after the surgery, Giangiulio also tested positive for the virus, but he was immediately treated with antiviral drugs and now is fine. He opted to accept the organ because otherwise he might have spent a long time on the waiting list, given his large size and blood type (O-positive). Read more

Tom Giangiulio had been on the waiting list for a heart transplant for more than two years, getting weaker by the month, and it did not seem that the wait would be over anytime soon. At 6 foot, 2 inches and 220 pounds, he would need a larger-than-average heart, and it had to come from a donor who matched his blood type: O-positive.

In March 2017, physicians at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania offered him a way to shorten the wait: He could get a heart from someone who had been infected with hepatitis C.

As expected, Giangiulio, who lives in Waterford Township, Camden County, became infected. But in his case, and in dozens of others reported Wednesday in a new Harvard study, the virus was quickly cleared with powerful drugs.

Transplant surgeons hope that eventually, these early results will pave the way for thousands of additional organ transplants each year, provided that insurers agree to pay for the expensive drugs. The expected source for most of these additional organs is deaths from the opioid epidemic  a silver lining for a grim reality of 21st-century America.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, illustrated a promising way to cut the cost of drugs that clear hepatitis C, which runs into the tens of thousands of dollars. Penn and other centers start giving the antiviral drugs to patients several days after transplanting organs. But the Harvard physicians did so within hours, before the infection became established.

That meant they could administer the drugs for four weeks instead of the usual 12, cutting costs by two-thirds.

The Harvard team administered the drugs to 36 patients who received lung transplants and eight patients who got new hearts. Most had no signs of the virus within a few days, and all tested negative within two weeks, said lead author Ann E. Woolley, a specialist in infectious diseases in the transplant program at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston.

In addition to clearing the infection, the patients tolerated the transplanted organs just as well as patients in a separate group that received hearts and lungs from donors who were not infected with hepatitis C.

The study authors used an antiviral drug that is effective against all of the half-dozen forms of hepatitis C. At $75,000 for a 12-week course, it is more expensive than other drugs that work against just one type. But its versatility meant that it could be given promptly, without waiting for tests to determine the type of virus. And since it was given for just four weeks, the actual cost was $25,000, Woolley said.

We just didnt want there to have to be any additional steps or delays, she said.

Woolley and her colleagues estimate that the drugs could expand the number of transplantable organs by as much as 25 percent.

The results are promising, though patients should be followed over the long term to ensure that they fare just as well as other transplant patients, said Penn physician Emily A. Blumberg, who was not involved in the Harvard study but wrote an accompanying editorial.

Should this be proven to be consistently effective, that would be enormous, she said.

If anything, physicians say it is possible that organs from infected donors might last even longer than average, as they typically come from people who die young of drug overdoses.

In a couple of cases at other hospitals, patients who received organs from infected donors have cleared the virus but then relapsed, said Blumberg, director of transplant infectious diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. But such patients can then be re-treated with the antiviral drugs.

Elsewhere, physicians have waited several days after transplant before starting a 12-week course of drugs, in part because some patients are not immediately able to swallow the oral medication. The waiting period also may stem from a reluctance to add yet another medication to the patients regimen if not absolutely necessary. But nearly all people who receive organs from hepatitis C-infected donors end up testing positive for the virus.

Giangiulio was the first of 10 heart-transplant patients enrolled in a study of antiviral drugs at Penn.

When physicians presented him with the option of a heart from an infected donor, he consulted Cooper University Health Care cardiologist John A. Andriulli. The physician, who is a family friend, worried that Giangiulios health had continued to decline while he waited for a large organ from an O-positive donor. (People with blood type O can donate organs to those with other blood types, and thus are called universal donors, but they can receive organs only from type O donors.)

He said Without sugarcoating it, Im really having my doubts as to whether youll make it  without an expedited transplant, recalled Giangiulio, an excavation contractor who was 58 at the time.

Though he would be Penns first heart-transplant patient to get the antiviral drugs, Giangiulio was encouraged to hear that Penn and other centers had successfully used them in patients who received kidneys from infected donors.

All went well. Three days after the surgery in June 2017, Giangiulio started a 12-week course of the drug Zepatier, made by Merck, and by the eighth day there were no signs of the virus, he said.

Months later, after recovery, he wanted to thank the family of the young man whose heart was now beating in his chest. He spent five hours drafting a heartfelt letter to the family of a man whose name he did not know.

Another human being had to die for me to live, he said. Thats a hard thing to think about.

Such communications are passed along via hospital social workers, if the donors relatives are willing. In this case, they were. Giangiulio said he exchanged letters with the donors parents and finally met them in person last December, a year and a half after he received their sons heart, and they welcomed him with an emotional embrace.Prevention Point in Kensignton with Jose Benitez and Ronda Goldfein, of Safehouses board here in the "Drop in Room", Friday October 5, 2018. STEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer Read more

Attorneys for Safehouse, the nonprofit working to open a supervised injection site in Philadelphia, are arguing in federal court that the sites are a legitimate medical intervention, not illicit drug dens. The suit also states that the organizers religious beliefs compel them to save lives at the heart of one of the most devastating overdose crises in the country.

In early February, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to declare illegal any potential supervised injection sites, where people can use drugs purchased elsewhere under medical supervision so they can be revived if they overdose and also access other health and housing services. At a news conference announcing the suit, he said supervised injection sites normalize the use of deadly drugs."

And he cited a 1986 federal law known as the crack-house statute  which makes it a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison to knowingly open or maintain any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using controlled substances.

Safehouses response to the suit, filed Wednesday, asked the judge to bar the U.S. Department of Justice from enforcing the crack-house statute against it. Lawyers for the nonprofit argued that the statute does not apply to Safehouse, which exists primarily to save the lives of people who overdose. (Safehouse is being represented pro bono by DLA Piper.)

McSwains office had no immediate comment on the suit Wednesday.

If it opens, Safehouse would be the nations first supervised injection site, which makes sense, the suit notes, since Philadelphia has the worst big-city opioid crisis in the country. Last year, an estimated 1,100 people in the city fatally overdosed, just about 100 fewer than in 2017.

In 120 sites across the world for the last 30 years, weve seen this is a way to save lives, and Philadelphias government says they think this is a good thing to do, said Ronda Goldfein, Safehouses vice president. An attorney, she also is executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania. We and the members of the board felt compelled to do that. If you can save a life, why wouldnt you?

The nonprofit also drew on its founders religious beliefs, citing passages from the Bible and the Talmud that call on believers to save the lives of those in need.

The suit notes that Jose Benitez, Safehouses president, was raised and educated in the Catholic Church, and that Goldfein, who is married to Inquirer and Daily News editor David Lee Preston, was raised Jewish and still attends the synagogue her grandfather co-founded in New Jersey. Other board members cited in the suit include Frank A. James III, the president of Missio Seminary, a Christian seminary in Hatfield; and Chip Mitchell, the lead evangelist at the Greater Philadelphia Church of Christ.

At the core of all board members faith is the principle that the preservation of human life is paramount and overrides any other considerations, the lawsuit reads. The DOJs threats and the initiation of a lawsuit against Safehouse burdens Safehouse by forcing it to choose between the exercise of its founders and directors religious beliefs and conformity with the DOJs interpretation of [the crack-house statute.]

Citing religious beliefs to counter federal or state drug laws isnt unheard of in harm-reduction circles. Last year, a Maine man founded the Church of Safe Injection to address a lack of needle exchanges in his home state; the organization has a Philadelphia chapter that, in December, suggested that if the church obtained a religious exemption from federal drug laws, it could act as an extra line of defense for Safehouse.

Though the nonprofit has been offered a lease at no cost on a property near the Allegheny Avenue Market-Frankford El stop in Kensington  the heart of the overdose crisis  Goldfein said Safehouse officials have not signed a lease and do not have funding to open the facility yet.The most important thing to know about Germantowns Colored Girls Museum is that you cant just go in and wander.

And that matters especially for a show like In Search of the Colored Girl," which attempts to locate the heart, mind, body, and soul of black women, literally and figuratively.

You cant just roll up on her," said Vashti Dubois, executive director and founder of the museum. The issue is that people have just walked around her and done what they wanted to for so long. We want you to know her, but we are about protecting her, too. Thats the only way she will truly be found.

The by-appointment-only museum that also doubles as Dubois home has become quite a fixture in the black womens arts community. As Dubois and I caught up on what the museum has been doing, including pop-up exhibits at Moore College of Art and Design and a summer camp, we began our tour on the top floor, the final room of the seven-room show. Because thats where, Dubois says, the colored girls find grace.

This room was curated by Philadelphia mixed-media artist Lavett Ballard, and it features 71 of artist Janet Taylor Picketts paper doll dresses affixed to the peaceful sky-blue walls to evoke a sense of childs play. The scent of roses wafts throughout. There is a bed  with a comic book touting the new black female Iron Man, among other things  where, in a perfect world, the colored girl would be free to dream. A photographic collage of the black Madonna by Philadelphia artist Beverly McCutcheon is mystical and spiritual.

In this room, the colored girl gets to be a child, said Dubois. The ordinary, extraordinary colored girl has had so much of her childhood stripped away, that is part of the reason why shes lost. Here is one of the places where you can find her because she is given the grace to be who she is. There is no denial of any part of her.

The exhibit asks visitors to be excavators in their search for the colored girl. But the truth is that despite the worlds attempt to erase her  and in the colored girls attempt to erase herself  she is everywhere.

One of the reasons we call ourselves the Colored Girls Museum is because we look at ways the colored girl is colored by everybody, Dubois says. But we also look at how we take that same Crayola crayon and color each other and color ourselves."

That coloring isnt without pain. Of the four shows Dubois and fellow curators Michael Clemmons and Ian Friday have produced, In Search of the Colored Girl has the most texture and meaning. Each installation or painting could stand alone, and fully comprehending its social, political, and visual beauty would take hours.

But all together, they tell a remarkable story of what its like to live in the body of a black girl in America, where your every move is watched. And you can bet someone is standing in the wings ready to pick you apart. The work and/or personal artifacts of at least 50 artists and ordinary colored girls are represented in this show. They include the body-celebrating pottery of socially engaged ceramic artist Yinka Orafidiya that celebrates the beautifully imperfect mold of the black female form, as well as pieces from the art collection of Duafe salon owner Syreeta Scott.

If the third floor of In Search of the Colored Girl, is all about grace, the first floor is about the effects of affording black women little to none at all. Its why we have a need for a Colored Girls Museum in the first place.

An installation by Andrea Walls housed in the far right corner of the living room is a memorial to the more than 75,000 black women missing in the United States. Thats according to data from the nonprofit Black and Missing Foundation, which compiled its statistics from the FBI. Inside the bookcase are black-and-white photos of missing black girls placed next to candles. In some cases, Walls glued replicas of antebellum newspaper clippings that announced rewards for runaway slaves.

Chilling.

Here we are looking at all of the ways colored girls have gone missing in plain sight, Dubois said. Are they runaways? Have they been sex-trafficked? Thats a staggering number of people to not know where they are."

Also in the living room are photographs, self-portraits mostly, from local artists who participated in the Womens Mobile Museum under the tutelage of South African artist Zanele Muholi.

You have to see her to document her so we have means of finding her, Dubois says, her voice starting low and rising to a crescendo fueled with anger as well as a pleading sorrow. We are really calling our attention to the necessity to document and see ourselves and not rely on anyone else to do it.

If the soul of a black woman is in her hair, that part was stolen from her the moment the first African women set foot in America in chains. University of the Arts graduate student Victoria Edwards exhibit, The Crown of Queens, illustrates that to perfection. It starts in the museums dining room with black-and-white photographs that are a sampling of the hairstyles African women arrived on the continent wearing. Then you see shorn hair placed on a pillar emblazoned with the auction information of female slaves  height, weight, fertility.

Then you see how this affected the way modern black women deal with their own hair. Edwards prompts visitors to share their feelings about the everyday, annoying questions they are asked about their hair. They range from the seemingly innocuous  Are you mixed?  to the straight-up insulting  You have good hair.

Hair defined who we were in very important ways, Dubois said. To have that identity striped away, that was a significant loss. This is part of the reason why we often find ourselves getting lost in our hair. Our crowns were taken from us."

The idea for the exhibit was born from a research project the museum undertook with tween girls dreaming of becoming playwrights called the Performing Identities Program. The girls researched the history of black women in Germantown and, although black peoples history runs deep in Philadelphia, it was hard to pinpoint the details of their lives even in black institutions like the black YWCA or the areas first black private school, the Ivy Leaf School. Dubois said she even worked with graduate school fellows who affirmed how difficult it was to find colored girls history. Thats when Friday suggested the museum make the entire theme of the show about searching for the colored girl.

Even the museums sole permanent room honoring the washerwoman takes on new meaning; domestic labor is to be respected, but black women are often pigeonholed as being just a one-dimensional type, defined by what we do. Theres also an entire room created by colored boys  co-curators Friday and Clemmons. The centerpiece of this room is Fridays vintage action figure collection. They are there to represent play as well as strength. Its a simple acknowledgement that without colored girls, there would be no colored boys.

On exhibit

In Search of the Colored Girl

Through June 16, Colored Girls Museum, 4613 Newhall St., $10-$15, 267-630-4438, www.thecoloredgirlsmuseum.comTim Kaine, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Marc Mezvinsky, and Chelsea Clinton, at the fourth day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center. Read more

WASHINGTON  Bill and Hillary Clinton are coming to Philadelphia, for an event with an unusual guest: former Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

Former President Bill Clinton announced the April 13 event on Twitter, as part of a tour that includes other conversations with the likes of actor Ben Stiller, television personality Star Jones, and longtime Democratic strategist Paul Begala.

The grouping immediately drew eye rolls on Twitter, and cracks about Asomughas reported habit of eating alone in his car while with the Eagles.

Asomugha, now an actor, joined the Eagles as a prized free agent in 2011, but after arriving with Pro Bowl credentials he muddled through two disappointing seasons and is widely remembered as a bust in Philadelphia.

Hillary Clinton invested massive resources in Philadelphia as the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, including holding a huge rally the night before Election Day, but lost Pennsylvania, helping tip the election to President Donald Trump.

Tickets for sale online range from $51 to $749.95 for a VIP meet-and-greet package. The event is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Met Philadelphia, on North Broad Street.The storage closet in which a 72-year-old woman was locked up and left to die by a teen who escaped from a Devereux behavioral-health facility in Chester County on Feb. 22, 2017. Read more

Two years ago, a 17-year-old escapee from a residential program in Chester County attacked and choked a 72-year-old woman in her East Brandywine Township home and locked her inside a storage closet, leaving her without food or water. Youll be with Jesus soon, he told her before stealing her credit cards and cell phone and driving off in her silver Fiat 500, authorities have said.

Her daughter-in-law found her malnourished and dehydrated four days later, and the woman, who lived alone in her Creek Road home, survived.

On Tuesday, Chester County President Judge Jacqueline C. Cody accepted Khemmathat Fariss guilty but mentally ill plea to attempted first-degree murder, robbery, strangulation, and related offenses.

Fariss, now 19, had entered his plea to all charges in a West Chester courtroom Jan. 31, but it was contested by the Chester County District Attorneys Office. The judge issued her one-page ruling accepting the plea Tuesday after a nearly all-day mental-illness assessment hearing in February and after reading lawyers briefs on the matter.

Sentencing was set for May 2.

Fariss had escaped from the Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health Brandywine campus in Wallace Township early Feb. 22, 2017, then walked nearly two miles to the womans home.

After she returned from work, he covered her head with a cloth shopping bag, secured it with duct tape around her neck, and bound her arms and legs, prosecutors have said. He then threw her into the small, ground-level storage closet beneath stairs in her home, locking the door.

The Inquirer is withholding the victims identity at the request of the Chester County District Attorneys Office.

At the Feb. 5 mental-assessment hearing, defense attorney Robert Keller had called forensic psychiatrist Robin Altman to testify about Fariss troubled upbringing in his native Thailand.

After being abandoned by his mother at age 3, he was put in an orphanage where he was abused. When he was 7, he was adopted by an American woman. Although family members were supportive and he went to live with them in Media, Delaware County, Fariss was traumatized by moving to a new place, where he didnt speak English and was bullied in school.

In October 2016, Fariss burglarized two homes, for which he was arrested as a juvenile and placed in a detention center.

Later, because of his increasing aberrant behavior, Keller said in a February interview, Fariss was sent to live at Devereux Brandywine. Devereux authorities have said that boys are referred to the campus by a psychiatrist and with the consent of a parent or guardian, and that their stays are voluntary.

Devereux programs differ from residential programs in which juveniles are ordered by judges to spend time after committing crimes.

Keller contended in his brief that Fariss understood that attacking the 72-year-old woman was wrong, but because of his mental-health issues, he was unable to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Prosecutors contended that Fariss was in full control of his actions.

Keller said in the interview that the guilty but mentally ill plea expands a courts options in sentencing.

Instead of housing them in an institution and locking the key, it requires the court and the state penal system to make sure that the defendant is receiving mental-health treatment while in state prison, he said.Philadelphia Sheriff Jewell Williams was recently endorsed by the Philadelphia AFL-CIO labor union federation, despite multiple allegations of from at least three former staffers that he sexually harassed them on the job. Read more

In a move that revealed the fault lines in the citys labor movement, a group representing women in labor has publicly denounced the Philadelphia AFL-CIOs endorsement of Sheriff Jewell Williams.

Williams, who on Monday night locked down an endorsement from the Democratic Party as he faces three challengers, has been accused of sexual harassment by at least three current and former staffers. An investigation substantiated one complaint, which the city subsequently agreed in January to settle for $127,500. Another complaint in 2012 was settled for $30,000. A third lawsuit, brought by a current staffer, is still ongoing.

As an organization of and for working people, the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO should be on the side of the working women that Williams harassed on the job," the statement, posted Monday morning by the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), read. "Instead, this endorsement sends a message that their workplace abuse does not matter.

Its a bold move for CLUW, an affinity group pronounced clue that is part of the AFL-CIO but does not get to vote on endorsements: The labor movement enforces a culture that discourages ever calling out your own  especially now, as union membership is at a historic low and organized labor faces attacks from employers, conservative groups, and politicians.

This was witnessed recently when Philadelphias most powerful labor leader, John J. Dougherty of the electricians union Local 98, was indicted in January on charges of embezzlement, bribery, and theft. Barely anyone would comment on the allegations against him, in part, advocates said, because the labor movement was already under attack.

Danielle Newsome, president of CLUW and a staff attorney at the New Jersey health-care union Health Professionals and Allied Employees, said that it was a tough decision to call out the Williams endorsement but that the issue was too important to stay silent.

No objections from AFL-CIO leadership

Two-thirds of the nearly 40 executive board members present voted to endorse Williams at last Wednesdays meeting, said Pat Eiding, who chairs the executive board of the AFL-CIO, an organization that includes a wide range of unions, including those representing building trades and service workers. He said none of the board members  one-sixth of whom are women  raised any objections about Williams and the sexual-harassment allegations. (He noted that at a meeting Tuesday morning, a female board member said some people may not feel comfortable raising these kinds of objections in a board dominated by men.)

>> READ MORE: City settles lawsuit accusing Philadelphia Sheriff Jewell Williams of sexual harassment

Though Eiding supported CLUWs speaking out against the endorsement, he said its position is unfair. At a meeting held in January where candidates could make their case for an endorsement, Eiding said one executive board member raised a question to Williams about the allegations, but there were no further discussions about it. Nobody from CLUW attended the January meeting.

Newsome said she now plans to attend political meetings going forward.

>> READ MORE: From 2015: Donations by Philly sheriffs top OT earners raise eyebrows

At least two member unions of the AFL-CIO have contributed to Williams campaign. The Laborers District Council, which hosted Williams campaign kickoff, contributed $5,000 in 2018, according to campaign finance records. The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades contributed $1,000.

Ryan Boyer, business manager of the Laborers, said everyone is innocent until proven guilty. He said he wasnt aware that the city substantiated one of the claims of sexual harassment.

A progressive AFL-CIO?

The history of the American labor movement has been marked by sexism, racism, and anti-immigrant sentiment, but in recent years, certain groups have taken a more inclusive and progressive stance, setting their sights on fighting for the rights of all people.

>> READ MORE: Why labor has embraced immigrant rights  and 9 more examples of Philly intersectionality

In the last year, the Philadelphia AFL-CIO has followed that trend. It issued a statement against the Proud Boys white-supremacist rally planned in the city. It supported Fair Workweek legislation for non-unionized workers in retail and fast food. And it organized a rally for immigrant rights.

Ana Avendano, a former national AFL-CIO staffer who now writes about sexual harassment in the labor movement, said that to address harassment in the workplace, the labor movement has to recognize that sexually harassing a person is as destructive to worker rights as crossing a picket line.

If theres any politician facing credible allegations of sexual harassment, they should be sticking the Rat out on that politician," she said, not endorsing him.

Staff writer Chris Brennan contributed to this report.SHARONVILLE, Ohio (AP)  A 14-year-old boy who said he escaped from two kidnappers in Ohio and fled across a bridge to Kentucky told authorities he is an Illinois boy who went missing nearly eight years ago.

Police in suburban Cincinnatis Sharonville wrote in a short incident report that the teen said Wednesday morning that he had just escaped from two kidnappers he described as white men with body builder-type physiques. They were in Ford SUV with Wisconsin license plates and had been staying at a Red Roof Inn.

The boy, who identified himself as Timmothy Pitzen, told police that after his escape he "kept running across a bridge into" Kentucky.

Timmothy Pitzen was 6 when he disappeared in 2011 after authorities said his mother took her own life in a Rockford, Ill., hotel.

Police in the Chicago suburb of Aurora said Wednesday afternoon that the department is sending two detectives to the Cincinnati area. Aurora police don't know who the boy in Ohio is or if he has any connection to Pitzen, Aurora Police Sgt. Bill Rowley said.

Police believe Amy Fry-Pitzen, 43, picked up her son from school and took him to the zoo and a Wisconsin water park before she apparently killed herself. Her body was found with her wrists slit on May 15, 2011.

Fry-Pitzen left a note saying her son was fine. Police investigating her death said she took steps that suggest she might have, as she said in her note, dropped her son off with a friend.

At the time, police searched for the boy in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

Pitzen disappeared 10 years ago and weve probably had thousands of tips of him popping up in different areas, Rowley said. We have no idea what were driving down there for. It could be Pitzen. It could be a hoax.

The FBI said in a Wednesday afternoon statement that its offices in Louisville and Cincinnati were working on a missing child investigation with Aurora police and police departments in Cincinnati and Newport, Ky., and the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office in Ohio. The FBI offered no other details.

Timmothy Pitzen's grandmother, Alana Anderson, told WISN-TV Wednesday that authorities have told the family very little.

We just know a 14-year-old boy was found and went to the police, Anderson said. We dont want to get our hopes up and our familys hopes up until we know something. We just dont want to get our hopes up. Weve had false reports and false hopes before.WASHINGTON (AP)  Vice President Mike Pence warned Turkey on Wednesday that it could risk its membership in NATO if it goes ahead with plans to buy a Russian air defense system despite widespread U.S. and international opposition.

Pence's escalating rhetoric came after Turkey insisted Wednesday that the Russian deal was done, signaling an apparent impasse between the two NATO allies.

Speaking at a NATO 70th anniversary event, Pence said Turkey risks expulsion from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, which could cripple Turkish manufacturers who are making parts for the aircraft. And he raised the possibility of much broader recriminations.

"Turkey must choose," Pence said. "Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in the history of the world or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?"

Other U.S. officials have stopped short of threatening Turkey's underlying relationship with America or NATO, but there have been growing calls for swift action, including sanctions, against Ankara to stop the S-400 purchase.

Turkey's foreign minister, however, appeared unmoved by the U.S. threats, saying that buying the Russian S-400 system "is a done deal. We will not step back from this."

The U.S. has offered to sell Turkey the American-made Patriot missile defense system, but Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it could not be delivered in time.

"We couldn't get it for 10 years," Cavusoglu said at the Atlantic Council on Wednesday morning. "That's why we had to buy from Russia. And we tried to buy from other allies as well. It didn't work. So it is an urgent need of Turkey. I mean, we need air defense systems urgently in Turkey."

Cavusoglu also met Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, whose Democratic chairman and ranking Republican member said they "made clear our bipartisan opposition" to Turkey's plan to acquire the Russian missile system. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said they cautioned Cavusoglu that deepening ties with Moscow "will risk sanctions and Turkey's involvement in the F-35 program."

The U.S. and other NATO allies have repeatedly complained about the purchase of the S-400 system, saying it is not compatible with other allied systems and would represent a threat to the F-35. Officials have said that Turkey's acquisition of both U.S. and Russian systems could give Moscow access to sophisticated American technology and allow it to find ways to counter the F-35.

Pence described the purchase as "deeply troubling" and said it "poses great danger to NATO, to the strength of the alliance."

As a result, U.S. government leaders have repeatedly threatened to shut down Turkey's participation in the F-35 program if the Russian purchase goes through.

On Monday, the Pentagon took its first retaliatory step and stopped delivery of F-35 fighter jet parts and manuals to Turkey.

But so far, Turkish pilots continue to train on the aircraft at Luke Air Force Base, outside Phoenix, Arizona. And, Pentagon leaders insist there is still hope for some type of negotiated settlement.

"We haven't given up on trying to work our way through this," said Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "We've made what we think is a very good offer for the Patriot to provide for the air defense capabilities of Turkey."

He told reporters that the U.S. has made it clear to Turkey that the F-35 and the S-400 are incompatible systems, "but we're still working our way through that and hope we can come up with an arrangement."

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan also expressed optimism, saying he is confident that the Patriot system proposal will work out.

Cavusoglu, however, said he believes Turkey can convince the U.S. that the S-400 will not be a risk or threat to NATO.

"We made very clear that this system will not see any NATO system, including F-35s, as an enemy," he said, adding that Turkey has proposed setting up a technical working group that would make sure the S-400 did not pose a threat.

___

Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.Participants march from Freedom Plaza at the Third Annual Women's March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019. Read more

WASHINGTON - The national Women's March organization has abandoned its effort to trademark the words "women's march," bringing a two-year battle over who owns the words and the movement to a close.

Many organizers separate from the national Women's March Inc. - headed by activists Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Linda Sarsour - celebrated the national group's about-face as a victory for the movement. More than a dozen local organizations across the country formally opposed the national group's trademark petition, claiming that no entity can own the words "women's march" or the activism it inspired. Four of them sued.

"The name doesn't belong to anyone," said Jaquie Algee, a founding organizer and board president of Women's March Chicago, one of the groups that sued the national organization. "When women were given the opportunity to vent and empower ourselves against what seemed to be an attack on women, the name really helped to define that moment and that activism."

It was not clear what prompted the national Women's March group to withdraw its application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office late last month. The organization did not respond to a request for comment.

Women's March Inc. filed for a trademark in March 2017, shortly after the Women's March on Washington, which drew hundreds of thousands of pink-hatted women to the District to stand against the newly elected President Trump and his agenda. Hundreds of other protests were held around the world in solidarity. Most were organized independently by local leaders, although many called their events the "women's march."

When the rallies were over, many groups that formed out of those marches continued to organize. Most registered as independent nonprofits, and many gave themselves names including the words "Women's March."

But according to the national organization, there are fewer than 40 chapters recognized by the national group. This excludes organizations such as Women's March Chicago, Women's March D.C. and other regional groups.

"We all agreed in the beginning that we were going to call ourselves 'Women's March something' so that we could convey a sense of unity. Women's March Chicago has worked very hard to build our brand and build our name and build our connection to the community," Algee said. "My hope always has been that we're all out here trying to do the same thing, which is to help empower women."

A year after the national organization filed for a trademark, the Patent and Trademark Office announced it was considering granting the request, which would have allowed the group to control use of the Women's March brand, including on merchandise and possibly in future events.

During a 30-day public comment period, 14 organizations filed notices of opposition with the trademark office, hoping it might prompt the group to withdraw its application.

Instead, the battle dragged on a year. Four organizations - Women's March Chicago, Women's March Los Angeles, March On and Women's March Alliance - filed suit last year to stop Women's March Inc. from getting a trademark.

"I didn't want to be caught in the middle of this, paying attorneys fees and fighting with lawsuits," said Emiliana Guereca, executive director of the Women's March Los Angeles Foundation, which is independent from the national organization. "I don't want to spend my time on that. I want to spend my time pushing for a feminist agenda. But we wanted a fair process."

Sarsour has denied that the national organization would have used the trademark to regulate the names and actions of local activist groups. She said it was about creating "a unified message and unified platform."

Sam Israel, a New York-based intellectual-property lawyer, said other national groups have done well without a trademark to protect their brand, including Alcoholics Anonymous.

"It's a fairly generic term, 'women's march,' and it certainly doesn't signify a single source of origin with all the marches and the groups that started off using that name," Israel said. "No particular one has claim on the original Women's March, so I think it would have been a long shot for them to get the trademark anyway."

To prove to the government why the organization deserved to be granted a trademark, Israel said, the national organization probably would have had to make a commercial argument - saying it needed the trademark to make money off the name.

Guereca said she hopes the dropped trademark application presents an opportunity for Women's March activists to redefine the movement as one that belongs to all groups formed under its banner.

"The ideal solution would be if we could come up with a way to co-own the brand," Guereca said, "because we all built this together."

After several controversies rocked the movement last year, including accusations of anti-Semitism, financial mismanagement and infighting, Guereca said she hopes the national group's leaders have learned to listen to local organizers and choose their battles.

With the national organization, we did not elect these leaders, and many local organizers feel like they should not get to speak for us, Guereca said. Now, moving forward, I hope well all get to have a say.A federal review has been launched to determine whether Deptford Township Police Sgt. Kevin Clements committed any civil rights violations when he shot and killed a suspected shoplifter in June. Read more

Federal authorities have launched an investigation into possible civil rights violations by a Deptford police officer who fatally shot a suspected shoplifter who authorities allege aggressively drove toward him as she attempted to flee.

The review comes nearly five months after a grand jury in Gloucester County declined to recommend charges against Sgt. Kevin Clements in the death of LaShanda Anderson in the June 9 confrontation outside the Marshalls store at Deptford Crossing.

In a March 15 letter to the lawyers representing Andersons family in a potential civil suit, Paul D. Colangelo, first assistant county prosecutor, advised that the Federal Government is reviewing my offices investigation to determine if Sgt. Clements committed any civil rights violations in his use of deadly force that resulted in Ms. Andersons death.

County Prosecutor Charles Fiore and federal authorities declined comment on the letter and documents obtained by The Inquirer under the states Open Public Records Act. The letter was in response to a request seeking the prosecutors complete investigative file into the case, which Fiore denied.

Deptford Police Chief Kevin Pancoast did not respond to messages.

Im hoping that the federal authorities will conduct a thorough review, said Stanley King, a civil rights lawyer who represents Andersons family. I have no doubt that the versions of the events presented to the grand jury were, at best, inaccurate.

Clements fired, striking Anderson, 36, of Philadelphia in the left side of her head and arm, authorities said. She died at the scene. Two alleged accomplices in the $3,400 shoplifting spree were eventually taken into custody.

Clements, 42, was fearing for his life when he fired at Andersons leased Nissan Armada after she accelerated toward him and ignored his commands to stop, prosecutors have said. Chanel Barnes, the Armadas lone passenger, and Raoul Gadson, another alleged accomplice who fled the scene, were not injured. All three had extensive criminal records, mostly for shoplifting. Anderson was arrested more than 15 times for shoplifting but also for more serious charges, including robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.

It was the first-ever police-involved fatal shooting in Deptford. Clements, a 19-year veteran, was placed on administrative paid leave. He could not be reached for comment for this article. Clements does not have an attorney and the township solicitor declined comment. The local Fraternal Order of Police did not respond to messages.

In November, Fiore announced that a grand jury had cleared Clements of any criminal wrongdoing. His office presented to the grand jury the results of an investigation into whether the officers use of deadly force was justified.

In his statement, Fiore said investigators interviewed eyewitnesses and police, and reviewed available footage and ballistic reports. Clements and another Deptford officer were dispatched to the scene in separate police vehicles after a report of a shoplifting in progress and that one of the suspects had a hit for a homicide, which was incorrect, he said.

Capt. William Bittner pointed his handgun at Anderson and ordered her out of the vehicle, the prosecutor said. Bittner approached the open drivers side door, and Anderson sped off, striking him in the shoulder, the prosecutor said. Bittner was not injured, authorities have said.

Clements was standing 12 to 25 feet in front of the vehicle with his weapon drawn when he ordered Anderson to stop, according to Fiore. Clements then fired three shots, he said.

Andersons family and several eyewitnesses who were not called to testify before the grand jury have raised questions about the shooting. Terence Jones, who conducted an investigation for the Gloucester County chapter of the NAACP, welcomed the federal review.

Im happy to hear that it is out of the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office, Jones said in an interview Monday. I believe their investigation was not fair or impartial. It doesnt pass the smell test."

Its a blessing that theyre looking into it, said Andersons niece, Traisha Way, of Philadelphia. I still think it was murder."

The scope of the investigation by federal authorities was not known. Investigators could review the probe conducted by the County Prosecutors Office or launch its own investigation and interview witnesses.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office, in an email, said he could not confirm or deny the existence of any investigation.

Fiore, in email exchanges with King, declined to release the SUV that Anderson was driving, citing the pending charges against her alleged accomplices. He also declined to release personal property found in the vehicle unless Andersons family can identify what belonged to her.

In an internal affairs complaint filed in February, Jones requested a new investigation by the Prosecutors Office into the shooting. He cited new evidence, including a statement he obtained from Barnes. He alleges that Clements placed himself in imminent danger by suddenly appearing in front of the fleeing SUV.

According to Jones, Barnes, of Philadelphia, said she and Anderson fled the Marshalls store after trying to steal merchandise stuffed in a suitcase. A video of the scene inside the store obtained by The Inquirer shows Barnes struggling with a loss prevention employee and eventually letting go of the suitcase.

Barnes said the two women fled and jumped into the Armada that was facing away from Clements and Bittner. The SUV accelerated in the opposite direction of the officers, Barnes said, and Bittner threw a metal baton at the back window, shattering the glass.

When Anderson made a right turn in the parking lot, Clements appeared in front the SUV and fired a shot without warning into the windshield on the drivers side, Barnes said in the statement.

She doesnt know where he came from, Jones said. He just suddenly appeared.

Barnes said Anderson lost control of the vehicle after she was struck in the head by a bullet and the SUV traveled across the parking lot, and down an embankment before coming to rest at an access road.

Two eyewitnesses, Olivia Scattergood and Aedan Bell, both of Clementon, gave similar accounts. The couple were shopping at the Marshalls and were placing purchases in their car when the altercation occurred. Both gave statements to the county prosecutor but said they were not called to testify before the grand jury. Bell, 23, also made drawings depicting the scene that unfolded in a busy parking lot on a Saturday afternoon.

We saw her [Anderson] drive away and the cops chased them, Scattergood, 19, said in a statement in Jones complaint. The police lives werent in danger.

King, who also interviewed the couple, said he believes both could provide crucial details because Deptford doesnt have dashboard or police body-camera equipment. Bell said police allowed other eyewitnesses in the store to leave without getting statements or names.

Im glad that its being looked at again and put under another light, Bell said Monday. Youre only getting one side.

Bittner and then-Police Chief William Hanstein have retired from the force. Clements has not returned to active duty, and plans to retire from his $110,000-a-year position, according to sources familiar with the case. Barnes, 38, awaits trial on a shoplifting charge, while Gadson, 43, faces robbery and assault charges.

Family members have said that Anderson, a mother of three daughters, was trying to get her life together.

Were praying for justice," Way said. "Were going to keep fighting until we cant fight anymore.At Police Headquarters on Tuesday April 1, 2019, Homicide Capt. Jason Smith spoke about the fatal shooting of Nicholas Flacco, 20, in FDR Park. Read more

The 19-year-old man wanted in the fatal shooting of a Philadelphia police commanders son was captured late Wednesday afternoon on the roof of a Delaware County business, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson said.

Tyquan Atkinson was apprehended by members of the Marshals Fugitive Task Force shortly before 6 p.m. in the 800 block of Upland Avenue in Upland Borough, said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark.

Deputy marshals and detectives with the Philadelphia Police Department had a house in Chester under surveillance when they spotted Atkinson leaving through the back door, Clark said. Atkinson was tracked down to the rooftop and taken into custody without incident.

Earlier Wednesday, Philadelphia police identified Atkinson, also known as Fats, as the suspect they said fired the shot that killed 20-year-old Nicholas Flacco on Saturday night at a postgame Phillies tailgate in FDR Park.

Atkinsons last known address was in the 1600 block of South 32nd Street. He also was known to frequent the areas of 10th Street and Oregon Avenue, and 12th and Ritner Streets, police said.

At a news conference at Police Headquarters, Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said tips helped lead detectives to identify Atkinson as a suspect in the killing of Flacco, a Pennsylvania State University student and son of Chief Inspector Christopher Flacco. An arrest warrant on murder and related charges was issued Tuesday night, Smith said.

Smith said investigators believe the killing occurred after mounting tensions in the park and fights between two groups of teens and young adults that knew each other  one group from South Philadelphia, another from the Northeast.

Smith declined to elaborate on the source of friction between the groups or to say how they knew each other, but he urged anyone connected to either side to avoid escalating what he called a volatile situation as police searched for Atkinson and continued investigating.

Smith said detectives believe that Atkinson had been called to the park by a woman involved in fights that broke out during a lingering tailgate party. He said initial witness interviews described a chaotic scene, with brawls and melees erupting among various groups before 10 p.m.

Smith said investigators believe that Flacco may have tried to break up a fight between women but that he otherwise was not an active participant in the mayhem.

Still, Smith said that after one of the fights, a woman  whom police did not identify  threatened to call her man and that she said people should be scared.

A short time later, Smith said, a gunman arrived and fired a shot into the air. Several of Flaccos friends, apparently believing the weapon was fake, then dared the gunman to shoot again, Smith said. He fired another shot that did not hit anyone, then left, Smith said.

Smith did not know whether anyone called police after that encounter, but he said that possibly 10 to 15 minutes later, the gunman returned and fired at Flacco, hitting him in the chest.

Police took Flacco to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:17 p.m.

Flacco, in his fourth semester at Penn State, was back in the city to celebrate his 20th birthday on Friday and attend Saturdays Phillies game against the Atlanta Braves, Police Commissioner Richard Ross said.

He graduated from Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem in 2017, the school said in a statement. The statement also said that Flacco had hoped to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by becoming a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Flaccos Funeral Mass was scheduled for noon Thursday, according to his obituary.

Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.Three weeks after he fell through the floor while trying to extinguish a house fire, severely burning his hands, back, arms, and legs, firefighter David Smiley Jr. is upbeat, resilient  and eager to get back to work.

Im trying to stay strong, said Smiley, 23, a third-generation firefighter who sustained second- and third-degree burns in mid-March while working as the rescue captain for the Minquas Fire Company in Newport, Del. Trying to get past it."

It was a harrowing experience, to be sure, even for the son of a fire chief who had long dreamed of a career battling blazes.

Smiley, of West Chester, was working to put out a fast-burning fire in a two-story home in a Mill Creek, Del., home on March 14 when the burning second floor gave way under his feet. He dangled from the rafters for nearly a minute, his family said, before shimmying out of his jacket and air pack and dropping six feet to the first floor. The fire burned the gloves off his hands before traveling to his neck and ears.

Everything happened so fast," said Fire Chief Joe Dierolf. Had Smiley not managed to escape so quickly, the chief said, his injuries might have been far worse.

The blaze was later deemed accidental.

Smiley was rushed to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he underwent skin grafts for his injuries, said his parents, Lynn and David Smiley Sr., as they sat in a hospital conference room on a recent day, surrounded by their three other children.

Emotionally, there is a lot of trauma there. Theres no doubt about it in my mind, Smiley Sr. said as he described the terrifying incident. Why wouldnt there be?

As Smiley lay wrapped in gauze in his hospital bed, with burns covering much of his body, his family wondered if he would want to abandon the job.

Smiley had started fighting fires at age 14, working as a volunteer in West Chester and following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He later joined the fire department in Lebanon, Pa., and also volunteered with the Minquas fire squad. But in nearly a decade of firefighting, he had never before been engulfed in the fury of flames.

In an interview, Smiley said he was determined to return to the career hed dreamed of ever since he was a kid, dressing up in firefighter garb while his father went to work as the chief of the West Chester Fire Department.

While he was in the hospital, visitors  mostly firefighters  poured in every day, his father said. Others showed their support by donating money for the firefighters medical bills.

Hes probably seen over 200 people," Smiley Sr. said of his son. The burn center told us a lot of people come in here and dont want to see anybody, but Davids like, I want to see everybody. He wont let anybody go away. Even when he gets home, I hope people keep it going.

For the next six months, his family said, Smiley will recuperate from home and start physical therapy. For that time, he wont be able to fight fires.

Instead, Smiley said, he will resume his hobby of taking pictures of fires until he is allowed to return to light duty.

Ill find something to get into," he said. Ive had my rough times over the past two weeks, but now Im at peace with everythings that happened.

The job awaits.A Lower Pottsgrove teen, in the heat of a petty dispute, shot a classmate near the border in Chester County, leaving the boy critically wounded, according to investigators.

Raul Castro, 15, was arraigned Tuesday and charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, gun violations, and related offenses, court records show. He remained in custody in Chester County in lieu of $1 million bail.

Thirty years ago, this incident would have been a fist fight and nothing else, Chester County District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan said in a statement. But the defendant decided to bring a gun to the fight, almost leading to the first Chester County murder of 2019.

A witness told police Castro shot a 14-year-old in the abdomen and shoulder late Monday underneath an abandoned railroad bridge in East Coventry Township. Castro fled to the Montgomery County side of the Schuylkill, where he was taken into custody by officers responding to the shooting.

He told police he tried to help the victim by putting pressure on his gunshot wounds, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. Castro added that he felt bad after [he] did it.

A gun recovered at the scene, believed to have been used in the shooting, is registered to Gary DiFerdinand, 67, who lives at the same address as Castro and is identified in public records as his grandfather.

The victim, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was taken to Reading Hospital, where he remained Tuesday, according to investigators.

A third teen present at the time of shooting told investigators that he, Castro, and the victim were friends, until an argument over the weekend, the affidavit said. Castro and the victim are both freshman at Pottsgrove Senior High School.

After the argument, Castro told the two other teens that he did not want to be their friend anymore and said he wanted a real fight with them, according to the affidavit. The teen told police he didnt know why Castro was upset.

As the teen was leaving school Monday, he received a text message from Castro asking to meet him by the railroad bridge. According to the affidavit, the teen and the victim met Castro there, and the group walked toward the Chester County side of the river.

During their walk, the teen heard gunshots and ran ahead, hiding nearby. From his vantage point, he saw Castro standing over the victim, who was lying on the ground, holding his stomach, the affidavit said.

As the teen got closer, he told police, he saw that the victim was bleeding and holding a gun to his chest. He said Castro fled after telling the other teens to call 911.

This story has been updated to add the name of the high school the teens attended and to correct the hometown of Castro.Tim Piazza, 19, (inset) died after falling down stairs at a fraternity on pledge night 2017 at Pennsylvania State University. Three former fraternity brothers were sentenced to jail Tuesday for their roles in Piazza's hazing death - Michael Bonatucci (left), Joseph Sala (middle) and Luke Visser (right). (File photos by Abby Drey / Centre Daily Times and Evelyn Piazza) Read more

Three former fraternity brothers were sentenced to jail Tuesday for their roles in the 2017 hazing death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza at Pennsylvania State University.

Joshua Kurczewski was sentenced to three to nine months incarceration by Common Pleas Court Judge Brian K. Marshall in Centre County. Luke Visser got two to six month at the Centre County Correctional Facility. Michael Bonatucci got one to six months. All three are scheduled to begin their sentences May 17.

Joseph Sala, who also was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, was sentenced to three months house arrest.

Piazza was a sophomore engineering student from New Jersey when he died Feb. 4, 2017, from injuries he sustained after a night of heavy drinking and hazing at a Beta Theta Pi party.

Kurczewski, 20, from Erie, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit hazing, one count of hazing and one count of furnishing liquor to a minor.

Visser, 21 from Encinitas, Calif., pleaded guilty to six counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing.

Sala, 20, also from Erie, pleaded guilty to three counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing.

The defendants were prosecuted by Brian M. Zarallo of the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office.

Today was a significant step forward in the long road to justice for the parents of Tim Piazza with the sentencing of three individuals to prison for admitted conspiracy to haze their son," said Thomas R. Kline, attorney for Jim and Evelyn Piazza, in a statement.

Kline added, Jim and Evelyn, in the courtroom for the sentencing, remain committed to the cause of eradicating hazing and the beneficial deterrent effect of the enforcement of anti-hazing laws throughout the country.Spectators watch as a fire and backfires set to contain it burn in the Pinelands in Burlington County over the weekend. Read more

The National Weather Service has placed the entire region under a red-flag warning because conditions are ripe for wild fires to break out and spread.

The warning is in effect from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m.

The alert comes as officials in New Jersey are monitoring an 11,000-acre section of the Pinelands in Burlington County, where a fire that started over the weekend has been contained. Investigators say that fire started in an area where people are known to gather and set illegal bonfires.

The weather service issues the warning when a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and dry fuels are in place and create conditions for wild fires to develop and spread quickly.

Prescribed burning at Valley Forge National Park, which was slated to continue Wednesday to control high priority invasive plants, was canceled due to the weather and has been put on hold until the fall.

On Tuesday, the park burned 106 acres at the historic site.

The forecast calls for a high of 65 degrees with sunny skies Wednesday. It is expected to be breezy, with a west wind of 5 to 10 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon, with gusts as high as 40 mph and even 50 mph points north.

Rain is likely Friday.Lorraine Branham, 66, a respected newspaper journalist who went on to become dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, died Tuesday, April 2, of uterine cancer in Fayetteville, N.Y.

During the first 25 years of her career, Ms. Branham was a reporter at the Philadelphia Tribune, Courier-Post, Evening Bulletin, and the Baltimore Sun. She was assistant to the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and senior vice president and executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat.

At The Inquirer, where she worked from 1987 to 1996, Ms. Branham was the New Jersey editor and worked as an editor on the city desk in Philadelphia before being named associate managing editor for features.

She left a lasting legacy at The Inquirer through her outstanding leadership and mentoring, said Stan Wischnowski, executive editor and senior vice president/news for Philadelphia Media Network. A number of her former Syracuse students are making key contributions to our newsroom, and we can thank Lorraine for that.

Arlene Notoro Morgan, a former colleague of Ms. Branhams at The Inquirer, recalled her as a dedicated and supportive editor who encouraged and nurtured her staff. As an editor, she was devoted to her staff and the stories they told, said Morgan, now the assistant dean for external affairs at the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. They knew they could count on her, especially when it came to seeing the diversity in a community.

Ms. Branhams crowning moment came in 2008 when she took over as dean of the journalism school at Syracuse. She was the first woman and person of color to occupy that post. The school said she was selected from a field of 300 candidates. Previously, she had been dean of the journalism school at the University of Texas, Austin.

She developed professional partnerships to help students adapt to a changing media landscape. Under her leadership, the school moved toward a multimedia emphasis, with the launch of a multimedia storytelling class, the development of a student-produced web-based news magazine, and a curricular overhaul.

As word of her death spread through the journalism community, colleagues stepped forward with accolades.

Dean Branham was a pillar in the Syracuse University community and beyond, an icon in the media industry, an academic innovator, a mentor, educator, inspiration, and a friend, said Syracuse chancellor Kent Syverud.

"Dean Branham was the personification of what it means to be a trailblazer and on the cutting edge of the industry, said National Association of Black Journalists president Sarah Glover, a Newhouse alumna and a former Inquirer photographer.

She emphasized to budding journalists the importance of building strong networks, being an innovator, and having an entrepreneurial spirit. And above all, she was caring and believed in uplifting and molding the next generation, Glover said.

At Temple, where for a time she taught reporting and writing, she was remembered as a leader.

We at Temple University are heartbroken to hear of Lorraines passing, said David Boardman, dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication. We treasured her as an accomplished alumna, a leader in journalism education, and a friend.

Gerald Jordan, a former Inquirer editor now at the University of Arkansas, said he admired Ms. Branhams high energy and spirit. She did not back down from anything, he said. She was just a terrific person. I saw her rise through the ranks on the city desk. When she wound up as a dean, I wasnt surprised.

Born in Philadelphia, Ms. Branham graduated from Overbrook High School. She earned a bachelors degree in television, radio, and film from Temple University.

Ms. Branham was married to Norris Branham. The couple had a son, also named Norris Branham, before divorcing. She married Melvin Williams in 1997. He brought two children, Avis Sims and Andrew Williams, to the marriage. All survive, along with 11 grandchildren and eight siblings.

After leaving Philadelphia in 1996, she moved to Tallahassee, Pittsburgh, Austin, and Fayetteville. Her husband said she was diagnosed with cancer last October but never retired.

A viewing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 11, will be followed by a funeral at Sharon Baptist Church, 3955 Conshohocken Ave., Philadelphia.

Donations may be made to the Lorraine Branham Scholarship Fund at the Klein College of Media and Communications at Temple University, 2020 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19122.Cindy Leech (center) is greeted by Judy Deaven on the steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol at the end of a march Sept. 24, 2018 in support of legislation to change the statute of limitations for child sex crimes. Both women have endured the deaths of sons who suffered from abuse by priests. Read more

Legend has it that the Roman emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Today, Pennsylvania legislators are fiddling while victims are denied legal access to justice by outdated and unfair statutes of limitations (SOLs) for child sex abuse.

Pennsylvania allows victims of child sex abuse to come forth with civil claims until they are 30, and pursue criminal prosecution until age 50. Both age caps fall short of most states and the estimated average age of victim disclosure, 52.

Instead of passing the urgently needed statutory reform that would give victims from the past a window in which to seek justice against their abusers, legislators are making empty promises. A window permits those with expired civil statutes of limitation to bring lawsuits within a given period of years. As neighboring states, such as New York and New Jersey, lead the way on SOL reform with swift passage in 2019, Pennsylvania has taken a step backward.

Even though state Attorney General Josh Shapiro and a nationally recognized organization led by one of us (Marci Hamilton) have separately argued that reviving an expired civil SOL is constitutional under Pennsylvania law, the Republican leadership has decided that a window cannot happen without a constitutional amendment. Of course it can: It would simply require a majority vote from both houses of the legislature, like any other statute. The preference for a constitutional amendment is just that, a preference.

 READ MORE: In N.J. and Pa., two very different responses to clergy abuse

And that preference is gaining steam. Abuse survivor and Democrat Rep. Mark Rozzi joined with Republican Rep. Jim Gregory to split SOL issues into two bills. One bill would eliminate the criminal and civil child sex abuse SOLs going forward, while another requires a constitutional amendment as a precursor to window legislation. Both will be considered in the House Judiciary April 8. The first bill helps victims decades from now; the second delays justice for victims in Pennsylvania by at least three to four years.

We have been fighting since 2005 in Pennsylvania for access to justice for victims. Shapiros catalytic August 2018 grand jury report into six dioceses reaffirmed the scope of the problem. Enough. It is time for the promisers to deliver the legal change that justice requires. And it is likewise time for the voters of Pennsylvania to hold their elected officials accountable through calls, letters, and, if necessary, protest that demand speedy passage of a statutory window bill that that Gov. Tom Wolf can quickly sign into law.

The time it takes to try  and likely fail  to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution would buy opponents of true reform more years of the status quo. Those same opponents also can be relied upon to use those intervening years to continue lobbying against change. Calls for constitutional rather than statutory change cannot be credited as good-faith efforts to deliver justice.

While Pennsylvania lawmakers fiddle, there is a glimmer of hope for some Pennsylvania victims. A New Jersey court recently held that a victim sexually abused by a Philadelphia Archdiocesan priest who was taken to Jersey can sue in New Jersey courts. The same is likely true for the New York window. At least we will get a measure of information about abuse in Pennsylvania  but it will be thanks to the bravery of other states lawmakers.

 READ MORE: GOP lawmakers echo AG Shapiros push for reform of states sex-abuse laws

In Pennsylvania, churchmen and lobbyists who prefer constitutional amendment to simple, easy, and prompt statutory reform are literally banking on the financial windfall to them of time-consuming delay. The longer the legal change takes, the less likely it will be that they will have to pay the civil damages justice demands.

To all victims, this delay is an affront. To some victims, delay will be deadly. The tragedies of victim trauma and suicides arising from hopelessness will continue. One study found that child sex abuse victims have a 10- to 13-fold increase in suicide over their non-abused counterparts.

No one should be fooled by Pennsylvanias constitutional amendment charade. Those who fiddle, like those who abuse, must be held accountable.

The Pennsylvania children currently being abused by men and women who could have been identified through a speedily passed reporting window are being sentenced to more abuse, rather than the sunlight that could free them from their suffering. The primary people who can help them are our elected officials in Harrisburg.

Marci Hamilton is the Robert A. Fox professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and CEO of CHILD USA. Attorney Sarah Klein is a survivor of abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar and is a board member of CHILD USAdvocacy.Laurie and Melissa Wilcox (from left), who have life-shortening illnesses, and Debra Dunn, with Compassion & Choices, watch nervously from the gallery as the medical aid-in-dying bill is voted upon by the N.J. Assembly on March 25. Read more

Supporters of New Jerseys Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, which Gov. Phil Murphy is poised to sign, claim the measure offers suffering people a humane exit strategy. Opponents insist it gives government dangerous authority to enable, if not encourage, suicide among vulnerable citizens.

A similarly profound split was evident in last weeks vote in Trenton to make New Jersey the eighth state in the nation to provide for assisted suicide, with Republicans nearly unanimous in opposition and Democrats close to united in support. And while about two-thirds of Garden State residents surveyed in a much-cited 2015 Rutgers-Eagleton Poll had no moral objection to an earlier version of the bill, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and the Catholic Church strenuously object to such measures.

Murphy is wise to sign the bill into law. It has been thoroughly vetted, and it offers comfort. But the objections should not be easily dismissed.

Its no surprise the prospect of government permitting terminally ill people to seek prescriptions for a fatal dose of sedatives is an inherently volatile notion, capable of cuing up highly charged memories of lost loved ones, fears of ones own demise, and dystopian scenarios of forced euthanasia disguised as compassion.

The restrictions New Jersey built into the proposal  only competent adults with less than six months of remaining life would be eligible  as well as safeguards in the process (physicians, witnesses, waiting periods) notwithstanding, opponents worry fragile patients could be coerced by unscrupulous relatives or cost-cutting health-care systems. Opponents also see assisted suicide as categorizing certain lives as less worthy than others.

Supporters insist the 20 years since Oregon became the nations first state to approve such legislation have yielded virtually no evidence of such abuse. They note that about a third of people who opt to pursue assisted suicide never exercise the choice, but likely enjoy greater peace of mind knowing it remains available to them.

With the aid-in-dying issue, the personal is indeed political. Which is why testimonies offered by advocates on both sides are powerful and persuasive. As well as irreconcilable.

The availability of assisted suicide could be really dangerous for a person who is already feeling theyre too much trouble to the people around them, said Diane Coleman, founder, president, and CEO of Not Dead Yet/The Resistance, a disabled rights advocacy group.

If there was a cure, they would gladly take it. But they dont have that option, said Sean Crowley, media relations director of Compassion & Choices. The Oregon-based advocacy group for aid-in-dying has been lobbying in Trenton for seven years.

By all accounts, the debate in the statehouse has been unusually, even refreshingly, thorough. Perhaps Pennsylvania and other states will learn from New Jerseys experience.

And any state where such a bill has or may become law ought to listen closely to the concerns of Not Dead Yet and other organizations whose questions are, after all, about matters of life and death.School crossing guard Aiesha Burton presides over a cleaned-up corner at Kensington and Lehigh, a center of the city's opioid crisis. A safe injection site has been proposed for Harrowgate, a neighborhood to the northeast. Read more

Ive long known that race plays an outsized role in how laws and policies are shaped. But in recent weeks, Ive seen more clearly how class also determines who suffers injustice  especially in Philadelphia.

Class is ever-present in the fight over Philadelphias soda tax, which disproportionately affects the poor. Its also front-and center in the conflict over supervised injection sites in our city.

In the last year, Ive often pointed out that the War On Drugs disproportionately jailed people of color during the crack years. Ive argued that the so-called opioid crisis  in which mostly white people have died from overdoses  has been treated with kid gloves. As the complexion of addiction changed, and policymakers decided that jail was no longer the best way to punish illegal drug use, I strongly believed that race was the overriding factor behind the difference in how people were treated. Then I met the people of Harrowgate.

A poor community on the northeast border of Kensington, Harrowgate is the community where Safehouse, a nonprofit with a projected annual budget of $1.8 million, wants to place its first Supervised Injection Site. The majority of neighbors are opposed to the site, and at a forum I arranged in partnership with the Harrowgate Civic Association, they spoke vociferously against the proposed location, on 1800 E. Hilton St., on a block shared by a day-care center.

Shannon Farrell, president of the Harrowgate Civic Association, is white, but shes leading the fight on behalf of a community that is largely Latino, and many of her neighbors are firmly behind her, as evidenced by petitions theyve signed.

Farrells race matters, because she and other neighbors believe their economic status, and not their skin color, has caused city officials to ignore them.

Now, Farrell says, the neighbors are looking out for their own needs. Theyre choosing their childrens safety over the drug dealers she says have shot and killed people in her neighborhood.

I call [the drug dealers] the mayors business associates," she said, "because I keep trying to say to them, If you open this site, you are keeping these violent drug dealers who have shot our kids, and killed some of them, in business. 

Ronda Goldfein, of Safehouse, told me in an interview that she has communicated with Farrell and others to allay their concerns. Representatives from Safehouse will also come to the neighborhood to participate in a community forum on Thursday, April 4.

Still, Farrell, who was among those who traveled to Toronto with Safehouse to see a supervised injection site, remains unconvinced that the nonprofit has her communitys needs in mind.

After seeing the supervised injection site in Toronto, Farrell came away believing that such sites serve to contain drug use to specific areas. She doesnt want to see her community become such a place.

Timothy McCloskey, who also is white, lives in the Kensington neighborhood adjacent to Harrowgate. He shares Farrells concern.

The drug dealers arent gonna be right in front of the safe injection site, but theyre gonna be three or four blocks away, McCloskey told me in an interview. And I live three or four blocks away. I dont want the kids in the neighborhood to be caught up in the gunfire that gets involved with the drug dealers 

McCloskey, who says his family has lived in Kensington for 150 years, believes the mayor and others who support such sites should come to his community to see beyond the poverty.

If Mayor Kenney would just take the El one day from City Hall, it would take him 15 minutes to get here to walk around," he said. "Hed see regular people going to work in the morning and having to walk their kids past people with needles in their necks, and drug dealers, and people offering works [needles] for a dollar, which they got for free from Prevention Point.

Were real people here. Theres 1,000 people here that are homeless, supposedly. Theres another 10,000 people who live in this neighborhood who are trying to work every day and be there for their kids.

I agree with McCloskey. Regardless of their incomes, the hardworking people of his neighborhood deserve to be heard in this fight.

Solomon Jones is the author of 10 books. Listen to him weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon on Praise 107.9 HD2. Email him at sj@solomonjones.com. On Twitter at @solomonjones1Deptford Township police cars are not equipped with dashcams. The town challenged a state law requiring dashcams and a panel struck down the mandate in 2016. Read more

A Deptford Township police officer who fatally shot a suspected shoplifter who police said was trying to run him over with an SUV has been cleared of any wrongdoing, authorities said Thursday.

Gloucester County Prosecutor Charles A. Fiore said a grand jury declined to recommend criminal charges against Sgt. Kevin Clements, who shot and killed LaShanda Anderson, 36, of Philadelphia, in June at a strip mall.

That decision came after prosecutors presented the results of an investigation into whether the officer's use of deadly force was justified, a standard procedure under state Attorney General's Office guidelines.

Clements, 41, fired three shots as Anderson and a passenger tried to flee the Deptford Crossing Shopping Center in a rented Nissan Armada on June 9, striking her in the left side of her head, the prosecutor said. Anderson, who also suffered an elbow wound, died at the scene.

Chanel Barnes, the Armada's lone passenger, and Raoul Gadson, another alleged accomplice in a shoplifting ring that targeted Marshalls stores in the Philadelphia region, were not injured. Both face criminal charges.

The shooting made national headlines and sparked protests at the scene. It was the first police-involved fatal shooting ever in Deptford.

Clements, a 19-year veteran of the police department, who has been on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Deptford Police Chief William Hanstein did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Fiore said said Clements was "fearing for his life" when he fired at Anderson's vehicle after she accelerated toward him and ignored his commands to stop.

Anderson's family has raised questions about whether the shooting was justified.

A niece in June called the shooting "another senseless killing of an unarmed African American woman."

"This isn't what we were waiting for," the Anderson family said in a statement. "We want justice. We're going to keep fighting. "

"It's extremely disappointing but not surprising. We knew that cop wasn't going to get indicted," said Stanley King, a Woodbury civil rights lawyer who represents the family. "Grand jury proceedings can be extremely one-sided and oftentimes far from fair and objective."

Loretta Winters, president of the Gloucester County Chapter of the NAACP, which also conducted its own probe into the shooting, said she needed more information before commenting on the grand jury findings.

"I still feel that what happened that day  something is wrong. My heart goes out to the family," she said.

>>READ MORE: Family of Philadelphia woman says shooting 'was murder'

In his first extensive public comment on the shooting, Fiore issued a four-page statement releasing new details on the incident and the investigation. The prosecutor said investigators interviewed eyewitnesses and police, and reviewed available footage and ballistic reports. The statement provided a narrative of the shooting.

Two eyewitnesses, Olivia Scattergood, 22, and her boyfriend, Aedan Bell, 19, both of Clementon, have described a different scenario. Both said that they gave statements to the prosecutor's office in July, but neither was called before the grand jury, Bell said.

"I'm at a loss for words," Bell said Thursday. "I can't believe it would get thrown out like that."

The couple confirmed that Anderson and Barnes ignored police commands to stop, but disputed police accounts that Anderson had tried to run officers over. Both said they believe Anderson was trying to flee the area.

There was no body or dash camera footage because Deptford patrol cars and officers were not equipped with them.

The incident unfolded in the Marshalls parking lot across from Deptford Mall on a Saturday afternoon. Clements and Capt. William Bittner were dispatched to the scene in separate police vehicles after a report of a shoplifting in progress, Fiore said.

Anderson, Gadson, and Barnes left Marshalls with merchandise valued at $3,433.41, the prosecutor said. All three had extensive criminal records. Fiore said a store employee told a dispatcher that he recognized them from earlier encounters and security briefings about organized retail theft.

The officers were incorrectly advised by the dispatcher that one of the suspects was a "hit" for a "homicide," Fiore said. No explanation was provided Thursday on why the dispatcher had incorrect information.

After a scuffle with a store employee, Gadson ran off and Anderson got into the SUV, the prosecutor said. Bittner pointed his handgun at Anderson and ordered her out of the vehicle, he said. As Bittner approached the open driver's side door, Anderson sped off, striking him in the shoulder, the prosecutor said. Bittner was not injured, authorities have said.

The SUV traveled about 50 feet and then stopped suddenly, and Barnes entered on the passenger side, Fiore said. Clements was pursuing Barnes from another direction, he said.

Bittner threw his baton at the SUV, shattering its rear window, the prosecutor said. Witnesses said Clements was standing 12 to 25 feet in front of the vehicle with his weapon drawn when he ordered Anderson to stop, he said.

"Instead, the SUV accelerated quickly towards him," the prosecutor's statement said. Clements then "fired three shots in rapid succession," he said.

The SUV traveled through the parking lot, over a curb and down an embankment before striking an access road below, the prosecutor said. An analysis of the control module for the airbag, which deployed, shows the vehicle was traveling at speeds ranging from 19 to 22 mph, he said.

Barnes, 38, of Philadelphia, was arrested at the scene; she was charged with shoplifting and released to await trial. Gadson, 43, also of Philadelphia, was captured several days later on assault and robbery charges. He is in custody in Lehigh County on unrelated charges.

Family members have said that Anderson, a mother of three daughters, was trying to get her life together after several brushes with the law. Anderson had difficulty finding a job because of her criminal record, they said. She was arrested more than 15 times over the last 18 years  for shoplifting but also for more serious charges, including firearms violations and attempted murder. Gadson has been arrested numerous times on charges including theft and drug dealing. Barnes has been arrested seven times for shoplifting.Deptford Township police cars are not equipped with dashcams. The town challenged a state law requiring dashcams and a panel struck down the mandate in 2016. Read more

The Gloucester County NAACP on Tuesday denounced the fatal shooting of a shoplifting suspect in a strip mall parking lot by Deptford police over the weekend and said it planned to investigate.

Civil rights leaders are launching their own probe into the death of LaShanda Anderson, 36, of Philadelphia, who was shot twice after she allegedly tried to run over two police officers in a parking lot of Deptford Crossing during an attempted getaway, said chapter president Loretta Winters.

Authorities say Anderson ignored commands to stop as she drove toward the officers and one of them fired in self-defense, striking her.

The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the incident and whether the use of force was justified.

But Anderson's family and civil rights leaders believe it may be difficult to determine what happened because there is no dashcam or body-camera footage. A niece called the shooting "another senseless killing of an unarmed African American woman."

Winters said the NAACP plans to try to push Deptford Township to join a growing number of police departments nationwide that have dashcams and body cameras. She plans to meet with Mayor Paul Medany and local and county law enforcement officials.

"I can't get it past my mind that someone who was shoplifting ends up getting killed by police," Winters said Tuesday. "Does shoplifting mean a death sentence?"

Medany and Deptford Police Chief William Hanstein did not respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday. Prosecutor Charles Fiore was unavailable for comment.

The Prosecutor's Office will review the case to determine whether the officers complied with the state Attorney General Office's guidelines for appropriate use of force. It is believed to be the first fatal police-involved shooting in Deptford and is the first in the county since 2015, said office spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld.

Anderson and her alleged accomplices, Chanel Barnes, 27, and Raoul Gadson, 43, both of Philadelphia, have extensive criminal records and a pattern of arrests for shoplifting. Gadson, charged with assault and robbery, remained at large Tuesday. Barnes is in the Salem County Jail on a shoplifting charge after prosecutors filed to detain her, Weisenfeld said. Barnes faces a detention hearing on Thursday in Superior Court in Woodbury, he said.

>>READ MORE: Police fatally shoot shoplifting suspect as she drives SUV at them

Anderson was arrested more than 15 times over the last 18 years, repeatedly for shoplifting but also for more serious charges, including firearms violations and attempted murder. Gadson has been arrested numerous times on charges including theft and drug dealing. Barnes has been arrested seven times for shoplifting.

The two police officers went to the strip mall Saturday in response to a report that a man and two women were shoplifting. A security guard in a Marshalls store recognized one of the suspects from a state police bulletin about a retail theft ring targeting the chain.

A county dispatcher advised the officers that one of the suspects was wanted in connection with a homicide. It was unclear what homicide the dispatcher referred to, he said.

Upon arrival, the officers saw Gadson struggling with security guards who confronted the trio as they tried to leave the store. An arrest complaint against Barnes said the three left with more than $3,443 in stolen merchandise in a suitcase. Gadson ran off, while the two women jumped into a rented Nissan Armada.

Anderson, who was driving, accelerated toward the officers and struck one, a patrol captain with 27 years on the force, with her open driver's-side door, prosecutors said. Witnesses said she then "accelerated straight at the [other] officer."

The second officer, a sergeant and 17-year veteran, fired three shots at Anderson, causing the car to veer and narrowly miss him, prosecutors said. Anderson was struck twice and was pronounced dead at the scene, Weisenfeld said.

Stanley King, a Woodbury civil rights lawyer who has filed several wrongful death lawsuits against police in South Jersey, questioned whether the officer should have fired shots into a moving vehicle. King is not involved in the case.

"This is a real questionable shooting," King said. "I just don't know whether that level of force is justified."

According to the state attorney general's guidelines and restrictions on the use of deadly force, "discharging a firearm at or from a moving vehicle entails an even greater risk of death or serious injury to innocent persons. Due to this greater risk, and considering that firearms are not generally effective in bringing moving vehicles to a rapid halt, officers shall not fire from a moving vehicle or at the driver or occupant of a moving vehicle unless the officer believes" there is imminent danger to the officer or another person and there are no other available means to avert the danger, the guidelines say.

The names of the officers involved in Saturday's shooting have not been released. The captain struck by the car door was uninjured. The sergeant has been placed on paid leave pending the completion of an investigation into the shooting.

Without footage showing the events leading up to the shooting, it could be difficult for investigators to determine if the shooting falls within the guidelines, King said. Authorities have not provided details on where Anderson was struck or where the officer was standing when he fired.

"No body camera? No dashboard camera? How could Deptford justify not having those pieces of equipment in this day and age?" asked King.

Winters, of the NAACP, agreed, saying, "This is to protect everyone."

Weisenfeld said investigators hope that exterior security cameras in the area may have captured the incident. There are several stores in the strip mall, located across from Deptford Mall.

Community activist Walter Hudson of the National Awareness Alliance, a civil rights group, called on investigators to release any audio and camera footage located that captures events leading up to the shooting.

"With climate and conditions of the police and community relations in America, when there is a shooting death of black and brown people in America, we must demand transparency in the investigation," Hudson said. "We cannot take their account as to what happened."

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia have police body camera laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. New Jersey spent $1.5 million in 2016 to acquire 1,000 body cameras for state troopers.

Experts say dashboard and body cameras help hold officers and residents more accountable, and make it easier to review complaints from the public. Having arrest footage could also help prevent costly legal battles between complainants and municipalities, they say.

Deptford challenged a state law passed in 2014 requiring all municipalities to outfit new police patrol cars primarily involved in traffic stops with dashboard cameras, saying the mandate without state funding would unduly stress its budget. A state board agreed and struck the mandate down in 2016.

Medany, in a 2015 interview with the South Jersey Times in Woodbury, expressed skepticism about the use of dashboard and body cameras.

"We've had police officers for years  what happened to the day where we trained and trusted police officers and their judgment? I trust my cops; do they make mistakes? Sure. But are [cameras] the be-all and end-all?"

Staff writer Will Feuer contributed to this article.The doctor scheduled an MRI for Larissa, which cost $135, compared with around $1,200 in the United States the last time we had one. Read more

Last month, our Field-Tested Travel Tip provided advice for seeking medical care overseas if you are sick or injured while on vacation. Because youll be dealing with a completely different medical system, there are hurdles to overcome, but as weve also found, some items are easier to deal with than in the United States.

When we were in Romania for dental work, which we wrote about for The Inquirer in October 2017, Larissa wanted to get her sore hip checked. This was by no means an emergency, but the hip had been aggravating her for a while. After our London experience  we initially tried the national health care system, but because we were not registered with it, we needed to go to a private clinic to receive more extensive care  we began in the private system.

Our Airbnb landlord helped locate a doctor for us. When Larissa called the doctors office at the local medical center, she was given the phone option to speak to someone in English, which made navigating the system much easier. Larissa made an appointment for the next day with a highly regarded orthopedic surgeon who spoke fluent English and who had trained in Germany and Switzerland.

Upon arriving at the medical center, we paid upfront for the appointment, which also included a follow-up visit. The total cost for both visits was $33. Yes, thats not a typo. All of the people we met with spoke fluent English, and the facilities were completely modern, comparable to ones we use in the United States.

Remember, this was the private system and an upgrade from the government-run system, but compared to what we are used to, this was an incredible bargain.

The doctor scheduled an MRI for Larissa, which cost $135, compared with around $1,200 in the United States the last time we had one. Larissa met with the doctor for a post-MRI follow-up visit at which he reviewed her results and recommended a program of physical therapy. The total cost for the two doctor visits and the MRI was $168.

Another difference was that the pricing was clearly delineated upfront. There was no guessing what the final tab would be or playing pricing pinball, where the price keeps going up with hidden add-ons.

We had journeyed to Romania specifically for the dental work, so the medical care for Larissas hip was an added bonus. Though you might not be traveling overseas for these reasons, if you face some major medical expenses in your future, it could be worth researching options in the country you are visiting.

Our cost saving was significant, and we found the Romanian system far easier to navigate than anticipated. Just keep in mind that wherever you go, be sure to look into the private health-care system.

Philadelphia natives Larissa and Michael Milne have been global nomads since 2011. Follow their journey at ChangesInLongitude.comMetro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Health officials are bracing for an influx of dengue cases this year after recording more than 180 deaths from the disease in the first quarter of 2019 alone.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported that there have already been 48,634 cases of dengue in the first quarter of 2019 causing 184 deaths. This is a significant jump from last year's figures showing 23,328 cases that resulted to 150 deaths has the highest number of cases this year with 4,855, followed by Calabarzon with 4,815 cases and Caraga region with 4,570 cases.

Region VII has the highest number of cases this year with 5,421 followed by Metro Manila with 4,855 cases and Calabarzon with 4,851 cases.

Caraga region recorded 4,570 cases of the disease this year while Region III reported 4,009 cases.

However, DOH said the numbers were expected.

"We're preparing because we're expecting 2019 to be a big dengue year. The way dengue kasi behaves is that you get one or two years na low cases and on the third year tumataas [it rises]," Health Undersecretary Enrique Domingo told CNN Philippines.

Dengue prevention

Domingo said the number of dengue cases may peak during the rainy season in June but the public should not be complacent in the summer since mosquitoes attack during daytime.

"'Yung dengue mosquito kasi bites during the day so usually mga dawn hanggang an hour or two after sunset, so during the day syempre nakakatakot pa rin dengue sa mga bata and then the very old, so protect our children," he explained.

[Translation: The dengue mosquito bites during the day so usually around dawn until an hour or two after sunset so during the day it is still unsafe for children and the very old, so protect our children.]

Those who have been vaccinated with dengvaxia are also susceptible to the disease, Domingo added.

"'Yung mga nabakunahan dati, we tell them huwag na nating hintayin na grabe yung nararamdaman ng mga bata, basta may lagnat  isa /dalawang araw, may masakit ang tyan, masakit ang ulo, masakit ang mata dalhin na agad sa hospitals natin," he urged.

[Translation: Those who have been vaccinated before, we tell them not to wait for the condition of the child to worsen. As long as they have fever for one or two days, stomach pain, headache, and pain in the eyes, bring them immediately to our hospitals.]

Symptoms of dengue include the sudden onset of high fever which may last from two to seven day, joint and muscle pain, pain behind the eyes, weakness, skin rashes, nose bleeding when fever starts to subside, abdominal pain, vomiting of coffee-colored matter, dark-colored stool, and difficulty of breathing.

Domingo warned that mosquitoes are known to breed in stagnant waters, such as those in clogged rain gutters, sewers and discarded tires. The DOH urged the public to keep their surroundings clean.

CNN Philippines' Correspondent Triciah Terada and Digital Producer Janine Peralta contributed to this reportTanya, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, has been working at Tick Tock Early Learning Center for about 12 years. She, her husband, a construction worker, and three children, ages 11, 5, and 4, were struggling financially...Top Pair Podcast 331: EPT Sochi Highlights & Mixed Games vs. Holdem

April 03, 2019 Robbie Strazynski

In episode 331, Bruce Briggs and Robbie Strazynski examine the issues a player needs to be prepared for when approaching a mixed games home game versus a holdem-only affair. Robbie recaps his eclectic experiences at EPT Sochi, including some tales from the Russian cash game scene.

Bruces break-even streak gets broken and he goes gaga for Gonzaga in a brief March Madness aside. Of course, theres a fun one-outer with which the show will likely leave you chuckling.

Top Pair thanks their sponsors, J Design Cards and the Poker Notes Live mobile app for their support. Be sure to check em out!

Show Time Stamps

00:26 Synopsis 1:1129:43 How Ya Runnin? 1:21 Deriving happiness from sesame seed bagels. 3:35 Breakeven Bruce breaks down. Lost two buy-ins over two sessions. Reminiscing about previous April Fools Day episodes. 4:56 March Madness talk. Bruce goes gaga for Gonzaga, while Robbie questions the universitys actual existence (with an assist from Jimmy Kimmel). Warren Buffets Berkshire Hathaway multimillion-dollar bracket challenge. 13:05 Recapping the highlights of a visit to the 2019 European Poker Tour stop in Sochi, Russia. Getting out of the poker room a bit to see the sights and tour the former Winter Olympics host city. 16:18 Talking about what it was like to play in the Casino Sochi cash games. Three sessions for a total of 22 hours of play, but nothing to show for it other than memories and experiences; all that poker and broke even. 18:50 The importance of looking to the left and making adjustments according to how your opponents react to looking at their hole cards for the first time. 21:04 Other notable personalities in attendance, interviews, and trip highlights, focusing on introducing Westerners to what Russia is really like vs. stereotypes. 25:25 Robbies heading to the WSOP for the fourth consecutive year, will be entering a bracelet event for the first time, the $1,500 Dealers Choice event on June 3rd. Crossing off a bucket list items after 15 years of dealers choice home game play. 29:00 Will Bruce and Robbie finally meet this summer? 30:5852:10 Just a Few Folks (A deeper look at common home game issues) 31:47 No-limit holdem vs. mixed game home games: what are the main differences in terms of mental preparation and in-game play? Not as many bluffing opportunities in mixed games; multiple reasons why. 42:31 How to estimate what sort of poker bankroll you need and what stakes to play for if you primarily play mixed games, as opposed to mostly holdem. 53:35 One Outer  Bruces friend Chucky Cheese exhibits religious fervor at the poker table.

You can subscribe to PokerNews Top Pair Home Game Poker podcast on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here.

Follow the show on Facebook and be sure to join in the conversation on Twitter at #PNTopPair.

Follow hosts Bruce Briggs @toppair and Robbie Strazynski @cardplayerlife, also available via email: [email protected]Arto Autio, the Finnish businessman who played his first live poker tournament today, wasn't able to turn it into a Cinderella story and hit the rail in 11th place. In back-to-back hands, Autio lost his final chips.

Tommie Janssen took the first sizable chunk in a hand where Autio check-called 7,500 on a flop, before both players checked the turn. Autio bet 15,000 on the river and got a call from Janssen. The Finn showed but was second best to the Dutchman's .

In the next hand, which would be his last, he defended from the big blind against a Koray Aldemir raise. On the flop, Autio check-called 1,700 from Aldemir.

The turn was the and Autio checked. Aldemir bet 3,700, Autio check-raised all in for 12,600 and, slightly displeased, Aldemir called it off with .

Autio instantly flung his hand face-down in the muck, but once retrieved and turned over by the dealer he was still drawing live with . The river wasn't one of the paint card he needed and he made his way out.257 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Democrats on Tuesday embraced U.S. President Donald Trumps call to revive a fight over healthcare coverage, ensuring the issue will dominate the 2020 presidential election and Trumps bid for a second term in office.

Trump last week stepped up his assault on Democratic predecessor President Barack Obamas signature 2010 healthcare law by directing the Justice Department to oppose it in court and promising an unspecified Republican alternative.

In a series of late-night posts on Twitter on Monday, however, Trump shifted course, saying there would be no vote on any healthcare legislation until after next years election.

Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than Obamacare, Trump said, referring to the Affordable Care Act signed into law by Obama.

Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House, he said.

While that timeline would give Republicans more time to knit together an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, it all but guarantees a 2020 battle over an issue that helped Democrats wrest control of the U.S. House of Representatives last year.

When the president has instructed his Department of Justice to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, thems fighting words, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with Politico on Tuesday.

Trump and his fellow Republicans had vowed in the 2016 presidential election to repeal and replace Obamacare but failed to do so during their first two years in power, despite control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Democrats made healthcare a signature issue in the 2018 midterm congressional election, and are gearing up for a repeat defense next year.

Healthcare will be front and center, Democratic U.S. Representative Ben Ray Lujan told MSNBC on Tuesday.

Lujan, who is seeking a Senate seat in 2020, cited popular aspects of the law, such as protections for pre-existing conditions that could be threatened by Republicans, and said Democrats protection of the law could help them also win control of the upper chamber.

Candidates for the partys 2020 presidential nomination, including a number of current U.S. senators, have also hinged their candidacy on the issue.

Later on Tuesday, the Democratic-led House plans to take up a resolution condemning the Justice Departments legal assault on the law. Democrats from both chambers also rallied against it in front of the Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bernadette Baum)785 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) blasted Trump as absurd and small minded for thinking that his request to obtain the full Mueller report is based on some personal vendetta.

After Trump claimed that Nadler has been fighting with him for decades, the House Judiciary Committee chairman told MSNBCs The Beat with Ari Melber:

Thats absurd. The president is very small minded. Yes, we had clashes about some developments on the west side of Manhattan, many years ago. But so what. Whats relevant now is that Im the chairman of the judiciary committee. And we have a job to do, which is to protect the rule of law against that obstruction of justice and abuses of power and personal enrichment and we have to do that job. And the fact is, there was an investigation for 22 months, and now the attorney general if four days, an attorney general who auditioned for his job by writing essentially the investigation was wrong in itself and that a president could never commit obstruction of justice, which is an extreme view and so hes not the proper person to oversee this or to decide what gets public and we have to see all the material and the underlying, to see the report and the underlying do you means to protect the Republican and the rule of law.

Video:

House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) isn't playing Trump's games. https://t.co/6Gu8x6cNHN pic.twitter.com/j7eDdR6qQn  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 2, 2019

Remember, however the president may characterize the Mueller report, the Mueller report, according to what Barr said, because we havent seen the report found wrong-doing and that we dont even know, that its not public. And found a lot of very serious things. And the special prosecutor said that he couldnt rule in or out. He couldnt exonerate the president of obstruction of justice. So Barr took it upon himself to do that. Thats not the job of the attorney general, who is after all a political appointee of the president and the justice department cannot hold the president accountable. Both because of their doctrine that you can never indict a sitting president and because Barrs memo that said the president could not commit obstruction of justice, so Congress must hold the president accountable.

There is always a paranoid conspiracy to explain why the law is after Donald Trump. It is never that Trump may have done something wrong, but that there is a personal vendetta or some conspiracy where Trump is both the target and the victim.

Donald Trump has never had oversight in his entire life. No one has ever told him no. Trump doesnt have any tools to cope with an environment where others have equal power.

Rep. Nadler was correct. Trump is absurd and shortsighted because instead of acting like the President Of The United States, he is still living in his Trump Tower fantasy world.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook6.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Ivanka Trump was thought to be the pleasing and likable public face of the White House, but a new survey shows that the American people dont like or trust Trumps daughter.

The Washington Post reported on Ivanka Trumps E-Score:

In terms of facial recognition, Ms. Trump scored 47 percent, slightly higher than Ms. Conway and Ms. Sanders, the most public-facing administration officials, who both scored a 32 percent for facial recognition.

Ms. Trumps overall strong positive appeal was 12 percent, compared with an overall strong negative appeal of 21 percent. While Ms. Trump was more disliked than liked among every age group by men and women alike, she consistently had a slight edge with men over women.

Ms. Trump is most popular among adults over the age of 55 and least popular with adults between the ages of 18 and 24.

In a list of attributes that celebrities are graded on, Ms. Trump was most often described as attractive (32 percent), beautiful (28 percent) and glamorous (25 percent). She ranked lowest on funny (1 percent), can identify with (2 percent) and exciting (3 percent).

America isnt being fooled by Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Trump has the same lack of honesty and credibility problems as her father. Being born rich, just like her father, has left Ivanka unable to relate to the concerns to the concerns of average people. Ivanka Trump comes off as inauthentic, wooden, and not honest in her interviews. Ivanka Trump was supposed to be the relatable face for the Trump administration, but just like her father, the majority of the country has seen through her lies and rejected Ivanka Trump.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook1.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Rachel Maddow sounded the alarm on Tuesday, saying that attorney general William Barr is trying to redact the hell out of Robert Muellers report before letting Congress see the complete 400-page document.

The MSNBC host said Democrats expect that the Mueller report is going to be redacted within an inch of its life on the grounds that it contains a ton of grand jury information, which William Barr is taking it upon himself to cut out.

Maddow slammed the AG for concealing grand jury information instead of disclosing it to Congress, which is what happened during Watergate and other similar investigations.

Video:

Rachel Maddow says William Barr is taking it upon himself to redact the Mueller report  before Congress gets to see it. #ctl #p2 #maddow pic.twitter.com/WHaaF71eVs  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) April 3, 2019

Maddow said:

What [Democrats are] surmising from Barrs comments to them thus far is that the Mueller report is going to be redacted within an inch of its life on the grounds that it contains a ton of grand jury information, which William Barr is taking it upon himself to cut out, not only before he shows to it to the public, but before he even shows it to Congress. The Democrats want him instead to get a court order allowing for that grand jury information to be disclosed. That is what happened in Watergate. That is what happened in the Ken Starr report. That is what has happened in every other investigation like this. That is what the Democrats in Congress would like to happen now. So far, no response on that from the attorney general whatsoever.

Subpoenas are about to fly

Luckily, Democrats are not powerless. They are already gearing up for a fight to have the Mueller report handed over to Congress and the American public.

As House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler said on Tuesday, Democrats are planning to subpoena the Mueller report and the underlying evidence this week if William Barr doesnt hand over the unredacted document.

Democrats arent afraid to go to the mat in order to get the complete Mueller report, and recent polling shows that the American people are with them.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter5.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said on Tuesday that the Mueller report doesnt necessarily have to show conclusive evidence of a crime to warrant Trumps removal from office.

During an interview with MSNBCs Chris Matthews, Lieu said that there is a whole host of behavior that could be considered unethical, even if it doesnt technically violate a federal statute.

The Democratic lawmaker pointed to the behavior of members of Trumps cabinet, like Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke, who were forced to resign amid allegations of misconduct.

Lieu said these members of the Trump administration were forced to resign not because they necessarily violated any federal laws, but because they engaged in misconduct such as conflicts of interest, abuse of power.

In other words, if the Mueller report shows similar levels of misconduct on the part of Trump  and there is a good chance it will  then it could lead to an outcry among members of Congress and the American people for Trump to step down or be removed from office.

Video:

Rep @tedlieu says Trump shouldnt be allowed to get away with unethical conduct, even if it doesnt rise to the level of a federal crime. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/R6yGsnraeW  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) April 2, 2019

Lieu said:

I give him an F, and the whole conversation with Jared Kushner just highlights why we need the entire Mueller report  There is a whole range of conduct that may not rise to the level of a federal offense, but could constitute misconduct. For example, former Trump officials Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke, David Shulkin, Tom Price and many others were forced to resign not because they necessarily violated any federal laws, but because they engaged in misconduct such as conflicts of interest, abuse of power. We want to know if people like Jared Kushner or others engaged in that kind of conduct, as well as the president.

Trump is trying to normalize unethical behavior

In an interview over the weekend, Trumps acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney made the flimsy argument that as long as you dont commit an actual crime, it doesnt matter how unethical your behavior is.

But the American people deserve better than that. Public servants should be held to a higher standard than that.

Just because one set of investigations cant connect enough dots to charge the president of the United States with a crime, it doesnt mean he should be able to get away with unprecedented unethical misconduct. The same applies to his son-in-law Jared Kushner and others in this White House.

Donald Trump is trying to normalize unethical behavior by claiming its okay so long as he doesnt get implicated in a crime. Congress and the American people must reject that argument.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter5.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Donald Trump told a group of Republicans on Tuesday that they need to be more paranoid about the way votes are being counted. He also suggested the results of 2018 midterms were rigged.

In a speech at the National Republican Congressional Committees yearly spring dinner, the president said, You gotta be a little bit more paranoid than you are.

Trump tells House Rs to be more paranoid than they are about elections and implied midterms were rigged. Hey, you gotta be a little bit more paranoid than you are. We have to be a little bit careful, because I dont like the way the votes are being tallied @nikkicarvajal  Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 2, 2019

Trump added: We have to be a little bit careful, because I dont like the way the votes are being tallied. I dont like it and you dont like it either. You just dont want to say it because youre afraid of the press.

In other words, Trump is giving permission to his political allies to question the results of the elections they lose.

Trump is already laying the groundwork for questioning the 2020 results

As the 2020 election inches closer, its comments like these that show how Donald Trump is already laying the groundwork for questioning the 2020 results.

This is nothing new from Trump.

One of the first things he did as president was launch a commission to fight voter fraud. The only problem, of course, is that they found no evidence of such fraud  and the entity was forced to shut down.

And, as The Hill pointed out on Tuesday, Trump played the same voter fraud card ahead of the 2018 midterms, saying that law enforcement has been strongly notified to watch for illegal voting.

Earlier this year, Trump also said Democrats cannot legitimately win in 2020, implying that if they do take back the White House, it should be contested.

All of this indicates that Donald Trump knows, with underwater approval ratings and a strong field of Democratic candidates, that winning a second term in 2020 will be an uphill battle.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter994 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The House Judiciary Committee just completed a vote that authorized its chairman to use a subpoena to force the Justice Department to give Congress a full copy of Special Counsel Robert Muellers report and all of his underlying evidence.

BREAKING: The House Judiciary Committee votes to authorize a subpoena of the full Mueller report, setting up a clash between Congress and President Trump https://t.co/ppQmewO8pJ pic.twitter.com/y5fxkgyMq1  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 3, 2019

The committee chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said he would not issue the subpoena right away, however.

The party-line vote won by Democrats who control the committee will increase the pressure on Attorney General William P. Barr as he decides how much of the Mueller report to share with Congress.

I will give him time to change his mind, Mr. Nadler said in his opening statement. But if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials.

The Judiciary Committee also gave its approval for subpoenas to five former White House employees. Democrats said these people were all relevant to their ongoing investigation into possible obstruction of justice, abuse of power and corruption within the Donald Trump administration.

The five employees are:

Donald F. McGahn II, a former White House counsel;

Stephen K. Bannon, the presidents former chief strategist;

Hope Hicks, a former White House communications director;

Reince Priebus, the presidents first chief of staff; and

Annie Donaldson, a deputy of Mr. McGahn.

Barr wrote a letter to Rep. Nadler and other congressional leaders last week saying that he would give Congress a redacted version of the Mueller report by mid-April and would not share it with the White House before then.

Barr also said that Justice Department officials, working with the special counsels office, were scrubbing the Mueller report of four categories of information that must be redacted:

classified material, secret grand jury testimony, details pertinent to ongoing law enforcement investigations and statements that would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties.

Barr missed a House-imposed deadline of yesterday to turn over the nearly 400-page report.

This is a developing story and will be updated.1.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

A large majority of American voters say they dont trust Donald Trump on health care, according to the new Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.

The poll discovered that 59 percent of voters said they dont have much trust or any trust at all in the president on health care.

The new poll also discovered that more voters support the Affordable Care Act (the ACA, or Obamacare) than do not support it. Nearly half of respondents, 47 percent, said they approve of the law, compared to just 41 percent who said they do not approve.

In addition, 45 percent of voters said they trust Democrats more than Republicans in Congress on healthcare. Just 35 percent of respondents said they have more trust in Republicans.

Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consults vice president, pointed out the problem for the president facing reelection:

As health care is pushed to the forefront of the 2020 agenda, our polling suggests President Trump may struggle to attract voters with his promise of a new plan.

Todays poll results come after the Trump administration last week called for the entirety of the Affordable Care Act to be be struck down by a federal court in Texas.

After that Trump made a controversial pledge that Republicans would become the party of health care.

He also said that the GOP would come up with a far better health care proposal than Obamacare.

Since last weeks court filing, Trump has backtracked on healthcare, saying that Republicans wouldnt take up healthcare reform until after the 2020 election. In his comments he was assuming that Republicans would win back House control and he would also win reelection.

The federal lawsuit is continuing, however, and healthcare will be on voters minds during the 2020 election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he told Trump earlier this week that the Senate would not work on a comprehensive health care package ahead of the 2020 election.

I made clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate, McConnell said he told the president. He did say, as he later tweeted, that he accepted that and he would be developing a plan that he would take to the American people during the 2020 campaign.

Trump and the GOP Cant Fool American Voters

This new poll makes clear that the lies being told to the American people about Donald Trumps and congressional Republicans great healthcare plans arent working.

Republicans are in real trouble as they head into the 2020 election season since they have no plan whatsoever on healthcare. But healthcare will be the top issue on voters minds in the 2020 election.

All of this spells doom for the GOP in 2020, and makes it increasingly likely that Democrats will not only win back the presidency, but may win back control of the U.S. Senate also.200 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

President Donald Trump said in a speech to a Republican group that former Vice President Joe Biden is being taken care of pretty well by the socialists. He was implying that recent criticisms against Biden, a potential 2020 presidential candidate, is the product of attacks coming from the left wing (i.e. Bernie Sanders wing) of the Democratic Party.

Criticism of the former vice president has been snowballing over the past several recent days as more women have come out with stories about past physical interactions with Biden.

Although Biden has always been a touchy-feely politician, the women have all said their interactions with him left them feeling uncomfortable. Even though all of Bidens accusers made clear that the physical contact was not sexual in nature, the criticisms against him are problematic.

If Biden does enter the 2020 presidential race he will immediately be a top contender, and he has been first in many polls of 2020 Democratic candidates. So accusations against him will undoubtedly cast a shadow over his campaign, as he takes on over 15 other Democrats, including several women.

Trumps comments came at the spring fundraising dinner for House Republicans campaign arm. He very clearly insinuated, just as Bidens own team has, that the accusations had come out because of the work of a rival campaign.

It looks like the only non-, sort of heavy socialist, he is being taken care of pretty well by the socialists, Trump said. They got to him. Our former vice president. I was going to call him  I dont know him well. I was gonna say, Welcome to the world, Joe. Are you having a good time, Joe?

The controversy over Bidens alleged inappropriate touching first came up last week when former Nevada legislator Lucy Flores wrote an essay in The Cut detailing a 2014 incident when Biden allegedly kissed the back of her head. Since then, three more women have come forward with their own stories of being made uncomfortable by Bidens physical contact.

Many Democrats have stepped forward in Bidens defense in the last week, arguing that the former vice presidents habit of showing physical affection is simply part of his personality.

Biden has also apologized through statements to the press, admitting he may have unintentionally made the women feel uncomfortable.

Trumps comments about Biden might be a preview of further attacks to come on the former vice president. It also shows that he will not stay silent during the Democratic primaries.

The Hill reported Tuesday afternoon that the pro-Trump Great America PAC had recently placed a six-figure ad buy for a digital spot hitting Creepy Joe over the accusations.

Trump Should Not Be Highlighting Sexual Assault During the 2020 Campaign

This is somewhat surprising since Trump himself has not been immune to accusations of making unwelcome advances on women. He has been accused of sexual harassment or sexual assault over 20 times. In the infamous Access Hollywood tape he admitted kissing and groping women without their consent.

Donald Trump lives in the ultimate glass house, and he really shouldnt be throwing any stones at an upstanding family man like Joe Biden.2.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Senate Democrats Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) have asked the FBI for an immediate assessment of the national security risks at Donald Trumps properties.

The Senators want an FBI investigation into the security risks at Mar-a-Lago

In a letter provided to PoliticusUSA, the Senators wrote to FBI Director Wray:

We write regarding the arrest of Yujin Zhang, a Chinese national who was apprehended by Secret Service after she allegedly made false statements to bypass security at Mar-a-Lago while carrying multiple electronic devices and a thumb drive containing malicious malware.

According to the information provided in the criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Ms. Zhang was allowed access to the property after security staff employed at Mar-a-Lago believed her to be a relative of a member of the club. After she passed into a restricted area and was eventually questioned by a receptionist, Ms. Zhang stated that she had been invited to Mar-a-Lago to attend a non-existent United Nations Chinese American Association event by an apparent associate of Li Cindy Yang, who had reportedly promoted events at the club on Chinese-language social media.

On March 15th, senior members of the congressional intelligence and judiciary committees asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct criminal and counterintelligence investigations into credible allegations of potential human trafficking, unlawful foreign lobbying and other activities by Ms. Yang as well as an assessment of the risks or related concerns associated with any interactions between her and the President. While this request came after Ms. Yang was photographed with the President and reports that she created a business that attempted to sell access to the President and his family to clients in China, Congress has not yet received a response.

This latest incident raises very serious questions regarding security vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago, which foreign intelligence services have reportedly targeted. The apparent ease with which Ms. Zhang gained access to the facility during the Presidents weekend visit raises concerns about the system for screening visitors, including the reliance on determinations made by Mar-a-Lago employees. As the White House Communications Agency and Secret Service coordinate to establish several secure areas at Mar-a-Lago for handling classified information when the President travels there, these potential vulnerabilities have serious national security implications.

Accordingly, we ask that the FBI, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, assess the risks at Mar-a-Lago posed by establishment of areas for classified information at facility accessible to the public and foreign nationals. We also ask that you determine, in consultation with the Secret Service, the steps needed to detect and deter adversary governments or their agents from attempting to gain access to or conduct electronic surveillance or acquire material at Mar-a-Lago or President Trumps other properties.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We ask that you provide Congress with a written response to this letter as well as the questions related to Ms. Yang that were enumerated in the March 15th letter without delay.

The House could cut off funding for Trumps vacations

House Democrats have the ability to pass restrictions that would prohibit federal funds from being spent at Trump properties. Democrats have been interested in Trumps vacation travel since before they took back the majority, and there is an active investigation into the presidents travel.

It is difficult to see how Mar-a-Lago can be made secure if guests and members are allowed to come and go while the president is there.

The most secure solution would be for Trump to stop going to his private club, and now Democrats may have a reason to cut off Trumps for-profit off the taxpayers dime vacations.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook6.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

After a woman from China was arrested at Mar-a-Lago while carrying malware, the Secret Service released a statement stating that they cant stop Trump from letting spies into his private club.

The Secret Service Cant Stop Spies From Hanging Out With Trump

The Secret Service said in a statement:

The Secret Service does not determine who is invited or welcome at Mar-a-Lago; this is the responsibility of the host entity. The Mar-a-Lago club management determines which members and guests are granted access to the property. This access does not afford an individual proximity to the President or other Secret Service protectees. In such instances, additional screening and security measures are employed. With the exception of certain permanently protected facilities, such as the White House, the practice used at Mar-a-Lago is no different than that long-used at any other site temporarily visited by the President or other Secret Service protectees.

While the Secret Service does not determine who is permitted to enter the club, our agents and officers conduct physical screenings to ensure no prohibited items are allowed onto the property.

Read the full letter:

Trump is a national security risk

Trumps refusal to separate himself from his private businesses is jeopardizing national security. There is no way that a president should be going to a private for-profit club that he owns and mingling with the members. Trumps Mar-a-Lago situation is a climate that creates a perfect storm for a national security disaster.

No one worries about national security until something goes wrong.

There were no concerns in the country about national security before 9/11, but it just takes one incident to change everything. This time it was the Chinese trying to gain American classified information, but what could stop other non-nation state rogue actors from exploiting Trumps desire to promote his business and hang out at his club?

The United States has gotten very lucky so far, but must get Donald Trump, his corruption, and his endangering of national security out of office, before something tragic happens.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on FacebookOn April 1, a day after Ukraines presidential election, the Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti published part of an interview with Russian Deputy Minister of the Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin. He accused the Kyiv government of creating explicit complexities for voters and implied that the incumbent, President Petro Poroshenko, was trying to illegally influence the outcome of the election.

In the RIA article, it does not go into specifics about what complexities the authorities were allegedly creating, but the original source  an interview for the Russian magazine International Life provides more details to Karasins statement.

In fact, the current electoral process bypassed the Donbas side, he said.

In the proclaimed republics of the region, where, according to the CEC (Central Election Committee) of Ukraine, about 3 million potential voters live, no presidential election will be held, polling stations are open only on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Kyiv.

This statement is false for several reasons.

First, most of what is known as the Donbas is in fact under control of the Kyiv government thus, one cannot claim that the process bypassed the Donbas. Voting in that territory is carried out normally, as in the rest of Ukraine. For example, the dekover.org website has a visual, interactive display that shows the breadth of voting in Ukraine, and which candidates the voters in each polling station backed:

More important, however, are the reasons why there are no polling stations in the proclaimed republics. Firstly these entities self-proclaimed as the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics claim to be sovereign, independent from Ukraine.

Secondly, from 2014 when these republics were set up with Moscows backing, the local authorities deliberately prevented citizens in their territory from voting in Ukrainian elections, beginning with the presidential election, which Poroshenko won that same year. In fact, independent reports showed, that during the 2014 presidential election in Ukraine, the local pro-Russian forces actively and violently harassed officials of the CEC in an attempt to prevent citizens from voting. Instead, these self-proclaimed republics have conducted several of their own elections.

Thus, Kyiv cannot be held accountable for the actions of local authorities who publicly acknowledge that they answer not to Kyiv but to Moscow.

As for the claim that there is a shadow cast over the whole electoral process, the RIA article begins by suggesting that this most recent presidential election will go down in history as the crudest, dirtiest, and bitter campaign in Ukrainian history. International observers tell a different story, however.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issued its preliminary report which stated that apart from some notable discrepancies, the election was competitive and fair.

Fundamental freedoms were generally respected, the report states.

Candidates could campaign freely; yet, numerous and credible indications of misuse of state resources and vote-buying undermined the credibility of the process. The media landscape is diverse, but campaign coverage in the monitored media lacked in-depth analysis and was often biased. Election Day was assessed positively overall and paves the way to the second round. Still, some procedural problems were noted during the count, and conditions for tabulation were at times inadequate.

It also makes reference to the fact that authorities were not able to hold the election in territories under control of illegal armed groups, i.e. the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics.

The OSCEs preliminary findings are supported by other international election observation missions, such as those of the American National Democratic Initiative and Canadas election observation mission.

Notably, while the Russian Foreign Ministry and media attempt to imply that the incumbent President Poroshenko bears responsibility for trying to illegally influence the outcome of the election, Poroshenko decisively lost the first round to newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy (16% to Zelenskiys 30%).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.The next proposal for slowing hotel growth on the peninsula, which could come before City Council before the end of the month, could also expand the qualifications for a hotel to be considered "full service."Get the SC business stories that matter.

Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free.Food editor and chief critic

Eating all of the chicken livers just as fast as I can.The James Island connector (foreground) currently terminates at Folly Road but would extend on toward Johns Island and West Ashley under a plan currently in the works. File/StaffAssistant Columbia bureau chief

Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill.You are the owner of this article.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.The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication.Jamie Lovegrove is a political reporter covering the South Carolina Statehouse, congressional delegation and campaigns. He previously covered Texas politics in Washington for The Dallas Morning News and in Austin for the Texas Tribune.Gov. Henry McMaster visited Miracle Hill Ministries in Greenville on Aug. 27 to award CEO Reid Lehman with the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian honor. McMaster has worked in recent months to ensure Miracle Hill can continue denying foster care services to same-sex couples and non-Christian families. File/Jamie Lovegrove/Staff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.Political Reporter

Caitlin Byrd is a political reporter at The Post and Courier and author of the Palmetto Politics newsletter. Before moving to Charleston in 2016, her byline appeared in the Asheville Citizen-Times. To date, Byrd has won 17 awards for her work.Recent sunshine and warmer temperatures have given us a boost in spirit. Summer is on our minds.

The summer of 2019 doesnt have quite the ring as the summer of 69. This may be a time that baby boomers remember well.

For me, a 16-year-old, one of the biggest events of that year was when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and I watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take a walk on the lunar surface. Quite a few of us watched that grainy black-and-white moment on television.

I recall checkered flair pants that I wore with no shame, guys wore silk scarves and had long hair. Vietnam, civil rights and war protests were on the evening news.

What do you remember? I interviewed two friends, Duane Krueger and Sandy Dille. I asked them to reflect  50 years later.

Years of tragedies

Duane had just graduated from Mechanic Arts High School in St. Paul. He had no particular plans for his future. Like most of us he had his share of issues with his parents. Duane went to work on the railroad along with a second job at a grocery store.

That spring Duane remembers visiting with a friend, Jim Puariea. Jim had graduated in 1967 and was home from Vietnam. Jim told Duane he had signed up for a second tour in order to get an early out from the Army.

Shortly after Jim returned to Vietnam, Duane told me, he got his early out. His name is listed on Panel 23W, Line 91 on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He was killed on June 6, 1969.

Tragedy hit even closer when Duanes brother Dennis died of a brain tumor in December 1969.

Duane felt the obligation to serve his country. Duanes grandfather, uncle and dad had served before him. Duane joined the Navy and served two years on the destroyer USS Forster.

When Duane got out of the service, he went to college and was hired by Anoka County in 1974. He would eventually serve as director of Anoka County Veterans Services, retiring in 2010. Duane reflected on how rewarding his career was, meeting and hearing the stories of so many veterans.

Duane is very proud of his two sons from his first marriage. That isnt where Duanes story stopped. After marrying Robbin in 1990, they adopted three little girls. Duane felt good about being able to provide the girls a good home.

As Duane looks back, the lesson that he learned, and the one that he has shared with his children is this: "You have no right to expect something back, unless you put something in."

Fifty years is a long stretch, and at times the road will be hard. Duanes wife Robbin passed away only one month ago. Her loss has been devastating to Duane and his family. Both 1969 and 2019 are years he wishes not to remember.

Sometimes its hard to take the next step. Duane has family to keep together. Thats his job right now. He is one of the most remarkable men I have ever met.

Blessed over and over

For Sandy Kruckeberg, family and faith were centerpieces in her life. Growing up in Owatonna, Sandy attended and graduated from the Practical Nursing Program in Red Wing after high school.

The summer of 1969, Sandy had one thing on her mind. She was planning her wedding. It was a memorable time. After the August nuptials, she and her husband Ken began their lives together.

Sandy does remember various events of 1969, but the two Midwest conservative farm kids didnt spend too much time trying to understand or figure out some of the 1960s culture.

Ken had served four years in the Air Force. He headed to college with assistance from the GI Bill and Sandy went to work as a nurse. They worked hard and made ends meet. Ken would eventually earn a masters degree in math.

As their two children came along, Sandy was able to stay home. She and Ken enjoyed every second raising their two children, always keeping the focus on family. It was important to them to teach their children to be good and kind people.

They modeled the same faith and family values that surrounded them when they were growing up. They are proud of their children and now three grandchildren. Sandy told me that she is thankful for each day they are given.

Sandy said, "Fifty years doesnt seem that long ago and its wonderful to recall what we have done with ourselves in that 50 years. We have been blessed over and over." This summer Ken and Sandy will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

They will celebrate it like they have lived their life; surrounded by their children and now grandchildren. She said all you need is love.Its time to take those old records off the shelf, as Bob Seger once sang, and see if theyre worth any cash at the Rochester Record Show, which will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Little Thistle Brewing Company, 2031 14th St. NW.

A dozen dealers from the Twin Cities and Rochester will be on hand to buy and sell records, CDs and music memorabilia from all types of music.

"If you have rock, jazz, blues, soul, garage albums, 45 RPM records or memorabilia youd like to sell, bring them to the show," said Rich Franson, an organizer of the event.

Admission is free.

Luther choir to perform in Rochester

The Luther CollegeCollegiate Choir will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday at Christ United Methodist Church, 400 Fifth Ave. SW.

The concert will include music by J.S. Bach, Leonard Bernstein, Jake Runestad, Stacey Gibbs and John Legend.

The 90-voice choir, directed by Jennaya Robison, is composed of junior and senior Luther students.

Admission is a freewill offering.

Big-band music returns to ballroom

The historic Terp Ballroom in Austin will host the Austin Big Band from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.

The event is hosted by the Austin Page Turners, organizers of the City Wide Book Read. The book being read is "Stars over Clear Lake," by Loretta Ellsworth, which looks at the history of the Terp and Surf ballrooms.

Admission is $5. A dance lesson will be offered at 7 p.m. The Terp is located at 210 Fourth St. NE.

Ellsworth will present a program about her book at 7 p.m. April 23 at the Austin Public Library.

Rochester arts group sets events

Rochester Friends of the Minneapolis Institute of Arthave two events coming up in April.

 A bus trip to the MIA for the annual Art in Bloom show will depart at 8 a.m. April 11 from 125 Live, 125 Elton Hills Drive NW.

The fee is $30 for members, $35 for non-members. For reservations, call 507-206-0827.

 A lecture, "Putting Culture into Agriculture," will be hosted at 10:30 a.m. April 18 at 125 Live. The speaker is Susan Waughtal, an artist and co-owner of Squash Blossom Farm in Oronoco.

Coffee is served at 10 a.m. Visitors and guests are welcome.

Musical acts lined up for showcase

RED WING  "Strings, Winds & Brass," the annual Minnesota State College Southeastshowcase concert, is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Sheldon Theatre, 443 W. Third St., Red Wing.

Ten acts were chosen at auditions to perform, ranging from an "intense" cello duo to a brass quintet and a brass rock band. The performers are students and faculty from the schools instrument repair and building programs.

Students who will perform are from as far away as Georgia, South Carolina, New York and Colorado.

Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for students.Many challenges

The idea of a liquid biopsy sounds simple. In practice, its incredibly complex. The tests required to find those floating fragments must be exquisitely precise. The total amount of cellular DNA in a vial of blood is tiny; the amount of DNA that would come from a tumor is even more miniscule. Other proposed markers in the blood, like intact cells shed from a tumor, are even rarer.

Sequencing technology, while constantly improving and getting cheaper, has only just gotten to the point where it can detect circulating tumor DNA, said Dr. Kristy Lastwika, a postdoctoral research fellow at Fred Hutch. And the amount of DNA is related to how big the tumor is.

The bigger the tumor, the more DNA it sheds, Lastwika said. So these tests are reliable at detecting larger, and therefore later-stage, tumors. But theyre not so great yet with smaller, earlier tumors.

That raises the specter of false negatives  i.e., not detecting someones cancer, thus delaying diagnosis, even costing someone their life. Scientists just dont know how early these tests could catch cancer, no matter how fine-tuned they become.

A tiny little polyp in your colon thats thinking about getting bigger is very unlikely to be causing any kind of circulating mutations that are detectable, said Dr. Natasha Hunter, an oncologist at SCCA and an affiliate member of Fred Hutchs Clinical Research Division. And if that DNA does exist, with the resolution of todays tests were just not finding it.

These tests dont just have to prove they can detect miniscule amounts of genetic material. They also must reliably identify specific mutations. A concern with liquid biopsies (and all screening tests) is producing false positives: i.e., detecting cancer when it isnt there. That causes unnecessary worry to patients, and expensive and even harmful follow-up procedures.

You would need a test thats almost perfect to use liquid biopsies as a general screening tool, Lastwika said. A better use would be to focus on high-risk populations  say, older adults who have smoked for a certain number of years.

Which happens to be what Lastwika does. Together with her mentors, Fred Hutch's Drs. Paul Lampe and McGarry Houghton, she is developing a blood test to help detect lung cancer in high-risk adults whose imaging scans are inconclusive. Those scans identify growths called pulmonary nodules, which can be cancerous but are often benign. Lastwika wants to create an alternative to submitting those patients to a painful, expensive and dangerous lung biopsy. But instead of tumor DNA, her test looks for autoantibodies  proteins produced by the immune system in response to disease or infection. Scientists think these proteins are produced long before tumor DNA would appear in the blood.Guam Business Magazine will present Lifetime Achievement Awards to two women at the 2019 Guam Business Magazine Businesswoman of the Year Gala on April 27 at the Hyatt Regency Guam.

This year, the Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to Donna Wilde Kloppenburg and Belta Sgambelluri Perez.

The award recognizes businesswomen who have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life in their community through business and community service, and who serve as role models for the businesswomen of today, the magazine announced.

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Kloppenburg is the executive vice president and former CEO of Kloppenburg Enterprises Inc.

After raising her children, Kloppenburg took a more active role in Kloppenburg Enterprises.

She and her family were recognized as the U.S. Small Business Administration 2008 Jeffrey Butland Family Owned Business of the Year. In addition, Kloppenburg worked as the public relations and development director of the Salvation Army Guam Corps for 11 years from 2002 to 2013, and she was tasked with fundraising and raising awareness of Salvation Army programs and services.

Modeling a business for Perez

Perez is president of John Robert Powers LLC, which teaches dance, voice, acting and modeling skills. She founded the business on Guam in 1970.

Perez graduated with a 1963 associate's in education and drama from the Territorial College of Guam, which later became the University of Guam. Perez was given a grant scholarship to Mt. Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, later transferring and graduating from San Jose State University in California with a bachelor's in education and psychology.

She secured the JRP franchise for the Asia-Pacific region in 1970, though she would later retain Guam and Micronesia to concentrate on raising her three sons as well as developing the school.

More than 25,000 students have graduated from JRP. Perez has helped graduates secure mainland job placements and fundraised for them to attend national competitions, the magazine stated.

Perez supported the Alee Children's Shelter Volunteer Holiday Fund Drive for 15 years. She was inducted into the Modeling Association of America International Hall of Fame in 2015 and was its president from 2017 to 2018. JRP was recognized in 2018 as School of the Year by the International Presentation of Performers.Anyone visiting Guam for the first time or who is a recurring visitor should be able to appreciate  after leaving the air-conditioned hallway Read moreAn area doctor has been selected as the 2019 Family Physician of the Year in Pennsylvania.

Dr. William Taddonio was nominated by patients and colleagues who consistently share their stories and experiences about the knowledge and care he provides. He was selected for the honor by the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians in Harrisburg.

Dr. Taddonio truly exemplifies what it means to be a physician. He is extremely knowledgeable and incredibly compassionate, said Pottstown Hospital President and CEO Richard Newell. He truly cares about the overall well-being of his patients. Pottstown Hospital is fortunate to have him as one our trusted physicians.

Dr. Taddonio is a member of Tower Health Medical Group and has been a practicing physician at Berks Family Care in Douglassville since 1991.

Dr. Taddonio, of Norristown, began his medical career at Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed his residency in family medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

I was honored just to be nominated but winning it was an absolute honor. I dont do anything different than any other family doctor does because its based on patients thanking you for taking care of them or their kids, being involved in their care, Dr. Taddonio said of being selected.

Dr. Taddonio has served as director of the Southeastern Veterans Center, Spring City; school physician in the Pottsgrove School District; Board of Directors of Pottstown Health and Wellness Foundation, as well as Pottstown Family Care and Pottstown Hospital  Tower Health.

Dr. Taddonio has also had teaching appointments with the University of Pennsylvanias Department of Family Practice, DeSales University, Philadelphia University, and the Family Medicine Residency Program at Reading Hospital  Tower Health.

Several things mold you, said Dr. Taddonio. It goes beyond what you do because what really molds you, is what you do emotionally, mentally and spiritually with your patients. Ive had an awful lot of experience like working at the veterans center, in the hospital, being a school physician. Ive had a lot of teaching positions over the years and have enjoyed teaching students what its like to be a physician.

Dr. Taddonio says he operates under a few simple philosophies that he believes help him as a physician, the most important of which is the difference between caring for patients and caring about them.

Everything you do as a physician comes down to the fact that its not only how you take care of patients but how you treat them. Theres a difference between caring for patients and showing patients you care, he said. I have the philosophy that theres no role for ego in being a doctor. Treat patients as family members. I tell students to never lose the art of listening to a patient and its an art that a lot of doctors dont have.

Never be ashamed to tell a patient that you dont know. But direct them to someone who can help. If you keep those in mind, it comes down to being a good caring physician, he said.Montgomery County has scheduled a series of demonstrations of the countys new voter-marked paper ballot system with a verifiable paper trail that will be in place for the May 2019 primary election.

In addition to two stand-alone events, the Commissioners will combine their four annual Conversations with the Commissioners town hall events across the county with voting system demonstrations.

The main voting demonstration, which does not include a town hall, is scheduled for this Saturday, April 6, from 9 a.m. to noon at Ambler Borough Hall, 131 Rosemary Avenue, Ambler, PA 19002.

Montgomery County Voter Services will set up five simulated polling locations for voters to experience the new system first-hand. Limited parking will be available in the municipal lots adjacent to Ambler Borough Hall and all Saturday parking fees will be waived for this event. There is also street parking available throughout Ambler and a SEPTA parking lot at 30 South Main Street in Ambler that charges a $1 daily fee.

Another voting demonstration without a town hall will be held on Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library, Swede Street Entrance Lobby, 1001 Powell Street, Norristown, PA 19401. There will be limited parking in the librarys parking lot. There is also street parking throughout Norristown.

There will also be demonstrations at four Conversations with the Commissioners town halls. The town halls will start at 7 p.m., but residents will have the opportunity to try out the new voting system starting at 6 p.m.

The combined town halls and voter demonstrations will be held in King of Prussia, Pottstown, Pennsburg and Glenside.

The new system will replace the electronic push-button voting machines the County purchased in 1996 which were nearing the end of their useful life. The old machines also did not meet the state mandate for counties to have a voting system with a verifiable paper trail in place for the 2020 Presidential election.

With the new system, most voters will use a pen to fill out a ballot and have an opportunity to check it for accuracy before submitting it to scanner that tabulate the votes and keep the ballot in a secure container for audits or recounts.

Each polling place will also have an ADA touchscreen machine that can be used to select candidates. When the voter is done filling out the ballot, they can review their selections and print out a paper ballot that will be submitted to scanner for tabulation the same as the ballots filled out by hand.

2019 Voting System Demonstrations & Conversations with the Commissioners Schedule:

Voting Demonstration Only

Ambler Borough Hall Saturday, April 6, from 9 a.m. to noon at 131 Rosemary Avenue Ambler, PA 19002

Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library Swede Street Entrance Lobby 1001 Powell St., Norristown, PA 19401

Voting Demonstration & Conversations with the Commissioners

Tuesday, April 9, at 6 p.m. voting demo & 7 p.m. town hall at Upper Merion Township Building, 175 W. Valley Forge Road King of Prussia, PA 19406

Tuesday, April 23, at 6 p.m. voting demo & 7 p.m. town hall Montgomery County Community College West Campus South Hall Community Room 101 College Drive Pottstown, PA 19464

Wednesday, May 1, at 6 p.m. voting demo & 7 p.m. town hall Upper Perkiomen Education Center Multipurpose Room 2229 East Buck Road Pennsburg, PA 18073Retrotainment Games and Mega Cat Studios kick off the launch of their newest pixel partnership, 8bit Legit, with the XBox Release of retro platformer Trophy, now available for Pre-Order!On Sunday morning I briefly previewed The trial of Mohammed Noor. Jury selection is now underway in Hennepin County District Court.

The criminal case has been assigned to Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance. Judge Quaintance and Chief Judge Ivy Bernhardson have issued a highly restrictive set of media guidelines for press coverage of the trial. The order has now been amended twice. The courts second amended order is posted online here.

I first asked for media credentials to attend the trial on March 14. I was advised by a court administrator that they were still sorting out the logistics and advised to keep checking the courts Noor trial page. All of eight seats had been allotted to the media in two courtrooms. They were spoken for on March 28 within 20 minutes under a process that I have not found spelled out anywhere.

Trying to understand what had happened, I spent all day Monday afternoon emailing with the court official to whom I had applied for press credentials. I was advised that I had failed to apply for press credentials on March 28. We went back and forth in 18 emails. According to him, I needed to resend my March 14 email on March 28. I fail to understand why.

At one point in the afternoon another official lent him a hand. At my request he followed up with a phone call. He conceded that my failure to understand was reasonable. He wanted to be tactful, he said, but he acknowledged that his colleague might (should) have been more clear.

I also wrote Hennepin Country District Court Chief Judge Ivy Bernhardson on Monday afternoon in a self-deprecating plea for help. This is what I wrote:

Dear Judge Bernhardson: I am a class of 79 U Law School alum, a year behind you. I practiced law for 35 years and undertook a second career writing online for the site Power Line (powerlineblog.com). I covered the 2016 federal terrorism case that went to trial against three of the ten charged defendants for our site and for the Weekly Standard, for example. I wrote Spenser Bickett on March 14 expressing my interest in obtaining press credentials for the Noor trial. He instructed me to check the courts Noor page for updates on the procedure to obtain a seat. I checked the page every day. I found the orders you co-signed with Judge Quaintance last week. I have read your orders several times. I never saw any procedure set forth. Now I understand I neglected to sign up for email distribution of an announcement that I did not know of and never saw. I have been exchanging emails this morning with Spenser Bickett (and now Christopherson Kyle) trying to ascertain what happened. I have yet to get there. As far as I am concerned, I applied for a seat on March 14. Do you have the patience to entertain my issues on this? Something is wrong here. It may be my understanding that is defective, but I dont really think so. In a long career practicing law, I prided myself on promptly returning phone calls and following court rules/orders. Thank you for your courtesies and consideration. Scott W. Johnson

Cell: [omitted]

I have yet to hear back from Judge Bernhardson.

In my preview on Sunday, I also noted that I failed even to comprehend Judge Quaintainces order barring the press and the public from whatever bodycam coverage was introduced at trial. The so-called Media Coalition covering the trial (Star Tribune Media Company LLC, CBS Broadcasting Inc., Minnesota Public Radio, TEGNA Inc., and Fox/UTV Holdings, LLC) also fails to understand. Yesterday this Media Coaliton filed a general objection to the court order that interferes with First Amendment newsgathering and reporting activities in the case. The objection includes a memorandum of law. Here it is is. Its basic.

In the second amended order linked above, the court increased the number of seats available to the press from eight to fifteen. Again I wrote asking for a seat and was advised that they had been distributed to those who applied on March 28. I have had the misfortune of being both too early and too late to get a seat.

The Noor trial has attracted international attention. On Sunday I borrowed the words of the old antiwar left to note that the whole world is watching.

At every step of the way I have contrasted my experience in the Noor case with my experience in the three-week 2016 terrorism trial that I covered on Power Line and in the Weekly Standard. That trial was held in Minnesota federal district court before Judge Michael Davis, who sits a few blocks away from the site of the Noor trial in Hennepin County Government Center. I seriously doubt that anyone in Hennepin County consulted with Judge Davis on trial management or press relations in a big case.

Judge Davis welcomed the press (online sites included). He turned away no one. He authorized the press to use laptops in the courtroom so long as they did not distract the jury. Judges Bernhardson and Quaintance have banned all devices from the vicinity of the Noor trial courtroom.

Judge Davis handed out copies of key exhibits. He assured that those in attendance  press and public  were able to see all the evidence presented by video. At the end of the case he handed out the courts jury instructions to the press.

Judge Davis enforced compliance with the courts rules, but the rules afforded maximum liberality. He conveyed the attitude that the press is the publics eyes and ears. That is what he believes.

For the Hennepin County District Court the Noor trial is amateur hour. To borrow another cliche, they are not ready for prime time. Its not just me  see the objection/memorandum filed yesterday by the Media Coalition. Someone needs to say it. This is an embarrassment.

UPDATE: Judge Bernhardson called me at 5:00 on Wednesday afternoon. She had verified my complaint. Please see Apologies from Judge Bernhardson.Another crazy busy week, but I hope to catch up with several stories by the weekend. In the meantime, as couple quick drive-by shots at things goin on:

 I heard the other day that Trump might appoint an immigration czar for deal with the border crisis. A czar? A CZAR!! Why is it taking so long for Adam Schiff to claim that this is proof of Russian collusion?

 Cory Booker, not ready for prime time: He posted the following tweet in support of the fallacious claim that women and men arent paid commensurately. But it contains a real howler:

Equal pay for womens work? Womens work?! You mean like making sandwiches or something? Talk about an unforced error.

 But Booker looks like a MENSA member compared to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who, you may have heard, is running for president, offering profound gems such as this:

Im sure with just a few more reallys, well all be ready to vote for the Green Nude Eel.

 Matt Continetti with an interesting observation today:

 I only have one question about this map: What the hell is the matter with kids in Sweden?

(Note: Belgiums 90 percent doesnt count. Theres nobody in Belgium, so 90 percent of nothing is still nothing.)That is the question that Senator Tom Cotton asked today in a letter to the IRS. The Southern Poverty Law Center is an arm of the Democratic Party whose stock in trade is defamation. What tax-exempt purposes do baseless, politically-motivated smears serve? Excerpts from Senator Cottons letter:

Dear Commissioner Rettig, I am writing to urge you to investigate whether the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) should retain its classification as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Recent news reports have confirmed the long-established fact that the SPLC regularly engages in defamation of its political opponents. In fact, the SPLCs defining characteristic is to fundraise off of defamation. This business model has paid well. The SPLC has accrued more than $500 million in assets. According to the groups most recent financial statement, it holds $121 million offshore in non-U.S. equity funds. The SPLC uses these assets to pay its executives lavish salaries far higher than the comparable household average. Further, CNN reported that the organization suffers from a pervasive racist culture, and the SPLCs leader has been disciplined after a prior investigation into inappropriate conduct. The New York Times has charitably described the organization as in turmoil and cited employees claims that SPLC leadership is complicit in decades of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment and/or assault. Based on these reports, and in the interest of protecting taxpayer dollars from a racist and sexist slush fund devoted to defamation, I believe that the SPLCs conduct warrants a serious and thorough investigation.

That is only the warmup.

While IRS guidance lists several examples of tax-exempt purposes, engaging in defamation as a business model is of course not one of them. The SPLC defames other organizations in several ways.

A nice summary of the SPLCs disgraceful track record as a purveyor of partisan hate follows.

In addition to failing to have a tax-exempt purpose, the SPLCs peculiar financial situation warrants your attention. Federal law prohibits tax-exempt organizations from inuring to the benefit of any private individual. Yet the SPLC has accrued more than $500 million in assets as of October 31, 2018.  In 2017 alone, these funds were used to pay the organizations founder and longtime leader, who was recently removed for unspecified inappropriate conduct, more than $400,000.  This is more than nine times the median household income for Montgomery, Alabama, where the SPLC is headquartered. These shady financial practices have earned the SPLC a well-deserved F rating from Charity Watch, an independent organization that examines the financial abuses of nonprofit corporations.

As the president of a 501(c)(3) organization, I am naturally slow to question the tax-exempt status of another such organization, no matter how foul its conduct may be. But the Southern Poverty Law Center operates so far outside of any legal norms that the time has come for the IRS to pull the plug.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application and industry.

PR-Inside.com: 2019-04-03 11:52:23

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The oil & gas pumps market is likely to witness sluggish growth, with global demand surpassing 9 million units by the end of 2018, according to a latest report by Fact.MR . Rising demand for oil and gas is resulting in the growing demand for equipment such as oil & gas pumps. End-users in oil and gas industries are demanding efficient oil & gas pumps to ensure smooth operation and to meet stringent emission standards.End-users of oil & gas pumps are using centrifugal pumps on a large scale owing to its low product and maintenance cost, and better load and pressure handling capabilities. The demand for centrifugal pumps is healthy in the upstream oil & gas industry as the part of multiphase pumping application.Request Sample Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2435 As per the report, the demand for submersible pumps is also likely to grow in the near future. Electric submersible pumps are being used on a large scale as water and oil separators. The centrifugal pumps are also expected to witness increasing demand for crude oil transportation. Manufacturers in oil & gas pumps market are focusing on pump modification to save significant amount of energy and improve performance.Onshore Oil & Gas Pumps to Find Large Application in Projects across CountriesThe Fact.MR study opines that the onshore oil & gas pumps are likely to witness a rapid growth in the coming years. Demand for onshore oil & gas pumps is expected to exceed 4.8 million units in 2018. With rise in energy demand from various sectors and growth in the transportation industry, many countries, especially in Asia Pacific, are moving towards development of new oil & gas projects.India, China, and Indonesia are expected to significantly contribute to the growth of oil and gas industry in the region. With the signs of recovery in oil prices, many state-owned oil companies in the Asia Pacific region are spending on onshore oil and gas production to ensure energy security.Browse Full Report @ https://www.factmr.com/report/2435/oil-gas-pumps-market Upgradation of existing onshore oil and gas facilities and development of new facilities is also accelerating in Southeast Asia. Moreover, in recent years, regulation in the UK has removed legal hurdles in the development of onshore petroleum resources. Moreover, in terms of gas transportation by the onshore gas producers in the UK, the government has removed requirement to hold a gas transporter license, and a class exemption has been introduced to cover all types of onshore gas production.MEA to Continue its Dominance in Oil & Gas Pumps Market, Followed by APAC Fact.MR study estimates that the Middle East and Africa will be the most lucrative market for oil & gas pumps market, with demand surpassing 3 million units towards 2018 end. UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have emerged as the major natural gas producing countries.Major oil and gas companies in Middle East are focusing on increasing oil and gas production to meet the growing demand. Middle East and North Africa are expected to emerge as the global suppliers of oil and gas. Moreover, gas is likely to surpass oil as the largest energy source in the near future.You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.factmr.com/checkout/2435/S The leading oil and gas companies in the region are also focusing on using advanced technologies and equipment to ensure faster and cost-effective oil and gas production. In the APAC region, China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia are expected to witness significant growth in the oil and natural gas projects.The oil & gas pumps market is expected to witness sluggish growth, with the demand expected to reach 3.2% CAGR in terms of volume during 2018-2028, according to the Fact.MR report.PR-Inside.com: 2019-04-03 20:13:01

AM Best Senior Financial Analyst to Discuss Brazils Reinsurance Market at Rio de Janeiro Conference

Midori Honda

Market Development Director

AM Best America Latina

+52 55 1102 2720, ext. 102

midori.honda@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey

Manager, Public Relations

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159

christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jim Peavy

Director, Public Relations

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644

james.peavy@ambest.com

AM Best Senior Financial Analyst Guilherme Simoes will give a presentation on Brazils reinsurance market at the 8th annual Rio de Janeiro Reinsurance Conference, taking place April 8-9, 2019 at the Windsor Convention & Expo Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Simoes session, titled, Recent Results and Prospects in The Brazilian and International Market Ratings, will take place April 9 at 3 p.m. The conference provides a high-level forum for discussions on technical, institutional and economic issues facing the global (re)insurance industry.

Simoes, a native of Sao Paulo, joined AM Bests Global Reinsurance Ratings team as a senior financial analyst in March 2016. Based at the companys headquarters in Oldwick, NJ, he is responsible for the analysis and financial ratings of a diverse portfolio of property and casualty (re)insurance companies in Brazil and primary insurers in the U.S. These segments include the property/casualty, workers compensation, medical professional liability and commercial liability sectors, along with mutual companies in the energy sector.

Also attending the event from AM Best will be Associate Director Scott Mangan and Carlos De la Torre, senior director of AM Best America Latina in Mexico City. To schedule a meeting with De la Torre, please contact Midori Honda at midori.honda@ambest.com.

AM Best is a trusted source of insurance market insight and data, and the only global credit rating agency with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Best's Credit Ratings are a recognized indicator of insurer financial strength and creditworthiness. Visit http://www.ambest.com for more information.

Copyright  2019 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190403005PR-Inside.com: 2019-04-03 15:02:02

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BNP Paribas, a leading European provider of banking and financial services, announces an equity investment in Forge Global, Inc. (Forge), the leading marketplace for pre-IPO securities, in addition to a strategic product collaboration. The collaboration will involve the development and distribution of investment products providing exposure to Pre-IPO / private innovation companies. Angel Rodriguez-Issa, Global Head of Strategic Investments at BNP Paribas Global Markets, joins Forges board as an observer.



In response to increasing global customer demand for investment opportunities and economic exposure to shares of Pre-IPO / private innovation companies, BNP Paribas world-renowned derivatives group has collaborated with Forge to create a structured equity product that is the first of its kind in this asset class. Leveraging Forges technology, data and global relationships across unicorn firms, the product will be linked to a diversified basket of private shares. The selection process for the securities held in the aforementioned investment product is based on similar criteria used by venture capitalists.

This relationship represents a sea change not just for global investors but for high-growth companies seeking liquidity, said Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge. With BNP Paribas, and through the Forge platform, were bringing cutting edge financial products to market that provide investors unprecedented access to pre-IPO securities while presenting new options for private companies to raise money and control their financial future.

With over 300 unicorns in the world, representing over $1 trillion in enterprise value, many investors  including institutional and high net worth clients of global banks  are looking for access to these private innovation companies.

Institutional investment in pre-IPO companies is a new market for BNP Paribas, which we believe will be compelling to our clients who are looking to diversify their portfolios and tap into private technology growth potential, said Nicolas Marque, Global Head of Equity Derivatives at BNP Paribas. As one of the first banks to engage in this type of strategic collaboration, BNP Paribas continues to demonstrate our commitment to providing leading-edge solutions to our institutional and corporate clients.

The introduction of a structured product solution solves a clear access need to private equity exposure, added Sohail Prasad, Founder and President of Forge. The market has demonstrated strong demand for innovation companies across all investor types. Were incredibly excited to partner with BNP Paribas for the launch of a $1 billion series of investment products and look forward to further collaboration to enable liquidity in this asset class.

About Forge Global, Inc.

Forge is a premier trading, settlement and custody partner for a wide range of investors in the private markets. Established in 2014 as Equidate Inc., the company empowers investors and shareholders by enabling liquidity in the private markets and has completed nearly $2 billion in transaction volume since inception. Forge was founded by Y Combinator alumni and backed by top investors including Tim Draper, Peter Thiel, FT Partners and Munich Re. Forge's platform allows employees and investors in privately held innovation firms to liquidate a portion of their shares, and provides private and institutional investors access to top companies like Spotify, Lyft, and 23andMe before their IPO.

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 72 countries, with more than 202,600 employees, of which almost 155,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. The Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realize their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the European leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model in Mediterranean countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.

Press contact

Media Contact for Forge:

Hotwire Global Communications Agency

forge.us@hotwireglobal.com

Media Contacts for BNP Paribas:

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Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this press release please contact the company added in the press release. Please do not contact pr-inside. We will not be able to assist you. PR-inside disclaims the content included in this release.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application and industry.

PR-Inside.com: 2019-04-03 11:55:05

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A recent research study by Fact.MR finds that the microreactor sales reached 294 thousand units in 2018 and are projected to grow at a Y-O-Y of nearly 9% in 2019. Increasing competition among manufacturing companies in order to develop finer products remains a key aspect spurring the demand for microreactor technology. Ability of microreactor technology to facilitate effective and efficient drug synthesis is one of the key factors responsible for its rising adoption in the pharmaceutical industry.The report finds that increasing demand for process intensification has inspired various chemical industries to adopt microreactor technology. Capability of microreactor technology to enable continuous reactions in small channels instead of large-scale components, which results in effective mixing of the reagents and seamless heat transfer, is enhancing its visibility as compared to the conventional technologies. Moreover, inherently safer design with high efficacy has also been identified to boost utilization of microreactor technology in challenging applications areas of the chemical industry.Request Sample Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2815 Microreactor Technology Gains Ground as Key Enabler of One-Step Reactions with Minimal WastageUse of microreactor has witnessed a notable rise in multiple industrial ecosystems, such as chemical and pharmaceutical, on the wake of its ability to offer high-throughput with use of minimum amount of materials. Moreover, the one-step reactions enabled by microreactor technology aids in elimination of the risk associated with waste products, resulting in high-quality end-products, which drives its adoption across end-use verticals to achieve unparalleled productivity.Microreactor technology is also being widely acknowledged by various end-use industries for its ability to catalyze faster reactions, which also ensures higher yields of up to cent percent with no compromise in terms of quality. Microreactors have evolved as a standard tool for end users for ameliorating quality via accurate control of crucial operation parameters, ranging from pressure to space velocities, Senior Analyst, Fact.MR Browse Full Report @ https://www.factmr.com/report/2815/microreactor-technology-market With 157 thousand units sold in 2018, the demand for falling film microreactor thrives on the back of its larger specific surface area as compared to the conventional reactors, finds Fact.MR . Asia micro reactor remains the most prominent mixing type and is likely to witness remarkable growth in the forthcoming years, driven by efficacy in terms of resistance and transparency.The report further states that sales of each material type will remain highly influenced by the specific advantages and disadvantages offered by in terms of price and compatibility with the reagents or heat conductivity. Glass microreactor remains the top-selling variant on the wake of its superior compatibility with aggressive media and reagents. Moreover, benefits of glass microreactors in terms of transparency and convenience has been widely acknowledged, which has further triggered their adoption across various end-use industries.Significant Benefits over Batch Processing to Foster PopularityMicroreactor technology is becoming highly appealing to the production departments in the pharmaceutical industry, followed by specialty chemicals. Benefits of continuous-flow processes over batch chemistry remain instrumental in heightened adoption of microreactor technology in both pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals landscape, translating into fast-paced synthesis of organic compounds amidst hazardous conditions with minimized waste. Moreover, the adoption of microreactor technology also offers additional benefits in terms of capital investment and operating expenses with notable reduction of the time-to-market aspect, which is bolstering its adoption across diverse end user industry verticals.You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.factmr.com/checkout/2815/S According to the report, microreactor technology market remains consolidated at the bottom, with the tier 3 or emerging players holding a considerable revenue share. Specific product segments and augmentation of volume sales remain two of the key focal points of these emerging players. Fact.MRs report offers actionable intelligence with a comprehensive opportunity assessment of the microreactor technology market. The report finds that the microreactor technology market is likely to grow at a volume CAGR of around 8% through 2028.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application and industry.

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The global demand for oil refining pumps is expected to surpass 3 million tons by 2018 end, according to a latest Fact.MR report on oil refining pumps market. Rising oil and gas production, and increase in petroleum-based power generation are driving oil refining pumps demand. The oil supply has sharply increased from Russia, Middle East, and the US, compensating for fall in oil production in Iran and Venezuela.The demand for centrifugal pumps is constantly rising in upstream oil and gas industry in multiphase or tri-phase pumping application. With the increasing demand for oil, especially in developing regions, transporting a large amount of liquid has become necessary to ensure operational efficiency. This is driving the demand for centrifugal pumps to transport a significant amount of liquid in a short period.Request Sample Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2434 APAC to Continue Strong Position in Oil Refining Pumps MarketThe Fact.MR study projects that APAC continues to register significant growth in the oil refining pumps market and is likely to account for over 40% of total demand by 2018 end. The positive outlook in the region can be attributed to the growing demand for diesel and gasoline in emerging nations like India and China.The upgradation of existing oil refineries and robust investment in the construction of new oil refineries is fueling the growth in the oil refining pumps market in the region. Rising oil demand and faced with strict emission regulations, India is also moving towards development of new and modern refineries.According to the International Energy Agency (IEAs) latest World Outlook Projection, Indias refining capacity is likely to grow by two-thirds in the next 25 years. This is expected to make India worlds third largest refining center by 2040, following the US and China.Browse Full Report @ https://www.factmr.com/report/2434/oil-refining-pumps-market Major oil companies in Southeast Asia are also investing in increasing their refining capacity. Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand are likely to see growth in new refining capacity in the coming years. The development of new and advanced oil refineries in APAC is expected to create growth opportunities for oil refining pumps manufacturers.Energy Transition Emerging as Serious Challenge for Oil Companies and Oil Exporting CountriesGlobal oil companies and oil exporting countries are likely to face a challenge with the rise in energy transition. The biggest challenge for oil companies make changes in their business model and integrating low-carbon assets in their portfolios. With the growing trend of renewable energy sources, oil exporting countries with good reserves-to-production ration are facing the risk of loss in export revenues and monetizing their large reserve base.Penetration of renewables has increased in Europe to meet the energy demand, resulting in reduced oil demand. Moreover, regulation by national governments and European Union is likely to further reduce refined oil demand in the region. Oil refineries in Europe are unable to find buyers, resulting in constant drop in profit margins. Inability to find buyers and drop in profit margins is forcing oil refinery operators to shut down the plants.You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.factmr.com/checkout/2434/S More refinery plants shutdown expected in the coming years in Europe is likely to impact the oil refining pumps market in the region. Moreover, key oil companies across various regions are also planning to invest more in low-carbon energy sources with aim to reduce carbon footprints.The Fact.MR report tracks the oil refining pumps market for the period 2018-2028. According to the report, the oil refining pumps market is expected to reach 2.9% CAGR during 2018-2028.The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it plans to realize its revenue target for the year through recoveries from defaulting millionaire taxpayers, values added (VAT) and compliance enforcement activities.

In January, the Chairman of FIRS, Tunde Fowler, said the agencys revenue collection target for 2019 was about N8 trillion.

On Tuesday, Mr Fowler told the House of Representatives joint committees on Finance, Appropriations, Aids, Loans and Debt Management Legislative Budget and Research and National Planning and Economic Development that he hopes about N750bn would be realized from about 55,000 defaulting taxpayers during the year.

Mr Fowler, who spoke on the 2019/2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), said using banking information to bring non-compliant taxpayers with N1 billion and above turnover to comply about N23.25 billion has been recovered so far.

He restated that the 85 per cent of VAT collected goes to State Governments.

He said the exercise has been extended to cover those with turnover of N100 million and above.

To date, about 500 of the tax defaulters have come forward and have paid about N24 billion. We believe we should be able to go through the 55,000 before the middle of this year.

In terms of estimates we should be able to be able to generate from this exercise alone about N750 billion.

Besides, Mr Fowler said the FIRS also expects that the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) collection between 2015 and 2018 will continue during the year.

He said FIRS is already broadening its VAT collection scope with the adoption of States Accountants Generals (SAG) collection platform, VAT Auto-Collect, integration of the GIFMIS platform with Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) and through e-Service payment options.

Out of about N5.3 trillion, a large percentage of the revenue is shared between states and local governments.

In VAT, there has been a growth of over 44 per cent between 2015 and 2018 at the current rate of 5 percent.

When you look at Africa as a continent, Nigeria still has the lowest VAT rate. When we look at the items that do not attract VAT, they include basic food items, medicals, and education.

Insisting VAT is not for the poor, Mr Fowler said if one is able to go to a restaurant to eat and drink the same thing one can buy in the open market, then one can pay VAT.

So, VAT basically is a consumption tax, and those who choose not to go to the open market to buy their food and cook at home are subject to VAT. So, VAT is not a hardship on the low income earners.

For those who have the ability and the desire to take the choice of going to areas where they have to pay VAT, then they should be allowed to pay VAT, he said.

He said revenue collection by FIRS increased by about 32 per cent from N4.02 trillion in 2017 to N5.3 trillion in 2018.

The FIRS Chairman told the committee that through enforcement activities in respect of defaulting taxpayers from various tax offices, tax audit and investigation assessments, the agency recovered about N28. 51 billion and $77. 83 million.

Also, the FIRS is partnering with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Joint Tax Force (JTF) since 2018 to enhance the fight against tax related economic fraud.

As at December 2018, he said about N6. 94 billion and $278,430 had been recovered by the JTF as part of initiatives to boost revenue generation.

To deepen tax revenue collection and expand the nations tax net as well as increase the revenue base, Mr Fowler said the FIRS also initiated income tax on property owners in Abuja and Lagos.

He said the initiative, which was initially targeted at property owners in Abuja and Lagos, has so far yielded N4.3 billion, and is being extended to other locations like Oyo and Kaduna states.

It is important to note that this is not a property tax, but rather the use of the provisions of the law to bring into the tax net companies that own properties but failed to file necessary tax returns and pay appropriate taxes due, Mr Fowler said.

On tax audit exercise of the Service, the FIRS chairman said this will cover both the National Tax Audit (NTA) and the Pioneer Audit (PA).

The NTA exercise contributed the sum of N212.79 billion to tax collection in 2018.

Following improvements to the audit process and the resultant increase inefficiency, the exercise is expected to produce increased audit yield in 2019.One in four healthcare facilities around the world lack basic water services, therefore, aiding the spread of infections and antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organisation has said.

A new report by WHO and UNICEFs Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) said the lack of water in these facilities are negatively impacting over two billion people.

The WHO/UNICEF JMP report, WASH in Health Care Facilities, is the first comprehensive global assessment of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in healthcare facilities.

A press statement released by WHO on Wednesday based on the report found that one in five health care facilities has no sanitation service, impacting 1.5 billion people.

The report further reveals that many health centres lack basic facilities for hand hygiene and safe segregation and disposal of waste.

These services are crucial to preventing infections, reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance and providing quality care, particularly for safe childbirth, WHO said.

Nigeria indicted

Unfortunately, Nigeria is one of the countries contributing to these statistics.

Most health facilities in the country especially the Primary Health Care (PHCs) do not have dependable water sources. Some secondary and tertiary health facilities are also not left out.

A 2016 report titled, Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities: status in low and middle-income countries and way forward, by WHO shows that 38 per cent of Nigerian health facilities do not have water source, 19 do not have improved sanitation, and 35 per cent do not have water and soap for hand-washing.

This lack of services compromises the ability to provide basic, routine services such as child delivery and the ability to prevent and control infections.

Lamenting the lack of water and sanitation in the country, the founder of Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Toyin Saraki, last year during the World Hand Hygiene Day said about 29 per cent of healthcare facilities across Nigeria have no access to safe water and toilets.

Mrs Saraki who was quoting a WHO report said a WaterAid survey in the country also revealed that half of the primary health facilities do not have handwashing facilities in delivery rooms.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres also said water, sanitation and hygiene services in health facilities are the most basic requirements of infection prevention and control, and quality care.

Worrisome statistics

The WHO/UNICEF JMP report also found that just about half  55 per cent  of health care facilities in the least developed countries (LDCs) had basic water services.

It is estimated that one in five births globally takes place in LDCs, and that, each year, 17 million women in these countries give birth in health centres with inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene.

UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, said when a baby is born in a health facility without adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene, the risk of infection and death for both the mother and the baby is high.

Every birth should be supported by a safe pair of hands, washed with soap and water, using sterile equipment, in a clean environment.

Infections account for 26 per cent of neonatal deaths and 11 per cent of maternal mortality. Also according to UNICEF, 7,000 newborn babies died every day in 2017, mostly from preventable and treatable conditions including infections like sepsis.

Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said imagine giving birth or taking your sick child to a health centre with no safe water, toilets or handwashing facilities.

Thats the reality for millions of people every day. No one should have to do that, and no health worker should have to provide care in those circumstances. Ensuring that all health care facilities have basic water, sanitation and hygiene services is essential for achieving a healthier, safer, fairer world, he said.

Global measures

Meanwhile, WHO said governments would be expected to debate a resolution on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Health Care Facilities at the 2019 World Health Assembly to be held in May.

The debate has been unanimously approved by the WHO Executive Board earlier this year.

As part of its Every Child Alive Campaign, UNICEF is calling for governments and authorities to make sure every mother and baby have access to affordable, quality care.

In a similar vein, both Fore and Tedros have called on countries to strengthen their primary health care systems as an essential step toward achieving universal health coverage.Before the Presidential and National Assembly polls in the 2019 general elections, there was an expectation that a third force party would emerge to challenge the dominance of the two main political parties in Nigeria.

Since the 2015 general elections, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have held virtually all the elective positions in Nigeria.

Apart from Anambra State that is held by the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the other 35 states are controlled by the APC and PDP. The two parties also hold all but a few seats in the National and State Houses of Assembly.

Before the APC emerged in 2014 from a fusion of three major opposition parties and a wing of APGA, the PDP was the colossus and had won all the general elections with increasing margins since 1999. The APC eventually displaced the PDP in 2015 by winning the general elections, including the presidency and majority of seats in the National Assembly. The party also won most of the state governorship seats.

It was clear from that backdrop that the 2019 elections would be a return match between the APC and the PDP.

But some analysists saw a new structure tapping into the growing disenchantment with the political establishment in Nigeria represented by the two parties and make a strong showing, if not altogether displacing the two.

Dream of a Third Force

The hope of a third force was initially buoyed by the entrance into partisan politics of some young persons with name recognition in many parts of the country and especially on the social media.

But rather than band together to build a structure on which to support one of them for the presidency and others for lower offices, they all threw their hats into the ring as individual contestants for the top job.

Fela Durotoye ran on the platform of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN); Oby Ezekwesili under Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Kingsley Moghalu under Young Progressives Party (YPP), Donald Duke under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Omoyele Sowore under the African Action Congress (AAC).

PACT

The so-called new breed politicians made a feeble attempt to unite their forces as Presidential Aspirants Coming Together (PACT) and produce a consensus candidate. But it was too little too late.

Oby Ezekwesili

A few days to the presidential poll, Mrs Ezekwesili surprisingly withdrew from the race, essentially over internal tremors in her party. But she immediately announced she was concentrating on helping the new breed unite under a platform and behind a consensus candidate. But she made no headway and soon disappeared from the radar.

Mr Durotoye eventually emerged as the consensus candidate of the PACT after a contentious exercise. But other aspirants, such as Mr Moghalu and Mr Sowore, backed out of the arrangement and continued to pursue their presidential aspirations.

A former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu

There was also the Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), a pro-democracy movement also known as The Nigerian Third Force Movement.

It too failed to produce a consensus presidential candidate and later adopted Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, a day before the poll was originally scheduled to hold on February 16 before the last minute postponement of the election by a week.

So why did the third force fail?

One fact that should be acknowledged is that the third force proponents did not have the structure and funds to oust both the APC and PDP.

To win elections in Nigeria, there are important factors to be put into consideration such as strong grassroots mobilisation and funding.

Some political experts weighed in on why the third force failed to fly.

Solomon Ayegba, a professor in political science from the Obafemi Awolowo University Ife, told PREMIUM TIMES that the policy that guards the formation of a political party is too loose.

But he believes that the proliferation of parties is healthy for the democratic system in the country.

The problem that we have in Nigeria in terms of party politics is the regulation of registering political parties is too loose, it is not something watertight.

All you require is that you just have a national spread and what is national spread is not strictly defined, and what that means is that if you can identify that, you have at least an individual in each local government area in Nigeria, he said.

He said the fringe political parties are good for the Nigerian democracy.

But they necessarily need not to be a national party. If for example, AAA can be a party within a particular state or region there is nothing wrong with that. In advanced democracies that is what they have.

One of the challenges that we have is the legal framework that makes registration of political party as easy as anything and gives room for people that have nothing to offer to contest elections, he added.

Tunde Ajileye, a partner for SBM intelligence, said the Third Force should have built a coalition.

former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke

Nigerian presidential politics requires a broad coalition. None of them built such a broad coalition, Mr Ajileye said.

This was evident in their parties hardly having candidates fielded in local elections like Senate and House of Reps or their parties not having agents at polling units on election day. It was clear to the electorate they were not in it to win it, he added.

Another political analyst, Devoe Okorie, also advised proponents of the Third Force to work better on grassroots mobilisation.

He also advised them to avoid the overreliance on social media.

One of the first unseen factors is that they lack the know-how knowledge on how politics works in Nigeria. Many people take it for granted that because you have a wide reach on social media, then it equates to the kind of people we have on the ground, he said.

Grassroots dynamics

He also spoke on grassroots dynamics.

So even if they came together, they would not have made any difference. For presidential elections, if you do not have the grassroots dynamics, your party would not do much, he said.

Chiagozie Udeh, a political analyst, also advised the candidates to have a united collation in future.

Of course, it is not rocket science that if you want to have a united opposition, you should form a collation. The collation should be the smaller parties with the main opposition party to unseat the government.

There has to be a stronger force. You do not need to have people with divided intentions. You need a united force to move the challenge, he added.

Why we failed- Sowore

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Sowore, he lamented that various issues marred the presidential election.

He alleged that the Nigerian military used drones to disenfranchise the electorate.

Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore.

The elections were not free and fair. And that has been established by all voters across the country, he said.

In my village, military men came and were shooting at the drone that was used in monitoring the election; they are still in possession of the drone till today.

There were voter suppression, intimidation. There were outright rigging and allocation of votes. It cannot determine the credibility of the election when those parameters are not wrong. So thats the truth.

Whatever figure they have out there does not represent the aspirations of our people, he said.

He also spoke on his campaigns.

We travelled around Nigeria, up to 34 states. I did town hall meetings; I went back. I did rallies. Most of the candidates only went once or twice to the villages, the cities, towns in Nigeria. And I even travelled outside the country to meet people. It (campaign) was pretty strong.

We have a party to build, a lot of work to do. I am not ruling it out, but the focus now is to make the party stronger and fight to expand the democratic space in Nigeria. Our democracy is dying.

You see what they are doing with elections. It has become a criminal process, and we have to take the country back and put in place a truly democratic process where people are allowed to vote, and their votes count, he said.A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has nullified the candidacy of a senator, Ademola Adeleke, as the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party in the September 2018 gubernatorial elections.

The court, presided by Othman Musa, made the decision after it ruled that Mr Adeleke failed to prove in court that he graduated from a secondary school, as required by section 177 of the Nigerian constitution.

Mr Adeleke had contested the election against other candidates, including that of the All Progressives Congress, Adegboga Oyetola.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared Mr Oyetola winner after a re-run election was conducted in parts of the state on September 27.

But on March 22, the state election tribunal nullified Mr Oyetolas victory, and gave it to Mr Adeleke. It

asked INEC to issue a certificate of return to Mr Adeleke.

The APC candidate is challenging the decision at the Court of Appeal.

In the latest judgment, the FCT High Court said Mr Adeleke provided a fake document for his West African Examination Council senior school certificate.

The court also said Mr Adeleke had no way of showing that he graduated from the Muslim High School, Ede, Osun State, since information about him were not contained in the schools list of documents after 1980.

Mr Adeleke had told the court through his lawyers that he enrolled in the school in 1976 and graduated after writing his WAEC exams in 1981.

Following a request by the court, Mr Adeleke had also provided a list of students who took part in that years WAEC exams and his results obtained from the said examination.

But in the judgement, the court said the WAEC results presented by Mr Adeleke appeared different from those brought by the school.

The court also said Mr Adelekes name only featured among the list of students who took part in the English Language examination for that year.

The judge therefore decided that Mr Adeleke failed to prove that he had fulfilled the requirements necessary for participation in the September election.

Mr Adeleke said he plans to challenge the ruling.Despite the resolution of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South), has unveiled his agenda as a candidate for the Senate presidency in the ninth National Assembly.

Mr Ndumes recent act is against the resolution of the APC which endorsed Ahmed Lawan as the Senate president.

However, in his reaction, Mr Ndume said the party chairman unilaterally picked Mr Lawan without the backing of the party.

Both the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole and the partys national leader, Bola Tinubu, had called on Mr Ndume and other aggrieved members of the party to support Mr Lawan as the Senate president.

According to Punch Newspaper, Mr Ndume on Tuesday, revealed his nine-point agenda in a document as he promised to improve upon the performance of the 8th Senate.

The lawmaker, a former Senate leader, vowed to uphold the independence of the legislature and expressed his willingness to work harmoniously and inter-dependently with the executive without undermining the principle of separation of powers.

He also said he will make the office of the Senate president less attractive by reducing the unnecessary privileges attached to it.

Other promises made by the lawmaker include prioritising the passage of the Constituency Development Bill to make constituency projects more transparent, accountable, efficient and effective.

He explained that the upper chamber would agree on timelines for confirmation, passage of bills especially the annual budgets, which he said, would not exceed 90 days from the day of submission.

We will make laws that will block leakages devise improved means of generating revenue, especially through the amendment and review of our tax laws which will help to reduce reliance on local and foreign loans to finance budget.

We will run the 9th Senate transparently, through open accountability with full participation of all senators. For example, we will transfer the approving powers of the privileges of the senators like foreign travels, allowances to Senate services committee or a new committee to be known as ways and means committee, Punch quoted him saying.

Not leaving out the executive, Mr Ndume said his leadership would uphold the partys principles and policies and that the Senate under him would make laws and review existing ones in tandem with the APCs Next Level agenda for Nigeria.

The partys leadership has, however, promised to take a decision on Mr Ndumes declaration.

Last weekend, Mr Tinubu said any APC lawmaker who works against the dictates of the leadership of the party should be ready to quit the APC.

That threat as, however, not deterred Mr Ndume who has argued that the APC could only zone the position to a region and allow senators from that region contest among themselves.

Both Mr Ndume and Mr Lawan are from the North-east of the country.The embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has reacted to new petitions filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Mr Onnoghen is facing a separate trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, where he is accused of not declaring all his asset as a Supreme Court judge. He has denied the charge, but was suspended from office by President Muhammadu Buhari in January.

The allegations raised by the EFCC was heard by a five-member panel of the NJC led by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, S.A. Akande. The panel concluded hearing of the matter on March 26, and directed the prosecution and the defence counsel to file written addresses and serve each other as well as the panel.

PREMIUM TIMES has exclusively obtained the written submissions of Mr. Onnoghen whose legal team on the case included R.A Lawal-Rabana, Okon Efut, J.U.K Igwe, George Ibrahim and Victoria Agi. Others are Opeyemi Origunloye, Orji Ekumankama and Temitayo Fiki.

The EFCC submitted two petitions against Mr. Onnoghen in February and March, listing various fraudulent practices allegedly committed by the suspended CJN.

In one of the petitions, the EFCC accused Mr. Onnoghen of receiving a Mercedes Benz Gl 450 valued at N7 million from Joe Agi, a senior advocate of Nigeria. It said Mr Agi later appeared in a matter before a panel of supreme court justices including Mr. Onnoghen.

The EFCC also accused the CJN of receiving monetary gifts from five lawyers including Paul Usoro, Emeka Etiaba, Onyechi Ikpeazu, Eze Duru Iheoma and Ogunsanya Adewunmi. The cash gifts which the commission said were traced to the account of Mr Onnoghen ranged between N250,00 and N300,000, and were said to have been deposited by the lawyers in 2015. EFCC said the gifts could have been to influence the CJN in some cases before the Supreme Court.

The anti-graft body also alleged that as a justice of the Supreme Court, Mr Onnoghen received estacodes running to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, above approved limits, and that the CJN allegedly converted public funds under the guise of estacodes to the advantage of his wife.

It also alleged that between 2017 and 2018, the CJN received a total of N24,169,452 from the courts Chief Protocol Officer, Ngozi Nwankwo. EFCC said it suspected the cash lodgements could be proceeds of illegal transactions.

Onnoghen reacts

In his submission as obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Onnoghen debunked the allegations, describing them as malicious and speculative and queried the competence of the NJC panel to entertain such petitions.

Mr Onnoghen also argued that he was unsure whether the petitions went through preliminary assessments as provided by Rules 17 and 18 of the Judicial Discipline Regulations 2017, and that if not, they should be discarded.

His lawyers said the petitions are not based on any direct complaint from anybody against the Respondent in the discharge of his official functions as a judicial officer but rather intelligence reports gathered by the EFCC, the Power of NJC is limited to the investigation of misconduct arising from or occurring in the discharge of judicial functions and not crime at large.

Regardless of the argument about the tenability of the petitions, Mr Onnoghen responded to each allegation raised by the EFCC.

On the allegation of car gift by Joe Agi, Mr Onnoghen said the car was bought by the CJN and that it was never a gift. He dismissed the claim that the car was to influence the outcome of a case before a panel of justices he was a member of.

The CJN said other Supreme Court justices on the panel were Mahmud Mohammed, (who would later become CJN), Francis Fedode Tabai, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (current acting CJN) and Christopher Michell Chukwumah-Eneh.

It is thus, malicious to link the appearance of Joe Agi, SAN before the Supreme Court in the above matter to any purported gift to one of the Justices who sat on the Panel, he wrote.

The defence team submitted that; Mr. Agi in his appearance as a witness had informed this Honourable Committee that the car issue happened in 2008 and that His Lordship ordered for the car and paid for it by installments. The referenced case was in December 2010. Joe Agi, SAN also stated that the car was neither a bribe nor a gift but was purchased by His Lordship. He stated that he was the one that informed the EFCC voluntarily about the car His Lordship bought through his U.S Company which has a car dealership licence in the United States so to illustrate his long standing relationship with His Lordship. Surprisingly, the EFCC then turned around to label it as a bribe.

Wedding gift

On the allegation of monetary gifts from five lawyers, the defence team argued that it was an unsolicited support for Mr Onnoghen during the wedding ceremony of his first daughter in 2015. It said the CJN had also presented the wedding invitation card as evidence while appearing before the panel. He said the gifts were a part and parcel of the customs and traditions of the people, which judicial officers are by law allowed to receive.

According to the defence team, by Rule 13.5(2) of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial officers (Published February, 2016) a judicial office is permitted to accept  Personal gifts or benefits from relatives or personal friends to such extent and on such occasions as are recognized by custom.

Mr Onnoghen added that linking the gift to cases before the Supreme Court was baseless, since he did not even sit on one of the cited cases. He listed the justices who handled the case as Musa Dattijo Muhammad, (presided), Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, Kudirat Motonmori O. Kekere-Ekun, Ejembi Eko, and Sidi Dauda Bage.

He also said the Supreme Court ruled on the case in 2017 while the customary wedding gifts arose in 2015.

More significantly, he said another case the EFCC linked to the gift was concluded in 2011, four years before his daughters marriage. The payment for the case was allegedly made by Usoro Usoro, the current president of the Nigerian Bar Association, who is facing a separate charges of corruption, according to the document.

Mr Onnoghen listed other members of the judicial team in 2011 as Aloysius I. Katsina- Alu (former CJN), Walter Onnoghen, Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, John Afolabi Fabiyi, Olufunlola O. Adekeye, Suleiman Galadima, and Bode Rhodes Vivour.

the claim of the petitioner linking the customary gift of Paul Usoro, SAN to a member of the Panel of 7 Justices is in conflict with common sense, he wrote. Could Paul Usoro, SAN, have given a gift of N300,000 to 7 Supreme Court Justices through one of the Justices in 2015 due to a case he lost before the Supreme Court 4 years earlier?

Estacodes

On the estacode, the defence said the evidence presented by one of the witnesses and director of finance at the Supreme Court was enough to exonerate the CJN.

Mr Onnoghen said it was the practice of the Supreme Court for judges to be paid estacodes, calculated by relevant accounting officials, in cash.

The Finance Director was quoted to have said before the panel that; I am familiar with the practice of the CJN and Hon. Justices going on any official engagement outside the country or even a local travel. The CJN will give the nomination to the C.R. The C.R will be given the travel documents to process and the C.R will then approve the processing. The C.R. sends the approval to the Accounts to pay. Account will calculate the DTA. If it is outside the country, accounts will calculate the Estacodes. Vouchers will be prepared and sent to the cash office. Cash office will issue mandates. Then the forex will be sourced. When the process is completed, the Head of Estacodes together with the cashier will go to the Justice concerned and pay him the cash. The Justice will sign for the cash. We will take the cash in the currency to the Justice to sign. It is paid in foreign currency. It includes the CJN. He signs also.

There is a register kept in the Supreme Court for that purpose where all Justices, including the CJN sign. Account does not determine the amount of the estacode. There is a circular we follow. The CJN does not determine how much he takes. There is a circular stating the amount payable to Justices by the Supreme Court. It was signed by the Hon. Justice Lejbo Kutigi that is the practice I met at the Supreme Court. The practice of signing to collect cash did not start with the Hon. Justice Onnoghen.

It was not immediately clear why estacode payments to the judges seemed higher than amounts approved by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission. Payment schedules listed in Mr Onnoghens favour show he received between $20,000 and $36,000 for each trip made between 2017 and 2018.

Mr Onnoghen said he did nothing wrong as the same mode of payment applied to all Supreme Court Justices, serving and retired.

Wifes estacode

On payment of estacode to his wife, the defence team lamented the ignorance of the accusers, saying the practice at the Supreme Court is that whenever the CJN or Justices of the Supreme Court are to attend conferences abroad, there are provisions for their spouses to accompany them. It added that half of the estacodes meant for the justices are paid to the spouses also as their estacodes.

I remember my first international conference when I joined the Supreme Court. It-was held in the Czech Republic and I attended it with the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Mr. Justice Mohammed Uwais, one of his wives and my dear wife. We flew British Airways. At that time, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and all Justices of the Supreme Court, traveled first class together with their spouses. At least, they were paid the amount for first class tickets though some may decide to save money by traveling Business or even Economy Class. No one ever questioned them nor required a refund of the difference.

Mr Onnoghen said he was not guilty of any misconduct and urged the committee to dismiss the allegations against him. He also said claims he received any illegal travel payments from the protocol officer, Mrs Nwankwo, were wrong. In two cases, he admitted receiving payments but said the trips were aborted. He did not explain what happened to the funds already paid.

The five-man-panel had commenced sitting on the petitions against the CJN on March 14, with the prosecution counsel calling seven witnesses while the defence had called three.The National Judicial Council says it has reached decisions on the petitions written against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, and the justice acting in his stead, Tanko Muhammad.

The decisions have been communicated to President Muhammadu Buhari for action, the council said Wednesday.

Mr Onnoghen is accused by the Code of Conduct Bureau of not declaring all his assets as a public official, and is standing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the alleged offence.

Separately, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission accuses Mr Onnoghen of receiving bribes in money and gifts from lawyers, and receiving illicit payments from public funds.

The embattled CJN has denied all charges. In a written submission to the NJC, published by PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday, Mr Onnoghen said the allegations were baseless, and accused the EFCC of ignorance, and attempting to tarnish his image.

The NJC also received petitions against Mr Muhammad who is accused of allowing himself to be used as an acting CJN after the controversial suspension of Mr Onnoghen by President Buhari in January.

The suspension, only the second in the history of the nations judiciary, was widely criticised as unconstitutional as CJN can only be removed with the approval of the Senate.

The NJC reconvened Wednesday in an emergency meeting to consider the report of a five-member committee constituted to investigate the allegations.

A spokesperson for the council, Soji Oye, said the NJC decided that the allegations relating to assets declaration that were levelled against Mr. Onnoghen were subjudice and therefore abstained from considering them.

President Muhammadu Buhari swearing-in New Acting CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad

He said the council reached a decision on the petitions written by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others and conveyed its decision to President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

Mr Oye said the council also resolved that, by the nature of the decision reached, it would be inappropriate to publicise it before conveying it to Mr Buhari.The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi, has lauded the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over the establishment of an Ultra-Modern Marine and Harbour Simulation Centre at Dockyard Apapa.

Addressing stakeholders at the commissioning of the centre, the minister said the feat would save the federal government foreign exchange that would have been used in training personnel abroad.

He said the centre is also a statement that government is desirous of encouraging local content in order to grow the economy.

According to the minister, it is a testament that we are attaining the status of the desired Maritime destination of choice.

This facility would attract professionals from within and outside the country he added. He commended the inter agency collaboration within the sector and urged its continuity for greater dividend.

Earlier in her address, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, stated that the commissioning of the Centre Signals the Federal Governments preparedness and firm resolve at competing most favorably in the Global Maritime space.

She informed stakeholders that the Marine and Harbours Ultra-Modern Simulation Centre is expectedto engender greater operational efficiency in the activities of the organisation with the expectant patronage from within Africa and indeed globally.

In addition, she said, the event would build the capacity of NPAs operations personnel, pilots, marine officers, tug masters, radio signal operations and prepare them to respond appropriately to the challenges of their various schedules.

Ms Usman said with the Centre fully in place, Nigerian ports would benefit immensely through the increase in numbers and receipt of bigger vessels at our Ports. Management she stated would be glad at seeing that the facility is put into good use by all at all times.

The Authority pays high premium on the capacity of its personnel to be the best at their schedules and various duties in other to respond to greater operational challenges.

Furthermore, Ms Usman told stakeholders that the commissioning of the Centre is part of the Authoritys strategic positioning and intent at becoming the leading powers in Port services in Africa and beyond.

The NPA MD, stated that the commissioning of the Centre is a reminder that matters concerning occupational health and safety standards 18001 and ISO 9002 compliance drive are expedient issues requiring all hands to be on deck in other that they are accomplished assiduously soonest.

Describing the facility as a national pride, she implored administrators of the facility and stakeholders to always observe required Standard Operational Procedures (SOP) adding that management of the NPA would prioritize maintenance of the Centre.

We must all commit ourselves to the sustenance and continuous improvement of the facility.

She appreciated the commitment of staff of the NPA and the encouragement from the ministry especially the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Honourable Rotimi Chibuike Ameachi at the timely completion of the project.

On his part Emmanuel Adesoye, the chairperson of the NPA board of directors, commended the synergy harnessed by the management of the authority resulting in the commissioned facility.

He stressed that it would help in advancing the industry forward much as it would result in boosting the nations economy.The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, has closed his case in his ongoing trial for alleged false assets declaration.

Mr Onnoghen is facing trial on six counts for allegedly failing to declare his asset when due and for omitting a number of details in the declaration form.

He was arraigned at the tribunal by the Code of Conduct Bureau on January 14.

Mr Onnoghen had opened his defence on April 1, after the prosecution closed its case against him.

He had also asked the tribunal for an adjournment to bring a second witness after the first defence witness testified at the tribunal on the last adjourned date.

On Wednesday, however, the CJN told the tribunal through his lawyers that he was ready to close his defence.

According to a lawyer who spoke for the defence team, Chris Uche, the defence counsel reviewed the evidence brought by the prosecution and considered it wise for the defence to close its case.

Subsequently, the tribunal Chairman, Danladi Umar, gave the defence team three days to file its written addresses before the court.

Mr Umar said the three days starts on Thursday, April 4, and is expected to end on Monday, April 8.

He added that the prosecution would then be allowed three more days to respond to the written addresses from Tuesday, April, 9 to Thursday, April, 11.

After receiving the written addresses, the defence team is expected to give a final reply on points of law, so that parties return to the tribunal on Monday, April 15, for the adoption of written addresses.

Mr Umar added that the tribunal would decide on the date for judgement, after hearing from parties concerning the written addresses.Ahead of its official launch, the Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria (MAAUN) has appointed Muhammed Magaji as its acting Vice Chancellor.

The university will begin operation this year from its permanent site in Kano. A Maryam Abacha American University of Niger under the same ownership already exists in Maradi, Niger Republic.

The appointment of Mr Magaji was announced in a letter signed by the founder/President of the university, Adamu Gwarzo.

The letter said it followed the recommendation and approval by a nomination committee and the universitys governing council respectively.

According to Mr Gwarzo, the appointment is with effect from March 18.

Until his appointment, Mr Magaji, a professor, was the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies in the Maryam Abacha American University of Niger, Maradi, Niger Republic.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Gwarzo said the Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria will start full academic activities in 2019 as a private university.

We are nearing completion of the universitys infrastructures, Mr Gwarzo said.

Everything is in order and we are going to give our people the best they can get anywhere in the world. The university will award bachelor degrees in Applied and Medical Sciences, Arts as well as in Social Sciences.

 Also the MAAUN School of Health Technology will take-off in Kaduna within a month or two. Everything is near completion.

The Maryam Abacha American University of Niger is the first English speaking university in the Francophone Niger Republic.Two prosecution witnesses in the ongoing trial of Ademola Adeleke, a Nigerian senator, for alleged examination malpractice and certificate forgery Wednesday said he was not in the hall on the day the National Examination Council (NECO) held.

Odesola Emmanuel and Adigun Akintayo were presented by the prosecution to the Federal high court in Abuja as the PW3 and PW4 respectively.

Mr Adeleke was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Osun State governorship election of last year

He was in 2018 arraigned before the court on allegations of examination malpractice and certificate forgery.

He was arraigned alongside the principal of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Aregbesola Muftau; the registrar of the school, Gbadamosi Ojo; and a teacher in the school, Dare Samuel Olutope, as well as Sikiru Adeleke.

The police accused them of fraudulently registering Mr Adeleke and another Sikiru Adeleke as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School in Ojo-Aro, Osun State, for the National Examination Councils June/July 2017 Senior School Certificate Examination in February 2017.

But while testifying against the senator before the court on Wednesday, the PW3, Mr Emmanuel, a teacher at Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School in Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun state, who supervised the NECO for June/July 2017, said he was not given the school album to enable cross check the candidates by the name and picture.

He said he knows Mr Adeleke as a public figure in Osun State but did not see him in the hall of 60 candidates that only 58 sat for the exam.

Mr Emmanuel added that during the exam, he observed that there were some elderly people, about four of them, in the exam hall.

When asked by the prosecution, Simon Lough, that if he the PW3 would be able to identify any answer sheet of that particular exam and Mr Emmanuel replied, YES.

When further asked how he replied by saying through the examination number, which ranges from 001 to 060.

Mr Emmanuel was shown the examination sheet and he confirmed that the number on the sheet is 057 with the name Ademola Adeleke.

The exam scripts and the result sheet were tendered by Mr Emmanuel and it was admitted as exhibit PW3A.

Under cross-examination by the first defendant lawyer, Alex Izinyon, the PW3 said there was no photo album for the 58 students who participated in the exam, with which he could have identified them one after the other with the identity cards issued to them by the exam body.

Mr Emmanuel added that although the availability of photo album was key to the exam, he, however, did not write any report on its absence and the consequences on the exam.

Answering a question. Mr Emmanuel stated that it was not possible for NECO to issue result for any student who did not participate in its examination, adding that he would be very much surprised if such a thing happened in the case of Mr Adeleke.

In his part, the PW4, Mr Akintayo said although the senator was not in the examination hall, Sikiru Adeleke was present and he took part in the exam.

Under cross-examination, Mr Akintayo said if a candidate sits for an exam, he is entitled to a result.

Mr Akintayo added that to the best of my knowledge, the examination was free and fair.

Meanwhile, the judge, Iyang Ekwo, adjourned to June 10 and 11 for continuation of trial.The police in Lagos on Wednesday arraigned a 27-year-old businessman, Yusuf Atanda, charged with impersonating Pastor Enoch Adeboye and two other church general overseers to defraud members of the public.

According to the police, Mr Atanda created fake Facebook accounts of Mr Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor D.K. Olukoya of Mountain Of Fire and Miracle Ministry and Pastor T.B. Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, to dupe people.

The defendant, who resides at Okokomaiko, Lagos, is being tried for cybercrime before Magistrate M.O Tanimola in Ikeja.

Mr Atanda, however, denied committing the offence, and was admitted to bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

Tanimola said the sureties should be gainfully employed and show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

The Prosecutor, Aondohemba Koti, a police inspector, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence in October 2018 at Okokomaiko.

He added that the defendant used the names of the three general overseers on the internet without their consents.

Atanda created a fake Facebook accounts of Pastor E.A Adeboye of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor D.K Olukoya of Mountain Of Fire and Miracle Ministry and Pastor T.B Joshua of Synagogue Church of All Nations.

He posed as the pastors and sent electronic messages to the public to deposit either N1, 000 or N2, 000 into a bank account to get N3, 000 or N5, 000, respectively, in four days.

If they pay and it is four days, he will block the persons numbers so they would not be able to reach him anymore.

Upon receipt of a written petition from one of the complainants legal counsel, the police swung into action, and the defendant was tracked and arrested.

The amount of money the defendant got from over 100 members of the public was yet to be ascertained, the prosecutor said.

The alleged offence violates Section 20 (1) of Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, Law of Federation, 2015.

The case was adjourned until April 17 for mention.

(NAN)The United Nations Children and Education (UNICEF) has said 58,121 female teachers are needed to bridge the gender parity in rural classrooms in Northern Nigeria.

This was part of the findings of a research conducted by UNICEF in 2018 in eight northern states titled What is the effect of female teachers on girls enrollment and retention in Northern Nigeria?

The research was aimed at improving the attendance of females in schools in the north.

The eight northern states are Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara.

The research is one of the two commissioned by UNICEF as part of the Nigeria Girls Education Project, Phase 3 (GEP3).

Findings of the two studies were presented to stakeholders in Abuja on Wednesday at the opening of a two-day dissemination workshop.

The research linked out of school children, (estimated at over 10 million) to the paucity of female teachers in the education system.

According to the research findings, female teachers have a substantial positive effect on girls educational outcomes.

The study also revealed that there is a huge demand for more female teachers in rural communities.

To achieve gender parity in rural classrooms, the number of female teachers would have to increase four-fold, meaning that additional 58,121 female teachers would need to be hired, UNICEF said.

Key data

UNICEF said a key qualitative data revealed that parents strongly prefer female teachers for their daughters because they provide safety and security for the pupils.

Speaking at the workshop, UNICEF consultant, Noel Ihebuzor, said the federal government should employ more female teachers to improve access, retention and quality learning in schools.

He said employing more female teachers in states across the country will close the gap of the workforce in education while noting that the report revealed female teachers could change behavioural patterns of students positively, including retaining more pupils in the school.

The presence of female teachers is a positive influence on parents decision to enrol their girls in school, by implication more girls will come to school, learn better and contribute to growth in society, the study indicated.

Presenting the second research findings on, Communication for Development (C4D)Assessment in Basic Education (CABE) in Nigeria, UNICEF C4D specialist, Ogu Enemaku, said the findings indicated that sometimes the presence of female teachers in school is a determining factor whether parents will send their children to school or not.

He said access, quality and accountability are essential for any society to develop its education system.

He said the study was conducted by an international consultant who came in from Pakistan to carry out the research.

If the quality of education is improved, it becomes an attraction for parents to send their children to school, he said.

According to him, the study also revealed that Boko Haram is not the main reason why parents do not send their wards to school in the North.

Before Boko Haram, many families do not send their children to school. General security, poverty could also hinder parents from sending their wards to schools, he said.

The findings also indicated that with greater awareness on boosting teacher enrolment in schools, more girls in Northern Nigeria, who are inhibited educationally would get the opportunity to get educated.

Official measures

Meanwhile, the executive secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC), Abba Haladu, said the issue that affects the girl-education and women participation need to be addressed.

It is based on this promise that UNICEF, in collaboration with the federal ministry of education carried out a research to ascertain the presence and spread of female teachers in schools across UNICEF focal states, he said.

Mr Haladu, who was represented by the deputy director, planning, John Edu, urged various stakeholders in the education sector to build a consensus on the need to employ more female teachers.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how a survey by UNICEF showed that the population of out of school children in Nigeria has risen from 10.5 million to 13.2 million.

The Demographic Health Survey(DHS) was conducted in 2015 by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Nigerian government, but the result has not been officially released.The All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Aspirants Forum has demanded key appointments as President Muhammadu Buhari plans to form a new cabinet after May 29.

The leader of the group, Adedoyin Eshanumi, told journalists in Abuja on Wednesday that the demand became necessary after the men took more than 90 per cent of political positions in the party.

Mrs Eshanumi, a senatorial aspirant in Kogi State, said the only way to compensate the women was for President Buhari to give them political appointments for their efforts which ensured the partys victory in the 2019 presidential election.

Ann Agom-Eze, the co-Convener of the gathering, said the meeting was convened to evaluate the outcome of the just concluded 2019 general election and the position of women in the present administration.

Mrs Agom-Eze, also a Senatorial aspirant for Ebonyi South, said time has come for women to take what belonged to them.

We have to convene this meeting because we are the APC female aspirants who were lobbied out of the primaries; the men made up their minds that they will not give us a space in the governance of this country.

I am someone who stands up for the women; so, I believe that women should be part of the appointments to be made soon by Mr President.

We should be recognised and empowered to enable the APC women to stand firm come 2023.

Since the election is over, we should be given appointments and we dont want a situation where people will tell us to go to women commission.

We can be Ministers; we want to head organisations because it will position women for 2023.

We no longer want to rely on men because power is not given, you have to take it, she said.

According to Mrs Agom-Eze, the 9th National Assembly (NASS) should enact laws that will protect female politicians from the bullying nature of their male counterparts.

She added: NASS should be able to come out with law for representation on a quota basis; for example, if we have three senators from a state, one should be a woman.

For the House of Reps, we should have at least two principal officers and for the State House of Assembly, we should have at least 35 per cent.

It is not fair that in a whole NASS we have just a few women; our representation is depreciating day-by-day and that is not good for the country, and that is why we are here.

Enugu State Deputy Governorship aspirant, Ginika Tor-Williams, also urged all APC female aspirants to forget the grievances and come together and start early to plan for the 2023 election.

Mrs Tor-Williams said: The best thing is to begin to bring everybody together and let us forget our grievances; I believe there must be a solution for equitable representation of women in this government.

However, it doesnt augur well when you foist leaders on people rather than allowing them to choose who they want, and I tell you that it is a big problem in Nigeria; but I hope we have learnt our lessons.

I believe we will build a formidable team in 2023 because our major problem in Enugu was factionalisation and at some point, our followers became tired and frustrated. (NAN)A three-day training organised by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) via its UDEME project on basics of journalism for campus journalists ended on Wednesday.

The event which was held from April 1-3 in Abuja had in attendance 20 students selected from eight universities across the country.

The Universities are the University of Ibadan, University of Uyo, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Bayero University Kano, Federal University Oye Ekiti, Obafemi Awolowo University, Lagos State University, and the University of Jos.

Nine facilitators trained the participants on the need for accountability journalism and the roles journalists play in achieving accountability in the Nigerian system.

These roles include monitoring the procurement processes and impact review.

The participants were trained on diverse issues regarding accountability journalism such as introduction to investigative journalism; use of spreadsheet and Freedom of Information; procurement processes; ethics and values in journalism; multimedia journalism, amongst others.

Dapo Olorunyomi, the publisher, PREMIUM TIMES, implored the participants to take charge of the future as they are the ones who will revive failing journalism in Nigeria as it is in a crisis.

Loveleen Okereke, a project officer at UDEME, said she hopes that at the end of the training, the participants would be able to integrate all the knowledge gained.

It also afforded UDEME the avenue to train young journalists on how to effectively they can hold public officers accountable and the knowledge acquired here is not gotten in everyday classrooms, she said.

Oluwakemi Adelagun, a participant from Lagos State University, said the training was very impactful and very practical.

I have learnt how to analyse budget documents which in turn helps me hold public officers accountable, she said.

Emmanuel Kwapyil, another participant from the University of Jos, narrated how the training has met and beat his expectations.

For me, the training has achieved its aim. It will also bring about a journalistic revolution.

UDEME is a social accountability project of PTCIJ which primarily monitors projects nominated in the budget: capital, constituency and ecological projects. UDEME has monitored projects in about 15 states.The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the establishment of a Promissory Note Programme for the settlement of an estimated N3.4 trillion local and contractual debt obligations inherited by the government.

The Supervising Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said at the end of the FEC meeting in Abuja that the debts include outstanding pension liabilities (N400 billion); unpaid salaries and third-party deductions (N24.95billion); staff claims (N270 billion); part of contractors claims (N45.36 billion) and fuel supply accrued interest and foreign exchange differential for petroleum products marketers (N514.29 billion).

Others include part payment of state governments claims (N487.85 billion); outsourced liabilities for the Federal Ministry of Health (N9.04 billion); major contractors (N596.51 billion); Export Expansion Grant (EEG) Scheme (N350.12 billion); judgement debt (N112.96 billion) and those for the electricity distribution companies (DISCos) N26.71 billion, and their Generation counterparts (N495.67 billion).

The Minister told journalists that transaction parties had been appointed for the programme and the bond issued to settle the debts. He did not give further details about the names of the benefiting individuals or specific agencies.

If approved by the FEC, Mrs Ahmed said total cost for the appointment of transaction parties for the programme of about N689.96 million, including fees and expenses in implementing the Programme, would be sourced from the proceeds of the Federal Government Securities issuance.

Highlighting some of the benefits of the programme, Mrs Ahmed said it would provide stimulus to the economy and unlock investment across some sectors currently having liquidity issues.

The programme will have an immediate impact on the nonperforming loan ratios of banks as well as increase the banks capacity to lend. It will also enable the Federal Government to formally recognise and account for its true liabilities in line with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), the minister said.

To set up the programme, which conforms with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Mrs Ahmed said her ministry sought and obtained the necessary presidential approval before forwarding it to the National Assembly for final approval.

She recalled that as of December 2018, the National Assembly had approved the issuance of promissory notes to two categories of the creditors.

They include the refund of N488.74 billion to 21 state governments for projects executed on behalf of the Federal Government.

The refund excluded four states  Bauchi, Delta, Kogi and Taraba, which were not approved.

The other was payment to N348 billion to 74 oil marketing companies for fuel supply accrued interest and foreign exchange differentials.

Last December, the marketers had demanded the Federal Government pay them N800 billion they claimed to be their outstanding indebtedness.

However, the minister had clarified that the final figure approved for the marketers after the presidential initiative for continuous audit (PICA) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) verified their claims, was only N236 billion.

The Minister said the approved N348 billion to be paid to the marketers under the programme included additional N112 billion approved separately by the National Assembly.

Additional approvals

Before the submission of the Memo to FEC, the Minister said the National Assembly approved additional items, including N90.24 billion for the refund to Delta and Taraba State governments; N206.1 billion for the Payment for six contractors and N195.1 billion for the payment of Exporters Claims under the Export Expansion Grant Scheme.

The transaction parties, in three categories, include KPMG (an international accounting firm) for verification of the liabilities, as well as joint financial and legal advisers.

The financial advisers that would be responsible for the structuring of the Promissory Note include Zenith Bank/Zenith Capital, Coronation Merchant Bank/Access Bank and UBA/United Capital.

The Legal Advisers that would be responsible for the legal advisory services and litigations that may arise include SimmonsCooper Partners, D.D. Dodo & Co. and Perchstone & Graeys.

The Minister said the Bureau of Public Procurement has already issued Due Process No Objection for the appointment of the successful bidders and their respective fees and expenses.The European Union has said Nigeria is now seen globally as a source and destination for sex trafficking, forced labour, transit and trafficking in human organs.

The EU also said it would support Nigeria through its political dialogue and development cooperation to fight these vices.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ketil Karlsen, said this, according to a statement signed by the unions press officer, Modestus Chukwulaka, on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Mr Karlsen said this on Tuesday, in Lagos, shortly after the 64th chartered flight bringing back voluntary Nigerian returnees arrived the country.

He said the EU is also working closely with local communities to create alternatives to migrant-smuggling based economies and to facilitate the sustainable reintegration of returning migrants.

The European Union, through political dialogue and development cooperation, is supporting Nigeria to improve its capacity to deal with drivers of irregular migration, including the long-term and structural root causes and forced displacement, Mr Karlsen said.

It is also working closely with local communities to create alternatives to migrant-smuggling based economies and to facilitate the sustainable reintegration of returning migrants, he added.

Mr Karlsen said the EU would work closely on the structural root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement in Nigeria.

Saving and protecting the lives of migrants and refugees, breaking the business model of smugglers and traffickers and providing legal pathways, while addressing the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement are at the very heart of the EUs policy, he said.

The EU ambassador explained that the EU does not want to stop migration, but, migration should happen out of aspiration, not desperation.

What we want to stop is dangerous, unprotected, and exploitative forms of migration. Migration should happen out of aspiration, not desperation.

The EU is working in all areas of migration in Nigeria, including migration management, labour migration, irregular migration, return and reintegration, mobility and international protection.

Nigeria is a source, transit and destination country for women and children victims of sex trafficking and forced labour in the forms of prostitution, domestic servitude, begging and sometimes trafficking in human organs. The IOM has identified 749 victims of trafficking among the returnees, and more than 3,172 with vulnerabilities.

The EU is also working on the prevention side in the country of origin as well. Trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants in Nigeria are targeted under new EUR- 10 million programmes focusing on these two issues for five years.

Also in the statement, Mr Karlsen said in April 2017, the European Union, through its Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), launched the Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in Africa with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The official said that within the framework of the Joint Initiative, 12,974 stranded Nigerians migrants had been assisted to return to their home country, including 1,158 in 2019.

According to him, the initiative, which is wholly funded by the EU, aims to improve migrant protection, voluntary return, and reintegration..The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday assured the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, of the readiness of the eighth National Assembly to pass two pending police related bills before the end of its tenure.

The bills are the Police Reform Bill and the Police Trust Fund Bill.

The Senate president gave the assurance while receiving the IG and his entourage in his office at the National Assembly.

Details of the visit were contained in a statement by Mr Sarakis special assistant on new media, Olu Onemola.

The Senate president reiterated the National Assemblys commitment to strengthen the nations security.

He emphasised that both the Police Trust Fund Bill and the Police Reform Bill would help establish a more effective and efficient police force to the country.

Mr Saraki was quoted as saying, The performance of the Nigeria Police is key to our nations security. This is because apart from us ensuring that the institution is well-funded, we need to ensure that the police play its constitutional role in the security of our nation. Across party lines, the police can be reassured of our support to strengthen it as an institution.

Funding is a major issue, and I know that a lot of work has been done to ensure that the Police Trust Fund Bill get to its current stage in the House. Before the end of the 8th Senate, I want to assure you that we will pass this Bill.

Another critical issue is the Police Reform Bill which has gone through public hearing with major input from stakeholders. We started this process before your tenure, but we can still allow a few more days before it is laid, so that you too can make your contributions.

We would like you to take a close look at this bill alongside the committee, so that by next week, we can lay the report of the bill and pass it. Once we begin to address the issue of funding and institutional reform of the police, many of the recent incidents that we have seen like the abductions yesterday on Abuja-Kaduna road, and the killing of the young man in Lagos, will also be addressed.

Earlier in his address, the IGP thanked Mr Saraki for finding time to receive him despite the short notice.

He expressed optimism at the effect the Police Trust Fund Bill would have once it is passed.

The security challenges in the country are so high, however, the resources are limited. It is our view that the passage of the Police Trust Fund Bill would assist in strengthening the institution and alleviating many of the challenges that we face, he was quoted as saying.The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has described the National Christian Elders Forum, NCEFs condemnation of its visit to President Muhammadu Buhari as baseless.

The association said this in a statement signed by its Director Legal and Public Affairs, Samuel Kwamkur.

The statement was made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday.

The NCEF had condemned the visit of the CAN leadership to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to congratulate Mr Buhari on his re-election.

The NCEF described the visit as evidence that the Christian Association has unholy ties with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Meanwhile, the NCEF has had a long-standing dispute with the CAN, which resulted in the Christian association denouncing the forum and severing ties with it last December.

In its statement on Monday, NCEF accused CAN of partisan politics. It said CAN was treading a path that could destroy the future of Christianity in Nigeria.

But in reacting to the statement made by NCEF, Mr Kwamkur said the NCEF which has been disbanded by the leadership of CAN almost a year ago has no right to fault the decision of CAN.

According to Mr Kwamkur, It is right for CAN to visit and congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari who has been declared winner of the just concluded 2019 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

I was part of the delegation of CAN, it is getting to one year now since CAN disassociated itself from the activities of the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF). The decision to visit President Muhammadu Buhari is not supposed to be with their knowledge since they are not part of CAN.

It is also in the statement that CAN has disbanded NCEF and they have no reason to join issues with the association.

If CAN is going right they will go left. CAN has no business with the elders forum on this matter. Most of the leaders of CAN were in that team who went to see President Muhammadu Buhari. The five blocs constituting CAN was fully represented by the leaders of the blocs.

The statement noted that the Catholic Secretariat was represented by the Secretary of the body alongside other respected leaders from the bloc as against the NCEFs claim that the Catholic Church was not part of the visit.

Mr Kwamkur further said, We visited Buhari as a constituted body, not a political party, neither do we share political interest as an association.

We work with the authority that be and if INEC is the constituted authority with the mandate to conduct elections and declare the winner what reasons do we have to say no to it? It means we are being partisan, if we go against the decision of INEC, Mr Kwamkur added.

CAN in its statement added that Christians are advised to respect authorities. The bible did not say respect the leaders that love you or behave well to you. There is no condition to that admonition in the bible. If you read our speech to President Buhari we stated that we visited because INEC has declared Buhari winner.

There is nothing wrong with the opposition going to court. In fact, we appreciate the moves to avoid crisis after election. If the court later decided in favour of the opposition, CAN will also go and congratulate the person again. We have also taken decision to see the opposition and share with them to encourage the rightful moves.

I do not see why we should be fighting over this. We have been confronting this administration with the truth. How can the elders forum want to summon the CAN president and direct him on what to do? It is not proper.Olalekan Ojo (SAN), the lead defence counsel for Fred Ajudua, a former Lagos socialite and alleged serial conman has alleged that $8.4 million a former Chief of Army Staff, Ishaya Bamaiyi, gave his client was initially to be used to bribe Lagos State judges and judicial officers.

Mr Ojo made the allegation while cross-examining Mr Bamaiyi on Wednesday at an Ikeja High Court at the ongoing trial of Mr Ajudua over the alleged fraud.

The defence counsel alleged that the former Chief of Army Staff gave Mr Ajudua the funds to secure his release from the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, where he was incarcerated over the alleged attempted murder of Alex Ibru, the former publisher of the Guardian Newspaper.

Mr Ojo said: You lodged a complaint to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through Daniel Amos.

The complaint was that the defendant, Ajudua and one Ade Bendel who is now at large, had with your knowledge and consent promised to bribe Justice Joseph Oyewole, some other judges of Lagos and some court officials.

The bribe was to facilitate your release from prison. As a high profile citizen of Nigeria, are you aware that it is wrong and criminal to attempt to compromise judicial officers?

Do you know that it is totally wrong to send someone who is a judicial officer to someone presiding over case in which you are a defendant?

Mr Bamaiyi, a retired lieutenant general, in his response denied the allegations.

It is not true, I did not attempt to bribe anybody, I know it is criminal to attempt to compromise judicial officers.

I do not see anything wrong in sending somebody to anybody as long as I am sending the person for something reasonable, he said.

Mr Ojo asked Mr Bamaiyi if as a veteran General, he believed in the Machiavellian principle of the end justifies the means and agreed to Mr Ajuduas suggestion that he bribed judicial officers in order to be released from prison.

If anyone was in trouble, they will find a way out, I wanted a good lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola was suggested to me by the defendant.

I agreed to their suggestions because I thought they were truthful and because I wanted freedom.

The suggestion was to get me a very good lawyer and not to bribe judicial officers, he said.

The retired general denied admitting in his 2006 statement to the EFCC to agreeing to a suggestion by Mr Ajudua that Mr Oyewole and other judicial officers of Lagos State be bribed to secure his release from prison.

Seidu Atteh, the lead prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, however interjected telling the court that the prosecution team did not have of a copy of Mr Bamaiyis 2006 statement to the anti-graft commission with them in court.

My Lord we do not have a copy the witness 2006 statement to the EFCC which is the subject matter of the cross-examination, his 2014 and 2016 statements are here, he said.

Reacting, Mr Ojo sought an adjournment to enable the prosecution bring to court a copy of the Bamaiyis 2006 statement to the EFCC.

We are constrained by reason of the default of the prosecution not coming up with all the EFCC statements frontloaded in the proof of evidence.

We will like to seek an adjournment. In some other climes, the court will impose costs because as a diligent prosecutor that he is, he is supposed to come to court with all the statements, Mr Ojo said.

Following Mr Ojos submission Justice Josephine Oyefeso granted an adjournment.

It is the duty of the prosecution to come to court with relevant documents.

It is not for the prosecution to tell the defendants how to conduct their case. It is the duty of the prosecution to have in court the relevant documents in their proof of evidence, I so hold.

This case is adjourned to May 8 at 11 a.m. and May 14 for continuation of cross-examination and trial, the judge said.

Earlier during proceedings, Mr Bamaiyi admitted during cross-examination to making a statement in 2006 to the anti-graft commission about the alleged fraud.

He, however, denied that one Daniel Amos who he had met at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons who had allegedly lodged the first complaint to the EFCC on his behalf was his Personal Assistant.

Mr Bamaiyi said: My first written statement to the EFCC was in 2006, I cannot remember the date I made the second statement but I know I made some statements in July 2013, December 19, 2013 and June 27, 2014.

I know Daniel Amos, we were together in prison he has never been my personal assistant, he is my friend. I cannot remember the date he was brought to prison but he was with us there in Block Two.

Daniel Amos left the Maximum Security Prisons before us, I cannot remember us having a discussion about the fraud but when you have this kind of issue it is no longer a secret.

I instructed Daniel Amos to lodge a complaint against the defendant and Ade Bendel to the EFCC.

I gave him the instruction because I was on admission at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and was unable to make the complaint myself.

I did not tell him all the material facts or issues. I told him I had a case that the defendant defrauded me and I had to make a case at the EFCC. I sent him to make a verbal complaint.

NAN reports that according to the prosecution, Mr Ajudua, was incarcerated at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons over alleged fraud. He had alongside some accomplices, allegedly approached Mr Bamaiyi in 2004.

The defendant had allegedly convinced Mr Bamaiyi that he could hire the legal services of Afe Babalola, SAN, to help secure his freedom from Kirikiri with Mr Ajudua allegedly fraudulently receiving $8.4 million as legal fees.

When the alleged fraud came to light, the law chambers of Afe Babalola and Co, issued a disclaimer disassociating itself from the case.

(NAN)The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufais convoy reportedly foiled an attempted kidnapping of motorists along Kaduna-Abuja road on Wednesday afternoon.

A press statement by the governors media aide, Samuel Aruwan, sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday said the governor, who was on his way to Abuja, got to the Akilubu village around 3:40 p.m., sighted dozens of vehicles parked by citizens alarmed that kidnappers were ahead.

Security operatives in the governors convoy advanced and cleared the road of the criminals who fled into the forest.

After the clearing the road, Governor El-Rufai directed that travellers who had been wounded by the criminals be rushed to the nearest hospital.

The governor also directed security agencies to intensify patrols and permanently clear the road of the bandits, the statement added.

Kidnappers have laid siege on the highway for several weeks, abducting many. The bandits have rendered the area a dreaded spot for motorists despite regular raids by security operatives.

El-Rufais convoy caught up in a Kidnapping operation on Kaduna-Abuja road El-Rufais convoy caught up in a Kidnapping operation on Kaduna-Abuja road El-Rufais convoy caught up in a Kidnapping operation on Kaduna-Abuja roadA spokesperson for the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has been abducted.

Muntari Ibrahim was travelling from Kaduna to Abuja on Tuesday afternoon when he was abducted by yet unknown gunmen. Family sources said the kidnappers had not made contact about his fate.

Sani Marshi, the director-general of NiMet, told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday afternoon the agency was working with the police to free the top official and expressed hope for success.

The police did not return requests for comments about the abduction.

A family source told PREMIUM TIMES Mr Ibrahim, from Katsina State, was accosted near Katari, a community along Abuja-Kaduna Highway about 74 kilometres to Abuja.

Mr Ibrahim was riding in an official Peugeot 408 when the attackers struck, causing yet another concern for his life barely a year after he survived a ghastly auto crash from which he was still recuperating.

Security agencies are being counted on to successfully resolve Mr Ibrahims kidnap, which comes as his daughter is scheduled to get married on April 6.

Dreaded highway

Abuja-Kaduna Highway has become increasingly dangerous for motorists and settlers alike. Security agencies say they make regular arrests.

Mr Ibrahims abduction comes a day after gunmen took over the highway at the same axis disrupting traffic and kidnapping an unknown number of persons.

Witnesses said security forces responded to the Monday evening incident within thirty minutes, but the attackers had already caused damage within the short period.The Federal Government has approved the renaming of Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki to Alex Ekwueme University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.

Former Vice President Ekwueme died in November 2017. He was in office between 1979 and 1983.

Ahmed Ramalan, chairman of the hospitals board, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abakaliki while addressing journalists.

He said the renaming was with immediate effect.

Mr Ramalan said Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health, gave the approval on behalf of the government as it is important to bring the action to the notice of the people of Ebonyi and Nigerians.

We hope that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will unveil the hospitals new logo when he visits before the May 29 swearing-in of elected leaders in the country.

This is a big achievement in the next level mantra of the present administration and it is hoped that the renaming will make the hospital attain greater heights, he said.

He said the request for the renaming was made by the University and the Federal Ministry of Health graciously approved it.

The university requested to have FETHA as its teaching hospital as the development will bring lots of benefits to it.

It will receive funding of infrastructural development from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and manpower capacity building of staff from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), he said.

Mr Ramalan said the board had a successful year in the saddle have been inaugurated in March 2018.

We have recorded successes within the period which include; completion of the construction and furnishing of a 500-seater auditorium and that of a lecture hall.

The medical ward complex has undergone 70 per cent completion while we have completed the renovation of the Resident Doctors quarters.

We have purchased and installed a 5000 KVA generating set and an Echo scan, blood gas analyser, embedding machine, among others, he said.

Emeka Ogah, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, noted that the renaming has elevated the hospital to a teaching hospital status.

We are presently more equipped to execute our core mandate, he said.

The hospital was hitherto known as the Federal Medical Centre Abakaliki, before metamorphosing into FETHA after the federal governments takeover.

Former Vice President Ekwueme died

(NAN)The Executive Director, Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Usman Ndanusa, has confirmed that cerebrospinal meningitis has claimed eight lives in Borgu Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Ndanusa, who is a Pharmacist, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Minna.

He said it is absurd that the disease keeps on claiming lives annually because people see it as a jinx or evil spirit that can be handled traditionally instead of by orthodox medicine.

He said the agency has begun sensitisation to curb the epidemic so that it does not spread to neighbouring local government areas.

According to him, Magama, Borgu, Agwara and Mariga Rijau local government areas were usually flashpoints of the disease but only Borgu has so far lost eight people to the scourge from March till date.

Mr Ndanusa, however, regretted that the agency has not embarked in cerebrospinal meningitis immunization this year because they do not have the vaccine.

While we are awaiting the federal government intervention for the vaccine we are calling on all and sundry to live a healthy lifestyle while the heat lasts.

The agency has carried out sensitization to market places, garages and Local Government Areas, he said.

Similarly, Mr Ndanusa called on residents to prevent the disease by living a healthy lifestyle.

A rich immune system can help prevent an infection from the viruses and bacteria that cause meningitis.

People should strive to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins aside this, good exercise is very necessary as well as regular bath, he said.

Mr Ndanusa also advised the people to drink plenty of water and try to get quality sleep by making sure their houses are well ventilated.

(NAN)The Police in Kaduna State have denied that 30 persons were kidnapped on the Abuja-Kaduna highway on Monday evening.

The commands public relations officer, Yakubu Sabo, in a statement, however, confirmed that attacks by some gunmen took place on the highway on that day.

He dismissed as false claims that 30 persons were kidnapped.

PREMIUM TIMES on Monday reported how a witness said an unknown number of motorists were feared abducted after kidnappers invaded the dreaded highway.

The attention of the Kaduna Police Command has been drawn to a fake story making the round on social media to the effect that about thirty (30) people were kidnapped along Abuja-Kaduna expressway yesterday (Monday) and their vehicles abandoned by the roadside, Mr Sabo said.

The Command wishes to unequivocally refute the story as fake fictitiously fabricated by some unpatriotic elements to create panic in the minds of unsuspecting citizens who ply the road for their legitimate businesses.

However, it is unfortunate that this fake news coincided with a sad incident yesterday 01/04/2019 when on at about 1830hrs some armed men at a point near Gidan Visa along Abuja-Kaduna expressway intercepted a Toyota Hilux with REG NO. CT 01 AF belonged (sic) to the Judiciary, open(ed) fire on the vehicle in the process of which one Mshelia Sulaiman was injured and took away the occupants.

The Command appeals to members of the public to support the Police with relevant information on the whereabouts of these and other suspected criminals to curb the menace of banditry and other related crimes in Kaduna State.The Governorship, National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal in Uyo, Akwa Ibom says it has received no fewer than 34 petitions as at April 1.

The Tribunal Secretary in the state, Sidiq Abubakar, made this known in a document made available to journalists on Wednesday.

Mr Abubakar said that one of the petitions was filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the state, Nsima Ekere against Governor Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said the tribunal also received two petitions emanating from the senatorial election, adding that Sen. Godswill Akpabio of APC filed one against Mr Christopher Ekpenyong of the PDP from Akwa Ibom North West.

The secretary tribunal also said that Mr Bassey Etim of APC filed another petition against Sen. Bassey Akpan of the PDP from Akwa Ibom North East.

He said eight petitions emanated from the House of Representatives and 23 petitions from the State House of Assembly elections out of the 26 House of Assembly seats.

We have received 34 petitions, including that of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Mr Nsima Ekere, two petitions from the Senate, (and) eight from the House of Representatives.

Others are 23 petitions from the State House of Assembly elections, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tribunal also received one petition filed by the PDP House of Assembly candidate, Gerald Umoh against Nse Ntuen of APC from Essien Udim State Constituency.

No date has been fixed for the tribunal to begin its sitting.

(NAN)The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N6.17 billion for augmentation of the contract for the construction of Ikot-Ekpene border-Aba-Owerri Road, Section 1, Phase 1.

Suleiman Zarma, the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Mr Zarma said the contract was awarded in 2012, but the augmentation had to come following some observations by the contractor.

FEC has given approval for the augmentation of the contract for construction of Ikot-Ekpene border-Aba-Owerri Road, Section 1, Phase 1 and the length is 11.26km.

The contract was awarded in 2012 to Arab Contractors at the cost of N3.78bn; it came up for augmentation because the contractor actually observed some failures in the contract around some sections of the road.

Actually, it is one lane, but with the augmentation now, it will be dualised; the contract period is 12 months and the cost after augmentation is now N6.17 billion, he said.

On her part, Aisha Abubakar, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, said that FEC had also approved the revised estimated total cost for the completion of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development Headquarters in Abuja.

Mrs Abubakar said that the building was initially conceived to be the National Childrens Library and Resource Centre which was approved in 2006.

The minister, however, said that the design was contrary to the guidelines of the Abuja Master Plan which stipulated that the development of the Central Business District should have a minimum of five suspended floors.

Therefore, we had to make a request for the revised estimate to redesign to comply with the FCT Master Plan and got approval to convert it to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development headquarters.

So, today, we got approval in the total sum of N851.6m revising the project from the initial approval of N1.79m, she said. (NAN)

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved N6.17 billion for augmentation of the contract for the construction of Ikot-Ekpene border-Aba-Owerri Road, Section 1, Phase 1.

Suleiman Zarma, the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Mr Zarma said the contract was awarded in 2012, but the augmentation had to come following some observations by the contractor.

FEC has given approval for the augmentation of the contract for construction of Ikot-Ekpene border-Aba-Owerri Road, Section 1, Phase 1 and the length is 11.26km.

The contract was awarded in 2012 to Arab Contractors at the cost of N3.78bn; it came up for augmentation because the contractor actually observed some failures in the contract around some sections of the road.

Actually, it is one lane, but with the augmentation now, it will be dualised; the contract period is 12 months and the cost after augmentation is now N6.17 billion, he said.

On her part, Aisha Abubakar, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, said that FEC had also approved the revised estimated total cost for the completion of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development Headquarters in Abuja.

Mrs Abubakar said that the building was initially conceived to be the National Childrens Library and Resource Centre which was approved in 2006.

The minister, however, said that the design was contrary to the guidelines of the Abuja Master Plan which stipulated that the development of the Central Business District should have a minimum of five suspended floors.

Therefore, we had to make a request for the revised estimate to redesign to comply with the FCT Master Plan and got approval to convert it to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development headquarters.

So, today, we got approval in the total sum of N851.6m revising the project from the initial approval of N1.79m, she said. (NAN)A middle-aged man, Chukwumezie Chika, on Tuesday, hanged himself on a tree in his family compound.

His body was found on Tuesday evening hanging from an orange tree behind a house in his family compound.

The incident happened in Umuanasa clan of Umuezekwe ward in Ubahuekwem community, Ihiala local government area of Anambra state.

The incident has thrown the community into a mournful mood as people were seen discussing the incident in hushed tones on Wednesday morning.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the corpse has been thrown into the thick forest as the communitys tradition demands.

Efforts are ongoing to bring in traditionalists who will cut off the orange tree and sanctify the compound as what he did is considered a taboo in our land, a source from the community said.

The source further said that one of his uncles many years ago also committed suicide at a young age.

The police spokesperson in the state, Haruna Mohammed, confirmed the incident.

He said police have launched an investigation to ascertain what truly happened.An Ikeja Magistrates Court on Wednesday ordered that a Christian cleric, Daniel Chukwu, who allegedly defiled a seven-year-old girl should be remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons.

The magistrate, B.O. Osunsanmi, remanded Mr Chukwu, 35, pending advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions.

Consequently, the court did not take the plea of the defendant.

Mr Osunsanmi adjourned the case until May 6, for mention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Chukwu, who resides on Omoeda Street, Ijegun in Ikorodu, Lagos, was charged with child defilement.

The Prosecutor, Inspector Raphael Donny, alleged that the defendant committed the offence on March 20 on Omodiagi Street, Ijegun, Ikorodu.

He submitted that the defendant defiled the girl in his wifes shop.

The victim came to Chukwus wifes shop to buy a recharge card. He held the girls hand, kissed her, pulled her pant and sexually assaulted her.

The girls mother reported the case and the defendant was arrested, the prosecutor said.

He noted that child defilement contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which prescribes up to life imprisonment, on conviction.

(NAN)South Africa: Solomon Mahlangu home to become monument

The home of liberation struggle icon Solomon Mahlangu will soon be declared a heritage site.

The development was announced in Mamelodi West on Wednesday by the CEO of the National Heritage Council (NHC), Sonwabile Mancotywa, during the launch of plans for the commemoration of 40 years since Mahlangus death. Mahlangu, a former ANC military wing combatant, was executed in 1979.

Mancotywa revealed that the NHC had received a request from the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and upon scrutiny, the house had met all the requirements.

This house, in which Solomon Mahlangu was born, has been graded category one in accordance with the National Heritage Resources Act. This process has been successfully completed by our sister organisation, the South African Heritage Resources Agency. The property was inspected, and it was found to meet the requirements. It is now intended to be declared as a national heritage site, he said.

Heritage, Mancotywa said, plays a huge role in the education of young people and needs to be preserved.

Heritage is the DNA of society. It is a strategic resource that is important to any society. Countries that do well in [preserving] heritage, do well in the economy.

NYDA chairperson Sifiso Mtshweni said it is important for the contribution of youth of the liberation struggle be recognised and the agency aims to do just this.

It was Mahlangus hanging that changed the course of history. It was his hanging that demonstrated the brutality and evil system of apartheid in our country.

We engaged with the National Heritage Council to declare [the Mahlangu house as a] national heritage site. We want to leave behind a legacy as the leadership of honouring Solomon Mahlangu in a proper way, he said.

The NYDA has already honoured Mahlangu with a scholarship named after the struggle stalwart.

Solomon Mahlangu was quite passionate about education. He wanted to be a teacher. He wanted to improve the lives of young people in this country. That is why we have a scholarship named after him, said Mtshweni.

The Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu Scholarship Fund (SKMSF) was established in 2014 and has since its formation funded the education of over 500 students in various fields of study.

In line with governments announcement of fee-free higher education for students from households with an annual income lower than R300 000, the NYDA will now direct most of its funds to postgraduate students.

As part of the 40th commemoration of Mahlangus death, the NYDA will on Friday celebrate the success of this scholarship at a gala dinner and showcase some of the most outstanding and high performance beneficiaries.

On Saturday, 6 April, government will hold a wreath laying ceremony at his grave and later retrace Mahlangus final footsteps before he was killed by hanging at the Pretoria Central Prison.

Department of Arts and Culture Director-General Vusi Mkhize said it was important for Mahlangus legacy to be maintained.

The challenge we would like to pose to the youth is: what are the values that they will emulate in the life of Solomon Mahlangu? The answer lies in his preparedness to sacrifice his life for South Africa so that blacks could be free and end the hegemony of a brutal apartheid system.

Today, the youth are called to build and grow a new South Africa so it becomes a prosperous, democratic State, he said.

Mkhize said the department was engaging with the Mahlangu Family Trust on how the precinct would look like.

The Mahlangu Family Trust has submitted to the department a proposal on how the heritage [precinct] would look like. We have looked at that and we agreed that they need to do a feasibility study that will determine all the necessary requirements to create this precinct.

As we speak, they are at an advanced stage and we are hoping that by the end of April, they will be able to present so the department can have a look at the process and then act.

Family spokesperson Prince George Mahlangu thanked government for taking the initiative to honour his brother.

It is important that we do this not only in his memory but in the memory of all those gallant fighters who fought alongside him; those who perished and those who are still living, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2019-04-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The country's top cop agrees with President Rodrigo Duterte's plan to release the names of police officers allegedly involved in illegal drugs.

Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde told CNN Philippines Wednesday that he believes doing so would be a good idea.

"I think that will be good for us so that we'll be able to collate the information coming from the President himself and what we have so that we'll be able to compare our lists, or what we call the watchlist, or the counter-intelligence watchlist that we have and the list the President has," he said.

Once the list is revealed, Albayalde said they would immediately conduct an investigation.

"Probably, the first thing we will do is relieve them from their posts and then conduct in-depth investigation. If there will be substantial evidence against them, then we will be filing a case against them both criminally and administratively," he said.

In a speech Tuesday at a campaign sortie in Malabon City, Duterte said he would release the list on Wednesday.

"Marami nang panahon, meron na itong mga Eh hindi ilalabas ko 'yung dokumento bukas. Iyong paano maglaro ang pulis sa droga, 'yung mga opisyal; at bakit hindi mahinto-hinto," he said.

[Translation: There has been a lot of time...I will release the document tomorrow. Showing how the police play around with drugs, the officials; and why they can't put an end to it.]

Albayalde said the list to be released could be different from the list of the PNP as the President "has unlimited access to information." He also said he does not know how many police officers are in the President's list.

Despite Duterte's revelation, Albayalde said the PNP has made strides in weeding out what he called "scalawags" from the police force.

"Over the years, we have continued to have intensified our counter-intelligence operations  that is the very reason why we have created our counter-intelligence task force  to go after these suspected salawags in uniform. And I think we made tremendous head-on here, where we were able to arrest so many policemen already involved in illegal activites," he told CNN Philippines.

In a separate interview with The Source on Wednesday, Senator Panfilo Lacson  who is a former PNP chief  said, "It says a lot of our law enforcement...Maybe PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) and even the Philippine National Police, mag-isip sila ng ibang [should think about a different] strategy...There should be a shift in strategy that PDEA should just focus on big time drug lords."

However, he said he was not in favor of releasing the names of cops involved in the illegal drug trade.

"In the same manner that they should not release the names of judges and other personalities without filing charges, no, I'm not in favor," he said.Some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State have vowed to frustrate the re-election of Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, over his alleged role in the partys loss of the presidential poll in the state.

At a stakeholders meeting on Wednesday in Akure, the party leaders accused Mr Akeredolu and his supporters of anti=party activities.

A member of the APC Board of Trustees, Ali Olanusi, who was the deputy governor under Olusegun Mimiko, said there was a high level of anti-party activities during the general election in Ondo State.

The meeting was called by a faction of the party opposed to the governor, to review the performance of the ruling party in the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

Mr Olanusi accused Mr Akeredolu of instigating members into anti-party activities after failing to secure the partys tickets for his candidates for the National Assembly elections.

He said the governor directed APC members to work for candidates of Action Alliance (AA) in the 2019 general elections in the state.

The BOT member said although some bigwigs in the party had before the polls raised the alarm over the anti-party activity of Mr Akeredolu, the leadership of the party in Abuja failed to act before the elections.

If Buhari had won the presidential election in Ondo State, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu would have gotten the credit despite working against the party, APC in Ondo State, Mr Olanusi said.

And we had envisaged this problem in Ondo State, and that is why we cried to the national leadership of the party on the anti-party activities of Governor Akeredolu.

But they failed to listen to us, and didnt recognise our voice then. For me, I am for the growth and unity of the party. And we shall progress.

So, we must not allow the monster, who is an ingrate and has no fear of God, including respect for elders and colleagues, to come back and rule us here again.

Speaking, Isaac Kekemeke, a former Chairman of APC in the state, said the fund disbursed to the state by the national leadership of the party for the 2019 general election was diverted by Governor Akeredolu.

Mr Kekemeke said Mr Akeredolu was the major financier of the Action Alliance in the state. He said there was a need for party leaders to intervene on the anti-party activities of the governor before the 2020 Ondo governorship election.

The governor worked against the party and he really didnt want President Muhammadu Buhari to win the 2019 presidential election because they did not work for him in Ondo State. Rather they all worked for their Action Alliance party, he said.

But the governor in his response said the meeting was only that of politicians who did not represent the APC.

The Commissioner for Information, Yemi Olowolabi, told PREMIUM TIMES that the allegations raised by the stakeholders were untrue.

There is no APC other than the one led by Ade Adetimehin, he said. Whatever their statement from that meeting amounted to nothing.

According to him, Mr Akeredolu did not work against the president as alleged by the group, stating that instead, the governor worked assiduously for Mr Buhari.

He purchased about 30 vehicles and opened offices for the campaign in all the 18 local governments, he said.

What happened was a revelation of democracy because two weeks after, the APC won in all the areas where it lost the presidential election.

Mr Olowolabi also accused the faction of orchestrating the violence that attended the House Of Assembly elections in the state, where lives were lost and property worth millions of Naira damaged.

The governor never engaged in anti-party activity, the national secretariat is aware of what happened, the commissioner insisted.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.



"The amount of ideals and outlooks that Metallica and Stone Brewing share are endless. I'm always blown away about how similar our paths forward have been," says Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We saw how much our fans liked Enter Night Pilsner on the US tour, and we're thrilled to be able to share it with fans during the European tour as well."

"I remember seeing Metallica on the cover of a magazine just after the Black Album was released," recalls Greg Koch, co-founder of Stone Brewing. "On the cover was a quote that resonated with me to this day: 'Metallica didn't go to number one, number one came to them.' I loved what that meant. Do it your way and never compromise your art. If you're great at what you do people will come. I view that simple quote as one of the founding philosophical elements of Stone Brewing."

Marcus Thieme, Vice President & General Manager European Operations Stone Brewing, adds, "We are incredibly proud to brew Enter Night Pilsner for the European markets here at Stone Brewing in Berlin. This beer is a high quality dry-hopped Pilsner, which we're excited to say will be available as one of our year-round core beers. Enter Night Pilsner is here to stay!"

Aside from its intense drinkability, craft enthusiasts will note Enter Night Pilsner's remarkable flavor and aroma which artfully combine the beauty of a traditional Northern German Pilsner with modern overtones of aggression. The resulting genre-defying dry-hopped pilsner is hop forward with sound bitterness on the finish.

Stone Brewing  Berlin celebrated its official opening in September 2016. Hailing from San Diego, CA, since 1996 Stone Brewing has been known for its unique, big-character beers featuring bold flavors that defy traditional style guidelines and expectations. It has been named the "All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth" by BeerAdvocate magazine, twice. Stone Brewing  Berlin's craft beers are now distributed throughout Germany and more than 30 countries in Europe.

Quick Facts:

Name: Enter Night Pilsner

Stats: 5.7% ABV, 45 IBUs

Availability: 0,5l cans, four-packs and from draft across Europe all year-round

Enter Night Mini Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrckTkcFP7Q&feature=youtu.be

Metallica Concerts: Metallica.com/tour

Photos and Videos: www.stonebrewing.eu/about/press

#metallica #enternightpilsner #stoneberlin #stonebrewing #arrogantconsortia

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/842260/Enter_Night_Pilsner.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/842261/Stone_Brewing_Berlin_Metallica_Logo.jpg

Related Links

http://www.stonebrewing.com



SOURCE Stone BrewingCustomers are invited to join Hawes & Curtis on its remarkable voyage  from a single Jermyn Street shirtmaker in 1913 to an internationally recognised lifestyle brand whose clients have included royalty, Hollywood stars and sporting heroes.

The campaign draws on the idea that Hawes & Curtis is the style destination for every occasion and important life event.

Delicately combining luxury with essentials, the collection is a sophisticated, pared-down edit of practical pieces that can be worn wherever your travels take you. Menswear highlights include the travel suit, non-iron shirts, Italian linen blazers and smart separates.

The womenswear collection features luxuriously lightweight linen shirts in sorbet shades, the brand's signature pussy bow blouses with updated seasonal prints and sharp executive cotton shirts that exude power and professionalism.

Hawes & Curtis CEO Touker Suleyman said: "We want our customers to know that we will provide them with sartorial essentials for every step of the way, from graduation to the first interview to their wedding day."

The Spring/Summer 2019 campaign will launch online (www.hawesandcurtis.co.uk) and in stores on the 2nd April.

About Hawes & Curtis:

Hawes & Curtis is a quintessentially British brand specialising in fine tailoring and accessories for men and women. Founded in 1913 by Ralph Hawes and George Frederick Curtis, the brand continues to deliver the promise of exceptional quality, innovation and outstanding value.

Hawes & Curtis opened its first store in the Piccadilly Arcade and has had many distinguished clients through its doors, including the Duke of Windsor, Lord Mountbatten and Fred Astaire.

As a result of Hawes & Curtis' commitment to impeccable service and product excellence, the brand has been awarded four Royal Warrants. Hawes & Curtis operates more than 20 stores in the UK and a store in Germany. The flagship store remains on London's Jermyn Street, famous for its resident shirtmakers.

For press enquiries please contact:

Amelia Williams at awilliams@hawesandcurtis.com, +44(0)207-298-2707

Visit our media centre: www.hawesandcurtis.co.uk/media-centre

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/846071/Hawes_and_Curtis_Menswear_SS19.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/846072/Hawes_and_Curtis_Womenswear_SS19.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/737446/Hawes___Curtis_Logo.jpg

Related Links

https://www.hawesandcurtis.co.uk/



SOURCE Hawes & CurtisTORONTO, April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK ("Newcastle University") and Sagard Healthcare Royalty Partners ("SHRP") announced today that the University has sold to SHRP a portion of its royalty interest in a novel cancer drug, marketed as Rubraca, for a cash payment of US $31 million.

Rubraca (rucaparib) belongs to an emerging class of drugs known as PARP inhibitors and was developed through a research collaboration between Newcastle University, Cancer Research UK's Cancer Research Technology Limited (formerly known as Cancer Research Campaign Technology Limited), and Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc.). The commercialization rights were subsequently licensed to Clovis Oncology, Inc., which successfully developed Rubraca through clinical trials.

Today, Rubraca is approved in both the United States and Europe for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy, and for the treatment of adult patients with deleterious BRCA mutation (germline and/or somatic)-associated epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who have been treated with two or more chemotherapies. Rubraca is also in development for additional indications including the treatment of metastatic, castrate-resistant prostate cancer and bladder cancer.

The transaction is structured as an upfront payment from SHRP in exchange for 100% of the royalty entitlement up to an undisclosed cap, and then 15% of the entitlement thereafter. Newcastle University will use the proceeds of the transaction to support ongoing development of teaching and learning facilities for students across the University and to facilitate research.

"We are thrilled to announce our first transaction as part of the Sagard Holdings team," said David MacNaughtan, Partner and Head of SHRP. "Royalty monetization enables research-based institutions such as Newcastle University to accelerate returns on innovation and manage risk, and we are pleased to support the cycle of technology development."

Professor Chris Day, President and Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, said: "The achievement of the Newcastle University team cannot be underestimated in taking this fundamental research into development and then into market as a cancer treatment. The success of this drug development shows how, as a University, we are making a positive impact on the lives of thousands of patients and tackling real world issues in the University. This feat now enables us to invest further into research and into the futures of thousands of students in developing teaching and learning facilities."

SHRP, the royalty monetization business of Sagard Holdings, was launched in January 2019, and aims to be a premier investor in the life sciences sector. SHRP's principal focus is on traditional royalty or credit-like investments, protected by strong intellectual property, which can generate attractive cash-yielding returns that are uncorrelated with public markets. Royalty-based transactions are increasingly pursued in the life sciences industry as a means of managing risk and accelerating the returns on innovation, and SHRP will bring its proven expertise to develop tailored solutions to help royalty holders maximize value.

"We're ecstatic about the royalty team's progress in such a short period of time," said Adam Vigna, Chief Investment Officer of Sagard Holdings. "The ability to source a deep pipeline of opportunities and close an investment like this one in a competitive process within two months is testament to the quality of the team and the depth of their network, as well as Sagard Holdings' ability to support and launch new strategies. We're excited to officially add healthcare royalties and related investments to our suite of alternative asset strategies."

MTS Health Partners, L.P. served as exclusive structuring and financial advisor and Covington & Burling LLP served as transactional counsel to Newcastle University. Ropes & Gray served as transactional counsel to SHRP.

About Sagard Holdings

Sagard Holdings is a multi-strategy alternative asset manager with professionals located in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Paris and Singapore. Sagard looks to generate attractive returns by matching investment opportunities with flexible capital solutions and pairing entrepreneurs with teams that have deep industry knowledge. We develop long term partnership and empower the growth of our investments through a unique global network of portfolio companies, limited partners, advisors and other valued relationships. Today, Sagard invests across 4 asset classes; equity, private credit (Sagard Credit Partners), royalties (Sagard Healthcare Royalty Partners), and venture capital (Portag3 Ventures and Diagram). Sagard Holdings was founded by Power Corporation of Canada in 2005 as a complement to its global investment holdings.

About Newcastle University, UK

Newcastle University, UK, is a thriving international community of some 27,750 students from over 130 countries worldwide. As a member of the Russell Group of research intensive universities in the UK, Newcastle has a world-class reputation for research excellence in the fields of medicine, science and engineering, social sciences and the humanities. Its academics are sharply focused on responding to the major challenges facing society today. Our research and teaching are world-leading in areas as diverse as health, culture, technology and the environment. The Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF) placed Newcastle University 16th in the UK for Research Power and the vast majority of our research (78%) was assessed to be world-leading or internationally excellent. Newcastle University is committed to providing our students with excellent, research-led teaching delivered by dedicated and passionate teachers. This is reaffirmed by achieving the best possible outcome - a Gold Award - in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Newcastle is placed joint top 9 in Europe for teaching excellence in the Times Higher Education Europe Teaching Rankings.

About Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives. Cancer Research UK receives no funding from the UK government for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on vital donations from the public. Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years. Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses. Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300-123-1022 or visit http://www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow Cancer Research UK on Twitter and Facebook.

For press inquiries, contact:

Adam Daifallah

514-316-7089

adaifallah@hatleystrategies.com

For investor inquiries, contact:

Janice Woo

646-774-1579

woo@sagardholdings.com

SOURCE Sagard Healthcare Royalty PartnersNEW YORK, April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 30, 2019 resoundingly dismissed as "ill-advised" and "far-fetched" a lawsuit brought by the Republic of Kazakhstan against Anatolie Stati, Gabriel Stati, and the two companies they own, Ascom Group, S.A. and Terra Raf Trans Trading Ltd.

Kazakhstan's lawsuit alleged violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), and the common law torts of fraud and civil conspiracy in connection with the Stati parties' efforts to recover compensation for assets that Kazakhstan expropriated several years ago. Specifically, Kazakhstan claimed that defendants obtained an arbitral award from the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in December 2013 in Sweden through fraud, and that defendants' subsequent efforts to use legal process to enforce and collect on that arbitral award have been unlawful.

The U.S. Court granted the Stati parties' motion to dismiss the suit, noting that a "RICO civil suit is not a vehicle to challenge non-frivolous litigation, or in this case, a valid and final foreign arbitral award." The Court held that the "suit is yet another attempt to relitigate the underlying arbitral award. Whatever fraud Kazakhstan contends occurred before and during the SCC arbitration more than eight years ago, it had a full opportunity to raise those issues in the appeals process in Sweden and its allegations were rejected."

The Court concluded that "casting defendants' enforcement proceedings now as an unlawful 'pattern of racketeering activity,' is an improper use of the auspices of this Court to revive and prolong a dispute that is over."

Anatolie Stati, CEO and shareholder of Ascom Group, one of the defendants to the action, said: "We welcome the latest judgment of the U.S. Court. It represents a very clear and strong rebuke to the dilatory and bad faith litigation tactics continuously pursued by the Kazakh Government. The government has deployed extraordinary financial, political and diplomatic resources with a view to avoiding honoring its binding international treaty obligations. Investors in Kazakhstan should take note of the country's repeated failure to honor the investment protections that it claims it provides to foreign investment."

The U.S. court's ruling is the latest development in the Stati parties' long-running battle to enforce the Award for Kazakhstan's violations of the investor protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. A tribunal constituted under the auspices of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce found that Kazakhstan violated its international obligation to treat the Stati parties' investments fairly and equitably and awarded the Stati parties more than US$500 million in damages, legal costs, and interest. The Award has since been fully upheld by two tiers of the Swedish judiciary, including the Swedish Supreme Court.

The claims originally arose out of Kazakhstan's seizure of the Stati parties' petroleum operations in 2010. The Stati parties acquired two companies in 1999 that held idle licenses in the Borankol and Tolkyn fields in Kazakhstan. They invested more than US$1 billion over the ensuing decade to turn the companies into successful exploration and production businesses. By late 2008, the businesses had become profitable and had yielded considerable revenues for the Kazakh state. Just as the Stati parties expected to start receiving dividends, more than half a dozen government agencies carried out multiple burdensome inspections and audits of the companies' businesses that resulted in false accusations of illegal conduct directed at the Stati parties and their Kazakh companies, including criminal prosecutions of their general managers on false pretenses. Kazakhstan's actions challenged the Stati parties' title to their investments, subjected them to hundreds of millions of dollars in unwarranted tax assessments and criminal penalties, and ultimately led to the seizure and nationalization of their investments by Kazakh authorities in 2010.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Kimberly Macleod

(917) 587-0069

kim@kmacconnect.com

Chris Winans

(908) 309-3959

chris@kmacconnect.com

SOURCE The Stati PartiesNEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Access Industries, a privately held industrial group, announced today the appointment of Dr. Liam Ratcliffe to head Access Biotechnology, a newly formed strategic investment arm specializing in therapeutic platforms and products.

Dr. Ratcliffe, with a background in drug development and translational medicine, previously was managing director at New Leaf Venture Partners, where he focused on investing in biotherapeutics companies for the past 10 years.

Before that, he was global head of clinical research and development and head of neuroscience development at Pfizer, where he worked for 13 years. As head of neurosciences, he was responsible for the development of several successful late-stage projects and marketed products.

"I am excited to join Access Industries and to lead the life science investment effort at this transformative time in our industry," he said. "I look forward to working with innovators, companies and fellow investors to enable the delivery of truly novel medical products that improve and prolong human lives."

Len Blavatnik, founder and chairman of U.S.-based Access Industries, said, "Liam brings to Access significant expertise and experience as we pursue important life sciences-related investments in the years ahead."

Dr. Ratcliffe holds a medical degree and a doctorate in immunology from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He completed his internal medicine training and fellowship in Immunology at Groote Schuur Hospital and additional teaching hospitals in Cape Town.

About Access Biotechnology

Access Biotechnology is the life science investment arm of Access Industries. The investment strategy is broad, long term and aims to enable truly innovative therapeutic platforms and products across three key stages: company foundation, technology translation and company expansion. Our approach is based on rigorous diligence and we provide value-added support from our extensive experience and networks.

About Access Industries

Access Industries is a privately held, U.S.-based industrial group with global strategic investments. Founded in 1986 by Len Blavatnik, an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Access invests to maximize long-term value in regional and global developments. Its industrial focus spans four key sectors: natural resources and chemicals; media and telecommunications; real estate and hospitality; and venture capital. For more information, please visit www.accessindustries.com.

For media enquiries please contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Access Industries

Related Links

http://www.accessindustries.com

ANNVILLE, Pa., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Maj. Gen. Tony Carrelli, Pennsylvania's adjutant general and head of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), talked about the importance of Governor Tom Wolf's proposed PA GI Bill, or Military Family Education Program (MFEP), during the Pennsylvania National Guard Associations' (PNGAS) higher education meeting. The program would be the first of its kind in the nation if passed by the PA General Assembly.

The proposed PA GI bill would enable members of the Pennsylvania National Guard (PNG) to earn college benefits for their spouse and children by re-enlisting for an additional six-year term of service in the PA National Guard. The benefits would need to be used at a Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) approved educational institution, and at the tuition rate set by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

Gov. Wolf announced plans for the PA GI Bill with Gen. Carrelli and legislators at PA National Guard headquarters at Fort Indiantown Gap in February.

"We appreciate the support from all of you here today representing higher education, as we work to make this bill a reality for our Pennsylvania National Guard members and their families," said Carrelli at this morning's event. "Our families serve and sacrifice right alongside of our guardsmen and providing this educational opportunity for our families is one way to show them how grateful Pennsylvania is for their personal sacrifice."

Carrelli said that in addition to supporting military family members, this program would also improve PNG retention and strengthen its readiness.

"The PNG is comprised of highly trained soldiers and airmen who are experts in their specialty areas and are frequently called for federal or state duty. It's critical to Pennsylvania and the nation that we retain these talented men and women," said Carrelli. "This is a great re-enlistment incentive for these service members who are not only protecting commonwealth and country, but also want to secure a bright future for their family."

The education benefit would be available to PNG members and existing service members transferring into the PNG who completed their initial military term and commit to an additional six years of PNG service. The program will provide for 10 semesters of tuition-free education for family member(s).

Currently, PNG members are eligible for the Education Assistance Program with their initial service obligation of six years that provides them a non-transferable educational benefit.

PNGAS is the only organization solely dedicated to fighting for the Pennsylvania National Guard and its nearly 20,000 members. PNGAS activities are designed to ensure the PA National Guard is fully manned, equipped, and trained to perform its missions as well as improving the benefits of all members and veterans of the PA National Guard and their families.

For more information about the DMVA, visit us online at www.dmva.pa.gov or follow us at www.facebook.com/padmva or www.twitter.com/padmva.

MEDIA CONTACT: Joan Nissley, 717-861-8720

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

Related Links

http://www.dmva.pa.gov

NORWICH, England, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Norwich-based digital media company BizClik Media has published the April issue of Business Chief Asia, which can be read here.

HGC Global Communications, one of Hong Kong's top telecommunications firms with a significant international presence, is committed to deploying disruptive technologies to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving industry. Business Chief caught up with Chief Digital Officer, Jacqueline Teo, to discuss the firm's ambitious transition into a new digital era and how its operations are always driven with a focus on the customer. "I look at technology as a means that will provide a positive experience to the user, and having an understanding of the importance of that return of investment allows me to think differently," says Teo, discussing her strategy in this month's cover story.

Leading sugar manufacturer AB Sugar, which has significant operations in China, is harnessing digital technology to drive increased sustainability across its global supply chain and own internal operations. Business Chief spoke with Katharine Teague, Head of Advocacy at the firm, to find out more about the company's success in positively impacting communities across its supply chain whilst simultaneously mitigating water usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

The city-state of Singapore is both the subject of this month's City Focus and number one in the rundown of Asia's top ten smart cities, which takes an in-depth look at the most digitally progressive cities in the region.

Don't forget to check out the company profiles for SoftBank, SunLife Financial Asia, Sumitomo Chemical, Apollo Tyres and more.

If you would like to be considered for a feature in an upcoming issue of Business Chief Asia, please get in touch at [email protected] .

Read the April issue of Business Chief Asia here.

About Business Chief

Business Chief is a media brand fit for the digital age, providing cutting-edge content tailored for company executives, business pioneers and industry thinkers.

Divided into eight separate regional titles, Business Chief tells the stories that matter to business leaders and professionals on their way to the top. Through our expertly-crafted digital magazines, websites, videos and social media, those stories reach the right people. Our flagship features are the Leadership Showcases; exclusive interviews with key decision-makers at some of the biggest companies on the globe, documenting their journeys to business transformation and the lessons they've learned along the way.

With further themes focused on technology, talent and sustainability, Business Chief has insight on the trends that matter to C and V-level executives, while also delivering consumer-friendly lifestyle content to reflect their interests and wider ambitions. On top of all that and more, Business Chief showcases in-depth digital reports on companies every month, ensuring it covers every angle in the world of business.

www.businesschief.com

SOURCE BizClik MediaLONDON and AUSTIN, Texas, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing to push the boundaries of what's possible with intelligent automation software, Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM) today delivered on its connected-RPA vision announcing new capabilities and enhancements supporting the world's most advanced digital workforce. The new platform capabilities being highlighted at Blue Prism World in London include a beta intelligent document processing program, enhanced open source and community engagement features, as well as support for Google Analytics on Blue Prism's Digital Exchange (DX).

"We see great value in embedding and merging RPA with AI capabilities into a unified platform," said Maureen Fleming, Program Vice President, Intelligent Process Automation at IDC. "The convergence of AI with RPA extends the capabilities of a digital workforce, especially in areas where cost of manual efforts can be high and the tasks themselves repetitive but mission-critical."

Delivering Intelligent Document Processing

Blue Prism's connected-RPA puts the power of AI in the hands of business leaders in order to enable operational agility. Blue Prism Decipher adds AI-powered document processing directly built into the Blue Prism platform, enabling smarter, end-to-end processing of document workflows. Downloadable from the Digital Exchange, Blue Prism Decipher is an ideal intelligent document processing solution that can scan invoices, identify data pointsregardless of their format and location, then extract those data points for use within RPA processes.

For example, Blue Prism Decipher will be pre-trained and optimized to work with inbound invoices enabling Blue Prism digital workers to input invoices into an Accounts Payable (AP) system and then match those invoices to outstanding purchase orders, seamlessly. The software is visually intuitive and easy to use, which aligns with Blue Prism's goal of empowering non-technical users to help drive intelligent automation initiatives. In the future, Blue Prism Decipher will support many other document types such as inbound purchase orders, contracts and resumes as well as providing integration with best-of-breed, third-party document processing capabilities.

Blue Prism Decipher is also the first product to result directly from Blue Prism's dedicated AI Research Labs headquartered in London, which brings together PhD level research scientists and engineers across multiple AI fields, a world-class brain trust on the future of work, who will inform and spearhead developments on the company's embedded AI capabilities.

Blue Prism customers and prospects interested in becoming a Decipher beta tester can file an application starting today. Starting within the next 90 days, the beta program will provide hands on access to Decipher for invoice processing. Following the trial, the Blue Prism Decipher software will be posted on the DX for free download by all Blue Prism customers.

Enhancements to Blue Prism DX

In addition, the company introduced new capabilities to its Blue Prism Digital Exchange (DX)an intelligent automation marketplace comprising of customers, technology and channel partners. Since launching just over four months ago, the DX has amassed more than 3,000 registered users from nearly 600 registered companies who can download over 100 assets to accelerate the time to market for their intelligent automation projects.

Key enhancements include integration with Google Analytics to provide more visibility into how assets are being downloaded and used. Support for open sourced Blue Prism assets being shared via GitHub as well as the ability for partners and customers to securely share proprietary assets. A key differentiator, Blue Prism customers and implementation partners can now use DX to share proprietary assets privately and securely. Private assets will be available for limited release and once setup, displayed on the DX when the user is logged in and is a member of the company that marked it as private.

Continued Community Support & Development

Blue Prism also continues to enhance its Process Discovery Tool, first launched in January. Available to everyone, this RPA community and collaboration tool has already garnered the support from nearly 400 separate organizations, in almost 60 countries. To date, over 760 processes have been assessed using the Process Discovery Tool with new ones being reviewed daily.

The value of this tool is that it connects Blue Prism directly with end-users and partners by enabling a conversation that is transparent while helping to share best practices. This is critical to building out a sustainable pipeline for automation projects. Of the processes assessed by those organizations considered active, 49 percent sit in the 'Ready' category. These processes alone could deliver over 1 million hours back to the business annually (or 4,300 hours per-process on average).

"Overall we found the tool was very useful and intuitive. It helped us to ask the right questions and facilitated the process analysis. It also helped us to shape the communication to senior management including C-level execs. So, we will continue to use the tool going forward," said Stefan Hosli, CFA and head of Business Transformation at InCube Group.

About Blue Prism

In this digital era where start-ups are constantly disrupting markets, only the most agile and innovative enterprises survive and thrive. At Blue Prism, we pioneered Robotic Process Automation (RPA), emerging as the trusted and secure intelligent automation choice for the Fortune 500 and public-sector market. Now we bring you connected-RPA supported by the Digital Exchange (DX) app storemarrying internal entrepreneurship with the power of crowdsourced innovation.

Blue Prism's connected-RPA can automate and perform mission critical processes, allowing your people the freedom to focus on more creative, meaningful work. More than 1,300 global customers leverage Blue Prism's digital workforce, empowering their people to automate billions of transactions while returning hundreds of millions of hours of work back to the business. Visit www.blueprism.com to learn more about Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM).

Follow Blue Prism on Twitter @blue_prism and on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Blue Prism

Related Links

http://blueprism.com

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SBG Technology Solutions, Inc. (SBG) is proud to announce that its President & CEO, Carlos Del Toro, has recently been elected to the Board of Directors of the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan policy research center working to protect people, preserve the planet, and promote security and prosperity.

"The Stimson Center was founded in 1989 when the world was changing radically, and familiar policy prescriptions were increasingly irrelevant. We were drawn to Henry L. Stimson as our namesake because he embodied the traits of international engagement and bipartisanship. Like Stimson, we wished to pursue pragmatic steps toward ideal objectives."  Barry Blechman and Michael Krepon, Co-Founders, Stimson Center.

Henry L. Stimson (1867-1950) was a lawyer and statesman who served every American president but one, from Taft to Truman. Considered one of America's great statesmen  and noted for his ability to identify and implement nonpartisan solutions  his record of achievement was long and distinguished. This year, the Stimson Center celebrates its 30th anniversary, having recently been recognized as one of the top 19 Think Tanks in the United States by the University of Pennsylvania. One of many interesting roles, Carlos will serve on the Stimson Center's Loomis Council  a forum for America's technology leaders and policymakers to identify common values, share expertise, develop solutions, and consider the future of technology policy in the U.S. and worldwide. Learn more at: https://www.stimson.org/

"I'm thrilled and honored to be elected to the Board of the Stimson Center! Their dedication to promoting security and prosperity; protecting people; and preserving the planet by developing grand strategies in pivotal places is recognized worldwide. I look forward to helping the Stimson Center in their mission to make the world a better place for future generations to treasure."  Carlos Del Toro

About SBG Technology Solutions

SBG Technology Solutions is a service-disabled Veteran-Owned small business celebrating 15 Years of Service to our nation and customers by delivering high-quality, modern, and secure solutions with integrity, courage, and personal commitment. Leveraging its extensive IT and engineering services expertise, SBG offers customers a comprehensive, enterprise-wide approach to executing critical missions. With a strong focus on the clients' strategic business needs, SBG provides best-in-class solutions to govern modernization, optimize operations, and secure vital IT infrastructure.

Our clients include the Department of Defense; the Defense Health Agency; the Defense Threat Reduction Agency; the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Defense Intelligence Agency; the Transportation Security Administration; the U.S. Army National Guard; and the U.S. Navy. For more information, please visit www.sbgts.com.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and with a physical presence in five other states, SBG boasts a nationwide reach and a sterling reputation for innovation, integrity, and delivering results.

SOURCE SBG Technology Solutions, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sbgts.com

HELENA, Mont., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- While there are many ways to experience Montana, one of the bestespecially if you're interested in fishing, horseback riding, float trips, biking or overnight pack tripsis to go with an outfitter or guide. And in a place as vast and diverse as Montana, rest assured there are plenty of experienced guides who are well-equipped to share their piece of Big Sky Country with you.

Soak in the beauty of Montana with a guide. (Photo Courtesy: Visit Montana)

Known for its expansive landscapes and abundant wildlife, Montana's northeast corner is a paradise for those looking to enjoy the great outdoors while fishing, hunting, camping or wildlife watching. Discover Fort Peck Lake, Montana's largest body of water. The lake is 134 miles long, has more than 1,520 miles of shoreline and is home to more than 50 species of fish, making it an ideal destination for fishing trips to land walleye, lake trout, salmon, paddlefish, smallmouth bass and northern pike. Guided fishing services are available with Billingsley Ranch Outfitters and Kibler Charter Fishing.

Travel south to experience the cowboy lifestyle with a guided horseback ride or an old-fashioned cowboy cookout. Take in the views of the Yellowstone Valley on a guided trail ride with Elk River Outfitters in Billings and Red Lodge, or enjoy a covered wagon ride to a steak dinner at Happy Pappy's Cowboy Cookout in Huntley.

Explore one of the state's most undiscovered destination, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The third-largest canyon in the United States, Bighorn Canyon is ideal for camping, trout fishing, hiking and experiencing this distinct geological feature in Montana. After soaking in the view of the lake and the cliffs that surround it by boat, book a guided fly-fishing trip to one of Montana's world-class fishing destinations, the nearby Bighorn River.

A Montana river guide is one of the best ways to explore the vast network of crisscrossing waterways. Additional blue-ribbon fishing can be found on the longest free-flowing river in the continental United States, the Yellowstone. Winding its way through Southeast Montana, the Yellowstone River is prime for overnight trips, kayaking, floating and fishing. Many guides offer trips on a variety of rivers throughout the region, including Bighorn Angler in Fort Smith, Eagle Nest Lodge & Outfitters in Hardin and Eastslope Outfitters in Billings.

Whether you're searching for a peaceful scenic float or a thrilling whitewater adventure, guided rafting trips give you an amazing look at Montana's waterways. Head to the Gallatin River with Montana Whitewater. for a heart pumping adventure through Class IV+ whitewater in the Mad Mile or opt for a leisurely day of floating through some of Montana's most glorious scenery.

In addition to day rides, there are seasoned outfitters who can take you into some of the state's most special, untamed places known as Montana's backcountry.

Visiting western Montana? Travel to East Glacier Park for a trail ride led by Glacier Gateway Tailrides on the lands of the Blackfeet Nation, giving you a chance to learn about the history and culture of Montana's largest tribe. Take an interpretive tour through Glacier National Park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and learn about the natural wonders of the park as well as its cultural relevance. Go on a guided biking tour with Glacier Guides and let experienced guides show you Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road before it is open to vehicular traffic.

Find more information on outfitters and guides at WWW.VISITMT.COM.

About The Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development (MOTBD)

MOTBD markets Montana's spectacular unspoiled nature, vibrant and charming small towns, breathtaking experiences, relaxing hospitality and competitive business climate to promote the state as a place to visit and do business. For more information, go to VISITMT.COM .

SOURCE Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development

Related Links

https://www.visitmt.com

Since China has entered a development stage with slowing steel demand growth and with increasing scrap supply reducing the need for hot metal, the coke sector will continue to be subject to capacity consolidation and rationalisation for environmental protection purposes. In addition to capacity reductions, the coke industry will also be 'greener' in the coming decade through the replacement of inefficient, small coke ovens by larger and cleaner ovens.

The government will keep cracking down on pollution

The 13th National People's Congress (NPC) began its annual two-week meeting on 05 March. During what was arguably most important policy meeting, the Chinese government said it would maintain the good results achieved in environmental protection over the last two years. This means that polluting industries, including coke operations, will be discouraged in coming years.

CRU has identified that coke making is, in theory, the second largest emission source at an integrated steel mill. The 0.27 kg/tonne of crude steel of PM emission is only second to that of the steelshop and accounts for ~28% of total PM emissions from the integrated steel mill. Given this, coke oven operations have been more closely watched and restricted by the government in 2018. In fact, hot metal capacity restrictions have been relaxed for most of the 2018/2019 WHS, but restrictions on coke operations have been stricter, largely in response to high pollution levels. Although air quality improvements were not as significant as those in the 2017/2018 WHS, when overall capacity restrictions were more aggressive, it still improved significantly compared with badly polluted years prior to 2017. Controlling coke capacity is much easier and less costly than restricting BF operations and can achieve results acceptable to the government.

Read the full story: https://www.crugroup.com/knowledge-and-insights/insights/2019/chinese-coke-capacity-to-fall-in-the-coming-decade/

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PARIS and CAMBRIDGE, MA, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ENTEROME SA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its unique knowledge of the key functional and molecular interactions between the gut microbiome and the human body to develop targeted therapeutics, today announces the appointment of two new members to its management team: Jan Fagerberg M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer and Catherine Mathis, Pharm.D. as Chief Development Officer.

"We are pleased that Jan and Catherine are joining us to complement our team," said Pierre Belichard, CEO of Enterome. "We believe their extensive clinical and regulatory experience across biotech and big pharma will be key assets as we prepare to initiate clinical trials with EO2401, an innovative, immunotherapy developed using our molecular mimicry approach, for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). We also believe the collective and in-depth expertise of our expanded management team and across the organization will allow us to capitalize on the potential of our microbiome-based approach to further develop the company and its portfolio of novel therapeutics."

Jan Fagerberg MD, PhD

Dr. Jan Fagerberg is a board-certified clinical oncologist with more than 25 years of experience in cancer drug development. He gained an M.D. and a Ph.D. (in immuno-oncology) from the Karolinska Institute (Sweden), and subsequently spent ten years in oncology practice and academic translational immuno-oncology research at the Karolinska Hospital. He joined Roche in 1999, working both in Europe and the United States in various positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately serving as Therapeutic Area Expert Oncology at Hoffmann-La Roche in Switzerland. After Roche, Dr. Fagerberg served as the Medical Director at TopoTarget A/S and as the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Micromet A/G. After this, he served as Vice President, Global Development and Managing Director at Amgen Research GmbH, and subsequently as Chief Medical Officer at SOTIO a.s. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Fagerberg served as Senior Adviser at Fagerberg Oncology SA. Dr. Fagerberg has published more than 60 articles related to immuno-oncology/oncology in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr Fagerberg said: "I am excited to be joining Enterome at a particularly inspiring time for the Company. I look forward to working with the Enterome team and building on its promising portfolio of product candidates by advancing novel immunotherapies derived from Enterome's unique understanding of the microbiome to help cancer patients."

Catherine Mathis, Pharm D

Catherine Mathis has over 25 years of experience in clinical research and regulatory affairs in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, particularly in the fields of immunology and oncology. During this time, she has gained significant experience in product development and regulatory strategy and conducted interactions with the health authorities in Europe (European Medicines Agency and National Competence Authority) and in the United States (Food and Drug Administration). Prior to joining Enterome, Ms. Mathis served as Chief Operating Officer and Head of Regulatory Affairs at ElsaLys Biotech. She also served for nearly 20 years as Head of Regulatory Affairs at Transgene, a French biotech company developing virus-based immunotherapies against cancers, and before this was at Sanofi-Pasteur and Ipsen. Ms. Mathis gained a Pharm.D. and then earned a Master's degree in applied and basic toxicology from the Paris Diderot University.

Catherine Mathis said: "I am honored to join Enterome. I look forward to working with Jan and the rest of Enterome's management team to capitalize on its leadership position in understanding the relationship between the gut microbiome and human disease to develop new therapeutic approaches targeting auto-immune diseases and cancer."

About Enterome

Enterome is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its unique knowledge of the key functional and molecular interactions between the gut microbiome and the human body to develop targeted therapeutics. By combining its drug development expertise with its proprietary discovery and bioinformatics platform, Enterome is able to undertake a full genomic and functional analysis of the microbiome and identify, isolate and characterize extensive libraries of bioactive molecules in order to discover novel drug targets and product candidates. Enterome is developing a broad product pipeline of small molecules, short peptides and protein therapeutic candidates for the treatment of cancer, including immuno-oncology, and auto-immune disorders. Enterome has also established four collaboration partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies and currently has seven programs in development or co-development: two first-in-class clinical-stage product candidates and five preclinical programs.

SOURCE EnteromeThe new position has been set up as part of the strategic roadmap, which focuses on transforming ESTEVE into a proprietary specialty pharmaceutical company. This focus requires ESTEVE to supplement its internal R&D pipeline with high quality assets from external sources. On the path towards becoming a proprietary specialty pharma company, ESTEVE needs to gain access to external innovation through product partnerships or acquisitions, as well as through strategic alliances.

Mr. Riisager has more than 15 years of experience in business development, including in-licensing, out-licensing as well as acquisitions of numerous products and companies in the pharmaceutical sector, and he has led several large acquisition projects. He has held important positions within Global Business Development, M&A and Portfolio Management. Until his appointment at ESTEVE, Mr. Riisager was VP and Head of Global Business Development and Strategy at Lundbeck, Valby, Denmark.

He holds a MSc in Economics from the University of Copenhagen and has studied in the management of Mergers, Acquisitions and Investments from the Copenhagen Business School and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (USA).

"Thomas has a proven track record in establishing alliances, managing acquisitions across global companies," said Mr. Schuberg, "I'm sure he will help us foster our exciting journey of transformation into a global proprietary company in the neurosciences segment."

In Mr. Riisager's words, "I am proud and humbly take on this important and highly interesting position as Head of Corporate Strategy and Business Development at ESTEVE. I am certain that  via close collaboration with the ESTEVE management team, the ESTEVE Board and the rest of the ESTEVE employees we will succeed in becoming a global specialty pharma company."

More information and media contacts:

Maria Angels Valls

Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer, ESTEVE

Tel. (+34)93-446-60-00, (+34)696-47-47-24

email: [email protected]

SOURCE ESTEVEThe florists chose April, Stress Awareness Month, to launch the tour, as a recent survey by Wakefield Research shows that 68 percent of Americans experience stress weekly, and 32 percent report feeling stressed daily. Fittingly, the tour kicks off at flower power's iconic center, Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. After a day of stress-relief in and around San Francisco, the bus is heading to Portland and Seattle to share the joy.

The stress-alleviating power of flowers was recently proven by researchers at the University of North Florida. According to their Department of Public Health, living with flowers significantly reduces stress. This is the latest example of the science behind flowers and well-being, as previously Harvard has uncovered how flowers increase feelings of kindness and compassion, and Rutgers University researchers proved that flowers make people truly happy.

"Flower power is absolutely real and provides a moment of calm we all need in the fast-paced world we live in," said Jennifer Sparks of the Society of American Florists. "What was intuitive in the '60s has been proven by contemporary research. We're returning to where it all began to pay homage to the past and boost the moods of those who receive flowers, and hopefully everyone who sees us driving by."

SOURCE Society of American FloristsCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Folium Biosciences and CannaSecure Alliance proudly announce the formation of Folium Finance, Trusted Financial Engineering, available exclusively to Folium Biosciences' customers. The first-of-its-kind program is designed specifically for Folium's CBD/Hemp customer in mind to deliver a variety of services, including Supply Chain Financing (SFC), competitive CBD Merchant Processing services, traditional bank accounts, CBD/Hemp-friendly credit lines, P&C insurance, and employee insurance benefits.

"Being completely vertically integrated gives us control of the seed to sale process. However, Folium Finance gives our customer another level of critical integration with exclusive access to an ecosystem that allows them to drive their business forward through stable, competitive, and value-based financial solutions," said Folium Biosciences CEO Kashif Shan. "With demand for CBD products exploding globally, our exclusive program's credit lines give businesses access to cash-flow quickly, helping them build resources and inventory to meet demand. In an industry where banking options are still limited, no other supplier provides such extensive, turn-key options for their customers."

"Trust is key for us. Our consultative approach and concierge services give our customers a level of trust that allows them to make informed decisions within an ever-changing and fast-paced industry. CannaSecure Alliance's transparent approach matched our desire to create the hemp industry's premier and only total financial solutions program," Shan added.

Folium's Financial Engineers strategically assist clients to achieve profitable growth by resolving critical business challenges of sustainable banking, de-risking operational liabilities, and providing finance/capital strategies.

"Our mission is to make Folium Finance a one-stop-shop resource for financial services, lending, and insurance to support customer business growth, security, and profitability objectives," said John Schilhab, CannaSecure Alliance's Partner responsible for Strategic Relationships. "This invaluable partnership ultimately provides a significant convenience factor for Folium Biosciences' customers without compromising quality."

Australis CEO Scott Dowty and CFO Michael Carlotti served as strategic advisors to the formation of Folium Finance. Carlotti's 23 years of experience in corporate finance, capital raising, investing, and mergers & acquisitions provided invaluable insight on product design and execution. Australis will continue to engage with Folium Finance as the program further establishes itself as the competitive advantage and industry banking standard.

"Our growing relationship with Folium Biosciences provides Australis and our brands access to the true global leader in the CBD space," said Scott Dowty, CEO of Australis. "Australis' recent investment of $3,000,000 USD in the form of a private offering was only the first step to our long-term partnership. Folium has always been positioned at the nexus of technology, innovation, and science in the hemp space so it comes as no surprise that they are taking the next step by implementing an all-encompassing, self-sustaining financial ecosystem. We firmly believe Folium Finance's impressive and complete suite of financial service solutions is the industry game-changer."

For more information about Folium Finance or Folium Biosciences, please visit www.foliumbiosciences.com.

About Folium Biosciences

Folium Biosciences is the largest vertically-integrated producer, manufacturer, and global distributor of hemp-derived phytocannabinoids. It is a B2B, bulk and wholesale supplier of hemp-derived CBD 0.0% THC oil, CBD water-soluble technology, CBD 0.0% THC edibles, cosmeceuticals and CBD for animal health.

Folium Biosciences has over 300K square feet of manufacturing space in southern Colorado which supports processing, extraction, and purification operations. Construction has begun on a 170K sq. ft. facility in Canada that will mirror current operations in Colorado. South American facilities are in the developing stages.

Most recently, Folium Biosciences successfully acquired FeyeCon Development and Implementation, BV and FeyeCon, BV ("FeyeCon"), located in Amsterdam. B.V. FeyeCon is one of Amsterdam's first licensed cannabis researchers and developers and designs and fabricates custom, state-of-the-art, large scale processing equipment, and supercritical CO2 extraction machinery.

Folium Biosciences is the only hemp company issued a Certificate of Free Sale and a Manufactured Food Establishment License by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE). These certifications help establish Folium Biosciences as the industry's premier hemp company for manufacturing, processing and fulfilling of Folium Biosciences' phytocannabinoid-rich CBD oil, water-soluble technologies and finished food products.

About Australis Capital Inc.

Australis Capital identifies and invests in the cannabis industry predominately in the United States, a highly regulated, fragmented, rapidly expanding and evolving industry. Investments may include and are not limited to equity, debt or other securities of both public and private companies, financings in exchange for royalties or other distribution streams, and control stake acquisitions. Australis Capital adheres to stringent investment criteria and focuses on significant near and mid-term high-quality opportunities with strong return potentials while maintaining a steadfast commitment to governance and community.

Media Contact:

Jeannie Lee

Director of PR

(407) 342.1323

[email protected]

SOURCE Folium Biosciences

Related Links

https://www.foliumbiosciences.com

DUBLIN, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market: Focus on Equipment (Tractors, Combine Harvesters, Sprayers, and Planters) and Next Generation Agriculture Equipment - Analysis and Forecast 2018-2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Farm productivity across the globe has been significantly increasing since the last decade. With the exponential growth of the world population, subsequent rise in global demand for food, shrinking agricultural lands, and depletion of finite natural resources, the need to enhance farm yield has become critical.

The increase in urban population in developing countries with the enhancement of quality of living due to high income levels and the demand for fresh crop produce and animal protein are the major factors boosting the demand for crop production.

Limited availability of natural resources, such as fresh water and arable land, along with declining yield trends in several staple crops, have prompted growers and companies in the farming sector to introduce innovative agriculture equipment in order to enhance farm profitability.



The farming industry has witnessed numerous revolutions over decades starting from the domestication of livestock and crops to the organized use of crop rotation with the help of new farming techniques. This was followed by the large-scale usage of fertilizers and pesticides and systematic breeding called the green revolution. Finally, with the introduction of Information and communication technologies (ICT) in farming since the last decade, the farming industry has been witnessing another revolutionary phase.

Over the last decade, the agriculture equipment market has witnessed a steady growth in terms of technological advancement and cost reduction. Moreover, the rapid development of contract farming services and corporate partnerships has led to the increased demand for powered agriculture equipment across the globe.



Another looming concern over the farming industry is the changing structure of agricultural workforce. Numerous countries across the world are witnessing an increase in average age of farmers. According to 2012 Census of Agriculture, the average age of a farmer in the U.S. was 58, which has increased by 8 years, since 1982. According to the Labor Force Survey of 2016, 59.2% of the working population were 40-64 years old in the European Union countries.

Alarmingly, the average age of farmers in Japan was found to be 65.8 in 2013, as per the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research. Agricultural labor in most of the countries has declined as well. As per World Bank, the East Asia and Pacific region has witnessed a decline from 51% in 1991 to 21% in 2017, whereas Latin America and the Caribbean Countries witnessed a shift from 25% in 1991 to 14% in 2017.

Subsequently, change in structure of agricultural workforce has made farm labor expensive across the world over time. This change in the global aging demographic has eventually triggered the adoption of powered agriculture equipment.



The powered agriculture equipment market is projected to grow from $XX billion in 2017 to $151.19 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of XX% from 2018 to 2023. High growth in the market is expected to be driven by the increasing need for increasing agriculture production and reducing the requirement of manual labor. Moreover, the global powered agriculture equipment market has been strongly motivated by the substantial support of the government in terms of investments, favorable initiatives, and trade policies.



The powered agriculture equipment market encompasses a wide array of solutions such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, and other equipment such as tilling equipment, haymaking equipment and balers. Farm tractors accounted for the largest share in the market, followed by a combine harvester, planters and sprayers. Farmers across the globe are increasingly adopting powered agriculture equipment to improve the yield, soil fertility, operational efficiency, and profitability.



The demand for next-generation powered agriculture equipment is growing due to the increasing applications in the farming industry. Farmers across the world are using auto-guided tractors to reduce multiple trips for farm monitoring, hence reducing crop damage, and fuel consumption.

Some of the major next-generation agriculture equipment penetrating the market are drones, harvesting robots, and driverless tractors. These equipment are witnessing gradual adoption by the farmers especially in the U.S., Australia and Germany. Some other emerging agriculture equipment is robotic sprayers and weeding robots.



The trends of the powered agriculture equipment market vary across different geographical regions. The powered agriculture equipment market holds a prominent share in various countries of the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Rest-of-the-World (RoW). In 2017, Asia-Pacific was at the forefront of the global powered agriculture equipment market, with huge market concentration in China and India.



Competitive Landscape



The competitive landscape for the powered agriculture market demonstrates an inclination toward companies adopting strategies such as product launch and development. The major established players in the market are focusing on product launches and developments to introduce new technologies or developing further on the existing product portfolio.

Deere and Co., CNH Industrial, AGCO Corporation, CLAAS Group, Kinze Manufacturing Inc., ISEKI Group, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Escorts Group, among others, are the prominent players in the powered agriculture equipment market.

The market is highly fragmented with the presence of a huge number of small-sized to medium-sized companies that compete with each other and the large enterprises.



Key players operating in this market have ramped up their product launch activities over the recent years, in order to generate public awareness about their existing and new products and technologies and to compete with the competitors' product portfolio. This has been the most widely adopted strategy by the players in this market.

For instance, in December 2017, AGCO Corporation's brand Massey Ferguson launched a new self-propelled sprayer, MF 9130 Plus. In September 2017, Escorts Group introduced a new electric & hydrostatic concept tractor to expand its portfolio of tractors for the export and domestic market.

Key Topics Covered



Executive Summary

1 Market Dynamics

1.1 Market Drivers

1.1.1 Rising Demand for Farm Mechanization

1.1.2 Cost - Effective Farming Solutions

1.1.3 Favorable Government Initiatives

1.2 Market Restraints

1.2.1 High Initial Investment

1.2.2 Lack of Infrastructure in Emerging Economies

1.3 Market Opportunities

1.3.1 Increasing Growth Opportunities in the Developing Countries

1.3.2 Advent of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Solutions

1.3.3 Integration of Telematics and GPS Technology



2 Competitive Landscape

2.1 Key Market Developments and Strategies

2.1.1 New Product Launches and Developments

2.1.2 Business Expansions and Contracts

2.1.3 Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures

2.1.4 Mergers and Acquisitions

2.1.5 Others (Awards and Recognition)

2.2 Market Share Analysis



3 Industry Analysis

3.1 Impact of Precision Agriculture

3.2 Consortiums in Agricultural Equipment Market

3.3 Supply Chain Analysis

3.4 Upcoming Trends

3.4.1 Big Data Analytics

3.4.2 3D Printing

3.4.3 Advent of Specialty Tractors

3.4.4 Multi Hybrid Seed Planter

3.5 Industry Attractiveness

3.5.1 Threat of New Entrants

3.5.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers

3.5.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

3.5.4 Threat from Substitutes

3.5.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry



4 Global Next Generation Powered Agriculture Equipment Market

4.1 Assumptions for Analysis and Forecast of the Global Next Generation Powered Agriculture Equipment Market

4.2 Limitations for Analysis and Forecast of the Global Next Generation Powered Agriculture Equipment Market

4.3 Market Overview

4.4 Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Drones

4.4.1 Agricultural Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Drones Market (by Value)

4.5 Harvesting & Picking Robots

4.5.1 Harvesting and Picking Robots Market (by Value)

4.6 Driverless Tractors

4.7 Others



5 Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market, (by Type)

5.1 Assumptions for Analysis and Forecast of the Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market

5.2 Limitations for Analysis and Forecast of the Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market

5.3 Market Overview

5.4 Tractors

5.5 Combine Harvesters

5.6 Other Harvester

5.7 Planters

5.8 Sprayers



6 Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market (by Region)

6.1 Asia-Pacific

6.2 The Americas

6.3 Europe

6.4 Rest-of-the-World (RoW)



7 Company Profiles

Companies in Powered Agriculture Equipment

7.1 AGCO Corporation

7.2 CLAAS Group

7.3 CNH Industrial

7.4 Deere & Company

7.5 Escorts Limited

7.6 ISEKI & Co. Ltd.

7.7 Kinze Manufacturing

7.8 Kubota Corporation

7.9 Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M)

7.10 SDF Group

7.11 The Toro Company

7.12 Tirth Agro Technology Private Limited

7.13 Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd.

7.14 Yanmar Co. Ltd.

7.15 Zetor Tractors a.s.

Companies in Next Generation Agriculture Equipment Market

7.16 3D Robotics

7.17 Abundant Robotics Inc

7.18 AgEagle Aerial Systems, Inc.

7.19 ecoRobotix Ltd.

7.20 Harvest Croo Robotics

7.21 Iron Ox

7.22 Parrot SA



8 Report Scope and Methodology

8.1 Report Scope

8.2 Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market Segmentation

8.3 Global Powered Agriculture Equipment Market Research Methodology



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/q7wrtr/global_powered?w=5

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com

CHICAGO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillwood, a Perot company, has acquired two fully occupied logistics facilities totaling 338,000 square feet and 58 acres of vacant land that are part of Grandview Business Park in Yorkville, Wisconsin, (Kenosha/Racine submarket of Chicago).

"We are proud to acquire two highly-functional assets and shovel ready land in a thriving market," said Tom Fishman, Hillwood's executive vice president of acquisitions and dispositions.

The two existing light industrial buildings are occupied by five tenants ranging from 40,000 to 120,000 square feet and offer Class A amenities such as 30' clear heights, 145' truck courts, ESFR fire protection and T-5 lighting. The adjacent vacant land can support up to 845,000 square feet of new construction.

Located within Grandview Business Park, the project has excellent access to Interstate 94 and is one mile from the intersection of Interstate 94 and Highway 11. The central location between Chicago (60 miles south) and Milwaukee (20 miles north) provides users access to both markets.

"Initial development plans for this site include two speculative industrial buildings, that will total just under 200,000 square feet each and can accommodate a variety of users from 25,000 square feet," said Don Schoenheider, Hillwood's senior vice president and market leader for the Midwest. "We expect to break ground this summer for early 2020 delivery."

For more information on Hillwood's acquisition criteria and the latest investments, visit hillwood.com.

About Hillwood

Hillwood is a leader in acquiring and developing high-quality industrial properties across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Hillwood pursues well-located, functional buildings and land and collaboratively builds successful partnerships with public and private landowners, as well as developers to execute and invest throughout a broad spectrum of industrial projects. As a privately held company, Hillwood possesses the depth of capital, market expertise, industry relationships and forward-thinking vision to buy and build industrial properties that meet the logistics, distribution and manufacturing demands of evolving markets.

MEDIA CONTACT

James Fuller, 240-393-1369

[email protected]

Jennifer Cheek, 972220-2965

[email protected]

SOURCE HillwoodNEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Luxury travel goods company, Solgaard, unveils its latest sustainable innovation; the LIFEPACK SOLAR 2.0. The next generation Solgaard solar powered and anti-theft backpack launches today, April 3, 2019, on www.solgaard.co.

Offering security, functionality and practicality, the newly re-engineered Solgaard LIFEPACK SOLAR 2.0 is perfect for commuters and travelers alike. The launch comes three years of further trial, testing and technical insight following the launch of its predecessor, the original Solgaard LIFEPACK 1.0, which debuted on Kickstarter in 2016 raising over $1.2 million.

The new LIFEPACK SOLAR 2.0 is designed for flawless integration with the second series of Solgaard Solarbanks. Engineered to fit inside Solgaard backpacks and luggage accessories allowing for seamless operation and ease of use, the Solgaard Solarbank is now available in two variants:

SOLARBANK : A premium power bank with an integrated solar panel, which can be charged via USB or Solar, storing up to five phone charges. The SOLARBANK features two USB Ports, a Micro USB, and a USB-C port allowing for charging of MacBooks and other laptops that support USB-C.

: A premium power bank with an integrated solar panel, which can be charged via USB or Solar, storing up to five phone charges. The SOLARBANK features two USB Ports, a Micro USB, and a USB-C port allowing for charging of MacBooks and other laptops that support USB-C. SOLARBANK BOOMBOX: The latest upgraded 3-in-1 device featuring Bluetooth speakers, a power bank, and solar unit - storing up to five phone charges while allowing for 96 hours of bass-filled music playback when full. The SOLARBANK BOOMBOX includes two USB ports and a Micro USB port to fully charge the unit from the wall.

Fully loaded with over twelve standout tech driven features, the LIFEPACK SOLAR 2.0 includes an upgraded anti-theft lock allowing the backpack to be secured to any fixed object while also locking it shut, a suitcase mounting strap, four hidden zipper pockets for passports and credit cards, drop-proof laptop storage, a removable window cover designed to clip in to the front power bank window when a Solarbank is not in use, and a 'workzone' and 'lifezone' interior compartment layout allowing for optimal organization.

Echoing the company's mission to make great products that are good for the customer and good for the planet, the new LIFEPACK SOLAR 2.0 features a sustainable interior lining constructed from recycled plastic bottles. Furthermore, Solgaard pulls 5 lbs. of ocean bound plastic for each item sold.

"Having shipped over tens of thousands of the original LIFEPACK direct to consumers in over 60 countries and engaging in close communication with our customers, we were able to further improve on an already great product by identifying its most important features. With our first three years of business behind us, we are proud to bring the upgraded version of our original design - the LIFEPACK SOLAR 2.0 - to market," said Adrian Solgaard, Founder and CEO of Solgaard.

Available in two color variations (Stealth Black and Charcoal), the Solgaard LIFEPACK SOLAR 2.0 launches April 3, 2019 on www.solgaard.co. Pricing ranges from $165 (with SOLARBANK included) to $195 (with SOLARBANK BOOMBOX included).

ABOUT SOLGAARD:

A design driven, sustainable luxury brand always ready for adventure - Solgaard enhances life on-the-go with premium gear for global citizens, while making a positive impact on the planet. A leader in the use of recycled ocean plastics in their products, founded in 2016 by Canadian-Norwegian entrepreneur, Adrian Solgaard, the brand pulls 5lbs of ocean bound plastic for each item sold. Solgaard is headquartered in New York City. Learn more: www.solgaard.co.

MEDIA CONTACT

Emma Garner

SOLGAARD DESIGN

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/introducing-the-solgaard-lifepack-solar-2-0--300823712.html

SOURCE Solgaard

Related Links

http://www.solgaard.co

Istanbul has been a bridge between east and west, Europe and Asia throughout the history. With this new airport, the city is now more active in the aviation sector. Bayram Tekce, Chairman of Antalya Homes Emlak Inc., the leading real estate company that operates in different regions of Turkey, defined Istanbul Airport as the new driving power for the Turkish economy and real-estate sector.

"NOT JUST AN AIRPORT. ISTANBUL COULD BE AEROTROPOLIS."

Tekce stated that Istanbul Airport is a strategically important project for Turkey by saying that such projects will increase the brand value of Istanbul for more investment and this new airport will consolidate Istanbul as a "HUB" in international civil aviation:

"Projections show that Istanbul Airport will employ approximately 225,000 people in 2025 with a $4.2 billion household income contribution. This mega project will have approximately 4.9% share in GNP. These numbers alone can reveal how important it is for Turkey."

"PROPERTY SALES TO FOREIGNERS WILL ACCELERATE WITH ISTANBUL AIRPORT."

Istanbul Airport, as one of the most important investments of Turkey, will positively contribute to real-estate and tourism sectors. Tekce explained that Turkey is ranked top in property purchases by foreigners and foreigner interest will significantly increase in buying property in Turkey:

"Last year, in Turkey, 40,004 properties were sold to foreigners. In the first two months of 2019, sales increased by 87% compared to the same period of the previous year. This year, sales will accelerate even more with Istanbul Airport. Istanbul is a top destination for foreigners to buy Property in Turkey. Last year, 14,270 properties were sold to foreigners in Istanbul. We predict that this number will double in the next 3-years and reach 30,000 per year. We believe that we will have a success story with our offices in Istanbul, Antalya and Trabzon."

Tekce expressed that Istanbul Airport will be the driving force of Turkish economy:

"According to a PwC study in England, each 10% increase in a country's seat capacity in aviation has a 1% contribution to short-term economic growth. Recent developments show the importance of economic growth. PwC's study alone reveals the importance of Istanbul Airport."



Contact:

Mehmet Yilmaz

[email protected]

+44 7470636207

wirecon.com

SOURCE Istanbul HomesMONTREAL, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LGC CAPITAL (LGC Capital Ltd.) (TSXV: LG) (OTCQB: LGGCF) ("LGC") announces four new additions to the executive team. LGC Chief Operating Officer, Remy di Meglio, together with both John McMullen and Mazen Haddad, has assembled this team bringing over 90 year's experience with British American Tobacco and Monsanto to LGC. To lead the team, Mazen Haddad will remain as Co-Chairman and take on the additional role of CEO. John McMullen will assume the role as President and Mark Shinners of Arlington Capital will take on the role of CFO. We would like to thank the outgoing CFO Anthony Samaha for his years of service to LGC helping to grow LGC.

Mazen Haddad stated, "The new additions to our team at LGC have already begun to work on integrating LGC's investments to extract the economies of scale due to geographic diversity and mobilizing a full product range to serve our customers throughout Europe, Canada and Australia. This team brings over 90 years of experience from leading global companies like British American Tobacco, Monsanto, WPP and CNN. With a keen understanding of how to grow and handle global supply chains and distribution on a large scale, brand building and consumer intelligence, regulatory legislation and financial governance, they will bring the discipline and rigor required to build LGC into a leading player in the cannabis market. John McMullen will move into the role of President focusing his efforts on various part of LGC's corporate development and working with our banking partners and developing LGC's public investor base."

Richard Widmann 51, EVP Commercial, joins LGC with over 15 years of experience across 4 continents with British American Tobacco (BAT) business operations in Europe and South Africa and Americas most recently serving as Area Managing Director South Central Europe, a top 5 market for BAT. In this role, Richard achieved in excess of 250 million Euros in profit, managed major acquisitions in Central Europe and realized significant brand growth in South Africa. Richard will lead the commercial strategy and build-up of a pan European Hemp/Cannabis enterprise. He will also provide operational direction and will provide and oversight to LGC's partners. Currently he has been assigned to further develop Easyjoint's distribution and corporate development to stay on track for its growth plans.

Mervyn Koenen 44, VP Commercial Finance, brings 18 years of managing commercial finance, internal audit and strategic planning, supporting leadership teams to achieve operational targets and managing strategic agendas. His experience includes international, strategic and multi-disciplinary projects resulting in delivering sustainable profit growth. Mervyn will drive the financial and strategic agenda for LGC's European investees in the expanding market for legal cannabis and CBD derivative products. He will support LGC partners in building sustainable and reliable financial forecasts, lead corporate governance, with procedural performance tracking, and build accounting and supply chain systems to assist subsidiaries with growth demands.

Jeanne van Wyk 50, VP Communications, brings 26 years of global marketing experience on both client and agency side, most recently as Strategic Planning Director for the WPP advertising group servicing British American Tobacco across Europe. Jeanne has a background in legal studies followed by a successful career in journalism, notably with CNN in Africa & Global for 5 years. Jeanne will design and manage the strategic development and positioning of our brand portfolios, marketing, communications and consumer insights for LGC starting with EasyJoint.

Alistair Hide 51, VP Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, joins LGC with over 25 years of business experience and corporate regulatory affairs. For the last 5 years, he held the position of Corporate Affairs Director, Europe, Middle East, and Africa with Monsanto International. This role encompassed government affairs, communications and wider stakeholder relations for Monsanto's agricultural businesses. He also brings over 18 years of experience with BAT, most recently as Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Western Europe Region. Alistair will be navigating the ever changing regulations of this new and evolving industry, allowing LGC to understand the legal requirements and directing LGC to ensure its products are compliant with all regulations in the various markets. In his corporate communications capacity, he will work with regulators to develop a sustainable industry framework.

Mark Shinners, 41, Chief Financial Officer, joins LGC with over 17 year's experience in various senior operational and financial advisory roles spanning across a number of industry sectors including IT, construction, renewable energy and manufacturing. Having trained as a chartered accountant at PwC, Mark went on to hold leadership positions in assurance, corporate finance and financial advisory, providing financial, commercial and strategic advice to multinational companies. Mark served as financial director at Hewlett Packard (Services) in the Middle East and CFO at Chinook Urban Mining Limited, a UK based renewable energy development company. Mark is currently a Director at Arlington Capital. Mark is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), has a Bachelor of Business Studies degree (BBS), a Masters in Accounting & Finance (Macc), a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is a Chartered Waste Manager.

Mazen Haddad 46, CEO brings over 20 years of experience building companies from the early stage, most of his experience has been in the venture capital space ranging from technology companies both in the US and Canada to real estate and mining. Furthermore, his family business relationships have brought the association of former BAT executives to LGC.

"At the request of our new investors, Arlington Capital, I am proud to take on this new role of direct management of LGC now that we have acquired our core positions in the companies such Trichomed, Global Canna Labs, Evolution and Little Green Pharma, LGC has formidable growing capacity and a diversity of strains and licensed operators that few other companies have. Furthermore, the associations with Easyjoint and Viridi bring both a wide ranging catalog of finished products from consumables to cosmetics and the serious ability to distribute such products through Easyjoint's retail and online presence. We will continue to seek companies with finished products that give consumers access to wellness products they demand. It is my sincere belief that both with Arlington Capital`s support and our newly added operating team LGC will be able to accelerate the development of our portfolio of companies and integrate their efforts to achieve their full potential."

About LGC Capital:

Through its partners and assuming pending transactions under review by the TSXV are approved, LGC presently will have interests in over 450,000 square feet of planted cannabis in Jamaica, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia. That is expected to increase to over 2,100,000 square feet by 2021, as its portfolio companies execute their expansion plans, in addition to the anticipated licensing of Tricho-Med's operations in Quebec, Canada.

LGC partners currently sell cannabis products in over 1,000 points of sale across Switzerland and Italy under the ONE Premium Cannabis and EasyJoint brands as well as medical cannabis oils in Australia under the Little Green Pharma brand. LGC's partners' branded products are available in a variety of formats including dry cannabis flower, tinctures, oils, seeds, and beverages.

Caution Regarding Press Releases

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact: Chief Executive Officer, John McMullen, +1-416-803-0698, [email protected]; Investor Relations, Dave Burwell, +1-403-221-0915, [email protected]

SOURCE LGC Capital Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.lgc-capital.com/

EUGENE, Ore., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Mexico Bankers Association (NMBA) has endorsed IP Services to provide cybersecurity and critical Information Technology (IT) system's management to NMBA member banks.

New Mexico Baners Association

Banks maintain sensitive information that they work hard to protect. As consumers and businesses rely more on electronic devices to bank and shop online, ensuring availability and security of evolving systems is critical to a bank's success. The strict security and compliance standards required of banks also make operating IT more complex. IP Services solves these challenges by using an integrated set of processes and controls to ensure uninterrupted systems and business performance while adhering to strict compliance and security requirements. IP Services is also endorsed by the Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Montana Bankers Associations.

"We are excited to welcome IP Services as the newest endorsed partner of New Mexico Banking Association. They will bring tremendous value to our member banks by way of providing superior management of their critical IT systems," said NMBA President Jason Wyatt. "Virtually every banking member in New Mexico share their concern about exposure to data breaches and the negative impact such an event would have on their customers and the financial reputation that would follow. They have a unique ability to manage and secure IT that is cost effective and demonstrates an ability to mitigate IT risk while demonstrating compliance on an on-going basis."

"IP Services is excited to partner with NMBA and build relationships with New Mexico banks", said Scott Alldridge, CEO of IP Services. "We look forward to helping New Mexico banks improve availability, comply with audit and compliance requirements, and bridge the gap between business and IT strategies."

About IP Services

IP Services proactively manages clients' cybersecurity and critical IT systems and applications in any datacenter using the VisibleOpsTM methodology and the quality control system we created called TotalControl. IP Services' Next Generation Cybersecurity uses scientifically proven best practices to secure businesses and the users they serve by monitoring and protecting the systems and applications that are the heart of modern business - Managed Services and Managed Cybersecurity Services. IP Services' target market is best suited for small and medium size banks in the U.S. that lack the resources to effectively provide comprehensive IT management and necessary security and compliance services. To learn more about IP Services please visit www.ipservices.com.

About the New Mexico Bankers Association

The mission of the New Mexico Banker's Association is to represent member interests on both national and state legislative issues impacting the banking industry; provide educational resources to enhance bank personnel success; promote unity within the industry on common issues; and improve the regulatory climate to allow members to successfully compete in offering financial and related products and services. https://www.nmbankers.com/

SOURCE IP Services

Related Links

http://www.ipservices.com

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrations of the 70th anniversary of NATO on April 4 may be clouded by concerns about statements by Donald Trump questioning the US commitment to NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However, 83% of American voters favor the US continuing to be part of NATO, including 90% of Democrats, but also 77% of Republicans and 76% of those who voted for Trump, according to a new survey by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC).

The survey of 2,416 registered voters, conducted by the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation, was released today by the nonpartisan organization Voice of the People.

Concerns about the US commitment to NATO have been sparked by Donald Trump's characterization of NATO as "obsolete," and his statement that he might consider withdrawing the US from NATO if other NATO members do not increase their military spending.

Respondents were informed about the controversy stemming from US pressure to get European NATO allies to spend more on their militaries. While the European allies have agreed to raise their spending to two percent of GDP, many have failed to do so.

Presented three options, only 12% endorsed pressing European allies "to spend more on their military and say that if they do not the US will disengage from Europe militarily and possibly withdraw from NATO"21% of Republicans, 4% of Democrats. Thirty-five percent favored pressing the Europeans but not making threats.

The most popular ideasupported by 50% was to "remain part of NATO but reduce US military investments in Europe to bring them more in line with the level that the Europeans make" (Republicans 47%, Democrats 50%).

"Only a small minority of Americans show interest in withdrawing from NATO or using the threat to do so as a source of leverage," commented Steven Kull, director of PPC.

To ensure that respondents understood the issue, they were first given a short briefing on NATO including the commitment to defend any ally that comes under attack. The content was reviewed by experts on the issues to ensure the briefing was accurate and balanced, and the strongest arguments were presented.

Respondents were then asked to evaluate arguments for and against remaining in NATO. The arguments in favor of remaining were found convincing by very large majorities. These included the argument that Russia is still a potential threat to Europe and it is in the US' interests to help Europe contain them (85% found this convincing), as well as the argument that NATO is a useful symbol for each country's commitment to peace and democracy, and a necessary tool to ensure the continuation of free and open trade (82% convincing).

Far fewer  no more than four in ten  found the arguments against remaining in NATO convincing. They included the argument that Russia is not a real threat and US security commitments enable countries to be unnecessarily provocative (40%), as well as the argument that having a military alliance targeted clearly at Russia violates the post-Cold War understanding between the US and Russia and is therefore destabilizing (35%).

While 83% of the sample finally approved of the US continuing to be part of NATO, millennials (age 18-34) were only slightly lower at 77%. Steven Kull comments, "It is interesting that millennials who came of age after the end of the Cold War are still overwhelmingly in favor of the NATO alliance."

The survey was conducted online from Jan. 16  Feb. 11 with a national probability-based sample of 2,416 registered voters, provided by Nielsen Scarborough from their sample of respondents, who were recruited by mail and telephone using a random sample of households. The margin of error is +/- 2.0%.

Contact: Steven Kull

[email protected] or 202-232-7500

SOURCE Program for Public ConsultationNASHVILLE, Tenn., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Primeritus Financial Services, Inc., the leading service provider of recovery management, skip tracing, and remarketing services to the auto finance industry, today, announced the acquisition of Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems (CARS).

"The addition of CARS to the Primeritus Family of Companies demonstrates our ongoing efforts to grow our business while further diversifying our brands. We are very excited to grow in size and scale and we will continue to invest in technology and operational capabilities which add value. As we continue this journey we will always embrace great people, great processes, and great solutions," said Mike Thomas, Primeritus Chief Executive Officer.

Steve Norwood, President & CEO for Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems added: "As a result of this transaction, the companies will become the dominate provider of technology and services for managing both the repossession and remarketing of assets. We will continue to operate as separate businesses leveraging synergies in skip, back office functions and remarketing. We are very excited to be a part of the Primeritus family of companies and together continue to provide the highest level of service and the best technology in this market."

CARS was founded in 2005 by Steve Norwood and Terry Groves, two software supply chain veterans, whose vision will continue to drive CARS' success. From the beginning, Steve and Terry decided to leverage SaaS technology to revolutionize the repossession and remarketing industry and experienced 84% YOY revenue growth since 2013.

About Primeritus Financial Services: Primeritus Financial Services is a national provider of repossession management, remarketing, titled services and skip tracing services to the auto finance industry in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Primeritus provides clients with value-added, outsourced repossession management, skip tracing and remarketing services, leveraging a national network of certified agents and unique investigative techniques to quickly and reliably secure customers' collateral. Through leadership, service and performance, Primeritus Financial Services offer the trifecta of repossession services: locate, recover and remarket. For more information, please visit www.primeritus.com

About Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems: Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems provides technology and services to finance companies, forwarders and repossession agents that enhances repossession and remarketing performance. Combining comprehensive analytics with real-time performance metrics. status and account updates that can then be used to set parameters in the IBEAM artificial intelligence engine to automate task such as assignment and reassignment to suppliers, auctions or transporters. This combined with supplier optimization methodologies delivers the highest performance results. For more information please visit www.ez-recovery.com

SOURCE Primeritus Financial Services, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.primeritus.com

MINNEAPOLIS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Braun Intertec, an engineering, consulting and testing firm with offices throughout the central United States, is pleased to announce Sean Kim, PE, has joined the firm as a senior geotechnical engineer in our Houston, Texas office. Kim brings more than 12 years of experience in geotechnical engineering as well as project management within the public, private and commercial sectors in Texas.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sean to our employee-owner team at Braun Intertec," says Braun Intertec CEO, Jon Carlson. "Sean's depth of experience as a senior geotechnical engineer, project manager and mentor for up-and-coming engineers closely aligns with our mission to be both consultant and employer of choice."

Most recently, Kim served as a geotechnical project manager at a Houston-based engineering firm where he developed significant experience in the public, commercial and private sector working on detention channel/facility slope stability analyses and erosion control; refinery tank rehabilitation; roadway pavement/bridge design and construction; building/retaining structure foundation design and construction; land development and water supply/waste water treatment facilities.

Braun Intertec provides geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, environmental consulting and drilling services. With offices in 16 communities across the state of Texas, we also provide specialty services including: deep foundation design and testing, building sciences, nondestructive examination, structures evaluations and forensic investigations, drilling and cone penetration testing (CPT), geospatial and unmanned aerial vehicle services.

About Braun Intertec

Based in Minneapolis, employee-owned Braun Intertec (www.braunintertec.com) is a premier engineering, environmental consulting and testing firm with nearly 1,000 employees located in Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Braun Intertec subsidiaries include Agile Frameworks, LLC, based in Minneapolis, as well as W & M Environmental Group, LLC based in Plano, Texas.

SOURCE Braun Intertec

Related Links

http://www.braunintertec.com

WILMINGTON, Del., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Bank's Retail Card Services business today announced their partnership with Ethan Allen Interiors Inc ("Ethan Allen") (NYSE: ETH), establishing a multi-year private-label credit card program agreement. Since 1932, the Connecticut-based company has been a manufacturer and retailer of high-quality home furnishings and decor and has established itself as a leader in the home furnishings industry.

The partnership will provide customers with flexible financing options to improve their experience across brick and mortar locations and online. In addition, TD Bank will collaborate with Ethan Allen to enrich the customer experience by creating a seamless purchasing framework through enhanced capabilities. Beyond the financing aspects of the partnership, TD Bank will leverage their deep marketing expertise to identify opportunities and create programs that drive sales and engage customers with valuable offers.

"Our commitment to providing our customers with stylish, affordable home furnishings has remained core to our business for nearly a century," said Farooq Kathwari, CEO, Ethan Allen. "In TD Bank, we've found a partner with similar values, an innovative vision for the future of retail and a shared mission to ensure all customers have a seamless shopping experience complete with personalized financing options."

"We're thrilled to launch our partnership with Ethan Allen," said Mike Rittler, General Manager of Retail Card Services, Unsecured Lending and Business Development at TD Bank. "At TD, we work to provide unparalleled financing programs and business driving insights that propel our partners to the next level. With Ethan Allen, we're excited to bring this level of service to their customers and look forward to creating a unique, first-of-its kind partnership."

TD Bank's U.S. Partnerships business (www.tdpartnershipprograms.com) launches and administers new credit card portfolios for merchants across all sales channels, and acquires retailers' existing credit card portfolios.

About TD Bank

TD Cards and Merchant Solutions is a top 10 card issuer in North America with over $24B in card receivables. TD Bank's credit cards are distributed nationally, leveraging our retail distribution network, direct response channels and through hundreds of partnership programs with financial institutions, retailers and other third party organizations, including private label financing.

About Ethan Allen Interiors

Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. is a leading interior design company and manufacturer and retailer of quality home furnishings. The company offers complimentary interior design service to its clients and sells a full range of furniture products and decorative accessories through ethanallen.com and a network of approximately 300 Design Centers in the United States and abroad. Ethan Allen owns and operates nine manufacturing facilities including six manufacturing plants and one sawmill in the United States plus one plant each in Mexico and Honduras. Approximately 75% of its products are made in its North American plants. For more information on Ethan Allen's products and services, visit ethanallen.com.

SOURCE TD BankLONDON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Geothermal energy is a clean and renewable energy derived from the heat produced by the slow decay of radioactive particles in the core of the earth. Geothermal reservoirs are located deep underground and can be detected through volcanoes and fumaroles, hot springs and geysers. The most active geothermal resources exist along major tectonic plate boundaries that incorporate maximum volcanic areas. The geothermal energy is mainly used in three main applications including direct use and district heating systems, electricity generation power plants and geothermal heat pumps.

Geothermal energy is considered to be a most sustainable energy source owing to its limited burning of fuels and minimal emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The geothermal power market is mainly driven by the factors including an efficient and sustainable energy source and growing adoption of renewable energy. The limited burning of fuels and minimal emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases favour the adoption of geothermal energy.

The introduction of favourable government regulations and policies are expected to recover the otherwise untapped huge geothermal potential for low-carbon electricity generation and direct use in cooling and heating. Despite these advantages, the geothermal energy has experienced a low adoption owing to the high initial cost associated with the technology. The increasing demand for reliable and sustainable electricity supply is further expected to boost the demand for geothermal power.

The pressing concerns over global warming and energy security are likely to favour the geothermal power market. As there are significant risks involved with initial exploration and drilling, favourable regulatory environments  including tax incentives and land permits  can do much to facilitate further developments in the sector. Besides from being a clean and renewable energy source, geothermal energy is also suitable for base load electricity generation and thus has the potential to become the backbone of local grid systems.

To request sample pages from this report please contact Sara Peerun at [email protected] or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/top-20-geothermal-power-companies-2019/

The report will answer questions such as:

 Who are the leading companies in the geothermal industry?

 What is their strategy?

 What is their existing processing capacity and where is it based?

 What are their core strengths and weaknesses?

 Do they have expansion plans?

 What is driving and restraining the involvement of each leading company within the market?

 What are the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to the geothermal market as a whole?

 What political, economic, environmental and technological factors affect the geothermal market?

How will you benefit from this report?

 This report you will keep your knowledge base up to speed. Don't get left behind

 This report will allow you to reinforce strategic decision-making based upon definitive and reliable market data

 You will learn how to exploit new technological trends

 You will be able to realise your company's full potential within the market

 You will better understand the competitive landscape and identify potential new business opportunities and partnerships

Three reasons why you must order and read this report today:

1) The study reveals where and how leading companies are investing in the geothermal market. We show you the prospects for companies operating in:

 North America

 Middle East

 Asia-Pacific

 Europe

2) The report provides a detailed individual profile for each of the 20 leading companies in the Geothermal market in 2019, providing data for Revenue and capacity along with project details:

 Turboden S.p.A.

 Green Energy Geothermal

 Berkshire Hathaway Inc

 Terra Gen

 Reykjavik Geothermal

 Alterra Power Corporation

 TAS Energy

 Atlas Copco Group

 Exergy

 KenGen

 Halliburton

 Enel Green Power

 ElectraTherm

 Calpine Corporation

 Fuji Electric Co. Ltd.

 Toshiba Corporation

 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

 General Electric

 Ansaldo Energia

 Ormat Technologies

3) It also provides a PEST analysis of the key factors affecting the overall geothermal market:

 Political

 Economic

 Social

 Technical

Competitive advantage

This independent, 109-page report guarantees you will remain better informed than your competitors. With 96 tables and figures examining the companies within the geothermal market space, the report gives you an immediate, one-stop breakdown of the leading Geothermal Power companies plus analysis and future outlooks, keeping your knowledge one step ahead of your rivals.

Who should read this report?

 Anyone within the geothermal value chain

 CEOs

 COOs

 CIOs

 Business development managers

 Marketing managers

 Technologists

 Suppliers

 Investors

 Banks

 Government agencies

 Contractors

Don't miss out

This report is essential reading for you or anyone in the oil or other industries with an interest in renewable energy. Purchasing this report today will help you to recognise those important market opportunities and understand the possibilities there. Order our Top 20 Geothermal Power Companies 2019: Profiles of Leading Companies Operating Within the Geothermal Power Market Including Financial and Market Share Analysis (Capacity MW, $million) Plus Tables Outlining Major Projects in Various Regions.

To request a report overview of this report please contact Sara Peerun at [email protected] or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/top-20-geothermal-power-companies-2019/

Did you know that we also offer a report add-on service? Email [email protected] to discuss any customized research needs you may have.

Companies covered in the report include:

3 Degrees

3S Kale Energy

Advanced Solar LLC

Akca Enerji

Alpine Geothermal Drilling

AltaRock Energy Inc

Alterra Power Corporation

Amaeresco Inc.

American geothermal Systems

Ansaldo Energia

Arctas Capital Group

Atlas Copco Group

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Calpine Corporation

Celikler Enerji

Chevron Corp

Daldrup

Eastland Generation

Echogen power systems Inc

EFLA Consulting Engineers

Egesim

ElectraTherm

Elemental Energy

Empire Geothermal Power LLC

Endesa

Enel green Power

ENGIE

Exergy

Fuji electric Co. Ltd.

Geo Hydro Supply

Geo Source One

Goen-MB Holding

Graziella Green Power

Green Energy Geothermal

Halliburton

Kepler Energy Inc

Kyushu electric Power

Landsvirkjun

Maccaferi Industrial Group

Maibarara Geothermal Inc

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems

National power Company of Iceland

Nevada Geothermal Operating Company LLC

Newcore Energy Inc

Open Mountain Energy

Orchid Business Group

Ormat technologies Inc.

PLN

PT Pertamina

Reykjavik Geothermal

RWE Inc

Sarulla Operations Ltd

SECI Energia Holding

Shaanxi Geothermal Energy Development Co.

Siemens

Sohne AG

Sovak Enerji

Tas Energy

Terra Gen, LLC

Toshiba Corporation

Turboden SpA

Turkerler Enerji

U.S Geothermal Inc.

Verdi energy Group

Viridity Energy Inc.

Vulcan Power Company

YPPI New Energy Development Co. Ltd

Zorlu Energy

To see a report overview please e-mail Sara Peerun on [email protected]

SOURCE VisiongainPORT LOUIS, Mauritius, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Embraer has signed a firm order for 10 E195-E2 jets with Air Peace, Nigeria's largest airline. The order was announced today, during the Embraer's Africa Airline Business Seminar, in Mauritius. With this order, Air Peace will become the first E-Jets E2 operator in Africa. The contract includes purchase rights for a further 20 E195-E2. With all purchase rights being exercised, the contract has a value of USD 2.12 billion, based on current list prices. The order will be included in Embraer's 2019 second-quarter backlog.

Air Peace has grown rapidly since it commenced flight operations in 2014 and is now the largest airline in West Africa. The airline intends to address the significant untapped demand in the African market with the E195-E2, the newest, most efficient, and most comfortable aircraft in the segment.

Air Peace Chairman/CEO, Mr. Allen Onyema, said, "Embraer's new E195-E2 presents us with a marvel of economic performance. It's also great that we will be the first E2 operator on the African continent. We already have the ERJ145s in our fleet, so we understand the high standards of Embraer products".

"Air Peace embodies the kind of pioneering spirit that Embraer loves. The airline was established to bring highly skilled work opportunities to the people of Nigeria and to boost connectivity, which in turn significantly contributed to the economy in the region. Air Peace has delivered successfully on both aims, and has become a fast growing successful airline. It's great to now have them onboard the E2 as well" said Arjan Meijer, Chief Commercial Officer, Embraer Commercial Aviation.

Meijer continued, "The market in Africa presents significant opportunities for airlines to deliver the connectivity that the whole continent needs. Aircraft however must be right-sized to develop those routes profitably; more than 90% of intra-African flights depart with fewer than 150 passengers onboard. And more than 70% of markets are served with less than one flight per day."

Air Peace subsidiary, Air Peace Hopper, started operating six ERJ145 last year on short thin routes. That experience with Embraer's products, and the undeniable economic benefits of right-sizing aircraft for the mission, was a key factor in selecting the E2.

Embraer is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 150 seats. The Company has 100 customers from all over the world operating the ERJ and E-Jet families of aircraft. For the E-Jets program alone, Embraer has logged more than 1,800 orders and 1,500 deliveries, redefining the traditional concept of regional aircraft.

Follow us on Twitter: @Embraer

About Embraer

Embraer is a global company headquartered in Brazil with businesses in commercial and executive aviation, defense & security. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets aircraft and systems, providing customer support and services.

Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. About every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year.

Embraer is the leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 150 seats. The company maintains industrial units, offices, service and parts distribution centers, among other activities, across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.

PRESS OFFICES:



Headquarters (Brazil)



Corporate Communications

[email protected]

Cell: +55 11 98890 7777

Tel.: +55 11 4873 7984



North America



Alyssa Ten Eyck

[email protected]

Cell: +1 954 383 0460

Tel.: +1 954 359 3847



Europe, Middle East and Africa



Guy Douglas

[email protected]

Cell: +31 (0)657120121

Tell: +31 (0)202158109



China



Mirage Zhong

[email protected]

Cell: +86 185 1378 5180

Tel.: +86 10 6598 9988



Asia Pacific



Nilma Missir-Boissac

[email protected]

Cell: +65 9012 8428

Tel.: +65 6305 9955



SOURCE Embraer S.A.NEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC) is calling on the United States Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling blocking the addition of a question about citizenship to the 2020 census.

"Ensuring an accurate census count in full compliance with the law" is vital, states an amicus brief filed by AJC and 13 organizations  Christian, Jewish and Muslim  in the case of Department of Commerce vs. New York. "Federal and state funding allocated based on the census, to say nothing of the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives, will be irreparably harmed by an undercount that will result from a citizenship question."

The District Court ruled that Secretary of Commerce Ross Jr's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census questionnaire was not "in accordance with law" because it was not submitted, as required by the Census Act, three years in advance of the next census. Moreover, Congress has forbidden the Census Bureau to ask questions where, as is the case with regard to citizenship, the information is available elsewhere.

Further, the District Court found that "the Secretary's unlawful decision will undoubtedly cause a severe undercount of noncitizen and Hispanic households." And the District Court found that "the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census will cause an incremental net differential decline in self-responses among noncitizen households of at least 5.8 percent" and that that finding was "conservative," such that "the net differential decline could be much higher."

Because a "large number of federal domestic financial assistance programs rely on census data to allocate money," funding reductions resulting from undercounting will impact citizens, non-Hispanic households, and anyone else who relies on programs shaped by the census, states the amicus brief. "Even though the funding cuts will result from undercounts of mostly noncitizens, the vulnerable populations deprived of vital services as a consequence consist mostly of citizens and documented immigrants."

"The funding distortions will even pose a threat to national security," AJC and the other groups argue in the amicus brief. "An undercount will mean that states and localities most at risk will not get the funds they need and to which they are entitled to prevent and mitigate the effects of terrorist attacks and other disasters."

AJC and the other groups warn that undercount-induced funding cuts would be devastating. "The very real funding cuts caused by an undercount will heighten competition for scarce resources, pitting group-against-group," warns the amicus brief. "Avoiding that all-too-real possibility is reason enough to ensure a legal and accurate count."

AJC, since its creation in 1906, has worked to strengthen the democratic features of American political life, one of the most important of which is fair allocation of political power and governmental resources. A full and fair census is essential for the attainment of these purposes.

Other organizations joining in the amicus brief include: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York (CCANY), Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens (CCBQ), The Commission of Religious Leaders of New York City (CORL), Council of Peoples Organization (COPO), Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA), Human Services Council (HSC), The Jewish Association Serving the Aging (JASA), The Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY), Jewish Education Project, New York Board of Rabbis (NYBR), New York State Catholic Conference (NYSCC), and UJA-Federation of New York (UJA).

The amicus brief was prepared by Eamon P. Joyce, Qais Ghafary, and David S. Kanter of Sidley Austin LLP.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org

NEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

MAY 13, 2018

12 PM  8 PM

225 LIBERTY ST.

NEW YORK, NY 10281

INFORMATION & TICKETS: https://www.faccnyc.org/sustainability-innovation-forum

5 sector-based discussions

300 attendees, tickets available for FACC members and general admission

High-level networking

Sustainability is now a key driver of innovation. Faced with pressure from international agreements and landmark reports on global warming, sustainability-oriented innovation is driving business growth, creating new private and public sector collaboration, and transforming strategy, products, and technologies. In response, the FACC is hosting its first Sustainability & Innovation Forum, convening public and private sector leaders from premier French, American and International organizations.

A voice will be given to thought-leaders in governance, food, beverage and hospitality, energy and transportation, and luxury, fashion and beauty. Panelists and moderators include speakers from the United Nations Global Compact, L'Oreal, Danone North America, Fairtrade America, Baker & McKenzie, EDF Renewables, Gotham Greens, Urban Green Council, CDP, SH Hotels & Resorts and more. The afternoon will be animated by tastings, eco fashion shows, exhibition booths and networking with industry executives.

About the 2019 keynote speaker:

Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director, UN Global Compact

The United Nations Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative with more than 13,500 signatories from 170 countries that have committed to aligning strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, and taking actions that advance societal goals. Prior to joining the UN Global Compact in 2015, Ms. Kingo was Chief of Staff, Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Management team at Novo Nordisk A/S since 2002. She was in charge of several business areas and pioneered the first Novo Nordisk strategy on sustainability, spearheading the integration of sustainability into the heart of the business, showcasing the mutual benefits for both the company and society.

About the FACC:

The FACC is the most important private organization for promoting trade and investment between the USA and France. With 4,000 members across the country, the FACC provides networking and professional development through corporate events, international career development programs and commercial services.

Press inquiries:

Katelyn Heath, Senior Communications Associate, [email protected]

212-867-3596

SOURCE French-American Chamber of Commerce

Related Links

http://www.faccnyc.org/

BOSTON and TEL AVIV, Israel, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Aqua Security, the market leader in protecting container-based, serverless and cloud native applications, announced today that it has closed a Series C round of $62M led by Insight Partners. Aqua's existing investors  Lightspeed Venture Partners, M12 (Microsoft's venture fund), TLV Partners, and Shlomo Kramer  have also participated in the round. The Series C investment brings Aqua's total venture funding to more than $100M.

"As investors in several leading cloud technology providers, we were impressed by Aqua and its track record as a security leader in this hyper-growth space," said Jeff Horing, co-founder and managing director at Insight Partners. "Aqua's vision, their unrivaled investment in open source technologies, and deep relationships with strategic partners have created a tremendous opportunity as customers accelerate their move to cloud native platforms. We look forward to Aqua joining the Insight portfolio and seeing their continued growth."

Since 2015, Aqua has been working with early adopters of containers to provide enterprise-scale security, helping organizations safely move their applications into production. This round of funding arrives on the heels of Aqua's stellar growth in 2018:

Aqua has quadrupled its customer base in the last 12 months

Aqua secures five of the world's ten largest container production deployments

Aqua dominates the financial services vertical with five of the world's top 10 banks and six of the world's 15 largest insurance companies among its customers

More than 100 blue-chip companies across the energy, aerospace, internet, media, travel, retail, pharmaceutical and hospitality sectors are among Aqua's customers

Aqua has extended its platform to support serverless environments, and all major cloud and orchestration environments

Aqua's solutions are available on demand with consumption-based pricing on the recently launched AWS Marketplace for Containers and Google Kubernetes Apps Marketplace, as well as on Azure Marketplace

At the KubeCon/CloudNativeCon event in Seattle , Aqua launched its inaugural KubeSec Enterprise Summit with co-hosts AWS and Red Hat, featuring presentations by JPMorgan Chase, Starbucks and Tinder

"We are thrilled to have Insight Partners as investors to propel Aqua's next phase of growth," noted Dror Davidoff, CEO and co-founder of Aqua. "The adoption of cloud native technologies provides an opportunity for security to be redefined, addressing the chronic cybersecurity skills shortage through automation, and creating applications that are secure by design. With this significant investment and our focus on the needs of enterprise customers and product innovation, we can take the next step to realize our vision."

About Aqua Security

Aqua Security helps enterprises secure their cloud native, container-based and serverless applications from development to production. Aqua bridges the gap between DevOps and security, promoting business agility and accelerating digital transformation. Aqua's Cloud Native Security Platform provides full visibility and security automation across the entire application lifecycle, using a modern zero-touch approach to detect and prevent threats while simplifying regulatory compliance. Aqua customers include some of the world's largest financial services, software development, internet, media, hospitality and retail companies, with implementations across the globe spanning a broad range of cloud providers and on-premise technologies. For more information, visit www.aquasec.com or follow us on twitter.com/AquaSecTeam

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight currently has over $20 billion of assets under management and has cumulatively invested in more than 300 companies worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. Across our people and our portfolio, we encourage a culture around a core belief: growth equals opportunity. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

Press inquiries:

Rachel Kaseroff

RJK Communications

[email protected]

+1 (415) 341-5625

SOURCE Aqua Security

Related Links

https://www.aquasec.com

The layoffs at Community may come in stages, the hospital said, depending upon the need for staff.The recently opened Illinois office is located in the heart of downtown Chicago with a 3,000 square foot office, providing great location and access to this exciting new market in Atlantic Energy's continued expansion. While the energy provider has had warehousing in Chicago for some time, the presence of the sales office serves to strengthen the company's foothold in the region and Atlantic Energy's CEO expects this move to be an important step in increasing their market share and ability to offer customers the best possible offerings, prices, and customer service.

"Illinois is a perfect location for Atlantic Energy," said James Uglow CEO, CEO of Atlantic Energy. "With the smart home bundle customers stay with us longer which means they are consuming less energy. This satisfies our core company mission to positively impacting the environment."

In line with Atlantic Energy's goal, which has always been to empower customers through energy efficiency and added levels of control, the company offers both residential and commercial smart product bundles to customers who choose Atlantic Energy as their energy provider. Household customers who sign up with the residential smart home bundle receive smart home products in the mail, including Wi-Fi Smart Cameras, Smart LEDs, and much more at various checkpoints in their tenure as Atlantic Energy customers. Similarly, commercial customers who sign up with the Smart Business Bundle receive a custom LED lighting package and smart business products.

By empowering their customers to embrace the smart home revolution, Atlantic Energy offers not just environmentally-conscious and affordable electricity by signing up, but also gives customers the tools to monitor and reduce their energy use for maximum efficiency, minimizing wasted energy and wasted money on power bills.

Atlantic Energy, with their mission to reduce energy consumption and costs through affordable energy efficiency services and solutions, has established itself as a respected authority in the energy field. To learn more about them and what they offer, please visit https://www.atlanticenergyco.com/ .

SOURCE Atlantic Energy

Related Links

https://www.atlanticenergyco.com

NEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ATSG, a tech-enabled managed services and solutions company, today announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously chosen Anthony J. D'Ambrosi as the organization's next Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. D'Ambrosi, who currently serves as ATSG's president, will succeed Frank Scanga, the company's founder and current CEO. Scanga will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board.

"During this time of Digital Transformation across the IT spectrum, there is no stronger leader for ATSG than Anthony D'Ambrosi," said Frank Scanga, ATSG's founder and executive chairman of the Board of Directors. "Anthony is a proven global executive and an industry expert with a track record of strong leadership, both within the organization and with our enterprise clients and partners. This, combined with his deep industry knowledge, his vision for the future and his institutional tenure, makes Anthony uniquely qualified to lead ATSG into our next chapter of growth and success."

"I am truly honored to take on the CEO role for ATSG. We have already accomplished so much as an organization and I would like to thank our clients, our employees and our partners. The efficacy of our strategy, combined with the expansive market opportunity for our technology solutions as a service, makes this a most exciting time in the industry," said D'Ambrosi.

D'Ambrosi succeeds Frank Scanga, founder of ATSG, who will continue as Executive Chairman of ATSG's Board of Directors. D'Ambrosi's leadership appointment is part of a rigorous growth strategy, inclusive of acquisitions and transformation of the company.

Prior to his role as CEO, D'Ambrosi served as President for ATSG. During his tenure with ATSG, the company has experienced tremendous growth, both organically and through key mergers and acquisitions, with a tech-enablement strategy that D'Ambrosi was responsible for driving. D'Ambrosi previously has held several senior positions with CIBER, Deutsche Telekom T-Systems, ACS and HP. D'Ambrosi grew up in New York and holds a bachelor's degree with honors from Hofstra University. Visit http:///www.atsg.net/leadership for a full bio.

For more information on ATSG, visit www.atsg.net, email [email protected] or call (914) 984-2400.

About ATSG

ATSG is a tech-enabled managed services and solutions company focused on innovative solutions to enhance the end-user experience. ATSG provides technology solutions as a service to a variety of customers; leveraging their portfolio of rediCloud, rediTech and rediManage, which includes deep expertise in technology consulting, wireless and network, unified communications, collaboration, cloud solutions, data center, mobility and productivity solutions.

ATSG is a privately held company headquartered in Briarcliff Manor, New York. For more information on ATSG, please visit us on the web at www.atsg.net, like us on LinkedIn, follow us on Twitter or become a fan on our Facebook page.

Media Contact: Elizabeth Kubycheck

Chief Marketing Officer

630.601.8698

SOURCE ATSG

Related Links

http://www.atsg.net

DANVILLE, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bark Busters USA, which owns the master license to franchise Bark Busters, the worldwide leader of in-home dog training, in the United States, announced today the company has relocated its U.S. headquarters to Northern California.

For the last six years, the U.S. operational business office has been headquartered in San Diego. Today, just nine months after the private sale of the U.S. business, the company's new owners are moving operational headquarters to Northern California, specifically to Danville, CA.

Carl Peterson, Bark Busters U.S. CEO said, "We're excited to be leading the next phase of Bark Busters growth from our new home office location in Danville. The Danville Area Chamber of Commerce has been extremely supportive and has a great reputation supporting small business. We look forward to joining this vibrant and growing community." He also added that, "our network of Bark Busters business owners throughout the United States is growing and we are actively looking to expand our presence in the Bay Area, specifically in Contra Costa County and the Tri-Valley."

Bark Busters home office will be located at One Front Street, Danville, CA 94526.

About Bark Busters USA

Bark Busters is the worldwide leader of in-home dog training. Over the past 30 years, we have trained more than 1 million dogs and their pet parents using our natural communication techniques. We apply the same communication methods - body language and voice control - that dogs instinctively follow.

Our expert dog trainers and dog behavioral therapists are highly trained and supported by an international team of dog training experts. We resolve the most challenging dog behavior issues - aggression, destruction, separation anxiety, sibling rivalry - as well as address issues like nuisance barking, digging, jumping, leash pulling, territory marking, whining, and more. We also teach basic dog obedience and puppy training/management, all in the comfort of your home.

Bark Busters offers a guaranteed lifetime support program, giving you peace of mind and a dog training partner for the life of your dog. Any breed, any age, any issue, we help clients live happier lives together with their dogs. Visit www.barkbusters.com for more information.

SOURCE Bark Busters USA

Related Links

http://www.barkbusters.com

NEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Influential business leaders from the insurance and employee benefits industries gathered at the 15th annual BenefitsPRO Broker Expo at the Hyatt Regency Miami in Miami, FL this week. Today the BenefitsPRO Broker of the Year winner was announced during the Broker of the Year panel.

"Each year, our Broker of the Year awards give us a chance to put a much-deserved spotlight on benefits advisors who are doing things right," said Paul Wilson, Editor-in-Chief of ALM's BenefitsPRO. "This year's finalists offer a snapshot of some of the exciting developments occurring in the employee benefits space. They are adapting to the sweeping changes taking place in our country as well as the subtle nuances in their unique local markets. I want to congratulate our 2019 Broker of the Year, Tim Doherty, of Pinnacle HR Solutions, LLC, as well as our four finalists, Kareim Cade of Great Lakes Benefit Group, LLC, Wanza Schweiger of Benefit Innovations, LLP, Doug Hetherington of Echelon Group Inc., and Seth Denson of GDP Advisors. Together, they're a great example of how the industry is moving forward in uncertain times."

"During his 20+ years in the benefits industry, Doherty has been an early adopter of many innovative strategies, including value-based insurance design," Wilson said. "As a result, he has consistently provided his clients with significant savings while enhancing their benefits and their employees' experiences. He has served as a mentor to other advisors within the industry and exemplifies the qualities we look for in a Broker of the Year."

At the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo conference, ALM's Judy Diamond Associates shared the State of the Industry for benefits employers.

"We explored the overall change in ERISA spend state by state, industry by industry, and line by line," said Eric Ryles, Vice President of Customer Solutions ALM Intelligence and Managing Director of Judy Diamond Associates. "All of this detailed analysis is made possible by our recent breakthrough to be able to correctly allocate a single large premium across multiple lines of coverage. This is our first public application of this model, and we're excited to present our findings to the industry leaders who attend the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo conference."

For more information on the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo, visit: https://www.event.benefitspro.com/bprobrokerexpo and follow @Benefits_PRO and join in the conversation with #BProBrokerExpo.

To learn more about Judy Diamond Associates for BenefitsPRO, visit: http://ow.ly/NoOP30o11ZY

About ALM

ALM, an information and intelligence company, provides customers with critical news, data, analysis, marketing solutions and events to successfully manage the business of business. ALM serves a community of over 6 million business professionals seeking to discover, connect and compete in highly complex industries. Please visit www.alm.com for more information, and visit www.alm.com/events/ to learn about our upcoming events. Please follow us on Twitter @ALMMedia .

ALM Media Contact:

Rachael Wolensky

[email protected]

SOURCE ALM

Related Links

http://www.alm.com

NORWICH, England, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BizClik Media , the innovative-focused Norfolk-based digital media firm, has published its latest issue of Supply Chain Digital .

This month's cover features global railway behemoth Deutsche Bahn. Supply Chain Digital sends Sean Galea-Pace to Berlin to sit down with Uwe Gunther, Chief Procurement Officer, as he discusses the procurement methods his company has utilised amidst a significant digital transformation.

Also in this month's issue is Supply Chain Digital's interview with Tom Derry, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), which explores how supplier relationship management remains crucial in the evolving digital landscape. "We're moving into an era where innovation and collaboration between the OEMs and the suppliers is more recognised as a source of value," he says.

Elsewhere, Simon Mardle, Retail Supply Chain Principal at Capgemini, tells Supply Chain Digital how the success of digital transformation journeys starts with leadership recognising the value of data and a "single source of truth".

With the likes of Apple, Mercedes-Benz and Ford investing heavily into blockchain technology, Eric Piscini, CEO of Citizens Reserve, looks at the current and future landscape of blockchain in the supply chain.

Our top 10 this month looks at the supply chain management and logistics qualifications to watch out for.

Don't forget to check out the magazine's exclusive reports with Coupa Software, Cirque du Soleil and more.

Click here to read the full issue.

About:

Supply Chain Digital is an innovative, forward thinking 'Digital Community' aimed at providing Procurement & Supply Chain professionals with industry leading news, analysis, features and reports about the world's biggest supply chains.

Supply Chain Digital showcases the very latest supply chain and procurement trends by featuring insights from 'Thought Leaders' across the globe who are implementing 'transformations' inside large-scale organizations.

For more information, visit https://www.supplychaindigital.com/ or follow us on Twitter @SupplyChainD.

About BizClik Media

BizClik Media Ltd is a diverse, multi-platform digital media company focusing on the global B2B marketplace. We have a passion for great content and we collaborate with the world's most inspiring and innovative business leaders to deliver only the best, most engaging and relevant content to you.

With a trusted and recognised publishing portfolio that is home to over 16 brands, including e-magazines and web platforms, combined with our social media marketing and data marketing tools, we have the experience, approach and know-how, to deliver your brand in front of the people that matter.

Media Contact:

Harry Menear

Tel: +44(0)1603-217-576

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE BizClik MediaSHELTON, Conn., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate Earth Month, Bulldog Skincare For Men, the U.K. born brand that pushes boundaries to help men look and feel their best, is continuing to challenge the male grooming category by taking the brand's mission a step further with a new approach to sustainability. Bulldog is now revolutionizing the way it packages its products with new tubes derived from Brazilian sugarcane, a renewable resource with minimum impact on food suppliers or biodiversity. This innovative concept makes Bulldog the first men's skincare brand in the world to use sugarcane as a raw material in packaging.

The skincare industry is a major contributor to the amount of plastic packaging used each year, with most packaging made from fossil fuel petrochemicals. These non-renewable sources release carbon dioxide during the process of conversion to plastic and contribute to global warming. Working with Brazilian company Braskem and U.K. tube manufacturer M&H Plastics, Bulldog developed a new packaging innovation to help reduce its consumption of fossil fuel materials by using sugarcane as the main component, which doesn't need much more than natural rainfall to grow.

"We are extremely excited to bring this important breakthrough to market," said Simon Duffy, Founder of Bulldog Skincare For Men. "The great thing about sugarcane plastic is that its properties are no different from traditional plastic materials, but its environmental impact is significantly better."

Made by extracting ethanol from the sugarcane plant, instead of releasing carbon dioxide, the plastic from sugarcane saves it. In fact, for every 100 tons of sugarcane plastic produced, 309 tons of CO2 are taken out of the environment resulting in a significant impact on the environment.

All of Bulldog's products containing plastic from sugarcane will display a new logo specifying the amount of sugarcane plastic consumers can expect to find in that pack. Additionally, all products are fully recyclable.

Bulldog Skincare For Men is a vegan friendly skincare brand and certified Cruelty Free International. From the very first day of launch they have never used artificial colors, synthetic fragrances or ingredients from animal sources.

For more information on Bulldog, please follow us @bulldogskincarenorthamerica or visit www.bulldogskincare.com/us

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell (NYSE: EPC) is a leading pure-play consumer products company with an attractive, diversified portfolio of established brand names such as Schick and Wilkinson Sword men's and women's shaving systems and disposable razors; Edge and Skintimate shave preparations; Playtex, Stayfree, Carefree, and o.b. feminine care products; Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic sun care products; Playtex infant feeding, Diaper Genie; Bull Dog and Jack Black male skin care and grooming products; and Wet Ones moist wipes. The Company has a broad global footprint and operates in more than 50 markets, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan, and Australia, with approximately 6,000 employees worldwide.

About Bulldog

Bulldog Skincare Holdings Limited makes award-winning skincare products that are purpose-built for men and enriched with amazing natural ingredients. Founded in 2006, the Company sells its products in 14 markets around the world including the U.K., U.S., Sweden and South Korea.

SOURCE Bulldog Skincare For Men

Related Links

http://www.bulldogskincare.com/us

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday, April 4, attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, will challenge the constitutionality of the federal government's watchlisting system at a hearing before a federal judge in Alexandria, Va.

SEE: U.S. Government's Watchlist Violates the Constitution, Lawyer - and Plaintiff - Says https://www.newsweek.com/us-governments-terrorist-watchlist-violates-constitution-isis-brides-lawyer-1384513

CAIR will also hold a news conference outside the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia immediately following the hearing. The news conference will be livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/CAIRNational

The Washington-based civil rights organization is also urging those who value the Constitution to attend the hearing.

Facebook Event Page, Attend Court Hearing for CAIR's Lawsuit Against Illegal Watchlist: https://www.facebook.com/events/1119156561602266/

WHAT: Hearing Regarding Constitutionality of the Federal Government's Watchlisting System

WHEN: Thursday, April 4, 10 a.m.

WHERE: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 401 Courthouse Square, Courtroom 701, Alexandria, Va.

CONTACT: CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri, 202-742-6420, [email protected], CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]

"Our plaintiffs are broadly representative of the types of systemic abuses thousands of innocent American Muslims  including infants and toddlers  are being subjected to as a result of being designated in the terrorist screening database without even a modicum of due process," said CAIR National Litigation and Civil Rights Director Lena F. Masri. "We are confident the Court will the weigh the overwhelming evidence we obtained in our favor and declare the federal watchlisting system unconstitutional."

"The federal terrorist watchlist is essentially a secretive network map of American Muslims' associations," said CAIR National Trial Attorney Carolyn Homer. "It's built by scrutinizing plaintiffs' families, traveling companions and phone contacts. We hope the court recognizes that the watchlist creates second-class citizens and violates due process."

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Virginia on behalf of 23 innocent American Muslims, including a baby, who were targeted by the federal government's watchlisting system.

These individuals have suffered a range of severe consequences, including inhumane confinement conditions resulting in emergency medical treatment, repeatedly being handcuffed at gunpoint while crossing the border, forced separation of families, denial of boarding of flights, missed funerals and weddings, and a baby being searched and detained for four hours despite burning up from a fever.

CAIR: Ordeal of Infant on 'Watch List' Shows Deep Flaws: Lawsuit

CAIR: Feds Share Watchlist with 1,400 Private Groups (AP)

CAIR: Detroit Mother Calls Out Feds for Breaking Up Family, Files Lawsuit

On April 4, CAIR will also launch a social media series featuring stories of innocent American Muslims - including infants and toddlers - who have joined CAIR lawsuits filed around the country challenging the constitutionality of the federal government's watchlisting system.

Members of the public can help their social media followers understand the harm to American families and children caused by the federal government's illegal, ineffective watchlist by using downloadable graphics and messages from CAIR's Watch List Digital/Social Media Action Toolkit.

SEE: Watch List Digital/Social Media Action Toolkit

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.

CONTACT: CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri, 202-742-6420, [email protected], CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

Related Links

http://www.cair.com

CHICAGO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), one of the world's largest exchange holding companies, today reported March monthly trading volume.

The data sheet "Cboe Global Markets Monthly Volume & RPC/Net Revenue Capture Report" contains an overview of March and year-to-date trading statistics and market share by business segment, volume in select index products, and Revenue Per Contract (RPC), which is reported on a one-month lag, across business lines.

MONTHLY TRADING VOLUME Year-To-Date

March March % February % March March % 2019 2018 Chg 2019 Chg 2019 2018 Chg OPTIONS (contracts, thousands) Year-To-Date Trading Days 21 21

19

61 61

Total Volume 148,748 171,642 -13.3% 127,817 16.4% 430,838 554,606 -22.3% Total ADV 7,083 8,173 -13.3% 6,727 5.3% 7,063 9,092 -22.3% FUTURES (contracts, thousands) Year-To-Date Trading Days 21 21

19

61 61

Total Volume 5,338 5,910 -9.7% 3,825 39.6% 14,112 22,438 -37.1% Total ADV 254 281 -9.7% 201 26.3% 231 368 -37.1% U.S. EQUITIES (shares, millions) Year-To-Date Trading Days 21 21

19

61 61

Total Volume 24,781 31,131 -20.4% 21,827 13.5% 73,516 90,150 -18.5% Total ADV 1,180 1,482 -20.4% 1,149 2.7% 1,205 1,478 -18.5% EUROPEAN EQUITIES ( millions) Year-To-Date Trading Days 21 21

20

63 63

Total Notional Value  191,498  225,257 -15.0%  188,787 1.4%  580,817  679,349 -14.5% Total ADNV  9,119  10,727 -15.0%  9,439 -3.4%  9,219  10,783 -14.5% GLOBAL FX ($ millions) Year-To-Date Trading Days 21 22

20

63 64

Total Notional Value $809,512 $838,366 -3.4% $690,395 17.3% $2,299,044 $2,660,141 -13.6% Total ADNV $38,548 $38,108 1.2% $34,520 11.7%

$36,493

$41,565 -12.2%



ADV= average daily volume ADNV= average daily notional value

FLexible EXchange Options (FLEX Options) Trading Record Set in March 2019

For a second consecutive month, FLEX Options trading at Cboe Options Exchange set a new monthly record in March 2019 with more than 1.7 million contracts, surpassing February 2019's 1.1 million contracts traded. FLEX Options also set a new quarterly record during the first quarter of 2019, with a total of 3.5 million contracts traded.

FLEX Options, created by Cboe in 1993, offer investors the ability to customize a variety of contract terms. Cboe lists FLEX options on indexes, equities and exchange traded products (ETPs). For more information, visit www.cboe.com/products/flex-cflex.

First-Quarter 2019 Selected RPC Guidance

The company currently expects average revenue per contract (RPC) for total options for the first quarter of 2019 to be 1.0 percent to 2.0 percent lower than the amounts noted below for the two months ended February 28, 2019. RPC for index options for the first quarter is expected to be 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent lower than the two-month average noted below, reflecting a higher mix of VIX options contracts in March relative to the volume mix for the two months ended February 28, 2019. RPC for multiply-listed options for the first quarter is expected to be 4.0 percent to 5.0 percent lower than the two-month average due to a shift in mix of volume. The RPC for futures for the first quarter is expected to be in line with the two-month average noted below. These expectations are estimated, preliminary and may change. There can be no assurance that our final RPC for the three months ended March 31, 2019, will not differ materially from these expectations.

The following represents average RPC based on a two-month and a three-month rolling average, reported on a one-month lag. The average RPC represents total transaction fees for Cboe, C2, BZX, EDGX options exchanges and CFE recognized for the period divided by total contracts traded during the period. Average transaction fees per contract can be affected by various factors, including exchange fee rates, volume-based discounts and transaction mix by contract type and product type.

(In Dollars) Two-Months Ended Three-Months Ended Product: Feb-19 Feb-19 Jan-19 Dec-18 Nov-18 Multiply-Listed Options (Cboe, C2, BZX, EDGX) $0.073 $0.076 $0.081 $0.083 $0.079 Index Options (Cboe and C2) $0.739 $0.747 $0.748 $0.750 $0.740 Total Options Average Revenue Per Contract $0.245 $0.264 $0.272 $0.280 $0.265 Futures (CFE) $1.745 $1.735 $1.726 $1.697 $1.712

About Cboe Global Markets, Inc.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE) is one of the world's largest exchange holding companies, offering cutting-edge trading and investment solutions to investors around the world. The company is committed to relentless innovation, connecting global markets with world-class technology, and providing seamless solutions that enhance the customer experience.

Cboe offers trading across a diverse range of products in multiple asset classes and geographies, including options, futures, U.S. and European equities, exchange-traded products (ETPs), global foreign exchange (FX) and multi-asset volatility products based on the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX Index), the world's barometer for equity market volatility.

Cboe's trading venues include the largest options exchange in the U.S. and the largest stock exchange by value traded in Europe. In addition, the company is one of the largest stock exchange operators in the U.S. and is a leading market globally for ETP trading.

The company is headquartered in Chicago with offices in Kansas City, New York, London, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong and Quito, Ecuador. For more information, visit www.cboe.com.

CBOE-V

Cboe, Cboe Volatility Index, FLEX, FLexible EXchange, and VIX are registered trademarks and Cboe Global MarketsSM is a service mark of Cboe Exchange, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect our expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the loss of our right to exclusively list and trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading volumes, market data fees or a shift in the mix of products traded on our exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes; potential difficulties in our migration of trading platforms and our ability to retain employees as a result of the acquisition; our ability to protect our systems and communication networks from security risks, cybersecurity risks, insider threats and unauthorized disclosure of confidential information; increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our dependence on and exposure to risk from third parties; fluctuations to currency exchange rates; our index providers' ability to maintain the quality and integrity of their indexes and to perform under our agreements; our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel, including those experienced with post-acquisition integration; our ability to accommodate trading volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; misconduct by those who use our markets or our products; challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our compliance obligations, including managing potential conflicts between our regulatory responsibilities and our for-profit status; damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; our ability to manage our growth and strategic acquisitions or alliances effectively; restrictions imposed by our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade credit rating; impairment of our goodwill, investments or intangible assets; and the accuracy of our estimates and expectations. More detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and other filings made from time to time with the SEC.

We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc.

Related Links

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Fitted out with 230 comfy leather-covered seats and high-quality carpeting, the first five rows of Vietjet's spacious new A321neo have been especially designed to accommodate passengers who choose to fly Skyboss, the airline's premium service. The aircraft's interior also features a lively lighting system and a striking decor that combine to create a comfortable and refreshing ambience through the whole cabin.

The visit of the delegation from National Assembly of Vietnam to the aircraft manufacturer's factory underscores the significant commitment of Vietnam's national leaders in supporting the development of the aviation industry at home and other affairs related to technology transfer and strategic cooperation within the industry.

During the visit, the National Assembly of Vietnam's Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan insisted in her speeches that Vietjet has been a pioneering airline, positively contributing to the development of the national and regional aviation industry. She noted how the Vietnamese aviation industry has been growing continuously while Vietjet has been among the fastest growing airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. Vietnam's economy has been benefited greatly from the contribution of tourism and investment segments. Vietnam's government has given considerable attention to supporting the development of aviation. As a result, the aviation industry in Vietnam is a rising star at the moment, making large orders of aircrafts, building new fleets of modern planes, especially the private airline Vietjet.

Speaking at the delivery ceremony in France, Mr. Jean-Francois Laval, Airbus Executive Vice President Sales Asia, said: "We are pleased to be an aircraft manufacturer of choice for Vietjet, one of the fastest growing carriers in the Asian region. We congratulate Vietjet on their latest A321neo delivery. At Airbus we are honoured to be a key partner of Vietjet, and we look forward to seeing more of our aircraft flying in its colours."

Marking a milestone in this relationship, this A321neo is also the 60th aircraft of its kind that Vietjet has received directly from Airbus, among a fleet of almost 80 aircraft that the airline is operating. The new aircraft will immediately join fleet operations in April 2019.

Speaking on the occasion of this special event, Mr. Dinh Viet Phuong, Vice President of Vietjet, said, "Vietjet is currently operating a fleet of new Airbus A320 family aircraft with an average age of 2.82 years, making it the youngest fleet in the world. The A320 family aircraft has greatly contributed to Vietjet's impressive operation performances, including the airline's technical reliability rate standing at 99.64%, in recent years and to be among one of the airlines with the lowest operating costs in the world. The delivery of this new A321neo today once again emphasizes Vietjet's great efforts to grow and modernize our fleet, so we can continuously contribute to the growth of tourism and economies across the region, while meeting our utmost objective, bringing maximum comfort, joy and safety to our valued passengers."

About Vietjet:

Vietjet is the first airline in Vietnam to operate as a new-age airline offering flexible, cost-saving ticket fares and diversified services to meet customers' demands. It provides not only transport services but also uses the latest e-commerce technologies to offer various products and services for consumers. Vietjet is a fully-fledged member of International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate. Vietjet was named "Best Ultra Low-Cost Airline 2018 - 2019" and awarded the highest ranking for safety with 7 stars in 2018 by the world's only safety and product rating website AirlineRatings.com. The airline has also been listed as one of the world's 50 best airlines for healthy financing and operations by Airfinance Journal in 2018.

Currently, Vietjet operates around 400 flights daily, carrying more than 70 million passengers to date, with 108 routes covering destinations across Vietnam and international destinations such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, mainland China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia.

For more information, please visit: www.vietjetair.com

SOURCE Vietjet

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FORT MYERS, Fla., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chico's FAS, Inc. (NYSE: CHS) and its family of brands, Chico's, White House Black Market and Soma, announce their 2019 Spring campaign, partnering with Habitat for Humanity International to bring awareness to the issue of affordable homeownership for women and their families. According to Habitat, nearly 19 million U.S. households spend more than half of their paychecks on housing costs, creating a burden that often requires families to make difficult choices between their housing, healthcare, education and transportation.

This year the multi-faceted Spring campaign will support Habitat for Humanity's Home is the Key campaign and the national Women Build program, impacting communities across the nation. The partnership is aimed at empowering women to build strength, stability and independence through housing.

"At Chico's FAS we believe in empowering women to reach their greatest potential. For most people, it's a high achievement to own your home. Last year, more than half the homes purchased through Habitat for Humanity were by women led households. Home ownership provides transformational change to a woman and her family, and helps to empower her, which in turn, positively impacts her family and the community for generations," says Lori Shaffer, Senior Vice President of Outlets for Chico's FAS, Inc. and Chair of the Company's Corporate Giving Board. "At Chico's FAS we want to help more women turn the key that unlocks opportunity."

The campaign spans the months of April and May, with opportunities that engage Chico's FAS Associates as volunteers and enables customers to contribute through donation or by purchasing select items that give back. The sponsorship includes support of Habitat's 2019 Women Build program, which recruits, educates and inspires women to build and advocate for safe and affordable shelter in their communities. Chico's FAS will directly impact multiple communities across the United States, including the complete funding of two new homes and providing $5,000 grants to 15 Women Build projects.

To further the effort, each of Chico's FAS' brands will donate a portion of select product sales, up to a combined maximum donation of $600,000, to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Additionally, Chico's FAS will collect register donations at its Chico's, White House Black Market and Soma boutiques, outlets, and online at www.chicosfas-cares.com.

"Chico's FAS recognizes that affordable housing is the cornerstone to vibrant communities and a strong economy," said Colleen Finn Ridenhour, Senior Vice President of Development, Habitat for Humanity International. "We thank Chico's, White House Black Market, Soma and their employees for their continued commitment to a world where everyone has a decent place to call home."

Chico's FAS will also sponsor Habitat's third annual Home is the Key campaign, which gathers sponsors, celebrities and community leaders to speak out on the importance of affordable housing throughout the month of April. Chico's FAS helped kick-off the 2019 campaign in Atlanta, Georgia last week where volunteers helped construct an affordable home alongside future homeowner Krushetta and her sons. The home will be completed over the course of April.

More information can be found at www.ChicosFAS-Cares.com.

About Chico's FAS, Inc.

The Company, through its brands  Chico's, White House Black Market and Soma is a leading omnichannel specialty retailer of women's private branded, sophisticated, casual-to-dressy clothing, intimates and complementary accessories.

As of February 2, 2019, the Company operated 1,418 stores in the U.S. and Canada and sold merchandise through 83 international franchise locations in Mexico. The Company's merchandise is also available at www.chicos.com, www.chicosofftherack.com, www.whbm.com and www.soma.com as well as through third party channels. For more detailed information on the Company, please go to our corporate website at www.chicosfas.com. The information on our corporate website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this press release or incorporated into our federal securities law filings.

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia. The Christian housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.

SOURCE Chico's FAS, Inc.

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http://www.chicosfas.com

Missing since the Second World War : Bonn University Library gets lost books back

Bonn The University and State Library Bonn (ULB) celebrates the return of more than 600 volumes that had been lost since the post-war period. Among them are numerous historical copies of high idealistic and material value.

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More than 600 books missing after the Second World War are now returned to the Bonn University and State Library. Among the precious writings were medieval manuscripts and documents, historical maps as well as early and rare prints, the University of Bonn declared on Tuesday. They come back from Belgian private ownership. "It is the largest successful repatriation of missing books in the 200-year history of the university library," the university said in a statement.

The volumes disappeared from Bonn under unclear circumstances after the Second World War. A Belgian woman inherited the works and offered some to the London auction house Sotheby's, which contacted the library. According to the information, the parties agreed quickly and amicably on the return of the works.BEIJING, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd. (OTC: STVVY) ("China Digital TV" or the "Company"), a leading provider of cloud platforms embedded with gaming and other applications to PRC digital television and telecommunication network operators, today announced the results of the Company's extraordinary general meeting (the "EGM"), held in Beijing today.

At the EGM, shareholders, through an ordinary resolution, approved the Company's deregistration from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Deregistration") from the date of the EGM.

For more detailed information regarding the shareholder resolution adopted at the Company's EGM, please review the Notice of the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders (and the accompanying proxy statement) at http://ir.chinadtv.cn.

About China Digital TV

Founded in 2004, China Digital TV is a leading provider of cloud platforms, with gaming and other applications embedded, to PRC digital television and telecommunication network operators, enabling them to bring these applications to household television sets and other mobile devices.

For more information please visit the Investor Relations section of China Digital TV's website at http://ir.chinadtv.cn.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "may," "should" and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the outlook and comments by management in this announcement about trends in the cloud computing, cable television and related industries in the PRC and China Digital TV's strategic and operational plans and future market positions. China Digital TV may also make forward-looking statements in its periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about China Digital TV's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from projections contained or implied in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: competition in the cloud computing, cable television and related industries in the PRC and the impact of such competition on prices, our ability to implement our business strategies, changes in technology, the progress of the television digitalization in the PRC, the structure of the cable television industry or television viewer preferences, changes in PRC laws, regulations or policies with respect to the cloud computing, cable television and related industries, including the extent of non-PRC companies' participation in such industries, and changes in political, economic, legal and social conditions in the PRC, including the government's policies with respect to economic growth, foreign exchange and foreign investment.

Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. China Digital TV does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press release.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd.

Investor Relations

Tel: +86-10-6297-1199 x 9780

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE China Digital TV Holding Co., Ltd.

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DENVER, CO and PLANO, TX, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - CIBC Innovation Banking has provided $5 million in working capital financing for Geoforce, a global provider of field asset tracking solutions. The company will use the debt capital to help accelerate its product delivery and execute on its client growth strategies.

Geoforce uses proprietary hardware and software solutions to help companies in the energy, transportation and services sectors track large assets around the globe, including monitoring equipment movements and performance in field locations that may not be covered by cellular networks.

"Deep energy sector expertise led to Geoforce's early success, and the team has demonstrated its ability to expand the company's solutions across diverse markets," said Charlie Kelly, Managing Director with CIBC Innovation Banking's Denver office. "We're pleased to see that major transportation, logistics and agriculture companies are coming on board as clients."

With a new headquarters in Plano, Texas, Geoforce continues to expand its global footprint, adding team members in cities across the U.S., Brazil and Australia. The company also recently completed an acquisition of Cartasite, resulting in a new product and sales team in Denver.

"We are excited to have a flexible financial partner with CIBC Innovation Banking, a team whose broad technology industry experience was instrumental to building the deal," said James MacLean III, CEO and founder, Geoforce. "They recognized the value in our strong recurring revenue and blue chip clients, and were willing to customize a debt solution that worked for our business."

About CIBC Innovation Banking

With offices in Denver, Menlo Park, Montreal, Reston, Toronto and Vancouver, CIBC Innovation Banking delivers strategic advice, cash management and funding to North American innovation companies at each stage of their business cycle, from start up to IPO and beyond. The team has extensive experience and a strong, collaborative approach that extends across CIBC's commercial banking and capital markets businesses in Canada and the U.S.

About CIBC

CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with 10 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Across Personal and Small Business Banking, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, and Capital Markets businesses, CIBC offers a full range of advice, solutions and services through its leading digital banking network, and locations across Canada, in the United States and around the world.

About Geoforce

Combining a cloud-based software platform with rugged GPS tracking devices and global satellite and cellular networks, Geoforce's Track and Trace solutions bring control to often chaotic field operations. With over 800 customers tracking more than 100,000 assets in 70+ countries, the company operates the world's largest network of connected field equipment within the oil & gas industry, and its solutions are used in many other field operations intensive industries, including agriculture, construction, mining, transportation, and logistics. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Geoforce has R&D offices in Bozeman, Montana, sales and support offices in Houston, Texas, Denver, Colorado, Arroyo Grande, California, Macae, Brazil, and Melbourne, Australia, and sales and service professionals in West Texas, South Louisiana, and Ohio. For more information, visit www.geoforce.com.

SOURCE CIBC Innovation BankingMINNEAPOLIS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology development and consulting firm Collective Fruitions today announced the official lineup for its 2nd Annual Emerging Technology Conference, which kicks off on June 7 at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Building on the success of the first year, the event will cover both the business and technical elements of emerging technology including AI ethics, health technology, drones, agricultural technology and more.

Collective Fruitions

"Business and technology can no longer afford to be siloed. The success of last year's inaugural event taught us the real need for bridging this growing divide when effectively using emerging technologies," said Corey Ganser, CEO of Collective Fruitions. "In our second year, we will continue to build a space for professionals to learn more about these cutting-edge technologies, ultimately giving attendees the tools needed to future-proof their businesses."

During the one-day, intimate event, attendees will hear from industry thought leaders on a number of topics:

Convenient Dining Through Machine Learning : Chris Baggott is eliminating the middleman in ordering and delivering food to doorsteps with ClusterTruck. The veteran digital marketer will explain how his platform is using machine learning, quality food and fast delivery to change the way we conveniently order food.

: is eliminating the middleman in ordering and delivering food to doorsteps with ClusterTruck. The veteran digital marketer will explain how his platform is using machine learning, quality food and fast delivery to change the way we conveniently order food. 5G, IoT and Blockchain Come Together to Keep Food Safe : 128,000 Americans get sick from foodborne illness a year and expensive recalls are increasing. Hear from Eric Weaver , CEO and co-founder of Transparent Path and digital transformation veteran, on how 5G, blockchain ecosystems and AI can lead to more transparency and traceability in the food industry.

: 128,000 Americans get sick from foodborne illness a year and expensive recalls are increasing. Hear from , CEO and co-founder of Transparent Path and digital transformation veteran, on how 5G, blockchain ecosystems and AI can lead to more transparency and traceability in the food industry. Lasers, Drones, Mars and Machine Learning : Vic Miller , VP of technology at SeekOps Inc., will take attendees behind-the-scenes into a laboratory explaining the technical process of developing laser-based trace gas sensors that are eventually deployed on unmanned aerial vehicles like drones.

: , VP of technology at SeekOps Inc., will take attendees behind-the-scenes into a laboratory explaining the technical process of developing laser-based trace gas sensors that are eventually deployed on unmanned aerial vehicles like drones. Dr. AI Will See You Now : Hear from Senthil Kumaran , CIO of St. Paul -based Virtuwell, on how the leading telemedicine platform is using AI to transform the medical diagnostic industry by deploying predictive analytics to improve patient flow and reduce healthcare costs.

"At a time where new technologies are fast-changing how businesses behave and grow, it is important to create a unique and safe space like the Emerging Technology Conference for professionals to have the chance to become students again," said Stefanie Lenway, dean of the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas, a sponsor of this year's conference. "We are proud to be a part of the education of business professionals at all levels, as we ourselves take the steps to incorporate emerging technology into our business programs, giving upcoming generations the resources needed to navigate confidently emerging technologies in business early on."

Additional conference details and speakers will be announced in the coming months. To stay updated and learn more about the 2019 Emerging Technology Conference, please visit https://www.emerging.events.

On June 7, follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #ETCon2019.

About Collective Fruitions

Collective Fruitions is a tech consulting firm specializing in custom app development and agile management. They create streamlined workflows that enable extraordinary tech.

Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas

For students seeking an educational experience that prepares them to be highly effective, principled, global business leaders, the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas delivers relevant, applied programs in a high-touch, personalized learning environment. Conveniently located within the Minneapolis skyway, the local business community looks to Opus College of Business for its expertise in health care, entrepreneurship and principled leadership. A proud alumni network of principled leaders in all 50 states and more than 30 countries drive extraordinary results for their organizations, including in all Minnesota-based Fortune 500 companies. Opus College of Business is AACBS accredited and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, in addition to non-degree programs for life-long learning.

About the 2019 Emerging Technology Conference

The 2019 Emerging Technology Conference is a premier convention covering business and technical elements of emerging technology, taking place on June 7 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sponsors of the 2019 Emerging Technology Conference include the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business and the Minnesota High Tech Association, among others. To register, please visit https://emerging.events/products/full-conference-pass.

For additional information, please contact:

Corey Ganser, CEO of Collective Fruitions

619-365-5764

[email protected]

https://www.emerging.events

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SOURCE Collective FruitionsCOLTON, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- San Bernardino County's City of Colton Electric Utility is due to receive its first all-electric zero emission utility truck from Phoenix Motorcars, on the heels of a record breaking 87 days of bad air quality in the summer of 2018.

San Bernardino County is ranked amongst the top counties with bad air quality given the recent rise in warehouses in the region that require constant freight movement. More than 75% of the goods imported to Southern California ports are transported by rail or road to distribution facilities throughout the county. To promote a clean, green community, and reduce atmospheric emissions, Colton's Public Works Department will be utilizing the all-electric zero-emission utility truck to service irrigation around the City.

The all-electric zero-emission utility truck is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60 tons of carbon dioxide per year as compared with a conventional utility truck of its size. This will prove helpful in achieving the city's identified Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction target. The City of Colton aims to reduce its community GHG emissions to a level that is 15% below its 2008 GHG emissions level by 2020.

Aside from the many environmental benefits of utilizing electric vehicles, the Phoenix Motorcars Utility Trucks also offer significant cost benefits over the total life of the vehicle. "We provide our clients with substantial savings in fueling and maintenance costs", says Emad Fakhoury, CEO of Phoenix Motorcars. "We are excited to partner with the City of Colton, forward-thinkers, whose goal is to promote sustainable transportation and reduce atmospheric emissions," he continued.

"I am looking forward to city staff enjoying all the benefits I experience driving an all-electric car work. It's healthier for our environment and meets our sustainability goals. As a City we need to lead by example," says Jessica Sutorus, Environmental Conservation Supervisor for the City of Colton.

The Phoenix Motorcars all electric zero emission utility truck is set to be delivered to Colton April, 2019.

Phoenix Motorcars, founded in 2003, is a leader in developing medium and heavy duty electric vehicles for the commercial markets. Phoenix Motorcars strives to provide fleets with clean transportation and renewable energy through advanced technology solutions and remains committed to excellence in electric vehicle innovation. More information available at www.phoenixmotorcars.com.

Contact: Jo Anne Avelar, PR Executive

Phone: 909.987.0815

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Phoenix Motorcars

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TAMPA, Fla., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AACSB International (AACSB) announces today that 38 business schools have extended their accreditation in business, three have extended their accreditation in accounting, and 18 have extended their accreditation in both business and accounting. Founded in 1916, AACSB is the longest-serving global accrediting body for business schools, and the largest business education network connecting students, educators, and businesses worldwide.

For over a century, AACSB accreditation has been synonymous with the highest standards in business education and has been earned by only 5 percent of the world's schools offering business degrees at the bachelor level or higher. Today, 836 institutions across 55 countries and territories have earned AACSB accreditation. Further, 189 institutions hold supplemental AACSB accreditation for their accounting programs.



"AACSB congratulates each institution on their achievement," said Stephanie M. Bryant, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB. "Every AACSB-accredited school has demonstrated a focus on excellence in all areas, including teaching, research, curricula development, and student learning. The intense peer-review process exemplifies their commitment to quality business education."

Achieving accreditation is a process of rigorous internal focus, engagement with an AACSB-assigned mentor, and peer-reviewed evaluation. During this multi-year path, schools focus on developing and implementing a plan to align with AACSB's accreditation standards. These standards require excellence in areas relating to strategic management and innovation; student, faculty, and staff as active participants; learning and teaching; and academic and professional engagement.

To achieve accounting accreditation, an institution must first earn AACSB business accreditation. Then, in addition to developing and implementing a mission-driven plan to satisfy the business accreditation quality standards, accounting accreditation requires the satisfaction of a supplemental set of standards specific to the discipline and profession of accounting. Once accreditation is achieved, each institution participates in a five-year continuous improvement peer-review to maintain high quality and extend its accreditation.

As ratified by the AACSB International Board of Directors, the following schools have extended their accreditation in business and/or accounting:



Schools Extending Their Business Accreditation

Abilene Christian University (United States)

Augusta University (United States)

Barry University (United States)

Butler University (United States)

California State University, Long Beach (United States)

California State University, San Bernardino (United States)

Claremont Graduate University (United States)

Clarion University of Pennsylvania (United States)

Colorado State University-Pueblo (United States)

Columbus State University (United States)

Elon University (United States)

Fordham University (United States)

Georgetown University (United States)

Grenoble Ecole de Management (France)

HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management (Germany)

Instituto Panamericano de Alta Direccion de Empresa (IPADE) (Mexico)

Jacksonville State University (United States)

Le Moyne College (United States)

New York University (United States)

Saint Mary's University (Canada)

Stephen F. Austin State University (United States)

Texas Tech University (United States)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (China)

The University of North Carolina at Asheville (United States)

Toulouse Business School (France)

Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)

University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (United States)

University of Birmingham (United Kingdom)

University of Detroit Mercy (United States)

University of Kansas (United States)

University of New Hampshire (United States)

University of South Dakota (United States)

University of South Florida St. Petersburg (United States)

University of the Pacific (United States)

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (United States)

Vlerick Business School (Belgium)

Xavier University (United States)

Yeshiva University (United States)



Schools Extending Their Accounting Accreditation

Auburn University at Montgomery (United States)

University of Louisville (United States)

University of North Florida (United States)



Schools Extending Their Business and Accounting Accreditation

Arizona State University (United States)

Baylor University (United States)

John Carroll University (United States)

Northumbria University (United Kingdom)

Ohio University (United States)

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For more detailed information about AACSB accreditation, please visit aacsb.edu/accreditation.

About AACSB International

As the world's largest business education alliance, AACSB InternationalThe Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) connects educators, students, and business to achieve a common goal: to create the next generation of great leaders. Synonymous with the highest standards of excellence since 1916, AACSB provides quality assurance, business education intelligence, and professional development services to almost 1,700 organizations, and over 800 accredited business schools worldwide. AACSB's mission is to foster engagement, accelerate innovation, and amplify impact in business education. The global organization has offices located in Tampa, Florida, USA; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Singapore. For more information, visit aacsb.edu.

SOURCE AACSB International

Related Links

http://www.aacsb.edu

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CROP INFRASTRUCTURE CORP. (CSE: CROP) (OTC: CRXPF) (Frankfurt: 2FR) has been advised by its tenant brand sales team that the Hempire and Evolution brands are now available in 40 retail locations, mostly along the coastal cities of Washington.

The flower is available in eight different strains across seven sizes with concentrates being made available in five different concentrates across 20 separate strains giving the retail locations over 100 SKUS to offer their consumers.

The Washington market for 2018, according to Statista.com, was a $534.06 Million market with RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi writing: 'The legal cannabis category [in the U.S.] is set to grow at a 17% CAGR over the next decade to as much as $47 billion in annual sales.'

Crop's tenanted Washington facility has a major advantage with low cost electricity at $0.02 per kWh and greenhouse style growing, making it one of the most efficient growing operations available in the state of Washington for high quality product.

CROP CEO, Michael Yorke, stated: "Our tenant growing team and their sales team have made outstanding progress with product placement in 40 retail locations for both flower, oils and extracts. We continue to build out our brands in California and Nevada and our objective is, ultimately, to be in as many states as possible."

About CROP

CROP is publicly listed company trading under symbol CROP.CSE. The company is focused on cannabis branding and real estate assets. CROP's portfolio of projects includes cultivation properties in California, two in Washington State, a 1,000-acre Nevada cannabis farm, 2,115 acres of Hemp CBD farms, and a growing portfolio of common share equity in upcoming listings within the cannabis space.

CROP has developed a portfolio of assets including Canna Drink, a cannabis infused functional beverage line and 16 Cannabis brands.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In addition, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the expected returns from the Washington Project; the technological effects of Washington Project; the intention to expand its portfolio; and execute on its business plan. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding the regulatory and legal framework regarding the cannabis industry in general among all levels of government and zoning; risks associated with applicable securities laws and stock exchange rules relating to the cannabis industry; risks associated with maintaining its interests in its various assets; the ability of the Company to finance operations and execute its business plan and other factors beyond the control of the Company. Such forward-looking statements should therefore be construed in light of such factors, and the Company is not under any obligation, 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 applicable law.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.

Company Contact

Michael Yorke  CEO and Director

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.cropcorp.com

Phone: +1(604) 484-4206

SOURCE Crop Infrastructure Corp.ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Defenshield this week released 2018 highlights in anticipation for its 2019 annual shareholders conference.

"I could not be more thrilled about Defenshield's growth and support to customers around the world this past year," said Defenshield President Collins White. "We have the best team in the business and take immense pride in how we partner to protect those who are protecting others. Our Mobile Defensive Fighting Positions or mobile ballistic shields, partitions, Pointman Riot Shields and custom equipment were all in high demand as law enforcement and force protection personnel continue to face unprecedented threats in today's world."

Specific 2018 highlights include:

Department of Defense

The Pentagon and several DoD agencies contracted with Defenshield to meet their force protection needs. The Pentagon and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency both respectively selected Defenshield to design, manufacture and install custom ballistic partitions and other key work at critical entry control points. In addition, an intelligence agency acquired over 15 Mobile Defensive Fighting Positions for use at multiple locations.

Recognizing sustained National Stock Number demand, the Defense Logistics Agency purchased over 10 MDFPs which were placed in stock for quick deployment in response to future orders.

U.S. Army

Four major Army installations conducted their independent analysis of their Entry Control Point (ECP) protective measures and acquired a total of 80 Mobile Defensive Fighting Positions for overall effectiveness, durability, and maintainability across a wide spectrum of operating environments.

National Guard

Defenshield continues to be a key partner with the National Guard. The Florida National Guard procured over 15 MDFPs for use at stand-alone locations. In addition, Defenshield engaged with National Guard personnel at over six state conferences plus the National Guard Association of the United States Annual Conference.

U.S. Air Force

Several USAF installations in the United States and Europe acquired over 25 MDFPs for use at ECPs. In addition, heaters were purchased by one installation in a follow-on acquisition to enhance the MDFP's capabilities and support airmen in fighting the elements.

U.S. Navy

On the west coast, almost twenty MDFPs were purchased and deployed at installations across the region. Naval Station Portsmouth acquired MDFPs for use at their ECPs. The acquisitions were both made via National Stock Numbers, their first use by the Navy.

Transportation

MDFP purchases and deployments were made at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Portland International Airport with custom ballistic equipment acquired by two nuclear plants.

Federal Agencies

The Department of Energy and Department of State (DoS) purchased barrier caps and MDFPs. The DoS acquisition was particularly noted as the MDFPs will be utilized for embassy force protection at high threat locations.

Law Enforcement

The New York City Police Department acquired nearly 100 Pointman Riot Shields, to add to over 1,000 already in use. While in Georgia the Newton County Sheriff's purchased several MDFPs for courthouse security.

Defenshield Product information, customer list, testimonials, ballistic data, photographs and video footage are available online at: www.defenshield.com and https://www.facebook.com/Defenshield

Media contact:

Brandon Patty

[email protected]

904-599-8688

SOURCE Defenshield, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.defenshield.com

MODESTO, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- E. & J. Gallo Winery (Gallo) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Constellation Brands, Inc. to purchase more than 30 wine and spirits brands, along with six winemaking facilities located in California, Washington, and New York.

According to Joseph E. Gallo, chief executive officer of Gallo, "We are committed to remaining a family-owned company focused on growing the wine industry. While we continue to invest in our premium and luxury businesses, we see a tremendous opportunity with this acquisition to bring new consumers into the wine category." He added, "We will continue to provide our customers and consumers with quality products at every price point."

More than 30 brands will join the Gallo portfolio, including Clos du Bois, Black Box, Estancia, Mark West, Wild Horse, Franciscan, and Ravenswood.

Also, as part of the agreement, Gallo will acquire several production facilities across the US. The included wineries are Mission Bell, Turner Road Vintners, Clos du Bois and Wild Horse in California, Hogue Cellars in Washington, and Canandaigua in New York.

Through acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and new brand innovations, Gallo has continued to expand and diversify its portfolio across all price points to meet growing consumer demand and evolving preferences.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

About E. & J. Gallo Winery

Founded by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo in 1933 in Modesto, California, E. & J. Gallo Winery is the world's largest family-owned winery with more than 6,500 global employees and is the acclaimed producer of award-winning wines and spirits featured in more than 110 countries around the globe. A pioneer in the art of grape growing, winemaking, sustainable practices, marketing and worldwide distribution, Gallo crafts and imports wines and spirits to suit a diverse range of tastes and occasions, from everyday offerings to boutique, luxury bottlings.

The Gallo portfolio is comprised of more than 100 unique brands, including Barefoot Cellars, Dark Horse, and Gallo Family Vineyards, as well as premium box wines The Naked Grape and Vin Vault. Premium offerings include Apothic, Carnivor, Chateau Souverain, Columbia Winery, Ecco Domani, Edna Valley Vineyard, J Vineyards & Winery, Louis M. Martini, MacMurray Estate Vineyards, Mirassou, Orin Swift, Talbott Vineyards, and William Hill Estate, along with highly acclaimed imports, such as Alamos, Brancaia, La Marca, Las Rocas, Martin Codax, Whitehaven, and LUX Wines, importers of Allegrini, Argiano, Jermann, Pieropan and Renato Ratti. Gallo Spirits currently offers New Amsterdam Vodka and Gin, Familia Camarena Tequila, RumHaven, Lo-Fi Aperitifs, E&J Brandy, Argonaut Brandy, Germain-Robin Brandy, Diplomatico Rum, as well as imported Scotch whiskies from Whyte & Mackay, including The Dalmore, Jura and John Barr.

SOURCE E. & J. Gallo Winery

Related Links

http://www.gallo.com

NEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The first wave of family spring break has come to an end, but students from major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. are getting ready for their recesses at the end of April. CheapOair, an online travel agency and leading provider of cheap flights, has analyzed the latest travel trends to determine the top destinations for elementary, middle, and high school families with spring break in April1.

Florida continues to dominate this year's domestic travel list for family spring breakers with Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, and Tampa claiming the first three spots. Miami and Fort Myers also made it into the top ten. Internationally, Mexico and the Caribbean hold a strong presence, pushing out the European destinations that were popular with families during the March spring break period.

Top Domestic Destination for Family Spring Breakers, April 20192 Destination Average Roundtrip Airfare3 Orlando, FL $368 Ft. Lauderdale, FL $364 Tampa, FL $334 Las Vegas, NV $338 Miami, FL $378 Los Angeles, CA $371 Ft. Myers, FL $408 Honolulu, HI $726 Phoenix, AZ $392 San Juan, PR $558

Top International Destinations for Family Spring Breakers, April 20194 Destination Average Roundtrip Airfare3 Cancun, Mexico $486 London, England $618 Paris, France $557 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico $493 Los Cabos, Mexico $509 Montego Bay, Jamaica $536 Nassau, Bahamas $554 Aruba $755 Grand Cayman Island $585 San Jose, Costa Rica $602

"For April travel, we are seeing many of the traditional spring break spots resurface, particularly among our international top ten destinations," said Tom Spagnola, SVP of Supplier Relations at CheapOair. "As summer nears, we're seeing an increase in airfares to Europe which has changed the options available for budget-conscious families traveling at the end of April."

In April, average domestic airfare this year is $423 while international airfare is averaging around $570. The cheapest domestic destination is Tampa, FL with an airfare of $334. Internationally, Cancun is the cheapest of the international destinations with an average airfare of $486.

By consistently monitoring travel trends, CheapOair's mission is to educate and aid consumers and travel professionals in both planning their travel accommodations and staying current on the most popular destinations.

For more information, please visit www.CheapOair.com, www.cheapoair.com/mobile, or our social media pages, www.Facebook.com/CheapOair and https://twitter.com/cheapoair.

About CheapOair

CheapOair is an online travel agency that specializes in providing cheap flights and great last-minute flight deals for travelers worldwide. Consumers can book online, on mobile apps for iOS and Android, by phone (1-800-566-2345) or live chat. Part of Fareportal's family of travel brands, CheapOair bridges the gap between an online travel agency and a traditional agency with certified travel agents available 24/7 to help find discount flight tickets to global destinations on over 450 airlines, a million hotels, and 100s of car rental companies. Follow CheapOair on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , and Pinterest to learn how to travel the world for less.

1Family spring break data for March 2019 released on March 6, 2019.

2 Based on passenger groups traveling domestically in the US departing 4/12/19  4/16/19 or 4/19/19  4/23/19 and returning 4/17/19  4/21/19 or 4/24/19  4/28/19.

3 Based on average roundtrip airfare departing from US gateways departing 4/12/19  4/16/19 or 4/19/19  4/23/19 and returning 4/17/19  4/21/19 or 4/24/19  4/28/19.

4 Based on passenger groups traveling internationally from the US departing 4/12/19  4/16/19 or 4/19/19  4/23/19 and returning 4/17/19  4/21/19 or 4/24/19  4/28/19.

*Passenger groups defined as bookings with 3-5 passengers

SOURCE CheapOair

Related Links

http://www.cheapoair.com

ST. LOUIS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A class-action lawsuit accuses a Missouri credit union of socking its customers with two or three "insufficient funds" fees on a single transaction, a practice the lawsuit claims is contrary to the credit union's account agreements.

According to the lawsuit, First Community charges a $27.50 "NSF" fee when customers have insufficient funds to complete a transaction. In many cases, The Credit Union then attempts to process the same transaction days later, classifying the transaction as a retry payment. By resubmitting an electronic transaction for processing after it has already been rejected for insufficient funds, the complaint argues, First Community can impose multiple fees that overwhelmingly exceed the original amount of the transaction, as is the case of named plaintiff Leassa Kellerman, who was allegedly charged $55 in fees over six days to only be left with the same failed payment of $10.99.

The lawsuit was filed on March 25, 2019 in St. Louis District Court against First Community Credit Union by Paul LLP, Kaliel PLLC and co-counsel. First Community Credit Union is the largest credit union in Missouri, with more than $2.5 billion in assets and hundreds of thousands of members throughout the state. The lawsuit seeks to be certified as a class action.

The complaint alleges: "First Community Credit Union makes millions of dollars each year through the imposition of NSFs. These fees are by definition often assessed on consumers struggling to make ends meet...and often fall disproportionately on racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly and the young."

Paul LLP has secured more than $2.5 billion in compensation for its clients.

For more information about this case, please contact Ashlea Schwarz at (816) 984-8100.

Paul LLP

Contact: Ashlea Schwarz, 816-984-8100

[email protected]

SOURCE Kaliel PLLCSuspicious-looking meatball : Dog owner warns against poison baits near the Rhine in Bonn

BUSCHDORF/HERSEL On a walk between Buschdorf and Hersel a Buschdorfer snatched a suspicious looking meatball from his dog. In recent years there have been repeated incidents with poisonous baits near the Rhine.

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"Joschi" was probably lucky: The Tibetan terrier mix ate, as his owner Oliver Borchardt suspects, poisoned meatballs when going for a walk on Thursday last week, but did not get any poisoning symptoms thanks to quick intervention.

According to Borchardt, the meatball lay in the grass under a tree on his daily walkway between Buschdorf and Hersel - on the footpath from Kolnstrae to the Rhine between the new Hersel housing estate Oderstrae and the vegetable field. Since this section is a green strip, this is not a place where a meatball could have been lying by chance, the Buschdorf man thinks. Therefore he turned to the General-Anzeiger to inform and warn other dog owners about the incident. "I walked all the way again later that day, but couldn't find anything. Nevertheless it is better to be careful and to pay attention to what the dogs eat while out walking", he says.

Dog owner Borchardt reacted quickly when his "passionate" four-legged friend bit into the meatball: He was able to take a piece of the suspicious meatball from him and called his vet's office on the spot. He was recommended to come over immediately with Joschi in order to give the animal an emetic. So the terrier mix could be helped quickly and possible poisoning symptoms were prevented.

"He was just not allowed to eat the whole day, which was the worst punishment for him," Borchardt reported relieved.

"We played it safe with the administration of emetics. I can't say whether the meat was poisoned or not; it would have had to be examined at the poison control centre," explained veterinarian Noorul Amin on GA request. "But there have been incidents of poison baits along the Rhine in recent years.

The Bonn police currently have no evidence of poisonous baits. However, it is recommended, as far as possible, to immediately hand in a sample of the suspicious bait to the municipal veterinary office, Engeltalstrae 4, and to inform the authorities. The police can be contacted at 0228/150, the veterinary office at 0228/772756.PHILADELPHIA, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- April 10th is National Hug Your Dog Day and author Caroline Capuzzi (https://dogjoybook.com/) is giving her readers five reasons why hugging their canine pets can be a loving and healthy choice. The list was compiled from answers given on a series of questionnaires sent out to contributing authors of Capuzzi's popular volume: "Dog Joy: Amazing Stories of the Indescribable Love Only a Rescued Dog Can Give."

Caroline & Stella Capuzzi Dog Joy

"Dog Joy" is intended to be shared with friends and family as well as donated to local animal rescues and veterinarians. "Dog Joy" spreads the love and deep comfort which rescue-dogs freely offer to their owners, illustrated in a series of real stories involving rescued dogs.

The ultimate goal of the book is to encourage people to consider visiting an animal shelter the next time they are looking for a new friend. In addition, sales of the book allow Capuzzi and her family-publisher, Dog Joy Books, to give to rescue charities. So far, the Capuzzi family has given over five thousand dollars in cash, and an additional thousand dollars in books, to various dog-rescue operations.

Five Reasons to Hug Your Dog Today

Hugging your dog produces oxytocin, in both you and your pet. Oxytocin is a hormone associated with love, attachment and trust, and helps to ensure a greater bond between pets and their owners. Hugging your dog fosters a greater sense of unconditional love and connection between you and your pet. Hugging your dog calms and relieves stress, regardless of how bad your day might have been. Hugging your dog lets them know that they are appreciated, and that their loyalty and friendship is cherished. Hugging your dog is the single best way to show your affection. A dog's life is very short, so it is important to cherish each moment. It may have only been a few days between hugs for you, but from your dog's perspective: It's been ages.

Originally started by Ami Moore, the "Dog Whisperer of Chicago," National Hug Your Dog Day began as a way to remind the world that humanity's oldest friend and companion deserves a little extra love now and then. Some other suggested activities for pet owners to share with their dogs on this day include:

Going for a walk : Take dogs for an extra long walk on this day, or even treat them to a trip to a local dog park.

: Take dogs for an extra long walk on this day, or even treat them to a trip to a local dog park. Treat your dog to a doggie-date : Taking pets to a pet-friendly restaurant is a unique way to demonstrate an owner's gratefulness. If there are no local pet-friendly restaurants to choose from, owners can whip up something special for pets in the home kitchen. Dog biscuits, with a good portion of cooked meat, is a great dining treat for canines.

: Taking pets to a pet-friendly restaurant is a unique way to demonstrate an owner's gratefulness. If there are no local pet-friendly restaurants to choose from, owners can whip up something special for pets in the home kitchen. Dog biscuits, with a good portion of cooked meat, is a great dining treat for canines. Grooming, massage and an extra-long petting session: Dogs love being touched, gently groomed and petted by their owners. This is the perfect time to give a dog a prolonged pet-and-rub session, to show love and appreciation.

About Dog Joy Books Publishing

Dog Joy Books is a small, family-owned publisher of a special type of fundraising book crafted for dog rescue operations and shelters  like the inaugural volume by Caroline Capuzzi, "Dog Joy." The books are designed to help spread the word related to the importance, value and need for all of the various national and local non-profit dog rescues. Dog Joy Books is dedicated to helping dog rescue organizations raise awareness and funds through publishing individual stories of rescuers. Learn more about how you can publish your own Dog Joy book for a specific organization at: www.DogJoyBooks.com.

Contact:

Becky Capuzzi

610.247.0875

[email protected]

SOURCE Dog Joy Books

Related Links

https://dogjoybooks.com

SUZHOU, China, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China. It's home to the largest consumer market in the world and the second largest economy. And if you want to succeed in an international business career, it's a country you can't ignore, according to Professor Roberto Dona from Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU).

Ahead of the launch of a new summer school programme on doing business in China, Professor Dona is calling on the next generation of business leaders to be China-savvy as the centre of the world's economy moves to Asia.

"We are entering the Asian century and China is at the heart of it  if you're in international business, you need to deal with China," Professor Dona says.

"China's economy is unlike anywhere else in the world  it's an ecosystem heavily influenced by tradition, culture and politics.

"The mistake many people make coming from the West is that they look at China with their eyes and try to understand the economy through a Western lens.

"Let's take the free market, for example. From a Western perspective, China doesn't have a free market but I've lived here for twelve years now and it's the freest and most deregulated market I've ever seen."

Based at XJTLU's International Business School Suzhou, Professor Dona offers the following tips for doing business in China :

The big number effect: Think big  you might have a great idea but if you can't scale it quickly, you won't succeed. If you generate demand but can't deliver, someone else will.

All is not equal: Parity matters. In many countries, you'd expect a rise in quality with a price increase  in China price and performance aren't necessarily related.

Adapt, not adopt: A couple of decades ago, China was looking to adopt from Western countries but it's now shifted to adapt mode. What works in China are businesses and products that adapt to the Chinese environment.

The more you know, the less you understand: Don't pretend to be an expert in China  the more you learn, the more you realise you don't know. Be humble.

China's not the benchmark, it's a world of its own: There is no other China and will not be another China in our lifetime. You can't use it as a benchmark to understand other developing economies  no country will develop at such a pace and in such a way as China.

Designed to give university students and professionals valuable business insights and firsthand industry experience in China, the 'Doing Business in a Changing China' programme will be led by Professor Dona and delivered by a number of international academics from XJTLU.

The programme is based in Suzhou, a 25-minute train ride from Shanghai, and home to nearly 100 Fortune 500 companies.

It is one of several summer school programmes on offer at XJTLU  China's largest Sino-foreign university  across June, July and August this year.

SOURCE Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool UniversityNEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Four Freedoms Park Conservancy announces "Freedom from Fear/Yellow Bowl Project" by ceramic artist and journalist Setsuko Winchester will be exhibited at FDR Four Freedoms State Park on Friday, April 12-Sunday, April 14. The exhibit examines racial and cultural stereotypes during WWII, and the relocation and imprisonment of Japanese Americans following FDR's Executive Order 9066 in 1942.

Setsuko Winchester's "Freedom from Fear/Yellow Bowl Project" will be exhibited at FDR Four Freedoms State Park from Friday, April 12 - Sunday, April 14.

In 2015, Winchester hand-pinched 120 yellow tea bowls, each representing 1,000 of the 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were forcibly detained in ten US concentration camps. Winchester traveled more than 16,000 miles as she traversed the country, photographing her tea bowls in situ at the sites of these former camps to illuminate this marginalized chapter in American history.

"My ceramic essay is an attempt to use something beautiful to examine an ugly part of our history, thus turning its memory inside out," Winchester explains. "Rather than expose the ugliness of those who perpetuated and confirmed the Fear (FDR included), I wanted to show the humanity of those who were incarcerated."

Winchester first visited FDR Four Freedoms State Park in 2016 to photograph her tea bowls along the Park's granite edges. Located on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, the Park is a memorial to president Roosevelt and his vision for universal human freedoms.

"Art has a unique power to tell stories," says CEO Howard Axel. "As steward of this architectural masterpiece designed by Louis Kahn, we are always looking for inspiring ways to connect visitors to human rights through programming; Ms. Winchester's work does just that by capturing a moment in history and igniting a conversation about the four freedoms."

The public is invited to join an artist-led talk and tour of the exhibition on Sunday, April 14 at 2:00pm, which will discuss the history behind Executive Order 9066, Winchester's impetus for creating this project, and how we can learn from history.

About Four Freedoms Park Conservancy

Four Freedoms Park Conservancy is the 501(c)(3) organization responsible for maintaining and operating FDR Four Freedoms State Park. As steward of this extraordinary civic space designed by Louis Kahn, the Conservancy advances President Roosevelt's legacy and inspires, educates, and engages the public in the ideals of the Four Freedoms.

For more information, visit: www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org.

Media Contact

Madeline Grimes

(646) 767-5095

[email protected]

SOURCE Four Freedoms Park Conservancy

Related Links

www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org

SHANGHAI, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Frost & Sullivan (hereinafter referred to as "F&S"), the world's largest growth consulting firm, released the "2018 China Pet Industry Report." This is the first time that F&S has released a report on China's pet industry. Prior to that, the authoritative data cited by listed companies such as PetSmart, a leading chained-brand in the U.S. pet industry, was also from F&S's research report.

The report has four parts, including the overview of China's pet industry, the portrait of consumers in the industry, the consumption of pet products, pet service and the consumption of live pets in China. The report fully shows the latest development of China's pet industry in 2018.

The Proportion of Pet Owner Households Has Increased to 22% in China

According to F&S's report, the number of pet owner households has increased from 69.3 million in 2013 to 99.8 million in 2018, showing an increment of 43.9% over the past five years. The penetration rate of household pet ownership in China has also grown from 16% in 2013 to 22% in 2018.

By the end of 2018, there were approximately 67 million pet cats and 74 million pet dogs in China. The annual sales of live pet cats and dogs were over 5 million, excluding the adopted and donated ones. In addition to cats and dogs, Chinese pet owners also keep 110 million other animals, including 84 million fish, 9 million birds, 7 million reptiles, 7 million rodents, etc., showing the various interests of Chinese pet owners.

The Market Size Reached RMB172.2 Billion in 2018

The market size of China's pet industry reached RMB172.2 billion in 2018, more than three times as the market size of RMB49.4 billion in 2013.

The market size of pet dogs was RMB98.5 billion in 2018. Pet food, including staple foods, snacks and health products, was the largest segment in the market with a revenue of RMB38.3 billion; the market size of vet care, pet supplies, pet service including grooming, boarding and other services, and live animal purchase was RMB19.8 billion, RMB15.1 billion, RMB15.6 billion and RMB9.7 billion, respectively.

By 2018, the market size of pet cats reached RMB60.2 billion. The segments of pet food, vet care, pet supplies, pet service and live animal purchase was RMB22.3 billion, RMB12.4 billion, RMB8.7 billion, RMB8.5 billion and RMB8.3 billion, respectively.

Industry experts generally believe that the pet industry in China will further develop along with the growing number of pets and increasing purchasing power of pet owners. It is estimated that by 2023, the market size of the China's pet industry would reach RMB472.3 billion.

Average Annual Spending on Each Pet Cat or Dog Was RMB3,969 in 2018

The living standard of pets in China has been gradually improving in recent years. According to F&S's report, the average annual spending of pet owners on each pet cat or dog was RMB3,969 in 2018.

Specific to pet dogs, the annual average spending on each pet dog in 2018 was RMB4,723, of which RMB2,040 was spent on food, RMB800 on supplies, RMB1,055 on vet care, and RMB828 on other services.

In 2018, the annual average spending on each pet cat was RMB3,117, of which RMB1,340 was spent on food, RMB525 on supplies, RMB742 on vet care, and RMB510 on other services. In comparison, the cost of raising a cat is lower than that of raising a dog.

Pet Owners in China Show the Characteristics of "Three Highs and One Low"

According to the report, pet owners in China usually have characteristics of middle-to-high income level and an advanced degree, and are middle-to-high class and younger in age.

Specific to gender, the gender ratio of China's pet owners was about 4:6 in 2018. Regarding the age distribution, 2% of the pet owners were born after 2000; 48% of pet owners were born after the 1990s; 35% of pet owners were born after the 1980s; 10% of pet owners were born after the 1970s; and 5% of pet owners were born before the 1970s. Obviously, young pet owners have become the mainstream, driving the development of China's pet industry in recent years.

Different from the "stereotype" of "single people are more interested in raising pets", F&S pointed out that 61% of pet owners in China are married, and only 39% of them are single. The percentage of married pet owners that are not living with their parents was 43.8% in 2018. The fact shows that although pets are able to keep single people company, a stable economic foundation is still needed for raising pets.

In terms of the income level of pet owners, more than one-third of pet owners have an average monthly income of more than RMB10,000. Pet owners that have an average monthly income of over RMB15,000 accounted for 12.8% of all pet owners, while pet owners that have an average monthly income between RMB10,000 to RMB14,999, pet owners that have an average monthly income between RMB5,000 to RMB9,999, and those with monthly income below RMB5,000 accounted for 21.5%, 39.5% and 26.2%, respectively. The number of owners with a high level of income and stronger ability to guarantee a certain living standard for pets is gradually increasing.

In addition, the report pointed out that pet owners with a bachelor's degree and those with a master's degree or above account for 65.5% and 5.8% of all pet owners. Meanwhile, pet owners that are company employees, management level staff and public institution employees accounted for 29.1%, 23.1% and 14.2% of all pet owners. An advanced degree and stable career will make it easier for pet owners to accept new and healthy concepts and habits of raising pets.

89% of the Pet Owners Buy Pet Products Online

Unlike pet owners in Europe and the U.S., who prefer to buy pet products offline, online consumption has become the major channel for Chinese pet owners.

According to the report, 89% of pet owners have purchased pet products online. The major factors are quality guarantee, a wide range of products, high discounts, promotions and convenience.

Among all the pet products consumed online, pet staple food is an inelastic demand. Around 88.5% of pet owners choose to buy staple food online. Pet snacks, daily necessities, travel equipment, vet care supplies, pet toys, pet grooming supplies, pet medicines and health care products, and live pets followed pet staple food on the list.

When purchasing pet staple food, 71.7% and 61.6% of the pet owners give priority to whether the raw materials and ingredients of staple foods meet nutritional needs and whether the food is easy to digest, showing that pet owners have paid special attention to the nutritional ingredients of pet food.

As for the frequency of purchasing staple food, 61.5% of pet owners buy staple food 6 to 12 times per year. Obtaining nutrients such as protein through professional staple food has become the main lifestyle for pets in China.

In addition to purchasing pet products online, some pet owners also choose to buy pet products in offline stores. About 55.4%, 50.8%, and 47.4% of the pet owners choose community pet stores, chain pet stores, and hospitals, respectively, to purchase pet products. The main considerations for pet owners to choose offline stores are a better shopping experience and a variety of services, such as boarding service, grooming service, etc.

Meanwhile, offline trading dominates the live animal purchase since pets are shown directly and "physically" in offline stores. 46.4% of the pet owners bought their pets from offline pet stores, and 34.3% of them received pets as gifts from friends.

Among all offline consumption, about 78.4% of pet owners have purchased vet care, 76.1% have purchased pet grooming service, 42.2% have purchased boarding service, and 27.3% have purchased pet training service. Due to the restrictions on raising dogs in urban regions and frequent conflicts between people and pets, pet training service, which may reduce the possible contradictions in public places, is expected to become a compulsory service for pet owners.

SOURCE Frost & SullivanNEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- This report analyzes the worldwide markets for Denim Jeans in US$ Million and Million Pairs.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05443606/?utm_source=PRN





The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of World. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2016 through 2024. Also, a five-year historic analysis is provided for these markets. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based on public domain information including company URLs.



The report profiles 159 companies including many key and niche players such as:

- 7 For All Mankind

- Aarvee Denims & Exports Ltd.

- Arvind Limited

- Black Peony (Group) Co., Ltd.

- Diesel S.p.A

- Edwin Co. Ltd.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05443606/?utm_source=PRN



DENIM JEANS MCP-6

MARKET ANALYSIS, TRENDS, AND FORECASTS, JANUARY 2

CONTENTS



1. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & PRODUCT DEFINITIONS



Study Reliability and Reporting Limitations

Data Interpretation & Reporting Level

Quantitative Techniques & Analytics

Product Definitions and Scope of Study





2. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW



Denim Jeans - A Fashion Quintessential

Global Denim Industry - Key Facts

Leading Denim and Jeans Markets

North America - Single Largest Denim Jeans Market

Developing Countries Offer Significant Growth Opportunities

Table 1: Fastest Growing Denim Jeans Markets Worldwide - Ranked on the Basis of CAGR Over the Analysis Period (2016-2024) (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 2: Global Denim Market (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Sales Volume by Geographic Region (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

China - Leading Denim Weaver

Growing Popularity of Denim in Developing Countries

A Review of the Latest Denim Innovations

Denims - A Review of the Latest Trends

Table 3: World Denim Market by Region: Number of Denim Products Owned by Consumer (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Strong Growth in Demand from Emerging Markets

Export - Import Statistics

Table 4: Global Exports of Denim (2016 & 2017): Percentage Breakdown of Value Exports by Country (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

2009 - International Year of Natural Fibers

Background

Denim Industry after the End of Quota System

Multi-fiber Arrangement





3. DENIM JEANS INDUSTRY AND MACRO DRIVERS



Demand for Apparel and Textile Mirrors GDP Growth

Table 5: World Real GDP Growth Rates in % for the Years 2

through 2019 for Select Countries (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Ballooning Middle Class Population Offers Steady Growth Opportunities

Table 6: Global Population Estimates (2000-2050) (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 7: Global Middle Class Population (In Million) by Geographic Region for the Years 2017, 2022 & 2030 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 8: Breakdown of World Middle Class Spending (In US$ Trillion) by Region for the Years 2017 & 2030 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Expanding Urban Population Spurs Consumption Growth

Table 9: World Urban Population in Millions: 1950-2050P (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 10: Percentage of Urban Population in Select Countries (2018 & 2050) (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Global Apparel Market - A Macro Perspective

Table 11: Global Apparel Sale (2018E): Market Share (in %) for Menas and Womenas Apparel (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Growing Demand for Clothing and Fabrics Bodes Well for the Market

Table 12: Global Apparel Market (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Consumption by Geographic Region (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Cotton, Key Raw Material for Denim - An Overview

Table 13: World Cotton Production for Marketing Years 2014/2015 to 2018/2019E (in Thousand Metric Tons) (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 14: World Cotton Production: Percentage Breakdown of Production for Leading Countries in Marketing Year 2017/2

(includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 15: World Cotton Harvested Area, Production and Exports for Marketing Years 2010/2011 through 2018/2019E (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Consumption to Remain Stable

Table 16: World Cotton Consumption: Percentage Breakdown of Consumption for Leading Countries in Marketing Year 2017/2018 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Cotton Trade

Table 17: World Cotton Exports: Percentage Breakdown of Exports for Leading Countries in Marketing Year 2017/2

(includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 18: World Cotton Imports: Percentage Breakdown of Imports for Leading Countries in Marketing Year 2017/2

(includes corresponding Graph/Chart)





4. MARKET TRENDS, GROWTH DRIVERS AND ISSUES



Denim - an Expression of Unique Personal Style

World Denim Jeans Market Ranked by Most Popular Jeans Available

Table 19: World Denim Jeans Market by Region: Number of Denim Jeans Owned by Consumer (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Distressed Jeans Increasingly in Vogue

Denim Consumption Largely Dependent on Street Fashions and Celebrity Styles

Table 20: Purchase Drivers for Denim Jeans by Men and Women (In %) (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Denim Jeans Making Inroads into Work Wear/Corporate Wear

Growing Fashion Consciousness among Women Drives Growth

High-end Premium Denim Jeans to Register Impressive Growth

World Premium Jeans Market Ranked by Most Expensive Jeans Available

Competition in High-End Denim Jeans Market

Growth in Premium Jeans Category Hampered - A Recent Past Recollection

Generating Interest in Young Generation - A Challenging Trail to Tread

Denim Jeans Face Threat from Substitutes

Functional Denim: The Next Big Thing

Shapewear Giant Spanx Enters into the Denim Jeans Market

Acid Washes on Denim Jeans Gain Popularity

Distressed Jeans and Jeggings now in Vogue

Athleisure Remains Strong, Providing Competition to Denim

Innovations Drive Market Dynamism

New Eco-friendly Denim Collection from Patagonia

Skinny vs Boyfriend - The Bestselling Styles

Hunt for the Right Fit Continues

Eco-conscious Consumers Drift towards Natural and Organic Denims

Bioindigo: A Greener Way to Dye Denims

Levias Goes aGreena

Hemp Jeans - A Lighter and Sustainable Alternative

Recycled Cotton - A Step towards Sustainability

Bangladesh - A Key Denim Jeans Producer

India Emerges as an Important Denim Resource for Global Giants

Spike in Online Apparel Sales

Growing E-commerce Prospects

Key Market Players

Distribution Channels

Disorganized Retail Understates Sales

Specialty Stores Continue to Dominate Womenas Jeans Sales

Table 21: Global Womenas Jeans Market by Retail Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Specialty Stores, Department Stores, Off-price Retailers, e-Commerce/Online, Mass Merchandisers, Company Owned Outlets, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)





5. INNOVATIVE TRENDS



Innovation Key to Market Performance in Premium Segment

Emerging Innovations in Denim and Jeans Market

Fabric Blends

Athleisure Trend Drives Growth of Jeans Market

Other Select Emerging Trends

New Designs and Technologies Keep the Denim Marketing Ticking

Key Innovations in the Global Denim Sector

Selvedge Denim Jeans

Sun-Faded Denim

Flared Jeans

Cropped Flare Jeans

Wide Leg Jeans

Two-Tone Jeans

Slim and Straight Jeans

Black Denims

Raw Hem Jeans

Deeply Distressed Jeans

Black Skinny Jeans

Boyfriend Jeans

Stretch Jeans

Straight-Leg Jeans

Embellished Denim Jackets

Longer Denim Jackets

Bold Colors

Acynetic

Lycra Hybrid

VSEP Technology

Sculpt Denim

Contrasting Blue Denim

Super Soft Denim Jeans

Curved Denim Jeans

Stain Repelling Denim Jeans in White

Stretch Denim Jeans

Designer Denim Jeans

Skinny Jeans

Boyfriend Denim Jeans

Curve-Friendly Denim Jeans

Maternity Jeans

Body Contouring Denim Jeans

Eco-Friendly Denim Jeans

Novel Denim Fabric Washes

Colored Denim Jeans

New Designs and Innovations in Preparation of Denim Fabric

New Dyeing Technology to Save Water

Levi Strauss Launches Project F.L.X. to Automate Denim Finishing

Arvind Offers Innovative and Sustainable Denim Range

Ikat Denim

Zero

Numero Uno Makes a Mark in Terms of Sustainability

Scented Jeans

Antimicrobial Jeans

Moisturizing Jeans

Yoga Jeans

Stain Repellent Jeans





6. PRODUCT OVERVIEW



Introduction to Denim Fabrics

Table 22: Standard Weights of Denim Fabrics Measured in Ounces per Square Yard, Grams per Running Meter, and Grams per Square Meter

Types of Fabric

Classification of Denim

Alternatives to Denim Fabrics

Dry Denim

Selvage Denim

Color Denim

Denim Jeans: The Primary Application of Denim

History of Denim Jeans





7. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE



An Insight into Competition in the Global Market Space

Leading Brands in Select Markets Worldwide

7.1 Focus on Select Players

7 For All Mankind (USA)

Aarvee Denims & Exports Ltd. (India)

Arvind Limited (India)

Black Peony (Group) Co., Ltd. (China)

Diesel S.p.A (Italy)

Edwin Co. Ltd. (Japan)

Gap Inc. (USA)

Levi Strauss & Co. (USA)

Mavi Jeans (Turkey)

Nien Hsing Textile Co. Ltd. (Taiwan)

Orta Anadolu (Turkey)

Raymond Group (India)

True Religion Apparel Inc. (USA)

VF Corporation (USA)

7.2 Product Launches/Introductions

Baldwin Launched 2018 Collection

Helmut Lang Jeans Introduces a Re-Designed Denim Collection

GUESS and ORTA Anadolu Join Hands to Created New Jeans for Women

Samuel Ku Launches New Denim Line, Cqy

GUESS Jeans Unveils Fall a18 Collection

Madewell Forays into Menswear with Denim

American Giant Launches Denim Jeans Manufactured in the US

Levias and Liverpool FC Launch New Jeans Collection

Outerknow Launches S.E.A. Brand of Jeans

Madewell Introduces Eco Collection

Boulder Denim Introduces Denim 2.0

Gap Introduces Limited Edition Sarah Jessica Parker Collection

G-Star RAW Unveils Renewed Denim 2.0

Mother Denim Launches Menas Collection

Carmar Denim Launches Extreme Cut-Out Jeans

Jeanswest Launches Jeans in Collaboration with Orta Anadolu

Jack & Jones to Launch Sustainable Jeans

Good American Launches Maternity Denim Range

7 FOR ALL MANKIND Unveils Spring 2018 Collection

Revtown Introduces Hand-Crafted Premium Jeans

Madewell Unveils Spring 2018 Denim Collection

Revtown Launches New Line of Menas Jeans

NEIGHBORHOOD Unveils Fall/Winter 2017 Collection with Japanese Imprints

Reformation Launches Sustainable Jeans Collection

Gap Unveils Compression-Based Denim

Stuarts London Unveils Special Edition Jeans to Commemorate Golden Jubilee

AYR Introduces Extended Size Denim for Fall 2017

Edwin Jeans Relaunches Brand in North America

Forever 21 Introduces '12x12' Denim Line

LiCC Jeaneration Introduces Waterproof Jeans, LiCC LibertA

Need Supply Introduces "NEED 1996" Denim Collection

Tommy Hilfiger Introduces Spring 2017 Tommy Jeans Collection

H&M Launches Unisex Denim Collection

Edwin Launches ED-30

Atelier GARDEUR Introduces SUPERFLEX Denim Line for Men

Wrangler Launches Latest Range of Innovative Traveler Jeans in New Colours

Calvin Klein Unveils Denim Silhouette

Levias Re-launches its Most Iconic 505 Jean

Sears Launches its Popular Roebuck & Co. Denim Lines for Boys and Girls

7 For All Mankind Launches Bair Denim

Diesel Launches First Denim Garment Made with Lightest Microfiber, Dryarn

Tommy Hilfiger Launches Tommy Jeans Collection Revisiting the a90s Nostalgia

Siwy Denim Launches Range of Jeans for Women in New Spring 2016 Collection

7.3 Recent Industry Activity

VF Corporation to Spin-Off Business into Two New Entities

Lion Capital Acquires Majority Stake in Paige Denim

Milwaukee Denim Co. Established

Roo Hsing and JD United Merge

Wrangler and Mount Vernon Partner for New Line of Jeans

Hudson Jeans Partners with Fashion Data Company, Fitcode

Berlin-based brand INAN Partners Lee for a Makeover

Levi Strauss and Aquafill, a Nylon Manufacturer, Partner to Manufacture Menas Collection from Waste Materials





8. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE



Value Analytics by Geographic Region

Table 23: World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America and Rest of World Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2

(includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 24: World Historic Review for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America and Rest of World Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 25: World 14-Year Perspective for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region -Percentage Breakdown of Dollar Sales for US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America and Rest of World Markets for the Years 2011, 2018 & 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Volume Analytics

Table 26: World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in Million Pairs for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 27: World Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in Million Pairs for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)





9. REGIONAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE





9.1 The United States

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

An Overview

Table 28: US Denim Apparel Market: Average Number of Denim Apparels Owned by a Person by Apparel Type - Jeans, Shorts, Shirts, Skirts, and Jackets (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Brief Review of US Jeans Market

Major Factors Driving Purchases of New Denim Jeans among Americans

The US Apparel Market - A Macro Perspective

Table 29: Key Apparel Types in the US (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Distribution of Apparel in American Wardrobes (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Market Trends and Drivers

Denim Jeans: Wardrobe Staple

Brand Craze Declines

Table 30: US Denim Jeans Market Analyzed by Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales by Price Range: 2017 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

American Consumers Extremely Quality Conscious

Retailers Grow Weary of New Brands

Shift to Skinny Jeans and Jeggings to Add to Price Pressure

Womenas Denim Wear Market

Table 31: US Women's Jeans Market (2018E): Percentage Share Breakdown of Value Sales by Retail Channel (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Women of All Age Groups Wear Jeans

Table 32: US Denim Jeans Market: Average Number of Jeans Owned by Women by Age Group - < 25 Years, 26-35 Years, 36-55 Years, and 56-70 years (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Premium Denim Wear - A Niche Market

Factors Influencing Purchase Decisions: Fit Overrules Price

Younger Men Steer Sales

Premium Denim Jeans - A Brief

Denim Industry and Millennials

Typical Customers of Premium Denim Jeans

Factors Influencing Purchase Decisions of Premium and Non-Premium Customers

US Shifts Sourcing Bases Overseas

Import-Export Scenario

Table 33: US Exports of Denim Woven Fabrics (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Value Exports by Destination (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 34: US Imports of Denim Woven Fabrics (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Value Imports by Origin (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Distribution Channels

Table 35: US Denim Jeans Market by Distribution Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Department Stores/National Chains, Discount Stores, Specialty Stores, e-Commerce/Online and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 36: US Women's Jeans Market by Distribution Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Specialty Stores, Department Stores/National Chains, Mass Merchandisers/Off-price Retailers, e-Commerce/Online, Factory Outlets, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Challenges Confronting the US Denim Jeans Market

Competition from Other Apparel Categories

Performance Issues

B.Market Analytics

Table 37: US Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 38: US Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2

through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.2 Canada

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Canadian Apparel Market - An Overview

Denim Market - Select Statistical Data

Table 39: Canadian Womenas Denim Market by Sales Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Apparel Specialty Stores, Discount Stores, Departmental Stores, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 40: Canadian Exports of Denim Woven Fabrics (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Value Exports by Destination (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 41: Canadian Imports of Denim Woven Fabrics (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Value Imports by Origin (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

B.Market Analytics

Table 42: Canadian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 43: Canadian Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.3 Japan

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Market Snapshots

Table 44: Key Denim Apparel in Japan: Percentage Breakdown of Distribution of Denim Apparel in Japanese Wardrobes (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Consumer Profile for Apparel

Table 45: Japanese Apparel Market by Gender (2018E): Percentage Breakdown by Value Sales for Women, Men and Children (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Select Statistical Data

Table 46: Key Apparel Types in Japan (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Distribution of Apparel in Japanese Wardrobes (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 47: Japanese Clothing Market by Retail Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Off-Price Outlets, Specialty Stores, Department Stores, Internet Retailers, Chain Stores, Independent Stores, Street Markets, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

B.Market Analytics

Table 48: Japanese Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 49: Japanese Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4 Europe

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Table 50: Key Apparel Types in Europe (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Distribution of Apparel in European Wardrobes (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

The Legacy of Denims

Overview of European Jeans Market

Denim Sales Linked to Penchant for Cotton

Replacements Driving Menas Denim Jeans Market

Own Label Denims Alter Market Structure

Distribution Channels

Table 51: European Denim Jeans Market by Distribution Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Department Stores/National Chains, Independent Stores, Discount Stores/Hyper Malls, e-Commerce/Internet and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Export - Import Statistics

Denim Woven Fabric

Table 52: European Imports of Denim (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Value Imports by Origin (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 53: European Imports of Denim (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Imports by Origin (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 54: European Exports of Denim (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Value Exports by Destination (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 55: European Exports of Denim (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Exports by Destination (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Denim Jeans Imports into the EU - A Historic Perspective

Table 56: Extra-EU Imports of Denim Jeans (2014): Percentage Breakdown of Value Imports by Country of Origin (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 57: Extra-EU Imports of Denim Jeans (2014): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Imports by Country of Origin (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 58: Extra-EU Imports of Denim Jeans (2014): Percentage Breakdown of Value Imports by Importing Country (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 59: Extra-EU Imports of Denim Jeans (2014): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Imports by Importing Country (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

B.Market Analytics

Table 60: European Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 61: European Historic Review for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2

through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 62: European 14-Year Perspective for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Dollar Sales for France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe Markets for the Years 2011, 2018 & 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4.1 France

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Apparel - A Macro Perspective

Table 63: French Apparel Market (Outerwear) by Gender (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Women, Men and Children (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

B.Market Analytics

Table 64: French Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 65: French Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4.2 Germany

Market Analysis

Table 66: German Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 67: German Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4.3 Italy

Market Analysis

Table 68: Italian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 69: Italian Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4.4 The United Kingdom

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Denim Faces Competition from Other Categories

Premium Denim Makes a Comeback

Current Trends

A Glance at UK Denim Jeans Market

Branded Denims on Rough Waters

Growth of Private Labels

Emergence of Dresses as New Fashion Fad for Women

Economic Pressures

Initiatives of Denim Brands

B.Market Analytics

Table 70: The UK Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 71: The UK Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4.5 Spain

Market Analysis

Table 72: Spanish Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 73: Spanish Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4.6 Russia

Market Analysis

Table 74: Russian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 75: Russian Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.4.7 Rest of Europe

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

An Overview of Turkish Denim Industry

B.Market Analytics

Table 76: Rest of Europe Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2

(includes c orresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 77: Rest of Europe Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.5 Asia-Pacific

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

An Overview of the Denim Market

India and China Dominate Denim Jeans Market in Asia-Pacific

A Peek into the Competitive Landscape in Asia

B.Market Analytics

Table 78: Asia-Pacific Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - China, India and Rest of Asia-Pacific Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2

through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 79: Asia-Pacific Historic Review for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - China, India and Rest of Asia-Pacific Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 80: Asia-Pacific 14-Year Perspective for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Dollar Sales for China, India and Rest of Asia-Pacific Markets for the Years 2011, 2018 & 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.5.1 China

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Favorable Demographics Drive the Denim Jeans Market

Chinese Apparel Market - An Overview

Leading Apparel Brands by Category

Table 81: Chinese Apparel Market by Category (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Sales for Ladies' Wear, Knitted Underwear, Children's Wear, Woolen Wear, Men's Shirts, T-Shirts, Denim Wear, Men's Suits, Trousers, Jackets, Thermal Clothing, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 82: Chinese Clothing Market by Distribution Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Department Stores/Chain Stores, Specialty Stores, Internet Retailers, Warehouse Clubs/Hypermarkets/Off-Price Outlets, Independent Stores, Street Markets, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Denim Market

Table 83: Share of Jeanswear as a Percentage of Total Apparel Purchases by Age Group in China (2017) (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 84: Key Denim Apparel Types in China (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Distribution of Denim Apparel in Chinese Wardrobes (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Chinese Denim Market Registers Fast Paced Growth

Table 85: Number of Denim Products Owned by an Average Urban Consumer in China (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Chinese Retail Sector Turns Sophisticated

Table 86: Chinese Denim Market by Retail Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Department Stores, Specialty/Chain Store, Clothing Markets, Small Clothing Shops, Internet/Online Retailers, and Supermarkets & Hypermarkets (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

B.Market Analytics

Table 87: Chinese Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 88: Chinese Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.5.2 India

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Shift from Traditional Wear to Western Wear Augurs Well for Indian Denim Jeans Market

Robust and Steady Growth of Denim in India

Strong Momentum in Domestic Market for Denim Enticing New Players

Growth Story Continues

Apparel Industry in India - An Overview

Table 89: Indian Apparel Market (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales by Gender Category - Men, Women and Kids (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 90: Key Apparel Types in India: Percentage Breakdown of Distribution of Apparel in Indian Wardrobes (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Expanding Textile and Apparel Demand Spells Opportunities for the Market

Table 91: Indian Apparel and Textile Market (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Consumption by Category for Apparel, Technical Textiles, and Home Textiles (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 92: Indian Textiles Market (2015 & 2025): Percentage Volume Breakdown of Fiber Consumption at Mills by Type for Man-Made Fiber and Natural Fiber (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Factors Driving Growth in the Indian Denim Jeans Market

Growth Drivers in the Indian Denim Market - Factors Ranked on Scale of 1 to 10 (10 being Highest and 1 being Lowest)

Table 93: Denim Market in India (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales by Gender Category - Men, Women and Kids (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 94: Denim Jeans Market in India (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Consumption by Age Group (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 95: Denim Jeans Market in India (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Volume Consumption by Age Group and Gender (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 96: Denim Jeans Market in India (2018): Average Price Range by Category - Unbranded, Economy, Mid-Range, Premium, and Super Premium

Table 97: Denim Jeans Market in India (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales by Category - Unbranded, Economy, Mid-Range, Premium, and Super Premium (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

SWOT Analysis of Indian Denim Industry

Young India Presents Plenty of Opportunities for Denim Jeans Manufacturers

Stretch Jeans Gain Popularity among Men

Specialized Denims Offer Stiff Competition to Conventional Blues

Tier II and Tier III Cities Demonstrate Robust Growth

Table 98: Indian Denim Wear Market (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales by City Type - Mega Metro, Metro, Tier I, Tier II, Other Urban and Rural (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Denim Giants Continue to Prosper

Denim Brands Market in India: An Overview

Table 99: Leading Denim Fabric Manufacturers in India in the Recent Past (2015): Percentage Share of Value Sales for Arvind Mills, Aarvee Ind, Nandan Denim, K G Denim, Sangam, Suryalakshmi, Mafatlal, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Top Ranking Popular Denim Brands in North India, South India and East India

Top Ranking Popular Denim Brands in India for Women, Men, and Children by Popularity

Denim Production

Denim Manufacturers Unite to Battle Higher Costs

B.Market Analytics

Table 100: Indian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 101: Indian Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.5.3 Rest of Asia-Pacific

A.Market Analysis

Current & Future Analysis

Overview of Select Asia-Pacific Markets

Bangladesh

Denim Industry Eyeing International Market

Going Green in Denim: The Bangladeshi Way

Pakistan

Challenges for Denim Makers in Pakistan

Thailand - Key Statistics

Table 102: Clothing Preference among Thais (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Wardrobe Allocation by Apparel Type (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 103: Denim Preference among Thais (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Wardrobe Allocation by Denim Apparel Type (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 104: Thai Clothing Market by Retail Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Street Retail, Chain/ Hyperstores, Department Stores, Independent Retailers, e-Commerce/Internet, and Specialty Retailers (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

B.Market Analytics

Table 105: Rest of Asia-Pacific Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2

(includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 106: Rest of Asia-Pacific Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.6 Latin America

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Overview

B.Market Analytics

Table 107: Latin American Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - Brazil and Rest of Latin America Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2

through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 108: Latin American Historic Review for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - Brazil and Rest of Latin America Markets Independently Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 109: Latin American 14-Year Perspective for Denim Jeans by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Dollar Sales for Brazil and Rest of Latin America Markets for the Years 2011, 2018 & 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.6.1 Brazil

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

Market Overview

Select Statistical Data

Table 110: Brazilian Clothing Market by Retail Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Chain Stores, Independent Retailers, Specialty Retailers, e-Commerce/ Online, Department Stores, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 111: Clothing Preference among Brazilians (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Wardrobe Allocation by Apparel Type (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 112: Denim Preference among Brazilians (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Wardrobe Allocation by Denim Apparel Type (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

B.Market Analytics

Table 113: Brazilian Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2024 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 114: Brazilian Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.6.2 Rest of Latin America

A.Market Analysis

Current & Future Analysis

Review of Select Regional Markets

Argentina

Colombia

Table 115: Colombian Clothing Market by Retail Channel (2018E): Percentage Breakdown of Value Sales for Specialty Stores, Independent Stores, Department Stores, Chain Stores, Off-price Stores, and Others (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 116: Key Denim Apparel Types in Colombia (2017): Percentage Breakdown of Distribution of Denim Apparel in Colombian Wardrobes (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Mexico

B.Market Analytics

Table 117: Rest of Latin America Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2

(includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 118: Rest of Latin America Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

9.7 Rest of World

A.Market Analysis

Current and Future Analysis

A Highly Fragmented Market

Review of Select Middle East Regions

Israel

Lebanon

Syria - A Recent Past Perspective

The African Denim Industry

B.Market Analytics

Table 119: Rest of World Recent Past, Current & Future Analysis for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2016 through 2

(includes corresponding Graph/Chart)

Table 120: Rest of World Historic Review for Denim Jeans Market Analyzed with Annual Sales Figures in US$ Million for the Years 2011 through 2015 (includes corresponding Graph/Chart)





10. COMPANY PROFILES





Total Companies Profiled: 159 (including Divisions/Subsidiaries - 163) The United States (72) Canada (5) Japan (5) Europe (41) - France (2) - Germany (7) - Italy (11) - The United Kingdom (5) - Spain (3) - Rest of Europe (13) Asia-Pacific (Excluding Japan) (38) Latin America (2)

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05443606/?utm_source=PRN



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ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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SOURCE Reportlinker

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LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) will be exhibiting at the Eurasia Rail conference April 10-12, 2019 in Izmir, Turkey. Greenbrier invites all visitors to Eurasia Rail to join us:

Venue: Fuar Izmir, Zafer Mah. 840 Sk. Fuar Alan No:2, Gaziemir/Izmir, Turkey

Greenbrier Stand: Hall B, Stand 472

Event Contact: Thomas Jackson, Vice President

Email: [email protected]

Eurasia Rail is the only railway exhibition in the Eurasia region and one of largest railway exhibitions in the world. The exhibition attracts over 12,000 visitors from over 50 countries, more than 300 exhibitors and over 40 professional conference speakers from the largest rail companies in the world along with the top government officials.

About Greenbrier

Greenbrier, headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading international supplier of equipment and services to global freight transportation markets. Greenbrier designs, builds and markets freight railcars and marine barges in North America. Greenbrier Europe is an end-to-end freight railcar manufacturing, engineering and repair business with operations in Poland, Romania and Turkey that serves customers across Europe and in the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Greenbrier builds freight railcars and rail castings in Brazil through two separate strategic partnerships. We are a leading provider of freight railcar wheel services, parts, repair, refurbishment and retrofitting services in North America through our wheels, repair & parts business unit. Greenbrier offers railcar management, regulatory compliance services and leasing services to railroads and related transportation industries in North America. Through unconsolidated joint ventures, we produce industrial and rail castings, tank heads and other components. Greenbrier owns a lease fleet of 10,600 railcars and performs management services for 372,000 railcars. Learn more about Greenbrier at www.gbrx.com.

SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)

Related Links

http://www.gbrx.com

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP alerts investors in Care.com (NYSE: CRCM) to the Firm's investigation into possible Federal securities law violations. If you purchased or otherwise acquired Care.com securities between December 20, 2018 and April 1, 2019 and suffered losses contact Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. For more information about the investigation click

https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/CRCM

or contact Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm's investigation, by calling 510-725-3000 or emailing

[email protected].

On March 8, 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that caregivers in the U.S. who had police records were listed on Care.com and later accused of committing crimes while caring for customers' children or elderly relatives.

Then, on March 31, 2019, the WSJ reported the Company scrubbed tens of thousands of unverified day care listings just before the Journal published its March 8 analysis.

Most recently, on April 2, 2019 Reuters reported electronics retailer Best Buy said it suspended its relationship with Care.com and is conducting a thorough review of the Company.

These reports have significantly driven down the price of Care.com shares.

"We're focused on investors' losses and whether senior management's statements about the Company's business practices and other matters may have misled investors," said Hagens Berman partner Reed Kathrein.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Care.com 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

MADISON, Conn., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hammonasset Ford announces an exclusive arrangement to offer its customers one full year of Identron identity theft protection. Partnering with Identron, this dealership, one of the largest Ford dealerships on the shoreline, is offering this complimentary deal with the purchase of any of its vehicles, new or used.

Through this new partnership with Identron identity protection customers who buy vehicles from the Ford dealership will have credit monitoring services and be compensated up to $1 million for expenses incurred as a result of identity theft. Any money stolen due to identity theft is also reimbursed up to $1 million. The US based Identron identity recovery specialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help their clients with any of their problems related to identity and its protection.

The Ford showroom on the shoreline in Madison, CT offers a wide range of brand-new Ford vehicles as well as previously owned Fords. As well as their longstanding local customers, people drive hundreds of miles, from as far as Boston, to choose from the incredible selections of Fords. Their service department is second to none with a committed team of professionals dedicated to keeping the vehicles they service in the best possible condition to extend the lifespan of their customers' investment. Only factory approved parts are used. Repairs are always completed to Ford specifications. They know their customers are busy, so they revolve their schedule around yours. Some of the friendliest staff people can find anywhere are always ready to answer any questions.

At this dealership they won't push a customer into anything their customers aren't completely sold on themselves. The staff at this dealership knows that the customers know best what is best for them. The sales team there never pretends to know their customers' needs better than their customers do. They try their best to make the visit to their dealership the best buying experience a car shopper can have. It is a quality experience every step of the way. Now, added to all of this, their new partnership and complimentary customer buyer offer makes Hammonasset Ford, hands down, a step ahead of their competition.

SOURCE Identity Protection Planning LLC; Hammonasset FordBALTIMORE, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Financial Consultants, a private, full service, independent wealth management firm, is celebrating the company's 20th anniversary this April 2019. Two decades after its inception, Heritage has grown to $4 billion in assets under management1 with 80+ staff members spread across seven locations in four states to serve a full spectrum of client needs. And while the company has grown exponentially, its mission has remained the same  to manage client assets so they have a positive impact on their life and the lives of their family, now and in the future. Through education and innovative financial solutions, Heritage advisors approach each client individually, ensuring success through an advanced design team analysis and the delivery and implementation of detailed wealth management strategies.

"Our strength lies in our approach; we adhere to the principle of listening before speaking and understanding the lives and goals of our clients before advising," said Brian Gracie, Founder and Partner of Heritage Financial Consultants. "We have come a long way in 20 years, but the focus is still on the relationships we have with our clients. I am so proud of what we have created, and look forward to helping even more families in the next 20 years."

In addition to making a positive impact on the lives of their clients, Heritage was founded on the belief that the company should be a responsible and active corporate partner in the communities in which they work. Over the last 20 years, Heritage has developed a wide range of strong partnerships with not-for-profit organizations that are doing remarkable work every day to improve the lives of local residents. These partnerships have included: 8,800+ meals packaged and delivered through the Maryland Food Bank, over 200 miles walked at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Baltimore's Red Shoe Shuffle and continuously being a Leading Sponsor of Kennedy Krieger Institute's festival of trees program.

"When we created Heritage Financial Consultants, we worked hard to make sure it was a philanthropic focused company that instilled a sense of responsibility in our team, a responsibility to make an impact in their communities and on the world around them," explained John McCarthy, Partner, Heritage Financial Consultants. "We are proud that our advisors continually strive to make their communities safer, healthier and happier, and truly live out our motto to 'Work Hard. Play Hard. Make a Difference'."

On top of quarterly, company-wide volunteer days, advisors and employees are encouraged to commit time and resources to board memberships, event participation, volunteer services, mentoring programs, charitable donations and more. Heritage advisor outreach has supported additional organizations including, but not limited to: United Way, ALS Association, WOW Center Miami, Catholic Charities, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, One Love, Maryland SPCA, and more.

"The past 20 years have been remarkable. It has been such an incredible experience to be a part of the company culture we have created, the relationships that have been formed and the milestones we have achieved," said Brian Horn, Partner, Heritage Financial Consultants. "I think I can speak for the entire company when I say that we look forward to seeing what the next 20 year holds for us, our clients and the communities we serve."

Heritage Financial Consultants has been named among the Inc. 500/5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America, a Top Financial Planner by the Baltimore Business Journal, a Top Workplace by The Baltimore Sun and a Top Money Manager by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

About Heritage Financial Consultants

Heritage Financial Consultants is a full-service, independent financial services and wealth management firm headquartered in Hunt Valley, Md. with offices in Wilmington, Del., Preston, Md., Vienna, Va., and Miami, FL. Heritage Financial Consultants helps individuals, families and businesses gain a sense of security through comprehensive financial services including wealth management, retirement and estate planning, business ownership and succession, insurance and risk management, and employee benefit services. For more information, please visit www.heritageconsultants.com.

Registered associates of Heritage Financial Consultants, LLC are registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors. Securities and advisory services offered through Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer (Member SIPC) and registered investment advisor. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies. Heritage Financial Consultants is not an affiliate of Lincoln Financial Advisors. CRN-2477681-032619

1Assets under management is approximate as of March 28, 2019.

Media contact:

Eve Butt

1-443-878-7360

[email protected]

SOURCE Heritage Financial Consultants

Related Links

http://www.heritageconsultants.com

BOSTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- HYCU, Inc., a pioneering enterprise software company specializing in data backup, recovery and monitoring for next-generation Enterprise Clouds, today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has given HYCU a 5-Star rating in its 2019 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide identifies the strongest and most successful partner programs in the channel today, offered by the top technology suppliers for IT products and services. The 5-Star rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

To determine the 2019 5-Star ratings, The Channel Company's research team assessed each supplier's partner program based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication.

HYCU is 100 percent focused on the reseller and partner community to bring multi-cloud backup and recovery software solutions to market. The new HYCU Global Partner Program was created with simplicity and ease of use in mind and was a significant reason for achieving this significant milestone. With two levels, Authorized and Premier, the Program is intended for new partners as they start to build their business with HYCU. With enablement tools and marketing resources available on a recently introduced Partner Portal, Program partners receive software and support to drive qualified and higher margin benefit opportunities to maximize revenue.

"With new technologies emerging every year, evaluating which IT vendors to partner with grows increasingly more complex for solution providers," said Bob Skelley, CEO, The Channel Company. "We are proud the CRN Partner Program Guide has become the trusted resource to identify the most rewarding partner programs and provides crucial insight into their strengths and benefits for the channel."

"We are extremely proud of our long-standing and rich heritage of working with our partners as they continue to grow their businesses," said Scott Henderson, HYCU VP Channels and Sales, North America and a recently recognized CRN Channel Chief. "As organizations continue to look for the right technology and services to deploy multi-cloud backup and recovery software, it becomes imperative to find the right combination of each that will make both the partners and their customers successful. Acknowledgement from The Channel Company and staff of researchers that compiled the Program Guide and bestowed 5-Star status on HYCU is a testament to the work our team continues to do. And, for that, we are extremely grateful."

The 2019 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg.

To learn more about HYCU, visit www.hycu.com, follow @hycuinc and connect with us on LinkedIn; or contact the Tech Data team at 1300 36 25 25.

About HYCU

HYCU makes it easy to thrive in a hyper-simple, multi-cloud world. The pioneering enterprise software company specializes in data backup, recovery and monitoring for hyper-converged and multi-cloud infrastructures (HCI). Headquartered in Boston, Mass., HYCU harnesses 25 years of sophisticated IT experience, insights from over one million users, and work with more than 25,000 customers, more than 10 ISVs and 350 employees to create a deep and unrivaled well of industry expertise. The result is unsurpassed alignment with industry leaders and a formidable competitive advantage in the multi-cloud space. HYCU's flagship product, a purpose-built backup and recovery solution for Nutanix, is acclaimed in the industry and features performance and value that are unmatched.

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com. Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook

Copyright 2019. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

SOURCE HYCU, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.hycu.com

Tatort" team from Munster : Thiel and Boerne investigate in Wachtberg

Wachtberg The Tatort" team from Munster is in Wachtberg these days, currently filming a new episode. Jan Josef Liefers and Axel Prahl as the investigative team Thiel and Boerne are also on site, of course.

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It is no longer a secret that large parts of the Munster-Tatort are not filmed in Munster. Thus the investigating team was already frequent guest in Bonn, Thiel and Boerne are now also in the Landchen - more exactly said: in Pech - on criminal hunt. Axel Prahl and Jan Josef Liefers are currently filming the "Lakritz" episode.

Liefers could not resist a variant of a popular pun (-> Pech translated into bad luck) on Instagram in the morning: "First you had no luck, then the Pech fire-fighting team got there too," Liefers wrote under a photo of the fire station in the village. "Yes, fortunately there is the fire brigade Pech", came the answer of the fire brigade promptly.

The story of the episode is about the murder of the Munster market master Hannes Wagner - an institution in the city. For 40 years he had led the well-known weekly market and celebrated this day. The next morning he is found dead in his house. Almost every one of the market suppliers would have good reason to send Hannes Wagner to the afterlife. "Not to mention those whom Wagner did not delight in the decades of his reign with one of the coveted licenses for a stand on the market," said the WDR in a press release. One of the traces leads Commissioner Frank Thiel (Axel Prahl) and forensic scientist Professor Karl-Friedrich Boerne (Jan Josef Liefers) to a small liquorice manufactory, to Monika, Boerne's first love, and to a case long ago, which finally turned little Karl-Friedrich into big Boerne.

Further roles are played by Friederike Kempter as Commissioner Nadeshda Krusenstern, Mechthild Gromann as Public Prosecutor Wilhelmine Klemm, Christine Urspruch as forensic doctor Dr. Silke Haller, called "Alberich", and Claus D. Clausnitzer as taxi driver "Vadder" Thiel. The script for "Lakritz" was written by Thorsten Wettcke and directed by Randa Chahoud.

At the film location, a sophisticated villa in Pech, relaxed activity prevailed on Tuesday. In the impressive scenery, furnishedwith a huge staircase and a large chandelier, one of the first sceneson the shooting schedule: finding the body. In addition to the core team, coffin porters, domestic help and the police were also on site. The scene had to be repeated countless times on Tuesday until everything was finally in the box. This didn't detract from the good mood. As one employee told on the set, the cooperation with Liefers, Prahl and Urspruch was and still is "a lot of fun". The trio was "totally sociable, very nice and polite".Although there are caravans and portaloos on the square in front of the fire station, the actors and the team don't spend the night in Pech. Even if the work continues there on Wednesday. 21 shooting days are scheduled for the crime scene, as well as for the other episode parts of the crime series.

"The house in Pech is known for film work taking place here quite frequently," said Wachtberg's press spokesperson Margrit Martens on GA inquiry. Next week, for example, Sat 1 is shooting the pilot for a new crime series there too. The community is always involved when the film team parks cars on public sidewalks or blocks roads. "Then we as a city council grant exemptions," says Martens.NEW YORK, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IA Capital Group, the leading insurtech-focused venture capital firm, today announced it has raised $150 million across three funds:

Inter-Atlantic Stonybrook Insurtech Ventures, a multi-LP fund, focusing on property/casualty insurtech

Inter-Atlantic G Fund, a single-LP fund, focusing on life/annuity/retirement insurtech

Inter-Atlantic Ivy, a single-LP fund, focusing on later-stage opportunities in insurtech and fintech

The three funds represent the firm's sixth, seventh and eighth investment vehicles. With seven current funds/managed accounts plus its fully-exited first fund, IA Capital is the longest-tenured and most experienced firm with a primary focus on insurtech. The firm oversees venture capital investments on behalf of a variety of institutions including 13 insurers that have a strategic interest in insurtech. These 13 insurance companies represent nearly all sectors of insurance including property/casualty, life, mortgage, and financial guaranty.

Andrew Lerner, the Managing Partner of IA Capital, said "Our insurance company investors benefit from our cornerstone focus on financial returns coupled with strategic insight into insurtech. Our entrepreneurs appreciate working with a financially-motivated independent VC firm while capitalizing on strategic connections into our insurance company partners."

IA Capital limits its investment activities to North American post-revenue companies, with a preference for Series A, B, and C funding rounds. Occasionally, the firm launches and incubates its own startup company.

Recent IA Capital investments include:

Led Authentic4D Series A

Co-led Protecht dba TicketGuardian Series A

Led Compstak Series B

Clearcover Series B

Incubated Boost Insurance

Led SmartAsset Series B

Led Sure Series A

Advizr Series A

Led Wellthie Series A

Co-led Snapsheet Series C

Led Marqeta Series C

Led Credit Sesame Series D

Stonybrook Capital acted as placement agent to Inter-Atlantic Stonybrook Insurtech Ventures.

About IA Capital Group:

Founded in 1992, IA Capital Group Inc. (previously Inter-Atlantic Group) is based in New York City and manages venture capital funds under the Inter-Atlantic name. The firm has a 19-year track record in insurtech and fintech venture capital, the longest of any insurtech-focused venture capital firm. Its fully-exited first fund, Inter-Atlantic Fund LP, had three portfolio company IPOs and ranks as the number one performing fund in several databases among comparable funds of its vintage. The firm's principals also oversee Homeowners of America Holding Corporation, a Texas-based property insurer that wrote over $160 million of premiums in 2018.

Contacts:

IA Capital Group, Inc.

Ravi Shah, 212-581-2000

[email protected]

www.iacapgroup.com

@iacapgroup

SOURCE IA Capital Group

Related Links

https://www.iacapgroup.com/

SPRINGFIELD, Pa. and MOUNT VERNON, Ohio, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- InnoVative Capital, LLC, a HUD-licensed FHA Mortgage Lender and Municipal Advisory Firm, has closed a $41.5 million HUD Section 242/241 mortgage loan for Knox Community Hospital (KCH). In conjunction with the HUD loan is an equity contribution of $10.0 million which increases KCH's expansion project to $51.5 million. The FHA mortgage insured fixed rate loan has a term of 27-years and is collateralized by the issuance of Ginnie Mae securities.

KCH's project will focus on facility expansion with the construction of its new medical office building (the name of the new "Center" is yet to be announced) and renovation within its existing medical office building (the "Knox Medical Pavilion"). The Center will be a new four-story, 90,000 sq. ft. medical office building. The cornerstone of which will be the creation of a Family-Focused Birthing Center, including new pediatric and OB/GYN physician offices, the relocation of inpatient birthing unit from the main hospital, and the construction of a new bridge to connect the Center's inpatient birthing unit to the main hospital's perioperative suite. The renovation of 4,000 sq. ft within the Knox Medical Pavilion will permit significant enhancements to KCH's accredited comprehensive community cancer center.

"As the healthcare industry moves (appropriately) from a pay-for-volume methodology to enhanced focus on pay-for-value, we see the need to focus even more on improving patients' access to care. Caring for our community from the moment they are born, through their pediatric years, to addressing their family medical needs as they age makes sense when you are focused on providing care to help people stay healthy instead of waiting until they get sick. With the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in both men and woman, placing emphasis on cardiac and vascular services, including cardiac rehabilitation, fits well into this continuum. This new facility will provide all of these expanded services in a convenient location on our current hospital campus. We are very excited to see this growth as KCH continues to enhance care (as we like to say) "In the community, For the community." - Bruce White, CEO of Knox Community Hospital

"We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to work with HUD on all three of KCH's HUD financings. As has been the case in the previous transactions, the collaborative interaction between KCH and HUD throughout the project development and loan underwriting processes led to the successful execution of the loan. In particular, the Hospital Group at HUD worked diligently to right-track the loan underwriting process despite being faced with the delays caused by the federal government's shutdown," said Alan P. Richman, InnoVative Capital's President and CEO.

About InnoVative Capital, LLC

InnoVative Capital's hospital financing services provide community, rural and urban hospitals with cost-effective capital access originated by InnoVative Capital's FHA Mortgage Bank and the execution of HUD Section 242/241 loans, as well as, through its Municipal Financial Advisory practice and the issuance of tax-exempt & taxable bonds, USDA loans, tax-supported debt, commercial loans and equity. InnoVative Capital's hospital representation includes healthcare real estate transactions, mergers & acquisitions and operational improvement consulting. InnoVative Capital's unique service-mix, incorporating its proprietary CFO HELPER analytics, has successfully developed, structured and financed the modernization of community hospitals nationwide. InnoVative Capital has extensive experience with HUD/FHA and other hospital funding programs, having completed transactions in 35 states nationwide totaling over $1 billion. With a reputation for creative financing and turnaround solutions, InnoVative Capital continues to serve hospital and healthcare providers and their communities.

About Knox Community Hospital

Based in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Knox Community Hospital is Knox County's sole acute care facility serving its 60,000 residents. Governed by a Board of Trustees of twelve independently elected members, plus three physician board members, the 99-bed KCH, has experienced consistent operational and financial growth over the past decade. In addition to its main hospital, and its existing and planned on-campus medical office buildings, KCH has additional medical offices located throughout Knox County. The KCH mission is to deliver convenient, compassionate care with a focus on exceeding the community's expectations. With departments of primary and specialty care, KCH employs 89 physicians and mid-level providers offering a complete continuum of care from family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and OB/GYN services to advanced specialty care such as medical and radiation oncology, orthopedics, and interventional cardiology. As an essential provider of a comprehensive menu of health care services, KCH maintains a dominant market share.

Media Contacts:

Alan P. Richman

President & CEO

InnoVative Capital

(610) 543-2490, Ext. 101

[email protected]

www.innovativecapital.com

Bruce White

Chief Executive Officer

Knox Community Hospital

(740) 393-9620

[email protected]

www.kch.org

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SOURCE InnoVative Capital, LLC

Related Links

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BOSTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Emerging semiconductor laser technologies are revolutionizing the industrial material processing and optical sensing markets. Automotive and electronics industries are benefiting greatly from advances in laser manufacturing, 3D sensing and imaging, lidar, and industrial machine vision. These innovations are discussed in detail in the recently released report from IDTechEx Research, Laser Diodes & Direct Diode Lasers 2019-2029: Technologies, Markets & Forecasts.

Laser diodes are integrated into direct diode lasers for material processing applications. Laser diodes are also used in academia for advanced scientific applications. Source: IDTechEx

Laser diodes are compact and energy efficient semiconductor technologies, which are available at unit prices below $1 (USD) for mass-produced devices. Products are offered in many wavelengths from ultraviolet to long-wave infrared: the wavelength is determined by the device structure and its semiconductor materials. Laser diodes are very different from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Unlike LEDs, laser diodes produce a coherent beam of monochromatic light (one wavelength), which remains collimated at long distance as observed with common laser pointers. Laser diodes also have a higher radiance (brighter) and are more energy efficient compared to LEDs. The physical mechanisms underpinning these differences is the generation of laser light via a process known as stimulated emission, and the amplification of light using an optical cavity between two mirror surfaces. In contrast, LEDs generate light via spontaneous emission and contain no optical cavity.

The power output of a single laser diode can range from milliwatt to multi-watt levels. Individual emitters can be used alone or combined to form more complicated lasers with different properties and applications. Multiple laser diodes can form a laser diode bar for the optical pumping (energy input) of solid-state lasers. Laser diodes integrated into modules with beam shaping optics and control electronics are useful for many applications.

During the past three decades, the average power of laser diodes has increased exponentially, while their average price has decreased exponentially. These incredible advances in semiconductor laser technology enable the development of direct diode lasers (DDLs), including high-power direct diode lasers (HPDDLs) that produce multi-kilowatt output power. Dramatic improvements in laser beam quality now enable users to focus the light to a small point, and this revealed DDLs as rapidly evolving tools for metal, plastic and composite processing. Consequently, DDLs and HPDDLs are emerging as major global trends in industrial manufacturing, with Panasonic (Japan) acquiring the HPDDL manufacturer TeraDiode (USA) to enhance their position in the laser material processing market. A particularly important trend is the development of blue diode lasers for applications like welding and 3D printing copper, with key player Laserline (Germany) launching a 1 kW product in 2019. Blue laser light is faster and more efficient at processing metals like copper that are poor absorbers of conventional infrared radiation. Today's DDL key players are demonstrating novel applications of diode lasers that were dismissed as impossible by critics a decade ago, while partnering with automotive manufacturers like Volkswagen (Germany) to optimize laser processing parameters.

The wide adoption of laser diodes in optical sensing markets is also transforming the automotive and electronics industries. Semiconductor lasers for sensing are manufactured by multinational giants like Sony (Japan), laser industry key players like II-VI Incorporated (USA), and smaller companies like CNI (China) who have expertise in machine vision. The figure below shows some examples of industries that benefit from laser diode technologies for 3D sensing and imaging. A key trend in 2019 is the rise of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) technology for applications like facial recognition in smartphones. VCSELs are a type of laser diode that offers superior beam properties, thermal stability and device scalability compared to products like Fabry Perot laser diodes. Companies like II-VI ("2-6") are investing into quickly growing their VCSEL production capacity and enhancing their position in the VCSEL market. In November 2018, II-VI announced plans to acquire VCSEL expert Finisar (USA).

Another rapidly evolving laser technology is lidar, originally an acronym of Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR). In 2018, BMW i Ventures  the BMW venture capital fund  invested in the lidar start-up Blackmore (USA). Blackmore's innovative lidar sensors for self-driving cars use a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) light source and scan laser beams using solid-state methods, which is different to traditional lidar systems that use pulsed light and mechanical scanning. FMCW lidar combines optical communication hardware and radar signal processing methods to deliver accurate information on both object distance and velocity. The adoption of automotive lidar and in-cabin monitoring technologies by the autonomous vehicle industry are important trends that support growth in the laser diodes market.

The global market for laser diodes and direct diode lasers will reach a size of $13.985 billion by 2029, where laser diodes account for $11.952 billion and direct diode lasers account for $2.033 billion. Remarkably, the optical sensing market segment grows by an order of magnitude during the 2019-2029 period. These are forecasts by analysts at IDTechEx  a market research and technology consulting firm based in Cambridge (UK) with subsidiaries in Germany, Japan and USA.

In the recent report titled Laser Diodes & Direct Diode Lasers 2019-2029: Technologies, Markets & Forecasts, IDTechEx analyst Dr. Nilushi Wijeyasinghe explores how advances in laser diode technologies affect the growth of market segments outlined above. The report's strong focus on material processing, optical sensing and optical pumping reveals how semiconductor laser technologies are diverse tools that underpin innovation and business growth in various industries. Recent progress is highlighted using case studies, where she draws on her background in laser physics and semiconductor physics research to explain new technical concepts. The report evaluates the advantages and challenges associated with laser technology adoption to provide a balanced outlook on market opportunities. Market forecasts are based on the extensive analysis of primary and secondary data, combined with careful consideration of market drivers, restraints and key player activities. Dr. Nilushi Wijeyasinghe will discuss some of these topics at a Trends in Photonics technology masterclass on April 12, 2019, hosted at the IDTechEx Show! Europe in the Estrel Convention Center, Berlin (Germany).

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Consultancy and Events services, helping you profit from emerging technologies. Find out more at www.IDTechEx.com.

Media Contact:

Charlotte Martin

Marketing & Research Co-ordinator

[email protected]

+44(0)1223 812300

Related Images

the-addressable-market-for-laser.jpg

The addressable market for laser diodes

Laser diodes are integrated into direct diode lasers for material processing applications. Laser diodes are also used in academia for advanced scientific applications. Source: IDTechEx

preview-of-the-global-laser-diodes.jpg

Preview of the global laser diodes and direct diode lasers market forecast

SOURCE IDTechEx

Related Links

http://www.IDTechEx.com

STOCKHOLM, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The press conference held in connection with the publication of Essity's interim report for the first quarter of 2019 will also be available via webcast and it is possible to join by phone.

The interim report will be published on April 25, 2019 at approximately 07:00 CET. The subsequent press conference will be held at 09:00 CET at Essity's headquarters, Waterfront Building, Klarabergsviadukten 63, Stockholm, Sweden.

At the press conference, President and CEO Magnus Groth will present and answer questions regarding the report.

Press conference:

Date: Thursday, April 25, 2019

Time: 09:00 CET

Venue: Essity Headquarters, Waterfront Building, Klarabergsviadukten 63, Stockholm, Sweden

Link to webcast: https://essity.videosync.fi/2019-04-25-q1

The press conference will be webcast live at www.essity.com. It is also possible to participate in the press conference by phone by calling +44 (0) 207 192 80 00, +1 631 510 74 95, or +46 (0)8 506 921 80. Dial in good time before the conference starts. Provide the code "Essity" or the conference ID 2778769.

For further information, please contact:

Karl Stoltz, Media Relations Manager, +46-8-788-51-55, [email protected]

Johan Karlsson, Vice President Investor Relations, +46-8-788-51-30, [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/essity/r/invitation-to-essity-s-q1-2019-press-conference,c2778752

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/15798/2778752/1018480.pdf Invitation to Essityas Q1 2019 press conference

SOURCE EssitySAN JOSE, Calif. , April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --- Open Networking Summit  LF Networking (LFN), which facilitates collaboration and operational excellence across networking projects, today announced continued community momentum, including further collaboration with Standards bodies, evolution of compliance programs, new project milestones, and increased integration with adjacent communities. Formed in January 2018, LFN is focused on nurturing integration, efficiencies and member engagement across FD.io, OpenDaylight, ONAP, OPNFV, PNDA, Tungsten Fabric, and SNAS as well as the broader open source networking ecosystem. As the projects are hosted under the same umbrella, LFN builds upon synergies to enable rapid innovation and adoption.

"We are thrilled to have recently celebrated our first year as an umbrella organization, bringing continued growth across the ecosystem supporting the end-to-end open source networking stack," said Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Automation, Edge & IoT, the Linux Foundation. "The LFN community  along with other ecosystem partners, including standards bodies  has truly come together to evolve the future of open source networking."

This week, LFN is participating in Open Networking Summit (April 3-5) in San Jose, Calif., through a series of presentations, demos, and trainings. Fore information about ways to engage onsite, please visit here .

Increased Integration at one-year mark

Open source and open standards further align as panel of experts convenes on stage during ONS North America, April 5 , to discuss how the two types of organizations work together to further telecom's conversion to open source. Additionally, the O-RAN Alliance and the Linux Foundation jointly announced the creation of the O-RAN Software Community (O-RAN SC) to provide open software aligned with the O-RAN Alliance's open architecture.

as panel of experts during ONS North America, , to discuss how the two types of organizations work together to further telecom's conversion to open source. Additionally, the and the the creation of the (O-RAN SC) to provide open software aligned with the O-RAN Alliance's open architecture. LFN kicked off its second year by co-locating OPNFV and ONAP developer events at the Nokia facility in Nozay, France , January 8-11 . The joint event brought together commercial vendors and open source community members to plan the ONAP Dublin release, perform testing and integration of OPNFV Gambia, and foster collaboration between communities. Attended by 213 individuals from 55 organizations that included 11 end-users and 11 research and nonprofit organizations, more details on results and outcomes are included in the event report here .

at the Nokia facility in Nozay, , . The joint event brought together commercial vendors and open source community members to plan the ONAP Dublin release, perform testing and integration of OPNFV Gambia, and foster collaboration between communities. Attended by 213 individuals from 55 organizations that included 11 end-users and 11 research and nonprofit organizations, more details on results and outcomes are included in the . Further aligning LFN communities to ease interoperability issues for telcos and vendors, the OPNFV Verification Program (OVP) has expanded to now include VNF compliance testing based on ONAP requirements. OVP also introduced its Verified Labs Program with the induction of the University of New Hampshire -Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL) as the first verified lab.

based on ONAP requirements. OVP also introduced its Verified Labs Program with the induction of the -Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL) as the first verified lab. Cloud native Network Functions (CNFs) continue to evolve in collaboration with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) community. In February, CNCF and ONAP announced the open source CNF Testbed which demonstrates the same networking code running as both Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on OpenStack and as CNFs on Kubernetes.

Expanded Networking Training Courses - Become a Certified ONAP Professional

According to last year's Open Source Jobs Report , 46 percent of hiring managers are looking to recruit in "Networking" technologies, and a roughly equal percentage cite "Networking" as a technology most affecting their hiring decisions.The Linux Foundation provides a rich set of training courses  including free eLearning, paid eLearning, and in-person  focused on networking to help advance knowledge, skills, and career development.

Further showcasing the value of these skill sets, the ONAP courses, initially kicked off in March of 2018, have proven immensely popular, with over 18,000 enrollments so far across free and paid eLearning courses. A Certified ONAP Professional (COP) Beta Program is underway and scheduled to launch in late June 2019. Created in tandem with ONAP expert volunteers to identify core domains and critical skills, knowledge and competencies applicable to the Certified ONAP Professional (COP). For more details on the exam curriculum, to participate in the Beta, please visit https://www.onap.org/home/community/onap-training .

Below is a list of currently-available networking course offerings:

Additional Project Deployments & Milestones

LFN projects continue to evolve with new releases, projects, and community growth. Specific examples include:

FD.io

FD.io has added a valuable project to it's portfolio that removes a key hurdle to adoption of FD.io technologies: Sweetcomb management agent , which addresses deployment of equipment based on the FD.io dataplane into an operator's network by responding to configuration and telemetry requests received from industry-adopted methods (including Netconf, Restconf, OpenConfig gNMI, and SSL clients) while adhering to IETF and OpenConfig data models. Sweetcomb is backed by a dedicated set of developers from across 13 organizations (including Alibaba, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, Cisco, HuachenTel, Huawei, Intel, NXP, Pantheon Technologies, Tencent , Tieto, and ZTE).

ONAP

In addition to the upcoming ONAP Certification training course, the ONAP community is hard at work on its fourth release, ONAP Dublin. Expected early summer, Dublin builds upon the work of the Developer Design Forum; "Security by Design" will be an important sub-theme, and a new SDC dashboard called "Controller Design Studio for APP-C" and SDN-C design is under development.

OPNFV

OPNFV Hunter, the eighth release of OPNFV, is planned for May 2019 . It will further the state of NFV around continuous delivery, cloud native network functions (CNFs), testing, carrier-grade features, and upstream project integration. Projects such as C-RAN (cloud radio access network for 5G), AUTO (ONAP automated OPNFV) and Edge Cloud have continued to make progress and are planning to participate. There will again be a two-track release with a Continuous Delivery option.

OpenDaylight

OpenDaylight, the most pervasive open source SDN controller that helps power over 1B global network subscribers, celebrates its sixth anniversary with the availability of its 10th release, OpenDaylight Neon . Neon hardens SDN controller features and advances support for edge, cloud native, and downstream projects like ONAP, Kubernetes, and OpenStack. Learn more about OpenDaylight's latest release here .

Tungsten Fabric

The Tungsten Fabric community has been named a 2019 Google Summer of Code (GSoC) organization. GSoC is global program focused on connecting students to open source organizations. Learn more about Tungsten Fabric's GSoC projects here.

GSoC is global program focused on connecting students to open source organizations. Learn more about Tungsten Fabric's GSoC projects Initiated last fall, the Tungsten Fabric Carbide Quick-Start Environment continues to gain traction. Hosted at Amazon Web Services and free to use, it allows developers using Kubernetes with limited networking experience to deploy a configuration-free Kubernetes and Tungsten Fabric cluster, usually in less than 15 minutes.

LFN will also participate in KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe, May 20-23, in Barcelona. The project will host two co-located mini summits as well as in-booth demonstrations. More details are available here .

Follow LF Networking on Twitter at @LF_Networking to stay up-to-date on project activity, including real-time updates from ONS.

About The Linux Foundation

Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation is supported by more than 1,000 members and is the world's leading home for collaboration on open source software, open standards, open data, and open hardware. Linux Foundation's projects are critical to the world's infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, and more. The Linux Foundation's methodology focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information please visit us at www.linuxfoundation.org .

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Media Contact

Jill Lovato

The Linux Foundation

[email protected]

SOURCE LF Networking

Related Links

https://www.linuxfoundation.org

LGC CAPITAL announces four new additions to the executive team. LGC Chief Operating Officer, Remy di Meglio, together with both John McMullen and Mazen Haddad, has assembled this team bringing over 90 year's experience with British American Tobacco and Monsanto to LGC. To lead the team, Mazen Haddad will remain as Co-Chairman and take on the additional role of CEO. John McMullen will assume the role as President and Mark Shinners of Arlington Capital will take on the role of CFO. We would like to thank the outgoing CFO Anthony Samaha for his years of service to LGC helping to grow LGC.

Mazen Haddad stated, "The new additions to our team at LGC have already begun to work on integrating LGC's investments to extract the economies of scale due to geographic diversity and mobilizing a full product range to serve our customers throughout Europe, Canada and Australia. This team brings over 90 years of experience from leading global companies like British American Tobacco, Monsanto, WPP and CNN. With a keen understanding of how to grow and handle global supply chains and distribution on a large scale, brand building and consumer intelligence, regulatory legislation and financial governance, they will bring the discipline and rigor required to build LGC into a leading player in the cannabis market. John McMullen will move into the role of President focusing his efforts on various part of LGC's corporate development and working with our banking partners and developing LGC's public investor base."

Richard Widmann 51, EVP Commercial, joins LGC with over 15 years of experience across 4 continents with British American Tobacco (BAT) business operations in Europe and South Africa and Americas most recently serving as Area Managing Director South Central Europe, a top 5 market for BAT. In this role, Richard achieved in excess of 250 million Euros in profit, managed major acquisitions in Central Europe and realized significant brand growth in South Africa. Richard will lead the commercial strategy and build-up of a pan European Hemp/Cannabis enterprise. He will also provide operational direction and will provide and oversight to LGC's partners. Currently he has been assigned to further develop Easyjoint's distribution and corporate development to stay on track for its growth plans.

Mervyn Koenen 44, VP Commercial Finance, brings 18 years of managing commercial finance, internal audit and strategic planning, supporting leadership teams to achieve operational targets and managing strategic agendas. His experience includes international, strategic and multi-disciplinary projects resulting in delivering sustainable profit growth. Mervyn will drive the financial and strategic agenda for LGC's European investees in the expanding market for legal cannabis and CBD derivative products. He will support LGC partners in building sustainable and reliable financial forecasts, lead corporate governance, with procedural performance tracking, and build accounting and supply chain systems to assist subsidiaries with growth demands.

Jeanne van Wyk 50, VP Communications, brings 26 years of global marketing experience on both client and agency side, most recently as Strategic Planning Director for the WPP advertising group servicing British American Tobacco across Europe. Jeanne has a background in legal studies followed by a successful career in journalism, notably with CNN in Africa & Global for 5 years. Jeanne will design and manage the strategic development and positioning of our brand portfolios, marketing, communications and consumer insights for LGC starting with EasyJoint.

Alistair Hide 51, VP Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, joins LGC with over 25 years of business experience and corporate regulatory affairs. For the last 5 years, he held the position of Corporate Affairs Director, Europe, Middle East, and Africa with Monsanto International. This role encompassed government affairs, communications and wider stakeholder relations for Monsanto's agricultural businesses. He also brings over 18 years of experience with BAT, most recently as Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Western Europe Region. Alistair will be navigating the ever changing regulations of this new and evolving industry, allowing LGC to understand the legal requirements and directing LGC to ensure its products are compliant with all regulations in the various markets. In his corporate communications capacity, he will work with regulators to develop a sustainable industry framework.

Mark Shinners, 41, Chief Financial Officer, joins LGC with over 17 year's experience in various senior operational and financial advisory roles spanning across a number of industry sectors including IT, construction, renewable energy and manufacturing. Having trained as a chartered accountant at PwC, Mark went on to hold leadership positions in assurance, corporate finance and financial advisory, providing financial, commercial and strategic advice to multinational companies. Mark served as financial director at Hewlett Packard (Services) in the Middle East and CFO at Chinook Urban Mining Limited, a UK based renewable energy development company. Mark is currently a Director at Arlington Capital. Mark is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), has a Bachelor of Business Studies degree (BBS), a Masters in Accounting & Finance (Macc), a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is a Chartered Waste Manager.

Mazen Haddad 46, CEO brings over 20 years of experience building companies from the early stage, most of his experience has been in the venture capital space ranging from technology companies both in the US and Canada to real estate and mining. Furthermore, his family business relationships have brought the association of former BAT executives to LGC.

"At the request of our new investors, Arlington Capital, I am proud to take on this new role of direct management of LGC now that we have acquired our core positions in the companies such Trichomed, Global Canna Labs, Evolution and Little Green Pharma, LGC has formidable growing capacity and a diversity of strains and licensed operators that few other companies have. Furthermore, the associations with Easyjoint and Viridi bring both a wide ranging catalog of finished products from consumables to cosmetics and the serious ability to distribute such products through Easyjoint's retail and online presence. We will continue to seek companies with finished products that give consumers access to wellness products they demand. It is my sincere belief that both with Arlington Capital`s support and our newly added operating team LGC will be able to accelerate the development of our portfolio of companies and integrate their efforts to achieve their full potential."

About LGC Capital:

Through its partners and assuming pending transactions under review by the TSXV are approved, LGC presently will have interests in over 450,000 square feet of planted cannabis in Jamaica, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia. That is expected to increase to over 2,100,000 square feet by 2021, as its portfolio companies execute their expansion plans, in addition to the anticipated licensing of Tricho-Med's operations in Quebec, Canada.

LGC partners currently sell cannabis products in over 1,000 points of sale across Switzerland and Italy under the ONE Premium Cannabis and EasyJoint brands as well as medical cannabis oils in Australia under the Little Green Pharma brand. LGC's partners' branded products are available in a variety of formats including dry cannabis flower, tinctures, oils, seeds, and beverages.

Caution Regarding Press Releases

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE LGC Capital LtdTOKYO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Global cryptocurrency platform Liquid.com ("Liquid") today announced the first close of an ongoing Series C funding that puts the company valuation at over US$1 billion.

This valuation establishes Liquid as one of only two tech unicorns in Japan's startup space. Founded in 2014, Liquid has achieved unicorn status in less than five years.

This latest round of funding is led by investment firm IDG Capital, with participation from the world's largest maker of cryptocurrency mining rigs, Bitmain Technologies. This investment in Liquid marks an addition to IDG's current portfolio of crypto investments, which include Coinbase, Ripple, Bitmain and Kakao's crypto unit. This deal marks the latest investment for Bitmain this year into a regulated digital asset trading platform, following their investment into ErisX, another derivatives and digital asset trading platform aiming to be a licensed Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated futures market and clearinghouse.

Liquid has previously raised more than US$20 million from venture funding, which includes leading Japanese investment firms JAFCO, SBI, B Dash Ventures, Mistletoe, and ULS Group. In 2017, Liquid raised more than US$100m in a pre-discounted ICO raise, which was the first regulated ICO to be done in Japan.

Proceeds from the ongoing Series C funding will be used to fuel global expansion, product development of the core trading exchange business and entering into the security token market.

Liquid CEO Mike Kayamori said: "As we enter into a new age of digital disruption in financial services, consumers are increasingly placing a higher value on digital assets and technologies they can trust and use with greater ease. Our vision is to make financial services accessible to all, which means bringing more people into the digital asset space so that anyone can be a part of it. This first round of Series C funding from our two highly respected investors, IDG Capital and Bitmain, puts us in an incredibly strong position to make a global impact in 2019."

Bitmain Co-founder Jihan Wu said: "Japan is one of the leading nations in putting crypto industry under proper regulations, and Liquid Group has proven itself to be the exemplary player within such compliant rules. This is a very important and unique moat amid global competition."

General Partner of IDG Capital Young Guo said: "IDG has been actively investing in the global crypto space since 2012, identifying some key players early. We came to realize that Tokyo has emerged as a top destination for crypto innovation and it is our honor to back such visionary pioneers as Liquid Co-founders Mike Kayamori and Mario Gomez Lozada to carry out this innovation."

ABOUT IDG CAPITAL

Founded in 1992, IDG Capital is a leading investment firm with over US$20 billion in AUM, focused on developing extraordinary companies through expertise in private equity and venture capital, as well as real estate. IDG Capital is the first firm to bring foreign venture capital into China.

IDG Capital brings a powerful combination of global perspective and local experience to investment management. As long-term value investors, IDG Capital is highly skilled at mobilizing global resources to address local needs, especially for Inbound and outbound opportunities in China and the rest of Asia. Its highly skilled team has an in-depth understanding of the Chinese market and enjoys close relationships with many influential business leaders.

ABOUT BITMAIN TECHNOLOGIES

Founded in 2013, Bitmain transforms computing by building industry-defining technology in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and artificial intelligence (AI). Bitmain leads the industry in the production of integrated circuits for cryptocurrency mining, as well as mining hardware under the Antminer brand. The company also operates the largest cryptocurrency mining pools worldwide -- Antpool.com and BTC.com. Bitmain technology supports a wide range of blockchain platforms and startups.

ABOUT LIQUID

Founded in 2014, we are a leading global fintech company that operates Liquid.com ("Liquid"), a global cryptocurrency platform that provides trading, exchange, and next generation financial services powered by blockchain technology. With offices in Japan, Singapore and Vietnam, Liquid combines a strong network of local partners with extensive team experience in banking and financial products to deliver best in class financial services for its customers.

Today, Liquid is the world's largest crypto-fiat platform by transaction volume, regulated in Japan. Powered by the World book, which provides customers enhanced price matching and deeper liquidity for various fiat and cryptocurrency pairs, Liquid offers trading services for major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum against fiat currency pairs in Japanese yen, US, Singapore and Australian dollar, and Euro.

As part of the Liquid roadmap, we are developing a range of new features and services including a distributed ledger, which will allow other fintech companies to build their products and services on distributed ledger technology.

In the span of two years:

September 2017 -- We became the first global cryptocurrency exchange to be officially licensed by the Japan Financial Services Agency.

We became the first global cryptocurrency exchange to be officially licensed by the Japan Financial Services Agency. October 2017 -- We became the first licensed global cryptocurrency exchange in Japan to launch a global Initial Coin Offering (ICO), also known as the Qash Token Sale.

We became the first licensed global cryptocurrency exchange in to launch a global Initial Coin Offering (ICO), also known as the Qash Token Sale. November 2017 -- We successfully raised 350m Qash (the equivalent of 350K ETH or ~USD105m ) in an oversubscribed ICO, to fund the growth of the Liquid platform.

We successfully raised Qash (the equivalent of ETH or ) in an oversubscribed ICO, to fund the growth of the Liquid platform. September 2018 -- Our historical trading platforms, Quoinex and Qryptos, were merged and relaunched as Liquid.

Our historical trading platforms, Quoinex and Qryptos, were merged and relaunched as Liquid. July 2018 -- Our trading platforms exceeded USD50 billion in transaction volume in the past 12 months.

More than just a cryptocurrency exchange, Liquid offers powerful trading features which include:

Margin trading of up to 25x leverage for select crypto-fiat pairings

A sophisticated user dashboard for pro traders

Secure cold wallet storage and KYC compliance for individual and corporate customers

Proprietary World Book technology that matches orders across global order books, providing access to liquidity pools sourced by a unified platform, Liquid.com

More information is available at Liquid.com.

MEDIA CONTACT DETAILS

Corporate Website: https://quoine.com

Liquid Website: https://liquid.com

Liquid Blog: https://blog.liquid.com/

Telegram Community: https://t.me/Quoine

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Liquid_Global

Facebook: https://facebook.com/LiquidGlobal/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quoine

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liquid_global/

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/liquid

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/LiquidGlobal

SOURCE QUOINE

Related Links

https://www.liquid.com

Little Caesars, home of the Hot-N-Ready Pizza and Pizza Portal pickup, is changing the way customers pick up pizza. The brand, which focuses on bringing customers value, quality, and convenience, will continue to evolve with the addition of new top marketing talent.

"I'm excited to welcome Jeff to our organization," said Dave Scrivano, President and CEO of Little Caesars, "With his impressive achievements and experience, I know we can count on him to grow our global brand and continue to shake up the pizza game like we've been doing for the past 60 years."

Jeff graduated with honors from Ontario's Wilfrid Laurier University. Personally, Jeff is a strong supporter of Autism Speaks, an avid runner, and is a self-described "weekend chef".

"I'm honored to be joining a storied family-focused brand with such a great reputation," said Klein, "I can't wait to extend our brand voice even further, sharing Little Caesars marketing message with consumers around the world."

ABOUT LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA

Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, Little Caesars was founded in 1959 as a single, family-owned restaurant. Today, Little Caesars is the largest carryout-only pizza chain in the United States and the third largest pizza chain in the world, with stores in each of the 50 states and 24 countries and territories around the world.

Known for its HOT-N-READY pizza and famed Crazy Bread, Little Caesars has been named "Best Value in America" for the past twelve years (based on nationwide survey of national quick service restaurant customers conducted by Sandelman & Associates - 2007-2018 entitled "Highest Rated Chain  Value for the Money"). Little Caesars products are made with quality ingredients, like fresh, never frozen, mozzarella and Muenster cheese and sauce made from fresh-packed, vine-ripened California crushed tomatoes.

An exceptionally high growth company with nearly 60 years of experience in the $145 billion worldwide pizza industry, Little Caesars is continually looking for franchisee candidates to join our team in markets around the world. In addition to providing the opportunity for entrepreneurial independence in a franchise system, Little Caesars offers strong brand awareness with one of the most recognized and appealing characters in the country, Little Caesar.

SOURCE Little CaesarsHOUSTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE: MDR) today announced that Chevron Lummus Global (CLG), McDermott's joint venture with Chevron, has been awarded a sizeable* technology contract by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) for the license and basic engineering design of a 2,500 KTA delayed coker at its planned Cauvery Basin Refinery at Nagapattinam in Tamilnadu, India. The unit will utilize the proprietary CLG delayed coking technology which maximizes value from the vacuum residue stream.

"This award represents the continued trust in our advanced delayed coking technology by Indian refiners and CPCL in particular," said Leon de Bruyn, Senior Vice President of McDermott's Lummus Technology business. "High flexibility of our coking technology to process opportunity crudes while maximizing yield of valuable products is beneficial for improved refinery margins."

McDermott's Lummus Technology is a leading licensor of proprietary petrochemicals, refining, gasification and gas processing technologies, and a supplier of proprietary catalysts and related engineering. With a heritage spanning more than 100 years, encompassing approximately 3,100 patents and patent applications, Lummus Technology provides one of the industry's most diversified technology portfolios to the hydrocarbon processing sector.

This contract was signed in the first quarter of 2019.

*McDermott defines a sizeable contract as between USD $1 million and USD $50 million.

About McDermott

McDermott is a premier, fully integrated provider of technology, engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. For more than a century, customers have trusted McDermott to design and build end-to-end infrastructure and technology solutions to transport and transform oil and gas into the products the world needs today. Our proprietary technologies, integrated expertise and comprehensive solutions deliver certainty, innovation and added value to energy projects around the world. Customers rely on McDermott to deliver certainty to the most complex projects, from concept to commissioning. It is called the "One McDermott Way." Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally focused and globally-integrated resources include approximately 32,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world. As used in this press release, McDermott includes McDermott International, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. To learn more, visit www.mcdermott.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, McDermott cautions that statements in this press release which are forward-looking, and provide other than historical information, involve risks, contingencies and uncertainties that may impact McDermott's actual results of operations. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements about the expected value and scope of the award discussed in this press release. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Those statements are made by using various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous risks, contingencies and uncertainties, including, among others: adverse changes in the markets in which we operate or credit markets, our inability to successfully execute on contracts in backlog, changes in project design or schedules, the availability of qualified personnel, changes in the terms, scope or timing of contracts, contract cancellations, change orders and other modifications and actions by our customers and other business counterparties, changes in industry norms and adverse outcomes in legal or other dispute resolution proceedings. If one or more of these risks materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected. For a more complete discussion of these and other risk factors, please see McDermott's annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. This press release reflects management's views as of the date hereof. Except to the extent required by applicable law, McDermott undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.

Contacts:

Investor Relations

Scott Lamb

Vice President, Investor Relations

+1 832 513 1068

[email protected]

Global Media Relations

Gentry Brann

Global Vice President, Communications

+1 281 870 5269

[email protected]

SOURCE McDermott International, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.mcdermott.com/

DALLAS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the world's largest meeting and event industry association, today announced the organization's commitment to combat child sex trafficking through a partnership with ECPAT-USA. As part of a live stream on April 4, 2019, celebrating Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), MPI will sign the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code) a travel and tourism industry-driven initiative that seeks to provide awareness, tools, and support to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.

A joint venture between the private sector and ECPAT-USA, The Code is a voluntary set of business principles travel and tour companies can implement to prevent the trafficking of children. As part of the commitment, ECPAT-USA will provide tools that will help MPI raise awareness of the issue and stop child sex trafficking.

"Meeting and event professionals are in a unique position to raise awareness of and prevent child sex trafficking," said Michelle Guelbart, Director of Private Sector Engagement at ECPAT-USA. "We're excited to see a globally recognized organization like Meeting Professionals International take a leadership role on this issue. Through this partnership with MPI, we will be able to expand the fight to end exploitation to thousands of individuals in over a dozen countries around the world."

The signing of The Code on GMID will be led by CEO and President, Paul Van Deventer, VP of People and Performance, Diane Hawkins and COO, Darren Temple. In 2017, MPI committed to join the fight to stop human trafficking, with a focus on ending the sexual exploitation of children. Over the past 18 months, working closely with organizations such as ECPAT and Sisters of Charity, and by engaging the community through monthly articles in MPI's publications, providing training to volunteer leaders, and offering educational programming, MPI has made a concerted effort to raise awareness of this crime, while also instructing on specific actions to prevent it.

"As a leader in the meetings and events industry, MPI assumes great responsibility to raising awareness about the human sex trafficking epidemic and advocating with our partners to take action against it," said Paul Van Deventer, MPI president, and CEO. "The travel industry is a target for human traffickers and by educating the meetings and events industry about signs to look for, we hope to prevent potential abuse and keep children safe."

GMID brings together leaders from across the meetings and events industry to showcase the real impact that business meetings, conferences, conventions, incentive travel, trade shows, and exhibitions have on people, businesses and communities.

About MPI

Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is the largest meeting and event industry association worldwide. The organization provides innovative and relevant education, networking opportunities and business exchanges, and acts as a prominent voice for the promotion and growth of the industry. MPI has a global community of 60,000 meeting and event professionals including more than 17,000 engaged members and its Plan Your Meetings audience. It has more than 90 chapters and clubs in 19 countries. "When we meet, we change the world." www.mpi.org

About ECPAT-USA

ECPAT-USA is the leading anti-child trafficking policy organization in the United States seeking to end the commercial, sexual exploitation of children through awareness, advocacy, policy, and legislation. ECPAT-USA is a member of ECPAT International, a network of organizations in more than 90 countries with one common mission: to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children. For more information, visit www.ecpatusa.org.

Media Contact: Mary Lester, [email protected]; 214-490-3480

SOURCE Meeting Professionals International

Related Links

http://www.mpi.org

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  While the foreign affairs chief said he has fired a salvo of diplomatic notes against China, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio urged a diplomatic protest against the East Asian giant to preserve sovereignty over the Philippines' territorial sea.

"To preserve our sovereignty over our territorial sea around Pag-asa, the (Philippines) should file a diplomatic protest. Otherwise, the (Philippines) will be deemed to have acquiesced to China's claim that the waters around Pag-asa belong to China under its nine-dash line claim," Carpio said in a statement.

Carpio said fishing vessels have no right to fish within the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea of the island, which is the seat of the Kalayaan municipal government.

"They can only exercise innocent passage in our territorial sea -- meaning these vessels must transit in a straight, continuous and expeditious passage. These vessels cannot stop, loiter or even zig-zag in out territorial sea," he said.

The SC magistrate also said diplomatic protests should be filed over Beijing's seizure of Sandy Cay and two low-tide sandbars which are within the country's territorial waters.

"Sandy Cay, a high-tide sandbar, and two nearby low-tide sandbars, are less than two nautical miles from Pag-asa. These sandbars emerged within our 12-nautical-mile territorial sea in Pag-asa. Anything that emerges within our territorial sea is also our territory. That is well-recognized under international law," he said.

Carpio said if the Philippines opts not to file protests, the country "will be deemed to have acquiesced" to Beijing.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said a diplomatic protest is in the way after the military confirmed the presence of Chinese vessels near Pag-asa Island. Beijing's Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said those are merely fishing vessels, but Panelo said those are militia men.

Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin said he has filed a "salvo" of diplomatic notes against China before his trip to the country in March. However, he said he would not disclose the contents of the protests.

China has used its historical nine-dash line claim for militarization and reclamation activities in the hotly contested West Philippine Sea. Former Philippine officials have also lodged a complaint against Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials for their activities in the global waterway.DENVER, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- mindSpark Learning (mSL) a Denver-based national nonprofit dedicated to empowering educators with industry-oriented professional learning experiences, resulting in more students prepared for the workforce, provided an update today for its "Summer of Professional Learning," taking place across 11 cities this summer. In partnership with the Morgridge Family Foundation and DonorsChoose.org, mSL is happy to report:

Citizen donors have contributed $75,325 to the initiative and The Morgridge Family Foundation has given $130,901 in 2x-3x matched donations

to the initiative and The Morgridge Family Foundation has given in 2x-3x matched donations 210 projects have been fully funded

198 educators have been supported across 165 schools, which will impact 30,176 students across the nation

190 projects are currently live on DonorsChoose.org and accepting funding

The Summer of Professional Learning, which was first announced in January, will host 34 professional learning institutes covering seven core topics, including design-thinking, EdTech, computer science, Google Certification, creativity and innovation, social-emotional resilience and empathy, and STEM and problem-based learning (PBL).

mindSpark Learning's Director of Professional Learning Cassie Smith received a second-place honor at the University of North Texas' Ed Tech Ascend pitch competition for mSL's EdTech Summer Institutes. The $5,000 prize money will help train educators how to use and integrate various digital tools in their schools and classrooms to ensure students are not just bystanders to technological advances. The pitch competition was presented through a partnership between UNT and Edmodo, a subsidiary of NetDragon and the largest global learning community offering a communication and collaboration platform to K-12 schools targeting teachers, students, administrators and parents.

Educators of public and charter schools can still submit projects for funding to attend an institute in the location and for their topic of choice. Projects must be submitted 60 days in advance of the project of their choice and must be fully funded 30 days prior to the Institute.

Educators at private schools are also invited to attend, and can learn more about the institutes, registration process and costs at https://www.mymindsparklearning.org/events-and-institutes .

mindSpark Learning is also still accepting philanthropic and community partners to support these institutes. Please visit https://www.mymindsparklearning.org/partner-with-us to discuss how you can be part of this initiative.

About mindSpark Learning

mindSpark Learning, a Denver-based national nonprofit founded as Share Fair Nation in 2007 and rebranded in 2017, is the catalyst and intermediary between education and industry. It empowers educators with industry-oriented professional learning experiences, resulting in more students prepared for the modern workforce. It does so by leading programs and services designed to help schools understand workforce development, participate in work-based learning experiences, foster career literacy and directly connect students to mentors and authentic opportunities at a young age. Its core areas of focus are critical to today's education landscape and include problem-based learning (PBL) STEM, EdTech, Social-emotional learning (SEL) and Equity-centered Design Thinking. These lay the foundation for skills that are inherently necessary for career success.

mindSpark Learning is re-engineering education by incorporating the voice of community leaders in a variety of fields - from education, to industry, to government. In 2018, mindSpark Learning impacted more than 10,000 educators at 594 schools across 11 states. For more information, please visit www.mymindsparklearning.org .

Media Contact

Kim Peterson

[email protected]

(630) 835-4020

SOURCE mindSpark Learning

Related Links

http://www.mymindsparklearning.org

IPSWICH, Mass., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB), today announced the winners of its third Passion in Science Awards, which acknowledge scientists for their innovative work that goes above and beyond the boundaries of pure science to make a profound impact on other fields, including the arts, humanitarian service, environmental stewardship, and science mentorship.

On May 1st, 2019, NEB will host 12 award recipients from around the world at its headquarters in Ipswich, MA, where they will receive their awards, share their personal stories of success, and participate in a series of group discussions and creative brainstorming sessions with the NEB community.

"We are honored to recognize our 2019 Passion in Science Awards recipients who are enriching lives in ways that go well beyond the traditional definition of success for a scientist," said Jim Ellard, Chief Executive Officer at NEB. "These men and women truly embody the core values embraced by NEB: passion, humility, creativity and being genuine."

The full list of Passion in Science Awardees is as follows:

Category: Science Mentorship and Advocacy Award

Sarah McAnulty ( University of Connecticut , Willimantic, CT ): Founder of Skype a Scientist, which connects non-scientists with scientists via personal video chats, enabling students and adults to learn about a scientist's life, work and passions.

( , ): Founder of Skype a Scientist, which connects non-scientists with scientists via personal video chats, enabling students and adults to learn about a scientist's life, work and passions. Daniel Heid (Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany ): Founder of the Xenoplex STEM Center, which encourages young students who are interested in science and equips them with the experience and expertise to solve future scientific problems.

(Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, ): Founder of the Xenoplex STEM Center, which encourages young students who are interested in science and equips them with the experience and expertise to solve future scientific problems. Steven Farber (Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, MD ): Founder of BioEYES, a non-profit research program that uses zebrafish to excite and educate K-12 students about science and how to think and act like scientists.

(Carnegie Institution for Science, ): Founder of BioEYES, a non-profit research program that uses zebrafish to excite and educate K-12 students about science and how to think and act like scientists. Sarah Fankhauser ( Oxford College of Emory University , Oxford, Georgia ): Established the first peer-reviewed publication for middle- and high-school students, the Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI), which supports and strengthens the next generation of young scientists by engaging them in a process that was previously unavailable.

Category: Environmental Stewardship Award

Malali Gowda (TransDisciplinary University, Bangaluru, India ): Established a method to re-forest any barren or rocky land in short period, resulting in an increase in vegetation cover, ground-water and biodiversity.

(TransDisciplinary University, Bangaluru, ): Established a method to re-forest any barren or rocky land in short period, resulting in an increase in vegetation cover, ground-water and biodiversity. Samantha Romanick ( University of Nevada Reno , Reno, NV ): Established the Campus Refill Initiative (CRI), aimed at reducing plastic waste on college campuses by offering sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics.

Category: Humanitarian Duty Award

Mahmoud Bukar Maina (University of Sussex, England , UK): Founder of the TReND Outreach program and SciComNigera, aimed to enhance public understanding, trust and support for science, and inspiring the next generation of African scientists through outreach activities for school students, teachers, government officials and scientists.

(University of , UK): Founder of the TReND Outreach program and SciComNigera, aimed to enhance public understanding, trust and support for science, and inspiring the next generation of African scientists through outreach activities for school students, teachers, government officials and scientists. Nathan Schoepp (Caltech, Pasadena, CA ): Developed rapid diagnostics for determining antibiotic susceptibility, which can be used by clinicians at the point of care, before prescribing, to improve outcomes and prevent resistance.

Category: Art and Creativity Award

William Ward Murta (Theater Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany ): Composer of Das Molekul, which tells the story of the discovery of DNA and the race to sequence the human genome through a full-scale work of musical theatre involving six soloists, a chorus and symphony orchestra.

(Theater Bielefeld, Bielefeld, ): Composer of Das Molekul, which tells the story of the discovery of DNA and the race to sequence the human genome through a full-scale work of musical theatre involving six soloists, a chorus and symphony orchestra. Garfield Kwan ( University of California, San Diego , CA): Creator of Squidtoons, which communicates research through visually appealing, yet scientifically accurate, comics to broaden public understanding of the sciences.

( , CA): Creator of Squidtoons, which communicates research through visually appealing, yet scientifically accurate, comics to broaden public understanding of the sciences. Kyle McClary ( University of Southern California , Los Angeles, CA ): Founder of the Bridge Art + Science Alliance (BASA), a program designed to build a community and establish collaboration between the art and science departments at USC , creating a synergy between scientific discovery and engaging media.

( , ): Founder of the Bridge Art + Science Alliance (BASA), a program designed to build a community and establish collaboration between the art and science departments at , creating a synergy between scientific discovery and engaging media. Bryan Welm ( University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT ): Associate Professor and Sculptor whose artwork accurately and artistically represents DNA and protein complexes to inspire public curiosity in science.

More information on the winners will be available at www.neb.com/passioninscience following the event.

About New England Biolabs

Established in the mid 1970's, New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB) is the industry leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research. NEB continues to expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR, gene expression, sample preparation for next generation sequencing, synthetic biology, glycobiology, epigenetics and RNA analysis. Additionally, NEB is focused on strengthening alliances that enable new technologies to reach key market sectors, including molecular diagnostics development. New England Biolabs is a privately held company, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, and has extensive worldwide distribution through a network of exclusive distributors, agents and seven subsidiaries located in Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK. For more information about New England Biolabs visit www.neb.com.

NEB and NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS are registered trademarks of New England Biolabs, Inc.

SOURCE New England Biolabs

Related Links

http://www.neb.com

PHILADELPHIA, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of primary brain cancer, one with a prognosis of 11-15 months with standard treatment. Results from a phase 1b clinical trial of a new experimental glioblastoma vaccine developed by Jefferson Health and Imvax, show the treatment was tolerated well by patients, slowed tumor recurrence, and prolonged patient survival.

The research was presented at an oral session of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting on March 31st in Atlanta, Georgia.

Researchers treated 33 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme with the novel cancer vaccine (IGV-001) in a prospective phase 1b clinical study and compared outcomes to a historical comparator group of 35 patients treated with standard of care at the same institution. The results showed patients treated with the vaccine had improved progression-free survival and overall survival compared to the control group treated with standard of care alone.

"The response we see in some patients is very encouraging," says David Andrews, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery at the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience -- Jefferson Health and co-founder, Chief Medical Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer of Imvax. "We look forward to initiating a phase II trial later this year to confirm these phase 1b results."

The vaccine is created from the patient's own tumor cells sampled during surgical removal of the primary brain tumor. Researchers first take the cancer cells, treat them with an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (AS-ODN) against IGF-R1, a receptor shown to drive tumor growth and metastasis, and load them with additional AS-ODN into diffusion chambers. Then the dime-sized chambers and their contents are irradiated and implanted under the skin of the patient's abdomen.

"As a consequence of the combined effects of the IGF-1R antisense and irradiation, our evidence shows that the chambered tumor cells release antigens, which together with the immunomodulatory AS-ODN, diffuse out of the chamber into the patient's body and activate the immune system against brain tumor cells," says immunologist D. Craig Hooper, PhD, a Professor of Cancer Biology at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center  Jefferson Health and a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Imvax.

As a nationally renowned neurosurgeon treating glioblastoma patients for decades, Dr. Andrews was frustrated with the poor options for treatment in glioblastoma. He was interested in using antisense molecules, ones that render glioblastoma cells more susceptible to conventional radiotherapy. However, preclinical experiments and an early clinical study of the effect of implantation of diffusion chambers containing glioblastoma cells showed there was radiographic evidence of delayed tumor shrinkage. This delay suggested that a systemic, possibly immune response may be at play. To better understand the observations, Dr. Andrews reached out to Dr. Hooper, who has an extensive background in studying immune regulation and particular expertise in neuroimmunity.

Over the course of fifteen years, translational research led by Dr. Hooper and clinical studies led by Dr. Andrews refined the diffusion chamber combination product used in the current phase 1b trial.

"This is an incredibly important advance emerging from leading investigators from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. We are enthusiastic about the potential for this intervention, and as is befitting for an NCI designated Cancer Center, were proud to have provided the initial seed funds to develop the bold new idea," said Karen E Knudsen, EVP of Oncology Services and Enterprise Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

The phase 1b clinical trial builds on earlier work showing that standard-of-care treatment for glioblastoma damages the immune system and suggesting that the vaccine would be more effective in patients whose immune systems had not been compromised by prior therapy. The phase 1b trial only enrolled patients who were scheduled to have surgery, prior to the start of standard-of-care adjuvant therapy.

The study enrolled 33 patients between September 2015 and March 2018. The study participants were divided into four groups treated at various doses of vaccine, ranging from 10 chambers for 24 hours at the minimum dose, to a maximum of 20 chambers for 48 hours. Patients were followed for a median of 13 months (ranging from four to 39 months).

The results showed that patients who received the Imvax glioblastoma vaccine had longer progression-free survival and overall survival  two common measures of cancer treatment success  than the control group. The researchers saw no vaccine-related adverse events. The median prognosis, or overall survival, for patients treated with the highest dose of the vaccine was 21.9 months, compared to 14.6 months for standard of care. Median progression-free survival was 10.4 months for the highest dose vaccine, significantly higher than the 6.9 and 5.4 months in published standard of care studies.

"This is creative collaboration at its best. We have physicians challenged with the limitations of medicine who therefore reach out to basic researchers in order to brainstorm potential solutions," says Robert Rosenwasser, MD,MBA, President and CEO of the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience. "This is the reason academic medical centers like Jefferson excel with innovations that improve lives. The depth of cellular and molecular knowledge in bench science generates the design of treatments that are most likely to succeed. When basic laboratory science and clinical research come together with a passionate need to improve the lives of our patients and families, we develop incredible advances in treatment paradigms."

For patient information call: 1-800-JEFF-NOW (800-533-3669)

About Jefferson Health

Jefferson Health, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, is reimagining health care in the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. Jefferson's 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, Magee Rehabilitation and the JeffConnect telemedicine program. U.S. News & World Report recognizes Jefferson's academic health center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Inc., with 10 specialties receiving a national ranking for the 2018-2019 report. Jefferson Health's mission is to improve the health of those patients and communities it is privileged to serve through safe, effective, equitable, compassionate care.

SOURCE Jefferson Health

Related Links

http://www.jeffersonhealth.org

GROVELAND, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The new authentic Conestoga Wagons with modern amenities at Yosemite Pines RV Resort and Family Lodging near Yosemite National Park are very popular with both resort guests and worldwide media. In response, Yosemite Pines is now offering new discount vouchers (https://yosemitepinesrv.com/vouchers) for up to 30% off on their Conestoga Wagons as well as all Cabins, Yurts and RV sites.

The Conestoga Wagons at Yosemite Pines have authentic styling but modern amenities for nostalgia that transcends every generation. Put some "Pioneer Spirit" in your next vacation, and because Yosemite Pines is just 22 miles from Yosemite National Park's western gate, staying in these very popular wagons is perfect for day trips into the park or throughout California's historic Gold Country. The classic trailers at Yosemite Pines allow guest to stay in a luxury trailer without worrying about towing it to the resort. These fully-furnished trailers will remind you of a day gone by when families were seen on Route 66 pulling their "house on wheels" to their next vacation spot. Just 22 miles from Yosemite National Park's western gate, staying at Yosemite Pines is perfect for day trips into the park or throughout California's historic Gold Country.

These new discount vouchers  good for a whole year instead of the usual 90 days  allow guests to lock in their discount with a year's time to plan the specific dates of their Yosemite vacation with some restrictions and black out dates.

"Buying a voucher now makes the resort's already affordable lodging and camping, even with some black out days, a great value," stated the Yosemite Pines Resort manager. "Numerous national and international magazines and websites have recently published articles about our Conestoga Wagons and the resort. Our new vouchers give guests a great way to save on their Yosemite area vacation, with the flexibility of scheduling specific dates with a discount.

Yosemite Pines Resort makes a great "home base" for day trips into Yosemite National Park and California's Gold Country. Along with the unique Conestoga Wagons, the resort offers many levels of Yosemite lodging and camping options nestled in the tall pines just east of the quaint village of Groveland. At the resort, guests can stay in Luxury Cabins, Premium Loft Cabins, Deluxe and "Cozy" Cabins, Classic "Airstream-style" trailers, fun "Retro" camping trailers, and camping sites for all sizes of RVs, many with full hook-ups.

Yosemite Pines Resort really comes alive for family fun in the spring and summer months. Activities such as campfires and hayrides add to the year-round resort amenities including a Pool area with adjacent Bocce Ball and Volleyball courts, a children's play area, and our very popular Petting Farm.

After spending the day with nearby hiking, biking, river rafting, fishing, horseback riding, rock climbing and enjoying photography around Yosemite Valley, guests of the resort return to their cabin, trailer, RV or Conestoga Wagon for a meal around the bar-b-cue or campfire, or a quick bite at the on-site Deli.

While the main draw for Yosemite Pines Resort guests is of course Yosemite National Park, the resort is close to many areas of interest including the historic Gold Country towns of Columbia, Jamestown and Sonora, plus Pine Mountain Lake, and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. With an easy drive from the resort, travelers can find live music, museums, art galleries, the Jamestown Railroad, winery tasting rooms and plenty of quaint shops.

Many guests of Yosemite Pines Resort experience Yosemite National Park by taking the YARTS shuttle bus (https://yarts.com/routes-and-schedules/sonora-buck-meadows-yosemite-valley) from the shuttle stop right at the resort to the park's Visitor Center. The shuttle's affordable fare includes the National Park entrance fee, allowing travelers to sit back and take in the scenery between Yosemite Pines Resort and the National Park while someone else does the driving.

To lock in a great rate with the resort's new discount vouchers, visit https://yosemitepinesrv.com/vouchers and purchase your voucher. Then, when you are ready to book your Yosemite vacation, call the resort at (209) 962-7690 to check availability for your preferred dates and book your reservation.

Start thinking about your 2019 Yosemite Escapation today - where "escape" and "vacation" meet. To find out more about the resort's lodging options, RV camping and family fun activities, visit https://yosemitepinesrv.com.

PRESS CONTACT: Julie Celeste, [email protected] or (541) 344-2308

SOURCE Yosemite Pines RV Resort and Family Lodging

Related Links

https://yosemitepinesrv.com

BOSTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, EnergySage released its latest semiannual Solar Marketplace Intel Report . Based on millions of transaction-level data points generated within the EnergySage Solar Marketplace during 2018, this report tracks demand for American-made solar panels in the U.S. and provides dozens of other insights into consumer shopping behavior.

In January 2018, the Trump administration acted on the U.S. International Trade Commission's finding of "serious injury" to U.S. solar panel manufacturers by levying tariffs on imported solar panels. The tariffs were intended to help American-made solar panels better compete with their foreign-made counterparts. However, a full year after the tariffs were announced, the number of quotes offering domestically produced panels reached near-record lows on the Solar Marketplace. Ultimately, just 4% of EnergySage shoppers purchased a system with American-made solar panels in 2018  an all-time low in the history of the EnergySage Marketplace.

Other key insights from the latest Solar Marketplace Intel Report include:

Cost of solar falls to $3.05 per Watt:

In H2 2018, the average quoted cost of solar on the EnergySage Marketplace dropped 2.2% to $3.05 per Watt. This is the largest price drop seen on the Marketplace in two years. At the same time, the average size of quoted solar energy systems increased by 7%, up to 9.6 kilowatts.

ITC step-down could erase price decreases from previous year:

The federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will decline to 26% at the end of 2019, which may effectively erase a year's worth of solar cost decreases. The installed cost of solar could increase by over $1,000 for the average residential solar shopper come January of 2020.

Solar interest grew in all 50 states:

Consumer interest in solar increased across the country, with interest doubling in 11 states between 2017 to 2018, according to an analysis of EnergySage website traffic. Virginia led the nation with the most year-over-year growth in solar interest, with Nevada a close second.

"Consumer interest in solar has proven incredibly resilient over the past year, despite tariffs and other attempts by the current administration to artificially decrease demand," said EnergySage CEO and founder Vikram Aggarwal. "Solar prices are continuing to fall as installers improve their operations, supply chain management, and sales strategies. Additionally, we expect the growing popularity of brands like Enphase, LG, Panasonic, SolarEdge, and SunPower to lure more American consumers into the residential solar market in years to come."

EnergySage is the most visited website in the U.S. solar industry and runs the country's leading comparison-shopping marketplace for rooftop solar, energy storage, community solar, and solar financing. This latest report furthers the company's mission to make solar more accessible and affordable for Americans through unbiased information, transparency, and choice.

This report and others can be downloaded for free at: www.energysage.com/data

ABOUT ENERGYSAGE, INC.

EnergySage is the leading online comparison-shopping marketplace for rooftop solar, energy storage, community solar, and financing. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, EnergySage is the trusted source of information for over 10 million consumers across 35+ states. As of early 2019, the company has sent over $5 billion in solar installation requests to its network of more than 500 pre-screened solar installation companies, and serves as a high-quality lead source for solar financing companies and powerful distribution channel for solar equipment manufacturers. EnergySage is unique in that it allows consumers to request and compare competing quotes online, unlike traditional lead-generation websites. For this reason, leading organizations like Environment America, Connecticut Green Bank, Duke University, National Grid, and Staples refer their audiences to EnergySage to empower them as they consider solar. The EnergySage formula of unbiased information, transparency and choice helps consumers go solar with confidence  at a higher rate of adoption, and lower cost. For more information, please visit EnergySage and follow us on Facebook , Twitter , YouTube , and LinkedIn .

SOURCE EnergySage

Related Links

http://www.energysage.com

LONDON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Noble Corporation plc (NYSE: NE) today announced it plans to report financial results for the first quarter 2019 on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Copies of the Company's press release will be available on the Noble Website at www.noblecorp.com.

Noble also has scheduled a conference call and webcast related to its first quarter 2019 results on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time. Interested parties are invited to listen to the call by dialing 1-833-245-9653, or internationally 1-647-689-4225, using access code: 7183887, or by asking for the Noble Corporation plc conference call. Interested parties may also listen over the Internet through a link posted in the Investor Relations section of the Company's Website.

A replay of the conference call will be available on Thursday, May 2, 2019, beginning at 11:00 a.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time, through Saturday, June 1, 2019, ending at 11:00 p.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time. The phone number for the conference call replay is 1-800-585-8367 or, for calls from outside of the U.S., 1-416-621-4642, using access code: 7183887. The replay will also be available on the Company's Website following the end of the live call.

About Noble Corporation plc

Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. The Company owns and operates one of the most modern, versatile and technically advanced fleets in the offshore drilling industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 25 offshore drilling units, consisting of 12 drillships and semisubmersibles and 13 jackups, focused largely on ultra-deepwater and high-specification jackup drilling opportunities in both established and emerging regions worldwide. Noble is a public limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 08354954 and registered office at 10 Brook Street, London, W1S 1BG England. Additional information on Noble is available at www.noblecorp.com.

SOURCE Noble Corporation

Related Links

http://www.noblecorp.com

PALM BEACH, Florida, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Articles projecting potential revenues for cannabis seem to continue to rise and rise and rise The optimism is almost tangible but they do seem to be backed up by the progress this market has seen in the last year alone. While the projections differ, they all forecast robust sales figures just over the horizon. Here are some of those projections in ascending order. One of the first such reports in The Rolling Stone, which said: "For years, experts have predicted that if the cannabis industry expands at its current rate, the American market will reach $20 billion by 2020. Another article said: " (the) U.S. cannabis market to surpass $24 billion by 2025" and"Another study with projections for 2021 was conducted by the Brightfield Group. That particular study estimated that the international market for cannabis will hit $31.4 billion by 2021. That same article also added: "The cannabis market is booming these days, now operating legally in a number of states and countries across the globe (projected) $40 billion in economic impact by 2021, saying (the) successful and growing cannabis industry has a butterfly effect on the economies that are involved. Active companies in the cannabis industry includes: CROP INFRASTRUCTURE CORP. (CSE:CROP) (OTC:CRXPF), OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: OGI.V) (OTCQX: OGRMF), Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF), HEXO Corp. (NYSE-A: HEXO) (TSX: HEXO), iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. (CSE: IAN) (OTCQX: ITHUF).

ArcView Market Research in conjunction with BDS Analytics released a report at the beginning of 2018 which estimated that the overall economic impact of the cannabis industry would increase to $40 billion by 2021. Finally an article in Forbes, added: " Spending on legal cannabis worldwide is expected to hit $57 billion by 2027. The adult-use (recreational) market will cover 67% of the spending; medical marijuana will take up the remaining 33%.

CROP INFRASTRUCTURE CORP. (CSE:CROP) (OTCPK:CRXPF) (Frankfurt: 2FR) BREAKING NEWS: CROP has been advised by its tenant brand sales team that the Hempire and Evolution brands are now available in 40 retail locations, mostly along the coastal cities of Washington.

The flower is available in eight different strains across seven sizes with concentrates being made available in five different concentrates across 20 separate strains giving the retail locations over 100 SKUS to offer their consumers.

The Washington market for 2018, according to Statista.com, was a $534.06 Million market with RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi writing: 'The legal cannabis category [in the U.S.] is set to grow at a 17% CAGR over the next decade to as much as $47 billion in annual sales.'

Crop's tenanted Washington facility has a major advantage with low cost electricity at $0.02 per kWh and greenhouse style growing, making it one of the most efficient growing operations available in the state of Washington for high quality product.

CROP CEO, Michael Yorke, stated: "Our tenant growing team and their sales team have made outstanding progress with product placement in 40 retail locations for both flower, oils and extracts. We continue to build out our brands in California and Nevada and our objective is, ultimately, to be in as many states as possible." Read this full announcement and more news for CROP Infrastructure at: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-crop/

Additional cannabis industry related developments from around the markets:

OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: OGI.V) (OTCQX: OGRMF) recently provided an update on its previously announced mandatory conversion (the "Conversion") of the Company's 6.0% convertible unsecured debentures due January 31, 2020 (the "Debentures") (OGI.DB).

As announced on February 27, 2019, the Company elected to exercise its right under the Debenture Indenture between the Company and the TSX Trust Company dated as of January 31, 2018 (the "Indenture") governing the Debentures, to convert all of the principal amount outstanding of the remaining Debentures on April 1, 2019 (the "Conversion Date") into common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares").

Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF) and CannaRoyalty Corp., doing business as Origin House, have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Cresco Labs will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Origin House. Under the terms of the agreement, holders of common shares of Origin House will receive 0.8428 subordinate voting share of Cresco Labs for each Origin House share.

The transaction represents a total consideration of approximately $1.1-billion on a fully diluted basis, or $12.68 per Origin House share (based on the exchange ratio and the closing price of Cresco Labs shares on March 29, 2019, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the transaction). The transaction represents the largest public company acquisition in the history of the U.S. cannabis industry. The combined entity will be: one of the largest vertically integrated multistate cannabis operators in the United States; a leading North American cannabis company, by footprint; and one of the largest cannabis brand distributors.

HEXO Corp. (NYSE-A: HEXO) (TSX: HEXO) has completed the first harvest in its one-million-square-foot expansion, marking an important execution milestone in the company's continuous growth.

Since early January, plants have been moving into the greenhouse and the first plants have now been harvested. The company continues to ramp up to full harvest capacity using the continuous harvest methodology, the latest step toward reaching the full annual production capacity of 108,000 kilograms of dried flower per year.

"Completing the first harvest in our one-million-square-foot greenhouse expansion showcases the dedication and hard work of the entire Hexo team," said Sebastien St-Louis, Hexo's chief executive officer and co-founder. "We are very proud of our continued ability to execute on our plans, creating value for our shareholders and demonstrating our commitment to our customers. This cultivation milestone means that an expanded Hexo product offering will be available to more Canadians shortly."

iAnthus Capital Holdings, Inc. (CSE: IAN) (OTCQX: ITHUF) has received approval from the Florida Department of Health to sell whole flower smokable product to its Florida patients. iAnthus will source flower from its state-of-the-art, 240,000-square-foot cultivation facility in Lake Wales, Fla. iAnthus currently serves Florida's 246,000 registered patients through delivery and three open dispensaries in West Palm Beach, Brandon and Lake Worth, and plans to open 17 additional locations in the state in 2019.

DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com (FNM) is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated forty nine hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press release issued above by CROP Infrastructure Corp. by a non affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

Media Contact

email: [email protected]

+1(561)325-8757

SOURCE FinancialNewsMedia.comALBUQUERQUE, N.M., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- PNM Resources (NYSE: PNM) management will meet with analysts and investors today in New York.

During the meetings, management is expected to affirm the company's 2019 consolidated earnings guidance of $2.10 to $2.18 per diluted share. Presentation materials are available on the company's website at http://www.pnmresources.com/investors/events.cfm.

Background:

PNM Resources (NYSE: PNM) is an energy holding company based in Albuquerque, N.M., with 2018 consolidated operating revenues of $1.4 billion. Through its regulated utilities, PNM and TNMP, PNM Resources has approximately 2,661 megawatts of generation capacity and provides electricity to more than 781,000 homes and businesses in New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit the company's website at www.PNMResources.com.

CONTACTS:

Analysts Media Lisa Goodman Ray Sandoval (505) 241-2160 (505) 241-2782

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Statements made in this news release for PNM Resources, Inc. ("PNMR"), Public Service Company of New Mexico ("PNM"), or Texas-New Mexico Power Company ("TNMP") (collectively, the "Company") that relate to future events or expectations, projections, estimates, intentions, goals, targets, and strategies are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that all forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and estimates. PNMR, PNM, and TNMP assume no obligation to update this information. Because actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, PNMR, PNM, and TNMP caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements. PNMR's, PNM's, and TNMP's business, financial condition, cash flow, and operating results are influenced by many factors, which are often beyond their control, that can cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of risk factors and other important factors affecting forward-looking statements, please see the Company's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which factors are specifically incorporated by reference herein.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

GAAP refers to generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. Ongoing earnings is a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes the impact of net unrealized mark-to-market gains and losses on economic hedges, the net change in unrealized gains and losses on investment securities, pension expense related to previously disposed of gas distribution business, and certain non-recurring, infrequent, and other items that are not indicative of fundamental changes in the earnings capacity of the Company's operations. The Company uses ongoing earnings and ongoing earnings per diluted share (or ongoing diluted earnings per share) to evaluate the operations of the Company and to establish goals, including those used for certain aspects of incentive compensation, for management and employees. While the Company believes these financial measures are appropriate and useful for investors, they are not measures presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company does not intend for these measures, or any piece of these measures, to represent any financial measure as defined by GAAP. Furthermore, the Company's calculations of these measures as presented may or may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. The Company uses ongoing earnings guidance to provide investors with management's expectations of ongoing financial performance over the period presented. While the Company believes ongoing earnings guidance is an appropriate measure, it is not a measure presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company does not intend for ongoing earnings guidance to represent an expectation of net earnings as defined by GAAP. Since the future differences between GAAP and ongoing earnings are frequently outside the control of the Company, management is generally not able to estimate the impact of the reconciling items between forecasted GAAP net earnings and ongoing earnings guidance, nor their probable impact on GAAP net earnings without unreasonable effort, therefore, management is generally not able to provide a corresponding GAAP equivalent for ongoing earnings guidance. Reconciliations between GAAP and ongoing earnings are contained in schedules 1-4.

SOURCE PNM Resources, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.pnmresources.com

SAN DIEGO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Point Loma Credit Union today announced its newest branch location to open this summer in North Park. Most recently the credit union was named 2018 National City Business of the Year and East County Financial Services Business of the Year, and a finalist for Carlsbad's 2019 Community Footprint Award.

Along with all of the Credit Union service offerings, Point Loma Credit Union will provide a unique branch experience to reflect the spirit of the North Park community. Some elements will include co-working spaces, a community meeting space that residents can book for meetings, a local artist partnership, a curriculum of seminars, events, and more.

"We know that finances can be stuffy and complex, so we are making our North Park experience feel more casual, convenient, open, and welcoming. We want to help eliminate the barriers that stand in the way so people can dream bigger and do more," said Dave Brooke, president, and chief executive officer at Point Loma Credit Union. "North Park has been on our radar for a few years, and we are excited to call this thriving neighborhood home."

To fully engage with and embrace the community, Point Loma Credit Union is partnering with North Park Main Street and North Park Community Association on events throughout the year including North Park Thursday Market, Bird Park Concert Series, North Park Shop Small, and North Park Main Street Small Business Mixers.

The branch is scheduled to open in June at 3773 30th Street, San Diego, CA.

For more information about visit: https://www.plcu.com/NorthPark

About Point Loma Credit Union:

Point Loma Credit Union has been a part of San Diego and the surrounding communities, full of one-of-a-kind businesses and diverse and passionate doers since 1948. For more than 70 years, they have helped over 30,000 members in seven branch locations make the most out of their finances so they can live life on their own terms. Today, Point Loma Credit Union holds over $500 million in assets and provides a full array of financial products and services, including savings, checking, loans, mortgages, and digital banking options. Also, through the credit union's partnership with the CO-OP network, members have surcharge-free access to more than 30,000 ATMs across the country. 2018 National City Business of the Year and East County Financial Services Business of the Year winner.

Website: https://plcu.com/NorthPark/

Instagram: @MyPLCU

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/point-loma-credit-union/

Media Contact:

Heather Dueitt

858.268.7203

[email protected]

SOURCE Point Loma Credit UnionLAFAYETTE, La., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lafayette's Potenza Inc., a full-service marketing and advertising company, is excited to announce the launch of 360ia, an innovative MarTech company that specializes in marketing automation and business intelligence.

360ia is built on the success of Potenza's 360 platform , which was first launched in 2015 as ReturnFlight. It is a marketing automation and attribution platform that identifies consumers that are in the market to buy specific products before they start the purchasing process.

Potenza CEO and founder Frankie Russo says 360ia is where the future of marketing is headed.

"Intelligent automation, which is what the 'ia' in 360ia stands for, is what today's businesses need to thrive in highly competitive markets and in a climate where every advertising dollar must be accounted for," Russo explains.

This new company, 360ia, brings together the 360 platform, Potenza's former digital advertising team, and a uniquely-trained team of MarTech software experts, to deliver an exceptional technology and media company for marketers.

"The power of 360's intelligent automation combined with our digital marketing experts will deliver the highest results for our users, connecting them with who's buying before they buy," Russo said.

The 360 platform utilizes a proprietary data mining and scoring system to automate highly-customized marketing campaigns for each consumer while creating a multi-touch attribution profile to measure a more true ROI from each client's marketing and advertising efforts.

"Last year 360 came out and it was a technology product. It was so successful we realized it made the most sense to take those enhancements and create a new company that encompassed our existing software and our digital ad agency," said Russo.

"Once the objectives of 360ia became clear, we quickly realized to maximize our effectiveness we could not run 360ia under the same company as Potenza's traditional ad agency model."

"The platform, and now the company, will help our business users grow their business while minimizing wasted marketing costs and pinpoint where they are getting their best ROI," said Russo.

In 2018, Potenza's 360 platform, won an AWA Award (Automotive Website Award) for best in class Marketing Automation.

360ia will maintain offices in Lafayette, La. and Visakhapatnam, India.

SOURCE Potenza Inc.

Related Links

https://www.potenzainc.com

MAPLE GROVE, Minn., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pursuit Vascular, Inc., manufacturer of ClearGuard HD Antimicrobial Barrier Caps, today announced that the company has received both Conformite Europeene (CE) Mark and Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) certificates for its ClearGuard HD caps, paving the way for launch in international markets.

The CE marking confirms that the ClearGuard HD cap meets the requirements of the European Medical Devices Directive, which now allows Pursuit Vascular to commercialize ClearGuard HD caps in the European Union and other CE Mark geographies. The MDSAP certificate demonstrates compliance with regulations in Canada, Australia and Brazil. The company is pursuing applications to market in these countries to facilitate launch of ClearGuard HD caps internationally later this year.

"The CE Mark and MDSAP approvals are significant accomplishments for Pursuit Vascular as it allows the company to expand sales to Europe and other key international markets," said Doug Killion, President and CEO. "We look forward to working with hospitals and physicians in these countries to bring this lifesaving technology to more patients worldwide."

The company has seen rapid uptake of ClearGuard HD caps in the US following publication of landmark clinical studies demonstrating a ~70% reduction in bloodstream infections in patients using ClearGuard HD caps vs. patients using standard caps or needleless connectors. The ClearGuard HD cap is the first and only device available for sale that kills infection-causing microorganisms inside a catheter hub between dialysis treatments. Bloodstream infection is the second leading cause of death and a leading cause for hospitalization in hemodialysis patients, with catheters causing the majority of these infections.

"The extraordinary success of ClearGuard HD caps in the US clearly demonstrates that we've been able to provide a highly effective product that is rapidly becoming the standard of care for dialysis treatment," continued Killion. "Pursuit Vascular is committed to creating technologies that aid in the prevention of catheter-related infection to enhance and extend the lives of patients around the world, and to reduce healthcare costs."

About Pursuit Vascular

Headquartered in Maple Grove, Minnesota, Pursuit Vascular, Inc., develops innovative products designed to protect patients from life-threatening infections, their associated complications, and death, while reducing healthcare costs worldwide. The company's ClearGuard HD Antimicrobial Barrier Cap is the first and only device available for sale in the US that is proven to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections in hemodialysis patients. For more information, visit www.pursuitvascular.com.

SOURCE Pursuit Vascular

Related Links

http://www.pursuitvascular.com

Since formation in April 2018, Quil has successfully built out its cloud-based platform, which is expected to be accessible nationally, across multiple distribution channels and devices. The company plans to launch their first pilot programs with patients later this year.

"Providing the right information at the right time in a healthcare journey can play a huge role in improving patient outcomes by bridging the information gap that exists today in healthcare," said Edwards. "Our ambition is for Quil to empower and educate patients and caregivers by providing personalized and actionable resources, in part to help answer the question 'what happens next' and to enable them to become the healthiest version of themselves."

A leader with a history of success in creating new products and transforming organizations to meet their financial goals, Edwards most recently served as Senior Vice President of Customer Experience and Corporate Development for Imprivata, a leading health care information technology company based in Lexington, Mass. At Imprivata, she built an award-winning customer experience organization resulting in 99 percent customer retention. Prior to joining Imprivata, Edwards held executive positions at other leading healthcare technology companies, including Nuance, Zynx Health, and Philips Healthcare.

"In our search for a CEO for Quil, we looked for an experienced, proven leader with a strong understanding of the healthcare industry, particularly the provider side. We are fortunate that we found all of these things and more in Carina Edwards," said Daniel J. Hilferty, Independence CEO. "I know that the Quil team and the company's clients across the United States will quickly recognize Carina's intelligence, passion, and deep commitment to customers."

In 2019, Edwards was named one of the "Female Health IT Leaders to Know" by Becker's Healthcare. Since 2016, she has served as a board member for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, the professional organization for chief information officers and other senior IT leaders. She earned a bachelor's in Management Information Systems and Decision Sciences from George Mason University, and an MBA from Boston College.

"Carina has the right mix of deep industry experience and growth management acumen to take Quil to the next level in its evolution," said Don Mathis, General Manager of Growth, Comcast Strategic Development. "She is an entrepreneur and a leader, and we couldn't be more thrilled to partner with her."

Quil has benefited from the commitment of two national leaders in healthcare and technology. Independence has a long history of innovation and dedication to the consumer experience, while tackling difficult healthcare challenges through partnerships and investments in scalable, high-impact healthcare ventures. As one of the world's leading media and technology companies, Comcast brings substantial technology, communications, and media capabilities that the Quil team is leveraging to better serve patients.

About Quil

Quil, a digital health company, delivers actionable and personalized health itineraries for patients and caregivers, answering the question "What Happens Next?" in their healthcare journeys. We combine the powers of precision data, state-of-the-art technology, and security with unparalleled consumer reach to help individuals navigate today's chaotic healthcare landscape. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA with additional offices in New York City, Quil serves individuals, healthcare providers, and payors nationally.

SOURCE Quil

Related Links

http://www.quilhealth.com

CHICAGO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago-based R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO), the oldest and largest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, announced that Heather J. Rucci has just joined the firm as Managing Director, Human Resources. Rucci has two decades of human resources (HR) experience, including as an HR executive at a premier global investment manager.

RJO Chairman and CEO Gerald Corcoran said: "Heather has an outstanding background in all aspects of HR. She has a great appreciation for the culture of our firm, which is so fundamental to the everyday experience of our employees, as well as the high-touch service we offer our clients. We're thrilled to welcome Heather to the RJO family and look forward to her leadership."

Rucci said: "I am incredibly excited to join RJO, which has such a strong culture. It's particularly appealing to me that the firm is family-owned and privately held, growing globally, and making a real difference in the industry."



Rucci joined RJO from Nuveen, where she served most recently as Senior Managing Director, Human Resources Business Partner. Among her responsibilities were leading the global firm's recruitment efforts. She first joined Nuveen Investments, Inc. in 2008 as Assistant Vice President, Human Resources. The following year, Rucci was named Vice President, Human Resources, and in 2012 was promoted to Senior Vice President, Human Resources, remaining in that role through the firm's acquisition by TIAA in 2014. She became Senior Managing Director in 2016.

Prior to Nuveen, Rucci spent the first 10 years of her career in HR and human capital consulting. She was a Senior Consultant for Capital H Group, a human resources firm, from 2004 to 2007. She began her career in 1997 as a Consultant at Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

A native of the Chicago area, Rucci graduated with distinction from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management/Engineering, with a minor in Organizational Behavior/Human Resource Management.

About R.J. O'Brien & Associates

Founded in 1914, R.J. O'Brien & Associates is the largest independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, serving more than 80,000 institutional, commercial and individual clients globally, in addition to a network of approximately 400 introducing brokers (IBs). RJO services the industry's most expansive global network of IBs, a vast array of middle market firms and many of the world's largest financial, industrial and agricultural institutions. The firm offers state-of-the-art electronic trading and 24-hour trade execution on every major futures exchange worldwide. RJO has received the FOW International Award for "Non-Bank FCM of the Year" for the past three years. Wealth and Finance International Magazine named the company's private client division, RJO Futures, "2018's Most Trusted Financial Brokerage Firm." At its 2019 U.S. Services Awards, CTA Intelligence named RJO the "Best Independent FCM"  the seventh honor bestowed by the magazine on RJO and its UK affiliate. R.J. O'Brien was also the top-ranked broker in Oil Options and Structured Products in Europe in the 2019 Energy Risk Commodities Rankings.

SOURCE R.J. O'Brien & Associates

Related Links

http://www.rjobrien.com

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) today announced it will launch a 16-stop road tour connecting entrepreneurs working on advanced technology to the country's largest source of early stage funding  the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Also known as America's Seed Fund, the SBIR/STTR programs focus on next generation research & development (R&D) and is led by the SBA with 11 participating federal agencies.

"Every year, we meet entrepreneurs from around the country looking to turn their big idea into another great American innovation story. We are committed to supporting America's small businesses owners wherever they are," SBA Administrator Linda McMahon said. "This tour reflects our continued commitment to ensuring that these innovators are aware of SBA's resources to help them reach that goal."

The SBIR Road Tour plays an important role in increasing engagement with entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country and building out greater networks to support the creation of small businesses focusing on high-impact research.

Each SBIR Road Tour stop will be hosted by a local organization involved in supporting entrepreneurs in next generation R&D. Program managers from the participating federal agencies will conduct one-on-one meetings with attendees, take part in targeted panels, discuss technology areas, and share insights into how the agencies make funding decisions.

The SBIR/STTR programs provide over $3 billion in early stage funding to small businesses each year in a wide variety of technology areas such as unmanned systems, advanced materials, health, cybersecurity and defense. The SBIR/STTR programs execute over 4,000 new awards annually, which allow innovators to advance new technologies and have contributed to the creation of thousands of jobs.

NATIONAL SBIR ROAD TOUR SCHEDULE 2019:

The Central Plains Tour will run from May 20-24, with stops in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Kansas City, Kansas; Des Moines, Iowa; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Fargo, North Dakota.

The Southwest Tour will run from August 12-16, with stops in Tucson, Arizona; El Paso, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Boulder, Colorado.

The Eastern Tour will run from September 16-20, with stops in Burlington, Vermont; Albany, New York; New Brunswick, New Jersey; State College, Pennsylvania; and College Park, Maryland.

Finally, the SBIR Road Tour will stop in Miami, Florida on November 13 and in Puerto Rico on November 15.

Small technology firms, innovators, scientists or researchers seeking more information on the SBIR Road Tour, including a schedule of stops and participating agencies should visit: www.sbirroadtour.com.

For more information about SBIR/STTR programs, please visit www.sbir.gov.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and is a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses, and recover from disasters. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. To learn more about SBA, visit www.sba.gov .

Contact: [email protected] (202) 401-0035

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs & Instagram

Release Number: 19-15

SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

Related Links

http://www.sba.gov

MADISON, Wis., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New York based Serendipity Labs Coworking , a company that has rapidly grown to 30 metropolitan areas across the country, has announced it will open a shared workplace on the sixth floor of 525 Junction Road in the Middleton, WI this summer. The 23,000 sq. ft. location will be owned and operated by franchisee, Ryan Jacobson, who is bringing 15 years of experience as a hotelier to what is often referred to as the newest hospitality industry.

The Madison-Middleton Serendipity Labs will meet the same premium design standards as this Denver location. The company uses only low volatile organic compound (VOC) paint and nontoxic materials. All carpet is 100% recyclable. (Photo credit: Rebecca Ann Photography)

"Serendipity Labs is a premium shared office and coworking brand that will help Madison-area businesses grow by providing an unmatched level of service and hospitality," says Jacobson. "In the same way that businesses rely on a trusted hotel brand, they also need a network of well-designed workplaces that offer an elevated way to work. As the capitol city, Madison is a hub of economic development activity. It is community-focused, entrepreneurial and thriving; the perfect place to open a Serendipity Labs."

Serendipity Labs Madison - Middleton will feature floor to ceiling windows that showcase stunning views of Madison. The complimentary covered parking and walkway will ensure members can get from their car to the office no matter the weather, while the business park offers first class restaurants, premier banking, finance, and many retail shopping options. It is right off the Beltline, providing easy access to downtown and the University.

The Lab will have offices and team rooms for one to ten people and can accommodate requests for custom-built team suites for up to 50. A coworking lounge, Lab Cafe and first-class meeting and event facilities for up to 75 will be available. Individual workstyle preferences are designed into every Serendipity Labs with sit-stand desks, focus rooms for privacy, and wellness rooms for nursing mothers, prayer and meditation. Abundant natural light makes each day welcoming and inviting. Thoughtfully designed collaborative and social areas encourage interaction. Curated art shows from local artists and member-only events create an environment that is engaging and inspiring.

Large companies and smaller ones that need an agile office option turn to Serendipity Labs as a trusted real estate alternative because it meets enterprise standards for business confidentiality and employee security. Members and guests must have key card access or be registered at the desk. The IT platform is both HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley audit trail compliant and the mobile booking app makes it easy to be welcomed in any Lab across the country.

Serendipity Labs has attracted over $100 million to its network and brand and is growing in cities and suburbs through company-owned, management agreements and franchised locations, such as Middleton. Members come from all industries including healthcare, technology, and banking as well as and business and personal services such as finance, accounting and law. The average member age is 41 and more than one-third are women.

JLL represented Serendipity Labs with Michael Berman, managing director and national lead from the New York office; David Pudlosky, senior vice president and Nick Hepner, associate broker from the Milwaukee office. Brett Rieman, vice president, Leasing, represented Artis REIT, the landlord and property manager for 525 Junction Road.

"Madison - Middleton is an ideal location for us and a great way to expand our Midwest network that also includes Wauwatosa, Chicago, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Columbus," says John Arenas, chairman and CEO of Serendipity Labs. He goes on to say, "We are thrilled to be growing our brand of shared offices and coworking in Wisconsin and look forward to serving the community both locally and when they travel across the country."

Jacobson agrees. "The Madison Area ranks highly on every quality of life index, from the best place to raise a family to the best place for business. I am moving my own family here this summer, and we cannot wait to become part of the community. I look forward to welcoming our first members to Serendipity Labs Madison  Middleton."

For more information visit: https://serendipitylabs.com/us/wi/madison-middleton/

SOURCE Serendipity Labs, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.serendipitylabs.com

"These superb results are up on what were already very strong results last spring, despite the fact that the estimates were lower than a year ago," commented Tad Smith, Sotheby's CEO , adding "our excellent performance against low estimate is a clear indicator of the health of the market in Asia and bodes very well for our important upcoming May auctions in New York."

Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby's Asia, said: "With all eyes firmly fixed on our Hong Kong sales for this first indicative season, I think we can say that the Asian market did not disappoint. Our total follows what was already a record year for Sotheby's in Asia, with this season's results now sitting among the top results we have ever achieved here in Hong Kong  a testament to the fact that, when you get it right, collectors from across Asia remain ready to go the extra mile."

Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby's Asia, said: "When building the sales for these big seasons, we try to keep our finger firmly on the pulse of our collectors so as to understand, not only what they want right now, but also where their interests are taking them, so our offerings reflect both where the market is and where it is going. That is why we are bringing an ever-more diverse range of material to Hong Kong, along with an ever-wider range of possibilities for collectors to engage with us. This, for me, is what is so exciting about these seasons  they are not only a data point for the Asian market, they are also testimony to the excitement, and opportunity, that exists within it."

KEY STATISTICS AT A GLANCE

Number of visitors: 35,000+

Number of lots sold: 4,331

Number of auctions staged: 20 in 9 categories

Number of records set: 28

Number of lots sold for over HK$100 million : 6

: 6 Participation from new buyers: 20%

New generation engages: nearly 50% of buyers in NIGOLDENEYE are under 40

Private sales: selling exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary Art perform well

Western art: a broader offering than ever before, with 92 works by 50+ Western artists, many of whom debuted at auction in Asia this week. With a sell-through rate of over 90%, the group smashes the top combined estimate, with notable increase in participation from Mainland China

this week. With a sell-through rate of over 90%, the group smashes the top combined estimate, with notable increase in participation from Mainland China Array of events:

Sotheby's collaborates with Jing Daily to present a thought-leading conference on 'The Future of Luxury: Ecommerce in Asia '

to present a thought-leading conference on 'The Future of Luxury: Ecommerce in '

Unveiling a new McLaren, the powerful and lightweight 720s Spider



A live performance by sculptor and conceptual artist Bernar Venet inaugurates the Spring sales, the first time an auction house has hosted an artist to create during a live art event and then to exhibit the newly created piece for auction

inaugurates the Spring sales, the first time an auction house has hosted an artist to create during a live art event and then to exhibit the newly created piece for auction

Museum lecture series: Sotheby's Hong Kong hosted timely seminar on 'Rembrandt in Amsterdam : Inspirator and Innovator', as part of the 'Dutch Days in Hong Kong ' programme

HIGHLIGHTS SPAN CENTURIES AND CATEGORIES

WINE SALES TOTAL HK$273 MILLION / US$35 MILLION

World auction record for any series of wine sales

Record for a private wine collection sold at auction: Tran-scend-ent Wines totals HK$234 million / US$30 million

totals / Sotheby's largest-ever offering of Kweichow Moutai to date: 50-lot collection sells for HK$9 million / US$1.1 million

/ 25 limited-edition Mouton Rothschild Versailles Celebration Cases sell for a combined total of HK$7.1 million / US$904,261 ; proceeds to fund restoration projects at the Palace of Versailles

MODERN ART

Modern Art Evening and Day Sales together realise HK$851 million / US$108 million (est. HK$421  636 million / US$53.6  80.9 million), with Evening Sale making HK$793 million / US$101 million , far exceeding pre-sale high estimate

/ (est.  636 million /  80.9 million), with Evening Sale making / , far exceeding pre-sale high estimate Top lot: Wu Guanzhong's Lotus Flowers (I) sells for a stunning HK$130.8 million / US$16.7 million , more than 8.5 times the estimate

sells for a stunning / , more than 8.5 times the estimate An unrivalled group of six works by Zao Wou-Ki spanning three decades is 100% sold, led by Untitled (1958) , sold to benefit the Art Fund of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum which achieves HK$116 million / US$14.8 million

spanning three decades is 100% sold, led by , sold to benefit the Art Fund of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum which achieves / Robust demand for works by Guan Liang over the two sales: 28 works 100% sold for a combined total of HK$55.45 million / US$7 million , four times the estimate

CONTEMPORARY ART

Highest totalling series of Contemporary Art sales staged in Asia : Contemporary sales realise a combined total of HK$802 million / US$102 million (est. HK$385  579 million / US$49  73.5 million)

: Contemporary sales realise a combined total of / (est.  579 million /  73.5 million) Record for a work by a female artist sold at auction in Asia : Kusama Yayoi's Interminable Net #4 sells for an exceptional HK$62.4 million / US$8 million

: Kusama Yayoi's sells for an exceptional / Strong performance by Western artists, led by auction debuts in Asia : Julie Mehretu's Black Ground (Deep Light) sells for HK$44.2 million / US$5.6 million , an auction record for the artist, and Mark Grotjahn's Untitled (Yellow White Butterfly) achieves HK$26.6 million / US$3.4 million

: sells for / , an auction record for the artist, and achieves / NIGOLDENEYE Vol. 1 totals HK$220 million / US$28 million , 100% sold, led by KAWS' THE KAWS ALBUM which sells for HK$116 million / US$14.8 million , a record for the artist at auction

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART

Modern & Contemporary Southeast Asian Art Evening & Day Sales total HK$167 million / US$21.3 million (est. HK$88  135 million / US$10.9  17 million), led by Lee Man Fong's Bali Life which achieves HK$28.9 million / US$3.7 million

/ (est.  135 million /  17 million), led by which achieves / Strong bidding from Vietnam

FINE CLASSICAL CHINESE PAINTINGS

A Ming Dynasty calligraphic scroll by Zhang Bi and other reputable literati sells for HK$27.8 million / US$3.5 million , 23 times the estimate

FINE CHINESE PAINTINGS

With a 90% sell-through rate, the sale realises HK$488.3 million / US$62.3 million , led by Zhang Daqian's Manchurian Mountains from 1969, which doubles top estimate, selling for HK$162.7 million / US$20.8 million

SPECTACULAR 88.22-CARAT OVAL DIAMOND LEADS SALE OF MAGNIFICENT JEWELS & JADEITE SALE

Perfect according to every critical criterion, the precious stone sells for HK$108 million / US$13.8 million to a Japanese Private Collector who names the diamond, the 'Manami Star', after his eldest daughter

IMPORTANT WATCHES TOTALS HK$134.7 MILLION / US$17.3 MILLION

Top Lot: Patek Philippe Reference 2499, First Series, Highly Important and Historically Interesting Yellow Gold Perpetual Calendar Wristwatch with Moon Phases and Vichet Case , made in 1951, sells for HK$11.9 million / US$1.5 million

SALES OF CHINESE WORKS OF ART TOTAL HK$633.6 MILLION / US$81.5 MILLION

18 pieces of selected imperial ceramics from the Tianminlou Collection are 100% sold, totalling HK$194 million / US$24.7 million , 2.7 times the low estimate

SELLING EXHIBITIONS OF MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART HELD ALONGSIDE SERIES OF 20 AUCTIONS

Alex Katz , the American artist's first major exhibition in Hong Kong

, the American artist's first major exhibition in 'Panorama: A New Perspective': over 20 works sell by artists including Condo, Gormley, Chagall, Gauguin, Hockney, Pissarro, Baselitz, Banksy, Hirst and Warhol

About Sotheby's

Sotheby's has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby's became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby's presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby's BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby's offers collectors the resources of Sotheby's Financial Services, the world's only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection, artist, estate & foundation advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby's presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art Division, and three retail businesses: Sotheby's Wine, Sotheby's Diamonds, and Sotheby's Home, the online marketplace for interior design. Sotheby's has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest | Snapchat | Weibo | WeChat | Youku | Medium

Hong Kong +852 2822 8129 | Winnie Tang | [email protected]

New York | +1 212 606 7176 | Lauren Gioia | [email protected] | Darrell Rocha | [email protected]

London | +44 20 7293 6000 | Mitzi Mina | [email protected] | Matthew Floris | [email protected]

SOURCE Sotheby's

Related Links

http://www.sothebys.com

ST. LOUIS, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- White House Retreat in St. Louis, MO will host their third annual Veteran's Spiritual Retreat this summer. The 3-day event, running June 28  30, is offered to men and women who served in the U. S. Military and features a series of spiritual talks, small group discussion, quiet time for personal prayer and meditation, non-denominational prayer services and fellowship. The retreat will be directed by Fr. James Conroy, S.J., a Vietnam era Veteran and Jesuit priest. Veterans of all faiths are welcome to attend!

White House Retreat

The retreat will help veterans focus on their military experience and how God was with them and continues to be with them. It digs in to trauma created by PTSD and guilt and shame that can accompany military experience.

White House offers this retreat, which includes private overnight accommodations and all meals, at a very minimal cost. The only charge for those attending is a $25 deposit to reserve a space. White House holds various fund raising events throughout the year to help offset the cost of hosting this retreat and sees this event as a way to give back to those who served our country.

Up to 88 Veterans can attend the retreat. Last summer, 56 Veterans attended this retreat. This year, White House Retreat hopes to fill all 88 spaces with Veterans. Registration is currently open. Those interested can call 314-416-6400 or visit whretreat.org/veterans-retreat.

White House Retreat is located at 7400 Christopher Drive, St. Louis, MO 63129. They offer spiritual retreats and recovery retreats on their 80-acre campus along the banks of the Mississippi River year round. They are a registered 501 C(3) non profit and have been in operation continuously since 1922.

What: Veterans Spiritual Retreat

When: June 28  30 2019

Where: White House Retreat 7400 Christopher Dr. St. Louis, MO 63129

Who: Open to any men and women who served in the U.S. Military

Cost: $25 deposit due at registration. All meals and private lodging included!

Contact: Joe Parisi

Phone: 314-416-6400 ext.233

Email: [email protected]

Related Images

the-chapel-at-white-house-retreat.jpg

The Chapel at White House Retreat

the-view-at-white-house-retreat.jpg

The View at White House Retreat

white-house-retreat-in-st-louis-mo.jpg

White House Retreat in St. Louis, MO

SOURCE White House RetreatCOLLEGE PARK, Md., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- gel-e Inc., announces publication of recent study results in the Journal of Surgical Research entitled "Expanding Hydrophobically-Modified Chitosan Foam for Internal Surgical Hemostasis: Safety Evaluation in a Murine Model." The paper describes the successful use of a flowable hemostatic product in a standard surgical model, followed by 6 weeks of observation; see the article here via Science Direct.

The study, led by researchers at the Regenerative Bioscience Center at the University of Georgia, involved delivery of a high dose of hydrophobically-modified chitosan (HM-CS) foam into the abdomen of a rat after a non-lethal liver excision. The HM-CS group (n = 16), was compared to a commercial fibrin sealant, Tisseel (n =16), an unmodified chitosan formulation (n =16) and no treatment controls (n = 16). In each cohort, half of the animals were evaluated at 1 week, while the balance of the cohorts were evaluated at 6 weeks, all via gross necropsy (upon sacrifice) and histopathology. All subjects treated with HM-CS in the study achieved rapid hemostasis and went on to survive to their designated endpoints with no clinical signs of morbidity or mortality. There was almost complete reabsorption of the HM-CS material at the 1-week timepoint. These results suggest that certain formulations of gel-e may be effective during routine surgical applications, especially where flowable formats are most useful.

"These results from an in vivo survival study are significant, demonstrating the capability of gel-e's core material" said Dr. Grant Bochicchio, MD, Clinical Advisory Board member at gel-e and Chief of Acute and Critical Care Surgery at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine. "With any new biomaterial, there is always a risk to leave foreign substances inside the body to degrade over extended periods. This study provides a foundation from which to build an internal surgical hemostat that may not require compression and can be safely left behind without risk of post-surgical complications."

gel-e is developing a line of high-performance surgical products based on a technology platform which enhances the adhesive characteristics of abundant and inexpensive natural polysaccharides. Through proprietary modifications, advanced biopolymers can be designed that are durable, biocompatible, bioresorbable and highly functional. The versatility of gel-e's approach allows our products to be delivered to the OR for open, or laparoscopic procedures and even incorporated, or coated onto, complimentary product platforms. You can learn more about surgical gel-e and other tools being developed for advanced hemostatic applications by visiting http://www.gel-e.co/products/.

About the Company

gel-e is a clinical-stage medical device company developing versatile hemostatic products for surgical, medical, and consumer applications. With an initial focus on external wounds, gel-e combines the use of safe, inert ingredients with proprietary chemistry that can be designed for use across a broad spectrum of clinical applications, including vascular closure and during surgery. gel-e is based in College Park, Md.

For additional information, please visit http://www.gel-e.co.

Contacts:

Larry Tiffany, gel-e, Inc.

(301) 529-4943

[email protected]

SOURCE gel-e, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.gel-e.co

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Washington, DC (RMHCDC) has been awarded a grant of $30,000 to help advance their mission to improve the health and wellbeing of children, and lessen the hardship of childhood illness on families, through support for the operation of the organization's KIDS Mobile Medical Clinic/Ronald McDonald Care Mobile Program. The grant was made by the TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank. RMHCDC believes that every child, regardless of his/her financial means, deserves high-quality, comprehensive, compassionate care, delivered in a respectful family centered environment.

RMHCDC and its clinical partner, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (MGUH), have jointly operated the KIDS Mobile Medical Clinic/Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (KMMC/RMCM) since 2003, providing primary healthcare to under-served children (birth to age 21) in low-income areas of Washington, D.C. The objective of the KMMC/RMCM is to remove geographic, financial and other barriers to health care for children and families by delivering holistic health and wellness services directly to children's neighborhoods at no direct cost to their parents or caregivers. During the last year, KMMC/RMCM provided more than 1,200 patient visits to underserved children in D.C. Wards 4-8.

"The commitment from TD Charitable Foundation is an honor to receive and a testament to the work we are doing in the Washington, D.C. community," explained Karen Torres, President and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Washington, DC. "We are looking forwarded to committing this investment to the care we provide for all children, no matter their family's socioeconomic status."

The KMMC/RMCM, a 40-foot long, 8-foot wide, state-of-the-art vehicle built specifically for delivering pediatric health care services, visits regular sites throughout the week, close to subsidized housing and homeless shelters. This unique delivery system of wrap-around services and regularly scheduled site visits ensures continuity of care and the building of trust between the families served and the medical team. RMHCDC's Ronald McDonald Care Mobile Program also includes the organization's FITNESS Program, a joint effort with the Division of Community Pediatrics at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital to deliver innovative nutrition and exercise curriculum to children at local schools.

"We know family caregivers play a vital role in healing so are proud to support the RMHCDC's innovative solution for keeping parents at their child's side throughout the treatment process," said Terry Kenny, Market President for TD Bank.

RMHCDC, a non-profit 501(C)(3), keeps families with sick children together and close to the medical care their child needs at leading local hospitals with three core programs including Ronald McDonald Houses, Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, and two Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles.

Media Contact:

Eve Butt

1-443-878-7360

[email protected]

SOURCE Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Washington, DCTYLER, Texas, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Homecare of Texas, LLC ("Choice"), a home health, rehabilitation, and hospice provider based in Tyler, Texas, announced that it has acquired Legacy Hospice. Legacy Hospice is a provider of hospice services with offices in Tyler and Sulphur Springs, Texas. Art Taucher, a founder, owner, and the CFO of Legacy Hospice, will be joining the Choice team and taking a leadership role focused on the continued expansion of the hospice service line for the multifaceted healthcare company.

As a leading provider of home health and hospice services, Choice offers skilled nursing, therapy services, and both physical and spiritual end of life care. The transaction marks Choice's fifth acquisition since Jan. 1, 2018, and continues the company's expansion of home health and hospice services across Texas.

The announcement was made by David Jackson, the President and CEO of Choice. "Legacy brings with it a tradition of service excellence that is a great fit for the culture of our company," said Mr. Jackson. "We feel very positive about the direction of post-acute care. This transaction, coupled with our activity in 2018, will allow for significant expansion of services and coverage for our patients and customers."

About Choice Homecare of Texas, LLC

Choice Homecare of Texas, LLC is a holding company that focuses on healthcare industry-related businesses, including home health, hospice, rehabilitation services, consulting services and durable medical equipment. Founded in Tyler, Texas the company now services over 100 Texas counties through multiple agency and office locations.

For media inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Choice Homecare of TexasDALLAS, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) announced today that it will release 2019 first-quarter earnings on Monday, May 6, 2019, after the market closes and will hold its first-quarter conference call on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The Company's earnings release will be posted to the Investor section of the Company's website prior to the conference call.

To participate in The Howard Hughes Corporation's first-quarter earnings conference call, please dial 1-877-883-0383 within the U.S., 1-877-885-0477 within Canada, or 1-412-902-6506 when dialing internationally. All participants should dial in at least five minutes prior to the scheduled start time, using 8931552 as the passcode. A live audio webcast will also be available on the Company's website (www.howardhughes.com).

A taped replay of the call can be accessed 24 hours a day through June 7, 2019, by dialing 1-877-344-7529 within the U.S., 1-855-669-9658 within Canada, or 1-412-317-0088 when dialing internationally, using the passcode 10126977.

About The Howard Hughes Corporation

The Howard Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S. Its award-winning assets include the country's preeminent portfolio of master planned communities, as well as operating properties and development opportunities including: the Seaport District in New York; Columbia, Maryland; The Woodlands, The Woodlands Hills, and Bridgeland in the Greater Houston, Texas area; Summerlin, Las Vegas; and Ward Village in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Howard Hughes Corporation's portfolio is strategically positioned to meet and accelerate development based on market demand, resulting in one of the strongest real estate platforms in the country. Dedicated to innovative placemaking, the company is recognized for its ongoing commitment to design excellence and to the cultural life of its communities. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as HHC. For additional information visit www.howardhughes.com.

Media Contact

The Howard Hughes Corporation

Cristina Carlson, 646-822-6910

VP, Corporate Communications & Public Relations

[email protected]



Investor Relations

The Howard Hughes Corporation

David R. O'Reilly, 214-741-7744

Chief Financial Officer

david.o'[email protected]

SOURCE The Howard Hughes Corporation

Related Links

http://www.howardhughes.com

NEW YORK, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- About this market

The increasing demand for outboard powerboats will be one of the key drivers in the market growth. While outboard powerboats have always held a significant portion of the market, their demand further rose in recent years. Many boat companies offer multiple outboard engines, which makes their use in larger boats requiring more power simpler. The preference for outboard powerboats during the forecast period is expected to rise due to the augmented benefits associated with them. Therefore, the demand for outboard powerboats will be a key volume driver for the global leisure boat market. Analysts have predicted that the leisure boat market will register a CAGR of over 4% by 2023.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05761962/?utm_source=PRN





Market Overview

Technological integration in leisure boats

Technological integration in leisure boats is driving the growth of the market globally. Leisure boats are equipped with features such as digital dashboards, joystick controls, and digital throttles. The adoption of advanced technologies makes boat operations easy, thus gaining consumer confidence.

High total cost of ownership of leisure boats

The affording a leisure boat is economically not feasible for low- and mid-income families. Due to its expensive nature, the market for leisure boats is very niche in emerging economies as well. Therefore, the high total cost of ownership of leisure boats will be a key price challenge that might hinder the growth of the market.

For the detailed list of factors that will drive and challenge the growth of the leisure boat market during the 2019-2023, view our report.



Competitive Landscape

The market appears to be moderately fragmented and with the presence of several vendors. 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.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05761962/?utm_source=PRN



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC), the premiere resource for corporate America on maximizing the Hispanic market opportunity, announces its 2019 NHCC Annual Meeting to be held in Columbus, OH on Thursday, May 16 at The Westin Great Southern.

The National Hispanic Corporate Council is a "collaborative community for Fortune 1000 members that provides access to Hispanic talent and consumer resources to optimize corporate performance." Our organization is comprised of Hispanic and non-Hispanic executives and associates that are responsible for Hispanic and/or multicultural strategies.

The 2019 NHCC Annual Summit is important gathering of our organization's Fortune 1000 corporate members aims to highlight the latest corporate best practices in HR/talent, supplier diversity, marketing, community relations, and executive leadership within the Hispanic, diversity and inclusion space. Subject-matter experts (SMEs) and participants share insights centered on why and how companies that strongly champion diversity and inclusion initiatives, help to better position their respective companies to compete in the U.S. Hispanic talent and consumer market.

Themed, "Technology Influencers: A Look at Virtual & Digital Trends in Corporate America," the program will offer two tracks featuring workplace and marketplace sessions:

Confirmed Agenda:

"Bridging Globalization, Technology, Diversity and Emotional Intelligence"

"Creating an Inclusive Environment for Remote Employees"

"Case Study: E-Commerce with Peapod Digital Labs

"Emerging Technology and Its Impacts to Diversity Business Practices"

"Employer Brand Videos: Attracting the Best Talent Globally"

"Digital Workforce Development Strategies"

"Leveraging Social Media Platforms & Measuring ROI for Consumers & CSR Campaigns"

"Data-Driven Insights: Discover and Engage with Authentic Voice of Consumers"

"Case Study: Personalization E-Commerce with Peapod Digital Labs"

Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Marriott, Shell, and The Coca-Cola Company have graciously sponsored this program. They are examples of how Fortune 1000 companies leverage NHCC for insights on the latest corporate best practices to effectively compete in the growing Hispanic market. As a membership-based organization, NHCC provides its corporate members with resources to effectively maximize the U.S. Hispanic $2 trillion market opportunity.

Corporate Membership: Ahold Delhaize, America Red Cross, BASF Corporation, BB&T, Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo, Cox Enterprises, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Darden, Froedtert Health & Medical College of WI, GlaxoSmithKline, Hallmark Cards, Herman Miller, Marriott International, Northwestern Mutual, Cision/PR Newswire, Quanta Services, Shell, State Farm, The Boeing Company, The Coca-Cola Company, The TJX Companies, Wells Fargo, Williams Companies, and other Fortune 1000 corporations.

About NHCC:

Founded in 1985, NHCC is a unique membership organization comprised of Fortune 1000 corporations providing leading-edge corporate best practices, research and network opportunities for the benefit of its corporate members. NHCC is the premier resource on effectively maximizing the Hispanic market opportunity through marketing, community relations, human resources, and procurement, and executive leadership. To learn more about NHCC visit us at www.nhcchq.org. Follow us on Twitter @NHCCorg.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Octavio Hinojosa, 202-5287229 | [email protected]

SOURCE National Hispanic Corporate Council

Related Links

http://www.nhcchq.org

CHICAGO, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Thom E. Lobe, MD is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Achiever for his work as a Regenerative Medicine Specialist with Regeneveda

Regeneveda is a regenerative medicine practice that focuses on advanced cellular therapy. They provide consultations for bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for men and women, intravenous therapies that include specifically tailored vitamin therapy, ozone and ultraviolet blood irradiation treatments, peptide therapy and cellular therapy all of which are designed to restore and maintain optimal physiological function and slow down the aging process.

Dr. Thom E. Lobe, specialist with Regeneveda and professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of Illinois, has been working in the field of regenerative medicine for over four decades. Originally located in Beverly Hills, California, the practice was opened in 2008, and five years later was relocated to its current location. During his time teaching, Dr. Lobe worked at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center and the Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital, contributing to both research and leadership roles. One of Dr. Lobe's prouder accomplishments in his field was his success in creating a minimally-invasive surgery and robotic techniques for children. In reference to his work with Regeneveda, Dr. Lobe notes that "When patients find us, they don't leave us."

Attending the University of Maryland's School of Medicine, Dr. Lobe graduated Cum Laude. He then went on to study General Surgery with the Ohio State University Hospitals, and furthered his medical education at the Children's Hospital, now Nationwide Children's Hospital, where he studied Pediatric Surgery.

Dr. Lobe is currently affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Regenerative Medicine. He is also currently a member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American Association for Anti-Aging Medicine.

In recognition of his outstanding work, Dr. Lobe has been globally recognized and awarded.

When he is not studying medicine, Dr. Lobe appreciates spending his time traveling and spending time with family and friends.

For more information, please visit https://regeneveda.com

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

Related Links

http://www.continentalwhoswho.com

"At a time of industry consolidation and corporate takeovers, when PBMs are getting bigger and less flexible, we wanted to work with one that was focused on the needs of our plan and the D.C. Medicaid community," said Thomas Duncan, THP's Chief Executive Officer. "We were looking for a true partner  not a vendor  that would offer a higher level of innovation and customization than anyone else, and that is what we found in Abarca."

Abarca's technology platform, Darwin, is cloud-based, mobile ready, and integrates claims processing, pharmacy network, prior authorizations, clinical programs, Medicaid compliance, and other critical work streams into a single, fast, seamless interface. Abarca's member portal will provide THP members with access to their benefits, claims history, and other information on a platform that is as easy to navigate as any popular online consumer site.

"Although we deliver the industry's most advanced technology and clinical services, for us, it is all about the people," said Jason Borschow, Abarca's Chief Executive Officer . "Relationships between plans, members, and PBMs need to be based on trust, transparency, and delivering on promises. We are excited to work with THP because we view the world the same way."

About Trusted Health Plan

Trusted Health Plan is the premier Managed Healthcare Organization in Washington, D.C. THP is charged with managing care for Medicaid and Alliance members. It also offers THP health care providers online access via portals to monitor claims, verify eligibility, become a THP provider, and check THP's Medicaid or Alliance Formulary and THP member pharmacies. We look, live, and are the District of Columbia. Learn more at trustedhp.com.

About Abarca

Abarca is igniting a revolution in healthcare. It started by redefining pharmacy benefits, but this is just the beginning. It is built on the belief that there is a better way for people and companies to work together, connect with each other and make healthcare awesome for everyone. With smarter technology and a straightforward approach to business, Abarca provides a much better experience and greater value for payers and consumers. For nearly a decade, they have challenged many industry conventions and trampled on a few. So, call them a PBM for discussion purposes, but they are unlike any other company out there. Join the revolution at abarcahealth.com .

SOURCE Abarca

Related Links

http://abarcahealth.com

Turkey Baby Food Market Segmentation by Food Category (Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula and Other Baby Food), by Nature (Inorganic Baby Food and Organic Baby Food), by Type of Milk Formula (Standard Milk Powdered Formula, Follow-on Milk Powdered Formula, Growing- up Milk Formula, Special Baby Milk Formula), by Age Group (0-6 Months, 6-12 Months and 12+ Month and Company Profiles of Major Players in the Turkey Baby Food Market (Danone Group, Hero Group GmbH, HiPP GmbH & Co. Vertrieb KG, Nestle S.A, Abbott Laboratories Inc, Eti Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Yasar Holding AS, Yildiz Holding AS, Ari Gida Sanayi AS, Montero Gida San Tic. AS, Pladis Global and DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH)

GURUGRAM, India, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Increasing demand for organic baby food which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.8% during the five year forecast period of 2018(P) to 2023(E) is projected to drive the baby food market in Turkey

Innovation in the baby food products such as emergence of special baby food and goat milk formula is anticipated to attract new customers

The prime reason behind poor demand for baby food on E-commerce websites in Turkey is majorly due to safety and security concerns for their babies

Increasing Special Milk Formula Sales: The advancement in technology and consistent research and development in the food and nutrition industry of Turkey has led to the emergence of special milk formula. Parents can now purchase baby food for their malnourished, allergic and lactose intolerant infants as well. This has augmented the demand for special milk formula which has known to account for below 5% of the total milk formula sales. Moreover, the demand for growing-Up milk formula is also expected to rise due to increasing population in the age group 12-36 months. It is projected to account for a share of over 35% of the total milk formula sales in Turkey by 2023.

Innovation in the Market: Newer baby food products such as specialized baby food for infants with allergies, colic, premature babies, regurgitation and other such issues have attracted new customers. Additionally, rising preference of goat milk formula products has also been observed in Turkey. Parents opt for goat milk formula in case their kids are allergic to soy and cow milk. Thus, emergence of innovative products in the baby food market of Turkey is projected to drive the growth in the overall market size.

Stringent Government Norms: The government of Turkey has very specific requirements to be fulfilled to be able to import food into the country. Specific norms for manufacturing, packaging, labeling and others are required to be met to be able to import and sell food in the Turkish market. These regulations are expected to continue acting as a hindrance in operations for both existing and potential players in the baby food market of Turkey.

Encouraging Breastfeeding: The Turkish government is encouraging mothers to breastfeed their children and has also introduced pregnancy-friendly labor laws such as paid maternity leaves of 16 weeks and 1.5 hour long daily breast feeding breaks which have offset the demand for milk formula in the country.

Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Turkey Baby Food Market Outlook to 2023  By Infant Milk Formulae (Standard, Follow-On, Growing-Up and Special Baby Milk Formula), Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula and Other Baby Food; Organic Baby Food" suggests that investing heavily in research and development (R&D) and bringing out innovative products in the market is the need of the hour. For instance, DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH introduced special categories of baby foods and has received a positive response from its customers indicating that a huge demand exists for such products. The market is expected to register a positive CAGR of 9.5% in terms of retail sales during the forecast period 2018(P)-2023(E). The market is further expected to be driven by new companies, both domestic and international, that are entering the market.

Key Segments Covered:

By Food Category:

Dried Baby Food



Prepared Baby Food



Milk Formula



Other Baby Food



By Type of Milk Formula:

Standard Milk Powdered Formula



Follow-on Milk Powdered Formula



Growing-up Milk Formula



Special Baby Milk Formula



Nature of Food:

Inorganic Baby Food



Organic Baby Food



By Channels of Distribution:

Hypermarkets



Discounters



Supermarkets



Independent Small Grocers



Health and Beauty Specialist Retailers



Other Foods Non Grocery Specialist



Internet Retailing



By Age Group:

0-6 Months



6-12 Month



12+ Months

Key Target Audience:

Baby Food Manufacturers

Baby Product Manufacturers

Baby Product Distributors

Baby Food Distributors

Government Agencies

Baby Food Retailers

NGOs supporting Baby Health

Pharmaceutical Stores

Online Sales and Retailing Agencies

Time Period Captured in the Report:

Historical Period: 2012-2018(P)

2012-2018(P) Forecast Period: 2019-2023

Companies Covered:

Abbott Laboratories Inc.

Ari Gida Sanayi AS

Baby Goat

Danone Group

DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH

Eti Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret AS

Golden Goat

Hero Group

HiPP GmbH & Co. Vertrieb KG

Montero Gida San Tic. AS

Nestle SA

Pladis Global

Yasar Holding AS

Yildiz Holding AS

Key Topics Covered in the Report:

Executive Summary

Research Methodology

Ecosystem of Turkey Baby Food Market

Stakeholders in the Turkey Baby Food Market

Turkey Baby Food Market Overview and Genesis

Value Chain Analysis of Turkey Baby Food Market

Turkey Baby Food Market Size, 2012-2018(P)

Turkey Baby Food Market Segmentation

Trends and Developments in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market Issues and Challenges in the Turkey Baby Food Market

Snapshot on Emerging Baby Foods in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market Decision Making Criteria for Consumers

Government Regulations in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market SWOT Analysis of Turkey Baby Food Market

Competitive Landscape in Turkey Baby Food Market

Baby Food Market Turkey Baby Food Market Future Outlook and Projections, 2018(P)-2023(E)

Analyst Recommendations in Turkey Baby Food Market

For more information on the research report, refer to below link:

https://www.kenresearch.com/consumer-products-and-retail/baby-care/turkey-baby-food-market/189102-95.html

Related Reports

Australia Baby Food Market Outlook to 2023 - By Type (Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula and Other Baby Food), By Organic Baby Food), By Region and By Channels of Distribution

The report provides information on Baby Food market segmentation by category (Milk Formula, Dried baby food, Prepared Baby Food and Other Baby Food), by Milk Formula (Standard Milk Powdered Formula, Follow-on Milk Powdered Formula, Growing-up Milk Formula and Special Baby Milk Formula),by Age Group (0-6 Months, 6-12 Months, 12+ Months), by Nature (Inorganic Food and Organic Food),by Region (New south Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory) and by Channel of Distribution (Supermarkets, Health and Beauty Specialist Retailers, Internet Retailing, Discounters, Other Foods Non Grocery Specialists, Convenience Stores and Forecourt Retailers). Company Profiles of Major Players in Australia Baby Food Market (Nestle SA, Danone Group, Aspen Pharmacare and Other Companies (Kraft Heinz, Bellamy's Australia Ltd., A2 Milk Co. and others) have been covered in the publication. The report concludes with market projection and analyst recommendations.

Egypt Baby Food Market Outlook to 2023  By Food Category (Milk Formula - (Standard Formula, Follow-on Formula, Growing-up Formula and Special Baby Milk Formula, Dried baby food and Prepared Baby Food) and by Distribution Channel (Health and Beauty Stores, Supermarkets, Independent Small Grocers, Hypermarkets, Convenience Stores and Online Sales)

The report titled provides a comprehensive analysis of the Baby food market in Egypt. The report also covers the overall trade scenario, SWOT Analysis, decision making process, competitive landscape and growth drivers and trends and government role and regulations. The report concludes with market projection and analyst recommendations highlighting the major opportunities and cautions.

Egypt baby food market is still in its growth stage with retail revenue increasing at a positive double digit CAGR during the period 2012-2018. Due to a majority of international players, it has been an import oriented market. There has been a vast demand for innovative products such as camel milk based baby food. Due to high level of malnutrition among infants, increasing number of parents has preferred baby food to fulfill their child's nutritional requirements. Also, there has been a shift to organic baby food products as they minimize child's exposure to harmful chemicals and elements. Albeit government is encouraging breast feeding among new mothers; the baby food market has shown consistent growth over the years due to lack of paid maternity leaves to women in the working sector.

UAE Baby Food Market Outlook To 2022 - By Category (Dried Baby Food, Prepared Baby Food, Milk Formula And Other Baby Food), By Inorganic And Organic Baby Food, By Region (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Sharjah, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah And Umm Al Quwain)

The report titled provides a comprehensive analysis of the baby food market in the UAE. The report also covers the overall market size in terms of revenue and sales volume, SWOT Analysis, decision making process, competitive landscape and growth drivers and trends and government role and regulations. The report concludes with market projection for future market described above and analyst recommendations highlighting the major opportunities and cautions for the UAE Baby food market.

The baby food market of UAE is still in its growth stage. The market displayed a strong competitive scenario where international players that hold majority of the stake are constantly trying to increase their existing market share. The UAE Baby Food market has majorly been an import dominated market. The market is receptive to newness and innovations for instance, camel milk based baby food products and halal baby food products have gained a lot of popularity in the country. Despite the fact that government is encouraging breast feeding among new mothers and economic impact due to oil price shock of mid 2014 that continued till 2015, the baby food market has shown consistent growth.

Contact Us:

Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing

Ken Research Private Limited

[email protected]

+91-9015378249

SOURCE Ken ResearchThe FinTech Breakthrough Awards is the premier awards program founded to recognize the FinTech innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the world in a range of categories, including Banking, Personal Finance, Lending, Payments, Investments, RegTech, InsurTech and many more. The 2019 FinTech Breakthrough Award program attracted more than 3,500 nominations from across the globe.

"It is an honor to receive this FinTech Breakthrough Award in recognition of our work to bring Twine to market and help customers save and invest with goals in mind," said Steve Dorval, CEO of Twine and head of innovation at John Hancock. "At John Hancock, we're committed to fostering innovation and working with startups to develop new technologies that help make our customers' decisions easier and their lives better  and Twine is a perfect example of that effort."

"Twine is a standout fintech innovator for this year's program, bringing the sharing economy to the fintech sector to help individuals collaborate to reach their financial goals," said James Johnson, Managing Director, FinTech Breakthrough. "We are pleased to recognize Twine for delivering a breakthrough concept and executing on it to garner impressive growth and user adoption this past year. We are also excited to recognize John Hancock's industry leadership and vision in backing the Twine app. Congratulations to the entire John Hancock and Twine team on their well-deserved industry recognition."

Twine, which has been named Apple's App of the Day four times since launching in 2017, simplifies saving for major milestones like down payments, weddings, and vacations by allowing users to collaborate and link accounts with others to stay on track and reach investment and financial goals. From automated savings to investing in portfolios customized for individual risk and return aspirations, the Twine app helps manage progress across financial goals from a single dashboard for both individuals and pairs.

About Twine by John Hancock

Twine is the first saving and investing app built for two. It simplifies saving for major milestones like weddings, down payments and vacations. Twine helps you put your savings on autopilot and invest in portfolios designed to help you reach your goals. Joint Twine accounts allow you to contribute with another saver and track your progress together. Twine is backed by the stability and expertise of John Hancock. To download, visit http://apple.co/2BZWCjJ. Twine is a service provided by John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser.

About John Hancock and Manulife

John Hancock is a division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States, and 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 CAD$1.1 trillion (US$794 billion) as of December 31, 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 more than 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and college savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

About FinTech Breakthrough

Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for technology innovation and leadership, the FinTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in Financial Technologies and Services companies and products. The FinTech Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the achievements of FinTech companies and products in categories including Payments, Personal Finance, Wealth Management, Fraud Protection, Banking, Lending, RegTech, InsurTech and more. For more information visit FinTechBreakthrough.com.

SOURCE John Hancock

Related Links

http://www.jhancock.com

READING, Pa., April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 2nd, Berks Heim nursing home employees represented by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1776 Keystone State overwhelmingly approved a new five-year contract agreement today that preserves long-term, quality resident care and ensures long-term job security for hundreds of Berks Heim members who serve the Berks County community. Ratified by over 80% of those who voted, the approved contract covers approximately 300 current 1776KS members working in the Berks Heim facility, located in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

In addition to the approved contract, Local 1776KS, along with SEIU Healthcare PA which represents the nurses in the facility, has been collaborating with county officials, Senator Judy Schwank and Governor Tom Wolf to work on solutions to secure additional funding for Berks Heim and other high-performing, quality long-term care facilities like the Heim through state Medicaid Reimbursement programs and other funding mechanisms. With this joint effort, Berks Heim has seen increased state funding through Medicaid Reimbursement rates and other funds over the past two state budgets.

As a sign of this collaborative effort, UFCW 1776KS opened negotiations early as a show of good faith. Contract negotiations wrapped up in March after several months of negotiations. The 5-year contract agreement includes a 3% yearly wage increase over the previous contract's 2.5% year-over-year wage increase, protects employees' healthcare, and locks in language that secures Berks Heim employees' jobs for years to come, with significant penalties if the county were to violate the agreement.

"I am proud of the hard work and commitment of our bargaining committee members at Berks Heim. Through months of negotiations, our committee remained steadfast and ensured all key issues were addressed," said UFCW Local 1776KS president, Wendell Young IV. "Working on this contract has helped to develop a better relationship with Berks Heim county officials and I would like to thank the County Commissioners, particularly Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt and Commissioner Christian Leinbach for their engagement with our membership, as well as SEIU Healthcare  their membership, the bargaining committee and SEIU Healthcare PA President Matt Yarnell. I am grateful for both Senator Judy Schwank and Governor Tom Wolf, who showed crucial, steadfast support of our members who work at Berks Heim. This contract allows our members to continue to provide exemplary care to Berks County residents and keeps the nursing home in County hands where it belongs."

Berks Heim is a county-owned and operated nursing and rehabilitations facility located in Leesport, Pennsylvania. Berks Heim serves Berks county residents, providing both short and long-term care. UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State represents over 35,000 members, including nursing home employees, across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and New York.

SOURCE UFCW Local 1776 Keystone StateFORT WASHINGTON, Pa., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Fort Washington, Pa based International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542, a union representing 6,300 workers in the construction industry, is accusing the Penn Medicine health care system of "construction malpractice" at its new facility currently under construction in King of Prussia.

The reason for the charge, according to IUOE Local 542 Business Agent Frank Bankard, is that Penn Medicine allowed the general contractor for the project, IMC Construction headed by Malvern businessman Robert Cottone, to employ non-union subcontractors like RNR Construction of State College, PA.

Bankard contends that IMC and RNR pay lower wages than area standards and employ workers who have not been registered with state accredited apprentice training programs for safety and quality.

"Penn Medicine prides itself on delivering high quality health care services throughout the region but their high standards apparently don't carry over into how their facilities are built," said Bankard. "We consider the practice of undercutting standards by Robert Cottone's IMC Construction as a form of construction malpractice that does not align with Penn Medicine's health care delivery reputation."

IUOE Local 542 today launched a digital ad campaign to bring its concerns about possible quality and safety issues at the Penn Medicine construction site to residents and customers in the immediate area.

The union is asking people who see its digital ads to call Penn Medicine and demand that the hospital system make sure the contractors building its facility in King of Prussia are held to the same quality and safety standards that are the norm throughout the regional construction industry.

"Allowing IMC and RNR to increase profits by cutting corners is not the way for Penn Medicine to guarantee safety and quality at the facilities it is building," said Bankard. "Penn Medicine needs to start holding the contractors and subcontractors it pays to build its facilities to the same standards of quality and safety it applies to its own delivery of health care."

SOURCE International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 542ATMORE, Ala., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United Bancorporation of Alabama Inc. (OTCPNK: UBAB) (the "Company"), parent company of United Bank and UB Community Development, today announced the closing of a stock purchase with local and institutional investors from which it raised aggregate gross proceeds of $26.25 million through the issuance of its common stock. The securities offered were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities law of any state, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

"We are very pleased to announce the successful completion of our common stock offering. We believe our growing franchise is well-positioned and that the new capital will allow us to continue to pursue growth opportunities we serve as we strive to create value for our shareholders," said United Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Robert R. Jones III. "We are very excited about the support of our existing shareholders as well as the participation of our new investors."

FIG Partners, an employee-owned broker/dealer based in Atlanta, Georgia, acted as the Company's financial advisor in raising the new capital and Maynard Cooper & Gale, P.C. acted as legal counsel to the Company.

About United Bank

United Bank is a $639,000,000 financial institution that has enjoyed 115 years of continuous service to Atmore, Alabama and surrounding communities. United Bank has offices in Atmore, Brewton, Flomaton, Monroeville, Frisco City, Bay Minette, Foley, Lillian, Loxley, Magnolia Springs, Silver Hill, Spanish Fort, and Summerdale in Alabama. United Bank serves Santa Rosa County, Florida in Jay, Milton, and Pace. For more information about United Bank, please visit our website at www.unitedbank.com. Member FDIC.

About UB Community Development (UBCD)

UB Community Development's strong history as an experienced leverage lender in New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) transactions, coupled with our passion for improving the communities around us, make UBCD Alabama's premier financial partner for economic and community development. Through our NMTC, Community Facilities Lending Program and Capital Magnet Fund, UBCD is working with community development partners in the fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing, public works, and more. For more information about UB Community Development, visit our website at www.UBCommunityDevelopment.com.

Important Information

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of securities in any start or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains, among other things, certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, (i) statements regarding certain of the Company's goals and expectations with respect to private placement and (ii) statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "projects," "outlook," or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current belief and expectations of the Company's management team and are subject to significant risks and are subject to change based on the various factors (many of which are beyond the Company's control). Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of the assumptions could prove to be inaccurate. Therefore, the Company can give no assurance that the results contemplated in the forward-looking statements will be realized. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be construed as a representation by the Company or any person that the future events, plans, or expectations contemplated by the Company will be achieved. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made, except as required by law.

United Bank - Member FDIC

Media Contact: Tonya Lambert

VP, Marketing & Public Relations

(251) 446-6004 / [email protected]

SOURCE United BancorporationDOWNERS GROVE, Ill., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Univar Inc. (NYSE: UNVR) ("Univar Solutions," or "The Company") today announced it has paid down debt following the recently completed divestiture of Nexeo's Plastics Business. Separately, the Company has reached an agreement to settle a previously disclosed case with the United States Department of Justice (the "DOJ") regarding saccharin.

As previously announced, on March 29, 2019, Univar Solutions divested its plastics distribution business to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners, LLC for $640 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. On April 3, 2019, cash proceeds of the transaction were applied to outstanding debt balances.

Additionally, Univar Solutions reached a settlement agreement in a previously disclosed case with the DOJ regarding entries of saccharin that allegedly transshipped from the People's Republic of China ("China") through the Republic of China ("Taiwan") and entered into commerce of the United States between 2007 and 2012. Under the settlement, Univar Solutions agreed to pay $62.5 million to fully resolve the matter. The Company does not admit any liability and the DOJ will dismiss the complaint in its entirety.

About Univar Solutions

Univar Solutions (NYSE: UNVR) is a leading global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services to customers across a wide range of industries. With the industry's largest private transportation fleet and North American sales force, a vast supplier network, deep market and regulatory knowledge, world-class formulation and recipe development, unparalleled logistics know-how, and industry-leading digital tools, Univar Solutions is a committed ally to customers and suppliers, helping them anticipate, navigate, and leverage meaningful growth opportunities. Learn more at www.univarsolutions.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may be beyond our control. We caution you that the forward-looking information presented in this press release is not a guarantee of future events, and that actual events may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking information contained in this press release. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "plan," "seek," "comfortable with," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Any forward-looking information presented herein is made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Univar Inc.

Related Links

https://www.univarsolutions.com

BURLINGAME, Calif., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Proterra, a leading innovator in heavy-duty electric transportation, announced that the University of Georgia has placed an order for twenty 40' Catalyst E2 buses with DuoPower drivetrain technology and fourteen 125 kW Proterra PCS chargers. With the deployment of 20 Catalyst buses, the University of Georgia will have one of the largest fleets of electric buses in the U.S., and will displace more than 2,500,000 gallons of diesel over the vehicles' 12-year lifespan and eliminate over 4,500,000 pounds of carbon emissions annually.

The University of Georgia offers free rides for students, faculty and visitors with an average daily ridership of about 40,000. After receiving a $10 million grant from the GO! Transit Capital Program administered by Georgia's State Road and Tollway Authority, the University of Georgia evaluated and tested electric bus technology to ensure students, faculty, staff and visitors received the best electric bus possible. The state of Georgia underwent a similar testing and review process and selected Proterra as a statewide vendor for electric buses, which allowed the University of Georgia to procure the 20 buses under a statewide contract.

All of the University of Georgia's Catalyst E2 buses will be powered by the Proterra DuoPower drivetrain, which delivers twice the horsepower and five times the efficiency of a standard diesel engine. The DuoPower drivetrain features two electric motors that deliver an impressive 510 horsepower, accelerating a Catalyst bus from 0-20 mph in about five seconds, while also achieving an industry-leading 24.6 MPGe. In addition, the DuoPower drivetrain can propel a bus up a 26 percent grade, making it an ideal option for routes with steep hills. By combining the DuoPower drivetrain with Proterra's market-leading battery technology and lightweight composite bus body, the Catalyst vehicle provides unparalleled performance.

With this order, the University of Georgia joins colleges and universities nationwide that are moving to battery-electric campus buses. Proterra has sold its Catalyst buses to StarMetro/Florida State University, University of Montana, Duke University and Alabama A&M University.

"Colleges and universities across the country are experiencing the financial and environmental benefits of deploying electric buses, which offer a smart solution for clean and quiet campus transportation," said Proterra CEO Ryan Popple. "By deploying zero-emission buses, the University of Georgia will make a big impact in reaching its sustainability goals, reducing their carbon footprint and increasing alternative transportation on campus."

About Proterra:

Proterra is a leader in the design and manufacture of zero-emission, heavy-duty electric vehicles, enabling bus fleet operators to significantly reduce operating costs while delivering clean, quiet transportation to local communities across North America. The company's configurable Catalyst platform is designed to serve the daily mileage needs of nearly every transit route on a single charge. With industry-leading durability and energy efficiency based on rigorous U.S. independent testing, Proterra products are proudly designed, engineered and manufactured in America, with offices in Silicon Valley, South Carolina, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit: http://www.proterra.com and follow us on Twitter @Proterra_Inc.

SOURCE Proterra

Related Links

http://www.proterra.com

KATY, Texas, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SLCA) announced today that it will release its first quarter 2019 financial results before the New York Stock Exchange opens on Wednesday, May 1, 2019. This release will be followed by a conference call for investors on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 7:30 a.m. Central Time to discuss the results. Hosting the call will be Bryan Shinn, president and chief executive officer and Don Merril, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Investors are invited to listen to a live webcast of the conference call by visiting the "Investor Resources" section of the Company's website at www.ussilica.com. The webcast will be archived for one year. The call can also be accessed live over the telephone by dialing (877) 869-3847 or for international callers, (201) 689-8261. A replay will be available shortly after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 660-6853 or for international callers, (201) 612-7415. The conference ID for the replay is 13689413. The replay will be available through June 3, 2019.

About U.S. Silica

U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. is a performance materials company and is a member of the Russell 2000. The Company is a leading producer of commercial silica used in the oil and gas industry, and in a wide range of industrial applications. Wholly owned EP Minerals, a U.S. Silica Company, is an industry leader in the production of products derived from diatomaceous earth, perlite, engineered clays, and non-activated clays. Over its 119-year history, U.S. Silica has developed core competencies in mining, processing, logistics and materials science that enable it to produce and cost-effectively deliver over 1,500 diversified products to customers across our end markets. The Company currently operates over 26 mines and production facilities. The Company is headquartered in Katy, Texas and has offices in Frederick, Maryland, Reno, Nevada and Chicago, Illinois.

U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.

Investor Contacts

Michael Lawson

Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

301-682-0304

[email protected]

Nick Shaver

Investor Relations Manager

281-394-9630

[email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ussilica.com

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Vecna Robotics, a leader in the automated material handling industry, will both attend and present at two industry events, ProMat and Automate 2019, which will be co-located at Chicago's McCormick Place, from April 8-11. The ProMat expo is the largest for manufacturing and supply chain professionals in North and South America. The Automate expo offers a broad overview of the entire automation industry.

Vecna will be displaying a wide range of vehicles, including its autonomous Tugger and Pallet Jack at ProMat booth #S4583. Vecna executives, including Chief Innovation Officer Daniel Theobald, and VP of Sales John Hayes, will present the following:

Applications Segmented by Subdivisions

ProMat, April 8 at 11:15 AM , Theater B

Hayes presentation is sponsored by MHI and will be co-presented with Tom Kaminski , VP of Mobile Automation at Dematic. Their presentation will utilize real-life use-cases to demonstrate how AGV technology can be integrated to yield optimal results. The presentation will also include rationale for the types of AGVs used as well as other application specific information pertinent to the system.





Hayes presentation is sponsored by MHI and will be co-presented with , VP of Mobile Automation at Dematic. Their presentation will utilize real-life use-cases to demonstrate how AGV technology can be integrated to yield optimal results. The presentation will also include rationale for the types of AGVs used as well as other application specific information pertinent to the system. Exclusive Tips for Automating Your Operation

ProMat, April 8 at 4:00 PM , RoboBusiness Theater - Emerging Technology Solution Center

This presentation delivered by Theobald is sponsored by RoboBusiness and will extract over two decades of robotics and industry experience to explain how the most forefront adopters of automation are integrating new technologies and optimizing workflows. He will share how Vecna is re-engineering workflow automation to maximize productivity and throughput rates.





This presentation delivered by Theobald is sponsored by RoboBusiness and will extract over two decades of robotics and industry experience to explain how the most forefront adopters of automation are integrating new technologies and optimizing workflows. He will share how Vecna is re-engineering workflow automation to maximize productivity and throughput rates. Fireside Chat with Autonomy Ventures

Automate, April 10 at 1:00 PM , Show Floor

Theobald will sit down with Oliver Mitchell , Founding Partner of Autonomy Ventures, to discuss how he started Vecna more than 20 years ago. The discussion will also focus on the future of the robotics industry. This event is sponsored by RIA and MassRobotics.





Theobald will sit down with , Founding Partner of Autonomy Ventures, to discuss how he started Vecna more than 20 years ago. The discussion will also focus on the future of the robotics industry. This event is sponsored by RIA and MassRobotics. The Collective Workflow: Benefits of the human, robot and AI Integration

Automate, April 11 at 11:00 AM

Theobald will present on the importance of combining the individual strengths of humans and robots in sustainable workflows. It will also introduce the concepts that drive the world's first AI-based orchestration engine to manage operational resources and monitor equipment. He will share insights on how robots can empower humanity to do more productive and fulfilling work.

For more information or to schedule a meeting during the event, visit vecnarobotics.com/ProMat.

About Vecna Robotics

Vecna Robotics delivers Automated Material Handling, Hybrid-Fulfillment, and Workflow Optimization solutions featuring self-driving vehicles driven by a learning autonomy stack. Their solutions are delivering value to customers in the distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing sectors. Vecna Robotics' unique orchestration engine technology, Pivot.al, allows diverse robot types and humans to work together seamlessly and to flexibly yield an adaptive business solution, capable of meeting the increasingly unpredictable market needs.

For more information visit vecnarobotics.com and pivot.al. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn

SOURCE Vecna Robotics

Related Links

https://www.vecnarobotics.com

SEOUL, South Korea, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE: WST), a global leader in innovative solutions for injectable drug administration, today announced it has expanded its presence in the Asia Pacific region with a new sales office in KoreaWest Pharmaceutical Services Korea Ltd. This new office is the result of West's purchase of the distribution business of GIS Korea Ltd., a privately-owned medical device and healthcare products distributor serving the Korean market, who previously served as West's distributor in the region.

"We are excited to build upon the strong foundation that our distributor has established in Korea, as this is an important market for West and our customers," said Karen Flynn, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, West. "By combining the local insight of the GIS Korea Team with West's global manufacturing reach and market-leading technical support team, we will be able to better serve our customers and position ourselves to grow our business in this region."

"Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies are making great strides to bring new medicines to market, and our team has been working by their side with West's products and services to help them package and deliver their products, so they are delivered safely and effectively to patients," said Kwon Dong-Oh, Managing Director for West, Korea and former Managing Director for GIS Korea. "We are excited to join West and to be a part of a global team that is working to improve patient lives."

GIS has been partnering with West as a distributor since 2003 and has built an extensive network of customers across all segments. West has been operating for more than 95 years, delivering integrated containment and delivery solutions to customers, tailored to the specific needs of its pharmaceutical, biologic, generics, and medical device customer groups across the globe. With offices in Singapore, China, India, and Australia, and alongside our partner Daikyo Seiko, Ltd.'s presence in Japan, West is well-positioned to continue to address the increasing customer demand in this region.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain forward-looking statements are included in this release. They use such words as "will," "position," "grow," "are making," "well-positioned," "continue," "increasing," and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this release materially. The acquired business may not perform as expected or desired. There may be disruptions and/or expense relating to the integration of the acquired business, which can impact the Company. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For a description of factors that could cause the Company's future results to differ from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements, see Item 1A, entitled "Risk Factors," in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Except as required by law or regulation, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About West

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of packaging components and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products. Working by the side of its customers from concept to patient, West creates products that promote the efficiency, reliability and safety of the world's pharmaceutical drug supply. West is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, and supports its customers from locations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. West's 2018 net sales of $1.7 billion reflect the daily use of approximately 112 million of its components and devices, which are designed to improve the delivery of healthcare to patients around the world. For more information, please visit www.westpharma.com.

West and the diamond logo and By your side for a healthier world are registered trademarks or trademarks of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Media Contacts:

Jessie Zhang

Global Communications, AP

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

+86 21 31651821

[email protected]

Emily Denney

Global Communications

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

+ 1-610-594-3035

[email protected]

SOURCE West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.westpharma.com

SAN JOSE, California, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New York-headquartered WeWork announces the opening of operations in San Jose, Costa Rica and is expected to be operational by the end of 2019. The company, with over 101 locations globally, aims to transform the local business while leveraging Costa Rica as a gateway to the Central American region.

Valued at over US$47 billion in 2018 and considered the second most valuable startup in USA, WeWork transforms the way people live and experience work by offering the right services, spaces and networking environment for companies to grow.

Costa Ricas Foreign Trade Minister Dyala Jimenez embraced the news. "Working dynamics are transforming every day and this new business model is a clear example of it. WeWorks decision to invest in Costa Rica deeply honors us and opens the opportunity for our country to further position itself in an every-changing and globalized world. We wish them much success and are sure we will continue to learn and strengthen our alliances with them in different projects."

With the opening of its Costa Rican operations, the firm founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in 2010, foresees Central America as a key market to continue its global footprint growth and further connect the Americas.

As such, Costa Rica joins the groups operations in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina, where it currently offers it solutions.

WeWorks first Costa Rica site will be located at Project C3 (formerly Real Cariari), over highway General Canas in San Antonio de Belen in a 6-storey building through an alliance with Portafolio Inmobiliario. The facility can host about 2.000 people which will add to the companys current global community of over 450.000 members, 45% of which have confirmed being able to grow their business since joining WeWork.

Patricio Fuks, CEO for WeWork Latin America shared that "32% of the Fortune 500 companies have seen in WeWork an ideal ally to adapt to changes in the working environment."

"At WeWork we use spaces and services to change corporate cultures at all levels; departments become teams, coworkers build friendships and companies grow with their communities. We transform buildings into smart spaces through design and technology which drive creativity, productivity and networking among members," Fuks adds.

Jorge Sequeira, Managing Director for CINDE - The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency said "we are excited that WeWork has decided to invest and open its operations in our country. Without a doubt, this will be of great value to continue driving Costa Ricas collaborative ecosystem and boost innovation to further position our nation as a strategic ally in the knowledge economy."

SOURCE Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency

Related Links

http://www.cinde.org

LOS ANGELES, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In this era in which people have the potential to live longer than in any other time in history, a time when workers are grappling with how to financially prepare for older age, nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) set out to answer the question, "What does 'retirement' mean to you?" According to the new study released today, TCRS finds workers most often associate retirement with the words "freedom" (55 percent), "enjoyment" (53 percent), and "stress-free" (43 percent), despite the magnitude of preparations and challenges involved.

What Is "Retirement"? Three Generations Prepare for Older Age explores the perspectives and preparations of American workers and what "retirement" personally means to them. Based on the 19th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey, one of the largest and longest running surveys of its kind, this report examines the finances and health of three generations in the workforce: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials.

"Retirement is no longer associated with a gold watch and metaphoric sunsets. Today's workers expect to extend their working lives beyond age 65. Their vision of retirement balances continued work with freedom and more time to pursue personal interests," said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS. The survey finds:

Eighty-six percent of workers cite positive word associations with "retirement," compared with only 37 percent who cite negative words.

compared with only 37 percent who cite negative words. Fifty-five percent of workers plan to work after they retire, including 41 percent who plan to work part time and 14 percent full time. Among workers planning to work in retirement and/or past age 65, most plan to do so for financial reasons (80 percent) and almost as many for healthy-aging reasons (72 percent).

including 41 percent who plan to work part time and 14 percent full time. Among workers planning to work in retirement and/or past age 65, most plan to do so for financial reasons (80 percent) and almost as many for healthy-aging reasons (72 percent). Forty-four percent of workers envision a phased transition into retirement during which they will reduce work hours with more leisure time to enjoy life (27 percent), or work in a different capacity that is less demanding and/or brings greater personal satisfaction (17 percent). Another 22 percent plan to continue working as long as possible until they cannot work anymore.

during which they will reduce work hours with more leisure time to enjoy life (27 percent), or work in a different capacity that is less demanding and/or brings greater personal satisfaction (17 percent). Another 22 percent plan to continue working as long as possible until they cannot work anymore. The most often cited retirement dreams are traveling (67 percent), spending more time with family and friends (57 percent), and pursuing hobbies (48 percent). Thirty percent of workers dream of doing some form of paid work such as pursuing an encore career (13 percent), starting a business (13 percent), and/or continuing to work in the same field (11 percent). Twenty-six percent dream of doing volunteer work.

"Workers must take greater action in saving, investing, financially planning  and protecting their health  to successfully transform their visions of retirement into reality," said Collinson.

Inadequate Financial Preparations Undermine Future Freedom

"In addition to preparing for longer lives and more time spent in retirement, workers are increasingly expected to self-fund a greater portion of their retirement income as a result of the evolving retirement landscape," said Collinson.

While three in four workers are saving for retirement (75 percent) through employer-sponsored plans, such as a 401(k) or similar plan, and/or outside the workplace, the survey findings also outline the financial challenges faced by workers:

Many are not saving enough for retirement. Workers have saved $50,000 (estimated median) in all household retirement accounts. Baby Boomers have saved $152,000 , Generation X has saved $66,000 and Millennials have saved $23,000 (estimated medians). Eleven percent of workers do not have any household retirement savings.

Workers have saved (estimated median) in all household retirement accounts. Baby Boomers have saved , Generation X has saved and Millennials have saved (estimated medians). Eleven percent of workers do not have any household retirement savings. Twenty-nine percent of workers have dipped into retirement accounts by taking a loan, early withdrawal, and/or hardship withdrawal from a 401(k) or similar plan or IRA. Baby Boomers (22 percent) are less likely to have done so compared with Generation X (32 percent) and Millennials (30 percent).

by taking a loan, early withdrawal, and/or hardship withdrawal from a 401(k) or similar plan or IRA. Baby Boomers (22 percent) are less likely to have done so compared with Generation X (32 percent) and Millennials (30 percent). Household debt is pervasive across generations. The majority (83 percent) of workers carry some form of debt. The most commonly cited forms include credit card debt (47 percent), mortgage (43 percent) and car loan (38 percent). Millennial workers are more likely to have student loans (25 percent), compared with Generation X (13 percent) and Baby Boomers (seven percent).

The majority (83 percent) of workers carry some form of debt. The most commonly cited forms include credit card debt (47 percent), mortgage (43 percent) and car loan (38 percent). Millennial workers are more likely to have student loans (25 percent), compared with Generation X (13 percent) and Baby Boomers (seven percent). Emergency savings are alarmingly low. Workers have saved only $5,000 (median) for emergencies and unexpected major financial setbacks. Baby Boomers have saved $10,000 , Generation X has saved $5,000 , and Millennials have saved $2,000 (medians).

Workers have saved only (median) for emergencies and unexpected major financial setbacks. Baby Boomers have saved , Generation X has saved , and Millennials have saved (medians). Workers are concerned about Social Security. Seventy-seven percent agree with the statement, "I am concerned that when I am ready to retire, Social Security will not be there for me," including Generation X (84 percent), Millennials (80 percent), and Baby Boomers (65 percent).

"Despite the all-too-real challenge of saving, many workers are overlooking opportunities that could help improve their long-term financial situation," said Collinson. "Small steps such as using a retirement calculator to estimate savings needs, engaging in financial planning, creating a budget, formulating a retirement strategy, and learning about retirement investing can make a big difference in the long run."

Health and Work-Life Balance

Workers are looking to retirement for more freedom, according to the survey, but are they achieving the right work-life balance today? The survey finds that most workers feel they are healthy and manage work-life balance well, but may not be doing enough to safeguard their long-term health:

Seventy-nine percent of workers describe themselves as being healthy , including 21 percent who say their health is "excellent" and 58 percent who say it is "good." Millennials (26 percent) are more likely say their health is "excellent," compared with Generation X (19 percent) and Baby Boomers (16 percent).

, including 21 percent who say their health is "excellent" and 58 percent who say it is "good." Millennials (26 percent) are more likely say their health is "excellent," compared with Generation X (19 percent) and Baby Boomers (16 percent). Most are successful in managing work-life balance. Seventy-nine percent of workers feel that they are successful in managing their work-life balance. Baby Boomers (83 percent) are more likely than Millennials and Generation X (both 78 percent) to feel they balance work-life priorities.

Seventy-nine percent of workers feel that they are successful in managing their work-life balance. Baby Boomers (83 percent) are more likely than Millennials and Generation X (both 78 percent) to feel they balance work-life priorities. Caregiving can be disruptive. Twenty-eight percent of workers have been caregivers during their working careers, a finding which is similar across generations: Baby Boomers (29 percent), Generation X (28 percent), and Millennials (27 percent). Among them, 86 percent have made some sort of adjustment to their work situation as a result of becoming a caregiver.

Twenty-eight percent of workers have been caregivers during their working careers, a finding which is similar across generations: Baby Boomers (29 percent), Generation X (28 percent), and Millennials (27 percent). Among them, 86 percent have made some sort of adjustment to their work situation as a result of becoming a caregiver. Workers can do more to safeguard their long-term health given what is at stake. About half of workers consistently engage in activities such as exercising regularly (55 percent), eating healthfully (54 percent), and getting plenty of rest (50 percent). Only one in five workers (22 percent) consider their long-term health when making lifestyle decisions, a finding that is relatively consistent across generations.

"In the hearts and minds of today's workers, retirement means 'freedom,' amid concerns about whether it is financially attainable," said Collinson. "From a societal perspective, how can we ensure flexibility for people to live their lives and retire on their own terms? How can we improve financial security among all? These are questions begging to be answered by our society  and by each of us on a personal level. Ultimately, retirement is what we make of it."

Please visit TCRS at www.transamericacenter.org to view this survey report along with other research reports and materials from the 19th Annual Retirement Survey. Follow TCRS on Twitter @TCRStudies.

About Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) is a division of Transamerica Institute, a nonprofit, private foundation. Transamerica Institute is funded by contributions from Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates and may receive funds from unaffiliated third parties. TCRS and its representatives cannot give ERISA, tax, investment or legal advice. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as ERISA, tax, investment or legal advice. Interested parties must consult and rely solely upon their own independent advisors regarding their particular situation and the concepts presented here. For more information please visit www.transamericacenter.org and follow TCRS on Twitter at @TCRStudies.

About the Survey

The analysis contained in What Is "Retirement"? Three Generations Prepare for Older Age was prepared internally by the research team at TCRS. The 25-minute online survey was conducted within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of TCRS between October 26 and December 11, 2018 among a nationally representative sample of 5,923 full- and part-time workers, including self-employed. This report is based on 5,168 full- and part-time workers who are not self-employed and who work in a for-profit company with one (1) or more employees, including 2,156 Millennials (born 1979-2000), 1,476 Generation X (born 1965-1978), 1,477 Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) and 59 workers who were born prior to 1946. Results were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with the population of U.S. residents age 18+, employed full- or part-time in a for-profit company with one (1) or more employees, and to adjust for attitudinal and behavioral differences between those who are online versus those who are not, those who join online panels versus those who do not, and those who respond to surveys versus those who do not. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Contact: Madeleine Reul

[email protected]

952-346-6061

117632

04/19

SOURCE Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

Related Links

http://www.transamericacenter.org

ST. JULIAN's, Malta, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- XDAT ( www.xdat.io ), a global cryptocurrency trading exchange, today announced the launch of Bullwhip Movement to create one of the world's largest incentivized crypto community. The intent behind the Bullwhip Movement is to bring about a new wave of adoption of cryptocurrencies amongst users. A bullwhip initiates a ripple effect and in XDAT's case this would be the first step towards achieving their vision of 'Crypto for All'.

With an aim to promote a global crypto ecosystem, the Bullwhip Movement intends to build a community where every user earns while trading. A greater incentive lies if one becomes a Node and helps XDAT propagate the movement by adding new users through their referral link. In return for their participation, Nodes shall receive a Community Token (XCTY) when they achieve 1000 cumulative trading from their Referred Users. A Node can earn incentives of up to 2000 through KYC & Transaction incentives, by encouraging participation on XDAT.io.

A Cambridge study estimates the number of crypto users will reach 200 Million by 2024. The increasing number of users will help cryptocurrencies penetrate the mainstream market where it may be used as a day-to-day currency and eventually be a credible alternative for fiat currencies. This colossal influx of users will boost the growth of cryptocurrencies as a mainstream commodity in the crypto/financial sector. This phenomenon increases the likelihood of cryptocurrencies being used in day to day activities and as an alternative to the current fiat currencies. However, to reach its true potential, cryptocurrencies need to be embraced by users widely which can only be facilitated through mass retail adoption. XDAT's vision - Crypto for All - aims to gain traction by abiding with regulatory compliance measures as it plays a vital role for mass adoption.

"In this bear market, crypto needs as many ambassadors as we can gather to increase participation in this space," said Prashanth Swaminathan, Founder & CEO of XDAT. "To manifest this belief, XDAT is investing over 1,000,000 (1 Million euros) to create the world's largest crypto inclusive ecosystem. Through this initiative, we want to create a positive wave that leads to an amplified nature of adoption and trading."

XDAT is also providing attractive offers and incentives for regular users to encourage trading on the platform. Apart from earning incentives on completion of Full KYC, a regular user can avail of one of the lowest transaction fees across exchanges starting from 0%. Additionally, with its referral program, users can earn flat 40% of the transaction fees of their referrals, until 31st March, 2019.

About XDAT

XDAT (www.xdat.io) stands for 'Exchange of Digital Assets with Trust', a global cryptocurrency trading exchange that allows you to transact fiat-to-crypto-to-fiat (ie purchase cryptocurrencies with your fiat currency, or convert your cryptocurrency into fiat currency) and also crypto-to-crypto. Based out of Malta, XDAT aims to redefine the global landscape of cryptocurrency trading by becoming a globally trusted brand that sets its policies and procedures in full compliance with the incumbent regulations of its jurisdiction. XDAT hosts bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, ethereum classic, bitcoin cash, EOS, Ripple, Dash, TrueUSD, and Euro. XDAT offers the most frictionless onboarding out of any current top exchange, allowing users to deposit funds in EUR from across the entire SEPA region which includes a total of over 30 countries. XDAT is the brainchild of Prashanth Swaminathan, an investment banking veteran who spent over 10 years with Morgan Stanley London.

Media Contact:

Nilanjana Dey

[email protected]







SOURCE XDATChannel Leaders Embrace ZiftONE Platform to Turn Channel Programs into Business Growth Engines

JERSEY CITY, N.J. and RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. and OXFORD, England, April 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise Channel Management Leader Zift Solutions has debuted ZiftONE, the first and only all-in-one platform that connects and simplifies channel sales, marketing, and operations for indirect sales organizations.

"With ZiftONE, we are fulfilling the promise of Enterprise Channel Management with an absolutely unique and holistic platform designed to connect channel leaders, partners, and customers -- and turn their channel programs into real business growth engines," said Gordon Rapkin, CEO of Zift Solutions.

"To compete effectively in today's channel, suppliers must integrate data silos and automate workflows to foster data-driven conversations with partners," said Maria Chien, service director of Channel Marketing Strategies at SiriusDecisions. "B-to-b channel organizations must help partners progress in their journey to a successful, profitable partnership."

ZiftONE eliminates the data silos, disorganization, and disengagement caused by piecing together multiple point solutions to cover the myriad requirements of channel sales, marketing, and operations. With ZiftONE, channel organizations can now:

Recruit, onboard and activate partners

Automate and execute channel sales

Enable multi-tactic to-, through- and for-partner marketing; and

Generate predictable pipeline

All with just ONE new platform, built from the ground up, to drive channel success.

"World-class partner programs require world-class technology, services, and support," said Sarah Locke, Digital Marketing Lead, Global Partner Marketing for Dell EMC. "ZiftONE delivers deeper insight, so we can see and report on unfolding trends, manage our business performance metrics -- and make it even easier for our partners to build predictable pipeline and profitable, long-term customer relationships that drive mutual value."

"Zift Solutions is once again on the forefront of channel technology and automation," said David Portnowitz, Chief Marketing Officer at Star2Star Communications. "They know the channel -- and what channel leaders require to put their partners and channel programs ahead of the pack."

The new ZiftONE platform combines purpose-built channel technology and services to address complex, multi-dimensional channel challenges. ZiftONE also provides advanced reporting capabilities, business intelligence for prescriptive partner planning, machine learning and analytics for deeper strategic insight and Marketing Development Funds (MDF) management.

"ZiftONE balances power with simplicity, giving channel leaders one place to recruit, onboard, engage and empower partners to do more, with much less hands-on help," said Laz Gonzalez, well-recognized channel expert and Chief Strategy Officer for Zift Solutions.

ZiftONE premiered at an exclusive Executive Summit held last week in Zift Solutions' Cary, North Carolina-based offices. The event brought together initial users of ZiftONE, channel leaders and experts, along with well-respected industry analysts, including Forrester Principal Analyst and B2B expert Jay McBain, and Maria Chien, Service Director, Channel Marketing Strategies at SiriusDecisions.

To learn more about ZiftONE and Zift Solutions results-driven approach to Enterprise Channel Management, visit ZiftONE.

About Zift Solutions

Zift Solutions is the Enterprise Channel Management leader, delivering the people, processes and technology organizations require to drive channel success. Relied on by more than 80% of top channel chiefs, Zift boosts channel partner program productivity, and profitability by automating and aligning marketing, sales, and operational processes. The ZiftONE platform integrates seamlessly with established systems and infrastructure to speed time-to-sales, create an exceptional partner experience, and provide faster ROI. To learn more, visit www.ziftsolutions.com, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and join the conversation via Channel Chatter.

CONTACT: Lisa Hyatt, 919-271-1472, [email protected]

SOURCE Zift Solutions

Related Links

http://.ziftsolutions.com

United Nations, April 3 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Nicholas Koumjian of the US as head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said his press office.

Koumjian will be the first head of the Myanmar mechanism, which was established by the Human Rights Council on September 27, 2018 and welcomed by the General Assembly on December 22, 2018, the office said in a statement, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Koumjian brings to this position over 35 years of experience as prosecutor, including almost 20 years of experience in the field of international criminal justice.

Since November 2013, he has been serving as the International Co-Prosecutor for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Koumjian previously served as Trial Attorney at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as Deputy General Prosecutor for serious crimes in Timor-Leste, as International Prosecutor in the War Crimes Section of the Prosecutor's Office for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as Principal Trial Attorney and Senior Appeals Counsel in the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

In addition, he also worked as a prosecutor in the US and has professional experience in the fields of international human rights law and transitional justice.

Koumjian holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.Ottawa, April 3 : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled two MPs from his party's caucus after they accused him of meddling in a criminal case involving an influential company.

Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott had already resigned from Trudeau's cabinet citing their concerns over the SNC-Lavalin affair, the BBC reported.

Now they have been expelled from Trudeau's Liberal Party, months before a general election.

The SNC-Lavalin controversy has cast a shadow over Trudeau's leadership.

Andrew Scheer, the leader of the opposition Conservatives, said on Tuesday that the Prime Minister had betrayed justice by removing two corruption whistleblowers.

Trudeau repeatedly spoke about the breakdown of trust between Wilson-Raybould and Philpott and members of his staff.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken," Trudeau told the media shortly after informing his caucus.

"If they can't honestly say they have confidence in this team... then they cannot be part of this team."

Philpott has been vocal about her concerns with the government, and gave an interview in a national magazine last month in which she said "there's much more to the story that needs to be told".

Trudeau said his decision was sparked by the revelation that Wilson-Raybould had secretly recorded a conversation she had with Canada's former top bureaucrat, which she released publicly on Friday.

Wilson-Raybould said the tapes backed up her claim that government officials inappropriately pressured her to shield SNC-Lavalin from prosecution.

The Canadian firm is accused of bribing officials in Libya to win contracts under Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

SNC-Lavalin has openly lobbied for an agreement that would allow it to avoid prosecution and instead face alternative penalties or measures, such as a fine.

Wilson-Raybould said members of Trudeau's inner circle pressured her to cut a deal, and when she did not, she was removed from her position as Justice Minister.

Trudeau has repeatedly denied that there was any wrongdoing by him or his officials.

The political controversy, which has been dragging on for weeks, has caused Trudeau's popularity drop sharply in opinion polls a few months before a general election.

He said he is expelling the women from the caucus to put an end to infighting, which he had vowed to stop when he was elected in 2014.Washington, April 3 : US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not attend a ministerial-level meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) later this week in France, the State Department has said.

US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan will instead lead the delegation to the G7 foreign affairs ministerial meeting slated for Friday and Saturday in France, a State Department statement said on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

The department did not give explanation about the top US diplomat's absence. When asked by reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday, the department's Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino only said that Pompeo "has full faith in" Sullivan and "his ability to advance America's national security interests" at the meeting.

Sullivan is expected to discuss the situation in Venezuela, Iran and the Korean Peninsula with other participants.

The G7 ministerial meeting on foreign affairs sets the stage for the G7 Leaders' Summit in August in the French seaside resort of Biarritz.

The last G7 summit in Canada ended up with US President Donald Trump rebuking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and retracting US support for a joint communique via a tweet.

Hours after leaving the G7 summit in Canada on June 9, Trump said on Air Force One that he had instructed US representatives not to endorse the joint communique released at the end of that G7 summit and called Trudeau "dishonest & weak" in his tweets.

G7 includes the seven leading industrialized countries of Britain, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.New Delhi, April 3 : In a Twitter war, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj has dared fellow party MLA Alka Lamba to join the Congress.

The Twitter war between the two started when Chandni Chowk MLA Lamba reacted to the manifesto of Congress released on Tuesday.

She tweeted in Hindi saying every party has its manifesto and the Congress in its manifesto promised full statehood for Puducherry but nothing on Delhi.

"This is clear that statehood for Delhi is not an issues for the Congress. On the other hand, the AAP making it the main issue. How will the alliance take place?" she asked.

The speculation of an alliance between the AAP and the Congress in Delhi is on since long. The AAP had launched all its candidates in Delhi and have announced that it will go ahead with its candidate and not wait for an alliance.

Responding to the tweet, Bhardwaj the Greater Kailash MLA, asked her what does she want, "full statehood or..?".

On that, she said it did not matter what she wanted, it was the public who would decide.

The discussion continued into a series of tweets, and Lamba accused Bhardwaj of "provoking" her.

"Am just a party worker and he is a party leader and spokesperson... Being a spokesperson what message he wants to give? This is not the first time that he is doing so on social media," she said.

Bhardwaj, responded daring her to show some courage and join the Congress.

"Show some courage, go to Congress tomorrow. Do you have the courage?" he said.

She retorted with "people have left the party, but she is not going so easily".

Lamba said she would hold a public meeting at Jama Masjid on Wednesday for a live survey.

Bhardwaj then tweeted a letter addressed to AAP convenor in which Lamba had resigned from the party.

"Ask the people should I join the Congress. If people agrees, just sign this and your brother will take care of everything. If the public says no, then stay in discipline," he said.

Lamba also invited Bhardwaj for the public meeting and survey.Varanasi, April 3 : A Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student was shot dead in the campus premises in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, leading to tensions, police said, adding that four men have been arrested.

On Tuesday night, four bike-borne men opened fire at Guarav Singh near the Birla A intersection in the university campus, Circle Officer, Varanasi Cantt Anil Kumar Singh told IANS.

"It was a case of personal enmity," Kumar said.

Immediately after the incident, police raided the BHU hostels and surrounding area and nabbed the accused, he added.

The slain student was pursuing Masters in Computer Application and was jailed in 2018 for his involvement in a fight in December 2017. He was expelled from the college later.

According to the students, Singh was talking to his friends when the bike-borne assailants gunned him down at around 7 p.m.

This caused panic in the campus, and students also created havoc in the Trauma Centre of the hospital where the victim was rushed to.New York, April 3 : A day after NASA sharply crticised India's anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile test as a "terrible thing", the US State Department has played it down saying Washington has noted New Delhi's assertion that it took into account the space debris problem.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that while the issue of space debris "is an important concern" for the US, "we took note of the Indian government's statements that the test was designed to address space debris issues".

"We have a strong strategic partnership with India, and we will continue to pursue shared interests in space, in scientific and technical cooperation with India, and that includes collaboration on safety and security in space," he said.

India's External Affairs Ministry has given assurances that the Operation Shakti A-SAT test last week would not create a space debris problem.

It said: "The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks."

However, NASA head Jim Bridenstine on Monday at a staff meeting had said that of the 60 pieces of debris large enough to be tracked by the US, 24 were above the apogee -- or the highest point of the orbit -- of the International Space Station (ISS).

He asserted that it increased the risk to ISS and "that kind of activity is not compatible with the future of human spaceflight".

At the same time he also said that "the International Space Station is still safe".

"If we need to manoeuvre it, we will" he added. "The probability of that, I think, is low."

Soon after Operation Shakti, Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan had also criticised it saying, "We cannot make it (space) unstable, we cannot create a debris problem that A-SAT tests create."

At his news briefing, Palladino was asked if the US was sending monitors to observe Indian elections that start next week. He replied, "I'm not aware of anything in that regard."

The US has not sent monitors to observe elections in India, where the polls are internationally recognised as fair.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)San Francisco, April 3 : Competing with the likes of Alexa-powered Amazon, retail giant Walmart is now adding a voice-controlled shopping feature called "Walmart Voice Order" on Google Assistant.

To use the feature, users are required to add and link their existing Walmart accounts to Google Assistant which will enable them to shop using voice commands, just like Amazon offers with Alexa, The Verge reported on Tuesday.

While users would use Google's voice service to add things to their carts and place orders, Walmart would actually handle processing and delivering the order.

According to Walmart's announcement of the new Assistant integration, the roll-out of the service would take a few weeks.

The integration seems interesting because, earlier in January, Walmart opted out of Google's Express shopping service, presumably to focus more on its own retail efforts instead of funnelling them through the search-engine giant.

In July 2018, Walmart teamed up with software major Microsoft in a five-year strategic partnership to make use of its cloud services to compete with Amazon in the digital space.Pasighat : , April 3 (IANS) Terming the Congress manifesto a "dhakosla patra" (document of lies), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress of failing to fulfil the aspirations of the people in the northeast in 60 long years.

But his own government was committed to making Arunachal Pradesh and Northeast India as the gateway to East Asia, Modi told a Lok Sabha election rally at the General Ground here in East Arunachal Pradesh district.

"One family has ruled the country for 55 years but still they cannot claim that they have done what is required to be done for Arunachal Pradesh and other northeastern states," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thundered.

"I am one person who is ready to take up challenges. I cannot claim that in five years I have done all that is required to be done but this 'chowkidar' is working non-stop to ensure development," said Modi.

"They have released their 'ghoshna patra'. But it should be called a 'dhakosla patra'. It's full of lies."

Citing an example, he said the Congress manifesto in 2004 had promised to provide electricity to all households of the country by 2009. However, they repeated the assurance again in 2009.

In 2014, they said that 100 per cent households in urban areas and 90 per cent in rural areas will be given electricity connection.

Still 18,000 villages were yet to be connected with electricity when our government came to power in 2014, he said.

But the BJP government connected all these 18,000 villages with electricity within 1,000 days, he said.

"Have you ever heard of me taking a vacation or leave? Have you ever seen me enjoying? Your love gives me energy to work continuously day and night. It is our commitment to make Arunachal Pradesh and other northeastern states the gateway of East Asia," he said.

He said the BJP stands for the protection of the culture, tradition and history of various communities.

"They (Congress) came to power for the sake of power but this 'chowkidar' is ever ready to fulfil the aspirations of the people. You have seen 60 years of Congress rule and 60 months of governance of our government. Can you tell me how many Prime Ministers came here during their rule?

"I have come to Arunachal Pradesh and northeast over 30 times during last five years," he said.

"The chowkidar is always awake and keeps people awake by shouting 'Jaagte Raho'. This chowkidar is here to awaken you against the false promises and lies of Congress."

The two Lok Sabha seats and the 60-member Assembly in Arunachal Pradesh will go to polls on April 11.Patna, April 3 : Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is the BJP candidate for Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat, on Wednesday said the opposition Congress party is standing with those against the country.

Prasad has been fielded by the BJP from Patna Sahib after the party denied the ticket to the sitting MP actor-turned-politicuan Shatrughan Sinha.

"Congress has been supporting and standing with Tukde-Tukde gang and Congress manifesto is to divide the country, and will give relax to hearts of those against the country" Prasad said here.

He said that the Congress is doing everything to demoralise the army and security forces.

The Union Minister also asked the Congress to spell out how many jobs were given by the previous UPA government at the Centre during its 10 years in power.

The NDA government is giving fitting response to terrorists and Pakistan, Prasad added.Srinagar, April 3 : A local member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group was arrested from a private hospital here on Wednesday.

Police sources said the militant, Danish Haneef of Natiopora locality of Srinagar district, was taken into custody from the hospital in Rajbagh area where he was being treated.Mumbai, April 3 : Months after lying low following neuroendocrine tumour diagnosis and treatment, acclaimed actor Irrfan Khan has expressed gratitude to those who gave him love and support to help him heal through his tough phase.

In an emotional note posted on his social media account on Wednesday, Irrfan shared his thoughts on the prayers, blessings and love he received while he was fighting the ailment in London.

"Maybe somewhere in the pursuit of winning, we forget how much it means to be loved. In our vulnerability, we are reminded. As I leave my footprints onto these steps of my life, I want to pause to be grateful for receiving your immense love and support.

"It soothed me in my process of healing. So I travel back to you, thanking you from the bottom of my heart," Irrfan wrote with a photograph in which he reflects joy.

It was in March last year that the versatile actor had announced his diagnosis and said that he was going abroad for treatment. He returned to India in February this year, and made a rare media appearance last month at the Mumbai airport.

But he seemed to be avoiding paparazzi as he chose to hide his face with a muffler.

However, on Tuesday, the actor was devoid of any urge to hide away when he was seen at the Mumbai airport again.

The lower half of his face was first covered with a black mask, but he later removed it for the paparazzi, and continued to walk with the trademark lilt in his walk back in place.

He looked in the pink of health in a pink T-shirt which he teamed up with a floral print shirt and denim jeans.

There has been a buzz that Irrfan will soon start shooting for the sequel to his 2017 film "Hindi Medium", opposite Kareena Kapoor Khan in London.Ranchi, April 3 : Congress has announced names of three of the seven candidates from Jharkhand for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The party has fielded former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay from Ranchi, Sukhdeo Bhagat from Lohardagga and Geeta Koda from the Chaibasa seats. Geeta Koda and Sukhdeo Bhagat are legislators in the state assembly.

As per the seat-sharing between the parties in the opposition Grand Alliance, the Congress will contest in seven of 14 Lok Sabha seats.

Geeta Koda is wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda. Madhu Koda had hogged the limelight for two reasons. He became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand in September 2006, despite being an independent legislator, with support from the JMM, Congress and RJD.

The second reason for Koda's coming into limelight was the corruption charges against him.

It is alleged that Koda and his associates were involved in a Rs 4,000 crore scam. The Income Tax Department had raided his premises in 2009, and he was later sent to jail. He is facing cases registered by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Madhu Koda had floated his own party and fought the 2009 polls, when he was elected to the Lok sabha from the Chaibsa seat. His wife became the legislator from the Jagannathpur assembly seat in 2009.

Last year, Madhu Koda's party merged with the Congress.

The BJP accused the Congress of promoting corruption in the politics.

" Everybody knows how Madhu Koda plundered the state as the Chief Minister. As he cannot fight polls fearing conviction, Congress is banking on his wife to get a Lok Sabha seat in the state," BJP spokesperson Rabi Bhatt told IANS.

The Congress refuted these charges and said that Geeta Koda is a two-time legislator and she has been given the ticket considering her political carrier and her popularity with the voters.Chicago, April 3 : Voters in Chicago -- the third-largest city in the US -- have chosen an openly gay African-American woman to be their next Mayor in a historic election that has upended the city's long-reigning political machine.

Lori Lightfoot of the Democratic Party, a relative outsider who ran a campaign vowing to dismantle Chicago's notorious Democratic establishment, garnered 73.7 per cent of the ballots on Tuesday, easily defeating her rival, the head of the Cook County Board, Toni Preckwinkle, also an African-American woman.

"Today, you did more than make history," Lightfoot told her supporters at the election night party after results started to stream in. "You created a movement for change."

"A lot of little boys and girls are out there watching us tonight, and they're seeing the beginning of something, well, a little bit different," she was quoted as saying by Efe news.

"They're seeing a city reborn, a city where it doesn't matter what colour you are, where it surely doesn't matter how tall you are and where it doesn't matter who you love, just as long as you love with all your heart."

Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor and President of the Chicago Police Board, had launched her campaign last May with a promise of changing the way politics worked in the Windy City, where the Democratic Party has had a complete monopoly on power since the last Republican Mayor William Hale Thompson lost his re-election bid in 1931.

Lightfoot, 56, grew up in Ohio and went to college at the University of Michigan. Then after two years as a legislative aide in Washington she went to law school at the University of Chicago. She has lived in the city for all but one year since 1986.

She describes herself as "an out and proud black lesbian". When she is sworn in, she will be the first Mayor in the Windy City who identifies as a lesbian. She and her spouse, Amy Eshleman, have a 10-year-old daughter.

Lightfoot's rival Preckwinkle said: "This may not be the outcome we wanted, but while I may be disappointed, I'm not disheartened.

"For one thing, this is clearly a historic night. Not long ago, two African-American women vying for this position would have been unthinkable. And while it may be true we took different paths to get here, tonight is about the path forward."

Lightfoot is now set to tackle the many issues afflicting Chicago, including high crime rates, police brutality, epidemic gang violence, corruption, a large financial deficit and a lack of resources devoted to public education.

In 2018, Chicago recorded 531 homicides, more than New York City and Los Angeles combined, though this figure represented a 20-percent drop compared to the previous year.New Delhi, April 3 : The Supreme Court decision voiding the RBI circular on resolution of loan default could push banks into resolving such cases on the basis of an inter-creditor agreement (ICA) reached by 35 banks last year, senior officials here said.

Under a framework named Project Sashakt, a bank-led resolution approach (BLRA) is adopted where the lead banker is given charge of finding a solution for a stressed account. If a resolution is not worked out within 180 days, the stressed assets then move to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Banking sources said Sashakt is similar to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) void February 12 RBI circular in approach, but is not forced upon all cases of stress and defaults. It follows the BLRA, where banks get to decide how to move forward and resolve accounts within a timeframe.

Banks used the Sashakt framework last year to resolve a few stressed power assets. In fact, out of the 34 power assets referred to them, about 8 were resolved using this approach.

However, the scheme could not proceed further as the RBI circular prevented application of any other scheme for defaults, which instructed banks to strictly follow its direction of resolving an account within 180 days of first default or refer the matter for resolution under the bankruptcy court.

"Project Sashakt can also become the basis of any amended guideline for resolution that RBI may think of post the Supreme Court order. The apex bank could amend the guideline post-consultation with the government that would be specific in nature and not a general rule," the official said.

According to the official, the central bank may also give credence to the ICA on any scheme of resolution, allowing the banks to decide on the most suited action necessary to resolve or restructure an account.

The ICA is a platform for banks and financial institutions to come together and take concerted efforts towards resolving non-performing assets (NPAs or bad loans) under Rs 500 crore.

Project Sashakt was proposed by a panel led by state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) Chairman Sunil Mehta in June last year. Under it, bad loans of up to Rs 50 crore are to be managed at the bank level, with a deadline of 90 days.

For bad loans of Rs 50-500 crore, banks will enter into an ICA, authorising the lead bank to implement a resolution plan in 180 days, or refer the asset to the NCLT. For loans above Rs 500 crore, the panel has recommended an independent asset management company (AMC), supported by institutional funding through Alternative Investment Funds (AIF).

(Subhash Narayan can be contacted at subhash.n@ians.in)New Delhi, April 3 : Former Haryana Chief Minister O.P. Chautala on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking parole for a period of three months as his wife is critically ill and admitted in a hospital.

Justice Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal asked the Delhi Government to file a report on this and listed the matter for April 12 for further hearing.

Chautala's counsel N. Hariharan and lawyer Amit Sahni told the court that as per the Parole and Furlough Guidelines, Delhi Prison Rules, a convict is entitled to avail parole twice a year for eight weeks and as Chautala has not availed parole for more than one year he is entitled to be released on parole.

Chautala and his elder son Ajay were convicted in the JBT (junior basic teacher) recruitment scam in January 2013. Both were sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Delhi.Kuala Lumpur, April 3 : The Malaysian government announced on Wednesday that the yacht Equanimity, confiscated by the authorities from financier Jho Low, who was accused of being one of the brains behind the 1MDB embezzlement, has been sold for $126 million.

The vessel, decked out with a 20 metre swimming pool, spa and sauna, movie theatre and helipad, is part of the proceeds allegedly diverted from the state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), according to open legal proceedings in Malaysia and the US.

The Malaysian authorities, who last year put the boat up for auction with a starting price of $250 million, agreed to the sale with the Malaysian company Genting, which operates several leisure complexes, the Attorney-General's Office was cited as saying by Efe news on Wednesday.

The sale of the yacht to Genting marked the country's largest recovery yet of 1MDB cash. Billions of dollars were allegedly embezzled from 1MDB, which was set up in 2009 to aid economic development.

The yacht, anchored in a marina on the island of Langkawi, will be delivered to its new owners at the end of April when payment will also be made.

The official statement said that Genting's offer was the best among those received.

The yacht was seized on the Indonesian island of Bali in February 2017 at the request of the US Department of Justice.

The announcement of the sale coincided with the start of the corruption trial of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, the main defendant, at the High Court of Malaysia.

Najib faces a total of 42 corruption-related charges and his associates allegedly diverted $4.5 billion from the 1MDB, a scandal that contributed to his defeat in the elections last May.

Of that sum, the 65-year-old politician who led the nation from 2009 to 2018, allegedly misappropriated some 2.6 billion ringgit ($637 million).

In addition to Malaysia, half a dozen countries -- among them the US, Switzerland and Singapore -- continue with investigations linked to the embezzlement from the Malaysian state fund.

The US Justice Department said it believes that the money diverted from 1MDB totalled around $4.5 billion, of which about one billion was laundered in their country via the purchase of real estate, yachts, jewellery and works of art, among other goods.

Najib founded 1MDB in 2009 and directed it until 2016 to attract foreign investment and create a financial district in Kuala Lumpur, but the fund ended up accumulating losses of 42 billion ringgit (about $1 billion).New Delhi, April 3 : She is just a decade old in southern showbiz, but Rakul Preet Singh has managed to carve a niche for herself. The actress feels there has been a change in the Telugu film industry as it is no more patriarchal.

Rakul made her acting debut with the Kannada film "Gilli" in 2009. She subsequently made her Telugu debut with "Keratam", later she has starred in Telugu hits like "Venkatadri Express", "Current Theega", "Rough", "Loukyam", "Kick 2", "Sarrainodu", "Nannaku Prematho", "Dhruva", "Spyder" and "Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru".

Asked if she feels the Telugu film industry is hero-centric, Rakul told IANS: "Don't you think the world is male dominated? I would put it that way and I don't think that it is hero-centric anymore. Times are changing and there are good films. If you look at a 'Baahubali' which was such a big film, the whole thing is about Anushka Shetty's character being so strong."

Rakul then praised actresses Nayanthara, Trisha, Kangana Ranaut, Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for doing some "superb" work.

The 28-year-old said the entire Indian film industry is evolving.

"I think on the whole the film industries across India are changing and there are better roles for women. And I think even in the past there have been. But when you look at the world on the whole I feel largely it is a male-dominated world, but I think things are becoming better now," she said.

Rakul has also dabbled in Hindi films. She started off with "Yaariyan" as her first Bollywood venture in 2014, followed by "Aiyaary" and her next will be "De De Pyaar De".

The actress believes there are "good roles" written for girls and she hopes to "crack a few of those".

Over her journey in the industry, she has managed to work with southern superstars such as Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, Ravi Teja and Junior NTR.

She describes working with all of them as "amazing".

"They are amazing people. Charan, Bunny, Ravi Garo, they are all amazing people and each one excels. They are such amazing dancers. I always joke that they have no bones in their bodies and I think I am friends with all of them. They are very grounded and that's what gets them the stardom they have," said Rakul.

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)New Delhi, April 3 : The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of a 'Cash For Vote Scandal', sharing a video of officials seizing Rs 1.8 crore from the convoy of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and state BJP President Tapir Gao ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in the state.

Speaking to the media, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the midnight raid on the convoy of Khandu, his deputy Chowna Mein and Gao "exposes the brazen corruption and poll violation."

He said "if the video is true, then where is the Election Commission? Are they sleeping? Where is the Enforcement Directorate?"

Videos surfaced on social media showing police officers counting the cash in the presence of the Election Commission's Expenditure Officer Samrita Kaur Gill.

The cash was being reportedly transported in certain vehicles parked at the Siang Guest House, Pasighat. Five vehicles were searched in the presence of the complainants who belonged to the Youth Congress, he said.

The search resulted in the seizure of Rs 1.80 crore in notes of Rs 500 denomination, Surjewala claimed.

The Congress has raised a number of questions, including if the cash was being transferred for the rally of Modi in Pasighat on Wednesday in the CM's convoy and through the state BJP President.

"Where did such a large amount come from? Gao has been a habitual offender. Before Manipur elections, he was stopped by the Income Tax department with a large amount of cash at Guwahati airport while he was coming from poll-bound Manipur," he said.

He also questioned if the cash was transferred for Modi's morning rally. "Is it not a clear cut case of 'Chowkidar' becoming 'Chor'?"

Surjewala demanded the cancellation of the candidature of Gao from the West Arunachal seat and the resignation of Khandu.New Delhi, April 3 : Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday slammed the Congress for its election promise to amend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and accused the opposition party of supporting separatists and anti-national elements.

"Terrorist-friendly people will misuse AFSPA. It is an effort to weaken the armed forces and support the separatists and anti-national elements. They are trying to dilute the immunity of our security forces. Any dilution of AFSPA will remove immunity of forces," Sitharaman told a press conference.

She said the Congress' promise on AFSPA was only to sensationalise and demoralise the armed forces.

"There is a system of removing AFSPA. Both the Centre and state governments work on it together. Congress' sensationalism will impact the nation's security. Congress' promise is insidious," she said.

The BJP leader said the Congress' manifesto proves that the party wants to support traitors and separatists.

"Some aspects of the Congress' manifesto will restrict the armed forces action and stop them from functioning," she added.Lucknow, April 3 : Two daughters from vastly different backgrounds have returned to the badlands of eastern Uttar Pradesh to reclaim the political legacy of their fathers.

Tanushree Tripathi has returned after completing her Masters' degree in international relations from London. She is all set to get married later this month but is nevertheless contesting elections from the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat.

Tanushree, 29, is the daughter of former Uttar Pradesh Minister Amar Mani Tripathi, who is serving a life term along with his wife Madhu Mani Tripathi in Gorakhpur jail for the murder of a poetess in Lucknow in 2003.

Tanushree's brother Aman Mani Tripathi is an independent MLA from Nautanwa Assembly segment in Maharajganj district. He is also an accused in the murder of his wife Sara Singh and the CBI is investigating the matter.

In 2017, when Aman Mani contested the Assembly elections from jail, it was Tanushree who campaigned for him along with her sister Alankrita.

Tanushree is contesting on the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) ticket and is banking on the sympathy of the people since, as she says, her parents and brother have been "wrongly framed in criminal cases".

"I am not a parachute candidate here. I know my village, my people, my constituency. The people know me and my family and we share a strong bond. The farmers have been suffering in this district that lies on the UP-Nepal border. Sugar mills in the region are lying closed. The BJP's Pankaj Chaudhary has been MP for five terms but has done no development here and people want a change," she said.

The other daughter who is making a bid to reclaim her father's legacy in Maharajganj is Supriya Srinetra, daughter of the late Harshvardhan Singh, a former MP.

Supriya quit her job as Executive Editor of an English news channel and has arrived in Maharajganj to contest the elections on a Congress ticket.

Supriya told reporters that the prevailing conditions in eastern Uttar Pradesh had made her take to politics. "I am glad to have been fielded from Maharajganj where my father worked for four decades."

Her husband will also campaign for her.

Supriya refused to comment on her rival Tanushree or her tainted background. "I am here to campaign for myself and do not want to comment on anyone," she said.

This, incidentally, is the first time that women candidates have taken centre stage in Maharajganj which remains steeped in backwardness.

"It is a welcome change and these elections will hopefully pave the way for more women to step out of their homes and take to politics. Women are supporting the two candidates in a big way. Till now, Maharajganj has been known for mafia candidates," said Rekha Singh, a first time voter and a young graduate.Dehradun, April 3 : BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Congress for its silence on the National Conference chief Omar Abdullah's demand of a separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir.

"Omar Abdullah says there should be a separate Prime Minister in Kashmir. His associates are raising pro-Pakistan slogans. But Congress is silent. I want to ask Congress President Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether you are supporting or opposing this demand," Shah said at an election rally in Uttarkashi town in the Tehri constituency of Uttarakhand which is going to the polls on April 11.

Shah, however, made it clear that the BJP would oppose the demand of a separate Prime Minister tooth and nail. "Till we are alive, we will never allow this demand to be fulfilled," he said.

In this context, he reminded the people of the "sacrifice" of the BJP leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who strongly opposed Article 370 that gives autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir state.

"We are following the path of Shyma Prasad Mukherjee and we will not allow such thing to happen," Shah said.

Referring to the manifesto of the Congress, Shah attacked the opposition party for seeking the scrapping of the sedition law.

"Who are you protecting? In JNU, they (students) called for dividing our country into thousand pieces. But you stood silent outside. Do you want to protect all those who are facing sedition charges," he asked.

He also claimed that the Congress wanted to repeal all laws that provide security to the armed forces. "You cannot simply do it. We are standing like rock with the armed forces," he said.

Referring to the Pulwama terrorist attack in February, he said only Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the stamina to retaliate against terrorists.

"When the Pulwama attack occurred, there was commotion and sadness all around the country. But our Prime Minister launched a big attack against terrorists. This attack occurred when there was no possibility of a surgical strike due to the heightened security on the borders by Pakistan. But we carried out airstikes and destroyed all terrorists," he said.

After the Balakot attack, he said a wave of happiness ran through the country and everybody looked happy.

"But our Rahul Gandhi and the Pakistan Prime Minister faces looked just the same," he said, adding that the country will never be secure under Congress rule.

"If you want to make India a powerful nation and global leader, only Prime Minister Modi can fulfill your aspirations," he said.

He also asked the people to vote for BJP in all the five seats in Uttarakhand to repeat the feat of 2014. "We are on the path of development. This development will continue," he said.Canberra, April 3 : The Australian Senate on Wednesday slammed a lawmaker for blaming Muslim immigration as the cause for the New Zealand mosque attacks that killed 50 people.

Senator Fraser Anning, a far-right independent, made his comments on the day of the shootings in Christchurch. The Upper House passed the censure motion against him without a single unfavourable vote, in what was a symbolic move that does not carry with it Anning's expulsion from the legislative body.

Lawmakers from across the political spectrum condemned his "inflammatory and divisive" remarks. In response, Anning said the censure was "an attack on free speech", the BBC reported.

The reprimand, the fifth to be passed by the Senate in the past decade, stated that Anning's remarks on the March 15 attack did not reflect the views of the Parliament or the Australian people.

"It's absolutely right to censure Senator Anning and anyone else within our community who seeks to use a horrific tragedy like this one as an opportunity to vilify and divide people based on their religious belief," said Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.

Following the Christchurch carnage -- the deadliest in New Zealand's history -- Anning had said that "the real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration programme that allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place".

The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, described Anning's anti-Muslim remarks as "pathetic" and "shameful", Efe news reported.

Wong said that "his inflammatory and divisive comments seek to attribute blame to the victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion".

Anning was not present in the Senate during the motion against him. The Queensland Senator had said before the motion that "my real crime is that I simply told the truth" when the media and the leaders did not want to hear it.

Anning, who in the past used a term linked to the Nazi plan for exterminating all Jewish people - "final solution" - by calling for it to be applied to immigrants in Australia, was also involved in an altercation with a teenager who cracked an egg on his forehead following his comments about the attack.Siliguri, April 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress of conspiring to put the lives of soldiers at risk by promising to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

Modi said the Congress was planning to "tie the hands" of the Army in front of the terrorists and stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir and other terror prone areas in the country with its AFSPA promise listed in the Lok Sabha election manifesto.

The 2019 elections were a question of protecting the honour of the armed forces, he told an election rally here.

"Yesterday the Congress released a 'patra' (manifesto) where they have tried to break down the confidence of the armed forces. The Congress has said they will remove AFSPA from Kashmir and other places. They are conspiring to tie the hands of our armed forces in front of the terrorists and stone-pelters," Modi said.

"Thousands of people from Darjeeling and rest of West Bengal work to protect the country in such areas. AFSPA is like a shield for the armed forces so that they can combat the terrorists in a proper way. But these people do not have faith on our soldiers... That is why they are daring to make such promises," he said.

Terming the erstwhile UPA government a "remote controlled" one which did not act against terror, Modi claimed he was now standing like a "wall" between the terrorists and the people.

"All you have to do is to come together to stop the conspiracy of putting the lives of our soldiers at risk. Your votes are not just necessary for making the BJP win or re-electing Modi as Prime Minister but are also needed to protect the respect of our armed forces.

"It is clear what kind of government they want. When the UPA's remote controlled government was in power in Delhi, there had been a number of terrorist attacks but they never gave a free hand to our Army."

Criticizing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other leaders of the opposition who he said raised questions over the success of the Balakot air strike after the Pulwama terror attack, the Prime Minister said that these leaders appeared more hurt than Pakistan for giving the Indian Army a free hand.

"I gave a free hand to our Army. Do you agree with this decision? When our forces killed the terrorists in Balakot, did you feel happy or not? Did your heads go up in pride or not?" Modi asked, and the crowds responded with a thunderous 'yes'.

"But Didi did not like it and neither did her allies... All these grand (leaders) cried so much after the air strike that they became hero in Pakistan."

Taking a swipe at Banerjee for seeking proof regarding the number of terrorists killed in Balakot, Modi said it seemed the Bengal Chief Minister "felt more pain than those in Islamabad, Rawalpindi or Karachi".New Delhi, April 3 : The Union Home Ministry has issued a show-cause notice to Rujira Naroola, wife of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, for allegedly forging documents to avail Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and PAN cards, a Ministry official said on Wednesday.

She is accused of submitting the false documents to "conceal facts".

The Ministry, in its notice, has asked Naroola to provide a detailed written explanation for hiding facts in her application to obtain these documents.

Naroola's husband is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The notice was issued days after the Central government informed the Supreme Court that the West Bengal Police "intimidated" customs officials at the Kolkata international airport on March 16 when they caught Naroola of carrying excess gold without a declaration.

Customs officials have filed a complaint against Naroola, who has, in turn, filed a counter complaint. However, her husband has said that the allegations are "false" and intended to malign the image of his wife and party.New Delhi, April 3 : Mizoram's previous Lal Thanhawla-led Congress government neglected voter priorities and performed "poorly and underwhelmingly" on almost all governance parameters, including employment, healthcare, agricultural subsidies and loans, and road infrastructure, said a survey report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The Lal Thanhawla government ruled Mizoram for 10 years, before it was defeated in the 2018 elections by the Mizo National Front.

Released on Wednesday, The Mizoram Survey Report 2018 stated that the Congress government neglected the voters' concerns. "This is quite clear from the fact that the government has performed 'poorly and underwhelmingly' on all top 10 governance issues as rated by the voters," said the ADR report. The survey was conducted between October and December 2018.

The survey found that better employment opportunities, better hospitals/primary healthcare centres, and better roads were the top three priorities for voters. The performance of the state government was rated below average on all three.

In rural areas, voters were concerned about employment, healthcare and agriculture loan availability and the government performed below average on these, the report said.

On a scale of 5, it scored 2.07 on employment, 2.05 on healthcare facilities and 1.96 on availability of agriculture loans in rural Mizoram, it said.

"In addition, the government performed poorly in providing better roads (2.04) and agriculture subsidy for seeds and fertilisers (2.09) in rural Mizoram," the report stated.

According to the survey, employment, better hospitals/primary healthcare centres, and better roads were major concerns for urban voters.

"On a scale of 5, the performance of the government on urban voters' priorities of better employment opportunities (2.05), better hospitals/primary healthcare centres (1.94) and better roads (1.97) was rated as below average. In addition, the government performed poorly in providing better public transport (2.1) and in empowerment of women and security (2.12) in urban Mizoram," the survey revealed.Kochi, April 3 : In a setback to the ruling Pinarayi Vijayan government, a report submitted by an amicus curiae to the Kerala High Court on Wednesday recommended a judicial probe into the cause of the worst ever floods to hit the state in August last year after it found that faulty dam management led to the flooding.

After going through 15 different petitions seeking a judicial probe into the cause of the floods, the Kerala High Court had in last year appointed an amicus curiae, senior advocate Alex P. Thomas, to help the court dispose the bunch of petitions.

The amicus curiae submitted a 49-page report on Wednesday, which indicted the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government for failing to use the dams to control the floods following heavy rains.

Last year's severe floods, which began with rains in May-end and continued till the middle of August, claimed 483 lives and at the height of the deluge, there were 14.50 lakh people in over 3,000 relief camps. Various agencies had assessed the total damages caused by the floods in excess of Rs 30,000 crore.

In Kerala, while the majority of the 80 dams are operated by the Water Resources Department, the rest are operated by the Kerala State Electricity Board.

State Power Minister M.M. Mani refused to comment when the media sought his remarks on the report.

Meanwhile, leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has demanded that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should come out with an explanation.

"Soon after the floods occurred, we had said that faulty dam management led to the flooding. We had termed it a 'man-made disaster' and now we have been proven true by this report. We are now waiting to hear what Vijayan has to say," said Chennithala.Siliguri, April 3 : Terming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a "speed-breaker" in the way of rapid development in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday said she was not interested in eliminating poverty as her brand of politics would then come to an end.

"I regret the speed with which we worked in other states, we could not achieve in Bengal," Modi said while addressing a rally in support of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.

"In West Bengal, there is a speed-breaker in the way of your development. People here know this speed-breaker as Didi (as Banerjee is affectionately called)," he said.

Going all out against Banerjee, he said acting as a "speed-breaker", she hindered a number of central welfare schemes in the state, like Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN, and Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.

Alleging that Banerjee has no concern for the poor, Modi said she was proficient in playing the politics of the poor. "How can she work for ending poverty? If poverty is obliterated, Didi's politics will also come to an end," Modi said.

Attacking the Congress and the Communists, the Prime Minister said they share the same trait. "They need poverty. They need the poor. Their political gain is in keeping the people in poverty. This is the reason they have put brakes on development."

Modi said these parties have hatched a conspiracy to prevent the poor from benefiting from development.

Terming the Trinamool Congress, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Congress as "many sides of the same coin", Modi said those parties should know that their fight was against an honest "chowkidar".

Visibly happy at the huge turnout, Modi said Banerjee's boat had sunk. "Had I not seen the sea of humanity here, I couldn't have even fathomed that Didi's boat has sunk. Your warnings have reached Didi's ears. Your love and enthusiasm (for BJP) will give her sleepless nights," he said.

"I salute Bengal by bowing my head for giving me so much love," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the people of Bengal have lost their money in multiple chit fund scams and accused Trinamool MPs and ministers of looting the poor. "There have been chit fund scams in Bengal. Didi's ministers, MPs and aids looted the poor in the name of running chit fund and ran away."

He said despite stiff resistance from Banerjee, the central government was doing its best to spread development in the state, including education for tribal children, jobs for youth, toilets and LPG connections to every household.New Delhi, April 3 : UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi was apparently unhappy over the layout of party manifesto released on Tuesday as she wanted a bigger picture of party President Rahul Gandhi on the cover, sources said on Wednesday.

Sonia Gandhi, who did not look her usual self, conveyed her viewpoint to party leader Rajeev Gowda, the convener of the manifesto committee, before she went to the stage to release the manifesto.

Sonia Gandhi was seen talking to Gowda, who also heads the party's research department. She apparently also wanted a bigger image of party's hand symbol as also a brighter layout.

The manifesto -- "Congress will Deliver" -- carries a large picture of a big gathering of people. At the bottom, it has a small picture of smiling Rahul Gandhi along with the party's hand symbol. There is also big picture of the party President sitting among rural women on Page 9 of the manifesto.

The slogan "Congress will deliver" is written in large font size, while the words "Manifesto - Lok Sabha elections 2019 Indian National Congress" are in smaller fonts at the bottom.

Sonia Gandhi did not take any questions at the manifesto launch event on Tuesday and was seen intermittently talking to Rahul Gandhi sitting next to her. Rahul Gandhi had suggested that party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala let the media ask questions to other senior leaders on the stage.

Sonia Gandhi also did not deliver a speech like some other leaders present on the stage, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Gowda.

Surjewala, however, said that the reports of Sonia Gandhi being upset were not correct. "It is not correct," he said.

Chidambaram headed the manifesto committee.

The release of manifesto was a big occasion for the Congress as it sought to seize the political narrative for 2019 elections with its thrust on social and economic issues, including minimum income support of Rs 72,000 per annum to the poorest 20 per cent people, job creation, GST simplification and enhanced outlays for health and education.Colombo, April 3 : The Sri Lanka Army on Wednesday said it would hold the largest military exercise in July to coincide with 10 years of the end of the island nation's 30-year civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The army in a statement said the month-long military exercise will begin on July 1 with the participation of over 5,000 soldiers, Xinhua news agency reported.

The war game titled, "Exercise -- Western Shield," will provide the opportunity for army trainees to march through areas that are not usually accessible to others, except forest conservation authorities, the report said.

Army personnel would also be trained to stay well-attuned, refreshed and upgraded to meet with any future warfare threat, it added.New Delhi, April 3 : A builder who cheated home buyers of about Rs 1.2 crore in Delhi by selling the same flats to many people has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.

Yogesh Kumar Bhati, 37, a resident of Sultanpur village, was taken into custody on Tuesday when the police raided his residence.

"During interrogation, Bhati admitted he sold the same property through sales deed to different persons and received Rs 30 lakh per flat from the buyers. He also took help of some accomplices who are at large," Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar said.

"Bhati had been duping buyers for couple of years by using the same modus operandi. He took Rs 1.2 crore from people and sold them flats which had already been sold to others," he said.

Sanjeet Kumar, one such buyer, on March 8 filed a FIR of cheating and fraud against Bhati after he brought a flat which was later found to be sold to another person, the officer said.Kolkata: Prime Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi accompanied by party leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, Dilip Ghosh, Rahul Sinha and Locket Chatterjee, waves at supporters during a public rally in K0lkata, on April 3, 2019. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, April 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday came down heavily on Congress party accusing it of "being soft" on terrorism in order to appease its vote bank and claimed the party is "openly supporting" terrorists and separatists in its greed to come back to power.

"Congress has always bowed its head before terrorism due to its policy of appeasement and to satisfy its vote bank. It has been soft on terrorism. Do you remember who abolished the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention (TADA) Act? It was Congress. Remember, Congress always made false promises in the name of taking action against the terrorists and Maoists," Modi said during his public rally in Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground.

"Now they are openly supporting terrorists and separatists in the greed of ascending to power. Trinamool Congress, which emerged from Congress is also party to this crime," he said standing at Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's home turf.

Criticising the Congress for promising to amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), Modi said such statements by the party will encourage terrorists and those sitting in Pakistan.

"Congress is making statements which will help and encourage the terrorists sitting in Pakistan. Why is Congress toying with country's security and creating unrest like this? As soon as I started using the word 'Chowkidar', some leaders in Congress got angry with all the 'Chowkidars'. That's why they are taking such steps against the Army," he alleged.

He said the Congress manifesto has come out with a "prefixed expiry date" of May 23, when the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will be announced.

"Congress will go down and so will their manifesto. People have already given it their stamp," he said.

Referring to himself as the 'Chowkidar', the Prime Minister asserted that he is standing like a wall between the Congress' manifesto and the nation's security and vowed to not let the "conspiracies" by the Congress succeed.

Taking a swipe at the erstwhile UPA government, Modi said it is not that the country's armed forces did not have the expertise to conduct surgical strike or airstrike earlier, but the then government lacked "will power and strength".

"Tell me who was asking for the proof of airstrike? Who doubted it? Who was demoralising the Army? Who wanted to see the dead bodies of the terrorists? Who committed the crime of asking for evidence from our soldiers? Is it not an insult to the slain soldiers in Pulwama?" he asked the crowd.

"Our Army had the capacity to conduct airstrike and surgical strike since long. Our scientist had the expertise to destroy satellites in the space from before. But what was lacking was the willingness and strength of the previous governments," he added.Madrid, April 3 : Be cautious if you use sleeping pills regularly, as a new study has found that it may impact blood pressure (BP) in older adults.

According to the study, published in the journal Geriatrics & Gerontology International, using sleeping pills on a regular basis is linked to the use of an increasing number of blood pressure medications over time.

"Previous reports on associations of sleep characteristics with blood pressure and hypertension were focused on middle-aged adults; however, these associations were absent or inconsistent among older adults," said senior author Josi Banegas from the Universidad Autinoma de Madrid in Spain.

For the study, the research team involved 752 older adults with hypertension followed from 2008-2010 through 2012-2013.

According to the researchers, the analyses were carried out with logistic regression, and adjusted for demographics, lifestyle, comorbidity, baseline number of antihypertensive drugs and hypertension control.

During the follow-up period, 156 patients increased the number of antihypertensive drugs. No association was found between sleep duration or quality and the change in antihypertensive drug use.

Consumption of sleeping pills was prospectively linked to an increased number of antihypertensive drugs, the team said.

The team suggested that sleeping pill use may be an indicator of a future need for greater hypertension treatment and the need to investigate underlying sleep disorders or unhealthy lifestyles that may contribute to hypertension.

Earlier, a study, published in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, warned that regular intake of certain sleeping pills may be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.London, April 3 : Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence-based (AI) method for analysis of brain tumours, paving the way for individualised treatment of tumours.

According to the study, published in the The Lancet Oncology, AI machine learning methods, carefully trained on standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are more reliable and precise than established radiological methods in the treatment of gliomas.

Glioma, a type of tumour that occurs in the brain and spinal cord, is common and most malignant of brain tumours in adults.

"With this study, we were able to demonstrate the potential of artificial neural networks in radiological diagnostics," said Philipp Kickingereder from the Heidelberg University in Germany.

For the study, the team included 500 brain tumour patients. Using a reference database with MRI scans of patients, the algorithms automatically recognised and localised brain tumours using artificial neural networks.

The algorithms were also enabled to volumetrically measure the individual areas (contrast medium-absorbing tumour portion, peritumoral edema).

"We want to advance the technology for automated high-throughput analysis of medical image data and transfer it not only to brain tumours but also to other diseases like brain metastases or multiple sclerosis," said Klaus Maier Hein at the varsity.

Glioma tumours often cannot be completely removed by surgery. Chemotherapy or radiotherapy are only effective to a limited extent because tumours are highly resistant. Therefore, new and precisely validated treatment approaches are urgently needed, the team noted.Jakarta, April 3 : An Airbus A330 passenger plane operated by Garuda Indonesia made an emergency landing at Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lankan capital Colombo due to lower cabin pressure, a spokesman of the airline said on Wednesday.

The flight was en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from Banda Aceh province of Indonesia when it made the emergency landing at the airport in Colombo, spokesman Ikhsan Rosan was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The aircraft landed safely at 9 a.m. (local time) with 338 people on board.

"For safety and comfort of the passengers, the pilot decided to land in Colombo and change the plane," Rosan said.

All the passengers and crew on board the flight landed unharmed. The airline sent technicians to check and make sure if the plane was eligible to resume flight, he added.Washington, April 3 : Saudi Arabia has denied any involvement in the National Enquirer's reporting of Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' extra-marital affair.

A Saudi official told CNN late Tuesday that the kingdom "categorically rejects all allegations that it is involved in any fashion in the apparent dispute" between Bezos and American Media Incorporated (AMI), which publishes the tabloid National Enquirer.

The response came after a veteran security consultant at the tech giant wrote an op-ed over the weekend, claiming that the kingdom had access to the billionaire's phone and had "gained private information".

The monarchy was "intent on harming Jeff Bezos" over The Washington Post (owned by Bezos) coverage of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, wrote Gavin de Becker in a first-person account published in The Daily Beast on March 30.

"Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos' phone, and gained private information," de Becker said.

The private phone messages of Bezos sent to his lover, former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez, were published in The National Enquirer in October.

"As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI (the parent company of The National Enquirer) was aware of the details," added de Becker.

The Saudi official called the allegations "a transparent attempt to damage the kingdom's image and the reputation of its leadership", according to CNN.

AMI told CNN in a statement that it relied on one source, Sanchez's brother, Michael Sanchez, for its story about the romantic relationship.

There "was no involvement by any other third party whatsoever", AMI said.

However, De Becker argued that the first source was the Saudi Arabian government.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, was killed and dismembered in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October.

"In October, the Saudi government unleashed its cyber army on Bezos (and later me). Their multi-pronged campaign included public calls for boycotts against Amazon.com and its Saudi subsidiary, Souq.com," claimed the Bezos security chief.

In a post on blogging platform Medium in February, Bezos accused the publisher of National Enquirer of "blackmail" and "extortion".Chandigarh, April 3 : Upset over not getting a Congress ticket from this Lok Sabha seat, former legislator Navjot Kaur Sidhu on Wednesday said she would have loved if the party had respected a lady and that it is the people who are the actual judge of a candidate.

"It's okay. That is how the party works," Sidhu, wife of Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, told reporters.

Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was re-nominated as the Congress candidate from Chandigarh, which has nearly 6.2 lakh electorates, who will decide its next MP on May 19.

Bansal is likely to be pitted against actor-turned-politician and BJP's outgoing MP Kirron Kher.

Sidhu said she had been holding public meetings in Chandigarh for the past one and a half months.

"I applied for the ticket myself and I was fighting my own case," the former legislator from Amritsar said.

Going one step ahead, she said: "If he (Bansal) needs me, I'll support him. But I do not think he needs me."

She clarified that there was no competition because of his seniority.

Earlier, she said she was a woman representative of the party and she had done a lot of work in Chandigarh and had a clean image.

Thanking supporters, Sidhu in a message posted on her WhatsApp group said: "All team members have been working exceptionally well for strengthening the party and reaching out to people with our vision for Chandigarh and the party's vision for our country. Love, hard work, honesty and compassion and keeping selfless service is the mission of our team."

Another ticket aspirant from Chandigarh was former Union Minister Manish Tewari.

Tewari has been a Lok Sabha MP from Ludhiana.

Thanking the party leadership for reposing faith in him, four-time MP Bansal said: "The Congress is going to form the next government at the Centre as people are feeling cheated by the BJP."

Bansal has contested seven Lok Sabha elections from Chandigarh, winning four of them in 1991, 1999, 2004 and 2009.

Approximately 40,000 new voters have been added since the 2014 elections.London, April 3 : The British Army on Wednesday said that it was investigating a video showing soldiers using an image of opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn for target practice.

The footage, which allegedly showed four paratroopers firing rounds at an indoor practice range in Kabul, Afghanistan, was met with overwhelming condemnation when it surfaced on social media, according to the British media.

"We are aware of a video circulating on social media, this behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects, a full investigation has been launched," an Army spokesperson told the press.

The cellphone footage was first posted on Snapchat, according to the British broadcaster Sky News. It later spread to Twitter and showed the soldiers lining up with guns and firing paint rounds at a larger-than-life portrait of Corbyn.

Brigadier Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said there were currently 400 soldiers from his brigade working with NATO and Afghan partners in Afghanistan, where the footage is thought to have been filmed, the BBC reported.

He said they were doing an "outstanding job in theatre" but this incident would be fully investigated.

A Labour Party spokesman called the behaviour "alarming and unacceptable" but said they had confidence in the Ministry of Defence to investigate and act on this incident.

Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesperson said she was aware of the video but had not watched it, and had called it "clearly unacceptable".

Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, a former lieutenant colonel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, called the video "disgraceful".

Conservative Minister for Prisons Rory Stewart said it was "completely wrong" and the soldiers' behaviour was "outrageous".

Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon called the video "appalling" and welcomed the investigation.

The emergence of the video came at a time of heightened alarm about the safety of MPs as tensions rise over Brexit.Kolkata, April 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, accusing it of running "dynastic rule under the disguise of democracy for 55 years since the country's Independence" and urged people to re-elect the BJP government that has made many "impossible possible" in the last five years.

Without naming the family, Modi said the dynasty politics practiced by them "strangulated the aspirations of the youth, destroyed the dreams of the poor and poisoned the atmosphere of brotherhood with communalism."

"Dynasty ruled the nation in the disguise of democracy. There was dynastic rule in India for 55 out of 72 years since its Independence. Democracy has prevailed for 15-16 years at most.

"It is a big question that why is this country not placed among the top nations in the world in spite of having no dearth of talent, innovation and hard work," Modi said while addressing a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground here on Wednesday.

"The dynastic rule of 55 years throttled the youth forces in the country. Corruption strangulated the hard work, it destroyed the dream of the poor by doing vote bank politics. It polluted the atmosphere of brotherhood with the poison of communalism and diminished the valour of the army," he said.

Taking a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Modi said that Bengal, which once showed the way to the entire nation, was now suffering under the pressure of the dynastic rule of "aunt and nephew".

"Bengal is also suffering under the pressure of dynastic rule. Aunt and nephew are together looting the resources of Bengal and doing injustice to the people," the Prime Minister said.

Giving an account of the significant achievements of his government in the last five years, Modi said the current regime has proved that it has the will power to make all the "impossible possible".

"Starting from surgical strike, air strike or the strike on the space satellite, India is doing things that we only dreamt of five years ago. Did anybody ever think of getting income tax exemption on annual income of up to Rs 5 lakh or 10 per cent reservation for the poor," he asked.

"Did anyone think that corruption charges on the family that considers themselves to be the destiny makers of India could be probed? But now the whole family is on bail because impossible is now possible," Modi said, taking a veiled dig at the Gandhi family.

Ridiculing Mamata Banerjee's mega anti-BJP rally in Brigade on January 19 where leaders of 23 opposition parties came on one stage as a "function", Modi said people from different states came together with the agenda of ousting him.

"They all came here with one agenda -- Modi hatao (oust Modi). What crime have I committed? If providing homes, toilets, LPG connections, electricity and free treatment are crimes, then I have committed them," Modi said.

"The people of Bengal have made up their minds that neither extortion nor hooliganism will be allowed here anymore. Now me and you will together build such a Bengal which will be free from the hooliganism of the Left and the Trinamool Congress," the Prime Minister added.New Delhi, April 3 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission (EC) to decide a complaint alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by the Andhra Pradesh government.

The court was hearing a plea filed by an organisation Jana Chaitanya Vedika which alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government had violated the model code. The organisation made two representations to the EC on March 12 and March 30 seeking appropriate action against the state government to keep the transfer of amounts in abeyance till the date of polling.

Justice Yogesh Khanna asked the Commission to dispose of the two representations by passing a speaking order by Thursday evening.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on April 5.

Representing the Jana Chaitanya Vedika, Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran and lawyer Ashish Virmani told the court that the Andhra Pradesh government on January 25 launched a new scheme named "Pasupu Kumkuma", which was implemented in February. Under this scheme, financial help was provided to women registered with self-help groups to improve their lives and the state government was providing Rs 10,000 cash and a smartphone to every eligible applicant.

"According to the scheme, about 93 lakh women will benefit (from thew scheme) and the financial aid was to be paid in three instalments within three months. It may be noted that there was no budgetary allocation for the said scheme for the year 2018-19. In this respect, two instalments of Rs 6,000 have already been transferred to the accounts, and the last instalment of Rs 4,000 is likely to transferred on April 5, i.e. just before the polling on April 11," the counsel said.

Two more schemes were launched in January -- one was to enhance old age pension amount from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month, while the other AP Annadatha Sukhibhav scheme was for farmers.

The counsel has questioned the imminent disbursal of the amounts under the schemes to the public days before the state goes to polls.

The counsel said that the action of the AP government to transfer the funds under the garb of schemes just prior to the polling is ex-facie mala fide and a deliberate attempt to influence the voters using public money.

If the Andhra government is permitted to proceed with disbursal, it would amount to a serious violation of not only the Model Code of Conduct but also impede a clean and fair electoral process, which is a sine qua non for any democracy, the counsel said.New Delhi, April 3 : Businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minster Kamal Nath, is under the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) "close scanner" in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal as the "dragnet closes in", agency sources said on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the ED informed a city court that Puri had been called for questioning and will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent arrested by the agency in March-end, in the money laundering case.

Puri is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hindustan Powerprojects, one of India's leading integrated power players in the energy sector.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed the agency to interrogate Gupta for three more days after the court was informed by the ED that he needed to be confronted with Puri who was summoned last week to join the investigation on Wednesday.

An ED official, requesting anonymity, told IANS that it was not clear if Puri had joined the probe on Wednesday but confirmed that he had been questioned several times in connection with the contract to supply 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force.

India on January 1, 2014 scrapped the deal with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland over an alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore for securing the deal.

"Ratul Puri was questioned on many occasions in AgustaWestland case for routing the kickbacks. This time, he will be confronted with Sushen Mohan Gupta," said the official.

Asked whether Puri can be arrested, the official said: "We have evidences against him which are to be corroborated. Puri's arrest depends on what investigators find during his confrontation with Gupta. If things go against Puri, he may be arrested this week."

Puri's questioning along with Gupta, who was arrested by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), came after disclosures by lobbyist Rajiv Saxena.

Saxena has turned approver in the case after he was deported from the United Arab Emirates and arrested by the agency here.

Saxena has shared information about Puri with the ED which the agency wants to establish by confronting Gupta, who is suspected of possessing some payment details in the purchase of the choppers.

The ED is probing the case to establish suspected bribes allegedly paid to the "middlemen" when India agreed to purchase the VVIP helicopters.

In December last year, Dubai-based businessman Christian Michel, an alleged middleman in the deal, was extradited to India and lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged there was an estimated loss of euro 398.21 million (Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth euro 556.262 million.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, alleged that he received euro 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

"The money was nothing but kickbacks," the charge sheet said.

The ED investigation found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from AgustaWestland through "criminal activity" and corruption in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)New Delhi/Mumbai, April 3 : The PSBs-led debt resolution plan for Jet Airways is unlikely to be affected by the Supreme Court decision to annul the February 12, 2018 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular on resolving bad debts, sources said on Wednesday.

According to sources in the banking industry, the order that has severe ramifications for several industries may not be applied, on a retrospective basis, to cases in which bank-led resolution plans have progressed smoothly.

"We are studying the order. But it seems the resolution plan for Jet Airways will not be impacted," an industry source told IANS from Mumbai and added the banks would meet on Thursday to take the process forward.

Corroborating the source, another industry insider said: "The first tranche of the Rs 1,500 crore, to be injected into the airline, is expected in a day or two. It de facto will mean the resolution process is active."

The banks are expected to chart out the course of action on Thursday, the day State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar plans to meet the Aviation Secretary in Delhi.

However, Pratap Shankar, Supreme Court advocate and co-founder of New Delhi-based law firm Legal Consultus, said, "The Supreme Court verdict on the RBI circular may derail the Jet's revival plan."

"If the banks' action with respect to the proposed transfer of shares is challenged, the validity of the transfer of the title (i.e transfer of said shares) done by banks under the circular can be challenged," he said.

On March 25, Jet Airways promoter and Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down from the board of the airline and ceded majority control to the SBI-led consortium.

Under the plan, the lenders will be injecting up to Rs 1,500 crore working capital into the airline and converting their debt into equity to revive Jet Airways and sell it by June. The airline owes over Rs 8,000 crore to lenders, led by the SBI.

Under the lenders-initiated resolution plan, the airline will leverage the funding to partly clear dues towards lessors, vendors, creditors and employees in a phased manner. The move will also see Jet re-deploy several of its grounded aircraft.

Further, the company has also converted lenders' debt into equity through the issuance of 11.4 crore equity shares to the lenders' consortium.Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for release publication, distribution or dissemination, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into the United States.

TORONTO and SALINAS, Calif., April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mezzotin Minerals Inc. [NEX: MEZ.H] ("Mezzotin" or the "Company") and Indus Holding Company ("Indus") are pleased to announce that in connection with their previously announced business combination that will result in a reverse takeover of Mezzotin by the security holders of Indus (the "Proposed Transaction"), Indus has completed a brokered private placement (the Concurrent Financing) through a special purpose finance company (FinanceCo) of 3,435,762 subscription receipts (Subscription Receipts) raising aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$40,000,000, all as further described below. Beacon Securities Limited (Beacon) acted as lead agent and sole bookrunner in connection with the Concurrent Financing, on behalf of a syndicate of agents, including Canaccord Genuity Corp., Cormark Securities Inc., Eight Capital and INFOR Financial Inc. (together with Beacon, the Agents). In addition, Mezzotin and Indus announce that they have entered into a definitive agreement dated as of March 29, 2019 (the "Agreement") outlining the terms and conditions of the Proposed Transaction.

Indus is a Salinas, California-based vertically integrated cannabis company with world-class production capabilities, including cultivation, extraction, manufacturing, brand sales and marketing, and distribution. Founded in 2014, Indus offers services supporting every step of the supply chain and an extensive portfolio of products, including Altai Brands, Dixie, Moon, Beboe, Acme Elixirs, and Legal. Indus Distribution, a division of Indus, is a leading distributor of cannabis products, servicing brands and licensed retailers throughout California.

We could not be more thrilled to embark upon this next journey with our employees and investors, says Indus co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Robert Weakley. We look forward to our next chapter and we strive to remain at the forefront of this incredible  and still growing  industry.

Terms of the Transaction

Pursuant to the Proposed Transaction, the existing common shares of Mezzotin (Existing Mezzotin Shares) shall be redesignated as a new class of subordinate voting shares to be created (Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares) on a basis that results in the holders of Existing Mezzotin Shares at the closing of the Proposed Transaction holding, in the aggregate, Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares having a value of C$2.25 million less the amount of Mezzotins working capital deficiency (exclusive of certain transaction costs and liabilities), such valuation to be determined on the basis of an effective price of C$15.65 per share. In addition, Indus will create a new class of voting common shares and a new class of non-voting redeemable common shares (Convertible Shares) and the outstanding shares of Indus (Indus Shares) will be reclassified, directly or indirectly, as Convertible Shares at a rate of one (1) Convertible Share for every one (1) Indus Share held.

Under the Proposed Transaction: (i) non-U.S. shareholders of Indus (and such U.S. shareholders of Indus as may elect to participate) will contribute their Convertible Shares to Mezzotin in exchange for Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares at a rate of one (1) Pubco Subordinate Voting Share for every one (1) Convertible Share contributed, and thereafter U.S. shareholders of Indus who do not elect to participate may from time to time elect to redeem their Convertible Shares in exchange for Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares at the same rate (or under certain circumstances for the cash value of such shares as provided in the share terms for the Convertible Shares); (ii) a designated founder of Indus shall subscribe for non-participating, super-voting shares of Mezzotin (Super Voting Shares) carrying voting rights that would represent approximately 85% of the voting rights of Mezzotin upon completion of the Proposed Transaction (the Resulting Issuer) on a fully diluted basis; (iii) all warrants of Indus shall remain outstanding and thereafter entitle the holders thereof to acquire Convertible Shares on the same terms and conditions and on an economically equivalent basis; and (iv) all stock options of Indus outstanding under Indus existing equity incentive plan and all compensation options shall be assumed by the Resulting Issuer and thereafter entitle the holders thereof to acquire Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares on the same terms and conditions and on an economically equivalent basis in lieu of securities of Indus.

In connection with the Proposed Transaction, FinanceCo completed the Concurrent Financing on April 2, 2019 pursuant to which it issued an aggregate of 3,435,762 Subscription Receipts at a price of C$15.65 per Subscription Receipt to raise aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$40,000,000. The gross proceeds of the Concurrent Financing, less certain associated expenses, were deposited into escrow (the Escrowed Proceeds) with Shorecrest Group Ltd. (the Escrow Agent) pending satisfaction of certain specified release conditions (the Escrow Release Conditions), all pursuant to an escrow agreement dated April 2, 2019 between FinanceCo, Beacon, Indus and the Escrow Agent (the Escrow Agreement). Upon satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions on or prior to the date which is the earlier of (i) July 1, 2019; and (ii) the date on which the Proposed Transaction is terminated, the Escrowed Proceeds shall be released to FinanceCo and each Subscription Receipt shall be converted, for no additional consideration, into one common share of FinanceCo (FinanceCo Share), all as further detailed in the Escrow Agreement and the subscription receipt agreement governing the Subscription Receipts. Also in connection with the Concurrent Financing, FinanceCo issued an aggregate of 197,533 broker warrants (Broker Warrants) to the Agents as partial consideration for their services in connection with the Concurrent Financing, each of which is exercisable to acquire one FinanceCo Share at an exercise price of C$15.65 for a period of 2 years from the satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions.

Following satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions, in connection with the Proposed Transaction, Mezzotin shall acquire all of the issued and outstanding FinanceCo Shares pursuant to a three-cornered amalgamation, and the former holders thereof (including the former holders of FinanceCo Shares acquired upon conversion of the Subscription Receipts) shall each receive one Pubco Subordinate Voting Share in exchange for each FinanceCo Share held. In addition, the Broker Warrants shall become exercisable for Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares in lieu of FinanceCo Shares, otherwise upon the same terms and conditions.

Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including, without limitation, receipt of all necessary third party and regulatory approvals, the delisting of the common shares of Mezzotin from the NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange and conditional approval to list the Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE").

In connection with the Proposed Transaction, the Company is also required to, among other things: (i) change its name to Indus Holdings, Inc. or such other name as is acceptable to the directors of Mezzotin and applicable regulatory authorities; (ii) replace all directors and officers of the Company on closing of the Proposed Transaction with nominees of Indus; (iii) effect a continuance from the Province of Ontario to the Province of British Columbia; and (iv) adopt a new equity incentive plan to replace its existing stock option plan. Requisite approvals for these and other corporate changes necessary to implement the Proposed Transaction were received by Mezzotin at a special shareholders meeting held on January 16, 2019 (the Meeting).

Upon successful completion of the Proposed Transaction, Mezzotin will be required to pay a finders fee to an arms length party in Existing Mezzotin Shares equal to 9.99% of the number of Existing Mezzotin Shares to be outstanding immediately prior to the completion of the Proposed Transaction (after giving effect to the issuance of the finders fee shares).

Further details of the Proposed Transaction are set out in the management information circular dated December 17, 2018 (the Circular) in respect of the Meeting, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Additional details will also be included in a CSE listing statement to be filed by the Resulting Issuer in connection with the Proposed Transaction, which will include business and financial information in respect of Indus. Closing of the Proposed Transaction is currently expected to occur later this month.

It is currently expected that upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, the board of directors of the Resulting Issuer will consist of the following seven directors: Robert Weakley (CEO of Indus); Mark Ainsworth (Executive VP and Co-Founder of Indus); Tina Maloney (CFO and Corporate Secretary of Indus); Stephanie Harkness (Independent Director); Bill Anton (Independent Director), Arthur Maxwell (Independent Director); and Sam Tramiel (Independent Director) and the officers of the Resulting Issuer will consist of: Robert Weakley, CEO; Mark Ainsworth, Executive Vice President; and Tina Maloney, CFO & Corporate Secretary. Additional biographical information on each of the proposed directors and officers of the Resulting Issuer is contained in the Circular.

Trading in the Existing Mezzotin Shares has been halted and will remain halted until all necessary filings have been accepted by applicable regulatory authorities.

For more information please contact:

Mezzotin: Indus: Lawrence Schreiner

Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (416) 496-3077

E-mail: lschreiner@manbancorp.com Renata Follmann

Rossetti Public Relations

E-mail: pr@indusholdingco.com

About Indus Holding Company

INDUS Holding Company is a vertically integrated cannabis company with world-class production capabilities, including cultivation, extraction, manufacturing, brand sales & marketing, and distribution. Founded in 2014 by hospitality veteran Robert Weakley and based in Salinas, California, INDUS offers services supporting every step of the supply chain and an extensive portfolio of award-winning brands, including Altai Brands, Dixie, Moon, Beboe, Acme Elixirs, and Legal. INDUS Distribution, a division of INDUS Holding Company, is a leading distributor of cannabis products, servicing an extensive portfolio of brands and licensed retailers throughout California.

About Mezzotin Minerals, Inc.

Mezzotin Minerals Inc. is a junior company listed on the NEX Board of the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada. The Company recently sold its mineral properties in Zimbabwe, comprising substantially all of its assets, and has subsequently been actively seeking merger and acquisition opportunities.

All information contained in this news release with respect to Indus was supplied by Indus for inclusion herein and the Company has relied on the accuracy of such information without independent verification.

As noted above, completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including receiving approval to list the Pubco Subordinate Voting Shares on the CSE. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the listing statement to be prepared in connection with the Proposed Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Proposed Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Mezzotin, Indus or FinanceCo should be considered highly speculative.

Indus is directly and indirectly engaged in the manufacture, possession, use, sale or distribution of cannabis in the recreational and medicinal cannabis marketplaces in the State of California, which activities will be undertaken by the Resulting Issuer, indirectly through Indus, upon completion of the Proposed Transaction. The cannabis industry is currently illegal under U.S. federal law and enforcement of relevant laws is a significant risk. Additional information on this and other risks factors that the Resulting Issuer will face will be contained in the listing statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has in any way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Transaction nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in the United States, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. 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 Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's and Indus beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's and Indus control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, information concerning the Proposed Transaction, the Concurrent Financing, expectations regarding whether the Proposed Transaction will be consummated, including whether conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction will be satisfied, the timing for completing the Proposed Transaction, expectations for the effects of the Proposed Transaction or the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company and Indus are alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company and Indus to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company and Indus have made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: the ability to consummate the Proposed Transaction; the ability to obtain requisite regulatory, third party and security holder approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction on the proposed terms and schedule; the conversion of the Subscription Receipts; the potential impact of the announcement or consummation of the Proposed Transaction on relationships, including with regulatory bodies, employees, suppliers, customers and competitors; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws; compliance with extensive government regulation; and the diversion of management time on the Proposed Transaction and the Concurrent Financing. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and neither the Company nor Indus undertakes to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company, Indus or persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.New Delhi, April 3 : The Election Commission (EC) has sought details of "Namo TV" from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on complaints filed by the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), sources said on Wednesday.

Launched last week, the channel uses the (political) initials of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is devoted to coverage of his rallies and speeches. Both Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have promoted Namo TV on the social media.

In a tweet, soon after its launch, Modi shared a picture saying the channel will have a "real-time coverage of PM Modi's exciting election campaign and a lot more fascinating content".

The Congress on Monday moved the EC seeking strictures against Modi and the BJP for promoting "Namo TV" as "a political tool" when the model code of conduct (MCC) was in force, and using the government-owned Doordarshan for their election campaign.

It urged the EC to issue "urgent and necessary directions" to the I&B Ministry and DTH service providers to take action against the channel.

The AAP also filed a complaint with the EC stating if permission can be given to a party to have own TV channel when the poll code of conduct was in force.Jammu, April 3 : Lawyer-turned-fashion model Sana Dua will be the brand ambassador for the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, it was announced on Wednesday.

The first runner-up of Femina Miss India 2017 contest, she had also participated in Miss United Continents 2017, and ended up among the top ten.

Officials said Sana has voluntarily offered her services to the state Election Department for educating, creating awareness and motivating the electorate to exercise their franchise to ensure greater participation in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

An advocate by profession and an enthusiastic social activist, Sana would encourage and motivate the eligible youth to register themselves as voters and use their voting rights during the poll process, they said.

Born in 1993 in Assam in a Sikh family, whose roots are in Jammu and Kashmir, she graduated in law and practised as a lawyer before entering the glamour world in 2015.

Recipient of various fashion awards, Sana has actively been engaged in promoting girl child education and "Save Water" campaign in the state.

In a video message, she expressed happiness to be part of this campaign, saying: "Despite belonging to different regions, religions and backgrounds, we all are united by our constitutional right to vote which puts all citizens of India on equal footing without any discrimination."

Reiterating the Election Commission's slogan "No Voter Should Be Left Behind", she appealed the general masses, especially the young voters to celebrate "Desh ka Maha Tyohar" and exercise their right of franchise in the ensuing elections.

Sana said that the youth must ensure their greater participation in these elections to strengthen the world's largest democracy by casting their votes.

Complimenting Sana for voluntarily associating herself with the election awareness campaign, J&K's Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar said that her role as Election Department's Brand Ambassador will give further boost to the electoral participation, especially the youth.

He hoped that the young celebrity shall be a great source of inspiration for the young voters to ensure massive participation in the elections.Lucknow, April 3 : With just a week to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to begin, Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani, who is contesting against Congress President Rahul Gandhi, will address a public meeting in Amethi on Thursday.

A senior BJP leader said that Irani will address a public meeting in Salon assembly constituency area.

It is for the first time that Irani will be campaigning in the high-profile constituency, after the schedule of the polls were announced.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Irani had given a tough fight to Rahul Gandhi on his home turf, getting over three lakh votes as against 4.08 lakh votes polled for Gandhi.Srinagar, April 3 : A Panchayat member was on Wednesday shot and critically injured by militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, police said.

Militants attacked Abdul Majid Dar in his house in Kulgam in the evening, and he has been shifted to Srinagar for treatment as his condition is critical, a police officer said.

Dar was elected as an Independent member in last year's Panchayat elections. Reports said that he had later joined the Peoples Democratic Party headed by Mehbooba Mufti.New Delhi/Mumbai, April 3 : As Jet Airways on Wednesday informed employees that salaries for March will be delayed, the troubles for the beleaguered airline seem to be far from over.

"In the light of the current situation, please note that salaries for March 2019 will be deferred. We will provide you an update on the status of the payout by Tuesday, 9 April 2019," said Rahul Taneja, Chief People Officer, Jet Airways, in a communication to employees.

Salaries are pending since January.

While the airline, hard-pressed for funds, is yet to receive the first tranche of the Rs 1,500 crore, promised by banks as part of the debt resolution plan, its fleet size has depleted to 28, employees and lessors remain adamant on clearance of dues, and legal eagles feel the fate of resolution plan hangs in balance.

While industry sources said the first tranche of fund could be expected in a day or two, the situation has become precariously complicated following the Supreme Court's decision on Wednesday to annul a February 12, 2018 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular on bad debts.

The banks are expected to meet on Thursday to chart out the course of action.

Throughout Wednesday, speculations continued on the number of aircraft that the airline operated, after reports in a section of media that it was operating 15 or less aircraft, which would make it ineligible to operate international flights.

The speculations also stemmed from the airline's disclosure on Tuesday to the bourses that it had grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment to lessors. The disclosure also pulled the company's stocks down over 5 per cent to Rs 251.10 per share.

However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified that the carrier was operating a 28-aircraft fleet.

"Jet Airways continues to fly 28 aircraft as on date. The 15 aircraft reported have already been accounted for and this was only informed to the stock exchange by Jet Airways yesterday (Tuesday)," the DGCA said.

Last month, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said nearly 80 per cent (75 aircraft) of Jet's fleet was likely to be back in operation by the end of April as it would re-induct 40 aircraft by then.

On March 25, Jet Airways promoter and Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down from the board of the airline and ceded majority control to the State Bank of India-led consortium.

Under the debt resolution plan, the lenders would inject up to Rs 1,500 crore working capital into the airline and convert their debt into equity, to revive the airline and sell it by June.

The airline owes over Rs 8,000 crore to lenders, led by the State Bank of India (SBI).

Under the lenders'-initiated resolution plan, the airline will leverage the funding to partly clear pending dues towards the lessors, vendors, creditors and employees in a phased manner.

The SBI also expects the airline to find a new financial investor within the first quarter (April-June) of FY20.

"The management team has been working with lenders and other institutions to finalise a resolution plan, which will help us stabilise operations and build a sustainable future for the airline. However, given the complexities of such processes, it has taken us longer than expected," Taneja said in the communication to employees.

"But please be assured that we continue to strive and are in continuous deliberations with lenders and institutions to find a solution," he said.New Delhi, April 3 : The Myanmar Army is set to impose emergency in its Rakhine state to launch a big operation against insurgent group, the Arakan Army, intelligence sources said.

The move can be taken any time as the Arakan Army had set up several camps comprising of about 1,000 cadres in areas across Mizoram's Lawngtalai district. These areas cut across the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project and the insurgents posed a threat to it.

In view of Arakan Army's activities, the armies of India and Myanmar recently concluded a coordinated operation from February 17 to March 2.

Besides the Arakan Army, the operation targeted the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang, a northeastern insurgent group notorious for attacks against the Indian Army, and having hideouts in Myanmar.

According to a defence source, over 3,000 Arakan Army cadres, in last few months, have been trained by another Myanmar insurgent group, the Kachin Independence Army, in Myanmar's Kachin area which borders China's Yunan province. Both the groups are part of a coalition of insurgent groups called the Northern Alliance, which are believed to be supported by China.

The source said that the Arakan Army is specially being trained on setting up of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and that the group since 2017 has increased its movement towards south Myanmar despite having their bases mostly towards the north of the country.

It is belived that the group have setup over a dozen camps across the International Border with India in Myanmar last year. While Rakhine borders Bangaladesh, the Indian border in Mizoram is not far off.

As per the intelligence input, the Arakan Army has also been planning to infiltrate into India.New Delhi, April 3 : The Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may soon start consultations with each other for working out a revised mechanism on non-performing asset (NPA) resolution on sector specific lines, informed sources said.

However, it is not going to be an overnight process as was done under the February 12, 2018 RBI circular, the sources said, adding that the interim government may issue directions to the banks over sector specific NPA resolutions so that there is no lag in the NPA checking mechanism.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down as ultra vires the controversial February 12, 2018 RBI circular that mandated lenders to initiate resolution or restructuring of loans of Rs 2,000 crore and above within six months from the date of default.

After the expiry of 180 days, the defaulting borrowers, under the now struck down circular, had to mandatorily face proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

"The government does not want to get involved in actions which are under the realms of the lenders and the regulator. The banks have to take these decisions on loan recovery for NPA accounts.

"The Finance Ministry would like new and revised sector specific mechanisms for NPA recovery to be formulated by the RBI in consultation with the lenders and the industry so that the general rule for every sector is not brought upon which can prove disastrous as was seen in the power sector due to the February 12 RBI circular", the sources said.

But till a valid framework is chalked out, the Finance Ministry could explore ways such as issuing directions to the banks so that bad assets resolutions do not suffer, the sources said, adding that it will be the RBI, the lenders and the industry who will be the ecosystem.

On Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said as much at a press conference.

"The RBI will now decide with the present condition of the market as to what's to be done in the absence of the February 12 circular. We will read it and I am sure the RBI will also decide what is to be done with the various aspects contained in the circular," Jaitley had said.

Sources in the government are of the view that the central bank would take appropriate actions following Tuesday's apex court ruling. They also added that the new rules would be based out of consultations with the banks, the government and the industry.

Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NITI Aayog, said on Wednesday that with the Supreme Court striking down the February 12, 2018 RBI circular on NPAs as ultra vires, the issue needs to be relooked at by both the RBI and the government to arrive at a new regulation that will ensure financial discipline of the borrowers.Mumbai, April 3 : IL&FS Non-Executive Chairman Uday Kotak said on Wednesday said that numerous provident and pension funds including those of the Indian Army have exposure to the company's bonds.

IANS has been extensively covering the Army Group Insurance Fund's (AGIF) exposure to toxic IL&FS bonds amounting close to Rs 210 crore.

The development assumes significance as it means that crores worth of insurance premiums, covering all ranks from generals to JCOs and jawans, are at risk of being lost.

The new management of Il&FS under Kotak did not elaborate any specific plan to ensure that PF money is protected. Sources said that various courts are already looking into the matter through a clutch of intervening petitions filed by PF and pension funds including those run by corporates.

Kotak spoke at a press conference here to announce the appointment of Chandra Shekhar Rajan as the company's Managing Director.

Rajan was the Non-Executive Director of IL&FS for the last six months.

So far, Vineet Nayyar was the Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the company. He would now continue to be the Executive Vice Chairman.

"Rajan who was on the board for the first six months in the capacity as Non-Executive Director, effective today is the Managing Director of IL&FS," Kotak said at a media briefing after the IL&FS board meeting.

"I continue to be the Non-Executive Chairman," he said.

In a presentation, the company said that it expects to complete monetisation of its assets by May as the company is in good shape and its assets can be sold.

IL&FS group's total outstanding debt currently stands at Rs 99,354 crore, said N. Sivaraman, the Chief Operating Officer.New Delhi/Mumbai, April 3 : Jet Airway's former Chairman Naresh Goyal on Wednesday said that he has co-operated fully and facilitated the bank-led resolution programme for the company.

Goyal's statement on Wednesday evening comes even as the airline informed employees that salaries for March will be delayed.

The airline, hard-pressed for funds, is yet to receive the first tranche of the Rs 1,500 crore promised by banks as part of the debt resolution plan, its fleet size has depleted to 28, employees and lessors remain adamant on clearance of dues, and legal eagles feel the fate of resolution plan hangs in balance.

In a statement, Goyal said: "I have agreed to sacrifice my every control and interest in the airline with the sole aim to ensure the Jet family's lasting welfare.

"To this end I have conscientiously taken some hard, personal decisions. In extending my fullest respectful cooperation to the consortium of Indian lenders, I have agreed to each and every term and condition laid down by them in a timely manner."

As per the statement, Goyal said: "I have given all facilitation for implementation of the 'Resolution Plan' and signed on the dotted line as required to ensure release of the much-needed funds committed by the Lenders, in order to secure a sustainable future for Jet Airways."

On March 25, Goyal had stepped down from the board of the airline and ceded majority control to the State Bank of India-led consortium.

Under the debt resolution plan, the lenders would inject up to Rs 1,500 crore working capital into the airline and convert their debt into equity, to revive the airline and sell it by June.

The airline owes over Rs 8,000 crore to lenders, led by the State Bank of India (SBI).

The SBI also expects the airline to find a new financial investor within the first quarter (April-June) of FY20.

The day's developments also assume significance as the consortium of banks will meet on Thursday to chalk-out future course of action for the airline.

Industry sources said the first tranche of fund could be expected in a day or two, while the situation has become precariously complicated following the Supreme Court's decision on Wednesday to annul a February 12, 2018 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular on bad debts.

Without fresh funds, speculations continued on Wednesday on the number of aircraft that the airline operated, after reports in a section of media that it was operating 15 or less aircraft, which would make it ineligible to operate international flights.

The speculations also stemmed from the airline's disclosure on Tuesday to the bourses that it had grounded 15 more aircraft due to non-payment to lessors. The disclosure also pulled the company's stocks down over 5 per cent to Rs 251.10 per share.

However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified that the carrier was operating a 28-aircraft fleet.

"Jet Airways continues to fly 28 aircraft as on date. The 15 aircraft reported have already been accounted for and this was only informed to the stock exchange by Jet Airways yesterday (Tuesday)," the DGCA said.

Last month, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said nearly 80 per cent (75 aircraft) of Jet's fleet was likely to be back in operation by the end of April as it would re-induct 40 aircraft by then.

In another development, the airline informed employees that salaries for March will be delayed.

"In the light of the current situation, please note that salaries for March 2019 will be deferred. We will provide you an update on the status of the payout by Tuesday, 9 April 2019," said Rahul Taneja, Chief People Officer, Jet Airways, in a communication to employees.

Salaries are pending since January.Bengaluru, April 3 : Asserting that the grand old party Congress is not the property of a single family, Karnataka's senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S.M. Krishna on Wednesday opposed dynastic politics in the country.

"I have always opposed dynastic politics. If someone is qualified in the party on merits, it's a different issue. But when one becomes a leader by virtue of his or her birth alone, then it is not acceptable," Krishna told reporters here, without taking Congress President Rahul Gandhi's name.

Rahul Gandhi succeeded his mother Sonia Gandhi as the national party's President in December 2017.

In contrast, the 86-year-old Krishna lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was not concerned about his family alone.

"I was attracted to Modi because he is not concerned about his family alone, unlike the Congress," recalled Krishna at a "meet the press" programme here, ahead of the 2019 general elections in the southern state in two phases -- on April 18 and April 23 for its 28 Lok Sabha seats. Vote count will take place on May 23.

The former External Affairs Minister in the UPA-2 government (2009-12) and former Karnataka Chief Minister (1999-2004) resigned from the Congress in January 2017 after four decades of association and joined the BJP in March 2017 in the presence of its national President Amit Shah in New Delhi.

"What I like of Modi is his ability to mingle the BJP's ideals with his personality so well that it is difficult to separate him from the party. It will not be an exaggeration to say Modi is BJP and BJP is Modi in a sense," quipped Krishna.

Krishna, who hails from Maddur in Mandya district, about 100km southwest of Bengaluru, will campaign on Thursday for multi-lingual south Indian actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, who is contesting from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency as an Independent with the support of the BJP.

Kannada-Telugu film actor Nikhil Gowda, son of state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and grandson of Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, is the joint candidate of the JD-S-Congress alliance against Sumalatha in the key constituency, where polling is on April 18.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INTERFOR CORPORATION (Interfor or the Company) (TSX: IFP) will release its first quarter financial results on May 2, 2019. Information related to Interfors first quarter financial results will be available at www.interfor.com/investors .



The analyst conference call is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Pacific on Friday, May 3, 2019. It will feature a brief summary of financial results by Interfor management followed by a question and answer period with analysts. The dial-in phone number is:

1-833-297-9919

The conference call will also be recorded for those unable to join the live discussion. The number to call to listen to the recording is 1-855-859-2056, Passcode 8868218 and it will be available until June 2, 2019.

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:

Martin L. Juravsky

Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

604-689-6873Kozhikode : , April 3 (IANS) Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who arrived here on Wednesday, were greeted by hundreds of UDF supporters, who had been waiting three hours to see them.

Gandhi had sprung a surprise when the Congress announced that he will also contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, apart from the traditional Amethi that has been home to Gandhi family for long, in these elections.

Thursday is the last date for filing of nominations from Wayanad, with polling for all of Kerala's 20 Lok Sabha constituencies to be held on April 23.

Senior Congress leaders including Mukul Wasnik, K.C. Venugopal, Oommen Chandy, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and several others turned up at the airport, which was taken over by the police but found it tough to keep the crowd under check.

Rahul Gandhi spent some time at the VIP lounge with the leaders and he came out of the lounge and waved at the supporters before leaving through the VIP gate.

Reacting to the tumultuous response of the workers, Congress veteran Aryadan Mohammed told the media that in his long political career, he has contested 12 times but never seen such a response as what was witnessed at the Congress President's visit.

"He is going to win with a record margin, you just wait and see," said Mohammed.

"The UDF workers are on a high and it's going to be Gandhi wave, not just in Kerala, but in South India," said Chennithala.

From the airport, the Gandhis drove to Kozhikode to spend the night.

Around 9 a.m. on Thursday, both of them are expected to take a helicopter to Wayanad, even as Gandhi has expressed his desire to take the road route, but this was opposed by the SPG.

A final decision would be taken on Thursday morning, as according to present plans, he is expected to file the nomination papers before 12 noon.Kolkata, April 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fought a vicious war of words during the course of three major public meetings in the state on Wednesday, heating up the electoral battle just eight days before first phase of polling for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

While Modi termed Banerjee "a speed breaker in way of Bengal's development" and claimed her rule in Bengal will come to an end soon, the Trinamool Congress supremo dubbed him an "expiry babu" and a "fascist leader."

Modi, who flew across the length of Bengal on Wednesday to address two mammoth rallies -- one in north Bengal's Siliguri and the other in Kolkata's iconic Brigade Parade Ground, claimed the massive turn out and enthusiasm in both the rallies show that Banerjee's boat had sunk.

"Had I not seen the sea of humanity here, I couldn't have even fathomed that Didi's boat has sunk. Your warnings have reached Didi's ears. Your love and enthusiasm (for BJP) will give her sleepless nights," Modi said at a jam-packed rally in Siliguri's Phansidewa.

"I regret the speed with which we worked in other states, we could not achieve in Bengal. In West Bengal, there is a speed-breaker in the way of your development. People here know this speed-breaker as Didi (as Banerjee is affectionately called)," he said.

Modi accused Banerjee of hindering a number of central welfare schemes in the state, like Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN, and Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and alleged that Banerjee has no concern for the poor as she was proficient in playing the politics of the poor.

He also flayed Banerjee for questioning the success of India's airstrike in a terrorist camp at Pakistan's Balakot, claiming that she has insulted the Indian Army by doubting their actions and asking for proof.

"Tell me who was asking the proof of airstrike? Who doubted it? Who was demoralising the army? Who wanted to see the dead bodies of the terrorists? Who committed the crime of asking for evidence from our soldiers?" he asked the crowd in his Kolkata rally who shouted Banerjee's name.

He claimed Banerjee's reactions showed the Balakot airstrike made her more saddened than those sitting in Pakistan.

Hitting back at Modi, Banerjee, who held a rally in Cooch Benhar district's Dinhata, attacked the Prime Minister as "expiry babu" and claimed that she and the opposition leaders are "true nationalists" while Modi is a "fascist leader".

"I will not call him Prime Minister, he is expiry babu as his government has passed the expiry date," she said.

"Who had murdered Gandhiji? Today, they are talking of loving the country as if only they are the country's friends and the rest of us are enemies. We are nationalists and sorry to say PM, you are fascist," she said.

Taking a swipe on Modi for his barbs on her, Banerjee dared him to come for a public debate.

"If he thinks what he has said is true, he should come for a debate with me. Once he puts questions, I will give all the reply and prove it... Do not tell lies every day. With his 56-inch chest, he is telling 560 inches of lies," she alleged.

She also attacked the saffron leaders for referring the army as "Modi Sena".

"Today they are calling Indian army as 'Modi Sena', who wants to be 'Modi-Sena'? A jawan's respect is very high. Modi knows violence, a jawan sacrifices his life, gives blood for the country. I have heard that EC has mentioned that one cannot speak about the army. Then how can the Prime Minister speak about Modi sena. We will raise a question if no objection is raised," she said.Guwahati, April 3 : Principal Director of Income Tax Sanjay Bahadur on Wednesday said that a total of Rs 3.76 crore has been seized in the northeastern states since the announcement of elections and inquiries have been initiated in 200 cases of suspicious cash deposits and withdrawals from the banks in the region.

Bahadur's statement came after the expenditure observers in Arunachal Pradesh in the early hours of Wednesday seized Rs 1.80 crore in Pasighat area of the hill state where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally around 11.45 p.m on Wednesday.

Opposition Congress alleged that the money was seized from two vehicles used in the Chief Minister's carcade and that it was being taken to be distributed in the rally of the Prime Minister.

"Directorate of Income Tax's independent intelligence gathering initiative has thrown up an alarming fact that huge amounts of suspicious cash have been deposited in banks, including rural and cooperative banks, in the weeks preceding announcement of elections. Similarly, huge amounts of suspicious cash withdrawals have also been made.

"These transactions had so far gone below the radar of routine process of election expenditure monitoring, and ground level intelligence indicates it is highly possible that a substantial part of this cash flow is being misused for vitiating free and fair elections," he said.

"As per the direction of ECI, we have taken several important steps independently to get digital data relating to cash deposits and withdrawals above Rs 10 lakh. This data is being received in batches since past one week and is being analyzed.

"The initial sample data received for few days preceding 31.03.2019 has confirmed the apprehension of our investigating officers that banks are being possibly used as safe conduits to hide and move suspicious cash," he said, adding that the data so far procured is limited to about only 10 days of transactions supplied by just five major banks in the region.

He said that the Directorate is gearing up for massive exercise of investigation in the days to come as data from over 100 banks across North East is expected to be received.

Over 150 officials have been deployed across North East to monitor 112 districts and 12 airports by the Directorate of Income Tax.Hyderabad, April 3 : Former head of McKinsey & Company Rajat Gupta, who spent 19 month in a US jail on charges of insider trading, on Wednesday said he would like to work for the reforms in the US criminal justice and prison system.

The management guru said through his experience, he saw the underbelly of US justice system and feels that much needs to be reformed in it.

"There is lot of suffering, lot of unnecessary waste of human capital. There is lot of cruelty and lot of families are destroyed," said Gupta speaking at the launch of his book "Mind without Fear" at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here.

Gupta, who started many initiatives in education and health, said he had now started thinking about reforms in the criminal justice system as it had a staggering impact.

He said US had the largest number of incarcerated people in the world.

"There are somewhere around 3 million people. If you count them and those who go through the incarceration system again and again and think about their families, it is more than 100 million people impacted by the criminal justice system.

"While I never thought about it before I went through it myself, I have become committed to make a difference in whatever I way I can to reforms in US justice and US prison system," he said.

Gupta, the driving force behind the ISB, shared his thoughts, his experiences and spoke about his mistakes during a conversation with Founding Dean of ISB, Pramath Raj Sinha and while answering questions from students.

He said he was sent in solitary confinement for no reason. He said people in charge of the prison had unchecked power and they make sure that they kill the spirit of the inmates.

He said he had to spend seven weeks in solitary confinement and it was harsh.

According to UN Convention, solitary confinement of than two weeks is a big torture.

Gupta admits that his biggest mistake was to be too busy with too many initiatives.

"Although in every situation I was involved in, I could make a positive difference but at the end, it added up to the hell of a lot which means I did not pay attention to many details that I should have and steered clear of something I should have steered clear of," he said.

Gupta, who rose from being an orphan to an international icon, said he could see many transitions in his career as he never lived in comfort zone.

"If you are too much in comfort zone, change it dramatically, get out of the comfort zone. If you get too much into a comfort zone, you get into a rut and you will not be creative and innovative anymore," he told the students.

About the book title, Gupta said that a mind without fear was an aspiration. "In many instances I took risk without being afraid. Sometimes it failed me as well," he added.Self Storage Manager Logo

E-SoftSys, a total solutions provider for the self-storage industry, today announced that Ace Self Storage, a multi-facility self storage company located in California, has successfully converted all 6 facilities from their legacy system to Self Storage ManagerTM (SSM), the enterprise management software from E-SoftSys.

According to Chad Bailey, Vice President, "We needed a comprehensive management software that is based on modern technology to improve operational efficiencies and to overcome some of the limitations of our legacy system. We decided to convert to Self Storage Manager, which is completely cloud-based, feature rich and provides advanced lead management and revenue management capabilities. The conversion was done in a timely manner and on schedule. We are also happy with the prompt support that our team received during the entire transition period. We are looking to further increase our revenues, reduce costs and improve our customer service by using the suite of applications and integrations provided by Self Storage Manager."

According to Kat Shenoy, President & CEO of E-SoftSys, "We are delighted that our Self Storage Manager product suite continues to meet or exceed client expectations. Ace Self Storage is another example of a multi-facility self storage company that has chosen Self Storage Manager to meet their business goals. We constantly monitor changing market trends and technological advances to enhance our products and meet the rapidly changing needs of the self-storage industry. As the technology space in the self-storage industry is undergoing rapid consolidation, we plan to remain independent and compete aggressively to provide multi-facility storage operators a superior management software alternative.

About E-SoftSys

E-SoftSys offers a complete suite of products and services that include Self Storage ManagerTM - Comprehensive management software for single and multi-facility operators; Online Reservations and Rentals with Electronic Signature & Digital Storage of leases; e-CRM - Fully Integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module, designed specifically for the self-storage industry and multi-facility operators for creating inquiries, reservations, rentals, capture lead to rental conversion ratios, with interfaces to leading phone systems; Call Tracker module to monitor call recordings, capture valuable statistics including lead to rental conversion ratios, cost per lead, capture cost per lead, cost per rental & measure ROI on advertising campaigns; SSM Text Messenger - A cloud based automatic payment reminder and past due alerts system designed to reduce the manager's time on collection calls; SSM Voice Messenger - An automatic voice based collection system designed to reduce the time that store managers spend on collection calls and helps improve cash flow through higher conversion rates compared to email and direct mail; Customer Portal - A self-help interactive portal for customers to view their account history and balance, make payments, enable or disable autopay, schedule move-outs, update their contact information and more; Android Tablet/Mobile Phone based Site Walk Through & Work Order Management Module for site managers to perform lock checks, enter unit maintenance notes, mark units for move outs, create work orders for maintenance activities; a fully integrated Kiosk Module for tenants to pay, reserve or rent units and electronically sign the lease; Other Interfaces - QlikViewTM Business Intelligence and Analytics, call center Integration, API integration to leading website providers, tenant insurance companies, cloud based gate systems and lead aggregators; 24/7 Customer Support - with dedicated team and project manager assigned for large operator implementations, as well as periodic upgrades to the software programs.

Self Storage Manager has been implemented by many single and multi-facility companies in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please contact E-SoftSys at 800-469-1740 Ext. 1, or by visiting http://www.selfstoragemanager.com or click here to email us.

About Ace Self Storage

Ace Self Storage is family owned and operated and is headquartered in San Diego, CA. Starting off operations with 1 facility in 1985, Ace Self Storage has since then developed many more additional sites and continues to focus on the acquisition, development and property management of self storage facilities. They plan on growing further with a goal to ensure providing their customers high quality self storage units, great locations and the best customer service possible.AP Breaks Ground on New Hayden School. We know how these buildings shape the people that use them, and we cant wait to contribute.

On March 20, with the help of Hayden students and staff, Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) broke ground on the new Hayden Pk-12 School, a project partially funded by a Colorado Department of Education BEST Grant.

The new school, designed by Cuningham Group, totals 136,500 sf with the addition and renovation. The 99,000-sf addition will include new middle and high school classrooms, an auditorium, a gymnasium, kitchen and administration offices. Renovations to the existing school, totaling 37,470 sf, will include safety and security upgrades and the reconfiguration of spaces to maximize programming needs.

We look forward to improving this facility for the students and staff of Hayden, said AP Superintendent Rick Sorensen. We know how these buildings shape the people that use them, and we cant wait to contribute.

The school is anticipated to open at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year and is on the CHPS program.AP's 2019 EIC Eagle Award Winners APs breadth of skills and craftmanship greatly benefits the merit shop construction industry.

Adolfson & Peterson Constructions (APs) work on the Natrona County High School Historic Renovations project in Casper, WY and the Estes Valley Community Recreation Center in Estes Park, CO have earned two National Excellence in Construction Eagle Awards from Associated Builders and Contractors. Representatives from the company received the top honor March 27 during ABCs 29th annual Excellence in Construction Awards gala at ABC Convention 2019 in Long Beach, California.

Natrona County High School Historic Renovations projects win came in the General Contractor Historical Restoration/Renovation - $25 to $100 million category. It was phased to work around an occupied high school campus. The 115,000-sf historic portion of the building was renovated to include an updated theater, classrooms and administrative spaces. Demolition of later additions to the original building, allowed for the 145,000-sf addition to include a new competition gymnasium, kitchen, commons and courtyard, library, vocational classrooms and labs.

The Estes Valley Community Recreation Center project took home the award in the General Contractor Institutional - $10 to $25 million category. The project began with renovating the existing aquatic center and reopening it in December 2017 for use. The 52,756-sf multigenerational community space was built as a large addition and includes senior services, library resources, family and youth amenities, meeting rooms and gathering spaces.

We are proud to honor both of these projects with a National Excellence in Construction Eagle Award, said 2019 ABC National Chair Tony Rader, telecom vice president of National Roofing Partners, Coppell, Texas. These projects show not only the exceptional talent in our industry, but the overall commitment to building safely, on time and on budget. APs breadth of skills and craftmanship greatly benefits the merit shop construction industry.

The Excellence in Construction awards program is the industrys leading competition that honors both general and specialty contractors for innovative and high-quality merit shop construction projects. The award honors all construction team members, including the contractor, owner, architect and engineer. The winning projects, selected from entries submitted from across the nation, were judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety and cost.

A panel of industry experts served as the competitions judges. This year's panel included representatives from the Building Owners and Managers Association International, the Smithsonian Facilities Construction Division, the Construction Management Association of America, Engineering News-Record, Design-Build Institute of America and various construction-related firms nationwide.Advocate Shahid Buttar Im running to represent San Francisco in the House because on many of the most pressing needs confronting our country, todays House leadership marches in lockstep with our corrupt and criminal president, rather than demonstrating real resistance or promoting meaningful alternatives, said Buttar.

Shahid Buttar, a Pakistani-American advocate with strong ties to Bay Area technology and art communities, is challenging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her seat representing Californias 12th congressional district in the March 2020 primary and November 2020 general election. Buttars entry into the race follows his emergence from the 2018 primary as Pelosis leading challenger from the Left.

Buttar will challenge Speaker Pelosis refusal to address crucial issues facing the United States, including the increasingly dire climate crisis; our broken and barbaric for-profit healthcare system; mounting wealth & income inequality; and our failed and racist criminal justice system. Buttar advocates for clear solutions supported by a super majority of Americans across political parties, which must be addressed by new voices in Congress.

Im running to represent San Francisco in the House because on many of the most pressing needs confronting our country, todays House leadership marches in lockstep with our corrupt and criminal president, rather than demonstrating real resistance or promoting meaningful alternatives, said Buttar. The challenges facing working Americans have never been more daunting. Income inequality, crushing student debt, the untenable cost of for-profit healthcare, and San Franciscos exorbitant housing market place have combined to force even middle class San Franciscans into precarity. Mass prison slavery has turned back the clock on civil rights. And climate change threatens human life on Earth. Yet House leaders have done almost nothing to address any of these critical issues.

A detailed description and outline of Shahid Buttars platform, as well as his background, can be found here.

An official launch event for Shahids candidacy will be held this Wednesday, April 3 from 6-8 pm at 1114 Folsom in San Francisco. Details for this event can be found here.

Shahid wields substantial experience on issues including civil rights, civil liberties, campaign finance reform, tech policy, and foreign policy, in addition to constitutional law, antitrust law, and judicial nominations. He also wields an extensive background in grassroots organizing and non-profit management, reflected in his work at the Electronic Frontier Foundation as Director of Grassroots Advocacy, and at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (now Defending Rights and Dissent), which he led for six years as the organizations Executive Director. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of the Center for Media Justice, the Fund for Constitutional Government, and Defending Rights and Dissent.

Buttars 2018 candidacy was endorsed by the San Francisco Berniecrats; Progressive Democrats of America (both locally and nationally); the SF Bay Guardian; the SF Tenants Union; Vets for Bernie; and the Brownie Mary Democratic Club, in addition to Medea Benjamin, founder of Code Pink; Jason West, who helped launch the movement for marriage equality onto the national stage; State Department whistleblower and retired state judge Arthur Brennan; Trevor Timm, Executive Director of Freedom of the Press Foundation*; author Cory Doctorow; and UC-Hastings law professor and labor advocate Veena Dubal.*

44 years old, Shahid has lived in the Bay Area and Washington, DC since 2000. He graduated from Stanford Law School in 2003, where he served as Executive Editor of the Stanford Environmental Law Journal and a teaching assistant for Constitutional Law. His writing has appeared in TechCrunch, Truthout, the Huffington Post, EFFs Deeplinks blog, Project Censored, and various legal academic journals, and he has been quoted as an authority by outlets including the New York Times, CNN, the Nation, al-Jazeera, Wired, Democracy Now!, the Intercept, and the Guardian US.

####

Media Contact:

Jay Nichols

408-772-1551

jaycnichols@gmail.com

In my experience, having high-quality experts providing advice and counsel to an organization dramatically enhances the ability to serve your clients. We are now fortunate to have these individuals that have provided such amazing leadership for the AML community -John Byrne, Vice Chairman

AML RightSource is pleased to announce the formation of its Inaugural Advisory Board to convene semi-annually starting in the first quarter of 2019.

The purpose of the Advisory Board is to provide AML RightSource and the overall AML community with advice, counsel, and thought leadership on a variety of issues including enhancing global anti-money laundering (AML) and financial crime prevention practices and promoting private-public partnerships throughout the globe.

The three initial members Nicolas Choules-Burbidge, Marilu Jimenez, and Rick Small all bring valuable expertise and extensive experience and leadership to the AML RightSource Advisory Board as they have done throughout their careers.

Nicolas Choules-Burbidge, a financial expert in the fields of compliance, AML,CFT and sanctions currently provides consulting services to public and private-sector organizations in Canada and internationally. He was previously a senior executive at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) in Canada, where he started and oversaw the AML/CFT and Compliance Division (AMLC) for 15 years.

After retiring from OSFI in 2017, Mr. Choules-Burbidge was appointed by the International Monetary Fund and the Council of Europe as a financial assessor of the FATF mutual evaluations of China and Latvia, respectively. He currently serves as team lead advisor to the Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) in the US Department of the Treasury; Director of Shinhan Bank Canada; and is a consultant to the Monetary Authority of Brunei Darussalam.

Regarding his role on the AML RightSource Advisory Board, Mr. Choules-Burbidge said [I am] delighted to be supporting AML RightSource in developing relevant products and services to help financial and non-financial institutions implement their AML/CFT obligations more effectively.

Marilu Jimenez is a compliance and legal professional with over 25 years of financial institution experience. With specific expertise in all aspects of regulatory oversight, AML, consumer and financial compliance, she currently serves as Founder and Principal of Financial Intelligence Network & Compliance Advisors (FINCAdvisors).

Ms. Jimenezs experience includes supervising the compliance function for Popular, Inc.s operations in Puerto Rico and the United States as the Senior Vice-President & Division Head of the Corporate Compliance Division. Additionally, she has worked with multinational institutions such as Citibank, Puerto Ricos Commissioner of Financial Institutions, and Banco Santander, where she managed the Legal Counsel Office and Corporate Compliance.

Ms. Jimenez is an active participant in the compliance industry, holding several board positions, is a frequent speaker both nationally and internationally, and has been part of the US Treasury Departments public-private sector dialogues with the Latin American AML financial community.

Rick Small brings leading insights on the challenges, strategies, regulatory expectations, and future focus areas for AML and financial crimes at a global level. Currently serving as Executive Vice President, Director Financial Crimes, at BB&T, Mr. Small oversees all of the banks financial crimes compliance programs.

Previously, Mr. Small has held anti-money laundering leadership positions at Ernst & Young, American Express, GE Money, and Citigroup. He gained extensive knowledge and expertise with positions within the U.S. Government, first as a Federal Prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice, followed by Senior Counsel for Law Enforcement at the United States Department of the Treasury. In his most recent government position, he served as a Deputy Associate Director in the Federal Reserve Systems Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation. Mr. Small is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board of ACAMS and the recipient of a number of career awards.

In my experience, having high-quality experts providing advice and counsel to an organization dramatically enhances the ability to serve your clients. We are now fortunate to have these individuals that have provided such amazing leadership for the AML community, stated John Byrne, Vice Chairman at AML RightSource.

Chief Executive Officer Frank Ewing added, We are thrilled to add Rick, Marilu, and Nick to our Advisory Board. Each of them carry immense knowledge of our industry and the trends that will impact the future landscape of financial crime prevention. Having these esteemed professionals on our Advisory Board will undoubtedly help us better serve our clients and carry our business to new heights.

About AML RightSource. LLC

AML RightSource is the leading firm solely focused on Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and financial crimes compliance solutions. We provide highly-trained AML/BSA professionals to assist banks and non-bank financial institutions to meet day-to-day compliance tasks. Services include transaction monitoring, alert backlog management, enhanced due diligence reviews, and financial crimes advisory matters. Our highly trained workforce of nearly 600 analysts and subject matter experts includes the industry's largest team of full time professionals. AML RightSource, a Clarion Capital Partners portfolio company, is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. For more information, visit amlrightsource.com.State v. Fulton (Case #2017A3210201745, Lexington, South Carolina) Ms. Fulton was present with her friends when, unknown to her, one of her co-defendants pulled a gun during an argument and unexpectedly shot a neighbor who later died. Although Ms. Fulton was not the shooter, the prosecutor still charged her with murder under the theory that the hand of one is the hand of all. As a result, Ms. Fulton was facing life in prison. Ms. Fulton contacted NLPA asking that we help her put together a defense team to stop this justice action against her by the government. NLPA asked attorney James Craig to join the team and the battle for justice began. At the preliminary hearing, Mr. Craig was able, with the assistance of NLPA, to secure the dismissal of the charges and release of Ms. Fulton saving her life in prison.

State v. Brooks, (2015-CF-706, Hendry County, Florida). Jathaniel Reggie Brooks, Jr. was arrested on December 4, 2016, on outstanding charges of aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability. Mr. Brooks, a juvenile, was accused of shooting two 18 year-old men (Mr. Simpson and Mr, Lee). Mr. Brooks argued that he was justified in his actions and was acting in self-defense, because Simpson and Lee had a history of harassing and threatening Mr. Brooks and Mr. Brooks was aware that the victims possessed firearms. Mr. Brooks fired in self-defense after being assaulted by the two, while reasonably believing that he was under the threat of imminent bodily harm or death. Specifically, Mr. Brooks believed that the victims were going to shoot Mr. Brooks and his friends. As a result Mr. Brooks was facing a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Mr. Brooks counsel, Charles Murray, asked NLPA to prepare a motion to dismissed based upon the Florida stand your ground statute. The arguments set forth were so compelling that the prosecutor agreed to a plea of no contest. Mr. Brooks received 8 years probation (with early termination of probation after 4 years without violation) saving him 25 years to life in prison.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The government is now looking into the hacking of databases of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), some agencies, and educational institutions.

In a text message to CNN Philippines, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio said the agency's cybersecurity division and the National Privacy Commission "are now in touch with the AFP to investigate this matter."

"We are operationalizing our cybersecurity intelligence platform and the Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center," Rio said.

A group of hackers called "PinoyLulszsec" on Monday hacked into the military database, exposing sensitive information of about 20,000 military personnel.

The hacking was part of the group's annual three-day hacking operation called "April Lulz Day" participated in by the group's affiliates worldwide.

The Philippine Army, for its part, said it is conducting security measures to prevent a repeat of the incident.

"Rest assured that all other data in our network is secured and that further security assessments are being done to prevent a repeat of this incident," Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Army spokesman, said in a statement.

Zagala, however, denied that PinoyLulszsec hacked the military unit.

He said data were hacked in 2018 and have been addressed in January this year. PinoyLulszsec, he added, only exposed the data on Monday to "make it appear" that the the group "was able to commemorate their yearly mischief."

"The data extracted came from exposed dump files of an old database that was being migrated from a third party Internet Service Provider to the Philippine Army Network in December 2018. These files were already addressed as early as January 1, 2019..," Zagala said.

The group was also able to hack into the websites of some government agencies and schools such as the Ateneo de Zamboanga and Technological University of the Philippines in Taguig.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called on the Department of Information and Communications Technology to conduct a thorough investigation on the data breach.

"It is very alarming that not only was the group able to hack and deface government websites, they were also able to access and leak sensitive information of the Philippine Army, including the Army's personnel list," he said.

Gatchalian also urged the government to "take steps to secure critical information structures and government networks," noting that even the Senate lacks "secure connection."English French

OTTAWA, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A diverse group of young entrepreneurs, parliamentarians, and entrepreneurial influencers convened on Parliament Hill Tuesday to attend Futurpreneur Canadas annual Parliament Hill Reception.



The event was a celebration of Futurpreneurs growing and scaling young entrepreneurs, hosted by The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion. Eight Futurpreneur-supported businesses were in attendance, showcasing some of their latest products and services while sharing stories about their entrepreneurial journeys and international growth.

The Government of Canada has been a valued and steadfast partner of Futurpreneur since 2002, said Karen Greve Young, Chief Executive Officer, Futurpreneur Canada. Our annual Hill Reception is our chance to show our appreciation by demonstrating the impact of that support on a personal level. This event is an opportunity for elected officials and other government staff to hear directly from some of the young entrepreneurs who are growing and scaling their businesses across Canada and exporting internationally  building Canadas future economy in the process.

As the global economy evolves and the workplace changes, every young Canadian should be equipped with the right resources and skills to take control of their economic destiny. Entrepreneurship is their platform. With the support of Futurpreneurs financing, mentoring, and resources, young entrepreneurs have built businesses that have fostered economic growth in their communities, even in some of the most remote regions in Canada. Our organization strives to provide a community of support for young entrepreneurs so they can play that leading role in the Canadian economy.

This has been an incredible opportunity to not only thank those who have supported myself and my peers in successfully launching our businesses, but also to showcase to policy makers just how important it is to support the ideas of tomorrow, said Frederic Leduc of Futurpreneur-supported Immune Biosolutions . Economies with higher levels of economic development generally report higher levels of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship and innovation. Knowing this, it stands to reason that a federal government which unconditionally supports youth entrepreneurship, will continue to generate jobs and tax revenue for years to come.

Futurpreneur looks forward to continuing to work with the Government of Canada and our other partners to support young entrepreneurs in every corner of this country. The renewed investment in Futurpreneur, announced by the Government of Canada in the 2019 federal budget, will ensure the organization is providing the right support at the right time to young aspiring Canadian entrepreneurs.

We know that the leaders of tomorrow are the young people of today, said The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion. As a small-business-friendly government, we are committed to helping more Canadians  including youth  start up, scale up, and access new markets. Futurpreneur is a key part of that, helping entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 39 transform their ideas into innovative businesses that will strengthen the national economy.

As we focus on building a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem in Canada, our organization will continue to grow support from all levels of government, as well as corporate and community partners.

Futurpreneur would like to thank the Government of Canada for its long-term investment in our organizations proven model to support young entrepreneurs. Its through this steady partnership that we can continue to fuel the success of those launching and growing businesses in diverse sectors across Canada, as important contributors to inclusive economic growth.

About Futurpreneur Canada

Since 1996, Futurpreneur Canada has been the only national, non-profit organization providing resources, financing and mentoring to aspiring business owners aged 18-39. To date, we have supported over 12,000 young entrepreneurs, and helped launch over 10,000 Canadian businesses, which have created an estimated five jobs per business. Our internationally recognized mentoring program matches these entrepreneurs with business experts from a network of over 3,000 volunteer mentors. Futurpreneur is a founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance, the Canadian member of Youth Business International and the Canadian host of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

www.futurpreneur.ca

Facebook: Futurpreneur

Twitter: @FuturpreneurBlockPark logo

BlockPark Technologies Inc Latest Las Vegas Investment Is A Hit

Las Vegas, Nevada: This week, BlockPark Technologies Inc., announced one of the most interesting and lucrative investment plans that involves real estate and modern blockchain technology. People that have invested in cryptocurrencies are well aware of what blockchain represents. It is a ledger system, one that cannot be compromised, which is why many businesses, as well as countries, are utilizing this for the e-commerce that they do. This is exactly what BlockPark Technologies Inc. is offering with its Las Vegas investment opportunity open to the public for accredited investors only.

The focus of this project, in regard to real estate, is THE DT57. Located in downtown Las Vegas, behind container park, the proposed development project contains two, fifteen story mixed-use towers. There will be 250 residential units, co-working space, restaurants, a tavern, and a rooftop pool. There will also be street-level retail store access which will attract both people and businesses. What makes this investment unique is that it is a ground-floor opportunity that is utilizing BlockPark Technologies (BPT) as a way of funding this investment, and is also the ledger system used between managers and renters that rewards tenants for paying rent on time.

BlockPark Technologies (BPT) is developing a decentralized property management software system using dividend bearing securities called BLOK tokens. Revenue will be generated by selling subscriptions to property owners such as developers, managers, asset holders, and REITs. In addition, BPT holds a 35% equity interest in a commercial real estate company called BlockPark Holdings LLC, the development company currently developing the DT57 Towers.

The most advanced aspect of this investment is the property management software. Although real estate is an investment that can yield profits over time, when you are able to license this blockchain property management system to individual business owners, this decentralized SAAS investment platform will likely be the largest income generator once, and if, it goes global. People once thought that cryptocurrencies were simply a fad until people began to make revenue. That's why this flagship project from BlockPark Technologies might be your way of reversing the clock and getting in at the beginning of something quite lucrative using a true use case in blockchain technology.

BlockPark Technologies Inc. is a business that is looking for investors into this up-and-coming hybrid accounting system that uses BLOK tokens for transactions. As with cryptocurrencies in the past, it may have seemed like a strange investment at the time, but later became one of the best investments that people have made in the last 10 years. Round one is capped at $4.4 million with a $10,000 minimum investment at 0.10 cents a share. Each Block Token is a share of the Companys Class B Non-voting common stock, that represents a share of ownership in the Company and entitled share in any dividends from its software business and its equity interest in BlockPark Holdings. For this seed round, BlockPark is also offering a contractual right to receive distributions of profits originating from the DT57 Towers Project. If you do have the money to invest in this business venture, consider contacting BlockPark Technologies Inc for more information on this outstanding business venture at: http://www.BLOKtoken.ioChisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick Ltd. has awarded its 2019 Child of an American Veteran Scholarship to Ally Niven, 18, of Dunbar, Wis., a nursing student at the Milwaukee School of Engineering in Wisconsin. Nivens winning essay was about how her career choices were informed by her experience as the daughter of a veteran. Her father, Lee Niven, a retired Army Captain served for 18 years.

Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick is a nationally renowned Providence, R.I.-based law firm that specializes in Veterans Law, ERISA Law and Litigation and Bequest Management.

The firm awards its annual $1500 Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick Child of an American Veteran Scholarship to any child of a veteran who is enrolled in an accredited U.S. university or college. Students must have a cumulative 3.0 GPA and submit a 500-word essay. Deadline is Dec. 15. For information, check out our website.

Niven was 8 when her father had a stroke. Our familys world was thrown upside down, she wrote. He recovered and was soon deployed to Iraq with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lee Niven returned with PTSD.

Niven credits the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs with helping her family recover and thrive. Niven would like to work with veterans as a before pursuing a doctorates degree in nursing.

For more information on the firm and its scholarship, contact 401-753-6359.

Nivens full interview and essay is posted here."The introduction of agents on Clearsurance will not only enhance our visitors experience, but also provide more visibility for agents and create a broader distribution opportunity for carriers with agent networks" - Chief Growth Officer & GM, Tim Hey

Clearsurance, the only customer first, online marketplace where consumers find the best rated insurance companies and products, announced today that the ability to rate and review insurance agents is now live.

Clearsurance began receiving customer reviews of car, homeowners and renters insurance companies in December 2016 and will now begin collecting consumer reviews and ratings of insurance agents. The project has been in beta with two insurance companies since earlier this year. In its initial launch, Clearsurance has more than 550 agent profiles live on its platform.

With the addition of agents, Clearsurance is the only site that ties insurance agents, insurance carrier brands, and third party sellers together on one domain. With about 40 percent of consumers buying insurance through an agent, this rounds out the buying process for shoppers using Clearsurance.

Now consumers can view the insurance companies that agents represent alongside their ratings to make more informed purchasing decisions, said Clearsurance Founder & CEO, Michael Crowe.

Clearsurance has created a unique and one of a kind customer experience for insurance consumers to research, shop, and buy insurance without being steered or directed to proprietary insurance brands. More than 102,000 users have submitted over 130,000 reviews on more than 500 insurance companies.

The introduction of agents on Clearsurance will not only enhance our visitors experience, but also provide more visibility for agents and create a broader distribution opportunity for carriers with agent networks, said Chief Growth Officer & GM, Tim Hey.

Agents interested in learning more about having a profile page on the Clearsurance platform can visit the website for insurance agent registration or email agent.info@clearsurance.com.

Carriers interested in learning more about the agent program on Clearsurance can email agent.info@clearsurance.com for more information.

About Clearsurance

Based just outside of Boston, Mass., and founded in 2016 by Michael Crowe, Clearsurance is the first insurance marketplace that allows its visitors to receive personalized and unbiased insurance recommendations based upon customer-driven data from actual policyholders. For more information, visit clearsurance.com.

Media contacts:

Ryan Baillargeon

ryan.baillargeon(at)clearsurance(dot)com

207-671-0920Pharmacy benefits continue to be a challenge for employers across all industry sectors, and chews up approximately half of an organizations medical benefits budget. Our seasoned experts can help our clients solve these challenges while continuing to provide important benefits to their employees.

Confidio - a pharmacy benefit advisory firm  today announced the addition of eight new employees, located throughout the United States.

The firms new hires include:

Adrienne Diestelkamp  As an Account Manager, Diestelkamps experience is focused on the employee benefits and insurance industries. Previously, she was an insurance broker in the small business market and has managed a variety of different employer groups. Adriennes experience working closely with HR teams and members alike has allowed her to foster strong relationships with her clients and supporting their HR team in relation to benefit offerings and compliance. She earned a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Marketing and Management from Spring Hill College and currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.

Whitney Karimah  Karimah will serve as an Account Manager at Confidio. Prior to joining Confidio, Karimah worked for a small software-based wellness company as an account manager where she focused on creating wellness plans and programs for her clients. She also held a position with Cigna Behavioral Health as a care senior associate, which provided her in-depth experience with health insurance, benefits, and how claims are processed and paid. She also has experience in data and analytics, client management, and population health management. Karimah earned her Bachelors Degree from Howard University and lives in Baltimore.

Benjamin Politte  Politte joins the company as the Business Operations Manager. His diverse background in both B2B and pharmaceutical businesses uniquely qualifies him to help Confidio efficiently manage the firms growth. Politte has seven years of direct experience in the pharmaceutical industry, assisting with pharmaceutical trials and analytics. He also worked at Express Scripts as a Senior Business Analyst as well as an Account Manager. He has also held leadership roles, where he spend 10 years helping various organizations grow. He earned his Bachelors degree from the University of Missouri in Saint Louis and his Master of Business Administration and Master of International Business Degrees from Webster University. He currently resides in Saint Louis, MO.

KellieAnne Stritt  Stritt will serve as Confidios Executive Assistant. She has spent nearly 10 years supporting busy executives maximize their schedules as an assistant. Prior to joining Confidio, Stritt supported extensive marketing projects in the marine transportation and construction industries. She is also located in Baltimore.

Jo Lyn Philippi  As an Account Executive, Philippi will leverage her nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare and pharmacy benefits industries. She has served in a number of different capacities including account management, benefits analysis, and auditing. Before joining to Confidio, Philippi worked for ConnectYourCare and Express Scripts, as well as national medical carriers, a TPA, a broker, and a medical claims auditing firm. She received her Bachelors Degree in Marketing and Speech from Ohio Northern University. She currently is located in Ohio.

Jody Hessen  Hessen is Confidios new Clinical Account Executive and has been in the PBM industry for over 25 years, serving in a number of capacities, including both clinical and broader consulting roles. She carefully evaluates client needs, conducts thorough gap assessments, and makes practical, customized recommendations for closing clinical, operational and compliance gaps. In addition, she creates actionable project plans and develops tools to support implementation and operations for her recommended measures. Hessen has been an independent consulting contractor, working for several PBM consulting firms including Visante, The Pharmacy Group, TPG Healthcare Consulting, and Blue Peak Advisors. Her clients included small and large health plans, PBMs, vendors for PBM services (such as medication therapy management), pharmaceutical manufacturers, and other entities. She received her Pharmacy Degree at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and completed the Management Development Program in Health Care at the University of Southern California.

Jake Norman  He will serve as Confidios Regional Sales Director. As an experienced business development professional, Norman is laser focused on developing customized solutions for his clients and ensuring Confidio is well positioned to exceed clients expectations. Prior to Confidio, Jake spent 15 years at Benefit Administrative Systems, a Third-Party Administrator, as a Director of Business Development. Before BAS Jake served in several roles within Express-Scripts, Inc, ending his time there as a Senior Benefits Analyst. Jake holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tassanee Khouri  In her new role, Khouri will serve as Confidios Regional Sales Director. Throughout her career, Khouri has earned escalating leadership roles including responsibilities for client annual strategic planning, revenue growth, client service, and clinical program execution based on a comprehensive understanding of her clients business needs. Prior to joining Confidio, she was on the Account Management team at MedImpact, serving large regional health plans, employer groups and hospital systems. Khouri received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Barnard College, Columbia University and earned her MBA as part of the first graduating class from the Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego. She resides in San Diego, CA.

Hiring eight new executives is certainly an exciting way to start a new year, says Cory Easton, Partner at Confidio. Pharmacy benefits continue to be a challenge for employers across all industry sectors, and chews up approximately half of an organizations medical benefits budget. Our seasoned experts can help our clients solve these challenges while continuing to provide important benefits to their employees.

Further signifiying its positive growth and expansion, Confidio recently ranked second on the Baltimore Business Journals Largest Employee Benefits Administrators in Greater Baltimore List. This was up from the fifth position in 2017.

About Confidio

Confidio is a technology enabled pharmacy consulting firm whose mission is to solve client pharmacy problems today, while keeping an eye on tomorrows needs. The experience, intellect, and foresight of the Confidio team is supported by proprietary technology that elevates and validates the firms effectiveness. Today, Confidio serves hundreds of clients nationwide, representing millions of members. Working from locations across the U.S., Confidio experts are strategically situated to be available where and when they are needed by clients and their employee benefit advisors. More information on the firm is available at http://www.confidio.com.AHN McCandless-Neighborhood Hospital

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and Highmark Health officials today joined local community leaders and EMS crews to celebrate a milestone in the construction of a new neighborhood hospital being built in McCandless  the raising of the structures final steel beam. Located at the corner of Duncan Avenue and McKnight Road in the McCandless Crossing Shopping Center, AHN McCandlessNeighborhood Hospital is expected to start seeing patients later this year.

The 4-story, nearly 50,000-square-foot facility is one of four neighborhood hospitals AHN is building across western Pennsylvania as part of its $1 billion investment to expand access to convenient, close-to-home health care services. Other locations for the small-format hospitals include Brentwood, Harmar, and Hempfield.

AHN is partnering with Texas-based Emerus, the nations leading developer and operator of neighborhood hospitals, to build and manage the new facilities. Pittsburgh-based Rycon Construction is leading the construction of the hospitals.

Unlike standalone emergency departments or urgent care centers, AHN McCandless will be a fully licensed hospital that is open 24/7. In addition to an emergency department and a 10-bed inpatient unit, AHN McCandless will provide diagnostic imaging, including CT and X-ray, as well as laboratory and other complementary medical services. It will be staffed by board-certified physicians, nurses, and other experienced health care professionals, all of whom are aligned around a high-quality care model.

AHN McCandless also will be a home to AHNs womens health services, including its infertility program. Area women and couples will have on-site access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other therapies in reproductive medicine.

Among numerous patient-friendly design elements, AHN McCandless will feature nursing stations uniquely configured to maximize sightlines and accessibility, allowing staff to easily monitor exam rooms and minimize response times. CT and X-ray procedure rooms will accommodate patients of any age, with adjacent observation rooms that keep families together during procedures. An onsite lab will expedite testing processes so patients dont have to wait long for results.

AHN McCandless will be closely integrated with the networks other key facilities in the North Hills, including the Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion, Pediatric Orthopaedic Institute, and the AHN McCandless medical office building just up McKnight Road. When more comprehensive care is needed, the hospital will provide a smooth transition to full-service AHN facilities and other providers.

###

About the Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network (AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is composed of eight hospitals, including Allegheny General Hospital, its flagship academic medical center in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Canonsburg Hospital in Canonsburg, Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh and Westfield Memorial Hospital in Westfield, NY. The Network provides patients with access to a complete spectrum of advanced medical services, including nationally recognized programs for primary and emergency care, cardiovascular disease, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, womens health, diabetes and more. It also is home to a comprehensive research institute; Health + Wellness Pavilions; an employed physician organization, home and community based health services and a group purchasing organization. The Network employs approximately 20,000 people, has more than 2,400 physicians on its medical staff and serves as a clinical campus for Drexel University College of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.

About Emerus

Emerus is the nations first and largest operator of neighborhood hospitals. Emerus partners with leading health systems to provide excellence, empathy and innovation in health care delivery through a network of efficient, value-based neighborhood hospitals and acute care facilities. The Emerus network brings high-quality, patent-centric acute episodic and ambulatory clinical services to communities across a given market. This helps patients by positioning best-in-class provider services in the communities where they work, live and play. Emerus distinctive level of care earned the Guardian of Excellence Award for Superior Patient Experience in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. More information is available at http://www.emerus.com (http://www.emerus.com).Forget what youve heard. Yoga is no longer a practice reserved exclusively for the privileged few: wealthy, thin, young, flexible, white and able-bodied. Yoga benefits all bodies regardless of their shape, size, age, ethnicity or ability.

Dianne Bondy, social justice activist, accessible yoga teacher, and the leader of the Yoga For All movement, today announced the publication of her first book, Yoga for Everyone: 50 Poses for Every Type of Body. The full-color guide documents 50 common poses found in yoga classes today and their variations using a diverse group of yogis to demonstrate the poses. Ten unique sequences and real-life stories from the models featured in the book encourage readers to embrace their bodies as deserving of a yoga practice customized specifically for them.

Forget what youve heard. Yoga is no longer a practice reserved exclusively for the privileged few: wealthy, thin, young, flexible, white and able-bodied, said Dianne Bondy. Yoga benefits all bodies regardless of their shape, size, age, ethnicity or ability. Its time that yoga be made available to anyone who wishes to practice.

Yoga participation is on the rise, nearly doubling in the past six years, from 20 million participants in 2012 to nearly 37 million participants in 2018. Increasing numbers of yoga practitioners are coming to the mat in older, larger, and differently-abled bodies. Yoga for Everyone welcomes each individual to the practice, giving them permission to customize each pose to fit their bodys unique needs.

ABOUT DIANNE BONDY

Dianne Bondy is a leading voice of the Yoga for All movement. Her inclusive approach to yoga empowers thousands of practitioners around the worldregardless of shape, size, ethnicity, or ability. She is revolutionizing yoga by educating yoga instructors around the world on how to make their classes welcoming and safe for all kinds of practitioners. Diannes been featured by many media outlets, including Yoga International, Elephant Journal, The Guardian, Huffington Post, ESPN, Cosmo, and People. Shes also a leading spokesperson for Accessible Yoga, Gaiam, and the Yoga & Body Image Coalition. Learn more about Dianne on her website at diannebondyyoga.com.Lounge Lizard is a New York Website Design company that is recognized within the web design and development industry for their amazing designs along with providing digital marketing services. Lounge Lizard's brandtenders are creative, tech-savvy, and passionate in developing innovative strategies that drive conversion for both startup and established clients of all industries, making them the "best of breed since 1998."

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a marketing long-game, built on the concept of steadily increasing a websites ability to rank for important terms and show up higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs). This in turn helps drive more organic traffic to a website which creates an opportunity for more leads and conversions. SEO, however, is not something easily mastered and there are a host of common mistakes that businesses make which will decrease rankings rather than increase them. Today the Website Design Company, Lounge Lizard, shares the 5 Most Common SEO Mistakes on a Website.



Not having a mobile friendly website  Any business that does not have a mobile friendly website is severely hampering their ability to rank highly for virtually anything. The mobile-friendly ranking algorithm that Google released in 2015 was just the start of Mobilegeddon with things only getting worse regarding penalties for sites that are not optimized for mobile viewers. The reasoning is simple; a majority of Googles users are on mobile devices therefore that group is only going to want to visit websites that cater to their choice of device. Between the algorithm update and mobile-first indexing, sites which are not mobile friendly are missing out on potential traffic along with facing a reduction in rankings as competitor sites which are mobile friendly are likely to leap-frog over them.

Slow website speed  Right behind being mobile friendly is site speed when it comes to common SEO mistakes. A slow website tends to have a high bounce rate, which is a factor in rankings as it is representative of customer satisfaction. Users who find what they are looking for arent immediately bouncing from a website. Slow site speed can also affect site performance and the ability to convert users quickly. People simply do not wish to wait more than a second or two for a site to render and be usable. Googles PageSpeed Insights is an excellent free tool which can help diagnose slow website speed issues.

Content lacking value  Some people rank content with terms such as high or low quality. The bottom line is that content on a website needs to provide value. There can be some mid-quality content that provides good value to an audience along with high-quality content that provides little or no value. It isnt just about creating a beautiful, well-crafted piece of content, although that does help. The content needs to specifically provide value to the target audience. Fresh content should regularly be created that addresses the audiences needs with a goal of medium to high-quality for all pieces of content created. Updating or removing older content that lacks value can also help increase your SEO rankings as content is rated on the whole and low-value pieces will drag a sites rankings down.

Excessive keyword use  Keywords serve a specific purpose in helping search engines determine the focus on content, including webpages, blogs, etc. It is important to understand that adding more keywords does not make content or pages more relevant and using too many can have the opposite effect where pages are ranked lower because the excessive use affects readability. Generally speaking, the target keyword should appear once in the title, once in the headline, 2-3 times naturally within the content, and once in the meta description. LSI keywords and terms can be used as alternatives to prevent excessive use on a page or in an article.

Broken site links  Broken links and excessive 404 errors can create a couple of problems for a website. To start, they increase the bounce rate because users cant find what they want and leave, which also negatively affects the user experience. Broken links also make it much harder for a search engine to properly index a site which could lead to important pages not even showing up in the index. Broken links should be a focus of regular site audits and 404 pages should be reinvented to provide a better user experience.

Lounge Lizard is an award-winning, high-end design boutique specializing in website and mobile app development, social media agency, UX/UI, branding, and digital marketing. Lounge Lizard excels in creating the ultimate brand strategy, fully loaded with expertly crafted visuals that work together to increase sales and effectively communicate a client's unique personality.

Media Contact: Ken Braun, Lounge Lizard, 631-581-1000, ken.braun(at)loungelizard.comMr. Ryan Bunch We are very excited that Ryan is joining ESI. Ryan has tremendous experience and talent that will greatly benefit our customers, and our organization.

Environmental Specialties International (ESI), the largest contracted installer of geosynthetic lining materials in the United States, is pleased to welcome Ryan Bunch to its team as Project Manager.

Before joining ESI, Ryan worked at Southern Company for 14 years. During the past 10 years, Ryan worked in the companys engineering & construction services department managing contracts and the construction of capital projects for the companys generation facilities. Ryan has extensive experience managing capital projects involving ash pond closures, dry ash landfill closures, CCR handling technology, package boilers, flue gas desulfurization (FGD) units, and SCRs. Ryan recently successfully completed a 110 acre ash pond closure and a 26 acre ash landfill closure at Plant Watson in Gulfport, MS. Both sites were closed using a unique synthetic turf closure system (referred to as ClosureTurf) installed by ESI. These sites were the first in the state of Mississippi to install the unique closure system.

Ryan adds considerable experience for coal ash containment applications, synthetic turf closure expertise, and excellent overall industry experience that is very beneficial. We are very excited that Ryan is joining ESI, stated Mark Dillon, President of ESI. Ryan has tremendous experience and talent that will greatly benefit our customers, and our organization.

Ryan and his family are relocating to Baton Rouge, LA (ESI's corporate headquarters). We welcome Ryan to the ESI family.

About Environmental Services, Inc.

Environmental Specialties International, Inc. (ESI) is the largest contracted installer of geosynthetic lining materials in the United States. The company has installed 2.5 Billion square feet of geosynthetic liners, involving 2,000 projects in all 50 states. ESI provides geosynthetic material supply and installation services to the power, waste, oil and gas, mining, water, and other related industries. The company also a leading supplier and installer of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic pipe systems for the transportation of liquids and gas in related industries. For more information visit esiliners.com.Estes Forwarding Worldwide Along with making new connections and promoting our HomeNOW home delivery services, the event is an opportunity to reconnect with current EFW clients and partners, and stay on top of industry trends in a segment of the industry that is experiencing tremendous growth. - Scott Fisher, President & CEO

Estes Forwarding Worldwide, a leading domestic and international freight forwarder in the United States who specializes in custom logistics solutions will be represented by members of their executive and sales teams at the 2019 Home Delivery World event in Philadelphia from April 3-5 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Largely considered the industrys largest retail logisitics event, the EFW team will promote their HomeNOW home delivery services.

Estes Forwarding Worldwide delivered over 440,000 e-commerce shipments in 2018 and home delivery services are the fastest growing business segment within the companys network.

We are excited to participate in Home Delivery World as an exhibitor again this year, said Scott Fisher, President and CEO of Estes Forwarding Worldwide. Along with making new connections and promoting our HomeNOW home delivery services, the event is an opportunity to reconnect with current EFW clients and partners, and stay on top of industry trends in a segment of the industry that is experiencing tremendous growth.

Along with Scott Fisher, President and CEO and Lance Harcrow, Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations, key members of the organizations sales team will attend the event from April 3-5, 2019, which will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Estes Forwarding Worldwide Home Delivery World event location is exhibit space 320.

About Estes Forwarding Worldwide (EFW)

EFW is a leading domestic and international freight forwarder in the United States providing customized logistics solutions for clients around the world and across all industries via air, ground and ocean freight. A subsidiary of Estes Express lines and located in Richmond, Virginia, EFW is uniquely backed by Estes Express Lines extensive line haul network providing EFW clients with a hybrid transportation network. The company has received industry awards including Specialty Carrier of the Year and E-Commerce Delivery Carrier of the Year and has been recognized by Global Trade Americas as a leading 3PL to watch. To learn more about EFW, please visit the companys website at http://www.EFWnow.com.FEIG ELECTRONIC We have feedback from our customers who tested the CPR74 and found that the transaction speed was twice as fast reading MiFARE DESFire cards and three times faster reading other MIFARE transponders, in comparison to a competitive card reader,

FEIG ELECTRONIC, a leading global supplier of radio frequency identification (RFID) readers and antennas, with fifty years of industry experience, announces the release of firmware version V.01.05.00 for their CPR74 NFC reader module to support high-level, cryptographic encryption functions of NXP Semiconductors MIFARE DESFire EV2 and NTAG 424 DNA product protocols.

Version V01.05.00 adds to the long list of transponders directly supported in the CPR74 which now includes MIFARE DESFire EV2, MIFARE DESFire Light and NTAG 424 DNA Authentication Chips; contactless ICs that are designed for solution developers and system operators building reliable, secure, interoperable and scalable contactless solutions.

The CPR74 is a small, board-level OEM reader module measuring 50mm by 68mm. Its designed for embedded integration into terminals, kiosks, vending machines, turnstiles, and other devices that target smart card solutions in identity, access, loyalty, and micro-payment applications, in transport schemes and smart secure product tagging applications.

The module outputs 450 milliwatts of RF energy providing greater reading distances compared to a typical low power NFC reader. MIFARE DESFire EV2 offers an improved operating distance and when combined with the power output of the CPR74, creates the best in class reading distance. Because the MIFARE DESFire chip becomes energized at a greater distance from the reader, command execution times begin milliseconds faster improving transaction speed. Additionally, FEIGs API Command Queue further improves transaction time; allowing multiple APDU commands to be issued to the reader in a single command packet. The module then executes the series and returns a status of the execution. This technique eliminates the latency associated with issuing single APDU, providing the best in class transaction time making the CPR74 the most capable and flexible NFC reader available in the market.

We have feedback from our customers who tested the CPR74 and found that the transaction speed was twice as fast reading MiFARE DESFire cards and three times faster reading other MIFARE transponders, in comparison to a competitive card reader, said Klaus Schoeke, Vice President of Technical Sales for FEIG ELECTRONIC.

All cryptographic functions established in the secure messaging scheme of the MIFARE DESFire EV2 and NTAG 424 DNA are performed by the CPR74 firmware making application development for the card reader much faster and more straightforward since the developer is not required to have an understanding of the lowest level functions of the protocols challenges, authentication, and encryption.

The CPR74 has an integrated onboard antenna as well as an external remote antenna port that is multiplexed with the onboard antenna. The antenna functionality is configurable and may be used as addressable individual read points.

The CPR74 reader supports the complete range of MIFARE ICs as well as the new NTAG 424 DNA line. NTAG 424 DNA is an attack resistant, certified chip platform, providing AES-128 cryptographic operation for security and privacy in NFC smart product applications, to fight against counterfeiting and grey market activities. In addition, the NTAG 424 DNA TagTamper variant is used to detect product tampering. The CPR74 also supports the recently introduced MIFARE DESFire Light, a next-generation lightweight version of the MIFARE DESFire family that simplifies the introduction of single application contactless services.

The MIFARE DESFire EV2 IC fulfills the requirements for fast and highly secure data transmission, flexible memory organization and is interoperable with existing contactless infrastructures. Future MIFARE IC releases will incorporate the advanced encryption standard, said Martin Liebl, senior director product management smart mobility and retail at NXP Semiconductors. FEIG customers are able to future proof their RFID enabled products and extend their product life cycle through FEIGs firmware releases that extend support to the

latest silicon releases brought to market by NXP.

Companies that use the CPR74 as their card reader platform are able to update existing deployments of the FEIG module simply to the latest silicon releases offered in the market. The firmware is available for download at no charge to FEIG customers.

Smartrac Technology Group, a global leader of RFID products and IoT solutions further commented: "We are keen to use FEIGs CPR74 for DESFire EV2 authentication in order to provide secure keys, encode memory and lock access in NXP's NTAG 424 DNA chips, supporting our portfolio of secure authentication RFID inlays and tags, said Sebastian Zeidler, Senior Subject Matter Expert at Smartrac. For customers seeking to migrate to a high level of security, FEIG ELECTRONIC is a great choice because of its speed and high capability to support a large number of protocols."

About FEIG ELECTRONIC

FEIG ELECTRONIC GmbH, a leading global supplier of RFID readers and antennas, is one of the few suppliers worldwide offering RFID readers and antennas for all standard operating frequencies: LF (125 kHz), HF (13.56 MHz), UHF (860-960 MHz). A trusted pioneer in RFID with more than 50 years of industry experience, FEIG ELECTRONIC delivers unrivaled data collection, authentication, and identification solutions, as well as secure contactless payment systems. Readers from FEIG ELECTRONIC, which are available for plug-in, desktop and handheld applications, support next-generation contactless credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, NFC and access control credentials to enable fast, accurate, reliable and secure transactions. For more information, visit: http://www.feig.de/en

About Smartrac

Smartrac is a global market leader in RFID products and IoT solutions, providing both ready-made and customized offerings. We make products smart, and enable businesses to digitize, identify, authenticate, track and complement products and solutions. Our portfolio is used in a wide array of applications such as animal identification, automation, automotive, brand experience, industry, library and media management, laundry, logistics, retail, supply chain management and many more. Leveraging our global Research & Development Centers, production and sales network, and IoT solutions platform Smart Cosmos, we embed intelligence into physical products, empowering the ecosystem of connected things. Smartrac has its registered headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For more information, visit http://www.smartrac-group.com, follow Smartrac on Twitter or sign up for a quarterly newsletter.Danish English

ANNOUNCEMENT

A.P. Mller - Mrsk A/S  Management Change

End June 2019 Claus V. Hemmingsen will step down as Vice CEO of A.P. Mller  Mrsk A/S (APMM) and as CEO of the Energy division and leave the company having successfully concluded the separation of the oil and oil related businesses from APMM. The Energy division will close down at the same time.

Management (the Executive Board) will hereafter consist of CEO Sren Skou, CFO Carolina Dybeck Happe, Vincent Clerc, Sren Toft and Morten Engelstoft.

Claus V. Hemmingsen joined APMM in 1981 as a shipping trainee. He has over the years held various management positions including CEO of Maersk Drilling A/S. In 2007 he became member of the Executive Board and has been Vice CEO of APMM and CEO of the Energy division since 2016.

Copenhagen, 3 April 2019

Contact persons:

Executive Vice President, Lars-Erik Brene, tel. +45 3363 3607

Head of External Relations, Signe Wagner, tel. +45 3363 1901

Page 1 of 1

AttachmentKimble Applications, the global leader in Professional Services Automation, has been recognized on a list of Europes Fastest Growing Companies by the Financial Times (FT).

Research by the prestigious publication in conjunction with Statista placed Kimble among the European businesses with the highest compound annual growth rate in revenue between 2014-2018. Kimbles revenue growth over the period was 56 percent and its absolute revenue growth was 280%.

We are delighted that the Financial Times has placed Kimble in the list of 1,000 of Europes most dynamic companies, said Kimbles Chief Executive Officer Sean Hoban. This is a recognition of the fact that Kimble is increasingly being selected by enterprise and multinational businesses from diverse industries to help drive business efficiency and resource optimization. There is a growing awareness of Kimble in the US where we now do more than half of new business, and also in Germany and the rest of the DACH region.

The news comes as Kimble was listed on top of the independent review site G2 Crowd Momentum Grid Report for PSA for a second time. Kimble scored highest of any PSA for Enterprise, with almost all reviewers saying they were likely to recommend the software. Kimble also was the highest ranking leading PSA on the Enterprise Grid for meets requirements, ease of doing business, product going in right direction and quality of customer support. In the overall grid, Kimble scored highest among leading PSAs for return on investment (ROI), and user adoption.

Last year, Kimble secured investment from Accel-KKR, a leading Silicon Valley technology-focused investment firm, and opened offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta and moved into new headquarters in London and Boston.

Kimble Applications helps professional service organizations run their project-based businesses better. Global leaders in consulting, software and hi-tech such as NTT Data, TCS, Sage and Canon use Kimble to optimize resource utilization, profitability and business scalability. Kimble is the only leading software vendor that focuses exclusively on professional services automation (PSA), putting all its energy into innovating features and easy-to-use functionality that improve team collaboration and efficiency around the key services processes. Built to work seamlessly with CRM, Kimble drives a forward-looking focus and more timely decision making with intelligent insights and guidance.Fourth Logo

WHAT:

The Restaurant Leadership Conference (RLC) is an invitation-only event that brings together the most progressive and influential individuals in the restaurant industry. On day one of the four day conference, Fourth, the provider of the industrys leading hospitality operations platform, will host a session titled, The Power of Predictability. During the 45-minute session, Fourth will reveal how predictive technology can help restaurant operators unlock business success and drive profitability. Fourth will also discuss the importance of Weighted Mean Absolute Percentage Error (WMAPE) when accurately forecasting restaurant performance.

WHO:

Karina Coen, director of labor productivity at Fourth

Karina has 16 years of experience working for independent and multinational hospitality organizations in both operational and functional roles. As director of labor productivity at Fourth, she is passionate about working with businesses to execute brilliantly, turning strategic plans into specific results for growth and productivity.

James England, senior vice president of strategic partnerships at Fourth

James has worked in the hospitality industry his entire career, including seven years in hotel management for Scandic and the InterContinental Hotels Group, followed by an additional seven years at Oracle/Micros before joining Fourth in 2002. Based in Fourths New York City office, he is responsible for developing strategic partnerships in the U.S. In his spare time, he runs, cycles, skis, swims and is a keen traveler.

Johnny Wilkinson, head of workforce management technology at Fourth

Johnny is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for mathematics and data. Hes developed multiple software solutions for the hospitality sector over the past 15 years, including Fourths labor productivity tool. In 2013, he joined Fourth as head of workforce management technology, leading the data science department. He believes that all businesses are becoming more and more reliant on large volumes of data, and that data science and machine learning are key to optimizing processes and decision-making.

WHEN:

Tuesday, April 9, 2019, 12:30 p.m.  1:15 p.m., MT

WHERE:

Session Title: The Power of Predictability

Sonoran D

JW Marriot Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa

5350 E Marriott Dr., Phoenix, AZ 85054

For more information and to register, https://restaurantleadership.com/

About Fourth

Fourth provides complete, end-to-end restaurant and hospitality management solutions that empower operators to optimize profits, enhance guest satisfaction, improve employee engagement and scale profitably. Developed by hospitality professionals for hospitality professionals, Fourth offers an intuitive, all-in-one hospitality operations technology platform for purchase-to-pay & inventory and workforce management - underpinned by advanced demand forecasting, predictive analytics and collaboration tools. Additionally, Fourth provides unmatched access to full-service, hospitality-specific payroll, benefits and HRO services. Founded in 1999, Fourth serves more than 1,200 customers in 60 countries, including many notable hospitality brands in the U.S. such as Bar Louie, TGI Fridays, FoodFirst, Sharis, Pinstripes, Dairy Queen, Soho House and Le Pain Quotidien. To learn more, visit http://www.fourth.com or follow on Twitter @fourthnews.SRTHub and Microsoft Azure will enable broadcasters and studios to transport live and on-demand video content globally with low latency and increased security and reliability

Haivision, a leader in video streaming solutions, today announced SRTHub, a new media routing cloud service that enables broadcasters to securely and reliably transport live video globally for contribution, production, and distribution workflows.

SRTHub streamlines field contribution by routing media from IoT-connected video encoders to production facilities, and enables low latency live streaming and fast file transfer using the SRT protocol and Microsoft Azure. This reduces complexity and shortens time-to-air for breaking news and live events content.

SRTHub also delivers scalable and intelligent routing of live linear 24/7 channels and live events for distribution to OTT data centers or affiliates. In combination with Azures global reach, network quality and network capacity, SRTHub provides broadcasters a cost-effective and agile alternative to satellite transmission.

SRTHub makes it easy for broadcasters to spin up streams from anywhere in the world so that they can flexibly transport live news and events content to production centers across the globe, said Peter Maag, Chief Marketing Officer, Haivision. SRTHub takes full advantage of the latest capabilities of Microsoft Azure and is based on a fully automated and scalable architecture, so broadcasters can integrate their current workflows and benefit from using SRT in the cloud.

Powered by the SRT protocol and Azure, SRTHub leverages the public internet and Azure containers to intelligently route media across the Azure backbone between any of the 52 Azure regions located worldwide. Furthermore, SRTHub also takes advantage of the Microsoft IoT framework for discovery, provisioning, and communication with paired devices such as encoders and gateways.

SRTHub and Microsoft Azure will enable broadcasters and studios to transport live and on-demand video content globally with low latency and increased security and reliability, said Sudheer Sirivara, General Manager, Azure Media, Microsoft Corp. Were excited to work with SRTHub to provide native connectors for Azure Media Services and enable an open ecosystem of partners so customers can more easily build world-class media contribution, live routing, and delivery workflows.

SRTHub can route media into and out of third-party broadcast systems through connectors, called Hublets, that extend the platforms capabilities. SRTHub will provide an open partner ecosystem enabling any partner to build Hublets for SRTHub on Azure.

At the NAB Show 2019 conference in Las Vegas, April 8-11, Haivision will demonstrate SRTHub in the Microsoft booth SL6716 and in the Haivision booth SU6714. Haivision will also demonstrate SRTHub with Microsoft at Avid Connect 2019 at the Aria on April 6-7. To book a meeting with Haivision at the NAB Show, register here.

About Haivision

Haivision is the leader in live video streaming technologies, providing more than 25,000 organizations globally with video solutions that help them stream broadcast-quality, low-latency video from anywhere. Founded in 2004, Haivision is a profitable, privately held company with headquarters in Montreal and Chicago, and regional offices located throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle-East and APAC. To help solve the worlds most difficult video streaming challenges, Haivision open sourced its award winning SRT low latency video streaming protocol in 2017 and founded the SRT Alliance, which now has over 200 industry leading companies supporting this new standard. Awarded an Emmy for Technology and Engineering from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Haivision is also recognized as one of the most influential companies in video by Streaming Media and one of the fastest growing companies by Deloittes Technology Fast 500. Learn more at haivision.com.Harborside wants to deliver our award-winning content wherever and whenever our audience needs it. OncologyGo is a fantastic tool that helps clinicians keep pace with the rapidly changing science of cancer.  Conor Lynch, Executive Vice President of Harborside

Harborside, a market-leading medical communications company, has announced that OncologyGo, its free, on-demand oncology video mobile app, has been recognized in the 2019 Mobile Star Awards winter program, hosted by MobileVillage.com. Both Harborside and the app were honored in the following categories:



Innovative Mobile Health-Care Application

Mobile Development Innovator

Even after 25 years of promoting the best in mobile, were always excited to shine a spotlight on the newest mobile tech innovatorsboth creative new app startups and older, powerhouse companies, said MobileVillage Editor Gary Thayer.

Most MobileVillage readers and social followers have years of experience with mobile apps and gadgets, so we trust them in helping to name the years best mobile apps and companies.

Go-to Resource

OncologyGo is a leading mobile resource for professional meeting news, clinical practice tips, trial results, and more from the world of hematology/oncology. The app aggregates video content from several Harborside publications, including The ASCO Post, the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, and the website JNCCN 360. It also features exclusive content available only on the app, including candid interviews with practitioners and patients, spotlights on technologic advances in the field, and more. With content spanning a range of disease types and important issues in the field, OncologyGo is the go-to resource for oncology providers, patients, and researchers.

Harborside wants to deliver our award-winning content wherever and whenever our audience needs it, said Conor Lynch, Executive Vice President of Harborside. OncologyGo is a fantastic tool that helps clinicians keep pace with the rapidly changing science of cancer.

OncologyGo is available for download on a range of devices, including Apple and Samsung mobile devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku streaming media players. Visit your App Store or Google Play Store to download the app, and visit oncologygo.com to learn more about the product.

More About the Mobile Star Awards

Since 2002, the Mobile Star Awards program has showcased the best and most innovative consumer and business mobile apps, mobile devices, mobile technology companies, and success stories in the field. Nominees and winners are chosen by followers of @Mobile_Village on Twitter and MobileVillage on Facebook. All recent 2019 Mobile Star Awards winners and new spring program nominees are listed on MobileVillage.com at http://www.mobilevillage.com/mobile-star-awards.

About Harborside

Harborside is a medical communications company based in Huntington, New York. It is the publisher of the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology (JADPRO), The ASCO Post, JNCCNJournal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the Journal of Oncology Practice, and OncologyGo. Harborside designs educational resources for practicing nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and other advanced practitioners by publishing JADPRO, organizing the JADPRO Live at APSHO conferences and providing the management services for the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology. Harborside also manages the advertising sales for ASCOs suite of publications, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), the Journal of Global Oncology, JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, and JCO Precision Oncology.We are looking forward to working with OATI as the first aggregator in the State of Hawaii to offer customers new opportunities to decrease their bills while supporting our 100 percent clean energy goal by 2045.

Hawaiian Electric Company and OATI are pleased to announce they have signed a Grid Services Purchase Agreement (GSPA) and submitted it to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for review.

The Grid Services Program creates a new model for power system operations through a unique design linking the utility, grid service suppliers, and end customers. In this project, OATI heads a team of industry-leading companies (the OATI Energy Alliance) to control behind-the-meter distributed energy resource (DER) assets such as solar PV, battery systems, and grid-enabled hot water tanks, to aggregate them into Virtual Power Plants, and provide grid services to Hawaiian Electric. This includes recruitment of customer-owned DERs, software to provide aggregation and integration of assets, as well as OATIs System Operations Center to provide forecasting, dispatch and control to manage the real-time grid service program using secure communications.

Grid services include the ancillary services of Fast Frequency Response, Capacity Increase, and Capacity Decrease. OATI will provide these grid services to Hawaiian Electric dynamically, and in real-time, for grid reliability and balancing services in support of grid operations. Grid services will help manage and balance loads with increasing renewable energy sources.

OATI, and its Energy Alliance members, will work cooperatively with Hawaiian Electric to subscribe customers to this program. Customers will receive incentives, directly from Hawaiian Electric, for their participation in the program.

Hawaiian Electric filed the GSPA with the PUC on March 18, 2019. If the PUC approves, the project commences, beginning an expansive Grid Services Program that will continue to grow and provide value to the Hawaiian Electric customers for years to come.

It is an honor to be part of this ground-breaking, paradigm-shifting project to provide Hawaiian Electric real-time aggregation of assets, said Ali Ipakchi, Ph.D, executive vice president for SmartGrid at OATI. Hawaiian Electric is to be commended for its commitment to renewable resources, supply reliability, and its customers.

Hawaiian Electric chose OATI through a rigorous selection process, said Rich Barone, Hawaiian Electric Director of Demand Response. We are looking forward to working with OATI as the first aggregator in the State of Hawaii to offer customers new opportunities to decrease their bills while supporting our 100 percent clean energy goal by 2045.

About OATI

OATI provides innovative solutions that simplify, streamline, and empower the operational tasks required in todays energy commerce and Smart Grid. Working alongside Utility providers and their customers, OATI successfully deploys and hosts diverse mission-critical solutions committed to industry standards and stringent security guidelines.

OATI (http://www.oati.com) is a leading provider of Smart Grid, Distribution, Energy Trading and Risk Management, Transmission Scheduling, Congestion Management, and Market Management products and services. OATI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with offices in California, Punjab, Telangana, and Singapore. For more information, please contact sales@oati.net.

About Hawaiian Electric

For more than 125 years, Hawaiian Electric has provided the energy that has fueled Hawaiis development from a Hawaiian kingdom to a modern state. Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light, serve 95 percent of the Hawaiis 1.4 million residents on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii Island, Lanai and Molokai. Hawaiian Electric is committed to empowering its customers and communities with affordable, reliable, clean energy and achieving a 100 percent renewable energy future for Hawaii.

In 2018, about 27 percent of the energy used by Hawaiian Electric Companies customers came from a diverse mix of renewable sources including waste-to-energy, biomass, geothermal, hydro, wind, biofuels and solar, both utility-scale and customer-sited rooftop systems. Hawaiian Electric is a leading employer with more than 2,700 employees across its service territory. It is owned by parent company, Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE). For more information, visit: http://www.hawaiianelectric.com.HomeSmart CEO Matt Widdows The combination of our proprietary technology and our 100-percent commission offering is ideal for the Florida market. The HomeSmart model provides agents more time and money to focus on developing their business by equipping them with technology tools and support. - Matt Widdows, CEO of HomeSmart

Fast-growing real estate brokerage, HomeSmart LLC., today announced its entry into Florida. This will be HomeSmarts twenty-ninth state in which it operates, and the fourth state in which the brokerage operates company-owned locations, including California, Colorado and Arizona where it holds the No. 1 market share.

Florida will be HomeSmarts first virtual platform state, which means agents will be empowered to work anywhere while supported by the companys robust tech offerings. Using RealSmart Agent, a proprietary technology platform developed by HomeSmart, agents are able to manage every aspect of their brand and business via mobile and desktop applications. Agents will also have access to 76 statewide office workspaces, business growth tools, a marketing design center, training and readily accessible broker support.

The combination of our proprietary technology and our 100-percent commission offering is ideal for the Florida market, said HomeSmart Founder and CEO Matt Widdows. The HomeSmart model provides agents more time and money to focus on developing their business by equipping them with technology tools and support."

We are excited to serve Florida agents. A shifting market makes now the ideal time for agents to evaluate their brokerage affiliation and align their business and brand with a company like HomeSmart that can guide them through a changing business climate, said HomeSmart COO Wendy Forsythe. Expanding HomeSmarts footprint across the country is a top priority.

Led by Vice President and Broker Freddy Rodriguez, the Florida location will aggressively grow to serve agents and consumers across the state. To learn more visit homesmart.com/florida.

About HomeSmart, LLC:

Ranked in the top five real estate brokerages in the United States and the number one brokerage firm in Phoenix, Colorado and Palm Springs, HomeSmart is one of the fastest growing real estate brokerages in the country. HomeSmart provides real estate agents the training, tools, technology and support necessary to grow and scale a successful real estate business. Today, the brokerage has 38 locations and more than 9,800 agents across Phoenix, Colorado, Palm Springs and Florida. For more information on HomeSmart, visit http://www.homesmart.com/.

###Immigration Specialist Nikki Mehrpoo Jacobson To Speak at Azusa Pacific University When the government has the power to deny legal rights & due process to immigrants, everyones rights are at risk, not just the immigrants rights. Said Jacobson. Knowledge is power and the information provided by the Office of Immigrant Affairs is essential information for Los Angeles residents.

Azusa Pacific University will host students and community members at an Immigration Forum: Lets Talk About Immigration on Thursday, April 4, 2019 at 5:00pm in Wilden Lecture Hall as a panel of immigration experts discuss the current climate of immigration law and policies and answer questions about TPS, DACA, and other complex immigration issues.

The panel of experts include Immigration Attorney Nikki Jacobson, Partner at The Jacobson Law Firm, LLP, Rita Fernandez, Associate Director in Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's Office of Immigrant Affairs and Emily Davies, Pi Sigma Alpha Chapter President, Department of History and Political Science at Azusa Pacific University.

As a dual-certified specialist in immigration and workers compensation law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, Attorney Jacobson is one of Californias leading voices for immigrants and immigrant workers.

Growing up in California as an immigrant (refugee from Iran), Attorney Jacobson learned how to be an advocate at an early age because she was her parents voice. - a skill that has served her well as a vocal and knowledgeable immigration advocate and attorney.

Attorney Nikki Jacobson is dedicated to advocating the rights of immigrants and to combating discriminatory actions against them. For over 22 years, she has represented and consulted with immigrants in every major immigration struggle, including challenging laws that deny immigrants access to the courts, impose indefinite and mandatory detention, and unconstitutional enforcement tactics by the federal government and local agencies.

Attorney Jacobson understands that in a political climate increasingly hostile to immigrant communities, the need for accurate information about the latest immigration policy changes and what services are available is greater than ever.

When the government has the power to deny legal rights and due process to immigrants, everyones rights are at risk, not just the immigrants rights, said Los Angeles Immigration Attorney Nikki Mehrpoo Jacobson of The Jacobson Law Firm, LLP. Knowledge is power and the information provided by Los Angeles Mayor Garcettis Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) is essential information for Los Angeles residents.

In 2013, Mayor Garcetti established MOIA with the goal of integrating immigrants in Los Angeles social, economic, and political fabric. Immigration Attorney Jacobson and the other panelists will discuss the current immigration climate and the actions Mayor Garcetti has taken to help Los Angeles immigrants, including:

1. Signed Executive Directive #20 (Standing with Immigrants: A City of Safety, Refuge, and Opportunity for All) to ensure that L.A.s public servants stay focused on protecting people, serving communities, and saving lives  not inquiring about immigration status or engaging in federal civil immigration enforcement.

2. Mayor Garcetti is a leading force behind the L.A. Justice Fund  which provides legal assistance to immigrants facing deportation proceedings. The program is the result of a partnership between the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, the California Community Foundation, and the Weingart Foundation. Because of this fund more Angelenos will have legal protection, more families will stay together, and more people will be able to build lives with the people they love, in the country they chose.

3. Issued a Community Resource Guide for Immigrants in Los Angeles that includes comprehensive know-your-rights information and resources, including contact information for legal service providers and community organizations. The guide can be downloaded in English and Spanish at lamayor.org/KnowYourRights.

4. Launched the Step Forward LA campaign to connect Angelenos who dream of citizenship with tools they need to check eligibility, locate classes and workshops, and explore a map to find the most convenient places to start this important journey. The campaign has reached 91,000 residents across the L.A. region with information on naturalization and citizenship.

Attorney Jacobson and the other panelist will discuss the Mayors resources and address recent Immigration Policies, DACA, TPS and Immigration Due Process Issues. In addition, they will provide timely information to students and community members about Know Your Rights wallet inserts, free and safe immigration legal resources as well as employment legal assistance and discrimination issues related to immigrant workers, and domestic workers in particular.

As federal policies impacting immigrant communities continue to shift, immigration seminars and immigration forums will continue to be imperative to the community in order to protect everyone from fraud and immigration scams and detrimental reliance on misleading information.

Ms. Jacobson is a 1997 graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and a member of the California State Bar. Ms. Jacobson is a nationally and internationally recognized speaker, legal analyst, media commentator, expert witness, lobbyist and legal consultant in immigration and workers' compensation law. She regularly shares her valuable insight with the media and reporters from Billboard Magazine, France 5 TV, KIRN Radio 670 AM, Danish Newspaper Ekstra Bladet, as well as Business Insurance, WCAuthority.com and WorkersCompensation.com, analyzing high-profile immigration and workers compensation cases, court decisions and legal issues.

Ms. Jacobson can be reached via email at Nikki(at)JLFAttorneys.com. You may also request a workers' compensation or immigration consultation at http://www.JLFAttorneys.com/consultation.

Advocate | Attorney at Law | Certified Specialist | Professor of Law | Expert Witness | Legal Analyst | Author | Speaker | Media Commentator | Legal Consultant | LGBTQ Ally | #AskNikkiNow | @AskNikkiNowParadise to Paradise: The Holy Bible Summarized (A Laymans Viewpoint): a fascinating look into the Bible with the hopes that it will encourage readers to study the Bible in its entirety. Paradise to Paradise: The Holy Bible Summarized (A Laymans Viewpoint) is the creation of published author, John O. King, a retired business and economics teacher of forty-six years. King actively teaches Bible study classes.

John shares, On February 1, 2018, while watching a television program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), it suddenly occurred to me that God would be pleased if I wrote a short book summarizing his work with humanity. After some prayer and meditation, I concluded this book should be aimed at non-Christians and Christians who desired a non-scholarly overview of the Bible all the way from creation to heaven. While meditating on this task, I concluded that I should not get bogged down in controversial subjects that are often discussed by theologians. In other words, I should keep it simple and clear.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, John O. Kings new book explains the intricacies of the Bible in a way that is easy for the readers to understand. Most people who have studied the Bible agree that mankind existed in a state of paradise, and that disobedience led to the expulsion from this paradise. King simplifies the particulars of the Bible, how mankind fell from grace, and how one day the paradise will return to all.

View a synopsis of Paradise to Paradise: The Holy Bible Summarized (A Laymans Viewpoint) on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Paradise to Paradise: The Holy Bible Summarized (A Laymans Viewpoint) at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Paradise to Paradise: The Holy Bible Summarized (A Laymans Viewpoint), contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.People living with disabilities are striving to work, explained Elaine E. Katz, MS, CCC-SLP, senior vice president for grants and communications at Kessler Foundation. Our research indicates over 68% are currently working, looking for work, or have worked since the onset of their disability.

Kessler Foundation has awarded a two-year, $400,000 Signature Employment Grant to the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center in Chicago to produce long-term change in healthcare and disability services systems. Their Inclusive Pathways Chicago: Healthcare is a demonstration project designed to assist healthcare workforce employers and their nonprofit partners in implementing equity, diversity, and inclusion strategies that will result in reducing barriers to employment for people with disabilities, especially those with previous justice system involvement.

The grant is part of $2.5 million in grants awarded by Kessler Foundation in 2018 to organizations across the U.S. to support initiatives that create and expand job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

With over 410,000 jobs, healthcare is the largest private-sector employer in the Chicago area. There is a high demand for workers with middle skill positions going unfilled for long periods. Conversely, there are over 400,000 working age individuals with disabilities living in the Chicago region. Almost 75% are unemployed.

The justice system involved population is three times more likely to report having a disability. Students with disabilities are three times as likely to be arrested before leaving school and twice as likely to drop out compared to other students attending Chicago public schools. These individuals face significant barriers to employment. However, once they secure meaningful employment, there likelihood of incarceration drops dramatically.

There is evidence of higher productivity, lower turnover, and identical average job performance ratings in this underutilized talent pool, when compared to workers without disabilities.

People living with disabilities are striving to work, explained Elaine E. Katz, MS, CCC-SLP, senior vice president for grants and communications at Kessler Foundation. Our research indicates over 68% are currently working, looking for work, or have worked since the onset of their disability.

Inclusive Pathways Chicago: Healthcare project is built upon the idea that nonprofit disability service providers are uniquely qualified to match employers seeking to hire diverse, dedicated talent and support long term retention of employees. These providers will embed workforce services directly into their employer and employment culture, expanding the scope of traditional human resources functions via a menu of support services and serving as an in-house training and technical assistance arm to address needs while reducing barriers.

Employment services for our community members living with disabilities have not kept pace with their needs or the opportunities, said Rebecca Clark, President and CEO of Anixter Center. New models are necessary to ensure that they have access to the jobs that employers want filled and the support needed in order to be successful.

Following completion of the demonstration model, collaborative relationships between educational, disability, and justice involved organizations will remain and serve as replicable examples to address employment needs of the healthcare industry and other employment sectors.

About the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center

Lester and Rosalie Anixter Centers mission is to provide an array of services and supports for people with disabilities and related challenges to live, learn, work and play in the community. Incorporated in 1919, Anixter Center has adapted its mission and services over the years to address the evolving needs of people with disabilities living in the Chicago metropolitan area. In 1959, Anixter Center began providing services to educate and train adults with intellectual and other developmental disabilities in a classroom setting. In 1961, Anixter Center began employing people with disabilities in packaging projects and expanded its vocational training in 1969. Currently, we serve over 6,000 individuals of all ages annually in more than 35 programs in least 30 locations throughout the Chicago metropolitan area in five service areas: 1) community support; 2) education; 3) pre-employment/employment; 4) health and behavioral health; and 5) housing and residential support. For more information, visit anixter.org.

About Kessler Foundation

Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.

Stay Connected

Twitter | http://www.twitter.com/KesslerFdn

Facebook | http://www.facebook.com/KesslerFoundation

YouTube | http://www.youtube.com/user/KesslerFoundation

Instagram | http://www.instagram.com/kesslerfdn

iTunes & SoundCloud | http://www.soundcloud.com/kesslerfoundation

For more information, contact:

Kessler Foundation

Carolann Murphy, PA;

973-324-8382

CMurphy (at) KesslerFoundation (dot) org

Kessler Foundation

Rob Gerth

973-323-3675

RGerth (at) KesslerFoundation (dot) orgIm delighted to be a part of Boston CEOs impressive lineup of discussions and look forward to participating in the fireside chat on industry change, innovation and the impact on patient care, said Jeremy M. Levin, D.Phil, MB BChir, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Ovid Therapeutics.

LeadingBiotech, an exclusive event series bringing biopharma CEOs and leaders together through intimate off-the-record collaboration and dialogue, today announces its Boston CEO conference to be held May 28-29, 2019 at Bostons Four Seasons Hotel. Boston CEO offers insights into the industrys challenges and opportunities with high-level panels and discussions from past, present and future change-makers.

LeadingBiotech, formerly Boston Biotech Conferences, is moving in a new direction, creating a reinvigorated experience for senior leaders.

Our CEO event series has evolved to offer an even better experience for our attendees to inform business strategies and set industry agendas, explained LeadingBiotech CEO Wendy Nelson, Ph.D. The events mission is to share ideas, compare experiences and speak candidly through off-the-record dialogue.

Highlights of this years conference include a special fireside chat titled: Navigating A New Frontier in Biotech  what is the industry facing now and in the future? From consolidation in healthcare to the impact of med tech and data science on how medicines are consumed, the biotech industry is launching into a different world. The discussion offers insights into the question: In a time of seismic shifts and tremendous change, how do we make sure the cost of innovation also leads to better care? Featured speakers include Jeremy M. Levin, D.Phil, MB BChir, Chairman & CEO, Ovid Therapeutics Ovid Therapeutics; Bruce Booth, D.Phil, Partner, Atlas Venture; and Andy Plump, M.D., Ph.D., President, R&D, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Im delighted to be a part of Boston CEOs impressive lineup of discussions and look forward to participating in the fireside chat on industry change, innovation and the impact on patient care, said Jeremy M. Levin, D.Phil, MB BChir, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Ovid Therapeutics. Boston CEO is a great opportunity to collaborate with some of Bostons key industry leaders.

Keynote speakers at this years event include:

Jeff Jonas, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, Sage Therapeutics

Laurie Glimcher, M.D., President & CEO, Dana Farber Cancer Institute

George Church, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School

Michael Sherman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Sr. VP, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

John Glasspool - Chief Executive Officer, Anthos Therapeutics

Additional keynote and panel topics at the conference include:

A Digital Revolution: Biotechs Convergence with Data Science

Building Effective Partnerships to Advance New Drugs

Keynote: Technologies for Reading & Editing Genomes

Exit Dynamics in 2019: M&As vs IPOs

Fireside Chat: Raising Money Non-Traditionally

Patient Engagement & Advocacy

Please find our complete agenda here: https://bit.ly/2GrYgNz

About LeadingBiotech

Formerly known as Boston Biotech Conferences, LeadingBiotech is an event series that brings biopharma CEOs and leaders together through intimate, off-the-record collaboration. Were working hard to create more valuable experiences to re-energize collaboration and infuse fresh ideas to better shape the future of biotech. For more, please visit: https://leadingbiotech.com/.English French

Press release

Paris, 3 April 2019

Not for distribution in the United States of America





Orange intends to issue a new Euro-denominated hybrid note and to launch a tender offer on several outstanding hybrid notes





Orange S.A. (the Company) is today announcing its intention to issue Euro denominated undated 6 year non-call deeply subordinated fixed to reset rate notes (the New Notes). The pricing of the New Notes is expected to be announced later today. The New Notes are scheduled to be admitted to trading on Euronext Paris. It is also expected that the rating agencies will assign the New Notes a rating of Baa3/BBB- (Moody's/ S&P) and an equity content of 50%.

The Company is also launching a tender offer (the Tender Offer) to repurchase its:

1,000,000,000 Undated 6 Year Non-Call Deeply Subordinated Fixed to Reset Rate Notes with first call date on 7 February 2020 (of which 1,000,000,000 is currently outstanding) and admitted to trading on Euronext Paris (ISIN XS1028600473) (the 2020 Notes ); and/or

); and/or 1,000,000,000 Undated 7 Year Non-Call Deeply Subordinated Fixed to Reset Rate Notes with first call date on 1 October 2021 (of which 1,000,000,000 is currently outstanding) and admitted to trading on Euronext Paris (ISIN XS1115490523) (the 2021 Notes ); and/or

); and/or 650,000,000 Undated 8 Year Non-Call Deeply Subordinated Fixed to Reset Rate Notes with first call date on 7 February 2022 (of which 650,000,000 is currently outstanding) and admitted to trading on Euronext Paris (ISIN XS1028597315) (the 2022 Notes and, together with the 2020 Notes and the 2021 Notes, the Notes).

The Tender Offer is subject to a maximum acceptance amount, which is expected to be equal to the principal amount of the New Notes.

The purpose of the Tender Offer and the planned issuance of New Notes is, amongst other things, to proactively manage the Company's hybrid portfolio, taking advantage of favourable market conditions. The aggregate size of the Company's stock of hybrid notes will remain unchanged as a result.

The results of the Tender Offer will be announced on 11 April 2019 (subject to change as a result of any extension, withdrawal, termination or amendment of the Tender Offer).

Disclaimer

This announcement does not constitute an invitation to participate in the Tender Offer or the issuance of New Notes in or from any jurisdiction in or from which, or to or from any person to or from whom, it is unlawful to make such invitation under applicable securities laws. The distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions.

Tenders of Notes for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer will not be accepted from qualifying holders in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. The Company does not make any recommendation as to whether or not qualifying holders should participate in the Tender Offer.

Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under, or an exemption from the registration requirements of, the Securities Act. The New Notes have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, any U.S. Person.

United States

This Tender Offer is not being made and will not be made directly or indirectly in or into, or by use of the mails of, or by any means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, facsimile transmission, telex, telephone, email and other forms of electronic transmission) of interstate or foreign commerce of, or any facility of a national securities exchange of, the United States or to U.S. Persons as defined in Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) (each a U.S. Person) and the Notes may not be tendered in the Tender Offer by any such use, means, instrumentality or facility from or within the United States, by persons located or resident in the United States of America (U.S. holders within the meaning of Rule 800(h) under the Securities Act). Accordingly, any documents or materials related to this Tender Offer are not being, and must not be, directly or indirectly, mailed or otherwise transmitted, distributed or forwarded (including, without limitation, by custodians, nominees or trustees) in or into the United States or to any such person. Any purported tender instruction in response to this Tender Offer resulting directly or indirectly from a violation of these restrictions will be invalid, and tender instructions made by a person located or resident in the United States of America or any agent, fiduciary or other intermediary acting on a non-discretionary basis for a principal giving instructions from within the United States will not be accepted.

For the purposes of the above paragraphs, United States means the United States of America, its territories and possessions (including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island and the Northern Mariana Islands), any state of the United States of America and the District of Columbia.

About Orange

Orange is one of the worlds leading telecommunications operators with sales of 41 billion euros in 2018 and 151,000 employees worldwide at 31 December 2018, including 92,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 264 million customers worldwide at 31 December 2018, including 204 million mobile customers and 20 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 27 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan Essentials2020 which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.

Press contacts: +33 1 44 44 93 93

Olivier Emberger; olivier.emberger@orange.com

Tom Wright; tom.wright@orange.com

CAUTION: NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES

This press release, of a purely informative nature, is not and cannot in any way be construed as an offering to sell any securities, or as a solicitation of any offer to buy securities, in any jurisdiction, including the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The securities mentioned in this press release have not been and will not be registered pursuant to the US Securities Act of 1933, as modified. They cannot be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. No public offer of these securities has been or will be made in the United States or elsewhere.

AttachmentLogistyx Technologies' European headquarters The new headquarters speaks to the strong market response in Europe and to our steadfast mission to provide the best-in-class parcel shipping software for companies around the globe.

Logistyx Technologies (http://www.logistyx.com), the leader in Transportation Management for parcels, today announced it has moved into its new international headquarters in Zaandam, Netherlands, a response to the companys rapid growth. Logistyx has doubled its employee headcount since its inception in May 2017, as a result of growing organic sales and merger and acquisition initiatives.

The international demand for solutions that can most effectively optimize supply chain delivery networks and parcel shipments is growing rapidly. The new headquarters speaks to the strong market response in Europe and to our steadfast mission to provide the best-in-class parcel shipping software for companies around the globe, said Logistyx CEO Geoffrey Finlay. We look forward to growing our European operations and customer service teams.

The offices in Hoofddorp and Alkmaar are now centralized in the new European hub in Zaandam. The new office joins six North American offices, including a new North American headquarters in Illinois which opened last Fall and an office in Singapore. The North American headquarters more than doubled in size and set the stage for an aggressive recruiting program to add more than 50 jobs in product development, professional services, sales, marketing and operations globally.

Last summer, Logistyxs acquisition of Transparix, the Dutch transportation management software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, added 17 new roles in the Netherlands. Since then, 14 additional roles have buoyed the global expansion from countries including Germany and the United Kingdom.

Logistyxs roots have been firmly planted in the global market for the last half decade, so the expansion of our European reach has been years in the making, Finlay added.

The rapid global growth follows the launch of TME 3.0, Logistyxs revolutionary single engine for global multi-carrier parcel shipping.

About Logistyx Technologies:

Logistyx Technologies is the leader in Transportation Management for parcel shipping, providing an unmatched global multi-carrier network, predictive analytics and full visibility into customer deliveries. Its software boosts parcel shipping efficiencies and other business KPIs for many of the worlds top manufacturers, retailers and logistics providers. Headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, Logistyx Technologies also has U.S. offices in New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis and Tulsa, and international offices in Canada, the Netherlands, the UK and Singapore. For more information, visit http://www.Logistyx.com.Matter Family Office, an independent multi-family office serving clients across the U.S., was named as the Best Multi-Family Office - $2.5B to $5B in AUM at the 2019 Family Wealth Report Awards held in New York City on March 20. This is the second year in a row that Matter was the category winner.

The Family Wealth Report Awards, which are now in their 6th year, showcase 'best of breed' providers in the global private banking, wealth management and trusted advisor communities. These awards were designed to recognize companies, teams and individuals which the panel of judges deemed to have 'demonstrated innovation and excellence during 2018'. As in previous years, independence, integrity and genuine insight were the watchwords of the judging process. The panel of judges was drawn from both private banks and trusted advisors/consultants to the sector.

When presenting the award, judges commented that Matter stood out due to its comprehensive raft of wealth management services, in addition to noting that its leadership has addressed its own succession planning needs and created a sustainable model.

Matters Founder and Managing Member Kathy Lintz, who traveled to New York to accept the award on behalf of Matter, commented: "Matter is proud to be recognized by our peers as an innovative leader in the industry. We were built to serve complex families, across generations, and guide them in intentional strategic planning for their familys financial and human capital. We are very grateful for the hard work of our diverse and talented team and the trust our families have placed in us for nearly three decades."

ClearView Financial Medias CEO, and Publisher of Family Wealth Report, Stephen Harris, was first to extend his congratulations to all the winners. He said: The firms who triumphed in these awards are all worthy winners, and I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations. These awards were judged solely on the basis of entrants submissions and their response to a number of specific questions, which had to be answered focusing on the client experience, not quantitative performance metrics. That is a unique, and I believe, compelling feature. These awards recognize the very best operators in the private client industry, with independence, integrity and genuine insight the watchwords of the judging process - such that the awards truly reflect excellence in wealth management.

About Matter Family Office

At Matter Family Office, families are our number-one priority. We lead the way on a purpose-driven path that combines a familys goals and values with our technical excellence. By guiding families through strategies that foster communication, planning, and intentional decision-making around wealth, Matter helps the families we serve continue to thrive for generations.

Founded in 1990, Matter Family Office serves clients throughout the U.S. from its offices in St. Louis, Denver, and Dallas.The Quantile Sequencing Service will provide education publishers with the ability to create learning pathways for math, putting powerful tools for personalizing instruction in the hands of teachers around the country.

Today at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) 2019 Annual Meeting & Exposition, MetaMetrics unveiled a new service that will allow publishers to create student learning pathways in their math content. With the Quantile Sequencing Service, publishers can help teachers connect the dots between where students are and where they need to be when learning math.

The Quantile Framework for Mathematics places both the student and instructional material on the same scale to match the learner with math resources at their ability level. Quantile measures allow education companies to bring the power of personalized math instruction to their products and programs by matching learners with resources. More than 20 million students receive Quantile measures every school year from their state and classroom assessments.

With the Quantile Sequencing Service, publishers will point teachers to the lesson or activity in their math content where a student needs to be working, according to the classroom topic and the students skill level. The Service identifies the most relevant place in math content for a struggling student to begin acquiring prerequisite skills needed to succeed with grade-level content.

When students hit a gap in math learning, it is frustrating for them and challenging for their teachers who need to determine what concepts they need to learn to fill those gaps, said Malbert Smith, CEO and co-founder of MetaMetrics. The Quantile Sequencing Service will provide education publishers with the ability to create learning pathways for math, putting powerful tools for personalizing instruction in the hands of teachers around the country.

To take advantage of the Quantile Sequencing Service, publishers provide MetaMetrics with their math content which is first calibrated to the math skills and concepts of the Quantile Framework. Then it is sequenced using the Quantile measures of these skills and concepts.. The publisher receives a report that demonstrates how its contents Quantile measures sequence across grade levels. Publishers use this report to determine the best way to personalize learning in their content for students with different Quantile measures.

For more information about the Quantile Sequencing Service, visit https://metametricsinc.com/education-companies/products-and-services/get-quantile-measures-math-materials/.

About MetaMetrics

MetaMetrics is focused on improving education for learners of all ages and ability levels. The organization develops scientific measures of academic achievement and complementary technologies that link assessment results with real-world instruction. MetaMetrics products and services for reading (The Lexile Framework for Reading, El Sistema Lexile para Leer) and mathematics (The Quantile Framework for Mathematics) provide unique insights about academic ability and the potential for growth, enabling individuals to achieve their goals at every stage of development. Connect with the organization at metametricsinc.com/blog.

printivity.com We used to be known for great color copies. Today were helping people grow and market their businesses through print. The new Printivity name better reflects who we are and what we can do for our customers, said Lawrence Chou, CEO.

MGX Copy, a national online printing company that has united the traditional field of printing with new technologies such as the internet and digital distribution models, announces its rebranding and name change to Printivity, a name that better reflects what they can do for their customers.

With the ability to print more types of marketing and promotional items, including business cards, brochures, books, banners, magazines, and posters, the company selected a name that represents the diversity of products available to their customers. Although the name is changing, the company will continue to have the same ownership, production team, and values. The name will officially change on April 1, 2019.

We used to be known for great color copies. Today were helping people grow and market their businesses through print. The new Printivity name better reflects who we are and what we can do for our customers, said Lawrence Chou, CEO.

As MGX Copy, Printivity dedicated itself to providing the best experience for their customers. Not only were they known for price matching quotes offered up by other competitors, but they also stood behind their satisfaction guarantee of Well fix it, replace it, or refund it. These values have made MGX Copy, soon-to-be Printivity, a three-time winner of the Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America Award.

Additionally, Printivity will start a collection of free resources for its customers called Print University. Prin University will include articles and guides on print products, graphic design techniques, and marketing best practices. These resources are offered for free to help customers grow their businesses by taking full advantage of all the marketing and promotional products that Printivity offers.

With facilities operating 24/7 on both coasts, Printivity allows the company to produce print quickly and efficiently, all while minimizing shipping times to their customers. The rebranding efforts also highlight the increased focus that Printivity has on helping other companies market, promote, and ultimately grow their businesses through print.

About Printivity: Printivity is a national online printer committed to fast turnarounds, exceptional customer service, and a selection of products that are geared towards helping companies market and promote themselves. Customers can visit https://www.printivity.com/ to get instant quotes as well as track the status of their orders. In addition, a team of customer service representatives is always available to help guide customers through basic printing questions. Printivity is an independently and privately owned company.It's important for us to raise awareness about the benefits of structured settlements.

The National Structured Settlements Trade Association (NSSTA) is pleased to announce that Michelle Caine, J.D. LL.M, the Director of Relationship Management at Prudential Financial, was installed as President during the organizations 2019 Annual Meeting. Caine becomes only the second woman to hold the top leadership role at NSSTA.

Caine, who has more than 20 years of experience in the structured settlements industry, has served on the NSSTA Board of Directors since 2014. It is an honor to take on this leadership role and I look forward to working with the leadership team, the Board and our membership to promote the use of structured settlements and help physical injury claimants and their families achieve financial security, said NSSTA President Michelle Caine.

With a focus on education, Caine outlined her strategic priorities for NSSTA for the coming year. Caine said, No one expects to suffer an injury and most people who are injured have never heard of a structured settlement. It is therefore important for us to raise the awareness and educate people about the benefits of structured settlements so that more claimants can take advantage of this important settlement option.

NSSTA also installed Michael W. Goodman, Esq., CSSC, as President-Elect. Goodman is Co-founder and President of NFP Structured Settlements with experience as a structured settlement consultant since 1991. He also served as NSSTA President in 2015. As the industry continues to change, it is imperative that we focus on being settlement solution experts, NSSTA President-Elect Michael Goodman said. NSSTA will continue to pave the way by focusing on education, growth and innovation as we propel the next generation of consultants. I look forward to working with everyone to focus on this mission.

NSSTA Executive Director, Eric Vaughn said, Everyone is thrilled to have Michelle Caine and Michael Goodman lead NSSTA with their depth and diversity of experience. At our Annual Meeting, we witnessed exciting member engagement in our educational, legislative, legal, judicial and leading edge innovative business sessions.

About NSSTA: Since 1985, the National Structured Settlements Trade Association (NSSTA) is the leading voice of the structured settlement industry, representing more than 1,200 professional structured settlement consultants, life insurance industry leaders, property casualty company claims officials and lawyers from across the United States and Canada. A structured settlement is a tax-free stream of periodic payments paid to an injured party by the defendant primarily through the purchase of annuity (fixed and determinable) issued directly by highly rated life insurance companies.

For more information, please visit http://www.nssta.com.In the past it might have taken us 3 days to find a document, attempt to print it  and then hope to read most of it. Weve now streamlined that to a few minutes. Its easy to adjust the quality of the document and print it directly from within the Digital ReeL application.

BMI Imaging Systems, a leading provider of document management and microfilm conversion solutions, announced that the City of Duluth, Minnesota has successfully converted its physical microfilm archive and is now using the Digital ReeL microfilm digitization solution.

The Duluth, Minnesota City Clerk's Office handles elections, voter registration, and the issuance of certain licenses and permits, such as liquor licenses, pet licenses, and general business, among others.

Bobbi Pirkola, Assistant City Clerk, states, We were having issues with our physical microfilm archive. It was difficult to find information requested, it would not print properly, and often the words printed out were terrible and in some cases illegible. We put a microfilm scanning project into the budget and started to research solutions.

We talked to colleagues across the County and conducted our own research, continues Pirkola. After reviewing approximately four different products to convert microfilm, we selected BMI Imagings Digital ReeL because it was the simplest and most effective product for our Office.

Microfilm Conversion Avoided Risk of Missing Important Records During the Conversion Process

The 400 roll physical microfilm archive stored historical legislative information dating to the 1890s and into the early 1900s. Information included City Council agendas, minutes, and public hearing transcripts. Pirkola states, It was the only copy we had and there was concern we were going to lose it as the microfilm eroded. The microfilm rolls were packaged and sent to BMIs California conversion facility.

City Council Avoids Need to Engage Limited IT Staff with Digital ReeL Hosted Option

The City Clerk decided to leverage Digital ReeLs cloud hosting option. After BMI scanned the microfilm, all virtual microfilm rolls were imported to Digital ReeL and the City Council staff now logs into the application to search and retrieve records. BMI has a partnership with Raging Wire data centers; the images and data are securely hosted at Raging Wires Sacramento data center and collocated at BMIs Sunnyvale data center.

Intuitive Application Makes Finding Records Near-Instantaneous

The Digital ReeL application replaced the physical microfilm archive and the microfilm reader printers that City Council staff were using in the past. Pirkola states, Life is much simpler now for our staff. In the past it might have taken us 3 days to find a document, attempt to print it  and then hope to read most of it. Weve now streamlined that to a few minutes. Its easy to adjust the quality of the document and print it directly from within the Digital ReeL application.

Improved Image Quality with Adjustable Grayscale

Pirkola states, The records we are working with are of very poor quality. In the past, our staff would struggle trying to print out a record that was actually legible.

Digital ReeL offers the ability to optimize difficult-to-read records with brightness and contrast enhancements. Its absolutely perfect for us, continues Pirkola. We can tune the quality of a record so that it looks like the day it was written. After we render a record to our liking, we can then print or email it to a requester.

Read the full case study here.

About BMI Imaging

BMI Imaging Systems, Inc. has been at the forefront of the document management industry since 1958, first with microfilm and now with scanned images. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with an additional production and sales facility in Sacramento, BMI serves over 500 commercial companies and government agencies, converting an average of 3 million images per month. BMI consists of 60 production specialists and support staff, many having worked for the company for ten years or more.

BMI has developed a wealth of experience in several vertical markets (e.g. healthcare, government, education) and offers customized document management solutions in a competitive and changing marketplace. Scanning paper documents or physical microfilm is usually the most visible task in achieving a full document solution.

Identifying record types, determining indexing methods and leveraging content in existing legacy systems are all skills needed to modernize an agencys document management systems and processes. BMIs systems integration team has decades of experience to achieve this goal. Internally developed software tools, over 400 to date, are regularly employed to solve complex image and data challenges. Jobs that require analysis, data extraction, multiple service offerings and custom development are those that separate BMI from other providers.Mindgrub has reached the Gold tier of HubSpots Certified Agency Partner program. HubSpot Channel Account Manager Jim Tata said, Mindgrub is an exceptional partner to work with on so many levels; they communicate clearly and honestly when creating solutions for their clients. The speed in which they became a Gold Partner is a sign of their expertise and effectiveness.

Today, Mindgrub announced that it has reached the Gold tier of HubSpots Certified Agency Partner program. HubSpot, a leading business growth platform, works hand-in-hand with agency partners to grow their businesses through inbound software, services, and support.

Over the past year, Mindgrub has grown significantly by incorporating inbound strategies to attract, engage, and delight customers. Mindgrub became a Certified Agency Partner less than a year ago in June of 2018. In January of this year, they reached the Silver tier. Now, just two months later, Mindgrub has achieved Gold status.

To become a Certified Partner and reach the gold tier just nine months later is an extraordinary accomplishment, said Steve Promisloff, Mindgrubs Senior Vice President, Marketing. This is a direct result of the hard work our team puts in for our clients; we couldnt have earned this without their expertise.

Not only does this show we are great at what we do, but it is a testament to our clients and the great things they are achieving with our support," said Sean Mulcahy, Head of Business Development. Were true believers in the HubSpot platform, and we cant say enough positive things about our experience in the Agency Partner Program thus far.

Of the announcement, HubSpot Channel Account Manager Jim Tata said, Mindgrub is an exceptional partner to work with on so many levels; they communicate clearly and honestly when creating solutions for their clients. The speed in which they became a Gold Partner is a sign of their expertise and effectiveness.

Mindgrubs areas of marketing expertise include SEO, marketing automation, paid media

management, email marketing, website development, copywriting, visual design, and branding. If you are in need of marketing assistance or are looking for a strategic HubSpot partner, go for gold and contact Mindgrub at mindgrub.com/contact-us.

About Mindgrub | Mindgrub, a member of the Inc. 5000 for six years running, is a technical agency and creative consultancy specializing in the design and development of exceptional digital products. Headquartered in Baltimore, Mindgrub has offices in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Connect with Mindgrub online at mindgrub.com.

About HubSpot | HubSpot is a leading growth platform. Since 2006, HubSpot has been on a mission to make the world more inbound. Today, over 56,500 total customers in more than 100 countries use HubSpots award-winning software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight customers. Comprised of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and a powerful free CRM, HubSpot gives companies the tools they need to Grow Better. Learn more about HubSpot at hubspot.com.People Of Color Career Fair The People of Color Career Fair enables us, as leaders and employers, to be proactive about enacting the change we want for our state. - Governor Tim Walz

With an anticipated workforce shortage of 160,400 threatening Minnesotas economy in the coming year, top area employers will tap into a wealth of talent at the highly successful People of Color Career Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday, April 30, in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The People of Color Career Fair is supported by Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, with onsite appearances anticipated by each during the event.

Gov. Walz, whose first official act was to create the One Minnesota Council on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, advocates the state leading the charge to create a more equitable environment for the regions growing diverse population. In 2017 black, Hispanic and Asian populations grew at rates up to 31 times that of white and Native American populations.

Inequities that impact Minnesotans ability to be successful based on race, geographic, and socioeconomic disparities prevent our entire state from reaching its full potential, Gov. Walz said. The People of Color Career Fair enables us, as leaders and employers, to be proactive about enacting the change we want for our state.

The semiannual hiring event, now in its third year, aligns hundreds of diverse jobseekers with leading employers who are serious about increasing their diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts to attract and retain top talent to the region.

This People of Color Career Fair is absolutely critical, Mayor Frey explained. One, it gives the employees the direct contact with some of the businesses in the Twin Cities. Two, it allows those businesses to work directly with an exceedingly highly skilled workforce.

The Twin Cities has a staggering unemployment disparity that averages three to four times between people of color and that of white Minnesotans. The People of Color Career Fair presents a unique opportunity for employers to solve two issues critical to the success of the region: they can position their organizations to broaden diversity and they can increase their competitiveness within the greater global marketplace.

In the Twin Cities, we have an incredibly talented and diverse workforce actively seeking high-paying careers, said Mayor Carter. The People of Color Career Fair connects these professionals with employers across our region who need and value their talent.

The People of Color Career Fair is sponsored by U.S. Bank, Andersen Corporation, Midco, and the State of Minnesota.

We now get to connect with communities of color through People of Color Career Fair; those opportunities and the awareness has helped to make us a better employer for professionals of color, said Pat McAdaragh, president and CEO of Midco.

Andersens CEO Jay Lund added, Diversity, equity and inclusion is important to me and important to our companys future. We must harness diverse talents to serve our customers, grow our business, strengthen the communities where we live and work, and ultimately make the world a better place. Building a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture is essential to our success, critically important for society and one of the many reasons we are proud to be a leading sponsor and partner of the People of Color Career Fair.

Attendees of the People of Color Career Fair will have an opportunity to meet with hiring managers and recruiters from top area employers, including U.S. Bank, Andersen Corporation, Midco, State of Minnesota, Metro Transit, Target, Best Buy, Ameriprise Financial, League of Minnesota Cities, Bremer Bank, Prairie Care, City of Minneapolis, Sleep Number, Securian Financial, Pohlad Companies, Hennepin Healthcare System, Allina Health, Mortenson Construction, CRF USA, and many more.

Employers and job seekers are urged to participate in this important and exciting hiring event.

Employers can register at http://www.poccareerfair.com. Attendance for candidates is free.

Advance registration at http://www.poccareerfair.com is recommended (not required) so employers can preview candidates qualifications and goals and schedule interviews and screenings in advance.

Walk-ups are welcome. All candidates should bring 10 to 15 printed resumes.

Candidates will receive a free professional headshot the day of the career fair. Headshots begin at 9 a.m.

Free bus or train rides from Metro Transit are also available; download a free pass at http://www.poccareerfair.com.

For more information about People of Color Career Fair, please visit http://www.poccareerfair.com and follow Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @poccareerfair.MyWay Mobile Storage of Salt Lake City is celebrating its 5th anniversary as a leading provider of moving and storage solutions, provides quick and easy to do-it-yourself moving and portable storage to meet your needs at your location or in our climate-controlled, secure storage facilities.

During the last 5 years, MyWay Mobile Storage of Salt Lake City has built a tradition of excellence in providing its customers with convenient and affordable moving and storage solutions. MyWay Mobile Storage Safeboxes are delivered to your location and allowing you to pack and move or store at your own pace. MyWays portable storage system allows them to accommodate almost every situation.

Since 2014, MyWay Mobile Storage of Salt Lake City has grown to over 350 Safeboxes in inventory and has been chosen by a competitor to service their clients due to ceased operations.

James Larson, Market Owner, had this to say, We have achieved this 5-year milestone by delivering the highest quality customer service in the industry. Having the most versatile portable storage units in the industry has brought us to this 5-year mark and we look forward to the success of many more years to come.

If you are in need of a moving and storage solution, visit us at http://www.mywaystorage.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mywaystorage or call 1-888-33-MYWAY and speak with a friendly and knowledgeable moving & storage consultant.

About MyWay Mobile Storage

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, MyWay Mobile Storage is the leading franchise for do-it-yourself moving and portable storage solutions with facilities in Utah, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania.

DQuinton Robertson works on Lehman Farms in Polk City, Iowa, examining the fields, among other things, while currently attending college studying agricultural business. USDA Photo by Preston Keres For two years, President Trump has dug American agriculture into a deep hole. Weve lost markets that took decades to build, and worse yet, weve lost our reputation as a reliable trading partner. Threats to close our border worsen this reputation, digging our hole deeper..."

Amidst escalating rhetoric and threats from President Donald Trump to close the U.S.-Mexico border, National Farmers Union (NFU) today insisted the President avoid such a disastrous decision, which would effectively cripple trade with U.S. agricultures top trading partner.

NFU President Roger Johnson released the following statement in response to the Presidents remarks:

Without regard for the American family farmer, rural resident or consumer, President Trump is yet again risking essential trade markets and our countrys once-pristine trading reputation. Shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border would be disastrous for trade with our top agricultural trading partner, and the effects would be consistent with the numerous other trade disruptions the President has self-inflicted on our country: lost markets and lower prices for products grown and raised by family farmers and ranchers.

For two years, President Trump has dug American agriculture into a deep hole. Weve lost markets that took decades to build, and worse yet, weve lost our reputation as a reliable trading partner. Threats to close our border worsen this reputation, digging our hole deeper and depressing farm prices for years to come.

Many American farm families are already in dire financial strain because of a drastic decline in farm prices over the past five years. Unfortunately, the Presidents tactless, flailing approach to trade has exacerbated the situation. In order to begin to fill the hole he has singlehandedly dug, he must work to repair relationships, not make them worse."English Icelandic

On 30 November 2018 a Shareholders Meeting in Icelandair Group agreed to increase the share capital of the Company by up to 625,000,000 shares. Icelandair Group and Boston-based PAR Capital Management have today, 3 April 2019, reached a binding agreement whereby PAR and its affiliates will subscribe to all 625,000,000 new shares at a price of

ISK 9.03 per share for a total of ISK 5,643,750,000. The purchase corresponds to a 11.5% stake in the Company. The price per share is based on the trailing three months average closing price. The agreement is subject to the Companys Shareholders Meeting agreeing to the transaction and thereby waiving shareholders pre-emptive rights to the new shares. The Company will call a Shareholders Meeting on 24 April 2019.

The capital increase will further solidify Icelandair Groups financial position, preparing the Company for growth and making it capable to seize opportunities in the current operational climate.

Bogi Nils Bogason, President and CEO of Icelandair Group

PAR Capital Management is a great addition to our strong group of shareholders. We believe that a partnership with PAR Capital Management will bring substantial value to Icelandair Group. It is moreover pleasant to have this seasoned international investor share our belief in the prospects of the Company.

About PAR Capital Management

PAR Capital Management manages a US$4 billion private investment partnership in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm was founded in 1990 and focuses primarily on investments in the travel and digital media industries

Futher information:

Bogi Nils Bogason

President and CEO

email: bogi@icelandairgroup.is, tel:+354 50 50 300I was impressed by their culture and vision, and felt like together we could form a personal partnership that could help build my dreams of running my own company while fulfilling a community need.

Senior care is a challenge for any family, but now residents of Little Rock and surrounding townships will have a unique new option to consider. A Place at Home, an innovative senior care company, is welcoming local resident Natalie Watts as their newest franchisee.

Watts has 25 years of experience leading sales and project management teams in the telecommunications industry. She's been a part of the Little Rock community for 26 years.

While the leap from telecommunications to senior care may seem to be a big one, Watts is ready for anything. "I wanted more out of my job," she explains. "And was inspired to have a bigger impact on the community than a corporate role could provide."

The impact is likely to be an immediate one. Like the rest of the nation, the Little Rock area has suffered from a shortage of senior care providers.

Watts chose A Place at Home after meeting the owners and Co-founders of the A Place at Home and NorEast Franchise Group, Jerod Evanich and Dustin Distefano. "I was impressed by their culture and vision, and felt like together we could form a personal partnership that could help build my dreams of running my own company while fulfilling a community need. The company's core values resonated with me as well."

A Place at Home emphasizes a set of values known as, "We are CARE," which stands for Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Ethics.

"It aligns with how I believe relationships, both personal and professional, should be formed."

The franchise will serve Little Rock, Maumelle, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Cabot, Conway, Malvern, Hot Springs, and Hot Springs Village. Watts is still shopping for a location for the franchise's home office.

"We're excited because this brings us one step closer to our goal of serving seniors in their communities from coast-to-coast," says Evanich. Evanich says he and Distefano turned to franchising after determining it was the best way to share their continuum of care model across the nation.

"Our vision is to provide seniors with one professional care company they can depend on as they navigate the aging process and see their needs evolve."

Evanich notes all franchisees must demonstrate they align with the "We are CARE" philosophy before he and Distefano will even consider awarding them a franchise. But he welcomes anyone interested in opening a franchise of their own to contact them, and to begin a conversation.

CONTACT:

Jerod Evanich, MBA

Co-Founder and Head of Operations

O: 888-502-6310 x 101

F: 402-281-0736

E: jerod.evanich(at)aplaceathome.com

W: http://www.aplaceathomefranchise.com

ABOUT A PLACE AT HOME

A Place at Home (a NorEast Franchise Group) offers a range of customized in-home care services, care coordination and assistance in identifying and transitioning to senior living alternatives. The company is dedicated to preserving the quality of life for seniors by giving them the support they need to stay as independent as possible for as long as possible. Those who would like to explore franchising should contact the owners to start a conversation. Visit aplaceathomefranchise.com or a aplaceathome.com for more information.SetaGrip - EFA Bronze Winner Weve started R&D work for wall panels and other interior improvements products and are excited to see where this technology will continue to develop. says NuFlors Managing Partner, David J Kim.

NuFlors, innovator of patent-pending SetaGrip Technology for flooring, will exhibit at the 2019 Environments for Aging (EFA) Conference in Salt Lake City, UT this April. NuFlors was named the Bronze Product Innovation Award winner in 2018 by EFA for the revolutionary, adhesive-free flooring installation technology.

Weve started R&D work for wall panels and other interior improvements products and are excited to see where this technology will continue to develop. says NuFlors Managing Partner, David J Kim.

NuFlors (booth 628), together with Shannon Specialty Floors (booth 630), will demonstrate the benefits of SetaGrip and how it's changing the way flooring is being installed in the industry. SetaGrip is a new concept in the installation of floors without adhesives and allows easy removal without residue making installation and repairs quicker than any other product on the market. Its technology uses millions of micro-sized pores, vacuum, and negative air pressure to securely adhere the floor to any flat, non-porous surface.

NuFlors' and Shannon's partnership began in January of 2019 in the distribution and selling of the loose-lay flooring concept, SetaGrip.

We are thrilled to introduce SetaGrip into our line of high-performance flooring solutions as an alternative to click and floating floors with the security of adhesion and with ease of installation and lack of liquid adhesive, said Jeff Collum, CEO and President of Shannon Specialty Floors. The performance, durability and versatility fit strongly with our selling values and offers a new depth of offering for the Shannon Specialty Floors distributorship.

SetaGrip products will be offered by Shannon Specialty Floors and its representatives and independent agents in Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Hawaii, Iowa, Kan., Idaho, Ill., Minn., Mo., Mont., Neb., Nev., N.M., N.D., Okla., Ore., S.D., Texas, Utah, Wash., Wis. and Wyo.

About NuFlors - NuFlors entered the flooring industry by sourcing PVC tiles for a major New England based importer since 1990. As the industry evolved, NuFlors' focus evolved into developing sophisticated technologies for the advancement of what is now called Luxury Vinyl tiles (LVT) and commercial sheet vinyl (CSV). For over 10 years NuFlors has been focused on supplying private labeled products to some of the major flooring manufacturer brands in the United States. NuFlors' dedication to flooring innovations led them to develop and launch the breakthrough, patent-pending SetaGrip Technology flooring system.

About Shannon Specialty Floors - Shannon Specialty Floors, Inc. is a major manufacturer and distributor of flooring products with a strong focus on Healthcare, Senior Care, Government, Corporate, Hospitality, Retail and Education environments. Shannon Specialty Floors supplied products provide durability and state-of-the-art technology with a strong emphasis on no-wax, no-buff commercial resilient flooring including heterogeneous and homogeneous sheet vinyl, tiles and planks, and non-vinyl flooring. You can find more information at https://shannonspecialtyfloors.com.Oldcastle APG's acquisition of Allied/Eagle Bay will expand their manufacturing facilities from the Washington, DC area to the Carolinas. Allied/Eagle Bay products nicely align with Oldcastle APGs Belgard and Echelon Masonry brands. We are excited to serve our customers by enhancing our product offerings and optimizing distribution in the Mid-Atlantic region. --Steve Berry, COO, Oldcastle APG

Oldcastle APG is pleased to announce the acquisition of Allied Concrete Products, enhancing our customers experience by expanding product options and distribution. Since 1945, Allied has been an established leader in hardscapes under the Eagle Bay brand, along with Allied concrete masonry and lightweight aggregates in the Richmond/Tidewater region.

In addition to expanding product offerings, the acquisition will strengthen Oldcastle APGs ability to service mid-Atlantic hardscape and masonry installers with a full line of quality Belgard pavers, wall products and Techniseal paver sand and sealers; as well as Echelon masonry and Amerimix mortars that can beautify any residential or commercial property. Belgard also features Segmental Retaining Walls (SRWs) innovated by Anchor Wall Systems. This will provide contractors with more choices and quicker access to quality hardscape and masonry products in this region. The acquisition adds two locations to APGs footprint: a state-of-the-art paver and concrete masonry manufacturing facility in Richmond and a concrete masonry manufacturing facility in Chesapeake.

With a shared dedication to hardscape and masonry professionals, Allied is a well-established, quality manufacturer of products that nicely align with Oldcastle APGs Belgard and Echelon Masonry brands, said Steve Berry, COO, Oldcastle APG. We are excited to serve our customers by expanding our strategic geographic footprint, enhancing our product offerings and optimizing distribution in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Eagle Bay Hardscapes line is comprised of a variety of color, texture and size options for concrete pavers and segmental retaining walls, including Diamond walls from Anchor Wall Systems. Permeable pavers and other environmentally friendly products also make up the Eagle Bay line of products. Berry says the brand alignments will give pros and homeowners more choices for their projectsfrom outdoor living to commercial applications.

Having Allied/Eagle Bay join Oldcastle APG will expand our manufacturing facilities from the Washington, DC area to the Carolinas to give customers better access to our quality brands, said Berry. APG continues to invest in the hardscape and masonry markets to further enhance our offerings and service to our tradespeople and professional contractors. To learn more about Oldcastle APGs hardscape and masonry products, visit http://www.OldcastleAPG.com.

About Oldcastle APG

Oldcastle APG is part of CRHs Building Products division. CRH is a leading global diversified building materials group, employing c.90,000 people at c.3,600 operating locations in 32 countries worldwide.ProctorU at OLC Innovate 2019 Instructors and exam administrators will now be able to access and sync exam information seamlessly from a single screen in their LMS

ProctorU announced today at the OLC Innovate Conference in Denver the upcoming release of ProctorU Interface 2.0, an exciting new integration capability that makes accessing the companys artificial intelligence (AI) based Live+ system from learning management systems easier than ever before. Interface 2.0 helps faculty select security and exam management options for their unique exam needs without ever leaving their LMS environment.

This is the culmination of years of work. We have been gathering user feedback to ensure we have built a state-of-the-art workflow and design, specifically for faculty, said Vice President of Product Management Debra Fowler-Sandford. Instructors and exam administrators will now be able to access and sync exam information seamlessly from a single screen in their LMS, select the proctoring options they need using templates and other time saving functions utilizing our LTI tool launch. Its a game changer."

This new capability, available in time for the 2019 Fall semester, will come in conjunction with optional per course pricing models from ProctorU, allowing faculty to select the level of security they need for each quiz and exam for an entire course, without concern for cost.

About ProctorU

ProctorU provides a full suite of online proctoring and identity management solutions for education, professional development and credentialing organizations. With patented, 24/7 on-demand live proctoring and a fully-automated platform, both backed by artificial intelligence, ProctorU offers a powerful, convenient and cost-effective alternative to traditional test centers. ProctorU increases access to online learning while ensuring exam integrity and accountability for any test-taker with internet access using only a computer and a webcam. To learn more, visit ProctorU.com.Reliance Partners (Reliance), the nations fastest-growing, privately-held commercial insurance agency for the transportation and logistics industry, is pleased to announce the promotion of Ashley Hammonds and Jason Coleman to the position of Executive Vice Presidents of Sales.

They were our very first sales team leaders and have both grown teams in excess of 20 people over the past three and a half years, said Chad Eichelberger, president. They maintain two of the larger books at the agency, and their combined teams are responsible for $75 million in total premium.

Hammonds was one of the first sales team members after Andrew Ladebauche, CEO, started the agency. He earned a B.S. in Finance from Auburn University and joined Reliance after 10 years operating an asset-based trucking company.

Coleman began his career with the company in 2013, after 15 years in the insurance industry. He earned a B.S. in Animal Science and Economics from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Both he and Hammonds add more than 40 years of collective experience to Reliances transportation and logistics division.

About Reliance Partners

Reliance Partners was incorporated by a team of former transportation industry executives and founders of asset-based trucking companies with a common goal: to be the best independent agency in the insurance industry. For more than 10 years, the company has focused on providing insurance solutions for the transportation and logistics space and sharing its knowledge across North America. The company has grown in more than $100 million in transportation and logistics premium, and was lauded as one of the fastest growing insurance companies in the nation by Inc. Magazine. Reliance was also listed in Inc. Magazine's "Best Workplaces" for three consecutive years, and was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of "America's Best Workplaces."

For more information, please visit: http://www.reliancepartners.com.Our mission as we move forward is to expand the capital available in the region while we continue to attract diverse talent and deepen corporate connections and ensure the region has the proper physical infrastructure to support the innovators, start-ups and scale-ups.

Today, Rev1 Ventures, the investor startup studio that combines capital and strategic services, released its 2018 Startup Impact report, revealing it has invested in its 100th business and achieved its bold goal of generating $2B in economic impact to the Columbus region from the capital attracted, revenue generated, and exits from its clients since 2013. In the last year alone, Rev1 invested more than $13MM in a record 36 companies; more than half of those investments are follow-on funding to growing companies. Rev1 clients generated over $123MM in revenue and attracted more than $157MM in capital to the region in 2018.

Rev1 portfolio companies also drove $181.5MM in exits last year, including the $100MM Amicus Therapeutics acquisition of Celenex and the Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. partnership and option to acquire gene therapy spinoff Myonexus, which included an upfront payment of $60 million.

Columbus has truly become a leading hub for startups in the Midwest. Beyond the investment activity, Rev1 remains focused on how we, as a community, connect startups to our regions greatest asseta large and diverse corporate base that serves as first customers, strategic partners, and co-investors, said Tom Walker, CEO of Rev1 Ventures. Funding startups at scale is a cornerstone of a growing innovation economy, and we see this as just the beginning. Our mission as we move forward is to expand the capital available in the region while we continue to attract diverse talent and deepen corporate connections and ensure the region has the proper physical infrastructure to support the innovators, start-ups and scale-ups.

With expertise in commercialization of research-based spinouts, Rev1 continues its collaborations with 50 private and public sector partners, including leading research institutions like The Ohio State University, Nationwide Children's Hospital, and OhioHealth as well as Rev1s state economic development partner, Ohio Third Frontier. Since 2013, these partnerships have helped to catalyze Rev1s work, driving more than 60 investments in 37 spinouts from these world-acclaimed research institutions.

To further support this all-in approach, Rev1 has expanded its commitment to corporate innovation, growing to six dedicated corporate partner programs/funds in 2018, including State Auto, The J.M. Smucker Company, and Safelite AutoGlass, resulting in more than 220 corporate introductions for Rev1 startups.

The biggest driver for the growth of my business has been access to the right resources. Rev1 has been a pivotal player that has literally opened the doors that set us on the path for success, said Dr. Rachel Angel, founder and CEO of Peerro, a career pathway platform for young people seeking hourly positions and employers seeking quality hires.

Our unique formula for startup success is working, as evidenced by the achievements and the diversity of the Rev1 portfolio, which is a benchmark we are both proud of and dedicated to continuing to improve, said Kristy Campbell, COO of Rev1 Ventures. Half of the investments we made in 2018 and 38 percent of the capital invested were in companies with a woman or minority founder or inventor. Those numbers are powerful and speak for the opportunity in front of us.

Rev1 was named the 4th most active seed investor in the U.S., and Columbus tops the list of top metros for VC funding to female founders, according to PitchBook. To view Rev1s full 2018 Startup Impact report, visit: http://www.rev1ventures.com/2018-impact-report/.

About Rev1 Ventures

Rev1 Ventures is the investor startup studio that combines capital and strategic services to help startups scale and corporates innovate. Based in the Midwest, and in the number one city for scaling startups, Rev1 aligns innovators and founders with corporate and research partners to access customers and markets, helping entrepreneurs build great companies. With a proven track record of identifying, guiding and investing in high potential startups, Rev1 helps companies solve real problems for markets in need of real solutions. Rev1 has $90MM in capital under management, providing a capital continuum from corporate and community partners, as well as Ohio Third Frontier. Rev1 is among the Most Active Seed Investors in the U.S., according to PitchBook. For more information, visit http://www.rev1ventures.com.Agruss Personal Injury - People, First

In 2016, Uber driver Jason Dalton allegedly went on a shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing six people before he was apprehended by police. In between shootings, Dalton apparently picked up and dropped off Uber clients. These incidents seem far away, but accidents are happening right here in Chicago as well. Agruss Law Firm, a personal injury law firm based in Chicago, has represented cases where pedestrians or bicyclists were injured by someone exiting a ridesharing service who injured someone when opening the vehicle door. This creates a difficult situation when someone is injured. Who is responsible for the injury, the rideshare service, the drivers insurance, or the passenger?

These incidents shed light on a new issue: ridesharing safety. The rise of ridesharing apps over the last decade has led to a revolution in the way we travel. It is the ultimate in conveniencejust use a smartphone app to hail a car and get where you want to go. At the same time, there are reports from trade organizations and in the media that suggest ridesharing is unsafe and may place riders in danger. Supposedly lax background checks and decreased regulation are responsible for this phenomenon.

What are the risks of using rideshare applications? Are they really less safe than taxis? The answer to that question lies in the risks and protections offered by both services.

Both taxi and rideshare drivers have to undergo background checks before they are allowed to take fares. For taxi drivers, the nature of these checks varies between cities. In Philadelphia, for example, taxi drivers can have no felony conviction within the last five years, nor can they have had a DUI in the last three. In New York City, drivers must meet certain health standards, complete a defensive driving course, and learn about sex trafficking.

Royale Simms, a business agent with Teamsters Local 922 which represents over 2,000 taxi drivers in the D.C, area, believes taxi drivers are more rigorously vetted than their rideshare counterparts. People with criminal histories have been approved as [rideshare] drivers for these companies, he said. You cant do that as a taxi in the city.

According to a report published by the Cato Institute, however, rideshare drivers are screened by SterlingBackcheck or Hirease. Checkr is another company that provides background checks for the ridesharing industry. These background check companies offer full background checks, including a report on felony convictions. It cannot be reasonably claimed, concludes the report, that an Uber or Lyft driver who has been cleared through a thorough background check is more of a danger to passengers than a taxi driver in most of Americas most populous cities.

Despite these precautions, there are still incidents involving drivers. Since 2014, the Taxicab, Limousine, and Paratransit Association (TLPA) have recorded 22 assaults allegedly carried out by rideshare drivers and six deaths that the TLPA claims are the result of rideshare accidents.

Similar incidents have been recorded among taxi drivers. For example, the Washington, D.C. Taxicab Commission issued passengers a warning in 2012 about attacks against women by taxi drivers in the capital. What we're seeing is an increase in physically manhandling their fares, said Taxicab Commission Chairman Ron Linton. One woman was pulled out by her ankles.

Matthew Feeney, author of the Cato Institute report, believes there are precautions in place to make ridesharing safer than trips in taxis. Rideshare drivers, for example, have access to passengers contact information, allowing them to call directly to report forgotten items. Additionally, drivers and passengers can both rate each other in the app, providing feedback to other riders.

Unlike traditional taxi companies that often enjoy a legally protected monopoly, rideshare companies face plenty of competition, concludes Feeney. Accordingly, if they dont meet their customers reasonable expectations of privacy, they will pay for their failure in the marketplace.

About Agruss Law Firm LLC

Founding attorney Michael Agruss and his passionate team of attorneys are here to help you during these challenging times. Whether youve been hurt in a ridesharing accident, a loved one is being abused in a nursing home, or youve been the victim of medical malpractice, we are here for you. Were not just lawyers, and youre not just a client. Were friends, neighbors, family. Were all people. And here at Agruss, we put people first.

For more information, contact:

Michael Agruss

Agruss Law Firm LLC

4809 N Ravenswood Ave #419

Chicago, IL 60640

Local Directions

https://www.agrusspersonalinjury.comSenior Technical Sales Manager, Russ Young I look forward to serving our customers unique mission-critical needs, and I am excited for the opportunity to partner in their project and program successes.

Approaching one year since the opening of its Space Coast cleanroom, Astro Pak announced that Russ Young has been appointed as the Senior Technical Sales Manager for its Titusville, FL cleanroom facility. Mr. Young officially joined the company in Q1 of 2019. His previous role as Business Development Manager at Swagelok, a manufacturer of gas and fluid systems components, has fostered deep connections with the regions industries, according to Robert K. Pozil, Senior Vice President of Astro Pak. Russ brings a wealth of experience and contacts to help bolster the Florida cleanrooms customer base.

Mr. Youngs experience in his prior position led him to recommend Astro Pak to his clients for their precision cleaning needs. With recent approvals to perform precision cleaning for ULA and Boeing, Astro Pak is rising up to become a staple link in the space supply chain.

Mr. Pozil praised Mr. Youngs strong relationship with the aerospace firms supporting the Space Coast as well as his close ties in the industrial sector noting, It is not often that we are fortunate enough to bring on someone with this much experience and familiarity with our services. For his part, Mr. Young welcomes the opportunities that lie ahead, I look forward to serving our customers unique mission-critical needs, and I am excited for the opportunity to partner in their project and program successes.

About Astro Pak

Astro Pak has been the leading provider of passivation, high purity and precision cleaning services in North America since 1959. Astro Pak continues its 60-year tradition of meeting the critical cleaning and surface conditioning requirements for a myriad of industries such as biopharmaceutical and aerospace via our on-site services, as well as our state-of-the-art cleanroom and shop facilities. Astro Pak is privately held with headquarters in Costa Mesa, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.astropak.com.

Stertil-Koni next-gen DIAMONDLIFT has become a top choice of pupil transportation maintenance facilities The DIAMONDLIFT has gone to the top of the class in pupil transportation, becoming the go-to inground lift in the industry. And, the DIAMONDLIFT exemplifies our commitment to innovate with the goal of providing a safer, efficient and durable vehicle lifting system.

A new overview of maintenance facilities in the North American pupil transportation sector shows school districts are increasingly turning to next-generation inground vehicle lifts to expedite safe and reliable servicing and repair.

Driving the trend are three key factors: safety, efficiency, and cost, according to Stertil-Koni, the recognized leader in the heavy duty bus lift and truck lift industry and provider of the overview.

As Peter Bowers, Technical Sales Support Manager at Stertil-Koni, noted, "About 75 to 80 percent of maintenance performed on school buses includes work on the steering, tires, and brakes. Thats why an axle-engaging lift that enables wheels-free lifting is so important."

For its part, Stertil-Koni re-envisioned the process when it first introduced an inground, telescopic piston lift, known as the DIAMONDLIFT, nearly seven years ago. With a lifting capacity of up to 35,000 lbs. per piston, and models that are typically ordered in two and three -piston configurations (hence, lifting capacity up to 105,000 lbs. in the most popular models), the challenge of lifting standard school buses for servicing is never an issue.

Whats more, DIAMONDLIFT  which is Gold Label-certified by the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI)  features pistons that are electronically synchronized for maximum safety, utilizes a mechanical locking system for exceptional protection and requires a mere 4.8 gallons of biodegradable fluid per lifting unit.

DIAMONDLIFT comes in two models, cassette and frame, and it is the frame version that has resonated particularly strongly with the school transportation industry.

Heres why: According to Matthias Lennemann, Stertil-Konis Sales Manager for inground lifts, In many cases, installing the frame version of the DIAMONDLIFT into an existing concrete pit, or new construction, will deliver substantial time and cost benefits to the customer. Whats more, installation is often easier because it requires a pit that is less deep than traditional products.

The lifts modular frame design also means that it can readily accommodate a variety of different pit sizes. It is also designed with different travel ranges, to work seamlessly with a wide range of vehicle sizes and wheelbases.

That makes the DIAMONDLIFT frame ideally suited for both retrofitting existing facilities and new construction, Bowers added.

Concluded Dr. Jean DellAmore, President of Stertil-Koni, "In just a few short years, the DIAMONDLIFT has gone to the top of the class in pupil transportation. It has rapidly become the go-to inground lift in the industry. Whats more, DIAMONDLIFT exemplifies our firm commitment at Stertil-Koni to continue innovating with the goal of always providing a safer, more efficient and durable heavy duty vehicle lifting system.

About Stertil-Koni

Stertil-Koni is the market leader in heavy duty vehicle lifts, notably bus lifts and truck lifts, and proudly serves municipalities, state agencies, school bus fleets, major corporations, the U.S. Military and more. Stertil-Koni's breadth of products meets all ranges of lifting needs and includes portable lifts such as Mobile Column Lifts, 2-post, 4-post, inground piston lifts, platform lifts, and its axle-engaging, inground, scissor lift configuration, ECOLIFT. The companys innovative, inground telescopic piston DIAMONDLIFT is now available with an optional Continuous Recess system, ideal for low clearance vehicles. Stertil-Koni USA is headquartered in Stevensville, Maryland with production facilities in Europe, The Netherlands, and in Streator, IL.

Contact: Paul Feldman, Paul (dot) Feldman (at) Stertil-Koni (dot) com, 410-643-9001Over the past few years, our salespeople have built relationships that have taken Smith to a new level of size and prominence within the industry. The next big driver of growth will come out of our efforts to refine and rethink how we manage our numerous global suppliers.

Smith, a global distributor of electronic components and semiconductors, today announces the appointments of Mike Pursley and Todd Snow as Vice Presidents of Global Purchasing. Mike previously served as Smiths Director of PPV  Global, and Todd previously held the role of Vice President of Global Project Development for Smith.

Mike and Todd will work together to oversee all of Smiths global purchasing personnel to make sure that every requirement is handled with intensity and diligence. Their key focus will be identifying and implementing flexible procurement strategies to support customers during obsolescence, lifecycle management, and shortage situations. Todd and Mike will work alongside other members of Smiths senior management team to engineer the most cost-efficient solutions and uphold the highest quality standards when sourcing components.

We see this role as an opening to optimize freight costs and net terms and to find both new and direct sourcing channels that better serve Smith, said Mike. Training our current suppliers to work with Smith in a true partnership will benefit our customers by strengthening our most valuable sources of cost-efficient, traceable, and long-term supplies of product.

Before they advanced to their new roles, Mike and Todd worked together to grow Smiths cost-savings program from a startup level to a now-dynamic initiative that enhances the companys overall trading efforts. This program, which the two lead, augments the everyday sourcing support Smith provides customers with increased value.

Putting two sets of eyes on an opportunity and developing creative, robust, and scalable solutions is what we do best, said Todd. One of our immediate goals is to take Smiths strengths in the purchasing arena and make them even better and further-reaching. Were very excited about the opportunity to co-lead the Smith global purchasing team and support the companys future growth.

Both Mike and Todd bring extensive industry expertise that will inform their undertakings as they work to promote Smiths unique procurement offerings and extend support worldwide. Mike has served on Smiths global team for almost 27 years, and Todds nearly two decades in the franchise distribution sphere have provided him multifaceted knowledge of sales, sourcing, and procurement.

A strong purchasing department is the backbone of Smiths ability to serve our customers in a timely and efficient fashion, said Bob Ackerley, Smiths co-founder and director. Over the past few years, our salespeople have built relationships that have taken Smith to a new level of size and prominence within the industry. The next big driver of growth will come out of our efforts to refine and rethink how we manage our numerous global suppliers.

About Smith

Founded in 1984, Smith sources, manages, and distributes the electronic components that go into everything from mobile phones and computers to appliances and directional drilling systems. In 16 cities around the world, from Silicon Valley to Seoul, Smiths legion of employees communicates in 50 different languages and dialects and buys and sells components 24 hours per day, with global annual sales of $1.66 billion. Smith is always moving: helping manufacturers navigate market shifts; customizing supply chain solutions; testing components using cutting-edge technology. With testing and logistics hubs in Houston, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam, Smiths processes focus on critical issues, from quality management to counterfeit prevention and environmental safety. Smiths operations, purchasing, and sales worldwide are seamlessly integrated with the companys global IT infrastructure, offering real-time inventory and logistics visibility anywhere in the world. Smith is the leading independent distributor of electronic components and ranks number eight among all global distributors. Smiths Intelligent Distribution model adapts to ever-changing demands by providing reliable global electronics sourcing and logistics, regardless of distribution channel or locale. For more information, please visit https://www.smithweb.com, or, to reach a Smith representative 24 hours a day, please call +1 713.430.3000.CALGARY, Alberta, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alberta workers paid $27.9 billion into the Canada Pension Plan over and above what retirees in the province received in CPP payments over the past 10-year period, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.



In fact, Albertas disproportionate net contribution to the CPP kept the payroll tax rate for all workers (prior to the expansion) at 9.9 per cent instead of 10.6 per centthe amount required to maintain the same level of pension benefits without Alberta workers contributing.

The Canada Pension Plan is just one example to show clearly that when Alberta is prosperous, the whole country benefits, said Jason Clemens, executive vice-president of the Fraser Institute and co-author of Albertans Make Disproportionate Contributions to National Programs: The Canada Pension Plan as a Case Study .

The study finds that in 2017, Alberta workers made 16.5 per cent of all contributions to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), but retirees in Alberta received just 10.8 per cent of CPP payments. In fact, the net contribution of Alberta workers to the CPP over and above what Alberta retirees were paid in CPP payments was $2.9 billion that year.

From 2008 to 2017, the total net contribution from Alberta workers to the CPP was a staggering $27.9 billion. (This analysis excludes Quebec, which has opted out of the CPP.)

Crucially, Albertas net contribution was nearly four times that of Ontario, the next highest contributing province, with a net contribution of $7.4 billion over the same 10-year period.

Canadians in other parts of the country clearly benefit from Albertas outsized financial contribution to the country, so Canadians and governments across the country should be more accommodating to help Alberta prosper, Clemens said.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jason Clemens, Executive Vice-President

Fraser Institute

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:

Bryn Weese, Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute

(604) 688-0221 ext. 589

bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org

Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institutes independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org





Arthur Tress. "Boy in flood dream, NY" (1971) The Photography Initiative demonstrates an institutional commitment from Stanford Libraries to our community and art form, said Mark Ruwedel.

Stanford Libraries launched a new program within its Department of Special Collections focused solely on developing a rich photographic research and teaching collection. The Photography Initiative will acquire and preserve the archives of notable photographers, including Arthur Tress and Mark Ruwedel, who recently placed their archives at Stanford.

The Photography Initiative demonstrates an institutional commitment from Stanford Libraries to our community and art form, said Ruwedel, winner of the Scotiabank Photography Award (2014) and a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2014). In the past year, my prints have already been incorporated into classes. It is reassuring to know your work will be cared for and actually studied.

Tress and Ruwedels archives join other notable photography collections already among the Libraries Special Collections holding. These include, 157 mammoth albumen plates by Carleton Watkins, a 19th century landscape collection whose work is said to have influenced Congress decision to establish the National Park System; Chicana photographer Laura Aguilar whose work challenges contemporary notions of beauty especially among marginalized communities; poet Allen Ginsberg whose photos document Beat Generation activities; Herbert Matter a pioneer in abstract photography; Doug Menuezs archive documenting Silicon Valley from 1986-2000; Isabelle May Chan and Leo Chans studio photographs of Chinese Americans in San Francisco (1923-1960), and photographers Bob Fitch and David Bacon, whose works provide first-hand accounts of social justice, civil rights and labor movements.

Situated in Special Collections instead of a discipline-focused library allows a photographers archive to be leveraged across several disciplines. Having the flexibility to pair photographs with rare books or other materials across the Libraries collections brings the photographs, as well as the supplemental material, to life in completely new ways, said Peter Blank, Stanford Libraries curator overseeing the Photography Initiative.

Recently, an American Studies class visited Special Collections to view a mix of material that ranged from Galileos "Siderius Nuncius" (1610), an astronomical pamphlet known to be the first published scientific work based on observations made through a telescope, to photographs by Michael Bishop (1946-2016) that were inspired by NASAs Gemini and Apollo missions. Bishop is also a recent addition to the Photography Initiative; his work donated by his mother, Hazel Bishop.

Stanford and Photography

Stanfords engagement with photography dates back to Eadweard Muybridges stop-action

experiments in the 1870s, when Leland Stanford, the universitys co-founder, commissioned Muybridge to prove that horses, midstride, lift all four hooves off the ground. The photo experiment proved successful, and Muybridges technique eventually gave birth to the motion picture industry.

Through the years, Stanford students have also shared a deep appreciation for photography. In 1969 when Leo Holub founded Stanfords photography program, students lined up overnight to enroll. More recently, Stanfords Department of Art & Art History doubled the number of introductory Photography I classes due to high student demand. A library component is featured in nearly all the classes.

In her seminar, "Pacific Dreams: Art in California," Stanford Assistant Professor Marci Kwon, introduces students to the diverse history of artistic practice in California, with special attention paid to the way issues of race, ethnicity, and immigration have shaped Californias art and visual culture.

One of the primary aims of my teaching is to show students how the past links to the present, said Kwon, who displayed photographs of Carlton Watkins, Arthur Tress and Mark Ruwedel for a recent class session.

Her students spent time looking at each image, and discussed the connections between the time periods and cultures captured by these three photographers. Because it was a freshman seminar course, Kwon appreciated how unique this visit was for many of her students.

There is nothing quite like encountering the physical object and looking at it carefully and closely, said Kwon. This session was by far my students favorite class. For me, photography is a vital teaching tool that makes history less abstract and more present, materializing the continuities and differences between the historical and the contemporary.

By the end of 2019, Stanford Libraries estimates that over 6,000 works will be donated to its Photography Initiative, which will exceed $20,000,000.00 in value. The Founding Friends of the Photography Initiative who donated these works include David Knauss, Trixy Castro, Jon and Ellen Vein, Peter Barbur and Tim Doody, as well as others who wish to remain anonymous.

Besides the Tress and Ruwedel archive commitments, significant bodies of work by photographers Michael Bishop, Linda Connor, Joseph Mills, Lewis Morley and Milton Rogovin are also included in the Photography Initiative.

The Libraries efforts are supportive of and work in partnership with endeavors across Stanford, including the Cantor Museum and the Anderson Collection, demonstrating the universitys ongoing commitment to the arts.

ABOUT STANFORD LIBRARIES

Stanford Libraries is more than a cluster of libraries; it connects people with information by providing diverse resources and digital scholarship support and services to the academic community worldwide. The Libraries includes a world-class collection of over 12 million items, and continues to lead developments on digital tools that enable Stanford students, faculty and scholars to access and investigate items from its collections as well as from partner institutions around the world. Stanford Libraries serves as a launchpad to spark curiosity, elevate knowledge and transform scholarship. https://library.stanford.edu | @StanfordLibsLocations of the 84 STEM Learning Ecosystems SLECoP is a global initiative of innovators who know that thriving communities are built through collaboration and a willingness to reimagine education and provide opportunities to those commonly neglected.

The STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice, SLECoP, today announced it has selected 15 new ecosystems to join the global movement of leaders devoted to dramatic improvement in how students learn.

This 20 percent growth underscores national recognition of the importance of ecosystems, which build meaningful connections among community partners to prepare students for the opportunities and challenges of the future.

New ecosystems to join the SLECoP range from the entire states of Iowa, Texas, South Carolina and West Virginia to regions like Biloxi, Miss., Broward County, Fla., Central Mass. and Lincoln, Neb.

More than 50 ecosystems from multiple countries expressed interest in joining Cohort Five, but only 15 were admitted now. Ecosystems can apply again for admission into Cohort Six in late summer.

This was an incredibly competitive process, and we were only able to admit ecosystems who would be capable of making immediate contributions to our thriving community of practice, said Jan Morrison, president and founding partner of TIES, the organization that operates the SLECoP. The ecosystems that we selected now have pulled together diverse partners who no longer accept the status quo in education; they want to see all students access high quality STEM education that will prepare them for life and work in the next century.

The STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice, SLECoP, is a global initiative of innovators who know that thriving communities are built through collaboration and a willingness to reimagine education and provide opportunities to those commonly neglected.

The SLECoP will now include ecosystems from 38 states in the United States as well as Kenya, Israel, Mexico and Canada.

Forming STEM ecosystems was listed as the No. 1 priority in a December 2018 report by the Federal Office of Science and Technology Policy intended to help guide STEM policy and implementation across the country.

We are starting to see a deeper appreciation for the ecosystem approach to STEM education. We are thrilled to be leading this critical work, Morrison said.

Because of such strong demand, the SLECoP, in its fifth year, is now accepting new ecosystems twice a year, instead of only once.

The SLECoP was built on the fundamental belief that learning happens everywhere, not just in traditional classrooms. Consequently, ecosystems are made up of partners representing K-12 public and private education, business and industry, after-school providers, non-profits, STEM-rich institutions, government and philanthropy.

Ecosystem partners work for shared goals of improved STEM opportunities for all. Ecosystems also recognize the importance of identifying needed skills for an economy yet to be conceived and lobbying for informed policies to meet 21st century needs.

The SLECoP offers the architecture and support for the ecosystems to connect to one another, learn and share best practices.

The SLECoP is supported by numerous funders and partners, including Amgen Foundation, Broadcom Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Overdeck Family Foundation, Qualcomm Foundation, Samueli Foundation, STEM Funders Network, STEM Next Opportunity Fund, TGR Foundation, The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Steinman Foundation, and countless local/regional foundations supporting local and regional STEM ecosystems.

Other support is being offered by partners, including LEGO Education, Tallo, Pitsco Education and Vernier.

New ecosystems are:

Be'er Sheva; Israel

Biloxi STREAMing; Mississippi

Broward Area STEM Ecosystem (BASE); Florida

Central Massachusetts STEM Network Ecosystem; Massachusetts

ENGINE of Central PA; Pennsylvania

First2 Network; West Virginia

Greater Bridgeport STEM Learning Ecosystem; Connecticut

Greater New Orleans STEM Network (GNOSN); Louisiana

HSMC Tri-county STEM Ecosystem Consortium; New Jersey

Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Regional STEM Hub Network; Iowa

Lincoln STEM Ecosystem (LNKSE); Nebraska

Northshore STEM Coalition; Louisiana

Northwest Arkansas STEM Ecosystem; Arkansas

NY Capital Region STEM Hub; New York

South Carolina's STEM Ecosystem Community of Practice; South Carolina

Texas EcosySTEM; Texas

Learn more about the national initiative at stemecosystems.org. Address specific questions to info(at)stemecosystems.org. Join online conversations on Twitter@STEMecosystems and #STEMecosystems and on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

###MRO is the cornerstone of the aerospace industry in Thailand, and the growing need for MRO in ASEAN creates an excellent opportunity for North American companies to enter one of the worlds largest aerospace markets.

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) has approved investment promotion incentives for companies that choose Thailand as their base of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activity. Thailands MRO expenditure from 2015-2024 has been forecasted to reach a total amount of USD $10.6 billion, with airframe, engine and component MRO being specifically targeted. As Thailand hosted a record 38 million visitors in 2018, and expects 40 million in 2019, its aerospace sector is growing at an astounding rate uniquely positioning the Kingdom to lead ASEAN in MRO activity.

As the global aviation market shifts east and demand for air travel is increasing in Asia, a significant number of new opportunities in the aerospace manufacturing and MRO industries are being created, said Mr. Chokedee Kaewsang, Deputy Secretary General of the Thailand Board of Investment. Thailands geographic position and strong expertise in the aerospace industry are why global companies choose us when theyre ready to expand their operations to Asia.

Thailands MRO flagship will be the Eastern Airport City (Aerotropolis), anchored by U-Tapao airport, in the countrys Eastern Economic Corridor. The Aerotropolis project, part of a 15-year aviation development plan for Thailand, calls for an expansion of U-Tapaos passenger capacity from 5 million passengers to 54 million in the next 30 years. The Aerotropolis will serve as an MRO hub and will be connected by rail, roadway, and sea to other major airports including Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang International Airports.

One of the reasons why aerospace companies continue to choose Thailand as their ASEAN regional base, aside from the skilled workforce and the size of the market itself, is the generous support of the Thai government. Companies that expand to Thailand receive investment incentives such as 8 years of corporate income tax exemption, plus an additional 5 years of 50% reduction of the corporate income tax rate after the exemption period. BOI offers another 2-4 years of corporate income tax exemption for investment projects based in the Aerotropolis that pair with local educational institutions on workforce development initiatives.

Global aerospace brands have been present in Thailand for decades, and the Kingdom shows no signs of slowing down in attracting large multinational companies. Recently, a leading aircraft manufacturer announced plans to establish a new MRO facility at U-Tapao Airport, in a joint venture with Thai Airways. Similarly, Revima, the French APU and landing gear MRO specialist, has started construction of a new landing gear overhaul facility in Chonburi, Thailand. The 12,000m2 facility will focus on Airbus A320, Boeing 737 and ATR family landing gears. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art machines and will include all necessary special processes for full in-house repair & overhaul of landing gears. Another investor, BOSA, a UK-based aircraft component maintenance services provider, has launched a joint MRO venture, BOSA-Thayaan Aircraft Service (BTAS), to perform line maintenance operations at U-Tapao Airport.

This April, a delegation led by Mr. Punlop Punyasiri, Director of Industry Linkage Development Division at Thailand BOI will attend MRO Americas 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The delegation plans to further showcase Thailands aerospace industry and introduce plans to expand the Kingdoms MRO sector. During MRO Americas, BOI will host a seminar titled Thailand Investment Year - What's NEW? exploring the opportunities available to North American investors in Thailand.

MRO is the cornerstone of the aerospace industry in Thailand, and the growing need for MRO in ASEAN creates an excellent opportunity for North American companies to enter one of the worlds largest aerospace markets, concluded Mr. Kaewsang. BOI will continue to support North American companies that relocate to the Kingdom and allow them to flourish.

About BOI

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) is the investment promotion agency for Thailand that facilitates foreign direct investment. BOIs services are free of charge and customized to help business succeed in Thailand. For more information, please visit http://www.boi.go.th and http://www.thinkasiainvestthailand.com.The Alliance has been at the forefront of HIV/AIDS care for more than twenty years and continues to be the leader in HIV testing in the greater Triangle region. To be part of such an organization is an honor. said Melissa J. Haithcox-Dennis.

The Alliance of AIDS Services  Carolina, Inc. (hereinafter Alliance) announces the appointment of Melissa J. Haithcox-Dennis, Ph.D. as the Executive Director of the agency. Dr. Haithcox-Dennis will begin her leadership of the Alliance on April 8, 2019.

Dr. Haithcox-Dennis brings to the Alliance a broad background in nonprofit management and community health with more than 10 years of leadership experience in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. Dr. Haithcox-Dennis holds a Ph.D. in Health Education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL; a MA in Health Education from Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ; and a BS degree in Biology from North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC.

The Alliance has been at the forefront of HIV/AIDS care for more than twenty years and continues to be the leader in HIV testing in the greater Triangle region. To be part of such an organization, growing and co-creating the future together with the staff and the board, is an honor. I look forward to continuing the legacy of the Alliance and fulfilling its mission of serving the community by providing the highest quality nonjudgmental care, said HaithcoxDennis.Melissa succeeds Hector Salgado, former Executive of the Alliance, who took a position with the American Heart Association, in Charlotte, NC.

During Mr. Salgados three (3) years of leadership the Alliance expanded dramatically. In 2018 alone, the Alliance more than doubled HIV testing numbers to 2,986; conducted 1,477 Hepatitis and 2,619 Syphilis tests; and more than tripled the number of clients served through the food pantry, distributing 42.2 tons of food.

The Board is also grateful for the leadership of interim Executive Director, Lindsay Holland, who will return to her position of the Associate Director. Dr. Haithcox-Dennis will begin her role with an incredible staff, a strong board; and a keen focus on guiding the Alliance into the future. Current Board Chair, Rick Wellington, stated Dr. Haithcox-Dennis has a passion for community work and has the public health credentials and connections to take us into the future. Her education and experience are perfectly aligned with our organizational needs. Until the Cure, we are just getting started!

For More Information about the Alliance and how you can support our work see: https://www.aas-c.orgCar insurance quotes are a much-needed price comparison tool. You can save hundreds of dollars just by spending several minutes comparing prices, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Autoinsurancenter.com has released a new blog post that explains to its clients where to get car insurance quotes.

For more info and free quotes, please visit https://www.autoinsurancenter.com/where-can-you-find-auto-insurance-quotes/

Assuming financial responsibility when driving in the United States is mandatory. Purchasing car insurance is the preferred method. Drives can now use websites like https://www.autoinsurancenter.com/ to view multiple quotes on a single search page and track the best coverage options.

However, this is not the only method of obtaining quotes. There are 3 places where a driver can get car insurance quotes:



Directly from a specialized agent. Car insurance agents play an important role in finding coverage. Their role is to analyze each potential client and assess the risk profile. They work with insurance agencies and are familiar with prices, discounts, exclusions and other aspects of policies. Agents also provide quotes when requested by prospective drivers.

During a phone call. Although not so popular anymore, it is still possible to get quotes using a phone call. Drivers just have to call the insurance company, provide all the info when requested and wait for the company to analyze the info, call back and provide quotes.

Getting quotes online. Using online quotes is the top choice nowadays. Getting results from the internet is really easy and fast. The user can select which company he wants, input the required parameters and hit the Search button. The website does the rest and returns price estimates. A driver can get quotes using forms from either an insurers website or from a brokerage website.

Autoinsurancenter.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.

For more information, please visit https://www.autoinsurancenter.com/Tipton Health Communications, a full-service hospital certification consultancy and strategic communications agency, is proud to welcome Phil Ellingsworth Jr. as the companys Strategic Communications Manager.

In his new role at Tipton, Phil will oversee the development and implementation of robust communication strategies, plans and campaigns, primarily for Tiptons healthcare and human resources/employee benefits clients.

Phil brings extensive experience on how to plan and execute complex communication strategies for hospitals and health systems, said Dan Tipton, president and CEO. His insights will be valuable in supporting our healthcare clients short- and long-term goals.

Prior to joining Tipton Communications, Phil served as Communications Director for Hahnemann University Hospital where he oversaw internal and external communication strategies for the academic medical center. During his time at Hahnemann, Phil served as the communications adviser to the organizations C-suite and managed a number of high-level public relations projects for the hospital. Phil also has experience in journalism, healthcare marketing and content development.

It is an honor and privilege to join such a well-respected organization with talented professionals who are focused on developing healthcare strategies and solutions, said Phil.

About Tipton Health

Tipton Communications supports clients across the nation with award-winning communications services, including employee communications, human resources communications, public relations, marketing communications, intranet and Internet design, graphic design and strategic communications. Tipton is also one of the fastest-growing providers of Magnet consulting and documentation support to the nations hospital and healthcare systems. For more information, please visit http://www.tiptonhealth.com.

Tipton Communications products and services are neither sponsored nor endorsed by ANCC. ANCC Magnet Recognition, ANCC National Magnet Conference, Institute for Credentialing Innovation, Magnet, Magnet Recognition Program, The Magnet Prize and Pathway to Excellence Program are registered trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Journey to Magnet Excellence and Pathway to Excellence in Long Term Care are trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center.VFS Announces 2019 Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarship Recipients, a Record $100,000 in Scholarships Awarded to 28 Students As part of our 75th anniversary celebrations, we are delighted to provide a record number of scholarships this year for the record total of $100,000. Since 1977, our Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarships have helped inspire generations of students to pursue careers in vertical flight.

The Vertical Flight Society is pleased to announce its 2019 Vertical Flight Foundation (VFF) scholarship recipients. Scholarships totaling $100,000 are being awarded this year to 28 of the worlds most talented engineering students interested in vertical flight.

As part of our 75th anniversary celebrations, we are delighted to provide a record number of scholarships this year for the record total of $100,000, said VFS Executive Director Mike Hirschberg. Since 1977, our Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarships have helped inspire generations of students to pursue careers in vertical flight, with many now holding leadership positions in industry, academia and government.

The following are this years awardees, who will be recognized at the VFS Grand Awards Banquet on Wednesday, May 15, 2019. The banquet is one of the highlights of the Vertical Flight Societys 75th Annual Forum & Technology Display at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (see http://www.vtol.org/forum).

Bachelor Degree Recipients



Mr. Colin Hamilton, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Frank N. Piasecki Scholarship, honoring the inventor of the tandem rotor helicopter.

Mr. Derek Anthony Safieh Matheu, University of Maryland: Marat Tishchenko Scholarship, honoring the former head of the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, and professor at Moscow Aviation Institute and University of Maryland

Mr. Casey Matsler, University of Texas at Arlington: Jeff Pino Scholarship, named for the retired Master US Army Aviator, former Bell Helicopter executive and retired Sikorsky Aircraft CEO.

Ms. Laura Palmer, Virginia Polytechnic Institute: John J. Schneider Scholarship, honoring the memory of a preeminent VTOL aircraft designer and historian.

Mr. Nicholas Rehm, University of Maryland: Alfred and Elaine Gessow Scholarship, honoring a pioneer in the helicopter field at NACA/NASA and founder of the University of Maryland rotorcraft center.

Ms. Kirsten Reid, University of Michigan: Glidden S. Doman Scholarship, named for one of the six original American helicopter pioneers.

Ms. Soo Yun Rhee, University of Alabama in Huntsville: Joseph P. Cribbins Scholarship, honoring the individual who had perhaps the most influence and long-term impact on US Army Aviation logistics in the 20th century.

Mr. Joel White, Texas A&M University: Barry J. Baskett Scholarship, honoring the memory of a career US Army engineer who led Aviation Engineering, and later managed the Aviation Technology Base Program.

Master Degree Recipients

Mr. Venkatakrishnan Iyer, The Pennsylvania State University: Dr. Richard M. Carlson Scholarship, named for the former Hiller and Lockheed engineer who became the chief of the Armys Advanced Systems Research and Analysis Office at Ames Research Center.

Mr. Abhishek Kumar Shastry, University of Maryland: Hal Andrews Scholarship, which remembers a preeminent Navy aviation engineer, advisor and historian.

Mr. Lokesh Silwal, Auburn University: Eugene K. Liberatore Scholarship, which honors the memory of a pioneering helicopter engineer, author and historian.

Mr. Sourav Sinha, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur: Henrich Focke Scholarship, honoring the creator of the world's first practical helicopter.

Mr. Austin Thai, Boston University: Raymond W. Prouty Scholarship, which honors the memory of a pioneering helicopter engineer with a lifelong commitment to educating the rotorcraft community.

* Mr. Frederick Tsai, University of Maryland: Bell Scholarship, provided by a generous VFF endowment from the company.

Ms. Ariel Walter, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Dr. Michael P. Scully Scholarship, in memory of the US Army Senior Research Engineer Emeritus and VFS Fellow.

Mr. Yu Zheng, Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics: Friedrich Straub Memorial Scholarship, honoring the former senior manager of dynamics technology and technical fellow of The Boeing Company.

Doctorate Degree Recipients

Mr. Ahmad Waleed Amer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Larry Doyle Scholarship, honoring the former Sikorsky Aircraft chief of flight instrumentation.

Mr. Brian Eberle, Georgia Institute of Technology: Charles C. Crawford Scholarship, named in memory of the former Georgia Tech student, Army development leader and GTRI researcher.

Mr. Daniel Escobar, University of Maryland: Geoff Byham Scholarship, honoring an architect of advanced rotor aerodynamics at Westland Helicopters in Yeovil, England.

Mr. Feyyaz Guner, Georgia Institute of Technology: Dr. E. Roberts (Bob) Wood Scholarship, named for a preeminent aeromechanics engineer and beloved professor who inspired generations.

Mr. Thomas A. Herrmann, University of Maryland: Robert Head Scholarship, the pioneering McDonnell/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing engineer

Mr. Zhongqi Jia, University of California, Davis: Dr. John Zuk Scholarship, honoring the NASA engineer who was a champion of civil tiltrotor technology and applications.

Mr. Matthew Misiorowski, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Bob Lynn Scholarship, named for the Bell Helicopter engineer and executive, and AHS leader par excellence.

Mr. Umberto Saetti, The Pennsylvania State University: Prof. Barnes McCormick Memorial Scholarship, honoring Penn States venerable Boeing Professor Emeritus.

Mr. Cory Seidel, Washington University in St. Louis: St. Louis Chapter Scholarship, which was generously supported by members of the VFS St. Louis Chapter.

* Ms. Aarohi B. Shah, Georgia Institute of Technology: Dr. Jing Yen VFF Scholarship for Cost Awareness, given to the most qualified applicant who shows interest in improving the affordability of rotorcraft.

Mr. Regis Thedin, The Pennsylvania State University: Tom Wood Honorary Scholarship, which recognizes more than 50 years of technical contributions to Bell Helicopter by Mr. Wood.

Mr. Sihong Yan, The Pennsylvania State University: Leonard J. LeVasser Scholarship, named in honor of the famous Piasecki/Vertol/Boeing test pilot and director of flight test.

Each of the Bachelor scholarships includes a cash award of $3,000; the Masters students receive $3,550 each and Doctorate scholarship winners each receive $3,650. In addition, the top graduate candidates (marked above with an asterisk) have received special recognition. Mr. Tsai of University of Maryland will receive a total of $5,000 for the Bell Vertical Flight Scholarship, while Ms. Shah of Georgia Tech was selected for the $6,000 Dr. Jing Yen Scholarship for Cost Awareness.

The Vertical Flight Foundation was established in 1967 as the philanthropic arm of the Vertical Flight Society. Since 1977, the merit-based scholarship program has been a great success story: over 500 scholarships have been awarded since that time. The program has been greatly expanded in recent years, with the number of recipients doubling in the last decade, and the total annual scholarship disbursement tripling. Since 2012, more than 175 VFF scholarships totaling over $550,000 have been awarded.

For more information on the Vertical Flight Foundation or to donate to this important cause, please visit our VFF microsite at http://www.vtol.org/vff. A list of all past VFF scholarship winners and success stories are also available.

VFF and VFS are both recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)(3) charities. VFS covers all overhead costs of administration and accounting, so 100% of every tax-deductible contribution to VFF goes directly to student scholarships.

Founded as the American Helicopter Society in 1943, the Vertical Flight Society is the global non-profit society for engineers, scientists and others working on vertical flight technology. For 75 years, the Society has led technical, safety, advocacy and other important initiatives, and has been the primary forum for interchange of information on vertical flight technology.

The Vertical Flight Society

2701 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 210

Fairfax, VA 22031 USA

phone: 1-703-684-6777

website: http://www.vtol.org

WebBuy Logo We created WebBuy to provide the industry with an end-to-end, consumer-guided experience, Murray co-founder, said. Digital retailing is the new business reality of meeting consumer expectations, and the opportunity for a dealer to meet consumers they never would have engaged with, previously.

WebBuy, the nations first, fully integrated car-buying application, will be in Booth 639 at the Digital Dealer Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla., April 9-11, where it will show top dealers and other industry representatives how to reach the rapidly growing Amazon demographic of consumers.

WebBuy has developed an innovative digital-retailing solution that allows buyers to choose a new or used vehicle from a dealers inventory and facilitate the purchase on the dealers website. Buyers lock in a price, get an instant trade-in offer, receive a real-time loan/lease approval, and proceed to an Amazon-like checkout. They get precise tax/rebates/incentive and trade payoff info, and then complete the deal  all online.

Members of the WebBuy team will be in Orlando to provide demonstrations of their app to dealers, lenders, OEM reps, and other industry experts who want to discover how WebBuy can increase consumer engagement and sales at their dealerships. Industry research shows that the vast majority of consumers are looking for a no-hassle digital shopping experience, one that is transparent and user directed.

Dealerships across the U.S. such as Taylor Automotive Family, the largest car dealer in Northwest Ohio, and the Gosch Auto Group in California have introduced WebBuy to their websites and showrooms. With WebBuy, dealers can:



Digitally run their dealership, retaining full control of all aspects of pricing and profitability.

Let digital users land on an in-stock unit in the dealers current inventory.

Provide customers an exact monthly payment and cash down options, in a customized sandbox.

Accurately determine taxes, fees, incentives and rebates, continuously updating numbers to adjust to the never-ending rules and daily changes.

Choose to market accessories and F&I products digitally

Customize the trade-in functionality to maximize the accuracy of evaluating a trade-in without seeing the vehicle.

Make a real time, actual offer to purchase appraised vehicles.

Provide customers an exact monthly payment and cash down options, in a customized sandbox, and confirmation that financing is approved with rate and payment locked in.

Send credit information to banks and provide customers with actual loan offers  not just pre-approvals, and confirmation that financing is approved with rate and payment locked with the customer choosing between two-to-three offers from finance sources they recognize.

Leverage an Amazon proceed to check-out functionality to secure a sale.

Steve Zabawa, co-founder of WebBuy, has been a dealership owner for more than 30 years. He said that he and co-founder Tom Murray created the click-to-buy app because of the obvious need for a quick, transparent way, in the Amazon world, to buy a car.

WebBuy is for car dealerships what PayPal was to eBay, Zabawa said. The company continues add dealerships, now in the hundreds, and is collaborating with multiple OEMs to use the app on websites across the U.S.

We created WebBuy to provide the industry with an end-to-end, consumer-guided experience, Murray said. Digital retailing is the new business reality of meeting consumer expectations, and the opportunity for a dealer to meet consumers they never would have engaged with, previously.

He said WebBuy has been embraced by hundreds of dealerships looking to reach the growing number of consumers who want a self-directed, digital-buying experience. WebBuy is the only dealer-centric solution in the marketplace, developed by dealers having a deep knowledge of the dealership sales process.

About WebBuy:

In 2014, a select group of dealership owners created WebBuy to solve problems plaguing the online car-buying experience. Today, WebBuys team of sales experts, user-experience technicians, marketers, and application developers are changing the way cars are sold, both online and in dealer showrooms. To learn more about the company, visit webbuy.com.

Contact WebBuy co-founder Tom Murray at 312-852-4000 or co-founder Steve Zabawa at 406-670-8100 with questions or to schedule a demonstration at Booth 639 the Digital Dealer Conference & Expo, April 9-11 in Orlando, Fla.Childrens books may be the last significant part of African-American culture yet to be exported around the world, said author and illustrator Christopher Myers as part of a panel discussion entitled Black Books Matter at the Bologna Childrens Book Fair on Monday, April 1. The panel was held in conjunction with a Bologna exhibition of reproductions of images from Coretta Scott King Award-winning books offered in partnership with the National Center for Childrens Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Tex. Other speakers on the panel included Rudine Sims Bishop, author and lecturer at Ohio State University; Claudette McLinn, chair of the Coretta Scott King Award Committee; and authors Joshunda Sanders and Nikki Grimes.

Childrens book historian Leonard S. Marcus moderated the event and opened with a thorough history of African-American childrens publishing, from W.E.B. Du Boiss work on The Brownies Book in the early 20th century up to the establishment of the Coretta Scott King Award, which has been instrumental in highlighting the success of African-American authors and illustrators and bringing their work to a broader audience.

Each of the speakers then in turn reflected on Marcuss survey. As the story has evolved, they acknowledged, African-American childrens book publishing has moved from focusing primarily on historical narratives about slavery and biographies of important historical African-American figures, to using representations of African-American children as protagonists, in milestone books such as Ezra Jack Keatss The Snowy Day. Bishop pointed to Walter Dean Myerss 1991 book Now Is Our Time as a touchstone work for the previous and current generation of African-American authors, such as Sanders, who used the panel as an occasion to debut her first childrens book, I Can Write the World, which is illustrated by Charly Palmer and will be published by Six Foot Press in June.

Myers, following Bishops comments, acknowledged his patrimony. I miss my daddy, he said, before starting an overview of his own globetrotting career, which includes artistic projects in Indonesia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Vietnam. Myers then offered an impassioned argument as to why African-American culture, and literature in particular, is relevant to other cultures and countries across the world.

When we think about wrestling with difficult histories, these are the things we have been doing as African-Americans forever, Myers said. When you think about what does it mean to connect cultures, I think about living as an African-American and the ways in which we find ourselves living on that hyphen. That is the way the rest of the world is going: when you ask someone where they are from today, you get increasingly complicated answers.

Alluding to the unacknowledged ways many contemporary stories echo those of the slave narrative in African-American history, Myers noted that, When we think about all the issues facing our nations, from migration of people crossing the Mediterranean in boats today, to the Philippine nannies in Abu Dhabi taking care of other peoples babies, or the West Africans in Calabria picking fruit, these are all our stories.

He argued that the experience of African-Americans and the way in which the African-American community continues to deal with its difficult history could be a model for other societies. We can [ask ourselves] how did you tell the story, use the materials available to you, how did you cope with that history, and maybe use that as a model all across the board.

Opening the floor to questions, Marcus asked foreign publishers to share their experiences. A Brazilian publisher noted that the African heritage of the country was virtually non-existent in childrens literature available in his country. He added that several African-Brazilian writers said they would not be comfortable working with him because he was white.

The Brazilian publisher asked if anyone on the panel had encountered similar circumstances. Myers replied that indeed there is a dearth of African-American editors, but noted that there were some changes afoot, citing the launch of Kwame Alexanders Versify imprint at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the presence in the room of editors like Charles Kim, a Korean-American, who has worked with both Myers and Sanders.

Publishers from Jamaica and the U.K. thanked the panelists for their frank discussion, with the U.K. publisher acknowledging that her country could use an award similar to the Coretta Scott King Award. Myers replied with a challenge, which itself echoed the original challenge issued in 1969 by publisher John Carroll, who in overhearing librarians Mabel McKissack and Glyndon Greer discussing the lack of award recognition for African-American authors, said, Why dont you establish your own award?an exchange that led to the establishment of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards.

Myers then went on to suggest that savvy international publishers would do well to look at the CSK Award winners each year and commit to publishing at least two titles a year. You know the books have been vetted and are of high quality, he said. Its a great opportunity.English Icelandic

Icelandair Group will hold a shareholders meeting on 24 April 2019 at 4:00 PM at Hilton Reykjavik Nordica

Agenda:

A proposal to grant the board authorisation to increase the Companys share capital in relation to a subscription agreement made with Par Capital Management Inc. and affiliates Changes to the Companys Articles of Associations

Proposals:

A proposal to grant the board authorisation to increase the Companys share capital in relation to a subscription agreement made with Par Capital Management Inc. and affiliates





The proposal will grant the board of directors authorisation to increase the Companys share capital. This authorisation is intended for issue of new shares in relation to a subscription agreement made with Par Capital Management Inc. and a co-investor.

The proposal is as stated below:

The companys board of directors is authorised to increase the companys share capital by up to ISK 625,000,000 in nominal terms (ISK six hundred twenty five million), by issuing new shares. The share price shall be according to the subscription agreement made with PAR Capital Management Inc. and affiliates (9,03 per share). The new shares will be of the same share class as other outstanding shares in the Company. The shareholders waive their pre-emptive rights to the new shares. The new shares shall provide the associated rights to the Company from the date of registration. This authorisation of the board of directors shall be valid until 1 December 2019, to the extent which it has not been utilised.

Changes to the Companys Articles of Association





The following changes will be made immediately to the Articles of Association of the Company:

Article 15.1 shall be removed.

The registration of attendees, delivery of voting slips and delivery of meeting documents will be at the shareholders meeting location from 3:30 PM at the meeting date.

For further information please contact:

Bogi Nils Bogason; bogi@icelandairgroup.is; telephone +354 505 0300In the years since Abrams launched ComicArts, an imprint devoted to publishing graphic novels and comics-related titles of all kinds, the graphic novel market has grown dramatically. Abrams ComicArts, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this week under founding editorial director Charles Kochman, has contributed a long list of popular titles to the categories' growth and now takes aim at the next 10 years of comics in the book trade.

The imprint continues to expand its reach. Last September ComicArts announced the launch of Megascope, a sub-imprint of ComicArts under the direction of John Jennings, a college professor and comics artist, in addition to being an acclaimed ComicArts creator (hes coauthor of CAs bestselling graphic adaptation of Octavia Butlers Kindred.) Megascope will be focused on graphic novels created by artists of color and its first titles will be released in 2020.

To mark its anniversary, the house has launched a 10th anniversary website and the Society of Illustrators will host an exhibition, reception, and panel discussion on Abram ComicArts at the SoI exhibition space on East 63rd St. in New York City on April 23.

New ComicArts titles coming in 2019 include, Live Oak, with Moss, a graphic work by award-winning illustrator Brian Selznick that is based on 12 previously unpublished poems by Walt Whitman; a graphic adaptation of Octavia Butlers Parable of the Sower, created by John Jennings and Damian Duffy; and Showtime at the Apollo: The Epic Tale of Americas Legendary Theater by Ted Fox and James Otis Smith.

Since its launch in 2009 ComicArts has published about 100 titles on a list that combines literary quality with commercial impact. Kochman cited three critically acclaimed titles that define the CA list: My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf (2012), a graphic memoir about going to high school with the murderer; The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (2017), a graphic memoir documenting her refugee familys harrowing immigration to the U.S., and Kindred, a graphic adaptation of the Octavia Butler novel (2017). All three, he said, have sold more than 100,000 copies.

Kochman noted other ComicArts backlist titles with strong sales, among them R. Crumbs Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country, Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier, Only Whats Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts by Chip Kidd, and Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesnt Work) in Words and Pictures by Michael Goodwin and Dan Burr. He described the books as steadily backlisted with strong ongoing sales. The list has been very consistent and has had terrific international reach.

Kochman joined Abrams in 2005 after 12 years at DC Comics and Mad magazine with a very distinctive set of skills--publishing experience in the comics industry as well as the book trade.

His first pre-ComicArts acquisition was Moms Cancer by Brian Fies, a web comic turned print graphic memoir that was published by Abrams in 2006. Kochman followed with about a dozen titles that are now part of the ComicArts backlist. And he was responsible for acquiring one of Abrams's most important authors, buying Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 2006. Its not part of the ComicArts list, but Kochman described the mega-bestselling series as a combination of comics and kids books I hadnt seen before.

Kochman said I didnt come to Abrams to start publishing comics. I wanted to expand to other kinds of books.

But it didnt take long for his comics and pop culture background to point the way forward. The ComicArts list, he said, is inspired by the influence of three giants of American comics, and ComicArts has published a nonfiction work in tribute to each of them: pioneering graphic novel artist Will Eisner (Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel by Paul Levitz, 2015), superhero master artist Jack Kirby (Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier, 2008), and legendary Mad magazine cofounder, editor and cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman (The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle, 2009).

Kochman was quick to cite the support of his publisher, ComicArts senior v-p and publisher Andrew Smith, editor Charlotte Greenbaum (who will work with Jennings at Megascope), assistant editor Ashley Albert, senior publicists Gabby Fisher and Maya Bradford, and senior editor Samantha Weiner, and a long list of former CA editors who helped shape its publishing program.

The plan at ComicArts was to publish books about comics that would be artful and unapologetic about the comics medium, Kochman said, also pointing out that this year is also the 70th anniversary of Abrams. It means even more that I can do this kind of publishing at a house like Abrams.Dairy farmers are turning to artificial intelligence to monitor their herds and increase production. A virtual assistant warns farmers if a cow falls ill or shows the effect of a change in feed.

Ida is a virtual assistant for dairy farmers. Idas artificial intelligence means that the platform continues to learn not only from farmers feedback but also from cows behaviors.

The company behind Ida is Amsterdam-based Connecterra, founded by two former Microsoft employees. Initially spending their evenings and weekends working on Connecterra from their basement, they went on to win Start-up of the Year at WebSummit in 2015.

An all-seeing assistant

Yasir Khokhar, CEO of Connecterra lays out the basics: Ida is an intelligent assistant for dairy farmers. The platform helps farmers to work more efficiently and improve their business, using sensors placed around the cows neck and in machines to collect various data. The system also connects to other parties, for example, to get data on the weather.

This data is then interpreted and used to provide targeted advice. For instance, dairy cows are highly susceptible to diseases, Khokhar explains. Because Ida is able to identify any problems before they manifest, the farmer has a two or three day head start in which to take action. And because the cow is not ill for as long, the farmer saves on vets bills and production loss. Farmers also receive an alert when a cow is fertile, about to calve or is suffering from heat.

He continues: By closely monitoring the cows, Ida is also able to show if certain changes have a positive effect. For example, whether a change in feed leads to a higher protein level in the milk. Or if cows produce the same amount of milk on less feed.

Sensors on cows necks are just one point of data collection for Ida.

Increasing production while reducing work pressure

Increasing production while reducing work pressure Our aim is to contribute to finding a solution to the world food problem, says Khokhar. The food industry as a whole will have to increase production by 60 percent if it is to feed the worlds population in 2050. So farmers have to work more efficiently. Greater efficiency is also necessary because there are fewer farmers. The average age of a dairy farmer is 51. The younger generation no longer wants to become farmers, so farmers have to produce more with fewer staff.

In Kenya, milk production can double in just a couple months - Yasir Khokhar, Connecterra Twitter Linkedin Mail

In Kenya, Ida is already helping to improve the way dairy farmers work. Their knowledge of cows and running a farm business is at a whole different level. Milk production there can double in just a couple of months.

Market by market

Breaking into the market can be a challenge, Khokhar admits. The dairy industry is dominated by a couple of major players. It is a closed world, making it hard for newcomers to get a foot in the door. And it takes time for us outsiders to build a relationship with the established order. We have to win them over, market by market. So it takes longer to grow, unlike in the tech industry where upscaling is much easier.

Ida is currently being used in thirteen countries, with the Netherlands topping the list. Danone is a major party and we support their suppliers with Ida. But individual farmers also approach us directly. We offer three subscriptions ranging from 2.50 to 7.50 per cow regardless of how many cows a farmer has. That includes hardware and software.

The dairy industry is a closed world - Yasir Khokhar, Connecterra Twitter Linkedin Mail

Ruminating on the future

There are some exciting developments in store, but its all still a bit hush-hush, confesses Khokhar. What I can say, though, is that for the time being, we are sticking to cows. We have our work cut out for us in the dairy sector  we would really like to work with FrieslandCampina for example.

But we are also aware that many dairy farmers use their farmland to grow grass or crops like maize and potatoes. Who knows, in future Ida might be able to teach farmers how to optimize their yield per square kilometer.AUSTRALIA: The Southern Program Alliance consortium of Acciona Geotech subsidiary Coleman Rail, Lendlease and WSP has been awarded a A$536m contract for grade separation works in southeast Melbourne.Welcome to Railway Gazette. This site uses cookies. Read our policy.

OKUK: GB Railfreight has awarded Progress Rail a contract to repower 16 serviceable, stored or non-running Class 56 diesel locomotives which it bought from UK Rail Leasing last June.Rantoul, IL (61866)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early, then becoming cloudy later in the day. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 53F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Showers in the evening, then cloudy overnight. Low 47F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.HALIFAX, Nova Scotia and ST. JOHNS, Newfoundland, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LeeWay Marine (LeeWay) is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed trials of the Kraken SeaScout system, developed by Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX-V: PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF). The trials took place from March 18  29, 2019, onboard the LeeWay Odyssey.

Building on their previously announced cooperation agreement (01 October 2018), LeeWay and Kraken are testing and validating the SeaScout system for use on LeeWays newest fast patrol vessel, the LeeWay Striker. The two companies continue to strengthen their partnership in an effort to collect high resolution benthic data in an efficient way, while building technological capacity in Atlantic Canada.

Trials were successfully completed near Halifax, Nova Scotia, validating a number of performance objectives set out;

Stable performance during high speed towing operations (up to 10 kts)

Stable performance in a variety of sea states (up to SS4)

Navigational accuracy across all speed ranges and depths

High resolution imagery and bathymetry

Evaluation of launch and recovery with Krakens tentacle winch and docking head

We are very happy to support LeeWay in their development of the Striker, and integration of the SeaScout. The success of this trial is not only further validation of the efficiency, effectiveness and ease of use of Krakens technology, but also demonstrating the potential for small-and-medium Enterprises (SMEs) to collaborate, said Karl Kenny, President & CEO of Kraken

During the trials at sea, Jamie Sangster, CEO of LeeWay, and Karl Kenny attended a meeting of Canadas Ocean Supercluster (OSC), where Kraken representatives spoke about further opportunities for SME collaboration within the OSC. Kraken and LeeWay are both members of the Ocean Supercluster and are participants in OceanVision  a proposal to develop and demonstrate innovative new methods for ocean data collection.

Through our collaboration with Kraken weve seen that the SeaScout can provide tangible value to our clients through increased data resolution, faster survey speeds, and a safe operational profile, said Jamie Sangster. This project is an excellent example of natural SME collaboration; each company brings complementary capabilities which, when combined, not only increases effectiveness and efficiency of benthic data collection, but also helps to build the ocean technology ecosystem in Atlantic Canada, resulting in a lasting benefit far greater than the sum of its parts.

About LeeWay Striker

Striker is capable of operational speeds of over 50 knots, making the platform the worlds fastest mine hunting and hydrographic patrol vessel (MHPV) to deploy to survey areas. The Striker MHPV will be targeted to mine hunting and hydrographic survey applications in littoral and offshore waters.

The SeaScout system incorporates several industry-leading modules from Kraken Robotics:

KATFISH, an actively stabilized towfish with Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) providing wide area seafloor coverage, superior pixel resolution for target detection and real-time full resolution SAS processing to enable in-stride automatic target detection;

TENTACLE, an intelligent all-electric winch that hosts sophisticated algorithms for dynamic manual, semi-autonomous or fully autonomous control. The integrated motion reference unit tracks the motion of the host vessel, and the onboard software models and predicts the sea state. The winch will be integrated into a completely Autonomous Launch and Recovery System (ALARS);

Real time sea-floor imagery transmission using secure, reliable and fast content delivery to cloud-based storage location to/from fixed sites and mobile platforms: and,

Cloud-based data analytics, using machine learning for automated change detection of targets by comparing seabed targets against previously surveyed bottom mapping baseline information.

About Leeway Marine Inc.

LeeWay Marine is a vessel owner/operator based at C.O.V.E. (The Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship) in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Their range of vessels support geophysical and geotechnical surveys, offshore oil and gas, ocean technology development, physical oceanography and naval defence training. For more information, please visit www.leewaymarine.ca. Find us on Facebook and Twitter @leewaymarine, and on LinkedIn.

About Kraken Robotics Inc.

Kraken Robotics Inc. (TSX.V:PNG) (OTCQB: KRKNF) is a marine technology company dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors and underwater robotic systems. The company is headquartered in St. Johns, Newfoundland with offices in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Toronto, Ontario, Bremen, Germany; and, Fairfax, Virginia. For more information, please visit www.krakenrobotics.com, www.krakenrobotik.de, www.krakenpower.de. Find us on social media on Twitter (@krakenrobotics), Facebook (@krakenroboticsinc) and LinkedIn.

Media Contacts

Jamie Sangster, CEO, LeeWay Marine

Jamie.sangster@leewaymarine.ca

Glenda Leyte, Marketing Manager, Kraken Robotics

gleyte@krakenrobotics.com

Three photos accompanying this announcement are available at:



http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ff82fc7d-99f0-442a-8048-8e1f143b98a6

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ed1ad7dc-3f90-4a29-b0ee-77bbbd8c4643

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/176fa62f-36ef-4e7a-b4aa-4a45729416d2These Terms of Use describe the terms and conditions under which you, the user, are granted the right to use the websites operated by The News-Gazette, Inc. (the Company), and certain of the Companys subsidiaries, including this website (the Website or Websites).

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News-Gazette.com offices are located at The News-Gazette, 15 Main St., Champaign, IL 61820. The phone number is 217-351-5252.Since the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the nation has struggled to end racial segregation in public education. A recent study by Duke University researchers Charles Clotfelter, Helen Ladd, and Mavzuna Turaeva and UNC-Chapel Hill professor Steven Hemelt provides insights into the evolving story in North Carolina, a state at the epicenter of the desegregation struggle for decades. The research suggests that the racial landscape in educationand the challenges to achieving more integrated schoolshave become increasingly complicated. FutureEd Editorial Director Phyllis Jordan spoke about the study recently with Clotfelter. How do you measure segregation in your study? When social scientists use the term segregation these days, they are usually talking about racial balance. So if all the schools in a district or a county have the same racial composition, we would say they're racially balanced. Segregated school districts are racially imbalanced.The University of Alaska president announced Monday night that he's recommending that the University of Alaska Anchorage close its School of Education, after losing national accreditation in January.

UA President Jim Johnsen plans to make his recommendation to the UA Board of Regents on April 8 to close UAA's School of Education by July of 2020. His plan would discontinue the seven initial licensure programs for UAA's education department, effective September 1st of this year.President Trumps Fiscal Year 2020 budget (FY2020) is a bold vision of how to reign in federal excess and prioritize programs to maximize the return on investment for taxpayer dollars. So of course, entrenched Washington politicians are attacking him.

For FY2020 President Trump has proposed a $4.7 trillion budget with a modest $2.7 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. It roots out a range of government waste and maintains important Presidential priorities like keeping the economy strong by expanding job opportunities across the country. Key to the pro-growth economic principles is advancing the energy dominance agenda, which means advancing important agency missions while also cutting red tape from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Last week, DOE Secretary Perry was grilled by Congressional Democrats for requesting an 86 percent cut to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Over the last decade, EERE has been a primary source of direct federal subsidies, the vast majority of which go to wind and solar.

As Secretary Perry correctly noted, there has been 90 percent decrease in the cost of solar, and there have been substantial increases in both wind and solar energy. Given the maturity of the wind and solar industries it makes perfect sense then that the Administration would pivot to prioritizing other advanced technologies such as energy storage, which is key to increasing energy security, reliability, and resilience.

As the FY2020 budget states [a]ssuring grid security and resilience will require greater grid flexibility and the deployment of grid assets, such as energy storage, that can efficiently buffer increased variable supply and demand. Indeed, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee has called energy storage a game changer [with] exciting potential to lower costs and enhance reliability for consumers.

Not surprisingly, the value of reprioritizing EEREs budget was lost on partisan Congressional Democrats like Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), who accused Secretary Perry of giving a Texas two-step answer while explaining DOEs focus on energy storage.

This week, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will be subject to similar Congressional oversight. The EPA FY2020 Budget makes critical investments in the Nations health, safety, and long-term prosperity. Over the last two years the Trump Administration has proved that environmental protection and historic economic growth are not mutually exclusive. The United States has the cleanest air on record and is the global leader in access to clean drinking water. After returning to the Agencys core mission, the Trump EPA has been able to clean up the mess of the Obama years when the sole focus was on climate change.

At the same time, the United States is experiencing full-blown MAGAnomics. The Administrations broad de-regulatory agenda, coupled with tax cuts and Americas energy dominance has unleashed above 3 percent annual GDP growth, defying critics.

The reality is that leading into the 2020 elections Democrats dont have a plan to grow the economy, improve the environment or balance the budget at any point, much less in 15 years. They are so dedicated to undercutting President Trumps success they are willing to destroy the entire economy and take down millions of jobs in the process. The shining example of their approach to the economy is encompassed in the Green New Deal.

This non-binding resolution clearly lays out a $93 trillion expenditure of big-government hand-outs that does little for the environment and will riddle future generations with uncontrollable debt in perpetuity. It should be a surprise to no one that the Green New Deal could not muster a single vote  even from its co-sponsors  in the U.S. Senate.

Tax and spend liberals teamed up with go-along-to-get-along Republicans are the cause of this $22 trillion fiscal mess. For Democrats, their only solutions seem to be more government, more spending, and more socialism. Republicans have stood behind the mantra of fiscal responsibility and balancing the budget for many years. They now have a president who can, and more importantly is willing, the make that happen.

The FY 2020 Presidential budget is a serious, well-thought out proposal that places the long-term fiscal interests of taxpayers over long-standing political grab-baggery of Washington, DC. This country now needs both Republicans and Democrats to engage in serious discussion, show some political courage, and set this country on the path towards a brighter, more responsible fiscal future.

Mandy Gunasekara (@MississippiMG) is the founder of the Energy 45 Fund. She previously served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation in President Trumps EPA.ISTANBUL, Turkey, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The kyu Collective announces today that it has acquired a majority stake in ATOLYE, an Istanbul-based creative company.



Headquartered in New York, kyu is a collective of strategically curated companies whose purpose is to be a source of creativity that propels the economy and society forward. kyus member companies include the global design firm IDEO; Kepler, the data-driven media and CRM services provider; Sid Lee, the multi-disciplinary creative brand-building agency; and SYPartners, the transformation consultancy.

ATOLYE, like kyu, is a pioneer in the building of a vibrant creative organization for the digital age. First and foremost, ATOLYE is a communitya next generation creative practice that places a Strategic Design Studio within a wider Creative Hub. While the Studio itself tackles a diverse set of challenges in areas such as education, technology, finance, telecommunications, and social impact; the Creative Hub, comprising over 150 professionals with highly diverse skill sets, serves as the backbone of the organization by providing the widest range of creative services.

In addition, ATOLYE encompasses a Ventures arm, which is an investment vehicle for innovative products and services, as well as an Academy, which develops learning programs and builds talent recruitment processes.

ATOLYE was recognized as the most impactful spinoff of the Stanford University d.school in 2014, while in 2016 it was named as a sector-leading creative hub by Monocle.

ATOLYEs operating and management model for curating and engaging a diverse creative community, when combined with kyus capacity to provide scale, will create a significantly more powerful and impactful offer in many markets that have previously been served in a more limited way by traditional network outposts.

Both kyu and ATOLYE are 21st-century projects built on the guiding principle of community. ATOLYE has fostered a vibrant and fluid creative community driven by a unique culture and a unique space, said Farah Ramzan Golant, CEO of kyu EMEA. As kyu looks to markets such as the Middle East, India, and beyond to lead with new forms of creative organization, we are thrilled to partner with ATOLYE to explore how its innovative, community-first approach can be imagined, interpreted, and applied effectively.

On joining the kyu Collective, ATOLYEs Co-Founder Engin Ayaz said: As an explorer organization, we are happy to be joining forces with the top-tier global companies in the kyu Collective to hone and refine ATOLYEs craft. Co-Founder Kerem Alper added: The possibility of applying ATOLYEs approach in other key markets is truly an exciting exploration opportunity for us. We feel invigorated to have such forward-thinking creative partners going into the future.

About ATOLYE

Founded in Istanbul in 2013, ATOLYE is an innovation platform that places an award-winning Strategic Design Studio within a Creative Hub. ATOLYE fosters a fluid talent curation model that currently comprises a 150-people community.

Fueled by the diversity of its community, scarcity of its space, and the permeability of its system, ATOLYE explores a new model for the creative services industryone that may be called a membrane organization. With this system, ATOLYE is able to offer a wide range of capabilities to its clients, all of which are centered around the core mission of addressing vital problems and creating the most positive impact through its solutions.

About kyu

kyu is a strategic operating unit of Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc. (HDY) . The kyu Collective was created in May 2014 to help drive the continuous enhancement of specialization and innovation for HDY.

Led by CEO Michael Birkin, the kyu Collective is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. To date, kyu member companies include BEworks, C2, Digital Kitchen, Hornall Anderson, IDEO, Kepler Group, RedPeak Group, Sid Lee, and SYPartners.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Ali Ozgur Arslan - Communications Lead, ATOLYE

ozgur.arslan@atolye.io | +90 533-349-50-53

Frances Bajet - Communications Director, kyu

frances@kyu.com | +1 347-725-7068

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/44fd1a09-6dd7-447c-8acc-f7372354fdffOn April 4, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will turn 70. This is an incredible historical feat. Alliances never last long, and the fact that NATO transcends oceans and continents makes the longevity of this alliance all the more impressive.

There are those in the United States who have never liked the alliance, or at least Americas participation in it, and often argue that Americas growth into the most powerful polity in world history, with the worlds freest people enjoying their liberties, has been done unilaterally thanks to our unique culture and set of institutions. Daniel Larison, a senior editor at The American Conservative with a PhD in History from the University of Chicago, is probably the most sophisticated proponent of this line of argument. Ron Paul, the former Congressman from Texas, is probably the most well-known proponent.

Unilateralists call themselves non-interventionists in the United States (their opponents refer to them disparagingly as isolationists) and while I dont agree with them, they make a really good argument using history as their guide.

Prior to World War II, the United States had signed just one official alliance with another polity: the Treaty of Alliance with France that lasted from 1778-80. So from the start of the Revolutionary War (which was really a secession from the British Empire rather than an actual revolution) in 1776 to Washingtons entrance into World War II in late 1941, the United States had joined one alliance, and it was a short-lived alliance that would make or break the existence of the republic. (During World War I, the United States was an affiliated partner rather than an official ally.)

According to unilateralists like Larison and Paul, then, the United States has no need for allies. The republic has done just fine on its own without them, and the entangling alliances Thomas Jefferson warned us about only lead to problems abroad.

Fair enough, but what do we call the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, two Native American polities that fought alongside the United States during its secession from the British Empire? Affiliated partners? The decision of the Oneidas to leave the Iroquois League (a British ally) and fight alongside the American rebels had serious implications for not only North America but the world. Yet the Oneida were not allies?

The United States has a long history of entering into alliances of convenience, and a short history of building and then leading stable coalitions of military partners around the world. Contrary to what unilateralists like Larison and Paul would have you believe, then, alliances have shaped the destiny of the republic since its founding. And, more importantly, these alliances of convenience have their intellectual roots in George Washingtons foreign policy. Washingtons foreign policy even has its own name: the Washington Doctrine of Unstable Alliances. According to Washington and other elites of the founding era, the United States should freely enter into, and exit, alliances as necessary (Jefferson was a big fan of this Doctrine, too). This stands in stark contrast to the idea that the United States only soiled its virginal unilateralism once, when it was in dire peril and needed a helping hand from France to fend off an evil empire.

Washingtonian alliances throughout American history

Aside from fighting alongside the Oneida and Tuscarora during its secession from the British Empire, the United States forged alliances with Sweden, in 1801 to fight the Barbary states, and with the Choctaw, Cherokee, and some of the Creek during the ill-fated War of 1812. In fact, one of the reasons the United States got pummeled in the War of 1812 was the lack of Native allies relative to the British, who had secured alliances with at least 10 Native American polities.

The American push westward saw a plethora of shifting alliances with Native peoples, all of which tilted in eventual favor of the United States (and to the detriment of their allies).

The American foray into imperialism in the late 19th century saw alliances with several factions in Cuba and the Philippines that were more interested in extirpating Spain than thinking through an alliance with an expansion-minded United States.

In 1832 the United States entered into a Washingtonian alliance with the Dutch in order to crush some Barbary-esque states along the Sumatran coast. The alliance led to the eventual, brutal conquest of Aceh by the Dutch and a long-lasting mutual friendship between the Americans and the Dutch that has continued into today.

From 1886-94 the United States and its ally in the South Pacific, the Mata'afa clan of Samoa, fought Germany and its Samoan allies for control over the Samoan islands. The Boxer Rebellion in China saw the United States ally with six European states (including Austria-Hungary) and Japan, and affiliate with three more European states and several Qing dynasty governors who refused to follow their emperors orders.

NATOs continued importance

Clearly, the United States has followed its first presidents foreign policy doctrine for centuries. Washington warned that his doctrine was not to be an eternal guideline, though. Indeed, the most-cited case study Washington Doctrine of Unstable Alliances is not the American experience in the 19th century, but the Nazi-Soviet one of the 20th, when the Germans turned on the Soviets as soon as it became expedient to do so.

The establishment of NATO has forced the United States to become reciprocal in its alliances with other countries. The republic can no longer take, take, and take some more without giving something in return. This situation of mutually beneficial exchange has tempered not only the United States but everybody else in the world, too (especially in the industrialized part of the world; the part with the deadliest weapons). Free riding will most likely continue to be a problem within NATO. The United States will continue to pay more than its share to keep the alliance afloat. And thats perfectly okay considering the alternatives: imperialism (far more expensive than free riding allies), ethnic cleansing, or oscillating blocs of states looking out for their own interests in a power vacuum, like the situation Europe found itself in during the bloody 20th century.Representatives of all NATO member states are gathering in Washington this week to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the longest-lasting military alliance in modern history. Created on April 4, 1949, to counter the threat of Soviet Communism in the aftermath of World War II, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is as important today as it was in the year of its founding.

The collapse of the Soviet Union led some to dispute NATOs relevance or question the need for continued defense spending, but the resurgence of Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putins expansionist ambitions, show that the Alliance is as relevant as ever. The principles unifying NATO remain vital for the survival of Western democracies: solidarity, freedom, security, and the transatlantic ties that safeguard the values and interests that Europe and North America share.

My role as a Polish senator affords singular clarity. Poland joined NATO only 20 years ago, after it broke free of the communist yoke and rejoined the ranks of European democracies. Our position on the frontier of the former Soviet empire reminds us never to take our hard-won freedom for granted.

The Suwalki district I represent in the Polish Senate borders on the Kaliningrad enclave, home to Russias Baltic fleet. It is one of the most heavily militarized regions in the world, and a symbol of Putins revanchist ambitions. The annexation of Crimea in 2014 should dispel any doubt about the nature of the threat posed by Russia and the indisputable need to counter it.

No wonder the former U.S. commander in Europe, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, warned the U.S. Senate of Moscows steadily growing aggression and called Russia the primary threat to stability in the Euro-Atlantic theater. Putin's declaration that Moscow is ready for a new Cuban missile crisis proved Scaparrotti right, as did Russian state televisions listing of U.S. military facilities that Moscow would target for nuclear strikes. This is a regime that settles scores by poisoning its political opponents. It meddles in democratic elections and supports the most reprehensible totalitarian rulers around the world. This is precisely the behavior NATO was created to counter.

But perhaps the biggest danger posed by Russia is its threat to the Alliances unity and resolve. Using energy as a political tool, Putin has proved especially adept at driving wedges between members of NATO. In its quest to reclaim great-power status, Russia showed it can weaponize its position as the worlds biggest exporter of oil and gas. It can reassert dominion over its former subject nations, and it can divide its adversaries. A prime example is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project that would carry gas through the Baltic Sea from Russia directly to Germany, doubling shipments of Russian natural gas to Europe.

Led by Germany, the project threatens NATOs security and its unity. Nord Stream 2 will allow Russia to pit EU members against one another, and the European Union against the United States. It will deepen the Unions dependence on Russian gas, leaving the continent even more susceptible to Russian political pressure and blackmail.

The pipeline would bypass my home country of Poland along with other Central and Eastern European states. Deprived of its status as a transit country for Russias west-bound energy exports, Ukraine would be particularly vulnerable. Russias control over Europes fuel spigot would threaten NATOs mobility and logistics.

The Russian pipeline is already disrupting the Transatlantic Alliance. The rifts it is causing among allies are manifest: There is the talk of backroom deals between France and Germany to win regulatory approval for Nord Stream 2. There are the objections to the project voiced by Poland and other Central and Eastern European nations. And there is the opposition from the United States, combined with Washingtons threat of sanctions.

NATO was created 70 years ago to counter the threat to freedom and democracy posed by Soviet Russia. Putins Russia today represents a similar danger, and the anniversary of NATOs formation is a time to recommit ourselves to the principles of solidarity, freedom, and security that are the foundation of the Alliance. Spending 2 percent of each members GDP on defense is necessary to keep our militaries competitive and effective. Establishing a permanent U.S. presence in Poland, where the geostrategic center of gravity has shifted, is as crucial today as were the American bases in West Germany that protected the alliance during the Cold War.

In the words of the 1949 Washington Treaty, keeping NATO strong will safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of [our] peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.

That we have succeeded for so long is reason to celebrate.By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/03/2019



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Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is currently serving time in prison, but it doesn't exactly sound like a punishment for him.Mike, 36, has served nearly three months of his eight-month prison sentence, and according to his co-star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi , he's enjoying his time behind bars, E! News reported "[Mike is] having the time of his life," Nicole, 31, told E! News on Tuesday. "We all talk to him through an email, so I talk to him, like, once a week."Mike surrendered to the Otisville Federal Correctional Institution in upstate New York in January 2019.At the time, Mike maintained a positive attitude and told fans on Instagram Live, "The comeback is always greater than the setback.""It's like he's in a senior home. He's playing bingo, he's helping people recover," Nicole explained to E! News."He's in the gym a lot, so he's probably gonna come out ripped. You know, he's not gonna be BDS anymore -- Big Daddy Sitch. He's gonna have his, probably, six-pack again... He's doing good in there."Mike was sentenced to eight months in prison and two years of supervised release in October 2018, plus 500 hours of community service and thousands of dollars in fines, according to People.The : Family Vacation star pleaded guilty in January 2018 to one count of tax evasion, and his brother Marc Sorrentino reportedly pleaded guilty to one count of aiding in the preparation of a false and fraudulent tax return.The brothers were indicted in September 2014 for tax offenses and conspiring to defraud the United States after allegedly failing to properly pay taxes on $8.9 million in income from 2010 to 2012, People reported.More than two years following the initial indictment, Mike and Marc were slapped with additional charges -- including falsifying records, tax evasion and structuring.Mike, who previously battled an addiction to prescription painkillers but has been sober for over three years, starred on until the original series wrapped in 2012.He then starred on MTV's revival of the series, : Family Vacation.Mike is reportedly set to be released from prison on September 13, 2019.,



We're sorry, this article is not currently availableLOS ANGELES, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hilton Checkers Hotel in Los Angeles announced the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation that honors its historic past while creating a welcoming ambience for guests. The transformation includes the addition of the new 1927 Bar+Kitchen that embodies the timeless splendor of the roaring 20's. This modern-day speakeasy is a celebration of innovation and a tribute to yesteryear with a fun vibe and contemporary fare and spirits. In addition, each of the hotels 193 guestrooms and suites received a complete refresh with new soft goods, furnishings, and bathrooms. The public spaces and 3,300 square feet of meeting space were reimagined with a new deep blue and gray color palette accented with rich gold tones.

Download image here: https://bit.ly/2YLcU8x

1927 Bar+Kitchen at the Hilton Checkers Hotel in Los Angeles



The Hilton Checkers Los Angeles is owned by Chesapeake Lodging Trust, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and managed by Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC. The property holds the coveted AAA Four Diamond Hotel status and is within walking distance to the Los Angeles Convention Center as well as being in close proximity to many leisure attractions including the L.A. Live Complex, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

We are delighted to welcome guests and the community to our reimagined hotel, said Althea Abdallah, General Manager. The all new Hilton Checkers celebrates its historic past while delighting guests with every modern convenience and service. The hotel creates a unique experience which enables guests to appreciate and enjoy the iconic history and glamor of Los Angeles, added Ms. Abdallah.

About Hilton Checkers Los Angeles

Located at 535 South Grand Avenue, the Hilton Checkers is a boutique property in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. The hotel occupies an historical building that dates back to the 1920s. A favorite feature includes the stunning rooftop deck showcasing a breathtaking view of the Los Angeles skyline, perfect for dinners, receptions, or romantic evenings for two.

Guests may select from the newly refurbished 193 luxurious guestrooms and suites that feature contemporary amenities such as 42-inch HDTVs, large marble desks, comfortable leather desk chairs, and wireless Internet connections, while suites offer luxurious spa-style marble bathrooms, with plantation shutters, overlooking Los Angeles.

For dining, the hotel offers Checkers Downtown Restaurant rated by Gourmet Magazine & Zagat as one of the finest dining rooms in Los Angeles, as well as its newest addition, the 1927 Bar+Kitchen. Checkers Downtown is open for breakfast, while the 1927 Bar+Kitchen is open for casual fare at lunch, dinner, or for late-night dining. 1927 Bar+Kitchen is the perfect place to enjoy a signature craft cocktail or one of the special features during their daily happy hour from 4:00 PM  6:00 PM.

The Hilton Checkers is located in the heart of the business and financial districts of downtown Los Angeles and is approximately 20 minutes from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The hotel is easily accessed from the Harbor Freeway (I-110) or Hollywood Freeway (US-101) and offers valet parking. For more information and reservations visit www.hilton.com or call 213-624-0000.

About Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC

Crestline Hotels & Resorts, LLC is one of the nations largest independent hospitality management companies. Founded in 2000, the company presently manages 118 hotels, resorts, and conference centers with over 17,200 rooms in 27 states and the District of Columbia. Crestline manages properties under such well-regarded brands as Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt, as well as independent, private label hotels and conference centers throughout the United States. For more information, visit: www.crestlinehotels.com.

About Chesapeake Lodging Trust

Chesapeake Lodging Trust is a self-advised lodging real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investments primarily in upper-upscale hotels in major business and convention markets and, on a selective basis, premium select-service hotels in urban settings or unique locations in the United States. The Trust owns 20 hotels with an aggregate of 6,288 rooms in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Additional information can be found on the Trusts website at www.chesapeakelodgingtrust.com.

Important Notice:

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to be materially different. In addition, words such as anticipate, believe, and intend indicate a forward-looking statement; however, not all forward-looking statements include these words.A five-hour drive from New Orleans to Houston, crammed in a van with nine people might sound like an unpleasant time to some. But for Funk YouEnglish Finnish

EVLI BANK PLC PRESS RELEASE APRIL 3, 2019 AT 1.00 PM.

Evli Bank Plc will publish its Interim Report for the period January-March 2019 on Friday April 26, 2019 at approximately 1.00 pm. The Interim Report will be available on the company's website at www.evli.com/investors after publishing.

Invitation to investors and analysts

Maunu Lehtimaki, CEO, and Juho Mikola, CFO, will present the result to investors and analysts at Evli Bank (Aleksanterinkatu 19 A, 4 fl, Helsinki) on Friday April 26, 2019 at 2.00 pm. The presentation will be held in Finnish. After the event, the presentation material will be available in English at www.evli.com/investors. To participate in the event, please sign up in advance to ir@evli.com on Friday April 19, 2019 at 4.00 pm. at the latest.

Welcome!

EVLI BANK PLC

For additional information, please contact:

Daniela Wahlberg, Communications Specialist, Evli Bank Plc, tel. +358 50 4017714, daniela.wahlberg@evli.com

Evli Bank Plc

Evli is a bank specialized in investments that helps institutions, corporations and private persons increase their wealth. The product and service offering includes mutual funds, asset management and capital markets services, alternative investment products, investment research, administration of incentive programs and Corporate Finance services. The company also offers banking services that support clients' investment operations. Evli is the highest ranked and most used institutional asset manager in Finland*.

*KANTAR SIFO Prospera External Asset Management Finland 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, SFR Scandinavian Financial Research Institutional Investment Services, Finland 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.



Distribution: main media, www.evli.comCouture a la Cart has grown significantly since its rebirth in 2017 and the business has already had some of its greatest success within its fA single mom of two, a book editor, a psychologist and an advocate for diversity, the talent management for faculty at Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia does it all.

Senior Associate Dean of Franklin College Kecia Thomas manages faculty affairs and works with graduate students. She supports departments in selecting the best faculty available while sharing opportunities with them for recognition and promotion.Banks are direct stakeholders and are dealing with commercial matters of the airline where the ministry would not like to intervene: Prabhu

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday ruled out any interference in efforts to help cash-strapped Jet Airways, saying that the government should not be seen to be doing any kind of deals to help an airline.

Against the backdrop of lenders set to take control of Jet Airways under a debt resolution plan, he said banks are direct stakeholders and are dealing with commercial matters of the airline where the ministry would not like to intervene.

Interacting with PTI journalists in New Delhi, Prabhu said, "The ministry should not be dealing in any commercial transactions of any kind. Same thing I did for railways or for anywhere else. The issue is between banks and the management."

He was responding to a query about the case of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines where banks apparently did not intervene.

Days after Jet Airways' board approved a debt resolution plan, wherein the lenders led by SBI would take control of the airline, embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya had lashed out at public sector banks for "double standards" under the current NDA regime for their intervention to bailout Jet Airways while the same lenders made his Kingfisher airlines "fail ruthlessly".

Mallya was the founder of Kingfisher Airlines.

In response to queries related to Jet Airways crisis, Prabhu said the ministry should not be seen to be doing any deals of any kind that would help in any way.

"It is always possible. You can help a company by bringing the other down," he said.

"We should not be seeing to be doing anything which would be construed or seen or actually resulting in either favouritism or doing something wrong against somebody. We did not do that," the minister said.

However, Prabhu said the ministry would be looking at the safety aspects.

When asked if the government played any role in state-run banks taking over Jet Airways, the minister said, "What role have we got? That is exactly the point. That is what Jet Airways was trying to come with us. We said we will not play any role into this."

To another query on whether the ministry would have been perfectly fine and remained a neutral observer had the Jet Airways gone under, Prabhu replied, "That is banks' call. There is a law which says that any company which could not service the liability - how to deal with that."

"Our role is very clear. And that is what I have personally done actually. It is not to interfere into any commercial matter of any airline," he emphasised.

About recent meetings between the ministry officials and Jet Airways' executives, Prabhu said the meetings are taking place because "we are dealing with safety".

"There is a direct issue of safety of Jet Airways, or for that matter, any other airline," he said.

"Safety is ensured because we are telling banks that if you are taking over as management, then ensure that the safety is assured, and give enough funds for the safety," he added.

Prabhu said his job as an aviation minister is to come with the policy, ensuring that policy allows the growth and it allows to deal with the situation of this kind.

My policy should be robust enough to take care of situations like this... Earlier, many times, the government would be tempted to be interventionist... We are very clear that managing the airline is the responsibility of the respective board and the airline company," he said.

Photograph: PTI PhotoBankers said the SC verdict might prolong the resolution process and force lenders to bring back cases to the drawing board.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

With the Supreme Court striking down the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) February 12, 2018, circular, the resolution of default accounts, which were filed in various tribunals under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) after the circular was released, will get delayed further.

For erring promoters, it comes as a shot in the arm as they will get an opportunity to resolve their accounts with the banks.

The SC order puts into question everything the banks have done pursuant to the February 12 circular, including any case filed for insolvency proceedings.

"It gives all of them (default accounts) another lease of life, but the RBI needs to clarify under what guidelines these debt resolutions will be considered," said Sanjiv Krishnan, partner & leader (deals), PwC India.

It would appear that all the restructuring mechanisms such as S4A (Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets), which were scrapped by the RBI earlier, will become options again or new mechanisms are likely to be set up, he added.

Bankers said the SC verdict might prolong the resolution process and force lenders to bring back cases to the drawing board.

"Despite the quashing of the circular, banks will continue to have the option of referring such defaulting borrowers under the IBC, in case the resolution plan fails," said the head of a large public sector bank.

"It would not impact the reported asset quality numbers. However, the resolution process, which was expected to be expedited, may get delayed," he added.

The experience of banks with IBC cases so far has been mixed, with banks taking an average haircut of 50 per cent and more in these accounts.

In cases like Alok Industries, banks have taken a haircut of 85 per cent.

The good news for promoters is that they will be able to resolve the default accounts faster, as long as 66 per cent of the consortium agrees to the settlement, compared to 100 per cent voting required under the scrapped RBI circular.

The IBC cases, which were filed between June 2017 and February 2018 and have already been resolved, will not be affected, said corporate lawyers.

"The IBC cases filed before February 12 will not be affected as the order has not said anything specific about these older cases," said R S Loona, managing partner at Alliance Law.

Amit Kapur, joint managing partner, J Sagar Associates, said the cases that the RBI had asked banks to take for insolvency proceedings (12 cases in the first list and 28 in the second) would not be affected by the SC verdict.

The reference for IBC action happened before the February 12 circular came into force.

"The SC verdict reaffirms the power of the regulator and lenders to refer cases for resolution based on reasonableness and in accordance with the laws," Kapur said.

According to the circular, banks had to refer companies to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for debt resolution, even if there was a delay of one day after the 180-day grace period.

The circular also mandated that if 1 per cent of the voting power of the committee of creditors disagreed with the resolution plan, it could be sent to the NCLT.

"Now, as the circular itself is invalid, the reference to the NCLT is invalid.

"The management of these companies will cite the SC judgment and ask to be pulled out of the NCLT," said a bidder of a stressed asset, adding: "So, there is uncertainty on all the work and the bids for these assets."

The chief executives of various stressed assets said banks sometimes sent them to the NCLT, even when only one bank disagreed with other consortium members.

"Arbitrary action of banks by referring companies to the NCLT, despite a viable resolution plan, acceptable to other lenders of the consortium, has resulted in huge value erosion for banks and massive job losses," said the CEO of a company that has been referred to the NCLT.

Citing an example, the CEO said in the case of a telecom infrastructure company, around 125,000 direct and indirect jobs were lost, after one bank with less than 5 per cent voting power did not clear the debt resolution package agreed to by other banks.'The Congress has finally drawn a line in the sand over its pro-poor credentials.'

'The rich better watch out.'

What Saisuresh Sivaswamy learnt about the election from television and the newspapers.

A must read column, folks!

IMAGE: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at the release of the party's election manifesto. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo

Field report

Nothing shows up the crisis afflicting the news industry, especially the electronic medium, like the Prime Time coverage on TV.

Squeezed out by tightening budgets for coverage, staff layoffs, declining revenues and excessive management control over editorial independence, Prime Time now means a grand studio show, a few talking heads (expanded to double figures in case of Republic TV because, hey, more the merrier), and an anchor with a social media presence.

So it was very refreshing to see CNN-News18's Bhupendra Choubey doing a live show on Tuesday night from the dustbowl (sorry, Rahul Gandhi) of Amethi, speaking to the constituents about the sitting MP's chances at the hustings (not very bright, it seemed), especially in the wake of the Congress's manifesto which the other networks were busy focusing on.

What the responses showed that there was no overwhelming public support for either the incumbent, or the high-decibel challenger.

Chidu the defender

Rajdeep Sardesai on India Today TV had P Chidambaram defending the Congress manifeso's provisions, especially those targeted by the BJP, like scrapping sedition, withdrawing AFSPA etc.

Rajdeep, an old school journalist with a hefty stint in the print medium, perhaps because of this, stands out from his peers. While some may tick him off for his combative (but not abrasive) style, he takes it on the chin and moves on.

Like on Tuesday night when PC kept asking to be allowed to speak. The provision governing sedition, he said, could go as there were already other laws in practice that tackled the issue and there was no need for a special law on the subject.

When Rajdeep quizzed him about the difficulty of identifying 5 crore poor for the NYAY scheme, Chidambaram retorted by saying this government says 10 crore poor will be covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme you quietly accepted the process of identifying them, but are questioning us on how we will identify the 5 crore poor?

Chidambaram also contrasted the silence over haircuts to debt-ridden companies running into thousands of crores with questions over resource allocation for a pro-poor scheme.

About the fears of extra taxation to raise funds for NYAY or cancelling existing subsidies, PC was clear that the middle class will not be burdened more nor will existing subsidies targeting the poor will be touched.

With this, the Congress has finally drawn a line in the sand over its pro-poor credentials. The rich better watch out, though!

And PC returns to NDTV

So is the Congress manifesto a game-changer? Well, it certainly kept the party's announcements in discussion across all channels, a change from the time it usually gets castigated for being antinational/anti-Hindu/pro-secesssionist.

From Nidhi on the left to Arnab to the far, far fight, the manifesto's provisions were being discussed threadbare, with party spokespersons weighing in.

But Nidhi had stolen a march over other stations by getting Chidambaram to speak on the manifesto earlier in the day, the former finance minister returning to the TV station after what seemed like ages, telling her that the document needs to be seen with an 'economic mind and moral heart'.

Republic TV saw a lively as always debate on the manifesto, with various nameless people being vociferous in their agreement/disagreement. But Sushant Sareen, senior fellow at ORF, stood out, saying the Congress manifesto was drawn up by jholawallahs, a point he subsequently made on Twitter, too.

His stand being just a step from what the government's man for all seasons Arun Jaitley said earlier in the day, about the manifesto having the signs of the Congress's friends in the tukde-tukde gang.

Spokes in the wheel

Faye D'Souza on Mirror Now runs a moderate debate, unlike the Times group's other stable mate with perpetually outraged Prime Time anchors, but the Tuesday night discussion took me to the world of party spokespersons deputed to various studios.

I think overall the Congress has chosen its defenders well, like Pawan Khera, Dr Shama Mohammed, Muhammad Khan and others who come across as reasonable, don't hyperventilate and manage to get their point across without bellowing from the pulpit.

Alas, the same however cannot be said of the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose voices often come across as boorish (I am not taking any names here) and intrusive and who will feel more at home on Arnab's popular channel than elsewhere. In fact, one of them seems to have been perpetually deputed there.

But Tuesday night clearly wasn't Shama Mohammed's best outing. As she spoke of the single rate of GST announced in the manifesto, and petrol, diesel and cigarettes too coming under the ambit of GST, when Faye asked her if it would mean that their prices would crash since there will only be one tax on them, she wasn't able to articulate clearly what the new setup will be.

Maybe she clarified it later, but I had by then moved on to News 24 where the owner Anuradha Prasad, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla's wife and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's younger sister, was interviewing Jayaprada, now of the BJP.

Jaya ho!

Every time I see Jayaprada the politician, I am reminded of K Vishwanath's classic Sagara Sangamam which remains evergreen in my mind even today, 35 years after its release, and marvel at her effortless transformation from the world of celluloid to the heat and dust of politics.

The BJP candidate from Rampur in UP, where her baiter Azam Khan of the Samajwadi Party is the main contender, entered Parliament in the same year as Rahul Gandhi, and used to an ardent critic of the party she has now joined.

However, unlike others in the BJP for who criticism of the Gandhi family is second nature, Jayaprada actually steered clear of badmouthing Rahul and Priyanka.

However, when Anuradha Prasad asked if the duo had her best wishes, she glossed over the question, party ideology clearly trumping personal likes, saying that Priyanka's entry into politics had come too late.

Reign of the Modishirts

Sankarshan Thakur, the journalist with the silken phrase and caustic pen, writes in The Telegraph, Kolkata, of the 'reign of an unchallenged overlordship'.

'The underpinnings of Modi's core constituency, or the constituency he has nursed, are deeply cultist and undemocratic -- it wants no questioning or contradiction, it wants no opposition, it seeks to secure a mindless submission,' Sankararshan writes.

'This has meant a pronounced othering that goes far beyond the traditional and usual suspects in the Moditva playbook: India's Muslims. Anybody that will not subscribe and submit to the Modi worldview -- prejudiced, petty, pernicious, exclusivist, loutish and analphabetic as it is -- is liable to be ruthlessly othered as anti-national or worse. It remains a fortune for India that the so othered by the Modishirts are far more in number.'

'But there are critical ways in which the Modishirts are able to seize the advantage. They are vociferous, while the othered are often not even vocal. Their zeal and resources for bigotry and fakery are far greater; opposing narratives have often seemed bewildered and breathless in comparison,' Sankarshan says in a stinging denunciation.

The orphaned Tamils

Few Tamils alive can remember an election like this, without the two towering personalities who have dominated the last 40 years of electoral politics in the state.

The deaths in quick succession of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and arch-rival M Karunanidhi have left the denizens of the state feeling bereft, and their parties in a worse condition.

Between the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK, the latter may have a slight edge, thanks to M K Stalin who has taken over from his father as the head of the DMK, thus ensuring a semblance of continuity.

'Having lost both J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi in quick succession over the last couple of years, the electoral skies look suddenly blank. "There is a sun and some assorted satellites," quips a longtime watcher of Tamil politics,' reports E P Unny in the Indian Express from the interiors of Tamil Nadu.The Election Commission is learnt to have issued a showcause notice to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his 'Modi ji ki sena' remark made during a poll rally at Ghaziabad earlier this week.

Sources in the poll panel said, prima facie, Adityanath has violated the EC's advisory of keeping armed forces away from political campaign.

A functionary said Adityanath has been asked to reply by Friday evening.

The EC took the decision based on a video clip submitted by the Ghaziabad district magistrate which shows Adityanath making the remarks at the election rally there on Sunday.

Adityanath, who addressed election meetings in Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Sunday, had lashed out at the Congress for what he called was its 'soft approach towards terrorism and terrorists'.

"Congress ke log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modi ji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko goli aur gola deti hai. (Congress leaders 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 (JeM chief) Masood Azhar to encourage terrorism," Adityanath had said at the Ghaziabad election rally.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader was campaigning for sitting MP and Union minister V K Singh.

The Election Commission had on March 19 asked political parties to 'desist" from indulging in any propaganda involving actions taken by defence forces during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns.

The advisory was issued days after the poll panel asked parties and their candidates against using pictures of defence force personnel in their campaign material.

"...parties/candidates are advised that their campaigners/candidates should desist, as part of their election campaigning, from indulging in any political propaganda involving activities of defence forces," it had said.

Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas had Monday said he would approach the Election Commission against Adityanath for his remarks and claimed that many veterans and those in service were upset over it.

*****

If Muslims have 'first right' on resources, where will Jats and Gujjars go: Yogi

Questioning a statement years ago by then prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said if Muslims have the 'first right' over the country's resources what happens to the Scheduled Castes, Jats and Gujjars.

Adityanath recalled Singh's 2006 statement at a rally in Baghpat in western Uttar Pradesh, a region where, some estimates say, about 25 per cent of the voters are Gujjars and Jats.

"Former prime minister Manmohan Singh had said that the first right over the resources of the country is of Muslims. If Muslims have the first right, where will the Scheduled Castes, Jats, Gujjars and other people go," Adityanath said.

Singh had made the remark while addressing a meeting of the National Development Council.

"We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources," Singh had said.

Adityanath also likened India's February 26 airstrikes at a Balakot terror camp in Pakistan to that of mythical 'Lanka dahan' by Lord Hanuman.

"The recent valour of Indian Air Force reminds one of the 'Treta yug'. The IAF destroyed the terror camps in Pakistan just like Lord Hanuman burnt down Lanka," he said.

"This was possible only because of a strong and decisive government and the determination and willpower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Adityanath said.

He also said India has made remarkable progress both on the economic and military fronts under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

Hailing the people of the region for their participation in freedom movement, the UP chief minister said, "This is the land of revolution. The brave people of this land have contributed to the first freedom struggle of 1857."

"Now we have to fight again for the development of India and defeat the forces which are working to weaken India," he added.

Adityanath also paid tributes to the Kargil war martyr Rajinder Singh and remembered the 1857 revolution hero Dhyan Singh Gurjar.

The chief minister also attacked the Congress for its poll promise of amending Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, and accused it of trying to weaken India.

"In its election manifesto, the Congress has promised to revoke the special powers given to the Indian Army. It is a clear intent of supporting the people who want to break this country. The Congress is playing into the hands of anti-national forces," he alleged.

He added, "If the Congress manifesto is implemented, it will make our jawans helpless against our enemies. It seems the urban-naxals have taken over the Congress and they are conspiring to run the country through them.

"Their maniesto also promises to dilute the punishment awarded to people who shout anti-India slogans or talk about dividing the country."

Adityanath attacked the Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary, who is contesting from the Baghpat Lok Sabha seat.

"He knows noting about farming," he said.

The chief minister, however, paid tributes to former Prime Minister and farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh for his contributions in nation-building.

"He will always be remembered. He was the true leader of farmers, who forced governments to create policies to protect farmers," Adityanath said.Author Nayantara Sahgal on Tuesday said the message from those in power was clear -- either agree with them or suffer the consequences.

Sahgal, who was conferred with the first Bhai Vaidya Smruti Gaurav Puraskar in Pune, could not attend the award ceremony in person but a pre-recorded video speech was played at the event.

The award was received by noted author Kiran Nagarkar on behalf of Sahgal.

"We are living in an India that has no connection with our modern political past. Secularism is under attack. Equal rights and equal citizenship are in tatters, and Indians have been divided into Hindus and others," Sahgal said in the video clip.

"The truth is that this divide is not between Hindus and others. It is between a militant creed called Hindutva and those whom it calls others, and it is a negation of all that Hinduism represents," she added.

Sahgal asserted that many Hindus were opposed to this communal ideology and its political agenda of vengeance and violence against fellow Indians whom it termed as outsiders.

She said its objective was the setting up of a "Hindu Rashtra" in place of our secular democracy, in which the State would have no role in religion.

"Those whom Hindutva calls others are now classed as outsiders and the Muslims among them are being treated as enemies of the state," Sahgal said.

She added that a questioning mind, scientific outlook, rational approach, creative imagination and freedom of expression had no place in today's "backward-looking New India", which was ignoring the fact that the nation was a democracy.

"In a democracy, citizens are not arrested and jailed on false charges of sedition and on invented conspiracy theories. Citizens who are guilty of no crime are not publicly tortured and lynched because they are Muslims. Mob attacks on mainly Muslims do not take place. Christian churches do not get vandalised by mobs. Christianity is now under fire," she claimed.

Sahgal added that in a democracy, citizens were not shot dead by gun-toting motorcyclists, as had happened to five eminent rationalists and free thinkers who were killed for rejecting superstition in favour of reason and for their independent views.

Above all, she said in a democracy, criminals were arrested and convicted for their crimes.

"The reverse is happening here. Criminals roam free, protected and even congratulated by the ruling power," she said in the recorded speech.

"The message from those in power is clear. Either agree with us or suffer the consequences. All this is, of course, a direct attack on our Constitution which guarantees life, liberty and equality to all Indians," she stressed.The move could hurt the BJP as the JCC, according to political analysts, might have eaten into the Congress votes in at least four of the 11 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

R Krishna Das reports.

Ajit Jogis Janta Congress Chhattisgarh on Tuesday announced its decision of not contesting the Lok Sabha election.

The announcement has made the Chhattisgarh battle a bipolar contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

The move could hurt the BJP as the JCC, according to political analysts, might have eaten into the Congress votes in at least four of the 11 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

The parliamentary board and the core committee today unanimously passed a resolution not to field candidate in any of the 11 constituencies, JCC spokesperson Sanjeev Agrawal said.

The party will support its ally Bahujan Samaj Party in the polls, he added.

In the November assembly polls, Jogis party, according to political experts, had helped the BJP win at least 10 seats by dividing the Congress votes.

The saffron party finished with only 15 seats in the state polls, handing power to the Congress (which secured victories in 68 of the 90 assembly constituencies).

In the 2014 Lok Sabha battle, the BJP had won 10 seats, while the Congress emerged victories in only one.

This year, the grand old party is looking to significantly improve its tally.

The JCC came into existence in 2016 after Jogi, former Chhattisgarh chief minister, quit Congress a year earlier.People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday that the relation of Jammu and Kashmir with India will end if the terms and conditions of the state's accession to the Union were changed.

"2020 will also be a deadline from Jammu and Kashmir to the nation. If you remove those terms and conditions on which Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India, our relation with the country will also end," Mehbooba told reporters after filing her nomination papers from the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency.

The former chief minister was responding to Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah's assertion that Article 35A, which guarantees special status to Jammu and Kashmir in terms of residency rights, will be repealed by 2020.

On the Congress manifesto, Mehboba said it was word by word same as the Agenda of Alliance agreed upon between her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and the BJP at the time of government formation in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015.

"Congress manifesto is same as what Mufti Mohammad Sayeed kept in Agenda of Alliance with BJP... status quo on Article 370, revocation of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), holding dialogue and reducing army footprint from civilian areas.

"It is word by word the same thing," she asserted.IMAGE: BJP president Amit Shah during an election rally, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, in Uttarkashi, on Wednesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Wednesday lambasted Congress leaders over the party's promise of reviewing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and withdrawing the anti-sedition law, saying they should 'drown' themselves in a pool of water, as he pledged his party's support to the forces and sanctity of the AFSPA.

Addressing a rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur, the BJP chief also slammed former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti for advocating a separate prime minister for the state and threatening secession of Jammu and Kashmir from India.

Shah hit the campaign trail in J&K in support of party candidates -- Union Minister Jitendra Singh and sitting MP Jugal Kishore -- addressing rallies at Udhampur and Sunderbani in Rajouri districts.

Earlier in the day, he also addressed a gathering in Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, where all five constituencies will go to polls in a single phase on April 11.

"Congress and its leaders should be ashamed of it (announcing dilution of AFSPA and removing sedition act). Go drown yourself in a pool of water. They have said in manifesto they will dilute AFSPA. They should be day-dreaming," Shah said, alleging the Congress manifesto promotes the interest of terrorists and anti-India forces.

"This is Narendra Modi government, nobody can dilute the AFSPA as we are standing like a rock behind the security forces, protecting (our) border," Shah asserted.

In its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls released Tuesday, the Congress promised that if voted to power it will review the AFSAP, which provides special powers to the force, in Jammu and Kashmir.

It also proposed to omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code that defines the offence of 'sedition', saying it has been 'misused' and become 'redundant because of subsequent laws'.

The BJP chief said the party brought down its government in J&K when the pressure came on it to dilute the AFSPA.

"We kicked the chair. We left the government on the AFSPA. The Congress and its leaders should be ashamed of what they have announced."

He asked the people to decide whether they want the Congress that supports dilution of the AFSPA, or the BJP that wants its protection.

On the anti-sedition law, Shah wondered who the Congress was trying to 'protect'.

"Who do you want to protect? When anti-India slogans like 'bharat tere tukde honge' (India will be disintegrated) were shouted in the JNU, you stood with them in the name of freedom of speech. Do you want to protect those booked under the anti-sedition law?" he questioned.

Asserting that the BJP and its government have no tolerance to forces out to break the country, Shah said those raising slogans like 'bharat tere tukde honge' should not be allowed to go scot free. "Their place is in jails."

"It is a commitment of the BJP government that we will never allow the country to be disintegrated. Nobody will be allowed to disintegrate Jammu and Kashmir from India," Shah said.

He also criticised Mehbooba Mufti for saying that the relation of J&K with India will end if the terms and conditions of the state's accession to the Union were changed.

Hitting out at Omar Abdullah for his demand of a separate PM for the state, Shah asserted the BJP, whether in power or opposition, would not let this happen.

"Let Omar listen to it clearly with open ears. Whether the BJP is in power or in opposition, nobody will be allowed to snatch J&K from India. We will protect the state on our lives," he added.

"You (Omar) will make PM and we will sit silently?"

The National Conference vice-president had Monday said his party would not allow any attacks on J&K's special status and seek restoration of terms of accession of the state, including the provision for 'Sadr-e-Riyasat' (president) and prime minister posts.

Shah castigated Omar, Mehbooba and Rahul Gandhi, saying their 'dreams' will never get fulfilled till the BJP is there.

Warning Pakistan, he said if one bullet comes from there 'we will send shells from here. We will give a befitting reply'.

Describing the BJP as a party that follows the ideals of Syama Prasada Mukherjee who made the supreme sacrifice in Kashmir, Shah said it will not let anything of the sort happen 'till its last breath'.

Taking a dig over the Congress, NC and PDP, Shah claimed 'sadness had gripped' these parties and Pakistan after air strikes at Balakot.

"A surgical strike was not possible as Pakistan had deployed tanks along the borders. The Narendra Modi government carried out air strike and demolished the terror targets inside Pakistan," he added.

"At a time when the entire country celebrated the counter terror offensive, there was grief in Pakistan and in the offices of Congress, NC, and PDP," Shah claimed.

In the Uttarkashi rally, Shah asked Gandhi to clarify his stand on the comments of his electoral ally Abdullah.

"The Congress is having an electoral alliance with the party. I want to ask the Congress president to clarify to the nation whether or not he agrees with his ally's demand."

He stressed securing the country's border was the biggest achievement of the Modi government.

"When the United Progressive Alliance was in power any Aliya, Maliya, Jamaliya (Tom, Dick or Harry) crossed over into our territory, beheaded our soldiers and went back. There was no retaliation from our side. There was neither the courage nor the will to do so," he said.

"If you want a secure India, if you want the country to emerge as a global leader and one of the largest economies in the world you have to put the reins of power into Narendra Modi's hands," he said.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  The mayor of a town in Batangas said the Chinese dredging vessel seen in their area has no permission to operate.

In an interview on Wednesday with CNN Philippines' Balitaan, Lobo Mayor Gaudioso Manalo said the MV Emerald  which has nine Chinese and one Filipino crewmen  arrived last Thursday.

"Naireport sa akin, may barko na dumating. Nung Friday, pinapuntahan ko sa Bantay Dagat namin atsaka chief of police. Ang purpose daw nila ay mag-dredging at desilting dito sa amin - ibig sabihin, huhukayin yung buhangin. Sabi ko'y wala naman kayong authority from LGU (local government unit) kaya hindi namin kayo papayagan," he said.

[Translation: It was reported to me that a ship arrived. On Friday, I made the Bantay Dagat and the chief of police to go to it. They said their purpose was to dredge and desilt here - meaning, they were going to dig in the sand. I said they had no authority from the LGU so I won't allow it.]

RELATED: Gov't verifying presence of Chinese dredging ship in Lobo, Batangas - Palace

Manalo said ship personnel showed a contract from 2008 between the LGU and Seagate.

Seagate refers to Seagate Engineering and Buildsystems whose head office is located in San Pascual, Batangas.

"Yung kontrata na 'yon, ay apat na taon nang hindi sila nag-operate na superseded ng 2012 na panibagong kontrata ng LGU with Mayor (Efren) Diona astsaka FS Suntan," he added.

[Translation: That contract showed they haven't operated in four years and was superseded by a new contract of the LGU with Mayor Diona and FS Suntan.]

The contract with FS Suntan was to desilt the Lobo River, Manalo said it was beneficial to their community and so he allowed it to continue and processed the necessary documents.

"Yun po ay ongoing ang operations ngayon," he told CNN Philippines.

[Translation: Those operations are ongoing.]

Manalo said the legal operations are the ones with FS Suntan and not with the Chinese dredging vessel.

Manalo said he has not allowed any dregding to take place as the vessel had no permit from the LGU.

"Ang sabi ko sa kanila, basic and fundamental law bago kayo makapag-operate ng business, kukuha kayo ng business clearance. Dapat mayroong business permit kayo. Since wala kaming inissue sa inyo, hindi kayo pwede mag-operate," he said.

[Translation: I told them, a basic and fundamental law before you operate a busines is to get a business clearance. You must have a business permit. Since we did not issue you one, you cannot operate.]

The mayor said he has gotten in touch with the Environmental Management Bureau to ask what should happen next. He added the Coast Guard should be the one to make the vessel leave.

However, Manalo said the ship was "apparently" given authority by the Coast Guard to dock in their area.

"Kung ire-revoke ng Coast Guard yung authority na binigay sa kanila, hindi na sila pwedeng maghintay dito, aalis na sila," Said Manalo.

[Translation: If the Coast Guard will revoke that authority, the vessel won't be allowed to wait here, they will leave.]

"Sinabi ko sa kanila, kahit na anong mangyari, hindi ko papayagan na mag-operate kayo dito sa Lobo," he added.

[Translation: I told them, whatever happens, I will not allow you to operate here in Lobo.]

Allowing the Chinese vessel to operate would mean the flood control being laid down in Lobo will be destroyed, as well as marine resources.

Manalo said Lobo is near Verde Island Passage, which is an area rich in marine biodiversity, should the vessel be allowed to operate, it would put that at risk.

Manalo said they contacted the Coast Guard on Tuesday to help resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, Environment Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said MV Emerald is not allowed to operate as it does not have complete permits.

"As of the moment, yungnaissue lang sa kanila is yung ECC (Environmental Compliance Certificate). Okay? Now yung ECC, eh nung 2018 pa naissue ito no? So this deals with EMB (Environmental Management Bureau). But when it comes to the permit of the MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau) which is permit to operate, permit to transport wala silang hawak na kahit na ano. At the same time ang inapply nila na permit last February 2019 e dineny na po natin. Kung kaya wala silang dahilan para magoperate sila dyan," he said.

[Translation: As of the moment, the only thing issued to them is an ECC. The ECC was issued in 2018. So, this deals with the EMB. But when it comes to the permit of the MGB, which the the permit to operate, permit to transport, they do not have anything. At the same time, the permit they applied for last February 2019 was denied. So they have no reason to operate there.]The annual general meeting of Hexagon Composites ASA will be held on Wednesday 24 April 2019 at 12:30 (CEST), at the Company's office in Korsegata 4B, Aalesund, Norway.

The board of directors does not propose a dividend for 2018.

The notice, including agenda for the General Meeting is attached. The notice will be sent to shareholders on 3 April 2019.

All documents regarding the Annual General Meeting are available at https://www.hexagongroup.com/investors/annual-general-meeting

For more information:

David Bandele, CFO, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: +47 920 91 483 | david.bandele@hexagongroup.com

Solveig D Saether, Communication Manager, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: +47 906 34 977 | solveig.saether@hexagongroup.com

About Hexagon Composites ASA

Hexagon delivers safe and innovative solutions for a cleaner energy future. Our solutions enable storage, transportation and conversion to clean energy in a wide range of mobility, industrial and consumer applications.

For more information, please visit www.hexagongroup.comIMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally in Gondia, Maharashtra, on Wednesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Seeking to turn the heat on the Congress over its poll promise of reviewing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the assurance 'toys with national security' and termed the opposition party's manifesto a 'document of Pakistan's conspiracies'.

Addressing a rally in Gondia ahead of next week's polling, he accused the Congress of hatching a conspiracy to destabilise the country and 'demoralise' its soldiers.

Modi termed the coming together of opposition parties against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies 'maha milavat' (grand adulteration) and said it would boost Naxal activities if they came to power as he blasted the Congress over its promise to scrap the sedition law.

The prime minister also asked Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, a former defence minister, if he agreed with the Congress's manifesto, particularly on the issue of reviewing the AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to security forces in troubled areas.

Without naming anyone, Modi alleged that Nationalist Congress Party leaders 'were unable to sleep' as their 'sleep was jailed in Delhi's Tihar'.

He, however, did not elaborate.

"You can see the Congress hatching a conspiracy to destabilise the country. They have a habit, either they grab everything or create confusion," Modi told the rally.

"Their manifesto toys with national security. The Congress's manifesto is a document of Pakistan's conspiracies. It is a conspiracy to demoralise the soldiers.

"The Congress's manifesto is a document of conspiracy by those who gave the slogan of 'Bharat tere tukde honge' (calling for India's dismemberment)," he added.

Modi said the security forces were 'relentlessly' combating Naxalism and the days of Maoists, who had spread violence in Maharashtra, were 'numbered'.

Naxalism would get a boost if those engaged in 'maha milavat' came back to power, he warned.

The prime minister also said the Maharashtra government had acted against 'Urban Naxals'.

"But you have seen how the Congress and the NCP are standing with Naxals," he charged.

Referring to the Congress's poll assurance of repealing the sedition law, Modi said the opposition party had promised that 'there will be no sedition case if any urban Naxalite is caught in anti-national activities'.

"Tell me if the Congress and the NCP are doing the right thing. Should the sedition law go? Should those who want to disintegrate (the country) get a free licence?," he asked the crowd.

Attacking the NCP, Modi said its leaders were 'unable to sleep these days'.

"What's the reason? Because their sleep is there inside Delhi's Tihar Jail. They are afraid that the one who is inside may reveal something. They are worried. And that day is not far when everything will come out in the open," he said.

Though the prime minister did not name anyone, it is believed that he was referring to corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar's arrest earlier this year for his alleged involvement in several aviation deals.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi released his party's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday.

IMAGE: Modi addresses a public rally at Pasighat, in East Siang district, Arunachal Pradesh. Photograph: PTI Photo

It promised to review the deployment of armed forces, AFSPA and the Disturbed Areas Act in Jammu and Kashmir and move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely.

The party also promised to scrap the sedition law if voted to power and said it would initiate a comprehensive review of all laws, rules and regulations and bring them in accordance with constitutional values and democracy.

Bhandara-Gondia is among the seven Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha that will vote in the first phase on April 11. The BJP has fielded Sunil Mendhe from the seat, where his main rival is the NCP's Nana Panchbuddhe.

This was Modi's second poll rally in Maharashtra ahead of this month's Lok Sabha polls. The first public meeting was at Wardha on April 1.

Earlier in the day, addressing a rally at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, Modi termed Congress manifesto as a 'hypocrisy document' which was 'full of lies'.

The PM said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be about the choice between 'trust and corruption, and about resolution and conspiracy'.

Referring to the Congress manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Modi said it had promised that every house would have electricity by 2009.

"However, till 2014 around 18,000 villages in the country were still to be electrified... Just like them (the Congress), their manifesto is corrupt and full of lies.

"Therefore, it should be called hypocrisy document (dhakosla patra), not a manifesto," Modi said at the rally in Pasighat, around 220 km from state capital Itanagar.

During his address, Modi said with the National Democratic Alliance coming back to power in 2014, it fulfilled the promise of the Congress by illuminating the 18,000 villages within 1,000 days.

The prime minister said unlike the Congress, the BJP never made false promises and kept its commitment of providing free LPG connection to nearly 60 crore women in the country, besides constructing toilets in every village and extending healthcare facilities under the 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme.

"Under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, about three lakh people in Arunachal Pradesh were covered, who were provided free treatment to the tune of Rs 5 lakh per family," he said.

Every house in the state has been illuminated with electricity after 70 years of Independence, Modi claimed.

Modi said he does not claim to have completed all the developmental work since becoming prime minister, but, "I can say that I am a man who can withstand any challenge the country faces, and plan and execute all works with dedication and commitment".

Accusing the Congress of neglecting the north east region, especially Arunachal Pradesh, he said the state never found its place in the "dil" (heart) of the grand old party.

The prime minister charged that the Congress was fooling farmers in the name of votes, whereas the BJP government has always been with them.

"We never committed the sin of betraying farmers but we introduced the mechanism from seed to market," the PM said.

Elaborating on the development plans of Arunachal Pradesh, he said the BJP government's vision for the state is connectivity, resources and respect.

The prime minister said the state is on the growth path now with many mega projects like the Advance Landing Grounds (ALGs) at Pasighat and Tezu, train connectivity between Naharlagun and Guwahati, and Naharlagun and New Delhi.

Asserting that he is committed to safeguard the tribal tradition and culture, Modi said he had visited the region "more than 30 times" in comparison to his predecessors, because of the love and affection he shares with the people of the north east.

Elections to Arunachal Pradesh's 57 assembly seats and two parliamentary constituencies will be held simultaneously on April 11.

Three BJP candidates were elected unopposed to the 60-member House, after the final date of withdrawal of candidature on March 28.'Give him a chance to live,' Peter's lawyer told the court.

Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Peter Mukerjea, Accused No 4, wasn't in court for the Tuesday, April 2, 2019 hearing in the Sheena Bora murder trial.

Nor was he expected to be.

Still recovering from nearly 100 stitches after a 13-hour bypass surgery, that took place on March 25, from 11 am to midnight, to tackle several life-threatening blockages in his heart, Peter is admitted at the Asian Heart Institute, Bandra-Kurla Complex, north west Mumbai, about 21 km from the Mumbai city civil and sessions court at Kala Ghoda.

Pictures of Peter, though, post-surgery, were in court, showing his grim-looking six- or eight-inch long chest surgery incision.

They were part of the evidence submitted before CBI Special Judge Jayendra Chandrasen Jagdale in Courtroom 51 by his lawyer Shrikant Shivade for his bail plea, the decision for which is still awaited.

In the accused box behind sat only Sanjeev Khanna, Accused No 2, as Indrani Mukerjea was almost 30 to 40 minutes delayed in getting to court from jail.

It will be quite a while before Peter is back in his customary spot in the box, wearing his signature white and khaki, taking careful notes of the proceedings.

Shivade got to his feet to narrate the grave tale of how Peter reached Asian Heart's venerable Dr Ramakanta Panda's operating table from his Barrack 12 at Arthur Road Jail, central Mumbai.

Apparently Peter had complained of chest pain from ten days earlier, especially on exertion, before finally on Saturday, March 23 the jail officers believed him and organised for a portable ECG machine to be brought to his cell from the nearby Sir JJ Hospital.

The subsequent ECG recognised an unquestionable disturbance in the heart that turned out to be a mild attack.

It took another hour for the ECG technician and the jail authorities (who probably deal with many false cases of heart discomfort too) to act on these results and have Peter transferred to JJ.

Questioning both delays, especially the time taken between the completion of the ECG and Peter's admission in JJ, Shivade stated, "The first hour is (what they call) the golden hour for a heart patient... (Peter's) life was at stake. But only after an hour was (he) admitted to JJ. The technician could not appreciate (the haste required). The jail officers could not (either)."

Only two days later an angiography was done that revealed three blockages of 90 per cent and a fourth of 100 per cent. His lawyers then applied and got the judge's permission to have him transferred to Asian Heart for surgery.

Shivade pointed out further, "Just by the grace of god he is alive. Alive because of the change of hospital and proper care at Asian Heart Institute."

Emergency surgery was subsequently carried out. Now, as Peter expects to be discharged in the next few days, his advocates were seeking six months bail for Peter's post-operative recovery at his home in Worli, south central Mumbai.

Shivade pointed out that JJ did not have a cardiac surgeon on its staff nor were its doctors and staff aware of what was the right post-operative care for a patient recovering from bypass surgery.

The judge intervened mentioning it was after all a hospital, although he later remarked that he had never been to the hospital and not many, he added with a long smile, would prefer to carry out a heart operation there.

Post surgery, because of the many and exceedingly delicate stitches, Peter's condition was frail and the lawyer strongly believed that neither JJ nor the jail would be the right place for him to recover.

"They say the jail will take proper care. It is easy to say, but not the truth." Shivade said the jail had mosquitoes, cases of dengue and malaria and would expose Peter, already on the highest levels of antibiotics possible, to infection.

Nor would they be able to act promptly if Peter faced a sudden emergency or complication from the surgery because of the protocols they were required to follow before allowing someone who needed to be hospitalised immediately, can be taken to JJ.

He said it was also known that care at the state government-run JJ was not up to the mark, with deaths having been reported in the past and cases of purchase of substandard medicine.

Objecting to the reaction from the CBI's investigating officer on the bail plea that said, 'Bypass surgery has become very easy' and was now occurring even in 'small cities' and there was not much need for post-op care, Shivade angrily said the reply was "ridiculous" and showed a "cavalier attitude."

Judge Jagdale agreed, commenting astutely, understanding writ large on his kindly face, it was "easy" while it was still the "other" person to whom it (bypass surgery) was happening to and might be viewed differently it was happening to yourself.

Concluding, Shivade declared that if bail was not given and Peter was sent back to jail or to JJ it would be like "giving a death sentence without a trial. Rejection of bail application is like signing his death sentence. He needs temporary bail of six months."

He implored: "Give him a chance to live."

One remembered that just the last time Peter was in court the lawyer had told the court that Peter felt he might die in jail, his innocence not yet proven.

Perhaps, because of that unignorable pain that had been niggling his chest for long, that premonition Peter was labouring under had not been wrong at all.

The events of last week had shown he had defeated death by a whisker.

You have to wonder how many more there are out there in jails, among the thousand and thousands awaiting trial, who are not as lucky.

The prosecution on the other hand felt Peter could recover in jail with special supervision or at JJ.

CBI Special Prosecutor Kavita Patil, wearing a crisp white and black sari, countered Shivade's arguments saying the application was premature and no details had been provided of what actual post-operative care Peter needed.

She also said there was nothing on record to show that either the jail or JJ was unhygienic and incapable of the right care.

Peter's relatives sitting in the second row in court looked pained, their faces showing distressed bewilderment, as Patil continued her arguments.

Life (in jail) and death are commodities that are often spoken about so casually amongst lawyers in courtrooms that for an outsider it takes a little getting used to.

Reading from the Asian Heart post-operation advisory pamphlet that counselled patients to undertake initially only 'light housework, dusting, washing dishes', Patil pointed out that Peter was required to move about and was not bed ridden or obligated to take bed rest.

Shivade retorted these were examples given that should not be literally interpreted: "No question of dusting!"

He said there was no better candidate or case for bail than Peter and they didn't know if he was going to survive after surgery."

The judge laughing, added in Marathi, "I am worried about you too", implying that Shivade's acute anxiety was disquieting.

Judge Jagdale is expected to make a decision on Peter's bail by Thursday.

Shivade also stated that they wished for the trial to proceed in Peter's absence.

Prosecution Witness No 39 Lakshmikanth Shetty was therefore produced in court.

A short, bald man of 44, with a mobile face, lively eyes and a constantly bobbing Adam's apple, Shetty, a resident of Khar Danda, as per the prosecution's account, quite literally tapko-ed (fell) into the case.

According to him, he had been walking merrily past the Khar police station on his way to the Khar railway station one fine day, just a little past noon, in September 2015 when a police constable asked him, out of the blue, to step into the police station, saying, "My officer wants to speak to you about a case.".

The room he was taken into had another one or two police officers/constables whose names were Chavan and Kadam, another ordinary citizen like him named Prem and a woman.

Inspector Kadam told Shetty he wanted to speak to him about the Sheena Bora case.

"He asked me, 'Have you heard about the case?'" He said he had. "It was a hot issue highlighted by the media. The police officer said the lady sitting there was Kajal Sharma (Indrani Mukerjea's secretary). She had some documents to give."

Shetty, fresh off the street, was asked to serve as a panch (witness) in a headline-breaking murder case, along with the other person named it seemed Prem Amberani in the panchnama (recording of testimony) drawn up to register the material handed over by Sharma.

Sharma had brought with her, her "black HP laptop, a Scan Disk pen drive, an agreement and some receipts, some of Reliance," Shetty recalled.

Speaking in English, in a low voice in soft words, that even the judge had a terrible time catching, Shetty, who seemed a well-to-do man, smiled a lot and was obliging. He had a decent memory too.

The police, that day Shetty explained, took the hard drive off the laptop, the pen drive and the papers. The items, according to the witness, were put into brown covers, labelled with the case number and sealed and he had to sign. And the papers were filed into clear plastic folder.

The panchnama was in Marathi and Shetty, who could only understand a little of it, was asked to read it and sign by Inspector Kadam.

Indrani's lawyer, the petite-looking and sometimes fiery Gunjan Mangla, took over to cross-examine Shetty. She had about five or six questions.

She wondered, without saying it in so many words, why Shetty mysteriously and fortuitously happened to be wandering that way on that particular day and if Shetty had ever been to the Khar police station before.

He had not, he said in a definite tone.

Mangla also asked if he had verified the serial numbers of the hard disk and pen drive. He didn't answer.

She accused Shetty of not being present through the process to draw up the panchnama and that he had signed it only on Inspector Kadam's say so. Shetty denied that. He was then allowed to depart.

Shetty is one among a series of panch witnesses the prosecution has been producing. On March 15 another panch witness named Ayub Mohammed Khan, Prosecution Witness 38, who was present at the Khar police station when Indrani's son Mekhail Bora handed over a slew of Sheena's documents, including her birth certificate, school-leaving certificate, caste certificate etc.

While panch witnesses appear, to the inexperienced onlooker, to be somewhat extraneous to the process, with hardly much information to offer, they are a crucial part of the legal procedure, vouching that certain documents were handed over, as witnesses had stated and the key eyewitnesses to various police procedures.

It has to be also noted, once again, that the police have difficulty in finding the requisite panchs, hence the defence's routine suspicion of their identities.

Indrani, wearing a crisp white shirt and brown jeans, Tuesday, suddenly, puzzlingly asked for a private moment with the judge after the hearing. Her lawyers were not present. The doors of the courtroom were closed as she spoke to Judge Jagdale. The subject of discussion was not revealed.

One can only guess what her request was. Was Indrani seeking a jail transfer? Was she bringing up her health conditions once again? Was it another request for bail? Was it something about Peter? Or was it about her lie detector test?

Why the secrecy?

But if there is one thing one has learned about Indrani, after watching her in court through two years it is: Surprise nay Sensation has always been Indrani's middle name.



Around the same time, Mercedes also produced two more commercials with a Mario Kart theme featuring actors portraying Luigi and Princess Peach. Check out the video below for all three commercials...





Thanks to a timely, I was made aware of a fun Mercedes commercial featuring Super Mario Brothers. The television ad is actually four years old, but it was only featured in Japan so that explained why I didn't see it until today. (Better late than never!)In the commercial, Mario gets in a Mercedes GLA and drives through World 1-1 of the classic NES Super Mario Brothers video game. Upon jumping over the flag by the castle, the 8-bit commercial turns into live-action! The car comes to a halt with an actor portraying Mario exiting the car and then comically stepping on a Goomba with sound effects.Check out the full ad below...TORRINGTON  A group of high school students who see first hand the growing use of vaping products among their peers recently asked the Torrington City Council to adopt an ordinance to prohibit sale of vaping, e-cigarette and other products that contain tobacco or nicotine to anyone under 21.

The students, who are members of the Mayors Committee on Youth, along with Andrew Lyon, the McCall Center for Behavior Healths Prevention Facilitator, told the council about the health danger vaping poses to adolescents.

Now, the councils Ordinance Committee has drafted a proposal in response to the students request.

Committee Chairman Gregg Cogswell said Tuesday that he and other members researched state and municipal regulations and found that both Hartford and New Haven were considering similar measures. Milfords Board of Aldermen voted unanimously April 1 to raise the age for buying tobacco products in Milford from 18 to 21.

There are two bills in the state legislature. I hope they pass and it becomes a statewide ordinance. That would make it uniform, Cogswell said.

In the meantime, the Torringtons draft proposal will be the subject of a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. April 15 at Torrington City Hall.

Well get some feedback from the public. If no language change is needed, (the ordinance) could be approved by mid-May, Cogswell said.

Were open to feedback, he added.

The six-section proposed ordinance states that tobacco product also means electronic smoking devices, including any device that can be used to deliver aerosolized or vaporized nicotine...

The ordinance would require retailers that sell tobacco products to install a sign that states The Sale of Tobacco or Nicotine Products or Devices to Persons Under 21 is Prohibited.

A retailer who violates any of the provisions of the ordinance, the proposal notes, shall be subject to a fine of of no less than $250 for each infraction.

The bills being considered by state lawmakers, according to the CT Mirror, are stricter than Torringtons proposal in that the legislation would ban all flavored vapor products and add a tax on vapor delivery systems and related goods.

At a recent Northwest Hills Council of Governments meeting, municipal leaders also heard about the harmful effects of vaping on adolescents. The presentation was also provided by Lyon and his colleagues from the McCall Center.

Information on usage by teenagers shows that flavors such as bubblegum, candy cane and popcorn target adolescents and younger populations, the presentation noted.

The centers information also showed that marketing saturates youth driven platforms, such as Instagram feeds, SnapChat and YouTube channels.

Information on the health consequences of vaping can be found through the office of the Surgeon General or from Truth Initiative, a national nonprofit public health organization.

While the ordinance committees proposal includes the ability to assess fines, Cogswell said it has nothing to do with possession of vaping or nicotine products. The city is not allowed to pass regulations, that would lead to criminal charges, he added.

The state may go with possession, laws, he said.

This was a good opportunity for research on this. We can revisit portions of the draft ordinance after the public hearing, Cogswell said.TORRINGTON  City police warned the public about scam calls from purported representatives of the department early Wednesday morning.

In recent days Torrington Police have taken a number of calls in reference to phone calls residents are receiving from Torrington Police (The calls are coming to their cell phones with the caller ID identifying as Torrington Police), department officials said in a Facebook post. In each instance, the victim is being asked to verify the last four numbers of their social security number and then told we (the police) have a warrant for the person's arrest.

The caller then tells the individual that they need to provide a payment via gift card to deal with the warrant, officials said.

Residents are reminded that they should NEVER provide personal information to questionable callers (i.e. random people claiming a loved one is in jail, a Persian Prince that wants you to cash a check, people requesting immediate payment, etc.) over the phone, officials said. In addition, officers generally do not make phone calls to serve arrest warrants, we physically respond to an address.

Those who receive such a call are asked to contact city police at 860-489-2000.

Police can also answer questions from those wondering if they have an active warrant out for their arrest, officials said.

In instances where a caller states a family member is in trouble, please reach out to family to reaffirm their safety, officials said. As always should you need any other assistance we are here to help with that as well.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.comCALGARY, Alberta, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vibe Bioscience Ltd. (the Company or Vibe) is pleased to announce that its common shares (Common Shares) will commence trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") under the symbol VIBE at market opening on April 3, 2019.



Vibe is also pleased to announce that, through its U.S. subsidiary, it has executed a purchase agreement to acquire all of the membership interests in the outstanding securities of EVR Managers, LLC (the "Redding Acquisition"), which holds a license for an adult use cannabis retail operation located in Redding, California (the "Redding Site").



Redding, California Acquisition



Completion of the Redding Acquisition and necessary improvements to the Redding Site will add a third licensed, adult use recreational Cannabis dispensary to Vibe's cannabis operations in California. Located in Redding, California and currently under development, the Redding Site will serve a metro area population of approximately 178,000 residents. Upon completion, Vibe expects the Redding Site to have the potential to generate up to C$5.5 million in revenue during its first 12 months of operations based on management's analysis of trends, current conditions and expected future developments. The aggregate purchase price for the Redding Acquisition is approximately US$1.0 million (C$1.34 million) which is expected to be satisfied through the issuance of Common Shares to the vendors upon closing. Closing of the Redding Acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the CSE. Vibe anticipates that the new Redding Site will open its doors to the public during the third quarter of 2019.

Our latest acquisition plans exemplify Vibes strategy to aggressively expand our Vibe by California brand, retail, delivery, cultivation, and distribution presence in the worlds most sought-after cannabis market, stated Mark Waldron, Chief Executive Officer of Vibe. Our multi-state acquisition pipeline remains robust and includes non-binding letters of intent for several additional dispensary locations in the California market, and we look forward to bringing the Vibe by California brand and ethos to Shasta Countys visitors and residents this summer.



Vibe Highlights

Two cash flow positive adult-use dispensaries in Sacramento and Stockton, California with two additional dispensaries set to open in the second half of 2019;

A cultivation site in Sacramento and a distribution center under development in Sacramento with a distributor temporary license which provides authority to distribute cannabis products on a state-wide basis;

A purchase agreement to acquire all of the outstanding securities of NGEV Inc., which holds a cannabis cultivation and equipment facility in Crescent City, California that has historically produced cannabis flower, clones and seeds;

A conditional use permit for mobile delivery issued by the City of Sacramento;

A real estate permit to allow for further expansion of the Companys cannabis campus consisting of retail, cultivation, and distribution capacity;

The flexibility to pursue a multi-state expansion to rapidly grow its retail dispensary and cultivation footprint by accelerating the growth of proven businesses in high population and tourist destinations;

An acquisition pipeline targeting multiple California locations and jurisdictions; and

A seasoned board and management team with significant mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate structuring experience to drive profitability.

Please visit our website at www.vibebioscience.ca for more information and to sign-up for our mailing list.



Further details about Vibe are included in Vibe's Listing Statement (CSE Form 2) available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and at www.vibebioscience.ca .

About Vibe

Vibe is a vertically integrated cannabis company whose mission is to become a dominant California cannabis retailer and multi-state operator. The Company delivers exceptional retail experiences with its Vibe by California brand and ethos, premier cultivation product, and high-efficiency delivery and distribution. The Companys management team brings expertise in retail, cannabis cultivation, and mergers and acquisitions to support its U.S. expansion through accretive acquisitions and organic growth.



Contact Information Vibe: Ryan Mercier, Chief Financial Officer Phone: +1 833-420-VIBE x 102 Email: ryanm@vibebioscience.com Website: www.vibebioscience.ca Tyler R. Townsend, VP Finance Phone: +1 833-420-VIBE x 107

Email: tylert@vibebioscience.com Website: www.vibebioscience.ca

Forward-Looking Information & Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information, future-oriented financial information or financial outlooks (collectively, "forwarding-looking statements"), including statements relating to the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Vibe and the Redding Site. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words anticipate, 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 the parties current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are stated as of the date of this press release and are based on estimates and assumptions made by management of the Company in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any State securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable State securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. securities laws.

Unlike in Canada which has Federal legislation uniformly governing the cultivation, distribution, sale and possession of medical cannabis under the Cannabis Act (Federal), readers are cautioned that in the U.S., cannabis is largely regulated at the State level. To the knowledge of Vibe Bioscience Ltd., there are to date a total of 33 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized cannabis in some form. Notwithstanding the permissive regulatory environment of medical cannabis at the State level, cannabis continues to be categorized as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. and as such, cannabis-related practices or activities, including without limitation, the manufacture, importation, possession, use or distribution of cannabis are illegal under U.S. Federal law. Strict compliance with State laws with respect to cannabis will neither absolve Vibe Bioscience Ltd. of liability under the U.S. Federal law, nor will it provide a defense to any Federal proceeding, which may be brought against Vibe Bioscience Ltd. Any such proceedings brought against Vibe Bioscience Ltd. may adversely affect its operations and financial performance.HARTFORD  Constantino Santiagos bid to stay in the United States was rejected by a federal immigration judge Wednesday, leaving his wife in tears and his three disabled sons wondering whether theyll stay here or move to Mexico, a country theyve never known.

I cant believe Daddys gone, said Jayden Santiago, 7, who sat in the first row in a tiny courtroom packed with supporters from Kent, where the family has lived for about 20 years.

Their father, known as Tino, a popular handyman and a line cook at a local restaurant, sat in handcuffs and chains during the three-hour deportation appeal. He was then escorted an hour north, to a Greenfield, Mass., facility operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement where he has been confined since his arrest by ICE agents in late February.

About 60 people from the Kent and Sharon area attended the afternoon-long hearing on the sixth floor of the U.S. District Court building, spilling out of the courtroom and into an adjacent waiting room.

Santiago has a month to appeal. If he is deported, he could not begin to apply for legal status here for 10 years.

Federal Immigration Court Judge Michael W. Straus noted the heavy community support for Santiago during the trial, led by Hartford attorney Mary Foden. But in the end, Straus sided with Assistant Chief Counsel Amit Patel in ordering Santiago back to Oaxaca in southeastern Mexico. Santiago admitted he entered the United States illegally in 1998.

Straus said while its clear it would be a hardship for the family, especially his three sons, to move to Mexico, the lack of rehabilitation for a 2016 drunken-driving incident held more weight in his rejection of Santiagos request to stay in the United States.

This case is very troubling, Straus said, noting that while Santiago claims to have stopped drinking after the arrest in New York state, the cook, through a court translator, admitted that he hadnt attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in over a year. The court still has doubts about his rehabilitation, Straus said.

Santiago said he was working too hard to meet the familys $1,700-a-month mortgage to attend more AA meetings.

Alcohol also played a role in a 2008 DUI arrest, also in New York state, as well as a 2015 incident in his home, in which Santiago was charged with disorderly conduct after his eldest son, Jordan, now 19, called police. For the last three years, Santiago has been employed as a line cook at the Kingsley Tavern in Kent. His previous job was as a waiter and with the kitchen crew at the Fife n Drum in Kent.

Appearing for the hearing in a blue, open-collared shirt and gray pants, Santiago, in close-cropped hair and a goatee, said he has helped many people doing odd jobs, in addition to his restaurant work. Whatever people ask me, if I can do it, I do it, he told the judge.

I learned alcohol is no good, said the 43-year-old. It can hurt my family. You can hurt a lot of people. You can hurt them in the heart and also physically.

Its a tough no, said Foden outside the courthouse after the hearing. This family needs their father.

The hearing included testimony from Norma Santiago, 37, the mother of their three sons, including 17-year-old Jason who has emotional problems, including autism.

Norma Santiago, an occasional house cleaner from the same town as her husband, about a half hour from Oaxaca de Juarez by bus, testified that after the 2016 incident, in which her husband was found to have nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol during a roadside sobriety test, alcohol was banned from their home. She said, through an interpreter, that the family has become much closer since then.

You were fairly intoxicated? Is that correct, Straus asked Constantino Santiago through the interpreter, during the first hour of testimony. Yes, but when youre drinking it doesnt seem to be a lot.

His wife and children were in the vehicle at the time of the arrest.

The crowded courtroom reacted to the verdict in silence as Santiago was led away, chains rattling.

We were all stunned, said Judy Riggio of Sharon, who drove the family from South Kent to the hearing, She described the local interest in the case as emblematic of the strong, tight community in Connecticuts northwest corner, and the desire to support the Santiagos.

The three sons have varying degrees of autism. Jordan, who started at Iona College, had two emergency room experiences linked to Type I diabetes, and temporarily dropped out, but intends to go back, despite autism and a diagnosed personality disorder.

During a break, Santiago stood up and turned to the crowd of supporters.

Good afternoon everyone, he said. Thank you for being here. Im sorry to cause such problems.

We love you Tino, several people answered back.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCTDublin, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Artificial Intelligence in Life Sciences Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2019 - 2024)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Artificial Intelligence in Life Sciences Market was valued at USD 902.1 million is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 21.1% during the forecast period (2019-2024).



Although artificial intelligence has been in the market in the late 1950s, the technology has become commercially accessible in the past few years. The primary reason for this accelerated growth in recent years is the massive availability of data in the life sciences sector.



As AI operates on large sets of data, the availability of such data becomes a key factor for establishing a suitable environment for the growth of AI-based solutions. With innovations in mobile technology and sensors, even the present day's wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers, have enough computing power to generate and process vast amounts of data.



In fact, according to the recent estimates of Consumer Technology Association, a prominent standard and trade organization for the consumer electronics industry based in the United States, health and fitness trackers accounted for more than 47% of the wearables devices sold in 2017. This scenario coupled with several medical devices used in healthcare sector generates huge sets of data that could make use of AI to derive useful results.



AI is increasingly becoming popular in drug discovery, personalized medicine, biotechnology, and clinical trials. With increasing healthcare spending in almost all parts of the world, the pharmaceutical industry has been involved in extreme R&D activities in the past few years.



Scope of the Report



Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a highly data-driven technology. In the life sciences sector, it is generally employed to make meaningful relations from loosely coupled data. With the advent of the third wave of AI, it is estimated that advanced AI solutions in the current market scenario can learn and evolve as they are being used.



Key Market Trends



Clinical Trails to Hold Significant Share



Clinical trials are one of the most data-intensive tasks in the life sciences industry. They generate vast sets of data every day monitoring several variables of a patient under observation. Subjecting these data sets to intelligent AI algorithms can help the researchers to screen meaningful correlation even between loosely coupled data.



This is encouraging many pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations to invest in technologies, like artificial intelligence. In the current market scenario, rapid adoption of AI is widely seen in the pharmaceutical sector, who are responsible for almost 50% of the clinical trials conducted globally every year.



Novartis claims that the deployment of QuantamBlack's solutions has reduced patient enrolment times by 10-15%. Additionally, as of March 2018, the company has entered a partnership with IBM to make use of IBMs AI platform, IBM-Watson, to improve clinical trial recruitment, and make use of intelligent AI algorithms to predict medication efficacy.



Such initiatives are encouraging many companies to invest in AI solutions tailor-made for clinical trials. Many prominent companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Pfizer Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, and Genentech among others, are investing in AI-based clinical trails startups and solutions to make clinical trials more affordable.



India to Exhibit Highest Growth



India, the third-largest pharmaceutical market in Asia, is increasingly gaining much-needed government focus on expanding affordable health care. As part of the Union Budget FY19, the government announced the world's largest National Health Protection Scheme, for which the government set aside an investment worth USD 307.6 million, to provide coverage of up to USD 7,690 per year, to 500 million people belonging to financially vulnerable households, for the treatment of serious ailments.



Simultaneously, AI and machine learning have already started penetrating various industries across India, with healthcare being one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI revolution. According to a report by CIS India published in 2018, AI could help add USD 957 billion to the Indian economy by 2035. In the July-September 2017 quarter, around 16 Indian healthcare IT companies received funding. The adoption of AI in life sciences in India is being driven by the likes of Microsoft, and a slew of health-tech startups.



Competitive Landscape



The artificial intelligence in the life sciences market has been gaining a competitive edge in recent years. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. These major players with a prominent share in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging on strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and increase their profitability.



In Oct 2018, Lifegraph launched their new app on the Google Play Store. It uses AI in the core to forecast the state of patient health. The app named Lifegraph - AI technology for migraine management, was launched to help track changes in the behavior and weather throughout the day and, using machine learning, predicts an imminent attack for actionable self-care.



Key Topics Covered:



1 INTRODUCTION



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints

4.3 Market Drivers

4.3.1 Rising Adoption Of Ai In The Field Of R&D

4.3.2 High Emphasis On The Development Of Precision Medicine And Personalized Drugs

4.3.3 Increasing Demand For AI In Drug Discovery

4.4 Market Restraints

4.4.1 High Initial Costs And Concerns Over The Replacement Of Human Workforce

4.5 Technology Snapshot

4.6 Industry Attractiveness Porters Five Force Analysis

4.6.1 Threat of New Entrants

4.6.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers

4.6.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.6.4 Threat of Substitute Products

4.6.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Application

5.1.1 Drug Discovery

5.1.2 Medical Diagnosis

5.1.3 Biotechnology

5.1.4 Clinical Trails

5.1.5 Precision and Personalized Medicine

5.1.6 Patient Monitoring

5.2 Geography

5.2.1 North America

5.2.1.1 US

5.2.1.2 Canada

5.2.2 Europe

5.2.2.1 Germany

5.2.2.2 UK

5.2.2.3 France

5.2.2.4 Rest of Europe

5.2.3 Asia Pacific

5.2.3.1 China

5.2.3.2 Japan

5.2.3.3 India

5.2.3.4 South Korea

5.2.3.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.2.4 Rest of the World



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Company Profiles

6.1.1 IBM Corporation

6.1.2 NuMedii Inc.

6.1.3 Atomwise Inc

6.1.4 Lifegraph

6.1.5 Cyrcadia Health Inc.

6.1.6 Numerate Inc.

6.1.7 Sensely Inc.

6.1.8 Sophia Genetics SA

6.1.9 Insilico Medicine Inc.

6.1.10 Enlitic Inc.

6.1.11 APIXIO Inc.

6.1.12 Zebra Medical Vision

6.1.13 Lifegraph Limited

6.1.14 twoXAR Inc.

6.1.15 AiCure LLC



7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

7.1 Investment Scenario



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/h6tt7b/global_artificial?w=12





Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen has told officials to cut off electricity to the homes of those who claim he orchestrated blackouts to drum up public support for a controversial hydropower dam, after the head of an environmental NGO suggested the government was responsible for power outages that have plagued the country this year.



Over the weekend, RFAs Khmer Service reported that residents and activists in Koh Kong province believe the government has been restricting power flow to the region to justify building the Stung Cheay Areng hydropower dam, despite environmental concerns that shelved the project in 2015.



RFA quoted Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, founder of local environmental watchdog Mother Nature, as saying that officials should resign and apologize to the public for the cuts, which have lasted for several weeks and are expected to continue through May.



The government has attributed the shortages to high temperatures affecting the ability of dams to generate power and high levels of public consumption, and said the grid is around 400 megawatts short of what is needed to supply the country during the dry season.



On Tuesday, Hun Sen said that an electricity shortage is not a reason to build a hydropower dam, and called the claims that the government planned to go ahead with the Stung Cheay Areng project untrue.



If we know which house [belongs to those accusing the government], please shut off the electricity supplylet them light torches, the prime minister said, speaking at a ceremony to recognize the opening of a water system in Kampot province.



The Khmer Times quoted Kin Phea, director general of the Royal Academy of Cambodias International Relations Institute, as saying that critics should consider the facts rather than be driven by political motivation, and blamed the shortages on climate change.



In response to Hun Sens comments, Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA) executive director San Chey told RFA that the government should accept criticism and be willing to make changes if complaints are legitimate.



The government cant avoid criticism over the blackout, he said, adding that officials should work to provide a solution to the problem instead.



Cambodias government has said it will lease a floating power station from Turkey to generate additional power for the country, and also recently announced plans to purchase electricity from its neighbors.



On Wednesday, government spokesman Phay Siphan announced in a Facebook post that the Council of Ministers will vote April 5 on whether to approve an 80-megawatt hydropower dam in Pursat province and another dam of 60-megawatt capacity in Kampong Chhnang province to lessen the impact of power shortages, but didnt elaborate on details of the two proposed projects.



Mother Natures Gonzalez-Davidson told RFA he was unable to comment on whether the government should proceed with the two dams, as he lacks information about the projects, but suggested that the government would be better off investing in solar energy because the infrastructure takes less time to put in place and power production is far more sustainable.



Solar energy is cheaper, doesnt result in forced evictions, and has no impact on fish stocks, he said.



Mekong development



The controversy over the shortages came as environmental NGO International Rivers released a factsheet on the impact of hydropower development based on the findings of a 2018 study conducted by the Mekong River Commission (MRC)an intergovernmental organization that works directly with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to jointly manage shared water resources.



According to International Rivers, the study found that the plans for 11 large hydropower dams on the lower Mekong River mainstream and 120 tributary dams by 2040 seriously threaten the regions ecology and economy, as well as local peoples access to sufficient and nutritious food.



But the group said that since the studys release in February 2018, extensive dam construction on the lower Mekong mainstream and within the Mekong basin has continued unabated.



The study warns of impacts in current and proposed Mekong hydropower expansion due to losses to fisheries, sediment transport and other ecosystems services that International Rivers said would in turn heighten food insecurity and vulnerability of communities throughout the basin.



The study also recommended that member countries consider emerging energy technologies, such as solar and wind, as alternatives to hydropower.



Assessing these alternatives, together with demand-side management and energy-efficiency measures, would provide major insights for managing water, energy, and food security more sustainably in the lower Mekong basin, International Rivers said.



Cambodias Mines and Energy Ministry has said that Cambodia produced 2,650 megawatts of energy in 201850 percent of which came from hydroelectric dams.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.Hong Kong's government tabled legislation on that would allow renditions to mainland China in the face of political protest and warnings from lawyers and journalists.



Opposition lawmakers walked out of the city's Legislative Council (LegCo) as the bill was introduced for its first and second readings, and interrupted security secretary John Lee with shouts of "Withdraw the evil law!" as he introduced it, ignoring repeated questions from pro-democracy members.



The planned changes to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance will allow the Hong Kong government to respond to case-by-case requests for extradition in the absence of a bilateral treaty. The most likely jurisdiction to use the proposed provision is the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which currently has no bilateral arrangement with Hong Kong.



Journalists warned that the new law could both threaten the safety of journalists, who have traditionally used the city as a safe haven, and have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Hong Kong.



"Over the years, numerous journalists have been charged or harrassed by mainland authorities under criminal offenses covered by the amendment," several media organizations including the Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) said in a statement on the HKJA website.



"The amendment will make it possible for mainland authorities to demand the surrender of journalists in Hong Kong, citing all kinds of unfounded charges," the statement warned.



"It is a sword hanging the head of journalists which will muzzle both journalists and whistleblowers, dealing a further blow to the already limited freedom of speech that Hong Kong still enjoys," it said.



Threats to journalists

HKJA chairman Chris Yeung said journalists working in mainland China could be exposed to greater threats to their personal safety.



"This is a huge worry, and it makes little difference whether it is material or psychological," Yeung told RFA. "Journalists and media organizations are going to experience a chilling effect when it comes to reporting sensitive stories, which will mean self-censorship."



Yeung said the government's assurances of built-in safeguards have done little to assuage journalists' concerns.



"We aren't going to rest assured just because the government says those things," he said. "Because if something does happen, it'll be the individual journalist or their organization left dealing with it."



Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Bar Association said that the only jurisdiction not already able to request case-by-case extradition decisions from Hong Kong is mainland China.



"This restriction against any surrender arrangements with the rest of [China] ... is not a 'loophole', as ... misleadingly, asserted by senior Government officials," the association said in a statement.



"It was a deliberate decision by the legislature ... in 1997 not to provide for the application of the [law] to rendition arrangements with the rest of [China], particularly in light of ... concerns over the mainlands track record on the protection of fundamental rights," the lawyers said.



The law will place all decision-making power over renditions to mainland China into the hands of Hong Kong's chief executive, who is currently elected by a committee hand-picked by Beijing, the statement said.



Holding the government accountable

It said the administration of chief executive Carrie Lam had failed to explain why things should now change.



It said the new law will remove a layer of approval by LegCo, meaning that there is no way to hold the government accountable, and no provision allowing Hong Kong courts to refuse an extradition request on human rights grounds, nor to decide that evidence submitted by the mainland authorities is inadmissible.



The removal of commercial crimes from charges eligible for an extradition request "offers little assurance to citizens and the people in Hong Kong who are legitimately concerned with the criminal and judicial systems in the rest of [China]," it said.



The World Justice Project in 2017/18 ranked Chinas justice system 75th out of 113 countries, while Hong Kong came 16th.



Rights groups have called on the Hong Kong government to scrap the proposed legal changes, saying they could place people at risk of torture and unfair trials.



"China's justice system has a record of arbitrary detention, torture, and other ill-treatment, of serious violations of fair trial rights, and of various systems of incommunicado detention without trial," according to a letter last week from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor.



"These problems are exacerbated because the judiciary lacks independence from the government and the Chinese Communist Party," it said.



Reported by Lau Siu-fung for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.A South Korean ship accused of transferring fuel to North Korea in defiance of U.N. sanctions has been detained for over six months for investigation by authorities in Seoul, South Koreas foreign ministry said on Wednesday.



The P-Pioneer, a 5,160-tonne vessel now held in port at Busan in South Korea, is believed to have twice transferred diesel fuel in ship-to-ship transfers in September 2017, the AFP news service reported on April 3, citing Korea Coast Guard sources.



It is the first time that a South Korean vessel has been detained for violating U.N. sanctions aimed at depriving Pyongyang of cash to fund its prohibited nuclear weapons and missile programs, a South Korean foreign ministry official told AFP on Wednesday.



No explanation was given for the delay in announcing the ships detention.



Speaking to RFAs Korean Service on Wednesday, an official from South Koreas foreign ministry confirmed the ship is being held for investigation.



South Korean government authorities are currently undertaking an investigation into the P-Pioneer, the ministry official said, adding, Whether or not the UNSC [U.N. Security Council] resolutions will be applied to this vessel is being discussed in close consultation with the UNSC Sanctions Committee.



Four vessels are currently detained in South Korea for allegedly violating U.N. sanctions against North Korea, the ministry official said.



We are also investigating two others carrying Panama and Togo flags, though they are not being detained, he added.



'Pressure campaign'



Speaking to RFA on background, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said that all U.N. member states are required to implement U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea.



And we expect them all to continue doing so.



The United States continues to work with governments around the world to ensure all nations are fully implementing UN sanctions obligations. The pressure campaign will continue until the DPRK denuclearizes, the State Department said, referring to North Korea by its formal name the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.



Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department declined to comment on the ships detention, saying the department generally does not comment on investigations, including to confirm whether or not one exists.



We do not publicly discuss or speculate on potential enforcement decisions, or prospective actions, the Treasury Department said.



South Koreas holding of the P-Pioneer demonstrates that South Korea is willing to comply with U.N. sanctions and investigate their violation, Matthew Haa research associate at the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democraciestold RFA on Wednesday, calling the ships detention a good sign.



South Koreans are willing to hold themselves accountable, Ha said.



We need to see strong enforcement of the sanctions as we are trying to bring the North Koreans back to the negotiating table.



Careful scrutiny of South Korean behavior is still necessary, however, sanctions expert Joshua Stantonan Institute for China-America Studies Fellow, also based in Washingtonsaid, pointing to policy initiatives by South Korean president Moon Jae-in aimed at improving relations with the nuclear-armed North.



We are entitled to ask South Korea if its taking its obligations seriously, Stanton said. People wonder.



Reported by Yongjae Mok, Kyung Ha Rhee, and Soyoung Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Yewon Ji. Written in English by Richard Finney.Laos Boten Specific Economic Zone (SEZ) is enjoying strong interest from Chinese investors as the Lao-China railway nears completion, but local villagers are fearful of the rapid change. They say that the development will be good for the Chinese, but not for the Laotians who currently live there.

Located in Luang Namtha province, the zone is adjacent to border town of Mohan in Chinas Yunnan province. The Lao government expects that when work is completed and the railroad opens in 2021, millions of Chinese tourists will flock to the area.

Every day more and more [Chinese] investors come to look for land to build a commercial district. Some are dividing lots for rent and others are setting up shops and restaurants, said a Luang Namtha official in an interview with RFAs Lao Service.

Infrastructure such as roads, a power grid and public water facilities are being built and connected to the areas with the most interest in a bid to attract even more investors, he said.

The official said 10 big corporations and many more small and mid-sized development groups are seeking to build up the zone with shopping malls, hotels, banks and other financial services, storage for merchandise, restaurants, a tourist services center and other shops to cater to the expected tide of tourists.

Once the railway complete, Boten will be the first stop in Laos coming from China. A Chinese contractor has been tapped to build a massive train station to accommodate the anticipated heavy flow of people and freight.

Late last month, Lao and Chinese officials marked the completion of boring and construction of the Boten tunnel, the first of 10 major tunnels under the Laos-China railway project.

The completion will make Lao people confident that construction of the Laos-China Railway will be completed on time according to the plan, said Khamsouk Bounnhavong, chairman of an inspection committee for the Lao side of the project in a report published by the official Vientiane Times newspaper.

The state-run daily quoted him as saying that the completion of the tunnel ahead of time for the Laos-China Railway project, which is part of the China-initiated Belt and Road Initiative, would encourage participants of the initiatives second forum to be held later this month in Beijing.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is 70-nation world-wide infrastructure construction program that has emerged as Chinese President Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy initiative.

For some recipient countries, the program has delivered infrastructure and connectivity to China. But it has also raised fears of excessive debt to Chinese banks in countries from Pakistan to Kenya.

Fearful locals

There is concern among local residents in Laos that all the Chinese investment in the area not only will fail to generate local jobs, but also will put them out of business.

One villager who requested anonymity said that Chinese stores and restaurants tend to hire their own citizens rather than Laotians. The villager said that when the Chinese came into the area, rents increased fivefold, and land owners were more eager to do business with Chinese tenants because they could get higher rents and contracts for longer periods of time.

A local official from the labor department corroborated the villagers claim, saying that Chinese prefer their own because of a language barrier. As most of the clientele comes from China, Chinese skills are necessary to communicate with customers.

The official further said that the five affected villages--Boten, BoPeak, TinXane, TinTok and NaTeu--are home to about 300 families of farmers and smalltime merchants selling their goods at the local market.

As those villagers cater more to the local community, it appears that they would have very little to gain by the buildup of the region, and are seen as a hindrance to development. Many have been resettled and given small compensation, but some refuse to move because they need land for farming.

The Boten SEZ is not the only target for Chinese investment. There are other zones along the future path of the railroad also getting much attention from Laos northern neighbors. But similarly, all the opportunity they are touting will go to Chinese workers, according to locals.

RFA sources report that the Chomphet SEZ in Luang Prabang province will use 4,500 hectares of land, but will also encroach on villagers. Meanwhile in the Vang Vieng tourist development zone, 22 villages were affected and 200 families in the Vientiane municipal economic zone near the rail station were displaced. These villagers rely on agriculture to make a living and the small compensation they are offered for their land makes many want to stay put.

Fears that the railway and its accompanying development will benefit Chinese at the expense of Laotians are not entirely unfounded. An analysis by a foreign expert, who requested anonymity, showed that Chinese investment along the rail route is more beneficial to the investors, especially when the Lao government lacks a concrete plan to elevate the standard of living for the Lao people through the development projects.

Lengthy Leases

In Boten, Chinese investors have been granted a 50-year lease with the option to extend that lease for 25 additional years. The lease could have been potentially longer.

Under a previous version of the law on investment promotion, investors could be granted a 99-year concession but in 2016, an amendment capped leases at 50 years.

But there were those within the government that believe each SEZ should be considered by its own merits.

The length of concession depends on what investments are part of an SEZ, said a former Lao governmental official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

If the SEZ includes many factories that provide local employment, it is acceptable to give an investor a 99-year concession. But if not, even a 50-year concession is too long and makes the investment not worthwhile for the country.

RFAs Lao service sought comment from the Chinese developers involved at Boten, but got no response. The trade department and chamber of commerce in Luang Nam Tha declined to comment on the local concerns about the project.

Regardless of the exact amount of time each SEZ will be under Chinese control, there are those that see the large-scale investments as an ambitious plan to increase Chinese influence beyond Laos, into the entire Southeast Asian region.

One analysis of the railways impact on the region concluded that Chinas presence will forever alter economics and politics in the area, with many more countries falling into the trap of Chinese debt.

Landlocked Laos expects the railways 420-kilometer (261-mile) route through the country to lower the cost of exports and consumer goods while boosting socioeconomic development in the impoverished nation of nearly 7 million people. It is part of a longer railway that will extend southward through the Malay peninsula to Singapore.

Political and financial setbacks have delayed the Lao-China stretch of the railway. The original construction plan called for work to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2015, but the plans now call for the railway to be completed in 2021.

Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Written in English by Eugene Whong.The Myanmar military on Wednesday rebuffed accusations by the Arakan Army (AA) that former military intelligence personnel working on behalf of the national army were among eight road construction workers the rebel soldiers apprehended near Myanmars border with India.

The AA detained the workers from the Hsu Htoo San Company, which is building the Paletwa-Mizoram highway to connect Myanmar and India, on March 30, after suspecting them of gathering information for the Myanmar Army.

On Tuesday, AA spokesman Khine Thukha confirmed the detention of the workers, saying that some have ties to Myanmar Army intelligence.

But on Wednesday, the Myanmar military said the workers have nothing to do with the army, though they could be former military intelligence employees.

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, secretary of the True News Information Team, denied accusations by the AA that the government army has links with military intelligence and is surveilling activities in connection with the road development project, which is part of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project.

Some of the employees could probably be [former military intelligence workers] as they have been accused of, he said. But military intelligence at this time does not have many ties to the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military].

Some may be among them, but we dont know, he said. The AA might have the intention to completely stop the project.

Rakhine residents, many of whom support the AA, have decried the Kaladan project, a transportation corridor for shipping cargo from Indias eastern ports to Rakhines Sittwe seaport and then on to northeast India via river and highway routes through Myanmar.

They say they have been kept in the dark about the project and excluded from its potential benefits.

Khine Thukha said on Wednesday that the AA still suspects that some of the construction workers have been conducting surveillance activities under pretext of the Kalandan project.

Most of them are former members of the military intelligence, so we have to continue investigating them for security reasons, he said. They came to the region to scout us under the disguise of employees of the Kaladan project.

Our arrests and investigation have nothing to do with the Kaladan project, he added. Theres no reason for us to oppose the project.

RFA has been unable to reach Hsu Htoo San company managers for comment.

Stirring up trouble

The AA also said that a statement about the abductions issued by the Myanmar militarys information team on Tuesday sought to create misunderstandings with India in a bid to get the country to launch attacks on the Arakans. The Myanmar military dismissed the accusation as baseless.

We are nations following five main principles of peaceful coexistence, Zaw Min Tun said. Noninterference in each others domestic affairs has firmly been stated in the policy. Our nations constitution doesnt allow foreign troops to be deployed in the country. Neither does Indias.

There will be cooperation for stability and development at the border, he continued. But entering each others territory to fight the enemy has never occurred.

The statement issued Tuesday by the True New Information Team also accused the AA of using small arms to attack and sink a boat transporting construction materials for a bridge project on March 16.

Khine Thukha said that the AA wants companies involved in development projects in conflict areas to inform the ethnic armed group if they need to transport construction materials, but Zaw Min Tun dismissed the demand, arguing that attacking nonmilitary targets is a violation of the military rules of engagement.

Hostilities between the government army and the AA, which is battling Myanmar forces in several Rakhine townships in its quest for greater autonomy in the state, reignited in late 2018 and exploded in early January after Arakan soldiers conducted deadly attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine.

Reported by Wai Mar Tun for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.Prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian attends the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor in the courtroom of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, based in Leidschendam outside The Hague, the Netherlands, May 16, 2012.

The United Nations on Tuesday announced the appointment of an American prosecutor as head of an independent team that will probe human rights violations in Myanmars volatile Rakhine state, focusing on atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims and other minority groups.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres named Nicholas Koumjian of the United States as the first head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in September 2018 and welcomed by the General Assembly three months later, the U.N. said in a news release.

The mechanism has a mandate to to collect, consolidate, preserve, and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011, according to a statement issued in September 2018 by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.

It must prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals.

The panel also must report annually on its main activities to the Human Rights Council.

A previous U.N. fact-finding mission established by a Human Rights Council mandate investigated atrocities committed against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine state during a military-led crackdown in 2017 and in Kachin and Shan states where the Myanmar military is engaged in fighting with ethnic armed groups.

Its report issued in September 2018 presented extensive findings of serious human rights violations and abuses carried out against civilians primarily by the military, as well as violations of international humanitarian law in the three states.

The report also called for the prosecution of top Myanmar military commanders before The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for ordering atrocities against the Rohingya during the crackdown that began in late August 2017 that killed thousands and drove some 740,000 members of the Muslim ethnic minority into Bangladesh.

Myanmar has largely rejected the U.N. report and those of international human rights groups. In late 2017, the government barred Yanghee Lee, the U.N.s special envoy on human rights in Myanmar, from visiting the country to assess the rights situation after it deemed a previous mission report she issued was biased and unfair.

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, secretary of the Myanmar militarys information team, noted that the countrys armed forces has set up its own inquiry board, a three-member panel that is reassessing deadly attacks on border guard outposts that sparked the crackdown and other related incidents in northern Rakhine. The panel began its work on March 18.

We have announced that facts can be sent to the Court of Inquiry established by the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military] in order to avoid flaws and to be in line with international law.

Myanmar is a sovereign nation, he said in response to the news of Koumjians appointment. Both the government and the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military] had already stated that. We dont have to repeat our position to the ICC.

Myanmars government and military have denied the atrocities and defended the crackdown as a necessary measure to find members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militant group who attacked the border guard stations.

Far from over

Myo Nyunt, spokesman of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), said the political party disapproves of the new U.N. investigative mechanism.

We have objected to the formation of the [U.N.-mandated] fact-finding mission from the very start, so we object to all the follow-ups, he said.

We dont agree on any preparations based on one-sided information without systematic findings in both countries, he said, referring to Myanmar and Bangladesh where hundreds of thousands of displaced Rohingya live in sprawling camps.

The Human Rights Council announced on March 14 that the independent international fact-finding mission is continuing its probe of serious human rights violations and abuses, including crimes under international law committed in Myanmar since 2011, due to little progress in the countrys human rights situation since the end of 2018.

The human rights crisis in Myanmar is far from over, said fact-finding mission chairman Marzuki Darusman, in a statement. To the contrary, the fighting continues in Rakhine and in the northern states of Kachin and Shan, and tensions are escalating in other regions. Human rights violations have not stopped, nor are victims seeing justice.

The mission will present its final report at the September session of the Human Rights Council.

Nandar Hla Myint, spokesman of the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) stressed that the investigation is one that should be dealt with inside Myanmar.

On March 22, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling on Myanmar authorities to end the violence and all violations of international law in the country, particularly in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states.

The Rakhine issue is a domestic affair, and it has to be handled under domestic laws by the Tatmadaw, the government, and the people, he said. There are existing laws that enable [us] to resolve domestic affairs, so our party wont accept any intervention in domestic affairs by portraying them as an international affair under the auspices of the U.N.

Min Lwin Oo, a legal advisor at the Norway-based Asian Human Rights Commission, said a prosecutor from a country other than the U.S. should have been appointed.

It would be better to assign other legal experts rather than ones from U.S. and European countries, he said, offering as suggestions Brazilian legal scholar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and human rights attorney Tomas Ojae Quintana, who currently serves as the U.N.s special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea.

People from American, European, and Muslim nations, who are free from influence, would be more suitable for the position, he said. I think there could be bias, and it might not be fair if such an investigation team comes and investigates.

Koumjian has more than 35 years of experience as a prosecutor, including almost 20 years of work in international criminal justice. Since November 2013, he has served as the international co-prosecutor for the extraordinary chambers in the courts of Cambodia, according to the U.N.s news release.

Koumjian previously was a trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the deputy general prosecutor for serious crimes in Timor Leste, an international prosecutor in the War Crimes Department of the Prosecutors Office for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a principal trial attorney and senior appeals counsel in the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Reported by Kyaw Thu for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.Officials have imposed a nighttime curfew in five townships in Myanmars war-ravaged western Rakhine state in response to a string of violent attacks against police and government soldiers in the past three months that resulted in deaths and property destruction, regional lawmakers said Tuesday.

Established by an order signed by Colonel Phone Tint, regional minister for border affairs and security, on behalf of Rakhine states chief minister, the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew is in effect for two months starting Tuesday in Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, and Minbya townships, though it could be extended by another order.

The curfew comes amid ongoing armed conflict between Myanmar troops and the rebel Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine army seeking greater autonomy in the state, which has left dozens of insurgents, policemen, and civilians dead and displaced an estimated 17,000-22,000 people, most of whom are now living in temporary shelters.

The curfew order under Section 144 has been imposed in these conflict areas, said Khin Saw Wai, a lower house lawmaker from the Arakan National Party (ANP) who represents Rakhines Rathedaung constituency, referring to the section of Myanmars Penal Code under which the curfew was called.

I assume all township administrators already know of this order signed by the minister for border affairs and security on behalf of the chief minister, she said.

Other officials said that the curfew is unlikely to have much effect on the daily lives of people who live in business hubs, though they are concerned that people will not be able to go to hospitals for medical emergencies that occur at night.

Health is an urgent issue, said ANP general secretary Tun Aung Kyaw. [We] need proper instructions on how to travel in case of an emergency while the curfew order is in effect. No instructions for emergencies were seen in the order, so that could be a problem.

In a letter dated April 1 that Phone Tint sent to the administrative committees of the five townships and to regional administrative committees of Sittwe and Mrauk-U, he said the curfew was ordered to maintain law and order, stability, and economic and social stability, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported.

I heard that, too, but asked the regional government for details, said Colonel Win Zaw Oo of the Myanmar militarys Western Command responsible for Rakhine state. They would include instructions and regulations in the curfew order.

AA spokesperson Khine Thukha said the curfew will pose difficulties for organizations that are providing assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and limit their workers movement in the region.

We think the move could lead to the worst instead of advancing to peace, he said. The Myanmar Army has been sending reinforcements both in weapons and manpower, so we can see signs that larger rooting-out operations are underway following the curfew order.

No reason was given

Oo Hla Saw, an ANP leader and ethnic Rakhine lawmaker who represents Mrauk-U in Myanmars lower house of parliament, said local authorities did not state a reason for the curfew when they announced it publicly in his township.

As a usual practice in rural areas, [the order] was being announced [around town] with loudspeakers and microphones from cars when I arrived in Mrauk-U, he said. The order said a curfew is being imposed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., but no reason was given.

Colonel Phone Tint, Rakhine state government spokesman Win Myint, and Htay Maung, deputy director of Rakhine states General Administration Department, were unavailable for comment on the curfew order.

On March 26, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory warning American citizens not to travel to Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, or Rathedaung on account of civil unrest and armed conflict.

The U.S. Embassy in Yangon on Tuesday issued a statement expressing deep concern about harm to civilians in the fighting in Rakhine and neighboring Chin state and urged all parties to end the hostilities and work toward a peaceful resolution.

The embassy also said it was very concerned that government authorities are not allowing full humanitarian access to IDPs in Rakhine.

Access restrictions on humanitarian and development organizations have prevented at least 95,000 additional civilians from receiving essential services, such as health care, education, and clean water, in five Rakhine state townships since January 2019, the statement said

The statement came a day after 16 humanitarian groups issued a press release echoing the concern over civilian casualties, the displacement of communities, and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in central and northern Rakhine state.

They noted that government restrictions on the access of humanitarian and development agencies in Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, and Rathedaung townships since Jan. 10 have compounded the impact of conflict and displacement in the region.

The international NGOs criticized the governments blanket security approach as depriving people in entire townships from receiving assistance and basic services, and called for Myanmar officials to permit quick, unfettered, and sustained access to all affected populations to assess their needs and provide comprehensive humanitarian assistance.

Armed conflict between Myanmar and Arakan forces intensified in northern Rakhine state in early January after AA soldiers attacked four police outposts, killing 13 officers. In response, the Myanmar government branded the AA a terrorist organization and instructed its military to crush the rebel group.

Mann Tu, one of the young men injured by an artillery shell in Phet Wun Chaung village, Kyauktaw township, western Myanmar's Rakhine state, receives treatment for an arm wound at the hospital in the state capital Sittwe, April 1, 2019. Credit: Sayar U Than Tun Two injured by shelling

Meanwhile, two young men were injured by an explosion from an artillery shell that fell into their home in Kyauktaws Phet Wun Chaung village, a local humanitarian aid worker said Tuesday.

Nyi Pu from the Phyu Sin Myit Tar Humanitarian Foundation, who helped transport the injured men to the hospital, said the explosion occurred around 2:30 p.m. Monday, though there was no fighting in the vicinity of the village.

There werent any battles, he said. The shelling came despite the fact that there was no battle.

The artillery shell that fell into the compound of the two cousins home injured the younger man very seriously on his arm near the elbow, he said.

They asked us for help, so we went there and transported them to Kyauktaw Hospital, Nyi Pu said.

Mann Tu, who lost a lot of blood from his arm wound, received a blood transfusion at the hospital, but was later transferred to Rakhines capital Sittwe for further treatment, he added.

The AA and local villagers said the shell was fired by government troops who were not engaged in any clashes in the area at the time. They also said that many shelling incidents had occurred in Rakhine villages during the past few days, injuring civilians and forcing residents to flee to safety.

AA spokesman Khine Thukha said there was heavy fighting and attacks by fighter planes on Monday along the Phauk Phi Taung hills near Tha Lu Chaung village.

Myanmar Army unit 539 based in Kyauktaw fired from their base camp, he said. They used 105-millimeter artillery, and shells fell onto Phet Wun Chaung village.

He said the shells were fired by Myanmar Armys Light Infantry Division 551 under the Sa-Ka-Kha No. 15 Command based in Doan Thein village since March 30.

The division fired heavy weapons toward the San Poe hills, Shitshartaung hills, and Nayone Daung Hill, Khine Thukha said.

The shelling became more frequent on March 31 as infantry troops advanced toward these hills, he added.

Colonel Win Zaw Oo denied that Myanmar forces had engaged in any major skirmishes with the AA in the area.

There were no battles in the vicinity of any of these villages, namely Tharu Chaung, Taunggauk, Lamu Chaung, Nga Htway Chaung and Pyin Nyar Wa, he said.

There were no major battles yesterday, he said. It has been three days without major battles with heavy artillery fire. There was only some controlled firing. There was some exchange of small arms fire from both sides.

RFA could not independently confirm the claims due to complications on the ground.

Construction workers detained

Also on Tuesday, the Myanmar military accused the AA of apprehending eight construction company employees who were working on a road project in Paletwa township and sinking a vessel carrying equipment and supplies for a bridge.

The Myanmar militarys True New information Team said in a statement that Arakan fighters detained the construction workers from the Hsu Htoo San Company, which is building the Paletwa-Mizoram highway to connect Myanmar and India, on March 30 and used small arms to attack a boat transporting construction materials for a bridge project on March 16.

AA spokesman Khine Thukha confirmed the detention of the construction workers, saying that some have ties to Myanmar Army intelligence.

Former military intelligence and those who have links with the military intelligence are among the detainees, he said. We had to detain and question them as the situation requires.

We have no intention to disrupt the road project, he added. We can free those who are ordinary civilians, but we will continue holding them if they have connections with the military.

The information teams statement also said that more than 170 AA forces arrived in Paletwas Twin Kin Alaung village on March 30 and captured 11 men and two women who were temporarily staying there. Both women and three of the men were released on Monday.

The Myanmar military said it has no detailed information about the ethnicity of any of the detainees, but added that the detentions would have an impact on Myanmars relations with India.

It will affect bilateral relations, said Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, secretary of the True News Information Team.

The major development project aims to connect Indias landlocked region to the sea in Sittwe, he said of the new roadway. The project will benefit both nations. The whole region where the project is located is underdeveloped, so [the attack] is meant to disrupt bilateral relations.

Though the government military has stepped up efforts to establish security in the region, attacks by the AA are hampering the development project, he said.



Reported by Wai Mar Tun, Kyaw Thu, and Aung Theinkha for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Nandar Chann and Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.Dublin, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Hysteroscopes (General Surgery) - Global Market Analysis and Forecast Model" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Hysteroscopes (General Surgery) - Global Market Analysis and Forecast Model is built to visualize quantitative market trends within General Surgery therapeutic area.



A Hysteroscope is a long, narrow, endoscopic device with a light source used to examine the cervix and inside of the uterus. The distal end of the hysteroscope is passed through the cervical canal into the uterine cavity. Hysteroscopy can be either diagnostic or operative. Hysteroscopes are utilized for a variety of diagnostic and operative procedures to examine the cervix and inside of the uterus.



Diagnostic hysteroscopy is used to diagnose problems of the uterus which include and vary from examining of abnormal uterine bleeding, infertility & pregnancy wastage, evaluation of abnormal hysterosalpingogram, intrauterine foreign body, amenorrhea and pelvic pain. Operative hysteroscopy is used to correct an abnormal condition that has been detected during a diagnostic hysteroscopy which includes directed biopsy, removal of submucous fibroids and large polyps, submucous myomectomy, transection of intrauterine adhesions, transection of intrauterine septa, endometrial ablation.



Each of the covered 39 country's color-coded and fully-sourced market models are equipped with epidemiology based indications with procedure volumes. To increase the data transparency, the interactive excel deliverable covers installed base, new sales volumes, product usage, average selling prices, market size and company share/rank analysis (wherever available). Moreover, analyst comments with qualitative insight offer context for quantitative data.



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Currently marketed Hysteroscopes and evolving competitive landscape -

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Annualized total Hysteroscopes market revenue by segment and market outlooks from 2015-2028.

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Qualitative market specific information is available with global trends further broken down into regional trends. In addition analysts provide unique country specific insights on the market.

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Drive the understanding of the market by getting the veritable big picture including an overview of the healthcare system. In addition the Market Access segment allows you to delve deeper into market dynamics with information on reimbursement policies and the regulatory landscape.

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Develop and design your in-licensing and out-licensing strategies through a review of pipeline products and technologies, and by identifying the companies with the most robust pipeline.

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Companies Mentioned



KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG

Olympus Corporation

Stryker Corporation

Richard Wolf GmbH

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hjtfrs/global?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.BRUSSELS -- A top European Commission official has warned Romania over problems with its judicial system and adherence to the rule of law while making clear that Brussels will act swiftly if Bucharest does not take real action toward reform.

European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said on April 3 that "Romania urgently needs to put the reform process back on track -- this means going forward, not backwards, and refraining from any steps which reverse the progress accomplished over the past years."

He added: "I want to warn against any governmental action that would disrupt the Romanian judicial system by creating a systemic, de facto impunity for high office holders who were sentenced for corruption. Such a move would compel the commission to act swiftly."

Timmermans noted he had spoken several times with Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila in the past two months and that the commission had handed more than 40 issues to her, warning that the EU needed results "urgently."

"But I've always made clear that talking for the sake of talking will not be enough and concrete actions from the Romanian side will be needed and will be needed sooner rather than later," he said.

Although not saying what steps Brussels was considering if Bucharest failed to act, a senior EU official confirmed to RFE/RL under condition of anonymity that "all options are on the table," including "infringement procedures" and launching Article 7 procedures similar to those leveled against Hungary and Poland -- a process that could lead to a country losing its voting rights in the bloc's council.

The criticism from Brussels comes only a week after the commission spoke out against Bucharest's move to indict former anticorruption prosecutor Laura Koevesi on corruption charges, which prohibits her from traveling abroad without consent or working in her post at the Prosecutor-General's Office. It also bans her from speaking to the media.

Koevesi, who is the front-runner to become the EU's first-ever antifraud prosecutor, ran Romania's anticorruption agency, known as DNA, until she was dismissed last year by the new leftist government for alleged abuse of power.

Timmermans confirmed that he had raised the commission's concerns regarding Koevesi to Romanian officials.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani also stated in parliament on April 3 that Romanian officials should not "put in place obstacles" to Koevesi's candidacy for the position of EU chief prosecutor and that Koevesi "remains our candidate and continues to enjoy our respect and our support."Romania's highest court has revoked special measures introduced against former anticorruption chief Laura Koevesi, a front-runner to become the EU's first-ever top prosecutor, who last week was indicted on corruption charges by a controversial agency.

The move came amid a flurry of statements from European Union officials and Western diplomats warning the leftist government in Bucharest against its continuing push to reverse judicial reforms and scupper Koevesis chances to get the newly established EU job.

"My appeal was admitted. I can now leave Romania," Koevesi told reporters on April 3 after the Supreme Court reversed several special judicial measures, including a ban on leaving the country without prosecutors' consent.

Koevesi ran Romanias anticorruption agency, known as the DNA, until she was dismissed last year by the new leftist government for alleged abuse of power.

Observers saw Koevesi's dismissal as an attempt to sideline her after the DNA's conviction rates for high-level graft jumped across the political spectrum during her tenure in Romania, drawing EU and U.S. praise.

Koevesi's impressive track record in one of the EU's most corrupt countries also brought her to the forefront of the selection process for the bloc's newly established position of chief anticorruption prosecutor, where she is competing against French magistrate Jean-Francois Bohnert.

But on March 29, Koevesi was indicted in Romania on counts of bribery, abuse of office, and false testimony, prohibiting her from traveling abroad -- a move condemned by the European Union. The indictment was brought forward by a newly established and controversial panel charged with investigating magistrates that is under the governments direct supervision.

Interdiction to leave the country would have prevented Koevesi from taking part in further stages of the selection process for EU prosecutor, were she required to attend in person.

"There are some other prosecutors attacked on a daily basis. We're all going through these campaigns because there are some who want to steal undisturbed and we are not letting them," Koevesi said early on April 3 before the court decision on her appeal was announced.

"We have nothing to be afraid of. It will be proven that all these accusations against us, prosecutors and judges, are groundless," she added.

Prior to the court ruling, top EU officials rebuked Bucharest, which is currently holding the blocs six-month rotating presidency, for backsliding on the rule of law, and told it to treat Koevesi fairly.

"Romania urgently needs to put the reform process back on track -- this means going forward, not backwards, and refraining from any steps which reverse the progress accomplished over the past years," European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said.

"I want to warn against any governmental action that would disrupt the Romanian judicial system by creating a systemic, de facto impunity for high-office holders who were sentenced for corruption. Such a move would compel the commission to act swiftly," Timmermans added.

Timmermans did not elaborate, but a senior EU official confirmed to RFE/RL under condition of anonymity that "all options are on the table," including "infringement procedures" and launching Article 7 procedures similar to those leveled against Hungary and Poland -- a process that could lead to a country losing its voting rights in the bloc's council.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, meanwhile, said on April 3 that Romanian officials should not "put in place obstacles" to Koevesi's candidacy for the position of EU chief prosecutor and that Koevesi "remains our candidate and continues to enjoy our respect and our support."

Critics have alleged that Koevesi's dismissal was meant to prevent the DNA from targeting more senior members of the governing alliance, including the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea.

The PSD-led governing coalition has reportedly long been planning two emergency decrees altering judicial legislation, which some say are aimed at scuppering Dragneas definitive conviction for abuse of office in 2012 and abandon a second case against him.

Dragneas conviction has prevented him from becoming prime minister and forced him to settle for the position of speaker of the lower house of parliament.

The two planned decrees and other measures to reverse anticorruption reforms have prompted massive protests in Romania over the past two years, including one in August 2018 in Bucharest that was violently repressed by authorities.

Amid reports that the government was preparing to sneak in the decrees without prior notice during a meeting on April 3, the embassies of the United States, Canada, and 10 EU member states including France and Germany issued a joint appeal to Bucharest to scrap the measures.

The warnings come as the leftist government of the EU and NATO member, besides increasingly anti-EU rhetoric, has also adopted measures against foreign banks that critics say are harming Romania's economic credibility.

A so-called "tax on greed" meant to impose extra taxation on foreign banks and the energy sector was watered down only after repeated warnings from Romania's Western business partners.

On April 1, the Senate voted to repatriate 95 percent of Romania's gold reserves, currently held in Bank of England vaults, after the authorities argued that other countries like Germany, Hungary, Austria, and the Netherlands had moved their gold closer to home.

Dragnea, one of the co-authors of the measure, argued that Romania had a stable economy and there was no reason to pay for keeping its gold abroad.

The cost for holding Romania's 104 tons of gold in Britain is $74,000 annually, while only the insurance costs for its repatriation would amount to up to 20 times more.

The government, however, could be in for a tough fight as Romanias central bank has come out strongly against the proposed legislation.

With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, RFE/RL's Romanian Service, G4media.ro, AFP, and ReutersNATO's chief says the alliance faces threats from a "more assertive Russia," but also that the alliance is not seeking to isolate Moscow.

Jens Stoltenberg made the comments on April 3 in a speech before a joint meeting of Congress -- the first time a NATO secretary-general has addressed the U.S. legislative body.

In his speech, Stoltenberg criticized what he called a "more assertive Russia," and he called on Moscow to return to compliance with key Cold War-era arms-control treaties.

"We do not want to isolate Russia, we strive for effective relations with Russia," he said.

The treaty in question -- the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty -- is on the verge of collapse, after Washington earlier this year declared it was suspending compliance. The move followed years of U.S. accusations that Moscow had violated the treaty by testing, and later deploying, a missile that was prohibited under its restrictions. Moscow has denied the missile in question violates the treaty.

"NATO has no intention of deploying land-based nuclear missiles in Europe. But NATO will always take the necessary steps to provide credible and effective deterrence," Stoltenberg said.

"We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naive. An agreement that is only respected by one side will not keep us safe," he said.

WATCH: RFE/RL takes a look at NATO's Cold War origins, its first battles in the Balkans, and its latter embrace of former foes.

Stoltenberg's visit comes as foreign ministers from the alliance's 29 member countries are gathering in Washington to mark its 70th anniversary and discuss security threats, including Russia and Afghanistan.

The gathering also comes amid persistent tensions with President Donald Trump about the how the alliance is funded.

Trump has regularly complained that members are not sharing the alliance's financial burden fairly, something he raised again in a White House meeting with Stoltenberg a day earlier.

"We are protecting countries that have taken advantage of the United States," Trump said. "The United States pays for a disproportionate share of NATO," he added. "We just want fairness."

Stoltenberg appeared to support that argument, which is shared by some Republicans in Congress.

"NATO is a strong alliance. But to remain a strong alliance, NATO must be a fair alliance," he said. "In an ideal world, we would not need to spend any money on defense. But we do not live in an ideal world."

"Allies must spend more on defense. This has been the clear message from President Trump. And this message is having a real impact," he said.

The United States is by far the largest contributor of funding to NATO, followed by Germany, Britain, and France.

Spending by the 29 NATO countries, which dropped after the end of the Cold War, has in fact been on the rise since 2014 -- before Trump took office.

After Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, allies agreed to boost defense spending and "move toward" spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense by 2024. The United States spends 3.4 percent of its GDP on defense.

Trump has singled out Germany, which recently announced plans to increase defense spending to 1.25 percent of its GDP by 2023 -- a revision of Chancellor Angela Merkel's pledge last year to hit 1.5 percent by 2024.

Trump has also openly questioned the most important aspect of the alliance: that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members.

In his speech, Stoltenberg hailed what he said was the U.S. commitment to the alliance, saying it was indicative of the warm relations that Washington has historically had with European partners.

"We have experienced an unprecedented period of peace. So the NATO alliance is not only the longest-lasting alliance in history, it is the most successful alliance in history," he said.

"The strength of a nation is not only measured by the size of its economy or the number of its soldiers but also by the number of its friends," he said.

NATO foreign ministers are scheduled to hold meetings at the State Department on April 4, with a first session focusing on Russia.

They are expected to endorse a set of measures in the Black Sea to improve NATO's defenses in the region.

The situation in Afghanistan as well as the demise of a landmark arms-control treaty that the United States and Russia signed in the last years of the Cold War, and NATO-member Turkey's decision to buy a Russian surface-to-air missile system, will also be on the agenda.

The Russian system is not compatible with NATO systems and is considered a threat to U.S. F-35 aircraft.MAGAS, Russia -- Police and security forces in Russia's North Caucasus region of Ingushetia have searched homes of five activists days after mass rallies against a controversial border deal with neighboring Chechnya.

Journalist Izabella Yevloyeva told RFE/RL that the homes of members of the NGO called the Ingush Congress of National Unity -- Akhmed Pogorov, Barakh Chemurziyev, Musa Malsagov, Bagaudin Khautiyev, and Zarifa Sautiyeva -- were searched on April 3.

Activist Anzhela Matiyeva said to RFE/RL that police took Pogorov and Chemurziyev with them after the searches.

MBKh Media reported that at least four activists were sentenced to 10 days in jail and at least one was fined, on April 3, on charges of holding or taking part in an unsanctioned rally last week.

On April 2, five participants in unsanctioned rallies last week were sentenced to 10 days in jail each, and two activists were fined.

Meanwhile, Internet access was not available on mobile devices across Ingushetia on April 3.

On March 27, police forcibly dispersed hundreds of demonstrators in Ingushetia's capital, Magas, where they staged an unsanctioned protest against the border deal with Chechnya.

The clashes came a day after thousands attended a protest approved by the authorities against land swaps with Chechnya, where demonstrators called for Ingushetia's head, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, to step down.

Several protesters and police officers suffered injuries in the ensuing melee. Demonstrators left the site after the authorities promised to allow them to hold another rally in five days.

Also on March 27, thousands of protesters blocked a major highway near Ingushetia's largest city, Nazran, also demanding Yevkurov's resignation and the cancelation of the land swap deal with Chechnya.

Large protests were held in Ingushetia in September after Yevkurov and the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, signed the deal behind closed doors.

Yevkurov and Kadyrov said the agreement was approved by the parliaments of both republics several days later, despite protests against what some see as the illegal handing out of territory to Chechnya, Ingushetia's larger neighbor to the east.

Protesters have called for a referendum on the deal.

On October 30, Ingushetia's Constitutional Court ruled that the agreement was illegal because "it changes the territory of the Republic of Ingushetia," something it said requires approval by referendum.

But Yevkurov took the issue to the Russian Constitutional Court in Moscow with a request for support of the agreement, which the court did in December.

The issue has raised concerns about the possibility of a regional conflict in Russia, which is home to a large number of ethnic groups.

Chechnya was the site of two devastating separatist wars from 1994 to 2001, and an Islamist insurgency rooted in those wars spread to Ingushetia and other mostly Muslim regions in the North Caucasus.Heavy flooding in western and southwestern Iran that has killed dozens of people and forced thousands from their homes in recent weeks has resulted in strong criticism of the government's relief response to the crisis.

The severe floods -- caused by weeks of heavy rain -- have swept through hundreds of towns and villages in 20 regions.

The mountainous Lorestan Province and the oil-producing Khuzestan Province have been especially hard hit, with forced evacuations of dozens of towns and villages and massive damage to homes and infrastructure.

At least 60 people have died in recent weeks due to the floods. Many others are reported missing.

Sarem Razaee, the head of Iran's Red Crescent relief organization, said the town of Pol-e Dokhtar, in Lorestan Province, was in a "super-crisis" situation. All communication with the town, at least two-thirds of which was underwater, was cut off on April 1.

At least 60 villages in Lorestan were reportedly underwater.

WATCH: Towns and villages across large parts of Iran have been deluged over the past two weeks in the heaviest flooding the country has seen in at least a decade.

Iranian emergency services have brought four helicopters to Pol-e Dokhtar because several land routes to the city have been cut off. Many people have been housed in tents and some food supplies have been brought to the area.

But Mahmud Sadeqi, a parliament member, warned President Hassan Rohani that Lorestan Province was "facing a tragedy" and that people urgently needed food, drinking water, and medicine.

He added that the "lack of order and planning is widespread."

Thousands of people are sheltering in the open with little food or warm clothes in often rainy weather.

The relief effort was seen by many as inadequate, and the government as well as aid agencies came under severe criticism for the aid effort being too small in scale and unable to cope with the acute needs of tens of thousands of people affected by the floods.

Mohammad Pakpur, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) ground forces, said there had been "no management" of the rescue or aid operations in Pol-e Dokhtar and that government officials would not "dare" to go the area because the "people are in a rebellious mood."

He added that citizens evacuated from the area "are in a sorry state and conditions are bad."

Parliament deputy Hamidreza Kazemi, who was in Pol-e Dokhtar, said many people "have spent two nights in the open, having fled to the mountains and have nothing," Fars news agency reported.

He urged the government and aid organizations to send food and warm clothes.

Lorestan Governor Seyyed Musa Khademi warned of critical humanitarian needs in his province that were not being met. A representative of the governor's office in the town of Mamoolan criticized the Iranian Red Crescent for a lack of action in the region.

Mohsen Rezaee, a senior politician and former IRGC commander, warned that the Karkheh Dam in Khuzestan was facing a critical situation and had to release more water.

Kermanshah Province Governor Asadollah Razani said on April 2 that the floods had caused large-scale damage of more than $60 million to roads and canals in his region, IRNA reported.

He added that some 70,000 hectares of farmland had also been destroyed.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on April 2 blamed the Iranian government for the shortcomings in aid relief, one day after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet that "economic terrorism" by Washington was responsible for the shortage of rescue helicopters.

"These floods once again show the level of Iranian regime mismanagement in urban planning and in emergency preparedness," Pompeo said. "The regime blames outside entities when, in fact, it is their mismanagement that has led to this disaster."

He said the United States was "ready to assist and contribute to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies" in an effort to help Iranians caught in the floodwaters.

Zarif called Washington's offer "fake news."AQTAU, Kazakhstan -- A regional court in western Kazakhstan has upheld the decision by a lower court to fine an RFE/RL correspondent, Saniya Toiken.

Judge Nursapa Primashev of the Manghystau regional court in Aqtau rejected Toiken's appeal late on April 2, saying that the decision to fine her was legal.

He announced his verdict with Toiken not present, as she left the courtroom to protest the judge's decision to hold the hearing without Toiken's lawyer, who had to leave Aqtau due to an appointment in another city.

Primashev rejected Toiken's request to hold the hearing on April 3 when her lawyer would be back in Aqtau.

Last month, a court in the restive city of Zhanaozen fined Toiken some $135 after ruling that she refused to follow police orders.

Toiken was detained three times over several weeks in February-March while covering protests by residents in Zhanaozen, an oil-industry city, who were demanding jobs. She contends that the case against her is politically motivated.

Toiken said after the decision on April 2 that she will appeal it with the Prosecutor-Generals Office.

Toiken is a recipient of the 2017 Courage in Journalism Award of the International Women's Media Foundation.

Also on April 2, a court in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, fined Current Time correspondent Svetlana Glushkova about $66 after finding her guilty of assaulting a teenage girl while covering protests in the city.

Glushkova has rejected the charge and court ruling, calling them politically motivated.

Current Time is a Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.Ukraine says two of its soldiers have been killed and two others wounded in clashes with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The Defense Ministry on April 3 said separatist fighters fired machine guns, mortars, artillery, and grenade launchers, violating a cease-fire 14 times in a 24-hour period.

The ministry also said that Ukrainian armed forces killed three separatists and wounded eight others

Meanwhile, the separatists in the Donetsk region accused Ukrainian government forces of violating the cease-fire 12 times in the same period.

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.

A new cease-fire agreement was reached on March 8, but both sides have accused each other of repeated violations since then.

With reporting by TASSAuthorities in Kyrgyzstan have lashed out at neighboring Kazakhstan over what they say are stepped-up, burdensome bureaucratic procedures that have slowed the movement of trucks across the border to a crawl for the second time in two years.



In a statement on its website on April 3, Kyrgyzstan's Economy Ministry accused the country's larger northern neighbor of violating the regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union (EES), which also includes Russia, Belarus, and Armenia.



It said that since March 19, Kazakh authorities have been conducting elaborate checks of all trucks entering Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan, and that some 250 trucks were stuck on the Kyrgyz side of the border as a result.



"The move is a hidden customs control that absolutely contradicts EES [Eurasian Economic Union] regulations," the ministry said and will hurt the economy of Kyrgyzstan.



It accused Kazakhstan of violating an article of the EES treaty that it said guarantees "the free transportation of all kinds of goods across all member-states...without customs declarations or state controls."



The Kyrgyz Economy Ministry called on the government to recall its ministers from the Eurasian Economic Commission, the EES executive body, for consultations.



Kazakhstan's Finance Ministry said earlier that the movement of trucks across the border was slowed by the "unwillingness" of some truck drivers to "properly go through the border control."



In October 2017, a similar situation developed after Kazakhstan stepped up controls along the border with Kyrgyzstan after the Kyrgyz president at the time, Almazbek Atambaev, criticized his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbaev.

Atambaev's term ended later in 2017 and Nazarbaev resigned last month after nearly three decades in office but retains key posts in the energy-rich country, which dominates the EES along with Russia.



The Kyrgyz ministry's statement came shortly before Kazakhstan's interim president, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, arrived in Moscow on his first trip abroad since taking office.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz and Kazakh servicesWhen the United States' special representative for Afghan reconciliation arrived in Kabul this week amid ongoing peace talks with the Taliban, the country's national-unity government was in disarray.

Zalmay Khalilzad met with the leaders of the government, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, separately on April 1: Ghani with his running mate in the upcoming elections; and Abdullah, the de facto prime minister, with the country's foreign minister, an electoral ally.

Meanwhile, Ghani's national-security adviser -- who is overseeing Kabul's ongoing war effort and recently had a much-publicized falling out with Washington -- was not in Kabul at all, but in the remote province of Nuristan.

The developments, analysts say, highlighted stark divisions within the government in Kabul that have been laid bare as the United States and the Taliban carry on negotiations aimed at ending the nearly 18-year war. The Afghan government, with no seat at the table, has essentially been shut out of its own peace process, relegated to lame-duck status as Washington talks of a military withdrawal and presidential elections approach in September.

Peace Requires Broader 'Buy-In'

The Taliban has refused to negotiate with Ghani's administration, calling it a U.S. "puppet." Adding to the ignominy of being left out of the U.S.-Taliban negotiations in Qatar, some of the president's rivals held high-profile meetings with Taliban negotiators in Moscow in February. Those talks marked the most significant contact between senior Afghan political figures and the militant group since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. The sides are expected to meet again this month.

Meanwhile, Ghani has alienated much of the country's political elite, including influential ex-President Hamid Karzai and former warlords who attended the Moscow meeting, by failing to consult with them over the government's national peace plan and denying them a spot on the government's negotiating team.

"The current isolation of the Afghan government from the peace process is the result of its own failed policies and internal divisions," says Haroun Mir, a Kabul-based political analyst.

Ghani is expected to convene a consultative Loya Jirga, a traditional assembly of tribal, ethnic, and religious leaders, in the coming weeks to reach national consensus on peace talks with the Taliban. But is unclear who will be invited and whether he will actually carry out the gathering's suggestions.

"Peace cannot be concluded by the executive office of the president or his appointees," says Barnett Rubin, a former U.S. State Department official and leading expert on Afghanistan. "It requires much broader participation and buy-in."

His administration already considered by many Afghans to be weak and ineffective, Ghani's position and leverage have been further eroded as the clock winds down on his first term in office. While he will run in the upcoming elections -- postponed until September -- he is not expected to win. And there is a possibility that the vote could be canceled altogether in the event of a peace settlement and the formation of an interim government that the Taliban would join.

The idea has been floated by Khalilzad and has been supported by the Taliban and Afghan opposition figures, although Ghani has rejected it.

'No Negotiations At All'

The United States long refused to hold direct talks with the Taliban unless the Afghan government was involved. But that changed under President Donald Trump, who has expressed a desire to end the war and withdraw U.S. troops.

One of the Taliban's conditions for negotiations was that the Afghan government not be involved, and while NATO has said it is "no way possible" to have a lasting peace without the full involvement of the Afghan government, the United States has been less declarative. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stressed the need for the government to be involved, while Khalilzad has suggested that a formula for bringing the government into an Afghan-owned peace process was still being developed.

"The choice the U.S. faced was between direct negotiations with the Taliban and no negotiations at all," Rubin says. "I am sure that the U.S. government would have much preferred direct Taliban-government talks or a trilateral format, but the Taliban refused."

Khalilzad has held several rounds of talks with the Taliban, culminating in a draft agreement on two of the four core components of a settlement: a Taliban guarantee to prevent international terrorist groups from basing themselves in Afghanistan, and conditions for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

A cease-fire and intra-Afghan talks over a political settlement with the Taliban, which will likely be part of a new government, would involve the Afghan government, Khalilzad said.

Significantly, Washington appears to view the Kabul government as one of three Afghan stakeholders in any political settlement, not the central player.

Pompeo suggested as much when he said in February that the "Afghan government, other Afghan leaders, and the Taliban" needed "to sit together and negotiate a political settlement."

Deal That 'Doesn't End In Peace'

The Ghani administration's simmering anger at being left out the peace negotiations boiled over on March 14, when his national-security adviser, Hambullah Mohib, launched a blistering attack on Khalilzad.

In remarks that stunned U.S. officials, Mohib said the U.S.-Taliban talks were "decreasing the legitimacy of the Afghan government" and suggested that Khalilzad had sidelined Afghan leaders because of his ambitions to be a "viceroy" in an interim government if the negotiations succeed.

Reports in the U.S. media said U.S. officials had since ended contacts with Mohib, jeopardizing a key relationship at a time when Kabul is running out of time and friends."In 2014, it was bewilderment. Then came primal fear, fear of sleeping without being dressed and ready to go, conversations with those around you and not understanding their arguments, and hope that finally this will all come to an end. After that, increasing alienation from friends and relatives, a reluctance to interact due to mounting disagreements ending in full-blown feuds. And now I fly into a rage from Russian television, from people -- I can't speak calmly, I want to thrash everyone, insult them, tear them to pieces."

"Many residents of Luhansk are driven by an inferiority complex. Getting ahead of any questions, they try to convince others -- and at the same time, it seems, themselves -- that everything is fine in the city, that it has everything, and that, in general, life is humming. It's true, it can't be compared with Luhansk in the fall of 2014, but it's not even worth comparing to Sievierodonetsk, which was a normal industrial city until the war. Life under occupation is 'humming' only until 5 or 6 p.m., after which you'll only see a handful of locals on the street, rushing home. Even crossing the demarcation line one gets the impression that many are trying to cozy up to their interlocutors and fit in with the circumstances around them. Also, when crossing the contact lines, it seems many adjust to their sur-roundings and the people they speak with. When passing Ukrainian military positions, they make small talk with Ukrainian soldiers, and when passing the positions of [separatist] militia groups, they smile to them. They tell them whatever they want to hear. It seems that, with this masquerade, they forget who they really are.

"People are very cautious in their interactions with those whose views they don't know. They don't want -- and are afraid -- to discuss politics, elections, and the war. Fear and uncertainty take the place of core principles. Although, locals don't even pay attention anymore to soldiers on the streets -- there are a lot of people in uniform in the city center, and hardly any on the outskirts. Locals in the city say that some residents simply purchase military uniforms and wear them, even though they're not actually serving in any local security structures. There are fewer locals committed to the 'for-the-republic' ideology. Over the course of the war, people have become disappointed by both Ukrainian authorities and the Russian government, with Putin as its face. Those who were waiting for a repeat of the Crimea scenario understood that they were screwed over. Many see [Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko as the root of all problems and consider themselves hostages of the sit-uation, living day to day and not making plans for the future. Some residents assume the role of the victim forced to survive in a state of war.

"Those with pro-Ukrainian views have diminishing hopes that the territories [controlled by Russia-backed separatists] will be liberated, and they feel increasingly abandoned. The mental chasm be-tween the city and Ukraine becomes deeper and more unbridgeable."NEW YORK, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- Life On Earth, Inc. (OTCQB: LFER) announced that it was featured in one of the beverage industrys most influential publications, BevNet.com, Inc., with an exclusive article titled, Post-Acquisition Streak, Life On Earth Set for 2019 Sales Push. The article highlights the companys overall growth strategy with its brands for 2019 and beyond, and gives insight into its positioning with upcoming innovations and new product launches.



Below is an excerpt, and a link to the entire article can be found at the following link:

https://www.bevnet.com/news/2019/post-acquisition-streak-life-on-earth-set-for-2019-sales-push

Article Excerpt; Post-Acquisition Streak, Life On Earth Set for 2019 Sales Push

Martin Caballero Apr. 1, 2019 at 4:50 pm

Despite a busy past 12 months, 2019 can be considered Year Zero for Life On Earth.

After spending a year and a half acquiring and developing three distinct beverage brands  Just Chill, Wild Poppy, and Victorias Kitchen  Life on Earth president JC Romagosa said the New York-based beverage company is now gearing up to begin supporting those products with a concerted sales and marketing push.

The publicly traded company is coming off its first Natural Products Expo West trade show, and just hired a publicist and social media manager.

What weve been doing is improving these brands from soup to nuts, including supply chain, production, branding, and design, Romagosa told BevNET last week. Weve spent months building the infrastructure of the operating company, and now its time to push sales.

Life On Earths approach thus far has been to seek opportunities to acquire struggling beverage brands in need of a turnaround and reposition them for success. The company, formerly known as Hispanica International, acquired Los Angeles-based almond water and lemonade brand Victorias Kitchen in October 2017, and followed that by picking up natural relaxation drink Just Chill in August and adding juice and soda maker Wild Poppy to its portfolio this year.



About BevNET.com, Inc.

BevNET.com is the leading beverage-oriented media company, producing a web site, print magazine, and live conference series. The company was founded in 1996 by John Craven, with its mission to offer, through products in a variety of media, the best, most comprehensive forum for news coverage, expertise, partnership and support for all members of the beverage community.

Since its inception, BevNET.com has become a recognized authority on the beverage industry. BevNET.com and its employees are often used as sources for media publications looking for industry information, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Detroit Free Press, CNBC and Wired Magazine.

BevNET has offices in Watertown, MA, New York, NY, and San Diego, CA.

About Life On Earth, Inc.

Life On Earth, Inc. is a lifestyle beverage company focused on growing its portfolio of brands in the all-natural, innovative, healthier and better for you beverage market. The Company sells its products throughout the United States with third-party distributors, wholesalers and retailers, as well as through two of its own distribution subsidiaries in Northern California and the NYC Metro area.

The Company owns, markets and distributes two proprietary beverage brands, including:

For more information, please visit our corporate website - www.lifeonearthinc.com

Investors and corporate inquiries, please contact: info@lifeonearthinc.com | (646) 844-9897

Safe Harbor Act

Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains statements that constitute 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. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Life on Earth, Inc. its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) financing plans; (ii) trends affecting its financial condition or results of operations; (iii) growth strategy and operating strategy. The words may, would, will, expect, estimate, can, believe, potential and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements including those relating to the Companys financing being adequate for the Company to place its products in retail stores, execute its acquisition strategy, and to launch its growth and expansion plans, among others, are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Life on Earth, Inc.s ability to control, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. No information in this press release should be construed in any way whatsoever as an indication of Life on Earth, Inc.s future revenues, financial performance or stock price. More information about the potential factors that could affect the business and financial results is and will be included in Life on Earth, Inc.s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9deffbc1-68cf-47ab-99d7-314103a3fcb1A Lithuanian court has sentenced a Russian-born sailor to seven years in prison on charges of spying for Moscow, the latest in a series of espionage-related cases between the two neighboring countries.

The Klaipeda court on April 3 said the Lithuanian citizen gave Russian intelligence classified information about the city's sea terminal and other infrastructure in 2015-17.

The man was identified in local media as sailor mechanic Roman Sesel.

The Russian Embassy's spokesman declined to comment.

Relations between Lithuania, along with fellow Baltic states Estonia and Latvia, remain tense with Russia.

In March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare independence. It joined the European Union and NATO in 2004, as did Latvia and Estonia.

In March, Russia's Foreign Ministry accused Lithuania of "unfriendly and provocative" actions after a Vilnius court found a former Soviet military chief and a senior KGB officer guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The two were sentenced in absentia.

They were the most prominent of 67 defendants in the trial over the momentous events that unfolded in Vilnius in January 1991, when the Soviet government tried to halt the Lithuanian move toward independence.

The other defendants -- all citizens of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine -- were handed prison terms ranging from four to 12 years. Only two of them were present in the courtroom.

In a high-profile 2017 case, a Lithuanian court sentenced Russian citizen Nikolai Filipchenko, identified as an employee of Russia's Federal Security Service, to 10 years in prison for spying.

Based on reporting by AFP and The Baltic TimesForeign ministers from NATO's 29 member countries are scheduled to open a two-day meeting in Washington on April 3 to honor the alliance's 70th anniversary and discuss security threats, including Russia and Afghanistan.

Ahead of the gathering, U.S. President Donald Trump met NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on April 2 and pressed his demands that the allies do more to pay for their own defense.

Stoltenberg is scheduled to address Congress on April 3, the first NATO secretary-general to do so.

NATO foreign ministers are due to attend a reception at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, where President Harry S. Truman hosted the original 12 member nations that signed the accord establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949.

On April 4, the foreign ministers will hold meetings at the State Department, with a first session focusing on Russia.

They are expected to endorse a set of measures in the Black Sea to improve NATO's defenses in the region.

The situation in Afghanistan as well as the demise of a landmark arms-control treaty that the United States and Russia signed in the last years of the Cold War, and NATO member Turkey's decision to buy a Russian surface-to-air missile system, will also be on the agenda.

The Russian system is not compatible with NATO systems and is considered a threat to U.S. F-35 aircraft.

On April 2, Trump praised member countries for increasing their financial contributions to NATO, but said the United States still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe.

"We are protecting countries that have taken advantage of the United States," Trump said. "The United States pays for a disproportionate share of NATO," Trump said, adding: "We just want fairness."

'Strong Commitment'

Trump has called on NATO allies to increase their defense spending to the agreed level of 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and even much higher. He said during his meeting with Stoltenberg that most nations are missing the target, although he cited progress.

Stoltenberg thanked Trump for his "strong commitment to NATO" and for his leadership in getting member nations to increase their commitments.

Spending by the 29 NATO countries, which dropped after the end of the Cold War, has actually been on the rise since 2014 -- before Trump took office.

After Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, allies agreed to boost defense spending and "move toward" spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense by 2024. The U.S. spends 3.4 percent of its GDP on defense.

Trump singled out Germany, which recently announced plans to increase defense spending to 1.25 percent of its GDP by 2023 -- a revision of Chancellor Angela Merkel's pledge last year to hit 1.5 percent by 2024.

"Germany honestly is not paying their fair share," the U.S. president said, sitting next to Stoltenberg.

Trump has at times voiced doubts about NATO, in particular Article 5, its mutual defense clause, which stipulates that an attack against one NATO ally will be regarded as an attack against all.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpaIt's been 70 years since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization came into being when 12 countries pledged to defend each other should any of them come under attack. RFE/RL takes a look at NATO's origins, and how Soviet expansionism and its objections to a United Nations force, led to its creation.Several suspects on trial over a deadly blast in the St. Petersburg subway in 2017 have alleged that they were tortured in custody as authorities sought people with connections to the man they say blew himself up.

The latest torture allegations emerged as 11 suspects went on trial on April 2, with a rights activist saying one of them recounted being taken to a "secret prison" and subjected to electric shocks and other abuse.

Yana Teplitskaya, a member of a group that defends the rights of prisoners, told news outlet Mediazona that Mukhamadyusup Ermatov said he was tortured after he was detained in St. Petersburg on April 5, 2017.



Ermatov and the other 10 defendants are charged with being accomplices in what Russian authorities say was a suicide bombing carried out by Akbarjon Jalilov, an ethnic-Uzbek Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan.

The blast on a subway car in Russia's second-largest city on April 3, 2017, killed 15 people and injured 67 others.

The defendants -- all natives of Central Asian former Soviet republics -- pleaded innocent on the first day of the trial at a military court.

According to Teplitskaya, Ermatov said that after he was detained he was kept in a "secret prison" -- apparently in or near Moscow -- for more than a month before his arrest was announced.



Among other alleged abuses, he said he was subjected to electric shock, kept with a sack over his head constantly, beaten, and deprived of food and water.

He said his brother Ibragimjon Ermatov was also tortured.

There was no immediate comment from the Federal Security Service (FSB) or other law enforcement agencies about the new allegations.

Two other defendants, brothers Abror and Akram Azimov, alleged earlier that they were tortured in custody after they were detained.

Rights activists and Western governments say that the torture of suspects and convicts by police and other law enforcement authorities is widespread in Russia.

In its annual report on human rights around the world, released on March 13, the U.S. State Department said that abuses in Russia in 2018 included "pervasive torture by government law enforcement personnel that sometimes resulted in death."

With reporting by Mediazona, Current Time, TASS, Interfax, and AFPA new poll shows that a majority of Russians still support the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, but far fewer back any similar move toward the parts of the war-torn eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held by Russia-backed separatists.

The survey, conducted jointly by Moscow's Levada Center and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and released on April 3, also shows a clear majority of Russians saying that Moscow's international policies have worsened the country's economy and standards of living.

Since the 2014 seizure of Crimea, Russians have largely been supportive of President Vladimir Putin's decision, support that's been bolstered in part by state TV propaganda. But that backing has slipped as Russia's economy has faltered, and the costs of Crimea's integration into Russia have climbed.

The Levada-Chicago Council report found that in March 2015 -- a year after the annexation -- around 70 percent of Russians polled thought the annexation was a positive thing for the country. That figure slipped to 59 percent by August 2015, as world oil prices dropped precipitously and the effects of Western economic sanctions began to be felt, putting a brake on Russia's economy.

Support rebounded by March 2018 to levels comparable to three years earlier, but then slipped in February 2019 to 62 percent, according to the poll.

Infographic: Crimea: Do Russians Think It Was Worth It?

The survey also asked Russians whether they supported a similar annexation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where Russia-backed fighters have been battling Ukrainian forces since April 2014 and now hold parts of both provinces, including their administrative centers. More than 13,000 people have died in the fighting, and more than 1 million have been displaced.



An overwhelming majority said that the separatist-held areas should not be part of Ukraine: 29 percent supported annexation, and 46 percent said they should be independent states. Just 13 percent said they should remain part of Ukraine.

Though Russia's relations with the West had been worsening for some years prior, the Crimea annexation tipped relations into near outright hostility. The Levada-Chicago Council poll found that a clear majority of Russians, 58 percent, thought Kremlin foreign policy had worsened the state of the economy, and 64 percent said it worsened living standards.

Strong majorities, however, said those policies had improved the state of Russia's armed forces and international influence, while just a small plurality, 44 percent, said they had improved Russia's international image.

The survey, conducted between February 14 and 20, polled 1,613 Russians 18 years and older, in face-to-face interviews in eight regions of the country.

The poll's margin of error is 3.4 percentage points.

A similar survey conducted last month by the state-funded Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) found that a majority of Russians thought Crimea's annexation was either wholly good or both good and bad for Russia. However, the poll also found that younger Russians -- between the age of 18 and 30 -- were decidedly less sanguine about the benefits.

One of Russia's only independent polling organizations, Levada has in recent years come under increasing pressure from authorities unhappy with its closely watched surveys.

In 2016, the center was labeled a "foreign agent" under a law aimed at reducing what the Kremlin considers to be foreign influence on Russian public lift. The Justice Ministry announcement said the move was made because Levada had received some financial support from a U.S. university. Levada and the Chicago Council also published joint polls that surveyed Russians and Americans on their views of each other's country.

Large majorities of Russians and Americans said they believed the United States and Russia were more rivals than partners, but in the United States, the number of Americans who said Russia was a threat to U.S. security has doubled in 2017, from 18 percent to 39 percent.

The poll also found that the number of Americans who felt Russia tried to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election had risen only slightly since 2017, from 61 percent to 66 percent.

That portion of the poll was taken prior to the release of a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's two-year investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 campaign.

Congressional Democrats are fighting to get a hold of the entire 400-page report that Mueller submitted to the Justice Department.A Swiss lawyer for Gulnara Karimova, the elder daughter of the late president of Uzbekistan, has met with his client in an Uzbek prison.

The Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office said on April 3 that Gregoire Mangeat met with Karimova at the Zangiota penal colony for women in the Tashkent region on April 1-2.



"Just arrived at Zangiota womens prison colony Nr. 21. Trying to obtain acceptable conditions for our clients meeting, Mangeat tweeted on April 1.



On April 2, he tweeted that he was at the prison for a second day. Ne gave no details of his visit in the tweets, one of which included a photograph of what looked like a prison wall topped by barbed wire.

A decade earlier under her father, Islam Karimov, an autocrat who ruled for a quarter-century until his death in 2016, Karimova was a flashy socialite living extravagantly while holding fashion shows and making pop music videos.



She was also dogged by persistent reports of rampant bribery and extortion involving foreign companies.



In 2013, reports emerged first in Sweden that Karimova had used her position to serve as a gatekeeper for international telecom companies looking to invest in Uzbekistan.



As Central Asia's most populous nation, it was considered a fast-growing market for mobile services.



The reports ultimately led to criminal investigations in Sweden, the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and elsewhere, focusing on large telecom companies.



Karimova disappeared from the public eye in 2014 and Uzbek prosecutors subsequently confirmed she was under house arrest and being investigated for suspected corruption and other charges.



Uzbek officials said later that Karimova was sentenced in December 2017 to a 10-year prison term. But the following July, the sentence was reclassified to house arrest and shortened to five years.



On March 5, Uzbekistans Prosecutor-General's Office said a Tashkent court had found she had violated the terms of her house arrest and ordered her sent to prison.



Two days later, the United States Justice Department named Karimov as part of a major international bribery scheme, charging her with conspiracy to violate U.S. foreign corruption laws.

With reporting by Gazeta.ru and TASSU.S. Vice President Mike Pence has warned Turkey and Germany about their dealings with Russia, telling Ankara it is "reckless" and warning Berlin it risks becoming a "captive" of Moscow.

Pence's comments came on April 3 in Washington as part of events marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of NATO, of which Turkey and Germany are long-standing members.

Pence voiced U.S. opposition to Turkey's purchase of a Russian air-defense system, saying Ankara must decide between remaining a key NATO partner or risk endangering the military alliance with the deal, which he said "poses great danger to NATO."

"Turkey must choose. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said.

The United States and other NATO countries have demanded that Ankara call of its deal with Russia to purchase the S-400, which is not compatible with NATO systems and is considered a threat to U.S. F-35 fighters.

Washington has said it is halting deliveries to Turkey related to the F-35 program in response to Ankara's purchase of the Russian missile system.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Washington on April 3 and warned, in stark language, "of the potentially devastating consequences of unilateral Turkish military action" against the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led forces in Syria.

Highlighting the wide-range of issues that impact U.S.-Turkish relations, Pompeo also demanded "the swift resolution of cases involving unjustly detained" U.S. citizens and local staff who were employed at U.S. diplomatic missions in Turkey.

A spokesman for Turkey's Foreign Ministry later contested Washington's representation of the meeting, saying a readout released by the State Department failed to "reflect the content of the meeting" and contained "matters that were not even raised during the said meeting."

Meanwhile, Cavusoglu told the the PBS Newshour program late on April 3 that Turkey had proposed the creation of a "technical working group and to examine" any U.S. concerns about Ankara's S-400 missile deal with Russia.

Cavusoglu also told the U.S. public television broadcaster that it was "unacceptable" for Washington to insist that Turkey cannot buy a defense system from another country but would not sell any to Turkey either.

Earlier this week, a senior State Department official said in a briefing that Ankara could face U.S. sanctions if it went ahead with its purchase of Russian-made S-400 missiles.

Ankara has refused to back down on its planned purchase, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu telling the NATO gathering that "the S-400 deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this."

Another Turkish leader, Vice President Fuat Oktay, lashed back at Pence's remarks -- saying it was Washington that must decide whether it wants to remain an ally of Ankara.

"The United States must choose. Does it want to remain Turkey's ally or risk our friendship by joining forces with terrorists to undermine its NATO ally's defense against its enemies?" Oktay wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Pence told Germany onApril 3 it risked being a "captive of Russia" if it proceeds with the Nord Stream 2 project with Moscow.

"If Germany persists in building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as President Trump said, it could turn Germany's economy into literally a captive of Russia," Pence said.

Nord Stream 2, scheduled to be completed in 2019, would run directly from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing several European transit countries including Ukraine.

That would help Moscow avoid the transit-fee disputes and other political confrontations that have plagued its existing pipeline network.

Washington and some European leaders fear that without legal changes, the pipeline will increase Western Europes dependence on Russian natural gas and give Moscow more negotiating leverage over unrelated political issues.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpaThe Ukrainian government has banned unscheduled flights to Russia after a recent visit to Moscow by two opposition politicians.



The action was initiated by Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who said on April 3 that presidential candidate Yuriy Boiko and Opposition Platform -- For Life party official Viktor Medvedchuk had "used a loophole in Ukraine's legislation" to take a direct flight to Moscow last month.



Avakov said the ban would not apply to potential flights arranged for international organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations, and the Red Cross.



Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman said "these restrictions will remain in place until Russia ceases to be an aggressor country and turns into a civilized state."



Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko said a probe will be launched into the two opposition politicians' "illegal border crossing" when they flew to Russia on March 22, where they met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Aleksei Miller, the CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom, with whom they discussed ways to restore trade and economic ties.



Direct flights between the two countries were stopped in October 2015 amid a standoff over Moscows annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Based on reporting by Obozervatel and UNIANTHIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier Health Group Inc. (CSE: PHGI, OTCQB: PHGRF, Frankfurt: 6PH) (Premier Health), is pleased to announce a non-brokered placement of up to 4,615,384 units at a price of $0.65 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $3,000,000. Each unit will consist of one (1) common share and one-half (1/2) of a share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will be exercisable for an additional share at a price of $1.00 for a period of two (2) years from issuance.

Premier Health intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund its ongoing growth strategy in the technology healthcare space and for working capital purposes. All securities issued pursuant to the offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day from issuance in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Premier Health also announced today that certain lead investors to its previous placement completed in July 2018, representing approximately five (5) million shares, have agreed to voluntarily restrict their shares from trading until August 2019.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Essam Hamza, MD"

Chief Executive Officer

About Premier Health

Premier Health is a Canadian company that is strategically poised to take advantage of business opportunities in the global health care industry. We are focused on innovative health care approaches that combine human skill-based expertise with emerging technologies. Premier Health, in conjunction with its subsidiary Cloud Practice, a cloud-based SAAS Electronic Medical Records software company, is developing proprietary technology to deliver quality healthcare through the combination of connected primary care clinics with telemedicine and artificial intelligence (AI). We currently have a combined ecosystem of 290 clinics, over 3000 licensed practitioners and almost 3 million registered patients. The Premier Health team has deep clinical, operational and financial expertise and a passion for improving healthcare for all patients.

Cautionary Statements

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the shares in the United States. The shares 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.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on Premier Health's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates, including with respect to the completion of the offering, the timing thereof and the expected use of proceeds from the offering. Although Premier Health believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Premier Health undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law.

The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:



Premier Health Group Inc.

www.mypremierhealth.com

Email: investors@mypremierhealth.comCompany Booked 25 Additional Franchise Commitments for $1.5 Million in Deferred Revenues, Secured 50 New Locations for its Franchisees and Robot Investment Fund, and Installed 31 New Kiosks

SAN DIEGO, CA, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE  Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc. (OTCQB: VEND) announced its monthly report for March today. The report is part of a continued effort to keep all Company stakeholders better informed of key operating metrics.



Key highlights and metrics for March:

Booked 25 new Reis & Irvys franchise commitments worth $1.5 million in deferred revenue (averaging $167,768 per franchise sale and $56,168 per robot sold).

Recognized revenue of $1.2 million from 31 installations at an average of $38,000 per robot.

Secured 50 new locations for Reis & Irvys kiosks - a new single month record for the company; 7 locations were allocated to the robot investment fund - 19 Degrees Corporate Service LLC.

Added 11 units of 19 Degrees Corporate Service which resulted in collecting $173,514 of investment to be used for the purchase and installation of robots.

As of April 1st, 2019 the Company has sold a total of 61 units of 19 Degrees Corporate Service LLC, resulting in $1.2 million invested.

We are very pleased with the rate in which we are securing new locations and even more pleased with the quality, said Nick Yates, the CEO and Founder of Generation Next Franchise Brands. We are learning quickly what works and what doesnt and are putting a lot of effort to ensure the franchisees will benefit from the feedback we receive from every installation, no matter the category. April is set up nicely for a combination of significantly higher franchise sales, new locations procured and most importantly increased installations. We anticipate installing 60 to 70 units during April which will result in recognizing approximately $2.3 million - $2.7 million in revenue for the month.

For more information, visit the Reis & Irvys website at www.reisandirvys.com or call Toll-Free (888) 902-7558.

Generation NEXT Website: www.gennextbrands.com

About Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc.

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc., based in San Diego, California, is a publicly traded company on the OTC Markets trading under the symbol OTCBB: VEND. Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc. is parent company to Reis and Irvys Inc and 19 Degrees Corporate Service LLC

About Reis & Irvys, Inc.

Reis & Irvys, Inc. is a subsidiary franchise concept of Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, Inc. (VEND). Launched in early 2016, the revolutionary Reis & Irvys Vending Robot serves seven different flavors of frozen yogurt, ice cream, sorbets and gelatos, a choice of up to six custom toppings and to customers within 60 seconds or less at the point of sale. The unique franchise opportunity has since established itself as a high-demand product and currently showcases a franchise network both domestically as well as internationally.

About 19 Degrees Corporate Service, LLC

19 Degrees Corporate Service, LLC is a Company-managed portfolio that will consist of Reis & Irvys kiosks situated at high-value locations in markets where Reis & Irvys does not have independent franchisees. Members of 19 Degrees Corporate Service, LLC generally will not participate in the operations of the LLC. Routine stockings, service, and cleaning of the robotic kiosks will be performed by trusted independent service providers under contract with the Company and its subsidiary. Any net cash proceeds from the kiosks will be distributed to the members on a quarterly basis, providing an opportunity for passive income. Member ownership units in the LLC will be issued under the registration exemption Rule 506(c) of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933 and will be available only to accredited investors. Interested accredited investors who qualify can contact our CEO Nick Yates at nick@gennextbrands.com for more information.



This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. No Reis & Irvys franchises will be sold to any resident of any state until the offering has been exempted from the requirements of, or duly registered in and declared effective by, such state and the required FDD (if any) has been delivered to the prospective franchisee before the sale in compliance with applicable law. Currently, the following states in the United States regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you reside in one of these states, or even if you reside elsewhere, you may have certain rights under applicable franchise laws or regulations.



Cautionary note on forward-looking statements:



This press 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. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements concerning our future financial performance, including statements regarding: our ability to generate revenue and recognize deferred revenue; our ability to timely launch delivery and installation of our frozen yogurt robots; and our ability to grow our franchising and licensing divisions and launch our corporate-owned and direct sales platforms. The Company bases these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, estimates and projections about future events and the industry in which it operates using information currently available to it. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as believe, anticipate, propose, expect, intend, plan, will, may, estimates, variations of such words and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2018, our Quarterly Reports, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Be advised that developments subsequent to this press release are likely to cause these statements to become outdated and the Company is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Brief radar failure creates delays at Cancun Airport

Cancun, Q.R.  A brief radar failure at the Cancun International Airport Tuesday morning caused aircraft to land at alternate airports until the system was repaired and deemed functioning normally.

The Servicio a la Navegacion en el Espacio Aereo Mexicano (Seneam) failure, which lasted less than one hour, resulted in 12 aircraft landing at alternate airports while four had their departures affected. On Tuesday morning, flights with Interjet, Volaris, Southwet, Copa United, Jet Blue, Delta, Viva Aerobus and Frontier were affected by the radar malfunction.

An Asur spokesman reported that the failure was a few minutes on the radar of the Seneam. After 11:15, the operation returned to normal.

The affected flights were forced to land at other airports including Cozumel, Merida and Belize before it was repaired and functioning normally.

Unofficial reports say that the Cancun Airport had problems with the satellite network.

Seneam provides assistance services to air navigation with safety, fluidity and order in Mexican airspace in accordance with applicable national and international regulations.Officer training for the National Guard begins

Chetumal, Q.R.  Training for the upcoming National Guard has begun with the first group attending classes in the states capital city of Chetumal.

La Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) reports that as of April 1, training classes for members of the upcoming Guardia Nacional began that will see groups of 50 taught regulations on the prevention and investigation of crime as well as the detection and arrest of probable perpetrators.

They say that 200 officers from the Military, Naval, State Preventive, Preventive Municipal and Federal Preventive, will receive the training courses that will cover the legal framework of action, First respondent, Chain of custody, Flagrancy, Human Rights, Equity and Gender Perspective, Comprehensive Criminal Justice System for Adolescents, among others.

Taught in groups of 50, the FGE says that the instructors are specialists from the different areas and directorates of the State Attorney Generals Office and the training is done in accordance with Human Rights and with a gender perspective.Police withdraw after settlers refuse to leave Playa del Carmen land

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  The eviction of dozens of families from an irregular colony in west Playa del Carmen led to a police withdraw and protest at the municipal hall.

At dawn Tuesday, police arrived at the irregular residential colony of Nueva Esperanza to evict some of the nearly 400 that live there. The eviction was carried out by a judicial order on Ejido land that has been illegally invaded by the squatters for nearly two years.

Once houses were emptied, scores of police created a human shield as heavy machinery torn down the dilapidated make-shift homes. Despite the eviction order and removal of many homes, the residents refused to leave their possessions causing police to withdraw from the area.

Photo: la Policia Estatal

Shortly after, a group of Nueva Esperanza residents made their way to city hall to protest the eviction, demanding mayor Laura Beristain take the necessary steps so that the Ejido lands are sold and then able to have a patrimony.

The mayor, along with several city council members, did make time for them, saying that she is respectful of what the Judicial Power commands since the eviction order comes from a judge. However, what she condemns is the excessive use of force in a place where elderly people, children and women live.

Alfredo Paz Cetina, the Secretary General of the City Council, said that after the meeting with the settlers, they agreed on the first negotiating table with two representatives for each of the blocks that make up the settlement.

Everything that is done is preventive, seeking to reach correct solutions without violating the affected families, he said.

Photo: la Policia Estatal

Nueva Esperanza invasion, which is located next to In House at the end of Constituyentes Avenue, is one of two illegal colonies that have popped up in the west region of Playa del Carmen over the years, being illegally occupied by settlers that arrive to the area.New York, NY, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, today announced that Shwetak Patel of the University of Washington and Google is the recipient of the 2018 ACM Prize in Computing for contributions to creative and practical sensing systems for sustainability and health. Before Patels work, most systems for monitoring energy and health required expensive and cumbersome specialized devices, precluding practical widespread adoption. Patel and his students found highly creative ways to leverage existing infrastructure to make affordable and accurate monitoring a practical reality. Patel quickly turned his teams research contributions into real-world deployments, founding companies to commercialize their work.



The ACM Prize in Computing recognizes early-to-mid-career computer scientists whose research contributions have fundamental impact and broad implications. The award carries a prize of $250,000, from an endowment provided by Infosys Ltd. Patel will formally receive the ACM Prize at ACMs annual awards banquet on June 15, 2019 in San Francisco.



Despite the fact that he is only 37, Shwetak Patel has had significant impact on the field of ubiquitous computing for nearly two decades, said ACM President Cherri M. Pancake. His work has ushered in some really exciting possibilities in the areas of sustainability and health. The widespread adoption of systems where individuals can monitor their health with smartphones could revolutionize healthcare  especially in the developing world. Shwetak Patel certainly exemplifies the ACM Prizes goal of recognizing work with fundamental impact and broad implications.



Infosys is proud to support the ACM Prize in Computing, which this year recognizes Shwetak Patel for his trailblazing work in ubiquitous computing, said Pravin Rao, COO of Infosys. Beyond breaking new conceptual ground through research in many areas, Shwetak Patel is especially adept at rapidly bringing his ideas to the public via new products that are accessible and affordable. Patels vision for ubiquitous computing is to enhance our everyday world with sensing, data processing and computation. The way in which his digital health initiatives combine AI with sensors and mobile computing is also very exciting and will likely have a significant impact on health care around the world for many years to come.



Patels research closed the gap between science fiction and reality in many applications in ubiquitous computing for sustainability and health.



Monitoring Energy and Water Usage in the Home



With the emergence of embedded computing systems over the past few decades, a longstanding goal has been to use embedded devices to gain a more fine-grained understanding of home water and energy usage than is available by simply reading a monthly utility bill. In industry, one proposed solution has been to develop smart appliances in which items such as refrigerators or televisions would be fitted with special meters so that that their energy consumption could be monitored. Rather than having smart devices throughout the home, each with its own meter, Patel recognized that a homes electrical system (and later its plumbing system) can be reconsidered as a network capable of capturing and transmitting information. Patels insight was that each appliance, as it uses power, generates and transmits information as noise (perturbations) on the circuit. Patel then developed a method to disambiguate (separate and catalog) which rooms, appliances, and times of day energy was being used. Patel engineered the system so that an entire home could be monitored with just one meter for electricity and one meter for plumbing. Zensi, Inc., the startup he formed to commercialize his work, was sold to Belkin, which subsequently opened a 25-person R&D lab in Seattle to conduct further sustainability research alongside Patel in his team. In developing these products, Patel also became an electrician and plumber.



Low-Powered Home Sensors



Building on his work on sustainability in residential environments, Patel next developed a new approach for wireless sensor nodes in the home, which dramatically reduced power consumption of each node while continuing to cover the whole home. Patels Sensor Nodes Utilizing Powerline Infrastructure (SNUPI) nodes contain an ultra-low-power transmitter that extends its range by coupling its wirelessly transmitted signal to the existing powerlines. SNUPI was a core component of Patels next startup, WallyHome. Through its network of low-powered sensors WallyHome monitors temperature, humidity and any potential water leakages. For example, if an event(such as a dishwasher leak) occurs in the home, the homeowner will receive an instant text on their mobile phone. While WallyHome was purchased by Sears Holding Company in 2015, Patels research in smart home sensing has informed much of the growing smart home industry, including companies like Google, Next, and Samsung.



Digital Health



More recently, Patel has leveraged sensors already on mobile phones (such as cameras and microphones) for physiological sensing and the management of chronic diseases. These technologies include SPiroSmart and CoughSense, which monitor lung function; BiliCam, which detects neonatal jaundice in newborns; HemaApp, which monitors hemoglobin levels; OsteoApp, to screen for osteoporosis; and BPSense, which monitors blood pressure. Patel has been working closely with Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation to share these technologies throughout the developing world. His work using a microphone for respiratory monitoring has already been deployed in parts of India and Bangladesh, and HemaApp is being used in Peru to screen for childhood anemia. He also commercialized some of these technologies, which were acquired by Google.



Biographical Background



Shwetak N. Patel is the Washington Research Foundation Entrepreneurship Endowed Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, where he directs the Ubicomp Lab, which develops innovative sensing systems for real-world applications in health, sustainability and novel interactions. He is also a director at Google working on health care.



Patel earned his Bachelors and PhD degrees in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. His numerous honors include receiving a MacArthur Fellowship, a Sloan Fellowship, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), MIT TR-35 Award, and a National Academy of Engineering Gilbreth Award. Patel is a Fellow of ACM.



About the ACM Prize in Computing



The ACM Prize in Computing recognizes an early to mid-career fundamental innovative contribution in computing that, through its depth, impact and broad implications, exemplifies the greatest achievements in the discipline. The award carries a prize of $250,000. Financial support is provided by an endowment from Infosys Ltd. The ACM Prize in Computing was previously known as the ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences from 2007 through 2015. ACM Prize recipients are invited to participate in the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, an annual networking event that brings together young researchers from around the world with recipients of the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the Abel Prize, the Fields Medal, and the Nevanlinna Prize.



About ACM



ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the worlds largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the fields challenges. ACM strengthens the computing professions collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.



About Infosys



Infosys is a global leader in technology services and consulting. We enable clients in more than 50 countries to create and execute strategies for their digital transformation. From engineering to application development, knowledge management and business process management, we help our clients find the right problems to solve, and to solve these effectively. Our team of 199,000+ innovators, across the globe, is differentiated by the imagination, knowledge and experience, across industries and technologies that we bring to every project we undertake. Visit https://www.infosys.com/ to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise thrive in the digital age.

###

AttachmentSAN FRANCISCO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InCarda Therapeutics, Inc. (InCarda), a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing first-of-their-kind inhaled therapies for cardiovascular diseases, today announced the appointment of Daniel G. Welch as executive chairman of the companys board of directors, effective March 7, 2019. Mr. Welch possesses more than 30 years of experience in both multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.



During his career, Mr. Welch has led multiple biopharmaceutical companies that achieved significant value creation during his tenure. He was chairman of AveXis when the company was acquired by Novartis for $8.7 billion in 2018, served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of InterMune when the company was sold to Roche for $8.3 billion in 2014 and served as chairman and chief executive officer of Triangle Pharmaceuticals when it was acquired by Gilead in 2003 for $464 million. Additionally, he has played leadership roles in the development and commercialization of several blockbuster pharmaceutical brands, including Plavix, Tysabri, Eloxatin, Avapro, emtricitabine and Esbriet. Mr. Welch currently serves as chairman of Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals, executive chairman of Levo Therapeutics, and as a director of Intercept Pharmaceuticals and Seattle Genetics. He holds a B.S. from the University of Miami and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina.

Adding an industry executive with the broad experience and successful track record of Dan to our board further strengthens our leadership team, while providing key validation for our novel therapeutic approach and clinical-stage InRhythm development program, said Grace Colon, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of InCarda. We look forward to Dans insight and expertise complementing that of the existing board members as we work to successfully advance InRhythm through late-stage clinical trials. His commercial and operational experience will undoubtedly prove valuable as we move closer to a potential approval of the product.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to join InCarda as executive chairman and work with the companys accomplished and talented life science board members. I was drawn to InCarda based on the companys unique approach to leveraging inhaled drug delivery for the development of novel cardiovascular disease treatments. This represents an elegant solution for delivering therapeutic agents to cardiac tissue efficiently and rapidly to address acute cardiovascular diseases and conditions such as atrial fibrillation, stated Mr. Welch. I believe InCarda has the opportunity to deliver innovative therapy to patients suffering with serious cardiovascular disease for whom there are currently no effective treatments.

About Atrial Fibrillation (AF)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) and is characterized by rapid and irregular heartbeats often resulting in palpitations and other symptoms that are often debilitating. A chronic, progressive condition, AF is estimated to affect up to six million people in the U.S., with that number expected to double by 20501. This expected increase is partially due to the correlation between AF prevalence and an aging population, with approximately 9% of those aged 65 and older affected by the condition1. AF is associated with significant morbidity and a substantial reduction in quality of life, with the condition potentially resulting in exercise intolerance, congestive heart failure, tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy and stroke. The annual cost of AF to the U.S. healthcare system is estimated at more than $26 billion1.

Paroxysmal AF (PAF) is a type of AF in which episodes occur intermittently and resolve spontaneously in fewer than seven days. Approximately 25% of PAF patients progress to the permanent form of AF within five years2. The underlying cause of PAF is unknown and most patients present with a normal heart structure. Common symptoms of PAF can include racing heartbeat, chest pain or pressure, a fluttering feeling in the chest, weakness, fatigue, dizziness, sweating and lightheadedness. Current treatments for PAF rely upon either chronic administration of oral antiarrhythmic drugs or acute hospital-based procedures such as intravenous drug administration, electrical cardioversion and catheter ablation. There are currently no approved treatments that can be patient self-administered whenever an episode of PAF occurs.

About InRhythm

InRhythm (flecainide for inhalation) is a novel inhaled therapeutic candidate designed to rapidly deliver flecainide, a well-established antiarrhythmic agent, to the heart via the lungs, restoring normal sinus rhythm (NSR) and relieving the patients symptoms following the onset of an episode of atrial fibrillation (AF). InRhythm is intended to address the unmet need for a non-invasive, rapid-acting treatment that can be self-administered by patients whenever they experience intermittent episodes of AF. Phase 1 clinical results in healthy volunteers demonstrated that InRhythm rapidly and safely delivered flecainide resulting in ECG changes consistent with the potential to restore NSR in patients with PAF. InCarda is currently conducting a Phase 2 trial of InRhythm in patients with recent-onset PAF. For more information about this study, please visit: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03539302 .

About InCarda Therapeutics

InCarda Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-of-their-kind inhaled therapies for acute cardiovascular diseases and conditions. The company is leveraging the ability of inhaled therapy to deliver medicine in the first pass to cardiac tissue, presenting a small, but effective dose of drug directly to affected regions of the heart. This permits rapid-onset, lower off-target tissue exposure of the drug, lower continued/prolonged exposure to cardiac tissue and, more importantly, can be patient self-administered in any setting. InCarda employs a de-risked approach by using approved drugs with a long history of efficacy and safety as candidates for the new dosing paradigm via inhalation. The companys lead development product, InRhythm, is in Phase 2 development to treat paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), a prevalent atrial arrhythmia. For more information, please visit: www.incardatherapeutics.com .

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/incarda-therapeutics/

Twitter: @InCardaThera

References:

1 J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014 Dec 2;64(21):2305-7

2 Am Heart J. 2005 Mar;149(3):489-96(L-R): North Dakota National Guard Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann, North Dakota State Senator Dale Patten, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and North Dakota House Representative Keith Kempenich listen to input from Fairview residents impacted by the flooding.

BISMARCK, N.D.  Gov. Doug Burgum and emergency services officials toured flood-affected areas along the Yellowstone River in western North Dakota and eastern Montana on Wednesday and met with residents displaced by the floodwaters.

Local officials report more than 40 families and homes have been impacted by the flooding near the North Dakota-Montana border, where ice jams have backed up the Yellowstone River. Floodwaters have submerged a section of Highway 200, which remains closed from Cartwright, N.D., to Fairview, Mont.

Burgum was joined on the tour by North Dakota National Guard Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann, the state's adjutant general; District 39 state legislators; Governor's Office staff; McKenzie County Emergency Manager Karolin Jappe; and other local officials.

The officials met at 8:05 a.m. CDT Wednesday, March 26, at the Fairview Fire Hall at 412 S. Central Ave. before touring the flooded areas.

----------

McKenzie County Commissioner, Thomas McCabe, speaks with Governor Doug Burgum in regards to the flooding near Fairview.

There will be free daily lunches offered at the Fairview Fire Hall to help those affected by the flood.

An account has been set up at Merchants Bank for anyone who would like to donate money. Additionally, donations may also be made at the North Dakota Community Foundation's McKenzie County Flood Relief webpage: https://ndcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=1512

Full photo album can be found here.BISMARCK, N.D.  Gov. Doug Burgum declared a statewide flood emergency in preparation for the threat of significant spring flooding across North Dakota, as state agencies gathered to begin coordinating their response and resources. The governor also toured flood-affected areas in western McKenzie County, hearing heartbreaking stories from residents displaced by the flooding Yellowstone River.

In an executive order declaring the emergency, Burgum cited flood outlooks from the National Weather Service indicating the potential for significant river, tributary and overland flooding in the Red River and Devils Lake basins, and high water in the southern James River basin. The combination of deep frost depth and above-normal moisture from snow and fall rains have increased the risk of flooding because saturated and frozen soils won't be able to absorb snowmelt, compounding the risk of runoff, the order states.

"All signs point to a high potential for significant floods that could overwhelm local response capabilities across the state, and the devastating flooding we saw today along the Yellowstone River shows just how quickly these situations can arise," Burgum said. "This emergency declaration is an essential step in making sure that state personnel and equipment are available and ready to respond when significant flooding threatens the safety of people and property, and toward pursuing a federal disaster declaration that could bring additional assistance to local residents and political subdivisions."

More than 50 homes have taken on water and 110 residents have been displaced by flooding near the North Dakota-Montana border, where lengthy ice jams have backed up the Yellowstone River. A submerged section of Highway 200 between Cartwright, N.D., and Fairview, Mont., remained closed Wednesday.

During a meeting with displaced residents at the Fairview Fire Hall, homeowners described the devastation to their property and disruption to their lives caused by the unexpected flooding.

Jack and Jackie Damm, who live one mile south of Highway 200 and one mile west of the river, said their farmstead, which hasn't experienced flooding in the 70 years it's been in their family, is now under 4 to 5 feet of water, and like many families in the area they don't have flood insurance.

"We've never flooded before," Jack Damm said. "It came up so quick. We had about three hours to get out what we could."

Among those joining Burgum on a tour of inundated areas were the state's adjutant general, North Dakota National Guard Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann; District 39 state Sen. Dale Patten and Rep. Keith Kempenich; McKenzie County Commission Chairman Tom McCabe; and County Emergency Manager Karolin Jappe.

Burgum has activated the North Dakota State Emergency Operations Plan and directed all state agencies, including the North Dakota National Guard, to maintain high readiness levels with flood response resources.

The State Flood Unified Command held its first meeting with staff from several state agencies on Wednesday, discussing current hydrological conditions, weather forecasts, agency preparations, resource coordination and anticipated flooding in the coming weeks.

The executive order also grants emergency relief by waiving load restrictions and spring road restrictions for vehicles necessary for levee construction and other flood fight efforts in affected areas, at the discretion of the North Dakota Department of Transportation director.NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

VANCOUVER, B.C., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viva Gold Corp. ("Viva Gold" or the Company) (TSX Venture Exchange: VAU) is pleased to announce its intention to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 5,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of CDN $0.37 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to CDN $1,850,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (a Share) and one whole transferable common share purchase warrant (a Warrant). Each whole Warrant will be exercisable to acquire one Share at an exercise price of CDN $0.47 per Share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.



Proceeds will be utilized to complete the already underway, updated resource estimate on the Tonopah gold project, incorporating 26 new drill holes from our successful 2018 drilling campaigns; 3,000 to 4,000 meters of additional step-out and infill drilling to further increase resource size and confidence level; metallurgical test work, and base-line environmental study work; and for general corporate working capital purposes.

Certain insiders of the Company may acquire Units in the Offering. Any participation by insiders in the Private Placement would constitute a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101). However, the Company expects such participation would be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the Units subscribed for by the insiders, nor the consideration for the Units paid by such insiders, would exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

The Company may pay finders fees on a portion of the Offering, subject to compliance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable securities legislation. Closing of the Offering is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The securities issued under the Offering, and any Shares that may be issuable on exercise of any such securities, will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance of such securities.

About Viva Gold

Viva Gold is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on Nevada. Viva holds 100% of the Tonopah Gold Project, a large land position with demonstrated high-grade measured, indicated and inferred gold resources, located on the prolific Walker Lane Trend in Nevada, 36 kilometers south-east of the Round Mountain mine of Kinross Gold and 30 kilometers from the Town of Tonopah. Vivas management team has extensive experience in mining exploration, development and production and are supported by a Board of Directors and advisors who are proven mine finders, deal makers and financiers. Viva trades on the TSX-V as VAU, on the OTCBB in the US as VAUCF and on the Frankfurt exchange under 7PB. For additional information on Viva Gold and the Tonopah Gold Project, please visit our website: www.vivagoldcorp.com.

For further information please contact:

James Hesketh, President & CEO

(720) 291-1775

jhesketh@vivagoldcorp.com

Valerie Kimball, Director of Investor Relations

720-933-1150

vk i mb all @v i v a go l d c o r p .c o m

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this news release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively, forward- looking information). Without limiting the foregoing, such forward-looking information includes statements regarding the process and completion of the Offering, the use of proceeds of the Offering and any statements regarding the Companys business plans, expectations and objectives. In this news release, words such as may, would, could, will, likely, believe, expect, anticipate, intend, plan, estimate and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking information. Forward looking information should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or the Company managements good faith belief with respect to future events and is subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond the Companys control. For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking information made in this news release, see the Companys most recent Managements Discussion and Analysis and financial statements and other documents filed by the Company with the Canadian securities commissions and the discussion of risk factors set out therein. Such documents are available at www.sedar.com under the Companys profile and on the Companys website, https://vivagoldcorp.com/. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects the Companys expectations as at the date of this news release and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.



Sidney, MT  Sasha Marie Hinds, 30, made her initial appearance in court in Sidney at 10 a.m., March 29. Hinds appeared before Sidney City Court Judge Luke Savage who advised Hinds of the charges against her. Hinds requested a public defender, but declined to have a probable cause hearing. Judge Savage bound the case over to District Court. Hinds' next court appearance will be in the 7th Judicial District Court in Sidney on April 15, 2019. Bail remained set at $1,000,000. Hinds is being held at the Richland County Detention Facility.

Hinds was arrested and charged with Deliberate Homicide and Aggravated Assault in connection with the death of her 2-month old daughter, Kylie Ann Hinds, and the stabbing of Brendan James Sheehan. Hinds was arrested by the Billings Police Department based on a Sidney City Court warrant after being released from a Billings hospital. Bond was set at $1,000,000. Hinds was held in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility pending extradition back to Sidney.

On March 16, 2019, at 8:28 a.m. officers with the Sidney Police Department and the Richland County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to an apartment in Sidney for a welfare check on a baby in the custody of Hinds who was described as having "mental problems". Officers gained entry into the apartment and discovered Hinds and the unresponsive infant in the bathroom. The infant was immediately transported to Sidney Health Center. Hospital staff attempted to resuscitate the child, but were unable to do so.

Additional officers responded to the scene and discovered a second victim, Brendan Sheehan, 20, in another apartment building with a single stab wound to the abdomen. Sheehan was transported by ambulance to Sidney Health Center for treatment. Sheehan, who resided with Hinds and the infant, told investigators that he and Hinds had consumed methamphetamine the previous night. Hinds began behaving violently toward him and the baby that morning. Investigators also interviewed a second child who was present in the apartment that morning who described seeing Hinds' strange and violent behavior toward the infant and Sheehan. The second child described feeling afraid of Hinds and ran to a neighbor to call for help.

Hinds was also taken to Sidney Health Center for treatment due to her continued erratic behavior, and was later transferred to a Billings hospital where she was hospitalized for several days.

Sidney City Court Judge, Luke Savage, reads and explains the charges to Hinds. Judge Savage bound the case over to District Court for a April 15th appearance.

A post-mortem examination of the infant was conducted, and the preliminary cause of death was determined to be due to multiple deep, penetrating, wounds to the chest.

First, we wish to extend our deepest condolences to Kylie's family. The magnitude of this tragedy is hard to comprehend, and has significantly impacted the Sidney community. We would also like to express our appreciation to Sidney Health Center, Richland County Ambulance Service, St. Vincent Healthcare, Billings Police Department, Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office, and the Richland County Sheriff's Office for their assistance in this investigation.Mr. Kanwar Sandhu MLA Kharar

Chandigarh, April 3: Mr. Kanwar Sandhu, MLA, Kharar, has demanded posting of round-the-clock armed security personnel at the office of the Food & Drugs Administration here, where the Zonal Licensing Authority, Dr Neha Shoree was shot dead five days ago. In a letter to the Punjab DGP, Mr. Dinkar Gupta, the MLA Mr. Sandhu said that when he again visited the office today

He was shocked to see that even after such a gruesome and blatant murder of an employee, no government security staff had been deputed at the office. "Since the office handles drug and food samples collected from all over the state, it is highly vulnerable to attack by nefarious elements," he added. Besides a posse of security personnel headed by an Assistant Sub-Inspector, a metal detector should also be placed at the entrance of the building, which is adjoining the Civil Hospital in Kharar.

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The MLA demanded that a Mobile Police Van should also be stationed 24X7 outside the office for any eventuality.Copies of the letter were also marked to the Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Mr. Satish Chandra and SSP, Mohali, Mr H.S.Bhullar.The Kharar MLA pointed out that it was sad that despite a state-wide crack down against drugs launched two years ago, the FDA Office at Kharar, which was under the State Health Department, had not been provided security.

On the other hand, the office of the Chemical Examiner, which functioned under the Department of Home Affairs, on the top floors in the same 5-storey building had a round-the-clock security. This office handles chemical examination of viscera etc. following medico-legal cases. "One or two of their security personnel could be stationed at the entrance of the building," the MLA suggested.

Mr. Sandhu, who also met some of the members of the Staff at the DFA office to motivate them. Since some employees were fearful, the Government should look at the possibility of providing them security at their homes. The accused, Balwinder Singh, who killed Dr Shoree, had faced raids at his Chemist Shop in Morinda about 10 years ago following which his license had been cancelled.

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Mr. Sandhu wanted the police to check if he had any "benami" interests in other licenses which had been cancelled in the recent months, which may have acted as the immediate trigger for the crime. The MLA urged the Government to reward Dr Shoree posthumously for her efforts and also recognise the efforts of those employees who prevented the accused from fleeing the building risking their lives in the process.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said the Philippines has become "too friendly" and "too accommodating" to China that it might as well allow Beijing to occupy our territory.

"The fact that there are ... Chinese vessels ng mga militia, not even fishermen, anong ini-indicate noon? Tapos sasabihin natin hindi naman tayo pwedeng makipagiyera sa China, isang missile lang tapos na tayo. So kung ganun rin lang, pasakop na tayo, 'di ba?" Lacson told CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday.

[Translation: The fact that there are  Chinese militia vessels, not even fishermen, what does this indicate? Then we will say that we can't go to war with China and that it would only take one missile to finish us. So if that's the case, then let's just allow them to occupy our territory, right?]

Lacson said this after the military confirmed reports that Chinese vessels were spotted near Pag-asa Island, something which the senator calls alarming. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said the vessels are there to "establish their presence in the area."

Lacson said Manila is better off refraining from repeatedly stating that it is too weak to combat Beijing.

"Alam mo nang mahina ka, 'wag mo nang ipagsigawan na mahina ka kasi lalo kang ibu-bully," Lacson said.

[Translation: You already know that you are weak, don't tell everyone that you're weak because you would only be bullied further.]

However, he conceded that the only thing that the government can do for now is to file diplomatic protests against Beijing.

He added that it is possible for the Senate to adopt a resolution expressing the institution's opinion on the matter. This is called a Sense of the Senate resolution.

A Sense of the Senate resolution does not have the force of law and is only meant to express opinion on a current issue.

"From time to time, we call out. Kung nakikita namin parang may mga lapses na diba, may mga omissions, 'yun lang ang kaya naming gawin. But anong gagawin namin?" Lacson said.

[Translation: From time to time, we call out. If we see that there are some lapses, there are omissions, that's the only thing that we can do. What else can we do?]

Several resolutions that called for a probe on China's actions in the West Philippine Sea were filed with the Senate Foreign Affairs and Defense panels, but were not acted on.

In a radio interview Wednesday, Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo said there is no objection to the country's friendship with China, but this should not come at the expense of the rights of Filipinos.

"Sa atin, pati sa Tsina, wala naman tayong problemang makipagkaibigan. Pero sana pangalagaan natin kung ano iyong sa atin, kung ano iyong nasa atin na. Huwag naman sana nating hahayaan na sinasakop tayo, na hindi tayo nagrereklamo. Kasi kapag hindi tayo nagrereklamo, ganito iyong nangyayari-na hindi na nirerespeto iyong pag-aari natin saka iyong soberanya ng bawat Pilipino," Robredo said.

[Translation: There's nothing wrong with being friends with China. But I hope that we take care of what's ours and what's already in our control. Let's not allow others to invade us without a single complaint. Because if we don't complain then they don't respect what's ours and the sovereignty of all Filipinos.]

Earlier reports said there were more than 600 vessels near Pag-asa Island, but Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command Chief of Public Affairs Captain Jason Ramon said they only spotted a total of 275 vessels in the first quarter the year.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo believes that Chinese militia are on board the vessels, citing military reports. However, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said these ships may only have been boarded by Chinese fishermen.

Malacanang and the Foreign Affairs department said Manila has filed diplomatic protests against Beijing over the swarming of its vessels in Philippine waters.

President Rodrigo Duterte and other government officials have repeatedly said that the Philippines is no match to China's military power.

READ: Duterte: Sending troops on 'suicide' mission in S. China Sea will lead to my ousterPikeville, Kentucky, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a few weeks time, teens will be donning formal wear and heading off to that near-mythical event known as "prom." Though prom comes with excitement and anticipation for some high schoolers, it is fraught with worry for many parents.

Pikeville attorney Billy Johnson has been representing people injured in car accidents throughout his entire career, and he believes the two biggest threats to young people on prom night are distracted driving and alcohol use.

Alcohol use on prom night isnt a new danger, Johnson said. Thats been a cause for concern since prom began. And while smartphones are a newer threat to road safety, distraction itself is something drivers have always faced.

Johnson said that the fact that these dangers are well-known doesnt make them any less real. In fact, he believes that our constant exposure to warnings instructing drivers not to drink and drive or use phones behind the wheel make us somewhat immune to their importance.

No one thinks it is a good idea to get behind the wheel after drinking or to text a friend while driving, Johnson said. Instead of restating the obvious, parents and teens should focus on practical ways to make our roads safe for teens on prom night.

Johnson said that planning transportation for prom attendees should be a collaboration between parents and teens. Making rides readily available and judgment-free is the best way to keep young people from making poor choices.

In an ideal world, no young person would consume alcohol on prom night, Johnson said. But if we accept the idea that there will be alcohol, we can address the world we live in and not the one we wished for. Even if your teen doesnt drink on prom night, theres a chance that the person driving the vehicle theyre in might be drinking.

Johnson said that offering teens a no-questions-asked ride to and from prom and prom after-parties is the best way parents can make themselves available for their children. He suggests that parents be willing to pick up their child without asking why they need a ride.

When it comes to distraction, Johnson points out studies showing that extra passengers in a vehicle are as big a threat as mobile devices. AAA found that when a teen has only teen passengers in their vehicle, the risk of everyone being involved in an ensuing crash goes up by 51 percent.

Knowing this threat is the first step for teen drivers, Johnson said. Next, we need to offer our teens solutions. Providing them with transportation is the best way to make sure they can focus on enjoying prom and not be in danger of a serious injury in a car accident.

Johnson encourages parents to either offer their own services as drivers or coordinate with other parents of their teens party to make sure that an experienced, trusted driver takes the wheel for the night.

If teens arent willing to hand over the wheel for the night, we can at least have an open discussion about the dangers they face, Johnson said. Billboards advertising slogans about distraction and impairment unfortunately arent enough. A healthy dialogue with parents is a much more effective way to convey the importance of road safety on prom night. Trust your teens and talk to them like adults, but dont avoid the conversation.TORONTO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. (CSE: SNA) (OTCQB: SNAVF) ("Star or the Company) announces that a number of shareholders of the Company have contacted the Board of Directors requesting that a Special General Meeting of shareholders be called with respect to a change of Chief Executive Officer.



The Board of Directors is considering its options with respect to this request, and will comply with all relevant regulatory requirements.

About Star Navigation:

Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. owns the exclusive worldwide license to its proprietary, patented In-flight Safety Monitoring System, STAR-ISMS, the heart of the STAR-A.D.S.  System. Its real-time capability of tracking performance trends and predicting incident-occurrence enhances aviation safety and improves fleet management while reducing costs for the operator.

Stars M.M.I. Division designs and manufactures high performance, mission critical, flight deck flat panel displays for defence and commercial aviation industries worldwide. These displays are found on aircraft and simulators, from P-3 Orion and C-130 aircraft, to Sikorsky and Agusta Westland helicopters, as examples.

Stars subsidiary, Star-Isoneo Inc. is a specialised software firm, developing complex solutions in engineering, simulation and development for Canadian customers. Star-Isoneo works closely with Star in the development of the Companys MEDEVAC (STAR-ISAMM and STAR-LSAMM) applications of the patented STAR-A.D.S.  technology, and on its current R&D program with Bombardier.

Certain statements contained in this News Release constitute forward-looking statements. When used in this document, the words may, would, could, will, expected and similar expressions, as they relate to Star or its management are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect Stars current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause Stars actual performance or achievements to vary from those described herein. Should one or more of these factors or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Star does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this release.

Please visit www.star-navigation.com or

Roger S. Peacock, General Counsel (416) 252-2889 Ext. 225Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., took to the House floor on Monday to portray President Donald Trumps detractors as Nazis, but ended up slurring them using an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory drawn verbatim from Adolf Hitlers writings.

Its 2019, and the Fuhrers magnum opus, Mein Kampf, has become a playbook for political combat in Congress, at the very moment that Trump is calling the Democrats anti-Jewish.

Brooks, a five-term Republican, accused Democrats and members of the media of propagating a big lie about collusion. The expression was first coined by Hitler to describe how Jews used their unqualified capacity for falsehood to blame a top German military commander for the countrys losses in World War I. A lie could be so big, Hitler claimed, that it perversely defied disbelief.

It was unclear if Brooks grasped that by leveling charges of the big lie, he had inverted his own analogy, making Democrats the equivalent of interwar German and Austrian Jews. He set out to compare the other side to fascists, but he was the one employing a fascist smear - one that, ironically, came to define Nazi propaganda.

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America can either learn from history or be doomed to repeat it, Brooks warned.

A spokesman for the congressman didnt return a query from The Washington Post inviting him to elaborate on his analysis.

In the Republican fusillade issuing from Capitol Hill following the summary of a report clearing President Donald Trump of coordinating with Russia during the 2016 election, the remarks from Brooks, 64, stood out. Not least thanks to his own promotion efforts: He uploaded a video of the five-minute speech to his YouTube page and retweeted coverage in the Alabama-focused Yellowhammer News, a conservative website.

His hands on the lectern, occasionally glancing up from notes, Brooks began: A big lie is a political propaganda technique made famous by Germanys national socialist German workers party, but more on that later.

He placed extra emphasis on the word socialist, which has returned as the GOPs favored boogeyman following the rise of a more vocal left-wing flank of the Democratic Party.

Its true that the so-called big lie is an expression made famous by the Nazis, who were not socialists in any meaningful sense, despite the canard of having National Socialist in their partys title. But the Nazi-era accusation gained currency in the Third Reich because it was deployed by Hitler and his followers to depict Jews as traitors to the German nation. The Nazi dictator used the term to blame Jews for propagating the idea that German Gen. Erich Ludendorff, a notorious anti-Semite who had been Paul von Hindenburgs chief deputy, was to blame for Germanys defeat in World War I.

For more than two years, socialist Democrats and their fake news media allies - CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, Washington Post and countless others - have perpetrated the biggest political lie, con, scam and fraud in American history, Brooks continued, arguing that Attorney General William P. Barrs conclusions exposed the accusations of collusion as nothing but a big lie.

He added that, If socialists in the fake news media had any honor, they would cleanse their souls and atone for their sins.

But he didnt expect journalists to do so, he said, Because doubling down is essential to big-lie theory.

Invoking the 10th chapter of the first volume of Mein Kampf, Brooks explained: In that vein, I quote from another socialist who mastered big-lie propaganda to a maximum and deadly effect.

He went on: Quote: In the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, he said.

With a flourish at the climax of his argument, Brooks declared that the words came from socialist Adolf Hitler, in his book, Mein Kampf.

Indeed they did, and the vilification of Jews as treasonous was central not only to Hitlers worldview but to the Nazi war machine.

On Monday, the Anti-Defamation League called on Brooks to apologize for comparing Democrats to Nazis but made no mention of his decision to deploy rhetoric from Mein Kampf.

The floor speech was not the first time that Brooks has invoked Hitlers account of his political ideology, which was banned in Germany until its copyright expired in 2015. Much of the text was dictated during the Nazi leaders nine-month stay in the Landsberg Prison, where he was detained following his failed Beer Hall Putsch.

In a 2015 town hall, as Al.com reported, Brooks likened Iran to Nazi Germany, citing illiberal politics practiced in Tehran as a reason American diplomats should discontinue nuclear talks ongoing at that time. He asked his constituents, Dont you wish people before World War II had read Mein Kampf and paid attention to it and stopped it from ever happening?

He has also accused Democrats of waging a war on whites.

Brooks, an attorney, held office at the state and local level before he rose to the national stage in 2010. In 2017, he mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, who had been tapped as Trumps attorney general. Republicans instead put forward Roy Moore, who later came under allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors and lost the special election to Democrat Doug Jones.

This story was first published in The Washington Post.Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit his job Tuesday after nearly 20 years as ruler of the North African nation, succumbing to weeks of mass protests demanding he step down.

I have the honor to formally notify you of my decision to terminate my term as president of the republic, as from today, began a statement attributed to the 82-year-old leader by the state-run Algeria Press Service.

He made the decision to contribute to easing the hearts and minds of my compatriots and to enable them to plan together for a better future for Algeria, which they legitimately aspire to, it said.

Once a charismatic politician who helped the country emerge from a civil war in the 1990s, he suffered a stroke in 2013, rendering him unable to walk and mostly mute. He was receiving treatment in Geneva earlier this year when he released a statement saying he would seek a fifth term in Aprils elections.

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That announcement spurred street protests involving tens of thousands of people. Despite repeated concessions, including canceling plans for a fifth term, the demonstrations grew, calling on Bouteflika to step down and nothing more.

In recent days, several of his allies, including the armys chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Said Salah, called for the government to activate constitutional article 102, which would make the speaker of the upper house of parliament, the Council of the Nation, leader for 90 days while new elections are held. It was unclear Tuesday what the succession process would be.

In his resignation statement, Bouteflika said he had taken the appropriate measures, as part of my constitutional prerogatives, to ensure that the state and its institutions will continue to normally function during the transition period, leading to the election of the new president of the republic.

Many opposition figures viewed that statement as yet another attempt by Le Pouvoire  or The Power, as Algerians often call the governments political, military and business cronies  to preserve its status.

Most of the protesters are young people across the political spectrum, who, despite Algerias fossil fuel riches, face unemployment and lack of services.

Festive thoughts, however, dominated the mood on Tuesday.

Moments after Bouteflikas announcement, thousands of people raced to Algiers streets to celebrate. The Algerian Ennahar daily published images of crowds in main squares, while video on social media showed people cheering slogans in support of the army.

The U.S. said Algerians would determine how the country would transition to a new leader.

Questions about how to navigate this transition in Algeria, said State Department spokesman Robert Palladino, in a briefing to reporters, that is for the Algerian people to decide.Thailands ruling military junta has filed a complaint accusing the leader of a popular new political party of sedition and aiding criminals, a move he described as politically motivated.

The party, Future Forward, ran a strong third in elections last month that were also contested by a pro-military party.

Future Forwards leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, said he would report to police on Saturday to answer the summons against him. He could face up to nine years in prison.

The summons did not specify what actions prompted the complaint. It said Thanathorn was accused of sedition for using words or writing to raise unrest and disaffection amongst the people in a manner likely to cause disturbance in the country.

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Several criminal complaints and protests to the Election Commission have already been lodged against Thanathorn and his party.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday before a tour of a Bangkok neighborhood to thank voters, Thanathorn said the new legal action was expected and nothing new.

We are prepared mentally. Theres nothing to worry about, he said. We believe in our innocence. We believe these cases are politically motivated.

Thanathorn commented further about the summons on his Facebook page, saying it was clear that old political games dont end after elections but in turn become even more intense because they are afraid of Future Forward, afraid of our victory that surpassed many peoples expectations.

He said he would answer the summons to show his innocence and prove that Thailands justice system will not submit to becoming a tool for dictators.

Preliminary results of the March 24 general election failed to give any single party a majority, making it unclear whether pro- or anti-junta parties will hold a majority in the House of Representatives. The Future Forward Party is a junior partner in an anti-junta coalition that claims have a majority of seats, but the final official results wont be released until May 9.

Between now and then, there could be shifts in party alliances, and there is concern that the state Election Commission, widely regarded as sympathetic to the junta, could disqualify the elected candidates of its opponents.

The army has several times publicly shown its disdain for Future Forwards policies. The countrys influential army chief on Tuesday issued a thinly veiled attack on the party, not mentioning it by name but implying that it has foreign-influenced ideas unsuitable for the Thai-style democratic system, which is a constitutional monarchy.

Gen. Apirat Kongsompong, the ruling juntas secretary-general, said the army would do its duty, which is to protect, maintain and defend the institutions of nation, religion, and monarchy.

Respect for the monarchy is a sensitive and emotional issue in Thailand, and accusations of disrespect are sometimes used by opportunists to smear their political opponents. Thailand has a lese majeste law that makes criticism of the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment per offense.

Thanathorn has said his partys primary agenda is to stop Thailands military from intervening in politics, and also suggested its budget be slashed.

The new partys critics also have tried to tried to sow suspicion that it is allied with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by the military in a 2006 coup and is treated as the arch-enemy of Thailands royalist establishment. The party denies any such ties, and a large part of its appeal appears to be that it supports neither the military nor Thaksin.

The co-founder of Future Forward, law scholar Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, has come under pressure as well, including a summons to be a witness in what appears to be Thanathorns case.

Piyabutr has been in hot water with conservative Thais who see him as a threat to the monarchy after social media began circulating a video of a Feb. 17, 2013, lecture in which he described the role of the monarchy in democratic governments. He responded that the posting was misleading and was not about Thailands system.

An obscure conservative organization filed a complaint about him with the Election Commission, and on Wednesday singer and actress Haruthai Muangboonsri formally submitted a legal complaint to police accusing him of being a threat to national security.

The military has governed Thailand since then-army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha staged a coup in 2014 against an elected government. Since then, Prayuth has served as junta leader and prime minister, and is the candidate of the pro-military Palang Pracharath Party, which according to preliminary results grabbed the biggest share of the popular vote in last months election.

According to a new constitution implemented under the junta, prime ministers are chosen by a joint vote of the elected House of Representatives and the appointed Senate, giving Prayuth a great advantage. However, his opponents could still control a majority in the lower house, making it difficult for him to pass laws or get a budget approved, and making any government he would head unstable because of the possibility it would face a vote of no confidence.

___

Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed to this report.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Two dozen immigrants detained in Louisiana are on a hunger strike to protest being locked up as many seek asylum in the United States.

Immigrant advocates say the strike started last week with about 150 people, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says only 24 people have continuously denied meals.

Immigrants and their advocates routinely complain about poor conditions and medical care in detention, but those at River Correctional Center in Ferriday, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Baton Rouge, say they are frustrated with the poor attention to their cases and being denied bond.

ICE began contracting with the privately run prison on a temporary basis this year to deal with a spike in immigrants coming through the U.S.-Mexico border. About 500 people are held there, spokesman Bryan Cox said.

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Those on strike say they have limited access to ICE staff and havent been able to convince a judge that they should go free while their asylum cases wind through immigration court.

Its a charade of due process, said Rachel Taber, an organizer with the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice who met with the immigrants this week.

Their perception is that this will not be a real justice or a real court process, she said.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts, said it didnt have statistics readily available to show how many people have been granted bond in the court where the detainees appear.

ICE, which defines a hunger strike as someone rejecting nine consecutive meals, says it respects the rights of people to voice their opinion without interference.

ICE does not retaliate in any way against hunger strikers, Cox said, adding that the agency explains the negative health effects of not eating and closely monitors those who avoid meals.

The strike follows one in El Paso in which ICE force-fed some of the detainees after obtaining a court order.

Immigration authorities are facing a surge in people crossing the southern border, particularly Central American families and children who are fleeing extreme violence and poverty. Many are seeking asylum.

President Donald Trump threatened Friday to shut down the border unless Mexico immediately stops illegal immigration.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Police have disclosed the name of the Connecticut woman who died in an early morning house fire.

State police on Tuesday identified the victim of Monday morning fire in Windham as 62-year-old Cynthia LaFontaine.

Firefighters say crews from several area fire departments helped knock down the fire reported at about 5 a.m.

LaFontaine was found inside the house and transported to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

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The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the state fire marshal.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.A New Hampshire man charged with stabbing a Massachusetts state trooper after a multi-state car chase is heading to trial later this year.

The Greenfield Recorder reports that 18-year-old Nghia Le, of Manchester, New Hampshire, was scheduled by a judge Friday to face trial in September on charges including attempted murder and armed carjacking.

Police say Le carjacked a 72-year-old womans vehicle after a car crash in New Hampshire in October, and led police on chase through Vermont and into Massachusetts, where he crashed in New Salem.

Police say Le then stabbed 47-year-old Trooper Mark Whitcomb before he was shot by another officer.

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Le and Whitcomb were hospitalized for treatment.

Le has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $1 million bail. His attorney has questioned in mental health.

___

Information from: The (Greenfield, Mass.) Recorder, https://www.recorder.com

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.North Carolinas elevator lady will soon punch the last buttons on her career as state labor commissioner.

Republican Commissioner Cherie Berry announced Tuesday that she would not seek reelection in 2020, or 20 years after she first won the job. Her colleagues on the Council of State  composed of Gov. Roy Cooper and other statewide elected leaders  gave her a standing ovation after her announcement at the councils monthly meeting.

Its just time for somebody else to serve, Berry said afterward. Ive always lived my life with I want to leave something when I feel the best about it, and I feel absolutely the best about the Department of Labor right now.

Berry, now age 72 and in her fifth four-year term, brought wider recognition to her otherwise little-known post in the mid-2000s by putting her photo on inspection certificate placards inside what are now 28,000 elevators statewide. With it came the nickname elevator lady or elevator queen. She became the subject of a Twitter parody account and even a song.

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It kind of took on a life of its own and became the kind of cult thing, Berry said, adding that she believes her face helped young children not feel scared when they got on an elevator. They think and believe that I will keep them safe, and I love the little kids and the way they look at it.

Adding her photo to the certificates  previously they had only the commissioners signature  also was a shrewd political move. It provided her a connection to voters when they cast ballots every four years in her race.

It also got the attention of political scientists. A 2015 study from a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Michigan legislative researcher suggested the photo served as non-campaign-specific advertising that helped Berry outperform other North Carolina Republican statewide candidates in 2012.

The Department of Labor also works to improve safety in private-sector businesses and government agencies, including testing the rides at the North Carolina State Fair and other events.

Berry said she was most proud during her tenure of the downward trend of on-the-job injuries and illnesses. She attributes the reductions to working with companies to help them achieve safe and healthy workplaces, rather than simply punishing them for violations.

Thats the way government and the private sector ought to work together, she said.

Berry, who is from Catawba County, was elected to the state House in 1992, where she served for eight years and was tasked with current GOP Rep. Julia Howard to overhaul the states welfare system. She was elected labor commissioner in November 2000.

Berry said she announced her retirement now so that potential candidates from major parties can gear up for a campaign, which formally begins with candidate filings in December. Jessica Holmes, the current chairwoman of the Wake County commissioners, announced earlier this year that she is seeking the Democratic nomination.

The current commissioner cited a song from Rita Coolidge that begins Id rather leave while Im in love, in explaining her decision to step down at the end of next year.

Its the best job that Ive ever had, she told council colleagues. It is absolutely a privilege to serve.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.PHOENIX, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GlobalTranz Enterprises, Inc., a leading technology-driven third-party logistics (3PL) solutions provider, today announced that it has selected funds advised by Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. and its affiliates (Providence) as its new equity partner. Providence has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of GlobalTranz from The Jordan Company, L.P. (TJC). The transaction is expected to close within 60 days.



The team at GlobalTranz has built a technology-driven, market-leading logistics platform that has delivered strong value and growth. The company is poised for continued success and we are excited to be part of the next stage of the companys evolution, said David Phillips, Managing Director, Providence. GlobalTranz is a very strong fit with our model, and we expect to leverage our relationships and resources to help management continue to grow the business.

I am excited to have Providence as our new owner, with their impressive track record of expanding B2B tech-enabled services businesses across multiple sub-sectors and geographies, said Renee Krug, CEO of GlobalTranz. I would like to thank The Jordan Company for their support, guidance and governance. TJCs sector experience facilitated accelerated growth both organically and via acquisitions. We are pleased to provide a successful exit for TJC while concurrently positioning the company well for the next steps in its journey.

Ranked the 10 th largest freight brokerage in the US by Transport Topics and voted an Inbound Logistics Top 10 3PL provider for 2018 , GlobalTranz is driving strong growth with 25,000+ customers through technology innovation , a network of 34,000+ carriers, transformative M&A, creative products and superior customer service delivered by the some of best people in the industry.

Our new partnership with Providence will allow us to continue our pattern of strong growth both organically and through strategic acquisitions, said Bob Farrell, executive chairman of GlobalTranz. With Providences support, we expect to build upon our unique success through ongoing technology innovation and the deployment of logistics solutions that address ever-increasing shipper sophistication.

GlobalTranz was advised by Harris Williams & Co. and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Providence was advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

For more information, visit https://www.globaltranz.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @globaltranz.

About GlobalTranz

GlobalTranz is a technology company providing award-winning cloud-based multi-modal Transportation Management System (TMS) products to shippers, carriers, 3PLs and brokers. GlobalTranz is leading the logistics software and services market in innovative technology that optimizes the efficiency of freight movement and matches shipper demand and carrier capacity in real-time. Leveraging its extensive independent agent network, GlobalTranz has emerged as a fast-growing market leader with a customer base of over 1 million product users and 25,000 shippers. In 2018, Transport Topics named GlobalTranz a Top 10 largest freight brokerage firm in the U.S.

About Providence Equity Partners

Providence is a premier global asset management firm with approximately $40 billion in aggregate capital commitments. Providence pioneered a sector-focused approach to private equity investing with the vision that a dedicated team of industry experts could build exceptional companies of enduring value. Since the firms inception in 1989, Providence has invested in more than 180 companies and has become a leading equity investment firm focused on the media, communications, education and information industries. Providence is headquartered in Providence, RI, and also has offices in New York and London. For more information, please visit www.provequity.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

GlobalTranz:

Nick Fryer

Director of Public Relations & Content Marketing

224-515-7383

nicholas.fryer@globaltranz.com

Providence:

Andrew Cole/Kelsey Markovich

Sard Verbinnen & Co.

212-687-8080

Prov-SVC@sardverb.comA new avenue to addiction care has started with Safe Places Cincy, a pilot program that lets those seeking treatment get it fast, simply by walking into a Cincinnati health center.

We want to be there when someones ready to go into treatment, said Cincinnati council member Amy Murray, who partnered with health officials and organizations to create the program for city residents. They announced the pilot March 18.

The opioid epidemic has required public health and other authorities to open numerous pathways to treatment to try to aid those who are addicted. Providing treatment on demand is important, experts say, because many addicted people want help one moment but turn away from it the next because of withdrawal sickness or environmental triggers that cause them to use drugs.

Quickly connecting a person seeking drug treatment with the right medical care is what Safe Places Cincy aims to do in Cincinnati.

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We have a very narrow mission, said Dr. Odell Owens, president and CEO of Interact for Health, a nonprofit involved in the program. We are another point of contact (for the addicted) exactly when they need it.

Safe Places Cincy works like this: If you want addiction treatment, go to a Cincinnati health center and ask for it. Once there, a strike force team will figure out whether you need hospitalization. If so, theyll get you to the hospital.

If not, theyll connect with one of three partnering addiction centers: Talbert House, Brightview Health or the Center for Addiction Treatment, to secure an appointment.

After that, theyll call Uber Health for a ride to the center if its open. If not, theyll get you to a safe place to stay. When the treatment site opens, Uber Health will take you there.

Cincinnati Health Commissioner Melba Moore said her departments role is a natural.

This is a public health issue. This is what we should be doing in our health centers, she said.

Providing help fast is one thing, but letting drug users know that the help is available can be just as trying. But Safe Places Cincy founders say thats being handled, too. The health centers will have posters about the program to inform those seeking the help. They will let their current clients know about it, too. Treatment centers and shelters will be informed, and the Exchange Project, the areas syringe-exchange program, will provide news about the additional way to get help to its participants.

Murray got the initial idea from Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Jorge Elorza more than a year ago at a leadership conference in Colorado. He told her about Safe Station, which started in New Hampshire with fire stations open 24-7 to those seeking treatment.

Manchester, New Hampshire Fire Chief Daniel Goonan came to Cincinnati in September 2018 to talk about the program with Interact officials, Murray and firefighters. Safe Station started in May 2016, and Manchesters program has been used as an access point 5,221 times, or roughly five times a day, Goonans records show.

Colerain Township Fire Department adopted the program in November 2018.

There, Safe Station allows those with addiction to go to any of five fire stations in the township at any time of the day or night. Paramedics do a medical assessment, and if alls clear, contact Addiction Services Councils 24-hour line, said Assistant Fire Chief Will Mueller. The council sends transportation (unless the person has to be transported to a hospital) and gets the person to treatment.

Mueller said Safe Station removes the barrier of time so people can come forward when theyre ready. So far, eight people have asked for help at the Colerain stations.

Cincinnati Fire Department officials werent entirely comfortable with the idea. Murray said the departments size would complicate logistics, so organizers took a different route via the health centers

Interact for Health got the program rolling with a $10,000 grant for its Uber Health account. Moore said she has strike force teams ready to go at the health centers, during regular hours.

Theres hope that, after the yearlong pilot program, Safe Places Cincy will find a treatment avenue thats a 24/7 partner so that people can get help round-the-clock. The next step would include providing behavioral health help to families of the addicted, she said.

Interact for Health plans to evaluate the program, in part by tracking the progress of those who take up the Safe Places Cincy offer for help, Owens said.

Costs for Safe Places Cincy are minimal, Murray said. The program did not require City Council approval because the cost of the Uber service is coming through the Interact grant, and the health centers are already staffed, Moore said. Private insurance or Medicaid covers treatment and, Moore said, health teams will help enroll the uninsured.

For now, six of the citys seven health centers (in Downtown, East End, Lower Price Hill, Madisonville, Northside and Over-the-Rhine) are prepared to help. To learn locations of the Cincinnati health centers, visit the health department website online.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Young people have rallied at the Rhode Island statehouse in support of gun-control measures.

More than 100 people attended the event on Saturday, one year after the massive March for Our Lives rallies were held in Washington D.C. and cities across the country.

Those demonstrations followed the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people.

Tori Richard is co-founder of March for Our Lives Rhode Island and an organizer of Saturdays rally.

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She told The Providence Journal that they want to show that young people are still serious. Richard says activists are going to get stuff done.

Rhode Island lawmakers are debating several gun bills, including a measure that would ban people from taking concealed weapons into schools.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.The chairman of North Carolinas Republican Party, an insurance magnate and two of his associates are facing federal charges for a plan to shower the states top insurance regulator with campaign contributions to ensure special business treatment, a criminal indictment unsealed Tuesday said.

State GOP Chairman Robin Hayes and insurance and investment firm founder Greg Lindberg were among those charged with bribery, conspiracy and other crimes.

The four defendants appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate.

Hayes also was charged with lying to the FBI. The 73-year-old former congressman announced Monday that he wouldnt seek re-election as party chairman, citing health problems.

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Hayes steadfastly denies the allegations made against him and is eager to clear his name, his attorney, Kearns Davis, said in a statement.

Lindberg  largely unknown politically until his contributions started flowing heavily in 2017  has given more than $5 million to North Carolina candidates, party committees and independent expenditure groups.

Federal prosecutors allege that between April 2017 and August, Lindberg sought to shower Republican state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey with contributions through the state GOP and an independent committee in exchange for actions helping Lindbergs businesses. Lindberg sought, among other things, the removal of a Causey deputy responsible for examining Lindbergs Durham-based Global Bankers Insurance Group.

The unidentified deputy commissioner was deliberately and intentionally and maliciously hurting my reputation with other regulators, the indictment quoted Lindberg as saying to Causey.

Lindberg, political consultant John Gray, and John Palermo  a former county Republican chairman who was working for Lindbergs investment company Eli Global LLC  met with Causey at least five times in the winter and spring of 2018 to discuss favors and money, prosecutors said.

Lindbergs team urged Causey to hire Palermo to replace the deputy commissioner or become her boss, prosecutors said. Causey eventually refused, fearing Palermos ties to Lindbergs company would be discovered by journalists, the indictment said. Lindberg then proposed we recruit someone brand new to the Department with the same skill set, the indictment said.

Palermo then created an independent expenditure committee with limited public disclosure and the ability to spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns that was funded with $1.5 million of Lindbergs money, prosecutors said. In all, Lindberg and his associates promised Causey $2 million in donations.

Lindberg asked Hayes to direct $250,000 to Causeys re-election campaign; Hayes initially protested, saying transferring so much money would attract attention, but he went along, prosecutors said.

Whatever you all want to do, well do, Hayes said, according to the indictment. Alright, Ill get er done.

In October, as the investigation was building steam, Causey turned over $250,000 in donations from the state GOP to U.S. Marshals. The commissioner also returned $5,000 that Lindberg had donated directly to Causeys campaign.

Causey  first elected to a four-year term in 2016  was not charged in the indictment. Prosecutors said in a news release that he voluntarily reported the scheme.

Everything I did was in cooperation and with direction of the federal investigators, Causey said in a phone interview.

Causey said he was sorry to hear about the indictments, but everybody makes their own decisions.

The case also threatens to embroil an unidentified official who prosecutors described as speaking to Causey several times on Lindbergs behalf. Lindberg made a $150,000 contribution to a political committee backing Public Official A on the same February 2018 date he learned the politician was willing to help sway Causey, prosecutors said.

Federal Election Commission records show Lindberg made a contribution in that amount to Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Walkers Mark Walker Victory Committee around the same time. Its the only $150,000 contribution by Lindberg listed in 2018 on the FEC website.

Walkers spokesman, Jack Minor, said he couldnt confirm if Walker was Public Official A, adding that the February 2018 contribution eventually went to the Republican National Committee and wasnt used for Walkers campaign.

Walker is not and never has been a target of this investigation, and has committed no wrongdoing, Minor said in a statement, adding that Walker has assisted federal investigators.

Palermo, 63, of Pittsboro, didnt return calls seeking comment. A published number for Gray, 68, of Chapel Hill, was disconnected.

The state GOP cooperated with the investigation, including turning over requested documents, attorney Josh Howard said in a statement.

Greg Lindberg is innocent of the charges in the indictment and we look forward to demonstrating this when we get our day in court, his attorney, Anne Tompkins, said in a statement.

A spokesman for Global Bankers and Eli Global noted the companies were not charged. Global Bankers has cooperated with federal prosecutors and will continue doing so, spokesman Steven Goldberg said.

Lindbergs contributions included at least $250,000 to the state Democratic Party. Hes also given in the past to outside groups that have supported then-Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, whos now chairman of the state Democratic Party, and Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is running for governor in 2020.

___

Follow Emery P. Dalesio on Twitter at https://twitter.com/emerydalesio . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/emery%20dalesio .

___

Associated Press writer Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a former Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate and zookeeper in an attempted murder-for-hire plot.

Jurors returned the guilty verdict following six days of testimony in the trial of Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, 56, who was accused of trying to arrange the killing of Florida animal sanctuary founder Carole Baskin, who criticized his treatment of animals. Baskin wasnt harmed.

Maldonado-Passage, known as Joe Exotic, was also found guilty in the deaths of five tigers, and selling and offering to sell tiger cubs in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

U.S. District Judge Scott Palk did not set a sentencing date for Maldonado-Passage, who could face more than 20 years in prison.

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Maldonado-Passage testified in his own defense on Monday that although disagreements with Baskin spilled over into his social media posts, he never truly wanted her dead.

Prosecutors say Maldonado-Passage offered $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin during a December 2017 meeting that was recorded and played for the jury last week. In the recording, he told the agent, Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off.

Maldonado-Passages attorneys have said their client, who used to operate a zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, wasnt being serious.

Known for his blonde mullet and expletive-laden rants on YouTube, Maldonado-Passage finished third in a three-way Libertarian primary in 2018. Maldonado-Passage also appeared on John Olivers Last Week Tonight when he was a 2016 write-in candidate for president.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of Homeland Security, put down her pen and headphones then stood and hugged the officials from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras she had just listened to, thanking them for their work on what she hailed as a historic pact to target unauthorized migration.

Within hours, President Trump had accused the Northern Triangle countries of doing nothing, and threatened not to only cancel aid to all three, but to close the U.S.-Mexico border entirely.

Were not paying them anymore because they havent done a thing for us, Trump declared.

For Nielsen, that incident last week was only the latest example of being publicly undercut by the president.

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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

Fifteen months into her tenure as head of the governments third-largest department, Nielsen embodies a paradox: She has succeeded in holding onto her job, defying numerous reports that Trump had decided to fire her, but has done so by becoming the public face of controversial policies that havent worked as planned and, in some cases, have backfired.

Nielsen has staged a remarkable comeback after repeatedly being publicly berated and rejected by Trump. One of only four women in Trumps Cabinet, Nielsen, 46, has become one of its longest-serving members  but also one of its most embattled.

She faces House subpoenas and some two dozen investigations by the Homeland Security inspector generals office over immigration and security policy. Record numbers of asylum seekers and Central American families have flooded the border. And Trump is considering naming an immigration czar to coordinate the response, a move that Nielsen supports, but which would further dilute her authority.

In a Fox News op-ed Monday, Nielsen blamed outdated laws, misguided court decisions, and a massive backlog of cases for the migration spike, and said she told Northern Triangle partners last week: Time is up.

Real action is needed  now, she wrote. As a nation, we cannot stand for this.

In an effort to try to stop Central Americans from claiming asylum in the U.S., the Trump administration has taken a series of draconian steps  separating children from their parents, sending roughly 6,000 troops to the border, detaining asylum seekers who exercised their legal rights in tent cities and barbed-wire pens, and forcing asylum applicants to remain in Mexico while they await a U.S. court ruling that could be years away.

None of the deterrents has succeeded.

Instead, the number of asylum applicants has soared. Customs and Border Protection estimates that apprehensions of border crossers will near 100,000 in March, topping Februarys total of 66,450 such arrests, more than almost any month in the last decade. The numbers will likely continue to rise as warmer weather brings a seasonal uptick in migration.

We face a system-wide meltdown, Nielsen wrote to lawmakers on Thursday, requesting emergency authorities, such as the ability to more quickly deport unaccompanied Central American minors.

Outside critics and the departments own inspector general say the administrations policies have worsened the crush at the border. A move to limit access at ports of entry, for example, has given people an incentive to cross the border elsewhere. The administrations refusal to seriously consider expanded cooperation with and aid to the Central American countries the migrants are fleeing all but guarantees the problem will continue to worsen.

Two years into his administration, Donald Trump has failed to scare these migrants away, because they are fleeing desperate circumstances in their country, said Leon Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2014-17. Unless they think about this in a different way, and dont just keep dialing up on enforcement, nothings going to change.

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....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019

Trumps latest threat, to close the border to all traffic in order to pressure Mexico, would risk serious damage to U.S. businesses. Administration officials want Mexico to more aggressively keep migrants from reaching the U.S.  a dicey bet given the countrys historic ambivalence about U.S. migration policies and its relative dearth of resources for enforcement.

Nielsen serves two important roles for a president who avoids accepting personal blame and who sees political combat in the Twitter trenches as central to winning in 2020: He expects her to turn some of his highest-profile political promises into policy, but also to take the heat when theyre met with controversy.

Her staunch defense of those policies  at the cost of her personal credibility with members of Congress  pleases a president who prizes loyalty, even as it complicates her future, according to current and former officials who spoke with The Times.

....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 Homeland Security department did not make Nielsen or another official available for comment.

I think shes being a good soldier, Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, said in an interview. Shes just trying to keep her job.

A senior White House official conceded there were moments when Nielsen was on the outs, but said that especially with her defense of the presidents national emergency declaration in February, her stature in the administration has only risen.

Shes still in the position of defending some of the less popular administration policies, the official continued, requesting anonymity to speak about internal personnel matters. Id say that is going to consistently be her challenge; shes going to be one of the administration officials whos called to the Hill the most in this era of very heavy Democrat oversight.

....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

Immigration policy was once claimed as a major victory for Trump. Early in his tenure, the number of people crossing the border without authorization dropped precipitously. As the numbers fell to a 45-year low, administration officials brushed aside suggestions of a temporary lull and proclaimed that Trumps mere presence in office had changed everything.

Two years later, U.S. officials spent this past weekend detaining hundreds of men, women and children underneath an international bridge in El Paso behind fencing and barbed wire.

As officials have long warned, the rise in asylum-seeking Central American families has overwhelmed a U.S. immigration system designed decades ago for single, adult Mexican men who could be promptly returned across the border.

The numbers remain below the highs hit from the 1980s into the mid-2000s, when U.S. agents routinely arrested more than 1 million a year at the U.S.-Mexico border. In fiscal 2017, officials arrested 303,916 people at the southern border. In fiscal 2018, which ended Sept. 30, U.S. agents arrested 396,579 people, closer to the levels seen in the last years of the Obama administration.

But being well below the historic peak provides little comfort to Trump and aides like Stephen Miller, the domestic policy advisor, and John Bolton, the national security advisor, who favor less immigration and who talk of asylum seekers as invaders.

I dont get the sense that most people are satisfied with the status quo, the senior White House official said. Theres a very serious dissatisfaction with the deterrence-type policy.

Nielsen entered this difficult arena with much less experience than her predecessor as Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly, who headed the militarys Southern Command, with responsibility stretching from Central America to the southern tip of South America.

Nielsen had spent more than a decade in private-sector security consulting when she volunteered to help serve as the sherpa guiding Kelly through his confirmation  an easy task, as Kelly was well-liked on Capitol Hill for his straight talk. She then followed Kelly to Homeland Security as his chief of staff in early 2017, and again to the White House when he became Trumps chief of staff six months later.

Roughly a dozen years had passed since Nielsen had served in government. As a young lawyer three years after 9/11, she worked on President George W. Bushs Homeland Security Council and managed legislative policy at the Transportation Security Administration.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, center, listens as President Trump delivers remarks and vetoes the resolution that strikes down his national emergency declaration at the border. (Shawn Thew / EPA/Shutterstock)

Kelly admired her work, and in October 2017, Trump nominated Nielsen to replace Kelly as head of Homeland Security, whose more than 240,000 employees handle not only immigration and border security  Trumps signature issues  but also cyber security, safeguarding elections, and hurricane response.

The Senate confirmed Nielsen by a vote of 62-37 in early December. Still, Trump viewed Nielsen with suspicion because of her association with the Republican establishment.

She brought to the job a deep knowledge of policy, according to those who know her. Shes literally an encyclopedia, said Blain Rethmeier, who worked at the Bush White House with Nielsen and helped her and Kelly navigate their confirmations.

Having never led a large organization, however, Nielsen faced a steep learning curve, he said, particularly in a White House beset by infighting.

Nielsen worked hard to show her dedication to a president who prizes loyalty. Like Kelly, she has publicly backed, or declined to condemn, a number of Trumps more extreme statements.

Shortly after taking the helm at Homeland Security, Nielsen dodged questions from senators on whether Trump had described Haiti and some African countries as shitholes, preferring immigrants from nations like Norway.

In July 2018, she echoed Trumps claim both sides were to blame after the deadly violence between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., saying, Its not that one side is right, one side is wrong.

Through repeated controversies, shes stuck with the administration line. Shes tenacious, Rethmeier said. A lot of people in this political environment wouldve tucked tail, resigned and gone to the private sector.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, right, speaks with Honduran Minister of Security Julian Pacheco. (Orlando Sierra / AFP/Getty Images)

Last year, with Trump incensed by reports of a large group of Central American migrants traveling north, he berated Nielsen for over half an hour in a Cabinet meeting. Were closed, he said of the border.

In June, Nielsen stood at the White House podium and took ownership of the controversial tactic of splitting up migrant children and their relatives. Two days later, the president undercut her when, amid growing public outcry and bipartisan pressure, he signed an executive order to stop family separation.

Nielsens embrace of the separation policy continues to dog her. Both Congress and the Homeland Security departments inspector general are investigating how the policy came about and whether Nielsen was truthful in her testimony about it. Backed by a bipartisan vote, the House Oversight Committee issued its first subpoenas of the new Congress to Nielsen and others on family separation.

In October, Kelly and Bolton got into a shouting match outside the Oval Office over Nielsens failure to stem migration and the presidents threats to cut off aid to Central America.

The following week, Nielsen went to Calexico, Calif., which Trump plans to visit Friday. Standing before a newly erected border barrier bearing a plaque commemorating the president, Nielsen touted the first miles of his promised wall, though the replacement fencing was planned in 2009.

That same month, just after deploying troops to the border ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm election, Trump canceled a trip with Nielsen to the Texas border, saying hed decided to fire her.

Today, Nielsen shows little sign of leaving. Yet with the president having made such difficult to achieve promises as building a great wall along the nearly 2,000-mile border and making Mexico pay for it, and having little patience for the complexities of U.S. immigration law, any Homeland Security secretary may have an impossible job.

Kelly declined to be interviewed for this story. But in an interview with The Times just before he left the White House, he said hed warned colleagues not to take credit for drops in border crossings that would inevitably go back up.

As for Nielsen, he said, She is her own woman; she is not a protege  its a very, very difficult job.

molly.otoole@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollymotooleLongtime San Diego Unified School Board Trustee Kevin Beiser has been accused by four men just starting out in local politics of misconduct, including groping, harassment and sexual assault. Three made their allegations on the record to Voice of San Diego. A fourth person who has not offered his name on the record alleged in a lawsuit that he was raped, that his paid work as an aide to Beisers campaign was conditioned on his accepting Beisers advances and that he was fired because he rejected Beiser.

Beiser, 50, did not return voice and text messages from The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board on Wednesday, but he has denied wrongdoing and asserted he is facing a politically motivated witch hunt. He of course should be able to defend himself against any accusations. But statements made by friends and family members of the three men interviewed by Voice of San Diego corroborate that they were told of Beisers alleged actions after they happened. That some of the alleged incidents occurred after the #MeToo scandal broke in fall 2017 adds further troubling context. And the mens powerful statements collectively suggest Beiser engaged in a pattern of awful, exploitative behavior.

In November 2017, responding to appalling, credible allegations about state and federal lawmakers, our editorial board wrote that [h]arassment claims should be handled as consistently, quickly and publicly as possible, protecting the rights of all, starting with victims.

This view informs our belief that Beiser should resign from the school board, as many of Beisers fellow San Diego Democrats have said. All of Beisers fellow board trustees  Richard Barrera, John Lee Evans, Michael McQuary and Sharon Whitehurst-Payne  and state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Assembly members Todd Gloria and Lorena Gonzalez, and City Council President Georgette Gomez share our view that Beiser can no longer effectively serve as a trustee. He has failed to be the role model a school board member must be.

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Beiser is now on leave from the Sweetwater Union High School District, where he teaches at Castle Park Middle School. The Sweetwater Union High School District, where Beiser teaches at Castle Park Middle School, did the right thing in placing him on leave. But the school board has no power to compel Beiser to resign. That will take community pressure beyond a 58-4 San Diego County Democratic Party vote. Or Beiser reflecting on how he has lost the confidence of these four men, his party and many more.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.Toronto, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) will welcome 14,000 of the brightest minds in educational research April 5-9 during the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting. AERA was first held in Toronto in 1978, which marked the first time the annual meeting was ever hosted outside of the United States.



Educational research is the scientific study of learning processes for the purpose of improving education. The 2019 Annual Meeting will focus on Leveraging Education Research in a 'Post-Truth' Era. Attendees will explore how educational research can be used to lessen inequality and increase educational opportunities in a so-called post-truth political era.



AERAs Annual Meeting will be the first of nine major citywide conventions from the U.S. to take place at the MTCC in 2019. Toronto was recently recognized by a Watkins research report as a top-ranked meeting destination in North America and continues to be a popular choice for meetings coming from the U.S.



We are proud to welcome back AERAs Annual Meeting to Toronto and to the MTCC, said Lorenz Hassenstein, President and CEO of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Toronto is home to a world-class hub of educational institutions and we look forward to hosting delegates who stand for improving education and access to education as well.



We are incredibly pleased to be returning to Canada, which has become a second home for the AERA Annual Meeting, said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. Toronto is a major international destination and our members are enthusiastic about coming together there for five days of ideas, engagement, and networking. With more than 14,000 attendees expected, we anticipate a great deal of energy and excitement.



Toronto is Canadas centre of learning, discovery and knowledge; home to nine colleges and universities, including the University of Toronto, said Tara Gordon, Vice-President, Business Events at Tourism Toronto. AERA once again choosing the city as the destination for its annual meeting speaks to Torontos international standing as a leader in education that includes 1,400 educational establishments and businesses, and more than 100,000 employees.



Members of the media are invited to register to attend the AERA 2019 Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, April 5-9, for five days of cutting edge research, ideas, and engagement. https://bit.ly/2UTMnUx



About the Metro Toronto Convention CentreThe Metro Toronto Convention Centre is Canadas number one convention and trade show facility. Over the past 34 years, the Centre has hosted over 20,000 events and has added $6.3 billion in direct spending economic impact to the community. For further information, please visit www.mtccc.com.

SARASOTA, Fla., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Star2Star Communications, provider of the worlds only Full Spectrum Communications Solution, announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named the Full Spectrum Communications Solution as a 2019 CUSTOMER Product of the Year Award winner. This is the fourth consecutive year Star2Star has been recognized with this award.



The 2019 CUSTOMER Product of the Year Award recognizes vendors that are advancing the call center, CRM and teleservices industries one solution at a time. The award highlights products which enable their clients to meet and exceed the expectations of their customers.

The Full Spectrum Communications Solution revolutionizes business communications with end-to-end solutions that deliver the ultimate flexibility, scalability, and productivity. Full Spectrum Communications unify voice, video, mobile, chat, fax, presence management, and more into a single, easy-to-use system. Companies can select their preferred technology from a range of options including pure to on-premises cloud, reduce their costs, and increase productivity. All Star2Star solutions include advanced UC features, built-in business continuity, and the power of SD-WAN for crystal clear call quality.

When we created the Full Spectrum Communications Solution, we had the customer experience front and center while designing the system, said Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Star2Star. Full Spectrum Communications are designed to solve the complexities and challenges of the modern business in ways other solutions cant. When you have all of the technology you need under one platform, with the ability to integrate and customize for your unique needs, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.

On behalf of both TMC and CUSTOMER magazine, it is my pleasure to honor Star2Star Communications with a 2019 Product of the Year Award, said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. Its Full Spectrum Communications Solution has proven deserving of this elite status and I look forward to continued innovation from Star2Star in 2019 and beyond.

The 21st Annual Products of the Year Award winners will be published in CUSTOMER magazine online and on TMCnet.

About Star2Star Communications

Founded in 2006 in Sarasota, Florida, Star2Star Communications empowers global business success with a Full Spectrum Communications Solution. With options ranging from pure to on-premises cloud, Star2Star offers unparalleled value, reliability, quality, and scalability. Star2Star unifies business communications including voice, video, fax, mobile, chat, and presence management. Merged with Blueface, the leading pan-European UCaaS provider, Star2Star possesses a global influence and customer base. Blueface's proprietary cloud voice platform supports businesses of all sizes, ranging from small-to-medium to large enterprises and strategic wholesale customers.

Star2Star's award-winning, patented Constellation Network overcomes the reliability and quality limitations of other communications technologies and enables companies to choose the deployment methodology that aligns best with their needs. For businesses who require high-quality voice, redundant networks for continuity, and ultra-reliable communications, Star2Star's unique cloud architecture offers the highest guaranteed SLAs in the industry at an affordable price. Businesses with less complexity, who seek the best communications capabilities for their employees and customers, can consider Star2Star's pure cloud solution the optimal choice.

With a customer retention rate of 99.85%, Star2Star has been recognized by a multitude of leading analysts. Over the past several years, Star2Star was named to the Forbes Most Promising Companies list, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 five times, and the Inc. 500|5000 seven times. The company was also named by IHS as a Top 10 Hosted Business VoIP/UC Provider and has been in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaaS, Worldwide for the last five years.

Casey OLoughlin

coloughlin@star2star.comNeed for speed

Research Computing program connects UofSC scientists with high-powered data analytics solutions

They dont look like a NASCAR pit crew, but the Research Computing team is speeding up the data-crunching capabilities of the universitys scientists, bringing faster analytical results and more efficient computing to those who work with very large and complex data sets.

Research computing is the third pillar of science now, says Paul Sagona, who directs the four-person team in the universitys Division of Information Technology. Youve got theoretical, experimentation, and now computation and simulation. Its become an absolute necessity for science.

The Research Computing program was begun several years ago to help researchers improve project performance by optimizing data analytic work flows, identifying bottlenecks and problems in computer code and securing computing resources at the university level and beyond.

Depending on a researchers computing needs, we can help migrate them onto larger systems with more CPU cores and more RAM. If their code scales well, well move them up to what we have available on campus and, if necessary, find ways to graduate them to larger resources, whether it be supercomputing centers across the country or cloud computing.

The program offers services at no charge to university researchers, although there are opportunities to pay for dedicated and priority access to the universitys computer cluster. Research Computings services sometimes improve research grant competitiveness by demonstrating that a researcher has high-powered data analytics support and that the research question itself is scalable.

Sean Norman, an environmental health sciences professor in the Arnold School of Public Health, needed the kind of speed Research Computing can deliver. His metagenomics research involves collecting environmental field samples and analyzing their genetic profile.

With the advances in DNA sequencing, we generate millions of DNA sequences, and we have to rely on computers to help us, Norman says. We cant sit down and actually analyze 30 or 40 million sequences by hand.

When the information technology divisions Hyperion high-performance computing cluster became operational last fall, Norman worked with Research Computing to use the new machine for his teams data analytic needs. He had previously used the national supercomputer network, which provides major computing horsepower but also requires waiting in line with other researchers around the country.

The in-house Hyperion was far more convenient to use, but Sagonas team noticed that some of the analyses Norman was running were taking a month or more to complete.

By optimizing the work flow of Sean Normans research, we were able to speed it up, says Sagona, adding that the goal was to reduce the computing time from months to weeks. After optimizing the computer code, Sagonas team determined that the Hyperions capacity wasnt sufficient for the task. Thats when they looked at cloud computing.

Sagonas team talked to Google Cloud engineers and began to optimize Normans coding for a cloud-based approach. They tested small samples initially to ensure the code worked, then uploaded the entire data set to Google Cloud.

We ended up accessing nearly 4,000 computing nodes, each one of them with up to 10-times the computing horsepower of a high-powered laptop, Sagona says.

Ben Torkian, senior application scientist for Research Computing, wrote software tools that could split the job into smaller segments, then reassemble the results after the computational analysis was completed. It turned out to be one of the largest data sets ever run on the Google Cloud Platform, and the results were phenomenal, according to Sagona.

It was a huge job, and it was completed in 16.6 hours. We calculated that if Sean had tried to run this on his PC, it would have taken seven years, Sagona says. We provided a lot of feedback to Google during that project, and I think we learned a lot and they did, too. Well be better prepared to help the next person at USC who needs that much computing power.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Sagona was invited to the Google Cloud Next conference in London this past October to present a talk on the scale of the project and the role of cloud computing in the performance of data analytics.

My talk was well received, and I had a lot of positive feedback, he says. I made some great connections there that will prove to be very valuable moving forward with cloud and funding agencies.

Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutScientists at the Sensitive Instrument Facility of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory achieved real-time atom rearrangement monitoring using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy during the synthesis of intermetallic nanoparticles (iNPs).

In collaboration with Wenyu Huang, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at Iowa State University and a scientist at Ames Laboratory, they examined nanoparticles made of a platinum-tin alloy. These unique iNPs have applications in energy-efficient fuel conversion and biofuel production, and are one focus of Huang's research group.

"In the formation of these materials, there was a lot of information missing in the middle that is useful to us for optimal catalytic properties tuning" said Huang.

By tracking the movement of metal atoms of platinum and tin during formation of iNPs using advanced microscopy at high temperature, intermediate phases were discovered with their own unique set of catalytic properties.

"Conventional material synthesis focuses on the beginning and the end of a reaction, without much understanding of the pathway. Atomic-level observation of the alloying process led to the discovery of the reaction route," said Lin Zhou, a scientist in Ames Laboratory's Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering. "Once we knew intermediate states in between, we could control the reaction to 'stop' at that point. That opens up a new way to predict and control our discovery of new materials."

The research is further discussed in the paper, "Toward Phase and Catalysis Control: Tracking the Formation of Intermetallic Nanoparticles at Atomic Scale," authored by Tao Ma, Shuai Wang, Minda Chen, Raghu Maligal-Ganesh, Lin-Lin Wang, Duane D. Johnson, Matthew J. Kramer, Wenyu Huang, and Lin Zhou; and published in Chem.

This work was supported in part by Laboratory Directed Research and Development funds through Ames Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.The difficulty in spotting minute amounts of disease circulating in the bloodstream has proven a stumbling block in the detection and treatment of cancers that advance stealthily with few symptoms. With a novel electrochemical biosensing device that identifies the tiniest signals these biomarkers emit, a pair of NJIT inventors are hoping to bridge this gap.

Their work in disease detection is an illustration of the power of electrical sensing -- and the growing role of engineers -- in medical research.

"Ideally, there would be a simple, inexpensive test -- performed at a regular patient visit in the absence of specific symptoms -- to screen for some of the more silent, deadly cancers," says Bharath Babu Nunna, a recent Ph.D. graduate who worked with Eon Soo Lee, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, to develop a nanotechnology-enhanced biochip to detect cancers, malaria and viral diseases such as pneumonia early in their progression with a pin prick blood test.

Their device includes a microfluidic channel through which a tiny amount of drawn blood flows past a sensing platform coated with biological agents that bind with targeted biomarkers of disease in body fluids such as blood, tears and urine -- thereby triggering an electrical nanocircuit that signals their presence.

In research recently published in Nano Covergence, Nunna and his co-authors demonstrated the use of gold nanoparticles to enhance the sensor signal response of their device in cancer detection, among other findings.

One of the device's core innovations is the ability to separate blood plasma from whole blood in its microfluidic channels. Blood plasma carries the disease biomarkers and it is therefore necessary to separate it to enhance the "signal to noise ratio" in order to achieve a highly accurate test. The standalone device analyzes a blood sample within two minutes with no need for external equipment.

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"Our approach detects targeted disease biomolecules at the femto scale concentration, which is smaller than nano and even pico scale, and is akin to searching for a planet in a galaxy cluster. Current sensing technology is limited to concentrations a thousand times larger. Using a nanoscale platform allows us to identify these lower levels of disease," Nunna says, adding, "And by separating the plasma from the blood, we are able to concentrate the disease biomarkers."

In another recent paper in BioNanoScience, Nunna, Lee and their co-authors detailed their findings on variations in sensitivity based on microfluidic flow.

Nunna is now a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School, where he is expanding his expertise in microfluidic platforms, using them in organ-on-the-chip research conducted with Su Ryon Shin, a principal investigator and instructor in the medical school's Department of Medicine who develops 3D-bioprinted organoids -- artificial organs composed of cultured cells within structured hydrogels -- for medical experimentation.

"I'm primarily responsible for developing the microfluidic devices that will automate the process of bioprinting 3D organs that will be incorporated on a chip for a number of purposes. I'm tasked, for example, with developing an automated platform for long-term drug efficacy and toxicity analysis to track liver cancer and cardiac biomarkers. I'll be integrating the microfluidic biosensor with the liver cancer- and heart-on-a-chip model for continuous monitoring," he says.

By measuring the biomarker concentrations secreted from drug-injected 3D-bioprinted organs, we can study drug effects on several organs without harming a live patient. Creating artificial organs allows us to experiment freely."

Down the road, he adds, the work at Harvard could potentially be applied in regenerative medicine. "The goal is to develop fully functional 3D-bioprinted organoids and clinically relevant 3D tissues to address the issue of donor shortages in transplantation."

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Nunna says his research at Harvard Medical School will expand his knowledge of programmable microfluidics and precise electrochemical sensing techniques, which will in turn help him advance his biochip technology. The goal is a simple, standard assay for cancer diagnosis that avoids conventional, complex diagnostic steps.

Lee and Nunna have been working with oncologists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hackensack Medical Center to identify clinical applications. As currently designed, the device would provide both qualitative and quantitative results of cancer antigens in blood samples, providing information on the presence and the severity of the cancer. Their next step, he says, will be to expand the platform to detect multiple diseases using a single blood sample obtained with a pin prick.

"Although healthcare technology is considered to be a fast-evolving technology, there are still many unmet needs that need to be addressed. Diagnosing potentially deadly diseases at the early stages is the key to saving lives and improving patient treatment outcomes," he says, adding, "There is a huge need for healthcare technology, including a universal diagnostic platform that can provide instant results at the physician's office and other point-of-care settings."

Nunna is the co-founder and chief research scientist for Abonics, Inc., a startup formed by Lee to commercialize their device. He is named as a co-inventor with Lee on three published biochip patents and six additional patents that are now under review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Their technology has won financial backing from the National Science Foundation I-Corps program and the New Jersey Health Foundation (NJHF), a not-for-profit corporation that supports top biomedical research and health-related education programs in New Jersey.

"As we know, early detection can improve treatment outcomes for patients significantly," explained George F. Heinrich, M.D., vice chair and CEO of NJHF, in announcing the award. "Currently, doctors rely on diagnostic devices requiring a minimum of four hours of sample preparation through centralized diagnostic centers rather than their local offices."

In 2017, Nunna received the "Best Design in Healthcare Innovations and Point-of-Care Innovations Award" at the Healthcare Innovation and Point-of-Care Technologies conference from the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, held at the National Institute of Health headquarters in Bethesda, MD. That same year, the technology received the national innovation award at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo, an annual gathering of technology transfer offices, companies, and investment firms who meet to identify promising technologies from across the globe.MIAMI, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- On March 31, 2019 Miami-based United American Corp ("UnitedCorp" or the "Company") (OTC: UAMA) released its financial results for year-end December 31, 2018 and provided a corporate update from management related to its three strategic areas; data centers/ BlockchainDome Heat Stations, fixed and wireless telecommunications, and intellectual property applications and technology related to social media, telecommunications and blockchain technology.



UnitedCorp reported positive results for 2018 including revenues of US $1.7 million, consolidated net earnings of $249,693 and consolidated EBITDA of $339,842. Revenues accrued exclusively from its Canadian subsidy, which owns and operates its BlockchainDome Heat Stations and which yielded $446,506 in net profit.

BlockchainDome operations began in May 2018 with 1,000 servers going online. The number was increased to 5,000 in 4 BlockchainDome Heat Stations progressively up to November 15th for a total of 8.5 megawatts. Revenues therefore represent a ramp up of operations during that period, with December being the first full month of operations with 5,000 servers online. In February 2019 the Company purchased the property where the 4 BlockchainDomes are located, which is not yet reflected as an asset in the current financial statements.

2018 Annual Highlights

(all figures in US dollars)

Generated annual revenue of $1,703,259 (1) primarily through BlockchainDome Heat Station for hosting, management and power over an 8 month period of operation with a gross profit of $791,685 (2)

primarily through BlockchainDome Heat Station for hosting, management and power over an 8 month period of operation with a gross profit of $791,685 Annual net earnings of $446,506 primarily on segregated BlockchainDome operations and $249,693 for UnitedCorp on a consolidated basis

EBITDA for the period was $339,842 (3)

Increase in tangible assets to $3,036,430

5,000 miners in service at year end (8.5 megawatts)

(1) Revenue is based on approximately 8 months of progressive deployment of 5,000 miners as of December 31st

(2) Gross profit consists of total BlockchainDome billings less direct costs (mainly electricity) and is a non-IFRS measure. Since the Company bills in advance for services and pays its main direct costs in arrears, gross profit as a percentage of revenue may be higher during the current growth cycle.

(3) EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure

Financial Review

Year Ended (US$) Dec 31, 2018 Dec 31, 2017 Total Revenue $ 1,703,259 - Cost of Revenue 911,574 - Gross Profit 791,685 - General Expenses 451,843 354,552 Financial Expenses 37,363 - Depreciation 52,786 - Net Income 249,693 (354,552) EBITDA 339,842 (354,552)

While the Company will continue to develop its BlockchainDome Heat Station business in 2019 as a primary source of revenue, it will also continue to develop its business in other strategic areas. The Company also intends to re-examine the feasibility of up-listing to the OTCQB board or other exchanges as to be determined.

Hyperscale Data Centers:

The Company has been refining its proprietary passive cooling ground-coupled heat-exchanger technology developed for its BlockchainDomes to be used for hyperscale data centers. This is in response to the increasing demand for cloud computing, much of which is to support the growth in consumer and corporate applications or "apps". Such data centers have significant cooling requirements for their servers which are often one of the major cost components of operations. Hyperscale data centers are often located in cooler climates to reduce the cost of server cooling. The company has developed and filed a patent application for an airtight negative pressure server enclosure which, when used in conjunction with its passive cooling ground-coupled heat-exchanger technology, can reduce costs of operations even in environments where typically there is little or no cool ambient air as it does not require mechanical or HVAC-based cooling systems.

Telecommunications:

TNW Wireless Inc.

The Company recently announced that it will complete the acquisition of TNW Wireless Inc. ("TNW Wireless") from Investel Capital Corporation (Canada) later this April after Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ("CRTC") Decision 2019-56 ruled on February 28, 2019 that Bell Mobility Inc. ("Bell") and TELUS Corporation (TELUS) were required to provide it with national roaming services as mandated by the CRTC. It has already initiated the interconnection process with Bell and TELUS as well as with Rogers Communications Canada Inc. The acquisition is subject to approval of Industry Science and Economic Development Canada ("ISED") and the Company has already submitted all necessary information to ISED.

TNW Wireless will focus initially on the development of connectivity within its licensed territory along the Alaska Highway, which is currently underserved by other carriers. TNW Wireless has designed self-contained transceiver modules for rapid deployment along the highway.

Immediately after ruling on TNW's application, the CRTC issued a Notice of Consultation, 2019-57 which will form the basis for a new competitive framework for the future of the Canadian wireless industry. TNW intends to submit interventions and appear in person during the CRTC hearings and be an active participant throughout the entire process. The consultation will focus on the possible use of incumbent national wireless networks by smaller licensed wireless carriers such as TNW to allow them to offer national coverage with the goal of increasing competition in the Canadian market.

Last Mile Solutions

The Company is currently piloting, in partnership with a local Quebec utility, an innovative last mile solution developed in-house to provide wireless broadband connectivity to underserved residential and commercial subscribers. This will provide subscribers with a faster and less expensive option over their current DSL, cable or point to multipoint service. Utilizing the partner's utility poles, the Company installed its own fibre cable along the pilot service area which services subscribers through wireless access points, therefore without the need for a physical connection. Unlike traditional high speed Internet service, this technological approach is less restrictive with bandwidth use and will permit high density connectivity to each subscriber.

Once the pilot is complete later in the 2nd quarter of 2018, the Company will finalize its business plan to roll out the service as a separate operating division and will provide updates as these plans develop.

Other Telecommunications Assets

UnitedCorp will continue to defend its position with respect to certain third party telecommunications assets and operations to which it has an interest and which are currently in dispute in a Vancouver proceeding. Recently, some of these assets were released to the third parties. The Company is supporting litigation to retrieve the balance of the assets and operations which will be used to support the Company's current and future telecommunications operations.

Intellectual Property Technology Applications:

The Company has always believed strongly in innovation and the value of developing a portfolio of high quality intellectual property. It currently maintains the rights, through development or acquisition, to a number of intellectual properties and patents pending under its intellectual property portfolio. It intends to continue this strategy and exploit these assets as part of its business plan. This includes BlockchainDomes, iFramed social media posting technology, iPCS Smartphone over IP, BlockNum blockchain over PSTN and others.

The company will continue its focus on the development of intellectual property and technology solutions such as its Last Mile initiative. It is currently developing several applications for transactions secured on the blockchain which have resulted from experience gained with the BlockchainDomes.

It will also continue to pursue any infringement of its intellectual property including current actions against Snap Inc., Facebook and Instagram for infringement on iFramed and will seek appropriate remedies.

"2018 was a breakout year for United American Corp," stated UnitedCorp CEO Benoit Laliberte. "We began the year with some great ideas and a determined team of professionals who really wanted to put these ideas to work, coupled with an ambitious implementation timeline. The operational result was even better than we expected. With the BlockchainDomes now proven to work well in all seasonal conditions and with them now generating steady revenues, in 2019 we can devote more time to our other strategic areas and build on our experience, in addition to growing the BlockchainDome business."

Financial Statements

The Company's financial statements are available at www.otcmarkets.com under UnitedCorp's profile.

About United American Corp

Established in 1992, United American Corp is a Florida-based development and management company focusing on telecommunications and information technologies. The company currently owns telecommunications assets and holds the rights to manage a portfolio of patents and proprietary technology in telecommunications, social media and Blockchain technology, and owns and operates the BlockchainDomes which are designed to provide heat for agricultural operations using computer equipment in naturally cooled data centers where efficiency and low-cost operations are a priority.

About TNW Wireless Inc.

TNW Wireless is a licensed wireless operator for wholesale and retail services in Canada and a wholly-owned subsidiary of United American Corp pending the acquisition by UnitedCorp. The company currently holds 25MHz bandwidth tier-2 850 MHz licences and is a registered wireless carrier. It is licensed to provide communication services to the Northwest region of Canada and can provide global communication services through its proprietary iPCS Smartphone-over-IP technology.

About the BlockchainDome

The UnitedCorp BlockchainDome Heat Station was designed to provide heat for agricultural operations using ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit chip) mining operations where efficiency and low-cost operations are a priority. The BlockchainDomes, which utilize a proprietary passive cooling ground-coupled heat-exchanger technology, are particularly suited for situations where rapid cluster deployment is required as they can be erected and commissioned in a matter of weeks rather than up to a year using the traditional "Bricks and Mortar" approach. BlockchainDomes can be configured in a wide range of sizes to service any type of greenhouse operation.

How BlockchainDomes work can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDmhhaJKHLg

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors that may be beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances in management's expectations or opinions change.

Source:

United American Corp



Contact:

Jenna Trevor-Deutsch

Director Investor Relations

investorrelations@unitedcorp.com

604 398 5000 ext: 109

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/945a707f-e91d-4728-a19b-5518ce87a40a



Dairy farmers in the Northeast can improve water quality and boost the profitability of their operations by changing the timing and method of applying manure to their fields in the fall, along with planting rye as a cover crop between corn crops -- or by double-cropping rye and corn, according to Penn State researchers.

In a two-year study at Penn State's Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center, researchers compared the effects on nitrogen conservation of three field-management options that could be implemented by farmers, to determine whether new strategies would yield environmental and crop-production benefits.

In a "three-factor factorial experiment," researchers compared injecting manure into the soil versus broadcasting it on the surface; planting rye as a winter cover crop versus allowing the rye to grow longer in the spring and harvesting it as forage; and applying manure before the cover crop is planted in September -- after the harvest of corn for silage -- versus waiting until November to apply the manure into the established rye crop.

The results indicate that dairy farmers can take advantage of win-win opportunities, according to Heather Karsten, associate professor of crop production ecology. By incorporating a few changes into their operations, they can produce more feed for their cattle and reduce the amount of nitrogen lost from their fields.

Karsten, whose research group in the College of Agricultural Sciences conducted the study, pointed out that the research is rooted in both practical and environmental considerations: Dairy farmers typically are limited to six months of manure storage, requiring them to apply manure spring through fall. But in the fall, there is a higher risk of water quality impairment if manure is applied to bare ground and can be washed into streams by precipitation.

"Fall manure applications are of particular concern in the Chesapeake Bay drainage, where agricultural sources have been identified as a primary contributor of phosphorus and nitrogen to the bay, causing hypoxic conditions that threaten aquatic organisms, and overall water quality," Karsten said. "To comply with total maximum daily load limits set for the bay by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, farmers must reduce runoff of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment."

Findings of the research, recently published in Agronomy Journal, suggest that the best environmental and economic outcomes can be achieved together.

According to lead researcher Rachel Milliron, a master's degree student when the study was conducted, now a Penn State Extension educator specializing in agronomy, the research identified multiple strategies that farmers can use to produce forage with fall manure and protect water quality. She explained that two practices and combinations of the practices consistently rose to the top -- harvesting the rye for forage compared to terminating for cover and injecting manure versus surface broadcasting.

Allowing rye to grow 10 to 11 days longer in spring resulted in three- to four-fold greater rye biomass for forage, and two- to three-fold more manure nitrogen in the rye biomass that is removed in the forage. Despite delayed planting of the subsequent corn crop, the double-crop rye forage/corn silage system also produced more total forage -- rye forage and corn silage -- than the rye cover/corn silage system when the manure was applied in September.

When manure is left on the soil surface, nitrogen can be lost as volatilized ammonia gas, but manure injection can conserve this nitrogen in the soil. The researchers found that injecting manure versus surface broadcasting in September conserved manure nitrogen to produce more subsequent corn silage after a rye cover crop. When the rye was harvested for forage, September manure injection also increased rye forage yield and nitrogen in the rye, and produced more total forage -- rye forage and corn silage.

However, to make the best-case scenario work, dairy farmers must have access to and be able to afford manure-injection equipment. And -- as with all strategies related to farming -- weather can foil the best-laid plans for nitrogen conservation, Karsten warned. The double-crop, field-management strategy includes tight windows for farmers to harvest one crop and plant the next one.

"So, a lot of rain at critical harvest times can make muddy fields inaccessible, and could prohibit the double-cropping strategy," she said. "However, with the growing seasons lengthening, we believe this strategy can be a real asset to Northeast dairy farmers."A team from Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Centre has developed a new method for the automated image analysis of brain tumors. In their recent publication, the authors show that machine learning methods carefully trained on standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are more reliable and precise than established radiological methods in the treatment of brain tumors. Thus, they make a valuable contribution to the individualized treatment of tumors. In addition, the validated method is an important first step towards the automated high-throughput analysis of medical image data of brain tumors.

Gliomas are the most common and most malignant brain tumors in adults. In Germany, approximately 4,500 people are diagnosed with a glioma every year. The tumors often cannot be completely removed by surgery. Chemotherapy or radiotherapy are only effective to a limited extent because the tumors are highly resistant. New and precisely validated treatment approaches are therefore urgently needed.

One of the essential criteria for the precise assessment of the efficacy of a new therapy for brain tumors is the growth dynamic, which is determined by MRI. However, the manual measurement of tumor expansion in two planes in the contrast-enhanced MRI scans is prone to errors and leads to slightly different results. "This can have a negative effect on the assessment of therapy response and hence the reproducibility and precision of scientific statements based on imaging," explains Martin Bendszus, Medical Director of the Department of Neuroradiology at the University Hospital in Heidelberg.

In their current study, doctors and scientists from the University Hospital of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) describe the huge potential of machine learning methods in radiological diagnostics. The team has developed neuronal networks in order to assess and clinically validate the therapeutic response of brain tumors on the basis of MRI in a standardized and fully automated way. A team led by Philipp Kickingereder from the Department of Neuroradiology at Heidelberg University Hospital, researchers from the Division of Medical Image Processing (head: Klaus Maier-Hein) at the German Cancer Research Center and colleagues from the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and the Neurological Department of the University Hospital Heidelberg (Medical Director: Wolfgang Wick) worked together on this project.

Using a reference database with MRI scans of almost 500 brain tumor patients at Heidelberg University Hospital, the algorithms were able to automatically recognize and localize brain tumors using artificial neural networks. In addition, the algorithms were trained to volumetrically measure the individual areas (contrast medium-absorbing tumor portion, peritumoral edema) and to precisely assess the response to therapy.

The results were validated in cooperation with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). "The evaluation of more than 2,000 MRI scans of 534 glioblastoma patients from all over Europe shows that our computer-based approach allows a more reliable assessment of therapy response than the conventional method of manual measurement. We were able to improve the reliability of the assessment by 36 percent. This can be crucial for the image-based assessment of therapy efficacy in clinical trials. The prediction of overall survival was also more precise with our new method," explains Kickingereder.

The goal of the Heidelberg physicians and scientists is to use the promising technology for the standardized and fully automated assessment of the therapy response of brain tumors as quickly as possible in clinical studies and, in future, also in clinical routine. In addition, the researchers designed and evaluated a software infrastructure that enables the complete integration of the new technique into existing radiological infrastructure. "In this way, we are creating the prerequisites for broad application and fully automated processing and analysis of MRI scans of brain tumors within a few minutes," explains Klaus Maier-Hein.

The new technology is currently being re-evaluated at the NCT Heidelberg as part of a clinical study to improve the treatment of glioblastoma patients. "For precision therapies, a standardized and reliable assessment of the effectiveness of the new treatment approaches is of outstanding importance. The technology we have developed may be able to make a decisive contribution here," explains Wolfgang Wick.

"With this study, we were able to demonstrate the great potential of artificial neural networks in radiological diagnostics," summarizes Philipp Kickingereder. "In the future, we want to advance the technology for automated high-throughput analysis of medical image data and transfer it not only to brain tumors but also to other diseases such as brain metastases or multiple sclerosis," adds Klaus Maier Hein.In analogy to the amplification of light in a laser, vibrations of a semiconductor crystal, so called phonons, were enhanced by interaction with an electron current. Excitation of a metal-semiconductor nanostructure by intense terahertz (THz) pulses results in a ten-fold amplification of longitudinal optical (LO) phonons at a frequency of 9 THz. Coupling such lattice motions to propagating sound waves holds potential for ultrasound imaging with a sub-nanometer spatial resolution.

The laser is based on a fundamental principle in physics, the (L)ight (A)mplification by (S)timulated (E)mission of (R)adiation. This concept theoretically predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 and experimentally demonstrated for the first time in 1961 can be adopted for the phonon, a vibrational quantum in a crystal which consists of a regular arrangement or lattice of atoms in space. Phonons can be absorbed or emitted by electrons in the crystal. A net amplification of phonons requires that their number emitted per second via stimulated emission is larger than that absorbed per second. In other words, there must be more electrons emitting than absorbing a phonon. This condition is illustrated schematically in Fig. 1 where the electron energy is plotted as a function of the electron momentum k, following roughly a parabolic dependence. For a thermal equilibrium distribution of electrons at room temperature, electron states at higher energies have a smaller population than those at lower energies, resulting in a net phonon absorption. Stimulated emission of a phonon can only prevail if a so-called population inversion exists between two electronic states separated by both the energy and the momentum of the corresponding phonon in the crystal. For optical phonons, the latter condition is very difficult to fulfill because of their comparably large energy.

Researchers from the Max-Born-Institute in Berlin, Germany, the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico and the State University of New York at Buffalo, New York, USA, have now demonstrated the amplification of optical phonons in a specially designed metal-semiconductor nanostructure [Fig. 1(c)]. The system consists of a metallic dog-bone antenna on top of a layered semiconductor structure consisting of GaAs and AlAs. This structure is irradiated with an ultrashort pulse at THz frequencies. On the one hand, the THz pulse excites longitudinal optical (LO) phonons, on the other hand it drives an electron current in the thick GaAs layer. The LO phonons oscillating with a frequency of 9 THz (9,000,000,000,000 Hertz, about 450 million times the highest frequency humans can hear) are amplified by interaction with the electrons. The strength or amplitude of the phonon oscillations is monitored via the concomitant change of the refractive index of the sample. The latter is measured with the help of a second ultrashort pulse at higher frequency. In Fig. 1(d), the time evolution of the phonon excitation is shown. During the peaks of the curve, there is a net phonon amplification with the yellow area under the peaks being a measure of the phonon oscillation amplitude. The movie attached shows the spatiotemporal evolution of the coherent phonon amplitude which displays both periods of phonon attenuation [situation Fig. 1(a)] and phonon amplification [situation Fig. 1(b)] depending on the phase of the THz pulse.

The present work is a proof of principle. For a usable source of high-frequency sound waves, it is necessary to further increase the amplification. Once such a source is available, it can be used for extending the range of sonography towards the length scale of individual biological cells. While the non-propagating optical phonons cannot be directly used for imaging, one can transform them into acoustic phonons with the same frequency in another material and apply the latter for sonographic imaging.On the basis of prior research, representatives of the Pitted Ware Culture from the Stone Age have been known as hard-core sealers, or even Inuits of the Baltic Sea. Now, researchers have discovered barley and wheat grains in areas previously inhabited by this culture, leading to the conclusion that the Pitted Ware Culture adopted agriculture on a small scale.

A study carried out in cooperation with parties representing the discipline of archaeology and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Helsinki, as well as Swedish operators in the field of archaeology (The Archaeologists, a governmental consultant agency, and Arkeologikonsult, a business), found grains of barley and wheat in Pitted Ware settlements on Finland's Aland Islands and in the region of modern Stockholm.

The age of the grains was ascertained using radiocarbon dating. Based on the results, the grains originated in the period of the Pitted Ware culture, thus being approximately 4,300-5,300 years old. In addition to the cereal grains, the plant remnants found in the sites included hazelnut shells, apple seeds, tuberous roots of lesser celandine and rose hips.

The study suggests that small-scale farming was adopted by the Pitted Ware Culture by learning the trade from farmers of the Funnel Beaker Culture, the latter having expanded from continental Europe to Scandinavia.

Other archaeological artefacts are also evidence of close contact between these two cultures.

"The grains found on Aland are proof that the Pitted Ware Culture introduced cultivation to places where it had not yet been practised," says Santeri Vanhanen, a doctoral student of archaeology at the University of Helsinki.

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Cereal perhaps used to brew beer?

The 5,000-year-old barley grain found on Aland is the oldest grain of cereal ever found in Finland. The researchers also found a handful of barley and wheat grains a few hundred years younger, representing either common wheat or club wheat.

"We also dated one barley grain found in Raseborg, southern Finland. This grain and the other earliest grains found in mainland Finland date back some 3,500 years, some 1,500 years behind Aland according to current knowledge," Vanhanen explains.

In prior studies, it has been extremely difficult to demonstrate that the hunter-gatherer population would have adopted farming during recorded history, let alone in the Stone Age. Research on ancient DNA has in recent years proven that the spread of agriculture in Europe was almost exclusively down to migrants.

"We find it possible that this population, which was primarily specialised in marine hunting, continued to grow plants as the practice provided the community with social significance."

From time to time, an abundance of pig bones are found at Pitted Ware sites, even though pigs were not an important part of their daily nourishment. For instance, the bones of more than 30 pigs were found in a grave located on the island of Gotland.

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"Members of the Pitted Ware culture may have held ritual feasts where pigs and cereal products were consumed. It's not inconceivable that grains might even have been used to brew beer, but the evidence is yet to be found," Vanhanen continues.

Grain age determined through radiocarbon dating

The research relies primarily on archaeobotanical methodology, which helps examine plant remains preserved in archaeological sites. In this study, soil samples were collected from the sites, from which plant remains were extracted using a flotation method. The plant remains are charred; in other words, the grains and seeds have turned into carbon after having come to contact with fire.

Plant remains can be identified by examining them through a microscope and comparing them to modern plant parts. The age of individual grains can be determined with radiocarbon dating, based on the fractionation of the radioactive carbon-14 isotope. This way, the age of a grain aged several millennia can be determined with a precision of a few centuries.Ground-breaking work by university experts in Tennessee, Texas and Swansea is helping develop a better understanding of the growing threat posed by antifungal drug resistance.

Invasive aspergillosis is a devastating disease caused by breathing in small airborne spores of the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus and it is a condition where drug resistance has been encountered.

In a healthy person these spores are destroyed by the body's immune system but in those with a weakened immune system -- such as following organ transplantation or in someone with a lung condition such as asthma or cystic fibrosis -- they can trigger a range of problems including infections.

Every year aspergillosis leads to more than 200,000 life-threatening infections and increasingly resistance to vital antifungal drug treatments makes those infections harder to treat.

National Institutes of Health (USA) funding supported a collaboration between the University of Tennessee, the University of Texas and Swansea University as part of a $2 million, five-year research programme. This support enabled investigation of resistance to the triazole class of antifungal drugs used for treating the disease

A new paper, published in the American Microbiology Society journal mBio, reveals how researchers have been able to identify a previously uncharacterised genetic mutation in clinical isolates that leads to resistance.

Professor Jarrod Fortwendel, from the University of Tennessee, said: "As with bacteria, antifungal drug resistance is a real challenge facing medicine.

"Understanding how the fungus becomes drug resistant is important for designing changes in therapy to overcome aspergillosis."

Professor Dave Rogers, also from the University of Tennessee, added: "It is very important that the research continues and we find out more about why it is happening and how we can tackle it for the future."

Swansea University's Professor Steve Kelly, whose experience researching the field of antifungal resistance dates back to 1984, described the findings as a real breakthrough.

He said: "This paper is the result of a lot of hard work and we are delighted to now be able to publish our findings."It is now known that many animals exhibit unique behaviors around same-species corpses, ranging from removal of the bodies and burial among social insects to quiet attendance and caregiving among elephants and primates. Researchers in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have been able to take a close look at the behavioral responses to the deaths of three individuals -- both known and unknown -- in gorillas and have reported their findings in PeerJ -- the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences.

Scientists from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the University of California Davis, Uppsala University, and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature observed and filmed the behavior of mountain gorillas around the corpses of a 35-year-old dominant adult male and a 38-year-old dominant adult female from the same social group living in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Both individuals had died a few hours earlier of illnesses possibly linked to their advanced age. Researchers also studied the behavior of a group of Grauer's gorillas who found the body of a recently deceased adult male in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Researchers predicted that more individuals would engage with the corpses of familiar members of their own group compared to the extra-group mature male and that individuals who shared close social relationships with the deceased would be the ones to spend the most time close to body.

To the researcher's surprise, the behavioral responses toward the corpses in all three cases were remarkably similar. In all three cases, animals typically sat close to the body and stared at it but they also sniffed, poked, groomed and licked it.

In the two mountain gorilla cases, individuals that shared close social relationships with the deceased were the ones who spent the most time in contact with the corpse. For example, a juvenile male who had established a close relationship with Titus, the dominant mountain gorilla silverback male, after his mother left the group, remained close and often in contact with the body for two days, and slept in the same nest with it. The juvenile son of Tuck, the deceased adult female, groomed the corpse and even tried suckling from it despite having already been weaned, a behavior that could indicate his distress near his mother's body.

This work is not only of interest regarding how animals perceive and process death, but it also has important conservation implications. Close inspection of corpses can present a serious risk for disease transmission. Contacts between healthy individuals and infected corpses may be a major way through which diseases like Ebola, which have affected and killed thousands of gorillas in Central Africa, spread among gorillas.GUELPH, Ontario, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Current Water Technologies Inc. (TSX-V: WATR) ("CWTI" or "the Company" or "the Corporation"), an emerging technology leader in the management of industrial and municipal wastewater and drinking water resources, is pleased to announce that it will receive funding of up to $120,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).



In May 2018, CWTI participated in a trade mission to Hebei Province in China sponsored by the Canada China Trade Innovation Alliance (CCTIA). Through the support of local government officials, CWTI was able to identify numerous industries in Hebei province interested in partnering with CWTI to perform testing using CWTIs patented water treatment systems. With research and development funding from NRC IRAP, CWTI is constructing a mobile demonstration unit which will be shipped to the partners sites in Hebei Province, China. Test programs will be designed to demonstrate the efficacy of the system to treat various water streams in order to produce high purity boiler feedwater.

Dr. Gene Shelp, President and CEO of Current Water Technologies, commented that, This most recent investment in Current Water by NRC IRAP builds upon a history of support from the Government of Canada for Current Waters suite of leading-edge electrochemical technologies. This funding allows CWTI to carry out the necessary research and development work to build a mobile demonstration unit which will prove the efficacy of its innovative water treatment system to its partners in China under site-specific water conditions. CWTI would like to thank NRC IRAP and the Government of Canada for this funding and their continued support of emerging Canadian technology companies.

About Current Water Technologies Inc.

Current Water Technologies is a Technology Company applying its patented and proprietary Electrochemical Technologies to the treatment of waste water, desalination water and drinking water contaminated by metals or nutrients, i.e., nitrate/ammonia associated with the mining, metal processing, chemical, agricultural, municipal and waste management sectors. Pumptronics Incorporated operates as a division of the Company and continues to function as an integrated pump station manufacturer specializing in custom design and automation.

The common shares trade on Tier ll of the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol WATR.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Dr. Gene S. Shelp, Ph.D., P.Geo.

President and CEO

Tel: (519) 836-6155

Fax: (519) 836-5683

E-mail: gshelp@currentwatertechnologies.com

Web Site: www.currentwatertechnologies.com

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbour provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause Current Water Technologies Inc. results to differ materially from expectations. These include risks relating to market fluctuations, property performance and other risks. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Certain statements contained in this press release and in certain documents incorporated by reference into this press release constitute forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and "confident" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Current Water believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in, or incorporated by reference into, this press release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Current Water undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.WATERLOO, Ontario, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Axonify announced today that its corporate microlearning platform is now available on the SAP App Center , the digital marketplace for SAP partner offerings. Axonify integrates with SAP SuccessFactors Learning to deliver adaptive microlearning capabilities powered by AI to its customers.



By combining the power of Axonifys microlearning platform with the SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution, organizations can provide a holistic and enriched learning experience that meets the needs of every employee across the entire enterprise -- from corporate staff to frontline employees who have traditionally been difficult to reach, said Carol Leaman, CEO of Axonify. Axonify helps to reinforce critical training in SAP SuccessFactors Learning by providing continuous, personalized microlearning in just a few minutes a day.

Integrating smoothly into SAP SuccessFactors Learning, Axonify helps ensure that frontline employees remember to do the things that matter most to the business. It delivers focused, bite-sized bursts of information in the way that humans learn best, wrapped in an adaptive, engaging experience that fits right into the workflow in 3-5 minute sessions a day. Axonify has the industry's largest library of out-of-the-box, ready-to-consume microlearning content in topic areas such as workplace safety and customer service best practices, as well as a methodology for micro-sizing content for results.

Designed for the way humans learn best  The Axonify platform continually reminds employees of the top things their organization needs them to know, using focused, bite-sized bursts of information and other techniques proven by science to make learning memorable.



The Axonify platform continually reminds employees of the top things their organization needs them to know, using focused, bite-sized bursts of information and other techniques proven by science to make learning memorable. Adaptive to keep pace with change  Axonify continuously measures what each employee knows, and what they dont, along with how confident they are in applying that knowledge on the job. Then the AI-powered adaptive engine continually fills individual knowledge gaps with the digestible bits of personalized information needed to perform in a way that best supports business priorities.



Axonify continuously measures what each employee knows, and what they dont, along with how confident they are in applying that knowledge on the job. Then the AI-powered adaptive engine continually fills individual knowledge gaps with the digestible bits of personalized information needed to perform in a way that best supports business priorities. Built to be engaging  The Axonify platform leverages motivation tools that tap directly into the innate desire to self-challenge, meet goals and win. This engages and hooks employees to return to the platform again and again.





The Axonify platform leverages motivation tools that tap directly into the innate desire to self-challenge, meet goals and win. This engages and hooks employees to return to the platform again and again. Built-in business insights  An AI-powered learning attribution engineAxonify Impactharnesses the power of big data to show how the platform is driving the business metrics that are a priority. Real-time insights identify gaps and growth opportunities to help manage risk.

SAP SuccessFactors customers can view a short product video about Axonify here.

The SAP App Center provides customers with real-time access to more than 1,700 innovative partner solutions that complement and extend their SAP solutions, enabling digital transformation of their business. SAP App Center customers can buy solutions directly from partners and centrally manage purchases, billing and vendor communications.

Axonify is a partner in the SAP PartnerEdge program, which empowers technology partners to build, market and sell software applications on top of market-leading technology platforms from SAP. The SAP PartnerEdge program provides the enablement tools, benefits and support to facilitate building high-quality, disruptive applications focused on specific business needs  quickly and cost-effectively. The program provides access to all relevant SAP technologies in one simple framework under a single, global contract.



About Axonify

Axonify is the microlearning platform trusted by global leaders to makes sure their frontline employees remember to do the things that matter most to the business. It delivers focused, bite-sized bursts of information in the way humans learn best, wrapped in an adaptive, engaging experience that fits right into the workflowfor just 3-5 minutes a day. With more than 130 customers in 95 countries around the world, including Walmart, Bloomingdales, John Hancock and Merck, Axonify makes learning personal to the individual and impactful for the business. Founded in 2011, Axonify is headquartered in Waterloo, ON Canada.

For more information, please visit www.axonify.com

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

For more information, press only:

Kiyomi Harrington

Public Relations

kharrington@axonify.com

519-585-1200 ext 280Washington, D.C., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Hydropower Association (NHA) and Chelan County Public Utility District (Chelan PUD) today released a new report looking at public policy areas that can unleash the capabilities of hydropower for the next 30 years. Entitled Reinvigorating Hydropower: A cornerstone of our clean, affordable, reliable electric future the report describes the value hydropower provides the grid and the recommended governmental and industry policies necessary to fully realize hydropowers value.

Hydropower has and will continue to play a critical role in states meeting clean energy goals. From providing reliably and resiliency to enabling other renewables onto the grid, hydropower is the backbone of the nations electricity system, said Linda Church Ciocci, Executive Director of the National Hydropower Association. However, for it to flourish, policymakers must breathe new life into the polices that are holding it back, and it starts with recognizing the true value of hydropower. This report is a call to action to begin that important discussion.

With the adoption of equitable and smart policies, hydropower provides the best generation pathway to an affordable, reliable and clean electric power system necessary to accomplish deep, economy-wide decarbonization, said Steve Wright, General Manager, Chelan PUD.

The paper makes a call to action, identifying six recommendations, covering a range of issues including market design, public policy and regulatory processes.



Design Markets that Value Hydropower Services

Hydropower is such a multi-purpose performer that it would be highly successful in a resource-neutral market. To be sustainable over the long term, an equitable market must send appropriate price signals to hydropower owners and operators. Markets fail when they only value some attributes (such as energy) while transferring the benefit of others (such as associated grid services). Regulators should re-examine all existing market design rules, practices and resource procurement programs to incentivize the generating attributes needed to achieve carbon reduction and reliability at low cost.



Choose Technology Neutral Policies for Carbon Reduction Goals

Public policy should focus on the best societal outcomes that allow alternative solutions to compete. Renewable energy portfolios (RPSs) and tax incentives began as a means to kick-start nascent technologies, such as wind and solar. As these technologies have matured, policies have not treated hydropower equitably. Going forward, public policy should provide a more equitable, technology-neutral market signal for any generating resources that meet emission goals.



Allow Reinvestment in Existing Hydropower to Meet Additionality Criteria

To achieve low levels of carbon emissions on the grid, renewable energy purchasers and those setting portfolio policies should view reinvestment in hydropower as meeting additionality requirements. Limiting the markets in which hydropower can compete reduces the value of all types of hydropower investment.



Improve the Hydropower Licensing Process

Hydropower has the longest, most complex development timeline of any renewable energy technology. The licensing process can cost millions of dollars and take 10 years or longer  even for projects being relicensed. Recent changes to license term policy may unleash investments at existing projects if properly implemented. However, more action will be needed to streamline and improve overall licensing outcomes.



Improve Project Performance

Given its aging infrastructure and contributions to grid resiliency and reliability, hydropower deserves more focus in the nations research portfolio. There are opportunities to increase hydropower system output through new sensor technologies, combined with mega-data analysis. Federal and state governments should support such efforts by finding room in their budgets to support R&D in the hydropower industry.

Improve Contracting and Quality Control Practices

Hydropower owners and vendors should work together so that equipment is resilient, easy to maintain and achieves its life expectancy. Collaborative arrangements between owners and vendors that lead to longer term warranties and increased operational data sharing can enhance quality in a manner that ensures actual life matches planned investment life.



Click here to access: Reinvigorating Hydropower: A cornerstone of our clean, affordable, reliable electric future



The National Hydropower Association (NHA) is a nonprofit association dedicated exclusively to promoting the growth of clean, renewable hydropower and marine energy.

AttachmentEnglish Lithuanian

The Annual General Meeting of Telia Lietuva, AB (code 121215434, registered address: Lvovo str. 25, Vilnius, Lithuania) Shareholders will be held in a new Telia Lietuva, AB headquarters, Saltoniskiu str. 7, Vilnius, Lithuania, at 13.00 on 26 April 2019. Registration will take place from 12.00 till 12.40.

The meeting is convened by the initiative of the Board and following the decision of the Board adopted on 2 April 2019.

The General Meeting of Shareholders accounting day is 18 April 2019.

The shareholders proprietary rights accounting day is 13 May 2019.

Proposed Agenda:

1. Presentation by the Companys auditor.

2. Approval of the annual consolidated and separate financial statements of the Company for the year 2018 and presentation of the consolidated annual report of the Company for the year 2018.

3. Allocation of the profit of the Company of 2018.

4. Regarding the Companys registered office address.

5. Regarding the approval of preparation of reorganisation terms.

6. Election of the Companys Board members.

7. Regarding the implementation of decisions.

Shareholders who at the end of the General Meeting of Shareholders accounting day, i.e. 18 April 2019, are shareholders of the Company will have a right to participate and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders personally or by proxy, or to be represented by the person with whom an agreement on the transfer of voting rights is concluded.

A person attending the General Meeting of Shareholders and having a voting right must bring with him/her a persons identification document. A person who is not a shareholder must additionally produce a document confirming his/her right to vote at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.

Each shareholder shall have a right, in the manner established by law, to authorise another (natural or legal) person on his/her behalf to attend and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders. At the General Meeting of Shareholders, an authorised person shall have the same rights as would be held by the shareholder or shareholders represented by him/her, unless the authorized person's rights are limited by the power of attorney or by law. The authorised person must provide a power of attorney certified in the manner established by law. A power of attorney issued in a foreign state must be translated into Lithuanian and legalised in the manner established by law. The Company does not establish special form of power of attorney.

A shareholder or a person authorised by him/her shall have a right to vote in writing in advance by filling in the General Voting Ballot. Upon a shareholder's request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the General Meeting, shall send the General Voting Ballot by registered mail free of charge. A sample of the General Voting Ballot is also provided on the Companys website at www.telia.lt under the heading Investors. The General Voting Ballot, duly filled in and signed by the shareholder or a person, having a voting right, and the document confirming the voting right (if any) must be submitted to the Company in writing not later than on the last business day before the General Meeting of Shareholders by sending them by registered mail to Telia Lietuva, AB, Saltoniskiu str. 7, LT-08105 Vilnius, Lithuania, or by submitting them to the Company on a business day (to the aforementioned address).

The Company is not providing the possibility to attend and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders through electronic means of communication.

A shareholder shall have the right to authorize another person (natural or legal) to participate and vote in the General Meeting of Shareholders on the shareholders behalf through electronic communication means. No notarisation of such authorization is required. The power of attorney issued through electronic communication means 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 the means of electronic communication by e-mail Daiva.Kasperaviciene@telia.lt not later than on the last business day before the General Meeting of Shareholders. 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 letters sent via e-mail.

Persons, who at the end of the tenth business day following the General Meeting that will adopt a respective decision, i.e. on 13 May 2019, (rights accounting day) are the shareholders of the Company, shall have proprietary rights.

Each shareholder 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. A proposal to supplement the agenda must be presented in writing by sending it by registered mail to Telia Lietuva, AB, Saltoniskiu str. 7, LT-08105 Vilnius, Lithuania, or by e-mail Daiva.Kasperaviciene@telia.lt, or by submitting it to the Company on the business days (to the before mentioned address). 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 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, to nominate additional candidates to the Board. The proposed draft decisions at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders must be presented in writing by sending them by registered mail to Telia Lietuva, AB, Saltoniskiu str. 7, LT-08105 Vilnius, Lithuania, or by e-mail Daiva.Kasperaviciene@telia.lt, or by submitting it to the Company on a business day (to the aforementioned address). The shareholders shall also be entitled to propose draft resolutions on the agenda issues of the General Meeting of Shareholders in writing during the Meeting.

The shareholders shall have the right to present questions related to issues on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders to the Company in advance in writing, by providing the shareholder's (natural or legal persons) personal identification number, the natural persons consent to process personal data  personal identification number, in a letter sent by registered mail. The Company undertakes to respond if the questions are received not later than 3 business days before the General Meeting of Shareholders. Generic responses shall be posted on the Companys website www.telia.lt under the heading Investors. The Company will not respond personally to the shareholder if the respective information is posted on the Company's website.

The shareholders could get familiarised with the documents possessed by the Company related to the agenda of the Meeting, including draft resolutions, and other documents to be submitted to the General Meeting of Shareholders as well as get information regarding execution of the shareholders rights at the headquarters of Telia Lietuva, AB, Saltoniskiu str. 7, Vilnius, Lithuania, or on the Companys website at www.telia.lt under the heading Investors.

The total number of the Companys shares and the number of shares granting voting rights during the General Meeting of Shareholders is the same and amounts to 582,613,138. ISIN code of the Companys shares is LT0000123911.

Additional information is provided by tel.: +370 5 236 7878 and on the web site www.telia.lt.





Darius Dziaugys,

Head of Investor Relations,

tel. +370 5 236 7878,

e-mail: darius.dziaugys@telia.ltMetro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said he might question the 2019 budget if it is approved by President Rodrigo Duterte without vetoing the assailed "realignments" done by the House after the final spending bill was approved by Congress.

"I might just question it, pero [but] I'll just cross the bridge when we get there. Malaki naman ang indication na ivi-veto eh. [There's a huge indication that it will be vetoed,]" Lacson told CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday.

READ: Andaya confident Duterte will clear up issues on the 2019 budget

However, Lacson expressed some reservations in questioning the budget bill that he described as riddled with illegal and unconstitutional allotments, saying heading to the Supreme Court is a "tedious" process.

Congress finally sent the budget bill to Malacanang for Duterte's signature after a weeks-long deadlock between the House and the Senate over amendments done by the lower chamber to the spending bill after it was ratified by the legislature.

However, the disagreements between both houses did not stop there as Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III signed the budget bill with "strong reservations," highlighting some 96 billion in realignments done by the House post-ratification, which he and other senators deem to be illegal.

http://nine.cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/03/01/Congress-final-2019-budget-work.html

House leaders initially kept mum about Sotto's move, but House Appropriations chair Rolando Andaya recently came out with fresh charges against the Senate, saying the chamber shaved off billions of funds from various government agencies.

In particular, Andaya said the Senate took out funds from the Public Works department which he said may hit the administration's ambitious Build, Build, Build program.

Sotto said Andaya is "delusional," and called his statement as a "last ditch effort to obfuscate the issue and try to prevent the President's veto of their illegal realignments."

Lacson admitted that he did move to cut funding from the Public Works department  slashing 75 billion which the budget department inserted and another 11 billion allotted for right of way acquisition  but all were done with the concurrence of the government agency.

Malacanang said Duterte is still studying the budget. Duterte earlier said he would not sign an illegal spending bill.AMITYVILLE, NY, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Iconic Brands, Inc . (OTCQB: ICNB) in conjunction with our Licensed Partner, United Spirits, announced today the introduction of Hooters Spirits, with the official debut at this years WSWA Conference. Hooters Spirits is a private label brand for Hooters of America, the iconic restaurant chain, with over 430 restaurants globally, and locations in 44 states. The product portfolio consists of Hooters Vodka, Hooters Gin, Hooters Rum, Hooters Tequila, Hooters American Whiskey and Hooters Shooter, a cinnamon flavored whiskey.



The brands will be featured in Hooters Restaurants across the country and available off premise as well, with a full national rollout, supported by a dynamic marketing plan. The anticipated shipping date is tentatively scheduled for June 2019. The company will have a series of launch events around the rollout and will be posting a sign up page on the company website for consumers interested in attending.

Mr. Richard Decicco stated, The Hooters name and brand is iconic worldwide and appeals to a mass consumer. This product has received an incredible response at this years WSWA.

About Iconic Brands, Inc.

Iconic Brands Inc. ("Iconic") is a beverage company with the highest expertise of developing, from inception to completion, alcoholic beverages for itself and third parties. Iconic Brands markets and places products into national distribution through long standing industry relationships. Iconic is a leader in Celebrity and Private Label beverages, procuring superior and unique products from around the world and branding its products with internationally recognized celebrities corporate icons.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could", "may", "will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict", "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this report. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements so as to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov .

Iconic Brands, Inc. Info@IconicBrandsUSA.comGood morning, Bay Area. Its April 3. Snow continues to fall in the Sierra, and PG&E gets a wildfire prevention plan. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

Snow for days

Californias snowpack is 162 percent of the historical average for April  and growing  as another set of storms rolls across the state this week.

Reporter Peter Fimrite writes on what this means for Californias water supply in 2019: State officials must maximize reservoir storage without overloading the dams and risking spillway collapses like what happened at Oroville Dam in February 2017.

More: Two years after its spillways partially collapsed, Oroville Dam gets its first test. Also: State water regulators adopt a far-reaching plan to prevent more of the states creeks, ponds and wetlands from being plowed or paved over.

Empty windows

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

One key reason San Francisco suffers from a glut of empty storefronts appears to be the city itself. The permitting process can take an incoming business six months to a year to complete, a new report by the citys Budget and Legislative Analyst Office concludes.

But how does a retail space stay empty in San Francisco for 16 years? In Noe Valley, a most extreme version of the empty storefront played out over more than a decade. Shwanika Narayan reports on whats finally moving into this storefront and what took so long.

Run for the hills

Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle

They thought it was an April Fools Day joke, but it wasnt: The tech industrys preferred provider of swag, Patagonia, is taking away branded fleeces from companies that arent especially known for being green.

The retailer has confirmed to Chronicle reporter Melia Russell its weeding out certain corporate clients to focus on customers that prioritize the planet, and will continue making branded apparel for businesses that are Certified B, a recognition given to companies that use profits as a force for good in the world  as well as members of the eco-conscious business association, 1% for the Planet.

Wildfire plan ordered

U.S. District Judge William Alsup has ruled that PG&E must comply with new wildfire-prevention requirements. Its not as ambitious as Alsups original wildfire plan, but includes random inspections of the firms tree-trimming program and makes compliance part of the companys probation.

I want to see you succeed, Alsup told PG&Es interim CEO, John Simon at the hearing Tuesday. I want to see the people of California safe in their homes. I know thats probably what you want. But we got to get there.

By the end of the year, he added, we will know how many fires your company has started. Im hoping the answer is zero.

Me too, Simon responded.

Lines for souffle pancakes

Janelle Bitker / The Chronicle 2019

Jiggling stacks of Japanese pancakes are about to flood Instagram feeds. Popular Japanese chain Gram Cafe & Pancakes will open its first U.S. post in San Franciscos Stonestown Galleria on Friday.

Sign up for Bay Briefing Like what you're reading? Subscribe to The Chronicle's Bay Briefing newsletter and get the Bay Area's best journalism in your inbox every weekday. See More Collapse

If youd like to try the souffle pancakes, youll most certaintly need to stand in line. Only 30 orders will be available at three times per day: 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Its not a gimmick, owner Dorothy Wong insists. Each souffle takes 30 minutes from order to table. It has to be precise, delicate, labor intensive, Wong says.

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.

Around the Bay

 Tagging out: BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas will retire from the transit agency next month.

 Making moves: The trade for Kevin Pillar gives the Giants something different, John Shea writes. More: What fans should know about the newest Giants outfielder.

 Last thing we need: Vandals splatter paint, destroy laptops and books at East Oakland school.

 Moved parishes: A Fremont priest has been charged with 30 felonies for alleged lewd acts with a teen boy.

 Budding business: Former San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Marisa Rodriguez has been named San Franciscos new director of the citys Office of Cannabis.

In the Studio

The Chronicle

How do you tell the story of a young mans death in a way that doesnt sensationalize? How do you gain the trust of his family?

Those are some questions The Chronicles Lizzie Johnson struggled with as she wrote a story about Kyle Gamboa and how his familys activism helped convince officials to install a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge.

In the first episode of our newest podcast, Fifth & Mission, Johnson talks to Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper about why the Gamboa family was so important to this story, The Chronicles rules for reporting on suicides and why she keeps certain documents in a drawer in her kitchen. Listen here.

Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here and contact Brown at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.comCrestview Hills, Kentucky (Cincinnati, Ohio), April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Media Alert



What: After a nearly three month search, Flottman Company is excited to announce the hiring of Joe Stone as Flottman Companys Production Manager. Mr. Stone will oversee the day-to-day production efforts for our pharmaceutical, commercial and digital printing solutions.



Why: At the end of 2018, Flottman Companys previous Production Manager, Dave Conner, selected retirement after holding the position for 15 years. Dave was an exceptional attribute to Flottman Companys growth from a 1-2 million dollar business to now over a 5 million dollar service provider. We look forward to Joe continuing our success, said Peter Flottman, Owner and CFO of Flottman Company.



When: At the start of the New Year, Joe Stone took control of the reins as of January 1, 2019. There will be a brief period where Dave Connors time overlaps with Mr. Stones indoctrination, providing an opportune knowledge share.



Where: Flottman Company is a print production facility in Northern Kentucky that specializes in miniature folded leaflets, directions for use flyers and informational pharmaceutical inserts. With nearly one hundred years of commercial print production and over forty years of pharmaceutical insert printing and folding, Flottman Company is a print and pharmaceutical industry leader. Flottman Company is a third generation, family owned business with roots in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, while serving businesses coast to coast.



Who: Joe Stone, formerly with Graphic Village, WS Packaging and Spring Dot brings a wealth of experience in all aspects of production, procurement and delivery. Mr. Stones proficiencies in attributes for estimating, planning and scheduling made him an ideal candidate for this position. Mr. Stone is a life-long resident of Kentucky, graduate of Newport Catholic High School and served our great country for six years in the US Army.



More: Flottman Company  One Company, Many Solutions is parent to a family of business including Rxperts Printed Packaging Group and FUSIONWRX Inc. Rxperts Group services the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries with complete packaging solutions, including folded inserts, labels and folding carton production. FUSIONWRX Inc is the marketing and advertising division, specializing in brand development, geofence advertising and digital marketing.



For more information about Flottman Company visit www.FlottmanCo.com



###

AttachmentsThe horrifying details and gruesome aftermath of the deaths of eight members of a family whose vehicle plunged off a cliff in Mendocino County were laid out Wednesday during an unusual public inquiry into whether the crash was a tragic accident or murder-suicide.

Sheriffs investigators, search-and-rescue leaders and a forensic pathologist testified at the Willits Justice Center on the first day of a two-day inquest into the deaths last year of Jennifer and Sarah Hart and their six children.

The Harts, both 38, of Washington state, were found dead on March 26, 2018, in an upside-down 2003 GMC Yukon that apparently flew off a 100-foot cliff along Highway 1 near Westport in northwestern Mendocino County.

The bodies of three of their adopted children  Markis, 19, and Jeremiah and Abigail, both 14  were found outside the vehicle on the rocky shore. Remains of two other children, Hannah, 16, and Ciera, 12, were subsequently recovered in different locations, apparently after they were carried out by the tide, authorities said.

The body of the sixth child, 15-year-old Devonte, has never been found, but he has since been declared legally dead.

The family had driven to California from their home in Washington when the crash occurred.

Mendocino County sheriffs investigators said last April that they believe the crash was intentional, an allegation that prompted what Sheriff Tom Allman said is the first coroners inquest held in the county in at least a half century.

Allman, who also serves as county coroner, said he called the inquest because he wanted to be transparent and bring closure to family, friends and the public. He told the Ukiah Daily Journal that he wants a jury to decide whether the deaths were an accident, suicide or a Thelma and Louise situation where two mothers ... decided to take their own lives and the lives of their children.

If so, he told the paper, it would be the largest mass murder in Mendocino County history.

The evidence presented to a 14-member jury Wednesday was troubling, but not particularly conclusive.

Dr. Greg Pizarro, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsies, said Jennifer and Sarah Hart and the three children found at the scene died of blunt force injuries typical of high-impact crashes. In particular, he said, the skull and cervical vertebrae of each victim were severed.

Jennifers blood-alcohol level was .10 percent, above the .08 level deemed safe for driving. Bruises and abrasions found on her body indicated she was wearing a seat belt and had been the driver of the vehicle when it plunged off the cliff.

Complicating matters, though, was the fact that her body had fallen out of the car onto the rocks 100 feet below as the SUV was being lifted from the bottom of the cliff.

Sarah Hart showed signs of asphyxiation after she was pinned between the seats and the roof as the vehicle rolled over, Pizarro said.

Both Jennifer and Sarah had consumed a significant amount of Diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, which is known to cause drowsiness. Toxicology reports revealed that Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail all had Diphenhydramine in their systems.

Pizarro said the drug levels found in the victims were well above the normal therapeutic dose. None of the typical bruises that would signal seat belt use in high-velocity crashes were found on any of the four passengers at the scene, he said.

After detectives learned that Jennifer and Sarah had three other children, an intensive search for the missing children was launched, said Jared Chaney, the sheriffs department search and rescue coordinator.

The search, he said, began with eight volunteers and grew to 85 search-and-rescue workers from seven different counties, cadaver dogs, drones and the U.S. Coast Guard. They searched the bluffs and beaches and rappelled down cliffs all along the coast from Point Arena to Fort Bragg.

At one point, Chaney said, investigators followed up on reports from civilians that a sea lion in a cove was seen playing with what looked like human remains. He said he concluded the sea lion had a fish.

The decomposed body of Ciera was found by beachgoers north of the crash site about a week after the crash. There were fractures on her arms and legs, Pizarro said, but she had been in the water too long to determine the cause of death or whether there were drugs in her system when she died.

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.

About a month after the crash, a dog belonging to beach walkers about a mile north of the crash site began playing with a shoe entangled in jeans, officials said. Upon closer inspection the skeletal remains of a foot were discovered inside the shoe. DNA analysis determined that the foot belonged to Hannah.

The Hart family crash drew national attention once it became known that a demonstrator in a viral 2014 photo tearfully hugging a police officer was Devonte Hart.

But disturbing accusations of long-term abuse and neglect of the children emerging after the crash raised the suspicions that the crash may have been more than an accidental tragedy.

Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota for abusing her 6-year-old adoptive daughter, according to court records.

Detective Adam Beck, of the Clark County Sheriffs Office, in Washington, testified that neighbors of the Harts told investigators that Hannah banged on their door one night in the summer of 2017 and complained her parents were withholding food.

The mothers explained the bizarre behavior by saying their children were adopted, had been through trauma and had some mental health issues, Beck said.

Then, in March of last year, Devonte arrived at the neighbors house and urged them to leave food out for him. A week later, on March 23, he came back asking them why the food wasnt there, Beck said. The disturbing request prompted the neighbors to call child protective services.

That was the last day the family was seen at the home, Beck said. Co-workers of Sarah Hart called the Sheriffs Office that same day asking for a welfare check after they received a 3 a.m. text from Hart saying she wouldnt be showing up for work. Beck said Hart had previously indicated to them that she was having problems at home.

The inquest is scheduled to continue Thursday.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @pfimriteSan Francisco Mayor London Breeds elaborate proposal to unlock some of the money raised by Proposition C  the November ballot measure taxing big businesses to fund homelessness programs  sailed unanimously through the Board of Supervisors budget subcommittee Wednesday.

The first Prop. C payments should begin flowing into the citys coffers this month. Back in January, Breed introduced an ordinance that would give companies subject to Prop. C a tax break if they agree to let the city keep the money they pay  even if the courts strike down the measure and order the funds to be repaid.

Voters passed Prop. C by more than 61 percent in November, creating a tax on the citys biggest businesses that would bring in between $250 million and $300 million annually for supportive housing and homelessness services. Hearst Corp., the parent company of The Chronicle, is subject to the tax. But the city will not spend the money until a prickly legal dispute over the measures margin of victory gets resolved. Breed opposed Prop. C in the run-up to election day.

If the courts rule against the city, the tax would be invalidated, compelling the city to return the money it collected. Breeds proposal, co-sponsored by Supervisor Vallie Brown, would allow companies to pay some or all of their Prop. C tax bill and waive their right to have the money returned if the courts rule against the city.

In return, the companies would get a 10 percent tax break on the money they let the city hold onto. The tax break would last until the legal issues resolve or until 2023, whichever comes first.

Funds are sitting in a bank account while people on our street suffer, Andres Power, the mayors policy director, told the subcommittee Wednesday. Ninety cents today is better than a dollar in three years time.

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.

Whether a 10 percent tax credit will be enough of an incentive for big corporations to abandon money they could otherwise win back remains to be seen. Power said the administration had been meeting with numerous companies about the proposal, but no one has yet agreed to participate in the program. The Board of Supervisors will take up the ordinance next week.

 Dominic Fracassa

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider @dominicfracassaThey were just a couple of teenage boys hanging loose like so many others on spring break, tooling through orchards on four-wheel ATVs in the small city of Dixon before strolling alongside a canal with a couple of pals and a dog. Then it all turned terribly wrong.

While the boys were crossing a narrow metal bridge over an irrigation canal, the dog  named Ranger  somehow fell into the water, according to the Solano County Sheriffs Office. The two boys jumped in and saved the pooch. But when they grabbed the bridge to haul themselves out, a massive surge of electricity shot through them.

Unable to release their grips from the bridge, they were electrocuted, according to the Sheriffs Office. One of their friends jumped into the water and knocked them loose, but it was too late.

The fourth friend called 911, and fire paramedics and California Highway Patrol officers whisked them to a local hospital, where the two boys were pronounced dead. That was Monday afternoon.

Now, as word spreads throughout this farming city southwest of Sacramento, the deaths of Jacob Hourmouzus and Jacob Schneider, both 17, has left the community in shock, their parents in deep mourning, and angry questions swirling about why a simple metal bridge over a canal would be charged with a deadly electrical current.

He shouldnt have died this early, Hourmouzus mother, Candy Carrillo, said in a video recorded near the canal by the Sacramento Bee, grief thick in her voice. A senior in high school, fixing to graduate to start his life ... thats too soon for any young person to be taken off this Earth out of negligence when this could have been prevented.

They could have put up signs, she said. They could have fixed the downed power lines or the short circuit they had. They could have prevented kids from going down these roads ... for me, thats neglect.

Sources close to the Sheriffs Office investigation say that one possibility being looked into is that wires running along the bridge to a water pump had frayed and contacted the metal crossing, energizing it. PG&E cut power to the bridge after the accident, and their equipment apparently was not involved, officials said.

The canal and bridge are owned by the Solano Irrigation District, and on Tuesday, General Manager Cary Keaton said: We really dont know the full cause of the incident, but we are working with the sheriffs department on the ongoing investigation.

This is a tragic accident, just horrible, Keaton said. We join Dixon in mourning the loss of these two men and extend our deepest sympathy to family and friends ... our employees knew them. Its not that large a community. It really impacts us all.

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.

The principal of Dixon High School, which both boys attended, posted a condolence on Facebook and said counselors would be on staff this week for students who wish to come in during spring break to mourn. More than 200 people gathered in Dixon for a vigil in the boys honor at sundown Tuesday.

This is the first time something like this has ever happened here, said Mayor Thom Bogue. People are pretty upset by it. Its a shock. For most of us, we cannot even begin to understand what its like to lose a child. So painful.

Our hearts really go out to the families.

Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChronThe Bay Areas last telescope store is heading to court over claims that Asian manufacturers worked together to monopolize the American market.

Orion Telescopes and Binoculars, which is headquartered in Watsonville and has stores there and in Cupertino, is seeking more than $180 million in damages in a lawsuit. A federal court in Northern California said the complaint against telescope maker Ningbo Sunny, filed in 2016, can go to trial. A subsidiary of Ningbo Sunny, a Chinese company, bought Irvine telescope maker Meade Instruments in 2013.

In the complaint, Orion alleges that Ningbo Sunny and a Taiwanese telescope manufacturer, Synta Technology, shared confidential information that competitors normally would not share, including product pricing, order forecasts and credit arrangements.

In a response to the initial complaint, attorneys for Ningbo Sunny argued that Orion lacked detailed evidence to support its claims of harm suffered after Ningbo Sunny acquired Meade Instruments.

Simply because Ningbo and its competitor allegedly took certain actions with respect to prices or market strategy does not mean that those actions were the result of a conspiracy, Ningbo Sunnys attorneys wrote in the response.

Almost all of the recreational telescopes sold in the U.S. are made by Ningbo Sunny and Synta or their affiliates, according to trade data analyzed by the global trade data company Panjiva, and there are no other manufacturers that could meet Orions supply requirements, Orion said in its complaint. The manufacturers make Orion-branded telescopes sold online and in the companys retail stores. Besides Meade, Sunny owns Sunny Optics, and Synta owns the Celestron and Sky-Watcher brands.

Synta, Celestron, Ningbo Sunny and Meade and attorneys representing the firms did not respond to requests for comment.

Ningbo Sunny and Synta agreed to divide the supply market between themselves to eliminate any competition, Orion alleged in its complaint. Purchasers like Orion have little choice but to pay higher prices.

Synta settled with Orion prior to the complaint being filed in 2016, according to Orions filings.

Sunny and Syntas alleged collusion limits the amount of consumer options and raises prices, said Noah Hagey, an attorney for Orion.

Orion cited as evidence emails between Ningbo Sunny executives and the leadership of Syntas Celestron unit.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

In the recently unsealed emails, former Celestron CEO Dave Anderson discusses wiring millions of dollars to a Ningbo Sunny unit to aid its purchase of Meade, and Ningbo Sunny CEO Peter Ni acknowledges Celestrons help in the purchase.

I do understand the vision because Peter has discussed this with us during his last visit of how the four companies are to cooperate for the benefit of the entire group of companies, wrote Joe Lupica, then Meades CEO, in an email to a Synta representative, apparently referring to Ningbo Sunny, Meade, Synta and Celestron.

Orion president Peter Moreo said the courts order would give some peace of mind to the companys 40 employees at its Watsonville headquarters.

We are operating in a business environment that no one ever should have to face, Moreo said in a statement. Our manufacturers based in China have been conspiring for years to put us out of business so that their own brands can dominate the market and raise prices.

Sophia Kunthara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophia.kunthara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophiaKuntharaA federal judge has rejected a trucking organizations challenge to the California Supreme Courts labor-friendly ruling on independent contractors, which said workers must be considered employees rather than contractors  and thus entitled to minimum wages and reimbursement for expenses  unless they run their own business in a different field than the company that hired them.

The California courts April 2018 Dynamex decision had a direct impact on what is known as the gig economy, requiring ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft to pay their drivers unless they could somehow show that driving was outside the usual course of the hiring entitys business. The federal case raised a different issue: whether the rulings impact on trucking companies interfered with federal regulation of interstate commerce.

The Western States Trucking Association, which represents more than 1,000 trucking companies, argued that the California ruling violated a 1994 federal law that prohibited states from regulating the prices, routes or services of interstate carriers. The association said its members would have to treat even short-term drivers as employees and could be forced to raise its prices or reduce its services.

But U.S. District Judge Morrison England of Sacramento said the ruling applies to a wide range of businesses and is not the type of direct regulation forbidden by federal law.

The state courts definition of employment does not conflict with the federal law simply because that interpretation may have some effect on transportation services, England said in his March 28 ruling dismissing the associations suit. The mere fact that increased costs may result does not trigger preemption.

He also said the ruling, and Californias wage orders for truckers, treat in-state and out-of-state residents equally and do not discriminate against companies involved in interstate commerce, as the trucking association contended.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, whose office defended the case in court, called the ruling a victory for truck drivers and for all California workers who put in the time and labor at the behest of their employer. The Teamsters union joined in defense of the state ruling.

The trucking association said it would appeal Englands decision to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Joe Rajkovacz, the associations director of governmental affairs, noted that a federal appeals court in Boston had reached the opposite conclusion in a similar case from Massachusetts in 2016. In January, another appeals court in Philadelphia upheld a New Jersey court ruling that was similar to Dynamex. The Supreme Court often takes up cases to resolve conflicts in lower courts.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The same combatants are already before the Ninth Circuit in another trucking-related dispute after the Trump administration barred California in December from enforcing its meal and rest break requirements on trucking companies whose drivers are in interstate commerce.

California law entitles all workers to 10-minute rest breaks every four hours and 30-minute meal breaks for all shifts of five hours or more. Federal rules require only that long-haul drivers be given at least 30 minutes off if they drive for eight hours in a day.

In its decision, the U.S. Department of Transportation declared that the California rules have no safety benefits beyond those provided by federal regulations and cause an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelkoWelcome back to Tech Chronicle. I cant regulate what you do, but I urge you to subscribe regularly to this newsletter.

Bundle up

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a strange message for regulators: Whatever you do, please, please throw me in the briar patch!

Thats the takeaway from his recent Washington Post editorial where he all but begs for regulation in four areas: harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.

What he leaves unsaid is that this is a briar patch where Facebook was born and bred. While Facebook is still doing a bad job of blocking harmful content, its ahead of smaller rivals like Twitter or Reddit. Stricter regulation would put more of a burden on smaller companies, which cant afford to hire as many moderators or AI engineers as Facebook.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Data portability is a joke: Sure, you can export your photos and text posts from Facebook, but absent the social context of Facebook and the comments left by friends, they dont mean that much. Note how Zuckerberg describes the concept: True data portability should look more like the way people use our platform to sign into an app than the existing ways you can download an archive of your information. In other words, data portability to him means a Log in with Facebook button on every website.

Andrew Harnik / Associated Press 2018

Zuckerbergs regulatory agenda is backward-looking, addressing problems we already know about. What we ought to be regulating are Facebooks future plans, like Zuckerbergs cockamamie scheme to merge Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, a feature no user of any of the three Facebook-owned apps has ever asked for. Or his scheme to put identity on the blockchain, with untold implications for society. (Ramona the Love Terrier is, however, fascinated by your plans to put treats on the barkchain.)

Most notably, Zuckerberg doesnt call for any constraints on advertising technology, where his company is quietly building a bigger and bigger advantage.

So when Zuckerberg comes to Washington with a to-do list, politicians should take a careful look at whats on it. And then they should tackle what he left off.

 Owen Thomas (othomas@sfchronicle.com)

Sign Up for the Newsletter Want to get the latest on Silicon Valley in your inbox? Subscribe to Tech Chronicle. See More Collapse

Quote of the week

My sympathetic colleagues and I will not remain silent as drivers are squeezed in order to shore up initial offerings to investors.  An anonymous Uber employee in an open letter published on Mediums OneZero

Coming up

Google is holding its Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco next week. Its a splashy debut for Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, whom the company recently poached from Oracle.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

What Im reading

Melia Russell examines Patagonias move to strip tech workers of their preferred uniform  a logo fleece vest. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Mark Bergen looks at how YouTube pursued growth over quality and safety, to its audiences and societys peril. (Bloomberg)

Carolyn Said consider what Lyfts Monday stock drop following its successful IPO means for Uber and other tech unicorns. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Rob Price discovered that Facebook deleted years of posts by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, obscuring the companys historical record. (Business Insider)

Tech Chronicle is a thrice-weekly newsletter from Owen Thomas, The Chronicles business editor, and the rest of the tech team. Follow along on Twitter: @techchronicle and Instagram: @techchronicleHousing developer Related California wont have to find a grocery tenant for the Avery, a high-rise residential tower in the Transbay district, after the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure voted 3-2 to lift the requirement Tuesday.

The move comes as the neighborhood is seeing a rise in affordable housing  the Avery includes 150 affordable units  but not in lower-priced grocers. (Some Yelp reviews of the nearby Woodlands Market, the areas only grocery store, praise its selection but knock it for being expensive.)

In 2014, Related won a $72 million bid from the city to build housing in the Transbay Block 8 site. The proposal for the project included space for a grocery store on the ground floor and basement level. But it has proven difficult to sign a tenant, the developer said.

Supermarkets including Whole Foods Market and Trader Joes as well as local favorites like Bi-Rite and Guss Community Market turned down offers to lease the space.

We tried our best, said William Witte, founder and chief executive of Related. This is a citywide issue. Its a challenging retail environment because of high operating costs and labor shortages. People cant go into business to lose money.

Related contacted the community investment office, which approves projects in the Mission Bay, Transbay and Hunters Point neighborhoods, a year ago about the issue, citing problems with the split-level space and small size, as well as proximity to the Woodlands Market and high operating costs. At a December hearing, the office denied Relateds request to abandon its plans to find a grocery-store tenant and asked the developer to redouble its efforts for the next 90 days.

Related said it contacted the supermarkets that had turned it down, along with 15 new ones including some lower-priced grocers, to no avail.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

I think Related made sincere efforts, said Katina Johnson, vice president of the East Cut Community Benefit District, who attended the hearing. I think part of the issue is that the city has decided to build housing, but they really havent thought about what it takes to build a neighborhood.

Related is now pursuing other food and beverage options as it completes the 548-unit apartment building.

We can divide the space into smaller areas and have several tenants, maybe restaurants, too, Witte said.

Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ShwanikaOne of the worlds most renowned aquariums started with a living-room chat about a rundown, shuttered cannery.

With the Monterey Bay Aquarium coming up on its 35th birthday, a trip to The Chronicles subterranean archive turned up amazing photos of the Cannery Row facilitys opening day, Oct. 20, 1984.

In a preview article published Sept. 3, 1984, ahead of the opening, David Perlman, The Chronicles longtime science writer, wrote about the serendipitous circumstances that led to the aquariums founding.

Four marine biologists were sitting around in Carmel Valley living room in 1976 wondering what to do with a defunct Monterey sardine cannery, Perlman wrote.

Stanford University had acquired the cannery to protect the shoreline of the nearby Hopkins marine station, but researchers didnt know what to do with the property.

Dig deep into Chronicle Vault Like what you're reading? Subscribe to the Chronicle Vault newsletter, and get classic archive stories in your in-box twice a week. Read hundreds of historical stories, see thousands of archive photos, and sort through 154 years of classic Chronicle front pages at SFChronicle.com/vault. See More Collapse

An idea hit the biologists: Why not turn the buildings into an aquarium?

One of those marine biologists was Nancy Packard Burnett, the daughter of Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard. After a feasibility study, the Packard family donated $40 million to finish the work, and younger sister Julie Packard  herself a marine biologist  joined as executive director.

The new aquarium wouldnt have exotic fish from around the world. It is designed to acquaint visitors with the precise underwater world they would see if they could dive with scuba gear  through the clear cold water of Monterey Bay itself, Perlman wrote

The aquariums grand opening was on Oct. 20, 1984. Police estimated that 15,000 to 20,000 attended the event, twice the expected crowd.

The opening ceremonies featured a telegram from President Reagan and a parade full of dancing plankton and mermaids on pickups, a Chronicle article reported the next day. A tank with three sea otters was by far the most popular of the 23 major exhibits.

The crowds didnt slow down: By the end of its first decade, more than 17 million visitors had been through its doors, seeking that close-up view of sea life. Thirty-five years later, about 1.8 million are still visiting the aquarium each year.

Mike Maloney / The Chronicle 1986

More from Chronicle Vault

More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.

 Water world: S.F.s Aquatic Park: From dream to disaster to New Deal landmark.

 Historic: How Frank Lloyd Wrights Marin Civic Center was finally built.

 Not Your Century: 1997, the cult that left an arsenal behind.

 Mini-bay: How a giant model of S.F. Bay helped science in Sausalito.

 Scenes of horror: Chronicle Covers: Reliving S.F. Bays deadliest ferry collision.

From the Archive is a weekly column by Bill Van Niekerken, the library director of The Chronicle, exploring the depths of the newspapers archive. Its part of Chronicle Vault, a twice-weekly newsletter highlighting more than 150 years of San Francisco stories. It is edited by Taylor Kate Brown, The Chronicles newsletter editor. Sign up for the newsletter here, and follow Chronicle Vault on Instagram. Contact Bill at bvanniekerken@sfchronicle.com and Taylor at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the Company) (TSX-V: AQS) (OTCQB:AQSZF) is pleased to announce that it expects to file a preliminary prospectus supplement (the Prospectus Supplement) to its short form base shelf prospectus dated August 15, 2017 (the Base Shelf Prospectus) relating to a proposed marketed public offering of convertible debenture units of the Company (each, a Debenture Unit) at a price of $1,000 per Debenture Unit for gross proceeds of approximately $3 million (the Offering).



The indicative terms of the Offering are that each Debenture Unit will consist of a 9.5% unsecured convertible debenture (each, a Convertible Debenture) with a maturity of 36 months from the date of issuance (the Maturity Date) and an indicative amount of common share purchase warrants (each, a Warrant) representing 50% warrant coverage, exercisable for 36 months from the date of issuance. Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a Common Share and collectively, the Common Shares) at an indicative exercise price equal to $0.22, to be determined in the context of the market (the Exercise Price), at any time up to 36 months following Closing of the Offering.

The principal amount of each Convertible Debenture (the Principal Amount) is expected to be convertible, for no additional consideration, into Common Shares at an indicative conversion price of $0.21 (the Conversion Price) at the option of the holder at any time prior to the earlier of: (i) the close of business on the Maturity Date; and (ii) the business day immediately preceding the date specified by the Company for redemption of the Convertible Debentures upon a change of control.

The Company may force the conversion of the principal amount of the then outstanding Convertible Debentures (the Mandatory Conversion) at the Conversion Price on not more than 60 days' and not less than 30 days' notice should the daily volume weighted average trading price of the Common Shares be greater than $0.32 for the consecutive 20 trading days preceding the notice, subject to the Mandatory Conversion being permitted under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV).

The Offering is being led by Mackie Research Capital Corporation as the lead agent and sole bookrunner, on behalf of members of the syndicate (together, the Agents).

The net proceeds received by the Company from the Offering are intended to be used for regulatory applications and, launch of the recently announced Medicom products, investments in the medical cannabis space, initiation of the Trokendi clinical study, working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Company will also grant the Agents an option (the Over-Allotment Option) to cover over-allotments and for market stabilization purposes, exercisable at any time up to 30 days subsequent to the closing of the Offering, to increase the size of the Offering by up to 15% in Debenture Units on the same terms and conditions of the Offering, exercisable in whole or in part.

The Offering is expected to be made pursuant to a Prospectus Supplement to the Base Shelf Prospectus and otherwise by private placement exemption in those jurisdictions where the Offering can lawfully be made, including the United States and Europe.

The closing of the Offering is currently expected to be during the week of April 22, 2019 and will be subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSXV. Until such time as an agency agreement is entered into, the Agents are under no obligation to underwrite, sell or purchase any securities of the Company or to enter into any such transaction. The Company expects to apply to list the Convertible Debentures, Warrants and common shares issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Debentures and exercise of the Warrants on the TSXV, subject to such securities meeting the listing requirements of the TSXV.

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.

ABOUT AEQUUS PHARMACEUTICALS INC.

Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX-V:AQS) (OTCQB:AQSZF) is a growing specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing high quality, differentiated products. Aequus has grown its pipeline to include several commercial products in ophthalmology and transplant, and a development stage pipeline in neurology and psychiatry with a goal of addressing the need for improved medication adherence through enhanced delivery systems. As a complement to its focus in neurology, our most recent addition to the development pipeline was a long-acting form of medical cannabis, where there is a high need for a consistent, predictable and pharmaceutical-grade delivery of products for patients. Aequus intends to commercialize its internal programs in Canada alongside its current portfolio of marketed established medicines and will look to form strategic partnerships that would maximize the reach of its product candidates worldwide. Aequus plans to build on its Canadian commercial platform through the launch of additional products that are either created internally or brought in through an acquisition or license; remaining focused on highly specialized therapeutic areas. For further information, please visit www.aequuspharma.ca



For inquiries please contact:

Aequus Contact Information:

Ann Fehr - Chief Financial Officer

Email: afehr@aequuspharma.ca

Phone: 604-336-7906

Medicom Healthcare Contact Information:

Media Relations

Email: info@medicomhealthcare.com

Follow Aequus on LinkedIn and on Twitter for more news about our company, partners and products.

The TSXV does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Forward Looking Statements



This release may contain forward-looking statements or forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation that may not be based on historical fact, including, without limitation, statements containing the words believe, may, plan, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, expect, potential and similar expressions. Forward- looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as the factors we believe are appropriate. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements relating to: the Offering and its terms, the size of the Offering, the timing of the Offering, potential completion and the use of proceeds of the Offering, the filing of a Prospectus Supplement, the Over-Allotment Option, potential listing of the securities on the TSXV, the plans, strategy and goals of the Company, including with respect to the commercialization of its internal programs, forming strategic partnerships, the launch of products and the addition of products to the Companys portfolio. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Aequus, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Offering may not be completed on the terms indicated or at all, that the Company may be unsuccessful in satisfying the conditions to closing of the Offering, the Companys use of proceeds of the Offering may differ from those indicated and the Convertible Debentures and Warrants may not be listed on the TSXV. In evaluating forward looking statements, current and prospective shareholders should specifically consider various factors set out herein and under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form dated April 30, 2018, a copy of which is available on Aequus profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, and as otherwise disclosed from time to time on Aequus SEDAR profile. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties, or a risk that is not currently known to us materialize, or should assumptions underlying those forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. In making the forward looking statements included in this release, the Company has made various material assumptions, including, but not limited to: the ability of the Company and Agents to complete the Offering, the expected terms of the Offering, obtaining positive results of clinical trials; obtaining regulatory approvals; general business and economic conditions; the Companys ability to successfully outlicense or sell its current products and in-license and develop new products; the assumption that the Companys current good relationships with its manufacturer and other third parties will be maintained; the availability of financing on reasonable terms; the Companys ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market competition; the products and technology offered by the Companys competitors; and the Companys ability to protect patents and proprietary rights. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and we do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are inherently uncertain. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward looking statements.California is wrongly holding on to $331 million from a nationwide bank settlement and must use the money for its intended purpose: to help homeowners victimized by foreclosures during the Great Recession, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The money was part of the states share of a settlement in 2012 with the nations five largest mortgage servicers  Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and GMAC  that had been accused of abusive lending practices. The settlement also contained more than $20 billion in direct aid to homeowners nationwide who had been harmed by a wave of foreclosures that started in the recession of 2008-09.

Sen. Kamala Harris, who was state attorney general at the time, negotiated the terms for California that directed $331 million to programs such as hotlines to help foreclosed homeowners, legal aid, consumer education and efforts to combat financial fraud. Legislators also passed a law in 2012 directing the settlement funds to programs directly helping the homeowners.

But the state Finance Department under Gov. Jerry Brown instead used the money to pay off state housing bonds and debts owed by state agencies that handle the bonds and consumer programs. Last July, the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento ruled that the payments to the agencies violated the 2012 law and the terms of the mortgage settlement. The court ordered the funds redirected to aid foreclosure victims.

In response, Democrats quickly rewrote budget-related legislation to declare that Brown had properly cleared his funding decisions with lawmakers and had complied with the 2012 law. The governor signed the legislation, and the state Supreme Court then told the lower courts to decide whether it was legal.

To no ones surprise, the same appeals court panel in Sacramento examined the new law and reached the same conclusion.

Money was unlawfully diverted from a special fund in contravention of the purposes for which that special fund was established, Justice Andrea Hoch, author of last years appellate ruling, said in Tuesdays 3-0 decision. Although legislators may have believed the Finance Department had legally redirected the $331 million to other housing-related programs, Hoch said, the courts have the last word on the meanings of laws and settlements.

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.

The next step is up to Browns successor, Gov. Gavin Newsom, who can comply with the ruling or seek renewed review in the state Supreme Court. Newsoms office is reviewing its options, said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of the Finance Department.

We hope the governor doesnt continue to waste taxpayers money, said Neil Barofsky, lawyer for the National Asian American Coalition and other groups that sued the state over the funds. He had no estimate of the number of foreclosure victims who could benefit, but observed that $331 million can help an awful lot of homeowners.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelkoRALEIGH, N.C., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With the 2019 renewal of the SECU People Helping People High School and Community College Scholarship programs, the member-funded SECU Foundation has made a substantial commitment to North Carolinas college-bound students of nearly $5 million. This years grant renewal brings the Foundations collective financial commitment to nearly $60 million since the program launched 15 years ago.



The high school program provides a $10,000 four-year scholarship to eligible graduating public high school seniors who are either members of the Credit Union or eligible for membership through a parent or guardian. The scholarship is awarded to graduating seniors from regular public high schools and three charter high schools in North Carolina who will be attending one of the 16 constituent campuses of the University of North Carolina System. The community college program provides two $5,000 scholarships to each of the 58 community colleges in the North Carolina Community College System.

Recipients are selected by the scholarship selection committee of the school district or community college. Awards are based on a candidates embodiment of the credit union philosophy of People Helping People, recognizing leadership, excellence of character, integrity and community involvement, along with an overall academic grade point average of 2.5 or higher.

Hannah Thompson of Pelham, N.C. received a $10,000 high school scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2018. In her note of appreciation to SECU members she said, Receiving this scholarship has helped me and my family, as it will allow me the financial freedom to pursue my goals and follow my dream of becoming an educator. After graduation, I plan to return to my home of Caswell County being the best educator I can be. I am thankful for this opportunity I have been given and look forward to giving back to the community what it has given me.

About SECU and the SECU Foundation

A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, SECU has been providing employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for over 81 years. The Credit Union also offers a diversified line of financial advisory services including retirement and education planning, tax preparation, insurance, trust and estate planning services, and investments through its partners and affiliated entities. SECU serves over 2.3 million members through 265 branch offices, nearly 1,100 ATMs, 24/7 Member Services via phone and a website, www.ncsecu.org. The SECU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization funded by the contributions of SECU members, promotes local community development in North Carolina primarily through high impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare and human services. Since 2004, SECU Foundation has made a collective financial commitment of more than $154 million for initiatives to benefit North Carolinians statewide.

Contact: Jama Campbell, Executive Director

Office: 919-839-5562 | secufoundation@ncsecu.orgEnglish French

MONTREAL, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Computers for Success Canada (CFSC) is pleased to welcome Cogeco as a new multi-province technology donor to the Computers for Schools (CFS) program. Since 1993, this Government of Canada program has refurbished and distributed over 1.6 million computers to schools, libraries, not-for-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and eligible low-income families.



This partnership confirms Cogecos intention to donate its used technology to the CFS program and reflects its support of the programs intent to deliver improved access to technology for Canadians at risk of digital exclusion. This multi-year multi-province partnership will also help support the Government of Canadas Connecting Families Initiative, that offers low-income families access to home Internet for 10 dollars per month. Connecting Families also offers eligible recipients access to a free computer so that they can further benefit from the initiative.

"In committing to donate used technology to the CFS program, Cogeco joins the many national brands that have demonstrated a commitment to digital inclusion and equity for marginalized Canadian populations, said Toby Harper-Merrett, Executive Director, CFSC-OPEC. "Furthermore, the program ensures computers are reused, providing significant environmental benefits as compared to disposal alternatives, and provides digital work experience for CFS Interns across Canada." On a yearly basis, the CFS program hires more than 300 youth interns.

Internet and computer access can be fundamental to a childs success in school, finding employments opportunities, and being a part of social network communities. The access provided by the CFS program helps include populations that might otherwise be further excluded from the digitizing economy.

At Cogeco, we are excited about this new partnership with Computers for Success Canada, which not only allows us to have a positive social impact on Canadian families, but also to find a new life for our used technology, said Elizabeth Alves, Vice President of Internal Audit and Risk Management, who is responsible for the Corporate Social Responsibility function at Cogeco. This is in line with our objective to manage our electronic waste with the highest environmental and security standards.

Technology donations received from the public sector, and from companies such as Cogeco help CFS achieve its sustainable environmental, social and economic impacts.

About the CFS program

Computers for Schools is a national program that refurbishes devices donated from government, private business and individuals for use by schools, libraries, not-for-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and eligible low-income individuals.

About CFSC-OPEC

Computers for Success  Canada Inc. | Ordinateurs pour lexcellence  Canada Inc. (CFSC-OPEC) is a not-for-profit organization, established in 2005, supporting the impacts of Government of Canadas digital inclusion and economic development programs. CFSC-OPECs services stand in four pillars - marketing and communications, partnership development, strategic planning, and project management.Californias new transparency law for police misconduct records (SB1421) was supposed to have gone into effect Jan. 1. Instead, theres been spotty compliance while the law undergoes a series of court challenges over whether the law applied to records before 2019.

The first major decision with broad impact arrived late on Friday, and the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco made it clear in an order that all existing records must be made available to the public.

The order is effective statewide and immediately, unless another appeals court intervenes or the state Supreme Court takes up the case.

A group of police unions had argued that it was impermissible to apply the law to records dated before 2019.

While this argument involved a stretch of the imagination  and has now been struck down by two courts  the unions found an ally in Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has refused to grant reporters requests for pre-2019 records while the case is ongoing.

Its important to remember why the Legislature passed SB1421 in the first place.

For decades, California had some of the nations strictest confidentiality standards for police personnel records.

While in theory that might provide privacy for law enforcement officers, in practice it meant that the public usually didnt know when police agencies discovered officers in their community were committing sexual assault or being dishonest about cases. It also meant the public was in the dark about many use-of-force investigations, including deadly ones.

With the advent of smartphones and social media, the public has gained a new lens onto the way law enforcement uses force against members of the public.

The resulting uproar has threatened the publics trust in law enforcement  and bills like SB1421 are the result. The public wants to understand the behavior of those who have the power to police their communities. Thats a perfectly reasonable request, and one that state lawmakers were wise to honor.

So far, the courts have chosen to honor this request as well. Two courts have unequivocally stated that police departments release all existing records required by SB1421. They must follow the law, and Becerra must enforce it.

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.Upcoming political events in the Bay Area.

THURSDAY

Mueller report rallies: Rallies at numerous Bay Area locations are being held to call for the release of Special Counsel Robert Muellers report into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. 5 p.m. Rally locations are here.

Youth in politics: A forum on the power of young people to effect change. Panelists include Nora Hylton, chair of San Francisco Youth Commissions Transformative Justice Committee; Berkeley City Councilman Rigel Robinson; Lexie Tesch, Berkeley High School student and former chair of the Berkeley Youth Commission; and Scott Warren, author and CEO of Generation Citizen. Sponsored by YR Media and the Commonwealth Clubs Inforum. $30 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $10 for students. 6:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

Sea level rise: San Mateo County hosts Game of Floods  an interactive exercise where small groups will look at maps of projected flooding due to sea level rise, consider strategies that might protect against such damage, and decide where to allocate funds to limit the most negative consequences. 7 p.m., Redwood City Public Library community room, 1044 Middlefield Road. More information is here.

FRIDAY

Brexit: Former BBC correspondent Allan Little discusses Brexit. Sponsored by St. Andrews Society of San Francisco. Free. 7 p.m., 1088 Green St., San Francisco. More information is here.

1948: Creation and Catastrophe: Screening of documentary on pivotal year in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sponsored by Answer Coalition. $5-$10. 7 p.m., 2969 Mission St., San Francisco. More information is here.

SATURDAY

Legislators town hall: Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymen David Chiu and Phil Ting hold a town hall meeting. 11 a.m., UC Hastings, 198 McAllister St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Walk Against Rape: A 2.2-mile march through the Mission District to raise awareness around sexual assault and empower survivors and their supporters. 10 a.m., starting and ending at the Womens Building, 3543 18th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

SUNDAY

Israeli elections: Professor Eran Kaplan, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman chair of Israel studies at San Francisco State University, discusses the upcoming Israeli elections. $15 advance, $20 at the door. 3 p.m., Congregation Beth Sholom, 301 14th Ave., San Francisco. More information is here.

MONDAY

Paying for affordable housing: Fay Darmawi, who has been helping finance community development projects for over 20 years, talks with Bay City Beacon writer Mike Ege about how affordable housing projects can be funded. $5. SF LGBT Center, 1800 Market St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Climate change and health: The health and social consequences of climate change and how new technologies can mitigate their effects. Panelists include Milana Boukhman Trounce, Stanford emergency medicine department and director of Stanford biosecurity and infectious disease disaster response; Kari Nadeau, professor of pediatrics at Stanford and director of the Sean Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research; aned Stephen Quake, professor of bioengineering and of applied physics at Stanford and co-president of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. Free. 4 p.m., Hauck Auditorium, David and Joan Traitel Building at the Hoover Institution, 435 Lasuen Mall, Stanford University. More information is here.

WEDNESDAY

Covering refugee crises: How politics complicates journalists job of covering migrant refugee crises. A discussion with Giovanna DellOrto, associate professor at the University of Minnesotas Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication and affiliated faculty at the Center for German and European Studies and department of political science. $20 for non-World Affairs Council members, $7 for students. 6:30 p.m., 312 Sutter St., Suite 200, San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 11

Valerie Jarrett: Former adviser to President Barack Obama discusses her book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward, in a Commonwealth Club event. $35 for nommembers, $10 for students. Noon, Marines Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Womens equality in California: Authors of Paving the Way: Womens Struggle for Political Equality in California talk about their work. Free. 4 p.m., Institute of Governmental Studies library, 109 Moses Hall, UC Berkeley. More information is here.

APRIL 14

Eric Swalwell: East Bay Democratic congressman holds a constituent catch-up meeting. 2 p.m., Dublin High School, 8151 Village Pkwy., Dublin.

APRIL 16

Young women in politics: Political and Proud CA celebrates young women who are leaders in the greater Alameda community. Discussion panels on Effective Organizing and Leadership, moderated Rad Women series author Kate Schatz, and on Young Women Paving the Way in Male-Dominated Fields, moderated by Alameda school board President Mia Bonta. Free, registration encouraged. 6:30 p.m., Encinal Junior and Senior High School Student Center, 210 Central Ave., Alameda. More information is here.

Techs effect on S.F.: Silicon City author Cary McClelland and journalist Kim-Mai Cutler in a conversation about the changes the digital economy has brought to San Francisco. $15. 6 p.m., Mannys, 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 17

Sean Spicer: Former press secretary for President Trump talks about media bias and the threat it poses to the U.S. Sponsored by Berkeley College Republicans. Free. 7 p.m., Evans Hall, UC Berkeley. More information is here.

William Burns: Former deputy secretary of state and former ambassador to Russia in conversation at the Commonwealth Club with ex-Rep. Ellen Tauscher. $25 for members, $10 for students. 6:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

New citizen voting: Democracy Action volunteers will register new citizens to vote following swearing-in ceremonies. Two sessions, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. More information is here.

Russias re-emergence: A discussion about Russias re-emergence as a global power, with Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University. $20 for nonmembers of the World Affairs Council, $7 for students. 6:30 p.m. World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., Suite 200, San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 18

Lawrence Lessig: Harvard legal scholar gives a TED+Salon talk on the future of democracy. Comedian Will Durst opens. $32.50 and up. 7:30 p.m., Angelico Hall, Dominican University, 50 Acacia Ave., San Rafael. More information is here.

Journalism in peril: Roman Anin, a Russian journalist who was on the Panama Papers reporting team and is now at Stanford University as a Knight Fellow, discusses how autocrats try to discredit the news media. $6-$12. 6:30 p.m., Mannys, 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 19

Immigration issues: A discussion of immigration issues threatening vulnerable communities. Panelists include Catherine Tactaquin, executive director of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Martha Ockenfels-Martinez of Human Impact Partners; and Lara Kiswani, executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center. Free. 6:30 p.m., Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 Ninth St., Suite 290. More information is here.

APRIL 23

Conversation about race: Reps. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, appear at a town hall meeting about racial issues. 6:30 p.m., Diablo Valley College cafeteria, 321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill. More information is here.

APRIL 24

Legal marijuana: Is legalization of recreational use of marijuana a good idea? Panelists talk about the controversies, risks, and challenges surrounding legalization. Free. Noon, online and at Golden Gate University, 536 Mission St., Room 2201, San Francisco. More information is here.

APRIL 25

Gun violence prevention: A community forum with Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and members of Congregation Shomrei Torahs Social Action Committee. Free, RSVP encouraged. 7 p.m., 2600 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa. More information is here.

Housing crisis: A discussion about the struggle to build enough affordable housing in California. Panelists include state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco; Kate Hartley of the San Francisco Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development; Matt Schwarz of the California Housing Partnership; Ramon Kochavi of Marcus and Millichap Commercial Real Estate Investment; Chris Martin of Housing California; and Zack Olmstead of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Free. 4 p.m., online and at Golden Gate University, 536 Mission St., Room 2201, San Francisco. More information is here.

Max Blumenthal: Journalist and author of The Management of Savagery analyzes how extremist forces that threaten peace across the globe are the end products of U.S. inevitable imperial designs. Benefit for KPFA-FM. $12 advance, $15 at the door. 7:30 p.m., First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley. More information is here.

Josh Harder/TJ Cox: Newly elected Central Valley Democratic House members hold a thank-you event with Bay Area campaign volunteers. Free, RSVP required. 6 p.m., Covo, 981 Mission St., San Francisco. More information and registration here.

APRIL 25-27

Right-wing studies: UC Berkeleys Center for Right-Wing Studies holds a three-day conference hosting scholars whose work deals with the right as a social, political andintellectual phenomenon from the 19th century to the present day. $25, $20 for students. Full agenda and more information are here.

APRIL 27

Conversation about race: Reps. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, appear at a town hall meeting about racial issues. Noon, Black Repertory Group Theater, 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley. More information is here.

MAY 1

Brett McGurk: Former U.S. special envoy in the campaign against ISIS under President Trump and former President Barack Obama talks about his experiences and the direction of American foreign policy. $30 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $10 for students. 6:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

MAY 11

Green New Deal: A town hall on the congressional climate-change resolution, sponsored by the Sunrise Movement. Free. 6:30 p.m., Rinconada library, 1213 Newell Road, Palo Alto. More information is here.

Newsom chief of staff: Gov. Gavin Newsoms chief of staff, Ann OLeary, discusses her job and goals. $15. 7:30 p.m., Mannys, 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MAY 29

Food system equity: A conversation about access, affordability and equity in the food system. Speakers include Danielle Nierenberg of Food Tank, Chronicle food writer Justin Phillips, Tom Philpott of Mother Jones, Leigh Gaymon-Jones of the Castanea Fellowship and Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters. $25. 7 p.m., SFJAZZ, 201 Franklin St., San Francisco. More information is here.

To list an event, email Politics Editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.comGov. Gavin Newsoms decision last month to declare a moratorium on the death penalty in California drew instant complaints that he was tromping on the will of the people who voted down a ban on capital punishment in 2016.

But the real worry for death penalty supporters should be Newsoms long record of getting in front of controversial social issues and bringing them into mainstream acceptance. Same-sex marriage, legalized marijuana and tougher gun-control rules are all issues the governor identified early and turned into popular, voter-friendly causes.

Those who successfully opposed the Proposition 62 death penalty ban in 2016 also passed Proposition 66, which was designed to trim the number of appeals for Death Row inmates and speed up executions. Now they say their concerns are all about fairness.

We had a campaign, we had an election, (Newsom) was campaigning on one side and his side lost, said Kent Scheidegger, legal director for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation and co-author of Prop. 66. Now he wants to change the result.

Newsoms action flies in the face of what voters have done, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said in an interview with KRON-TV after the governor signed his executive order March 13. I guess he decided his personal views outweigh the view of the public.

Newsom doesnt argue that. His decision was absolutely personal, the governor said.

This is about who I am as a human being, he said in a Sacramento news conference. I cant sign my name to (a death warrant). ... I wouldnt be able to sleep at night.

But Newsoms personal concerns may be getting a boost from his political instincts. A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California suggests plenty of other people share his unhappiness with capital punishment.

In the survey, 62 percent of California adults said they would prefer that the penalty for first-degree murder was life imprisonment without parole, compared with 31 percent who favored the death penalty. Thats a sharp contrast from the 49 percent who backed the death penalty in a 2000 poll and the 38 percent support in 2012, said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the institute and the polls director.

Thats a big change over the years, he said. It shows that public opinion is moving on the topic.

But as the previous election results proved, poll numbers are no guarantee of victory, especially with a subject as divisive as the death penalty.

In any election, there will be a campaign, and questions will be raised, Baldassare said. The voters default position is a no vote on initiatives, so its a challenge to find a reason for them to vote yes.

While Newsom talks about his personal concerns about the death penalty, he hasnt shied away from the political aspects of the moratorium.

The governor doubled down on his decision by taking off almost immediately on an East Coast tour to talk about the death penalty on national shows. In a Facebook interview with BuzzFeed News, Newsom said the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates should promise to commute all federal death sentences.

Its the moral thing to do, he said. Ending the death penalty should be part of the conversation of a presidential damn campaign, not some of these sideshows ... that, frankly, are a little more trivial to me than the issues of life and death.

There are plenty of similarities between Newsoms death penalty stance and his 2004 decision to allow same-sex couples to marry in San Francisco.

In February 2004, after barely a month in office, Newsom opened San Francisco City Hall to gay and lesbian couples who wanted to marry, in defiance of a state ban on those unions. While the state Supreme Court shut down the effort after a month and later invalidated all the same-sex marriage licenses, the effort turned Newsom into a national figure.

Death penalty supporters are confident voters arent willing to banish the death penalty, something Californians refused to do in 1972 and 2012, in addition to 2016.

The death penalty (repeal) failed by a bigger margin in 2016 (47 to 53 percent) than it did in 2012 (48 to 52 percent), said Scheidegger. People havent changed that much since then.

But Newsom is familiar with the long game.

It was 11 years between San Franciscos first gay and lesbian marriages and the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that made those same-sex unions legal across America.

And then-President Barack Obama, who as a 2004 candidate for Senate reportedly refused to have his picture take with Newsom because he was worried the same-sex marriage issue would hurt his chances, hailed the ruling as something that made our union a little more perfect.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuthLast dance at Divas Divas, San Franciscos only bar for transgender women and their admirers, is closing after 21 years  just after the city created the Comptons Transgender Cultural District to preserve trans spaces.

Last dance at Divas Divas, San Franciscos only bar for transgender women and their admirers, is closing after 21 years  just after the city created the Comptons Transgender Cultural District to preserve trans spaces.

In 2003, Eva Hayward came home. The address was 1082 Post St., a small apartment building made of sand-colored bricks. It was an important moment for me, she says, to be in the Tenderloin. Shed never lived there before, having grown up in Vermont, near the Canadian border. But it was a homecoming all the same.

The neighborhood had a reputation as a place for transgender women like her, where community happened and resources were available. And right across the street, right at 1081 Post St., was proof  a three-floor club called Divas.

Like the neighborhood, Divas was a place for trans women. There they could flirt with men, and dance, and drink and talk to each other about what hormones do to a body. Some of them came to bartend. Some of them would get a drink before they went to work the street. Divas and the Tenderloin were freedom.

A dancer takes a selfie on a stage at Divas bar in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, March 30, 2019. Divas, the Tenderloin's three story bar devoted to transgender women celebrated it's final night on Saturday. less A dancer takes a selfie on a stage at Divas bar in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, March 30, 2019. Divas, the Tenderloin's three story bar devoted to transgender women celebrated it's final night on ... more Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Divas, San Franciscos only bar for transgender women, closes after 21 years 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

In the years since, that freedom has faded. On Saturday, March 30, after 31 years of business, Divas  the citys only bar for transgender women  held one last party, a wake with music, then closed forever.

The evening was tender and comfortable and full of dancing. By 11 p.m., the ink on the door stamp had run dry, and every floor was warm in every sense of the word. There was no scene, which is to say the people that filled the place werent trying to be anybody but themselves. Nobody cried, not till the end, and almost everybody smiled. Older ladies held court on couches; younger women floated around in the highest high heels. One girl danced with her reflection, watching only herself, as if everything else had fallen away.

For one last night, this place was all theirs.

The loss of Divas is a deep and complicated one for the trans community and for the neighborhood, part of an ongoing undoing of the areas long-held identity as a place for the citys most marginalized.

Is it any longer returning home for someone? Hayward asks. Is this a place to become or transition or explore ones gender and sexuality?

Its not just Divas. Its the whole shape of the neighborhood. Hayward, a professor at the University of Arizona, has since moved on. But she came back to her home for a visit last year. There was an alley behind the building where the women would go for sex or recreational drug use, she said. And when I was there it was a farmers market during part of the week. It was an important spot for many of us.

I wasnt surprised that Divas was closing, Hayward said. I couldnt imagine Divas surviving what had already happened to the Tenderloin.

Rose Olgena sat alone. For her last night at Divas, she wore a long red dress with a slit that cut deep up the side. Her high heels were clear plastic. Im the face of the website, she said and took out her phone. She was right; she was the face of the Divas website.

Olgena managed the dancers, too. Right up until the end. This is my life, she said. Ive met a lot of girls here who became my sisters. This became my home. It changed my life.

And then, right on cue, somebody passed by.

Oh my god, my sis! Olgena called out. She turned and explained: This is my sister.

They chatted a bit. How have you been? All the girls are coming tonight. And then her sister was gone, off hugging other people. Olgena started talking about what would come next. There were no set plans, but there was lots of talk. She knew theyd figure it out. Were all warriors.

Before Divas was Divas it was the Motherlode, a much smaller bar that opened on the corner of Post and Larkin in 1987, back when Polk Gulch and the Tenderloin were thick with spaces for all sorts of queer people. Miss Major Griffin-Gracy remembers those days, bars up and down Turk and Mason and Leavenworth.

It was fun and exciting, she said. Places to go and get dressed up and do shows and have a good time and meet fine boys.

Griffin-Gracy lived in San Francisco on and off from 1967 up until she moved to Little Rock, Ark., a couple years ago. Shes one of the mothers of the movement. She was at Stonewall when the New York bar erupted, and she founded the Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project. She still talks to her girls all the time, said she wept when she got news about Divas closing. Divas was the last place to make it, to hang in there.

Ten years after it opened, Motherlode moved to the new place on Post, a tall, thin building with a glass spine and big wooden doors.

The plan, at the time, was to put a different club on each floor. Eventually it all just became Divas. The top floor was a lounge, with wood floors, a fireplace and, at one time, a pool table. The middle floor was done up like something out of a 90s music video  a prismatic hallway leading to a room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors (lots of them would crack over the years) lit up by strings of white Christmas lights. Downstairs had a long marble-topped bar, plenty of booths, animal-print carpet and a small stage with a backdrop of gold tinsel. On Divas final day, a gone-dark neon sign still hung above the bar, speaking the name Motherlode in tight cursive loops.

In 1998, Christine Beatty wrote about the club for Spectator Magazine. She called Divas an ambitious dream on the verge of being realized. She praised the downstairs bars classy decor and pleasant bathrooms. And she quoted the first owner, Mark Gilpin, as saying, Its the nicest thing the girls have ever had.

Some women, like Angelique Piwinski, talk about being born at Divas. She remembers her first visit, around 2007. She was wearing a suit and tie  she hadnt yet transitioned.

Alexis Miranda, the drag queen bar manager, the Flaming Fuchsia Flamingo Empress 33, was serving drinks. Miranda had started a drag show at the bar back when it was the Motherlode; she followed the place down the street and worked her way up. Cant you just come here as you are? she asked Piwinski. Why cant you just be yourself?

During the next couple years, in town every other week, Piwinski kept coming back, each time a little more herself. Finally, she saw what Miranda had seen and she embraced it. I cant die, Piwinski thought, knowing that I havent been myself.

San Francisco has eulogized many queer spaces over the years. Miranda keeps count.

When NTouch closed, it left the community without an Asian bar. When Esta (Noche) closed, it left the community without a Latino bar. When the Pendulum closed, it left the community without an African American bar, she said.

There are others, too. The Lexington Club, a lesbian bar made of wild stories, closed four years back. The Gangway, a space for older folks, held last call one year ago. Its been replaced with a kung fu-theme straight bar.

Theres no measuring this type of loss; thats an impossible task. But losing Divas matters in a specific way, Miranda said. We cant just go into any bar and do what we did at Divas and hang out and feel comfortable.

And so the same question keeps coming. Where next?

I think the thing that (Divas) offered us was a chance to be. To be with our kind. To be with our sisters. To be with our friends, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy said. The loss is just so huge on so many different levels.

Where do we go now? Theyre trying to get rid of us out of San Francisco. We cant go no place else. After all the struggle to be there.

* * *

Luna Star came walking out of the second-floor crowd. The mirrors made the room look infinite and they split her into four. She took a seat on the couch. She crossed her legs and held her arms to her chest. She was done up in a leather top that crisscrossed over her chest and a brown, floor-length skirt with golden details. She looked young.

Im the new girl, she said. Shed only started dancing at the club about five weeks earlier, and shed never dance there again.

Star was salty at first about the closing. Some of the other dancers had given her a hard time. They wouldnt let her dance one Wednesday, so she had to go above them to get her spot back. But as she talked, she softened up. Its kinda hard to lose this space because I actually kind of do feel at home, she said.

Dancing on that pole made her feel good about herself. What she liked most, though, was being with the other women in the dressing room. Just us dressing and undressing, she said. Its those moments I live for. We share little tidbits about our day. Cis people have access to those moments in their daily life.  Its so sad its getting taken away.

This is where we get to liiiiiive.

Divas was a place to live: a place for fundraisers and memorials, a place for gossip and for family meals. Miranda opened the bar up for Easter and Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. We would set (food) up at the bar and everybody would come eat, she said. Whether we liked the girls or not, whether they had money or not, they came in and ate and it was like family.

In recent years, Divas hasnt been pulling in the numbers it used to, people say. But Miranda said its not closing for lack of business. The owner, Stephen Berkey, has grown tired, she said. The place has been on the market for four years. Berkey, Miranda said, kept holding out for a person who would take it and keep it the same. Eventually he gave up. (Berkey himself would not talk to The Chronicle about the closing.)

As much as Divas held a community, it is not the community, and everybody talks about finding a way forward. Miranda is looking for investors for a new bar. And Aria Said, executive director of the Comptons Transgender Cultural District, which the city established in 2017, is trying to manifest a revived Tenderloin.

Said has some good memories of Divas. (The top-floor lounge was always her favorite.) The place had opened itself up to her when she first moved to the city, homeless and looking for work. Divas was the one place where I would go and see my sisters. It was the one place where I would go and I needed income and would do exotic dancing, she said. For all that it offered, though, Divas was still owned by a cis man. It still had its issues.

Said imagines a Tenderloin where trans people own their own spaces, where they arent attractions to be fetishized, where they make the decisions. Its one thing to have an establishment for trans people  but its a different experience when its led by trans people as well.

Already shes working with a group of black and Latina trans women to open something up. Maybe its not a transgender bar, but it would be a space transgender people frequent and own, she said.

And yet, none of those places would be Divas.

Not everybody was in love with Divas, Griffin-Gracy said. No place is perfect. It had its ups and downs. But goddamn it, it was one of the most interesting places.

* * *

The last show started at 11 p.m. on the small downstairs stage. Alexis Miranda was the host. She was the only one who knew how to hold the microphone so the speakers wouldnt crack and whine. Sonia performed. So did Tiger Lily and Diana. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence blessed the space and Miranda, too. Angelique Piwinski sang the song that used to close out The Carol Burnett Show.

Im so glad we had this time together ...

Just before 1 a.m., Miranda performed the last song. She was all done up in blue: Blue dress. Blue glittery nails. Blue eyeshadow. She was dripping in costume jewelry, also blue. She lip-synched to I Hope You Dance by Gladys Knight.

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens ...

Outside, people crowded the sidewalk. The clubs purple sign, shouting its name, was the brightest thing on Post Street, and the pink and blue lights inside bled through the windows and onto the street. Nobody seemed ready to leave.

There was still time for another drink before last call, but just one, and then never again.

Editors' Note: On Wednesday, April 3, Divas received a slight reprieve. Due to a short delay in the sale, owner Stephen Berkey stated to the The Chronicle in a text message that the first-floor bar would be open for "another week or so."

Chronicle staff writer Jonathan Kauffman contributed to this report.

Ryan Kost is a staff writer at The Chronicle. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @RyanKostFederal immigration officers at San Francisco International Airport violated the civil rights of an Apple employee when they asked to see the contents of his phone and computer after a trip abroad, according to a complaint filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Andreas Gal, an entrepreneur, artificial intelligence technologist and former Mozilla executive, alleges officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained him and demanded to search his employer-issued Apple iPhone XS and MacBook Pro after returning from a business trip to Sweden Nov. 29.

The complaint, filed by the ACLU on behalf of Gal, said officers eventually let Gal go with his devices but revoked his Global Entry privileges. The federal program allows preapproved, low-risk travelers to get expedited clearance when they arrive in the U.S.

If the government intended to scare me, they certainly succeeded, wrote Gal in a post for Medium detailing the incident. Ever since, I travel in fear. Ive reduced my international travel and my heart pounds every time I go through U.S. customs. I will, however, not be silent.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Federal immigration policy gives border agents legal authority to search an individuals personal belongings, including electronic devices. Agents also have the authority to confiscate the device if a traveler doesnt willingly comply to a search.

But privacy advocates say searching digital devices is particularly intrusive because they contain extremely personal information.

Customs officers at U.S. borders and airports searched the cell phones, laptops, tablets and other devices of 30,200 travelers during fiscal 2017, a 60 percent increase from the 19,051 travelers searched in the previous year, according to several media reports .

After landing at SFO in November, a kiosk for Global Entry passengers directed Gal, a naturalized U.S. citizen, to a CBP agent who kept his passport and sent him to a secondary inspection, he said.

There I quickly found myself surrounded by three armed agents wearing bullet proof vests, he wrote. They started to question me aggressively regarding my trip, my current employment, and my past work for Mozilla, a nonprofit organization dedicated to open technology and online privacy.

Then, they searched his belongings and demanded he unlock his cell phone and laptop, he said.

Gal  concerned that the search would violate a nondisclosure agreement he signed with Apple  asked to speak with his employer or an attorney before unlocking his devices. But the officers refused and threatened him with criminal prosecution, the complaint alleges.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The ACLU contends CBPs attempt to search Gals devices violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Their questioning of Gal and attempt to search his devices violated his First Amendment rights to free speech, the ACLU alleges. Its asking DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to investigate.

Given that our entire lives are on our digital devices, the idea that a CBP officer can search those devices without a warrant is quite troubling, said William Freeman, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.

Gal and the ACLU suggested he was targeted for his advocacy for online privacy and criticism of the Trump administration. As an engineer and executive at Mozilla, Gal was closely involved in a number of initiatives to prevent warrantless mass surveillance and spread the use of encryption, the complaint said.

My past work on encryption and online privacy is well documented, and so is my disapproval of the Trump administration and my history of significant campaign contributions to Democratic candidates, Gal said. I wonder whether these CBP programs led to me being targeted.NEW YORK, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With over $122bn of announced M&A deal volume in the US Media & Telecom sector in 2018, the top US Communications M&A Legal Advisors were heavily active across 870 deals* stimulated by industry consolidation, digitization of the media industry and the loosening of regulations.



The TMT Finance Top 10 US Communications M&A Legal Advisors list 2019 recognizes the key players currently facilitating the most significant mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, financings and new investments across the US to create the definitive record for 2019. The list is based upon analysis of TMT Finances extensive online archives of North American TMT deals announced since 2017, as well as those currently taking place, together with each professional's deal execution track record.

TMT Finance can reveal that M&A Legal Advisors from Paul Weiss, Alston & Bird and DLA Piper have all played a pivotal role as acting counsel within the Media and Telecoms sector in 2018, by their significant deal activity pushing deal values, with strategic acquisitions including CommScopes acquisition of ARRIS International plc for US$7.4bn, Searchlight Capital Partners US$2bn acquisition of Mitel, as well as spin-offs and carve-outs, like the purchase by Rackspace of Datapipe across cloud computing.

For access to the full list, please visit tmtfinance.com/usa/advisors .

The Top 10 US Comms M&A Legal Advisors 2019 list has been released in advance of the TMT M&A Forum USA 2019 where the leading investors, operators and dealmakers from across the US will gathering to discuss the current trends and opportunities in investing in digital communications infrastructure.

The event, held in New York on April 11 2019, is sponsored by Bank Street Group, Santander, Tillman Infrastructure, WIS and MVP Capital, offers more than 250 M&A professionals the opportunity to engage with leading figureheads and discuss infrastructure, 5G investment, M&A strategy and changing trends including panels discussing how to establish a new generation of infrastructure and ways to invest in new infrastructure to deliver 5G.

Over 80 key speakers have been announced for the event, which features CxOs and senior executives from Equinix, AT&T, Verizon, Telefonica, Tillman, GTT, Everstream, Discovery, Uber, Sony, EQT, Intel, Antin, Dell, Stonepeak, American Tower, M/C Partners, Ericsson, Vodafone, BT Group, Amazon Web Services, MVP Capital, C Spire, Fuze, Compass Datacenters, Databank, Vonage and more.

For more information about TMT Forum M&A USA 2019 including tickets please visit www.tmtfinance.com/usa or contact enquiries@tmtfinance.com for speaker and sponsor opportunities.

* PWC, December 2018, Media & Telecommunications Deals insights

About TMT Finance

TMT Finance was first launched in the UK in 2009 to connect and inform senior executives pursuing opportunities across M&A, investment, financing and advisory globally. Since then, TMT Finance has established 6 weekly news titles with a readership of 22,000, and 10 annual executive events gathering leaders in the US Europe, Asia and Africa.

For more information on TMT Finance visit www.tmtfinance.com/events and follow on Twitter and LinkedIn .

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/79d8aad0-32c4-4654-bb16-c2bfcf6a3ff0NEW YORK  Pharmaceutical honcho Martin Shkreli has been banished to solitary confinement amid allegations he was running his drug company from federal prison using a contraband smartphone, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.

Shkreli was moved to solitary confinement at the Fort Dix, N.J, facility on March 7 and is likely to remain there while his alleged conduct is being investigated, the person said. The person wasnt authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons said March 8 that it was investigating whether Shkreli, known as the Pharma Bro, violated prison rules forbidding inmates from conducting business and possessing cell phones.

That inquiry hasnt resulted in any charges in the agencys inmate discipline program, the person said, indicating that the matter may have been referred to federal prosecutors.

Shkrelis lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment.

The Bureau of Prisons said it does not release information on an individual inmates conditions of confinement.

The matter you reference is under investigation, the agency said. When there are allegations of misconduct, they are thoroughly investigated and appropriate action is taken if allegations are sustained.

The U.S. attorneys office in Brooklyn, which prosecuted Shkrelis securities fraud case, declined to comment. The U.S. attorneys office in New Jersey also declined to comment.

Shkrelis move to solitary confinement was first reported by Forbes .

Shkreli, 36, is serving a seven-year sentence at a low-security prison complex near Philadelphia. He was convicted in August 2017 of lying to investors in two failed hedge funds and cheating them out of millions.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Shkreli has used a cell phone to call the shots at his drug company, Phoenixus, posting regularly to social media and even firing the CEO.

The punishment for inmates caught with cell phones depends on how the case is handled.

If its prosecuted in court, a conviction could tack on up to an extra year of prison time. Within the inmate discipline program, having a cell phone carries sanctions ranging from loss to privileges to up to a year in solitary confinement. Shkreli could face more punishment if hes also found to have conducted business while locked up.

Shkrelis securities fraud case stemmed from his role managing MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare between 2009 and 2014. It was unrelated to the 2015 furor he caused when he raised the price by more than 5,000% of a drug used to treat an infection that occurs in some AIDS, malaria and cancer patients.

Michael R. Sisak and Jim Mustian are Associated Press writers.Avocados are seeing one of the biggest price spikes in nearly a decade, just as President Donald Trump has made recent threats to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border.

The price of Hass avocados from the Michoacan region in Mexico jumped 34 percent Tuesday, in the largest single-day gain since April 13, 2009, Bloomberg reported. And there could be more price jumps ahead, with one expert telling the publication that avocado prices "could easily double or triple" in the event of a border shutdown.

"Because California is late and it's a small crop, Mexico is accounting for nearly all of our avocados," Roland Fumasi, vice president and senior analyst at Rabobank told Bloomberg.

And that figure doesn't apply to just this year's supply of avocados. In 2017 alone, Mexico exported 1.7 billion pounds of the green fruit to the United States, growing 75 to 80 percent of the avocados that Americans eat, according to the Hass Avocado Board.

The cause for the jump in avocado pricing? Fumasi guessed that it could be due to the border issues, compounded with the fact that a heat wave in 2018 affected the outcome of this year's avocado crop in California.

Beyond Tuesday's price increase, in the event of a border shutdown, the United States' avocado supply could be gone after just three weeks, predicted Mission Produce, the world's largest avocado grower and distributor.

California's own avocado growers won't be able to compensate for the loss of product. For one, the California avocado season is just starting, said Mission Produce President Steve Barnard, telling Reuters on Monday that California has "a very small crop, but they're not relevant right now and won't be for another month or so."

Mexico also has an added advantage to growing avocados: The region is able to sustain growing avocados year-round, while other places such as California can only grow for a few months at a time.

Avocados aren't the only produce that would be affected by the border shutdown; among Mexico's other top exports to the United States are watermelons, limes, bell peppers, mangoes, papayas and strawberries, reported Business Insider.

Since his assertion Friday that he would close the southern border this week, Trump changed his tune slightly Tuesday. While not completely backing off his threat to shut the border, Trump said that "we're going to see what happens" but that he's "ready to close it" if he must.

The Associated Press and SFGATE staff writer Dave Curran contributed to this report.English French

TORONTO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On March 29, 2019 the Ontario Government released the policy documents that outline the tuition and ancillary fee frameworks for colleges and universities. Since January 17, students have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Ontario Governments plan to defund student organizations and provide inadequate funding to post-secondary institutions. Despite this, Premier Ford and Minister Fullerton have forged ahead with their onslaught against colleges and universities in the province, without student consultation.



Since the announcement in January, where Minister Fullerton outlined the Ontario Governments plan for post-secondary education, she has provided vague responses regarding the implementation of an ancillary fee opt-out process that will defund student organizations, and the impacts of the lack of public funding to supplement the 10 per cent tuition fee reduction. The Framework and Guidelines add limited clarity in the outlining policies that will be detrimental to the future of post-secondary education in Ontario.

The lack of public funding to supplement a 10 per cent tuition fee reduction means colleges and universities will have a budget shortfall of approximately $440 million. Additionally, institutions are now mandated to reserve less for the tuition fee set aside fund, limiting the number of students who will be able to receive support through bursaries, scholarships and work-study programs.

The Ontario Governments paternal approach to ancillary fees deems some services essential and other non-essential. This so-called Student Choice Initiative, will result in a loss of funding for student support services, advocacy, student clubs and on-campus jobs. The Ontario Government has framed their initiative as being about choice, when in reality, they are making decisions for us, said Nour Alideeb Chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario.

Alideeb further urged that, with these changes scheduled to come into effect come September, students will see a drastic decrease in the quality of their education. To make up for a lack of funding from the government, institutions will likely increase class sizes by admitting more students, convert full-time faculty to part-time and provide fewer institution-funded support programs. As a result of changes made to post-secondary education in our province, institutions, students unions, clubs and groups on our campuses will be struggling to maintain services with far less resources, said Alideeb.

The Canadian Federation of Students is the largest post-secondary student organization in the country, representing more than 500,000 students nationally and more than 350,000 provincially. The Federation advocates for universal, tuition-free, public post-secondary education.

For more information contact:

Ian McRae, Government Relations and Policy Coordinator: 416-925-3825 or 306-852-0128

Nour Alideeb, Chairperson: 416-925-3825WASHINGTON  In the first address to Congress by a NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday acknowledged serious divisions within the alliance and called for bigger defense budgets to cope with global challenges such as Russian assertiveness, the core reason NATO was created in Washington 70 years ago this week.

We have to be frank, Stoltenberg said before a joint meeting of Congress. Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And, yes, there are differences.

The NATO secretary general credited President Trump with compelling allies to spend more on defense, without noting that Trump also has questioned the value of the alliance and suggested that some members are freeloaders.

Trumps criticisms have upset a delicate balance within an alliance that has long counted on Washington to be its leader. Stoltenbergs speech provided a diplomatic counterpoint to Trumps sometimes derisive rhetoric, and the enthusiastic reception he received from both parties in the House was testament to an enduring pro-NATO consensus in Congress.

The secretary general delivered to Congress a powerful affirmation of the value of the NATO alliance, said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican.

James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral who was NATOs top commander from 2009 to 2013, called the Stoltenberg address a high point in recent U.S.-European relations.

Given the presidents evident and frequently vocalized skepticism of the alliance, it is clear that Congress  on a bipartisan basis  wants to put the full weight of the legislative branch behind NATO, Stavridis said. We will never find a better pool of allies in the world than the Europeans, and this address underscores the importance of the trans-Atlantic bridge, which has been creaking a bit lately.

Trumps criticisms are not NATOs only source of friction. The alliance also is at odds with longtime member Turkey over its planned purchase of a Russian air defense system that is not compatible with the allied air defenses. The Trump administration is threatening to stop delivery to Turkey of the newest U.S. fighter jet, the F-35, if the Turks go through with their plan to buy Russias advanced S-400 system instead of the American Patriot system.

Robert Burns is an Associated Press writer.NEW YORK, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- King & Spalding announced today that Bernhardt Nadell has joined the firm as a partner in the Corporate, Finance and Investments (CFI) practice group in the New York office.



Nadell represents private equity firms, insurers, reinsurers and leading investment banks in complex insurance-related transactions, including life and property casualty insurance M&A, reinsurance, and insurance securitizations. His broad-based experience in the insurance transactional area includes acquisitions of life and property casualty companies and blocks of business, buying and selling distressed insurance companies, run-off transactions, sponsored demutualizations and management buyouts.

Bernhardt is a rare find because of his market-leading experience assisting private equity firms in identifying and acquiring insurance assets that will complement their portfolios, said Todd Holleman, head of the firms CFI practice group. These assets provide funds with another source of steady revenue to tap when giving investors a return on their capital.

Nadell comes to King & Spalding from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, where he was head of the insurance transactional practice, to lead the firms efforts to grow its life and property casualty insurance practice. Nadell received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Bernhardts addition to the firm fits well with our strategy of growing our regulatory offerings in the power, energy, infrastructure, healthcare and insurance industries, which helps us assist our private equity clients who want a stronger foothold in these sectors, said Jonathan Melmed, co-chair of King & Spaldings Global Private Equity team. Having FERC, project finance, insurance and tax equity capabilities positions us well for advising traditional private equity firms and hybrid hedge-private equity funds on their deals.

I have joined King & Spalding because of its stellar capabilities, deep bench in the corporate and tax areas, and international foothold, added Nadell. The firm is a great platform for me to further expand my practice and my client base.

About King & Spalding

Celebrating more than 130 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with over 1,100 lawyers in 20 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality, and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com.

Media Contact:

Luis Mocete

212-827-4008

lmocete@kslaw.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3b9e2253-5dc0-46f8-afff-25faa2244d1dMONTREAL, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LGC Capital Ltd. (TSXV: LG) (OTCQB: LGGCF) ("LGC")



LGC CAPITAL announces four new additions to the executive team. LGC Chief Operating Officer, Remy di Meglio, together with both John McMullen and Mazen Haddad, has assembled this team bringing over 90 years' experience with British American Tobacco and Monsanto to LGC. To lead the team, Mazen Haddad will remain as Co-Chairman and take on the additional role of CEO. John McMullen will assume the role as President and Mark Shinners of Arlington Capital will take on the role of CFO. We would like to thank the outgoing CFO Anthony Samaha for his years of service to LGC helping to grow LGC.

Mazen Haddad stated, The new additions to our team at LGC have already begun to work on integrating LGCs investments to extract the economies of scale due to geographic diversity and mobilizing a full product range to serve our customers throughout Europe, Canada and Australia. This team brings over 90 years of experience from leading global companies like British American Tobacco and Monsanto. With a keen understanding of how to grow and handle global supply chains and distribution on a large scale, brand building and consumer intelligence, regulatory legislation and financial governance, they will bring the discipline and rigor required to build LGC into a leading player in the cannabis market. John McMullen will move into the role of President focusing his efforts on various part of LGCs corporate development and working with our banking partners and developing LGCs public investor base.

Richard Widmann 51, EVP Commercial, joins LGC with over 15 years of experience across 4 continents with British American Tobacco (BAT) business operations in Europe and South Africa and Americas most recently serving as Area Managing Director South Central Europe, a top 5 market for BAT. In this role, Richard achieved in excess of 250 million Euros in profit, managed major acquisitions in Central Europe and realized significant brand growth in South Africa. Richard will lead the commercial strategy and build-up of a pan European Hemp/Cannabis enterprise. He will also provide operational direction and will provide and oversight to LGCs partners. Currently he has been assigned to further develop Easyjoints distribution and corporate development to stay on track for its growth plans.

Mervyn Koenen 44, VP Commercial Finance, brings 18 years of managing commercial finance, internal audit and strategic planning, supporting leadership teams to achieve operational targets and managing strategic agendas. His experience includes international, strategic and multi-disciplinary projects resulting in delivering sustainable profit growth. Mervyn will drive the financial and strategic agenda for LGCs European investees in the expanding market for legal cannabis and CBD derivative products. He will support LGC partners in building sustainable and reliable financial forecasts, lead corporate governance, with procedural performance tracking, and build accounting and supply chain systems to assist subsidiaries with growth demands.

Jeanne van Wyk 50, VP Communications, brings 26 years of global marketing experience on both client and agency side, most recently as Strategic Planning Director for the WPP advertising group servicing British American Tobacco across Europe. Jeanne has a background in legal studies followed by a successful career in journalism, notably with CNN in Africa & Global for 5 years. Jeanne will design and manage the strategic development and positioning of our brand portfolios, marketing, communications and consumer insights for LGC starting with EasyJoint.

Alistair Hide 51, VP Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, joins LGC with over 25 years of business experience and corporate regulatory affairs. For the last 5 years, he held the position of Corporate Affairs Director, Europe, Middle East, and Africa with Monsanto International. This role encompassed government affairs, communications and wider stakeholder relations for Monsantos agricultural businesses. He also brings over 18 years of experience with BAT, most recently as Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Western Europe Region. Alistair will be navigating the ever changing regulations of this new and evolving industry, allowing LGC to understand the legal requirements and directing LGC to ensure its products are compliant with all regulations in the various markets. In his corporate communications capacity, he will work with regulators to develop a sustainable industry framework.

Mark Shinners, 41, Chief Financial Officer, joins LGC with over 17 years experience in various senior operational and financial advisory roles spanning across a number of industry sectors including IT, construction, renewable energy and manufacturing. Having trained as a chartered accountant at PwC, Mark went on to hold leadership positions in assurance, corporate finance and financial advisory, providing financial, commercial and strategic advice to multinational companies. Mark served as financial director at Hewlett Packard (Services) in the Middle East and CFO at Chinook Urban Mining Limited, a UK based renewable energy development company. Mark is currently a Director at Arlington Capital. Mark is a Chartered Accountant (ACA), has a Bachelor of Business Studies degree (BBS), a Masters in Accounting & Finance (Macc), a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is a Chartered Waste Manager.

Mazen Haddad 46, CEO, brings over 20 years of experience building companies from the early stage, most of his experience has been in the venture capital space ranging from technology companies both in the US and Canada to real estate and mining. Furthermore, his family business relationships have brought the association of former BAT executives to LGC.

At the request of our new investors, Arlington Capital, I am proud to take on this new role of direct management of LGC now that we have acquired our core positions in the companies such as Trichomed, Global Canna Labs, Evolution and Little Green Pharma, LGC has formidable growing capacity and a diversity of strains and licensed operators that few other companies have. Furthermore, the associations with Easyjoint and Viridi bring both a wide ranging catalog of finished products from consumables to cosmetics and the serious ability to distribute such products through Easyjoints retail and online presence. We will continue to seek companies with finished products that give consumers access to wellness products they demand. It is my sincere belief that both with Arlington Capital`s support and our newly added operating team LGC will be able to accelerate the development of our portfolio of companies and integrate their efforts to achieve their full potential.

About LGC Capital:

Through its partners and assuming pending transactions under review by the TSXV are approved, LGC presently will have interests in over 450,000 square feet of planted cannabis in Jamaica, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia. That is expected to increase to over 2,100,000 square feet by 2021, as its portfolio companies execute their expansion plans, in addition to the anticipated licensing of Tricho-Meds operations in Quebec, Canada.

LGC partners currently sell cannabis products in over 1,000 points of sale across Switzerland and Italy under the ONE Premium Cannabis and EasyJoint brands as well as medical cannabis oils in Australia under the Little Green Pharma brand. LGCs partners branded products are available in a variety of formats including dry cannabis flower, tinctures, oils, seeds, and beverages.

For further information please contact:

President, John McMullen, +1-416-803-0698, john@lgc-capital.com

Investor Relations, Dave Burwell, +1-403-221-0915, dave@howardgroupinc.com

Caution Regarding Press Releases

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/58025ca9-244f-4747-b517-8be4582cebcc

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e3887b4e-4838-49a6-9387-bb2eebb2a5b7

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/457fdad6-4d06-494c-a675-52aa18ab895c

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b7d976e2-af4c-4c2b-9a9b-187bda2e8f8c

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c0b3c620-42fa-40c0-bac6-0bdb67e01629

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d001c220-8cf4-40a5-90ee-d5a467c5303d

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ee23a05f-32a6-44ce-9deb-92cd24b24874A former middle school teacher is suing a New York school district after she was fired over a topless selfie.

News 12 Long Island reports Lauren Miranda, a 25-year-old math teacher at Bellport Middle School, was recently fired when a topless photo she sent began circulating throughout the district. Miranda sent the photo to a fellow co-worker she was dating and is not sure how students were able to obtain the image.

"That picture was never posted. How it got out is the million dollar question," she said. "My career has been ruined, my reputation has been tarnished and I have been stigmatized."

Miranda's attorney, John Ray, believes the district's decision to fire the teacher was discrimination as has filed a $3 million gender discrimination lawsuit against the South Country School District

"Anytime a man has ever exposed his chest, no one has commented or had any problem with it whatsoever. But when a woman displays her chest, as happened here, she gets fired from her job," he said.

Miranda said she would be willing to drop the lawsuit if she was reinstated, but the superintendent told her that wasn't going to happen.

"He said, 'How can I put you in front of a classroom where boys would be able to pull out their phone and look at this image of you?'" she claimed.

The school district superintendent released a statement, saying only, "The district does not comment on active litigation."Los Angeles, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) today celebrated its founding Board member and scientific expert, Dr. Jane Goodall, during a recognition ceremony at Los Angeles City Hall on Goodalls 85th birthday. The event honored Goodalls unique legacy of scientific discoveries, courageous leadership, and her contributions to our understanding of nonhuman animals and the planet we all share.

The Nonhuman Rights Project Founder and President Steven M. Wise introduced Goodalla close friend who has supported the NhRPs groundbreaking chimpanzee rights casesduring a presentation inside the Los Angeles City Council meeting, filled with city officials, NhRP staff/supporters, and staff/supporters of Dr. Goodalls community-centered conservation, research and youth empowerment organization, the Jane Goodall Institute. A private reception for dignitaries and distinguished guests, including many L.A.-based celebrity supporters, took place immediately after the presentation.

Were here today to honor Dr. Goodalls vast contributions not only to my organization but to the whole world, and to congratulate her on L.A. Citys Certificate of Appreciation, said Wise. And of course, equally important, were here to help her celebrate her 85th birthday. Its a joyous occasion on many levels.

Wise also announced today that the NhRP has officially launched its efforts on the West Coast, working with municipal lawmakers in California to bring the fight for nonhuman animal rights to a state that clearly values science and the protection of animals. The NhRP will soon launch its first-ever legislative campaign in California (up until now, the work of the NhRP has been judicial/legal, not legislative).

Angelinos are enthusiastically supportive when it comes to animal protection, conservation, and other issues concerning the environment and harmony with nature, said Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD5), a longstanding animal advocate who co-hosted todays ceremony with Councilmember Mitch OFarrell (CD13). We welcome Dr. Goodall and the NhRP with open arms, and look forward to working with them to further their respective missions.

"Jane Goodall's devotion to our understanding of the animal world is unparalleled and her work will continue to inspire countless generations to come," said Councilmember O'Farrell. "Her research and vision has taught us that our interconnectness with the animal world is paramount to the survival of all species. Happy birthday, Jane! Thank you for redefining what it means to cherish our environment.

The City of Los Angeles, Dr. Goodall, the Jane Goodall Institute, and the Nonhuman Rights Project share common goals of striving to create greater harmony between people and animals. Today more than ever it is of the utmost importance to further conversations around animal protection and conservation, which are framed solidly in science and honor the individuals and thought leadership that propels this work. This event celebrates the contributions of Dr. Goodall and aims to engage individuals in her and her organizations mission to empower people through hope to act on behalf of other animals in the wild and in captive conditions.

###

About the Nonhuman Rights Project

The Nonhuman Rights Project is the only civil rights organization in the United States working through litigation, legislation, and education to secure fundamental rights for nonhuman animals. For more information, please visit www.nonhumanrights.org.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  Maria Ressa, journalist and CEO of online news outfit Rappler, on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the four cases she is facing at the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).

She is facing one count of tax evasion and three counts of alleged failure to supply the correct Income Tax Return in 2015 and Value Added Tax returns for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2015 worth a total of P70.2 million. These cases involve the Philippine Depositary Receipts issued to foreign investor Omidyar.

Ressa's hearing for the tax cases will start on May 15. The prosecution will present six witnesses and three sets of documentary evidence, while Rappler will present Philippine Depositary Receipts and bank certificates.

There are a total of 11 complaints and cases lodged against Rappler, Ressa, its officers, and reporters, including libel, cyber libel, and the alleged violation of the Anti-Dummy Law and the Securities Code. On Monday, she posted her eighth bail for the the anti-dummy law case.

This was the first time she was arraigned.

"Sitting there and thinking about it makes me slightly angry but seeing the professional way it was handled on both sides, I'd still say these cases are politically motivated," she said in a chance interview.Orlando, Florida, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation is releasing its themed issue on Mechanical Circulatory Support to coincide with the 39th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation being held April 3  6 in Orlando, Florida. This special issue highlights several innovations, multicenter trials and information from the IMACS worldwide registry. Some highlight articles:

First human use of a wireless coplanar energy transfer coupled with a continuous-ow left ventricular assist device (Pya et al): This Innovation article discusses the first fully implantable LVAD configuration with an internal power source charged externally using wireless techniques. In two patients, this system was successfully implemented and allowed incremental unholstered ambulation for as much six-to-eight hours at a time for 30 day use. Currently, the quality of life of for patients implanted with LVADs is impeded greatly by the need to power these devices externally through a drive-line that exits the abdomen and is connected to a battery power source by a holstered mechanism. This is prone to infection and limits the degree of activity for patients. Thus, these case reports of a fully internally implantable LVAD power source system could represent an important disruptive advance in the field if the performance can be shown to be sustained, durable and generalizable.

The Annual IMACS Registry Report (Goldstein et al) : The ISHLT Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support Registry (IMACS) report provides the first global look into trends and outcomes with durable mechanical circulatory support systems and will allow for analyses to appreciate differences in use of devices in geographically diverse regions of the world. The IMACS is currently comprised of four large collectives (INTERMACS, USA; EUROMACS, Europe; JMACS, Japan and UK Registry, United Kingdom). An additional 24 hospitals provide data directly into the Registry. This year, the contemporary report contains data from 16,286 individuals and focuses on trends in the use of centrifugal and axial continuous flow pumps. This registry does not contain data on the more recently introduced pump, the HeartMate 3 since most experience with this device accrued under the aegis of experimental clinical trials which do not report into this registry. The aggregate information suggests that in the era of these continuous flow pumps, four-year survival approximates 60 percent (about 10% lower than transplant survival at four years).



Other papers featured in this issue include:

The LATERAL clinical trial (McGee et al), which was first presented at ISHLT 2018; Analyses from IMACS in infections with current generation LVADs (Hannan et al);

An investigation into the quality of death in LVAD treated patients from the INTERMACS database (Mcllvennan et al);

Outcomes in children implanted with durable LVADs (VanderPluym et al)

An analysis from the MEDAMACS group on outcomes in ambulatory advanced heart failure patients (Ambardekar et al).

In addition, several studies in children with congenital heart disease that require mechanical pump support, novel trans-aortic support devices, studies to understand the implications of blood pressure control with LVADs and investigations into protocols for facilitated myocardial recovery round out this issue.

Rapid Publications Online to Coincide with Symposium or Science presentations at the Annual Meeting

This year, the JHLT has partnered with selected investigators and presenters to publish a number of breakthrough science, consensus statements and perspective papers to coincide with ISHLTs annual meeting. The simultaneous publication of this work will allow attendees to gain a closer and more detailed appreciation of the work being presented and allow for more meaningful dialogue as the meeting evolves. The IMACS annual report, will debut for the first time, as a simultaneous publication in the journal during its presentation at the plenary forum. Two consensus statements in lung transplantation of CLAD and RAS have been fast tracked and will be released at the meeting; Several research papers, which will be noted by the presenters as simultaneously published, will be made available online for detailed reads; finally, critical perspectives on important issues such as that of Marijuana use in heart transplantation candidates will be released.

###

About ISHLT

The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation is a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary professional organization dedicated to improving the care of patients with advanced heart or lung disease through transplantation, mechanical support and innovative therapies. With more than 3,800 members in more than 45 countries, ISHLT is the worlds largest organization dedicated to the research, education and advocacy of end-stage heart and lung disease. ISHLT members represent more than 15 different professional disciplines. For more information, visit www.ishlt.org.Dublin, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Finland Animation, VFX & Games Industry: Strategies, Trends & Opportunities" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The animation industry in Finland is vibrant with several active smaller production companies and independent filmmakers, many combining the production of independent as well as commissioned productions.



Finnish animation industry has adopted new digital animation technologies and the industry's output is diverse with productions targeted at television, cinema, games, mobile phones and the internet. There is a wide spectrum of animation makers, studios and projects which form part of the Finnish animation industry.



Half of the work force work in mid-large size animation studios and the rest of the half work with small animation companies or on a freelance basis. There are numerous active game production companies and independent filmmakers, who combine producing independent films and commissioned work. Several animators are actively working on collaborations with international co-productions. Finnish animation has many talented young artists with several animation students graduating from the art academies every year.

The Finnish animation industry has several animation productions in production and development. The industry is actively exploiting animation IP across games, books, toys, soft drinks, apparel, and educational applications, which is opening up new global audiences and markets.



The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has established Finnanimation, a non-profit association formed by Finnish animation producers in 2005 which carries out various promotional and cultural export activities globally. Finnanimation, the network of Finnish animation producers, has played a key role in spreading the awareness of Finnish animation globally over the last ten years including Mifa, Asia TV Forum (Singapore), Rio Content Market, Kidscreen and Sichuan TV Festival.



The total value of the Finnish games industry was US$ 266 million in 2017 and is projected to reach US$ 322 million by 2020. Mobile & hand-held games are the fastest growing segment, followed by Console games. The PC games segment is the slowest growing segment.

Key Topics Covered:



European Animation Industry

DEMAND FOR TV CONTENT

Feature Film Industry in Europe

MARKETING AND MERCHANDISING

Trends in Europe

COLLABORATION AMONG EUROPEAN STUDIOS

DRIVERS FOR SUCCESS

ANIMATION COST STRUCTURES IN EUROPE

Animation Movie Budgets in Europe

Strategies and Models for Animation financing in Europe

ANIMATION FUNDING AGENCIES

CENTRALISED ANIMATION FUNDING AGENCIES IN EUROPE

Television Series Development in Europe

PITCHING TELEVISION SERIES TO BROADCASTERS

Copyright Chain in Europe

Co-Production Strategies in Europe

CONTRACTUAL ISSUES

KEY RIGHTS IN CO-PRODUCTION AGREEMENTS

CO-PRODUCTIONS AND OUTSOURCING

Distribution Strategies in Europe

PRODUCER-DISTRIBUTOR CO-FINANCING PATTERNS

3D Market in Europe

ADVANTAGES OF 3D

DISADVANTAGES OF 3D

Industry Constraints and Challenges

Market size of European Animation, VFX & Games industry

Animation Content demand by TV Channels in Europe

European Animation & VFX industry Market Size

European Games industry Market Size

Animation, VFX & Games industry in Finland

Recent Movie Trends in Finland

Industry evolution and key Animation productions

Globally successful Finnish animations

Government Support

Games Industry in Finland

KEY TRENDS IN THE FINNISH VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY

VIDEO GAME BUSINESS MODELS IN FINLAND

ONLINE VIDEO GAMING BUSINESS MODELS IN FINLAND

Key Opportunities & Strategies for Finnish Video Games Industry

Video Games Market Segments

MOBILE VIDEO GAMES SEGMENTS & GENRES

Finnish Video Games Market Size & Opportunity

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dhl4hm/finland?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.OAKLAND (BCN)



The nature of the relationship between Ghost Ship warehouse master tenant Derick Almena and creative director Max Harris was the subject of several motions that were discussed on Wednesday in their trial for the fire in 2016 that killed 36 people.



Almena, 48, and Harris, 29, are charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the fire during a music party at the warehouse at 1309 31st Ave. on Dec. 2, 2016.



The lawyers in the case argued over a motion by Almena's lawyer Tony Serra seeking to bar prosecutors from mentioning a New York Times article in which Harris was quoted as saying that Almena "pretended, as a joke, that he was Hitler and I was his Jewish slave."



Serra said, "For the record, my client is not anti-Semitic" and said allowing that statement to be introduced in the trial would be prejudicial.



But Alameda County prosecutor Casey Bates said the quote "shows the relative positions of power" of Almena and Harris at the warehouse.



Bates said he thinks the comment shows that, "Mr. Almena is asserting his dominance and control."



Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson said she thinks Harris' quote "is fair game if he takes the witness stand" and testifies.



"That's the risk you take when you voluntarily speak to the press," the judge said.



Thompson said she will read the New York Times article, reflect on the issue and "make an informed decision" on the matter in the near future.



The lawyers in the case also argued over Serra's motion to bar prosecutors from alleging that Almena was "profiteering" by subleasing space at the warehouse.



Bates said the issue of people who lived at the warehouse paying rent to Almena "is absolutely relevant because it shows his overwhelming power and control of the facility."



Bates said Almena "was engaging in something that made money and afforded him a lifestyle within the warehouse in which he was the top dog."



Almena might not have been rich by some people's standards but his living space was the largest at the warehouse, the prosecutor said.



Almena "was not just a person living in a collective -- he was the alpha in the community," Bates said.



Thompson said she will bar the use of the term "profiteering" unless prosecutors produce evidence to back up that allegation, but will allow them to introduce evidence that Almena collected rent.



The attorneys in the case also clashed over Serra's motion to bar prosecutors from making references about Almena use of drugs, including methamphetamines.



Serra said Almena stopped using drugs two years before the fire and alleged that mentioning the drug use would be "inflammatory" and "is only being offered for character assassination."



But Bates said Almena's use of methamphetamines is relevant because Nicholas Bouchard, who was a leaseholder at the warehouse, told investigators that he believes Almena's use of methamphetamines made Almena behave erratically and influenced Almena's decision to violate the terms of the lease and allow people to live at the building.



Bates said Bouchard and Almena had a falling out over that issue and Almena transformed the warehouse into a living space "without the landlords' permission."



Thompson said she will allow limited testimony about Almena's drug use only in terms of Bouchard's perceptions and his relationship with Almena.



The attorneys in the case were set to discuss additional evidentiary issues later Wednesday as well as on Thursday and next week.



Jury selection is scheduled to begin on April 16 and opening statements are scheduled for April 30 and May 1.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



San Francisco city leaders on Tuesday morning celebrated the completion of the Polk Streetscape Project -- a $26.8 million project that has added several safety improvements to the busy corridor.



During a ribbon-cutting ceremony, city officials, including Mayor London Breed, unveiled the improvements that stretch along the majority of Polk Street, from Beach to McAllister streets.



"With the completion of the Polk Streetscape Project, we are taking a big step forward in making Polk Street safer and more enjoyable for everyone who uses it," Breed said in a statement.



"We will continue to evaluate Polk Street to determine what improvements can be added to help us achieve our safety goals. Moving forward, we must find ways to deliver these types of safety projects faster, which is why I have directed the SFMTA (San Francisco Transportation Municipal Authority) to implement simple, easy-to-use safety improvements as quickly as possible," she said.



In a statement, Ed Reiskin, SFMTA's director of transportation, said, "The Polk Streetscape project is the culmination of many hours and years of dedicated outreach, planning, design and construction efforts.



"Through community input and technical evaluation, the street now includes corridor-wide safety improvements and streetscape amenities. The Polk Streetscape Project improves bicycle, pedestrian and transit rider safety on a notable high injury corridor."



Polk Street, a busy commercial and residential corridor, has some of the highest number of pedestrian and bicycle collisions and was prioritized for that reason. The improvements are set to be completed at the end of this month, Breed's office said.



Improvements include 30 blocks of improved bike lanes and 136 new street trees. Additionally more than 3,800 linear feet of upgraded sewer main and more than 5,700 linear feet of upgraded water main have been added.



Also, 160 curb ramps were installed to bolster accessibility for disabled residents.



Nine intersections received upgraded traffic signals and 81 new streetlights were installed. Thirty-one existing streetlights were refurbished.



The entire stretch of Polk Street also got a resurfaced roadway.



The Fern Street Alley has also been made-over as part of the project, with new plantings and colorful art.





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.LOS ANGELES, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Schall Law Firm , a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (Mobile TeleSystems or the Company) (NYSE: MBT ) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.



Investors who purchased the Company's shares between March 19, 2014 and March 7, 2019, inclusive (the ''Class Period''), are encouraged to contact the firm before May 20, 2019.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate .

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall, or Sherin Mahdavian, of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at brian@schallfirm.com .

The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Mobile TeleSystems and a subsidiary engaged in a scheme to pay $420 million in bribes to officials in Uzbekistan. The Company disclosed in 2014 that it was the target of an investigation by the SEC and DOJ for its operations in Uzbekistan, and knew or should have known it would be subject to fines based on its business practices there. The Company was eventually forced to pay approximately $850 million in criminal penalties related to the bribery scheme. Based on these facts, the Companys public statements were false and materially misleading. When the market learned the truth about Mobile TeleSystems, investors suffered damages.

Join the case to recover your losses.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.,

Sherin Mahdavian, Esq.,

www.schallfirm.com

Office: 310-301-3335

Cell: 424-303-1964

info@schallfirm.com

SOURCE:

The Schall Law FirmREDWOOD CITY (BCN)



Police have given the all clear to residents in the 700 block of Alameda de las Pulgas in Redwood City early Wednesday morning after crews cleared a downed power pole overnight.



Police reported that the shelter-in-place order was lifted around 5:52 a.m. after it was issued at 8:17 p.m. Tuesday. Alameda de las Pulgas was closed in both directions as crews worked to clear the pole.



The pole fell as the result of a traffic collision, police said, but didn't offer any additional details.





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.BERKELEY (BCN)



A Lafayette man was arraigned on Tuesday on a premeditated attempted murder charge for allegedly trying to kill a female colleague at a Berkeley engineering firm by putting the toxic metal cadmium into her food and water over a lengthy period in 2017 and 2018.



The victim told police that David Xu, 34, added a harmful substance to her food and water on multiple occasions for more than a year when they both worked at Berkeley Engineering and Research at 808 Gilman St., Berkeley police Sgt. Jennifer Wilson wrote in a probable cause statement.



The woman said she experienced immediate and significant health problems after consuming the food and water and sometimes sought emergency care at a hospital, according to Wilson.



Two of the woman's relatives who drank from her water bottle last November and December also got sick, Wilson wrote.



Water samples taken from the woman's bottle tested positive for a toxic amount of cadmium, according to Wilson.



Investigators also took blood samples from the woman and her relatives and found that all three had elevated levels of cadmium, Wilson wrote. Exposure to cadmium can lead to organ system toxicity, she said.



Xu was arrested on Thursday and was charged with one count of premeditated murder for allegedly trying to kill his colleague and two counts of felony poisoning for allegedly harming her relatives.



Police haven't said what might have motivated Xu to allegedly poison his colleague.



Xu is being held without bail but his attorney Julia Jayne filed a motion asking that his bail be set at $200,000.



Jayne said Xu has no criminal history, isn't a danger to the community, owns a home, is married with two small children and is part of "a loving family and community."



However, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Delia Trevino on Tuesday denied the motion to set Xu's bail at $200,000 and he remains in custody at the Berkeley Jail without bail.



He's scheduled to return to court on Thursday to enter a plea.



According to his resume, Xu obtained his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at the University of California at Berkeley.



Berkeley Engineering and Research wrote on its website that during his studies Xu specialized "in the mechanical behavior of materials, primarily biomedical-compatible materials such as superelastic Nitinol and Cobalt-Chrome alloys."



The company, known as BEAR for short, said Xu's "education and experience in both materials and mechanical engineering gives him a solid foundation in the design and failure analysis of consumer products and industrial equipment."



BEAR also said that Xu was widely quoted in 2013 in connection with the highly-publicized failure of many of the seismic safety bolts that were used to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.



In a statement on the company's website, Xu said, "Here at BEAR, I am very excited to be part of a great team of experts to help serve all our client needs. With our extensive knowledge in physics, engineering (materials, mechanical and electrical), and experience in testifying, we can solve and explain almost any problem or failure."



Xu's resume said he charged clients $275 an hour for consulting and analysis and $350 an hour for depositions and trial testimony, as he had qualified in state and federal courts as an expert witness.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and suffered life-threatening injuries on Tuesday night near San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, according to police.



The collision occurred around 9 p.m. at the intersection of 37th Avenue and Fulton Street. The victim was transported to a hospital.



The intersection was closed as police investigated the collision. The driver is cooperating with police.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SALINAS (BCN)



Monterey County prosecutors on Tuesday released new details in the fatal Salinas police shooting of 20-year-old Brenda Rodriguez Mendoza on March 1.



Officers were called to the 1000 block of East Laurel Drive at about 10:45 a.m. that day after a resident at the address reported Mendoza had allegedly threatened her with a screwdriver.



Mendoza lived in a broken-down Ford Explorer in the driveway of the home and was not allowed inside the house, according to prosecutors.



Police responded to the residence and requested that Mendoza come out of her vehicle, which had black spray-painted windows and a broken window covered with a bag. Prosecutors said she then pointed an airsoft gun out the window and threatened to kill officers.



Police were unable to tell at the time if the gun was real or a replica, even after Mendoza's boyfriend arrived and told officers she had two BB guns.



A hostage negotiator contacted mental health professionals before speaking with Mendoza, and determined she had a history of mental illness, including psychosis.



Body-worn camera footage and a transcript of hostage negotiator Officer Raul Rosales' conversation with Mendoza leading up to the shooting depicts her fading in and out of coherence as officers ask her to step out of her vehicle.



Rosales asks multiple times if she would like to speak to her case worker or family, and the situation escalates after Mendoza is seen holding what appears to be a black handgun.



Mendoza is told multiple times to drop her gun, and responds, "Why, you gonna shoot, or what?" and "I don't wanna..."



She says "Whee!" as she moves, and gunshots can be heard in the video immediately after.



District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni held a news conference Tuesday morning, saying her office had completed several interviews but would not yet release a decision on whether officers acted lawfully.



Officers Bryan McKinley, Carlo Calupad and Robert Miller fired 18 rounds, according to prosecutors, and Mendoza died at the scene.



She mentioned Mendoza had sent a message to her mother saying she would kill herself during the standoff, and could not be consoled by officers or family. Mendoza had also had a baby three weeks earlier, but was not allowed to keep the child because it was allegedly born with methamphetamine it its system.



Mendoza flashed the airsoft gun four times during the standoff, according to Pacioni, and was shot the last time while facing officers with the weapon. Forensic teams have not yet determined how many times she was hit.



Police said in interviews that they did not use less-lethal rubber bullets because only her head was visible, and the rubber bullets could have been fatal if they hit her head. They couldn't establish proper range to use a Taser, police told prosecutors.



Mendoza was found to be using an anti-depressant at the time of the shooting, and officers found prenatal vitamins and prescription medications for depression and anxiety disorders inside her vehicle. After her death, dozens of her family and friends marched on Salinas City Hall in protest.



Prosecutors will announce whether they are charging the officers who shot Mendoza after an investigation.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.OAKLAND (BCN)



An Alameda County prosecutor told jurors on Tuesday that an Oakland man should be convicted of three counts of murder and the special circumstance of multiple murder for fatally shooting his father and two other men at an apartment in North Oakland four years ago.



In his closing argument in the trial of Damien Robinson, 35, prosecutor John Ullom ridiculed Robinson's testimony that he acted in self-defense when he shot his father Darrell Robinson, Benjamin Williams and Raymond Garza at the apartment in the 900 block of 54th Street at about 2:45 p.m. on May 23, 2015.



Ullom said, "Not a single witness or a shred of evidence supports the defendant (Robinson's) statement."



Ullom said, "His testimony on its face isn't believable."



Robinson's attorney Shaylana Cleveland admitted to jurors in her opening statement last week that Robinson shot his father and the other two men but said he did so in self-defense because he feared for his life.



Cleveland said Damien Robinson had moved into the apartment with his father about six months earlier "because he was struggling to turn his life around" but said his father, who she said was a crack cocaine user, "took a turn for the worse" and became less friendly after he began using heroin.



Cleveland said the father and the other men who lived at the house left Damien Robinson alone when he gave them drugs and money but when he stopped doing so they became "hostile" and he told a friend that he thought they were trying to set him up.



The defense attorney said Robinson opened fire because his father and the other two men were trying to rob him.



Cleveland said Damien Robinson fired at the three men because "he had no other choice to save his own life."



However, Ullom said the three men were unarmed and alleged that Robinson simply gunned them down.



Robinson remained barricaded inside the apartment for about two hours after the shooting but then came out and was taken into custody, police said. Officers then went into the apartment and found Darrell Robinson, Williams and Garza dead.



Cleveland said Robinson didn't surrender right away because he didn't trust the police and thought they might kill him.



Court records indicate that Robinson has four prior felony convictions: one each for evading an officer, battery with injury on a peace officer, first-degree residential burglary and corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant.



Jurors began deliberating Robinson's fate for about an hour late Tuesday afternoon and will resume their deliberations on Wednesday.





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.Residents in the 700 block of Alameda de las Pulgas in Redwood City are being asked to shelter in place Tuesday night because of a downed power pole, police said.



The shelter-in-place order was in effect as of 8:17 p.m.



Traffic congestion exists around Alameda de las Pulgas and Cheshire Way because of a traffic crash and police are asking drivers to avoid the area.



Alameda de las Pulgas is closed in both directions in the area.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SANTA ROSA (BCN)



Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a ban on growing industrial hemp in the unincorporated areas of the county for at least a year.



The hours-long discussion ended with a 4-1 vote in favor of adopting an urgency ordinance to immediately impose a moratorium on hemp cultivation.



California is scheduled to begin registering hemp growers and issuing regulations on April 14. Counties that do not impose moratoriums by then would have to accept the grows and the state's regulations regardless of local concerns about public safety and compatibility with the cannabis industry, according to the Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner's Office.



The hemp plant smells and looks like cannabis, but it lacks significant amounts of the THC contained in marijuana that gives users a psychoactive high.



It is grown for its cannabidiol ingredient, CBD, that is derived directly from the plant. CBD is used for health reasons including relieving anxiety, insomnia, pain and childhood seizures, and is now found in pharmacies nationwide.



The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday struggled with the prospect of banning the growing of a legal crop in their still largely agricultural county, and approving hemp cultivation.



Supervisor James Gore raised the prospect of hemp cultivation that resembles marijuana grows throughout the unincorporated area of the county and the subsequent complaints by non-growers about the sight and smell of the grows if the board did not approve the moratorium.



Gore said, "This is not a 'no' (on hemp cultivation) but a 'not yet.'"



Supervisor Lynda Hopkins also called for a moratorium.



"This is a time out, not a ban on growing (legally) on agricultural property. Let's hit the pause button," Hopkins said.



Supervisor Shirlee Zane said she favored setting a timeline when the moratorium would expire. She said she "grudgingly" voted for the moratorium, which will expire on April 30, 2020.



Supervisor Susan Gorin also voted for the one-year hemp ban. She said she is concerned about people eventually growing cannabis instead of hemp.



"You won't know until the lab tests come back. There's always the potential someone will take advantage of this," Gorin said.



Lab tests at harvest will measure the amount of THC in the hemp plant, which contains no more than three-tenths of 1 percent of THC, according to the Agricultural Commissioner's Office.



Board Chair David Rabbitt cast the lone vote against approving the moratorium because he did not want to restrict growing a legal crop in the county.



"That's a hard bridge for me to cross," Rabbitt said.



Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner Tony Linegar said he also was torn on the issue. He said the one-year moratorium will give the county time to consider any regulations and fees it may want on the hemp grows.



Such county regulations, however, would trigger environmental reviews, Linegar said.



"That's my biggest reservation, Linegar said.



"There's no easy right answer for this. It's a difficult decision, but I decided in favor of a moratorium. It's best to take a time out," he said.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.CONCORD (BCN)



The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday kicked off its efforts to ensure that every single resident gets counted in the upcoming 2020 Census.



An accurate count will ensure that government agencies and local nonprofits get their fair share of money from the federal government during the next decade.



"If we undercount by just 5 percent, we could lose up to $1 billion over a 10-year period," Supervisor Candace Andersen said at an event at the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano in Concord.



Supervisor Federal Glover said he was excited about the opportunity before Contra Costa County and said he wants to make sure the county gets its "fair share" of federal funding.



"Census data matters," Glover said.



Concord Mayor Carlyn Obringer referenced the recent national controversy over the Trump administration's efforts to put a question about citizenship on the 2020 census, which has been challenged in court. Obringer pointed out that census responses are confidential.



County staff estimate that every resident missed by the census will cost roughly $2,000 a year in federal funding. An undercount could also impact the number of congressional representatives California sends to Washington, D.C.



The Census Bureau is hiring local workers in Contra Costa County at a starting rate of $25 per hour. For more information, people can go to http://www.cccounty.us/6999/Census-2020.



They're also seeking partner organizations to conduct outreach or host a speaker at upcoming events. For more information on that, people can go to https://www.census.gov/partners.html.



The next meeting of Contra Costa County's Complete Count Committee steering committee is scheduled for noon on April 15 at 777 Arnold Drive in Martinez.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.OAKLAND (BCN)



An 18-year-old Antioch woman has been charged with murder for allegedly fatally shooting her boyfriend during an argument in East Oakland last week.



Lalique Westbrook was charged and arraigned on Friday in connection with the fatal shooting of Taiwan Lamar Moore, 24, in the 1800 block of Church Street at about 8:52 p.m. on March 26 and appeared in court again on Tuesday.



Westbrook is scheduled to return to court on April 10 to enter a plea.



Westbrook and Moore were sitting in a parked car having a heated discussion and then engaged in a physical altercation, Oakland police Officer Kris McClain wrote in a probable cause statement.



The fight stopped and Moore sat back in the driver's seat but continued to argue with Westbrook and she grabbed a loaded gun that was sitting in the car's center console and shot him multiple times, according to McClain.



Moore died from his injuries, police said.



Westbrook fled the scene but was arrested at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Antioch at about 3:30 a.m. the next morning, McClain wrote.



When police interviewed Westbrook she admitted shooting Moore with a loaded handgun, according to McClain.



Westbrook is being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail.





Copyright  2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



San Francisco's medical examiner's office identified a woman killed in a vehicle collision on Sunday in the city's Potrero Hill neighborhood as 31-year-old Phala Neuo.



According to police, the collision occurred just after 3 a.m. near the corner of Cesar Chavez and Vermont streets.



After the collision, Neuo, a Richmond resident, was taken to a hospital where she died, police said.



Police have released few details about the collision, including what may have caused it.



Neuo's family has started a GoFundMe account to raise money to cover expenses for her burial.



"It was very heartbreaking to hear that our loved one has passed away so suddenly. We won't be able to hear her voice or the sound of her laughter anymore. Along with the shock and grief all we have left are memories we hold dear to our hearts, the memories of the joy and laughter we all shared with her," a statement said on the GoFundMe account.



Neuo leaves behind three daughters, a son and a partner, according to her family.



The GoFundMe account, which has raised $522 of its $5,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon, can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/68khdy-phala-neuo.





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.



Ticker Symbol Will be Changed from PCFP to CBDC

Saint Petersburg, FL, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Apotheca Biosciences (OTC PINK: PCFP), a developer of cutting-edge medical products, nutraceuticals, drug formulations and cannabis delivery technologies for the health care and consumer care industry, is pleased to announce today that the Company's ticker symbol will change from "PCFP" to "CBDC," effective at the start of trading on April 4, 2019.

P.C. Sundar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apotheca, said: "We are excited to be able to align our ticker symbol with the CBD industry and our brand name ProMED CBD which provides us with better visibility and consistent recognition with public investors and across all our stakeholders."

No action is needed from current shareholders in relation to the ticker symbol change. CBDC's shares will continue to be listed on the OTC Markets and the CUSIP will remain unchanged as 03836L107.

Apotheca Biosciences is a pioneering biotech company with an emphasis in research and development in addition to the creation of high-grade nutraceuticals and cosmetics. The health of our customers takes precedence and our solid business strategy ensures focus on customer wellbeing. Our goal is to lay the groundwork and continue research of cannabinoid receptiveness in patients and create nutraceuticals that reflects our strategy and research. For more information on Apotheca Biosciences, please visit www.apothecabiosciences.com



About ProMED Biosciences Inc.  Science Based Wellbeing

ProMED Biosciences is a developer and manufacturer of medical grade CBD and cannabinoids products that enhance wellbeing and quality of life. ProMED is and will be distributed nationally in wellbeing centers, dispensaries, Spas, health food stores, Vitamin Shops, health care providers offices, online and through distributors.

To request further information about ProMED, please email info@promedcbd.com, or visit it on FB @promedcbd and Twitter @promedbio







About Apotheca Biosciences Inc.

Apotheca Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company, through its divisions, engages in 1) the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of opioid addiction, sleep disorder, PTSD. Alzheimer's and inflammatory diseases worldwide, 2) develops and manufactures medical devices for precise dosing, and 3) direct to business and consumer CBD enhanced supplements, formulations and cosmetics. The pipeline of products includes; transdermal, sublingual, digestive technologies and medical devices for precise and controlled dosing of cannabinoids. Products such as CannaDERME, a transdermal technology using nano-emulsion for fast absorption of cannabinoid compounds for the general pain market.

To request further information about Apotheca, please email info@apothecabio.com, or visit its website at http://www.apothecabiosciences.com/, or visit it on FB @apotheca and Twitter @apotheca

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements covered within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, plans and timing for the introduction or enhancement of our services and products, statements about future market conditions, supply and demand conditions, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact and involve risks and uncertainties. Our expectations regarding future revenues depend upon our ability to develop and supply products and services that we may not produce today and that meet defined specifications. When used in this press release, the words "plan," "expect," "believe," and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and changes in pervasive markets. This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27E of the Securities Act of 1934. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approval for anticipated actions.

Contact:

Media Contact: (727) 228-3994

Apotheca Biosciences

http://www.apothecabio.com

info@apothecabio.com

Twitter - @apotheca

Facebook  apotheca

Telegram- apothecaWashington, DC, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The GC3 Sustainable Chemistry Alliance, a business group that includes chemical producers, product manufacturers and retailers, applauds todays introduction of the Sustainable Chemistry R&D Act. The Alliance commends US Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Coons (D-DE) and their cosponsors Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) along with US Representatives Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and John Moolenaar (R-MI) for their leadership in this important area of US innovation.

The bipartisan leadership and bicameral introduction demonstrate the broad support for the development and use of more sustainable chemistry, said Joel Tickner, Executive Director of the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3) which sponsors the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance. More sustainable chemicals can offer improved human health profiles, improved environmental profiles, reduced environmental emissions and lower energy consumption. There is significant market demand for more sustainable chemistry and growing global competition to capture this emerging area of chemistry innovation. Effective policy can help ensure US leadership in sustainable chemistry design, development, and commercialization.

The Sustainable Chemistry R&D Act would establish a coordinating entity within the federal government to accelerate the development of more sustainable chemistry. In addition to extensive private sector efforts, the federal government has significant research and development and investment capacity, including many programs relevant to this area. The Sustainable Chemistry R&D Act, by coordinating and amplifying these government activities, can make them more efficient and enable faster US progress in sustainable chemistry innovation.

Global competition will be fierce for the development of the sustainable chemistry market, which is projected to exceed $100 billion worldwide by 2022. The Sustainable Chemistry R&D Act offers a clear vision to enable the robust development of sustainable chemistry research, development and manufacturing capacity in the US, with its attendant economic, health, and environmental benefits.

The GC3 Sustainable Chemistry Alliance thanks the congressional champions who made this bill a priority early in the 116th Congress and looks forward to working with members of the Senate and House and other stakeholders in enacting the Sustainable Chemistry R&D Act.SAN DIEGO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nationally recognized securities attorney Andrew J. Brown, founder of The Law Offices of Andrew J. Brown, announces an investigation into legal claims against the officers and Board of Directors of Bristow Group, Inc. (NYSE:BRS).



More information can be found at www.thebrownlawfirm.com .

The class action lawsuit was filed on February 14, 2019 in the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Bristow Group, Inc. securities between February 8, 2018 and February 12, 2019 (the Class Period).

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made numerous materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (1) Bristow lacked adequate monitoring processes related to non-financial covenants within its secured financing and lease agreements; (2) Bristow could not reasonably assure compliance with certain non-financial covenants; (3) Bristow was reasonably likely to breach certain agreements; (4) Bristow had understated its short-term debt; (5) the required corrections would materially impact financial statements; (6) there was a material weakness in Bristow's internal controls over financial reporting; and (7) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about Bristow's business, operations, and prospects were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times, and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

The complaint was filed in reaction to disclosures made by Bristow to the SEC  On February 11, 2019 Bristow announced that it "did not have adequate monitoring control processes in place related to non-financial covenants within certain of its secured financing and lease agreements." On this news, Bristows stock fell nearly 40%. The following day, February 12, 2019, Bristow announced that: (1) it had terminated its agreement to purchase Columbia Helicopters, Inc.; and (2) Jonathan E. Baliff would retire as Chief Executive Officer and would resign from the Board of Directors, effective February 28, 2019. On this news, Bristows stock fell nearly 35%.

Based upon the allegations in the filed class action complaint, the Law Offices of Andrew J. Brown is investigating legal claims involving violations of federal securities laws by the Companys Officers and Directors. The Law Offices of Andrew J. Brown is an investor and consumer-dedicated litigation firm with more than 20 years of experience in complex consumer and securities class action litigation. www.thebrownlawfirm.com

If you are a Bristow Group, Inc. shareholder and want to learn more about the investigation and pending lawsuits, contact Andrew J. Brown directly at andrewb@thebrownlawfirm.com. There is no cost or fee to you. If you wish to be appointed lead plaintiff of the proposed class you must make the request no later than April 15, 2019.

Andrew J. Brown

Law Offices of Andrew J. Brown

501 W. Broadway, Ste. 1490

San Diego, CA 92101

(619) 501-6550

www.thebrownlawfirm.com

Attorney Advertising: Prior results do not predict or guarantee a similar outcome.Washington,D.C., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On March 29th the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) issued $23 million in bond financing for the construction of Stanton Square Apartments, 121 new apartment homes in Anacostia (Ward 8). As Anacostia experiences renewed development and is attracting new businesses, the cost of housing is rising. At this time it is imperative that affordable rental housing is included in the revitalization of the neighborhood. By financing Stanton Square Apartments, DCHFA is helping to ensure affordability continues in Anacostia, stated Todd A. Lee, Executive Director and CEO, DCHFA. The Agency underwrote $17 million in four percent low income housing tax credits (LIHTC) for this new development. The DC Department of Housing and Community Developments Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) is providing $17.6 million in additional funding to construct Stanton Square Apartments.



Sunrise Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Horning Brothers, is the developer of Stanton Square Apartments. The development will be comprised of a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments. Thirteen of the apartments will be designated Permanent Supportive Housing units receiving Local Rent Supplement Program vouchers. The remaining 108 apartments will be reserved for households earning 50 percent of the area median income.



Stanton Square Apartments is a component of the larger Stanton Square project. The overall project includes a 54,000 square foot community service facility named the Commons at Stanton Square which opened in June 2018 and houses offices for Community of Hope, a non-profit organization providing housing and health services to low-income and homeless individuals, and Marthas Table, a non-profit organization which provides educational, health, and family support services. The site will also include 42 market-rate, for-sale townhomes creating a mixed-income, mixed-use community located less than a mile from the Anacostia Metro Station.



Through its Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investment and Capital Markets divisions, DCHFA issues tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds to lower the developers costs of acquiring, constructing and rehabilitating rental housing. The Agency offers private for-profit and non-profit developers low cost predevelopment, construction and permanent financing that supports the new construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing in the District.



The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency is in its 40th year of serving Washington, D.C.s residents. The Agencys mission is to advance the District of Columbias housing priorities; the Agency invests in affordable housing and neighborhood development, which provides pathways for DC residents to transform their lives. We accomplish our mission by delivering the most efficient and effective sources of capital available in the market to finance rental housing and to create homeownership opportunities.

AttachmentTORONTO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- By passing Bill 66, the government is showing its disdain for the workers of Ontario, says the Ontario Federation of Labour.



Bill 66 is going to cost Ontario workers by reducing the overtime hours theyre paid for, at the same time as it compromises health and safety, said Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley. Longer hours for less pay with fewer safety protections. Thats no good for workers and its no good for Ontario.

From increasing the number of children allowed in home-based daycare facilities, to reducing labeling requirements and reporting on toxic substances used in the workplace by employers, this government is playing with the lives of Ontarians, said Buckley.

Under the PC law passed yesterday, businesses in Ontario can now use overtime averaging to pay workers for fewer of their overtime hours. The law also allows reduced reporting of toxic substances in workplaces and communities, and deems public entities as non-construction employers, opening the door for non-union companies in the construction trades to bid on and build public infrastructure projects. It also stops requiring the employer to post the Employment Standards Act in the workplace.

PC government cuts and privatizations have weakened and removed workplace and environmental protections, cancelled important programs, instituted a hiring freeze in the public service, cut funding to key public services like education and social service supports, and moved toward merging, closing, and privatizing health care delivery services.

The people of this province are not sitting idly by while the government violates collective agreements with changes in the construction trades, while continuing its assault on decent work laws and health and safety in our workplaces and communities, said Buckley. We are organized and we will fight for laws that protect worker safety and better protections for all workers, whether they are in a union or not.

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 .

To arrange interviews or for more information, please contact:

Meagan Perry,

Director of Communications

Ontario Federation of Labour

mperry@ofl.ca l 416-894-3456

cope343



DUBLIN, Calif., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of its continuing partnerships with higher education and research institutions, iTradeNetwork sponsored LA Hacks 2019, a hackathon hosted at UCLA with over 1,000 students in attendance on March 29-31. This is the second such event iTrade has sponsored in 2019--after Cal Poly-San Luis Obispos SLOHacks--under the auspices of an iTrade University initiative meant to attract young talent in computer science and other STEM fields to food traceability and the perishables supply chain.



With only 36 hours to innovate, teams of students worked nonstop to deliver solutions to current challenges in food traceability, food waste and produce shelf life. Incorporating tools such as machine learning, predictive analytics, and advanced image recognition into their hacks, the enthusiasm with which these students developed ideas centered on food safety and industry profitability was self-evident. However, it also made judging the best hack a difficult task. Ultimately, the winning entry for the iTrade Challenge at LA Hacks was a highly novel approach to predicting and validating the anticipated expiration of a commodity.

While some students relished the simple joy of getting code to work after 15 hours of errors, iTrade sees events like these as valuable opportunities to inject new thinking and perspective into technologies for the perishables supply chain. As a global leader in perishables supply chain software, it is our responsibility to foster innovation in this space. Partnering with universities, whether through hackathons or other means, helps us do that and also get the next generation excited about our industry, adds Rene Cardenas, Head of Marketing and Strategic Planning at iTrade.

To learn more about iTradeNetwork, upcoming hackathons in which it will participate, as well as its most recent string of innovations--including iTrade Blockchainvisit www.itradenetwork.com

About iTradeNetwork, Inc.

iTradeNetwork, Inc. is the leading global provider of on-demand supply chain management and intelligence solutions to the retail, hospitality and foodservice industries. Built upon deep industry expertise, a rich data foundation and our industry's most extensive trading partner network, ITN's collaborative solutions allow distributors, manufacturers, operators, retailers, suppliers and wholesalers of all sizes to reduce cost, grow revenue and strengthen trading partner relationships. Today, ITN's growing customer list includes over 6,000 global companies. For more information, visit: www.itradenetwork.com

For more information contact:

ITN: Wyatt Robertson

925-660-1114

inquiries@itradenetwork.comHelena, MT and Falls Church, VA, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On April 2, the Montana State Legislature moved forward Senate bill (SB 300), a bad bill for residents in homeowners associations and condominiums, according to Community Associations Institute (CAI). CAI is coordinating efforts to stop the legislation due to the significant opposition from Montana homeowners associations and condominiums, attorneys, and trade groups. CAI believes the proposed legislation, as written, only benefits one homeowner who bought a house in the Red Lodge community.

The owner is in a lawsuit with her homeowners association and her attorney drafted the bill language and has been leading the efforts for its passage. This bill is being positioned by proponents as protecting property rights. However, the bill actually impacts the property rights of all owners in all Montana homeowners associations and condominium communities.

The broad and sweeping language in SB 300 fundamentally changes the way rules apply to residents in these housing models. Currently, homeowners associations and condominiums adopt rules in the community, usually with a majority or super-majority vote of the members in the community. The rules are then applied to all owners in the community. SB300 eliminates this democratic process and will have devastating and expensive consequences.



Under the proposed legislation, the only rules that would apply are the rules that exist when a resident purchases their home. This includes ANY rule; small or large. Changes to HOA covenants reflect the HOA homeowners desire to maintain property values by addressing current issues in the community. Here are a few concerning examples:

Increased Expenses on Homeowners: It will be difficult and costly to track homeowners' individual set of rules based on their homes purchase date. This cost will be borne by all the homeowners in the community. Further, the unconstitutional nature of SB 300 will cause legal challenges by associations. Legal fees will be borne by the homeowners.

It will be difficult and costly to track homeowners' individual set of rules based on their homes purchase date. This cost will be borne by all the homeowners in the community. Further, the unconstitutional nature of SB 300 will cause legal challenges by associations. Legal fees will be borne by the homeowners. Healthy and Safety Concerns: Communities will not be able to enforce maintenance to ensure community health and safety issues like sprinkler system, dryer vent maintenance.

Communities will not be able to enforce maintenance to ensure community health and safety issues like sprinkler system, dryer vent maintenance. Vacation Rentals: Communities will not be allowed to have a community conversation about how to handle vacation rentals in their communities to ensure the preservation of community character and protection of property values.

Communities will not be allowed to have a community conversation about how to handle vacation rentals in their communities to ensure the preservation of community character and protection of property values. Access to Mortgage Lending Negatively Impacted: If communities have more than 50% of the homes owned by investors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not underwrite loans in those communities according to their federal guidelines. If a community association chooses to adopt a related to the investor/owner ration, it will be unenforceable to some of the owners.

Homeowner associations, community management companies, community association law firms, and numerous other trade groups from the development and real estate industry all oppose SB 300.

As a resident and owner in a Montana community with a homeowners association (HOA), I am both saddened and outraged that SB 300 is currently being rushed through our states legislature, said Bill Whitsitt, a former board president in his community association in Big Fork. Whitsitt added, The bill is one of the worst types of legislation: It would insert the legislature into an as-yet-not fully-publicly-disclosed ongoing legal dispute between two parties  a homeowner and their HOA. It would put a finger on the scale of justice when what may be needed is a thoughtful look at real questions about good governance at the most basic level.

For more information on SB300 and the growing list of opponents, visit www.caionline.org/stopSB300

###In airport news, San Francisco International officials are warning of delays in September as a runway repair project gets underway; Chicago O'Hare selected a winning design team for its new Global Terminal, and also started building an extension of Terminal 5; long-haul international flights at Istanbul move to the city's huge new airport this weekend; Singapore is about to cut the ribbon on a major new attraction at Changi Airport; and Seattle finishes renovations on the south side of its Central Terminal.

San Francisco International is warning travelers to expect flight delays and cancellations in September as it closes down Runway 28L for almost three weeks to conduct a major maintenance project. The airport is suggesting that travelers who book flights from Saturday, September 7 through Friday, September 27 should try to get a departure time before 9 a.m. "Delays are expected to begin after 9:00 a.m. PDT each day during the closure and continue for the remainder of the day. Both domestic and international flights may be affected by this activity," the airport said. Runway 28L is one of two runways at SFO used mainly for arriving flights, and some of the work will be done at the point where 28L intersects with Runways 1L and 1R, which are mostly used by departing flights. "These two intersections are the most heavily-traveled section of the entire runway system at SFO, with more than 68% of all flights crossing these intersections in 2018," the airport said. Airport officials scheduled the maintenance project for September because it's after the peak summer travel season and before the holiday rush. Good news is that September and October usually offer the Bay Area's best weather of the year which should help.

The City of Chicago has selected the architects at Studio ORD Joint Venture Partners from five finalists to design O'Hare Airport's $2.2 billion Global Terminal, which will replace the existing Terminal 2 but will have more than twice as much space at 2.2 million square feet. The Global Terminal will feature "an expanded, light-filled arrivals hall...additional gates; more space for concessions, lounges and public amenities; state of the art new baggage systems; and advanced new technologies to improve security screening," the city said in announcing the award. Construction won't start until 2023. The Global Terminal will accommodate both domestic and international flights, making for easier connections, and will provide plenty of extra gates to allow O'Hare hub carriers United and American and their alliance partners to expand operations there. "In the coming months, a second (architectural) team will be selected from the remaining four finalists to design two new satellite concourses to be built west of Terminal 1," the city said. Meanwhile, O'Hare also broke ground last month on a $1.2 billion expansion of Terminal 5  the international terminal  that will give the facility 10 more aircraft gates along with expanded passenger concessions, more security screening lanes and an improved baggage system. That project should be finished 2021.

After months of delays, Istanbul's huge new international airport is finally due to open to most passenger flights this weekend. The new airport's primary tenant, Turkish Airlines, said it planned to begin relocating its aircraft, ground equipment and staff from Ataturk Airport to the new facility on Friday, April 5, with the move due to be finished by midnight April 6. Both the old and new airports will be closed on April 5 and 6 as the move proceeds. Turkish Airlines actually started operating a handful of regional flights out of the new airport last fall, but major airlines all continued to use Ataturk for long-haul international services through the winter while workers scrambled to put the finishing touches on the new facility. During that period, the new airport used the code ISL, but as of April 7, that ISL airport code will be transferred to Ataturk, and the new airport will receive Ataturk's IST code as Istanbul's primary international airport. Turkish Airlines said that after the big move, Ataturk Airport "will be hosting cargo and VIP passenger flights." Lufthansa also said it will start operating its three daily Istanbul-Frankfurt flights out of the new airport on April 7.

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Singapore's Changi Airport has long been identified as the best airport in the world by numerous passenger surveys, and it just keeps getting better. The airport has set April 17 as the public opening date for its newest attraction: The Jewel, a 10-story (five below ground), bagel-shaped, 1.4 million square foot, glass-ceilinged structure that will connect three of the airport's four terminals and will also be a destination in its own right, with 280 retail shops and food-and-beverage outlets, a 130-unit Yotel hotel, a round central waterfall (called the Rain Vortex) dropping down 130 feet from the middle of the roof, and extensive interior landscaping and trees that essentially turn it into a public park. Opening at the Jewel this summer will be even more attractions for visitors like mazes, slides, and a canopy bridge through the treetops.

Seattle-Tacoma International has just finished the first phase of its $17 million Central Terminal renovation project, which affected the south side of the terminal. The construction walls that blocked out the south side rebuilding work have come down and now will move to the north side, with an overhaul there that should be finished by next summer. The south side of the Central Terminal got another 10,000 square feet of space for passenger concessions; the five restaurants now open following the renovation include Lucky Louie Fish Shack, Evergreens Salad, Pallino Pastaria, Pei Wei Asian Kitchen, and Koi Shi Sushi Bento. As part of the north side renovation, "Salty's at the SEA and BrewTop Social will open by summer 2020. This two-level dining and craft beer experience celebrates the Pacific Northwest with mezzanine level access offering incredible, expanded views of the airfield," airport officials said.





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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.A severe thunderstorm stalled over the Northern California city of Chico Tuesday, delivering a severe soaking of rain across several hours. The system meteorologists are calling a "supercell" flooded streets, homes, businesses and parts of the Cal State Chico campus.

NBC Bay Area meteorologist Jeff Ranieri tweeted that from "4PM to 8PM a long lasting thunderstorm, likely a 'supercell' produced 3.00 to 5.00" of rain."

The official National Weather Service gauge in Chico didn't capture the extreme rainfall and Eric Kurth believes that's because the weather station is located on the east side of town that the storm didn't pass over.

"This was a strong thunderstorm sitting in one spot and very locally dropping heavy amounts of rain in one part of town," Kurth says.

A civilian gauge measured 2.7 inches of rain, he says.

ALSO: Fast-moving atmospheric river poised to soak Bay Area on Friday

Kurth says supercells are rotating storms with strong up-drift and under-drift.

At 5 p.m. Tuesday, the NWS issued a tornado warning for Hamilton City and Nord to the north of Chico. The tornado never fully formed.

The NWS reported two feet of standing water on Pillsbury Road between Cohasset Road and East Avenue. Much of Cohasset Road from Highway 99 to Chico Airport was also underwater.

Students at Whitney Hall on the Chico campus were evacuated late Tuesday when the basement and lower level were inundated with water. They were allowed back in the building at 3:30 a.m.BEIRA, Mozambique  Mozambicans lined up Wednesday to get cholera vaccines in the cyclone-hit city of Beira, at the start of a drive to inoculate nearly 900,000 storm survivors as part of efforts contain an outbreak of the deadly disease.

Beiras Mayor Daviz Simango was among those who swallowed the oral vaccine Wednesday and then had their fingers marked to show that they have been immunized.

The Indian Ocean port of Beira, a city of 500,000, is where most of the more than 1,400 cases of cholera have been reported since the outbreak was declared a week ago.

Mozambican authorities have reported two deaths so far from the acute diarrheal disease, which can kill within hours if not properly treated.

Cases also have been confirmed in some outlying communities and vaccinations will begin there on Thursday. Overall the campaign aims to vaccinate some 884,000 people in Beira, Dondo, Nhamatanda and Buzi.

More than 100,000 survivors of Cyclone Idai are still living in displacement camps with little access to clean water or sanitation, and the World Health Organization has warned of a second disaster if waterborne diseases such as cholera and malaria spread.

Measles is another looming danger.

More than 130,000 displaced Mozambicans are living in more than 150 makeshift camps on high ground. Under such conditions, in a chronically undernourished population, measles outbreaks can kill 10 percent of all children infected, according to the World Health Organization.

Dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes, and leptospirosis, a lethal bacteria found in the urine of many animals and commonly spread by floodwater, are also both endemic in the area.

Already the number of cholera cases is more than double the 500 beds set up for patients in Beira that is the center of relief efforts for central Mozambique.

Cholera was first reported in one of the citys poorest and most crowded neighborhoods, Munhava. As authorities hurried to repair the citys damaged water system, aid organizations reported that some people had resorted to drinking stagnant water or from contaminated wells.

Large areas of standing water remain in the low-lying region, which continues to drain after the cyclone swept in on March 14 and caused massive flooding.

Cholera is spread by contaminated food and water and is endemic in the region. Health officials have warned that once it emerges it can spread swiftly, especially in crowded urban areas. The disease is easily treated with an oral rehydration solution or intravenous fluids in severe cases, but health workers say the sooner a person receives treatment, the better.

Announcing the start of the vaccination campaign, Mozambiques government said the oral vaccine begins to take effect a week after it is administered. A second round of the vaccine would be needed after several weeks time for stronger protection, according to the medical charity Doctors Without Borders.

The overall death toll from the cyclone is now 598 in Mozambique, with more than 300 deaths in neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Officials have warned that the death toll is preliminary and the real figure may never be known as some bodies were buried quickly or swept away by the floodwaters.

New York Times contributed to this report.

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi and Cara Anna are Associated Press writers.LONDON  Britains Brexit drama went into overtime Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May and the countrys main opposition sought a compromise deal to prevent an abrupt British departure from the European Union at the end of next week.

In an about-face that left pro-Brexit members of Mays Conservative Party howling with outrage, May sought to forge an agreement with left-wing Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn after failing three times to win Parliaments backing for her Brexit deal.

May also said she would ask the EU for a further delay to Britains departure date  postponed once already  to avert a chaotic and economically damaging no-deal Brexit on April 12.

The country needs a solution, the country deserves a solution, and thats what Im working to find, May told lawmakers before meeting with Corbyn for about two hours.

Afterward, both the government and Labor called the meeting constructive and said their teams would hold more in-depth talks Thursday.

Mays office said both sides had shown flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.

Corbyn, more muted, said the meeting was useful but inconclusive.

There hasnt been as much change as I expected, he said.

Mays change of direction left her caught between angry Conservatives who accuse her of throwing away Brexit, and Labor opponents mistrustful of her sudden change of heart.

Labor lawmaker Paul Sweeney said Mays outreach to his party shows the desperation that shes in.

Pro-Brexit Conservatives, meanwhile, expressed outrage. Two junior ministers quit, and other lawmakers angrily accused May of putting the socialist Corbyn in the Brexit drivers seat.

Jill Lawless and Raf Casert are Associated Press writers.DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Nearly a dozen Saudi womens rights activists, most of them imprisoned, attended their third court session on Wednesday and were told their trials will continue for at least two more weeks, according to people with knowledge of the cases.

While the 11 women are being tried separately, they have been present at joint court appearances and, according to people with knowledge of the cases, they appear to be facing similar charges related to their activism and rights work.

Yet on Wednesday, the court gave the women different dates for their next session.

The ALQST rights group said some verdicts could be issued April 17, when the eight women who remain imprisoned are due back for their fourth court appearance. The court is also expected to hold more bail hearings in the coming days.

Most of the women, including prominent activist Loujain al-Hathloul, have been imprisoned since May of last year.

Meanwhile, three women who were granted temporary release last week, among them Aziza al-Yousef and Eman al-Najfan, were told their next court date would take place after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which coincides with early June. The king traditionally issues pardons after Ramadan, however they do not typically include political detainees.

Last month, some of the women were pressured into signing a request for a royal pardon, according to people with knowledge of the arrests.

Writers children receive blood money The children of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi have received tens of thousands of dollars and millions in real estate from kingdom rulers in the form of so-called "blood money" as compensation for the killing of their father by a team of Saudi agents, according to a person close to the family. The payments appear to be part of an attempt to deter the Khashoggi children from speaking out against the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom U.S. and other Western intelligence agencies have concluded ordered the killing. Khashoggi, a Virginia resident and Washington Post columnist, had four adult children. Saudi Arabia has now provided each of the four with a house in the family's home city of Jiddah worth about $4 million and cash payments of $10,000 to $15,000 a month. - New York Times See More Collapse

The Associated Press was also told that the prosecutor presented on Wednesday a rebuttal denying the womens claims theyd been tortured during interrogations.

In the presence of their children, spouses and parents, the women had told the Riyadh criminal court last week theyd been caned on their backs and thighs, electrocuted, groped and waterboarded by masked men who did not identify themselves. The women say the abuse took place during interrogations last year in the Red Sea city of Jiddah before they were moved to Riyadh, where they are being tried.

Journalists working for foreign media, diplomats and other independent observers have not been allowed to attend the hearings.

The government has not disclosed the charges the women face, but several people with knowledge of the cases and rights groups say the women have been charged in connection with their efforts to promote womens rights and of having contact with accredited foreign reporters, diplomats and human rights groups.

The womens rights activists had pushed for progressive reforms like the right to drive and abolishing laws that give men final say over a womans right to marry and travel abroad.

Aya Batrawy is an Associated Press writer.CARACAS, Venezuela  Maduro loyalists stripped Venezuelas Juan Guaido of immunity, paving the way for the opposition leaders prosecution and potential arrest for supposedly violating the constitution when he declared himself interim president.

But whether the government of President Nicolas Maduro will take action against the 35-year-old lawmaker following the Constituent Assemblys decision remains unclear. Guaido has embarked on an international campaign to topple the presidents socialist administration amid deepening social unrest in the country plagued by nearly a month of power outages.

He declared himself Venezuelas interim president in January, and vowed to overthrow Maduro. So far, however, Maduro has avoided jailing the man that the administration of President Trump and roughly 50 other nations recognize as Venezuelas legitimate leader.

A defiant Guaido spoke publicly moments after the vote on Tuesday, saying hes undeterred, while knowing he runs the risk of being kidnapped by the Maduro government.

We are aware of that, Guaido said. But we will not change our path.

He cited low wages driving millions abroad and the spate of blackouts that have crippled the nations public transportation, water services and communications.

The Trump administration has threatened the Maduro government with a strong response if Guaido is harmed and Florida Senator Marco Rubio  who has Trumps ear on Venezuela policy  said before the vote that nations recognizing Guaido as his countrys legitimate leader should take any attempt by Maduros government to abduct him as a coup.

And anyone who cooperates with this should be treated as a coup plotter & dealt with accordingly, Rubio said on Twitter.

However, the vote against Guaido was unanimous, and Constituent Assembly president and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of naively inviting a foreign invasion and of inciting a civil war.

The Constituent Assembly, which is made up entirely of Maduro loyalists, met a day after Maduro ally and Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice Maikel Moreno ordered it to strip Guaidos immunity for violating an order banning him from leaving the country while under investigation by the attorney general.

Scott Smith is an Associated Press writer.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3)  It was a rare scene in President Rodrigo Duterte's speeches.

The President spoke from behind a bullet-proof glass panel. This was before Malabon City residents during the campaign sortie of his senatorial slate under Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

Duterte had appeared on a number of campaign rallies without the protective shield, but this time he had to give in to his close-in security.

"Alam mo ah itong picture frame na ito," Duterte joked. "Iyon ang hindi ko na kontrolado. Sumama man ang loob ko, magalit ako, hindi ko mautusan ang security setup ng PSG (Presidential Security Group), Presidential Guards, kasi sila talaga ang masunod."

[Translation: This, picture frame before me. I cannot control that. I may feel bad, I may be angry, but I cannot order the security set-up of the PSG, Presidential Guards, because they are the ones in charge.]

The PSG gave the standard response to an extra security cover for the president.

BGen. Jose Eriel Niembra, PSG commander, in a statement Tuesday addressed supposed threat concerns against the President.

"With or without outstanding threat, it is but imperative for PSG to implement the highest security protocols," he said.

Niembra said the decision was made after assessing the area.

"PSG decided to put bullet-proof glass on the presidential podium because the activity was situated in an open area," he said..

Duterte in his speech warned reelectionist Malabon City Mayor Antolin Oreta to rid the city of drug woes or face arrest. He said the city is also hounded by corruption and lack of peace and order. The President is endorsing Oreta's rival for mayor, current Vice Mayor Jeannie Sandoval.WAYNE, Pa., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Property Trust will host its first quarter results conference call on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, at 1:00 P.M., ET. The call can be accessed by dialing (888) 870-2815 and entering the passcode 4764619. The conference call will also be available live at www.libertyproperty.com in the Investor Relations section of the site. Liberty will issue a press release detailing results the same day before the market opens.



If you are unable to join the conference call, you may access the archived webcast, also in the Investor Relations section of the web site. In addition, a recording will be available telephonically until May 31, 2019 by dialing (855) 859-2056 and using the passcode 4764619.

About Liberty Property Trust

Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and United Kingdom through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior logistics, warehouse, manufacturing, and R&D facilities in key markets. Liberty's 106 million square foot operating portfolio provides productive work environments to 1,200 tenants.

Inquiries: Jeanne Leonard, Liberty Property Trust, 610.648.1704ALGIERS, Algeria  Algerias Constitutional Council met Wednesday to confirm President Abdelaziz Bouteflikas resignation, as rattled international partners watch closely to see whats next for this gas-rich country and key player in the global fight against terrorism.

Algerians woke to a new and uncertain era, after the departure of a man who had ruled Algeria for 20 years and had been a fixture in the Arab worlds political landscape for decades.

A discreet, 77-year-old Bouteflika ally  the upper house of parliaments president, Abdelkader Bensalah  is expected to take over as interim leader while Algeria plans presidential elections. But that might further anger the protesters who drove Bouteflika from power, and who want to overhaul a political elite seen as secretive and corrupt.

Our session today is related to establishing the vacancy of the post of president of the republic, following the resignation of Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika yesterday, said Constitutional Council president Tayeb Belaiz as he opened Wednesdays meeting of the 12-member body.

A much-diminished Bouteflika, 82, appeared on images shown on national television Tuesday night handing his resignation letter to Constitutional Council president Tayeb Belaiz. Bouteflika, who hasnt spoken publicly to the nation since a 2013 stroke, appeared pale and weak and wore a traditional robe instead of his habitual suits.

Algerian protesters who drove Bouteflika out celebrated his departure with songs and flag-waving in the capital Tuesday night  but it might not be enough to satisfy their demands for an overhaul of the political elite, seen as corrupt and secretive.

Algerias Constitution says that when a president dies or resigns, the Constitutional Council confirms the leaders absence and both houses of parliament convene. The president of the upper house is named as interim leader for 90 days while a presidential election is organized.

The upper house has been led for the past 17 years by Bensalah, a one-time journalist and former ambassador who has held senior political positions for the past 25 years but has kept a low profile, rarely giving interviews or appearing at public events.

Hes known as a politician who works behind the scenes to strike compromises.

Aomar Ouali is an Associated Press writer.One person died and at least two others were seriously injured in an explosion and fire at a Texas chemical plant when a tank containing a flammable chemical caught fire on Tuesday morning (April 2).



Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed the death in a tweet and said the two injured were transported by helicopter to a nearby hospital.



KMCO is a chemical company that offers coolant and brake fluid products and chemicals for the oilfield industry.



In the footage, we can see a plume of thick black smoke rising into the air and students in a classroom as they have to shelter indoors.



The filmer wrote: "Students in Crosby High School doing their work in very hot classroom because they turned the AC unit off so the smoke doesnt come through the vents as they are waiting to move onto the next period of the day because they told them to shelter in place, around 10:30am."



A shelter-in-place has been ordered for all residents within a 1-mile radius of the KMCO plant fire.



The fire appears to be mostly contained, but residents are now concerned about the air quality in the area following the explosion.This huge python was caught after raiding a rabbit hutch and swallowing a pet bunny.



Amporn Sirimaha, 57, was going to feed his three pet rabbits when he saw the python wrapped around a pole inside the wooden hut in Chonburi, eastern Thailand on March 30.



The predator had an unusual bulge in its stomach, so Amporn looked inside the hutch and noticed a rabbit was missing.



Amporn said: I was shocked to see the snake lying on the roof but I became more shocked when I saw that my brown rabbit had disappeared from the hutch.



I was trying to make a loud noise to scare the snake away but it did not go anywhere, so I decided to call for help.



Officers from Sri Racha rescue foundation responded to his call. They used the snake catcher to hook the reptiles head and took five minutes to remove the snake because its big stomach made him hard to move.



The rescuer said that the snake was stuck in the narrow space because of the big rabbit inside its stomach. It was waiting for its meal to digest, which would take some time.



He said: It was a good idea that the house owner called us for help otherwise the python would be injured from wriggling out.



The python, an estimated 16ft long, was bagged up to be released back into the wild.Footage shows how reservoirs in southern Thailand are running dangerously low with the region being hit by a crippling water shortage crisis.



Soaring temperatures reaching 40C and a lack of rain - made worse by El Nino warm phase - have caused households and businesses in tourist hotspot Phuket to suffer a shortage of ta water.



Officials said that many had taps had run dry or were experiencing inconsistent flows of water. They have now implemented drought-tackling measures such as monitoring usage and were considering rationing.



Video taken today at the Bang Niew Dam reservoir shows how some channels are now bone dry and the water level has dipped so low that the rocky banks have been exposed.



Many businesses on the island - which receives more than 1 million holidaymakers a month - are now buying their own water supplies which are delivered by tankers.



While environmental officials said that the existing supplies would only last until early May - sparking fears of a severe drought hitting one of Thailands busiest areas.



Nakhon Phuket mayor Somjai Suwansupana urged residents to help save water during the current dry season.



She said her office has implemented long-term solutions such as excavating water sources to boost capacity and is considering proposed projects such as turning sea water into water for consumption and another to recycle wastewater.



Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana has also asked farmers on the island to reduce the volume of water being used to irrigate their crops.



The footage was captured today (April 3).Tens of thousands of people crowded into the streets of Brooklyn in New York City on Tuesday (April 2) for the funeral of a grand rabbi, with two NYPD officers injured in the process.



Officers tried to control the massive crowd during the procession, some estimating that there were as many as 100,000 mourners.



The filmer told Newsflare that he filmed the footage from his office while he was at work.



In the video, we can see the Rabbi's coffin carried in the middle of the crowd.



Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Portugal died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, surrounded by his family, on Monday (April 1). He was 95 years old.



The rabbi arrived in the United States in the 1960s after surviving the Nazi death camps and was a mainstay in Borough Park and Williamsburg for decades.



A New York City police officer suffered a leg injury after being hit by one of the cars in the funeral procession. The second officer was hit on the head by a drone apparently used by a person attending the services.

Both suffered minor injuries.This is the nerve-wracking moment a terrified monk and his friend had to keep perfectly still while an ELEPHANT raided their pickup truck in south Thailand.



Video from the scene shows the Buddhist in orange robes and his fellow passenger were sitting in the back of the vehicle while travelling home from a market in Chachoengsao on March 29.



Their driver was forced to stop when the enormous wild jumbo wandered onto the forest road and stopped another truck in front of them. Footage shows how the hungry elephant stomped over to them after an unsuccessful search through the other car.



The startled monk was seen looking on nervously as the elephant used its massive trunk to rummage through the truck - picking up bags of pumpkin, bananas and guava fruit they had just bought from the market.



Moments later the male elephant, believed to be in its 30s, trudged away looking for its next meal. The driver, Tongchai Kaewsri, is heard in the clip saying: "Just tell them to stay still - the elephant is taking the fruit. Take the fruit out of the plastic bag to give him. Hes so big. Has he finished? Can we go now?'



Speaking after, Tongchai said that they had been travelling home from another province and were taking the fruit as an offering to to their local temple.



He commented: "The elephant was blocking the road so we had to stop. I was hoping he wouldnt come over to us but he did. There were two or three bags in the truck which the elephant noticed.



"I just wanted the two in the back to stay still and not scare him. The monks face was funny. He looked very scared."AUSTIN, Texas, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Regatta Solutions Group, experts in assessing and delivering comprehensive IAG solutions, announced today that Kevin Cunningham is joining the companys board of directors. Cunninghams extensive background in the identity management and governance industry, as a founder of SailPoint Technologies and Waveset Technologies, brings key expertise to Regattas mission of advising and assisting organizations to efficiently protect and safeguard their digital assets.



Kevin is a seasoned, highly successful executive and will certainly be a trusted advisor to our team, John Ciulla, Regattas chief executive officer, said. We are thrilled that hell assist our efforts in reaching our growth objectives in the identity governance space as well as defining new opportunities in areas like identity management AI.



Mr. Cunningham has more than 25 years experience in the software industry at companies such as UniSQL, IBM/Tivoli Systems and Sun Microsystems in addition to Waveset and SailPoint. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Austin Ventures, an Operating Advisor at Elsewhere Partners and was named Ernst & Youngs Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 for his pioneering efforts in identity governance. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and a contributing writer to several publications.



"The identity governance landscape continues to evolve rapidly and Regatta is uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive solutions and services to organizations trying to successfully manage the challenges of identity access and governance, said Cunningham. As one of SailPoints inaugural Identity + Alliance partners, working with them is a natural fit and Im excited to be joining the Regatta team.



In addition to Cunningham, Regatta also announced that Marty Smith has joined the company as VP Technical Staffing. As a senior level staffing executive, Smiths background includes positions with Xerox, Kodak and Ciber, Inc. Martys expertise in finding key technical talent will be invaluable to Regattas growth and overall customer satisfaction, said Ciulla. We look forward to his immediate contributions.





About Regatta Solutions Group

Regatta Solutions Group are Identity & Access Governance specialists that will successfully guide your organization through the evolving technologies and changing complexities of IAG. Regattas broad experience maximizes your cyber security initiatives by providing cost-effective implementations and comprehensive health checks as well as strategic insights into Artificial Intelligence (AI) Identity Management.



AttachmentPage Content

Britain is undergoing the biggest shake-up to its immigration system in a generation as a result of Brexit, which may result in more migrants from countries outside the European Union (EU) working in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Human resources experts say Brexitthe withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU, which is delayed for now until Oct. 31is already having an impact on the U.K.'s talent pool, even though the country's departure from the bloc has not yet taken effect.

"The number of EU migrants is decreasing, while the number of non-EU migrants is increasing," said Sophie Barrett-Brown, senior partner and head of U.K. practice of Laura Devine Solicitors in London. "These patterns have emerged since the British public voted to leave the EU in 2016."

"While the immigration rules will tighten for EU citizens, the restrictions for non-EU citizens will be relaxed, so one can expect this trend to become more pronounced," said Gerwyn Davies, senior labor market analyst at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, an organization for HR professionals headquartered in London.

HR experts noted future migrants to the U.K. will be more skilled than their predecessors due to changing immigration rules focused more on skills than country of origin, but they may stay in Britain only for a few years because of temporary and transient visas.

"A lot of the high-skilled workers in finance and IT will be coming to the U.K. from countries [and cities] in Asia such as Hong Kong, India and Singapore," said Felix W. Ortiz III, founder and CEO of New York City-based education technology company Viridis Learning Inc. "Some of the skills they will possess will be in financial services, financial technology, cybersecurity, and trades such as construction and transportation."

Davies said some commonwealth countriessuch as Australia, Canada and New Zealandwill provide a relatively large share of skilled workers to the U.K., especially in the public sector.

"This is partly due to cultural, educational and English language ties between the U.K. and many commonwealth countries," Davies said.

According to immigration statistics published by the U.K. Home Office in March 2019, more than 55,000 skilled U.K. work visas were granted to Indian nationals in 2018over 6 percent more than 2017.

"This data suggests a relatively sharp increase in the number of Indian migrants who have come to the U.K. is driven by a buoyant IT sector and greater access to health care professionals from overseas," Davies noted.

[SHRM members-only toolkit: Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline]

Immigration Focused on Talent and Expertise

The U.K. government published a white paper in December 2018, proposing a single, skills-based immigration system focused on talent and expertise rather than country of origin. The white paper's proposals will be implemented starting Jan. 1, 2021, if the implementation period for Brexit ends Dec. 31, 2020.

According to the white paper, a skills-based migration policy will ensure the U.K. remains a hub for international talent.

Changes are afoot for the U.K.'s Tier 2 General Visa, which allows skilled workers to enter the U.K. on a long-term basis. Davies explained that a positive aspect of the Tier 2 proposal reduces the skills threshold to allow both high-skilled and intermediate-skilled workers to live and work in the U.K.

"The Tier 2 visa is the main immigration route for working in the U.K., and it's for skilled workers with a job offer," explained Melinda Lord, HR consultant at AdviserPlus in the London metropolitan region. "This visa is always linked to a specific job."

HR's Role in Brexit Education

HR should communicate routine policy updates about immigration and provide guidance on how foreigners can continue to work in the U.K.

Brexit "is liable to push stress levels quite considerably," so HR should ensure people are applying for their visas in as timely a manner as possible, Lord said.

HR should also take a look at their equality and diversity policies to ensure compliance and roll out training. She noted, "There's a growing level of discrimination in general since the Brexit vote was announced in 2016, but EU nationals will continue to be protected from discrimination in the workplace," as will the growing number of migrants coming to the U.K. from the rest of the world.

Catherine Skrzypinski is a freelance writer based in Vancouver.Page Content

Washington D.C.'s attorney general, Karl A. Racine, recently proposed data-security legislationthe Security Breach Protection Amendment Act of 2019adding to the growing list of states and jurisdictions across the country seeking to strengthen privacy and security protections around personal information.

Proposed in response to major data breaches, a frequent catalyst to stronger data privacy and security legislation, Racine's bill would expand legal protections concerning personal information to help prevent and enhance the response to a data breach. Specifically, the bill would:

Like legislation being considered in New Jersey, expand the definition of personal information that, if breached, would require notification. However, if passed, the definition of personal information in Washington, D.C., would be much broader than in New Jersey and many other states. The legislation would include passport numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, military ID numbers, health information, biometric data, genetic information and DNA profiles and health insurance information.

Require businesses that experience a data breach to include specific information in the notifications to affected people, such as (i) the categories of information that were, or are believed to have been, involved in the breach; (ii) contact information for the person making the notification, as well as the credit reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission and the Washington, D.C., attorney general; and (iii) the right under federal law to obtain a security freeze at no cost and how to obtain such a freeze.

Mandate that businesses offer two years of free identity theft protection when a breach involves Social Security numbers. Washington D.C. would join states such as Connecticut, Delaware, and in April, Massachusetts, in requiring such services be provided following certain breaches.

The bill also would mandate that businesses that handle personal information implement reasonable safeguards to protect that data. Additionally, businesses that obtain services from a nonaffiliated third party and disclose personal information of a Washington, D.C., resident under an agreement with that third party must require the third party by agreement to safeguard that information. Again, these changes put Washington, D.C., in the company of states such as California, Colorado and Massachusetts as the legislative screws continue to tighten around data privacy and security.

Joseph J. Lazzarotti is an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Morristown, N.J.  2019 Jackson Lewis. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A grand jury on Staten Island has indicted the man accused of gunning down mob boss Francesco (Franky Boy) Cali last month, while a motive remains unclear.

A Criminal Court judge announced Wednesday a certificate of indictment had been filed, which moves the case to state Supreme Court, St. George, where the defendant will be arraigned in the near future. A date hasnt been set yet.

The indictment itself hasnt been filed, so specific charges havent been made public. However, Comello was initially arrested on charges of murder, criminal possession of a weapon and aggravated assault.

Police said Comello crashed into Calis car outside the mobsters home on Hilltop Terrace, in what appeared to be a bid to lure the victim away from his family before fatally shooting him on the residential street, in earshot of several neighbors.

Defense attorney Robert Gottlieb said Wednesday the incident not only is tied directly to right-wing hate speech and conspiracy theories found on multiple websites, but also Cali himself. When asked what that link is, he responded I could, but Im not going to discuss that further today.

This is not some idle speculation. This is not trying to set up some legal defense," he said. "Were just talking about the facts. The truth.

Gottlieb also requested in court that Comellos family be able to return to their Staten Island home, which has been a subject of the law enforcement investigation for weeks.

Everything thats been requested of my clients family has been addressed or is about to be addressed, its simply our hope that by tomorrow their home will be released because thats been a continued focus of the search warrants. Based on what Ive been told, that is the expectation, and I hope that comes to pass.

Criminal Court Judge Raja Rajeswari ordered Comello continue to be remanded without bail, and remain in protective custody at one of the citys 11 correctional facilities, undisclosed to the public out of fear for his safety. Hes also been prescribed an undisclosed medication.

In the weeks leading up to the shooting, Comello attempted a citizens arrest on Mayor Bill de Blasio and other elected officials.

The first time he appeared in court, after the initial arrest near his familys second home in New Jersey, he revealed to reporters the words MAGA and "Q" he had scribbled on his hand, in reference to the Trump slogan and QAnon conspiracy theory.

He also reportedly wrestled with addiction in the weeks leading up to the incident, according to New York Times.

Gottlieb declined to comment on whether his client had suffered from withdrawal, or was suffering from a mental illness. He has not requested a psychological evaluation.UPDATE -- APRIL 3 -- ESTRANGED HUSBAND IN POLICE CUSTODY, CHARGED IN PRIOR ASSAULT ON MISSING TEACHER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD is asking for the publics help locating a Staten Island teacher who has been reported missing.

Jeanine Cammarata, 37, of New Brighton, was last seen at about 9 p.m. Saturday in the vicinity of Denker Place and McVeigh Avenue in New Springville, according to a statement released by police.

The girlfriend of her estranged husband, however, said she showed up at their house in Queens late Saturday night before disappearing. The children were at the house with the husband, and have remained in his custody unharmed since their mother went missing, sources said.

Cammarata, a first-grade teacher at PS 29 in Castleton Corners, missed a custody hearing in Family Court regarding two of her children on Monday, and was not at work Tuesday, her friends said.

She was reported missing by her boyfriend early Tuesday morning and officers were at the school later in the day, sources told the Advance.

Detectives could also be seen at the womans Cassidy Place home Tuesday afternoon.

Her boyfriend, Aaron, told the Advance she dropped him off Saturday night in New Springville after a shopping trip and said she had plans of picking up her children from her former husband at the 120 Precinct stationhouse in St. George.

The husbands girlfriend said there was no exchange at the 120, and that Cammarata showed up to the house in Queens instead. She said they had a brief conversation, then Cammarata left and that was the last they saw her.

Friends have since taken to social media in an effort to track her down.

According to a law enforcement source, the woman texted a friend and indicated she needed to get away.

There are no indications of foul play at this time, the source said.

However, a friend from childhood said the nature of a Facebook message Sunday has raised concerns.

I (typed), call me right now, call me right now, call me right now," said Jessica Pobega. Ive been her friend for 25 years. The minute I said Im calling the cops,' she wouldve called me. Theres no reason to avoid me.

Best case, we all yell at her because she disappeared to rest her mind; were hoping for that," said Jasmine Terrone. Nobody wants to think of the worst.

She is described as being 411 tall, weighing 120 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.

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 also can submit tips online at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

Following the death of Gambino crime boss Frank (Franky Boy) Cali, experts say his successor will have 21st Century issues to deal with.

Whoever takes over right now is a media magnet, said Louis Ferrante, a former mobster with the Gambino family whose crew was investigated at one time for some of the most lucrative heists in U.S. history. Look, you and I are talking about it ... in todays world, a lot of (mobsters) dont wanna be bothered with that."

He said its possible that whoever is in line for the promotion taps someone else to be the face, while they continue to pull in money from their rackets and influence the familys operations from the proverbial shadows.

If I were the underboss I would probably put someone there as a front for me. I would pick someone whos in my crew thats close to me, said Ferrante.

In the days following Calis death, a convicted Genovese mobster and a former Gambino hitman -- both turned-informants -- expressed shock over Calis murder considering he was known as a non-violent mob boss who ran his crime family like a corporation, according to a USA TODAY report.

UNFORSEEN RISKS

Experts say the to-do list for whoever takes over could include dealing with Calis suspected killer.

Police said Anthony Comello, 24, of Eltingville, smashed into Calis car outside the Hilltop Terrace home, then, shot him while the reputed mobsters wife and children were inside the house.

The motive remains unclear, but every theory at this point indicates Cali was targeted by his killer.

Mob experts and law enforcement sources say its unlikely the murder was related to organized crime, based on the fact there was no backup car to potentially finish the job in what would have been an ill-conceived plan.

And if months or years from now it turns out it was a planned hit, It was the most brilliant mob hit in the world," said Ferrante.

Sources have described Comello as a mob-obsessed conspiracy theorist, while former classmates have described him as aloof in class, but at times a hot-head who got into fights. A New York Times report quoted friends who claimed he wrestled with drug addiction.

Defense attorney Robert Gottlieb has pointed to right-wing hate speech as playing a factor in the incident, while stopping short of saying his client committed the murder.

NEXT IN LINE?

One name tossed around by law enforcement experts and Mafia historians as a possible successor to Cali is Lorenzo Mannino, a Gambino capo and member of the familys Sicilian faction.

Mannino is a Brooklyn crew boss who is Sicilian and was heavy in to drug (trade) with Franky Boy, said Mafia historian Scott Burnstein.

Other names mentioned include Gene Gotti, the brother of John who recently was released from prison after doing 29 years on drug charges.

If I was a member of organized crime today, Gene Gotti would be the greatest boss I could have, said Ferrante. Hes a man of men, within the context of that life.

TRICKY BUSINESS

Experts say the business of La Cosa Nostra has seen better days.

In terms of the drug-trade, New York Citys streets are now dominated by Dominican gangs paying lower prices to Mexican cartels who are able to ship the drugs by land rather than by sea, said James Hunt, formerly of the Drug Enforcement Administration, who worked as an undercover agent in the famous Pizza Connection drug case.

That being said, Cali had deep ties with the Sicilian Mafia, which along with Colombian cartels maintain a profitable heroin trade in Europe, said Hunt, which in turn could be a selling point for Calis successor.

Stateside, it can get messy when it comes to drugs, said Ferrante.

If you want to get in to that game, your playing with Asians, Russians, Albanians, Colombians, he said. Theres only so many pieces to that pie."

GETTING CREATIVE

A drug trade still exists for mobsters, but more so on a local level -- unlike the 80s when theyd ship in the drugs from Turkey and Sicily, then sell in bulk to mid-level dealers in Harlem, experts said.

And while the days of controlling unions and waste companies are all but over, loansharking and extortion continue to provide a steady stream of income.

Theyll never stop trying to sneak their way back in, said Hunt. Its harder for them to make a living than they used to, but theyre not going to get jobs.

And where theres reward, there remains risk.

In the months leading up to Calis death, an associate of the Bonanno crime family was gunned down in a McDonalds parking lot by shooters allegedly hired by an Albanian crime outfit.

Days prior to the murder, a reputed mob enforcer in Rhode Island was shot dead in a case with ties to the Gambino family, according to multiple reports.Atlanta, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contacts:



Ronna Charles

rcharles@msm.edu

404-752-1717

Danyelle Gary

Danyelle.gary@asurams.edu

229-500-3514

Albany State University Welcomes Morehouse School of Medicine to Educate Teens on Prevention: Topics Range From Teen Pregnancy to Addiction

More than 200 Teens from Across Georgia will Spend the Day Learning Life-Saving Skills

ATLANTA  March 26, 2019 - The Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, in conjunction with its Health Promotion Resource Center, will join Albany State University in hosting the Public Health Community Day. The 2019 Daniel S. Blumenthal Public Health Teen Conference is entitled, Making A Difference. This years event will focus on teenage prevention services; topics of teenage pregnancy, opioid use, bullying, HIV & AIDs prevention, sex trafficking, and suicide prevention.

Date: Saturday, April 13, 2019

Time: 8 a.m.  5 p.m.

Location:

Albany State University (East Campus)

Billy C. Black Auditorium

504 College Drive

Albany, GA 31705

Confirmed Speakers:

Mary Langley, Ph.D., professor and director, Health Promotion Resource Center at Morehouse School of Medicine

Marc Fomby, CEO, Fomby Training and Consulting Inc

Yvonne J Harvey Williams, CEO, Speak 2 inspire, LLC

Gregory W. Edwards, JD, district attorney, Dougherty County Judicial Circuit

Carey Bayer, EdD, professor, Morehouse School of Medicine

Shannon Jolly, MS & Damon Johnson, MS Above the Status Quo

Shemeka Dawson, Dawson Ministries, LLC

Available Visuals: Teens in conference, small sessions, student designed vision boards, and interactive groups.

Media Confirmation: Please call or text 678-592-3847 or email rcharles@msm.edu to confirm attendance, or for more information.

About Morehouse School of Medicine

Founded in 1975, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is among the nation's leading educators of primary care physicians and was recognized by Annals of Internal Medicine in 2011 as the top institution in the first study of U.S. medical schools for our social mission based on our production of primary care physicians, training of underrepresented minority doctors and placement of doctors practicing in underserved communities. MSM faculty and alumni are noted for excellence in teaching, research and public policy, as well as exceptional patient care.

Morehouse School of Medicine is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctoral and master's degrees. To learn more about programs and donate today, please visit www.msm.edu or call 404-752-1500.

About Albany State University

Albany State University, in Southwest Georgia, has been a catalyst for change in the region from its inception as the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute to its designation as a university. Founded in 1903 to educate African-American youth, the university continues to fulfill its historic mission while also serving the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student population. A progressive institution, Albany State University seeks to foster the growth and development of the region, state and nation through teaching, research, creative expression and public service. Through its collaborative efforts, the university responds to the needs of all of its constituents and offers educational programs and service to improve the quality of life in Southwest Georgia. For more information, please visit https://www.asurams.edu/. Follow the university on Twitter and Facebook @AlbanyStateUniv.

Source of Funding for this conference was provided through grants from: Office of Adolescent Health: Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Programs-Grant No. TP1AH000117; Office of Minority Health: Empowering Communities for a Healthier Nation Initiative ECI-Opioid Abuse-Grant No. CPIMP171163; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: HIV Capacity Building Initiative-Grant No. 5H79SP021255

###STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- Is Zachary Levi the newest member of TruTVs Impractical Jokers cast?

He could be if their latest hidden camera challenge is any testament. The Jokers -- a group of lifelong best friends from Staten Island, Joe Gatto, Brian "Q" Quinn, Sal Vulcano and James Murr Murray -- celebrated the upcoming release of SHAZAM! the only way they know how -- pulling pranks on folks on the street.

During a meet-and-greet event with DC Comics star Zachary Levi at Midtown Comics in Manhattan, Gatto posed as the bodyguard, interacting with fans who came to meet SHAZAM! himself. Little did they know the other three Jokers would be telling Gatto what to do through an ear piece.

Levi played along as Gatto played pranks like smelling the pens Levi signed merchandise with, yelling Shazam after the star signed autographs and giving him a massage while staring fans in the eyes.

The segment ended with Gatto and Levi getting into an argument only using the word Shazam. The last line of the skit came from Gatto: Shazam me? Shazam you! The film is set to premiere Friday, April 5.

Recently, the Jokers were cited as the inspiration behind a book detailing Staten Islands food history. Not everyone can take a joke, though. A former Queens resident is reportedly suing the group over a hidden camera bit in which her face was clearly visible," but she never signed a waiver to appear on the show.Shira Stoll, a multimedia specialist for the Advance/SILive.com, is the filmmaker behind the Where Life Leads You documentary and the Staten Island Holocaust Survivor series.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Romi Cohn was the youngest member of the Partisan army. At age 15, he was fighting the Nazis after they destroyed his family and his home.

Born in Pressburg, Czechoslovakia, (now Bratislava, Slovakia), Cohn was 10 years old when Hitler came to power in 1939.

Immediately, the integrated town he once knew was turned completely upside-down. All of a sudden, our best neighbors and our best friends became our worst enemies, Cohn said.

Jews were no longer allowed to own businesses, homes or bank accounts.

Jewish life grew restricted and they were constantly bullied and beaten. Cohn remembered one instance in which they were walking home from the synagogue and a group of Hitler-Jugend (Hitler Youth) attacked his father.

Many people walked by and some even encouraged them by screaming, Hit the Jew! Hit the Jew, he recalled.

His father was lying on the floor bleeding. Nobody helped, he said.

As the conditions worsened, Cohn was smuggled across the border to Hungary, where he lived for two years until Hitler invaded Hungary in 1944.

He then was smuggled back to Czechoslovakia, where he made contact with the underground resistance against the Nazis.

I first met Cohn at his home in Eltingville on a cold, winter day in February 2018. I was struck by the stunning view of the sun setting on the Raritan Bay from his living room window, as we concluded the hour-and-a-half long interview.

Since publishing his book, The Youngest Partisan, Cohn has told his story many times to schoolchildren and the press. But, during our interview, it sounded as though he was telling it for the first time. I was hanging onto every word, wanting to know more.

Through his contacts with the underground, Cohn was able to obtain a false Gestapo military order to report to the town of Svetkrisenteronim, where the German outpost was located next to the location of the Partisan army. He then would cross the bridge over the Hron River to a village called Dornosdena. In order to pass into Partisan territory safely, Cohn pretended to be a spy for the Nazis.

He spent about six months fighting the Nazis among the Partisans until 1945, when he returned home to look for his family. Out of a family of seven children, only two of Romis sisters, Hanna and Sara, and his father, Leopold, survived the war.

Cohn warns that the rise of the Nazi party happened in a Democratic country and that it could happen anywhere at any time. We have to be aware and make sure this never happens again, he said.

Cohn is now a celebrated mohel in the Jewish community who splits his time between Borough Park, Brooklyn and Eltingville. He worked more than 25 years in an operating room and claims that he holds the world record for performing 35,000 circumcisions.

I think I have more than anyone else since the creation, going back a couple of thousand years, he said with a laugh.

We invite you to watch the above video to hear how he saved 56 Jewish families in hiding, lived with false Gestapo papers and joined the Partisan army.

Im very happy and grateful to God that Ill be able to tell the story, Cohn said with a smile. Im still alive.Recently, the Department of Transportation announced plans to triple the number of bikes it has in New York City, but never said where the new bikes would be going. As a lifelong Staten Islander and a local business owner, Id be glad to see our pilot bike share program changed to a permanent program and expanded to include the entire borough.Since the start of the program in 2013, we were left out of the citys bike share program, while companies offered this service to every other borough except Staten Island. This isnt surprising, since weve always been overlooked when it comes to transportation options. Staten Island deserves the same choices as people in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. We should have a bike share system that covers the entire Island, giving residents from Tottenville to Mariners Harbor, an easy way to commute and give tourists an incentive to explore our borough beyond the Ferry Terminal.

This past summer, the city started a small dockless bike share pilot program that brought the companies Jump and Lime to the North Shore, and thankfully, Staten Island was finally included, rather than left out.

According to bike share figures, so far the program has been extremely popular, with more than 50,000 trips between Jump and Lime bikes, and lots of people use the bikes multiple times per week, including myself. I love seeing these bright red and green bikes on the streets and watching families and tourists enjoy them. Besides an environmentally friendly alternative and healthier way to travel, they represent the ways our community is growing, and bring more traffic to local businesses in Stapleton and beyond.

The only problem with our dockless bike share program is that its limited to a small section of the North Shore. People who live or work elsewhere on the Island cant enjoy the bikes like North Shore residents, and neither can people who want to visit destinations like Clove Lakes Park or the Staten Island Zoo. This makes no sense. Staten Islanders have waited long enough for bike share, and now that we know it works, we should have it across the rest of the borough.

The City of New York and Department of Transportation did a great thing in creating the dockless bike share pilot program. Now they have the chance to make an even bigger impact on Staten Island, and make up for all the years of neglected transportation options.

Staten Islands bike share program should be allowed to expand and cover the entire Island.

(Peter Lisi is a Stapleton resident.)STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Lead is contaminating drinking water at schools and preschools across the country, and many states are failing to make the grade when it comes to keeping the lead out, a new study has found.

The study, by the Environment America Research & Policy Center and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, analyzed lead testing policies for 31 states and Washington, D.C. The states received letter grades based on policies related to lead in drinking water in schools.

According to the report, New York State received a C+ grade.

Twenty-two states earned an "F" grade, while Washington, D.C., out-ranked every region with a B+ grade because it requires schools to proactively install certified filters at all outlets used for drinking or cooking.

The report said the promise and viability of getting lead out of school water was seen in several municipal and voluntary programs in the country, including New York City, which has replaced all lead service lines from schools, the report said.

Key findings from the report were that several states have no requirements for schools and preschools to address the threat of lead in school drinking water. Of the states with applicable laws, most follow federal rules that rely on testing instead of prevention.

19 STATEN ISLAND SCHOOLS

Last September, 76 fixtures in 19 Staten Island schools were still showing elevated levels of lead, according to a report released by the Department of Education (DOE).

The agency said that those fixtures reported lead levels above the 15 parts per billion threshold. Lead levels above 15 parts per billion are considered dangerous by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The numbers released in the report accounted for tests conducted on Staten Island from January 2018 to August 2018. Initial lead testing began in 2016.

The water fixtures -- found in school kitchens, bathrooms, locker rooms and classrooms -- include ice makers, cold water faucets, water bottle filters, slop sinks and bubblers, or drinking fountains.

Lead can enter drinking water when service pipes that contain lead corrode, according to the EPA.

The DOE is in the process of testing every fixture in every public school across the five boroughs.

More than 140,000 fixtures will be tested.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.CITY HALL -- Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/East Brooklyn) is leading the way with campaign funding.

But GOP Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis called her latest numbers impressive because her funds were raised in just two months.

According to Roses campaign, the freshman congressman raised more than $600,000 for his reelection campaign in the first funding quarter of 2019.

Meanwhile, the campaign of Malliotakis (R-East Shore/Brooklyn) said she raised $300,000 in her first quarter.

First quarter filings for candidates with the Federal Election Commission are due later this month.

Roses campaign could not immediately provide a breakdown of his donations and said that data would be available once they file later this month.

Last year, this year, next year my message to corporate PACs and federal lobbyists remains the same: keep your damn money! Rose said. In order to regain the trust of the American people and actually solve the real issues facing the hardworking people of Staten Island and South Brooklyn, we need to kick out the special interests and put the American people back in control--and thats exactly what Im doing.

The assemblywomans campaign said money from New York state residents accounted for 93 percent of all donations with the majority coming from residents of New York City.

Malliotakis campaign office said a number of Republican House members contributed to her campaign as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthys Leadership PAC, which donated the maximum of $10,000 to the assemblywomans campaign.

The early results of the first fundraising quarter comes as the 2020 Island congressional race appears to already be taking shape.

Malliotakis announced her bid to run in February, Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) has said he is actively considering 2020 congressional run, and former Republican Congressman Michael Grimm has also said he is 90 percent of the way there to making a decision about running.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A man who works for the MTA and a woman who is employed by NYCHA were arrested by police in connection with an alleged MetroCard scheme.

Ayman Abdel-Sayed, 49, an MTA elevator mechanic, was taken into custody on Tuesday at about 8:45 p.m. at the 123rd Precinct stationhouse in Tottenville, according to a statement and a spokesman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

The suspect allegedly was involved in the scheme with Hanaa Tawadros, 39, a NYCHA employee who was arrested while off duty on Tuesday at about 8 p.m. in the 123rd Precinct, according to a separate statement from the NYPD.

Abdel-Sayed and Tawadros live at the same address in the 100 block of Sharott Avenue in Pleasant Plains, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Police allege that Abdel-Sayed used a stolen bank card to buy MetroCards and that Tawadros used the MetroCards knowing that they were purchased illegally.

The stolen bankcard was traced to an 18-year-old Staten Island man who lost a wallet on a transit platform. Abdel-Sayed allegedly used the 18-year-old mans bank card to make about $162 in purchases that included MetroCards, a police spokesman said.

Details were not immediately available regarding how Abdel-Sayed allegedly obtained the bank card and bought the MetroCards.

Abdel-Sayed has been charged by police with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny, according to the police statement.

Tawadros has been charged by police with criminal possession of stolen property.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The lawyer for a New Dorp man sentenced to a stiff prison term for dealing drugs said his client has addiction issues and hopefully can turn his life around through treatment.

Jose Machicote was sentenced Tuesday, under a plea agreement, to eight years in prison and five years post-release supervision for selling cocaine to an undercover cop last year.

Machicote, 43, was busted in January 2018 and accused of multiple counts of criminal drug sale and criminal drug possession.

Three weeks ago, the defendant pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to first-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, the top charge against him.

Machicote admitted to peddling at least two ounces of cocaine to an undercover officer in Grant City in January 2018.

All my clients troubles arose as a result of his addiction issues, said Mark J. Fonte, Machicotes lawyer. Hopefully, he can obtain the treatment he needs while incarcerated and live a productive and sober life upon his release.

Assistant District Attorney Travis Atkinson prosecuted the case.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With the inclusion of a congestion pricing plan in the recently approved $175 billion state budget, the MTA is seeking alternate tolling methods to maximize collection while minimizing operating costs and necessary infrastructure.

On March 28, the MTA Triborough Bridges and Tunnels Authority (TBTA) issued a request for ideas (RFI) seeking innovative solutions to collect tolls on all vehicles entering Manhattans Central Business District (CBD) without installing overhead cashless tolling gantries, similar to those seen on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

The RFI states that potential solutions should reduce congestion and maximize revenue collection and minimize system, back office, installation, maintenance, and collection costs.

The MTA is looking to minimize the amount of new infrastructure, using existing infrastructure to the greatest extent possible.

All solutions should offer various accessible payment methods and be capable of integrating with other implemented solutions.

The MTA offered a list of potentially viable technologies, including roadside bluetooth readers, smart-phone based mobile applications, connected vehicle technology and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based tolling.

According to the RFI, roadside equipment can be installed to interact with cars bluetooth radios, presenting a feasible tolling option if a unique identifier of each system can be associated with a users account.

Citing that approximately 95 percent of Americans currently own smartphones, the MTA is exploring the potential use of smartphone tolling, in a manner that may or may not require roadside technology.

Connected vehicle technology, widely used for toll collection in Europe, refers to specialized on-board units that are installed in vehicles for the purpose of Vehicle-to-Vehicle or Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication.

GNSS refers to embedded satellite radio systems, such as GMs Onstar, that are mounted by manufacturers within the vehicle and are capable of determining vehicle location based on satellite imaging.

The deadline for all applications is April 12.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT CONGESTION PRICING

As part of the state budget approved Sunday, the TBTA will establish the Central Business District Tolling Program, which will charge travelers a variable fee for driving into Manhattans Central Business District, defined as any area south of 60th Street.

A six-member Traffic Mobility Review Board will recommend toll pricing next year to the TBTA, which will ultimately determine the toll prices, which may vary based on time of day and potentially offer exemptions and credits to certain travelers.

Tolls are set to be active by the end of 2020, with the West Side Highway and FDR Drive excluded from the program and exemptions in place for those making less than $60,000 annually and living within the Central Business District.

Protections will be in place to ensure drivers will only be tolled once per day.

The program is expected to generate $1 billion annually, which can be bonded against for $15 billion, which will be placed in a designated MTA lockbox to fund capital improvements to the ailing mass transit system.

Revenue generated from the new internet sales tax and progressive mansion tax will also be included in the lockbox, adding another $10 billion in bonded revenue, totaling $25 billion between the three new revenue streams.

MTA chairman Patrick Foye said he also expects an additional $7 billion in federal funding, bring the total funding for the 2020-2024 capital plan to $32 billion.

Its actually not 25 [billion dollars], its actually 32 [billion dollars], and heres how you get there," said Foye. In the existing 2015 capital plan, we assumed and are in the process of receiving about $7 billion from the federal government. Our assumption is that we will receive in the new capital plan a similar amount.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A recent poll from Quinnipiac University suggests that many Staten Island voters would support changing the admissions process to the citys eight test-based specialized high schools if it meant it would increase diversity in those schools.

The results of the poll, released Tuesday, show that 61 percent of Staten Island voters would support the change to the admissions process, with 34 percent opposing, and 5 percent unsure.

Admission to the eight specialized high schools is determined by the score a student receives on the Specialized High School Standardized Test (SHSAT).

Staten Island voters were torn when asked if the city should keep the SHSAT or consider other factors when it comes to admission to these specialized high schools.

According to the poll, 42 percent of Staten Island voters believed the city should keep the exam, while 54 percent thought that other factors -- such as state test scores and schools top performers -- should determine which students gain entrance to the elite high schools. Three percent were unsure whether to keep the exam or change admissions standards.

Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to diversify the citys specialized high schools by eliminating the admissions test over the next three years, and instead making offers to the top 7 percent of students from each public middle school.

When it comes to being satisfied with the citys public schools in general, 56 percent of Staten Island voters said they werent satisfied, 29 percent said they were satisfied, and 14 percent were unsure.

However, Staten Island voters indicated they are very satisfied with the public schools in their neighborhood. Sixty-seven percent of voters said they were satisfied, 25 percent werent satisfied, and 8 percent were unsure.

CITYWIDE VOTERS

Citywide, 57 percent of all New York City voters said that other factors should be considered for admission to the specialized high schools, including 37 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of Independents, 56 percent of men, 59 percent of women, 50 percent of caucasians, 63 percent of African Americans, 73 percent of Hispanics and 48 percent of Asians.

Thirty-six percent of New York City voters said that the SHSAT should remain the deciding factor for admission, including 58 percent of Republicans, 28 percent of Democrats, 40 percent of Independents, 39 percent of men, 34 percent of women, 43 percent of caucasians, 29 percent of African Americans, 23 percent of Hispanics and 46 percent of Asians.

In a separate question, 63 percent of New York City voters supported changing the admissions process to the specialized high schools if it meant increased diversity, including 35 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of Democrats, 52 percent of Independents, 60 percent of men, 66 percent of women, 51 percent of caucasians, 75 percent of African Americans, 77 percent of Hispanics and 53 percent of Asians.

On the opposing end, 28 percent said they wouldnt support changing the admissions process, including 50 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Democrats, 37 percent of Independents, 34 percent of men, 22 percent of women, 37 percent of caucasians, 16 percent of African Americans, 17 percent of Hispanics and 39 percent of Asians.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Possible cuts to FDNY engine staffing would affect two Staten Island companies.

Engines 156 and 158 would lose their fifth men in the move that the New York Post first reported Sunday night, according to City Councilman Joe Borelli, who serves as the chairman of the councils Committee on Fire and Emergency Management.

Engine 156 is located on Broadway in West Brighton and Engine 158 is located on Harbor Road in Mariners Harbor.

The cuts, which have been postponed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to work out a deal with the department and its members unions, would eliminate all of the fifth men stationed at 20 of the citys busiest engine companies.

To cut staffing just to enforce a bizarre stipulation in a contract puts the public in greater danger, Borelli (R-South Shore) said Tuesday night.

That contract stipulation ties the allowance of fifth men to the number of personnel out on medical leave.

The department has gone over that number, but Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) President Gerard Fitzgerald told the Post those numbers include personnel with 9/11-related illnesses.

We have members that are sick but not sick enough to come off the job  they come down with nasal infections, bouts of breathing problems, Fitzgerald said.

They do go sick a couple of times a year, if not more, because of their service in 9/11. If [the city] were to exclude that, we would not be having that conversation about reducing the number.

In addition to the role the fifth men play in operating the hose line, they also act as a manpower pool for their battalions. When another firefighter is injured, the fifth man will be called in to fill the role of that firefighter.

While we continually evaluate staffing needs, no decisions on any changes have been made, FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon told the Post. For decades, most FDNY engine companies have been staffed with four firefighters  the highest staffing level in the nation. Today, thats how 90 percent of our companies are staffed. The FDNY will have the staff and equipment needed to keep all New Yorkers safe and respond rapidly to emergencies.New Providence, NJ, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Lassus Wherley, a subsidiary of Peapack-Gladstone Bank, has been recognized as a 2019 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers as announced by InvestmentNews this week.



Lassus Wherley was chosen as one of this years top-75 based on employer and employee surveys delving into everything from company culture, benefits, career paths and more.

Helping our clients was only part of our dream when we became financial planners. We also knew that we wanted to work in an informal, fun atmosphere. We wanted an office environment that our staff and our clients would enjoy, yet would not interfere with the serious matters to be addressed.- Diahann W. Lassus and Clare E. Wherley

InvestmentNews partnered with Best Companies Group, an independent research firm specializing in identifying great places to work, to compile the inaugural survey and recognition program. The list is a first of its kind for the financial advice industry.

InvestmentNews is pleased to recognize firms with supportive cultures where advisors can thrive and are empowered to provide their clients with the best possible investment and financial planning advice, said Suzanne Siracuse, CEO/Publisher, InvestmentNews. They are role models for other firms in the industry who are striving to improve their own human resource policies and practices.

To learn more about the InvestmentNews 2019 75 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers, please go to InvestmentNews.com/BestPlaces.

ABOUT LASSUS WHERLEY

Lassus Wherley was founded in 1985 by Diahann W. Lassus, CFP, CPA/PFS and Clare E. Wherley, CPA, CFP. We have two offices to serve our clients, one in New Providence, NJ, and the other in Bonita Springs, FL. We assist individuals, couples, families, pension and profit sharing plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations in identifying their needs, desires and goals. Lassus Wherley exists to bring peace of mind to clients, helping them build better futures by providing a wide range of wealth management services, including financial planning, investment management, tax preparation, and trust services.

The Lassus Wherley web site is www.lassuswherley.com.

ABOUT PEAPACK-GLADSTONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corporation is a New Jersey bank holding company with total assets of $4.62 billion and assets under management and/or administration of $5.8 billion as of December 31, 2018. Founded in 1921, Peapack-Gladstone Bank is a commercial bank that provides innovative private banking services to businesses, non-profits and consumers, which help them to establish, maintain and expand their legacy. Through Peapack Private Wealth Management, and its private banking locations in Bedminster, Fairfield, Gladstone, Morristown, New Providence, Princeton and Teaneck, and its trust office in Greenville, Delaware, Peapack-Gladstone Bank offers an unparalleled commitment to client service through its private wealth management, commercial private banking, retail private banking and residential lending divisions, along with its online platforms.

About InvestmentNews

InvestmentNews is the leading source for news, analysis and information essential to the financial advisory community. Since 1998, our standard of editorial excellence and deep industry knowledge has allowed us to educate, inform and engage the most influential financial advisers. Through a weekly newspaper, website, newsletters, research, events, videos and webcasts, InvestmentNews provides exclusive and up-to-the-minute news, as well as actionable intelligence, that empowers financial advisers to serve their clients and run their businesses more effectively whenever, however and wherever they need it.

The InvestmentNews headquarters are located in New York, with offices in Chicago and Washington D.C. InvestmentNews is part of Bonhill group.

Disclosure:

Neither rankings and/or recognition by unaffiliated rating services, publications, media, or other organizations, nor the achievement of any designation or certification, should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if Lassus Wherley is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Rankings published by magazines, and others, generally base their selections exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by the recognized adviser. No ranking or recognition should be construed as a current or past endorsement of Lassus Wherley by any of its clients. ANY QUESTIONS: Lassus Wherleys Chief Compliance Officer remains available to address any questions regarding rankings and/or recognitions.

AttachmentSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A recent poll from Quinnipiac University suggests that Staten Island voters are torn on the implementation and potential effectiveness of congestion pricing.

The poll, released Tuesday, shows 43 percent of the boroughs voters support congestion pricing, with 52 percent opposing the initiative and 5 percent responding that they are unsure.

While residents are leaning toward opposing the implementation of the program, likely due to the financial implications, those polled show they believe that it would be effective in reducing congestion in Manhattan.

According to the poll, 52 percent of Staten Island voters feel that congestion pricing would be effective in reducing traffic, with 44 percent believing it will be ineffective, and 5 percent unsure.

When asked how serious of a problem traffic congestion is in New York City, Staten Island voters outpace all other boroughs in terms of deeming it a very serious problem.

According to the poll, 62 percent of Staten Island voters view the traffic problem as very serious, with 33 percent responding somewhat serious, 4 percent responding not very serious," and 2 percent responding not serious at all.

CITYWIDE PERSPECTIVE

On a citywide level, 41 percent of voters support congestion pricing, including 22 percent of Republicans, 46 percent of Democrats, 43 percent of Independents, 43 percent of men, 40 percent of women, 47 percent of caucasians, 33 percent of African-Americans, 39 percent of Hispanics and 48 percent of Asians.

On the contrary, 54 percent of NYC voters are opposed to congestion pricing, including 74 percent of Republicans, 48 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of Independents, 53 percent of men, 55 percent of women, 49 percent of caucasians, 63 percent of African-Americans, 58 percent of Hispanics and 42 percent of Asians.

On a citywide level, 40 percent of voters believe congestion pricing would be effective in reducing traffic, including 33 percent of Republicans, 44 percent of Democrats, 39 percent of Independents, 44 percent of men, 36 percent of women, 45 percent of caucasians, 32 percent of African-Americans, 34 percent of Hispanics and 48 percent of Asians.

On the contrary, 52 percent of voters believe congestion pricing would be ineffective in reducing traffic, including 61 percent of Republicans, 48 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of Independents, 50 percent of men, 55 percent of women, 48 percent of caucasians, 59 percent of African-Americans, 57 percent of Hispanics and 43 percent of Asians.

Approximately 5 percent of New York City voters are unsure if they support congestion pricing, with 8 percent unsure if it will have a positive effect on traffic.CITY HALL -- Theyre back.

Spring is here and so are the Staten Island Ferry ticket hawkers.

On a number of recent visits to the Staten Island Ferry, the Advance has observed groups of ticket hawkers swarming tourists trying to get them to buy tours to see the Statue of Liberty and other attractions in the area.

Last year, Island reps called on the city to create a designated area for ticket hawkers to work similar to activity zones ticket sellers and costume characters work in at Times Square.

If they leave those zones, they can get arrested or hit with a fine.

But nearly a year later, the ticket hawkers remain working all around the Peter Minuet Plaza and can be seen inside of the ferry terminal too.

I think they shouldnt be allowed in front of the ferry terminal, said daily ferry commuter Vinny from Princes Bay.

Vinny said he often sees ticket hawkers acting aggressively toward tourists and each other almost everyday.

Other Staten Islanders who ride the ferry everyday think the city should at least move ticket hawkers from the area during the rush hour commute.

I think they should start working outside of the ferry at a later time, said Alondra Diaz of Rosebank.

But other Island commuters said they understand that the ticket hawkers are simply trying to make a living too.

Its like crabs in a bucket they have to be aggressive, said Asha Adams of New Brighton.

Ticket hawkers can often be seen trying to sell tours to tourists inside the terminal.

Ticket hawkers are not allowed to sell tickets in or outside of the ferry terminal, at Battery Park, around the Museum of the American Indian, or by the Charging Bull.

But they can frequently be spotted trying to sell tickets to people in those areas.

The NYPD has previously told the Advance that officers will arrest or issue ticket hawkers summonses if they are caught operating in unauthorized areas.

Outside of those areas, they can sell tickets where they please, the NYPD said.

The NYPD said the commander officer of the 1st Precinct in Manhattan uses a multifaceted approach to go after ticket hawkers in the Battery Park.

NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Jessica McRorie said both uniformed and plain clothes officers are in that area on a daily basis and that the agency will continue to work with local organizations, law enforcement officers, and maintain communication with businesses who operate in the area to address the issue of ticket hawkers.

The NYPD said because of its approach, ticket hawker complaints and arrests have decreased.

Last year, 27 ticket hawkers were arrested and eight complaints were made, and so far this year, just one was arrested and four complaints were made.

The agency issued 66 summonses to ticket hawkers this year compared to 35 last year.

The Parks Department also has several officers that patrol Battery Park, and around the ferry terminal on Parks property who issue summonses to ticket sellers if they are caught selling tickets on Parks property.

Since Jan. 1, 2019, Parks said its officers arrested one ticket hawker for harassment and have issued 109 summonses for illegal vending, including 21 last week.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.NEW YORK  Everything went well, considering the otherwise awful news.

Doctors told Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar that he has a tear in his right shoulder labrum that might need season-ending surgery.

But on Tuesday, Andujar said they told him some good things, too.

Its tough, but at the same time, Im optimistic because my shoulder is strong, Andujar said via the teams Spanish translator Marlon Abreu at Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees were set to play the Tigers.

When they did physical tests on my shoulder, combined with the physical results, my strength is there. So the probability of me working through this and getting back is there.

Its a matter of following up with the trainers and the plan that we have on the table and go one day at a time and see where we are in a couple weeks.

The Yankees plan to let Andujar rehabilitate for about two weeks. Then theyll reassess and decide if he needs surgery.

Boone has called the tear small.

Andujar suffered the injury diving back to third base in Sundays loss to the Orioles. He didnt play Monday, with D..J. LeMahieu taking over at the position. Andujar said he didnt realize how bad the injury was and that it hurt a bit more Monday and felt a bit better Tuesday.

Andujar, the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year runner-up, said hes staying positive.

Youve got to take it one day at a time, he said. The plan right now is to do physical therapy the next couple of days and well see where were going to be after that. The thing is, I feel good. I feel better. And throughout the whole thing, we want to have a positive mind. Thats very important.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

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A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!English French

Geneva - April 3, 2019 - STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, announces that Mrs. Claudia Bugno, who was proposed to become a new member of the Company's Supervisory Board at its upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) scheduled for May 23, 2019, has informed the Company that she is no longer available for appointment to its Supervisory Board. The Company will announce an alternative proposed member in due course.

About STMicroelectronics

ST is a global semiconductor leader delivering intelligent and energy-efficient products and solutions that power the electronics at the heart of everyday life. ST's products are found everywhere today, and together with our customers, we are enabling smarter driving and smarter factories, cities and homes, along with the next generation of mobile and Internet of Things devices.

By getting more from technology to get more from life, ST stands for life.augmented.

In 2018, the Company's net revenues were $9.66 billion, serving more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Further information can be found at www.st.com.

For further information, please contact:

INVESTOR RELATIONS:

Celine Berthier

Group VP, Investor Relations

Tel : +41.22.929.58.12

celine.berthier@st.com

MEDIA RELATIONS:

Alexis Breton

Corporate External Communications

Tel: + 33 6 59 16 79 08

alexis.breton@st.comThe pilots of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX jet that crashed last month had initially followed Boeing's emergency procedures, but later deviated from them as they tried to regain control of the plane, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The crash killed all 157 people on board and led to a global grounding of 737 MAX jets and scrutiny of the certification process for the Boeing plane.

An Ethiopian relative of a crash victim mourns and grieves next to a floral tribute at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on March 15. Credit:AP

Boeing had issued guidelines to pilots on how to disable an automated anti-stall system after a deadly crash in Indonesia in October, that were followed by an emergency airworthiness directive by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The Journal report, citing unidentified people briefed on the matter, said the pilots had initially shut off the MCAS anti-stall system that was pushing the airplane's nose down shortly after it took off from Addis Ababa.The prospectus for a $US10 billion ($14 billion) bond issued filed in London this week has provided the first detailed insight into the finances of the worlds most profitable company, one materially bigger than the next two most profitable businesses combined.

The prospectus was filed by Saudi Arabias Aramco for a debt raising to help finance the $US6.1 billion purchase of a 70 per cent interest in another Saudi government-controlled business, the Sabic petrochemical group.

Saudi Arabia's Aramco has filed a prospectus for a bond issue that reveals its finances for the first time. Credit:Bryan Denton/New York Times

It showed that Aramco had net income of $US111.1 billion last year, after paying $US101.7 billion of taxes to the Saudi government.

As reference points, the combined earnings of Apple and Goggles parent, Alphabet  the next two most profitable companies  were a touch over $US90 billion and the combined profits of the next six largest oil companies a touch under $US99 billion.Virgin Australia has cancelled its staff travel agreement with Brunei's national carrier in light of the Southeast Asian nation's introduction of harsh new religious laws that include the death penalty for gay sex.

Australia's number-two airline has an "interline" arrangement with Royal Brunei, which means that Royal Brunei customers can book tickets on some Virgin flights within Australia.

The suit of Islamic laws introduced under Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah includes death by stoning for sex between people of the same gender. Credit:EPA

And until now, Virgin staff have also been able to book discounted tickets on Royal Brunei flights for leisure travel.

But Virgin has put an end to the staff travel arrangement after the tiny but oil-rich nation on the island of Borneo became the first country in the region to introduce sharia law."They can utilise it as often as they like. It could be investing in technology and investing in a new cafe, it is whatever asset can enhance their business. This is all about investing in your business." Loading Ms Cash said the skills package included in the budget would also assist small business with a commitment to create 80,000 apprentices in areas where there are skills shortages such as carpenters, plumbers, brick layers, bakers and pastry chefs. "Small and family businesses often tell us they aren't able to get access to the skills they need, so we have made a half billion investment in the skills they need," she said. 'Backbone of the economy'

Ms Cash said the expansion of the instant asset write-off and skills package are dependent on the election outcome. "This is the last sitting day before the election, we are taking these to the election," she said. After Ms Cash spoke to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, the expansion of the instant asset write off was passed through the senate on Wednesday and is legislated. In a campaign pitch to voters, Ms Cash added while she understood the Labor party would support the first part of the coalition's tax plan, to keep the 27.5 per cent company tax rate for businesses with a turnover of up to $50 million, it otherwise targeted "around $200 billion in higher taxes". Asked if small businesses were going to be a key to the election, Ms Cash said "absolutely". "It is a clear battleground," she said. "They are the backbone of the Australian economy. Absolutely they are front and centre as Australians go to make their choice. It is in our DNA as Liberal and Nationals to back small and family businesses."

'Pleased' Small business and family enterprise ombudsman Kate Carnell. Credit:Louie Douvis Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, said the budget fundamentally delivered what the small business community had been hoping for. "We were [wanting] the tax cuts being pulled forward. We were pleased with the personal income tax cuts, and changes to the instant asset write-off are really good," she said. Each policy had the effect of putting more money back with business owners, while personal tax cuts would also stimulate spending, Ms Carnell said.

Startups feel 'worked over' The focus on small business represents a significant change from former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's emphasis on startups and innovation, and the reaction was much more lukewarm from the technology and startup sector. StartupAus said uncertainty over the future of the research and development tax incentives scheme is "threatening to pull the rug out from under the [startup] sector - but nothing was said about it." While there was no mention of the incentives scheme in budget measures, the papers show intended savings of $1.3 billion from forward estimates. "In a year where everyone feels like they are getting a tax break, startups feel like they are getting worked over," co-founder of fintech Assembly Payments Victor Zheng said.COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Washington Prime Group Inc. (NYSE: WPG) today announced that the Company will hold a conference call on Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the Companys first quarter 2019 financial and operating results.



The dial-in number for the conference call is 844.646.4463 (or +1.615.247.0256 for international callers), and the participant passcode is 7295326. The live audio webcast of the call will be available on the investor relations section of the Companys website at www.washingtonprime .com .

A replay of the call will be available on the Companys website, or by calling 855.859.2056 (or +1.404.537.3406 for international callers), passcode is 7295326, beginning on Thursday, April 25, 2019, at approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time through midnight on Thursday, May 9, 2019.

About Washington Prime Group

Washington Prime Group Inc. is a retail REIT and a recognized leader in the ownership, management, acquisition and development of retail properties. The Company combines a national real estate portfolio with its expertise across the entire shopping center sector to increase cash flow through rigorous management of assets and provide new opportunities to retailers looking for growth throughout the U.S. Washington Prime Group is a registered trademark of the Company. Learn more at www.washingtonprime.com .A Qantas flight attendant was sacked after she drank a quarter of a bottle of vodka during a flight from Sydney to Johannesburg. The Fair Work Commission dismissed her claim that she was unfairly sacked in October last year after she admitted to drinking a quarter of a one-litre bottle of vodka mixed with soda water on the flight in July last year. A Qantas flight attendant was sacked after drinking a quarter of a one-litre bottle of vodka during a flight from Sydney to Johannesburg last year. The commission heard that she was employed in a safety critical role and was removed from her duties before landing after she consumed alcohol belonging to her employer. The commission heard she drank the vodka quickly to avoid detection while on her own in the front galley. She tested positive for an alcohol breath test after she arrived in Johannesburg.

The attendant also admitted she had misled the investigation into whether or not she had consumed her employers alcohol by insisting she had bought it from a duty-free store before boarding the flight. She was worried that she would lose her job if she was honest about drinking her employers alcohol on board. Deputy President Geoffrey Bull did not accept the argument that her conduct was not a valid reason for dismissal. She argued her sacking was disproportionate to her misconduct and that it had failed to take adequate consideration of her 31 years of good service. Of all the matters put forward on her behalf alleging unfairness, Mr Bull said he considered the length of her good service "as the most compelling". However, the attendant had occupied "a safety sensitive position and for good reason was prohibited from consuming alcohol during a flight". He said there was nothing to suggest the dismissal was unfair and that her dishonesty about the source of the vodka was another valid reason for the sacking. Qantas policies prohibit the consumption of alcohol while on duty and consider the unauthorised removal of property as serious misconduct.Finally, she dreams her way into Wonderland itself, only to find it closed for business while the staff battle all-consuming black storm clouds and an army of destructive toys known as Chimpanzombies (whose role in the allegory remains unclear, beyond being a sanitised version of the traditional horde of savages). A reluctant messiah, June must summon all her resources to get things back on track.

Children will likely find the film both boring and upsetting

This is yet another of those fables about the power of the imagination which proves to be stronger in theory than practice. The didactic approach leaves little or no room for the fantasy to come to independent life  as it does in the original Alice in Wonderland, for instance, or Hayao Miyazakis Spirited Away.

A few hectic chase scenes aside, children will likely find the film both boring and upsetting, a deadly combination. After a brief appearance at the outset, the animals of Wonderland are kept offscreen for the whole first act; even when they return, theyre less endearing than they ought to be.

The best of a feeble bunch is a pedantic porcupine voiced by John Oliver, who cites scraps of Greek and Latin and speaks of his existential crisis. But even he is plainly intended much more for the amusement of adults than kids.In the wake of last month's re-election of Gladys Berejiklian's Liberal-led government, prospects have brightened for a sudden - and even surprising - narrowing of the gap between state and federal energy policy.

The elevation of Rob Stokes to head the key Planning & Industry cluster brings to the fore a Minister known for his support of renewable energy.

Having Matt Kean - the head of the dominant moderate faction - run the cluster's Energy and Environment portfolio, will bring political nous to Stokes' intellectual clout, a senior NSW Liberal source says.

Sunset on the climate wars? State and federal energy policies could soon be more coordinated than they have been for decades. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

"A great era of bipartisanship" is possible, this source says - provided Labor takes over in Canberra.It's not every day that international supermodel Kendall Jenner is upstaged by an inanimate object.

But the Tiffany Diamond, which Lady Gaga wore to the most recent Oscars and based on its price in 1878 is said to be worth about $US30 million ($42.4 million) but is likely worth more, is no ordinary rock.

Lady Gaga wearing the Tiffany Diamond at the 91st Academy Awards. Credit:Invision/AP

(It is also far more rare and precious than an egg, which was used by a canny Instagram user to outdo Jenner's sister Kylie for the most number of likes on a post, which was previously 18 million.)

And for one night this week, the gemstone and Jenner will be in the same room, for the launch of the new Tiffany & Co Sydney store.In the hearing, the lawyer for Hopscotch questioned whether the Tipsy Bull noise monitor was picking up just the sound from the neighbour or more general sound from the street. The lawyer questioned the validity of the readings.

A director of Hopscotch, Kate Parkinson, said that she, too, had monitored the noise from her restaurant and found it was not excessive. She said she had told the staff to keep the noise down and had put up notices indicating maximum sound levels.

In a document submitted to the tribunal, she alleged that there had been a series of angry disputes with Mr Beltrame, the manager of the Tipsy Bull.

Ms Parkinson's evidence to the tribunal alleged that at one stage Mr Beltrame was "trying to dissuade patrons entering and exiting Hopscotch Bar, saying words to the effect, "Don't go in there. Come in here for a half price schnitzel", "Don't go there, come in here" and "betrayal" when patrons declined their offer."

She alleged that there had been confrontations, at one stage physical tussling. It was alleged in the court submission that the power supply to her restaurant had sometimes suddenly cut.There's been a big welcome for another $10 million to help young people who are struggling to cope with mental problems in Canberra.

There's already one centre run by the "Headspace" organisation in Torrens Street in Braddon but another one is now planned for the south of the city to try to relieve the rising burden of stress and mental illness among ACT youth.

The hardworking team at the existing Headspace centre. A new centre is on the way. Manager, Zora Todoroska with Tracy Boomer, Ari Wright and Helen Armstrong. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

The existing Braddon facility is currently helping nearly a thousand people with their mental health every three months. It's one of the busiest units of its type in Australia, offering free or low-cost professional counselling for twelve- to 25-year-olds.

"We offer a range of supports for young people worried about their drug and alcohol use, mental, physical or sexual wellbeing," is its promise.The ACT border should be moved to encompass the NSW side of the cross-border Ginninderry development, says Chief Minister Andrew Barr.

Meanwhile, development director David Maxwell confirmed NSW-side residents would be expected to pay NSW stamp duty if the border stayed put.

The framework for Parkwood, the NSW-side development of the cross-border Ginninderry project west of Belconnen.

A recently released proposal document said they would pay ACT-level rates on top of a $100 charge per household to fund a conservation trust of a nearby river valley.

Mr Barr said during question time in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday the border move was not an "immediate concern" but it was "the most sensible outcome".Canberra Health Service's CEO Bernadette McDonald contacted a committee undertaking an inquiry into maternity services and asked it to redact certain information in public submissions.

She said she was concerned for the welfare of her staff who were potentially identifiable and denied attempting to influence the committee.

The Centenary Hospital for Woman and Children. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

Ms McDonald asked for the redaction the week after Canberra Health Services sent out a statement fiercely denying claims a midwife made in a submission, labelling them misleading and unfair and criticising The Canberra Times' story about the submission.

The midwife's submission to a current Legislative Assembly inquiry into ACT's maternity services alleged vaginal examinations were at times performed without a woman's informed consent.Good morning Canberra and welcome to your Thursday April 4, with Iron Man Robert Downey jnr and Anthony Perkins celebrating their birthdays today.

There's still reaction aplenty from this week's federal budget and we will provide that today as well as a raft of other interesting stories.

There will be some early fog to start the day but becoming sunny as it clears to a top temperature of 25 degrees, and just a 10 per cent chance of rain. Here's what's making headlines across Canberra today:

Move to widen Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, renew dam receives federal backingMore than 250 Canberra charities and non-profit organisations have registered for grants which will start to flow in the next few months from the once-stalled but now restarted Chief Minister's charitable fund.

The fund has about $400,000 available and is inviting first-round applicants.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr (centre) at the charity's funding round announcement with the chair of the Hands Across Australia board, Diane Kargas Bray, and chief executive Peter Gordon. Photo: Elesa Kurtz Credit:Elesa Kurtz

The fund is managed by the Hands Across Canberra philanthropic foundation, set up in 2010 to serve as a conduit between donation providers and recipients.

The ACT government's $5 million pledged last year is by far the biggest single contribution to the Hands Across Canberra donations fund with the organisation's chief executive, former senior public servant Peter Gordon, explaining that this will act as "seed money" to kick-start long-term charity commitments in the territory.HOUSTON, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) ("Crown Castle") announced today that it plans to release its first quarter 2019 results on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, after the market closes. In conjunction with the release, Crown Castle has scheduled a conference call for Thursday, April 18, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. eastern time. The conference call may be accessed by dialing 888-254-3590 and asking for the Crown Castle call (access code 2519856) at least 30 minutes prior to the start time. The conference call may also be accessed live over the Internet at http://investor.crowncastle.com . Any supplemental materials for the call will be posted on the Crown Castle website at http://investor.crowncastle.com .



A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available from 1:30 p.m. eastern time on Thursday, April 18, 2019, through 1:30 p.m. eastern time on Wednesday, July 17, 2019, and may be accessed by dialing 888-203-1112 and using access code 2519856. An audio archive will also be available on the companys website at http://investor.crowncastle.com shortly after the call and will be accessible for approximately 90 days.

ABOUT CROWN CASTLE

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 65,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major US market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service  bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.

For more information on Crown Castle, please visit www.crowncastle.com .Under this system voters are compelled to list their second and subsequent preferences on the ballot paper and these preferences are distributed when the votes are counted. The individual voter makes the decision and candidates have no choice but to accept the preferences they are given regardless of where they come from.

The starting point of any analysis of such controversies is that Australian federal elections are conducted under an electoral system, introduced in 1919, which includes preferential voting for both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

At each election there is at least one controversy, often more, about aspects of preferential voting. We are already in the middle of one about One Nation preferences with the major parties challenging each other to Put One Nation Last.

There is a lot of hot air and hypocrisy surrounding the politics of preferences. No one is innocent of this charge. He or she who is without fault in this regard should feel free to throw the first stone. Base motives regularly go hand in hand with high principles as far as candidates and political parties are concerned.

Where One Nation votes are distributed to other candidates, which will be in every seat except those rare ones in which the One Nation candidate finishes in the top two in the count (either the winner or the runner up), candidates from the major parties will be the beneficiaries of One Nation preferences whether they like it or not. Only the most highly principled candidates will not like it as it will help their cause and may even determine the election outcome in their seat.

Voters can do what they like in the secrecy of the ballot box but in Australian elections they are advised how to list their preferences on the ballot paper by how-to-vote cards which are distributed to voters by party volunteers.

Anyone who has served as a polling booth volunteer knows that some voters refuse to take any HTV cards at all and rush through the throng of volunteers to get to the safety of the polling booth, some conspicuously take just one and refuse others, sometimes rudely, while many charitable souls accept quite a few even if most end up in the rubbish bin. It is all part of the circus atmosphere on the day.

HTV cards matter to the final outcomes but it is not an exact science. Preferences go in all directions and the patterns cannot always easily be explained. The preferences of the major parties are rarely distributed in House of Representatives elections as they are almost always one of the final two candidates in the count.

Therefore, their HTV preferences are usually a symbolic gesture, a statement of what they think about the other parties, putting their major opponents and their betes-noir last or second last with a flourish.ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry will call on a parliamentary committee to investigate the handling of violence in Canberra schools, after more than 600 people signed a petition demanding an expert inquiry.

Following revelations in The Canberra Times about schoolyard attacks, Ms Berry had repeatedly resisted calls from the opposition and parents for an independent review into school violence. Instead, she set up her own ministerial advisory panel, headed by experts, with a remit to examine existing policies rather than investigate specific schools and then report back to her office.

ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry previously resisted calls for a public inquiry into school violence, amid revelations complaints in some schools stretched back more than a year. Credit:Karleen Minney.

On Wednesday, Ms Berry said that, while she remained concerned a public inquiry could harm school communities, she also accepted her accountability to the ACT community through a transparent assembly process.

"As minister, I need the advice from the advisory group [which will still operate concurrently] so that I can fix any shortfall and make any necessary changes to the system," she said.The federal government is moving to widen Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and preparing an "intensive" renewal for Scrivener Dam amid warnings Lake Burley Griffin's infrastructure needs upgrading to avoid costly replacements.

A $14 million pledge in the federal budget would fund the agency overseeing Commonwealth land in Canberra to prepare a business case to widen the bridge leading to Parliament House, and includes $10.6 million to renew the dam on the Molonglo River and remediate walls surrounding the lake.

The National Capital Authority plans to widen the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

The funding emerged as part of the Coalition government's package of pre-election budget sweeteners for the city as the ACT's small portion of promised national infrastructure spending attracted criticism.

While the National Capital Authority is looking at widening and strengthening Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, a spokeswoman said it did not expect the ACT government would propose placing its light rail stage two route on the existing thoroughfare over the lake.NSW Police divers have recovered the body of a man believed to be a fisherman, who was swept off the rocks near Steamers Beach in Jervis Bay on Tuesday night.

The 58-year-old was fishing with two friends from a rock shelf when he was washed into the ocean. Emergency services were notified and a large-scale rescue operation began.

Police from South Coast Police District and the Marine Area Command, assisted by the Royal Australian Navy, NSW Marine Rescue, Australian Federal Police, National Park Rangers and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra participated in the rescue attempt.

Tragically, a body was recovered from the water about 3.30pm on Wednesday, and while yet to be identified, is believed to be the fisherman.

The body was recovered in an area known as 'Black Rock', a popular surfing spot off the coast of Wreck Bay Village, on the other side of the St Georges Head to Steamers Beach.The state's workplace safety watchdog won't rule out any potential cause of a scaffolding collapse that killed a teenager in Sydney's north-west on Monday, including if the removal of scaffolding ties could have caused the fatal incident.

Christopher Cassaniti was crushed after scaffolding, 15 to 17 metres in height, fell on him and a co-worker at a Macquarie Park worksite.

Christopher Cassaniti (centre) was crushed after scaffolding fell on him at a Macquarie Park worksite. Credit:ninevms

SafeWork NSW said it will launch a full and exhaustive investigation into the incident that claimed the life of Mr Cassaniti, 18.

Following the Macquarie Park worksite accident, SafeWork NSW will carry out an exhaustive investigation into the cause of this incident," a spokeswoman said.Coleman went to North Sydney Boys High. With World War II raging, he developed an early interest in political philosophy, including what he picked up on the Sydney Domain on Sunday afternoons. When he enrolled in arts at Sydney University in 1946, he had a strong left-wing orientation and joined a Communist friend in editing a magazine, Left Forum. But Coleman was also influenced by two eminent anti-Marxist philosophers, Professor John Anderson and John Passmore.

William Peter Coleman was born in Melbourne on December 15, 1928, son of an advertising agent, Stanley Charles Coleman, and Norma (nee Tiernan). Two years later, his parents separated. When he was 10, he came to Sydney to live with his father.

As an intellectual, Coleman had a great outlet in writing, in his numerous books, essays, and his editing of such publications as The Bulletin. As a politician, though energetic and making his mark, he was not quite able to appeal to the instincts of the ordinary man. But he served solidly in state and federal parliaments and led the NSW Opposition. A long-term friend, John Nethercote, told the Herald: I guess in his views he could be described generally as a progressive figure. Not left-wing, but active in such things as the Whitlam governments community-based plan for welfare. Peter was so active in his community. He did not like the regimentation and increasing authoritarianism of modern politics which he found so abrasive when he returned to Canberra.

This writer can still remember a nasty academic imbroglio in the philosophy department at Sydney University in 1972, when my two Marxist lecturers were in deep dispute with the professor of philosophy, David Armstrong, and the matter had been raised in NSW Parliament by the Liberal MP for Fuller, Peter Coleman. It was one of the internecine feuds in Australias intellectual ether in which Peter Coleman always lived.

Coleman moved on to the London School of Economics to do a bachelor of science (economics). At the age of 21, joining a debate on the Menzies plan to ban the Communist Party, he denounced the party but opposed its banning. In 1952, he married a librarian, Verna Scott, with whom he would go on to have three children. He graduated and took up a post in the Sudan as a school English teacher. In 1955, he and Verna returned to Australia and settled in Canberra. He started doing a PhD at Australian National University, sharing a house with Bob Hawke, also doing a PhD. Neither completed their doctorates.

In 1958, the radical conservative, Donald Horne, asked Coleman to become associate editor of a his newly-founded fortnightly magazine, The Observer, later taken over by The Bulletin. In 1964, Coleman became editor of The Bulletin. He took the opportunity to complete his bar exams. In 1967, he went to work as a barrister in the chambers of Neville Wran. Wrans political views were quite different from those of Coleman and eventually they split up. Coleman became editor of Quadrant, a magazine founded by the poet and anti-Marxist, James McAuley. Coleman became executive member of the Australian Association for Cultural Freedom, which has been described as a post-war haven for Lefties whod been mugged by reality and could no longer take the Eastern Blocs claims about itself at face value.

In 1968, Coleman was elected to the NSW Parliament as Liberal MP for Fuller, a marginal seat in Sydneys inner north-west, and settled in Hunters Hill. Culturally, he expanded in several directions, with the Australian Council for the Arts, the National Institute for Dramatic Art and the National Film and Television School. But there were also darker undercurrents in political perceptions of him. In 1973, he was named as the mystery MP involved in an apparent plan by ASIO to produce a right-wing newsletter. Despite that, he started getting appointments, including chairmanship of a Select Committee into Appointment of Judges to the High Court. In 1975, he became Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier, Tom Lewis, and in October that he year was appointed Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue. In 1976, under Premier Sir Eric Willis, he was appointed Chief Secretary.

Liberal candidate for Wentworth, Peter Coleman (centre), was joined by the federal Treasurer John Howard (left) and Neville Landow at a Liberal party reception at the Clock Hotel in Surry Hills in 1981. Credit:Julian Kevin Zakaras

In May 1976, Neville Wran swept into power, though Coleman was returned for Fuller with a slightly increased margin. Appointed shadow minister for justice and services. He went about his new job with vigour. In December 1977, when a group within Liberal ranks rebelled against Sir Eric, Coleman became leader of the Opposition. But his bid to become premier of New South Wales foundered in the 1978 election and in the ensuring Wranslide, he lost his seat.A Brisbane man jailed in Egypt for more than one year without charge has boarded a plane to return to Australia.

Hazem Hamouda, a 55-year-old Australian citizen, was detained shortly after landing at Cairo International Airport on January 25, 2018, the anniversary of Egypt's 2011 revolt.

Hazem Hamouda with his daughter Saja when he was released from police custody.

The Kuraby man was travelling to Egypt to join his children on a short holiday.

Mr Hamouda's family said he had no history of political activism in Egypt but believed his activity on Facebook in Australia, which in the past included material sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, could be the cause of his arrest.The two brothers pulled unconscious from a backyard pool north of Brisbane last week have died in hospital, according to their parents.

In a statement released through the Queensland Childrens Hospital on Wednesday, the family of the children, aged 16 months and 2 years, have again pleaded for privacy as they grieve.

"It is with great sadness that we advise that our boys are no longer with us," they said.

"Our family is incredibly grateful for the support and care provided by staff of the Queensland Children's Hospital.A truck has rolled, ruptured its fuel tank and spilled 50 litres of diesel onto a Brisbane road during the morning peak-hour.

It took about three hours for the spill to be cleared but by 10.40am the previously blocked left lane had reopened and the slippery surface had been cleaned by council workers.

Police asked drivers to slow down and there were light delays in the area during the Wednesday morning commute. Credit:Rob Homer

Emergency services were called to Beaudesert Road and Sussex Road in Acacia Ridge in Brisbane's south just after 7.30am on Wednesday.

A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesman said the truck's 200-litre tank was not full at the time of the crash but 50 litres of fuel had still spilled across both roads.The tortured, seven year process of trying to reach agreement on a facelift for the much loved but fading Queen Victoria Market reminds trader Marshall Waters of Brexit.

At least with Brexit there was a fixed deadline unlike this which seems to have gone on for far too long, Mr Waters, whose wine selling business ReWine has been at the market for more than a decade, told Melbourne City Council.

The Queen Vic Market negotiations remind trader Marshall Waters of Brexit. Credit:Simon Schluter

The whole EU is sick of Brexit and we are sick of a refurbishment that is not actually happening. Can we just get this whole thing done.

On Tuesday night Melbourne City Council unanimously endorsed the latest proposal for a redevelopment of Queen Victoria Market.NEW YORK, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased First Choice Healthcare Solutions, Inc. ("First Choice" or the "Company") (OTC: FCHS) between April 1, 2014 and November 14, 2018, inclusive (the "Class Period").

Investors who purchased shares of First Choice Healthcare Solutions, Inc. are urged to contact the firm immediately at classmember@whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. You may obtain additional information concerning the action on our website www.whafh.com.

If you have incurred losses in the shares of First Choice Healthcare Solutions, Inc., you may, no later than May 28, 2019, request that the Court appoint you lead plaintiff of the proposed class. Please contact Wolf Haldenstein to learn more about your rights as an investor in First Choice Healthcare Solutions, Inc.

## Follow the firm and learn about newly filed cases on Twitter and Facebook. ##

The filed complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants were engaged in an undisclosed pump and dump scheme that manipulated and artificially inflated the price of First Choice common stock, and failed to disclose their involvement, rendering certain of their public statements materially misleading.

On November 15, 2018, after a federal criminal indictment and an SEC enforcement action were announced against its former Chairman, CEO and President Christian Romandetti, Sr., and his co-conspirators, First Choice common stock declined $0.66 per share or nearly 65%, to close at $0.35 per

share.

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735, via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com , or visit our website at www.whafh.com.

Contact:

Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP

Kevin Cooper, Esq.

Gregory Stone, Director of Case and Financial Analysis

Email: gstone@whafh.com , kcooper@whafh.com or classmember@whafh.com

Tel: (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.And that's it from us today.

We'll have all the latest news today at theage.com.au, including all the news from the transport announcement with Premier Daniel Andrews and Public Transport minister Jacinta Allan at 10am.

And check back later tonight to see how aspiring PM Bill Shorten responds to Tuesday's federal budget.

Have a lovely day, and we'll see you tomorrow!Children with poor mental health struggle with the same level of academic disadvantage as those with unemployed or uneducated parents.

Thats the finding of a new analysis by the Grattan Institute which highlights how major depression and anxiety severely hamper a student's progress in the classroom.

Mental illness is having a detrimental impact on students' progress at school Credit:Shutterstock

It builds on research released last year which found children who experience ongoing emotional and behavioral problems lose up to a years learning as they move from year 3 to 7.

Separate research finds that Year 9 students with mental health issues lag more than 18 months behind their peers.The mother of a man who is fighting a murder charge is accused of driving her son from the scene and then telling police he couldn't have done it as he was "not well" and they were out walking her dog Floyd together at the time of the crime anyway.

Jason Lee Ashman, 48, sat in the Melbourne Magistrates Court dock on Wednesday as his mother, Rosanna Ashman, 66, sat four rows away in the body of the court, as both appeared over the death of Dwayne Wright, who was shot at his home in Altona in Melbourne's west about 11.20pm on December 23 last year.

Blood can be seen on the door of the Altona unit. Credit:Sam Cucchiara/Nine News

Mr Wright, 26, died at the unit.

Mr Ashman is charged with murder, and his mother is charged with assisting an offender and perjury. Police allege she drove her son and the gun from the unit and the following day lied in a statement she gave to detectives.A Perth police officer claims he feared for his life and "ran out of options" when he tasered a driver during a routine traffic stop in Fremantle.

Senior Constable Grantley Keenan, who's now confined to an office role, is fighting two assault charges stemming from the 2017 incident.

The experienced traffic officer was filmed tasering and forcefully shoving James Bartlett, but insists his actions were necessary.

Mr Bartlett had been directed into a car park during a random breath test and issued a defect notice for oversized wheels, a cracked windscreen and a light bar installed on the roof.The ACT opposition wants the government to fund at least another 100 front-line police officers, a move it says would mean the ACT would no longer have the lowest number of police in the country.

The call for more cops came after recent figures from a Productivity Commission report showed the ACT had the lowest per capita rate of police officers of any state or territory.

The ACT opposition is calling for a boost in the number of police officers patrolling the capital. Credit:Karleen Minney

Police Minister Mick Gentleman told the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday the government was committed to ensuring the resourcing of police met the needs of the community, which had the nation's lowest crime rate.

Opposition police spokeswoman Giulia Jones said 100 extra police were needed just to catch up to NSW, which had the second lowest rate of officers.Australia has had five different prime ministers over the past decade. Who really knows whats going to happen in the next year, let alone 10? Its true, last year we did announce tax cuts totalling $144 billion over a decade. Ha! On a closer look, only a very small fraction of that actually hit hip pockets over the budgets four-year horizon. Loading The same is true of the $158 billion in tax cuts I announce tonight. Most of it happens on the "never never" from the mid-2020s. If you really believe a promise of tax relief in 2024, Ive got a budget Id like to sell you! So, yeah, look, Ive just had a change of heart. Maybe well just bank those $302 billion in tax cuts instead and start paying down the $374 billion in net debt weve racked up. As I wrote in my alternative version of this speech, the $18 billion in annual interest we pay on that debt could have built 500 schools or a world-class hospital in each state and territory.

So, instead of just announcing tax cuts  with no offsetting spending cuts  and labelling it "reform", its high time we got cracking on some real tax reform. Loading You know, the type that actually shifts the burden of taxation towards the likes of land and consumption, which are less likely to be distorted. So tonight, Ive decided to increase the GST to 15 per cent, alongside a package of income tax cuts and benefit increases that compensate low and middle-income earners for the higher costs. Also, Im just going to pinch Labors sensible policies to end tax loopholes for property investment and franking credits. Even I dont believe my scare campaigns.

Using this revenue, I will  at the urging of the Business Council of Australia  increase the punitively low level of the Newstart jobless allowance. Deloitte Access Economics estimates increasing the benefit by $75 a week will cost the budget $3.3 billion a year in direct terms. But that will be offset by about $2 billion in extra revenue from increased spending. Thats the trick, you see. Target your handouts at truly disadvantaged people and theyre more likely to spend it and boost the economy! Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during his first post-budget address to the National Press Club on Wednesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen And instead of dishing out billions of dollars of taxpayer money on new roads in marginal seats to "bust congestion"  the disruption of which will only add to congestion in the short term  Ive decided to follow the advice of economists and introduce a system of proper price signals to better direct traffic. CBDs in Sydney and Melbourne will be subjected to congestion charges, just like in London or  as just announced  in New York. Travellers will be incentivised to ditch their cars and use public transport. Any revenue raised will be used to fund better public transport.

We will also, as Ken Henry suggested, introduce road user pricing, whereby large vehicles which do most damage to public roads pay higher charges. Speaker, at the end of the day, it all comes back to productivity. We need to learn how to produce more from a given set of inputs, such as capital and labour. The best way to do this is to increase the skills and know-how of the Australian people. And the research shows the benefits are biggest when money is spent early on. So tonight, in a truly historic social and economic reform, I announce the establishment of publicly provided free childcare for all Australian children, starting whenever their parents feel ready to return to work. Instead of open-ended subsidies to private providers, who may lift their prices to offset savings for families, well simply extend the public schooling system into the early years. Australian working parents can rest easy knowing that by sending their little ones to childcare, they are simply doing what is best for their families, their little ones and society. Studies show every dollar invested in early learning generates $4 down the road in enhanced skills and incomes of both parents and children.Lobby groups representing the tech and media industries, as well as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, have united to criticise new laws being fast-tracked through Parliament to curb the spread of violent content online.

Attorney-General Christian Porter has revealed that operators of "radical, fanatical" websites like 8chan could face jail time under the new legislation, but conceded that major social media companies are more likely to face eye-watering financial penalties than have executives imprisoned.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said a company could face a fine of up to 10 per cent of annual global turnover for breaking the new law. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The bill, to be introduced into Parliament on Wednesday to get it passed before the May election, outlines new criminal offences for failure to prevent the spread of "abhorrent violent material" on online services.

Mr Porter said there was a need to legislate quickly after the alleged perpetrator of the Christchurch terrorist attack exposed the "appalling" and dangerous flaws of Facebook by live-streaming the mass shooting.Soaring numbers of student and temporary visa holders will drive overseas migration levels to near-record highs this year, raising doubts over the Morrison government's plan to ease urban congestion by slashing the permanent intake by 30,000 places.



More than 270,000 migrants will arrive in Australia in 2019, up from 259,000 last year. The figure is 40,000 more than was forecast in last year's budget, representing a 15 per cent blow out.

The Coalition in March released its long-awaited population plan, which pledged to reduce permanent migration in a bid to quell voter concerns about urban congestion ahead of the federal election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will tackle concerns about crowding and traffic congestion in Sydney and Melbourne. Credit:Peter Rae

While the government has attempted to lure more migrants to the regions and smaller states, Tuesday night's budget shows the bulk of new migrants are likely to go to Melbourne and Sydney. The Victorian population is forecast to grow by 7.3 per cent over the next three years, NSW by 5.4 per cent and Queensland by 5.1 per cent.It was all going so well.

For about two seconds. Right up to Prime Minister Scott Morrisons cheery, Gday, Jon as his post-budget selling offensive blew in to the studio of Jon Faine, host of the ABCs Melbourne morning conversation hour.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison began the day with a flurry of media interviews to promote the budget. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Faine took barely a breath before launching his own offensive.

Is it a moral fail to build an election surplus off starving the National Disability Insurance Scheme of money, leaving disabled people without the services they need? he demanded of the Prime Minister.LUXEMBOURG, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tenaris S.A. (NYSE, Buenos Aires and Mexico: TS and MTA Italy: TEN) announces that it has filed today the annual report and the sustainability report, containing the non-financial information required by applicable Luxembourg law, for the year ended December 31, 2018, with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and has submitted such reports to the other securities regulators of the markets where its securities are listed. The 2018 annual report and the 2018 sustainability report may be downloaded from the Luxembourg Stock Exchanges website at www.bourse.lu/regulated-information-oam and are available on Tenariss website at www.tenaris.com/investors .



Tenaris has also filed today its annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The 20-F annual report can be downloaded from the SEC website at www.sec.gov and from Tenariss website at www.tenaris.com/investors .

Holders of Tenariss shares and ADSs, and any other interested parties, may request a hard copy of the 2018 reports, free of charge, through our website at http://ir.tenaris.com/investorkit.cfm .

In addition, Tenaris announces that on April 4, 2019, it will be publishing the convening notice to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 6, 2019, at 9:30 a.m. (Luxembourg time) at Tenariss registered office, located at 29, avenue de la Porte-Neuve, 3rd Floor, L-2227 Luxembourg. The convening notice (which includes the agenda for the meeting and the procedures for attending and/or voting at the meeting) will be filed with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and will be available for download from its website at www.bourse.lu/regulated-information-oam . All materials for the meeting, which include the convening notice, together with the total number of shares and voting rights as of the date of the convening notice, and the proxy materials (which include the shareholder meeting brochure and proxy statement with reports on each item of the agenda for the meeting and draft resolutions proposed to be adopted at the meeting, and the forms required for purposes of participating and/or voting at the meeting), will be available, free of charge, as of the date of publication of the convening notice, on Tenariss website at www.tenaris.com/investors , and at the companys registered office in Luxembourg.

Tenaris is a leading global supplier of steel tubes and related services for the worlds energy industry and certain other industrial applications.

Giovanni Sardagna

Tenaris

1-888-300-5432

www.tenaris.comThe Great Barrier Reef shark control program has been suspended after a tribunal ruled sharks found alive on drumlines must be released, ending a 60-year program designed to protect swimmers.

The Humane Society International, supported by the NSW Environmental Defenders Office, applied to the tribunal to have a permit, issued by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority which allows Fisheries to conduct the shark control program, refused or varied.

Supplied image shows a shark hooked off the coast of Magnetic Island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Credit:AAP Image/Humane Society International

The tribunal handed down a decision on Tuesday which imposes new permit conditions, effectively immediately.

The tribunal ordered any sharks found alive on a drumline must be released unless euthanasia was warranted on animal welfare grounds, contractors must attend to caught sharks within 24 hours, and all tiger, bull and white sharks to be tagged before release.It's an election year budget that contains billions for Victorian transport infrastructure, but voters will have to wait four more years and at least one more election cycle before most of the money begins to flow the state's way.

Analysis of the budget papers reveals well over half of the money the Morrison government has committed to Victorian roads and railways will not be spent until 2023-24 and onwards, beyond the budgets four-year forward estimates period.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during his first post-budget address to the National Press Club on Wednesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The budget also reveals the $3 billion the Commonwealth has kept in a "locked box" for the East West Link since Labor cancelled the road project more than four years ago has earned $22 million in interest.

That interest has been committed to five modest road upgrades in Melbourne and one in regional Victoria, all of them in Liberal electorates.WA's prisons watchdog has blasted conditions at Hakea Prison, with a new report finding it is "over-stretched, overcrowded, and overstressed".

Inspector of Custodial Services Neil Morgan said the prison was too small and no longer fit for purpose with infrastructure deficits and overcrowding meaning conditions were "not decent or humane".

Hakea mostly houses male prisoners who have been remanded in custody. Credit:Fairfax

"It is an aged prison, and most of it is too small and no longer fit for purpose," Mr Morgan said.

"It is also severely overcrowded, with no signs of reprieve.He welcomed Che Guevara, and a young Nelson Mandela got his first military training in Algeria. Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, on the run from US police, was given refuge. Cleaver held court in his Algiers safe house with Timothy Leary, the drug-taking high priest of US counter-culture. Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi shakes hand with Bouteflika in 2009. Credit:AP As president of the UN General Assembly, Bouteflika invited Yasser Arafat to address the body in 1974, a historic step towards international recognition of the Palestinian cause. By the end of the 1970s, though, Bouteflika had fallen from favour at home and went into exile. He returned to public life when Algeria was being ravaged by a conflict with Islamist militants which killed an estimated 200,000 people. First elected president in 1999, he negotiated a truce to end the fighting and wrested power from the secretive military-based establishment known as "le pouvoir" (the powers-that-be).

Helped by oil and gas revenues, Algeria became more peaceful and richer. But it remains mired in corruption and political and economic torpor in a region where uprisings brought changes elsewhere. With a cushion of foreign reserves and a population wary of major upheaval after their civil war, Algeria avoided the Arab Spring revolutions that toppled leaders across the region in 2011. But protests against poor living standards, the lack of job opportunities and services were common even before the mass protests, and foreign investors are keen for economic reforms that will cut the red tape that often hampers business. POST-COLONIAL SPOKESMAN Some biographers say Bouteflika was born in Tlemcen, western Algeria, and others give his place of birth as Oujda, just over the border in Morocco.

Aged 19, he joined the rebellion against French rule as a protege of Houari Boumediene, a commander who would later become Algerian president. After independence, Bouteflika became minister for youth and tourism at the age of 25. The following year he was made foreign minister. Dressed in the tailored suits and sunglasses fashionable in the 1960s, Bouteflika became a spokesman for states emerging from colonial rule, given added authority by the cachet Algeria had earned from defeating France. Bouteflika demanded that Communist China be given a seat in the United Nations. He railed against apartheid rule in South Africa. The invitation to Arafat to address the General Assembly was controversial. Only two years before, Palestinian gunmen took hostage and killed members of the Israeli team at the Olympic Games in Munich. Bouteflika watched from the chairman's dais as Arafat, a gun holster on his waistband, addressed the assembly in New York.

When pro-Palestinian militant Illich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as "Carlos the Jackal", kidnapped oil ministers from an OPEC meeting in Vienna in 1975, he demanded to be flown with his hostages to Algiers. Bouteflika was shown on camera embracing Carlos at the airport before they sat down to negotiate the hostages' release. Meeting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2001. Credit:AP RETURN FROM EXILE When Boumediene died in 1978, Bouteflika lost his mentor. He was replaced as foreign minister and an investigation was launched into financial impropriety. Bouteflika said the allegations were fabricated as part of a political plot. He left Algeria in the early 1980s and settled in Dubai, where he became an adviser to a member of the emirate's ruling family. He returned home in 1987 but kept a low profile, refusing offers of government posts.

In the meantime, Algeria was unravelling. The military-backed government annulled a parliamentary election in 1992 that Islamists were on the verge of winning. In the conflict that followed, whole villages were massacred and civilians walking in city streets had their throats slit. Bouteflika, backed by the military, was elected president in 1999 with a pledge to stop the fighting. Against fierce opposition from the establishment, he gave an amnesty to militants who laid down their arms. The violence declined dramatically. He won re-election in 2004 and again in 2009, although his opponents said the votes were rigged. Through a series of ferocious turf battles with his security forces behind the scenes, Bouteflika had, by the start of his third term, become Algerian's most powerful president in 30 years. He consolidated that power last year by dismissing about a dozen top military officers. Little is known about his private life. Official records mention no wife, though some accounts say a marriage took place in 1990. Bouteflika lived with his mother, Mansouriah, in an apartment in Algiers, where she used to prepare his meals.

Age and poor health caught up with him. French doctors operated on him in 2005 for what officials said was a stomach ulcer. Leaked US diplomatic cables said he was suffering from cancer. He became weaker after his mother died in 2009. Bouteflika said in a speech in Setif, in eastern Algeria, in May 2012 that it was time for his generation to hand over to new leaders. "For us, it's over," he said. Months later at the start of 2013, a stroke put him into a Paris hospital for three months. He was seen little in public after returning to Algeria to convalesce. According to the country's constitution, the head of the upper house of Parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah, will now become interim leader until an election can be held, but for no longer than three months. It remains to be seen how the protesters will react following his resignation. Many said they are seeking not only the removal of Bouteflika but also of his powerful clique. Bensalah, for instance, is widely seen as an ally of Bouteflika.Manila: The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the release of police documents on thousands of killings of suspects in the president's anti-drug crackdown, in a ruling that human rights groups said could shed light on allegations of extrajudicial killings.

A masked demonstrator in Quezon, northeast of Manila, Philippines last year. Credit:AP

Supreme Court spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said the court ordered the government solicitor-general to provide the police reports to two rights groups which had sought them. The 15-member court, whose justices are meeting in northern Baguio city, has yet to rule on a separate petition to declare President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug campaign unconstitutional.

Solicitor-General Jose Calida had earlier agreed to release the voluminous police documents to the court but rejected the requests of the two groups, the Free Legal Assistance Group and the Center for International Law, arguing that such a move would undermine law enforcement and national security.

The two groups welcomed the court order.London: The decade of political infighting has curtailed Australia's ability to coherently respond to the challenge posed by China's rise, a new paper claims.

Writing for a collection of essays on the Indo-Pacific for the hawkish London-based think-tank The Henry Jackson Society, Dr Euan Graham from La Trobe Asia praised the Coalition's belated attempts to counter China's attempt to woo Pacific Island nations by funding big-ticket infrastructure items.

China has attempted to woo Pacific Island nations by funding big-ticket infrastructure items. Credit:Bloomberg

But Dr Graham said "political parochialism and distraction" had stopped Australia's approach to the region from being more coherent.

"Despite teething issues, the redrawing of Canberras strategic map to prioritise the Indo-Pacific is a positive development," Dr Graham wrote in his essay Australia Whole-of-Government Indo-Pacific.London: Prince Harry and wife Meghan are planning to write to the family of elderly Australian war widow Daphne Dunne after her death aged 99.

Upset by the loss: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Credit:AP

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were described as deeply saddened by the death of Dunne, who was among Harry's biggest fans.

Her family said on social media on Tuesday that their mother and grandmother "passed away peacefully" on Monday.

She had met Harry three times during his visits to Sydney and had recently received a letter from Harry and Meghan on her birthday. Harry had introduced Dunne to Meghan on his most recent visit.Paris: A Paris auction house says it's selling a revolver that was possibly used by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh to take his own life.

Hailed by some as the art world's most famous weapon, Auction Art is putting the 7mm pocket revolver up for sale June 19 at the Drouot auction centre in Paris.

The revolver it's believed was used by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh to take his own life. Credit:AP

The revolver was discovered in the 1960s in fields in the northern French village of Auvers-sur-Oise, where Van Gogh is widely believed to have shot himself in the chest in 1890. He died two days later.

A book by Pulitzer-prize winning authors questions that version of events, however, concluding that he was fatally shot by two teenagers.Washington: A House panel voted on Wednesday to authorise subpoenas to obtain special counsel Robert Mueller's full report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, laying down a marker in a constitutional power struggle that could end up in the courts.

The House Judiciary Committee voted, 24-17, along party lines, to authorise its chairman, Democratic Congressman Jerrold Nadler, to subpoena the report and underlying documents of Mueller's probe from Attorney-General William Barr.

The panel, which has jurisdiction over impeachment, also voted to subpoena five former White House officials they believe may have received documents relevant to the special counsel's probe.

"This committee has a job to do," Nadler said. "The Constitution charges Congress with holding the president accountable for alleged official misconduct. That job requires us to evaluate the evidence for ourselves - not the Attorney-General's summary, not a substantially redacted synopsis, but the full report and the underlying evidence."Fred Trump is of German descent, and his father was a German immigrant. But Fred Trump was born in New York. As The Washington Post's Philip Bump detailed shortly after Trump's election:

"My father is German - was German," Trump said. "Born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany."

It is at least the third time he has said this.

Washington : Of all the odd, counterfactual and conspiratorial claims President Donald Trump has made over the past four years or so, this one may take the cake: He said on Tuesday that his father was born in Germany, even though he wasn't.

"Donald Trump's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1885. He landed in New York City but eventually made his way west, settling in Seattle. In November 1891, he bought a restaurant at 208 Washington Street in the city for $600. (This history is from Gwenda Blair's 'The Trumps,' a history of the family.) It was in Seattle that Friedrich became a citizen - on Oct. 27, 1892, just in time to register to vote in the 1892 presidential election, the first for which Washington was eligible to cast its ballots. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer listed Trump as a registered voter shortly before the November election."

Loading

Friedrich Trump was expelled from Germany in 1905, apparently because he had emigrated illegally. He and his wife, Elisabeth Trump, returned to the United States when she was pregnant with Fred Trump, the president's father, according to The Post's reporting and Blair's book. So about the only way you could say Trump's father has claim to the German homeland is that he may have been conceived there.

Trump was perhaps using the claim to express solidarity with the man he was sitting next to Tuesday at the White House, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The previous two times Trump made this claim were also while talking about U.S.-European relations.

In July, Trump named the European Union as one of the United States' biggest foes. "Maybe the thing that is most difficult - don't forget both my parents were born in EU sectors, OK?" he said. "I mean, my mother was Scotland, my father was Germany. And - you know I love those countries."NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.



Oslo, 3 April 2019: Further to the announcement regarding publication of the prospectus and commencement of the bookbuilding period and the application period on 1 April 2019, Adevinta ASA (OSE ticker: ADE) has been informed that the Managers in the IPO have received orders such that the Offering is fully covered throughout the indicative price range for the maximum potential deal size including over-allotments. The pricing of the shares will be announced on 9 April 2019.



Enquiries

Cassandra Lord, Director of Communications, Adevinta. Tel: +44 7809 214 347, email: cassandra.lord@schibsted.com

Jo Christian Steigedal, VP Investor Relations in Schibsted. Tel: +47 415 08 733



About Adevinta ASA

Adevinta is a global online classifieds company with generalist, real estate, cars, jobs and other internet marketplaces in 16 countries, connecting buyers seeking goods or services with a large base of sellers. Its portfolio spans 36 digital products and websites, attracting 1.5 billion average monthly visits. Leading brands include top-ranked Leboncoin in France, InfoJobs and Milanuncios in Spain, and 50% of fast-growing OLX in Brazil.





Important Notice

These materials are not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, the Hong Kong special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, Japan, South Africa or the United States or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws or regulations of such jurisdiction. These materials do not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in any jurisdiction where such offer or sale would be unlawful and the announcement and the information contained herein are not for distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in or into such jurisdictions.

This document is not an offer for sale of securities in the United States. Securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). Adevinta does not intend to register any part of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of Shares in the United States. Any securities sold in the United States will be sold only to qualified institutional buyers (as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act) pursuant to Rule 144A.

This document is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) to investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons in (i), (ii) and (iii) above together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The securities are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

In connection with the Offering, J.P. Morgan (the "Stabilisation Manager") may effect transactions on the Oslo Stock Exchange with a view to supporting the market price of the securities at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail for a period of 30 days following the commencement of trading. Any stabilisation action (which may or may not occur) will be conducted by the Stabilisation Manager in accordance with all applicable laws and rules and may cease at any time.

In any EEA Member State that has implemented Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended and together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive") this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive.

This document is an advertisement and is not a prospectus for the purposes of the Prospectus Directive. The Prospectus, prepared pursuant to the Prospectus Directive, can be obtained from the website of Adevinta www.adevinta.com, www.seb.no, www.arctic.com and at Adevinta's offices (Grensen 5, 0159 Oslo, Norway). Investors should not purchase any securities referred to in this document except on the basis of information contained in the Prospectus.

The Managers and their affiliates are acting exclusively for Adevinta and Schibsted and no-one else in connection with the Offering. They will not regard any other person as their respective clients in relation to the Offering and will not be responsible to anyone other than Adevinta or Schibsted for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the Offering, the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein.

In connection with the Offering, the Managers and any of their affiliates, acting as investors for their own accounts, may subscribe for or purchase shares and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell or otherwise deal for their own accounts in such shares and other securities of Adevinta or related investments in connection with the Offering or otherwise. Accordingly, references in the Prospectus to the shares being issued, offered, subscribed, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt in should be read as including any issue or offer to, or subscription, acquisition, placing or dealing by, such Managers and any of their affiliates acting as investors for their own accounts. The Managers do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so.

The Information contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in the Information are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give Adevinta's current expectations and projections relating to its financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond Adevinta's control that could cause the Companies' actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the expected results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding Adevinta's present and future business strategies and the environment in which it will operate in the future.

The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act."If we get back the House, and on the assumption we keep the Senate and we keep the presidency - which I hope are two good assumptions - we're going to have phenomenal health care," Trump said as he sat next to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office. Cars and trucks line up to enter Mexico from the US at a border crossing in Texas. Trump has threatened to close the entire border. Credit:AP He said Republicans will unveil their Obamacare replacement plan "at the appropriate time" and blamed Democrats for turning health care into a political issue. Despite the punt, officials at the White House continued meetings to discuss a potential health care plan, led by Domestic Policy Council chief Joe Grogan, and circulated principles earlier on Tuesday, according to a senior aide. But congressional Republicans made it clear that they would direct their attention elsewhere. Senator Rick Scott, whom Trump tapped last week as one of his point men on health care in the Senate, instead rolled out legislation on Tuesday to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.

When asked about Trump's idea to hold a vote on a health care plan after the election, Scott responded: "I think you'd have to ask the President. I know what I'm going to focus on. I'm going to focus on drug prices." Loading One genesis of Trump's public retreat was private nudging from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who along with most Senate Republicans was displeased by the unexpected health care push. In at least two phone calls in recent days, McConnell pressed Trump to listen to those around him - his advisers, senators and political strategists - who were urging the President to reverse course on health care, according to an official familiar with the conversation. McConnell questioned why Republicans would want an intraparty fight over health care at a time when Democrats are divided on their own proposals, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private calls. During a conversation on Monday, the majority leader made the case that while the GOP-led Senate could pass a health care bill endorsed by Trump, the President would not be able to support the product that would emerge from the House once Democrats got their hands on it, the official said.

McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that he had a "good conversation" with Trump and that he and the President were now on the same page. "I made it clear to him we were not going to be doing that in the Senate," McConnell said of health care, stressing the challenges of writing legislation that could pass muster with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "We don't have a misunderstanding about that." President Trump speaks at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner on Tuesday. Credit:AP Even as Trump tries to steer the party's policy agenda, GOP legislators have attempted to emphasise goals that broadly unify Republicans and either split Democrats or put them on the defensive. This year, McConnell has held votes on the Green New Deal environmental plan - a vote Democrats derided as a political stunt - and a wide-ranging Middle East policy bill that divided Senate Democrats. This week, Senate Republicans plan to alter Senate rules so dozens of Trump nominees in the administration and throughout the judiciary who have been stalled for months can be confirmed quicker.

"Given that the President's proposals range from the imprudent to the impractical, at best, congressional Republicans seem largely to be ignoring them in favour of their own priorities: nominations in the Senate, and highlighting Democratic radicalism and disunity in the House," said Michael Steel, who worked under former Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Many in the GOP sympathise with Trump and his frustrations - and with his tendency to act on his own on immigration or to push Republicans on something they don't want to do, like health care. Loading "Listen, before the 2018 election, certainly in Wisconsin, I was saying, 'Don't elect Democrats to the House; if the Democrats take over the House, all we're going to be talking about is investigation, talk of impeachment; it won't be about legislation, it won't be about solving these problems'," said Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican. "I hate to say I was right." Some Republican senators have grown accustomed to not taking Trump's threats seriously.

One such threat was Trump's vow to seal the border this week, which he reiterated in the Oval Office on Tuesday despite having been warned of the potential economic consequences by his top advisers. Senior White House officials are now examining how to exempt commercial trade from whatever border crackdown Trump might decide to pursue in coming days. Even as he insisted that Mexico must do more to stem the numbers of migrants arriving on the southern US border, Trump softened the threat slightly, saying on Tuesday that he would close "large sections of the border, maybe not all of it". "It's the only way we're getting a response, and I'm ready to do it," Trump said. "And I will say this: Many people want me to do it." On Capitol Hill, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley brushed off Trump's remarks: "Until he closes the border, I don't believe it." Trump's comments so alarmed some Republicans that they began dialling the White House to wave the President off his latest threat. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he had a call in to the White House and was hoping to speak with Trump later on Tuesday to detail his concerns about the potential "unintended consequences" of shutting down the border.Wellington: New Zealand police deployed specialist armed officers to a suburb in west Auckland after responding to reports a shot may have been fired.

New Zealand police. Credit:SNPA

Local media reported schools and preschools in the Glen Eden area had been in lockdown but cordons were later lifted.

The country has had a high security alert in place since March 15 when a gunman attacked two mosques in Christchurch, killing 50 people.

Reuters and The Age and Sydney Morning HeraldPHILIPSBURG:--- Preparations are underway for the 4thDutch Caribbean Anti-Money Laundering (AML) & Gaming Regulation Forum 2019 that will take place from June 4thto June 7that the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino & Spa.



Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson says the forum is being organized in partnership with Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT), and we are proud to be a partner in this Forum and that we are the venue for this very important event.



Minister Johnson is calling on businesses in the aforementioned area of AML & Gaming Regulation and support sectors to sign-up to attend the Forum.



The Forum is preparing the Dutch Caribbean (Sint Maarten, Aruba, Curacao) and Suriname for the next round of Mutual Evaluations such as promoting best practices in Anti-Money Laundering Regulations and Compliance, by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). A number of issues will be discussed including digital currencies, financial technologies (Fintech) and de-risking.



The Forum according to its objectives aims to enhance cooperation and foster greater transparency and promote best practice in both regulation and compliance for all the key stakeholders involved in the gaming and banking industries.



Money laundering and terrorism financing are considered pressing global issues that have had the attention of the international community of nations for a number of years but has intensified due to the threats posed by organized crime and terrorists organizations.



The aforementioned cannot be resolved by working alone, but by working together, hence Sint Maartens membership in the CFATF and Governments efforts to put the necessary mechanisms in place locally in order to comply with international requirements and standards.



Business and financial services conducted within the jurisdiction of Sint Maarten are dependent on an integral financial system linked to correspondent banking relationships.



We have to ensure that as a country we are compliant in order to protect economic and financial stability, jobs and economic growth. We are looking forward to the Forum in June as an opportunity to promoting financial integrity and inclusive growth for the benefit of the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname, Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson said on Wednesday.



The four-day Forum is geared towards Governments, Regulators (Financial Intelligence Units, Tax & Revenue Authorities), Compliance Professionals, Banks, Law Firms, Auditors, Accountants, Land-based Casinos, Online Casino Gaming Operators, Lottery Operators, Suppliers of Products & Services to the Gaming Industry.



Businesses interested in registering can go to: www.govrisk.org/dcgrf2019use promo code: TEATT



The CFATF is an organization of states and territories of the Caribbean Basin which have agreed to implement common counter-measures against money laundering and terrorism financing.



The Forum is supported by another of stakeholders and will be presented by the International Governance and Risk Institute (GovRisk) which provides consultancy and training programs to public and private sector institutions from more than 30 countries.PHILIPSBURG:--- Today, the United States is pre-positioning humanitarian relief supplies in Curacao, a constituent country of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, to help people affected by the political and economic crisis in Venezuela.

The collapse of health care in Venezuela has left nearly all hospitals in the country in desperate need of basic medicines and supplies, and prompted outbreaks of diseases that were thought to be under control. Today's commercial delivery to Curacao contains four emergency health kits manufactured in The Netherlands, which contain medicines and medical supplies-including bandages, gauze, examination gloves, thermometers, and syringes-designed to fill immediate medical gaps for people affected by emergencies. The kits can cover the priority health needs of 40,000 people for three months.

The pre-positioning of these relief supplies would not have been possible without the support of the Governments of Curacao and The Netherlands. These efforts not only demonstrate the strong partnership between our nations but also underscore our shared commitment to helping the people of Venezuela. In response to the request made by Interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaido, the United States has pre-positioned hundreds of metric tons of critical relief supplies in Colombia and Brazil-procured both locally and internationally to help tens of thousands of Venezuelans. This includes food, medical supplies, hygiene kits, nutrition products, and units for the purification and storage units of water.

To be effective, however, the Maduro regime must allow this critical aid to enter Venezuela. The U.S. Government is coordinating with governments in the region, and our regional humanitarian partners, on the logistics of providing emergency relief to Venezuelans safely and efficiently.

The health kits sent today are not the first and will not be the last-assistance provided by the American people to help Venezuelans in crisis. Since Fiscal Year 2017, the United States has provided more than $195 million-including more than $152 million in humanitarian assistance and approximately $43 million in development and economic assistance to support the generous efforts of countries in the region that are hosting the nearly 3.4 million people who have fled the chaos and starvation in Venezuela.

In addition, on January 24, 2019, Secretary of State Pompeo announced that the United States is ready to provide more than $20 million in additional funding to support humanitarian assistance activities inside Venezuela. The pre-positioned aid in Curacao is part of this initial humanitarian assistance for the people inside of Venezuela.Cardinal\-\-s Namdini Ore Reserve Now 5.1 Moz

Posted by Publisher Internet

Cardinal Resources Limited (ASX/TSX: CDV) (?Cardinal? or ?the Company?  http://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298772) is pleased to announce an optimised Ore Reserve estimate for the Namdini Gold Project (?Namdini?) in Ghana, West Africa.

Highlights:

1 Million ounces Proved and Probable Ore Reserve estimate from 138.6 Mt @ 1.13 g/t Au (0.5 g/t Au cut-off)

USD $1,225 gold price optimised pit selected for the Life of Mine design

9 : 1 Life of Mine Strip Ratio

80% of the 6.5 Moz Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource converted to Proven and Probable Ore Reserves

Cardinal?s Chief Executive Officer / Managing Director, Archie Koimtsidis stated:

?We are extremely pleased that our optimisation of pit designs, wall angles and mining schedules, has upgraded the company?s Life of Mine Ore Reserve position to 5.1 Moz, up from 4.8 Moz, reinforcing the Namdini gold deposit as of one of the largest undeveloped gold discoveries of the past decade.

?We?re very fortunate to have a significant higher grade portion within the Life of Mine Ore Reserve starting essentially at surface. This allows for a rapid capital payback during production of the First Stage Pit. It is anticipated that the First Stage Pit will see approximately 1 Million ounces of gold produced over an approximate three-year period at an expected lower strip ratio and a higher average head grade of approximately 1.3 g/t gold based on a process plant throughput of 9.5 Million tonnes per annum.

?We are confident that this optimised Life of Mine Ore Reserve, can deliver strengthened financial results within the Feasibility Study which is rapidly advancing to completion. Given the projects large Ore Reserve, low strip ratio, high conversion of the Mineral Resource and rapid payback from the anticipated higher grade, lower strip ratio of the First Stage Pit, it is expected that the company will have access to attractive project finance to achieve the best outcome for shareholders.?

MINERAL RESOURCE

The Mineral Resource incorporates the results from all the resource drilling to date comprising 175 HQ diamond core holes and 151 RC drill holes totalling 87,140 metres.?

Reverse circulation drilling (nominally 5? inch diameter) was generally 200 metres or less in depth.?

Diamond drilling was HQ in both weathered and fresh rock.? Most diamond holes and RC holes were downhole surveyed at intervals of generally 30 metres.? All HQ core was orientated.

The resource drilling comprises east-west trending traverses of easterly inclined holes. ?Hole spacing varied from around 12.5 by 25 metres in shallow portions of southern part of the deposit to around 50 by 50 metres and broader in the north and at depth.

Tables 1 and 2 highlight the Mineral Resource estimation reported at a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off grade.? Currently, the 0.5 g/t Au cut-off grade approximates an operational parameter that the Company believes to be applicable.? This is in accordance with the guidelines of Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Economic Extraction (?RPEEE?) per the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ?CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves? (CIM, 2014) and the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code 2012).? Refer to Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the JORC Code 2012 Edition Table 1 criteria in Appendix 1. ?The effective date of the Mineral Resource estimate is the 4th February 2019.

All figures in Table 2 and 3 have been rounded to reflect the relative precision of the estimates and to include rounding errors.? Mineral Resources are inclusive of Ore Reserves.

MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE

The following information summarizes key parameters relating to the Mineral Resource estimation:

Geological and structural modelling: Logging, interpretation and modelling were undertaken by Cardinal Resources? technical staff and specialist structural consultants Orefind Pty Ltd.

Survey Control: Drill hole collars were surveyed using differential GPS (DGPS), with most diamond holes and deeper RC holes down hole surveyed at intervals of generally around 30 metres using electronic multi-shot and gyroscopic equipment.

Bulk density data: Resource data acquisition included routine immersion measurements of bulk densities for samples of diamond core. The bulk density database for the Mineral Resource estimate comprises 11,047 measurements. Bulk densities were assigned to the estimate by rock type and weathering zone. The large majority of the Namdini deposit is fresh rock. Assigned bulk densities vary from 2.00 tonnes per cubic metre (t/m3) for strongly weathered metavolcanic to 2.82 for fresh diorite and metasediments.

Resource Estimation: MPR Geological Consultants Pty Ltd (?MPR?) (QP/CP Mr. Nicolas Johnson) estimated recoverable Mineral Resources for Namdini using Multiple Indicator Kriging (?MIK?) with block support adjustment, a method that has been demonstrated to provide reliable estimates of recoverable open pit resources in gold deposits of diverse geological styles. The mineralized domain used for the current study was interpreted by MPR and Cardinal geologists on the basis of two metre down-hole composited gold grades and captures zones of continuous mineralization with composite grades of greater than nominally 0.1 g/t Au.? The domain trends north-northeast over 1.3 km and dips approximately 70o to the west with an average horizontal width of approximately 240 metres. The Mineral Resource can reasonably be expected to provide appropriately reliable estimates of potential mining outcomes at the assumed selectivity, without application of additional mining dilution or mining recovery factors.

The Mineral Resource classification considered the quality of the data collected (geology, survey and assaying data), the density of data, the confidence in the geological models and mineralization model and grade estimation quality. Mineralization tested by generally 50 by 50 metres and closer spaced drilling is assigned to the Indicated category, with estimates for zones with more closely spaced drilling classified as Measured. Estimates for panels not informed consistently 50 by 50 metres drilling are assigned to the Inferred category.

Variance Adjustment: The resource estimates include a variance adjustment to give estimates of recoverable resources at various gold cut off grades. The variance adjustments were applied using the direct lognormal method. The variance adjustment factors reflect comparatively large scale, open pit mining consistent with Cardinal?s perception of potential mining scenarios. The variance adjustment factors were estimated from the variogram model for gold grades assuming mining selectivity of 5 metres by 10 metres by 2.5 metres (across strike, strike, vertical) with high quality grade control sampling on an 8 by 12 by 1.25 metre pattern. The variance adjustments can reasonably be expected to provide appropriately reliable estimates of potential mining outcomes at the assumed selectivity, without application of additional mining dilution or mining recovery factors.

Constraining Pit Shell: To provide estimates with reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, Mineral Resources are reported within an optimized pit shell produced by Golder Associates. The optimization parameters reflect a large scale conventional open pit operation and a gold price of USD $1,950 / oz

MINING

Ore Reserves were estimated for the Namdini Gold Project by Golder Associates, which is summarised in Table 4. The total Probable Ore Reserve is estimated at 138.6 Mt at 1.13 g/t Au with a contained gold content of 5.1 Moz.

The Ore Reserve for the Project is reported according to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, JORC Code 2012 and Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ?CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves? (CIM, 2014). ?The Mineral Resource was converted applying Modifying Factors. The Proved and Probable Ore Reserve estimate is based on the Mineral Resource classified as Measured and Indicated. Table 4 presents a summary of the Ore Reserves on a 100% Project basis.

Table 4 Notes:

The Ore Reserve conforms with and uses JORC Code 2012 recommendations and Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ?CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves? (CIM, 2014).

The Ore Reserve was evaluated using a gold price of USD $1,300 / oz with USD $1,225 / oz optimised pit chosen for Ore Reserve pit design to maximise cash flow.

The Ore Reserve was evaluated using an average cut?off grade of 0.5 g/t Au.

Ore block grade and tonnage dilution was incorporated through the use of an MIK recoverable resource estimation model which was demonstrated to incorporate an expected level of equivalent ore loss and dilution for the scale of mining envisaged.

All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to

The mine design and Ore Reserve estimate is based on the revised Mineral Resource model.

Trial open pit optimisations were run in Whittle 4XTM software to define the base of potentially economic material.? Four cut back pits were then selected and full mine designs applied.

The Ore Reserve reported in this announcement is a sub-set of the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource which can be extracted from the mine and processed with an economically acceptable outcome.

Mining of the Namdini project will use conventional open pit mining equipment.? The mining process will include drill and blast as well as conventional load and haul operations.? There is expected to be a limited amount of free-dig material with the majority of material assumed to require drilling and blasting.

Mining will be carried out using staged cut?backs with four identified stages incorporated within the LOM final pit.? The mining schedule incorporates movement of ore and waste on 10 metre mining benches, by year for each of the four mining stages.

Oxide ore will be stockpiled and fed into the process plant towards the end of the mine life. Waste rock will be stockpiled separately on the western side of the pit.

The metallurgical work carried out to date indicates that gold can be satisfactorily recovered from Namdini ore using conventional flotation, regrind and Carbon In Leach (CIL) cyanidation techniques.? The work is considered sufficient to determine that the Namdini Mineral Resource represents a deposit with potential for economic extraction.

MINING FACTORS

The in-situ deposit Mineral Resource Model is the basis for the mining model used for the Life of Mine (LOM) pit planning and assessment reporting. ?The resource model has cell dimensions of 12.5 metres (east) by 25 metres (north) by 5 metres (elevation). ?The MIK variance adjustment assumes a moderately selective mining unit (SMU) of 10 metres x 5 metres x 2.5 metres, which has been applied to Namdini?s large-tonnage, disseminated deposit.

Mining will consist of a conventional hydraulic shovel operation typically using 400 tonne class excavators in a face-shovel configuration and 130 tonne class rigid body dump trucks hauling on designed access roads. ?An auxiliary mining fleet of dozers, graders, water carts and utility vehicles will support the mining operation.

Mining is proposed on 3 to 4 metres flitches in the ore, within 10 metre benches. ?The base case optimisation was determined using Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources only.

A gold cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au was applied to the mineralised material. ?Process costs and mining costs were supplied by independent consultants and compared with similar gold projects. ?Gold grades were supplied with the model as estimated proportional grades using the MIK recoverable resource estimation technique.

For purposes of selecting the optimum Whittle pit for mine design purposes, Golder Associates estimated a mining base surface cost of USD $2.86 / t of rock mined based on experience with similar mining operations in the region, which includes grade control sampling, laboratory assay analysis and supervision costs. ?The input process and G&A cost were estimated at USD $14.30 / t milled plus an additional USD $1.50 / t allowance for stockpile reclaim ? all tonnes were assumed to be on a dry basis.

Once the optimum selected Whittle pit was selected and mine design completed, a detailed mining movement schedule was supplied to two prospective mining contract companies to assist with the provision of a detailed mining cost estimate. ?Further discussions and negotiations will continue with suitable mining contractors prior to any award of the mining contract.

Metallurgical test work as reported in the pre-feasibility study, was used to estimate the recoverable fraction from the Oxide, Transition and Fresh ore components, with gold grade and proportion of the block at varying MIK cut-off points coded in the block model.

Using the identified marginal Cut-off Grade, the proportion of ore per parcel and gold grade above the Cut-off Grade were included within the mining model to allow export of the parcelled (ore + waste) blocks to the pit optimiser for open pit optimisation.

A minimum mining width of 80 metres was assumed. ?Mining dilution and recovery are addressed in the modelling method (MIK with variance adjustment) and the utilisation of flitch mining. ??No Inferred Mineral Resources have been included within the LOM planning.? Mining Infrastructure requirements were assumed to be provided by the selected mining contractor with the mining performed on an outsourced basis.

Grade control will be based on sampling from reverse circulation drilling spaced at approximately 10mE by 15mN with samples taken at 1.5 metre intervals downhole. ?All Grade Control sampling assays are assumed to be determined by fire assay at the mine site.? ?Standard QAQC protocols will be applied which comprise 1 in every 10 samples. ?Minimal infrastructure is required for the selected mining method.?

GEOTECHNICAL PARAMETERS

In support of the mine design, Golder Associates carried out a study of existing geotechnical information, reviewed information on mineral resource estimates, conducted a detailed pit geotechnical drilling campaign supervised by a site visit by a senior Golder Associates engineer and gathered detailed rotary core logging data from selected drill locations within the Namdini project area.

The Life of Mine pit design considers slope performance based on models developed from laboratory results of sampled drill core. ?The results present feasibility level slope designs based on data collected in the field and data and reports made available by Cardinal Resources.

Based on geotechnical and hydrogeological considerations from site investigations at the project area, the design sectors were designated around Namdini Pit.

Inter-ramps (bench stacks) in slightly weathered to fresh rock should consist of four benches. ?These are to be separated by 25 metre ramps or geotechnical berms. ?This means that a 25 metre geotechnical berm should be included after every 80 metres of fresh rock benches.?

PIT OPTIMISATIONS

Pit optimisations were completed using the Lerchs-Grossman (LG) algorithm in Whittle 4XTM software to calculate the optimal pit at specified input parameters that were determined prior to the study.? A wireframe pit shell for each gold price considered was the resultant output.? One of these was selected as the base for the final LOM pit design. ?A pit of approximately 1 Moz was chosen as the First Stage Pit to maximise discounted cash flow and minimise capital payback time.

MINE DESIGN CRITERIA

The mine design criteria were developed to allow for development and assessment of designs to provide a plant feed rate of 9.5 Mtpa.

The maximum mining movement has allowed for a strip ratio of up to 2 : 1 in order that the initial optimisations are not ?mining-limited?.? The final Life of Mine strip ratio is 1.9 : 1.

The pit design considered the geotechnical requirements for berms, face angle batter and catch-berms for the lithology within the block model to establish the engineered pit design in which the Ore Reserves are contained.

The pit was designed with four stages, the initial stage being for early access to the higher-grade ore near the surface.? The second stage is largely an expansion of the initial stage targeting the ore to a greater depth.? The stage designs were created for optimal ore delivery from the first two stages due to their low strip ratio and waste rock movement.? The third and fourth stages contain a greater proportion of waste rock.? A minimum mining width of 80 metre was established between the stages.

The pit designs have targeted the maximum discounted value pit shell at a USD $1,225 / oz gold price.? The pit optimisation using the Whittle 4XTM software was used to identify the optimum pit shell with the Inferred Resource material considered as waste rock.? The identified pit was then considered for practical staging in order to minimise waste movement and improve the cashflow for the project.? The analysis allowed the selection of four stages with the initial stage targeting a relatively higher grade area of ore near surface. Access was allowed to the first three stages by a ramp from the northern edge of the pit as the volume of waste rock in the first three stages is considered modest.? The final fourth stage has a main access ramp on the western side of the pit to provide a shorter haul to the waste rock dump given that the final stage has a higher strip ratio than the preceding three stages.? Having the primary access on the western side of the pit reduces waste rock haulage costs and thus improves the overall value.

Stage design was largely focused on targeting maximum value change points within practical mining constraint limits, such as the minimum mining width for the pushbacks.?

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

The term ?Ore Reserve? is synonymous with the term ?Mineral Reserve? as used by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ?Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects? (NI 43-101, 2014) and conforms with CIM (2014).? The JORC Code (2012) is defined as an ?acceptable foreign code? under NI 43-101.? The Ore Reserve referred to in this announcement is based upon a Proved and Probable Ore Reserve derived from Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources.? No Inferred Mineral Resources have been included in the estimation of Ore Reserves.?

The Company advises that the Proved and Probable Ore Reserve provides 100% of the total tonnage and 100% of the total gold metal underpinning the forecast production target and financial projections.? No Inferred Mineral Resource material is included in the Life of Mine plan.?

The Company has concluded that it has a reasonable basis for providing forward looking statements included in this announcement.? The detailed reasons for this conclusion are outlined throughout this announcement and in Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements.

The Mineral Resource is prepared in accordance with both the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ?CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves? (CIM, 2014) and the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code 2012).? ?Refer to Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the JORC Code 2012 Edition Table 1 criteria in Appendix 1.

ABOUT CARDINAL

Cardinal Resources Limited (ASX / TSX : CDV) is a West African gold?focused exploration and development Company which holds interests in tenements within Ghana, West Africa.

The Company is focused on the development of the Namdini Project through a resource expansion drilling programme and is now advancing the feasibility study supported by additional multi-disciplinary engineering activities.

Exploration programmes are also underway at the Company?s Bolgatanga (Northern Ghana) and Subranum (Southern Ghana) Projects.

Competent Person / Qualified Person Statement

All production targets for the Namdini Gold Mine referred to in this report are underpinned by estimated Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves which were prepared by competent persons and qualified persons in accordance with the requirements of the JORC Code and National Instrument 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (?NI43-101?), respectively.

The information in this press release that relates to Namdini Ore Reserves and mining studies is based on information compiled and reviewed by Mr Glenn Turnbull, a Competent Person who is a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a full-time employee of Golder Associates.? Mr Turnbull has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 and is a qualified person for the purposes of NI43-101.? Mr Turnbull has no economic, financial or pecuniary interest in the company and consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information in this press release that relates to Namdini Mineral Resources is based on information compiled and reviewed by Mr Nicolas Johnson, a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and a full-time employee of MPR Geological Consultants Pty Ltd.? Mr Johnson has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 and is a qualified person for the purposes of NI43-101.? Mr Johnson has no economic, financial or pecuniary interest in the company and consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

The scientific and technical information contained in this press release is based on information compiled and reviewed by Mr Richard Bray, a Competent Person who is a Registered Professional Geologist with the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and a full-time employee of Cardinal Resources Ltd.? Mr Bray has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 and is a qualified person for the purposes of NI43-101.? Mr. Bray is a full-time employee of Cardinal and holds equity securities in the Company.? Mr. Bray has consented to the inclusion of the matters in this report based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.

Disclaimer

This ASX / TSX press release has been prepared by Cardinal Resources Limited (ABN: 56 147 325 620) (?Cardinal? or ?the Company?).? Neither the ASX or the TSX, nor their regulation service providers accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release contains summary information about Cardinal, its subsidiaries and their activities, which is current as at the date of this press release.? The information in this press release is of a general nature and does not purport to be complete nor does it contain all the information, which a prospective investor may require in evaluating a possible investment in Cardinal.

By its very nature exploration for minerals is a high?risk business and is not suitable for certain investors.? Cardinal?s securities are speculative.? Potential investors should consult their stockbroker or financial advisor.? There are a number of risks, both specific to Cardinal and of a general nature which may affect the future operating and financial performance of Cardinal and the value of an investment in Cardinal including but not limited to economic conditions, stock market fluctuations, gold price movements, regional infrastructure constraints, timing of approvals from relevant authorities, regulatory risks, operational risks and reliance on key personnel and foreign currency fluctuations.

Except for statutory liability which cannot be excluded and subject to applicable law, each of Cardinal?s officers, employees and advisors expressly disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the material contained in this press release and excludes all liability whatsoever (including in negligence) for any loss or damage which may be suffered by any person as a consequence of any information in this Announcement or any error or omission here from. Except as required by applicable law, the Company is under no obligation to update any person regarding any inaccuracy, omission or change in information in this press release or any other information made available to a person nor any obligation to furnish the person with any further information.? Recipients of this press release should make their own independent assessment and determination as to the Company?s prospects, its business, assets and liabilities as well as the matters covered in this press release.

Forward?looking statements

Certain statements contained in this press release, including information as to the future financial or operating performance of Cardinal and its projects may also include statements which are ?forward?looking statements? that may include, amongst other things, statements regarding targets, anticipated timing of the feasibility study (FS) on the Namdini project, estimates and assumptions in respect of mineral resources and anticipated grades and recovery rates, production and prices, recovery costs and results, capital expenditures and are or may be based on assumptions and estimates related to future technical, economic, market, political, social and other conditions. These ?forward ? looking statements? are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Cardinal, are inherently subject to significant technical, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results reflected in such forward?looking statements.

Cardinal disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to any forward?looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, circumstances or results or otherwise after today?s date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, other than required by the Corporations Act and ASX and TSX Listing Rules. The words ?believe?, ?expect?, ?anticipate?, ?indicate?, ?contemplate?, ?target?, ?plan?, ?intends?, ?continue?, ?budget?, ?estimate?, ?may?, ?will?, ?schedule? and similar expressions identify forward?looking statements.

All forward?looking statements made in this press release are qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements. Investors are cautioned that forward?looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward?looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.First Cobalt Produces Battery Grade Cobalt Sulfate

Posted by Publisher Internet

First Cobalt Corp. (TSX-V: FCC; ASX: FCC; OTCQX: FTSSF) (the ?Company?  https://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298892 ) today announced it has successfully produced a battery grade cobalt sulfate using the First Cobalt Refinery flowsheet. This significant milestone brings the Company closer to recommissioning the only permitted primary cobalt refinery in North America. With this information, discussions currently underway with automotive companies, cobalt miners and capital providers can now move to a more advanced stage.

Highlights

Product assayed 20.8% cobalt, surpassing the reference grade for sulfate pricing

Product classified as ?high purity?, achieving over 99.9% purity

Test work carried out in single batches, offering ample opportunity to improve product specifications to meet offtake partner requirements through process optimization

Potential to produce up to 2,000 tonnes of cobalt in product per annum as the process excluded use of autoclave circuit, allowing for increase in plant throughput

Near term cash flow potential 18-24 months from sourcing of feedstock, milestone advances these negotiations, as well as offtake discussions

Trent Mell, President & Chief Executive Officer, commented:

?Producing a battery grade cobalt sulfate is one of our most significant accomplishments as the majority of refined cobalt for the electric vehicle market is produced in Asia. With no cobalt sulfate production in North America today, First Cobalt stands to become the first such producer for the American electric vehicle market.

?For our shareholders, this development brings us closer to cash flow and will be our top priority in the year ahead. Third party studies have confirmed that the permitted facility could be recommissioned in 18-24 months. Furthermore, the cobalt hydroxide used in these tests is currently sold at approximately 60% of the prevailing cobalt price which could offer good margin opportunities based on the findings of the previously released restart study.

?We are encouraged by the interest shown in this strategic asset by cobalt miners and EV companies alike and intend to move swiftly to secure long-term feed supply and offtake contracts. We are currently exploring a number of non-dilutive financing options for the capital requirements to restart the facility. We intend to have further updates on all aspects of the project over the next quarter as we complete these discussions.?

Henrik Fisker, First Cobalt Director and Chairman and CEO of Fisker Inc., also commented:

?Electric vehicle demand in North America will keep growing as companies such as Fisker Inc. continue to introduce new, affordable EV models to the market. Automakers and battery manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure any materials we use in our batteries are sourced in an ethical way. The First Cobalt team is dedicated to ensuring projects maintain the highest standards of ethical mining practices and environmental protection. The restart of the First Cobalt Refinery is an important step towards producing battery materials in America with a clean record from mine to machine.?

The First Cobalt Refinery is the only permitted primary cobalt refinery in North America and is ideally suited to treat North American arsenic-rich mine concentrate. Given the abundance of this higher grade material in the market, the Company has been testing third party cobalt hydroxide as an alternative source of feed.

Today?s results confirm that the existing processes in the First Cobalt Refinery are indeed capable of producing a high purity, battery grade cobalt sulfate.

SGS Canada was engaged to test cobalt hydroxide using the processes in the current refinery flowsheet to assess its suitability as feedstock (see November 8, 2018 press release). Tests simulated the existing circuits to determine the ability to produce a cobalt sulfate heptahydrate (?cobalt sulfate?), a critical component of lithium-ion batteries.

The current Refinery flowsheet includes an autoclave circuit as well as a number of solvent extraction (?SX?) lines for treating various elements, followed by product precipitation and filtration stages. Test work concludes that processing cobalt hydroxide feed would not require the reactivation of the Refinery?s autoclaves, providing an opportunity for higher production potential than projected in an independent study prepared by Primero Group. The cobalt hydroxide feed tested in this program had head grades in excess of 20% cobalt. By contrast, many other sources of cobalt hydroxide have head grades approaching 30% cobalt, providing yet another opportunity for higher production.

Commissioned in 1996, the refinery is located in Ontario, Canada, a few hours north by road or rail from the US border. Once operational, the Refinery would become the only North American producer of refined cobalt for the North American EV market.

Given the strong cash flow projections derived from the Primero Group study, the Company believes that a restart of the refinery could be financed by non-equity sources of capital, limiting dilution for shareholders and generating a steady source of cash flow to fund future activities at the flagship Iron Creek Project in Idaho, USA. The Company has received significant interest from miners and automotive companies and today?s results will allow these discussions to advance to the next stage. First Cobalt?s objective is secure a long term feed purchase agreement, offtake for the sale of refined cobalt and financing for the capital requirements. It is estimated that the refinery could be operational 18-24 months from the selection of a feed source.

The Company has engaged Ausenco, a global consulting, engineering, project delivery and asset operations, management and optimization solutions firm to the minerals & metals, oil & gas and industrial sectors to work in partnership with SGS Canada on this next phase. The next step towards a potential restart of the First Cobalt Refinery will include detailed engineering to assess further refinements to the flowsheet and circuit optimizations to maximize potential output.

First Cobalt Refinery

The First Cobalt Refinery is a hydrometallurgical cobalt refinery in the Canadian Cobalt Camp, approximately 600 kilometres from the U.S. border. The First Cobalt Refinery has the potential to produce either a cobalt sulfate for the lithium-ion battery market or cobalt metal for the North American aerospace industry or other industrial and military applications.

In late 2018, the Company released the results of three independent studies undertaken to estimate capital requirements, operating costs, permit renewal timelines, potential feedstock options and offtake opportunities. At a 24 tonne per day feed rate and using the current flowsheet, the capital cost of the restart is estimated at US$25.7M (including a 30% contingency) and a permitting review concluded that a restart is possible within 18 months of selecting a feedstock.

The Company is engaged in discussions with companies specializing in the marketing and sourcing of concentrates to secure sources of ethically produced cobalt as feedstock for the First Cobalt Refinery.

A corporate video featuring the First Cobalt Refinery in Ontario, Canada is available on the Company?s website at http://www.firstcobalt.com/investors/media-gallery/videos/.

A final decision on whether to put the Refinery back into production has not been made at this time and any decision is contingent on the outcome of the foregoing studies as well as the Company?s ability to source viable feedstock.

Refinery Restart Studies

On October 10, 2018, the Company announced the results of three studies supporting a restart of the First Cobalt Refinery. Primero Group, an Australian engineering firm with an office in Montreal, Canada, was engaged to conduct a desktop study to estimate the capital and operating costs to operate the First Cobalt Refinery in its current configuration at various throughput rates, available at www.firstcobalt.com/investors/downloads-and-filings.

As part of their study, Primero estimated the replacement value of the refinery building at various throughput rates, including the existing nameplate capacity of 24 tpd and an expansion scenario at 50 tpd. Primero?s results ranged from US$53M to US$143M, inclusive of a 30% contingency (see Table 1). In both instances, replacement estimates were limited to the refinery building and did not include site level infrastructure, including roadways, power lines and the tailings management facility. The value of the permits was also excluded for purposes of this exercise.

Please find more information in the attachement.Bluestone Resources\-\- Cerro Blanco project Delivers 10.2 meters of 13.1 g/t Au and 25 g/t Ag on Resource Upgrading Drilling Program

Posted by Publisher Internet

Bluestone Resources Inc. (TSXV:BSR | OTCQB:BBSRF) (\Bluestone\ or the \Company\  https://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298837) is pleased to announce additional high-grade intercepts from the resource upgrading infill drill program at its Cerro Blanco Gold project. The primary focus of the program is to upgrade Inferred Resources identified during the previous drill program completed in 2018. In addition, this program is also designed to define new resources along known veins in the mine plan that extend outside of the current resource envelope.

Three LM-75 diamond drill rigs are currently situated within the Cerro Blanco underground workings and are targeting key veins in the upper portion of the Cerro Blanco resource. The Cerro Blanco Feasibility Study (see press release January 29th, 2019) highlighted some 357,000 ounces of Inferred Resources (1.4 Mt grading 8.1 g/t Au) that could be potentially converted to Measured and Indicated Resources through infill drilling.

Darren Klinck, President and CEO commented, ?Of special note are the broad zones of high-grade mineralization drilled in several different holes. For example, 8.1 meters at 8.3 g/t Au and 73 g/t Ag (Hole UGCB18-122), 5.6 meters at 19.9 g/t Au and 281 g/t Ag (UGCB18-124) and 10.2 meters at 13.1 g/t Au and 25 g/t Ag (Hole UGCB18-126). These wider intercepts comprising multiple closely-spaced vein sets are reminiscent to those drilled in the lower parts of the South Zone orebody by Bluestone last year and were demonstrated in the Feasibility Study as amenable to long-hole stoping mining methods and key drivers in the project economics.?

All holes cited in this press release were drilled from various platforms in the North Zone underground workings. Except for hole UGCB18-126, all holes were drilled at positive (upward) angles and designed to test the Inferred Resource portions of several key veins that sit above the current underground infrastructure. Hole UGCB18-126 was a sub-horizonal hole drilled at -5 degrees.? A plan view showing drill hole locations, sections, and core photos can be accessed by clicking HERE. All holes intercepted their predicted targets, including Hole UGCB18-122, which drilled veins of lower grade and widths due to their proximity or emplacement within the Salinas Unit, a silicified conglomerate that forms a cap over the deposit.

Results for a total of 29 holes have been released to date as part of the Infill resource conversion program (3,384 meters). Drilling is ongoing and further results will be reported as received.

Precious metal mineralization at Cerro Blanco is associated with classic low sulphidation adularia-sericite epithermal quartz veins and vein swarms hosted in altered sequence of volcanoclastic and sedimentary rocks. Higher grades (>20 g/t Au and >60 g/t Ag) are normally associated with visible gold and silver sulphides in ginguro-style colloform-banded veins.

Quality Analysis and Quality Control

Assay results listed within this release were performed by Inspectorate Laboratories (?Inspectorate?), a division of Bureau Veritas, which are ISO 17025 accredited laboratories.? Logging and sampling are undertaken on site at Cerro Blanco by Company personnel under a QA/QC protocol developed by Bluestone. Samples are transported in security-sealed bags to Inspectorate, Guatemala City, Guatemala, for sample preparation.? Sample pulps are shipped to Inspectorate Laboratories in Vancouver, BC, Canada or Reno, NV, USA, and assayed using industry-standard assay techniques for gold and silver. Gold and silver were analyzed by a 30-gram charge with atomic absorption and/or gravimetric finish for values exceeding 5 g/t Au and 100 g/t Ag. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material, and replicate samples. Quality control is further assured by Bluestone?s QA/QC program, which involves the insertion of blind certified reference materials (standards) and field duplicates into the sample stream to independently assess analytical precision and accuracy of each batch of samples as they are received from the laboratory.? A selection of samples is submitted to ALS Chemex Laboratories in Vancouver for check analysis and additional quality control.

Qualified Person

David Cass, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and verified that the technical information set out above in this news release is accurate and therefore approves this written disclosure of the technical information.

About Bluestone Resources

Bluestone Resources is a mineral exploration and development company that is focused on advancing its 100%-owned Cerro Blanco Gold and Mita Geothermal projects located in Guatemala. A Feasibility Study on Cerro Blanco returned robust economics with a quick pay back. The average annual production is projected to be 146,000 ounces per year over the first three years of production with all-in sustaining costs of $579/oz (as defined per World Gold Council guidelines, less corporate general and administration costs). The Company trades under the symbol ?BSR? on the TSX Venture Exchange and ?BBSRF? on the OTCQB.

On Behalf of Bluestone Resources Inc.

\Darren Klinck\

Darren Klinck | President, Chief Executive Officer & Director

For further information, please contact:

Bluestone Resources Inc.

Stephen Williams | VP Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Phone: +1 604 646 4534

info@bluestoneresources.ca

www.bluestoneresources.ca

In Europe:

Swiss resource Capital? AG

Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains ?forward-looking information? within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and ?forward-looking statements? within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, ?forward-looking statements?).? All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Bluestone Resources Inc. (?Bluestone? or the ?Company?) believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, without limitation: the conversion of the inferred mineral resources; increasing the amount of measured mineral and indicated mineral resources; the proposed timeline and benefits of further drilling; the proposed timeline and benefits of the Feasibility Study; statements about the Company?s plans for its mineral properties; Bluestone?s business strategy, plans and outlook; the future financial or operating performance of Bluestone; capital expenditures, corporate general and administration expenses and exploration and development expenses; expected working capital requirements; the future financial estimates of the Cerro Blanco Project economics, including estimates of capital costs of constructing mine facilities and bringing a mine into production and of sustaining capital costs, estimates of operating costs and total costs, net present value and economic returns; proposed production timelines and rates; funding availability; resource estimates; and future exploration and operating plans are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to Bluestone and often use words such as ?expects?, ?plans?, ?anticipates?, ?estimates?, ?intends?, ?may? or variations thereof or the negative of any of these terms.

All forward-looking statements are made based on the Company?s current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them.? Generally, these assumptions include, among others: the ability of Bluestone to carry on exploration and development activities; the price of gold, silver and other metals; there being no material variations in the current tax and regulatory environment; the exchange rates among the Canadian dollar, Guatemalan quetzal and the United States dollar remaining consistent with current levels; the presence of and continuity of metals at the Cerro Blanco Project at estimated grades; the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices and within estimated delivery times; metals sales prices and exchange rates assumed; appropriate discount rates applied to the cash flows in economic analyses; tax rates and royalty rates applicable to the proposed mining operation; the availability of acceptable financing; anticipated mining losses and dilution; success in realizing proposed operations; anticipated timelines for community consultations and the impact of those consultations on the regulatory approval process.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and, even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Bluestone. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: risks relating to variations in the mineral content within the mineral identified as mineral resources from that predicted; risks and uncertainties related to expected production rates, timing and amount of production and total costs of production; risks and uncertainties related to ability to obtain or maintain necessary licenses, permits, or surface rights; risks associated with technical difficulties in connection with mining development activities; risks and uncertainties related to the accuracy of mineral resource estimates and estimates of future production, future cash flow, total costs of production and diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources; risks associated with geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic instability in Guatemala; risks and uncertainties related to interruptions in production; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company?s expectations; uncertain political and economic environments and relationships with local communities; variations in rates of recovery and extraction; developments in world metals markets; risks related to fluctuations in currency exchange rates; as well as those factors discussed under ?Risk Factors? in the Company?s Amended and Restated Annual Information Form.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made, and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Bluestone disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although Bluestone believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to their inherent uncertainty.? There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Non-IFRS Financial Performance Measures

The Company has included certain non-International Financial Reporting Standards (?IFRS?) measures in this new release. The Company believes that these measures, in addition to measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, provide investors an improved ability to evaluate the underlying performance of the Company and to compare it to information reported by other companies. The non-IFRS measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.

All-in sustaining costs

The Company believes that all-in sustaining costs (?AISC?) more fully defines the total costs associated with producing gold.

The Company calculates AISC as the sum of refining costs, third party royalties, site operating costs, sustaining capital costs and closure capital costs all divided by the gold ounces sold to arrive at a per ounce amount. Other companies may calculate this measure differently as a result of differences in underlying principles and policies applied. Differences may also arise due to a different definition of sustaining versus non-sustaining capital.

Total cash costs

Total cash costs is a common financial performance measure in the gold mining industry but has no standard meaning. The Company reports total cash costs on a gold ounce sold basis. The Company believes that, in addition to measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, such as revenue, certain investors can use this information to evaluate the Company?s performance and ability to generate operating earnings and cash flow from its mining operations. Management uses this metric as an important tool to monitor operating cost performance.

Total cash costs include (cost of sales such as mining, processing, maintenance and site administration, royalties, selling costs and by-product credits) to arrive at total cash costs per ounce of gold sold. Other companies may calculate this measure differently.

AISC and total cash costs reconciliation

ASIC and total cash costs are calculated based on the definitions published by the World Gold Council (?WGC?) (a market development organization for the gold industry comprised of and funded by 18 gold mining companies from around the world). The WGC is not a regulatory organization.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 3) - The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has denied the distribution of funds granted to victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime based on a United States court ruling.

The OSG, currently headed by Duterte-appointee Jose Calida, said that distributing the funds would be detrimental to the government.

"The OSG reviewed the terms of the proposed settlement agreement. Unfortunately, the terms were found to be grossly disadvantageous to the government and not in accord with existing Philippine laws and jurisprudence," the OSG said in a statement.

The agreement was signed by the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG), which is tasked to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and his family, with the New York District Court.

It would distribute to the claimants the approximately $2 billion worth of proceeds from the sale of paintings recovered from Imelda Marcos' private secretary Vilma Bautista.

The human rights violations victims filed a class action lawsuit against the Marcoses in Hawaii in 1995.

Known as Claimants 1081, they have already received two previous tranches of reparations after winning the case. Withdrawing from the agreement could block the third tranche.

"The Office of the Executive Secretary issued a Memorandum on January 8, 2019 approving the request of the PCGG for authority to enter into a settlement agreement of the interpleader case pending at the New York District Court presided by Judge Katherine Failla.

"However, the said Memorandum required that before the PCGG can enter into the settlement agreement, both the OSG and Department of Justice (DOJ) shall approve its terms," the OSG said.

It added that as of March 11, the three government agencies agreed to withdraw from the agreement, and that the PCGG informed the U.S. court through a letter dated March 16.

However, Claimants 1081 said that the OSG is muscling in on the settlement.

"It is to be noted that the PCGG has the jurisdiction over the Marcos assets and their recovery and that the OSG has failed in its attempt to either disband the PCGG and transfer jurisdiction or to transfer the PCGG under its jurisdiction. Congress did not pass the necessary bill for this," they said.

READ: Bicam rejects proposed PCGG, OGCC abolitionSOUTHFIELD, Mich., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stefanini, a $1B global IT provider, announced today that the company developed for D-Link, a global leader in connecting people, companies and cities, a new chatbot channel in Brazil, called DAVI. The customized version of Sophie , Stefaninis world premiere omni-channel virtual assistant, was implemented through a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) process.



This is the first Stefanini project totally focused on the final consumer (B2C). The solution is designed to provide D-Link customers the support they need to address any issues related to the use of the brand's core products. Alexandre Winetzki, director of R&D at Stefanini, explains that the call center team provides customer support from Monday to Friday during business hours.

"From now on, if the user has any questions, they can interact with the DAVI 24 hours, seven days a week. The plan includes the opening of calls through chatbot, allowing attendants to focus on more complex support issues, benefiting the customer, said Winetzki.

According to Ivanildo Miranda, D-Link's business operation manager, the solution has proven to be quite effective.

"We are making small adjustments with Stefanini to expand the percentage of problem resolution via chatbot, increasing the scope of services and improving the customer experience," said Miranda.

Differentiated Customer Experience

To offer a differentiated experience to its customers, D-Link put together information about their best-selling products and partnered with Stefanini to create a question and answer guide that was inserted in the chatbot. When the customer enters the D-Link site for technical questions, such as a firmware update or installation, the platform assists users who no longer need to speak to an attendant. Our goal is to improve the interaction with the customer through the offer of technical support via chatbot, said Miranda. For example, the DAVI can show the customer a video that clears up any confusion or triggers the electronic manual of the product, avoiding loss of time.

Sophie 3.2

Sophie, already used successfully by several clients in Latin America, the U.S., and Europe is available in version 3.2 and responds in 44 languages. Implemented in diverse segments, such as industry, retail, insurance and government, the platform can be incorporated into all of Stefanini's offerings in Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and call center, like most large systems of IT Service Management (ITMS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) available in the market.

"The project developed for D-Link reinforces how BPO services can leverage the transformation of transactional or standardized processes through our digital solutions, bringing better experiences to our customers' clients," said Alexandre Vomero, director of BPO from Stefanini Latin America.

About Stefanini

Stefanini ( www.stefanini.com ) is a Brazilian multinational with 30 years of experience in the market, investing in a complete innovation ecosystem to meet the main verticals and assist customers in the process of digital transformation. With robust offerings aligned with market trends such as automation, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and user experience (UX), the company has been recognized with several awards in the area of innovation.

Today, the company has a broad portfolio of solutions that combine innovative consulting, marketing, mobility, personalized campaigns and artificial intelligence services for traditional solutions such as service desk, field service and outsourcing (BPO).

With a presence in 40 countries, Stefanini was named the fifth most internationalized company, according to the Dom Cabral Foundation ranking of 2017.

About D-Link

D-Link helps you connect to more of everything with our innovative approach to computer networking. From relatively modest beginnings in Taiwan, the company has grown over the last 25 years into an exciting global brand offering the most up-to-date network solutions. Whether it is to suit the needs of the home consumer, a business or service provider, we take pride in offering award-winning networking products and services. We will continue to lead the way in building networks for people around the world.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.WASHINGTON, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following statement may be attributed to Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO and Chief Counsel to First Liberty Institute:



Throughout his administration President Trump has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the rule of law in advancing judicial nominees who are exceptionally qualified. We are pleased that the U.S. Senate has voted to expedite its vital and constitutionally mandated role of confirming nominees to 150 vacancies on the federal bench. Todays vote ensures that more judges committed to protecting the religious freedoms and the First Amendment rights of our citizens will soon be on the bench.

About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.



To arrange an interview, contact Lacey McNiel at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.

Contact:

Lacey McNiel

media@firstliberty.org

Direct: 972-941-4453Three men were shot at this club on Petigru Drive in Pawleys Island early on March 29. Two of the men later died.Space enthusiasts may recognize the face of a new Barbie doll touring at special events around the world; she looks just like European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti .

The agency and Mattel, the company that makes Barbie, partnered to create two Cristoforetti-look-alike dolls in honor of Barbie's 60th "birthday" this year, according to a statement from the ESA . One of the dolls wears a stylized reproduction of NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit, the suit that astronauts wear on spacewalks, and the other Barbie wears a blue ESA flight suit complete with patches from the agency.

Mattel Italia debuted these two unique Barbies at a special event on the International Day of the Girl, Oct. 11, 2018. Last month, the Barbies appeared at the International Women's Day Gala of Professional Women International Brussels and at the Elle magazine Power Girl event in Paris.

Related: Barbie in Space: An Iconic Doll's Astronaut Looks in Photos

Unfortunately, Mattel isn't selling Cristoforetti Barbies to the public, at least not yet. But the company said it hopes that seeing a real-life female astronaut in doll form will help inspire young girls to dream big. The ESA's Communications Partnerships Unit collaborated with Mattel Italia to use these Barbies in promotion of the company's Dream Gap Project .

Mattel announced the Dream Gap Project after an academic study in 2017 found that by age 5, girls already tend to think they're not as smart as boys. "Research shows that children pick up on cultural stereotypes at a very young age that suggest [that] women aren't as smart as men," Mattel representatives said in an online description of the project.

They cited research finding that girls are three times less likely than boys to receive a science-related toy. And as they grow older, girls tend to lose their belief that they can someday be an astronaut or work in computer programing or do any of the other jobs culturally associated with men.

"One of ESA's goals is to be a source of inspiration for all of Europe's citizens," ESA Chief Diversity Officer Ersilia Vaudo said in the agency statement. "ESA is proud to be associated with this initiative, fighting stereotypes and encouraging girls and young women to pursue their dreams, whatever they may be."

Cristoforetti is a wonderful role model for aspiring astronauts. Between November 2014 and June 2015, she spent 200 days aboard the International Space Station. This was the longest time a European had ever spent in space. ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst has since spent 351 days in orbit.

And Cristoforetti said she's proud that her likeness could inspire young people to dream big. She said in the ESA statement that she's happy not only that today's Barbies reflect a wider range of body types and skin tones, so that many more girls can see themselves in their toys, but also that Barbie has a rich range of occupations. "I hope this will help girls and boys to imagine their future without being constrained by artificial limits that have no place in our time," she said.

Although girls won't be able to take a Cristoforetti Barbie home, they can add an astronaut Barbie to their collection. In honor of the doll's 60th birthday, Mattel revamped several career-focused Barbie dolls, including astronaut Barbie . And in the fall of 2019, Barbie is getting a new astro-related career. In partnership with National Geographic, Mattel will launch an astrophysicist Barbie, who comes with a star chart and telescope.It's spacewalk season this spring at the International Space Station, and that means astronauts are relying on highly engineered, difficult-to-fit suits to stay safe in the vacuum of space.

Spacesuits are intricately designed machines that have to stave off a host of potentially fatal space threats, which means it's not really the sort of attire where you want to compromise on fit. The trickiness of those suits, formally known as Extravehicular Mobility Units, made headlines last month when NASA shuffled spacewalk assignments because of suit fit issues. But managing the persnickety protective garments isn't a new problem for the space agency as it has sought to clothe a range of astronaut bodies.

"Folks tend to talk about it in more simplistic terms, they talk about if you're normal or not normal," Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Texas, told Space.com in mid-March, before any of this spring's spacewalks.

But that isn't how real bodies actually work. "I've got 100th percentile dimensions and I've got 5th percentile dimensions," Ross said. "Everybody is combinations of these weird statistics about body parts. There is no normal person."

Related: How NASA Spacesuits Work: EMUs Explained (Infographic)

Many of the challenges surrounding spacesuits , like so many challenges in life, arise from having to balance competing priorities in a world where perfection is at worst technically nearly impossible and at best prohibitively expensive.

When it comes to spacesuit sizing, NASA hasn't always opted for standard-size components. "Early on, when we were first building spacesuits, our astronaut class was smaller, so we could build a custom suit for each person  we could measure you and size your suit," Jennings said. "But once we started flying space shuttle and ISS, we just had so many astronauts, we weren't going to have that many suits. So we started making it modular so we can mix and match."

But mixing and matching is easier said than done, as the recent kerfuffle over spacesuit sizing shows. Right now, the International Space Station hosts four fully configured spacesuits for extravehicular activities (EVAs)  one each with a medium and an extra-large Hard Upper Torso unit, plus two with large units. In addition, there is one spare, unconfigured unit for each of those sizes on board, Rick Henfling, a spacewalk flight director for NASA, said during a news conference held yesterday (April 2).

Related: NASA Won't Have 2 Medium-Size Spacesuits Ready Any Time Soon Despite Criticism

Switching out a Hard Upper Torso unit can take about 12 hours of work , so instead of rushing the job and postponing other tasks, NASA shuffled astronauts for the two remaining spacewalks. But because that canceled the first-ever and much-hyped spacewalk of all-female astronauts, the decision was met with derisive headlines, a Saturday Night Live skit and questions from Congress during NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine's latest appearance before the House science committee yesterday (April 2).

His comments suggest that NASA will be looking to increase the range of suit sizes offered. "We are making sure that in the future, both genders [sic] are going to be accommodated 100 percent," Bridenstine said. (For current suits used during EVAs, there are no gender- or sex-based design elements; female astronauts simply tend to be smaller on average and are therefore more likely to prefer the medium Hard Upper Torso unit , the smallest size NASA currently offers.)

But NASA doesn't have any current plans to build new suits expressly for EVAs at the International Space Station, Kenny Todd, NASA's manager for operations and integration of the space station, said during a news conference held yesterday to discuss an upcoming spacewalk. The orbiting laboratory will host tests of future spacesuit designs, he added, but these will be destined for new types of missions.

Spacesuits for the future

In particular, NASA's spacesuit engineers are currently focused on missions that land humans on the moon, and one day, on Mars . But right now, the U.S. doesn't fly any suits that can be used on such a mission. After all, NASA hasn't needed suits designed for walking  which must prioritize lower body movement  in nearly 50 years.

NASA has flown two different kinds of suits within the past decade, and each is designed for purposes that are very different from those of a suit made for walking on a planet. Crew survival suits are unpressurized, light and flexible, designed to protect an astronaut if something goes wrong on the space station. The suits used during EVAs at the station are much more armored than survival suits, but are optimized for upper-body mobility, not lower, to facilitate moving along the space station handholds.

So in addition to the other mission components facing accelerated timelines  rockets, capsules, landers and more  development of a spacesuit made for walking will also need a new schedule, Bridenstine confirmed during yesterday's hearing, in response to a question from Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas. "In order to get to the moon's surface, we have to have new spacesuits. It's, uh. Can't ," Bridenstine said. "It's a no-brainer," Babin interjected. "Yes," Bridenstine said.

NASA's spacesuit engineers can consult with predecessors from the Apollo era to avoid repeating some of that work, but they still need to develop a new suit. And although building a modern version of a suit that lets explorers walk will be a challenge, it also offers opportunities to reevaluate all of the engineering built into the garments.

Related: The Evolution of the Spacesuit in Pictures

That could include a switch back to tailor-made suits, particularly for Mars, where an astronaut would remain for a long time and conduct numerous walks. Ross compared such a suit to the coveralls her grandfather wore as a farmer. "You need to be able to just put on your coveralls and trust them to be able to do their job for you," she said. "One method to do that is to customize them, right, to get just the right suit fit so that when you put them on, it's your overalls and you're able to go outside and do your job." NASA hasn't committed to either approach yet.

Last month's challenges point to another way engineers would like to improve on current spacesuit design  by making suits that don't require so much of an astronaut's time. After all, it was the 12-hour time frame to change out torso units that made shuffling suits such an impractical option.

Even without changing segment sizes, spacesuits require a lot of upkeep. Astronauts regularly check over each piece of a suit to make sure it still has its full protective capabilities. That takes countless hours of crew time  time that astronauts can't spend working on the science they were sent there to do. Lower maintenance and spacewalk preparation needs would offer astronauts more flexibility in exploring the world around their vehicle, wherever it may be.

"If we can change some of the spacesuit design, then we can kind of change the way we go and do EVAs," Jennings said.As two supermassive black holes spiral around one another and merge, they create gravitational waves. With enough energy, they can "kick" themselves out of their starting spot, or even completely out of their home galaxy.

When galaxies collide, the supermassive black holes at their centers are thrown together. Sometimes the pair merge together gracefully. But if the two black holes come together with enough energy, the new black hole can be pushed away from the center of that galaxy, or even kicked out completely. Hunting for these off-center black holes can help scientists better understand how often galaxies merge as well as determine the frequency of the gravitational waves they generate.

Like all black holes, supermassive black holes absorb all light and cannot be directly seen. Instead, scientists identify them by hunting down their gravitational effects on stars, gas and dust around them. But unlike the smaller black holes generated by single stars, supermassive black holes have somewhere around 100 times the mass of the sun. Because of their huge mass, their mergers should produce gravitational waves that the European Space Agency's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) spacecraft will be able to detect after its launch.

Intrigued by the connection to gravitational waves, Yashashree Jadhav, a graduate student at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, began to search for supermassive black holes that were offset from the center of their galaxy. Jadhav is combing through a hundred galaxies imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to determine how many host off-center black holes. Jadhav presented her work in January at the annual winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, Washington.

Related: When Galaxies Collide: Photos of Great Galactic Crashes

Kicked from the galaxy

Most galaxies show some signs of having consumed another galaxy in their past. Even the Milky Way will one day merge with its neighbor , the Andromeda Galaxy, though not for billions of years. The two galaxies don't always blend smoothly, and infalling gas and dust can collide to spark new star formation.

If both galaxies carry supermassive black holes at their hearts, there is a good chance that the pair will be brought together. But the two objects can put up a fight as they draw closer together. As the pair merge, they create gravitational waves. In order to conserve momentum, they also produce a kick that can knock the newly formed, merged supermassive black hole out of position.

"Imagine the recoil of a gun," Jadhav told Space.com. "It's basically the same, just on a much, much larger scale."

A simulation of a pair of merging black holes. (Image credit: The SXS (Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes) Project)

According to Jadhavs research, the newly merged body can travel anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand kilometers per second away from where it formed, depending on how much mass the original pair started out with. That means that scientists tracing a set of gravitational waves back to their source wouldn't see the newborn supermassive black hole; they would have to look off to the side to find it.

The most powerful kicks can even hurl the young supermassive black hole completely out of the new galaxy, Jadhav said, a result that she calls "quite rare." The ejections only happen when one of the merging black holes is significantly larger than the other.

Milder kicks can push the newly merged object more than 300 light-years away from the heart of the galaxy. Over the course of about a billion years, gravity will slowly tug the merged object back to the galactic center.

Before Jadhav could determine if a black hole is off-center, she first needed to calculate the center of each galaxy. By comparing multiple archived Hubble images of the same galaxy, Jadhav was able to trace how much light was produced by all of the stars, then use that to estimate the collection's center of mass. Then, using near-infrared images, the researcher determined where the supermassive black holes actually lay and compared that location to the galactic centers.

Of the 100 objects that Jadhav and her colleagues examined, they found that roughly 20 percent lie off-center, suggesting that they had been displaced by the merger that formed them.

The next step is to use the results to help understand how often galaxies merge, a factor that Jadhav calls "arguably one of the more uncertain rates." She also hopes to use her results to better calculate how often black hole mergers should produce gravitational waves.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has detected multiple gravitational-wave signals. Most of them were produced by merging black holes , although at least one came from the collision of a pair of neutron stars , the densest type of star in the universe. According to Jadhav, LIGO isn't able to detect the type of supermassive black holes that are heavy enough to generate a kick. That's because more massive objects, as well as those in wider orbits, release a longer wavelength than those LIGO is hunting.

Enter LISA, a space-based mission set to launch by 2034 . LISA will operate in a lower frequency range than LIGO, allowing the spacecraft to probe a wider range of gravitational-wave sources. With her results, Jadhav hopes to estimate how many supermassive black holes LISA will be able to spot once it has been launched.TORONTO, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Changfeng Energy Inc., (TSXV: CFY) (Changfeng or the Company, together with its subsidiaries the Group), an energy provider in the Peoples Republic of China (the PRC), announces the following:



Firm Annual Dividend and Special Dividend Payment Date

Further to Changfengs press releases on January 30, 2019, Changfeng Announces Hong Kong IPO Update and Declaration of Semi-annual and Special Dividends and February 12, 2019, Changfeng Announces Amendment to Dividend Payment Date, the Company announces a firm payment date of April 9, 2019 for the Second Installment Dividend of 2018 and first installment of the 2019 Special Dividend. There has been no change to the record date of February 12, 2019, and shares began trading on an ex-dividend basis at the opening of trading on February 11, 2019.

The Second Installment Dividend of 2018 remains in the amount of RMB 3,500,000 (C$690,996 based on the prevailing exchange rate between C$ and RMB as at January 30, 2019), an equivalent of approximately C$0.0106 per common share based on the total common shares outstanding as of January 30, 2019 and February 12, 2019.

The first installment of the 2019 Special Dividend remains in the amount of RMB 6,450,000 (C$1,273,408 based on the prevailing exchange rate between C$ and RMB as at January 30, 2019), an equivalent of approximately C$0.0195 per common share based on the total common shares outstanding as of January 30, 2019 and February 12, 2019.

About Changfeng Energy Inc.

Changfeng Energy Inc. is a Canadian public company currently traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the stock symbol CFY. It is an integrated energy provider and natural gas distribution company (or natural gas utility) in the PRC. Changfeng strives to combine leading clean energy technology with natural gas usage to provide sustainable energy to its customer base in the PRC. In 2009, Changfeng was recognized as being one of Chinas the Top Ten Most Influential Brands in the Natural Gas Industry and in 2019, ranked amongst the 2019 TSX Venture 50 top performers on the TSX Venture Exchange for the 2018 year.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Corporate Investment Relations

Investor.relations@changfengenergy.cn

Charles Wang

Executive Assistant to CEO & Chair of the Board

zhaoyu.wang@changfengenergy.cn

Frederick Wong

Director of the Board

fred.wong@changfengenergy.cn

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, Forward-Looking Statements). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated by reference in this document are Forward-Looking Statements, including statements regarding activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future, including with respect to the timing and payment of dividends. These Forward-Looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as will, expect, intend, plan, estimate, anticipate, believe or continue or similar words or the negative thereof. No assurance can be given that the plans, intentions or expectations or assumptions upon which these Forward-Looking Statements are based will prove to be correct and such Forward-Looking Statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon.

Although management believes that the expectations represented in such Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such Forward-Looking Statements are not a guarantee of performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements or developments expressed or implied by such Forward-Looking Statements. These factors include, without limitation, no significant and continuing adverse changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets. Readers are cautioned that all Forward-Looking Statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those risks and uncertainties detailed in the Corporations filings with applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities, copies of which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company urges readers to carefully consider those factors.

The Forward-Looking Statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this document and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any Forward-Looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such.

Neither 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.Rocket Lab's Electron booster will launch three experimental military satellites this month from New Zealand.

Rocket Lab has another military launch coming up.

The spaceflight startup's Electron rocket will loft three experimental satellites for the U.S. Air Force this month, company representatives announced today (April 3). The total mass of the trio is more than 397 lbs. (180 kilograms), heavier than any payload Rocket Lab has launched to date.

"We're really stretching the legs of the Electron launch vehicle," Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck told Space.com.

Related: In Photos: Rocket Lab and Its Electron Booster

Just last week, an Electron orbited a spacecraft called R3D2 in Rocket Lab's first mission of 2019. R3D2, which will be operated by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), aims to space-qualify a tissue-thin antenna that could improve small satellites' communications capabilities.

The three craft going up on the next launch  which will occur sometime this month from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site, on the North Island's Mahia Peninsula  also aim to develop and demonstrate new technologies. The Space Plug-and-Play Architecture Research Cubesat-1 (SPARC-1), for example, will test out ultraminiaturized avionics and other gear.

"It's really seeing how small and functional some of this stuff can be," Beck said.

The Falcon Orbital Debris Experiment (Falcon ODE), also a cubesat, will help researchers evaluate the effectiveness of ground-based efforts to track space junk , he added. And the Harbinger satellite, which makes up the bulk of the total payload mass, seeks to show that a privately built spacecraft can meet certain U.S. Department of Defense requirements, Rocket Lab representatives said.

California-based Rocket Lab aims to greatly increase access to space using the 57-foot-tall (17 meters) Electron, an expendable vehicle that can carry about 500 lbs. (227 kg) to orbit on each $5 million mission.

Electron has four successful satellite-lofting missions under its belt, the first of which occurred in January 2018. The rocket will soon fly much more frequently, if all goes according to plan; Rocket Lab aims to launch a dozen missions in 2019, Beck said.

The company also hopes to have a second launch site, at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia , up and running by the end of the year, he added.

"We're on a pretty good trajectory," Beck said, though he stressed that the company still has a lot of work left to do.

SPARC-1 is a joint US.-Swedish project sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate. Falcon ODE is sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Harbinger, which was built by Colorado-based company York Space Systems, is sponsored by the U.S. Army, Rocket Lab representatives said.

The upcoming mission was procured by the Department of Defense's Space Test Program, in partnership with the department's Defense Innovation Unit.

"We are incredibly proud that Rocket Lab has been selected by the Space Test Program to launch advanced technologies that accelerate operational space capabilities," Lars Hoffman, Rocket Lab's senior vice president of launch services, said in a statement. "We look forward to working with our mission partners to continue offering world-leading access to space."Update for 4 p.m. EDT: The Israeli moon lander Beresheet has successfully entered orbit around the moon. Also, an Arianespace Soyuz rocket launched four O3B satellites into orbit and NASA has test-fired its RS-25 rocket engine for the Space Launch System.

Update for 11 a.m. EDT: The Progress 72 cargo ship has successfully arrived at the space station.

Original story: If you love space (and we know you do), then today is going to be an epic day.

There are no less than two rocket launches scheduled for today (April 4) along with one spacecraft docking, a lunar orbit arrival and an asteroid bombardment by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft. And, of course, you can watch much of that space action on Space.com here. Here's a rundown of what to expect.

A morning launch and docking

The day begins early with the launch of an uncrewed Russian Progress 72 cargo ship (also known as 72P) by Russia's Roscosmos space agency. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA's webcast will begin at 6:45 a.m. EDT (1045 GMT), courtesy of NASA TV.

Progress 72 is carrying about 3 tons of food, fuel and other vital supplies for the Expedition 59 astronaut crew living on the International Space Station. The spacecraft will make a super-fast trip to the station, making two orbits around Earth to arrive at its destination just over 3 hours after liftoff.

Progress 72 is scheduled to dock itself at the station's Russian-built Pirs docking compartment at 10:25 a.m. EDT (1425 GMT). You can watch that event, too. NASA's live docking webcast will begin at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 GMT).

Israel shoots for the moon

While Progress 72 chases the International Space Station, a small Israeli spacecraft will be chasing the moon. If all goes well, it will arrive at the moon at 10:15 a.m. EDT (1415 GMT), when it performs an engine maneuver to enter an elliptical lunar orbit. You'll be able to follow the event live via the mission's official Twitter: @TeamSpaceIL.

The 5-foot-tall (1.5 meters) lander, called Beresheet, is Israel's first spacecraft ever launched toward the moon. It is also the world's first private lunar lander - it was built by Israel's SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industry (IAI) for $100 million.

Beresheet launched toward the moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 21 and has been steadily raising its orbit around Earth in order to reach the moon. If Thursday's engine maneuver is a success, Beresheet continue refining its orbit until it is in place for a planned April 11 landing on the moon's Sea of Serenity.

SpaceIL initially designed the Beresheet lander (it's name means "in the beginning," according to the team) as a contender for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) for private moon landers. That competition ended in 2018 without a winner.

Last week, GLXP contest organizer the X Prize Foundation announced that SpaceIL could still win a $1 million "MoonShot Award" if Beresheet successfully lands on the moon.

A lunchtime launch

We're not done yet. Today's epic day of space continues with the scheduled 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT) launch of an Arianespace Soyuz rocket carrying four O3b communications satellites into orbit for the satellite communications provider SES. Arianespace's launch webcast will begin about 20 minutes before launch, and you'll be able to watch it on Space.com, courtesy of the European launch provider. You can also watch it directly from Arianespace.

The four O3b satellites will join 16 other satellites already in orbit for SES's growing constellation to provide video and data connectivity to customers on the ground.

NASA SLS rocket engine test

At 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT), NASA will webcast the test of an RS-25 rocket engine, which will help power the space agency's Space Launch System megarocket for deep-space mission launches.

The test will be conducted at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, which is home to much of the agency's rocket engine tests.

Hayabusa2 creates asteroid crater

Finally, we get to the fireworks. Literally.

Tonight, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will provide a live webcast at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 April 5 GMT) as the Hayabusa2 spacecraft fires a projectile at the asteroid Ryugu in order to create an artificial crater. The actual asteroid impact is scheduled for 10:36 p.m. EDT (0236 April 5 GMT).

As with all of Thursday's activities, you can watch JAXA's asteroid crash on Space.com. You can also watch directly from JAXA here.

Hayabusa2 is will crash its Small Carry-on Impactor into Ryugu in order to peer inside the space rock and get a glimpse at its composition. Hayabusa2 will release the impactor from a distance of about 1,640 feet (500 meters), then retreat to a safe zone behind Ryugu as the impactor crashes into the asteroid and kicks up massive amounts of debris.

Later, JAXA scientists hope to land Hayabusa2 at the crater site to study the impact site in more detail. Hayabusa2 has already dropped three small, hopping rovers on Ryugu and landed on the asteroid to collect its first sample.

JAXA launched the $150 million Hayabusa2 mission in December 2014. The spacecraft is due to return to Earth in December of this year to return its samples to Earth.

But wait, there's more!

As if rocket launches, lunar arrivals and asteroid blasts weren't enough, there's still more to track for space fans.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is on track to make its second close pass by the sun today when it reaches perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, for the second time. The spacecraft is on a daring mission to fly through the outermost regions of the sun's atmosphere, and has already survived one pass through the region on Nov. 5 of last year.

In all, the spacecraft will make 24 close passes through the sun's atmosphere to help scientists better understand how our closest star works.

Falcon Heavy static fire?

Finally, Spaceflight Now reports that the private spaceflight company SpaceX may test fire its second Falcon Heavy rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida today. The so-called static test fire is a standard SpaceX check if its rockets before each mission.

While SpaceX has not officially revealed a launch date for the Falcon Heavy, some media reports have speculated that Sunday, April 7, may be an initial target. This mission will be SpaceX's second Falcon Heavy flight and the first to carry a commercial payload for a customer. The heavy-lift rocket will carry the hefty Arabsat 6A communications satellite into orbit for the Saudi Arabian company Arabsat.

Whew! That's a lot of space stuff all happening on the same day. Not since last year's potential "Day of Four Rocket Launches" have we been so excited. (Spoiler alert: All four launches were delayed.)

If even half of what's scheduled goes off as planned, today should be an exciting day in space. Visit Space.com throughout the day for complete coverage of the events!

Editor's note: This story was updated to include NASA's RS-25 rocket engine test.Its that time of the yearthe 4th annual Partner Technical Symposiums (PTS) will be here in just a month! Well be headed to San Diego in sunny California on May 1-2, and the following week we'll be off to Berlin, Germany on May 9-10.

The symposium is targeted at technical members of our Partner Community and is two full days of immersive content. Not only do you get to learn from the best and brightest Splunkers, but you'll also have tons of networking opportunities with the whole Partner Community. On top of that, I'm pleased to share we've created quite a bit of new material and adjusted some of the format in response to your feedback.

So what did we do?

Moar Technical Content

At all levels, weve added lengthier workshops where you'll be engaged in building and learning about new and existing technologies; this is a shift from demonstrations and lectures which allows more topics in a generalized form. This year, you'll get your hands on the keyboards as we offer fewer sessions with deeper engagement.

What will these workshops include? Building and using apps on the new Splunk Developer Cloud, building apps on Splunk Enterprise, machine learning bootcamps, building integrations with Splunk Phantom, and how to leverage the Metrics Store. I cant overstate how awesome this content isthe team's really delivered.

Moar Products



I'm super excited to have the experts from our Phantom and VictorOps teams in attendance, who will be there to present and take Ask the Expert meetings. Of course, we'll still have the key experts from our security and IT teams!

What Else Can You Expect?

The ability to book 1:1 meetings with any of the Splunk experts in attendance, new features for Advanced Administration, Accreditation and Certification help, use case studies, security and IT product updates, and more.

I know what you're thinkingthat all sounds too good, so there must be a catch, right?

Well, the events do sell out (so register ASAP) and are limited to contracted partners. Also, the prerequisite is that you at least carry a Splunk technical accreditation/certification. If you're in the process of completing the prerequisite, let us know.

To learn more, log in to the Partner Portal and view the main banner which will take you straigh to the main event page.

Have questions, comments, feedback? Let me know or reach out to your favorite Splunker.

----------------------------------------------------

Thanks!

Simeon Yep



finally returned with Chapter Eighty-Two written by showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman and directed by none other than Jane herself  Gina Rodriguez! I loved that the CW changed their signature green to lavender for the show. We finally get some answers about Michaels (Brett Dier) return  and theres no doubt that its really him just with no memory of any of them. The show gets meta again as the thread that runs through the episode is how we tell ourselves stories and make stories to remember those important to us to keep even the dead alive in the stories.The episode opens with an explanation of the Day of the Dead  Dia de los Muertos. People go to loved ones graves on this day and tell stories about them to help keep them alive. The painted faces are also a way to represent a deceased loved one and is also an expression of self. Once again, the show has found a wonderful metaphor that cuts across the many feelings that Jane is having  and the many feelings that we all have around the loss of loved ones.In the first scene we see young Jane (Julianna Gamiz) with Alba (Ivonne Coll) and Xo (Andrea Navedo) cleaning her Grandfathers grave and hearing stories about him  fast forward to a devastated Jane crying over Michaels grave four years ago. Three years ago, she is still crying; two years ago, they are laughing over the cat, and one year ago, they bring Mateo (Elias Janssen).The reappearance of Michael sends Jane into a tailspin. The titlecard also nicely reflects this as we see Virgin struck out and then Widow  to be replaces with a question mark. Our stories are how we construct ourselves, how we label ourselves. But Michael doesnt remember her, and Jane feels likes she is now the Forgotten. Michael losing her memories and stories somehow diminishes Janes story. Rafael (Justin Baldoni) explains that Rose (Bridget Regan) faked Michaels death, bribed the coroner, and elector-shocked Micheals memories away. Rafael did a DNA test  theres no mistake. Michael now goes by Jason  after Jason Bourne. He woke up in Montana with no memory and is completely unlike himself, right down to now being a dog person  with Bo, his dog!Its hysterical when Xo and Rogelio (Jaime Camil) call to find out about the engagement and find out about Michael and Rogelio faints! Jane leaves Michael at Rafaels for the night, and they head to Albas.Meanwhile, we discover that JR (Rosario Dawson) has actually shot Milos (Max Bird-Ridnell)! Petra is going to call the police until she learns that Milos owns 2/3 of the Mirabella, having duped Luisa (Yara Martinez) out of her shares via charity scams. While JR and Petra argue over her hesitating to call the police, Milos escapes sort ofThe next day, Rogelio prepares to be reunited with his bro-gelio  Camil is hysterical as always as he primps  pushing Jane out of the way at the mirror. Of course hes sure that his mere presence will restore Michaels memories! Michaels mother Patricia (Molly Hagan) is thrilled to have him back  obviously  but expects Jane to simply pick up where they left off  and take care of getting Michaels memories back.The doctor (Noel Arthur) tells them that the brain is not an exact science. Michael may or may not ever get his memories back. He suggests taking him back to familiar places and familiar people will help. It appears that all of Janes attempts fail. He no longer likes any of the things that he used to  and its really creepy when hes clearly attracted to Petra!We get an absolutely brilliantly acted and directed scene from Gina Rodriquez as Jane freaks out while Xo and Alba sit at the kitchen table in stunned silence. The scene goes from commercial break to commercial break  about 6 minutes  and it is ONE. CONTINUOUS. SHOT! Jane goes through all of her emotions  is she still married? Jason smells just like Michael  but he doesnt like jokes and talks really slowly  and hes not a cat person! What is she going to do about Mateo? Its just a brilliant scene.Jane is increasingly upset by going through videos and other momentos to try to jog Michaels memory  and she sees herself with a day of the dead mask. She tells Xo she feels like shes been erased and the Narrator points out that if you leave something out of a story, you change the whole story. We get a classic scene with Xo and Alba on the swing with Jane as they try to comfort her.Meanwhile, Xo has told Rogelio to be more sensitive towards Rafael, so hes helping Rafael pack to move to the new apartment. Rogelio finds the engagement ring and Rafael walks in as he does. Rogelio suddenly realizes the horrible situation that Rafael is in and tells him that hes come to love Rafael and think of him as family. Its really only when Xo goes to check on Rafael that he breaks down and admits that hes scared that hes going to lose Jane.Michael/Jason  comes to Jane and apologizes. He knows hes blowing her life up and offers to just go back to Montana.Jane turns to her writing. She deletes the sentence that says her husband died, and then starts to write their story  meeting, wedding, Michaels death. We see Jane trying to talk at the funeral and just too heartbroken to get through her speech, so even then, Rafael comes to her rescue, getting up and reading it for her. Suddenly, Jane knows what she has to do. The end of Michaels story was the beginning of her story with Rafael.Just like Jane showed up at Michaels work in the first season, she shows up at Rafaels now. Its his first day, so he takes her outside. She tells him that shes moving in! She loves him for being so self-less  all four years  and for bringing Michael back. They kiss, but there's only one white petal... is this now reality, which doesn't come with romanitc petal showers? Was that a story they were telling themselves?Meanwhile, Petra deals with Milos disappearance. JR is worried about her but not enough to let her stay at JRs own place. It turns out that Milos is hiding in a giant teddy bear in Petras apartment and offers to trade the hotel shares for antibiotics as his wound in now infected.JR comes to get her things and Petra tries to convince her that they can get through it. JR wont budge because of the lies. Petra tries to explain that this is how shes had to get through life and that shes changed a lot  but its not enough for JR. Petra promises to change more, but JR says she cant wait and that she cant forget. I loved Petra saying she loved JR and JR saying I know  and Jane explaining Star Wars to Michael in the background.Finally, Luisa has been contacted by Rose because of Rafael having to give up her location. Luisa decides that she will help Rafael find out why Rose took Michael. Our last shot is that Rose is clearly up to something  shes made a video to give orders of some kind to a group of women.I loved the story thread of Dia de los Muertos that ran through this episode. I also like all the echoes of the past episodes. Great acting and directing as always from Rodriguez! Im going to be very sad when this show reaches that 100th episode, but I think we are on the right track to really do the ending justice! What did you think of the episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!In any given year, Connecticuts export totals are juiced by aircraft engines flying off Pratt & Whitneys production lines outside Hartford, with 2018 no exception in what turned out to be a record year.

As for Connecticuts other big export story to emerge in the past year? It might be you.

Connecticuts export figures are dominated by the category of transportation equipment that includes the East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney subsidiary of United Technologies, with the category generating a 26 percent increase in overseas sales last year to $7.7 billion as estimated by the federal International Trade Administration.

But that aerospace bump  and the gains across 30 more broad industries tracked by ITA  paled next to the 240 percent jump in exports of secondhand goods from Connecticut, to nearly $83 million.

While those figures can include refurbished industrial equipment, the spike comes as more individuals and businesses gain confidence selling on Amazon and eBay, the latter having worked to streamline international shipments the past several years through a Global Shipping Program managed by the Stamford-based mailing giant Pitney Bowes. The companies renewed the agreement in May 2018.

ITA does not disclose by name the companies and sales channels that contribute to its export figures, including whether the numbers include international sales through Amazon, eBay, or other websites like Craigslist through which individuals sell items, whether new or used.

Strong dollar, trade rhetoric

The secondhand goods totals contributed to an 18 percent increase in Connecticut exports last year to $17.4 billion, both a record total for the two decades ITA has published data online and a record gain in any single year at $2.6 billion.

Connecticut was the runaway leader in the Northeast for year-over-year gains in exports, with New York lodging a 5 percent overall gain, New Jersey up 3 percent and Massachusetts absorbing a slight decline in exports.

Aerospace and transportation continue to lead the way in Connecticut, accounting for 44 percent of the states totals last year, with general machinery the only other category to make up more than 10 percent of exports.

Last year, four Connecticut industries had at least $1 billion in sales abroad, with the chemicals industry joining the 10-figure club for the first time since 2015 in exporting goods worth $1.2 billion last year, only $34 million behind the states No. 3 industry of computer and electronic products.

A handful of Connecticut industries saw exports decline last year, with primary metal manufacturers seeing the biggest drop at $84 million or 21 percent (fabricated metal exports were up 10 percent). The states small set of seafood producers suffered the steepest plunge in exports, at more than 50 percent to below $3.8 million.

The overall gains in Connecticut and nationally occurred despite a strong year for the U.S. dollar, making goods produced here more expensive for foreign buyers.

And companies in Connecticut and elsewhere made gains despite a 2018 in which the Trump administration created uncertainty for exporters in scrapping the North American Free Trade Agreement, ultimately replacing it with the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement scheduled to take effect in 2020; and on-again, off-again trade rhetoric with China.

The market disappointed for a number of reasons, most notably the lack of ... U.S. soybean and grain exports to China as a result of the ongoing U.S. China trade, said Gary Vogel, CEO of the Stamford-based cargo ship operator Eagle Bulk Shipping, speaking in March to investment analysts. To put this in context, U.S. soybean exports to China in the second half of 2018 totaled just 736,000 metric tons  as compared with 21.3 million tons in the same period of 2017.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulmanSTAMFORD  A century-old brick building on Springdales Hope Street, now home to a computer repair shop and a unisex salon, could soon be 15 apartments if former-Mayor Mike Pavia gets his way.

Pavias real estate company, Pavia Development, is slated Monday to present plans to the Zoning Board for a four-story building with 15 apartments above some 1,200 square feet of retail space on the site.

The proposal, already recommended by the Planning Board, calls for the demolition of the two-story 1917 building that housed Computer Tech Express and Denis & Glorias Hair Studio.

Before the plan gets to public comment, scheduled for Monday, it has already managed to rile Springdale residents on a neighborhood Facebook page.

How many apartment buildings can they possibly squeeze onto Hope (Street)? wrote Seth Kolbrenner. This is getting ridiculous. Traffic is brutal enough as it is.

This needs to stop, Linda Shippee wrote on Springdale Neighbors.

The reason for the uproar appeared three fold.

Some on the social media site worried over the loss of an old building; others fear congestion; and some wrote this type of building makes a mockery of the village in the Springdale village commercial zoning district, where the site  916 Hope St.  resides.

The districts, created in part to establish hubs around train stations, allow for higher-density housing compared to the surrounding areas. Last year, the city Land Use Bureau amended the district to mollify the neighborhood concerns that the zones  near train stations  were becoming overbuilt and under parked.

Steve Garst, a founding member of the Stamford Neighborhood Coalition, which calls for less development in city neighborhoods, said this project isnt huge, but emblematic of larger issues.

Fifteen apartments isnt the end of the world, he said.

But, he added, theres mounting dissatisfaction over higher-density housing and lackluster city services.

Theres a lot of frustration, he said. The roads are in such disrepair in parts of Springdale.

According to Land Use Bureau files, the proposed building will have 14 one-bedroom units and one studio, with 18 parking spaces. The retail space will be on Hope Street and parking will tucked behind and under the building deeper back, where some of the building will be supported by columns.

Though plans call for demolition of the old building, it appears the proposed structure will riff upon what now sits on Springdales main thoroughfare.

Two stories of brick facade  much like the two-story building although augmented with balconies  are sandwiched between two other white stories.

The architect behind the design, Elena Kalman, is a member of the citys Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and has designed celebrated renovations of historic structures around town.

In in interview, Kalman said she and Pavia had hoped to salvage the building but it was beyond repair. A century of alterations and tweaks left the building structurally unsound.

I was trying to preserve and build something in the back, she said. There were things done to that building that are kind of crazy ... like a woman who has had too many facelifts.

Pavia, a Republican, was mayor from 2009 to 2013, between Dannel P. Malloy, who went on to be governor, and David Martin, still in office.

The Zoning Board meeting on the proposal, which includes public comment, is slated for Monday at 7 p.m in the Government Centers fourth floor.

barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglyttonYour digital subscription allows you to view any content, comment on any issue and submit your own news to our newsroom.

Digital subscriptions do not include home delivery of the Tracy Press. To receive the paper at home, sign up for Premium Membership.NORWALK  Friends, colleagues and family members remember Michael Hefferan as a kind and generous man who loved his daughter unconditionally and would give anyone the shirt off his back.

The 60-year-old lifelong Norwalker died after a Thursday morning crash in Westchester County. In addition to a daughter, he leaves behind six siblings, and many friends with fond memories.

Harrison, N.Y, police Lt. Vincent Lanzillotti said the two-car crash occurred at 9:57 a.m. at the intersection of Westchester Avenue and Webb Avenue and that Hefferan and the other driver were taken to White Plains Hospital, where Hefferan later died. The other male driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Lanzillotti said. He would release no further details. Family members said they were told Hefferan was stopped at the intersection and as the light turned green the other vehicle went through a red light and crashed into his car at about 50 mph.

Sometimes people would tease about how he was a dog whisperer because every dog that approached him, he would get on the ground and play with them, said his brother, Matt Hefferan. He was the favorite uncle of all the nieces and nephews. Both of our parents passed away and Mike was with them to the end. He was a great brother, father and uncle.

Hefferan, a senior account executive at Landmark Print in Stamford, specialized in selling and printing large format graphics. He was on his way to meet with a client when the crash occurred, said his employer, Steve Green, who hired Hefferan years ago because he seemed honest, hard-working and had a following of clients who adored him.

He got along with everybody in our office, Green said. Its a big loss to us all professionally and personally.

Hefferan, a diehard New York Knicks, Cincinnati Reds and Dallas Cowboys fan, attended Tracey Elementary, West Rocks Middle School and Norwalk High, family members said. He enrolled at St. Bonaventure College in fall 1976 before graduating and securing his first job with The Norwalk Hours advertising department. He spent the rest of his life working as a printing salesman, Matt Hefferan said.

Carey Dougherty, executive director at Malta House, was working with Hefferan on invitations for the shelters May gala. Dougherty said Hefferan cared deeply about meeting the needs of his clients.

He always insisted on hand-delivering all our print materials. You think of sales people as pushy, but he was the classic wonderful salesperson who truly cared about his clients and wanted to make them happy, she said.

A friend, Audrey Cozzarin, is asking Norwalk officials to hold a citywide discussion educating the public on safer driving.

We are driving vehicles that are capable of causing injury and death when driven irresponsibly, and when our fellow citizens do not obey the rules of the road established for our safety, we have anarchy and possible danger and death, as in the case of dear Mike Hefferan, she said in a letter to The Norwalk Hour and city officials. To me its a wakeup call. Lets do something.

The Hefferans will receive friends and family at the Magner Funeral Home, 12 Mott Ave., from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday. A Mass of Christian burial is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 203 East Ave. Memorial donations are welcome at Treasure House of Norwalk Hospital and the Open Doors Shelter, organizations where Hefferans mother volunteered for years.

Sharon Hefferan was heartbroken Friday afternoon as she remembered her brother, calling him optimistic, funny and cheerful.

He had a wonderful sense of humor, she said. He loved to tease and make other people laugh. Weve heard from several of his St. Bonaventure College friends and they mentioned he was a wonderful friend and they loved him. They will miss him dearly.

Hefferan leaves behind his daughter, Erin Maeve Hefferan, his girlfriend Donna Tallent, six siblings and his ex-wife and friend, Jennifer Smith.

tatiana.flowers@thehour.comPolice searching for a Louisiana girl missing since late March believe the teen may have run off with an older man.

According to the Daily Advertiser, 15-year-old Domeanna Spell was last seen at about 7 a.m. on March 28, after getting off the school bus at Port Barre High School.

Police think Domeanna may have left school with Cory Shane Disotel, 47. Disotel was described as a former family friend.

He had become really good friends with my mom and dad. They even got a deer lease together because they were really close friends, and thats how they knew him. Domeanna started babysitting for his granddaughter, and come to find out there was no granddaughter there for her to be babysitting, Jerrie Cradeur, the teen's sister, told KATC.

The teen and Disotel reportedly "had notes that they had plans on running away together." The two were communicating on a secret cellphone, family members say.

I do believe he did brainwash her. It was told to me that he is manipulative and he would have done it, said Cradeur. He probably has her believing that shes safe with him and that shes madly in love with him."



Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux said police are not treating the case as a kidnapping.

Anytime a teenage girl leaves home with a 47-year-old man, you always have that concern," Boudreaux said.

Police described Domeanna as a white female, about 5 feet 2 inches, and 105 pounds, with long, light-brown hair and blue-hazel eyes. The two are thought to be traveling in a silver 2003 Honda Civic.

The Port Barre Police Department, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, Louisiana State Police and the St. Landry Parish Sheriffs Office are all working to find Domeanna Spell.3 1 of 3 Drew Angerer / Getty Images Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Drew Angerer / Getty Images Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Stamford-based Purdue Pharma is facing something like 2,000 lawsuits from towns, cities and states on its marketing practices used for the OxyContin it produces. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, more than 130 people die each day in the United States (47,000 in 2017) after overdosing on opioids. The Stamford Advocate published an article Jan. 29 about the owners of Purdue, the Sackler family, giving $116,000 of contributions to the Connecticut Democratic Party and at least another $80,000 to Connecticut representatives including former Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy, Democratic U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal plus Democratic U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Jim Himes. Murphy subsequently donated the contribution he received to an addiction charity.

Nancy Wyman, the head of the state Democratic Party and former lieutenant governor, said  if we knew then what we know now, of course, we never would have taken the money. She announced that the state Democratic Party will donate $5,000 to substance abuse treatment. Wyman went on to say it was really only when the Massachusetts lawsuit (against Purdue) was filed (in June 2018) that the family name was put out there, so we never connected the two (the Sackler family and Purdue).S trife in the spreadbetting market saw Peter Cruddass CMC Markets issue a profit warning that sent the shares spinning further downwards.

Cruddas, the former co-treasurer of the Tory Party, floated CMC in February 2016 at a price of 240p per share.

That netted him more than 200 million which has helped buy yachts, lavish homes, and make various charitable and political donations.

Today the stock fell 6% to 78p, which leaves the company valued at just 225 million. Cruddas still holds 62% of the stock.

CMC said tougher regulations had led to reduced client trading activity, which means spreadbetting income for the year will be about 110 million, 37% lower than expected.

Broker Peel Hunt said weak conditions persist and cut profit forecasts by 1.3 million to 6 million.

The firm also said chief operating and financial officer Grant Foley is leaving after six years to pursue other opportunities.

Industry watchers think that, while times are tough, CMC is likely to be strong enough to survive a shake-out that could see smaller players disappear.On Tuesday, in the afternoon, at Government House, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC hosted a Luncheon for Vice-Regal Medical and Humanitarian Patronage Organisations, and the Governor addressed guests.

Following, at Government House, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey received High Commissioner of New Zealand to Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Dame Annette King DNZM and Mr Raymond Lind, accompanied by Consul-General for New Zealand, Mr Bill Dobbie.

Following, at Government House, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey hosted an Afternoon Tea in support of the New Zealand Community, and the Governor addressed guests.

In the evening, at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, South Brisbane, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey attended Opera Queenslands opening night performance of A Flowering Tree. The duty of an opposition is to oppose. Tory aristocrat Randolph Churchill coined the phrase; middle-class Marxist Jeremy Corbyn has spent a lifetime practising it.

He has reacted to Theresa Mays unexpected request for help in the right way: he says hell discuss it. Why not? It puts him where every opposition leader in history wants to be: at the centre of events. It makes this most un-prime ministerial of Labour leaders look  dont choke on your tea  prime ministerial.

If hes clever, hell ask for the meeting to be held in Downing Street so he can come in through the famous front door. But dont be fooled. His overriding task is to prise out the Tory occupant and replace her.

That wasnt his goal a couple of years ago.

Then he just wanted to prise out the moderates in the Labour Party and replace them. But now hes got a whiff of power and he wants the keys to No 10.

To the cry of put the national interest first he responds, as all opposition leaders do: The nation would be much better served if I were in charge.

To the charge of youre betraying Brexit he would say in private: I dont want my fingers anywhere near the deal that pulls Britain out of the EU.

As a revolutionary socialist, he knows Brexit delivers a double bonus: it destroys the Tories and it also undermines capitalism and free trade.

Even if, as a Brexiteer himself, he wanted to back Mrs May, the great majority of his party members  if not his voters  are now radicalised pro-Europeans who would struggle to forgive even Saint Jeremy if he helped deliver a Tory Brexit.

So he will pretend to be constructive, turn up for talks, suggest he could vote for a crucial parliamentary motion if only the wording was better  but he will always pull the plug in the end.

Evening Standard cartoonist Christian Adams' view (Christian Adams)

This Prime Minister is not known for anticipating events, but even she presumably knows this.

So its a ruse, designed to make it look like shes trying to be bipartisan and then expose his opportunism. Then she plans to table four options to the Commons, possibly as soon as tomorrow  her deal, the customs union, no deal and revoke  and ask MPs to rank them in order of favourites.

This last-minute plan might have worked if we lived in a parallel universe where the Prime Minister had for many months been courting Labour, luring in their backbenchers and explaining the necessity of a Brexit compromise  as the Evening Standard has advocated for two years. But she hasnt.

Here in this real world, Labour MPs will not back her even in a multiple choice exam. What it has done is sent the rest of the Tory Party tonto. They think it legitimises their nemesis, trashes her red lines and (in seeking another delay) takes their beloved no deal off the table again.

As we reveal, it wasnt even discussed at the Cabinet. In their many hours of meandering deliberation yesterday, the idea of reaching out to Mr Corbyn was only mentioned briefly in passing once, by Geoffrey Cox.

It was planted on the table at the end, in Mrs Mays summing up of the discussion to her nonplussed colleagues  before she rushed out to announce it to the nation. It has put the ball at Mr Corbyns feet.

His next shot should be simple. Explain that hed love to help, but he cant be sure that any agreement reached with Mrs May will be honoured by her Tory successor.

So sadly, she has to go before Labour will co-operate. Otherwise a newly-elected hard Brexiteer leader of the Tories will just withdraw from the withdrawal agreement.

Its the tactic that Clement Attlee used in 1940, unseating a Tory prime minister in the middle of a war before agreeing to co-operate in the national interest.

Just ask Randolph Churchills son Winston.

TODO: define component type apester

Spurs kick off at last

The new line might not open until 2021, it says  more than two years late. But delayed projects can come right in the end.

Just look at Spurs brilliant new stadium where the team will play Crystal Palace tonight. At last.

It was a nightmare to build and a year late.

In Pictures | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 1 /97 In Pictures | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Miles Willis Photography Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Miles Willis Photography Miles Willis Photography Action Images via Reuters Action Images via Reuters AFP/Getty Images Action Images via Reuters Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Action Images via Reuters Action Images via Reuters Action Images via Reuters REUTERS Action Images via Reuters REUTERS REUTERS Action Images via Reuters Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images REUTERS Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images PA (Credit too long, see caption) (Credit too long, see caption) PA Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images PA Action Images via Reuters APS trictly speaking, this is not the first time that Theresa May has tried to break free of the malign grip of the Eurosceptic Right. Her decision to hold a snap general election in June 2017 was generally interpreted as a bid to secure a personal mandate and the right to negotiate with Brussels on her own terms.

Crush the saboteurs boomed the Daily Mail after she announced her plan. This was indeed the Prime Ministers intention. But, according to those who worked with her at the time, the prospective saboteurs were not Tory Remainers but the much larger number of Brexiteer hardliners: the PM knew that they would never be happy with the deal that she was likely to deliver, and sought a thumping Commons majority to liberate her from their veto.

Alas for her, this electoral gambit backfired spectacularly, reducing her to minority government and abject dependency on those selfsame hardliners and (to add to the fun) the Democratic Unionist Party. For almost two years May has been hostage to the very Brexiteer caucus whose fundamentalism she had been trying to escape. It is in this context that the PMs extraordinary statement last night should be understood.

How is one to make sense of her suggested alliance with Jeremy Corbyn  the very man she insists would reduce the nation to impoverished mayhem should he ever enter No 10?

There is only one explanation: that Nick Timothy, her former chief of staff, was right when he wrote in January that after many years of knowing the Prime Minister, I do not believe that she would willingly take Britain out of the EU without a deal.

Matthew d'Ancona

In desperation she has stretched out a squeamish hand to her bearded Labour opponent, who, to compound the disgust of Tory backbenchers, has taken it, cautiously but firmly.

No less significant than her offer to Corbyn was her promise to abide by whatever decision the Commons reaches on their joint brainstorming. Next week Parliament will have the opportunity  initiated by May  to define the terms of the UKs Brexit strategy on the eve of the all-important Brussels summit on April 10. I am not sure that MPs have yet fully grasped the weight of this responsibility.

To take this step, May chose  after a seven-hour meeting  to defy the majority opinion of her own Cabinet. Since 14 of its members are reckoned to prefer a no-deal outcome over the PMs strategy, she must brace herself for a fresh round of resignations. But her calculation, however messily it has been achieved, is clear enough.

She wants to secure the UKs exit from the EU before she herself departs the stage, and has come to share the view of some of her Cabinet colleagues, notably Michael Gove, that even a commitment to stay in the customs union could be modified or ditched further down the road by her successor. At this stage of the Brexit timetable and of her own moribund premiership, her sole priority is to get the divorce papers with Brussels signed and to avoid the catastrophe of no deal.

As for Corbyn, the sheer drama of Mays offer  the rhetoric of national unity, however manufactured  left him with little option but to accept. This is by no means his ideal outcome.

The Labour leader, a lifelong Eurosceptic, wanted Brexit to happen, but for it to be an entirely Tory production about which he could, as prime minister, moan for years to come.

"The Labour leader wanted Brexit to happen, but to be a Tory production about which he could moan"

Now, there is an appreciable risk that his dabs will be on Brexit, which is why so many senior Labour figures were warning last night that Mays olive branch was a trap. The appeal for Corbyn, nonetheless, is that he gets to strut the stage as the great repairman summoned by a failing prime minister to save the day. We shall see how he and his party handle this grave challenge.

For the Tories, the stakes are even higher. The decision of Nick Boles, MP for Grantham and Stamford, to resign the Conservative whip on Monday night dramatised the terrible predicament now facing the party  though it shows little sign of understanding the nature and scale of that peril.

Few Conservatives in the past 20 years have done as much as Boles to modernise the party, to remind it of its responsibility to represent the whole nation and the spirit of the times, and to steer it away from sectarian introspection.

As reward for this service he has been hounded out by his constituency association, while his campaign to urge compromise over Brexit has been flatly rejected by his colleagues. A party that is comfortable with Mark Francois  the Brexiteer MP who said Up yours! to Philip Hammond live on national radio  but drives out a man of Boless calibre is in desperate straits.

All the runners and riders to succeed May should heed William Hagues warning in the Daily Telegraph this week that the internal situation in the Conservative Party is much worse than it was in 1997. Absorb the force of that statement: Hague became leader in the wake of Tony Blairs crushing landslide, inheriting a divided wreck of a party. But he is certain that some of todays leadership candidates may find themselves sitting in a small ruin on their own.W hen I got my civil partnership in the summer of 2006 (Tory Writers Gay Wedding to First Love, the Daily Mail kindly told the world the next day, suggesting Id been rushed off to a honeymoon in South America when really we flew EasyJet from Luton and Id paid for the tickets), I was hugely happy and proud. If gay marriage had been a thing then Id have been just as thrilled by that, of course. But I didnt think civil partnerships were second-rate and I still dont. We havent upgraded to a marriage  its yet another dull form to fill in, friends might expect us to organise a party and Im definitely not wearing a dress.

Even so, I was pleased that the Coalition government won its battle against Tory primitives (those were the days) and brought in equal marriage in 2014. That was the fight for fair treatment over, I thought.

So when campaigners began calling for mixed-sex couples to be allowed civil partnerships too, Im ashamed to say I thought the idea was silly. After all, wasnt the point to give same-sex couples the protection thats always been available through marriage  things such as tax-free inheritance or the right to overcome relatives who might object to access to your partner in hospital?

Any straight couple that needed this could simply get married. And if they didnt want to marry in a church (something the Church of England still wont allow gay couples to do, despite the Archbishop of Canterbury going on about the need for compassion and tolerance), then they could book in at a local register office, just as we did.

But I was wrong. Which is why we should cheer the news that royal assent has been given this week to a law allowing mixed-sex couples to have civil partnerships, too. It was piloted through the Commons by Tory MP Tim Loughton and its a small step forward for decency. Campaigners had to fight in the courts first and they won because their case is unanswerable.

Allowing only same-sex partners the right to civil partnerships was an obvious bit of discrimination, and there are lots of good reasons why couples might want to avoid the formality of marriage. Its gone out of fashion  marriage rates are now at record lows, especially among young people  but when couples get older and have children, they might regret not having the law on their side when they need it. Civil partnerships are the answer.

"Marriage has gone out of fashion  and is now at record lows, especially among young people"

By the end of the year lots of mixed-sex couples will be celebrating. But if the law is equal, then why do we still need marriage at all? Objectors to same-sex marriage always claimed marriage was a traditional, religious ceremony that shouldnt be changed  and they had a point.

So lets get rid of state-approved marriage altogether. Civil partnerships can mark unions in law. Anyone who wants to get married too, can head off to a mosque or a church or whatever to top up. Happiness all round.

Arias and graces at opera houses

Nmon Ford and Nicole Cabell as Porgy and Bess / Tristram Kenton

Daniel Kramer, I apologise. When you took over as artistic director of the English National Opera in April 2016, I wasnt optimistic. The companys home at the Coliseum has a history of slaughtering cultural careers with the bloody speed of its Roman namesake and the theatre is a barn of a place where failure is painfully obvious.

Plus, despite a subsidy which is the envy of small festivals like the one in Buxton, which brings music to the Derbyshire hills every July (plug: Im involved  online booking has just opened and you should try it), the ENO doesnt have the budget to compete with the Royal Opera up the road, where I perch happily in the cheap seats whenever I can.

When Kramers first shows arrived, my fears seemed right. Verdi would have walked out, said one review of La Traviata. I went and it was worse than that. But Porgy and Bess (with Nmon Ford and Nicole Cabell) was clever, proper opera. And I adored the seven men pissing on stage in The Merry Widow. Now Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel is trying to use opera to tell an old story in a new way. Today the ENO has set out confident plans for a new season. Lets hope success lasts.

*Ive just come across a brilliant idea from the Netherlands. Each year theres a national book week marked with a book by a leading Dutch author.A campaign has been launched in Greece to save crippled donkeys from the heavy burden of tourists.

On the picturesque island of Santorini, southeast of the mainland, donkeys are being forced to carry visitors up 600 cobbled steps, to reach the clifftop town of Fira.

The donkeys are forced to make four or five return journeys to the town every day, even when temperatures exceed 30C.

Campaigners for the initiative, called In Their Hooves, say that the animals are increasingly suffering from saddle sores, spinal problems and exhaustion because of unsustainable demand from holidaymakers.

Last summer, over 108,000 people signed an online petition deploring what it described as the mindless and unnecessary torture of the mules used as cruel transportation for people who want the real Greek experience.

Donkeys and mules wait to give tourists a ride in the village of Fira, the capital of the famous Cycladic island of Santorini / AFP/Getty Images

Speaking from Fira, the islands mayor Nikos Zorzos announced: The campaign is about to start. Representatives from the cruise liner association were here in my office this week promising to raise awareness and from our side well be distributing information leaflets.

Our mules and donkeys are part of our tradition. Younger owners, especially, have understood that they need to be looked after.

Greeces Ministry of Rural Development and Food bowed to pressure from the public last year by issuing new animal-protection legislation, stating that donkeys should not carry loads of more than 100kg or one fifth of their weight.

Although holidaymakers werent explicitly mentioned in the regulations, has been seen as a ban on overweight tourists mounting the creatures.

Previously, 18,000 holidaymakers were visiting the town every day, that has been limited to 8,000 because of overcrowding. Activists say all visitors should contribute to the protection of Santorinis animals.

Our In Their Hooves campaign aims to encourage tourists to stop and think before using donkey taxis to climb the steep steps at Fira port, said Catherine Rice, PR officer at The Donkey Sanctuary, which launched the initiative.

It suggests holidaymakers consider whether donkeys and mules are being treated humanely, have enough shade and water, as well as whether loads they are being asked to carry are suitable. If not, other options, such as walking or taking a cable car, might be a more responsible mode of transport.Review at a glance









I nclusivity is the buzzword in fashion right now. Digital platforms, high-street collaborations and immersive experiences are among the methods that are being employed to strike up a conversation with the increasingly valuable everyday consumer.

The V&As latest exhibition, a deep dive into the work of Sixties style siren Mary Quant, is a reminder that this approach is anything but new.

At least, the retrospective stands as confirmation that Quants legacy is so much more than the swinging mini-skirts for which she is regularly, and perhaps reductively, defined.

Quant, who embarked on an art diploma at Goldsmiths before learning how to make clothes at evening college, was the original brand strategist, with a make-up line, countless collaborations and a determination to resonate with women from all walks of life.

The show, like the thrust of her story, begins in the Fifties with Kings Road restaurant-cum-boutique Bazaar (another concept before its time). Key pieces from the era, created at pace by Quant who worked through the night from her nearby bedsit to replenish the stock for the following days trade, are displayed alongside compelling photography and anecdotes from the women who wore them.

V&A curator Jenny Lister had the run of Quants archives and the V&A costume stores, which hold the largest collection of her designs in the world, when researching this exhibition, but its the pieces that were crowd-sourced from a national appeal (#WeWantQuant) that are the stars of the show.

Certainly, their inclusion demonstrates that while many of the designers profiled by the museum  among them Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen  are worshipped by many, the Quant retrospective is the first on a brand that enjoyed democratic appeal.

Among the most emotive donations is a pink cotton blouse, donated by Caroline Hopper, who bought it straight out of Bazaars shop window to impress her geologist boyfriend on his return from Antarctica. Jumpsuits which serve as family heirlooms and pinafores dug out from dusty attics are a recurring feature.

They remind us that Quant was among the first to take fashion to the mainstream. An insight into the Ginger Group  the more affordable diffusion line is a celebration of this with examples of interchangeable separates and the aptly titled snob pinafore on display.

Best London museums for fashion-lovers 1 /9 Best London museums for fashion-lovers Fashion and Textile Museum This Bermondsey site is best known for exploring periods of fashion and their cultural connotations. The contemporary fashion museum was founded by British designer Zandra Rhodes back in 2003. This year it has a number of delights to tickle the fancy of fashion lovers. A four-month exhibition focusing on mini skirt revolutionary Mary Quant and designer Terence Conran will run from February until June, delving into the fashion, design and art of the Swinging Sixties. The show will present clothes, textiles, furniture, lighting, homewares, ceramics  exploring both style and the socioeconomic importance of this period. Somerset House This iconic London landmark is home to the British Fashion Council and regularly hosts fashion exhibitions in its 16th century neoclassical building. In February the popular venue, which hosts London Fashion Week events, will host an International Fashion Showcase presenting work from the best up-and-coming fashion talent from around the world. Likewise a fashion photography exhibition will run for slightly longer, until April, exhibiting the work of Hanna Moon and Joyce NG  two industry names to watch out for. Kirsty O'Connor/PA Archive/PA Images Design Museum This Kensington haunt specialises in contemporary design, covering all forms, from fashion and product to graphics and architecture. The venue continues to deliver a vibrant programme of exhibitions. Previous shows include one focusing on "couture's rebellious outsider" Azzedine Alaia and the Women Fashion Power exhibition. Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive/PA Images Fashion and textile collection at the Museum of London The clue is in the name here  expect lots and lots of beautiful fabric and garments in this collection. The impressive offering boasts materials made, sold, bought and worn in London from the 16th century to the present. Theres an eclectic mix with pieces made both at home and in studios of London couturiers, covering all occassions too, from gowns worn at extravagant occasions to pieces worn every day. Museum of London The Photographers Gallery If fashion photography is more up your alley, this space in Soho hosts regular exhibitions alongside educational activities to promote the snap happy pastime and its impact on culture and society. Previous style exhibitions have covered the portraiture and fashion photography of Edward Steichen, when he was working powerhouse fasion titles at Conde Nast. Kate Elliott Saatchi Gallery Open seven days a week with free admissions to all exhibitions, its hard to resist the Saatchi Gallery. The site focuses on presenting work from unseen young artists, or international artists who are largely unknown, rather than household names. Previous popular shows include Chanels Haute Couture show, titled Mademoiselle Prive, alongside with a selection of London Fashion Week events. Getty Images V&A Huge names in the fashion world have graced the interior of the V&A, including Vivienne Westwood and Vera Wang, who both featured in the 2014 Weddings exhibition as well as gowns from Balenciaga, Balmain and Givenchy in the 2007 The Golden Age of Couture show. This year, a much talk-about exhibition celebrating the life and work of the fashion designer Christian Dior will open in February, running until July. Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams is expected to be the largest retrospective on the French designer in the UK, showcasing a number of exquisite garmets alongside photographs, accessories and personal items. Vivienne Westwood

Unsurprisingly, the exhibition also amplifies Quants point of view as a feminist designer. Theres a section that explores the way she borrowed codes from menswear. Her trousers and durable suiting fabrics appealed to women with busy, working lives to lead and who no longer sought fashion in the gaze of their mothers.

Moreover, the show seeks to capture the mood of liberation from Quants heyday. Archive footage of her famous catwalk spectacles show models ditching the debutante look being peddled elsewhere to skip down the runway in lace-trimmed boxers.

A short film in which Quant can be heard calling for relaxed clothes that allow the wearer to feel sexy is another power addition.

Its this progressive attitude that placed Quant  the first of many things  at the centre of a youthquake which was watched from across the globe.

Her success abroad  not least in America, where they devoured her quirky individualism  is expressed through snapshot-style photography and garments from a longstanding partnership with the department store JC Penny. It took Quants aesthetic to the masses via a line named Chelsea Girl. A JC Penny catalogue shoot, featuring model Jean Shrimpton photographed by David Bailey, reminds us how iconic Quants appeal has become.

For those who remember Quants era, and her name as a defining feature in their wardrobes, this exhibition offers plentiful moments of nostalgia. Among them the ad campaign for the coveted Cry Baby mascara and a cabinet of Butterick patterns which were as crucial to Mary Quant fans as Zara is to 21st-century fans of fast fashion.

For newcomers to Quant, a designer who set out to create clothes for women who wanted to retain their precious freedom, theres so much to learn. And not just in a historical sense.

At a time in which brands are placing more and more value on the role of the fashion influencers, Quant emerges as a pioneer. With her Vidal Sassoon five-point cut and dedication to a new age for womankind defined by joy, playfulness and empowerment, she lived and breathed her brand.

More than this, she Quant the same life for her customers  then made it her lifes work to get it for them.

From April 6 until Feb 16, Mary Quant is at the V&A, SW7, vam.ac.ukT he creator of a sculpture made from 100,000 confiscated knives wants to bring his monument to London after seeing the massive impact it has had in other cities.

Alfie Bradley spent two years creating the 27ft Knife Angel, below, from blades he collected from police knife banks around the UK. He then asked victims families to inscribe messages on the knives, which were used to form wings.

The artwork, which he describes as a monument against violence and aggression, has been on tour around the UK. Mr Bradley now wants to bring it to the capital to raise awareness of knife crime. At least 22 people have been fatally stabbed in London this year, seven of whom were teenagers.

He said: London has always been top of the agenda because knife crime has got absolutely ridiculous.

The pieces commissioner, the British Ironwork Centre in Shropshire, applied to have it put on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, but sculptures have already been selected until 2022. Mr Bradley said he now wants it installed where most people will see it.S ummer is almost here, and Vinegar Yard is ready.

The street-food-meets-vintage market, which comes from the team behind nearby foodie favourite Flat Iron Square, is a new hotspot for al fresco fun in the shadow of the tallest building in the capital.

So  should you be heading to the newest outdoor foodie venue in London? From Indian-inspired burgers via art, vintage clothes and a Prosecco Van, heres what you need to know about Vinegar Yard.

Where is Vinegar Yard in London?

Down to earth: Vinegar Yard has a very famous neighbour in the Shard / Harvey Pearson

Vinegar Yard is found just off St Thomas Street, SE1 3QU. Bermondsey buffs will know that thats right behind London Bridge station, next door to Guys Hospital and directly under the watchful eye of the Shard.

What street food will be there?

Word on the street: Nanny Bill's will be serving burgers / Hayden Perrier

Top of the bill is My Million Pound Menu star Baba Gs, which is serving up its signature Bhangra Burgers, fusing lamb, chicken and paneer patties with Indian flavours. Joining it with more grilling expertise is Argentinian steak specialist Up In My Grill and French dip burger buff Nanny Bills.

Italian ciabatta sandwiches come courtesy of Sugo, while Borough Market-hailing fruit and veg expert Turnips is cooking up risottos and blending fruit juices.

Coffee connoisseur the Gentleman Baristas is on hand for caffeine fixes, serving barbecued baps for breakfast and lunch too.

What else is at the Vinegar Yard market?

Blast from the past: the market is full of vintage stalls and pop-up shops / Hayden Perrier

At the weekends, Vinegar Yard is first and foremost a vintage and makers market. Flea London takes over a great deal of the space, packing the area with stalls selling anything from clothes to ceramics, books to cameras.

Pop-up shops will also be open in dressed-up shipping containers throughout the week, with traders including Eclectic Ray, Creative Collective, Doc Cotton and Chez Michele.

An open-air bar will serve draught beer, with a rotating tap showcasing London craft breweries. The Prosecco Van will also be on hand to keep revellers topped up with bubbly. While Vinegar Yard is largely an outdoor location, there is also a decent-sized indoor space to save visitors from any potential rain.

Art lovers can also check out the large scale sculpture installations by scrap metal artist Joe Rush, which currently includes an abandoned train carriage infested by giant mechanical ants. Rush has previously exhibited at Glastonbury Festival and worked with the likes of Vivienne Westwood and the Rolling Stones.

What are the Vinegar Yard market opening hours?

Bottoms up: The Prosecco Van are keeping guests topped up with bubbly / Hayden Perrier

Vinegar Yard itself is open seven days a week, but different parts of it are open at different times.

Coffee shop the Gentleman Baristas is open for breakfast from 7.30am, while other food traders open at noon.

Flea Londons vintage market is open on weekends only, 11am-6pm on Saturday, and 10am-5pm on Sunday.

The bar is open from noon during the week and 11am on weekends. It closes at midnight on Friday and Saturday, and at 11pm on all other days.

Pop up shops are open from 11am-7pm from Wednesday to Friday, 11am-6pm on Saturday, and 10am-5pm on Sunday.

For more information, visit vinegaryard.londonC hefs, designers and decorators bustle back and forth through the doors of Mimo, the newly opened Basque cooking school and restaurant in Borough Market. Pronounced mee-mo, it has a stellar international reputation as a school of inventive cookery masterclasses in the Basque tradition of small plates, with other sites in San Sebastian, Mallorca, Seville and the Algarve.

Youre actually going to be cooking Mimos first dish here, says Basque-born chef Joseba Lasa, firing up the grill, whipping out a Japanese Shogun kitchen knife, and setting me to work on a brocheta de gambas  a fried prawns, onion, pepper and apple cider mouthful served on sourdough. Shallots and red and green peppers are chopped using a brunoise cut (a French technique for dicing veg that also minimises the risk of removing my fingers), then mixed with Aspall apple cider vinegar, sugar and oil.

The idea is to make recipes at restaurant level from start to finish, says Lasa. Scottish prawns are sizzled on a skewer, while my gripe about the need for such fastidious slicing is patiently justified. Its for the texture, because the smaller slices melt with the oil and vinegar, emulsifying it with the vinaigrette. Its the best dish Ive ever made, and it only takes me about 20 minutes.

No wonder everyone wants a piece of Mimo. As well as 175 cookery masterclasses  such as Paella and More, which includes a mouthwatering recipe for octopus and gazpacho  theres also a traditional restaurant and a 12-person chefs table for mouth-watering meals prepared by Lasa and others.

Master chef: Joseba Lasa with Samuel Fishwick at Mimo, the new cookery school which opened in Borough Market this week / Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd

Lasa, a former Caprice Holdings chef, works alongside Jon and Nicole Warren, Londoners who founded the business on San Sebastians sun-dappled coast 10 years ago. Jon left a well-paid job in the City in his late twenties to become a bellboy at Villa Soro, a San Sebastian hotel. Id never been happier, he says, I lost lots of weight, got a nice suntan and started this business. A side-enterprise taking tourists around tapas spots snowballed, eventually, into the Mimo mission.

What Basque food does better, Lasa and Jon agree, is respect ingredients. Thats what Mimo means, says Warren, the dictionary definition is the love and care youd give a baby, but in the Basque country they use that word to describe love of food.

Thats why you can have a tomato salad in Basque country with three ingredients thats going to taste amazing, says Lasa, by picking tomatoes at the right time, ensuring the oil is just right.

The best cooking classes in London - in pictures 1 /21 The best cooking classes in London - in pictures Click through the gallery to see the best cooking classes you can take in London ... Unsplash The Dusty Knuckle Try your hand at focaccia or making sweet pastries at the Dusty Knuckle thedustyknuckle.com The Jamie Oliver Cookery School Join the talented team at The Jamie Oliver Cookery School The Jamie Oliver Cookery School Mimo The new London cooking school will teach you how to make a luxe afternoon tea along with a number of British and Iberian cooking classes london.mimofood.com Borough Kitchen Take a Chinese dumpling class at Borough Kitchen. (Stock image) Unsplash The Cookery School at Little Portland Street A taste of Mexico will teach you the art of the Mexican feast. (Stock image) Unsplash The Avenue Cooking School Take the macaron masterclass at The Avenue Cooking School. (Stock image) Unsplash Pasta Remoli Learn the essentials of gnocchi making at Pasta Remoli. (Stock image) Unsplash Yukis Kitchen Sushi making classes are just one of the Japanese cooking classes run by Yuki Gomi. (Stock image) Unsplash Leiths School of Food and Wine Explore a Malaysian street food class at Leiths. (Stock image) Pixabay Divertimenti Cookery School Learn the art of the chocolate dessert at Divertimenti. (Stock Image) Unsplash Food at 52 Take an after work Vietnamese cooking class at Food at 52. (Stock image) Unsplash E5 Bakehouse Take the standout sourdough pizza class at E5 Bakehouse. (Stock image) Unsplash Le Cordon Bleu Make pistachio croissants and truffles at the famed cookery school. (Stock image) Unsplash Pied a Terre Go behind-the-scenes at a Michelin-starred restaurant. (Stock image) Unsplash Anna Barnett's Summer Cookery Classes Learn the basics from the Standard's food columnist, Anna Barnett Anna Barnett

Theyll apply this technique to British dishes they want to rejuvenate: Cornish scallops, Scottish prawns and offal stews. British cuisine has been massively underrated,, says Lasa.T he biotech industry is booming, and the latest innovation claims to be able to detect endometriosis from a simple blood test.

MDNA Life Sciences recently revealed it would be launching a blood test which is able to detect 90 per cent of endometriosis cases.

In the UK, it takes an average of seven and a half years to detect endometriosis in women  a condition that sees the lining of the womb grow elsewhere including fallopian tubes which can cause severe pain - something 10 per cent of women of reproductive age suffer from.

Currently, the only way to receive a formal diagnosis of endometriosis is via a laparoscopy, an invasive operation which involves a camera being inserted into the pelvis.

However, researchers at MDNA have teamed up with experts at Oxford University to analyse data and find the unique mutations that can be identified as biomarkers for various diseases  including endometriosis. Recent clinical trials have now indicated that these biomarkers can accurately detect endometriosis in blood samples  even in the early stages - for nine out of 10 cases.

MDNA is now in the process of creating a testing kit which will be available to buy privately by the end of the year  but the tests will cost 250 each.

Emma Cox, CEO of Endometriosis UK, said that if it were to work, a non-surgical method of diagnosing endometriosis should be available for free on the NHS.

Cox said in a statement: "Women with the disease already face a financial burden due to loss of earnings and it's not fair to add to this by only offering pioneering treatment and diagnosis options to those who can afford to pay for it.

"Endometriosis UK welcomes new research into endometriosis which is a much under researched area. Whilst the research released today is an interesting study, it is a trial with a small sample size, and a much bigger study covering a diverse range of demographics would be needed to validate the findings."

With endometriosis affecting a tenth of the female population worldwide, another tech start-up, NextGen Jane, is looking at non-surgical ways to diagnose endometriosis.

The California-based company plans to use blood squeezed from used tampons as a way to diagnose endometriosis along with cervical cancer and a variety of other disorders.

Yesterday, it was announced the start-up had received $9 million (6.83 million) in Series A funding, with the idea that the custom-made tampon will be inserted for two hours and, once removed, placed inside a test tube as part of an at-home kit and sent to a lab for analysis.

While the technology behind the idea is yet to be proven, the funding will allow the start-up to begin the clinical trial where they will test the diagnostic efficiency of menstrual blood from 800 women.K omodo Island, famous for being the home to its namesake dragon, is closing from 2020 after police caught a ring of lizard smugglers last month.

The Indonesian government will temporarily close the island from January 2020 in order to help grow the Komodo dragon population, with conservationists planning to examine the giant lizards food supply and work on preserving the natural environment.

Weighing up to 200 pounds and measuring up to three metres long, the Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard in the world. According to the World Animal Foundation, there are only 6,000 left in the wild and the protected species can be found solely in Indonesias Komodo National Park.

The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry recently revealed it had busted a dragon-smuggling ring which was planning to sell 41 of the dragons for $35,000 (26,600) each. News of the island's impending closure followed shortly after.

According to Indonesias Tempo newspaper, there has been no news of when the island will re-open to tourists.

However, tourists will still be able to see the dragon after Komodo Islands closure as the Komodo National Park spans multiple islands including Gili Motong and Rinca.

Boats explore the waters of Komodo National Park / Unsplash

Earlier this year, the archipelago of Palau re-opened its ancient 14-acre Jellyfish Lake on Eil Malk Island after closing in 2016 due a drastic decline in jellyfish numbers.Description

GIS  03 April, 2019: The Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment has achieved its goals as regards its Social Housing Programme, with Rs 115 million out of the Rs 221 million provided in the financial years 2016/2017 and 2017/18, being earmarked for the construction of 126 fully concrete housing units which are ongoing and are expected to be completed by June 2019. Moreover, an amount of Rs 19 million has already been earmarked for 19 additional housing units and construction works are expected to be completed by December 2019.

This statement was made yesterday by the Minister of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment, Mr Alain Wong, at the National Assembly in reply to the PNQ pertaining to the Report regarding the Accounts of the Republic of Mauritius for the Financial Year from 1st July 2017 to 30 June 2018 of the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF).

The Minister indicated that provision has been made for another Rs 50 million for the construction of 50 housing units throughout Mauritius, for which the contract has already been awarded and construction work will start in May 2019. A second tender for the construction of 24 housing units with an estimated cost of Rs 24 million has already been launched and the offers are presently at the evaluation stage, which makes a total of 219 houses, he added.

As regards the Report, Minister Wong indicated that he has taken cognizance of the comments of the Director of Audit and has subsequently chaired a meeting with the Chairman of the NEF Board, the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation and other officials on 28 March 2019, to look into the comments and to take remedial actions on the observations made.

On that note, the Minister announced that the Financial Statements for the year 2012 have already been audited by the National Audit Office (NAO) and filed at the Registrar of Companies while those for the period ended 31 December 2013 will be released shortly. As regard the Financial Statements for the year ended December 2014, he stated that same is at the level of the NAO for audit purposes, adding that those for period ended 31 December 2015 and period 1st January 2016 to 30 June 2017 have already been prepared and are being examined by the NAO.

Minister Wong reiterated the vision of the Ministry which remains the eradication of extreme and chronic poverty to create an inclusive and a more equitable society. Our mission, he underlined, remains to steadfastly support and empower the vulnerable groups registered and found eligible for social aid under the Social Register of Mauritius. He underpinned the constant and consistent aim of the Ministry to mainstream them in society and improve their quality of life in a sustainable manner through the provision of an effective and efficient service delivery, imbued in equity, fairness and impartiality.

Furthermore, the Minister highlighted that the current budget 2018/2019 also makes provision for the construction of 6,800 housing units by the NHDC over the next two years and that 10%, that is, 680 housing units are reserved for SRM beneficiaries, which makes a total of 899 housing units.

Since December 2016 to June 2018, Minister Wong indicated, over 10,000 families, representing more than 40,000 beneficiaries, have been supported through the various Income Support and Empowerment Schemes under the Social Integration and Empowerment Act 2016, out of which some 2000 beneficiaries have moved out of poverty since December 2016.

Moreover, Mr Wong dwelt on the main schemes and programmes implemented by the Ministry for the fiscal year July 2017 to 30 June 2018, namely:

 Some 10,000 households have been assessed to be eligible under Social Register of Mauritius and have signed a Marshall Plan Social Contract;

 Income support in the form of a monthly subsistence allowance to the 10,000 households and educational support to 17,000 school children;

 Subsistence allowance, amounting to Rs 217 044 561, has been paid to ensure that the basic needs of people living in absolute poverty are effectively met so that they ultimately move out of the poverty trap;

 School Materials for the sum of Rs 33 688 808 have been distributed to children of pre-primary, primary, secondary schools and pre-vocational institutions, and

 Fully Concrete Housing units of 40/50 m2 each are being built throughout Mauritius for families living in absolute poverty and who are owners of a plot of land but do not have the means to build a housing unit.A s one of the richest  and most millionaire-dense  cities in the world, Hong Kong can be a difficult place in which to make a splash.

But when the Rosewood Hotels chain opened the doors to its giant, glittering outpost on the Tsim Sha Tsui harbour front last week, they did just that. With an opening weekend that not only saw 1000 guests sashay through the doors for the hotels own launch party, but also a Vogue Hong Kong launch and a massive society wedding, the Rosewood firmly established itself as fiery competition for the citys grand dames of five-star hospitality.

It's the latest in a slew of glossy Rosewood properties to have opened since the Hong Kong-based Cheng family bought the hotel group for $229.5 million in 2011. Sonia Cheng, the brand's 38-year-old CEO, has already added Rosewood London (2013) and Pariss Hotel de Crillon (2017) to the roster, in addition to seven new hotels in Asia. Hong Kong marks the brands 26th property and will be the global flagship.

Location

The hotel occupies 43 floors of an imposing Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed, 65-storey tower that sits on the site of the former New World Centre on the Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront. Its the crown jewel of the Victoria Dockside development, the new arts and cultural district the Cheng family has envisioned for Kowloon. The K11 Musea, a retail and arts space recently opened by Sonias brother Adrian Cheng, is a short walk away.

If youre travelling from Hong Kong Island, the Rosewood is a short walk from both the MTR (East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station exit J) and the Star Ferry terminus, but a taxi is definitely the easiest option.

Exterior of the Rosewood Hong Kong / Rosewood

Style

Guests arriving from one of the hotels custom Range Rovers are immediately greeted by a 4.7 metre-long Henry Moore bronze sculpture at the top of the driveway, and the impressive art continues throughout. From the six Damien Hirst butterflies that line the walls of the light and airy tearoom to the staggering life-sized sculpture of an Indian elephant by contemporary Indian female artist Bharti Kerr that dominates an anteroom adjacent to the lobby, the art collection here is gallery-worthy.

Interiors are courtesy of New York-based Taiwanese designer Tony Chi, who also designed the Rosewood London and is currently refreshing The Carlyle in New York, another Rosewood property. Inspired by the first ever Rosewood, a converted mansion in Dallas, Chi designed the Hong Kong outpost as a vertical estate, meaning there are large green areas and outdoor spaces throughout.

Despite being vast and labyrinth in scale, the hotels design cleverly gives one the sense of being in a lavish private residence rather than a hotel. Chi, whose guiding mantra is that good interiors should be invisible, has done a clever job of making the Rosewood aesthetically unpindownable; it's part modernity, part old-world charm, part Western and part Asian  though any Chinoserie is subtle.

Entrance to the Rosewood Hong Kong / Rosewood

Facilities

The hotel has a 25-metre-long outdoor infinity pool with beautiful views out over the harbour which, staff inform me, has already become an Instagrammer magnet. The 24-hour gym, which has a TRX-cum-yoga room in addition to all the usual equipment also enjoys the incredible views.

Come autumn 2019, the hotel will also become the first urban outpost of Rosewoods Asaya wellness concept. First debuted at the Rosewood Phuket in 2017, the holistic approach will encompass alternative therapies, fitness and nutritional programmes alongside more traditional spa fare.

Weddings and business events are well catered for, with a whole separate 3,200-sqm events wing, boasting its own bar, grassy terrace and 11 separate venues including a Grand Ballroom  one of the largest in Hong Kong.

Butterfly Room at the Rosewood Hong Kong / Rosewood

Food & Drink

The Rosewood Hong Kong will, eventually, have a total of eight dining concepts (a Mediterranean and an Indian restaurant, a steakhouse and a women-only bar are all set to launch later this year), but for now guests can feast on elevated 'cha chaan teng' dining in Holts Cafe, or sandwiches, cakes and coffee (which are also available to takeaway) in the all-day Butterfly Room. Smart Cantonise lunch and dinner is served in the more formal Legacy House, while the DarkSide bar is a sexy space in which to sip cocktails or enjoy a cigar while listening to daily live jazz.

Anyone staying in a suite though will be tempted never to leave the Manor Club on the 40th floor. A stunning VIP members club-style space offering all-day dining (from breakfast to afternoon tea and hot dinners) and drinks, a games room and a beautiful outdoor terrace  unusual to find at such height in Hong Kong  with panoramic views out over the twinkling harbour.

Harbour Corner Suite at the Rosewood Hong Kong / Rosewood

Which room?

Roughly 80 per cent of the 413 rooms have harbour views, while the remainder overlook Kowloon Peak, Lions Rock and the distant mountains.

Entry-level rooms, starting at 513 per night, are a generous 570 square feet  but if you can stretch, a stay in one of the propertys 91 suites (the largest of any Hong Kong hotel) is well worth it.

On each floor, the 123-square-metre (1,323-square-foot) Grand Harbour Corner Suites offer glittering panoramic harbour views through floor-to-ceiling windows. Inside the rooms, the residential vibe continues, with beautiful bookshelves, Hong Kong-themed artworks and curated curios abounding. Its a high-tech home with perfect in-room technology that lets you dim lights, open blinds and even watch TV from a concealed screen by the bath.

Bathroom in a standard guest room at the Rosewood Hong Kong / Rosewood

The shiny marble bathrooms all come with hammered copper sinks, beautiful freestanding white baths and two (yes two) showers  even in the standard rooms. Great quality, full-sized toiletries come via chic Parisian brand Maison Caulieres.

Everything feels generous here. From the vast, cloudlike beds - which come with duvet and pillow menus - to the wonderfully soft and plump robes and slippers, the full size bottles in the minibar and the complimentary snacks and chocolates stashed in beautiful little boxes around the room.

Even outside the rooms, corridor space has been used generously to create small salons on each floor; with seating areas, coffee table books and complimentary drinks and sweet snacks  think homemade madeleines on silver trays and delicious nougat in vast glass jars. There are even butlers that come along with trolleys serving cocktails (free for suites guests, at a cost for others) from between 5pm and 8pm.

For longer-term stays, there's Rosewood Residencesa collection of 186 luxury accommodations with a separate entrance and access to club facilities on the 53rd floor, including an indoor swimming pool and private gym.

Rosewood Hong Kong / Rosewood

Extra-Curricular

From art to eating and hiking to boating and beaching, youll never be short of things to do in Hong Kong, and the Rosewood is a perfectly positioned oasis of calm from which to explore the lot.

When to go

Hong Kong is at its loveliest from March to June and September to November. Avoid July and August when temperatures and humidity soar.

DetailsE ver suffered from the Sunday scaries?

Perhaps wished you could while away the last of your weekend with a massage in a fabulous spa, or luxuriating over room service in a fluffy white robe?

Well, thanks to a last minute hotel room booking service thats just landed in London, that dream just got a whole load more affordable.

Staycation, which launched in Paris in June 2017 and landed in London this February, lets you book hotel rooms at 9am on a Wednesday for the coming Sunday night, at a discount of up to 70 per cent.

The hotels, mainly in London with a few in the countryside an hour or so from the capital, are all 4* and up, and most offer additional incentives, from spa access and late checkout, to movie screenings and afternoon tea. And amazing properties like The Corinthia, The Curtain and The Haymarket hotel are already on the books, plus countryside retreats like Cowley Manor and Danesfield House Hotel and Spa.

Henrietta Hotel

Rooms are generally offered from 3pm on a Sunday until midday on a Monday, and always include the room, breakfast for two and at least one extra, such as a spa treatment or Sunday roast. They also include a little Staycation vanity gift set for every booking.

The company is the brainchild of friends Mathieu Ecollan, Mathieu Dugast and Kevin Hutchings, who had the idea while all working for the same company in summer 2017. It was mid-August and it was 40 degrees in Paris. We could not take holidays and we were craving a break, explains Hutchings. We were told by an hotelier friend that summer was actually low season for city hotels. We thought it would be great to enjoy all these empty hotels, their pools, spas and create a new format of mini-holidays for all the Parisians that were stuck in Paris.

Staycation founders Mathieu Dugast, Mathieu Ecollan and Kevin Hutchings / Staycation

They launched the idea as a company mailer with three hotel deals and within 24 hours had received 400 phone calls from people wanting to book. The next day they quit their jobs to launch Staycation, and already they have 300,000 members signed up in Paris

We are excited to create a new format of short stay in your own city that is super easy to do, fun and affordable, says Hutchings.

ESPA Life at the Corinthia Hotel / CorinthiaW hether you're in need of a decent night's sleep, a libido boost or a mood enhancer, then Glow Bar, a new wellness space which has just opened its doors on London's Mortimer Street, has a potion or powder for you.

The cafe-come-spa-come-herbal-shop sells everything from shelfie-worthy jars of adaptogenic herbs to rose quartz face rollers and moon milks.

The most hyped offering at the new venue, though, is its infrared sauna pods. You can book a 45-minute session for 40, with the promise of glowing skin, better sleep and an endorphin rush similar to that of a runner's high  so, naturally, we went along to try it out.

But first I sat down with founder Sasha Sabapathy (and her dog, Milly) to hear about the inspiration behind the concept.

Sasha Sabapathy (Courtesy of Glow Bar, photograph by LiaVittone) / Courtesy of Glow Bar (photograph to Lia Vittone)

First off, it has to be said, Malaysian-born digital planner-turned-wellness guru Sabapathy is a very convincing advert for her products. Glossy haired, with luminous skin and brilliant white teeth, you can rest assured you will want some of what shes having.

She told the Standard that she got into regularly taking adaptogens and having infrared body wraps while living in the states after suffering from burnout.

"I'd gone through a period of working really, really hard, partying every night, while also simultaneously doing my masters, and I just crashed. I realised I had to build myself back up from the inside out," Sabapathy said. "And I did that through ayurvedic herbs and Chinese medicine."

Sabapathy set up Glow Bar after burning out (Courtesy of Glow Bar (photograph to Lia Vittone) / Courtesy of Glow Bar (photograph to Lia Vittone)

Adaptogenic healing powers

"Ashwaghanda is where it all started for me, it was the first herb I started taking," she said, adding that people take it to help deal with anxiety as it is thought to help calm the nervous system and reset cortisol (the stress hormone) levels.

Having felt improvements with her own anxiety through taking adaptogenic supplements and having moved back to London, Sabapathy began to explore creating her own range of products.

To do so, she says she spoke to around 200 women to find out how they felt and what they would invest in to improve their day-to-day lives. Overwhelmingly, she said, it was stress that was causing most of the problems for these women, "and that's also what caused me to have a breakdown," she said.

"All of my friends thought [adaptogens] were really wacky, and didn't want to be taking loads of pills so I decided to package them in a way that was relatable and therefore covetable," she said.

"I was thinking about the 'shelfie' trend", she went on. "If I can change someones tea cabinet into something thats 'shelfie-worthy' with my products I'd be so happy because that's when you're treating your inside the same way you treat the outside."

Glow Bar launched six adaptogen supplement powders in February, including three elixir blends that she concocted led by her research. They're aimed at doing everything from boosting your libido to fighting inflammation and easing anxiety.

The seventh, and most recent product to launch, is Pearl which, she explained, is a jar of nano-sized pearl particles that are supposed to help naturally boost your collagen production.

"As we get older we start losing collagen. Everyone always associates collagen with beauty but it's also essential to have good joint health," she says.

The Glow Bar cafe selling superfood bowls and elixir lattes (Photograph by LiaVittone, interiors by Maker Studio) / Photograph by Lia Vittone, interiors by Maker Studio

Sabapathy says she also saw a gap in the market for a "fun and contemporary place" where women could go to focus on self-care from the inside out, which wasn't a fitness studio or hair salon, and where they wouldn't feel obliged to drink alcohol.

A quick stroll through the pastel-hued shop and you'll quickly see that she has nailed Glow Bar's branding. The stripped back wooden floor, sky light decorated with abundant hanging plants and delicate jars of herbal powders and crystals perfectly arranged on brass shelves are all highly 'grammable.

It all makes for a rather charming place to grab a moon milk or cardamom and rose latte.

The infrared sauna

Sweat it out in the infrared sauna (Courtesy of Glow Bar, photo by LiaVittone) / Courtesy of Glow Bar, photo by Lia Vittone

Down a flight of stairs sits Glow Bar's main attraction: the infrared sauna pods.

Sabapathy said that going for regular saunas and infrared wraps was the other crucial aspect of her own rebuilding process. "They're such an essential part of a wellness routine," she said.

"My skin cleared up after three sessions and I was glowing. I felt so good  I was obsessed. I'd take sweat selfies in my bikini instead of gym selfies.

And what are the benefits of sweating it out in these extended sauna sessions?

An after glow, huge endorphin rush, improved sleep, circulation and immune function are but a few, according to Sabapathy. They can even help with water retention, she says.

Before our 45-minute infrared sauna (Rosie Fitzmaurice)

Our ES verdict

Of the full 45 minute session, my friend and I managed to stay in the pod for around 35 minutes. We caught up while listening to tunes through our phones on the built in speakers  it was a nice opportunity to sit and chat without a glass of wine in hand.

We both sweated a lot. I'd advise taking in extra water as we'd already downed the two complimentary jugs provided in the first 10 minutes.

I came out of the pod with a similar kind of high that I'd get from, say, a bikram yoga class. I felt detoxed and energised.

The Glow Bar barista whizzed us up a couple of rainbow lattes and off we went to navigate the tube, with a little spring in our step.

I slept like a baby for the next two nights which was blissful having got into an unsettled sleeping pattern since the heatwave.

The experience was luxurious from start to finish. The changing rooms are particularly fancy, equipped with plush white robes, giant rain showers, and quality organic products.

For me, a sauna session in one of these pods would have to be a treat, but one that I'd definitely like to do again, perhaps the day before a special occasion.

I left Glow Bar determined to introduce a few more moments of self-care into my pre-and post-work routines, and that's exactly the point, according to Sabapathy, who says that through her brand she wants to encourage women to get into the habit of taking more time for themselves.

"If the first thing you do in the morning is take a piece of rose quartz crystal out of the fridge and do some face rolling (to de-puff and drain lymphatic glands), you'll feel like an absolute queen! I really feel like it's the small moments in life that build up and make your day feel great," she said.T he hustle and bustle of life can sometimes lead to sleepless nights. After a busy day, it can be hard to switch our brains off long enough to get a restful sleep.

In the UK, one third of adults sleep just five to six hours per night, according to the Great British Bedtime Report. This is significantly less than the recommended seven to eight hours per night adults need to be mentally and physically refreshed.

Sleep is essential to living. When we dont sleep, we can feel tired and irritable  and if we go too many nights without sleeping this can lead to illness, weight gain, inability to make decisions and can lead to serious health problems.

To help revive your sleep health, consider visiting one of the below sleep retreats in 2020.

Lucknam Park, England

Just two hours from London, stately Lucknam Park is hosting a retreat this weekend (January 17 to 19). Expect guided meditations, hypnotherapy and a gong bath. Lead by hypnotherapist Fiona Lamb and Qi Gong teacher Tallulah Rendall, the retreat will also include a therapeutic session at the on-site Equestrian Centre where guests will have to opportunity to connect with a horse.

Available from January 17 to 19, the retreat is 1,040 per person for two night stay including breakfast, a three course lunch and two three-course dinners. lucknampark.co.uk

One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives

Hosted by sleep guru Alison Francis, guests at One&Only's Reethi Rah resort in the Maldives can take part in a 'sleep journey' that focusses on achieving that holy grail of uninterrupted and rejuvenating sleep. The retreat begins with an assessment before sleep a trainer will look at your current sleeping pattern (or lack of) and develop a tailored programme for you.

Price available on request when booked through luxury bespoke tour operator Carrier. carrier.co.uk

Six Senses Thimphu, Bhutan

Six Senses Thimphu resort / Six Senses/Frederik Hasselkjaer

The best country to visit in 2020 also offers a world-class sleep program at its Six Senses outpost. Choose from three to 10 nights and experience Ayurvedic rituals and singing bowl meditation with the yogic sleep package designed to rejuvenate a tired body and mind, reduce stress levels and improve the quality of sleep. It aims to introduce a deep state of relaxation by combining yoga nidra with meditation and gentle yoga poses combined with spa treatments for a more restful nights sleep.

Available throughout the year. From 657 for three nights plus accommodation. sixsenses.com

Lefay Resort & Spa, Italy

Head to Italy for five nights and rediscover the magic of sleep. With two locations  the mighty Dolomites or overlooking Lake Garda  Lefay Resort & Spas five-night sweet dreams programme tackles insomnia with hormonal analysis and plenty of spa treatments. During your time at Lefay, you will have breakfast, lunch and dinner included, a number of body and facial massages, foot reflexology treatments, acupuncture sessions and moxibustion treatments all designed to help you get a better nights sleep.

Available throughout the year. From 2,139 per person for five nights, lagodigarda.lefayresorts.com/

The best sleeping aids- in pictures 1 /14 The best sleeping aids- in pictures Sleep soundly with our pick of the best sleeping aids... This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray Smells can affect your mood, making you feel more relaxed and calmer; lavender has this effect. This pillow spray is clinically proven to help you fall asleep faster and wake feeling more refreshed with the aroma-therapeautic super-blend of lavender, vertivert and chamomile which sooths you to sleep. 18, This Works, Buy it now Lumie Bodyclock Starter 30 If you find it difficult to wake up in the mornings, this is the gadget for you. This is a dawn stimulator, which wakes you up gradually with increasing natural light, which is a signal to your body to ease production of sleep hormones such as melatonin and increase those that help you get up and go such as cortisol. 59.95, Lumie, Buy it now T2 Sleep Tight Tea Bags These tea bags make the perfect night time brew, with a delicate sweet flavour and calming aroma thanks to the lemon-balm, lavender, jasmine blossoms and rose petals to help you wind down. 7.50, T2, Buy it now Hush Pyjamas All-natural fabric will guarantee you a better nights sleep compared to manmade fibres. Cotton is lightweight and soft to the touch, as well as being breathable, which is great if you overheat easily. Most importantly you need to find them comfortable. These pyjamas from Hush are affordable and gorgeous. 49.50, Hush, Buy it now Drift Mattress Theres a lot of great mattresses on the market at the moment, but this one is the only one thats got 4,000 micro-pocket springs, as well as an all-natural wool layer sleep surface which is temperature regulating allowing air to circulate, and wicking moisture away for a deep sleep. 49.50, Hush, Buy it now Magic Blackout Blind This is an ingenious invention; a temporary blackout blind window covering, which you can cut to size and reuse. Keeping your room completely dark is vital, as this triggers the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin which is extremely light-sensitive and may not be produced optimally until completely dark. 29.99, Magic White Board, Buy it now Tranquillity Neom Scented Candle Specially formulated with the natural fragrance of 19 soothing essential oils, including lavender, sweet basil and jasmine, which smell wonderful but also have a relaxing effect on mind & body, helping you prepare for sleep. They recommend burning for 2 hours prior to sleep. 30, Neom, Buy it now Draper London linen This is some seriously luxurious bedding, but worth every penny, as its the lightest Percale in 300 thread count Egyptian cotton, so incredibly cool and airy to the touch. The better your body temperature is regulated, the less youll wake up, resulting in much deeper sleep. From 92.50, Draper London, Buy it now Kikki K 3am notebook Scientists have found a direct link between anxiety and rhythm of sleep, when you have anxious thoughts, your heart rate goes up and your mind starts to race. A great way to over come this is to write these thoughts down, and Kikki K has designed a lovely little notebook just for these3am thoughts. 10, Kikki. K, Buy it now Foot Warmer Hot Water Bottle Slipper Studies have found that cold hands and feet are associated with sleeplessness. The Sleep Council recommends increasing the temperature of your cold feet by using a hot water bottle, rather than bed socks, and this inspired creation makes nice and easy. 22.95, Heat Treats, Buy it now

Shanti Maurice, Mauritius

The Shanti sleep package aims to help you go into a deep state of relaxation to aide a restorative sleep. Using meditation, yoga, Tibetan sound massages and Magnesium sleep therapy, expect to spend your time on Mauritius more relaxed and stress-free than ever.

Available throughout the year. From 703 plus accommodation, shantimaurice.com

Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, Switzerland

The spa at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz / Grand Resort Bad Ragaz

Want to get serious about your sleep? This top Swiss medical resort offers a sleep diagnostics program run by doctors and includes medical check-ups and a sleep investigation. The Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland is one of the best medical health resorts in the world and its three-day, two-night retreat is designed to help aide a healthy and restful sleep. Using video-polysomnography experts diagnose all the disturbances you have in your sleep and receive specific recommendations from those results. They will also do a number of medical tests to see if theres anything holding you back from a good nights sleep and you will have discussions with your doctor at the retreat who will devise a personal health dossier for you.

Available throughout the year. From 3,834 per person including accommodation, healthragaz.ch

Marbella Club Wellness, Spain

Marbella Club Wellness offers several retreats that range from one day to seven nights, all bespoke and can be individually adjusted to your needs. The tranquillity and sleep enhancing retreat is a gentle program that uses evidence-based techniques to help improve sleep. Experts at the resort will help equip you with routines that will be sustainable for long after the retreat.

Available throughout the year. Price on request, marbellaclubwellness.com

Kamalaya, Thailand

Soak up the lush views at Kamalaya in Koh Samui / Kamalaya

Kamalaya, located in Koh Samui, an island off the coast of Thailand, is one of the best wellness retreats in the world. The sleep enhancement program has been designed to re-establish a healthy and restful sleep while addressing imbalances and sleep issues for the long term. You can choose from a five, seven or nine-night program that includes all meals provided, wellness consultations, body bio-impedance analysis, massages, traditional treatments and a sleep enhancement pack. While youre not joining in with rejuvenating body treatments and sessions, take in the islands natural beauty and discover why so many travellers love Koh Samui.D uring the first week of April, people all over the UK will be marking Autism Awareness Week.

The fundraising event set up by the National Autistic Society encourages people to donate to help fund campaigns that work to enrich the lives of those with autism.

According to the society, autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people perceive the world and interact with others. This can mean they see, hear and feel the world differently to others.

Autism is what is known as a spectrum condition, meaning it affects individuals in different ways. Some autistic people, for example, also have learning disabilities, mental health issues or other conditions.

Heres everything you need to know about Autism Awareness Day:

When is Autism Awareness Week 2019?

This year, Autism Awareness Day will take place between 1-7 April.

The week is arranged around World Autism Day, which is internationally recognised on April 2 every year.

What is Autism Awareness Week?

Anne Hegerty, who stars in The Chase, has spoken about living with Asperger's / PA

During World Autism Week, people are encouraged to take part in activities to raise money and awareness for the NAS.

Mark Lever, Chief Executive of the NAS, said: "World Autism Week is a unique time for everyone to learn more about autism, whether it's the general public, teachers or politicians.

"Almost everyone has heard of autism now but we continue to hear from autistic people and their families who miss out on an education, struggle to find work or become extremely isolated, often due to misunderstandings about autism could transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of autistic people.

"We encourage everyone to visit our website, watch our new film and learn about the big five things autistic people and families tell us what they want the public to understand."

What is Asperger syndrome?

Aspergers is on the autism spectrum and affects an individuals ability to communicate with others and interact socially.

Those who have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome dont have the learning disabilities that many autistic people have, but they may have specific difficulties such as processing and understanding speech, according to the NAS.

Asperger syndrome was named after Austrian paediatrician Hans Asperger, although there have been calls to change the name of the condition after reports of the doctors affiliation with the Nazis during World War II came to light.

Autism facts

There are around 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK  thats more than 1 in 100.

34% of children on the autism spectrum say that the worst thing about being at school is being picked on.

At least one in three autistic adults are experiencing severe mental health difficulties due to a lack of support

Only 16% of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time paid employment, and only 32% are in some kind of paid work

17% of autistic children have been suspended from school; 48% of these had been suspended three or more times; 4% had been expelled from one or more schools

Famous autistic people

Some famous faces with autism include TV presenter Chris Packham, actors Daryl Hannah and Dan Akroyd, and musician Gary Numan.

Chris Packham received a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome in 2005 and is now an ardent supporter of the NAS.

Last year, The Chase star Anne Hegerty and Niall Aslam from Love Island garnered widespread support after they spoke openly about being diagnosed with Asperger's.

16 year-old Swedish climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, is also 'proud to be on the spectrum'.A teenager has been charged with murdering a 40-year-old man who was stabbed to death in his car in Clapham, south London.

Zion Chiata, 18, of Battersea, will appear before magistrates on Wednesday.

He was charged with murder and possession of a bladed article, Scotland Yard said.

Gavin Garraway, 40, died at the scene after he was stabbed while driving a car near Clapham Common station on Friday afternoon.

A 14-year-old boy and 19-year-old man who were arrested on suspicion of murder have been released under investigation.

Nigel Gordon, a friend of Mr Garraway since childhood, described the 40-year-old victim as a loving father.P olice were today continuing to question a suspect over a series of random knife attacks in north London which have left five people injured, two of them critically.

Scotland Yard said two of three men arrested in connection with the stabbings had been released pending further enquiries. But a third man in his thirties arrested yesterday was still being quizzed today.

He was seized by police hours after a fifth person was stabbed in Edmonton close to where four others were attacked at the weekend. Police denied reports that they had recovered a knife.

The fifth victim, in his thirties, was attacked just yards from a manned police cordon around the scene of the first stabbing in Aberdeen Road.

He remained in hospital today in a critical condition after being stabbed in the chest as he walked with a companion in Fairfield Road at around 5am.

Police forensic officers at the scene of a stabbing Edmonton on Monday / Jeremy Selwyn

An extensive police cordon was still in place around the scene of the latest attack as residents spoke of their fears of walking alone.

Amy Yueng, 27, with her 15-month-old daughter Sky, said: Everyone is worried and nervous. We are all watching our backs and feel very vulnerable I have only just moved here and thought it was a safe area ... obviously not.

I have to go out alone every morning to help my friend on the school run. I have to keep my eyes everywhere. Its very scary.

Paul Moran, 41, who owns a garage in Aberdeen Road, said: Its worrying everyone and people are on edge.

Im not letting my son, who is 14, out of the house. I have stayed in for the last two nights with my family rather than going outside. Police are here constantly but its not much comfort.

Mohamed Ali, 46, a father of four, said: Four of the stabbings happened within three minutes of my house. My wife is scared and wont go outside.

Resident Dayle Best, 54, said the latest victim collapsed outside his front door, and told The Sun: Theres been a 24-hour police watch in my street from Saturdays stabbing. Its terrifying living here.

Chief Superintendent Helen Millichap, who heads local police, said: We are potentially looking at just one individual perpetrator. However, until the investigation has developed further and we are in a position to speak with certainty about this, I have a duty to ask the public to remain vigilant."

In a separate incident last night, two men, both aged 20, staggered into a student hall near Wembley stadium for help after being stabbed repeatedly.A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after he was seen running away from the scene of an "unexplained" death armed with a machete in north-west London.

The victim, a man in his forties, was pronounced dead on Wednesday after he was found with an injury in Harrow that was first thought to be a stab or slash wound.

Scotland Yard said they arrested a man nearby on suspicion of murder after officers were told he had been seen running from the scene in Northolt Road in possession of a machete.

He remains in custody at a north London police station as detectives investigate whether the weapon was used.

Police at the scene in Harrow / Twitter / @S_Kavinthan

The Metropolitan Police stressed it had not launched a murder investigation, but instead was treating the death as "unexplained".

A post-mortem examination will confirm whether the wounds were recent or pre-existing, the force said.

Officers remain on the scene and will be trawling through CCTV footage to find out what happened.

Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas said on Twitter: "I am very concerned to hear reports of a recent fatal attack in South Harrow in my constituency."

Mr Thomas said he was in contact with police and the local council, adding: "My thoughts are with the victim and their family."

London's Air Ambulance was called just before 3.15pm. The victim was treated for his injury, but was pronounced dead at the scene at 3.50pm.

"Sadly, despite the efforts of medics, a person died at the scene," a London Ambulance Service spokesman said.

Police said the victim has not been formally identified and his next of kin are yet to be informed.

A 15-year-old girl suffered superficial cuts and a boy, also aged 15, sustained stab injuries after they were attacked by a group in a park in Harrow on Wednesday night in an unconnected incident, police said.

They were both taken to hospital, where their conditions are said to be not life-threatening, after being assaulted in Harrow Recreation Ground.A would-be robber pulled a knife on terrified train passengers as he attempted to take a womans bag in south-east London, witnesses have said.

Police were scrambled to Lewisham station to reports of an attempted robbery and a man in possession of a blade on Tuesday night.

A passenger on the train said they believed an altercation ensued after someone tried to snatch a womans bag.

He told the Standard a woman was shouting about her bag before a big crowd surrounded the area.

Terrified passengers said the man was brandishing a knife

Police removed a large knife from the scene, the witness added.

The incident was on the Cannon Street to Crayford service, which departed at around 8.10am.

Trains were temporarily stopped to and from the station, with its platform 2 fully closed.

Emergency services descended on the south-east London station / Junade Ali/@IcyApril

A man has been arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and attempted robbery and was being taken to custody.

Police said a Taser was used.

Another person who was at the station wrote on Twitter: Apparently a women on the train accused a man of trying to steal her bag.

He then pulled a knife on her.

According to another witness a man jumped on the fellas back who had had the knife. They described the man as a hero.

A woman on another train heading to Lewisham said her driver announced the service would not be stopping there due to a knife fight.

British Transport Police (BTP) said there had been no reports of any serious injuries and that the incident is not believed to be terror related.

A BTP spokeswoman said: Officers from British Transport Police and Metropolitan Police were called to Lewisham station after reports of an altercation involving an attempted robbery and a man in possession of a knife.

Police officers were quickly on scene and detained a man. During the arrest of the male, a Taser device was drawn and deployed.

The male was then arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon in addition to attempted robbery and is being taken to custody.

There no reports of serious injury and this incident is not currently believed to be terror related.A woman who said on Facebook that her ex-husband tried to strangle her today won a landmark libel battle against him at the UKs highest court.

Nicola Stocker, 51, made the remarks about Ronald Stocker in an online exchange with his new partner, Deborah Bligh, in December 2012.

Mr Stocker, 68, won a defamation ruling against his former wife over the comments at the High Court in 2016.

Mr Justice Mitting found that anyone reading the comments would think she meant he had tried to kill her.

The High Court decision was later upheld at the Court of Appeal.

'Cannot stand': the Supreme Court overturned Ronald Stockers defamation case / PA Archive/PA Images

But today a panel of five Supreme Court justices concluded the original judge made a legal error in relying on the dictionary definition of strangle when he found her post meant her ex-husband had tried to kill her.

Giving the ruling in London, Lord Kerr said: In consequence, he failed to conduct a realistic exploration of how the ordinary reader of the post would have understood it.

"Readers of Facebook posts do not subject them to close analysis. His decision as to the meaning of the Facebook post cannot stand.

The decision will set a precedent for domestic violence cases. All five justices agreed the meaning of words on hastily read social media may be different from the clinically dissected, dictionary definition of a phrase.

Ms Bligh leaves the Royal Courts of Justice after giving evidence in the libel claim brought by her partner / PA Archive/PA Images

Lord Kerr said the ordinary reader, knowing Mrs Stocker was still alive, would unquestionably have interpreted the post as meaning Mr Stocker had grasped her by the throat rather than deliberately tried to kill her.

The court heard the allegations were published to 21 individuals who had authorised access to the page. They were also visible to 110 of Ms Blighs friends and to their Facebook friends.

Ruling in favour of Mrs Stocker, of Longwick, Buckinghamshire, and ordering Mr Stocker to pay all legal costs, Lord Kerr said: It is beyond dispute that Mr Stocker grasped his wife by the throat so tightly as to leave red marks on her neck visible to police officers two hours after the attack.

"It is not disputed that he breached a non-molestation order. Nor has it been asserted that he did not utter threats to Mrs Stocker. Many would consider these to be sufficient to establish that he was a dangerous and disreputable man.

The justices found Mrs Stockers defence of justification in the libel action should not fail.Charles Sanna was 101. Photo: Courtesy of the Sanna Family

Sad news out of Wisconsin this week (via the Times): Charles Sanna, the inventor of the iconic Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix, died last month at the age of 101. Having originally devised the formula as a coffee creamer for soldiers in the Korean War, Sanna was subsequently forced to find a use for the surplus packets of the product the company was required to have on hand at all times. Swiss Miss was the solution.

Born in 1917 to Italian immigrants in Philadelphia, Sanna studied mechanical engineering at the University of WisconsinMadison before briefly working in the steel industry and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, Sanna hoped to reenter the steel industry but was convinced by his father to join the family business: dairy.

Brown Swiss, the first iteration of the cocoa mix, was sold wholesale to airlines and restaurants; customers often stole the packets to use at home. In 1961, the Sanna family rebranded the product as Swiss Miss and began using more shelf-stable nonfat milk powder in the formula so that it could be sold at grocery stores. The new product was a runaway hit. In 1967, Swiss Miss was sold to Beatrice Foods, which was purchased by Conagra  the company behind Duncan Hines, Marie Callenders, Vlasic Pickles, Slim Jim, and more  in the 1990s. According to Conagra, more than 50 million boxes of Swiss Miss are sold every year.

In a February 2019 interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, Sanna surmised that the quality of Swiss Miss had fallen off in the half century since the family sold the brand. Still, he remained proud of his accomplishment, telling the paper, It nice to know that youve done something that will carry on.

Eat like the experts. Sign up for the Grub Street newsletter. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.A man found dead with his wife in their West Berkshire home has been named as a pioneering Concorde pilot.

The pair, both aged 84, were found at a property near the village of Bucklebury on Tuesday evening.

Officials named them as Tony and Paula Meadows.

Detectives launched a murder investigation but stressed to locals that there is no further threat and that they are not searching for a suspect.

Mrs Meadows had been chronically ill with dementia and was being cared for by her husband on the farm where their bodies were found, according to a family friend.

Officers from Thames Valley Police were investigating at one of the homes on Hawkridge Farm in Chapel Lane, where a blue forensics tent has been set up. / PA

Mr Meadows has previously written in the Mach 2 Concorde magazine that he was part of the flight crew during the supersonic jet's first passenger flight from Heathrow to New York in 1977.

Officers from Thames Valley Police were investigating at one of the homes on Hawkridge Farm in Chapel Lane, where a blue forensics tent has been set up.

A family friend said the Meadows lived alone in the farm house where they had been for 35 years and that she had spoken to one of their three "devastated" children on Wednesday morning.

"They can't understand it. They haven't been able to get their minds around it really," she said.

"Paula has dementia so she hadn't been very well for quite a while.

"But Tony always took care of her and looked after her very well, and took her for walks.

British Airways Concorde shadowed by two Second World War Spitfires as it arrives to make passes over the Biggin Hill Air Show. / PA Wire/PA Images

"He was a very caring person, very friendly.

"I can't understand how it happened... unless she deteriorated and he got to the end of his tether."

She added: "He's the type of person who would normally cope with any situation and it's really sad that it's happened.

"It's difficult to take in really. I can only think that if he committed suicide then he must have been driven to it by the situation."

Neighbours in nearby Frilsham spoke of their shock over the deaths of the "nice couple".

"I think Paula has dementia because she asked the same questions," said one woman who did not want to be named. "Tony was a pilot."

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Howard described their deaths as "a tragic incident".

"We are currently investigating and have launched a murder inquiry but we are not looking for anybody else in connection with this incident," he added.

Asked about the former British Airways captain's death, the airline said: "Our thoughts are with their family and friends."

Several enthusiasts who knew Mr Meadows declined to comment, with one source saying: "I think everyone in the Concorde world is a bit raw about this just now."

Recounting the first time they flew the plane commercially to New York, Mr Meadows said they were met with "enormous" crowds amid a "euphoria".

Then, he was in charge of the aircraft on the way back to Britain.A 12-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted in broad daylight by a group of men on the top deck of a bus in Birmingham.

The schoolgirl was travelling to the city centre with three friends on Saturday afternoon when around six men approached her on the top deck of the bus, police said.

The bus was in Finchley Road, Kingstanding, when the girl was attacked by a group of men in their early 20s."

Police confirmed they are investigating reports of a sexual assault on a No.33 bus at around 3pm on March 16.

The girls mother has since issued an appeal for information, telling Birmingham Live her daughter is shaken by the incident and that she feels useless I wasnt there when she needed me most.

She said: No words can describe how I felt when she phoned me. She was really shaken up, there were about six of them.

The top of the bus was empty but they went and approached my daughter and her mates. My daughter's friends were assaulted and they ran downstairs and off the bus. My daughter was left upstairs with them.

The men left the bus in the city centre, the victims mum added.

She said the incident has been reported over the phone to police, who are yet to come out to see us.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: Police are investigating reports a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted on a bus in Finchley Road, Kingstanding, just before 3pm on March 16.A business tycoon ordered to pay 25 million to his ex-wife in their bitter divorce battle has been handed a three-month prison sentence for refusing to open his books to lawyers.

Talal Al Zawawi, 48, and 36-year-old Leila Hammoud had an opulent lifestyle during their 12-year marriage, residing in a palace in the Omani capital of Muscat and also enjoying a luxury London home.

But when they split in 2017, Ms Hammoud was entitled to nothing under the laws of Oman and took her divorce case to the UK courts instead, asking for 50 million from Mr Al Zawawis fortune.

The High Court heard he has a 300 million share of his familys banking, construction and tourism group, and his ex-wife says she believes he earns 3.7 million a year.

But he claims he is only worth 34 million and when she wanted detailed information about his finances he refused to co-operate, and was given a three-month suspended sentence for contempt of court.

Mr Justice Williams, sitting at the High Court, has now activated the prison sentence after he continued to ignore the order to open his books.

He issued a warrant for Mr Zawawis arrest if he comes to Britain from his Oman home.A second minister has resigned from Theresa May's government today after her decision to hold Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn sparked anger among Tories.

Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris quit his post on Wednesday, telling the PM: "I simply cannot support any further extension to Article 50 and this obviously means I cannot stay in government."

He added: "I truly believe we should have honoured the result of the 2016 referendum" and left the EU on March 29.

It came as Mrs May and Mr Corbyn met in her Commons office in the hope of agreeing a position which can win a majority within the next few days, allowing her to request a short delay to Brexit at next week's EU summit.

Jeremy Corbyn will sit down with Theresa May over Brexit deadlock

The Labour leader said his meeting was "useful but inconclusive" and added "there has not been as much change as I expected".

A Downing Street spokesman said talks "were constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close".

In a tweet, alongside his resignation letter, Mr Heaton-Harris said he had decided to quit "after much contemplation".

He added in his letter that, as a Brexit minister, "I've had the responsibility of helping to coordinate our preparations for if we were to leave the European Union without a negotiated deal".

"These preparations are well advanced and whilst I would have preferred to leave the European Union with your deal, I truly believe our country would have swiftly overcome any immediate issues of leaving without a deal and gone on to thrive," he told Mrs May.

He continued: "However, I completely understand you do not want to leave the European Union without a negotiated deal and that obviously makes my job in Government irrelevant."

Chris Heaton-Harris announced his resignation on Twitter (Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament) / Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament (Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0))

The Minister for Wales, Nigel Adams, also resigned over Mrs May's plans for a compromise deal with the Labour leader in order to make progress on Brexit.

He said the PM had made a "grave error" by reaching out to Mr Corbyn in the hope of finding a consensus on Brexit ahead of a crunch EU summit on April 10.

As the pair met for talks, leaders and spokesmen of other opposition groups agreed to make a People's Vote their priority.

Jean-Claude Juncker: EU are prepared for no-deal Brexit

In a joint statement, the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, Green MP Caroline Lucas, Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville-Roberts and The Independent Group spokesman Chuka Umunna said: "We are in agreement that there is no such thing as a good Brexit and that people across the UK face being worse off.

"We have shown over the past three years we are willing to find a compromise position to end the impasse.

"Time is fast running out and any compromise that is reached must be brought back to the people through a fresh referendum, and keep the option to revoke Article 50 on the table to avoid a no-deal Brexit."

Mrs May's offer to try and end the impasse over EU withdrawal has sparked fury among Tory Eurosceptics.

She said last night that she will seek an Article 50 extension beyond next week to allow negotiations with Mr Corbyn aimed at ensuring the UK leaves the EU "in a timely and orderly way".

Mr Corbyn said he would be "very happy" to meet her in a bid to offer "certainty and security" to the British people.

But leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg described her offer as "deeply unsatisfactory" and accused the Prime Minister of planning to collaborate with "a known Marxist".J acob Rees-Mogg today clashed with a BBC presenter after he was questioned over his decision to tweet a speech by a far-right politician.

In a testy exchange with Radio 4 Todays Mishal Hussain, Mr Rees-Mogg was taken to task over his sharing of an address given by Alternative fur Deutschlands (AfD) Dr Alice Weidel, who hit out at Brussels over its handling of Brexit.

Mr Rees-Mogg, who has not deleted Mondays tweet, was asked to clarify whether he backed any of the AfDs views other than Brexit. The AfD is the main opposition in Germany, running on an anti-immigration and anti-Islam agenda.

The Brexit hardliner instead rounded on BBC correspondent James Naughtie, who had previously quoted a source as saying the European Research Group of Tory MPs  which Mr Rees-Mogg chairs  was comparable to the AfD and Frances National Front.

Jacob Rees-Mogg outside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday / Peter Nicholls/Reuters

In the strained exchange, Mr Rees-Mogg told Ms Hussain: You must be patient and not interrupt so much because the answer needs to be given properly.

The BBC does have this obsession. What Mr Naughtie said was an outrageous slur and he wasnt challenged by whoever was interviewing him  that wasnt raised, which seems to me a matter of competence.

When Mr Naughtie quotes someone and its not his view, thats fine? But when I quote somebody and its not my view, thats a great shock.

That seems to be typical of the Today programmes leftie approach and obsession with this issue.

Meanwhile, Mr Rees-Mogg made his unhappiness with Prime Minister Theresa May known on Wednesday, describing her offer to negotiate Brexit with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as "deeply unsatisfactory".T heresa May is facing Cabinet walkouts after she announced plans for another delay to Brexit and a compromise with Jeremy Corbyn.

More than a dozen senior Tories have spoken out against a long extension, although last night most refused to be drawn on whether they would step down.

Ministers including Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt are thought to have spoken out against the Prime Minister as she announced plans to work with Jeremy Corbyn.

Nigel Adams, assistant Government whip and junior minister for Wales, became the first to quit over the move on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister gave a press conference announcing her plans on Tuesday evening / AP

Mrs May said on Tuesday that she would seek an extension beyond next week to allow negotiations with the Labour leader aimed at ensuring the UK leaves the European Union "in a timely and orderly way".

She is due to meet for talks with Mr Corbyn today, according to Brexit Minister Robin Walker.

"Of course I understand colleagues will have concerns... both parties stood on manifestos to deliver Brexit. We need to sit down together and work out a way forward," he told Sky News.

Following the mammoth seven-hour Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, one source said ministers were split 14-10 against asking for a long extension to the Brexit process.

But a second Cabinet source said ministers spoke 17-4 in favour of the limited extension sought by the Prime Minister, with just Gavin Williamson, Penny Mordaunt, Chris Grayling and Liz Truss opposed to the measure.

Jeremy Corbyn holds the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future of UK-EU relations / REUTERS

If the European Council proposes an extension beyond May 22, it is understood that it would be possible for the UK to take the steps necessary to prepare for European Parliament elections on May 23, but then cancel them at the last minute if the withdrawal deal was ratified.

Theresa May said last night that she is willing to work with the Labour leader in an attempt to "break the logjam" over Brexit, but she was accused of handing over "the keys to Brexit."

Mr Corbyn said he would be "very happy" to meet the Prime Minister in a bid to offer "certainty and security" to the British people - but Tory Brexiteers reacted with anger.

Jacob Rees-Mogg described the offer as "deeply unsatisfactory" and accused Mrs May of planning to collaborate with "a known Marxist".

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said: "It is very disappointing that the Cabinet has decided to entrust the final handling of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party."

Jeremy Corbyn will sit down with Theresa May over Brexit deadlock

The DUP said it "remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily".

But Environment Secretary Michael Gove said he backed the talks with Labour because he wants to leave the EU.

He told BBC Two's Newsnight: "One of my concerns has been that there are people within the House of Commons who want to frustrate that referendum mandate - there are people who want to do everything possible to prevent us leaving - and I wanted to ensure that minds are concentrated so that we do leave."

The leaders' meeting is expected to take place as a cross-party group of senior MPs launches a separate attempt to force the PM to stop a no-deal Brexit by tabling legislation requiring her to delay Britain's withdrawal beyond April 12.

TODO: define component type apester

A group of MPs - including Conservative grandee Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour's Yvette Cooper - aim to fully pass a Bill through the Commons on Wednesday to stop the UK crashing out of the EU.

Instead of initiating a third round of indicative votes on Wednesday, when Parliament once more has control over the Commons timetable, Sir Oliver will table a paving motion to allow debate and votes on Ms Cooper's Bill. An amendment to his motion would set aside April 8 for indicative votes.M Ps have narrowly backed a bill by a majority of just one to force Theresa May to ask for an extension to the Brexit process to avoid a no-deal outcome.

The cross-party Cooper-Boles Bill, which has been fast-tracked through Parliament, was approved by MPs by 315 to 310 votes after its second reading.

It was later passed in the Commons by just one vote, with 313 votes for and 312 votes against. The third-reading vote just before midnight on Wednesday means the Prime Minister has a mandate to ask for an Article 50 extension.

The Bill will now undergo further scrutiny in the Lords at a later date, potentially as early as Thursday.

Speaker John Bercow addresses the Commons during the second reading of the European Union Withdrawal bill / EPA

The proposal would legally bind Mrs May into seeking a Brexit extension beyond April 12 in the absence of a deal that has been approved by Parliament.

Tory Brexiteers strongly opposed the measures and, shortly before the final vote, they expressed their frustration at the Bill clearing all stages in the Commons in a matter of hours.

Peter Bone, MP for Wellingborough, urged Speaker John Bercow to "make this farce stop" and prevent further votes. But there were cheers in the chamber when the result was revealed at almost 11.30pm, after the legislation passed through all stages in the Commons in a single day.

Jeremy Corbyn: Meeting with PM on Brexit was 'useful but inconclusive'

Speaking after the result Yvette Cooper said it has been a "very considered and thoughtful debate throughout", and that MPs had "voted again to make clear the real concerns that there would be about a chaotic and damaging no deal".

She said the Bill would "support the Prime Minister's commitment to make sure we don't end up with no deal on April 12".

Ms Cooper added: "I'm sure that we will be very keen to work with Government to make sure that this legislation progresses in a way that is sensible and works in the national interest."

Nicola Sturgeon unsure of where Theresa May will compromise on Brexit

But Tory MP Mark Francois reacted to the Bill's passing with anger, calling it a "constitutional outrage".

The leading Brexiteer said it had been "rammed through in four hours", and then quoting from the bible, added: "The public won't be impressed by this. Forgive them father they know not what they do."

A Government spokesman said in a statement: "We are disappointed that MPs have chosen to back this Bill.

"The Prime Minister has already set out a clear process through which we can leave the European Union with a deal and we have already committed to seeking a further extension.

"If passed, this Bill would place a severe constraint on the Government's ability to negotiate an extension and reflect this new date in UK statute books before April 12."

MPs return tied vote over Brexit indicative vote proposal

It comes after after MPs failed in a bid to take over the Commons timetable on Monday for a third round of indicative votes on Brexit alternatives, with Mr Bercow wielding his casting vote after MPs split 310-310.

Meanwhile talks on a possible Brexit compromise were set to continue on Thursday after an inconclusive meeting between the PM and Jeremy Corbyn.

The meeting sparked fury among some Conservatives, with two ministers quitting Mrs May's government and a string of backbenchers voicing their anger during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

It followed Mrs May's dramatic announcement that she was willing to reach out across the political divide to find a deal allowing her to obtain a short delay to Brexit at an emergency EU summit on April 10.

Mr Corbyn said the meeting in the PM's Commons office was "useful but inconclusive", adding: "There has not been as much change as I expected". But in formal statements, both sides described the talks as "constructive".

Following the meeting, the Labour leader said he put forward the partys view that "we want to achieve a customs union with the European Union, we want to have access to the market and, in particular, we discussed the dynamic regulatory alignment that is guaranteeing European regulations as a minimum on the environment as well as consumer and employment rights".

He added that he raised the issue of a second referendum, saying: "I said this is the policy of our party, that we would want to pursue the option of a public vote to prevent crashing out or to prevent leaving with a bad deal."

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox also suggested today that it would remain possible for the UK to quit any customs union arrangement after successfully completing Brexit.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox suggested that it would be possible to quit a customs union post-Brexit / Getty Images

Mr Cox told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg: "If we decided, in some considerable years' time, that we wanted to review our membership of any such customs union if we signed it, and I'm not saying we will, that's a matter for negotiation and discussion.

"There's nothing to stop us removing ourselves from that arrangement, so we can't look at these things as permanent straitjackets upon this country."

Downing Street described the talks with Mr Corbyn as "constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.

"We have agreed a programme of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security.

Mrs May also met Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford on Wednesday.

Wales minister Nigel Adams denounced her decision to meet Mr Corbyn as a "grave error" as he announced his resignation from the Government, while Chris Heaton-Harris quit the Department for Exiting the EU, warning that the PM was being badly advised over the risks of no-deal.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said the EU would accept an extension to May 22 if the UK had approved Mrs May's withdrawal agreement by a "viable majority" before April 12.

But speaking in Brussels, he said a no-deal Brexit at the end of next week was becoming "more and more likely".T alks on a possible Brexit compromise will continue on Thursday after an inconclusive meeting between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn.

The Labour leader described Wednesday's talks as "useful but inconclusive", adding "there has not been as much change as I expected".

Mr Corbyn backtracked on earlier comments, made to the Mirror, in which he said the talks in Mrs Mays Commons office went very well.

And he appeared to contradict a Labour spokesman, who said: We have had constructive exploratory discussions about how to break the Brexit deadlock. We have agreed a programme of work between our teams to explore the scope for agreement."

Jeremy Corbyn at the Muslim Aid parliamentary reception in the House of Commons on Wednesday night, following his talks with Theresa May / Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Downing Street, meanwhile, also said the controversial talks  which prompted two ministers to quit the government  were constructive.

It said in a statement: Today's talks were constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.

"We have agreed a programme of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security."

Jeremy Corbyn welcomes Theresa May's 'willingness to compromise'

Mr Corbyn also said he raised the issue of a second referendum on Brexit, saying: "I said this is the policy of our party, that we would want to pursue the option of a public vote to prevent crashing out or to prevent leaving with a bad deal."

But he added: "There was no agreement reached on that."

The meeting sparked fury among some Conservatives, with ministers Nigel Adams and Chris Heaton-Harris quitting Mrs May's government. A string of backbenchers also voiced their anger during Prime Minister's Questions.

MPs return tied vote over Brexit indicative vote proposal

The talks followed Mrs May's dramatic announcement that she was willing to reach out across the floor of the Commons, to find a deal which would allow her to obtain a short delay to Brexit at an emergency EU summit on April 12.

Mrs May has said she hopes to find a solution which both leaders can support, or failing that, a system of indicative votes which both will recognise as binding.

In a boost to the Prime Minister, MPs failed in a bid to take over the Commons timetable on Monday for a third round of "indicative votes" on Brexit alternatives.

Speaker John Bercow wielded his casting vote to block the debate after MPs tied 310-310, in scenes not seen in the Commons since the Maastricht battles in 1993.

The result clears Monday for a potential attempt by Mrs May to get a consensus Brexit deal through Parliament.P oliticians and campaigners must watch their language to avoid inflaming the incredibly febrile atmosphere created by Brexit, a top police officer has warned.

Martin Hewitt, chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council, said public figures should be wary of "consequences that weren't intended" when speaking about the issue.

Brexit has already seen heated protests on both sides of the debate, and a number of MPs have requested beefed-up security in the past six months. Police have also seen an increase in abuse aimed at politicians.

Addressing journalists during a briefing at the National Police Co-ordination Centre, Mr Hewitt said: "This is highly emotive as an issue as we all know and clearly everyone will have their opinions.

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

Clashes broke out between police and protesters at a Leave rally / Getty Images

"But I think there is a responsibility on those individuals that have a platform and have a voice, to communicate in a way that is temperate and is not in any way going to inflame people's views."

Mr Hewitt went on: "We are in an incredibly febrile atmosphere as a result of the whole EU exit scenario.

"We know and we can see that people are expressing themselves, we're seeing a degree of protest, a degree of demonstration, there is a lot of angry talk that you can pick up if you look across social media.

"In any scenario like that where there are a range of outcomes it's incumbent on anybody in a position of responsibility, and who has a voice, to just think carefully about the way that they express their views and their opinions, so that what they're not doing is inciting behaviour or causing anybody to behave in a way that we wouldn't want them to behave."

He added: "We are in a febrile atmosphere and if you are in a position where you know you are going to be listened to, you need to think very carefully about the language that you are using so that it doesn't end up with consequences that weren't intended."

The number of crimes linked to Brexit, although small, has more than doubled in a fortnight, with 26 last week and 11 the week before.

About half were malicious communications, while the remainder included verbal abuse, harassment and protest activity.

Thousands attend People's Vote march

One protester admitted climbing on to a station roof and causing widespread disruption to Eurostar services, while British Transport Police are looking for another who planted devices aimed at bringing trains to a halt in Cambridgeshire and Nottinghamshire.

In general terms, levels of hate crime in England and Wales have not yet fallen back to the levels recorded before the 2016 Brexit referendum.

In 2017/18, 94,098 of these offences were recorded, a rise of 17% on the previous year, thought also to be fuelled by the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.

Chief Constable Charlie Hall, the NPCC lead for operations, said that the police have pushed back on other authorities to make sure that officers are only used "if absolutely necessary".

This includes issues such as queuing at ports and maintaining the supply chains of food, fuel and medicine.

He said: "We've been very clear that policing support should only really be called on if absolutely necessary in dealing with the wider civil contingencies."

Mr Hall added: "Our push has been back to those sectors, those parts of government, the private sector, to say 'it's your responsibility to look at your individual supply chains and you should not be looking to police to come in to supplement and keep your supply chain running'."

Local resilience forums, which include representatives from councils and the police, have carried out training exercises to deal with shortages, and police training has included dealing with disorder including looting.

Under existing national contingency plans, every police force is expected to make a certain number of officers available to be deployed wherever they are required.

More than 10,000 riot-trained officers can be deployed within 24 hours if needed, with 1,000 available in the first hour. This is more than were mobilised during the 2011 riots.

There are also specialist teams such as dog handlers, armed police and search-trained officers which can be called upon.

Currently 1,000 have received extra training so that they can be deployed to Northern Ireland if needed. The police there use armoured Land Rovers and water cannon, unlike their mainland counterparts.

So far 15 forces have placed restrictions on annual leave, and two have officially asked for mutual aid - Kent, which covers the port of Dover, and Hampshire, which covers Portsmouth.

Forces are expected to cut down on "peripheral police activity" like crime prevention work and to cancel training if needed.

Mr Hall said special constables, volunteer police officers, could also be used if required.T housands of Windrush scandal victims will share in an "uncapped" compensation scheme launched by the Government.

A two-year Government initiative aims to right the wrongs suffered by people who faced difficulties demonstrating their immigration status.

The Home Office expects up to 15,000 eligible claims will be lodged, according to their central planning assumption.

Confirming there will be no cap on the total amount awarded, Sajid Javid told MPs his department's "baseline estimate" was approximately 200 million.

An official impact assessment said the final figure could range between 120 million and 310 million.

Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid. / REUTERS

Staffing costs are expected to be between 4 million and 6 million a year.

Opening the scheme, Mr Javid described the treatment of some members of the Windrush generation as "a terrible mistake".

He said: "We've been working tirelessly to fulfil that promise ever since and have helped more than 3,600 people secure the citizenship they were entitled to.

"But it's right that we compensate those who faced extreme difficulties and hardship, and this scheme will go some way in doing that.

"The Windrush generation have given so much to this country and we will ensure nothing like this ever happens again."

Satbir Singh, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, claimed the announcement was "short on detail" and will "fail to reassure Windrush victims that they will be adequately financially compensated for the losses and hardship inflicted on them".

A file photo of Jamaican immigrants being welcomed to the UK in 1948 / PA Wire/PA Images

He said: "Thousands of members of the Windrush generation suffered for years and then had to wait a further year to hear how they might be compensated."

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: "This compensation scheme has fallen woefully short of its expectation and of what is fair.

"The Government has been disgracefully slow to do the right thing by the Windrush generation."

Payments will be available to those who did not have the right documentation to prove their status in the UK and suffered "adverse effects" on their life as a result.

These could include a loss of employment or access to housing, education or NHS healthcare, as well as emotional distress or a deterioration in mental and physical health.

People who were wrongfully detained or removed from the UK can seek compensation under the scheme.

It is open to applicants of any nationality who have the right to live or work in the UK without any restrictions, or who are now British citizens, and arrived in the country before the end of 1988, as well as people from a Commonwealth country who arrived and settled in the UK before 1973.

Certain children and grandchildren of pre-1973 arrivals may also be eligible.

The Government is retaining discretion to withhold or reduce an award if a claimant has a record of serious criminality.

Claims can be made by the estates of people who were affected by the scandal and have since died, and close family members in relation to the impact on their life as a result of difficulties experienced by the main applicant.

Martin Forde QC, who advised the Home Office on the design of the compensation scheme, said: "I believe it is accessible and most importantly, fairly compensates those who have suffered.

"The scheme has been built on feedback from affected communities, and their personal stories have been crucial in its design."

Ministers faced a furious backlash over the treatment of the Windrush generation - named after a ship that brought people to Britain from the Caribbean in 1948.

Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973 were automatically granted indefinite leave to remain but many were not issued with any documents confirming their status.

A public outcry erupted after it emerged long-term UK residents were denied access to services, held in detention or removed despite living legally in the country for decades.Job Archive July 2021 (524) June 2021 (681) May 2021 (698) April 2021 (659) March 2021 (688) February 2021 (615) January 2021 (700) December 2020 (714) November 2020 (671) October 2020 (631) September 2020 (690) August 2020 (713) July 2020 (713) June 2020 (690) May 2020 (713) April 2020 (690) March 2020 (713) February 2020 (667) January 2020 (713) December 2019 (713) November 2019 (687) October 2019 (711) September 2019 (689) August 2019 (711) July 2019 (707) June 2019 (688) May 2019 (2002) April 2019 (1979) March 2019 (2039) February 2019 (1689) January 2019 (2259) December 2018 (2111) November 2018 (1935) October 2018 (1993) September 2018 (1918) August 2018 (39) July 2018 (72) June 2018 (44) May 2018 (76) April 2018 (65) March 2018 (16) February 2018 (32) January 2018 (201) December 2017 (352) November 2017 (381) October 2017 (600) September 2017 (1211) August 2017 (1655) July 2017 (1590) June 2017 (1506) May 2017 (1903) April 2017 (1965) March 2017 (1417) February 2017 (1808) January 2017 (1807) December 2016 (1593) November 2016 (1377) October 2016 (1408) September 2016 (1317) August 2016 (1499) July 2016 (1505) June 2016 (1421) May 2016 (1392) April 2016 (1340) March 2016 (1476) February 2016 (1396) January 2016 (1474) December 2015 (1409) November 2015 (1367) October 2015 (1478) September 2015 (1443) August 2015 (1468) July 2015 (1465) June 2015 (1410) May 2015 (1058) April 2015 (1269) March 2015 (1133) February 2015 (1155) January 2015 (1154) December 2014 (1156) November 2014 (1268) October 2014 (81)S am Gyimah, the former universities and science minister, has faced three attempted deselections and a no confidence vote from inside his association.

He voted Remain, yes. He didnt back the Prime Ministers deal and thinks no deal is lunacy. So is he just another Conservative MP, like Dominic Grieve and Nick Boles, being hounded by WTO Brexiteers in their constituencies? To a degree. But the issue with Gyimah goes deeper. In my case the ringleaders are people who never reconciled themselves to me as their MP. The polite way to describe it is that I am a modernisation too far for that particular group of people.

Gyimah is black. Did they have a problem with that? He deflects. It will be everything. He lists policies they might disagree on: gay marriage, climate change, NHS funding, graduates. We just have a different world view. But then he says: The astonishing thing for me is that I had a career before politics and I never thought about my colour.

Of course, the notion that in the UK in 2019 anyone could feel they are being harassed out of their job in part because of the colour of their skin is appalling. But the Conservative Party that he joined in the 90s as a shining star, and in which he quickly rose (he was David Camerons parliamentary private secretary as Prime Minister, a government whip and a minister of state) is much changed. It has, he says, moved a long way in a very short space of time from where it was when I first became an MP. Back then, ambitious MPs were talking about the Big Society and writing pieces on fraternity and how we could rescue our economy. Now ambitious Conservative MPs are saying, I have no fear of no deal. 

As far as the vast majority of his constituents in East Surrey are concerned, Gyimah is an excellent MP and has increased the majority by some 10,000 since he was elected. He has the full backing of the association chair, Eithne Webster, who said the group are not representative of the association.

The astonishing thing is that I had a career before politics and I never thought about my colour

The problem comes from a faction of ringleaders who have Tory heads and Ukip hearts, says Gyimah. Every election cycle there has been some manoeuvre against me, so at some level I am used to it. His position on Brexit, however, has given grist to their mill. They see an opportunity to build a coalition to unseat me. To some extent, he lays the blame for the deselection culture  and its language of betrayal  at Theresa Mays door.

The absence of that leadership means that people feel they can legitimately take the process into their own hands to achieve the Brexit that they want. And if you are an MP and perceived to be standing in their way, they want to get rid of you. In this way, he feels thrown to the wolves.

Speaking yesterday, before the Prime Minister offered talks with Jeremy Corbyn, he says, The Tory Party only talks to Brexiteers. It almost demonises... he hesitates. It comes across as dismissive of those who are not.

The biggest obstacle to the future of the Conservative Party is that they dont appeal to the young, he says. For the Party, young is now below 47. We need to find new voters, he says.

We have met in the office assigned to him by the whips after he resigned from the Government over Mays deal last November. Im guessing its a mark of how cross they were that its down a network of corridors so complicated the Viet Cong would get lost. Jo Johnson, who also resigned in November, is on the same floor. It feels like we are sharing the same prison wing.

Gyimah, by the way, is well liked in Westminster. Even those who dont share his politics call him one of the good guys. A former Government colleague adds that he is thoughtful, kind, funny, and  this one really is unusual  normal. If the Tory Party is pushing people like Sam out, we really are stuffed.

And actually Gyimah was surprised after his resignation by the frostiness he encountered. There were snide comments and awkward conversations and little things, [like] there are groups I am excluded from. People who I thought were bosom buddies [were] suddenly, Youre not one of us.

How does that feel?

Its kind of weird. Parliament is a tribal place. So the most difficult thing is to be labelled disloyal, even if you think you are standing up for a principle. The rejection is quite strong.

He is still on 10 WhatsApp groups. He jokes that the only person who knows what is going on [in Parliament] is whoever holds the data on WhatsApp.

Tories once expressed their allegiances through their membership of a dining club, sometimes switching freely between them. Post-2016, the fracturing is more concrete.

The ERG have whips, send press releases, have their own funding, research. They will choose their leadership candidate in an election. They are a party within a party. Other groups have followed suit. Last weekend a One Nation group said it would choose its leadership candidate and lobby for a specific agenda.

Is the Tory party now, in a sense, a coalition of these groupings?

You also have it in Labour with Tom Watson [the deputy leader], Gyimah points out. It may be a feature of a minority government. Backbenchers are incredibly powerful  if they organise.

It makes holding the party, or even a government, together far harder, he says. He looks back at the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition of 2010 and thinks It was childs play.

While many associate Camerons tenure with toffs  Gyimah remembers someone pointing at him and shouting He went to Eton  Gyimah says a childhood in Ghana meant he was blithely unaware of the English class system.

He was born in England. His father, also Sam, was a GP; his mother, Comfort, a midwife. Things were difficult is how he describes family life and the struggle his mother had juggling small children and a job. His parents split when he was six and his father checked out, leaving his mother with little choice but to take Sam, his brother and sister to Ghana. In 10 years he saw his father only once.

I met him in London when I was 10. It was a bit weird. We were excited to see him. We hadnt seen him for ages. My mother was very good at trying to shield us from all the turbulence of the break-up. [But] I am the eldest. I was very aware.

When Sam was 16 his father got in touch, suggesting he move back to London to finish his schooling. Gyimah jumped at the chance. I loved school. My work was going well. So I came over and lived with someone I had seen once since I was six.

The reality was not everything he imagined. His school in Ghana was competitive: uniforms and discipline; Freman College, a state sixth form in Hertfordshire was very, very different. Also, his father had remarried and had three more kids. So I am the eldest of seven. Was it chaotic? It wasnt easy. But I threw myself into school work.

They were the only black family in the town and of 800 children at his school he was one of only three black kids. But I made friends, I adapted. Contemporaries remember a fantastic sprinter and that on the inside cover of his school dictionary he had written a a big D with three worlds coming out of it: discipline, determination and dedication.

Gyimah laughs. I excelled at hiding the fact that I was a swot. He decided he wanted to go to Oxford  I was quite pushy then, Ive mellowed since  and his history teacher, Mr Greenhalgh, ordered past papers and gave up his time for extra lessons. He got me through the entrance exam. I owe a lot to Mr Greenhalgh.

The experience influenced his Conservatism. He utterly rejects pull yourself up by your bootstraps Tories. To be successful and do well, someone needs to give you a helping hand. Any Conservatism that doesnt acknowledge that and tries to say, I did it, I expect other people to do it  that doesnt reflect how life works.

Comfort was excited when he won a place at Oxford, but annoyed that he was doing PPE, not law or medicine. She thought anything else, youre wasting your time.

It WAS at Oxford, where he was the first British black president of the Oxford Union, that he met his wife Dr Nicky Black, a Kiwi. He held a torch for her, and later she got in touch when he was in New York working for Goldman Sachs, and asked to meet, he got spruced up, thinking it was a date. She arrived. With a 6ft 5in Kiwi boyfriend in tow. They invited him to go for a walk but Gyimah, who is a compact 5ft four-and-a-half, decided that he wasnt going to spend the afternoon craning my neck. A year later, when they met up again, she was single. They married in 2012 and have a two-year-old and a four-year-old. They are still at the age where they come in in the morning and try to open your eyelids to look at their dinosaur.

While he is tough about the nastiness in his constituency (Ive been through too much in my life), he does worry about his family. I am concerned for my wife, who is incredibly supportive and has to see and be part of all of this. And, he admits, I do ask myself sometimes: why?

That said, he wont leave the party. My position is you have to stay and fight. Because if I leave, the person that will be selected instead... He hesitates. I need to make sure that it is a party I want to be part of. Its also about the country. The kind of changes I think the country needs to see means I need to fight for that change in the Conservative Party.

He still believes the Conservatives could have the first black prime minister. Even before Labour? Yes, I think so. It doesnt mind breaking the mould. It has several times. With Jewish leaders and two women. Sajid Javid is in the Cabinet. Thats the part that doesnt worry me at all. The issue is about being a party of mass appeal.

The way to deal with the Ukip tendency, he says, is to dilute their influence by getting a broader membership. Most associations dont have big memberships so it doesnt take many to destabilise an association by turning up at meetings, tabling motions, writing the notes, sending emails.

Race might be... He sighs. I dont want to go down the race route. What I would say is I dont have to leave the party. The Conservative Party has always been pragmatic, pro-business, pro-aspiration, not ideological. I am the mainstream of the Conservative Party. And if they dont believe I am, they should leave. They can go and join Ukip.

Go back to where they came from? Ha! Yes, thats it.P rison sentences of less than a year should be scrapped to tackle the "enduring crisis" in prison safety, according to a new report.

Justice Secretary David Gauke has said legislation could be introduced to scrap short prison sentences for some offences.

But Mr Gauke emphasised on Wednesday that no decisions have yet been made and that reforms could not be introduced overnight.

The proposals have now been backed by the Commons Justice Committee, who urged ministers in a new report to consider going even further by scrapping prison sentences of under 12 months.

Secretary of State for Justice David Gauke / EPA

The Commons report said: "The scale of the prison population crisis is such that it requires a fresh and decisive response.

"We are now in the depths of an enduring crisis in prison safety and decency that has lasted five years and is taking significant additional investment to rectify, further diverting funds from essential rehabilitative initiatives that could stem or reverse the predicted growth."

According to the report, the prison population in England and Wales has almost doubled in the last 25 years.

The Justice Secretary first signalled a departure from the Tory "prison works" mantra earlier this year when he outlined his vision for "smart justice".

Mr Gauke said in February that there was a "very strong case" to abolish sentences of six months or less, with some "closely defined exceptions", such as for violent or sexual crimes.

Short custodial terms would be replaced by "robust" community orders under the blueprint.

Giving evidence to the Justice Committee on Wednesday, Mr Gauke was asked if the Government is considering introducing legislation to reduce the number of offenders given short prison sentences.

Justice Secretary David Gauke / Parliament TV

He said: "Yes, we are considering our options here. No decisions as yet have been made, but I do worry about the impact short sentences can have.

"This is a complex matter. It is important not to think that addressing the issue of short sentences is a huge money-saving opportunity.

"In the long-term it might be if it helps reduce re-offending but I completely agree that reducing short sentences needs to be viewed in the context of improving the alternatives.

"I don't think one can just, overnight, get rid of short sentences and hope for the best."

Penal reform campaigners are in favour of scrapping short jail terms.H arry became the prince of pas de deux as he spontaneously took part in a childrens ballet class today.

The Duke of Sussex showed of his fancy footwork at Ealing YMCA for an engagement highlighting youth mental health issues.

But the flamboyant royal couldnt resist joining in a session being held for four to 6-year-olds in an activity room at the West London centre.

Soon to be parent Harry watched as the adorable youngsters performed two little dances for him and an elaborate bow.

He asked Emanuel Lester, five, what his favourite part of the class was and was told "the ballet challenge".

Prince Harry was visiting the YMCA South Ealing / PA

Intrigued, Harry, 34, asked what that was and teacher Jade Groves explained that it was when the children practiced their balance by standing on one leg with a plastic disc on their head.

Do you guys want to show him? She asked the children, and they all stood up.

Then to the surprise of his press team, The Duke mimicked them by standing on one leg and putting his arms out. You wobbled, the teased one.

The Duke of Sussex chats to children taking part in the ballet class / PA

The fun came after a serious round table discussion about youth mental health issues, where Harry raged about the perils of social media.

In a frank remark Harry, whose wife Meghan has been the victim of vile anonymous racist trolls said: Social media is more addictive than drugs and alcohol and its more dangerous because it is normalised and there are no restrictions.

His statement came a day after he and wife Meghan personally launched their own Instagram account to publicise their work.

An aide pointed out that his brother, future King Prince William, had previously said that at the heart of social media was the idea of bringing people together - but it had sadly been abused by some.

Harry was visiting the YMCA to meet with organisation supporting the mental health of teenagers and young adults as part of his ongoing work to promote greater openness around mental health.

The Duke of Sussex during a meeting with organisations supporting the mental health of teenagers / PA

YMCA South Ealing, one of the largest in Europe, primarily provides supported housing for 150 young people who are dealing with issues such as homelessness, mental illness, substance misuse or domestic violence.

He began his visit by meeting with a group of residents in a kitchen area.

Whats this place like - be honest! He said.

It has its ups and downs, admitted Jade Messam-Goodeenough, who was expelled from school at the age of 15 for low attendance and was later diagnosed with psychosis and anxiety but has managed to come through with the held of a YMCA support worker.

Does it ever freak you out that some [residents] are double your age but that have had the same experience and come out the other side? The prince continued.

It must be comforting to know that you are not alone, that you are one of the more not the few [when it comes to mental health]. That must be comforting?

People are speaking about mental illness more and are more aware about their mental health.

The Duke of Sussex (centre) chats with the Youth Ambassadors Mental Health Champions / PA

Later he went for an informal chat with some of YMCAs mental health champions. Throughout the UK the YMCA provides mental health services to 17,000 young people through workshops, family mediation and therapeutic services.

He spoke at length to Charlie Smith, from Norfolk, a senior youth engagement worker for the Mind Matters project and a YMCA Youth Ambassador.

Harry quizzed her about how important it was to have peer to peer mentoring as opposed to help from teachers.

It must be easier for kids in some situations to go and speak to someone relatable to them instead of going to a teacher or a therapist, he said.

We just need to normalise the conversation, to make it so normal [to talk about mental health] that it becomes part of every day life.

As we all know [referring to his own mental health issues] stage 1 is talking about it and that can be a cure in itself.

The shame we feel.... we are chipping away [at it] but the shame associated with mental illness is terrible.

The Duke of Sussex chats with Kerry Oldfield-Spence (left) and residents during a meeting with organisations supporting the mental health of teenagers and young adults / PA

Harry then moved into a round table discussion with representatives from organisations supporting the mental health of teenagers and young adults.

Much of the discussion centred on how for many young people, mental health issues can lead to to alcohol and drugs abuse as they try to cope and include representatives from YoungMinds, The Mix, Safe Lives, and Mermaids, which supports transgender children and young people.

Harry spoke at length of the need to hear more success stories from young people who overcome their mental health issues - explaining that many of the young people he had met, who had been in really, really dark places had come out the other side to live a normal life and were keen to talk about their experiences.

Now you as charities, I dont believe, necessarily it those young people forward. Those are the icons, the people that young people need to see and hear. The media here need to be better at telling the success stories.

There is too much negativity surrounding mental health. No wonder it so hard for young people to actually talk about it.

Prince Harry listens to the Youth Ambassadors Mental Health Champions / Getty Images

Turning to the issue of social media, he said: Social media is more addictive than drugs and alcohol. Yes it is more dangerous because it is normalised and there are no restrictions. So we are in a really in a mind-altering time.

But we are in an exciting time because everybody in this room has an opportunity to actually make a real difference so that young people coming through are less connected to their phones.

They can be as connected as they want to be but they have to have a human connection as well. Without that human connection when you do have a problem you have nowhere to go and the only place you might go is online and you [are] probably getting bullied.

He continued: Every single one of us has mental health. There is good mental health and there is bad mental health and just because you suffer or might not suffer from mental illness, your bad mental health is affecting everyone around you. The younger generation feel so much more positive about this. There is no point is saying Im fine, I feel fine. Everyone in this room is susceptible to mental illness.

Before he left Harry watched a childrens ballet class, one of a number of classes held at the YMCA to fund its work with young people.

rince Harry, Duke of Sussex chats with 3 months old baby Naz and mother Maria Ahmad / Getty Images

We have a little performance for you - and the mums, of course, said teacher Jane. Hello mums! Said Harry, waving.

The prince grinned from ear to ear and cooed so cute as he walked in and watched the children - the girls wearing pink and white leopards and skirts - perform two dance recitals for him.

The children performed their two dances beautifully before giving him a curtesy to music, too.

Talking to the children afterwards, he said Come in, I dont bite!

He asked Arya Twydell, five, how long she had been doing the class. The answer should have been two terms, but he was left in hysterics after she shouted one hundred years!

He told the group that they all deserved gold stars  except you, he said, jokingly, to the one boy in the class, Emanuel Lester, five, who was looking the other way.

Well done, you were fantastic.

And he asked the youngsters to point out their mums. Proud mums, smiled the prince. Do you do ballet too?

He then went over to congratulate the proud parents who were watching and bent down to gaze into the eyes of Naz Hamed, just three months, who was with her mother, Maria.

He asked her how old the baby was and if she she sleeping well, before poking out his tongue and making her smile and blow bubbled.

Shes just woken up? I love that face! He said.R AF jets were scrambled today after Russian bombers flew over the North Sea, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The Typhoon aircraft were sent out from RAF Lossiemouth on Wednesday after the Blackjack aircraft flew over Norway and off the east coast of the UK before leaving.

They did not enter UK territorial airspace.



The two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 long range bombers flew in international airspace off Britain's northeastern coast.

"We can confirm that RAF quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth scrambled to monitor two Blackjack bombers while they were in the UK area of interest, a MoD spokesman said.

"At no point did the Russian aircraft enter UK territorial airspace."

The incident took place as Nato forces are in Scotland for a training exercise named Exercise Joint Warrior.

Its the second time the jets have been scrambled in two days.A lgerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has stepped down after 20 years in office and weeks of massive nationwide protests.

It comes after a call from the powerful army chief for the ailing president, 82, to "immediately" take up his proposal to bow out while respecting the constitution.

The official APS news agency said that Bouteflika had notified the Constitutional Council of his decision to end his mandate. There was no immediate announcement on who would take over.

Under the constitution, the president of the upper house, the Council of Nations, steps in as interim leader for a maximum of 90 days so that elections can be organised.

Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika pictured in 2014 / AFP/Getty Images

Army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah had earlier in the day convened a meeting of the top military hierarchy, making clear that the call for Bouteflika to step down had the backing of the military.

The Defence Ministry communique referred to Bouteflika's entourage as a "gang" and said it had made "fraud, embezzlement and duplicity its vocation".

He has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke. His resignation caps six weeks of peaceful protest marches calling for him to make an exit.

It was preceded by calls for him to submit to Article 102 of the Constitution that would declare him unfit for office.

The Defence Ministry statement Tuesday appeared to be a final warning.

Bouteflika came to the presidency after its darkest period, the 1990s Islamic insurgency. After taking power in 1999, he managed to bring back stability to a country devastated by killings and distrust.

As president, age and illness took its toll, and corruption scandals dogged him and associates.

Bouteflika is accused of failing to create an economy that could offer enough jobs, despite the nation's vast oil and gas wealth.

In a country where secrecy surrounds the leadership, it has never been clear whether Bouteflika was fully in charge or whether the powerful army was pulling the strings.A n Australian senator who was accused of blaming the victims of two mosque shootings for their deaths has been censured by his colleagues.

Senator Fraser Manning sparked outrage and was the target for widespread condemnation for blaming the terrorist attack in Christchurch on immigration policies.

He also faced further criticism for physically striking a teenager who cracked a raw egg on his head in a viral incident in Melbourne.

Parliament sat for the second day to discuss the March 15 attack, where 50 people were gunned down during Friday prayers.

EPA

During the second sitting, government and opposition lawmakers moved the censure motion against Mr Anning for his comments which seeked to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people.

Government Senate Leader Mathias Cormann said: Senator Annings comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable from anyone, let alone a member of this place.

Mr Anning dismissed the censure motion as an attack on free speech.

A man prays while attending a vigil for the victims of the shootings / AP

Ahead of the vote, he told the Senate: It is also an exercise in left-wing virtue signalling of the worst kind.

He sits as an independent lawmaker after defecting from the anti-Muslim One Nation party, whose two senators abstained from the censure vote.

Mr Connolly breaks an egg on the head of Senator Fraser Anning while he holds a press conference. / AP

Mr Anning was condemned for his comments shortly after the mass shootings, where he said: The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program that allowed muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.

His comments were regarded as shameful and appalling by some lawmakers in the Senate.

Following his comments, more than 1.4 million people signed a petition demanding he resigns and New Zealand PM Jane Arem called his remarks a disgrace.

The censure does not carry a practical punishment, but it is viewed as an official condemnation.A British environmental activist and Catholic missionary has been found burned to death in the Amazon.

Paul McAuley, 71, was found dead at a youth hostel he founded for indigenous students in the city of Iquitos.

Authorities have been questioning six indigenous youths who lived at the hostel since the mans body was found on Tuesday.

Mr McAuley had been helping Peru's historically discriminated tribes in the battle against powerful oil and mining interests.

Paul McAuley, 71, was found dead at a hostel he ran for indigenous students in Iquitos (file image) / Shutterstock / Nowaczyk

In 2010, the government tried to strip him of his residency for allegedly inciting unrest after he fought attempts to open the Amazon to drilling.

The La Salle Christian Brothers said in a statement that the activist had been burned to death.

In 2004, McAuley founded the Loreto Environmental Network, a group that works on behalf of indigenous groups.

He and environmentalists opposed then-President Alan Garcia's moves to open up the Amazon to unprecedented mining and oil exploration and drilling.

They also complained that Garcia's government has done little to impede rampant logging, which they say threatens the existence of indigenous groups.

Environmental activists have paid tribute to Mr McAuley.B runei is facing a global backlash after rolling out harsh new Islamic laws which allow death by stoning for adultery and gay sex.

The new measures, that come into force on Wednesday, also cover a range of other crimes including punishment for thefts by amputation.

Rape, robbery and insulting the Prophet Mohammed will also be punishable by death in the small south-east Asian nation.

Brunei introduced the laws after years of delays, ignoring global criticism from politicians, human rights groups and celebrities including actor George Clooney.

Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei by a jail term up to 10 years, but under the new laws - which apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim - those found guilty of gay sex could be stoned to death or whipped.

Brunei's sultan called for Islamic teachings in the country to be strengthened / AFP/Getty Images

Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second.

Mr Clooney, married to prominent human rights lawyer Amal, recently called for a boycott of luxury hotels in Europe and the US linked to Bruneis leader Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

In a speech on Wednesday, the sultan did not mention the new laws but called for "stronger" Islamic teachings in the country.

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah delivers a speech on Wednesday / AFP/Getty Images

Many have protested against the laws, with German diplomats expressing concern and appealing to Bruneis ambassador to abide by existing international human rights obligations.

Human rights group Amnesty International slammed the punishments as "vicious", while the US urged Brunei to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

"Brunei's decision to implement Phases Two and Three of the Sharia Penal Code and associated penalties runs counter to its international human rights obligations, including with respect to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said.

"We continue to encourage Brunei to ratify and implement the UNs Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 2015, and to sign, ratify, and implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The European Union said in a statement that some of the new punishments "amount to torture, acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".

Muslim women listen to Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah / AFP/Getty Images

Many of the new laws introduced in Brunei, a Muslim-majority former British protectorate with a population of around 400,000, will apply to non-Muslims as well as Muslims.

A 33-year-old Bruneian gay man, who spoke anonymously, told AFP the rules are unfair, cruel and should not happen, adding: It really takes away my happiness and freedom to express myself.

Transgender woman Zulhelmi bin Mohamad, who fled Brunei last year, told the news agency of the countrys LGBT community: Some worry a lot and would like to escape the country before they are found out not to be heterosexual.J ustin Trudeau has kicked two whistleblower MPs out of his ruling Liberal Party amid a political firestorm over his governments alleged meddling in a criminal case.

The embattled prime minister said the expulsions of Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal Party were triggered because trust has been broken.

Ms Wilson-Raybould, the former attorney general, had accused the government of putting pressure on her to help one of Canadas biggest companies avoid prosecution after it was accused of using bribery to win lucrative contracts in Libya.

She resigned from the Cabinet after claiming she had faced veiled threats and sustained pressure to side with construction giant SNC-Lavalin.

Ms Philpott resigned as Treasury Board president last month in protest over the governments handling of the affair.

Trying to contain the simmering scandal in an election year, Mr Trudeau told his party last night that he had shown patience and understanding, but added: The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken.

Mr Trudeau, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing by himself or his officials, claimed his decision was prompted by a revelation last week that the former attorney general had secretly recorded a conversation with Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, which she claimed supported her allegation that she was pressured to shield SNC-Lavalin from prosecution.

If a politician secretly records a conversation with anyone, its wrong. When that politician is a cabinet minister secretly recording a public servant, its wrong, said Mr Trudeau.

Ms Wilson-Raybould tweeted today that she has no regrets over her decision to go public with her whistleblower claims.

Ms Philpott insisted she was wrongly accused of disloyalty and said she found it profoundly disheartening to be pushed out.D onald Trump has found himself mocked again on social media after apparently confusing origins and oranges.

The US President was addressing reporters at a press briefing with NATO general secretary, General Jens Stoltenburg, over the findings of the Mueller investigation and said: I hope that this investigation now, which is finished  its totally finished, no collusion, no obstruction  I hope they now go and take a look at the oranges, the oranges of the investigation.

The President is often accused of having an artificially "orange" complexion / AP

Feeling an apparent need for clarity, the President continued: the oranges of the uh investigation, the beginnings of that investigation.

Mr Trump told the reporters that they would all receive Pulitzer prizes if they successfully uncovered the origin of the investigation  where it started, how it started, who started it, and said he felt disappointed that they hadnt already done so.

He concluded the speech by reverting to his original word of choice: The Muller report I wish covered the oranges how it started, the beginnings of the investigation.

The Presidents confusion has been met with widespread ridicule on social media, with one Twitter user posting an amended title to Charles Darwin's most famous work.

Mr Trump reiterated his claim that Robert Muellers report, which was submitted to the US Attorney General last month, totally exonerated him of any alleged collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.M Ps set out plans to block no-deal Brexit

A group of MPs are set to launch a bid to stop a no-deal Brexit as Theresa May seeks an extension to the UKs split from the EU.

The cross-party group will today table legislation that would require the Prime Minister to delay Britains withdrawal beyond April 12.

It comes after Mrs May said she would seek an extension beyond next week to allow talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Tory Brexiteers criticised the PM for the move, accusing her of surrendering control of the UK's exit from the bloc.

ERG chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg warned her that gaining Mr Corbyns support would not instil confidence in Conservatives.

Nipsey Hussle suspected killer arrested in LA

Nipsey Hussles suspected killer has been arrested after a days-long manhunt following the fatal shooting of the rapper.

Eric Holder, 29, had been on the run for two days before he was arrested in Los Angeles, about 20 miles from the crime scene.

He was detained first by sheriff's deputies until LA Police arrived and confirmed he was wanted over Hussle's killing.

The artists girlfriend has said she is "completely lost" without the father of her child after he was shot and killed on Sunday.

Lauren London, 34, posted a touching tribute to the Grammy-nominated artist hours after his suspected killer was arrested.

Brit activist found burned to death in Peru

A British environmental activist and Catholic missionary has been found burned to death in the Amazon.

Paul McAuley, 71, was found dead at a youth hostel he founded for indigenous students in the city of Iquitos.

Authorities have been questioning six indigenous youths who lived at the hostel since the mans body was found on Tuesday.

Third of Britons 'snoop on partner's devices'

More than a third of Britons have admitted to snooping on their partner's devices to see if they are cheating, a study has revealed.

Four in 10 people confessed to spying on their partners mobile at least once a week, the new survey showed.

And one in five men said they waited until their partner was asleep to use their fingerprint to unlock their phone.

The findings come as family lawyers reported an increase information from devices being used to cite adultery for divorce.

Relegated: Fulhams fate sealed after Watford defeat

Fulham have been relegated from the Premier League following their defeat to Watford last night.

The west London club needed to claim at least a point at Vicarage Road to earn a brief stay of execution.

But the 4-1 defeat ensured their ninth successive loss and it is now impossible for the 19th-place side to move clear of danger.

On this day

1367: Henry IV was born at Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire.

1860: The Pony Express service began, running from St Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento.

1882: Jesse James, the legendary outlaw, was shot in the back by one of his own gang.

1913: Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to three years for inciting supporters to place explosives at the London home of David Lloyd George.

1922: Joseph Stalin was appointed general secretary of the Communist Party in Russia.

1987: The late Duchess of Windsor's jewels fetched 31 million at auction.J ustin Bieber has apologised for an "insensitive" April Fools' joke claiming that his wife Hailey Baldwin was pregnant.

The pop star tricked fans into thinking he was about to become a father by sharing an ultrasound with his 107 million Instagram followers.

Bieber, 25, also posted pictures of his 22-year-old partner undergoing a medical exam, further fuelling the idea she was having a baby.

He later came clean and admitted it was a hoax but was criticised on social media, with critics claiming women who struggle to conceive could find the joke hurtful.

Bieber issued a lengthy message on Tuesday, apologising but saying "With pranks u sometimes have to roll that dice".

He said: "There's always gonna be people offended, there's also people who don't take jokes very well, I am a prankster and it was APRIL FOOLS. I didn't at all mean to be insensitive to people who can't have children."

Bieber said many people he knows use the pregnancy joke on April Fools' but "I will apologise anyway and take responsibility and say sorry to people who were offended".

He added: "I truly don't want anyone to be hurt by a prank.. it's like when I shoved cake in my little sisters face for her birthday expecting her to laugh but she cried.

"You sometimes just don't know what will hurt someone's feelings not to compare pregnancy with cake in the face but it's just to paint the picture of not knowing what will offend.

"Some might have laughed but some were offended .. I think With pranks u sometimes have to roll that dice. #prankster #dennisthemenace #sorry #truly."

Hailey Baldwin showers Justin Bieber in kisses days after singer opens up about 'struggling a lot'

It comes after fans struggled to understand why he would pull the prank as they opened up about personal struggles with fertility, branding his post disgusting and a classless act.

One user commented: These jokes arent funny... do you understand how many families have to deal with infertility and loss of pregnancy? Shame on you.

Another wrote: Honestly people would die to become parents, I hate the Im pregnant April Fools. Lets hope you and your wife arent infertile so you dont feel the heartbreak of not being able to carry your own child. Just coming from a place of experience.

Justin and Hailey Bieber out and about in New York - In pictures 1 /9 Justin and Hailey Bieber out and about in New York - In pictures Justin and Hailey Bieber leave their apartment in Brooklyn, New York Splash News SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com SplashNews.com

A third posted: And when I thought I couldnt hate you more. Congrats on being a piece of s***. Faking a pregnancy announcement is not funny. Some women cant get pregnant.

Canadian Bieber first caught the eye singing on YouTube before becoming one of the world's biggest pop stars thanks to hits including Baby, Sorry and Love Yourself.

He first sparked pregnancy rumours last month when he wrote on Instagram that he was "focused on repairing some very deep rooted issues" so he could become "the father I want to be".I ts a bright Wednesday afternoon in Kings Cross and the area is abuzz with the possibilities of new tech as Entrepreneur First gets ready to kick off its first demo day of 2019.

If youve never heard of EF before, it's an incubator that invests in people in order to find the big ideas of tomorrow. Whereas programmes like Google Startups will take on companies with fully formed ideas and products, EF brings in people, who dont even need to have an idea, let alone a business plan.

The core belief of EF is that it really matters what the most ambitious people do with their lives, explains co-founder Alice Bentinck.

Why hasnt there been a Google in Europe? The answer isnt about seed funding or any of these things, it's that for a long time the most ambitious people in Europe have gone on to work at Goldman Sachs.

What you need to know about Entrepreneur First

Bentinck started EF with her co-founder Matt Clifford back in 2011 as a way to invest in people. Now this has a term, 'talent investing', but at the time it was a radical departure from anything else.

When we went around the London venture capital (VC) ecosystem in 2011, they were very polite but basically said, please dont do this, laughs Bentinck.

The bet Bentinck and Clifford made on investing in people has paid off - over the past eight years EF companies have gone on to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. EF companies have gone on to be sold in major deals, known as exits, such as visual machine learning company Magic Pony to Twitter and natural language processing start-up Bloomsbury AI to Facebook.

From that one office in London, there are now five other EF offices around the world in Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangalore. Bentinck and Clifford themselves raised $115 million (88 million) earlier this year to invest in the future of tech.

So what makes a person fit for EF? According to Clifford, there are four key ingredients: ambition, problem-solving, determination and having an edge.

What edge means to us is the personal competitive advantage. We want to people, who even though they dont have an idea to show us at that stage, we want to imagine them at demo day. Standing on the stage, what are they going to say about themselves that makes them an obvious founder for a company?

If we can identify that, that gives us confidence there will be an idea.

Why Entrepreneur First works so well

Part of the magic of EF comes down to what Bentinck calls combinatorial innovation. If you think about the ideation process - when someone comes to EF, theyre constrained by their skills and experience in terms of which ideas they create, she says.

When you combine two, sometimes parallel, sometimes far apart skill sets, and bringing together committed, super smart people together, and then its seeing what comes out of that.

Take the example of Neoplants, pitching in this afternoons proceedings and almost certainly a company to watch. The start-up wants to create a new breed of plants that can detoxify your indoor environment, removing the volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. One founder has a PhD in genetic modification and the other has a background in new product launches at Google.

If youd told him 12 months ago, youre going to start a really important plant company, hed be like what? says Clifford. But without his expertise in product innovation, how do you create a new category? Neoplants wouldnt exist.

The thing I love, and will never get old, is you never know what youre going to get. Its all about these incredible individuals, he adds.

The EF Europe cohort at the first 2019 Demo Day in Kings Cross / Jay Anderson

Todays demo day is different to previous iterations in that it is bringing together the cohorts from all three of EFs European offices for the first time. Bentinck says this is because London is the VC capital of Europe - in 2018, the UK brought in more than 1.5 times the level of funding than Germany.

Part of this is due to the city starting to mature now in terms of tech. Weve seen big companies come through like TransferWise or Babylon, who have trained up the next COOs and product leads, she says. Its making a really big difference and helps to cement London as the best place in Europe to start a company.

The future of Entrepreneur First

Hot on the heels of London's medtech successes like Babylon, there are a few medical-focused start-ups in the EF Demo Day cohort, including four companies focused specifically on solving issues around cancer.

One start-up, Blazar, wants to use machine learning to predict responses cancer patients will have to immunotherapy to boost the potential of treatments. Another, Panakeia, uses deep learning to speed up the diagnosis of cancer from biopsies, to bring the process down from 20+ days to only a handful.

Clifford also says this has been one of EFs most diverse cohorts, with at least one-third of teams with a female founding member.

Diversity is something the duo are passionate about. In 2012, they set up Code First: Girls, which has now taught 10,000 girls to code for free, in order to improve the diversity of people going into the industry. According to Bentinck, CFG has been instrumental in getting more women into software roles, but as EF has an emphasis on technical talent, particularly founders with PhDs, it will take a while before more of the programme's graduates make it to EF.

My guess is in five years, well be talking about the huge numbers of CFG grads doing EF," says Clifford.

The EF founders' other big bet is that in the next five years Europe will have its very own Google-sized company, and that it's going to come from EF. The oldest companies in the EF portfolio, from the current model, are about four years old. Even if there is a Google in there, its probably going to be another five or six years before its obvious, but it is coming, says Clifford.

Theres a lot of optimism at the moment. The well-documented British scepticism is beginning to disappear, adds Bentinck.(CNN)  Saudi Arabia has admitted the death of missing Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, claiming he died in a fight involving more than a dozen Saudi officials at the country's consulate in Istanbul.

After 18 days in which it insisted it had no involvement in the journalist's disappearance, Riyadh asserted that Khashoggi died as a result of the altercation after he had come to the consulate to obtain paperwork needed for his forthcoming wedding.

An announcement carried on Saudi state TV said discussions between Khashoggi and officials at the consulate quickly turned violent, and ended in his death. Those responsible then tried to cover it up, a Saudi statement said.

Saudi Arabian authorities announced a purge of officials, the detention of 18 people and an overhaul of the intelligence services headed by the country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- whom US officials privately believe must have been aware of the operation to target Khashoggi.

The question is whether Riyadh's final explanation for Khashoggi's demise is enough to allow the international community to move on from the disastrous episode.

US President Donald Trump indicated he believed it was credible. But UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "deeply troubled" by the explanation, his spokesman said.

Some members of the US Congress, who have the power to force the administration's hand on foreign policy, were derisive. "To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said on Twitter.

Long silence

The Saudi statement was the first official confirmation that Khashoggi died at the country's consulate in Istanbul 18 days ago, and the first acknowledgment by Saudi Arabia of its role in it.

Khashoggi disappeared after going to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul at about 1:15 p.m. on October 2 to obtain paperwork that would have allowed him to marry his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. She raised the alarm just before 5 p.m, while she was still waiting outside.

Turkish officials believe Khashoggi was killed soon after he arrived, and in the face of Saudi denials, leaked gory details of what they believed happened.

Saudi Arabia's statement in the early hours of Saturday morning was the result of more than two weeks of international pressure to explain Khashoggi's disappearance, and came after Trump dispatched his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to Riyadh to discuss the case.

According to the Saudi version of events, Khashoggi's death was an accident, a result of a discussion that went awry. What happened next is less clear: the Saudi statement says the group of officials involved in the journalist's death covered up the aftermath, but makes no mention of what happened to his body. Turkish officials believe it was dismembered, but no body parts have yet been found.

The consequences touch some of Bin Salman's inner circle. Five high-ranking officials have been removed from their posts, including the deputy head of the Saudi intelligence service.

Trump's first reaction

Trump called the official statement from Riyadh a "good first step" and said talks would continue. Saudi Arabia had been a "great ally in the Middle East," but that "what happened is unacceptable," he added. Trump said he would work with Congress to develop a response to Khashoggi's death, but said that he didn't want sanctions to affect US arms sales to the kingdom.

"I would prefer if there is going to be some form of sanctions -- this was a lot of people they're talking about .... I would prefer we don't use as retribution canceled $110 billion worth of work," he told reporters after a roundtable at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

Trump said he would withhold fuller comment until he speaks with Bin Salman.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that the US acknowledged the Saudi explanation of the "tragic incident" and would "advocate for justice" for Khashoggi.

Widespread condemnation

The apparent circumstances of Khashoggi's disappearance caused worldwide revulsion. Businesses pulled out of an investment conference due to be held in Saudi Arabia next week, and Trump came under pressure to issue an unequivocal condemnation. On Thursday -- before the Saudi statement -- US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announcedhe would not participate in the conference.

Members of Congress could put pressure on the White House to act more firmly. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, accused the Saudis of "buying time and buying cover," calling for an investigation that included US involvement and any Turkish audio and visual records of the event.

"The Saudis very clearly seem to be buying time and buying cover, but this action raises more questions than it answers," the Connecticut Democrat told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" Friday night.

Key ally canned

In Saudi Arabia, all eyes will be on what happens next. In dispatching Ahmed al-Assiri, the deputy intelligence chief, Bin Salman has lost a key ally.

Assiri is believed to have been chief architect of the war with Yemen, and was previously the Saudi-led coalition spokesman in the kingdom's war against Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The two-star general's position as spokesman made him a household name and he was soon part of the crown prince's inner circle.

According to several sources, he chose the team involved in Khashoggi's disappearance.

Also dismissed were Royal Court Consultant Saud al-Qahtani, Rashad bin Hamed Al-Mohammady, the head of the General Department for Security and Protection at the agency, along with Mohamed bin Saleh Al-Ramih and Abdullah bin Khalifa Al-Shayee, two high-ranking intelligence officers.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Jamal Khashoggi died in fight at Istanbul consulate, Saudi state TV claims."Bill Waller Jr., left, and Robert Foster greet each other before Tuesdays first Republican gubernatorial primary debate at Lee hall at Mississippi State in Starkville.Countries & Areas

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Read also: Laura Codruta Kovesi: 'Court ruled to lift judicial control ordered in my case'

"We continue to achieve very good results in exercising the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In these three months of term, the ministers together with the expert teams under their coordination and with Romania's Permanent Representation, have finalized 88 files they had on the working table, concerning all areas: finance, border security, agriculture, energy, digitization, transport, jobs and health," Dancila said at the beginning of the government meeting.

The Premier added that Minister Nicolae Hurduc is chairing this Wednesday the informal meeting of the member states' Ministers of Research and Innovation that discusses ways to intensify scientific cooperation.

"At the end of this week, Minister of Finance Eugen Teodorovici will welcome in Bucharest all the EU Finance Ministers and central bank governors at the informal ECOFIN meeting. The elements of the multi-annual financial framework, the way to follow regarding the union of capital markets and the challenges posed by labor mobility will be discussed. In a first, representatives of the social partners will also participate in this informal meeting. Our desire is that the important decisions for the European project be taken by consulting all the parties involved. Also this week we are hosting a series of meetings of experts from the member states on various topics such as education, food safety, employment, agricultural research, and where the lines to be followed for increasing the living standards of the European citizens will be established," Dancila said.

AGERPRES .Prime Minister Viorica Dancila welcomed on Wednesday at the Victoria Palace Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, who is paying an official visit to Romania according Agerpres.

After the welcoming ceremony, the two Prime Ministers will have a tete-a-tete meeting, followed by talks in the plenary of the two delegations.

At the end of the talks, joint press statements are scheduled to take place.Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic will also be welcomed at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace by President Klaus Iohannis.Romania was given a postponement to respond to the European Commission regarding the infringement procedure opened in early March for the incorrect implementation of the Gas Directive; the deadline is May 25, said vice-president of the National Energy Regulatory Authority Zoltan Nagy-Bege, attending the WindEurope Conference & Exhibition in Bilbao.

Read also: Deputies' Chamber rejects simple motion against Transport Minister

"An infringement procedure against Romania was voted on March 7 for failing to correctly implement the Gas Directive, for which we have already started talks with the Energy Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, even with the Commission, and we obtained a postponement. Meanwhile, I think the government of Romania has given a fairly important signal, scrapping the cap for non-household consumers, which - in my personal opinion - was the most sensitive point in the letter of formal notice received from the Commission regarding the breach of the Gas Directive," said Zoltan Nagy-Bege.

The European Commission has decided to send Romania a letter of formal notice for failure to correctly implement certain requirements of the Gas Directive (Directive 2009/73/CE) and the Security of Gas Supply Regulation (EU Regulation 2017/1938), the EU Executive said in a release on March 7.

This is the first step of the infringement procedure. The notified states have two months to answer the Commission.

According to the EC, the two directives aim to ensure competitiveness on the EU gas markets, while ensuring the safe supply of households and other clients requiring special protection.

The Romanian government decided in December 2018, through Emergency Ordinance No. 114 on fiscal-budgetary measures, to cap the gas price at 68 lei/MWh for the next three years for all household consumers. The price for industrial consumers will also be capped but it will be a mix of the 68 lei price for industrial consumers, the import price and the storage cost.

On March 29, 2019 the government decided to amend OUG No. 114/2018 so as to cap the domestic gas price at 68 lei per MWh only for household consumers and district heating plants that supply heat to households, Energy Minister Anton Anton announced at the end of the government sitting on that day.

AGERPRES .Senate President Calin Popescu Tariceanu asks President Klaus Iohannis to sign the decree dismissing Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar from office, because the latter is among the characters "who sadly bring to mind the dirty games they played" for the former communist regime according to Agerpres.

"Today, I ask you Mr President to get in your constitutional role as the guarantor of democracy and ungently sign the decree dismissing the Prosecutor General from office, a request which, independently of the abovementioned facts, which do nothing else but worsen things, has already been sent by the Justice Minister. (...) It's about the terrifying disclosures, according to which Romania's Prosecutor General, a person who should be a model of ethics and conduct for the magistrates of this country, would have been among the characters who sadly bring to mind the dirty games they played for the former communist regime," Tariceanu mentions in an open letter sent on Wednesday.The multipolar transformation that is occurring across the Eurasian continent confirms the industrial and diplomatic cooperation between China and the European continent in spite of strong opposition from the United States.

Xi Jinpings visit to Europe confirms what many of us have been writing about over the past few months and years, namely, the reality of an ongoing global transformation of a world dominated by the United States to a pluralistic one composed of different powers collectively shaping a multipolar world.

Europe therefore finds itself in fortuitous position, balanced as it is between its old world links to the United States on the one side and the fledgling Eurasian one being ushered in by Russia and China on the other.

Countries like Germany and France, but even the United Kingdom, have long implemented commercial policies that encourage integration between the countries of the Eurasian supercontinent. In 2015, the United Kingdom was among the first Western countries to join the Chinese Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which finances projects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The Chinese BRI mega project kicked off in 2014 with the ambitious goal of integrating trade between China and Europe by sea and by land, in the process incorporating all the countries in between. The idea, as a natural consolidation of trade, is to shorten the delivery times of goods by rail and integrate sea routes. The project covers not only ports and rail lines but also the construction of technological infrastructure to achieve global interconnectivity using the 5G technology developed by the Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Germany and France have over the years deepened their partnerships with Beijing. Paris in particular boasts historical ties with China stemming from the nuclear cooperation between China General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) and Electricite de France (EDF) stretching back to 1978, as well as the aerospace one between Airbus and the Chinese aviation companies that has been ongoing since 1985.

Italy has in recent months approached the BRI as a result of the new government consisting of the Lega Nord and Five Star Movement (M5S). The decision to sign a memorandum of understanding between Beijing and Rome underlines how the new government wants to maintain a balanced position between Washington and Beijing in certain sectors. This is exactly the approach of Germany, which has elected to continue deepening its ties with Moscow vis-a-vis hydrocarbons and Nord Stream 2 in the face of pressure from Washington. Moreover, both Germany and Italy have confirmed that they want to rely on Huawei for the implementation and management of 5G traffic, which is fundamental to a world dominated by the internet of things.

The decisions of Germany, France and Italy to continue their cooperation with Moscow and Beijing in various fields flies in the face of the narrative advanced by the American-controlled scaremongering media controlled that attempts to discourage European politicians from acting in the interests of their countries and engaging with Russia and China.

What Washington continues to misunderstand is why certain European countries are so determined to embrace the opportunities offered by the East. Italys recent example is quite easy to understand. The Italians hope that the BRI will provide much needed stimulus to their production industry, which has been in the doldrums in recent years. The desire for Chinese capital to give a boost to the export of Italian-produced goods is the driving force behind the proposed agreement between Beijing and Rome.

In addition to the obvious and natural desire for capital, there is also the idea of ensuring energy supply, as Germany is doing with the construction of the Nord Stream 2 with Russia. Despite strong US opposition, Berlin has favored its own national interest in energy diversification, avoiding giving in to pressure from Washington, which wanted Germany to rely on LNG supplied all the way from the US at an exorbitant price when compared to Russian-supplied gas.

There are striking divergences between Europes politicians, especially if we look at the relations between Macron and Salvini in Italy, or those between May and her European colleagues. Even between Merkel and Macron there seem to be notable frictions surrounding energy independence. However, in spite of these apparent divergences, the prevailing theme in the final analysis is that of wishing to escape Washingtons suffocating dominance in favor of a greater participation in the concept of a multipolar world.

No European capital  whether it be Paris, Rome, Berlin or London  intends to break the Atlantic pact with Washington. This is confirmed at every possible formal occasion. However, as Beijing becomes more and more central to questions concerning technology or the supply of liquid capital for investments or business expansion, the changes to the global order seem unstoppable.

The last obstacle remains those countries still closely linked to pro-Atlantic policies, those who find in Beijing, and above all Moscow, an excellent excuse to invite Washingtons greater intrusion into the sovereign affairs of Europe. The Baltic countries and Poland seem to offer the best inroads for US policy makers to try to influence the debate on the old continent regarding ties with the East. The artificial crises created in Ukraine, Syria and Venezuela also serve as tools to divide European leaders into opposing camps, creating the conditions to scupper European cooperation with the East.

It is no coincidence that for US strategists the two greatest dangers lie in the possibility of Moscow and Beijing, or Moscow and Berlin, cooperating and coordinating their efforts. The Berlin-Moscow-Beijing triangle, with the addition of Rome and Paris, represents a scenario for Washington that is unprecedented in terms of its challenge to US hegemony in Europe.

Wang Yiwei, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, during Xi Jinpings historic visit to Rome expressed in concrete terms the changing global order

With the 16+1 cooperation plan between Central and Eastern European nations and China, several countries signed memoranda of understanding with China to jointly build the BIS. So far, the governments of 16 Central and Eastern European countries have signed memoranda of understanding on BIS cooperation with China. Currently, 171 cooperation agreements have been reached with 123 countries and 29 international organizations under the BIS .The American F-15C fighter finally got a new IRST (Infra-Red Search & Track) capability when the first Legion IRST Pods were delivered in 2018. The 250 kg (550 pound) Legion Pod is another version of the existing IRST21, which is built into the forward section of centerline fuel tanks on F-18E aircraft. Legion is the same tech but in a separate pod. In early 2019 the air force ordered the Block II version of the Legion pod, which incorporates new features being added to IRST21. Exact capabilities of new IRST systems are kept secret for as long as possible because once potential competitors know the operational capabilities of IRST they can better develop countermeasures. Like radar, IRST is less accurate at longer distances. The major innovation of recent IRST systems like IRST21 is the use of more efficient software on faster computers that analyze distant and indistinct images and accurately identifies aircraft type and where it is headed and at what speed. This information goes to the aircraft fire control system which updates the long-range missiles with target data and gets the missiles launched quickly. The need for speed no longer refers to just how fast an aircraft is moving.

The U.S. Air Force was always not as enthusiastic about IRST for the F-15C. In 2011, as an economy move, and because of unspecified "technical problems", the U.S. Air Force dropped all efforts to equip any of its F-15C fighters with IRST. This included an effort, begun in 2009, to equip a hundred F-15Cs with heat-sensing pods once used to equip navy F-14Ds (which were retired in 2006). The refurbished navy IRST pods would have enabled the F-15s to detect and track aircraft, over a hundred kilometers away from the heat the target aircraft give off. IRST is a passive (it does not broadcast) sensor, and thus it is undetectable by the enemy. It was known that the tech in the F-14 pods was being upgraded as IRST21 but the air force wanted to see just how effective the new tech was before placing orders.

IRST21 was available for flight testing in early 2014 when the U.S. Navy carried out its first flight tests. Like older IRST systems IRST21 uses a high-resolution infrared (heat sensing) sensor to act like a radar to positively spot and identify a potential aerial target. This is done by comparing what IRST sees to 3-D models of known aircraft stored in the pod computer. This is similar to the ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared) pods used to spot surface targets. IRST21 was a notable improvement in IRST capabilities building on the IRST system used successfully in the retired F-14s. The major advance in IRST21 was that it was accurate enough at long range to not only identify the aircraft type but provide targeting information for long-range radar homing missiles (like AMRAAM) carried on American fighters. These missiles have their own short-range radars built in but until ITST21 came along required the firing aircraft to turn on its targeting radar to get the precise location of the target before launching the long-range missile. While launching the missile gives away your position you still get in the first shot which in air combat is the single most important factor in defeating an opponent. Moreover, IRST, especially with the Block II improvements, allows the IRST21 equipped aircraft to identify and track multiple targets and fire missiles at them.

FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared Radar) has been around since the 1980s, and as the technology became more powerful, it was possible to spot and identify targets at longer ranges. The ATFLIR could identify ground targets from 20 kilometers away, and the latest IRST systems (like IRST21) have an even longer range. It eventually became possible to use FLIR, in the form of IRST, as a sensor for spotting aircraft. This was a big advantage because FLIR is passive. It doesn't broadcast, like normal radar, thus the target cannot detect those radar transmissions and be alerted that it is being "painted" by hostile radar. When used by a stealthy aircraft (as F-22 and F-35 do) this is a lethal combination.

The navy was playing catch-up by equipping some of its F-18E fighters with the new generation of IRST. Russian and European fighters (MiG-29, Su-30, Eurofighter, Rafale) have long had IRST. For the Russians, this was seen as a way to deal with stealthy American aircraft. The U.S. stealth warplanes were built to defeat radar. But these stealthy aircraft still gave off heat and IRST works by seeking out heat. The navy already has some aircraft equipped with an IRST pod based on the technology used in the older F-14D IRST. But newer IRST21 technology was pitched as being much more effective, giving warnings (that something is out there) at long range (several hundred kilometers). The new generation IRST21 was also able to spot targets on the ground or at sea.

The older IRST had limitations. The main ones are the range (usually about 30 kilometers for accurate detection but much farther for "something is there") and problems with clouds distorting the heat signature of the target. The short range means that another aircraft using its radar (which has a range of over 100 kilometers for precise identification) has an obvious edge. The distortion problems are slowly being solved by improved computer analysis of the detected image. Since many warplanes like to operate "quiet" (without any electronic transmissions), IRST becomes the best way to spot the other guy and open fire first. At longer ranges, IRST still gave pretty vague data. It was found that just having an indication that someone is out there, more than a hundred kilometers away, gave you an edge.

The F-18E IRST21 were mounted in a modified centerline drop tank, which contained the IRST21 as well as 68 percent of the usual fuel. One problem with this approach is that the F-18E can't jettison this drop tank to make itself more maneuverable for air-to-air combat. Well, you could jettison, but you lose your IRST and an item that costs over two million dollars. Other aircraft, like the F-22 and F-35, have the IRST built into the fuselage. American manufacturers have added IRST pods to F-15Es exported to South Korea and Singapore.

Pilots quickly found that they could use their new generation IRST for spotting aircraft accurately, at long distance and get off the first shot with AMRAAM. This prompted air forces to hustle up the equipping of more aircraft with the improved IRST21 type equipment, especially since this IRST was designed especially to also accurately surface targets on land or sea. The air force took a while longer than the navy to accept the value of the new generation of IRST as exemplified in IRST21, the Legion pod and the internal IRST in the F-35. The F-22 has also had its IRST upgraded although additional upgrades are delayed because of tight budgets.SOUTH CHINA SEA (March 29, 2019) An F-35B Lightning II aircraft assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). Wasp, flagship of Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the Indo-Pacific region to enhance interoperability with partners and serve as a lethal, ready-response force for any type of contingency. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Benjamin F. Davella III)

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with John Maunder

Rainfalls for the month of March have been recorded in Tauranga since 1898  except for 1904, 1908 and 1909.

This graph below shows the range of rainfalls from a high of 504 mm in 1979, to a low of 5 mm in 1943.

The second wettest March was in 1972, when 318 mm was recorded, and two March months  1921 and 2010  recorded 14 mm.

The long-term average rainfall for Tauranga for March is 109 mm. The rainfall for March 2019 was 53 mm.

The graph shows no significant overall trend in rainfalls in March during the last 120 years, apart from a small increase in the average rainfall for the 50 years ending in 1960 of 103 mm, compared with 117 mm in the 50 years to 2010.

Since 1898, there have been eleven March months with a rainfall of 200 mm or more, and eleven March months with a rainfall of 30 mm or less.

The wettest March months in chronological order are: 1902,1918,1922,1935,1941,1944,1957,1962,1972,1979 and 1987.

The driest March months in chronological order are: 1903,1905,1921,1943,1951,1952,1953,1969, 2004, 2010 and 2013.

For further information see the following textbooks books (all available at specialised libraries)

"The Value of the Weather" (1970), "The Uncertainty Business - Risks and Opportunities in Weather and Climate" (1986), "The Human Impact of Climate Uncertainty - Weather Information, Economic Planning, and Business Management " (1989),all by W.J.MaunderTourism Bay of Plenty continues to progress towards becoming a Destination Management Organisation with the development of their Visitor Economy Strategy 2018-28 and Destination Development Plan. Their partnership with Air New Zealand has resulted in additional flights between Tauranga/Wellington and Tauranga/Auckland from April. Furthermore, the development of the new Koru Lounge at Tauranga Airport has greatly enhanced the visitor experience.(Reuters)  PG&E Corp is expected to name Bill Johnson as chief executive of the bankrupt California energy company facing $30 billion in wildfire liabilities, as soon as Wednesday, a source familiar with the private negotiations said on Tuesday. Johnson, who has been the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority since 2013 and is retiring on Friday, would not comment on the PG&E rumors. A group of investors, including Knighthead Capital Management, Redwood Capital Management and Abrams Capital Management, have been pushing for Johnson to be hired.

To read this article:As Advance Care Planning Day approaches, one well-known kuia is encouraging people to start the conversation with their whanau about their plans and wishes.

Ataraita Ngatai, from Matapihi, who is well-known and respected within her local community, says people should not shy away from talking about difficult topics.

Advance care planning is the process of thinking about, talking about, and planning for future healthcare and end-of-life care. It is about identifying what matters to the person concerned. Advance Care Planning Day is celebrated on Friday, April 5.

Ataraita says starting the conversation is the first step and the keen gardener says you should do so in as relaxed a way as possible, but recognise too that whanau dynamics differ and these differences deserve respect.

My garden has been a source of bounty for many years, says Ataraita smiling.

I was in the garden one day with our whanau and I just started talking about which of them should look after different sections of the garden when I was no longer around. It can be as simple as that and from there youve introduced the conversation. I think its important to do so in a relaxed way.

Death is not something people want to talk about. Life is sweet; life is good as long as youre healthy. Its only when your health begins to break down that you realise you are mortal.

And you need to think about other things, arrangements to be made. Its about getting things in order. It makes things easier for everyone concerned, your carers and those left behind.

Ataraita likened having the conversation to entering a new room.

You might do it slowly at first but once you open that door it can be a very worthwhile place to be. We used the Advance Care Plan document as a checklist and shared ideas, our spiritual values, our respect for lifeyes, starting the conversation is the first step.

He whakatauaki:

Ma te whakaatu ka mohio Through discussion cometh understanding

Ma te mohio,ka marama Through understanding cometh light

Ma te marama, ka matau Through light cometh wisdom

Ma te matau, ka ora Through wisdom cometh everlasting life

You know Enoka (Ataraitas husband) and I are grateful that we still cast a shadow on Papatuanuku (mother earth). Life is for living, she says.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board Advance Care Planning Project Manager Lee Walters says new discoveries frequently awaited families who talked about Advance Care Planning.

People often learn something new about each other that they never would have known without the conversation, we often assume that they will know. Lets talk today. How can Advance Care Planning help you?

For hard copies of My Advance Care Plan, or for assistance with them email advancecare.planning@bopdhb.govt.nz or call Advance Care Planning Project Manager Lee Walters on 027 271 4539.Bay of Plenty

You will need to have your W,T,R tickets and be an experienced digger operator. You are loading trucks and working on piles....



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nzArmed police are on Waimapu Pa Road after reports of a person threatening another person.

A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says armed police are at the scene near the intersection of Waimapu Pa Road and Poike Road.

A police spokesperson says they are still on the scene and no further details are available at this stage.

"Police were called to Waimapu Pa Rd about 6.05pm following a report of threats being made between parties known to each other.

"Police are still on scene. No further details are available at this stage."